Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The fine structure of an absorptive epithelium in a viviparous teleost

Embryos of the viviparous teleost, “Characodon” eiseni, have unusual anal processes that function only during gestation and are lost shortly after birth. This study was undertaken to determine if the fine structure of the process epithelium supports the assumption that these cells have an absorptive function. The process epithelium is a single layer of columnar cells. At peak activity intercellular spaces become very large and isolate individual cells which simultaneously lose much of their cell mass. The cells are characterized by microvilli on their free surface, much pinocytic activity and by the formation of at least four different kinds of vesicles. There is much evidence that these vesicles fuse together. A distinctive characteristic of these cells is a system of tubules and flattened cisternae that somewhat resemble the endoplasmic reticulum yet they differ from it in several respects. It is suggested these profiles aid in fragmenting the cell at periods of peak absorptive activity, thereby increasing the cell surface. Possible mechanisms of food absorption are considered. The fine structure of these cells supports the contention that these embryonic processes serve as absorptive organs during gestation.
An extract of Polypodium leucotomos appears to minimize certain photoaging changes in a hairless albino mouse animal model: A pilot study

Chronic ultraviolet B (UVB) exposure of human or murine skin is known to induce cutaneous photoaging and enhanced carcinogenic risk. An extract of Polypodium leucotomos (PL), a tropical fern plant, has been known to exhibit interesting antioxidant and photoprotective properties against acute exposure to ultraviolet radiation. The objective of this preliminary (or pilot) study was to determine the photoprotective role of topically applied Polypodium leucotomos extract in the prevention or amelioration of cutaneous changes of photoaging in hairless mice. PL‐treated mice showed significant reduction of skinfold thickness than those observed in PL‐untreated controls. Additionally, PL‐treated mice showed a significantly lower degree of histologic parameters of photoaging damage, including dermal elastosis, compared with positive control mice. Interestingly, PL treatment also showed reduction in the number of mice showing skin tumors at 8 weeks after the cessation of the UVB exposure protocol. The results of this preliminary study illustrate that PL treatment helped to ameliorate and to partially inhibit some of the histologic damage associated with photoaging of skin and appeared to contribute to a decrease in the prevalence of UVB‐induced skin tumors in mice.
IL28B genetic variation and treatment response in patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 3 infection

Polymorphisms near the IL28B gene, which code for interferon (IFN)‐λ3, predict response to pegylated interferon‐α (PEG‐IFN) and ribavirin treatment in hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infected patients. Follow‐up studies of the effect of IL28B gene in HCV non–genotype 1 infected patients have almost always used predominantly HCV genotype 2–infected or mixed genotype 2/3–infected cohorts with results partly conflicting with HCV genotype 1. We performed a retrospective analysis of 281 patients infected with HCV genotype 3 for association of response to therapy with IL28B polymorphisms. We found that the HCV genotype 1 responder genotypes at rs12979860 and rs8099917 did not associate with sustained virological response to PEG‐IFN/ribavirin therapy. However, the responder genotypes of both SNPs showed association with rapid viral response measured at 4 weeks (rs12979860, P = 3 × 10−5; rs8099917, P = 3 × 10−4). In multivariate analysis, age (<40 years), baseline viral load (<4 × 105 IU/mL) and the responder genotypes of SNPs rs12979860 or rs8099917 remained significant independent predictors of rapid viral response to therapy. Furthermore, we show that IL28B polymorphisms are associated with relapse in patients who achieve rapid viral response to PEG‐IFN/ribavirin therapy. The responder genotypes also showed association with markers of stage and activity of liver disease, namely high aspartate aminotransferase platelet ratio index (APRI, rs12979860, P = 0.018; rs8099917, not significant) and high alanine aminotransferase (ALT, rs12979860, P = 0.002; rs8099917, P = 0.001), in addition to a high baseline viral load (rs12979860, P = 1.4 × 10−5; rs8099917, P = 7.3 × 10−6). Conclusion: Polymorphisms near the IL28B gene show association with rapid viral response but not sustained viral response to PEG‐IFN/ribavirin therapy in HCV genotype 3‐infected patients. (HEPATOLOGY 2011;)
Twitter explodes with activity in mumbai blasts! a lifeline or an unmonitored daemon in the lurking?

Online social media has become an integral part of every Internet users’ life. It has given common people a platform and forum to share information, post their opinions and promote campaigns. The threat of exploitation of social media like Facebook, Twitter, etc. by malicious entities, becomes crucial during a crisis situation, like bomb blasts or natural calamities such as earthquakes and floods. In this report, we attempt to characterize and extract patterns of activity of general users on Twitter during a crisis situation. This is the first attempt to study an India-centric crisis event such as the triple bomb blasts in Mumbai (India), using online social media. In this research, we perform content and activity analysis of content posted on Twitter after the bomb blasts. Through our analysis, we conclude, that the number of URLs and @mentions in tweets increase during the time of the crisis in comparison to what researchers have exhibited for normal circumstances. In addition to the above, we empirically show that the number of tweets or updates by authority users (those with large number of followers) are very less, i.e. majority of content generated on Twitter during the crisis comes from non authority users. In the end, we discuss certain case scenarios during the Mumbai blasts, where rumors were spread through the network of Twitter.
Costs and Survival of Patients With Colorectal Cancer in a Health Maintenance Organization and a Preferred Provider Organization

Background:Colorectal cancer is relatively frequent among adults of working age, yet few studies have examined treatment, outcomes, and costs for people under 65 years of age with this disease. Objective:The objective of this study was to compare the initial treatments, survival, cancer-related medical costs, and overall medical costs for working-aged persons with colorectal cancer in 2 large health insurance plans in Washington State, one a preferred provider organization (PPO) and the other a group model health maintenance organization (HMO). Study Population:This study consisted of patients, aged 20–64 years, diagnosed with colorectal cancer in both health plans from 1996 to 1998. For each cancer case, up to 5 control subjects, matched on age and sex, were selected for the analysis. Methods:We calculated unadjusted, attributable, and overall medical costs using the Kaplan-Meier sample average estimator. We calculated relative mortality rates using Cox regression. We used propensity scores to adjust overall costs and survival for potential confounding factors. Results:Two hundred ten persons in the PPO and 136 persons in the HMO, aged 20–64 years, were diagnosed with cancer over the observation period and included in this study. Patients in the PPO were more likely to have local excision of their tumor (16% compared with 11%) and were less likely to receive chemotherapy (48% compared with 60%). The overall medical costs for the cancer cases were $46,000 in the HMO and $46,400 in the PPO (95% confidence interval for the difference: −$19,300 to 20,100). The cancer-attributable medical costs over 2 years were $40,400 in the HMO and $44,300 in the PPO (95% confidence interval for the difference: −$17,400 to 25,200). Survival was similar in the 2 health plans: the hazard ratio was 0.89 for those enrolled in the PPO (95% confidence interval: 0.50 to 1.59). Adjustment for potential confounding factors altered the results little. Conclusions:There were differences in the initial treatment of the patients in each health plan, but costs and survival were not significantly different between the 2 plans.
Self-efficacy and strategies to influence the study environment

This study investigates the relationship between student influence and academic self-efficacy in a sample of 275 students in two Master's programmes in Engineering. Students in only one of the programmes studied according to problem-based learning (PBL). Results indicate that students choosing strategies to influence course content or structure, through course evaluation and recommending changes to teachers had significantly higher self-efficacy beliefs than those who did not use such strategies. It is principally the students who studied according to PBL that demonstrated higher self-efficacy beliefs, actively influenced their studies through engaging in debate with teachers. It can be claimed that increasing student self-efficacy beliefs is important not only in academic performance, but also in influencing in a positive way the institutional atmosphere.
The Effects of Effort-Reward Imbalance on Inflammatory and Cardiovascular Responses to Mental Stress

Objective: We examined the influence of effort-reward imbalance, a stressful feature of the work environment, on cardiovascular and inflammatory responses to acute mental stress. Methods: Ninety-two healthy men (mean age, 33.1 yeasr) in full-time employment were recruited. Effort-reward imbalance was measured using a self-administered questionnaire. Blood, for the analysis of C-reactive protein (CRP) and von Willebrand factor (vWF) antigen, was sampled at baseline and 10 minutes after two mental stress tasks, whereas cardiovascular activity was measured throughout. Results: Plasma CRP and vWF were significantly elevated following the stress period, and cardiovascular activity was increased during and after both tasks (p < .001). Multiple linear regression analysis adjusted for age, body mass index, and baseline levels revealed that men with higher effort-reward imbalance demonstrated greater CRP and vWF responses to the stress tasks but blunted cardiovascular responses. Inflammatory and cardiovascular responses to stress appeared to be unrelated. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the association between chronic work stress and cardiovascular disease risk may be mediated in part by heightened acute inflammatory responsivity. These responses appear not to result from differences in sympathoadrenal activation. ERI = effort-reward imbalance; CHD = coronary heart disease; IL = interleukin; CRP = C-reactive protein; vWF = von Willebrand factor; BMI = body mass index.
Chimeric NUP98–NSD1 transcripts from the cryptic t(5;11)(q35.2;p15.4) in adult de novo acute myeloid leukemia

Abstract The t(5;11)(q35;p15.4) is a clinically significant marker of poor prognosis in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which is difficult to detect due to sub-telomeric localization of the breakpoints. To facilitate the detection of this rearrangement, we studied NUP98–NSD1 transcript variants in patients with the t(5;11) using paired-end RNA sequencing and standard molecular biology techniques. We discovered three NUP98–NSD1 transcripts with two fusion junctions (NUP98 exon 11-12/NSD1 exon 6), alternative 5′ donor site in NUP98 exon 7, and NSD1 exon 7 skipping. Two of the transcripts were in-frame and occurred in all t(5;11) samples (N = 5). The exonic splicing events were present in all samples (N = 23) regardless of the NUP98–NSD1 suggesting that these novel splice events are unassociated with t(5;11). In conclusion, we provide evidence of two different NUP98–NSD1 fusion transcripts in adult AML, which result in functional proteins and represent suitable molecular entities for monitoring t(5;11) AML patients.
Memory CD4+ T Lymphocytes in the Gastrointestinal Tract Are a Major Source of Cell-Associated Simian Immunodeficiency Virus in Chronic Nonpathogenic Infection of African Green Monkeys

ABSTRACT Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection of natural hosts is characterized by nonpathogenic chronic viremia, maintenance of gastrointestinal epithelial barrier integrity, and low numbers of target cells. Assessment of cell-associated virus load in T cell subsets in multiple anatomic compartments of chronically SIV-infected sabeus African green monkeys (AGMs) revealed that gastrointestinal memory CD4+ T lymphocytes are a major source of cell-associated virus and a significant contributor to SIV viremia in AGMs.
Minimal requirements for reverse polymerization and tRNA repair by tRNAHis guanylyltransferase

ABSTRACT tRNAHis guanylyltransferase (Thg1) has unique reverse (3’-5’) polymerase activity occurring in all three domains of life. Most eukaryotic Thg1 homologs are essential genes involved in tRNAHis maturation. These enzymes normally catalyze a single 5’ guanylation of tRNAHis lacking the essential G−1 identity element required for aminoacylation. Recent studies suggest that archaeal type Thg1, which includes most archaeal and bacterial Thg1 enzymes is phylogenetically distant from eukaryotic Thg1. Thg1 is evolutionarily related to canonical 5’-3’ forward polymerases but catalyzes reverse 3’-5’polymerization. Similar to its forward polymerase counterparts, Thg1 encodes the conserved catalytic palm domain and fingers domain. Here we investigate the minimal requirements for reverse polymerization. We show that the naturally occurring minimal Thg1 enzyme from Ignicoccus hospitalis (IhThg1), which lacks parts of the conserved fingers domain, is catalytically active. And adds all four natural nucleotides to RNA substrates, we further show that the entire fingers domain of Methanosarcina acetivorans Thg1 and Pyrobaculum aerophilum Thg1 (PaThg1) is dispensable for enzymatic activity. In addition, we identified residues in yeast Thg1 that play a part in preventing extended polymerization. Mutation of these residues with alanine resulted in extended reverse polymerization. PaThg1 was found to catalyze extended, template dependent tRNA repair, adding up to 13 nucleotides to a truncated tRNAHis substrate. Sequencing results suggest that PaThg1 fully restored the near correct sequence of the D- and acceptor stem, but also produced incompletely and incorrectly repaired tRNA products. This research forms the basis for future engineering efforts towards a high fidelity, template dependent reverse polymerase.
A critical analysis of current in vitro and in vivo angiogenesis assays

The study of angiogenesis has grown exponentially over the past 40 years with the recognition that angiogenesis is essential for numerous pathologies and, more recently, with the advent of successful drugs to inhibit angiogenesis in tumours. The main problem with angiogenesis research remains the choice of appropriate assays to evaluate the efficacy of potential new drugs and to identify potential targets within the angiogenic process. This selection is made more complex by the recognition that heterogeneity occurs, not only within the endothelial cells themselves, but also within the specific microenvironment to be studied. Thus, it is essential to choose the assay conditions and cell types that most closely resemble the angiogenic disease being studied. This is especially important when aiming to translate data from in vitro to in vivo and from preclinical to the clinic. Here we critically review and highlight recent advances in the principle assays in common use including those for endothelial cell proliferation, migration, differentiation and co‐culture with fibroblasts and mural cells in vitro, vessel outgrowth from organ cultures and in vivo assays such as chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM), zebrafish, sponge implantation, corneal, dorsal air sac, chamber and tumour angiogenesis models. Finally, we briefly discuss the direction likely to be taken in future studies, which include the use of increasingly sophisticated imaging analysis systems for data acquisition.
Fanning the Flames of a Partisan Divide

Elections should serve to reaffirm a citizenry's belief in the legitimacy of its political processes and outcomes. This study focuses on perceptions of vote count accuracy as a criterion variable. An argument is offered that voters' personal perceptions of postelection vote count accuracy are predicted by vote choice, with those citizens who did not vote for the winning candidate having to deal with the cognitive dissonance created by the election outcome. The model offered in this work focuses on an interaction between partisan strength and debate viewing as predictor of vote choice. In addition, an indirect effect of partisanship on vote choice through debate viewing is explored. Debate viewing is shown to promote partisan voting, and vote choice serves as a strong predictor of perceptions of vote count accuracy. A subset of the 2004 National Annenberg general election panel data (N = 5,660) was used for this secondary analysis.
High Myopia–Partial Reduction Ortho-k: A 2-Year Randomized Study

Purpose To investigate if the combination of partial reduction (PR) orthokeratology (ortho-k) and spectacles for residual refractive errors in the daytime was effective to slow myopic progression in high myopic children. Methods High myopic children (aged 8 to 11 years) with spherical equivalent refraction at least −5.75 diopters (D) and myopia −5.00 D or more myopic were recruited and randomly assigned into PR ortho-k and control groups. Subjects in the PR ortho-k group were fitted with custom made four-zone ortho-k lenses with target reduction of 4.00 D for both eyes, and the residual refractive errors were corrected with single-vision spectacles for clear vision in the daytime. Control subjects were fully corrected with single-vision spectacles. Axial length of each eye of all subjects was measured with the IOLMaster at 6-month intervals by a masked examiner. This study was registered at www.clinicaltrial. gov with the identifier NCT00977236. Results Fifty-two subjects were recruited and randomized to the PR ortho-k and control groups. Twelve PR ortho-k and 16 control subjects completed the study. Compared with the residual refractive errors at the 1-month visit (after stabilization of ortho-k treatment), the median increase in noncycloplegic residual myopia at the 24-month visit was 0.13 D. In the control group, the median increase in myopia was 1.00 D at the end of the study. The mean ± SD increases in axial length were 0.19 ± 0.21 mm in the PR ortho-k group and 0.51 ± 0.32 mm in the control group (95% confidence interval, −0.55 to −0.12; unpaired t test, p = 0.005). Conclusions This single-masked randomized study showed that PR ortho-k effectively slowed myopic progression in high myopes. Axial length elongation was 63% slower in PR ortho-k–treated children compared with children wearing spectacles.
Cholinergic control of cortical network interactions enables feedback‐mediated attentional modulation

Attention increases our ability to detect behaviorally relevant stimuli. At the neuronal level this is supported by increased firing rates of neurons representing the attended object. In primary visual cortex an attention‐mediated activity increase depends on the presence of the neuromodulator acetylcholine. Using a spiking network model of visual cortex we have investigated how acetylcholine interacts with biased feedback to enable attentional processing. Although acetylcholine affects cortical processing in a multitude of manners, we restricted our analysis to four of its main established actions. These were (i) a reduction in firing rate adaptation by reduction in M‐currents (muscarinic), (ii) an increase in thalamocortical synaptic efficacy by nicotinic presynaptic receptors, (iii) a reduction in lateral interactions by muscarinic presynaptic receptors, and (iv) an increase in inhibitory drive by muscarinic receptors located on inhibitory interneurons. We found that acetylcholine contributes to feedback‐mediated attentional modulation, mostly by reducing intracortical interactions and also to some extent by increasing the inhibitory drive. These findings help explain why acetylcholine is necessary for top–down‐driven attentional modulation, and suggest a close interdependence of cholinergic and feedback drive in mediating cognitive function.
The use and effectiveness of pro re nata psychotropic medications in children and adolescents: A systematic review

Background: Published studies have not demonstrated the benefits of the practice of psychotropic PRN administration. Aim: The goal of this study is to perform a systematic review on pro re nata (PRN) psychotropic medications administration in children and adolescents and examine the safety and effectiveness of this practice in child and adolescent psychiatric care units. Settings and Design: This is a systematic review. Materials and Methods: Several databases were searched till date. One hundred and sixty-five titles and abstracts were found and a total of 14 studies, for which most were retrospective, met the absolute criteria. The patients studied were children, adolescents and patients that presented to the emergency room or admitted as inpatient. Results: Indications for admission included aggression and agitation for all the studies. Most the medications used include haloperidol, olanzapine, diazepam, and risperidone. Commonly reported adverse effects following the administration of the PRN medications were sleepiness, acute dystonia, and drowsiness. The effectiveness of PRN medications, which was reported in four of reviewed studies, ranged from 30% to 50%. Conclusion: Different effectiveness/outcome measures were used for all the studies; therefore, we could not generalize effectiveness across all the studies. Findings of the reviewed articles show the imperativeness of more research to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of PRN medications among child and adolescent populations.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Vpr Induces the Degradation of the UNG and SMUG Uracil-DNA Glycosylases

ABSTRACT The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) accessory protein Vpr has previously been shown to bind to the cellular uracil DNA glycosylase UNG. We show here that the binding of Vpr to UNG and to the related enzyme SMUG induces their proteasomal degradation. UNG and SMUG were found to be encapsidated in Δvpr HIV-1 virions but were significantly less abundant in vpr+ virions. Δvpr virions contained readily detectable uracil-DNA glycosylase enzymatic activity, while the activity was reduced to undetectable levels in vpr+ virions. Consistent with proteasomal degradation, complexes that contained Vpr and the E3 ubiquitin ligase components Cul1 and Cul4 were detected in cell lysates. We hypothesized that the interaction of Vpr might be a means for the virus to reduce the frequency of abasic sites in viral reverse transcripts at uracil residues caused by APOBEC3-catalyzed deamination of cytosine residues. Although APOBEC3 is largely neutralized by the Vif accessory protein, residual enzyme could remain in virions that would generate uracils. In support of this, Δvif vpr+ HIV-1 produced in the presence of limited amounts of APOBEC3G was significantly more infectious than Δvif Δvpr virus. In Addition, vpr+ HIV-1 replicated more efficiently than vpr− virus in cells that expressed limited amounts of APOBEC3G. The findings highlight the importance of cytidine deamination in the virus replication cycle and present a novel function for Vpr.