Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phosphoenolpyruvate:sugar phosphotransferase system of Bacillus subtilis: cloning of the region containing the ptsH and ptsI genes and evidence for a crr-like gene

The genes ptsI and ptsH, which encode, respectively, enzyme I and Hpr, cytoplasmic proteins involved in the phosphoenolpyruvate:sugar phosphotransferase system, were cloned from Bacillus subtilis. A plasmid containing a 4.1-kilobase DNA fragment was shown to complement Escherichia coli mutations affecting the ptsH and ptsI genes. In minicells this plasmid expressed two proteins with the molecular weights expected for Hpr and enzyme I. Therefore, ptsH and ptsI are adjacent in B. subtilis, as in E. coli. In E. coli a third gene (crr), involved in glucose translocation and also in catabolite repression, is located downstream from the ptsHI operon. The 4.1-kilobase fragment from B. subtilis was shown to contain a gene that enables an E. coli crr mutant to use glucose. This gene, unlike the E. coli crr gene, was located to the left of ptsH.
Inclusive by design: transformative services and sport-event accessibility

ABSTRACT This paper examines the service dimensions required to be inclusive of people with access needs within a major-sport event context. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities seeks to counter disability discrimination and enable citizenship rights of people with disabilities, including access to goods and services, across all dimensions of social participation including major-sport events (e.g. Olympic and Paralympic Games, world cups in football, cricket and rugby union). Providing for people with disability and access needs is also an emerging tourism focus with initiatives addressing accessible tourism included in the World Tourism Organizations mission and recent strategic destination plans. To enhance the understanding of service delivery for an accessible tourism market in a major-sport event context, a case study of the Vancouver Fan Zone for the FIFA Womens World Cup Canada, 2015 TM is analyzed through the lens of transformative services. From this analysis future research directions are identified to benefit those with access needs who wish to participate in major-sport events.
Why Moral Philosophers are Not and Should Not Be Moral Experts

Professional philosophers are members of bioethical committees and regulatory bodies in areas of interest to bioethicists. This suggests they possess moral expertise even if they do not exercise it directly and without constraint. Moral expertise is defined, and four arguments given in support of scepticism about their possession of such expertise are considered and rejected: the existence of extreme disagreement between moral philosophers about moral matters; the lack of a means clearly to identify moral experts; that expertise cannot be claimed in that which lacks objectivity; and that ordinary people do not follow the advice of moral experts. I offer a better reason for scepticism grounded in the relation between moral philosophy and common-sense morality: namely that modern moral philosophy views even a developed moral theory as ultimately anchored in common-sense morality, that set of basic moral precepts which ordinary individuals have command of and use to regulate their own lives. Even if moral philosophers do nevertheless have a limited moral expertise, in that they alone can fully develop a set of moral judgments, I sketch reasons - grounded in the values of autonomy and of democracy - why moral philosophers should not wish non-philosophers to defer to their putative expertise.
ScholarWorks @ UTRGV ScholarWorks @ UTRGV

Background: Dementia is becoming a major public health problem in Latin America (LA), yet epidemiological information on dementia remains scarce in this region. This study analyzes data from epidemiological studies on the prevalence of dementia in LA and compares the prevalence of dementia and its causes across countries in LA and attempts to clarify differences from those of developed regions of the world
Risks and Benefits of Postmenopausal Exogenous Estrogen

Cyclically administered estrogen helps prevent and treat vasomotor symptoms and atrophic changes in the genitourinary tracts of postmenopausal women. Administering exogenous estrogen may also help prevent postmenopausal bone loss and help treat severe postmenopausal osteoporosis. Although recent studies have indicated an association between estrogen replacement therapy and endometrial carcinoma, a true cause‐and‐effect relationship has not been established. Thus, estrogen replacement therapy should be administered carefully, considering the risk/benefit ratio for each individual, and should use the smallest dose necessary to achieve the desired effect. If irregular bleeding occurs before or during estrogen administration, a complete gynecologic examination (including a histologic examination of the endometrium) is mandatory.
Protective Immunity against Recurrent Staphylococcus aureus Skin Infection Requires Antibody and Interleukin-17A

ABSTRACT Although many microbial infections elicit an adaptive immune response that can protect against reinfection, it is generally thought that Staphylococcus aureus infections fail to generate protective immunity despite detectable T and B cell responses. No vaccine is yet proven to prevent S. aureus infections in humans, and efforts to develop one have been hampered by a lack of animal models in which protective immunity occurs. Our results describe a novel mouse model of protective immunity against recurrent infection, in which S. aureus skin and soft tissue infection (SSTI) strongly protected against secondary SSTI in BALB/c mice but much less so in C57BL/6 mice. This protection was dependent on antibody, because adoptive transfer of immune BALB/c serum or purified antibody into either BALB/c or C57BL/6 mice resulted in smaller skin lesions. We also identified an antibody-independent mechanism, because B cell-deficient mice were partially protected against secondary S. aureus SSTI and adoptive transfer of T cells from immune BALB/c mice resulted in smaller lesions upon primary infection. Furthermore, neutralization of interleukin-17A (IL-17A) abolished T cell-mediated protection in BALB/c mice, whereas neutralization of gamma interferon (IFN-γ) enhanced protection in C57BL/6 mice. Therefore, protective immunity against recurrent S. aureus SSTI was advanced by antibody and the Th17/IL-17A pathway and prevented by the Th1/IFN-γ pathway, suggesting that targeting both cell-mediated and humoral immunity might optimally protect against secondary S. aureus SSTI. These findings also highlight the importance of the mouse genetic background in the development of protective immunity against S. aureus SSTI.
Experimental autoimmune anterior uveitis. Induction with melanin-associated antigen from the iris and ciliary body.

PURPOSE This study was designed to investigate an animal model of uveitis that resembles anterior uveitis in humans after immunization with iris-ciliary body antigen. METHODS Male Lewis rats 6 to 8 weeks of age were immunized with the buffer- and detergent-insoluble bovine iris-ciliary body antigen mixed with complete Freund's adjuvant and pertussis toxin. Antigen was digested with various proteolytic enzymes and tested in different rodent strains for a uveitogenic response. RESULTS Acute iridocyclitis developed in both eyes of the Lewis rat during the second week after immunization, and the pattern of inflammation was similar to acute anterior uveitis in humans, with sudden onset, localization to the anterior uvea, and spontaneous resolution. Among the strains tested, F344 rats were susceptible to experimental autoimmune anterior uveitis but Long-Evans rats were not. Experimental autoimmune anterior uveitis did not develop in any of the mice studied, nor was it induced by immunization with synthetic melanin, amelanotic bovine tissues, pigmented bovine skin, or pigmented rat and rabbit iris-ciliary body. A soluble fraction derived from bovine melanin-associated antigen (BMAA) after digestion with the proteolytic enzyme V8 protease resulted in a disease similar to that observed with intact BMAA. CONCLUSIONS A model of anterior uveitis has been induced in the Lewis rat after immunization with bovine uveal antigen, and it resembles the acute iridocyclitis observed in humans. These results suggest that the pathogenic antigen is a melanin-associated protein(s) present within the iris-ciliary body.
Chromosomal aberrations of primary lung adenocarcinomas in nonsmokers

Lung carcinoma is a common malignancy, and tobacco carcinogenesis is the major cause. Studies on individual genes or loci have suggested, that in tumors from nonsmokers, different genetic alterations are present compared with tumors from smokers. It is possible that distinct genetic pathways may be involved. However, the targets remain largely unknown; and, to the authors' knowledge, molecular cytogenetics studies on lung carcinomas from nonsmokers have not been reported.
Public health measures to control the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome during the outbreak in Toronto.

BACKGROUND Toronto was the site of North America's largest outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). An understanding of the patterns of transmission and the effects on public health in relation to control measures that were taken will help health officials prepare for any future outbreaks. METHODS We analyzed SARS case, quarantine, and hotline records in relation to control measures. The two phases of the outbreak were compared. RESULTS Toronto Public Health investigated 2132 potential cases of SARS, identified 23,103 contacts of SARS patients as requiring quarantine, and logged 316,615 calls on its SARS hotline. In Toronto, 225 residents met the case definition of SARS, and all but 3 travel-related cases were linked to the index patient, from Hong Kong. SARS spread to 11 (58 percent) of Toronto's acute care hospitals. Unrecognized SARS among in-patients with underlying illness caused a resurgence, or a second phase, of the outbreak, which was finally controlled through active surveillance of hospitalized patients. In response to the control measures of Toronto Public Health, the number of persons who were exposed to SARS in nonhospital and nonhousehold settings dropped from 20 (13 percent) before the control measures were instituted (phase 1) to 0 afterward (phase 2). The number of patients who were exposed while in a hospital ward rose from 25 (17 percent) in phase 1 to 68 (88 percent) in phase 2, and the number exposed while in the intensive care unit dropped from 13 (9 percent) in phase 1 to 0 in phase 2. Community spread (the length of the chains of transmission outside of hospital settings) was significantly reduced in phase 2 of the outbreak (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS The transmission of SARS in Toronto was limited primarily to hospitals and to households that had had contact with patients. For every case of SARS, health authorities should expect to quarantine up to 100 contacts of the patients and to investigate 8 possible cases. During an outbreak, active in-hospital surveillance for SARS-like illnesses and heightened infection-control measures are essential.
Tendencias mundiales de desigualdad de ingreso en términos absolutos y relativos

This paper provides an overview of historic worldwide trends in relative and absolute income inequality. Depending on the concept used, inequality trends differ considerably. Inequality between countries increased strongly during 1820-2000 and started decreasing at the beginning of the twenty-first century, whether measured in relative or absolute terms. Within-country inequality, on the contrary, grew especially strongly during the last decades: Its growth rate accelerated after 1950 in absolute terms and after 1975 in relative terms. Absolute global inequality also increased substantially in the post-1950 period, whereas relative global inequality decreased slightly during this period.
How Much Does Teacher Quality Vary Across Teacher Preparation Programs? Reanalyses From Six States

At least sixteen US states have taken steps toward holding teacher preparation programs (TPPs) accountable for teacher value-added to student test scores. Yet it is unclear whether teacher quality differences between TPPs are large enough to make an accountability system worthwhile. Several statistical practices can make differences between TPPs appear larger and more significant than they are. We reanalyze TPP evaluations from 6 states-New York, Louisiana, Missouri, Washington, Texas, and Florida-using appropriate methods implemented by our new caterpillar command for Stata. Our results show that teacher quality differences between most TPPs are negligible-. 01-0.03 standard deviations in student test scores-even in states where larger differences were reported previously. While ranking all a state's TPPs is not useful, in some states and subjects we can find a single TPP whose teachers are significantly above or below average. Such exceptional TPPs may reward further study.
Estimation of total kidney volume in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND In autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), obtaining measured total kidney volume (mTKV) by magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and manual tracing is time consuming. Two alternative MR imaging methods have recently been proposed to estimate TKV (eTKVellipsoid and eTKVPANK), which require less time. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional and longitudinal diagnostic test study. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS Patients with ADPKD with a wide range of kidney function and an approved T2-weighted MR image obtained at the University Medical Centers of Groningen, Leiden, Nijmegen, and Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in 2007 to 2014. Test set for assessing reproducibility, n=10; cohort for cross-sectional analyses, n=220; and cohort for longitudinal analyses, n=48. INDEX TESTS Average times for eTKVellipsoid and eTKVPANK were 5 and 15 minutes, respectively. Bias is defined as (mTKV - eTKV)/mTKV × 100%; precision, as one standard deviation of bias. REFERENCE TESTS mTKV using manual tracing to calculate the area within kidney boundaries times slice thickness. Average time for mTKV was 55 minutes. RESULTS In the test set, intra- and intercoefficients of variation for mTKV, eTKVellipsoid, and eTKVPANK were 1.8% and 2.3%, 3.9% and 6.3%, and 3.0% and 3.4%, respectively. In cross-sectional analysis, baseline mTKV, eTKVellipsoid, and eTKVPANK were 1.96 (IQR, 1.28-2.82), 1.93 (IQR, 1.25-2.82), and 1.81 (IQR, 1.17-2.62) L, respectively. In cross-sectional analysis, bias was 0.02% ± 3.2%, 1.4% ± 9.2%, and 4.6% ± 7.6% for repeat mTKV, eTKVellipsoid, and eTKVPANK, respectively. In longitudinal analysis, no significant differences were observed between percentage change in mTKV (16.7% ± 17.1%) and percentage change in eTKVellipsoid (19.3% ± 16.1%) and eTKVPANK (17.8% ± 16.1%) over 3 years. LIMITATIONS Results for follow-up data should be interpreted with caution because of the limited number of patients. CONCLUSIONS Both methods for eTKV perform relatively well compared to mTKV and can detect change in TKV over time. Because eTKVellipsoid requires less time than eTKVPANK, we suggest that this method may be preferable in clinical care.
A haplotype of the CYP4A11 gene associated with essential hypertension in Japanese men

Objective CYP4A11, a member of the cytochrome P450 family, acts mainly as an enzyme that converts arachidonic acid to 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid, a metabolite involved in blood pressure regulation in humans. Disruption of the murine cyp4a14 and cyp4a10 genes, homologues of human CYP4A11, was reported recently to cause hypertension. The gene-disrupted male mice had higher blood pressure than the gene-disrupted female mice. The present study aimed to assess the association between the human CYP4A11 gene and essential hypertension, using a haplotype-based case–control study including separate analysis of the gender groups. Methods The 304 essential hypertension patients and 207 age-matched control individuals were genotyped for three single-nucleotide polymorphisms of the human CYP4A11 gene (rs2269231, rs1126742, rs9333025). Data were assessed for three separate groups: total participants, men and women. Results For total participants, the genotypic distribution of rs1126742 differed significantly between the two groups (P = 0.005). For total participants, men and women, the recessive model (CC versus TC + TT) of rs1126742 differed significantly between the two groups (P = 0.007, P = 0.043, and P = 0.045, respectively). Logistic regression analysis showed the TC + TT genotype was significantly higher in essential hypertension patients than in control individuals for total participants and men (P = 0.022 and P = 0.043, respectively). The A-T-G haplotype frequency (established by rs2269231, rs1126742, rs9333025) was significantly higher in essential hypertension men than in control men (P = 0.043). Conclusions Essential hypertension is associated with the TC + TT genotype of rs1126742 in the human CYP4A11 gene. The A-T-G haplotype appears a useful genetic marker of essential hypertension in Japanese men.
Localization of the major antigenic determinant of EDP208 pili at the N-terminus of the pilus protein

Trypsin digestion of pilin monomers from EDP208 conjugative pili causes cleavage of Lys12 to yield an N-terminal dodecapeptide, ET1 (Mr approximately equal to 1,500), and the remaining C-terminal fragment, ER (Mr approximately equal to 10,000). Using the amino acid sequence for ET1 provided by Frost et al. (J. Bacteriol. 153:950-954), we synthesized the N-terminal dodecapeptide chemically, conjugated it to bovine serum albumin, and subjected it to immunological studies. Antisera prepared against intact EDP208 pili as well as against the synthetic ET1-BSA conjugate were used in experiments involving an enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay and electrophoretic transfer of proteins from sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels to nitrocellulose sheets. Both experimental approaches showed strong reactivity between the synthetic dodecapeptide and antiserum raised against whole pili. It was also found that antiserum raised against the synthetic peptide was reactive against intact pilus protein, indicating that the N-terminal dodecapeptide is an important antigenic determinant of the EDP208 pilus protein. Additional studies showed that the C-terminal fragment, ER, may contain one or two additional antigenic sites.
Regulation of pp60c-src synthesis by inducible RNA complementary to c-src mRNA in polyomavirus-transformed rat cells

To determine the potential role of pp60c-src in polyomavirus-transformed cells, we constructed a recombinant plasmid with the mouse metallothionein-I promoter upstream of a src gene in an anti-sense orientation. We cotransfected this plasmid into middle tumor antigen-transformed FR3T3 cells with a plasmid containing the neomycin resistance gene, and G418 resistant colonies were selected. Analysis of these cells for pp60c-src expression revealed that 50 of the 200 cellular clones screened were found to have decreased levels of c-src expression when compared with the parental middle tumor antigen-transformed cells. Three independent clones which transcribed the expected 3.6-kilobase src complementary RNA and had levels of pp60c-src kinase activity comparable to that of normal FR3T3 cells were further analyzed. In the presence of Cd2+, these clones grew significantly slower in monolayer cultures than either the parental transformed cells (FR18-1) or FR18-1 cells transfected with the neomycin resistance gene alone. The morphology of these clones in the presence of Cd2+ was distinct from that of either the parental FR18-1 cells or normal FR3T3 cells. The clones expressing the complementary src RNA were found to form fewer colonies in soft agar, form fewer foci on monolayers of normal rat cells, and form tumors more slowly following injection into syngenic rats when compared with parental FR18-1 cells. The results of these studies suggest that the level of pp60c-src kinase activity affects the growth characteristics and transformation properties of polyoma virus-transformed rat cells.
The Effects of Transitional Challenges on Ninth Grade School Dropouts

The Effects of Transitional Challenges on Ninth-Grade School Dropouts by Merlene Leona Jones MA, University of the United States Virgin Islands, 2001 BA, University of the United States Virgin Islands, 1993 Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education Walden University May 2017
Tornado Warning Response and Perceptions among Undergraduates in Nebraska

AbstractFew studies show how university students perceive and respond to tornado warnings. Lacking in the literature are investigations of what influences perceptions of tornado risk among this population and how these perceptions may influence actions. Through an online survey of 640 undergraduates enrolled at a large university in Nebraska, significant relationships were found between student demographics, perceptions, and response actions. Tornado mythology relevant to the local city influenced perceptions so that students felt the city was less at risk than surrounding rural land. Confirming risk before sheltering remained popular, with some students choosing to never seek shelter during a warning. International students were more likely to initially seek shelter during a warning but had difficulty interpreting warning polygons or accurately choosing the best safety actions. Tornado-related education resulted in international students being more likely to have safety plans and shelter in more appropri.
Site of Action of Intravenous Regional Anesthesia

The principal site of action of intravenous regional anesthesia was studied using both prilocaine HCl 0.5% and technetium pertechnetate to define their distribution in the upper limb during this method of anesthesia. Using a single upper arm tourniquet and injecting technetium pertechnetate into a cubital fossa vein, the isotope spread to the finger tips. When a double tourniquet system was used to isolate the hand from the forearm, the following results were obtained: for up to 20 min after injection of the 40 ml of normal saline and radioisotope there was no leakage into the general circulation nor into the hand; after injection of 40 ml prilocaine HCl 0.5% into a cubital fossa vein, there was no anesthesia in the hand except for a small area on the dorsum corresponding to the area of sensory distribution of the radial nerve; while the tourniquets were inflated there was cramping pain in the hand. The results indicate that the initial analgesia obtained with the intravenous regional technique was due to blockade of small nerves or possibly nerve endings and not of the major nerve trunks at the elbow as has been suggested previously.