Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Special Topic: Diabetic Retinopathy Special Edition Apelin Activates the Expression of Inflammatory Cytokines in Microglial Bv2 Cells via Pi-3k/akt and Mek/erk Pathways

This paper aims to observe the changes of the inflammatory cytokines in microglial BV2 cells stimulated by apelin, and investigate the mechanism of inflammatory cytokines secretion after apelin stimulation. Immunofluorescence and quantitative real time PCR were performed to observe expression of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-10, MIP-1α, and MCP-1 in BV2 cells. Western blot was used to investigate the expression of phosphorylation PI-3K/Akt and phosphorylation Erk signaling pathways in BV2 cells after stimulation by apelin. Furthermore, PI-3K/Akt inhibitor (LY294402) and Erk inhibitor (U0126) were used as antagonists to detect the secretion mechanisms of cytokines in BV2 cells stimulated by apelin. Exogenous recombinant apelin activated the expression of TNF-α, IL-1β, MCP-1 and MIP-1α in BV2 cells by the detection of fluorescence expression and mRNA. Apelin also unregulated the protein expression of p-PI-3K/Akt and pErk in BV2 cells induced by apelin. LY294002 and U0126 inhibited activation of p-PI-3K/Akt and pErk expression by Western blot and attenuated the expression of inflammation factors in BV2 cells by fluorescence staining. This study demonstrates that apelin is a potential activator of inflammation factors through the PI3K/Akt and Erk signaling pathway and is potential therapeutically relevant to inflammatory responses of micro-glia cells. activates the expression of inflammatory cytokines in microglial BV2 cells via PI-3K/Akt and MEK/Erk pathways. Apelin is a small molecular regulatory peptide, whose biological activity is mediated by its specific receptors named APJ, a G-protein-coupled receptor with seven transmem-brane domains [1]. Apelin/APJ is expressed in multiple tissues , primarily in vascular endothelial cells, suggesting it plays an important role in angiogenesis [2,3]. During recent years, apelin has gained increasing attention in the function of angiogenesis, especially in retinal neovascularization. Kasai and others' studies [4,5] found that apelin is a crucial factor for retinal angiogenesis in prematurity of retinopathy (ROP) mice and apelin-deficiency can retard the retinal vascular development. In in vivo study, the sizes of the laser induced CNV lesions in apelin-KO or APJ-KO mice decreased significantly compared with those in the WT mice [6]. Our previous study also found plasma level of apelin was increased in proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) patients [7]. However, the role of apelin for regulation of inflammation factors in in vivo and in vitro study is unclear. Han et al. [8] demonstrated that LPS, IL-6, or interferon-α (IFN-α) treatment can induce the increasing enteric apelin expression in rodents, suggesting a potential link between apelin and inflammation. Microglial cells are blood-derived phagocytes, representing …
Blockade of P‐Selectin Is Sufficient to Reduce MHC I Antibody‐Elicited Monocyte Recruitment In Vitro and In Vivo

Donor‐specific HLA antibodies significantly lower allograft survival, but as yet there are no satisfactory therapies for prevention of antibody‐mediated rejection. Intracapillary macrophage infiltration is a hallmark of antibody‐mediated rejection, and macrophages are important in both acute and chronic rejection. The purpose of this study was to investigate the Fc‐independent effect of HLA I antibodies on endothelial cell activation, leading to monocyte recruitment. We used an in vitro model to assess monocyte binding to endothelial cells in response to HLA I antibodies. We confirmed our results in a mouse model of antibody‐mediated rejection, in which B6.RAG1−/− recipients of BALB/c cardiac allografts were passively transferred with donor‐specific MHC I antibodies. Our findings demonstrate that HLA I antibodies rapidly increase intracellular calcium and endothelial presentation of P‐selectin, which supports monocyte binding. In the experimental model, donor‐specific MHC I antibodies significantly increased macrophage accumulation in the allograft. Concurrent administration of rPSGL‐1‐Ig abolished antibody‐induced monocyte infiltration in the allograft, but had little effect on antibody‐induced endothelial injury. Our data suggest that antagonism of P‐selectin may ameliorate accumulation of macrophages in the allograft during antibody‐mediated rejection.
The neurobiology of addiction: a neuroadaptational view relevant for diagnosis.

AIMS The purpose of this review is to provide a synthesis of our knowledge of the neurobiological bases of addiction relevant for the diagnosis of addiction. METHODS A heuristic framework of neuroadaptive changes within key brain neurocircuitry responsible for different stages of the addiction cycle is outlined and linked to human studies to provide important future translational links for diagnosis. RESULTS Animal studies have revealed dysregulation of specific neurochemical mechanisms (dopamine, opioid peptides) in the brain reward systems and recruitment of brain stress systems (corticotropin-releasing factor) during the development of dependence that convey vulnerability to relapse. Animal studies have implicated the prefrontal cortex and basolateral amygdala in drug- and cue-induced relapse, respectively, and the brain stress systems in stress-induced relapse. Genetic studies suggest roles for the genes encoding the neurochemical elements involved in both the brain reward and stress systems in the vulnerability to addiction, and molecular studies have identified transduction and transcription factors that may mediate dependence-induced reward dysregulation. Human imaging studies reveal similar neurocircuits involved in acute intoxication, chronic drug dependence and vulnerability to relapse. CONCLUSIONS Major neurobiological changes in substance abuse disorders common to human and animal studies relevant for diagnosis include a compromised reward system, overactivated brain stress systems and compromised orbitofrontal/prefrontal cortex function. No biological markers of substance abuse disorders currently exist, but there are many promising neurobiological features of substance abuse disorders that will eventually aid in the specific diagnoses of substance use, misuse and dependence.
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Aerosol Dynamics Simulations on the Connection of Sulphuric Acid and New Particle Formation

We have performed a series of simulations with an aerosol dynamics box model to study the connection between new particle formation and sulphuric acid concentration. For nucleation either activation mechanism with a linear dependence on the sulphuric acid concentration, kinetic mechanism with a squared dependence on the sulphuric acid concentration or ternary H 2 O-H 2 SO 4-NH 3 nucleation was assumed. The aim was to study the factors that affect the sulphuric acid dependence during the early stages of particle growth, and specifically to find conditions which would yield the linear dependence between the particle number concentration at 3–6 nm and sulphuric acid, as observed in field experiments. The simulations showed that the correlation with sulphuric acid may change during the growth from nucle-ation size to 3–6 nm size range, the main reason being the size dependent growth rate between 1 and 3 nm. In addition, the assumed size for the nucleated clusters had a crucial impact on the sulphuric acid dependence at 3 nm. A linear dependence between the particle number concentration at 3 nm and sulphuric acid was achieved, when activation nucleation mechanism was used with a low saturation vapour pressure for the condensable organic vapour, or with nucleation taking place at ∼2 nm instead of ∼1 nm. Simulations with activation , kinetic and ternary nucleation showed that ternary nu-cleation reproduces too steep dependence on sulphuric acid as compared to the linear or square dependence observed in field measurements.
Identification of C-C Chemokine Receptor 1 (CCR1) as the Monocyte Hemofiltrate C-C Chemokine (HCC)-1 Receptor

Hemofiltrate C-C chemokine (HCC)-1 is a recently cloned C-C chemokine that is structurally similar to macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α. Unlike most chemokines, it is constitutively secreted by tissues and is present at high concentrations in normal human plasma. Also atypical for chemokines, HCC-1 is reported not to be chemotactic for leukocytes. In this paper, we have investigated the chemokine receptor usage and downstream signaling pathways of HCC-1. Cross-desensitization experiments using THP-1 cells suggested that HCC-1 and MIP-1α activated the same receptor. Experiments using a panel of cloned chemokine receptors revealed that HCC-1 specifically activated C-C chemokine receptor (CCR)1, but not closely related receptors, including CCR5. HCC-1 competed with MIP-1α for binding to CCR1-transfected cells, but with a markedly reduced affinity (IC50 = 93 nM versus 1.3 nM for MIP-1α). Similarly, HCC-1 was less potent than MIP-1α in inducing inhibition of adenylyl cyclase in CCR1-transfected cells. HCC-1 induced chemotaxis of freshly isolated human monocytes, THP-1 cells, and CCR1-transfected cells, and the optimal concentration for cell migration (100 nM) was ∼100-fold lower than that of MIP-1α (1 nM). These data demonstrate that HCC-1 is a chemoattractant and identify CCR1 as a functional HCC-1 receptor on human monocytes.
Interferometric Observations of Powerful CO Emission from Three Submillimeter Galaxies at z = 2.39, 2.51, and 3.35

We report IRAM millimeter interferometry of three z ~ 2.4-3.4 Submillimeter Common-User Bolometric Array deep field galaxies. Our CO line observations confirm the rest-frame UV/optical redshifts, thus more than doubling the number of confirmed published redshifts of the faint submillimeter population and proving their high-z nature. In all three sources our measurements of the intrinsic gas and dynamical mass are large (1010-1011 M☉). In at least two cases the data show that the submillimeter sources are part of an interacting system. Together with recent information gathered in the X-ray, optical, and radio bands, our observations support the interpretation that the submillimeter population, at least the radio-detected ones, consists of gas-rich (gas-to-dynamical mass ratio ~0.5) and massive interacting starburst/active galactic nucleus systems.
Une approche incarnée du vieillissement normal et pathologique : compréhension du fonctionnement mnésique selon les interactions entre mémoire et perception

Le vieillissement et la maladie d’Alzheimer (MA) sont caracterises par des difficultes mnesiques associees a leurs alterations sensorielles et perceptives. Ces liens s’expliqueraient naturellement par les approches incarnees de la cognition qui definissent les connaissances comme ancrees dans leurs proprietes modales (sensori-motrices). Afin de tester ces approches incarnees, deux series d’experiences ont ete conduites aupres de jeunes adultes, personnes âgees saines et patient MA. Ces experiences combinaient une batterie complete de tests neuropsychologiques et un paradigme d’amorcage intersensoriel (audition vers vision). L’originalite fut l’ajout, pour la moitie des amorces auditives, d’un masque visuel sans signification. L’Experience 1 etait constituee deux phases distinctes, alors que dans l’Experience 2, l’amorce et la cible etaient presentees dans un meme essai. Les resultats demontrent un effet d’amorcage intersensoriel pour les jeunes adultes et les personnes âgees. Le masque a interfere avec cet effet d’amorcage, mais uniquement lorsque l’amorce et la cible correspondent a une meme connaissance. Cette interference et sa specificite demontrent que les jeunes adultes comme les personnes âgees auraient des connaissances modales. En revanche, les patients MA ne presentent pas d’effet d’amorcage alors que celui-ci est de nature perceptive. Ces resultats supportent l’idee d’une deconnexion cerebrale dans la MA. L’ensemble des donnees permet de supposer que les difficultes mnesiques dans le vieillissement s’expliqueraient essentiellement par une degradation de la qualite de leurs connaissances en lien avec leur perception. Les troubles mnesiques dans la MA proviendraient quant a eux d’un deficit d’integration dynamique des differentes composantes des connaissances. Ces approches placent les interactions entre memoire et perception au cœur du fonctionnement mnesique.
Laboratory Evolution of Escherichia coli Thioredoxin for Enhanced Catalysis of Protein Oxidation in the Periplasm Reveals a Phylogenetically Conserved Substrate Specificity Determinant*

Thioredoxin exported into the Escherichia coli periplasm catalyzes the oxidation of protein thiols in a DsbB-dependent function. However, the oxidative activity of periplasmic thioredoxin is insufficient to render dsbA– cells susceptible to infection by M13, a phenotype that is critically dependent on disulfide bond formation in the cell envelope. We sought to examine the molecular determinants that are required in order to convert thioredoxin from a reductant into an efficient periplasmic oxidant. A genetic screen for mutations in thioredoxin that render dsbA– cells sensitive to infection by M13 led to the isolation of a single amino acid substitution, G74S. In vivo the TrxA(G74S) mutant exhibited enhanced catalytic activity in the oxidation of alkaline phosphatase but was unable to oxidize FlgI and restore cell motility. In vitro studies revealed that the G74S substitution does not affect the redox potential of the thioredoxin-active site or its kinetics of oxidation by DsbB. Thus, the gain of function afforded by G74S stems in part from its altered substrate specificity, which also rendered the protein more resistant to reduction by DsbD/DsbC in the periplasm.
Service and Policy implication of substance use disorders among adolescents in juvenile correctional facilities in Lagos, Nigeria

Background. Lack of relevant data has continued to militate against the development of policy and practice toward identification and treatment of alcohol/substance abuse among adolescents coming in contact with the juvenile justice system in Nigeria. This study aims to provide such data, including its policy/practice implications. Methods. One hundred and seventy eight (178) adolescents, who are representative of adolescents within the youth correctional services of Lagos jurisdiction, were interviewed using the alcohol and substance abuse section of the Kiddies’ Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia. Results. The lifetime prevalence rate of abuse of/dependence on any of alcohol or other substances was 22.5% (alcohol, 12.3%; illicit substance, 17.9%). Males were overrepresented among those with any substance use disorder, with gendered prevalence rate as high as 35%. Having had a lived-experience of being a street-child was the single most significant independent factor (Odds ratio (OR), 8.4; p = 0.007) associated with lifetime alcohol substance use disorder. Conclusions. Substance use disorder is highly prevalent among adolescents within the juvenile justice systems in Lagos Nigeria. There is need for deliberate incorporation of alcohol and substance abuse screening and intervention as part of individual care plan in youth correctional facilities in Nigeria. Practical steps toward achieving this were drawn from local reality and international best practices.
Performance comparison of different modulation formats over free-space optical (FSO) turbulence links with space diversity reception technique

The transmission performance of a free-space optical (FSO) link could be severely degraded due to atmospheric turbulence, which causes the temporal and spatial fluctuation of light intensity. Both the space diversity reception technique (SDRT) and advanced modulation formats can successfully mitigate the transmission impairments of the atmospheric turbulence. The purpose of this paper is to study and compare the bit-error-rate (BER) performance of several widely used modulation formats under different atmospheric turbulence scenarios with and without SDRT. The modulation formats studied in this paper include on-off keying (OOK), differential phase-shift keying (DPSK), and differential quadrature phase-shift keying (DQPSK). We derive a series-form formula for evaluating the BER performance of the DPSK format in the Gamma-Gamma distributed channel with SDRT. We use both theoretical analysis and simulation to examine the BER performance of OOK, DPSK, and DQPSK formats with and without SDRT. It is found that, in the strongly turbulent scenario, the OOK and DPSK formats can have as large as 19.5 and 20.3 dB of SDRT gains at the BER of 10-3, respectively. Using SDRT, the modulation gains of the DPSK format over the OOK format are 3.2 dB in the strongly turbulent scenario and 4.5 dB in the weakly turbulent scenario, respectively. In addition, in the moderately and strongly turbulent scenarios, it is found that the DPSK and DQPSK formats have almost the same BER performance under the same symbol rate.
Low serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D concentrations associate with non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease in adolescents independent of adiposity

Non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D (s25[OH]D) concentrations are both associated with adiposity and insulin resistance (IR) and thus may be pathogenically linked. We aimed to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in adolescents with NAFLD and to investigate the prospective and cross‐sectional associations between s25[OH]D concentrations and NAFLD.
Detecting Privacy Leaks in Android Apps

The number of Android apps have grown explosively in recent years and the number of apps leaking private data have also grown. It is necessary to make sure all the apps are not leaking private data before putting them to the app markets and thereby a privacy leaks detection tool is needed. We propose a static taint analysis approach which leverages the control-flow graph (CFG) of apps to detect privacy leaks among Android apps. We tackle three problems related to intercomponent communication (ICC), lifecycle of components and callback mechanism making the CFG imprecision. To bridge this gap, we explicitly connect the discontinuities of the CFG to provide a precise CFG. Based on the precise CFG, we aim at providing a taint analysis approach to detect intra-component privacy leaks, inter-component privacy leaks and also inter-app privacy leaks.
Stochastic Controllability of Systems with Multiple Delays in Control

Stochastic Controllability of Systems with Multiple Delays in Control Finite-dimensional stationary dynamic control systems described by linear stochastic ordinary differential state equations with multiple point delays in control are considered. Using the notation, theorems and methods used for deterministic controllability problems for linear dynamic systems with delays in control as well as necessary and sufficient conditions for various kinds of stochastic relative controllability in a given time interval are formulated and proved. It will be proved that, under suitable assumptions, relative controllability of an associated deterministic linear dynamic system is equivalent to stochastic relative exact controllability and stochastic relative approximate controllability of the original linear stochastic dynamic system. As a special case, relative stochastic controllability of dynamic systems with a single point delay is also considered. Some remarks and comments on the existing results for stochastic controllability of linear dynamic systems are also presented.
Improving the human-robot interaction through emotive movements A special case: Walking

Walking is one of the most common activities that we perform every day. If the main goal of walking is to go from a point A to a point B, walking can also convey emotional clues in social context. Those clues can be used to improve interactions or any messages we want to express. We observed a professional actress perform emotive walking and analyzed the recorded data. For each emotion, we found characteristic features which can be used to model gait patterns for humanoid robots. The findings were assessed by subjects who were asked to recognize the emotions displayed in the acts of walking.
Anchoring filaments of the amphibian epidermal-dermal junction traverse the basal lamina entirely from the plasma membrane of hemidesmosomes to the dermis.

An electron microscopical study of the epidermal-dermal junction in the axolotl and adult Rana pipiens has been carried out. This shows that filaments of about 12nm in diameter, known as anchoring filaments, pass from the hemidesmosomes at the base of the epidermal cells across the basal lamina to the dermis. There they may unite to form broader fibres, known as anchoring fibrils, or may simply form bundles. In the axolotl, particularly, the anchoring fibrils or bundles of anchoring filaments, enmesh with the collagen fibres of the dermis. Removal of epidermal cells with EDTA results in separation along a plane in the lamina rara of the basal lamina, i.e. between the plasma membrane of the cells and the lamina densa. The anchoring filaments remain inserted into the lamina densa. Hemidesmosomal plaques are no longer visible in regions of the plasma membrane that have been separated from the basal lamina by EDTA, and no evidence was found that plaques are engulfed by the cells. It is proposed that the hemidesmosome-anchoring filament system provides a structural link between the collagenous filament system of the dermis and the intracellular cytokeratin filament system of the epidermis, which, in turn, is linked between cells by desmosomes.
A Powerful Vision: Power Affects Visual Search Behavior

Preliminary studies indicate that being in a powerful or powerless position affects the individual’s ability to focus on task relevant information. In the present study, we examined which components of attention are affected by power using visual search paradigms. In three studies, participants were first primed with power or powerless, and then performed visual search tasks. In these tasks the contribution of top-down and bottom-up attentional guidance was manipulated by altering either the physical or semantic similarity between target and distracters. The results indicate that social power affects the speed of visual search. Furthermore, these effects derive from differences in top-down, but not bottom-up, components of attention, and occur both when targets are discriminated on the basis of perceptual as well as semantic properties.
AIDS dementia complex and HIV‐1 brain infection: Clinical‐virological correlations

To evaluate the presence and distribution of central nervous system infection by human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV‐1), we used immunohistochemical methods to map the HIV‐1 p24 core protein in the brains of 55 autopsied patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). In a subset of 40 of these patients who had undergone antemortem neurological evaluation of the AIDS dementia complex (ADC), we analyzed the relation between the severities of the viral infection and clinical dysfunction. Viral antigen was detected in macrophages and cells with morphological and immunohistochemical characteristics of microglia as well as multinucleated cells. The distribution of antigen‐positive cells preferentially involved certain deep brain structures, especially the globus pallidus, other basal ganglia nuclei, and the central white matter. Overall, the presence and frequency of infected cells were highly correlated with the histological findings of multinucleated‐cell encephalitis and in general with the clinical ADC stage. However, infection was often more limited than might be “anticipated” from the severity of patients' clinical dysfunction: Only 61% of patients with at least ADC stage 1 had detectable antigen and of these only approximately 30% of the brain sections were antigen positive. These results suggest a pathogenetic model of ADC where virus‐ or cell‐coded toxins amplify the effect of limited brain infection.