Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Profiling Cholinesterase Adduction

A high-throughput prioritization method was developed for use with a validated confirmatory method detecting organophosphorus nerve agent exposure by immunomagnetic separation high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. A ballistic gradient was incorporated into this analytical method to profile unadducted butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) in clinical samples. With Zhang et al.’s Z′ factor of 0.88 ± 0.01 (SD) of control analytes and Z factor of 0.25 ± 0.06 (SD) of serum samples, the assay is rated an “excellent assay” for the synthetic peptide controls used and a “double assay” when used to prioritize clinical samples. Hits, defined as samples containing BChE Ser-198 adducts or no BChE present, were analyzed in a confirmatory method for identification and quantitation of the BChE adduct, if present. The ability to prioritize samples by highest exposure for confirmatory analysis is of particular importance in an exposure to cholinesterase inhibitors such as organophosphorus nerve agents, in which a large number of clinical samples may be collected. In an initial blind screen, 67 of 70 samples were accurately identified, giving an assay accuracy of 96%, and it yielded no false-negatives. The method is the first to provide a high-throughput prioritization assay for profiling adduction of Ser-198 BChE in clinical samples.
Professional Specialization and Gender Differences in Higher Education in Nigeria

There are gender differences in career-related orientations and choices. These differences are resultants from varied individual, school and societal orientations. These differences are reflected in significant difference as to how far individuals go educationally and choice of career specialization one delves into. Invariably, this affects individual and societal developmental process. This paper explores a survey of gender participation in academic teaching of a Nigerian University. The study was undertaken with the sole purpose of finding out the specialization and field’s women in the internet age delve into in Nigeria, to find out if there is a change in career stereotypes among subjects under study. Citation: Fagbemi M (2018) Professional Specialization and Gender Differences in Higher Education in Nigeria. Arts Social Sci J 9: 386. doi: 10.4172/2151-6200.1000386
Molecular Mechanisms of Cellular Cholesterol Efflux*

Most types of cells in the body do not express the capability of catabolizing cholesterol, so cholesterol efflux is essential for homeostasis. For instance, macrophages possess four pathways for exporting free (unesterified) cholesterol to extracellular high density lipoprotein (HDL). The passive processes include simple diffusion via the aqueous phase and facilitated diffusion mediated by scavenger receptor class B, type 1 (SR-BI). Active pathways are mediated by the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters ABCA1 and ABCG1, which are membrane lipid translocases. The efflux of cellular phospholipid and free cholesterol to apolipoprotein A-I promoted by ABCA1 is essential for HDL biogenesis. Current understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in these four efflux pathways is presented in this minireview.
Immunosuppressive treatment in refractory chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy. A nationwide retrospective analysis

Background and purpose: There are other options open to patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) who are non‐responders to conventional treatment, including immunosuppressive and immunomodulatory agents (IA). The aim of this study was to assess whether the use of IA is able to increase the number of responders.
PopHuman: the human population genomics browser

Abstract The 1000 Genomes Project (1000GP) represents the most comprehensive world-wide nucleotide variation data set so far in humans, providing the sequencing and analysis of 2504 genomes from 26 populations and reporting >84 million variants. The availability of this sequence data provides the human lineage with an invaluable resource for population genomics studies, allowing the testing of molecular population genetics hypotheses and eventually the understanding of the evolutionary dynamics of genetic variation in human populations. Here we present PopHuman, a new population genomics-oriented genome browser based on JBrowse that allows the interactive visualization and retrieval of an extensive inventory of population genetics metrics. Efficient and reliable parameter estimates have been computed using a novel pipeline that faces the unique features and limitations of the 1000GP data, and include a battery of nucleotide variation measures, divergence and linkage disequilibrium parameters, as well as different tests of neutrality, estimated in non-overlapping windows along the chromosomes and in annotated genes for all 26 populations of the 1000GP. PopHuman is open and freely available at http://pophuman.uab. cat.
Internationalization of SMEs: Management Responses to a Changing Environment

International marketing is changing dramatically. Government-imposed barriers and structural impediments, which previously segmented and protected domestic markets, are falling rapidly, and technological advances in production, transportation, and telecommunications-especially the Internet-allow even the smallest firms access to customers, suppliers, and collaborators around the world. Economic growth and innovation, both domestically and internationally, are fuelled increasingly by small companies and/or entrepreneurial enterprises. These trends will have a profound impact on marketing strategies, public policies, and the daily lives of everyone.
Use of safe cribs and bedroom size among African American infants with a high rate of bed sharing.

BACKGROUND Impoverishment and crowding are associated with an increased risk of sudden unexpected death among infants. Bed sharing likely increases this risk, particularly among African American infants. OBJECTIVES To compare the sleep environment of African American infants who bed share with that of infants who do not share sleep surfaces and to compare access to a safe crib, and the space available for it, in the sleeping rooms of both groups of infants. METHODS Home visits were made at approximately age 2 weeks to the homes of serially enrolled African American infants born between July 15, 2001, and November 1, 2001. Questionnaires were used to survey sleep practices, especially sleep surface used. The area of the floor space of rooms used for sleeping was calculated. A portable crib was provided for infants lacking access to safe sleep surfaces. RESULTS Of these infants, 42 (41%) usually bed shared and 60 (59%) slept alone. The areas of the floor spaces were similar (mean +/- SD, 13.8 +/- 3.3 m(2) for bed sharers vs 12.7 +/- 3.7 m(2) for those who slept alone; 95% CI for difference, -0.34 to 2.51 m(2)). Infants sleeping alone were much more likely to have access to a safe crib (51 of 60 vs 13 of 42; P<.001), and 53 cribs were provided. Follow-up telephone calls made at approximately age 7 months to 43.4% of recipients suggested that the cribs were used on most nights, were durable, and were enthusiastically received. CONCLUSIONS Crowding is not a strong explanation for bed sharing among impoverished African American infants in St Louis, Mo, who often bed share because there is not a safe crib available. Providing safe cribs may reduce the prevalence of bed sharing.
Ecology matters: Atlantic–Mediterranean disjunction in the sand‐dune shrub Armeria pungens (Plumbaginaceae)

Inferring the evolutionary history of Mediterranean plant lineages from current genetic, distributional and taxonomic patterns is complex because of a number of palaeoclimatic and geological interconnected factors together with landscape heterogeneity and human influence. Therefore, choosing spatially simplified systems as study groups is a suitable approach. An amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) study using two restriction enzyme combinations (EcoRI/MseI and KpnI/MseI) was carried out to estimate the structure of genetic variation throughout the range of Armeria pungens. This species has a West Iberian‐Corso/Sardinian disjunct distribution on coastal sand‐dune ecosystems. Bayesian, amova and genetic distance analyses of the AFLP data revealed the same distinguishable genetic groups, which do not match the main geographical disjunction. Corso‐Sardinian populations were found to be genetically closer to southwest Portuguese than to those from the Gulf of Cadiz (the closest geographically). Eastwards long‐distance dispersal is therefore invoked to explain this geographical disjunction. A GIS analysis based on bioclimatic envelope modelling aiming to characterize the current locations of A. pungens found strong similarities between the Portugal and Corsica‐Sardinia sites and less so between these areas and the Gulf of Cadiz. This coincident pattern between AFLP and climatic data suggests that the geographical disjunction is better explained by climatic factors than by the likeliness of a stochastic dispersal event. Such a combined phylogeographical–GIS modelling approach proves to be enlightening in reconstructing the evolutionary history of plant species.
Which Spot Should I Test for Effective Embedded Software Testing?

Today, the embedded industry is changing fast - systems have become larger, more complex, and more integrated. Embedded system consists of heterogeneous layers such as hardware, HAL, device driver, OS kernel, and application. These heterogeneous layers are usually customized for special purpose hardware. Therefore, various hardware and software components of embedded system are mostly integrated together under unstable status. That is, there are more possibilities of faults in all layers unlike package software.In this paper, we propose the embedded software interface as two essential parts: interface function that represents the statement of communication between heterogeneous layers, and interface variable that represents software and/or hardware variable which are defined in different layer from integrated software and used to expected output for decision of fault. Also, we statically investigate various views of embedded software interface and demonstrate that proposed interface should be new criterion for effective embedded software testing.
Pseudomonas fluorescens-like bacteria from the stomach: a microbiological and molecular study.

AIM To characterize oxidase- and urease-producing bacterial isolates, grown aerobically, that originated from antral biopsies of patients suffering from acid peptic diseases. METHODS A total of 258 antral biopsy specimens were subjected to isolation of bacteria followed by tests for oxidase and urease production, acid tolerance and aerobic growth. The selected isolates were further characterized by molecular techniques viz. amplifications for 16S rRNA using universal eubacterial and HSP60 gene specific primers. The amplicons were subjected to restriction analysis and partial sequencing. A phylogenetic tree was generated using unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) from evolutionary distance computed with bootstrap test of phylogeny. Assessment of acidity tolerance of bacteria isolated from antrum was performed using hydrochloric acid from 10(-7) mol/L to 10(-1) mol/L. RESULTS Of the 258 antral biopsy specimens collected from patients, 179 (69.4%) were positive for urease production by rapid urease test and 31% (80/258) yielded typical Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) after 5-7 d of incubation under a microaerophilic environment. A total of 240 (93%) antral biopsies yielded homogeneous semi-translucent and small colonies after overnight incubation. The partial 16S rRNA sequences revealed that the isolates had 99% similarity with Pseudomonas species. A phylogenetic tree on the basis of 16S rRNA sequences denoted that JQ927226 and JQ927227 were likely to be related to Pseudomonas fluorescens (P. fluorescens). On the basis of HSP60 sequences applied to the UPGMA phylogenetic tree, it was observed that isolated strains in an aerobic environment were likely to be P. fluorescens, and HSP60 sequences had more discriminatory potential rather than 16S rRNA sequences. Interestingly, this bacterium was acid tolerant for hours at low pH. Further, a total of 250 (96.9%) genomic DNA samples of 258 biopsy specimens and DNA from 240 bacterial isolates were positive for the 613 bp amplicons by targeting P. fluorescens-specific conserved putative outer membrane protein gene sequences. CONCLUSION This study indicates that bacterial isolates from antral biopsies grown aerobically were P. fluorescens, and thus acid-tolerant bacteria other than H. pylori can also colonize the stomach and may be implicated in pathogenesis/protection.
HVEM ultrastructural analysis of mouse fungiform taste buds, cell types, and associated synapses

We have used high voltage electron microscopy and computer‐generated three‐dimensional reconstructions from serial sections to elucidate the structure of taste bud cells and their associated synapses in fungiform taste buds of the mouse. Five fungiform taste buds (two of which were serially sectioned) were examined with the high‐voltage electron microscope (HVEM). We identified the synaptic connections from taste cells onto sensory nerve fibers and classified the presynaptic taste cells based on previously established ultrastructural criteria. From those data we have distinguished dark, intermediate, and light cells in murine fungiform taste buds. Synapses in murine fungiform taste buds are fewer in number, but contain many more vesicles than synapses in either foliate or circumvallate taste buds. Synapses in mouse circumvallate and foliate taste buds typically contain a few to several synaptic vesicles per section, whereas fungiform synapses may have in excess of 100 vesicles per profile. The significance of these differences in the numbers of synapses and synaptic structure between fungiform and circumvallate/foliate synapses is not known. Based on the small number of synapses observed in fungiform taste buds, we speculate that fungiform taste buds have only a few cells transducing sensory stimuli at any given time. Alternatively, communication of sensory information from the taste receptor cells to the afferent nerve fibers may be mediated by some other mechanism(s) in addition to classical chemical synapses. © Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Antibiotic Resistance Characteristics of Environmental Bacteria from an Oxytetracycline Production Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Receiving River

ABSTRACT We characterized the bacterial populations in surface water receiving effluent from an oxytetracycline (OTC) production plant. Additional sampling sites included the receiving river water 5 km upstream and 20 km downstream from the discharge point. High levels of OTC were found in the wastewater (WW), and the antibiotic was still detectable in river water downstream (RWD), with undetectable levels in river water upstream (RWU). A total of 341 bacterial strains were isolated using nonselective media, with the majority being identified as Gammaproteobacteria. The MICs were determined for 10 antibiotics representing seven different classes of antibiotics, and the corresponding values were significantly higher for the WW and RWD isolates than for the RWU isolates. Almost all bacteria (97%) from the WW and RWD samples demonstrated multidrug-resistant (MDR) phenotypes, while in RWU samples, these were less frequent (28%). The WW and RWD isolates were analyzed for the presence of 23 tetracycline (tet) resistance genes. The majority of isolates (94.2% and 95.4% in WW and RWD, respectively) harbored the corresponding genes, with tet(A) being the most common (67.0%), followed by tet(W), tet(C), tet(J), tet(L), tet(D), tet(Y), and tet(K) (in the range between 21.0% and 40.6%). Class I integrons were detected in the majority of WW and RWD isolates (97.4% and 86.2%, respectively) but were not associated with the tet genes. We hypothesize that the strong selective pressure imposed by a high concentration of OTC contributes to the wide dissemination of tetracycline resistance genes and other antibiotic resistance genes, possibly through mobile genetic elements.
THE DETERMINANTS OF OUTWARD FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT STRATEGIES OF CHINESE ENERGY FIRMS

This paper investigates the location strategies of Chinese energy firms over the period 2003–2013. The results confirm that market-seeking and resource-seeking are two significant motivations behind Chinese energy firms’ outward foreign direct investment (OFDI). As expected, a higher level of the host country’s energy resource reserves attracts more energy resource related projects and the host country’s renewable energy output influences Chinese firms’ renewable energy investment. However, for OFDI in energy resources, the political stability of the host country is not a significant factor while when investing in renewable energy, it is a significant consideration. Interestingly, for OFDI in energy resources, trade integration measured by the share of exports sold in the host country in China’s total exports, is not statistically significant while for OFDI in renewable energy, trade integration affects the investment decision.
Uncorrelated Power Supply Noise and Ground Bounce Consideration for Test Pattern Generation

Power supply noise and ground bounce can cause considerable path delay variations. Capturing the worst case power supply noise at a gate level is not a sufficient indicator for measuring the worst case path delay. Furthermore, path delay variations depend on multiple parameters such as input stimuli, cell placement, switching frequency, and available decoupling capacitors. All these variables obscure the rapport between supply noise and path delay and make the selection of stimuli for worst case path delay a difficult task during test pattern generation. In this paper, we utilize power supply noise and ground bounce distribution along with physical design data to generate test patterns for capturing worst case path delay. We propose accurate close-form mathematical models for capturing the effect of power supply noise and ground bounce on path delay. These models are based on modified nodal analysis formulation of power and ground networks, where current waveforms are obtained from levelized simulation and cell library characterization. The proposed test pattern generation flow is a simulated-annealing-based iterative process, which utilizes mathematical models for capturing the impact of supply noise on path delay for a given input pattern. We perform experiments on ITC'99 benchmarks and show that path delay variation can be considerable if test patterns are not properly selected.
Genome scan of European-American schizophrenia pedigrees: results of the NIMH Genetics Initiative and Millennium Consortium.

The Genetics Initiative of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) was a multisite study that created a national repository of DNA from families informative for genetic linkage studies of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and Alzheimer's disease. The schizophrenia families were collected by three sites: Washington University, Harvard University, and Columbia University. This article, one in a series that describes the data collected for linkage analysis by the schizophrenia consortium, presents the results for the European-American sample. The European-American sample comprised 43 nuclear families and 146 subjects. Ninety-six of the family members were considered affected by virtue of having received a DSM-III-R diagnosis of schizophrenia (N = 82) or schizoaffective disorder, depressed (N = 14). The families contained a total of 50 independent sib-pairs. Using the significance threshold criteria suggested by Lander and Kruglyak [(1995): Nat Genet 241-247], no region showed statistically significant evidence for linkage; two markers on chromosome 10p showed statistical evidence suggestive of linkage using the criteria of Lander and Kruglyak [(1995): Nat Genet 241-247]: D10S1423 (nonparametric linkage (NPL) Z = 3.4, P = . 0004) and its neighbor, D10S582 (NPL Z = 3.2, P = .0006).
Impacts of nationally determined contributions on 2030 global greenhouse gas emissions: uncertainty analysis and distribution of emissions

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), submitted by Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change before and after the 21st Conference of Parties, summarize domestic objectives for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions for the 2025–2030 time horizon. In the absence, for now, of detailed guidelines for the format of NDCs, ancillary data are needed to interpret some NDCs and project GHG emissions in 2030. Here, we provide an analysis of uncertainty sources and their impacts on 2030 global GHG emissions based on the sole and full achievement of the NDCs. We estimate that NDCs project into 56.8–66.5 Gt CO2eq yr−1 emissions in 2030 (90% confidence interval), which is higher than previous estimates, and with a larger uncertainty range. Despite these uncertainties, NDCs robustly shift GHG emissions towards emerging and developing countries and reduce international inequalities in per capita GHG emissions. Finally, we stress that current NDCs imply larger emissions reduction rates after 2030 than during the 2010–2030 period if long-term temperature goals are to be fulfilled. Our results highlight four requirements for the forthcoming ‘climate regime’: a clearer framework regarding future NDCs’ design, an increasing participation of emerging and developing countries in the global mitigation effort, an ambitious update mechanism in order to avoid hardly feasible decarbonization rates after 2030 and an anticipation of steep decreases in global emissions after 2030.
Bacteriophage and associated polysaccharide depolymerases – novel tools for study of bacterial biofilms

Bacteriophage for three representative strains of Gram‐negative biofilm bacteria have proved to be of widespread occurrence. Lytic bacteriophage have been isolated from local sewage for the bacterium 1·15, an exopolysaccharide (EPS)‐producing pseudomonad found originally as a component of biofilms in a local river, and for two Enterobacter agglomerans strains from industrial biofilms. Representative examples of all three bacteriophage possess a relatively low burst size and on solid media, exhibit very large plaques surrounded by a wide halo (5–20 mm) indicative of polysaccharide depolymerase action. The bacteriophage are thus similar to other viruses for EPS‐producing bacteria in inducing the synthesis of enzymes degrading the polymers which occlude the bacterial cell surface. In each preparation, the polysaccharase activity was associated both with sedimented phage particles and with the supernate of bacterial lysates. The enzymes have been partially purified and used to prepare polysaccharide digests in which the major products from each polysaccharide are the presumed repeat units of the polymers or oligomers of these. The soluble phage enzymes each degrade their substrate by acting as endo‐glycanohydrolases. The phage and their associated enzymes thus provide very useful highly specific tools for studies of biofilms incorporating the bacterial host strains. Their potential applications in studies on bacterial biofilms are discussed.