Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Kallikrein‐binding protein inhibits LPS‐induced TNF‐α by upregulating SOCS3 expression

Kallikrein‐binding protein (KBP) was previously identified as a serpin family member with specific inhibitory effect on tissue kallikrein and angiogenesis, while there is little knowledge about the effects on inflammation. The aim of this study is to investigate whether KBP can suppress LPS‐induced inflammatory process. Our results showed that both recombinant KBP and KBP overexpression inhibited LPS‐stimulated TNF‐α transcription and translation in macrophage cell line RAW264.7 and primary macrophages. Furthermore, KBP treatment protected mice from endotoxin shock and repressed serum TNF‐α production, increasing survival rate of mice from 10% to 50% when compared to LPS alone. Moreover, qPCR and Western blot analysis demonstrated that both suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) transcription and translation were induced by KBP treatment in the present of LPS. RNA interference assay and luciferase assay showed that SOCS3 was responsible for the down‐regulation of TNF‐α by KBP, rather than NF‐κB subunit p65 and β‐catenin. Therefore, we demonstrated that KBP suppressed LPS‐induced TNF‐α production via upregulating SOCS3 expression. These results present the protective effects of KBP on LPS‐induced inflammation and provide novel information for the anti‐inflammation mechanism. J. Cell. Biochem. 114: 1020–1028, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Breaking linkage between mating compatibility factors: Tetrapolarity in Microbotryum

Linkage of genes determining separate self‐incompatibility mechanisms is a general expectation of sexual eukaryotes that helps to resolve conflicts between reproductive assurance and recombination. However, in some organisms, multiple loci are required to be heterozygous in offspring while segregating independently in meiosis. This condition, termed “tetrapolarity” in basidiomycete fungi, originated in the ancestor to that phylum, and there have been multiple reports of subsequent transitions to “bipolarity” (i.e., linkage of separate mating factors). In the genus Microbotryum, we present the first report of the breaking of linkage between two haploid self‐incompatibility factors and derivation of a tetrapolar breeding system. This breaking of linkage is associated with major alteration of genome structure, with the compatibility factors residing on separate mating‐type chromosome pairs, reduced in size but retaining the structural dimorphism characteristic for regions of recombination suppression. The challenge to reproductive assurance from unlinked compatibility factors may be overcome by the automictic mating system in Microbotryum (i.e., mating among products of the same meiosis). As a curious outcome, this linkage transition and its effects upon outcrossing compatibility rates may reinforce automixis as a mating system. These observations contribute to understanding mating systems and linkage as fundamental principles of sexual life cycles, with potential impacts on conventional wisdom regarding mating‐type evolution.
Co‐expression of urokinase‐type plasminogen activator and its receptor in human gastric‐cancer cell lines correlates with their invasiveness and tumorigenicity

The expression of urokinase‐type plasminogen activator (u‐PA), its receptor (u‐PAR) and metalloproteases activity were analyzed in 4 human gastric‐cancer cell lines (AGS, Hs746T, SNU‐1, and SNU‐5), in an attempt to relate these activities to their invasive potential and tumorigenicity on the modified chorioallantoic membranes (CAM) of chick embryos. Only 1 of the 4 cell lines tested, Hs746T, expressed both u‐PA and u‐PAR as well as MMP‐2, but not MMP‐9. This cell line was both tumorigenic and highly invasive (51.3 ± 13.1%) on a modified CAM. Its invasive capacity was comparable with that of a highly malignant human epidermoid‐carcinoma cell line (HEp3), which usually showed 40 to 50% invasiveness. The 3 other cell lines all produced MMP‐2 and MMP‐9, but only AGS showed moderate invasiveness (24.2 ± 8.8%). While antibodies to u‐PA were significantly effective in reducing CAM invasiveness of Hs746T cells by approximately 40%, the invasiveness of the t‐PA‐expressing AGS cell line was not affected by anti‐t‐PA antibodies. These results suggest that when one of the components of the u‐PA/u‐PAR system (the enzyme and/or the receptor) is not produced and u‐PA/u‐PAR‐dependent cell‐surface proteolytic activity is thereby diminished, the malignant phenotype that can be determined by tumorigenicity and invasion of connective tissue on a CAM is compromised. Production of both type‐IV collagenases (MMP‐2 and MMP‐9) cannot offset this deficiency.Int. J. Cancer 71: 867‐873, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss Inc.
Nonrandom chromosomal rearrangements in pancreatic carcinomas

Short‐term cultures were initiated from 20 carcinomas of the pancreas, 17 of which could be successfully cytogenetically analyzed. In eight carcinomas, only normal karyotypes were detected, probably representing dividing stromal cells. Three cases had – Y as the sole anomaly, which also may have occurred in cells that do not belong to the tumor parenchyma. Massively rearranged karyotypes with modal chromosome numbers in the triploid (five cases) and diploid‐triploid (one case) ranges were found in the remaining six carcinomas. Structural rearrangements, including deletions and unbalanced translocations, of the long arm of chromosome 6, involving bands q13 and q15 twice and q11 and q16 once, occurred in four tumors. All of these aberrations led to loss of chromosome material from 6q, always involving 6q15. Deletions and unbalanced translocations of the short arm of chromosome 1 also were found in four cases, affecting band p32 in three of them. In all four cases, the abnormalities resulted in loss of genetic material distal to 1p32. Chromosome 17 was involved in structural aberrations in three cases, twice as unbalanced translocations leading to loss of 17p material. Deletions of the short arms of chromosomes 3 and 8 were detected in two carcinomas. The most consistent numerical abnormalities were +2, +10, +11, +14, and tetrasomy 20, which were seen in all six cases. The findings suggest that structural rearrangements, or loss, of genes located on 1p, 3p, 6q, 8p, and 17p are of pathogenetic importance in pancreatic carcinogenesis.
Incidence and distribution of subepidermal autoimmune bullous skin diseases in three French regions. Bullous Diseases French Study Group.

BACKGROUND AND DESIGN The incidence and distribution of autoimmune subepidermal bullous diseases were estimated from prospective data (including immunoelectron microscopy) obtained from 100 cases during a mean period of 35 months in three university dermatologic centers in Amiens, Limoges, and Tours, France, that correspond to a cumulative reference population of 3.55 x 10(6). RESULTS Using data from these regions, we found a mean annual incidence of autoimmune subepidermal bullous diseases to be 10.4 per million people and, therefore, estimated the overall number of new cases of these disorders in France to be about 590 cases per year. According to clinical and immunoelectron microscopic criteria, a precise diagnosis was established in 94 cases, distributed as follows: bullous pemphigoid, 69 cases; cicatricial pemphigoid, 12 cases; linear IgA dermatosis, five cases; herpes gestationis, four cases; epidermolysis bullosa acquisita, two cases; and vesiculobullous systemic lupus erythematosus, two cases. CONCLUSION Our prospective study is the first assessing the incidence and distribution of autoimmune subepidermal bullous disorders that systematically included immunoelectron microscopic data. Our estimated incidence of bullous pemphigoid (seven new cases per million people per year) is large enough to establish bullous pemphigoid as the major autoimmune subepidermal bullous disease for the purpose of therapeutic trials. On the contrary, all other disorders, particularly epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (estimated annual incidence, 0.17 to 0.26 per million people), were very rare and reflect the paucity of patients available for short-term clinical studies in France.
Feasibility of a home-based program to improve handwriting after stroke: a pilot study

Abstract Purpose: To test the feasibility of a handwriting retraining program with adults after stroke; specifically the feasibility of: (i) recruiting people with stroke to the study, (ii) delivering the handwriting retraining program and (iii) outcome measures of handwriting performance. Method: A quasi-experimental pre-test post-test design was used. A four-week, home-based handwriting retraining program was delivered by an occupational therapist using task-specific practice. Legibility, speed, pen control and self-perception of handwriting were measured at baseline and completion of the program. Legibility was scored by a blinded rater. Results: Seven adults with stroke were recruited (eligibility fraction 43% of those screened, and enrolment fraction 78% of those eligible). There were no dropouts. Although, recruitment was slow the intervention was feasible and acceptable to adults with stroke. No statistically or clinically significant changes in legibility were reported in this small sample, but a ceiling effect was evident for some outcome measures. The study was not powered to determine efficacy. Conclusions: Delivery of a four-week handwriting intervention with eight supervised sessions in the community was feasible; however, recruitment of an adequate sample size would require greater investment than the single site used in this pilot. Implications for Rehabilitation Handwriting difficulty is common following hemiparesis after stroke, however research addressing handwriting retraining for adults with stroke is lacking. A four-week home-based handwriting program using task-specific practice and feedback was feasible to deliver and appropriate for adults with stroke. Improving handwriting legibility and neatness across a range of tasks were important goals for adults with handwriting impairment.
UGT1A1 gene polymorphism: impact on toxicity and efficacy of irinotecan-based regimens in metastatic colorectal cancer.

AIM To investigate the correlation between uridine diphosphate glucuronosyl transferase 1A1 (UGT1A1) gene polymorphisms and irinotecan-associated side effects and parameters of drug efficacy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) receiving a low-dose weekly irinotecan chemotherapeutic regimen. METHODS Genotypes were retrospectively evaluated by gene scan analysis on the ABI 310 sequencer of the TATAA box in the promoter region of the UGT1A1 gene in blood samples from 105 patients who had received 1st line irinotecan-based chemotherapy for mCRC. RESULTS The distribution of the genotypes was as follows: wild type genotype (WT) (6/6) 39.0%, heterozygous genotype (6/7) 49.5%, and homozygous genotype (7/7) 9.5%. The overall response rate (OR) was similar between patients carrying the (6/7, 7/7) or the WT genotype (6/6) (44.3% vs 43.2%, P = 0.75). Neither time to progression [(TTP) 8.1 vs 8.2 mo, P = 0.97] nor overall survival [(OS) 21.2 vs 18.9 mo, P = 0.73] differed significantly in patients who carried the (6/6) when compared to the (6/7, 7/7) genotype. No significant differences in toxicity were observed: Grade 3 and 4 delayed diarrhoea [(6/7, 7/7) vs (6/6); 13.0% vs 6.2%, P =0.08], treatment delays [(6/7, 7/7) vs (6/6); 25.1% vs 19.3%, P =0.24] or dose reductions [(6/7, 7/7) vs (6/6); 21.5% vs 27.2%, P =0.07]. CONCLUSION This analysis demonstrates the non-significant influence of the UGT1A1 gene polymorphism on efficacy and rate of irinotecan-associated toxicity in mCRC patients receiving low-dose irinotecan based chemotherapy.
The growth and development of the Africa Inland Mission and Africa Inland Church in Marakwet, Kenya

As late as 1930, the District Commissioner in his Annual Report indicated that there were no Missions working in the District. Towards the close of the year two Catholic Fathers, Hartmann and Bergman, visited the Government School at Tambach (the District Headquarters) and conferred with the Principal regarding the possibility of attaching to the school a Christian (Roman Catholic) native who might give religious instruction to those who deasired it . 1 A native Catechist was sent from the Roman Catholic Mission at Eldoret in 1931.
Effect of Vitamin D3 Supplementation in Black and in White Children: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

CONTEXT Dosages of vitamin D necessary to prevent or treat vitamin D deficiency in children remain to be clarified. OBJECTIVE To determine the effects of vitamin D3 1000 IU/d on serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], PTH, and markers of bone turnover (osteocalcin and collagen type 1 cross-linked C-telopeptide) in black children and white children, and to explore whether there is a threshold level of 25(OH)D associated with maximal suppression of serum PTH concentration. DESIGN Healthy 8- to 14-year-old Pittsburgh-area black (n = 84) and white (n = 73) children not receiving vitamin supplements, enrolled from October through March from 2008 through 2011, were randomized to vitamin D3 1000 IU or placebo daily for 6 months. RESULTS The mean baseline concentration of 25(OH)D was <20 ng/mL in both the vitamin D-supplemented group and the placebo group (19.8 ± 7.6 and 18.8 ± 6.9 ng/mL, respectively). The mean concentration was higher in the supplemented group than in the placebo group at 2 months (26.4 ± 8.1 vs 18.9 ± 8.1 ng/mL; P < .0001) and also at 6 months (26.7 ± 7.6 vs 22.4 ± 7.3; P = .003), after adjusting for baseline 25(OH)D, race, gender, pubertal status, dietary vitamin D intake, body mass index, and sunlight exposure. Increases were only significant in black children, when examined by race. The association between 25(OH)D and PTH concentrations was inverse and linear, without evidence of a plateau. Overall, vitamin D supplementation had no effect on PTH and bone turnover. CONCLUSIONS Vitamin D3 supplementation with 1000 IU/d in children with mean baseline 25(OH)D concentration <20 ng/mL effectively raised their mean 25(OH)D concentration to ≥20 ng/mL but failed to reach 30 ng/mL. Vitamin D supplementation had no effect on PTH concentrations.
Epidermal Growth Factor Stimulation of Trophoblast Differentiation Requires MAPK11/14 (p38 MAP Kinase) Activation

Abstract Cultured human term villous cytotrophoblasts (CT) have been reported to be nonproliferating but differentiate when exposed to epidermal growth factor (EGF). Here we show that CT differentiate into chorionic gonadoptropin (beta-hCG/CGB)-expressing cells when cultured with medium alone. The addition of EGF decreases CGB secretion and prolongs production for up to 13 days. EGF stimulates the phosphorylation (activation) of the signaling intermediate p38 (MAPK11/14), and blocking phosphorylation pharmacologically with either SB203580 or SB202190 strongly inhibited spontaneous and EGF-stimulated secretion of CGB. In addition, EGF-stimulated fusion of cytotrophoblasts into syncytial units was strongly inhibited by SB203580. EGF upregulated trophoblast proliferation (measured by bromodeoxyuridine uptake) and SB203580 increased this proliferation after 5 days. In agreement with these observations, EGF and SB203580 increased expression of the G1-phase-specific gene cyclin-D1 (CCND1) and SB203580 downmodulated its inhibitor p21 (CDKN1A). When added to villous explant cultures, EGF did nothing to the pattern of CGB secretion, but addition of SB203580 prevented the normal surge in secretion during syncytial regeneration over Days 3–7. These data support the hypothesis that EGF-stimulated cytotrophoblast differentiation to syncytium requires MAPK11/14 activation, and that cytotrophoblast proliferation can be stimulated in culture by EGF and enhanced by MAPK11/14 inhibition with a consequent reduction of differentiation.
Wireless motion sensor using ultra-wideband impulse-radio

Ultra-wideband impulse-radio (UWB-IR) has lately attracted considerable attention because of high range-resolution, penetration against blanket and clothes, low power spectral emission and so on. In medical care or geriatric health care facilities, therefore it is expected to detect the small movement of a resident such as breathing with a remote non-contact approach which is unique as compared with conventional sensors such as infra-red and narrow-band radio. This paper suggests a wireless motion sensor using UWB-IR, which detects various movements of a resident vacating a bedside, room or designated area. It can also monitor the resident's respiration rate in bed. In this paper the measurement was conducted for several scenarios and the usefulness is investigated. As a result, it is found to be useful for ant-wandering and respiratory monitoring.
Diabetes Prediction Using Ensembling of Different Machine Learning Classifiers

Diabetes, also known as chronic illness, is a group of metabolic diseases due to a high level of sugar in the blood over a long period. The risk factor and severity of diabetes can be reduced significantly if the precise early prediction is possible. The robust and accurate prediction of diabetes is highly challenging due to the limited number of labeled data and also the presence of outliers (or missing values) in the diabetes datasets. In this literature, we are proposing a robust framework for diabetes prediction where the outlier rejection, filling the missing values, data standardization, feature selection, K-fold cross-validation, and different Machine Learning (ML) classifiers (k-nearest Neighbour, Decision Trees, Random Forest, AdaBoost, Naive Bayes, and XGBoost) and Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) were employed. The weighted ensembling of different ML models is also proposed, in this literature, to improve the prediction of diabetes where the weights are estimated from the corresponding Area Under ROC Curve (AUC) of the ML model. AUC is chosen as the performance metric, which is then maximized during hyperparameter tuning using the grid search technique. All the experiments, in this literature, were conducted under the same experimental conditions using the Pima Indian Diabetes Dataset. From all the extensive experiments, our proposed ensembling classifier is the best performing classifier with the sensitivity, specificity, false omission rate, diagnostic odds ratio, and AUC as 0.789, 0.934, 0.092, 66.234, and 0.950 respectively which outperforms the state-of-the-art results by 2.00 % in AUC. Our proposed framework for the diabetes prediction outperforms the other methods discussed in the article. It can also provide better results on the same dataset which can lead to better performance in diabetes prediction. Our source code for diabetes prediction is made publicly available.
Heparin Treatment in Acute Cerebral Sinus Venous Thrombosis: A Retrospective Clinical and MR Analysis of 42 Cases

The only randomized data on heparin treatment in acute cerebral sinus venous thrombosis (CSVT) are derived from a small number of patients. The rate of intracranial hemorrhages as a complication of high-dose heparin treatment is still unknown. This retrospective study evaluates the clinical features, neuroimaging monitoring and outcome of 42 patients with proven CSVT. Diagnosis was established by DSA, CT, MR tomography and MR angiography. All patients received heparin intravenously guided by doubling the aPTT value for 3 weeks, followed by oral anticoagulation. Partial or complete recanalization was found in 36 cases. 40 patients improved clinically, in 26 of them complete recovery was observed. One patient deteriorated and developed an apallic syndrome, one further patient died of septic multiorgan failure. Only in one patient was hemorrhagic transformation of infarcted brain tissue observed but without clinical deterioration.
A quantum chemical study of HOCl-induced transformations of carbamazepine.

The antiepileptic drug carbamazepine (CBZ) is one of the most persistent pharmaceuticals in the environment. Its chemical fate is influenced by the type of wastewater treatment. This study sets out to determine the degradation mechanism and products in the reaction between CBZ and hypochlorous acid (HOCl), which is the main chlorinating species in water. In the search for the most feasible pathways of HOCl-induced transformations of CBZ, a quantum chemical approach was employed. Chlorination and epoxidation of CBZ are two initial, competitive processes that result in two key intermediates: N-chloramide and 10,11-epoxide. The calculated free energy barriers (ΔG) for these reactions are 105.7 and 95.7 kJ mol-1 resp. , which is in agreement with the experimental energy barrier of 98.2 kJ mol-1. All transformation products detected in chlorination experiments were located by computational models, and the reaction mechanism underlying their formation was described in detail. Different computational methods (density functional and ab initio theory) were applied, and the double hybrid B2-PLYPD functional was found to be superior in terms of efficiency and accuracy. Of special interest are oxoiminostilbene and formylacridine, which are the final products in the degradation cascade. Their exceptional thermodynamic stability, as predicted by quantum chemical methods, suggests that these structures should be considered as recalcitrants in chlorinated waters. Fruitful interplay between computational models and experimental data proves that the quantum chemical approach can be used as a predictive tool in environmental degradation studies.
Inheritance of reproductive traits of female common ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) in pure breeding and in inter-generic crossbreeding with muscovy ducks (Cairina moschata)

1. Genetic parameters of reproductive traits were estimated in a population of common duck, in purebreeding and crossbreeding (with Muscovies) insemination systems. A total of 989 females were studied over three generations as well as 4025 purebred offspring and 4125 male mule offspring. 2. Traits studied were age at first egg, total number of eggs laid until the age of 48 weeks, fertility and hatchability rates in pure and crossbreds, weight at 6 and 30 weeks of age, average egg weight and body weight of the male mule ducks at 6 weeks of age. 3. Heritability estimates were found to be medium range for reproductive traits (0·15 to 0·47). Heritability value for fertility or hatchability in crossbreds was twice as high as in purebreds (0·32 vs 0·15 for fertility; 0·36 vs 0·16 for hatchability). 4. Fertility in purebreeding and in crossbreeding were two different traits (r g = 0·49) while hatchability displayed a high genetic correlation between breeding systems (r g = 0·88). 5. Genetic correlations with number of hatched mule ducks were medium or high and favourable. Genetic correlations between reproductive traits and weights were low (< 0·36), the most related trait being the body weight of the male mule duck at 6 weeks of age.