Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bacillus cereus Isolated From Vegetables in China: Incidence, Genetic Diversity, Virulence Genes, and Antimicrobial Resistance

Bacillus cereus is a food-borne opportunistic pathogen that can induce diarrheal and emetic symptoms. It is widely distributed in different environments and can be found in various foods, including fresh vegetables. As their popularity grows worldwide, the risk of bacterial contamination in fresh vegetables should be fully evaluated, particularly in vegetables that are consumed raw or processed minimally, which are not commonly sterilized by enough heat treatment. Thereby, it is necessary to perform potential risk evaluation of B. cereus in vegetables. In this study, 294 B. cereus strains were isolated from vegetables in different cities in China to analyze incidence, genetic polymorphism, presence of virulence genes, and antimicrobial resistance. B. cereus was detected in 50% of all the samples, and 21/211 (9.95%) of all the samples had contamination levels of more than 1,100 MPN/g. Virulence gene detection revealed that 95 and 82% of the isolates harbored nheABC and hblACD gene clusters, respectively. Additionally, 87% of the isolates harbored cytK gene, and 3% of the isolates possessed cesB. Most strains were resistant to rifampicin and β-lactam antimicrobials but were sensitive to imipenem, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, kanamycin, telithromycin, ciprofloxacin, and chloramphenicol. In addition, more than 95.6% of the isolates displayed resistance to three kinds of antibiotics. Based on multilocus sequence typing, all strains were classified into 210 different sequence types (STs), of which 145 isolates were assigned to 137 new STs. The most prevalent ST was ST770, but it included only eight isolates. Taken together, our research provides the first reference for the incidence and characteristics of B. cereus in vegetables collected throughout China, indicating a potential hazard of B. cereus when consuming vegetables without proper handling.
The Effect of Dissimilatory Manganese Reduction on Lactate Fermentation and Microbial Community Assembly

Fermentation and dissimilatory manganese (Mn) reduction are inter-related metabolic processes that microbes can perform in anoxic environments. Fermentation is less energetically favorable and is often not considered to compete for organic carbon with dissimilatory metal reduction. Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate the outcome of the competition for lactate between fermentation and Mn oxide (birnessite) reduction in a mixed microbial community. A birnessite reducing enrichment culture was obtained from activated sludge with lactate and birnessite as the substrates. This enrichment was further used to test how various birnessite activities (0, 10, 20, and 40 mM) affected the rates of fermentation and metal reduction, as well as community composition. Increased birnessite activity led to a decrease of lactate consumption rate. Acetate and propionate were the main products. With increasing birnessite activity, the propionate/acetate ratio decreased from 1.4 to 0.47. Significant CO2 production was detected only in the absence of birnessite. In its presence, CO2 concentrations remained close to the background since most of the CO2 produced in these experiments was recovered as MnCO3. The Mn reduction efficiency (Mn(II) produced divided by birnessite added) was the highest at 10 mM birnessite added, where about 50% of added birnessite was reduced to Mn(II), whereas at 20 and 40 mM approximately 21 and 16% was reduced. The decreased birnessite reduction efficiency at higher birnessite activities points to inhibition by terminal electron acceptors and/or its toxicity which was also indicated by retarded lactate oxidation and decreased concentrations of microbial metabolites. Birnessite activity strongly affected microbial community structure. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the most abundant phyla at 0 mM of birnessite. Their abundance was inversely correlated with birnessite concentration. The relative sequence abundance of Proteobacteria correlated with birnessite concentrations. Most of the enriched populations were involved in lactate/acetate or amino acid fermentation and the only previously known metal reducing genus detected was related to Shewanella sp. The sequencing data confirmed that lactate consumption coupled to metal reduction was only one of the processes occurring and did not outcompete fermentation processes.
Multiplicity of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells: Finding the Right Route to Therapy

Over the last decade, the acceleration in the clinical use of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) has been nothing short of spectacular. Perhaps most surprising is how little we know about the “MSC product. ” Although MSCs are being delivered to patients at an alarming rate, the regulatory requirements for MSC therapies (for example in terms of quality assurance and quality control) are nowhere near the expectations of traditional pharmaceuticals. That said, the standards that define a chemical compound or purified recombinant protein cannot be applied with the same stringency to a cell-based therapy. Biological processes are dynamic, adaptive and variable. Heterogeneity will always exist or emerge within even the most rigorously sorted clonal cell populations. With MSCs, perhaps more so than any other therapeutic cell, heterogeneity pervades at multiple levels, from the sample source to the single cell. The research and clinical communities collectively need to recognize and take steps to address this troublesome truth, to ensure that the promise of MSC-based therapies is fulfilled.
A design for testability scheme to reduce test application time in full scan

Full scan is a widely accepted design for testability technique for sequential circuits. However, the test application time required by full scan could be high because of the necessity to scan in and scan out test vectors. In this paper, a hybrid scheme is presented that aims to reduce test application time in circuits with full scan. The proposed scheme exploits the inherent sequential nature of the circuit in conjunction with the additional controllability and observability available through full scan. Also, it is shown that the hybrid scheme has an additional advantage of being suited for testing transition faults. <<ETX>>
Detection of a Low Level and Heterogeneous B Cell Immune Response in Peripheral Blood of Acute Borreliosis Patients With High Throughput Sequencing

The molecular diagnosis of acute Borreliosis is complicated and better strategies to improve the diagnostic processes are warranted. High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) of human B cell repertoires after e.g., Dengue virus infection or influenza vaccination revealed antigen-associated “CDR3 signatures” which may have the potential to support diagnosis in infectious diseases. The human B cell immune response to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato—the causative agent of Borreliosis—has mainly been studied at the antibody level, while less attention has been given to the cellular part of the humoral immune response. There are indications that Borrelia actively influence the B cell immune response and that it is therefore not directly comparable to responses induced by other infections. The main goal of this study was to identify B cell features that could be used to support diagnosis of Borreliosis. Therefore, we characterized the B cell immune response in these patients by combining multicolor flow cytometry, single Borrelia-reactive B cell receptor (BCR) sequencing, and B cell repertoire deep sequencing. Our phenotyping experiments showed, that there is no significant difference between B cell subpopulations of acute Borreliosis patients and controls. BCR sequences from individual epitope-reactive B cells had little in common between each other. HTS showed, however, a higher complementarity determining region 3 (CDR3) amino acid (aa) sequence overlap between samples from different timepoints in patients as compared to controls. This indicates, that HTS is sensitive enough to detect ongoing B cell immune responses in these patients. Although each individual's repertoire was dominated by rather unique clones, clustering of bulk BCR repertoire sequences revealed a higher overlap of IgG BCR repertoire sequences between acute patients than controls. Even if we have identified a few Borrelia-associated CDR3aa sequences, they seem to be rather unique for each patient and therefore not suitable as biomarkers.
Long-Term Submergence-Induced Elongation in Rumex palustris Requires Abscisic Acid-Dependent Biosynthesis of Gibberellin11

Rumex palustris (polygonceae) responds to complete submergence with enhanced elongation of its youngest petioles. This process requires the presence of gibberellin (GA) and is associated with an increase in the concentration of GA1 in elongating petioles. We have examined how GA biosynthesis was regulated in submerged plants. Therefore, cDNAs encoding GA-biosynthetic enzymes GA 20-oxidase and GA 3-oxidase, and the GA-deactivating enzyme GA 2-oxidase were cloned from R. palustris and the kinetics of transcription of the corresponding genes was determined during a 24 h submergence period. The submergence-induced elongation response could be separated into several phases: (1) during the first phase of 4 h, petiole elongation was insensitive to GA; (2) from 4 to 6 h onward growth was limited by GA; and (3) from 15 h onward underwater elongation was dependent, but not limited by GA. Submergence induced an increase of GA1 concentration, as well as enhanced transcript levels of RpGA3ox1. Exogenous abscisic acid repressed the transcript levels of RpGA20ox1 and RpGA3ox1 and thus inhibited the submergence-induced increase in GA1. Abscisic acid had no effect on the tissue responsiveness to GA.
Compact and Planar Monopole Antenna for WLAN and WiMAX Applications

─ A novel compact dual-band monopole antenna for WLAN and WiMAX applications is presented. The antenna is fed by a microstrip feed line and consists of two side-by-side split-ring structure as the radiating element. The proposed antenna is compact in size and provides 25.5% and 11.8% dual band performance covering 2.4/5.2 GHz WLAN and 2.5/2.7 GHz WiMAX bands, respectively. Also, the antenna exhibits uniform radiation patterns at each frequency band in both Eand H-planes. Comparison of simulated and measured results of return losses, radiation patterns and gains of the antenna are provided. Index Terms ─ Dual-band antenna, monopole antenna, split-ring elements, WiMAX, WLAN.
Adenosine A1 receptor‐mediated presynaptic inhibition at the calyx of Held of immature rats

At the calyx of Held synapse in brainstem slices of 5‐ to 7‐day‐old (P5–7) rats, adenosine, or the type 1 adenosine (A1) receptor agonist N6‐cyclopentyladenosine (CPA), inhibited excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) without affecting the amplitude of miniature EPSCs. The A1 receptor antagonist 8‐cyclopentyltheophylline (CPT) had no effect on the amplitude of EPSCs evoked at a low frequency, but significantly reduced the magnitude of synaptic depression caused by repetitive stimulation at 10 Hz, suggesting that endogenous adenosine is involved in the regulation of transmitter release. Adenosine inhibited presynaptic Ca2+ currents (IpCa) recorded directly from calyceal terminals, but had no effect on presynaptic K+ currents. When EPSCs were evoked by IpCa during simultaneous pre‐ and postsynaptic recordings, the magnitude of the adenosine‐induced inhibition of IpCa fully explained that of EPSCs, suggesting that the presynaptic Ca2+ channel is the main target of A1 receptors. Whereas the N‐type Ca2+ channel blocker ω‐conotoxin attenuated EPSCs, it had no effect on the magnitude of adenosine‐induced inhibition of EPSCs. During postnatal development, in parallel with a decrease in the A1 receptor immunoreactivity at the calyceal terminal, the inhibitory effect of adenosine became weaker. We conclude that presynaptic A1 receptors at the immature calyx of Held synapse play a regulatory role in transmitter release during high frequency transmission, by inhibiting multiple types of presynaptic Ca2+ channels.
Impact of heat stress, nutritional restriction and combined stresses (heat and nutritional) on growth and reproductive performance of Malpura rams under semi-arid tropical environment.

A study was conducted to assess the combined effect of heat stress and nutritional restriction on growth and reproductive performances in Malpura rams. Twenty-eight adult Malpura rams (average body weight (BW) 66.0 kg) were used in this study. The rams were divided into four groups: CON (n = 7; control), HES (n = 7; heat stress), NUS (n = 7; nutritional stress) and COS (n = 7; combined stress). The study was conducted for a period of 2 months. CON and HES rams had ad libitum access to their feed while NUS and COS rams were under restricted feed (30% intake of CON rams) to induce nutritional stress. The HES and COS rams were kept in climatic chamber at 42 °C and 55% relative humidity for 6 h a day between 10 : 00 h and 16 : 00 h to induce heat stress. Body weight increased significantly (p < 0.05) in CON as compared to NUS and COS. When compared within groups, scrotal width morning, scrotal width afternoon, scrotal circumference morning and scrotal circumference afternoon were significantly (p < 0.05) larger in CON while smaller in COS rams. The higher testicular length was recorded both during morning (p < 0.05) and afternoon (p < 0.01) in COS rams while the lowest in NUS rams. The highest plasma testosterone concentration was recorded in CON and lowest in COS rams. Semen volume and mass motility also differed significantly (p < 0.05) between the groups. The highest semen volume and mass motility was recorded in CON and NUS while lowest in both HES and COS rams. It can be concluded from this study that when two stressors occur simultaneously, they may have severe impact on reproductive performance of rams.
Implementation of Acuros XB in Treatment Planning of SBRT of Lung Cancer

Goal: The overall goal of this study is to present data assisting the implementation of the principle based dose calculation algorithm Acuros XB for Stereotactic Body Radiation Treatments (SBRT) of lung tumors. In particular, the goal is to investigate differences in target dose distributions calculated by the clinical algorithms AAA and Acuros XB as well as by the Monte Carlo method. Materials and Methods: Twenty conventional 3D conformal plans for SBRT of lung cancer were investigated. The prescribed dose was 3 Gy × 22 Gy at the center and 3 Gy × 15 Gy at the periphery of PTV. The plans were originally designed with AAA based on the requirement PTV-V100% (percentage of PTV receiving a dose larger than 100%=45 Gy), to be 100%. Recalculations were performed by utilizing Acuros XB as well as by full Monte Carlo method. Dose variations were evaluated in terms of DVH parameters D5%, D50%, D98% for GTV and PTV as well as PTV-V100%. Five plans showing large algorithm sensitivity in terms of PTV-V100% were re-planned by Acuros XB using the same treatment planning criteria. Results: AAA systematically overestimated the PTV dose compared to Acuros XB and Monte Carlo. Differences between AAA and Acuros XB of up to 8%, 10% and 5% were observed for PTV-D50%, PTV-D98% and PTV-V100%, correspondingly. The values obtained by the Monte Carlo method were up to 7% lower than these for Acuros XB. The variations in the PTV dose estimation could not be related to patient/plan characteristics like target volume, lung tissue volume included in the target or tumor proximity to the lung wall. The variations in the GTV parameters were smaller and the agreement between AAA and AXB as well as between Acuros XB and Monte Carlo was within 3%. Planning with Acuros XB increased the volume of the lung tissue close to the tumor receiving full dose by more than 20%. Conclusion: PTV dose coverage was overestimated in plans calculated by AAA. Transition to Acuros XB without changing the treatment planning criteria increased the dose to the lung tissue close to the tumor. The GTV dose coverage was more robust with respect to the algorithm changes.
Decreased Virulence of a gls24 Mutant of Enterococcus faecalis OG1RF in an Experimental Endocarditis Model

ABSTRACT In the current study, the gls24 disruption mutant TX10100, previously shown to be more sensitive to bile salts and attenuated in a mouse peritonitis model, showed an approximately fivefold higher 50% infective dose than wild-type OG1RF in a rat endocarditis model. When administered as a mixture, TX10100, unlike a downstream glsB mutant, was significantly outnumbered by OG1RF in vegetations, organs, and blood, despite being inoculated in greater numbers. These results indicate that gls24 is important in the pathogenesis of enterococcal endocarditis.
Type II focal cortical dysplasia: Electroclinical phenotype and surgical outcome related to imaging

Purpose: Type II focal cortical dysplasia (TTFCD), a highly epileptogenic lesion with severe epilepsy curable by surgery, is missed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in about one third of cases. Little is known about the electroclinical presentation in these MRI‐negative patients and a poor surgical outcome is frequently reported. We compared the clinical and neurophysiologic features in MRI‐negative and MRI‐positive cases in order to better identify candidates for surgery.
Measles virus haemagglutinin induces down-regulation of gp 57 / 67 , a molecule involved in virus binding

A surface glycoprotein (gp57/67) was previously shown to be involved in measles virus (MV) binding and characterized in our laboratory. Here, we described down-regulation of cell surface gp57/67 after infection with MV. This effect is specific for MV since cells infected with canine distemper virus, closely related to MV, did not down-regulate gp57/67. The decrease in cell surface gp57/67 correlated with expression of MV glycoproteins and more particularly with the expression of MV haemaggluttinin (MV-H). Indeed, expression of MV-H after infection with a vaccinia virus recombinant coding for MV-H was necessary and sufficient to induce down-regulation of gp57/67. Kinetics of cell surface expression of MV-H and gp57/67 showed that the degree of down-regulation was correlated with the amount of MV-H expressed by infected cells. Experiments using antibody-prelabelled gp57/67 and indirect immunofluorescence microscopy allowed us to follow the fate of gp57/67 and showed that down-regulation was occurring by rapid internalization of gp57/67 from the cell surface. These results provide additional evidence that the gp57/67 molecule is closely associated with the pathway of MV infection and also reveal a phenomenon which may be related to viral pathogenesis and persistence.
The Idiosyncratic Volatility Puzzle: Further Evidence from the European Equity Market

We do not find clear evidence of an idiosyncratic volatility puzzle on the three markets. Our models are inconclusive with a negative risk premium for the time series portfolio based regression model while the premium is positive in the panel data model. However, the parameter estimates are insignificant, therefore we accept the predictions of modern portfolio theories and conclude that idiosyncratic risk is not priced. We cannot find support that the “idiosyncratic volatility – future return”-relation is different over bear and bull markets. Neither do market volatility shocks seem to explain the difference in return between stocks with high and low idiosyncratic volatility
LRRK 2 regulates mitochondrial dynamics and function through direct interaction with DLP 1

Department of Pathology, Department of Pharmacology and Department of Neuroscience, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA, Department of Neurology & Institute of Neurology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China, and UTSA Neurosciences Institute and Department of Biology, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA
Beneficial Role of Ascorbic Acid against Lead Toxicity – A Mini Review

1 Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, National Research Institute for Chemical Technology, Basawa, Zaria, Nigeria 2 Department of Environmental and Industrial Technology, National Research Institute for Chemical Technology, Basawa, Zaria, Nigeria 3 Department of Biochemistry, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria 4 Bioresources Development Centre, National Biotechnology Development Agency, Lugbe, Abuja, Nigeria 5 Department of Chemistry, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria 6 Directorate of Research and Development, Nigerian Institute of Science and Leather Technology, Zaria, Nigeria
Analysis for Amazon Reviews

Sentiment analysis of product reviews, an application problem, has recently become very popular in text mining and computational linguistics research. Here, we want to study the correlation between the Amazon product reviews and the rating of the products given by the customers. We use both traditional machine learning algorithms including Naive Bayes analysis, Support Vector Machines, Knearest neighbor method and deep neural networks such as Recurrent Neural Network(RNN), Recurrent Neural Network(RNN). By comparing these results, we could get a better understanding of the these algorithms. They could also act as a supplement to other fraud scoring detection methods.
The Benefit of Exchange Rate Flexibility, Trade Openness and the Extensive Margin

The literature on optimum currency areas argues that in the presence of countryspecific real shocks, the cost of fixing exchange rates is decreasing in the degree of trade openness. This study uses a stochastic dynamic general equilibrium model of endogenous specialization to assess the benefit of exchange rate flexibility. The benefit of exchange rate flexibility consists of the benefit along the extensive margin through adjustment in the composition of trade, and the benefit along the intensive margin through adjustment in the relative prices. Openness is found to influence these two benefits differently. Thus, the model predicts a non-monotonic relationship between openness and the benefit of exchange rate flexibility.
Limitationofoxygenic photosynthesis and oxygen consumption by phosphateandorganic nitrogen ina hypersalinemicrobialmat : amicrosensor study

Microbial mats are characterized by high primary production but low growth rates, pointing to a limitation of growth by the lack of nutrients or substrates. We identified compounds that instantaneously stimulated photosynthesis rates and oxygen consumption rates in a hypersaline microbial mat by following the shortterm response (c. 6 h) of these processes to addition of nutrients, organic and inorganic carbon compounds, using microsensors. Net photosynthesis rates were not stimulated by compound additions. However, both gross photosynthesis and oxygen consumption were substantially stimulated (by a minimum of 25%) by alanine (1 mM) and glutamate (3.5 mM) as well as by phosphate (0.1 mM). A low concentration of ammonium (0.1 mM) did not affect photosynthesis and oxygen consumption, whereas a higher concentration (3.5 mM) decreased both process rates. High concentrations of glycolate (5 mM) and phosphate (1 mM) inhibited gross photosynthesis but not oxygen consumption, leading to a decrease of net photosynthesis. Photosynthesis was not stimulated by addition of inorganic carbon, nor was oxygen consumption stimulated by organic compounds like glycolate (5 mM) or glucose (5 mM), indicating that carbon was efficiently cycled within the mat. Photosynthesis and oxygen consumption were apparently tightly coupled, because stimulations always affected both processes to the same extent, which resulted in unchanged net photosynthesis rates. These findings illustrate that microsensor techniques, due to their ability to quantify all three processes, can clarify community responses to nutrient enrichment studies much better than techniques that solely monitor net fluxes.