Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of membrane morphology on system capacity during normal flow microfiltration

Understanding the effects of membrane fouling on system capacity is critical for the successful design and scale‐up of microfiltration systems. The underlying morphology and structure of the microfiltration membrane can have a significant effect on system capacity by altering the rate and extent of fouling. Experimental data were obtained for system capacity during protein microfiltration using several model membranes with both homogeneous and composite structures. Data were compared with predictions of a new model that can account for both pore blockage and cake formation, and also includes the effects of membrane morphology on internal flow profiles within the membrane. Membranes with highly interconnected pores have a significantly higher capacity due to the reduction in flux decline arising from the fluid flow under and around any surface blockage. The model calculations are in good agreement with the flux decline data, allowing far more accurate predictions of system capacity than for the commonly used Vmax analysis. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 83: 537–543, 2003.
Antioxidant activities and estimation of the phenols and flavonoids content in the extracts of medicinal plants used to treat malaria in Ivory Coast

Since ancient times, people explored the nature, particularly plants in search of new drugs. This has resulted in the use of large number of medicinal plants with curative properties to treat various diseases. Nearly 80% of the world s population relies on traditional medicines for primary health care, most of which involve the use of plant extracts (Sandhya et al., 2006). Several chemical investigations have been ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 4 Number 1 (2015) pp. 862-874 http://www.ijcmas. com
Curli Fibers Are Highly Conserved between Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli with Respect to Operon Structure and Regulation

ABSTRACT Mouse-virulent Salmonella typhimurium strains SR-11 and ATCC 14028-1s express curli fibers, thin aggregative fibers, at ambient temperature on plates as judged by Western blot analysis and electron microscopy. Concomitantly with curli expression, cells develop a rough and dry colony morphology and bind the dye Congo red (called the rdar morphotype). Cloning and characterization of the two divergently transcribed operons required for curli biogenesis, csgBA(C)and csgDEFG, from S. typhimurium SR-11 revealed the same gene order and flanking genes as in Escherichia coli. The divergence of the curli region between S. typhimurium and E. coli at the nucleotide level is above average (22.4%). However, a high level of conservation at the protein level, which ranged from 86% amino acid homology for the fiber subunit CsgA to 99% homology for the lipoprotein CsgG, implies functional constraints on the gene products. Consequently, S. typhimurium genes on low-copy-number plasmids were able to complement respective E. coli mutants, although not always to wild-type levels. rpoS and ompR are required for transcriptional activation of (at least) the csgDpromoter. The high degree of conservation at the protein level and the identical regulation patterns in E. coli and S. typhimurium suggest similar roles of curli fibers in the same ecological niche in the two species.
Increased Hox activity mimics the teratogenic effects of excess retinoic acid signaling

Excess retinoic acid (RA) signaling can be teratogenic and result in cardiac birth defects, but the cellular and molecular origins of these defects are not well understood. Excessive RA signaling can completely eliminate heart formation in the zebrafish embryo. However, atrial and ventricular cells are differentially sensitive to more modest increases in RA signaling. Increased Hox activity, downstream of RA signaling, causes phenotypes similar to those resulting from excess RA. These results suggest that Hox activity mediates the differential effects of ectopic RA on atrial and ventricular cardiomyocytes and may underlie the teratogenic effects of RA on the heart. Developmental Dynamics 238:1207–1213, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Weight gain in pregnancy and childhood body composition: findings from the Southampton Women's Survey.

BACKGROUND Intrauterine life may be a critical period for the programming of later obesity, but there is conflicting evidence about whether pregnancy weight gain is an important determinant of offspring adiposity. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine the relation of pregnancy weight gain with neonatal and childhood body composition. DESIGN The participants (n = 948) were children born to women in the Southampton Women's Survey who had dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry measurements of body composition at birth, 4 y, or 6 y. Pregnancy weight gain was derived from the mothers' measured weights before pregnancy and at 34 wk gestation and analyzed by using 2009 Institute of Medicine categories (inadequate, adequate, or excessive) and as a continuous measure. RESULTS Almost one-half (49%) of the children were born to women who gained excessive weight in pregnancy. In comparison with children born to women with adequate weight gain, they had a greater fat mass in the neonatal period (SD: 0.17; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.32; P = 0.03), at 4 y (SD: 0.17; 95% CI: 0.00, 0.34; P = 0.05), and at 6 y (SD: 0.30; 95% CI: 0.11, 0.49; P = 0.002). Greater pregnancy weight gain, as a continuous measure, was associated with greater neonatal fat mass (SD: 0.10 per 5-kg weight gain; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.15; P = 0.0004) and was weakly associated with fat mass at 6 y (SD: 0.07 per 5-kg weight gain; 95% CI: 0.00, 0.14; P = 0.05) but not at 4 y (SD: 0.02 per 5-kg weight gain; 95% CI: -0.04, 0.08; P = 0.55). CONCLUSION Appropriate pregnancy weight gain, as defined by 2009 Institute of Medicine recommendations, is linked to lower levels of adiposity in the offspring.
A comparison of virulence of two strains of Legionella pneumophila based on experimental aerosol infection of guinea-pigs

SUMMARY Two strains of Legionella pneumophila (LP) serogroup I, of differing virulence, were examined in terms of numbers of viable organisms in tissues, pyrexia and mortality following aerosol infection. The Corby strain was the more virulent, with Pyrexia and deaths of guinea-pigs 3 to 6 days after infection. This strain multiplied very rapidly in the lungs to reach a peak of 5 × 1011 viable organisms/lung. Organisms were present in the blood, liver, spleen and kidney. The Philadelphia-1 strain (NCTC 11192) was unable to replicate in the lung and was cleared between 14 and 21 days after infection. Pyrexia was not observed. No guinea-pigs died and viable LP was not found in any organ other than the lung. Lung lavages on aerosol infected animals were performed and the virulent Corby strain was found to be mainly intracellular. The avirulent Philadelphia-1 strain was found predominantly in the extracellular location. There were approximately 10 times the number of viable virulent LP in the lung macrophage fraction than in the lung PMNL fraction. In comparison, there were approximately equal numbers of the viable avirulent strain in the macrophages and the PMNL. Experimental evidence suggests that the macrophage preferentially supports the growth of the virulent Corby strain compared with the PMNL. The avirulent strain on the other hand appears to be destroyed by both the macrophages and the PMNL.
Gender influences the effect of perinatal copper deficiency on cerebellar PKC gamma content

Change in cerebellar protein kinase C gamma (PKCγ) content caused by perinatal copper (Cu) deficiency was determined in 22‐day old rats. The offspring of dams with low Cu intake during gestation and lactation exhibited signs characteristic of Cu deficiency including anemia, greater than 90% reduction in liver Cu concentration, and undetectable serum ceruloplasmin. In addition, brain Cu concentrations were reduced 80%. No differences in the signs of Cu deficiency were observed between female and male offspring. However, cerebellar PKCγ content was reduced 54% (P<0.05, Tukey's test) in female offspring but only 18% (P>0.05) in male offspring. Following 6 weeks of Cu supplementation, brain Cu concentrations remained depressed in female and male rats that experienced perinatal Cu deficiency, but cerebellar PKCγ content was completely restored to control levels. Postnatal expression of PKCγ in the cerebellum coincides with and regulates cerebellar maturation. The results of the present study indicate perinatal Cu deficiency may impair cerebellar maturation to a greater extent in females than in males. However, it is not clear whether supression of PKCγ by perinatal Cu deficiency produces permanent neuropathology in the cerebellum because the effects were reversed by Cu supplementation.
Assessing inhibitory control: A revised approach to the stop signal task

The stop signal task (stop task) is designed to assess inhibitory control and is a frequently used research tool in clinical disorders such as ADHD and schizophrenia. Previous methods of setting stop signal delay and of assessing inhibitory control are problematic. The current study reports two modifications that improve the task as a measure of inhibitory control. The first modification was to set stop signal delays proportional to go mean reaction time (go MRT) to better account for inter-subject variability in go MRT. Twenty-eight normal children were tested, and all standard, stop task dependent measures were obtained when delays were set by this method. The second modification was to calculate a novel dependent measure called the area of inhibition (AOI) which provides a more complete measure of inhibitory control than the slope of the relative finishing time z-scores (ZRFT-slope). Implications for the assessment of inhibitory control in clinical populations are discussed.
Obstetric complications in women with IVF conceived pregnancies and polycystic ovarian syndrome

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is often accompanied by infertility that necessitates ovulation induction using clomiphene citrate, gonadotropins or even in vitro fertilization (IVF). These treatment methods are known to increase the incidence of multiple pregnancies as well as some negative consequences, including a rise in the risk for gestational diabetes mellitus, pre-eclampsia, etc., Furthermore, pregnancies established after IVF carry an increased risk for maternal complications. However, the increased risk of developing adverse obstetric complications has been suggested to occur independently of obesity as well as in populations without assisted reproductive techniques. Many studies have been performed to study the effect of PCOS on pregnancy and the effect of pregnancy on PCOS. The hormonal milieu that is exaggerated in PCOS women is quite well understood at the biochemical and genetic levels. The maternal and neonatal outcomes of PCOS women who have undergone in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) have not been widely studied till date. This review aims to evaluate the current evidence regarding adverse obstetric outcomes of PCOS women undergoing IVF-ET. The rationale of this review is to study whether the adverse obstetric outcomes are increased in PCOS women in general, or particularly in those PCOS women who are undergoing IVF-ET. It is also important to analyze via a literature review whether the increased adverse outcomes are due to infertility in general or PCOS per se. An attempt has been made to give evidence regarding preventive strategies for obstetric complications in PCOS women who have undergone IVF-ET.
Failure-Directed Program Trimming (Extended Version)

This paper describes a new program simplification technique called program trimming that aims to improve the scalability and precision of safety checking tools. Given a program ${\mathcal P}$, program trimming generates a new program ${\mathcal P}'$ such that ${\mathcal P}$ and ${\mathcal P}'$ are equi-safe (i.e., ${\mathcal P}'$ has a bug if and only if ${\mathcal P}$ has a bug), but ${\mathcal P}'$ has fewer execution paths than ${\mathcal P}$. Since many program analyzers are sensitive to the number of execution paths, program trimming has the potential to improve the effectiveness of safety checking tools. In addition to introducing the concept of program trimming, this paper also presents a lightweight static analysis that can be used as a pre-processing step to remove program paths while retaining equi-safety. We have implemented the proposed technique in a tool called Trimmer and evaluate it in the context of two program analysis techniques, namely abstract interpretation and dynamic symbolic execution. Our experiments show that program trimming significantly improves the effectiveness of both techniques.
Determinants of Exports of Pakistan

Given the importance of international trade and export performance in economic growth, this study attempts to examine the determinants of exports of Pakistan, using a time series data over the period 1975-2008. A simultaneous equation approach is followed and the demand and supply side equations are specified with appropriate variables. We country-wise disaggregated analysis of Pakistan versus its trade partners and the estimation strategy is based on two approaches. First we employ the Generalized Methods of Moments (GMM), which is followed by the Empirical Bayesian technique to get consistent estimates. The GMM technique is believed to be efficient for time series data provided the sample size is sufficiently large. In case of small samples, the estimates might not be precise and might appear with unbelievable sign and insignificant magnitudes. To avoid the sample bias and other problems we employ the Empirical Bayesian technique which provides much precise estimates. The factual results obtained via the GMM technique are a little bit mixed, although most of the coefficients are found to be statistically significant and carry their expected signs. In order to compare and validate these results, the Empirical Bayesian technique is employed. This offers considerable improvement over the previous results and all the variables are found to be highly significant with correct sign across the countries concerned with the exception of a few cases. The price and income elasticities in both the demand and supply side equations carry their expected signs and significant magnitudes for the trading partners. The findings suggest that exports of Pakistan are much sensitive to changes in world demand and world prices. This establishes the importance of demand side factors like world GDP, Real exchange rate, and world prices to determine the exports of Pakistan. On the supply side we find relatively small price and income elasiticities. The results reveal that demand for exports is relatively higher for countries in NAFTA, European Union and Middle East regions. The study recommends more concentration on the trade partners in these regions to improve the export performance.
Sphingosine 1‐phosphate, sphingosine kinase and autocrine calcium signalling in thyroid cells

In many cell types metabolites of sphingomyelin have a profound role in cellular signalling. One particular field where these derivatives have obtained a crucial role is calcium signalling. This is an interesting aspect on how lipids may wield their physiological role, as calcium is probably one of the most versatile signalling molecules in the cell, and modulation of calcium signalling may have profound effects on cellular physiology. In this review we discuss a novel aspect of sphingolipid signalling, i.e. the autocrine role of sphingosine 1‐phosphate (S1P) in regulating calcium entry in thyroid cells. Although many investigations have highlighted the importance of S1P as a regulator of both calcium release from the endoplasmic reticulum and calcium entry through plasma membrane channels, the autocrine mechanism presented here introduces a new aspect of S1P signalling in thyroid cells. This mechanism may be physiologically relevant in many other cell types, including cancer cells.
Gender Differences Among Young Adult Cancer Patients: A Study of Blogs

The Internet has increasing relevance and practical use as a tool to support cancer care. For example, health support Web sites are now widely used to connect specific groups of patients who may otherwise have remained isolated, and understanding their health-related online behaviors will help in the development of more effective health support Web sites. This article examined blogs written by young adults affected by cancer and in particular examined the gender differences in these blog entries through content analysis. The results showed there is little difference in blog content between genders. This suggests that the blog environment could lessen the gender-typical behaviors often expected by society and may provide an outlet for young adult cancer patients to more freely share their cancer-related experiences, at the same time providing an opportunity for social connection. This is particularly significant for male patients who are known to inhibit their emotions as well as the expression of their health concerns.
Detection of clarithromycin-resistant Helicobacter pylori strains in a dyspeptic patient population in Sri Lanka by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the proportion of common clarithromycin-resistant mutation types present in the 23S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) gene of H. pylori strains in Sri Lanka. Settings and Design: The study was a cross-sectional, descriptive study where 76 dyspeptic patients who were required to undergo endoscopy examination were included. The study was carried out at a Teaching Hospital in Sri Lanka. Subjects and Methods: In-house urease test and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the glmM gene of H. pylori was performed to confirm the H. pylori infection. Analysis of point mutations in 23S rRNA gene strains were performed by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Results: Of the 16 urease-positive biopsies, 94% (n = 15) were positive by PCR using the glmM primer. All H. pylori strains yeilded a point mutation at A2142G site of the 23S rRNA gene, while A2143G mutation was not detected. Conclusions: For the first time in Sri Lanka, we reported predominance of A2142G point mutation associated with claritromycin resistance of H. pylori in a Sri Lankan population.
Validation of the Spanish Version of Newcastle Stroke-Specific Quality of Life Measure (NEWSQOL)

Background: Stroke causes a wide variety of clinical manifestations that may have a negative impact on quality of life. Therefore, it is very important to use specific instruments for measuring quality of life in individuals who suffered a stroke. The aim of this study was to develop a psychometrically validated Spanish version of the Newcastle stroke-specific quality of life measure (NEWSQOL). Methods: A psychometric validation of the Spanish version of the NEWSQOL questionnaire was carried out in 159 patients. The reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient), validity (factorial analysis and Spearman’s coefficient), feasibility (response rate), and the ceiling and floor effects were calculated. Results: Internal consistency showed that Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.93. The test–retest reliability was high or excellent for all domains (range 0.71–0.97 p < 0.001). The response rate of the questionnaire was 100% and the average administration time was 20.5 (±7.2) min. No ceiling effect was detected and two domains (pain and vision) may have a significant potential for floor effect. Construct validity showed that all the variables are important enough to keep them all in the questionnaire. Concerning convergent construct validity, a high correlation was found with the Nottingham Health Profile, the Barthel Index, and the Modified Rankin Scale. Conclusion: The Spanish version of the NEWSQOL questionnaire is reliable, valid, and feasible to evaluate quality of life in the Spanish population.
Truncated TrkB‐T1 regulates the morphology of neocortical layer I astrocytes in adult rat brain slices

By altering their morphology, astrocytes, including those involved in the maintenance and plasticity of neurons and in clearance of transmitter, play important roles in synaptic transmission; however, the mechanism that regulates the morphological plasticity of astrocytes remains unclear. Recently, we reported that T1, a subtype of TrkB (a family of BDNF‐specific receptors), altered astrocytic morphology through the control of Rho GTPases in primary astrocyte cultures. In this study, we extended this observation to investigate acute neocortical slices from adult rats. T1 siRNA‐expression vectors were electroporated into astrocytes in neocortical layer I of living rats. In both normal slices and control vector‐electroporated slices, BDNF induced the elongation of the astrocytic processes and increased the branching of processes in slices after 1 h incubation. In contrast, in T1 siRNA‐electroporated slices, no such significant morphological changes were observed in the astrocytes. In addition, the number of synaptophysin+ sites in contact with GFAP+ processes increased in a BDNF–T1‐dependent manner without the increase in the total synaptophysin+ sites. Therefore, the present study provides evidence of the regulation of layer I astrocytic morphology by the BDNF–T1 signal in adult rat neocortical slices.
Cyclosporin A, an Immunosuppressive Drug, Induces Programmed Cell Death in Rat C6 Glioma Cells by a Mechanism that Involves the AP‐1 Transcription Factor

Abstract: Cyclosporin A (CsA) is a clinically important immunosuppressive drug widely used to prevent graft rejection following organ or bone marrow transplantation. Although there are reports of serious neurologic alterations associated with the use of the drug, the precise mechanism of its action on the CNS still remains unknown. We studied the effects of CsA on the growth of C6 glioma cells. We found that CsA inhibits the growth of C6 glioma cells in a dose‐dependent manner and induces morphological changes such as shrinkage of the cell body and loss of extensions followed by cell death. The analysis of DNA from CsA‐treated cells revealed a ladder‐like pattern of fragmented DNA. Acridine orange staining showed the occurrence of apoptotic changes in nuclear morphology. Apoptotic morphological alterations were prevented by the treatment with cycloheximide. Altogether, our findings suggest that the CsA‐induced cell death of C6 glioma cells bears all the features characteristic of programmed cell death. We also observed a significant increase in the DNA‐binding activity of AP‐1 during CsA‐induced apoptosis. The AP‐1 induction preceded the appearance of apoptotic, morphological changes and was accounted for by an increase in the expression of c‐Jun protein. The occurrence of increased levels of AP‐1 complex and c‐Jun protein during CsA‐induced programmed cell death suggests its involvement in the induction of apoptosis.