Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Leukocyte traffic in the lung.

An adult human with a cardiac output of 5 liters/min pumps approximately 7200 liters of blood through the pulmonary circulation in 24 h. An additional 1 % of the cardiac output (72 liters over 24 h) flows through the bronchial circulation to supply the conducting airways and blood vessels, lymphatic collections, and portions of the pleural surface (22). The bronchial and pul­ monary venous outflow becomes confluent in the peripheral lung and drains into the left heart. However, the bronchial venous drainage from the central bronchovascular structures and lymphatics empty into the azygous and hemi­ azygos system and then into the right heart. As each liter of circulating blood contains approximately 109 leukocytes, their traffic through the bronchial and pulmonary microvessels is enormous. The purpose of this brief review is to discuss the similarities and differences between these two lung vascular beds.
Inflammatory bowel disease diagnosed with US, MR, scintigraphy, and CT: meta-analysis of prospective studies.

PURPOSE To compare, by performing a meta-analysis, the accuracies of ultrasonography (US), magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, scintigraphy, computed tomography (CT), and positron emission tomography (PET) in the diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). MATERIALS AND METHODS MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Cochrane databases were searched for studies on the accuracy of US, MR imaging, scintigraphy, CT, and PET, as compared with a predefined reference standard, in the diagnosis of IBD. Sensitivity and specificity estimates were calculated on per-patient and per-bowel-segment bases by using a bivariate random-effects model. RESULTS Thirty-three studies, from a search that yielded 1406 articles, were included in the final analysis. Mean sensitivity estimates for the diagnosis of IBD on a per-patient basis were high and not significantly different among the imaging modalities (89.7%, 93.0%, 87.8%, and 84.3% for US, MR imaging, scintigraphy, and CT, respectively). Mean per-patient specificity estimates were 95.6% for US, 92.8% for MR imaging, 84.5% for scintigraphy, and 95.1% for CT; the only significant difference in values was that between scintigraphy and US (P = .009). Mean per-bowel-segment sensitivity estimates were lower: 73.5% for US, 70.4% for MR imaging, 77.3% for scintigraphy, and 67.4% for CT. Mean per-bowel-segment specificity estimates were 92.9% for US, 94.0% for MR imaging, 90.3% for scintigraphy, and 90.2% for CT. CT proved to be significantly less sensitive and specific compared with scintigraphy (P = .006) and MR imaging (P = .037) CONCLUSION No significant differences in diagnostic accuracy among the imaging techniques were observed. Because patients with IBD often need frequent reevaluation of disease status, use of a diagnostic modality that does not involve the use of ionizing radiation is preferable.
Mitochondrial DNA polymorphism in genes encoding ND1, COI and CYTB in canine malignant cancers

Abstract The aim of the study was to identify DNA changes in mitochondrial gene fragments: NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 (ND1), cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and cytochrome b (CYTB) in tumor tissue, normal tissue and blood, and to define their association with the tumor type in dogs. Molecular analysis included 144 tests in total. A functional effect of the non-synonymous protein coding SNP was predicted. The presence of polymorphisms in all tested gene fragments in individual tissues of dogs was observed. Heteroplasmic changes were found in ND1 and CYTB in epithelioma glandulae sebacei and in CYTB in lymphoma centroblasticum. The results of in silico analysis show the impact of these alleles (COI: 507, ND1: 450, 216, CYTB: 748) on the functioning of proteins and thus their potential role in carcinogenesis. The possible harmful effects of changes in polypeptides in positions T193N, V98M, V118M and H196P were evaluated. It seems that polymorphisms occurring in cells can have a negative impact on functioning of proteins. This promotes disorders of the energy level in cells.
Pathogenesis of Campylobacter spp. in athymic and euthymic germfree mice

Adult athymic (nu/nu) and euthymic (+/nu) germfree BALB/c mice were orally challenged with pure cultures of Campylobacter jejuni (human clinical fecal strains) and a human blood isolate of Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus. After a period of adaptation to the mouse intestinal tract, all three C. jejuni strains caused disease in gnotobiotic mice. Mouse-adapted, weakly cytotoxic C. jejuni 45100 consistently induced disease symptoms (transient diarrhea, cecal shrinkage, and acute inflammatory changes with eosinophilia in the lower intestinal mucosa) in nu/nu mice 7 to 9 days after oral challenges. Conversely, no overt disease or histopathology was evident in +/nu mice challenged with the same strain (45100). After periods of adaptation in the murine alimentary tract, the two C. jejuni strains, 24 and INN 73-83, with greater cytotoxin-producing capacities, decreased cecal size and caused minor mucosal inflammatory changes in both nu/nu and +/nu BALB/c mice 1 to 2 weeks after intestinal colonization. A transient splenomegaly was also evident at 1 to 2 weeks after germfree nu/nu mice were colonized with each of the three C. jejuni strains used in this study. Occult blood was observed in a small percentage (approximately 11%) of nu/nu and +/nu BALB/c mice that were colonized with C. jejuni strains 45100 and INN 73-83. C. fetus subsp. fetus 255 colonized the alimentary tract of gnotobiotic mice, but neither morbidity nor mortality was evident. The disease we observed in the gnotobiotic mice, along with the histological changes in the intestinal tract after oral challenges, resembles symptoms of campylobacteriosis in humans. The gnotobiotic BALB/c mouse model of Campylobacter disease provides a unique opportunity to detail basic aspects of the acute and chronic pathogenesis of and immunity to this recently recognized disease.
An NMR study of the interaction of 15N-labelled bradykinin with an antibody mimic of the bradykinin B2 receptor.

An isotope-edited NMR study of the peptide hormone bradykinin (RPPGFSPFR) bound to the Fab fragment of a monoclonal antibody against bradykinin (MBK3) is reported. MBK3 was previously shown to provide a binding site model of the B2 bradykinin receptor [Haasemann, M. , Buschko, J., Faussner, A. , Roscher, A. A. , Hoebeke, J., Burch, R. M. & Muller-Esterl, W. (1991) Anti-idiotypic antibodies bearing the internal image of a bradykinin epitope, J. Immunol. 147, 3882-3892]. Bradykinin was obtained in a uniformly 15N-labelled form using recombinant expression of a fusion protein consisting of the glutathione-binding domain of glutathione S-transferase fused to residues 354-375 of the high-molecular-mass kininogen from which bradykinin was released by proteolytic digestion with its natural protease plasma kallikrein. Bradykinin forms a complex with the Fab fragment of MBK3 which exchanges slowly on the NMR time scale. The 15N and 1H resonances of the tightly bound residues of bradykinin show appreciable changes in chemical shift with respect to the free form, while the 15N and 1H linewidths indicate that the hydrodynamic behaviour of bound bradykinin is dominated by the high-molecular-mass Fab fragment. The NMR data indicate that essentially the entire nonapeptide is involved in binding. The kinetics of the ligand-exchange process, together with resonance assignments obtained via exchange spectroscopy. indicate that bradykinin binds to MBK3 only in the all-trans conformation at all three Xaa-Pro amide bonds. NH-NH NOE connectivities suggest that bradykinin is bound in an extended conformation. The spectroscopic data obtained from this study are compared to recently proposed computational models of the conformation of bradykinin bound to the B2 receptor.
EFFECTIVENESS OF ORAL IRON SUPPLEMENT ON BREATH-HOLDING SPELLS IN CHILDREN

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of iron therapy in breath-holding spells. Material and Methods: This was a prospective interventional study, which was conducted in the Department of Pediatrics, Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, from September 2010 to October 2011. A total of 43 children between the ages of 8 and 54 months, with breath holding spells (BHS) were included. Relevant data was recorded on specifically designed questionnaire. All patients were treated by an oral iron preparation for 12 weeks. Haemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and frequency of BHS were recorded at baseline and every 4 weeks for effectiveness of iron therapy. Results: Twenty seven (62.8%) patients were male and 16 (37.2%) were female with male to female ratio of 1.6:1. Mean age at presentation was 21 months while age regarding onset of spells ranged between 3 to 28 months with mean age of 9.7 months. The cyanotic type of spell was detected in 34 (79.1%) children and the pallid type in 9 (20.9%) children. A positive family history of Breath-Holding (BH) was identified in 13(30.2%) children. There was a statistically significant fall in the frequency of breath holding spells with 12 weeks of iron therapy. At start of therapy, 25 patients were having more than 10 episodes per week while no patient was having such episodes at 12 weeks of therapy (p-value=0.000). Conclusion: Iron therapy is effective in the treatment of BHS.
Effects of water temperature and dissolved oxygen on daily feed consumption , feed utilization and ž / growth of channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus

Ž . Ž . Ž . Ž . Feed intake FI , feed efficiency FE , protein efficiency ratio PER and weight gain WG of Ž . juvenile channel catfish initially weighing 15.0"0.23 g 10–12 cm initial total length were Ž evaluated under three regimes of time-varying water temperature mean daily water temperature . Ž for Stoneville, MS, USA; mean q3; and, mean y38C and three of dissolved oxygen DO; 100, . 70 and 30% air saturation, at each temperature . Two independent experiments lasting 6 and 8 weeks, respectively, simulated spring and fall temperature and photoperiod patterns. Temperature–oxygen regimes were applied to randomly assigned duplicate 110-l aquaria with individual biofilters. Fish were fed once daily, to slight excess, a commercial catfish floating feed. After 45 min, uneaten feed was collected, dried and weighed; then FI was calculated by difference. Fish in each aquarium were weighed collectively, biweekly. In both experiments higher temperatures and higher DO levels produced increased feed consumption. A multivariate regression model was fitted to the data to describe the combined effects of temperature and DO on FI. There was a progressive reduction in FI as DO declined from 100 to 30% air saturation. In both trials weight gain was higher for fish held 38C above the mean water temperature at 100% air saturation values of DO; whereas, the lowest values of WG were obtained for fish held at 30% air saturation and 38C below the mean water temperature. Weight gain increased with temperature, with maximum rates reached at 27.18C with DO equivalent to 100% air saturation. In contrast, when DO was 30% air saturation, growth rates plateaued as ambient temperature exceeded 22.88C. This model will assist in optimization of feeding practices in channel catfish aquaculture. q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
A Cross-National Study of Mother and Infant Activities and Interactions：Some Preliminary Comparisons between Japan and The United States

It is widely thought that some psychological distinctions between Japanese and Americans arise early in life, and the nature of mother-child interaction has been hypothesized to be at least one source of these distinctions. We therefore conducted a preliminary comparison of Japanese and American mothers and their 5-month-old infants interacting in the natural setting of the home. Independent observations of 31 dyads from New York City and 31 dyads from Sapporo were submitted to identical analyses. This report focuses on maternal stimulation, speech, and social play and on infant attention, exploration, and vocalization. First, we assessed similarities and differences among Japanese and American mothers and infants on these activities. Next, we evaluated relations among mother activities within each culture and relations among infant activities within each culture and compared patterns of those relations across the two cultures. Then, we evaluated interactions among mothers and infants in each culture and compared patterns of interactions across these cultures. Finally, we addressed the question of what predictive value for children's cognitive development certain of these mother and infant activities may have.
El uso de la mensajería móvil por los jóvenes en Holanda

Este articulo muestra el modo en que los jovenes holandeses usan su movil y especialmente como el uso del SMS se ha convertido en una parte sustancial de la comunicacion movil entre los jovenes. Como explicacion sociologica se ofrece la cultura juvenil en Holanda que esta tanto influenciada como influenciando el uso del movil y del SMS.
Asymmetric magnetosphere deformation driven by hot flow anomaly(ies)

We present a case study of a large deformation of the magnetopause on November 26, 2008. The investigation is based on observations of five THEMIS spacecraft located at the dawn flank in the magnetosphere and magnetosheath, on Cluster measurements at the dusk magnetosheath, and is supported by ACE solar wind monitoring. The main revelation of our study is that the interaction of the IMF discontinuity with the bow shock creates either one very elongated hot flow anomaly (HFA) or a pair of them that is (are) simultaneously observed at both flanks. Whereas the dusk HFA is weak and does not cause observable deformation of the magnetopause, the pressure variations connected with the dawn HFA lead to a magnetopause displacement by ≈5 RE outward from its nominal position. This is followed by a rapid inward motion of the magnetopause ≈4 RE inward with respect to the model location. The surface deformation is so large that the outermost THEMIS spacecraft was in the magnetosphere, whereas the spacecraft located 9 RE inbound entered into the magnetosheath at the same time. The whole event lasted about 5 minutes.
A semidefinite program approach for computing the maximum eigenvalue of a class of structured tensors and its applications in hypergraphs and copositivity test

Finding the maximum eigenvalue of a symmetric tensor is an important topic in tensor computation and numerical multilinear algebra. In this paper, we introduce a new class of structured tensors called W‐tensors, which not only extends the well‐studied nonnegative tensors by allowing negative entries but also covers several important tensors arising naturally from spectral hypergraph theory. We then show that finding the maximum H‐eigenvalue of an even‐order symmetric W‐tensor is equivalent to solving a structured semidefinite program and hence can be validated in polynomial time. This yields a highly efficient semidefinite program algorithm for computing the maximum H‐eigenvalue of W‐tensors and is based on a new structured sums‐of‐squares decomposition result for a nonnegative polynomial induced by W‐tensors. Numerical experiments illustrate that the proposed algorithm can successfully find the maximum H‐eigenvalue of W‐tensors with dimension up to 10,000, subject to machine precision. As applications, we provide a polynomial time algorithm for computing the maximum H‐eigenvalues of large‐size Laplacian tensors of hyperstars and hypertrees, where the algorithm can be up to 13 times faster than the state‐of‐the‐art numerical method introduced by Ng, Qi, and Zhou in 2009. Finally, we also show that the proposed algorithm can be used to test the copositivity of a multivariate form associated with symmetric extended Z‐tensors, whose order may be even or odd.
Periodic “stick-slip” transition within a continuum model for entangled supramolecular polymers

We investigate shear flow instabilities using a recently derived constitutive law, designed for describing the rheology of entangled telechelic polymers. The continuum model displays shear banding, often accompanied by a strong elastic recoil in the transient response, which appears as an “apparent” wall slip. For certain parameters, the model also displays a novel apparent stick-slip behavior, giving rise to strong nonlinear oscillations in the stress response driven by a repeating cycle of elastic recoil followed by diffusive rehomogenization of the flow. We elucidate the detailed mechanism behind this oscillatory response, demonstrating that it arises from a competition between shear-induced breaking of sticky bonds, which leads to recoil and banding, and a diffusive rehomogenization of the flow. We discuss the relation between the apparent stick-slip in our continuum model and similar behavior in “true” wall slip.
Future-directed thinking in eating disorders.

OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to examine future-directed thinking in individuals with eating disorders, given the possible role of such cognitions in the maintenance of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. METHOD Twenty-six anorexics, 18 bulimics and 34 female controls were interviewed using the 'Future Thinking Task', assessing quantitative and qualitative aspects of positive and negative anticipated events. RESULTS Patients with anorexia nervosa had similar levels of positive future-oriented cognitions and significantly more negative future-oriented cognitions than controls. The most common positive themes in this group concerned the social/interpersonal and leisure/pleasure domains. The negative theme most commonly mentioned by anorexics was that of their own health, followed by the social/interpersonal domain, whereas controls were most preoccupied with achievement/failure and a broad range of other issues. Bulimics had significantly fewer positive future-oriented cognitions and significantly more negative future-oriented cognitions than controls, most commonly concerning the patient's own health. CONCLUSION In anorexia nervosa, anticipated positive future outcomes may to some extent help to maintain the disorder; however, these patients are also highly preoccupied with the possibility of negative future outcomes, i.e. a failure of recovery. Bulimia nervosa sufferers are relatively hopeless about their future. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.
Insertional Inactivation of Genes Encoding the Crystalline Inclusion Proteins of Photorhabdus luminescens Results in Mutants with Pleiotropic Phenotypes

ABSTRACT The entomopathogenic bacterium Photorhabdus luminescensexhibits phase variation when cultured in vitro. The variant forms ofP. luminescens are pleiotropic and are designated phase I and phase II variants. One of the characteristic phenotypes of phase I cells is the production of two types of intracellular protein inclusions. The genes encoding the protein monomers that form these inclusions, designated cipA and cipB, were cloned and characterized. cipA and cipB encode hydrophobic proteins of 11,648 and 11,308 Da, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequences of CipA and CipB have no significant amino acid sequence similarity to any other known protein but have 25% identity and 49% similarity to each other. Insertional inactivation ofcipA or cipB in phase I cells of P. luminescens produced mutants that differ from phase I cells in bioluminescence, the pattern and activities of extracellular products, biochemical traits, adsorption of dyes, and ability to support nematode growth and reproduction. In general, the cip mutants were phenotypically more similar to each other than to either phase I or phase II variants.
Inhibition of Bacillus subtilis growth and sporulation by threonine

A 1-mg/ml amount of threonine (8.4 mM) inhibited growth and sporulation of Bacillus subtilis 168. Inhibition of sporulation was efficiently reversed by valine and less efficiently by pyruvate, arginine, glutamine, and isoleucine. Inhibition of vegetative growth was reversed by asparate and glutamate as well as by valine, arginine, or glutamine. Cells in minimal growth medium were inhibited only transiently by very high concentrations of threonine, whereas inhibition of sporulation was permanent. Addition of threonine prevented the normal increase in alkaline phosphatase and reduced the production of extracellular protease by about 50%, suggesting that threonine blocked the sporulation process relatively early. 2-Ketobutyrate was able to mimic the effect of threonine on sporulation. Sporulation in a strain selected for resistance to azaleucine was partially resistant. Seventy-five percent of the mutants selected for the ability to grow vegetatively in the presence of high threonine concentrations were found to be simultaneously isoleucine auxotrophs. In at least one of these mutants, the threonine resistance phenotpye could not be dissociated from the isoleucine requirement by transformation. This mutation was closely linked to a known ilvA mutation (recombination index, 0.16). This strain also had reduced intracellular threonine deaminase activity. These results suggest that threonine inhibits B. subtilis by causing valine starvation.
Reduced gut intraepithelial lymphocytes in VLA1 null mice.

Very late antigen 1 (VLA1) is an integrin collagen receptor that is expressed by lymphocytes in several disease states. VLA1 blockade has been shown to ameliorate gut disease in experimental graft-versus-host disease. Here we show that in the VLA1 null mouse, which is generally healthy, there is a 50% reduction in gut intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) despite an otherwise normal lymphocyte distribution in peripheral blood and lymphoid organs. The gammadelta to alphabeta ratios of IELs are unchanged. We also find that IL2-stimulated splenocytes from VLA1 null animals show a deficiency in adhesion to fibrillar and basement membrane collagen as well as reduced proliferation in response to collagen substratum. These results suggest that some, but not all, intraepithelial lymphocytes require VLA1 to survive or proliferate within the gut epithelium or possibly to traverse the basement membrane.
The use of the Codman-Medos Programmable Hakim valve in the management of patients with hydrocephalus: illustrative cases.

Cerebrospinal fluid shunting is an important method of treating hydrocephalus. It sometimes has been difficult to achieve the optimum CSF pressure and ventricular size after shunt placement. Hydraulic and mechanical mismatching may occur, creating either overdrainage, as manifested by slit ventricle syndrome and/or subdural hygromas; or underdrainage, as manifested by a failure of the ventricles to change in size, with persistence of symptoms. A variable pressure valve (Codman-Medos Programmable Hakim valve system) has been developed to allow non-invasive increase or decrease in cerebrospinal fluid pressure in differentials of 10 mm of water within a range of 30-200 mm of water. This allows the neurosurgeon to adjust the pressure to the patient's particular clinical needs at any given moment. As part of a pilot study of the valve's safety, 13 patients in this center were treated with this programmable shunting system from October 1991 to January 1993. Twelve patients were over age 18 and one was younger than this. Six patients had previously been shunted with other valve systems, and the remaining seven had never been shunted before. The etiology of hydrocephalus included idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (6 patients), aqueductal stenosis (3 patients), Chiari malformation (2 patients), meningitis (1 patient), and unknown etiology (1 patient). This paper describes the use of this valve in five illustrative cases; slit ventricle syndrome in an adult, chronic ventriculomegaly with aqueductal stenosis (2 cases), and idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (2 cases). This programmable valve has been particularly useful in gradually decreasing ventricle size in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)