Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Salmonella typhi 205aTy, a strain with two attenuating auxotrophic characters, for use in laboratory teaching

The need for p-aminobenzoic acid of a previously reported pab mutant in a Salmonella typhi strain causes loss of virulence (mouse median lethal dose by the intraperitoneal route with mucin, ca. 10(7) CFU, versus less than 200 CFU for related pab+ strains). This strain, however, gave p-aminobenzoic acid-independent revertants at a low frequency (ca. 4 X 10(-10) per bacterium per generation). It was therefore given, by transduction and mutation, a transposon-generated, nonreverting (rate, less than 3 X 10(-11) per bacterium per generation) mutation at purA, causing a requirement for adenine; such a mutation in a wild-type strain caused about the same loss of virulence as the pab mutation. The pab purA strain, 205aTy, has mouse median lethal dose of ca. 5 X 10(7) and is expected to be unable to cause typhoid fever. Since strain 205aTy behaves like a typical Vi-positive S. typhi strain in nearly all common tests, we propose that it is a safe strain for use in laboratory teaching, proficiency testing, and the like.
Acute amiodarone liver toxicity likely due to ischemic hepatitis.

BACKGROUND Hepatotoxicity due to intravenous amiodarone (HIVAD) is a rare side effect with a distinct pattern of enzyme disturbances compared to liver damage from oral amiodarone. Intravenous amiodarone is administered for acute arrhythmias often causing heart failure. The enzyme abnormalities and clinical setting are very similar to that of ischemic hepatitis, a far more common condition. OBJECTIVES To ascertain if acute HIVAD exists as a separate entity or whether reported cases may be explained by ischemic hepatitis METHODS In this case-control retrospective study the files of hospitalized patients with markedly elevated aminotransferases were reviewed for the diagnoses of HIVAD or ischemic hepatitis. Medline was searched for published cases of HIVAD. Pooled data of all patients with HIVAD were compared to a control group with ischemic hepatitis. RESULTS There were no significant differences in the clinical characteristics, laboratory results or histological findings between HIVAD and ischemic hepatitis patients. CONCLUSIONS In our opinion, there is currently insufficient data to support the existence of distinct HIVAD, and ischemic hepatitis is a more probable diagnosis in most reported cases. Withdrawing amiodarone because of assumed hepatic damage could deprive patients of a life-saving therapy.
Glutathione‐S‐Transferase Activity in the Brain: Species, Sex, Regional, and Age Differences

Abstract: Glutathione‐S‐transferase activity in the brain of male mammals (rat and mouse) was found to be relatively lower than in that of females. In contrast, the male aves (pigeon, kite, vulture, and crow) exhibited comparatively higher activity of brain glutathione‐S‐transferase than the corresponding females. Postnatal development of cytosolic glutathione‐S‐transferase activity in the rat brain was also investigated. The day‐7 rats showed a low activity of 48 nmol/min/mg protein that gradually increased 3.2‐fold over the age of 28 days. No striking differences in brain enzyme activities were observed between the 35‐ and 90‐day‐old rats. Discrete brain regions of immature rats were found to possess considerable but lower quantities of glutathione‐S‐transferase activity than those of the adults. The activity increased with the onset of development and attained a steady state after 21 days of age.
Inactivation of Bacillus atrophaeus spores in healthcare waste by uv light coupled with H2O2

Healthcare waste inoculated with B. atropheaus spores was used to evaluate a treatment process using UV light in combination with H2O2. First, the influence of the waste mass on the spore inactivation fraction was investigated for a constant radiation exposure time of 10 min and power per unit mass of waste (44-237 W/kg). The degree of inactivation of the spores was then determined as a function of exposure time (5-30 min) and power per mass unit (67-178 W/kg) for a constant waste mass. The experimental results were adjusted according to four kinetic models. The Hom and power law models were the most appropriate for the description of the disinfection process. The maximum experimental inactivation fraction (95%) achieved was obtained with 178 W/kg irradiation for 30 min.
Emotional Qualities of Marital Interaction Predicting Husbands ' and Wives ' Retirement Satisfaction from the

Retirement satisfaction was predicted from the emotional qualities of pre-retirement marital interaction in 49 male (Mage = 63) and 31 female (Mage = 61) retirees. In 1989, we measured physiological, behavioral, and subjective aspects of emotion while spouses discussed a conflict in their marriage. Five years later, we assessed retirement satisfaction for spouses who had retired in the intervening period. Husbands who were physiologically relaxed and affectively positive during marital interaction were happier in their subsequent retirements. Wives’ retirement satisfaction was not predicted by the emotional qualities of marital interaction.
Travelling-wave photodetectors

Attention to the microwave design of waveguide photodetectors leads to travelling-wave photodetectors. These devices show bandwidths as high as 172 GHz, the highest reported for a p-i-n photodetector, and bandwidth efficiency products as large as 76 GHz, the largest reported for any photodetector without gain. Direct comparisons with vertically illuminated and waveguide photodetectors confirm the advantages of travelling-wave photodetectors. <<ETX>>
Integrative genomic analysis reveals distinct transcriptional and genetic features associated with chromosome 13 deletion in multiple myeloma.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The chromosome 13 deletion (Delta13) is one of the most frequent chromosomal alterations in multiple myeloma (MM). Delta13 is associated with an unfavorable prognosis, although there is increasing agreement that its prognostic relevance must be related to the ploidy status and the presence of different chromosomal translocations. The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive analysis of the transcriptional features of Delta13 in MM. DESIGN AND METHODS Highly purified plasma cells from 80 newly diagnosed MM patients were characterized by means of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and high-density oligonucleotide microarray for gene expression profiling and chromosomal alterations. RESULTS We identified 67 differentially expressed genes in the patients with and without the chromosome 13 deletion, all of which were downregulated in the cases with Delta13: 44 mapped along the whole chromosome 13, seven on chromosome 11 and three on chromosome 19. Functional analyses of the selected genes indicated their involvement in protein biosynthesis, ubiquitination and transcriptional regulation. An integrative genomic approach based on regional analyses of the gene expression data identified distinct chromosomal regions whose global expression modulation could differentiate Delta13-positive cases, in particular the upregulation of 1q21-1q42 and the downregulation of 19p and almost the entire chromosome 11. FISH analyses confirmed the close relationship between Delta13-positivity and the presence of extra copies of 1q21-1q42 (p=6 x 10(-4)) or the absence of chromosome 11 and 19 trisomy (p=5 x 10(-4)). INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that distinct types of chromosomal aberrations are closely related to the transcriptional profiles of Delta13-positive cases, suggesting that the contribution of Delta13 to the malignancy should be considered together with associated abnormalities.
A comparison of stratified and adjusted trend tests for binomial proportions

For the problem of testing for a monotonic trend between an ordinal exposure and a binary response while controlling for categorical cofactors, we derived stratified and adjusted versions of two single contrast tests. Using simulations, we compared their statistical properties to those of the commonly used stratified Mantel‐extension trend (MET) test. All tests had high power in case of monotonic relationships between exposure and response. In case of non‐monotonic relationships, the stratified and adjusted contrast tests were markedly less powerful than the stratified MET‐test particularly for five exposure levels, a favourable feature when the aim is to test for the existence of a monotonic dose–response relationship. These results are illustrated by an example. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Evaluation of the NAL-NL1 and the DSL v.4.1 prescriptions for children: Paired-comparison intelligibility judgments and functional performance ratings

Abstract This paper reports intelligibility judgments and real-life functional performance of 48 children in a double-blind, cross-over trial comparing the NAL-NL1 and the DSL v.4. 1 prescriptions. Intelligibility judgments were obtained by using a paired-comparisons procedure with audiovisual stimuli. Functional performance of children during two eight-week periods, each with hearing aids adjusted to one prescription, was assessed by parents and teachers (PEACH and TEACH) and by children's self reports (SELF). Consistently across reports, performance was significantly better in quiet than in noise. On average, better performance in noise (a higher Noise subscale score) was associated with NAL-NL1 than with DSL v.4. 1, both for the PEACH and the SELF. This difference was significant for the SELF in Australia. Intelligibility judgments revealed preferences that were equally split between prescriptions in both countries, on average. In the Australian sample, intelligibility judgments agreed with the questionnaire ratings and with parents’ ratings. An increase in preference for NAL was significantly associated with lesser hearing loss. The effect was not significant in the Canadian sample. Sumario Este trabajo reporta juicios de inteligibilidad y rendimiento funcional en la vida real de 48 niños, en un estudio doble ciego cruzado para comparar las prescripciones NAL-NL1 y DSL v.4. 1. Los juicios de inteligibilidad se obtuvieron usando comparaciones por pares con estímulos audio-visu-ales. El rendimiento funcional de los niños durante dos perío-dos de ocho semanas, con auxiliares auditivos ajustados a una de las prescripciones, fue evaluado por padres (PEACH) y maestros (TEACH) y por auto-reportes de los niños (SELF). Consistentemente en los reportes, el rendimiento fue signifi-cativamente mejor en silencio que en ruido. En promedio, el mejor rendimiento en ruido (puntuación de una mayor subes-cala de ruido) se asoció con NAL-NL 1 en comparación con DSL v.4. 1, ambos con PEACH y SELF. Esta diferencia fue significativa para SELF en Australia. Los juicios de inteligi-bilidad revelaron preferencias que se dividieron igualmente en promedio, entre las prescripciones en ambos países. En la muestra de Australia, los juicios de inteligibilidad estuvieron de acuerdo con las puntuaciones de cuestionarios y con las de los padres. Un aumento en la preferencia por el NAL se aso-ció significativamente con menor pérdida auditiva. El efecto no fue significativo en la muestra de Canadá.
The development of professional guidelines on the law and ethics of male circumcision

This paper does not attempt to lay out the arguments relating to male circumcision for non-medical reasons. Rather, the aim is to focus more on the process and the problems of a professional body (in this case the British Medical Association (BMA)) attempting to produce any consensus guidelines for its members on an issue which clearly polarises doctors as much as it divides society as a whole. The legal and ethical considerations of male circumcision are inevitably touched upon here but are not the central issue. In 2003, the BMA published professional guidance on this subject. Some thought this a pointless exercise; others saw it as an initiative which simply failed to go far enough. Reservations centred on the fact that the BMA’s guidance—like that of the statutory body, the General Medical Council—explored the issues without either firmly rejecting or accepting non-therapeutic male circumcision. Was it then a fruitless project or a brave start to grasping the nettle?
Mint 3 / X 11 Is an ADP-Ribosylation Factor-dependent Adaptor that Regulates the Traffic of the Alzheimer ’ s Precursor Protein from the Trans-Golgi Network

-Amyloid peptides (A ) are the major component of plaques in brains of Alzheimer’s patients, and are they derived from the proteolytic processing of the -amyloid precursor protein (APP). The movement of APP between organelles is highly regulated, and it is tightly connected to its processing by secretases. We proposed previously that transport of APP within the cell is mediated in part through its sorting into Mint/X11-containing carriers. To test our hypothesis, we purified APP-containing vesicles from human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells, and we showed that Mint2/3 are specifically enriched and that Mint3 and APP are present in the same vesicles. Increasing cellular APP levels increased the amounts of both APP and Mint3 in purified vesicles. Additional evidence supporting an obligate role for Mint3 in traffic of APP from the trans-Golgi network to the plasma membrane include the observations that depletion of Mint3 by small interference RNA (siRNA) or mutation of the Mint binding domain of APP changes the export route of APP from the basolateral to the endosomal/lysosomal sorting route. Finally, we show that increased expression of Mint3 decreased and siRNA-mediated knockdowns increased the secretion of the neurotoxic -amyloid peptide, A 1-40. Together, our data implicate Mint3 activity as a critical determinant of post-Golgi APP traffic.
DNA binding of the mouse class II major histocompatibility CCAAT factor depends on two components

A CCAAT-binding factor that recognizes a CCAAT sequence (Y box) located upstream of the major histocompatibility class II gene I-A beta has been partially purified. This CCAAT-binding factor was found to consist of two components, designated factors A and B, both of which were required for efficient binding to the DNA. Factor A had an apparent molecular size of 34 kilodaltons, and factor B had an apparent molecular size of 42 to 46 kilodaltons.
Diagnosis, management and treatment of glucometabolic disorders emerging after kidney transplantation

After successful solid organ transplantation, new‐onset diabetes (NODAT) is reported to develop in about 15–40% of the patients. The variation in incidence may partly depend on differences in the populations that have been studied and partly depend on the different definitions of NODAT that have been used. The diagnosis was often based on ‘the use of insulin postoperatively’, ‘oral agents used’, random glucose monitoring and a fasting glucose value between 7 and 13 mmol/l (126–234 mg/dl). Only few have used a 2‐h glucose tolerance test performed before transplantation. There is a huge variation in the literature regarding risk factors for developing NODAT. They can be divided into factors related to glucose metabolism or to patient demographics and the latter into modifiable and nonmodifiable. Screening for risk factors should start early and be re‐evaluated while being on the waitlist. Patients on the waiting list for renal transplantation and transplanted patients share many characteristics in having hyperglycaemia, disturbed insulin secretion and increased insulin resistance. We present guidelines for early risk factor assessment and a screening/treatment strategy for disturbed glucose metabolism, both before and after transplantation. The aim was to avoid the increased cardiovascular disease and mortality rates associated with NODAT.
G‐CSF‐mobilized haploidentical peripheral blood stem cell transplantation in children with poor prognostic nonmalignant disorders

Haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is currently one of the alternative curative treatment options for some nonmalignant but also for malignant diseases. However, concerns regarding its safety cause delays in time and a successful outcome. Between 2000 and 2005, twenty‐one children with poor prognostic nonmalignant disorders, 13 boys and 8 girls, with a median age of 12 months, underwent 28 haploidentical peripheral HSCT. Immunomagnetic bead depletion device (CliniMACS) was used for indirect T‐cell depletion. Indications for transplant were severe combined immunodeficiency (n = 16), osteopetrosis (n = 2), MDS (n = 1), amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia (n = 1), and aplastic anemia (n = 1). Five patients (24%) had lung infection at the time of transplantation. The patients received a median of 25.67 × 106 G‐CSF‐mobilized peripheral CD34+ progenitor cells and a median of 4.19 × 104 T‐lymphocytes per kilogram of body weight with a T‐cell depletion rate of median 4.59 logs. The rate of total engraftment was 66.6%. Median times for leukocyte and platelet engraftment were 14 and 16 days, respectively. The 6‐year projected survival was 32% for all patients and 29.76% for patients with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). The rates of transplant‐related mortality, graft failure, and severe GvHD were 14.2, 33.4%, and 8.3%, respectively. Infection was the main cause of death. The poor outcome may be explained with the poor prognostic factors of our patients such as the type of SCID in most cases (T‐B− SCID), the median age over 6 months and the presence of lung infection in some children at the time of transplantation. Am. J. Hematol. , 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Epithelial differentiation in Drosophila

Our understanding of epithelial development in Drosophila has been greatly improved in recent years. Two key regulators of epithelial polarity, Crumbs and DE‐cadherin, have been studied at the genetic and molecular levels and a number of additional genes are being analyzed that contribute to the differentiation of epithelial cell structure. Epithelial architecture has a profound influence on morphogenetic movements, patterning and cell‐type determination. The combination of embryological and genetic/molecular tools in Drosophila will help us to elucidate the complex events that determine epithelial cell structure and how they relate to morphogenesis and other developmental processes.
Oscillating fluid flow activation of gap junction hemichannels induces atp release from MLO‐Y4 osteocytes

Mechanical loads are required for optimal bone mass. One mechanism whereby mechanical loads are transduced into localized cellular signals is strain‐induced fluid flow through lacunae and canaliculi of bone. Gap junctions (GJs) between osteocytes and osteoblasts provides a mechanism whereby flow‐induced signals are detected by osteocytes and transduced to osteoblasts. We have demonstrated the importance of GJ and gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) in intracellular calcium and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) increases in response to flow. Unapposed connexons, or hemichannels, are themselves functional and may constitute a novel mechanotransduction mechanism. Using MC3T3‐E1 osteoblasts and MLO‐Y4 osteocytes, we examined the time course and mechanism of hemichannel activation in response to fluid flow, the composition of the hemichannels, and the role of hemichannels in flow‐induced ATP release. We demonstrate that fluid flow activates hemichannels in MLO‐Y4, but not MC3T3‐E1, through a mechanism involving protein kinase C, which induces ATP and PGE2 release. J. Cell. Physiol. 212: 207–214, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Time-varying spectrum estimators for continuous-time signals

Some quadratic time-frequency representations (TFRs) may be called time-varying spectrum estimators. They are derived from first principles, and they turn out to be time-varying multiwindow spectrum estimators. In special cases they are time-varying spectrograms that may be written as Fourier transforms of lag-windowed, time-varying correlation sequences or as spectrally smoothed time-varying periodograms. These are not ad-hoc variations on stationary ideas to accommodate time variation. Rather, they are the only variations one can obtain for time-varying spectrum analysis.
A framework for sentiment analysis on schema-based research content via lexica analysis

Sentiment Analysis is one of the significant issues in the area of natural language processing, computational linguistics and text mining. It has also become a potential research area in bibliographic search and opinion mining, which is our main focus in this paper. Sentiment analysis of citations on schema-based research contents, such as scientific articles and reports, may not only makes an appropriate understanding of the issue, but also enhances the level of reliability of citations in those contents. Taking the above points into account, in this paper, a framework for sentiment analysis based on lexica analysis is proposed to determine the polarity of author's opinion about citations in content. This framework consists of three major steps: subjectivity detection, polarity classification and strength determination of opinion. In each step, some considerations are considered to improve the capability of proposed framework. We have applied SentiWordNet, AFINN and Bingliu lexica sets for this purpose. The schema-based research contents that have been considered for this experiment is PubMed, which consists of open source medical articles of US digital library of medicine. Experimental results reveal the superiority of SentiWordNet lexica set compared to the other existing sets in sentiment analysis of PubMed articles.
The Clinical Impact of Preoperative Melatonin on Postoperative Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Abdominal Hysterectomy

BACKGROUND:Melatonin has sedative, analgesic, antiinflammatory, antioxidative, and chronobiotic effects. We determined the impact of oral melatonin premedication on anxiolysis, analgesia, and the potency of the rest/activity circadian rhythm. METHODS:This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study included 33 patients, ASA physical status I–II, undergoing abdominal hysterectomy. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either oral melatonin 5 mg (n = 17) or placebo (n = 16) the night before and 1 h before surgery. The analysis instruments were the Visual Analog Scale, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the actigraphy. RESULTS:The number of patients that needed to be treated to prevent one additional patient reporting high postoperative anxiety and moderate to intense pain in the first 24 postoperative hours was 2.53 (95% CI, 1.41–12.22) and 2.20 (95% CI, 1.26–8.58), respectively. The number-needed-to-treat was 3 (95% CI, 1.35–5.0) to prevent high postoperative anxiety in patients with moderate to intense pain, when compared with 7.5 (95% CI, 1.36–∞) in the absence of pain or mild pain. Also, the treated patients required less morphine by patient-controlled analgesia, as assessed by repeated measures ANOVA (F[1,31] = 6.05, P = 0.02). The rest/activity cycle, assessed by actigraphy, showed that the rhythmicity percentual of 24 h was higher in the intervention group in the first week after discharge ([21.16 ± 8.90] versus placebo [14.00 ± 7.10]; [t = −2.41, P = 0.02]). CONCLUSIONS:This finding suggested that preoperative melatonin produced clinically relevant anxiolytic and analgesic effects, especially in the first 24 postoperative hours. Also, it improved the recovery of the potency of the rest/activity circadian rhythm.