Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Myocardial BOLD imaging at 3 T using quantitative T2: Application in a myocardial infarct model

Left ventricular remodeling as a result of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is associated with significant morbidity, leading to cardiovascular dysfunction, disability, and death. Despite successful revascularization, coronary vasodilatory dysfunction has been shown in infarcted and remote myocardium of patients following AMI. Our study explored the utility of a T2‐based blood‐oxygen‐level‐dependent approach in probing regional and longitudinal fluctuations in vasodilatory function in a porcine model of AMI at 3 T. Ten pigs underwent MRI in control state and at day 2, weeks 1–6 following 90 min occlusion followed by reperfusion. The remote myocardium exhibited vasodilatory dysfunction at weeks 1 and 2 that gradually recovered, whereas the infarct zone showed no vasodilatory alterations. Our study suggests that microvascular alterations occurring in infarcted and remote myocardium after AMI might serve as an indicator of adverse left ventricular remodeling. The blood‐oxygen‐level‐dependent technique using quantitative T2 could potentially be a useful noninvasive tool to evaluate novel therapeutic strategies aimed at limiting vasoconstriction and improving coronary flow reserve after AMI. Magn Reson Med, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A New Generation of Potent Complement Inhibitors of the Compstatin Family

Compstatin family peptides are potent inhibitors of the complement system and promising drug candidates against diseases involving under‐regulated complement activation. Compstatin is a 13‐residue cyclized peptide that inhibits cleavage of complement protein C3, preventing downstream complement activation. We present three new compstatin variants, characterized by tryptophan replacement at positions 1 and/or 13. Peptide design was based on physicochemical reasoning and was inspired by earlier work, which identified tryptophan substitutions at positions 1 and 13 in peptides with predicted C3c binding abilities [Bellows M.L. , Fung H.K. , Taylor M.S., Floudas C.A. , López de Victoria A. , Morikis D. (2010) Biophys J; 98: 2337–2346]. The new variants preserve distinct polar and nonpolar surfaces of compstatin, but have altered local interaction capabilities with C3. All three peptides exhibited potent C3 binding by surface plasmon resonance and potent complement inhibition by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. We also present enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay data and detailed surface plasmon resonance kinetic data of three peptides from previous computational design.
Full- and part-time wage differences in Spain: an analysis along the wage distribution

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine wage differences between part- and full-time workers distinguishing by gender by using a large Spanish matched employer-employee data set and an econometric decomposition that permits to decompose wage differences by quantiles of the wage distribution. Design/methodology/approach The research is based on cross-section matched employer-employee microdata from a large representative survey (the Encuesta de Estructura Salarial) which is carried out with a harmonised methodology common to all European Union member countries and that has been designed specifically to provide reliable evidence about characteristics of the wage distribution such us wage differentials associated with the type of working time. From a methodological point of view, the econometric decomposition technique proposed recently by Fortin et al. (2011) to decompose wage differences between part-time and full-time workers by quantiles of the wage distribution is applied. This methodology has the advantage over similar techniques that provides a detailed decomposition of wage differentials and has not been used before to examine the wage impact of part-time jobs. Findings The results show that the significant raw wage gap that part-time workers experience in Spain differs substantially along the wage distribution. In the case of part-time females, the wage disadvantage is mostly explained by their relative endowments of characteristics (and particularly by their lower endowments of human capital and their segregation into low-wage sectors) but a significant wage penalty still persists, increasing along the wage distribution. In the case of males the wage disadvantage is only found in the lower part of the distribution and it is due both to their worst endowments of characteristics and a significant wage penalty. Research limitations/implications The evidence for Spain shows that the part-time work tends to affect differently to the wages of males and females, with a higher part-time penalty for males, as predicted by the “flexibility stigma” hypothesis, and penalising low-qualified men in the lower part of the wage distribution and high-qualified women in the upper part of the distribution the most. Originality/value The analysis contributes to the literature by examining wage differences along the wage distribution for both genders using econometric decomposition methods, an aspect that to the authors’ knowledge has been examined only scarcely in the international literature with non-conclusive evidence and has not been examined in previous studies for the Spanish case. In this vein, Spain is a particularly interesting analysis case from an international perspective of the wage consequences of part-time jobs, given that in contrast with most other advanced countries a majority of part-time employment in this country is involuntary and this phenomenon is especially affecting disadvantaged groups.
Calcinosis cutis and Sjögren's syndrome

Cutaneous calcinosis can be classified into four types: dystrophic, metastatic, idiopathic and iatrogenic. Dystrophic calcification constitutes the most frequent variant and is associated with a large number of illnesses, among which are included some collagen diseases such as CREST syndrome, scleroderma, dermatomyositis and lupus erythematosus. We present a case of dystrophic calcinosis cutis, affecting the fingertip of a woman with a 10-year history of primary Sjögren’s syndrome (SS). She has been receiving diltiazem as a treatment for the last 15 months, resulting in the partial resolution of the lesions. We emphasize the fact that the presence of calcinosis cutis has not been described previously in patients with SS, and that diltiazem has partially improved our patient’s cutaneous lesions. Lupus (2010) 19, 762—764.
Critical illness myopathy: sepsis‐mediated failure of the peripheral nervous system

Summary With better survival of critically ill patients, ‘de novo' arising neuromuscular complications like critical illness myopathy or polyneuropathy have been increasingly observed. Prolonged hospitalization not only imposes risks like pneumonia or thrombosis on patients but also represents a real budget threat to modern intensive‐care medicine. Clinical symptoms like muscle weakness and weaning failure are common to critical illness myopathy and critical illness polyneuropathy and do not allow for distinction. Specific therapies are not yet available, and the quest for the pathomechanisms has proved more complicated than anticipated. Especially for critical illness myopathy, multiple sites of disturbances to the excitation‐contraction coupling cascade are possible causes of muscle weakness. The present review summarizes the epidemiological, clinical and diagnostic features of critical illness myopathy and then focuses on current concepts of the presumed pathomechanisms of critical illness myopathy. Sepsis was shown to be a major cause of critical illness myopathy and special emphasis will be placed on how sepsis and inflammatory mediators influence (i) the membrane excitability at the level of voltage‐gated ion channels and (ii) the intracellular protein signalling that results in selective loss of myosin protein content and muscle wasting. For (i), critical illness myopathy represents a new type of acquired channelopathy affecting the inactivation properties of Na+ channels. For (ii), both protein proteolysis and protein build up at the transcriptional level seem to be involved. Findings from different studies are put into a common context to propose a model for cytokine‐mediated failure of muscle in severe sepsis. This can open a series of new possible trials to test specific therapeutic strategies in the future.
HISTOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF CELL DEATH IN HONEYBEE LARVAE MIDGUT AFTER TREATMENT WITH PAENIBACILLUS LARVAE, AMITRAZ AND OXYTETRACYCLINE

A number of techniques were employed to assess cell death induced in honeybee larvae midgut afterper os inoculation of bacterium Paenibacillus larvae var. larvae, the causative agent of American foulbrood disease, and separately with acaricide Amitraz and antibiotic Oxytetracycline. In honeybee larvae exposed to Amitraz, which demonstrates both necrosis and apoptosis, cell death was found in 82% of midgut columnar and in 50% of regenerative epithelial cells, 24h after treatment. Cell death reduced to 36% in the epithelial cells, 48h after treatment. In Oxytetracycline‐treated larvae, cell death was identified in 40% of midgut epithelial cells, 24h after inoculation and increased to 55% over the next 24h. In Paenibacillus ‐infected larvae, all midgut epithelial cells died. Using ApopTag (Oncor) to label the multiple DNA ends generated by DNA fragmentation showed programmed cell death in 49% of columnar midgut cells 24h after Amitraz application. Cell death was reduced to 9% over the next 24h. Our data indicate that cell death could be identified and quantified in situ, using TUNEL techniques. This study also shows that the acaricide Amitraz is a trigger for programmed cell death in the midgut epithelial cells of honeybee larvae, unlike Paenibacillus which induces necrosis only. The data show that immunohistochemical methods are useful for studying in situ tissue pathology, and indicate possibilities for monitoring the effects of infective and chemical environmental stressors on cell death in honeybee larvae tissue.
Real-Time Measurement of Business Conditions

We construct a framework for measuring economic activity at high frequency, potentially in real time. We use a variety of stock and flow data observed at mixed frequencies (including very high frequencies), and we use a dynamic factor model that permits exact filtering. We illustrate the framework in a prototype empirical example and a simulation study calibrated to the example.
Impact of the Arctic Oscillation pattern on interannual forest fire variability in Central Siberia

Russia's forests play an important role in the global carbon cycle. Because of their scale and interannual variability, forest fires can change the direction of the net carbon flux over Eurasia. 2002 and 2003 were the first two consecutive years in the atmospheric record in which the carbon content rose by more than 2 ppm per year. Northern Hemisphere fires could be the reason. We show that 2002 and 2003 were the two years with the largest fire extent in Central Siberia since 1996 using new measurements of burned forest area in Central Siberia derived from remote sensing. To quantify the relationship between Siberian forest fires and climate variability, we compare these measurements with time‐series of large‐scale climatic indices for the period 1992–2003. This paper is amongst the first studies that analyse statistical relationships between interannual variability of forest fires in Russia and climate indices. Significant relationships of annual burned forest area with the Arctic Oscillation, summer temperatures, precipitation, and the El Niño index NINO4 were found (p < 0.1). In contrast, we find no significant relation with the El Niño indices NINO1, NINO3 or SOI (p > 0.1). Interannual forest fire variability in Central Siberia could best be explained by a combination of the Arctic Oscillation index and regional summer temperatures (r2 = 0.80).
Strain-hardening Ultra-high Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete: Deformability versus Strength Optimization

High Performance Cement-based composites such as some UHPFRC or SHCC exhibit a tensile strain hardening response associated to the progressive formation of finely distributed microcracks. Strain Hardening (SH) - UHPFRC with suitable fibrous mixes have a dense matrix, a very low capillary absorption of liquids, significant viscoelastic potential and limited shrinkage. They exhibit a tensile strain hardening response up to 0.3 ‰. Strain hardening materials are candidates for improving existing or new structures to increase their durability and mechanical performance. With this aim in view, the impact of macro and microcracking on the protective function and corrosion mechanisms in cementitious materials has to be critically weighed to choose adequate materials in terms of strength and deformability, to fulfil durability requirements. From this basis, the mechanical response (strength, deformability and associated crack formation) can be tailored according to the applications. Finally, future steps for the development and applications of these advanced contemporary materials can be defined.
SU8‐Silver Photosensitive Nanocomposite

Keywords: percolation ; conductivity ; photoresist ; polymer ; mems Reference LMIS4-ARTICLE-2004-011doi:10.1002/adem.200400068View record in Web of Science Record created on 2005-09-13, modified on 2017-05-10
Erythrocyte zinc level in patients with atopic dermatitis and its relation to SCORAD index

Introduction Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, pruritic inflammatory disease, characterized by a relapsing-remitting course. The pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis is not completely understood, although the disorder appears to result from the complex interaction between immune abnormalities, genetic and environmental factors. Trace elements are essential for normal functioning of the immune system. Aim To determine zinc levels in serum and erythrocytes of patients with AD using an atomic absorption spectrometric technique and to investigate the relationship between those levels and disease activity. Material and methods Sixty-seven patients and 49 controls were enrolled into the study. The disease severity of AD patients was determined according to the Scoring Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) index. We measured zinc levels in serum and erythrocytes by the atomic absorption spectrophotometric technique. Results Erythrocyte zinc levels were significantly lower in AD patients than in the control group (p < 0.001), whereas serum zinc levels did not differ between the groups (p = 0.148). In the AD patient group there was a negative correlation between the SCORAD score and erythrocyte zinc levels (r = –0.791; p < 0.001). Conclusions The negative relationship between disease severity and erythrocyte zinc levels might suggest an immunopathological link between AD progression and intracellular zinc metabolism.
Material and Energy Productivity

Resource productivity, measured as GDP output per resource input, is a widespread sustainability indicator combining economic and environmental information. Resource productivity is ubiquitous, from the IPAT identity to the analysis of dematerialization trends and policy goals. High resource productivity is interpreted as the sign of a resource-efficient, and hence more sustainable, economy. Its inverse, resource intensity (resource per GDP) has the reverse behavior, with higher values indicating environmentally inefficient economies. In this study, we investigate the global systematic relationship between material, energy and carbon productivities, and economic activity. We demonstrate that different types of materials and energy exhibit fundamentally different behaviors, depending on their international income elasticities of consumption. Biomass is completely inelastic, whereas fossil fuels tend to scale proportionally with income. Total materials or energy, as aggregates, have intermediate behavior, depending on the share of fossil fuels and other elastic resources. We show that a small inelastic share is sufficient for the total resource productivity to be significantly correlated with income. Our analysis calls into question the interpretation of resource productivity as a sustainability indicator. We conclude with suggestions for potential alternatives.
Regulation of late endosomal/lysosomal maturation and trafficking by cortactin affects Golgi morphology

Cortactin is a branched actin regulator and tumor‐overexpressed protein that promotes vesicular trafficking at a variety of cellular sites, including endosomes and the trans‐Golgi network. To better understand its role in secretory trafficking, we investigated its function in Golgi homeostasis. Here, we report that knockdown (KD) of cortactin leads to a dramatic change in Golgi morphology by light microscopy, dependent on binding the Arp2/3 actin‐nucleating complex. Surprisingly, there was little effect of cortactin‐KD on anterograde trafficking of the constitutive cargo vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSVG), Golgi assembly from endoplasmic reticulum membranes upon Brefeldin A washout, or Golgi ultrastructure. Instead, electron microscopy studies revealed that cortactin‐KD cells contained a large number of immature‐appearing late endosomal/lysosomal (LE/Lys) hybrid organelles, similar to those found in lysosomal storage diseases. Consistent with a defect in LE/Lys trafficking, cortactin‐KD cells also exhibited accumulation of free cholesterol and retention of the retrograde Golgi cargo mannose‐6‐phosphate receptor in LE. Inhibition of LE maturation by treatment of control cells with Rab7 siRNA or chloroquine led to a compact Golgi morphology similar to that observed in cortactin‐KD cells. Furthermore, the Golgi morphology defects of cortactin‐KD cells could be rescued by removal of cholesterol‐containing lipids from the media, suggesting that buildup of cholesterol‐rich membranes in immature LE/Lys induced disturbances in retrograde trafficking. Taken together, these data reveal that LE/Lys maturation and trafficking are highly sensitive to cortactin‐regulated branched actin assembly and suggests that cytoskeletal‐induced Golgi morphology changes can be a consequence of altered trafficking at late endosomes. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Nonexistence Results for Nonlocal Equations with Critical and Supercritical Nonlinearities

We prove nonexistence of nontrivial bounded solutions to some nonlinear problems involving nonlocal operators of the form These operators are infinitesimal generators of symmetric Lévy processes. Our results apply to even kernels K satisfying that K(y)|y| n+σ is nondecreasing along rays from the origin, for some σ ∈ (0, 2) in case a ij ≡ 0 and for σ = 2 in case that (a ij ) is a positive definite symmetric matrix. Our nonexistence results concern Dirichlet problems for L in star-shaped domains with critical and supercritical nonlinearities (where the criticality condition is in relation to n and σ). We also establish nonexistence of bounded solutions to semilinear equations involving other nonlocal operators such as the higher order fractional Laplacian (− Δ) s (here s > 1) or the fractional p-Laplacian. All these nonexistence results follow from a general variational inequality in the spirit of a classical identity by Pucci and Serrin.
The Quadratic Utilization Upper Bound for Arbitrary Deadline Real-Time Tasks

In high throughput applications, such as in multimedia, it is preferable to fully utilize computing resources, even at the price of some (bounded) delay. However, in real-time systems, where the maximum admissible delay is modeled by a deadline, most of the theory is developed with the assumption of a task deadline smaller than or equal to the task period. The reason of this limitation is in the intrinsic difficulty of the schedulability analysis in the arbitrary deadline case. The most notable guarantee test for sets of arbitrary deadline tasks was due to Lehoczky in 1990. In this paper, we propose the quadratic utilization bound applicable to tasks with arbitrary deadline, which extends Lehoczky's result. The improvement is made possible by providing some information about the task periods.
Image similarity from feature-flow for keyframe detection in appearance-based SLAM

In appearance based SLAM (Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping), a robot typically represents its environment through a set of acquired images that are associated with nodes in a topological map. Rather than storing every acquired image, which can be memory intensive, a selection of images (keyframes) representative of the places visited can be stored. Keyframe detection (i.e. choosing when to add a new keyframe) typically requires a means of determining the similarity of images. In this paper we develop three new metrics for computing image similarity. The metrics are based on the degree of feature-flow between features matched in a reference image (e.g. previous keyframe) and a test image (e.g. candidate keyframe), where a low degree of feature-flow indicates a high image similarity value. The new metrics and an existing metric are computed for synthetic and real data and their performance is evaluated with respect to a number of attributes important for keyframe detection. The results suggest similarity metrics based on feature-flow are preferable for use in keyframe detection.
Blockade of activin type II receptors with a dual anti-ActRIIA/IIB antibody is critical to promote maximal skeletal muscle hypertrophy

Significance We recently reported that activin type II receptors (ActRIIs) blockade using bimagrumab could positively impact muscle wasting in mice and humans. However, the specific role of each individual ActRII at regulating adult muscle mass had not been clarified. Here, we highlight the importance of concomitant neutralization of both ActRIIs in controlling muscle mass. Through comparison with single specificity antibodies, we uncover unique features related to bimagrumab and its neutralizing interactions with both ActRIIA and ActRIIB at the structural and cellular levels and in vivo in adult mice. The need for simultaneous engagement and neutralization of both ActRIIs to generate a strong skeletal muscle response confers unique therapeutic potential to bimagrumab, in the context of muscle wasting conditions. The TGF-β family ligands myostatin, GDF11, and activins are negative regulators of skeletal muscle mass, which have been reported to primarily signal via the ActRIIB receptor on skeletal muscle and thereby induce muscle wasting described as cachexia. Use of a soluble ActRIIB-Fc “trap,” to block myostatin pathway signaling in normal or cachectic mice leads to hypertrophy or prevention of muscle loss, perhaps suggesting that the ActRIIB receptor is primarily responsible for muscle growth regulation. Genetic evidence demonstrates however that both ActRIIB- and ActRIIA-deficient mice display a hypertrophic phenotype. Here, we describe the mode of action of bimagrumab (BYM338), as a human dual-specific anti-ActRIIA/ActRIIB antibody, at the molecular and cellular levels. As shown by X-ray analysis, bimagrumab binds to both ActRIIA and ActRIIB ligand binding domains in a competitive manner at the critical myostatin/activin binding site, hence preventing signal transduction through either ActRII. Myostatin and the activins are capable of binding to both ActRIIA and ActRIIB, with different affinities. However, blockade of either single receptor through the use of specific anti-ActRIIA or anti-ActRIIB antibodies achieves only a partial signaling blockade upon myostatin or activin A stimulation, and this leads to only a small increase in muscle mass. Complete neutralization and maximal anabolic response are achieved only by simultaneous blockade of both receptors. These findings demonstrate the importance of ActRIIA in addition to ActRIIB in mediating myostatin and activin signaling and highlight the need for blocking both receptors to achieve a strong functional benefit.