Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DNMT3A co-mutation is required for FLT3-ITD as an adverse prognostic indicator in intermediate-risk cytogenetic group AML

Abstract This single institution cohort study of 132 AML patients investigated the clinical implications of co-mutations detected with a 42-gene NGS panel. In the intermediate-risk cytogenetic group, FLT3-ITD is an adverse prognostic indicator only in the presence of a DNMT3A co-mutation, regardless of NPM1 mutation status. In the absence of a concomitant DNMT3A mutation, there was no significant difference in overall survival between FLT3-ITD positive and FLT3-ITD negative patients. Furthermore, mutation analysis on post-induction specimens showed that residual FLT3-ITD and/or DNMT3A mutations were associated with a high frequency of therapy resistance or relapse in AML. While FLT3-ITD positive patients are currently considered high risk, incorporation of DNMT3A mutation status may be needed to refine prognostication and guide clinical management in AML. Multi-gene mutation testing is essential to provide novel insights related to diagnostic and prognostic information.
Validating novel tau positron emission tomography tracer [F‐18]‐AV‐1451 (T807) on postmortem brain tissue

To examine region‐ and substrate‐specific autoradiographic and in vitro binding patterns of positron emission tomography tracer [F‐18]‐AV‐1451 (previously known as T807), tailored to allow in vivo detection of paired helical filament‐tau–containing lesions, and to determine whether there is off‐target binding to other amyloid/non‐amyloid proteins.
Septicemia Caused by Leifsonia aquatica in a Healthy Patient after Retinal Reattachment Surgery

ABSTRACT Leifsonia aquatica is an aquatic bacterium that is typically found in environmental water habitats. Infections due to L. aquatica are rare and commonly catheter associated in immunocompromised patients. We report the first case of an acute septicemia caused by L. aquatica in a healthy immunocompetent host after cryopexy in the absence of a catheter.
Reduction in Plasma Cholesterol and Increase in Biliary Cholesterol by a Diet Rich in N-3 Fatty Acids in the Rat Animal Treatment Collection and Analysis of Bile

Cholesterol and lipoprotein metabolism were investigated in a group of rats fed a fish oil-supplemented diet, a rich source of n-3 fatty acids. For comparison purposes, other groups of rats were fed either safflower oil (n-6 fatty acids) or coconut oil (saturated fatty acids). Diets were isocaloric and contained identical amounts of cholesterol. Rats fed fish oils for 2 weeks showed a 35% lower plasma cholesterol level than rats fed safflower oil, who in turn showed a 14% lower plasma cholesterol level than those fed coconut oil. The fall in plasma cholesterol level with fish oils was associated with significant falls in low density and high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, but with no significant change in the ratio of low density to high density lipoprotein cholesterol. The fatty acid compositions of plasma, hepatic, and biliary lipids showed relative enrichment with n-3 fatty acids, reflecting the composition of the diet. The fish oil diet increased the basal secretion rate of cholesterol into bile, but the bile acid secretion rate remained unchanged.mIt is suggested that n-3 fatty acids reduce the plasma cholesterol level in rats by increasing the transfer of cholesterol into bile. -Hickie. Reduction in plasma cholesterol and increase in biliary cholesterol by a diet rich in n-3 fatty acids in the rat. Supplementary key words fish oils lipoproteins n-6 fatty acids There is evidence to suggest that n-3 fatty acids in the diet have protective effects against cardiovascular disease (1, 2). These fatty acids contain 20-22 carbon atoms, multiple double bonds, and are found in large quantities in marine oils. It has been shown that enrichment of the diet with n-3 fatty acids, amongst other effects, lowers the plasma concentration of cholesterol and triglycerides in man (3-6). To gain further understanding of the effects of n-3 fatty acids on cholesterol and lipoprotein metabolism, we have undertaken studies in the rat. To identify the specificity of action of n-3 fatty acids, comparisons have been made between isocaloric diets supplemented with n-3 fatty acids, n-6 fatty acids, or saturated fatty acids. The results indicate that a diet enriched with n-3 fatty acids significantly lowers plasma cholesterol levels, in association with an increase in biliary cholesterol excretion. Immediately after weaning, rats were given normal rat chow for 1 week prior to being placed on experimental diets. These diets were prepared every 3 days by powdering rat chow, thoroughly mixing in the various supplementary oils, …
Multispectral near-IR reflectance and transillumination imaging of teeth

NIR imaging methods do not require ionizing radiation and have great potential for detecting caries lesions (tooth decay) on high-risk proximal and occlusal tooth surfaces and at the earliest stages of development. Previous in vitro and in vivo studies at 1300-nm demonstrated that high contrast reflectance and transillumination images could be acquired of caries lesions on tooth proximal and occlusal surfaces where most new decay is found. Water absorption varies markedly between 1200 and 1600-nm and the scattering properties of enamel and the underlying dentin have not been characterized in this region. Hyperspectral reflectance studies show lower reflectivity from sound enamel and dentin at NIR wavelengths with higher water absorption. The purpose of this imaging study was to determine which NIR wavelengths between 1200 and 1600-nm provide the highest contrast of demineralization or caries lesions for each of the different modes of NIR imaging, including transillumination of proximal and occlusal surfaces along with cross polarization reflectance measurements. A tungsten halogen lamp with several spectral filters and a Ge-enhanced CMOS focal plane array (FPA) sensitive from 400 to 1600-nm were used to acquire the images of caries lesions on extracted teeth. Artificial interproximal lesions were created on twelve tooth sections of 5 & 6-mm thickness that were used for transillumination imaging. Fifty-four extracted teeth with suspected occlusal lesions were also examined in both occlusal transillumination and reflectance imaging modes. Cavity preparations were also cut into whole teeth and filled with composite and used to compare the contrast between composite and enamel at NIR wavelengths. NIR wavelengths longer than 1400-nm are likely to have better performance for the transillumination of occlusal caries lesions while 1300-nm appears best for the transillumination of proximal surfaces. Loss of mobile water in enamel markedly reduced the transparency of the enamel at all NIR wavelengths. Significantly higher contrast was attained for reflectance measurements at wavelengths that have higher water absorption, namely 1460-nm. Wavelengths with higher water absorption also provided higher contrast of composite restorations.
Antecedents to Continuance Organizational Commitment Among Salespersons in the Retailing Services Industry

Salespersons play an important role in business tra nsactions and serve as interfaces and bridges betwe en firms and customers. This study attempts to explore the relationship between the two factors (salesperson d emographics and leadership style) and continuance organizationa l commitment using salespersons in Taiwan’s retaili ng services industry as the population. In order to collect pr imary data for this study, the research questionnai re was distributed to the sample of 783 salespersons in twenty-three r etail stores. Of the 783 salespersons contacted, a total of 426 completed questionnaires were used for this study. The usable response rate was 54 percent. The resu lts of this study indicate that employee demographics (age and organi zational tenure) and leader consideration have a si gnificant positive relationship with continuance commitment, but that leader initiating structure does not. The results also show that educational level is not significantly correla ted with continuance commitment, and that the diffe rences in marital status result in different levels of continuance co mmitment.
Exogenous Auxin Elicits Changes in the Arabidopsis thaliana Root Proteome in a Time-Dependent Manner

Auxin is involved in many aspects of root development and physiology, including the formation of lateral roots. Improving our understanding of how the auxin response is mediated at the protein level over time can aid in developing a more complete molecular framework of the process. This study evaluates the effects of exogenous auxin treatment on the Arabidopsis root proteome after exposure of young seedlings to auxin for 8, 12, and 24 h, a timeframe permitting the initiation and full maturation of individual lateral roots. Root protein extracts were processed to peptides, fractionated using off-line strong-cation exchange, and analyzed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography and data independent acquisition-based mass spectrometry. Protein abundances were then tabulated using label-free techniques and evaluated for significant changes. Approximately 2000 proteins were identified during the time course experiment, with the number of differences between the treated and control roots increasing over the 24 h time period, with more proteins found at higher abundance with exposure to auxin than at reduced abundance. Although the proteins identified and changing in levels at each time point represented similar biological processes, each time point represented a distinct snapshot of the response. Auxin coordinately regulates many physiological events in roots and does so by influencing the accumulation and loss of distinct proteins in a time-dependent manner. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with the identifier PXD001400.
ENHANCING THE PERFORMANCE OF MOBILE AD HOC NETWORKS WITH INTERNET GATEWAYS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my sincere indebt ness and gratitude to my thesis advisor Dr. Chansu Yu, for the ingenious commitment, encouragement and highly valuable advice he provided over the entire course of this thesis. Kalubandi and Wissam Chedid for their encouragement and feedback during the entire course of this thesis. ii ABSTRACT Mobile ad hoc networks allow mobile nodes to communicate with one another without the aid of infrastructure thus forming temporary networks on the fly. For such networks to be operational a special routing protocol has to be designed due to possibility of frequent node mobility. Each node in the network acts like a host as well as a router, thus forwarding data on behalf of other mobile nodes in the network. While such networks are gaining immense popularity, they are prone to scalability issues when the network size (number of nodes) increases, causing the path length between the source and destination to increase linearly. Hence a large number of intermediate nodes are burdened with the forwarding load imposed by other mobile nodes, drastically affecting the performance of ad hoc networks. In this thesis, a technique to enhance the capacity of ad hoc networks is implemented. The technique exploits the existing infrastructure by placing gateways at fixed locations in the ad hoc network. They are originally placed to provide Internet access to mobile nodes in an ad hoc network, but they can also be utilized to facilitate communication among nodes in the ad hoc network. Those gateways serve as relay nodes, thus taking responsibility of relaying most of the burden (packets) imposed by the mobile nodes in the network. The presence of such gateways is transparent to the mobile nodes and hence the ad hoc routing protocol does not require any complex modification. While it is not surprising that those gateways improve the MANET performance significantly, the main theme of this thesis is to analyze the performance gain quantitatively so that a network designer can decide on the number of gateways as well as the location of gateways in the MANET. iii The technique is implemented and simulated based on the Qualnet simulator with Ad hoc On-demand Distance Vector (AODV) protocol as the underlying ad hoc routing protocol. The simulation shows that the capacity of ad hoc networks increases significantly with the introduction of the proposed gateway.
Smooth and efficient zooming and panning

Large 2D information spaces, such as maps, images, or abstract visualizations, require views at various level of detail: close ups to inspect details, overviews to maintain (literally) an overview. Users often switch between these views. We discuss how smooth animations from one view to another can be defined. To this end, a metric on the effect of simultaneous zooming and panning is defined, based on an estimate of the perceived velocity. Optimal is defined as smooth and efficient. Given the metric, these terms can be translated into a computational model, which is used to calculate an analytic solution for optimal animations. The model has two free parameters: animation speed and zoom/pan trade off. A user experiment to find good values for these is described.
Polo-like kinase phosphorylation determines Caenorhabditis elegans centrosome size and density by biasing SPD-5 toward an assembly-competent conformation

ABSTRACT Centrosomes are major microtubule-organizing centers composed of centrioles surrounded by an extensive proteinacious layer called the pericentriolar material (PCM). In Caenorhabditis elegans embryos, the mitotic PCM expands by Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK-1) phosphorylation-accelerated assembly of SPD-5 molecules into supramolecular scaffolds. However, how PLK-1 phosphorylation regulates SPD-5 assembly is not known. We found that a mutant version of SPD-5 that is insensitive to PLK-1 phosphorylation (SPD-54A) could localize to PCM but was unable to rescue the reduction in PCM size and density when wild-type SPD-5 levels were decreased. In vitro, purified SPD-54A self-assembled into functional supramolecular scaffolds over long time scales, suggesting that phosphorylation only controls the rate of SPD-5 scaffold assembly. Furthermore, the SPD-5 scaffold, once assembled, remained intact and supported microtubule nucleation in the absence of PLK-1 activity in vivo. We conclude that PLK-1 is required for rapid assembly of the PCM scaffold but not for scaffold maintenance or function. Based on this idea, we developed a theoretical model that adequately predicted PCM growth rates in different mutant conditions in vivo. We propose that PLK-1 phosphorylation-dependent conversion of SPD-5 into an assembly-competent form underlies PCM formation in vivo and that the rate of this conversion determines final PCM size and density. Summary: Polo-like kinase phosphorylation determines proper centrosome scaffold size and density, but not function or maintenance, in Caenorhabditis elegans embryos.
PSR J1410-6132: a young, energetic pulsar associated with the EGRET source 3EG J1410-6147

We present the discovery of PSR J1410−6132, a 50-ms pulsar found during a high-frequency survey of the Galactic plane, using a seven-beam 6.3-GHz receiver on the 64-m Parkes radio telescope. The pulsar lies within the error box of the unidentified Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) source 3EG J1410−6147, has a characteristic age of 26 kyr and a spin-down energy of 1037 erg s−1. It has a very high dispersion measure of 960 ± 10 cm−3 pc and the largest rotation measure of any pulsar, RM =+2400 ± 30 rad m−2. The pulsar is very scatter-broadened at frequencies of 1.4 GHz and below, making pulsed emission almost impossible to detect. Assuming a distance of 15 kpc, the pulsar's spin-down energy and a γ-ray efficiency factor of ∼10 per cent is sufficient to power the γ-ray source. We therefore believe that we have identified the nature of 3EG J1410−6147. This new discovery suggests that deep targeted high-frequency surveys of inner-galaxy EGRET sources could uncover further young, energetic pulsars.
Catching up in pharmaceuticals: a comparative study of India and Brazil

Since the mid-twentieth century, the national objective of India and Brazil has been to develop industrial capabilities in essential sectors such as pharmaceuticals. At the outset, they shared some common features: a considerable period of lax intellectual property rights regimes, large internal market and a reasonably strong cadre of scientists and engineers. However, over fifty years, India has had much more success in building indigenous capabilities in pharmaceuticals than Brazil, at least to date. Why? In exploring the answer to this question, we show that in both countries the design of State policy played a crucial role and the endogenous responses in the national system of innovation consisted of two parts. On the one hand, most of the time, the predicted and desired outcome was partially realized and on the other hand, there were invariably, other unpredicted responses that emerged. The latter unexpected elements, which were specific to the two countries, pushed them along distinctive trajectories.
Loss of Perivascular Adipose Tissue on Peroxisome Proliferator–Activated Receptor-&ggr; Deletion in Smooth Muscle Cells Impairs Intravascular Thermoregulation and Enhances Atherosclerosis

Background— Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) surrounds most vessels and shares common features with brown adipose tissue (BAT). Although adaptive thermogenesis in BAT increases energy expenditure and is beneficial for metabolic diseases, little is known about the role of PVAT in vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis. We hypothesize that the thermogenic function of PVAT regulates intravascular temperature and reduces atherosclerosis. Methods and Results— PVAT shares similar structural and proteomics with BAT. We demonstrated that PVAT has thermogenic properties similar to BAT in response to cold stimuli in vivo. Proteomics analysis of the PVAT from mice housed in a cold environment identified differential expression in proteins highly related to cellular metabolic processes. In a mouse model deficient in peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor-&ggr; in smooth muscle cells (SMPG KO mice), we uncovered a complete absence of PVAT surrounding the vasculature, likely caused by peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor-&ggr; deletion in the perivascular adipocyte precursor cells as well. Lack of PVAT, which results in loss of its thermogenic activity, impaired vascular homeostasis, which caused temperature loss and endothelial dysfunction. We further showed that cold exposure inhibits atherosclerosis and improves endothelial function in mice with intact PVAT but not in SMPG KO mice as a result of impaired lipid clearance. Proinflammatory cytokine expression in PVAT is not altered on exposure to cold. Finally, prostacyclin released from PVAT contributes to the vascular protection against endothelial dysfunction. Conclusions— PVAT is a vasoactive organ with functional characteristics similar to BAT and is essential for intravascular thermoregulation of cold acclimation. This thermogenic capacity of PVAT plays an important protective role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.
Cellular Composition of Cerebrospinal Fluid in HIV-1 Infected and Uninfected Subjects

In order to characterize the cellular composition of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in a healthy state and in the setting of chronic pleocytosis associated with HIV-1 (HIV) infection, multi-parameter flow cytometry was used to identify and quantitate cellular phenotypes in CSF derived from HIV-uninfected healthy controls and HIV-infected subjects across a spectrum of disease and treatment. CD4+ T cells were the most frequent CSF population and the CD4:CD8 ratio was significantly increased in the CSF compared to blood (p = 0.0232), suggesting preferential trafficking of CD4+ over CD8+ T cells to this compartment. In contrast, in HIV-infection, CD8+ T cells were the major cellular component of the CSF and were markedly increased compared to HIV-uninfected subjects (p<0.001). As with peripheral blood, the CSF CD4:CD8 ratio was reversed in HIV-infected subjects compared to HIV-uninfected subjects. Monocytes, B cells and NK cells were rare in the CSF in both groups, although absolute counts of CSF NK cells and B cells were significantly increased in HIV-infected subjects (p<0.05). Our studies show that T cells are the major cellular component of the CSF in HIV-infected and uninfected subjects. The CSF pleocytosis characteristic of HIV infection involves all lymphocyte subsets we measured, except for CD4+ T cells, but is comprised primarily of CD8+ T cells. The reduced proportion of CD4+ T cells in the CSF may reflect both HIV-related peripheral loss and changes in trafficking patterns in response to HIV infection in the central nervous system.
Metabolomic profiling of serum in the progression of Alzheimer's disease by capillary electrophoresis–mass spectrometry

There is high interest in the discovery of early diagnostic biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease, for which metabolomics exhibits a great potential. In this work, a metabolomic approach based on ultrafiltration and analysis by CE‐MS has been used to obtain representative fingerprints of polar metabolites from serum samples in order to distinguish between patients with Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment, and healthy controls. By the use of partial least squares discriminant analysis it was possible to classify patients according to the disease stage and then identify potential markers. Significant increase was observed with progression of disease in levels of choline, creatinine, asymmetric dimethyl‐arginine, homocysteine‐cysteine disulfide, phenylalanyl‐phenylalanine, and different medium chain acylcarnitines. On the other hand, asparagine, methionine, histidine, carnitine, acetyl‐spermidine, and C5‐carnitine were reduced in these serum samples. In this way, multiple essential pathways were found implicated in the underlying pathology, such as oxidative stress or defects in energy metabolism. However, the most interesting results are related to the association of several vascular risk factors with Alzheimer's disease.