Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Title Simultaneous observation of calcium signaling response and membrane deformation due to localized mechanical stimulus in single osteoblast-like cells

Biochemical signals related to a mechanosensory mechanism by which cells sense mechanical stimuli have been gradually clarified by biological approaches such as blocking specific signaling pathways; however, mechanical signals such as deformation/strain, which is transduced into biochemical signals through this mechanism, particularly at the cellular structural component level in a single cell, have not yet been clearly understood. This in vitro study focuses on an intracellular calcium signaling response to an applied localized deformation in a single osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cell, and observed localized deformation of a cell membrane and the calcium ion flux from an extracellular medium. The localized deformation was applied to a cell by indenting a microsphere onto the cell membrane using a glass microneedle. The cellular calcium signaling response and cell membrane deformation were simultaneously observed using fluorescent dyes in a vertical section under a confocal laser-scanning microscope with high spatial and temporal resolutions. Our results observed in the vertical section showed that the initiation point of the calcium ion flux is collocated at the displaced microsphere around which stretch membrane deformation was observed.
Cardiovascular disease risk associated with elevated lipoprotein(a) attenuates at low low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in a primary prevention setting

Aims Lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) elevation is a causal risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). It has however been suggested that elevated Lp(a) causes CVD mainly in individuals with high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. We hypothesized that the risk associated with high Lp(a) levels would largely be attenuated at low LDL-C levels. Methods and results In 16 654 individuals from the EPIC-Norfolk prospective population study, and in 9448 individuals from the Copenhagen City Heart Study (CCHS) parallel statistical analyses were performed. Individuals were categorized according to their Lp(a) and LDL-C levels. Cut-offs were set at the 80th cohort percentile for Lp(a). Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol cut-offs were set at 2.5, 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5 mmol/L. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in the primary analyses were corrected for Lp(a)-derived LDL-C (LDL-Ccorr). Multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios were calculated for each category. The category with LDL-Ccorr <2.5 mmol/L and Lp(a) <80th cohort percentile was used as reference category. In the EPIC-Norfolk and CCHS cohorts, individuals with an Lp(a) ≥80th percentile were at increased CVD risk compared with those with Lp(a) <80th percentile for any LDL-Ccorr levels ≥2.5 mmol/L. In contrast, for LDL-Ccorr <2.5 mmol/L, the risk associated with elevated Lp(a) attenuated. However, there was no interaction between LDL-Ccorr and Lp(a) levels on CVD risk in either cohort. Conclusion Lipoprotein(a) and LDL-C are independently associated with CVD risk. At LDL-C levels below <2.5 mmol/L, the risk associated with elevated Lp(a) attenuates in a primary prevention setting.
CD4+ cell count recovery following initiation of HIV antiretroviral therapy in older childhood and adolescence

Objective: To investigate CD4+ cell count recovery following ART initiation in perinatally HIV-infected children diagnosed in later childhood. Design: Observational prospective cohort study of newly diagnosed children aged 6–15 in Harare, Zimbabwe. Methods: Participants were enrolled into a cohort at seven primary healthcare clinics between January 2013 and January 2015. ART was initiated according to national guidelines and CD4+ cell counts were performed 6-monthly over 18 months. The relationship between CD4+ cell count and time on ART was investigated using regression analysis with fixed (population) and random (individual) effects, and age at ART initiation as a covariate. Results: Of the 307 participants who initiated ART, the median age at initiation was 11.7 years (interquartile range 9.6–13.8). The addition of an individual intercept and slope as random effects significantly improved the model fit compared with a fixed effects-only model. CD4+ response (using a square-root transformation) was best modelled using a two-knot linear spline, with significant effects of time on ART and age at ART initiation. Younger children had a higher CD4+ cell count at ART initiation (−17.9 cells/&mgr;l per year of age), an accelerated increase during the first 3 months on ART (−38.9 cells/&mgr;l per year of age at day 84), and a sustained higher CD4+ cell count. Conclusion: Earlier ART initiation in older children is associated with accelerated CD4+ cell count recovery and lasting immune reconstitution. Our findings support WHO guidance recommending ART initiation in all children, irrespective of disease stage and CD4+ cell count.
T Follicular Regulatory Cells Are Decreased in Patients With Established Treated Rheumatoid Arthritis With Active Disease: Comment on the Article by Liu et al

We read with great interest the article by Liu et al (1) recently published in the last issue of Arthritis & Rheumatology, in which the authors reported that blood T follicular regulatory (Tfr) cells are increased in untreated rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, especially in those in stable remission, where the Tfr/T follicular helper (Tfh) ratio is also increased. However, in our own RA cohort we observed a significant number of discrepant findings from those reported by Liu et al. We have recently defined the phenotype and function of human circulating Tfr cells (2). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B markers in Iraqi patients with chronic Hepatitis B virus

To determine the seroprevalence of hepatitis B markers in chronic hepatitis B patients, 75 patients with chronic hepatitis B virus of ages (8-70) years have been investigated and compared with 50 apparently healthy individuals. All the studied groups were carried out to measure (HBsAg), (HBsAb), (HBeAg), (HBeAb), and (Total HBcAb) by Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. The percentage distribution of HBsAg was (86.67%) and HBsAb was (1.33%) in sera of CHB patients and there were a highly significant differences (P<0.01) when compared between studied groups, while, the percentage distribution of HBeAg was (22.67%) in sera of CHB patients and the significant represent the difference in distribution of HBeAg as infection but not as HBsAg distribution. Whereas the percentage distribution of HBeAb was (50.67%) in sera of CHB patients and there were no significant differences (P>0.05) when compared between studied group. The statistical analysis also demonstrated that the percentage distribution of total HBc Ab was (73.33%) in sera of CHB patients and there were a highly significant differences (P<0.01) when compared between studied group. These results indicated that HBsAg was the predominant markers in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus. Keyword: Chronic hepatitis B virus, HBsAg, HBsAb, HBeAg, HBeAb, and Total HBcAb --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date of Submission: 15-01-2018 Date of acceptance: 13-02-2018 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inhibition of the histone demethylase KDM4B leads to activation of KDM1A, attenuates bacterial-induced pro-inflammatory cytokine release, and reduces osteoclastogenesis

ABSTRACT Periodontal disease (PD) afflicts 46% of Americans with no effective adjunctive therapies available. While most pharmacotherapy for PD targets bacteria, the host immune response is responsible for driving tissue damage and bone loss in severe disease. Herein, we establish that the histone demethylase KDM4B is a potential drug target for the treatment of PD. Immunohistochemical staining of diseased periodontal epithelium revealed an increased abundance of KDM4B that correlates with inflammation. In murine calvarial sections exposed to Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans lipopolysaccharide (Aa-LPS), immunohistochemical staining revealed a significant increase in KDM4B protein expression. The 8-hydroxyquinoline ML324 is known to inhibit the related demethylase KDM4E in vitro, but has not been evaluated against any other targets. Our studies indicate that ML324 also inhibits KDM4B (IC50: 4.9 μM), and decreases the pro-inflammatory cytokine response to an Aa-LPS challenge in vitro. Our results suggest that KDM4B inhibition-induced immunosuppression works indirectly, requiring new protein synthesis. In addition, fluorescence-stained macrophages exhibited a significant decrease in global monomethyl histone 3 lysine 4 (H3K4me) levels following an Aa-LPS challenge that was prevented by KDM4B inhibition, suggesting this effect is produced through KDM1A-mediated demethylation of H3K4. Finally, ML324 inhibition of KDM4B in osteoclast progenitors produced a significant reduction in Aa-LPS-induced osteoclastogenesis. These data link histone methylation with host immune response to bacterial pathogens in PD, and suggest a previously unreported, alternative mechanism for epigenetic control of the host inflammatory environment. As such, KDM4B represents a new therapeutic target for treating hyper-inflammatory diseases that result in bone destruction.
Adherence to the traditional Mediterranean diet in a population of South of Italy: factors involved and proposal of an educational field-based survey tool

Abstract We developed and validated a tool assessing the adherence to the Mediterranean diet based on current nutritional recommendations for health promotion (MEDI-Quest). Four-hundred-and-eleven clinically healthy subjects completed both the MEDI-Quest-score and the validated MedDietScore (MDS). A good accordance between MEDI-Quest and MDS was observed (R = 0.638), as well as for the percentage of individuals having similar scores with both methods for each food group. Regarding socio-cultural-factors, higher adherence was observed in people with older-age (OR = 1.030, p < .0001), more qualifier-employment (OR = 1.136, p < .005), higher-income (OR = 1.925, p < .0001), interest in reading-food-labels (OR = 2.057, p < .0001), and having frequent physical activity (OR = 1.608, p < .05). In conclusion, our findings show that (1) the MEDI-Quest score well correlate with MDS, and (2) the adherence to the Mediterranean diet is not particularly high due to less cultural roots. It could be necessary to improve people’s knowledge about food and nutrition, taking into consideration believes embedded in their family, tradition and religion.
Solving the RNA design problem with reinforcement learning

We use reinforcement learning to train an agent for computational RNA design: given a target secondary structure, design a sequence that folds to that structure in silico. Our agent uses a novel graph convolutional architecture allowing a single model to be applied to arbitrary target structures of any length. After training it on randomly generated targets, we test it on the Eterna100 benchmark and find it outperforms all previous algorithms. Analysis of its solutions shows it has successfully learned some advanced strategies identified by players of the game Eterna, allowing it to solve some very difficult structures. On the other hand, it has failed to learn other strategies, possibly because they were not required for the targets in the training set. This suggests the possibility that future improvements to the training protocol may yield further gains in performance.
Insights into thermonuclear supernovae from the incomplete Si-burning process

Type Ia supernova (SNIa) explosions synthesize a few tenths to several tenths of a solar mass, whose composition is the result of incomplete silicon burning that reaches peak temperatures of 4 GK to 5 GK. The elemental abundances are sensitive to the physical conditions in the explosion, making their measurement a promising clue to uncovering the properties of the progenitor star and of the explosion itself. Using a parameterized description of the thermodynamic history of matter undergoing incomplete silicon burning, we computed the final composition for a range of parameters wide enough to encompass current models of SNIa. Then, we searched for combinations of elemental abundances that trace the parameters values and are potentially measurable. For this purpose, we divide the present study into two epochs of SNIa, namely the optical epoch, from a few weeks to several months after the explosion, and the X-ray epoch, which refers to the time period in which the supernova remnant is young, starting one or two hundred years age and ending a thousand years after the event. During the optical epoch, the only SNIa property that can be extracted from the detection of incomplete silicon burning elements is the neutron excess of the progenitor white dwarf at thermal runaway, which can be determined through measuring the ratio of the abundance of manganese to that of titanium, chromium, or vanadium. Conversely, in the X-ray epoch, any abundance ratio built using a couple of elements from titanium, vanadium, chromium, or manganese may constrain the initial neutron excess. Furthermore, measuring the ratio of the abundances of vanadium to manganese in the X-ray might shed light on the timescale of the thermonuclear explosion.
TOXICITY , FREEZING AND COLD STORAGE TESTS OF NATIVE SPECIES SEMEN

1Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Educação e Zootecnia. Estrada Parintins/Macurany, 1805, Jacareacanga, Parintins/AM/Brasil. 69.152-240. E-mail: tvianadacosta@yahoo.com. br (corresponding author) 2Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Estação de Biologia Marinha. Rua Sereder, s/n, Itacuruçá, Mangaratiba/RJ/Brasil. 23.860020 3Universidad de Buenos Aires, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, FCEN e IBBEA, CONICET-UBA, Argentina. TESTES DE TOXICIDADE, CONGELAMENTO E REFRIGERAÇÃO EM SÊMEN DE ESPÉCIE NATIVA
The Nrf2 inhibitor brusatol is a potent antitumour agent in an orthotopic mouse model of colorectal cancer

Nrf2 is a transcription factor that regulates cellular stress response and irinotecan-metabolising pathways. Its aberrant activity has been reported in a number of cancers, although relatively few studies have explored a role for Nrf2 in colorectal cancer (CRC). This study assessed the expression of Nrf2 in patient CRC tissues and explored the effect of Nrf2 modulation alone, or in combination with irinotecan, in human (HCT116) and murine (CT26) cell lines in vitro and in an orthotopic syngeneic mouse model utilising bioluminescent imaging. Using a tissue microarray, Nrf2 was found to be overexpressed (p<0.01) in primary CRC and metastatic tissue relative to normal colon, with a positive correlation between Nrf2 expression in matched primary and metastatic samples. In vitro experiments in CRC cell lines revealed that Nrf2 siRNA and brusatol, which is known to inhibit Nrf2, decreased viability and sensitised cells to irinotecan toxicity. Furthermore, brusatol effectively abrogated CRC tumour growth in subcutaneously and orthotopically-allografted mice, resulting in an average 8-fold reduction in luminescence at the study end-point (p=0.02). Our results highlight Nrf2 as a promising drug target in the treatment of CRC.
Breast cancer classification of image using convolutional neural network

Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) has been set up as an intense class of models for image acknowledgment issues. CNN is a deep learning model which extracts the feature of an image and use these feature to classify an image. Other classification algorithm needs to extract the feature of an image using feature extraction algorithm like Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix. Convolutional neural network is a class of deep, feed-forward artificial neural networks that have successfully been applied to recognizing image. It is also widely used in video recognition, image classification, recommender systems, natural language processing and speech recognition. In this paper, a dataset of 7909 breast cancer histopathology images acquired on 82 patients are taken. These images are of two different classes benign and malignant. We extract the patches of the image to train the network and finally we give the image as an input to classify the image. Performance of CNN is much better when compared to other reported results on MNSIT dataset using other classification algorithm for classifying an image.
Generalized adaptive phase-shifted PWM for single-phase seven-level cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverters

Cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverters have gained a significant popularity in medium to high power motor drive applications and grid-connected renewable energy systems in recent years. Under equal DC voltages, cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverters use phase-shifted pulse width modulation (PS-PWM) technique to generate the output voltage. However, under unequal DC voltages which may happen because of the renewable energy sources connected to front-end of the multilevel inverter, traditional PS-PWM method fails to achieve good output harmonics. In this paper, a frequency domain analysis of PS-PWM is presented. By using the analysis, a phase angle modification of traditional PS-PWM is introduced. The proposed method helps eliminate first order harmonics of triangular carrier frequency and its sidebands under randomly selected DC voltages and DC voltage fault conditions. Finally, simulation results for single phase seven- level cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter are presented to validate the good performance of the proposed method.
Assessment of Water Quality of Tigris River by using Water Quality Index (CCME WQI)

The present work describes the application of Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment Water Quality Index (CCME WQI) for the 3 stations located along with Tigris River in Baghdad city, Iraq. The field work was conducted during the period from February to December 2010. CCME WQI was applied using eleven water quality parameter (pH value, Total Dissolved Solids, Calcium, Total Alkalinity, Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, Turbidity, Lead Chromium, Iron). Based on the results obtained from the index, the water quality of Tigris River ranged between 37-42 which indicate that river has the worst quality due to effect of various urban pollutant sources. This work confirms the need to take a serious action for monitoring the river for proper management.
The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: spectral types and luminosity functions

We describe the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS), and the current status of the observations. In this exploratory paper, we apply a Principal Component Analysis to a preliminary sample of 5869 galaxy spectra and use the two most significant components to split the sample into five spectral classes. These classes are defined by considering visual classifications of a subset of the 2dF spectra, and also by comparing to high quality spectra of local galaxies. We calculate a luminosity function for each of the different classes and find that later-type galaxies have a fainter characteristic magnitude, and a steeper faint-end slope. For the whole sample we find M ⋆ = 19.7 (for =1,H0=100kms 1 Mpc 1 ), � = 1.3, � ⋆ = 0.017. For class 1 (‘early-type’) we find M ⋆ = 19.6, � = 0.7, while for class 5 (‘late-type’) we find M ⋆ = 19.0, � = 1.7. The derived 2dF luminosity functions agree well with other recent luminosity function estimates.
INFLUENCE OF FREEZING AND DRYING ON THE PHENOL CONTENT AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF HORSERADISH AND LOVAGE

A perennial herb lovage (Levesticum officinale L.) and horseradish (Armoracia rusticana L.) contains biologically active substances and are cultivated in temperate regions of the world. The aim of this work was to study the effect of the technological processes (freezing and drying) on the polyphenol content and antioxidant activity of horseradish leaves and lovage leaves and stems. The samples were processed using freezing (-20 °C) and drying (at temperature of +24 °C, in a dark, till moisture content 10 ±2%), and for a comparison fresh samples were analysed. Lovage leaves and stems and horseradish leaves were extracted with ethanol using conventional extraction. Total phenols, total flavonoids, antioxidant activity were determined spectrophotometrically, and individual polyphenolics were identified using HPLC. Analysis of the phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of lovage and horseradish showed differences depending on the technological processes applied. The predominant phenolic acid in lovage samples was caffeic acid, but horseradish leaves – chlorogenic acid, and the major flavonoid was rutin. Only sinapic acid in lovage stems were found to be higher in the dried samples, compared to the fresh and frozen samples. From analysed methods better results for preserving phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of lovage leaves and stems and horseradish leaves proved to be freezing.
Admission Hyperoxia Is a Risk Factor for Mortality in Pediatric Intensive Care*

Objectives: To determine whether the association between hyperoxia and increased risk-adjusted mortality in adult intensive care patients is also observed in a pediatric intensive care population. Design: Single-center retrospective analysis of admissions to ICU over a 5-year period commencing January 1, 2012, examining the relationship between PaO2 measured within the first hour of admission and risk-adjusted mortality. Standardized mortality rates were calculated using the Pediatric Index of Mortality-3, and patients were grouped into 50 mm Hg (6.67 kPa) PaO2 bands to assess the relationship between initial PaO2 and risk-adjusted mortality. Setting: Tertiary PICU with 17 beds and 1,100 annual admissions located in metropolitan Sydney, Australia. Patients: A total of 1,447 patients 0–18 years old with PaO2 recorded at admission to the ICU. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: There were 5,176 patients admitted to the ICU during the study period and 1,447 (28%) with PaO2 recorded at admission. A U-shaped relationship between raw mortality and admission PaO2 was observed, with lowest mortality (2.3% and 2.6%, respectively) observed in the 101–150 (13.5–20.0 kPa) and 151–200 mm Hg (20.1–26.7 kPa) bands and the highest mortality observed in patients with PaO2 less than 50 mm Hg (6.67 kPa) with mortality of 5.3%, or greater than 350 mm Hg (46.7 kPa) with mortality of 18.2%. Hyperoxia at admission was associated with an increase in risk-adjusted mortality, with polynomial regression indicating a strong correlation between PaO2 band and risk-adjusted outcome (r2 = 0.845). When included in a multivariate model that included the Pediatric Index of Mortality-3 variables, the odds ratio for hyperoxia (defined as PaO2 > 250 mm Hg [33.3 kPa]) predicting death was 2.66 (p = 0.047). Conclusions: In this single-center study, hyperoxia at admission to the PICU was highly correlated with increased risk-adjusted mortality. Further investigation of these observations in a large multicenter cohort is warranted.