Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic loss of Gas6 induces plaque stability in experimental atherosclerosis

The growth arrest‐specific gene 6 (Gas6) plays a role in pro‐atherogenic processes such as endothelial and leukocyte activation, smooth muscle cell migration and thrombosis, but its role in atherosclerosis remains uninvestigated. Here, we report that Gas6 is expressed in all stages of human and mouse atherosclerosis, in plaque endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells and macrophages. Gas6 expression is most abundant in lesions containing high amounts of macrophages, ie thin fibrous cap atheroma and ruptured plaque. Genetic loss of Gas6 does not affect the number and size of initial and advanced plaques in ApoE−/− mice, but alters its plaque composition. Compared to Gas6+/+: ApoE−/− mice, initial and advanced plaques of Gas6−/−: ApoE−/− mice contained more smooth muscle cells and more collagen and developed smaller lipid cores, while the expression of TGFβ was increased. In addition, fewer macrophages were found in advanced plaques of Gas6−/−: ApoE−/− mice. Hence, loss of Gas6 promotes the formation of more stable atherosclerotic lesions by increasing plaque fibrosis and by attenuating plaque inflammation. These findings identify a role for Gas6 in plaque composition and stability. Copyright © 2008 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Direct 5S rRNA Assay for Monitoring Mixed-Culture Bioprocesses

This study demonstrates the efficacy of a direct 5S rRNA assay for the characterization of mixed microbial populations by using as an example the bacteria associated with acidic mining environments. The direct 5S rRNA assay described herein represents a nonselective, direct molecular method for monitoring and characterizing the predominant, metabolically active members of a microbial population. The foundation of the assay is high-resolution denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), which is used to separate 5S rRNA species extracted from collected biomass. Separation is based on the unique migration behavior of each 5S rRNA species during electrophoresis in denaturing gradient gels. With mixtures of RNA extracted from laboratory cultures, the upper practical limit for detection in the current experimental system has been estimated to be greater than 15 different species. With this method, the resolution was demonstrated to be effective at least to the species level. The strength of this approach was demonstrated by the ability to discriminate between Thiobacillus ferrooxidans ATCC 19859 and Thiobacillus thiooxidans ATCC 8085, two very closely related species. Migration patterns for the 5S rRNA from members of the genus Thiobacillus were readily distinguishable from those of the genera Acidiphilium and Leptospirillum. In conclusion, the 5S rRNA assay represents a powerful method by which the structure of a microbial population within acidic environments can be assessed.
Physical activity and obesity mediate the association between childhood motor function and adolescents’ academic achievement

The global epidemic of obesity and physical inactivity may have detrimental implications for young people’s cognitive function and academic achievement. This prospective study investigated whether childhood motor function predicts later academic achievement via physical activity, fitness, and obesity. The study sample included 8,061 children from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986, which contains data about parent-reported motor function at age 8 y and self-reported physical activity, predicted cardiorespiratory fitness (cycle ergometer test), obesity (body weight and height), and academic achievement (grades) at age 16 y. Structural equation models with unstandardized (B) and standardized (β) coefficients were used to test whether, and to what extent, physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness, and obesity at age 16 mediated the association between childhood motor function and adolescents’ academic achievement. Physical activity was associated with a higher grade-point average, and obesity was associated with a lower grade-point average in adolescence. Furthermore, compromised motor function in childhood had a negative indirect effect on adolescents’ academic achievement via physical inactivity (B = –0.023, 95% confidence interval = –0.031, –0.015) and obesity (B = –0.025, 95% confidence interval = –0.039, –0.011), but not via cardiorespiratory fitness. These results suggest that physical activity and obesity may mediate the association between childhood motor function and adolescents’ academic achievement. Compromised motor function in childhood may represent an important factor driving the effects of obesity and physical inactivity on academic underachievement.
A Novel Soft-Switching Interleaved Coupled-Inductor Boost Converter With Only Single Auxiliary Circuit

A novel soft-switching interleaved coupled-inductor boost converter is proposed in this paper. Only a single active soft-switching module is needed to simultaneously achieve the soft-switching property of the two switches in the interleaved coupled-inductor boost converter. The better efficiency is achieved with the less components and cost. The two main switches can achieve the ZVT turn-on and smaller-current turn-off simultaneously when the single active soft-switching module is active. Due to the coupling characteristic of the inductors, the voltages across the two inductors are changed at the same time; therefore, the equivalent circuit is equal to the parasitic capacitors of the two main switches in parallel to resonate with the auxiliary inductor. By coupling two input inductors, the volume and cost of the circuit can be reduced. The interleaved coupled-inductor topology can also reduce the input and output current ripples and share the input and output currents. The operating modes, analysis, and design of the proposed circuit have been discussed in this paper. Simulation and experiments are finally conducted to verify the validity of the proposed circuit.
Putting noninvasive lung mechanics into context

Anyone who teaches medical students about how the lungs work meets an immediate problem. The best way to describe the mechanics of breathing is in terms of airways resistance and lung compliance but these measurements are not readily available in clinical practice. Instead clinicians focus on the indirect information available from spirometry. The great advantage that spirometry offers is its known immediate reproducibility and limited between test variation in both health and disease [1]. These properties, coupled with its extensive use in clinical decision making, ensure that spirometric measurements are going to be used in managing respiratory disease for the foreseeable future. One particular advantage of spirometry is the availability of age- and height-related normal values against which any recording can be judged [2]. From the 1950s onwards, physiologists realised that applying small multi-frequency pressure oscillations at the mouth would produce changes in volume and flow that provided a direct and noninvasive measurement of respiratory system mechanics. These data were expressed in terms of respiratory system resistance and reactance (the latter a complex concept involving negative numbers that has never appealed to clinicians), and should give an insight into how breathing at rest is related to disease. To make this measurement clinically practical there had to be substantial improvements in the accuracy of the pressure transducers which measured the very small fluctuations in pressure, and hence flow, within the airways and also a considerable increase in the computing power necessary for the complex mathematical manipulations, such as fast Fourier transformations which disentangle the mixture of frequencies applied to describe the behaviour of the respiratory system. By the early 1980s [3] these developments had become a reality and a number of researchers, especially those based in Belgium, made measurements of resistance and reactance in healthy …
The Effectiveness of Cross-Age Tutoring With Truant, Junior High School Students with Learning Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects that result when truant and tardy junior high school students with learning disabilities are used as tutors for younger LD pupils. After 6 weeks of tutoring, the 16 tutors made significant gains in locus of control. In addition, most of the tutors showed a decrease in truant and tardy behaviors.
Expression of a P2X7 Receptor by a Subpopulation of Human Osteoblasts

There is now conclusive evidence that extracellular nucleotides acting via cell surface P2 receptors are important local modulators of bone cell function. Multiple subtypes of P2 receptors have been localized to bone, where their activation modulates multiple processes including osteoblast proliferation, osteoblast‐mediated bone formation, and osteoclast formation and resorptive capacity. Locally released nucleotides also have been shown to sensitize surrounding cells to the action of systemic factors such as parathyroid hormone (PTH). In nonskeletal tissue recent attention has focused on one particular P2 receptor, the P2X7 receptor (previously termed P2Z), and its ability to form nonselective aqueous pores in the plasma membrane on prolonged stimulation. Expression of this receptor originally was thought to be restricted to cells of hemopoietic origin, in which it has been implicated in cell fusion, apoptosis, and release of proinflammatory cytokines. However, recent reports have indicated expression of this receptor in cells of stromal origin. In this study, we investigated the expression of the P2X7 receptor in two human osteosarcoma cell lines, as well as several populations of primary human bone‐derived cells (HBDCs) at the levels of messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein. We found that there is a subpopulation of osteoblasts that expresses the P2X7 receptor and that these receptors are functional as assessed by monitoring ethidium bromide uptake following pore formation. Inhibition of delayed lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release in response to the specific agonist 2′,3′‐(4‐benzoyl)‐benzoyl‐adenosine triphosphate (BzATP) by the nonspecific P2X receptor antagonist PPADS confirmed a receptor‐mediated event. After treatment with BzATP SaOS‐2 cells exhibited dramatic morphological changes consistent with those observed after P2X7‐mediated apoptosis in hemopoietic cells. Dual staining with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase‐mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate‐biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) and a P2X7‐specific monoclonal antibody confirmed the induction of apoptosis in osteoblasts expressing the P2X7 receptor. These data show for the first time the expression of functional P2X7 receptors in a subpopulation of osteoblasts, activation of which can result in ATP‐mediated apoptosis.
Functional gap junctions in thymic epithelial cells are formed by connexin 43

A multiparametric study was carried out to investigate the presence and possible role of communicating junctions in the thymus, particularly in the thymic epithelium, the major component of the thymic microenvironment. The presence of direct cell‐cell communication mediated by gap junctions was demonstrated in human and murine thymic epithelial cells (TEC) by means of in situ and in vitro immunohistochemical labeling as well as in vitro fluorochrome injection and double whole‐cell patch clamp experiments. Moreover, both immuno‐ and Northern blot studies revealed that the gap junction protein connexin 43 and its mRNA were present in TEC. Importantly, we showed that thymic endocrine activity, as ascertained by thymulin production, could be specifically downmodulated in vitro by a gap junction inhibitor, octanol. We also investigated the existence of gap junctions between TEC and thymocytes. In thymic nurse cells we were able to detect cell‐cell communication, although only a minor percentage of epithelial/thymocyte pairs were coupled in a given moment. In contrast, intercellular communication was not detected between cultured phagocytic cells of the thymic reticulum and the respective rosetting thymocytes. We suggest that gap junctions formed by connexin 43 may represent a novel (and rather cell type‐specific) pathway for intrathymic cellular communication, including TEC/TEC as well as possible TEC/thymocyte interactions.
Iterative Kinetic Parameter Estimation within Fully 4D PET Image Reconstruction

4D PET imaging seeks to estimate kinetic parameters of physiological significance through the generation of a time series of 3D images. Conventionally the time series is reconstructed one frame at a time, and then the kinetic modeling is applied as a post-reconstruction step to estimate the desired parameters. Such a separated approach does not account for the task of kinetic parameter estimation within the reconstruction itself. This work indicates that conventional frame-by-frame maximum likelihood reconstruction in high noise situations is sub-optimal if post-reconstruction kinetic parameter estimation is to be performed. As an alternative, a simple to implement, EM-based iterative reconstruction method is proposed which uses all of the acquired data in every iteration and includes the image-space kinetic parameter estimation process within the reconstruction. The method can accommodate kinetic models of any chosen complexity with relative ease, and can deliver more accurate kinetic parameter estimates than the conventional approach for low-statistics data.
Motor neuronal death in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is not apoptotic. A comparative study of ALS and chronic aluminium chloride neurotoxicity in New Zealand white rabbits

Whether diseased motor neurones in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) die via apoptosis is unknown. Because this relates primarily to difficulties in utilizing post‐mortem tissue from end‐stage disease, motor neurone degeneration in ALS spinal cord was compared with that of a model of a chronic motor neurone degeneration. Degenerating motor neurones in ALS, identified by ubiquitin immunoreactivity, did not demonstrate the morphological characteristics of apoptosis and were not c‐Jun immunoreactive or TUNEL positive. A temporal analysis of spinal motor neurone death in the chronic AlCl3 neurotoxicity model of motor neurone degeneration was also undertaken. AlCl3 was administered intracisternally every 4 weeks and, at intervals of 51, 107, 156 and 267 days, evidence of apoptosis was sought by morphology, TUNEL hybridization or DNA laddering. Double‐labelling immunostudies were also performed with antibodies to either c‐Jun, ubiquitin or high molecular weight neurofilament (NFH) with TUNEL hybridization. Although significant neurone loss was evident, apoptosis was not found. These studies demonstrate a lack of apoptosis in ALS spinal motor neurones and suggest that this observation does not relate to the utilization of post‐mortem tissue in which apoptotic neurones may have been lost.
Egocentric Biases in Availability and Attribution

Five experiments were conducted to assess biases in availability of information in memory and attributions of responsibilit y for the actions and decisions that occurred during a previous group interaction. The subject populations sampled included naturally occurring discussion groups, married couples, basketball teams, and groups assembled in the laboratory. The data provided consistent evidence for egocentric biases in availability and attribution: One's own contributions to a joint product were more readily available, that is, more frequently and easily recalled; individuals accepted more responsibility for a group product than other participants attributed to them. In addition, statements attributed to the self were recalled more accurately and the availability bias was attenuated, though not eliminated, when the group product was negatively evaluated (Experiment 2). Finally, when another participant's contributions were made more available to the individual via a selective retrieval process, the individual allocated correspondingly more responsibility for the group decisions to the coparticipant (Experiment 5). The determinants and pervasiveness of the egocentric biases are considered. One instance of a phenomenon examined in the present experiments is familiar to almost anyone who has conducted joint research. Consider the following: You have worked on a research project with another person, and the question arises as to who should be "first author" (i.e., who contributed more to the final product? ). Often, it seems that both of you feel entirely justified in claiming that honor. Moreover, since you are convinced that your view of reality must be shared by your colleague (there being only one reality), you assume that the other person is attempting to take advantage of you. Sometimes such concerns are settled or prevented by the use of arbitrary decision rules, for example, the rule of "alphabetical priority"—
T cell-dependent B cell hyperactivity in primary Sjögren's syndrome: Biomarker and target for treatment

Het primaire syndroom van Sjogren (pSS) is een chronische, systemische auto-immuunziekte, waarbij met name de speekselklieren en traanklieren worden aangedaan. De meest voorkomende symptomen van pSS zijn een droge mond, droge ogen en chronische vermoeidheid. Naast de speeksel- en traanklieren kunnen ook andere organen aangetast worden door de ziekte. pSS wordt gekenmerkt door over-activatie van het verworven immuunsysteem en in het bijzonder hyperactivatie van B lymfocyten (B cellen). In dit proefschrift werd de rol van T cel-afhankelijke B cel hyperactiviteit als biomarker en doelwit van behandeling in pSS bestudeerd. Het onderzoek heeft aangetoond dat de frequentie van circulerende T folliculaire helper (Tfh) cellen een adequate biomarker voor ziekteactiviteit is. Lokaal in de speekselklieren lijken echter ook andere effector T cel subtypes en B cellen een belangrijke bijdrage te leveren aan het ontstekingsproces. In dit proefschrift beschreven we ook dat de ratio van immunoglobuline vrije lichte ketens (κ/λ) in serum een bruikbare biomarker is voor de aanwezigheid van MALT-lymfoom. Verder toonden we verschillende biologische effecten aan van immunotherapie met rituximab of abatacept in pSS patienten. Met name de frequentie van circulerende Tfh cellen werd verminderd door therapie en dit correleerde met een afname van de ziekteactiviteit. Behandeling met abatacept, wat T cel activatie remt, zorgde bovendien voor verlaagde hyperactiviteit van de B cellen. Aan de hand van onze resultaten kunnen we veronderstellen dat het remmen van de interactie tussen Tfh cellen en B cellen cruciaal is voor succesvolle behandeling van ziekteactiviteit bij pSS.
Remote Synchronization Experiments for Future Quasi-Zenith Satellite System Using Current Geostationary Satellites

Abstract : Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) is scheduled for launching in 2010. We have been conducting research on the remote synchronization system for the onboard crystal oscillator (RESSOX), which does not require onboard atomic clocks, for the QZSS since 2003. RESSOX reduces overall cost and satellite power consumption, as well as onboard weight and volume, and is expected to have a longer lifetime than a system with onboard atomic clocks. Since a QZSS does not yet exist, we have been conducting synchronization experiments using current geostationary satellites (JCSAT-1B or IS-4 [formerly PAS-4]) to confirm that RESSOX is an excellent system for timing synchronization. For the experiments using JCSAT-1B, we have already reported that synchronization within 10 ns was achieved when feedback information was used. Since JCSAT-1B was located at an elevation angle of 46.5 degrees at our institute, however, the effect of tropospheric delay was not very large. To examine the applicability of RESSOX under more severe conditions, IS-4 was selected. IS-4 is located at an elevation angle of 7.9 degrees at our institute, which means that the effect of tropospheric delay is large (in the case of the QZSS, the smallest elevation angle at Okinawa station is approximately 10 degrees). In this paper, we will present the experimental setup, the results of uplink experiments and feedback experiments, and some discussions on the use of RESSOX with the QZSS.
Phytochrome A and B Function Antagonistically to Regulate Cold Tolerance via Abscisic Acid-Dependent Jasmonate Signaling1[OPEN]

Low red/far-red light ratios increase cold tolerance in tomato via the activation of phytochrome A and ABA-dependent JA signaling. Light signaling and phytohormones both influence plant growth, development, and stress responses; however, cross talk between these two signaling pathways in response to cold remains underexplored. Here, we report that far-red light (FR) and red light (R) perceived by phytochrome A (phyA) and phyB positively and negatively regulated cold tolerance, respectively, in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), which were associated with the regulation of levels of phytohormones such as abscisic acid (ABA) and jasmonic acid (JA) and transcript levels of ABA- and JA-related genes and the C-REPEAT BINDING FACTOR (CBF) stress signaling pathway genes. A reduction in the R/FR ratio did not alter cold tolerance, ABA and JA accumulation, and transcript levels of ABA- and JA-related genes and the CBF pathway genes in phyA mutant plants; however, those were significantly increased in wild-type and phyB plants with the reduction in the R/FR ratio. Even though low R/FR treatments did not confer cold tolerance in ABA-deficient (notabilis [not]) and JA-deficient (prosystemin-mediated responses2 [spr2]) mutants, it up-regulated ABA accumulation and signaling in the spr2 mutant, with no effect on JA levels and signaling in the not mutant. Foliar application of ABA and JA further confirmed that JA functioned downstream of ABA to activate the CBF pathway in light quality-mediated cold tolerance. It is concluded that phyA and phyB function antagonistically to regulate cold tolerance that essentially involves FR light-induced activation of phyA to induce ABA signaling and, subsequently, JA signaling, leading to an activation of the CBF pathway and a cold response in tomato plants.