Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Blue light (470 nm) effectively inhibits bacterial and fungal growth

Blue light (470 nm) LED antimicrobial properties were studied alone against bacteria and with or without the food grade photosensitizer, erythrosine (ERY) against filamentous fungi. Leuconostoc mesenteroides (LM), Bacillus atrophaeus (BA) or Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) aliquots were exposed on nutrient agar plates to Array 1 (AR1, 0·2 mW cm−2) or Array 2 (AR2, 80 mW cm−2), which emitted impure or pure blue light (0–300 J cm−2), respectively. Inoculated control (room light only) plates were incubated (48 h) and colonies enumerated. The antifungal properties of blue light combined with ERY (11·4 and 22·8 μmol l−1) on Penicillium digitatum (PD) and Fusarium graminearum (FG) conidia were determined. Conidial controls consisted of: no light, room light‐treated conidia and ERY plus room light. Light‐treated (ERY + blue light) conidial samples were exposed only to AR2 (0–100 J cm−2), aliquots spread on potato dextrose agar plates, incubated (48 h, 30°C) and colonies counted. Blue light alone significantly reduced bacterial and FG viability. Combined with ERY, it significantly reduced PD viability. Blue light is lethal to bacteria and filamentous fungi although effectiveness is dependent on light purity, energy levels and microbial genus.
Intestine Transplantation in the United States, 1999–2008

Improving short‐term results with intestine transplantation have allowed more patients to benefit with nearly 700 patients alive in the United States with a functioning allograft at the end of 2007. This success has led to an increase in demand. Time to transplant and waiting list mortality have significantly improved over the decade, but mortality remains high, especially for infants and adults with concomitant liver failure. The approximately 200 intestines recovered annually from deceased donors represent less than 3% of donors who have at least one organ recovered. Consent practice varies widely by OPTN region. Opportunities for improving intestine recovery and utilization include improving consent rates and standardizing donor selection criteria. One‐year patient and intestine graft survival is 89% and 79% for intestine‐only recipients and 72% and 69% for liver‐intestine recipients, respectively. By 10 years, patient and intestine survival falls to 46% and 29% for intestine‐only recipients, and 42% and 39% for liver‐intestine, respectively. Immunosuppression practice employs peri‐operative antibody induction therapy in 60% of cases; acute rejection is reported in 30%–40% of recipients at one year. Data on long‐term nutritional outcomes and morbidities are limited, while the cause and therapy for late graft loss from chronic rejection are areas of ongoing investigation.
Testicular Development in Male Rats Is Sensitive to a Soy-Based Diet in the Neonatal Period1

ABSTRACT Approximately 30% of infants in the United States are exposed to high doses of isoflavones resulting from soy infant formula consumption. Soybeans contain the isoflavones genistin and daidzin, which are hydrolyzed in the gastrointestinal tract to their genistein and daidzein aglycones. Both aglycones possess hormonal activity and may interfere with male reproductive development. Testosterone, which supports male fertility, is mainly produced by testicular Leydig cells. Our previous studies indicated that perinatal exposure of male rats to isoflavones induced proliferative activity in Leydig cells and increased testosterone concentrations into adulthood. However, the relevance of the neonatal period as part of the perinatal window of isoflavone exposure remains to be established. The present study examined the effects of exposure to isoflavones on male offspring of dams maintained on a casein-based control or whole soybean diet in the neonatal period, that is, Days 2 to 21 postpartum. The results showed that the soybean diet stimulated proliferative activity in developing Leydig cells while suppressing their steroidogenic capacity in adulthood. In addition, isoflavone exposure decreased production of anti-Müllerian hormone by Sertoli cells. Similar to our previous in vitro studies of genistein action in Leydig cells, daidzein induced proliferation and interfered with signaling pathways to suppress steroidogenic activity. Overall, the data showed that the neonatal period is a sensitive window of exposure to isoflavones and support the view that both genistein and daidzein are responsible for biological effects associated with soy-based diets.
Risk assessment of organoleptic postmortem inspection procedures for pigs

A systematic quantification of foodborne hazards in abnormal and normal tissues of pig carcases was undertaken to provide a risk-based assessment of the effectiveness of traditional organoleptic meat inspection. A total of 36,059 pigs, representing all major pig-producing areas and systems in Australia, were inspected on a seasonal basis at three abattoirs over 12 months. The prevalence of grossly detectable abnormalities of possible food-borne disease significance was recorded. A subset of the grossly detectable abnormalities, together with tissues classified by inspection as normal (controls) were submitted for the detection of a broad range of food-borne hazards. The potential exposure of consumers to hazards in fresh pork was characterised as the number of carcases per 10,000 containing hazards in selected tissues. The results indicated that the level of exposure of consumers to microbiological hazards in fresh pork is unlikely to be reduced significantly by the detection and removal of gross abnormalities in the tissues examined. On the basis of carcase throughput, the rate of contamination of normal lymph nodes was commonly 100 times higher, and no hazards were isolated from two types of grossly abnormal nodes. While further processing, cooking and handling may alter the exposure characterisation, the study nevertheless identifies the proportional contribution of abnormal and normal tissues to risks to consumers and clearly identifies the need for consideration of 'visual only' inspection in the re-evaluation of traditional inspection procedures.
A comparison between p53 accumulation determined by immunohistochemistry and TP53 mutations as prognostic variables in tumours from breast cancer patients

Background. p53 accumulation and TP53 mutations are known prognostic markers for breast cancer. To clarify their interrelationship and the importance of different TP53 mutation types, these markers were investigated in tumours from 630 patients with breast cancer. Materials and methods. Tumour sections were stained for p53 and scored based on staining intensity and percentages of invasive tumour cells with nuclear staining. TP53 mutations were identified by sequencing. Patient cohorts were from the DBCG (Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group) protocols DBCG82 and DBCG89. Results. TP53 was mutated in 29% of the patients. The disease-specific survival (DSS) at 15 years of follow-up for patients with missense mutations directly involved in DNA or zinc binding was 21±8%. Patients with the remaining missense mutations within the structural/conserved domains and patients with null mutations had a DSS of 36±6% and 31±17%, respectively. For patients without TP53 mutations and patients with mutations affecting amino acids outside these domains, the 15 year DSS was 51±3% and 71±10%, respectively. p53 accumulation was successfully scored in 567 patients and categorized into three groups. Tumours with no p53 expression had a high frequency of null mutations (37% compared to 10% in the whole cohort), and tumours with high p53 expression contained 82% of the missense mutations inside structural/conserved domains including those directly involved in DNA or zinc binding. Conclusion. The clinical outcome for breast cancer patients is significantly different for different TP53 mutation types, but further functional studies are required to clarify the exact role of these mutation types. Most of the mutations that lead to mutant p53 protein accumulation can be detected by immunohistochemistry but the specificity is low. Samples showing lack of detectable p53 protein should be considered as an indication of a possible null mutation.
Impact of economic crisis on the social representation of mental health: Analysis of a decade of newspaper coverage

Background: Mass media plays a fundamental role in how communities understand mental health and its treatment. However, the effect of major events such as economic crises on the depiction of mental health is still unclear. Aims: This study aimed at analyzing representations of mental health and its treatment and the impact of the 2008 economic crisis. Methods: In total, 1,000 articles were randomly selected from two newspapers from a period before and after the economic crisis. These articles were analyzed with a closed coding system that classified the news as good or bad news according to the presence of themes associated with positive or stigmatizing representations. Results: The results show a positive representation of mental health and a negative representation of treatment. Furthermore, the economic crisis had a negative impact on the representation of mental health, but not on treatment. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the representation of mental health is multifaceted and may be affected differently in its dimensions. There is a need for stigma-reducing interventions that both account for this complexity and are sensitive to context and period.
Artificial Selection on Metabolic Rates and Related Traits in Rodents1

Abstract Artificial selection experiments are potentially powerful, yet under-utilized tool of evolutionary and physiological ecology. Here we analyze and review three important aspects of such experiments. First, we consider the effects of instrumental measurement errors and random fluctuations of body mass on the total phenotypic variation. We illustrate this with the analysis of measurements of oxygen consumption in an open-flow respirometry set-ups. We conclude that measurement errors and fluctuations of body mass are likely to reduce the repeatability of oxygen consumption by about one third. Using published estimates of repeatability of metabolic rates we also showed that it does not tend to decline with increasing time between measurements. Second, we review data on narrow sense heritability (h2) of metabolic rates in mammals. The results are equivocal: many studies report very low (∼0.1) h2, whereas some recent studies (including our own estimates of h2 in laboratory mice, obtained by means of parent-offspring regression) report significant h2 ≥ 0.4. Finally, we discuss consequences of the lack of replicated lines in artificial selection experiments. We focus on the confounding effect of genetic drift on statistical inferences related to primary (selected) and secondary (correlated) traits, in the absence of replications. We review literature data and analyze them following the guidelines formulated by Henderson (1989, 1997). We conclude that most results obtained in unreplicated experiments are probably robust enough to ascribe them to the effect of selection, rather than genetic drift. However, Henderson's guidelines by no means should be treated as a legitimate substitute of the analysis of variance, based on replicated lines.
Covered stents in aortoiliac occlusive disease

Objective: Kissing stents (KS) are commonly used to treat aortoiliac occlusive disease, but patency results are often lower than those of isolated stents. The Covered Endovascular Reconstruction of the Aortic bifurcation (CERAB) technique was recently introduced to reconstruct the aortic bifurcation in a more anatomical and physiological fashion. The aim of this study is to compare the geometrical consequences of various stent configurations in vitro. Methods: Anatomic vessel phantoms of the aortoiliac bifurcation were created to accommodate stent configurations. Self expandable nitinol KS, balloon expandable covered KS and two versions of the CERAB configuration were deployed, one with the iliac legs positioned inside the tapered part of the aortic cuff (1) and one with the legs deployed above this level (2). Computer tomography data were obtained to assess the geometry. The conformation ratio (D-ratio) was calculated using the ratio of the major and minor axis. The proximal mismatch area, mean mismatch area and total mismatch volume were calculated. Results: The highest D-ratios were observed in the nitinol KS and the CERAB configuration, implying an ideal ‘double-D’ shape. The proximal and mean mismatch areas were 4 to 6-fold lower in the CERAB-1 configuration when compared to nitinol KS and CERAB-2, respectively, while the covered KS had the highest mismatch area. Nitinol and covered KS had the largest mismatch volume, while the mismatch volume was the lowest in the CERAB-1 configuration. Conclusions: Although, nitinol self expandable stents have a high stent conformation, the lowest radial mismatch was found in the CERAB-2 configuration, supporting the hypothesis that the CERAB configuration is the most anatomical and physiological reconstruction of the aortic bifurcation. Within the CERAB configuration, the two limbs are ideally positioned inside the tapering portion of the cuff, minimizing mismatch.
Novel Markers for the Prospective Isolation of Human MSC

Abstract: The isolation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) from primary tissue is hampered by the limited selectivity of available markers. So far, CD271 is one of the most specific markers for bone marrow (BM)‐derived MSC. In search of additional markers, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) with specificity for immature cells were screened by flow cytometry for their specific reactivity with the rare CD271+ population. The recognized CD271+ populations were fractionated by fluorescence‐activated cell sorting and the clonogenic capacity of the sorted cells was analyzed for their ability to give rise to CFU‐F. The results showed that only the CD271bright but not the CD271dim population contained CFU‐F. Two‐color flow cytometry analysis revealed that only the CD271bright population was positive for the established MSC markers CD10, CD13, CD73, and CD105. In addition, a variety of mAbs specific for novel and partially unknown antigens selectively recognized the CD271bright population but no other BM cells. The new MSC‐specific molecules included the platelet‐derived growth factor receptor‐β (CD140b), HER‐2/erbB2 (CD340), frizzled‐9 (CD349), the recently described W8B2 antigen, as well as cell‐surface antigens defined by the antibodies W1C3, W3D5, W4A5, W5C4, W5C5, W7C6, 9A3, 58B1, F9‐3C2F1, and HEK‐3D6. In conclusion, the described markers are suitable for the prospective isolation of highly purified BM‐MSC. These MSC may be used as an improved starting population for transplantation in diseases like osteogenesis imperfecta, cartilage repair, and myocardial infarction.
Fetal and neonatal involvement in maternal rheumatologic disease

Abstract A pregnancy complicated with rheumatologic diseases can have various influences on the fetus and/or neonate. Maternal systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) may cause preterm and/or small for gestational age (SGA) delivery and neonatal lupus (NL). Some neonates with NL have congenital heart block (CHB) with increased morbidity and mortality, even requiring pacemakers. Antiphospholipid syndrome may occur with SLE and affect fetal and/or neonatal outcomes. Pregnancy involving primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS) tends to result in preterm delivery and low birthweight infants. Moreover, CHB is the most challenging complication for neonates delivered by women with pSS. Pregnant women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are at an increased risk for delivering a preterm or SGA neonate. In addition, RA drugs may have adverse effects on the fetus and breast-fed neonate. With dermatomyositis/polymyositis, pregnancies are at increased risk for spontaneous abortion, perinatal death, and preterm delivery. At present, overall neonatal survival rates are good for pregnancies involving systemic sclerosis, despite an increased frequency of premature and SGA neonates. In conclusion, maternal rheumatological diseases require careful monitoring to ensure the best possible management for fetal and neonatal outcomes.
Contour integration deficits in anisometropic amblyopia.

PURPOSE Previous retrospective studies have found that integration of orientation information along contours defined by Gabor patches is abnormal in strabismic, but not in anisometropic, amblyopia. This study was conducted to reexamine the question of whether anisometropic amblyopes have contour integration deficits prospectively in an untreated sample, to isolate the effects of the disease from the effects of prior treatment-factors that may have confounded the results in previous retrospective studies. METHODS Contour detection thresholds, optotype acuity, and stereoacuity were measured in a group of 19 newly diagnosed anisometropic amblyopes before initiation of occlusion therapy. Contour detection thresholds were measured using a card-based procedure. RESULTS Significant interocular differences in contour detection thresholds were present in 14 of the 19 patients with anisometropic amblyopia. CONCLUSIONS Contour integration deficits are a common, but not universal, finding in untreated anisometropic amblyopia. Differences in the prevalence of contour integration deficits between the present study and that of another study may lie in differences in treatment history and/or in the sensitivity of the two different contour integration tasks.
Emotional reactions and practical problems of the caregivers of hemodialysed patients.

BACKGROUND The international literature consistently shows that the psychosocial outcomes of the informal carers (caregivers) of chronically ill patients are influenced by factors such as personality traits and perceived social support, but few studies have investigated these variables in the caregivers of hemodialysed patients, and the reciprocal experience of chronicity. METHODS Fifty hemodialysed patients and their principal caregivers were recruited. They were administered specific questionnaires to evaluate their emotional stability and anxious/depressive reactions, the perceived burden related to the patients' condition, the quality of their family relationships and knowledge of the disease, and the degree of satisfaction with their lives. The study design was correlational and comparative. The data were analysed using Student's t test and Pearson's correlation. RESULTS The patients were significantly more anxious and depressed than their caregivers, and had a more negative perception of their family relationships; they also had significantly higher neuroticism scores. Although the caregivers showed good emotional stability and a relatively low level of perceived burden, they stated that their daily lives were not very interesting and involved few social contacts. Twenty-five percent of them declared that they had financial problems; twelve percent also said they had to face problems of disease-related stigma and embarrassment. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that emotional stability is an important psychological determinant of perceived distress among the caregivers of hemodialysed patients. Assessing this personality trait and the reciprocal experience of chronicity in patients and caregivers may help nephrology teams identify subjects at major psychological risk, and to select the appropriate psychological support.
The induction of Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigote to amastigote transformation by low pH

SUMMARY Following cell invasion, Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigotes transform into amastigotes, which are the mammalian replicative forms of the parasite. Although amastigotes represent a critical stage in the life-cycle of T. cruzi, little is known of the factors controlling trypomastigote to amastigote transformation. Kanbera et al. (1990) observed that exposure of trypomastigotes to acidic pH induced their transformation into rounded forms resembling amastigotes. We confirm their observation and, using two strains of T. cruzi, establish that these transformants are ultrastructurally and biochemically indistinguishable from natural amastigotes. Incubation of trypomastigotes in medium at pH 5·0 for 2 h was sufficient to trigger their transformation into forms resembling amastigotes. Electron microscopical analysis confirmed that the kinetoplast structure, and general morphological features of the acid-induced, extracellular amastigotes were indistinguishable from those of intracellular-derived amastigotes. The extracellular transformation was accompanied by the acquisition of the stage-specific surface antigen of the naturally transformed amastigotes (Ssp-4), and loss of a stagespecific trypomastigote antigen (Ssp-3). Trypomastigotes incubated at neutral pH did not transform into amastigotes, and did not acquire the Ssp-4 epitope or lose the Ssp-3 epitope. Finally, acid-induced amastigotes subsequently incorporated [3H]thymidine into their DNA, indicating that the important replicative property of intracellular amastigotes is also exhibited by these in vitro transformants. This effect of low pH appears to be of physiological relevance, and acid-induced extracellular transformation appears to represent a valid experimental technique for studies of the molecular mechanisms involved in the differentiation process.
Phosphorus equivalence of a Consensus phytase produced by Hansenula polymorpha in diets for young turkeys

An experiment was conducted to determine the efficacy of a so-called consensus phytase preparation produced by Hansenula polymorpha on growth, tibia and toe ash and P retention of young turkeys. A total of 192 female turkeys (BUT 9 strain) were placed into 96 batteries at two per cage and assigned to one of eight diets: A negative control containing 2.5 g non-phytate P per kg feed (T-1); T-1 plus 125, 250, 500, 1000 or 10 000 phytase units (U) per kg feed, respectively, (T-2 to T-6); T-1 plus 0.5 or 1.0 g P i /kg feed as dicalcium phosphate dihydrate (DCP), respectively, (T-7 and 8). The experiment lasted 32 d, and excreta were collected and weighed between 26 and 29 d of age. Feed was also weighed during this period in order to calculate P retention. Performance was calculated for the 0 to 32 d period. At the end of the experiment one bird per pen was killed for tibia and toe ash content determination, except for T-2, T-3, and T-7. Body weight, FCR, toe and tibia ash, and P retention responded to phytase or P i supplementation. Using linear or quadratic models for comparing performance of the treatments containing supplemental P i with phytase treatments, an equivalence between phytase and P i was calculated. Body weight, toe ash, tibia ash and P retention showed a significant response to phytase supplementation. The values of equivalence for body weight, toe ash, tibia ash and P retention were 251, 597, 391 and 390 U to 1 g P i /kg feed. At 10 000 U/kg feed there was a significant response in terms of weight gain and P retention, indicating that turkeys respond to levels greater than 1 000 U/kg feed.