Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Discovery of platencin, a dual FabF and FabH inhibitor with in vivo antibiotic properties

Emergence of bacterial resistance is a major issue for all classes of antibiotics; therefore, the identification of new classes is critically needed. Recently we reported the discovery of platensimycin by screening natural product extracts using a target-based whole-cell strategy with antisense silencing technology in concert with cell free biochemical validations. Continued screening efforts led to the discovery of platencin, a novel natural product that is chemically and biologically related but different from platensimycin. Platencin exhibits a broad-spectrum Gram-positive antibacterial activity through inhibition of fatty acid biosynthesis. It does not exhibit cross-resistance to key antibiotic resistant strains tested, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus, and vancomycin-resistant Enterococci. Platencin shows potent in vivo efficacy without any observed toxicity. It targets two essential proteins, β-ketoacyl-[acyl carrier protein (ACP)] synthase II (FabF) and III (FabH) with IC50 values of 1.95 and 3.91 μg/ml, respectively, whereas platensimycin targets only FabF (IC50 = 0.13 μg/ml) in S. aureus, emphasizing the fact that more antibiotics with novel structures and new modes of action can be discovered by using this antisense differential sensitivity whole-cell screening paradigm.
Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Epididymitis Disrupts Epididymal Beta-Defensin Expression and Inhibits Sperm Motility in Rats1

Although more than 40 beta-defensins have been identified in rat epididymis, little is known about their regulation or their relation to male infertility caused by inflammation. Using a rat model of epididymitis induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), we examined expression of SPAG11E (also known as Bin1b), a caput epididymis-specific beta-defensin in rat. Unlike the expression of other beta-defensins in various epithelial cells with upregulated expression after LPS stimulation, expression of SPAG11E was significantly decreased by LPS at the mRNA and protein levels. LPS treatment also significantly decreased both sperm binding to SPAG11E and sperm motility, and supplementation of the spermatozoa with recombinant SPAG11E in vitro remarkably increased both SPAG11E binding and motility of sperm. To clarify whether decreased expression is a common pattern of epididymal beta-defensins after LPS stimulation, we examined the expression of another 12 epididymal beta-defensins expressed in the caput epididymis. For nine of these beta-defensins, expression was decreased, but for the other three, expression remained unaffected. These findings demonstrate that LPS-induced epididymitis can decrease the expression of epididymal beta-defensins and that disruption of SPAG11E expression is involved in the impairment of sperm motility.
[Carotid atherosclerotic alterations revealed at ultrasonographic examination in patients with coronary heart disease].

UNLABELLED Carotid ultrasound examination is a noninvasive method with large indications in the evaluation of atherosclerotic lesions at cardiac patients. The aims of the study were: the ultrasound assessment of extra cranial carotid system at patients with coronary heart disease; relationship with the cardiovascular risk factors, lipid profile and echocardiographic data. METHODS There were studied 47 patients with coronary heart disease (angina, myocardial infarction, ischemic cardiomyopathy, CABG). The evaluation included cardiovascular risk factors, clinical examination, serum lipids and glucose, echocardiographic data. The ultrasound examination of the carotid arteries included the measurement of the diameter and intima-media thickness (IMT) of the common carotid arteries, the presence and location of atherosclerotic plaques and the presence and severity of carotid stenosis. RESULTS There was a significant increase of the diameter and IMT with age (p=0.009 respectively p=0.05). Males had a greater medium diameter than women (7.8 +/- 0.9 mm vs. 7.3 +/- 0.8 mm, p=0.04). There was no significant relationship between the cardiovascular risk factors (smoking, arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia) and IMT. The thickness of the interventricular septum (at the echocardiographic examination) correlated with the IMT (p=0.03). All the patients with myocardial infarction revealed carotid atherosclerotic plaques and most of the smokers had carotid plaques (88.9% vs. 44.8%, p=0.03). Patients with carotid plaques were older (60.9 +/- 10.1 vs. 54.8 +/- 6.1, p=0.02). CONCLUSIONS The incidence of carotid atherosclerosis increases with age; the carotid diameter is greater at males and older patients; IMT is influenced mainly by age; carotid plaques are present mainly at older patients, at smokers and those with myocardial infarction and can be considered an additional risk factor for vascular
Prognostic value of human epididymis protein 4 in endometrial cancer and its utility for surgical staging

An optimal surgical staging in the group of patients with the high‐risk type of endometrial cancer is often limited by age and serious internal comorbidities. Therefore, in this study we focused on human epididymis protein 4 and its contribution to the preoperative differentiation of prognostically distinct groups of patients and to individualized surgical treatment as compared with cancer antigen (CA) 125 and imaging methods.
Parallel Transportation of Droplets in a Multilayer Device by MEWOD

An electrowetting-based multilayer device capable of concurrent manipulation of stacked multiple droplets along the same trajectory was demonstrated. A dielectric sheet was placed between a pair of parallel glass plates with dielectric coated ITO electrodes and divided the space into two fluidic channels. Two droplets were dispensed in the two isolated channels above and beneath the dielectric sheet. When applying a voltage between the top blank ITO electrode and one of the bottom patterned ITO electrodes, electrowetting occurred on the powered dielectric-coated ITO electrodes (EWOD) as well as the two sides of the dielectric sheet (MEWOD). As a result, both of the droplets were successfully pumped onto the energized electrode. The MEWOD phenomenon was studied, and the proposed concept would be expanded to manipulate more than two droplets without increasing the complicity of the device fabrication and the electric circuit.
Serological studies on infections by respiratory viruses of the inhabitants of Tristan da Cunha

Sera were obtained from about half of the Tristan da Cunha islanders on reaching Cape Town in October 1961, a few months after reaching Britain and before returning to the Island in 1963. After vaccination against current influenza A 2 and B serotypes antibodies were evoked against earlier serotypes, in particular against influenza A1 of 1951 with which the islanders had almost certainly been infected. Those who failed to develop antibody against A 2 and B after vaccination developed it later presumably owing to natural infection. Almost all islanders developed antibodies against parainfluenza 3 and 1 and some against parainfluenza 2 and coxsackie A 21 viruses. There were no antibody rises against reoviruses.
Can Patents Deter Innovation? The Anticommons in Biomedical Research

The "tragedy of the commons" metaphor helps explain why people overuse shared resources. However, the recent proliferation of intellectual property rights in biomedical research suggests a different tragedy, an "anticommons" in which people underuse scarce resources because too many owners can block each other. Privatization of biomedical research must be more carefully deployed to sustain both upstream research and downstream product development. Otherwise, more intellectual property rights may lead paradoxically to fewer useful products for improving human health.
Location- and Object-Based Inhibition of Return are Affected by Different Kinds of Working Memory

Castel, Pratt, and Craik (2003) have shown that inhibition of return (IOR, the delayed response to a recently cued item) is disrupted by a secondary task that involves spatial working memory (WM), and they suggest that IOR is mediated by spatial WM. However, they did not specify what kind of IOR was involved. We used a dual-task paradigm to examine whether the two kinds of IOR (location- and object-based IOR) are affected by two kinds of secondary task that involve spatial and nonspatial WM, respectively. The results show that location-based IOR was disrupted by a spatial secondary task while the object-based IOR was disrupted by a nonspatial secondary task. The present study further elaborates the conclusion of Castel et al. (2003) by differentiating the effect of the two kinds of WM (spatial vs. nonspatial) on the two kinds of IOR (location based vs. object based).
Application of random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis to differentiate strains of Salmonella enteritidis

A random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprinting method has been developed to differentiate Salmonella enteritidis isolates. A total of 65 arbitrary primers were screened with S. enteritidis isolates of different phage types. This allowed selection of a panel of primers capable of detecting DNA polymorphisms among S. enteritidis isolates. This panel was used to examine a panel of 29 isolates of S. enteritidis which had been previously characterized by other subtyping methods, including phage typing (PT) (n = 7), ribotyping (RT) (n = 13), and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Applied collectively, these three methods resolved the collection into 20 different subtypes. However, by the RAPD fingerprinting method alone, 14 RAPD subtypes were revealed. Eight isolates of S. enteritidis phage type 8 that failed to be discriminated by other typing methods (PT, RT, and PFGE) were resolved into three different subtypes by RAPD analysis. In contrast, isolates that were derived from the same sources were not differentiated by any of the subtyping methods employed, including PT, RT, PFGE, and RAPD analysis. This RAPD approach to S. enteritidis subtyping provided more discriminatory power than did any of several other subtyping methods applied individually. Once the challenging step of primer identification was accomplished, determinations of the appropriate concentrations of arbitrary primer, DNA template, and MG2+ ion were also necessary for optimal discriminatory power. The bacterial DNA used in this RAPD protocol was obtained by boiling the bacterial sample. This simple procedure yielded DNA that produced fingerprint patterns as consistent as those obtained from phenol-chloroform-extracted DNA. Clearly, when appropriately constituted primer sets are identified and employed, RAPD analysis provides a simple, rapid, and powerful subtyping method for S. enteritidis.
The Effect of Word Length and Other Sublexical, Lexical, and Semantic Variables on Developmental Reading Deficits

ObjectiveTo examine the effect of word length and several sublexical, and lexico-semantic variables on the reading of Italian children with a developmental reading deficit. BackgroundPrevious studies indicated the role of word length in transparent orthographies. However, several factors that may interact with word length were not controlled for. MethodsSeventeen impaired and 34 skilled sixth-grade readers were presented words of different lengths, matched for initial phoneme, bigram frequency, word frequency, age of acquisition, and imageability. Participants were asked to read aloud, as quickly and as accurately as possible. Reaction times at the onset of pronunciation and mispronunciations were recorded. ResultsImpaired readers' reaction times indicated a marked effect of word length; in skilled readers, there was no length effect for short words but, rather, a monotonic increase from 6-letter words on. Regression analyses confirmed the role of word length and indicated the influence of word frequency (similar in impaired and skilled readers). No other variables predicted reading latencies. ConclusionsWord length differentially influenced word recognition in impaired versus skilled readers, irrespective of the action of (potentially interfering) sublexical, lexical, and semantic variables. It is proposed that the locus of the length effect is at a perceptual level of analysis. The independent influence of word frequency on the reading performance of both groups of participants indicates the sparing of lexical activation in impaired readers.
Influence of aqueous extracts of medicinal plants on surface hydrophobicity of Escherichia coli strains of different origin

The adhesion of microbes on host cells is of decisive importance in the development of Gram‐negative microbe‐induced infections and can be influenced by the surface hydrophobicity of the microbial cell. The hydrophobicity of 155 Escherichia coli strains of different origin was determined by the salt aggregation test (SAT). Among the strains isolated from faecal samples of healthy persons only 16.7% showed aggregative properties, whereas among the strains isolated from the urine of patients with pyelonephritis and the faecal samples of calves and pigs with diarrhoea some 40.0%‐60.0% were aggregative. The influence of aqueous extracts prepared from bearberry leaves, St. John's wort herbs, wild camomile and marigold flowers on hydrophobicity of 40 E. coli and 20 Acinetobacter baumannii strains was investigated. The decoctions of bearberry and St. John's wort increased remarkably the hydrophobicity of both microbial species. The infusions of wild camomile and marigold completely blocked the aggregative properties of the investigated strains. Bactericidal action was relatively low in the case of bearberry and St. John's wort and completely lacking in the case of wild camomile and marigold. Thus, one of the probable and potentially important action mechanisms of the four medicinal plants studied is their ability to influence the surface characteristics of the microbial cells and thereby their putative virulence properties.
Age And Spinal Cord Injury: An Emphasis On Outcomes Among The Elderly

Abstract Objectives: Determine the unique effects of age across a variety of outcome domains following spinal cord injury (SCI). Design: Cross-sectional; 61 32 individuals with traumatic onset SCI in the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC) database. Outcome Measures: Functional Independence Measure (FIM) , Sat isfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) , the Craig Hand icap Assessment and Reporting Technique (CHART), and the Short Form-12 (SF-12). Results: Older age was most consistently associated with decreased self-reported outcomes across most domains assessed. More specifically, a significant linear decline with age was found for functional independence (FIM) , overall life satisfaction (SWLS) , perceived physical health (SF-12 physical health), and overall handicap (CHART-total score), particularly in the areas of physical independence, mobility, occupational functioning, and social integration (CHART subscales). However, regression analyses, controlling for numerous demographic and medical characteristics, indicated that the amount of unique variance that could be specifically attributed to age was relatively small. Age was unrelated to self-reported mental health (S F-1 2 mental health subscale) and economic functioning (CHART -economic self-sufficiency subscale). Pain interference in day-to-day activities (ie, a single item from SF-12) significantly increased with age. Spinal Cord Med. 2003;26:37-44
Physical and chemical characteristics and structure of carminomycin, a new antitumor antibiotic.

Institute of New Antibiotics, Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow, USSR In the course of our screening program we have isolated from the culture fo Actinomadura carminata carminomycin, a new anthracycline antibiotic which possessed strong antitumor activity in animal experiments. It is produced as a mixture of several active components: the more interesting ones are components 1, 2 and 3.Components 2 and 3 can be transformed by means of mild hydrolysis into carminomycin 1, which is obtained as a red crystalline hydrochloride C26H27O10N•HCl. The ultra-violet and visible spectra resemble that of daunomycin but are different.
The Role of the Perifollicular Sinus in Determining the Complex Immunoarchitecture of Angioimmunoblastic T-cell Lymphoma

The growth of angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AIL) in lymph node often produces complex patterns of neoplastic T cells and nonneoplastic B cells that complicate diagnosis. To understand better how these different patterns of B-cell expansion arise, we compared the microanatomic localization of B cells and T cells within the follicular, paracortical, and sinusoidal compartments in 30 patients with AIL (including 10 with multiple sequential samples) with that seen in 33 cases of other types of T-cell lymphoma. With early or partial nodal involvement in AIL, germinal center B-cell expansions were relatively undisturbed and often associated with a variably distended D2-40+ CD31+ perifollicular sinus that surrounded most of the follicular compartment. Identifiable tumor T cells resided mostly in the paracortex. In later stages of AIL with more complete nodal effacement, bcl-6+ follicular B-cell proliferations shifted to distorted FDC networks arrayed along patent trabecular sinuses and were more intermixed with tumor T cells. In both AIL and other T-cell lymphomas, the density and locations of follicular B cells as well as bcl-6-negative monocytoid B cells were largely related to the patency of adjacent sinuses, except in Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)+ and histiocyte-rich B-cell proliferations, which arose in paracortical locations. The prominence of the perifollicular sinus in early stages of AIL resembled that seen in reactive lymphadenitis during conditions of lymphatic engorgement and implicates cytokines within lymph fluid in maintaining both the normal and altered germinal center reactions. Patterns of sinus drainage largely explain the useful changes in B-cell distribution that occur in nodal T-cell lymphomas and represent an important tool in classification and diagnosis of these tumors.
Inhibition of adenovirus-mediated p27kip1 gene on growth of esophageal carcinoma cell strain.

AIM To investigate the inhibition of p27kip1 gene on the growth of esophageal carcinoma cell strain (EC9706). METHODS Recombinant adenovirus Ad-p27kip1 was constructed and transfected into esophageal carcinoma cell EC-9706, and its effect on p27kip1 expression, the growth of esophageal carcinoma cell, DNA replication, protein synthesis, cell multiplication and apoptosis were explored by means of cell growth count, 3H-TdR, 3H-Leucine incorporation, flow cytometry, DNA fragment analysis and TUNEL. RESULTS Recombinant adenovirus Ad-p27kip1 was successfully constructed with a virus titer of 1.24 X 10(12) pfu/ml. p27kip protein expression increased markedly after EC-9706 transfection, while incorporation quantity of 3H-TdR and 3H-Leucine decreased significantly. The growth of esophageal carcinoma cell was inhibited obviously. Testing of flow cytometry displayed a typical apoptosis peak, and DNA gel electrophoresis showed a typical apoptosis ladder. TUNEL showed the apoptosis rate of Ad-p27kip1 group and control group to be 37.3% and 1.26% (P<0.001) respectively. CONCLUSION Ad-p27kip1 can inhibit the growth and multiplication of esophageal carcinoma cells and induce apoptosis. Therefore, enhanced p27kip1 expression may be a new way to treat esophageal carcinoma.
Overexpression of RelA/SpoT homologs, PpRSH2a and PpRSH2b, induces the growth suppression of the moss Physcomitrella patens

Two genes encoding RelA/SpoT homologs, PpRSH2a and PpRSH2b, which are involved in the synthesis of bacterial alarmone guanosine 5′-diphosphate 3′-diphosphate (ppGpp) for the stringent response, were isolated from the moss, Physcomitrella patens. A complementary analysis of PpRSH2a and PpRSH2b in Escherichia coli showed that these genes had ppGpp biosynthetic activity. The recombinant PpRSH2a and PpRSH2b were also shown to synthesize ppGpp in vitro. Both proteins were localized to the chloroplasts of P. patens. Expression of the PpRSH genes was induced upon treatment with abscisic acid or abiotic stresses, such as dehydration and UV irradiation. Overexpression of PpRSH2a and PpRSH2b caused suppression of the growth in response to 1% (w/v) of glucose. The present study suggests the existence of a mechanism to regulate the growth of P. patens, which is governed by plant RSH in chloroplasts Graphical Abstract Functional analysis of RelA/SpoT homologues (RSHs) suggests the existence of a mechanism to regulate the growth of P. patens, which is governed by ppGpp in chloroplasts.
A Numerical Analysis of Homogeneous Cloud Seeding Agent Based on Sensitivity Tests in Different Conditions

In this study, a numerical analysis of homogeneous cloud seeding agent on the one-dimensional, time-dependent cloud model is carried out. Sensitivity tests are done for different seeding methods, cloud life stages, seeding positions, and in the two kinds of cumulus clouds in which one of them is a mixed cloud. In this study, feasibility of rainfall enhancement and hail/graupel suppression due to glaciogenic seeding with homogenous agent is analyzed. Moreover, changes of hydrometeors mixing ratios with respect to the seeding methods for different clouds are studied. In addition, the effects of different seeding positions, including seeding at the base, middle and top of the clouds on microphysical and dynamical processes are analyzed. The results of analyses with respect to seeding time show that cloud seeding in the early mature stage of the cloud life cycle is sensitive to the seeding position. Numerical analyses also, indicate, depending on the cloud top level and seeding method, rainfall enhancement amount can vary from 1% to 52%. In the present work, more effective seeding method and seeding position for different conditions are obtained in this work . The results also show, sensitivity of rainfall intensity to different seeding positions and different kinds of clouds. The results of this study are verified by other studies wherever possible.
Co-implantation with microwave annealing for phosphorous shallow-junction formation in Germanium

The formation of N-type Ge shallow junction is investigated in this work. By combining carbon co-implantation and microwave annealing (MWA) method, the junction depth of 34 nm measured by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) as well as sheet resistance of 467 ohm/sq measured by Hall is achieved. Results show that the opitimal carbon implantation energy is 8 keV in that distributed carbon ions at such an energy can effectively trap vacancies and phosphorous into immobile clusters. The recrystallization of amorphous layer after MWA annealing is also studied by both ellipsometry and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).
Utility Optimal Scheduling for Coded Caching in General Topologies

We consider coded caching over the fading broadcast channel, where the users, equipped with a memory of finite size, experience asymmetric fading statistics. It is known that a naive application of coded caching over the channel at hand performs poorly especially in the regime of a large number of users due to a vanishing multicast rate. We overcome this detrimental effect by a careful design of opportunistic scheduling policies such that some utility function of the long-term average rates should be maximized while balancing fairness among users. In particular, we propose a threshold-based scheduling that requires only statistical channel state information and one-bit feedback from each user. More specifically, each user indicates via feedback whenever its SNR is above a threshold determined solely by the fading statistics and the fairness requirement. Surprisingly, we prove that this simple scheme achieves the optimal utility in the regime of a large number of users.