Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Investigation of saturated and aromatic hydrocarbon resistance mechanisms in Pseudomonas aeruginosa IBBML1

Pseudomonas aeruginosa IBBML1, isolated from Poeni petroleum sludge, was able to tolerate and degrade both saturated (n-hexane, n-heptane, n-hexadecane, cyclohexane) and aromatic (benzene, ethylbenzene, propylbenzene, xylene isomers, styrene) hydrocarbons. Molecular studies have revealed that the high hydrocarbon resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa IBBML1 could be due to the action of members of the HAE1 (hydrophobe/amphiphile efflux 1) family of transporters. It is further possible that additional mechanisms may account for the tolerance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa IBBML1 to hydrocarbons, and a combination of short-term and long-term mechanisms may act together in the adaptation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa IBBML1 cells to saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons. β-galactosidase activity measurements revealed that there was significant induction of the lacZ gene in Pseudomonas aeruginosa IBBML1 cells grown in the presence of either 5% and 10% (v/v) saturated or aromatic hydrocarbons, compared with control (cells incubated without hydrocarbons). Rhodamine 6G accumulation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa IBBML1 cells grown in the presence of 5% and 10% (v/v) saturated hydrocarbons was higher than rhodamine 6G accumulation in cells grown in the presence of 5% and 10% (v/v) aromatic hydrocarbons. The study of cellular and molecular modifications to Pseudomonas aeruginosa IBBML1 induced by 5% and 10% (v/v) saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons revealed a complex response of bacterial cells to the presence of different hydrophobic substrates in the culture medium.
Computation Offloading and Retrieval for Vehicular Edge Computing

The rapid evolution of mobile devices, their applications, and the amount of data generated by them causes a significant increase in bandwidth consumption and congestions in the network core. Edge Computing offers a solution to these performance drawbacks by extending the cloud paradigm to the edge of the network using capable nodes of processing compute-intensive tasks. In the recent years, vehicular edge computing has emerged for supporting mobile applications. Such paradigm relies on vehicles as edge node devices for providing storage, computation, and bandwidth resources for resource-constrained mobile applications. In this article, we study the challenges of computation offloading for vehicular edge computing. We propose a new classification for the better understanding of the literature designing vehicular edge computing. We propose a taxonomy to classify partitioning solutions in filter-based and automatic techniques; scheduling is separated in adaptive, social-based, and deadline-sensitive methods, and finally data retrieval is organized in secure, distance, mobility prediction, and social-based procedures. By reviewing and analyzing literature, we found that vehicular edge computing is feasible and a viable option to address the increasing volume of data traffic. Moreover, we discuss the open challenges and future directions that must be addressed towards efficient and effective computation offloading and retrieval from mobile users to vehicular edge computing.
DNA manipulation by means of insulator‐based dielectrophoresis employing direct current electric fields

Electrokinetic techniques offer a great potential for biological particle manipulation. Among these, dielectrophoresis (DEP) has been successfully utilized for the concentration of bioparticles. Traditionally, DEP is performed employing microelectrodes, an approach with attractive characteristics but expensive due to microelectrode fabrication costs. An alternative is insulator‐based DEP, a method where non‐uniform electric fields are created with arrays of insulating structures. This study presents the concentration of linear DNA particles (pET28b) employing a microchannel, with an array of cylindrical insulating structures and direct current electric fields. Results showed manipulation of DNA particles with a combination of electroosmotic, electrophoretic, and dielectrophoretic forces. Employing suspending media with conductivity of 104 μS/cm and pH of 11.15, under applied fields between 500 and 1500 V/cm, DNA particles were observed to be immobilized due to negative dielectrophoretic trapping. The observation of DNA aggregates that occurred at higher applied fields, and dispersed once the field was removed is also included. Finally, concentration factors varying from 8 to 24 times the feed concentration were measured at 2000 V/cm after concentration time‐periods of 20–40 s. The results presented here demonstrate the potential of insulator‐based DEP for DNA concentration, and open the possibility for fast DNA manipulation for laboratory and large‐scale applications.
Development of a novel automated screening method for detection of FVIII Inhibitors

Factor VIII activity is routinely determined by measuring the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) of a patient plasma sample and determining percent activity from a standard curve. To maximize the detection of a clotting factor inhibitor, a subjective assessment of parallelism of a patient curve compared with a standard curve is performed. We developed and validated an automated objective method to assess parallelism as a rapid screening tool for detection of an inhibitor to factor VIII during routine FVIII assays.
Actin Gene-Targeted RT-PCR Could be a Useful Method for Evaluating In Vitro Fungicidal Activity against Dermatophytes

This study examined the effects of the antifungal agents amorolfine hydrochloride (AMF) and bifonazole (BFZ) on actin mRNA expression determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplification, and the morphology of Trichophyton mentagrophytes. In AMF-treated cultures, the hyphal cells of T. mentagrophytes exhibited concentration- and/or time-dependent progressively degenerative morphological damage. Those cultures exhibiting severe and necrotic morphological changes (such as crushed, bent and flattened hyphal cells) did not express actin mRNA. In BFZ-treated cultures, similar morphological changes were seen in the hyphae of T. mentagrophytes, but these changes were milder than observed in the AMF-treated samples, and actin gene fragments were amplified in all of these samples. These results indicate that actin gene-targeted RT-PCR could be a useful tool for testing the susceptibility of dermatophytes to antifungal agents in vitro.
Variation in Prolactin Is Related to Variation in Sexual Behavior and Contact Affiliation

Prolactin is associated with both maternal and paternal care and appears important in developing a bond between parent and infant. In contrast with oxytocin, another hormone important in infant care, there is scant information on the role of prolactin in maintaining adult heterosexual relationships. We present here the first results demonstrating a relationship between prolactin levels and sexual and contact affiliation behavior in a pair-bonded species. We studied cotton-top tamarins, a socially-monogamous, cooperatively-breeding primate. We measured chronic urinary prolactin levels over a four week period to include the entire female ovulatory cycle and correlated prolactin levels in males and females with simultaneous measures of contact affiliation and sexual behavior. Current mothers who were no longer nursing displayed lower amounts of sexual behavior and proximity than non-breeding females and also had marginally lower levels of prolactin. The prolactin levels of males and females were similar within pairs, and variation in prolactin levels for both sexes was explained both by the amount of sexual behavior and contact affiliation. The results parallel a previous study that compared oxytocin levels with sociosexual behavior in the same species, and supports the hypothesis that both prolactin and oxytocin are involved in pair-bonding as well as in infant care.
In vivo activity of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) mutants. Secretory but not membrane-bound TNF mediates the regression of retrovirally transduced murine tumor.

We have previously demonstrated that murine tumor cells transduced with a retrovirus containing the cDNA encoding wild-type human TNF regress in vivo when injected into immunocompetent mice; this regression is T cell mediated. To determine whether membrane-associated or secreted TNF was responsible for tumor regression, we transduced a cloned murine fibrosarcoma 205 F4 with retroviruses encoding modified human TNF genes. The cloned tumor lines of one retroviral transduction expressed only membrane bound 26-kDa TNF. This TNF could not be cleaved or secreted, but was present on the cell surface. A second retrovirus caused the expression of only secretory 17-kDa TNF, as the transmembrane domain of the cDNA was deleted. The TNF produced by tumor cells transduced with either retroviral vector was functional in vitro as direct lysis of the TNF-sensitive target L929 by transduced tumor cells was demonstrated. The TNF present on 26-kDa expressing tumors was membrane bound as supernatants from cultured 17-kDa TNF expressing tumor cells but not 26-kDa TNF expressing tumors mediated the lysis of L929 cells. Both tumors were injected s.c. into syngeneic mice and tumor growth was measured serially. In repeated experiments, 26-kDa TNF expressing tumors grew progressively in all mice. In contrast, 17-kDa TNF expressing tumors grew for 10 days and then regressed with all animals free of tumor at 28 days. Tumor regression was abrogated by in vivo injection of an anti-TNF antibody. Similar results were obtained in a second tumor model, 203 E4. Thus regression of TNF transduced tumors in vivo requires secretion of TNF, as membrane-bound TNF is insufficient to elicit the host response.
Are primary care services a substitute or complement for specialty and inpatient services?

OBJECTIVE To determine whether strategies designed to increase members' use of primary care services result in decreases (substitution) or increases (complementation) in the use and cost of other types of health services. STUDY SETTING Encounter and cost data were extracted from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administrative data sources for the period 1995-1999. This timeframe captures the VA's natural experiment of increasing geographic access to primary care by establishing new satellite primary care clinics, known as Community-Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs). STUDY DESIGN We exploited this natural experiment to estimate the substitutability of primary care for other health services and its impact on cost. Hypotheses were tested using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, which was potentially subject to endogeneity bias. Endogeneity bias was assessed using a Hausman test. Endogeneity bias was accounted for by using instrumental variables analysis, which capitalized on the establishment of CBOCs to provide an exogenous identifier (change in travel distance to primary care). DATA COLLECTION Demographic, encounter, and cost data were collected for all veterans using VA health services who resided in the catchment areas of new CBOCs and for a matched group of veterans residing outside CBOC catchment areas. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Change in distance to primary care was a significant and substantial predictor of change in primary care visits. OLS analyses indicated that an increase in primary care service use was associated with increases in the use of all specialty outpatient services and inpatient services, as well as increases in inpatient and outpatient costs. Hausman tests confirmed that OLS results for specialty mental health encounters and mental health admissions were unbiased, but that results for specialty medical encounters, physical health admissions, and outpatient costs were biased. Instrumental variables analyses indicated that an increase in primary care encounters was associated with a decrease in specialty medical encounters and was not associated with an increase in physical health admissions, or outpatient costs. CONCLUSIONS Results provide evidence that health systems can implement strategies to encourage their members to use more primary care services without driving up physical health costs.
Tactile Defensiveness and Impaired Adaptation of Neuronal Activity in the Fmr1 Knock-Out Mouse Model of Autism

Sensory hypersensitivity is a common symptom in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), including fragile X syndrome (FXS), and frequently leads to tactile defensiveness. In mouse models of ASDs, there is mounting evidence of neuronal and circuit hyperexcitability in several brain regions, which could contribute to sensory hypersensitivity. However, it is not yet known whether or how sensory stimulation might trigger abnormal sensory processing at the circuit level or abnormal behavioral responses in ASD mouse models, especially during an early developmental time when experience-dependent plasticity shapes such circuits. Using a novel assay, we discovered exaggerated motor responses to whisker stimulation in young Fmr1 knock-out (KO) mice (postnatal days 14–16), a model of FXS. Adult Fmr1 KO mice actively avoided a stimulus that was innocuous to wild-type controls, a sign of tactile defensiveness. Using in vivo two-photon calcium imaging of layer 2/3 barrel cortex neurons expressing GCaMP6s, we found no differences between wild-type and Fmr1 KO mice in overall whisker-evoked activity, though 45% fewer neurons in young Fmr1 KO mice responded in a time-locked manner. Notably, we identified a pronounced deficit in neuronal adaptation to repetitive whisker stimulation in both young and adult Fmr1 KO mice. Thus, impaired adaptation in cortical sensory circuits is a potential cause of tactile defensiveness in autism. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT We use a novel paradigm of repetitive whisker stimulation and in vivo calcium imaging to assess tactile defensiveness and barrel cortex activity in young and adult Fmr1 knock-out mice, the mouse model of fragile X syndrome (FXS). We describe evidence of tactile defensiveness, as well as a lack of L2/3 neuronal adaptation in barrel cortex, during whisker stimulation. We propose that a defect in sensory adaptation within local neuronal networks, beginning at a young age and continuing into adulthood, likely contributes to sensory overreactivity in FXS and perhaps other ASDs.
Enhanced Expression of Proinflammatory Cytokines in the Central Nervous System Is Associated with Neuroinvasion by Simian Immunodeficiency Virus and the Development of Encephalitis

ABSTRACT Inflammatory cytokines are believed to play an important role in the pathogenesis of human immunodeficiency virus type 1-associated encephalitis. To examine this in the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected macaque model of neuroAIDS, inflammatory cytokine gene expression was evaluated in the brains of macaques infected with pathogenic SIVmac251 by reverse transcriptase PCR. Interleukin-1 beta was readily detected in the brains of all animals evaluated, regardless of infection status or duration of infection. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and gamma interferon (IFN-γ) transcripts were undetectable in the brains of uninfected control animals but were upregulated at 7 and 14 days postinoculation. At the terminal stage of infection, TNF-α and IFN-γ transcripts were coexpressed in the brains of four of five animals with SIV encephalitis (SIVE). Within an encephalitic brain, TNF-α and IFN-γ transcripts were detected in six of seven regions with histologic evidence of SIVE, suggesting a direct relationship between neuropathology and altered cytokine gene expression. With combined fluorescent in situ hybridization and immunofluorescence, TNF-α-expressing cells were frequently identified as CD68-positive macrophages within perivascular lesions. These observations provide evidence that cytokines produced by activated inflammatory macrophages are an important element in the pathogenesis of SIVE.
The Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factor HEBAlt Is Expressed in Pro-T Cells and Enhances the Generation of T Cell Precursors1

The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors HEB and E2A are critical mediators of gene regulation during lymphocyte development. We have cloned a new transcription factor, called HEBAlt, from a pro-T cell cDNA library. HEBAlt is generated by alternative transcriptional initiation and splicing from the HEB gene locus, which also encodes the previously characterized E box protein HEBCan. HEBAlt contains a unique N-terminal coding exon (the Alt domain) that replaces the first transactivation domain of HEBCan. Downstream of the Alt domain, HEBAlt is identical to HEBCan, including the DNA binding domain. HEBAlt is induced in early thymocyte precursors and down-regulated permanently at the double negative to double positive (DP) transition, whereas HEBCan mRNA expression peaks at the DP stage of thymocyte development. HEBAlt mRNA is up-regulated synergistically by a combination of HEBCan activity and Delta-Notch signaling. Retroviral transduction of HEBAlt or HEBCan into hemopoietic stem cells followed by OP9-DL1 coculture revealed that HEBAlt-transduced precursors generated more early T lineage precursors and more DP pre-T cells than control transduced cells. By contrast, HEBCan-transduced cells that maintained high level expression of the HEBCan transgene were inhibited in expansion and progression through T cell development. HEB−/− fetal liver precursors transduced with HEBAlt were rescued from delayed T cell specification, but HEBCan-transduced HEB−/− precursors were not. Therefore, HEBAlt and HEBCan are functionally distinct transcription factors, and HEBAlt is specifically required for the efficient generation of early T cell precursors.
Incentive Mechanism for Truthful Occupant Comfort Feedback in Human-inthe-loop Building Thermal Management

Energy inefficiency and underlying occupant discomfort associated with building thermal management systems have led to development of human-in-the-loop control system. Minimizing total energy consumption and maximizing comfort of all the occupants present is the major objective of such system based on human comfort feedback. However, the approaches proposed so far lack a built-in mechanism to elicit truthful comfort feedback from the occupants. In this work, we utilize an incentive based mechanism design framework to elicit true thermal comfort feedback (function) from the occupants present. This requires the building occupants to “purchase” or spend credits to achieve their personalized comfort levels within their zone of occupancy. The comfort pricing policy has been derived as an extension of the Vickrey-Clarke-Groves (VCG) pricing. It ensures incentive-compatibility of the mechanism, which implies that an occupant acting in self-interest cannot stand to benefit by declaring their comfort function untruthfully. This would hold irrespective of the thermal comfort choices made by the other occupants present in the building. We further propose as to how this mechanism could be implemented in practice with limited comfort feedback complexity, where the building operator would iteratively learn and refine the occupants comfort function based on simple two-dimensional comfort feedback (preferred temperature setting, and willingness-to-pay value) by the occupant. Simulations using parameters based on our Watervliet experimental facility demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed mechanism.
Effect of telephone contact on further suicide attempts in patients discharged from an emergency department: randomised controlled study

Abstract Objective To determine the effects over one year of contacting patients by telephone one month or three months after being discharged from an emergency department for deliberate self poisoning compared with usual treatment. Design Multicentre, randomised controlled trial. Setting 13 emergency departments in the north of France. Participants 605 people discharged from an emergency department after attempted suicide by deliberate self poisoning. Intervention The intervention consisted of contacting patients by telephone at one month or three months after discharge from an emergency department for attempted suicide to evaluate the success of recommended treatment or to adjust treatment. Control patients received treatment as usual, in most cases referral back to their general practitioner. Main outcome measures The primary outcome measures were proportion of participants who reattempted suicide, number of deaths by suicide, and losses to follow-up at 13 months' follow-up. Secondary outcome measures were types and number of contacts with health care. Results On an intention to treat basis, the three groups did not differ significantly for further suicide attempts, deaths by suicide, or losses to follow-up: contact at one month (intervention 23% (34/147) v controls 30% (93/312), difference 7%, 95% confidence interval − 2% to 15%), three months (25% (36/146) v 30%, difference 5%, − 4% to 14%). Participants contacted at one month were less likely at follow-up to report having reattempted suicide (12% v 22% in control group, difference 10%, 2% to 18%). Conclusion Contacting people by telephone one month after being discharged from an emergency department for deliberate self poisoning may help reduce the number of reattempted suicides over one year.
Functional Analysis of Dynactin and Cytoplasmic Dynein in Slow Axonal Transport

The neuron moves protein and membrane from the cell body to the synapse and back via fast and slow axonal transport. Little is known about the mechanism of microtubule movement in slow axonal transport, although cytoplasmic dynein, the motor for retrograde fast axonal transport of membranous organelles, has been proposed to also slide microtubules down the axon. We previously showed that most of the cytoplasmic dynein moving in the anterograde direction in the axon is associated with the microfilaments and other proteins of the slow component b (SCb) transport complex. The dynactin complex binds dynein, and it has been suggested that dynactin also associates with microfilaments. We therefore examined the role of dynein and dynactin in slow axonal transport. We find that most of the dynactin is also transported in SCb, including dynactin, which contains the neuron-specific splice variant p135Glued, which binds dynein but not microtubules. Furthermore, SCb dynein binds dynactin in vitro. SCb dynein, like dynein from brain, binds microtubules in an ATP-sensitive manner, whereas brain dynactin binds microtubules in a salt-dependent manner. Dynactin from SCb does not bind microtubules, indicating that the binding of dynactin to microtubules is regulated and suggesting that the role of SCb dynactin is to bind dynein, not microtubules. These data support a model in which dynactin links the cytoplasmic dynein to the SCb transport complex. Dynein then may interact transiently with microtubules to slide them down the axon at the slower rate of SCa.
Studying Health Care “Quality” Qualitatively: The Dilemmas and Tensions between Different Forms of Evaluation Research within the U.K. National Health Service

The authors tell the story of an attempt to depart from a tradition of evaluation research (ER) and to address the research-practice interface in a different way through a more hands-on, action research (AR) approach, which combines qualitative and quantitative methods. In doing so, they raise issues about the role and nature of evaluation for development and, especially, about the place of qualitative research in such evaluations; the identity of future ER; “paradigm wars” between the positivists and the phenomenologists; and the politics of conducting policy-based evaluations in health care settings and of what happens when qualitative researchers try to help an improvement process.