Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular and Cellular Characterization of a Salmonella enterica Serovar Paratyphi A Outbreak Strain and the Human Immune Response to Infection

ABSTRACT Enteric fever is an invasive life-threatening systemic disease caused by the Salmonella enterica human-adapted serovars Typhi and Paratyphi. Increasing incidence of infections with Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi A and the spreading of its antibiotic-resistant derivates pose a significant health concern in some areas of the world. Herein, we describe a molecular and phenotypic characterization of an S. Paratyphi A strain accounted for a recent paratyphoid outbreak in Nepal that affected at least 37 travelers. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis of the outbreak isolates revealed one genetic clone (pulsotype), confirming a single infecting source. Genetic profiling of the outbreak strain demonstrated the contribution of specific bacteriophages as a prime source of genetic diversity among clinical isolates of S. Paratyphi A. Phenotypic characterization in comparison with the S. Paratyphi A ATCC 9150 reference sequenced strain showed differences in flagellar morphology and increased abilities of the outbreak strain with respect to its motility, invasion into nonphagocytic cells, intracellular multiplication, survival within macrophages, and higher induction of interleukin-8 (IL-8) secreted by host cells. Collectively, these differences suggest an enhanced virulence potential of this strain and demonstrate an interesting phenotypic variation among S. Paratyphi A isolates. In vivo profiling of 16 inflammatory cytokines in patients infected with the outbreak strain revealed a common profile of a remarkable gamma interferon (IFN-γ) induction together with elevated concentrations of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and IL-15, but not IL-12, which was previously demonstrated as elevated in nontyphoidal Salmonella infections. This apparent profile implies a distinct immune response to paratyphoid infections.
GPU-Based MPEG-2 to Secure Scalable Video Transcoding

Most of the high definition video content are still produced in a single-layer MPEG-2 format. Multiple-layers Scalable Video Coding (SVC) offers a minor penalty in rate-distortion efficiency when compared to single-layer coding MPEG-2. A scaled version of the original SVC bitstream can easily be extracted by dropping layers from the bitstream. This paper proposes a parallel transcoder from MPEG-2 to SVC video with Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), named PTSVC. The objective of the transcoder is to migrate MPEG-2 format video to SVC format video such that clients with different network bandwidth and terminal devices can seamlessly access video content. Meanwhile, the transcoded SVC videos are encrypted such that only authorized users can access corresponding SVC layers. Using various scalabilities SVC test sequences, experimental results on TM5 and JSVM indicate that PTSVC is a higher efficient transcoding system compared with previous systems and only causes little quality loss.
The Use of Genetic Information in Large-scale Clinical Trials: Applications to Alzheimer Research

Summary:A great deal of secondary, or covariable, information is often collected during the course of large-scale clinical trials. This information typically includes demographic and anthropometric data but often also includes more elaborate laboratory-based measures that might be used to screen for adverse reactions to the preventive agent or treatment being tested. This information can be and often is used to identify individuals or, more likely, subgroups of individuals who appear to respond better (or worse) to the compound of relevance. Such heterogeneity in response is to be expected, since the basic biological constitution of individuals differs widely and since it is well known from simple phamiacokinetic assays that such differences can affect drug responses. Since genes influence the biological constitution of individuals, it is easy to argue that genetic differences between individuals could explain differential responsiveness to certain drugs, as phamiacogeneticists have suggested for years. In this article, it is argued that by collecting relevant genetic data on participants in large-scale clinical trials as though these data merely provided additional covariablcs, one might not only be in a position to identify responders and nonrcsponders to the compound being tested but could also be in a position to address fundamental questions about the nature and pathogenesis of the disease for which the compound was designed. Although we exemplify this simple argument by referring to antihypertensive compounds and research, this reference is made merely for reasons of convenience, since there arc numerous compounds designed expressly for the prevention and treatment of hypertension, but rather few for Alzheimer disease. It is hoped that by adopting some of the guidelines and principles outlined herein, better and more appropriate compounds for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer disease will be tested and ultimately made available to the patients for whom they work best.
Analysis of periodic array of infinitely-long slots fed by connected dipoles

We have presented an accurate analysis for the array structure of long slots with dipole feeds as described in Lee et al. (2006). The array exhibits wide-band characteristics, about 3:1 frequency band, with the above specified geometrical parameters. The code we generated could be used to optimize the performance of the element in an infinite array environment.
Tag-compass: Determining the spatial direction of an object with small dimensions

Identifying an object's spatial direction (or orientation) plays a fundamental role in a variety of applications, such as automatic assembly, indoor navigation, and robot driving. In this paper, we design a fine-grained direction finding system called Tag-Compass that attaches a single tag to an object (whose size may be small) and identifies the tagged object's orientation by determining the spatial direction of the tag. We exploit the polarization properties of the RF waves used in the communications between an RFID reader and the tag on the object. Polarization mismatch between the tag and the reader's antenna affects the received signal strength at the reader. From the measured signal strength values, we are able to deduce the tag's direction through a series of transformations and deviation minimization. We propose a system design for Tag-Compass and implement a prototype. We evaluate the performance of TagCompass through extensive experiments using the prototype. The experimental results show that Tag-Compass provides accurate direction estimates with a median error of just 2.5° when the tag's position is known and a median error of 3.8° when the tag's position is unknown.
The interaction of path integration and terrestrial visual cues in navigating desert ants: what can we learn from path characteristics?

ABSTRACT Ant foragers make use of multiple navigational cues to navigate through the world and the combination of innate navigational strategies and the learning of environmental information is the secret to their navigational success. We present here detailed information about the paths of Cataglyphis fortis desert ants navigating by an innate strategy, namely path integration. Firstly, we observed that the ants' walking speed decreases significantly along their homing paths, such that they slow down just before reaching the goal, and maintain a slower speed during subsequent search paths. Interestingly, this drop in walking speed is independent of absolute home-vector length and depends on the proportion of the home vector that has been completed. Secondly, we found that ants are influenced more strongly by novel or altered visual cues the further along the homing path they are. These results suggest that path integration modulates speed along the homing path in a way that might help ants search for, utilise or learn environmental information at important locations. Ants walk more slowly and sinuously when encountering novel or altered visual cues and occasionally stop and scan the world; this might indicate the re-learning of visual information. Summary: Large-scale path recordings combined with high-speed recordings at key locations suggest that path integration modulates speed along the homing path in desert ants.
Dietary Fat Saturation and Hepatic Acylcoenzyme A: Cholesterol Acyltransferase Activity Effect of n‐3 Polyunsaturated and Long‐Chain Saturated Fat

The acylcoenzyme A:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) activity in liver microsomes from rats fed a diet containing 14% menhaden oil (Mp) for 11 days was 117% higher than that in microsomes from rats fed a corresponding diet containing 14% cocoa butter (Ms). There were no differences in the cholesterol and phospholipid contents of Mp and Ms or in the activities of palmitoyl coenzyme A hydrolase and NADPH cytochrome c reductase. NADPH-dependent lipid peroxidation was higher in Mp, whereas glucose 6-phosphatase activity was higher in Ms. These findings indicate that the ACAT response to differences in dietary fat saturation is not due to a nonspecific effect of these diets on microsomal enzymes. When 1% cholesterol was added to the diets, the cholesterol content and ACAT activity of both microsomal preparations increased, but the ACAT activity of Mp remained 60% higher than that of Ms. Addition of cholesterol by incubation of the microsomes with liposomes also increased ACAT activity. At corresponding cholesterol contents, however, the ACAT activity of M premained 50% to 70% above that of Ms. There was no difference in the plasma cholesterol concentration in the two groups of rats, indicating that the ACAT effect probably is not due to a difference in the amount of circulating cholesterol available to the liver. Mp contained 40% more polyunsaturated fatty acids and five times more n-3 polyunsaturates than Ms. These findings suggest that the increase in ACAT activity in Mp is due, at least in part, to the difference in the fatty acid composition of the microsomes.
The rate constant of photoinhibition, measured in lincomycin-treated leaves, is directly proportional to light intensity.

Pumpkin leaves grown under high light (500-700 micromol of photons m-2.s-1) were illuminated under photon flux densities ranging from 6.5 to 1500 micromol.m-2.s-1 in the presence of lincomycin, an inhibitor of chloroplast protein synthesis. The illumination at all light intensities caused photoinhibition, measured as a decrease in the ratio of variable to maximum fluorescence. Loss of photosystem II (PSII) electron transfer activity correlated with the decrease in the fluorescence ratio. The rate constant of photoinhibition, determined from first-order fits, was directly proportional to photon flux density at all light intensities studied. The fluorescence ratio did not decrease if the leaves were illuminated in low light in the absence of lincomycin or incubated in darkness in the presence of lincomycin. The constancy of the quantum yield of photoinhibition under different photon flux densities strongly suggests that photoinhibition in vivo occurs by one dominant mechanism under all light intensities. This mechanism probably is not the acceptor side mechanism characterized in the anaerobic case in vitro. Furthermore, there was an excellent correlation between the loss of PSII activity and the loss of the D1 protein from thylakoid membranes under low light. At low light, photoinhibition occurs so slowly that inactive PSII centers with the D1 protein waiting to be degraded do not accumulate. The kinetic agreement between D1 protein degradation and the inactivation of PSII indicates that the turnover of the D1 protein depends on photoinhibition under both low and high light.
Expression of VEGF in Periodontal Tissues of Type II Diabetes Mellitus Patients with Chronic Periodontitis -an Immunohistochemical Study.

BACKGROUND Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) induces proliferation of endothelial cells, stimulates angiogenesis, and increases vascular permeability, but information about its role in periodontal diseases is limited. The aim of this study is to determine the association between VEGF expression in healthy and periodontally diseased tissues of healthy and diabetic patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS Seventeen systemically healthy and 17 Type 2 diabetic patients (DM), all diagnosed with periodontitis were enrolled into the study. Gingival samples were collected from both periodontal and healthy sites in all patients. Each patient served as his/her own control samples were subjected to immunohistochemical analysis. RESULTS The diseased sites of diabetic subjects expressed higher level of VEGF when compared to diseased sites of non diabetic subjects with chronic periodontitis, VEGF was observed in healthy periodontal tissues of both diabetic and systemically healthy people with periodontitis and VEGF was intensely present in monocytes and macrophages. CONCLUSION The increased expression of VEGF in diseased sites of diabetic patients suggests that diabetes mellitus might have direct influence over VEGF expression.
Joint Retirement in Europe

In this project we study joint retirement of couples in Europe. We characterize various empirical regularities and use a model for simultaneous duration variables developed in Honor e and de Paula (2014). Whereas conventionally used duration models cannot account for joint retirement, our model admits joint retirement with positive probability, allows for simultaneity and nests the traditional proportional hazards model. In contrast to other statistical models for simultaneous durations, it is based on Nash bargaining and it is therefore interpretable in terms of economic behavior. We focus on the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and the
First Evidence of Feline Herpesvirus, Calicivirus, Parvovirus, and Ehrlichia Exposure in Brazilian Free-ranging Felids

Serum samples from 18 pumas (Puma concolor), one ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), and two little spotted cats (Leopardus tigrinus) collected from free-ranging animals in Brazil between 1998 and 2004 were tested by indirect immunofluorescence (IFA) for antibodies to feline herpesvirus 1 (FHV 1), calicivirus (FCV), coronavirus (FCoV), parvovirus (FPV), Ehrlichia canis, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and Bartonella henselae. Serum samples also were tested, by Western blot and ELISA, for feline leukemia virus (FeLV) specific antibodies and antigen, respectively, by Western blot for antibodies to feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), and by indirect ELISA for antibodies to puma lentivirus (PLV). Antibodies to FHV 1, FCV, FCoV, FPV, FeLV, FIV, PLV or related viruses, and to B. henselae were detected. Furthermore, high-titered antibodies to E. canis or a closely related agent were detected in a puma for the first time.
Osmotic stress responsesofStreptococcusmutansUA 159

The hyperosmotic stress response of Streptococcus mutans was investigated. Realtime reverse transcriptase-PCR and slot-blot analysis revealed that opuAA, opcA, Smu.2115, sodA and nox were induced after exposure to 0.4 M NaCl. Our data suggest that there is a cross-talk between osmotic and oxidative stress responses in S. mutans. Inactivation of Smu.2115, encoding a putative oxidoreductase, resulted in an acid-resistant and hydrogen peroxide-sensitive phenotype.
Pluralisme médical polarisé : La représentation de la maladie du patient comme canal de communication interdisciplinaire

La derniere decennie a vu apparaitre, en Amerique du Nord, des cliniques de soins de sante integres (SSI) visant la cooperation entre praticiens de differentes specialites (alternatives et biomedicales) afin de fournir des soins holistiques centres sur l’individu. Ce phenomene represente un defi pour l’anthropologue s’interessant a l’analyse des interactions entre diverses formes de savoirs relatifs a la sante. Outre son volet ethnographique, l’objectif de cette etude etait d’identifier et d’analyser les facteurs favorisant ou entravant l’articulation, voire la negociation, entre differents points de vue relatifs a un episode de maladie. Un terrain dans une cooperative de SSI quebecoise, a permis, entre autres, de suivre l’experience therapeutique de quinze individus. Le cadre conceptuel de cette etude, avec son utilisation novatrice du concept des modeles explicatifs individuels de la maladie (MEM), a permis d’analyser l’interaction entre les perceptions des acteurs impliques dans les processus de soins (patient et therapeutes). L’hypothese suivante tend a emerger de l’analyse preliminaire des resultats : la representation de la maladie du patient peut etre un canal de communication favorisant l’articulation interdisciplinaire, entre autres en attenuant certaines barrieres d’epistemologie et de langage. Tenir compte de la perspective du patient serait plus qu’une simple concordance avec un postulat de base des soins de sante integres ; cela faciliterait le passage de la multidisciplinarite a l’interdisciplinarite, processus fondamental pour le developpement de ce nouveau paradigme de soins.
Complete Chemical Analysis of Carmagnola Hemp Hurds and Structural Features of Its Components

As interest in lignocellulosic biomass as a feedstock for conversion into biofuels is steadily growing, analysis of its components becomes ever more important. The complete chemical composition of waste hemp hurds from the industrial variety “Carmagnola” has been determined to optimize its utilization as a raw material. The results from chemical analysis show that hemp hurds contain 44.0% alpha-cellulose, 25.0% hemicellulose, and 23.0% lignin as major components, along with 4.0% extractives (oil, proteins, amino acids, pectin) and 1.2% ash. Structural and physicochemical properties of hurds components were analysed by FTIR or GC/MS. The data revealed that isolated components are pure and comparable to standard components. Acetone extractives show higher total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity compared with lignin and dichloromethane extractives. Water extractive shows the presence of proteins (1.6%), free amino acids (0.02%), and pectin (0.6%). The degree of esterification of pectin was estimated to be 46.0% by FTIR and enzymatic hydrolysis. The results of this study show that Carmagnola hurds contain low amounts of ash and high amounts of carbohydrates compared with other varieties of hemp hurds; therefore they can be considered as a potential feedstock for biorefinery.
Effects of Hand Hygiene Campaigns on Incidence of Laboratory-confirmed Influenza and Absenteeism in Schoolchildren, Cairo, Egypt

To evaluate the effectiveness of an intensive hand hygiene campaign on reducing absenteeism caused by influenza-like illness (ILI), diarrhea, conjunctivitis, and laboratory-confirmed influenza, we conducted a randomized control trial in 60 elementary schools in Cairo, Egypt. Children in the intervention schools were required to wash hands twice each day, and health messages were provided through entertainment activities. Data were collected on student absenteeism and reasons for illness. School nurses collected nasal swabs from students with ILI, which were tested by using a qualitative diagnostic test for influenza A and B. Compared with results for the control group, in the intervention group, overall absences caused by ILI, diarrhea, conjunctivitis, and laboratory-confirmed influenza were reduced by 40%, 30%, 67%, and 50%, respectively (p<0.0001 for each illness). An intensive hand hygiene campaign was effective in reducing absenteeism caused by these illnesses.
Lymphocyte Subpopulations and Cytokine Production in Paracoccidioidomycosis Patients

Despite the postulated role of the immune system in the control of the infection by Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, only a few studies have addressed this point in patients. The determination of total lymphocytes and their subpopulations in 6 untreated patients with the chronic form of paracoccidiodomycosis showed that half of them were lymphopenic, because of low number of CD4+ T‐lymphocytes. All patients had low CD4/CD8 ratios. On the contrary, B‐lymphocytes were normal in all patients. An additional patient, studied on treatment with ketoconazole, had normal lymphocyte counts in all subpopulations, as did one of the patients previously studied at diagnosis when he received specific antimycotic treatment. The production of interferon and tumor necrosis factor, determined by bioassay in supernatants of mononuclear blood cells of the patients, induced by interleukin 2 in vitro was significantly lower than that of normal subjects. These results show that patients with paracoccidioidomycosis have a defect in blood lymphocyte subsets as well as in the ability to produce regulatory cytokines.
Studies on the acute phase reaction during respiratory infections in calves

The overall aim of this thesis was to examine the acute phase response, as measured mainly by acute phase proteins (APP) and cellular response, in calves during different types of respiratory infection, and to identify potential markers useful in evaluation of their health status. Experimental infections were performed with virus, bovine virus diarrhoea virus (BVDV) or bacteria, Mannheimia haemolytica (M. haemolytica), or with a combination of the two micro-organisms. Special interest was focused on the differences between single BVDV or M. haemoytica inoculation and co-infection with both agents. In another study, calves were infected with the cattle lungworm, Dictyocaulus viviparus (D. viviparus) using different dose regimens. Finally, a study was performed to evaluate the usefulness of APP measurements as indicators of health in calf herds. Co-infection with BVDV and M. haemolytica induced the most severe clinical signs, while single M. haemolytica inoculation induced none or very mild clinical signs, while BVDV inoculation induced mild to moderate signs. Increases in the APP haptoglobin, serum amyloid A (SAA) and fibrinogen were observed after inoculations with BVDV and/or M. haemolytica. The increases coincided in time with the onset of clinical signs. The duration of elevated serum concentrations of SAA and fibrinogen was larger in the group inoculated with both BVDV and M. haemolytica. A marked decrease in lymphocyte numbers was observed after BVDV inoculation. This was mainly explained by a decrease in the numbers of CD4+, CD8+ and WC1+ lymphocytes. In contrast, M. haemolytica inoculation induced an increase in total neutrophil numbers, while the numbers of CD8+ and WC1+ lymphocytes decreased somewhat. The results indicate that detection of supra-normal APP levels could be useful to identify animals that are, or have recently been, clinically or sub-clinically diseased. Lungworm infection induced an increase in haptoglobin, SAA and fibrinogen, as well as in the numbers of eosinophils in blood. However, high numbers of eosinophils and low levels of APP do not exclude a diagnosis of lungworm. Thus lungworm infection may not be detected if measurements of APP are used to assess calf health. In a herd with high disease incidence, a larger proportion of calves had elevated serum concentrations of APP, and a larger number of days per calf with elevated levels of APP compared to a herd with low disease incidence. The results indicate that measurements of serum concentrations of APP can be useful as indicators of herd health.
Endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation

Glaucoma surgery can be classified as either cyclodestructive (reducing inflow) or filtering (increasing outflow). Filtration has traditionally been the procedure of first resort because of its efficacy and relative predictability, whereas ciliary destruction has been reserved for more refractory cases of glaucoma and in eyes which have little or no visual potential. Refractory glaucomas include neovascular glaucoma, post-traumatic glaucoma, glaucoma associated with aphakia, severe congenital/developmental glaucoma, post-retinal surgery glaucoma, glaucoma associated with penetrating keratoplasties, and glaucoma in eyes with scarred conjunctiva from surgery or disease processes.