Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
68Ga-NOTA-Aca-BBN(7–14) PET/CT in Healthy Volunteers and Glioma Patients

This work was designed to study the safety, biodistribution, and radiation dosimetry of a gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRPR)–targeting, 68Ga-labeled bombesin (BBN) peptide derivative PET tracer, NOTA-Aca-BBN(7–14) (denoted as 68Ga-BBN) in healthy volunteers and to assess the level of receptor expression in glioma patients. Methods: Four healthy volunteers (2 male and 2 female) underwent whole-body PET/CT at multiple time points after a bolus injection of 68Ga-BBN (111 ± 148 MBq). Regions of interest were drawn manually over major organs, and time–activity curves were obtained. Dosimetry was calculated using the OLINDA/EXM software. Twelve patients with glioma diagnosed by contrast-enhanced MRI underwent PET/CT at 30–45 min after 68Ga-BBN injection. Within 1 wk afterward, the tumor was surgically removed and immunohistochemical staining of tumor samples against GRPR was performed and correlated with the PET/CT results. Results: 68Ga-BBN was well tolerated in all healthy volunteers, with no adverse symptoms being noticed or reported. 68Ga-BBN cleared rapidly from the circulation and was excreted mainly through the kidneys and urinary tract. The total effective dose equivalent and effective dose were 0.0335 ± 0.0079 and 0.0276 ± 0.0066 mSv/MBq, respectively. In glioma patients, all MRI-identified lesions showed high signal intensity on 68Ga-BBN PET/CT. SUVmax and SUVmean were 2.08 ± 0.58 and 1.32 ± 0.37, respectively. With normal brain tissue as background, tumor-to-background ratios were 24.0 ± 8.85 and 13.4 ± 4.54 based on SUVmax and SUVmean, respectively. The immunohistochemical staining confirmed a positive correlation between SUV and GRPR expression level (r2 = 0.71, P < 0.001). Conclusion: 68Ga-BBN is a PET tracer with favorable pharmacokinetics and a favorable dosimetry profile. It has the potential to evaluate GRPR expression in glioma patients and guide GRPR-targeted therapy of glioma.
Improving Spatial Coverage for Aqua MODIS AOD using NDVI-Based Multi-Temporal Regression Analysis

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) provides widespread Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) datasets for climatological and environmental health research. Since MODIS AOD clearly lacks coverage in orbit-scanning gaps and cloud obscuration, some applications will benefit from data recovery using multi-temporal AOD. Aimed at qualitatively describing the relationship between multi-temporal AOD, AOD loadings and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) have been considered based on the mechanism of satellite AOD retrieval. Accordingly, the NDVI-based Weighted Linear Regression (NWLR) has been proposed to recover AOD by synthetically weighing AOD similarity, spatial proximity, and NDVI similarity. To evaluate the performance of AOD recovery, simulated experiments applying gap and window masks were conducted in South Asia and Beijing, respectively. The evaluation results demonstrated that the linear regression R2 achieved 0.8 and the absolute relative errors remained steady. Further validation was conducted between the recovered and actual AODs using 56 Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) sites in East and South Asia from 2013 to 2015, which demonstrated that over 41% of recovered AODs fell within the expected error (EE) envelope. Additional validation conducted in South Asia and Beijing showed that recovery by NWLR did not expand satellite-derived AOD errors, and the accuracy of recovered AOD was consistent with the accuracy of the original Aqua MODIS Deep Blue (DB) AOD. The recovery results illustrated that AOD coverage was improved in most regions, especially in North China, Mongolia, and South Asia, which could provide better support in aerosol spatio-temporal analysis and aerosol data assimilation.
Screening of Critical Genes and MicroRNAs in Blood Samples of Patients with Ruptured Intracranial Aneurysms by Bioinformatic Analysis of Gene Expression Data

Background This study aimed to identify more potential genes and miRNAs associated with the pathogenesis of intracranial aneurysms (IAs). Material/Methods The dataset of GSE36791 (accession number) was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened for in the blood samples from patients with ruptured IAs and controls, followed by functional and pathway enrichment analyses. In addition, gene co-expression network was constructed and significant modules were extracted from the network by WGCNA R package. Screening for miRNAs that could regulate DEGs in the modules was performed and an analysis of regulatory relationships was conducted. Results A total of 304 DEGs (167 up-regulated and 137 down-regulated genes) were screened for in blood samples from patients with ruptured IAs compared with those from controls. Functional enrichment analysis showed that the up-regulated genes were mainly associated with immune response and the down-regulated DEGs were mainly concerned with the structure of ribosome and translation. Besides, six functional modules were significantly identified, including four modules enriched by up-regulated genes and two modules enriched by down-regulated genes. Thereinto, the blue, yellow, and turquoise modules of up-regulated genes were all linked with immune response. Additionally, 16 miRNAs were predicted to regulate DEGs in the three modules associated with immune response, such as hsa-miR-1304, hsa-miR-33b, hsa-miR-125b, and hsa-miR-125a-5p. Conclusions Several genes and miRNAs (such as miR-1304, miR-33b, IRS2 and KCNJ2) may take part in the pathogenesis of IAs.
A Synergism between Temporins toward Gram-negative Bacteria Overcomes Resistance Imposed by the Lipopolysaccharide Protective Layer*

Temporins are short and homologous antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) isolated from the frog skin of Rana genus. To date, very little is known about the biological significance of the presence of closely related AMPs in single living organisms. Here we addressed this question using temporins A, B, and L isolated from Rana temporaria. We found that temporins A and B are only weakly active toward Gram-negative bacteria. However, a marked synergism occurs when each is mixed with temporin L. To shed light on the underlying mechanisms involved in these activities, we used various experimental strategies to investigate: (i) the effect of the peptides' interaction on both the viability and membrane permeability of intact bacteria and spheroplasts; (ii) their interaction with lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and the effect of LPS on the oligomeric state of temporins, alone or combining one with another; (iii) their structure in solution and when bound to LPS, by using circular dichroism and ATR-FTIR spectroscopies. Our data reveal that temporin L synergizes with A and B by preventing their oligomerization in LPS. This should promote their translocation across the outer membrane into the cytoplasmic membrane. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that explains how a combination of native AMPs from the same species can overcome bacterial resistance imposed by the LPS leaflet.
Early growth response 1 regulates glucose deprivation-induced necrosis

Necrosis is commonly found in the core region of solid tumours due to metabolic stress such as hypoxia and glucose deprivation (GD) resulting from insufficient vascularization. Necrosis promotes tumour growth and development by releasing the tumour-promoting cytokine high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1); however, the molecular mechanism underlying necrotic cell death remains largely unknown. In this study, we show that early growth response 1 (Egr-1) is induced in a reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent manner by GD in several cell lines such as A549, MDA-MB-231 and HepG2 cells that exhibit necrosis upon GD. We found that Egr-1 short hairpin RNA (shRNA) prevented GD-induced necrosis and HMGB1 release. Necrosis-inhibiting activity of Egr-1 shRNA was also seen in multicellular tumour spheroids (MTSs), an in vitro tumour model system. In contrast, Egr-1 overexpression appeared to make tumour cells more susceptible to GD-induced necrosis. Finally, Egr-1 shRNA suppressed the growth of MTSs. These findings demonstrate that Egr-1 is implicated in GD-induced necrosis and tumour progression.
The novel apolipoprotein A5 is present in human serum, is associated with VLDL, HDL, and chylomicrons, and circulates at very low concentrations compared with other apolipoproteins.

BACKGROUND The recently discovered apolipoprotein A5 (ApoA5) is fast gaining attention as a key regulator of serum triglyceride concentrations. An ApoA5 mouse knock-out model produced an approximately fourfold increase in serum triglycerides, whereas a knock-in model with human ApoA5 produced 50-70% lower concentrations of mouse serum triglycerides. In addition, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha agonists, which are used clinically to lower serum triglyceride concentrations, cause increased ApoA5 mRNA expression. Despite these compelling molecular biology data, relatively little is known about ApoA5 protein in human serum. METHODS To better understand circulating concentrations and lipoprotein particle distribution of ApoA5, we expressed the recombinant human ApoA5 protein and raised antibodies against both the NH(2) and COOH termini. RESULTS Using the above reagents, we demonstrate for the first time that ApoA5 is present in human serum, although at much lower concentrations than other apolipoproteins such as ApoA1. Using a dual-antibody sandwich ELISA that we developed, we observed ApoA5 concentrations in human serum ranging from 24 to 406 microg/L compared with approximately 1 g/L for ApoA1. We also examined the lipoprotein particle distribution of ApoA5 and found that ApoA5 was detectable in VLDL, HDL, and chylomicrons, but not LDL. CONCLUSIONS These data demonstrate for the first time that ApoA5 is a secreted protein present in human serum and is associated with specific lipoprotein particles. In addition, our data indicate that the circulating concentration of human ApoA5 is very low compared with other apolipoproteins.
Aggregate Interference Modeling in Cognitive Radio Networks with Power and Contention Control

In this paper, we present interference models for cognitive radio (CR) networks employing various interference management mechanisms including power control, contention control or hybrid power/contention control schemes. For the first case, a power control scheme is proposed to govern the transmission power of a CR node. For the second one, a contention control scheme at the media access control (MAC) layer, based on carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA), is proposed to coordinate the operation of CR nodes with transmission requests. The probability density functions (PDFs) of the interference received at a primary receiver from a CR network are first derived numerically for these two cases. For the hybrid case, where power and contention controls are jointly adopted by a CR node to govern its transmission, the interference is analyzed and compared with that of the first two schemes by simulations. Then, the interference PDFs under the first two control schemes are fitted by log-normal PDFs to reduce computation complexity. Moreover, the effect of a hidden primary receiver on the interference experienced at the receiver is investigated. It is demonstrated that both power and contention controls are effective approaches to alleviate the interference caused by CR networks. Some in-depth analysis of the impact of key parameters on the interference of CR networks is given as well.
The Role of Frontopolar Cortex in Subgoal Processing during Working Memory

Neuroimaging studies have implicated the anterior-most or frontopolar regions of prefrontal cortex (FP-PFC, e.g., Brodmann's Area 10) as playing a central role in higher cognitive functions such as planning, problem solving, reasoning, and episodic memory retrieval. The current functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study tested the hypothesis that FP-PFC subserves processes related to the monitoring and management of subgoals, while maintaining information in working memory (WM). Subjects were scanned while performing two variants of a simple delayed response WM task. In the control WM condition, subjects monitored for the presence of a specific concrete probe word (LIME) occurring following a specific abstract cue word (FATE). In the subgoal WM condition, subjects monitored for the presence of any concrete probe word immediately following any abstract cue word. Thus, the task required semantic classification of the probe word (the subgoal task), while the cue was simultaneously maintained in WM, so that both pieces of information could be integrated into a target determination. In a second control condition, subjects performed abstract/concrete semantic classification without WM demands. A region within right FP-PFC was identified which showed significant activation during the subgoal WM condition, but no activity in either of the two control conditions. However, this FP-PFC region was not modulated by direct manipulation of active maintenance demands. In contrast, left dorsolateral PFC was affected by active maintenance demands, but the effect did not interact with the presence of a subgoal task. Finally, left ventral PFC regions showed activation in response to semantic classification, but were not affected by WM demands. These results suggest a triple dissociation of function within PFC regions, and further indicate that FP-PFC is selectively engaged by the requirement to monitor and integrate subgoals during WM tasks.
Larrea tridentata: A novel source for anti-parasitic agents active against Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia and Naegleria fowleri

Protozoan parasites infect and kill millions of people worldwide every year, particularly in developing countries where access to clean fresh water is limited. Among the most common are intestinal parasites, including Giardia lamblia and Entamoeba histolytica. These parasites wreak havoc on the epithelium lining the small intestines (G. lamblia) and colon (E. histolytica) causing giardiasis and amebiasis, respectively. In addition, there are less common but far more deadly pathogens such as Naegleria fowleri that thrive in warm waters and infect the central nervous systems of their victims via the nasal passages. Despite their prevalence and associated high mortality rates, there remains an unmet need to identify more effective therapeutics for people infected with these opportunistic parasites. To address this unmet need, we have surveyed plants and traditional herbal medicines known throughout the world to identify novel antiparasitic agents with activity against G. lamblia, E. histolytica, and N. fowleri. Herein, we report Larrea tridentata, known as creosote bush, as a novel source for secondary metabolites that display antiparasitic activity against all three pathogens. This report also characterizes the lignan compound classes, nordihydroguairetic acid and demethoxyisoguaiacin, as novel antiparasitic lead agents to further develop more effective drug therapy options for millions of people worldwide.
Antischistosomal activity of a calcium channel antagonist on schistosomula and adult Schistosoma mansoni worms

Current schistosomiasis control strategies are largely based on chemotherapeutic agents and a limited number of drugs are available today. Praziquantel (PZQ) is the only drug currently used in schistosomiasis control programs. Unfortunately, this drug shows poor efficacy in patients during the earliest infection phases. The effects of PZQ appear to operate on the voltage-operated Ca2+channels, which are located on the external Schistosoma mansoni membrane. Because some Ca2+channels have dihydropyridine drug class (a class that includes nifedipine) sensitivity, an in vitro analysis using a calcium channel antagonist (clinically used for cardiovascular hypertension) was performed to determine the antischistosomal effects of nifedipine on schistosomula and adult worm cultures. Nifedipine demonstrated antischistosomal activity against schistosomula and significantly reduced viability at all of the concentrations used alone or in combination with PZQ. In contrast, PZQ did not show significant efficacy when used alone. Adult worms were also affected by nifedipine after a 24 h incubation and exhibited impaired motility, several lesions on the tegument and intense contractility. These data support the idea of Ca2+channels subunits as drug targets and favour alternative therapeutic schemes when drug resistance has been reported. In this paper, strong arguments encouraging drug research are presented, with a focus on exploring schistosomal Ca2+channels.
Abnormal Resting-State Functional Connectivity Strength in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Its Conversion to Alzheimer's Disease

Individuals diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are at high risk of transition to Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, little is known about functional characteristics of the conversion from MCI to AD. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 25 AD patients, 31 MCI patients, and 42 well-matched normal controls at baseline. Twenty-one of the 31 MCI patients converted to AD at approximately 24 months of follow-up. Functional connectivity strength (FCS) and seed-based functional connectivity analyses were used to assess the functional differences among the groups. Compared to controls, subjects with MCI and AD showed decreased FCS in the default-mode network and the occipital cortex. Importantly, the FCS of the left angular gyrus and middle occipital gyrus was significantly lower in MCI-converters as compared with MCI-nonconverters. Significantly decreased functional connectivity was found in MCI-converters compared to nonconverters between the left angular gyrus and bilateral inferior parietal lobules, dorsolateral prefrontal and lateral temporal cortices, and the left middle occipital gyrus and right middle occipital gyri. We demonstrated gradual but progressive functional changes during a median 2-year interval in patients converting from MCI to AD, which might serve as early indicators for the dysfunction and progression in the early stage of AD.
FLEXURE FATIGUE TESTS ON ASPHALT PAVING MIXTURES

A REPEATED FLEXURE APPARATUS WHICH HAS BEEN USED FOR MUCH OF THE RECENT RESEARCH ON FATIGUE BEHAVIOR OF ASPHALT PAVING WAS MODIFIED TO ACCOMMODATE 15-IN. -LONG BEAM SPECIMENS WITH 3-IN. INSTEAD OF 1 1/2-IN. WIDTHS AND DEPTHS. CONTROLLED STRESS FLEXURAL FATIGUE STUDIES WERE CONDUCTED FOR 10 DIFFERENT PAVING MIXES USING THE LARGER CROSS SECTION SPECIMENS IN AN EFFORT TO REDUCE TEST VARIABILITY, AND IN SO DOING REDUCE TIME AND COST FOR DETERMING THE FATIGUE BEHAVIOR OF A PAVING MIXTURE. BASED ON RESULTS OF THE STUDIES AND ON PUBLISHED WORK OF OTHERS, IT WAS FOUND THAT VARIABILITY OF FLEXURAL FATIGUE TESTS WAS REDUCED WHEN 3-IN. INSTEAD OF 1 1/2-IN. WIDTH AND DEPTH SPECIMENS WERE USED. CORRELATION COEFFICIENTS RANGING FROM 0.91 TO 0.99 WERE OBTAINED FOR STRESS-FRACTURE LIFE AND STRAIN-FRACTURE LIFE REGRESSION LINES WHEN FROM 6 TO 9 SPECIMENS WITH 3-IN. WIDTHS AND DEPTHS WERE TESTED AT 70 F. FLEXURAL FATIGUE BEHAVIOR DETERMINED FOR 8 OR 9 SPECIMENS WITH 3-IN. WIDTHS AND DEPTHS APPEARS TO BE THE SAME AS DETERMINED FOR 2 OR MORE TIMES AS MANY SPECIMENS WITH 1 1/2-IN. WIDTHS AND DEPTHS. /ASTM/
Demographic and motivation variables associated with Internet usage activities

Examines demographic variables (gender, age, educational level) and motivation variables (perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment, perceived usefulness) associated with Internet usage activities (defined in terms of messaging, browsing, downloading and purchasing). A total of 1,370 usable responses were obtained using a Web page survey. Results showed that males are more likely to engage in downloading and purchasing activities while females are more likely to engage in messaging activities. Younger users engage in messaging and downloading activities to a greater extent than older users. Perceived usefulness is associated with the four activities, while perceived ease of use and perceived enjoyment are associated with messaging, browsing and downloading activities.
Breeding Cottons with Higher Yarn Tenacity

Stronger cotton yams are needed by the textile industry as knit and woven fabric manufacturing speeds increase, thus placing greater strain on cotton yarns. We compare fiber properties as selection criteria for the genetic improvement of yarn tenacity in a breeding population consisting of twenty-five cotton germplasm lines grown for two years at two locations near Florence, SC. Fiber properties measured with the fibrograph, Stelometer, fibronaire, and Arealometer are obtained on lint from each experimental line in this population, along with ring spun yam with a tenacity of 27 tex (22 Ne). Among individual fiber properties, selection for 50% fiber span length results in the greatest gain in yarn tenacity. Simultaneous selection for low Micronaire reading, long 50% fiber span length, and high fiber tenacity improve yam tenacity more so than selection for individual fiber properties. Selecting for fiber properties measured with the Arealometer generally results in lower gains in yarn tenacity. We show individual and combinations of fiber properties that are useful as selection criteria for yarn tenacity improvement.
Timed mutation and cell-fate mapping reveal reiterated roles of Tbx1 during embryogenesis, and a crucial function during segmentation of the pharyngeal system via regulation of endoderm expansion

The definition of time-specific requirements for a developmental gene can pinpoint the processes within which the gene is involved and can reveal potential late functions in structures and organs that fail to develop in germline mutants. Here, we show the first systematic time-course deletion, in parallel with timed cell fate mapping, of a developmentally crucial gene, Tbx1, during mouse embryogenesis. Tbx1 mouse mutants model DiGeorge syndrome, a disorder of pharyngeal and cardiovascular development. Results revealed different time requirements for the development of individual structures, as well as multiple and time-distinct roles during the development of the same organ or system. We also show that Tbx1 is required throughout pharyngeal segmentation for the regulation of endoderm expansion, thus this is the first gene implicated directly in this process. A genetic-based blueprint of crucial developmental times for organs and systems should be a valuable asset for our understanding of birth defect pathogenesis.
Type-Driven Semantic Interpretation of f-Structures

The formal architecture of Lexical Functional Grammar offers a particular formal device, the structural correspondence, for modularizing the mapping between the surface forms of a language and representations of their underlying meanings. This approach works well when the structural discrepancies between form and meaning representations are finitely bounded, but there are some phenomena in natural language, e.g. adverbs in English, where this restriction does not hold. In this paper, we describe rule-based type-driven interpretation algorithms which cover cases of such a structural misalignment by exploiting a new descriptive device, the "restriction operator". The algorithms are set up in such a way that recursive rules can be derived for the interpretation of adjunct sets within a codescription approach (see [Kaplan and Wedekind, 1993] for details).