Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The genomic tag hypothesis: modern viruses as molecular fossils of ancient strategies for genomic replication, and clues regarding the origin of protein synthesis.

Although tRNA is best known as a component of the translation apparatus, tRNA and tRNA-like molecules also play key roles-either as template or as primer-in a wide variety of replicative processes. These processes include replication of single-stranded RNA viruses of bacteria, plants, and possibly mammals; replication of duplex DNA plasmids of fungal mitochondria; replication of retroviral and pararetroviral genomes; and replication of modem chromosomal telomeres. Consider the following two obvious examples. First, the 3' end of many eubacterial and plant single-stranded RNA viruses resembles the "top half' (acceptor stem/loop) of tRNA, with a stem/loop structure immediately followed by the 3' terminal sequence CCA. This tRNA-like structure functions as the template for initiation of RNA replication. In fact, some of these tRNA-like structures are so similar to bona fide tRNA that they can be aminoacylated by the corresponding aminocyl-tRNA synthetases. Second, the replication of most retroviral RNA genomes begins with annealing of a mature tRNA to the primer binding site on genomic RNA; reverse transcriptase then uses the tRNA as primer to copy the RNA genome into the first strand of DNA. Thus in each case tRNA or a
Evaluating non‐adherence to immunosuppressant medications in pediatric liver transplant recipients

Abstract: Non‐adherence with recommended immunosuppressant medications is common post‐pediatric liver transplant and is the most important reason for organ rejection in long‐term survivors. However, there is currently no validated, standard method to measure adherence, with a well‐defined threshold, making it extremely difficult to evaluate interventions to improve adherence. Previous studies have suggested that the degree of fluctuation of medication blood levels over time can provide an idea about how regularly the medication is being taken. The present study, conducted at UCLA medical center, sought to identify a specific threshold value of the s.d. of individual tacrolimus blood levels in pediatric liver transplant recipients which would be associated with rejection episodes in these patients. A threshold of 3.0 has been identified in other studies, and was supported by the analysis of retrospective data from 96 subjects. However, further analysis found that a s.d. of 2.5 appeared to have a better fit with the data. These findings suggest the utility of monitoring the s.d. of routine tacrolimus blood levels in pediatric liver transplant recipients for detecting non‐adherence to immunosuppressant medication prior to clinical rejection, allowing earlier interventions.
Smoking, DNA repair capacity and risk of nonsmall cell lung cancer

Tobacco‐related carcinogens cause a variety of DNA damage that is repaired by different enzymatic pathways, suggesting that DNA repair plays an important role in tobacco‐induced carcinogenesis. In a large hospital‐based case‐control study, we investigated DNA repair capacity (DRC) as a biomarker for susceptibility to nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and evaluated the possible interaction between DRC and tobacco smoke in 467 newly diagnosed NSCLC patients and 488 cancer‐free controls. We measured DRC in cultured peripheral lymphocytes using the host‐cell reactivation assay with a reporter gene damaged by an activated tobacco carcinogen, benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide. The results showed that current smokers exhibited the highest DRCs as compared to former and nonsmokers both among patients and control subjects. There were no differences of DRC among 3 different histopathologic types of NSCLC. Logistic regression analysis revealed that suboptimal DRC and pack‐years smoked were independent predictors of NSCLC risk. The overall 15.5% reduction in DRC observed in the cases (7.84%) compared to the controls (9.28%) (p<0.001) was associated with an approximately 2‐fold increased risk of NSCLC (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.85, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.42–2.42). There was a significant dose‐response association between decreased DRC and increased risk of lung cancer. Furthermore, we observed a nonstatistically significant additive but not multiplicative interaction between DRC and pack‐years smoked on lung cancer risk, particularly in the histopathologic types of NSCLC other than adenocarcinoma. The results suggest that suboptimal DRC is associated with increased risk of NSCLC and DRC may modulate the risk of lung cancer associated with smoking but the latter needs to be verified in larger studies. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Maternal filarial infection: association of anti-sheath antibody responses with plasma levels of IFN-γ and IL-10

SUMMARY Maternal filarial infection influences the risk of acquiring infection and development of immunity in children. Here we have analysed the blood samples of 60 mothers (24 infected and 36 uninfected) and their corresponding cord bloods to assess the impact of maternal infection on the anti-sheath antibodies and cytokine production in neonates born from them. About 69·4% of non-infected mothers and their cord bloods showed the presence of anti-sheath antibodies, while only 16·6% of the cord bloods from infected mothers were positive for it. The IL-10 level was significantly high in cord bloods of infected mothers compared with non-infected mothers. At the same time the IL-10 level was also observed to be remarkably high in cord bloods of both infected and non-infected mothers negative for anti-sheath antibody. In contrast, IFN-γ levels were significantly high in cord bloods of non-infected mothers compared with infected mothers and the increment was prominent in cord bloods of both infected and non-infected mothers positive for anti-sheath antibody. The study reveals that the presence or absence of anti-sheath antibodies in association with cytokines skews the filarial specific immunity to either Th1 or Th2 responses in neonates. This may affect the natural history of filarial infection in early childhood.
Urinary bladder cancer in Cameroon: histo-epidemiological aspects of 81 cases

Objectives: To clarify the epidemiological and histopathological aspects ofurinary bladder cancer in Cameroon. Materials and Methods: It was a descriptive retrospective study carried out over a period of 12 years (2004-2015)on malignant tumors of the urinary bladder, conducted in the anatomical pathology laboratories in five regions (Center, Littoral, West, South-west. North-west). The variablesstudied were: frequency, age, sex, histological type and. Results: We collected 81 cases of urinary bladder cancers, which represented 6.29% of malignant urogenital tumors. The average age of patients was 52.33±12.80 years (extremes: 22 - 90 years). The majority were males 60 (74.07%), with the male to female ratio-2.9:1. Histologically, Transitional Cell Carcinoma (TCC) were the most common histological type with 81.48% (n = 450), followed by Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC)- 7 cases (8.64%). Conclusion: Urinary bladder cancer is the second urogenital cancer in Cameroon. The predominant histological type is the transitional cell carcinoma.
Kin association during brood care in a facultatively social bird: active discrimination or by‐product of partner choice and demography?

Intra‐group relatedness does not necessarily imply kin selection, a leading explanation for social evolution. An overlooked mechanism for generating population genetic structure is variation in longevity and fecundity, referred to as individual quality, affecting kin structure and the potential for cooperation. Individual quality also affects choosiness in partner choice, a key process explaining cooperation through direct fitness benefits. Reproductive skew theory predicts that relatedness decreases with increasing group size, but this relationship could also arise because of quality‐dependent demography and partner choice, without active kin association. We addressed whether brood‐rearing eider (Somateria mollissima) females preferentially associated with kin using a 6‐year data set with individuals genotyped at 19 microsatellite loci and tested whether relatedness decreased with increasing female group size. We also determined the relationship between local relatedness and indices of female age and body condition. We further examined whether the level of female intracoalition relatedness differed from background relatedness in any year. As predicted, median female intra‐group relatedness decreased with increasing female group size. However, the proportion of related individuals increased with advancing female age, and older females prefer smaller brood‐rearing coalitions, potentially producing a negative relationship between group size and relatedness. There were considerable annual fluctuations in the level of relatedness between coalition‐forming females, and in 1 year this level exceeded that expected by random association. Thus, both passive and active mechanisms govern kin associations in brood‐rearing eiders. Eiders apparently can discriminate between kin, but the benefits of doing so may vary over time.
Bolus delay and dispersion in perfusion MRI: Implications for tissue predictor models in stroke

Perfusion maps, which are calculated from dynamic‐susceptibility contrast (DSC)‐MRI data by deconvolution of the arterial input function (AIF), are commonly used to predict tissue infarction in acute stroke. However, since the AIF is commonly measured in a major artery, there can be perfusion measurement errors associated with bolus delay/dispersion. Although methods to account for delay‐related errors have been proposed, the effect of dispersion is more difficult to deal with and is usually left uncorrected. This study presents an assessment of the delay–dispersion relationship in a group of patients. Although a significant correlation was observed with one of the bolus delay definitions used, the estimation of the dispersion from the degree of delay was unreliable. Importantly, the dispersion observed in many patients was sufficient to result in substantial perfusion errors. The results are compared with previous numerical simulations, and their implications for the assessment and management of acute stroke are discussed. Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Endogenous apolipoprotein E suppresses LPS‐stimulated microglial nitric oxide production

THE human apolipoprotein (apo) E4 isoform is associated with an increased risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and poor prognosis after acute CNS injury. Addition of human apoE inhibits murine microglial activation in culture, suggesting that microglia might be an important physiological target of apoE. In the present study, we examined the role of endogenous murine apoE in modulating microglial nitric oxide (NO) production following lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. Brain cultures from apoE-deficient mouse pups showed enhanced NO production relative to cultures from wild-type mice and from transgenic mice expressing the human apoE3 isoform, demonstrating that endogenous apoE produced by glial cultures is capable of inhibiting microglial function. ApoE produced within the brain may suppress microglial reactivity and thus alter the CNS response to acute and chronic injury.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) GRB 011121 : A Collimated Outflow into Wind-blown Surroundings

We report optical and near-infrared follow-up observations of GRB 011121 collected predominantly at ESO telescopes in Chile. We discover a break in the afterglow light curve after 1.3 days, which implies an initial jet opening angle of about 9 . The jet origin of this break is supported by the fact that the spectral energy distribution is achromatic during the first 4 days. During later phases, GRB 011121 shows significant excess emission above the flux predicted by a power law, which we interpret as additional light from an underlying supernova. In particular, the spectral energy distribution of the optical transient approximately 2 weeks after the burst is clearly not of power-law type but can be presented by a blackbody with a temperature of 6000 K. The deduced parameters for the decay slope and the spectral index favor a wind scenario, i.e., an outflow into a circumburst environment shaped by the stellar wind of a massive gamma-ray burst (GRB) progenitor. Because of its low redshift of z 1⁄4 0:36, GRB 011121 has been the best example for the GRB-supernova connection until GRB 030329 and provides compelling evidence for a circumburster wind region expected to exist if the progenitor was a massive star. Subject headings: gamma rays: bursts — supernovae: general — techniques: photometric On-line material: color figures
Nuclear Pregnane X Receptor Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (−25385C/T) Is Not Associated With Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Pediatric Patients

Objective: Studies in adults characterized the role of the pregnane X receptor (PXR) in the pathophysiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with conflicting results; pediatric studies are still lacking. Patients and Methods: Genotyping for the −25385C/T polymorphism of the PXR gene in 187 white children with IBD and 185 controls. Determination of colonic PXR expression in selected patients with IBD. Results: Minor allele frequency was seen in 35.6% patients with IBD and 40.5% controls (P = 0.174), although no significant differences were seen between the genotypes (P = 0.366). PXR was underexpressed in colonic tissue of 7 out of 11 Crohn disease and in 4 out of 5 patients with ulcerative colitis. Conclusions: We could not confirm an association of the −25385C/T polymorphism in pediatric patients with IBD.
Correction: TACC3 Is Essential for EGF-Mediated EMT in Cervical Cancer

The name of the third author was incorrectly represented in the Citation. The correct Citation is: Ha G-H, Kim J-L, Breuer E-K (2013) TACC3 Is Essential for EGF-Mediated EMT in Cervical Cancer. PLoS ONE 8(8): e70353. doi:10.1371/journal.pone. 0070353.
Characterization of the acute inflammatory response in the hybrid tambacu ( Piaractus mesopotamicus male × Colossoma macropomum female ) (

This work evaluated the acute inflammatory response induced by injections of 0.5 mL saline solution (control), 500 μg carrageenin and 0.5 mL thioglycollate 3% in the swim bladder of juvenile tambacu hybrid. Fish were distributed in three treatments, three replications and acclimated for a period of 10 days before assay. The cell characterization from the inflammatory exudate was performed in Giemsa and PAS stained smears. Carrageenin, injected in fish, showed an increase on the total number of cells in the inflammatory exudate when compared to saline and thioglycollate injected. Whereas, for carrageenin-injected fish, the percentage of thrombocyte was higher than thioglycollate. On the other hand, granulocyte percentage in thioglycollate-injected fish was higher than the ones injected using carrageenin. Carrageenin provoked the highest migration of macrophage to the inflammatory site. The PAS method confirmed the presence of three types of granulocytes: eosinophilic granular cell (EGC) type 1 with the characteristics of a special granulocytic cell commonly found in the circulating blood; EGC type 2 shorter than the last one and neutrophil. This study contributes to a better understanding of the inflammatory response and infectious processes in native fish.
Interaction Between Serum Leptin Levels and Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal-Thyroid Axis in Patients with Anorexia Nervosa

The main objective of the study was to evaluate the endocrinological picture of anorexia. Serum leptin levels are low in untreated anorexia nervosa (AN), but studies of the exact relationship between leptin, body weight and hormones of hypothalamo-hypophyseal-thyroid axis and the impact of refeeding in anorectics are limited. The sample consistent of 15 patients with anorexia nervosa before and 1 mounth after partial weight recovery, and 15 age-matched control subjects. The body mass index (BMI), leptin, plasma neuropeptide Y (NPY), serotonin, thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3) and reverse triiodothyronine (rT3) in serum were evaluated for each subject. The mean serum levels of leptin, T4, and T3 were significantly lower before weight recovery in 15 patients with AN than they were in control subjects. After partial weight recovery, basal T3 levels were unchanged and significantly lower than in controls. Basal T4 was even still more reduced, but we observed significantly elevated ratio of T3/T4 and reduced ratio rT3/T4 of in AN patients after gain recovery, indicating increased conversion of T4 to T3 than to rT3. The levels of serum leptin were low in AN, but after partial weight recovery slightly increased, and correlated with BMI. No differences were observed in serum NPY. Serum levels of IGF-1 and serotonin were lower in AN than in controls before and after partial weight gain IGF-1 was slightly increased after partial weight gain. We did not find correlation between serum levels of leptin and serum T4. The low serum levels of T3 associated with chronic starvation were thought to be the result of impaired peripheral conversion of T4 to T3. However, decreased levels of T3 were still apparent even after a partial weight gain, and the concentration of T4 was even lower. The diminished serum level of TSH in AN, however, appeared to return to the level of controls. On the basis of these results, we assume that low serum levels of thyroid hormones in AN reflect a dysfunction of the HPT axis in AN patients. It is known that in man serum serotonin levels correlate positively with T3 levels. It is possible that the low serum levels of thyroid hormones in AN subjects result in low serum serotonin and its product, melatonin. While IGF-1 reflects the energy intake of the previuos few weeks, the serum leptin concentration reflects the true status of the adipose stores, a fact that has useful clinical implications.
The Histone Content of Chromatin Preparations from Leukaemic Cells

Summary. The histone compositions of chromatin preparations obtained from different adult leukaemias were compared and showed differences between myeloid, monoblastic and lymphoblastic types. The differences were observed whether or not the myeloid precursors were mature or blast forms. Mixing experiments revealed that a potent histone protease was present in the myelocyte chromatin fraction which, unlike most histone proteases, appeared not to be inhibited by serine esterase inhibitors. It is concluded that the differences observed in the histone patterns do not reflect the histone composition present in the cell but are created by proteolytic degradation during the isolation procedure. However, these may still provide some help in identifying myeloblasts in undifferentiated leukaemias.
Hierarchy of Stroma-derived Factors in Supporting Growth of Stroma-dependent Hemopoietic Cells: Membrane-bound SCF is Sufficient to Confer Stroma Competence to Epithelial Cells

Hemopoiesis takes place in a microenvironment where hemopoietic cells are closely associated with stroma by various interactions. Stroma coregulates the proliferation and differentiation of hemopoietic cells. Stroma-hemopoietic-cell contact can be supported by locally produced membrane associated growth factors. The stroma derived growth factor, stem cell factor (SCF) is important in hemopoiesis. We examined the different biological interactions of membrane bound and soluble SCF with human hemopoietic cells expressing the SCF receptor, c-kit. To analyze the function of the SCF isoforms in inducing the proliferation of hemopoietic TF1 or Cord blood (CB) CD34 + cells we used stroma cell lines that differ in their presentation of no SCF, membrane SCF, or soluble SCF. We established a new coculture system using an epithelial cell line that excludes potential interfering effects with other known stroma encoded hemopoietic growth factors. We show that soluble SCF, in absence of membrane-bound SCF, inhibits long term clonal growth of primary or established CD34 + hemopoietic cells, whereas membrane-inserted SCF "dominantly" induces long term proliferation of these cells. We demonstrate a hierarchy of these SCF isoforms in the interaction of stroma with hemopoietic TF1 cells. Membrane-bound SCF is "dominant" over soluble SCF, whereas soluble SCF acts epistatically in interacting with hemopoietic cells compared with other stroma derived factors present in SCF deficient stroma. A hierarchy of stroma cell lines can be arranged according to their presentation of membrane SCF or soluble SCF. In our model system, membrane-bound SCF expression is sufficient to confer stroma properties to an epithelial cell line but soluble SCF does not.
EFECTO DE UNA MAYOR COBERTURA DE SALAS CUNA EN LA PARTICIPACIÓN LABORAL FEMENINA: EVIDENCIA DE CHILE

La provision publica de salas cunas en Chile aumento en un 70% entre el 2005 y 2006. Esta variacion exogena en la disponibilidad de cuidado infantil a nivel comunal es utilizada en este estudio para estimar su efecto en la participacion laboral femenina (PLF). A pesar de esta fuerte expansion se encuentra que la provision de salas cunas no ha tenido efecto en la PLF. Razones culturales e institucionales pueden explicar este resultado: la vision tradicional del rol de la mujer en el cuidado de los ninos, baja cobertura de las salas cunas (al 2006), jornada de atencion de salas cunas y proceso de postulacion a ellas entre otros.
Genotype of Candida species associated with different conditions of vulvovaginal candidosis

It is unknown whether strains isolated from recurrent vulvovaginal candidosis (RVVC), vulvovaginal candidosis (VVC) and asymptomatic carriers are varying or not in genotyping. Candida isolates were genotyped to determine whether specific types were associated with RVVC and VVC. A total of 97 Candida isolates from RVVC patients (n = 43), from VVC patients (n = 47) and asymptomatic carriers (n = 7) were identified by germ tube test, chlamydospore test, CHROMagar Candida and API20 system and were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fingerprinting employing random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) assay with nine random primers screened. The RAPD identified distinct genotypes that were shared among isolates from most different individuals. Most of the 85 C. albicans strains failed to corroborate any obvious differences in the genotypic variability in the VVC, RVVC patient groups and carriers by clustering analysis. Only a few individuals were found to harbor a distinct genotype of C. albicans isolates associated with a specific disease condition.
Sexually transmitted infection health-care seeking behaviour in the Netherlands: general practitioner attends to the majority of sexually transmitted infection consultations

Health-care seeking behaviour for sexually transmitted infection (STI)-related symptoms is not well known in the Netherlands. Within the framework of a large representative study, the second National Survey of General Practice (NIVEL 2001), 9687 persons aged 18 years and older were interviewed about their STI and STI-related health-care seeking behaviour. In total, 1.2% of the interviewees reported STI-related symptoms in the past year (18–24 years: 5%). A (lifetime) history of STI was reported by 2.7% (18–44 years: 4%). In all, 63% of interviewees visited their general practitioner (GP) for these complaints; 20% went to an STI-clinic and/or municipal public health services and 8% to a different care-provider. A total of 9% did not undertake any action. The majority of persons with STI-related symptoms in the Netherlands visit the GP. Reported history of STI-related symptoms was twice lower in the Netherlands compared with the UK National Sexual Health Survey. Appropriate attention for sexual health in primary care is needed.