Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition changes the metabolic response to neuroglucopenic stress

Neuroglucopenia induced by 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) activates hypothalamic glucoreceptors leading to increased hepatic glucose production and insulin inhibition. This response is similar to what is observed with intravenous injection of angiotensin II (Ang II). However, the involvement of an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor on neuroglucopenia has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of chronic enalapril treatment on plasma glucose, insulin and lipid levels in response to neuroglucopenia. Male Holtzman rats (120—170 g) were chronically treated with enalapril (10 mg/kg per day) in the drinking water for two weeks. On the day of experiment the animals received an i.v. enalapril final dose one hour before the neuroglucopenic stress by 2DG infusion (500 mg/kg), and blood samples were drawn before and 5, 10, 20, 30 and 60 minutes following infusion. The hyperglycaemic response to 2DG was not significantly changed by enalapril treatment. The enalapril-treated group exhibited a peak of plasma insulin higher than controls. Plasma triglyceride showed a significant increase only in the enalapril group after neuroglucopenic stress (p < 0.05). These data show that chronic enalapril treatment changes insulin and triglyceride responses to neuroglucopenia, suggesting an effect on glucose-induced insulin secretion and the storage of triglycerides.
Genomic Diversity and Virulence Profiles of Historical Escherichia coli O157 Strains Isolated from Clinical and Environmental Sources

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli O157:H7 is, to date, the major E. coli serotype causing food-borne human disease worldwide. Strains of O157 with other H antigens also have been recovered. We analyzed a collection of historic O157 strains (n = 400) isolated in the late 1980s to early 1990s in the United States. Strains were predominantly serotype O157:H7 (55%), and various O157:non-H7 (41%) serotypes were not previously reported regarding their pathogenic potential. Although lacking Shiga toxin (stx) and eae genes, serotypes O157:H1, O157:H2, O157:H11, O157:H42, and O157:H43 carried several virulence factors (iha, terD, and hlyA) also found in virulent serotype E. coli O157:H7. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) showed the O157 serogroup was diverse, with strains with the same H type clustering together closely. Among non-H7 isolates, serotype O157:H43 was highly prevalent (65%) and carried important enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) virulence markers (iha, terD, hlyA, and espP). Isolates from two particular H types, H2 and H11, among the most commonly found non-O157 EHEC serotypes (O26:H11, O111:H11, O103:H2/H11, and O45:H2), unexpectedly clustered more closely with O157:H7 than other H types and carried several virulence genes. This suggests an early divergence of the O157 serogroup to clades with different pathogenic potentials. The appearance of important EHEC virulence markers in closely related H types suggests their virulence potential and suggests further monitoring of those serotypes not implicated in severe illness thus far.
Antioxidant properties of Indian propolis

Antioxidant properties of total ethanolic extract of Indian propolis were investigated in this study, and the antioxidant activity of hexane soluble portion, ethyl acetate soluble portion and ethanol soluble portion of the crude propolis were also determind. Although the alcoholic extract (TEEP) showed moderate antioxidant activity, it was found that ethyl acetate soluble fraction of propolis (EAFP) exhibited superior antioxidant activity to the activity of trolox at the same concentration. Also it showed the maximum DPPH scavenging activity (81%) and NO radical scavenging activity (60%) as compared to the other formulations which were higher. The ethyl acetate soluble fraction was found to exhibit strongest trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity and other free radical scavenging activities. From IC50 values it was deduced that antioxidant compounds were located in the ethyl acetate soluble fraction. Thus Indian propolis was shown to act as a natural antioxidant; these properties may make it useful for pharmaceutical industries and as a food supplement.
Avian Migrants Facilitate Invasions of Neotropical Ticks and Tick-Borne Pathogens into the United States

ABSTRACT Migratory birds have the potential to transport exotic vectors and pathogens of human and animal health importance across vast distances. We systematically examined birds that recently migrated to the United States from the Neotropics for ticks. We screened both ticks and birds for tick-borne pathogens, including Rickettsia species and Borrelia burgdorferi. Over two spring seasons (2013 and 2014), 3.56% of birds (n = 3,844) representing 42.35% of the species examined (n = 85) were infested by ticks. Ground-foraging birds with reduced fuel stores were most commonly infested. Eight tick species were identified, including seven in the genus Amblyomma, of which only Amblyomma maculatum/Amblyomma triste is known to be established in the United States. Most ticks on birds (67%) were neotropical species with ranges in Central and South America. Additionally, a single Ixodes genus tick was detected. A total of 29% of the ticks (n = 137) and no avian blood samples (n = 100) were positive for infection with Rickettsia species, including Rickettsia parkeri, an emerging cause of spotted fever in humans in the southern United States, a species in the group of Rickettsia monacensis, and uncharacterized species and endosymbionts of unknown pathogenicity. No avian tick or blood samples tested positive for B. burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of Lyme disease. An extrapolation of our findings suggests that anywhere from 4 to 39 million exotic neotropical ticks are transported to the United States annually on migratory songbirds, with uncertain consequences for human and animal health if the current barriers to their establishment and spread are overcome.
Attenuating effect of lisinopril and telmisartan in intracerebroventricular streptozotocin induced experimental dementia of Alzheimer’s disease type: possible involvement of PPAR-γ agonistic property

This study investigates the beneficial role of lisinopril, an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) and telmisartan, an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB), in intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) streptozotocin (STZ) induced dementia of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) type in mice. This study also aimed to explore the role of PPAR-γ in lisinopril and telmisartan mediated effects in i.c. v. STZ mice. Donepezil served as the positive control in the study. Mice underwent i.c. v. injection of STZ. The Morris water maze (MWM) test was employed for assessment of learning and memory. Various biochemical estimations, namely brain acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, nitrite/nitrate and thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS) levels and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels, were also performed. The study showed that i.c. v. STZ significantly impaired learning and memory of the animals along with a significant enhancement in brain AChE, MPO, TBARS, nitrite/nitrate levels and reduction in brain GSH levels. Treatments of lisinopril/telmisartan/donepezil significantly attenuated STZ induced behavioral and biochemical changes. Pre-treatment with bisphenol-A-diglycidyl ether (BADGE), a selective PPAR-γ antagonist, significantly abolished the beneficial effect of lisinopril/telmisartan in i.c. v. STZ treated animals. The results of this investigation document a potential role of PPAR-γ in the beneficial effects of lisinopril and telmisartan in i.c. v. STZ dementia of AD type.
Microbial Mat Communities along an Oxygen Gradient in a Perennially Ice-Covered Antarctic Lake

ABSTRACT Lake Fryxell is a perennially ice-covered lake in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, with a sharp oxycline in a water column that is density stabilized by a gradient in salt concentration. Dissolved oxygen falls from 20 mg liter−1 to undetectable over one vertical meter from 8.9- to 9.9-m depth. We provide the first description of the benthic mat community that falls within this oxygen gradient on the sloping floor of the lake, using a combination of micro- and macroscopic morphological descriptions, pigment analysis, and 16S rRNA gene bacterial community analysis. Our work focused on three macroscopic mat morphologies that were associated with different parts of the oxygen gradient: (i) “cuspate pinnacles” in the upper hyperoxic zone, which displayed complex topography and were dominated by phycoerythrin-rich cyanobacteria attributable to the genus Leptolyngbya and a diverse but sparse assemblage of pennate diatoms; (ii) a less topographically complex “ridge-pit” mat located immediately above the oxic-anoxic transition containing Leptolyngbya and an increasing abundance of diatoms; and (iii) flat prostrate mats in the upper anoxic zone, dominated by a green cyanobacterium phylogenetically identified as Phormidium pseudopriestleyi and a single diatom, Diadesmis contenta. Zonation of bacteria was by lake depth and by depth into individual mats. Deeper mats had higher abundances of bacteriochlorophylls and anoxygenic phototrophs, including Chlorobi and Chloroflexi. This suggests that microbial communities form assemblages specific to niche-like locations. Mat morphologies, underpinned by cyanobacterial and diatom composition, are the result of local habitat conditions likely defined by irradiance and oxygen and sulfide concentrations.
Influence of the Death Education Program on Meaning in Life, Death Anxiety and Attitude Toward Nursing Care of the Dying Patients among Nursing Students

Objectives : This study aims to examine the effects of death education program on meaning in life, death anxiety and attitude toward nursing care of the dying patients among nursing students. Methods : Subjects were 155 nursing students of the K college. Before and after the intervention, students responded a questionnaire developed to measure meaning in life, death anxiety and attitude toward nursing care of the dying patients. To analyse the data, Cronbach`s , t-test, and paired t-test were used with an SPSS 12.0 program. Results : 1. Meaning in life and attitude toward nursing care of the dying patients levels significantly increased, death anxiety levels significantly decreased. 2. Meaning in life levels increased significantly in the 20-24 age group, female, first grade, no religion, no death experience of relatives. 3. Death anxiety levels decreased significantly in the 20-24 age group, female, no religion, no death experience of relatives, but increased significantly in a buddhist group. 4. Attitude toward nursing care of the dying patients levels increased significantly in the 20-24 age group, female, first grade, won buddhist, no death experience of relatives. Conclusions : This study, through the above result, shows that the death education program can be an effective nursing education to improve meaning in life and attitude toward nursing care of the dying patients and to decrease death anxiety. These results suggest that the death education program will be helpful for recognizing the values of themselves and their current lives and improving their nursing intervention care of the dying patients.
Dynamics of Mycobacteriophage-Mycobacterial Host Interaction: Evidence for Secondary Mechanisms for Host Lethality

ABSTRACT Mycobacteriophages infect mycobacteria, resulting in their death. Therefore, the possibility of using them as therapeutic agents against the deadly mycobacterial disease tuberculosis (TB) is of great interest. To obtain better insight into the dynamics of mycobacterial inactivation by mycobacteriophages, this study was initiated using mycobacteriophage D29 and Mycobacterium smegmatis as the phage-host system. Here, we implemented a goal-oriented iterative cycle of experiments on one hand and mathematical modeling combined with Monte Carlo simulations on the other. This integrative approach lends valuable insight into the detailed kinetics of bacterium-phage interactions. We measured time-dependent changes in host viability during the growth of phage D29 in M. smegmatis at different multiplicities of infection (MOI). The predictions emerging out of theoretical analyses were further examined using biochemical and cell biological assays. In a phage-host interaction system where multiple rounds of infection are allowed to take place, cell counts drop more rapidly than expected if cell lysis is considered the only mechanism for cell death. The phenomenon could be explained by considering a secondary factor for cell death in addition to lysis. Further investigations reveal that phage infection leads to the increased production of superoxide radicals, which appears to be the secondary factor. Therefore, mycobacteriophage D29 can function as an effective antimycobacterial agent, the killing potential of which may be amplified through secondary mechanisms.
Toxicity of Bioactive and Probiotic Marine Bacteria and Their Secondary Metabolites in Artemia sp. and Caenorhabditis elegans as Eukaryotic Model Organisms

ABSTRACT We have previously reported that some strains belonging to the marine Actinobacteria class, the Pseudoalteromonas genus, the Roseobacter clade, and the Photobacteriaceae and Vibrionaceae families produce both antibacterial and antivirulence compounds, and these organisms are interesting from an applied point of view as fish probiotics or as a source of pharmaceutical compounds. The application of either organisms or compounds requires that they do not cause any side effects, such as toxicity in eukaryotic organisms. The purpose of this study was to determine whether these bacteria or their compounds have any toxic side effects in the eukaryotic organisms Artemia sp. and Caenorhabditis elegans. Arthrobacter davidanieli WX-11, Pseudoalteromonas luteoviolacea S4060, P. piscicida S2049, P. rubra S2471, Photobacterium halotolerans S2753, and Vibrio coralliilyticus S2052 were lethal to either or both model eukaryotes. The toxicity of P. luteoviolacea S4060 could be related to the production of the antibacterial compound pentabromopseudilin, while the adverse effect observed in the presence of P. halotolerans S2753 and V. coralliilyticus S2052 could not be explained by the production of holomycin nor andrimid, the respective antibiotic compounds in these organisms. In contrast, the tropodithietic acid (TDA)-producing bacteria Phaeobacter inhibens DSM17395 and Ruegeria mobilis F1926 and TDA itself had no adverse effect on the target organisms. These results reaffirm TDA-producing Roseobacter bacteria as a promising group to be used as probiotics in aquaculture, whereas Actinobacteria, Pseudoalteromonas, Photobacteriaceae, and Vibrionaceae should be used with caution.
Comparative Analysis of Leptospira Strains Isolated from Environmental Soil and Water in the Philippines and Japan

ABSTRACT There have been few reports on the epidemiological analysis of environmental Leptospira isolates. This is probably because the isolation of leptospires from the environment was usually unsuccessful due to the overgrowth of contaminants and the slow growth of Leptospira. In this study, we collected a total of 88 samples of soil and water from three sites: Metro Manila and Nueva Ecija, Philippines (an area where Leptospira is now endemic), and Fukuoka, Japan (an area where Leptospira was once endemic). We succeeded in isolating Leptospira from 37 samples by using the novel combination of five antimicrobial agents reported in 2011. The frequencies of positive isolation of Leptospira in the Philippines and Japan were 40 and 46%, respectively. For Leptospira-positive samples, five colonies from each sample were isolated and analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). The isolates from each area showed their respective characteristics in phylogenetic trees based on the PFGE patterns. Some isolates were closely related to each other across borders. Based on 16S rRNA gene-based phylogenetic analysis, four isolates in Fukuoka were identified as a pathogenic species, L. alstonii; however, its virulence had been lost. One isolate from Nueva Ecija was identified as the intermediate pathogenic species Leptospira licerasiae. Most of the isolates from the environment belonged to nonpathogenic Leptospira species. We also investigated the strain variation among the isolates in a puddle over 5 months. We demonstrated, using PFGE analysis, that Leptospira survived in the wet soil on dry days and appeared in the surface water on rainy days. These results showed that the soil could be a reservoir of leptospires in the environment.
Bottom-Up versus Top-Down Control of Hypo- and Epilimnion Free-Living Bacterial Community Structures in Two Neighboring Freshwater Lakes

ABSTRACT Bacterioplankton plays a central role in the microbial functioning of lacustrine ecosystems; however, factors that constrain its structural variation are still poorly understood. Here we evaluated the driving forces exerted by a large set of environmental and biological parameters on the temporal and spatial dynamics of free-living bacterial community structures (BCS) in two neighboring perialpine lakes, Lake Bourget and Lake Annecy, which differ in trophic status. We analyzed monthly data from a 1-year sampling period at two depths situated in the epi- and hypolimnia for each lake. Overall, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) revealed significant differences in the BCS in the two lakes, characterized by a higher number of bands in the oligotrophic ecosystem (i.e., Lake Annecy). The temporal dynamics of BCS differed greatly between depths and lakes, with temporal scale patterns being much longer in the mesotrophic Lake Bourget. Direct-gradient multivariate ordination analyses showed that a complex array of biogeochemical parameters was the driving force behind BCS shifts in both lakes. Our results indicated that 60 to 80% of the variance was explained only by the bottom-up factors in both lakes, indicating the importance of nutrients and organic matter from autotrophic origin in controlling the BCS. Top-down regulation by flagellates together with ciliates or viruses was found only in the hypolimnion and not in the epilimnion for both lakes and explained less than 18% of the bacterial community changes during the year. Our study suggests that the temporal dynamics of the free-living bacterial community structure in deep perialpine lakes are dependent mainly on bottom-up factors and to a lesser extent on top-down factors, whatever the specific environmental conditions of these lakes.
Analitical Derivation of the Cobb-Douglas Function based on the Golden Rule of Capital Accumulation

In this paper, the neoclassical model is extended for the general case of economic growth, which can be represented as the sum of cyclical and growth components. If the general formulation of the golden rule of capital accumulation is satisfied (the savings rate is equal to the capital income share), the production function takes the form of the Cobb-Douglas function. This function governs the economic growth both when the economy is growing along an equilibrium path and when the economy is departing from it (the correlation coefficient between U.S. GDP changes and calculated ones is equal to 0.91). When economy fluctuations are averaged along an equilibrium path, the Cobb-Douglas function reduces to condition, which is similar to Harrod-Domar one. The level of technology may be reasonably considered to express in terms of the wage level.
The Combined Optimization of Savitzky-Golay Smoothing and Multiplicative Scatter Correction for FT-NIR PLS Models

The combined optimization of Savitzky-Golay (SG) smoothing and multiplicative scatter correction (MSC) were discussed based on the partial least squares (PLS) models in Fourier transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy analysis. A total of 5 cases of separately (or combined) using SG smoothing and MSC were designed and compared for optimization. For every case, the SG smoothing parameters were optimized with the number of PLS latent variables (), with an expanded number of smoothing points. Taking the FT-NIR analysis of soil organic matter (SOM) as an example, the joint optimization of SG smoothing and MSC was achieved based on PLS modeling. The results showed that the optimal pretreatment was successively using SG smoothing and MSC, in which the SG smoothing parameters were 4th degree of polynomial, 2nd-order derivative, and 67 smoothing points, the best corresponding , RMSEP, and were 7, 0.3982 (%), and 0.8862, respectively. This result was far better than those without any pretreatment. The combined optimization of SG smoothing and MSC could obviously improve the modeling result for NIR analysis of SOM. In addition, a new method for the classification of calibration and prediction was proposed by normalization principle. The optimizations were done on this basis of this classification.
Substructure within Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica Isolates from Australian Wildlife

ABSTRACT Multilocus sequence typing of 56 Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica strains isolated from Australian wildlife hosts was performed. The results of population assignment algorithms revealed that the 56 strains could be subdivided into two distinct clades. Strains belonging to the two clades were further distinguished phenotypically, genotypically, and with respect to host distribution.
Microbial Community Analysis with Ribosomal Gene Fragments from Shotgun Metagenomes

ABSTRACT Shotgun metagenomic sequencing does not depend on gene-targeted primers or PCR amplification; thus, it is not affected by primer bias or chimeras. However, searching rRNA genes from large shotgun Illumina data sets is computationally expensive, and no approach exists for unsupervised community analysis of small-subunit (SSU) rRNA gene fragments retrieved from shotgun data. We present a pipeline, SSUsearch, to achieve the faster identification of short-subunit rRNA gene fragments and enabled unsupervised community analysis with shotgun data. It also includes classification and copy number correction, and the output can be used by traditional amplicon analysis platforms. Shotgun metagenome data using this pipeline yielded higher diversity estimates than amplicon data but retained the grouping of samples in ordination analyses. We applied this pipeline to soil samples with paired shotgun and amplicon data and confirmed bias against Verrucomicrobia in a commonly used V6-V8 primer set, as well as discovering likely bias against Actinobacteria and for Verrucomicrobia in a commonly used V4 primer set. This pipeline can utilize all variable regions in SSU rRNA and also can be applied to large-subunit (LSU) rRNA genes for confirmation of community structure. The pipeline can scale to handle large amounts of soil metagenomic data (5 Gb memory and 5 central processing unit hours to process 38 Gb [1 lane] of trimmed Illumina HiSeq2500 data) and is freely available at https://github.com/dib-lab/SSUsearch under a BSD license.
Psychological and behavioural effects of bone density screening for osteoporosis

Abstract To examine the psychological effects of bone density measurement, 298 women were assessed two weeks before the bone density scan, immediately before the scan, after the results, a week later and three months later. For the group as a whole, ratings of anxiety and perceived vulnerability were lower at the three month follow-up than at the initial assessment. Women who received a low bone mineral density (BMD) result were more anxious and reported more osteoporosis-preventive behaviours at the three month follow-up than women who received a high BMD result; these differences had not been apparent at the initial assessment Women with low BMD results had higher ratings of perceived vulnerability after the scan, although for some of these ratings there were group differences before the scan. Women with a low BMD result showed a decrease in ratings of the seriousness of a below-average result, which may reflect minimization of the health threat