Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
GOLDEN 2-LIKE transcription factors for chloroplast development affect ozone tolerance through the regulation of stomatal movement

Significance Stomata regulate the efficiency of photosynthesis and affect plants’ resistance to air pollutants. However, the transcriptional regulation of the genes modulating stomatal movement has not been well characterized. Using chimeric repressor gene-silencing technology (CRES-T), we identified another function of the previously studied regulators of chloroplast development GOLDEN 2-LIKE1 (GLK1) and GLK2, as positive regulators of stomatal movement and K+in channel genes. The chimeric GLK repressors induce closed stomata and tolerance to ozone exposure and reduced gene expression and activity of K+in channels in guard cells. Guard cell-specific expression of the chimeric GLK repressor may be a useful tool to confer resistance to air pollutants. Stomatal movements regulate gas exchange, thus directly affecting the efficiency of photosynthesis and the sensitivity of plants to air pollutants such as ozone. The GARP family transcription factors GOLDEN 2-LIKE1 (GLK1) and GLK2 have known functions in chloroplast development. Here, we show that Arabidopsis thaliana (A. thaliana) plants expressing the chimeric repressors for GLK1 and -2 (GLK1/2-SRDX) exhibited a closed-stomata phenotype and strong tolerance to ozone. By contrast, plants that overexpress GLK1/2 exhibited an open-stomata phenotype and higher sensitivity to ozone. The plants expressing GLK1-SRDX had reduced expression of the genes for inwardly rectifying K+ (K+in) channels and reduced K+in channel activity. Abscisic acid treatment did not affect the stomatal phenotype of 35S:GLK1/2-SRDX plants or the transcriptional activity for K+in channel gene, indicating that GLK1/2 act independently of abscisic acid signaling. Our results indicate that GLK1/2 positively regulate the expression of genes for K+in channels and promote stomatal opening. Because the chimeric GLK1-SRDX repressor driven by a guard cell-specific promoter induced a closed-stomata phenotype without affecting chloroplast development in mesophyll cells, modulating GLK1/2 activity may provide an effective tool to control stomatal movements and thus to confer resistance to air pollutants.
Unmet nursing care needs of home-based disabled patients.

BACKGROUND In Taiwan, family members care for 80-90% of disabled people, but most have no professional training or knowledge of care for the disabled. Therefore, the adequacy of care received by the disabled needs to be assessed. AIMS To evaluate the unmet nursing care needs of physically disabled patients and determine the relevant factors. METHODS All 322 subjects were over 18 years of age, had a Barthel Index of less than 80 and became disabled 2 years prior to the commencement of this study. All subjects were outpatients of hospitals in central Taiwan and were contacted by phone to schedule an interview. Based on activity of daily living (ADL) scores, patients were divided into three groups: complete dependency, severe dependency and moderate dependency. After training, nurses evaluated the patients' ADL and completed the 20-item Assessment of Nursing Activity (ANA) questionnaire. Based on the ANA, subjects' unmet needs and caregivers' knowledge requirements were assessed. FINDINGS The results showed the mean number of unmet needs was approximately five. Percentage of unmet needs was 44.8%. For complete dependency patients, the unmet needs score of patients and the needs score of caregiver's knowledge was highest, followed by the severe dependency group, and the moderate dependency group. Based on multiple linear regression, the factors that affected unmet need were as follows: age of patient, ADL score, education level of the caregivers, average daily duration of care and need of caregiving knowledge. Our findings indicate that the provision of counseling and educational support for family caregivers is required to promote quality of care for the disabled.
MMP‐13 is induced during chondrocyte hypertrophy

During development, mRNA for matrix metalloproteinase‐13 (MMP‐13) is found associated with cartilage undergoing hypertrophy, suggesting that this collagenase plays a role in cell enlargement and/or cartilage calcification. Using chondrocytes from prehypertrophic cartilage of chick embryo sternae, we have examined the relationship between MMP‐13 expression and the transition to hypertrophy. When hypertrophy was induced by serum‐free culture with ascorbate and bone morphogenetic protein‐2 (BMP‐2), MMP‐13 mRNA levels paralleled those for type X collagen. Chondrocytes from the caudal, nonhypertrophying portion of chick sternae expressed neither type X collagen nor MMP‐13, confirming that MMP‐13 mRNA is a marker for hypertrophy. Zymography with conditioned medium yielded a proteinase band at 59 kDa, which was absent in nonhypertrophic chondrocytes. A polyclonal antibody raised against chick MMP‐13 reacted with the 59‐kDa protein, confirming that it is MMP‐13. Although mRNA for MMP‐13 peaked at days 4–5 of culture, only low levels of MMP‐13 activity were present, and the activity increased gradually in parallel with later increases in MMP‐2. These results suggest that MMP‐13 is activated by MMP‐2 during chondrocyte maturation, and that the combination of both proteinases is required to prepare cartilage matrix for subsequent calcification, before endochondral ossification. J. Cell. Biochem. 77:678–693, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Sexual conflict and the evolution of female mate choice and male social dominance

Conflicts between the sexes over control of reproduction are thought to lead to a cost of sexual selection through the evolution of male traits that manipulate female reproductive physiology and behaviour, and female traits that resist this manipulation. Although studies have begun to document negative fitness effects of sexual conflict, studies showing the expected association between sexual conflict and the specific behavioural mechanisms of sexual selection are lacking. Here we experimentally manipulated the opportunity for sexual conflict in the cockroach Nauphoeta cinerea and showed that, for this species, odour cues in the social environment influence the behavioural strategies and fitness of males and females during sexual selection. Females provided with the opportunity for discriminating between males but not necessarily mating with preferred males produced fewer male offspring than females mated at random. The number of female offspring produced was not affected, nor was the viability of the offspring. Experimental modification of the composition of the males' pheromone showed that the fecundity effects were caused by exposure to the pheromone component that makes males attractive to females but also makes males less likely to be dominant. Female mate choice therefore carries a demographic cost but functions to avoid male manipulation and aggression. Male–male competition appears to function to circumvent mate choice rather than directly manipulating females, as the mate choice can be cryptic. The dynamic struggle between the sexes for control of mating opportunities and outcomes in N.cinerea therefore reveals a unique role for sexual conflict in the evolution of the behavioural components of sexual selection.
Prevalence and expression of human papillomavirus in tonsillar carcinomas, indicating a possible viral etiology

The presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA was assessed in biopsies of tonsillar carcinomas (n = 10) and cases of tonsillitis (n = 7), serving as controls, by general‐primer‐mediated PCR (GP‐PCR). All carcinomas appeared HPV‐positive, whereas all cases of tonsillitis were HPV‐negative. Additional type‐specific PCR for HPV 6, 11, 16, 18, 31 and 33 revealed that 4 carcinomas contained HPV 16 DNA, 4 contained HPV 33 DNA and I contained an HPV 16/33 double infection. False positivity was excluded by additional Southern blot analysis of type‐specific PCR‐positive samples (n = 4). Further characterization of GP‐PCR products by sequence analysis revealed that 2 carcinomas contained still uncharacter‐ized HPV genotypes; one of these also contained HPV 33 DNA and one was negative by type‐specific PCR. Application of RNA PCR revealed expression of HPV 16 or HPV 33 E7 encoding spliced E6*l transcripts in all tonsillar carcinomas (n = 4) examined. Additional non‐radioactive RNA in situ hybridization performed on 3 biopsies revealed the presence of HPV 16 or HPV 33 E7 transcripts exclusively localized within the carcinoma cells, whereas stroma stained negative. These findings strongly support a role for certain HPV types in the pathogenesis of tonsillar carcinomas.
Quantitative role of splanchnic region in leucine metabolism: L-[1-13C,15N]leucine and substrate balance studies.

The role of the splanchnic region (Sp) in whole body leucine metabolism was assessed in six chronically catheterized fasting mongrel dogs and in eight dogs during constant enteral feeding of a complete amino acid solution (0.24 g.kg-1.h-1). We used primed continuous intravenous infusions of L-[1-13C,15N]leucine and L-[1-14C]leucine and measurements of arteriovenous isotope and leucine balance across the gut, liver, and Sp. In the fasted condition, 3.5% of arterial leucine supply was oxidized in the Sp, accounting for 13% of total body leucine oxidation, with 10% by liver. With amino acid feeding 1) leucine carbon and nitrogen fluxes and oxidation were increased (P less than 0.01) at the whole body level; 2) the percent of whole body leucine oxidation occurring in the Sp and liver increased (P less than 0.01) to 41 and 27%, respectively; 3) fractional metabolic utilization of leucine delivered to the Sp was reduced (P less than 0.01) from 47 to 35%; 4) the deamination rate of leucine in the gut was increased (P less than 0.05), along with an increased reamination rate of alpha-ketoisocaproic acid in the Sp (P less than 0.05). These findings reveal that the Sp accounts for a small fraction of whole body leucine oxidation during the fasting condition, but it plays a quantitatively important role in total body leucine oxidation during amino acid feeding; the gut and liver play cooperative roles in controlling leucine supply to peripheral tissues.
Establishing contemporary trends in hepatitis B sero-epidemiology in an Indigenous population

Background Indigenous populations globally are disproportionately affected by chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection however contemporary sero-prevalence data are often absent. In the Indigenous population of the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia the unique C4 sub-genotype of HBV universally circulates. There are no studies of the sero-prevalence, nor the impact of the vaccination program (which has a serotype mismatch compared to C4), at a population-wide level. Methods We examined all available HBV serology results obtained from the three main laboratories serving NT residents between 1991 and 2011. Data were linked with a NT government database to determine Indigenous status and the most recent test results for each individual were extracted as a cross-sectional database including 88,112 unique individuals. The primary aim was to obtain a contemporary estimate of HBsAg positivity for the NT by Indigenous status. Results Based on all tests from 2007–2011 (35,633 individuals), hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positivity was 3·40% (95%CI 3·19–3·61), being higher in Indigenous (6·08%[5·65%-6·53%]) than non-Indigenous (1·56%[1·38%-1·76%]) Australians, p<0·0001. Birth cohort analysis showed HBsAg positivity fell over time for Indigenous people, with this decrease commencing prior to universal infant vaccination (which commenced in 1990), with an ongoing but slower rate of decline since 1990, (0·23% decrease per year versus 0·17%). Conclusions HBsAg positivity is high in the NT, particularly in the Indigenous population. HBsAg positivity has fallen over time but a substantial part of this decrease is due to factors other than the universal vaccination program.
Modifying DRG-PPS to Include Only Diagnoses Present on Admission: Financial Implications and Challenges

Objective:The inability to distinguish complications acquired in hospital from comorbid conditions that are present on admission (POA) has long hampered the use of claims data in quality and safety research. Now pay-for-performance initiatives and legislation requiring Medicare to reduce payment for acquired infections add imperative for POA coding. This study used data from 2 states currently coding POA to assess the financial impact if Medicare pays based on POA conditions only and to examine the challenges in implementing POA coding. Methods:Medicare payments were calculated based first on all diagnoses and then on POA diagnoses in the Medicare discharge abstracts from California and New York in 2003, using the Diagnosis Related Group (DRG)-based Prospective Payment System (PPS) formula. The potential savings that result from excluding non-POA diagnoses were calculated. Patterns of POA coding were explored. Results:Medicare could have saved $56 million in California, $51 million in New York, and $800 million nationwide in 2003 had it paid hospital claims based only on POA diagnoses. Approximately 15% of the claims had non-POA codes, but only 1.4% of the claims were reassigned to lower-cost DRGs after excluding non-POA diagnoses. Excluding non-POA diagnoses resulted in reduced payment for operating costs, but increased outlier payments because some of the claims were designated as “unusually high cost” in the lower-cost DRGs. POA coding patterns suggest some problems in current POA coding. Conclusions:To be consistent with pay-for-performance principles and make claims data more useful for quality assurance, incorporating POA coding into DRG-PPS could produce sizable savings for Medicare.
Immunochemical Characterization of Cross-Reactivity of Pneumococcal Group 9 Capsular Polysaccharide Types 9N, 9A, 9L, and 9V

The chemical composition and immunochemical characterization of the four cross-reactive pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides within group 9 (types 9N, 9A, 9L, and 9V) were investigated. Their serological reactions were studied by using unabsorbed antisera prepared by immunizing rabbits with pneumococci of each of the four group 9 capsular polysaccharide types. Type 9A antiserum showed the most extensive cross-reactions with the four group 9 polysaccharides. Absorption with type 9N, 9L, or 9V polysaccharide removed 63, 96, or 87%, respectively, of the heterologous antibodies from the type 9A antiserum. All four of the group 9 polysaccharides contained glucose, N-acetylmannosamine, and glucuronic acid. In addition, types 9N and 9L had N-acetylglucosamine, and types 9A, 9L, and 9V contained galactose. Reduction of the uronic acid residues of the type 9 polysaccharides removed most of their homologous and much of their heterologous reactivities, indicating an important role for the uronic acid component in their antigenicity. The four group 9 polysaccharide preparations had comparable molecular sizes and only traces of protein and nucleic acid. Further studies to evaluate the most protective type among the group 9 strains to be included in the current pneumococcal vaccine are discussed.
The Rare Painful Phenomena - Chronic Paroxysmal Hemicrania-tic Syndrome as a Clinically Isolated Syndrome of the Central Nervous System.

The association of paroxysmal hemicrania with trigeminal neuralgia (TN) has been described and called paroxysmal hemicrania-tic syndrome (PH-tic). We report the case of a patient diagnosed as having chronic PH-tic (CPH-tic) syndrome as a clinically isolated syndrome of the central nervous system (CNS) (CIS). A forty year old woman was admitted to our hospital suffering from right facial pain for the last 2 years. The attacks were paroxysmal, neuralgiform, consisting of throb-like sensations, which developed spontaneously or were triggered by different stimuli in right facial (maxilar and mandibular) areas. Parallel with those, she felt a throbbing orbital and frontal pain with homolateral autonomic symptoms such as conjunctival injection, lacrimation, and the feeling that the ear on the same side was full. This pain lasted most often between 15 and 20 minutes. Beyond hemifacial hypoesthesia in the region of right maxilar and mandibular nerve, the other neurological finding was normal. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study showed a T2-weighted multiple hyperintense paraventricular lesion and hyperintense lesion in the right trigeminal main sensory nucleus and root inlet, all of them being hypointense on T1-weighted image. All of these lesions were hypointense in gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted images. Neurophysiological studies of trigeminal nerve (somatosensory evoked potentials and blink reflex) correlated with MRI described lesions. The patient's pain bouts were improved immediately after treatment with indomethacin, and were completely relieved with lamotrigine for a longer period. According to the actual McDonald's criteria, clinical state was defined as CIS which was clinically presented by CPH-tic syndrome.Even though it is a clinical rarity and its etiology is usually idiopathic, CPH-tic syndrome can also be symptomatic. When dealing with symptomatic cases, like the one described here, when causal therapy is not possible due to the nature of the primary pathological process, a therapeutic approach, although symptomatic, can be fully effective in controlling this painful syndrome. The case report could be a contribution to the pathophysiological and clinical understanding of the association of CPH and TN.Key words: Paroxysmal hemicrania, trigeminal neuralgia, clinically isolated syndrome.
[Primary hyperparathyroidism. An underdiagnosed disease in Denmark?].

Population-based investigations measuring serum calcium levels seem to indicate a prevalence of primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) of 0.4-1% in adults with a figure of about 3% in women over 60 years of age. Annual incidence rate varies and is found to be about 25-30 new cases per 100,000 adults with routine use of serum calcium measurements in diagnostic work-up. In women over 60 years of age the incidence approaches 200 instances per 100,000 individuals. Autopsy studies have demonstrated parathyroid disease in about 10%, one third as solitary adenomas and two thirds as hyperplasia. Annual incidence of surgical interventions, however, is currently found to be low with a frequency of about 2 instances per 100,000 inhabitants in Denmark, but with somewhat higher figures in Sweden and Finland. Recently, the preoperative diagnosis of pHPT has been considerably simplified and requires in most cases solely the demonstration of sustained raised serum calcium levels associated with elevated serum concentration of intact PTH. Investigations indicate that pHPT is underdiagnosed in Denmark, and indications for surgical treatment appear to be restrictive. Compared with Swedish operation series the weight of parathyroid adenomas in Danish series is found to be 3 times higher and the mass of hyperplasia 9 times higher consistent with significantly more elevated serum calcium concentrations. Arguments are presented in favour of an increased interest in diagnosing pHPT and a more liberal approach in the selection of patients for surgical treatment of mild or even asymptomatic disease. Routine measurement of serum calcium concentration in blood samples from patients might be considered in order to increase the incidence rate. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
A Robust and Scalable Visual Category and Action Recognition System Using Kernel Discriminant Analysis With Spectral Regression

Visual concept detection and action recognition are one of the most important tasks in content-based multimedia information retrieval (CBMIR) technology. It aims at annotating images using a vocabulary defined by a set of concepts of interest including scenes types (mountains, snow, etc.) or human actions (phoning, playing instrument). This paper describes our system in the ImageCLEF@ICPR10, Pascal VOC 08 Visual Concept Detection and Pascal VOC 10 Action Recognition Challenges. The proposed system ranked first in these large-scale tasks when evaluated independently by the organizers. The proposed system involves state-of-the-art local descriptor computation, vector quantization via clustering, structured scene or object representation via localized histograms of vector codes, similarity measure for kernel construction and classifier learning. The main novelty is the classifier-level and kernel-level fusion using Kernel Discriminant Analysis and Spectral Regression (SR-KDA) with RBF Chi-Squared kernels obtained from various image descriptors. The distinctiveness of the proposed method is also assessed experimentally using a video benchmark: the Mediamill Challenge along with benchmarks from ImageCLEF@ICPR10, Pascal VOC 10 and Pascal VOC 08. From the experimental results, it can be derived that the presented system consistently yields significant performance gains when compared with the state-of-the art methods. The other strong point is the introduction of SR-KDA in the classification stage where the time complexity scales linearly with respect to the number of concepts and the main computational complexity is independent of the number of categories.
Fcgamma receptor type IIIA is associated with rheumatoid arthritis in two distinct ethnic groups.

OBJECTIVE To investigate a possible association between a functional polymorphism in the intermediate-affinity receptor for IgG called Fc-gamma receptor type IIIA (FcgammaRIIIA [CD16]) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS This was an allelic association study in which a single nucleotide polymorphism in FcgammaRIIIA was examined as a susceptibility and/or severity factor for RA. The FcgammaRIIIA-158V/F polymorphism was genotyped by direct sequencing in 2 well-characterized ethnic groups, UK Caucasians (141 RA patients and 124 controls) and North Indians and Pakistanis (108 RA patients and 113 controls). RESULTS The FcgammaRIIIA-158V/F polymorphism was associated with RA in both ethnic groups (P = 0.028 for UK Caucasians, P = 0.050 for North Indians and Pakistanis, and P = 0.003 for both groups combined). FcgammaRIIIA-158VF and -158W individuals had an increased risk of developing RA in both populations (UK Caucasians odds ratio [OR] 1.6, P = 0.050; North Indians and Pakistanis OR 1.9, P = 0.023; and combined groups OR 1.7, P = 0.003). In the UK Caucasian group, the highest risk was for nodular RA, a more severe disease subset, associated with homozygosity for the FcgammaRIIIA-158V allele (OR 4.4, P = 0.004). There was also evidence for an interaction between the RA-associated HLA-DRB1 allele and the presence of at least 1 FcgammaRIIIA-158V allele in predicting susceptibility to RA (OR 5.5, P = 0.000). CONCLUSION We have demonstrated that the FcgammaRIIIA-158V/F polymorphism is a susceptibility and/or severity marker for RA in 2 distinct ethnic groups. This finding may ultimately provide additional insights into the pathogenesis of RA and other autoantibody/immune complex-driven autoimmune diseases.