Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of colonization of the rabbit gastrointestinal tract by Escherichia coli RDEC-1

We have reported previously the isolation of an Escherichia coli strain (RDEC-1) that in rabbits is able to colonize the gut, adhere to mucosal epithelial cells of the ileum, cecum, and colon, and cause diarrhea by a novel mechanism. The purpose of the present study was to characterize more fully the colonization of the rabbit gut by strain RDEC-1. Colonization reached a maximum 3 to 4 days post-inoculation with strain RDEC-1 and did not decrease until 15 days post-inoculation. Diarrhea occurred 3 to 4 days after colonization reached its maximum intensity. Semiquantitative rectal swab cultures were found to be correlated with counts of colony-forming units of strain RDEC-1 per gram of ileum, cecum, and colon and their contents and were used to chart the course of colonization of the rabbit gut. The actual number of colony-forming units per gram was dependent on the stage of colonization and ranged from 4.0 X 10(3) to 2.4 X 20(6) in the ileum to 3.1 X 10(5) to 3.6 X 10(7) in the cecum. The number of colony-forming units per gram was not affected by the presence of diarrhea. E. coli RDEC-1 colonizes the ileum, cecum, and colon of rabbits heavily for a relatively long period of time.
SAR ADC using single-capacitor pulse width to analog converter based DAC

This work presents a SAR ADC using single-capacitor pulse width to analog converter based DAC. In the proposed scheme, the single-capacitor DAC is realized by partially charging or discharging the sampling capacitor with a DC reference current. The charge and discharge time is determined by the pulse width of the control signal. As a result, a SAR ADC can be realized by using a single-capacitor, current source, current mirror, comparator, and control logic, which can significantly reduce the circuit area and simplifies the switch control scheme compared to conventional SAR ADCs using capacitor DACs. A 6-bit SAR ADC is designed using CMOS 0. 35μm technology where the operation is verified through circuit level simulations.
Infectivity of cultured Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes to mosquitoes

SUMMARY Various factors that may influence routine and high levels of mosquito infection with cultured Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes are considered in this paper. One of the most important is the choice of an appropriate isolate, with facilities for cryopreservation and a good technique for initiation of cultures. The use of automated culture systems with strict adherence to detail and routine has eliminated much of the variability. The quality of the serum used for the culture of gametocytes and inclusion in the feed material for mosquitoes is of the highest importance. Blood collection for culture purposes must preferably involve alcohol as an antiseptic for cleaning donor skin or suitable receptacles. Mosquito blood meals should not include plasma with citrate phosphate dextrose or sera collected in microtainer tubes or from volunteers on proguanil-chloroquine prophylaxis. Sera of individuals on chloroquine alone do not influence transmission. Haemato-crits of from 5 to 10% permit the culture of equally infective gametocytes. It was impossible to predict the outcome of an infection in mosquitoes based on the number of female gametocytes or gametes. Within any experiment, the oocyst load initially increased, followed by a decline with progressively lower numbers of gametocytes accompanied by a progressive increase in the efficiency of transmission. Some of the variability of mosquito infection within an experiment was due to individual differences in the speed of blood digestion of the mosquitoes. A new membrane feeder is described with three different sizes to accommodate a variety of goals. The new design permitted more mosquitoes to feed within a limited period compared to the older more widely used feeder of equivalent capacity, and mosquitoes feeding on the new-type feeder were frequently better infected than those fed on the older type.
Exact computation of traces and H/sup 2/ norms for a class of infinite dimensional problems

We derive a formula for the trace of a class of differential operators defined by forced two point boundary value problems. The formula involves finite dimensional computations with matrices whose dimension is no larger than the order of the differential operator. We thus achieve an exact reduction of an infinite dimensional problem to a finite dimensional one. We relate this trace calculation to computation of the H/sup 2/ norm for certain infinite dimensional systems. An example from hydrodynamic stability is included to illustrate the method.
Understanding How Feature Structure Transfers in Transfer Learning

Transfer learning transfers knowledge across domains to improve the learning performance. Since feature structures generally represent the common knowledge across different domains, they can be transferred successfully even though the labeling functions across domains differ arbitrarily. However, theoretical justification for this success has remained elusive. In this paper, motivated by selftaught learning, we regard a set of bases as a feature structure of a domain if the bases can (approximately) reconstruct any observation in this domain. We propose a general analysis scheme to theoretically justify that if the source and target domains share similar feature structures, the source domain feature structure is transferable to the target domain, regardless of the change of the labeling functions across domains. The transferred structure is interpreted to function as a regularization matrix which benefits the learning process of the target domain task. We prove that such transfer enables the corresponding learning algorithms to be uniformly stable. Specifically, we illustrate the existence of feature structure transfer in two well-known transfer learning settings: domain adaptation and learning to learn.
Pasireotide ( SOM 230 ) shows efficacy and tolerability in the treatment of patients with advanced neuroendocrine tumors refractory or resistant to octreotide LAR : results from a phase II study

Pasireotide (SOM230) is a novel multireceptor-targeted somatostatin (sst) analog with high binding affinity for sst receptor subtype 1, 2, 3 (sst1,2,3) and sst5. Because of this binding profile, pasireotide may offer symptom control in patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) and carcinoid syndrome no longer responsive to octreotide LAR. This was a phase II, open-label, multicenter study of pasireotide in patients with advanced NET whose symptoms of carcinoid syndrome (diarrhea/flushing) were inadequately controlled by octreotide LAR. Patients received s.c. pasireotide 150 mg twice daily (bid), escalated to a maximum dose of 1200 mg bid until a clinical response was achieved. Forty-four patients were evaluated for efficacy and 45 for tolerability. Pasireotide 600–900 mg s.c. bid effectively controlled the symptoms of diarrhea and flushing in 27% of patients. Evaluation of tumor response in 23 patients showed 13 with stable disease and ten with progressive disease at study end. The most common drug-related adverse events were nausea (27%), abdominal pain (20%), weight loss (20%), and hyperglycemia (16%) and most were of mild or moderate severity. Pasireotide 600–900 mg s.c. bid was effective and generally well tolerated in controlling the symptoms of carcinoid syndrome in 27% of patients with advanced NET refractory or resistant to octreotide LAR therapy. Endocrine-Related Cancer (2012) 19 657–666
The control of trehalose biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Evidence for a catabolite inactivation and repression of trehalose‐6‐phosphate synthase and trehalose‐6‐phosphate phosphatase

During diauxic growth of yeast in glucose‐rich medium, the accumulation of trehalose started well after complete exhaustion of glucose from the medium. The accumulation of the disaccharide was concomitant with a resumption of cell growth on the ethanol accumulated in the medium, but not with a degrdation of glycogen which occurred as soon as glucose had been consumed. In contrast, in a mutant deficient in phosphoenlpyruvate carboxykinase, the synthesis of trehalose coincided exactly with the degradation of glycogen. Upon inoculation of stationary phase wild‐type cells into a glucose medium, the activites of trehalose‐6‐phosphate (Tre6P) synthase and Tre6P phosphatase dropped in parallel to reach only 15% of their initial values after 3 h, and only recovered their original values as cell re‐entered staionary phase. In the presence of cycloheximide, the decrease in Tre6P synthase and Tre6P phosphatase activities was restricted to 50–60%, the remaining decrease being inhibited by the drug. Furthermore, the reappearance of the enzyme activities following transfer of cells to an acetate medium was blocked by cycloheximide. It was also shown that loss of activity of these two enzymes required a combination of metabolizable sugars together with a nitrogen source. Low activities of Tre6P synthase and Tre6P phosphatase were measured in mutants with increased adenylate cyclase activity (RAS2ala18val19 mutants). Moreover, derepression of these enzymes at the approach of stationary phase was prevented in a pde2 mutant when it was cultivated in the presence of exogenous cyclic nucleotide. The mechanism of this effect is not clear, but may involve a transcriptional regulation by cAMP of the genes encoding these proteins.
The intake of grain fibers modulates cytokine levels in blood

Dietary fiber may modulate the environment of the intestinal lumen, alter the intestinal microflora populations, and influence the immune response and disease risk. Epidemiological investigations have suggested that higher fiber intake is associated with lower overall mortality, in particular from cardiovascular and digestive tract diseases. Here a panel of 17 cytokines and chemokines were measured in plasma of 88 cancer-free subjects sampled within the Italian EPIC-Italy cohort. A statistically significant inverse association (p-trend = 0.01) was observed for cereal fiber and cytokines included in the main factor in factor analysis (IL-1β, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-13, and TNF-α), which alone explained 35.5% of variance. Our study suggests that fiber intake, especially cereal fiber, may be associated with a decreased level of pro-inflammatory cytokines.
Testing the Role of Radiation in Determining Tropical Cloud-Top Temperature

AbstractA cloud-resolving model is used to test the hypothesis that radiative cooling by water vapor emission is the primary control on the temperature of tropical anvil clouds. The temperature of ice clouds in the simulation can be increased or decreased by changing only the emissivity of water vapor in the upper troposphere. The effect of the model’s fixed ozone profile on stability creates a pressure-dependent inhibition of convection, leading to a small warming in cloud-top temperature as SST is increased. Increasing stratospheric water vapor also warms the cloud-top temperature slightly. Changing the latent heat of fusion reduces the cloud fraction at high altitudes, but does not significantly change temperature at which cloud fraction peaks in the upper troposphere. The relationship between radiatively driven horizontal mass convergence and cloud fraction that causes cloud temperature to be insensitive to surface temperature is preserved when a large model domain is used so that convection aggregate.
Zein: a history of processing and use

ABSTRACT Corn is the largest and most important agricultural commodity in America. Zein, one of the components in corn, has long been investigated for uses other than food and feed. Zein is a unique and complex material, and it is one of the few cereal proteins extracted in a relatively pure form. Today, because of environmental concerns, interest in zein utilization is again growing. Some of the more important research on zein is more than 50 years old. Most of this work has been either forgotten, lost, or difficult to locate. Much of this work was done at the USDA laboratory in Peoria, IL. Since most early zein literature is still easily accessible at that laboratory, this review on zein has been prepared making use of this old literature. This review reexamines the old literature and reconciles it with new zein research to illustrate some of the unique properties of and opportunities for zein.
The Sulfolobus solfataricus GINS Complex Stimulates DNA Binding and Processive DNA Unwinding by Minichromosome Maintenance Helicase

ABSTRACT GINS is a key component of the eukaryotic Cdc45-minichromosome maintenance (MCM)-GINS (CMG) complex, which unwinds duplex DNA at the moving replication fork. Archaeal GINS complexes have been shown to stimulate the helicase activity of their cognate MCM mainly by elevating its ATPase activity. Here, we report that GINS from the thermoacidophilic crenarchaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus (SsoGINS) is capable of DNA binding and binds preferentially to single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) over double-stranded DNA (dsDNA). Notably, SsoGINS binds more strongly to dsDNA with a 5′ ssDNA tail than to dsDNA with a 3′ tail and more strongly to an ssDNA fragment blocked at the 3′ end than to one at the 5′ end with a biotin-streptavidin (SA) complex, suggesting the ability of the protein complex to slide in a 5′-to-3′ direction along ssDNA. DNA-bound SsoGINS enhances DNA binding by SsoMCM. Furthermore, SsoGINS increases the helicase activity of SsoMCM. However, the ATPase activity of SsoMCM is not affected by SsoGINS. Our results suggest that SsoGINS facilitates processive DNA unwinding by SsoMCM by enhancing the binding of the helicase to DNA. We propose that SsoGINS stabilizes the interaction of SsoMCM with the replication fork and moves along with the helicase as the fork progresses. IMPORTANCE GINS is a key component of the eukaryotic Cdc45-MCM-GINS complex, a molecular motor that drives the unwinding of DNA in front of the replication fork. Archaea also encode GINS, which interacts with MCM, the helicase. But how archaeal GINS serves its role remains to be understood. In this study, we show that GINS from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus is able to bind to DNA and slide along ssDNA in a 5′-to-3′ direction. Furthermore, Sulfolobus GINS enhances DNA binding by MCM, which slides along ssDNA in a 3′-to-5′ direction. Taken together, these results suggest that Sulfolobus GINS may stabilize the interaction of MCM with the moving replication fork, facilitating processive DNA unwinding.
Pyrolysis Kinetics of Physical Components of Wood and Wood-Polymers Using Isoconversion Method

Two hardwood species, namely red oak and yellow-poplar, were separated into their bark, sapwood and heartwood components. The samples were tested for calorific value, specific gravity, proximate analysis, mineral composition, chemical composition, ultimate analysis, and thermo-chemical decomposition behavior. In addition, the thermo-chemical decomposition behaviors of cellulose, xylan, and lignin polymers were also tested. Thermo-chemical decomposition behavior was assessed using a thermo-gravimetric (TGA) system by heating the sample from 50 °C to 700 °C at the heating rates of 10, 30 and 50 °C/min under nitrogen. The activation energy was calculated for various fractional conversion values using the isoconversion method. The results showed that char yields of lignin, cellulose and xylan were 41.43%, 4.45% and 1.89%, respectively, at the end of pyrolysis. Furthermore, cellulose, xylan and lignin decomposed dramatically in the temperature range of 320 °C to 360 °C, 150 °C to 230 °C and 100 °C to 410 °C, respectively, with decomposition peaks occurring at 340 °C, 200 °C and 340 °C, respectively. In addition, the maximum activation energy for cellulose was 381 kJ/mol at 360 °C and for xylan it was 348 kJ/mol at 210 °C.
Optimized Modulation for AC–DC Harmonic Immunity in VSC HVDC Transmission

Control methods based on selective harmonic elimination pulse-width modulation (SHE-PWM) techniques offer the lowest possible number of switching transitions. This feature also results in the lowest possible level of converter switching losses. For this reason, they are very attractive techniques for the voltage-source-converter-(VSC) based high-voltage dc (HVDC) power transmission systems. The paper discusses optimized modulation patterns which offer controlled harmonic immunity between the ac and dc side. The application focuses on the conventional two-level converter when its dc-link voltage contains a mix of low-frequency harmonic components. Simulation and experimental results are presented to confirm the validity of the proposed switching patterns.
A Novel Feature Extraction Algorithm for Haar Local Binary Pattern Texture Based on Human Vision System

The locality and edges of texture image may be ignored by the Haar local binary pattern texture features owing to strong subjectivity and poor ability to self-adaptive to the artificial setting judgment threshold. Therefore, from the perspective of Human Vision System (HVS), the new Haar local binary pattern texture feature extraction algorithm (HLBP_HVS) is proposed. The local and global structure information of images are obtained and the self-adaptive and local optimal judgment threshold are calculated by the analysis of HVS influence factors, which include: texture detail and distribution of spatial position. The new Haar local binary pattern texture feature HLBP_HVS, which is objective and conforms to the image texture details and distribution of spatial position, could be extracted. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can effectively avoid the influence of the artificial judgment threshold on the texture detail and reflects the structure information of the image. Through comparison and analysis of the test results, we suggest that the accuracy of classification for Brodatz texture library also can be further improved.
Sexual activity as risk factor for hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission among the female sex workers in Nagaland

Background & objectives: Female sex workers (FSWs) of north-east India form a unique group as they are exposed to an enormous injecting drug user (IDU) clientele. This association makes them more vulnerable to blood borne viral infections. Over and above some of them also indulge in drug injecting practices along with their partners. The present study was carried out on FSWs to assess the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and possibility of sexual transmission of HCV and associated risk factors among them. Methods: A sample of 426 FSWs was recruited cross-sectionally using respondent driven sampling methods. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was carried out to determine the factors associated with HCV infection. Results: The seroprevalence of HCV among 426 FSWs was 9.6 per cent, antibody to HIV was present in 13.4 per cent, 4.9 per cent were co-infected with HIV and HCV. Seroprevalence of HCV among participants without history of injecting drugs use, tattooing or blood transfusion was 7.5 per cent. An increased risk of HCV seropositivity was associated with history of injecting drug use (OR 10.41, CI 4.30-25.22), use of oral drugs (OR 4.7, CI 2.4-9.08), having sexual partners who were injecting drug users (OR 2.9, CI 1.5-5.6), having live-in relationship (OR 7.1, CI 1.59-31.52), HIV seropositivity (OR 10.18, CI 5.05-20.54) and HSV-2 seropositivity (OR 2.86, CI 1.45-5.43) in univariate analysis. In the multivariate analysis, history of injecting drug use, HIV and HSV-2 seropositivity were found to be significantly associated with HCV seropositivity. Interpretation & conclusion: Although acquisition of HCV by sexual route may not be as efficient as parenteral route, yet sexual transmissibility of HCV among FSWs poses high risk to the community.
Progressive Accumulation of Mitochondrial DNA Mutations and Decline in Mitochondrial Function Lead to β-Cell Failure*

A key adaptation enabling the fetus to survive in a limited energy environment may be the reprogramming of mitochondrial function, which can have deleterious effects. Critical questions are whether mitochondrial dysfunction progressively declines after birth, and if so, what mechanism might underlie this process. To address this, we developed a model of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) in the rat that leads to diabetes in adulthood. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and oxidative stress gradually increased in IUGR islets. ATP production was impaired and continued to deteriorate with age. The activities of complex I and III of the electron transport chain progressively declined in IUGR islets. Mitochondrial DNA point mutations accumulated with age and were associated with decreased mitochondrial DNA content and reduced expression of mitochondria-encoded genes in IUGR islets. Mitochondrial dysfunction resulted in impaired insulin secretion. These results demonstrate that IUGR induces mitochondrial dysfunction in the fetal β-cell, leading to increased production of ROS, which in turn damage mitochondrial DNA. A self-reinforcing cycle of progressive deterioration in mitochondrial function leads to a corresponding decline in β-cell function. Finally, a threshold in mitochondrial dysfunction and ROS production is reached, and diabetes ensues.
A Recombination Event, Induced In Ovo, Between a Low Passage Infectious Bronchitis Virus Field Isolate and a Highly Embryo Adapted Vaccine Strain

Abstract SUMMARY. The possibility of genomic recombination among different strains of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) was examined in ovo by coinfecting specific pathogen free embryonating chicken eggs with commonly used, embryo-adapted vaccine strains of IBV (Arkansas, Massachusetts, and Connecticut), and a Delaware-072-like field virus isolated from a layer farm in Minnesota. Recombination was observed between the Massachusetts and the Delaware-072-like strains of the virus. The recombination event was assessed by reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using a combination of specific primers designed to flank a known recombination hot spot of the viral genomic sequence that codes for the S1 subunit of the spike envelope protein. The use of these primers allowed the detection of viruses that have undergone recombination around this hot spot. Cloning and sequencing of the RT-PCR product obtained was performed to confirm these results.
A reference data set of hillslope rainfall‐runoff response, Panola Mountain Research Watershed, United States

Although many hillslope hydrologic investigations have been conducted in different climate, topographic, and geologic settings, subsurface stormflow remains a poorly characterized runoff process. Few, if any, of the existing data sets from these hillslope investigations are available for use by the scientific community for model development and validation or conceptualization of subsurface stormflow. We present a high‐resolution spatial and temporal rainfall‐runoff data set generated from the Panola Mountain Research Watershed trenched experimental hillslope. The data set includes surface and subsurface (bedrock surface) topographic information and time series of lateral subsurface flow at the trench, rainfall, and subsurface moisture content (distributed soil moisture content and groundwater levels) from January to June 2002.