Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Isolation and characterization of zinc resistant bacteria from a coil coating industrial wastewater treatment plant

Wastewater effluents from metal coil coating industry containing priority pollutants including chromium, cyanide, zinc, aluminum, cadmium, lead, nickel, selenium, tin, and mercury; oil and grease, or total suspended solids are often discharged with limited or no treatment into the environment thereby threatening microbial diversity and health of plants, animals and humans. This study was carried out to assess the incidence of Zn 2+ resistant bacteria from a coil coating industrial wastewater treatment plant in Ota, Southwest Nigeria. In this study, ten Zn 2+ resistant bacterial strains were recovered from treated wastewater samples on nutrient agar supplemented with 1mM concentration of zinc sulphate heptahydrate by the standard spread plate method. The isolates were studied based on their cultural, morphological and biochemical characteristics and were identified as strains of Bacillus azotoformans, Bacillus megaterium, Micrococcus varians, Serratia marcescens HM1, Serratia marcescens HM2 , Proteus mirabilis, Aeromonas hydrophila HM3, Aeromonas hydrophila HM4 , Aeromonas caviae and Citrobacter spp . Further testing of the bacterial isolates in nutrient agar supplemented with different concentrations (2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 mM) of hydrated zinc sulphate showed that eight of the isolates (80%) exhibited resistance to Zn 2+ concentration of 6 mM and above. Co-resistance of four bacterial isolates to Pb 2+ was studied and they showed high resistance to the heavy metal with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) in the range of 2 to 8 mM. Out of the ten bacterial strains, seven (70%) exhibited resistance to several antibiotics including amoxicillin, cotrimixazole, augmentin, nitrofurantoin and tetracycline, and intermediate or full sensitivity to ofloxacin, nalidixilic acid and gentamicin. The bacterial isolates obtained in the present study enrich studies on microbial diversity of zinc resistance and could be exploited for biotechnological remediation of zinc, lead and other heavy metal contaminated ecosystems.
Genome-Wide Analysis of Heat-Sensitive Alternative Splicing in Physcomitrella patens1[W][OPEN]

Alternative splicing is responsive to elevated temperature in nonvascular plants and can be rapidly modulated in specific genes for plants to cope with heat stress. Plant growth and development are constantly influenced by temperature fluctuations. To respond to temperature changes, different levels of gene regulation are modulated in the cell. Alternative splicing (AS) is a widespread mechanism increasing transcriptome complexity and proteome diversity. Although genome-wide studies have revealed complex AS patterns in plants, whether AS impacts the stress defense of plants is not known. We used heat shock (HS) treatments at nondamaging temperature and messenger RNA sequencing to obtain HS transcriptomes in the moss Physcomitrella patens. Data analysis identified a significant number of novel AS events in the moss protonema. Nearly 50% of genes are alternatively spliced. Intron retention (IR) is markedly repressed under elevated temperature but alternative donor/acceptor site and exon skipping are mainly induced, indicating differential regulation of AS in response to heat stress. Transcripts undergoing heat-sensitive IR are mostly involved in specific functions, which suggests that plants regulate AS with transcript specificity under elevated temperature. An exonic GAG-repeat motif in these IR regions may function as a regulatory cis-element in heat-mediated AS regulation. A conserved AS pattern for HS transcription factors in P. patens and Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) reveals that heat regulation for AS evolved early during land colonization of green plants. Our results support that AS of specific genes, including key HS regulators, is fine-tuned under elevated temperature to modulate gene regulation and reorganize metabolic processes.
Complications of diagnostic and therapeutic ERCP: a prospective multicenter study

OBJECTIVES:Diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP/ES) can be associated with unforeseeable complications, especially when involving postprocedural pancreatitis. The aim of the study was to investigate risk factors for complications of ERCP/ES in a prospective multicentric study.METHODS:One hundred fifty variables were prospectively collected at time of ERCP/ES and before hospital discharge over 2 years, in consecutive patients undergoing the procedure in nine endoscopic units in the Lombardy region of Italy. More than 150 ERCPs were performed in each center per year by a single operator or by a team of no more than three endoscopists.RESULTS:Two thousand four hundred sixty-two procedures were performed; 18 patients were discharged because the papilla of Vater was not reached (duodenal obstruction, previous gastrectomy, etc.). Two thousand four hundred forty-four procedures were considered in 2103 patients. Overall complications occurred in 121 patients (4.95% of cases): pancreatitis in 44 patients (1.8%), hemorrhage in 30 (1.13%), cholangitis in 14 (0.57%), perforation during ES in 14 (0.57%), and others in 14 (0.57%); deaths occurred in three patients (0.12%). In multivariate analysis, the following were significant risk factors: a) for pancreatitis, age (≤60 yr), use of precutting technique, and failed clearing of biliary stones, and b) for hemorrhage, precut sphincterotomy and obstruction of the orifice of the papilla of Vater.CONCLUSIONS:The results of our study further contribute to the assessment of risk factors for complications related to ERCP/ES. It is crucial to identify high risk patients to reduce complications of the procedures.
Defeuillage et eclairement des grappes en viticulture. Essai sur Chasselas dans le bassin lemanique. 1. Influence sur le microclimat des grappes

Un essai portant sur l'incidence de l'eclairement des grappes sur la qualite des raisins et des vins a ete mis en place avec le cepage Chasselas sur le domaine experimental d'Agroscope RAC Changins a Pully (VD). L'interaction avec l'orientation des rangs et la couverture du sol par un enherbement permanent dans tous les interlignes a egalement ete etudiee. La premiere partie de l'etude presente les resultats obtenus pour les microclimats lumineux et thermique des grappes. L'intervention sur le feuillage de la zone des grappes (suppression de feuilles) a considerablement modifie les microclimats lumineux et thermique des grappes. L'orientation des rangs a influence la dynamique du microclimat des grappes; les rangs orientes est-ouest etaient plus fortement soumis au rayonnement solaire durant l'apres-midi. La presence d'enherbement permanent a generalement fait legerement augmenter l'eclairement et la temperature des grappes mais son influence a ete plutot faible.
A silicon die as a frequency source

A monolithic and unpackaged silicon die is presented as a frequency source suitable for quartz crystal resonator (XTAL) and oscillator (XO) replacement. The frequency source is referenced to a free-running, frequency-trimmed and temperature-compensated 3GHz RF LC oscillator. A programmable divider array enables the device to provide frequencies ranging from 6 to 133MHz. A post-processed Faraday shield contains fringing electromagnetic fields and enables the device to be delivered in unpackaged form such that it can be assembled into any package or via any assembly technique. The device dissipates approximately 2mA from a 1.8–3.3V power supply and drifts no more than ±300ppm over all operating conditions including a panel of industry-standard reliability tests.
Insulating electrodes: a review on biopotential front ends for dielectric skin–electrode interfaces

Insulating electrodes, also known as capacitive electrodes, allow acquiring biopotentials without galvanic contact with the body. They operate with displacement currents instead of real charge currents, and the electrolytic electrode–skin interface is replaced by a dielectric film. The use of insulating electrodes is not the end of electrode interface problems but the beginning of new ones: coupling capacitances are of the order of pF calling for ultra-high input impedance amplifiers and careful biasing, guarding and shielding techniques. In this work, the general requirements of front ends for capacitive electrodes are presented and the different contributions to the overall noise are discussed and estimated. This analysis yields that noise bounds depend on features of the available devices as current and voltage noise, but the final noise level also depends on parasitic capacitances, requiring a careful shield and printed circuit design. When the dielectric layer is placed on the skin, the present-day amplifiers allow achieving noise levels similar to those provided by wet electrodes. Furthermore, capacitive electrode technology allows acquiring high quality ECG signals through thin clothes. A prototype front end for capacitive electrodes was built and tested. ECG signals were acquired with these electrodes in direct contact with the skin and also through cotton clothes 350 µm thick. They were compared with simultaneously acquired signals by means of wet electrodes and no significant differences were observed between both output signals.
Repeated sprints alter signaling related to mitochondrial biogenesis in humans.

PURPOSE We investigated the effects of acute and chronic repeated-sprint exercise (RSE) on the skeletal muscle messenger RNA (mRNA) expression and protein abundance/phosphorylation associated with mitochondrial biogenesis. METHODS Ten healthy young adults (seven males, three females) performed the RSE trial, comprising three sets of 5 × 4-s maximal sprints on a nonmotorized treadmill, with a 20-s recovery between sprints and 4.5 min between sets. After 4 wk of repeated-sprint training, three times per week, participants repeated the RSE. A vastus lateralis muscle biopsy was obtained at rest, immediately after, and 1 and 4 h after RSE, before and after training. Venous blood lactate and glucose were measured at rest and during recovery. Real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and Western blot techniques were used to measure mRNA expression and protein abundance, respectively. RESULTS Acute RSE increased the phosphorylation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (86%, effect size (ES) = 1.4 ± 0.8, P < 0.001) and Ca calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (69%, ES = 0.7 ± 0.6). Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α; 208%, ES = 1.5 ± 0.7, P < 0.001) and nuclear respiratory factor 1 (92%, ES = 0.7 ± 0.8) mRNA expression was increased after RSE. Four weeks of training increased the abundance of PGC-1α protein at rest (33%, ES = 0.9 ± 0.7). CONCLUSIONS Both acute and chronic RSE, despite only 60 s and 12 min of exercise, respectively, altered the molecular signaling associated with mitochondrial adaptations and PGC-1α mRNA expression in skeletal muscle. However, the small-to-moderate changes in resting PGC-1α protein abundance after training, together with the absence of changes in aerobic fitness, require further research to understand the functional significance of PGC-1α in response to RSE.
Comparison of Strategies Using Cefpirome and Ceftazidime for Empiric Treatment of Pneumonia in Intensive Care Patients

ABSTRACT In an international, multicenter, open-label, randomized comparative study, adult patients in intensive care units were enrolled to receive cefpirome intravenously at 2 g twice daily or ceftazidime intravenously at 2 g three times daily for the empiric treatment of pneumonia. Randomization was performed after a double stratification according to the investigator’s initial choice of monotherapy or combination therapy and then on the basis of the severity of disease. The primary endpoint was the clinical response at the end of treatment in the intent-to-treat population. Data for all patients were reviewed by a blinded observer. Of the 400 enrolled patients, 201 received cefpirome (monotherapy, 56%) and 199 received ceftazidime (monotherapy, 51%). Pneumonia was hospital acquired for 75% of the patients. Clinical failures rates were 34 versus 36% (odds ratio = 0.922; upper bound of 90% confidence interval = 1.301) in the intent-to-treat analysis for cefpirome and ceftazidime, respectively. For the cefpirome and ceftazidime groups, there were 35 versus 30% clinical failures among monotherapy-stratified patients, respectively, and 34 versus 42% clinical failures among combination therapy-stratified patients, respectively. The rates of clinical failures in the per-protocol analysis were 38 and 42%, respectively. In the population of patients evaluable for bacteriologic efficacy, eradication or presumed eradication was obtained for 71% (172 of 241) and 70% (162 of 230) of the pathogens isolated from the patients receiving cefpirome and ceftazidime, respectively. The mortality rates within 2 weeks after the end of treatment were similar (cefpirome group, 31%; ceftazidime group, 26%), as were the percentages of patients with at least one treatment-related adverse event (17 and 19%, respectively). An empiric treatment strategy with cefpirome at 2 g twice daily is equivalent in terms of efficacy and tolerance to ceftazidime at 2 g three times daily for the treatment of pneumonia in patients in intensive care units.
Roles of learning and motivation in preference behavior: Mediation by entorhinal cortex, dorsal and ventral hippocampus

In the latent cue preference (LCP) task, water‐deprived rats alternately drink a salt solution in one distinctive compartment of a conditioned cue preference (CCP) apparatus and water in the other compartment over 8 days (training trials). They are then given a choice between the two compartments with no solutions present (preference test). Previous findings showed that this training procedure results in two parallel forms of learning: conditioning to water‐paired cues (a water‐CCP) and latent learning of an association between salt and salt‐paired compartment cues (a salt‐LCP). Experiment 1 examined these two types of learning in isolation. Results showed that expression of the salt‐LCP required salt deprivation during testing, but expression of the water‐CCP did not require a deprivation state during testing. Other results showed that salt‐LCP learning itself involves two distinct components: (1) the latent association among neutral cues in the salt‐paired compartment, and (2) motivational information about salt deprivation during testing. Previous findings also demonstrated roles for the dorsal hippocampus (DH), ventral hippocampus (VH), and entorhinal cortex (EC) in salt‐LCP learning. Experiment 2 examined the involvement of these structures during acquisition or expression of salt‐LCP learning. Rats with cannulas aimed at DH, VH, or EC were given infusions of muscimol, either before exposure to the salt‐paired, but not the water‐paired, compartment during training or before the preference test. Inactivation of the DH or EC impaired both acquisition and expression of the association between salt and salt‐paired compartment cues, while inactivation of the VH disrupted the influence of motivational information about salt deprivation required to express the salt‐LCP. These results suggest unique roles for the EC‐DH circuit and VH in salt‐LCP learning, as well as a functional dissociation between the DH and VH. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Balancing risk and benefit in venous thromboembolism trials: concept for a bivariate endpoint trial design and analytic approach

Antithrombotic trials in venous thromboembolism treatment and prevention, including those evaluating the new oral anticoagulants, have typically evaluated thromboembolism risk as an efficacy endpoint and bleeding risk as a separate safety endpoint. Findings often occur in opposition (i.e. decreased thromboembolism accompanied by increased bleeding, or vice‐versa), leading to variable interpretation of the results, which may ultimately be judged as equivocal. In this paper, we offer an alternative to traditional designs based on the concept of a bivariate primary endpoint that accounts for simultaneous effects on antithrombotic efficacy and harm due to bleeding. We suggest a bivariate endpoint as a general approach to the assessment of ‘net clinical benefit’ in recently published trials and to the design of future trials. Lastly, we illustrate the bivariate endpoint design using two examples: a recently published superiority trial of rivaroxaban (RECORD1) and an ongoing non‐inferiority trial of the duration of anticoagulant therapy in children with venous thrombosis (Kids‐DOTT).
Reducing Emergency Department Utilization Through Engagement in Telemedicine by Senior Living Communities.

BACKGROUND High-intensity telemedicine has been shown to reduce the need for emergency department (ED) care for older adult senior living community (SLC) residents with acute illnesses. We evaluated the effect of SLC engagement in the telemedicine program on ED use rates. MATERIALS AND METHODS We performed a secondary analysis of data from a prospective cohort study evaluating the effectiveness of high-intensity telemedicine for SLC residents. We compared the annual rate of change in ED use among subjects who resided in SLC units that were more engaged in telemedicine services with that among subjects who resided in SLC units that were less engaged in telemedicine and control subjects who lived at facilities without access to telemedicine services. RESULTS During the study, subjects had 503 telemedicine visits, with 362 (72.0%) in the more engaged SLCs and 141 (28.0%) in the less engaged SLCs. For subjects residing in more engaged SLCs, ED use decreased at an annualized rate of 28% (rate ratio [RR] = 0.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.58-0.89), whereas in the less engaged (RR = 0.962; 95% CI, 0.776-1.19) and control (RR = 0.909, 95% CI, 0.822-1.07) groups there was no significant change in ED use (p = 0.036 for group × time interaction). CONCLUSIONS Individuals residing in more engaged SLCs experienced a greater decrease in ED use compared with subjects residing in less engaged SLCs or those without access to high-intensity telemedicine for acute illnesses. We identified potential factors associated with more engaged SLCs, but further research is needed to understand resident and staff engagement and how to increase it.
The roles of self-esteem and self-consciousness in the Wortman-Brehm model of reactance and learned helplessness.

The present experiments were designed to study the conditions under which failure would enhance or inhibit subsequent task performance. Based on the theory of Wortman and Brehm (1975), it was expected that small amounts of failure would produce reactance (manifested by improved performance at a subsequent task), whereas large amounts would lead to learned helplessness (i.e., impaired later performance). It was further expected that individual differences in self-esteem and private self-consciousness would serve as moderator variables for the above effects. In Experiment 1, subjects were exposed to either a small amount of failure or no failure before working on an anagrams task. As predicted, subjects high in self-consciousness, who have shown greater reactance arousal in attitude change studies, performed better on the anagrams task than subjects low in self-consciousness in the small-failure condition, but not in the no-failure condition. Further analyses revealed that this Self-Consciousness X Small Failure interaction was attributable to the performance data of the low, but not the high self-esteem subjects. Experiment 2 was designed to replicate and extend these results. Subjects were pretreated with either a small amount of failure, an extended amount of failure, or no failure before working on the anagrams task. A significant Self-Esteem X Helplessness Training interaction emerged. Relative to the no-failure condition, in which the two self-esteem groups did not differ, low self-esteem participants (low SEs) performed marginally better than did high self-esteem individuals (high SEs) in the small-failure condition but significantly worse than high SEs in the extended-failure condition. The effect of private self-consciousness was considerably weaker in this study, possibly because the sample included few low SEs (who are especially influenced by self-focused attention) who were also relatively low in self-consciousness. Questionnaire data from Experiment 2 were consistent with the notion that enhanced performance reflected reactance, whereas impaired performance signified helplessness.
Composition and production of thiol constituents induced by cadmium in the marine microalga Tetraselmis suecica

Time course of intracellular levels of different thiols (phytochelatins, desglycyl‐phytochelatins, glutathione, γ‐glutamylcysteine [γ‐Glu‐Cys], and cysteine) were studied in the microalga Tetraselmis suecica exposed to different cadmium concentrations for 8 d. The cadmium concentrations assayed were 3, 7.9, 15, and 30 mg/L. Contents of thiol compounds synthesized by this microalga changed with cadmium concentration and with time of exposure. Cysteine concentrations increased significantly compared with those of γ‐Glu‐Cys and glutathione in cultures containing 7.9, 15, and 30 mg/L. The increase in the amount of glutathione was significant only in cells exposed to the higher cadmium concentrations (15 and 30 mg/L). Nevertheless, in all the cadmium concentrations assayed, γ‐Glu‐Cys levels were constant. A rapid increase in phytochelatins was observed with increased cadmium concentration during the first days of culture. The type of phytochelatins (number of subunits) also was dependent on the concentration of cadmium. The rate of (γ‐Glu‐Cys)3‐Gly accumulation was higher than those of other types of phytochelatins throughout the culture in cells exposed to 3, 15, and 30 mg/L. However, in cultures treated with 7.9 mg/L, (γ‐Glu‐Cys)4‐Gly increased substantially after 8 d of culture, exceeding the amount of (γ‐Glu‐Cys)3‐Gly. Cultures exposed to the higher cadmium concentrations (15 and 30 mg/L) showed a decrease in phytochelatins after 4 and 3 d of culture, respectively, whereas an increase in cysteine and glutathione occurred at the same time. A rapid decrease in phytochelatins also was measured when cells were placed into cadmium‐free medium. This decrease is consistent with a degradation of the phytochelatins.
The IBM z900 decimal arithmetic unit

As the cost for adding functions to a processor continues to decline, processor designs are including many additional features. An example of this trend is the appearance of graphics engines and compression engines on midrange and even low end microprocessors. One area that has the potential to capture chip real estate is the decimal arithmetic engine because of its importance in financial and business applications. Studies show that 55% of the numeric data stored on commercial databases are in decimal format. Although decimal arithmetic is supported in many software languages it is not yet available on many microprocessors. This paper details the decimal arithmetic engine in the recently announced z900 microprocessor.