Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regulation of Oxidative Stress Response by CosR, an Essential Response Regulator in Campylobacter jejuni

CosR (Campylobacter oxidative stress regulator; Cj0355c) is an OmpR-type response regulator essential for the viability of Campylobacter jejuni, a leading foodborne pathogen causing human gastroenteritis worldwide. Despite importance, the function of CosR remains completely unknown mainly because of cell death caused by its knockout mutation. To overcome this technical limitation, in this study, antisense technology was used to investigate the regulatory function of CosR by modulating the level of CosR expression. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DGE) was performed to identify the CosR regulon either by suppressing CosR expression with antisense peptide nucleic acid (PNA) or by overexpressing CosR in C. jejuni. According to the results of 2DGE, CosR regulated 32 proteins involved in various cellular processes. Notably, CosR negatively regulated a few key proteins of the oxidative stress response of C. jejuni, such as SodB, Dps, Rrc and LuxS, whereas CosR positively controlled AhpC. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay showed that CosR directly bound to the promoter region of the oxidative stress genes. DNase I footprinting assays identified 21-bp CosR binding sequences in the sodB and ahpC promoters, suggesting CosR specifically recognizes and binds to the regulated genes. Interestingly, the level of CosR protein was significantly reduced by paraquat (a superoxide generator) but not by hydrogen peroxide. Consistent with the overall negative regulation of oxidative stress defense proteins by CosR, the CosR knockdown by antisense rendered C. jejuni more resistant to oxidative stress compared to the wild type. Overall, this study reveals the important role played by the essential response regulator CosR in the oxidative stress defense of C. jejuni.
Real-time face object extraction for video phone

This paper devises a real-time face object extraction algorithm for moving pictures. Considering that most of the existing object extraction algorithms are of too intensive computational complexity to enable the real-time execution that is applied to mobile video phone run on an embedded processor, this algorithm intends not only to reduce the computational complexity by employing modified snake but also to improve the precision of extracting pixels by an efficient estimation mechanism of the skin color portion within a face object. Simulation results demonstrate that by this algorithm QCIF 15fps is processed on a StrongARM processor in real-time.
Regulation of antibody synthesis against Escherichia coli endotoxin. II. Specificity, dose requirements and duration of paralysis induced in adult mice.

Adult mice were paralysed with high doses of detoxified lipopolysaccharide of Escherichia coli 055:B5. The immune status of the animals was tested by enumeration of antibody producing spleen cells using the agar plaque technique and by measurements of serum antibody titres. Paralysis was specific as judged by the ability of paralysed animals to respond normally to sheep red blood cells. The range between paralysing and immunizing doses of endotoxin was narrow, injection of 10 mg endotoxin inducing complete paralysis and of 1 mg causing immunity. Repeated injections of doses lower than 10 mg were shown to induce complete paralysis when the total dose was sufficiently high. Repeated injections of even lower doses caused various degrees of partial paralysis. A single injection of a low dose (10-5 or 10-7 mg) of the antigen resulted in a maximal number of antibody forming cells, whereas various higher doses caused fewer antibody producing cells to appear, presumably because of concomitant induction of partial paralysis. The maximal number of antibody forming cells developed earlier with lower doses of antigen. The delay in the peak response with higher doses was explained by a decreased efficiency of antibody feedback suppression caused by induction of partial paralysis as well as by absorption of antibodies to circulating antigen.
Short-distance ultra wideband radars

The possibility of ultrawideband (UWB) radar usage in various fields for remote measuring the object's motion at short distance is considered. Application of UWB radar in medicine for remote measuring of patient's heart activity and respiration is shown. The measuring method is described and practical results of tests are cited. The opportunity of radar application in other areas is described.
The Effect of Framing on Choice

Tversky and Kahneman suggested that choice between a "sure thing" and a risky option of equal expected value is affected by option phrasing. When options for fighting an "Asian disease" were framed positively, 72% chose the sure thing; but when options were framed negatively, only 22% did. Decision problems like the Asian disease one, however, have produced varied results. Experiment I explored three reasons for the varied results: differences between the samples in risk-taking propensity, differences in gender composition, and use of different decision problems. A significant interaction of framing, sex, and problem was observed. Women were affected by framing, while men generally were not. Further, the size and direction of framing effects varied across the decision problems. Experiment 2 investigated risk-taking propensity and field independence as mediators of the sex by framing interaction. Only framing was significant. Neither field independence nor risk-taking propensity interacted with framing.
Practitioner reactions to work‐related psychological tests

Purpose – This study seeks to investigate human resource practitioners' attitudes and beliefs about work related psychological tests. The purpose was to look at the structure and correlates of those beliefs.Design/methodology/approach – In all, 255 practitioners from human resource and related disciplines completed a 64‐item questionnaire on their attitudes to, and beliefs about, work‐related psychological tests.Findings – Overall, the participants were positive about the validity and hence usefulness of tests. Factor analysis suggested that attitudes to tests fell into four easily identifiable factors (Test complexity, Practical application, Bias, and Usefulness of psychological tests). It was found that all four factors were predicted by age or educational qualifications or both.Research limitations/implications – The study had a restricted sample of test users. It would be interesting to test a bigger and more representative sample of those in HR, training and coaching and get more specific details on .
Social Psychology of Beauty: Effects of Age, Height, and Weight on Self-Reported Personality Traits and Social Behavior

Summary In a study of the relationship between body morphology indices and self-reported personality and social behavior measures, 128 adult men and 173 adult women in extended interviews offered self-report information on personality measures (e.g., self-acceptance, likeableness, sensation-seeking tendencies, anxiety, etc.) and social behavioral indices (e.g., number of personal visits, degree of social involvement, self-perceived satisfaction in social interaction). Also, information on height, weight, and self-reported age was obtained. Ss ranged from 18 to 80 years of age and were randomly drawn from telephone directories and contacted by phone. Age was associated with sensation-seeking declines and fear of negative evaluation while being positively associated with responsibility. Weight was associated with poor self-perceptions and high emotionality. Height was associated with sensation-seeking, likeableness, and locus of control. Some, but few, relationships between age, weight, and height and socia.
Effect of cadmium chelating agents on organ cadmium and trace element levels in mice.

In experiments performed on male mice (CD-1, Charles River), the mobilizing effects of repeated administration of the carbodithioate analogue BLDTC [N-benzyl-4-O-(beta-D-galactopyranosyl)-D-glucamine-N-carbodithioate+ ++] and CaDTPA (calcium trisodium pentetate) on cadmium deposits in the liver, kidneys, brain and testes were compared. The antidotes were injected alternately every 48 h over a period of 16 d (8 doses in total) following a previous loading with 20 doses of CdCl2.2. 5 H2O (single doses of 3 mg kg-1 i.p.). The experiments confirmed BLDTC to be one of the most effective cadmium mobilizing agents. The administration of CaDTPA, which is known as a useful antidote in acute cadmium intoxication, increased the mobilizing effect of BLDTC. Cadmium elevated the concentration of zinc in all organs examined and the level of copper in the liver, kidneys and testes. This accumulation of trace elements was only partially corrected by the chelators. The antidotes administered alone exert only a negligible effect on the trace element levels in the organs.
Comparison of the Pharmacokinetics and Phototoxicity of Protoporphyrin IX Metabolized from 5‐Aminolevulinic Acid and Two Derivatives in Human Skin In Vivo ¶

Our novel approach was to compare the pharmacokinetics of 5‐aminolevulinic acid (ALA), ALA‐n‐butyl and ALA‐n‐hexylester induced protoporphyrin IX (PpIX), together with the phototoxicity after photodynamic therapy (PDT) in human skin in vivo, using iontophoresis as a dose‐control system. A series of four increasing doses of each compound was iontophoresed into healthy skin of 10 volunteers. The kinetics of PpIX metabolism (n = 4) and the response to PDT (n = 6) performed 5 h after iontophoresis, were assessed by surface PpIX fluorescence and post‐irradiation erythema. Whilst ALA‐induced PpIX peaked at 7.5 h, highest PpIX fluorescence induced by ALA‐n‐hexylester was observed at 3–6 h and no clear peak was seen with ALA‐n‐butylester. With ALA‐n‐hexylester, more PpIX was formed after 3 (P < 0.05) and 4.5 h, than with ALA or ALA‐n‐butylester. All compounds showed a linear correlation between logarithm of dose and PpIX fluorescence/phototoxicity at 5 h, with R‐values ranging from 0.87 to 1. In addition, the ALA‐n‐hexylester showed the tendency to cause greater erythema than ALA and ALA‐n‐butylester. Fluorescence microscopy (n = 2) showed similar PpIX distributions and penetration depths for the three drugs, although both ALA esters led to a more homogeneous PpIX localization. Hence, ALA‐n‐hexylester appears to have slightly more favorable characteristics for PDT than ALA or ALA‐n‐butylester.
The Usefulness of Peer Review for Selecting Manuscripts for Publication: A Utility Analysis Taking as an Example a High-Impact Journal

Background High predictive validity – that is, a strong association between the outcome of peer review (usually, reviewers' ratings) and the scientific quality of a manuscript submitted to a journal (measured as citations of the later published paper) – does not as a rule suffice to demonstrate the usefulness of peer review for the selection of manuscripts. To assess usefulness, it is important to include in addition the base rate (proportion of submissions that are fundamentally suitable for publication) and the selection rate (the proportion of submissions accepted). Methodology/Principal Findings Taking the example of the high-impact journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition (AC-IE), we present a general approach for determining the usefulness of peer reviews for the selection of manuscripts for publication. The results of our study show that peer review is useful: 78% of the submissions accepted by AC-IE are correctly accepted for publication when the editor's decision is based on one review, 69% of the submissions are correctly accepted for publication when the editor's decision is based on two reviews, and 65% of the submissions are correctly accepted for publication when the editor's decision is based on three reviews. Conclusions/Significance The paper points out through what changes in the selection rate, base rate or validity coefficient a higher success rate (utility) in the AC-IE selection process could be achieved.
Role of cyclic‐GMP in Relaxations of Vascular mooth Muscle

Relaxation of rat aorta segments with sodium litroprusside and endothelium-dependent vasodilators, such as acetylcholine, histamine, A23187, ATP, thrombin, and trypsin, is associated with cyclic-GMP (cGMP) ac-:cumulation in a concentration- and time-dependent fashion. With rat aorta segments, these agents also increase cyclic GMP-dependent protein-kinase activity and alter the incorporation of 32P into numerous smooth-muscle proteins. Identical patterns of protein phosphorylation were observed with both classes of relaxants on two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and autoradiogcaphy. The effects of nitroprusside were observed with or without the endothelium present. In contrast, the effects of the endothelium-dependent agents on all of these parameters (cGMP, cGMP-dependent protein kinase and protein phosphorylation) required the integrity of the endothelium. Various inhibitors of phospholipase and lypoxygenase prevented the effects of the endothelium-dependent agents, suggesting that a metabolite of arachi-donic acid is the endothelium-relaxant factor and responsible for guanylate-cyclase activation. A smooth-muscle protein with decreased 32P incorporation after treatment with either class of relaxants has been identified as myosin light chain. A model is presented suggesting that the effects of endothelium-dependent vasodilators and directly acting nitrovasodilators converge at the level of guanylate-cyclase activation and cGMP accumulation, which explains the common biochemical and physiological effects on smooth muscle of these two classes of vasodilators.
Kinesthetic performance analysis of asymmetric dual-user shared teleoperation system

Different from traditional symmetric dual-user shared control method, a novel dual-user teleoperation system asymmetric shared control method is proposed. The asymmetric architecture contains three dominance factors-one affects the control authority and the other two ones balance the effect of transparency and movement tracking performance of the masters. The main sections conclude the properties of kinesthetic performance of the asymmetric dual-user shared control structures that are different from the traditional system, which are evaluated by several measuring functions. Experiments are taken to verify the conclusions, and the results represent that the performance range and best kinesthetic performance of asymmetric architecture are wider and superior than the ones of traditional method. In addition, the masters have more autonomy during the manipulating process.
Durational characteristics of the first productions of novel trochees and iambs in children with and without speech delay

The durational characteristics of novel words produced in repeated trials were evaluated in separate groups of children with, and without speech delay (SD). Children produced disyllabic novel words containing either a trochaic or iambic stress pattern. Results of acoustic analysis indicated a significant interaction between trial number and speaker group. The duration of words produced by children without SD decreased more abruptly across successive trials as compared to children with SD. In addition, duration decreased at a faster rate for trochaic words as compared to iambic words in both groups. Variability of word duration was greater in iambs than trochees. The results are discussed in terms of speech motor learning patterns that may underlie difficulties associated with SD.
STATUS EPILEPTICUS: A CLINICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL STUDY IN EPILEPSY

We may summarize the pathological changes found in status epilepticus and in epilepsy in general, as follows: The first discoverable lesion appears in the nucleus, and this is the organ of the cell first and most seriously involved. The nuclear membrane and the karyoplasmic network disappear and the karyoplasm becomes finely granular, the direct result of the destruction of the karyoplasmic network. In consequence, the anchorage of the nucleolus is destroyed, and it becomes a free body within the nucleus. In the process of making the section many of these free nucleoli are abstracted from the nuclei to which they belong and appear in the section entirely outside of the cell—nucleolar abstraction (Figs. I, 3, 4 and 5; Photomicrographs 1 and 2). Many nucleoli are greatly displaced within the nucleus (Fig. 2). The following secondary changes take place in the order named: The granules of the chromatic substance disappear from the cell body, leaving behind a dimly outlined cell framework. All trace of the nuc.
Property-preserving program refinement

During the development and maintenance process, a program changes form, often being refined as specifications and implementation decisions are realized. A correctness proof built in parallel with an original program can be extended to a proof of refined program by showing equivalences between the original and refined program. This paper illustrates two examples of property-preserving refinement, partial evaluation and generalization, and explores the correctness-preserving equivalences underpinning those refinement techniques. We plan to explore ways in which the informal reasoning behind these and similar program refinement tasks may be captured to extend the proof for an original program into a proof of the refined program.
LIN-12/Notch signaling: lessons from worms and flies.

LIN-12/Notch proteins function as receptors for intercellular signals during development. Many aspects of LIN-12/Notch-mediated signaling have been elucidated through studies of cell–cell interactions that occur during Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster development. The basic principles that operate in these lower organisms have also been shown to apply to vertebrates (for review, see Gridley 1997). Molecular features defined in lower organisms have also been shown to be conserved in vertebrates, including components of the signaling and signal transduction systems (for review, see Weinmaster 1997). The focus of this paper is on what has been learned about LIN-12/Notch signaling from invertebrates. First, a description of roles for LIN12/Notch proteins in development is given, using different model cell fate decisions to illustrate various features. A discussion of the mechanism of LIN-12/Notch signal transduction follows, including new in vivo evidence that favors the direct participation of the intracellular domain of LIN-12/Notch proteins in regulating target gene expression. Finally, other influences on LIN-12/ Notch activity are discussed, particularly protein turnover and protein processing.
Is there a telmore-bound ‘EST’ telomerase holoenzyme?

Eukaryotic linear chromosomes culminate in nucleoprotein structures designated telomeres. The terminal telomeric DNA consists of tandem repeats of a G-rich motif that is established and maintained by the action of the specialized reverse transcriptase telomerase. In addition to the core enzyme, effective replication of telomeric DNA requires a number of regulatory factors. In budding yeast, four components identified in the seminal Ever Shorter Telomere (EST) genetic screens constitute the keystone proteins that sustain telomeric DNA. Importantly, the EST proteins appear to be structurally conserved from yeast to human. The mechanism of telomerase recruitment and regulation, with an emphasis on the EST proteins, are discussed in this review.
Predominant Dissemination of PVL-Negative CC89 MRSA with SCCmec Type II in Children with Impetigo in Japan

Background. The ratio of CA-MRSA in children with impetigo has been increasing in Japan. Methods. Antimicrobial susceptibilities of 136 S. aureus isolates from children with impetigo were studied. Furthermore, molecular epidemiological analysis and virulence gene analysis were performed. Results. Of the 136 S. aureus isolates, 122 (89.7%) were MSSA and 14 (10.3%) were MRSA. Of the 14 MRSA strains, 11 belonged to CC89 (ST89, ST91, and ST2117) and carried diverse types of SCCmec: type II (IIb: 3 strains; unknown subtype: 4 strains), type IVa (2 strains), and unknown type (2 strains). The remaining three strains exhibited CC8 (ST-8)-SCCmec type VIa, CC121 (ST121)-SCCmec type V, and CC5 (ST5)-nontypeable SCCmec element, respectively. None were lukS-PV-lukF-PV gene positive. Gentamicin- and clarithromycin-resistant strains were frequently found in both MRSA and MSSA. Conclusions. PVL-negative CC89-SCCmec type II strains are the most predominant strains among the CA-MRSA strains circulating in the community in Japan.
Effects of Probiotics on Quality of Life in Children with Cystic Fibrosis; A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) usually have abnormal intestinal microbiota and dysregulated immune mediators due to massive exposure to antibiotics. Probiotics as immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory substances are considered to improve both clinical and biochemical intestinal and pulmonary function in CF patients. We decided to investigate the effects of probiotics on quality of life and pulmonary exacerbations in children with cystic fibrosis. Methods In a prospective, randomized, controlled clinical trial, 37 CF patients (2-12 years old) were randomly divided into two groups. 20 patients of probiotic group took probiotics (2×109CFU/d) for one month while 17 patients of control group took placebo capsules. Quality of life was determined using PedsQL™4.0 questionnaire at the beginning, then three and six months after completing the treatment period. Rate of pulmonary exacerbation in probiotic group patients was also evaluated during three months after intervention and compared to the same three months of the previous year. Results were analyzed using SPSS (11.5). P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Findings Significant improvement was observed in the mean total score of parent reported quality of life among probiotic group patients in comparison with placebo group at 3rd month (P=0.01), but this was not significant at 6th month of probiotic treatment. Rate of pulmonary exacerbation was significantly reduced among probiotic group (P<0.01). Conclusion Probiotics are considered as useful nutritional supplements on reducing number of pulmonary exacerbations and improving quality of life in patients with cystic fibrosis. Effects of probiotics seem to be temporary and probably continuous ingestion might have more stable improving effects on quality of life.
Accurate Discretization of Analog Audio Filters With Application to Parametric Equalizer Design

This paper is concerned with accurate discretization of linear analog filters such that the frequency response of the discrete time filter accurately matches that of the continuous time filter. The approach is based on formal reconstruction of the continuous time signal using Shannon's interpolation theorem and numerical solving of the differential equation corresponding to the analog filter. When the formal continuous time system is sampled, the resulting filter reduces to discrete linear filter, which can be realized either as a state space model or as an infinite impulse response (IIR) filter. The proposed methodology is applied to design of filters for parametric equalizers.
A novel ECG telemetry and monitoring system based on Z-Wave communication

This paper presents a novel ECG telemetry system based on Z-Wave communication protocol. The proposed system consists of small portable devices that acquire, compress and transmit the ECG to a RF-USB interface connected to a central monitoring computer. The received signals are filtered, QRS complexes and P and T waves are localized, and different waveforms are classified in order to be able to provide diagnosis tools like heart rate variability and turbulence analysis. Due to the limitation of communication bandwidth, the maximum number of measuring devices connected to a central monitor is four. The proposed system composed of inexpensive components can serve as flexible alternative to current ECG monitoring systems.