Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification of toxic products of anthracene photomodification in simulated sunlight

Currently, the evidence of a rapid photomodification of anthracene under sunlight resulting in enhanced toxicity exists; however, the chemical causes of toxicity are still unknown. The present study aimed at filling this gap by irradiation of an anthracene suspension with simulated sunlight and subsequent effect‐directed fractionation and analysis of toxic products with respect to the inhibition of bacterial energy metabolism of Vibrio fischeri, reproduction of the green algae Scenedesmus vacuolatus, and genotoxicity in the umuC test. Algal toxicity of anthracene was hardly modified by irradiation prior to testing and distributed over all fractions with emphasis on the fractions containing anthracene‐9,10‐dione and a photometabolite suggested to be 10‐hydroxyanthrone. Bacterial toxicity and genotoxicity in contrast emerged only when anthracene was irradiated. Anthracene‐1,4‐dione, a sofar‐unknown trace photometabolite, was identified as a very potent toxicant dominating the toxicity of photomodified anthracene to V. fischeri. In genotoxic fractions, 1‐hydroxyanthracene‐9,10‐dione and 1,4‐dihydroxyanthracene‐9,10‐dione were identified and confirmed as genotoxicants. The results stress the potential of effect‐directed analysis approaches in contrast to mere chemical analysis in studies aiming at toxicologically relevant photomodified substances.
Lactate: physiology and clinical utility

Objective: To review the physiology of lactate production and metabolism, the causes of lactic acidosis, and the current applications of lactate monitoring in humans and animals. Data sources: Human and veterinary studies. Summary: Lactate production is the result of anaerobic metabolism. Tissue hypoxia due to hypoperfusion is the most common cause of lactic acidosis. Studies in critically ill humans have shown that serial lactate monitoring can be used to assess the severity of illness and response to therapy. Several veterinary studies have also shown lactate as a useful tool to assess severity of illness. Conclusions: Lactate measurement in critically ill veterinary patients is practical and can provide information to assess severity of illness. Further veterinary studies are needed to establish the value of serial lactate measurements for prognostic and therapeutic purposes. Information regarding lactate measurement in cats is limited, and further studies are warranted.
Simulating the Evolution of Localised Industrial Clusters - An Identification of the Basic Mechanisms

Localised industrial clusters have received much attention in economic research in the last decade. They are seen as one of the reasons for the economic success of certain regions in comparison to others. This paper studies the evolution of such industrial clusters. To this end, a spatial structure of regions is set up and the entry, exit, and growth of firms within these regions is modelled and studied with the help of simulations. Several mechanisms that are often stated to be important in the context of localised industrial clusters are explicitly modelled. The influence of these mechanisms on the geographical concentration of industries is studied.
Sex differences in aging, life span and spontaneous tumorigenesis in 129/Sv mice neonatally exposed to metformin

The perinatal (prenatal and early neonatal) period is a critical stage for hypothalamic programming of sexual differentiation as well as for the development of energy and metabolic homeostasis. We hypothesized that neonatal treatment with antidiabetic drug biguanide metformin would positively modify regulation of growth hormone – IGF-1 – insulin signaling pathway slowing down aging and improving cancer preventive patterns in rodents. To test this hypothesis male and female 129/Sv mice were s.c. injected with metformin (100 mg/kg) at the 3rd, 5th and 7th days after birth. Metformin-treated males consumed less food and water and their body weight was decreased as compared with control mice practically over their entire lifespan. There were no significant differences in age-related dynamics of food and water consumption in females and they were heavier than controls. The fraction of mice with regular estrous cycles decreased with age and demonstrated a tendency to decrease in the females neonatally treated with metformin. Neonatal exposure to metformin practically failed to change the extent of hormonal and metabolic parameters in blood serum of male and female mice. In males, neonatal metformin treatment significantly increased the mean life span (+20%, P < 0.05) and slightly increased the maximum life span (+3.5%). In females, the mean life span and median in metformin-treated groups were slightly decreased (−9.1% and −13.8% respectively, P > 0.05) in comparison to controls, whereas mean life span of last 10% survivors and maximum life span were the same as in controls. Almost half (45%) of control male mice and 71.8% male mice neonatally exposed to metformin survived up to 800 d of age, the same age was achieved by 54.3% of mice in control female group and 30% of metformin-treated females (P < 0.03). Thus, neonatal metformin exposure slows down aging and prolongs lifespan in male but not in female mice.
GLRT Based on Support Estimation for Multiple Scatterers Detection in SAR Tomography

In this paper, a generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) detector, based on support estimation (Sup-GLRT), for multiple scatterers detection in SAR Tomography, is proposed. It incorporates, in the statistical model, a sparsity assumption of the signal in the elevation direction, which is always verified in practical cases for scarcely vegetated areas. The test consists of sequential steps: first the presence of scatterers is detected; then, the determination of the number of scatterers and the estimation of their positons is performed sequentially, one by one, by means of a signal support detection-estimation operation. The test proposed follows an approach similar to SGLRT, where decisions are taken based on subspace energy measurements, but it is derived following a different testing order and is investigated both at the nominal system resolution and in the super-resolution cases, showing in the latter case, a detection gain with respect to SGLRT. Sup-GLRT performance is evaluated in terms of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for different signal-to-noise ratio values. Experimental results obtained on real COSMO-SkyMed data are shown.
A simple and accurate approximation for the Q stability parameter in multicomponent and realistically thick discs

In this paper, we propose a Q stability parameter that is more realistic than those commonly used, and is easy to evaluate (see equation 19). Using our QN parameter, you can take into account several stellar and/or gaseous components as well as the stabilizing effect of disc thickness, you can predict which component dominates the local stability level, and you can do all that simply and accurately. To illustrate the strength of QN, we analyse the stability of a large sample of spirals from The H i Nearby Galaxy Survey (THINGS), treating stars, H i and H2 as three distinct components. Our analysis shows that H2 plays a significant role in disc (in)stability even at distances as large as half the optical radius. This is an important aspect of the problem, which was missed by previous (two-component) analyses of THINGS spirals. We also show that H i plays a negligible role up to the edge of the optical disc and that the stability level of THINGS spirals is, on average, remarkably flat and well above unity.
Introduction to and Techniques of Evidence-Based Medicine

Study Design. Literature review. Objective. To outline the components and application of evidence-based medicine (EBM) with an emphasis on the critical components of conduct and appraisal of clinical research. Summary of Background Data. “Evidence-based medicine” is now a commonplace phrase representing the hallmark of excellence in clinical practice. EBM integrates a question, thoughtful comprehensive evaluation of the pertinent literature, with clinical experience and patient preference to make optimal patient care decisions. These decisions must be evaluated with objective outcome measures to ensure effectiveness. There have been some misconceptions around the application of EBM and that it is synonymous with randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or based purely on levels of evidence. Methods. Narrative and review of literature. Conclusion. Clinicians must understand the importance of the research question, study design, and outcomes in order to apply the best available research to patient care. Treatment recommendations evolving from critical appraisal are not only based on levels of evidence, but the risk benefit ratio and cost. The true philosophy of EBM, however, is not for research to supplant individual clinical experience and the patient’s informed preference, but to integrate them with the best available research. Healthcare professionals and administrators must grasp that EBM is not a RCT. They must realize that the question being asked and the research circumstances dictate the study design. Furthermore, they must not diminish the role of clinical expertise and informed patient preference in EBM.
Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus/Human Herpesvirus 8 Transcriptional Activator Rta Is an Oligomeric DNA-Binding Protein That Interacts with Tandem Arrays of Phased A/T-Trinucleotide Motifs

ABSTRACT Kaposi's sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV)/human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) encodes an immediate early transcriptional activator, Rta, which mediates viral reactivation from latency and lytic viral replication. Here we report the purification and characterizations of HHV-8 Rta and its interaction with Rta-responsive DNA elements. The Rta response element (RtaRE) in the promoter of the KSHV/HHV-8 K8 open reading frame was mapped to a 47-bp sequence (RtaRE1) and a 60-bp sequence (RtaRE2) upstream of the TATA motif. A comparison of the K8 RtaREs with other viral RtaREs revealed a pattern of multiple A/T triplets spaced with a periodicity of 10 or 20 bp. Substitutions of the in-phase A/T trinucleotides of the RtaRE1 with G/C bases greatly diminished Rta responsiveness and Rta binding. By contrast, base substitutions in an out-of-phase A/T-trinucleotide sequence had no effect. Importantly, multimers of (A/T)3N7 and N5(A/T)5N6(A/T)4 motifs supported a strong Rta response in a copy number-dependent manner. No specific sequence motifs in the spacer regions could be discerned. Potent Rta response, however, was obtained with phased A/T trinucleotides with 7-bp spacers of arbitrary sequences with high G/C content. Lengthening of the phased A/T motifs or lowering of the G/C content of the spacers resulted in a reduction in Rta response. Finally, Escherichia coli-derived Rta is an oligomer of 440 kDa in molecular size and binds RtaRE as an oligomer. These results support a model of Rta transactivation wherein the subunits of the Rta oligomer make multiple contacts with a tandem array of phased A/T triplets in the configuration of (A/T)3(G/C)7 repeats.
A true multistandard, programmable, low-power, full HD video-codec engine for smartphone SoC

In this paper, we present IVA-HD, a true multistandard, programmable, full HD video coding engine which adopts optimal hardware-software partitioning to achieve the low-power and area requirements of the OMAP 4 processor. Unlike the approach of using separate IPs for encoder and decoder, IVA-HD uses an integrated codec engine which is area efficient, as most of the decoder logic is reused for the encoder. IVA-HD is architected to perform stream-rate and pixel- rate processing in a single pipeline (that processes one 16x16 macroblock at a time), so as to support the latency requirements of video conferencing.
Different voltage endurance characteristics of epoxy/silica nanocomposites prepared by two kinds of dispersion methods

It was elucidated that treeing lifetime can be drastically extended especially under the condition of electric field as low as design field in epoxy/silica nanocomposites, if nano fillers are properly dispersed in good contact with surrounding polymer matrices. It was actually found that there is a distinctive difference in V-t characteristics between two kinds of epoxy/silica nanocomposites. It is certainly surprising that similar epoxy/silica nanocomposites exhibit dissimilar behaviors. This will bring about in-depth insight on how nano fillers and their interfaces with surrounding polymer would work for voltage endurance. Specimens of the former kind were prepared in a way that hydrophilic fumed silica nano particles were dispersed in uncured epoxy, while specimens of the latter kind were produced from nano silica fillers densely dispersed uncured epoxy. Voltage endurance characteristics were evaluated by treeing growth and breakdown time.
1 Attention bias in WS Title : There ’ s that scary picture : attention bias to threatening scenes in Williams syndrome Running Head : Attention Bias in WS Authors :

There is increasing evidence that Williams syndrome (WS) is associated with elevated anxiety that is non-social in nature, including generalised anxiety and fears. To date very little research has examined the cognitive processes associated with this anxiety. In the present research, attentional bias for non-social threatening images in WS was examined using a dotprobe paradigm. Participants were 16 individuals with WS aged between 13 and 34 years and two groups of typically developing controls matched to the WS group on chronological age and attentional control ability respectively. The WS group exhibited a significant attention bias towards threatening images. In contrast, no bias was found for group matched on attentional control and a slight bias away from threat was found in the chronological age matched group. The results are contrasted with recent findings suggesting that individuals with WS do not show an attention bias for threatening faces and discussed in relation to neuroimaging research showing elevated amygdala activation in response to threatening non-social scenes in WS. 3 Attention bias in WS
Extracellular matrix upregulates synthesis of glucosylceramide‐based glycosphingolipids in primary Schwann cells

The formation of basement membrane around Schwann cells that are in contact with axons is necessary for Schwann cell differentiation and myelin formation in the peripheral nervous system. However, primary Schwann cells grown on basement membrane in the absence of neuronal influence show increased proliferation rather than differentiation, which implies that the signals generated by Schwann cell‐basement membrane interactions are multipotential. We examined the effect of matrigel, an exogenous basement membrane preparation, and other extracellular matrix growth surfaces on primary Schwann cells to determine if the resulting interactions play a role in the control of glycosphingolipid synthesis. Isolated primary Schwann cells grown on a thin layer of matrigel rapidly adhered to the surface and exhibited a greater degree of cell spreading when compared to cells grown on the nonspecific substrate polylysine. Labeling of the cells with [3H]galactose between 24 and 48 hr after plating revealed that the incorporation of [3H]galactose into glucosylceramide‐based glycosphingolipids increased from 1.5‐3‐fold on matrigel in comparison to cells grown on polylysine. The major labeled glycolipids under both conditions were GM3 ganglioside and two neutral glycolipids that comigrated with GbOse4Cer (GalNAcβ1‐3Galα1‐4Galβ1‐1Cer) and GbOse5Cer (GalNAcα1‐3GalNAcβ1‐3Galα1‐4Galβ1‐4Glcβ1‐1Cer) standards. There was little or no increase in the incorporation of [3H]leucine, [3H]galactose, or [3H]glucosamine into proteins or [3H]palmitic acid into phospholipids, free ceramides, or sphingomyelin, suggesting that the matrigel‐induced increase in the synthesis of the glycolipids was selective. In the absence of serum, there was little or no difference in the levels of glycolipid labeling between cells grown on the two substrata, demonstrating that serum factors were required for matrigel to have this effect. When cells were grown on surfaces coated with individual extracellular matrix components, those cells grown on laminin and collagen IV showed an increase in glycolipid labeling similar to that produced by matrigel, while labeling increased to a lesser degree for the other components tested. Thus, the signals generated by interactions between Schwann cells and basement membrane, particularly the laminin and collagen IV constituents, contribute to the regulation of glycolipid synthesis which in turn may affect cell morphology and proliferation. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Complete DNA Sequence Variation in the Apolipoprotein H (β2‐glycoprotein I) Gene and Identification of Informative SNPs

Apolipoprotein H (APOH), also known as β2‐glycoprotein I, is a major antigen for the production of antiphospholipid antibodies in autoimmune diseases. Previously we have examined DNA variation in the coding region of the APOH gene and determined the molecular basis of the common protein polymorphism. Here we report the results of DNA sequence variation in the entire APOH gene encompassing a 20.3 kb region in 46 Caucasian Americans and 48 African American chromosomes. A total of 150 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and one tri‐allelic polymorphism were identified, including 8 in the coding region, 14 in the 5′‐region and 2 in the 3′‐ region; the remainder were observed in introns. The observed number of SNPs was higher in the African American sample than in the Caucasian sample (130 vs. 84). We examined the race‐specific linkage disequilibrium pattern among SNPs and identified maximally informative SNPs for future association studies. Altogether, we have identified 17 informative SNPs among Caucasians and 35 in blacks. The discovery of a full range of sequence variation and identification of race‐specific informative SNPs in the APOH gene may facilitate the rapid evaluation of this variation in relation to autoimmune diseases.
Delineating protein–protein interactions via biomolecular interaction analysis–mass spectrometry

The utility of biomolecular interaction analysis–mass spectrometry (BIA/MS) in screening for protein–protein interactions was explored in this work. Experiments were performed in which proteins served as ligands for screening of possible interactions with other proteins from human plasma and urine. The proteins utilized were beta‐2‐microglobulin, cystatin C (cysC), retinol binding protein (RBP), transthyretin (TTR), alpha‐1‐microglobulin, C‐reactive protein, transferrin and papain. The immobilization of functionally active proteins was confirmed via interactions with antibodies to the corresponding proteins. Various dilutions of human urine and plasma were injected over the protein‐derivatized surfaces. It was observed that the urine injections generally yielded smaller SPR responses than those observed after the plasma injections. The BIA/MS experiments did not reveal novel protein–protein interactions, although several established interactions (such as those between RBP and TTR, and cysC and papain) were validated. Few protein ligand deficiencies (such as truncations) leading to false negative and false positive BIA/MS results were also discovered. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effect of parathyroid hormone (1-34) on fractures and bone mineral density in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

BACKGROUND Once-daily injections of parathyroid hormone or its amino-terminal fragments increase bone formation and bone mass without causing hypercalcemia, but their effects on fractures are unknown. METHODS We randomly assigned 1637 postmenopausal women with prior vertebral fractures to receive 20 or 40 microg of parathyroid hormone (1-34) or placebo, administered subcutaneously by the women daily. We obtained vertebral radiographs at base line and at the end of the study (median duration of observation, 21 months) and performed serial measurements of bone mass by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. RESULTS New vertebral fractures occurred in 14 percent of the women in the placebo group and in 5 percent and 4 percent, respectively, of the women in the 20-microg and 40-microg parathyroid hormone groups; the respective relative risks of fracture in the 20-microg and 40-microg groups, as compared with the placebo group, were 0.35 and 0.31 (95 percent confidence intervals, 0.22 to 0.55 and 0.19 to 0.50). New nonvertebral fragility fractures occurred in 6 percent of the women in the placebo group and in 3 percent of those in each parathyroid hormone group (relative risk, 0.47 and 0.46, respectively [95 percent confidence intervals, 0.25 to 0.88 and 0.25 to 0.861). As compared with placebo, the 20-microg and 40-microg doses of parathyroid hormone increased bone mineral density by 9 and 13 more percentage points in the lumbar spine and by 3 and 6 more percentage points in the femoral neck; the 40-microg dose decreased bone mineral density at the shaft of the radius by 2 more percentage points. Both doses increased total-body bone mineral by 2 to 4 more percentage points than did placebo. Parathyroid hormone had only minor side effects (occasional nausea and headache). CONCLUSIONS Treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis with parathyroid hormone (1-34) decreases the risk of vertebral and nonvertebral fractures; increases vertebral, femoral, and total-body bone mineral density; and is well tolerated. The 40-microg dose increased bone mineral density more than the 20-microg dose but had similar effects on the risk of fracture and was more likely to have side effects.
Hes1/Hes5 Gene Inhibits Differentiation via Down-Regulating Hash1 and Promotes Proliferation in Cervical Carcinoma Cells

Introduction: Hairy and enhancer of split 1 (Hes1) and Hes5 are target genes for the mammalian Notch pathway, which are highly expressed in epithelia in the process of embryogenesis or in neural stem cells, inhibit cell differentiation via the Notch-Hes-Hash signaling, and promote the survival of stem cells. Either Hes1 or Hes5 overactivation is likely to affect cell differentiation, thereby resulting in carcinogenesis. Methods: We transfected the diced small interference RNA into SiHa cells and detected cell differentiation and proliferation by immunocytochemistry, Western blot, and methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium assay. Results: Knockdown of Hes1 and Hes5 would up-regulate the downstream gene Hash1, but not the upstream gene Notch1 in the Notch-Hes-Hash pathway. After Hes1/Hes5 RNA interference, expression of differentiation-associated proteins (including Nanog, stage-specific embryonic antigen 4, and tumor rejection antigen-1-60) was reduced, and the cell differentiation was promoted; meanwhile, the cell proliferation was inhibited, which was verified by detecting proliferation-associated proteins (eg, Ki-67, proliferating cell nuclear antigen) and methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium assay. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that Hes1/Hes5 gene would inhibit the cell differentiation via down-regulating Hash1 and promote the cell proliferation in cervical carcinoma cells; the cell differentiation and proliferation can be reversed simultaneously by Hes1/Hes5 knockdown using RNA interference.