Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Linking global turnover of species and environments

Patterns of species turnover are central to the geography of biodiversity and resulting challenges for conservation, but at broad scales remain relatively little understood. Here, we take a first spatially-explicitly and global perspective to link the spatial turnover of species and environments. We compare how major groups of vertebrate ectotherms (amphibians) and endotherms (birds) respond to spatial environmental gradients. We find that high levels of species turnover occur regardless of environmental turnover rates, but environmental turnover provides a lower bound for species turnover. This lower bound increases more steeply with environmental turnover in tropical realms. While bird and amphibian turnover rates are correlated, the rate of amphibian turnover is four times steeper than bird rates. This is the same factor by which average geographic ranges of birds are larger than those of amphibians. Narrow-ranged birds exhibit rapid rates of species turnover similar to those for amphibians, while wide-ranged birds largely drive the aggregate patterns of avian turnover. We confirm a strong influence of the environment on species turnover that is mediated by range sizes and regional history. In contrast to geographic patterns of species richness, we find that the turnover in one group (amphibians) is a much better predictor for the turnover in another (birds) than is environment. This result confirms the role of amphibian sensitivity to environmental conditions for patterns of turnover and supports their value as a surrogate group. This spatially-explicit analysis of environmental turnover provides understanding for conservation planning in changing environments.
Screening and Identification of Novel Ochratoxin A-Producing Fungi from Grapes

Ochratoxin A (OTA) contamination has been established as a world-wide problem. In this study, the strains with the ability of OTA production were screened by analyzing the green fluorescence of the isolates colonies from the grapes in Zhenjiang with 365 nm UV light and confirmed by HPLC with fluorescent detection (HPLC-FLD). The results showed that seven isolates acquired the characteristic of the fluorescence, of which only five showed the ability of OTA production as confirmed by HPLC-FLD analysis. The five OTA-producing strains were identified based on comparative sequence analysis of three conserved genes (ITS, BenA and RPB2) of the strains, and they are Talaromyces rugulosus (O1 and Q3), Penicillium commune (V5-1), Penicillium rubens (MQ-5) and Aspergillus aculeatus (MB1-1). There are two Penicillium species of the five OTA-producing strains and our study is the first to report that P. rubens, T. rugulosus and A. aculeatus can produce OTA. This work would contribute to comprehensively understanding the fungi with an OTA-producing ability in grapes before harvest and then take effective measures to prevent OTA production.
Systemic and Brain Macrophage Infections in Relation to the Development of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Encephalitis

ABSTRACT The brains of individuals with lentiviral-associated encephalitis contain an abundance of infected and activated macrophages. It has been hypothesized that encephalitis develops when increased numbers of infected monocytes traffic into the central nervous system (CNS) during the end stages of immunosuppression. The relationships between the infection of brain and systemic macrophages and circulating monocytes and the development of lentiviral encephalitis are unknown. We longitudinally examined the extent of monocyte/macrophage infection in blood and lymph nodes of pigtailed macaques that did or did not develop simian immunodeficiency virus encephalitis (SIVE). Compared to levels in macaques that did not develop SIVE, more ex vivo virus production was detected from monocyte-derived macrophages and nonadherent peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from macaques that did develop SIVE. Prior to death, there was an increase in the number of circulating PBMCs following a rise in cerebrospinal fluid viral load in macaques that did develop SIVE but not in nonencephalitic macaques. At necropsy, macaques with SIVE had more infected macrophages in peripheral organs, with the exception of lymph nodes. T cells and NK cells with cytotoxic potential were more abundant in brains with encephalitis; however, T-cell and NK-cell infiltration in SIVE and human immunodeficiency virus encephalitis was more modest than that observed in classical acute herpes simplex virus encephalitis. These findings support the hypothesis that inherent differences in host systemic and CNS monocyte/macrophage viral production are associated with the development of encephalitis.
Sleep Environment Risk Factors for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: The German Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Study

OBJECTIVE. Our goal was to investigate the risk factors for sudden infant death syndrome in the infants' sleep environment for a population in which few infants sleep prone as a result of education campaigns. METHODS. This was a population-based sudden infant death syndrome case-control study over 3 years (1998–2001) in Germany. RESULTS. There were 333 sudden infant death syndrome cases and 998 matched controls. Although only 4.1% of the infants were placed prone to sleep, those infants were at a high risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Those who were unaccustomed to sleeping prone were at very high risk, as were those who turned to prone. Bed sharing (especially for infants younger than 13 weeks); duvets; sleeping prone on a sheepskin; sleeping in the house of a friend or a relative (compared with sleeping in the parental home); and sleeping in the living room (compared with sleeping in the parental bedroom) increased the risk for sudden infant death syndrome; pacifier use during the last sleep was associated with a significantly reduced risk of sudden infant death syndrome. CONCLUSIONS. This study has clarified the risk factors for sudden infant death syndrome in a population where few infants sleep prone. This study supports the current recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics. This study has identified several novel risk factors for sudden infant death syndrome: an increased risk if the infants sleeps outside the parental home, death in the living room, and the high risk when sleeping prone on a sheepskin; however, because the numbers of cases in these groups are small, additional studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Prevalence of infection with Cryptosporidium parvumand Cyclospora cayetanensis among international travellers

Background—Cryptosporidium parvumand Cyclospora cayetanensis are recognised as possible pathogens of traveller’s diarrhoea. Aims—To identify the prevalence of C parvumand Cyc cayetanensis in travellers returning from developing countries. Patients—Nine hundred and seventy eight stool samples were taken from 795 patients returning from developing countries. Methods—Microscopy (iron-haematoxylin stain, SAF concentration, modified acid fast stain) and a commercially available enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit for the detection of Cryptosporidium antigen in stool. Results—Of the 795 patients in the study, 469 suffered from diarrhoea. Infection with Cyc cayetanensiscould be detected in five subjects (1.1%) by acid fast stain, and 13 patients (2.8%) were infected with C parvum. On evaluation, the antigen capture ELISA turned out to be clearly less sensitive for detection of C parvum than microscopy. All patients with either C parvum or Cyc cayetanensis infection suffered from watery diarrhoea. Conclusions—C parvum and Cyc cayetanensis are not major causes of diarrhoea in international travellers. In cases of persistent watery diarrhoea, however, these pathogens should be taken into account in the differential diagnosis.
Using mass spectrometry to characterize self-assembled monolayers presenting peptides, proteins, and carbohydrates.

Mass spectrometry (MS) is an important technique for characterizing the structures of surfaces and has several characteristics that are especially valuable in bioanalytical applications. In biochip applications, for example, MS offers the significant advantage that it does not require analytes to be labeled–either by direct attachment of fluorescent and radioactive labels or by binding of antibodies–and therefore offers greater flexibility in experiments. [1±4] Further, the use of immobilized ligands to isolate active proteins from the COMMUNICATIONS
Beta2-adrenergic receptor genotype and pulmonary function in patients with heart failure.

OBJECTIVE Chronic heart failure (CHF) is associated with neurohumoral activation and decrements in pulmonary function (PF). The beta2-adrenergic receptor (ADRB2) modulates airway smooth muscle tone and influences lung fluid clearance. Common polymorphisms of the ADRB2 are associated with differences in ADRB2 function and therefore could differentially influence PF in patients with CHF. METHODS We studied baseline PF according to genetic variations of the ADRB2 at amino acid 16 (ie, arginine [Arg] or glycine [Gly]) in 126 CHF patients (mean [+/- SEM] age, 56 +/- 1 years; left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF], 29 +/- 1%; body mass index [BMI], 28 +/- 0.4 kg/m2) and in 100 healthy control subjects (mean age, 50 +/- 2 years; LVEF, 63 +/- 0.7%; BMI, 25 +/- 0.3 kg/m2). RESULTS Venous epinephrine levels did not differ between CHF patients and control subjects or across genotype groups; however, norepinephrine levels were higher in CHF patients and was greater in ArgArg patients compared to GlyGly patients (p < 0.05). PF did not differ according to genotype in control subjects; however, CHF patients who were homozygous for Arg had reduced PF relative to heterozygotes or those subjects who were homozygous for Gly (vital capacity: ArgArg group, 82 +/- 3% predicted; ArgGly group, 92 +/- 2% predicted; GlyGly group, 93 +/- 2% predicted; FVC: ArgArg group, 77 +/- 3% predicted; ArgGly group, 89 +/- 2% predicted; GlyGly group, 90 +/- 2% predicted; FEV1: ArgArg group, 75 +/- 4% predicted; ArgGly group, 86 +/- 3% predicted; GlyGly group, 87 +/- 2% predicted; diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide: ArgArg group, 76 +/- 4% predicted; ArgGly group, 83 +/- 2% predicted; GlyGly group, 85 +/- 2% predicted; p < 0.05). In addition, there was a modest correlation between mitral valve inflow deceleration time and PF in CHF patients (r = 0.42; p < 0.01), but not in control subjects. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that genetic variation of the ADRB2 is associated with differences in PF in CHF patients but not in healthy subjects, which may be related to an increased susceptibility of the homozygous Arg subjects to agonist-mediated desensitization of ADRB2s in the lungs, or related to an influence of this polymorphism on cardiac diastolic properties.
Epigenomics: Pioneering a New Frontier in Cancer Research

Cancer typically occurs as the consequence of mutations or deregulated expression of genes that control cell survival, proliferation and/or death. Given its remarkable intricacy and complexity, the concept of cancer as a disease that can be greatly impacted by alterations in epigenetic regulation (and thus gene expression) has gained considerable momentum within the scientific community. In the 1990s, one focal point of epigenetic cancer research was ascertaining the extent of DNA methylation abnormalities and defining how DNA methylation influences expression of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes in transformed cells [1]. However, during the past decade, this focus has been significantly broadened by the upsurge of research identifying and studying the role of molecules that affect chromatin dynamics (i.e. global DNA methylation and post-translational modifications of histones) in cancer cells. This new wave of research has given way to an emerging view of what may now be called “the cancer epigenome,” which consists of heritable abnormalities that occur in the absence of DNA sequence alterations in the genome [2].
A Machine Learning approach to Biochemical Reaction Rules Discovery

Beyond numerical simulation, the possibility of performing symbolic computation on bio-molecular interaction networks opens the way to the design of new automated reasoning tools for biologists/modelers. The Biochemical Abstract machine BIOCHAM provides a precise semantics to biomolecular interaction maps as concurrent transition systems. Based on this formal semantics, BIOCHAM offers a compositional rule-based language for modeling biochemical systems, and an original query language based on temporal logic for expressing biological queries about reachability, checkpoints, oscillations or stability. Turning the temporal logic query language into a specification language for expressing the observed behavior of the system (in wild-life and mutated organisms) makes it possible to use machine learning techniques for completing or correcting biological models semi-automatically. Machine learning from temporal logic formulae is quite new however, both from the machine learning perspective and from the Systems Biology perspective. In this paper, we report on the machine learning system of BIOCHAM which allows to discover, on the one hand, interaction rules from a partial model with constraints on the system behavior expressed in temporal logic, and on the other hand, kinetic parameter values from a temporal logic specification with constraints on numerical concentrations.
A Developmental Approach to Parenting Education: Parenting as a Growth Process. Draft.

A study field tested and evaluated an instructional approach to parent education that tried, from a developmental perspective, to help parents become aware of their parenting practices. A program was developed to support parents in becoming aware of personal themes and actions that influenced the nature of parent-child interaction and in becoming aware of personal themes about their own growth as parents. The instructional design incorporated Newberger's (1977) developmental continuum of parental awareness of children and theme expressions parents used in conceptualizing child rearing patterns. Field testing and evaluation of the program was completed in five educational settings, including secondary and adult education settings, at-risk population settings, and higher education. Thirty-one parents participated. The educational program reflected three phases of learning: parental awareness of support-restrict theme expression, theme elaboration and linkage to existing perceptions of parenting practices, and reorganization and reevaluation of parenting practices. Preand post-assessments and interviews assessed degree of change in levels of awareness and patterns of theme expression. Parental growth was most evident in theme expression. Parents became more child focused and less self and culture bound in their perspectives. (Appendixes include 32 references, data tables and figures, and examples of levels of awareness and theme expression.) (YLB) **********,. ************************************************* Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** A DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH TO PARENTING EDUCATION: PARENTING AS A GROWTH PROCESS Lorraine Kvistberg Anderson and Ruth G. Thomas University of Minnesota A PAPER PRESENTED AT THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION SAN FRANCISCO, CA APRIL,1992
Vasodilatory effect of subsequent administration of fasudil, a rho-kinase inhibitor, surpasses that of nitroglycerin at the concentric coronary stenosis in patients with stable angina pectoris.

BACKGROUND Recent studies have suggested that the Rho/Rho-kinase mediated pathway (Rho-kinase pathway) regulates the vasomotion of arteries in pathological conditions. However, it remains unclear regarding whether this pathway regulates the coronary vasomotion of atherosclerotic lesions. METHODS AND RESULTS The coronary diameter at the concentric stenotic site, which is considered to reflect the whole circumferential atherosclerosis, in patients with stable angina pectoris (SAP; n=11) and the control site in patients with SAP and chest pain syndrome (CPS; n=9), was measured at baseline and after the intracoronary administration of nitroglycerin (200 microg) and the subsequent intravenous infusion of fasudil (30 mg for 30 min), a Rho-kinase inhibitor, during coronary angiography. The change in the diameter with fasudil at the concentric stenotic site (22.0+/-10.0%) was significantly higher than that with nitroglycerin (4.7+/-6.0%, p<0.001) in patients with SAP. Meanwhile, the vasodilatory effect of nitroglycerin and fasudil at the control site was similar in both group of patients (25.5+/-17.3% and 21.9+/-14.9% in SAP and 34.4+/-20.8% and 33.2+/-23.6% in CPS, respectively). CONCLUSIONS The vasodilatory effect of the subsequent administration of fasudil surpassed that of nitroglycerin at the concentric coronary stenosis in patients with SAP, thus suggesting that the Rho-kinase pathway regulates the coronary vasomotion of atherosclerotic lesions.
Design , Fault Detection and Mitigation in Cascaded H-Bridge STATCOM

The concept of multilevel inverters, introduced about 20 years ago entails performing power conversion in multiple voltage steps to obtain improved power quality, lower switching losses, better electromagnetic compatibility, and higher voltage capability. The benefits are especially clear for medium-voltage drives in industrial applications and are being considered for future naval ship propulsion systems. This dissertation is dedicated to a comprehensive study of static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) systems utilizing cascaded-multilevel converters (CMCs). Among flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) controllers, the STATCOM has shown feasibility in terms of costeffectiveness in a wide range of problem-solving abilities from transmission to distribution levels. Referring to the literature reviews, the CMC with separated DC capacitors is clearly the most feasible topology for use as a power converter in the STATCOM applications. The controls for the CMC-based STATCOM were, however, very complicated. The intricate control design was begun without well-defined system transfer functions. The control compensators were, therefore, randomly selected. The stability of the system was achieved by trial and error processes, which were time-consuming and ineffective. To be able to operate in a high-voltage application, a large number of DC capacitors are utilized in a CMC-based STATCOM. All DC capacitor voltages must be balanced in order to avoid overvoltages on any particular link. Not only do these uneven DC voltages introduce voltage stress on the semiconductor switches, but they also lower the quality of the synthesized output waveforms of the converter.A SIMULINK based model is developed and Simulation results are presented. Keywords-Cas caded H-Bridge, Multilevel Converter, PWM
Maya Archeology

Maya beginnings go back at least 4000 years in southern Mexico and Central America. The Maya of the tropical lowlands were one of several linguistically distinct groups who occupied pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Their complex social order and civilization, which arose from early village farming, encompassed remarkable achievements in architecture, the arts, and hieroglyphic writing. Their Classic civilization (A.D. 250 to 1000) was a tightly integrated system in which subsistence, technology, settlement, the arts, and ideology closely intermeshed. Their decline and the subsequent Postclassic Period (A.D. 1000 to .1520), the continuing subjects of debate among Mayanists, are perhaps best understood in the light of more widespread Mesoamerican trends and changes.
Gene Expression Profile of Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes from Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients Treated with IL-2, Interferon-α and Dendritic Cell Vaccine

Lymphocytes are a key component of the immune system and their differentiation and function are directly influenced by cancer. We examined peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL) gene expression as a biomarker of illness and treatment effect using the Affymetrix Human Gene ST1 platform in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) who received combined treatment with IL-2, interferon-? -2a and dendritic cell vaccine. We examined gene expression, cytokine levels in patient serum and lymphocyte subsets as determined by flow cytometry (FCM). Pre-treatment PBLs from patients with mRCC exhibit a gene expression profile and serum cytokine profile consistent with inflammation and proliferation not found in healthy donors (HD). PBL gene expression from patients with mRCC showed increased mRNA of genes involved with T-cell and TREG-cell activation pathways, which was also reflected in lymphocyte subset distribution. Overall, PBL gene expression post-treatment (POST) was not significantly different than pre-treatment (PRE). Nevertheless, treatment related changes in gene expression (post-treatment minus pre-treatment) revealed an increased expression of T-cell and B-cell receptor signaling pathways in responding (R) patients compared to non-responding (NR) patients. In addition, we observed down-regulation of TREG-cell pathways post-treatment in R vs. NR patients. While exploratory in nature, this study supports the hypothesis that enhanced inflammatory cytotoxic pathways coupled with blunting of the regulatory pathways is necessary for effective anti-cancer activity associated with immune therapy. This type of analysis can potentially identify additional immune therapeutic targets in patients with mRCC.
Efficacy of Telavancin against Penicillin-Resistant Pneumococci and Staphylococcus aureus in a Rabbit Meningitis Model and Determination of Kinetic Parameters

ABSTRACT The penetration of telavancin was 2% into inflamed meninges and ca. 1‰ into noninflamed meninges after two intravenous injections (30 mg/kg of body weight). In experimental meningitis, telavancin was significantly superior to vancomycin combined with ceftriaxone against a penicillin-resistant pneumococcal strain. Against a methicillin-sensitive staphylococcal strain, telavancin was slightly but not significantly superior to vancomycin.
INTRA‐AXONAL MYOSIN AND ACTIN IN NERVE REGENERATION

A FOCUSED REVIEW of sciatic nerve regeneration in the rat model, based on research conducted by the authors, is presented. We examine structural proteins carried distally in the axon by energy-requiring motor enzymes, using protein chemistry and molecular biology techniques in combination with immunohistochemistry. Relevant findings from other laboratories are cited and discussed. The general conclusion is that relatively large amounts of actin and tubulin are required to construct a regenerating axon and that these materials mainly originate in the parent axon. The motor enzymes that carry these proteins forward as macromolecules include kinesin and dynein but probably also include myosin.