Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Feeding by the tick, Ixodes scapularis, causes CD4+ T cells responding to cognate antigen to develop the capacity to express IL‐4

Effects of tick feeding on an early antigen‐specific T cell response were studied by monitoring a clonotypic population of adoptively transferred T cell receptor (TCR) transgenic CD4 cells responding to a tick‐associated antigen. When recipient mice were infested with pathogen‐free Ixodes scapularis nymphs several days prior to T cell transfer and intradermal injection of soluble cognate antigen at the feeding site, the clonotypic CD4 cells gained the ability to express the Th2 effector cytokine IL‐4. Notably, this effect was not only observed in BALB/c mice predisposed towards developing Th2 responses but also in B10.D2 mice predisposed towards Th1 responsiveness. Furthermore, tick feeding was able to superimpose IL‐4 expression potential onto a strong Th1 response (indicated by robust IFN‐γ expression potential) elicited by immunization with a vaccinia virus expressing the cognate antigen. The magnitude to which tick feeding was able to programme IL‐4 expression potential in CD4 cells was partially reduced in mice that had been previously exposed to pathogen‐free tick nymphs 6 weeks earlier, as well as when the nymphs were infected with Borrelia burgdorferi. Intradermal injection of salivary gland extract programmed IL‐4 expression potential similar to that of tick infestation, suggesting that IL‐4 programming activity is contained within tick saliva.
Relation Between M235T Polymorphism of the Angiotensinogen Gene and Coronary Artery Disease in Taiwanese: An Angiography-Controlled Study

Background: Polymorphisms of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system have been found in association with coronary artery disease (CAD). The M235T polymorphism is the most important angiotensinogen (AGT) genetic variant. The relationship between AGT gene polymorphisms and CAD has been investigated in only a few studies, however, with conflicting results. In most of these studies, not all participants underwent coronary angiography to determine the existence of coronary artery stenosis. In this study, we tested this relationship again in Taiwanese subjects who underwent coronary angiography. Methods: This study enrolled 576 patients who underwent coronary angiography, including 362 patients with CAD (the CAD group) and 214 without CAD (the control group). The M235Tangiotensinogen genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction and subsequent digestion of the products with Tth 111I. Results: The frequencies of the variant M235T genotypes in the CAD group were MM 3.3%, MT 52.2%, and TT 44.5%, not significantly different fromthose in the control group (MM 3.7%, MT49.5%, and TT46.7%) (p = 0.82). In multivariate analysis regarding the presence of CAD with respect to the existence of polymorphism, the odds ratioswere0.85(95% CI =0.60-1.23, p=0.39) for T235homozygote, and0.91(95% CI =0.69-1.20, p=0.49) for T allele. Conclusion: This study shows that the AGT M235T polymorphism is not associated with the presence of coronary artery disease in the Taiwanese population.
Inbreeding effect on precocious mortality in Japanese communities of Brazil

Data on precocious mortality (from abortions up to the age of 20) are presented for three Japanese communities in Brazil. The inbreeding load (B≅1.5) is estimated on the basis of these data. B/A lies between 7 and 30. Three general working hypotheses are presented.
Polyphyllin I induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in human myeloma cells via modulating β‐catenin signaling pathway

Multiple myeloma (MM) is an indolent B‐cell disease characterized by clonal proliferation of malignant plasma cells. Multiple myeloma remains incurable despite new targeted drugs and development of drug resistance or intolerable toxicity emerges as a major problem. Therefore, design, identification, and validation of novel chemicals with therapeutic potential are clearly needed for MM treatment. Here, we explore polyphyllin I (PPI), a major active constituent extracted from Paris polyphyllin, its inhibitory effects and its mechanisms in MM cells in vitro. We found that PPI inhibited the proliferation of myeloma cells. The combination of PPI with dexamethasone, doxorubicin, arsenic trioxide, or bortezomib enhanced the inhibition of cell growth. As analyzed by flow cytometry, MM cells were arrested at G2/M phase and apoptotic cells increased in a time‐dependent manner. Morphological changes of cells undergoing apoptosis were observed under light microscope. To explore the mechanism of apoptosis induced by PPI, we next examined whether the Wingless‐Int (Wnt)/β‐catenin signaling pathway played a role in the PPI‐induced growth inhibition in MM cells. The canonical Wnt signaling pathway is activated in MM cells through constitutively active β‐catenin, a messenger molecule relevant to growth, survival, and migration of MM cells. Western blotting was used to measure the protein levels of β‐catenin, and PPI treatment led to downregulating the expression of β‐catenin protein and was followed by inhibition of β‐catenin nuclear localization. As a result, β‐catenin downstream targets, such as cyclin D1 and survivin, were downregulated. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report identifying anti‐proliferative potency of PPI against myeloma cells. PPI blocks β‐catenin nuclear translocation and decreasing expression of the downstream targets of β‐catenin. Our results suggest that PPI is a novel inhibitor of β‐catenin activity with potential anti‐myeloma efficacy.
Tumor metastasis and the lymphatic vasculature

Tumor‐associated lymphatic vessels act as a conduit by which disseminating tumor cells access regional lymph nodes and form metastases there. Lymph node metastasis is of major prognostic significance for many types of cancer, although lymph node metastases are themselves rarely life‐threatening. These observations focus our attention on understanding how tumor cells interact with the lymphatic vasculature, and why this interaction is so significant for prognosis. Tumors interact with the lymphatic vasculature in a number of ways, including vessel co‐option, chemotactic migration and invasion into lymphatic vessels and induction of lymphangiogenesis. Tumor‐induced lymphangiogenesis both locally and in regional lymph nodes has been correlatively and functionally associated with metastasis formation and poor prognosis. The investigation of the molecular regulation of lymphangiogenesis has identified ways of interfering with prolymphangiogenic signaling. Blockade of tumor‐induced lymphangiogenesis in preclinical models inhibits metastasis formation in lymph nodes and often also in other organs, suggesting that blocking the lymphatic route of dissemination might suppress metastasis formation not only in lymph nodes but also in other organs. However, randomized clinical trials that have investigated the efficacy of therapeutic removal of lymph nodes have concluded that lymph node metastases act only as indicators that primary tumors have developed metastatic potential, and do not govern the further spread of metastatic cells. To reconcile these apparently paradoxical observations we suggest a model in which tumor‐induced lymphangiogenesis and lymph node metastasis formation act as indicators that tumors are producing factors that can act systemically to promote metastasis formation in distant organs. © 2009 UICC
We Need More Research and Better Designs for Insulin Infusion Sets

An insulin infusion set (IIS) is an indispensable conduit in insulin pump systems that transfers insulin from the reservoir to the subcutaneous tissue. Some form of IIS is required for all pumps, including patch pumps. Transfer of insulin across the skin occurs through a stainless steel needle or through a Teflon cannula once its steel needle has been removed during the insertion process. With their ease of insertion, steel needles are inserted manually while Teflon catheters can be inserted manually, with an auto-insertion device, or in some cases either. An insulin pump delivers only rapid-acting insulin, so any failure of the IIS can become a critical health issue. At best, IIS failure increases health care costs, while at the worst it can lead to elevated HbA1c levels, diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), or death. Even though IIS designs have improved and fewer adverse events occur today, pump plumbing (IIS) continues to retain many similarities to home plumbing in the era of galvanized pipes fraught with a variety of ways to fail. When an IIS issue of unexplained hyperglycemia or occlusion arises, several factors may be involved, including the physical design of the IIS, material composition of the catheter, tendency for dislodgement, presence or absence of a safety anchor or anchoring tape, type of insulin, strength of the adhesive used to fix the set to the skin, and the lubricant used to coat the exterior of a Teflon or steel cannula. Any of these may impact glucose outcomes, duration of use, and comfort. Variations in the manufacturing process over time can also impact IIS reliability. Small changes or adjustments in IIS materials or the manufacturing process will sometimes have a considerable impact on IIS properties in daily life. For example, the thickness of the Teflon wall of a cannula is directly related to its risk of kinking during insertion, while its comfort is inversely related to a lesser degree. Fixation of IIS systems to the skin with adhesive also has a major impact on glucose outcomes, yet this remains a relatively ignored area for clinical research. IIS reliability seems to vary by user and set. In pump blogs and in clinic and support group discussions, many users report that they have experienced acute metabolic deteriorations with one IIS or another that vanish once they switch to a different one, particularly when switching from a Teflon IIS to steel. Although anecdotal reports have to be taken with care, the number and consistency of these reports suggest that the type of IIS an individual chooses has a real impact on glucose control.
Brillouin optical fiber sensor for cryogenic thermometry

Supraconductive installations are now commonly used in large facilities, such as power plants and particle accelerators. This requires a permanent temperature control at very low temperature, but cryogenic temperature measurements in the 1-77K range requires expensive calibrated temperature probes. We report here the possibility to use stimulated Brillouin scattering in optical fibers for temperature sensing down to 1K. Such a technique offers the additional advantage to make possible distributed measurement, so that very large structures and systems can be controlled using a single fiber and a single analyzing instrument. In addition only one by-pass for the fiber is required as input to the cryogenic vessel, that is definitely a key advantage for the design and the energy loss. Brillouin scattering in optical fibers has never been investigated so far at temperature below 77K (nitrogen boiling point). This absence of interest probably results from the constant decrease of scattering efficiency that was observed while cooling the fiber down to 77K. Our measurements show the unexpected feature that scattering efficiency is significantly raised below 50K and is even much better than observed at room temperature. The relevance and the feasibility of the technique is demonstrated in real scale on the supraconductive magnets for the future world largest particle accelerator, namely the large hadron collider (LHC) at CERN Laboratory in Geneva.
Dietary interventions for weight loss and cardiovascular risk reduction in people of African ancestry (blacks): a systematic review

Abstract Objective To systematically review weight and cardiovascular risk reduction in blacks by diet and lifestyle changes. Design Randomised and non-randomised controlled trials of diet with/without lifestyle changes with duration of intervention ≥3 months, and published between January 1990 and December 2009, were searched in electronic databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and CCTR (Cochrane Controlled Trials Register). Studies were included if they reported weight/BMI changes with changes in at least one of the following: systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting plasma lipids and glucose, and glycated haemoglobin. Setting Clinical, community and church-based interventions. Subjects Study participants were of African ancestry (blacks). Results Eighteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Average mean difference in weight loss was −2·66 kg, with improvements in all outcomes except total cholesterol. No significant difference was observed in outcome measures between all studies and studies that recruited only healthy participants or patients with type 2 diabetes. Conclusions Diet and lifestyle changes result in weight loss with improvements in cardiovascular risk factors in blacks. However, more culturally tailored programmes have been suggested to motivate and encourage blacks to participate in intervention trials.
Creating the UK emission trading scheme: motives and symbolic politics

This paper explores the business-led advocacy of the UK emission trading scheme with special focus on the symbolic benefi ts of emission trading for the business community. It traces the development of the UK Emissions Trading Group and links the group’s preferences for emission trading to socio-economic, operational and legislative contexts. The analysis reveals that, although business originally supported emission trading as an alternative to taxation, more socio-symbolic motives shaped business interest in emission trading after announcement of the Climate Change Levy. This suggests that ‘symbolic politics’ can drive industry support for economic instruments such as emission trading, even when the economic rationale for doing so is diminished or constrained by existing policy frameworks or wider socio-economic contexts. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Determination of brucella immunoglobulin G agglutinating antibody titer with dithiothreitol

The routine brucella agglutination test measures both immunoglobulin M (IgM) and IgG brucella antibody titers; however, only an elevated IgG titer is significant for differentiating active from inactive disease in patients with symptoms lasting 3 or more weeks. The IgG antibody titer can be determined by treating the serum wih 2-mercaptoethanol to inactivate the IgM brucella antibodies while leaving the IgG brucella antibodies intact. Dithiothreitol, which also inactivates IgM, was compared with 2-mercaptoethanol for the determination of IgG brucella agglutination titers. The dithiothreitol and 2-mercaptoethanol test results agreed within +/- 1 dilution step in 103 of 105 serum specimens tested, for a 98.1% rate of agreement. The results indicate that dithiothreitol can be used in place of 2-mercaptoethanol for determining IgG brucella agglutination titers. Dithiothreitol does not have the offensive odor or the irritant properties of 2-mercaptoethanol.
Epidemiology of hepatocellular carcinoma in Hispanics in the United States.

BACKGROUND To our knowledge, no detailed analysis exists of the incidence and mortality of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) among Hispanics in the United States. In previous studies, the rates for Hispanics have not been reported separately from other racial or ethnic groups. METHODS We used information on patients diagnosed as having HCC from 13 registries in the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database of the National Cancer Institute to calculate race-specific, age-adjusted incidence rates (AIR) between 1992 and 2002. We also used California and Texas state death records from between 1979 and 2001 to calculate race-specific, age-adjusted mortality rates for liver cancer excluding intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. For Hispanics and Asians/Pacific Islanders, the rates were calculated for native-born subjects and immigrants separately. RESULTS In SEER, the yearly AIRs were higher by 1.2-fold in Hispanics than in blacks (6.3 vs 5.0 per 100 000 person-years of the underlying US population) and by 2.7-fold than in non-Hispanic whites (2.4 per 100 000 person-years) but lower than in Asians/Pacific Islanders (10.8 per 100 000 person-years). The median age at HCC diagnosis in Hispanics (64 years) was intermediate between whites (the oldest) and blacks (the youngest). Between the periods 1992-1995 and 2000-2002, there was a 31% increase in the incidence of HCC in Hispanic men and a 63% increase in Hispanic women. The race-specific, age-adjusted mortality rates were remarkably similar in California and Texas and were highest in immigrant Asian/Pacific Islanders followed by native Hispanics. The rates for native Hispanic men were more than twice as high as those for immigrant Hispanic men. For Texas, the rates for native Hispanic men were 65% higher than those for immigrant Hispanic men. CONCLUSION Hispanics in the United States have high rates of HCC that are second only to Asians/Pacific Islanders.
Combined hepatocellular and cholangiocarcinoma

Tumors with combined hepatocellular and cholangiocellular features are well known histopathologically but their clinical behavior is poorly understood. The objectives of the current study were to define the demographic profile of the patients in whom these uncommon tumors occur and to evaluate treatment outcome in comparison with that in patients with either hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or peripheral cholangiocarcinoma (CC) alone.
Assessment of the risk of cyanobacterial bloom occurrence in urban ponds: probabilistic approach

Blooms of toxic cyanobacteria became a common feature of temperate lakes and ponds owing to human induced eutrophication. Occurrence of cyanobacterial blooms in an urban context may pose serious health concerns. This necessitates the development of tools for assessment of the risk of noxious bloom occurrence. A five year study of 42 Brussels ponds showed that cyanobacteria have threshold rather than linear relationships with environmental variables controlling them. Hence, linear relationships have limited predictive capacity for cyanobacterial blooms. A probabilistic approach to prediction of bloom occurrence using environmental thresholds as conditions in conditional probability calculation proved to be more useful. It permitted the risk of cyanobacterial bloom occurrence to be quantified and thus the conditions and thence the ponds the most prone to cyanobacterial bloom development to be singled out. This approach can be applied for the assessment of the risk of cyanobacterial bloom occurrence in urban ponds and thus can facilitate monitoring planning, remediation efforts and setting restoration priorities.
Human kidney anion exchanger 1 localisation in MDCK cells is controlled by the phosphorylation status of two critical tyrosines

An important question in renal physiology is how the α-intercalated cells of the kidney regulate the distribution of the basolateral kidney anion exchanger 1 (kAE1) according to systemic acid-base status. Previous work using a MDCKI model system demonstrated that kAE1 basolateral targeting requires an N-terminal determinant and a critical C-terminal tyrosine (Y904). Here, we show that the N-terminal determinant is residue Y359, because a Y359A substitution mutant was mistargeted to the apical membrane. Further determinants might exist because a range of N-terminal kAE1 truncations that contained Y359 were incorrectly targeted to the TGN. Y359 and Y904 in kAE1 are phosphorylated upon pervanadate treatment and this phosphorylation is sensitive to specific Src kinase family inhibitors. We tested a range of stimuli on this model system and only the application of high nonphysiological concentrations of extracellular bicarbonate, and to a lesser extent hypertonicity or hyperosmolarity, induced tyrosine phosphorylation of kAE1. Treatment with pervanadate caused internalisation of kAE1 from the plasma membrane, but treatment with high concentrations of bicarbonate did not, because of the hypertonicity of the solution. We propose that α-intercalated cells control the distribution of kAE1 by reversible phosphorylation of tyrosine residues Y359 and Y904.
Extracting State Transition Dynamics from Multiple Spike Trains Using Hidden Markov Models with Correlated Poisson Distribution

Neural activity is nonstationary and varies across time. Hidden Markov models (HMMs) have been used to track the state transition among quasi-stationary discrete neural states. Within this context, an independent Poisson model has been used for the output distribution of HMMs; hence, the model is incapable of tracking the change in correlation without modulating the firing rate. To achieve this, we applied a multivariate Poisson distribution with correlation terms for the output distribution of HMMs. We formulated a variational Bayes (VB) inference for the model. The VB could automatically determine the appropriate number of hidden states and correlation types while avoiding the overlearning problem. We developed an efficient algorithm for computing posteriors using the recursive relationship of a multivariate Poisson distribution. We demonstrated the performance of our method on synthetic data and real spike trains recorded from a songbird.