Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Salmonellae carrier status of food vendors in Kumasi, Ghana.

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of chronic typhoidal salmonellae amongst food vendors in Kumasi Ghana. DESIGN A prospective study. SETTING Sitting and itinerant food vendors in Kumasi. METHODS Screening of 258 (230 females of 28 males) healthy food vendors for Salmonella typhi, and S. paratyphi A, B, and C, using stool culture, the widal test, and standard microbiological identification methods. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Prevalence of chronic typhoidal Salmonellae carriers among food vendors in Kumasi. RESULTS Typhoidal Salmonellae were isolated from six people, giving a carriage rate of 2.3%. Three of the Salmonellae isolated were S. typhi, and they had significant Widal agglutinin titres of > or = 1/160 and > or = 1/320 for 0 and H antigens, respectively. The other three were non-typhoidal Salmonellae. The three had S. typhi and the other three had titres of 1/80 or less for both 0 and H antigens, respectively. We have discussed the implications of this high carriage rate, and we have suggested the inclusion of screening for Salmonellae of the regular health screening exercise undertaken by food handlers to detect and monitor chronic carriers in the food industry, to help control salmonella diseases in the community. CONCLUSION From our study, food handlers consitute a significant risk in the spread of enteric fever in Kumasi. We therefore, suggest the inclusion of screening for Salmonellae in the regular obligatory six-monthly examination required of food handlers and to monitor those found to be infected.
Brain‐derived neurotrophic factor rapidly increases AMPA receptor surface expression in rat nucleus accumbens

In the rodent nucleus accumbens (NAc), cocaine elevates levels of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Conversely, BDNF can augment cocaine‐related behavioral responses. The latter could reflect enhancement of α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐4‐isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (AMPAR) transmission, because AMPARs in the NAc mediate some cocaine‐induced behaviors. Furthermore, in vitro studies in other cell types show that BDNF can promote AMPAR synaptic delivery. In this study, we investigated whether BDNF similarly promotes AMPAR trafficking in the adult rat NAc. After unilateral intracranial injection of BDNF into NAc core or shell, rats were killed at post‐injection times ranging from 30 min to 3 days. NAc core or shell tissue from both injected and non‐injected hemispheres was analysed by Western blotting. A protein cross‐linking assay was used to measure AMPAR surface expression. Assessment of tropomyosin receptor kinase B signaling demonstrated that injected BDNF was biologically active. BDNF injection into NAc core, but not NAc shell, led to a protein synthesis‐ and extracellular signal‐regulated kinase‐dependent increase in cell surface GluA1 and a trend towards increased total GluA1. This was detected 30 min post‐injection but not at longer time‐points. GluA2 and GluA3 were unaffected, suggesting an effect of BDNF on homomeric GluA1 Ca2+‐permeable AMPARs. These results demonstrate that exogenous BDNF rapidly increases AMPAR surface expression in the rat NAc core, raising the possibility of a relationship between increases in endogenous BDNF levels and alterations in AMPAR transmission observed in the NAc of cocaine‐experienced rats.
IGF-IR Promotes Prostate Cancer Growth by Stabilizing α5β1 Integrin Protein Levels

Dynamic crosstalk between growth factor receptors, cell adhesion molecules and extracellular matrix is essential for cancer cell migration and invasion. Integrins are transmembrane receptors that bind extracellular matrix proteins and enable cell adhesion and cytoskeletal organization. They also mediate signal transduction to regulate cell proliferation and survival. The type 1 insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF-IR) mediates tumor cell growth, adhesion and inhibition of apoptosis in several types of cancer. We have previously demonstrated that β1 integrins regulate anchorage-independent growth of prostate cancer (PrCa) cells by regulating IGF-IR expression and androgen receptor-mediated transcriptional functions. Furthermore, we have recently reported that IGF-IR regulates the expression of β1 integrins in PrCa cells. We have dissected the mechanism through which IGF-IR regulates β1 integrin expression in PrCa. Here we report that IGF-IR is crucial for PrCa cell growth and that β1 integrins contribute to the regulation of proliferation by IGF-IR. We demonstrate that β1 integrin regulation by IGF-IR does not occur at the mRNA level. Exogenous expression of a CD4 - β1 integrin cytoplasmic domain chimera does not interfere with such regulation and fails to stabilize β1 integrin expression in the absence of IGF-IR. This appears to be due to the lack of interaction between the β1 cytoplasmic domain and IGF-IR. We demonstrate that IGF-IR stabilizes the β1 subunit by protecting it from proteasomal degradation. The α5 subunit, one of the binding partners of β1, is also downregulated along with β1 upon IGF-IR knockdown while no change is observed in the expression of the α2, α3, α4, α6 and α7 subunits. Our results reveal a crucial mechanistic role for the α5β1 integrin, downstream of IGF-IR, in regulating cancer growth.
Delayed feedback control in quantum transport

Feedback control in quantum transport has been predicted to give rise to several interesting effects, among them quantum state stabilization and the realization of a mesoscopic Maxwell's daemon. These results were derived under the assumption that control operations on the system are affected instantaneously after the measurement of electronic jumps through it. In this contribution, I describe how to include a delay between detection and control operation in the master equation theory of feedback-controlled quantum transport. I investigate the consequences of delay for the state stabilization and Maxwell's daemon schemes. Furthermore, I describe how delay can be used as a tool to probe coherent oscillations of electrons within a transport system and how this formalism can be used to model finite detector bandwidth.
Analysis of the Immune Response to Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in Experimentally Infected Calves

ABSTRACT Johne's disease of cattle is widespread and causes significant economic loss to producers. Control has been hindered by limited understanding of the immune response to the causative agent, Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, and lack of an effective vaccine and sensitive specific diagnostic assays. The present study was conducted to gain insight into factors affecting the immune response to M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis. A persistent proliferative response to M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis purified protein derivative and soluble M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis antigens was detected in orally infected neonatal calves 6 months postinfection (p.i.) by flow cytometry (FC). CD4+ T cells with a memory phenotype (CD45R0+) expressing CD25 and CD26 were the predominant cell type responding to antigens. Few CD8+ T cells proliferated in response to antigens until 18 months p.i. γδ T cells did not appear to respond to antigen until 18 months p.i. The majority of WC1+ CD2− and a few WC1− CD2+ γδ T cells expressed CD25 at time zero. By 18 months, however, subsets of γδ T cells from both control and infected animals showed an increase in expression of CD25, ACT2, and CD26 in the presence of the antigens. Two populations of CD3− non-T non-B null cells, CD2+ and CD2−, proliferated in cell cultures from some control and infected animals during the study, with and without antigen. The studies clearly show multicolor FC offers a consistent reliable way to monitor the evolution and changes in the immune response to M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis that occur during disease progression.
The impact of AIDS on government service delivery: the case of the Zambia Wildlife Authority

Background:The loss of working-aged adults to HIV/AIDS has been shown to increase the costs of labor to the private sector in Africa. There is little corresponding evidence for the public sector. This study evaluated the impact of AIDS on the costs and service delivery capacity of a government agency, the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA). Methods:Data were collected on workforce characteristics, mortality, costs, and number of days spent on patrol between 2003 and 2005 by 76 current patrol officers (reference subjects) and 11 patrol officers who died of AIDS or suspected AIDS (index subjects). The impact of AIDS on service delivery capacity and labor costs and the net benefits of providing treatment were estimated. Results:Reference subjects averaged 197.4 patrol days per year. After adjustment index subjects patrolled 68% less in their last year of service (P < 0.0001), 51% less in their second to last year (P < 0.0001), and 37% less in their third to last year (P < 0.0001). For each employee who died, ZAWA lost an additional 111 person-days for management, funeral attendance, vacancy and staff replacement. Each death also cost ZAWA the equivalent of 3.3 years' annual compensation for care, benefits, recruitment, and training. In 2005, AIDS reduced service delivery capacity by 6.0% and increased labor costs by 9.3%. Conclusion:Impacts on this government agency are substantially larger than observed in the private sector. AIDS is constraining ZAWA's ability to protect Zambia's parks. At a cost of US $500/patient/year, antiretroviral therapy (ART) would result in service improvements and net budgetary savings to ZAWA.
Structure and measurement properties of the Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care instrument.

OBJECTIVE In this study, the authors investigated the psychometric properties of a modified version of the Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care (PACIC) - a self-report instrument designed to measure the extent to which patients with chronic illness receive care congruent with the chronic care model. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHOD Five hundred and twenty-nine (529) type 2 diabetics were surveyed with a modified-PACIC. RESULTS An exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was conducted that accounted for the ordinal nature of the PACIC items. Ordinal alpha (0.972) and omega (0.973) reliability coefficients were calculated on the latent factor underlying the modified-PACIC. Correlation analyses were used to investigate the relationship between the modified-PACIC and numerous clinical labs related to diabetes. Validity for the original five-factor structure proposed by developers of the PACIC could not be confirmed. CONCLUSIONS More research focusing on the instrument's psychometric properties is necessary before researchers use it to investigate the chronic care model and patient health. Researchers will need to ensure that the composite scores underlying the instrument are normally distributed and correlated with behavioural and health indexes.
A Political Economy Approach Redistribution in the Open Economy: a Political Economy Approach

This paper develops a two-country model of international trade in which citizens who are heterogeneous with respect to their factor endowments vote over tariffs and income tax rates. In the politico-economic equilibrium, each country chooses its national policies by majority voting, taking the policy choice of the other country as given. By incorporating both income and trade taxes in a unified international-trade framework, we uncover the interplay between majority voting over these two instruments at the domestic level and strategic interdependencies between countries’ trade policies. Our main result is that greater inequality can be conducive to more redistribution via income taxation, more protectionist policies in capital-abundant countries, and less protectionist policies in labour-abundant countries. The model can accommodate the predictions of recent empirical studies on the relationship between inequality, protectionism, and redistribution. JEL classification: D31, D72, F13, F59
Prostaglandin F2 alpha and prostacyclin imbalance in cows with placental retention: new findings.

The aim of this work was to investigate possible differences in peripheral blood concentrations of 13, 14 dihydro 15 keto PGF alpha (PGFM) and 6 keto PGF1 alpha (PGIM), between dairy cows retaining (RP) and not retaining (NRP) their placenta. Blood samples were collected 5, 30, and 60 minutes postpartum from 8 RP and 17 NRP cows. PGFM concentrations were significantly lower in RP cows than in NRP cows 60 minutes after birth (8156 pg/ml vs 12016 pg/ml; P less than or equal to 0.05). There was a significant rise of PGFM levels between 30 and 60 minutes in NRP cows (6225 pg/ml vs 12016 pg/ml; P less than or equal to 0.01), while in RP cows PGFM levels remained fairly constant along the period studied. No significant differences were found between RP and NRP cows regarding PGIM levels during this period although absolute values were slightly higher in RP cows. The PGFM/PGIM ratio was significantly higher 60 minutes postpartum in NRP cows than in RP cows (15.5 vs 8.8; P less than or equal to 0.01). This ratio increased significantly in NRP cows between 30 and 60 minutes (7.2 vs 15.5; P less than or equal to 0.01), a pattern not observed in RP cows. There was no correlation between PGIM and PGFM levels during the first 60 minutes postpartum in the NRP cows. However, the same correlation was significantly positive in the RP cows (r = 0.75; P less than or equal to 0.01). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Influence of Landscape Structure and Human Modifications on Insect Biomass and Bat Foraging Activity in an Urban Landscape

Urban landscapes are often located in biologically diverse, productive regions. As such, urbanization may have dramatic consequences for this diversity, largely due to changes in the structure and function of urban communities. We examined the influence of landscape productivity (indexed by geology), housing density and vegetation clearing on the spatial distribution of nocturnal insect biomass and the foraging activity of insectivorous bats in the urban landscape of Sydney, Australia. Nocturnal insect biomass (g) and bat foraging activity were sampled from 113 sites representing backyard, open space, bushland and riparian landscape elements, across urban, suburban and vegetated landscapes within 60 km of Sydney's Central Business District. We found that insect biomass was at least an order of magnitude greater within suburban landscapes in bushland and backyard elements located on the most fertile shale influenced geologies (both p<0.001) compared to nutrient poor sandstone landscapes. Similarly, the feeding activity of bats was greatest in bushland, and riparian elements within suburbs on fertile geologies (p = 0.039). Regression tree analysis indicated that the same three variables explained the major proportion of the variation in insect biomass and bat foraging activity. These were ambient temperature (positive), housing density (negative) and the percent of fertile shale geologies (positive) in the landscape; however variation in insect biomass did not directly explain bat foraging activity. We suggest that prey may be unavailable to bats in highly urbanized areas if these areas are avoided by many species, suggesting that reduced feeding activity may reflect under-use of urban habitats by bats. Restoration activities to improve ecological function and maintain the activity of a diversity of bat species should focus on maintaining and restoring bushland and riparian habitat, particularly in areas with fertile geology as these were key bat foraging habitats.
Yield of Two Consecutive Sputum Specimens for the Effective Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Background From long instances, it is debatable whether three sputum specimens are required for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) or TB can be diagnosed effectively using two consecutive sputum specimens. This study was set out to evaluate the significance of examining multiple sputum specimens in diagnosis of TB. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the acid-fast bacillus (AFB) smear and culture results of three consecutive days’ sputum specimens from 413 confirmed TB patients which were detected as part of a larger active case finding study in Dhaka Central Jail, the largest correctional facility in Bangladesh. Results AFB was detected from 81% (n = 334) patients, of which 89% (n = 297) were diagnosed from the first and additional 9% (n = 30) were from the second sputum specimen. M. tuberculosis growth was observed for 406 patients and 85% (n = 343) were obtained from the first sputum and additional 10% (n = 42) were from the second one. The third specimen didn’t show significant additional diagnostic value for the detection of AFB by microscopy or growth of the M. tuberculosis. Conclusions We concluded from our study results that examining two consecutive sputum specimens is sufficient enough for the effective diagnosis of TB. It can also decrease the laboratory workload and hence improve the quality of work in settings with high TB burden like Bangladesh.
A comparison of labeling schemes for ancestor queries

Motivated by a recent application in XML search engines we study the problem of labeling the nodes of a tree (XML file) such that given the labels of two nodes one can determine whether one node is an ancestor of the other. We describe several new prefix-based labeling schemes, where an ancestor query roughly amounts to testing whether one label is a prefix of the other. We compare our new schemes to a simple interval-based scheme currently used by search engines, as well as, to schemes with the best theoretical guarantee on the maximum label length. We performed our experimental evaluation on real XML data and on some families of random trees.
Toll-like Receptor 4 Resides in the Golgi Apparatus and Colocalizes with Internalized Lipopolysaccharide in Intestinal Epithelial Cells

Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 is mainly found on cells of the myelopoietic lineage. It recognizes lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and mediates cellular activation and production of proinflammatory cytokines. Less is known about the distribution and role of TLR4 in epithelial cells that are continuously exposed to microbes and microbial products. Here we show that the murine small intestinal epithelial cell line m-ICcl2 is highly responsive to LPS and expresses both CD14 and TLR4. Transcription and surface membrane staining for CD14 were up-regulated upon LPS exposure. Surprisingly, TLR4 immunostaining revealed a strictly cytoplasmic paranuclear distribution. This paranuclear compartment could be identified as the Golgi apparatus. LPS added to the supernatant was internalized by m-ICcl2 cells and colocalized with TLR4. Continuous exposure to LPS led to a tolerant phenotype but did not alter TLR4 expression nor cellular distribution. Thus, intestinal epithelial cells might be able to provide the initial proinflammatory signal to attract professional immune cells to the side of infection. The cytoplasmic location of TLR4, which is identical to the final location of internalized LPS, further indicates an important role of cellular internalization and cytoplasmic traffic in the process of innate immune recognition.
Effects of a free school breakfast programme on children's attendance, academic achievement and short-term hunger: results from a stepped-wedge, cluster randomised controlled trial

Background Free school breakfast programmes (SBPs) exist in a number of high-income countries, but their effects on educational outcomes have rarely been evaluated in randomised controlled trials. Methods A 1-year stepped-wedge, cluster randomised controlled trial was undertaken in 14 New Zealand schools in low socioeconomic resource areas. Participants were 424 children, mean age 9±2 years, 53% female. The intervention was a free daily SBP. The primary outcome was children's school attendance. Secondary outcomes were academic achievement, self-reported grades, sense of belonging at school, behaviour, short-term hunger, breakfast habits and food security. Results There was no statistically significant effect of the breakfast programme on children's school attendance. The odds of children achieving an attendance rate <95% was 0.76 (95% CI 0.56 to 1.02) during the intervention phase and 0.93 (95% CI 0.67 to 1.31) during the control phase, giving an OR of 0.81 (95% CI 0.59 to 1.11), p=0.19. There was a significant decrease in children's self-reported short-term hunger during the intervention phase compared with the control phase, demonstrated by an increase of 8.6 units on the Freddy satiety scale (95% CI 3.4 to 13.7, p=0.001). There were no effects of the intervention on any other outcome. Conclusions A free SBP did not have a significant effect on children's school attendance or academic achievement but had significant positive effects on children's short-term satiety ratings. More frequent programme attendance may be required to influence school attendance and academic achievement. Trial registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR)—ACTRN12609000854235.
A mutation in Nischarin causes otitis media via LIMK1 and NF-κB pathways

Otitis media (OM), inflammation of the middle ear (ME), is a common cause of conductive hearing impairment. Despite the importance of the disease, the aetiology of chronic and recurrent forms of middle ear inflammatory disease remains poorly understood. Studies of the human population suggest that there is a significant genetic component predisposing to the development of chronic OM, although the underlying genes are largely unknown. Using N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea mutagenesis we identified a recessive mouse mutant, edison, that spontaneously develops a conductive hearing loss due to chronic OM. The causal mutation was identified as a missense change, L972P, in the Nischarin (NISCH) gene. edison mice develop a serous or granulocytic effusion, increasingly macrophage and neutrophil rich with age, along with a thickened, inflamed mucoperiosteum. We also identified a second hypomorphic allele, V33A, with only modest increases in auditory thresholds and reduced incidence of OM. NISCH interacts with several proteins, including ITGA5 that is thought to have a role in modulating VEGF-induced angiogenesis and vascularization. We identified a significant genetic interaction between Nisch and Itga5; mice heterozygous for Itga5-null and homozygous for edison mutations display a significantly increased penetrance and severity of chronic OM. In order to understand the pathological mechanisms underlying the OM phenotype, we studied interacting partners to NISCH along with downstream signalling molecules in the middle ear epithelia of edison mouse. Our analysis implicates PAK1 and RAC1, and downstream signalling in LIMK1 and NF-κB pathways in the development of chronic OM.