Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antigenic and virulence properties of Pasteurella haemolytica leukotoxin mutants

Antigenic properties of two mutants of Pasteurella haemolytica, strains 59B0071 and 59B0072, that do not produce detectable leukotoxin were investigated. Western blot (immunoblot) analysis with a number of polyclonal sera from animals recovering from pasteurellosis revealed that both mutants secreted a variety of antigens that were also present in cultures of several wild-type strains. These antigens ranged from about 100 to 15 kDa. Mutant strain 59B0071 was found to be totally deficient in leukotoxin, as judged not only by Western blotting but also by cytotoxicity assays with bovine lymphoma (BL-3) cells or bovine polymorphonuclear cells as targets. The mutant strain 59B0071 had normal levels of a secreted sialylglycoprotease, however. When strains were tested for virulence in goat and cattle challenge experiments, a reduction in mortality and lung lesions was observed with the mutant 59B0071 in comparison with results obtained with wild-type strains. These results are consistent with an important role for leukotoxin in P. haemolytica virulence and suggest that leukotoxin-negative mutants may be useful tools in the investigation of other virulence properties involved in P. haemolytica infections.
Estimating heterogeneous transmission with multiple infectives using MCMC methods

We developed a general procedure for estimating the transmission probability adjusting for covariates when susceptibles are exposed to several infectives concurrently and taking correlation within transmission units into account. The procedure is motivated by a study estimating efficacy of pertussis vaccination based on the secondary attack rate in a rural sub‐Saharan community (Niakhar, Senegal) and illustrated with simulations. The procedure is also appropriate to estimate the pairwise transmission probability in transmission studies of live vaccine virus in a collection of transmission units, such as day‐care centres or retirement centres. Previously, analyses either excluded transmission units with multiple infectives or ignored co‐infectives. Excluding transmission units with multiple infectives is statistically less efficient and ignoring co‐infectives can lead to biased estimation. Modelling is carried out by regressing the latent pairwise transmission probability from each infective to a susceptible on covariates and specifying a transmission linkage function linking the latent pairwise transmission probability to the overall transmission probability. Parameters are estimated using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Schistosome infection is associated with enhanced whole‐blood IL‐10 secretion in response to cercarial excretory/secretory products

Infection of the human host by schistosome parasites follows exposure of skin to free‐swimming cercariae and is aided by the release of excretory/secretory (E/S) material, which is rich in proteases and glycoconjugates. This material provides the initial stimulus to cells of the innate immune system. The study presented here is the first to examine human innate/early immune responsiveness to cercarial E/S in subjects from an area co‐endemic for Schistosoma mansoni and S. haematobium. We report that in infected participants, stimulation of whole‐blood cultures with cercarial E/S material (termed 0–3 hRP) caused the early (within 24 h) release of greater quantities of regulatory IL‐10, compared with uninfected controls. Elevated levels of IL‐10 but not pro‐inflammatory TNFα or IL‐8 were most evident in participants co‐infected with S. mansoni and S. haematobium and were accompanied by a higher 0–3 h RP‐specific IL‐10: TNFα ratio. We also report that glycosylated components within 0–3 h RP appear to be important factors in the stimulation of IL‐8, TNFα and IL‐10 production by whole‐blood cells.
Bone, blood and semen lead in men with environmental and moderate occupational exposure

Lead (Pb) in blood, bone, and semen was measured in 162 to 186 environmentally exposed men from Mexico City, aged 19 - 48. Semen Pb was measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, blood Pb by atomic absorption spectrometry and bone Pb by K X-ray fluorescence. Mean Pb levels in blood, semen, tibia (cortical) and patella (trabecular) bone were 12 μg/dl, 2.7 μg/l, 13 μg/g, and 20 μg/g, respectively. Semen Pb was determined by blood Pb and patella Pb. Determinants of higher tibia Pb were age, living near industry in which Pb is used, and a high occupational Pb exposure index. Higher patella Pb was predicted by age, higher traffic density near home, a high index of occupational exposure to Pb and a greater number of cigarettes smoked per day in the year prior to the study. Blood and bone Pb results are consistent with findings in other populations. Semen results provide new information on the semen-bone Pb relationship. Bone, especially trabecular one, proved to be a significant endogenous lead source for blood and semen burdens in reproductive aged men.
A phase II study of capecitabine and lapatinib in advanced refractory colorectal adenocarcinoma: A Wisconsin Oncology Network study.

BACKGROUND Prognosis remains poor after progression on first-line chemotherapy for colorectal adenocarcinoma, and inactivation of the EGFR pathway with monoclonal antibodies is an effective treatment strategy in selected patients with metastatic disease. Lapatinib is an oral EGFR and HER-2 dual tyrosine kinase inhibitor that has not shown significant activity in metastatic colorectal cancer. However, lapatinib may act synergistically with capecitabine in anticancer effects. METHODS This was an open-label, non-randomized phase II study of lapatinib 1,250 mg orally daily and capecitabine 2,000 mg/m(2) by mouth split into twice-daily dosing for 14 days of a 21 days cycle. Inclusion criteria included metastatic or locally advanced adenocarcinoma of the colon or rectum with progression by RECIST on or within six months of receiving a fluoridopyrimidine-, oxaliplatin- or irinotecan-containing regimen. Prior EGFR monoclonal antibody was permitted. K-ras testing was not routinely performed and was not a part of the study protocol. RESULTS Twenty nine patients (16 M; 13 F) were enrolled in this study. There were no complete or partial responses. 41.4% of patients achieved stable disease as a best response. Median overall survival was 6.8 months, with a 1-year survival rate of 22%, and median progression-free survival was 2.1 months. The combination produced few grade 3 and no grade 4 toxicities. No grade 3 toxicity occurred in more than 10% of patients. CONCLUSIONS Although capecitabine and lapatinib is well tolerated, it is not an effective regimen in patients with refractory colorectal adenocarcinoma.
Genetic Polymorphisms in Varied Environments

Thirteen experimenital populationis of Drosophila willistoni were maintained in cages, in some of which the environments were relatively constant and in others varied. After 45 weeks, the populations were assayed by gel electrophoresis for polymorphisms at 22 protein loci. The average heterozygosity per individual and the average unmber of alleles per locus were higher in populations maintained in heterogeneous environments than in populations in more constant enviroments.
Faecal steroid composition and its relationship to cancer of the large bowel

Aries et al. (1969a) have proposed the following working hypothesis to account for a possible relation: (a) the composition of the intestinal bacterial flora is dependent on the nature of the diet; (b) the nature of the diet also determines the types and amounts of compounds that come into contact with the bacterial flora; (c) intestinal bacteria are able to form carcinogens from dietary compounds or from digestive secretions, e.g., bile components, and it is known that under certain circumstances bile acids, or degradation products present as impurities, can be carcinogenic (Haddow, 1958; Lacassagne, Buu-Hoi and Zajdela, 1961, 1966). Aries et al. (1969a) have shown that the intestinal flora of Ugandans living on a diet consisting largely of matoke differs greatly from that of English people living on a normal Western mixed diet, and subsequent studies on the faecal flora of people living in India on a rice diet, and of Scots and white Americans living on Western mixed diets, also support the above hypothesis (Crowther and Drasar, unpublished).
Methotrexate maintains bone mass by preventing both a decrease in bone formation and an increase in bone resorption in adjuvant-induced arthritic rats.

We examined the effects of low doses methotrexate (MTX) and indomethacin (IND) on bone mass and turnover in normal male Sprague-Dawley rats and those with adjuvant-induced arthritis. Normal and the adjuvant (heat-killed mycobacterium)-injected rats, 6 weeks of age, were given MTX at daily doses of 0.05, 0.1, or 0.2 mg/kg body weight (BW) or IND at a daily dose of 1.0 mg/kg BW. Rats were killed at the start, or at 14 and 28 days. In normal rats, the administration of these agents did not change the lumbar and femoral BMD values, nor did the serum osteocalcin or urinary deoxypyridinoline (D-Pyr) levels. Lumbar trabecular osteoclast number (Oc.N/BS) and osteoclast surface (Oc.S/BS) were decreased in the rats given IND. In the arthritic rats, the administration of MTX did not prevent an early increase of paw edema in the adjuvant-injected limb, but late inflammatory edema was alleviated in the non-injected limb. However, MTX administration at a dose of 0.1-0.2 mg/kg BW maintained an age-dependent increase in the lumbar and femoral BMD values. While serum osteocalcin levels were decreased and urinary D-Pyr values were increased in the arthritic control rats, these bone markers remained at the levels of the normal rats. Decreases in mineral apposition rate (MAR) and bone formation rate (BFR/BS) and increases in the trabecular Oc.N/BS and Oc.S/BS values were prevented by MTX. While IND almost completely prevented inflammatory paw edema, it did not improve the parameters of bone formation. An increase in osteoclasts was prevented and the osteopenia in the lumbar and the femoral bone was only partially prevented by IND. These data suggest that MTX improves bone mass and turnover in the arthritic rat, in which several cytokines that affect bone cells are involved. An increase in bone resorption may be due to prostaglandins, but bone formation defect was suggested to be due to other cytokines such as IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-alpha in this model.
A comparison of selected nutrient intakes derived from three diet assessment methods used in a low-fat maintenance trial

Abstract Objective: In the vast majority of surveys and research in humans, dietary data are obtained from self-reports: recalls; records; or historical methods, usually food frequency questionnaires (FFQ). This study provides a rare opportunity to compare data derived from all three methods. Design: A crossover study of dietary fat in which data were collected using an average of 11.4 food records and 11.7 24-h diet recalls. Using simple subtraction and correlation, energy and nutrient intakes derived from the three methods were compared to each other and with those derived from a single FFQ. Analysis of variance was used to evaluate sources of variability in nutrient intakes estimated from the individual days of records and recalls. Setting: An independent, free-standing medical research institute. Subjects: 13 men who were compliant with study procedures. Results: FFQ-derived estimates of energy and nutrient intake were highest (e.g. 1967 kcal versus 1858 kcal and 1936 kcal for the records and recalls, respectively). Mean differences in energy and nutrient intakes and their variances were lowest and correlation coefficients highest in comparing the records and recalls (e.g. for fat the mean difference was 5.0 g, and r=0.85). Analysis of variance of individual days of record- and recall-derived datd (n=300) revealed that there was no effect due to either method (record or recall) or the sequence of administration. Conclusions: Results of this study indicate that the FFQ overestimated dietary intake. Energy and nutrient results obtained from the records and recalls were interchangeable. However, based on smaller SDs around the means, it appears that the recalls may perform slightly better in estimating dietary intake in groups such as these well-educated, highly compliant men.
Attention, Motivation, and Reading Coherence Failure: A Neuropsychological Perspective

Reading coherence, defined as the ability to create appropriate, meaningful connections between the elements within a specific text itself and between elements within a text and the reader's prior knowledge, is one of the key processes involved in reading comprehension. This article describes reading coherence within the context of a neuropsychological model combining recent research in motivation, attention, and working memory. Specifically, a unique neuropsychologically identifiable form of reading coherence failure arising from the attentional and motivational deficiencies, based in altered frontoventral striatal reward circuits associated with noradrenaline (NA) circuitry, consistent with the delay-aversion model (dual-pathway model) of Sonuga-Barke (2003) is postulated. This article provides a model for this subset of reading disorders of which etiology is based on the executive support processes for reading and not in the mechanics of actual reading such as decoding and phonetics.
HIV type 1 subtype E in commercial sex workers and injection drug users in southern Vietnam.

Nationwide HIV-1 seroprevalence rates in Vietnam are estimated to be almost 10% for IV drug users (IVDUs), 3% for female prostitutes, and 2% for males attending clinics for sexually transmitted diseases. These estimated prevalences are comparable to those observed in the same risk groups in Thailand 5 years ago. Blood samples were analyzed from two female HIV-1-seropositive prostitutes and three male IVDUs in southern Vietnam during April and May 1995. HIV-1 infection was confirmed by nested PCR in all five samples. Sequence alignment and comparison of the 325-nucleotide region with the major HIV-1 subtypes from widely separated geographic regions indicate that the Vietnam HIV-1 strains are genetically most similar to virus strains from Thailand, diverging from well-characterized subtype E strains by 3.1-5.9% and 5.6-12.0% at the nucleotide and deduced amino acid levels, respectively. The interstrain genetic variation among the Vietnam env sequences was 2.5-4.9%. None of the prostitutes and IVDUs studied had traveled to or worked in Thailand or Cambodia, and neither of the prostitutes used IV drugs, suggesting that they were infected sexually with indigenous strains circulating within Vietnam. The phylogenetic clustering of the Vietnam HIV-1 strains and their relative low degree of sequence variability are consistent with a founder effect and the recent introduction of HIV-1 subtype E.
Multiscale Numerical Study of 3D Polymer Crystallization during Cooling Stage

We aim to study the behavior of polymer crystallization during cooling stage in injection molding more accurately, the multiscale model and multiscale algorithm proposed in our previous work (Ruan et al., 2012) have been extended to the 3D polymer crystallization case. Our multiscale model incorporates two distinct length scales: a coarse grid for the heat diffusion and a fine grid for the crystal morphology evolution (nucleation, growth, and impingement). Our multiscale algorithm couples the different methods on different length scales, namely, the finite volume method (FVM) on the coarse grid and the pixel coloring method on the fine grid. By using these multiscale model and multiscale algorithm, simulations for 3D polymer crystallization are carried out. Macroscopic variables, for example, temperature, relative crystallinity, as well as the microscopic structural characters, for example, crystal morphology development, and mean size of spherulites, are investigated at various cooling conditions. We also show the importance of coupling heat transfer with crystallization as well as 3D numerical studies.
Human pancreatic acinar cells lack functional responses to cholecystokinin and gastrin.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Pancreatic acinar cells from various species express cholecystokinin (CCK) A, CCK-B, or a combination of these CCK receptor subtypes. The presence and functional roles of CCK receptors on human acinar cells remain unclear. METHODS Acini isolated from human pancreas were treated with CCK receptor agonists, CCK-8 and gastrin, and an agonist for m3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (m3 AchR), carbachol. Functional parameters measured included intracellular [Ca(2+)], amylase secretion, and ERK phosphorylation. Binding studies were performed using (125)I-CCK-8. Expression of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) was determined using real-time quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and localized by in situ hybridization. RESULTS Human acini did not respond to CCK agonists. In contrast, they responded to carbachol with robust increases in each of the functional parameters. Moreover, the cells responded to CCK agonists after adenoviral-mediated gene transfer of CCK-A or CCK-B receptors. A low level of specific and a high level of nonspecific binding of (125)I-CCK-8 were observed. Quantitative RT-PCR indicated that the message levels for CCK-A receptors were approximately 30-fold lower than those of CCK-B receptors, which were approximately 10-fold lower than those of m3 Ach receptors. In situ hybridization indicated the presence of m3 Ach receptor and insulin mRNA but not CCK-A or CCK-B receptor mRNAs in adult human pancreas. CONCLUSIONS These data indicate that human pancreatic acinar cells do not respond to CCK receptor agonists in terms of expected functional parameters and show that this is due to an insufficient level of receptor expression.
Effect of nanofillers' size on surface properties after toothbrush abrasion.

PURPOSE To investigate the effect of filler-particle size of experimental and commercial resin composites, undergoing toothbrush abrasion, on three surface properties: surface roughness (SR), surface gloss (G) and color stability (CS). METHODS Four model (Ivoclar/Vivadent) and one commercial resin composite (Tokuyama) with varying filler-size from 100-1000 nm were examined. Six discs (10 mm x 2 mm) from each product were prepared and mechanically polished. The samples were then submitted to 20,000 brushing strokes in a toothbrush abrasion machine. SR parameters (Ra, Rt and RSm), G, and CS were measured before and after toothbrush abrasion. Changes in SR and G were analyzed by 2-way ANOVA, with Bonferroni post hoc test. CS values were submitted to one-way ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc test (alpha=0.05). RESULTS Initial G values ranged between 73-87 gloss units (GU) and were reduced after toothbrush abrasion to a range of 8-64 GU. Toothbrush abrasion resulted in significant modifications in SR and G amongst the materials tested, attributed to filler sizes. There was statistically significant difference in color (delta E* ranged from 0.38-0.88). Filler size did not affect color stability. Toothbrush abrasion resulted in rougher and matte surfaces for all materials tested. Although the individual differences in surface roughness among filler sizes were not always significant, the correlation showed a trend that larger filler sizes resulted in higher surface roughness after abrasion for the SR parameters Ra and Rt (r = 0.95; r = 0.93, respectively). RSm showed an increase after toothbrush abrasion for all resin composites, however no significant correlation was detected (r = 0.21). There was a significant correlation between G and Ra ratios (r = - 0.95).
Recurrent malignant solitary fibrous tumour of the pleura - a case report of a delayed diagnosis

Malignant solitary tumours of the pleura are extremely rare neoplasms usually presenting with dramatic symptoms. A 54-yearold female presented with symptoms of confusion. Chest X-ray and CT showed a huge mass in the right pleural cavity. Diagnostic thoracoscopy yielded a false result of small cell cancer. The final pathology was positive for a malignant SFT. The operative procedure required removal of the mass. The follow-up exam showed a recurrent tumour and a pneumonectomy was required for a radical resection. The postoperative course was uneventful and follow-up exam showed no recurrence of the disease.
Effects of Action Video Game on Spatial Attention Distribution in Low and High Perceptual Load Task

As video game playing is gaining great popularity in today’s society, some researchers have done great researches about its cognitive effects. They found that the experience of video game playing could enhance a number of cognitive abilities of people such as reaction speed, attentional capability and the efficiency of the spatial attention distribution, which made the target search from distractors faster with better accuracy. Based on the previous researches, the present study explored the attention distribution of action video game players and nonplayers at different perceptual loads under focused attention condition. The results showed that, at low perceptual load, action video game players tried to focus their attention on the task at-hand whereas the non-players tried to explore the adjacent locations with the left-over resources from the research task; however, at high perceptual load, the players would process the visual information at the adjacent locations of the target with the left-over resources, whereas the non-players focused their attention on the target locations to finish the search task. Furthermore, the training study indicated that the two video games applied could enhance the reaction speed of the participants and that limited training could not alter the way of the spatial attention distribution.
My face in yours: Visuo-tactile facial stimulation influences sense of identity

Abstract Self-face recognition is crucial for sense of identity and self-awareness. Finding self-face recognition disorders mainly in neurological and psychiatric diseases suggests that modifying sense of identity in a simple, rapid way remains a “holy grail” for cognitive neuroscience. By touching the face of subjects who were viewing simultaneous touches on a partner's face, we induced a novel illusion of personal identity that we call “enfacement”: The partner's facial features became incorporated into the representation of the participant's own face. Subjects reported that morphed images of themselves and their partner contained more self than other only after synchronous, but not asynchronous, stroking. Therefore, we modified self-face recognition by means of a simple psychophysical manipulation. While accommodating gradual change in one's own face is an important form of representational plasticity that may help maintaining identity over time, the surprisingly rapid changes induced by our procedure suggest that sense of facial identity may be more malleable than previously believed. “Enfacement” correlated positively with the participant's empathic traits and with the physical attractiveness the participants attributed to their partners. Thus, personality variables modulate enfacement, which may represent a marker of the tendency to be social and may be absent in subjects with defective empathy.