Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The mitochondrial genome of the gymnosperm Cycas taitungensis contains a novel family of short interspersed elements, Bpu sequences, and abundant RNA editing sites.

The mtDNA of Cycas taitungensis is a circular molecule of 414,903 bp, making it 2- to 6-fold larger than the known mtDNAs of charophytes and bryophytes, but similar to the average of 7 elucidated angiosperm mtDNAs. It is characterized by abundant RNA editing sites (1,084), more than twice the number found in the angiosperm mtDNAs. The A + T content of Cycas mtDNA is 53.1%, the lowest among known land plants. About 5% of the Cycas mtDNA is composed of a novel family of mobile elements, which we designated as "Bpu sequences. " They share a consensus sequence of 36 bp with 2 terminal direct repeats (AAGG) and a recognition site for the Bpu 10I restriction endonuclease (CCTGAAGC). Comparison of the Cycas mtDNA with other plant mtDNAs revealed many new insights into the biology and evolution of land plant mtDNAs. For example, the noncoding sequences in mtDNAs have drastically expanded as land plants have evolved, with abrupt increases appearing in the bryophytes, and then in the seed plants. As a result, the genomic organizations of seed plant mtDNAs are much less compact than in other plants. Also, the Cycas mtDNA appears to have been exempted from the frequent gene loss observed in angiosperm mtDNAs. Similar to the angiosperms, the 3 Cycas genes nad1, nad2, and nad5 are disrupted by 5 group II intron squences, which have brought the genes into trans-splicing arrangements. The evolutionary origin and invasion/duplication mechanism of the Bpu sequences in Cycas mtDNA are hypothesized and discussed.
Maternal serum interleukin 6 levels and fetomaternal outcomes in women with preterm premature rupture of membranes in Lagos, South-western Nigeria

Abstract Objective: This study was done to assess the relationship between maternal serum IL-6 levels and fetomaternal outcome following PPROM. Methodology: This was a prospective cohort study comprising 45 cases of PPROM and 45 controls of similar age, parity, and gestational age. Five milliliters of maternal serum was collected after obtaining informed consent. They were followed up till delivery and records of the delivery and neonatal outcomes were obtained. Serum IL-6 levels were determined by standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA]. PPROM patients were categorized into two groups using a threshold of 14 pg/ml. Chi-square (χ2) test was used to compare categorical outcomes. p values of < 0.05 were taken as significant. Results: The mean serum IL-6 level for the women with PPROM was (20.2 ± 11.0 pg/ml), which was significantly greater than for the control subjects (13.9 ± 5.8 pg/ml, p < 0.001). Fetomaternal outcomes were all worse in those with IL-6 ≥ 14 pg/ml. Nevertheless, only the difference in early neonatal deaths was statistically significant. Conclusion: Measurement of maternal serum IL-6 can help to indicate hostile intrauterine environments to the fetus as well as identify patients who may benefit from pregnancy prolongation or intervention.
THE PASSAGE OF NEUTRALIZING SUBSTANCES FROM THE BLOOD INTO THE CEREBROSPINAL FLUID IN POLIOMYELITIS

The cerebrospinal fluid taken very early and quite late in the course of acute poliomyelitis exhibits no neutralizing action on filtered poliomyelitic virus. The blood serum on the 6th day of the disease already contains the neutralizing principles. The injection of sterile horse serum into the cerebrospinal meninges in monkeys increases their permeability, so that they permit the immunity neutralizing principles passively injected into the blood to pass into the cerebrospinal fluid. The passage in passively immunized monkeys takes place during a relatively brief space of time and apparently only while the inflammatory reaction produced by the horse serum is at its height. It is established for monkeys and rendered probable for man that the intraspinal injection of immune serum in poliomyelitis is curative. In monkeys normal serum exerts no such action, and at present nothing can be stated definitely regarding the therapeutic effect of normal serum in man except that probably any benefits which may arise from its employment would be attributable not to the action of the serum as such, but to the escape of circulating immunity principles in the blood made possible by the aseptic inflammation set up by it in the meninges. As the immunity principles appear in the blood only after several days, and the reported favorable effects of the immune serum treatment relate to the first days of illness, the employment of normal serum is thus not indicated, while that of an immune serum is.
Making personas memorable

Although Cisco's tag line for fiscal year 2007 is "Lead the Experience," not all Cisco product teams have historically focused on designing products that facilitate user success and delight. The Cisco User Experience Design (UXD) Group provides tools that stimulate a UXD culture, one of which is personas to catalyze a common understanding of users and a centralized persona database. The challenge has been that engineers at Cisco could opt out of using personas. This UXD Group therefore had to produce personas and artifacts that increase the fun and the stickiness of persona characteristics as a basis for product design. In November 2005, the UXD team won an award for developing best practices in product development for creating these personas by vice presidents from across Cisco.
Comparison of Fixed Dental Prostheses with Zirconia and Metal Frameworks: Five-Year Results of a Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to test whether posterior zirconia-ceramic (ZC) and metal-ceramic (MC) fixed dental prostheses (FDPs) exhibit similar survival and technical/biologic complication rates. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 58 patients in need of 76 posterior FDPs were randomly assigned to receive 40 ZC and 36 MC FDPs. The restorations were examined at baseline (cementation) and yearly for 5 years. Technical and biologic outcomes were compared. The independent treatment groups were compared with nonparametric Mann-Whitney test for metric variables and with Fisher exact test for categoric data. RESULTS A total of 52 patients with 40 ZC and 29 MC FDPs were examined at 5 years. No FDP failed during the 5 years; 2 ZC FDPs failed at 65.4 and 73.3 months. Debonding occurred at 3 ZC FDPs. Technical outcomes (modified US Public Health Service criteria) and general periodontal parameters did not show significant differences between ZC and MC FDPs. CONCLUSION ZC FDPs exhibited similar outcomes to MC FDPs based on 5-year survival estimates. The majority of technical and biologic outcome measures were not significantly different.
Determinants of personal demand for an AIDS vaccine in Uganda: contingent valuation survey.

OBJECTIVE To assess the factors affecting demand for an HIV/AIDS vaccine among adults in their prime earning and childbearing years and the impact of vaccination on risk behaviour in a high-prevalence, low-income country. METHODS A contingent valuation survey of 1677 adults aged 18-60 years was conducted in 12 districts in Uganda. Respondents were asked about a hypothetical vaccine to prevent HIV infection. Households were randomly assigned survey questionnaires with one of two levels of vaccine efficacy (50% or 95%) and one of five prices. The influence of demographic characteristics, vaccine efficacy, self-assessed risk of infection, price, and household assets on vaccine demand was assessed using multivariate regression analysis. FINDINGS Altogether, 94% (1576/1677) of respondents would be willing to be vaccinated with a free HIV/AIDS vaccine; 31% (78/251) would not be willing to be vaccinated at a price of 5000 Ugandan shillings (2.86 U.S. dollars). Household wealth, vaccine price, and risk behaviour were significant determinants of individual demand. Demand was equally high for both low-efficacy and high-efficacy vaccines. Respondents believed that condom use would be slightly less necessary with a high-efficacy vaccine (655/825; 79.4%) than a low-efficacy vaccine (690/843; 81.8%). However, reported condom use with partners other than spouses in the absence of a vaccine was much lower (137/271; 50.6%), with 26% (175/670) of men and 9.5% (96/1007) of women reporting having had partners other than their spouses during the past year. CONCLUSION The high demand for an AIDS vaccine of any level of efficacy can be explained by the heavy toll of AIDS in Uganda: 72% (990/1371) of respondents had lost a family member to the disease. An AIDS vaccine would be self-targeting: those with a greater chance of becoming infected and spreading HIV would be more likely to seek a vaccine, improving the efficiency of vaccination programmes. However,,high levels of risk behaviour in the population suggest that a low-efficacy vaccine alone would have only a limited impact on the epidemic.
Raman microspectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and electric cell-substrate impedance sensing for characterization of bio-interfaces: Molecular, bacteria, and mammalian cells

________________________________ ________________________________ Anhong Zhou, Ph.D. Ronald C. Sims, Ph.D. Major Professor Committee Member ________________________________ ________________________________ Timothy A. Gilbertson, Ph.D. Charles D. Miller, Ph.D. Committee Member Committee Member ________________________________ ________________________________ Lisa M. Berreau, Ph.D. Mark R. McLellan, Ph.D. Committee Member Vice President for Research and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies
Proteomic Analysis of the Differential Protein Expression Reveals Nuclear GAPDH in Activated T Lymphocytes

Despite the important role of T cell activation in the adaptive immunity, very little is known about the functions of proteins that are differentially expressed in the activated T cells. In this study, we have employed proteomic approach to study the differentially expressed proteins in activated T cells. A total of 25 proteins was characterized that displayed a decreased expression, while a total of 20 proteins was characterized that displayed an increased expression in the activated T cells. Among them, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) was identified unexpectedly as one of the up-regulated proteins. Western blot analysis of proteins separated by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis had identified several modified GAPDHs which were detectable only in the activated T cells, but not in resting T cells. These modified GAPDHs had higher molecular mass and more basic PI, and were present in the nucleus of activated T cells. Promoter occupancy studies by chromatin immunoprecipitation assay revealed that nuclear GAPDH could be detected in the promoter of genes that were up-regulated during T cell activation, but not in the promoter of genes that were not unaffected or down-regulated. Our results suggest that nuclear GAPDH may function as transcriptional regulator in activated T cells.
Exercise normalizes altered expression of proteins in the ventral hippocampus of rats subjected to maternal separation

Many studies have reported on the detrimental effects of early life adversity and the beneficial effects of exercise on brain function. However, the molecular mechanisms that underpin these various effects remain poorly understood. The advent of advanced proteomic analysis techniques has enabled simultaneous measurement of protein expression in a wide range of biological systems. We therefore used iTRAQ proteomic analysis of protein expression to determine whether exercise counteracts the detrimental effects of early life adversity in the form of maternal separation on protein expression in the brain. Rat pups were subjected to maternal separation from postnatal day 2 to 14 for 3 h day−1 or normally reared. At 40 days of age, half of the rats in each group (maternal separation and normally reared) were allowed to exercise voluntarily (access to a running wheel) for 6 weeks and the remainder kept as sedentary control animals. At 83 days of age, rats were killed and the ventral hippocampus was dissected for quantitative proteomic (iTRAQ) analysis. The iTRAQ proteomic analysis identified several proteins that had been altered by maternal separation, including proteins involved in neuronal structure, metabolism, signalling, anti‐oxidative stress and neurotransmission, and that many of these proteins were restored to normal by subsequent exposure to voluntary exercise in adolescence. Our data show that a broad range of proteins play a role in the complex consequences of adversity and exercise.
The emotional valence of a conflict: implications from synesthesia

According to some synesthetes’ reports, their experience involves an emotional sensation in which a conflict between the photism and presented color of a stimulus may evoke a feeling of discomfort. In order to investigate the impact of this experience on performance, two experiments were carried out on two synesthetes and their matched control groups. Experiments were tailored for each synesthete according to her unique photism. Participants were presented with stimuli (numerals or words) in colors and were asked to name the color of the stimulus and to ignore its meaning. Incongruent colors were associated with negative or positive emotional words or with non-emotional words. Not surprisingly, an incongruent color (e.g., 5 presented in yellow to a synesthete that sees 5 in red) slowed down color naming. Conflict situations (e.g., a numeral in an incongruent color) created a negative emotional experience. Most importantly, coherence between a conflict or non-conflict emotional experience and the emotion elicited by the color of the stimulus for a given synesthete modulated performance. In particular, synesthetes were faster in coherent than in incoherent situations. This research contributes to the understanding of emotional experience in synesthesia, and also suggests that synesthesia can be used as an instrument to investigate emotional processes in the wider population.
Transcription of the chicken histone H5 gene is mediated by distinct tissue-specific elements within the promoter and the 3' enhancer

Molecular genetic analysis of a number of vertebrate erythroid cell-specific genes has identified at least two types of cis-acting regulatory sequences which control the complex developmental pattern of gene expression during erythroid cell maturation. Tissue-specific cellular enhancers have been identified 3' to three erythroid cell-specific genes, and additional regulatory elements have been identified in the promoters of many erythroid genes. We show that the histone H5 enhancer, like the adult beta-globin enhancer, is involved in mediating the developmental induction of histone H5 mRNA as erythroid cells mature. We also describe the preliminary characterization of a tissue-specific regulatory element within the 5' region of the H5 locus and describe investigations of the interaction between this element and the histone H5 enhancer in mediating histone H5 regulation.
Is telemedicine the panacea for Sub-Saharan Africa's medical nightmare?

"Ever since my eye swelled up, I've gone to church to pray for a cure.I always knew He would send a way to make me better---I just didn't know it was going to be from London," says Anna Mobutsu, a 23-year-old farm laborer, who cannot imagine journeying farther than a bus ride from her home in the small African town of Nelspruit. An illiterate single parent with a 7-year-old and an elderly mother to support on about $56 a month, Anna does not even own a TV to introduce her to a world beyond her own. "But this afternoon I went to London" [2].
The Inter-related Dynamics of Unemployment and Low Pay

This paper examines the extent of state dependence in individual unemployment and low paid employment and the inter-related dynamics between the two. Evidence is presented that (after controlling for unobserved heterogeneity and initial conditions) the low paid are more likely to become unemployed and the unemployed more likely to be low paid on re-entry to employment. The impacts of unemployment and low pay are found to be insignificantly different from one another, both on the probability of unemployment in the next period and on the probability of low pay. Evidence is presented that low paid jobs act as the main conduit for repeat unemployment and considerably increase its probability. Those who get a better paid job eliminate the increased risk of repeat unemployment.
Characterization of High and Low Pressure Baroreceptor Influences on Renal Nerve Activity in the Primate Macaca fascicularis

We characterized the influence of high pressure and low pressure intra vascular receptors on renal nerve activity in the pentobarbital sodium-anesthetized nonhuman primate Macaca fascicu- laris. Epinephrine-induced increases in arterial pressure were used to stimulate high pressure recep- tors, and intravascular volume expansion was used to stimulate both high and low pressure receptors. In addition, the intravascular mechanoreceptors were stimulated directly by intravenous veratrine administration. All interventions produced large decreases in renal nerve activity in the intact state. Denervation of the carotid sinus or bilateral cervical vagal section diminished, whereas sino-aortic denervation with vagotomy completely abolished all responses of renal nerve activity to these inter- ventions. We conclude that the nonhuman primate possesses very sensitive renal nerve sympathetic reflexes that are modulated by intravascular mechanoreceptors whose afferents traverse the carotid sinus nerves and the vago-aortic trunks. The carotid sinus nerves and the vago-aortic trunks appear to be equally effective in inhibiting renal nerve activity in response to increases in arterial pressure. In addition, there are no afferent pathways mediating intravascular mechanoreceptor modulation of renal nerve activity outside the carotid sinus nerves and the vago-aortic trunks. Circ Res 46: 726-730, 1980
Long‐Term Outcome of Autogenous Rib Graft Nasal Reconstruction

&NA; Whereas reconstruction of the hypoplastic nose with rib grafting is common, the long‐term outcomes of nasal growth and aesthetics are unknown. This study assessed nasal morphometrics, patient satisfaction, and the perception of nasal appearance by others up to 15 years after nasal reconstruction using cantilevered autogenous chondro‐osseous rib grafting with rigid internal fixation in children. Records of all patients who received nasal rib grafts between 1983 and 1998 by one senior surgeon were reviewed. Patients in this study were operated on before their late teens and had greater than 1‐year follow‐up including serial photographic documentation. Nasal growth was determined by comparing anthropometric measurements preoperatively, perioperatively, and postoperatively. Patient satisfaction was determined through a questionnaire that addressed memory, donor‐site morbidity, and nasal perception. Independent, blinded skilled observers who reviewed frontal and lateral photographs of the preoperative, perioperative, and postoperative intervals assessed nasal aesthetics. Thirty‐two patients who underwent 38 rib graft reconstructions of the nasal dorsum and tip at an average age of 8.8 years constitute the study population. Six patients underwent secondary augmentation. The average interval between initial nasal reconstruction and evaluation for this study was 7.9 years. Comparative anthropometric measurements before and after surgery documented increases in both tip projection (2.3 percent) and nasal length (3.0 percent) and a decrease in nasolabial angle (1.9 percent). Patient satisfaction interview response rate was 100 percent of those whom we were able to contact (28 of 32). The average age at interview was 17.2 years. Most patients recalled the operation and denied recollection of pain. Donor‐site long‐term morbidity was not an issue for 86 percent of patients. Sixty‐four percent of patients remembered their preoperative nasal appearance and 89 percent of these preferred the postoperative change and were not concerned with nasal scars or texture. Almost two‐thirds of the patients had fixation screws removed from the nasal dorsum because of skin erosion, easy palpability, or visibility. Although several patients expressed a desire to make minor additional changes to their nose, only one of these elected offered presurgical consultation and none have had such surgery. The postoperative nasal appearance compared with that preoperatively was rated as improved for 66.3 percent of responses, 26.5 percent as unchanged, and 7.2 percent as deteriorated. Cantilevered autogenous chondro‐osseous rib graft reconstruction of the nasal dorsum is an effective means of reconstruction for the hypoplastic nose in childhood with respect to morphometric measurements, patient self‐perception, and the assessment of nasal appearance by others. (Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 108: 1895, 2001.)
Inequitable Access to Health Services for Older Adults with Diabetes: Potential Solutions on a State Level

Diabetes is a serious global public health challenge. The cost for health services for diabetes care has increased 41% over the past 5 years. Despite escalating health expenditure, the United States continues to have higher rates of diabetes than many other developed countries. There is a need for health care reform in the United States not only in reducing health care costs but also in improving the quality of preventative care. This study presents the testing of a multilevel model investigating variables on the individual and state levels to develop a better understanding of the most important contextual pathways that can lead to providing older adults (50+) with type 2 diabetes with the recommended preventative quality care they require. The model was tested using a three-level repeated cross-sectional design with data from various existing data sources, using a national sample of 181,870 individuals aged 50 years and older. Results showed that differences in state health care systems contributed to inequitable access. Specifically, in a state where there was a higher percentage of adults 65 and older coupled with a shortage of health care professionals, the likelihood of receiving the recommended preventative quality care decreased. Also, older adults living in states with a higher percentage of people with diagnosed diabetes but with a lower-than-average annual per capita health care expenditure fared worse in receiving quality preventative care. Last, older adults in wealthy states with higher percentages of uninsured people had the lowest odds of receiving quality preventative care. Health care reform, similar to what is currently promoted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, is recommended to improve the performance of all health care systems in all states.
Neutrophils in cystic fibrosis

Lung injury in cystic fibrosis is caused by recurrent airway infection and inflammation. Neutrophils are important in combating these infections but are also the predominate cells involved in the inflammatory process. This review of neutrophils in cystic fibrosis describes the cellular mechanisms involved in their migration into the airways and their role in bacterial phagocytosis. We discuss the inflammatory process and its resolution and ultimately how neutrophil function can be modulated.
A method for reducing the effects of random mismatches in CMOS bandgap references

A method for reducing the effects of random mismatches in CMOS bandgap references reduces effects of CMOS current-mirror offsets and input-referred offsets of CMOS opamps. The circuit is fabricated in a 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS process. Measured 3 sigma output voltage distribution is /spl sim/1%.