Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Expression of epidermal ornithine decarboxylase and nuclear proto‐oncogenes in phorbol ester tumor promotion‐sensitive and ‐resistant mice

This study was undertaken to assess the effects of a single or two sequential topical applications of 12‐O‐tetradecanoylphorbol‐13‐acetate (TPA) on the expression of c‐fos, c‐jun, junB, c‐myc, and ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) in promotion‐sensitive SSIN mice and the relatively promotion‐resistant C57BL/6 strain. Northern blot analysis demonstrated that a single promoting dose of TPA induced ODC mRNA expression 10‐to 15‐fold in both strains. Treatment of each strain with a second dose of TPA, 48 h (in C57BL/6 mice) or 72 h (in SSIN mice) after the first, led to hyperinduction of ODC activity. Although this involved transcription of new ODC mRNA, the hyperinduction of ODC enzyme activity was primarily posttranscriptional. Induction of c‐fos mRNA or protein was maximal about 3 h after a single treatment in either strain but was sustained for at least 6 h in C57BL/6 mice. In contrast, two treatments of SSIN mice with TPA caused a rapid, strong c‐fos induction 1–2 h after treatment, whereas C57BL/6 mice responded no more strongly than after a single treatment. c‐jun mRNA and protein were induced only slightly in either strain, but junB was induced about fivefold in SSIN mice and tenfold in C57BL/6 mice. Although c‐myc was induced to comparable levels in both strains, the reponse was more prolonged in C57BL/6 mice. Compared with SSIN mice, C57BL/6 mice responded to TPA treatment, in general, with changes in proto‐oncogene mRNA to a higher level or for longer or both. Thus, although small differences in the expression of these genes were observed, they were not positively correlated with the differential sensitivity of SSIN and C57BL/6 mice toward tumor promotion by phorbol esters, with the possible exception of c‐fos. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss Inc.
Marker of coxsackievirus‐B4 infection in saliva of patients with type 1 diabetes

Coxsackieviruses B (CV‐B) are enteroviruses that have been reported to play a role in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes. Enteroviral RNA was detected in the gut mucosa of patients. The mucosal immunity is an interconnected network; therefore, the response to enteroviruses possibly present in the gastrointestinal mucosa can be reflected by specific antibodies in the saliva. In the present study, the anti‐CV‐B neutralizing activity of saliva samples from patients with type 1 diabetes was investigated.
Mall Walking: An Effective Mental Health Intervention for Older Adults

1. Traditional goals of health promotion and disease prevention are actually secondary factors in many walkers' motivations for mall-walking activity. 2. The routine of mall walking and the social relationships they form keep older adults going back to the mall. 3. Successful mall-walking program directors are beginning to understand the need to emphasize the social benefits of participating in a mall-walking group as much, if not more than, the health benefits of regular exercise.
A novel receiver for Filp-OFDM in optical wireless communication

A unipolar orthogonal frequency division multi-plexing (OFDM) technique called flipped OFDM (Flip-OFDM), is suitable for intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD) channel which needs the transmitted signal to be real and positive. Flip-OFDM uses two consecutive OFDM subframes to transmit the positive and negative parts of the signal, respectively. In the conventional receiver, only the difference of the two subframes is used to recover the signal, leading to the under-utilization of the received power. This paper proposes a novel receiver characterizing temporal and spectral diversity combining to improve the performance of Flip-OFDM by extracting effective information from both the sum and the difference of the two subframes. Simulations show that the novel receiver provides a significant gain of about 2.3 dB at the BER of 10-4, compared with the conventional one in additive white gaussian noise (AWGN) channel. Moreover, the proposed receiver also simplifies computational complexity compared with the existing iterative receiver.
An antagonist of platelet-activating factor suppresses endotoxin-induced tumor necrosis factor and mortality in mice pretreated with carrageenan

We found that carrageenan (CAR), that is, sulfated polygalactose, can enhance both lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced tumor necrosis factor (TNF) production and the rate of lethality in mice (M. Ogata, S. Yoshida, M. Kamochi, A. Shigematsu, and Y. Mizuguchi, Infect. Immun. 59:679-683, 1991). It has been reported that platelet-activating factor (PAF) antagonists reduce the rate of mortality from endotoxin shock. However, there are few reports regarding the effect of PAF antagonists on TNF production. The aim of the present study is to examine the effect of TCV-309, a new PAF antagonist, on LPS-induced TNF production and mortality in mice pretreated with CAR. ddY mice (6 to 7 weeks old) were injected intraperitoneally with CAR (5 mg per mouse) and were then divided into two groups: mice treated with a PAF antagonist (TCV-309; Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.) and control mice. The mice treated with PAF antagonist received indicated doses of TCV-309 subcutaneously (s.c.) at 30 min before LPS injection, while the control mice received 1 ml of saline s.c. at the same time. All mice were stimulated by intravenous injection of LPS (50 micrograms per mouse) at 24 h after pretreatment with CAR. At intervals after injection of LPS, serum samples were obtained for a TNF assay in which cytotoxicity to L929 cells was measured. TCV-309 both significantly suppressed LPS-induced TNF production and reduced mortality in a dose-dependent manner. When TCV-309 was administered at 30 min before injection of LPS, the effect of TCV-309 on the suppression of TNF activity was at its peak. Treatment with TCV-309 (990 micrograms per mouse) s.c. significantly improved the survival rate after challenge with LPS compared with the survival rate of control mice. Although the 50% lethal dose of LPS was 15 micrograms per mouse for control mice, it increased to 102 micrograms per mouse for mice that were treated s.c. with TCV-309 (990 micrograms per mouse). Even in vitro, TCV-309 also inhibited LPS-induced TNF production in thioglycolate-elicited macrophages. It was concluded that PAF plays an important role in endotoxin-induced TNF production and mortality.
A Practical Guide to the Mental Capacity Act 2005: Putting the Principles of the Act into Practice

A Clinician's Brief Guide to the Mental Capacity Act (2nd edn) By Nick Brindle, Tim Branton, Alison Stansfield and Tony Zigmond RCPsych Publications 2015, £18 (£16.20 for College members), pb, 144 pp. ISBN: 9781909726420 This book aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the Mental Capacity
Genophore Homologies Among Compatible Nocardiae

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) reassociation analyses were employed to determine the molecular relationships between recombinable nocardiae. Analysis of the compatibility system of Nocardia erythropolis Mat-Ce and Mat-cE mating strains demonstrated the existence of extensive homology under both exacting and nonexacting conditions. Labeled N. erythropolis Mat-cE DNA reassociated equally as well with the Mat-Ce test DNA as with its own filter-bound DNA. However, the Mat-cE DNA bound only ca. 60% of the Mat-Ce DNA, when the latter was the reference. The existence of unique nucleotide sequences is postulated on the basis of these results as well as of aberrant segregation patterns which have been observed in certain class types of recombinants. Reassociation data reveal that recombinants representing the inheritance of different portions of each of the parental genomes have inherited the unique portion from the Mat-Ce parent. N. restrictus AY-B-226 exhibited little relatedness (11 to 32%), and N. globerula ATCC 9356 only slightly more (21 to 42%), to either of these mating strains at either exacting or nonexacting temperatures of incubation.
From concrete to abstract: Multilayer neural networks for disaster victims detection

Search-and-rescue (SAR) team main objective is to quickly locate victims in post-disaster scenario. In such disaster scenario, images are usually complex containing highly cluttered background such as debris, soil, gravel, ruined building, and clothes, which are difficult to distinguish from the victims. Previous methods which only work on nearly uniform background taken from either indoor or yard are not suitable and can deteriorate the detection system. In this paper, we demonstrate the feasibility of multilayer neural network for disaster victims detection on highly cluttered background. Theoretical justification from which deep learning learns from concrete to object abstraction is established. In order to build a more discriminative system, this theoretical justification then leads us to perform pretraining using data-rich datasheet followed by finetuning only on the last layers using data-specific datasheet while keeping the other layers fixed. A new Indonesian disaster victims datasheet is also provided. Experimental results show the efficiency of the method for disaster victims detection in highly cluttered background.
Chromogranin A-, somatostatin- and serotonin- containing endocrine cells in the corporal gastric mucosa of patients with Helicobacter pylori associated chronic gastritis.

OBJECTIVE To examine the number and distribution of chromogranin A, somatostatin and serotonin containing endocrine cells (EC) in the corporal gastric mucosa of patients with Helicobacter pylori (HP) associated chronic gastritis. METHODS In 12 patients (7 males and 5 females, median age 47 years, range 39-59 years) the number of chromogranin A, somatostatin and serotonin containing endocrine cells (EC) in the corporal gastric mucosa was counted after the appropriate histochemical reaction using specific primary antibodies. The gastric mucosal tissue was obtained by endoscopic biopsy from the greater curvature, anterior and posterior walls of the stomach body. The number of EC was determined per 1 mm2 of the lamina muscularis mucosae. RESULTS The number of chromogranin A, somatostatin and serotonin containing EC in the corporal gastric mucosa in the patients examined was not increased. CONCLUSIONS The lack of changes in the somatostatin containing cells indicates that they are not directly involved in the development of hypergastrinaemia accompanying the HP infection.
Premenopausal levels of circulating insulin‐like growth factor I and the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer

Increased levels of insulin‐like growth factor I (IGF‐I) may directly stimulate breast cell proliferation and promote growth and survival of transformed cells. Higher levels of IGF‐I have been associated with increased risk of premenopausal breast cancer but not postmenopausal breast cancer. We investigated whether circulating levels of IGF‐I prior to menopause are associated with breast cancer diagnosed after menopause in a population‐based nested case‐control study. Female cohort participants were enrolled in 1974 (n = 15,192) and 1989 (n = 18,724) and blood was drawn. Cases were women diagnosed with primary breast cancer at ages ≥50, of whom 152 were premenopausal at blood draw. One control was matched to each case on cohort participation, age, ethnic group, menopausal status and date of blood draw. Levels of IGF‐I and IGF binding protein 3 (IGFBP‐3) were measured using enzyme‐linked immunoabsorbant assays assays. The association between IGF‐I and breast cancer was determined using conditional logistic regression, adjusting for IGFBP‐3. IGF‐I levels decreased with age (p = 0.0001). Prior to age‐stratification, IGF‐I levels neither measured before nor after menopause were associated with postmenopausal breast cancer. After age‐stratification, associations were suggested in the youngest premenopausal age group (upper vs. lowest third: odds ratio (OR) = 5.31, 95% confidence intervals (CI) = 0.85–33.13; p trend = 0.06) and oldest postmenopausal age group (upper vs. lowest third: OR = 3.41, 95% CI = 0.66–17.71; p trend = 0.13). The association between circulating levels of IGF‐I and postmenopausal breast cancer risk may be modified by age. Increased levels of circulating IGF‐I may be of particular interest in the younger premenopausal women and older postmenopausal women. Age‐stratification should be undertaken in larger investigations of IGF‐I levels as predictors of postmenopausal breast cancer. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A 70‐YEAR‐OLD MAN WITH EXTRAPYRAMIDAL SYMPTOMS, DEMENTIA AND HEMOSIDEROSIS

CLINICAL HISTORY A 70-year-old man presented with an 8-year history of cognitive decline. Initial presenting signs included mild memory loss, behavioral disturbances, and transient disorientation. He had frontal release signs, including severe confusion, hallucinations and bilateral grasping, pyramidal signs, facial dyskinesia and dysmetria. Initial “mini mental status” (MMS) was quoted as 25/30. Laboratory investigations showed undetectable ceruloplasmin in serum, increased ferritin (1777 μg/L—nl 30–300) and a slight decrease of serum iron (11.8 μmol/L–nl 12–30) and copper (0.06 mg/L—nl 0.8–1.4). Fundus oculi was normal; there was neither Kayser– Fleischer ring nor retinal abnormality. There were no signs of diabetes mellitus. A magnetic resonance image (MRI) revealed bilateral increased signal intensities of deep nuclei on T1 weighted that were more marked on T2 weighted sequences. The abnormalities involved predominantly the putamen, caudate nucleus, pulvinar, and dentate nucleus (Figure 1A,B). There was no contrast enhancement. A liver biopsy showed marked iron deposition but no cirrhosis. Aspirated bone marrow was normal except for massive iron deposition. The patient’s condition progressively worsened. Six years after initial presentation, he was bedridden with obvious dementia (MMS less than 5/30) and mutism. He died from aspiration bronchopneumonia, 8 years after the onset of neurological signs. There was neither a family history of similar disease nor consanguinity between the close parents. Two brothers had diabetes mellitus, progressive mental deterioration, movement disorders and cerebellar ataxia, together with aceruloplasminemia whereas serum ferritin and serum iron were increased. In the descendants, two of the three children presented with a low blood level of ceruloplasmin compatible with a heterozygous form of the disease.
Metabolic syndrome prevalence in subclinic and overt hypothyroid patients and the relation among metabolic syndrome parameters

Objective: One of the common features of hypothyroidism is weight gain or failure to lose weight. Bradycardia and mild hypertension can be seen as well. Impact of thyroid hormone deficiency on glucose and insulin metabolism is not fully understood. Thyroid hormones play a role in lipid synthesis, metabolism and mobilization. Metabolic syndrome is a status where most features of hypothyroidism can be seen. Our aim is to investigate the frequency of metabolic syndrome in hypothyroid patients. Methods: One hundred overt hypothyroid patients, 100 subclinical hypothyroid patients and 200 healthy controls enroled in this study. The Third Adult Treatment Panel of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP-ATP III) criteria were used for metabolic syndrome diagnosis. Results: Body mass index was similar among the groups. Waist circumference was lower in the control group than in the hypothyroid patients (p=0.0001). Homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) insulin resistance was higher in the hypothyroid group than in the control (p=0.008) and subclinical hypothyroid (p=0.014) groups. Metabolic syndrome prevalence was 44% in the hypothyroid group, 35% in the subclinical hypothyroid group and 33% in the control group (p=0.016 for the hypothyroid group vs controls and p=0.002 for the hypothyroid group vs subclinical hypothyroid group). Waist circumference was larger in the hypothyroid metabolic syndrome patients than in the sub-clinical hypothyroid group and controls (p=0.001). Blood glucose, lipid parameters and blood pressure were similar among the groups. Conclusions: Metabolic syndrome is increased in patients with hypothyroidism, therefore hypothyroidism should be considered in newly diagnosed metabolic syndrome patients.
Experience with thoracoscopic resection for mediastinal mature teratoma: a retrospective analysis of 15 patients.

OBJECTIVES Although video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is widely used for the resection of a mediastinal mass, it is converted to an open resection in some patients with a mature teratoma because of dense adhesions. We reviewed cases with a mature teratoma removed by VATS and investigated the indications for that procedure for this tumour. METHODS We retrospectively investigated 15 patients with a benign mediastinal mature teratoma who underwent a thoracoscopic procedure. RESULTS The mean tumour diameter was 5.3 cm (range 3.2-8.5). The mean operative time was 188 min (78-430), and intraoperative blood loss was 138 ml (10-450). Thoracoscopic resection was completed in all except 3 patients with larger tumours, which presented the most difficult problems with dissection. Each of those 3 had severe preoperative chest pain and a tumour larger than 5.5 cm. No mortality or postoperative complications were recorded, except for postoperative chylothorax. Tumour recurrence did not develop in any patient during the mean follow-up period of 4.6 years. CONCLUSIONS For selected patients with a mediastinal teratoma, VATS may be considered standard care, as most are benign. In contrast, an open approach may be more appropriate for patients with a large tumour or preoperative symptoms.
Impaired Activation of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase by Leptin Is a Novel Mechanism of Hepatic Leptin Resistance in Diet-induced Obesity*

Obesity is associated with the development of leptin resistance. However, the effects of leptin resistance on leptin-regulated metabolic processes and the biochemical defects that cause leptin resistance are poorly understood. We have addressed in rats the effect of dietinduced obesity (DIO), a situation of elevated tissue lipid levels, on the well described lipid-lowering effect of leptin in liver, an action that is proposed to be important for the prevention of tissue lipotoxicity and insulin resistance. In addition, we have addressed the role of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) in mediating the acute effects of leptin on hepatic lipid levels in lean and DIO animals. A 90-min leptin (∼10 ng/ml) perfusion of isolated livers from lean animals decreased triglyceride levels by 42 ± 5% (p = 0.006). However, leptin concentrations ranging from ∼10 to ∼90 ng/ml had no effect on triglyceride levels in livers from DIO animals. The acute lipid-lowering effect of leptin on livers from lean animals was mediated by a PI 3-kinase-dependent mechanism, because wortmannin and LY294002, the PI 3-kinase inhibitors, blocked the effects of leptin on hepatic triglyceride levels and leptin increased liver PI 3-kinase activity by 183 ± 6% (p = 0.003) and insulin receptor substrate 1 tyrosine phosphorylation by 185 ± 30% (p = 0.02) in the absence of PI 3-kinase inhibitors. Contrary to the effects of leptin in lean livers, leptin did not activate PI 3-kinase in livers from DIO rats. These data present evidence for a role for 1) leptin resistance in contributing to the excessive accumulation of tissue lipid in obesity, 2) PI 3-kinase in mediating the acute lipid-lowering effects of leptin in liver, and 3) defective leptin activation of PI 3-kinase as a novel mechanism of leptin resistance.
NUTRITIONAL STUDIES WITH CHLAMYDOMONAS REINHARDI

At present, we are investigating the genetic mechanisms involved in chlorophyll biosynthesis and chloroplast development. For this project, i t has been necessary to use a unicellular organism which is photosynthetic but can also be grown in the dark, and which has a sexual phase in its life-cycle. The ability of the organism to grow in the dark has been of particular importance because of our interest in mutants unable to synthesize chlorophyll and which are therefore non-photosynthetic. The sexual requirement is necessary for carrying out the genetic analysis. The organism chosen, Chlamydomonas reinhardi, a unicellular green alga, was isolated by Professor G. M. Smith, to whom we are indebted for the mating type strains used in this work. The nutritional studies to be reported here are concerned, first, with vegetative growth of the organism in light and dark and, second, with the nutritional conditions which we have found to be of critical importance in controlling the sexual phases of the life-cycle.
A prospective study of the associations between 25‐hydroxyvitamin D, sarcopenia progression and physical activity in older adults

roidism as the cause. Particularly, individuals with ischaemic heart disease are more likely to develop atrial fibrillation. Similarly, any severe intercurrent illness that may lower TSH, for instance pneumonia, may also be complicated by atrial fibrillation. Thus, the major cause of grade I SCH is nonthyroidal illness, and this becomes more prevalent with ageing. The association between atrial fibrillation and grade I SCH, therefore, persists despite multivariate analyses in these epidemiological studies, because although chronological age is controlled for by the analysis, biological age is not taken into account. And, as detailed in our original article, alterations in the thyroid axis with age mean that low TSH is likely to be a surrogate for advanced biological age or even ‘frailty’. We agree with the authors that grade I SCH should not be regarded as a benign condition, as these individuals are clearly at excess vascular risk. However, currently there is no evidence that demonstrates an improvement in outcome by treating such people for thyrotoxicosis. Until such information becomes available, we would recommend physicians to consider treating individuals with grade I SCH with conventional medications for those with vascular risk, such as a statin, aspirin or perhaps a beta-blocker. We would reserve treatment of hyperthyroidism with radioiodine or antithyroid drugs for certain patients with persistent grade II SCH.
Reliability-Based Incremental PMU Placement

This paper presents a new reliability-based incremental phasor measurement unit (PMU) placement method via an enumeration-based integer linear programming optimization approach. By evaluating the proposed reliability indices for node and system observability, incremental PMUs are sequentially placed on the locations where the reliability of entire system's observability can be best improved at each step. As a result, a pre-set desired reliability of the system's observability can be achieved while using the minimal number of PMUs. The proposed method is generic and flexible in a way that different kinds of failures that impact the reliability of system observability can be easily included in the method. The 1st-order and 2nd-order failures of PMUs and lines are considered in this paper. The proposed method is validated using a 4-node system, the IEEE 14-node system and the IEEE RTS 96 test system. Simulation results show that the proposed method is effective and efficient in enhancing the reliability of observability for any system regardless of what the initial PMU placement of the system may be.
Gradient Inhomogeneous Mean Matrix Based Edge Preserving Filter

Image denoising is a challenging work in outdoor image applications. Edges get blurred while noises get filtered. A novel edge-preserving filtering method was proposed in this paper. A gradient based inhomogeneous mean matrix was presented to prevent the edges from smoothing. And its sparse structure was constructed to reduce the computational cost. The effectiveness and robustness of our algorithm were demonstrated by comparing our results with existing generally acknowledged edge-preserving filtering methods.