Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 UL20 Protein Modulates Membrane Fusion Events during Cytoplasmic Virion Morphogenesis and Virus-Induced Cell Fusion

ABSTRACT The herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) UL20 protein is an important determinant for virion morphogenesis and virus-induced cell fusion. A precise deletion of the UL20 gene in the HSV-1 KOS strain was constructed without affecting the adjacent UL20.5 gene. The resultant KOS/UL20-null virus produced small plaques of 8 to 15 cells in Vero cells while it produced wild-type plaques on the complementing cell line G5. Electron microscopic examination of infected cells revealed that the KOS/UL20-null virions predominantly accumulated capsids in the cytoplasm while a small percentage of virions were found as enveloped virions within cytoplasmic vacuoles. Recently, it was shown that UL20 expression was necessary and sufficient for cell surface expression of gK (T. P. Foster, X. Alvarez, and K. G. Kousoulas, J. Virol. 77:499-510, 2003). Therefore, we investigated the effect of UL20 on virus-induced cell fusion caused by syncytial mutations in gB and gK by constructing recombinant viruses containing the gBsyn3 or gKsyn1 mutations in a UL20-null genetic background. Both recombinant viruses failed to cause virus-induced cell fusion in Vero cells while they readily caused fusion of UL20-null complementing G5 cells. Ultrastructural examination of UL20-null viruses carrying the gBsyn3 or gKsyn1 mutation revealed a similar distribution of virions as the KOS/UL20-null virus. However, cytoplasmic vacuoles contained aberrant virions having multiple capsids within a single envelope. These multicapsid virions may have been formed either by fusion of viral envelopes or by the concurrent reenvelopment of multiple capsids. These results suggest that the UL20 protein regulates membrane fusion phenomena involved in virion morphogenesis and virus-induced cell fusion.
Dietary fatty acid composition during pregnancy and the risk of asthma in the offspring

To cite this article: Lumia M, Luukkainen P, Kaila M, Tapanainen H, Erkkola M, Uusitalo L, Niinistö S, Kenward MG, Ilonen J, Simell O, Knip M, Veijola R, Virtanen SM. Dietary fatty acid composition during pregnancy and the risk of asthma in the offspring. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2011: 22: 827–835.
The relationship of oxygen cost of breathing to respiratory mechanical work and respiratory force.

The oxygen cost of increased respiratory activity can be measured by subtracting the oxygen consumption at rest from that observed during the increased respiratory activity. The efficiency of the system can be assessed when the increased respiratory mechanical work is related to the oxygen cost. Previous estimates of efficiency in man have varied very widely, possibly because very different forms of respiratory work have been employed. Some workers have increased the pressure component of respiratory work by additions to the external air flow resistance, a procedure which will be referred to hereafter as "resistance breathing. " In other studies, the volume component of respiratory work has been augmented by increasing the minute volume, without any addition of airway resistance: this will be referred to as "hyperventilation. " No investigator employing one experimental technique has studied the oxygen cost of both of these forms of activity. The first objective of this study was to ascertain whether the relationship of oxygen cost to mechanical respiratory work is the same for hyperventilation as for resistance breathing in normal subjects. The second was to test whether the same relationships hold in the presence of diseases which alter the mechanical properties of the lung. There is evidence, however, that mechanical work is not the most revealing parameter with which to compare energy consumption. For example, the support of a heavy object at a fixed distance from the ground involves energy consumption but results in no measurable mechanical work, although it is likely that the increased energy consumption would relate to the weight of the object and the length of time it was supported.
Assay, Purification, and Partial Characterization of Choline Monooxygenase from Spinach

The osmoprotectant glycine betaine is synthesized via the path-way choline -> betaine aldehyde -> glycine betaine. In spinach (Spinacia oleracea), the first step is catalyzed by choline monooxygenase (CMO), and the second is catalyzed by betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase. Because betaine aldehyde is unstable and not easily detected, we developed a coupled radiometric assay for CMO. [14C]Choline is used as substrate; NAD+ and betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase prepared from Escherichia coli are added to oxidize [14C]betaine aldehyde to [14C]glycine betaine, which is isolated by ion exchange. The assay was used in the purification of CMO from leaves of salinized spinach. The 10-step procedure included polyethylene glycol precipitation, polyethyleneimine precipitation, hydrophobic interaction, anion exchange on choline-Sepharose, dimethyldiethanolamine-Sepharose, and Mono Q, hydroxyapatite, gel filtration, and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Following gel filtration, overall purification was about 600-fold and recovery of activity was 0.5%. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed a polypeptide with a molecular mass of 45 kD. Taken with the value of 98 kD estimated for native CMO (R. Brouquisse, P. Weigel, D. Rhodes, C.F. Yocum, A.D. Hanson [1989] Plant Physiol 90: 322–329), this indicates that CMO is a homodimer. CMO preparations were red-brown, showed absorption maxima at 329 and 459 nm, and lost color upon dithionite addition, suggesting that CMO is an iron-sulfur protein.
Soluble TREM-2 in cerebrospinal fluid from patients with multiple sclerosis treated with natalizumab or mitoxantrone

Background: Microglia-mediated proteolysis of the triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-2 (TREM-2) produces soluble TREM-2 (sTREM-2) that can be measured in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples. Loss-of-function mutations in TREM2 or in the gene encoding its adaptor protein cause the rare Nasu–Hakola disease (NHD). Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease that in common with NHD is characterized by demyelination and microglial activation. Objective: To investigate the potential utility of sTREM-2 as a biomarker for MS and to follow treatment effects. Methods: sTREM-2 was analyzed in CSF samples from subjects with MS (N = 59); relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) (N = 36), secondary progressive MS (SPMS) (N = 20) and primary progressive MS (PPMS) (N = 3), and controls (N = 27). CSF levels of sTREM-2 were also assessed before and after treatment of patients with natalizumab or mitoxantrone. Results: CSF levels of sTREM-2 were significantly increased in patients with RRMS, SPMS, and PPMS compared with controls. After natalizumab treatment, the levels of sTREM-2 were normalized to control levels. The levels of sTREM-2 were also reduced after mitoxantrone treatment. Conclusion: Increased CSF levels of sTREM-2, a new marker of microglial activation, in MS and normalization upon treatment with either natalizumab or mitoxantrone support a role for microglial activation in active MS.
Effectiveness of revascularization in the Emory angioplasty versus surgery trial. A randomized comparison of coronary angioplasty with bypass surgery.

BACKGROUND The Emory Angioplasty Versus Surgery Trial (EAST) was designed to determine whether percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is as effective as coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) in restoring arterial perfusion capacity in eligible patients with multivessel disease. METHODS AND RESULTS Of 392 patients in EAST, 198 were randomized to PTCA and 194 to CABG. Index lesions (2.7 +/- 1.0 per patient) were those with > or = 50% stenosis judged treatable by both angioplasty and surgery. Coronary segments jeopardized by these index lesions were designated as index segments (4.4 +/- 1.4 per patient). Percent stenosis was measured by quantitative angiography at the point of greatest obstruction in the main perfusion path of each index segment. The EAST primary arteriographic end point was the percent of a patient's index segments with < 50% stenosis in the main perfusion pathways at 1 and 3 years. At baseline, the percent of index segments for which revascularization was attempted was 85% for PTCA and 98% for CABG (P < .0001). At 1 year, PTCA patients had a smaller percentage of successfully revascularized index segments than CABG patients (59% versus 88%, P < .001). At 3 years, the findings were similar but less striking (70% versus 87%, P < .001). When only "high-priority" index segments (2.1 +/- 1.6 per patient) were considered, baseline attempts were comparable (96% versus 99%, P = NS); despite this, CABG remained more successful at 1 (64% versus 93%, P < .001) and 3 (76% versus 89%, P < .01) years. However, the mean percent of index segments free of severe stenosis (> or = 70%) did not differ between PTCA and CABG patients at 3 years (93% versus 95%, P = NS). Furthermore, the frequency of patients with all index segments free of severe stenosis did not differ between the two groups at 1 (76% versus 83%, P = NS) or 3 (82% for both PTCA and CABG) years. CONCLUSIONS In patients with multivessel disease, index segment revascularization was more complete with CABG than PTCA at both 1 and 3 years. However, when the physiological priority of the target lesion and the measured severity of the residual stenosis are taken into account, the advantage of CABG becomes less significant or nonsignificant. This may, in part, explain why these two strategies did not differ in terms of the EAST primary clinical end points over 3 years.
Development and application of a biotic ligand model for predicting the chronic toxicity of dissolved and precipitated aluminum to aquatic organisms

Aluminum (Al) toxicity to aquatic organisms is strongly affected by water chemistry. Toxicity‐modifying factors such as pH, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), hardness, and temperature have a large impact on the bioavailability and toxicity of Al to aquatic organisms. The importance of water chemistry on the bioavailability and toxicity of Al suggests that interactions between Al and chemical constituents in exposures to aquatic organisms can affect the form and reactivity of Al, thereby altering the extent to which it interacts with biological membranes. These types of interactions have previously been observed in the toxicity data for other metals, which have been well described by the biotic ligand model (BLM) framework. In BLM applications to other metals (including cadmium, cobalt, copper, lead, nickel, silver, and zinc), these interactions have focused on dissolved metal. A review of Al toxicity data shows that concentrations of Al that cause toxicity are frequently in excess of solubility limitations. Aluminum solubility is strongly pH dependent, with a solubility minimum near pH 6 and increasing at both lower and higher pH values. For the Al BLM, the mechanistic framework has been extended to consider toxicity resulting from a combination of dissolved and precipitated Al to recognize the solubility limitation. The resulting model can effectively predict toxicity to fish, invertebrates, and algae over a wide range of conditions. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:70–79. © 2017 SETAC
Blood flow restriction exercise in sprinters and endurance runners.

PURPOSE We demonstrated that blood flow restriction (BFR) remarkably enhances muscular metabolic stress in resistance exercise, although there is a wide range of individual differences in the responses. It is possible that these differences could be due to training status and muscular physiological characteristics. We investigated intramuscular metabolic responses during low-intensity resistance exercise with BFR between two different types of track athletes. METHODS Twelve age-matched male track athletes (sprinter group, n = 6; endurance runner group, n = 6) were recruited and performed unilateral plantarflexion (30 repetitions per minute). The exercise protocols were as follows: low-intensity exercise at 20% of one-repetition maximum (1RM) (L), high-intensity exercise at 65% 1RM without BFR (1.3 times of systolic blood pressure), L with BFR for 2 min (L-BFR), and prolonged exercise time in L-BFR for 3 min (prolonged BFR). Metabolic stress, defined as phosphocreatine and intramuscular pH decrease, and muscle fiber recruitment were evaluated using P magnetic resonance spectroscopy. RESULTS Endurance runners showed higher peak oxygen uptake and lower muscle strength than sprinters. Phosphocreatine decreases in endurance runners during exercise with BFR protocols were significantly greater than those in sprinters (P < 0.05), although those occurring during L were significantly lower than those in sprinters (P < 0.05). The changes in intramuscular pH and the incidence of fast-twitch fiber recruitment did not show a statistical difference between the two groups. Phosphocreatine decreases in L-BFR were significantly correlated with peak oxygen uptake (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The effects of low-intensity resistance exercise with BFR are greater in endurance runners according to higher aerobic capacity.
Endometriosis-Derived Stromal Cells Secrete Thrombin and Thromboxane A2, Inducing Platelet Activation

Platelets have been recently revealed to play important roles in the development of endometriosis. However, it is unclear whether endometriotic lesions can secrete any platelet inducers outside the menstruation window. Hence, this study was undertaken to see whether endometriosis-derived stromal cells secrete platelet activators and cause platelet activation. We employed in vitro experimentation using primary ectopic endometrial stromal cells (EESCs) and platelets from healthy male volunteers and evaluated the extent of platelet aggregation by aggregometer and the platelet activation rate by flow cytometry using supernatants harvested from EESCs of different cell densities. We also measured the concentration of thromboxane B2 (TXB2), a metabolite of thromboxane A2 (TXA2), and thrombin activity in supernatants harvested from EESCs of different densities and evaluated the extent of platelet aggregation after treatment of EESCs with hirudin, Ozagrel, and apyrase. Finally, the concentration of TXB2, thrombin, and transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) in platelets cocultured with different densities of EESCs is measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We found that EESCs secrete thrombin and TXA2 and induce platelet activation and aggregation in a density-dependent fashion. Treatment of platelets with EESCs resulted in increased concentration of TXB2, thrombin, and TGF-β1 in a density-dependent manner. Treatment of EESCs with hirudin and Ozagrel, but not apyrase, resulted in significant suppression of platelet aggregation. Thus, given recently reported effects of activated platelets on the cell behaviors of EESCs and endometriotic lesions in general, our findings establish that endometriotic lesions and platelets engage active cross-talks in the development of endometriosis, highlighting the importance of lesion microenvironment in endometriosis.
Spatial Power Network Expansion Planning Considering Generation Expansion

This paper introduces an efficient approach on static spatial power network expansion planning integrated with generation expansion, while considering complicated environments based on the raster map in geographic information systems (GIS). Candidate plants could be built on any cell in the map, which means that terminals of candidate lines connected to candidate plants are not fixed. This is a remarkable difference from the literature in which the terminals of candidate lines are fixed. The objective is to minimize the total system cost, subject to prevailing investment and operation constraints. The model is formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) problem via integer algebra techniques. A two-step approach is proposed to address the computational complexity. The first step searches optimal electric line routes via dynamic programming, while the second step solves a simplified MILP problem for obtaining final optimal generation and transmission planning strategies based on optimal line routes derived from the first step. In most cases, the proposed two-step approach would derive the same global optimal solutions as those by solving the original formulation directly. Thus, the proposed two-step approach can significantly improve the computational efficiency while maintaining the solution optimality. Numerical examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Kidney Size in Children

A method for assessment of kidney size in pediatric practice is presented. Length of the kidney is correlated to length of the lumbar segment L1 to L3 including the intervertebral spaces comprised by these vertebrae. The result may either be expressed in standard deviations or as a kidney ratio. The method makes comparison with films from previous examinations or other hospitals feasible without access to any other data than those available in the film. The method also serves the purpose of properly assessing the growth of the kidneys.
Inflation Expectations and Monetary Policy Surprises

We use monthly data across 15 euro area economies for the period 1985:1-2015:3 to obtain monetary policy changes that can be regarded as surprises for different types of consumers. A novel feature of our empirical approach is the estimation of monetary policy surprises based on changes in monetary policy that were unanticipated according to consumers’ stated beliefs about the economy. We look at how these surprises affect consumers’ inflation expectations. We find that such monetary policy surprises can have the opposite impact on inflation expectations to those obtained under the assumption that consumers are well-informed about a set of macroeconomic variables describing the state of the economy. When we relax the latter assumption and focus instead on consumers’ stated beliefs about the economy, unanticipated increases in the interest rate raise inflation expectations before the crisis. This is consistent with imperfect information theoretical settings where unanticipated increases in interest rates are interpreted as positive news about the state of the economy by consumers that know policymakers have relatively more information. This impact changes sign since the crisis and varies, e.g. across low versus high-income consumers in a manner consistent with the latter becoming rationally attentive in a period during which signal extraction is presumably more difficult and the incentive to extract information greater.
Effects of Different Dietary Proteins and Amino Acids on Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy in Young Adults After Resistance Exercise: A Systematic Review

ABSTRACT THIS ARTICLE REVIEWS THE AVAILABLE LITERATURE ON WHICH PROTEINS, AMINO ACIDS, OR COMBINATION OF BOTH SEEM TO BE OPTIMAL TO ENHANCE HYPERTROPHY AFTER RESISTANCE EXERCISE IN YOUNG ADULTS. DEPENDING ON THE CONTENT OF ESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS AND PARTICULARLY LEUCINE, EITHER AN IMMEDIATE INGESTION OF ∼20 G MILK PROTEIN FOLLOWED BY A SIMILAR AMOUNT ∼1 HOUR LATER, OR A SINGLE BOLUS OF ∼40 G SEEMS TO BE SUITABLE. GREATER AMOUNTS MIGHT BE NECESSARY IF A PROTEIN OF LOWER QUALITY IS CHOSEN (I.E., PLANT-BASED PROTEINS) TO MATCH THE REQUIRED AMINO ACID QUANTITIES AND FACILITATE MUSCLE GROWTH.
Neuronal and behavioural abnormalities in striatal function in DARPP‐32‐mutant mice

We investigated the role of the protein phosphatase inhibitor, dopamine‐ and cAMP‐regulated phosphoprotein of 32 kDa (DARPP‐32), in the expression of striatal neuropeptides and in biochemical and behavioural responses to repeated cocaine administration, using DARPP‐32 knock‐out mice. The striatum of DARPP‐32‐mutant mice showed heightened substance‐P‐like immunoreactivity, but normal levels of other neuropeptides. Repeated cocaine administration increased levels of ΔFosB, a Fos family transcription factor, in the striatum of wild‐type mice, and this increase was abolished in DARPP‐32‐mutant mice. Cocaine (20 mg/kg) acutely induced the same level of locomotor activity in the mutant and wild‐type mice, but the mutants showed a higher rate of locomotor sensitization to repeated cocaine exposures. These data show that DARPP‐32 is involved in regulating substance P expression in the striatonigral pathway, and in biochemical and behavioural plasticity with chronic administration of cocaine.
Metabolism targeting therapy of dichloroacetate-loaded electrospun mats on colorectal cancer

Abstract Differences in energy metabolism between tumor cells and normal cells offer an attractive avenue of research into drug targets for tumor therapy. The use of a metabolic modulator (sodium dichloroacetate, DCA), administered in situ, to reverse the “Warburg effect” of tumor cells has been demonstrated as an effective tumor therapy. Herein, DCA and diisopropylamine dichloroacetate (DADA) were incorporated separately into polylactide (PLA) electrospun mats and applied to C26 tumor-bearing mice via in situ administration. After 12 d of treatment, the tumor suppression rates of 75% and 84% were achieved in the DC group (treated with a DCA-loaded mat) and the DA group (treated with a DADA-loaded mat), respectively. With tolerable physiologic toxicity under high local concentration, the DA group showed a 95% tumor suppression rate without any recurrence after 15 d of therapy. The desirable therapeutic effects of these metabolic modulators should ascribe to the energy-central metabolism-targeting effects of DCA and DADA, which were demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, DCA- and DADA-loaded mats are the effective anti-cancer drugs dosages to discriminate between tumor cells and normal cells for minimizing systemic toxicity.
Subxiphoid partial pericardiectomy with or without sclerosant instillation in the treatment of symptomatic pericardial effusions in patients with malignancy

Twenty‐two patients with malignant pericardial effusions were treated with subxiphoid partial pericardiectomy between 1984 and 1989. Thirteen patients also had a sclerosing agent instilled intrapericardially. Tamponade was relieved by pericardiocentesis before administration of general anesthesia. In 18 patients (82%), the effusions were controlled for longer than 30 days, and two patients died before 30 days without effusion. There were two recurrences at 1.5 and 7 months. There was one death due to hemorrhage from a laceration in a heavily infiltrated pericardium, and one patient had persistent dyspnea after the procedure. Complications included transient atrial arrhythmias (two patients), chest pain after sclerosant instillation (three patients), and fever greater than 37.5°C after sclerosant (five patients). The survival range was 0.1 to 18 months (median, 5 months). Subxiphoid partial pericardiectomy with or without intrapericardial sclerosant is a safe and efficacious treatment for malignant pericardial effusions.