Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mast Cell May Be the Master Key to Solve the Mystery of Pathogenesis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

The pathologic role of mast cell was classically studied in allergic diseases such as asthma and anaphylaxis.1 However, recently, the role of this multifunctional master cell has been actively investigated in the field of functional gastrointestinal disorder. Activation of mast cell has been suggested to increase intestinal permeability and promote visceral hypersensitivity in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). 2 As one of the possible mechanisms, release of tryptase from mast cell, activation of protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR-2), and subsequent release of neuropeptides from afferent neurons in the intestine have been proposed through several studies.3–5 In this issue of Gut and Liver, Liang et al.6 investigated the expression of tryptase, PAR-2 and several neuropeptides in the colonic mucosal of healthy control and patients with IBS. The authors found that mRNA expression of tryptase and PAR-2 was significantly elevated in the patients with IBS compared to the control. Tryptase protein expression was also elevated in the patients with IBS. However, PAR-2 protein expression did not differ between the IBS patients and the control. The protein level of calcitonin gene-related peptide, vasoactive intestinal peptide, and substance P was significantly higher in the patients with diarrhea-type IBS (IBS-D) than in the control. This study added precious evidence which supports the role of mast cell in the pathogenesis of IBS. In addition, the elevation of all neuropeptides in IBS-D only well corresponds with the results of some studies which showed mast cell hyperplasia is more common in IBS-D.7,8 However, this study has some limitations. The interaction between mast cell and intestinal never is bidirectional.2 Neuropeptides can trigger activation of mast cell and conversely, activated mast cell can stimulate release of neuropeptides from nerve terminal. Therefore, elevation of both tryptase and neuropeptides in this study does not tell us which one is first. In addition, elevation of PAR-2 mRNA in the IBS patients did not led to the elevation of PAR-protein in this study. Another pathway which connects tryptase and the pathologic effects in IBS might be possible. Recently, the role of gut microbiota has been highlighted in the pathogenesis of IBS.9 Although there is still no convincing evidence, I think the change of gut microbiota might trigger activation of mast cell and subsequent visceral hypersensitivity. In-depth studies are required regarding the relationship between mast cell and the pathogenesis of IBS, considering the role of this tiny hero.
"The Barbarians of Hollywood": The Exploitation of Aurora Mardiganian by the American Film Industry

As the first genocide of the 20th century tore through Ottoman Turkey, advances within the film industry opened new doors for humanitarian aid. The story of Aurora Mardiganian, a teenage Armenian survivor, provided Americans with a visual representation of what mass atrocity looked like through the film Ravished Armenia. However, the means to which the film and accompanying autobiography were created exemplify a violation of ethics. Anthony Slide’s edited edition of Ravished Armenia and the Story of Aurora Mardiganian offers an insightful account of Mardiganian’s plight, and gives evidence to the claim that she was exploited physically, psychologically, and financially in order to yield the maximum profit. Mardiganian’s legacy highlights the need for remembrance over apathy, and active awareness over indifference. Technological advances in media during the 20th century have impacted and helped shape American culture. Print media has always been an integral part of society, however, the appearance of visual media in the form of moving picture is a fairly recent development. One of film’s first subjects was Aurora Mardiganian, an Armenian Genocide survivor. Her autobiography entitled Ravished Armenia: The Story of Aurora Mardiganian, the Christian Girl, Who Survived the Great Massacres caught the attention of American filmmakers and inspired the film Ravished Armenia (also known as Auction of Souls). The film and memoir introduced Americans to an intense visual representation unlike newspaper articles and travel diaries. However, the means by which the film and its accompanying narrative were created show the intersection of ethics and humanitarian aid with its most undesirable outcome. “The Barbarians of Hollywood”: Aurora Mardiganian, Ravished Armenia and the 1 Story of Aurora Mardiganian (Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 2014), 63.
Fear of negative evaluation and the development of eating psychopathology: a longitudinal study among nonclinical women.

OBJECTIVE We replicated the cross-sectional relationship between restrictive eating attitudes and a fear of being negatively evaluated by others and tested whether negative evaluation fears longitudinally predict changes in eating attitudes over a 7-month period. METHOD During the first week of an academic year, and again during Week 33, 143 female students completed the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (FNE), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the three eating scales of the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI). RESULTS The exclusive link between heightened negative evaluation fears and restrictive eating attitudes was replicated cross-sectionally. However, the longitudinal model predicting the development of restriction was nonsignificant. In contrast, alongside depression, negative evaluation fears predicted an increase in bulimic attitudes, whereas self-esteem predicted an increase in body dissatisfaction. DISCUSSION The findings support a model whereby individuals with heightened fears of negative evaluation may use restrictive pathology to raise their status among peers. If this mechanism of dealing with negative evaluation fears is not sufficient in the long term, individuals may develop bulimic symptoms to deal with their negative evaluation fears.
Culture Contact Studies: Redefining the Relationship between Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology

Archaeology is poised to play a pivotal role in the reconfiguration of historical anthropology. Archaeology provides not only a temporal baseline that spans both prehistory and history, but the means to study the material remains of ethnic laborers in pluralistic colonial communities who are poorly represented in written accounts. Taken together, archaeology is ideally suited for examining the multicultural roots of modern América. But before archaeology’s full potential to contribute to culture contact studies can be realized, we must address several systemic problems resulting from the separation of “prehistoric” and “historical” archaeology into distinct subfields. In this paper, I examine the implications of increasing temporal/regional specialization in archaeology on (1) the use of historical documents in archaeological research, (2) the study of long-term culture change, and (3) the implementation of pan-regional comparative analyses.
Reconstruction of the centrosome cycle from cryoelectron micrographs.

The absence of detailed in vitro studies leaves the molecular events involved in the centrosome cycle poorly characterized. Most earlier studies have employed electron microscopy of thin or thick sections of cells. Here we have analyzed the structure of centrosomes isolated from nonsynchronized human lymphoblastic KE37 cells using cryoelectron microscopy of vitrified specimens. The centrosomes were classified into five categories depending on the number of centrioles (one or two), the respective orientation of the two centrioles in a pair (orthogonal or disoriented), and the presence or absence of appendages at the distal extremity of the centrioles (referred to as mature and immature, respectively). A detailed analysis of the centriole dimensions in these categories allowed us to reconstruct the centrosome cycle in KE37 cells. Our results suggest that centriole assembly is completed only when the mother centriole of an immature orthogonal pair separates from its daughter in preparation to centrosome duplication. Our study shows that an in vitro approach based on cryoelectron microscopy of vitrified specimens can be used to obtain detailed structural information on the centrosome cycle.
From the “Greenhouse” to Reality

Beit-Hatikva (BH) is a special unit within the Israeli prison system, and houses violent men who were sentenced to prison time for domestic violence. The goal of BH is to bring about behavioral and identity changes. The study explores the lived experiences of BH graduates. Twelve BH graduates were interviewed using an in-depth qualitative interview, at least one year following their release from prison. Interviewees were asked about meaningful experiences they underwent following their release from prison. Going out to the reality of life outside of BH, the graduates encounter narratives that challenge the BH narrative of changed identity and transformation. Focusing on their past, their stigma as ex-convicts, and disregarding their past normative achievements, this external and challenging societal narrative attempts to draw the graduate back into old patterns of thinking and behaving, challenging them to face temptations, provocations, expectations, and assumptions of social reality.
From plasticity to a renormalization group

The marginally rigid state is a candidate paradigm for what makes granular material a state of matter distinct from both liquid and solid. The coordination number is identified as a discriminating characteristic, and for rough–surfaced particles we show that the low values predicted are indeed approached in simple two–dimensional experiments. We show calculations of the stress transmission, suggesting that this is governed by local linear equations of constraint between the stress components. These constraints can in turn be related to the generalized forces conjugate to the motion of grains rolling over each other. The lack of a spatially coherent way of imposing a sign convention on these motions is a problem for scaling up the equations, which leads us to attempt a renormalization–group calculation. Finally, we discuss how perturbations propagate through such systems, suggesting a distinction between the behaviour of rough and smooth grains.
Intercellular Communication Through Contacts Between Continuous Pseudopodial Extensions in a Macrophage-like Cell Line

Abstract Cell-to-cell information exchange mediated by membrane protrusions in tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) has been widely described in distinct cell lines. Here, we describe a new form of direct intercellular communication in a murine macrophage-like cell line that is mediated by pseudopodial fusions that form over scraped plastic tissue culture surfaces along scratch lines. These structures are capable of forming intercellular, tunnel-like channels (inter-pseudopodial axis connections) that can be differentiated from TNTs based on length, thickness, tandem arrangement along an axis, pseudopodial origin and permanency. These channels were able to exchange membrane lipids and contain particles 0.5 μm or lesser in diameter between cells and might represent an additional biological function of pseudopodia.
BMI as a modifying factor in the relations between age at menarche, menstrual cycle characteristics, and risk of preeclampsia

To examine the relations between age at menarche and menstrual cycle characteristics and preeclampsia risk, we analyzed data from a case-control study conducted from 1998 to 2002. Usual menstrual cycle characteristics among 286 preeclampsia cases and 471 normotensive controls were assessed using a structured interview during postpartum hospitalization. We used multivariable logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), adjusting for confounders. We also examined the influence of pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) on selected hypothesized relations. Among lean women (pre-pregnancy BMI < 25 kg/m2), preeclampsia risk was lower in those reporting cycles ⩾36 days in length (adjusted OR 0.78, CI 0.35–1.83) and menarche at ⩾14 years (adjusted OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.28–0.82). In contrast, among overweight or obese women, preeclampsia risk was higher in those with long cycles (OR 3.11, 95% CI 0.62–1.56, pinteraction = 0.16) and late menarche (OR 1.53, 95% CI 0.59–3.97, pinteraction = 0.03). These data suggest that adiposity influences the relations between usual menstrual cycle length, age at menarche, and preeclampsia. Overweight women with long cycles are at particularly high preeclampsia risk.
[Effects of telmisartan and pyridoxamine on abdominal aorta vascular remodeling in spontaneously hypertensive rats].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of telmisartan and pyridoxamine on vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) proliferation and apoptosis as well as abdominal aorta vascular remodeling in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). METHODS SHRs randomly received placebo, telmisartan (6 mg kg(-1) x d(-1)), pyridoxamine (200 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) or telmisartan (6 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) plus pyridoxamine (200 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1), n = 12 each) for 16 weeks. Wistar-Kyoto (WKY, n = 12) rats serve as normotensive control. The systolic blood pressure (SBP) of rat was measured before and weekly thereafter. The serum advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) were detected by competitive ELISA. The serum super oxide dismutase (SOD) and nitric oxide (NO) were measured. The abdominal aorta were assessed by image analysis in HE stained sections. The VSMCs apoptosis and proliferation in abdominal aorta were detected with in situ end labeling technique and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) immunohistochemistry staining respectively. RESULTS SBP were significantly lower in telmisartan and telmisartan plus pyridoxamine therapy group than in placebo treated hypertensive rats while not affected by pyridoxamine (P > 0.05). Activity of SOD and NO were significantly higher and AGEs significantly lower in telmisartan, pyridoxamine and combination therapy treated SHRs than in placebo treated hypertensive rats (P < 0.01). The telmisartan, pyridoxamine and combination therapy can significantly inhibit the PCNA expression and significantly enhance the apoptosis value in abdominal aorta (P < 0.01). The efficacy of combined treatment was significantly higher than telmisartan and pyridoxamine alone (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Telmisartan and pyridoxamine could attenuate abdominal aorta vascular remodeling via reducing oxidative stress and AGEs production as well as restoring the balance of VSMCs proliferation and apoptosis in SHRs abdominal aorta.
Medicaid Expansion Did Not Result In Significant Employment Changes Or Job Reductions In 2014.

Medicaid expansion undertaken through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is already producing major changes in insurance coverage and access to care, but its potential impacts on the labor market are also important policy considerations. Economic theory suggests that receipt of Medicaid might benefit workers who would no longer be tied to specific jobs to receive health insurance (known as job lock), giving them more flexibility in their choice of employment, or might encourage low-income workers to reduce their hours or stop working if they no longer need employment-based insurance. Evidence on labor changes after previous Medicaid expansions is mixed. To view the impact of the ACA on current labor market participation, we analyzed labor-market participation among adults with incomes below 138 percent of the federal poverty level, comparing Medicaid expansion and nonexpansion states and Medicaid-eligible and -ineligible groups, for the pre-ACA period (2005-13) and the first fifteen months of the expansion (January 2014-March 2015). Medicaid expansion did not result in significant changes in employment, job switching, or full- versus part-time status. While we cannot exclude the possibility of small changes in these outcomes, our findings rule out the large change found in one influential pre-ACA study; furthermore, they suggest that the Medicaid expansion has had limited impact on labor-market outcomes thus far.
The Cellular and Molecular Immune Response of the Weanling Piglet to Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B

Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) is a biothreat agent, etiologic agent of food poisoning, and potent inducer of toxic shock syndrome. This heat-stable exoprotein is thought to act as a superantigen to induce T cell–specific pathology. Most animal models do not accurately map the clinical syndrome of human SEB exposure. Previously, we have demonstrated the utility of the weanling piglet model of SEB intoxication. Here, we analyze gross and histopathologic specimens from lymphoid tissue of these animals. Hematological testing was completed to observe changes in circulating leukocytes. Further, these leukocytes were differentiated and the subsets were subsequently analyzed using flow cytometry. Cytokine mRNA was quantified in lymphoid tissue and peripheral blood cells and compared to actual protein concentration using ELISA. The mRNA expression levels for several cell markers implicated in T and B cell differentiation were quantified and compared to control animals, as were levels for apoptosis-related genes. Lymphadenopathy was constantly seen post mortem. SEB-exposed animals had a leukocytosis which increased linearly over the time course. Monocyte levels increased over time, while lymphocyte levels peaked at 6h and then returned to baseline. Most cytokines had mRNA levels that were upregulated after exposure. Detection of serum cytokine changes was accomplished; however, these patterns did not always follow those seen in the differentially expressed genes. Both pro- and anti-apoptotic genes were differentially expressed in exposed animals. This paper reports, for the first time, the immunological findings in the weanling piglet model of SEB intoxication. From this work it is clear that there is not one absolute cell-mediated pathway contributing to the pathology these animals exhibit as a result of SEB exposure.
Restored humoral immune response to influenza vaccination in HIV‐infected adults treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy

Background:Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) effectively suppresses replication of HIV and is accompanied by an increase in CD4+ T lymphocytes. Whether the increase in CD4+ T lymphocytes in the blood is a reflection of a reconstitution of the immune functions is unknown. We investigated the recovery of the humoral immune response during HAART after immunization with T-cell-dependent influenza vaccine. Methods:Forty-one men and three women infected with HIV and treated with HAART, and 15 healthy hospital staff members were immunized with trivalent influenza subunit vaccine. Antibody titres were determined by haemagglutination inhibiting assay in sera obtained before and 30 days after immunization. Lymphocyte subsets were determined in blood samples taken at the time of vaccination. Results:In all HIV-infected individuals, treatment with HAART caused a median reduction of 2.3 log10 in HIV-1 load. The median increase of CD4+ T lymphocytes after initiation of HAART was 170 × 106/l. The antibody response to influenza antigens was proportional to the number of memory CD4+ T lymphocytes in the blood at the time of vaccination. When a group of patients and healthy controls with approximately similar CD4+ T-lymphocyte counts were considered, the antibody titres after vaccination for influenza strain H1N1 and influenza B did not differ between patients and controls (P = 0.12). Vaccination of patients with a CD4+ T-lymphocyte count of < 200 × 106/l (mean 85 × 106/l) before the start of HAART and with a mean of 282 × 106/l CD4+ T lymphocytes at the time of vaccination as a result of HAART, demonstrated a substantial antibody response whereas patients with a CD4+ T lymphocyte count of < 200 × 106/l (mean 56 × 106/l) not treated with HAART (historical controls), and vaccinated with a similar influenza vaccine, failed to induce an antibody response. Conclusion:The present findings demonstrate a recovery of the humoral immune response to influenza antigens in HIV-infected individuals treated with HAART. This indicates that functional improvement of antigen specific CD4+ T helper cell reponses occurs.
Immature, but not inactive: the tolerogenic function of immature dendritic cells

The induction of antigen‐specific T cell tolerance and its maintenance in the periphery is critical for the prevention of autoimmunity. Recent evidence shows that dendritic cells (DC) not only initiate T cell responses, but are also involved in silencing of T cell immune responses. The functional activities of DC are mainly dependent on their state of activation and differentiation, that is, terminally differentiated mature DC can efficiently induce the development of T effector cells, whereas immature DC are involved in maintenance of peripheral tolerance. The means by which immature DC maintain peripheral tolerance are not entirely clear, however, their functions include the induction of anergic T cells, T cells with regulatory properties as well as the generation of T cells that secrete immunomodulatory cytokines. This review summarizes the current knowledge about the immunoregulatory role of immature DC that might act as guardians for the induction and maintenance of T cell tolerance in the periphery.
Clues to the Blues: Predictors of Self-Reported Mental and Emotional Health Among Older African American Men

The mental health needs of aging African American men have been overlooked and few studies have distinguished between more severe clinically diagnosable mental health challenges and less severe emotional states for this population. African American men may not identify with or internalize the terminology of “depression” despite exhibiting the symptom criteria. This exploratory cross-sectional study examined correlates of “downheartedness” as an alternative indicator of emotional health. The authors examined the self-reported responses of 1,666 older African American men on a baseline questionnaire from a larger longitudinal study. Demographic, physical, mental and emotional health, and health system factors were examined as possible correlates of downheartedness. The mean age of participants was 73.6 years and 74.8% of men described themselves as “downhearted and blue” most or all of the time while only 18.5% of them reported feeling moderate to severe anxiety or depression. When other factors were controlled, mobility problems (odds ratio [OR] = 2.36), problems getting health care (OR = 2.69), having a doctor who never listens (OR = 2.18), physical or mental problems that interfere with social activities (OR = 1.34), accomplishing less due to physical health (OR = 1.35), and accomplishing less due to mental/emotional health (OR = 1.57) were all associated with greater odds of being downhearted. The current findings indicate that this sample more closely identified with language accurately describing their emotional health state (i.e., downhearted) and not with clinical mental health terminology (i.e., depression) that may be culturally stigmatized.