Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differences in Susceptibilities of Virulent Strains and Avirulent Strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to Antimicrobial Agents

Virulent cells (T1 colony type) and avirulent cells (T4 colony type) of Neisseria gonorrhoeae were grown in a defined liquid medium in the presence of different antimicrobial agents. Bacteria of T1 colony type were found to be more resistant than bacteria of T4 colony type to the inhibitory effects of specific concentrations of ampicillin (0.50 μg/ml) and penicillin (0.01 μg/ml). Bacteria of T4 colony type, however, were found to be more resistant to the effects of chloramphenicol (0.40 μg/ml), erythromycin (0.10 μg/ml), spectinomycin (10.00 μg/ml), and tetracycline (0.30 μg/ml). The differences in susceptibilities of these bacteria to the antibiotics investigated were not due to differences in growth rate or to differences in permeability. The data suggest that virulent gonococci and avirulent gonococci have unique properties that affect their susceptibilities to certain antimicrobial agents.
Single Event Effects in 4T Pinned Photodiode Image Sensors

This paper describes how Single Event Effects (SEEs) produced by heavy ions disturb the operation of Pinned Photodiode (PPD) CMOS Image Sensors (CISs) in the frame of space and nuclear applications. Several CISs with 4T and 5T pinned photodiode pixels were exposed to ions with a broad Linear Energy Transfer range (3.3 to 67.7 MeV·cm2/mg). One sensor exhibited Single Event Latchups (SELs). Physical failure mechanism and latchup properties were investigated. SELs are caused by the level shifters of the addressing circuits, which create frame perturbations - following which, in some cases, parts of the addressing circuits need to be hardened. In the second part of the paper, the effects of anti-blooming capabilities on the Single Event Transient effects (SETs) are analyzed. SETs in pixels can be partially mitigated by anti-blooming through the transfer gate and/or a dedicated transistor. This work also shows that the number of pixels disturbed by SETs can be reduced by using appropriate anti-blooming techniques.
Are periodontal diseases risk factors for certain systemic disorders--what matters to medical practitioners?

OBJECTIVE To review recent data on the nature and pathobiology of periodontal infections and to elaborate how periodontal infections might increase susceptibility to some important systemic diseases and conditions. DATA SOURCES Medline literature search and websites of the American Academy of Periodontology and American Medical Association. STUDY SELECTION Literature and data on periodontal diseases and their links to systemic diseases. DATA EXTRACTION Review of relevant information and data. DATA SYNTHESIS Periodontal diseases, including gingivitis and periodontitis, are among the most common infections of humans. They are induced by bacteria and bacterial products of dental plaque and are characterised by inflammatory destruction of tooth-supporting connective tissues and alveolar bone. A growing body of scientific evidence has shown that severe periodontitis may enhance susceptibility to certain important systemic diseases and conditions, for example, cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and pulmonary infections. The clinical implications of the emerging specialty of periodontal medicine for dental and medical practitioners are postulated. CONCLUSIONS Periodontal diseases may be risk factors for cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and pulmonary infections. Dental and medical practitioners should be aware of the clinical implications of these inter-relationships and treat affected patients in collaboration for better oral and general health.
Plasma concentrations of retinol in obese children and adolescents: relationship to metabolic syndrome components

Objective: To evaluate obese children and adolescents' retinol plasma levels and to correlate them with metabolic syndrome components. Methods: Cross-sectional study with 61 obese children and adolescents (body mass index Z score - ZBMI>+2). Pubertal development, arterial blood pressure, body weight and height for nutritional classification and waist circumference were obtained. A 15mL blood sample was collected (after a 12-hour fasting in a low luminosity room) for retinol determination (cut-off inadequate if <30µg/dL), lipid profile (HDL-c, LDL-c, and triglycerides), oral glucose tolerance test (fasting and 120 minutes) and for high sensitivity C-reactive protein. Spearman correlation and multiple linear regression were used in the statistical analysis. Results: Mean age was 10.7±2.7 years. There was a predominance of male gender 38/61 (62%) and pre-pubertal 35/61 (57%) subjects. The average plasmatic retinol was 48.5±18.6ug/dL. Retinol deficiency and severe obesity were observed in 6/61 (10%) and 36/61 (59%), respectively. Glucose level at 120 minutes was the independent and predictive variable of plasma retinol levels [β=-0.286 (95%CI -0.013 - -0.001)]. Conclusions: An independent and inverse association between plasma retinol levels and glucose tolerance was observed, suggesting an important contribution of this vitamin in the morbidities associated to obesity in children and adolescents.
Insomnia and Hypnotic Medications are Associated with Suicidal Ideation in a Community Population

Suicidal ideation (SI), a significant predictor of suicide, is associated with sleep disturbance, which is seldom assessed using stringent diagnostic criteria and validated sleep instruments in community samples. Cross-sectional data, including sleep diaries and validated instruments, from 767 community adults were used to identify variables associated with SI and subsequently entered into a regression model to predict SI. Suicidal ideation was endorsed by 9.3% of the sample. This group differed from non-ideators on several variables, but only insomnia diagnosis, depression severity, and hypnotic medication use predicted SI. Findings confirm an association of insomnia with SI using stringent criteria and controlling for depression. If treating insomnia is a conceivable pathway to reduce SI, the apparent risk posed by hypnotics may limit treatment options.
Porphyromonas gingivalis Outer Membrane Vesicles Enter Human Epithelial Cells via an Endocytic Pathway and Are Sorted to Lysosomal Compartments

ABSTRACT Porphyromonas gingivalis, a periodontal pathogen, secretes outer membrane vesicles (MVs) that contain major virulence factors, including major fimbriae and proteases termed gingipains, although it is not confirmed whether MVs enter host cells. In this study, we analyzed the mechanisms involved in the interactions of P. gingivalis MVs with human epithelial cells. Our results showed that MVs swiftly adhered to HeLa and immortalized human gingival epithelial cells in a fimbria-dependent manner and then entered via a lipid raft-dependent endocytic pathway. The intracellular MVs were subsequently routed to early endosome antigen 1-associated compartments and then were sorted to lysosomal compartments within 90 min, suggesting that intracellular MVs were ultimately degraded by the cellular digestive machinery. However, P. gingivalis MVs remained there for over 24 h and significantly induced acidified compartment formation after being taken up by the cellular digestive machinery. In addition, MV entry was shown to be mediated by a novel pathway for transmission of bacterial products into host cells, a Rac1-regulated pinocytic pathway that is independent of caveolin, dynamin, and clathrin. Our findings indicate that P. gingivalis MVs efficiently enter host cells via an endocytic pathway and survive within the endocyte organelles for an extended period, which provides better understanding of the role of MVs in the etiology of periodontitis.
Differential Expression of Drug Resistance-Related Genes between Sensitive and Resistant Blasts in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Drug resistance constitutes a considerable problem in the therapy of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In order to identify genes which might be related to drug resistance, we retrospectively studied gene expression patterns in blast populations of 14 patients with de novo AML, focusing on known or potential resistance mechanisms against cytosine arabinoside and anthracyclines. Following induction and postremission chemotherapy, 7 patients achieved a complete remission (CR) for more than 1 year, while 7 patients showed blast persistence (BP) after induction and salvage chemotherapy. Gene expression analysis was performed using RNA extracted from archived guanidine extracts and Affymetrix HGU133A gene chips. We utilized the Gene Ontology category Biological Process to select genes implicated in DNA metabolism, nucleoside and nucleotide metabolism and transport, reactive oxygen species metabolism, apoptosis and response to drugs and identified 32 differentially expressed genes. From this functional perspective, we found differences between the CR and BP groups with regard to nucleotide metabolism (PBEF1, G6PD; p = 0.048), apoptosis (TNFAIP3, TNFAIP8, MPO, BCL2A1, BAX, SON, BNIP3L; p = 0.039) and reactive oxygen species metabolism (SOD2, KIAA0179; p = 0.048). However, the attempt to construct a predictive model of chemoresistance failed. BP samples had a 2-fold higher expression of CD34 than CR samples. Thus, our findings are in line with reports describing differences in apoptosis resistance between CD34+ and CD34– blast populations. Taken together, our results suggest that drug resistance in AML is a heterogenous phenomenon that might be better defined by means of disturbed biological processes than by focusing on the alteration of the expression of distinct genes.
Differential expression of a zinc finger-encoding gene in response to positive versus negative signaling through receptor immunoglobulin in murine B lymphocytes

Egr-1 is a murine early growth factor-inducible gene that encodes a protein with zinc fingers and that is believed to be involved in transcriptional regulation. Expression of this gene was investigated in murine B lymphocytes stimulated through their receptor for antigen (surface immunoglobulin [sIg]) with antireceptor antibodies (anti-sIg). Rapid (by 15 min) up-regulation of Egr-1 mRNA expression was observed after sIg cross-linking at a dose of anti-sIg sufficient to drive the majority of cells into cell cycle. Interestingly, signaling through sIg on the murine B-lymphoma cell line WEHI-231 did not up-regulate Egr-1 expression even though similar signaling pathways, including up-regulation of c-fos expression, are associated with this receptor in these cells. Importantly, cell growth and proliferation of WEHI-231 cells were inhibited by anti-sIg stimulation, which suggested a relationship between Egr-1 expression and differential processing of receptor immunoglobulin signals with respect to cellular growth responses. This notion was further supported by the finding that murine B lymphomas whose proliferation was not inhibited by anti-sIg showed receptor immunoglobulin-coupled Egr-1 expression. In further support of this association are results showing that under conditions in which Egr-1 expression was induced in WEHI-231 cells in response to stimulation by anti-sIg, a concomitant change was observed in the growth response of these cells. These results, then, indicate a potential role for Egr-1 expression in the translation of receptor-generated signals into cellular activation or induced unresponsiveness.
Sources to Finance Fiscal Deficit and Their Impact on Inflation:
 A Case Study of Pakistan

Theoretically, fiscal deficit is inflationary but the sources of financing fiscal deficit may differ in terms of their impact on inflation. Question arises that what should be the least inflation cost source of financing? This study attempts to answer this question and explore the long run relationship among the sources to finance fiscal deficit and inflation. In so doing, the estimations have been done in four stages on the basis of categorisation of the deficit financing heads. In the first stage it has been tested that fiscal deficit along with money supply are inflationary. In the second stage fiscal deficit is bifurcated into two components, domestic borrowing and external borrowing for fiscal deficit. In the third stage, domestic borrowing is further divided into two heads, bank and non-bank borrowing. While in the fourth and last stage, bank borrowing is further categorised into two parts, borrowing from scheduled banks and central bank, and non-bank borrowing which comprises borrowing from National Saving Scheme for budgetary support. The Johansen Cointegration Technique is used for the first stage of estimation, while Auto Regressive Distributed Lag Model is employed for the rest of the three stages. The study finds that there is a long run relationship among sources of financing fiscal deficit and inflation. Inflation is positively affected by domestic borrowing, bank borrowing and borrowing from central bank, while central bank borrowing is more inflationary in nature. Consequently, fiscal deficit should be financed through external sources, non-bank and scheduled bank borrowings. JEL Classification: H62, H74, E31 Keywords: Deficit, State and Local Borrowing, Inflation
CHOP plays a pivotal role in the astrocyte death induced by oxygen and glucose deprivation

Ischemia has different consequences on the survival of astrocytes and neurons. Thus, astrocytes show a remarkable resistance to short periods of ischemia that are well known to cause neuronal death. We have used a cell culture model of stroke, oxygen, and glucose deprivation (OGD), to clarify the mechanisms responsible for the exclusive resistance of astrocytes to ischemia. The expression of genes implicated in both ischemia‐induced astrocyte death and post‐ischemic survival was analysed by the RNA differential display technique. Our study revealed that the expression of the CEBP homologous protein (CHOP)‐coding gene is promptly an intensely upregulated following astrocyte oxygen and glucose deprivation. CHOP mRNA induction was accompanied by the activation of other genes (grp78, grp95) that, alike CHOP, are involved in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response. In addition, drugs that cause ER calcium depletion or protein N‐glycosylation inhibition mimicked the effects of OGD on astrocyte survival, further supporting the involvement of ER in the astrocyte responses to OGD. Our experiments also demonstrated that upregulation of CHOP during the ER stress response is required for ischemia to cause astrocyte death. Not only the levels of CHOP mRNA and protein correlate perfectly with the degree of OGD‐triggered cell injury, but also astrocyte death induced by OGD is significantly overcome by CHOP antisense oligonucleotide treatment. Nevertheless, we observed that astrocytes undergo apoptosis only when CHOP is permanently upregulated, and not when CHOP increases are transient. Finally, we found that the extent of CHOP induction is determined by the length of the ischemic stimulus. Taken together, our results indicate that permanent upregulation of CHOP is decisive for the induction of astrocyte death by OGD. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
An Intragenic Suppressor of the Arabidopsis Floral Organ Identity Mutant apetala3-1 Functions by Suppressing Defects in Splicing

The Arabidopsis floral organ identity gene APETALA3 (AP3) specifies the identity of petals and stamens in the flower. In flowers mutant for the temperature-sensitive ap3-1 allele, the petals and stamens are partially converted to sepals and carpels, respectively. ap3-1 contains a single nucleotide change in the AP3 gene that alters both an amino acid in the AP3 protein and the 5′ splice consensus site for intron 5. Surprisingly, the Ap3-1 mutant phenotype is not due to the missense mutation but instead is due to defects in splicing; specifically, exon 5 is frequently skipped by the splicing machinery at the restrictive temperature. In a screen for suppressors of ap3-1, we isolated an intragenic suppressor, ap3-11, that functions to suppress the splicing defects of ap3-1. Using a reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction assay, we demonstrate that the percentage of full-length exon 5–containing AP3 RNAs correlates with the phenotype of the flowers in both ap3-1 and ap3-11. Rather surprisingly, the ap3-11 suppressor mutation is located in intron 4. One model explaining the function of ap3-11 is that the ap3-11 suppressor creates a novel branch point sequence that causes exon 5 to be more frequently recognized by the splicing machinery. The identification of such a suppressor strongly suggests that exon-scanning models of intron–exon recognition are operative in plants.
Effect of the number of parents on the performance of multi-parent genetic algorithm

Multi-parent genetic algorithm (MPGA) has become more interestingly algorithm, instead of using the number of parents more than the original genetic algorithm (GA) in reproduction process; the diversity of gene transformation from the parents literally affects the performance of genetic algorithms (GAs). In this paper, we compare binary coded multi-parent genetic algorithm with traditional genetic algorithm and analyze when one is better than the other as well as the effect of the number of parents by performing experiments on ten multimodal benchmark functions of up to 90 dimensions. The results show that using high number of parents yields better convergence without significantly increase in running time.
MicroRNA-31 Sensitizes Human Breast Cells to Apoptosis by Direct Targeting of Protein Kinase C ϵ (PKCϵ)*

Background: The role of miR-31 in sensitivity of breast tumors to anti-cancer treatment is unknown. Results: miR-31 directly targets PRKCE and thereby suppresses NF-κB activity and induces apoptosis and sensitivity to anti-cancer treatments via down-regulation of BCL2 expression. Conclusion: miR-31 indirectly down-regulates BCL2 expression. Significance: This study adds an important aspect to the tumor-suppressive potential of miR-31. MicroRNAs post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression and thereby contribute to the modulation of numerous complex and disease-relevant cellular phenotypes, including cell proliferation, cell motility, apoptosis, and stress response. In breast cancer cell systems, miR-31 has been shown to inhibit cell migration, invasion, and metastasis. Here, we link enhanced expression of miR-31 to the inhibition of the oncogenic NF-κB pathway, thus supporting the tumor-suppressive function of this microRNA. We identified protein kinase C epsilon (PKCϵ encoded by the PRKCE gene) as a novel direct target of miR-31 and show that down-regulation of PKCϵ results in impaired NF-κB signaling, enhanced apoptosis, and increased sensitivity of MCF10A breast epithelial and MDA-MB-231 triple-negative breast cancer cells toward ionizing radiation as well as treatment with chemotherapeutics. Mechanistically, we attribute this sensitization to anti-cancer treatments to the PRKCE-mediated down-regulation of the anti-apoptotic factor BCL2. In clinical breast cancer samples, high BCL2 expression was associated with poor prognosis. Furthermore, we found an inverse correlation between miR-31 and BCL2 expression, highlighting the functional relevance of the indirect down-regulation of BCL2 via direct targeting of PRKCE by miR-31.
Effectiveness of a Method for Teaching Self-Compassion to Communication Sciences and Disorders Graduate Students.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of a daily mindfulness practice and 2 types of journaling on participants' development of self-compassion. Method This was a between-groups design. All participants in a graduate counseling course engaged in a short daily mindfulness practice at the beginning of every class. Participants were randomly assigned to a counseling journal or a gratitude journal group. Participants were to write in their journals 2 to 5 times a week for the duration of the class. Participants completed the Self-Compassion Scale (Neff, 2003) and a questionnaire created by the 1st author before any mindfulness sessions were held and again at the completion of the course. Results Participants' level of self-compassion increased from pretest to posttest. The self-compassion scores of participants who kept counseling journals increased more than did those of participants who kept gratitude journals. Qualitative data indicated that participants believed that mindfulness was an important quality for clinicians to possess and that they were accepting of the daily mindfulness practice. Conclusions Engaging in a 12-min daily mindfulness practice utilizing simple yoga postures, breath work, reflective writing, and journaling done at a separate time appears to be an effective technique for increasing students' levels of self-compassion. Maintaining a counseling journal as opposed to a gratitude journal appears to enhance the effect of the daily mindfulness practice on self-compassion.
Limited Information and the Relation Between the Variance of Inflation and the Variance of Output in a New Keynesian Perspective

The objective of this paper is to analyze the effects on welfare of a monetary policy that establishes the reference interest rate at discrete intervals of time. The hypothesis is that because there is uncertainty about various disturbances that will occur in the period in which the referential interest rate is established, this can cause a loss of social welfare. To analyze the problem, a model is proposed where the central bank minimizes a loss function. When there is perfect certainty, an efficient frontier between the variances of inflation and output is reached. With uncertainty the result is inefficient. This implies the need to discuss whether it would be convenient for the interest rate to be set contingently. The main limitation of the work is perhaps that the model used makes a large number of abstractions, which allows it to be functional, but can leave out important aspects of reality. There seems to be very few papers, in any, that deal with the problem addressed in this work
Low CSF Concentrations of Cyclic GMP in Schizophrenia

Summary Increasing evidence suggests that the concentrations of cyclic guanosine 3′5′-monophosphate (cGMP) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) may reflect central cholinergic activity. When the concentrations of this nucleotide in the CSF from 28 schizophrenic patients (13 without and 15 with neuroleptic treatment) and 16 psychiatrically healthy controls was determined the schizophrenics showed significantly lower CSF levels of cGMP as compared to controls. As dopamine and homovanillic acid concentrations were not altered in these CSF samples, this finding of reduced cGMP suggests a cholinergic-dopaminergic imbalance in schizophrenia, with a reduction of the former and consequently a relative dominance of the latter.
Risk factors for COPD: What do NPs know?

Purpose: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been identified as the fourth leading cause of death. The primary purpose of this article is to discuss risk factors for COPD and identify at‐risk populations. A secondary purpose is to report the findings of a recent survey of nurse practitioners (NPs) in Colorado regarding their knowledge about the risk factors for COPD. Data sources: A list of registered NPs in the State of Colorado was obtained from the State Board of Nursing. Surveys were sent to 2916 NPs to assess their knowledge about risk factors for COPD. Conclusions: Although the response rate was less than 10%, this survey highlighted that there were gaps in knowledge especially for pediatric, women's health, and geriatric NPs. NPs are on the front lines in assisting with the prevention, early diagnosis, and management of this complex disease. Implications for practice: Formal NP educational programs (regardless of focus) should highlight that through recognition of risk factors, NPs can play a significant role in primary and secondary preventive measures that may decrease the impact of COPD. Public media campaigns to educate the public about risk factors may encourage the individual patients to address these risk factors with the primary care provider.