Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Expression of p53 protein as a prognostic indicator of reduced survival time in diffuse‐type gastric carcinoma

To determine whether p53 expression is different in intestinal and diffuse types of gastric carcinoma, we investigated p53 immunohistochemical expression in 178 primary gastric carcinomas. Overexpression of p53 was observed in 50 out of 100 intestinal‐type tumors (50.0%) and in 27 out of 78 diffuse‐type tumors (34.6%). A significant difference was found in the timing of p53 overexpression between the two types of carcinomas. Overexpression of p53 occurred often in the early stage of intestinal‐type tumors, and there was no significant difference in expression between early and advanced cancers. In contrast, p53 overexpression did not occur often in the early stage of diffuse‐type tumors, but it increased progressively as the tumor advanced. Analysis of patient survival revealed that p53 overexpression correlates significantly with a poor prognosis in diffuse‐type gastric carcinoma (P = 0.003) but not in intestinal‐type. Multivariate analysis showed that only pathological stage was an independent prognostic indicator. Our results suggest that p53 overexpression plays a different role in tumor carcinogenesis and progression of these two types of gastric cancers.
Psychological general well-being (quality of life) in patients with cochlear implants: Importance of social environment and age

The purpose of this study was to investigate the variables that affect psychological general well-being (quality of life) in patients with cochlear implants (CIs). The study sample consists of 96 adult patients with a CI, aged 24–86 years (Mean = 61.8 yrs; SD = 15.3 yrs). 48 were patients from the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Sweden and 48 were patients from the University of Florida, USA. The Psychological General Well-being Index and the International Outcome Inventory-Cochlear implants were used in collecting data. Possible independent variables were socioeconomic factors such as age, gender, nationality, living arrangement, education, and social support; as well as length of time since implantation, age when hearing loss became a problem, and subjective benefit of the CI. A stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that 49% of the variance was explained by attitudes from others, restricted social participation, perceived social support and age. Sumario El propósito de este estudio fue el de investigar las variables que afectan el bienestar general psicológico (calidad de vida) en pacientes con implante coclear (CI). La muestra del estudio consistió en 96 adultos implantados con edades de 24–86 años (Media = 61.8 años; DS = 15.3 años): 48 pacientes del Hospital Universitario Sahlgrenska en Suecia y 48 de la Universidad de Florida, USA. Se utilizó el índice psicológico general de bienestar y el cuestionario internacional de resultados con IC para la recolección de datos. Las posibles variables independientes fueron factores socio-económicos, tales como edad, género, nacionalidad, formas de vida, educación, apoyo social y también el tiempo desde la implantación, la edad al presentarse la hipoacusia como problema y el beneficio subjetivo con el IC. Un análisis cuidadoso de regresión múltiple mostró que el 49% de la varianza puede explicarse por las actitudes de los demás, participación social restringida, percepción de apoyo social y edad.
TRAIL-Transduced Dendritic Cells Protect Mice from Acute Graft-versus-Host Disease and Leukemia Relapse1

TRAIL preferentially induces apoptotic cell death in a wide variety of transformed cells, whereas it induces no apoptosis, but inhibits activation of Ag-specific T cells via blockade of cell cycle progression. Although accumulating results suggest that TRAIL is involved in the maintenance of immunological homeostasis under steady state conditions as well as in the initiation and progression of immunopathologies, the potential regulatory effect of TRAIL on immune responses and its therapeutic potential in immunological diseases remains unclear. We report in this study the potential usefulness of TRAIL-transduced dendritic cells (DCs) for the treatment of lethal acute graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) and leukemia relapse. DCs genetically modified to express TRAIL showed potent cytotoxicity against both alloreactive T cells and leukemic cells through the induction of apoptosis. In addition, treatment with genetically modified DCs expressing TRAIL of allogeneic BM transplants recipients with leukemia was effective for protection against acute GVHD and leukemia relapse. Thus, gene transfer of TRAIL to DCs is a novel modality for the treatment of acute GVHD and leukemia relapse by selective targeting of pathogenic T cells and leukemic cells.
Biometry of primate lenses during immersion in preservation media.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to assess the condition of human lenses (obtained from an eye bank) and of fresh monkey lenses, and to determine the effects of maintaining these lenses in various liquid preservation media. METHODS Freshly excised human and monkey lenses were maintained for 5 h in one of four solutions (Balanced Saline Solution [BSS], Ringer's Solution, Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium with Ham's F-12 [DMEM/F-12/F-12], and Tissue Culture Medium 199 [TC-199]) using a custom-designed, temperature-regulated testing cell. A modified optical comparator and digital camera were used to photograph magnified lens profiles and measure lens diameter and thickness. Lens volume was then calculated assuming rotational symmetry about the optical axis. RESULTS Seven of the 33 human lenses exhibited extensive swelling and separation of the capsule from the lens cell mass prior to the incubation. During incubation, for 12/22 of the remaining human and 27/27 of the monkey lenses, thickness increased by 1.0-1.8%, diameter decreased by 0.7-1.6% and the volume was essentially unchanged. Substantial swelling and capsular separation were observed in 10 of the 22 human lenses, 7/10 for those maintained in salt solutions, and 3/12 for those in tissue culture media. Lens volumes increased by an average of 6.8%, due to an 8.7% increase in the thickness, while the diameter decreased by 0.9%. These changes appeared to be independent of postmortem time and donor age. CONCLUSIONS Culture media are more effective than simple salt solutions in maintaining lens physical integrity during short-term incubations. Substantial uptake of water, accompanied by separation of the capsule from the lens cell mass, occurs at various stages during storage and experimental manipulations in >60% of human lenses obtained from the eye bank. Data obtained with such lenses will not be representative of the true ex vivo state. It is recommended that lenses be assessed to determine if swelling has taken place before acceptance of data.
Raman spectroscopy can differentiate malignant tumors from normal breast tissue and detect early neoplastic changes in a mouse model

Raman spectroscopy shows potential in differentiating tumors from normal tissue. We used Raman spectroscopy with near‐infrared light excitation to study normal breast tissue and tumors from 11 mice injected with a cancer cell line. Spectra were collected from 17 tumors, 18 samples of adjacent breast tissue and lymph nodes, and 17 tissue samples from the contralateral breast and its adjacent lymph nodes. Discriminant function analysis was used for classification with principal component analysis scores as input data. Tissues were examined by light microscopy following formalin fixation and hematoxylin and eosin staining. Discriminant function analysis and histology agreed on the diagnosis of all contralateral normal, tumor, and mastitis samples, except one tumor which was found to be more similar to normal tissue. Normal tissue adjacent to each tumor was examined as a separate data group called tumor bed. Scattered morphologically suspicious atypical cells not definite for tumor were present in the tumor bed samples. Classification of tumor bed tissue showed that some tumor bed tissues are diagnostically different from normal, tumor, and mastitis tissue. This may reflect malignant molecular alterations prior to morphologic changes, as expected in preneoplastic processes. Raman spectroscopy not only distinguishes tumor from normal breast tissue, but also detects early neoplastic changes prior to definite morphologic alteration. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers 89: 235–241, 2008.
Limits on universality in ultracold three-boson recombination.

The recombination rate for three identical bosons has been calculated to test the limits of its universal behavior. It has been obtained for several different collision energies and scattering lengths a up to 10(5) a.u. , giving rates that vary over 15 orders of magnitude. We find that universal behavior is limited to the threshold region characterized by E equal or less than Planck's 2/2mu(12)a(2), where E is the total energy and mu(12) is the two-body reduced mass. The analytically predicted infinite series of resonance peaks and interference minima is truncated to no more than three of each for typical experimental parameters.
Development of thermistor based low cost high sensitive respiration rate measurement system using audio software with audio input

Clinical investigation of lungs can be find out by measuring respiration rate. Different methods are present to measure the human respiration rate like Respiratory Rate measurement using Piezoelectric Sensor, Measurement of Respiratory Rate using Laser Doppler Vibrometer, Respiration Rate Measurement System Using Pyroelectric Transducer, Impedance Pneumography Method, Measurement of Respiration Rate by Capnography and Respiratory rate measurement using PPG (Photoplethysmography) signal. However, all of these techniques are very cost effective. We have design a new system using NTC (Negative Temperature Coefficient) type thermistor and Wheatstone bridge and a differential amplifier using IC-741. This system can be used to measure the respiration rate along with display of its waveform in a computer screen. In this system the output signals is taken and after some impedance matching it is used in audio input to a computer. A freely available software Audacity (version 2.1.0) downloaded from internet and installed in to the computer to see the waveform of output signal. The used thermistor is highly sensitive which changes it resistance −7KΩ per °C rise in temperature.
Regulation of the antibody response to type 3 pneumococcal polysaccharide. II. Mode of action of thymic-derived suppressor cells.

The present study was conducted primarily to obtain information concerning the mechanism by which suppressor thymic-derived (T) cells influence the magnitude of the antibody response to type III pneumococcal polysaccharide (SSS-III). This was accomplished by examining the effects of treatment with antilymphocyte serum (ALS) and Velban, a mitotic inhibitor, on the kinetics for the appearance of plaque-forming cells (PFC) in mice immunized with SSS-III. Without ALS-treatment, the kinetics were essentially biphasic. First, there was a phase during which PFC appeared at a relatively rapid rate; this was followed by a phase during which the rate of appearance of PFC gradually declined until maximal numbers were attained. In contrast, similar rate changes were not noted for mice given ALS; here, PFC increased at a uniform exponential rate throughout the 1st 5 days of the antibody response. Velban completely arrested the development of additional PFC in ALS-treated but not non-ALS-treated mice. These findings indicate that suppressor T cells act primarily by limiting the extent to which antibody-forming bone marrow-derived cells proliferate following immunization.
Block-iterative methods for image reconstruction from projections

The simultaneous MART algorithm (SMART) and the expectation maximization method for likelihood maximization (EMML) are extended to block-iterative versions, BI-SMART and BI-EMML, that converge to a solution in the feasible case, for any choice of subsets. The BI-EMML reduces to the "ordered subset" EMML of Hudson et al. (1992, 1994) when their "subset balanced" property holds.
Altered cholesterol localization and caveolin expression during the evolution of acute renal failure.

BACKGROUND Renal cortical/proximal tubule cholesterol accumulation, with preferential localization within plasma membrane "detergent resistant microdomains" (DRMs: rafts/caveolae), is a hallmark of the maintenance phase of acute renal failure (ARF). This study addressed two related issues: (1) Are maintenance-phase cholesterol increases accompanied by an up-regulation of caveolin, a DRM/caveolar-associated cholesterol binding protein? (2) Is DRM cholesterol/caveolin homeostasis acutely altered during the induction phase of ARF? METHODS Mouse kidneys were subjected to ischemia +/- reperfusion (I/R) followed by assessment of cholesterol DRM partitioning. Acute cell injury effects on potential caveolin release from isolated proximal tubules or into urine also were assessed. Finally, renal cortical/isolated proximal tubule caveolin levels were determined 18 hours after I/R or myoglobinuric ARF. RESULTS Acute ischemia causes a rapid shift of cholesterol into cortical DRMs (>22%). Cholesterol migration into DRMs also was observed in ATP-depleted cultured proximal tubule (HK-2) cells. Acute hypoxic or toxic tubule injury induced plasma membrane caveolin release (Western blot). By the maintenance phase of ARF, marked renal cortical/proximal tubule caveolin increases resulted. CONCLUSIONS Acute proximal tubular injury damages caveolar/DRM structures, as determined by cholesterol maldistribution and caveolin release. Post-injury, there is a dramatic up-regulation of renal cortical/proximal tubule caveolin, suggesting an increased caveolar mass. These findings indicate, to our knowledge for the first time, that dysregulation of caveolae/raft microdomain expression is a correlate of, and potential participant in, the induction and maintenance phases of ischemic and toxic forms of experimental ARF.
Output regulation and consensus of a class of multi-agent systems under switching communication topologies

This paper presents the design of a distributedcontrol law for the output regulation and output consensusof a set of N agents. In this approach, each agentdynamics is represented by a switched linear system.The representation of the agents is neither constrainedto be the same nor to have the same state dimension,and communication among agents is considered to beswitching. It is also considered that some agents getthe reference to be followed from the output of a virtualagent, and every agent gets the output information of itsneighbors. Using this information, every agent computesthe exosystem state to solve its individual regulationproblem. The approach herein proposed employs a localswitched stabilizing feedback for each agent based ona common Lyapunov function. A numerical example isprovided in order to illustrate the proposed control law.
Data Collection to Inform International Policy Issues on Inclusive Education

Abstract All countries need to track the implementation of their educational policies and legislation. The justifications and pressures for mapping such developments are very clear at the international level, as can be seen in the 2006 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) call for data collection and monitoring at State level. They are also apparent at the European level, as outlined in the European Council priorities and targets outlined in the education and training ET 2020 strategy. This chapter will focus on the current situation in European Union member countries. It will attempt to identify the issues that must be addressed by systems of data collection at international and national levels in order to monitor learners’ rights to inclusive education.
Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor Usage and the Incidence of Peripheral Neuropathy in HIV/AIDS Patients

Peripheral neuropathy (PN) is a well-known adverse effect of treatment with nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs). We performed a prospective follow-up study in HIV-infected patients on antiretroviral therapy containing NRTIs. The objective of this study was to examine the incidence of PN among patients using NRTI drugs. Data were obtained using medical records of patients continuously monitored for the efficacy and toxicity of antiretroviral therapy. The incident cases of PN were examined. Incidence rates of PN were calculated for each antiretroviral regimen that included zidovudine, zalcitabine, lamivudine, didanosine (ddI), stavudine (d4T) or didanosine+ stavudine. Poisson regression was used to compare the relative risk of PN for each regimen. A total of 112 HIV-infected patients were treated with at least one NRTI-containing regimen. Thirty-two cases of PN were recorded. The lowest incidence rate (IR) of 0.13 per 100 person-years occurred in patients treated with didanosine. The highest IR for PN occurred with the didanosine+stavudine combination (IR=0.18 per 100 person-years). Compared to didanosine alone, the relative risk of PN was 1.77 (95%CI, 0.52–2.12) for stavudine, and 1.76 (95%CI, 0.95–2.49) for didanosine+stavudine. Other risk factors for PN included a low CD4 cell count and female sex. Our data show that the risk of PN is almost twice as high when stavudine is used alone or in combination with didanosine. The use of stavudine alone or in combination with didanosine should probably not be routinely recommended if other treatment options are available.
Amelioration of alphavirus-induced arthritis and myositis in a mouse model by treatment with bindarit, an inhibitor of monocyte chemotactic proteins.

OBJECTIVE Alphaviruses such as chikungunya virus, Sindbis virus, o'nyong-nyong virus, Mayaro virus, and Ross River virus (RRV), are commonly associated with arthralgias and overt arthritides worldwide. Understanding the processes by which arthritogenic viruses cause disease is a prerequisite in the quest for better treatments. In this regard, we have recently established that monocyte/macrophages are mediators of alphavirus-induced arthritis in mice. We hypothesized that chemokines associated with monocyte/macrophage recruitment may play an important role in disease. The aim of the present investigations was to determine whether bindarit, an inhibitor of monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP) synthesis, could ameliorate alphavirus-induced rheumatic disease in mice. METHODS Using our recently developed mouse model of RRV-induced arthritis, which has many characteristics of RRV disease (RRVD) in humans, the effects of bindarit treatment on RRVD in mice were determined via histologic analyses, immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry, real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and electrophoretic mobility shift assay. RESULTS Bindarit-treated RRV-infected mice developed mild disease and had substantially reduced tissue destruction and inflammatory cell recruitment as compared with untreated RRV-infected mice. The virus load in the tissues was not affected by bindarit treatment. Bindarit exhibited its activity by down-regulating MCPs, which in turn led to inhibition of cell infiltration and lower production of NF-kappaB and tumor necrosis factor alpha, which are involved in mediating tissue damage. CONCLUSION Our data support the use of inhibitors of MCP production in the treatment of arthritogenic alphavirus syndromes and suggest that bindarit may be useful in treating RRVD and other alphavirus-induced arthritides in humans.
Collaborative Interaction: Review of Communication Scholarship and a Research Agenda

It appears that collaborative interaction is nearly everywhere, including our dyadic relationships, our schools, our doctors offices, our workplaces, and our local and international communities. Furthermore, mounting evidence points to the conclusion that collaborative interaction has great promise as a tool across contexts. Unfortunately, despite the growing use and recognition of effective collaboration, very little synthesis exists across various domains of literature about how collaborative interaction works and its critical components. This chapter serves as a means to examine these disparate sets of literature, with an eye toward creating synthesis across the various domains. This chapter reviews 80 sources published within the last decade that concern collaboration in various contexts, including developmental/learning, interpersonal relationships, conflict, group problem solving and decision making, health (spanning the micro-macro range from doctor-patient communication, health-care teams, and community health alliances), community groups, and interprofessional and interorganizational settings. Themes found across the literature, as well as definitional issues related to key constructs, are developed and discussed. Finally, a descriptive and heuristic model of collaborative interaction is presented that encompasses the key features and issues raised in the review. Research and theory-building agendas are also offered to stimulate more investigations of this phenomenon.
Improvement of Long‐Term Preservation of Isolated Arrested Rat Heart: Beneficial Effect of the Antiischemic Agent Trimetazidine

Rat hearts, arrested in situ after intracaval injection of a simple mineral cardioplegic solution (St. Thomas), were preserved for 15 h at 4°C either by simple immersion in the cardioplegic solution or low-flow perfusion by the same liquid (0.3 ml/min). Trimetazidine (TMZ) was added to the cardioplegic solution at a concentration of 10-6M in two additional groups corresponding to both preservation conditions. The biochemically determined ventricular ATP content was increased in immersed hearts by TMZ (+ 78%). The [ATP]/[Pi] ratio, as calculated from 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, was significantly increased in both preservation conditions by TMZ: 0.08 ± 0.03 versus 0.04 ± 0.01 in immersed hearts and 0.53 ± 0.13 versus 0.26 ± 0.16 in perfused hearts (mean ± SD). Intracellular pH was increased when TMZ was administered in perfused hearts (7.02 ± 0.14 vs. 6.67 ± 0.14, mean ± SD). Functional recovery, estimated by the pressure developed by the left ventricle (intraventricular isovolumic balloon) when hearts were reperfused with a physiologic solution, was improved by TMZ in both preservation conditions: + 137% in immersed hearts and + 54% in perfused hearts. These results demonstrate that both the bioenergetic status of the myocardial cell and the functional capabilities of isolated, arrested, stored rat heart can be significantly improved by addition of the antiischemic drug TMZ to the preservation solution.