Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
appR gene product activates transcription of microcin C7 plasmid genes

Microcin C7 (MccC7) is encoded by Escherichia coli plasmid pMccC7. However, some strains of E. coli K-12 carrying this plasmid do not produce this antibiotic. Here we show that these strains differ in the gene locus appR. This chromosomal gene product controls MccC7 production by activating the transcription of some, but not all, MccC7 plasmid genes.
PURIFICATION OF STAPHYLOCOCCAL ALPHA-HEMOLYSIN

Madoff, Morton A. (New England Center Hospital, Boston, Mass.) and Louis Weinstein. Purification of staphylococcal alpha-hemolysin. J. Bacteriol. 83:914–918. 1962. — Staphylococcal alpha-toxin has been purified by metal-ion precipitation, column chromatography, and continuous-flow paper electrophoresis. The resultant preparation is highly unstable. A single line is obtained on agar-gel diffusion analysis against staphylococcal antiserum. Two bands, both associated with hemolytic activity and migrating cathodally at pH 8.4, are obtained on starch-gel electrophoresis. Levels of lytic, dermonecrotic, and lethal toxin activity maintain a constant relationship in the crude and purified materials, suggesting the unity of these effects.
Class III human liver alcohol dehydrogenase: a novel structural type equidistantly related to the class I and class II enzymes.

The primary structure of class III alcohol dehydrogenase (dimeric with chi subunits) from human liver has been determined by peptide analyses. The protein chain is a clearly distinct type of subunit distantly related to those of both human class I and class II alcohol dehydrogenases (with alpha, beta, gamma, and pi subunits, respectively). Disregarding a few gaps, residue differences in the chi protein chain with respect to beta 1 and pi occur at 139 and 140 positions, respectively. Compared to class I, the 373-residue chi structure has an extra residue, Cys after position 60, and two missing ones, the first two residues relative to class I, although the N-terminus is acetylated like that for those enzymes. The chi subunit contains two more tryptophan residues than the class I subunits, accounting for the increased absorbance at 280 nm. There are also four additional acidic and two fewer basic side chains than in the class I beta structure, compatible with the markedly different electrophoretic mobility of the class III enzyme. Residue differences between class III and the other classes occur with nearly equal frequency in the coenzyme-binding and catalytic domains. The similarity in the number of exchanges relative to that of the enzymes of the other two classes supports conclusions that the three classes of alcohol dehydrogenase reflect stages in the development of separate enzymes with distinct functional roles. In spite of the many exchanges, the residues critical to basic functional properties are either completely unchanged--all zinc ligands and space-restricted Gly residues--or partly unchanged--residues at the coenzyme-binding pocket. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Is the Perceived Association between Chlamydia pneumoniae and Vascular Diseases Biased by Methodology?

ABSTRACT Inter- and intralaboratory inconsistencies in detection rates of Chlamydia pneumoniae in vascular specimens have been demonstrated. In this study, 66 vascular tissue specimens from 66 patients with vascular disease were tested by three PCR assays: a 16S PCR-based reverse line blot (RLB) assay, a single-step PCR, and a nested PCR. Also, we explored the impacts of different DNA polymerase enzymes on the results based on gel electrophoresis and hybridization. The PCR results by gel electrophoresis in the single-step PCR depended on which DNA polymerase was used. All samples were negative with AmpliTaq Gold DNA polymerase, and 54.5% (36 of 66) were positive with the conventional Taq DNA polymerase. All samples were negative after hybridization with a C. pneumoniae-specific probe. In the nested PCR, all specimens were negative by gel electrophoresis and after hybridization. The RLB assay failed to detect C. pneumoniae in any specimen; however, 20 specimens were Chlamydia sp. positive. The sequence analysis of six of these samples demonstrated Chlamydia-like organisms. RLB detected Chlamydia sp. DNA in water and in the elution buffer after passage of the Qiagen columns (11 of 40). This study identified factors that may influence the detection of C. pneumoniae DNA in vascular tissues and consequently bias the perception of a link between C. pneumoniae and vascular diseases. The following are strongly recommended: to use DNA polymerases that have to be activated, to decontaminate with dUTP-uracil-DNA glycosylase, to hybridize with specific probes, to include sufficient controls, and to use molecular grade water.
Cloning and analysis of structural genes from Streptomyces pristinaespiralis encoding enzymes involved in the conversion of pristinamycin IIB to pristinamycin IIA (PIIA): PIIA synthase and NADH:riboflavin 5'-phosphate oxidoreductase

In Streptomyces pristinaespiralis, two enzymes are necessary for conversion of pristinamycin IIB (PIIB) to pristinamycin IIA (PIIA), the major component of pristinamycin (D. Thibaut, N. Ratet, D. Bisch, D. Faucher, L. Debussche, and F. Blanche, J. Bacteriol. 177:5199-5205, 1995); these enzymes are PIIA synthase, a heterodimer composed of the SnaA and SnaB proteins, which catalyzes the oxidation of PIIB to PIIA, and the NADH:riboflavin 5'-phosphate oxidoreductase (hereafter called FMN reductase), the SnaC protein, which provides the reduced form of flavin mononucleotide for the reaction. By using oligonucleotide probes designed from limited peptide sequence information of the purified proteins, the corresponding genes were cloned from a genomic library of S. pristinaespiralis. SnaA and SnaB showed no significant similarity with proteins from databases, but SnaA and SnaB had similar protein domains. Disruption of the snaA gene in S. pristinaespiralis led to accumulation of PIIB. Complementation of a S. pristinaespiralis PIIA-PIIB+ mutant with the snaA and snaB genes, cloned in a low-copy-number plasmid, partially restored production of PIIA. The deduced amino acid sequence of the snaC gene showed no similarity to the sequences of other FMN reductases but was 39% identical with the product of the actVB gene of the actinorhodin cluster of Streptomyces coelicolor A(3)2, likely to be involved in the dimerization step of actinorhodin biosynthesis. Furthermore, an S. coelicolor A(3)2 mutant blocked in this step was successfully complemented by the snaC gene, restoring the production of actinorhodin.
A real-time object recognition for forward looking sonar

Automatic target recognition is a challenging task as the response from an underwater target may vary greatly depending on its configuration, sonar parameters and the environment. In forward looking sonar image the target is considered as composed of a few rows and columns of highlight pixels and a few rows and some columns of shadow pixels. We firstly design target-like templet for object in forward looking sonar, then correlation matching method is used for targets detection with the help of the target-like templet, at last the features which are extracted from the objects are used to get rid of the false objects. The algorithm is formulated for real-time execution on limited-memory commercial-of-the-shelf platforms and is capable of detection objects on the seabed-bottom.
Identification of a novel NOG gene mutation (P35S) in an Italian family with symphalangism

Symphalangism (SYM or SYM1) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by multiple joint fusions. The disease is caused by mutations of the NOG gene, that maps to chromosome 17q22. So far, only six independent NOG mutations have been identified. We have analysed an Italian family in which father and son had bilateral symphalangism and detected a novel NOG mutation (P35S), originated in the father from a c.914C>T transition. A different mutation in the same codon (P35R) has been previously described. Comparison between different noggin gene hortologs shows that codon 35 is conserved. Therefore, this codon should play an important role in NOG gene function. This is the first mutation described for NOG after the initial report of NOG mutations being causative of SYM. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Crude Oil Price Fluctuation And Inflation In Nigeria

This research empirically investigated the relationship between inflation and oil price fluctuations in Nigeria with quarterly data over the period 1980:1 to 2015:4.Using secondary data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin 2015 and Energy Information Administration (EIA) short-term outlook, December, 2016. Vector autoregressive model econometric technique was adopted in analysing the data for this study with the following analysis carried out; the Lag length selection, VAR stability tests, VAR LM test for serial correlation, the Impulse Response Function and the Forecast Error Variance Decomposition. The study revealed that the response of inflation to oil price fluctuation is that as oil prices falls inflation fall also and a stable and positive oil price results in a stable negative inflation rate, thus the relationship between them( inflation and oil price fluctuation) is negative This study therefore recommends that the cost channels transmission should be weakened by further diversification of the Nigeria economy and enhancement of import substitution strategies. To facilitate the monetary authority in achieving lower inflation and stable economic growth targets counter-cyclical fiscal policies and effectively binding fiscal rules should be formulated and implemented.
Big Data is watching YOU: opportunities and challenges from the perspective of young adult consumers in Russia

ABSTRACT The extent to which Big Data technologies are integrated into a society is a reflection of national progress, showcasing political and economic modernity. In the data-driven world, individuals are required to divulge private and financial information in order to ‘consume’ the Internet. While sharing information is a tolerated yet undesirable facet of modern society, netizens are alarmed by the recent release to third parties of sensitive personal data. The (mis)use of Big Data is affecting perceptions of new technologies by heightening uncertainty. Using a mixed methods approach, the authors explore the factors that influence consumer perceptions of Big Data, from the perspective of the individual Web user in an overtly censored society. The study contributes the literature on the Big Data phenomenon by presenting the viewpoint of the individual.
Tissue transglutaminase antibodies in individuals with celiac disease bind to thyroid follicles and extracellular matrix and may contribute to thyroid dysfunction.

BACKGROUND Individuals with active celiac disease (CD+) have an increased incidence of thyroid dysfunction, which improves on a gluten-free diet (CD-). We investigated whether tissue transglutaminase-2 IgA antibodies (anti-TGase II) present in sera of patients with celiac disease react with thyroid tissue and possibly contribute to thyroid disease. METHODS Serum from 40 active celiac patients taken before a gluten-free diet (CD+), 46 patients on a gluten-free diet (CD-), 40 normal controls (NC), and 25 with Crohn's disease (CROHN) was used. All sera were screened for antithyroperoxidase antibodies (TPO-AB) and thyroglobulin antibodies (TG-AB), and indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) was performed on primate thyroid tissue sections using TPO-AB- and TG-AB-negative sera. RESULTS IIF with thyroid seronegative, anti-TGase II-positive CD+ sera (n = 23) demonstrated staining of thyroid follicular cells and extracellular matrix, in an identical pattern with monoclonal anti-human TGase II antibody. Evidence of TGase II as the antigen in thyroid tissue was supported by elimination of the IIF pattern when sera were depleted of anti-TGase II by pretreatment with human recombinant TGase II. No staining of thyroid tissue was observed when sera from CD+ patients that were negative for TGase II antibodies, or sera from NC subjects were used. Thyroid antibodies were found in 43% of CD+ patients, significantly higher than NC and CROHN patients (p < 0.0001). In addition, a positive correlation was observed between anti-TGase II and TPO-AB titers (p = 0.0001; r = 0.63). CONCLUSIONS Anti-TGase II antibodies bind to TGase II in thyroid tissue, and titers correlate with TPO antibody titers. These findings suggest that anti-TGase II antibodies could contribute to the development of thyroid disease in celiac disease.
Cascaded High-Voltage-Gain Bidirectional Switched-Capacitor DC–DC Converters for Distributed Energy Resources Applications

A family of bidirectional switched-capacitor (SC) converters with high-gain ratio of any positive integer is proposed in this paper for distributed energy resources applications. As compared with other existing SC converters achieving a same conversion gain, the main advantages of the proposed converters are that they require a relatively lower number of switches and capacitors, have a relatively lower switch's and capacitor's stress, and that their associated driver circuits are simpler to realize. Importantly, with the achievable conversion ratio being flexible and that the input and output of the proposed converters are of common ground, the proposed converters are widely suitable for many applications. Moreover, as the proposed converters do not possess magnetic component or any component that can severely degrade the converters' performance at high temperature, they are especially useful for high-temperature applications. Besides, the proposed converters are capable of delivering bidirectional power, which is a key requirement for emerging applications with battery storages. Different aspects of the proposed converters, including a simple auxiliary power supply circuit for the MOSFETs' drivers, will be discussed in this paper. A nine-time SC converter prototype that operates with 20-V input voltage, 100-W output, and at 75 kHz, is constructed and tested. Experiment results show that the maximum efficiency achievable with this prototype is over 98% (without driver's loss) and the efficiency over the entire load range between 25 and 100 W is over 95.5% including the driver's loss. The output voltage ripple of the SC converter is less than 1%. When the SC converter is open-loop controlled, the load voltage regulation is relatively well kept at less than 5% between full load and no load conditions.
Separate-combine recovery for compressed sensing of large images

Compressed sensing (CS) based image processing is a important branch of CS based signal processing. However, the high complexity involved in CS based large-size image processing is a challenging issue. In this paper, an orthogonal matching pursuit enabled two-stage CS recovery scheme with low complexity yet high performance, termed separate-combine recovery method is proposed for separable image sensing operators. Specifically, at the separate stage, both compressed row and column data is estimated as intermediates. Based on these estimates, two sparse representations of the original image, called row-first-recovery result and column-first-recovery result, are respectively obtained. At the combine stage, the final result is achieved by weighted aggregating these two sparse representations. The complexity and performance of the proposed method are evaluated through extensive numerical results, showing that the presented scheme outperforms existing methods in terms of recovery speed and computational complexity.
[Evaluations of seven different clinical staging systems for Chinese patients with hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing curative resection].

OBJECTIVE To compare the performance of 7 prognostic staging systems in predicting the survival of surgical patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS A total of 908 surgical HCC patients were recruited from January, 1999 to December, 2010 at our hospital. They were assigned retrospectively into different stages according to the classification criteria of 7 different staging systems. That is, Tumor-Node-Metastasis classification system (TNM7th), Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging system (BCLC), Tokyo score, Japan Integrated Staging score (JIS), model for the Chinese University Prognostic Index grade (CUPI), Cancer of the Liver Italian Program score (CLIP) and Okuda staging. Kaplan-Meier survival estimations were performed and P values assessed with Log-rank test. RESULTS Significant survival difference was found across all groups of these staging systems(P < 0.05) except for comparison between TNM7th Stage IV versus III (P = 0.538), Tokyo score 4 versus 3 (P = 0.290) and 1 versus 0(P = 0.398), CLIP score 4 versus 3 (P = 0.073) and 3 versus 2 (P = 0.805) and Okuda stage II versus stage I (P = 0.872). For neutralizing potential bias in comparing prognostic scores with different numbers of stages, Akaike information criterion (AIC) was calculated by the results of Cox's regression. Therefore TNM7th had the lowest AIC result (AIC = 3 719.39). CONCLUSION TNM7th staging system is a better staging model for HCC of Chinese population among seven currently applied staging systems.
Evaluation of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) versus calcium hydroxide cement (Dycal(®) ) in the formation of a dentine bridge: a randomised controlled trial.

AIM To assess the effectiveness of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) used as an indirect pulp-capping material in human molar and premolar teeth. METHODOLOGY We conducted a clinical evaluation of 60 teeth, which underwent an indirect pulp-capping procedure with either MTA or calcium hydroxide cement (Dycal(®) ). Calcium hydroxide was compared with MTA and the thickness of the newly formed dentine was measured at regular time intervals. The follow-up was at 3 and 6 months, and dentine formation was monitored by radiological measurements on digitised images using Mesurim Pro(®) software. RESULTS At 3 months, the clinical success rates of MTA and calcium hydroxide were 93% and 73%, respectively (P = 0.02). At 6 months, the success rate was 89.6% with MTA, and remained steady at 73% with calcium hydroxide (P = 0.63). The mean initial residual dentine thickness was 0.23 mm, and increased by 0.121 mm with MTA and by 0.136 mm with calcium hydroxide at 3 months. At 6 months, there was an increase of 0.235 mm with MTA and of 0.221 mm with calcium hydroxide. CONCLUSIONS A higher success rate was observed in the MTA group relative to the Dycal(®) group after 3 months, which was statistically significant. After 6 months, no statistically significant difference was found in the dentine thickness between the two groups. Additional histological investigations are needed to support these findings.
Further results on the EKF-CRTRL equalizer for fast fading and frequency selective channels

This paper shows further results on the EKF-RTRL (extended Kalman filter-real time recurrent learning) equalizer comparing its performance with the PSP-LMS (per survivor processing-least mean squares) equalizer for fast fading selective frequency channels using the WSS_US (wide sense stationary-uncorrelated scattering) model. The EKF-RTRL is a symbol by symbol neural equalizer and the PSP-LMS equalizer uses the maximum likelihood criterion for symbol sequence estimation and the per survivor processing principle. The performance here presented depicts several scenarios regarding the channel variation speed. The performance considered in this paper is the symbol error rate (SER). A comparison involving the computational complexity of both equalizers is also carried out.
Cell-Based Assay To Identify Inhibitors of the Hfq-sRNA Regulatory Pathway

ABSTRACT Noncoding small RNAs (sRNAs) act in conjunction with the RNA chaperone Hfq to regulate gene expression in bacteria. Because Hfq is required for virulence in several bacterial pathogens, the Hfq-sRNA system is an attractive target for antibiotic development. A reporter strain in which the expression of yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) is controlled by Hfq-sRNA was engineered to identify inhibitors of this system. A reporter that is targeted by Hfq in conjunction with the RybB sRNA was used in a genetic screen to identify inhibitors from a library of cyclic peptides produced in Escherichia coli using split-intein circular ligation of peptides and proteins (SICLOPPS), an intein-based technology. One cyclic peptide identified in this screen, RI20, inhibited Hfq-mediated repression of gene expression in conjunction with both RybB and an unrelated sRNA, MicF. Gel mobility shift assays showed that RI20 inhibited binding of Hfq to RybB and MicF with similar Ki values. These data suggest that RI20 inhibits Hfq activity by blocking interactions with sRNAs and provide a paradigm for inhibiting virulence genes in Gram-negative pathogens.
Determination of the total daily energy expenditure in man by indirect calorimetry: assessment of the accuracy of a modern technique

Selenium and dental depigmentation 41 incidence of liver necrosis, it had no apparent effect on the depigmentation of the rats’ incisors which takes place if these animals are fed on a diet deficient in tocopherol, and which is prevented only by this vitamin. 4. The parallelism between the effect of selenium and of vitamin E, both of which prevent liver necrosis and prolong the survival time of deficient rats, therefore does not extend to the disturbance causing dental depigmentation.
Characterization of Transplanted Green Fluorescent Protein+ Bone Marrow Cells into Adipose Tissue

Following transplantation of green fluorescent protein (GFP)‐labeled bone marrow (BM) into irradiated, wild‐type Sprague‐Dawley rats, propagated GFP+ cells migrate to adipose tissue compartments. To determine the relationship between GFP+ BM‐derived cells and tissue‐resident GFP− cells on the stem cell population of adipose tissue, we conducted detailed immunohistochemical analysis of chimeric whole fat compartments and subsequently isolated and characterized adipose‐derived stem cells (ASCs) from GFP+ BM chimeras. In immunohistochemistry, a large fraction of GFP+ cells in adipose tissue were strongly positive for CD45 and smooth muscle actin and were evenly scattered around the adipocytes and blood vessels, whereas all CD45+ cells within the blood vessels were GFP+. A small fraction of GFP+ cells with the mesenchymal marker CD90 also existed in the perivascular area. Flow cytometric and immunocytochemical analyses showed that cultured ASCs were CD45−/CD90+/CD29+. There was a significant difference in both the cell number and phenotype of the GFP+ ASCs in two different adipose compartments, the omental (abdominal) and the inguinal (subcutaneous) fat pads; a significantly higher number of GFP−/CD90+ cells were isolated from the subcutaneous depot as compared with the abdominal depot. The in vitro adipogenic differentiation of the ASCs was achieved; however, all cells that had differentiated were GFP−. Based on phenotypical analysis, GFP+ cells in adipose tissue in this rat model appear to be of both hematopoietic and mesenchymal origin; however, infrequent isolation of GFP+ ASCs and their lack of adipogenic differentiation suggest that the contribution of BM to ASC generation might be minor.