Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Monocilia on chicken embryonic endocardium in low shear stress areas

During cardiovascular development, fluid shear stress patterns change dramatically due to extensive remodeling. This biomechanical force has been shown to drive gene expression in endothelial cells and, consequently, is considered to play a role in cardiovascular development. The mechanism by which endothelial cells sense shear stress is still unidentified. In this study, we postulate that primary cilia function as fluid shear stress sensors of endothelial cells. Such a function already has been attributed to primary cilia on epithelial cells of the adult kidney and of Hensen's node in the embryo where they transduce mechanical signals into an intracellular Ca2+ signaling response. Recently, primary cilia were observed on human umbilical vein endothelial cells. These primary cilia disassembled when subjected to high shear stress levels. Whereas endocardial–endothelial cells have been reported to be more shear responsive than endothelial cells, cilia are not detected, thus far, on endocardial cells. In the present study, we use field emission scanning electron microscopy to show shear stress‐related regional differences in cell protrusions within the cardiovasculature of the developing chicken. Furthermore, we identify one of these cell protrusions as a monocilium with monoclonal antibodies against acetylated and detyrosinated alpha‐tubulin. The distribution pattern of the monocilia was compared to the chicken embryonic expression pattern of the high shear stress marker Krüppel‐like factor‐2. We demonstrate the presence of monocilia on endocardial–endothelial cells in areas of low shear stress and postulate that they are immotile primary cilia, which function as fluid shear stress sensors. Developmental Dynamics 235:19–28, 2006. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in youths across five sectors of care.

OBJECTIVE To examine the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among youths from the following five public sectors of care: alcohol and drug services (AD), child welfare (CW), juvenile justice (JJ), mental health (MH), and public school services for youths with serious emotional disturbance (SED) in San Diego, California. METHOD The Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children was administered between October 1997 and January 1999 for 1,618 randomly selected youths aged 6-18 years who were active in at least one of the five sectors. RESULTS Fifty-four percent of the participants met criteria for at least one study disorder. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and disruptive behavior disorders (50%) were much more common than anxiety (10%) or mood (7%) disorders. Youths who were active in the MH and SED sectors were more likely than those not in these sectors to meet criteria for a disorder; youths in the CW sector were least likely. CONCLUSIONS Rates of psychiatric disorders, specifically ADHD and disruptive behavior disorders, are extremely high for youths in public sectors of care. Rates are generally higher in sectors designed to serve youths with psychiatric needs, but the prevalence of disorders was also high in sectors not specifically designed for this need (e.g., CW and JJ).
Exogenous SOD mimetic tempol ameliorates the early retinal changes reestablishing the redox status in diabetic hypertensive rats.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of tempol (4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxyl), a superoxide dismutase mimetic, in preventing early retinal molecular changes in a model that combines hypertension and diabetes. METHODS Four-week-old spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were rendered diabetic by streptozotocin. Diabetic SHR rats (DM-SHR) were randomized to receive or not receive tempol treatment. After 20 days of induction of diabetes, the rats were euthanatized, and their retinas were collected. RESULTS The early molecular markers of diabetic retinopathy (DR), glial fibrillary acidic protein, and fibronectin were evaluated by Western blot assays and showed an increase in DM-SHR compared with the SHR group. The oxidative balance, evaluated by superoxide production and nitric oxide end product levels estimated by a nitric oxide analyzer, and the counterpart antioxidative defense revealed an accentuated imbalance in DM-SHR compared with the SHR group. As a result, the product peroxynitrite, which was detected by immunohistochemistry for nitrotyrosine, was higher in the DM-SHR group. The retinal poly-ADP-ribose (PAR)-modified proteins, which reflect the activation of PAR polymerase (PARP), and the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expressions were found to have increased in this group. Treatment with tempol reestablished the oxidative parameters and decreased the PAR-modified proteins, thus preventing extracellular matrix accumulation and glial reaction. CONCLUSIONS The administration of tempol prevented oxidative damage, decreased iNOS levels, and ameliorated the activation of PARP in the retinas of diabetic hypertensive rats. Consequently, the early molecular markers of DR, such as glial reaction (glial fibrillary acidic protein [GFAP]) and extracellular matrix accumulation (fibronectin), were prevented in tempol-treated rats.
Childhood adversity, monoamine oxidase a genotype, and risk for conduct disorder.

BACKGROUND Very little is known about how different sets of risk factors interact to influence risk for psychiatric disorder. OBJECTIVE To replicate a recent report of a genotype-environment interaction that predicts risk for antisocial behavior in boys. DESIGN Characterizing risk for conduct disorder in boys in association with monoamine oxidase A genotype and exposure to familial adversity, defined by interparental violence, parental neglect, and inconsistent discipline. SETTING A community-based sample of twin boys. PARTICIPANTS Five hundred fourteen male twins aged 8 to 17 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Conduct disorder. RESULTS There was a main effect of adversity but not of monoamine oxidase A on risk for conduct disorder. Low monoamine oxidase A activity increased risk for conduct disorder only in the presence of an adverse childhood environment. Neither a passive nor an evocative genotype-environment correlation accounted for the interaction. CONCLUSION This study replicates a recent report of a genotype-environment interaction that predicts individual variation in risk for antisocial behavior in boys.
Cystatin C as risk factor for cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality in the general population. The Tromsø Study.

BACKGROUND Glomerular filtration rate<60 mL/min/1.73 m2 is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Cystatin C is believed to be a better tool than creatinine for detection of mild renal dysfunction (>60 mL/min/1.73 m2) and possibly a more sensitive marker for cardiovascular risk and all-cause mortality. We examined the association of cystatin C with cardiovascular morbidity and all-cause mortality in a prospective population-based study. METHODS Cystatin C was measured in 2852 men and 3153 women in the Tromsø Study 1994/95. Gender-specific associations during 12 years of follow-up for all-cause mortality and 9.5 years for myocardial infarction (MI) and ischaemic stroke were assessed (Cox proportional hazard ratios, HRs). RESULTS During follow-up, 591 MIs, 293 ischaemic strokes and 1262 deaths occurred. In women, HR for all-cause mortality was increased in the upper cystatin C quartile (≥0.93 mg/L) compared with the lowest quartile (≤0.73 mg/L); 1.38, 95% confidence interval 1.04-1.84. A significant interaction with gender was observed. One SD (0.17 mg/L) increase in cystatin C was associated with 9% higher risk of death in women, also when persons with a cancer history were excluded. Crude HRs for MI and ischaemic stroke were increased in both genders, but the associations did not persist after multivariable adjustments. No independent associations with end points were observed in non-gender-specific analyses. CONCLUSIONS Cystatin C was not independently associated with fatal and non-fatal MI or ischaemic stroke in the general population. However, cystatin C was a risk factor for all-cause mortality in women.
A Data-Driven Approach to Infer Knowledge Base Representation for Natural Language Relations

This paper studies the problem of discovering the structured knowledge representation of binary nat-ural language relations. The representation, known as the schema, generalizes the traditional path of predicates to support more complex semantics. We present a search algorithm to generate schemas over a knowledge base, and propose a data-driven learning approach to discover the most suitable representations to one relation. Evaluation results show that inferred schemas are able to represent precise semantics, and can be used to enrich manually crafted knowledge bases. 1
Loxapine in Newly Admitted Chronic Schizophrenic Patients

The standard drug Stelazine (STEL), at a dose of 50 mg/day, exhibited therapeutic activity significantly different from placebo (PL) activity on several variables, most notably BPRS, attesting to the sensitivity of the experiment. On the other hand, the investigational drug, loxapine (LOX), in doses of 100 mg/day for four weeks, could be differentiated from PL as treatment in the described population on only one variable (NGI-Imp.) and one item of the BPRS. On several variables, positive trends were noted, but the differences from PL did not attain the critical values necessary for statistical significance at P smaller than 0.05. One might speculate that the relatively short duration of treatment in this study might account for the difference between these disappointing results and the more gratifying results of a previous loxapine study in chronic long-term institutionalized schizophrenics with the same oral dose.
Present status of citrus leprosis in Argentina and Paraguay

Citrus leprosis (CL) was first described in South America in the 1920's. It is considered similar to a disease first observed back to 1860 in Florida. It is a destructive disease characterized by localized lesions on the leaves, fruits and stems, which may lead to the death of the affected plant if left untreated. Around 1940, CL was demonstrated to be transmitted by Brevipalpus mites in Argentina. Because little information exists on the status of CL pathosystem in Argentina and Paraguay, a survey was made in several citrus growing areas of these countries from 2009 to 2011, to evaluate its presence and relevance as well as the identification of the virus and the mite vector. CL was found in most of the sweet orange and/or mandarin orchards in Paraguay (Departamentos de Boqueron, Concepcion, San Pedro, Cordillera, Alto Parana, Itapua) and Argentina (Provincias de Misiones, Corrientes, Entre Rios). Incidence was usually low. The causal virus was identified as Citrus leprosis virus C (CiLV-C) by RT-PCR, electron microscopy and immunofluorescence. In all the visited regions in Paraguay and the region of Montecarlo, Argentina, the mites collected in plants infected by CiLV-C were identified as B. phoenicis.
Evaluating 35 Methods to Generate Structural Connectomes Using Pairwise Classification

There is no consensus on how to construct structural brain networks from diffusion MRI. How variations in pre-processing steps affect network reliability and its ability to distinguish subjects remains opaque. In this work, we address this issue by comparing 35 structural connectome-building pipelines. We vary diffusion reconstruction models, tractography algorithms and parcellations. Next, we classify structural connectome pairs as either belonging to the same individual or not. Connectome weights and eight topological derivative measures form our feature set. For experiments, we use three test-retest datasets from the Consortium for Reliability and Reproducibility (CoRR) comprised of a total of 105 individuals. We also compare pairwise classification results to a commonly used parametric test-retest measure, Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC)‡.
Comparison of the Accuracy of Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization–Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry with That of Other Commercial Identification Systems for Identifying Staphylococcus saprophyticus in Urine

ABSTRACT Among 30 urinary isolates of Staphylococcus saprophyticus identified by sequencing methods, the rate of accurate identification was 100% for Bruker Biotyper matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), 86.7% for the Phoenix PID and Vitek 2 GP systems, 93.3% for the MicroScan GP33 system, and 46.7% for the BBL CHROMagar Orientation system.
Network reconfiguration and loss allocation for distribution systems with distributed generation

Distribution systems with distributed generation require new analysis methods since networks are not longer passive. Two of the main problems in this new scenario are the network reconfiguration and the loss allocation. This work presents a distribution systems graphic simulator, developed with reconfiguration functions and a special focus on loss allocation, both considering the presence of distributed generation. This simulator uses a fast and robust power flow algorithm based on the current summation backward-forward technique. Reconfiguration problem is solved through a heuristic methodology and the losses allocation function, based on the Zbus method, is presented as an attached result for each obtained configuration. Results are presented and discussed, remarking the easiness of analysis through the graphic simulator as an excellent tool for planning and operation engineers, and very useful for training.
On the value of assessing preferences explicitly for bargaining

A game under uncertainty is used to investigate two value-of-information questions that arise in competitive situations: 1) Is it worthwhile for a bargainer to go through the effort of quantifying his own preferences over outcomes before bargaining? and 2) Should a bargainer prefer that his opponent quantify his preferences as well? The situation is modeled by a two-by-two, two-person game with complete information where one player's payoffs are known with certainty but the other player's payoffs are uncertain. It is shown that the player whose payoffs are uncertain always prefers to have the uncertainty resolved before bargaining, but that the player whose payoffs are known may or may not prefer to have the uncertainty resolved before bargaining depending on other aspects of the game. Detailed results are given for an example that encompasses a wide range of fixed-sum variable-sum, noncooperative, and cooperative games. Broader implications of the finding are suggested.
The Prognostic Value of Treatment-Related Lymphopenia in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Patients

Purpose This study was conducted to evaluate the prognostic value of treatment-related lymphopenia in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Materials and Methods A total of 413 consecutive stage II-IVb NPC patients treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) were enrolled. The overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) were calculated with the Kaplan-Meier method, and differences were compared using the log-rank test. Results A minimum (mini)–absolute lymphocyte counts (ALC) of < 390 cells/μL or ALC after 3 months of CCRT (post3m-ALC) < 705 cells/μL was significantly associated with worse outcome than mini-ALC ≥ 390 cells/μL (OS, p=0.002; PFS, p=0.005; DMFS, p=0.004) or post3m-ALC ≥ 705 cells/μL (OS, p < 0.001; PFS, p < 0.001; DMFS, p=0.001). Patients with lymphopenia (mini-ALC < 390 cells/μL and post3m-ALC < 705 cells/μL) had a worse prognosis than those without lymphopenia (mini-ALC ≥ 390 cells/μL and post3m-ALC ≥ 705 cells/μL) (OS, p < 0.001; PFS, p < 0.001; DMFS, p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that post3m-ALC was an independent prognostic factor for OS (hazard ratio [HR], 1.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12 to 2.78; p=0.015), PFS (HR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.23 to 2.82; p=0.003), and DMFS (HR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.13 to 3.08; p=0.014). Multivariate analysis also revealed that patients with lymphopenia had a high risk of death (HR, 3.79; 95% CI, 1.75 to 8.19; p=0.001), disease progression (HR, 2.93; 95% CI, 1.59 to 5.41; p=0.001), and distant metastasis (HR, 3.89; 95% CI, 1.67 to 9.10; p=0.002). Multivariate analysis performed with time dependent Cox regression demonstrated ALC was an independent prognostic factor for OS (HR, 0.995; 95% CI, 0.991 to 0.999; p=0.025) and PFS (HR, 0.993; 95% CI, 0.988 to 0.998; p=0.006). Conclusion Treatment-related lymphopenia was a poor prognostic factor in NPC patients.
Ca2+‐induced inhibition of apoptosis in human SH‐SY5Y neuroblastoma cells: degradation of apoptotic protease activating factor‐1 (APAF‐1)

During apoptotic and excitotoxic neuron death, challenged mitochondria release the pro‐apoptotic factor cytochrome c. In the cytosol, cytochrome c is capable of binding to the apoptotic protease‐activating factor‐1 (APAF‐1). This complex activates procaspase‐9 in the presence of dATP, resulting in caspase‐mediated execution of apoptotic neuron death. Many forms of Ca2+‐mediated neuron death, however, do not lead to prominent activation of the caspase cascade despite significant release of cytochrome c from mitochondria. We demonstrate that elevation of cytosolic Ca2+ induced prominent degradation of APAF‐1 in human SH‐SY5Y neuroblastoma cells and in a neuronal cell‐free apoptosis system. Loss of APAF‐1 correlated with a reduced ability of cytochrome c to activate caspase‐3‐like proteases. Ca2+ induced the activation of calpains, monitored by the cleavage of full‐length α‐spectrin into a calpain‐specific 150‐kDa breakdown product. However, pharmacological inhibition of calpain activity indicated that APAF‐1 degradation also occurred via calpain‐independent pathways. Our data suggest that Ca2+ inhibits caspase activation during Ca2+‐mediated neuron death by triggering the degradation of the cytochrome c‐binding protein APAF‐1.
Denaturation and reassembly of chaperonin GroEL studied by solution X‐ray scattering

We measured the denaturation and reassembly of Escherichia coli chaperonin GroEL using small‐angle solution X‐ray scattering, which is a powerful technique for studying the overall structure and assembly of a protein in solution. The results of the urea‐induced unfolding transition show that GroEL partially dissociates in the presence of more than 2 M urea, cooperatively unfolds at around 3 M urea, and is in a monomeric random coil‐like unfolded structure at more than 3.2 M urea. Attempted refolding of the unfolded GroEL monomer by a simple dilution procedure is not successful, leading to formation of aggregates. However, the presence of ammonium sulfate and MgADP allows the fully unfolded GroEL to refold into a structure with the same hydrodynamic dimension, within experimental error, as that of the native GroEL. Moreover, the X‐ray scattering profiles of the GroEL thus refolded and the native GroEL are coincident with each other, showing that the refolded GroEL has the same structure and the molecular mass as the native GroEL. These results demonstrate that the fully unfolded GroEL monomer can refold and reassemble into the native tetradecameric structure in the presence of ammonium sulfate and MgADP without ATP hydrolysis and preexisting chaperones. Therefore, GroEL can, in principle, fold and assemble into the native structure according to the intrinsic characteristic of its polypeptide chain, although preexisting GroEL would be important when the GroEL folding takes place under in vivo conditions, in order to avoid misfolding and aggregation.
Linburg syndrome.

OBJECTIVE To review the causes and demographics of Linburg syndrome. DESIGN An illustrative case report and a demographic study. SETTING Adult and pediatric orthopedic clinics at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg. PATIENTS One patient with Linburg syndrome and 200 patients and relatives presenting to adult and pediatric orthopedic clinics with conditions not involving their hands, wrists or forearms. OUTCOME MEASURES The presence of the intertendinous anomaly and of carpal tunnel syndrome. RESULTS Tendinous connection(s) between flexor pollicis longus and flexor digitorum profundus muscles were found in 20% of the study population. The anomaly was found in all age groups. No association was found between Linburg syndrome and the presence of carpal tunnel syndrome or previous injury to the hand or forearm. CONCLUSION Tendinous connection between flexor pollicis longus and flexor digitorum profundus muscles is a common anomaly that rarely causes clinical symptoms.
Frequency, viral loads, and serotype identification of enterovirus infections in Scottish blood donors

BACKGROUND: Enteroviruses are non‐enveloped, frequently pathogenic RNA viruses infecting humans. Infection is potentially transmissible through blood or blood component transfusion from donor in the viremic phase before seroconversion for antibody. To investigate the threat to blood safety from enteroviruses, a large‐scale survey of frequency and levels of viremia in blood donors was conducted.
Optimal Learning in Linear Regression with Combinatorial Feature Selection

We present a new framework for sequential information collection in applications where regression is used to learn about a set of unknown parameters and alternates with optimization to design new data points. Such problems can be handled using the framework of ranking and selection (RS in particular, we are motivated by the problem of efficiently learning effective strategies for nonprofit fundraising. We present a value of information procedure for simultaneously learning unknown regression parameters and unknown sampling noise. We then develop approximate versions of the procedure, based on optimal quantization, that retain good performance and scale better to large problems.
A diagnostic approach in Alzheimer's disease using three-dimensional stereotactic surface projections of fluorine-18-FDG PET.

UNLABELLED To improve the diagnostic performance of PET as an aid in evaluating patients suspected of having Alzheimer's disease, we developed a fully automated method which generates comprehensive image presentations and objective diagnostic indices. METHODS Fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose PET image sets were collected from 37 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (including questionable and mild dementia), 22 normal subjects and 5 patients with cerebrovascular disease. Following stereotactic anatomic standardization, metabolic activity on an individual's PET image set was extracted to a set of predefined surface pixels (three-dimensional stereotactic surface projection, 3D-SSP), which was used in the subsequent analysis. A normal database was created by averaging extracted datasets of the normal subjects. Patients' datasets were compared individually with the normal database by calculating a Z-score on a pixel-by-pixel basis and were displayed in 3D-SSP views for visual inspections. Diagnostic indices were then generated based on averaged Z-scores for the association cortices. RESULTS Patterns and severities of metabolic reduction in patients with probable Alzheimer's disease were seen in the standard 3D-SSP views of extracted raw data and statistical Z-scores. When discriminating patients with probable Alzheimer's disease from normal subjects, diagnostic indices of the parietal association cortex and unilaterally averaged parietal-temporal-frontal cortex showed sensitivities of 95% and 97%, respectively, with a specificity of 100%. Neither index yielded false-positive results for cerebrovascular disease. CONCLUSION 3D-SSP enables quantitative data extraction and reliable localization of metabolic abnormalities by means of stereotactic coordinates. The proposed method is a promising approach for interpreting functional brain PET scans.