Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lymphocytes during Mitogenic Stimulation Is Required to Ensure Survival of T and B MEK/ERK-Mediated Phosphorylation of Bim

Survival and death of lymphocytes are regulated by the balance between pro- and antiapoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family; this is coordinated with the control of cell cycling and differentiation. Bim, a proapoptotic BH3-only member of the Bcl-2 family, can be regulated by MEK/ERK-mediated phosphorylation, which affects its binding to pro–survival Bcl-2 family members and its turnover. We investigated Bim modiﬁcations in mouse B and T lymphoid cells after exposure to apoptotic stimuli and during mitogenic activation. Treatment with ionomycin or cytokine withdrawal caused an elevation in Bim EL , the most abundant Bim isoform. In contrast, in mitogenically stimulated T and B cells, Bim EL was rapidly phosphorylated, and its levels declined. Pharmacological inhibitors of MEK/ERK signaling prevented both of these changes in Bim, reduced proliferation, and triggered apoptosis of mitogen-stimulated T and B cells. Loss of Bim prevented this cell killing but did not restore cell cycling. These results show that during mitogenic stimulation of T and B lymphocytes MEK/ERK signaling is critical for two distinct processes, cell survival, mediated (at least in part) through phosphorylation and consequent inhibition of Bim, and cell cycling, which proceeds independently of Bim inactivation. The Journal of Immunology, 2009, 183: 261–269.
Characterization of the innate immune signalling pathways in hepatocyte cell lines

Summary. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major cause of liver‐related morbidity and mortality. Toll‐like receptors (TLRs) have recently been recognized to play an important role in the pathogenesis of chronic hepatitis B (CH‐B). Furthermore, manipulation of TLR signalling pathways shows potential as an antiviral therapeutic strategy. Whether hepatocytes themselves possess intact TLR signalling pathways remains controversial. It is critical that cell culture models be developed to allow investigation of the interaction between HBV and the TLR signalling pathways. We have screened three hepatocyte cell lines for the integrity of pro‐inflammatory responses and antiviral cytokines following stimulation with interleukin‐1 (IL‐1) and different TLR ligands. We observed that Huh‐7, HepG2 and PH5CH8 cells selectively responded to IL‐1 and TLR2 ligands, leading to the activation of NF‐κB. In addition, the PH5CH8 cell lines were able to induce type 1 interferon (IFN) via both TLR3 and RIG‐I following stimulation with poly I:C, HepG2 cells mounted an IFN response via RIG‐I only, whereas Huh‐7 cells were unresponsive. We conclude that the hepatocyte cell lines investigated display a repertoire of TLR signalling, albeit limited, suggesting that hepatocytes may themselves play an active role in innate immune responses to viruses such as HBV. Furthermore, particular hepatoma cell lines are suitable for investigating the interaction between HBV and hepatocyte‐expressed pattern recognition receptors.
Bandwidth Enhancement of a Monopolar Patch Antenna With V-Shaped Slot for Car-to-Car and WLAN Communications

A monopolar patch antenna with a V-shaped slot for car-to-car (C2C) and wireless local area network (WLAN) communications is presented in this paper. To widen the impedance bandwidth of the antenna, techniques for adding a shorting pin and a V-shaped slot are applied to an equilateral triangular patch. By properly placing the shorting pins on an equilateral triangular patch, two operating modes, i.e., TM10 and TM20, are obtained. The presence of the V-shaped slot can generate an additional TM11 mode. These three resonances found in the operating frequency bandwidth resulted in a wideband characteristic. The proposed antenna can operate from 4.82 to 6.67 GHz for the reflection coefficient ≤ -10 dB with the gain of around 5.0 dBi. In addition, an omnidirectional radiation pattern is yielded by a coaxial center-fed probe excitation. The antenna has a thickness of 0. 09λg (at the center frequency of 5.5 GHz), which is easily hidden on the roof of a vehicle for C2C communication. This proposed design can also be used as indoor base-station antennas for WLAN communication.
Association of pre-kidney transplant markers of mineral and bone disorder with post-transplant outcomes.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Mineral and bone disorders (MBDs) are common in long-term dialysis patients and are risk factors for unfavorable outcomes. The associations between pretransplant levels of MBD surrogates and outcomes after kidney transplantation are not clear. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS Data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients up to June 2007 were linked to the 5-year (July 2001-June 2006) cohort of a large dialysis organization in the United States. All dialysis patients who received a kidney transplant during this period were identified and divided into groups according to increments of pretransplant MBD markers. Unadjusted and multivariate adjusted predictors of transplant outcomes were examined. RESULTS The 11,776 patients were aged 47 ± 14 years and 39% were women. Compared with recipients with pretransplant time-averaged serum alkaline phosphatase of 80-120 U/L, recipients with pretransplant serum alkaline phosphatase of 120-160 and ≥160 U/L had 49% and 64% higher graft failure censored all-cause mortality in multivariable adjusted models. There was no significant association between time-averaged serum alkaline phosphatase categories and risk of death censored graft failure, delayed graft function (DGF), or acute rejection (AR). Compared with recipients with pretransplant time-averaged serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels of 150-300 pg/ml, there was no significant association with graft censored death among recipients with pretransplant serum PTH ≥800 pg/ml. In addition, the risk of graft failure, DGF, and AR did not show any association with time-averaged serum intact PTH level. There was no significant association between time-averaged serum calcium categories and risk of graft failure censored death, DGF, and AR. CONCLUSIONS In this cohort, hemodialysis patients with pretransplant serum alkaline phosphatase >120 U/L have unfavorable post-transplant mortality, whereas there was no association between serum PTH and serum calcium levels and post-transplant outcomes.
Salt-sensitive hypertension: if only it were as simple as rocket science.

What? Salt and hypertension? Again? If your attention drifted and you haven’t been able to follow the debate for the last 30 years, I’d highly recommend reading the 1998 Science article appropriately entitled “The (political) science of salt” (1). Both the original article and the heated responses it generated are more entertaining than a ringside seat at a Saturday night wrestling match. Why can’t we agree on whether dietary salt is good or bad for people (or neither)? Some have suggested that the difficulty lies in the fact that the general population should be subclassified as salt “responders” and “non-responders”. Another possibility, strengthened by the work of Ni et al. (2) in this issue of the JCI, is that additional hormonal factors modulate our salt sensitivity, making it a moving target.
Effects of Sparse Initialization in Deep Belief Networks

Deep neural networks are often trained in two phases: first hidden layers are pretrained in an unsupervised manner and then network is fine-tuned with error backpropagation. Pretraining is often carried out using Deep Belief Networks (DBNs), with initial weights set to small random values. However, recent results established that well-designed initialization schemes, e.g. Sparse Initialization (SI), can greatly improve performance of networks that do not use pretraining. An interesting question arising from these results is whether such initialization techniques wouldn't also improve pretrained networks? To shed light on this question, in this work we evaluate SI in DBNs that are used to pretrain discriminative networks. The motivation behind this research is our observation that SI has an impact on the features learned by a DBN during pretraining. Our results demonstrate that this improves network performance: when pretraining starts from sparsely initialized weight matrices networks achieve lower classification error after fine-tuning.
Efecto de la fertilización foliar y edáfica sobre el crecimiento de plantas de maíz sometidas a exceso de humedad en el suelo

Los llanos occidentales representan una de las regiones de mayor produccion de maiz en Venezuela. Los suelos de esta region presentan en algunas zonas problemas de drenajes que en periodos de lluvias sufren los efectos de deficiencias de aireacion, lo que acarrea reducciones en los rendimientos del cultivo. El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar el efecto de la fertilizacion foliar y edafica sobre el crecimiento vegetativo de dos variedades de maiz, Santa Ana y Turen 2000, afectadas por un periodo de inundacion en su estado vegetativo. Las plantas fueron colocadas dentro de un cobertizo en potes de 20 litros de capacidad y dispuestas en un arreglo factorial 2 x 2 x 3 (sin y con inundacion; dos variedades; sin fertilizar, fertilizacion foliar, y fertilizacion al suelo) en parcelas subdivididas con cuatro repeticiones. La inundacion se realizo por seis dias una vez emergida la sexta hoja verdadera. Finalizada la inundacion, se permitio que el suelo drenara por 48 horas antes de la aplicacion de los tratamientos de fertilizacion. Se realizaron muestreos de plantas antes de la inundacion, despues de la inundacion y 15 dias despues de la fertilizacion, para determinar la biomasa seca de los vastagos, area foliar y contenido de clorofila. La inundacion no afecto la produccion de biomasa seca pero si disminuyo el area foliar. Despues de la fertilizacion, la biomasa seca fue menor en las plantas inundadas y el area foliar no presento diferencias, aunque se encontro mayor area foliar en la variedad Santa Ana. El contenido de clorofila disminuyo en las plantas inundadas. Se concluye que la inundacion afecto parcialmente el crecimiento vegetativo y la fertilizacion no logro recuperar a la planta de los efectos adversos del anegamiento.
Caspase Inhibition Attenuates Contractile Dysfunction Following Cardioplegic Arrest and Rewarming in the Setting of Left Ventricular Failure

Hyperkalemic cardioplegic arrest (HCA) and rewarming evokes postoperative myocyte contractile dysfunction, a phenomenon of particular importance in settings of preexisting left ventricular (LV) failure. Caspases are intracellular proteolytic enzymes recently demonstrated to degrade myocardial contractile proteins. This study tested the hypothesis that myocyte contractile dysfunction induced by HCA could be ameliorated with caspase inhibition in the setting of compromised myocardial function. LV myocytes were isolated from control pigs (n = 9, 30 kg) or pigs with LV failure induced by rapid pacing (n = 6, 240 bpm for 21 days) and were randomized to the following: (1) normothermia (2003 myocytes), incubation in cell culture medium for 2 hours at 37°C; (2) HCA only (506 myocytes), incubation for 2 hours in hypothermic HCA solution (4°C, 24 mEq K+); or (3) HCA + z-VAD, incubation in hypothermic HCA solution supplemented with 10 μM of the caspase inhibitor z-VAD (z-Val-Ala-Asp-fluoromethyl-ketone, 415 myocytes). Inotropic responsiveness was examined using β-adrenergic stimulation (25 nM isoproterenol). Ambient normothermic myocyte shortening velocity (μm/s) was reduced with LV failure compared with control values (54 ± 2 versus 75 ± 2, respectively, P < 0.05). Following HCA, shortening velocity decreased in the LV failure and control groups (27 ± 5 and 45 ± 3, P < 0.05). Institution of z-VAD increased myocyte shortening velocity following HCA in both the LV failure and control groups (49 ± 5 and 65 ± 5, P < 0.05). Moreover, HCA supplementation with z-VAD increased β-adrenergic responsiveness in both groups compared with HCA-only values. This study provides proof of concept that caspase activity contributes to myocyte contractile dysfunction following simulated HCA. Pharmacologic caspase inhibition may hold particular relevance in the execution of cardiac surgical procedures requiring HCA in the context of preexisting LV failure.
New lessons of nurturing life for geriatric patients.

Our new lessons of nurturing life to make happiness and well-being of geriatric patients suggest comprise several important steps. First, geriatric patient care should not be delegated to specialists who focus on individual organ system. Instead, we should respond to the patient's condition based on comprehensive assessment to identify the single pathogenesis. Second, we should appreciate that the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) often reflect the behavioral and psychological symptoms of the caregiver (BPSC), and in particular the caregiver's attitude. Third, pleasant stimulations to the limbic system should receive more emphasis than attempting brain training in atrophied portions of the neocortex. Fourth, we should aim not for "successful aging," but for "balanced aging. " Fifth, we should rely less on drug-based therapy and utilize more non-pharmacologic approaches to appropriate therapy. Geriatric patients should be cared for based on our new lessons of nurturing life rather than the heavily medicalized treatment modalities that are in wide use today.
Serological responses of patients with lepromatous and tuberculoid leprosy to 30-, 31-, and 32-kilodalton antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Sera from patients with lepromatous and tuberculoid leprosy were examined in immunoblot assays for antibodies to Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture filtrate antigens. Antibodies to 30- and 31-kilodalton proteins were present in 88 and 81%, respectively, of 16 patients with lepromatous disease and absent in 16 patients with tuberculoid disease. Antibodies to a 32-kilodalton protein were found in 12 and 38% of lepromatous and tuberculoid patients, respectively. These reactivities may be useful for distinguishing lepromatous and tuberculoid leprosy.
Sequence variants of human papillomavirus type 16 in clinical samples permit verification and extension of epidemiological studies and construction of a phylogenetic tree

Genomic variability between different viral isolates provides a powerful epidemiological tool for verifying ultrasensitive diagnostic procedures, understanding infectious pathways in individuals and human populations, and studying viral evolution. The potential of this approach has not yet been exploited for the diagnosis of human papillomaviruses (HPVs) like HPV type 16 (HPV-16), which are involved in genital cancer. Toward this end, we amplified by polymerase chain reaction, cloned, and sequenced a 364-bp noncoding segment of the HPV-16 genome from cell lines, cervical biopsy specimens, and cervical smears. The HPV-16 genomes in the cell lines SiHa and CaSki showed an identical point mutation, and in the SiHa cell line it had an additional 38-bp deletion. Only 4 of 22 cervical lesions biopsied from patients at several hospitals in Singapore contained HPV-16 DNA with the prototype sequence, while the DNAs of the other 18 cervical lesions differed by 1 to 10 mutations. This excludes contaminations with cloned HPV-16 DNA as the source of this DNA. To test whether this diversity was a geographic idiosyncrasy, we analyzed 25 cervical biopsy specimens from Brazil. Eight of these contained the prototype sequence, while 17 were mutated. Altogether, 11 genomic variants were found in the Singaporean samples and 12 genomic variants were found in the Brazilian samples, and only 5 of these occurred identically in both cohorts. All variants could be connected to form a phylogenetic tree, with some branches being specific for each cohort. This suggests that the variants did not originate over a short period in the individual patient but, rather, evolved consecutively while spreading throughout humankind. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Uncomplicated urinary tract infection in women. Current practice and the effect of antibiotic resistance on empiric treatment.

OBJECTIVE To review treatment recommendations for empiric therapy of uncomplicated urinary tract infection (uUTI) in light of evolving antibiotic resistance and to consider use of guidelines to promote optimal practice. QUALITY OF EVIDENCE PubMed was searched and additional relevant references were identified by reviewing articles found in the search. Guidelines were identified through discussion with family practitioners. Level of evidence was assessed for recommendations. MAIN MESSAGE Many women have uUTIs. The treatment approach is usually empiric antimicrobial therapy without obtaining pretherapy cultures. Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole is standard first-line empiric treatment. While resistance to this drug is increasing, it remains only about 10% in community-acquired Escherichia coli in Canada. Concerns about increased resistance have contributed to greater use of fluoroquinolones, but widespread empiric use of this class of medications might promote resistance to fluoroquinolones. Hence, fluoroquinolones should not be considered first-line therapy. While guidelines for treatment of uUTIs have been developed, their usefulness is compromised by their conflicting recommendations. CONCLUSION Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and nitrofurantoin remain first-choice empiric therapy for uUTIs. Development of guidelines relevant to family physicians and community education programs that incorporate local susceptibility patterns are important strategies for promoting optimal practice.
The NIOSH Lifting Equation and Low-Back Pain, Part 2

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the revised NIOSH lifting equation (RNLE) and risk of seeking care for low-back pain (SC-LBP). Background: The RNLE is commonly used to quantify low-back physical stressors from lifting/lowering of loads in workplaces. There is no prospective study on relationship between RNLE and SC-LBP. Method: A cohort of 258 incident-eligible workers from 30 diverse facilities was followed for up to 4.5 years. Job physical exposures were individually measured. Worker demographics, medical history, psychosocial factors, hobbies, and current low-back pain were obtained at baseline. The cohort was followed monthly to ascertain SC-LBP and quarterly to determine changes in physical exposure. Associations between SC-LBP and both the peak lifting index (PLI) and peak composite lifting index (PCLI) were tested in multivariate models using proportional hazards regression. Results: SC-LBP lifetime prevalence at baseline was 31.9%, and there were 24 incident cases during follow-up. Factors predicting SC-LBP included job physical exposure (PLI and PCLI), history of low-back pain, age, female gender, and lower body mass index. In adjusted models, risk (hazard ratio [HR]) increased per unit increase in PLI and PCLI (p = .03 and .02, and maximum HR = 23.0 and 21.9, respectively). Whereas PCLI suggested a continuous increase in risk with an increase in PCLI, the PLI showed elevated, though somewhat reduced, risk at higher exposures (HR = 14.9 at PLI = 6). Conclusion: Job physical stressors are associated with increased risk of SC-LBP. Data suggest that both the PLI and PCLI are useful metrics for estimating exposure to job physical stressors.
Extremes and fluid queues

In queueing theory, the main entity is a station where service is provided; examples include counters, call centers, elevators, and traffic lights. Customers seeking this service arrive at the system, where they wait if the service facility cannot immediately allocate the required amount of service. They depart after being served. In most of these applications, it is intrinsically uncertain at what time customers arrive and how long they need to be served. This explains why probability theory plays an important role in the analysis of queueing systems. In order to design these systems optimally, it is desirable to know how this randomness influences the performance of the system. Therefore, it is crucial to study system characteristics that reflect this performance. For instance, one may wish to analyze the probability distributions of the queue length or the waiting time of a customer, as a function of the random arrival process and service requirements. The investigation of such a performance measure starts with a reformulation of the problem into mathematical terms. On an appropriate level of abstraction, the analysis no longer involves queues; rather a problem of (applied) probability theory needs to be solved. The system characteristics that we encounter in this thesis are all related to so-called extremes as a result of this translation. An inherent advantage of investigating queues through examining extremes is the wide applicability of the resulting theory. For instance, many of our results are also relevant for risk theory and financial mathematics; even though it may be unclear upfront how these fields relate to customers waiting in a line, extremes also play a pivotal role in these theories. Since our results are often illustrated with queueing examples, we first briefly discuss how queues are related to extremes.
Plastid and nuclear DNA polymorphism reveals historical processes of isolation and reticulation in the olive tree complex (Olea europaea)

Aim The olive tree is considered one of the best indicators of the Mediterranean climate. The species’ distribution is associated with geographical and bioclimatic factors, as well as being influenced by a long period of cultivation. Despite concerted efforts of different research groups, the origin of the Mediterranean olive tree still remains elusive. In the present study, relationships between taxa and populations covering the entire range of Olea europaea were investigated using both maternal (plastid genome) and biparental (nuclear genome) markers to disclose evolutionary patterns in the olive complex. Phylogenetic and phylogeographical results of the two‐genome analyses were interpreted in a biogeographical context.
Central pancreatectomy: an oncologically safe option to treat metastases of other neoplasms of the mid-portion of the pancreas?

Backgrounds/Aims Standard pancreatic resections are the current approach for patients with resectable, isolated pancreatic metastases of other neoplasms. However, the role of parenchyma-sparing pancreatectomies for such pathology is poorly investigated. The aim of the present study is to assess the oncological safety of central pancreatectomies for pancreatic metastases of other neoplasms. Methods A literature search was performed in order to identify patients with central pancreatectomies for pancreatic metastases of other neoplasms. The available data of the patients were extracted and analyzed. Results A total number of 16 patients were identified. Renal carcinoma was the primary origin for the largest number of these patients (11 patients - 69%). The mean overall survival time was 109 months, with 1-, 5- and 10-year survival rates of 100%, 84%, and 60%, respectively. Conclusions Although not often performed, a central pancreatectomy appears to be an oncologically safe surgical procedure in select patients with pancreatic metastases of other neoplasms of the pancreatic body and isthmus. However, no definitive conclusions should be drawn, based on the data provided in the present study, due to the limited number and heterogeneity of the patients.