Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Actin surface structure revealed by antibody imprints: Evaluation of phage‐display analysis of anti‐actin antibodies

Phage‐display peptide library analysis of an anti‐F actin polyclonal antibody identified 12 amino acid residues of actin that appear, in its X‐ray crystal structure, to be grouped together in a surface accessible conformational epitope. Phage epitope mapping was carried out by isolating immune complexes containing members of the J404 nonapeptide phage‐display library formed in diluted antiserum and isolated on a protein A affinity matrix. Immunoreactive clones were grown as plaques, replica plated onto nitrocellulose, and labeled with anti‐actin immune serum. One hundred and forty‐four positively staining clones identified in this way were sequenced. Of these, 54 displayed peptides with sequence similarities. When the most abundantly selected sequence, KQTWQQLWD, was produced as a synthetic peptide and derivatized to ovalbumin, the complex was strongly recognized by the antiserum on Western blots and inhibited the binding of the antibody to immobilized F‐actin by 60%. A scrambled version of this sequence WQDK WLQTQ, when coupled to ovalbumin, was not recognized by the antiserum and minimally inhibited binding of antiserum to immobilized F‐actin by 10%. KQTWQQLWD contained four residues that corresponded, in frame, to a highly conserved six residue region of the chicken β‐actin sequence 351TFQQMW356 (identical residues are shown in bold). Examination of the rabbit skeletal muscle X‐ray crystal structure suggested that within a 15 å radius of W356, nine additional residues were arranged on the actin surface in such a way that they could be mimicked by several of the selected phage sequences with root‐mean‐square deviation fits of 2.1–2.5 å. We conclude that phage‐display analysis can provide information about the relative location of amino acids on the surfaces of proteins using antibody imprints of the protein surface structure.
The Effects of Different Cycles of Starvation and Refeeding on Growth and Body Composition on European Sea Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax)

This study was designed to investigate the effects of starvation and refeeding cycles on growth performance and body chemical composition of juvenile sea bass. For this purpose, a total of 720 juveniles with an initial mean weight (IW) of 5.85±0.54 g were divided into 12 tanks (400 L) in triplicate groups. During the period of the experiment, the control group (C) was fed to satiation three times a day. The feeding regimes of the other three groups were designed as follows: 2 days starvation / 8 days satiation (G1) (5 cycles), 5 days starvation / 20 days satiation (G2) (2 cycles) and 10 days starvation / 40 days satiation (G3) (1 cycle). After 50 days, only group G1 demonstrated partial compensatory growth. The difference between the final weights (FW) of groups was found statistically significant (P<0.05). Specific growth rates (SGR) of fasting groups were lower than those of the control group (P<0.05). G1group was determined to have the best values of feed conversion ratio (FCR) and economic conversion ratio (ECR). Hepatosomatic index (HSI) did not differ significantly between groups (P>0.05). Total fat (TF) was lowest in G3 (P<0.05). The partial compensation by group G1 presents possibilities for economic optimization.
A Vibrio cholerae LysR Homolog, AphB, Cooperates with AphA at the tcpPH Promoter To Activate Expression of the ToxR Virulence Cascade

ABSTRACT We describe here a new member of the LysR family of transcriptional regulators, AphB, which is required for activation of the Vibrio cholerae ToxR virulence cascade. AphB activates the transcription of the tcpPH operon in response to environmental stimuli, and this process requires cooperation with a second protein, AphA. The expression of neither aphA or aphB is strongly regulated by environmental stimuli, raising the possibility that the activities of the proteins themselves may be influenced under various conditions. Strains of the El Tor biotype of V. choleraetypically exhibit lower expression of ToxR-regulated virulence genes in vitro than classical strains and require specialized culture conditions (AKI medium) to induce high-level expression. We show here that expression of aphB from the tac promoter in El Tor biotype strains dramatically increases virulence gene expression to levels similar to those observed in classical strains under all growth conditions examined. These results suggest that AphB plays a role in the differential regulation of virulence genes between the two disease-causing biotypes.
The Reliability of Analysis of Intraoperative Frozen Sections for Identifying Active Infection during Revision Hip or Knee Arthroplasty*†

A prospective study was performed to determine the reliability of analysis of intraoperative frozen sections for the identification of infection during 175 consecutive revision total joint arthroplasties (142 hip and thirty-three knee). The mean interval between the primary and the revision arthroplasty was 7.3 years (range, three months to twenty-three years). To reduce selections bias, tissue was obtained for frozen sections during all revisions in patients who did not have active drainage from the wound or a sinus tract. Of the 175 patients, twenty-three had at least five polymorphonuclear leukocytes per high-power field on analysis of the frozen sections and were considered to have an infection. Of these twenty-three, five had five to nine polymorphonuclear leukocytes per high-power field and eighteen had at least ten polymorphonuclear leukocytes per high-power field. The frozen sections for the remaining 152 patients were considered negative. On the basis of cultures of specimens obtained at the time of the revision operation, nineteen of the 175 patients were considered to have an infection. Of the 152 patients who had negative frozen sections, three were considered to have an infection on the basis of the results of the final cultures. Of the twenty-three patients who had positive frozen sections, sixteen were considered to have an infection on the basis of the results of the final cultures; all sixteen had frozen sections that had demonstrated at least ten polymorphonuclear leukocytes per high-power field. The sensitivity and specificity of the frozen sections were similar regardless of whether an index of five or ten polymorphonuclear leukocytes per high-power field was used. Analysis of the frozen sections had a sensitivity of 84 per cent for both indices, whereas the specificity was 96 per cent when the index was five polymorphonuclear leukocytes and 99 per cent when it was ten polymorphonuclear leukocytes. However, the positive predictive value of the frozen sections increased significantly (p < 0.05), from 70 to 89 per cent, when the index increased from five to ten polymorphonuclear leukocytes per high-power field. The negative predictive value of the frozen sections was 98 per cent for both indices. The current study suggests that it is valuable to obtain tissue for intraoperative frozen sections during revision hip and knee arthroplasty. At least ten polymorphonuclear leukocytes per high-power field was predictive of infection, while five to nine polymorphonuclear leukocytes per high-power field was not necessarily consistent with infection. Less than five polymorphonuclear leukocytes per high-power field reliably indicated the absence of infection.
In vitro development of B cells and macrophages from early mouse fetal thymocytes

The developmental potentialities of early mouse fetal thymocytes were analyzed by in vitro culturing cell suspensions obtained from 12–15‐gestational day thymus in contact with a bone marrow stroma clonal cell line that supports pre‐B and myeloid cell differentiation. B cell and macrophage development from fetal thymocytes was observed at all fetal stages tested, but limiting dilution analysis revealed that the frequency of cells forming colonies on bone marrow stroma is the highest in the fetal thymus at day 12, then dramatically decreases until day 15. These observations suggest that the thymus rudiment is seeded by multipotential precursor cells which are not immediately committed to T cell development in the thymic cellular environment.
A performance model for a business process integration middleware

With today's fast changing business environment and distributed global organizations, business processes of enterprises need to be able to quickly adapt to the new business requirements. BPI (business process integration) middleware are thus developed to facilitate the integration of various types of enterprise applications that operate within or across enterprise boundaries. Due to the varying complexity and distributed nature of the business processes and the wide range of enterprise applications' characteristics, capacity planning and performance tuning of BPI middleware has been a challenge for engineers who develop and deploy BPI solutions. We present a layered queueing network-based performance model for a BPI middleware to address this challenge.
Exploration of Unknown Map for Gas Searching and Picking Up Objects using Khepera Mobile Robots

In this paper, the integrated approach for searching, detecting the source of gas leakage and capturing object using Khepera III mobile robot is introduced. It was tested in natural grid environments as shown in experiments but it is usable in vast areas; e.g. houses and labs to pick up gas victims. Experiments are performed using a master Khepera robot equipped with a gas sensor and two slave robots equipped with grippers to take the best path to pick up the object. Moreover, this paper proposes an improvement of Albers exploration algorithm to reduce the time required to explore an unknown map with different polygon obstacles. The proposed approach aims at minimizing the overall exploration time, making it possible to localize gas source in an effi- cient way, as demonstrated in V-REP simulation as well as real world experiments. A comparison among both algorithms has shown the effectiveness of the proposed one, where the percentage of performance speedup is about 30% to 57% depending on the size of the map and number of obstacles.
Cost effectiveness of atazanavir-ritonavir versus lopinavir-ritonavir in treatment-naïve human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients in the United States

Abstract Objective: To evaluate lifetime cost effectiveness of atazanavir-ritonavir (ATV + r) versus lopinavir-ritonavir (LPV/r), both with tenofovir-emtricitabine, in US HIV-infected patients initiating first-line antiretroviral therapy. Methods: A Markov microsimulation model was developed to calculate quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) based on CD4 and HIV RNA levels, coronary heart disease (CHD), AIDS, opportunistic infections (OIs), diarrhea, and hyperbilirubinemia. A million-member cohort of HIV-1-infected, treatment-naïve adults progressed at 3-month intervals through eight health states. Baseline characteristics, virologic suppression, cholesterol changes, and diarrhea and hyperbilirubinemia rates were based on 96-week CASTLE trial results. HIV mortality, OI rates, adherence, costs, utilities, and CHD risk were from literature and experts. Limitations: The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) may be overestimated because the ATV + r treatment effect was based on an intention-to-treat analysis. The QALY weights used for diarrhea, hyperbilirubinemia, and CHD events are uncertain; however, the ICER remained <$50,000/QALY when these values were varied in sensitivity analyses. Results: ATV + r patients received first-line therapy longer than LPV/r patients (97.3 vs. 70.7 months), had longer quality-adjusted survival (11.02 vs. 10.76 years), similar overall survival (18.52 vs. 18.51 years), and higher costs ($275,986 vs. 269,160). ATR + r patients had lower rates of AIDS (19.08 vs. 20.05 cases/1,000 patient-years), OIs (0.44 vs. 0.52), diarrhea (1.27 vs. 6.26), and CHD events (5.44 vs. 5.51), but higher hyperbilirubinemia rates (6.99 vs. 0.25). ATV + r added 0.26 QALYs at a cost of $6826, for $26,421/QALY. Conclusions: By more effectively reducing viral load with less gastrointestinal toxicity and a better lipid profile, ATV + r lowered rates of AIDS and CHD, increased quality-adjusted survival, and was cost effective (<$50,000/QALY) compared with LPV/r.
Nodal metastases at level IIb during neck dissection for head and neck cancer: Clinical and pathologic evaluation

Selective neck dissection as a part of an elective or therapeutic treatment of the neck is a common practice during the surgical treatment of patients with head and neck cancer. Recently, the need for routine dissection of level IIb has been discussed. The aim of this study was to verify the incidence of metastases at level IIb in patients with clinically negative necks (N0) and clinically positive necks (N+) and discuss the need for its excision.
An inexpensive stereoscopic vision system for robots

A relatively low cost stereoscopic vision system has been constructed here at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, using a video camera interfaced to a microcomputer. A motor driven mirror assembly attached to the camera is used to obtain the stereoscopic images. In the preliminary studies, an APPLE II microcomputer fitted with a DITHERTIZER II board was used for digitizing the video images. With its 280 × 192 resolution, we are able to measure distances with an accuracy of 8%. Currently, an IBM PC fitted with a VAN GOGH board by TECMAR having a resolution of 256 by 256 is used in place of the APPLE system. Using this system, much better results are obtained. The end system will be integrated to a Cincinnati Milacron T3industrial robot. In order to meaningfully utilize the information provided by the various subsystems interfaced to the robot, a three level hierarchical distributive system is being set up, using a PDP 11/34 minicomputer as the supervisory computer.
Nitrogen Source-Dependent Capsule Induction in Human-Pathogenic Cryptococcus Species

ABSTRACT Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii cause meningoencephalitis and are an increasing human health threat. These pathogenic Cryptococcus species are neurotropic and persist in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of the mammalian host during infection. In order to survive in the host, pathogenic fungi must procure nutrients, such as carbon and nitrogen, from the CSF. To enhance our understanding of nutrient acquisition during central nervous system infection by Cryptococcus species, we examined the utilization of nitrogen sources available in CSF. We screened for the growth and capsule production of 817 global environmental and clinical isolates on various sources of nitrogen. Both environmental and clinical strains grew robustly on uric acid, Casamino Acids, creatinine, and asparagine as sole nitrogen sources. Urea induced the greatest magnitude of capsule induction. This induction was greater in Cryptococcus gattii than in C. neoformans. We confirmed the ability of nonpreferred nitrogen sources to increase capsule production in pathogenic species of Cryptococcus. Since urea is metabolized to ammonia and CO2 (a known signal for capsule induction), we examined urea metabolism mutants for their transcriptional response to urea regarding capsule production. The transcriptional profile of C. neoformans under urea-supplemented conditions revealed both similar and unique responses to other capsule-inducing conditions, including both intra- and extracellular urea utilization. As one of the most abundant nitrogen sources in the CSF, the ability of Cryptococcus to import urea and induce capsule production may substantially aid this yeast's survival and propagation in the host.
Modified dual active bridge photovoltaic inverter for solid state transformer applications

The solid state transformer (SST) was announced as the one of the most emerging technology by the Massachusetts institute of technology (MIT). An SST generally includes a DC or AC buses in high and/or low voltage side in order to connect the external input sources to the SST. We proposed discontinues conduction mode (DCM) modified dual active bridge inverter topology for integrating photovoltaic (PV) panels to SST. The proposed inverter achieves soft switching, hence it has high efficiency. Moreover, it can be operated by open loop control with eliminating high frequency current sensor. In this paper, the analysis of the proposed inverter is presented, and simulation results are given for validating the proposed inverter.
Bleeding disorder due to platelet prostaglandin H synthase‐1 (PGHS‐1) deficiency

Defective platelet prostaglandin H synthase (PGHS) activity has been recognized as a cause of bleeding disorders, but the defect has not been characterized. We evaluated three female patients aged 37, 48 and 55 who presented with a mild bleeding disorder due to platelet dysfunction. None of the patients had underlying diseases or reported use of aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs. Coagulation screening tests and platelet count were normal in each patient. Platelet aggregation in response to adenosine diphosphate (ADP), collagen and epinephrine were subnormal, characterized by an abnormal second‐wave aggregation and propensity for disaggregation. Arachidonate‐induced platelet aggregation was defective, whereas PGH2‐induced aggregation was normal. Platelet thromboxane A2 (TXA2) production in response to arachidonic acid was reduced in all three patients, i.e. 11.7, 4.6 and 4.4 ng TXB2/3 108 plt respectively (normal range was 49–81 ng/3 10 8 plt), whereas they were normal in response to exogenous PGH2, i.e. 71.4, 56.6 and 48.9 ng/3 108 plts, respectively (normal range 49–85 ng/3 108 plt). These results are consistent with a deficiency of platelet PGHS activity. The level of the constitutive platelet PGHS‐1 and TXA2 synthase (TXAS) proteins were determined on platelet microsomal fractions by Western blot analysis using affinity‐purified polyclonal antibodies highly specific for human PGHS‐1 and TXAS, respectively. In two patients the 70 kD PGHS‐1 protein was undetectable, whereas it was normal in the third patient. The 60 kD TXAS band was normal in all three patients. These findings indicate that human platelet PGHS‐1 deficiency is due to two types of enzyme defects: type 1 defect is manifested by an undetectable PGHS‐1 protein in platelets whereas the type 2 defect is manifested by a normal quantity of PGHS‐1 protein which has an impaired catalytic activity.
Duodenal ulcer, suicide, psychopathology and alcoholism

The incidence of suicide in a consecutive series of 1,000 patients, who underwent Billroth II resection for duodenal ulcer, has been estimated. After an observation period of 21–29 years 13.7% of those who had died had committed suicide. The psychiatric morbidity in this ulcer group was found to be very high. Among the psychiatric diseases alcoholism was dominating, but also non‐psychotic conditions such as neurosis and psychopathy were frequent. Fifty per cent of the persons who had committed suicide were alcoholics, and the alcohol abuse seemed to develop after surgery.
Factors affecting the fruiting of Chaetomium species.

SUMMARY: The effect of temperature and some chemical substances on the fruiting of strains of nine species of Chaetomium was studied. The optimum temperature for fruiting was generally lower than that for growth. Micro-nutrients of the nature of growth factors and starvation with respect to nutrients may both stimulate fruiting, whereas staling inhibits it, the ultimate balance between these effects determining the fruiting behaviour of a given species. These factors had no significant effect on the final amount of the vegetative growth within the conditions of the experiments.
Dual-track pathway of bladder carcinogenesis: practical implications.

CONTEXT The concept of a dual-track pathway in bladder carcinogenesis postulates that bladder cancer develops via 2 distinct but somewhat overlapping pathways, termed the papillary and nonpapillary. Approximately 80% of bladder carcinomas consist of superficial exophytic papillary lesions that originate from urothelial hyperplasia. These typically low-grade papillary tumors may recur, but they rarely invade the bladder wall or metastasize. The remaining 15% to 20% of tumors represent high-grade solid nonpapillary bladder carcinoma, which arise from high-grade intraurothelial neoplasia. These tumors aggressively invade the bladder wall and have a high propensity for distant metastasis. OBJECTIVE To summarize the scientific literature and provide a clinicopathologic review of the dual-track concept of bladder carcinogenesis with its important implications. DATA SOURCES Relevant articles indexed in PubMed (National Library of Medicine) between 1974 and 2005. CONCLUSIONS Although the characteristics of papillary and nonpapillary tumors are quite dissimilar, current evidence implies that both forms of bladder cancer start as a clinically occult clonal expansion of preneoplastic lesions that occupy large areas of the bladder mucosa.
ACTIVE TRANSPORT BY THE CECROPIA MIDGUT

A morphological basis for transcellular potassium transport in the midgut of the mature fifth instar larvae of Hyalophora cecropia has been established through studies with the light and electron microscopes. The single-layered epithelium consists of two distinct cell types, the columnar cell and the goblet cell. No regenerative cells are present. Both columnar and goblet cells rest on a well developed basement lamina. The basal portion of the columnar cell is incompletely divided into compartments by deep infoldings of the plasma membrane, whereas the apical end consists of numerous cytoplasmic projections, each of which is covered with a fine fuzzy or filamentous material. The cytoplasm of this cell contains large amounts of rough endoplasmic reticulum, microtubules, and mitochondria. In the basal region of the cell the mitochondria are oriented parallel to the long axes of the folded plasma-lemma, but in the intermediate and apical portions they are randomly scattered within the cytoplasmic matrix. Compared to the columnar cell, the goblet cell has relatively little endoplasmic reticulum. On the other hand, the plications of the plasma membrane of the goblet cell greatly exceed those of the columnar cell. One can distinguish at least four characteristic types of folding: (a) basal podocytelike extensions, (b) lateral evaginations, (c) apical microvilli, and (d) specialized cytoplasmic projections which line the goblet chamber. Apically, the projections are large and branch to form villus-like units, whereas in the major portion of the cavity each projection appears to contain an elongate mitochondrion. Junctional complexes of similar kind and position appear between neighboring columnar cells and between adjacent columnar and goblet cells as follows: a zonula adherens is found near the luminal surface and is followed by one or more zonulae occludentes. The morphological data obtained in this study and the physiological information on ion transport through the midgut epithelium have encouraged us to suggest that the goblet cell may be the principal unit of active potassium transport from the hemolymph to the lumen of the midgut. We have postulated that ion accumulation by mitochondria in close association with plicated plasma membranes may play a role in the active movement of potassium across the midgut.