Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PPE38 Protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Inhibits Macrophage MHC Class I Expression and Dampens CD8+ T Cell Responses

Suppression of CD8+ T cell activation is a critical mechanism used by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) to escape protective host immune responses. PPE38 belongs to the unique PPE family of MTB and in our previous study, PPE38 protein was speculated to participate in manipulating macrophage MHC class I pathway. To test this hypothesis, the function of mycobacterial PPE38 protein was assessed here using macrophage and mouse infection models. Decreased amount of MHC class I was observed on the surface of macrophages infected with PPE38-expressing mycobacteria. The transcript of genes encoding MHC class I was also inhibited by PPE38. After infection of C57BL/6 mice with Mycobacterium smegmatis expressing PPE38 (Msmeg-PPE38), decreased number of CD8+ T cells was found in spleen, liver, and lungs through immunohistochemical analysis, comparing to the control strain harboring empty vector (Msmeg-V). Consistently, flow cytometry assay showed that fewer effector/memory CD8+ T cells (CD44highCD62Llow) were activated in spleen from Msmeg-PPE38 infected mice. Moreover, Msmeg-PPE38 confers a growth advantage over Msmeg-V in C57BL/6 mice, indicating an effect of PPE38 to favor mycobacterial persistence in vivo. Overall, this study shows a unique biological function of PPE38 protein to facilitate mycobacteria to escape host immunity, and provides hints for TB vaccine development.
TESTING FOR SEASONAL UNIT ROOTS IN PERIODIC INTEGRATED AUTOREGRESSIVE PROCESSES

This paper examines the implications of applying the Hylleberg, Engle, Granger, and Yoo (1990, Journal of Econometrics 44, 215–238) (HEGY) seasonal root tests to a process that is periodically integrated. As an important special case, the random walk process is also considered, where the zero-frequency unit root t-statistic is shown to converge to the Dickey–Fuller distribution and all seasonal unit root statistics diverge. For periodically integrated processes and a sufficiently high order of augmentation, the HEGY t-statistics for unit roots at the zero and semiannual frequencies both converge to the same Dickey–Fuller distribution. Further, the HEGY joint test statistic for a unit root at the annual frequency and all joint test statistics across frequencies converge to the square of this distribution. Results are also derived for a fixed order of augmentation. Finite-sample Monte Carlo results indicate that, in practice, the zero-frequency HEGY statistic (with augmentation) captures the single unit root of the periodic integrated process, but there may be a high probability of incorrectly concluding that the process is seasonally integrated.
High and compact formation of baculoviral polyhedrin‐induced inclusion body by co‐expression of baculoviral FP25 in Escherichia coli

Previously, we found that baculoviral polyhedrin (Polh) can successfully be used in Escherichia coli as a fusion partner for the expression of special foreign proteins as inclusion bodies, and the resulting, easily isolatable Polh‐induced fusion inclusion bodies had almost the same characteristics as the native Polh. Here, we investigated the effects of co‐expression of baculoviral FP25 protein on Polh‐induced inclusion‐body production in an E. coli expression system, as FP25 is known to be involved specifically in polyhedra formation. Using several analytical tools, including SDS–PAGE, pronase proteolysis, solubilization under alkaline conditions, and electron microscopy, we found that co‐expressed FP25 was associated with Polh‐induced inclusion bodies and that its co‐expression led to formation of compact inclusion bodies as well as high production levels. We confirmed that FP25 co‐expression induced higher production levels of other heterologous protein, antimicrobial peptide Hal18, fused with aggregation‐prone Polh. Therefore, co‐expression of baculoviral FP25 can be promisingly used to increase the levels of baculoviral Polh‐fused foreign proteins, especially harmful proteins, expressed as inclusion bodies in an E. coli expression system. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2007;96:1183–1190. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Comparison of Clinical and Radiographic Outcomes Between Central and Lateral Lesions After Osteochondral Autograft Transplantation for Osteochondritis Dissecans of the Humeral Capitellum

Background: Clinical studies have reported satisfactory results after osteochondral autograft transplantation (OAT) for central lesions of unstable osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) of the elbow. However, the outcomes after OAT for lateral lesions remain unclear. Hypothesis: The clinical outcomes of OAT would be better for central lesions than for lateral lesions. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: The authors retrospectively evaluated 103 juvenile athletes (mean age, 13.2 years; range, 11-16 years) who underwent OAT for symptomatic OCD of the humeral capitellum from 2003 to 2014. Sixteen patients were excluded because they did not fit the inclusion criteria. The final cohort of 87 patients was divided by lesion type into central lesion (n = 43) and lateral lesion (n = 44) groups. When possible, a single large plug was created for grafting and trimmed to reconstruct the rounded joint surface. The clinical, radiographic, and magnetic resonance imaging outcomes were evaluated for each group at a mean follow-up of 43 months (range, 24-100 months). Results: There were no significant differences in the age, sex, height, weight, duration of symptoms, follow-up time, preoperative range of motion, or Timmerman and Andrews score between the 2 groups. The preoperative osteoarthritic changes (0 of 43 for central vs 5 of 44 cases for lateral; P = .023), mean lesion size (12.2 ± 2.9 vs 18.2 ± 7.0 mm; P < .001), and graft number (1.6 vs 2.8; P < .001) were significantly greater in the lateral group versus the central group. The mean range of extension (2.3° ± 5.4° vs −3.2° ± 8.7°; P < .001) and Timmerman and Andrews score (194 vs 185; P = .006) at the final follow-up were significantly better for patients in the central group. More patients in the lateral group had postoperative radial head subluxation (0 of 43 vs 6 of 44; P = .012) and osteoarthritic changes (1 of 43 vs 9 of 44; P = .008). The mean MOCART score showed no significant differences between the groups (78.0 ± 15.7 vs 72.6 ± 20.9; P = .181). The rate of return to sports at the previous level was 100% in the central group and 86% in the lateral group (P = .012). Conclusion: The clinical and radiographic outcomes after OAT associated with unstable OCD of the humeral capitellum were better for central lesions than for lateral lesions. However, satisfactory outcomes and a high rate of return to sports were obtained for unstable lateral lesions after OAT.
Experimental Basis for QRS and T Wave Potentials in the WPW Syndrome: The Relation of Epicardial to Body Surface Potential Distributions in the Intact Chimpanzee

The WolfT-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome was experimentally mimicked by stimulating seven different ectopic (pre-excitation) sites in intact chimpanzees. The objective was to determine how to differentiate one ectopic site from another possible ectopic site close by. The approach used was to obtain a direct picture of total cardiac electrical activity in the form of epicardial potential distributions to understand the cardiac origin of the surface potentials throughout ventricular depolarization and repolarization. QRS-T wave body surface maps were interpreted by visually comparing them directly with the associated measured epicardial potential distributions and by quantitative comparison with those produced by adjacent ectopic sites. During early QRS (delta wave) all sites produced a body surface maximum within the same small area on the anterior chest; however, the position of the minimum was markedly different and was related spatially to the position of the ectopic site. The epicardial measurements showed that during early excitation there was a minimum of large magnitude at the ectopic site while the nearby maximum was of much lower magnitude. The body surface maxima and minima during QRS provided an easy way to distinguish between ectopic sites on one ventricle vs. the other, but between adjacent sites on the same ventricle there was frequently little change in the pattern of the QRS maximum and minimum. However, adjacent sites produced distinct changes in the distant low level potential areas. The combined analysis of QRS and T waves showed that subepicardial ectopic sites 2-3 cm apart produced detectable differences in the body surface distributions. Furthermore, the T wave patterns were as useful as or more useful than those during QRS for predicting the ectopic pre-excitation site. On the epicardium, the positions of the repolarization maximum and minimum were the same as those of the earliest and latest areas of ventricular excitation, a feature which resulted in a better indication of cardiac electrical events on the body surface during ST-T waves than during QRS.
Effects of serotonin-receptor blockade on angioplasty-induced vasospasm in an atherosclerotic rabbit model.

Vasospasm occurs both in patients and animal models after angioplasty and may be associated with early closure of the dilated vessel. To investigate the mechanism of angioplasty-induced vasospasm, the effect of serotonin-receptor blockade with two serotonin2 (S2) antagonists, LY53857 and sergolexole, was examined in rabbits with focal femoral artery atherosclerosis. In preliminary studies, local infusion of 1-100 micrograms serotonin caused significant femoral artery vasoconstriction (p less than 0.05) in both normal and atherosclerotic rabbits. There was no significant difference in the degree of vasoconstriction induced by equal doses of serotonin in normal and atherosclerotic animals. Infusion of 10 micrograms serotonin produced a 23 +/- 5% decrease in luminal diameter in atherosclerotic femoral arteries. This was blocked by pretreatment with both S2 inhibitors given separately in different animals before serotonin infusion (p less than 0.002). In contrast, LY53857 (sergolexole was not tested) had no significant effect on phenylephrine-induced vasoconstriction, confirming its specificity as an S2-receptor antagonist. Balloon angioplasty of atherosclerotic vessels caused a significant increase in vessel diameter at the angioplasty site (45% increase from baseline diameter, p less than 0.05). This was associated with significant luminal narrowing both proximal (21% reduction from baseline, p less than 0.05) and distal (17% reduction from baseline, p less than 0.03) to the angioplasty site. These proximal and distal changes are most likely due to vasospasm, as there was no histological evidence of thrombus or dissection at these sites to explain the luminal narrowing. Pretreatment of animals with 10 mg LY53857 or 20 mg sergolexole blocked the proximal vasospasm (2.6 +/- 0.4 before versus 2.2 +/- 0.1mm after angioplasty for LY53857, 2.1 +/- 0.4 before versus 2.1 +/- 0.4 mm after angioplasty for sergolexole; p = NS). Treatment with 20 mg LY53857 inhibited both proximal (2.3 +/- 0.1 before versus 2.2 +/- 0.2 mm after angioplasty, p = NS) and distal (1.7 +/- 0.1 before versus 1.6 +/- 0.2 mm after angioplasty, p = NS) vasospasm after angioplasty. Proximal (2.3 +/- 0.5 before versus 2.5 +/- 0.3 mm after) and distal (1.7 +/- 0.2 before versus 1.7 +/- 0.4 mm after) vasospasm was also prevented by pretreatment with 40 mg sergolexole. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Oxidative Stress and Growth Behavior Responses of Marine Diatoms Phaeodactylum Tricornutum and Skeletonema Costatum to Three Typical Persistent Organic Pollutants

To study the oxidative stress responses and growth behavior of marine diatom to persistent organic pollutants (POPs), Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Skeletonema costatum, two species of algae which are potentially harmful to marine environment as red tide algae, were chosen as test diatoms against three common kinds of POPs in the ocean: Aroclor 1254, benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). The two algae were cultivated in three concentrations of 50, 100 and 500 µg L-1 for 72 h; and the temporal production of malondialdehyde (MDA) and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) were determined. Results showed that MDA responded quicker than SOD in P. tricornutum and S. costatum, a peak of MDA was detected after 2 h of exposure, while the activity of SOD peaked after 12 h of exposure. For studying the growth behavior of diatoms in the bi-algal culture to POPs, two species in different initial cell densities were investigated in 28-day exposure to the three POPs in concentrations of 15 and 50 µg L-1. The growth of P. tricornutum increased significantly only in the medium enriched with 50 µg L-1 DDT (ratiomax = 148%). On contrast, the cell density of S. costatum increased during the most time of exposure regardless of initial cell density. The results demonstrate that POPs toxicity could cause oxidative stress even cell damage in both P. tricornutum and S. costatum, but algal growth was promoted by the POPs in the mixed culture, which indicated that the presence of pollutants in the sea was an important inducement of the species groups change. The results of this study may provide valuable help for detailed studies of oxidative stress and growth behavior responses of marine diatom to POPs.
Analysis of correlation between heart rate and blood pressure

The paper presents an analysis of correlation between heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP). The actual data were obtained from three female and one male. The systolic and diastolic blood pressure was measured with the invasive method in the radial artery. The correlation coefficient indicates only linear dependence, so the inverse of HR was also taken into account. Since the measurements can be corrupted by noise the moving average filtering and trend analysis for all data was done. The results of the correlation analysis of this filtered data were similar to results obtained for raw data. The observed correlation coefficient between HR and BP (systolic and diastolic) for whole available data seems a random number. However the short-term correlation is relatively large (about 0.5), but rather unpredictable, since even sign of the correlation coefficient is changing.
Salmonella Infection in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are susceptible to infections, notably salmonellosis. We report 37 cases of salmonella infection in 24 patients with SLE. These cases were detected in a group of 770 patients with SLE. All the patients were women, with a mean age of 25.6 years. At the onset of salmonella infection, 81 % were taking prednisolone and 27 % were taking cytotoxic drugs. Renal involvement was present in 75% of patients, which was approximately the same as in other SLE patients. Bacteremia, arthritis, osteomyelitis and rare manifestations of salmonellosis, including pulmonary and urinary tract involvement, were encountered. Diagnosis was based on isolation of the microorganism, mostly from blood cultures. Salmonella species other than typhi and paratyphi were often responsible. Widal agglutination test was positive in less than half the cases, and leukopenia was not seen frequently. Recurrence of infection in 29% of the patients and the high mortality rate (28.5%), despite the conventional period of appropriate antimicrobial treatment, show a poor prognosis of salmonellosis in SLE patients. This special picture of salmonellosis argues for a much longer period of treatment in these patients.
Processing of syllable stress is functionally different from phoneme processing and does not profit from literacy acquisition

Speech is characterized by phonemes and prosody. Neurocognitive evidence supports the separate processing of each type of information. Therefore, one might suggest individual development of both pathways. In this study, we examine literacy acquisition in middle childhood. Children become aware of the phonemes in speech at that time and refine phoneme processing when they acquire an alphabetic writing system. We test whether an enhanced sensitivity to phonemes in middle childhood extends to other aspects of the speech signal, such as prosody. To investigate prosodic processing, we used stress priming. Spoken stressed and unstressed syllables (primes) preceded spoken German words with stress on the first syllable (targets). We orthogonally varied stress overlap and phoneme overlap between the primes and onsets of the targets. Lexical decisions and Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) for the targets were obtained for pre-reading preschoolers, reading pupils and adults. The behavioral and ERP results were largely comparable across all groups. The fastest responses were observed when the first syllable of the target word shared stress and phonemes with the preceding prime. ERP stress priming and ERP phoneme priming started 200 ms after the target word onset. Bilateral ERP stress priming was characterized by enhanced ERP amplitudes for stress overlap. Left-lateralized ERP phoneme priming replicates previously observed reduced ERP amplitudes for phoneme overlap. Groups differed in the strength of the behavioral phoneme priming and in the late ERP phoneme priming effect. The present results show that enhanced phonological processing in middle childhood is restricted to phonemes and does not extend to prosody. These results are indicative of two parallel processing systems for phonemes and prosody that might follow different developmental trajectories in middle childhood as a function of alphabetic literacy.
Opportunity-Based Topology Control in Wireless Sensor Networks

Topology control is an effective method to improve the energy efficiency of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Traditional approaches are based on the assumption that a pair of nodes is either "connected" or "disconnected". These approaches are called connectivity-based topology control. In real environments however, there are many intermittently connected wireless links called lossy links. Taking a succeeded lossy link as an advantage, we are able to construct more energy-efficient topologies. Towards this end, we propose a novel opportunity-based topology control. We show that opportunity-based topology control is a problem of NPhard. To address this problem in a practical way, we design a fully distributed algorithm called CONREAP based on reliability theory. We prove that CONREAP has a guaranteed performance. The worst running time is O(jEj) where E is the link set of the original topology, and the space requirement for individual nodes is O(d) where d is the node degree. To evaluate the performance of CONREAP, we design and implement a prototype system consisting of 50 BerkeleyMica2 motes. We also conducted comprehensive simulations. Experimental results show that compared with the connectivity-based topology control algorithms, CONREAP can improve the energy efficiency of a network up to 6 times.
Novel therapies for sepsis: a review.

BACKGROUND Over the past 30 years, efforts have been made to identify therapeutic targets in the host response to infection. METHODS A review of the randomized controlled clinical sepsis trials and meta-analyses of glucocorticoids, mediator-specific anti-inflammatory agents, and anticoagulant agents was performed. RESULTS The effects of glucocorticoids in sepsis appear to be dose-dependent, with high doses decreasing survival and low doses improving survival. As a class, the mediator-specific anti-inflammatory agents have a small beneficial effect on survival; however, no single agent has demonstrated significant benefit. The treatment effects of these agents appear to be related to the patient's risk of death. As a class, the anticoagulant agents do not improve survival; however, the efficacy of these agents may have been confounded by concurrent heparin therapy. Activated protein C demonstrated a beneficial effect on survival that was dependent on severity of illness. CONCLUSION Trials of agents directed at altering the host's response during sepsis have had variable results, and it appears that several different factors may alter the efficacy of these agents.
CAD of complex passive devices composed of arbitrarily shaped waveguides using Nystro/spl uml/m and BI-RME methods

In this paper, a novel computer-aided design (CAD) tool of complex passive microwave devices in waveguide technology is proposed. Such a tool is based on a very efficient integral-equation analysis technique that provides a full-wave characterization of discontinuities between arbitrarily shaped waveguides defined by linear, circular, and/or elliptical arcs. For solving the modal analysis of such arbitrary waveguides, a modified version of the well-known boundary integral-resonant-mode expansion (BI-RME) method using the Nystro/spl uml/m approach, instead of the traditional Galerkin version of the method of moments, is proposed, thus providing significant savings on computational costs and implementation complexity. The novel theoretical aspects of this Nystro/spl uml/m approach, as well as their impact on the original BI-RME formulation, are fully described. Comparative benchmarks between this new technique and the classical BI-RME formulation using Galerkin are successfully presented for the full-wave analysis of frequently used irises (i.e., rectangular cross-shaped and circular multiridged) and for the CAD of complex waveguide components (such as rectangular waveguide filters considering mechanization effects and dual-mode circular waveguide filters with elliptical irises).
Effects of pH and mineralisation on nitrification in a subtropical acid forest soil

Effects of pH on nitrification have been explored widely; however, few researchers have investigated the compound effects of pH and mineralisation on nitrification and responsible nitrifiers in subtropical forest soils. An acid subtropical forest soil was subjected to pH treatments by liming for 40 days at 25°C and 60% water holding capacity. After 40 days, gross N transformation rates in the samples were evaluated using the 15N tracing technique and model. Ammonia-oxidising bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidising archaea (AOA) were quantified by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The results showed that gross rates of mineralisation (P < 0.01), NH4+ oxidation to NO3− (P < 0.01), and dissimilatory NO3− reduction to ammonium (DNRA, P < 0.05) significantly increased with elevated soil pH. The NH4+ oxidation to NO3− rates and N mineralisation rates were significantly correlated (P < 0.05). The abundance of AOB (P < 0.05) but not AOA amoA genes dramatically increased in the elevated pH treatments after 40 days. We suggest that the N mineralisation was sensitive to elevated pH in the subtropical acid forest soil, which increased the supply rate of nitrification substrate and the favourable pH microsites for nitrifiers. Interactions between elevated pH and mineralisation have a synergistic and stimulatory effect on development of AOB and their associated nitrifying activity.