Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Export of active green fluorescent protein to the periplasm by the twin‐arginine translocase (Tat) pathway in Escherichia coli

The twin‐arginine translocation (Tat) system targets cofactor‐containing proteins across the Escherichia coli cytoplasmic membrane via distinct signal peptides bearing a twin‐arginine motif. In this study, we have analysed the mechanism and capabilities of the E. coli Tat system using green fluorescent protein (GFP) fused to the twin‐arginine signal peptide of TMAO reductase (TorA). Fractionation studies and fluorescence measurements demonstrate that GFP is exported to the periplasm where it is fully active. Export is almost totally blocked in tat deletion mutants, indicating that the observed export in wild‐type cells occurs predominantly, if not exclusively, by the Tat pathway. Imaging studies reveal a halo of fluorescence in wild‐type cells corresponding to the exported periplasmic form; the GFP is distributed uniformly throughout the cytoplasm in a tat mutant. Because previous work has shown GFP to be incapable of folding in the periplasm, we propose that GFP is exported in a fully folded, active state. These data also show for the first time that heterologous proteins can be exported in an active form by the Tat pathway.
A Routing Scheme for VANETs in a City Environment

In vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs), routing schemes play a vital role in data dissemination. As data dissemination in a timely and efficient manner is critical for safety-related applications, in this paper we introduce a location based routing algorithm namely geographic routing, which significantly reduces the packet dropping probability and the total number of packets in the network compared to flooding-based routing protocols. A 3×3 km Manhattan grid has been utilised to assess the performance of our proposed routing scheme.
PHARMACOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF PIRACETAM AND VANADYL SULFATE ON EXPERIMENTALLY INDUCED CEREBRAL ISCHEMIA IN RATS Original Article

Objective: The aim of present study was designed to evaluate the combinatorial effect of piracetam and vanadyl sulfate on experimentally induced global cerebral ischemia in rats. Methods: Piracetam (600 mg/kg, p. o.) and vanadyl sulfate (22.4 mg/kg, p. o.) were administered individually and also in combination before the induction of ischemia. Cerebral ischemia was induced by bilateral carotid artery (BCA) occlusion for 30 min followed by reperfusion 60 min. Results: The antioxidant and non-antioxidant enzymatic levels were estimated along with histopathological studies. The concomitant pretreated group showed a more significant decrease in lipid peroxidation (LPO) and increased in the superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione (GSH) and total thiol levels as compared to ischemic reperfusion group. Histopathological damage was significantly reduced in drug treated groups as compared to ischemia-reperfusion group. Conclusion: The findings of the present study suggest that pretreatment with piracetam and vanadyl sulfate in combination prevents the ischemiareperfusion injury and prevented oxidative tissue damage as shown by decreased lipid peroxides, restored the antioxidant levels, histological changes such as infarct area, inflammatory changes, and edema.
Advancing public health goals through the mass media.

This article examines three approaches that incorporate mass media in their strategies to advance public health goals. The first approach reviewed is social marketing. This approach involves integration of marketing principles and social psychology in comprehensive efforts to market socially beneficial ideas behaviors or beliefs to targeted populations. Another approach comes from the field of public relations. Within this orientation the media are engaged to help cultivate professional and social relationships with key publics whose associations will facilitate a publics health organizations ability to realize its mission. The final approach is the media advocacy. This primarily focuses on those factors in the social economic and political environments that predisposes populations to poor health. In addition this paper provides information on the characteristics capabilities and relative benefits and limitations of the three mass media orientation with respect to certain health promotion goals.
Similar User Index-based MapReduce for Distributed Recommender Systems

Due to the time complexity in composing recommendations, matrix factorization-based approaches are inefficient in dealing with large scale datasets. In this paper, we propose a similar user index- based parallel matrix factorization approach. Since the group of similar users is indexed in advance, there is no need to compute similarities between all users in datasets. Furthermore, the size of a matrix is reduced because the matrix is only composed of indexed user's ratings and items. The current advanced cloud computing including Hadoop, MapReduce and Amazon EC2 are employed to implement the proposed approaches.
Urban-rural disparities in the nutritional status of school adolescent girls in the Mizan district, south-western Ethiopia.

INTRODUCTION Malnutrition that occurs during adolescence has important consequences for the future growth and development of the individual, particularly in girls in developing countries. Besides limiting growth, adolescent malnutrition has important consequences for society. Despite this, there is a lack of information on the nutritional status of adolescent girls in Ethiopia. This study was therefore performed to help redress this lack of data and to provide information for future improvements by health planners and policy makers. METHODS A comparative cross-sectional study design was employed to determine the urban-rural disparity in nutritional status of adolescent school girls in the Mizan district in south-western Ethiopia. A two-stage sampling procedure was used to randomly select 622 adolescent girls, 311 each from urban and rural locations. Trained field workers used structured questionnaires to obtain the desired information from the respondents. Anthropometric measurements of height and weight were collected using standard procedures and appropriate quality control measures. Height-for-age Z-scores and body mass index (BMI)-for-age Z-scores were generated using AnthroPlus software. The independent sample t-test and χ2 test were used to determine statistical significance. RESULTS There were no significant differences in the ages or physical activities of the two populations of girls studied. Consumption of cereal, vegetables, sweets, sugars, fats, meat, and eggs was similar between the two groups, although slight differences were found with regard to legumes, milk, and fruit consumption. No significant differences were found in the prevalence of mild underweight girls and overweight girls in the urban and rural groups (26.5% vs 22.3% and 7.5% vs 5.2%, respectively). Significant stunting was, however, present in the rural population (40.9% vs. 17.8% in the urban group). Although overall lower than the reference data provided by WHO, the mean BMI-for-age Z-scores and height-for-age Z-scores were significantly higher in the urban girls than in their rural counterparts, with mean differences of 0.18 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.02-0.34) and 0.58 (95% CI 0.45-0.72), respectively. CONCLUSIONS Malnutrition was present in both urban and rural adolescent girls. The most obvious disparity between the two populations was significant stunting in the rural population. There is therefore an urgent need for strategies to address severe nutritional problems in rural adolescent girls and to improve the nutrition of adolescent girls within the urban environment.
Intermediates in the folding reactions of small proteins.

PERSPECTIVES AND SUMMARy . 632 SCOPE OF THIS REVIEW . 633 EXISTENCE OF INTERMEDIATES . 634 MODELS FOR FOLDING . 636 NATURE OF FOLDING INTERMEDIATES . 636 Disulfide Intermediates . 637 Peptide Models . 638 Pulse Labeling . 641 Collapsed Forms (Molten Globules) . 641 Hydrophobic Collapse. 643 Local Unfolding Reactions . 644
Comparative analysis of the genomes of clinical isolates of Mycobacterium avium subsp. hominissuis regarding virulence‐related genes

Purpose. Mycobacterium avium subsp. hominissuis is a member of the M. avium complex, a heterogeneous group of bacteria that cause lung infection in immunocompetent patients or disseminated infection in patients with immunosuppression. The bacteria belonging to this complex have variable virulence, depending on the strain considered, and therefore a representative of the most common clinical phenotype was analysed. Methodology. The genomic sequences of four M. avium subsp. hominissuis isolates obtained from clinical specimens were completed. Mav101, Mav100 and MavA5 were isolated from the blood of patients with AIDS. MavA5 was disseminated from the lung, while Mav3388 was isolated from the lungs of a patient with chronic lung disease. The sequences were annotated using the published Mav104 genome as a blueprint. Functional and virulence analyses of the sequences were carried out. Mice studies comparing the virulence of the strains were performed. Results. Findings showed that while Mav101 was very similar to Mav104, there were numerous differences between Mav104 and the remaining strains at nucleotide and predicted protein levels. The presence of genes associated with biofilm formation and several known virulence‐related genes were sometimes differentially present among the isolates, suggesting overlapping functions by different genetic determinants. Conclusions. The sequences provided important information about M. avium heterogenicity and evolution as a pathogen. The limitation is the lack of understanding on possible overlapping functions of genes/proteins.
Monobromobimane occupies a distinct xenobiotic substrate site in glutathione S‐transferase π

Monobromobimane (mBBr), functions as a substrate of porcine glutathione S‐transferase π (GST π): The enzyme catalyzes the reaction of mBBr with glutathione. S‐(Hydroxyethyl)bimane, a nonreactive analog of monobromobimane, acts as a competitive inhibitor with respect to mBBr as substrate but does not affect the reaction of GST π with another substrate, 1‐chloro‐2,4‐dinitrobenzene (CDNB). In the absence of glutathione, monobromobimane inactivates GST π at pH 7.0 and 25°C as assayed using mBBr as substrate, with a lesser effect on the enzyme's use of CDNB as substrate. These results indicate that the sites occupied by CDNB and mBBr are not identical. Inactivation is proportional to the incorporation of 2 moles of bimane/mole of subunit. Modification of GST π with mBBr does not interfere with its binding of 8‐anilino‐1‐naphthalene sulfonate, indicating that this hydrophobic site is not the target of monobromobimane. S‐Methylglutathione and S‐(hydroxyethyl)bimane each yield partial protection against inactivation and decrease reagent incorporation, while glutathionyl‐bimane protects completely against inactivation. Peptide analysis after trypsin digestion indicates that mBBr modifies Cys45 and Cys99 equally. Modification of Cys45 is reduced in the presence of S‐methylglutathione, indicating that this residue is at or near the glutathione binding region. In contrast, modification of Cys99 is reduced in the presence of S‐(hydroxyethyl)bimane, suggesting that this residue is at or near the mBBr xenobiotic substrate binding site. Modification of Cys99 can best be understood by reaction with monobromobimane while it is bound to its xenobiotic substrate site in an alternate orientation. These results support the concept that glutathione S‐transferase accomplishes its ability to react with a diversity of substrates in part by harboring distinct xenobiotic substrate sites.
Post Rape Care Provision to Minors in Kenya: An Assessment of Health Providers’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a major global health challenge. Extant literature in Kenya indicates an alarming rate of sexually abused minors presenting to poorly equipped health facilities with untrained health providers for post rape care. National guidelines on management of sexual violence have been in existence since 2004; however, little is known on the impact of these guidelines on post rape care provision to minors. Therefore, the study aims to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of health providers with regard to post rape care provision in a Kenyan District health facility. The study used a triangulation of different qualitative methods: review of 42 health records of minors seeking post rape care, 15 in-depth interviews, and informal conversations with health providers. Findings indicate that the Kenyan national guidelines on management of sexual violence were nonexistent in the health facility. Consequently, health providers possessed limited knowledge on post rape care administration. The limited knowledge translated to poor collection and preservation of evidence, inadequate psychosocial support, and clinical care. In addition, rape myth attitudes and religious beliefs contributed to survivor blaming and provider hesitance in provision of legal abortion care, respectively. To facilitate provision of quality post rape care, policy makers and health institutions’ managers need to avail protocols in line with evidence-based best practices to guide health providers in post rape care administration. In addition, there is need for rigorous training and supervision of health professionals to ensure better service provision.
[Assessment of major artery stiffness: new perspectives of noninvasive diagnosis of coronary atherosclerosis].

AIM Arterial stiffness is a predictor of atherosclerosis. This study was conducted to develop a method of coronary atherosclerosis severity assessment by means of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). MATERIAL AND METHODS We measured baPWV in 119 males (age 51.67 +/- 7.25) who received coronary angiographic examination (CAG). The baPWV was measured by Vasera VS-1000 (Fukuda Denshi). RESULTS The patients were divided into two groups by severity of stenosis (group 1--less than 50% stenosis, group 2 > 50%). The baPWV value was significantly greater in group 2 (n = 98, baPWV 13.15 +/- 2.14 m/s, p = 0.004) than that in group 1 (n = 21, baPWV 12.13 +/- 1.17 m/s). ROC-curve demonstrated that the best cut-off point of the baPWV for predicting occlusive atherosclerosis was 12.2 m/s. The area under ROC-curve was 0.66 (p = 0.034). An univariate binary logistic regression model demonstrated that only baPWV had a significant odds ratio for coronary stenosis > 50%: 2.68 (95% CI = 1.01-7.15), p = 0.043. Other risk factors were not significantly associated with severity of stenosis. CONCLUSION The baPWV significantly reflects the severity of stenosis in middle-aged males opening new perspectives of noninvasive detection of coronary artery atherosclerosis in middle-aged males.
SDN/NFV based caching solution for future mobile network (5G)

Caching content locally at the edge of the network and managing these caches by SDN/NFV based technologies are able to satisfy increasing data traffic demand in 5G. The virtualization of caching functionalities allows network operators to deploy caching services with advanced features like flexibility, dynamicity and auto-scalability, and provide caching services to service providers or virtualized network operators over the same common infrastructure. The caching management system provides two levels of operations: i) at the global level managed by the Infrastructure Provider applying to all the tenants or virtualized network operators; or ii) at the tenant-specific level managed by the specific tenants. Our caching solution opens an entirely new space of business opportunities for network operators, service providers and content providers.
Hard Tissue Formation in Subcutaneously Transplanted Rat Dental Pulp

While dental pulp appears to be able to form mineralized matrices that do not always resemble dentin, the precise characteristics of the hard tissue and the mechanism of its induction remain unknown. Therefore, we evaluated hard tissue induced by transplantation of pulp into subcutaneous tissue. Seven days after transplantation, initial hard tissue was formed at the inner periphery of the pulp. After 14 days, this hard tissue expanded inwardly. Mineralized matrix was immunopositive for osteocalcin, osteopontin, and bone sialoprotein, but negative for dentin sialoprotein. Transplantation of GFP-labeled pulp into wild-type rats showed these formative cells to have been derived from the transplant. TEM observation revealed apatite crystals within necrotic cells and matrix vesicles at the initial stage of calcification. These results indicate that pulp cells possess the ability to form a bone- or cementum-like matrix. Calcification of the matrix may occur in necrotic cells and matrix vesicles, followed by collagenous calcification.
[Effect of recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor on wound healing in patients with deep partial thickness burn].

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy and safety of recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (rhGM-CSF) hydrogel in wound healing in patients with deep partial thickness burn. METHODS The study was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel clinical trial. Three hundred and twenty-one patients (302 cases finally fulfilled the protocol) with deep partial thickness burn were divided into A group (n = 200, with treatment of rhGM-CSF hydrogel, 100 microg/10 g/100 cm2/d), C group (n = 102,with treatment of placebo). Side-effect, systemic condition, wound healing time, wound healing rate, and total effective rate at different time points were observed. RESULTS There were no obvious differences in vital signs, wound secretion, wound edge reaction, blood and urine routine, liver and kidney function between two groups (P > 0.05). No side-effect was observed. The median wound healing time was 17 days in A group, which was obviously shorter than that in C group (20 days, P < 0.01). The mean wound healing rate in A group was 24.5%, 70.5%, 95.3%, 99.6% respectively on 8th, 14th, 20th, 28th day after treatment, which were obviously higher than that in C group (15.1%, 51.4%, 84.6%, 97.1%, respectively, P < 0.01). The total effective rates in A group on 8th, 14th, 20th day after treatment were also higher than that in C group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION rhGM-CSF hydrogel can significantly accelerate wound healing in patients with deep partial thickness burn with certain safety.
Reduced endogenous endothelin-1-mediated vascular tone in chronic renal failure.

BACKGROUND Endothelin-1 generated by the vascular endothelium contributes to basal vascular tone and blood pressure in healthy humans. Plasma concentrations of endothelin-1, which are elevated in chronic renal failure (CRF), may contribute to increased vascular tone. METHODS We investigated the contribution of endogenous and exogenous endothelin-1 to the maintenance of vascular tone in patients with CRF (creatinine > or = 200 mumol/liter) and in age- and sex-matched healthy subjects. In a series of experiments, we measured forearm vascular responses to intra-arterial norepinephrine (30 to 240 pmol/min), endothelin-1 (5 pmol/min), the selective endothelin A (ETA) receptor antagonist BQ-123 (3 mg/hr), the mixed endothelin-converting enzyme and neutral endopeptidase inhibitor phosphoramidon (30 nmol/min), and the selective neutral endopeptidase inhibitor thiorphan (30 nmol/min). RESULTS The maximum reduction in forearm blood flow (FBF) to norepinephrine in CRF (33 +/- 7%) was similar to that in controls (43 +/- 7%, P = 0.53). Endothelin-1 also produced a similar reduction in FBF in CRF (35 +/- 6%) and controls (36 +/- 5%, P = 0.81). BQ-123 increased FBF in CRF (11 +/- 4%) but significantly less than in controls (44 +/- 10%, P = 0.02). Phosphoramidon increased FBF in CRF (68 +/- 20%), again significantly less than in controls (181 +/- 41%, P = 0.001). Thiorphan reduced FBF similarly in CRF (22 +/- 6%) and controls (14 +/- 6%, P = 0.39). Responses to phosphoramidon were substantially greater than to BQ-123. CONCLUSIONS These studies show that endogenous generation of endothelin-1 contributes to the maintenance of resting vascular tone in patients with CRF, as well as in healthy subjects. Although the contribution of endogenous endothelin-1 to resting vascular tone appears to be reduced in CRF, ETA receptor antagonism, and particularly endothelin-converting enzyme inhibition, should be explored as means by which to reduce vascular tone and blood pressure in patients with CRF.
Research Article EFFECT OF POLYHERBAL FORMULATION ON METABOLIC DERANGEMENTS IN EXPERIMENTAL MODEL OF HIGH FRUCTOSE DIET INDUCED METABOLIC SYNDROME

High fructose diet induces metabolic syndrome. Therefore an attempt has made to evaluate the effect of Polyherbal formulation in male Wistar rats by oral administration of 350 mg/Kg body weight (HF1) and 500 mg/ Kg body weight (HF2). The clinical symptoms established in high fructose diet induced metabolic syndrome were ameliorated by Poly herbal formulation. Food, water intake was increased in high fructose diet fed rats. Body weight, abdominal waist and Body mass index were increased in only high fructose fed rats whereas reduced with poly herbal formulation. Atherogenic index and Blood pressure were increased in only high fructose fed rats but reduced in rats supplied with polyherbal formulation (HF1 and HF2) along high fructose. Biochemical components like fasting blood glucose levels, triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL, VLDL, SGOT, SGPT, Uric acid, Malondialdehyde (MDA) were increased in only high fructose fed group rats whereas these components were reduced and normalised in groups of rats fed with high fructose diet for 7 weeks in association with Herbal formulation HF1, HF2 for last three weeks separately.HDL-C levels were found increased in rats even though supplied with polyherbal formulation. Histopathology results of pancreas and liverof only high fructose fed rats indicated the infiltration of inflammatory cells and fat accumulation which was ameliorated with HF1 and HF2.
Modulation of cellular radiation responses by 2-deoxy-D-glucose and other glycolytic inhibitors: implications for cancer therapy.

BACKGROUND 2-Deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), a glycolytic inhibitor, was observed earlier to increase DNA, chromosomal, and cellular damage in tumor cells, by inhibiting energy-dependent repair processes. Lonidamine (LND) selectively inhibits glycolysis in cancer cells. It damages the condensed mitochondria in these cells, impairing thereby the activity of hexokinase (predominantly attached to the outer mitochondrial membranes). It inhibits repair of radiation-induced potentially lethal cellular damage in HeLa and Chinese hamster (HA-1) cells. However, other than a preliminary study on human glioma (BMG-1) cells in this laboratory, the effects of LND on radiation-induced cytogenetic damage have not been reported earlier. AIMS These studies were carried out to investigate the effects of LND and 2-DG on cell proliferation, viability, and radiation response in the same human glioma cell line, under identical conditions. The respective drug concentrations were selected on the basis of earlier studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS Human glioma (U373MG) cells were grown in the presence of LND or 2-DG for 2 days. Proliferation response and viability of U373MG human glioma cells were studied by cell counts and uptake of trypan blue dye. Radiosensitization (increase in micronuclei formation) was studied after short-term (4 h postirradiation) drug treatments. OBSERVATIONS Both the drugs (1) inhibited proliferation response in a concentration-dependent manner; (2) did not induce micronuclei formation in the unirradiated cells; and (3) significantly increased radiation-induced micronuclei formation at nontoxic concentrations. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that the short-term presence of either lonidamine or 2-DG-at clinically relevant and nontoxic concentrations-could increase the treatment response of malignant gliomas at optimum radiation doses, reducing thereby the side effects of radiotherapy.