Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development and Application of Pathovar-Specific Monoclonal Antibodies That Recognize the Lipopolysaccharide O Antigen and the Type IV Fimbriae of Xanthomonas hyacinthi

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to develop a specific immunological diagnostic assay for yellow disease in hyacinths, using monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). Mice were immunized with a crude cell wall preparation (shear fraction) from Xanthomonas hyacinthi and with purified type IV fimbriae. Hybridomas were screened for a positive reaction with X. hyacinthi cells or fimbriae and for a negative reaction with X. translucens pv. graminis orErwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora. Nine MAbs recognized fimbrial epitopes, as shown by immunoblotting, immunofluorescence, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and immunoelectron microscopy; however, three of these MAbs had weak cross-reactions with two X. translucens pathovars in immunoblotting experiments. Seven MAbs reacted with lipopolysaccharides and yielded a low-mobility ladder pattern on immunoblots. Subsequent analysis of MAb 2E5 showed that it specifically recognized an epitope on the O antigen, which was found to consist of rhamnose and fucose in a 2:1 molar ratio. The cross-reaction of MAb 2E5 with allX. hyacinthi strains tested showed that this O antigen is highly conserved within this species. MAb 1B10 also reacted with lipopolysaccharides. MAbs 2E5 and 1B10 were further tested in ELISA and immunoblotting experiments with cells and extracts from other pathogens. No cross-reaction was found with 27 otherXanthomonas pathovars tested or with 14 other bacterial species from other genera, such as Erwinia andPseudomonas, indicating the high specificity of these antibodies. MAbs 2E5 and 1B10 were shown to be useful in ELISA for the detection of X. hyacinthi in infected hyacinths.
LD

Comenius wrote that in 1632. It's enough to make one think that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Rereading Ray Barsch's 1968 article made me feel just that way. Things have changed, but substantial progress has not been made in answering the two broad and fundamental questions that drive the learning disabilities (LD) field. Stated simply, those questions are: Who are we talking about? What needs to be done to help them?
Trends in cannabis use prior to first presentation with schizophrenia, in South-East London between 1965 and 1999

Background. There is evidence that cannabis use might be relevant to the aetiology of schizophrenia. We aimed to measure any change in cannabis use over time in those first presenting with schizophrenia in South-East London from 1965 to 1999, and compare this with change in use in those presenting with non-psychotic psychiatric disorders. Method. The rate of cannabis use in the year prior to first ever presentation was measured over seven time periods. Logistic regression modelling was used to determine (a) whether cannabis use changed over time, after controlling for age, sex and ethnicity, and (b) whether there was an interaction between diagnosis and time. Results. Cannabis use increased over time in both the schizophrenia group [odds ratio per time period (OR) 2·03, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·74–2·38, p<0·0001] and the non-psychotic disorders group (OR 1·24, 95% CI 1·05–1·47, p=0·012), after controlling for age, sex and ethnicity. However, the effect of time was significantly greater in the schizophrenia group than in the non-schizophrenia group (χ2=17, p<0·0001). Conclusion. Cannabis use in the year prior to presentation with schizophrenia increased markedly between 1965 and 1999, and disproportionately so compared to increase in cannabis use in other psychiatric disorders.
Inequalities in under-five mortality in Mozambique: differentials by region of residence and ethnic affiliation of the mother.

OBJECTIVE To explore regional and ethnic differentials in under-five mortality in Mozambique in relation to other determinants. DESIGN Retrospective follow-up study. SETTING Mozambique. RESULTS Compared to children of Xitsonga mother's, children of Emakua and Cisena mother's had a mortality risk of 1.47 (CI = 1.06-1.90) and 1.21 (CI = 1.00-1.62) respectively. The excess mortality risks were partly explained by demographic, household environment, socioeconomic factors including region of residence. CONCLUSION Ethnic affiliation of the mother (measured by the first language the mother spoke) was statistically associated with under-five mortality in Mozambique. Children of mothers of Emakua and Cisena ethnic affiliations and living in the North and Central regions had the worst survival chances. The relation between mother's ethnicity and under-five mortality was largely explained by demographic, socioeconomic and environmental factors.
TERMINOLOGY AND CLASSIFICATION OF CEREBRAL PALSY

A SMALL group” met recently in Edinburgh to discuss the terminology and classification of cerebral palsy. At the meeting, a good deal of thinking and discussion went into the basis of medical classification in general, and attention was drawn to the extremely loose way in which, in the cerebral palsy field, we have used terms in the past and continue to do so today. The group reached agreement on a definition of cerebral palsy, but ran into difficulties after this. Cerebral palsy, they agreed, is one of a group of conditions generally described as ‘Syndromes of Cerebral Dysfunction’. This fitted into the proposals put forward by DENHOFF and ROBINAULT,~ and the only serious criticism was that the term ‘cerebral’ does not strictly include all parts of the brain, although most people would accept this extension of its meaning. Cerebral palsy is therefore defined as : ‘A disorder of movement and posture due to a defect or lesion of the immature brain. ’ For practical purposes it is usual to exclude from cerebral palsy those disorders of posture and movement which are (1) of short duration, (2) due to progressive disease, or (3) due solely to mental deficiency. The group felt that this simple sentence could be readily translated into other languages and hoped that it might be universally accepted. They felt that it is wiser at the present time not to define precisely what they meant by ‘immature brain’, as any such definition might lead to administrative difficulties. The individual clinician dealing with the few cases arising in older children could decide whether it was reasonable to describe a certain child as having cerebral palsy. Translators do not always find the word ‘palsy’ easy to cope with, as the more exactminded expect ‘palsy’ to mean the same as ‘paralysis’ and by ‘paralysis’ understand what others would term ‘complete paralysis’. It might be well in English and American neurological and medical writing to make greater use of the word ‘paresis’ where power is present but impaired. The group ran into considerable difficulty when they went on to discuss the classification of various types of cerebral paresis. Indeed, they barely got beyond discussing the word ‘spastic’. It was not only that the word is used by lay people to describe anybody with cerebral palsy, but that there are various medical uses of the term. Sometimes it is used to describe a particular clinical syndrome rather common in the whole group of cerebral palsy, whatever the stage of evolution of the clinical picture. Sometimes its use is limited
Structural fault tolerance in VLSI-based systems

A system is structurally fault-tolerant (SFT) if it preserves a fault-free subsystem of a pre-determined interconnection structure when faults appear. We present a systematic approach to designing SFT VLSI-based systems that use shared buses as the main communication mechanism. To represent the target systems, we introduce a processor-bus-link (PBL) graph in which processing elements (PEs) and buses are both modeled as nodes. PE and bus faults correspond to the removal of nodes from the PBL graph. The node covering concept and the minimum-weight spanning arborescence algorithm are then applied to the design of SFT systems that can tolerate both PE and bus faults. The designs obtained have fewer spare communication ports than prior designs, no critical single point of failure, and simple circuitry for reconfiguration. <<ETX>>
Modeling and analysis for output impedance of buck converters

In distributed power systems, the impedance model of power modules is very important because of the close relationship between impedance and stability. For buck converters with a sinusoidal current perturbation at the output terminal, the output voltage will contain multiple components in frequency domain. The output impedance characteristics of power converters are actually single input multiple output (SIMO). However, traditional models and modeling methods only take the perturbation frequency into account and ignore the other components. The obtained impedance models, with single input single output (SISO) forms, are actually simplifications of the real impedance. In this paper, the output impedance of buck converters with SIMO characteristics is modeled by a matrix based method. Detailed analysis shows that it is reasonable to only consider the perturbation frequency itself in low frequency regions, but in high frequency regions, especially those around the switching frequency and its multiples, the corresponding low frequency component is also very significant and should be taken into account. Simulation and experimental results validate the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed modeling method and conclusions.
Adaptation to and Small-Scale Rearing of Invasive Fruit Fly Bactrocera invadens (Diptera: Tephritidae) on Artificial Diet

Abstract Larval rearing of Bactrocera invadens Drew, Tsuruta & White (Diptera: Tephritidae) on artificial diet is described. The adaptation process for this insect, when moved from whole mango, Mangifera indica L. , fruit rearing to artificial diet based on wheat bran, took between three and five generations to reach the plateau of quality control parameters observed for rearing the insect on whole mango fruit. Small-scale rearing on wheat, Triticum aestivum L. -, or carrot, Daucus corata-based diet revealed significantly higher pupal recovery for flies reared on the wheat-based artificial diet (68.8%) compared with the carrot-based diet (58.2%). Weekly production of puparia was 3,966.8 on wheat- and 3,012.1 on carrot-based diet. Other quality control parameters, including pupal weight, adult emergence, flight ability, fecundity, and fertility did not differ significantly between the two artificial rearing media tested.
Identification and Characterization of Rhizobium Associated with Woody Legume Trees Grown under Saudi Arabia Condition

Six woody legume tree species, Acacia ehrenbergiana (Hayne.), Acacia nilotica (Willd.), Acacia saligna (Labill.), Acacia tortilis (Forssk.), Acacia tortilis var. reddiana ( Savi.) and Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) were performed the growth characteristics and to identify the resistance of native isolated Rhizobium strains from root zone surrounding trees to environmental stresses- antibiotic, high temperature, salinity and acidity. Physiological properties of all isolated strains were fast growing and had the same colony morphology and produced high, slimy/mucous transparent to creamy colored colonies on YEMA plates after 3 days of incubation at 28°C. In addition to the strains failed to absorb Congo Red stain in the medium except for those isolated from L. leucocephala (LLR). Acid production was observed among the isolates after 72 hours. The generation span or longevity for YEMB cultures at 28°C ranged between 2.07 and 3.85 hours. The strains showed ability to the resistance of antibiotics, temperature, salinity and pH fluctuation. Based on the utilization of carbon and nitrogen as sole source of carbon and nitrogen, the results showed that those strains probably belonging to one of two groups, Rhizobium or Sinorhizobium. The isolates from present study may be useful to increase the symbiotic nitrogen fixation in legume trees. Therefore the study provides basis for further research on the phylogeny of Rhizobial strains nodulating the legume trees, as well as their use as inoculants to improve growth and nitrogen fixation in arid lands of the central region of Saudi Arabia.
GESTATIONAL TROPHOBLASTIC DISEASE: EXPERIENCE AT A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL OF PESHAWAR

Objective: Material and Methods: Results: Conclusion: Frequency of trophoblastic disease was high in this study compared to world and national literature. Regular follow up and counseling is essential to decrease the mortality and morbidity from this condition. The frequency of Gestational trophoblastic disease was 11.8/1000 pregnancies or 17.6/1000 deliveries. Out of 45 cases of Gestational trophoblastic disease, 38 were hydatidiform mole (H. Mole) and 7 were choriocarcinoma. The commonest age group was 21-39 yrs (68.5%). The disease was common in multigravida and grand multigravida (44%-40%). Variable period of amenorrhea associated with vaginal bleeding was the main presenting symptom (99.5%). Seventy three percent (73.3%) of patient had suction evacuation. Eighty percent (80%) of the patient did come for follow up. One patient died in case of choriocarcinoma due to complication. This was a descriptive study of 45 patient with Gestational trophoblastic disease admitted in Gynae “B” unit of Lady Reading Hospital over a period of one year from first of August 1992 to thirty first July 1993. The case records of all these patients were analyzed regarding their clinical presentation, investigation, treatment and follow up. To find out the frequency, clinical presentation, type, extent and treatment modalities of Gestational trophoblastic disease.
Varicella endotheliitis: a case report

Purpose To report a case of varicella endotheliitis. Methods An 18-year-old patient with varicella presented with photophobia and reduced vision in his left eye because of disciform corneal endotheliitis. Results Ocular symptoms and signs resolved completely except for small sectoral iris atrophy with combined antiviral and corticosteroid therapy. Conclusions We report a rare presentation of varicella.
The Effect of Expected Value on Attraction Effect Preference Reversals

Abstract The attraction effect shows that adding a third alternative to a choice set can alter preference between the original two options. For over 30 years, this simple demonstration of context dependence has been taken as strong evidence against a class of parsimonious value‐maximising models that evaluate alternatives independently from one another. Significantly, however, in previous demonstrations of the attraction effect alternatives are approximately equally valuable, so there was little consequence to the decision maker irrespective of which alternative was selected. Here we vary the difference in expected value between alternatives and provide the first demonstration that, although extinguished with large differences, this theoretically important effect persists when choice between alternatives has a consequence. We use this result to clarify the implications of the attraction effect, arguing that although it robustly violates the assumptions of value‐maximising models, it does not eliminate the possibility that human decision making is optimal. © 2016 The Authors Journal of Behavioral Decision Making Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Target Cell Type-Dependent Differences in Ca2+ Channel Function Underlie Distinct Release Probabilities at Hippocampal Glutamatergic Terminals

Target cell type-dependent differences in presynaptic release probability (Pr) and short-term plasticity are intriguing features of cortical microcircuits that increase the computational power of neuronal networks. Here, we tested the hypothesis that different voltage-gated Ca2+ channel densities in presynaptic active zones (AZs) underlie different Pr values. Two-photon Ca2+ imaging, triple immunofluorescent labeling, and 3D electron microscopic (EM) reconstruction of rat CA3 pyramidal cell axon terminals revealed ∼1.7–1.9 times higher Ca2+ inflow per AZ area in high Pr boutons synapsing onto parvalbumin-positive interneurons (INs) than in low Pr boutons synapsing onto mGluR1α-positive INs. EM replica immunogold labeling, however, demonstrated only 1.15 times larger Cav2.1 and Cav2.2 subunit densities in high Pr AZs. Our results indicate target cell type-specific modulation of voltage-gated Ca2+ channel function or different subunit composition as possible mechanisms underlying the functional differences. In addition, high Pr synapses are also characterized by a higher density of docked vesicles, suggesting that a concerted action of these mechanisms underlies the functional differences. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Target cell type-dependent variability in presynaptic properties is an intriguing feature of cortical synapses. When a single cortical pyramidal cell establishes a synapse onto a somatostatin-expressing interneuron (IN), the synapse releases glutamate with low probability, whereas the next bouton of the same axon has high release probability when its postsynaptic target is a parvalbumin-expressing IN. Here, we used combined molecular, imaging, and anatomical approaches to investigate the mechanisms underlying these differences. Our functional experiments implied an approximately twofold larger Ca2+ channel density in high release probability boutons, whereas freeze–fracture immunolocalization demonstrated only a 15% difference in Ca2+ channel subunit densities. Our results point toward a postsynaptic target cell type-dependent regulation of Ca2+ channel function or different subunit composition as the underlying mechanism.
Diagnosis and management of primary aldosteronism: An updated review

Abstract Primary aldosteronism (PA) is the most common secondary form of arterial hypertension, with a particularly high prevalence among patients with resistant hypertension. Aldosterone has been found to be associated with cardiovascular toxicity. Prolonged aldosteronism leads to higher incidence of cardiac events, glomerular hyperfiltration, and potentially bone/metabolic sequels. The wider application of aldosterone/renin ratio as screening test has substantially contributed to increasing diagnosis of PA. Diagnosis of PA consists of two phases: screening and confirmatory testing. Adrenal imaging is often inaccurate for differentiation between an adenoma and hyperplasia, and adrenal venous sampling is essential for selecting the appropriate treatment modality. The etiologies of PA have two main subtypes: unilateral (aldosterone-producing adenoma) and bilateral (micro- or macronodular hyperplasia). Aldosterone-producing adenoma is typically managed with unilateral adrenalectomy, while bilateral adrenal hyperplasia is amenable to pharmacological approaches using mineralocorticoid antagonists. Short-term treatment outcome following surgery is determined by factors such as preoperative blood pressure level and hypertension duration, but evidence regarding long-term treatment outcome is still lacking. However, directed treatments comprising of unilateral adrenalectomy or mineralocorticoid antagonists still potentially reduce the toxicities of aldosterone. Utilizing a physician-centered approach, we intend to provide up-dated information on the etiology, diagnosis, and the management of PA.
Diet and prostatic cancer: a case-control study in northern Italy.

The relationship between intake of various indicator foods and beverages and risk of prostatic cancer was assessed in 271 cases of prostatic cancer and 685 hospital controls recruited in two areas of northern Italy, the province of Pordenone and the greater Milan area. Increased risks were found for more frequent intake of meat [odds ratio (OR) in the highest vs. lowest consumption tertile = 1.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.0-2.0], milk (OR = 1.6, 95% CI 1.1-2.4), fresh fruit (OR = 1.4, 95% CI 1.0-2.1), and vegetables (OR = 1.4, 95% CI 0.9-2.2). After allowance for the reciprocal confounding effect of various dietary habits, only frequent intake of milk seemed to be a significant independent indicator of prostatic cancer risk. There was also a clue that the unfavorable influence of frequent intake of a few food items (i.e. meat, fish, liver, ham and salami, milk and butter, and retinol) may be greater or restricted to older individuals (i.e., > or = 70 yrs of age). In conclusion, the present study confirms the presence of a moderate adverse effect of high intake of foods of animal origin, chiefly milk, while it suggests that a diet rich in fresh fruit and vegetables does not convey a protection.
Studying system development methodologies: an examination of research methods

Changes in organizational structures, competitive environments, technologies and economies are altering the types and complexity of computer‐based information systems. For methodologies, tools and techniques to evolve to meet these changing needs, research to assess current system development practices would be expected. However, there is little evidence that the evaluation of methodologies and improvement of the systems development process are keeping pace with technological and organizational changes. This paper analyses existing research on system development methodologies and discusses the research needed to provide the information scholars and practitioners will need for the evaluation, selection and development of methodologies in a changing environment.
Differential Effects of Deep Sedation with Propofol on the Specific and Nonspecific Thalamocortical Systems: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Background:The current state of knowledge suggests that disruption of neuronal information integration may be a common mechanism of anesthetic-induced unconsciousness. A neural system critical for information integration is the thalamocortical system whose specific and nonspecific divisions may play the roles for representing and integrating information, respectively. How anesthetics affect the function of these systems individually is not completely understood. The authors studied the effect of propofol on thalamocortical functional connectivity in the specific and nonspecific systems, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Methods:Eight healthy volunteers were instructed to listen to and encode 40 English words during wakeful baseline, light sedation, deep sedation, and recovery in the scanner. Functional connectivity was determined as the temporal correlation of blood oxygen level-dependent signals with seed regions defined within the specific and nonspecific thalamic nuclei. Results:Thalamocortical connectivity at baseline was dominantly medial and bilateral frontal and temporal for the specific system, and medial frontal and medial parietal for the nonspecific system. During deep sedation, propofol reduced functional connectivity by 43% (specific) and 79% (nonspecific), a significantly greater reduction in the nonspecific than in the specific system and in the left hemisphere than in the right. Upon regaining consciousness, functional connectivity increased by 58% (specific) and 123% (nonspecific) during recovery, exceeding their values at baseline. Conclusions:Propofol conferred differential changes in functional connectivity of the specific and nonspecific thalamocortical systems, particularly in left hemisphere, consistent with the verbal nature of stimuli and task. The changes in nonspecific thalamocortical connectivity may correlate with the loss and return of consciousness.