Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dialysis Transplantation Experimental autoimmune glomerulonephritis ( EAG ) induced by homologous and heterologous glomerular basement membrane in two substrains of Wistar-Kyoto rat

Background. Goodpasture's, or antiglomerular basement membrane (GBM), disease presents with rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis, and is caused by autoimmunity to the NCI domain of the 0:3 chain of type IV collagen. In order to investigate mechanisms involved in the induction and regulation of glomerulonephritis, experimental models of Goodpasture's disease have been developed in the rat which share many characteristics with the human disease. Induction of experimental autoimmune glomerulonephritis (EAG) involves immunization of susceptible strains with either heterologous or homologous GBM in FCA. However, pathological changes have tended to be mild and/or variable, except in certain protocols using Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. Methods. We studied the susceptibility of inbred WKY rats from two different suppliers to the development of EAG. These substrains of rat had different MHC haplotypes (WKY/CR, RTl-l; WKY/Olac, RT1-k), so we proposed that they might show differences in their immune response to GBM antigens. Both substrains were immunized with sheep GBM, pH 7, or rat GBM buffered to pH 3, pH 5 or pH 7. Results. All immunized rats developed circulating antiGBM antibodies detectable at 14 days and rising until 28 days, at which time there was linear deposition of IgG on the GBM. WKY/CR rats developed severe focal segmental proliferative and necrotizing glomerulonephritis, with heavy albuminuria, following immunization with rat GBM, pH 7, but only moderate disease following sheep GBM. WKY/Olac rats showed a more variable response, with moderate disease following both rat and sheep GBM. Immunization of either substrain with rat GBM, pH 5, produced a response similar to that with rat GBM, pH 7, but disease was mild following rat GBM, pH 3. Conclusion. EAG in the WKY rat varies in severity Correspondence and offprint requests to: Dr J. Reynolds, Renal Unit, Department of Medicine, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Du Cane Road, London W12 ONN, UK. according to the substrain of animal and preparation of GBM used for immunization. The model with the most severe and consistent changes was that induced in the WKY/CR rat by rat GBM at pH 7. This model of EAG will be of value for investigating mechanisms of autoimmunity and inflammation in glomerulonephritis, and for attempting novel forms of immunotherapy prior to trials in man.
From Quantity To Quality: Massive Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Nanostructures under Plastic Deformation in Desktop and Service Grid Distributed Computing Infrastructure

The distributed computing infrastructure (DCI) on the basis of BOINC andEDGeS-bridge technologies for high-performance distributed computing is usedfor porting the sequential molecular dynamics (MD) application to its paral-lel version for DCI with Desktop Grids (DGs) and Service Grids (SGs). Theactual metrics of the working DG-SG DCI were measured, and the normal dis-tribution of host performances, and signs of log-normal distributions of othercharacteristics (CPUs, RAM, and HDD per host) were found. The practicalfeasibility and high eﬃciency of the MD simulations on the basis of DG-SG DCIwere demonstrated during the experiment with the massive MD simulations forthe large quantity of aluminum nanocrystals ( ∼ 102–103). Statistical analysis(Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, moment analysis, and bootstrapping analysis) ofthe defect density distribution over the ensemble of nanocrystals had shownthat change of plastic deformation mode is followed by the qualitative changeof defect density distribution type over ensemble of nanocrystals. Some limita-tions (ﬂuctuating performance, unpredictable availability of resources, etc.) ofthe typical DG-SG DCI were outlined, and some advantages (high eﬃciency,high speedup, and low cost) were demonstrated. Deploying on DG DCI al-lows to get new scientiﬁc quality from the simulated quantity of numerousconﬁgurations by harnessing suﬃcient computational power to undertake MDsimulations in a wider range of physical parameters (conﬁgurations) in a muchshorter timeframe.
Association study of C1qA polymorphisms with systemic lupus erythematosus in a Han population

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the C1qA gene region with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a Chinese Han population. Methods: Chinese SLE patients (n = 748) and ethnically- and geographically-matched healthy controls (n = 750) were genotyped for the C1qA region SNPs, rs172378 and rs665691, by using the Sequenom MassArray system. Results: The Chinese Han SLE patients and controls had statistically similar frequencies of alleles, genotypes, and haplotypes of C1qA polymorphisms. Moreover, no association signal was detected on different genetic models (additive, dominant, and recessive) or in SLE subgroups stratified by various clinical manifestations. Conclusions: The C1qA SNPs, rs172378 and rs665691, confer no genetic predisposition to SLE in a Chinese Han population.
Clinical and virological characteristics of hepatitis B or C virus co‐infection with HIV in Indonesian patients

Hepatitis virus‐related liver disease increases substantially the mortality rate of patients with HIV on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Therefore, early diagnosis of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) is important. However, the prevalence of HBV and HCV infection in Indonesian patients infected with HIV is unknown. Therefore, this study examined the molecular and clinical characteristics of HBV and HCV in 126 patients infected with HIV, mostly on HAART, at Dr. Sardjito Hospital, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The rates of triple infection, HIV/HCV co‐infection, HIV/HBV co‐infection, and mono‐infection were 4.8%, 34.1%, 3.2%, and 57.9%, respectively. Seven HCV genotypes were detected, with genotypes 1a, 1b, 1c, 3a, 3k, 4a, and 6n found in 23 (52%), 1 (2%), 4 (9%), 5 (11%), 7 (16%), 3 (6%), and 1 (2%) patients, respectively, indicating multiple modes of transmission. HBV‐DNA was detected in 2/10 patients with hepatitis B surface antigen; both patients were HAART naive. Univariate analysis revealed that male sex, higher education level, injection drug use, sexual contact, alanine aminotransferase ≥40 IU/L, and aspartate aminotransferase‐to‐platelet ratio index > 0.5 were associated with HCV co‐infection. In multivariate analysis, injection drug use (OR: 26.52; 95% CI: 3.52–199.54) and alanine aminotransferase ≥40 IU/L (OR: 6.36; 95% CI: 1.23–32.89) were independently associated with HCV co‐infection. HCV co‐infection was common among Indonesian patients infected with HIV, particularly among injecting drug users, and was a risk factor for disease progression of HIV. J. Med. Virol. 84:857–865, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders with aquaporin-4 and myelin-oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibodies: a comparative study.

IMPORTANCE Most patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and many with NMO spectrum disorder have autoantibodies against aquaporin-4 (AQP4-Abs), but recently, myelin-oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibodies (MOG-Abs) have been found in some patients. Here, we showed that patients with NMO/NMOSD with MOG-Abs demonstrate differences when compared with patients with AQP4-Abs. OBJECTIVE To characterize the features of patients with NMO/NMOSD with MOG-Abs and compare them with patients with AQP4-Ab-positive NMO/NMOSD. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This observational study was conducted at a single UK specialist center for NMO. Patients with a first demyelinating event between January 1, 2010, and April 1, 2013, seen within the Oxford NMO service and who tested positive for MOG-Abs or AQP4-Abs were included in the study. EXPOSURE Cell-based assays using C-terminal-truncated human MOG and full-length M23-AQP4 were used to test patient serum samples for AQP4-Abs and MOG-Abs. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Demographic, clinical, and disability data, and magnetic resonance imaging findings. RESULTS Twenty AQP4-Ab-positive patients and 9 MOG-Ab-positive patients were identified. Most patients in both groups were white. Ninety percent of AQP4-Ab-positive patients but only 44% MOG-Ab-positive patients were females (P = .02) with a trend toward older age at disease onset in AQP4-Ab-positive patients (44.9 vs 32.3 years; P = .05). MOG-Ab-positive patients more frequently presented with simultaneous/sequential optic neuritis and myelitis (44% vs 0%; P = .005). Onset episode severity did not differ between the 2 groups, but patients with MOG-Abs had better outcomes from the onset episode, with better recovery Expanded Disability Status Scale scores and a lower risk for visual and motor disability. Myelin-oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-positive patients were more likely to have conus involvement on spinal magnetic resonance imaging (75% vs 17%; P = .02) and involvement of deep gray nuclei on brain magnetic resonance imaging (P = .03). Cerebrospinal fluid characteristics were similar in the 2 groups. A higher proportion of AQP4-Ab-positive patients relapsed (40% vs 0%; P = .03) despite similar follow-up durations. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Despite the fact that patients with MOG-Abs can fulfill the diagnostic criteria for NMO, there are differences when compared with those with AQP4-Abs. These include a higher proportion of males, younger age, and greater likelihood of involvement of the conus and deep gray matter structures on imaging. Additionally, patients with MOG-Abs had more favorable outcomes. Patients with AQP4-Ab-negative NMO/NMOSD should be tested for MOG-Abs.
USP 19-deubiquitinating enzyme regulates levels of major myofibrillar proteins in L 6 muscle cells

Sundaram P, Pang Z, Miao M, Yu L, Wing SS. USP19-deubiquitinating enzyme regulates levels of major myofibrillar proteins in L6 muscle cells. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 297: E1283–E1290, 2009. First published September 22, 2009; doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00409. 2009. — The ubiquitin-proteasome system plays an important role in the degradation of myofibrillar proteins that occurs in muscle wasting. Many studies have demonstrated the importance of enzymes mediating conjugation of ubiquitin. However, little is known about the role of deubiquitinating enzymes. We previously showed that the USP19deubiquitinating enzyme is induced in atrophying skeletal muscle (Combaret L, Adegoke OA, Bedard N, Baracos V, Attaix D, Wing SS. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 288: E693–E700, 2005). To further explore the role of USP19, we used small interfering RNA (siRNA) in L6 muscle cells. Lowering USP19 by 70–90% in myotubes resulted in a 20% decrease in the rate of proteolysis and an 18% decrease in the rate of protein synthesis, with no net change in protein content. Despite the decrease in overall synthesis, there were 1.5-fold increases in protein levels of myosin heavy chain (MHC), actin, and troponin T and a 2.5-fold increase in tropomyosin. USP19 depletion also increased MHC and tropomyosin mRNA levels, suggesting that this effect is due to increased transcription. Consistent with this, USP19 depletion increased myogenin protein and mRNA levels approximately twofold. Lowering myogenin using siRNA prevented the increase in MHC and tropomyosin upon USP19 depletion, indicating that myogenin mediated the increase in myofibrillar proteins. Dexamethasone treatment lowered MHC and increased USP19. Depletion of USP19 reversed the dexamethasone suppression of MHC. These studies demonstrate that USP19 modulates transcription of major myofibrillar proteins and indicate that the ubiquitin system not only mediates the increased protein breakdown but is also involved in the decreased protein synthesis in atrophying skeletal muscle.
Long Term Stabilization of Expanding Aortic Aneurysms by a Short Course of Cyclosporine A through Transforming Growth Factor-Beta Induction

Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) expand as a consequence of extracellular matrix destruction, and vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) depletion. Transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta 1 overexpression stabilizes expanding AAAs in rat. Cyclosporine A (CsA) promotes tissue accumulation and induces TGF -beta1 and, could thereby exert beneficial effects on AAA remodelling and expansion. In this study, we assessed whether a short administration of CsA could durably stabilize AAAs through TGF-beta induction. We showed that CsA induced TGF-beta1 and decreased MMP-9 expression dose-dependently in fragments of human AAAs in vitro, and in animal models of AAA in vivo. CsA prevented AAA formation at 14 days in the rat elastase (diameter increase: CsA: 131.9±44.2%; vehicle: 225.9±57.0%, P = 0.003) and calcium chloride mouse models (diameters: CsA: 0.72±0.14 mm; vehicle: 1.10±0.11 mm, P = .008), preserved elastic fiber network and VSMC content, and decreased inflammation. A seven day administration of CsA stabilized formed AAAs in rats seven weeks after drug withdrawal (diameter increase: CsA: 14.2±15.1%; vehicle: 45.2±13.7%, P = .017), down-regulated wall inflammation, and increased αSMA-positive cell content. Co-administration of a blocking anti-TGF-beta antibody abrogated CsA impact on inflammation, αSMA-positive cell accumulation and diameter control in expanding AAAs. Our study demonstrates that pharmacological induction of TGF-beta1 by a short course of CsA administration represents a new approach to induce aneurysm stabilization by shifting the degradation/repair balance towards healing.
Comparison of inflammatory infiltrates in trigeminal ganglia of cattle infected with wild-type Bovine herpesvirus 1 versus a virus strain containing a mutation in the LR (latency-related) gene

During latency, the bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1) latency-related (LR) RNA is abundantly expressed in neurons within trigeminal ganglia (TG). A LR mutant virus that does not express two LR proteins is unable to reactivate from latency following dexamethasone treatment. Increased infiltration of inflammatory cells occurs in TG of calves acutely infected with the LR mutant virus. Throughout acute infection, wild-type BHV-1 DNA is detected in neurons surrounded by mononuclear infiltrates and in non-neuronal cells comprising the infiltrate. Conversely, LR mutant DNA is only detected in neurons near the end of acute infection, suggesting LR gene products promote virus spread in TG.
Methylation of neutral endopeptidase 24.11 promoter in rat hepatocellular carcinoma

Neutral endopeptidase 24.11 (NEP), a cell‐surface enzyme expressed by epithelial cells that cleaves and inactivates biologically active small peptides, is downregulated in various cancers. NEP is encoded by a gene that contains a CpG island in the promoter region, whose hypermethylation appears related to decreased expression. Altered expression of NEP has also been reported in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), suggesting its possible role in hepatocarcinogenesis. To elucidate the status of NEP in HCC, methylation in the promoter region of the gene that encodes NEP in male Fischer 344 rats with HCC, induced by a choline‐deficient, l‐amino acid‐defined diet, was investigated by methylation‐specific polymerase chain reaction, combined bisulfite restriction analysis, and bisulfite genomic sequencing. These analyses together showed the promoter to be frequently methylated in HCC in contrast to its unmethylated status in normal liver, the degree of methylation being inversely related to the level of mRNA expression evaluated by reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (P = 0.031). In two rat liver cell lines, RLC‐16 and RLC‐27, the promoter was heavily methylated and NEP mRNA expression was negative. However, administration of 5‐aza‐2′‐deoxycytidine caused NEP expression, suggesting that methylation of CpG is a factor regulating transcriptional expression. Together with the data from microarray analyses performed previously using the same animal model, the current results suggest that reduced expression of NEP or other ectopeptidases could impact on molecules involved in signal‐transducing systems, including G‐protein coupled receptors, via modified turnover of extracellularly active small peptides. (Cancer Sci 2006; 97: 611–617)
Managing latency in complex augmented reality systems

Registration (or alignment) of the synthetic imagery with the real world is crucial in augmented reality (AR) systems. The data from user-input devices, tracking devices, and imaging devices need to be registered spatially and temporally with the user’s view of the surroundings. Each device has an associated delay between its observations of the world and the moment when the AR display presented to the user appears to be a(cid:11)ected by a change in the data. We call the di(cid:11)erences in delay the relative latencies. Relative latency is a source of misregistration and should be reduced. We give general methods for handling multiple data streams with di(cid:11)erent latency values associated with them in a working AR system. We measure the latency di(cid:11)erences (part of the system dependent set of calibrations), time-stamp on-host, adjust the moment of sampling, and interpolate or extrapolate data streams. By using these schemes, a more accurate and consistent view is computed and presented to the user.
Mucosal chemokines in Helicobacter pylori infection.

Chemokines are a family of low-molecular-weight proinflammatory cytokines that have leukocyte chemotactic and activating properties. Chemokine protein and mRNA are increased in the gastric mucosa of Helicobacter pylori infection and they are considered to regulate migration of leukocyte populations. The increase of C-X-C chemokines (e.g. IL-8, GRO-alpha) which effect primarily neutrophils is significantly associated with gastric polymorphonuclear cell activity suggesting that these chemokines play a primary role in active gastritis induced by H. pylori infection. In vitro enhanced epithelial chemokine responses are induced by cagA positive strains which have been clinically associated with more severe clinical outcome. Infection with cagA-positive H. pylori strains associates in vivo specifically with a C-X-C profile and enhanced polymorphonuclear infiltration in the gastric mucosa. Whilst infection with H. pylori, especially cag positive strains, is associated with more severe disease, genetic variability in host chemokine responses may also contribute to disease outcome.
Drug and Multidrug Resistance among Mycobacterium leprae Isolates from Brazilian Relapsed Leprosy Patients

ABSTRACT Skin biopsy samples from 145 relapse leprosy cases and from five different regions in Brazil were submitted for sequence analysis of part of the genes associated with Mycobacterium leprae drug resistance. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in these genes were observed in M. leprae from 4 out of 92 cases with positive amplification (4.3%) and included a case with a mutation in rpoB only, another sample with SNPs in both folP1 and rpoB, and two cases showing mutations in folP1, rpoB, and gyrA, suggesting the existence of multidrug resistance (MDR). The nature of the mutations was as reported in earlier studies, being CCC to CGC in codon 55 in folP (Pro to Arg), while in the case of rpoB, all mutations occurred at codon 531, with two being a transition of TCG to ATG (Ser to Met), one TCG to TTC (Ser to Phe), and one TCG to TTG (Ser to Leu). The two cases with mutations in gyrA changed from GCA to GTA (Ala to Val) in codon 91. The median time from cure to relapse diagnosis was 9.45 years but was significantly shorter in patients with mutations (3.26 years; P = 0.0038). More than 70% of the relapses were multibacillary, including three of the mutation-carrying cases; one MDR relapse patient was paucibacillary.
The interaction between auditory imagery vividness and auditory perception, and its application to hallucination proneness

Auditory imagery is commonly used in everyday life, yet the majority of imagery research has focused on the visual domain. This thesis determined some of the mediators of auditory imagery vividness and investigated how vividness affects the interaction between imagery and perception (Chapter 2). In addition, an fMRI study investigated the neural correlates of auditory imagery and perception (Chapter 3). The final empirical chapters assessed the interaction between auditory imagery vividness and hallucination proneness, and the influence of hallucination proneness on the interaction between imagery and perception (Chapters 4, 5 and 6). Imagery vividness differs according to sound category and familiarity and is affected by cues to imagine sounds. Imagery and perception can also interact to influence the detection of sounds in noise, and are processed by partially overlapping regions of the auditory cortex. Studies into hallucination proneness revealed little differences between high and low hallucination proneness participants when detecting sounds in noise. When stimuli had an emotional connotation (i.e. auditorily presented emotional words) high and low hallucination prone participants differed only in their memory recall rate, but not in their vividness ratings, or in their sound detection performance for such words. Taken together, this thesis demonstrates that auditory imagery vividness is a robust measure that is affected by a range of cognitive factors. Vividness can influence detection of sounds in noise and has measurable affects on neural activation. These studies provide evidence for the theory that imagery and perception rely on overlapping areas of processing. The thesis also finds little association between hallucination proneness and auditory imagery vividness or sound detection performance. This suggests that factors other than auditory imagery are associated with proneness to hallucination-like experiences.
Antennas and propagation for body area networks

Recently, the body area networks (BAN) is one of the most hot topics in wireless communications. In this paper, the research progress of antennas and propagation for wireless BAN (WBAN) in Southeast University (SEU) is reported. Other than the methods of numerical simulation and statistic measurement, the radiation and propagation characteristics of antenna nearby a human body are analytically studied by means of an elliptic-cylinder model of lossy dielectric. Also, several kinds of printed antennas are developed for different applications in wireless BAN.