Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Heat Shock Protein 27 Increases after Androgen Ablation and Plays a Cytoprotective Role in Hormone-Refractory Prostate Cancer

Heat shock protein 27 (Hsp27) is a chaperone implicated as an independent predictor of clinical outcome in prostate cancer. Our aim was to characterize changes in Hsp27 after androgen withdrawal and during androgen-independent progression in prostate xenografts and human prostate cancer to assess the functional significance of these changes using antisense inhibition of Hsp27. A tissue microarray was used to measure changes in Hsp27 protein expression in 232 specimens from hormone naive and posthormone-treated cancers. Hsp27 expression was low or absent in untreated human prostate cancers but increased beginning 4 weeks after androgen-ablation to become uniformly highly expressed in androgen-independent tumors. Androgen-independent human prostate cancer PC-3 cells express higher levels of Hsp27 mRNA in vitro and in vivo, compared with androgen-sensitive LNCaP cells. Phosphorothioate Hsp27 antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) and small interference RNA potently inhibit Hsp27 expression, with increased caspase-3 cleavage and PC3 cell apoptosis and 87% decreased PC3 cell growth. Hsp27 ASO and small interference RNA also enhanced paclitaxel chemosensitivity in vitro, whereas in vivo, systemic administration of Hsp27 ASO in athymic mice decreased PC-3 tumor progression and also significantly enhanced paclitaxel chemosensitivity. These findings suggest that increased levels of Hsp27 after androgen withdrawal provide a cytoprotective role during development of androgen independence and that ASO-induced silencing can enhance apoptosis and delay tumor progression.
Functional Assessment of Tissues with Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Over the past ten years, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has rapidly progressed from a purely anatomical imaging technique to one that reports on a wide variety of tissue functions. While most of these techniques have been developed for clinical problems or animal models, it is clear that they will be useful for studying engineered tissues both in vitro and in vivo. The goal of this presentation is to introduce the wide range of anatomical and functional information that can be assessed with magnetic resonance imaging.
Ligand binding and self‐association cooperativity of β‐lactoglobulin

Unlike most small globular proteins, lipocalins lack a compact hydrophobic core. Instead, they present a large central cavity that functions as the primary binding site for hydrophobic molecules. Not surprisingly, these proteins typically exhibit complex structural dynamics in solution, which is intricately modified by intermolecular recognition events. Although many lipocalins are monomeric, an increasing number of them have been proven to form oligomers. The coupling effects between self‐association and ligand binding in these proteins are largely unknown. To address this issue, we have calorimetrically characterized the recognition of dodecyl sulfate by bovine β‐lactoglobulin, which forms weak homodimers at neutral pH. A thermodynamic analysis based on coupled‐equilibria revealed that dimerization exerts disparate effects on the ligand‐binding capacity of β‐lactoglobulin. Protein dimerization decreases ligand affinity (or, reciprocally, ligand binding promotes dimer dissociation). The two subunits in the dimer exhibit a positive, entropically driven cooperativity. To investigate the structural determinants of the interaction, the crystal structure of β‐lactoglobulin bound to dodecyl sulfate was solved at 1.64 Å resolution. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Synaptic organization of individual neurons in the macaque lateral geniculate nucleus

Parvocellular and magnocellular neurons in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of macaque monkeys were recorded electrophysiologically and then injected with HRP. The injected neurons were examined with the electron microscope. Synaptic terminals contacting the dendrites of individual neurons were classified and the synapses counted to estimate the number and distribution of each type over the entire dendritic tree. Seven parvocellular and 2 magnocellular neurons were analyzed. Two of the parvocellular neurons had presynaptic dendrites and no axons. These interneurons had electro-physiological characteristics much like those of relay neurons with the exception that their receptive field center responses had the opposite sign; i.e., they had OFF centers, while most neurons around them had ON centers. All of the relay neurons had similar types and distributions of terminal contacts. However, the distribution of each synaptic type along the dendrites of an individual neuron was not homogeneous. Retinal and F terminals were located predominantly on proximal dendrites whereas RSD terminals, either from the cortex and/or brain stem, predominated on the intermediate and distal dendrites. Parvocellular neurons were estimated to have about 500 total synapses on their dendritic trees, while magnocellular neurons had about 3000 total synapses on their dendritic trees. The retinal terminals making synaptic contacts with magnocellular neurons were also presynaptic to terminals containing flattened vesicles; these latter terminals also had synapses onto the magnocellular neuron's dendrites. Such a synaptic arrangement is called a triadic arrangement, or triad. Parvocellular neurons rarely had such triadic arrangements. In comparing these data with those of the cat, it was concluded that the major synaptic difference between relay cell types in both species (Class 1/Class 2 cells for the cat and parvo/magno cells for the monkey) was the frequent occurrence of triads for Class 2 cells and magnocellular cells versus the infrequent occurrence of triads for Class 1 cells and parvocellular cells. Although these triadic arrangements have been studied for over 2 decades, their function has yet to be determined, but probably relates to inhibition of retina signals at dendrites of magnocellular neurons in the monkey and Class 2 cells in the cat.
Cooperative Relay for Cognitive Radio Networks

Cognitive radio has been proposed in recent years to promote the spectrum utilization by exploiting the existence of spectrum holes. The heterogeneity of both spectrum availability and traffic demand in secondary users has brought significant challenge for efficient spectrum allocation in cognitive radio networks. Observing that spectrum resource can be better matched to traffic demand of secondary users with the help of relay node that has rich spectrum resource, in this paper we exploit a new research direction for cognitive radio networks by utilizing cooperative relay to assist the transmission and improve spectrum efficiency. An infrastructure-based secondary network architecture has been proposed to leverage relay-assisted discontiguous OFDM (D-OFDM) for data transmission. In this architecture, relay node will be selected which can bridge the source and the destination using its common channels between those two nodes. With the introduction of cooperative relay, many unique problems should be considered, especially the issue for relay selection and spectrum allocation. We propose a central- ized heuristic solution to address the new resource allocation problem. To demonstrate the feasibility and performance of cooperative relay for cognitive radio, a new MAC protocol has been proposed and implemented in a Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP)-based testbed. Experimental results show that the throughput of the whole system is greatly increased by exploiting the benefit of cooperative relay.
Adolescent mental and physical health in the English-speaking Caribbean.

OBJECTIVE Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, a multisystem framework, was used to identify risk and protective factors associated with adolescent mental and physical health (AMPH) in the English-speaking Caribbean. METHODS A structured literature review, using the online databases of Medline, PsychInfo, and Scopus, was conducted to identify peer-reviewed studies published between January 1998 and July 2011 focused on adolescents ages 10-19 years. RESULTS Sixty-eight articles were examined: 40 on adolescent mental health (AMH), 27 on adolescent physical health (APH), and 1 on both topics. Key individual factors included gender and age. Religiosity and engagement in other risk behaviors were associated with AMH, while the presence of other chronic illnesses affected APH. Significant determinants of AMH in the microsystem included family and school connectedness, family structure, and socioeconomic status. Maternal obesity, parental education, and school environment influenced APH. Studies that investigated macrosystem factors reported few consistent findings related to AMPH. A history of family mental health problems and physical and sexual abuse was significantly associated with AMH in the chronosystem, while a family history of diabetes and low birth weight were associated with APH. Studies did not examine the exosystem or the mesosystem. CONCLUSIONS AMPH in the English-speaking Caribbean is affected by a variety factors in developing adolescents and their surroundings. Gender, family, and early exposure to negative environments are salient factors influencing AMPH and present potential avenues for prevention and intervention. A fuller understanding of AMPH in this region, however, requires scientifically rigorous studies that incorporate a multisystem approach.
The Latent Dementia Phenotype δ is Associated with Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease and Predicts Conversion to Dementia in Subjects with Mild Cognitive Impairment.

BACKGROUND The recently proposed latent variable δ is a new tool for dementia case finding. It is built in a structural equation modeling framework of cognitive and functional data and constitutes a novel endophenotype for Alzheimer's disease (AD) research and clinical trials. OBJECTIVE To investigate the association of δ with AD biomarkers and to compare the prediction of δ with established scales for conversion to dementia in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). METHODS Using data from a multicenter memory clinic study, we examined the external associations of the latent variable δ and compared δ with well-established cognitive and functional scales and cognitive-functional composite scores. For that purpose, logistic regressions with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers and conversion to dementia as dependent variables were performed with the investigated scores. The models were tested for significant differences. RESULTS In patients with MCI, δ based on a broad range of cognitive scales (including the ADAS-cog, the MMSE, and the CERAD neuropsychological battery) predicted an abnormal CSF Aβ42/tau ratio indicative of AD (n = 340, AUC = 0.78, p < 0.001), and predicted incident dementia within 1-3 years of follow-up (n = 525, AUC = 0.84, p < 0.001). These associations were generally stronger than for any other scale or cognitive-functional composite examined. Homologs of δ based on reduced test batteries yielded somewhat lower effects. CONCLUSION These findings support the interpretation of δ as a construct capturing the disease-related "essence" of cognitive and functional impairments in patients with MCI and dementia, and suggest that δ might become an analytical tool for dementia research.
Using Learning Styles to Improve Cost Effectiveness of Software Inspection Teams

Inspection is a widely known technique to detect faults in requirements document. It helps manager by early detection and removal of faults. Much of the cost can be saved by detecting faults during the inspections of early software artifacts as compared to testing in later stages of development. Our research utilizes a Learning Style – LS concept (coined by psychologists that refer to individuals’ information perceiving and processing traits) in the context of an inspection of software requirements document. This paper reports the results from an empirical study that, inspectors of diverse LS’s in a team are more cost effective (i.e., found larger number of faults faster with larger testing cost savings) as compared to the inspection team made up of random assigned inspectors or inspectors with similar LS’s. Keywords-software inspection; learning style; Kusumoto Metric
Preconception interventions in infertile couples

Background: Preconception interventions in infertile couples can increase the chance of pregnancy and lower its complications. The success in infertility treatment and achieving a successful pregnancy is of great importance among infertile couples compared to others. This study has tried to investigate necessary preconception interventions before beginning of infertility treatment cycle among infertile couples. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of 268 individuals presenting to fertility clinics (Moshtagh and Shahid beheshty) across the city of Isfahan, Iran. Simple sampling method was used. Questionnaire and patients’ medical records were used to collect data. Descriptive and analytic statistical methods and SPSS software were used for analysis. Results: The results showed that the interventions related to diseases treatment and prescription of folic acid before the beginning of infertility treatment were complete for most of the subject (47.06% and 79.9% respectively), but referral for genetics counseling had not been conducted in most of the cases (98.9%). Specific interventions in relation with the infertility treatment before beginning the treatment cycle had been conducted in 50% of the subjects. Conclusion: The results of this study showed a weakness concerning necessary preconception interventions before beginning of infertility treatment cycle in most of the studied subjects. With regard to the effect of preconception interventions on outcome of infertility treatment, and with consideration of high importance of pregnancy success in infertile couples, paying more attention to conduct this manner is necessary.
Serum miR-210 and miR-155 expression levels as novel biomarkers for rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis

Abstract Background: MicroRNAs play a crucial role in the regulation of immune response. We hypothesised roles for serum miR-210 and miR-155 in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and relationships with the clinical and laboratory variables including erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), rheumatoid factor (RF), anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibodies, tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β). Methods: MiR-210 and miR-155 levels were identified by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). TNF-α and IL-1β were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and routine markers by standard techniques in 100 patients with RA and 100 individuals as healthy controls. Disease activity in the patients was assessed by DA-S28. Results: MiR-210 was lower in RA compared to controls [median/IQR 0.96 (0.8–1.24) vs. 4 (1.28–3.93), p < 0.001]. miR-210 correlated inversely with clinical and laboratory variables including TNF-α and IL-1β (both r = −0.96, p < 0.001). MiR-155 expression was increased in RA compared to controls [median/IQR 6 (3.5–8.1) vs. 1.0 (0.95–1.6), p < 0.001] and correlated with TNF-α and IL-1β (both r = 0.94, p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, miR-210 and miR-155 were both independent diagnostic markers for RA, and both were associated with RA disease activity. Conclusion: Serum miR-210 and miR-155 levels are independent diagnostic markers for RA, out-performing several routine indices and reflect disease activity. Thus, miR-210 and miR-155 might serve as non-invasive biomarkers for the diagnosis of RA.
In search of the optimum test set - adaptive test methods for maximum defect coverage and lowest test cost

Maintaining product quality at reasonable test cost in very deep sub-micron process has become a major challenge especially due to multiple manufacturing locations with varying defect and parametric distributions. Increasing vector counts and binary search routines are now necessary for subtle defect screening. In addition, parametric tests and at-spec testing is still often necessary to ensure customer quality. Systematic defects are becoming more common and threaten to dominate the yield Pareto. Adaptive test methods are introduced in This work that demonstrate the capability of increasing or decreasing the test coverage based on the predicted or measured defect and parametric behavior of the silicon being tested. Results promise an increase in product quality at the same time a reduction in test costs.
Adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cell yield and growth characteristics are affected by the tissue-harvesting procedure.

BACKGROUND Adipose tissue contains a stromal vascular fraction that can be easily isolated and provides a rich source of adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASC). These ASC are a potential source of cells for tissue engineering. We studied whether the yield and growth characteristics of ASC were affected by the type of surgical procedure used for adipose tissue harvesting, i.e. resection, tumescent liposuction and ultrasound-assisted liposuction. METHODS Frequencies of ASC in the stromal vascular fraction were assessed in limiting dilution assays. The phenotypical marker profile of ASC was determined, using flow cytometry, and growth kinetics were investigated in culture. ASC were cultured under chondrogenic and osteogenic conditions to confirm their differentiation potential. RESULTS The number of viable cells in the stromal vascular fraction was affected by neither the type of surgical procedure nor the anatomical site of the body from where the adipose tissue was harvested. After all three surgical procedures, cultured ASC did express a CD34+ CD31- CD105+ CD166+ CD45- CD90+ ASC phenotype. However, ultrasound-assisted liposuction resulted in a lower frequency of proliferating ASC, as well as a longer population doubling time of ASC, compared with resection. ASC demonstrated chondrogenic and osteogenic differentiation potential. DISCUSSION We conclude that yield and growth characteristics of ASC are affected by the type of surgical procedure used for adipose tissue harvesting. Resection and tumescent liposuction seem to be preferable above ultrasound-assisted liposuction for tissue-engineering purposes.
Ethics: A Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory

1. The Moral Point of View. 2. Moral Conflict. 3. The Ethics of Divine Commands: Religious Moralities. 4. The Ethics of Selfishness: Egoism. 5. The Ethics of Consequences: Utilitarianism. 6. The Ethics of Duty: Immanuel Kant. 7. The Ethics of Rights: Contemporary Theories. 8. The Ethics of Justice: From Plato to Rawls. 9. The Ethics of Character: Aristotle and Our Contemporaries. 10. The Ethics of Diversity: Gender. 11. The Ethics of Diversity: Race, Ethnicity, and Multiculturalism. 12. Ethics in the 21st Century.
The Transatlantic Collapse of Urban Renewal: Postwar Urbanism from New York to Berlin

"The Transatlantic Collapse of Urban Renewal" examines how postwar thinkers from both sides of the Atlantic considered urban landscapes radically changed by the political and physical realities of sprawl, urban decay, and urban renewal. With a sweep that encompasses New York, London, Berlin, Philadelphia, and Toronto, among others, Christopher Klemek traces changing responses to the challenging issues that most affected the lives of the world's cities. In the postwar decades, the principles of modernist planning came to be challenged - in the grassroots revolts against the building of freeways through urban neighborhoods, for instance, or by academic critiques of slum clearance policy agendas - and then began to collapse entirely. Over the 1960s, several alternative views of city life emerged among neighborhood activists, New Left social scientists, and neoconservative critics. Ultimately, while a pessimistic view of urban crisis may have won out in the United States and Great Britain, Klemek demonstrates that other countries more successfully harmonized urban renewal and its alternatives. This much anticipated book provides one of the first truly international perspectives on issues central to historians and planners alike, making it essential reading for anyone engaged with either field.
Thyroidal uptake and radiation dose after repetitive I-131-MIBG treatments: influence of potassium iodide for thyroid blocking.

BACKGROUND In I-131-MIBG therapy, I-131-iodide can be released from the I-131-MIBG molecule. Hypothyroidism might result from the undesirable irradiation of the thyroid gland. To prevent this, stable iodide such as potassium iodide (KI) is given to oversaturate the thyroid before I-131-MIBG is administered. PROCEDURE In the present study, the incidence of hypothyroidism (elevated TSH) was correlated with the thyroidal uptake of I-131 and dose (MIRD dosimetry) after 35 individual treatments in ten patients. Iodine-131-MIBG therapy was performed using a modified dosage of 1.9-11.1 GBq (50-300 mCi) IV. Premedication with KI was done as recommended with a dose of 100 mg KI orally from 2 days before until 4 weeks after I-131-MIBG. RESULTS The absorbed thyroidal dose amounted to a very variable range of 0.2 (patient # 1) up to 30.0 (patient 3) Gy with 7.1 +/- 7.9 Gy per treatment and 24.1+/- 19.2 Gy per patient (mean+/- SD), despite the same and compliantly taken KI premedication protocol. Up to now, 4/10 or 40% of patients have developed hypothyroidism after a mean follow-up period of 11 months and a mean total administered dose of 18.7 GBq (505 mCi). A trend towards higher thyroidal doses was seen in the hypothyroid patients. CONCLUSIONS This study observes a general high inter- and intra-individual variability in radio-iodide uptake in the thyroid after I-131-MIBG therapy despite KI premedication, as well as possible occurrence of hypothyroidism. A dose-response relationship needs confirmation on a larger cohort of patients to reach statistical value. An alternative thyroid cytoprotection strategy for possible long-term survivors may be considered.
A Clinical and Economic Evaluation of Endoscopic Ultrasound for Patients at Risk for Familial Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

Background and Aims: Approximately 10% of pancreatic adenocarcinoma is familial. Approximately 50% of 1st-degree relatives (FDRs) have endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) findings of chronic pancreatitis. We modeled the natural history of these patients to compare 4 management strategies. Methods: We performed a systematic review, and created a Markov model for 45-year-old male FDRs, with findings of chronic pancreatitis on screening EUS. We compared 4 strategies: doing nothing, prophylactic total pancreatectomy (PTP), annual surveillance by EUS, and annual surveillance with EUS and fine needle aspiration (EUS/FNA). Outcomes incorporated mortality, quality of life, procedural complications, and costs. Results: In the Do Nothing strategy, the lifetime risk of cancer was 20%. Doing nothing provided the greatest remaining years of life, the lowest cost, and the greatest remaining quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). PTP provided the fewest remaining years of life, and the fewest remaining QALYs. Screening with EUS provided nearly identical results to PTP, and screening with EUS/FNA provided intermediate results between PTP and doing nothing. PTP provided the longest life expectancy if the lifetime risk of pancreatic cancer was at least 46%, and provided the most QALYs if the risk was at least 68%. Conclusions: FDRs from familial pancreatic cancer kindreds, who have EUS findings of chronic pancreatitis, have increased risk for cancer, but their precise risk is unknown. Without the ability to further quantify that risk, the most effective strategy is to do nothing.