Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antibodies to eb virus capsid antigen and to soluble antigen of lymphoblastoid cells in infectious mononucleosis patients

Sera from infectious mononucleosis patients aged 2 to 35 years and from normal subjects aged 11 to 35 years were examined for the presence of antibody to the EB virus capsid antigen (VCA) in the indirect immunofluorescence test, and for the presence of antibody reactive with the soluble (S) antigen of lymphoblastoid cell lines in the complement‐fixation test. Sera from all infectious mononucleosis patients taken either in the acute stage of the disease or up to 9 years after its onset contained VCA antibody. The sera taken in the acute stage of the disease were free of S antibody; out of 97 sera investigated only one was weakly reactive. Only one of the seven sera taken 4 to 5 months after the onset of the disease contained S antibody. After the 7th month following onset, the majority of the subjects possessed S antibody. These data indicate that the S antibody appears much later in the course of EB virus infection than the VCA antibody. The predominant majority of sera from subjects with no history of the disease possessed VCA antibody; most of these also possessed S antibody. The incidence of S antibody in these subjects and those who had been suffering from infectious mononucleosis 1 to 9 years previously were comparable.
Combined modality therapy of operated astrocytomas grade III and IV. Confirmation of the value of postoperative irradiation and lack of potentiation of bleomycin on survival time: A prospective multicenter trial of the scandinavian glioblastoma study group

In a controlled, prospective, randomized investigation, started in 1974, 118 patients with supratentorial astrocytoma Grade III–IV were divided into three groups. Groups 1 and 2 received 45 Gy postoperatively to the whole supratentorial brain. Bleomycin in 15‐mg doses and a total dose of 180 mg or placebo was given intravenously three times a week, one hour prior to radiotherapy, during weeks 1,2,4 and 5. Group 3 received conventional care but no radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Median survival rates of patients were 10.8 months in Groups 1 and 2, and 5.2 months in Group 3, a statistically significant difference. With regard to performance, the patients in Group 3 deteriorated faster than patients in Groups 1 and 2. Bleomycin had no positive or negative influence on survival.
Chronic ethanol drinking by alcohol-preferring rats increases the sensitivity of the posterior ventral tegmental area to the reinforcing effects of ethanol.

BACKGROUND The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is involved in regulating ethanol drinking, and the posterior VTA seems to be a neuroanatomical substrate that mediates the reinforcing effects of ethanol in ethanol-naive Wistar and ethanol-naive alcohol-preferring (P) rats. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that chronic ethanol drinking increases the sensitivity of the posterior VTA to the reinforcing effects of ethanol. METHODS Two groups of female P rats (one given water as its sole source of fluid and the other given 24-hr free-choice access to 15% ethanol and water for at least 8 weeks) were stereotaxically implanted with guide cannulae aimed at the posterior VTA. One week after surgery, rats were placed in standard two-lever (active and inactive) operant chambers and connected to the microinfusion system. Depression of the active lever produced the infusion of 100 nl of artificial cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or ethanol. The ethanol-naive and chronic ethanol-drinking groups were assigned to subgroups to receive artificial CSF or 25, 50, 75, or 125 mg/dl of ethanol (n = 6-9/dose/group) to self-infuse (FR1 schedule) during the 4-hr sessions given every other day. RESULTS Compared with the infusions of artificial CSF, the control group reliably (p < 0.05) self-infused 75 and 125 mg/dl of ethanol but not the lower concentrations. The ethanol-drinking group had significantly (p < 0.05) higher self-infusions of 50, 75, and 125 mg/dl of ethanol than artificial CSF during the four acquisition sessions; the number of infusions of all three doses was higher in the ethanol-drinking group than in the ethanol-naive group. Both groups decreased responding on the active lever when artificial CSF was substituted for ethanol, and both groups demonstrated robust reinstatement of responding on the active lever when ethanol was restored. CONCLUSIONS Chronic ethanol drinking by P rats increased the sensitivity of the posterior VTA to the reinforcing effects of ethanol.
Respiratory characters of three species of haplochromine cichlids : Implications for use of wetland refugia

Respiratory characters of three east African haplochromine cichlid species that differ in their use of hypoxic wetlands were examined to consider the potential of dissolved oxygen as one factor affecting habitat use. All three species had a large gill surface area, ranging from the 67th (Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae) to 98th (Astatotilapia velifer) percentile of the known gill size range for freshwater fishes. Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae was the most tolerant to hypoxia exhibiting the lowest aquatic surface respiration (RS) thresholds and lowest critical oxygen tension of the three species. Astatotilapia velifer had the highest ASR thresholds, gill ventilation rates, and level of surface activity of the three species, indicating a relatively low tolerance to hypoxia. Prognathochromis venator was intermediate in its response to hypoxia. These findings are discussed in light of survivorship and distribution patterns of these species following Nile perch introduction into Lake Nabugabo. 2000 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles
Mercury and its bioconcentration factors in King Bolete (Boletus edulis) Bull. Fr.

The total mercury content for a representative number of the carpophores of King Bolete from 13 sites across Poland averaged from 1.1 ± 1.4 to 7.6 ± 3.1 μg/g dry matter in the caps (total variation between 0.02 and 14 μg/g dm), and from 0.82 ± 0.71 to 3.8 ± 1.8 μg/g dm in stalks (total variation between 0.03 and 6.7 μg/g dm). A top soil layer (0–10 cm) collected from the mushroom sampling sites showed mean mercury content at range from 0.02 ± 0.01 to 0.05 ± 0.02 μg/g dm (total variation between 0.01 and 0.08 μg/g dm). King Bolete is effective mercury accumulator in the carpophores and bioconcentration factor (BCF) of this element in the caps ranged from 41 ± 6 to 130 ± 39 (total variation between 13 and 170) and in the stalks were from 27 ± 18 to 72 ± 22 (total variation between 4.0 and 90). Based on a relatively large set of data on the total mercury concentrations obtained in this survey, and dataset available for King Bolete from various sites in Europe, it seems reasonable to state that the upper food hygienic limit for the total mercury content in this species collected from unpolluted (background) sites should not exceed 20 μg/g dm in a single cap or a carpophore, while on an average, per site or consignment, should not exceed 10 μg/g dm in the caps or the carpophores.
Staphylococcus epidermidis Biofilm Formation and Structural Organization on Different Types of Intraocular Lenses under in vitro Flow Conditions

Aim: To compare the adherence and structural organization of Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm on intraocular lenses (IOLs). Methods: IOLs made of 3 different biomaterials [polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), hydrophilic acrylic or hydrophobic acrylic] were incubated into an S. epidermidis bacterial solution. Scanning electron microscopy was used to count the bound bacteria and to analyze the structural biofilm architecture. Results: After 4-6 h of incubation, adherence was statistically weakest on the hydrophilic acrylic polymer. On the hydrophobic acrylic material, the bacterial cells tended to cover the substratum in a horizontal spread in a continuous monolayer. On the hydrophilic acrylic material or on the PMMA material bacterial cells tended to form only few, small scattered cell clusters. Conclusions: The data suggest that the pattern of S. epidermidis adhesion varies with the IOL biomaterial. Hydrophobic IOLs seem to be more permissive to S. epidermidis adhesion.
The Dogfish Shark (Squalus acanthias) Increases both Hepatic and Extrahepatic Ornithine Urea Cycle Enzyme Activities for Nitrogen Conservation after Feeding

Urea not only is utilized as a major osmolyte in marine elasmobranchs but also constitutes their main nitrogenous waste. This study investigated the effect of feeding, and thus elevated nitrogen intake, on nitrogen metabolism in the Pacific spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias. We determined the activities of ornithine urea cycle (O‐UC) and related enzymes in liver and nonhepatic tissues. Carbamoyl phosphate synthetase III (the rate‐limiting enzyme of the O‐UC) activity in muscle is high compared with liver, and the activities in both tissues increased after feeding. The contribution of muscle to urea synthesis in the dogfish body appears to be much larger than that of liver when body mass is considered. Furthermore, enhanced activities of the O‐UC and related enzymes (glutamine synthetase, ornithine transcarbamoylase, arginase) were seen after feeding in both liver and muscle and were accompanied by delayed increases in plasma urea, trimethylamine oxide, total free amino acids, alanine, and chloride concentrations, as well as in total osmolality. The O‐UC and related enzymes also occurred in the intestine but showed little change after feeding. Feeding did not change the rate of urea excretion, indicating strong N retention after feeding. Ammonia excretion, which constituted only a small percentage of total N excretion, was raised in fed fish, while plasma ammonia did not change, suggesting that excess ammonia in plasma is quickly ushered into synthesis of urea or protein. In conclusion, we suggest that N conservation is a high priority in this elasmobranch and that feeding promotes ureogenesis and growth. Furthermore, exogenous nitrogen from food is converted into urea not only by the liver but also by the muscle and to a small extent by the intestine.
EPSRC Principles of Robotics: commentary on safety, robots as products, and responsibility

ABSTRACT The EPSRC Principles of Robotics refer to safety. How safety is understood is relative to how tasks are characterised and identified. But the exact task(s) a robot plays within a complex system of agency may be hard to identify. If robots are seen as products, it is nonetheless vital that the safety and other implications of their use in situ must also be considered carefully, and they must be fit for purpose. The Principles identify humans as responsible, rather than robots. We must thus understand how the replacement of human agency by robotic agency may impact upon attributions of responsibility. The Principles seek to fit into existing systems of law and ethics. But these may need development, and in certain context, attention to more local regulations is also needed. A distinction between ethical issues related to the design of robotics, and to their use, may be needed in the Principles.
FATTY ACID METABOLISM IN SERRATIA MARCESCENS. IV. THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON FATTY ACID COMPOSITION.

SUMMARY An analysis of the fatty acids of Serratia marcescens grown at different temperatures shows that three medium-chain hydroxy acids, present in cells grown at 30°, are greatly decreased in quantity when the cells are grown at 37". The content of unsaturated and cyclopropane acids remains unchanged. As the synthesis of unsaturated and cyclopropane acids in micro- organisnis requires hydrosy acids as intermediates, it is suggested that the temperature- sensitive reaction is a reaction leading to the trapping of the hydrosy acids in a bound form. An analysis of the cellular fatty acids of a nonpigmenting strain of S. marcescens has revealed the presence of 12 unidentified acids. These acids, which constitute 36% of the total fatty acids of the "free" lipid of cells grown at 30" are almost entirely absent in cells grown at 37". In the preceding paper (l), an analysis of the fatty acid content of Serratia marcescens was reported. This organism is notable in that, while it produces abundant red pigment when grown under favorable conditions, it is completely colorless when grown at 37'. However, t,he organism will pigment at 37" if grown in the presence of certain long-chain unsaturated fatty acids (2). This communication describes the effect of tempera- ture on the fatty acid composition of S. mrcrcescens.
SOS-independent coupling between DNA replication and cell division in Escherichia coli

Inhibition of DNA synthesis in Escherichia coli mutants in which the SOS-dependent division inhibitors SfiA and SfiC were unable to operate led to a partial arrest of cell division. This SOS-independent mechanism coupling DNA replication and cell division was characterized with respect to residual division, particle number, and DNA content. Whether DNA replication was blocked in the initiation or the elongation step, numerous normal-sized anucleate cells were produced (not minicells or filaments). Their production was used to evaluate the efficiency of this coupling mechanism, which seems to involve the cell division protein FtsZ (SulB), also known to be the target of the division inhibitors SfiA and SfiC. In the absence of DNA synthesis, the efficiency of coupling was modulated by the cyclic-AMP-cyclic-AMP receptor protein complex, which was required for anucleate cell production.
Rice balls and bear hunts: Japanese and North American family narrative patterns

ABSTRACT In past research, the form of Japanese children's personal narratives was found to be distinctly different from that of English-speaking children. Despite follow-up questions that encouraged them to talk about one personal narrative at length, Japanese children spoke succinctly about collections of experiences rather than elaborating on any one experience in particular (Minami & McCabe, 1991). Conversations between mothers and children in the two cultures were examined in order partly to account for the way in which cultural narrative style is transmitted to children. Comparison of mothers from the two cultures yielded the following salient contrasts: (1) In comparison to the North American mothers, the Japanese mothers requested proportionately less description from their children. (2) Both in terms of frequency and proportion, the Japanese mothers gave less evaluation and showed more verbal attention to children than did North American mothers. (3) Japanese mothers pay verbal attention more frequently to boys than to girls. In addition, at five years, Japanese children produce 1·22 utterances per turn on average, while North American children produce 2·00 utterances per turn, a significant difference. Thus, by frequently showing verbal attention to their children's narrative contributions, Japanese mothers not only support their children's talk about the past but also make sure that it begins to take the shape of narration valued in their culture. The production of short narratives in Japan is understood and valued differently from such production in North America.
Enrichment of low abundance proteins of Escherichia coli by hydroxyapatite chromatography

Visualization of low‐copy‐number gene products is essential for the detection of novel drug targets by differential protein expression studies. We investigated the enrichment of low‐abundance proteins of Escherichia coli by hydroxyapatite chromatography. The proteins of the various pools collected from a ceramic hydroxyapatite column were analyzed by two‐dimensional electrophoresis and identified by matrix‐assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry. Approximately 800 spots corresponding to 296 different proteins were identified in the hydroxyapatite eluate. About 130 proteins that had not been detected in the two‐dimensional gels of the total extract were identified. Hydroxyapatite chromatography enriched low‐abundance but also major components of the E. coli protein extract. In particular, it enriched many low‐molecular‐mass proteins, such as cold‐shock proteins. The proteins bound to the hydroxyapatite matrix belong to several classes, including enzymes with various catalytic activities, heat‐ and cold‐shock proteins and many hypothetical and novel proteins with yet unknown functions. The results include a list of the proteins enriched by hydroxyapatite chromatography and a two‐dimensional map of the enriched proteins. They may be useful in the design of protein purification pathways using master purification steps and in the search for novel drug targets.
The Anti-diabetic Drugs Rosiglitazone and Metformin Stimulate AMP-activated Protein Kinase through Distinct Signaling Pathways*

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is activated within the cell in response to multiple stresses that increase the intracellular AMP:ATP ratio. Here we show that incubation of muscle cells with the thiazolidinedione, rosiglitazone, leads to a dramatic increase in this ratio with the concomitant activation of AMPK. This finding raises the possibility that a number of the beneficial effects of the thiazolidinediones could be mediated via activation of AMPK. Furthermore, we show that in addition to the classical activation pathway, AMPK can also be stimulated without changing the levels of adenine nucleotides. In muscle cells, both hyperosmotic stress and the anti-diabetic agent, metformin, activate AMPK in the absence of any increase in the AMP:ATP ratio. However, although activation is no longer dependent on this ratio, it still involves increased phosphorylation of threonine 172 within the catalytic (α) subunit. AMPK stimulation in response to hyperosmotic stress does not appear to involve phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate kinase, protein kinase C, mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase kinase, or p38 MAP kinase α or β. Our results demonstrate that AMPK can be activated by at least two distinct signaling mechanisms and suggest that it may play a wider role in the cellular stress response than was previously understood.
Edge texture feature extraction and expression recognition based on curvelet

For the wavelet transform has limitations in extract features of the edge of images, a method of the facial expression recognition is proposed that using curvelet transform to extract features of the edge of images. The curvelet transform can get more representation of sparse images than the wavelet transform on the representation of the singular of the edges of image curve. The curvelet coefficient that can be got by using the curvelet transform on the facial images as the edge of the texture features can better reflect the change in facial expression. As the same time, the k-nearest neighbor algorithm is used to recognize different expression in this paper. The result shows that the proposed algorithm in this paper is more effective than the wavelet transform in expression recognition.
Anti-desmoglein 3 (Dsg3) Monoclonal Antibodies Deplete Desmosomes of Dsg3 and Differ in Their Dsg3-depleting Activities Related to Pathogenicity*

Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is an autoimmune blistering disease, characterized by the loss of cell-cell adhesion between epidermal keratinocytes and the presence of autoantibody against desmoglein 3 (Dsg3), which provides adhesive integrity to desmosomes between adjacent keratinocytes. We have previously shown that PV-IgG purified from patients depletes desmosomes of Dsg3. However, PV-IgG contains not only antibodies against a variety of different epitopes of Dsg3 but also against other unknown antigens. Therefore, we examined whether the Dsg3-depleting activity of PV-IgG is generated specifically by anti-Dsg3 activity in a human squamous cell carcinoma cell line (DJM-1) and normal human keratinocytes by using four different pathogenic and nonpathogenic monoclonal antibodies against Dsg3. We demonstrate that these monoclonal antibodies deplete cells and desmosomes of Dsg3, as PV-IgG does. Individual monoclonal anti-Dsg3 antibodies display characteristic limits to their Dsg3-depleting activity, which correlates with their pathogenic activities. In combination, these antibodies exert a cumulative or synergistic effect, which may explain the potent Dsg3-depleting capability of PV-IgG, which is polyclonal. Finally, although Dsg3-depletion activity correlated with AK-monoclonal antibody pathogenicity in mouse models, the residual level of Dsg3, when below ∼50%, does not correlate with the adhesive strength index in the present study. This may suggest that although the Dsg3 depletion is not indicative for adhesive strength, the level of Dsg3 can be used as a read-out of pathogenic changes within the cell and that the Dsg3 depletion from desmosomes plays an important role in skin fragility or susceptibility to blister formation in PV patients.
DETERMINATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CIGARETTE AND SMOKELESS TOBACCO ( MARAS POWDER ) USE AND DEPRESSION / ANXIETY

HAMIT SIRRI KETEN1, OZGUR ERSOY2, YILMAZ SATAN3, SONER OLMEZ4, HUSEYIN UCER4, MERVE SAHIN5, MUSTAFA CELIK4 1Department of Family Medicine, Onikisubat Community Health Center, Kahramanmaras 2Department of Public Health, Medical Faculty, Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University, Kahramanmaras 3Department of Psychiatry, Medical Faculty, Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya 4Department of Family Medicine, Medical Faculty, Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University, Kahramanmaras, Turkey
Entecavir for the treatment of patients with hepatitis B virus-related decompensated cirrhosis

Introduction: Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection is common and carries a significant risk for the development of cirrhosis, hepatic decompensation, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The goal of treatment in patients with CHB-related decompensated cirrhosis is to improve hepatic dysfunction and reduce mortality through the inhibition of viral replication. Several studies have now shown nucleot(s)ide analogs to be safe and effective in decompensated cirrhosis due to CHB. Areas covered: A review of the evidence for the use of entecavir in the treatment of decompensated hepatitis B cirrhosis is discussed. Expert opinion: Entecavir is an effective treatment option for most patients with CHB. In treatment naïve patients, it is a potent antiviral agent with a very low resistance rate, making it an excellent option for the treatment of decompensated hepatitis B cirrhosis. The use of entecavir monotherapy in patients with a known rtM204V lamivudine-resistant mutation should be avoided due to increased risk of developing entecavir resistance and failing treatment.