Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acute myocardial infarction due to left main coronary artery disease: a large multicenter national registry.

BACKGROUND Optimal management of patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) due to critical stenosis of an unprotected left main coronary artery (ULMCA) is not established. However, data from observational studies and registries encourage to perform percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in high risk patients. We investigated gender-related discrepancies, clinical course and prognosis in patients with acute MI and ULMCA as an infarct-related artery. METHODS A total of 643 consecutive patients (184 [28.6%] females and 459 [71.4%] males) with acute MI due to critical ULMCA stenosis were selected from the population of 121,526 patients hospitalized due to acute coronary syndromes between 2003 and 2006. The primary endpoints were in-hospital, 30-day, 6-month and 12-month mortality. RESULTS Women were older than men with significantly higher proportion of women older than 65 and with unfavorable risk profile. The management in men and women was similar. There was no significant gender-related differences in mortality in all follow-up periods. In multivariate analysis cardiogenic shock, pulmonary edema, ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and advanced age significantly increased mortality, whereas successful PCI decreased mortality. CONCLUSIONS No significant differences in clinical course, treatment and prognosis between men and women were noted. Mortality remained very high in both genders. The most unfavorable prognostic factors were cardiogenic shock, pulmonary edema, STEMI and advanced age. Percutaneous coronary angioplasty is feasible and offers high success rate in this subset of patients.
Methylotrophic Bacillus methanolicus Encodes Two Chromosomal and One Plasmid Born NAD+ Dependent Methanol Dehydrogenase Paralogs with Different Catalytic and Biochemical Properties

Bacillus methanolicus can utilize methanol as the sole carbon source for growth and it encodes an NAD+-dependent methanol dehydrogenase (Mdh), catalyzing the oxidation of methanol to formaldehyde. Recently, the genomes of the B. methanolicus strains MGA3 (ATCC53907) and PB1 (NCIMB13113) were sequenced and found to harbor three different putative Mdh encoding genes, each belonging to the type III Fe-NAD+-dependent alcohol dehydrogenases. In each strain, two of these genes are encoded on the chromosome and one on a plasmid; only one chromosomal act gene encoding the previously described activator protein ACT was found. The six Mdhs and the ACT proteins were produced recombinantly in Escherichia coli, purified, and characterized. All Mdhs required NAD+ as cosubstrate, were catalytically stimulated by ACT, exhibited a broad and different substrate specificity range and displayed both dehydrogenase and reductase activities. All Mdhs catalyzed the oxidation of methanol; however the catalytic activity for methanol was considerably lower than for most other alcohols tested, suggesting that these enzymes represent a novel class of alcohol dehydrogenases. The kinetic constants for the Mdhs were comparable when acting as pure enzymes, but together with ACT the differences were more pronounced. Quantitative PCR experiments revealed major differences with respect to transcriptional regulation of the paralogous genes. Taken together our data indicate that the repertoire of methanol oxidizing enzymes in thermotolerant bacilli is larger than expected with complex mechanisms involved in their regulation.
Involvement of Clathrin-Mediated Endocytosis in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Entry

ABSTRACT Productive entry of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is believed to occur by direct fusion at the plasma membrane. Endocytic uptake of HIV particles has been observed in several studies but is considered to be nonproductive, leading to virus degradation in the lysosome. We show here that endocytosis contributes significantly to productive HIV entry in HeLa cells by using trans dominant-negative mutants of dynamin and Eps15. Inducible expression of a dominant-negative mutant of dynamin in a CD4-positive HeLa cell line reduced HIV infection by 40 to 80%. This effect was independent of the infectious dose and was observed for three different isolates. Analysis of reverse transcription products by real-time PCR and of virus entry by delivery of a virion-associated Vpr-β-lactamase fusion protein revealed a similar reduction, indicating that the block occurred at the entry stage. A strong reduction of HIV entry was also observed upon transient transfection of a different trans dominant-negative variant of dynamin, and this reduction correlated with the relative inhibition of transferrin endocytosis. Expression of a dominant-negative variant of Eps15, which is specific for clathrin-dependent endocytosis, reduced HIV entry in HeLa cells by ca 95%, confirming the role of endocytosis for productive infection. In contrast, no effect was observed for a dominant-negative variant of caveolin. We conclude that dynamin-dependent, clathrin-mediated endocytosis can lead to productive entry of HIV in HeLa cells, suggesting this pathway as an alternative route of virus entry.
MicroRNA-145 Regulates Chondrogenic Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells by Targeting Sox9

Chondrogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is accurately regulated by essential transcription factors and signaling cascades. However, the precise mechanisms involved in this process still remain to be defined. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate various biological processes by binding target mRNA to attenuate protein synthesis. To investigate the mechanisms for miRNAs-mediated regulation of chondrogenic differentiation, we identified that miR-145 was decreased during transforming growth factor beta 3 (TGF-β3)-induced chondrogenic differentiation of murine MSCs. Subsequently, dual-luciferase reporter gene assay data demonstrated that miR-145 targets a putative binding site in the 3′-UTR of SRY-related high mobility group-Box gene 9 (Sox9) gene, the key transcription factor for chondrogenesis. In addition, over-expression of miR-145 decreased expression of Sox9 only at protein levels and miR-145 inhibition significantly elevated Sox9 protein levels. Furthermore, over-expression of miR-145 decreased mRNA levels for three chondrogenic marker genes, type II collagen (Col2a1), aggrecan (Agc1), cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), type IX collagen (Col9a2) and type XI collagen (Col11a1) in C3H10T1/2 cells induced by TGF-β3, whereas anti-miR-145 inhibitor increased the expression of these chondrogenic marker genes. Thus, our studies demonstrated that miR-145 is a key negative regulator of chondrogenic differentiation by directly targeting Sox9 at early stage of chondrogenic differentiation.
Unstimulated high sensitive thyroglobulin measurement predicts outcome of differentiated thyroid carcinoma

Abstract Background: Thyroglobulin (Tg) measurement following thyrotropin (TSH) stimulation is used in the follow-up of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). However, high-sensitive assays allow accurate measurement of serum Tg even without TSH stimulation. Here, we prospectively evaluated the impact of unstimulated high-sensitive Tg measurement in early and long-term outcome of patients with DTC. Methods: One hundred and ninety five patients affected with DTC were evaluated. Six months after thyroid ablation (i.e., thyroidectomy plus radioiodine) serum Tg was measured during TSH-suppressive thyroxine (T4) treatment (onT4-Tg). Patients with undetectable onT4-Tg and negative neck ultrasound (US) were considered disease free and onT4-Tg was measured every 12 months for a mean follow-up of 6.8 (4.7–8.9) years. Patients with an increase in onT4-Tg underwent specific diagnostic work-up and appropriate treatment if necessary. Results: Four patients showed recurrence at first follow-up visit with a corresponding increase in onT4-Tg concentrations (sensitivity 100%). Three patients had false positive onT4-Tg measurement (specificity 98%) with a spontaneous decrease within 3–6 months in all cases (specificity 100%). Three of 188 patients with undetectable serum onT4-Tg at first follow-up showed recurrence later with an increase in onT4-Tg as the first (n=2) or unique (n=1) sign of relapse (sensitivity 100%). Among 185 disease-free patients in a prolonged follow-up, 12 had a transient increase in onT4-Tg (specificity 91.6%). However, a spontaneous reduction within 3–6 months occurred in all cases (specificity 100%). Conclusions: Undetectable serum onT4-Tg using a high-sensitivity immunoradiometric assay 6 months after thyroid ablation predicts low-risk of DTC recurrence. When onT4-Tg became detectable during follow-up, the evaluation of Tg slope in a 3–6 months period accurately discriminated patients with DTC recurrence from those without recurrence. This helped avoid unnecessary diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. Clin Chem Lab Med 2009;47:1001–4.
Nanostructural Tailoring to Induce Flexibility in Thermoelectric Ca3Co4O9 Thin Films

Because of their inherent rigidity and brittleness, inorganic materials have seen limited use in flexible thermoelectric applications. On the other hand, for high output power density and stability, the use of inorganic materials is required. Here, we demonstrate a concept of fully inorganic flexible thermoelectric thin films with Ca3Co4O9-on-mica. Ca3Co4O9 is promising not only because of its high Seebeck coefficient and good electrical conductivity but also because of the abundance, low cost, and nontoxicity of its constituent raw materials. We show a promising nanostructural tailoring approach to induce flexibility in inorganic thin-film materials, achieving flexibility in nanostructured Ca3Co4O9 thin films. The films were grown by thermally induced phase transformation from CaO–CoO thin films deposited by reactive rf-magnetron cosputtering from metallic targets of Ca and Co to the final phase of Ca3Co4O9 on a mica substrate. The pattern of nanostructural evolution during the solid-state phase transformation is determined by the surface energy and strain energy contributions, whereas different distributions of CaO and CoO phases in the as-deposited films promote different nanostructuring during the phase transformation. Another interesting fact is that the Ca3Co4O9 film is transferable onto an arbitrary flexible platform from the parent mica substrate by etch-free dry transfer. The highest thermoelectric power factor obtained is above 1 × 10–4 W m–1 K–2 in a wide temperature range, thus showing low-temperature applicability of this class of materials.
Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli strains from bovines: association of adhesion with carriage of eae and other genes

Out of 174 bovine Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains isolated from diarrheic calves in Germany and Belgium, 122 strains (70.1%) were selected because of their reactivity with the eae (E. coli attaching and effacing gene) probe ECW1-ECW2. One hundred seven of these eae-positive strains (87.7%) harbored stx1 genes, 13 strains (10.7%) had stx2 genes, and 2 strains (1.6%) had both stx genes. The strains displayed 17 different O types, the majority (97 strains) [79.5%]) belonging to O5 (5 strains), O26 (21 strains), O111 (13 strains) O118 (36 strains), O145 (9 strains), and O157 (13 strains). In the HEp-2 cell adhesion assay, 99 strains (81.1%) showed a localized adhesion, and 80 strains (65.6%) stimulated actin accumulation, as determined in the fluorescence actin staining test. None of the strains harbored genes coding for bundle-forming pili (bfpA), clearly differentiating them from enteropathogenic. E. cole. espB gene sequences were only detectable in 23 (18.9%) of the eae-positive bovine STEC strains. Three different PCRs were established, differentiating between eae sequences of enteropathogenic E. coli strain E2348/69 (O127:H6) and STEC strain EDL933 (O157: H7). Primers matching in the more heterologous downstream eae sequences gave amplicons in only 8 of the 17 O types (O84:H-, O103:H2, O111:H-, O111:H2, O119:H25, O128:H-, O145:H28, and O157:H-). Only 15 STEC strains, belonging to serotypes O111H:-, O111H:2, O145:H28, and O157:H-, gave amplicons in all three eae-specific PCRs. These data demonstrate that bovine STEC strains are a heterogeneous group of pathogenic bacteria, a lot of which share virulence markers with STEC strains causing infections in humans. However, in contrast to human STEC strains, bovine eae-positive STEC strains are mainly restricted to the stx1 genotype. The observation that espB sequences are not highly conserved might have consequences for the serological recognition of the ESPB protein in patients. Like in human STEC strains, eae-related sequences are closely associated with certain E. coli O groups; however, they are not serotype specific.
Moisture Effect on the Interlaminar Resistance of Woven Fabric Thermoplastic Composite

In the present study, the effect of moisture on the interlaminar fracture toughness of two woven fabric composite materials has been investigated. The composites used are made of a woven fabric 8H Satin glass fiber and 8H Satin carbon fiber. The matrix is a polyetherimide (PEI). The composites are used in aeronautical and aerospace applications. The interlaminar fracture behavior is analyzed using the mode I, double cantilever beam (DCB) test, and the mode II, end notched flexure (ENF), in order to determine the energy required for the initiation and growth of an artificial crack. The composites are subjected to a relative humidity (95%) and a constant temperature (70° C) in a climatic chamber for 30, 60, 120, and 180 days. The delamination energies are calculated using the corrected beam, Berry theories, and the experimental calibration method at the characteristic points. The result shows that the decrease in the fracture behavior is more important in the material CD342 8H Satin weave. The fracture mechanism was also analyzed by means of scanning electron microscopy.
Ant Colony Optimisation and Local Search for Bin Packing and Cutting Stock Problems

The Bin Packing Problem and the Cutting Stock Problem are two related classes of NP-hard combinatorial optimisation problems. Exact solution methods can only be used for very small instances, so for real-world problems we have to rely on heuristic methods. In recent years, researchers have started to apply evolutionary approaches to these problems, including Genetic Algorithms and Evolutionary Programming. In the work presented here, we used an ant colony optimisation (ACO) approach to solve both Bin Packing and Cutting Stock Problems. We present a pure ACO approach, as well as an ACO approach augmented with a simple but very effective local search algorithm. It is shown that the pure ACO approach can outperform some existing solution methods, whereas the hybrid approach can compete with the best known solution methods. The local search algorithm is also run with random restarts and shown to perform signiﬁcantly worse than when combined with ACO.
3D face data acquisition and modelling based on an RGBD camera matrix

This paper describes a novel system for building morphable 3D head models. In contrast to most of the previous approaches that need several seconds to capture each scan, we acquire the data using a matrix of calibrated RGBD cameras, enabling real time face scanning. We localize the face and it's 68 characteristic points on an orthogonal projection image, and use the detected points to align multiple scans. We use a Delaunay triangulation of the 68 characteristic points to obtain dense head shapes with point to point correspondence across all 3D head shapes. In the last step we create a morphable model in a way that is similar to the original procedure by Blanz and Vetter. We demonstrate the functionality of our model, created on just five people, in a real-time application. The novelty of this article lies mostly in the method of defining correspondences of the characteristic points in 3D, that leads to a realistic three-dimensional model and blendshapes.
The effect of drought and salinity stresses on seed germination of Alyssum hamalocarpum in Iran's arid lands.

The current study aimed to investigate the effect of two abiotic stresses including salinity and drought on seed germination characteristics of Allyssum hamalocarpum in vitro. The experiment was designed as factorial completely randomized with four replications. Treatment included five levels of drought i.e. 0, – 0.19, – 0.25, – 0.41 and – 0.99 Mpa and five levels of salinity including 0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mmol/L NaCl. Polyethylene glycol and NaCl were used to create various levels of drought and salinity stresses, respectively. Data were analyzed with One-way ANOVA and means with significant difference were separated with Duncan test at %95 confidence level. Seed germination characteristics of A. hamalocarpum were affected (P<0.05) by various levels of drought and salinity stresses. Germination percentage and rate, radicle length, plumule length, radicle and plumule dry matter mass were decreased (P<0.05) as stresses increased. A. hamalocarpum seeds tolerated drought level up to – 0.25 Mpa. However, germination percentage and rate reduced at drought level greater than –0.25 Mpa. It was concluded that seed germination characteristics of A. hamalocarpum can be more affected by salinity stress than drought stress. This indicates that A. hamalocarpum is more sensitive to salinity stress than drought stress.
Optimizing Screening and Management of Asymptomatic Coronary Artery Disease in Patients With Stroke and Patients With Transient Ischemic Attack

Background and Purpose— The feasibility of implementing an expert consensus guideline recommending use of a stroke patient’s profile to manage undiagnosed coronary artery disease remains unclear. Methods— Following a guideline-based algorithm, we screened consecutive patients with ischemic stroke and patients with transient ischemic attack for asymptomatic coronary artery disease using the Framingham Heart Study Coronary Risk Score (FCRS) cutoff of high risk (≥20%) for experiencing a hard coronary artery disease event over a 10-year period. Patients with high FCRS received dobutamine stress echocardiogram outpatient screening, additional treatment (&bgr;-blocker), or further management (cardiologist referral). Results— From July 2004 to September 2007, among 693 patients, 501 (72%) met study criteria, of which 80 (16%) had FCRS ≥20%. Elevated serum glucose, nonhigh-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, homocysteine, glycosylated hemoglobin as well as large vessel atherosclerotic stroke mechanism were more frequent in high versus low FCRS patients (P<0.05). Among high FCRS patients, 35 (44%) had dobutamine stress echocardiogram performed. Leading reasons for dobutamine stress echocardiogram nonperformance were patient noncompliance (42%) and primary care physician refusal (33%). Conclusions— Screening for coronary artery disease risk using FCRS is feasible in hospitalized patients with stroke, but outpatient adherence to stress testing is challenging largely due to patient and primary care physician-related factors.
The design and implementation of an infrastructure for multimedia digital libraries

We develop an infrastructure for managing, indexing and serving multimedia content in digital libraries. This infrastructure follows the model of the Web, and thereby is distributed in nature. We discuss the design of the Librarian, the component that manages meta data about the content. The management of meta data has been separated from the media servers that manage the content itself. Also, the extraction of the meta data is largely independent of the Librarian. We introduce our extensible data model and the daemon paradigm that are the core pieces of this architecture. We evaluate our initial implementation using a relational database. We conclude with a discussion of the lessons we learned in building this system, and proposals for improving the flexibility, reliability, and performance of the system.
Paxos Made Practical

Paxos [3] is a simple protocol that a group of machines in a distributed system can use to agree on a value proposed by a member of the group. If it terminates, the protocol reaches consensus even if the network was unreliable and multiple machines simultaneously tried to propose different values. The basic idea is that each proposal has a unique number. Higher numbered proposals override lower-numbered ones. However, a “proposer” machine must notify the group of its proposal number before proposing a particular value. If, after hearing from a majority of the group, the proposer learns one or more values from previous proposals, it must re-use the same value as the highest-numbered previous proposal. Otherwise, the proposer can select any value to propose. The protocol has three rounds. In the first round, the proposer selects a proposal number, n > 0. n’s low-order bits should contain a unique identifier for the proposer machine, so that two different machines never select the same n. The proposer then broadcasts the message prepare(n). Each group member either rejects this message if it has already seen a prepare message greater than n, replies with prepare-result(n, v) if the highest numbered proposal it has seen is n < n for value v, or replies with prepare-result(0,nil) if it has not yet seen any value proposed. If at least a majority of the group (including the proposer) accepts the prepare message, the proposer moves to the second round. It sets v to the value in the highest-numbered prepareresult it received. If v is nil, it selects any value it wishes for v. The proposer then broadcasts the message propose(n, v). Again, each group member rejects this message if it has seen a prepare(n) message with n > n. Otherwise, it indicates acceptance in its reply to the proposer.
Association of C-Reactive Protein With Blood Pressure and Hypertension: Life Course Confounding and Mendelian Randomization Tests of Causality

Background—C-reactive protein (CRP) has repeatedly been associated with blood pressure and prevalent and incident hypertension, but whether a causal link exists is uncertain. Methods and Results—We assessed the cross-sectional relations of CRP to systolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, and prevalent hypertension in a representative sample of >3500 British women aged 60 to 79 years. For both outcomes, substantial associations were observed. However, these associations were greatly attenuated by adjustment for a wide range of confounding factors acting over the life course. We further investigated causality using a Mendelian randomization approach by examining the association of the 1059G/C polymorphism in the human CRP gene with CRP and with blood pressure, pulse pressure, and hypertension. The polymorphism was associated with a robust difference in CRP, and the expectation would be for higher blood pressure and pulse pressure and greater prevalence of hypertension among those carrying the genetic variant associated with higher CRP levels. This was not observed, and the predicted causal effects of CRP on blood pressure, pulse pressure, and hypertension using instrumental variables methods were close to 0, although with wide CIs. Conclusions—CRP levels are associated with blood pressure, pulse pressure, and hypertension, but adjustment for life course confounding and a Mendelian randomization approach suggest the elevated CRP levels do not lead to elevated blood pressure.