Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Introduction to Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

Stem cells are a population of undifferentiated cells characterized by the ability to extensively proliferate (self-renewal), usually arise from a single cell (clonal), and differentiate into different types of cells and tissue (potent). There are several sources of stem cells with varying potencies. Pluripotent cells are embryonic stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of the embryo and induced pluripotent cells are formed following reprogramming of somatic cells. Pluripotent cells can differentiate into tissue from all 3 germ layers (endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm). Multipotent stem cells may differentiate into tissue derived from a single germ layer such as mesenchymal stem cells which form adipose tissue, bone, and cartilage. Tissue-resident stem cells are oligopotent since they can form terminally differentiated cells of a specific tissue. Stem cells can be used in cellular therapy to replace damaged cells or to regenerate organs. In addition, stem cells have expanded our understanding of development as well as the pathogenesis of disease. Disease-specific cell lines can also be propagated and used in drug development. Despite the significant advances in stem cell biology, issues such as ethical controversies with embryonic stem cells, tumor formation, and rejection limit their utility. However, many of these limitations are being bypassed and this could lead to major advances in the management of disease. This review is an introduction to the world of stem cells and discusses their definition, origin, and classification, as well as applications of these cells in regenerative medicine.
Temporal shifts in traits of Vibrio cholerae strains isolated from hospitalized patients in Calcutta: a 3-year (1993 to 1995) analysis

This study presents results of a surveillance on cholera conducted with hospitalized patients admitted to the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Calcutta, India, from January 1993 to December 1995. The O139 serogroup of Vibrio cholerae dominated in 1993 but was replaced by O1 as the dominant serogroup in 1994 and 1995. The isolation rate of V. cholerae non-O1 non-O139 did not exceed 4.9% throughout the study period, while the isolation rate of the O139 serogroup in 1994 and 1995 was below 9%. No temporal clustering of any non-O1 non-O139 serogroup was observed. With the exception of 1 strain, none of the 64 strains belonging to the non-O1 non-O139 serogroup hybridized with ctx, zot, and ace gene probes, while 97.3 and 97.7% of the O139 and O1 strains, respectively, hybridized with all the three probes. Multiplex PCR studies revealed that all the O1 strains belonged to the EIT or biotype. There was a progressive increase in the cytotoxic response on CHO and HeLa cells evoked by culture supernatants of strains of V. cholerae non-O1 non-O139 isolated during 1994 and 1995 compared with the response evoked by those isolated in 1993. Dramatic shifts in patterns of resistance to antibiotics between strains of V. cholerae belonging to different serogroups and within strains of a serogroup isolated during different time periods were observed. There was a discernible increase in the incidence of multidrug-resistant strains of V. cholerae O1 isolated in 1994 and 1995 compared with that in 1993. On the basis of the results of this study, we predict the possibility of newer variants of V. cholerae emerging in the future.
Structural characterization of the tunnels of Mycobacterium tuberculosis truncated hemoglobin N from molecular dynamics simulations

The structure of oxygenated trHbN from Mycobacterium tuberculosis shows an extended heme distal hydrogen‐bond network that includes Tyr33(B10), Gln58(E11), and the bound O2. In addition, trHbN structure shows a network of hydrophobic cavities organized in two orthogonal branches. In the present work, the structure and the dynamics of oxygenated and deoxygenated trHbN in explicit water was investigated from 100 ns molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Results show that, depending on the presence or the absence of a coordinated O2, the Tyr33(B10) and Gln58(E11) side chains adopt two different configurations in concert with hydrogen bond network rearrangement. In addition, our data indicate that Tyr33(B10) and Gln58(E11) control the dynamics of Phe62(E15). In deoxy‐trHbN, Phe62(E15) is restricted to one conformation. Upon O2 binding, the conformation of Gln58(E11) changes and residue Phe62(E15) fluctuates between two conformations. We also conducted a systematic study of trHbN tunnels by analyzing thousands of MD snapshots with CAVER. The results show that tunnel formation is the result of the dynamic reshaping of short‐lived hydrophobic cavities. The analyses indicate that the presence of these cavities is likely linked to the rigid structure of trHbN and also reveal two tunnels, EH and BE, that link the protein surface to the buried distal heme pocket and not present in the crystallographic structure. The cavities are sufficiently large to accomodate and store ligands. Tunnel dynamics in trHbN was found to be controlled by the side‐chain conformation of the Tyr33(B10), Gln58(E11), and Phe62(E15) residues. Importantly, in contrast to recently published works, our extensive systematic studies show that the presence or absence of a coordinated dioxygen does not control the opening of the long tunnel but rather the opening of the EH tunnel. In addition, the data lead to new and distinctly different conclusion on the impact of the Phe62(E15) residue on trHbN tunnels. We propose that the EH and the long tunnels are used for apolar ligands storage. The trajectories bring important new structural insights related to trHbN function and to ligand diffusion in proteins. Proteins 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Response to Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Drug Therapies in Patients with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension and Cardiovascular Risk Factors

The age at diagnosis of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and the prevalence of cardiovascular (CV) risk factors are increasing. We sought to determine whether the response to drug therapy was influenced by CV risk factors in PAH patients. We studied consecutive incident PAH patients (n = 146) between January 1, 2008, and July 15, 2011. Patients were divided into two groups: the PAH–No CV group included patients with no CV risk factors (obesity, systemic hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, permanent atrial fibrillation, mitral and/or aortic valve disease, and coronary artery disease), and the PAH-CV group included patients with at least one. The response to PAH treatment was analyzed in all the patients who received PAH drug therapy. The PAH–No CV group included 43 patients, and the PAH-CV group included 69 patients. Patients in the PAH–No CV group were younger than those in the PAH-CV group (P < 0.0001). In the PAH–No CV group, 16 patients (37%) improved on treatment and 27 (63%) did not improve, compared with 11 (16%) and 58 (84%) in the PAH-CV group, respectively (P = 0.027 after adjustment for age). There was no difference in survival at 30 months (P = 0.218). In conclusion, in addition to older age, CV risk factors may predict a reduced response to PAH drug therapy in patients with PAH.
A CMOS Current-Mode Magnetic Hall Sensor With Integrated Front-End

A Hall magnetic sensor working in the current domain and its electronic interface are presented. The paper describes the physical sensor design and implementation in a standard CMOS technology, the transistor level design of its high sensitive front-end together with the sensor experimental characterization. The current-mode Hall sensor and the analog readout circuit have been fabricated using a 0.18- μm CMOS technology. The sensor uses the current spinning technique to compensate for the offset and provides a differential current as an output signal. The measured sensor power consumption and residual offset are 120 μW and 50 μT, respectively.
Basic and Clinical Aspects of Fibrinolysis and Thrombolysis

LOOD CONTAINS an enzymatic system called the B fibrinolytic system, one of the main functions of which is the dissolution of fibrin clots in the blood vessels. The fibrinolytic system comprises a proenzyme, plasminogen, which can be converted to the active enzyme plasmin by different plasminogen activators (PAS). Two physiologic PAS have been identified, initially based on their immunologic relationship with the PA found in tissues (tissue-type PA [t-PA]) or with the PA found in urine (urokinase-type PA [u-PA]). Inhibition of fibrinolysis occurs at the level of the activators (by PA-inhibitors [PAIS]) or at the level of plasmin (mainly by a,-antiplasmin). Physiologic fibrinolysis is highly fibrin-specific as a result of specific molecular interactions between PA, plasminogen, fibrin, plasmin, and a,-antiplasmin. ' Cardiovascular diseases, mainly comprising coronary artery disease leading to myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular disease causing strokes, and venous thrombosis predisposing to pulmonary embolism and the post-phlebitic syndrome, are a major cause of death and disability. The triggering event in the clinical expression of the acute ischemic event is not the underlying atherosclerotic lesion, but a thrombotic obstruction of the artery. Thus, the common cardiovascular diseases have, as their immediate underlying etiology, thrombosis of critically situated blood vessels with loss of blood flow to vital organs. One approach to the treatment of thrombosis consists of the pharmacologic dissolution of the blood clot via the intravenous infusion of PAS. Currently, five thrombolytic agents are either approved for clinical use or under clinical investigation in patients with acute myocardial infarction. These agents are streptokinase (SK), two-chain u-PA (tcu-PA; urokinase), anisoylated plasminogen streptokinase activator complex (APSAC), recombinant t-PA (rtPA), and recombinant single-chain u-PA (rscu-PA; prourokinase). ] Reduction of infarct size, preservation of ventricular function, and reduction in mortality has been obtained with SK, rt-PA, and APSAC. ' Consequently, thrombolytic therapy has become standard treatment for early acute myocardial infarction. Intravenous SK recanalizes approximately 50% of occluded coronary arteries within 90 minutes and reduces mortality by 25%. rt-PA in combination with adjunctive intravenous heparin is more potent for coronary arterial thrombolysis, producing both more rapid and more frequent recanalization (patency 70% to 75% within 90 minutes). Side effects (mainly bleeding) and the incidence
Human capital, social capital, entrepreneurship and disability: an examination of some current educational trends in the UK

Influenced by European policy, human capital and social capital are currently of interest in UK education policy and practice, expressed particularly in the concepts of lifelong learning and entrepreneurship. Human capital and social capital ideas are shown to be flawed by not taking disability into account. The characteristics of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education are examined for relevance to young people with disabilities or learning difficulties and it is concluded that more could be done to develop opportunities for entrepreneurship. The position of people when work is not an option is considered, leading to the question of whether there is a ‘disability industry’, and an acknowledgement of the importance to the economy of disabled people as consumers and producers. A wider definition of entrepreneurship, which includes people with disabilities and learning difficulties, is sought and the paper concludes by discussing the wider implications for the learning community.
Average Error Rates and Achievable Capacity in Large Office Indoor Wireless Environments

Performance of common digital modulation techniques is analyzed over indoor wireless environments modeled through the recently proposed joint fading and two-path shadowing (JFTS) channel model. Mathematically tractable expressions for the instantaneous signal-to-noise ratio statistics, average bit error rates, and achievable channel cutoff rates are derived. Analytical results are used to: 1) investigate the impact of different JFTS model parameters and different modulation techniques on bit error rates and cutoff rates and 2) demonstrate how the JFTS channel model affects system performance in comparison with conventional empirical channel models. Finally simulation results are used to corroborate this analysis and evaluate the usefulness of such an analysis.
Elucidating user behavior of mobile learning: A perspective of the extended technology acceptance model

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose and verify that the technology acceptance model (TAM) can be employed to explain and predict the acceptance of mobile learning (M‐learning); an activity in which users access learning material with their mobile devices. The study identifies two factors that account for individual differences, i.e. perceived enjoyment (PE) and perceived mobility value (PMV), to enhance the explanatory power of the model.Design/methodology/approach – An online survey was conducted to collect data. A total of 313 undergraduate and graduate students in two Taiwan universities answered the questionnaire. Most of the constructs in the model were measured using existing scales, while some measurement items were created specifically for this research. Structural equation modeling was employed to examine the fit of the data with the model by using the LISREL software.Findings – The results of the data analysis shows that the data fit the extended TAM model well. Consumers hold posi.
Talin Modulation by a Synthetic N-Acylurea Derivative Reduces Angiogenesis in Human Endothelial Cells

Talin is a focal adhesion protein that activates integrins and recruits other focal adhesion proteins. Talin regulates the interactions between integrins and the extracellular matrix, which are critical for endothelial cells during angiogenesis. In this study, we successfully synthesized a novel talin modulator, N-((2-(1H-indol-3-yl)ethyl)carbamoyl)-2-(benzo[d][1,3]dioxol-5-yloxy)acetamide, referred to as KCH-1521. KCH-1521 was determined to bind talin and modulate downstream signaling molecules of talin. After 24 h of treatment, KCH-1521 changed the cell morphology of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and reduced focal adhesion protein expression including vinculin and paxillin. Talin downstream signaling is regulated via focal adhesion kinase (FAK), kinase B (AKT), and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathways, however, treatment with KCH-1521 decreased phosphorylation of FAK, AKT, and ERK, leading to reduction of cell proliferation, survival, and angiogenesis. Interestingly, the expression of various angiogenic genes was significantly decreased after treatment with KCH-1521. Also, in vitro tube forming assay revealed that KCH-1521 reduced angiogenic networks in a time-dependent manner. To investigate the reversibility of its effects, KCH-1521 was removed after treatment. HUVECs recovered their morphology through rearrangement of the cytoskeleton and the expression of angiogenic genes was also recovered. By further optimization and in vivo studies of KCH-1521, a novel drug of talin modulation could be used to achieve therapeutic anti-angiogenesis for vascular diseases and cancers.
Supervisor reflections on developing doctoralness in practice‐based doctoral students

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to share the reflections of a group of five academics who started supervising practice‐based doctoral students at a similar time in the same institution.Design/methodology/approach – The supervisors engaged in a collaborative research process themselves, exploring their supervision practices, due in part to the relatively limited literature available in the field, and in part as a support mechanism to help them understand what they were doing.Findings – As the first students have now completed, the learning from taking students through the cycle from start to finish for the first time is also now complete in itself. While the supervisors continue to learn both from and within the supervision process itself, that initial experience of supervising doctoral students is now complete and in many ways the doctoral development process of the students themselves.Originality/value – This paper offers insight into the doctoral development process from the supervisor's perspect.
P-selectin must extend a sufficient length from the plasma membrane to mediate rolling of neutrophils

Under physiological shear stress, neutrophils roll on P-selectin on activated endothelial cells or platelets through interactions with P- selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1). Both P-selectin and PSGL-1 are extended molecules. Human P-selectin contains an NH2-terminal lectin domain, an EGF domain, nine consensus repeats (CRs), a transmembrane domain, and a cytoplasmic tail. To determine whether the length of P- selectin affected its interactions with PSGL-1, we examined the adhesion of neutrophils to CHO cells expressing membrane-anchored P- selectin constructs in which various numbers of CRs were deleted. Under static conditions, neutrophils attached equivalently to wild-type P- selectin and to constructs containing from 2-6 CRs. Under shear stress, neutrophils attached equivalently to wild-type and 6 CR P-selectin and nearly as well to 5 CR P-selectin. However, fewer neutrophils attached to the 4 CR construct, and those that did attach rolled faster and were more readily detached by increasing shear stress. Flowing neutrophils failed to attach to the 3 CR and 2 CR constructs. Neutrophils attached and rolled more efficiently on 4 CR P-selectin expressed on glycosylation-defective Lec8 CHO cells, which have less glycocalyx. We conclude that P-selectin must project its lectin domain well above the membrane to mediate optimal attachment of neutrophils under shear forces. The length of P-selectin may: (a) facilitate interactions with PSGL-1 on flowing neutrophils, and (b) increase the intermembrane distance where specific bonds form, minimizing contacts between the glycocalyces that result in cell-cell repulsion.
Black Concentration Effects on Black-White and Gender Inequality: Multilevel Analysis for U.S. Metropolitan Areas

This investigation into effects of metropolitan-area black population proportions on earnings inequality differs from previous studies in two principal ways: It examines black population effects on gender as well as black-white inequality; and it employs a hierarchical linear model for individual and metropolitan area data from the 1990 Census. Principal findings are that greater relative black population size is associated with (1) higher white earnings and lower black earnings for men and women, and (2) reduced gender inequality among black workers. Thus, black-white inequality is higher relative to gender inequality in labor markets with greater black representation, which has important implications for the study of interaction in stratification systems
Older Migrants in Europe: A New Focus for Migration Studies

This article introduces the eight papers in this collection, all of which arose from the deliberations and research projects of the members of a European Science Foundation Scientific Network. The thematic focus is the intersection of migration and personal ageing. The article has three aims and themes, the first being to provide a summary account of the diversity of older migrants in contemporary Europe. A key distinction is between older people who migrate, and former labour migrants and those who accompanied them who have ‘aged in place’. Both groups have attracted innovative research since the early 1990s. Other ‘aged migrant trajectories’, such as those of return labour migrants and those who move internationally in late-life to live near or with close relatives for support and care, have received much less attention, a lacuna that some of the papers in this issue begin to correct. The second aim is to synthesise the principal personal, societal and welfare implications of the growing number of ‘older migrants’ across Europe, emphasising that there are both similarities and surprising differences amongst diverse groups of migrants. Finally, the individual papers will be introduced; in so doing, the design and methodological challenges of research on the variant groups will be drawn out. Raising understanding of the motivations of migration in old age, and even more of the inter-related consequences of migration and ageing, requires longitudinal, biographical or lifecourse perspectives. While such a research agenda is both stimulating and theoretically and empirically fruitful, it also implies profound practical research challenges.
SNP Genotyping Identifies New Signatures of Selection in a Deep Sample of West African Plasmodium falciparum Malaria Parasites

We used a high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism array to genotype 75 Plasmodium falciparum isolates recently collected from Senegal and The Gambia to search for signals of selection in this malaria endemic region. We found little geographic or temporal stratification of the genetic diversity among the sampled parasites. Through application of the iHS and REHH haplotype-based tests for positive selection, we found evidence of recent selective sweeps at a known drug resistance locus, at several known antigenic loci, and at several genomic regions not previously identified as sites of recent selection. We discuss the value of deep population-specific genomic analyses for identifying selection signals within sampled endemic populations of parasites, which may correspond to local selection pressures such as distinctive therapeutic regimes or mosquito vectors.
The prognostic significance of autoantibodies against dsDNA in patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma.

BACKGROUND The tumors of the gastrointestinal system have been associated with various immune disorders. The goal of this study was to correlate the presence of the anti-dsDNA autoantibodies in the serum of patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma suffering from the prognosis of their disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS We investigated 55 patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma, 26 patients with benign surgical disease and 40 healthy volunteers for the presence of anti-dsDNA autoantibodies pre-operatively and one month post-operatively, with an ELISA technique. RESULTS The difference of prevalence of anti-dsDNA antibodies between the group of cancer patients and the two control groups was statistically significant (p < 0.001). After a 3-year follow-up, the difference of incidence of the recurrences between the positive and the negative group for anti-dsDNA autoantibodies of the CA patients was statistically significant (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION The presence of anti-dsDNA autoantibodies in patients with colorectal cancer indicated a better outcome of the course of the disease.
Ethnic differences in experiences of bullying: Asian and white children

The specific role of ethnicity in the experience of bullying was examined, with a sample of 33 pairs of Asian and white children, matched for gender, age, and school. Each child was interviewed individually, using a modified version of the Olweus questionnaire. No differences by ethnicity were found for reports of enjoying school; having friends at school; disliking other children; likelihood and frequency of being bullied; and likelihood and frequency of bullying others. For those children being bullied, no differences by ethnicity were found for where it happened, or the likelihood of getting help. However, significant difference by ethnicity was found for racist name-calling; one-half of the bullied Asian children, but none of the bullied white children in this sample, were called names about their colour. This racist name-calling appeared hurtful to the recipients and was often a reason for disliking other children. Racist name-calling should clearly be one focus of work in schools against bullying.