Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Metabolic conditions determining the composition and catalytic activity of cytochrome P-450 monooxygenases in Candida tropicalis

In the microsomal fraction of Candida tropicalis cells, two distinct monooxygenases were detected, depending on the growth conditions. The distinction of the two monooxygenases was evident from: (i) the absorption maxima in the reduced CO difference spectra of the terminal oxidases (cytochromes P-450 and P-448); (ii) the contents of the monooxygenase components (cytochromes P-450/P-448, NADPH-cytochrome c (P-450) reductase, and cytochrome b5) and (iii) the catalytic activity of the complete system (aliphatic hydroxylation and N-demethylation activity). The occurrence of the respective monooxygenases could be related to the carbon source (n-alkanes or glucose). Oxygen limitation led to a significant increase of cytochrome P-450/P-448 content, independent of the carbon source utilized by the cells. An improved method for the isolation of microsomes enabled us to demonstrate the presence of cytochrome P-448 in glucose-grown cells.
Cdc42p GTPase Regulates the Budded-to-Hyphal-Form Transition and Expression of Hypha-Specific Transcripts in Candida albicans

ABSTRACT The yeast Candida albicans is a major opportunistic pathogen of immunocompromised individuals. It can grow in several distinct morphological states, including budded and hyphal forms, and the ability to make the dynamic transition between these forms is strongly correlated with virulence. Recent studies implicating the Cdc42p GTPase in hypha formation relied on cdc42 mutations that affected the mitotic functions of the protein, thereby precluding any substantive conclusions about the specific role of Cdc42p in the budded-to-hypha-form transition and virulence. Therefore, we took advantage of several Saccharomyces cerevisiae cdc42 mutants that separated Cdc42p's mitotic functions away from its role in filamentous growth. The homologous cdc42-S26I, cdc42-E100G, and cdc42-S158T mutations in C. albicans Cdc42p caused a dramatic defect in the budded-to-hypha-form transition in response to various hypha-inducing signals without affecting normal budded growth, strongly supporting the conclusion that Cdc42p has an integral function in orchestrating the morphological transition in C. albicans. In addition, the cdc42-S26I and cdc42-E100G mutants demonstrated a reduced ability to damage endothelial cells, a process that is strongly correlated to virulence. The three mutants also had reduced expression of several hypha-specific genes, including those under the regulation of the Efg1p transcription factor. These data indicate that Cdc42p-dependent signaling pathways regulate the budded-to-hypha-form transition and the expression of hypha-specific genes.
Postnatal changes in the growth dynamics of the human face revealed from bone modelling patterns

Human skull morphology results from complex processes that involve the coordinated growth and interaction of its skeletal components to keep a functional and structural balance. Previous histological works have studied the growth of different craniofacial regions and their relationship to functional spaces in humans up to 14 years old. Nevertheless, how the growth dynamics of the facial skeleton and the mandible are related and how this relationship changes through the late ontogeny remain poorly understood. To approach these two questions, we have compared the bone modelling activities of the craniofacial skeleton from a sample of subadult and adult humans. In this study, we have established for the first time the bone modelling pattern of the face and the mandible from adult humans. Our analyses reveal a patchy distribution of the bone modelling fields (overemphasized by the presence of surface islands with no histological information) reflecting the complex growth dynamics associated to the individual morphology. Subadult and adult specimens show important differences in the bone modelling patterns of the anterior region of the facial skeleton and the posterior region of the mandible. These differences indicate developmental changes in the growth directions of the whole craniofacial complex, from a predominantly downward growth in subadults that turns to a forward growth observed in the adult craniofacial skeleton. We hypothesize that these ontogenetic changes would respond to the physiological and physical requirements to enlarge the oral and nasal cavities once maturation of the brain and the closure of the cranial sutures have taken place during craniofacial development.
Relocalization of Endothelial Cell β-Catenin After Coculture With Activated Neutrophils From Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery With Cardiopulmonary Bypass

Cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is associated with neutrophil activation, inflammation, and consecutive edema. The impairment of endothelial junction molecules, and thus, hyperpermeability elicited by the interaction of activated neutrophils with endothelial cells may be important in this regard. Cocultures with human endothelial cells and neutrophils from 10 cardiac surgery patients with CPB were used to evaluate the role of neutrophils in modifications of the endothelial zonula adherensmolecules VE-cadherin and β-catenin. Laser scan microscopic analyses showed that neutrophils, which were isolated after the beginning of CPB, significantly impaired intracellular redistribution of endothelial β-catenin with regard to membrane association (p< .0002) and staining pattern (p< .0001). VE-cadherin localization was not found to be significantly modified. Western blots with total cell extracts showed that amounts of β-catenin did not vary significantly after co-culture with activated neutrophils. Activated neutrophils during cardiac surgery with CPB may induce endothelial dysfunction by impairing β-catenin localization and thus contribute to endothelial hyperpermeability.
Condominium Prices and Inflation: The Role of Financial Inflows and Transaction Volumes in Japan

We investigate the dynamics of condominium prices by using a new dataset containing national and regional data on prices and disaggregate transaction volumes for Japan. In particular, we are interested in the role of capital inflows and transaction volumes, which have recently been discussed worldwide as important determinants of property prices. First, by using the multivariate cointegration method, we show that the condominium market has not experienced real estate bubbles since 2008. We document several economic fundamentals; notably, real income, mortgage rates, and capital flows, have influenced the long-term trend in condominium prices. Second, on some occasions, we find that condominium price inflation can be explained by transaction volumes, which are positively linked to information inflows, consistent with the market microstructure model. Transaction volumes influence price inflation in Tokyo, in particular at times of high market activities.
Coagulation and inflammatory markers in Alzheimer's and vascular dementia

Alzheimer's disease is classified as a degenerative dementia while vascular dementia is known to be associated with atherothrombosis and classical vascular risk factors. However, over the last decade, there is increasing evidence of the role of haemostatic factors and inflammatory mechanisms in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Serum markers of hypercoagulability and markers of inflammation could lead to thrombosis, accelerated atherogenesis and resulting dementia of both Alzheimer's and vascular dementia. In this case control study, we studied these serum markers of coagulation and inflammation in patients suffering from dementia.
VersaPipe: A Versatile Programming Framework for Pipelined Computing on GPU

Pipeline is an important programming pattern, while GPU, designed mostly for data-level parallel executions, lacks an efficient mechanism to support pipeline programming and executions. This paper provides a systematic examination of various existing pipeline execution models on GPU, and analyzes their strengths and weaknesses. To address their shortcomings, this paper then proposes three new execution models equipped with much improved controllability, including a hybrid model that is capable of getting the strengths of all. These insights ultimately lead to the development of a software programming framework named VersaPipe. With VersaPipe, users only need to write the operations for each pipeline stage. VersaPipe will then automatically assemble the stages into a hybrid execution model and configure it to achieve the best performance. Experiments on a set of pipeline benchmarks and a real-world face detection application show that VersaPipe produces up to $6.90 \times (2.88 \times$ on average) speedups over the original manual implementations. CCS CONCEPTS • General and reference $\rightarrow$ Performance; • Computing methodologies $\rightarrow$ Parallel computing methodologies; • Computer systems organization $\rightarrow$ Heterogeneous (hybrid) systems;
Perturbations in Bone Formation and Resorption in Insulin‐Like Growth Factor Binding Protein‐3 Transgenic Mice

IGF‐I and their binding proteins are important in bone health. Examination of BMD, osteoblast proliferation, and markers of bone resorption in transgenic mice that constitutively overexpress IGFBP‐3 indicates that overexpression of IGFBP‐3 increases osteoclast number and bone resorption, impairs osteoblast proliferation, and has a significant negative effect on bone formation.
Schirmer tear test, phenol red thread tear test, eye blink frequency and corneal sensitivity in the guinea pig.

OBJECTIVE To establish reference values for Schirmer tear tests (STT) I and II, phenol red thread (PRT) tear test and eye blink frequency, and to determine corneal sensitivity for normal guinea pigs. ANIMALS STUDIED One hundred and eight eyes of 54 adult Duncan-Hartley guinea pigs. PROCEDURE Schirmer tear test (STT) I and then STT II were performed in 36 guinea pigs. PRT and STT I were compared in 18 adult Duncan-Hartley guinea pigs. Corneal sensitivity was determined in 23 guinea pigs by evaluating the corneal touch threshold (CTT) of five different regions using a Cochet-Bonnet esthesiometer. Eye blink frequency was measured in 10 guinea pigs over a period of 20 min and in 17 guinea pigs over a period of 10 min. RESULTS Mean STT I was 0.36 mm +/- 1.09 mm (wetting/min) and mean STT II was 0.43 mm +/- 1.29 mm (wetting/min). There was no significant difference between mean STT I and mean STT II (P = 0.79). The mean PRT-value was 16 +/- 4.7 mm (wetting/15 s), and the mean STT I-value in the same guinea pigs was 0.6 +/- 1.83 mm (wetting/min). Corneal sensitivity was significantly higher in the center than in the four limbal regions. The mean CTT for central, ventral, nasal, temporal and dorsal regions was 2, 1.7, 1.7, 1.7 and 1.6 cm or 3.7, 5.2, 5.6, 5.7 and 6.4 g/mm(2), respectively. Eye blink frequency was between two to five (mean 3.4 +/- 1.04) blinks per eye over 20 min in guinea pigs in their home environment, while in handheld and restrained guinea pigs eye blink frequency showed a variation between 0 and 17 blinks per eye (mean 3.24 +/- 3.64 blinks per eye) over 10 min. CONCLUSIONS As there were no significant differences between STT I and STT II results, reflex tear secretion in the guinea pig may not exist. The most likely explanation is a lower corneal sensitivity in the guinea pig than in other species, such as cats, dogs and horses. Because of the small amount of tears, PRT is the preferred test for tear measurement in the guinea pig.
Effect of criminal justice mandate on drug treatment completion in women

Abstract Background: Drug and alcohol abuse among women is a growing problem in the United States. Drug treatment is an effective way to manage the psychological, biological, financial, and social cost of drug abuse. Prior research has identified criminal justice referrals or coercion as a predictor of treatment completion among men but questions remain about the same effect in women. Objectives: This study uses the Treatment Episodes Datasets Discharge 2006–2008 (TEDS-D) to explore the association between coercion and treatment completion among women. Methods: Analysis compared primary treatment episodes of coerced women to those who entered treatment voluntarily. A logistic model of the odds of treatment success was performed controlling for race/ethnicity, age, education, employment, primary substance of abuse, number of substances reported at admission, referral source, treatment setting, and treatment duration. Results: 582 671 primary treatment episodes were analyzed comparing women with coercion referrals (n = 196 660) to those who entered treatment voluntarily (n = 390 054). Results of multivariable logistic modeling showed that coerced women had better odds of completion or transfer than women who entered voluntarily. However, this association was modified by treatment setting with better odds in ambulatory (OR = 1.49 [1.47, 1.51]) than in inpatient (OR = 1.06 [1.03, 1.10]) and worst outcomes in detoxification (OR = 0.89 [0.84, 0.96]). Conclusion: These results dispute the broad effectiveness of legal mandates across all drug treatment settings among women. They show the need for further recognition of female-specific characteristics that can affect motivation and treatment success to better inform healthcare and judicial policies on drug treatment services for women.
Differentiated cellular function in fetal chondrocytes cultured with insulin‐like growth factor‐I and transforming growth factor‐β

This study examined fetal chondrocyte proliferation and function following exposure to transforming growth factor‐β and insulin‐like growth factor‐I. Fetal equine articular chondrocytes of the early third‐trimester were isolated and cultured in monolayer conditions, then exposed to 0,1,5, or 10 ng/ml transforming growth factor‐β or 0,10,50, or 100 ng/ml insulin‐like growth factor‐I for 48 hours. Proliferative responses were assessed by cell counts and [3H]thymidine uptake into precipitable DNA. Differentiated chondrocyte metabolic activity was determined by sulfated glycosaminoglycan quantitation, 35[SO4] incorporation into precipitable glycosaminoglycan, and proteoglycan molecular sizing by CL‐2B column chromatography. Morphological changes seen on phase‐contrast microscopy included a larger proportion of rounded cells in monolayer cultures supplemented with insulin‐like growth factor‐I and cytotoxic changes in cells treated with transforming growth factor‐β. Both insulin‐like growth factor‐I and transforming growth factor‐β resulted in significant elevations of [3H]thymidine uptake; however, cell numbers did not rise sufficiently over the 48‐hour culture period to reach significant levels. Maximum mitogenic responses were evident at 50 and 100 ng/ml insulin‐like growth factor‐I and 5 ng/ml transforming growth factor‐β. The production of proteoglycan was also enhanced (435%) by exposure to 50 ng/ml insulin‐like growth factor‐I, and an increased proportion of larger proteoglycan monomer species was evident in cultures treated with 50 and 100 ng/ml insulin‐like growth factor‐I. A similar dose‐response was also evident in cultures treated with transforming growth factor‐β (maximal 164%' increase with 5 ng/ml), although the presence of serum in the culture medium altered the pattern of enhanced proteoglycan synthesis to favor the lower concentration of 1 ng/ml (191%). Additionally larger proteoglycan molecules were synthesized in response to high concentrations of transforming growth factor‐β in serum‐free cultures. Significant biochemical changes resulted from the addition of transforming growth factor‐β to fetal chondrocyte cultures; however, monolayer cultures that were treated with transforming growth factor‐β and supplemented with serum began to develop cellular toxicity, including nuclear pyknosis and cytoplasmic fragmentation. Degenerative cellular changes were not evident in cultures treated with insulin‐like growth factor‐I, and significant differentiated metabolic activity resulted from the presence of insulin‐like growth factor‐I in the culture medium. These data suggest that the responses of fetal chondrocytes to insulin‐like growth factor‐I and transforming growth factor‐β were enhanced compared with the responses of chondrocytes derived from postnatal animals and that these metabolically active cells can be primed by endogenous or exogenous growth factors to provide enhanced articular function and repair.
Antiviral Activity and Mode of Action Studies of Ribavirin and Mycophenolic Acid against Orthopoxviruses in Vitro

Two inhibitors of cellular inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase, mycophenolic acid (MPA) and ribavirin, were evaluated for inhibitory activity against orthopoxviruses. Unrelated antipoxvirus agents tested for comparison included 6-azauridine, cidofovir (HPMPC) and cyclic HPMPC. MPA inhibited camelpox, cowpox, monkeypox and vaccinia viruses by 50% in plaque reduction assays at 0.2–3 μM in African green monkey kidney (Vero 76) and mouse 3T3 cells. Ribavirin was considerably more active in 3T3 cells (50% inhibition at 2-l2 μM) than in Vero 76 cells (inhibitory at 30–250 μM) against these viruses. In cytotoxicity assays, MPA and ribavirin were more toxic to replicating cells than to stationary cell monolayers, with greater toxicity seen in 3T3 than in Vero 76 cells. The superior antiviral potency and increased toxicity of ribavirin in 3T3 cells was related to greater accumulation of mono-, di- and triphosphate forms of the drug compared with Vero 76 cells. For both MPA and ribavirin, virus inhibition was closely correlated to the extent of suppression of intracellular guanosine triphosphate (GTP) pools. Treatment with extracellular guanosine (which restored intracellular GTP levels) did not lead to complete reversal of the anticowpox virus activity of ribavirin. This suggests that other modes of virus inhibition also appear to contribute to the anti-orthopoxvirus activity of ribavirin. Biological differences in mode of action and immunosuppressive potential between ribavirin and MPA may account for why the former compound is active against orthopoxvirus infections in animals and the latter inhibitor is not.
The direct medical costs of Huntington’s disease by stage. A retrospective commercial and Medicaid claims data analysis

Abstract Objective: This study quantified the direct healthcare costs and major cost drivers among patients with Huntington’s disease (HD), by disease stage in commercial and Medicaid databases. Methods: This retrospective database analysis used healthcare utilization/cost data for HD patients (ICD-9-CM 333.4) from Thomson Reuters’ MarketScan Commercial and Medicaid 2002–2009 databases. Patients were classified by disease stage (Early/Middle/Late) by a hierarchical assessment of markers of disease severity, confirmed by literature review and key opinion leader input. Costs were measured over the follow-up time of each patient with total costs per patient per stage annualized using a patient-year cost approach. Results: Among 1272 HD patients, the mean age was similar in commercial (752 patients) and Medicaid (520 patients) populations (48.5 years (SD = 13.3) and 49.3 years (SD = 17.2), respectively). Commercial patients were evenly distributed by stage (30.5%/35.5%/34.0%; Early/Middle/Late). However, most (74.0%) Medicaid HD patients were classified as Late stage. The mean total annualized cost per patient increased by stage (commercial: $4947 (SD = $6040)–$22,582 (SD = $39,028); Medicaid: $3257 (SD = $5670)–$37,495 (SD = $27,111). Outpatient costs were the primary healthcare cost component. The vast majority (73.8%) of Medicaid Late stage patients received nursing home care and the majority (54.6%) of Medicaid Late stage costs were associated with nursing home care. In comparison, only 40.6% of commercial Late stage patients received nursing home care, which contributed to only 4.6% of commercial Late stage costs. Conclusions: The annual direct economic burden of HD is substantial and increased with disease progression. More late stage Medicaid HD patients were in nursing homes and for a longer time than their commercial counterparts, reflected by their higher costs (suggesting greater disease severity). Key limitations include the classification of patients into a single stage, as well as a lack of visibility into full long-term care/nursing home-related costs for commercial patients.
Halal Purchase Intention on Processed Food

The objective of this study is to investigate the factors affecting customers on purchasing halal purchase intention on processed food. A purposive sampling method with 193 respondents and the data analysis is done by SEM-PLS method. The results show that halal awareness, health reason, and perceived value have a significant and positive direct effect on purchasing intention. Halal marketing also shows a significant and positive effect on purchasing intention. The food safety, halal certification, brand image, and perceived quality show the same effect which has no direct effect on purchasing intention. Furthermore, Food safety has an indirect effect on purchasing intention through health reason. Halal certification has an indirect effect on purchase intention through brand image variable. Meanwhile, brand image and perceived quality have an indirect effect through perceived value variable on purchasing intention.
Specialised Higher-Level Mechanisms for Facial-Symmetry Perception: Evidence from Orientation-Tuning Functions

Bilateral symmetry is important in many perceptual analyses from low-level figure—ground segmentation to higher-level face and object perception. Despite the success of low-level, image-based symmetry-detection models, these may not provide a complete account of symmetry perception. Better symmetry detection and stronger preferences for symmetry in upright faces than comparable patterns (eg inverted faces) that do not engage specialised face-coding mechanisms suggest a contribution of higher-level mechanisms to symmetry perception. We replicated better symmetry detection and stronger symmetry preferences for upright than inverted faces in experiment 1, and examined their orientation tuning in more detail in experiment 2. Decreasing performance as faces are mis-oriented away from the canonical upright orientation is the signature of specialised face-processing mechanisms, which are engaged less effectively as faces are mis-oriented. Lower-level symmetry-detection mechanisms, which operate better with vertical than horizontal, and horizontal than oblique, axes of symmetry would produce a W-shaped orientation-tuning function. Identical orientation-tuning functions were obtained for symmetry detection and preferences. Both declined with increasing mis-orientation over the 0°–135° range, consistent with a contribution from specialised face-coding mechanisms. Both increased from 135° to 180°, consistent with reliance on lower-level image-based mechanisms for severely mis-oriented faces. Taken together, the results implicate specialised, higher-level mechanisms in the detection of, and preference for, facial symmetry.