Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Update on the diagnosis and management of hypophysitis

Purpose of review To discuss the multiple forms of hypophysitis, the various methods of classification, the recent findings in pituitary autoimmunity and novel methods of treating resistant or recurrent hypophysitis. (January 2010–December 2011). Recent findings Multiple novel presentations of hypophysitis have been described including cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 antibody-related hypophysitis, an adverse event associated with a novel treatment for cancer, Food and Drug Administration approved for use in the treatment of metastatic melanoma. A rare, but newly described entity of immunoglobulin G4 related plasmacytic hypophysitis has been described and reviewed. Multiple investigations addressing the role of autoimmunity in the diagnosis and pathogenesis of hypophysitis have been reported with positive antipituitary antibodies found in patients with autoimmune hypophysitis, other autoimmune diseases, and nonimmune-related pituitary diseases. Several case series and case reports present new associations with concomitant diseases and novel therapy for cases requiring treatment when standard therapy fails or is contraindicated. Summary Hypophysitis is a rare disease with multiple subtypes. The description of hypophysitis related to cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 antibody treatment is one of the first descriptions of hypophysitis triggered by medication. As the use of this novel treatment for cancer increases, so must our awareness of immune-related adverse effects and their treatment. Pituitary autoimmunity is a challenging field with multiple discoveries reported to help further our understanding of the disease and assist in diagnosis. Insufficient sensitivity and specificity of the currently reported methods prevents recommending measurement of antipituitary antibodies as standard of care in the diagnosis of hypophysitis. The treatment of hypophysitis remains controversial with recommendations ranging from hormonal replacement to newly described therapies such as azathioprine and radiation.
Membrane-Initiated Non-Genomic Signaling by Estrogens in the Hypothalamus: Cross-Talk with Glucocorticoids with Implications for Behavior

The estrogen receptor and glucocorticoid receptor are members of the nuclear receptor superfamily that can signal using both non-genomic and genomic transcriptional modes. Though genomic modes of signaling have been well characterized and several behaviors attributed to this signaling mechanism, the physiological significance of non-genomic modes of signaling has not been well understood. This has partly been due to the controversy regarding the identity of the membrane ER (mER) or membrane GR (mGR) that may mediate rapid, non-genomic signaling and the downstream signaling cascades that may result as a consequence of steroid ligands binding the mER or the mGR. Both estrogens and glucocorticoids exert a number of actions on the hypothalamus, including feedback. This review focuses on the various candidates for the mER or mGR in the hypothalamus and the contribution of non-genomic signaling to classical hypothalamically driven behaviors and changes in neuronal morphology. It also attempts to categorize some of the possible functions of non-genomic signaling at both the cellular level and at the organismal level that are relevant for behavior, including some behaviors that are regulated by both estrogens and glucocorticoids in a potentially synergistic manner. Lastly, it attempts to show that steroid signaling via non-genomic modes may provide the organism with rapid behavioral responses to stimuli.
Action Potential Backpropagation and Somato-dendritic Distribution of Ion Channels in Thalamocortical Neurons

Thalamocortical (TC) neurons of the dorsal thalamus integrate sensory inputs in an attentionally relevant manner during wakefulness and exhibit complex network-driven and intrinsic oscillatory activity during sleep. Despite these complex intrinsic and network functions, little is known about the dendritic distribution of ion channels in TC neurons or the role such channel distributions may play in synaptic integration. Here we demonstrate with simultaneous somatic and dendritic recordings from TC neurons in brain slices that action potentials evoked by sensory or cortical excitatory postsynaptic potentials are initiated near the soma and backpropagate into the dendrites of TC neurons. Cell-attached recordings demonstrated that TC neuron dendrites contain a nonuniform distribution of sodium but a roughly uniform density of potassium channels across the somatodendritic area examined that corresponds to approximately half the average path length of TC neuron dendrites. Dendritic action potential backpropagation was found to be active, but compromised by dendritic branching, such that action potentials may fail to invade relatively distal dendrites. We have also observed that calcium channels are nonuniformly distributed in the dendrites of TC neurons. Low-threshold calcium channels were found to be concentrated at proximal dendritic locations, sites known to receive excitatory synaptic connections from primary afferents, suggesting that they play a key role in the amplification of sensory inputs to TC neurons.
A New Protocol for Concealed Data Aggregation in Wireless Sensor Networks

— Wireless sensor networks (WSN) consists of many sensor nodes that are placed on unattended environments such as military sites in order to collect important information. Implementing a secure protocol that can prevent forwarding forged data and modifying content of aggregated data and has low delay and overhead of communication, computing and storage is very important. This paper presents a new protocol for concealed data aggregation (CDA). In this protocol, the network is divided to virtual cells, nodes within each cell produce a shared key to send and receive of concealed data with each other. Considering to data aggregation in each cell is locally and implementing a secure authentication mechanism, data aggregation delay is very low and producing false data in the network by malicious nodes is not possible. To evaluate the performance of our proposed protocol, we have presented computational models that show the performance and low overhead in our protocol.
Angular Photogrammetric Analysis of the Soft Tissue Facial Profile of Iranian Young Adults

Background: The evaluation of the soft tissue facial profile is essential to achieve facial harmony in orthodontic diagnosis and treatment planning. Objectives: This study aimed to develop soft tissue angular photogrammetric norms for a sample of Iranian population. Patients and Methods: Standardized profile photographic records were taken from 34 men and 37 women. Twelve measurements were analyzed on each photograph by AutoCad software. For statistical evaluation a Student’s t-test was used and the reliability of the method was assessed by using Intra-class Correlation Coefficient (ICC) within a four week interval. Results: Three of the angles showed sexual differences: nasofrontal (G-N-Prn, P = 0.009), nasal (Cm-Sn/N-Prn, P = 0.012) and vertical nasal (N-Prn/Tv, P = 0.029). Other nine angles showed statistically insignificant gender differences (P > 0.05). Two of the angles that suggested gender differences were wider in females: nasofrontal and nasal angle while the third angle was wider in males. Other angles such as nasolabial (Cm-Sn-Ls), mentolabial (Li-Sm-Pg), nasal dorsum (N-Mn-Prn) and angle of the total convexity (G-Prn-Pg) were also found wider in females. The inferior third was larger than the middle third. Mentolabial angle (Li-Sm-Pg), which had the highest standard deviation, showed the greatest variability. Conclusions: The results showed gender dimorphism in three of the measurements: the nasofrontal, the nasal and the vertical nasal angles. Another significant finding was the large variability for the mentolabial angle. The result of this measurement should be assessed with caution.
Population divergence and structure of Cirrhinus mrigala from peninsular rivers of India, revealed by mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and truss morphometric analysis

Abstract Genetic diversity and population structure of Cirrhinus mrigala from peninsular riverine systems of India was studied using mitochondrial DNA gene, cytochrome b and truss morphometric analysis. Analysis of 982 bp of the cytochrome b gene from 182 samples collected from six rivers revealed the presence of 28 haplotypes with overall high haplotype diversity value of 0.78981 and nucleotide diversity value of 0.00215. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that genetic variation is mainly harbored within populations rather than among populations. The pairwise Fst values (−0.009 to 0.084) was indicative of a low genetic structure among mrigal populations. Morphometric examination of 243 samples using 10 truss landmarks and principal component analysis showed a similar trend when compared with genetic data. Overall, low genetic and morphometric differences were observed despite those populations from different geographic locations. The results of this study would provide essential information to resource recovery and help in delineating populations for fishery management. Besides, the data will provide a valuable baseline for further investigations on the geographic distribution of this commercially important fish species.
Evaluation of the reinforcing effect of ground wood pulp in the preparation of polypropylene-based composites coupled with maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene

Polypropylene-based composites reinforced with ground wood pulp (pulp stone) were prepared in the reinforcing range of 20–50 wt %. The mechanical properties of the system were evaluated through the observation of a stiffening effect of the prepared materials, which reached Young's moduli up to 2.3 times higher than that of plain polypropylene, for formulations with 50 wt % ground wood pulp as a reinforcement. In contrast to this result, the ultimate tensile strength decreased because of the different polarities of the components of the composite. To overcome this problem, maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene was added as a coupling agent (6 wt %, with respect to the ground wood pulp content, as the optimal composition), giving rise to an important improvement in the ultimate tensile strength close to 125%, in comparison with the uncoupled composite, for the composite filled with 50 wt % ground wood pulp. The addition of maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene also diminished the capacity for absorbing water, improving the durability of the composite under wet conditions. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2007
Health Stresses and Depressive Symptomatology in the Elderly

The social and life sciences need to examine pathways of successful aging to master the consequences of increased longevity and physical vulnerability of the elderly population. One of older adults' well-known problems relates to the fact that their quality of life can be threatened by physical health stresses and associated depressive symptomatology. Common health problems among older adults often contribute to depressive symptomatology, and, in turn, depressive symptoms may further compromise older adults' health. It is thus an important task to discover factors that can protect older adults from experiencing the negative emotional consequences of health stresses. Using ideas from the life-span theory of control, we show how to adaptively manage the negative consequences of health problems in the elderly. Active investments in overcoming health problems that are controllable should result in positive outcomes. In contrast, it may be beneficial for older adults to disengage from health goals that are unattainable. By adjusting their control-related behaviors to the controllability of specific health stresses, older adults can maintain their psychological and physical health.
Proteins of circularly permuted sequence present within the same organism: The major serine proteinase inhibitor from Capsicum annuum seeds

The major serine proteinase inhibitor from bell pepper (Capsicum annuum, paprika) seeds was isolated, characterized, and sequenced, and its disulfide bond topology was determined. PSI‐1.2 is a 52‐amino‐acid‐long, cysteine‐rich polypeptide that inhibits both trypsin (Ki = 4.6 × 10−9 M) and chymotrypsin (Ki = 1.1 × 10−8 M) and is a circularly permuted member of the potato type II inhibitor family. Mature proteins of this family are produced from precursor proteins containing two to eight repeat units that are proteolytically cleaved within, rather than between, the repeats. In contrast, PSI‐1.2 corresponds to a complete repeat that was predicted as the putative ancestral protein of the potato type II family. To our knowledge, this is the first case in which two proteins related to each other by circular permutation are shown to exist in the same organism and are expressed within the same organ. PSI‐1.2 is not derived from any of the known precursors, and it contains a unique amphiphilic segment in one of its loops. A systematic comparison of the related precursor repeat‐sequences reveals common evolutionary patterns that are in agreement with the ancestral gene‐duplication hypothesis.
The Fusarium verticillioides FUM Gene Cluster Encodes a Zn(II)2Cys6 Protein That Affects FUM Gene Expression and Fumonisin Production

ABSTRACT Fumonisins are mycotoxins produced by some Fusarium species and can contaminate maize or maize products. Ingestion of fumonisins is associated with diseases, including cancer and neural tube defects, in humans and animals. In fungi, genes involved in the synthesis of mycotoxins and other secondary metabolites are often located adjacent to each other in gene clusters. Such genes can encode structural enzymes, regulatory proteins, and/or proteins that provide self-protection. The fumonisin biosynthetic gene cluster includes 16 genes, none of which appear to play a role in regulation. In this study, we identified a previously undescribed gene (FUM21) located adjacent to the fumonisin polyketide synthase gene, FUM1. The presence of a Zn(II)2Cys6 DNA-binding domain in the predicted protein suggested that FUM21 was involved in transcriptional regulation. FUM21 deletion (Δfum21) mutants produce little to no fumonisin in cracked maize cultures but some FUM1 and FUM8 transcripts in a liquid GYAM medium. Complementation of a Δfum21 mutant with a wild-type copy of the gene restored fumonisin production. Analysis of FUM21 cDNAs identified four alternative splice forms (ASFs), and microarray analysis indicated the ASFs were differentially expressed. Based on these data, we present a model for how FUM21 ASFs may regulate fumonisin biosynthesis.
Measuring death anxiety: conceptual, psychometric, and factor-analytic aspects.

This study was undertaken to construct a brief, reliable, and valid questionnaire for measuring attitudes toward death and dying. In Stage 1, four groups of individuals ranging in age from 30 to 82 years completed the Death Anxiety Questionnaire (DAQ), a brief anxiety scale (MAS), and a depression scale (DP). During Stage 2, results on these scales were cross-validated on a new sample of subjects, and the Templer and Dickstein measures of death anxiety were also completed. Internal consistency of the DAQ as determined by coefficient alpha was . 83 (n = 230) and test-retest reliability was . 87 (n = 30). No significant sex or age differences were found for any of the groups tested. Results provided evidence for both construct and concurrent validity of the DAQ and for discriminant validity of the items. A principal-components factor analysis suggested four independent dimensions of death anxiety: Fear of the Unknown; Fear of Suffering; Fear of Loneliness; and Fear of Personal Extinction. Recommendations for future research include an investigation of the degree to which scores on these four dimensions might differentiate among different sex, age, personality, affective, and diagnostic groupings.
Nandrolone attenuates aortic adaptation to exercise in rats.

AIMS In this study, we investigated the interaction between exercise-induced mitochondrial adaptation of large vessels and the effects of chronic anabolic androgenic steroids (AASs). METHODS AND RESULTS Four groups of Sprague-Dawley rats were studied: (i) sedentary, (ii) sedentary + nandrolone-treated, (iii) aerobic exercise trained, and (iv) trained + nandrolone-treated. Aerobic training increased the levels of aortic endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in accordance with improved acetylcholine-induced vascular relaxation. These beneficial effects were associated with induction of mitochondrial complexes I and V, increased mitochondrial DNA copy number, and greater expression of transcription factors involved in mitochondrial biogenesis/fusion. We also observed enhanced mitochondrial autophagy pathway activity, including increased conversion of LC3-I to LC3-II and greater expression of beclin1 and autophagy-related protein-7 (ATG7). The levels of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances and protein carbonyls remained unchanged, whereas significant increases in catalase and mitochondrial manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) levels were observed in the aortas of trained animals, when compared with sedentary controls. Nandrolone increased oxidative stress biomarkers and inhibited exercise-induced increases of eNOS, HO-1, catalase, and MnSOD expression. In addition, it also attenuated elevated peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1α) and mitofusin-2 expression, and further up-regulated LC3II conversion, beclin1, ATG7, and dynamin-related protein-1 expression. CONCLUSION These results demonstrate that nandrolone attenuates aortic adaptations to exercise by regulating mitochondrial dynamic remodelling, including down-regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis and intensive autophagy.
Association Between 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and Epicardial Adipose Tissue in Chinese Non-Obese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Background Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is recognized as a useful indicator for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and obesity. However, studies on the association between vitamin D status and EAT thickness in type 2 diabetes (T2D) are limited. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the association of vitamin D (Calcifediol) status and EAT thickness (EATT) in Chinese non-obese patients with T2D. Material/Methods A cross-sectional study was performed among 167 non-obese T2D Chinese patients and 82 non-diabetic patients, who are age- and gender-matched during the winter months. EATT was evaluated by two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D, Calcifediol] was examined in the diabetic patients and in the control group. Results The concentration of 25(OH)D was 32.00 nmol/l (19.30–53.70 nmol/l) among diabetic patients. Most (93.4%) of the diabetic patients had hypovitaminosis D. We confirmed a clear negative association between 25(OH)D level and EATT in non-obese T2D patients (p=0.01). EATT was significantly correlated with 25(OH)D level (p=0.001) and HOMA-IR (p=0.001). Results of multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated increased EATT, which was remarkably associated with 25(OH)D levels (p=0.039), systolic blood pressure (SBP) (p=0.013), HOMA-IR (p=0.030), and waist circumference (p<0.001) in T2D patients after adjusting for the confounding factors. Conclusions Increased EATT was found in Chinese non-obese T2D patients. 25(OH)D and HOMA-IR were independently associated with increased EATT after adjusting for multiple confounders.
Melatonin and its brain metabolite N1‐acetyl‐5‐methoxykynuramine prevent mitochondrial nitric oxide synthase induction in parkinsonian mice

Melatonin prevents mitochondrial failure in models of sepsis through its ability to inhibit the expression and activity of both cytosolic (iNOS) and mitochondrial (i‐mtNOS) inducible nitric oxide synthases. Because Parkinson's disease (PD), like sepsis, is associated with iNOS induction, we assessed the existence of changes in iNOS/i‐mtNOS and their relation with mitochondrial dysfunction in the MPTP model of PD, which also displays increased iNOS expression. We also evaluated the role of melatonin (aMT) and its brain metabolite, N1‐acetyl‐5‐methoxykynuramine (AMK), in preventing i‐mtNOS induction and mitochondrial failure in this model of PD. Mitochondria from substantia nigra (SN) and, to a lesser extent, from striatum (ST) showed a significant increase in i‐mtNOS activity, nitrite levels, oxidative stress, and complex I inhibition after MPTP treatment. MPTP‐induced i‐mtNOS was probably related to mitochondrial failure, because its prevention by aMT and AMK reduced oxidative/nitrosative stress and restored complex I activity. These findings represent the first experimental evidence of a potential role for i‐mtNOS in the mitochondrial failure of PD and support a novel mechanism in the neuroprotective effects of aMT and AMK. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Tumor Therapy Applying Membrane-bound Form of Cytokines

Tumor therapy using cytokines has been developed for last two decades. Several recombinant cytokines and tumor cell vaccines produced by cytokine gene transfer have been in clinical trials, but several side effects hamper routine clinical applications. Many cytokines are originally expressed as membrane-bound form and then processed to secretory form exerting paracrine effects. Though functional differences of these two types of cytokines are elusive yet, the membrane-bound form of cytokine may exert its effects on restricted target cells as a juxtacrine, which are in physical contacts. With the efforts to improve antitumor activities of cytokines in cancer patients, developing new strategies to alleviate life-threatening side effects became an inevitable goal of tumor immunologists. Among these, tumor cell vaccines expressing cytokines as membrane-bound form on tumor cell surface have been developed by genetic engineering techniques with the hope of selective stimulation of the target cells that are in cell-to-cell contacts. In this review, recent progress of tumor cell vaccines expressing membrane-bound form of cytokines will be discussed.
Integration of message passing and shared memory in the Stanford FLASH multiprocessor

The advantages of using message passing over shared memory for certain types of communication and synchronization have provided an incentive to integrate both models within a single architecture. A key goal of the FLASH (FLexible Architecture for SHared memory) project at Stanford is to achieve this integration while maintaining a simple and efficient design. This paper presents the hardware and software mechanisms in FLASH to support various message passing protocols. We achieve low overhead message passing by delegating protocol functionality to the programmable node controllers in FLASH and by providing direct user-level access to this messaging subsystem. In contrast to most earlier work, we provide an integrated solution that handles the interaction of the messaging protocols with virtual memory, protected multiprogramming, and cache coherence. Detailed simulation studies indicate that this system can sustain message-transfers rates of several hundred megabytes per second, effectively utilizing projected network bandwidths for next generation multiprocessors.
On the Chikazawa-Inoue ID based key system

In this paper, we show that Chikazawa-Inoue ID-based key system is insecure by collusion, where Chikazawa-Inoue ID-based key system means the key parameters established during the initiation phase. We describe an algorithm factorizing a public key of Trust Center. Since our attack is based on only the key system and has no relation with specific key sharing protocols, it can be applied to all variant protocols of Chikazawa-Inoue ID based key sharing protocol. From this analysis, we obtain conclusions that ChikazawaInoue ID-based key system cannot be used any more for any application protocols, which means that our result puts an end to discussion of related key sharing protocols.