Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Endoscopic Management of Idiopathic Subglottic Stenosis

Objective: To describe a homogeneous idiopathic subglottic stenosis (ISS) population undergoing endoscopic balloon dilation and evaluate factors affecting inter-dilation interval (IDI). Methods: Retrospective review of 37 patients. Co-morbidity prevalence versus normal population was evaluated using chi-square tests. Correlations were evaluated using Pearson product moment tests. Independent samples t tests/rank sum tests assessed differences between groups of interest. Results: All patients were female aged 45.9 ± 15.4 years at diagnosis. Four required a tracheotomy during management. Most prevalent co-morbidity was gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) (64.9%; P = .036). Body mass indices (BMI) at first and most recent dilation were 29.8 and 30.8 (P = .564). Degree of stenosis before first dilation was 53 ± 14%. Patients underwent 3.8 ± 1.8 dilations (range, 1-11). Average IDI was 635 ± 615 days (range, 49-3130 days), including 556 ± 397 days for patients receiving concomitant steroid injection and 283 ± 36 for those who did not (P = .079). Inter-dilation interval was not correlated with BMI (r = 0.0486; P = .802) or number of co-morbidities (r = −0.225, P = .223). Conclusions: Most patients with ISS can be managed endoscopically, and IDI may be increased with steroid injection. Gastroesophageal reflux disease is a common co-morbidity. Body mass index did not change over time despite potential effects on exercise tolerance; BMI did not affect IDI. Methods to determine optimal timing for next intervention are warranted.
Long-Term Exposure to Constituents of Fine Particulate Air Pollution and Mortality: Results from the California Teachers Study

Background Several studies have reported associations between long-term exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM) and cardiovascular mortality. However, the health impacts of long-term exposure to specific constituents of PM2.5 (PM with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm) have not been explored. Methods We used data from the California Teachers Study, a prospective cohort of active and former female public school professionals. We developed estimates of long-term exposures to PM2.5 and several of its constituents, including elemental carbon, organic carbon (OC), sulfates, nitrates, iron, potassium, silicon, and zinc. Monthly averages of exposure were created using pollution data from June 2002 through July 2007. We included participants whose residential addresses were within 8 and 30 km of a monitor collecting PM2.5 constituent data. Hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated for long-term exposure for mortality from all nontraumatic causes, cardiopulmonary disease, ischemic heart disease (IHD), and pulmonary disease. Results Approximately 45,000 women with 2,600 deaths lived within 30 km of a monitor. We observed associations of all-cause, cardiopulmonary, and IHD mortality with PM2.5 mass and each of its measured constituents, and between pulmonary mortality and several constituents. For example, for cardiopulmonary mortality, HRs for interquartile ranges of PM2.5, OC, and sulfates were 1.55 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.43–1.69], 1.80 (95% CI, 1.68–1.93), and 1.79 (95% CI, 1.58–2.03), respectively. Subsequent analyses indicated that, of the constituents analyzed, OC and sulfates had the strongest associations with all four outcomes. Conclusions Long-term exposures to PM2.5 and several of its constituents were associated with increased risks of all-cause and cardiopulmonary mortality in this cohort. Constituents derived from combustion of fossil fuel (including diesel), as well as those of crustal origin, were associated with some of the greatest risks. These results provide additional evidence that reduction of ambient PM2.5 may provide significant public health benefits.
ESR Study of Interfacial Hydration Layers of Polypeptides in Water-Filled Nanochannels and in Vitrified Bulk Solvents

There is considerable evidence for the essential role of surface water in protein function and structure. However, it is unclear to what extent the hydration water and protein are coupled and interact with each other. Here, we show by ESR experiments (cw, DEER, ESEEM, and ESE techniques) with spin-labeling and nanoconfinement techniques that the vitrified hydration layers can be evidently recognized in the ESR spectra, providing nanoscale understanding for the biological interfacial water. Two peptides of different secondary structures and lengths are studied in vitrified bulk solvents and in water-filled nanochannels of different pore diameter (6.1∼7.6 nm). The existence of surface hydration and bulk shells are demonstrated. Water in the immediate vicinity of the nitroxide label (within the van der Waals contacts, ∼0.35 nm) at the water-peptide interface is verified to be non-crystalline at 50 K, and the water accessibility changes little with the nanochannel dimension. Nevertheless, this water accessibility for the nanochannel cases is only half the value for the bulk solvent, even though the peptide structures remain largely the same as those immersed in the bulk solvents. On the other hand, the hydration density in the range of ∼2 nm from the nitroxide spin increases substantially with decreasing pore size, as the density for the largest pore size (7.6 nm) is comparable to that for the bulk solvent. The results demonstrate that while the peptides are confined but structurally unaltered in the nanochannels, their surrounding water exhibits density heterogeneity along the peptide surface normal. The causes and implications, especially those involving the interactions between the first hydration water and peptides, of these observations are discussed. Spin-label ESR techniques are proven useful for studying the structure and influences of interfacial hydration.
The Acute Hormonal Response to Free Weight and Machine Weight Resistance Exercise

Abstract Shaner, AA, Vingren, JL, Hatfield, DL, Budnar Jr, RG, Duplanty, AA, and Hill, DW. The acute hormonal response to free weight and machine weight resistance exercise. J Strength Cond Res 28(4): 1032–1040, 2014—Resistance exercise can acutely increase the concentrations of circulating neuroendocrine factors, but the effect of mode on this response is not established. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of resistance exercise selection on the acute hormonal response using similar lower-body multijoint movement free weight and machine weight exercises. Ten resistance trained men (25 ± 3 years, 179 ± 7 cm, 84.2 ± 10.5 kg) completed 6 sets of 10 repetitions of squat or leg press at the same relative intensity separated by 1 week. Blood samples were collected before (PRE), immediately after (IP), and 15 (P15) and 30 minutes (P30) after exercise, and analyzed for testosterone (T), growth hormone (GH), and cortisol (C) concentrations. Exercise increased (p ⩽ 0.05) T and GH at IP, but the concentrations at IP were greater for the squat (T: 31.4 ± 10.3 nmol·L−1; GH: 9.5 ± 7.3 &mgr;g·L−1) than for the leg press (T: 26.9 ± 7.8 nmol·L−1; GH: 2.8 ± 3.2 &mgr;g·L−1). At P15 and P30, GH was greater for the squat (P15: 12.3 ± 8.9 &mgr;g·L−1; P30: 12.0 ± 8.9 &mgr;g·L−1) than for the leg press (P15: 4.8 ± 3.4 &mgr;g·L−1; P30: 5.4 ± 4.1 &mgr;g·L−1). C was increased after exercise and was greater for the squat than for the leg press. Although total work (external load and body mass moved) was greater for the squat than for the leg press, rating of perceived exertion did not differ between the modes. Free weight exercises seem to induce greater hormonal responses to resistance exercise than machine weight exercises using similar lower-body multijoint movements and primary movers.
CLEC5A-Mediated Enhancement of the Inflammatory Response in Myeloid Cells Contributes to Influenza Virus Pathogenicity In Vivo

ABSTRACT Human infections with influenza viruses exhibit mild to severe clinical outcomes as a result of complex virus-host interactions. Induction of inflammatory mediators via pattern recognition receptors may dictate subsequent host responses for pathogen clearance and tissue damage. We identified that human C-type lectin domain family 5 member A (CLEC5A) interacts with the hemagglutinin protein of influenza viruses expressed on lentiviral pseudoparticles through lectin screening. Silencing CLEC5A gene expression, blocking influenza-CLEC5A interactions with anti-CLEC5A antibodies, or dampening CLEC5A-mediated signaling using a spleen tyrosine kinase inhibitor consistently reduced the levels of proinflammatory cytokines produced by human macrophages without affecting the replication of influenza A viruses of different subtypes. Infection of bone marrow-derived macrophages from CLEC5A-deficient mice showed reduced levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and IP-10 but elevated alpha interferon (IFN-α) compared to those of wild-type mice. The heightened type I IFN response in the macrophages of CLEC5A-deficient mice was associated with upregulated TLR3 mRNA after treatment with double-stranded RNA. Upon lethal challenges with a recombinant H5N1 virus, CLEC5A-deficient mice showed reduced levels of proinflammatory cytokines, decreased immune cell infiltration in the lungs, and improved survival compared to the wild-type mice, despite comparable viral loads noted throughout the course of infection. The survival difference was more prominent at a lower dose of inoculum. Our results suggest that CLEC5A-mediated enhancement of the inflammatory response in myeloid cells contributes to influenza pathogenicity in vivo and may be considered a therapeutic target in combination with effective antivirals. Well-orchestrated host responses together with effective viral clearance are critical for optimal clinical outcome after influenza infections. IMPORTANCE Multiple pattern recognition receptors work in synergy to sense viral RNA or proteins synthesized during influenza replication and mediate host responses for viral control. Well-orchestrated host responses may help to maintain the inflammatory response to minimize tissue damage while inducing an effective adaptive immune response for viral clearance. We identified that CLEC5A, a C-type lectin receptor which has previously been reported to mediate flavivirus-induced inflammatory responses, enhanced induction of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines in myeloid cells after influenza infections. CLEC5A-deficient mice infected with influenza virus showed reduced inflammation in the lungs and improved survival compared to that of the wild-type mice despite comparable viral loads. The survival difference was more prominent at a lower dose of inoculum. Collectively, our results suggest that dampening CLEC5A-mediated inflammatory responses in myeloid cells reduces immunopathogenesis after influenza infections.
Regulatory Cross-Talk Links Vibrio cholerae Chromosome II Replication and Segregation

There is little knowledge of factors and mechanisms for coordinating bacterial chromosome replication and segregation. Previous studies have revealed that genes (and their products) that surround the origin of replication (oriCII) of Vibrio cholerae chromosome II (chrII) are critical for controlling the replication and segregation of this chromosome. rctB, which flanks one side of oriCII, encodes a protein that initiates chrII replication; rctA, which flanks the other side of oriCII, inhibits rctB activity. The chrII parAB2 operon, which is essential for chrII partitioning, is located immediately downstream of rctA. Here, we explored how rctA exerts negative control over chrII replication. Our observations suggest that RctB has at least two DNA binding domains—one for binding to oriCII and initiating replication and the other for binding to rctA and thereby inhibiting RctB's ability to initiate replication. Notably, the inhibitory effect of rctA could be alleviated by binding of ParB2 to a centromere-like parS site within rctA. Furthermore, by binding to rctA, ParB2 and RctB inversely regulate expression of the parAB2 genes. Together, our findings suggest that fluctuations in binding of the partitioning protein ParB2 and the chrII initiator RctB to rctA underlie a regulatory network controlling both oriCII firing and the production of the essential chrII partitioning proteins. Thus, by binding both RctB and ParB2, rctA serves as a nexus for regulatory cross-talk coordinating chrII replication and segregation.
A Network-aware Virtual Machine Placement and Migration Approach in Cloud Computing

Cloud computing represents a major step up in computing whereby shared computation resources are provided on demand. In such a scenario, applications and data thereof can be hosted by various networked virtual machines (VMs). As applications, especially data-intensive applications, often need to communicate with data frequently, the network I/O performance would affect the overall application performance significantly. Therefore, placement of virtual machines which host an application and migration of these virtual machines while the unexpected network latency or congestion occurs is critical to achieve and maintain the application performance. To address these issues, this paper proposes a virtual machine placement and migration approach to minimizing the data transfer time consumption. Our simulation studies suggest that the proposed approach is effective in optimizing the data transfer between the virtual machine and data, thus helping optimize the overall application performance.
An in vitro based investigation into the cytotoxic effects of D-amino acids

Abstract In the present study, cytotoxic effects of D-Ala, D-Pro and D-Lys are demonstrated. In an effort to study the possible mechanisms of the observed cytotoxicity, catalase activity, H2O2 generation, and apoptotic activity were measured in HeLa and MCF-7 cell lines. Although D-Lys is a poor substrate for DAO and therefore low H2O2 was detected, it was shown to provoke severe impairment of cellular integrity and survival. Interestingly, a very good substrate for DAO, such as D-Pro, did not substantially reduce cell viability. On the other hand, a moderate substrate for DAO, represented by D-Ala, was shown to moderately trigger toxicity in the tested cell lines. Although a correlation between the in vitro cytotoxicity of D-amino acids and the amount of H2O2 produced was absent, there was a good agreement between the ability of D-amino acids to trigger apoptosis and to provoke toxicity. Our results indicate that the toxicity of D-amino acids does not appear to be solely mediated by H2O2. Therefore, we hypothesize that other possible contributing apoptosis-mediated pathways might cause the observed toxicity.
Inconsistence between number and function of autoreactive T cells in the course of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

ABSTRACT Background: Mouse experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is widely used model of multiple sclerosis (MS). The role of autoreactive CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the development of mouse EAE has been demonstrated. However, little information is available about the relation between the frequency and reactivity of myelin antigen-reactive CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in secondary lymphoid organs and their relevance with the inflammation and pathological lesion of CNS during the course of EAE mouse model. Methods: In this study, an EAE model with a clinical course containing acute onset, peak and chronic remission stages was established in C57BL/6J mice by myelin oligodendrocyte protein (MOG)35–55 peptide immunization, and followed by the monitoring of clinical and pathological parameters and autoreactive T cells at different stages during the course. Results: The dynamic changes of inflammatory infiltration, myelin loss, and astrocyte proliferation in brain and spinal cord were highly consistent with clinical severity observed in EAE course. However, the frequencies of both MOG-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in secondary lymphoid organs presented different dynamic trends from the IFN-γ production by MOG-reactive T cells. Meanwhile, the IL-17 production by MOG-reactive CD4+ T cells was consistent with the proliferation of MOG-specific CD4+ T cells. Conclusions: Both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were most sensitive to MOG antigen stimulation for IFN-γ production during the early stage of EAE, but then rapidly lost the function despite their vigorous proliferation at the peak stage and later.
Partial Cubes and Crossing Graphs

Partial cubes are defined as isometric subgraphs of hypercubes. For a partial cube G, its crossing graph G# is introduced as the graph whose vertices are the equivalence classes of the Djokovic--Winkler relation $\Theta$, two vertices being adjacent if they cross on a common cycle. It is shown that every graph is the crossing graph of some median graph and that a partial cube G is 2-connected if and only if G# is connected. A partial cube G has a triangle-free crossing graph if and only if G is a cube-free median graph. This result is used to characterize the partial cubes having a tree or a forest as its crossing graph. An expansion theorem is given for the partial cubes with complete crossing graphs. Cartesian products are also considered. In particular, it is proved that G# is a complete bipartite graph if and only if G is the Cartesian product of two trees.
Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activity Determination of One Hundred Kinds of Pure Chemical Compounds Using Offline and Online Screening HPLC Assay

This study investigated the antioxidant activity of one hundred kinds of pure chemical compounds found within a number of natural substances and oriental medicinal herbs (OMH). Three different methods were used to evaluate the antioxidant activity of DPPH radical-scavenging activity, ABTS radical-scavenging activity, and online screening HPLC-ABTS assays. The results indicated that 17 compounds exhibited better inhibitory activity against ABTS radical than DPPH radical. The IC50 rate of a more practical substance is determined, and the ABTS assay IC50 values of gallic acid hydrate, (+)-catechin hydrate, caffeic acid, rutin hydrate, hyperoside, quercetin, and kaempferol compounds were 1.03 ± 0.25, 3.12 ± 0.51, 1.59 ± 0.06, 4.68 ± 1.24, 3.54 ± 0.39, 1.89 ± 0.33, and 3.70 ± 0.15 μg/mL, respectively. The ABTS assay is more sensitive to identifying the antioxidant activity since it has faster reaction kinetics and a heightened response to antioxidants. In addition, there was a very small margin of error between the results of the offline-ABTS assay and those of the online screening HPLC-ABTS assay. We also evaluated the effects of 17 compounds on the NO secretion in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells and also investigated the cytotoxicity of 17 compounds using a cell counting kit (CCK) in order to determine the optimal concentration that would provide an effective anti-inflammatory action with minimum toxicity. These results will be compiled into a database, and this method can be a powerful preselection tool for compounds intended to be studied for their potential bioactivity and antioxidant activity related to their radical-scavenging capacity.
Time course and specificity of event-related potentials to emotional expressions

To clarify the time course of neural responses to faces with different emotional expressions, we used event-related potential (ERP) and reaction time measures. Faces expressing four different emotions (happy, neutral, fearful, disgusted) and houses were shown in both upright and inverted orientations while subjects performed an immediate-repeats task. Results indicated that upright fearful expressions enhanced the frontocentral P200. However, emotional effects on the N170 and late positive component interacted with face orientation and were not selective for any specific expression. A unique negative component for upright disgust faces was observed at ∼300 ms at occipital regions. These results provide evidence for emotion-specific ERPs associated with fear and disgust, distinct from other non-specific configurational and attentional effects.
Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using o-Hydroxybenzoic, p-Hydroxybenzoic, and o,p-Dihydroxybenzoic Acids as Reducing Agents

Synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) by reduction of AgNO3 with o-hydroxybenzoic, p-hydroxybenzoic and o,p-dihydroxybenzoic acids as reducing agents was investigated. This research was conducted to determine the effect of the position and number of hydroxyl groups towards the size, shape and stability of the resulted AgNPs. Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) of AgNPs was characterized by UV/Vis spectrophotometer, the shape and size of AgNPs was determined by Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). The results showed that the reducing agent that has substituents in the para position (p-hydroxybenzoic acid) has the higher reduction ability than the others. AgNPs were yielded by all types of reducing agents in alkaline system. Reducing agents which have greater number of substituents (o,p-dihydroxybenzoic acid) could produce AgNPs with smaller concentration of AgNO3 than the others. AgNPs that was produced by reducing agent having substituents on the para position (p-hydroxybenzoic acid) was more stable and smaller particle size, i.e. 34 ± 1.78 nm than reducing agent that has substituent on the ortho para positions (with particle size 45 + 3.67 nm) and ortho positions (with particle size 70 ± 4.96 nm).
Nomadic pict: Programming languages, communication infrastructure overlays, and semantics for mobile computation

Mobile computation, in which executing computations can move from one physical computing device to another, is a recurring theme: from OS process migration, to language-level mobility, to virtual machine migration. This article reports on the design, implementation, and verification of overlay networks to support reliable communication between migrating computations, in the Nomadic Pict project. We define two levels of abstraction as calculi with precise semantics: a low-level Nomadic π calculus with migration and location-dependent communication, and a high-level calculus that adds location-independent communication. Implementations of location-independent communication, as overlay networks that track migrations and forward messages, can be expressed as translations of the high-level calculus into the low. We discuss the design space of such overlay network algorithms and define three precisely, as such translations. Based on the calculi, we design and implement the Nomadic Pict distributed programming language, to let such algorithms (and simple applications above them) to be quickly prototyped. We go on to develop the semantic theory of the Nomadic π calculi, proving correctness of one example overlay network. This requires novel equivalences and congruence results that take migration into account, and reasoning principles for agents that are temporarily immobile (e.g., waiting on a lock elsewhere in the system). The whole stands as a demonstration of the use of principled semantics to address challenging system design problems.