Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Unfractionated and Low Molecular Weight Heparins on Platelet Thromboxane Biosynthesis “In Vivo”

Summary Several “in vitro” and “in vivo” studies indicate that heparin administration may affect platelet function. In this study we investigated the effects of prophylactic heparin on thromboxane (Tx)A2 biosynthesis “in vivo”, as assessed by the urinary excretion of major enzymatic metabolites 11-dehydro-TxB2 and 2,3-dinor-TxB2. Twenty-four patients who were candidates for cholecystectomy because of uncomplicated lithiasis were randomly assigned to receive placebo, unfractionated heparin, low molecular weight heparin or unfractionaed heparin plus 100 mg aspirin. Measurements of daily excretion of Tx metabolites were performed before and during the treatment. In the groups assigned to placebo and to low molecular weight heparin there was no statistically significant modification of Tx metabolite excretion while patients receiving unfractionated heparin had a significant increase of both metabolites (11-dehydro-TxB2: 3844 ± 1388 vs 2092 ±777, p <0.05; 2,3-dinor-TxB2: 2737 ± 808 vs 1535 ± 771 pg/mg creatinine, p <0.05). In patients randomized to receive low-dose aspirin plus unfractionated heparin the excretion of the two metabolites was largely suppressed thus suggesting that platelets are the primary source of enhanced thromboxane biosynthesis associated with heparin administration. These data indicate that unfractionated heparin causes platelet activation “in vivo” and suggest that the use of low molecular weight heparin may avoid this complication.
Reactions of hand-reared and wild-caught predators toward warningly colored, gregarious, and conspicuous prey

Recently there has been debate over the importance of innate avoidance of aposematic prey by predators, particularly birds. There is evidence that the predators have innate or unlearned, thus, inherited avoidance against certain colors, but whether there is any innate avoidance against gregariousness or conspicuousness is unclear. Previously predator behavior toward these characters of aposematic prey have been tested in separate experiments. We designed an experiment to separate inheritance toward color, gregariousness, and conspiucuosness. We simultaneously offered the predators warningly colored and nonwarningly colored prey items, both aggregated and solitary, on white (conspicuous) or brown (cryptic) backgrounds. The predators we used were naive (hand raised), wild-caught yearling and adult great tits (Parus major L.). The results confirm previous results regarding the innate avoidance of color. Naive predators seemed to have a genetically or culturally transmitted avoidance of yellow and black prey compared to brown prey. Surprisingly, yearling wild-caught great tits were more selective than adults, which did not show as strong avoidance of yellow and black prey. More importantly, birds did not find gregarious prey more aversive than single prey, which indicates that grouping alone does not serve as an innate avoidance signal. Conspicuousness itself was not aversive to the predators. Our results suggest that the avoidance against a particular color pattern probably has an inherited basis, whereas gregarious and conspicuous characters of prey presumably aid the avoidance learning. Key words: aggregation, aposematism, color preference, conspicuousness, gregariousness, inherited avoidance, warning colors. [Behav Ecol 10:317‐322 (1999)]
Prevalence of obesity and its risk factors among Pre-University college adolescents of Belgaum city, karnataka.

Background and Objectives: Obesity, a key risk factor for the chronic and non-communicable disease, has become a serious public health concern in both developed and developing countries. Overweight/obesity is the underlying cause of death for 2.8 million people each year. It is the fifth leading cause of risk for death. The objectives of study are to know the prevalence of obesity and factors associated with Obesity. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the two Pre-University colleges with a sample of 330 adolescents of Belgaum city, Karnataka. Pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was used to elicit the required information. Height and weight was measured and Body Mass Index was calculated. Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was observed to be 9.1% and 5.1% respectively. Out of 330 study participants 53.9% were girls and rest were boys. Overweight/obesity was significantly associated with family history of DM, HTN and overweight/obesity, diet habit, habit of taking junk foods, doing one or the other activity while eating, not doing regular physical exercise and not participating in outdoor games. Conclusion: Adopting the healthy lifestyles, food habits and regular physical exercise can reduce the risk of becoming overweight and obese. There is need to educate the school children regarding nutrition and physical activity to promote their health.
Bone Disease in Multiple Myeloma

Osteolytic bone disease in multiple myeloma (MM) is a common event. Already at diagnosis, approximately eighty percent of patients present with abnormal bone structure [1;2]. During disease progression a large proportion of patients will develop ostelytic lesions [3]. MM bone disease not only results in a reduced quality of life due to pain, pathological fractures, or symptomatic hypercalcaemia [4]; but may also be the deciding factor that determines if a patient requires anti-myeloma treatment or if a watch and wait strategy can be applied [5]. In this chapter we will discuss the normal bone remodelling process, and how it is affected in MM. During the last decades, increased knowledge about bone pathophysiology in general has led to an improved understanding of MM bone disease. The description of the receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B (RANK) and its ligand in the nineties was one of the most significant steps. We will also address how biochemical markers may be used to monitor the velocity of the different processes in bone remodelling. The next part of the chapter will be dedicated to the treatment of MM bone disease. For many years, bisphosphonates have been a cornerstone in the treatment of MM bone disease and despite the occurrence of osteonecrosis of the jaw that was first report‐ ed as a result of the of bisphosphonate treatment in the early part of this century, these agents remain the most important components of treatment for MM bone disease. Lastly, we will discuss how various anti-myeloma treatments may influence bone turnover. During the last decade a number of novel drugs have been approved for the treatment of MM and especially proteasome inhibitors seems to have a positive effect on MM bone disease besides their anti-myleoma effect.
Decreased levels of regulatory B cells in patients with systemic sclerosis: association with autoantibody production and disease activity.

OBJECTIVE B cell abnormalities characterized by autoantibody production and polyclonal B cell activation play an important role in the pathogenesis of SSc. IL-10 producing regulatory B (Breg) cells also play an important role in the negative immune response. We identified a human Breg cell subset that was predominantly found within the CD24(hi)CD27(+) B cell subpopulation. However, the role of Breg cells in SSc remains unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical association of Breg cells in SSc patients. METHODS Blood IL-10 producing Breg cell levels were determined by FACS in 35 SSc patients and 30 healthy subjects. In a follow-up study, we analysed six individual dcSSc patients before and after treatment. RESULTS The frequency of blood Breg cells was significantly lower in SSc patients than in healthy controls (P < 0.0001). Similarly, the frequency of CD24(hi)CD27(+) B cells was significantly lower in SSc patients than in healthy controls (P < 0.0001). SSc patients with decreased Breg cell levels often had interstitial lung disease (P < 0.05). Furthermore, Breg cell levels correlated negatively with the titre of anti-topo I antibody (Ab) and anticentromere Ab in SSc patients. For a follow-up study, Breg cell levels in dcSSc patients after treatment were found to be significantly increased compared with those before treatment (P < 0.05), accompanied by decreased disease activity. Thus, Breg cell levels were inversely correlated with disease activity of SSc. CONCLUSION These results suggest that decreased Breg cell levels may contribute to the development of SSc.
Hypothermia for Prediction of Death in Severely Injured Blunt Trauma Patients

ABSTRACT Hypothermia is considered an independent predictor of death after trauma. The aim of this study was to assess these premises based on data from the TraumaRegistry DGU® (TR-DGU) using its outcome predication tool, the Revised Injury Severity Classification (RISC) score, in comparison with three previously published regression models by Shafi, Martin, and Wang. We hypothesized that body temperature on admission would improve accuracy of the RISC score. Data of 5,197 patients with documented body temperature on admission (T) and complete data for RISC score prognosis were selected from TR-DGU. Hypothermia was defined as T of 35°C or less. Patients were divided into hypothermia and normothermia group. Differences were assessed using Mann-Whitney U and chi-squared tests. Statistical significance was accepted at P < 0.01(*). Moreover, we performed multivariate logistic regression analyses using TR-DGU data on the four models (including RISC) with hospital mortality as dependant variable. Results are given as mean or odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Hypothermic patients were more severely injured (Injury Severity Score, 35.0 vs. 29.2 points*) and had higher rates of shock (38.3 vs. 16.8%*), organ failure (71.8 vs. 46%*), and sepsis (17.5 vs. 10.6%*). Survival was worse (29.2 vs. 13.7%*). Comparison of the above models revealed hypothermia as an independent risk factor (Martin: OR, 1.43 [95% CI, 2.21–1.42*]; and Wang: OR, 1.77 [95% CI, 2.21–1.42*]) only, although it would drop out from the model (RISC: OR, 1.12 [95% CI, 1.41–0.89; P = 0.33] and Shafi: OR, 1,.21 [95% CI, 1.60–0.92; P = 0.17]) as long as parameters to indicate hemorrhage and/or coagulopathy were included in sufficient number, a finding confirmed by a subsequent sensitivity analysis. We conclude that hypothermia is a result of injury severity and therefore unlikely to be an independent predictor of mortality. Our data suggest that hypothermia belongs closely to the hemorrhage/coagulopathy group of predictors.
Determination of catecholamines in pharmaceutical formulations using a biosensor modified with a crude extract of fungi laccase (Pleurotus ostreatus)

A carbon paste biosensor modified with a crude enzymatic extract of the Pleurotus ostreatus fungi as a laccase source is proposed for catecholamine determination in pharmaceutical formulations. This enzyme catalyzes the oxidation of adrenaline or dopamine in the corresponding quinones and the current obtained in the electrochemical reduction of each of the products is related to the concentration of these catecholamines in the sample solution. The effect of the laccase concentration from 0.29 to 1.8 U/mg of carbon paste, pH from 3.0 to 8.0, scan rate from 10 to 40 mV s-1 and potential pulse amplitude from 10 to 60 mV on the differential pulse voltammetric response was investigated. The relative standard deviation was smaller than 1.8% for a 2.8 x 10-4 mol L-1 hydroquinone solution at pH 7.0 (n=10). Recoveries varied from 97.3 to 101% for adrenaline and from 95.8 to 102% for dopamine. The analytical curves were rectilinear in the adrenaline concentration range from 6.0 x 10-5 to 7.0 x 10-4 mol L-1 and 7.0 x 10-5 to 4.0 x 10-4 mol L-1 for dopamine, with detection limits of 7.9 x 10-6 mol L-1 and 9.8 x 10-6 mol L-1, respectively. This biosensor was used for adrenaline and dopamine determinations in pharmaceutical formulations. The results obtained using the proposed biosensor are in close agreement with those obtained using an American Pharmacopoeia procedure at a 95% confidence level.
Effects of Nitrogen Fertilization on Plant Communities of Nonsorted Circles in Moist Nonacidic Tundra, Northern Alaska

Abstract Nitrogen availability is considered to be a key limiting factor for plant growth in arctic tundra. Freeze-thaw cycles, which can produce patterned-ground features, may also limit the establishment and growth of arctic plants. In this experiment, we fertilized nonsorted circles, a type of patterned-ground feature, and the surrounding more stable vegetation in moist nonacidic tundra of northern Alaska to determine if nitrogen availability limited plant communities on these disturbance-dominated features. Similar to other studies in moist nonacidic tundra, the fertilized stable vegetation showed an increase in graminoid biomass and a decrease in moss biomass, but no total biomass response. The plant communities on nonsorted circles were less responsive to the addition of nitrogen as compared to the well-vegetated rims. The nonsorted circle vegetation may be limited by additional factors, such as frost heave disturbance, availability of buried seeds, and/or other nutrients. This difference in fertilization response shows that the presence of these features creates spatial heterogeneity in tundra plant community dynamics that should be taken into account when studying tundra responses to environmental change.
Mechanism of regulation of phosphate dissociation from actomyosin-ADP-Pi by thin filament proteins

Regulation by calcium and myosin-S1 of the acceleration of the rate of phosphate release from myosin-ADP-inorganic phosphate (M-ADP-Pi) by the thin filament actin-tropomyosin (Tm)-troponin (Tn), was measured directly by using double mixing stopped-flow experiments with fluorescent phosphate binding protein. At low calcium and without rigor myosin-S1, saturating concentrations of thin filaments accelerate the rate of phosphate dissociation from M-ADP-Pi 8-fold, from 0.08 to 0.64 s−1. If either myosin-S1 or calcium is bound to the thin filaments, phosphate release is a biphasic process in which the fast phase is the dissociation of Pi from actoTmTnM-ADP-Pi and the slow phase is limited by the hydrolysis of actoTmTnM-ATP to actoTmTnM-ADP-Pi. The maximum accelerations of the fast components by saturating thin filaments (relative to M-ADP-Pi alone) are: ≈200-fold, 16 s−1 (calcium only); ≈400-fold, 30 s−1 (EGTA and rigor S1); and ≈1,000-fold, 75 s−1 (calcium and rigor S1). The maximum rate of phosphate dissociation attained with S1 and calcium bound to the thin filament is the same as for unregulated actin. Regulation of the rate of phosphate dissociation by calcium and myosin-S1 is partially explained by the model of Geeves [McKillop, D. F. and Geeves, M. A. (1993) Biophys. J. 65, 693–701], in which calcium and rigor S1 perturb the equilibria among three states of the thin filament (blocked, closed, and open). However, a quantitative description of the regulatory mechanism requires acceleration by calcium of an additional step of the mechanism, either phosphate dissociation or a preceding conformational change.
Characterization of crystalline dendrimer-stabilized gold nanoparticles

Monodispersed, highly crystalline dendrimer-stabilized gold nanoparticles (Au DSNPs) were synthesized via hydrazine reduction chemistry and stabilized using primary amine-terminated poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers of different generations (generations 2–6) with the same molar ratios of dendrimer terminal nitrogen ligands/gold atoms. The sizes of the synthesized Au DSNPs decrease with the increase of the number of dendrimer generations. These Au DSNPs are fluorescent and display strong blue emission intensity at 458 nm. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) analysis indicates that all Au DSNPs are stable and both metal NPs and dendrimer stabilizers do not separate from each other during the electrophoresis process. The synthesized inorganic/organic hybrid Au DSNPs provide new nanoplatforms that will be further modified with various biological ligands for the application of biosensing and targeted cancer therapeutics.
Analysis of carbon nanotube based Through Silicon Vias

In this paper we have provided analysis of carbon nanotube (CNT) based Through Silicon Vias (TSVs) for package interconnects. The package interconnects are fundamental bottlenecks to achieving high performance and reliability. We have provided electrical modeling and performed simulations on TSV with copper and carbon nanotubes. The results from the CNT-based TSVs were greatly superior to conventional vias with copper.
Antigenicity and immunogenicity of Melan‐A/MART‐1 derived peptides as targets for tumor reactive CTL in human melanoma

Summary: Some cancer patients mount spontaneous T‐ and B‐cell responses against their tumor cells. Autologous tumor reactive CD8 cytolytic T lymphocyte (CTL) and CD4 T‐cell clones as well as antibodies from these patients have been used for the identification of genes encoding the target antigens. This knowledge opened the way for new approaches to the immunotherapy of cancer. In this review, we describe the characterization of the structure‐function properties of the melanocyte/melanoma tumor antigen Melan‐A/MART‐1, the assessment of the T‐cell repertoire available against this antigen in healthy individuals, and the analysis of naturally acquired and/or vaccine‐induced CTL responses to this antigen in patients with metastatic melanoma.
Vaccination strategies for Parkinson disease

Parkinson disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the world, but there is currently no available cure for it. Current treatments only alleviate some of the symptoms for a few years, but they become ineffective in the long run and do not stop the disease. Therefore it is of outmost importance to develop therapeutic strategies that can prevent, stop, or cure Parkinson disease. A very promising target for these therapies is the peripheral immune system due to its probable involvement in the disease and its potential as a tool to modulate neuroinflammation. But for such strategies to be successful, we need to understand the particular state of the peripheral immune system during Parkinson disease in order to avoid its weaknesses. In this review we examine the available data regarding how dopamine regulates the peripheral immune system and how this regulation is affected in Parkinson disease; the specific cytokine profiles observed during disease progression and the alterations documented to date in patients’ peripheral blood mononuclear cells. We also review the different strategies used in Parkinson disease animal models to modulate the adaptive immune response to salvage dopaminergic neurons from cell death. After analyzing the evidence, we hypothesize the need to prime the immune system to restore natural tolerance against α-synuclein in Parkinson disease, including at the same time B and T cells, so that T cells can reprogram microglia activation to a beneficial pattern and B cell/IgG can help neurons cope with the pathological forms of α-synuclein.
Investigation of spacer length effect on immobilized Escherichia coli pili‐antibody molecular recognition by AFM

The immobilization of antibodies to sensor surfaces is critical in biochemical sensor development. In this study, Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and Jeffamine spacers were employed to tether Escherichia coli K99 pilus antibody to silicon wafer surfaces for the purpose of improving the orientation of antibody as well as reducing the steric hindrance. To illustrate the effect of spacer length, a variety of linear polymers were used to covalently attach the antibodies to silicon surfaces. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to characterize the surface morphology and chemical composition at each reaction step. The effect of spacer length in improving the specificity of immobilized antibody was investigated by attaching E. coli on the end of an AFM tip. The distribution of unbinding force and rupture distance from the force‐distance curves obtained by AFM showed that the introduction of PEG spacer facilitates bacterial recognition which can improve the incidence of interactions by up to 90%. J600 proved to be the most effective spacer overcoming the steric hindrance seen with direct immobilization of antibody. In addition, the force spectroscopy reveals the elementary force quantum of E. coli‐antibody to be 0.3 nN. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2007;98: 1109–1122. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Circulatory Responses to Prolonged Hypoxemia in Fetal Sheep

Experiments were conducted in 11 chronically catheterized pregnant sheep to determine the distribution of blood flow within the fetus during prolonged (48 hours) hypoxemia secondary to the restriction of uterine blood flow. Uterine blood flow was mechanically restricted with a polytetrafluoroethylene vascular clamp placed around the maternal common internal iliac artery such that mean (+/- SEM) fetal arterial oxygen tension decreased from 23.4 +/- 1.9 to 17.3 +/- 0.8 mm Hg at 1 hour of hypoxemia and remained low for 48 hours. There was an initial increase in fetal arterial carbon dioxide pressure from 48.5 +/- 0.9 mm Hg during the control period to 56.2 +/- 2.3 mm Hg at 1 hour; this parameter subsequently returned to control values, whereas base excess showed a transient decrease. Fetal cerebral, myocardial, and adrenal blood flows were significantly increased at 1, 24, and 48 hours of hypoxemia. In contrast, there was no change in nuchal muscle or renal blood flows with hypoxemia of this magnitude. Cotyledonary blood flow increased transiently by 38% at 1 hour of hypoxemia, but was not changed from control at 24 and 48 hours. These experiments demonstrate that the sheep fetus is able to maintain the normal protective circulatory adjustments seen with acute hypoxemia for up to 48 hours in the absence of progressive metabolic acidemia.
Towards a Secure Medium Access Control Protocol for Cluster-Based Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks

The unique characteristics of high bit error rate, low bandwidth, and long propagation delay in underwater environments pose significant challenges to the design of the medium access control (MAC) protocol for underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs). Clustering is an effective and practical way to enhance the performance of UWSNs. In this paper, we propose a secure MAC protocol for cluster-based UWSNs, called SC-MAC, which aims to ensure the security of data transmission. In SC-MAC, the clusters are formed and updated dynamically and securely. We leverage MAC layer information by considering the link quality as well as residual energy of the modem's battery. After the successful mutual authentication, all sensor nodes from different clusters can protect the data transmission in the continuous communication. As the states of sensor nodes may not be observed accurately in a harsh underwater environment, we formulate the channel scheduling process as a stochastic partially observed Markov decision process (POMDP) multiarmed bandit problem and derive the optimal channel scheduling rules hereby. Simulation results show that SC-MAC can perform better than existing state-of-the-art MAC protocols in terms of network throughput, successful delivery ratio, and energy consumption in various circumstances.
A new adaptive video SRR algorithm with improved robustness to innovations

In this paper, a new video super-resolution reconstruction (SRR) method with improved robustness to outliers is proposed. By studying the proximal point cost function representation of the R-LMS iterative equation, a better understanding of its performance is attained, which allows us to devise a new algorithm with improved robustness, while maintaining comparable quality and computational cost. Monte Carlo simulation results illustrate that the proposed method outperforms the traditional and regularized versions of the LMS algorithm.