Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sequence diversity of human caliciviruses recovered from children with diarrhea in mendoza, Argentina, 1995–1998

Human caliciviruses were detected by EIA and/or RT‐PCR in stool specimens from children with diarrhea treated at out‐ or in‐patient facilities between 1995 and 1998 in Mendoza, Argentina. Mexico virus–like strains detected by primers NV36/51 were transiently prevalent in 1995/1996. Significantly more human caliciviruses were detected when primers were designed from contemporaneously circulating strains. Nucleotide sequences of a highly conserved region in the RNA polymerase gene of 10 selected human caliciviruses were determined. Eight strains were Norwalk‐like viruses and two strains were Sapporo‐like viruses. Seven of the eight Norwalk‐like viruses also were positive by the recombinant Mexico virus antigen EIA. The seven Mexico virus EIA‐positive strains revealed two patterns in the RNA polymerase sequences: two strains were closest to Mexico virus and the other five strains were closest to Lordsdale virus. One of the five “Lordsdale” viruses was found to be a naturally occurring recombinant between the Mexico virus and Lordsdale human calicivirus genetic clusters [Jiang et al., ( 1999b ) Archives of Virology 144:2377–2387]. The Mexico virus EIA‐negative strain had 73–77% nucleotide identity with the closest related Norwalk‐like viruses, indicating it might belong to a new genetic cluster of the Norwalk‐like virus genus. The two Sapporo‐like viruses were distinct genetically; one belonged to the Houston/90 or Parkville cluster and the other to a new cluster. Some strains appeared to have short periods of prevalence and locally adapted primer pairs significantly increased detection rates. The finding of high diversity of circulating strains, including recombinant strains and strains with previously unrecognized genetic identities, highlights a need for studies of human caliciviruses in these children and other populations. J. Med. Virol. 67:289–298, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Schizotypy: key feature of Klinefelter’s syndrome?

Klinefelter’s syndrome (KS; karyotype 47,XXY) is associated with specific neurocognitive impairments, especially delayed language development and impaired socioemotional evolution. There is an increased risk for psychiatric disturbances, particularly schizophrenia and affective spectrum disorders. A 51-year-old monozygotic male twin with KS is described of whom one was referred for long-lasting paranoid psychotic symptoms. Both were treated with testosterone and had an average level of intelligence. Detailed psychiatric and neuropsychological assessment in the referred patient demonstrated quasi-psychotic symptoms with illusions, delusion-like ideas, paranoid ideation, magical thinking, circumstantial speech and thinking and eccentric behaviours. In addition, attentional deficits and executive dysfunctions could be demonstrated. A diagnosis of schizotypal personality disorder was made. A less pronounced identical clinical picture was found in his brother. The psychopathological phenotype of KS is characterised by a schizotypal personality which originates from its specific cognitive defects and that, with increasing age, may develop into a schizophrenia-like psychosis.
Prognostic value of bisoprolol-induced hemodynamic effects in heart failure during the Cardiac Insufficiency BIsoprolol Study (CIBIS).

BACKGROUND To further evaluate the mechanism of beta-blocker-induced benefits in heart failure, the relationships between bisoprolol-induced hemodynamic effects and survival were studied during the Cardiac Insufficiency BIsoprolol Study (CIBIS). METHODS AND RESULTS In 557 patients studied, bisoprolol significantly reduced heart rate (-16.3+/-15.3 versus -1.6+/-13.4 bpm, respectively; P<.001) compared with placebo at 2 months after inclusion in the study. Heart rate change over time had the highest predictive value for survival (P<.01). Left ventricular fractional shortening (LVFS) significantly increased in the bisoprolol group compared with the placebo group 5 months after inclusion (+0.04+/-0.06 versus -0.001+/-0.05, respectively; P<.001; n=160). LVFS change over time was also significantly correlated with further survival (P<.02 by Cox analysis). Using a nonparametric approach, we demonstrated a significant interaction between study treatment group and LVFS over time. Patients who demonstrated improvement of LVFS over time (82% and 51% of patients in the bisoprolol and the placebo groups, respectively; P<.02) were at lower risk, but the hazard did not further decrease with a further increase of fractional shortening, and there was no significant difference between study treatment groups. Finally, it could be demonstrated that each of the three factors (heart rate change over time, LVFS change over time, and bisoprolol treatment) made a specific contribution to mortality rate. CONCLUSIONS Preservation of left ventricular function appears to play a key role in the bisoprolol-induced beneficial effects on prognosis in heart failure. Short-term beta-blocker-induced cardiac effects could provide a means to identify those patients who will experience improved survival over the long term.
Humeral Avulsion of Glenohumeral Ligaments

Abstract Humeral avulsion of glenohumeral ligaments (HAGL) is an increasingly recognized cause of recurrent shoulder instability. HAGL lesions are the result of acute traumatic glenohumeral subluxation or dislocation. Anterior avulsion of the inferior glenohumeral ligament from the humeral neck is the more common lesion; however, posterior lesions are seen as well. Careful history and physical examination are critical in the diagnosis of HAGL lesions. MRI is the best imaging study for diagnosing these lesions. Injection of intra‐articular contrast dye aids in visualization. Most HAGL lesions cause recurrent instability and require surgical repair. Arthroscopic repair with the use of accessory portals has yielded promising results. Excellent results have been achieved with open surgical management using a subscapularis incision. Mini‐open techniques involve limited incision in the lower one half of the subscapularis.
SYNTHESIS OF SILVER NANO PARTICLES FROM PLANT EXTRACT AND ITS APPLICATION IN CANCER TREATMENT: A REVIEW

Development of reliable and eco-friendly process for synthesis of nanoparticles is an important step in the field the of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology involves the tailoring of materials at the atomic level to attain unique properties, which can be suitably manipulated for the desired applications. Among them silver nanoparticles draw attention due to its unique physical, chemical and biological properties. Green principle route of synthesizing have emerged as alternative to overcome the limitation of conventional methods among which plant and microorganisms are majorly exploited. Employing plants towards synthesis of nanoparticles are emerging as advantageous compared to microbes with the presence of broad variability of bio molecules in plants can act as capping and reducing agents and thus increases the rate of reduction and stabilization of nanoparticles. This review focuses on the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using various plant sources and its applications in cancer treatment. Generally surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatment are the most prevalent therapeutic option for cancer . Unfortunately these treatments have various side effects due to lack of targeted delivery and cancer specificity. To overcome these limitations, nanoparticle could ensure targeted drug therapy having very little side effects. In this review focus is given to silver nanoparticle, synthesized from natural plant extracts, as it is cost effective, eco-friendly, stable and safe in cancer treatment.
The importance of an intact complement pathway in recovery from a primary viral infection: influenza in decomplemented and in C5-deficient mice.

To investigate the role of complement (C) in the recovery from a primary viral infection in vivo, the course of influenza infection in decomplemented BALB/c mice and in C5-deficient B10.D2/OSN mice was examined. BALB/c male mice decomplemented with cobra venom factor demonstrated a prolonged viral infection, an increased degree of pulmonary consolidation, and a higher rate of morbidity and mortality than did nondecomplemented mice for each dose of virus administered. This deleterious effect occurred in mice decomplemented before infection and immunologic induction, as well as in mice decomplemented after infection and immunologic induction, provided the C3 levels remained depressed at the time of viral clearance (days 7 to 9). The time of appearance and the levels of serum neutralizing antibodies and viral-specific cytotoxic T cells were equivalent in decomplemented and nondecomplemented BALB/c mice infected with influenza. Similarly, C5-deficient B10.D2/OSN male mice, infected with influenza, demonstrated a prolonged viral infection, an increased degree of pulmonary consolidation and a higher rate of mortality than did C5-sufficient B10.D2/NSN agematched mice for each dose of virus administered. These results suggest than an intact complement pathway plays an adjunctive role in host recovery from primary influenza infection.
Fish-oil supplementation in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators: a meta-analysis

Background: A recent Cochrane meta-analysis did not confirm the benefits of fish and fish oil in the secondary prevention of cardiac death and myocardial infarction. We performed a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials that examined the effect of fish-oil supplementation on ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia to determine the overall effect and to assess whether heterogeneity exists between trials. Methods: We searched electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL) from inception to May 2007. We included randomized controlled trials of fish-oil supplementation on ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators. The primary outcome was implantable cardioverter defibrillator discharge. We calculated relative risk [RR] for outcomes at 1-year follow-up for each study. We used the DerSimonian and Laird random-effects methods when there was significant heterogeneity between trials and the Mantel-Hanzel fixed-effects method when heterogeneity was negligible. Results: We identified 3 trials of 1–2 years' duration. These trials included a total of 573 patients who received fish oil and 575 patients who received a control. Meta-analysis of data collected at 1 year showed no overall effect of fish oil on the relative risk of implantable cardioverter defibrillator discharge. There was significant heterogeneity between trials. The second largest study showed a significant benefit of fish oil (relative risk [RR] 0.74, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.56–0.98). The smallest showed an adverse tendency at 1 year (RR 1.23, 95% CI 0.92–1.65) and significantly worse outcome at 2 years among patients with ventricular tachycardia at study entry (log rank p = 0.007). Conclusion: These data indicate that there is heterogeneity in the response of patients to fish-oil supplementation. Caution should be used when prescribing fish-oil supplementation for patients with ventricular tachycardia.
Validity of the scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) in a Spanish population

Synopsis This study confirms the validity of a Spanish version of the General Health Questionnaire in its scaled 28-item version. The screening instrument was tested on a sample of 100 patients attending an internal medicine out-patient clinic, who were examined independently by psychiatrists standardized in the use of the Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS). The questionnaire correctly identified 85% of “cases” with a cutting score of 6/7 (sensitivity 76·9%, specificity 90·2%), and 83% of cases with a cutting score of 5/6 (sensitivity 84·6%, specificity 82%), suggesting a discriminative power almost as good as the Spanish GHQ-60. It has the important advantage of being considerably shorter and, although the 4 subscales are by no means independent, its concurrent validity with CIS ratings suggests that they provide additional information concerning anxiety and depression.
Physical Layer Optimization for Wireless Sensing and Network Connectivity

Author(s): Jiang, Feng | Advisor(s): Swindlehurst, A. Lee | Abstract: Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been widely studied for detection and estimation problems. When a coherent multiple access channel is employed between the sensor nodes and fusion center (FC), each sensor takes a noisy measurement of the signal of interest, amplifies and forwards the measurement to a FC through a wireless fading channel, and the FC makes a decision about the presence of the signal and estimates its parameters based on the coherent sum of the signals from all the sensor nodes. To minimize estimation error or maximize probability of detection, the transmit power at the sensors is optimized under either sum or individual power constraints.Most of the existing works assume that the FC is configured with a single antenna. It is well-known that multiple antennas can effectively increase the throughput of a wireless link, and in this thesis, we investigate how to exploit the benefit of the multiple antennas in WSN, and we study the detection and estimation performance of a coherent amplify-and-forward WSN, in which the sensor node has single antenna and the FC is configured with a massive number of antennas. When the perfect channel state information (CSI) is available at FC, we derive optimal closed-form sensor transmission gains to optimize the performance of Neyman-Pearson (NP) detector and the linear minimum mean-squared error estimator (LMMSE), and if CSI is unknown at FC, we find the optimal sensor transmission gains to maximize the deflection coefficient of the energy detector (ED). Regarding the energy efficiency, our analysis show that the performance of NP detector and LMMSE estimator remain asymptotically constant if the sensor transmit power decreases proportionally with the increase in the number of antennas, and for the ED which does not require CSI, we show that a constant deflection can be asymptotically achieved if the sensor transmit power scales as the inverse square root of the number of FC antennas.Additionally, we consider the problem of optimize the sensor phase to minimize the estimation error at FC, when the FC has a limited number of antennas. Two phase optimization algorithms are proposed and the sensor selection problem is formulated and solved. In addition to the case with multi-antenna FC, we also investigate the optimal power allocation for the WSN with single-antenna FC, when the FC use sensor measurements as input for a Kalman filter to track a dynamic parameter of interest. When a fixed network infrastructure is not available (e.g. in military or disaster response scenarios), we investigate how to use the multi-antenna unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as a relay to improve the connectivity between the mobile sensor nodes and the FC, which may be separated by a distances greater than their communication range. Several algorithms are proposed to optimize the trajectory of UAV.
Pharmacokinetic evaluation of decitabine for the treatment of leukemia

Introduction: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a life-threatening malignancy that primarily afflicts an elderly population. Treatment of elderly patients with intensive chemotherapy is associated with high treatment-related morbidity and mortality. Therefore, less toxic approaches involving low-dose decitabine-based regimens are being explored in this patient population. Areas covered: This drug evaluation article discusses the rationale for targeting aberrant DNA methylation in hematologic malignancies, in particular the myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and AML. The authors review the pharmacokinetic data gained from low-dose decitabine, as well as the clinical progress of decitabine in the treatment of hematologic malignancies. Published manuscripts in English were selected from PubMed using a combination of the following search terms: acute myeloid leukemia, pharmacokinetics, decitabine, 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine, DNA methylation, DNA methyltransferase, myelodysplastic syndrome and leukemia. Expert opinion: Decitabine has established efficacy in MDS and shown promising activity in AML at low doses. Given decitabine's favorable toxicity profile and emerging clinical efficacy, decitabine may be a low intensity therapeutic option for elderly patients with AML who are considered unfit for aggressive chemotherapy.
Cyclin‐dependent kinase inhibitor, flavopiridol, induces apoptosis and inhibits tumor growth in drug‐resistant osteosarcoma and Ewing's family tumor cells

Multimodal therapies play important roles in the treatment of osteosarcoma (OS) and Ewing's family of tumors (EFTs), two most frequent malignant bone tumors. Although the clinical outcome of primary OS and EFTs is greatly improved, the relapsed cases often are associated with multidrug resistance of the tumors and the prognosis of these patients is still poor. Flavopiridol, a pan cyclin‐dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor is a novel antitumor agent that can induce cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in many cancer cells. However, there have been no studies about the effects of flavopiridol on drug‐resistant OS and EFTs. Here, we demonstrated that flavopiridol induced the cleavage of poly‐ADP‐ribose polymerase (PARP) in a time and dose dependent manner in adriamycin‐resistant OS and EFTs cells expressing P‐glycoprotein (P‐gp) and multidrug resistance‐associated protein 1 (MRP1) as effectively as in their parental cells. Our data also showed that flavopiridol caused the release of mitochondrial cytochrome c and the activation of caspase‐9, caspase‐8 and caspase‐3, with an increase ratio of the proapoptotic protein level (Bax) to the antiapoptotic protein level (Bcl‐2 and Bcl‐XL), while apoptosis was inhibited by pan caspase inhibitor (Z‐VAD‐FMK) and caspase‐3 inhibitor (Z‐DEVD‐FMK), not by caspase‐8 inhibitor (Z‐IETD‐FMK). The treatment with flavopiridol further inhibited the tumor growth in mouse models of the drug‐resistant OS and EFTs. These results suggest that flavopiridol might be promising in clinical therapy for the relapsed OS and EFTs. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Essential role of calcineurin in response to endoplasmic reticulum stress

Depletion of calcium ions (Ca2+) from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of yeast cells resulted in the activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR) signaling pathway involving Ire1p and Hac1p. The depleted ER also stimulated Ca2+ influx at the plasma membrane through the Cch1p–Mid1p Ca2+ channel and another system. Surprisingly, both Ca2+ influx systems were stimulated upon accumulation of misfolded proteins in the ER even in the presence of Ca2+. The ability of misfolded ER proteins to stimulate Ca2+ influx at the plasma membrane did not require Ire1p or Hac1p, and Ca2+ influx and signaling factors were not required for initial UPR signaling. However, activation of the Ca2+ channel, calmodulin, calcineurin and other factors was necessary for long‐term survival of cells undergoing ER stress. A similar calcium cell survival (CCS) pathway operates in the pathogenic fungi and promotes resistance to azole antifungal drugs. These findings reveal an unanticipated new regulatory mechanism that couples ER stress to Ca2+ influx and signaling pathways, which help to prevent cell death and promote resistance to an important class of fungistatic drugs.
Personal Reflections on Cochlear Implants

Cochlear implants represent a classic example of a "scientific revolution. " According to Kuhn, scientific disciplines undergo periods of "normal science" in which they obtain a high degree of precision and progress rapidly. Normal science is dependent on the adoption of a universally accepted paradigm that defines research problems for the scientist and provides the methods that should be applied to solve them. However, in the course of research, scientists inevitably stumble upon anomalies in the existing paradigm. Eventually, a competing theory proves relatively successful in explaining the anomaly, and the old paradigm is modified and replaced with a new paradigm. It is this process that defines a "scientific revolution. " Initially, the scientific community resists the replacement, but with time and successful application, the new paradigms gain enough support to win acceptance. In turn, the new paradigm creates new research questions, new methodologies, and new results.
FrzE of Myxococcus xanthus is homologous to both CheA and CheY of Salmonella typhimurium.

Myxococcus xanthus exhibits multicellular development. The "frizzy" (frz) mutants are unable to complete the developmental pathway. Instead of forming fruiting bodies, these mutants form tangled filaments of cells. We have previously shown that four of the frz gene products are homologous to enteric chemotaxis proteins and have proposed that the frz genes constitute a signal-transduction pathway that controls the frequency at which cells reverse their gliding direction. We show here that frzE encodes a protein with a calculated molecular mass of 83 kDa. FrzE is homologous to both CheA and CheY of Salmonella typhimurium, which are members of a family of "two-component response regulators. " It is thought that the modulator components autophosphorylate and transfer a phosphate group to their cognate effector components. FrzE contains an unusual (alanine plus proline)-rich region that might constitute a flexible hinge facilitating phosphate transfer between functional domains. We suggest that FrzE is a second messenger that relays information between the signaling protein FrzCD and the gliding motor.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1-Specific CD8+ T-Cell Responses during Primary Infection Are Major Determinants of the Viral Set Point and Loss of CD4+ T Cells

ABSTRACT Primary HIV-1 infection (PHI) is marked by a flu-like syndrome and high levels of viremia that decrease to a viral set point with the first emergence of virus-specific CD8+ T-cell responses. Here, we investigated in a large cohort of 527 subjects the immunodominance pattern of the first virus-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses developed during PHI in comparison to CTL responses in chronic infection and demonstrated a distinct relationship between the early virus-specific CTL responses and the viral set point, as well as the slope of CD4+ T-cell decline. CTL responses during PHI followed clear hierarchical immunodominance patterns that were lost during the transition to chronic infection. Importantly, the immunodominance patterns of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-specific CTL responses detected in primary, but not in chronic, HIV-1 infection were significantly associated with the subsequent set point of viral replication. Moreover, the preservation of the initial CD8+ T-cell immunodominance patterns from the acute into the chronic phase of infection was significantly associated with slower CD4+ T-cell decline. Taken together, these data show that the specificity of the initial CTL response to HIV is critical for the subsequent control of viremia and have important implications for the rational selection of antigens for future HIV-1 vaccines.