Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative study of the antibacterial activity of propolis from different geographical and climatic zones

Propolis is a natural substance produced by honeybees upon collection and transformation of resins and exudates from plants. Comparative studies on propolis collected from a wide range of countries are crucial for linking its provenance to antibacterial activity and thus ensuring that the beneficial properties of propolis are used more efficiently by the general public. This study reports the in vitro screening of ethanol extracts of propolis (n = 40), collected from a wide range of countries within the tropical, subtropical and temperate zones, and on the comparison of their activity against a range of Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative bacteria using a broth microdilution assay. The results obtained revealed that propolis extracts were mostly active against Gram‐positive bacteria. The samples were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA) in order to model their activity against Gram‐positive microorganisms. Three distinct clusters were distinguished in the PCA mapping based on MIC values, categorizing samples with strong (MIC range 3.9–31.25 mg/L), moderate (MIC range 31.25–≥500 mg/L) and weak antibacterial activity or inactivity (MIC ≥ 500 mg/L only). It is hypothesized that for samples of tropical provenance differences in the activity profiles may depend on the climatic characteristics of the collection sites. High antibacterial activity was observed for samples from locations characterized by a wet‐tropical rainforest‐type climate. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Correlation of the relationships of brain-tumor interfaces, magnetic resonance imaging, and angiographic findings to predict cleavage of meningiomas.

OBJECT The authors examined the relationships of brain-tumor interfaces, specific magnetic resonance (MR) imaging features, and angiographic findings in meningiomas to predict tumor cleavage and difficulty of resection. METHODS Magnetic resonance imaging studies, angiographic data, operative reports, clinical data, and histopathological findings were examined retrospectively in this series, which included 126 patients with intracranial meningiomas who underwent operations in which microsurgical techniques were used. The authors have identified three kinds of brain-tumor interfaces characterized by various difficulties in microsurgical dissection: smooth type, intermediate type, and invasive type. The signal intensity on T1-weighted MR images was very similar regardless of the type of brain-tumor interface (p > 0.1). However, on T2-weighted images the different interfaces seemed to correlate very precisely with the signal intensity and the amount of peritumoral edema (p < 0.01), allowing the prediction of microsurgical effort required during surgery. On angiographic studies, the pial-cortical arterial supply was seen to participate almost equally with the meningeal-dural arterial supply in vascularizing the tumor in 57.9% of patients. Meningiomas demonstrating hypervascularization on angiography, particularly those fed by the pial-cortical arteries, exhibited significantly more severe edema compared with those supplied only from meningeal arteries (p < 0.01). Indeed, a positive correlation was found between the vascular supply from pial-cortical arteries and the type of cleavage (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS In this analysis the authors proved that there is a strong correlation between the amount of peritumoral edema, hyperintensity of the tumor on T2-weighted images, cortical penetration, vascular supply from pial-cortical arteries, and cleavage of the meningioma. Therefore, the consequent difficulty of microsurgical dissection can be predicted preoperatively by analyzing MR imaging and angiographic studies.
Positive effects of moderate exercise on glycosaminoglycan content in knee cartilage: a four-month, randomized, controlled trial in patients at risk of osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of moderate exercise on glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content in knee cartilage in subjects at high risk of knee osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS Forty-five subjects (16 women, mean age 46 years, mean body mass index 26.6 kg/m(2)) who underwent partial medial meniscus resection 3-5 years previously were randomized to undergo a regimen of supervised exercise 3 times weekly for 4 months or to a nonintervention control group. Cartilage GAG content, an important aspect of the biomechanical properties of cartilage, was estimated by delayed gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of cartilage (dGEMRIC), with results expressed as the change in the T1 relaxation time in the presence of Gd-DTPA (T1[Gd]). RESULTS Thirty of 45 patients were examined by dGEMRIC at baseline and followup. The exercise group (n = 16) showed an improvement in the T1(Gd) compared with the control group (n = 14) (15 msec versus -15 msec; P = 0.036). To study the dose response, change in the T1(Gd) was assessed for correlation with self-reported change in physical activity level, and a strong correlation was found in the exercise group (n = 16, r(S) = 0.70, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.31-0.89) and in the pooled group of all subjects (n = 30, r(S) = 0.74, 95% CI 0.52-0.87). CONCLUSION This in vivo cartilage monitoring study in patients at risk of knee OA who begin exercising indicates that adult human articular cartilage has a potential to adapt to loading change. Moderate exercise may be a good treatment not only to improve joint symptoms and function, but also to improve the knee cartilage GAG content in patients at high risk of developing OA.
Detection of Treponema pallidum by a sensitive reverse transcriptase PCR

Syphilis is diagnosed by serologic testing or by identification of the causative agent, Treponema pallidum. The bacterium has historically been detected in clinical specimens by dark-field microscopy, immunostaining with polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies, or the rabbit inoculation test (RIT). RIT is considered to be very sensitive and specific, although it is available only in research settings and is not clinically useful due to the length of time required to obtain a result. In recent years, several PCR methods have been developed for the detection of T. pallidum, but none of these has shown a clear advantage in sensitivity over RIT. We have developed a specific and highly sensitive reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) that targets a 366 bp region of the 16S rRNA of T. pallidum. This RT-PCR can detect a single organism by Southern analysis when whole organisms are diluted and 10(-2) to 10(-3) T. pallidum organisms when RNA equivalents are used to make cDNA. The test was demonstrated to detect 10(-2) T. pallidum RNA equivalents in cerebrospinal fluid. Twenty different strains of T. pallidum, isolated from cerebrospinal fluids, aqueous humor, blood, and chancres, were shown to be detectable by this test. This efficient and sensitive technique could be more useful than existing methods for detecting very low numbers of organisms in clinical samples.
Evidence of novel plant‐species specific ammonia oxidizing bacterial clades in acidic South African fynbos soils

Ammonia‐oxidizing bacteria (AOB) are essential in the biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen as they catalyze the rate‐limiting oxidation of ammonia into nitrite. Since their first isolation in the late 19th century, chemolithoautotrophic AOBs have been identified in a wide range of natural (e.g., soils, sediments, estuarine, and freshwaters) and man created or impacted habitats (e.g., wastewater treatment plants and agricultural soils). However, little is known on the plant‐species association of AOBs, particularly in the nutrient‐starved fynbos terrestrial biome. In this study, we evaluated the diversity of AOBs in the plant canopy of three South African fynbos‐specific plant species, namely Leucadendron xanthoconus, Leucospermum truncatulum and Leucadendron microcephalum, through the construction of amoA‐gene clone libraries. Our results clearly demonstrate that plant‐species specific and monophyletic AOB clades are present in fynbos canopy soils.
Nebulized Morphine for Relief of Dyspnea Due to Chronic Lung Disease

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of nebulized morphine for the management of dyspnea in chronic pulmonary diseases. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE (1966–May 2004), EMBASE (1980–May 2004), and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1970–May 2004) searches were performed. Key search terms included morphine, dyspnea, and inhalation. DATA SYNTHESIS: Nine studies have evaluated the efficacy of nebulized morphine in relieving dyspnea. Three trials had positive resuts, but the rest failed to show improvement after treatment with doses ranging from 1 to 40 mg nebulized morphine. The small number of subjects, variety of disease states, and different outcome measures limit interpretation of the studies. CONCLUSIONS: Results from several small studies do not support the use of nebulized morphine for treatment of dyspnea; however, several positive case reports have been published.
Design and Operation Characteristics of Four-Two Pole High-Speed SRM for Torque Ripple Reduction

This paper presents the design and operation of a two-phase four-two pole switched reluctance motor (SRM) for a high-speed air blower. The air blower has unidirectional rotation and requires a wide positive torque region without torque dead zone. In order to achieve the requirements, a nonuniform air gap with asymmetric inductance profile is considered. For a flattop torque with a low torque ripple, the nonuniform air gap is also effective. Based on the output torque analysis at the rotor position for the given air gap, the air gap is modified to reduce the torque ripple. The optimized air gap at a given position cannot feel the effect of the air gap at a previous rotor position. Therefore, the output torque cannot fully satisfy the target torque in one optimization process. In order to satisfy the target torque and reduce the torque ripple, the second optimization process is implemented considering the output torque of the initial optimization process. The second target torque is determined by the torque error of the initial output torque and target torque of the first process. From this optimization sequence, the final air gap, as a function of the rotor position, can be determined to satisfy the torque ripple requirement. The proposed high-speed four-two pole SRM is tested to verify the high-efficiency and low-acoustic-noise characteristics.
A General Formula for Noncohesive Suspended Sediment Transport

Abstract A simple and robust suspended load transport formula for noncohesive sediment is presented for application to river, estuarine, and coastal environments with the use of depth-averaged models. The formula is based on an exponential profile for the concentration and assumes a constant velocity over depth to simplify the calculations. These assumptions were validated with a large data set, including data with a steady current, wave and current interaction, and breaking waves. The formula has two parameters: the mean sediment diffusivity over depth and the bottom reference concentration. The sediment diffusivity is estimated assuming a linear combination of mixing because of breaking waves and the energy dissipation in the bottom boundary layer from the mean current, waves, or both. The bottom reference concentration is a function of the Shields parameter. Overall, the formula developed in this study yields the best agreement with the compiled data set compared with a number of existing formulas for estimating the suspended load.
Asynchrony II: Perception of temporal gaps within periodic and jittered pulse patterns.

Thresholds for temporal gaps within periodic and jittered pulse patterns were determined. Gap thresholds within periodic pulse trains are in close agreement with those obtained in a previous study. Extremely fine temporal gap detection (10–20 μsec) is achieved for high‐frequency pulse trains consisting of many intervals. Reduction in the number of intervals, or introduction of jitter to the pulse train, sharply increases temporal‐gap thresholds for high‐frequency pulse trains. By contrast, temporal‐gap sensitivity for low‐frequency pulse trains is relatively independent of the number of intervals or of the amount of jitter. Acute temporal‐gap sensitivity is apparently achieved at high pulse frequencies by a spectral analysis of the temporal information, rather than by a direct temporal analysis.
Evidence for the Existence of One Antenna-Associated, Lipid-Dissolved and Two Protein-Bound Pools of Diadinoxanthin Cycle Pigments in Diatoms[C][W]

We studied the localization of diadinoxanthin cycle pigments in the diatoms Cyclotella meneghiniana and Phaeodactylum tricornutum. Isolation of pigment protein complexes revealed that the majority of high-light-synthesized diadinoxanthin and diatoxanthin is associated with the fucoxanthin chlorophyll protein (FCP) complexes. The characterization of intact cells, thylakoid membranes, and pigment protein complexes by absorption and low-temperature fluorescence spectroscopy showed that the FCPs contain certain amounts of protein-bound diadinoxanthin cycle pigments, which are not significantly different in high-light and low-light cultures. The largest part of high-light-formed diadinoxanthin cycle pigments, however, is not bound to antenna apoproteins but located in a lipid shield around the FCPs, which is copurified with the complexes. This lipid shield is primarily composed of the thylakoid membrane lipid monogalactosyldiacylglycerol. We also show that the photosystem I (PSI) fraction contains a tightly connected FCP complex that is enriched in protein-bound diadinoxanthin cycle pigments. The peripheral FCP and the FCP associated with PSI are composed of different apoproteins. Tandem mass spectrometry analysis revealed that the peripheral FCP is composed mainly of the light-harvesting complex protein Lhcf and also significant amounts of Lhcr. The PSI fraction, on the other hand, shows an enrichment of Lhcr proteins, which are thus responsible for the diadinoxanthin cycle pigment binding. The existence of lipid-dissolved and protein-bound diadinoxanthin cycle pigments in the peripheral antenna and in PSI is discussed with respect to different specific functions of the xanthophylls.
Identifying children with special health care needs in the National Health Interview Survey: a new resource for policy analysis.

OBJECTIVE To test the feasibility of using the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) to identify children with chronic illness through a noncategorical approach, as exemplified by the Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) screener. The ability to use the NHIS to identify CSHCN will permit analyses of the effects of welfare reform and public insurance eligibility expansions during the late 1990s on CSHCN. DATA SOURCES The NHIS from 1997, 1999, and 2000. The NHIS is an ongoing household survey representative of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States. STUDY DESIGN Survey items were selected from the NHIS and thresholds designated to replicate the content and logic of the CSHCN screener. The screener asks explicit questions concerning an elevated need for, or use of health care services, and about limitations in activity, both caused by a chronic health condition. The algorithm created was applied to the pooled 1999-2000 NHIS to generate national prevalence estimates. Multivariate logistic regression was estimated to determine the effect of having particular demographic characteristics on the likelihood of being identified as CSHCN. Log odds ratios were compared to those from earlier NHIS-based estimates and from a pretest of the CSHCN screener. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS An estimated 12 percent of noninstitutionalized children aged 0 through 17 have a chronic condition that results in elevated service use or limitations in normal activity. This estimate is sensitive to inclusion of children with a broader array of less serious or shorter-term conditions. The estimated effects of child characteristics on the likelihood of being identified as having special health needs are similar but not identical to other algorithms that have been used to identify CSHCN. CONCLUSIONS It is feasible to use existing questions in the NHIS to identify a population of CSHCN that is substantially similar to children identified through other algorithms or through use of a screening instrument imbedded in a household survey. The availability of this algorithm will permit use of the NHIS for important analyses of the effects of welfare reform and public insurance expansions on children with special health care needs.
Acne fulminans with circulating immune complexes and leukaemoid reaction treated with steroids and azathioprine

A 16‐year‐old boy developed within a few days severe acne fulminans. Unlike previously described cases, moderate steroid therapy did not give control. He required both high dosage steroid and azathioprine. This combined therapy took 10 months before full remission of his systemic illness and cutaneous inflammatory activity was achieved. He has been left with extensive hypertrophic and atrophic scarring. During the course of the illness he had a sustained leukaemoid reaction and circulating immune complexes. The latter has not previously been described in acne fulminans in the absence of accompanying erythema nodosum.
Efficacy of biologics in psoriasis patients under hemodialysis

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Zero Dissipation Limit to Rarefaction Wave with Vacuum for One-Dimensional Compressible Navier-Stokes Equations

It is well-known that one-dimensional isentropic gas dynamics has two elementary waves, i.e., shock wave and rarefaction wave. Among the two waves, only the rarefaction wave can be connected to a vacuum. Given a rarefaction wave with one-side vacuum state to the compressible Euler equations, we can construct a sequence of solutions to one-dimensional compressible isentropic Navier–Stokes equations which converge to the above rarefaction wave with vacuum as the viscosity tends to zero. Moreover, the uniform convergence rate is obtained. The proof consists of a scaling argument and elementary energy analysis based on the underlying rarefaction wave structures.
Identification of a biochemically unique DNA-membrane interaction involving the Escherichia coli origin of replication

DNA-membrane complexes have been obtained from Escherichia coli by using a freeze-thaw lysis procedure that avoids lysozyme and detergents. Complexes made in this manner and containing DNA near the origin of replication are uniquely sensitive to ionic strength, Pronase, and trypsin. There is approximately one such complex per chromosomal origin. The sensitivities suggest that origin-specific binding is mediated by a protein. By using these unique characteristics to distinguish origin-specific complexes from the majority of DNA-membrane binding sites, it was found that the origin-specific binding persists after termination of chromosomal replication.
UK Renal Registry 11th Annual Report (December 2008): Chapter 13 Demography of the UK paediatric Renal Replacement Therapy population

Aims: To describe the demographics of the paediatric RRT population in the UK and analyse changes in demographics with time. Methods: Extraction and analysis of data from the UK paediatric Renal Registry. Results: The UK paediatric established renal failure (ERF) population in April 2008 was 875 patients. The prevalence under the age of 16 years was 55 per million age related population (pmp) and the incidence 7.92 pmp. The incidence and prevalence for South Asian and Other ethnic groups were 3 times that of the White and Black populations. Renal dysplasia was the most common cause of ERF accounting for 33% of prevalent cases. Diseases with autosomal recessive inheritance were more common in patients from ethnic minority groups. The spectrum of diseases seen has changed over a generation. Overall 5 year survival for children with ERF was 91.8%. Five year survival of infants starting dialysis was just 62%. Transplanted patients accounted for 74% of the current population. The proportion with grafts from living donors has steadily risen to 34%. Children from ethnic minority groups were less likely to have an allograft and living donation was less frequent in this population. For those on dialysis, 57% were receiving peritoneal dialysis. This was the main treatment modality for patients under 4 years of age. Conclusions: The paediatric ERF population continued to expand slowly. Incidence and prevalence rates were stable and similar to other developed nations. The high incidence in patients from ethnic minority groups will lead to a greater proportion of the population being from these groups in time. To maintain the high proportion of engrafted patients it will be necessary to encourage living donation in the ethnic minority population. The spectrum of diseases seen has already changed over a generation with the treatment of young children with diseases such as congenital nephrosis. The incidence of cystinosis causing ERF was reduced, probably reflecting better early treatment.