Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Functional Analysis of the Cellulose Synthase GenesCesA1, CesA2, and CesA3 in Arabidopsis1

Polysaccharide analyses of mutants link several of the glycosyltransferases encoded by the 10 CesA genes of Arabidopsis to cellulose synthesis. Features of those mutant phenotypes point to particular genes depositing cellulose predominantly in either primary or secondary walls. We used transformation with antisense constructs to investigate the functions of CesA2(AthA) and CesA3 (AthB), genes for which reduced synthesis mutants are not yet available. Plants expressing antisense CesA1 (RSW1) provided a comparison with a gene whose mutant phenotype (Rsw1−) points mainly to a primary wall role. The antisense phenotypes of CesA1 and CesA3were closely similar and correlated with reduced expression of the target gene. Reductions in cell length rather than cell number underlay the shorter bolts and stamen filaments. Surprisingly, seedling roots were unaffected in both CesA1 and CesA3antisense plants. In keeping with the mild phenotype compared with Rsw1−, reductions in total cellulose levels in antisenseCesA1 and CesA3 plants were at the borderline of significance. We conclude that CesA3, likeCesA1, is required for deposition of primary wall cellulose. To test whether there were important functional differences between the two, we overexpressed CesA3 inrsw1 but were unable to complement that mutant's defect in CesA1. The function of CesA2 was less obvious, but, consistent with a role in primary wall deposition, the rate of stem elongation was reduced in antisense plants growing rapidly at 31°C.
Misremembering Future Intentions in Methamphetamine-Dependent Individuals

Methamphetamine (MA) dependence is associated with neural abnormalities (e.g., frontal systems neurotoxicity) and corresponding cognitive deficits, including impairment in episodic memory and executive functions. This study evaluated the hypothesis that MA use is associated with impairment in memory for intentions, or prospective memory (ProM), which is an ecologically relevant aspect of episodic memory that involves the execution of a previously encoded intention at an appropriate moment in the future and is known to rely on frontal systems integrity. A total of 39 MA-dependent individuals and 26 demographically similar non-MA-using comparison participants were administered the Memory for Intentions Screening Test (MIST). The MA group performed significantly lower than the comparison participants on overall ProM, an effect that could not be better explained by demographics, psychiatric factors, infectious disease comorbidity, or other substance use disorders. The ProM impairment observed in the MA group was comparable on time- and event-based tasks and was marked by an increased rate of task substitution (i.e., intrusions) and loss of time (e.g., early responding) errors. Within the MA cohort, ProM impairment was associated with executive dysfunction and earlier age at first MA use. Findings suggest that individuals with MA dependence experience difficulty in the strategic components involved in the retrieval of future intentions and are discussed with regard to their implications for everyday functioning.
Loss of braking signals during inflammation: a factor affecting the development and disease course of multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND In a recent genome-wide transcriptional analysis, we identified a gene signature for multiple sclerosis (MS), which reverted back to normal during pregnancy. Reversion was particularly evident for 7 genes: SOCS2, TNFAIP3, NR4A2, CXCR4, POLR2J, FAM49B, and STAG3L1, most of which encode negative regulators of inflammation. OBJECTIVES To corroborate dysregulation of genes, to evaluate the prognostic value of genes, and to study modulation of genes during different treatments. DESIGN Comparison study. SETTING Italian referral center for MS. PATIENTS Quantitative polymerase chain reaction measurements were performed for 274 patients with MS and 60 healthy controls. Of the 274 patients with MS, 113 were treatment-naive patients in the initial stages of their disorder who were followed up in real-world clinical settings and categorized on the basis of disease course. The remaining 161 patients with MS received disease-modifying therapies (55 patients were treated with interferon beta, 52 with glatiramer acetate, and 54 with natalizumab) for a mean (SD) of 12 (2) months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Gene expression levels, relapse rate, and change in Expanded Disability Status Scale. RESULTS We found a dysregulated gene pathway (P ≤ .006), with a downregulation of genes encoding negative regulators. The SOCS2, NR4A2, and TNFAIP3 genes were inversely correlated with both relapse rate (P ≤ .002) and change in Expanded Disability Status Scale (P ≤ .005). SOCS2 was modulated by both interferon beta and glatiramer acetate, TNFAIP3 was modulated by glatiramer acetate, and NR4A2 was not altered at all. No changes were induced by natalizumab. CONCLUSIONS We demonstrate that there is a new molecular pathogenic mechanism that underlies the initiation and progression of MS. Defects in negative-feedback loops of inflammation lead to an overactivation of the immune system so as to predispose the brain to inflammation-sensitive MS.
Nutrient Metabolism Chronic but Not Acute Energy Restriction Increases Intestinal Nutrient Transport in Mice 1

Chronic energy restriction (ER) dramatically enhances intestinal absorption of nutrients by aged mice. Do adaptations in nutrient absorption develop only after extended ER or immediately after its initiation? To determine the time course of adaptations, we measured rates of intestinal glucose, fructose and proline transport 1–270 d after initiation of ER (70% of ad libitum) in 3-mo old mice. Mice of the same age that consumed food ad libitum (AL) served as controls; a third group was starved for 1 or 2 d only, to distinguish the effects of acute ER from those of starvation. Acute ER of 1, 2 and 10 d had no effect on nutrient absorption. Starvation significantly decreased intestinal mass per centimeter, thereby reducing transport per centimeter and intestinal absorptive capacity without significantly altering transport per milligram of intestine. ER for 24 d enhanced only fructose uptake, whereas ER for 270 d enhanced uptake of all nutrients by 20–100%. Despite marked differences in body weights, the wet weights of the stomach, small intestine, cecum and large intestine were generally similar in AL and ER mice, suggesting that the gastrointestinal tract was spared during ER. In contrast, the wet weights of the lungs, kidneys, spleen, heart, pancreas and liver each differed by 40–120% between ER and AL mice. Intestinal transport adaptations develop gradually during ER, and the main mechanism underlying these adaptations is a dramatic increase in transport activity per milligram tissue. J. Nutr. 131: 779–786, 2001.
Rotator Cuff Tears in Middle-Aged Tennis Players: Results of Surgical Treatment

Background Tennis players, like participants in other overhead sports, are vulnerable to rotator cuff tears. In players who continue to play into their middle-age years, the incidence of such injury increases. Hypothesis Surgical treatment of rotator cuff tears in middle-aged tennis players is largely successful in allowing return to tennis. Study Design Retrospective review. Methods We evaluated the results of surgical treatment of 51 middle-aged tennis players (average age, 51 years) with a rotator cuff tear in their dominant shoulder. Tennis participation among the group had averaged 3.5 hours per week for an average of 25 years. Forty-two patients underwent open repair of the tear with or without biceps tenodesis, whereas 9 patients underwent arthroscopic debridement of the tear with or without a biceps tenotomy. Patients were reviewed at an average of 57 months after surgery with an activities score, a subjective questionnaire, and a questionnaire regarding their postoperative participation in tennis. Results The activities score averaged 26.6 of 30 possible points. Forty-seven patients were satisfied with their result, and 40 patients were able to return to tennis at an average of 9.8 months after surgery. No difference was found in the ability to return to tennis between the open repair group and the arthroscopic debridement group. Conclusions The results of this study indicate that it is possible for nearly 80% of middle-aged tennis players to return to participation after operative treatment of rotator cuff tears.
Influence of environmental factors on virus detection by RT‐PCR and cell culture

The effects of clay, humic acid, u.v. light and shellfish tissue residues on the detection of poliovirus type 2 from environmental samples by culture and RT‐PCR were investigated. RT‐PCR showed 10–100 times greater sensitivity for PV2 detection in the absence of sample contaminants than did culture by plaque assay in BGM cell monolayers. Bentonite clay (100–1000 mg l−1) and shellfish tissue residues reduced virus detection by plaque assay, but the effect of bentonite was mitigated by simple elution procedures. Bentonite clay, humic acid (5–150 mg l−1) and mussel tissue reduced virus detection by RT‐PCR by between 1 and 8 logs, although this was mitigated in part by elution and Sephadex filtration of extracts. Sephadex filtration of samples reduced culturable PV2 by 32–50%. Exposure of PV2 in water to u.v. light reduced culturability of PV2 but not detection by RT‐PCR. This study demonstrates that virus detection in environmental samples is strongly influenced by naturally occurring substances and disinfection approaches. The accuracy of results of viral analyses of this nature should be carefully scrutinized with respect to sample constituents.
A dangling slab, amplified arc volcanism, mantle flow, and seismic anisotropy in the Kamchatka plate corner

The Kamchatka peninsula in Russian East Asia lies at the junction of a transcurrent plate boundary, aligned with the western Aleutian Islands, and a steeply-dipping subduction zone with near-normal convergence. Seismicity patterns and P-wave tomography argue that subducting Pacific lithosphere terminates at the Aleutian junction, and that the downdip extension (>150km depth) of the slab edge is missing. Seismic observables of elastic anisotropy (SKS splitting and Love-Rayleigh scattering) are consistent with asthenospheric strain that rotates from trench-parallel beneath the descending slab to trench-normal beyond its edge. Present-day arc volcanism is concentrated near the slab edge, in the Klyuchevskoy and Sheveluch eruptive centers. Loss of the downdip slab edge, whether from thermo-convective or ductile instability. , and subsequent "slab-window" mantle return flow is indicated by widespread Quaternary volcanism in the Sredinny Range inland of Klyuchevskoy and Sheveluch, as well as the inferred Quaternary uplift of the central Kamchatka depression. The slab beneath Klyuchevskoy has shallower dip (35°) than the subduction zone farther south (55°) suggesting a transient lofting of the slab edge, either from asthenospheric flow or the loss of downdip load. Such lofting may induce pressure-release melting to supply the Klyuchevskoy and Sheveluch eruptive centers. Petrologic indicators of high magma-peridotite equilibrium temperatures, long residence times for the hydrous arc-volcanic component, and weak expression of subducted sediment flux support the lofting hypothesis, and discourage an alternate interpretation in terms of accelerated slab rollback and/or a heightened influx of subducted volatiles. Over the late Cenozoic, the Komandorsky Basin subducted beneath northern Kamchatka and produced arc volcanics in the Sredinny Range. Several lines of evidence suggest the northeast migration of a plate triple junction (North America/Pacific/Komandorsky) along the eastern Kamchatka coast in Oligocene-Miocene times. Three "Cape terranes" (Shipunsky, Kronotsky, Kamchatka) along the coastline are exotic, with geologic similarities to present-day western Aleutian islands, and may have accreted in a "caulking-gun" process as the triple junction migrated NE. The late Cenozoic transfer of arc volcanism from the Sredinny Range to the eastern volcanic front of Kamchatka may have been facilitated by the progressive replacement of a shallow-dipping Komandorsky slab with a steeply-dipping Pacific slab.
Identification of plasma haptoglobin forms which loosely bind hemoglobin

Abstract Haptoglobin (Hpt) is known to capture circulating free hemoglobin (Hb) and bind apolipoprotein (Apo) A-I or E. Here, we report that Hb can be tightly bound by most of Hpt molecules (TB-Hpt, 80%), whereas loosely bound by a minor part of them (LB-Hpt, 20%). LB-Hpt amount was significantly increased (over 60%) in patients with acute coronary syndrome. LB-Hpt bound ApoA-I and ApoE less efficiently than TB-Hpt (8- and 4-fold less, respectively) and did not affect their activity of stimulating the enzyme lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase. LB-Hpt and TB-Hpt displayed comparable levels of nitrotyrosine residues, but differences in glycan chains. Changes in LB-Hpt level might be associated with changes in Hpt functions.
Self-powered autonomous wireless sensor node using vibration energy harvesting

This paper reports the development and implementation of an energy aware autonomous wireless condition monitoring sensor system (ACMS) powered by ambient vibrations. An electromagnetic (EM) generator has been designed to harvest sufficient energy to power a radio-frequency (RF) linked accelerometer-based sensor system. The ACMS is energy aware and will adjust the measurement/transmit duty cycle according to the available energy; this is typically every 3 s at 0.6 m s−2rms acceleration and can be as low as 0.2 m s−2rms with a duty cycle around 12 min. The EM generator has a volume of only 150 mm3 producing an average power of 58 µW at 0.6 m s−2rms acceleration at a frequency of 52 Hz. In addition, a voltage multiplier circuit is shown to increase the electrical damping compared to a purely resistive load; this allows for an average power of 120 µW to be generated at 1.7 m s−2rms acceleration. The ACMS has been successfully demonstrated on an industrial air compressor and an office air conditioning unit, continuously monitoring vibration levels and thereby simulating a typical condition monitoring application.
Perioperative TNF alpha and IL-6 concentrations correlate with septic state, organ function, and APACHE II scores in intra-abdominal infection.

OBJECTIVE To find out if concentrations of tumour necrosis factor a (TNF alpha) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) play a part in the pathophysiology of intra-abdominal infection, and try to identify patients who would benefit from immunotherapy against TNF alpha. DESIGN Prospective open study. SETTING University hospital. SUBJECTS 19 consecutive patients (septic shock, n = 4; sepsis syndrome, n = 6; and no sepsis syndrome, n = 9, classified by the APACHE II score and the criteria of the Methyl-prednisolone Severe Sepsis Study Group) who were to undergo their first operation for intra-abdominal infection. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Correlation between median (interquartile) concentrations of TNF alpha and IL-6 (pg/ml), and APACHE II score, plasma lactate concentration, and organ function. RESULTS Perioperative concentrations of both TNF alpha (p = 0.001) and IL-6 (p = 0.006) were significantly higher in patients with septic shock. Preoperative cardiovascular and respiratory failure were associated with significantly raised TNF alpha (p < 0.001 in both cases) and IL-6 concentrations (p = 0.02 and p < 0.001, respectively). The preoperative APACHE II score correlated with the increased TNF alpha concentration (r = 0.5, p < 0.001) and plasma lactate concentration with that of IL-6 (r = 0.7, p = 0.003). CONCLUSION Perioperative TNF alpha and IL-6 concentrations correlated with the severity of intra-abdominal infection, so it is possible that patients who present with either septic shock or the sepsis syndrome may benefit from immunotherapy against TNF alpha.
Sporadic MM2‐thalamic + cortical Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease: Utility of diffusion tensor imaging in the detection of cortical involvement in vivo

In sporadic Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease (sCJD), high signal intensity in fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) and diffusion‐weighted imaging (DWI) sequences in striatum and/or cortical regions of the brain are present in about 83% of cases, reflecting tissue damage, such as spongiform change and abnormal prion protein deposits. Novel diffusion sequences of MRI might improve the detection of CJD characteristic changes in the subset of patients in whom these alterations are absent or less evident. We report a neuropathologically confirmed case of the rare MM2 T + C subtype of sCJD, with mixed clinical and neuropathological features of MM2 thalamic and MM2 cortical subtypes, in whom the use of diffusion tensor imaging helped to identify cortical hyperintensities that could be easily overlooked with conventional DWI.
Clinical Approach to Motor Stereotypies in Autistic Children

This is an overview of stereotypic behavior in autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). This repetitive, nonfunctional, fixed pattern of behavior is associated with autism severity but it is not specific for ASD. There are a wide range of behaviors mentioned as stereotypies. It usually starts in early childhood and its severity is associated with outcomes and severity of autism in adolescence and adulthood. It is usually co-morbid with other psychiatric problems and its pathophysiology is not exactly known. Management is most likely behavioral. There are some reports regarding efficacy of antipsychotics for its management. Further studies should be conducted to improve our knowledge about it and our ability to differentiate it from tics.
What Looks Like Sexism and Why? The Effect of Comment Type and Perpetrator Type on Women's Perceptions of Sexism

ABSTRACT. Sexist comments are not perceived equally in the eyes of women. We extend previous research by examining the degree to which multiple types of potentially sexist comments made by multiple types of men are perceived as sexist. Further, we examine the degree to which three possible mediators—prototypicality, perceived intent, and interdependence—explained these effects. Female undergraduate students (N = 248) were randomly assigned to read a scenario in which a hostile sexist, benevolent sexist, or objectifying comment was made by one of three types of men: a stranger, their boss, or their boyfriend. Results demonstrate that hostile sexism was perceived as more sexist than benevolent sexism or objectification. Comments made by boyfriends were also rated as less sexist than those made by bosses or strangers. Furthermore, perceptions of prototypicality of the comment or perpetrator and perceived intent to harm mediated the effect of study manipulations on perceptions of sexism.
Cost-utility analysis applied to the treatment of burn patients in a specialized center.

OBJECTIVE To discover the total costs and quality of life of burn patients in a specialist center classified by diagnosis-related groups (DRGs). DESIGN Prospective study of 5-year follow-up from January 1, 1997, through December 31, 2001. SETTING Burn Center of Valencia. PATIENTS A total of 898 patients treated at the Burn Center of Valencia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Hospital, extrahospital, caregiving, labor, and social costs of the burn patients grouped by DRG (code 457: extensive burns without operating room procedure; code 458: nonextensive burns with skin graft; code 459: nonextensive burns with wound debridement or other operating room procedure; code 460: nonextensive burns without operating room procedure; or code 472: extensive burns with operating room procedure) were studied. The costs were compared with those that the DRG system assigns. The quality of life of the patients at the end of the follow-up period was also studied. To measure quality of life, the EuroQol 5-Dimensions survey was used. Utility calculations and cost-utility analysis were undertaken according to life expectancy. RESULTS The number of quality-adjusted life-years produced by the center was 13 577, with a mean quality-of-life level on release from the study of 0.87. The mean cost per patient, including the social and labor costs, was $95 551, with health care costs amounting to only 10%. The mean cost per quality-adjusted life-year was $686. CONCLUSIONS The labor costs were the most important and amounted to 56%; together with the social costs, these constituted 85% of the total costs. The DRG code 456 was an option dominated by the remaining DRG codes 458 through 460 and 472. Given the high costs of treating burn patients, a clear health care policy is urgently needed.
A 28GHz CMOS direct conversion transceiver with packaged antenna arrays for 5G cellular system

This paper describes a 28GHz CMOS direct conversion transceiver with packaged 2×4 patch antenna arrays for 5G communication. Test results show good RF performances of Rx NF 6.7dB, Maximum Tx EIRP 31.5dBm (1PA Pout_sat =10.5dBm), LO integrated phase noise −37.8dBc (0.67°), Rx/Tx EVM around 2.2% (−33.1dB) at mid RF power, and well-fitted beam control capability.
Use of back gate bias to enhance the analog performance of planar FD and UTBB SOI transistors-based self-cascode structures

This paper reports, for the first time, the use of back gate bias to improve the intrinsic voltage gain of self-cascode structures composed by planar FD and UTBB SOI MOSFETs. It is shown a voltage gain improvement larger than 10 dB when either a forward back bias is applied to the drain-side transistor or a reverse back bias is applied to the source side device.