Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Both Ultraviolet B Irradiation and Histamine Receptor Function on Allergic Responses to an Inhaled Antigen1

Exposure of skin to UVB radiation (290–320 nm) modulates the immune system, with most studies showing a suppression of Th1-driven immune responses. This study investigated the effects of UVB on Th2-associated immune responses using a murine model of allergic respiratory inflammation. C57BL/6, histamine receptor-1 knockout (H1RKO), and histamine receptor-2 knockout (H2RKO) mice were exposed to a single 4 kJ/m2 dose of UVB (twice a minimal edemal dose) on shaved dorsal skin 3 days before intranasal sensitization with papain, a cysteine protease homologue of the dust mite allergen Der p 1. H1RKO mice demonstrated enhanced papain-specific inflammatory responses in the lung-draining lymph nodes (LDLNs), whereas the responses of H2RKO mice closely mimicked those of C57BL/6 mice. UVB irradiation 3 days before sensitization reduced in vitro papain-specific proliferation of LDLN cells of C57BL/6 and H1RKO mice but not H2RKO mice 24 h after challenge. The regulatory effect of UVB was transferred by adoptive transfer of unfractionated LDLN cells from UVB-irradiated, papain-sensitized C57BL/6 and H1RKO donor mice in naive recipients of the corresponding strain that were subsequently sensitized and challenged with papain. Additionally, UVB exposure suppressed papain-induced IL-5 and IL-10 production in vitro by LDLN cells from H1RKO mice but not from C57BL/6 mice or H2RKO mice. The results of this study demonstrate systemic immunomodulation of responses to intranasally delivered Ag by UVB irradiation and implicate a role for the H2 receptor in UVB-induced suppression of Ag-specific responses in the draining lymph nodes.
Uveitis in Adult Patients with Rheumatic Inflammatory Autoimmune Diseases at a Tertiary-care Hospital in Mexico City

Objective. Our aim is to describe the frequency of uveitis associated with rheumatic inflammatory autoimmune diseases (RIAD) in adult patients admitted to the Rheumatology Department at a tertiary-care hospital in Mexico City. We also describe the clinical features, seasonal distribution, treatment, and ocular complications associated with this disease. Methods. We reviewed 1332 charts of patients with RIAD and selected those that had a diagnosis of uveitis. We obtained the following data: age, sex, type of uveitis and relationship with diagnosis of RIAD, recurrences, seasonal distribution, treatment, and residual visual deficit. Results. We found 57 (4.27%) cases of uveitis in 1332 charts, including 38 men and 19 women (M:F ratio 2:1), aged 47 ± 16 years. Nongranulomatous acute anterior uveitis (NGAAU) comprised 90.52% of cases (52/57). In 64.91% of cases (37/57), uveitis preceded the diagnosis of RIAD by 12 ± 9 years, more frequently in winter (35.96%; p = NS). Uveitis was found in 40/93 patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), in 7/11 patients with relapsing polychondritis (RP), in 8/16 patients with Behçet’s disease, in 1/16 patients with polyarteritis nodosa, and in 1/590 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Ninety-six percent of the patients were treated with steroids. Upon a mean followup of 60 days (range 7–4745 days), reduction of visual acuity (≤ 20/200) was associated with recurrence of uveitis in 3/7 cases with AS, in 4/8 cases with Behçet’s disease, in 3/7 with RP, and in 1 case of uveitis and seronegative RA. Conclusion. NGAAU frequently precedes RIAD and is found predominately in men, with a tendency to occur in winter.
Symptom Profiles and Homelessness in Schizophrenia

One hundred homeless schizophrenic men and 100 never homeless schizophrenic men were compared in terms of symptom ratings on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), which yields a positive, negative, and general psychopathology scale score, as well as evaluated on a number of other variables. The homeless group obtained significantly higher ratings on the PANSS positive and general psychopathology scales, but the two groups did not differ on the PANSS negative scale score. When symptom patterns for subsets of patients who did not abuse illicit substances or alcohol (N=23 for homeless, N=56 for nonhomeless) and who were compliant with medication (N=63 for homeless, N=82 for nonhomeless) were examined, the higher ratings on the positive and general psychopathology scales failed to achieve statistical significance, while the absence of between-group differences on the negative scale was maintained. Our results suggest that severity of positive and general psychopathology symptoms, but not of negative symptoms, predicts homelessness in schizophrenia and that illicit substance abuse and neuroleptic noncompliance contributed, at least in part, to our higher positive and general psychopathology symptom ratings in the homeless sample. Our findings underscore the need to undertake prospective longitudinal studies to unravel the multifactorial etiology of homelessness in schizophrenia.
Calcium-mediated paired pulse depression in juvenile rat dorsal striatum☆

As the major division of the basal ganglia, neostriatum forms mutual connections with multiple brain areas and is critically involved in motor control and learning/memory. Long-term synaptic plasticity has been widely studied in different species recently. However, there are rare reports about the short-term synaptic plasticity in neostratium. In the present study, using field excitatory postsynaptic potentials recording, we reported one form of short-term synaptic plasticity that is paired pulse depression in juvenile rat dorsal striatum slices induced by stimuli of the white matter. The field excitatory postsynaptic potentials could be abolished by α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylizoxazole-4-propionic acid receptor antagonist, 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione, but not by gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor antagonist bicuculline or dopamine D1 receptor antagonist SKF-81297. The paired pulse depression in the corticostratial pathway was different from paired pulse facilitation in the hippocampal CA1 synapse. In addition, the paired pulse depression was not affected by bath application of gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor antagonist or dopamine D1 receptor antagonist. However, low calcium and high magnesium could attenuate the paired pulse depression. These findings suggest a more complicated plasticity form in the dorsal striatum of juvenile rats that is different from that in the hippocampus, which is related with extracellular calcium.
Thrombin selectively induces transcription of genes in human monocytes involved in inflammation and wound healing

Summary Thrombin is essential for blood coagulation but functions also as a mediator of cellular signalling. Gene expression microarray experiments in human monocytes revealed thrombin-induced upregulation of a limited subset of genes, which are almost exclusively involved in inflammation and wound healing. Among these, the expression of F3 gene encoding for tissue factor (TF) was enhanced indicating that this physiological initiator of coagulation cascade may create a feed-forward loop to enhance blood coagulation. Activation of protease-activated receptor type 1 (PAR1) was shown to play a main role in promoting TF expression. Moreover, thrombin induced phosphorylation of ERK1/2, an event that is required for expression of thrombin-regulated genes. Thrombin also increased the expression of TF at the protein level in monocytes as evidenced by Western blot and immunostaining. Furthermore, FXa generation induced by thrombin-stimulated monocytes was abolished by a TF blocking antibody and therefore it is entirely attributable to the expression of tissue factor. This cellular activity of thrombin provides a new molecular link between coagulation, inflammation and wound healing.
Category Fluency in Mild Cognitive Impairment: Reduced Effect of Practice in Test-Retest Conditions

Verbal fluency tests are commonly used in neurocognitive and mental status examinations in patients with suspected dementia. Inflation of test scores as a result of practice effects may yield false-negative results in test-retest and multidisciplinary settings, particularly among patients with mild cognitive deficits. To address this issue, animal naming was administered twice within a 1-week period to a group of individuals referred for suspected dementia who were ultimately diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI; amnestic form), probable Alzheimer disease (AD), or no dementia. A 2 × 3 repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed a statistically significant interaction between administration time and group. Post hoc analyses indicated that nondemented controls were the only group to demonstrate a significant practice effect, producing an average of approximately three more animal names at time two. Like patients with a diagnosis of AD, subjects with amnestic MCI failed to benefit from repeated exposure to the animal naming test, and only controls showed an average improvement upon retest. This underscores the cognitive similarity between individuals diagnosed with amnestic MCI and AD and suggests that improvement upon retest may be a diagnostically useful finding.
Reassessment of the Use of Fire as a Management Tool in Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America

Prescribed burning is increasingly being used in the deciduous forests of eastern North America. Recent work suggests that historical fire frequency has been overestimated east of the prairie–woodland transition zone, and its introduction could potentially reduce forest herb and shrub diversity. Fire‐history recreations derived from sedimentary charcoal, tree fire scars, and estimates of Native American burning suggest point‐return times ranging from 5–10 years to centuries and millennia. Actual return times were probably longer because such records suffer from selective sampling, small sample sizes, and a probable publication bias toward frequent fire. Archeological evidence shows the environmental effect of fire could be severe in the immediate neighborhood of a Native American village. Population density appears to have been low through most of the Holocene, however, and villages were strongly clustered at a regional scale. Thus, it appears that the majority of forests of the eastern United States were little affected by burning before European settlement. Use of prescribed burning assumes that most forest species are tolerant of fire and that burning will have only a minimal effect on diversity. However, common adaptations such as serotiny, epicormic sprouting, resprouting from rhizomes, and smoke‐cued germination are unknown across most of the deciduous region. Experimental studies of burning show vegetation responses similar to other forms of disturbance that remove stems and litter and do not necessarily imply adaptation to fire. The general lack of adaptation could potentially cause a reduction in diversity if burning were introduced. These observations suggest a need for a fine‐grained examination of fire history with systematic sampling in which all subregions, landscape positions, and community types are represented. Responses to burning need to be examined in noncommercial and nonwoody species in rigorous manipulative experiments. Until such information is available, it seems prudent to limit the use of prescribed burning east of the prairie–woodland transition zone.
Social innovation for urban liveability. Empirical evidence from the Italian third sector

Abstract Large cities are currently at the centre of important growth trajectories, but social polarisation and environmental degradation impair the daily life of many citizens. Social innovation has emerged as a promising approach to tackle the challenge of urban liveability. Nevertheless, our understanding of the processes through which social innovations are developed and managed in critical sectors for large cities is still somewhat limited. This paper has analysed 19 case studies pertaining to third sector organisations operating in large Italian cities to find out how they produce social innovations and enhance urban liveability. The empirical results have revealed that these initiatives address some of previously neglected needs of citizens through flexible mode of service provision and gradual implementation of a bundle of services. In many cases, they include a diverse base of users and involve volunteers. Enhanced accessibility and equity have been shown to be the most pervasive liveability effects.
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and later-life depression: perceived social support as a potential protective factor

Objective To investigate associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and later-life depressive symptoms; and to explore whether perceived social support (PSS) moderates these. Method We analysed baseline data from the Mitchelstown (Ireland) 2010–2011 cohort of 2047 men and women aged 50–69 years. Self-reported measures included ACEs (Centre for Disease Control ACE questionnaire), PSS (Oslo Social Support Scale) and depressive symptoms (CES-D). The primary exposure was self-report of at least one ACE. We also investigated the effects of ACE exposure by ACE scores and ACE subtypes abuse, neglect and household dysfunction. Associations between each of these exposures and depressive symptoms were estimated using logistic regression, adjusted for socio-demographic factors. We tested whether the estimated associations varied across levels of PSS (poor, moderate and strong). Results 23.7% of participants reported at least one ACE (95% CI 21.9% to 25.6%). ACE exposures (overall, subtype or ACE scores) were associated with a higher odds of depressive symptoms, but only among individuals with poor PSS. Exposure to any ACE (vs none) was associated with almost three times the odds of depressive symptoms (adjusted OR 2.85; 95% CI 1.64 to 4.95) among individuals reporting poor PSS, while among those reporting moderate and strong PSS, the adjusted ORs were 2.21 (95% CI 1.52 to 3.22) and 1.39 (95% CI 0.85 to 2.29), respectively. This pattern of results was similar when exposures were based on ACE subtype and ACE scores, though the interaction was clearly strongest among those reporting abuse. Conclusions ACEs are common among older adults in Ireland and are associated with higher odds of later-life depressive symptoms, particularly among those with poor PSS. Interventions that enhance social support, or possibly perceptions of social support, may help reduce the burden of depression in older populations with ACE exposure, particularly in those reporting abuse.
GSTM1, GSTT1, GSTP1 and CYP1A1 genetic polymorphisms and susceptibility to esophageal cancer in a French population: different pattern of squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma.

AIM To evaluate the association between CYP1A1 and GSTs genetic polymorphisms and susceptibility to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (ADC) in a high risk area of northwest of France. METHODS A case-control study was conducted to investigate the genetic polymorphisms of these enzymes (CYP1A1*2C and GSTP1 exon 7 Val alleles, GSTM1*2/*2 and GSTT1*2/*2 null genotypes). A total of 79 esophageal cancer cases and 130 controls were recruited. RESULTS GSTM1*2/*2 and CYP1A1*1A/*2C genotype frequencies were higher among squamous cell carcinomas at a level close to statistical significance (OR = 1.83, 95% CI 0.88-3.83, P = 0.11; OR = 3.03, 95% CI 0.93-9.90, P = 0.07, respectively). For GSTP1 polymorphism, no difference was found between controls and cases, whatever their histological status. Lower frequency of GSTT1 deletion was observed in ADC group compared to controls with a statistically significant difference (OR = 13.31, 95% CI 1.66-106.92, P<0.01). CONCLUSION In SCC, our results are consistent with the strong association of this kind of tumour with tobacco exposure. In ADC, our results suggest 3 distinct hypotheses: (1) activation of exogenous procarcinogens, such as small halogenated compounds by GSTT1; (2) contribution of GSTT1 to the inflammatory response of esophageal mucosa, which is known to be a strong risk factor for ADC, possibly through leukotriene synthesis; (3) higher sensitivity to the inflammatory process associated with intracellular depletion of glutathione.
Lewis Blood Group Antigens in Salivary Glands and Stratified Epithelium: Lack of Regulation of Lewis Antigen Expression in Ductal and Buccal Mucosal Lining Epithelia 1

Abstract. The expression of Lewis antigens is thought to be controlled by the Secretor and Lewis genes. While secretor status is known to regulate the expression of ABH antigens in many tissues, few studies have attempted to correlate Lewis antigen expression on erythrocytes and saliva with that of epithelial tissues. We examined the expression of Lewis a and b and related antigens in human epithelium of minor salivary glands and labial nonkeratinized oral mucosae from 16 individuals by immunohistology using monoclonal antibodies. The expression of these antigens, as detected by monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) used, was correlated with erythrocyte phenotype and saliva secretor status. In acinar cells of glands, Leb antigen was expressed only in secretors, and Lea only in nonsecretors. However, in gland ducts and oral mucosae, Leb was found in both secretors and nonsecretors, as well as in 2 cases of Lea‐b‐, secretors. Thus, antigen expression in acinar cells of minor salivary glands was correlated with the predicted genotypes, whereas inappropriate expression of Leb antigen was found in epithelial cells of gland ducts and oral mucosae. The present data indicate that the Lewis blood group phenotype is regulated differently in duct cells and stratified epithelium than in saliva and erythrocytes.
Surface Effects and Challenges for Application of Piezoelectric Langasite Substrates in Surface Acoustic Wave Devices Caused by High Temperature Annealing under High Vacuum

Substrate materials that are high-temperature stable are essential for sensor devices which are applied at high temperatures. Although langasite is suggested as such a material, severe O and Ga diffusion into an O-affine deposited film was observed during annealing at high temperatures under vacuum conditions, leading to a damage of the metallization as well as a change of the properties of the substrate and finally to a failure of the device. Therefore, annealing of bare LGS (La 3 Ga 5 SiO 14 ) substrates at 800 ∘ C under high vacuum conditions is performed to analyze whether this pretreatment improves the suitability and stability of this material for high temperature applications in vacuum. To reveal the influence of the pretreatment on the subsequently deposited metallization, RuAl thin films are used as they are known to oxidize on LGS at high temperatures. A local study of the pretreated and metallized substrates using transmission electron microscopy reveals strong modification of the substrate surface. Micro cracks are visible. The composition of the substrate is strongly altered at those regions. Severe challenges for the application of LGS substrates under high-temperature vacuum conditions arise from these substrate damages, revealing that the pretreatment does not improve the applicability.
CD81 Associates with 14-3-3 in a Redox-regulated Palmitoylation-dependent Manner*

As a member of the tetraspanin superfamily of proteins, CD81 has been linked to a number of biologic functions including cellular proliferation, differentiation, activation, and degranulation. As a co-receptor for hepatitis C virus, and a requirement for hepatocytes for infectivity of human Plasmodium falciparum and rodent P. yoelii sporozoite infectivity, CD81 may also play a vital role in pathology. Despite the importance of CD81 in multiple cellular functions, the molecular mechanism of action of CD81 in these processes has remained elusive. Here we report an association between CD81 and the epsilon isoform of 14-3-3, a serine/threonine-binding intracellular signaling protein. Furthermore, we provide evidence that in human, this association is influenced by the palmitoylation state of the CD81 cytoplasmic tails. We have generated a series of CD81 cysteine mutants to identify palmitoylated intracellular motifs of CD81, and reveal palmitoylation on the N- and C-terminal tails as well as the intracellular loop between transmembrane domains 2 and 3. One of these mutants lacks all five of its intracellular cysteines and therefore cannot be palmitoylated. This unpalmitoylated version of CD81 shows constitutive association with 14-3-3. Interestingly, we find that under oxidative conditions, CD81 palmitoylation is inhibited and that condition correlates with the association of CD81 and 14-3-3. These finding suggest that CD81 signaling events could be mediated by 14-3-3 adapter proteins, and these signals may be dependent on cellular redox.
A Proportional Fair Scheduling for Multicast Services in Wireless Cellular Networks

We propose a new multicast scheduling scheme which can achieve the proportional fair (PF) allocation in the wireless cellular systems. In case of multicast, the scheduler in the base station should select a group of users, instead of one user, among all users who request the multicast contents. Therefore, multicasting scheduling problem is equivalent to deciding a certain modulation and coding level and a group of users who have better enough channel quality to decode the multicast data. In this work, we first extend the PF metric to the extent that the scheduler can reflect the user's time varying channel gain and fairness not only in the unicast case but also in the multicast transmission. Based on the extended PF metric, we propose a PF multicast scheduler and evaluate its performance. Our proposed algorithm outperforms other multicast scheduling schemes in terms of aggregated throughput as well as the fairness among all users.
A novel inhibitor of inducible nitric oxide synthase (ono-1714) prevents critical warm ischemia-reperfusion injury in the pig liver

Background. Recently, a novel inhibitor of inducible nitric oxide synthase, ONO-1714, was developed. We evaluated the effect of ONO-1714 on a critical warm I/R model of the pig liver. Methods. Pigs were subjected to 180 min of hepatic warm I/R under the extracorporeal circulation. We investigated the time course of changes in the serum NO2− + NO3− (NOx), the cellular distribution of endothelial and inducible nitric oxide synthase, thrombocyte-thrombi, and nitrotyrosine by immunohistochemistry. The hepatic tissue blood flow (HTBF) was measured continuously using a laser-Doppler blood flowmeter. Results. ONO-1714 at 0.05 mg/kg improved the survival rate from 54 (control group) to 100%. The serum NOx levels in the ONO-1714 group were significantly lower than those in the control group at 1, 1.5, 2, 3, and 6 hr after reperfusion. The serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels of the ONO-1714 group were significantly lower than the control group, and the HTBF of the ONO-1714 group was significantly higher than the control group. The formation of thrombocyte-thrombi and nitrotyrosine after reperfusion was significantly lower in the ONO-1714 group. Conclusions. These results indicated that ONO-1714 improved the survival rates and attenuated I/R injury in a critical hepatic warm I/R model of the pig. ONO-1714 will be beneficial for hepatectomy or liver transplantation in the clinical field.