Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Potential roles of osteopontin and αVβ3 integrin in the development of coronary artery restenosis after angioplasty

Angioplasty procedures are increasingly used to reestablish blood flow in blocked atherosclerotic coronary arteries. A serious complication of these procedures is reocclusion (restenosis), which occurs in 30–50% of patients. Migration of coronary artery smooth muscle cells (CASMCs) to the site of injury caused by angioplasty and subsequent proliferation are suggested mechanisms of reocclusion. Using both cultured human CASMCs and coronary atherectomy tissues, we studied the roles of osteopontin (OPN) and one of its receptors, αvβ3 integrin, in the pathogenesis of coronary restenosis. We also measured the plasma levels of OPN before and after angioplasty and determined the effect of exogenous OPN on CASMC migration, extracellular matrix invasion, and proliferation. We found that cultured CASMCs during log phase of growth and smooth muscle cell layer of the coronary atherosclerotic tissues of patients express both OPN mRNA and protein at a significantly elevated level compared with controls. Interestingly, whereas the baseline plasma OPN levels in control samples were virtually undetectable, those in patient plasma were remarkably high. We also found that interaction of OPN with αvβ3 integrin, expressed on CASMCs, causes migration, extracellular matrix invasion, and proliferation. These effects were abolished when OPN or αvβ3 integrin gene expression in CASMCs was inhibited by specific antisense S-oligonucleotide treatment or OPN-αvβ3 interaction was blocked by treatment of CASMCs with antibodies against OPN or αvβ3 integrin. Our results demonstrate that OPN and αvβ3 integrin play critical roles in regulating cellular functions deemed essential for restenosis. In addition, these results raise the possibility that transient inhibition of OPN gene expression or blocking of OPN-αvβ3 interaction may provide a therapeutic approach to preventing restenosis.
Multiresolution tomographic reconstruction using wavelets

We show how the separable two-dimensional wavelet representation leads naturally to an efficient multiresolution tomographic reconstruction algorithm. This algorithm is similar to the conventional filtered backprojection algorithm, except that the filters are now angle dependent, and the backprojection gives us the wavelet coefficients of the reconstruction, which are then used to synthesize the reconstruction at various resolution levels. By reconstructing only a small localized region at high resolution, radiation exposure and computation can be significantly reduced, compared to a standard reconstruction. <<ETX>>
Mechanisms of Brain Morphogenesis 3 Primary Neurulation , Chicken A Ectoderm Neural Plate Neural Groove Brain Anterior Spinal Cord Secondary Neurulation , Chicken Multiple Hinge

In structures with obvious mechanical function, like the heart and bone, the relationship of mechanical forces to growth and development has been well studied. In contrast, other than the problem of neurulation, the developmental mechanisms in the nervous system have received relatively little attention. In this review we discuss recent advances in our understanding of the physical mechanisms of morphogenesis during brain development. Specifically, we focus on two processes: formation of the primary brain vesicles and folding of the cerebral cortex.
Social Network Evolution: A Case Study of UK Directors

Social network can be seen as a dynamic process of creating and breaking down relationships among network members. The network evolution is of major interest to researchers in this area due to discovering patterns of structural changes in the network. In this study, the evolution of UK directors' social network is examined. The study carried out on a systematic analysis of network properties and evolution factors. The network properties include shortest path, number of shared affiliations, cyclic closure and triadic closure property. It is observed that directors who are not connected directly in specific year and have only a single intermediary between them are more likely to form a connection in the future than the directors with two intermediaries. Moreover, the number of mutual friends increases the chances of a connection between the directors in future.
Concatenated solutions of delay-differential equations and their representation with time-delay feedback systems

Stimulated by the monodromy operator approach to time-delay systems (TDSs) developed recently, this article studies the conversion problems of delay-differential equations (DDEs) into the representation as time-delay feedback systems. We give two conversion methods including the conversion of initial conditions, where we show that each of the two methods corresponds, in general, to one of the two different definitions for the solutions of DDEs, called pseudo concatenated solutions and continuous concatenated solution. The study is actually closely related to the subtle behaviours of the solutions of DDEs under discontinuous initial conditions, and simple examples illustrating such subtleties as well as the validity of the conversion methods are also provided. The results of this article suggest that the ability of representing TDSs is higher in the representation as time-delay feedback systems than in the representation as DDEs.
COMMUNICATING INFORMATION IN CONVERSATIONS : A CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON

The purpose of this study was to compare the amount of information sent by the speaker, received and retrieved by the listener in interand intra-cultural conversations. Three hypotheses were tested: (1) in their conversations, inter-cultural interactants would communicate signi®cantly less information than intra-cultural interactants with other variables held constant, (2) the two inter-cultural conditions would not be dierent from each other in terms of the amount of information communicated, and the same would be true with the two intra-cultural conditions, and (3) in their conversations, the speakers in inter-cultural conditions would send the same amount of information as speakers in intracultural conditions given that all speakers would pass a test on the materials they were going to present. Participants were 40 Canadian and 40 Chinese university students, and they were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions. Each dyad engaged in two medical conversations, which were videotaped upon the consent of the participants. The nature of the conversations resembled physician-patient face-to-face interactions. Results from written tests immediately following the conversations provided strong support for Hypothesis 1 and 2, and results from viewing the videotapes provided partial support for Hypothesis 3. In relation to the amount of information sent by the speakers, listeners in interand intra-cultural conditions retrieved only 50% and 75% of the information respectively. Based on the ®ndings, one may argue that inter-cultural communication differs signi®cantly from intra-cultural communication in the amount of information Int. J. Intercultural Rel. Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 387±409, 1999 # 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain 0147-1767/99 $ see front matter PII: S0147-1767(99)00003-6 www.elsevier. com/locate/ijintrel *The author would like to thank Dr Ronald Hoppe for helpful comments on the manuscript and for support in completing this study; Dr Janet Bavelas, for crucial guidance in designing and conducting the experiment; Dr Michael Bond for enlightening suggestions on the design of the experiment; Drs Lorne Rosenblood, Bruno Zumbo, Peter MacMillan, Cindy Hardy, and Pat Konkin, and Trudy Johnson, for statistical consulting and helpful comments on the manuscript; and all the participants, for their time and eorts in making this study possible.Finally, the author would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for insightful comments. *University of Northern British Columbia, Department of Psychology, 3333 University Way, Prince George, B.C. Canada V2N 4Z9, Canada. Tel. : +250-960-6502; Fax: +250960-5536. ; E-mail: lih@unbc.ca This research is based in part on the author's doctoral thesis presented to the Department of Psychology at the University of Victoria. An earlier version of this article was presented at the 45th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Albuquerque, New Mexico, May 25±29, 1995.
Searching of protein targets for alpha lipoic acid

Acido alfa lipoico (ALA) e um dos oxidantes mais poderosos e um cofactor em complexos enzimaticos, apesar de seus mecanismos ainda nao serem conhecidos. A pesquisa por alvos proteicos de ALA e fundamental para compreender seus processos de sinalizacao. Uma abordagem bioinformatica foi usada a fim de se encontrar alvos hipoteticos para ALA usando o servidor Target Fishing Dock (TarFisDock). Contagens de afinidade para os melhores resultados foram calculadas pelo AutoDock Vina. Alvos relevantes incluiram leucotrieno A4 hidrolase, canal de potassio voltagem-dependente, alfa-hidroxiesteroide desidrogenase, epoxido hidrolase, proteinas estas envolvidas no câncer, diabetes, desordens neurologica e cardiovascular. As energias de interacao corrigidas segundo padrao conterpoise foram calculadas para proteinas que ligam R-ALA, e mostraram interacoes R-ALA-residuos favoraveis. A sobreposicao de R-ALA com inibidores conhecidos daquelas proteinas, permitu concluir que R-ALA adota diferentes conformacoes espaciais em seus sitios de ligacao, podendo ser um inibidor fraco plausivel destes alvos e, portanto, este efeito deveria ser considerado quando da realizacao de estudos sobre seus efeitos bioquimicos. Alpha lipoic acid (ALA) is one of the most powerful antioxidants and a cofactor in enzyme complexes, although its mechanisms are still unknown. The search for protein targets of ALA is fundamental to understand its signaling pathways. A bioinformatics approach was used to find hypothetical targets for ALA using the Target Fishing Dock Server (TarFisDock). Affinity scores for the best hits were calculated by AutoDock Vina. Relevant targets included leukotriene A4 hydrolase, voltage gated potassium channel, alpha hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and epoxide hydrolase, proteins involved in cancer, diabetes, and neurological and cardiovascular disorders. The counterpoise-corrected interaction energies calculated for proteins that bind R-ALA showed favorable interactions R-ALA-residues. Superpositioning of R-ALA with known inhibitors of those proteins, together with the finding that R-ALA adopts different spatial conformations in their binding sites, suggests R-ALA could be a plausible weak inhibitor of these targets, and this effect should be considered when studying its biochemical effects.
Theory of active transport in filopodia and stereocilia

The biological processes in elongated organelles of living cells are often regulated by molecular motor transport. We determined spatial distributions of motors in such organelles, corresponding to a basic scenario when motors only walk along the substrate, bind, unbind, and diffuse. We developed a mean-field model, which quantitatively reproduces elaborate stochastic simulation results as well as provides a physical interpretation of experimentally observed distributions of Myosin IIIa in stereocilia and filopodia. The mean-field model showed that the jamming of the walking motors is conspicuous, and therefore damps the active motor flux. However, when the motor distributions are coupled to the delivery of actin monomers toward the tip, even the concentration bump of G actin that they create before they jam is enough to speed up the diffusion to allow for severalfold longer filopodia. We found that the concentration profile of G actin along the filopodium is rather nontrivial, containing a narrow minimum near the base followed by a broad maximum. For efficient enough actin transport, this nonmonotonous shape is expected to occur under a broad set of conditions. We also find that the stationary motor distribution is universal for the given set of model parameters regardless of the organelle length, which follows from the form of the kinetic equations and the boundary conditions.
Effects of myricetin, an antioxidant, on the pharmacokinetics of losartan and its active metabolite, EXP‐3174, in rats: possible role of cytochrome P450 3A4, cytochrome P450 2C9 and P‐glycoprotein inhibition by myricetin

Objectives The effects of myricetin, a natural flavonoid, on the pharmacokinetics of losartan and its active metabolite, EXP‐3174, were investigated in rats. Losartan and myricetin interact with cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes and P‐glycoprotein, and the increase in the use of health supplements may result in myricetin being taken concomitantly with losartan as a combination therapy to treat or prevent cardiovascular diseases.
Regulation of System A Amino Acid Transport in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes by Insulin*

The insulin-stimulated uptake of 2-(methylamino)isobutyric acid (MeAIB), a nonmetabolizable substrate for system A, in 3T3-L1 adipocytes was investigated. As cells took on a more adipogenic phenotype, the insulin-stimulatedversus the saturable basal MeAIB uptake increased by 5-fold. The induced transport activity showed properties characteristic of system A, with a K m value of 190 μm. The half-life of the induced system A activity was independent of de novo mRNA and protein synthesis and was not accelerated by ambient amino acids, therefore, it was mechanistically distinct from the previously described adaptive and hormonal regulation of system A. Inhibition of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase by PD98059, Ras farnesylation by PD152440 and B581, p70S6K by rapamycin, and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3′-K) by wortmannin and LY294002 revealed that only wortmannin and LY294002 inhibited the insulin-induced MeAIB uptake with IC50 values close to that previously reported for inhibition of PI 3′-K. These results suggest that the Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase and pp70S6K insulin signaling pathways are neither required nor sufficient for insulin stimulation of MeAIB uptake, and activation of PI 3′-K or a wortmannin/LY294002-sensitive pathway may play an important role in regulation of system A transport by insulin in 3T3-L1 cells.
Internal Migration and Mental Disease Among the White Population of New York State, 1960-1961

NEW YORK STATE is generally thought of as exercising an unusually great attractive force, drawing migrants to itself. Yet, three-fourths of the native white population aged fifteen years and over, living in New York State on April 1, 1960, were bom in that State. Even in New York City, 73 per cent of the native whites, aged fifteen years and over, were born in New York State.15 Though internal migrants, as defined by living in other than their State of birth, are thus
Are low osmolality contrast media less nephrotoxic?

On the basis of their chemical and pharmacologic properties, contrast media may be distributed into two large groups: highand low-osmolar agents. Lowosmolar agents may be further classified as either nonionic or ionic subgroups. The iodine ratio forms the fundamental basis for classifying a contrast agent molecule (i.e. the ratio of the number of iodine atoms in the molecule to the number of osmotically active particles that the molecule produces in solution). This property sets the basis for the grouping: 1.5 ratio agents (classified as highosmolar ionic agents) and 3.0 ratio agents (classified as low-osmolar agents). There are global differences in properties between the 1.5 ratio and the 3.0 ratio groups. In addition, within each group the two subgroups have distinguishable chemical and pharmacologic properties. Most of the currently available 1.5 ratio agents use diatrizoic acid as the iodine-bearing molecule. Since this molecule, which contains three iodine atoms, achieves water solubility by ionization of the carboxyl group at the 1 position, it produces two osmotically active particles in solution (i.e. the molecule itself and its salifying cation). Currently, there are five different 3.0 ratio molecules available, subgrouped on the basis of two different strategies used to achieve their iodine ratio. Ioxaglate is a molecule that contains six iodine atoms and achieves water solubility by ionization; thus, it is a 3.0 ratio ionic agent. Iohexol, iopamidol, ioversol and iobitridol (each of which have three iodine atoms/ molecule) achieve water solubility by having nonionizing but hydrophilic moieties in the 1, 3, and 5 positions; thus, they are 3.0 ratio nonionic agents.
Finite element modeling for stress analysis of a buried pipeline under soil and traffic loads

Due to the durability and sustainability, concrete pipes have been widely used in many water management systems. As they are buried underground, several factors such as soil and pipe properties, installation strategies, functional and external loads may involve in determining their failure and service life. In this study, we investigated the effects of such factors on the stress distribution of a buried pipeline. Our results suggest that buried depth, seismic and traffic loads are important determinants of the stress distribution. In addition to the latter, we demonstrated that weights, speeds and patterns of car size arrangement play their parts in causing variation of stress on the pipeline. With the same thickness, pipelines with a larger diameter may have a shorter service life than ones with a smaller diameter.
R&D Towards HTS Current Leads for ITER

The ITER Organization (IO) and the Institute of Plasma Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP) are jointly developing the 68 kA current leads using High Temperature Superconductors for the superconducting Toroidal Field (TF) magnet system of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, ITER. The proposed design consists of a conventional helium cooled heat exchanger operating between 65 K and 320 K and an HTS module covering the low temperature end using Bi-2223 tapes. The first HTS current lead prototypes will be tested in the EAST tokamak facility at ASIPP. This paper discusses the design of the first, 68 kA, TF HTS lead, which is the main emphasis of this first stage of the ITER current lead development program.
Information Architecture: In Search of Efficient Flexibility

This article addresses how information systems architecture can be used to support organizations in the 1990s-organizations that face the dual challenge of "speed and flexibility" and "low cost and efficiency. " At the heart of this challenge is the basic notion that information systems have been anything but flexible in the past and that, for many firms, information systems are more disablers of flexibility than enablers. The article discusses two architectural solutions to this problem: "the high road and the low road," and the benefits and pitfalls of teach. We conclude that neither solution will succeed on its own and that firms need to combine elements of both to meet the challenges of the 1990s. This article is based on some of the things we have learned through research, case writing, and consulting wile working with a variety of organizations over the past three years. These experience shave illustrated the importance of and the struggle with IS architecture for today's global competitors. The content is intended to help guide, provoke, stimulate, and entertain others who believe that the integration of information technology with organizational strategy and structure os of paramount concern to senior managers.
Effects of maternal high-fat diet and sedentary lifestyle on susceptibility of adult offspring to ozone exposure in rats

Abstract Epidemiological and experimental data suggest that obesity exacerbates the health effects of air pollutants such as ozone (O3). Maternal inactivity and calorically rich diets lead to offspring that show signs of obesity. Exacerbated O3 susceptibility of offspring could thus be manifested by maternal obesity. Thirty-day-old female Long-Evans rats were fed a control (CD) or high-fat (HF) (60% calories) diet for 6 wks and then bred. GD1 rats were then housed with a running wheel (RW) or without a wheel (SED) until parturition, creating four groups of offspring: CD-SED, CD-RW, HF-SED and HF-RW. HF diet was terminated at PND 35 and all offspring were placed on CD. Body weight and %fat of dams were greatest in order; HF-SED > HF-RW > CD-SED > CD-RW. Adult offspring were exposed to O3 for two consecutive days (0.8 ppm, 4 h/day). Glucose tolerance tests (GTT), ventilatory parameters (plethysmography), and bronchoalveolar fluid (BALF) cell counts and protein biomarkers were performed to assess response to O3. Exercise and diet altered body weight and %fat of young offspring. GTT, ventilation and BALF cell counts were exacerbated by O3 with responses markedly exacerbated in males. HF diet and O3 led to significant exacerbation of several BALF parameters: total cell count, neutrophils and lymphocytes were increased in male HF-SED versus CD-SED. Males were hyperglycemic after O3 exposure and exhibited exacerbated GTT responses. Ventilatory dysfunction was also exacerbated in males. Maternal exercise had minimal effects on O3 response. The results of this exploratory study suggest a link between maternal obesity and susceptibility to O3 in their adult offspring in a sex-specific manner.
Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C Seroprevalence in Children Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy for Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 Infection in China, 2005-2009

Background:Coinfection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) may compromise pediatric antiretroviral therapy (ART) in China. In this study, we evaluated the seroprevalence of HBV and HCV in children receiving ART and associated factors. Methods:Patients were selected from HIV-1-infected children under age 16 enrolled in China National Pediatric ART Cohort since July 2005. Medical assessments, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), and anti-HCV antibody serologies, and transaminase levels were obtained for analysis. Results:A total of 53 of 1082 children tested were HBsAg seropositive [4.9%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.6% to 6.2%], and 90 of 938 children tested were anti-HCV antibody positive (9.6%; 95% CI: 7.7% to 11.5%). No other serologic assays were performed for HBV detection. Age was associated with HBV coinfection in univariate analysis; older children were more likely to be HBsAg positive. Multivariate analysis revealed that children infected with HIV through transfusion of contaminated blood or blood products were more likely to be anti-HCV antibody positive than those infected with HIV through other routes (adjusted odds ratio = 6.2; 95% CI: 3.3% to 11.7%). Conclusions:The high prevalence of HBV and HCV coinfection in HIV-infected children in China receiving ART demands routine screening for viral hepatitis coinfection, intensive prevention of childhood HBV and HCV transmission, and modification of the management of pediatric HIV infection.