Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CD40/CD154 Blockade Inhibits Dendritic Cell Expression of Inflammatory Cytokines but Not Costimulatory Molecules

Blockade of the CD40/CD154 pathway remains one of the most effective means of promoting graft survival following transplantation. However, the effects of CD40/CD154 antagonism on dendritic cell (DC) phenotype and functionality following transplantation remain incompletely understood. To dissect the effects of CD154/CD40 blockade on DC activation in vivo, we generated hematopoietic chimeras in mice that expressed a surrogate minor Ag (OVA). Adoptive transfer of OVA-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells led to chimerism rejection, which was inhibited by treatment with CD154 blockade. Surprisingly, CD154 antagonism did not alter the expression of MHC and costimulatory molecules on CD11c+ DCs compared with untreated controls. However, DCs isolated from anti-CD154–treated animals exhibited a significant reduction in inflammatory cytokine secretion. Combined blockade of inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-12p40 attenuated the expansion of Ag-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and transiently inhibited the rejection of OVA-expressing cells. These results suggest that a major effect of CD154 antagonism in vivo is an impairment in the provision of signal three during donor-reactive T cell programming, as opposed to an impact on the provision of signal two. We conclude that therapies designed to target inflammatory cytokines during donor-reactive T cell activation may be beneficial in attenuating these responses and prolonging graft survival.
Clinical Trial Design Issues: At Least 10 Things You Should Look For in Clinical Trials

Randomized controlled trials remain the gold standard study design and yield the highest level of scientific credence. However, recognition of the limitations of the randomized controlled trial is important. This review highlights 10 potentially problematic areas one should carefully assess when performing or reading an article reporting the results of a randomized controlled trial, problematic areas that can affect the outcome of the trial and therefore mislead the reader. These areas include ethical issues, eligibility criteria, masking (blinding), randomization, analytic methods, the selection of subjects for the interventional and comparison groups, selection of end points, and the interpretation of the results. Each of these is discussed, and examples of published articles are used to highlight the main points.
Condyle fossa relationship associated with functional posterior crossbite, before and after rapid maxillary expansion.

OBJECTIVE To investigate condylar symmetry and condyle fossa relationships in subjects with functional posterior crossbite comparing findings before and after rapid maxillary expansion (RME) treatment through low-dose computed tomography (CT). MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty-six patients (14 girls and 12 boys, mean age 9.6 ± 1.4 years) with functional posterior crossbite (FPXB) diagnosis underwent rapid palatal expansion with a Hyrax appliance. Patients' temporomandibular joints (TMJ) underwent multislice CT scans before rapid palatal expansion (T0) and after (T1). Joint spaces were compared with those of a control sample of 13 subjects (7 girls and 5 boys, mean age 11 ± 0.6 years). RESULTS Anterior space (AS), superior space (SS), and posterior space (PS) joint space measurements at T0 between the FPXB side and contralateral side demonstrated no statistically significant differences. After RME treatment (T1), all three joint spaces increased on both the FPXB side and the non-crossbite side. However, differences were statistically significant only for the SS when comparing the two sides at T1. SS increased more than AS and PS in the non-crossbite condyle (0.28 mm) and FPXB condyle (0.37 mm), and PS increased only on the FPXB side (0.34 mm). CONCLUSIONS There were no statistically significant differences in condyle position within the glenoid fossa between the FPXB and non-crossbite side before treatment. Increases in joint spaces were observed after treatment with RME on both sides. These changes were, however, of small amounts.
Age and gender differences in youth physical activity: does physical maturity matter?

PURPOSE To investigate whether observed gender differences in objectively measured physical activity (PA) in children (8-13 yr) are confounded by physical maturity differences. METHODS Four hundred and one children (194 boys and 207 girls) volunteered for this study. An Actigraph accelerometer was used to obtain seven consecutive days of minute-by-minute PA data for each participant. Minutes of moderate to vigorous PA per day (MVPA), continuous minutes of MVPA per day (CMVPA), and minutes of vigorous PA per day (VPA) were derived from the accelerometer data. Age at peak height velocity (APHV), an indicator of somatic maturity, was predicted in all individuals. Gender differences in the PA variables were analyzed using a two-way (gender x age) ANOVA. RESULTS Levels of PA decreased with increasing chronological age in both genders (P < 0.05). When aligned on chronological age, boys had a higher MVPA at 10-13 yr, a higher CMVPA at 9-12 yr, and a higher VPA at 9-13 yr (P < 0.05). When aligned on biological age, PA declined with increasing maturity (P < 0.05); however, gender differences between biological age groups disappeared. CONCLUSION The observed age-related decline in adolescent boys and girls PA is antithetical to public health goals; as such, it is an important area of research. To fully understand gender disparities in PA, consideration must be given to the confounding effects of physical maturity.
Phylogenetic diversity and antimicrobial activity of marine bacteria associated with the soft coral Sarcophyton glaucum

Coral reefs are the most biodiverse and biologically productive of all marine ecosystems. Corals harbor diverse and abundant prokaryotic groups. However, little is known about the diversity of coral‐associated microorganisms. We used molecular techniques to identify and compare the culturable bacterial assemblages associated with the soft coral Sarcophyton glaucum from the Red sea. Different media were utilized for microbial isolation, and the phylogeny of the culturable bacteria associated with the coral was analyzed based on 16S rDNA sequencing. The coral associated bacteria were found to be representatives within the Gammaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes. Antimicrobial activities of twenty bacterial isolates were tested against four pathogenic bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Vibrio fluvialis) and three fungi (Penicillium sp., Aspergillus niger, Candida albicans). A relatively high proportion of bacterial strains displayed distinct antibacterial and antifungal activities, suggesting that soft coral‐associated microorganisms may aid their host in protection against marine pathogens. Members of genera Bacillus and Pseudomonas had the highest proportion of antimicrobial activity which supported the hypothesis that they might play a protective role in the coral hosts.
Research on Spatial-temporal Characteristics and Affecting Factors Decomposition of Agricultural Carbon Emission in China

More and more people are paying attention to the environmental problems caused by agricultural carbon emissions.The research,based on six kinds of main carbon sources from agricultural production,calculates China's agricultural carbon emission load from 1993 to 2008.We find that the agricultural carbon emission load is in the gradual upward trend since 1993.In general it can be divided into four periods: rapid growth period,slow growth period, qrowth rate rebound period and growth rate slowing-down period. The average annual growth rate of agricultural carbon emissions is 4.08%,while that of intensity is 2.38%. Higher carbon emission areas distribute intensively in the major provinces of agriculture,and the higher carbon emission intensity areas are mainly located in the developed cities,eastern coastal provinces and the central major provinces of agriculture.Decomposing all the affecting factors through transformation of Kaya identical equation,the result shows the factors of efficiency,structure and labor scale can restrain carbon emission,but the effect is not obvious and fluctuating drastically.Compared with the carbon emission load in 1993,the load from 1994 to 2008 decreased by 12.95% because of efficiency,while structure did 26.62% and agricultural labor did 33.29%. In contrast,agricultural economic development played an active role in agricultural carbon emission,which increased cumulatively to 154.94% of carbon emission load.Finally,some policy suggestions are proposed to reduce agricultural carbon emissions.
ESRD from lupus nephritis in the United States, 1995-2010.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES While ESRD from lupus nephritis (ESLN) increased in the United States after the mid-1990s and racial disparities were apparent, current trends are unknown. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS Retrospective US Renal Data System data (n=1,557,117) were used to calculate standardized incidence ratios (standardized to 1995-1996) and outcomes of ESLN (n=16,649). For events occurring after initiation of RRT, follow-up ended on June 30, 2011. RESULTS Overall ESLN rates (95% confidence intervals [95% CIs]) in 1995-1996 were 3.1 (2.9 to 3.2) cases per million per year. Rates were higher for subgroups characterized by African-American race (11.1 [95% CI, 10.3 to 11.9]); other race (4.9 [95% CI, 4.0 to 5.8]); female sex (4.9 [95% CI, 4.6 to 5.2]); and ages 20-29 years (4.9 [95% CI, 4.4 to 5.4]), 30-44 years (4.6 [95% CI, 4.2 to 5.0]), and 45-64 years (4.0 [95% CI, 3.7 to 4.4]). Standardized incidence ratios for the overall population in subsequent biennia were 1.19 (1.14 to 1.24) in 1997-1998, 1.17 (1.12 to 1.22) in 1999-2000, 1.17 (1.12 to 1.22) in 2001-2002, 1.21 (1.16 to 1.26) in 2003-2004, 1.18 (1.13 to 1.23) in 2005-2006, 1.16 (1.11 to 1.21) in 2007-2008, and 1.05 (1.01 to 1.09) in 2009-2010, respectively. During a median (interquartile range) follow-up of 4.4 (6.3) years, 42.6% of patients with ESLN died, 45.3% were listed for renal transplant, and 28.7% underwent transplantation. Patients with ESLN were more likely than matched controls to be listed for and to undergo transplantation, and mortality rates were similar. Among patients with ESLN, African Americans were less likely to undergo transplantation (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.54 [0.51 to 0.58]) and more likely to die prematurely (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.23 [1.17 to 1.30]). CONCLUSIONS While ESLN appears to have stopped increasing in the last decade, racial disparities in outcomes persist.
Detection of Double Compression With the Same Coding Parameters Based on Quality Degradation Mechanism Analysis

Detection of double compression with the same coding parameters is a very challenging problem in video forensics, since traces of recompression operations are extremely slight in this case. To solve this problem, we first analyze degradation mechanisms during recompression. It is observed that the video quality tends to become nearly unchanged after multiple recompressions with the same coding parameters. The degree of quality degradation is used to distinguish single and double compressed videos. This property can be described using the convergent tendency of video data to unchanged states after continuous recompressions. For MPEG videos, statistical features of rounding and truncation errors are extracted from the intra-coding process while macroblock-mode based features are obtained from the inter-coding process. The final feature is generated by concatenating these two sets of features to provide robust detection capability. Then, extracted features are fed to the SVM classifier to obtain the final detection result. In addition, aforementioned features are modified and extended to detect double compression on H.264 videos based on the unique coding techniques developed in the H.264 standard, such as intra-prediction. Several public available YUV sequences are used to construct double compression databases with three popular coding standards, including MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and H.264. In experiments, the proposed method outperforms several state-of-the-art methods for different compression qualities and rate control schemes. Experimental results demonstrate the proposed method has more robust detection capability of double compression under various encoding configurations.
Interleukin 24 (MDA-7/MOB-5) Signals through Two Heterodimeric Receptors, IL-22R1/IL-20R2 and IL-20R1/IL-20R2*

Interleukin 24 (IL-24) encodes a secreted protein that exhibits significant homology to the interleukin 10 (IL-10) family of cytokines. Here we show that the human IL-24 is secreted by activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells and is the ligand for two heterodimeric receptors, IL-22R1/IL-20R2 and IL-20R1/IL-20R2. The latter is also the receptor for IL-20. COS cells transfected with either IL-24 receptor heterodimers bind the ligand with similar saturation kinetics. IL-24 binding to either its endogenous receptors on human keratinocytes or to ectopically expressed receptors on baby hamster kidney cells leads to activation of the signal transducers and activators of transcription. Taken together, these results provide compelling evidence for IL-24 being the fourth member of IL-10 family of cytokines to which their specific receptors have been identified.
Development of a Cell-Based High-Throughput Specificity Screen Using a Hepatitis C Virus-Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus Dual Replicon Assay

ABSTRACT The hepatitis C virus (HCV) replicon is a unique system for the development of a high-throughput screen (HTS), since the analysis of inhibitors requires the quantification of a decrease in a steady-state level of HCV RNA. HCV replicon replication is dependent on host cell factors, and any toxic effects may have a significant impact on HCV replicon replication. Therefore, determining the antiviral specificity of compounds presents a challenge for the identification of specific HCV inhibitors. Here we report the development of an HCV/bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) dual replicon assay suitable for HTS to address these issues. The HCV reporter enzyme is the endogenous NS3 protease contained within the HCV genome, while the BVDV reporter enzyme is a luciferase enzyme engineered into the BVDV genome. The HTS uses a mixture of HCV and BVDV replicon cell lines placed in the same well of a 96-well plate and isolated in the same cell backgrounds (Huh-7). The format consists of three separate but compatible assays: the first quantitates the amount of cytotoxicity based upon the conversion of Alamar blue dye via cellular enzymes, while the second indirectly quantitates HCV replicon replication through measurement of the amount of NS3 protease activity present. The final assay measures the amount of luciferase activity present from the BVDV replicon cells, as an indicator of the specificity of the test compounds. This HCV/BVDV dual replicon assay provides a reliable format to determine the potency and specificity of HCV replicon inhibitors.
Modeling and data-driven parameter estimation for woven fabrics

Accurate estimation of mechanical parameters for simulation of woven fabrics is essential in many fields. To facilitate this we first present a new orthotropic hyperelastic constitutive model for woven fabrics. Next, we design an experimental protocol for characterizing real fabrics based on commercially available tests. Finally, we create a method for accurately fitting the material parameters to the experimental data. The last step is accomplished by solving inverse problems based on a Catmull-Clark subdivision finite element discretization of the Kirchhoff-Love equations for thin shells. Using this approach we are able to reproduce the fully nonlinear behavior corresponding to the captured data with a small number of parameters while maintaining all fundamental invariants from continuum mechanics. The resulting constitutive model can be used with any discretization (e.g., simple triangle meshes) and not just subdivision finite elements. We illustrate the entire process with results for five types of fabric and compare photo reference of the real fabrics to the simulated equivalents.
Smurf1 Regulates the Inhibitory Activity of Smad7 by Targeting Smad7 to the Plasma Membrane* 210

Smad ubiquitin regulatory factor 1 (Smurf1), a HECT-type E3 ubiquitin ligase, interacts with inhibitory Smad7 and induces cytoplasmic localization of Smad7. Smurf1 then associates with transforming growth factor-β type I receptor (TβR-I) and enhances the turnover of this receptor. However, the mechanisms of the nuclear export and plasma membrane localization of the Smurf1·Smad7 complex have not been elucidated. We show here that Smurf1 targets Smad7 to the plasma membrane through its N-terminal conserved 2 (C2) domain. Both wild-type Smurf1 (Smurf1(WT)) and Smurf1 lacking the C2 domain (Smurf1(ΔC2)) bound to Smad7 and translocated nuclear Smad7 to the cytoplasm. However, unlike Smurf1(WT), Smurf1(ΔC2) did not move to the plasma membrane and failed to recruit Smad7 to the cell surface TβR-II·TβR-I complex. Moreover, although Smurf1(ΔC2) induced ubiquitination of Smad7, it failed to induce the ubiquitination and degradation of TβR-I and did not enhance the inhibitory activity of Smad7. Thus, these results suggest that the plasma membrane localization of Smad7 by Smurf1 requires the C2 domain of Smurf1 and is essential for the inhibitory effect of Smad7 in the transforming growth factor-β signaling pathway.
Patient preferences for medicine administration for acute agitation: results from an internet-based survey of patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia in two Nordic countries

Abstract The objective was to elicit patient preferences for medicine administration method in the management of acute agitation episodes among patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. The patients’ experiences of acute agitation episodes and their management of episodes were also explored. Data were collected via an anonymous, internet-based survey of residents in Denmark or Sweden with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder (October 2014 to December 2014). Inclusion criteria were having a diagnosis of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, and being above 18 years of age. The questionnaire included questions about preferences for medication attributes, experiences with pharmacological treatment for agitation and involvement in treatment plans. A total of 237 diagnosed patients (61 with schizophrenia; 176 with bipolar disorder) completed the questionnaire. Agitation episodes were experienced by 90% of the respondents. In total, 83% of the respondents reported having received treatment with tablets. When patients were presented with the attributes of an inhalation method, respondents stated that the fast onset of action, low risk of adverse reactions and least invasive form of drug delivery were positive attributes of treatment with inhalation. Inhalation is a new delivery route for treatment of acute agitation in patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Inhalation is the preferred treatment method for acute agitation among Danish and Swedish patients with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.
Radiographic assessment of third molars development and it's relation to dental and chronological age in an Iranian population

Background: The aim of the present study was to estimate chronological age based on third molar development and to determine the association between dental age and third molar calcification stages. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 505 digital panoramic radiographs of 223 males (44.2%) and 282 females (55.8%) between the age of 6 and 17 were selected from patients who were treated in Departments of Pediatrics and Orthodontics of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences between the years of 2009 and 2013. Correlation between chronological age and third molar development was analyzed with SPSS 21 using Spearman's Rank correlation coefficient, Chi-square test and multiple regression statistical tests (P < 0.05). Results: All third molars demonstrated a highly significant correlation with dental age (P < 0.001). The teeth showing the highest relationship with dental age were mandibular left third molar in males and mandibular right third molar in females (rs = 0.072). When multiple regression was used to predict dental age based on molar calcification stage, the only significant correlation was between maxillary left third molar in males (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant correlation for any of third molars in females. Relationship between chronological age and molars development stage was significant in all age subgroups and in both gender (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Strong correlation was observed between left third molars and dental age in males. Results showed that third molar calcification stage can be used as an age predictor and in general mandibular teeth seems to be more reliable for this purpose in both genders and in all ages.
Effects of endurance exercise on isomyosin patterns in fast- and slow-twitch skeletal muscles.

Although endurance training has been shown to profoundly affect the oxidative capacity of skeletal muscle, little information is available concerning the impact of endurance training on skeletal muscle isomyosin expression across a variety of muscle fiber types. Therefore, a 10-wk running program (1 h/day, 5 days/wk, 20% grade, 1 mile/h) was conducted to ascertain the effects of endurance training on isomyosin expression in the soleus, vastus intermedius (VI), plantaris (PLAN), red and white medial gastrocnemius (RMG and WMG), and red and white vastus lateralis muscles (RVL and WVL). Evidences of training were noted by the presence of a resting and a submaximal exercise bradycardia, as well as an enhancement in peak O2 consumption in the trained rodents relative to the nontrained controls. No evidence for skeletal muscle hypertrophy was observed subsequent to training when muscle weight was normalized to body weight. Shifts in the isomyosin profile of the trained VI, RMG, RVL, and PLAN were seen relative to the nontrained controls. Specifically, training affected the slow myosin (SM) composition of the VI by decreasing the relative content of the SM2 isoform by 14% while increasing that of the SM1 isoform (P less than 0.05). In addition, training elicited various degrees of a fast to slower myosin transformation in the RMG, RVL, and PLAN. All three muscles showed a significant reduction in the fast myosin 2 isoform (P less than 0.05), with significant increases in intermediate myosin in the RVL and PLAN along with elevations in SM2 in the RMG and PLAN (P less than 0.05). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)