Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Disruption of transforming growth factor beta signaling by a mutation that prevents transphosphorylation within the receptor complex

T beta R-II (transforming growth factor beta [TGF-beta] type II receptor) is a transmembrane serine/threonine kinase that acts as the primary TGF-beta receptor. Ligand binding to T beta R-II leads to the recruitment and phosphorylation of T beta R-I, a distantly related transmembrane kinase that acts as a downstream signaling component. T beta R-I phosphorylation by T beta R-II is shown here to be essential for signaling. A mutant T beta R-II that binds ligand but lacks signaling activity was identified. This mutant was identified by screening with a TGF-beta-inducible vector a series of mink lung epithelial cell clones that have normal TGF-beta binding activity but have lost antiproliferative and transcriptional responses to TGF-beta. When transiently cotransfected with T beta R-II, one of these cell lines, S-21, recovered TGF-beta responsiveness. cDNA cloning and sequencing of T beta R-II from S-21 cells revealed a point mutation that changes proline 525 to leucine in kinase subdomain XI. A recombinant receptor containing this mutation, T beta R-II(P525L), is similar to wild-type T beta R-II in its abilities to bind ligand, support ligand binding to T beta R-I, and form a complex with T beta R-I in vivo. T beta R-II(P525L) has autophosphorylating activity in vitro and in vivo; however, unlike the wild-type receptor, it fails to phosphorylate an associated T beta R-I. These results suggest that T beta R-II(P525L) is a catalytically active receptor that cannot recognize T beta R-I as a substrate. The close link between T beta R-I transphosphorylation and signaling activity argues that transphosphorylation is essential for signal propagation via T beta R-I.
Improved Hypertension Management and Control: Results From the Health Survey for England 1998

A survey in 1994 showed that among the 20% of the adult English population who were identified as hypertensive, ≈30% had their blood pressures controlled to <160 mm Hg systolic and <95 mm Hg diastolic. The 1998 Health Survey for England data update the 1994 findings in light of new thresholds and targets for treatment outlined in recent national and international guidelines. This cross-sectional survey is analyzed to describe the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in a random, nationally representative sample of 11 529 English adults (≥16 years) living in noninstitutional households in 1998 and to compare these rates with those from 1994. In 1998, 20% and 37% of adults were hypertensive according to the old (systolic ≥160 mm Hg or diastolic ≥95 mm Hg) and new (systolic ≥140 mm Hg or diastolic ≥90 mm Hg) definitions, respectively. Corresponding values in 1994 were 20% and 38%. Treatment and control rates among hypertensive adults (new definition) improved from 26% to 32% and from 6% to 9%, respectively, although 60% of those on treatment received only 1 antihypertensive drug in both years. Among persons with controlled hypertension, 59% reported having received nonpharmacological advice from their physicians in 1998 compared with 30% in 1994. Rates of hypertension treatment and control have increased significantly (P =0.05 and P <0.01, respectively) since 1994 but remain low by international standards. The 1998 data suggest that improved detection, greater use of nonpharmacological measures, and increased use of >1 antihypertensive agent per patient would produce greater success in achieving target levels. This could lead to major reductions in fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events.
Quality of Life of Patients with Diabetes Mellitus Based on Their Characteristics

The quality of life of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) describes the degree of health and limitations that need to be evaluated to administer treatment. The purpose of this study was to identify quality of life based on patient characteristics. This research is descriptive with a cross-sectional approach. The sample size used was 87 adult patients with DM determined through purposive sampling techniques. This research was carried out from December 2021 to January 2022 at the Bangkingan Surabaya Health Center. Data was collected using questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive analysis. The results of this study showed that patients with DM who had a high quality of life were 50.6% and 49.4% showed a low quality of life. Based on the identification of patient characteristics data that describe the high quality of life are early elderly patients with an age range of 46-55 years (25.3%), female (39.1%), high school education (18.4%), and not working (33.5%). Other data obtained were patients with no family history (31.1%), duration of DM 1-5 years (26.5 and the majority using a single antidiabetic drug. Based on these data, patients still need to get continuous education to manage diabetes. blood glucose levels and can improve quality of life. The characteristics of DM sufferers can be an alarm that makes sufferers aware of the changes that occur in them. Patients who can recognize the characteristics in themselves will be able to maintain their quality of life.
Phage Display Selection of P1 Mutants of BPTI Directed against Five Different Serine Proteinases

Abstract The P1 position of protein inhibitors and oligopeptide substrates determines, to a large extent, association energy with many serine proteinases. To test the agreement of phage display selection with the existing thermodynamic data, a small library of all 20 P1 mutants of basic pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) was created, fused to protein III, and displayed on the surface of M13 phage. The wild type of displayed inhibitor monovalently and strongly inhibited trypsin with an association constant of Ka = 3 · 1011M−1. The library was applied to select BPTI variants active against five serine proteinases of different specificity (bovine trypsin and chymotrypsin, human leukocyte and porcine pancreatic elastases, human azurocidin). The results of enrichment with four proteinases agreed well with the available thermodynamic data. In the case of azurocidin, the phage display selection allowed determination of the P1 specificity of this protein with the following frequencies for selected P1 variants: 43% Lys, 36% Leu, 7% Met, 7% Thr, 7% Gln.
Magnetic resonance imaging in the clinical diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the diagnostic usefulness of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the clinical diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). BACKGROUND Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a rare neurodegenerative disease that belongs to the group of human spongiform encephalopathies and usually affects elderly people. It is clinically characterized by rapidly progressive dementia and development of neurological symptoms, such as myoclonus or ataxia. Until now, neuroradiologic investigations have only played a minor role in establishing the clinical diagnosis of CJD, and they are often performed to exclude differential diagnoses. SETTING A university hospital, base of the German National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance Study. METHODS AND PATIENTS In this study, MRIs from suspected cases of CJD were examined by one investigator blinded to the diagnosis. Patients were classified according to the established clinical and neuropathological criteria. RESULTS Bilateral symmetric, high signal intensities on T2-weighted MRIs were present in the basal ganglia of 109 (67%) of 162 patients with CJD. In the control group, which consisted of non-CJD dementia patients, these abnormalities on T2-weighted MRIs were found in 4 (7%) of 58 patients. This corresponds to a high specificity in the differential diagnosis of CJD. CONCLUSION These results indicate that MRI is a useful and valuable tool with reasonable sensitivity (67%) and high specificity (93%) and should be considered as an additional cornerstone in the clinical diagnosis of CJD.
How stroke-related dysphagia relates to quality of life: the mediating role of nutritional status and psychological disorders, and the moderating effect of enteral nutrition mode

Background Although stroke-related dysphagia has been shown to influence quality of life (QOL), the underlying mechanisms have yet to be uncovered. Objective This study aims to investigate the mediating role of nutritional status and psychological disorders in the relationship between stroke-related dysphagia and QOL in stroke patients and explore the moderating effect of enteral nutrition mode. Methods In 2022, A questionnaire survey using stratified random sampling was conducted on 5,322 stroke patients with dysphagia, including Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS), Swallowing Quality of Life Questionnaire, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) to assess dysphagia, QOL and psychological disorders, respectively, for each participant. Records of serum albumin, Hemoglobin, Total serum protein, serum prealbumin and Body mass index were enrolled to assess nutritional status. Results FOIS demonstrated a significant positive predictive effect on QOL. Nutritional status and psychological disorders (PHQ-9 and GAD-7) mediated the relationship between FOIS and QOL. Nutritional status-psychological disorders showed a chain mediation effect in the relationship between FOIS and QOL. The moderating effect of enteral nutrition mode was observed. Conclusion The mediating role of nutritional status and psychological disorders with moderating effect of enteral nutrition mode in the relationship between dysphagia and QOL in stroke patients was found.
Phase and structural features of tubular halloysite (7 Å)

ABSTRACT Despite many reviews and original articles, the actual crystal structure of tubular halloysites remains unclear. Analysis of the structural features of defect-free kaolinite, refined by Bish & von Dreele (1989), shows that the ordered 1Tc kaolinite structure can be described equally well by the orthogonal layer cell {a0, b0, γ0} (γ0 = 90°) or by two enantiomorphic oblique layer cells {a1, b1, γ1} and {a2, b2, γ2}, related to each other by a mirror plane. To simulate diffraction effects for tubular halloysite, the parameters and atomic coordinates of the orthogonal layer unit cell and the layer-displacement vectors t1 and t2 responsible for formation of the kaolinite enantiomorphs were deduced by transformation of the parameters of the defect-free kaolinite refined by Bish & von Dreele (1989). Modelling X-ray diffraction patterns show that the samples consist of either single, two or three phases, with the number and their structural features depending on the morphology of the particles. Samples formed of prismatic particles consist of halloysite-like structure (HLS), kaolinite-like structure (KLS) and halloysite cylindrical structure (HCS) phases occurring in various proportions. Samples of proper cylindrical tubes consist of a single HCS phase, whilst samples formed by particles having morphologies intermediate between proper cylindrical and well-developed prismatic forms consist of the KLS and HCS phases. The KLS phase is comparable to low-ordered platy kaolinite with identical unit-cell parameters, layer-displacement vectors and arbitrary stacking faults, except that the layer displacements are not random as in kaolinite, but are distributed at R = 1 such that t1 and t2 displacements have a strong tendency to be segregated. Structural parameters describing the HLS and KLS phases are identical, but in the HLS phase there is a strong tendency to the regular alternation of the t1 and t2 displacements, and the HLS phases do not contain arbitrary stacking faults. A characteristic feature of the three-phase prismatic samples is that the stacking of the layers along the c* axis is periodic and the layer thicknesses are similar to those of platy kaolinite. In contrast, in the KLS phase formed in samples with particles of intermediate morphologies, the hydrated 10 and 7.25 Å layers are interstratified. The relationship between the structural and morphological features of the coexisting phases suggests a sequence of phase formation from the centre to the surface of halloysite tubes that progresses from the HCS to the HLS via the KLS phase. The results of this study demonstrate that all kaolinite and halloysite (7 Å) varieties are built by the same fundamental structural units.
SOME FIXED POINT RESULTS IN MENGER SPACES USING A CONTROL FUNCTION

Here we prove a probabilistic contraction mapping principle in Menger spaces. This is in line with research in fixed point theory using control functions which was initiated by Khan et al. [Bull. Austral. Math. Soc. , 30(1984), 1-9] in metric spaces and extended by Choudhury et al. [Acta Mathematica Sinica, 24(8) (2008), 1379-1386] in probabilistic metric spaces. An example has also been constructed. Full text
Spatial and Cluster Structural Prior-Guided Subspace Clustering for Hyperspectral Image

Subspace clustering has achieved remarkable performance for hyperspectral image (HSI). However, existing methods are often computationally expensive and have limited ability to capture the intrinsic structural information of HSI. In this article, we propose a structural prior-guided subspace clustering method, which simultaneously incorporates the local and nonlocal spatial information and the cluster prior information. Accordingly, three efficient regularizations are developed. Considering the local connectivity of pixels, we propose an $\ell _{2,1}$ norm-based constraint on the representation difference matrix to improve the homogeneity of clustering result. Next, to capture the nonlocal geometric structure of HSI, we propose a manifold-based regularization with an adaptively learned landmark graph. Furthermore, we explore the block-diagonal cluster structure of HSI and develop a landmark-based clustering constraint, which makes the representations more favorable for clustering. Our local constraint is imposed on all the data points due to its efficiency and the latter two are solely imposed on landmarks, leading to computationally efficient regularizations. Due to the local constraint, the manifold and cluster structure of the landmarks can be effectively propagated to all the data points. To make our model scalable to large-scale data, we learn a compact dictionary with an orthogonal constraint, significantly reducing the number of parameters. In addition, we propose a novel landmark selection method to support our landmark-based constraints using multiscale super-pixel segmentation and clustering, which improves the uniformity and diversity of landmarks. We also develop an efficient algorithm to solve the proposed model. Experimental results demonstrate that our model outperforms the state-of-the-art.
A Closed-Loop Design Change Control Workflow in Product Data Management for Conceptual Design Phase

Product data management is an engineering oriented information system. Engineering change request, engineering change notice, and engineering change control workflow in a product data management system are usually utilized starting from the detail product design phase. Lack of guidelines to identify configuration items and design change control workflow is one of the major reasons for not using product data management system during conceptual design phase. In this paper, a conceptual design configuration framework is proposed, and a closed-loop design change control workflow is developed for applying product data management to conceptual design phase. The proposed approach has been implemented and tested for a steel foundry. The production planning activities of the foundry can therefore get involved sooner to the conceptual design phase. This work enables early involvement of the strategy in concurrent engineering during new product design.
Bee Bread: A Promising Source of Bioactive Compounds with Antioxidant Properties—First Report on Some Antimicrobial Features

Bee bread has received attention due to its high nutritional value, especially its phenolic composition, which enhances life quality. The present study aimed to evaluate the chemical and antimicrobial properties of bee bread (BB) samples from Romania. Initially, the bee bread alcoholic extracts (BBEs) were obtained from BB collected and prepared by Apis mellifera carpatica bees. The chemical composition of the BBE was characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and the total phenols and flavonoid contents were determined. Also, a UHPLC-DAD-ESI/MS analysis of phenolic compounds (PCs) and antioxidant activity were evaluated. Furthermore, the antimicrobial activity of BBEs was evaluated by qualitative and quantitative assessments. The BBs studied in this paper are provided from 31 families of plant species, with the total phenols content and total flavonoid content varying between 7.10 and 18.30 mg gallic acid equivalents/g BB and between 0.45 and 1.86 mg quercetin equivalents/g BB, respectively. Chromatographic analysis revealed these samples had a significant content of phenolic compounds, with flavonoids in much higher quantities than phenolic acids. All the BBEs presented antimicrobial activity against all clinical and standard pathogenic strains tested. Salmonella typhi, Candida glabrata, Candida albicans, and Candida kefyr strains were the most sensitive, while BBEs’ antifungal activity on C. krusei and C. kefyr was not investigated in any prior research. In addition, this study reports the BBEs’ inhibitory activity on microbial (bacterial and fungi) adhesion capacity to the inert substratum for the first time.
Validating Internal Control Genes for the Accurate Normalization of qPCR Expression Analysis of the Novel Model Plant Setaria viridis

Employing reference genes to normalize the data generated with quantitative PCR (qPCR) can increase the accuracy and reliability of this method. Previous results have shown that no single housekeeping gene can be universally applied to all experiments. Thus, the identification of a suitable reference gene represents a critical step of any qPCR analysis. Setaria viridis has recently been proposed as a model system for the study of Panicoid grasses, a crop family of major agronomic importance. Therefore, this paper aims to identify suitable S. viridis reference genes that can enhance the analysis of gene expression in this novel model plant. The first aim of this study was the identification of a suitable RNA extraction method that could retrieve a high quality and yield of RNA. After this, two distinct algorithms were used to assess the gene expression of fifteen different candidate genes in eighteen different samples, which were divided into two major datasets, the developmental and the leaf gradient. The best-ranked pair of reference genes from the developmental dataset included genes that encoded a phosphoglucomutase and a folylpolyglutamate synthase; genes that encoded a cullin and the same phosphoglucomutase as above were the most stable genes in the leaf gradient dataset. Additionally, the expression pattern of two target genes, a SvAP3/PI MADS-box transcription factor and the carbon-fixation enzyme PEPC, were assessed to illustrate the reliability of the chosen reference genes. This study has shown that novel reference genes may perform better than traditional housekeeping genes, a phenomenon which has been previously reported. These results illustrate the importance of carefully validating reference gene candidates for each experimental set before employing them as universal standards. Additionally, the robustness of the expression of the target genes may increase the utility of S. viridis as a model for Panicoid grasses.
Intracellular Kinases Mediate Increased Translation and Secretion of Netrin-1 from Renal Tubular Epithelial Cells

Background Netrin-1 is a laminin-related secreted protein, is highly induced after tissue injury, and may serve as a marker of injury. However, the regulation of netrin-1 production is not unknown. Current study was carried out in mouse and mouse kidney cell line (TKPTS) to determine the signaling pathways that regulate netrin-1 production in response to injury. Methods and Principal Findings Ischemia reperfusion injury of the kidney was induced in mice by clamping renal pedicle for 30 minutes. Cellular stress was induced in mouse proximal tubular epithelial cell line by treating with pervanadate, cisplatin, lipopolysaccharide, glucose or hypoxia followed by reoxygenation. Netrin-1 expression was quantified by real time RT-PCR and protein production was quantified using an ELISA kit. Cellular stress induced a large increase in netrin-1 production without increase in transcription of netrin-1 gene. Mitogen activated protein kinase, ERK mediates the drug induced netrin-1 mRNA translation increase without altering mRNA stability. Conclusion Our results suggest that netrin-1 expression is suppressed at the translational level and MAPK activation leads to rapid translation of netrin-1 mRNA in the kidney tubular epithelial cells.
An efficient design of bit-interleaved polar coded modulation

A new bit-interleaved polar coded modulation (BIPCM) scheme is proposed. To reduce the construction complexity, the simplest kernel matrix for channel polarization is adopted. And auxiliary virtual channels with zero-capacities are introduced to adapt different modulation orders. The underlying polar codes are efficiently constructed by calculating the Bhattacharyya parameters of equivalent binary-input erasure channels (BECs) rather than computing-expensive density evolution. Further, to avoid exhaustive searching, an empirically good channel mapping scheme is provided. Compared with the existing BIPCM schemes, the proposed scheme has a lower construction complexity and can achieve a better performance. With cyclic redundancy check (CRC) aided decoding algorithms, the block error rate (BLER) performance of our proposed BIPCM scheme can outperform the turbo coded modulation scheme used in WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) wireless communication system by up to 0.5dB.
Security evaluation of cyber networks under advanced persistent threats

This paper is devoted to measuring the security of cyber networks under advanced persistent threats (APTs). First, an APT-based cyber attack-defense process is modeled as an individual-level dynamical system. Second, the dynamic model is shown to exhibit the global stability. On this basis, a new security metric of cyber networks, which is known as the limit security, is defined as the limit expected fraction of compromised nodes in the networks. Next, the influence of different factors on the limit security is illuminated through theoretical analysis and computer simulation. This work helps understand the security of cyber networks under APTs.