Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In vitro effect of calcium nanophosphate and high-concentrated fluoride agents on enamel erosion: an AFM study.

BACKGROUND Calcium nanophosphate paste can provide ions to remineralize enamel. There are, however, no data available about the remineralizing effect of this paste on the prevention of enamel erosion, when compared with highly concentrated fluoride agents. AIM To analyze the effect of calcium nanophosphate paste, fluoride gel, and varnish to protect against enamel erosion using surface Knoop hardness (KNH) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). DESIGN Forty enamel blocks (4 × 4 mm) of third molars were used for 4 groups (n = 10): 1.23% fluoride gel (Fluorgel-DFL(®) ); calcium nanophosphate paste (Desensibilize NanoP-FGM(®) ); fluoride varnish (Duraphat-Colgate(®) ) and control (without agent). The specimens were immersed in cola drink for 5 min and 2 h in artificial saliva, 4× per day for 5 days. The agents were applied before the first erosive cycle. KNH values were obtained before and after the erosive challenge. The surface morphology was evaluated by AFM. anova, Tukey's, and T-Student tests were applied. RESULTS After erosion, no significant difference was found for KNH among gel, nanophosphate, and varnish groups; however, they showed higher KNH than control group. Gel and nanophosphate paste showed a protective layer formation on enamel surface by AFM. CONCLUSIONS The calcium nanophosphate paste showed similar protection against enamel erosion compared with high-concentrated fluoride agents, even containing lower fluoride concentration.
Expression of MxA Protein in Blood Lymphocytes Discriminates between Viral and Bacterial Infections in Febrile Children

Interferons (IFNs), which are induced by viruses, form an essential part of host's defense systems against viral infections. The antiviral actions of IFNs are mediated by several IFN-inducible gene products, one of which is Mx protein. To evaluate whether MxA protein expression in lymphocytes could function as an indicator of endogenous IFN production in children with acute febrile illness, we analyzed MxA protein levels in peripheral blood lymphocytes by flow cytometry in the acute phase of the disease. Children with a laboratory-confirmed viral infection [respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in 21, adenovirus in 10, rotavirus in 5, and influenza, herpes simplex, or EBV in 7 other cases] had significantly higher (p < 0.002) MxA protein levels (median fluorescences in different virus groups ranged from 707 to 765) compared with children with a bacterial infection (n = 12, median fluorescence 548). To characterize further MxA protein expression during infections, cells from 41 patients were stimulated in vitro with exogenous IFN-α, and the level of MxA protein expression was determined. The rise in MxA staining levels was significantly higher in the group with bacterial infections compared with those with viral infection (p< 0.005), further indicating that the MxA protein levels were already elevated in vivo in patients with viral infections. This study suggests that elevated MxA protein expression levels can be used in the differential diagnosis of bacterial versus viral disease in febrile children.
How to achieve a connected ad hoc network with homogeneous range assignment: an analytical study with consideration of border effects

The paper presents an analytical investigation of the connectivity of wireless ad hoc networks with randomly uniformly distributed nodes and homogeneous transmission range assignment The probability that a network is connected depends on the number of nodes, n, per area, A, and their transmission ranges, r/sub 0/. We derive an analytical expression that enables the determination of critical (r/sub 0/, n)-pairs that achieve, with high probability, a connected network in an area A. As opposed to prior analytical work on this topic (see Bettstetter, C., Proc. ACM Symp. on Mobile Ad Hoc Networks and Comp.-MobiHoc, 2002), we now consider border effects, which have significant impact on the obtained results. Furthermore, we calculate the expected node degree and the probability that the network has no isolated node. All three results are of practical value in simulation and system design of ad hoc and wireless sensor networks. While the paper considers a circular system area, the methods can also be applied to other shapes.
Knowledge and Apprehension of Dental Patients about MERS-A Questionnaire Survey.

INTRODUCTION Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a disease caused by beta corona virus. From April 11(th) to 9(th) June 2014, World Health Organization (WHO) reported a total of 402 laboratory confirmed cases of MERS from KSA, out of which 132 cases were reported from Riyadh alone. AIM The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and apprehension of patients about MERS visiting Al Farabi College of Dentistry, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS AND METHODS A cross-sectional questionnaire based survey was conducted which consisted of 10 self-prepared questions. A total of 404 patients participated in this study. RESULTS Three hundred and forty patients had heard about MERS. Nearly a quarter of the patients (25.74%) were apprehensive about undergoing dental treatment because of MERS. A little more than half of the patients (50.99%) knew that camel was a source of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona virus. Most of the patients (80.72%) were aware of the infection control measures to be followed by dentist and 138 patients claimed they took some precaution when present inside the dental college. CONCLUSION Majority of the patients had heard about MERS and was aware of the infection control measures. However, some patients were apprehensive about undergoing dental treatment because of MERS. Further steps need to be taken to educate the patient's about transmission of MERS and infection control measures in a dental hospital.
Challenges, advances and future directions in protection of hybrid AC/DC microgrids

Hybrid microgrids which consist of AC and DC subgrids interconnected by power electronic interfaces have attracted much attention in recent years. They not only can integrate the main benefits of both AC and DC configurations, but also can reduce the number of converters in connection of distributed generation sources, energy storage systems and loads to AC or DC buses. In this study, the structure of hybrid microgrids is discussed, and then a broad overview of the available protection devices and approaches for AC and DC subgrids is presented. After description, analysis and classification of the existing schemes, some research directions including communication infrastructures, combined control and protection schemes, and promising devices for the realisation of future hybrid AC/DC microgrids are pointed out.
Role of the Lysosomal Membrane Protein, CLN3, in the Regulation of Cathepsin D Activity

Among Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses (NCLs), which are childhood fatal neurodegenerative disorders, the juvenile onset form (JNCL) is the most common. JNCL is caused by recessive mutations in the CLN3 gene. CLN3 encodes a lysosomal/endosomal transmembrane protein but its precise function is not completely known. We have previously reported that in baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells stably expressing myc‐tagged human CLN3 (myc‐CLN3), hyperosmotic conditions drastically increased myc‐CLN3 mRNA and protein expression. In the present study, we analyzed the consequences of hyperosmolarity, and increased CLN3 expression on cathepsin D (CTSD) activity and prosaposin processing using BHK cells transiently or stably expressing myc‐CLN3. We found that hyperosmolarity increased lysotracker staining of lysosomes, and elevated the levels of myc‐CLN3 and lysosome‐associated membrane protein‐1 (LAMP1). Hyperosmolarity, independently of the expression level of myc‐CLN3, decreased the levels of PSAP and saposin D, which are protein cofactors in sphingolipid metabolism. The lysosomal enzyme cathepsin D (CTSD) mediates the proteolytic cleavage of PSAP precursor into saposins A‐D. Myc‐CLN3 colocalized with CTSD and activity of CTSD decreased as myc‐CLN3 expression increased, and clearly decreased under hyperosmotic conditions. Nevertheless, levels of CTSD measured by Western blotting were not altered under any studied condition. Our results suggest a direct involvement of CLN3 in the regulation of CTSD activity. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 3883–3890, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Modification of chromosomal architecture in human spermatozoa with large vacuoles

Human normal spermatozoa present a specific chromatin organization, illustrated particularly by the non‐random chromosome positioning. Spermatozoa with large vacuoles, described using motile sperm organelle morphology organization (MSOME), are associated with nuclear alterations, such as abnormal chromatin condensation and aneuploidy. To question a probable association between large nuclear vacuoles and chromatin disorganization, we evaluated chromosomes X, Y and 18 topography in normal spermatozoa (NS) compared with spermatozoa with large vacuoles (SLV). After centrifugation on a gradient density system, 229 NS (spermatozoa presenting a normal nuclear shape and a vacuole area <6.5% of head area) from 10 normal semen samples and 221 SLV (spermatozoa presenting a vacuole area >13% of head area) from 10 semen samples with teratozoospermia were selected using MSOME. A three‐colour FISH was carried out using α‐satellite centromeric probes for chromosomes X, Y and 18. For each chromosome, longitudinal and spatial positioning of centromeres was analysed. Distribution of each chromosome was non‐random in NS and in SLV, whatever the methodology used. Using longitudinal positioning, distribution of chromosome 18 and chromosome Y centromeres did not differ significantly between SLV and NS. On the contrary, chromosome X centromeres were more frequently positioned in the posterior region of sperm nucleus in SLV (p = 0.01). Considering spatial positioning, distributions differed significantly between SN and SLV for chromosome Y (p = 0.02) and chromosome 18 (p < 10−4) and marginally for chromosome X (p = 0.08). Our study concluded to a modification in chromosomes X, Y and 18 centromere topography between NS and SLV, representing a novel and supplementary evidence to argue chromatin disorganization in SLV.
Thalassotalea montiporae sp. nov., isolated from the encrusting pore coral Montipora aequituberculata.

A bacterial strain, designated CL-22T, was isolated from an encrusting pore coral, Montipora aequituberculata, collected off the coast of Southern Taiwan. Its taxonomic position was investigated using a polyphasic approach. Cells of strain CL-22T were Gram-stain-negative, aerobic, motile by means of a single polar flagellum, rod-shaped and formed yellow colonies. Optimal growth occurred at 30 °C, pH 6.5-7 and in 2 % (w/v) NaCl. A neighbour-joining phylogenetic tree, based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, showed that strain CL-22T fell into the clade comprising the type strains of species of the genus Thalassotalea. Strain CL-22T exhibited 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity values of 94.7-97.1 % to the type strains of species of the genus Thalassotalea. The major fatty acids (>10 %) of strain CL-22T were summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c) and C16 : 0. The predominant isoprenoid quinone was Q-8. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol. The genomic DNA G+C content of strain CL-22T was 41.2 mol%. The differential phenotypic properties, together with the phylogenetic inference, demonstrate that strain CL-22T should be classified as a novel species of the genus Thalassotalea; the name Thalassotalea montiporae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CL-22T (=LMG 24827T=BCRC 17940T).
The disulfide‐bonded loop of chromogranin B mediates membrane binding and directs sorting from the trans‐Golgi network to secretory granules

The disulfide‐bonded loop of chromogranin B (CgB), a regulated secretory protein with widespread distribution in neuroendocrine cells, is known to be essential for the sorting of CgB from the trans‐Golgi network (TGN) to immature secretory granules. Here we show that this loop, when fused to the constitutively secreted protein α1‐antitrypsin (AT), is sufficient to direct the fusion protein to secretory granules. Importantly, the sorting efficiency of the AT reporter protein bearing two loops (E2/3–AT–E2/3) is much higher compared with that of AT with a single disulfide‐bonded loop. In contrast to endogenous CgB, E2/3–AT–E2/3 does not undergo Ca2+/pH‐dependent aggregation in the TGN. Furthermore, the disulfide‐bonded loop of CgB mediates membrane binding in the TGN and does so with 5‐fold higher efficiency if two loops are present on the reporter protein. The latter finding supports the concept that under physiological conditions, aggregates of CgB are the sorted units of cargo which have multiple loops on their surface leading to high membrane binding and sorting efficiency of CgB in the TGN.
A Deep Regression Architecture with Two-Stage Re-initialization for High Performance Facial Landmark Detection

Regression based facial landmark detection methods usually learns a series of regression functions to update the landmark positions from an initial estimation. Most of existing approaches focus on learning effective mapping functions with robust image features to improve performance. The approach to dealing with the initialization issue, however, receives relatively fewer attentions. In this paper, we present a deep regression architecture with two-stage re-initialization to explicitly deal with the initialization problem. At the global stage, given an image with a rough face detection result, the full face region is firstly re-initialized by a supervised spatial transformer network to a canonical shape state and then trained to regress a coarse landmark estimation. At the local stage, different face parts are further separately re-initialized to their own canonical shape states, followed by another regression subnetwork to get the final estimation. Our proposed deep architecture is trained from end to end and obtains promising results using different kinds of unstable initialization. It also achieves superior performances over many competing algorithms.
Target Cell APOBEC3C Can Induce Limited G-to-A Mutation in HIV-1

The evolutionary success of primate lentiviruses reflects their high capacity to mutate and adapt to new host species, immune responses within individual hosts, and, in recent years, antiviral drugs. APOBEC3G (A3G) and APOBEC3F (A3F) are host cell DNA-editing enzymes that induce extensive HIV-1 mutation that severely attenuates viral replication. The HIV-1 virion infectivity factor (Vif), expressed in vivo, counteracts the antiviral activity of A3G and A3F by inducing their degradation. Other APOBECs may contribute more to viral diversity by inducing less extensive mutations allowing viral replication to persist. Here we show that in APOBEC3C (A3C)-expressing cells infected with the patient-derived HIV-1 molecular clones 210WW, 210WM, 210MW, and 210MM, and the lab-adapted molecular clone LAI, viral G-to-A mutations were detected in the presence of Vif expression. Mutations occurred primarily in the GA context and were relatively infrequent, thereby allowing for spreading infection. The mutations were absent in cells lacking A3C but were induced after transient expression of A3C in the infected target cell. Inhibiting endogenous A3C by RNA interference in Magi cells prevented the viral mutations. Thus, A3C is necessary and sufficient for G-to-A mutations in some HIV-1 strains. A3C-induced mutations occur at levels that allow replication to persist and may therefore contribute to viral diversity. Developing drugs that inhibit A3C may be a novel strategy for delaying viral escape from immune or antiretroviral inhibition.
Imaging of atherosclerotic aorta of rabbit model by detection of plaque inflammation with fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography.

BACKGROUND Atherosclerotic plaque rupture is the primary mechanism of thrombosis which plays a key role in the onset of acute coronary syndromes. Detection of these plaques prone to rupture (vulnerable plaque) could be clinically significant for prevention of cardiac events. It has been shown that high metabolism cells have a high uptake of fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG). The objective of this study was to investigate the correlation of FDG uptake and the immuno-histochemistry parameters of plaques, and the effect of atorvastatin on vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque in a rabbit model. METHODS Ten male New Zealand White rabbits were divided into three groups as follows: (1) normal control group (n = 2, C group): the animals were fed a standard diet at 120 g/d and were given water ad labium; (2) atherosclerosis group (n = 4, As group): animals were fed with high fat diet for 5 months after aortic endothelia damage; (3) treatment group (atherosclerosis + atorvastatin, n = 4, Statin group): animals were fed with high fat diet for 5 months and then changed into normal chow plus atorvastatin (2.5 mg·d(-1)·kg(-1)) treatment for another 4 months. Then these four rabbits were imaged with fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and sacrificed for pathohistologic studies. FDG uptake by the aorta was expressed as target-to-background ratio (TBR). Maximal standardized uptake value (SUV) was measured over the thoracic and abdominal aortas. The aortic smooth muscle cell (SMC) number, CD-14 antibody positive cell (macrophage) number and the ratio of the thickness of fibrous cap to the thickness of lipid core (cap-to-core ratio) in atherosclerotic plaques were analyzed. RESULTS As group showed significantly higher uptake of FDG than C group (SUVs: 0.746 ± 0.172 vs. 0.286 ± 0.073, P < 0.001). After 4 months of atorvastatin treatment and the modification of diet, SUVs decreased significantly (Statin group: 0.550 ± 0.134, compared to As group, P < 0.001). However, no marked difference was found in TBR, the number of macrophages, the number of SMC and the cap-to-core ratio in the aortic segments between Statin group and As group. The correlation of aortic FDG uptake with SMC assessed by histopathology was negatively significant (r = -0.57, P < 0.001). When aortic FDG uptake was expressed as TBR, it correlated significantly (r = 0.69, P < 0.001) with the macrophage number, and also correlated significantly (r = -0.78, P < 0.001) with the cap-to-core ratio. CONCLUSION (18)F-FDG PET/CT might serve as a useful non-invasive imaging technique for detection of atherosclerotic plaque and potentially permit monitoring of relative changes in inflammation within the atherosclerotic lesion.
Synergistic effect of lymphotactin and interferon γ‐inducible protein‐10 transgene expression in T‐cell localization and adoptive T‐cell therapy of tumors

The lack of efficient T‐cell infiltration of tumors is a major obstacle to successful adoptive T‐cell therapy. We have previously demonstrated that adenovirus (AdV)‐mediated transgene lymphotactin (Lptn) or IP‐10 expression in tumors can significantly enhance T‐cell tumor infiltration. In this study, active OVA‐specific CD8+ T cells were prepared by coculturing naive OVA‐specific CD8+ T cells from transgenic OT I mice with OVA‐I peptide‐pulsed dendritic cells in vitro. These XCR‐1‐ and CXCR3‐expressing T cells predominantly secreted IFN‐γ and displayed significant killing activity (84% at effector:target cell ratio of 1.5) against OVA‐expressing EG7 tumor cells through perforin‐mediated pathway. Our data also showed that chemokine Lptn and IP‐10 not only can chemoattract, but also stimulate proliferation of CD8+ T cells in vitro, and that a mixture of Lptn and IP‐10 can more efficiently chemoattract CD8+ T cells than either one of them. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the transferred CD8+ T cells detected in group of tumors treated with both AdVLptn and AdVIP‐10 (group a) are around 4 and 2 times more than that in groups of tumors treated with control AdVpLpA (group b) and either AdVIP‐10 (group c) or AdVLptn (group d), respectively. Around 87.5% of mice in group a were tumor‐free compared to the aggressive tumor growth in all 8 mice of group b and 25% or 37.5% cured mice seen in groups c and d (p < 0.05). Thus, our results indicate that enhancement of adoptive T‐cell therapy can be obtained by double tranmsgene Lptn and IP‐10 expression, which facilitates CD8+ T‐cell tumor localization through proliferation and chemoattraction of the transferred CD8+ T cells by in situ chemokine transgene expressions in the tumors. Collectively, our data provide solid evidence of a potent synergy between adoptive T‐cell therapy and adenovirus‐mediated Lptn and IP‐10 gene transfer into tumor tissues, which culminated in the T‐cell tumor localization and eradication of well‐established tumor masses. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Sunblocking efficiency of various TiO2‐loaded solid lipid nanoparticle formulations 1

In this study, titanium dioxide (TiO2) was incorporated into solid lipid nanoparticle (SLN) formulations using both classical and novel preparation methods. The SLNs were investigated by evaluating their stabilities and physicochemical characteristics. UV‐protection abilities of formulations were investigated using in vitro TransporeTM and Sun To SeeTM test methods. Results have been discussed by comparing the classical SLN formulation with the novel SLN, hybrid SLN (H‐SLN) and the emulsion formulations. The results showed the superiority of the H‐SLN formulations compared with the classical SLN; all SLN formulations were better when compared with the emulsion formulations considering the UV protection. Incorporation of TiO2 as a sunscreen agent into SLN formulations gives opportunity to produce stable and safe formulations with reduced amount but high UV‐protection ability.
Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Deficiency Impairs Host Defense against Abdominal Sepsis1

Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 is involved in extracellular matrix degradation and leukocyte migration. To determine the role of MMP-9 in the innate immune response to peritonitis, MMP-9 gene-deficient (MMP-9−/−) and normal wild-type mice were i.p. infected with Escherichia coli. MMP-9 mRNA and pro-MMP-9 protein levels increased rapidly upon induction of peritonitis. Although MMP-9−/− neutrophils showed a normal phagocytosis of E. coli in vitro, MMP-9−/− mice displayed a reduced resistance against E. coli peritonitis, as indicated by an enhanced bacterial outgrowth in the peritoneal cavity and increased dissemination of the infection. Furthermore, the cytokine response to LPS was not influenced by MMP-9 deficiency. However, during E. coli peritonitis, MMP-9−/− mice showed much higher peritoneal chemokine and cytokine levels compared with wild-type mice. Despite the increased local chemokine concentrations, MMP-9−/− mice displayed a diminished recruitment of leukocytes to the site of infection, indicating that cellular migration was impaired. Moreover, MMP-9−/− mice developed more severe distant organ damage during infection. These data suggest that MMP-9 is an essential component of an effective host response to E. coli peritonitis.