Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
New insights into the protective effect of manganese against oxidative stress

Manganese has emerged as an important trace element in bacterial physiology. The correlation between manganese accumulation and resistance to oxidative stress has led to the suggestion that, in addition to a role as a prosthetic group in superoxide dismutase, manganese could exert its antioxidant effect via non‐enzymatic redox reactions. The article by Anjem et al. in the current issue of Molecular Microbiology investigates the role of manganese ions in the defence against hydrogen peroxide in Escherichia coli. The results indicate that the redox activity of manganese is not linked to its protective effect. Instead, it is suggested that manganese replaces ferrous iron in enzymes that contain divalent cations at their active site. This enables the cell to avoid oxidative stress associated with iron release in the presence of hydrogen peroxide.
Natural history of rheumatoid cervical luxations.

Luxation of the cervical spine, if looked for, is commonly observed at some stage during the longterm care of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. At the atlanto-axial level up to a quarter of patients admitted to hospital with rheumatoid arthritis can be expected to have luxations and about half will have subaxial luxations at two or more levels (Sharp and Purser, 1961; Conlon, Isdale, and Rose, 1966; Sharp, 1964). Pain and stiffness in the neck may be present but are frequently absent and often the luxations cause no symptoms or disability. Occasionally the presenting symptoms are transient blackouts, tetraplegia, sudden death, or other neurological complications resulting from damage to the cervical cord or interference with the flow of the vertebral arteries (Ball and Sharp, 1971). In this paper we report the results of a study of the natural history of cervical luxation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, with particular reference to the development of dangerous neurological complications.
Follistatin-like protein 1 is a mesenchyme-derived inflammatory protein and may represent a biomarker for systemic-onset juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE To examine both the source of follistatin-like protein 1 (FSTL-1) and the factors that induce its expression in arthritis, and to determine whether juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) is characterized by overexpression of FSTL-1. METHODS FSTL-1 expression patterns were analyzed by immunohistochemical staining of joint tissue derived from mice with collagen-induced arthritis. Induction of FSTL-1 secretion was assessed in osteoblasts, adipocytes, and human fibroblast-like synoviocytes in response to transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha), and IL-6. In addition, sera and synovial fluid from children with oligoarticular, polyarticular, or systemic-onset JRA were assayed for FSTL-1 using a custom enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. FSTL-1 concentrations in these patients were assessed for correlations with the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and platelet count. RESULTS Immunohistochemical staining of murine joint sections demonstrated expression of FSTL-1 in all cell types of the mesenchymal lineage, including osteocytes, chondrocytes, adipocytes, and fibroblasts. FSTL-1 could be induced in osteoblasts, adipocytes, and human fibroblast-like synoviocytes by TGFbeta, IL-1beta, TNFalpha, and IL-6. The IL-1beta response was significantly greater than the TNFalpha response (P < 0.05). In human serum and synovial fluid, only those samples from children with the systemic-onset JRA subtype had elevated concentrations of FSTL-1. The synovial fluid concentrations of FSTL-1 were 2-3-fold higher than the serum concentrations. The elevation in serum FSTL-1 concentrations seen in children with systemic-onset JRA correlated closely with elevations in the ESR and platelet count. CONCLUSION These findings demonstrate that the arthritic joint matrix is a major source of FSTL-1 and that IL-1beta is a central mediator of FSTL-1 secretion. Furthermore, FSTL-1 may represent a useful biomarker of disease activity in systemic-onset JRA.
The Charité cesarean birth: a family orientated approach of cesarean section

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the safety and patients delivery experience of the Charité Cesarean Birth (CCB), a modified cesarean section (CS). Parents are actively integrated in the delivery process by direct visualization of the birth, cutting the umbilical cord and early skin-to-skin contact (STS). Methods: Women with an indication for a planned primary CS at term were included. Trial was conducted at the Charité University Hospital Berlin as a prospectively randomized controlled trial. Parameters of perinatal outcome for both mother and infant were assessed using modified Likert-Scales and a standardized questionnaire. Primary outcome measures were birth experience and satisfaction for parents. Parameters of breast feeding and consecutive problems. APGAR Scores, blood loss, perioperative complications were secondary outcome measures. Results: Birth experiences were rated significantly higher in the CCB group compared to a classical caesarean section (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences between APGAR Scores, need for admission to an intensive care unit. Also perioperative blood loss and cardiovascular disorders did not differ between the two groups. Early STS was achieved in the 72% of the cases with higher rates of breast-feeding in the CCB group. Conclusions: The CCB leads to a significantly better birth experience. The procedure seems to be safe for both mother and infant. Patients become an active part of the CS by direct visualization of the birth and cutting the umbilical cord. The presented modification is a useful and safe option when a CS is medically indicated and necessary. It improves the breast-feeding and the early mother-infant interaction.
Industry-Level Analysis of Information Technology Return and Risk: What Explains the Variation?

Abstract Motivated by the wide dispersion in the returns on the use of information technology (IT) across industries, we conduct an industry-level examination of IT return and risk, focusing on the moderating role of industry competition, regulation, and technological change. We address the following research questions: What is the impact of IT investment on the return and risk dimensions of industry financial performance? How do industry characteristics moderate the relationship between IT investment and industry performance? Our analysis of these questions finds that higher levels of industry competition are associated with higher IT productivity (contribution of IT to value-added output), lower IT profitability (contribution of IT to industry average return on assets [ROA]), and higher IT risk (contribution of IT to ex ante variability of ROA). This is consistent with the notion that competition induces riskier IT investments, despite the fact that returns tend to be competed away. Higher levels of industry regulation are associated with lower IT returns in both productivity and profitability, but also lower IT risk. Finally, a higher rate of technological change induces both higher IT returns and higher IT risk. A variety of tests indicate that our results are robust. Our results shed light on factors that drive variation in IT performance across industries, and provide useful industry-level performance benchmarks of the return and risk impacts of IT investments.
The significance of the bone marrow biopsy pattern in chronic lymphocytic leukemia: A prognostic dilemma

Although bone marrow biopsy pattern (BMBP) has long been suggested to be an independent prognostic factor in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), conflicting reports continue to appear in the literature. To investigate this issue we retrospectively reviewed 70 CLL patients who had undergone bone marrow biopsy at the time of diagnosis in a multivariate Cox regression analysis together with other prognostic factors. There were 51 (72.8%) males and 19 (27.2%) females with a median age of 60 years (range, 38–77). The median follow‐up time was 24 months (range, 1–76), and median survival was 44 months. Thirtyfour patients (48.6%) had diffuse and 36 patients (51.4%) had nondiffuse BMBP (14 nodular, 11 interstitial, and 11 mixed). The median survival for diffuse and nondiffuse BMBP groups were 17 and 53 months, respectively (P= 0.05). Sixteen patients (22.9%) had stage A, 28 (40.0%) stage B, and 26 (37.1%) stage C disease according to the Binet system, and four patients (5.7%) had low‐risk, 39 (55.7%) intermediate‐risk, and 27 (38.6%) high‐risk disease according to the modified Rai staging system. The difference between the median survivals of patients in different stages was statistically significant (P < 0.0001). The BMBP and staging systems that are thought to be significant predictors of prognosis were used to build a multivariate Cox proportional hazard model. BMBP was not found to add additional information to the prognostic value of the staging systems. Our results underline two points: first, the significance of BMBP must be investigated in multivariate analysis including the stage, and second, BMBP is not a dynamic prognostic parameter, it is an index of tumor burden and does not add any prognostic information beyond that provided by clinical stage. Am. J. Hematol. 62:208–211, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Protamine 2 Deficiency Leads to Sperm DNA Damage and Embryo Death in Mice1

Abstract Cytokinesis is incomplete in spermatogenic cells, and the descendants of each stem cell form a clonal syncytium. As a result, a heterozygous mutation in a gene expressed postmeiotically affects all of the haploid spermatids within a syncytium. Previously, we have found that disruption of one copy of the gene for either protamine 1 (PRM1) or protamine 2 (PRM2) in the mouse results in a reduction in the amount of the respective protein, abnormal processing of PRM2, and inability of male chimeras to transmit either the mutant or wild-type allele derived from the 129-genotype embryonic stem cells to the next generation. Although it is believed that protamines are essential for compaction of the sperm nucleus and to protect the DNA from damage, this has not been proven experimentally. To test the hypothesis that failure of chimeras to transmit the 129 genotype to offspring was due to alterations in the organization and integrity of sperm DNA, we used the single-cell DNA electrophoresis (comet) assay, ultrastructural analysis, and the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) procedure. Comet assay demonstrated a direct correlation between the fraction of sperm with haploinsufficiency of PRM2 and the frequency of sperm with damaged DNA. Ultrastructural analysis revealed reduced compaction of the chromatin. ICSI with PRM2-deficient sperm resulted in activation of most metaphase II-arrested mouse eggs, but few were able to develop to the blastocyst stage. These findings suggest that development fails because of damage to paternal DNA and that PRM2 is crucial for maintaining the integrity of sperm chromatin.
A Joint Model for Longitudinal Measurements and Survival Data in the Presence of Multiple Failure Types

Summary In this article we study a joint model for longitudinal measurements and competing risks survival data. Our joint model provides a flexible approach to handle possible nonignorable missing data in the longitudinal measurements due to dropout. It is also an extension of previous joint models with a single failure type, offering a possible way to model informatively censored events as a competing risk. Our model consists of a linear mixed effects submodel for the longitudinal outcome and a proportional cause‐specific hazards frailty submodel ( Prentice et al., 1978 , Biometrics34, 541–554) for the competing risks survival data, linked together by some latent random effects. We propose to obtain the maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters by an expectation maximization (EM) algorithm and estimate their standard errors using a profile likelihood method. The developed method works well in our simulation studies and is applied to a clinical trial for the scleroderma lung disease.
Adicción a las nuevas tecnologías y a las redes sociales en jóvenes: un nuevo reto

Internet constituye una tecnologia que ha impactado especialmente a las personas jovenes y les ha proporcionado muchos beneficios. Pero algunas personas llegan a estar obsesionadas con Internet, se muestran incapaces de controlar su uso y pueden poner en peligro su trabajo y sus relaciones. Este articulo aborda el problema del uso inadecuado de estas tecnologias. El uso y abuso de Internet estan relacionados con variables psicosociales, tales como la vulnerabilidad psicologica, los factores estresantes y el apoyo familiar y social. Hay algunos factores de riesgo especificos para el abuso de las redes sociales entre los jovenes. Algunas senales de alarma se disparan antes de que una aficion se convierta en una adiccion. El concepto de �adiccion a Internet� se ha propuesto como una explicacion para comprender la perdida de control y el uso danino de esta tecnologia. Los sintomas de la adiccion a Internet son comparables a los manifestados en otras adicciones. Deben programarse estrategias preventivas tanto en el seno de la familia como en la escuela sobre la base de los factores de riesgo y de las caracteristicas demograficas de los sujetos. El objetivo del tratamiento, a diferencia de otras adicciones, debe ser el uso controlado. El tratamiento psicologico de eleccion es el control de estimulos y la exposicion gradual a Internet, seguido de un programa de prevencion de recaidas. Se requiere mas informacion sobre los programas mas adecuados para los pacientes mas jovenes, asi como estrategias motivacionales para el tratamiento. Se comentan las implicaciones de esta revision para la practica clinica y la investigacion futura en este campo, asi como las limitaciones actualmente existentes.
Modelling the Bioelectronic Interface in Engineered Tethered Membranes: From Biosensing to Electroporation

This paper studies the construction and predictive models of three novel measurement platforms: (i) a Pore Formation Measurement Platform (PFMP) for detecting the presence of pore forming proteins and peptides, (ii) the Ion Channel Switch (ICS) biosensor for detecting the presence of analyte molecules in a fluid chamber, and (iii) an Electroporation Measurement Platform (EMP) that provides reliable measurements of the electroporation phenomenon. Common to all three measurement platforms is that they are comprised of an engineered tethered membrane that is formed via a rapid solvent exchange technique allowing the platform to have a lifetime of several months. The membrane is tethered to a gold electrode bioelectronic interface that includes an ionic reservoir separating the membrane and gold surface, allowing the membrane to mimic the physiological response of natural cell membranes. The electrical response of the PFMP, ICS, and EMP are predicted using continuum theories for electrodiffusive flow coupled with boundary conditions for modelling chemical reactions and electrical double layers present at the bioelectronic interface. Experimental measurements are used to validate the predictive accuracy of the dynamic models. These include using the PFMP for measuring the pore formation dynamics of the antimicrobial peptide PGLa and the protein toxin Staphylococcal α-Hemolysin; the ICS biosensor for measuring nano-molar concentrations of streptavidin, ferritin, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), and human chorionic gonadotropin (pregnancy hormone hCG); and the EMP for measuring electroporation of membranes with different tethering densities, and membrane compositions.
Effect of SecB Chaperone on Production of Periplasmic Penicillin Acylase in Escherichia coli

The effect of SecB chaperone on production of periplasmic penicillin acylase (PAC) in Escherichia coli was investigated. It appears that formation of PAC required the function of SecB chaperone and the amount of SecB required was at a basal level. The secB mutant was defective in production of PAC, and the impairment could be complemented by extrachromosomally supplementing SecB in trans. The function of SecB might be primarily stabilizing the cytoplasmic PAC precursors. Overproduction of SecB chaperone usually resulted in an increase in the amount of PAC precursors without enhancing PAC activity. In addition, most of the PAC precursors were located in the periplasm, suggesting that formation of active PAC was likely limited by periplasmic processing steps.
A Toeplitz-induced mapping technique in sensor array processing

The paper has a two-fold purpose; it deals with the signal processing of nonuniform linear array, and it indicates a novel approach to achieving significant improvements in signal processing performance in sublattice array scenarios. All the efforts are based on a new concept called Toeplitz-induced mapping (TIM). A real-valued matrix associated with the Toeplitz-induced mapping is constructed in a specific manner: from a single vector that is able to be viewed as the coefficient vector of a polynomial. If the polynomial has any of roots on the unit circle, the real-valued matrix is singular, and the right singular vectors corresponding to the zero singular values are then associated with the roots on the unit circle, and consequently, the roots on the unit circle can be computed from these singular vectors. By virtue of the observations, we are able to implement array aperture interpolation (signal recovery) and signal enhancement. In particular, in the presence of highly correlated sources, application of a TIM-based signal enhancement algorithm to DOA estimation results in a considerable performance improvement. Computer simulation results are presented to show the effectiveness of the TIM technique. >
Factors influencing the establishment of persistent infection of HVJ (Sendai virus)in L cells.

Infection of a subline of L cells adapted to grow in suspension (Ls) with Fushimi strain of HVJ (HVJ-F) resulted in a virus carrier state. Ls cells, when cultured in monolayer, showed morphological changes following infection of HVJ-F and were detached from the glass wall. However, when the detached cells were transferred to a new environment of suspension culture within 5 days after infection, the carrier state was again established. HVJ-F caused only lethal infection in L cells maintained exclusively in monolayer (Lm). On the other hand, both Ls and Lm, irrespective of their culture conditions, were lethally infected by Nagoya 1–60 strain of HVJ. The overall results showed that culture condition as well as the kind of host cells or virus strains is an important factor regulating the establishment and maintenance of the virus carrier state.
Testing hypotheses of population structuring in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea using the common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis

Population structuring in species inhabiting marine environments such as the Northeast Atlantic Ocean (NEA) and Mediterranean Sea (MS) has usually been explained based on past and present physical barriers to gene flow and isolation by distance (IBD). Here, we examined the relative importance of these factors on population structuring of the common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis by using methods of phylogenetic inference and hypothesis testing coupled with coalescent and classical population genetic parameter estimation. Individuals from 10 Atlantic and 15 Mediterranean sites were sequenced for 659 bp of the mitochondrial COI gene (259 sequences). IBD seems to be the main factor driving present and past genetic structuring of Sepia populations across the NEA–MS, both at large and small geographical scales. Such an evolutionary process agrees well with some of the biological features characterizing this cuttlefish species (short migrations, nektobenthic habit, benthic eggs hatching directly to benthic juveniles). Despite the many barriers to migration/gene flow suggested in the NEA–MS region, genetic population fragmentation due to past isolation of water masses (Pleistocene; 0.56 million years ago) and/or present‐day oceanographic currents was only detected between the Aegean‐Ionian and western Mediterranean Seas. Restricted gene flow associated with the Almería‐Oran hydrographic front was also suggested between southern and eastern Spanish populations. Distinct population boundaries could not be clearly determined, except for the Aegean‐Ionian stock. Two Atlantic and five Mediterranean samples showed evidence of current decline in genetic diversity, which may indicate over‐exploitation of Sepia in both marine regions.
Streptococcus thermophilus in Cheddar cheese – production and fate of galactose

The behaviour of Streptococcus thermophilus in combination with Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris or subsp. lactis mesophilic starters in experimental Cheddar cheese is reported. In a standard manufacturing procedure employing a 38 °C cook temperature, even very low levels (0·007%) of Str. thermophilus combined with normal levels of the mesophilic starter (1·7%) resulted in increased rates of acid production, the formation of significant amounts of galactose (∼ 13 mmol/kg cheese), and populations nearly equivalent to those of the mesophilic lactic starter in the curd before salting. At a 41 °C cook temperature, the Str. thermophilus attained a higher maximum population (∼ log 8·2 colony forming units (cfu)/g) than the Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris (∼ log 6·8 cfu/g) and formed more galactose (∼ 28 mmol/kg). Lactobacillus rhamnosus, deliberately added to a cheese made using Str. thermophilus starter and which contained 24 mmol galactose/kg at day one, utilized all the galactose during the first 3 months of cheese ripening. Adventitious non-starter lactic acid bacteria had the potential to utilize this substrate too, and a close relationship was demonstrated between the increase in this flora and the disappearance of the galactose. Some possible consequences for cheese quality of using Str. thermophilus as a starter component are discussed.
Maturation of the respiratory response to acute hypoxia in the newborn rat.

1. We used a non‐invasive method to measure the breathing of conscious newborn rat pups continuously and studied the maturation of the respiratory response to reductions in inspired O2 fraction (FI,O2) from 0.21 to 0.15, 0.12 or 0.08 for 6 min. Newborn rats, like many other species, showed a "biphasic" respiratory response, ventilation (VE) increasing during the first 1‐2 min of hypoxia (phase 1) and then falling towards control, or below it, over the next 4 min (phase 2). 2. The secondary fall in VE decreased with age up to 14 days. The presence of a significant fall in VE in phase 2 depended on the FI,O2 to which the pups were exposed acutely; the lower the FI,O2 the greater the age at which a biphasic VE response was observed. 3. Our results are discussed in terms of two opposing components which determine VE during acute hypoxia in the neonate: (a) a fast arterial chemoreceptor‐mediated stimulation of VE and (b) a slower central nervous component which inhibits VE, possibly a persistence of a suprapontine mechanism which inhibits fetal breathing movements during hypoxia in utero. Both of these components undergo maturation after birth.