Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clover root exudate contains a particulate form of the lectin, trifoliin A, which binds Rhizobium trifolii

A particulate form of the lectin, trifoliin A, has been isolated from the root exudate of axenically grown seedlings of white clover (Trifolium repens L. cv. Louisiana Nolin). The majority of trifoliin A active in binding to R. trifolii 0403 was sedimented from root exudate by centrifugation at 15 000 g for 30 min, indicating that it was particulate. Immunofluorescence, electron and immunoelectron microscopy using antibody prepared against trifoliin A from seeds, suggested that trifoliin A was associated with the particles in root exudate that bound specifically to the acidic capsular polysaccharides of Rhizobium trifolii 0403. Electron microscopic examination also showed that trifoliin A-colloidal gold conjugates bound to these same particles, indicating that they also have affinity for the lectin. The particles could be dislodged from intact seedlings by vigorous shaking in isotonic plant growth medium. Isolated particles fractionated by ultracentrifugation through a metrizamide gradient had a mean density of 1.12 g cm-3. These isolated particles retained the ability to bind to R. trifolii 0403 as shown by immunofluorescence using anti-trifoliin A antibody. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that the isolated particles are a mixture of proteins including one with an approximate molecular weight of trifoliin A. The protein which electrophoretically comigrated with trifoliin A also reacted with anti-trifoliin A antibody by western blot analysis, confirming that it was trifoliin A. The protein composition of the isolated particles did not reflect the total protein composition of the root exudate, which was far more complex. These studies indicate that the majority of trifoliin A which can bind to R. trifolii in root exudate of white clover seedlings is associated with electron-dense particles, and that a major early interaction between R. trifolii and clover roots involves the binding of these particles containing trifoliin A to acidic polymers on the bacterial cell surface.
Do Treatment Policies for Proximal Humerus Fractures Differ among Three Nordic Countries and Estonia? Results of a Survey Study

Background and Purpose: Proximal humerus fractures are common fragility injuries. The incidence of these fractures has been estimated to be 82–105 per 105 person-years. Treatment of this fracture, especially in the elderly, is controversial. Our study group published a systematic review of the available literature and concluded that non-operative methods are favored over operative methods in three- and four-part fractures. The aim of this multinational study was to compare treatment policies for proximal humerus fractures among the Nordic countries and Estonia. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted as a questionnaire-based survey, using the Internet-based program, Webropol® (webropol.com). The questionnaire link was sent to the surgeons responsible for treating proximal humerus fractures in major public hospitals in Estonia, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Questionnaire included questions regarding the responder’s hospital, patient characteristics, and examinations taken before decision making. Clinical part included eight example patient cases with treatment options. Results: Of the 77 recipients of the questionnaire, 59 responded; consequently, the response rate was 77%. Based on the eight presented displaced fracture examples, in both Estonia and Norway and in Finland, 41% and 38%, respectively, preferred surgical treatment with locking plate. In Sweden, the percentage was 28%. The pre- and post-operative protocols showed a similarity in all participant countries. Conclusion: Our survey revealed a remarkable uniformity in the current practice of operative treatments and rehabilitation for proximal humerus fractures in the participant countries.
Scope and frequency of enteric bacterial pathogens isolated from HIV / AIDS patients and their household drinking water in Limpopo Province.

Although HIV/AIDS and water-borne infections exemplified by diarrhoea are leading causes of morbidity and mortality in developing countries their association has received only cursory attention. This study was therefore conducted to ascertain the scope and frequency of potential enteric bacterial pathogens isolated from stool samples of HIV-positive and -negative individuals with and without diarrhoea as well as household drinking water of the study groups in rural communities in Limpopo Province. A prospective study involving 330 HIV-positive individuals (200 with diarrhoea and 130 without diarrhoea) and 160 HIV-negative patients (80 with diarrhoea and 80 without) was undertaken from August 2005 to January 2006. Stool and drinking water samples were analyzed for the presence of enteric bacterial pathogens using standard microbiological methods. Of the 330 HIV-positive individuals 126 (38%) and 206 (62%) were males and females respectively. HIV prevalence was mostly common in the age group 21to 30 years. A potential enteric pathogen was isolated from all (100%) of the HIV-positive individuals with diarrhoea and 68 (52.3%) without diarrhoea (P = 0.0001). Bacteria that were significantly associated with diarrhoea among HIV-positive patients and their household drinking water were Escherichia coli Salmonella spp. Campylobacter spp. Shigella spp. and Aeromonas spp. whereas Plesiomonas shigelloides was not. The same profiles of enteric bacterial pathogens were isolated from HIV-negative individuals but at lower frequencies (P = 0.0001). Enteric pathogens were distributed across gender and different age strata. A notable finding was the emergence of Aeromonas spp. and Plesiomonas shigelloides in HIV infected individuals with diarrhoea. This study provides the foremost baseline reference compendium on the scope and frequencies of enteric bacterial pathogens isolated from stool and household drinking water samples of HIV-positive and -negative individuals with and without diarrhoea in rural communities in the Limpopo Province. (authors)
FDA ponders regulation and innovation.

MOST HIP IMPLANTS, VENTILAtors, nonimplantable infusion pumps—even a radiology app for mobile phones—have traveled the same road from an inventor’s mind to a physician’s hands. These devices and thousands of other common medical products reach the market through a federal pathway known as the 510(k) clearance process. Now 35 years old, the 510(k) process was created as a way for lowto moderate-risk medical devices such as tongue depressors or hearing aids to pass muster with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), yet bypass the stringent regulatory requirements that apply to devices considered high risk because their failure or misuse can lead to serious injury or death. Since the 1970s, however, medical technology has moved at a faster pace than the regulatory process. In response, the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiologic Health (CDRH) recently launched new initiatives that focus on spurring innovation and the development of cutting-edge medical devices. Modernization of the 510(k) process is an important component, but a key question is whether these regulatory changes really will bring to market innovative devices that are safe and effective.
Hypersensitivity to Thromboxane A2 in Cholesterol-Rich Human Platelets

Summary The effect of changes in platelet membrane cholesterol content on thromboxane A2 (TXA2)-induced platelet activation was studied. Concentrations of 9,ll-epithio-ll,12-methano-TXA2 (STA2), a stable analogue of TXA2 which can cause half-maximal aggregation and release of [14C]serotonin in cholesterol-rich platelets were significantly lower than those in cholesterol-normal platelets. STA2-induced increase in cytosolic calcium concentration and [32P]phosphatidic acid formation in cholesterol-rich platelets were significantly greater than those in cholesterol-normal platelets. The maximal concentration of binding site (Bmax) for SQ29548 was significantly increased in cholesterol-rich platelets compared with cholesterol-normal platelets, while the equilibrium dissociation rate constant (Kd) for SQ29548 did not differ between cholesterol-rich and cholesterol-normal platelets. The present study suggested that sensitivity to TXA2 was increased by the incorporation of cholesterol into platelet membrane and that the cause of hypersensitivity to TXA2 in cholesterol-rich platelets may be partly explained by an increase in binding capacity for TXA2.
Hospital Choice Models: A Review and Assessment of their Utility for Policy Impact Analysis

The changing competitive hospital environment and recent greater availability of patient origin data have stimulated an increased research interest in factors influencing the reason patients are admitted to one hospital over another. Hospital marketers and managed care planners seek information for attracting patients and for negotiating hospital provider networks, respectively. Hospital choice models can help regulators make better informed assessments of the welfare implications of proposed mergers or closures. The literature shows the development of increasingly sophisticated models and techniques for analysis of hospital choice. Recent studies have also related the findings to health policy issues. This review summarizes the historical developments and the cumulative knowledge gained about hospital choice to date, identifies some key issues in need of greater attention, and assesses the potential strengths and limitations of contemporary choice models for making policy impact assessments.
Immigration and the Political Economy of Public Education: Recent Perspectives

This paper reviews the recent literature on the effects of immigration on the public education of the host country, emphasizing the political economy implications. In particular, we are interested on what happens to enrollment in public schools and the quality of education in these schools. Our review of the literature, which includes both quantitative and empirical studies, suggests the following conclusions. First, immigration has triggered native flight toward private schools in a wide variety of contexts. Some studies also find that the households that switch to private schools tend to be those with higher socio-economic status. Secondly, because of these changes in school choices, one consequence of large-scale immigration is that it appears to undermine the political support for public education, resulting in a deterioration in the funding and quality of public schools that seems to affect negatively the educational outcomes of disadvantaged native students. We offer some suggestions for policies that might help mitigate the negative consequences of immigration outlined above so that host countries can maximize the overall economic benefits of immigration.
Electrodeposited CoNiP Hard Magnetic Nanowires in Polycarbonate Membrane

An array of CoNiP magnetic nanowires were grown in polycarbonate membrane using potentiostatic electrodeposition technique under three electrodes configuration. The commercially available track etched polycarbonate membranes of thickness 6 mum with pore size of 50 nm diameter were used in these experiments. The electrolyte bath consists of NiCl2-6.81 g/l, CoCl2-2.76 g/l, NaH2 PO2-2.59 g/l, H 3BO3-2.49 g/l, NaCl-2.20 g/l, Saccharin-0.8 g/l was used for deposition of CoNiP magnetic nanowires. The main aim of this work focuses on growth conditions, structural and magnetic properties of the CoNiP nanowires. In this context first we observed three different growths of nanowire lengths 1.21 mu m, 4.31 mu m and 6 mu m at three different deposition times 30 min, 60 min, and 90 min, respectively. The X-ray diffraction patterns of CoNiP nanowires have shown the intermixture of fcc and hcp phases. The structural properties of the CoNiP nanowires were observed using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The magnetic properties of the CoNiP nanowires were observed using vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), which show hard magnetic properties with no preferential magnetization direction of the nanowires having high coercivity values around 500 Oe.
Evidence for a pool of non‐recycling transferrin receptors in peripheral sheep reticulocytes

Sheep reticulocytes from phlebotomized animals have a total transferrin binding potential that may exceed by an order of magnitude the surface binding capacity. Steady state uptake of transferrin at 37°C is generally less than 50% of the total transferrin binding capacity. During long‐term incubation of the reticulocytes, all transferrin binding ability is lost, the ability to internalize being lost most rapidly. The loss in ability to bind transferrin during long‐term incubation is independent of the number of surface transferrin binding sites, since removal of surface receptors with pronase does not affect the rate of loss of the internal pool of receptors during long‐term incubation. Moreover, after removing surface receptors with pronase, only a fraction of the original number of receptors is restored to the surface, despite the presence of a large pool of internal receptors. These data suggest that only a fraction of the internal pool of receptors is capable of recycling to the cell surface in sheep reticulocytes.
GENERIC PROPERTIES OF EVOLUTIONARY GAMES AND ADAPTATIONISM

Adaptationism maintains that natural selection is the principal factor causing evolutionary change. This statement is in need of qualification. Indeed, Peter Godfrey-Smith finds several possible usages of the term adaptationism. Steven Orzack and Elliott Sober argue that for adaptationism to be an interesting research program it has to be given in a reasonably strong form. Such a reasonably strong version describes adaptationism as committed to the claim that any factor other than natural selection can nearly always be ignored in the explanation of why a certain trait is found in a population. Thus, adaptationism allows one to ignore the role of nonselective factors such as mutation, drift, recombination, or epigenetic processes. Evolutionary game theory as set forth by John Maynard Smith is often associated with adaptationism. Evolutionary games are considered as nothing but optimality models that take frequency-dependence into account. As a generalization of optimality models, evolutionary change in strategic settings is exclusively explained by the workings of natural selection. In contrast to this notion, I shall put forward the claim that this conception rests on an impoverished view of what constitutes a game. When properly conceived, processes such as drift or mutation play a significant role in determining evolutionary outcomes in games, more specifically, in games with a nontrivial extensive form. Thus, evolutionary games provide a case for including nonselective factors in explanations of the evolution of behavioral traits. I start by briefly characterizing adaptationism and explaining how some standard games conform well with models focusing on natural selection. After introducing extensive-form games, which model sequences of
Heterogeneity and Efficiency in the Brain

The brain carries out enormously diverse and complex information processing operations to deal with a constantly varying world on a power budget of about 12-20 W. We argue that this efficiency is achieved in part through the dedication of specialized circuit elements and architectures to specific computational tasks, in a hierarchy stretching from the scale of neurons to scale of the entire brain, in sharp contrast to the conventional von Neumann architectures. This paper suggests that the heterogeneous computational repertoires of the brain are architectural memories of efficient computational procedures that are learned via evolutionary selection.
Can the sagittal lumbar curvature be closely approximated by an ellipse?

For the sagittal lumbar curvature, existing spinal models are based only on the anthropomorphic radiographic characteristics of one individual, or, at best, of only a few individuals. This raises questions of applicability of the modeling results to clinical situations. Because spinal coupling and loads on spinal tissues have been shown to be functions of the initial static posture, a rigorously derived neutral lumbar lordosis would be important for clinicians and spine researchers. This study presents modeling of the sagittal lumbar spine in the shape of an ellipse. Vertebral body and disc heights, derived from digitized lateral lumbar radiographs of 50 normal subjects, were used to create an ellipse along the posterior body margins from the inferior of T12 to the superior sacralbase. Additional data to create an elliptical lumbar model were determined from a least‐squares analysis of passing ellipses through the digitized posterior body points. This confirmed that an elliptical model closely fit the lumbar curvature with a least‐squares error of 1.2 mm per digitized point. The elliptical model is approximately an 85° portion of a quadrant. The semi‐major and semi‐minor axes, a and b, are parallel to the posterior body margin of T12 and parallel to the inferior body endplate of T12, respectively, with a semi‐minor to semi‐major radio of b/a = 0.39. The elliptic model has a height‐to‐' length ratio of H/L = 0.963. where height is the vertical distance from inferior T12 to superior SI and length is the arc length along George's line (along the posterior longitudinal ligament) from T12 to SI.
A primer on the genetics of hypertension.

Computer screens of endless strings of four-lettered DNA can be translated to twenty-lettered proteins, but other as yet unknown translations will be necessary to convert this alphabetical soup to biology [1]. This review is addressed to clinical nephrologists with the aim of clarifying the breakthroughs that genetics may make in the understanding of essential hypertension. We summarize some of the research performed in genetic animal models of hypertension as well as in human hypertension, and compare the rat with the human data in an attempt to draw some general conclusions. A summary of the modern genetic strategies is provided that may be used to identify the genes responsible for essential hypertension, together with an explanation of the genetic terminology the nonspecialist reader may find in dealing with the genetics of complex diseases (and specifically hypertension). Simple genetic diseases are not that simple, and hypertension is far more complex Though remarkable progress has been made in human genetics, it is becoming clearer each day that even the simplest genetic trait, that is, one caused by a monogenic disease, exhibits a bewildering complexity [2]. Just as examples, three prototype diseases are briefly described. (1) Phenylketonuria, an inherited disease associated with severe mental retardation, is caused by a defect in the gene coding for phenylalanine hydroxylase. However, the enzyme deficiency is not enough to cause the disease. Exposure to dietary phenylalanine is also required. In fact, mental retardation does not occur if either factor (diet and abnormal enzyme) is missing [3]. Thus, an interaction with the appropriate environment is crucial for presentation of the phenotype. (2) Over 400 mutations of the cystic fibrosis gene have been described [4], and while some are benign and of no clinical relevance, others cause more or less severe forms of the disease. This means that not all the mutations in the gene cause the disease and that different mutations in the same gene may cause a different severity of the disease. (3) Hereditary spastic paraplegia in its autosomal dominant form is a clinically homogeneous, inherited degenerative disorder of the motor system, but is genetically heterogeneous because in different families the disease-causing locus is attributed to different chromosomes, some still not identified. This suggests that there is a common pathway on which the different abnormal gene products must act. Any interruption of such a pathway by any of such defective genes may cause the same phenotypic expression of the disease [5].
The Challenge of 21st Century Satellite Communications: INTELSAT Enters the Second Millenium

This paper addresses the issues concerning the future of satellite communication, which will be influenced by the advancement of fiber optical cables, the proliferation of C - and Ku -band satellites, the standardization of ISDN, the requirements for new and low cost services, the economic disparity among countries, the extent of institutional policy changes, as well as technological breakthroughs. The factors will dictate and shape, both internationally and domestically, the directions of future satellite communications. In addition, the following subjects are discussed: \bullet service and traffic projections \bullet access strategies \bullet modulation alternatives \bullet satellite switching and on-board processing \bullet phase array antennas \bullet low-altitude orbit options \bullet satellite lifetime extension.
Inhibition of Antibiotic Efflux in Bacteria by the Novel Multidrug Resistance Inhibitors Biricodar (VX-710) and Timcodar (VX-853)

ABSTRACT Inhibitors of mammalian multidrug efflux, such as the plant alkaloid reserpine, are also active in potentiating antibiotic activity by inhibiting bacterial efflux. Based on this precedent, two novel mammalian multiple drug resistance inhibitors, biricodar (VX-710) and timcodar (VX-853), were evaluated for activity in a variety of bacteria. Both VX-710 and VX-853 potentiated the activity of ethidium bromide (EtBr), a model efflux substrate, against three clinically significant gram-positive pathogens: Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Similar to reserpine, VX-710 and VX-853 directly blocked EtBr efflux in S. aureus. Furthermore, these compounds were effective in lowering the MICs of several clinically used antibiotics, including fluoroquinolones, suggesting that VX-710 and VX-853 are representatives of a new class of bacterial efflux inhibitors with the potential for use in combination therapy.
The Europeanisation of Corporate Governance in Germany and the UK

[Introduction]. The business organisation is central to the functioning of any productive economy. It produces goods and services for consumers and generates wealth in the form of wages, profits, interest payments and taxes. It also imposes costs in the form of investments of time, capital and skills and produces externalities such as pollution and urban congestion. It then distributes these costs and benefits among the range of constituent groups that are in some way connected to the activities of the company. These ‘stakeholders’ - managers, investors, creditors, employees, suppliers, customers, communities, the state and wider social and economic interests – are bound in a pattern of structured relationships, both with each other and the corporate entity itself. ‘Corporate governance’ is broadly defined as ‘the system by which companies are directed and controlled’ (Cadbury, 1992:para. 2.5). This ‘system’ is understood here to refer to the rules and other institutions that define stakeholder relationships at the strategic level of the business enterprise. It both shapes and reflects the socially determined purpose of corporate activity by allocating strategic decision-making power among stakeholders and establishing a framework of rules and incentives within which stakeholder relationships are formed and maintained.
Decreased biotolerability for ivermectin and cyclosporin a in mice exposed to potent P‐glycoprotein inhibitors

SDZ PSC 833 or SDZ 280‐446 are strong blockers of the function of class 1 mdr gene‐encoded P‐glycoprotein molecules, which were developed for the reversal of multi‐drug‐resistance of tumor cells. When treated with such drugs, normal mice may display hypersensitivity to cyclosporin A and ivermectin. The recorded signs of acute toxicity are compatible with alterations of the murine central nervous system functions and with earlier data suggesting that P‐glycoprotein expressed at the murine blood‐brain barrier might be involved in the exclusion of cyclosporin A or ivermectin from brain tissue.