Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prolactin-deficient variants of GH3 rat pituitary tumor cells: linked expression of prolactin and another hormonally responsive protein in GH3 cells

GH3 cells normally synthesize and secrete two pituitary polypeptide hormones, prolactin and growth hormone. From an ethyl methane sulfonate-mutagenized population, prolactin low-producing variants have been isolated at a frequency near 20%. Intracellular prolactin synthesis in the variants was reduced 40- to 100-fold compared to wild-type cells while growth hormone synthesis varied less than 2-fold. This decrease was paralleled by a decrease in intracellular preprolactin mRNA. Although reduced, prolactin synthesis was still repressible by glucocorticoids. There was a coordinate loss of expression of p21, a thyroid and glucocorticoid hormone-regulated protein, in GH3 cells, whereas the synthesis and regulation of other hormonally responsive proteins were unimpaired in the variants. Since p21 expression was coordinately regained in a high-producing prolactin revertant cell, expression of the two proteins is tightly coupled in GH3 cells. The stability of the low-producing phenotype differed among variants. One (B2) gave rise to revertants at about 20% frequency even after two rounds of subcloning, whereas another (B3) was more stable in that only 1 weak revertant was found in 47 subclones. The reversion frequency of B3 cells was also measured at less than 0.5%. Unmutagenized GH3 cells were phenotypically stable in that no prolactin-deficient variant was found among 57 subclones. Since variants were ony found after ethyl methane sulfonate mutagenesis, the DNA alkylating agent appears to have promoted an epigenetic change in pituitary gene expression.
Sorting feeder cattle with a system that integrates ultrasound backfat and marbling estimates with a model that maximizes feedlot profitability in value-based marketing

Studies were conducted to evaluate a feeder cattle sorting system for tracking future carcass merit. The Kansas State University (KSU) sorting system combines initial body weight, ultrasound backfat thickness and marbling score with economic data to project the number of days on feed that will maximize profitability. The KSU sorting system was applied, 3 to 4 mo before slaughter, on 4101 yearling steers at two large feedlots located in southern Alberta. In Feedlot 1, steers averaging 408.7 kg (SD = 45.2 kg) were randomly assigned to two treatment groups: sorted by weight (control; n = 856) and sorted by the KSU sorting system (n = 849). In Feedlot 2, steers averaging 494.4 kg (SD = 42.3 kg) were randomly assigned to two treatment groups: not sorted (control; n = 798) and sorted by the KSU sorting system (n = 1598). Whole pens were marketed when the majority of steers in the pen approached the carcass weight and grade characteristics required for optimal return. The KSU sorted steers gained 0.12 kg d−1 fas.
Working Toward Cross-Cultural Adaptation: Preliminary Psychometric Evaluation of the Affect Knowledge Test in Japanese Preschoolers

To facilitate preschoolers’ emotional development, it is useful to have a developmentally and culturally appropriate measure of emotion knowledge. The Affect Knowledge Test (AKT), a widely used measure of emotion knowledge, has been previously used with diverse cultural groups, including Japanese preschoolers, despite scarce reliability and validity information. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to conduct field tests of the Japanese-translated version of the AKT and a preliminary psychometric evaluation of the measure with Japanese preschoolers. Initial analyses of the Japanese-translated version of the AKT showed that the emotion recognition scale had a low internal consistency and subscales were hardly correlated with each other. After emotion faces used in the AKT were modified based on the interdependent cultures’ attention bias in emotion decoding, both reliability and construct-related validity were improved to satisfactory levels. These findings highlight the importance of cross-cultural adaptation of measures and demonstrate preliminary validity evidence for future adaptation of the AKT with Japanese preschoolers.
Differential expression of the Bcl-2 and Bax isoforms in CD19 positive B-lymphocytes isolated from patients diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

Aim: To examine the relative gene expression levels of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2&agr; and &bgr; isoforms and the pro-apoptotic Bax&agr; and &bgr; isoforms in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and healthy controls (HC). Methods: Peripheral blood was obtained from 36 patients diagnosed with CLL and 10 HC. CD19+ B-lymphocytes were isolated using an antibody coupled magnetic bead isolation system; from these cells the total RNA was isolated and purified. The relative levels of gene expression were examined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qReTi-PCR) using primers specific for each isoform. Results: Bcl-2&agr; and Bax&agr; are expressed at higher levels than their &bgr;-isoforms in CLL and HC. Bcl-2&agr;, Bcl-2&bgr; and Bax&bgr; expression is increased in CLL while Bax-&agr; is expressed at similar levels to HC. The Bcl-2&agr;/Bcl-2&bgr; ratio is similar in CLL and HC. The Bcl-2&agr;/Bax&agr; ratio is increased in CLL when compared with HC. Conclusion: Bcl-2&agr; and Bax&agr; appear to be the dominant anti- and pro-apoptotic isoforms in CLL. The Bcl-2&agr;/Bax&agr; ratio is increased in CLL while the Bcl-2&agr;/Bcl-2&bgr; ratio is similar to HC.
Selectivity in Post-translational Biotin Addition to Five Human Carboxylases*

Background: Human holocarboxylase synthetase catalyzes post-translational biotin addition to five biotin-dependent carboxylases. Results: Kinetic measurements indicate discrimination in HCS-catalyzed biotinylation of the five physiological substrates. Conclusion: Mitochondrial substrates are modified at rates significantly faster than are cytosolic substrates. Significance: Selectivity in post-translational biotin addition provides one mechanism of regulating important physiological processes, including gluconeogenesis and fatty acid and amino acid metabolism. Human holocarboxylase synthetase (HCS) catalyzes linkage of the vitamin biotin to the biotin carboxyl carrier protein (BCCP) domain of five biotin-dependent carboxylases. In the two-step reaction, the activated intermediate, bio-5′-AMP, is first synthesized from biotin and ATP, followed by covalent linkage of the biotin moiety to a specific lysine residue of each carboxylase BCCP domain. Selectivity in HCS-catalyzed biotinylation to the carboxylases was investigated in single turnover stopped flow and quench flow measurements of biotin transfer to the minimal biotin acceptor BCCP fragments of the carboxylases. The results demonstrate that biotinylation of the BCCP fragments of the mitochondrial carboxylases propionyl-CoA carboxylase, pyruvate carboxylase, and methylcrotonoyl-CoA carboxylase is fast and limited by the bimolecular association rate of the enzyme with substrate. By contrast, biotinylation of the acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 and 2 (ACC1 and ACC2) fragments, both of which are accessible to HCS in the cytoplasm, is slow and displays a hyperbolic dependence on substrate concentration. The correlation between HCS accessibility to biotin acceptor substrates and the kinetics of biotinylation suggests that mitochondrial carboxylase sequences evolved to produce fast association rates with HCS in order to ensure biotinylation prior to mitochondrial import. In addition, the results are consistent with a role for HCS specificity in dictating biotin distribution among carboxylases.
Visibility of women in school leadership

Support, based on a literature review, and reflective analysis of interviews with three administrators in rural Alberta, is presented in a plea for a greater visibility of women in school leadership. Women, through their goals, values, commitment, and expertise, have contributed in significant and valuable ways to the education community. While women have been responsible for most of the teaching and a great deal of the informal leadership in the schools, there is overwhelming evidence that their participation in formal roles of school administration has been extremely circumscribed. Continuing statistics and reports indicate that, despite their increased interest and achievements, women are vastly underrepresented in school leadership. The literature review, results of the interviews and personal experience validate women's effective leadership skills and abilities. Barriers which serve to exclude women from leadership are then examined, as are accommodations undertaken to overcome those barriers. Schools, operating as communities of leaders and learners, must assume their responsibility by providing more equitable opportunities in leadership, in curriculum and practice. A greater inclusion of women at all levels of educational leadership is essential in order to effect the rationalization, valuation and integration of women's and men's contributions to society.
The role of thiol proteases in tissue injury and remodeling.

Human lung macrophages express all four of the known lysosomal thiol proteases: cathepsins B, H, L, and S. These enzymes share a similar size and targeting mechanism for lysosomal accumulation and all have relatively indiscriminate substrate specificity in comparison with such highly selective serine proteases as urokinase or thrombin. These enzymes do have distinctive properties: only cathepsin B has C-terminal dipeptidase activity, only cathepsin H has potent aminopeptidase activity, and only cathepsin L and S are elastolytic. Cathepsin S is unique in that it is stable at neutral pH; indeed, at neutral pH it has elastolytic activity roughly comparable with that of neutrophil elastase. Recent studies of the differential expression of these cathepsins suggest they not only cooperate in terminal degradation of endocytized protein but also have specific functions such as proenzyme activation, antigen processing, and tissue remodeling, especially bone matrix resorption. Lysates of lung macrophages degrade elastin at neutral pH, suggesting that necrosis of macrophages at sites of macrophage accumulation, e.g., caseation necrosis, could contribute to tissue destruction. Tissue destruction and remodeling by thiol proteases expressed by live macrophages, however, is limited by tight compartmentalization of cathepsins to lysosomes. Nonetheless, macrophages accumulate at sites of known injury in cigarette smokers. Because these cells contain potent elastases, and because lysosomal enzyme release and cell surface acidification are regulated events, dysregulation of thiol protease expression in stimulated macrophages may contribute to the injury observed in cigarette smokers with non-alpha-1-protease inhibitor-type emphysema.
Gli2 Rescues Delays in Brain Development Induced by Kif3a Dysfunction

The primary cilium in neural stem cells plays distinct roles in different stages during cortical development. Ciliary dysfunctions in human (i.e., ciliopathy) cause developmental defects in multiple organs, including brain developmental delays, which lead to intellectual disabilities and cognitive deficits. However, effective treatment to this devastating developmental disorder is still lacking. Here, we first investigated the effects of ciliopathy on neural stem cells by knocking down Kif3a, a kinesin II motor required for ciliogenesis, in the neurogenic stage of cortical development by in utero electroporation of mouse embryos. Brains electroporated with Kif3a shRNA showed defects in neuronal migration and differentiation, delays in neural stem cell cycle progression, and failures in interkinetic nuclear migration. Interestingly, introduction of Gli1 and Gli2 both can restore the cell cycle progression by elevating cyclin D1 in neural stem cells. Remarkably, enforced Gli2 expression, but not Gli1, partially restored the ability of Kif3a-knockdown neurons to differentiate and move from the germinal ventricular zone to the cortical plate. Moreover, Cyclin D1 knockdown abolished Gli2's rescue effect. These findings suggest Gli2 may rescue neural stem cell proliferation, differentiation and migration through Cyclin D1 pathway and may serve as a potential therapeutic target for human ciliopathy syndromes through modulating the progression of neural stem cell cycle.
Matching in Platform Markets

A matching problem exists when two sets of agents want to find each other. Platform markets can provide a solution to this problem. However, existing models of platform markets restrict agent heterogeneity and thus the matching problem is trivial. We introduce agent heterogeneity by modeling platform markets as a matching problem. This raises three important questions. The first question is how to model matching in platform markets. We propose a model in which platforms are objects of choice, with agents matching directly with each other. Second, we adopt stability as our equilibrium concept since it eliminates the possibility of an individual or group of agents switching in equilibrium. Third, we consider properties of equilibrium. In particular, we show that opposition of interests at stable matchings implies a form of the “seesaw principle:” in equilibrium, one side gets more favorable terms at the expense of the other side. Moreover, we provide conditions under which the market may tip toward a dominant platform in equilibrium. Finally, we show that coordination failure occurs if agents from the same side are required to join a platform under the same terms. In this environment, we obtain stability if agents have lexicographic preferences. Our matching model provides a new approach to studying platform markets.
Variables linked to psychotic symptoms in Alzheimer's disease

This study is aimed at assessing the prevalence and feature sof psychotic symptoms in a sample of 180 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Sixty‐four patients (35.5% of the sample) showed one or more psychotic symptoms. The presence of these symptoms correlated with the severity of the patients' cognitive impairment, as well as the patients' age at first assessement. Sex, duration of illness, education and familiar history for dementia were not significantly correlated with the psychotic symptoms. Hallucination was the most common symptom (24.4% of the whole sample), followed by delusion (18.3%) and misperceptin (11.1%). Visual hallucinations were more frequent than auditory, and, among delusions, persecutory and theft thems were largely prevailing. Misperceptions included television related phenomena and phantom boarder illusions. A follow‐up study of 37 patients demonstreated the association between the presence of psychotic symptoms and a steeper slop of cognitive deterioration.
Physician-diagnosed respiratory conditions and mental health symptoms 7-9 years following the World Trade Center disaster.

BACKGROUND This study examines the prevalence of physician-diagnosed respiratory conditions and mental health symptoms in firefighters and emergency medical service workers up to 9 years after rescue/recovery efforts at the World Trade Center (WTC). METHODS We analyzed Fire Department of New York (FDNY) physician and self-reported diagnoses by WTC exposure and quintiles of pulmonary function (FEV1% predicted). We used screening instruments to assess probable post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and probable depression. RESULTS FDNY physicians most commonly diagnosed asthma (8.8%) and sinusitis (9.7%). The highest prevalence of physician-diagnosed obstructive airway disease (OAD) was in the lowest FEV1% predicted quintile. Participants who arrived earliest on 9/11 were more likely to have physician-diagnosed asthma (OR = 1.4). Seven percent had probable PTSD. 19.4% had probable depression. CONCLUSIONS Self-reported and physician-diagnosed respiratory conditions remain common, especially among those who arrived earliest at the WTC site. OAD was associated with the lowest pulmonary function. Since respiratory and mental health conditions remain prevalent, ongoing monitoring and treatment is important.
Nail Fold Creation in Complete Syndactyly using Buck-Gramcko Pulp Flaps

We have used the double pulp flap technique described by Buck-Gramcko for nail fold creation in 75 fingertips after separation of 38 complete syndactyly webs in 27 patients. The operative technique is described and the results are discussed. Nail patterns in these complex syndactyly webs are analysed and a classification is proposed.
Metacognitive beliefs and psychological well-being in paranoia and depression

Introduction. Despite the growing interest in the effects of metacognitive beliefs and psychological well-being on psychiatric conditions, little is known about how these two variables interact in clinical samples. The central aim of this study was to investigate the role of some metacognitive beliefs in the relationship between psychological well-being dimensions and psychopathology. Methods. Fifty-five participants with persecutory delusions diagnosed with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders, 38 participants with a major depressive episode, and 44 healthy controls completed the 30-item short form of the Metacognitions Questionnaire (MCQ-30) and the 54-item form of the Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being (PWB). Results. MANCOVA analyses revealed group differences on four subscales of PWB (self-acceptance, autonomy, personal growth, and environmental mastery), as well as on three subscales of MCQ-30 (uncontrollability of worry, need to control thoughts, and lack of memory confidence). Moderation analyses showed the interaction between persecutory thinking and cognitive self-consciousness to be a predictor of psychological well-being. Conclusions. These findings suggest that psychological well-being is particularly compromised in participants with a high level of persecutory thinking when they have low levels of cognitive self-consciousness.
Optical network design and restoration

The explosion of data traffic and the availability of enormous bandwidth via dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) and optical amplifier (OA) technologies make it important to study optical layer networking and restoration. This paper is concerned with fast distributed restoration and provisioning for generic mesh-based optical networks. We consider two problems of practical importance: determining the best restoration route for each wavelength demand, given the network topology and the capacities and primary routes of all demands, and determining primary and restoration routes for each wavelength demand to minimize network capacity and cost. The approach we propose for both problems is based on precomputing. For each problem, we describe specific algorithms used for computing routes. We also describe endpoint-based failure detection, message flows, and cross-connect actions for execution of fast restorations. Finally, we report test results for large carrier-scale networks that include both the computational performance of the optimization algorithms and the restoration speed obtained by simulation. Our results indicate that subsecond restoration, high capacity efficiency, and scalability can be achieved without fault isolation and with moderate processing. We also discuss methods for scaling algorithms to problems with very large numbers of demands. The wavelength routing and restoration algorithms, the failure detection, and the message exchange and activation architectures we propose are collectively known as WaveStar™ advanced routing platform.
Disruption of the Sjögren-Larsson Syndrome Gene Aldh3a2 in Mice Increases Keratinocyte Growth and Retards Skin Barrier Recovery*

The fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase (FALDH) ALDH3A2 is the causative gene of Sjögren Larsson syndrome (SLS). To date, the molecular mechanism underlying the symptoms characterizing SLS has been poorly understood. Using Aldh3a2−/− mice, we found here that Aldh3a2 was the major FALDH active in undifferentiated keratinocytes. Long-chain base metabolism was greatly impaired in Aldh3a2−/− keratinocytes. Phenotypically, the intercellular spaces were widened in the basal layer of the Aldh3a2−/− epidermis due to hyperproliferation of keratinocytes. Furthermore, oxidative stress-induced genes were up-regulated in Aldh3a2−/− keratinocytes. Upon keratinocyte differentiation, the activity of another FALDH, Aldh3b2, surpassed that of Aldh3a2. As a result, Aldh3a2−/− mice were indistinguishable from wild-type mice in terms of their whole epidermis FALDH activity, and their skin barrier function was uncompromised under normal conditions. However, perturbation of the stratum corneum caused increased transepidermal water loss and delayed barrier recovery in Aldh3a2−/− mice. In conclusion, Aldh3a2−/− mice replicated some aspects of SLS symptoms, especially at the basal layer of the epidermis. Our results suggest that hyperproliferation of keratinocytes via oxidative stress responses may partly contribute to the ichthyosis symptoms of SLS.
Human Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Function: Inhibition of IFN-α Secretion and Modulation of Immune Phenotype by Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide1

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDC) are considered the main sentinels against viral infections and play a major role in immune tolerance. Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) is a potent immunomodulator, whose role in PDC function is unknown. The present study was designed to investigate whether human PDC express VIP receptors and whether VIP has immunological effects on PDC. Using real-time RT-PCR and immunofluorescence, we demonstrated that VIP receptors VPAC1 and VPAC2 are expressed on PDC. After culturing PDC with VIP and CpG oligodeoxynucleotides for 48 h, expression of surface molecules with significance for PDC-T cell interactions as well as IFN-α secretion were quantified using FACS analysis and ELISA, respectively. For functional assays, CFSE-stained CD4+ T cells were coincubated with differentially treated PDC. T cell proliferation and production of various cytokines were determined by FACS analysis and ELISA. VIP enhanced PDC expression of CD86, MHC II, and CCR7. In contrast, VIP inhibited PDC secretion of IFN-α and expression of Neuropilin-1 and MHC I. The potential of CpG oligodeoxynucleotide-activated PDC to induce proliferation of allogeneic CD4+ T cells was impaired when VIP was present during activation. Furthermore, pretreatment of PDC with VIP resulted in a decrease of the IFN-γ:IL-4 ratio in cocultured T cells, suggesting a modulation of the immune response toward Th2. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that VIP regulates the immunological function of human PDC. VIP may thus be involved in the modulation of immune responses to viral infections as well as in the maintenance of immune tolerance.