Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of head and neck cancer supernatant and CpG-oligonucleotides on migration and IFN-alpha production of plasmacytoid dendritic cells.

BACKGROUND Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDCs) infiltrating solid tumor tissues and draining lymph nodes of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) show an impaired immune response. Immunosuppressive cytokines secreted by HNSCC have been recognized to account for reduced interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) production, whereas the influence on PDC migration has not yet been investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS PDCs were isolated from human peripheral blood by magnetic bead separation. Cellular functions and characteristics were analyzed using flow cytometry, migration assays and ELISA techniques. RESULTS We show that HNSCC and CpG oligonucleotides controversially influence the migration and IFN-alpha production of PDCs. Furthermore we demonstrate that HNSCC induced migration towards stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) and macrophage inflammatory protein 1 beta (MIP-1beta) is not dependent upon the surface density of chemokine (CXC motif) receptor 4 (CXCR4) and chemokine (C-C motif) receptor 5 (CCR5). CONCLUSION We propose that HNSCC triggered PDC migration is most likely linked to a multilevel process strongly modulated by tumor microenvironmental influences.
Inductive Inference: Theory and Methods

There has been a great deal of theoretical and experimental work in computer science on inductive inference systems, that is, systems that try to infer general rules from examples. However, a complete and applicable theory of such systems is still a distant goal. This survey highlights and explains the main ideas that have been developed in the study of inductive inference, with special emphasis on the relations between the general theory and the specific algorithms and implementations. 154 references.
Food for Thought ... Read-Across Approaches – Misconceptions , Promises and Challenges Ahead

Food for Thought . Read-Across Approaches – Misconceptions, Promises and Challenges Ahead Grace Patlewicz , Nicholas Ball , Richard A. Becker , Ewan D. Booth , Mark T. D. Cronin , Dinant Kroese , David Steup , Ben van Ravenzwaay 8 and Thomas Hartung 9 1 DuPont Haskell Global Centers for Health and Environmental Sciences, Newark, DE, USA; 2 Toxicology & Environmental Research and Consulting (TERC), The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, MI, USA; 3 Regulatory and Technical Affairs Department, American Chemistry Council (ACC), Washington, DC, USA; 4 Syngenta Ltd, Jealott’s Hill International Research Centre, Bracknell, Berkshire, UK; 5 Liverpool John Moores University, School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool, UK; 6 TNO, Zeist, The Netherlands; 7 Shell Oil Company, Shell Health Risk Science Team, Houston, TX, USA; 8 BASF Aktiengesellschaft, Experimental Toxicology and Ecology, Ludwigshafen, Germany; 9 Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT), Baltimore, USA and University of Konstanz, CAAT-Europe, Germany
Regional Differences Among HIV Patients in Care: California Medical Monitoring Project Sites, 2007-2008

Introduction: The Medical Monitoring Project (MMP) is a national, multi-site population-based supplemental HIV/AIDS surveillance project of persons receiving HIV/AIDS care. We compared California MMP data by region. Demographic characteristics, medical care experiences, HIV treatment, clinical care outcomes, and need for support services are described. Methods: HIV-infected patients 18 years or older were randomly selected from medical care facilities. In person structured interviews from 2007 - 2008 were used to assess sociodemographic characteristics, self-reported clinical outcomes, and need for supportive services. Pearson chi-squared, Fisher’s exact and Kruskal-Wallis p-values were calculated to compare regional differences. Results: Between 2007 and 2008, 899 people were interviewed: 329 (37%) in San Francisco (SF), 333 (37%) in Los Angeles (LA) and 237 (26%) in other California counties. Significant regional sociodemographic differences were found. Care received and clinical outcomes for patients in MMP were positive and few regional differences were identified. HIV case management (36%), mental health counseling (35%), and dental services (29%) were the supportive services patients most frequently needed. Unmet needs for supportive services were low overall. Significant differences by region in needed and unmet need services were identified. Discussion: The majority of MMP respondents reported standard of care CD4 and viral load monitoring, high treatment use, undetectable HIV viral loads and CD4 counts indicative of good immune function and treatment efficacy. Information from MMP can be used by planning councils, policymakers, and HIV care providers to improve access to care and prevention. Identifying regional differences can facilitate sharing of best practices among health jurisdictions.
An Energy Harvesting Aware Routing Algorithm for Hierarchical Clustering Wireless Sensor Networks

Recently, energy harvesting technology has been integrated into wireless sensor networks to ameliorate the nodes’ energy limitation problem. In theory, the wireless sensor node equipped with an energy harvesting module can work permanently until hardware failures happen. However, due to the change of power supply, the traditional hierarchical network routing protocol can not be effectively adopted in energy harvesting wireless sensor networks. In this paper, we improve the Low-Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH) protocol to make it suitable for the energy harvesting wireless sensor networks. Specifically, the cluster heads are selected according to the estimation of nodes’ harvested energy and consumed energy. Preference is given to the nodes with high harvested energy while taking the energy consumption rate into account. The utilization of harvested energy is mathematically formulated as a max-min optimization problem which maximizes the minimum energy conservation of each node. We have proved that maximizing the minimum energy conservation is an NP-hard problem theoretically. Thus, a polynomial time algorithm has been proposed to derive the near-optimal performance. Extensive simulation results show that our proposed routing scheme outperforms previous works in terms of energy conservation and balanced distribution.
Structural and Functional Considerations in the Design of Collagen-Based Electrospun Scaffolds

STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL CONSIDERATIONS IN THE DESIGN OF COLLAGEN-BASED ELECTROSPUN SCAFFOLDS By Chantal Emma Ayres, M.S. A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2009 Director: David G. Simpson, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology Co-Director: Gary L. Bowlin, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering Electrospinning can be used to selectively process a variety of natural and synthetic polymers into highly porous scaffolds composed of nano-to-micron diameter fibers. This process shows great potential as a gateway to the development of physiologically relevant tissue engineering scaffolds. In this study we examine the structural and functional considerations regarding electrospun scaffolds for dermal template applications using novel quantification techniques. In order to characterize scaffold structure, a technique utilizing the fast Fourier transform was developed to systematically quantify fiber
DICER- and MMSET-catalyzed H4K20me2 recruits the nucleotide excision repair factor XPA to DNA damage sites

Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation triggers the recruitment of DNA repair factors to the lesion sites and the deposition of histone marks as part of the DNA damage response. The major DNA repair pathway removing DNA lesions caused by exposure to UV light is nucleotide excision repair (NER). We have previously demonstrated that the endoribonuclease DICER facilitates chromatin decondensation during lesion recognition in the global-genomic branch of NER. Here, we report that DICER mediates the recruitment of the methyltransferase MMSET to the DNA damage site. We show that MMSET is required for efficient NER and that it catalyzes the dimethylation of histone H4 at lysine 20 (H4K20me2). H4K20me2 at DNA damage sites facilitates the recruitment of the NER factor XPA. Our work thus provides evidence for an H4K20me2-dependent mechanism of XPA recruitment during lesion recognition in the global-genomic branch of NER.
Bayesian compressed sensing with new sparsity-inducing prior

Sparse Bayesian learning (SBL) is a popular approach to sparse signal recovery in compressed sensing (CS). In SBL, the signal sparsity information is exploited by assuming a sparsity-inducing prior for the signal that is then estimated using Bayesian inference. In this paper, a new sparsity-inducing prior is introduced and efficient algorithms are developed for signal recovery. The main algorithm is shown to produce a sparser solution than existing SBL methods while preserving their desirable properties. Numerical simulations with one-dimensional synthetic signals and two-dimensional images verify our analysis and show that for sparse signals the proposed algorithm outperforms its SBL peers in both the signal recovery accuracy and computational speed. Its improved performance is also demonstrated in comparison with other state-of-the-art methods in CS.
Magnetic Barkhausen Noise Profile Analysis: Effect of Excitation Field Strength and Detection Coil Sensitivity in Case Carburized Steel

The sensitivity of magnetic Barkhausen noise (MBN) profile to changes in the excitation field strength and the number of turns of the detection coil was investigated in inhomogeneous material. Generally, the 0.5 mm case depth EN 36 steel specimen shows a double peak profile indicative of inhomogeneity through the detected depth the magnetized landscape. Various excitation field amplitudes were applied to the specimen and the induced MBN emission was analyzed for each magnetizing current. Excitation field at the lowest level induced an MBN emission of two peaks of equivalent heights. The first peak occurs at lower field than the second peak in the magnetization period. As the excitation field increased, the height of both peaks increased but the second peak increased in a higher rate than that of the first peak. Beyond certain excitation level, both peaks began to saturate and no increase in the MBN intensity was observed with increased excitation field strength. However, peak position and the number of Barkhausen events, indicated linearly as a function of the applied field strength. The experiment also establishes that the number of turns in the detection coil is important parameter which controls the height of the first peak. Low field peak height increases as the number of turn of the detection coil increases. The results indicate that the potential difference applied to the electromagnet and the sensitivity of the detection coil, determine the MBN profile characteristics.
Headache and cerebral venous air embolism

Background: Neuroimaging in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer disease (AD) generally shows medial temporal lobe atrophy and diminished glucose metabolism and cerebral blood flow in the posterior cingulate gyrus. However, it is unclear whether these abnormalities also impact the cingulum fibers, which connect the medial temporal lobe and the posterior cingulate regions. Objective: To use diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), by measuring fractional anisotropy (FA), to test 1) if MCI and AD are associated with DTI abnormalities in the parahippocampal and posterior cingulate regions of the cingulum fibers; 2) if white matter abnormalities extend to the neocortical fiber connections in the corpus callosum (CC); 3) if DTI improves accuracy to separate AD and MCI from healthy aging vs structural MRI. Methods: DTI and structural MRI were preformed on 17 patients with AD, 17 with MCI, and 18 cognitively normal (CN) subjects. Results: FA of the cingulum fibers was significantly reduced in MCI, and even more in AD. FA was also significantly reduced in the splenium of the CC in AD, but not in MCI. Adding DTI to hippocampal volume significantly improved the accuracy to separate MCI and AD from CN. Conclusion: Assessment of the cingulum fibers using diffusion tensor imaging may aid early diagnosis of Alzheimer disease.
A Duration Analysis of Democratic Transitions and Authoritarian Backslides

Recent theories of political development have emphasized redistributive demands as the main drivers of democratic transitions and consolidation. The authors employ Cox duration models to evaluate a number of economic, institutionalist, and sociological theories of regime transition, using global data from 1970 to 1999. This study suggests that demands for redistribution are insufficient explanators of political transitions. The authors find that transitions to democracy depend primarily on a high level of oppositionist social mobilization and, secondarily, favorable patterns of economic distribution. On the other hand, a high level of socioeconomic development is by far the best guarantor of democratic resiliency, whereas mass political conflict endangers consolidation once democracy has been introduced. The study also reveals that institutionalist factors are less influential than socioeconomic characteristics in explaining regime transitions. This study highlights the contribution of social movement theory to the study of regime transitions.
Outcomes of regenerative treatment with rhPDGF-BB and rhFGF-2 for periodontal intra-bony defects: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND The aim was to evaluate the effects of recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor-BB (rhPDGF-BB) and recombinant human fibroblast growth factor-2 (rhFGF-2) on treating periodontal intra-bony defects, compared to the control (carrier alone). METHODS Electronic and hand searches were performed to identify eligible studies. The weighed mean differences of linear defect fill (LDF), probing depth (PD) reduction, clinical attachment level (CAL) gain and gingival recession (GR) were calculated using random effect meta-analysis. RESULTS The searches yielded 1018 articles, of which seven studies were included. Only one included study was considered at low risk of bias. The outcomes that reached statistical significance in comparison to carriers alone included: LDF (0.95 mm, 95% CI: 0.62-1.28 mm or 20.17%, 95% CI: 11.81-28.54%) and CAL gain (0.34 mm, 95% CI: 0.03-0.65 mm) for PDGF, and LDF (21.22%, 95% CI: 5.82-36.61%) for FGF-2. CONCLUSIONS Within the limits of this review, rhPDGF-BB demonstrated significantly more LDF and CAL gain; rhFGF-2 resulted in significantly higher percentage of LDF.
Effect of chromium (VI) on the multiple nitrogen removal pathways and microbial community of aerobic granular sludge

ABSTRACT The frequent appearance of Cr(VI) significantly impacts the microbial metabolism in wastewater. In this study, long-term effects of Cr(VI) on microbial community, nitrogen removal pathways and mechanism of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) were investigated. AGS had strong resistance ability to 1.0 mg/L Cr(VI). 3.0 mg/L Cr(VI) increased the heterotrophic-specific ammonia uptake rate (HSAUR) and heterotrophic-specific nitrate uptake rate (HSNUR) transiently, whereas 5.0 mg/L Cr(VI) sharply decreased the specific ammonia uptake rate (SAUR), specific nitrate uptake rate (SNUR) and simultaneous nitrification denitrification rate (SNDR). It was found that Cr (VI) has a greater inhibitory effect on autotrophic nitrification (ASAUR), and the maximal inhibition rate (IR) was 139.19%. Besides, the inhibition of Cr (VI) on nitrogen removal process belongs to non-competitive inhibition. Cr(VI) had a weaker negative impact on heterotrophic bacteria compared with that on autotrophic bacteria. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analyses suggest that Acidovorax sp. , flavobacterium sp. , uncultured soil bacterium, uncultured nitrosospira sp. , uncultured prokaryote, uncultured β-proteobacterium and uncultured pseudomonas sp. were the dominant species. The inhibition of Cr(VI) on nitrite-oxidizing bacteria was the strongest, followed by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and denitrifying bacteria. Linear correlations between bacterial count and biomass-specific uptake rate were observed when the Cr(VI) concentration exceeded 3 mg/L. This study revealed the effect of Cr(VI) on nitrification is more serious than that on denitrification. Autotrophic and heterotrophic nitrification, heterotrophic denitrification and simultaneous nitrification denitrification played a significant role on nitrogen removal under Cr(VI) stress.
Cyclodextrin-Based [1]Rotaxanes on Gold Nanoparticles

Transformation of mechanically interlocked molecules (e.g., rotaxanes and catenanes) into nanoscale materials or devices is an important step towards their real applications. In our current work, an azobenzene-modified β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) derivative that can form a self-inclusion complex in aqueous solution was prepared. The self-included β-CD derivative was then functionalized onto a gold nanoparticle (AuNP) surface via a ligand-exchange reaction in aqueous solution, leading to the formation of AuNP-[1]rotaxane hybrids. Corresponding non-self-included β-CD derivative functionalized AuNPs were also developed in a DMF/H2O mixture solution for control experiments. These hybrids were fully characterized by UV-vis and circular dichroism spectroscopies, together with transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The competitive binding behavior of the hybrids with an adamantane dimer was investigated.
Dentition and tooth replacement pattern in Chalcides (Squamata; Scincidae)

This study was undertaken as a prerequisite to investigations on tooth differentiation in a squamate, the Canarian scincid Chalcides. Our main goal was to determine whether the pattern of tooth replacement, known to be regular in lizards, could be helpful to predict accurately any stage of tooth development. A growth series of 20 laboratory‐reared specimens, aged from 0.5 month after birth to about 6 years, was used. The dentition (functional and replacement teeth) was studied from radiographs of jaw quadrants. The number of tooth positions, the tooth number in relation to age and to seasons, and the size of the replacement teeth were recorded. In Chalcides, a single row of pleurodont functional teeth lies at the labial margin of the dentary, premaxillary, and maxillary. Whatever the age of the specimens, 16 tooth positions were recorded, on average, in each quadrant, suggesting that positions are maintained throughout life. Replacement teeth were numerous whatever the age and season, while the number of functional teeth was subject to variation. Symmetry of tooth development was evaluated by comparing teeth two by two from the opposite side in the four jaw quadrants of several specimens. Although the relative size of some replacement teeth fitted perfectly, the symmetry criterion was not reliable to predict the developmental stage of the opposite tooth, whether the pair of teeth compared was left–right or upper–lower. The best fit was found when comparing the size of successive replacement teeth from the front to the back of the jaw. Every replacement tooth that is 40–80% of its definitive size is followed, in the next position on the arcade, by a tooth that is, on average, 20% less developed. Considering teeth in alternate positions (even and odd series), each replacement tooth was a little more developed than the previous, more anterior, one (0.5–20% when the teeth are from 10–40% of their final size). The latter pattern showed that tooth replacement occurred in alternate positions from back to front, forming more or less regular rows (i.e., “Zahnreihen”). In Chalcides, the developmental stage of a replacement tooth in a position p can be accurately predicted provided the developmental stage of the replacement tooth in position p‐1 or, to a lesser degree, in position p‐2 is known. This finding will be particularly helpful when starting our structural and ultrastructural studies of tooth differentiation in this lizard. J. Morphol. 256:146–159, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Estimation of glutathione S-transferase and its Pi isoenzyme in tumor tissues and sera of patients with ovarian cancer.

OBJECTIVES The Pi class GST is the most ubiquitous of the human GST family, being expressed in different tissues. However, its role in ovarian cancer is still poorly defined. To establish normal and tumor related changes, the levels of total GST as well as its isoenzyme GST Pi, were therefore measured in ovarian tissue samples and the corresponding serum specimens obtained from patients undergoing primary surgical treatment for their disease (n = 68). The total GST activity was spectrophotometrically determined utilizing 1-Chloro- 2,4-dinitrobenzene (CDNB) as the substrate. The GST Pi isoenzyme was measured by ELISA and immunohistochemical methods. RESULTS The total GST activity, the level of GST Pi isoenzyme, the DNA content and S phase fraction were significantly higher in the malignant than in non-malignant ovarian tissues. In the malignant group the values of both cytosolic total GST and GST Pi were significantly correlated (r = 0.56, P = < 0.01). In spite of the absence of a significant correlation with a number of important prognostic features including the patient age, FlGO stage, DNA content and S-phase fraction, both total GST and GST Pi were significantly higher in the grade I than in grades II and III malignant tumors. Additionally, the total GST was significantly lower in the serous than non-serous malignant tumors. CONCLUSION In the malignant group, although the elevation of blood content of GST and its Pi isoenzyme was not as significant as that of the tissue content, the fact that higher serum values of patients with some cancers often reverted to the normal range after treatment of the cancer suggested the direct derivation of these enzymes from tumor tissues. Thus, follow up of elevated serum GST and GST Pi levels may be useful for monitoring ovarian cancer patients during the course of treatment.