Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Short communication Biofilm formation and the survival of Salmonella Typhimurium on parsley

Although several studies provide evidence that the formation of biofilms by human pathogens on plant tissue is possible, to date there is no direct evidence that biofilms enhance the resistance of plant-associated pathogens to disinfectants or biocides. We hypothesized that biofilm formation would enhance the adhesion and survival of Salmonella on leafy vegetables. To test our hypothesis, we compared the adhesion and persistence of Salmonella Typhimurium and its biofilm-deficient isogenic mutant. Following inoculation of parsley and rinsing with water or chlorine solution, both strains had similar survival properties, and up to 3-log reduction were observed, depending on chlorine concentration. This indicates that the biofilm matrix of Salmonella likely does not play a significant role in initial adhesion and survival after disinfection. After a week of storage the biofilm producing strain survived chlorination significantly better than the biofilm-deficient mutant. However, the recovery of the mutant was still elevated, indicating that although the biofilm matrix has a role in persistence of Salmonella after chlorination treatment of parsley, this is not the most important mechanism, and other mechanisms, probably the ability to penetrate the plant tissue or the pre-existing biofilms, or production of different polysaccharides other than cellulose, provide the protection.
Inactive renin in peritoneal fluid--an independent system or a transport form of circulating renin?

Active and inactive renin have been studied in peritoneal fluid and plasma of six patients with ascites and four patients on peritoneal dialysis (using concentrated dialysate). Acid-pepsin and trypsin activation gave similar results. In ascitic patients mean (+/- s.e.) plasma active renin was very high (0.31 +/- 0.99 pmol angiotensin l/l/s) compared with normal subjects (0.31 +/- 0.08 pmol ANG l/l/s). Plasma inactive renin (1.27 +/- 0.30 pmol ANG l/l/s) was similar to normal subjects (1.31 +/- 0.31 pmol ANG l/l/s) while the mean percentage of total renin which was inactive was 29.7 and 76.5. In ascitic fluid, active renin was very low (0.36 +/- 0.09 pmol ANG l/l/s) but inactive renin (2.15 +/- 0.28 pmol ANG l/l/s) was higher than plasma. Percentage of total renin inactive was 85.8. Peritoneal dialysate showed even smaller amounts of active renin but similar inactive renin with 95.4 per cent inactive (versus 73.8 in their plasma). Peritoneal fluid inactive renin was similar to that in plasma by affigel chromatography and gel filtration and showed, after activation, similar pH optima and Michaelis constants to plasma and peritoneal active renin.
Cancer immunotherapy with mRNA‐transfected dendritic cells

Summary: Bone marrow‐derived dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent antigen‐presenting cells capable of activating naïve T cells. Loading DCs ex vivo with tumor antigens can stimulate potent antitumor immunity in tumor‐bearing mice. This review describes the use of mRNA‐encoded tumor antigens as a form of antigen loaded onto DCs, including our early experience from clinical trials in urological cancers. Transfection of DCs with mRNA is simple and effective. Comparative studies suggest that mRNA transfection is superior to other antigen‐loading techniques in generating immunopotent DCs. The ability to amplify RNA from microscopic amounts of tumor tissue extends the use of DC vaccination to virtually every cancer patient. The striking observation from two phase I clinical trials, in patients with prostate cancer immunized with prostate‐specific antigen mRNA‐transfected DCs and patients with renal cancer immunized with autologous tumor RNA‐transfected DCs, was that the majority of patients exhibited a vaccine‐induced T‐cell response. Suggestive evidence of clinically related responses was seen in both the trials. Immunization with mRNA‐transfected DCs is a promising strategy to stimulate potent antitumor immunity and could serve as a foundation for developing effective treatments for cancer.
Some problem with current approaches to P 2 P Information Integration , and a possible research direction

Peer to Peer (P2P) networks are networks where each system (peer) can act both as data provider and consumer, without hierarchies or (crucial) dependencies on centralized components. P2P information integration takes place when, within some peer with respect to other peers, a dependency between provided and consumed information is established. Peers can either manage their own data schemas or adopt a shared ontology. In any case, they answer queries posed in a given terminology by accessing local data sources and/or by querying other peers basing on a suitable set of mappings. The striking di erence between P2P systems and centralized ones is the distribution of the integration logic [5]. While traditional information integration architectures are based on speci c components (e.g. service bus), P2P integration is, potentially, everywhere. This poses the problem of having semantic commitments (i.e. speci c interpretations of schemas over data items) distributed all around the network, rather that contained within the boundaries of a single, speci c, and controllable system. Hence, handling vagueness, misunderstandings, contradictions, and mistakes must be done in a distributed way, which makes P2P integration much more troublesome than classic, mediator-based information integration. In contrast with its inherent di culty, P2P integration has a strong industrial value. P2P is the most basic network topology, is modular, exible, robust, and, above all, re ects the intimate nature of the Web. In many cases, P2P integration is not an option, but a basic functional requirement. In fact, really loosely-coupled organizations, such as commerce, scienti c, or governmental ones, might not be able (or willing) to set up centralized mediators. For instance, the Italian nationwide Web Service infrastructure currently under development at CNIPA
Uptake and efflux of 14C‐dopamine in platelets

Thirty-five parkinsonian patients (five untreated, six with levodopa only, seven with levodopa plus Ro 4–4602, nine with anticholinergic and/or antihistaminic medication, and eight with the anticholinergic/antihistaminic medication plus amantadine) and 35 age-matched control subjects were studied. Platelets isolated from each individual plasma were incubated with 14C-dopamine. Uptake was found to be decreased to a significant degree in all treated or untreated parkinsonian patients when compared with control subjects. Anticholinergic and/or antihistaminic medication, with or without amantadine, further decreased the dopamine uptake into platelets, while levodopa alone or with Ro 4–4602 returned uptake values to near normal. Dopamine efflux paralleled exactly the uptake values. The fact that parkinsonian platelets exhibit impaired dopamine uptake, while age-matched control platelets do not, constitutes the first direct evidence in favor of a generalized dopamine defect in Parkinson's disease.
Computational composites

Computational composite is introduced as a new type of composite material. Arguing that this is not just a metaphorical maneuver, we provide an analysis of computational technology as material in design, which shows how computers share important characteristics with other materials used in design and architecture. We argue that the notion of computational composites provides a precise understanding of the computer as material, and of how computations need to be combined with other materials to come to expression as material. Besides working as an analysis of computers from a designer's point of view, the notion of computational composites may also provide a link for computer science and human-computer interaction to an increasingly rapid development and use of new materials in design and architecture.
Ready Both to Your and to My Hands: Mapping the Action Space of Others

To date, mutual interaction between action and perception has been investigated mainly by focusing on single individuals. However, we perceive affording objects and acts upon them in a surrounding world inhabited by other perceiving and acting bodies. Thus, the issue arises as to whether our action-oriented object perception might be modulated by the presence of another potential actor. To tackle this issue we used the spatial alignment effect paradigm and systematically examined this effect when a visually presented handled object was located close either to the perceiver or to another individual (a virtual avatar). We found that the spatial alignment effect occurred whenever the object was presented within the reaching space of a potential actor, regardless of whether it was the participant's own or the other's reaching space. These findings show that objects may afford a suitable motor act when they are ready not only to our own hand but also, and most importantly, to the other's hand. Our proposal is that this effect is likely to be due to a mapping of our own and the other's reaching space and we posit that such mapping could play a critical role in joining our own and the other's action.
Ontogenesis : developing self – other maps at psychological and neural levels

Studying human infants will increase our understanding of the nature, origins and function of neural mirroring mechanisms. Human infants are prolific imitators. Infant imitation indicates observation–execution linkages in the brain prior to language and protracted learning. Investigations of neural aspects of these linkages in human infants have focused on the sensorimotor mu rhythm in the electroencephalogram, which occurs in the alpha frequency range over central electrode sites. Recent results show that the infant mu rhythm is desynchronized during action execution as well as action observation. Current work is elucidating properties of the infant mu rhythm and how it may relate to prelinguistic action processing and social understanding. Here, we consider this neuroscience research in relation to developmental psychological theory, particularly the ‘Like-Me’ framework, which holds that one of the chief cognitive tasks of the human infant is to map the similarity between self and other. We elucidate the value of integrating neuroscience findings with behavioural studies of infant imitation, and the reciprocal benefit of examining mirroring mechanisms from an ontogenetic perspective.
Incidence and Prognosis of Atrial Fibrillation in Patients With Sepsis

Background Although the mortality rate among patients with sepsis is declining, the incidence of both sepsis and sepsis-related deaths is increasing, likely due to its presence in a growing elderly population. As atrial fibrillation is more common in the elderly, we hypothesize that its presence will be associated with greater mortality among patients with sepsis. Methods The Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) database of a large tertiary care medical center was queried for sepsis-related codes and atrial fibrillation. Results Atrial fibrillation was associated with older age and a higher mortality in this series of patients with sepsis. Conclusions Whether atrial fibrillation is a marker of disease severity or contributes to mortality is uncertain. Further studies are necessary to determine optimal management.
CyberGate: A Design Framework and System for Text Analysis of Computer-Mediated Communication

Content analysis of computer-mediated communication (CMC) is important for evaluating the effectiveness of electronic communication in various organizational settings. CMC text analysis relies on systems capable of providing suitable navigation and knowledge discovery functionalities. However, existing CMC systems focus on structural features, with little support for features derived from message text. This deficiency is attributable to the informational richness and representational complexities associated with CMC text. In order to address this shortcoming, we propose a design framework for CMC text analysis systems. Grounded in systemic functional linguistic theory, the proposed framework advocates the development of systems capable of representing the rich array of information types inherent in CMC text. It also provides guidelines regarding the choice of features, feature selection, and visualization techniques that CMC text analysis systems should employ. The CyberGate system was developed as an instantiation of the design framework. CyberGate incorporates a rich feature set and complementary feature selection and visualization methods, including the writeprints and ink blots techniques. An application example was used to illustrate the system's ability to discern important patterns in CMC text. Furthermore, results from numerous experiments conducted in comparison with benchmark methods confirmed the viability of CyberGate's features and techniques. The results revealed that the CyberGate system and its underlying design framework can dramatically improve CMC text analysis capabilities over those provided by existing systems.
The Control of Single-color and Multiple-color Visual Search by Attentional Templates in Working Memory and in Long-term Memory

The question whether target selection in visual search can be effectively controlled by simultaneous attentional templates for multiple features is still under dispute. We investigated whether multiple-color attentional guidance is possible when target colors remain constant and can thus be represented in long-term memory but not when they change frequently and have to be held in working memory. Participants searched for one, two, or three possible target colors that were specified by cue displays at the start of each trial. In constant-color blocks, the same colors remained task-relevant throughout. In variable-color blocks, target colors changed between trials. The contralateral delay activity (CDA) to cue displays increased in amplitude as a function of color memory load in variable-color blocks, which indicates that cued target colors were held in working memory. In constant-color blocks, the CDA was much smaller, suggesting that color representations were primarily stored in long-term memory. N2pc components to targets were measured as a marker of attentional target selection. Target N2pcs were attenuated and delayed during multiple-color search, demonstrating less efficient attentional deployment to color-defined target objects relative to single-color search. Importantly, these costs were the same in constant-color and variable-color blocks. These results demonstrate that attentional guidance by multiple-feature as compared with single-feature templates is less efficient both when target features remain constant and can be represented in long-term memory and when they change across trials and therefore have to be maintained in working memory.
Optical properties of Cu-C70 nanocomposite under low energy ion irradiation

Nanocomposite thin films consisting of Cu nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in fullerene C70 matrix are prepared by thermal co-deposition technique. Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy reveals that the thickness of thin film is about 35 nm and the atomic concentration on Cu metal is about 2%. The as-deposited thin films are irradiated with 120 keV N+ ions at various fluences ranging from 1 ×1014 ions cm−2 to 3 × 1016 ions cm−2. Low energy ion irradiation is proved to be an efficient technique to modify the optical, structural and electrical properties of nanocomposite thin films. Optical absorption spectra demonstrate that there was no signature of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak in the as-deposited film whereas a broad SPR band with the peak at ∼620 nm was observed for the film irradiated at the highest fluence (3 × 1016 ions cm−2). Raman spectroscopy is useful in providing information about the structural evolution of Cu-C70 nanocomposite thin films and confirms the gradual transformation of fullerene C70 into amorphous carbon with increasing fluence. Surface topography is probed by atomic force microscopy which shows the roughness of nanocomposite film varies with ion fluence.
Role of blood clot formation on early edema development after experimental intracerebral hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Blood "toxicity" is hypothesized to induce edema and brain tissue injury following intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Lobar ICH in pigs produces rapidly developing, marked perihematomal edema (>10% increase in water content) associated with clot-derived plasma protein accumulation. Coagulation cascade activation and, specifically, thrombin itself contribute to edema development during the first 24 hours after gray matter ICH in rats. In the present study, we sought to determine whether blood clot formation is necessary for edema development by comparing intracerebral infusions of heparinized and unheparinized blood in pig (white matter) and in rat (gray matter). We also examined heparin's effect on thrombin-induced gray matter edema. METHODS In pigs, we infused autologous blood (with or without heparin) into the cerebral white matter to produce lobar hematomas and froze the brains in situ at 1, 4, or 24 hours after ICH. We determined hematomal and perihematomal edema volumes on coronal sections by computer-assisted morphometry. In rats, we infused either blood or thrombin (with or without heparin) into the basal ganglia and measured water, sodium, and potassium contents at 24 hours after ICH. RESULTS In pigs, unheparinized blood induced rapid (at 1 hour) and prolonged (24 hours) perihematomal edema (average volume, 1.29+/-0. 20 mL; n=6). No perihematomal edema was present following heparinized blood infusions (n=6). In rats, unheparinized blood produced significantly greater edema than heparinized blood infusions. As with whole blood, thrombin-induced gray matter edema at 24 hours was significantly reduced by coinjection of heparin. CONCLUSIONS After ICH, blood clot formation is required for rapid and prolonged edema development in perihematomal white and gray matter. Thrombin also contributes to prolonged edema in gray matter.
Monitoring Glycemic Control in End-Stage Renal Disease: What Should Be Measured?

The study by Chen et al. (1) in this issue of Clinical Chemistry addresses an important and practical problem, namely how to monitor glycemia in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). 3 Recent estimates suggest that there are approximately 420 million people in the world with diabetes mellitus, a >2.5-fold increase since the turn of the 21st century. The dramatic rise in the prevalence of diabetes is mainly due to the global increase in the burden of overweight and obese individuals. The complications of diabetes have risen concomitantly with the increasing numbers of persons with the disease. Diabetes is the leading cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD), and is one of the most important risk factors for ESRD, cardiovascular disease, infection, and death in CKD patients (2). In the developed world, diabetes accounts for approximately 50% of ESRD cases, with the vast majority of these patients using dialysis as the primary mode of renal function. Several analytes, including glucose, hemoglobin A1c (Hb A1c), fructosamine, glycated albumin, and 1,5-anhydroglucitol, are used for the evaluation of glycemia (3). Although widely available, blood glucose is limited by lack of sample stability, concentrations are altered by numerous factors (including diet, stress, and illness), and it reflects glucose homeostasis at only a single point in time (4). Hb A1c is the analyte most widely measured to monitor long-term glycemic control. Glucose attaches to hemoglobin molecules over the lifetime of the erythrocyte, which is approximately 120 days. Therefore, Hb A1c reflects average glucose over the prior 8–12 weeks (5). The Hb A1c, which is used clinically to adjust therapy and as a marker of risk for the development of complications, is integral to the management of patients with diabetes and is also recommended for diagnosis. Nevertheless, Hb A1c is …
Robust multi-image based blind face hallucination

This paper proposes a robust multi-image based blind face hallucination framework to super-resolve LR faces. The proposed framework first estimates both blurring kernel and transformations of multiple LR faces by robust deblurring and registration in PCA subspace. A patch-wise mixture of probabilistic PCA prior is then incorporated for face super-resolution. Previous work on face SR using PCA prior can be viewed as special cases of the framework. Experimental results in both simulated and real LR sequences demonstrate very promising performance of the proposed method.
Human Melatonin Suppression by Light is Intensity Dependent

Five intensities of artificial light were examined for the effect on nocturnal melatonin concentrations. Maximum suppression of melatonin following 1 hr of light at midnight was 71%, 67%, 44%, 38%, and 16% with intensities of 3,000, 1,000, 500, 350, and 200 lux (lx), respectively. In contrast to some previous reports, light of 1,000 lx intensity was sufficient to suppress melatonin to near daytime levels, and intensities down to 350 lx were shown to significantly suppress nocturnal melatonin levels below prelight values. On the basis of these data, it is suggested that when examining the melatonin sensitivity of patient groups (such as bipolar affective disorders) to artificial light, an appropriate light intensity should be established in each laboratory. Light of less intensity (e.g., 200–350 lx) may be more suitable to dichotomize patient groups from control subjects.
The liver in sepsis: patterns of response and injury

Purpose of reviewSepsis elicits profound changes in the concentrations of plasma proteins synthesized by liver parenchymal cells referred to as acute-phase proteins. Mechanisms controlling this orchestrated response include release of cytokines that induce acute-phase proteins, while other ‘house-keeping’ genes are downregulated. Recent findingsAlthough some acute-phase proteins help to control damage, functions of many other acute-phase reactants remain obscure. Changes in acute-phase gene expression are primarily subject to transcriptional regulation and can be comprehensively monitored by array techniques. Emerging evidence from such strategies implies that in addition to a ‘common host response’ also highly specific pathways are induced in specific disease contexts. Applying a systems biology approach to the integrated response of the hepatocyte to infection would suggest that the reprogramming of metabolic functions occurs in parallel with a severity-dependent disruption of phase I and II biotransformation and canalicular transport, that is, excretory failure. Although traditionally bilirubin serves to monitor excretion, emerging evidence suggests that bile acids indicate liver dysfunction with higher sensitivity and specificity. SummarySepsis induces reprogramming of the hepatic transcriptome. This includes induction of adaptive acute-phase proteins but also repression of phase I, II metabolism and transport with important implications for monitoring and pharmacotherapy.
Notch signaling modulates the activation of microglial cells

The Notch signaling pathway plays a crucial role in specifying cellular fate in metazoan development by regulating communication between adjacent cells. Correlative studies suggested an involvement of Notch in hematopoietic cell development. Here, we report that the Notch pathway is expressed and active in microglial cells. During inflammatory activation, the transcription of the Notch down‐stream effector Hes1 is downregulated. When Notch1 transcription in microglia is inhibited, an upregulation of the expression of pro‐inflammatory cytokines is observed. Notch stimulation in activated microglia, using a soluble form of its ligand Jagged1, induces a decrease in pro‐inflammatory cytokines secretion and nitric oxide production as well as an increase in phagocytic activity. Notch‐stimulation is accompanied by an increase in the rate of STAT3 phosphorylation and nuclear translocation. Our results show that the Notch pathway plays an important role in the control of inflammatory reactions in the CNS. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.