Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing autophagy in the context of photodynamic therapy

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a procedure that has applications in the selective eradication of neoplasia where sites of malignant lesions are clearly delineated. It is a two-step process whereby cells are first sensitized to light and then photoirradiated. This results in the formation of singlet molecular oxygen and other reactive oxygen species that can cause photodamage at sites where the photosensitizing agent has localized. Photosensitizers found to be clinically useful show affinity for the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), mitochondria, lysosomes, or combinations of these sites. The induction of apoptosis and/or autophagy in photosensitized cells is a common outcome of PDT. This report explores the following issues: (1) Does the induction of autophagy in PDT protocols occur independent of, or in association with apoptosis? (2) Does the resulting autophagy play a pro-survival or pro-death role? (3) Do photosensitizers damage/inactivate specific proteins that are components of, or that modulate the autophagic process? Lastly, (4) can an autophagic response be mounted in cells in which lysosomes are specifically photodamaged? In brief, autophagy can occur independent of apoptosis in PDT protocols, and appears to play a pro-survival role in apoptosis competent cells, and a pro-death role in apoptosis incompetent cells. Mitochondrial and ER-localized sensitizers cause selective photodamage to some (i.e., Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, mTOR) proteins involved in the apoptotic/autophagic process. Finally, an aborted autophagic response occurs in cells with photodamaged lysosomes. Whereas autophagosomes form, digestion of their cargo is compromised because of the absence of functional lysosomes.
Summary of comprehensive systematic review: Rehabilitation in multiple sclerosis

Objective: To systematically review the evidence regarding rehabilitation treatments in multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: We systematically searched the literature (1970–2013) and classified articles using 2004 American Academy of Neurology criteria. Results: This systematic review highlights the paucity of well-designed studies, which are needed to evaluate the available MS rehabilitative therapies. Weekly home/outpatient physical therapy (8 weeks) probably is effective for improving balance, disability, and gait (MS type unspecified, participants able to walk ≥5 meters) but probably is ineffective for improving upper extremity dexterity (1 Class I). Inpatient exercises (3 weeks) followed by home exercises (15 weeks) possibly are effective for improving disability (relapsing-remitting MS [RRMS], primary progressive MS [PPMS], secondary progressive MS [SPMS], Expanded Disability Status Scale [EDSS] 3.0–6.5) (1 Class II). Six weeks' worth of comprehensive multidisciplinary outpatient rehabilitation possibly is effective for improving disability/function (PPMS, SPMS, EDSS 4.0–8.0) (1 Class II). Motor and sensory balance training or motor balance training (3 weeks) possibly is effective for improving static and dynamic balance, and motor balance training (3 weeks) possibly is effective for improving static balance (RRMS, SPMS, PPMS) (1 Class II). Breathing-enhanced upper extremity exercises (6 weeks) possibly are effective for improving timed gait and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (RRMS, SPMS, PPMS, mean EDSS 4.5); this change is of unclear clinical significance. This technique possibly is ineffective for improving disability (1 Class II). Inspiratory muscle training (10 weeks) possibly improves maximal inspiratory pressure (RRMS, SPMS, PPMS, EDSS 2–6.5) (1 Class II).
Fertility of female mice fed coumestrol and diethylstilbestrol.

Coumestrol, a compound produced by various legumes which exerts estrogen-like activity in animals, and diethylstilbestrol (DES) were studied as chemical agents for controlling reproduction in mice. Female mice were fed control diets or diets containing 100 ppm coumestrol for eight days. Female mice were exposed to males and reproductive tracts examined 14 days later. Litter size was not affected by 100 ppm dietary coumestrol but feed consumption was reduced 17%. Similar trials were conducted with mice fed 1 ppm DES. Vaginal plugs were present in 50% of the females fed 1 ppm DES, but no fetal pups were present. Feed intake was reduced 37% by the DES. Levels of 0, . 1, . 25, . 50, . 75 and 1.0 ppm DES were compared in two strains of mice, Swiss and ICR. Reproduction in both strains was totally inhibited by all DES treatments. The use of DES to control rodent populations warrants further investigation.
Mortality and survival patterns of people living with HIV-2

Purpose of reviewPeople living with HIV-2 infected usually initiate antiretroviral therapy (ART) at an advanced period in the course of their infection after a long asymptomatic period characterized by high CD4 cell count and thus at a relatively advanced age. In the new international context of early and universal ART initiation, the aim was to review survival patterns among HIV-2 infected patients, either on ART or not. Recent findingsVery few reports were published on mortality in people living with HIV-2 during the last 5 years. People living with HIV-2 experience high mortality rates although lower than people living with HIV-1 before ART initiation. They seem to survive longer regardless of the conditions of ART use. Mortality is associated with late presentation, male sex, CD4 cell count less than 500 cell/&mgr;l, high plasma viral load, hemoglobin rate less than 8 g/dl and body mass index less than 18 kg/m2. SummaryPeople living with HIV-2 initiate ART later than HIV-1 and HIV duals, resulting in higher disease progression and mortality rate. The clinical management of HIV-2 infected patients should now include early diagnosis and treatment initiation as per international guidelines. Further research needs to explore the ‘what to start’ question and document specific causes of death in people living with HIV-2 and enrolled in care in Africa.
Species differences, influence of dose and application on biotransformation of phenol in fish.

1. The metabolism of phenol in goldfish (Carassius auratus), rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) and goldenorfe ide (Leuciscus ideus melanotus) was compared. All three species produced phenyl sulphate, quinol sulphate and phenyl glucuronide. 2. The dose dependence of metabolism of phenol in goldfish was investigated. When the concn. of phenol was increased from 0.2 to 2 mg/l medium, that glucuronylated increased from 7 to 16% and that sulphated decreased from 63 to 47%. 3. The influence of mode of exposure on metabolism of phenol in goldfish was examined. Dietary exposure and uptake from medium was compared with i.p. injection. There was less metabolism in the order: dietary exposure greater than uptake from medium greater than injection.
Evaluation of inflammatory and immune responses in long-term cultured human precision-cut lung slices

ABSTRACT The development of systems that are more accurate and time-efficient in predicting safety and efficacy of target products in humans are critically important in reducing the cost and duration of pharmaceutical development. To circumvent some of the limitations imposed by the use of animal models, ex vivo systems, such as precision-cut lung slices (PCLS), have been proposed as an alternative for evaluating safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of vaccines and pharmaceuticals. In this study, we have established a human PCLS system and methodology for PCLS cultivation that can provide long-term viability and functionality in culture. Using these techniques, we found that cultured PCLS remained viable for at least 14 d in culture and maintained normal metabolic activity, tissue homeostasis and structural integrity. To investigate whether cultured PCLS remained functional, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was used as a target stimulating compound. We observed that after an 18-hour incubation with LPS, cultured PCLS produced a set of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-10 as well as the enzyme COX-2. Furthermore, cultured PCLS were shown to be capable of generating re-call immune responses, characterized by cytokine production, against antigens commonly found in routine vaccinations against influenza virus and tetanus toxoid. Taken together, these results suggest that human PCLS have the potential to be used as an alternative, high-throughput, ex vivo system for evaluating the safety, and potentially immunogenicity, of vaccines and pharmaceuticals.
Reacetylated chitosan microspheres for controlled delivery of anti-microbial agents to the gastric mucosa

The high aqueous solubility of chitosan restricts the utility of chitosan microspheres for gastric drug delivery. This paper describes the preparation of reacetylated chitosan microspheres with suitable properties for the controlled release of active anti-microbial agents, such as amoxycillin and metronidazole, in the gastric cavity. Two different microencapsulation approaches were developed and optimized in order to encapsulate hydrophilic (amoxycillin) and hydrophobic (metronidazole) compounds efficiently. The reacetylated chitosan microspheres exhibited a controlled water swelling capacity and gelified at acidic pH, resulting in prolonged release of the encapsulated antibiotics. The reacetylation time was found to be a key factor that affects not only drug release, but also encapsulation efficiency and anti-microbial activity of the encapsulated compound. The last two parameters were also dependent on drug solubility in the reacetylating agent. Using short reacetylation time periods, it was possible to efficiently control the release of both hydrophilic and lipophilic antibiotics while maintaining their activity against different bacteria. Consequently, reacetylated chitosan microspheres are promising vehicles for the controlled delivery of anti-microbial agents to the gastric cavity and, hence, for the eradication of Helicobacter pylori, a pathogen strongly associated with gastric ulcers and possibly gastric carcinoma.
Chloroquine poisoning in Zimbabwe: a toxicoepidemiological study

Chloroquine is commonly implicated in pharmaceutical poisonings in Zimbabwe. A retrospective hospital record review was performed to describe the epidemiology of chloroquine poisoning compared with that of other medicines. All records of admissions to eight referral hospitals in Zimbabwe due to poisoning with single pharmaceutical agents were collated and separated into those involving either chloroquine or other medicines. Case characteristics were compared and a retrospective cohort study performed to investigate the association of pregnancy with chloroquine overdose. Of 544 cases, antimalarials accounted for the largest proportion of admissions (53.1%), with chloroquine accounting for 96.2% (279 cases) of these. The latter were compared with the remaining 265 cases. The median length of hospital stay for the chloroquine group was significantly lower (1 vs 2 days; P = 0.001) and a greater proportion of patients took chloroquine deliberately (80.3% vs 68.7%; P < 0.05). The mortality rate due to chloroquine poisoning was significantly higher than that of poisoning due to other drugs (5.7% vs 0.7%; P < 0.0001). There was no significant gender bias in mortality. Women of childbearing age admitted with chloroquine poisoning (188 cases) were twice as likely to be found pregnant (relative risk = 2.3, 95% CI = 1.2–4.5) than similar women admitted due to other medicines (157 cases).
Comparison of dielectric properties among polydicyclopentadiene resin, epoxy resin and their composites with microsized SiO2 fillers

Complex permittivity spectra of polydicyclopentadiene resin and epoxy resin, and their composites with SiO2 microfiller were obtained in a wide temperature and frequency range. Both εr' and εr" at high temperatures above their glass transition temperatures (Tg's) are much lower in polydicyclopentadiene resin than in epoxy resin, even though the two Tg's are almost the same. Furthermore, analysis using electric modulus has revealed that addition of the microfiller in epoxy resin suppresses dipolar orientation and charge transport. However, both the dipolar orientation and charge transport seem to be difficult in polydicyclopentadien resin and its composite compared to epoxy resin and its composite.
Effect of prostaglandin E1 on forearm blood flow.

In nine healthy male volunteers, the effect on forearm blood flow of infusions of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) in the brachial artery was studied by means of strain-gauge plethysmography. PGE1 invariably caused a rapid local increase in blood flow with doses of 10–5—10–4 μg · min-1 · kg-1. With 10–2 μg · min-1 · kg-1 of PGE1, the forearm blood flow increased to an average of 30 ml · min-1 · 100 ml-1 (range 15–43). The PGE1-induced vasodilatation was not blocked by atropine or propranolol, but could be abolished by simultaneous infusion of noradrenaline.
Comparing the Effect of a Moderate Physical Activity Intervention on the Mental Health Outcomes of African American and Caucasian Dementia Family Caregivers: A Secondary Data Analysis

ABSTRACT Increased attention to the effects of the stressful demands of caregiving on the mental health of dementia caregivers has resulted in the development of numerous interventions. The current study is a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial that tested a 12-month moderate physical activity intervention with dementia caregivers. Our secondary data analysis examined racial differences in caregiver mental health outcomes including subjective burden, depressive symptoms, and positive affect, as well as differences in physical activity. A total of 211 community-dwelling dementia family caregivers were randomly assigned to a 12-month Enhanced Physical Activity (treatment) Intervention (EPAI) or a Caregiver Skill Building (control) Intervention (CSBI). Of these, 34 African American and 80 Caucasian caregivers completed the study. At baseline, race was associated with subjective burden and positive affect, but not with depressive symptoms. Post intervention (12 months), there were no racial differences in subjective burden or depressive symptoms. However, race was significantly associated with decreased positive affect (p = 0.003) and decreased total minutes of physical activity (p = 0.012). Findings suggest that the mental health needs of African American caregivers warrant additional exploration, where physical activity may be of benefit. These findings provide a cultural perspective to consider during intervention development for future nurse-driven research.
Theoretical study of friction: One-dimensional clean surfaces.

A new method has been proposed to evaluate the frictional force in the stationary state. This method is applied to the 1-dimensional model of clean surfaces. The kinetic frictional force is seen to depend on velocity in general, but the dependence becomes weaker as the maximum static frictional force increases and in the limiting case the kinetic friction gets only weakly dependent on velocity as described by one of the laws of friction. It is also shown that there is a phase transition between state with vanishing maximum static frictional force and that with finite one. The role of randomness at the interface and the relation to the impurity pinning of the sliding Charge-Density-Wave are discussed. to appear in Phys.Rev.B. abstract only. Full text is available upon request. E-mail: hiro@ena.wani. osaka-u.ac. jp.
The Hsp 70 homolog Ssb is essential for glucose sensing via the SNF 1 kinase network

Ulrike von Plehwe, Uta Berndt, Charlotte Conz, Marco Chiabudini, Edith Fitzke, Albert Sickmann, Astrid Petersen, Dietmar Pfeifer, and Sabine Rospert Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, ZBMZ, University of Freiburg, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany; Centre for Biological Signaling Studies (bioss), University of Freiburg, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany; Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany; ISAS—Institute for Analytical Sciences, 44139 Dortmund, Germany; Medizinisches Proteom-Center (MPC), Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 44801 Bochum, Germany; Core Facility II Genomics, Department of Hematology/Oncology, University of Freiburg, D-79106 Freiburg, Germany
How to Identify Narcissism With 13 Items? Validation of the German Narcissistic Personality Inventory–13 (G-NPI-13)

Four studies investigated the construct validity of the brief version of the German Narcissistic Personality Inventory–13 (G-NPI-13). Study 1 (N = 603) confirmed the three-factor structure of the G-NPI-13 and its associations with the NPI-40 and the NPI-16. In Study 2 (N = 438), the convergent and discriminant validity of the G-NPI-13 was analyzed by investigating its relationships with the “Big Five,” self-esteem, and mental health variables (depression, anxiety, stress symptoms; life satisfaction, happiness, social support). Study 3 (N = 118) provided further support for the convergence between the G-NPI-13 and the NPI-40 by investigating their associations with vulnerable narcissism, self-monitoring, and mental health. In Study 4 (N = 82), the 1-year test–retest reliability (three measurement time points) of the G-NPI-13 was investigated. Taken together, the G-NPI-13 is a valid, reliable, and economical instrument for measuring the personality trait narcissism. Possible practical applications and limitations of the G-NPI-13 are discussed.
Stock Returns and Real Growth : A Bayesian Nonparametric Approach ( Bill )

The study of the joint dynamic behavior between stock market returns and real economic growth rates is an important empirical question in finance and macroeconomics. This paper investigates their linkage by proposing a vector autoregressive infinite hidden Markov model. Our model has two advantages over the existing approaches in the literatures. In contrast to Markov switching models with fixed states, our model will learn the number of states from the data rather than fixing it a priori. The vector autoregressive setting in our model allows the joint time series of stock market returns and real growth rates to share the same unobserved state variable. Compared to existing models, our model shows significant improvements in out-of-sample density forecast accuracy. This paper demonstrates the predictive power of stock market returns for future growth rates are better captured by the unobserved states variables, rather than the lagged stock market returns. key words: hierarchical Dirichlet process prior, beam sampling, Markov switching, MCMC, JEL: C58, C14, C22, C11 ∗I would like to thank John Maheu for his excellent guidance. I am grateful for Martin Burda for support and feedback. I would like to thank Yuanyuan Wan for his valuable comments. I am grateful for comments from conference participants at midwest econometrics annual meeting and seminar participants at University of Toronto. Department of Economics, University of Toronto, bill.yang@mail.utoronto. ca
Persistence of nutritional deficiencies after short-term weight recovery in adolescents with anorexia nervosa.

OBJECTIVES To study nutritional abnormalities in adolescent anorexia nervosa and to establish whether certain abnormalities persist after short-term refeeding. METHOD Sixty-one patients (10-19 years old) admitted to a reference unit for eating disorders between 1999 and 2000 with a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa were evaluated at admission and at discharge. A range of biochemical, nutritional, and hormonal parameters were determined. RESULTS At admission, no protein or lipid deficiencies were found, although many patients presented with hormonal abnormalities and red blood cell folate and zinc deficiencies. Hormonal abnormalities reverted significantly (p <.000) after renutrition. There were decreases in erythrocytes and in levels of hemoglobin (p <.000) and folic acid (p <.05). Red blood cell folate and zinc increased but did not reach normal levels. CONCLUSIONS In a large proportion of adolescent anorexic patients, supplementation of folic acid and zinc is recommended although protein or hormonal replacement does not seem to be necessary.
Highly Loaded Fe-MCM-41 Materials: Synthesis and Reducibility Studies

Fe-MCM-41 materials were prepared by different methods. The Fe was both incorporated into the structure and formed crystallites attached to the silica. High Fe content MCM-41 (~16 wt%) with retention of mesoporosity and long-range order was achieved by a range of new synthetic methodologies: (i) by delaying the addition of Fe3+(aq) to the stirred synthesis gel by 2 h, (ii) by addition of Fe3+ precursor as a freshly-precipitated aqueous slurry, (iii) by exploiting a secondary synthesis with Si-MCM-41 as SiO2 source. For comparative purposes the MCM-41 was also prepared by incipient wetness impregnation (IWI). Although all these synthesis methods preserved mesoporosity and long-range order of the SiO2 matrix, the hydrothermally-fabricated Fe materials prepared via the secondary synthesis route has the most useful properties for exploitation as a catalyst, in terms of hydrothermal stability of the resulting support. Temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) studies revealed a three-peak reduction pattern for this material instead of the commonly observed two-peak reduction pattern. The three peaks showed variable intensity that related to the presence of two components: crystalline Fe2O3 and Fe embedded in the SiO2 matrix (on the basis of ESR studies). The role of secondary synthesis of Si-MCM-41 on the iron reducibility was also demonstrated in IWI of sec-Si-MCM-41.
The Detection of an Unidentified Type of Adenovirus in the Stools of Calves with Weak Calf Syndrome by Use of a Commercial Kit Designed for the Detection of Human Adenoviruses

Summary An outbreak of polyarthritis in newborn calves in a large collective dairy herd was characterized by intra‐articular blood‐tinged synoviae, blood tainted faeces and massive subcorneal haemorrhages. Faecal samples from eight clinical newborn cases, 10 from unrelated dairy farms and 10 faecal samples from healthy calves were examined by the Rida® Quick rotavirus/adenovirus‐combi test . A specific adenovirus antigen precipitin‐line was seen in the reaction in all the faecal samples from the diseased calves (n = 8), while all the others (n = 20) were negative. In addition, the same positive reaction was noted when one aqueous humor and two synovial samples were tested with this kit. Several other enteropathogens were found sporadically, but no conclusive significance could be attributed to their presence. Bovine viral diarrhoea and infectious bovine rhinothracheitis viruses as well as Chlamydia spp. and Mycoplasma spp. were not involved in this episode.