Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interaction Between Free Radicals and Excitatory Amino Acids in the Formation of Ischemic Brain Edema in Rats

Both oxygen free radicals and excitatory amino acids have been implicated as important cellular toxins in ischemic brain. Recent in vitro studies suggest that there may be a mutual interaction between these two mediators. We explored the relation between oxygen free radicals and excitatory amino acids in the development of ischemic brain edema in vivo. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with the free radical scavenger dimethylthiourea 1 hour before ischemia or with the excitotoxin antagonist MK-801 30 minutes before ischemia produced by occlusion of the middle cerebral artery. Groups of seven or eight animals were treated with vehicle, low-dose (375 mg/kg) dimethylthiourea, high-dose (750 nig/kg) dimethylthiourea, low-dose (0.5 mg/kg) MK-801, high-dose (2.0 mg/kg) MK-801, or both high-dose dimethylthiourea and low-dose MK-801. After 4 hours of ischemia, brain water content was determined. In eight vehicle-treated controls, mean±SEM water content of tissue in the center of the ischemic zone was 83.29±0.18%. A significant reduction of brain edema was observed in all drug-treated groups: for example, 50.2% (p<0.001) in the high-dose dimethylthiourea group, 53.7% (p<0.001) in the low-dose MK-801 group, and 66.4% (/? <0.001) in the combined dimethylthiourea and MK-801 group. Combined treatment with dimethylthiourea and MK-801 provided no significant additive effect over that resulting from treatment with MK-801 alone. These results indicate that pretreatment with either dimethylthiourea or MK-801 can reduce brain edema during the early stages of cerebral ischemia and further suggest that excitatory amino acids and oxygen free radicals may damage the brain by a common pathway. (Stroke 1991;22:915-921)
Identification and characterisation of behavioural genes of Agrobacterium tumefaciens

Three behavioural mutants (fla-8, mot-6 and cheL) generated by transposon Tn5 mutagenesis and localised on cosmid pDUB1905 were studied. The cosmid pDUB1905, from a representative genomic library of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58C1 chromosome has previously been partly mapped and found to contain genes concerned with flagella. In this study a region of 5860 nucleotides from a 12 kb BamHl fragment of cosmid pDUB1905 was sequenced completely in both directions. Homology searches of this sequence with sequence databases and other computer analysis revealed two flagellar-related genes (flhA and fliR), a chemotactic gene (cheL) and four open reading frames (orfX, orfW, orfY and orfZ) with no significant sequence identity to any open reading frame in databases. A putative promoter-like sequence was also found upstream of orfZ. The FlhA and FliR are the inner members of type III flagellum-specific export apparatus which are responsible for delivering the flagellar subunits lacking a signal peptide leader to the surface of the cell. These have counterparts in the type III secretion proteins system responsible for transporting pathogen proteins to host cells. The function of CheL has not yet been identified. Three ORFs have chaperone characteristics. A mutant was created by insertion of a neomycin resistance cassette in the fliR homologue to determine the effects of the gene on motility. Phenotype analysis of the mutant showed no flagella and motility with small swarming pattern comparing to wild type, indicating that fliR is indeed a flagellar gene. In this study two more members of flagellum-specific export, a chemotactic gene, three open reading frames which could have specific chaperon activity, and an unknown open reading frame were identified in A. tumefaciens C58C'.
12 Microbiology of Hydrocarbon-Degrading Pseudomonas

Abstract: The genus Pseudomonas is summarily described with respect to the phenotypic andgenomic properties of its member species, which have been considered in the development ofthe current taxonomic treatment. The chapter emphasizes the biochemical versatility of thespecies of the genus, which is manifested in the capacity of many strains to degrade a numberof aliphatic, aromatic, poly-aromatic hydrocarbons and various derivatives, among a vastvariety of miscellaneous organic compounds. The observed degradation capabilities of Pseu-domonas are considered with respect to the metabolic potential encoded in the genomes ofstrains for which the genome sequences have been determined.Strains of Pseudomonas species are able to grow in simple media and the nutritionalversatility of a number of them includes the ability to utilize many compounds as substratesthat may be toxic to most other prokaryotes and to higher organisms, as observed inenvironmental analyses of Pseudomonas. These properties point to Pseudomonas as parti-cularly important agents in the design of bioremediation applications.
Diversité phylogénétique et fonctionnelle des Eumycètes dans les écosystèmes pélagiques

Les microorganismes jouent un role preponderant dans le fonctionnement des ecosystemes aquatiques, ou ils sont a la base de la mineralisation et du recyclage de la matiere organique. Les" vrais " champignons, ou Eumycetes, font partie de ces microorganismes heterotrophes qui permettent le renouvellement de la matiere organique dans les ecosystemes. Pourtant, la diversite et l'importance quantitative et fonctionnelle des champignons restent tres largement meconnues dans les milieux pelagiques. Recemment, l'utilisation de methodes moleculaires pour etudier la diversite des picoeucaryotes (de taille < 5 μm) lacustres a mis en evidence l'importance des champignons microscopiques avec, notamment, la presence de chytridiomycetes (chytrides). Cette decouverte, en conjonction avec le role important connu des Eumycetes dans d'autres ecosystemes naturels, nous a amene a poser l'hypothese d'une diversite et d'un role fonctionnel importants des champignons dans les ecosystemes pelagiques. Ce travail vise a preciser la diversite globale, la structure genetique et l'importance quantitative des differentes divisions du regne des Eumycota dans les ecosystemes pelagiques lacustres, et a proposer des outils methodologiques pour l'etude ecologique de ces peuplements. La diversite phylogenetique et l'importance des champignons de taille comprise entre 0,6 et 150 μm ont ete analysees dans trois milieux pelagiques differents. Une etude de clonage-sequencage de l'ADNr 18S et de l'ITS a ete realisee au printemps 2007 dans les lacs Pavin (oligomesotrophe), Aydat (eutrophe) et Vassiviere (mesotrophe, humique). L'affiliation phylogenetique des sequences a permis, non seulement de confirmer la presence d'une importante diversite de chytridiomycetes parasites du phytoplancton, mais aussi de mettre en evidence la presence non negligeable d'ascomycetes et de basidiomycetes, potentiellement saprophytes. L'etude de la dynamique saisonniere de la structure des peuplements (par TRFLP) et de l'importance quantitative de differentes divisions (par PCR quantitative) de la communaute fongique ont permis de deceler des differences en fonction des saisons et de l'ecosysteme. Ces differences ont ete reliees a la dynamique des peuplements phytoplanctoniques, avec une influence des apports allochtones, principalement dans le lac eutrophe d'Aydat. De plus, les sequences moleculaires generees au cours de ces dernieres annees ont permis l'elaboration d'amorces ciblant des clades de champignons microscopiques d'interet, pour une etude ecologique de la dynamique des peuplements, par des approches PCR a temps reel et FISH (fluorescent in situ hybridization). Enfin, nous considerons que l'acquisition de donnees complementaires permettra d'integrer les champignons saprophytes et parasites dans les flux de matiere et d'energie qui transitent par les ecosystemes pelagiques et les cycles biogeochimiques associes.
Exploring the Comorbidity of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Language, Speech, and Reading Disorders

This issue of Topics in Language Disorders (TLD) explores a common clinical experience, whereby clients present with more than one condition. This happens so frequently; we suspect it is often taken for granted that vulnerability in one area opens up vulnerability in other areas. The term comorbidity was coined by Feinstein (1970) to refer to additional, distinct health conditions occurring during the development of an index disease. Within this conceptualization, the index disease is considered as primary, and fully separate, from the co-occurring, or comorbid, conditions that develop alongside it. In the area of medicine, where the nature of disease is well understood, it is possible to draw this distinction. However, it cannot be applied as clearly to areas of health and disease in which disorders are not so well characterized and diagnostic systems are in flux. This is exemplified in the fields of psychology and psychiatry by current debates over the forthcoming Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, diagnostic system. Because of this, it is quite common within these fields to find the notion of comorbidity somewhat relaxed and it is simply used to refer to two or conditions occurring within the same individual (Robins, 1994). Robins (1994) has argued that the study of comorbidity, as defined by diagnostic coexistence, is valuable to the understanding of comorbid conditions because it gives insight into the nature of these conditions. A key point in this issue of TLD is that comorbidity can be used to further researchers’ and clinicians’ understanding of communication disorders, particularly developmental communication disorders. In the
Effects of Dextromethorphan on Rat Brain During Ischemia and Reperfusion Assessed by Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Using proton and phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy, we evaluated the metabolic effects of preischemic administration of the iV-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist dextromethorphan (50 mg/kg i.p.) during global forebrain ischemia and subsequent reperfusion in rats. Dextromethorphan-treated animals (n=10) showed less lactate formation during ischemia than untreated animals (n = ll,/? <0.001). During reperfusion, the lactate level in the treated group was reduced (/? <0.05). Tissue pH declined less in the treated group during ischemia (p<0.01). There was no difference in the phosphocreatine/inorganic phosphate peak height ratio between groups. During ischemia, the iV-acetylaspartate resonance peaks decreased in both groups. Histologic damage assessed in the hippocampal CA1 region 7 days after the ischemic insult was more severe in the untreated group (/? <0.05). There was a significant correlation between end-ischemic tissue pH and hippocampal damage (r=-0.73,/? <0.05). In the dextromethorphan-treated animals, 90% of the rats survived compared with 47% of the untreated animals (p<0.05). These results support findings in previous studies that dextromethorphan attenuates ischemic damage. (Stroke 1991^22^43-350)
Inverse relationship between six week postvaccination varicella antibody response to vaccine and likelihood of long term breakthrough infection

Background. We used the large clinical database that supported the development of Oka/ Merck varicella vaccine to study the relationship between the primary varicella antibody response, as determined by gpELISA, an enzymelinked immunosorbent assay that detects antibodies to varicella-zoster virus (VZV) glycoprotein, and the subsequent risk of postvaccination breakthrough varicella. Methods. We vaccinated 1164 healthy children with a single dose of varicella vaccine containing 2900 to 9000 plaque-forming units/dose. The primary immune response to vaccination was determined by gpELISA 6 weeks after vaccination. Subjects were followed annually for 7 years to ascertain cases of breakthrough varicella. Results. The estimated vaccine efficacy among children with a 6-week postvaccination antibody titer of >5 gpELISA units was 95.5% (95% confidence interval, 94.2%, 96.8%) compared with 83.5% (95% confidence interval, 76.9%, 89.5%) for subjects with a titer of <5 gpELISA units. Children with a 6-week postvaccination antibody titer of <5 gpELISA units were 3.5 times more likely than those with a titer of >5 gpELISA units to develop breakthrough varicella. Conclusions. We identified a 6-week postvaccination antibody titer of >5 gpELISA units as an approximate correlate of protection. In addition we established an accelerated failure time model based on log normal hazard that predicted varicella breakthrough rates based on the distribution of 6-week postvaccination varicella antibody titers.
ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BACTERIOPHAGE FOR THE CONTROL OF ENTEROHEMORRHAGIC Escherichia coli ON FRESH PRODUCE

Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria, and are potentially applicable for the control of foodborne pathogens. Bacteriophage is particularly relevant to the safety of fresh produce and other minimally processed products since it can be used as a non-destructive treatment. The purpose of this study was to isolate bacteriophages specific for pathogenic Escherichia coli from environmental sources and evaluate their ability to control the host pathogen on fresh produce.
Patient Adherence and Medical Treatment Outcomes

BACKGROUND. Adherence is a factor in the outcome of medical treatment, but the strength and moderators of the adherence-outcome association have not been systematically assessed. OBJECTIVES. A quantitative review using meta-analysis of three decades of empirical research correlating adherence with objective measures of treatment outcomes. METHOD. Sixty-three studies assessing patient adherence and outcomes of medical treatment were found involving medical regimens recommended by a nonpsychiatrist physician, and measuring patient adherence and health outcomes. Studies were analyzed according to disease (acute/chronic, severity), population (adult/child), type of regimen (preventive/ treatment, use of medication), and type and sensitivity of adherence and outcomes measurements. RESULTS. Overall, the outcome difference between high and low adherence is 26%. According to a stringent random effects model, adherence is most strongly related to outcomes in studies of nonmedication regimens, where measures of adherence are continuous, and where the disease is chronic (particularly hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, intestinal disease, and sleep apnea). A less stringent fixed effects model shows a trend for higher adherence-outcome correlations in studies of less serious conditions, of pediatric patients, and in those studies using self-reports of adherence, multiple measures of adherence, and less specific measures of outcomes. Intercorrelations among moderator variables in multiple regression show that the best predictor of the adherence-outcome relationship is methodological—the sensitivity/quality of the adherence assessment.
A practical approach

Neurologic complications related to anesthesia are infrequent but can be serious. Neurologists are often consulted to evaluate patients with postoperative symptoms and must be ready to discriminate those truly caused by the anesthetic drug or procedure from the more common postoperative complications that are unrelated to the anesthesia itself. This practical review relies on cases to illustrate common reasons for neurologic consultation in the postsurgical setting. It also briefly summarizes what to expect when patients with central or peripheral neurologic disease undergo surgery under general or regional anesthesia.
Neuroprotective e¡ect of riluzole in acute noise-induced hearing loss

Riluzole has been reported to protect against the deleterious effect of cerebral ischemia byblocking glutamatergic neurotransmission. Here, we investigated whether acoustic trauma-induced cochlear excitotoxicity couldbe attenuatedbyriluzole.Cumulative intracochlear perfusion of riluzole completely abolished singlenerve ¢ber activity in the guinea pig cochlea and the compound action potential of the auditory nerve.Guinea pigs treatedwith riluzole (100mM) showed signi¢cantly less hearing threshold shift than untreated guinea pigs, and presented no sign of dendritic damage in the cochlea observable by electron microscopy. When coapplied with glutamate, riluzole did not prevent glutamateinduced swelling of auditory nerve dendrites, suggesting that the protective e¡ect of riluzole was mediated principally by inhibition of glutamate release from sensory inner hair cells. NeuroReport 16:1087^1090 c 2005 Lippincott Williams &Wilkins.
PHOSPHATE APPLICATION IMPACTS ON CADMIUM SORPTION IN ACIDIC AND CALCAREOUS SOILS

CADMIUM is a potentially hazardous pollutant in our environment. It contaminates soils through the application of chemical fertilizers and through land treatment of sewage sludge. Commercially important North America rock phosphate deposits have a wide range of Cd content, ranging from 3 to 130 g Cd t 1 (Mortvedt, 1987); phosphate ores with 980 g Cd t 1 have occasionally been reported (Mulla et al.,1980). Thus,phosphate fertilizers made from these sources increases the Cd level in soils as they are applied. Land application of sewage sludge provides nitrogen and phosphorus, which enhances crop production. Unfortunately, sewage sludge applications also often lead to accumulation of heavy metals, such as Cd, which can adversely affect food crop quality, environmental safety, and human health (Street et al., 1977; Sommers, 1980). The potential toxicity of a trace metal ion in a soil depends on its concentration and speciation PHOSPHATE APPLICATION IMPACTS ON CADMIUM SORPTION IN ACIDIC AND CALCAREOUS SOILS
E¡ects of long-term potentiation in the human visual cortex: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Applying functional magnetic resonance imaging techniques, hemodynamic responses elicited by slowly £ashing checkerboards (0.25Hz) were measured both before and after a block of rapidly presented checkerboards (9Hz ^ a‘photic tetanus’) was delivered. It has been shown previously, using electroencephelography, that this photic tetanus potentiates components of the visual-evoked potential. In the present study, hemodynamic responses in the extrastriate visual cortex were signi¢cantly increased to checkerboards presented at a low frequency after the administration of the photic tetanus.These results support the idea that long-term potentiation can be demonstrated non-invasively within the human visual cortex and provide evidence that the plastic changes are localized within the secondary visual cortex. NeuroReport 16:1977^1980 c 2005 Lippincott Williams &Wilkins.
a-Synuclein ¢laments bind the transcriptional regulator HMGB-1

Abnormal accumulation of a-synuclein ¢laments in Lewy bodies is a neuropathological hallmark of Parkinson’s disease and sequestration of cellular protein into these protein aggregates may contribute to the degenerative process. We identi¢ed the transcriptional co-factor high mobility group protein 1 (HMGB-1) as a ligand for a-synuclein ¢laments by a ¢lament spin-down technique, mass spectrometric peptide mapping and immunoblotting. HMGB-1 binds preferentially to aggregated a-synuclein and is present in a-synuclein ¢lament-containing Lewy bodies isolated from brain tissue a¡ected with dementia with Lewy bodies or Parkinson’s disease. Our results demonstrate that a-synuclein ¢laments hold the potential for disturbing the cellular gene expression as they can sequester a component involved in cellular transcription regulation. NeuroReport 15:2735^2739 c 2004 LippincottWilliams &Wilkins.
Automated metabolic network reconstruction by exploiting functional homology

As the metabolic network reconstruction process via manual curation proves to be a tedious process, the need for an automated reconstruction tool becomes imminent. There has been previous attempts to automate metabolic network reconstruction. These existing approaches rely on sequence similarity to infer functions. Consequently, they fail to identify functions in the absence of sequence similarity or when sequences are heterogeneous. We propose a new method to automate metabolic network reconstruction that combines sequence similarity information and the likelihood of a certain enzyme to catalyze an enzymatic transformation. At the end, we combine both sequence homology and functional homology information to automatically reconstruct metabolic network.
Using Simulation to Evaluate First Year Anesthesiology Residents to Ensure Safer Anesthesia Care

Using Simulation to Evaluate First Year Anesthesiology Residents to Ensure Safer Anesthesia Care (Submission #1276) Nicholas Nedeff, MD, Ruth Thomas, RN, PhD, Maureen Fitzpatrick, MSN, ARNP-BC, Ilya Shekhter, MS, MBA, and David Birnbach, MD, MPH ANESTHESIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI, MIAMI, FL, USA; ANESTHESIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI MILLER SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, MIAMI, FL, USA; and CENTER FOR PATIENT SAFETY, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI MILLER SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, MIAMI, FL, USA. Introduction/Background: Our department used a simulation-based course during the first month of the anesthesia residency program to provide hands-on standardized training and direct supervision for residents. We designed a specific curriculum to address the basic components of anesthesia care and assessed the technical skills and knowledge of all incoming residents in order to focus on areas that needed reinforcement. After a preliminary didactic course, simulation training can be used to measure differences in first year resident’s knowledge and skills after the first month of training.
OPERATIVE NUANCES

Accepted, August 16, 2004. In a recent article, our experience and knowledge of the clinical picture, microsurgical anatomy, and long-term surgical outcome of resecting tuberculum sellae meningiomas was described in detail. We now present our surgical technique in a pictorial and video format for the benefit of neurosurgeons in training, as well as for general critique. Attention is given to the details of surgery: patient positioning, surgical approaches, technique of tumor removal, and postoperative care.
Debate: Resolved, a 55° Right Thoracic Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliotic Curve Should Be Treated by Posterior Spinal Fusion and Segmental Instrumentation Using Thoracic Pedicle Screws: PRO: THORACIC PEDICLE SCREWS SHOULD BE USED TO TREAT A 55° RIGHT THORACIC ADOLESCENT IDIOPATHIC SCOLIOSIS

PRO: THORACIC PEDICLE SCREWS SHOULD BE USED TO TREAT A 55 RIGHT THORACIC ADOLESCENT IDIOPATHIC SCOLIOSIS Over the past decade, use of pedicle screws has become an increasingly popular means of spinal fixation. Initially used in the lumbar spine, surgeons began to use screws at the thoracolumbar junction and more recently in the upper thoracic spine. As a surgeon who switched from using primarily hooks to screws as my implant of choice for all types of pediatric spinal deformity surgical treatments, I will detail the rationale behind this major clinical change. An analysis of the benefit of pedicle screw fixation will be presented on seven issues: biomechanics, insertion technique, clinical series/safety, optimizing three-dimensional deformity correction, avoiding anterior spinal fusion, complications, and costs.