Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ADAMTS13: a new link between thrombosis and inflammation

von Willebrand factor (VWF) levels are elevated and a disintegrin-like and metalloprotease with thrombospondin type I repeats–13 (ADAMTS13) activity is decreased in both acute and chronic inflammation. We hypothesized that by cleaving hyperactive ultralarge VWF (ULVWF) multimers, ADAMTS13 down-regulates both thrombosis and inflammation. Using intravital microscopy, we show that ADAMTS13 deficiency results in increased leukocyte rolling on unstimulated veins and increased leukocyte adhesion in inflamed veins. Both processes were dependent on the presence of VWF. Depletion of platelets in Adamts13−/− mice reduced leukocyte rolling, suggesting that platelet interaction with ULVWF contributes to this process. Increased levels of endothelial P-selectin and plasma VWF in Adamts13−/− compared with wild-type (WT) mice indicated an elevated release of Weibel-Palade bodies. ULVWF multimers released upon stimulation with histamine, a secretagogue of Weibel-Palade bodies, slowed down leukocyte rolling in Adamts13−/− but not in WT mice. Furthermore, in inflammatory models, ADAMTS13 deficiency resulted in enhanced extravasation of neutrophils, and this process was also dependent on VWF. Our findings reveal an important role for ADAMTS13 in preventing excessive spontaneous Weibel-Palade body secretion, and in the regulation of leukocyte adhesion and extravasation during inflammation.
Identification of Enterococcus Species and Phenotypically Similar Lactococcus andVagococcus Species by Reverse Checkerboard Hybridization to Chaperonin 60 Gene Sequences

ABSTRACT Data from four recent studies (S. H. Goh et al., J. Clin. Microbiol. 36:2164–2166, 1998; S. H. Goh et al., J. Clin. Microbiol. 34:818–823, 1996; S. H. Goh et al., J. Clin. Microbiol. 35:3116–3121, 1997; A. Y. C. Kwok et al., Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 49:1181–1192, 1999) suggest that an approximately 600-bp region of the chaperonin 60 (Cpn60) gene, amplified by PCR with a single pair of degenerate primers, has utility as a potentially universal target for bacterial identification (ID). This Cpn60 gene ID method correctly identified isolates representative of numerous staphylococcal species and Streptococcus iniae, a human and animal pathogen. We report herein that this method enabled us to distinguish clearly between 17 Enterococcus species (Enterococcus asini, Enterococcus rattus,Enterococcus dispar, Enterococcus gallinarum,Enterococcus hirae, Enterococcus durans,Enterococcus cecorum, Enterococcus faecalis,Enterococcus mundtii, Enterococcus casseliflavus, Enterococcus faecium,Enterococcus malodoratus, Enterococcus raffinosus, Enterococcus avium, Enterococcus pseudoavium, Enterococcus new sp. strain Facklam, andEnterococcus saccharolyticus), and Vagococcus fluvialis, Lactococcus lactis, and Lactococcus garvieae. From 123 blind-tested samples, only two discrepancies were observed between the Facklam and Collins phenotyping method (R. R. Facklam and M. D. Collins, J. Clin. Microbiol. 27:731–734, 1989) and the Cpn60 ID method. In each case, the discrepancies were resolved in favor of the Cpn60 ID method. The species distributions of the 123 blind-tested isolates wereEnterococcus new sp. strain Facklam (ATCC 700913), 3;E. asini, 1; E. rattus, 4; E. dispar, 2; E. gallinarum, 20; E. hirae, 9; E. durans, 9; E. faecalis, 12; E. mundtii, 3; E. casseliflavus, 8; E. faecium, 25; E. malodoratus, 3; E. raffinosus, 8; E. avium, 4; E. pseudoavium, 1; an unknown Enterococcus clinical isolate, sp. strain R871; Vagococcus fluvialis, 4;Lactococcus garvieae, 3; Lactococcus lactis, 3;Leuconostoc sp. , 1; and Pediococcus sp. , 1. The Cpn60 gene ID method, coupled with reverse checkerboard hybridization, is an effective method for the identification ofEnterococcus and related organisms.
Host‐microbe interaction in the gastrointestinal tract

Summary The gastrointestinal tract is a highly complex organ in which multiple dynamic physiological processes are tightly coordinated while interacting with a dense and extremely diverse microbial population. From establishment in early life, through to host‐microbe symbiosis in adulthood, the gut microbiota plays a vital role in our development and health. The effect of the microbiota on gut development and physiology is highlighted by anatomical and functional changes in germ‐free mice, affecting the gut epithelium, immune system and enteric nervous system. Microbial colonisation promotes competent innate and acquired mucosal immune systems, epithelial renewal, barrier integrity, and mucosal vascularisation and innervation. Interacting or shared signalling pathways across different physiological systems of the gut could explain how all these changes are coordinated during postnatal colonisation, or after the introduction of microbiota into germ‐free models. The application of cell‐based in‐vitro experimental systems and mathematical modelling can shed light on the molecular and signalling pathways which regulate the development and maintenance of homeostasis in the gut and beyond.
The cost of assuming the life history of a host: acoustic startle in the parasitoid fly Ormia ochracea

SUMMARY In the obligatory reproductive dependence of a parasite on its host, the parasite must trade the benefit of ‘outsourcing’ functions like reproduction for the risk of assuming hazards associated with the host. In the present study, we report behavioral adaptations of a parasitic fly, Ormia ochracea, that resemble those of its cricket hosts. Ormia females home in on the male cricket's songs and deposit larvae, which burrow into the cricket, feed and emerge to pupate. Because male crickets call at night, gravid female Ormia in search of hosts are subject to bat predation, in much the same way as female crickets are when responding to male song. We show that Ormia has evolved the same evasive behavior as have crickets: an acoustic startle response to bat-like ultrasound that manifests clearly only during flight. Furthermore, like crickets, Ormia has a sharp response boundary between the frequencies of song and bat cries, resembling categorical perception first described in the context of human speech.
The Efficacy of a Motivational Nursing Intervention Based on the Stages of Change on Self-care in Heart Failure Patients

Background and Research Objective:Heart failure (HF) patients experience frequent episodes of decompensation. While medication and behavior change play a major role in maintaining physiological stability, patient adherence to self-care recommendations is not optimal. The Theory of Heart Failure Self-care helped to understand the concepts of self-care and chose a model of intervention. Conviction and confidence are central factors in facilitating self-care. Motivational interviewing (MI), which aims to strengthen conviction and confidence, has been shown to improve self-care. In addition, the Transtheoretical Model, based on patients' readiness to change, also has proven efficacy. The MI based on the stages of change (MISC), a combination of MI and Transtheoretical Model, offers promise for improving self-care. The goal of this pilot study was to evaluate the preliminary effect of an MISC intervention on HF patients' self-care behaviors. Subjects and Method:Thirty patients were recruited from an HF clinic and randomly assigned to an experimental (EG) or control group (n = 15/group). Patients from the EG received 3 interventions (1 in person, 2 on the phone). Data were collected at baseline and at 1 month after randomization. The effect of the intervention was assessed on 5 self-care outcomes using analysis-of-covariance models. Results and Conclusion:Significant results were obtained regarding the confidence in performing self-care behaviors specific to HF (P =.005). Although the results of the other hypotheses were not statistically significant, for the majority, trends were in the expected direction in favor of the EG. The study suggests that an MISC intervention is useful to increase patients' confidence in HF self-care and has potential to improve self-care. Further research is needed.
Relation between phase of the menstrual cycle and asthma presentations in the emergency department

Background: The phase of the menstrual cycle is thought to influence the course of asthma in women. One recent study reported a large increase in exacerbations during the perimenstrual phase, while another found a preovulatory increase. A study was undertaken to determine the relation between phase of the menstrual cycle and acute asthma in patients presenting to the emergency department (ED). Methods: All women aged 18–54 years presenting with a diagnosis of acute asthma exacerbation were considered for enrolment in the study. Women who were pregnant, postmenopausal, following hysterectomy, with a >28 day menstrual cycle or incomplete reproductive history were excluded. The 792 eligible women were classified by menstrual phase based on both date of symptom onset and date of ED visit. Results: When classified by date of symptom onset, 28% were preovulatory (days 5 to 11), 25% were periovulatory (days 12 to 18), 21% were postovulatory (days 19 to 25), and 27% were perimenstrual (days 26 to 4; p = 0.03). When classified by date of ED visit, 28% were preovulatory, 22% were periovulatory, 22% were postovulatory, and 27% were perimenstrual (p = 0.004). Using either approach, there were no significant differences in demographic factors or in asthma severity of women in the various menstrual phase groups. Conclusion: Acute asthma exacerbations do not markedly increase during the perimenstrual phase. The results support the suggestion that both preovulatory and perimenstrual phases are actual triggers of asthma exacerbation in some women, or that these two phases serve as “co-factors” that worsen other recognised triggers of acute asthma.
Intraluminal bioavailability of divalent cations

Bioavailability of dietary divalent inorganic cations is a persistent problem in human nutrition, as the percentage of the ion that is available is relatively low (25–40%) and quite variable. Iron availability is a more special case, in that organic iron in the form of heme is more available than inorganic iron and the solubility of inorganic iron can be improved by reducing the trivalent form to the divalent ion. These nutritional options are not available for calcium, zinc, or magnesium. One major problem with the bioavailability of these latter three ions (especially calcium and zinc) is their solubility in small intestinal fluid, where factors such as pH and various competing anions lead to varying degrees of solubility, and this solubility may vary as the food bolus progresses aborally down the intestine. Despite the importance of solubilizing these cations, most of the work on bioavailability in animals and humans does not sample the intestinal lumen directly, so information on how to improve solubility is rather incomplete. Concentrations of metal ions in gastric juice have been reported, but these were obtained via endoscopy from fasting individuals [1]. Similar studies with gastric or intestinal juice do not appear to have been performed following meals. This review will discuss some of the information that is generally applicable to solubility of these cations, along with some information on the effect of intraluminal interactions, before discussing issues specific to the three ions. Because iron poses additional problems, data on its bioavailability will not be discussed further.
An aging suppression and calibration approach for differential amplifiers in advanced CMOS technologies

Stress experiments are presented on analog size devices in inversion and accumulation mode, including relaxing stress phenomena. Based on these data, a general concept to suppress device aging impact on differential amplifier circuits in advanced CMOS technologies is presented and proven experimentally. It is shown that the proposed method also enables to compensate for process variation induced mismatch. Thus it provides analog circuit designers the opportunity to reduce matching related area requirements.
Gestational Hypoglycaemia Restricts Foetal Growth and Skeletal Ossification in the Rat

Maternal blood glucose level during gestation is crucial for normal foetal development. In the non- clinical studies in non-diabetic rats required by authorities, long-acting insulin analogous being developed to decrease blood glucose levels persistently generate safety data on embryo-foetal effects, which may be challenging to interpret. Separating potential toxicological effects of the insulin analogue from those caused by the hypoglycaemia becomes problematic, when the effects of the latter are unknown. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate foetal effects of persistent maternal hypoglycaemia in rats after continuous maternal insulin-infusion throughout gestation. Effects on foetal size were measured and foetal skeletons were examined after alizarin red and alcian blue staining. Foetal hepatic glycogen content and foetal exposure to exogenous, i.e. human insulin, as well as endogenous plasma insulin levels were measured. Persistently 50% lowering maternal blood glucose throughout gestation caused a 10% decrease of foetal blood glucose levels on GD 20 and decreased foetal growth and development. Generalised decreased ossification and skeletal malformations of ribs, cranial bones, and long bones were seen with high incidences in foetuses. Furthermore, foetal but not maternal hepatic glycogen stores were decreased up to 50%. Foetuses were hypoinsulinaemic, and had no detectable exposure to exogenous insulin. The results indicate the existence of mechanisms which down-regulate placental glucose transfer to the foetus and consequently affect the foetal glucose metabolism and development reflected by counter-regulatory mobilisation of hepatic glycogen, decreased growth and delayed ossification of the skeleton as well skeleton malformations. As the foetuses were hypoinsulinaemic, these changes were most likely secondary to the maternal hypoglycaemia leading to foetal hypoglycaemia, and delayed development. This study provides novel data, which will aid the interpretation of findings in safety studies with longer-acting insulin analogues allowing differentiation between foetal effects of toxicological origin and those due to the persistent hypoglycaemia.
Hierarchical Phrase-based Stream Decoding

This paper proposes a method for hierarchical phrase-based stream decoding. A stream decoder is able to take a continuous stream of tokens as input, and segments this stream into word sequences that are translated and output as a stream of target word sequences. Phrase-based stream decoding techniques have been shown to be effective as a means of simultaneous interpretation. In this paper we transfer the essence of this idea into the framework of hierarchical machine translation. The hierarchical decoding framework organizes the decoding process into a chart; this structure is naturally suited to the process of stream decoding, leading to an efficient stream decoding algorithm that searches a restricted subspace containing only relevant hypotheses. Furthermore, the decoder allows more explicit access to the word re-ordering process that is of critical importance in decoding while interpreting. The decoder was evaluated on TED talk data for English-Spanish and English-Chinese. Our results show that like the phrase-based stream decoder, the hierarchical is capable of approaching the performance of the underlying hierarchical phrase-based machine translation decoder, at useful levels of latency. In addition the hierarchical approach appeared to be robust to the difficulties presented by the more challenging English-Chinese task.
Network Capacity Under Traffic Symmetry: Wireline and Wireless Networks

The problem of designing near optimal strategies for multiple unicast traffic in wireline networks is wide open; however, channel symmetry or traffic symmetry can be leveraged to show that routing can achieve with a polylogarithmic approximation factor of the edge-cut bound. For the same problem, the edge-cut bound is known to only upper bound rates of routing flows and unlike the information theoretic cut-set bound, it does not upper bound (capacity-achieving) information rates with general strategies. In this paper, we demonstrate that under channel or traffic symmetry, the edge-cut bound upper-bounds general information rates, thus providing a capacity approximation result. The key technique is a combinatorial result relating edge-cut bounds to generalized network sharing bounds. Finally, we generalize the results to wireless networks via an intermediary class of combinatorial graphs known as polymatroidal networks-our main result is that a natural architecture separating the physical and networking layers is near optimal when the traffic is symmetric among source-destination pairs, even when the channel is asymmetric (due to asymmetric power constraints, or prior frequency allocation like frequency division duplexing). This result is complementary to an earlier work of two of the authors proving a similar result under channel symmetry.
A Holistic Approach in Embedded System Development

We present pState, a tool for developing "complex" embedded systems by integrating validation into the design process. The goal is to reduce validation time. To this end, qualitative and quantitative properties are specified in system models expressed as pCharts, an extended version of hierarchical state machines. These properties are specified in an intuitive way such that they can be written by engineers who are domain experts, without needing to be familiar with temporal logic. From the system model, executable code that preserves the verified properties is generated. The design is documented on the model and the documentation is passed as comments into the generated code. On the series of examples we illustrate how models and properties are specified using pState.
A Brief Review of Chronic Exercise Intervention to Prevent Autonomic Nervous System Changes During the Aging Process

The aging process is associated with alterations in the cardiovascular and autonomic nervous systems. Autonomic changes related to aging involve parasympathetic and sympathetic alterations leading to a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality. Several studies have suggested that physical exercise is effective in preventing deleterious changes. Chronic exercise in geriatrics seems to be associated with improvement in the cardiovascular system and seems to promote a healthy lifestyle. In this review, we address the major effects of aging on the autonomic nervous system in the context of cardiovascular control. We examine the use of chronic exercise to prevent cardiovascular changes during the aging process.
Neural Networks for Vector Quantization of Speech and Images

Using neural networks for vector quantization (VQ) is described. The authors show how a collection of neural units can be used efficiently for VQ encoding, with the units performing the bulk of the computation in parallel, and describe two unsupervised neural network learning algorithms for training the vector quantizer. A powerful feature of the new training algorithms is that the VQ codewords are determined in an adaptive manner, compared to the popular LBG training algorithm, which requires that all the training data be processed in a batch mode. The neural network approach allows for the possibility of training the vector quantizer online, thus adapting to the changing statistics of the input data. The authors compare the neural network VQ algorithms to the LBG algorithm for encoding a large database of speech signals and for encoding images. >
Role of insulin as a negative regulator of plasma endocannabinoid levels in obese and nonobese subjects.

OBJECTIVE Endocannabinoids (ECs) control metabolism via cannabinoid receptors type 1 (CB1). Their plasma levels are elevated in overweight type 2 diabetes (T2D) and in obese patients, and decrease postprandially in normoweight individuals. We investigated in two different cohorts of nonobese or obese volunteers whether oral glucose in glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) or acute insulin infusion during euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp affect plasma EC levels. DESIGN AND METHODS OGTT was performed in ten obese hyperinsulinemic patients (body mass index (BMI)=35.8 kg/m2, fasting insulin=14.83 mU/l), and ten normoweight normoinsulinemic volunteers (BMI=21.9 kg/m2, fasting insulin=7.2 mU/l). Insulin clamp was performed in 19 mostly nonobese men (BMI=25.8 kg/m2) with varying degrees of liver fat and plasma triglycerides (TGs), with (n=7) or without T2D. Plasma levels of ECs (anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG)) were measured by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, before and 60 and 180 min after OGTT, and before and 240 and 480 min after insulin or saline infusion. RESULTS Oral glucose load decreased anandamide plasma levels to an extent inversely correlated with BMI, waist circumference, subcutaneous fat, fasting insulin and total glucose, and insulin areas under the curve during the OGTT, and nonsignificantly in obese volunteers. Insulin infusion decreased anandamide levels to an extent that weakly, but significantly, correlated negatively with TGs, liver fat and fasting insulin, and positively with high density lipoprotein cholesterol. OGTT decreased 2-AG levels to a lower extent and in a way weakly inversely correlated with fasting insulin. CONCLUSIONS We suggest that insulin reduces EC levels in a way inversely related to anthropometric and metabolic predictors of insulin resistance and dyslipidemia.
Low numbers of regulatory T cells in common variable immunodeficiency: association with chronic inflammation in vivo

Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is a heterogeneous syndrome characterized by defective immunoglobulin production and high frequency of bacterial infections, autoimmunity and manifestations of chronic inflammation. Abnormalities of CD4+CD25highforkhead box P3 (FoxP3)+ regulatory T cells (Treg) have been associated with autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, and we hypothesized that CVID might be characterized by Treg abnormalities. CD3+ cells from patients and controls were analysed for the expression of FoxP3 mRNA by real time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from CVID patients and controls were stained for Treg markers, analysed by flow cytometry and compared to clinical characteristics. The main findings were: (i) CVID patients had significantly decreased expression of FoxP3 mRNA and decreased proportions of CD4+CD25highFoxP3+ cells compared to controls; (ii) CVID patients with splenomegaly had even lower proportions of Treg compared to other patients and controls; (iii) serum levels of the inflammatory marker neopterin were correlated negatively with the proportions of Treg within the CVID population, while there was no significant association with bronchiectasis. We have demonstrated decreased proportions of Treg in CVID patients, particularly in those with signs of chronic inflammation. Decreased proportions of TReg are suggested to be pathogenetically important in autoimmunity, and our results suggest that TReg may have a similar role in CVID.
Colocalization of choline acetyltransferase and γ‐aminobutyric acid in the developing and adult turtle retinas

Acetylcholine and γ ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) are putative neurotransmitters in the adult vertebrate retina. In this study, cells that coexpress choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and GABA or glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) were investigated in turtle retinas from stage 14 (S14) to adulthood by using a double‐labeling immunofluorescence technique. ChAT immunoreactivity was observed at S15 and included not only the presumptive starburst cholinergic amacrine cells but also a population in the ganglion cell layer (GCL) that expressed ChAT transiently during the embryonic stages (see the accompanying paper: Nguyen et al. [2000] J. Comp. Neurol. 420:512–526). J. Comp. Neurol. 420:527–538, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.