Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Visual, cognitive, and neurodevelopmental outcome at 5½ years in children with perinatal haemorrhagic‐ischaemic brain lesions

To determine predictive values of early visual and neurocognitive assessment in children with perinatally acquired haemorrhagic or ischaemic brain lesions selected on the basis of ultrasound, 63 children (37 boys, 26 girls), who had been followed and examined until the age of 18 months, were reexamined at 5½ years. Good correlations between visual and neurodevelopmental assessments at 18 months and at 5½ years were found. When ultrasound abnormalities were combined with early visual and neurocognitive assessment data, good predictive values, especially for the group of children who had grade 2 to 4 leukomalacia, were found for visual acuity and neurodevelopment.
PrlA suppressor mutations cluster in regions corresponding to three distinct topological domains.

The SecY protein of Escherichia coli and its homologues in other organisms, are integral components of the cellular protein translocation machinery. Suppressor mutations that alter SecY (the prlA alleles) broaden the specificity of this machinery and allow secretion of precursor proteins with defective signal sequences. Twenty‐five prlA alleles have been characterized. These suppressor mutations were found to cluster in regions corresponding to three distinct topological domains of SecY. Based on the nature and position of the prlA mutations, we propose that transmembrane domain 7 of SecY functions in signal sequence recognition. Results suggest that this interaction may involve a right‐handed supercoil of alpha‐helices. Suppressor mutations that alter this domain appear to prevent signal sequence recognition, and this novel mechanism of suppression suggests a proofreading function for SecY. We propose that suppressor mutations that alter a second domain of SecY, transmembrane helix 10, also affect this proof‐reading function, but indirectly. Based on the synthetic phenotypes exhibited by double mutants, we propose that these mutations strengthen the interaction with another component of the translocation machinery, SecE. Suppressor mutations were also found to cluster in a region corresponding to an amino‐terminal periplasmic domain. Possible explanations for this unexpected finding are discussed.
Active Genetic Elements Present in the Locus of Enterocyte Effacement in Escherichia coli O26 and Their Role in Mobility

ABSTRACT The locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE) is a large multigene chromosomal segment encoding gene products responsible for the generation of attaching and effacing lesions in many diarrheagenic Escherichia coli strains. A recently sequenced LEE harboring a pathogenicity island (PAI) from a Shiga toxin E. coli serotype O26 strain revealed a LEE PAI (designated LEE O26) almost identical to that obtained from a rabbit-specific enteropathogenic O15:H− strain. LEE O26 comprises 59,540 bp and is inserted at 94 min within the mature pheU tRNA locus. The LEE O26 PAI is flanked by two direct repeats of 137 and 136 bp (DR1 and DR2), as well as a gene encoding an integrase belonging to the P4 integrase family. We examined LEE O26 for horizontal gene transfer. By generating mini-LEE plasmids harboring only DR1 or DR2 with or without the integrase-like gene, we devised a simple assay to examine recombination processes between these sequences. Recombination was shown to be integrase dependent in a ΔrecA E. coli K-12 strain background. Recombinant plasmids harboring a single direct repeat cloned either with or without the LEE O26 integrase gene were found to insert within the chromosomal pheU locus of E. coli K-12 strains with equal efficiency, suggesting that an endogenous P4-like integrase can substitute for this activity. An integrase with strong homology to the LEE O26 integrase was detected on the K-12 chromosome associated with the leuX tRNA locus at 97 min. Strains deleted for this integrase demonstrated a reduction in the insertion frequency of plasmids harboring only the DR into the pheU locus. These results provide strong evidence that LEE-harboring elements are indeed mobile and suggest that closely related integrases present on the chromosome of E. coli strains contribute to the dynamics of PAI mobility.
Quantitative RT-PCR analysis of activation-induced cytidine deaminase expression in tissue samples from mantle cell lymphoma and B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients.

Expression of activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is crucial for immunoglobulin V gene somatic hypermutations (SHMs) and immunoglobulin class switch recombinations (CSRs). [1][1] Expression of AID is associated with the germinal center (GC) reaction and is not expressed in naive B cells. [2][2
Do Image-Assisted Mobile Applications Improve Dietary Habits, Knowledge, and Behaviours in Elite Athletes? A Pilot Study

To date, there has been a paucity of research on optimal ways to educate and promote dietary behavioural change within athletes. Optimising athlete nutrition is fundamental to reaching peak performance and maintaining athlete wellbeing. MealLogger® is a smartphone application that incorporates the use of an image-based food record and social-media functionality to provide in-application personalised feedback to individuals or groups, peer-support, and a platform to deliver nutrition education material. This study measured the feasibility of MealLogger® within New Zealand elite male field hockey players (n = 17) aged 18–20 to increase athlete knowledge and nutrition promoting behaviours. During a six-week intervention, participants were instructed to log images of their meals three days per week and they received individualised dietetic feedback on logged meals. Weekly nutrition-education fact-sheets and videos were delivered through the application. Nutrition knowledge increased moderately from baseline (%Pre 54.7 ± 14.3; %Post 61.1 ± 11.45, p = 0.01). Participants report a highly positive experience of application use (8/10) with 82.3% attempting to make positive changes in dietary behaviours based on in-app education. All participants preferred this method to traditional methods of dietary analysis. Using image-based applications such as MealLogger® is an effective approach to monitor dietary intake and deliver education to optimise the nutritional behaviours of elite athletes.
Nanocomposite-Based Microstructured Piezoresistive Pressure Sensors for Low-Pressure Measurement Range

Piezoresistive pressure sensors capable of detecting ranges of low compressive stresses have been successfully fabricated and characterised. The 5.5 × 5 × 1.6 mm3 sensors consist of a planar aluminium top electrode and a microstructured bottom electrode containing a two-by-two array of truncated pyramids with a piezoresistive composite layer sandwiched in-between. The responses of two different piezocomposite materials, a Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube (MWCNT)-elastomer composite and a Quantum Tunneling Composite (QTC), have been characterised as a function of applied pressure and effective contact area. The MWCNT piezoresistive composite-based sensor was able to detect pressures as low as 200 kPa. The QTC-based sensor was capable of detecting pressures as low as 50 kPa depending on the contact area of the bottom electrode. Such sensors could find useful applications requiring the detection of small compressive loads such as those encountered in haptic sensing or robotics.
Role of Peritoneal Lavage in Adhesion Formation and Survival Rate in Rats: An Experimental Study

Following laparotomy, almost 95% of patients develop adhesions. To prevent adhesion formation, peritoneal lavage has been investigated and many different lavage solutions have been proposed. In this study, different peritoneal lavage solutions were evaluated, testing their ability to prevent adhesion formation. Three consecutive steps were followed: (1) The lethal dose of Eschericia coli injected in the rat peritoneal cavity was determined, (2) the morbidity and mortality rates of different solutions for peritoneal lavage (i.e., saline, twice-distilled water, antiseptics, and antibiotics solutions) was investigated, and (3) the capability of the different lavage solutions to prevent adhesion formation was tested. Two hundred and ninety-eight rats were employed in this study. After intraperitoneal injection of E. coli, infection (clinical signs and animal vitality), adhesion formation (explorative laparoscopy, peritoneumgraphy and Zühlke scale grading), and animal performance status were investigated. All differences were evaluated by chi-square and analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests. Saline solution showed a low morbidity rate with no deaths. Twice-distilled water was associated with 100% mortality rate, as opposed to 45–75% for antiseptics, and 0–3% mortality for antibiotics. Antibiotics determined higher adhesion formation by Zühlke score as compared to saline solution (p <. 001), while no difference was observed between antiseptics and saline (p = NS). Peritoneal lavage with 37°C saline solution was associated with low adhesion formation and high survival rate as compared to twice-distilled water and antiseptics. Antibiotics solutions had high survival rate and high adhesion formation. Twice-distilled water and antisepsis should be avoided when based on the data obtained in this work.
Nonintrusive Load Monitoring Using Wavelet Design and Machine Learning

This paper presents a new concept based on wavelet design and machine learning applied to nonintrusive load monitoring. The wavelet coefficients of length-6 filter are determined using procrustes analysis and are used to construct new wavelets to match the load signals to be detected, unlike previous work which used previously designed wavelet functions that are special cases of Daubechies filters to suit other nonpower system applications such as communications and image processing. The results of applying the new concept to a test system consisting of four loads have shown that the newly designed wavelet can improve the prediction accuracy compared with that obtained using Daubechies filter of order three while keeping the prominent features of the pattern in the detail levels.
Antigen presentation by MHC class II molecules : Role of the accessory MHC molecules HLA-DM and HLA-DO ( G 0400-2 )

Scientists / Visiting Scientists (DKFZ, grants) Dr. rer. nat. Pascale Brocke (9/02) PhD Anne Forde, Ireland PhD Natalio Garbi, Spain PhD Mitsuko Furuya, Japan (11/02) Dr. med. Steffen Heeger Dipl.Biol. Gorana Hollmann PhD You Kawarada, Japan (5/01) Dr. rer. nat. Florian Kurschus (8/01) Dr. rer. nat. Birgit Liliensiek (4/02) Dr. med. Vhilo Oelert Dr. rer. nat. Torsten Sacher (12/01) Dr. rer. nat. Thomas Schüler PhD Satoshi Tanaka , Japan
ENT problems in Dutch children: Trends in incidence rates, antibiotic prescribing and referrals 2002–2008

Abstract Background. Ear, nose, and throat (ENT) problems are common in childhood and are important reasons to visit the general practitioner. Objective. To examine trends in incidence rates, antibiotic prescribing, and referrals of five common ENT problems in children. Design. Netherlands Information Network of General Practice (LINH), a nationally representative general practice database. Setting. A total of 50 000 children, aged 0–17 years, registered in Dutch general practice over the period 2002–2008. Methods. Incidence rates were calculated and trends were analysed using linear regression analysis, with incidence rates per age group, proportion treated with antibiotics, and referrals as dependent variables and year of observation as independent variable. Results. In general, incidence rates of acute otitis media, serous otitis, sinusitis, tonsillitis, and tonsil hypertrophy remained stable over the period 2002–2008. An increasing trend was observed for serous otitis media in children aged 0–4 years (RR = 1.04, p < 0.001). A decreasing trend was observed for sinusitis in children aged 5–11 and for tonsillitis in children aged 11–17 years (RR 0.99, p < 0.001 and RR 0.94, p < 0.001, respectively). Antibiotics were prescribed in 10–60% of the diagnoses. An increasing trend for antibiotic prescription was found for acute otitis media (beta = 0.07, p < 0.001), mainly on account of amoxicillin. Although antibiotic treatment of tonsillitis remained stable, pheneticillin prescriptions showed a downward trend (beta = −0.10, p < 0.001). First-choice antibiotics were prescribed in >80% of cases. Conclusions. This study showed remarkably stable trends in incidence rates, antibiotic prescribing, and referrals of common ENT problems. The low proportion of antibiotic treatment in ENT problems did not show negative consequences.
Renal haemangiopericytoma: the characteristics of a rare tumour

terms: ‘haemangiopericytoma and kidney’, ‘renal haemangiopericytoma’, in any language available, in all Document types. All cases of a renal origin were recorded, and the data extracted were: age, sex, symptoms at presentation, the size and weight of the tumours, the therapeutic methods used, and the outcome of each patient. When the article was not available the abstracts served as a source of information.
Behavior of Wolbachia Endosymbionts From Drosophila Simulans in Drosophila Serrata, A Novel Host

Many species harbor the incompatibility‐inducing microbe Wolbachia, a maternally inherited endoparasite that causes reduced egg hatch in crosses between infected males and uninfected females. Infected females are immune to this effect, which gives them a relative fitness advantage that results in the spread of the infection. The strength of incompatibility, fitness deficits associated with the infection, and transmission rate from mother to offspring largely determine the rate and extent of spread of Wolbachia in a population. We transferred Wolbachia from Drosophila simulans to Drosophila serrata, a novel host, and compared parameter estimates with those from three naturally occurring Drosophila‐Wolbachia associations believed to be of different ages. Transfected D. serrata showed strong incompatibility, low transmission efficiency, and an associated fitness deficit, and they would probably be unable to spread in nature. The comparisons generally supported the predicted evolution of a host‐Wolbachia association. The parameters peculiar to any given host‐Wolbachia association may determine whether the microbial strain can spread in that host.
Antimicrobial activity of essential oil and methanol extract from Commiphora molmol (Engl.) resin

The genus Commiphora (Burseraceae) with more than 150 plant species, is distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions, especially occurring in northeastern Africa, southern Arabia and India (Langenheim, 2003). The plants of Commiphora species are characterized as small trees or shrubs with spinescent branches, pale-gray bark and reddishbrown resinous exudates. The resinous exudates of the genus Commiphora are commonly used as perfume, incense, or embalming ointment, and their medicinal values have been gradually recognized by humankind (Langenheim, 2003). They are used in indigenous medicines for the treatment of wound, pain, arthritis, fractures, obesity, parasitic infection and gastrointestinal diseases (Abdul-Ghani et al., 2009). Diverse secondary metabolites including terpenoids, steroids, flavonoids, sugars, lignans, etc. have been discovered in this genus (Hanu et al., 2005). Antiproliferative, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, hepatoprotective and cardiovascular properties of the purified metabolites and the crude extracts have been investigated (El Ashry et al., 2003). The distribution of fifty-one constituents and medical uses of myrrh was reviewed ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 2 Number 12 (2013) pp. 1-6 http://www.ijcmas. com
Chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia in a child with constitutional partial trisomy 8 mosaicism

We present a 3‐year‐old boy with constitutional partial trisomy 8 mosaicism (karyotype 47,XY,+del(8)(p12)/46,XY) who developed chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia and we review the few reported cases of constitutional trisomy 8 mosaicism (CT8M) associated with malignancy. This case highlights the association between CT8M and the development of malignancies, haematological malignancies in particular.
Gastroretentive Floating and Mucoadhesive Drug Delivery Systems-Insights and Current Applications

Gastro retentive drug delivery system (GRDDS) is one of the novel approaches in the area of oral sustained release dosage forms. Drugs that are easily absorbed from gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and have short half-lives are eliminated quickly from the systemic circulation require frequent dosing to achieve suitable therapeutic activity. To avoid this limitation, the development of oral sustained release GRDDS is an attempt to release the drug slowly into the GIT and maintain an effective drug concentration in the systemic circulation for a long time. After oral administration, such a drug delivery would-be retained in the stomach and release the drug in a controlled manner, so that the drug could be supplied continuously to its absorption sites in the GIT. The present review highlights the features of GRDDS specifically from a practical and industrial viewpoint.
Glutathione S‐transferase polymorphisms and survival from head and neck cancer

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic ability of polymorphisms of three genes involved in the metabolism of tobacco carcinogens (GSTT1, GSTM1, GSTP1) and one polymorphism of a DNA repair gene (XRCC1) for patients diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).
Flatness-based approach for the manipulation of a microscopic particle by optical tweezers

Based on the fact that optical tweezers (OT) constitute a flat system, with flat outputs given by the horizontal and vertical position coordinates of the geometric centre of the laser beam, a flatness-based control strategy for the manipulation of a microscopical particle is presented in this article. The control strategy is derived under the assumption that the particle is suspended in a frictionless medium, obtaining a simple controller with a relatively simple stability analysis. The control strategy is tested by tracking a straight line, an elliptic curve, and carrying out the rest-to-rest transfer manoeuvre task by using a smooth trajectory.
A comparison of anesthetic complications between diabetic and nondiabetic dogs undergoing phacoemulsification cataract surgery: a retrospective study.

OBJECTIVE To compare the incidence of anesthetic complications in diabetic and nondiabetic dogs undergoing general anesthesia and phacoemulsification cataract surgery. PROCEDURE The medical and anesthetic records of all dogs undergoing phacoemulsification cataract surgery at Davies Veterinary Specialists between 2005 and 2008 were reviewed. Anesthetic records were evaluated by an ECVAA Diplomate. Dogs for which records were incomplete were excluded. The anesthetic technique, including all drugs administered in the perioperative period, was recorded. The anesthetic complications investigated included hypotension (MAP (mmHg): >or=55 none/mild; <or=54 moderate/severe), bradycardia (<60 bpm associated with hypotension) and hypothermia (esophageal temperature <36.7 degrees C). Where hypotension was present, the method of and response to treatment was recorded. The incidence of severe hyperglycemia (blood glucose >13.75 mmol/L (250 mg/dL)) in the diabetic group was also assessed. RESULTS 66 diabetic and 64 nondiabetic dogs were included in the study. Diabetic dogs were more likely to develop moderate and severe intraoperative hypotension than nondiabetic dogs. Forty-four percent of diabetic dogs had at least one episode of severe hyperglycemia whilst anesthetized. CONCLUSIONS Diabetic dogs undergoing phacoemulsification are more likely to suffer the anesthetic complications of moderate and severe hypotension than nondiabetic dogs. The increased incidence and severity of hypotension in diabetic dogs may be explained by hypovolemia secondary to hyperglycemia and resultant osmotic diuresis.
Orthographic Input and the Acquisition of German Final Devoicing by Native Speakers of English

We present an artificial lexicon study designed to test the hypothesis that native English speakers experience interference from written input when acquiring surface voicing in German words. Native English speakers were exposed to German-like words (e.g., /ʃtɑit/ and /ʃtɑid/, both pronounced [ʃtɑit]) along with pictured meanings, and in some cases, their written forms (e.g., and ). At test, participants whose input included the written forms were more likely to produce final voiced obstruents when naming the pictures, indicating that access to the written forms in the input interfered with their acquisition of target-like surface forms. In a separate experiment, we attempted to moderate this negative impact of the written input by explicitly telling participants about the misleading nature of the words’ written forms, with no beneficial effect on their pronunciation accuracy. Together these findings indicate a powerful influence of orthographic input on second language lexical–phonological development that is not readily overcome by a simple intervention.
Mitigation effects of non-enzymatic antioxidants in maize (Zea mays L.) plants under salinity stress

The effects of non-enzymatic antioxidative compounds such as ascorbic acid, thiamine HCl and beta-carotene were investigated on salt stressed maize plants. The maize plants were sprayed with 100 mg L−1 of ascorbic acid, thiamine or beta-carotene solutions once a week, up to harvesting of plants. The treatment of NaCl was initiated 25 days after sowing by irrigating the plants with 125 mM NaCl solution. Plants for physiological and biochemical measurements were harvested at the cob formation stage and for yield 90 days after seedling emergence. The results showed that although salt stress reduced the shoot and root dry weights and macro-element contents of maize plants, exogenous application of non-enzymatic antioxidants improved the above-mentioned parameters of maize plants under saline conditions. Shoot and root dry weights increased significantly (P < 0.05) by the ascorbic acid treatments. Salt stress enhanced the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD; EC: 1.15.1.1), peroxidase (POX; EC: 1.11.1.7) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO; EC: 1.10.3.1). Proline content also increased significantly in maize plants in response to NaCl stress. Although the SOD activity increased significantly with ascorbic acid treatment, the POX activity increased considerably with beta-carotene application. Of the non-enzymatic antioxidative compounds tested, ascorbic acid was more effective than the others in protecting maize plants from salinity stress. The results of the present study indicate that foliar application of non-enzymatic antioxidative compounds alleviated the detrimental effects of salinity and increased resistance to salinity in the maize plants by improving the antioxidative defense system.