Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Averting the legacy of kidney disease – focus on childhood

World Kidney Day 2016 focuses on kidney disease in childhood and the antecedents of adult kidney disease that can begin in earliest childhood. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) in childhood differs from that in adults, as the largest diagnostic group among children includes congenital anomalies and inherited disorders, with glomerulopathies and kidney disease in the setting of diabetes being relatively uncommon. In addition, many children with acute kidney injury will ultimately develop sequelae that may lead to hypertension and CKD in later childhood or in adult life. Children born early or who are small-for-date newborns have relatively increased risk for the development of CKD later in life. Persons with a high-risk birth and early childhood history should be watched closely in order to help detect early signs of kidney disease in time to provide effective prevention or treatment. Successful therapy is feasible for advanced CKD in childhood; there is evidence that children fare better than adults, if they receive kidney replacement therapy including dialysis and transplantation, while only a minority of children may require this ultimate intervention. Because there are disparities in access to care, effort is needed so that those children with kidney disease, wherever they live, may be treated effectively, irrespective of their geographic or economic circumstances. Our hope is that World Kidney Day will inform the general public, policy makers and caregivers about the needs and possibilities surrounding kidney disease in childhood.
Regeneration of the retina: toward stem cell therapy for degenerative retinal diseases

Degenerative retinal diseases affect millions of people worldwide, which can lead to the loss of vision. However, therapeutic approaches that can reverse this process are limited. Recent efforts have allowed the possibility of the stem cell-based regeneration of retinal cells and repair of injured retinal tissues. Although the direct differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into terminally differentiated photoreceptor cells comprises one approach, a series of studies revealed the intrinsic regenerative potential of the retina using endogenous retinal stem cells. Muller glial cells, ciliary pigment epithelial cells, and retinal pigment epithelial cells are candidates for such retinal stem cells that can differentiate into multiple types of retinal cells and be integrated into injured or developing retina. In this review, we explore our current understanding of the cellular identity of these candidate retinal stem cells and their therapeutic potential for cell therapy against degenerative retinal diseases. [BMB Reports 2015; 48(4): 193-199]
Obstructive sleep apnea and diurnal nondipping hemodynamic indices in patients at increased cardiovascular risk

Rationale: We hypothesized increasing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity would be associated with nondipping blood pressure (BP) in increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Methods: Baseline data from 298 cardiology patients recruited for a multicenter randomized controlled trial were examined. Dipping was defined as a sleep-related BP or heart rate (HR) reduction of at least 10%. Logistic regression models were fit, adjusting for age, sex, race, BMI, CVD risk factors, CVD, and study site. Results: There was a statistically significant 4% increase in the odds of nondipping SBP per 1-unit increase in both apnea hypopnea index (AHI) and oxygen desaturation index (ODI). There was no significant relationship between AHI and nondipping mean arterial pressure (MAP); however, a 3% increase in the odds of nondipping MAP per 1-unit increase in ODI was observed [odds ratio (OR) = 1.03; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.00–1.05]. At severe OSA levels, a 10 and 4% increase in odds of nondipping DBP per 1-unit increase in AHI and ODI were observed, respectively. A 6% [OR = 1.06; 95% CI (1.01–1.10)] increase in nondipping HR odds was observed with each increase in ODI until the upper quartile of ODI. Conclusion: In patients at cardiovascular risk and moderate-to-severe OSA, increasing AHI and/or ODI were associated with increased odds of nondipping SBP and nondipping MAP. More severe levels of AHI and ODI also were associated with nondipping DBP. These results support progressive BP burden associated with increased OSA severity even in patients managed by cardiology specialty care.
Thalamocortical and intracortical connections of monkey cingulate motor areas

Although there has been an increasing interest in motor functions of the cingulate motor areas, data concerning their input organization are still limited. To address this issue, the patterns of thalamic and cortical inputs to the rostral (CMAr), dorsal (CMAd), and ventral (CMAv) cingulate motor areas were investigated in the macaque monkey. Tracer injections were made into identified forelimb representations of these areas, and the distributions of retrogradely labeled neurons were analyzed in the thalamus and the frontal cortex. The cells of origin of thalamocortical projections to the CMAr were located mainly in the parvicellular division of the ventroanterior nucleus and the oral division of the ventrolateral nucleus (VLo). On the other hand, the thalamocortical neurons to the CMAd/CMAv were distributed predominantly in the VLo and the oral division of the ventroposterolateral nucleus‐the caudal division of the ventrolateral nucleus. Additionally, many neurons in the intralaminar nuclear group were seen to project to the cingulate motor areas. Except for their well‐developed interconnections, the corticocortical projections to the CMAr and CMAd/CMAv were also distinctively preferential. Major inputs to the CMAr arose from the presupplementary motor area and the dorsal premotor cortex, whereas inputs to the CMAd/CMAv originated not only from these areas but also from the supplementary motor area and the primary motor cortex. The present results indicate that the CMAr and the caudal cingulate motor area (involving both the CMAd and the CMAv) are characterized by distinct patterns of thalamocortical and intracortical connections, reflecting their functional differences. J. Comp. Neurol. 462:121–138, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Insilico reaction kinetic model of shear stress induced eNOS activation in arterial endothelium

Blood vessels are constantly exposed to hemodynamic forces in the form of cyclic stretch and shear stress due to the pulsatile nature of blood flow. Endothelial cells (ECs) lining these blood vessels act as a sensing interface to transduce these hemodynamic forces or mechanical stimuli to intracellular signals. EC signaling leads to the production of Nitric Oxide (NO) that regulates the flow pressure through relaxation of smooth muscle. A theoretical frame work that captures the mechanics of vascular remodeling process along with intracellular signaling cascade can shed light in the process of adaptation and regulation of blood flow in these arteries. Towards this end, we have developed a detail mass action model of intracellular signaling, including shear induced eNOS activation, an enzyme that produces NO for signaling, leading to the regulation of NO production. We simulate shear-induced activation of eNOS in detail. We show that upon shear stimulus, concentration of GTP. Gα increases instantly to 1.5 fold leading to increase in active eNOS to two fold. We further show that our approach is modular in that various pathways constituting the model of eNOS activation and smooth muscle relaxation can be included one-by-one.
Toward a systems understanding of plant–microbe interactions

Plants are closely associated with microorganisms including pathogens and mutualists that influence plant fitness. Molecular genetic approaches have uncovered a number of signaling components from both plants and microbes and their mode of actions. However, signaling pathways are highly interconnected and influenced by diverse sets of environmental factors. Therefore, it is important to have systems views in order to understand the true nature of plant–microbe interactions. Indeed, systems biology approaches have revealed previously overlooked or misinterpreted properties of the plant immune signaling network. Experimental reconstruction of biological networks using exhaustive combinatorial perturbations is particularly powerful to elucidate network structure and properties and relationships among network components. Recent advances in metagenomics of microbial communities associated with plants further point to the importance of systems approaches and open a research area of microbial community reconstruction. In this review, we highlight the importance of a systems understanding of plant–microbe interactions, with a special emphasis on reconstruction strategies.
Syncategorematic Conjunction and Structured Meanings

One elegant and linguistically powerful guideline for a semantic theory of coordina­ tion will be referred to here as the Boolean assumption. According to this assumption conjunctive coordinators like and are described using the cross-categorial Boolean operator of Generalized Conjunction (GC). Symmetrically, disjunctive coordinators like or are modeled by Generalized Disjunction (GD). A common type theoretical definition of the operators GC and GD goes as follows: Definition: An extensional type T is called t-reducible iff T = t or T = Tl T2 , where Tl is any type and T2 is a t-reducible type. For every t-reducible type T: d;j { >'Xt . >'¥i . X /\ Y >'X. ,. >'�. >'Z. ,. , . X(Z) n Y(Z) de! { >'Xt . >'¥i . X V Y U. ,. (.,.,.) = >'X. ,. >'Y. ,. >. Z. ,. , . X(Z) u Y(Z) T = t (GC)
O-Glycosylation of Axl2/Bud10p by Pmt4p Is Required for Its Stability, Localization, and Function in Daughter Cells

Cells of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae choose bud sites in a manner that is dependent upon cell type: a and α cells select axial sites; a/α cells utilize bipolar sites. Mutants specifically defective in axial budding were isolated from an α strain using pseudohyphal growth as an assay. We found that a and α mutants defective in the previously identified PMT4 gene exhibit unipolar, rather than axial budding: mother cells choose axial bud sites, but daughter cells do not. PMT4 encodes a protein mannosyl transferase (pmt) required for O-linked glycosylation of some secretory and cell surface proteins (Immervoll, T., M. Gentzsch, and W. Tanner. 1995. Yeast. 11:1345–1351). We demonstrate that Axl2/Bud10p, which is required for the axial budding pattern, is an O-linked glycoprotein and is incompletely glycosylated, unstable, and mislocalized in cells lacking PMT4. Overexpression of AXL2 can partially restore proper bud-site selection to pmt4 mutants. These data indicate that Axl2/Bud10p is glycosylated by Pmt4p and that O-linked glycosylation increases Axl2/ Bud10p activity in daughter cells, apparently by enhancing its stability and promoting its localization to the plasma membrane.
Spatial-Temporal relation-based Energy-Efficient Reliable routing protocol in wireless sensor networks

Delivering sensory data to the sink reliably in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) calls for a scalable, energy-efficient and error-resilient routing solution. In this paper, a Spatial-Temporal relation-based Energy-Efficient Reliable (STEER) routing protocol is proposed to achieve the above goals. As opposed to the next-hop-selection-first, data-relay-next approach, which is typical in traditional routing protocols in WSNs, STEER reverses these two steps. In STEER, each data packet is relayed by broadcasting, and, among the neighbours (closer to the sink) that receive the data, one next-hop node will be elected. In so doing, eligibility as a next hop is evaluated by temporal gradient, which is similar to backoff for channel access in IEEE 802.11 systems. The value of temporal gradient is determined locally by the spatial information of each neighbour. To quantify the temporal gradient systematically, a spatial-temporal mapping function is proposed. Comprehensive simulations show that STEER performs well to provide efficient and robust routing in highly unreliable WSNs.
Disrupted resting-state insular subregions functional connectivity in post-traumatic stress disorder

AbstractPost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is suggested to be a structural and functional abnormality in the insula. The insula, which consists of distinct subregions with various patterns of connectivity, displays complex and diverse functions. However, whether these insular subregions have different patterns of connectivity in PTSD remains unclear. Investigating the abnormal functional connectivity of the insular subregions is crucial to reveal its potential effect on diseases specifically PTSD. This study uses a seed-based method to investigate the altered resting-state functional connectivity of insular subregions in PTSD. We found that patients with PTSD showed reduced functional connectivity compared with healthy controls (HCs) between the left ventral anterior insula and the anterior cingulate cortex. The patients with PTSD also exhibited decreased functional connectivity between the right posterior insula and left inferior parietal lobe, and the postcentral gyrus relative to HCs. These results suggest the involvement of altered functional connectivity of insular subregions in the abnormal regulation of emotion and processing of somatosensory information in patients with PTSD. Such impairments in functional connectivity patterns of the insular subregions may advance our understanding of the pathophysiological basis underlying PTSD.
Total versus bilateral subtotal thyroidectomy for benign multi-nodular goiter.

PURPOSE To compare the postoperative early-stage complications of total and bilateral subtotal thyroidectomy for benign multi-nodular goiter. MATERIAL AND METHODS There were 409 patients. The patients were divided into two groups. A total of 258 (63%) patients underwent total thyroidectomy, and 151 (37%) patients underwent bilateral subtotal thyroidectomy. RESULTS Recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy occurred in six (2.3%) of the total thyroidectomy patients and in three (1.9%) of the bilateral subtotal thyroidectomy patients (P>0.05). No permanent palsy was observed in either of the thyroidectomy groups. Hypocalcemia occurred in 40 (15.5%) of the total thyroidectomy patients and in 27 (17.8%) of those who underwent bilateral subtotal thyroidectomy (P>0.05). Also, no statistically significant differences were found between the two groups with respect to the development rates of hematoma and incision site infection (P>0.05). CONCLUSION Because of its low complication rates, total thyroidectomy is a safe procedure for benign multı-nodular goiter.
Does Gene Translocation Accelerate the Evolution of Laterally Transferred Genes?

Lateral gene transfer (LGT) and gene rearrangement are essential for shaping bacterial genomes during evolution. Separate attention has been focused on understanding the process of lateral gene transfer and the process of gene translocation. However, little is known about how gene translocation affects laterally transferred genes. Here we have examined gene translocations and lateral gene transfers in closely related genome pairs. The results reveal that translocated genes undergo elevated rates of evolution and gene translocation tends to take place preferentially in recently acquired genes. Translocated genes have a high probability to be truncated, suggesting that translocation followed by truncation/deletion might play an important role in the fast turnover of laterally transferred genes. Furthermore, more recently acquired genes have a higher proportion of genes on the leading strand, suggesting a strong strand bias of lateral gene transfer.
Community detection in social networks using a hybrid swarm intelligence approach

The problem of community detection has been widely studied in numerous research papers in the last decade. There have been several proposed solutions for this problem; however the challenges of this problem have not been fully addressed yet. In this paper, we hybridize the idea of Ant Colony clustering, which is a local search solution, with global search ability of Honey Bee Hive Optimization to detect communities faster and more accurately. We use the dancer bees for exchanging information among nodes, and a node is considered as an ant in the ant colony clustering. Experimental results on real world networks and also artificial generated graphs show superior performance of our algorithm in comparison to other previous approaches.
Dynamics of corticospinal changes during and after high‐intensity quadriceps exercise

What is the central question of this study? Progressive development of the supraspinal component of central fatigue and increases in corticospinal excitability and inhibition have been demonstrated during fatiguing contractions of the elbow flexors. However, the kinetics of mechanical and EMG responses induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation during and after single‐joint fatiguing knee‐extensor exercise remains unknown. What is the main finding and its importance? Our results show that single‐joint knee‐extensor isometric exercise induces late supraspinal fatigue with increased intracortical inhibition, both of which recover quickly after task failure, and unchanged corticospinal excitability. This indicates that fatigue‐induced corticospinal changes are muscle and/or limb specific and reinforces the need to measure corticospinal changes within seconds after task failure to avoid their underestimation.
Neuropathological Studies of Rats Following Multiple Exposure to Tri-Ortho-Tolyl Phosphate, Chlorpyrifos and Stress

Adult male Long-Evans rats were exposed to 2 neurotoxic organophosphates in a setting of chronic stress, over a 63-day period. The organophosphates were tri-ortho-tolyl phosphate (TOTP) administered in 14 gavage doses of 75, 150 or 300 mg/kg, and chlorpyrifos, given in two 60 mg/kg subcutaneous exposures. Corticosterone was added to the drinking water at 400 μg/ml, to model aspects of chronic stress. These compounds/dosages were administered individually and in combination, with appropriate controls, giving rise to 16 experimental groups. The major neuropathologic change was the presence of axonal degeneration progressing to myelinated fiber degeneration, mainly in distal regions of selected fiber tracts and peripheral nerve, seen in animals sacrificed on experimental day 63. The cervical spinal cord and medullary levels of the sensory gracile fasciculus were most prominently affected. This axonopathy/fiber degeneration was TOTP dose-related at the 300 and 150 mg/kg levels. There was association of this lesion with inhibition of the enzyme neurotoxic esterase in hippocampal tissue from TOTP-treated rats. Such an association categorizes this disease process as organophosphate ester-induced delayed neuropathy. Neither chlorpyrifos nor corticosterone appeared to contribute to the neuropathic events or the enzyme inhibition. A cohort of rats was maintained on the corticosterone dosing, but without additional exposure to TOTP or chlorpyrifos, for an additional 27 days. When these rats were examined on day 90, the nerve fiber degeneration had progressed in all experimental groups administered the 300 mg/kg dose of TOTP (lower doses were not studied at the 90-day interval), although hippocampal neurotoxic esterase had returned to control values.
Darbepoetin alfa (Aranesp™) in children with chronic renal failure

Darbepoetin alfa (Aranesp™) in children with chronic renal failure. Background Darbepoetin alfa use has been reported in 7 children with chronic renal failure (CRF). Our objective was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of darbepoetin and determine a therapeutic dose in a larger sample of children with CRF. Methods Twenty-six children with chronic renal insufficiency (CRI) GFR 2 , on peritoneal dialysis (PD) or hemodialysis (HD) entered a prospective, open-label study of darbepoetin. Seven ineligible children who underwent the same evaluation were analyzed retrospectively. The starting dose was 0.45 μg/kg/week. IRB/REB approval and informed consent were obtained. The primary outcome measure was hemoglobin (Hb) response within a target range of 10.0 to 12.5 g/dL between 8 and 12 and 20 and 28 weeks. Results Thirty-three children (15 CRI, 9 HD, 9 PD; aged 1-17 years) were enrolled in the study. Ten patients dropped out (3 before 12 weeks and 7 before 28 weeks), none due to darbepoetin. Mean Hbs were 11.8 and 11.4 between weeks 8 and 12 and 20 and 28, respectively; the proportion of patients with Hb values >10.0 g/dL was 97% and 91% in the same intervals. No effect of grouping patients into CRI, HD, or PD or prospective versus retrospective was observed. One of 13 serious adverse events (hypertension) was possibly related to darbepoetin; 8/14 children reported injection-site pain. At 12 and 28 weeks, respectively, 73% and 87% were receiving darbepoetin less than once weekly. Conclusion A dose approximating 0.5 μg/kg/week of darbepoetin effectively treats anemia in children with chronic renal failure; for many, this may be proportionately increased and injected less than once weekly.
Determinación del proteoma de la cepa VCG-1 de Plasmodium Vivax y caracterización de moléculas candidatas para su inclusión en el desarrollo de una vacuna

La identificacion y caracterizacion de proteinas que utilizan los merozoitos de Plasmodium para invadir a su celula hospedera, representan una estrategia importante para desarrollar un metodo de control contra estos parasitos. A pesar de ello, la investigacion basica en P. vivax esta retrasada por su dificil propagacion in vitro, debido a la preferencia que tiene el parasito por invadir reticulocitos, los cuales se encuentran en escaso porcentaje en sangre periferica de humanos adultos (1-2%) y son dificiles de obtener con alta pureza, en suficiente cantidad y totalmente viables. Como consecuencia de lo anterior, el conocimiento del numero de moleculas que expresa P. vivax y cuales de ellas son candidatas para componer una vacuna, es escaso. En este estudio, se evaluo el proteoma de una cepa de P. vivax adaptada a primates y se caracterizaron moleculas antigenicas y con capacidad de adhesion a reticulocitos humanos. En el analisis del proteoma de la cepa VCG-1 de P. vivax, se detectaron 734 proteinas, algunas esenciales en los pasos clave para establecer la invasion del merozoito a su celula diana. Ademas, se identificaron 811 componentes de eritrocitos (hospederos vitales de Plasmodium) del primate A. nancymaae, de los cuales 51 son proteinas integrales de membrana, 7 descritas como receptores de Plasmodium. Por otro lado, se identifico la presencia, transcripcion y expresion de los genes codificantes de tres moleculas de P. vivax: PvARP, PvRBSA y PvGAMA, asi como su antigenicidad. De particular interes, se encontro que PvRBSA y PvGAMA se unen en mayor proporcion a reticulocitos que expresan el receptor CD71 de forma abundante (CD71hi), lo que sugiere que estas moleculas pueden estar participando en la seleccion preferencial que tienen los merozoitos de P. vivax por los reticulocitos humanos. Este es el primer estudio en Colombia donde se determina la composicion proteica de una cepa de P. vivax adaptada a primates, asi como la de eritrocitos de A. nancymaae. Como resultado mas importante, se caracterizaron moleculas de P. vivax que son candidatos idoneos a ser evaluados como componentes de una vacuna contra la malaria causada por esta especie parasitaria.