Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification of the Perosamine Synthetase Gene ofBrucella melitensis 16M and Involvement of Lipopolysaccharide O Side Chain in BrucellaSurvival in Mice and in Macrophages

ABSTRACT Brucella organisms are facultative intracellular bacteria that may infect many species of animals as well as humans. The smooth lipopolysaccharide (S-LPS) has been reported to be an important virulence factor of these organisms, but the genetic basis of expression of the S-LPS O antigen has not yet been described. Likewise, the role of the O side chain of S-LPS in the survival ofBrucella has not been clearly defined. A mini-Tn5 transposon mutant library of Brucella melitensis 16M was screened by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) directed against the O side chain of Brucella. One mutant, designated B3B2, failed to express any O side chain as confirmed by ELISA, Western blot analysis, and colony coloration with crystal violet. Nucleotide sequence analysis demonstrated that the transposon disrupted an open reading frame with significant homology to the putative perosamine synthetase genes of Vibrio cholerae O1 andEscherichia coli O157:H7. The low G+C content of this DNA region suggests that this gene may have originated from a species other than a Brucella sp. The survival of B. melitensis mutant strain B3B2 in the mouse model and in bovine macrophages was examined. The results suggested that S-LPS or, more precisely, its O side chain is essential for survival in mice but not in macrophages.
Persistent diarrhoea: efficacy of a rice-based diet and role of nutritional status in recovery and nutrient absorption

A diet based on rice powder, soya-bean oil, glucose, egg-white and salts was given to twenty-six patients of different nutritional status aged 4–18 months with persistent diarrheoa and twenty-five age-matched controls without diarrhoea. Clinical response was monitored during 1 week of dietary treatment and absorption of macronutrients was estimated during a 72 h balance study. Twenty-one patients (81 %) recovered from diarrhoea within 7 d. There were significant relationships between nutritional indices, recovery, and absorption of total energy, fat and N. The absorption of fat, protein and carbohydrate in the better nourished controls without diarrhoea was significantly higher than in patients with persistent diarrhoea with better nutrition or malnutrition. The duration of diarrhoea was significantly longer in lighter patients (weight-for-age < 65% NCHS (1976) standard), in wasted patients (weight/height < 80% of NCHS) and those with mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) less than 110 mm. There were negative relationships between the period of recovery and the coefficient of absorption of fat (P < 0·001), total energy intake (P < 0·01) and MUAC (P < 0·05). Weight-for-age and MUAC showed most effective discriminative power for absorption of nutrients. However, the coefficients of absorption for carbohydrate were not different for any pair of nutritional groups. Absorption of all nutrients was also correlated negatively with severity of persistent diarrhoea on admission. The results of the present study indicate that a rice-based diet is highly effective in the management of persistent diarrhoea, while malnutrition aggravates nutrient malabsorption, increases duration and severity of diarrhoea and less severely malnourished patients do not absorb nutrients as well as healthy controls. Malnutrition and the initial severity of diarrhoea are significant determinants of clinical prognosis and nutrient absorption in persistent diarrhoea.
Mediterranean diet improves cognition: the PREDIMED-NAVARRA randomised trial

Objective Previous observational studies reported beneficial effects of the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) on cognitive function, but results were inconsistent. We assessed the effect on cognition of a nutritional intervention using MedDiets in comparison with a low-fat control diet. Methods We assessed 522 participants at high vascular risk (44.6% men, age 74.6 ± 5.7 years at cognitive evaluation) enrolled in a multicentre, randomised, primary prevention trial (PREDIMED), after a nutritional intervention comparing two MedDiets (supplemented with either extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) or mixed nuts) versus a low-fat control diet. Global cognitive performance was examined by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Clock Drawing Test (CDT) after 6.5 years of nutritional intervention. Researchers who assessed the outcome were blinded to group assignment. We used general linear models to control for potential confounding. Results After adjustment for sex, age, education, Apolipoprotein E genotype, family history of cognitive impairment/dementia, smoking, physical activity, body mass index, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, diabetes, alcohol and total energy intake, participants allocated to the MedDiet+EVOO showed higher mean MMSE and CDT scores with significant differences versus control (adjusted differences: +0.62 95% CI +0.18 to +1.05, p=0.005 for MMSE, and +0.51 95% CI +0.20 to +0.82, p=0.001 for CDT). The adjusted means of MMSE and CDT scores were also higher for participants allocated to the MedDiet+Nuts versus control (adjusted differences: +0.57 (95% CI +0.11 to +1.03), p=0.015 for MMSE and +0.33 (95% CI +0.003 to +0.67), p=0.048 for CDT). These results did not differ after controlling for incident depression. Conclusions An intervention with MedDiets enhanced with either EVOO or nuts appears to improve cognition compared with a low-fat diet. ISRCTN:35739639
Synchronization and integrability of N-machine system with transfer conductances

The tools used for assessment of rotor angle stability should be able to estimate the domain of attraction and the ensuing control laws which would aid in enhancing it. The widely used energy function formulations have limitations in being extended for lossy N-machines owing to the presence of transfer conductances obtained due to the modeling approaches used in transient stability studies. This problem is akin to the N-body problem in celestial mechanics, for which, solutions exist, but finding analytical solutions fail beyond the two body case. The dynamics of the N-body system motivates the authors to assert that integrability and synchronization can exist independently. The major contribution of the paper is the application of the Watanabe-Strotgatz theory for oscillators to the N-machine system and prove that integrability of the system can be achieved only at certain extremes of the transfer conductances, but is generically, not achievable.
Pseudoneglect for the Bisection of Mental Number Lines

Patients with unilateral neglect of the left side bisect physical lines to the right whereas individuals with an intact brain bisect lines slightly to the left (pseudoneglect). Similarly, for mental number lines, which are arranged in a left-to-right ascending sequence, neglect patients bisect to the right. This study determined whether individuals with an intact brain show pseudoneglect for mental number lines. In Experiment 1, participants were presented with visual number triplets (e.g., 16, 36, 55) and determined whether the numerical distance was greater on the left or right side of the inner number. Despite changing the spatial configuration of the stimuli, or their temporal order, the numerical length on the left was consistently overestimated. The fact that the bias was unaffected by physical stimulus changes demonstrates that the bias is based on a mental representation. The leftward bias was also observed for sets of negative numbers (Experiment 2)—demonstrating not only that the number line extends into negative space but also that the bias is not the result of an arithmetic distortion caused by logarithmic scaling. The leftward bias could be caused by a rounding-down effect. Using numbers that were prone to large or small rounding-down errors, Experiment 3 showed no effect of rounding down. The task demands were changed in Experiment 4 so that participants determined whether the inner number was the true arithmetic centre or not. Participants mistook inner numbers shifted to the left to be the true numerical centre—reflecting leftward overestimation. The task was applied to 3 patients with right parietal damage with severe, moderate, or no spatial neglect (Experiment 5). A rightward bias was observed, which depended on the severity of neglect symptoms. Together, the data demonstrate a reliable and robust leftward bias for mental number line bisection, which reverses in clinical neglect. The bias mirrors pseudoneglect for physical lines and most likely reflects an expansion of the space occupied by lower numbers on the left side of the line and a contraction of space for higher numbers located on the right.
Structure of the Femoral Neck in Hip Fracture: Cortical Bone Loss in the Inferoanterior to Superoposterior Axis

Although bone mass is a contributory risk factor for hip fracture, its distribution about the femoral neck is also important. Femoral neck biopsies were obtained from 13 females with intracapsular hip fracture (fracture: mean age 74.3 ± 2.3 years [SEM]) and 19 cadaveric samples (control: 9 males and 10 females 79.4 ± 1.7 years) and the areas of cortical and cancellous bone were quantitated in octants. In the control group, although males had larger bones than females, the proportions of cortical and cancellous bone were not different (p > 0.05) between the genders. The total amount of bone, as a proportion of bone + marrow, was significantly reduced in the fractures compared with the female controls (%Tt.Ar: fracture 27.83 ± 1.18, female control 33.62 ± 1.47; p = 0.0054). Reductions in cortical bone area occurred in all regions but particularly in the inferior, inferoanterior, and anterior octants (p < 0.05). There were no differences between cases and controls in the regional amount of cancellous bone (all regions, p > 0.178). Marked reductions in mean cortical bone width between the fracture and female control group occurred in the anterior, inferoanterior (31%), and superoposterior (25%) regions. Representing cortical widths as simple Fourier functions of the angle about the center of area (R2adj = 0.79) showed in the cases that there was preservation of the cortical bone in the inferior region, with the proportional loss of cortical bone being greatest in the inferoanterior and superoposterior regions. It is concluded that loss of cortical, rather than cancellous, bone predominates in cases of femoral neck fracture. This loss occurs primarily along the inferoanterior to superoposterior axis. As this axis bears the greatest strain during a fall, it is hypothesized that specific thinning of the cortex in these regions leads to an exaggerated propensity to fracture in those so affected, above that resulting from an equivalent general decrease in bone mass.
Scale and Spatial Institutions of Government

Spatial institutions of government vary greatly across countries. First, some countries adopted a strict vertical hierarchy while some others have a system of autonomous governments. Second, in the case of autonomous governments, spatial scale appears to be negatively associated with government specialization. This paper lays out a theoretical framework for analyzing the relationship between spatial scale and institutions of government. In particular, I argue that, at small spatial scale, the political hold-up problem makes it important to integrate property owners and the provider of local public goods in the form of autonomous government. At large scale, it is more practical to reduce uncertainty in the provision of public goods through vertical hierarchy. Citizenship rather than property ownership becomes important to government at large scale due to low inter-area mobility. Besides, single-purpose government is a more efficient form of integration than general-purpose government. That is the main reason for government specialization at local scale.
High‐speed rotational atherectomy and coronary stenting: QCA and QCU analysis

To evaluate the acute effect of pretreatment with high‐speed rotational atherectomy (HSRA) on stent deployment (rotastenting), we studied 33 patients with rotastenting of 40 segments, 34 patients with 40 coronary segments treated with Palmaz‐Schatz stenting alone, and 34 patients with 40 segments treated with HSRA. The HSRA‐ and stent‐alone patient groups were selected retrospectively by matching the quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) reference diameter (D ref). QCA revealed similar baseline percent of stenosis (85.3% ± 12.4%), minimal luminal diameter (MLD), and D ref. The percent area expansion was calculated as a ratio between the minimal intrastent area and the reference area measured by intracoronary ultrasound. The rotastent group was characterized by more frequent calcification compared to HSRA and stent groups (67.5% vs. 20% and 12.5%; P < 0.01). Lesion length determined by QCA was longer both in the HSRA and the rotastent groups vs. the stent‐alone group (21.1 ± 12.3 and 20.9 ± 4.3 vs. 17.0 ± 7.7 mm; P < 0.05). In this small study, there was no difference demonstrated between final MLD in the rotastent and stent‐alone groups. However, a smaller MLD was achieved in the HSRA group (3.0 ± 0.7 vs. 3.1 ± 0.5 vs. 2.5 ± 0.7 mm, respectively; P < 0.01). The degree of stent expansion was higher in the rotastent group compared to the stent‐alone group (91.9% ± 4.4% vs. 79.7% ± 3.4%; P < 0.03) and the % residual area of plaque was less for the rotastent group than for the stent‐alone group (12.1% ± 13.2% vs. 21.1% ± 17.5%; P = 0.03). These data suggest that antecedent HSRA atheroma debulking using HSRA results in improved intravascular stent expansion and reduction in residual plaque, facilitating optimal stent deployment. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv 2003;60:167–171. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Pediatric Patients with Intractable Epilepsy: Case Series and Operative Technique

Patients with epilepsy refractory to medical therapy or who experience intolerable side effects from the medication may benefit from placement and activation of a vagus nerve stimulator (VNS) (Cyberonics, Houston, TX). We present our experience with the VNS implanted by a pediatric surgeon and its activation managed by a pediatric neurologist. Six patients (one male and five females) with average age 11 years, 10 months (range 7 years, 4 months to 18 years, 1 month) received VNS implants at a community-based teaching hospital. One patient developed a self-inflicted wound complication secondary to persistent trauma at the implant site that led to removal of the implant. Before VNS implantation the frequency of seizures among the remaining five patients averaged 73 per patient per month (range 20–165). Length of follow-up averaged 6.5 months (range 1.5–11 months). At most recent follow-up seizure frequency averaged 14 per month (range 1–42); this represents an average reduction of 78 per cent (range 30–99%). We conclude that a pediatric surgeon with pediatric neurologic support can safely and effectively perform the VNS implantation at a hospital equipped to administer anesthesia to pediatric patients.
The governance of women's organisations towards better practice

This report is intended as a stimulus to further research on the organised women’s movement and as a contribution to the better governance of the sector. It aims to develop a methodology for the analysis of the governance of women’s organisations. It draws on archival and contemporary material, case studies and other expertise within the sector. It also aims to redress the research deficit on women organising and stimulate further relevant research within the sector the academy.
Fungal laccase: properties and activity on lignin

The sources of ligninocellulose that occur in various forms in nature are so vast that they can only be compared to those of water. The results of several, more recent experiments showed that laccase probably possesses the big ability for “lignin‐barrier” breakdown of ligninocellulose. The degradation of this compound is currently understood as an enzymatic process mediated by small molecules, therefore, this review will focus on the role of these mediators and radicals working in concert with enzymes. The fungi having a versatile machinery of enzymes are able to attack directly the “lignin‐barrier” or can use a multienzyme system including “feed‐back” type enzymes allowing for simultaneous transformation of lignin and carbohydrate compounds.
Epidemiological evidence for the links between sleep, circadian rhythms and metabolism

Epidemiological data reveal parallel trends of decreasing sleep duration and increases in metabolic disorders such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension. There is growing evidence that these trends are mechanistically related. The seasonal expression of the thrifty genotype provides a conceptual framework to connect circadian and circannual rhythms, sleep and metabolism. Experimental studies have shown sleep deprivation to decrease leptin, increase ghrelin, increase appetite, compromise insulin sensitivity and raise blood pressure. Habitually short sleep durations could lead to insulin resistance by increasing sympathetic nervous system activity, raising evening cortisol levels and decreasing cerebral glucose utilization that over time could compromise β‐cell function and lead to diabetes. Prolonged short sleep durations could lead to hypertension through raised 24‐h blood pressure and increased salt retention resulting in structural adaptations and the entrainment of the cardiovascular system to operate at an elevated pressure equilibrium. Cross‐sectional and longitudinal epidemiological studies have shown associations between short sleep duration and obesity, diabetes and hypertension. If metabolic changes resulting from sleep restriction function to increase body weight, insulin resistance and blood pressure then interventions designed to increase the amount and improve the quality of sleep could serve as treatments and as primary preventative measures for metabolic disorders.
The Vascular Anatomy of Rectus Abdominis Musculocutaneous Flaps Based on the Deep Superior Epigastric System

Radiographie studies of the deep superior epigastric artery (DSEA) and its connections within the soft tissues of the abdominal wall were performed in 64 fresh cadavers. The patterns of anastomosis between the deep superior epigastric artery and the deep inferior epigastric artery (DIEA) were noted. Type I (29 percent) revealed a single deep superior epigastric artery and deep inferior epigastric artery, type II (57 percent) revealed a double-branched system of each vessel, and type III (14 percent) revealed a system of three or more major branches. In each case, the two systems were united by choke vessels in the segment of muscle above the umbilicus. The supply to the various transverse and vertical skin flaps from the deep superior epigastric artery was defined as a series of captured anatomic territories bounded by choke vessels. The upper transverse and vertical flaps had the best supply, and the TRAM flap had the most tenuous supply. Midline crossover occurs predominantly in the subdermal plexus and on the surface of the rectus sheath. Modifications of the design of the TRAM flap, the case for a delay procedure, the wisdom of including a strip of anterior rectus sheath, and the risks of splitting the muscle with respect to its nerve supply and vascular patterns are discussed on an anatomic basis.
Quantitative comparison of post‐processing methods for reduction of frequency modulation sidebands in non‐water suppression 1H MRS

Non‐water suppression MRS (NWS MRS) has several advantages. First, the unsuppressed water signal can be used as internal calibration for metabolite quantification and as a reliable frequency/phase reference for retrospective motion correction. Second, it avoids the potential artifacts caused by incomplete water suppression (WS) and extra radiofrequency deposition from WS pulses. However, the frequency modulation (FM) sidebands originating from a large water signal will distort the spectrum. Among the methods proposed to solve the problems caused by FM sidebands, post‐acquisition processing methods are superior in flexibility for general use compared with experimental methods. In this study, we propose two algorithms based on advanced matrix decomposition to remove the FM sidebands. These methods, the simultaneous diagonalization (QZ) algorithm and its subsequent variant, the simultaneously generalized Schur decomposition (SGSD) algorithm, were numerically evaluated using computer simulations. In addition, we quantitatively compared the performance of these methods and the modulus method in an in vitro experiment and in vivo NWS MRS against conventional WS data. Our results show that the proposed SGSD algorithm can reduce the FM sidebands to achieve superior estimation of concentration on three major metabolites. This method can be applied directly to spectra pre‐acquired under various experimental conditions without modifying the acquisition sequences. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Awareness of biomedical waste management among health care personnel in jaipur, India.

AIMS The study aimed to determine the following among the workforce of the Jaipur Dental College, India: their awareness regarding biomedical (BM) waste management policy and practices, their attitude towards biomedical waste management, and their awareness regarding needle-stick injury and its prevalence among different categories of health care providers. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire with closed-ended questions. It was distributed to 144 dentists, nurses, laboratory technicians and Class IV employees (cleaners and maintenance personnel) at Jaipur Dental College. The questionnaire was used to assess their knowledge of biomedical medical waste disposal. The resulting answers were graded and the percentage of correct and incorrect answers for each question from all the participants was obtained. RESULTS Of the 144 questionnaires, 140 were returned and the answers graded. The results showed that there was a poor level of knowledge and awareness of biomedical waste generation hazards, legislation and management among health care personnel. It was surprising that 36% of the nurses had an extremely poor knowledge of biomedical waste generation and legislation and just 15% of the Class IV employees had an excellent awareness of biomedical waste management practice. CONCLUSIONS It can be concluded from the present study that there are poor levels of knowledge and awareness about BM waste generation hazards, legislation and management among health care personnel in Jaipur Dental College. Regular monitoring and training are required at all levels.