Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Endocarditis Caused by Culture-Negative Organisms Visible by Brown and Brenn Staining: Utility of PCR and DNA Sequencing for Diagnosis

ABSTRACT Two cases of culture-negative endocarditis with cocci seen in valve vegetations are presented. The organisms were identified by molecular analysis using broad-range PCR primers complementary to the 16S rRNA gene, sequencing, and database search using BLAST software. The results and utility of this method are discussed.
A model study on flapless implant placement by clinicians with a different experience level in implant surgery.

INTRODUCTION Some implant companies advocate that flapless surgery is easy to perform and beneficial for aesthetics and patients morbidity. However, studies objectively analyzing the position in the bone of implants installed with this approach are lacking. This in vitro model study was performed to analyse deviations in position and inclination of implants placed with flapless surgery compared with the ideally planned position and to examine whether the outcome is affected by experience level. METHODS Identical radio-opaque resin models were developed with a silicon lining mimicking the soft tissues and six edentulous single tooth spaces. Eighteen clinicians (six periodontists, six general dentists and six students) drilled four implant sites each (Straumann AG, Basel, Switzerland) with a flapless approach. Corresponding CT-scan images of the models were available. A virtual implant program (Simplant, Materialise NV, Leuven, Belgium) was used to plan the ideal position and to compare this with the implant angulation and position of the test implants. RESULTS There were no significant differences between the experience groups for all parameters except for global deviations between dentist and students, angle deviations between dentists and students and horizontal deviations between specialists and students. In incisor sites, specialists and students deviated significantly more in global deviation and depth than dentists. In premolar and molar sites, there were no significant differences except for horizontal deviations between specialists and dentists in molar sites. As a consequence of the malpositioning, perforations were seen in 59.7% (43/72) of the implant occasions when the artificial mucosa was removed from the model. CONCLUSION The three-dimensional location of implants installed with flapless approach differs significantly from the ideal, although neighbouring teeth were present and maximal radiographical information was available. Within the limitations of this in vitro model study it seems necessary to point out that these deviations would in a clinical situation lead to complications such as loss of implant stability, aesthetical and phonetical consequences. The outcome is not influenced by the level of experience with implant surgery. This points out that more precise measurements of soft tissue in situ or additional use of guiding systems are recommendable.
Work integrated learning as a component of the capstone experience in undergraduate law

Background: The “Curriculum renewal in legal education” project has been funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council with the core objectives being the articulation of a set of final year curriculum design principles, and the development of a model of a transferable final year program. Through these principles and the development of the model, it is anticipated that the final year experience for law students will provide greater opportunity for them to understand the relevance of their learning, and will enhance their capacity to make decisions regarding their career path. Discussion / Argument: This paper reports on the project’s progress to date, and presents an argument for the inclusion of work integrated learning (WIL) as a component of the final year experience in undergraduate law programs. The project has identified that the two principal objectives of capstone experiences are to provide closure and to facilitate transition to post-university life. Reflective practice and Bruner’s spiral curriculum model are the central theoretical foundations by which these objectives can be achieved. Experiential learning is also increasingly seen as an essential element of a capstone experience. WIL is consistent with the objectives of capstones in focusing on the transition to professional practice and providing opportunities for reflection. However, the ability of WIL to meet all of the objectives of capstones, particularly closure and integration, may be limited. Conclusions / Implications: The paper posits that while WIL should be considered as a potential component of a capstone experience, educators should ensure that WIL is not equated with a capstone experience unless it is carefully designed to ensure that all of the objectives of capstones are met. Keywords: Work-integrated learning, capstone, final year experience, law
Communication and cognition profiles in parents of children with nonsyndromic cleft lip and/or palate

The main aim of the study was to ascertain whether parents of children with nonsyndromic cleft lip and/or palate (P-CLP) perform differently than parents of children without CLP (P-control) on a nonword repetition (NWR) test. Given that children with CLP frequently demonstrate communication and cognitive difficulties, a link between NWR performance and group would lend support to a familial risk factor in nonsyndromic CLP. The NWR test, a well-documented assessment to identify language and cognitive impairment, was used, together with a parent questionnaire to gather demographic data and family history information on medical, communication, and/or cognitive difficulties for 260 parents. Group differences on NWR performance and family history of communication and cognition difficulties were not demonstrated. Also, no significant difference on NWR score was seen in the P-CLP group based on child's CLP type. Correlation analysis showed that having more years of schooling, English as the dominant language, living in private housing, and being in skilled occupations were positively correlated to NWR score. Controlling for these known background variables did not alter NWR performance between P-CLP and P-control, however, only years of schooling significantly and consistently predicted NWR performance. Having significantly fewer years of schooling in the P-CLP group could be suggestive of an increased risk of communication and cognitive difficulties these parents face, and the potential difficulties their children with CLP may encounter. These results may inform early and rigorous intervention strategies for children with CLP.
Impaired Basal and Restraint-Induced Epinephrine Secretion in Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone- Deficient Mice.

CRH is thought to play a role in responses of the adrenocortical and adrenomedullary systems during stress. To investigate the role of CRH in stress-induced secretions of corticosterone and epinephrine, we subjected wild-type (WT) and CRH-deficient (knockout, KO) mice to restraint, and analyzed plasma corticosterone, plasma catecholamines, and adrenal phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT) gene expression and activity before and during 3 h of restraint. Plasma corticosterone increased over 40-fold in WT mice, but minimally in CRH KO mice. Adrenal corticosterone content tended to increase in CRH KO mice, although to levels 5-fold lower than that in WT mice. CRH KO mice had significantly lower plasma epinephrine and higher norepinephrine than WT mice at baseline, and delayed epinephrine secretion during restraint. Adrenal PNMT messenger RNA content in CRH KO mice tended to be lower than that in WT mice, though the degree of induction was similar in both genotypes. PNMT enzyme activity was significant.
Capillary Vascular Malformation Response to Increased Ambient Temperature Is Dependent Upon Anatomical Location

Background:It has been documented that capillary malformations (CMs) located on the limbs tend to respond less well to laser treatment than those sited on the head and neck. However, there is little evidence available to explain this observation. Objectives:To investigate potential differences between CMs located on the head and neck with those on the limbs, by comparing their response to increasing ambient temperature. Methods:Fifteen previously untreated subjects with CMs were compared as the ambient temperature was increased from 20°C to 28°C. These included 10 with head and neck CMs and 5 with limb CMs. The following measurements were taken at 2°C intervals: cutaneous blood flow, capillary diameter, density and depth, CM color, skin and core temperatures. Results:There were no statistically significant differences in mean capillary depth, diameter, density, or CM color between groups. Cutaneous blood flow increased with ambient temperature in the head and neck CMs (P = 0.009) and was significantly higher than that in the limb CMs at all temperatures (P < 0.001), while the limb CMs did not demonstrate any increase in cutaneous blood flow with temperature. Conclusions:These results suggest a possible reason for the poorer response to laser treatment seen in limb CMs: since cutaneous blood flow is a product of the blood flow velocity and hemoglobin concentration, malformations with lower blood perfusion would have less chromophore available and therefore be less suitable for laser destruction.
Self-similarity based DDoS attack detection using Hurst parameter

Distributed denial-of-service attack is a serious concern in this era of voluminous Internet world. The challenge is to find difference between distributed denial-of-service attack traffic of all types and legitimate traffic at the earliest, as we can see high-rate attack traffic and low rate attack traffic resembles with bursty legitimate traffic and normal legitimate traffic, respectively. Self-similarity exists in ethernet traffic. Using Hurst parameter, we have differentiated legitimacy of any traffic irrespective of network traffic protocol. We have validated our method using both benchmark and real-life datasets, and the results are highly satisfactory. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Immunochemical Properties of Recombinant Ompf Porin from Outer Membrane of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis

Porins from outer membranes (OM) of Gram-negative bacteria exist in intact membranes as homotrimers forming water-filled pores or channels that provide low-molecular compounds transportation. Surface localization of the porins and their structural peculiarities determine multiplicity of their functions except for the transport one. On the one hand, porins are targets for the host immune system. As the targets they activate factors of the organism fast protection and are involved in the formation of specific immune response. On the other hand, porins serve as the factors of pathogenesis and virulence inhibiting the first stage of the host immune system and providing survival of a pathogen in macroorganism. Porins are speciesand genus-specific antigens of Gram-negative bacteria and belong to the highly immunogenic OM components. The antibodies against the porins are found in blood sera both after vaccination and after natural development of infection.
Rapid Naming and Phonemic Awareness in Children With or Without Reading Disabilities and/or ADHD

Employing a large sample of children from Dutch regular elementary schools, this study assessed the contributing and discriminating values of reading disability (RD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to two types of phonological processing skills, phonemic awareness (PA) and rapid automatized naming (RAN). A second objective was to investigate whether comorbidity of RD and ADHD should be considered as an additive phenomenon as to RAN and PA. A total of 1,262 children, aged 8 to 13 years, were classified as RD (n = 121), ADHD (n = 17), comorbid (RD+ADHD; n = 16), or control (n = 1,108). Phonological processing was assessed by standardized tests of PA and RAN. Disability groups were compared to each other and contrasted to the control group. Although results indicate substantial effects for all three disability groups on both types of phonological processing, and the RAN/PA compound measure in particular, effect sizes were considerably larger for the RD groups, as compared to the ADHD-only group. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
On‐line monitoring of respiration in recombinant‐baculovirus infected and uninfected insect cell bioreactor cultures

Respiration rates in Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf‐9) cell bioreactor cultures were successfully measured on‐line using two methods: The O2 uptake rate (OUR) was determined using gas phase pO2 values imposed by a dissolved oxygen controller and the CO2 evolution rate (CER) was measured using an infrared detector. The measurement methods were accurate, reliable, and relatively inexpensive. The CER was routinely determined in bioreactor cultures used for the production of several recombinant proteins. Simple linear relationships between viable cell densities and both OUR and CER in exponentially growing cultures were used to predict viable cell density. Respiration measurements were also used to follow the progress of baculoviral infections in Sf‐9 cultures. Infection led to increases in volumetric and per‐cell respiration rates. The relationships between respiration and several other culture parameters, including viable cell density, cell protein, cell volume, glucose consumption, lactate production, viral titer, and recombinant β‐galactosidase accumulation, were examined. The extent of the increase in CER following infection and the time postinfection at which maximum CER was attained were negatively correlated with the multiplicity of infection (MOI) at multiplicities below the level required to infect all the cells in a culture. Delays in the respiration peak related to the MOI employed were correlated with delays in the peak in recombinant protein accumulation. DO levels in the range 5–100% did not exert any major effects on viable cell densities, CER, or product titer in cultures infected with a baculovirus expressing recombinant β‐galactosidase. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Paternal Investment in the Seed Beetle Callosobruchus maculatus (Coleoptera: Bruchidae): Variation Among Populations

Abstract Ejaculate size in seed beetles (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) is subject to both sexual and fecundity selection. We examined interpopulation variation and inheritance of ejaculate size in the seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus (F.). There was significant variation among three populations in both body mass and the proportion of a male’s body mass that was transferred to females during mating. The seed upon which beetles were raised had a small effect on male body size but not the size of their ejaculates. To investigate the inheritance of ejaculate size, we performed inter- and intrapopulation crosses with two of these populations. The progeny of interpopulation crosses were intermediate between the intrapopulation (parental) crosses, suggesting additive genetic autosomal inheritance. This result differs from an earlier study in which ejaculate size of a different population was maternally inherited. This study demonstrates that there is indeed genetic variation in ejaculate size, but that the loci exhibiting within-population variation may be different than the loci producing among-population variation.
Persistence of vesicular stomatitis virus in cloned interleukin-2-dependent natural killer cell lines

We have investigated virus-lymphocyte interactions by using cloned subpopulations of interleukin-2-dependent effector lymphocytes maintained in vitro. Cloned lines of H-2-restricted hapten- or virus-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) and alloantigen-specific CTL were resistant to productive infection by vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). In contrast, cloned lines of natural killer (NK) cells were readily and persistently infected by VSV, a virus which is normally highly cytolytic. VSV-infected NK cells continued to proliferate, express viral surface antigen, and produce infectious virus. Furthermore, persistently infected NK cells showed no marked alteration of normal cellular morphology and continued to lyse NK-sensitive target cells albeit at a slightly but significantly reduced level. The persistence of VSV in NK cells did not appear to be caused by the generation of temperature-sensitive viral mutants, defective interfering particles, or interferon. Consequently, studies comparing the intracellular synthesis and maturation of VSV proteins in infected NK and mouse L cells were conducted. In contrast to L cells, in which host cell protein synthesis was essentially totally inhibited by infection, the infection of NK cells caused no marked diminution in the synthesis of host cell proteins. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of immunoprecipitates of viral proteins from infected cells showed that the maturation rate and size of VSV surface G glycoprotein were comparable in L cells and NK cells. Nucleocapsid (N) protein synthesis also appeared to be unaffected in NK cells. In contrast, the viral proteins NS and M appeared to be selectively degraded in NK cell extracts. Mixing experiments suggested that a protease in NK cells was responsible for the selective breakdown of VSV NS protein. Finally, VSV-infected NK cells were resistant to lysis by virus-specific CTL, suggesting that persistently infected NK cells may harbor virus and avoid cell-mediated immune destruction in an immunocompetent host.
GTP‐binding proteins mediate noradrenaline effects on calcium and chloride currents in rat portal vein myocytes.

1. Membrane currents were recorded by a patch‐clamp pipette technique in cultured cells from rat portal vein using the whole‐cell mode. 2. Noradrenaline (NA, 10(‐5) M) and phorbol‐12,13‐dibutyrate (PDBu, 10(‐7) M) produced an increase in voltage‐dependent inward current carried by barium (5 mM), but their effects were not additive. Calcium‐activated chloride current was evoked by NA but not by PDBu. 3. The NA‐induced increase in peak voltage‐dependent inward current was inhibited by intracellular application of GDP‐beta‐S (10(‐3) M) while the effect of PDBu was unchanged. GDP‐beta‐S blocked the NA‐induced chloride current but had no effect on the caffeine‐induced chloride current. 4. Inclusion of GTP‐gamma‐S (10(‐5)‐10(‐4) M) in the pipette solution increased the voltage‐dependent inward current and inhibited the NA‐ or PDBu‐induced increase in peak current. GTP‐gamma‐S potentiated the effect of NA on calcium‐activated chloride current. At higher concentrations (10(‐3) M), GTP‐gamma‐S activated the chloride current and prevented the effects of NA or caffeine on this current. 5. The combination of 10(‐5) M‐aluminium chloride and 10(‐2) M‐sodium fluoride had an effect similar to that of high concentrations of GTP‐gamma‐S on both inward current and calcium‐activated chloride current. In contrast, arachidonic acid (10(‐3) M) had no effect on calcium and chloride conductances activated by NA. 6. Cells responded normally to NA after pre‐treatment for 4‐30 h with 10 micrograms ml‐1 pertussis toxin (PTx). 7. It is concluded that the stimulation of calcium and chloride conductances by NA is mediated through activation of a PTx‐insensitive GTP‐binding protein. This effect may involve activation of phospholipase C enzyme and production of both D‐myo‐inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate which depletes calcium stores and diacylglycerol which activates protein kinase C.
Power Scaling on Efficient Generation of Ultrafast Terahertz Pulses

We have investigated power scaling for the efficient generation of the broadband terahertz (THz) pulses. These THz short pulses are converted from ultrafast laser pulses propagating in a class of semiconductor electrooptic materials. By measuring the dependence of the THz output on the pump beam in terms of incident angle, polarization, azimuthal angle, and pump intensity, we have precisely determined the contributions made by optical rectification, drift of carriers under a surface or external field, and photo-Dember effect. When a second-order nonlinear material is pumped below its bandgap, optical rectification is always the mechanism for the THz generation. Above the bandgap, however, the three mechanisms mentioned earlier often compete with one another, depending on the material characteristics and pump intensity. At a sufficiently high pump intensity, optical rectification usually becomes the dominant mechanism for a second-order nonlinear material. Our analysis indicates that second-order nonlinear coefficients can be resonantly enhanced when a material is pumped above its bandgap. In such a case, the THz output power and normalized conversion efficiency can be dramatically increased. We have also analyzed how the THz generation is affected by some competing processes such as two-photon absorption.
Nuclear PKM2 regulates the Warburg effect

Pyruvate kinase is a rate-limiting glycolytic enzyme. The PKM1 and PKM2 isoforms result from mutually exclusive alternative splicing of the PKM pre-mRNA. PKM2 rather than PKM1 regulates the Warburg effect and tumorigenesis by poorly understood mechanisms. Emerging evidence has revealed that ERK1/2 phosphorylates PKM2, but not PKM1, leading to PIN1-dependent cis–trans isomerization and conversion of PKM2 from a tetramer to a monomer. Monomeric PKM2 translocates into the nucleus, where it functions as a histone kinase and upregulates the expression of c-Myc and cyclin D1, thereby promoting the Warburg effect and cell cycle progression, respectively. Thus, nuclear PKM2 is essential for tumorigenesis and may serve as a target for treating human cancer.
Phylogenies reveal predictive power of traditional medicine in bioprospecting

There is controversy about whether traditional medicine can guide drug discovery, and investment in bioprospecting informed by ethnobotanical data has fluctuated. One view is that traditionally used medicinal plants are not necessarily efficacious and there are no robust methods for distinguishing those which are most likely to be bioactive when selecting species for further testing. Here, we reconstruct a genus-level molecular phylogenetic tree representing the 20,000 species found in the floras of three disparate biodiversity hotspots: Nepal, New Zealand, and the Cape of South Africa. Borrowing phylogenetic methods from community ecology, we reveal significant clustering of the 1,500 traditionally used species, and provide a direct measure of the relatedness of the three medicinal floras. We demonstrate shared phylogenetic patterns across the floras: related plants from these regions are used to treat medical conditions in the same therapeutic areas. This finding strongly indicates independent discovery of plant efficacy, an interpretation corroborated by the presence of a significantly greater proportion of known bioactive species in these plant groups than in random samples. We conclude that phylogenetic cross-cultural comparisons can focus screening efforts on a subset of traditionally used plants that are richer in bioactive compounds, and could revitalize the use of traditional knowledge in bioprospecting.