Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
lethal giant larvae is required with the par genes for the early polarization of the Drosophila oocyte

Most cell types in an organism show some degree of polarization, which relies on a surprisingly limited number of proteins. The underlying molecular mechanisms depend, however, on the cellular context. Mutual inhibitions between members of the Par genes are proposed to be sufficient to polarize the C. elegans one-cell zygote and the Drosophila oocyte during mid-oogenesis. By contrast, the Par genes interact with cellular junctions and associated complexes to polarize epithelial cells. The Par genes are also required at an early step of Drosophila oogenesis for the maintenance of the oocyte fate and its early polarization. Here we show that the Par genes are not sufficient to polarize the oocyte early and that the activity of the tumor-suppressor gene lethal giant larvae (lgl) is required for the posterior translocation of oocyte-specific proteins, including germline determinants. We also found that Lgl localizes asymmetrically within the oocyte and is excluded from the posterior pole. We further demonstrate that phosphorylation of Par-1, Par-3 (Bazooka) and Lgl is crucial to regulate their activity and localization in vivo and describe, for the first time, adherens junctions located around the ring canals, which link the oocyte to the other cells of the germline cyst. However, null mutations in the DE-cadherin gene, which encodes the main component of the zonula adherens, do not affect the early polarization of the oocyte. We conclude that, despite sharing many similarities with other model systems at the genetic and cellular levels, the polarization of the early oocyte relies on a specific subset of polarity proteins.
The connection between MCI and Alzheimer disease: neurocognitive clues.

BACKGROUND/AIM Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is defined as a pathological stage between 'healthy aging' and 'dementia' In this study, cases of MCI were compared with early-stage Alzheimer disease (AD) and age-related cognitive decline (ARCD) in terms of cognitive profiles in order to find a connection between MCI and AD. MATERIALS AND METHODS Patients who were comparable in terms of age and sex and who met the criteria of MCI, ARCD, or early-stage AD were included in the study retrospectively. Wechsler memory scale, executive function, visuospatial, language, and memory tests were applied to all subjects. Additionally, all patients completed a mini-mental state examination test, geriatric depression scale, and activities of daily living scale. RESULTS Complex attention tests and long-term memory tests were more impaired in MCI patients when compared with ARCD. However, there were no significant differences between the MCI and ARCD cases in activities of daily living. Memory and executive functions were more deteriorated in patients with AD in comparison to MCI. CONCLUSION During the follow-up period of ARCD, impairment in orientation, complex attention, and long-term memory should suggest the diagnosis of MCI. When personal information and executive functions are affected in MCI, AD should be carefully considered.
Efficacy of a cognitive intervention program in patients with mild cognitive impairment

ABSTRACT Background: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a transitional state between normal aging and dementia. Identifying this condition would allow early interventions that may reduce the rate of progression to Alzheimer's disease (AD). We examined the efficacy of a six-month cognitive intervention program (CIP) in patients with MCI and to assess patients’ condition at one-year follow-up. Methods: Forty-six MCI participants assessed with neuropsychological, neurological, neuropsychiatry, and functional procedures were included in this study and followed up during a year. The sample was randomized into two subgroups: 24 participants (the “trained group”) underwent the CIP during six months while 22 (control group) received no treatment. Sixteen participants dropped out of the study. The intervention focused on teaching cognitive strategies, cognitive training, and use of external aids, in sessions of two hours, twice per week for six months. Cognitive and functional measures were used as primary outcome and all were followed up at one year. Results: The intervention effect (mean change from baseline) was significant (p < 0.05) on the Mini-Mental State Examination (1.74), the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (0.14), the Boston Naming Test (2.92), block design (−13.66), matrix reasoning (−3.07), and semantic fluency (−3.071) tasks. Four patients (one trained and three controls) progressed to dementia after one year of follow-up. Conclusions: These results suggest that persons with MCI can improve their performance on cognitive and functional measures when provided with early cognitive training and it could persist in a long-term follow-up.
The effects of dietary protein deficiency on rat testicular function: Der Einfluß einer proteinarmen Diät auf die Hodenfunktion der Ratte

Summary Diets containing 0%, 5% and 10% protein were used for treatment periods of 30, 50, and 90 days respectively. Control rats were fed a diet containing 20% protein. Protein deficient rats failed to gain weight during the experiment. In addition, the weights of the testis, epididymis, prostate and seminal vesicle also decreased, with the 10% group less affected than the 0% and 5% groups. Testicular histology indicated retarded germ cell maturation in the 0% and 5% groups only. Overall testicular cell number and size were reduced in treated rats and there was a reduction in the diameter of the seminiferous tubule in these groups. Epididymal epithelial height was also reduced in protein deficient rats with a concomitant increase in the number of epididymal duct cross sections devoid of sperm. Protein deficiency caused significant reductions in testicular DNA, RNA and protein content. The proportion of motile epididymal sperm decreased in the 0% and 5% groups by 90% and 35% respectively. Epididymal sperm number decreased in both the 0% and 5% groups by 90% while the proportion of abnormal sperm increased by 65% and 61% respectively. Circulating androgen levels were also lowered by more than 50% on average in protein deficient animals.
Increase in lifetime adverse drug reactions, service utilization, and disease severity among patients who will start COX-2 specific inhibitors: quantitative assessment of channeling bias and confounding by indication in 6689 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE Nonrandom assignment of therapy in observational studies and clinical practice can be accompanied by channeling bias and confounding by indication. This in turn can lead to unreliable conclusions about treatment effectiveness. Although widely acknowledged as important, no studies in rheumatology have measured the extent of these biases. We identified variables contributing to confounding and investigated the strength of the confounding effect. Analytical methods (propensity scores) are available to mitigate the effect of nonrandom assignment if the full extent of confounding can be understood. METHODS A population of 6637 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA) from the practices of 433 US rheumatologists completed 2 sets of detailed questionnaires concerning (1) the last 6 months in 1998 and (2) the first 6 months of 1999, generally prior to and after the release of celecoxib and rofecoxib. Patients who received the COX-2 specific inhibitors in period 2 were identified (n = 1517), and their characteristics were compared to the 5120 who did not start a new COX-2 specific inhibitor during Period 1. RESULTS Patients starting a new COX-2 specific inhibitor had a greater lifetime history of adverse reactions of all kinds, but particularly gastrointestinal adverse drug reactions. They also had more severe scores for pain, functional disability, fatigue, helplessness, and global severity, and they used more inpatient and outpatients services than patients who would not switch to COX-2 specific inhibitors. CONCLUSION Confounding by indication and channeling bias result in an overall increase in severity of about 25% for the above measures. Observational studies should account for these biases by a broadly defined propensity score that includes the variables identified in this report. These observations are germane to observational studies of disease modifying antirheumatic drugs and biologics, as well, and suggest the need for careful control of confounders when assessing treatment effects in rheumatic disease observational studies.
Application of pigeon circovirus recombinant capsid protein for detecting anti‐PiCV antibodies in the sera of asymptomatic domestic pigeons and the potential use of a combination of serological and molecular tests for controlling circovirus infections in pigeon breeding flocks

&NA; The aim of this study was to evaluate the serologic status of domestic pigeons not infected and asymptomatically infected with the pigeon circovirus (PiCV) with the use of an enzyme‐linked assay based on PiCV recombinant capsid protein as a plate antigen. Recombinant PiCV capsid protein was produced by transforming E. coli BL21 (DE3) Rosetta colonies with expression plasmids. Blood samples and cloacal swabs were collected from 171 asymptomatic pigeons. The birds were divided into two groups (infected and not infected with PiCV) based on the results of Sybr Green real time PCR screening for the presence of PiCV genetic material. Approximately 70% of the pigeons tested positive for anti‐PiCV antibodies regardless of their infection status. Antibody levels, the coefficient of variation and standard deviation were significantly higher in the group of infected pigeons. The results indicate that ELISA is a highly useful test that complements molecular methods in evaluations of PiCV infection status in domestic pigeons. The spread of pigeon circovirus infections can be controlled by keeping breeding flocks free of PiCV, which can only be achieved by subjecting birds to real time PCR and serological tests.
Binding of the 68-kilodalton protein of Mycobacterium avium to alpha(v)beta3 on human monocyte-derived macrophages enhances complement receptor type 3 expression

Attachment to and uptake by host cells are important early events in the pathogenesis of intracellular organisms such as Mycobacterium avium. Monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) are known to express multiple surface receptors that play a role in binding to and uptake of M. avium. These include complement receptor type 3 (CR3), fibronectin receptor, mannose receptor, and transferrin receptor. In addition to these, we have previously reported that the integrin receptor alpha(v)beta3 also plays a role in binding to M. avium in a nonopsonic environment. Further, we have shown that a 68-kDa surface protein of M. avium binds to human monocytes and plays a role in attachment of M. avium to MDM. The present study provides direct evidence that this protein mediates attachment of M. avium to MDM by binding to alpha(v)beta3. Using the technique of cell surface enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, we have shown that the M. avium 68-kDa protein inhibits the binding of monoclonal antibodies (MAb) against alpha(v)beta3 to MDM compared to control proteins such as ovalbumin and laminin (P < 0.05). Dual-labeling studies were performed to demonstrate that after phagocytosis, alpha(v)beta3 is present along with M. avium in phagosomes of M. avium-infected MDM. In addition, we have demonstrated that this interaction between alpha(v)beta3 and the M. avium 68-kDa protein resulted in enhancement of CR3 expression, which is known to play a role in complement-mediated uptake of M. avium. Attachment of MDM to wells coated with the M. avium 68-kDa protein resulted in a twofold increase in CR3 expression compared to attachment of MDM to wells coated with ovalbumin. This enhancement was completely inhibited by pretreatment of MDM with MAb against alpha(v)beta3. In summary, M. avium binds to MDM via alpha(v)beta3 with the help of the M. avium 68-kDa protein, and this ligation enhanced the expression of CR3 on MDM. Since CR3 has been known to play a role in M. avium uptake, enhanced expression of this receptor mediated by M. avium-alpha(v)beta3 interaction indicates a complex mechanism of communication among different receptors that participate in M. avium attachment and uptake. These findings add to current understanding of the roles played by multiple receptor-ligand systems in uptake and pathogenesis of intracellular pathogens such as M. avium.
Social Support, Stress, and Health: A Comparison of Expectant Mothers and Fathers

The influence of social support and stress on expectant mothers' and fathers' health was determined by testing and comparing different predictive models. Instruments used were the Support Behaviors Inventory, Stress Amount Checklist, and Health Responses Scale. Regression analyses were performed on data from questionnaires completed by 313 couples in the second half of pregnancy to predict health, using the same independent variables for women and men. The regression analyses began with a model that included the variables of stress, satisfaction with partner support, satisfaction with other persons' support, history of chronic illness, education, age, employment status, military status, and family income. The effects of four variables, satisfaction with partner support, satisfaction with others' support, stress, and chronic illness, were tested separately for men and women. Subsets of these variables were deleted to create a series of nested comparisons. Results indicated that social support and stress were useful in predicting health. Partner support appeared to be the most important variable in understanding expectant fathers' health, but social support for mothers included a larger domain and social networks contributed to their health in the same way as partner support. Both stress and chronic illness were more important explanatory variables for pregnant women's health than for their partners' health. These data suggest that nursing interventions targeted at reducing stress and improving expectant parents' satisfaction with their partner support might enhance their health.
Effects of medicaid managed care on adults.

BACKGROUND Despite the rapid growth in Medicaid managed care (MMC) during the 1990s, only limited research exists on how such care affects beneficiaries. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to assess how switching from a fee-for-service (FFS) delivery system to managed care affects Medicaid beneficiaries' access to, use of, quality of, and satisfaction with health care services. METHODS Using a quasi-experimental design framework, we compared the experiences of 540 Minnesota Medicaid recipients living in counties that had switched to managed care with those of 528 recipients living in counties operating under FFS. The data for the analysis came from a 1998 survey of Minnesota Medicaid clients. Data were analyzed by logit regression. RESULTS We find limited effects of MMC on access to, use of, quality of, and satisfaction with health care. Among others, we found no significant differences between the share of managed care and FFS enrollees (78.5% versus 76%) who had a health care visit during the last year. We also found no evidence of a significant reduction in the proportion of managed care and FFS enrollees (17.6% versus 17%) who had had a hospital stay during the past year. The results did show some negative effects of MMC on satisfaction with care, the most consistent being that managed care enrollees are somewhat less satisfied with their health care than their FFS counterparts. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that a shift from FFS to MMC did not fundamentally change the patterns of health care service use, the location at which care was delivered, or quality.
Network mixing and network influences most linked to HIV infection and risk behavior in the HIV epidemic among black men who have sex with men.

OBJECTIVES We evaluated network mixing and influences by network members upon Black men who have sex with men. METHODS We conducted separate social and sexual network mixing analyses to determine the degree of mixing on risk behaviors (e.g., unprotected anal intercourse [UAI]). We used logistic regression to assess the association between a network "enabler" (would not disapprove of the respondent's behavior) and respondent behavior. RESULTS Across the sample (n = 1187) network mixing on risk behaviors was more assortative (like with like) in the sexual network (r(sex), 0.37-0.54) than in the social network (r(social), 0.21-0.24). Minimal assortativity (heterogeneous mixing) among HIV-infected men on UAI was evident. Black men who have sex with men reporting a social network enabler were more likely to practice UAI (adjusted odds ratio = 4.06; 95% confidence interval = 1.64, 10.05) a finding not observed in the sexual network (adjusted odds ratio = 1.31; 95% confidence interval = 0.44, 3.91). CONCLUSIONS Different mixing on risk behavior was evident with more disassortativity among social than sexual networks. Enabling effects of social network members may affect risky behavior. Attention to of high-risk populations' social networks is needed for effective and sustained HIV prevention.
Clinical and Radiologic 2—4-Year Results of Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion in Degenerative and Isthmic Spondylolisthesis Grades 1 and 2

Study Design. Prospective clinical study. Objective. To evaluate the clinical and radiographic result of the transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) as an alternative new technique in degenerative and isthmic lower grade spondylolisthesis. Summary of Background Data. TLIF is a new alternative surgical technique used for spinal fusion avoiding the ventral approach and can theoretically prevent typical complications, such as those seen in anterior and posterior lumbar interbody fusion. Materials and Methods. There were 19 degenerative, 19 isthmic, and 1 dysplastic spondylolistheses operated on with TLIF. The clinical follow-up used the Oswestry Disability Index, the radiologic follow-up radiograph, analyzing segmental lordosis, intervertebral space, reduction, and fusion rate. The minimum follow-up was 24 months, mean clinical follow-up was 50 months, and radiologic follow-up was 35 months. Results. The medium of the Oswestry Disability Index in all patients decreased from 23.5 to 13.5 points, in isthmic spondylolistheses from 20.5 to 10.95 after 2 years. The radiographic fusion rate was 94.8%. The sagittal translation was reduced from 23% to 15%. There were 3 (7.6%) serious postoperative complications observed, which required operative revision. Conclusions. TLIF is a safe and effective method to treat low-grade spondylolisthesis, which can theoretically prevent typical complications of anterior and posterior lumbar interbody fusion. The results of isthmic spondylolistheses were significantly better compared to degenerative spondylolistheses.
Site‐specific protein labeling with amine‐containing molecules using Lactobacillus plantarum sortase

Modification of proteins with small molecules is a widely used and powerful tool in biological research. Enzymatic approaches are particularly promising because substrate specificity allows for site‐specific modification. Sortase A, a transpeptidase from Staphylococcus aureus, cleaves between the T and G residues in the sequence LPXTG, and subsequently links the carboxyl group of the T residue to an amino group of N‐terminal glycine oligomers by a native peptide bond. Although Gram‐positive bacteria have several kinds of sortases, there are few reports concerning their expression and substrate specificity. Here, we demonstrate site‐specific protein modification with primary amine‐containing molecules catalyzed by Lactobacillus plantarum sortase. Enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) was employed as a model protein, and an amine‐containing biotin molecule was site‐specifically conjugated with LPQTSEQ‐tagged EGFP. We developed a novel Lactobacillus plantarum sortase that has different substrate specificity compared to Staphylococcus aureus sortase. Amine‐directed protein modification was achieved using the Lactobacillus plantarum sortase ''LPQTSEQ'' sequence original recognition tag. Our results demonstrate a promising method for expanding the capabilities of site‐specific protein‐small molecule modification.
Provision of care to general practice patients with disabling long-term mental illness: a survey in 16 practices.

BACKGROUND Increasing numbers of long-term mentally ill people now live in the community, many of whom lose contact with psychiatric services and come to depend on general practitioners for medical care. However, it has been suggested that general practitioners may be unaware of some of these patients and their needs. AIM This study set out to investigate the care received by this group of patients. METHOD Case registers of adults disabled by long-term mental illness were set up in 16 of 110 group general practices asked to participate. A search of each practice's record systems was combined with a survey of local psychiatric and social service teams, to seek practice patients who might not be identified from the general practice data. RESULTS Of the 440 patients found, 90% were identified from information within the practices, mainly computerized repeat prescription and diagnostic data. The other 10% were identified only by psychiatric services. Over one third of the patients had no current contact with psychiatric services. Patients in contact with psychiatric services had been ill for a shorter time than those not in contact. More patients suffering from psychotic illnesses were in current contact than those with non-psychotic diagnoses. Over 90% of the patients had been seen by their general practitioners within 12 months, on average eight times. Most consultations were for minor physical disorders, repeat prescriptions and sickness certificates. Elements of the formal mental state examination were recorded in one third of cases and adjustments of psychotropic medication in one fifth. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that patients in long-term contact with specialist services cannot be taken as representative of the whole population with long-term mental illness. General practitioners could use their frequent contacts with long-term mentally ill people to play a greater role in monitoring the mental state and drug treatment of this group.