Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nutritional profiles of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Neisseria meningitidis, and Neisseria lactamica in chemically defined media and the use of growth requirements for gonococcal typing.

the gonococci multiplied with generation times 60 min, yielding about 5 x 108 cfu/ml within 10 hr and more than 109 cfu/ml by 24 hr. Defined agar media were used for investigation of the growth requirements of 146 strains of N. gonorrhoeae, Neisseria meningitidis, and Neisseria lactamica. Each species has a distinctive nutritional profile that serves to differentiate and identify it. On a series of defined media lacking different groups of compounds, the meningococci were relatively homogeneous in their growth responses and were more competent biosynthetically than strains of the other species. Gonococci exhibited a diversity of nutritional requirements; 74 strains were subdivided into 13 distinct clusters (auxotypes) on the basis of their patterns of growth responses to thiamine pyrophosphate, thiamine, proline, arginine, methionine, isoleucine, and hypoxanthine. Such results demonstrate the feasibility of developing a system for auxotyping of clinical isolates of N. gonorrhoeae.
A Lithium Niobate High-Temperature Sensor for Energy System Applications

Temperature monitoring for energy generation systems plays an important role for the control of overall safety and efficiency. To run the energy system at optimum operating conditions, it is important to measure the real-time temperature. Furthermore, harsh environment temperature sensing is desired, since most sensors in energy systems are exposed to high temperature, high pressure, and corrosive environments. Lithium niobate (LiNbO3) has high Curie temperature (1210 °C), thus making it promising to be used as a sensor material for high-temperature applications. In this paper, a study has been conducted to actively measure the temperature up to 450 °C using a pyroelectric ceramic LiNbO3 as a sensor material. A 1 cm × 1 cm sample of LiNbO3 ceramic with 0.2 cm thickness was prepared as a sensor. The LiNbO3 sensor and a K-type thermocouple were placed inside a tube furnace to sense the temperature. Different temperature setting conditions were applied to the sensor, including slow heating rate, high heating rate, and steady-state conditions for prolonged time period to validate readability and repeatability of the sensor. Temperatures were calculated using current generated from the sensor upon heating or cooling. The calculated temperature from the sensor was compared with the temperature measured by the K-type thermocouple. A range of deviation from 2% to 11% was found between the temperature measured by LiNbO3 and thermocouple.
Spectrophotometric Determination of Rauwolfia Alkaloids: Estimation of Reserpine in Pharmaceuticals

A simple, sensitive and economically viable spectrophotometric method for the determination of some Rauwolfia alkaloids (ajmaline, ajmalicine, reserpine and yohimbine·HCl) has been developed. The method involves the oxidation of Rauwolfia alkaloids by iron(III) and subsequent complexation of iron(II) with 1,10-phenanthroline, forming a red-colored complex having the maximum absorbance at 510 nm. The method is applied to the determination of reserpine in tablets of pharmaceutical formulations. The common excipients do not interfere with the proposed method. A statistical comparison of these results with those of a reported method shows good agreement and indicates no significant difference in the precision.
Two Ways to Rule out Error: Severity and Security

I contrast two modes of error-elimination relevant to evaluating evidence in accounts that emphasize frequentist reliability. The contrast corresponds to that between the use of of a reliable inference procedure and the critical scrutiny of a procedure with regard to its reliability, in light of what is and is not known about the setting in which the procedure is used. I propose a notion of security as a category of evidential assessment for the latter. In statistical settings, robustness theory and misspecification testing exemplify two distinct strategies for securing statistical inferences.
Weighted Regularized Sparse Recovery Method for Optical Power Monitoring

Monitoring optical power from the broadened optical spectrum acquired by scanning a low-cost tunable optical filter (TOF) is a practical and challenging task for the management of wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) networks. Existing methods, such as least squares (LS) and regularized sparse recovery (RSR) methods, suffer from performance deterioration when the power discrepancies between adjacent channels are significant. In this letter, we formulate it as a maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation problem under Bayesian framework. A weighted-RSR algorithm is, therefore, proposed to estimate the optimal channel power. Experimental results demonstrate that, using commercial low-cost TOFs, the weighted-RSR can accurately monitor the power of mixed 10-G/40-G WDM channels with 50-GHz channel spacing and 10-dB power difference.
Contention processing schemes for WDM networks with control channels

The main objective of this paper is to investigate contention processing schemes that improve the performance of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) networks with control channels while avoiding electronic bottle-neck. For this purpose, we propose two novel contention processing schemes: local collision blocking (LCB) and local collision blocking-contention resolution (LCB-CR) schemes. We also consider two other schemes: pure contention and contention resolution unit-only (CRU-only) schemes as the lower and the upper performance bounds, respectively. Applying these four schemes to the delayed-ALOHA access protocol, we compare their throughputs and show that the proposed schemes are effective in achieving significant performance improvement with moderate system complexity.
Thermal performance and efficiency investigation of conventional boost, Z-source and Y-source converters

Boost converters are needed in many applications that require the output voltage to be higher than the input voltage. Recently, boost type converters have been attracted by the industrial applications, and hence it has become an extremely hot topic of research. Recently, many researchers proposed the impedance source converters with their unique advantages as having a high voltage gain in a small range of duty cycle ratio. However, the thermal behaviour of the semiconductor devices and passive elements in the impedance source converter is an important issue from a reliability point of view and has not been investigated yet. Therefore this paper presents a comparison between the conventional boost, the Z-source, and the Y-source converters based on the thermal evaluation of semiconductors. In addition, the three topologies are also compared with respect to their efficiency. The operational principle, mathematical derivations, simulation results and finally conclusion comparisons are presented in this paper.
TGF-β-induced EMT: mechanisms and implications for fibrotic lung disease

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process whereby fully differentiated epithelial cells undergo transition to a mesenchymal phenotype giving rise to fibroblasts and myofibroblasts, is increasingly recognized as playing an important role in repair and scar formation following epithelial injury. The extent to which this process contributes to fibrosis following injury in the lung is a subject of active investigation. Recently, it was demonstrated that transforming growth factor (TGF)-β induces EMT in alveolar epithelial cells (AEC) in vitro and in vivo, and epithelial and mesenchymal markers have been colocalized to hyperplastic type II (AT2) cells in lung tissue from patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), suggesting that AEC may exhibit extreme plasticity and serve as a source of fibroblasts and/or myofibroblasts in lung fibrosis. In this review, we describe the characteristic features of EMT and its mechanistic underpinnings. We further describe the contribution of EMT to fibrosis in adult tissues following injury, focusing especially on the critical role of TGF-β and its downstream mediators in this process. Finally, we highlight recent descriptions of EMT in the lung and the potential implications of this process for the treatment of fibrotic lung disease. Treatment for fibrosis of the lung in diseases such as IPF has heretofore focused largely on amelioration of potential inciting processes such as inflammation. It is hoped that this review will stimulate further consideration of the cellular mechanisms of fibrogenesis in the lung and especially the role of the epithelium in this process, potentially leading to innovative avenues of investigation and treatment.
The nonstructural NSm protein of tomato spotted wilt virus induces tubular structures in plant and insect cells.

The expression and subcellular location of the 33.6-kDa nonstructural protein NSm of tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) was analyzed in Nicotiana rustica plants and protoplasts as a function of time. Immunofluorescent studies in protoplasts isolated from TSWV-infected N. rustica leaves showed that this protein could first be detected close to the periphery of the cell, near the plasmamembrane, and later in tubular structures emerging from the cell surface. In situ, these tubules appeared specifically in the plasmodesmata, suggesting their involvement in cell-to-cell movement of the virus during systemic infection. In protoplasts transfected with an expression vector containing the NSm gene, similar tubules were formed, indicating that NSm has the ability to form these structures in the absence of other virus-specific components. To test whether plant-specific components were involved in tubule formation, the NSm gene was also expressed in a heterologous expression system, i.e., insect cells. Spodoptera frugiperda and Trichoplusia ni cells were infected with a recombinant baculovirus expressing the NSm-gene (AcNPV/NSm). The efficient formation of NSm-containing tubules emerging from the surface of both cell types indicate that no plant-specific cell structures or proteins are involved in their development.
DISPERSIVE AND DISTRIBUTIVE MIXING CHARACTERIZATION IN EXTRUSION EQUIPMENT

Mixing is a key step in almost every polymer processing operation. The traditional methodology for improving machinery performance has relied more on users' experience and trial and error experiments. Recently, the fast development of advanced computing resources has enabled the use of numerical modeling as an alternative and more efficient approach in studying the influence of design and processing conditions on equipment mixing performance. In this work using numerical simulations we record the flow history of a number of tracers in the equipment and use them in conjunction with dispersion kinetics models to evaluate minor component size and concentration distributions.
Roll Back Malaria: a failing global health campaign

Only increased donor support for malaria control can save it Roll Back Malaria was launched in 1998 bringing together multilateral, bilateral, nongovernmental, and private organisations. It made a clear pledge—to halve deaths from malaria by 2010. African heads of state endorsed the pledge at a summit in Abuja, Nigeria, in 2000.1 This endorsement was vital because 90% of the one million annual deaths from malaria are in Africa, mostly in young children and pregnant women.2 With just six years to go we have reached the halfway point since the pledge. How is Roll Back Malaria doing? A graph distributed at the most recent Roll Back Malaria board meeting in New York, based on data from the World Health Reports 1999-2003, shows that the annual number of deaths worldwide from malaria is higher now than in 1998 (see bmj.com). The Africa Malaria Report 2003, published by Unicef and the World Health Organization, two of the biggest players in Roll Back Malaria, admits that “Roll Back Malaria is acting against a background of increasing malaria burden. ”3 This statement is passive, and seems to absolve the campaign of responsibility. …
Residues and Mechanisms for Slow Activation and Ba2+Block of the Cardiac Muscarinic K+ Channel, Kir3.1/Kir3.4*

Mechanisms and residues responsible for slow activation and Ba2+ block of the cardiac muscarinic K+ channel, Kir3.1/Kir3.4, were investigated using site-directed mutagenesis. Mutagenesis of negatively charged residues located throughout the pore of the channel (in H5, M2, and proximal C terminus) reduced or abolished slow activation. The strongest effects resulted from mutagenesis of residues in H5 close to the selectivity filter; mutagenesis of residues in M2 and proximal C terminus equivalent to those identified as important determinants of the activation kinetics of Kir2.1 was less effective. In giant patches, slow activation was present in cell-attached patches, lost on excision of the patch, and restored on perfusion with polyamine. Mutagenesis of residues in H5 and M2 close to the selectivity filter also decreased Ba2+ block of the channel. A critical residue for Ba2+ block was identified in Kir3.4. Mutagenesis of the equivalent residue in Kir3.1 failed to have as pronounced an effect on Ba2+ block, suggesting an asymmetry of the channel pore. It is concluded that slow activation is principally the result of unbinding of polyamines from negatively charged residues close to the selectivity filter of the channel and not an intrinsic gating mechanism. Ba2+ block involves an interaction with the same residues.
Effects of Environmental Factors on Natural Reproduction of the Four Major Chinese Carps in the Yangtze River, China

The four major Chinese carps are commercially important fish species with high production in China. However, their recruitment decreased sharply in the Yangtze River since the late 20th century. In the present study, to reveal the relationships between spawning activities of the four species and environmental factors, drifting eggs were collected at Yidu City, in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, from May to July each year between 2005 and 2010. Classification and regression trees (CART) analysis was applied to identify the key factors associated with spawning activities of the four carp species. Twelve predictor variables (hydrological and meteorological variables) and one response variable (egg presence or number of egg) were included in the CART. Our CART analysis showed that water temperature and the diurnal increase of water level were the two most significant factors for the spawning activities. When water temperature was between 18°C and 24°C, especially in association with the diurnal increase of water level greater than 0.55 m·d-1, spawning activities was always favored. Unlike the hydrological factors, meteorological factors seemed to have no influence on initiating the spawning activities. The density of drifting eggs of the four species was mainly influenced by the diurnal variation of water level, the diurnal variation of water discharge, water temperature, humidity, and air pressure. We then related our results to the ecological regulation of the Three Gorge Reservoir in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. We suggested that, when water temperature was between 18–24°C from May to July, to ensure the successful spawning of the four carp species, the ecological regulation should be managed to create flood peaks and make the diurnal increase of water level greater than 0.55 m·d-1.
Similarities and differences of human and experimental mouse lymphangiomas

Lymphangioma is a disfiguring malformation of early childhood. A mouse lymphangioma model has been established by injecting Freund's incomplete adjuvant (FIA) intraperitoneally, but has not been compared with the human disease. We show that, in accordance with studies from the 1960s, the mouse model represents an oil‐granuloma, made up of CD45‐positive leukocytes and invaded by blood and lymph vessels. Several markers of lymphatic endothelial cells are expressed in both mouse and human, like CD31, Prox1, podoplanin, and Lyve‐1. However, the human disease affects all parts of the lymphovascular tree. We observed convolutes of lymphatic capillaries, irregularly formed collectors with signs of disintegration, and large lymph cysts. We observed VEGFR‐2 and ‐3 expression in both blood vessels and lymphatics of the patients, whereas in mouse VEGFR‐2 was confined to activated blood vessels. The experimental mouse FIA model represents a vascularized oil‐granuloma rather than a lymphangioma and reflects the complexity of human lymphangioma only partially. Developmental Dynamics 236:2952–2961, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Contribution of Cochlear Region and Stimulation Rate to Speech Perception in Cochlear Implant Users

ii Acknowledgments . iii Vita . iv List of Tables . vii List of Figures . viii Chapter 1: Introduction and Literature Review . 1 Stochastic Rate . 2 Stimulation Rate and Speech Perception . 5 Modulation Detection Thresholds . 9 Determining Stimulation Rate . 11 Cochlear Region . 13 The Present Study . 16 Chapter 2: Methods . 17 Subjects . 17 Stochastic Rates . 18
Use of Deoxyribose by Intestinal and Extraintestinal Pathogenic Escherichia coli Strains: a Metabolic Adaptation Involved in Competitiveness

ABSTRACT We showed that the deoK operon, which confers the ability to use deoxyribose as a carbon source, is more common among pathogenic than commensal Escherichia coli strains. The expression of the deoK operon increases the competitiveness of clinical isolates, suggesting that this biochemical characteristic plays a role in host infectivity.
Factor structure of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales in individuals with traumatic brain injury

Abstract Primary objective: The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) and its shorter version, the DASS21, demonstrate a consistent factor structure. However, when these scales are used with people with traumatic brain injury (TBI), it is possible that TBI symptoms that overlap with anxiety and depression (e.g. irritability, inertia, emotional lability) result in changes to the underlying structure. This study aimed to establish whether the factor structure of the DASS and DASS21 when used with individuals with TBI is consistent with the three scales designated in the manual. Methods and procedures: One hundred and twenty-three participants with mild-to-severe TBI completed the DASS. Main outcomes and results: The factor structure of the DASS was found to be consistent with the designated scales, with the exception of four items that cross-loaded weakly on multiple factors. However, the factor structure of the DASS21 did not correspond as closely to the designated depression, anxiety and stress scales, which appeared to be due to the fact that many of the highest loading items on the DASS were not included items in the DASS21. Conclusions: These results indicate that it may be preferable to use the full DASS, rather than the DASS21, with individuals with TBI.
The effect of air, SF6 and C3F8 on immortalized human corneal endothelial cells

While anterior chamber air bubbles aid attachment during posterior lamellar surgery only for few days, these periods can be prolonged with gases in non‐expanding concentrations. To test the effects of different gas compositions on immortalized human corneal endothelial cells (HCEC‐12), we utilized Transwell inserts with semipermeable membranes as an artificial anterior chamber model.
Yersinia pestis (plague) vaccines

Live attenuated and killed whole cell vaccines against disease caused by Yersinia pestis have been available since the early part of the last century. Although these vaccines indicate the feasibility of protecting against disease, they have a number of shortcomings. The live attenuated vaccine is highly reactogenic and is not licensed for use in humans. The killed whole cell vaccine, also reactogenic, provides poor protection against pneumonic plague and immunisation requires mutiple doses of the vaccine. Against this background, a range of candidate vaccines, including rationally attenuated mutants, subunit vaccines and naked DNA vaccines have been described. Of these, an injected subunit vaccine is likely to offer the best near-term solution to the provision of a vaccine that protects against both bubonic and pneumonic plague.
Extracting semantic relatedness for Bangla words

A framework for extracting semantic relational words in Bangla is presented in this paper. Here extraction of Synonyms, Antonyms, Hyponym, Hypernym, Meronym, Holonym and Polysemy are primarily investigated as a rule based model. For every word two other things: concept and parts of speech category are also presented for clarification. A semantic analyzer is used to extract these relations from nouns, adjectives and verbs.
A Concise Overview of Fibromyalgia for Physicians

To quote the University of California San Diego psychiatrist Stephen Stahl, “fibromyalgia is emerging as a diagnosable and potentially treatable syndrome” (Stahl 2001). While acknowledging that psychological influences are powerful modulators of pain related suffering and dysfunction, there is now a growing understanding that fibromyalgia cannot be “written off” as a somatoform pain disorder. Fibromyalgia is a multi-symptomatic syndrome defined by the core feature of chronic widespread pain (Smythe et al. 1977;Bennett 1981;Yunus et al. 1981;Goldenberg 1987;Wolfe et al. 1990). Many of these patients also have severe fatigue and associated symptoms related to visceral hyperalgesia, such as irritable bowel and bladder. This population accounts for about 20% of patients consulting rheumatologists in North America (Marder et al. 1991;White et al. 1995). Contemporary research implicates abnormalities of sensory processing and neuroendocrine dysfunction as being related to the symptomatology of these patients. This refresher course will: 1) trace the historical evolution of the fibromyalgia concept, 2) present the evidence for fibromyalgia being, in part, a manifestation of central sensitization, 3) provide an overview of the clinical features of fibromyalgia, 4) discuss the rational management of fibromyalgia patients.
The relationship between current and former shift work and the metabolic syndrome.

OBJECTIVE The occurrence of possible health hazards among former shift workers is not well-known. We studied associations of former and current shift work with the metabolic syndrome (MetS). METHODS Participants were 1811 full-time employees of a large airline company (1009 men). Working times were categorized into five groups: day worker [N=297 (the reference group)], former shift worker (N=341), 2-shift worker (N=418), night-shift worker (N=283), and in-flight worker (N=472). MetS was measured by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria and the National Institute of Health Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP) guideline. The prevalence of the syndrome in the study population was 28.5% and 20.8%, respectively. RESULTS Among male former shift workers, MetS was more prevalent compared to male day workers [IDF: age-adjusted odds ratio (OR) 2.13, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.35-3.37; NCEP: OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.13-2.96]. Associations did not change after additional adjustments for education, smoking, physical activity, alcohol consumption, and insomnia symptoms (IDF: OR 2.00, 95% CI 1.26-3.19; NCEP: 1.67, 95% CI 1.02-2.72). Male 2-shift workers also had an elevated risk of IDF-defined MetS (OR 1.64, 95% CI 1.06-2.55) but the association weakened in the fully adjusted analyses (OR 1.48, 95% CI 0.93-2.24). Prevalence of the MetS was marginally significantly higher among night-shift work (IDF: OR 1.51, 95% CI 0.95-2.34) and was attenuated further with additional adjustments (OR 1.37, 95% CI 0.84-2.22). Among women, no significant differences in prevalence of the MetS between day work and shift work were observed. CONCLUSION Findings of the cross-sectional study suggest that MetS diagnosed by standardized criteria is more prevalent among former male shift workers than current day workers who have never worked in shifts.