Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Amino Acid Transport Pathways in the Small Intestine of the Neonatal Rat

Extract: The activity of amino acid transport pathways in the small intestine of the 2-day-old rat was investigated. Transport was determined by measuring the uptake of 1 mM concentrations of various amino acids by intestinal segments after a 5− or 10-min incubation and it was expressed as intracellular accumulation.The neutral amino acid transport pathway was well developed with intracellular accumulation values for leucine, isoleucine, valine, methionine, tryptophan, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and alanine ranging from 3.9–5.6 mM/5 min. The intracellular accumulation of the hydroxy-containing neutral amino acids threonine (essential) and serine (nonessential) were 2.7 mM/5 min, a value significantly lower than those of the other neutral amino acids. The accumulation of histidine was also well below the level for the other neutral amino acids (1.9 mM/5 min). The basic amino acid transport pathway was also operational with accumulation values for lysine, arginine and ornithine ranging from 1.7–2.0 mM/5 min. Accumulation of the essential amino acid lysine was not statistically different from that of nonessential ornithine. Accumulation of aspartic and glutamic acid was only 0.24–0.28 mM/5 min indicating a very low activity of the acidic amino acid transport pathway. Accumulation of sarcosine and betaine was about 0.5 mM/5 min, which indicates a low activity for the imino acid-glycine pathway. The presence of 1 mM alanine significantly (P < 0.01) increased the accumulation of lysine by 28.5%, which suggests the presence of an exchange transport system.These results show that by operation of the neutral and basic amino acid transport systems, the neonatal rat can effectively absorb all the essential amino acids; however, accumulation of individual amino acids appears to be governed by structural rather than nutritional considerations.
Computer skills of first-year students at a South African university

With increasing use of information and communication technologies in education, students entering university need a basic level of computer proficiency to be able to access course material and complete assignments. At the University of Cape Town (UCT), all new first-year students are required to write an online computer skills test, so that those who lack the necessary skills can be identified and provided with basic training. This paper analyses the results of the computer skills assessments written by 4169 first-year students during orientation 2009. We conclude that there is a definite need to provide computer training for new university students, and that African students are most at risk of being disadvantaged by their lack of prior skills.
Walking down ‘Via Dolorosa’ from primary health care to the specialty pain clinic – patient and professional perceptions of inequity in rehabilitation of chronic pain

OBJECTIVE To analyse patient and professional perceptions about (in)equity of care and rehabilitation of chronic pain patients from primary health care to assessment at a specialty rehabilitation clinic. SETTING AND METHODS This qualitative study consists one focus group interview with eight general practitioners who refer patients to pain rehabilitation clinics, 10 individual interviews with patients who were assessed at a pain rehabilitation clinic and seven interviews with professionals participating in multimodal assessment teams at a pain rehabilitation clinic. Interview analysis was conducted by the grounded theory method. RESULTS The core category Via Dolorosa, the way of suffering and pain, captured how gender and sociocultural context may contribute to advantages and disadvantages during patient journeys from primary health care to a pain rehabilitation clinic. Patients and professionals perceived pain as a low-ranking illness, and women and men used different gendered strategies to legitimise the pain and to be taken seriously. Being 'a proper patient ready to change' and having 'likeness' between patients and professionals were viewed as advantageous in rehabilitation of pain patients. Patients with higher educational levels were perceived as easier to interact with and had better access to health care. Professional thoughts about gender norms influenced the rehabilitation options. The rehabilitation programme was seen by several professionals to be better suited for women than men, which could lead to unequal care. CONCLUSION From an equity and gender perspective, our study highlights the complexity in rehabilitation of chronic pain patients - both from patient and professional perspectives. Awareness of gendered and the biased preconceptions and norms is crucial when professionals struggle to offer equitable health care and rehabilitation.
Developmental Pathways To Conduct Problems

This study tests the predictions made by several causal theories proposing different etiologies for childhood-onset and adolescent-onset conduct problems. It investigates a variety of causal factors proven to be important for the development of antisocial behaviors, specifically neuropsychological/cognitive deficits, temperamental vulnerabilities, dysfunctional parenting, deviant peers, and rebelliousness. Current theories generally agree that the early onset pathway is distinguished by interactions between a child with a difficult temperament and dysfunctional parent-child interactions. However, theories differ as to whether they emphasize the temperament and neurocognitive deficits of the child, or the parenting behaviors. In the adolescent onset pathway, theories typically focus on the importance of affiliation with deviant peers but differ as to whether this is attributed to a personality characterized by the rejection of traditional values and rebelliousness as leading to this association or failures in parenting practices. Seventy-eight pre-adjudicated adolescent (ranging in age from 11 to 18) boys housed in two short-term detention facilities and one outpatient program for boys at risk for involvement in the juvenile justice system in southeastern Louisiana participated in the current study. The sample was ethnically diverse (56% African-American) and largely came from facilities serving either a large urban or a largely suburban and rural region of the state. The sample was divided into two groups based on the youngest age of a self-reported delinquent act or parent-reported severe conduct problem. The childhoodonset group (n =47) displayed at least one serious antisocial behavior prior to age 12, whereas the adolescent-onset group (n =31) did not. As predicted, the childhood-onset group showed greater levels of dysfunctional parenting and CU traits. Contrary to predictions, however, this group also showed the strongest affiliation with deviant peers. The only variable strongly associated with the adolescent onset group was lower scores on a measure of traditionalism which indicates less endorsement of traditional values and status hierarchies. The implications of these results for understanding different causal trajectories to antisocial behavior and for designing better prevention and treatment programs for antisocial youth are discussed.
Evaluation of a colorimetric assay based on 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) for rapid detection of rifampicin resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

OBJECTIVES To standardise the colorimetric assay based on 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) for the rapid detection of rifampicin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in clinical practice and to evaluate the assay on a collection of 92 clinical isolates. DESIGN The Bactec method was used as the reference method. Rifampicin was used for the susceptibility testing in the Bactec method at a concentration of 2 microg/ml. The MTT assay was performed in tubes containing 3 ml Dubos broth; the assay is based on the principle that live cells convert the yellow tetrazolium salt into a blue formazan. A final concentration of 2 microg/ml rifampicin was used in the assay. Optical density (OD) values at 570 nm were recorded on the third and sixth day. A strain was defined as susceptible when the relative optical density unit (RODU) (i.e., OD of rifampicin containing tube/OD of undiluted control) was < or = 0.2, and when the OD value of the rifampicin-containing tube on the sixth day was lower than the OD value on the third day. A strain was defined as resistant when the RODU was more than 0.5, and when there was an increase in OD value in the rifampicin-containing tube on the sixth day. The tubes were also read visually. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION The result obtained by the MTT assay perfectly matched the result obtained by the Bactec method. The MTT assay was also interpretable by the naked eye. This simple, inexpensive assay could be used as a rapid screening method for identification of rifampicin-resistant strains in low-income countries.
Aquatic Insects Biodiversity and Water Quality Parameters of Receiving Water body

Biodiversity of aquatic insect and physicochemical water quality parameters in receiving water bodies in Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, Nakhon Pathom Province, central Thailand were assessed during October 2010 to September 2011. Seven sampling stations, each 100 m long, were established. Three replicates of samplings by aquatic D-net were used at sampling sites. A total of 4,257 individual of aquatic insect were collected during one year. Six Orders and 12 families were recorded in this study. The family Hydropsychidae and Chironomidae were the most abundance of aquatic insects that found in receiving water bodies. The CCA revealed the family Mesoveliidae and Chironomidae were correlated with alkalinity in receiving water bodies, whereas dissolved oxygen was correlated with family Baetidae, Coenagrionidae, Hydrophilidae, and Helotrephidae. Signs of increasing water quality deterioration were evident in the result of the physicochemical analyses.
Low Ki-67 gene expression in non-neoplastic proliferation of oral mucosal epithelium

BACKGROUND Neoplastic and non-neoplastic oral mucosal growths often have a variety of clinical manifestations according to their biological nature. Immunohistochemical diagnostic markers, such as Ki-67, are used to detect their proliferation and differentiation. Ki-67 is expressed in all phases of the cell cycle, except G0. The objective of this study was to determine Ki-67 expression in benign, malignant and non-neoplastic proliferation of oral mucosal epithelium. METHODS A laboratory study of cross sectional design was conducted using samples from excised oral mucosa diagnosed as inflammatory gingival hypertrophy (n=5); epulis (n=6); gingival polyps (n=5); pulpal polyps (n=5); papilloma (n=3) and squamous cell carcinoma (n=2). The antigen retrieval endogenous peroxidase block method was used in the application of Ki-67 primary antibody and chromogen to display the antigen antibody reaction, with positive cells showing brown nucleoplasm staining. The Ki-67 positive index was calculated by dividing the number of positive epithelial cells with the total number of epithelial cells in the areas observed at 400x magnification. One-way ANOVA was used to compare the Ki-67 indexes of neoplastic and non-neoplastic lesions. RESULTS The highest Ki-67 positive index was for squamous cell carcinoma (64.55 ± 23.55%) followed by papilloma (23.33 ± 6.94%), gingival polyps (7.06 ± 7.43%) and gingival hypertrophy (1.40 ± 2.80%). One-way ANOVA showed significant differences in Ki-67 expression between neoplastic and non-neoplastic samples (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS The high Ki-67 expression in neoplasms is proportional to the grade of malignancy. In non-neoplastic processes Ki-67 expression is merely an adaptive response and does not indicate increased Ki-67 proliferative gene expression.
Islam and the West: Narratives of Conflict and Conflict Transformation*

This article addresses one of the more vexing questions facing analysts of relations between the Islamic world and the West: How can we speak about deeply divisive cultural and political issues in ways that foster conflict transformation rather than an intensification of conflict? Using narrative analysis as an approach, we examine the most common “stories” that actors identifying with Islam and the West use to organize their thinking about conflict: a story of intercultural confrontation and a story of intercultural compatibility. After noting that both Western and Muslim narrators of these stories make a number of strikingly similar claims, we conclude by suggesting that a “new story” emphasizing intercultural complementarity can help agents of conflict transformation reframe differences and advance the cause of peaceful coexistence. It has become commonplace to observe that the Islamic world and the West appear to be mired in an intensifying cycle of political and cultural conflict, and that the most significant source of rivalry is the profoundly unsettled nature of American relations with the Muslim Middle East. In matters related to Persian Gulf geopolitics, IsraeliPalestinian conflict, and the politics of Islamic revivalism, American policy preferences for maintaining stability and control through a system of regional alliances are met with contrary regional preferences for dramatic change. Frictions generated by conflicting interests and desires spill over into the cultural domain, resulting in the politicization of identities and an escalatory conflict dynamic in which the basic value commitments, beliefs and mores of the “other” are regarded as threatening and problematic. The result is an atmosphere of doubt, distrust, and disrespect in which efforts to dominate and coerce adversaries displace initiatives to collaborate in a search for intercultural understanding and means of mutual political accommodation. On both sides of the troubled relationship between Americans and the Muslim Middle East, there is deep estrangement and a growing belief in the futility of communication.
UTP affects the Schwannoma cell line proteome through P2Y receptors leading to cytoskeletal reorganisation

Glial cells in the peripheral nervous system, such as Schwann cells, respond to nucleotides, which play an important role in axonal regeneration and myelination. Metabotropic P2Y receptor agonists are promising therapeutic molecules for peripheral neuropathies. Nevertheless, the proteomic mechanisms involved in nucleotide action on Schwann cells remain unknown. Here, we studied intracellular protein changes in RT4‐D6P2T Schwann cells after treatment with nucleotides and Nucleo CMP Forte (CMPF), a nucleotide‐based drug. After treatment with CMPF, 2‐D DIGE revealed 11 differential gel spots, which were all upregulated. Among these, six different proteins were identified by MS. Some of these proteins are involved in actin remodelling (actin‐related protein, Arp3), membrane vesicle transport (Rab GDP dissociation inhibitor β, Rab GDI), and the endoplasmic reticulum stress response (protein disulfide isomerase A3, PDI), which are hallmarks of a possible P2Y receptor signalling pathway. Expression of P2Y receptors in RT4‐D6P2T cells was demonstrated by RT‐PCR and a transient elevation of intracellular calcium measured in response to UTP. Actin reorganisation was visualized after UTP treatment using phalloidin–FITC staining and was blocked by the P2Y antagonist suramin, which also inhibited Arp3, Rab GDI, and PDI protein upregulation. Our data indicate that extracellular UTP interacts with Schwann P2Y receptors and activates molecular machinery that induces changes in the glial cell cytoskeleton.
Subunit structure of islets-activating protein (IAP), a new protein isolated from the culture media of Bordetella pertussis.

The subunit structure was studied of islets-activating protein (IAP), a new protein recently isolated from the culture media of Bordetella pertussis and possessing a unique action, i.e., potentiating insulin secretory responses of animals, IAP dissociated into three subunits, F-1, F-2, and F-3, when incubated in 8M urea. Three subunits isolated by chromatography on CM-Sepharose and DEAE-Sepharose columns showed different molecular weights (F-1: 44,000, F-2: 20,000, F-3: 11,000) and different isoelectric points, but similar amino acid compositions. The F-1 subunit consisted of two polypeptide chains linked by S-S bonding(s), while the F-2 and F-3 subunits were single-chain peptides. These subunits, none of which was biologically active alone, associated upon incubation for 2 h at 37 degrees C and regained biological activities after association only when the F-3 subunit was present in the association product. Thus, the F-3 subunit was essential, and the F-1 and F-2 subunits were permissive, for the development of IAP activity in animals.
Coupling Genetics and Proteomics To Identify Aphid Proteins Associated with Vector-Specific Transmission of Polerovirus (Luteoviridae)

ABSTRACT Cereal yellow dwarf virus-RPV (CYDV-RPV) is transmitted specifically by the aphids Rhopalosiphum padi and Schizaphis graminum in a circulative nonpropagative manner. The high level of vector specificity results from the vector aphids having the functional components of the receptor-mediated endocytotic pathways to allow virus to transverse the gut and salivary tissues. Studies of F2 progeny from crosses of vector and nonvector genotypes of S. graminum showed that virus transmission efficiency is a heritable trait regulated by multiple genes acting in an additive fashion and that gut- and salivary gland-associated factors are not genetically linked. Utilizing two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis to compare the proteomes of vector and nonvector parental and F2 genotypes, four aphid proteins (S4, S8, S29, and S405) were specifically associated with the ability of S. graminum to transmit CYDV-RPV. The four proteins were coimmunoprecipitated with purified RPV, indicating that the aphid proteins are capable of binding to virus. Analysis by mass spectrometry identified S4 as a luciferase and S29 as a cyclophilin, both of which have been implicated in macromolecular transport. Proteins S8 and S405 were not identified from available databases. Study of this unique genetic system coupled with proteomic analysis indicated that these four virus-binding aphid proteins were specifically inherited and conserved in different generations of vector genotypes and suggests that they play a major role in regulating polerovirus transmission.
Architecture of cannabinoid signaling in mouse retina

Cannabinoid receptors and their ligands constitute an endogenous signaling system that is found throughout the body, including the eye. This system can be activated by Δ9‐tetrahydrocannabinol, a major drug of abuse. Cannabinoids offer considerable therapeutic potential in modulating ocular immune and inflammatory responses and in regulating intraocular pressure. The location of cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) in the retina is known, but recently a constellation of proteins has been identified that produce and break down endocannabinoids (eCBs) and modulate CB1 function. Localization of these proteins is critical to defining specific cannabinoid signaling circuitry in the retina. Here we show the localization of diacylglycerol lipase‐α and ‐β (DGLα/β), implicated in the production of the eCB 2‐arachidonoyl glycerol (2‐AG); monoacylglycerol lipase (MGL) and α/β‐hydrolase domain 6 (ABHD6), both implicated in the breakdown of 2‐AG; cannabinoid receptor‐interacting protein 1a (CRIP1a), a protein that may modulate CB1 function; and fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) and N‐acylethanolamine‐hydrolyzing acid amidase (NAAA), which have been shown to break down the eCB anandamide and related acyl amides. Our most prominent finding was that DGLα is present in postsynaptic type 1 OFF cone bipolar cells juxtaposed to CB1‐containing cone photoreceptor terminals. CRIP1a is reliably presynaptic to DGLα, consistent with a possible role in cannabinoid signaling, and NAAA is restricted to retinal pigment epithelium, whereas DGLβ is limited to retinal blood vessels. These results taken together with previous anatomical and functional studies define specific cannabinoid circuitry likely to modulate eCB signaling at the first synapse of the retina as well as in the inner plexiform layer. J. Comp. Neurol. 518:3848–3866, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Smoking and weight among patients using clozapine

Abstract Background: Both obesity and smoking are common in schizophrenia patients taking clozapine, causing cardiovascular disease and premature deaths. Methods: Two hundred and thirty-seven patients with schizophrenia or related psychoses treated with clozapine completed the Liverpool University Neuroleptic Assessment Scale (LUNSERS) and a questionnaire including current height, weight, changes therein and smoking status. Aims: The aim of this study was to analyze weight and weight change in smoking and non-smoking patients taking clozapine. A possible interaction between obesity and smoking was explored. Results: No association was found between weight change and smoking status during clozapine treatment. There was no significant difference in body mass index (BMI) between non-smokers and smokers. In the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with BMI as the dependent variable, the best fitting model comprised age, sex, intensity of sedation, and reported amount of smoking as explanatory variables (ηp2= 0.116; P = 0.029; power = 0.750). None of the explanatory proportions of any single factor was significant. Conclusions: Estimated according to reported weight gain and BMI, no difference was found between smoking and non-smoking clozapine-treated patients. Number of cigarettes smoked explained BMI if age and sex were taken into account. This result is in line with the findings of some general population studies, where heavy smoking has been associated with a greater risk of obesity.