Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Growth inhibitory effects of casein hydrolysates on human cancer cell lines

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of unhydrolysed/intact casein and eight different sodium casein hydrolysates (a–h) on the viability and growth of human cancer cell lines. Both human Jurkat T cells and Caco-2 cells were incubated with increasing concentrations of the test compounds (0·5–10% v/v) for 24 h. Cell viability was assessed using the MTT, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release and Trypan Blue assays. Cell growth was monitored using the MTT, Trypan Blue and Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) proliferation assays. Casein hydrolysates b, c and f had an inhibitory effect on the viability and growth of both cell lines. The casein hydrolysates did not negatively affect the membrane integrity of both Jurkat and Caco-2 cells. In Jurkat cells hydrolysates a and h had an inhibitory effect on DNA synthesis after 24 h, while in Caco-2 cells DNA synthesis was not affected. In conclusion, we found that the different casein hydrolysates had cell-specific effects which target particular functions within the cell. Overall, casein hydrolysates had no effect on membrane integrity while they had varied effects on mitochondrial activity and DNA synthesis in the different cell lines.
Increased Plasma Cell-Free DNA Level during HTNV Infection: Correlation with Disease Severity and Virus Load

Cell-free DNA (cf-DNA) in blood represents a promising DNA damage response triggered by virus infection or trauma, tumor, etc. Hantavirus primarily causes two diseases: haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and Hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS), depending on different Hantavirus species. The aim of this study was to evaluate plasma cf-DNA levels in acute phase of HFRS, and to correlate plasma cf-DNA with disease severity and plasma Hanttan virus (HTNV) load. We observed the appearance of cf-DNA in 166 plasma samples from 76 HFRS patients: the plasma cf-DNA levels peaked at the hypotensive stage of HFRS, and then decreased gradually. Until the diuretic stage, there was no significant difference in plasma cf-DNA level between patients and the healthy control. Exclusively in the febrile/hypotensive stage, the plasma cf-DNA levels of severe/critical patients were higher than those of the mild/moderate group. Moreover, the plasma cf-DNA value in the early stage of HFRS was correlated with HTNV load and disease severity. In most of the patients, plasma cf-DNA displayed a low-molecular weight appearance, corresponding to the size of apoptotic DNA. In conclusion, the plasma cf-DNA levels were dynamically elevated during HFRS, and correlated with disease severity, which suggests that plasma cf-DNA may be a potential biomarker for the pathogenesis and prognosis of HFRS.
On the radiation Q and the gain of crossed electric and magnetic dipole moments

Exact expressions for the radiation quality factor Q and the gain pattern function of the corresponding antenna are derived and their properties are analyzed for crossed electric and magnetic dipole moment configuration. Both omni-directional and directional antennas with linear, elliptical, or circular polarization can achieve the same minimum radiation Q. The maximum gain of the antenna ranges from 3/2 to 3. The maximum gain of three can be achieved only for linear polarization when the source vectors make a right angle and the amplitudes of the TM and the TE modes are equal. The increase in the maximum gain from 3/2 for omni-directional antennas to 3 for directional antennas does not require any increase in the radiation Q, which suggests that practical directional antennas with higher gain may be realized with smaller size compared with small omni-directional antennas assuming similar operation bandwidths.
Age Differences in Age Perceptions and Developmental Transitions

Is 50 considered “old”? When do we stop being considered “young”? If individuals could choose to be any age, what would it be? In a sample of 502,548 internet respondents ranging in age from 10 to 89, we examined age differences in aging perceptions (e.g., how old do you feel? ) and estimates of the timing of developmental transitions (e.g., when does someone become an older adult? ). We found that older adults reported older perceptions of aging (e.g., choosing to be older, feeling older, being perceived as older), but that these perceptions were increasingly younger than their current age. The age to which individuals hope to live dramatically increased after age 40. We also found that older adults placed the age at which developmental transitions occurred later in the life course. This latter effect was stronger for transitions involving middle-age and older adulthood compared to transitions involving young adulthood. The current study constitutes the largest study to date of age differences in age perceptions and developmental timing estimates and yielded novel insights into how the aging process may affect judgments about the self and others.
Teaching Critical Thinking in an English for Academic Purposes Program using a ‘ Claims and Supports ’ approach

IALF Bali provides pre-departure training to Indonesian ADS scholarship recipients en-route to postgraduate studies in Australia. Over the last 2 years, we have been involved in a curriculum restructuring process aimed at incorporating critical thinking into our EAP programs. Although this process is ongoing, our training now endeavours to develop students’ language and critical thinking skills simultaneously, from the outset, regardless of their language proficiency levels. It does so by using a simple but effective approach to deconstructing, reconstructing and constructing ‘claims and supports’ in spoken and written texts using diagramming techniques to ‘map’ logical reasoning. We argue the ‘claims and supports’ framework offers a useful set of principles for teaching critical thinking in EAP programs, and also has implications for cross-cultural teaching and learning because it recognizes that approaches to knowledge construction differ from one culture to another. Difference does not mean deficit, but it does need to be made explicit, otherwise it forms part of a’ hidden curriculum’ which blocks students’ success.
Pattern of Auxin and Cytokinin Responses for Shoot Meristem Induction Results from the Regulation of Cytokinin Biosynthesis by AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR31[W][OA]

De novo organ regeneration is an excellent biological system for the study of fundamental questions regarding stem cell initiation, cell fate determination, and hormone signaling. Despite the general belief that auxin and cytokinin responses interact to regulate de novo organ regeneration, the molecular mechanisms underlying such a cross talk are little understood. Here, we show that spatiotemporal biosynthesis and polar transport resulted in local auxin distribution in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), which in turn determined the cytokinin response during de novo shoot regeneration. Genetic and pharmacological interference of auxin distribution disrupted the cytokinin response and ATP/ADP ISOPENTENYLTRANSFERASE5 (AtIPT5) expression, affecting stem cell initiation and meristem formation. Transcriptomic data suggested that AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR3 (ARF3) mediated the auxin response during de novo organ regeneration. Indeed, mutations in ARF3 caused ectopic cytokinin biosynthesis via the misexpression of AtIPT5, and this disrupted organ regeneration. We further showed that ARF3 directly bound to the promoter of AtIPT5 and negatively regulated AtIPT5 expression. The results from this study thus revealed an auxin-cytokinin cross talk mechanism involving distinct intermediate signaling components required for de novo stem cell initiation and shed new light on the mechanisms of organogenesis in planta.
Band ordering in lossless compression of multispectral images

The author has extensively studied the benefits and problems associated with reordering the bands of a multispectral image for performing lossless compression. Under a reasonable model of inter-band prediction, he has shown how to efficiently compute the optimal compression band ordering. In addition, he has formalized the restrictions that arise when bands need to be extracted individually from a compressed archive, and has shown that computing the optimal ordering under these restrictions is NP-hard, except in the most simple case. <<ETX>>
Neutrophilic urticaria

We studied 241 consecutive skin biopsies from patients with urticaria. Ten of the 241 specimens showed inflammation of dermal venules primarily with polymorphonuclear leukocytes, without evidence of necrotizing vasculitis. We speculated that this finding might represent an early histological form of urticarial vasculitis. However, review of the clinical histories and laboratory data from these 10 cases showed that most were associated with dermographism, normocomplementaemia, and negative direct immunofluorescence. These findings suggest that urticarial lesions with the histological picture of neutrophils in vessel walls may imply the presence of physical urticaria.
Comparison of body composition assessments by bioelectrical impedance and by anthropometry in premenopausal Chinese women

Fat-free mass (FFM) was estimated in forty-seven premenopausal Chinese women, aged 18–43 years, from anthropometric data (skinfolds, body mass index (weight/height2; BMI)) or bioelectrical impedance, using several prediction formulas for body composition from the literature, and values compared with the mean of these three individual methods used as a frame of reference. In thirty-six women these values could be compared with FFM calculated from total body water (TBW) determined by D2O dilution. The prediction formulas used were developed from studies on Caucasian adults and their validity will have to be shown in populations with different ethnic backgrounds. The mean difference between FFM predicted from BMI and the frame of reference was 0.1 kg (95 % confidence interval (CI) -0.1, 0.4), from bioelectrical impedance it was 0.5 kg (95% CI 0.3, 0.7), and from skinfolds it was -0.6 kg (95% CI -0.9, -0.4). The mean difference between FFM calculated from TBW and the frame of reference was higher (2.2 kg, 95 % CI 1.2,3.3). The results of the present study indicate that the three methods may be valid for predicting body composition in adult Chinese females, but further research is needed on development and cross-validation of prediction equations for body composition for Chinese.
Dynamic Control of Self-Specific CD8+ T Cell Responses via a Combination of Signals Mediated by Dendritic Cells1

It is acknowledged that T cell interactions with mature dendritic cells (DC) lead to immunity, whereas interactions with immature DC lead to tolerance induction. Using a transgenic murine system, we have examined how DC expressing self-peptides control naive, self-reactive CD8+ T cell responses in vitro and in vivo. We have shown, for the first time, that immature DC can also stimulate productive activation of naive self-specific CD8+ T cells, which results in extensive proliferation, the expression of a highly activated cell surface phenotype, and differentiation into autoimmune CTL. Conversely, mature DC can induce abortive activation of naive CD8+ T cells, which is characterized by low-level proliferation, the expression of a partially activated cell surface phenotype which does not result in autoimmune CTL. Critically, both CD8+ T cell responses are determined by a combination of signals mediated by the DC, and that altering any one of these signals dramatically shifts the balance between autoimmunity and self-tolerance induction. We hypothesize that DC maintain the steady state of self-tolerance among self-specific CD8+ T cells in an active and dynamic manner, licensing productive immune responses against self-tissues only when required.
Development of Mandarin monosyllabic Lexical Neighbourhood Test (LNT)

The performance of cochlear implanted children in Mandarin LNT was the same as the results of Kirk et al. (1995, 1999). Their performances of spoken word recognition were influenced by lexical difficulty. They were sensitive to the acoustic-phonetic similarities among words. Thus, they organized words into similarity neighbourhoods in long-term memory. The scores of cochlear-implanted children among different versions of easy and hard lists of Mandarin LNT should be approximately equal, and their performance was of high correlation among lists. The results demonstrate that different versions of Mandarin LNT could provide reliable information, and we could use them as equivalent list to avoid practice effects when repeating measurements.
Ovarian Carcinosarcoma: Effects of Cytoreductive Status and Platinum-Based Chemotherapy on Survival

Objective. To define survival patterns of women with ovarian carcinosarcoma based on patient, tumor, and treatment characteristics. Methods/Materials. A single-institution, retrospective analysis of women diagnosed with ovarian carcinosarcoma from February 1993 to May 2009 was performed. Survival was analyzed with Cox proportional hazards ratios and Kaplan Meier tests. Results. Forty-seven cases of primary ovarian carcinosarcoma were identified. Age conveyed an HR 3.28 (95% CI 1.51–7.11, P = 0.003) for death. Compared to Stages I-II, Stage III carried an HR for death of 4.75 (95% CI 1.16–19.4, P = 0.03) and Stage IV disease an HR of 9.13 (95% CI 1.76–47.45, P = 0.009). Compared to those with microscopic residual, women with >1 cm diameter of residual disease after primary cytoreductive surgery had an HR for death of 4.71 (95% CI 1.84–12.09, P = 0.001). At analysis, 59.1% of those who received platinum-based chemotherapy were alive, compared to 23.1% of those who received nonplatinum-based chemotherapy (P = 0.08). Conclusions. Age, stage, and cytoreduction to no gross residual disease are associated with improved survival in women with ovarian carcinosarcoma. Complete surgical cytoreduction should be the goal of surgical management when possible, but the ideal adjuvant treatment regimen remains unclear.
Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Human Intention Understanding in Temporo-Parietal Cortex: A Combined EEG/fMRI Repetition Suppression Paradigm

Inferring the intentions of other people from their actions recruits an inferior fronto-parietal action observation network as well as a putative social network that includes the posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS). However, the functional dynamics within and among these networks remains unclear. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and high-density electroencephalogram (EEG), with a repetition suppression design, to assess the spatio-temporal dynamics of decoding intentions. Suppression of fMRI activity to the repetition of the same intention was observed in inferior frontal lobe, anterior intraparietal sulcus (aIPS), and right STS. EEG global field power was reduced with repeated intentions at an early (starting at 60 ms) and a later (∼330 ms) period after the onset of a hand-on-object encounter. Source localization during these two intervals involved right STS and aIPS regions highly consistent with RS effects observed with fMRI. These results reveal the dynamic involvement of temporal and parietal networks at multiple stages during the intention decoding and without a strict segregation of intention decoding between these networks.
Release from Microglia b Shedding and IL-1 Astrocyte-Derived ATP Induces Vesicle

ATP has been indicated as a primary factor in microglial response to brain injury and inﬂammation. By acting on different purinergic receptors 2, ATP is known to induce chemotaxis and stimulate the release of several cytokines from these cells. The activation of purinergic receptors 2 in microglia can be triggered either by ATP deriving from dying cells, at sites of brain injury or by ATP released from astrocytes, in the absence of cell damage. By the use of a biochemical approach integrated with video microscopy experiments, we investigated the functional consequences triggered in microglia by ATP released from mechanically stimulated astrocytes, in mixed glial cocultures. Astrocyte-derived ATP induced in nearby microglia the formation and the shedding of membrane vesicles. Vesicle formation was inhibited by the ATP-degrading enzyme apyrase or by P2X 7 R antagonists. Isolation of shed vesicles, followed by IL-1 (cid:1) evaluation by a speciﬁc ELISA revealed the presence of the cytokine inside the vesicular organelles and its subsequent efﬂux into the extracellular medium. IL-1 (cid:1) efﬂux from shed vesicles was enhanced by ATP stimulation and inhibited by pretreatment with the P2X 7 antagonist oxidized ATP, thus indicating a crucial involvement of the pore-forming P2X 7 R in the release of the cytokine. Our data identify astrocyte-derived ATP as the endogenous factor responsible for microvesicle shedding in microglia and reveal the mechanisms by which astrocyte-derived ATP triggers IL-1 (cid:1) release from these cells. The Journal of Immunology, 2005, 174: 7268–7277.
C. elegans mitotic cyclins have distinct as well as overlapping functions in chromosome segregation

Mitotic cyclins in association with the Cdk1 protein kinase regulate progression through mitosis in all eukaryotes. Here, we address to what extent mitotic cyclins in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans provide overlapping functions or distinct biological activities. C. elegans expresses a single A-type cyclin (CYA-1), three typical B-type cyclins (CYB-1, CYB-2.1 and CYB-2.2), and one B3-subfamily member (CYB-3). While we observed clear redundancies between the cyb genes, cyb-1 and cyb-3 also contribute specific essential functions in meiosis and mitosis. CYB-1 and CYB-3 show similar temporal and spatial expression, both cyclins localize prominently to the nucleus, and both associate with CDK-1 and display histone H1 kinase activity in vitro. We demonstrate that inhibition of cyb-1 by RNAi interferes with chromosome congression and causes aneuploidy. In contrast, cyb-3(RNAi) embryos fail to initiate sister chromatid separation. Inhibition of both cyclins simultaneously results in a much earlier and more dramatic arrest. However, only the combination of cyb-1, cyb-3 and cyb-2.1/cyb-2.2 RNAi fully resembles cdk-1 inhibition. This combination of redundant and specific phenotypes supports that in vivo phosphorylation of certain Cdk targets can be achieved by multiple Cdk1/cyclin complexes, while phosphorylation of other targets requires a unique Cdk1/cyclin combination.
Extracellular matrix-mediated chemotaxis can impede cell migration

Cells use a combination of changes in adhesion, proteolysis and motility (directed and random) during the process of migration. Proteolysis of the extracellular matrix (ECM) results in thecreation of haptotactic gradients which cells use to move in a directed fashion. The proteolytic creation of these gradients also results in the production of digested fragments of ECM. In this study we show that in the human fibrosarcoma cell line HT1080, matrix metalloproteinase–2(MMP–2)–digested fragments of fibronectin exert a chemotactic pull stronger than that of undigested fibronectin. During invasion, this gradient of ECM fragments is established in the wake of an invading cell, running counter to the direction of invasion. The resultant chemotactic pull is anti–invasive, contrary to the traditional view of the role of chemotaxis in invasion. Uncontrolled ECM degradation by high concentrations of MMP can thus result in steep gradients of ECM fragments, which run against the direction of invasion. Consequently, the invasive potential of a cell depends on MMP production in a biphasic mannerimplying that MMP inhibitors will upregulate invasion in high–MMPexpressing cells. Hence the therapeutic use of protease inhibitors against tumours expressing high levels of MMP could produce an augmentation of invasion.
Role of the CBP catalytic core in intramolecular SUMOylation and control of histone H3 acetylation

Significance CREB-binding protein (CBP) and its paralog p300 play a vital role in regulating gene transcription. Through the enzymatic activity of their histone acetyltransferase (HAT) domain, CBP and p300 control the accessibility of genes in chromatin and activate transcription. They also function as transcriptional repressors following SUMOylation of the cell cycle regulatory domain 1 (CRD1) located N-terminal to the catalytic core. We present structural and biochemical results showing that the CBP bromodomain, CH2, and ZZ domains, which flank the acetyltransferase domain, regulate acetyltransferase activity and also promote SUMOylation of the adjacent CRD1 cell cycle regulatory domain. This study provides insights into the function of the catalytic core and the role of adjacent domains and a disordered regulatory loop in mediating CBP/p300 activity. The histone acetyl transferases CREB-binding protein (CBP) and its paralog p300 play a critical role in numerous cellular processes. Dysregulation of their catalytic activity is associated with several human diseases. Previous work has elucidated the regulatory mechanisms of p300 acetyltransferase activity, but it is not known whether CBP activity is controlled similarly. Here, we present the crystal structure of the CBP catalytic core encompassing the bromodomain (BRD), CH2 (comprising PHD and RING), HAT, and ZZ domains at 2.4-Å resolution. The BRD, PHD, and HAT domains form an integral structural unit to which the RING and ZZ domains are flexibly attached. The structure of the apo-CBP HAT domain is similar to that of acyl-CoA–bound p300 HAT complexes and shows that the acetyl-CoA binding site is stably formed in the absence of cofactor. The BRD, PHD, and ZZ domains interact with small ubiquitin-like modifier 1 (SUMO-1) and Ubc9, and function as an intramolecular E3 ligase for SUMOylation of the cell cycle regulatory domain 1 (CRD1) of CBP, which is located adjacent to the BRD. In vitro HAT assays suggest that the RING domain, the autoregulatory loop (AL) within the HAT domain, and the ZZ domain do not directly influence catalytic activity, whereas the BRD is essential for histone H3 acetylation in nucleosomal substrates. Several lysine residues in the intrinsically disordered AL are autoacetylated by the HAT domain. Upon autoacetylation, acetyl-K1596 (Ac-K1596) binds intramolecularly to the BRD, competing with histones for binding to the BRD and acting as a negative regulator that inhibits histone H3 acetylation.
Numerical computation of sign-indefinite linear quadratic differential games for weakly coupled large-scale systems

In this paper, N-player linear quadratic differential games that are sign-indefinite for infinite horizon weakly coupled large-scale systems are discussed. After establishing the asymptotic structure and local uniqueness of the solution for cross-coupled sign-indefinite algebraic Riccati equations (CSARE), a new algorithm for solving CSARE is provided. It is shown that the proposed algorithm attains linear convergence. Moreover, in order to reduce the computational workspace, the recursive algorithm is combined. Finally, a high-order approximation strategy based on the proposed iterative solutions is described. As a result, it was recently proved that the numerical strategy achieves a high-order approximation of the equilibrium value. As another important feature, when the small parameters are unknown, a parameter-independent strategy is developed.