Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Subcellular fractionation of cultured glial cells.

We have studied the subcellular fractionation of a clonal line of glial cells from rat brain. In comparison to rat brain, more of the total protein is collected in the crude nuclear fraction following differential centrifugation. When a crude mitochondrial fraction is prepared and resolved on a density gradient, we find that like brain the glial cell crude mitochondrial fraction is also heterogenous. On a sucrose density gradient, such as that used for the preparation of synaptosomes, the glial cell crude mitochondrial fraction resolves into two major fractions. One of these bands sediments to the same isopycnic density as synaptosomes. This fraction contains 20% of the protein, and 50% of the Na-K ATPase and acid phosphatase of the crude mitochondrial fraction, but virtually no cytochrome oxidase or choline esterase. The fraction consists of numerous membrane structures resembling plasma membranes when examined by electron microscopy. Because the sedimentation properties of the glial membranes are very similar to synaptosomes, we conclude that synaptosomes prepared on sucrose gradients are probably contaminated by these membrane fragments. In contrast to the separation achieved on sucrose gradients, glial membranes separate from synaptosomes on Ficoll-sucrose gradients.
CD4-independent infection by human immunodeficiency virus type 1 after phenotypic mixing with human T-cell leukemia viruses

Although human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the causative agent of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and related disorders, it has been suggested that viral cofactors may accelerate the progression of the disease. We present evidence that human T lymphoid cells productively coinfected by HIV type 1 (HIV-1) and human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) or HTLV-II generate a progeny of phenotypically mixed viral particles that allow the penetration of HIV-1 into previously nonsusceptible CD4- human cells, including mature CD8+ T lymphocytes, B lymphoid cells, epithelial cells, and skeletal muscle cells. The infection is independent of the major HIV-1 receptor, (i.e., the CD4 glycoprotein) since OKT4a, a neutralizing anti-CD4 monoclonal antibody, fails to block the penetration of HIV-1. Similarly, infection is not inhibited by monoclonal antibody M77, directed toward the neutralizing loop of the gp120 envelope glycoprotein of HIV-1. In contrast, pretreatment of the virus stock with HTLV-I-neutralizing human serum completely abolishes the penetration of phenotypically mixed HIV-1 into CD4- cells. These results suggest that HTLV-I or HTLV-II may increase the pathogenicity of HIV-1 by broadening the spectrum of its cellular tropism and, thus, favoring its spread within the organism of coinfected hosts.
Bacteriological Efficacies of Three Macrolides Compared with Those of Amoxicillin-Clavulanate againstStreptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae

ABSTRACT Comparative antibacterial efficacies of erythromycin, clarithromycin, and azithromycin were examined againstStreptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae, with amoxicillin-clavulanate used as the active control. In vitro, the macrolides at twice their MICs and at concentrations achieved in humans were bacteriostatic or reduced the numbers of viable S. pneumoniae slowly, whereas amoxicillin-clavulanate showed a rapid antibacterial effect. AgainstH. influenzae, erythromycin, clarithromycin, and clarithromycin plus 14-hydroxy clarithromycin at twice their MICs produced a slow reduction in bacterial numbers, whereas azithromycin was bactericidal. Azithromycin at the concentrations achieved in the serum of humans was bacteriostatic, whereas erythromycin and clarithromycin were ineffective. In experimental respiratory tract infections in rats, clarithromycin (equivalent to 250 mg twice daily [b.i.d.]) and amoxicillin-clavulanate (equivalent to 500 plus 125 mg b.i.d., respectively) were highly effective against S. pneumoniae, but azithromycin (equivalent to 500 and 250 mg once daily) was significantly less effective (P < 0.01). Against H. influenzae, clarithromycin treatment (equivalent to 250 or 500 mg b.i.d.) was similar to no treatment and was significantly less effective than amoxicillin-clavulanate treatment (P < 0.01). Azithromycin demonstrated significant in vivo activity (P < 0.05) but was significantly less effective than amoxicillin-clavulanate (P < 0.05). Overall, amoxicillin-clavulanate was effective in vitro and in vivo. Clarithromycin and erythromycin were ineffective in vitro and in vivo against H. influenzae, and azithromycin (at concentrations achieved in humans) showed unreliable activity against both pathogens. These results may have clinical implications for the utility of macrolides in the empiric therapy of respiratory tract infections.
Graded salience: Probabilistic meanings in the lexicon

This paper draws together ideas published in Allan (1976; 1980; 1981; 2000; 2001) which relate to a potential variety of senses for a given lexeme when it is listed in the lexicon (as a listeme), each sense being appropriate to a particular set of contexts of use. The problem for the lexicographer (if this is the correct term for someone modelling the mental lexicon) is how to tag the various senses such that they can be readily accessed in appropriate contexts. This tagging within the lexicon raises questions of salient and default meaning. Allan (2001 Chapter 3) and Allan (2006) give my model for the structure of a lexicon and its relation to a (mental) encyclopedia. In my view the encyclopedia is a general knowledge base of which the lexicon is a proper part which stores information about the formal, morphosyntactic, and semantic specifications of listemes. The network of relationships among the components of a lexicon and the encyclopedia are shown in Figure 1, where formal data, F, is represented as a triangle, morphosyntactic data, M, by a circle, semantic data, S, is a rectangle, and encyclopedic data, E, is an ellipse. It illustrates my assumptions and the reader does not need to approve the supposed configuration because in this chapter I am only concerned with component S.
The antimicrobial activity of perfume oils.

One hundred perfume oils were tested for antimicrobial properties against a series of pathogenic and nonpathogenic bacteria and fungi. The in vitro filter paper disk method was used exclusively for testing activity. The perfume oils were found to possess remarkable antimicrobial properties with greater activity against fungi than against bacteria. It is suggested that perfume oils be incorporated more widely into common toilet articles applied to the body surfaces as well as medicaments used externally.
Advances in fine-grained visual categorization

The objective of this work is to improve performance in fine-grained visual categorization (FGVC). In particular, we are interested in the large-scale classification between hundreds of different flower, bird, dog species. FGVC is challenging due to high intra-class variances caused by deformation, view angle, illumination and occlusion, and low inter-class variance since some categories only differ in detail that only experts notice. Applications include field guides, automatic image annotation, one-click shopping app and 3D reconstruction. At the start, we discuss the importance of foreground segmentation in FGVC, where we focus on the unsupervised segmentation of image training sets into fore- ground and background in order to improve image classification performance. To this end, we introduce a new scalable, alternation-based algorithm for co-segmentation, Bi-CoS, which is simpler than many of its predecessors, and yet has superior performance on standard benchmark image datasets. Next, we extend BiCos to a new model, Tri- CoS, that adds a class-discriminitiveness term directly into the segmentation objective. The new term aims at removing image regions that, although appearing as foreground, do not contribute to the discrimination between classes. We also propose a model that combines parts alignment and foreground segmentation into a unified convex framework. The model is called Symbiotic in that part discovery/localization is helped by segmentation and, conversely, the segmentation is helped by the detection (e.g. part layout). The joined system improves over what can be achieved with an analogous system that runs segmentation and part-localization independently. Finally, we built a new flower dataset consisting of 26,798 high quality images collected by ourselves and 187,559 images gathered from existing datasets. The construction of this dataset follows a strict biological taxonomy. We also evaluate the impact of using the Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) service for filtering fine-grained data.
Lung Transplant Outcomes in Systemic Sclerosis with Significant Esophageal Dysfunction. A Comprehensive Single-Center Experience.

RATIONALE Consideration of lung transplantation in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) remains guarded, often due to the concern for esophageal dysfunction and the associated potential for allograft injury and suboptimal post-lung transplantation outcomes. OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to systematically report our single-center experience regarding lung transplantation in the setting of SSc, with a particular focus on esophageal dysfunction. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed all lung transplants at our center from January 1, 2000 through August 31, 2012 (n = 562), comparing the SSc group (n = 35) to the following lung transplant diagnostic subsets: all non-SSc (n = 527), non-SSc diffuse fibrotic lung disease (n = 264), and a non-SSc matched group (n = 109). We evaluated post-lung transplant outcomes, including survival, primary graft dysfunction, acute rejection, bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome, and microbiology of respiratory isolates. In addition, we defined severe esophageal dysfunction using esophageal manometry and esophageal morphometry criteria on the basis of chest computed tomography images. For patients with SSc referred for lung transplant but subsequently denied (n = 36), we queried the reason(s) for denial with respect to the concern for esophageal dysfunction. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS The 1-, 3-, and 5-year post-lung transplant survival for SSc was 94, 77, and 70%, respectively, and similar to the other groups. The remaining post-lung transplant outcomes evaluated were also similar between SSc and the other groups. Approximately 60% of the SSc group had severe esophageal dysfunction. Pre-lung transplant chest computed tomography imaging demonstrated significantly abnormal esophageal morphometry for SSc when compared with the matched group. Importantly, esophageal dysfunction was the sole reason for lung transplant denial in a single case. CONCLUSIONS Relative to other lung transplant indications, our SSc group experienced comparable survival, primary graft dysfunction, acute rejection, bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome, and microbiology of respiratory isolates, despite the high prevalence of severe esophageal dysfunction. Esophageal dysfunction rarely precluded active listing for lung transplantation.
Prognostic role of station 3A mediastinal nodes for non-small-cell lung cancers.

OBJECTIVES Station 3A nodes have been commonly neglected in surgical practice. This retrospective study collected information on the incidence and risk factors of Station 3A node to ascertain the prognostic role of 3A nodal involvement. METHODS A total of 180 consecutive pN2 (stage IIIa) non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cases who underwent systemic lymphadenectomy and contained Station 3A nodes were enrolled. Survival rates were calculated according to the final pathology of Station 3A lymph node: Station 3A node (+) and Station 3A node (-). Statistical analysis was conducted using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression models. RESULTS Station 3A nodal metastasis was validated in 32 cases, and the incidence of Station 3A node involvement was 17.8%. Station 3A nodes involvement was strongly associated with the metastatic status of Station 4R nodes and histological nature of pulmonary cancer. The overall 3-year survival was 53% and median survival time was 40.6 months. The 3-year survival difference was significant between Station 3A node (-) and Station 3A node (+) (63 vs 22%, χ(2) = 16.426, P < 0.001). Moreover, the overall 3-year survival was closely related with the number of involved nodal zones (χ(2) = 31.156, P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed two statistically significant risk factors for survival including metastasis of Station 3A node and the number of positive nodal zones (hazard ratios [HR]: 2.702; 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.008-7.242; P = 0.027; and HR: 7.404; 95% CI: 3.263-16.936, P < 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS The involvement of Station 3A lymph nodes predicts poor prognosis of right-sided stage pIIIa-N2 NSCLC patients. Therefore, systemic lymphadenectomy for right-sided cancers should include Station 3A nodes when ascertaining a complete resection.
Effects of Errors and Gaps in Spatial Data Sets on Assessment of Conservation Progress

Data on the location and extent of protected areas, ecosystems, and species’ distributions are essential for determining gaps in biodiversity protection and identifying future conservation priorities. However, these data sets always come with errors in the maps and associated metadata. Errors are often overlooked in conservation studies, despite their potential negative effects on the reported extent of protection of species and ecosystems. We used 3 case studies to illustrate the implications of 3 sources of errors in reporting progress toward conservation objectives: protected areas with unknown boundaries that are replaced by buffered centroids, propagation of multiple errors in spatial data, and incomplete protected‐area data sets. As of 2010, the frequency of protected areas with unknown boundaries in the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) caused the estimated extent of protection of 37.1% of the terrestrial Neotropical mammals to be overestimated by an average 402.8% and of 62.6% of species to be underestimated by an average 10.9%. Estimated level of protection of the world's coral reefs was 25% higher when using recent finer‐resolution data on coral reefs as opposed to globally available coarse‐resolution data. Accounting for additional data sets not yet incorporated into WDPA contributed up to 6.7% of additional protection to marine ecosystems in the Philippines. We suggest ways for data providers to reduce the errors in spatial and ancillary data and ways for data users to mitigate the effects of these errors on biodiversity assessments.
Analysis of the rabbit uterine fluid collected by a continuous collecting technique: evidence for an embryotoxic component.

An intra-abdominal flask (Hamner and Williams, 1963) was used for daily collection of uterine fluid. Some animals were kept with the flask for 3 consecutive pseudopregnancy cycles. Although the volume of fluid and the amount of proteins did not differ significantly from one cycle to another, the volume of fluid decreased after an hCG injection. The ratio of uteroglobin to albumin at Day 5 was found to be similar for uterine flushings of animals with flasks, uterine flushings of control animals and uterine fluid collected in the flask. Up to 50% of the transferred morulae became expanded blastocysts after 2 days of in vitro growth in uterine fluid. The mean diameter reached by the expanded blastocyst was 0.62 mm when cultured in uterine fluid, while it was only 0.23 mm when cultured in heated rabbit blood serum. However, none of the pronuclei embryo developed properly in the uterine fluid. Similar results were obtained with the development of 1 cell embryos and morulae in uterine flushings. Ultrafiltration was used as a preliminary step for the separation of a low and high molecular weight fraction to characterize embryotoxic substances found in the uterine fluid. The inhibitory effect was found in the low molecular weight fraction which suggests that the toxic factor has a molecular weight of 500 daltons or less.
Phytochemistry and Ethanopharmacological Studies on Rubia cordifolia Linn. (Rubiaceae)

Ethanolic extracts of the leaves of Rubia cordifolia L. (Rubiaceae) (ERC) were investigated for their phytocompounds, in vitro and in vivo immunopharmacological properties. Immunomodulatory effects of this plant extract were proved in Cyclophosphamide (CP) -induced immunosuppressed animal models. Albino rats were treated with the aqueous extract of ERC and Cyclophosphamide. The Total count (TC) and Differential count (DC) of microphages and blood clotting assay were affected due to the suppressive effect of Cyclophosphamide. Administration of plant extract to CP- exposed animals resulted in enhanced immune responses.
Investigating the performance of a middleware protocol architecture for tele‐measurement

The rapid growth of network infrastructures and the large availability of instrumentation supporting remote control have encouraged the deployment of complex and sophisticated laboratories and the design of software platforms for accessing the resources present there. Although the market offers several solutions to remotely manage equipment, little attention has been paid to the hardware and software architectures devoted to control distance learning experimental environments and to manage laboratories consisting of heterogeneous devices. The paper illustrates the architectural approach adopted within the LABNET project and describes in detail the main software components of the devised platform, which allows to exploit the instrumentation via a common Web user interface, thus making the system available independent of any specific (commercial) environment or application. Specifically, attention is focused on the LABNET server (LNS), which represents the supervising central unit and, therefore, a very critical element of the system. The paper mainly points out the architecture and protocols at the basis of the LNS and discusses a set of performance tests aimed at proving the effectiveness of the system and comparing it with a well‐known commercial solution. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Neuromuscular fatigue induced by an isotonic heavy-resistance loading protocol in knee extensors

Abstract The main aim of this study was to assess neuromuscular fatigue during a typical high-load, low-repetition loading protocol. Muscle stimulations were used to assess maximum voluntary contraction, resting single- and double-pulse twitch characteristics, and superimposed double-pulse twitch force (used to calculate voluntary activation) before and after an acute knee extension loading protocol. In our participants, who had previous resistance training experience, the mean voluntary activation level was 96.2% in an unfatigued state. Maximum voluntary contraction (−11.8%), resting double-pulse twitch force (−10.6%), and voluntary activation (−2.1%) were markedly decreased as a consequence of loading (P < 0.05). In addition, although potentiated twitch characteristics were observed during the loading protocol, this was short-lived, as fatigue surpassed the potentiation mechanisms. Our results show that both central and peripheral mechanisms contributed to neuromuscular fatigue during the present loading protocol.
Transient expression of the NG2 proteoglycan by a subpopulation of activated macrophages in an excitotoxic hippocampal lesion

Cells that express the NG2 proteoglycan (NG2+ cells) constitute a large glial population in the normal mature rodent brain. They can differentiate into oligodendrocytes but are distinct from mature oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, microglia, and neurons. Changes in NG2+ cells were examined in kainic acid‐induced excitotoxic lesions of the hippocampus, and the relationship between NG2+ cells and reactive astrocytes and microglia was investigated between 1 and 90 days after lesioning. Two types of reactive NG2+ cells with altered morphology and increased NG2 immunoreactivity were observed in the lesion. Early changes, consisting of an increase in NG2 immunoreactivity and the number of processes, were apparent 24 h after lesioning and persisted through 3 months. These cells were distinct from reactive astrocytes or activated microglia/macrophages. A second type of reactive NG2+ cells appeared 2 weeks after injection, following an influx of macrophages. They had large, round cell bodies with short processes and expressed the microglia/macrophage antigens OX42 and ED1. Single cells coexpressing NG2 and macrophage/microglial antigens could be isolated from the lesion. The number of NG2+/OX42+ cells gradually declined and disappeared by 3 months after injection. They did not express glial fibrillary acidic protein or the alpha receptor for platelet‐derived growth factor, indicating that they are distinct from astrocytes or oligodendrocyte progenitor cells. Cells that coexpressed NG2 and OX42 were never observed in hippocampal slice cultures treated with kainic acid, suggesting that NG2+/OX42+ cells are not derived from endogenous resident brain cells. These findings demonstrate that NG2 expression is transiently upregulated on activated macrophages/microglia that appear during the chronic stage in an excitotoxic lesion in the adult CNS. GLIA 34:296–310, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Diagnostic impact and sensitivity of skin biopsies in Sneddon's syndrome. A report of 15 cases

Background Sneddon's syndrome is defined as a combination of idiopathic livedo racemosa generalisata and symptoms of cerebrovascular defect. The disease usually starts with vascular symptoms in the epidermis, with neurological deficits becoming evident later. For this reason, histological examination of skin biopsies and determination of arteriolar occlusion is of particular importance for reliable categorization and early diagnosis. To date, these methods have been considered to be too insensitive.
miR‐542‐3p exerts tumor suppressive functions in neuroblastoma by downregulating Survivin

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are deregulated in a variety of human cancers, including neuroblastoma, the most common extracranial tumor of childhood. We previously reported a signature of 42 miRNAs to be highly predictive of neuroblastoma outcome. One miRNA in this signature, miR‐542, was downregulated in tumors from patients with adverse outcome. Reanalysis of quantitative PCR and next‐generation sequencing transcript data revealed that miR‐542‐5p as well as miR‐542‐3p expression is inversely correlated with poor prognosis in neuroblastoma patients. We, therefore, analyzed the function of miR‐542 in neuroblastoma tumor biology. Ectopic expression of miR‐542‐3p in neuroblastoma cell lines reduced cell viability and proliferation, induced apoptosis and downregulated Survivin. Survivin expression was also inversely correlated with miR‐542‐3p expression in primary neuroblastomas. Reporter assays confirmed that miR‐542‐3p directly targeted Survivin. Downregulating Survivin using siRNA copied the phenotype of miR‐542‐3p expression in neuroblastoma cell lines, while cDNA‐mediated ectopic expression of Survivin partially rescued the phenotype induced by miR‐542‐3p expression. Treating nude mice bearing neuroblastoma xenografts with miR‐542‐3p‐loaded nanoparticles repressed Survivin expression, decreased cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in the respective xenograft tumors. We conclude that miR‐542‐3p exerts its tumor suppressive function in neuroblastoma, at least in part, by targeting Survivin. Expression of miR‐542‐3p could be a promising therapeutic strategy for treating aggressive neuroblastoma.