Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SOME NUTRITIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PREDOMINANT CULTURABLE RUMINAL BACTERIA

Bryant, M. P. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Md.) and I. M. Robinson. Some nutritional characteristics of predominant culturable ruminal bacteria. J. Bacteriol. 84:605–614. 1962. —The effect of enzymatic hydrolysate of casein, NH4+, a mixture of volatile fatty acids (acetic, n-valeric, isovaleric, 2-methylbutyric, and isobutyric), hemin, and ruminal fluid on growth of 89 freshly isolated strains of predominant culturable ruminal bacteria was studied, using basal media containing glucose, cellobiose, or maltose as energy source, minerals, cysteine, and S= as reducing agents, and H2CO3-HCO3− buffer. Of these strains, 13% (four morphological groups) grew poorly or not at all in defined medium plus casein hydrolysate; 6% (one morphological group) required casein hydrolysate; 56% (four morphological groups) grew with either NH4+ or casein hydrolysate as the main source of nitrogen; and NH4+, but not casein hydrolysate, was essential for 25% of the strains (five morphological groups). The volatile fatty acid mixture excluding acetate was essential for 19% of the strains (five morphological groups), and this mixture and acetate were necessary for good growth of 23% of the strains (one morphological group) when casein hydrolysate was excluded from the medium; 30% of the strains (one morphological group) required hemin. Similar studies are reported on 35 old laboratory strains of ruminal bacteria, most of which were previously identified. The results indicate that most strains of ruminal bacteria can be grown in defined media, and suggest the relative importance of NH4+ and volatile fatty acids and the relative lack of importance of organic nitrogen compounds such as amino acids in the nutrition of these bacteria.
Social support and incentives programme for patients with tuberculosis: experience from the Russian Federation.

SETTING Tuberculosis (TB) services including social support and incentive programmes in four Russian regions (Orel, Vladimir, Belgorod Oblasts and Republic of Mari-El). OBJECTIVES To determine reasons for TB treatment default among non-adherent patients and to describe patient views of social support programmes and the organisation of treatment. METHODS Standard anonymous questionnaires were administered to new pulmonary TB patients registered for treatment. RESULTS A total of 87 non-adherent patients and 1302 adherent patients were interviewed. The leading reasons for treatment default given by non-adherent patients were the need to earn money (30%), alcohol use (30%) and not perceiving themselves as being sick (25%). Monetary incentives were preferred by the majority of patients (67%), followed by food/hot meals (41%) and transportation reimbursement (32%). Overall, among the proposed social support programmes, those that offered small daily incentives (23%) or a big final bonus (21%) were the most popular. The majority of patients (67%) preferred out-patient treatment. CONCLUSION Collaboration between TB services and social organisations and substance abuse services as well as availability of psychological testing/counselling for patients are social support modalities for improving adherence suggested by study findings. Social support should be combined with a patient-centred approach to TB treatment.
Assessment of African Swine Fever Diagnostic Techniques as a Response to the Epidemic Outbreaks in Eastern European Union Countries: How To Improve Surveillance and Control Programs

ABSTRACT This study represents a complete comparative analysis of the most widely used African swine fever (ASF) diagnostic techniques in the European Union (EU) using field and experimental samples from animals infected with genotype II ASF virus (ASFV) isolates circulating in Europe. To detect ASFV, three different PCRs were evaluated in parallel using 785 field and experimental samples. The results showed almost perfect agreement between the Universal ProbeLibrary (UPL-PCR) and the real-time (κ = 0.94 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.91 to 0.97]) and conventional (κ = 0.88 [95% CI, 0.83 to 0.92]) World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)-prescribed PCRs. The UPL-PCR had greater diagnostic sensitivity for detecting survivors and allows earlier detection of the disease. Compared to the commercial antigen enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), good-to-moderate agreement (κ = 0.67 [95% CI, 0.58 to 0.76]) was obtained, with a sensitivity of 77.2% in the commercial test. For ASF antibody detection, five serological methods were tested, including three commercial ELISAs, the OIE-ELISA, and the confirmatory immunoperoxidase test (IPT). Greater sensitivity was obtained with the IPT than with the ELISAs, since the IPT was able to detect ASF antibodies at an earlier point in the serological response, when few antibodies are present. The analysis of the exudate tissues from dead wild boars showed that IPT might be a useful serological tool for determining whether or not animals had been exposed to virus infection, regardless of whether antibodies were present. In conclusion, the UPL-PCR in combination with the IPT was the most trustworthy method for detecting ASF during the epidemic outbreaks affecting EU countries in 2014. The use of the most appropriate diagnostic tools is critical when implementing effective control programs.
Effects of sample transportation on commonly requested laboratory tests

Abstract Background: Little evidence is available in literature on the effects of sample transportation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of an integrated system for sample transportation on the quality of six laboratory parameters considered representative of the quality of all tests requested and performed. Methods: The values of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), calcium (Ca), potassium (K), activated prothrombin time (APTT), prostate specific antigen (PSA), and hemoglobin (Hb) obtained in samples collected in peripheral centers in 2007 were compared with those obtained in 2011, following the introduction of the integrated transportation system entailing a tertiary and a secondary container, a data-logger for registering time and temperature, a mission starter and a system manager. Results: In 2007, for ALT, APTT and K, there were significant variations between findings for samples transported from long-term and those from short-term peripheral centers; following the introduction of the transportation system, no such variations were found. Conclusions: Improvement in the quality of sample transportation has been achieved, particularly for three of the six parameters evaluated, following the introduction of the integrated system described in the present study.
Natural history and familial characteristics of isolated left ventricular non-compaction.

AIMS Non-compaction of the left ventricle (LVNC) is a disorder of endomyocardial morphogenesis that results in multiple trabeculations in the left ventricular myocardium. The current literature suggests that LVNC in adults is rare and associated with a poor prognosis. Given that the disorder is present at birth and that several studies have reported asymptomatic familial disease in some patients, we hypothesized that there is a long pre-clinical phase of the disease. The aim of this study was to define the prognosis and familial incidence of LVNC. METHODS AND RESULTS This study cohort comprised 45 patients (mean age at diagnosis 37 years) consecutively identified at a referral centre for cardiomyopathy over a 10-year period. Twenty-eight patients (62%) had dyspnoea at presentation; 41 (91%) an abnormal ECG; and 30 (66%) left ventricular dilatation and impaired systolic function. Nine patients (20%) had non-sustained ventricular tachycardia on 24 h Holter monitoring. Mean survival from death or transplantation was 97% at 46 months. There were three thromboembolic events in two patients (4%). On systematic family screening, 8 of 32 (25%) asymptomatic relatives had a range of echocardiographic abnormalities, including LVNC, LVNC with impaired systolic function, and left ventricular enlargement without LVNC. CONCLUSION This study demonstrates that LVNC is associated with a better prognosis than previously reported. In patients with familial disease, relatives may have features consistent with dilated cardiomyopathy rather than LVNC.
Postmodeling Sensitivity Analysis to Detect the Effect of Missing Data Mechanisms

Incomplete or missing data is a common problem in almost all areas of empirical research. It is well known that simple and ad hoc methods such as complete case analysis or mean imputation can lead to biased and/or inefficient estimates. The method of maximum likelihood works well; however, when the missing data mechanism is not one of missing completely at random (MCAR) or missing at random (MAR), it too can result in incorrect inference. Statistical tests for MCAR have been proposed, but these are restricted to a certain class of problems. The idea of sensitivity analysis as a means to detect the missing data mechanism has been proposed in the statistics literature in conjunction with selection models where conjointly the data and missing data mechanism are modeled. Our approach is different here in that we do not model the missing data mechanism but use the data at hand to examine the sensitivity of a given model to the missing data mechanism. Our methodology is meant to raise a flag for researchers when the assumptions of MCAR (or MAR) do not hold. To our knowledge, no specific proposal for sensitivity analysis has been set forth in the area of structural equation models (SEM). This article gives a specific method for performing postmodeling sensitivity analysis using a statistical test and graphs. A simulation study is performed to assess the methodology in the context of structural equation models. This study shows success of the method, especially when the sample size is 300 or more and the percentage of missing data is 20% or more. The method is also used to study a set of real data measuring physical and social self-concepts in 463 Nigerian adolescents using a factor analysis model.
The Alcohol Dehydrogenase Gene adhA in Corynebacterium glutamicum Is Subject to Carbon Catabolite Repression

ABSTRACT Corynebacterium glutamicum has recently been shown to grow on ethanol as a carbon and energy source and to possess high alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity when growing on this substrate and low ADH activity when growing on ethanol plus glucose or glucose alone. Here we identify the C. glutamicum ADH gene (adhA), analyze its transcriptional organization, and investigate the relevance of the transcriptional regulators of acetate metabolism RamA and RamB for adhA expression. Sequence analysis of adhA predicts a polypeptide of 345 amino acids showing up to 57% identity with zinc-dependent ADH enzymes of group I. Inactivation of the chromosomal adhA gene led to the inability to grow on ethanol and to the absence of ADH activity, indicating that only a single ethanol-oxidizing ADH enzyme is present in C. glutamicum. Transcriptional analysis revealed that the C. glutamicum adhA gene is monocistronic and that its expression is repressed in the presence of glucose and of acetate in the growth medium, i.e., that adhA expression is subject to catabolite repression. Further analyses revealed that RamA and RamB directly bind to the adhA promoter region, that RamA is essential for the expression of adhA, and that RamB exerts a negative control on adhA expression in the presence of glucose or acetate in the growth medium. However, since the glucose- and acetate-dependent down-regulation of adhA expression was only partially released in a RamB-deficient mutant, there might be an additional regulator involved in the catabolite repression of adhA.
Reaching a consensus on management practices and vaccine development targets for mitigation of infectious diarrhoea among deployed US military forces.

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES This study is part of a research effort to identify and quantify factors related to the cost-effectiveness of a vaccine acquisition strategy to reduce the burden of infectious diarrhoea on US military personnel deployed overseas. Where evidence is lacking in the scientific literature, or considerable uncertainty exists, it is often necessary to develop best estimates with ranges of certainty. To this end, a modified 'Delphi' survey technique to obtain the best estimates for uncertain parameters including clinical care-seeking behaviour for acute diarrhoea, routine diarrhoea management in a deployed setting, and vaccine development time frames and costs were developed from a diverse panel of experts. METHODS The study was conducted in three survey iterations. During each iteration, participants were contacted and given 2-3 weeks to complete a web-based survey designed to ascertain estimates, ranges of variability, and level of certainty for these estimates. RESULTS In all, 25 of 43 solicited experts agreed to participate in the study. These included three (12%) experts who identified themselves primarily as being currently involved in Vaccine Industry, six (24%) Academic/Military Diarrheal Vaccine Development, five (20%) Military Product Acquisition, five (20%) Military Preventive Medicine, two (8%) Tropical/Travel Medicine and four (16%) Military Clinical Infectious Disease. Management practices in deployed military populations (for both provider and self-treatment) were consistent with recently published literature. Similar target time frames for vaccine licensure were established for Enterotoxigenic E. coli, Campylobacter, Shigella and Norovirus of around 9-11 years. Targets for vaccine efficacy appear to be lower than currently licensed travel vaccines (60-80%), and there was consensus on more conservative adverse event rates. CONCLUSIONS These data should prove useful to researchers and policy makers working in the area of vaccine acquisition for the US military and provide continued information on the gap in optimal travellers' diarrhoea management practices in a deployed setting.
Single foetal death in twin pregnancies: review of the maternal and neonatal outcomes and management.

OBJECTIVE To review the maternal and neonatal outcomes, and management of single foetal death in twin pregnancies. DATA SOURCES Medline literature search (1950 to 1999) and hospital audit of single antepartum foetal deaths in twin pregnancy from 1993 through 1997. DATA SELECTION Key words for literature search: twin pregnancy/pregnancies; single fetal death/demise. DATA EXTRACTION Data were extracted and reviewed independently by the authors. DATA SYNTHESIS During the study period, 182 (0.76%) of 23,804 deliveries involved twin pregnancies. Seven (3.8%) of the twin pregnancies were complicated by the death of one foetus. Single foetal death in a twin pregnancy in the late second and third trimesters is associated with significant morbidity and mortality in the surviving co-twin, especially in a pregnancy involving monochorionic twins. Management should be individualised; conservative management is preferred by most obstetricians. CONCLUSION Single foetal death in twin pregnancies should be managed in a tertiary referral centre, where intensive foetal surveillance and adequate neonatal support are available. A multidisciplinary approach should be adopted.
Linezolid in the Treatment of Implant-related Chronic Osteomyelitis

New antibiotics have been developed targeting resistant microorganisms; however, limited information is available on their use in implant-related chronic osteomyelitis. We evaluated the infection control rate of linezolid in treating these challenging infections and delineate indications for its use. We retrospectively reviewed 22 consecutive adult patients with chronic implant-related osteomyelitis, treated with linezolid in addition to surgical débridement and implant removal. Osteomyelitis was associated with fracture fixation implants (n = 18) or arthroplasty implants (n = 4). Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was the most common pathogen (10 of 22 patients). Fourteen patients had one or more comorbidity, including intravenous drug abuse in four patients. Indications for linezolid use included preference for oral administration in 13 patients, presence of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE) in five patients, and development of allergic reactions to vancomycin in four patients. Fourteen patients were followed for a minimum of 6 months (mean, 22 months; range, 6-34 months) with no recurrence of infection. Linezolid is a reasonable alternative for treating chronic implant-related osteomyelitis. Our treatment protocol, including linezolid, achieved control of infection in all patients despite the challenging nature of these infections due to patient comorbidities and resistant organisms. Level of Evidence: Level IV, therapeutic study. See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
[Expression of coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor in non-small cell lung cancer and its significance].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the mRNA and proten expression of coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CAR) in the corresponding normal lung tissue, para-neoplastic tissue and lung cancer tissue, and the correlation of CAR expression with the carcinogenesis as well as the expression difference in various clinicopathologic parameters. METHODS The expression of CAR mRNA and protein in the samples from 32 lung cancer patients was determined by RT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. RESULTS The expression level of CAR mRNA and protein in normal lung tissue, paraneoplastic tissue and cancer tissue were 1.000 +/- 0.012, 1.048 +/- 0.035, 1.282 +/- 0.072, and 0.902 +/- 0.038, 0.944 +/- 0.042, 1.08 +/- 0.052, respectively, with a statistical significance among the groups (P = 0.022, P = 0.007, P = 0.009, P = 0.027). There was a statistically significant positive correlation between expression of CAR mRNA and that of CAR protein (r = 0.448, P = 0.026). The expression levels of CAR were significantly different among different pathological types (P = 0.012), with a high level of CAR in all 7 bronchiolo-alveolar carcinoma (BAC, P = 0.029). However, there was no statistical significance in other clinicopathologic parameters (P > 0.05), including gender, age, smoking or not, tumor size, with or without lymph node metastasis and TNM stage. CONCLUSION The expression of CAR mRNA and protein in cancer tissue samples are significantly higher than that in the normal and paraneoplastic samples, indicating that CAR might play a crucial role in the carcinogenesis. It may become a new potential prognostic marker for lung cancer patients.
Apoptosis following peripheral sensory deafferentation in the olfactory bulb of adult zebrafish

Removal of the olfactory organ in adult zebrafish results in a significant decrease in volume of the ipsilateral olfactory bulb. The current study investigated the potential role of apoptosis in this phenomenon. It was hypothesized that cells in the adult olfactory bulb normally undergo minimal apoptosis and that apoptosis increases upon removal of sensory stimulation. By using both the terminal transferase‐mediated deoxyuridine nick‐end labeling method and bis‐benzimide labeling, the current study showed that, in the normal adult olfactory bulb, cells exhibiting apoptotic profiles were scarce and were localized to the outer layers of the bulb. However, in deafferented animals, there was a significant increase in the number of apoptotic cells. The apoptotic response occurred in two phases and was confined to the rostral half of the bulb. The first phase of cell death peaked at 1 hour postsurgery. These apoptotic profiles appeared to be primarily nonneuronal in nature, in that they exhibited no immunohistochemical labeling to the neuron‐specific protein Hu. The second phase of cell death peaked at 24 hours and declined to normal levels by 1 week. At the 24 hour time point, only a fraction of the apoptotic cells was neuronal in nature. Thus, apoptosis of nonneuronal and neuronal elements accounts for at least part of the deafferentation‐induced volume decrease in the zebrafish olfactory bulb. This model of anterograde transneuronal degeneration will be useful in elucidating the afferent signals involved in survival and maintenance of mature brain neurons. J. Comp. Neurol. 455:488–498, 2003. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Micro‐RNA profiling as biomarkers in flap ischemia–reperfusion injury

Background: Ischemia–reperfusion injury (IRI) is usually the key and often plays an irreversible role to induce flap compromise in microvascular tissue transfers. This article aims to profile the expression of micro‐RNAs (miRs) in free flap surgeries following IRI. Methods: The miRs expression profiling was initially surveyed in rat epigastric flap vessels using Agilent 350‐Microarrayed miRs after IRI, and then quantified by real‐time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction in flap vessels and tissues (n = 5) at three intervals: before induction of ischemia (normoxia without IRI, sham), 2 and 72 hours after reperfusion following 2 hours of ischemia. Furthermore, for seven patients with free anterolateral thigh flap reconstruction, the miRs expression patterns in these flaps before induction of ischemia (normoxia), at 2 and 72 hours after reperfusion following an ischemic interval were investigated. Results: Four miRs (miR‐96, miR‐193‐3p, miR‐210, and miR‐21) of 350 tested rat miRs were found to be positively significant. In rat flap vessels, the upregulation of these miRs at 72‐hour reperfusion was statistically significant. These patterns were not noted in rat flap tissues, except for miR‐96. However, there seemed to be no significant difference in human flap vessels between normoxia and 2‐hour reperfusion following ischemia. In human flap tissue, significant upregulation of miR‐193‐3p, miR‐210, and miR‐21 was detected at 72‐hour perfusion. Conclusions: Our findings show some changes of four upregulated miRs in our model of IRI. We suggest that further investigation is needed to determine the role of miRs in IRI of microsurgical reconstruction. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microsurgery, 2012.
Comparative analysis of gold nanoparticles of different triangular geometries with higher near-field enhancements

In this work, we present a comparative analysis of gold nanoparticles of different triangular geometries with higher near-field enhancements. The proposed nanoparticles are a triangular disk with curved sides and a triangular disk with one corner formed by three tips. We used the software CST MWS® to solve numerically the electromagnetic scattering problem. We investigated resonant response, spatial distribution of electric near-field and resonant wavelength of these novel nanoparticles and the numerical results show that they possess near-field enhancements higher than the one possessed by conventional triangular nanoparticle.