Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chromatin , Gene , and RNA Regulation The Metalloprotease ADAMTS 8 Displays Antitumor Properties through Antagonizing EGFR – MEK – ERK Signaling and Is Silenced in Carcinomas by CpG Methylation

Adisintegrins andmetalloproteinases with thrombospondinmotifs (ADAMTS) familymembers have been reported dysregulated in various cancers. Through refining a loss of heterozygosity locus at 11q25 by array-CGH, we identified ADAMTS8 as a novel candidate tumor suppressor gene. Although ADAMTS8 downregulation has been reported in several tumors, its biologic function and underlying mechanism remain largely unknown. Here, we found that ADAMTS8 is broadly expressed in normal tissues but frequently downregulated or silenced by promoter methylation in common carcinoma cell lines, including nasopharyngeal, esophageal squamous cell, gastric, and colorectal carcinomas. Pharmacologic or genetic demethylation restored ADAMTS8 expression, indicating that promoter methylation mediates its silencing. Aberrant methylation of ADAMTS8 was also detected in several types of primary tumors but rarely in normal tissues. Further functional studies showed that restoring ADAMTS8 expression suppressed tumor cell clonogenicity through inducing apoptosis. ADAMTS8 as a secreted protease inhibited epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling along with decreased levels of phosphorylated MEK and ERK. We further found that ADAMTS8 disrupted actin stress fiber organization and inhibited tumor cell motility. Thus, our data demonstrate that ADAMTS8 metalloprotease acts as a functional tumor suppressor through antagonizing EGFR–MEK–ERK signaling, in addition to its previously reported anti-angiogenesis function, and is frequently methylated in common tumors. Implications: This study uncovers the tumor suppressive function of ADAMTS8, one of the ADAMTS family members, and its frequent methylation in certain tumors could be developed as a potential biomarker.Mol Cancer Res; 12(2); 228–38. 2013 AACR.
A study of the factors affecting the aluminum oxide-trihydroxyindole procedure for the analysis of catecholamines.

A reliable, quantitative, highly sensitive, adaptable method for the estimation of catecholamines in diverse biological material from various vertebrate species is presented in detail. This method, which differs in several significant aspects from other procedures, involves the selective adsorption of the catecholamines onto a constant amount of aluminum oxide, elution with constant volume of perchlonic acid (0.05 N) and their measurement by the formation of a fluorescent trihydroxyindole derivative in the presence of potassium ferricyanide and alkaline (10 N alkali) ascorbate. In the light of our findings several other procedures have been critically evaluated. In a comparative study on the distribution of norepinephrine and epinephnine in several species, their presence was detected in the poison gland of a snake. From a study of a large number of analogs of norepinephrine the specificity of the method has been more clearly delineated.
Drug-induced supersensitivity psychosis revisited: characteristics of relapse in treatment-compliant patients

Background: An association between abnormal involuntary movements and psychotic relapse was previously reported in a group of patients compliant with antipsychotic medication (Fallon and Dursun 2011). This was interpreted as the presence of an antipsychotic medication-induced supersensitivity psychosis. Method: From the results of that study and the Chouinard diagnostic criteria for supersensitivity psychosis an abbreviated diagnostic checklist was developed to identify the phenomenon. In the present study the checklist was used on a larger sample of medication-compliant individuals experiencing a psychotic relapse. Results: The checklist demonstrated its utility by identifying a cause of relapse in 70% (29/41) of patients. Furthermore, it identified the presence of supersensitivity psychosis in 39% (16/41) of patients. This study also replicated a number of findings from the previous paper supporting the idea that supersensitivity psychosis is one cause of relapse in psychosis. Discussion: These results suggested that clinicians should exercise caution in prescribing and may have to augment treatment with other agents or switch to low dopamine-affinity antipsychotics.
The effect of social support in moderating the health consequences of unemployment.

In the context of a longitudinal investigation of the physical and mental health consequences of involuntary job loss, it is hypothesized that social supports modify the relationship between unemployment stress and health responses. As a result of two plant shutdowns, 100 stably employed, married men were interviewed at five stages over a two-year period. Social support was measured by a 13-item index covering the extent of supportive and affiliative relations with wife, friends and relatives. The rural unemployed evidenced a significantly higher level of social support than did the urban unemployed, a difference probably due to the strength of ethnic ties in the small community and a more concerned social milieu. No differences between the supported and unsupported were found with respect to weeks unemployed or to actual economic deprivation. However, while unemployed, the unsupported evidenced significantly higher elevations and more changes in measures of cholesterol, illness symptoms and affective response than did the supported. While health differences between supported and unsupported populations under stress are commonly interpreted as evidence that support buffers the effects of life stress, it is argued that these and other study findings demonstrate the exacerbation of life stress by a low sense of social support.
Measuring the need for life‐saving obstetric surgery in developing countries

It has long been recognised that some women need specialist obstetric care to prevent maternal death and access to essential obstetric care particularly caesarean sections is now seen as vital to the success of safe motherhood programmes. Knowledge of the precise nature and the magnitude of the need for essential obstetric care is now required not only to inform programme development but also as a yardstick for monitoring programme success. The recognition of the importance of measuring access to life-saving care has led to the development of indicators of ‘met’ or ‘unmet’ need for obstetric care. In general such indicators measure the number of women who receive life-saving obstetric care for a life-threatening maternal complication and compare this number to what might be expected at the population level. If the minimum incidence of life-saving interventions among all births can be determined at the population level then the shortfall between the minimum and the observed incidence of life-saving interventions represents the unmet need for obstetric care. There is no agreement to date however on the definition of life threatening maternal complications or the magnitude of the need for essential obstetric care. (excerpt)
Designing for effective freehand gestural interaction

Gestural interaction has been investigated as an interaction technique for many years and could potentially deliver more natural and intuitive methods for human computer interaction. As a novel input mode compared to traditional input devices such as keyboard and mouse, researchers have been applying gestural interaction in many dif- ferent domains. There are many different gestural interaction methods and systems which have been built for both research and mass production. However, most previous gesture user interfaces rely on hand held devices or the wearing of fiducial markers for gesture tracking. The freehand gestures, which are tracked by distance sensors with- out requiring users to hold or wear special devices, are not fully explored in previous research. Considering that freehand gestural interaction could be easier to use and deployed for ordinary users in every day life, further research should be conducted for designing effective freehand gestural interaction. In an effort to extend the knowledge and understanding of human factors and inter- action design issues relating to freehand gestural interaction, we first provided a review of related works, and analysed the characteristics, design space as well as the design challenges and opportunities of freehand gestural interaction. We then progressively investigated several aspects of freehand gestural interaction including option selection in 2D and 3D layout, object selection in densely populated environments and 3D navi- gation in public settings. Based on the interaction design, prototype development and user evaluations, we gave the results of user performance, behaviour and preference. We also compared our findings with previous research to extend the state of art. Further- more, we extended the discussions to a set of practical design suggestions for effective freehand gestural interaction design for different scenarios and interaction tasks. We concluded the directions for the future development of freehand gestural interaction technologies and methods in the end of the thesis.
Clinical Signs of Root Caries: Measurement Issues from an Epidemiologic Perspective

The measurement of root caries using a relatively precise, utilitarian, and universally-acceptable methodology based upon clinical signs is a critical and necessary step in the progression of the epidemiologic study of this oral disease. While a clinician directly involved in the care of a patient will always incorporate spontaneous judgment-based-upon-experience into the diagnostic process, the clinical investigator must rely upon a much more standardized approach to the diagnosis of root caries. A comprehensive overview of the current epidemiologic research findings and methodologic literature for root caries precedes a series of discussions on methodologic issues that relate to the measurement of root caries in epidemiologic study conditions. Topics discussed include: (1) appropriate categories of lesions for inclusion (active vs. inactive and supragingival vs. subgingival lesions), (2) surface visibility issues (clinical treatment effects and oral debris accumulations), and (3) examination techniques (examination instruments and use of radiographs). The final section of this article proposes seven diagnostic conventions for use by investigators when they are diagnosing root caries in descriptive, analytical, and experimental epidemiologic studies.
Early cortical precursors do not undergo LIF‐mediated astrocytic differentiation

Multipotential stem cells have been isolated from the developing and adult CNS. Similar identified factors control the differentiation of these cells. A striking example is the instructive action of CNTF/LIF activating the JAK/STAT pathway to induce astrocytic differentiation in both fetal and adult CNS stem cells. Here we show that E12 cortical precursors express functional LIF receptors but do not exhibit this differentiation response to CNTF/LIF either in explant or in dissociated cell culture. The lack of response to LIF‐induced astrocytic differentiation is maintained in cocultures with LIF responsive cells derived from E15 cortex. This suggests cell intrinsic differences between early and late stage precursors in the interpretation of LIF‐mediated signaling; however, the early nestin‐positive precursor population differentiates into both neurons and neural crest derivatives. These data define differences between CNS stem cells from different stages of cortical development. J. Neurosci. Res. 59:301–311, 2000. Published 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Multicentered study of model of anesthesia related adverse events in Thailand by incident report (The Thai Anesthesia Incidents Monitoring Study): results.

OBJECTIVE The Thai Anesthesia Incidents Monitoring Study (Thai AIMS) was aimed to identify and analyze anesthesia incidents in order to find out the frequency distribution, clinical courses, management of incidents, and investigation of model appropriate for possible corrective strategies. MATERIAL AND METHOD Fifty-one hospitals (comprising of university, military, regional, general, and district hospitals across Thailand) participated in the present study. Each hospital was invited to report, on an anonymous and voluntary basis, any unintended anesthesia incident during six months (January to June 2007). A standardized incident report form was developed in order to fill in what, where, when, how, and why it happened in both the close-end and open-end questionnaire. Each incident report was reviewed by three reviewers. Any disagreement was discussed and judged to achieve a consensus. RESULTS Among 1996 incident reports and 2537 incidents, there were more male (55%) than female (45%) patients with ASA PS 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 = 22%, 36%, 24%, 11%, and 7%, respectively. Surgical specialties that posed high risk of incidents were neurosurgical, otorhino-laryngological, urological, and cardiac surgery. Common places where incidents occurred were operating room (61%), ward (10%), and recovery room (9%). Common occurred incidents were arrhythmia needing treatment (25%), desaturation (24%), death within 24 hr (20%), cardiac arrest (14%), reintubation (10%), difficult intubation (8%), esophageal intubation (5%), equipment failure (5%), and drug error (4%) etc. Monitors that first detected incidents were EKG (46%), Pulse oximeter (34%), noninvasive blood pressure (12%), capnometry (4%), and mean arterial pressure (1%). CONCLUSION Common factors related to incidents were inexperience, lack of vigilance, inadequate preanesthetic evaluation, inappropriate decision, emergency condition, haste, inadequate supervision, and ineffective communication. Suggested corrective strategies were quality assurance activity, clinical practice guideline, improvement of supervision, additional training, improvement of communication, and an increase in personnel.
Effective size of two feral domestic cat populations (Felis catus L.): effect of the mating system

A variety of behavioural traits have substantial effects on the gene dynamics and genetic structure of local populations. The mating system is a plastic trait that varies with environmental conditions in the domestic cat (Felis catus) allowing an intraspecific comparison of the impact of this feature on genetic characteristics of the population. To assess the potential effect of the heterogenity of males’ contribution to the next generation on variance effective size, we applied the ecological approach of Nunney & Elam (1994) based upon a demographic and behavioural study, and the genetic ‘temporal methods’ of Waples (1989) and Berthier et al. (2002) using microsatellite markers. The two cat populations studied were nearly closed, similar in size and survival parameters, but differed in their mating system. Immigration appeared extremely restricted in both cases due to environmental and social constraints. As expected, the ratio of effective size to census number (Ne/N) was higher in the promiscuous cat population (harmonic mean = 42%) than in the polygynous one (33%), when Ne was calculated from the ecological method. Only the genetic results based on Waples’ estimator were consistent with the ecological results, but failed to evidence an effect of the mating system. Results based on the estimation of Berthier et al. (2002) were extremely variable, with Ne sometimes exceeding census size. Such low reliability in the genetic results should retain attention for conservation purposes.
If Sentences Could See: Investigating Visual Information for Semantic Textual Similarity

We investigate the effects of incorporating visual signal from images into unsupervised Semantic Textual Similarity (STS) measures. STS measures exploiting visual signal alone are shown to outperform, in some settings, linguistic-only measures by a wide margin, whereas multi-modal measures yield further performance gains. We also show that selective inclusion of visual information may further boost performance in the multi-modal setup.
Radiotherapy for Spermatic Cord Sarcoma

Objectives: Spermatic cord sarcomas are rare paratesticular tumors affecting older men. Current management is based on small series, case reports, and literature reviews, with surgery still the mainstay of treatment. Local-regional recurrence is common after definitive surgery (∼50%), but patients treated with adjuvant radiotherapy may have improved outcomes. Methods: We reviewed the outcomes of 15 patients with intermediate-grade to high-grade spermatic cord sarcomas treated with radiation at our institution from 1974 to 2009. Patients were treated to 40 to 60 Gy using conformal opposed anterior-posterior/posterior-anterior ports to the scrotum, inguinal canal, and lower pelvic wall with various beam energies. Some patients were managed with surgical exploration and resection, followed by radiotherapy and/or definitive surgery. More recently treated patients had an initial biopsy, followed by preoperative radiation or planned resection with postoperative radiation therapy. Results: No patient experienced a local recurrence. Two patients had regional nodal recurrences and 1 had distant metastases. All recurrences were in patients who had initial “exploration” with unexpected findings of sarcoma during surgery versus planned, definitive resection with planned adjuvant radiotherapy. At 5 years, overall survival was 53%, but cause-specific survival was 80%. Complications were minimal, with only 4 grade 2 or 3 toxicities and no grade 4 toxicities. Conclusions: Although most patients die from causes other than disease progression, this sarcoma carries grave morbidity. Optimizing the primary management is of utmost importance. Unplanned treatments complicate definitive therapy and increase the risk of local-regional contamination and recurrence. Proactive management is therefore consistent with sarcomas of other primary sites, ideally with preoperative radiotherapy and definitive resection.
Controlled evaluation of 5 versus 10 milliliters of blood cultured in aerobic BacT/Alert blood culture bottles

Bottles developed for use in the BacT/Alert automated blood culture system (Organon Teknika Corp., Durham, N.C.) can accept up to 10 ml of blood without falling below a 1:5 ratio of blood to broth. We compared the yield and speed of detection of microorganisms in 13,128 adequately filled, paired, aerobic bottles inoculated with 5 versus 10 ml of blood at three university hospitals. A total of 798 microorganisms causing sepsis grew in one or both bottles. The overall recovery of microorganisms from 10-ml samples exceeded that from 5-ml samples (P < 0.001); the increased yield attributed to the additional 5 ml in the samples was 7.2%. The increased yield from 10-ml inocula was most marked for Escherichia coli (P < 0.01) and other members of the family Enterobacteriaceae (P < 0.001). Ten-milliliter samples did not yield more gram-positive bacteria, nonfermentative gram-negative rods, or yeasts. When both bottles were positive, the bottles inoculated with 10 ml of blood showed growth sooner (P < 0.001). Earlier detection with 10-ml inocula was especially notable for coagulase-negative staphylococci (P < 0.001), streptococci (P < 0.001), E. coli (P < 0.025), and other members of the family Enterobacteriaceae (P < 0.025). We conclude that an increase in the volume of blood inoculated into BacT/Alert aerobic blood culture bottles from 5 to 10 ml will increase the overall yield and the speed of detection of clinically important blood pathogens.
Atlantoaxial Subluxation in Different Intraoperative Head Positions in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Background: Disorders of the cervical spine are often observed in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the best head position for RA patients with atlantoaxial subluxation in the perioperative period is unknown. This study investigated head position during general anesthesia for the patients with RA and proven atlantoaxial subluxation. Methods: During anesthesia of patients with RA and proven atlantoaxial subluxation, the authors used fluoroscopy to obtain a lateral view of the upper cervical spine in four different positions: the mask position, the intubation position, the flat pillow position, and the protrusion position. Copies of the still fluoroscopic images were used to determine the anterior atlantodental interval, the posterior atlantodental interval, and the angle of atlas and axis (C1–C2 angle). Results: The anterior atlantodental interval was significantly smaller in the protrusion position (2.3 mm) than in the flat pillow position (5.1 mm) (P < 0.05). The posterior atlantodental interval was significantly greater in the protrusion position (18.9 mm) than in the flat pillow position (16.2 mm) (P < 0.05). The C1–C2 angle was, on average, 9.3° greater in the protrusion position than in the flat pillow position (P < 0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that the protrusion position using a flat pillow and a donut-shaped pillow during general anesthesia reduced the anterior atlantodental interval and increased the posterior atlantodental interval in RA patients with atlantoaxial subluxation. This suggests that the protrusion position, which involves support of the upper cervical spine and extension at the craniocervical junction, might be advantageous for these patients.
The Innate Immune System Is Activated by Stimulation of Vaginal Epithelial Cells with Staphylococcus aureus and Toxic Shock Syndrome Toxin 1

ABSTRACT Despite knowledge of the effects of toxic shock syndrome (TSS) toxin 1 (TSST-1) on the adaptive immune system, little is known about stimulation of the innate immune system, particularly epithelial cells. This study investigated the interactions of TSS Staphylococcus aureus and TSST-1 with human vaginal epithelial cells (HVECs) and porcine mucosal surfaces. When cocultured with HVECs for 6 h, TSS S. aureus MN8 proliferated, formed aggregates on the HVEC surfaces, and produced exotoxins. Receptor binding studies showed that 35S-TSST-1 bound to 5 × 104 receptors per HVEC, with saturation at 15 min. Affymetrix Human GeneChip U133A microarray analysis determined S. aureus MNSM (100 bacteria/HVEC) caused at least twofold up- or down-regulation of 410 HVEC genes by 6 h; these data were also confirmed with S. aureus MN8. TSST-1 (100 μg/ml) caused up- or down-regulation of 2,386 HVEC genes by 6 h. In response to S. aureus, the HVEC genes most up-regulated compared to those in controls were those coding for chemokines or cytokines—MIP-3α, 478-fold; GRO-α, 26-fold; GRO-β, 14-fold; and GRO-γ, 30-fold—suggesting activation of innate immunity. TSST-1 also caused up-regulation of chemokine/cytokine genes. Chemokine/cytokine gene up-regulation was confirmed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays measuring the corresponding proteins induced by S. aureus and TSST-1. S. aureus MN8, when incubated with porcine vaginal tissue, increased the flux of 35S-TSST-1 across the mucosal surface. This was accompanied by influx of lymphocytes into the upper layers of the tissue. These data suggest innate immune system activation through epithelial cells, reflected in chemokine/cytokine production and influx of lymphocytes, may cause changes in vaginal mucosa permeability, facilitating TSST-1 penetration.