Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evidence-based treatment of adolescent major depression

Adolescent depression is a serious and debilitating disorder (see box). Up to one in 20 adolescents suffer from major depression at any point in time, and 20% of adolescents have at least one episode of clinical depression by the age of 18. Once depression is established it often becomes chronic. About a fifth of adolescents with major depression will continue to have a persistent disorder, and another third will recover but go on to have recurrent episodes. Depression runs in families and children of depressed parents have an increased risk of becoming depressed, which is likely to be due to both the direct effect of genes as well as the adverse influence of depressed parenting. Recent research has highlighted the complex interaction of genetic and environmental influences, such as adverse life events, in depression. #### The six Cs of depression Pure depression is rare, and it is usually accompanied by other psychiatric disorders. A recent UK study found that 89% of cases had a comorbid disorder and the average number of additional disorders was three.1 Other complications include school refusal, academic failure, impaired peer relations, drug and alcohol abuse, and family relationship problems. However, the most important complication is suicide and depression is the most important risk factor for suicidality. Findings from 20-year follow-up data of depressed children and adolescents have shown that 2.5% had committed suicide and nearly half had attempted suicide. Any treatment plan for adolescent depression therefore needs to take account of the chronic, relapsing nature of the disorder, consider aetiological factors such as parental depression, and address any concurrent psychiatric disorder and psychosocial complications, particularly suicidality. Early studies of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) were promising in the prevention and treatment of depression and meta-analyses found large effect sizes. However, a recent meta-analysis, which …
Endothelial PAS domain protein 1 activates the inflammatory response in the intestinal epithelium to promote colitis in mice.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Hypoxic inflammation (decreased oxygen tension at sites of inflammation) is a feature of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The hypoxia response is mediated by the transcription factors hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) 1α and endothelial PAS domain protein 1 (EPAS1 or HIF2α), which are induced in intestinal tissues of patients with IBD. HIF1α limits intestinal barrier dysfunction, but the role of EPAS1 has not been assessed under conditions of hypoxic inflammation or in models of IBD. METHODS Acute colitis was induced by administration of Citrobacter rodentium or dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) to transgenic hypoxia reporter mice (oxygen-dependent degradation-luciferase), mice with conditional overexpression of Epas1 (Epas1(LSL/LSL)), mice with intestinal epithelium-specific deletion of Epas1 (Epas1(ΔIE) ), or wild-type littermates (controls). Colon tissues from these mice and from patients with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease were assessed by histologic and immunoblot analyses, immunohistochemistry, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS Levels of hypoxia and EPAS1 were increased in colon tissues of mice after induction of colitis and patients with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease compared with controls. Epas1(ΔIE) mice had attenuated colonic inflammation and were protected from DSS-induced colitis. Intestine-specific overexpression of EPAS1, but not HIF-1α, led to spontaneous colitis, increased susceptibility to induction of colitis by C rodentium or DSS, and reduced survival times compared with controls. Disruption of intestinal epithelial EPAS1 attenuated the inflammatory response after administration of DSS or C rodentium, and intestine-specific overexpression of EPAS1 increased this response. We found EPAS1 to be a positive regulator of tumor necrosis factor-α production by the intestinal epithelium. Blocking tumor necrosis factor-α completely reduced hypoxia-induced intestinal inflammation. CONCLUSIONS EPAS1 is a transcription factor that activates mediators of inflammation, such as tumor necrosis factor-α, in the intestinal epithelium and promotes development of colitis in mice.
High levels of expression of cytokeratin 5 are strongly correlated with poor survival in higher grades of mucoepidermoid carcinoma

Aims: Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is the most common malignant primary salivary gland tumour. Little is known about cytokeratin expression in MEC or how it may relate to survival. In this study, the aim was to determine the extent of cytokeratin 5 (CK5) expression in intermediate- and high-grade MEC and correlate expression with survival. Methods: Data on clinicopathological features including stage and survival outcome were collected on 29 patients with intermediate- or high-grade MEC that had follow-up for at least 4 years or until death. Staining with antibody to CK5 protein was carried out and tumour staining was stratified as 0–3 (0, no tumour cells staining; 1, 1–25% of tumour cells staining; 2, 26–75% of tumour cells staining; 3, >75% of tumour cells staining). Six patients had intermediate-grade tumours and 23 had high-grade tumours. The median patient follow-up was 33 months, and 11 patients were alive at the end of the study. Results: At the end of the study, 12/13 patients with the highest (>75%) CK5 expression were dead, while 6 of 18 patients with less than 75% expression were dead (p = 0.006, Fisher exact test). When compared with those patients whose tumours had less than 75% expression, patients whose tumours had greater than 75% CK5 expression had much poorer survival times (log-rank test; p ⩽ 0.001). Conclusions: The findings suggest that very high levels of CK5 expression may be a potential marker for worse outcome in intermediate- and high-grade MEC.
The Effect of Board of Directors Characteristics, Audit Committee Characteristics and Executive Committee Characteristics on Firm Performance in Oman: An Empirical Study

This study is an attempt to achieve the main objective by examining the association between the board of director’s characteristics, audit committee characteristics and the executive committee characteristics and the performance of the Oman companies. This study used many assumptions to test the relationship between independent variables and dependent variable as discussed in the section explaining the study method. The data comprised of 162 non-financial companies because financial and non-financial companies employ different methods and they have different structures. As this study attempts to bridge the gap in the existing literature by investigating the association between corporate governance mechanisms and firm performance in the emerging market of Oman, it focuses on adding new important variables of corporate governance mechanisms like board change, the role of secretary on the board, the legal counsel and the executive committee characteristics that improve firm performance. The findings indicated a significantly positive relationship between board size, board meeting, audit committee independence and executive committee independence, and the Tobin`s Q. On the other hand, board independence and legal counsel are significantly and negatively related to Tobin`s Q. Moreover, a positive but insignificant relationship is found between CEO tenure, CEO compensation, audit committee size, and the firm performance (Tobin`s Q). Furthermore, board change, the role of the secretary on the board, audit committee meeting, executive committee size and executive committee meeting are revealed to have a negative but insignificant association with firm performance (Tobin`s Q). Finally, this study provides recommendations for future research.
Efficiency Enhancement for Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer System With Segmented Transmitter Array

Achieving high efficiency with improved power transfer distance and misalignment tolerance is the major design challenge in realizing dynamic wireless power transfer (D-WPT) systems. This paper provides an analysis on designing D-WPT systems. Design parameters such as number of Tx coils, separation between Tx, operating frequency, and load characteristics are analyzed with respect to efficiency for the D-WPT system with segmented transmitter array. A double-spiral repeater (DSR) is proposed for improving efficiency, enhancing transfer distance, and misalignment tolerance. Experimental results of the proposed topology with DSRs show efficiencies of 81% and 60% at normalized transfer distances (normalized to geometric mean of Tx and Rx sizes) of 0.74 and 2.2, respectively. The proposed topology can be effectively used to alleviate efficiency deterioration against transfer distance and misalignment in D-WPT systems.
Reduced Peripheral and Mucosal Tropheryma whipplei-Specific Th1 Response in Patients with Whipple’s Disease1

Whipple’s disease is a rare infectious disorder caused by Tropheryma whipplei. Major symptoms are arthropathy, weight loss, and diarrhea, but the CNS and other organs may be affected, too. The incidence of Whipple’s disease is very low despite the ubiquitous presence of T. whipplei in the environment. Therefore, it has been suggested that host factors indicated by immune deficiencies are responsible for the development of Whipple’s disease. However, T. whipplei-specific T cell responses could not be studied until now, because cultivation of the bacteria was established only recently. Thus, the availability of T. whipplei Twist-MarseilleT has enabled the first analysis of T. whipplei-specific reactivity of CD4+ T cells. A robust T. whipplei-specific CD4+ Th1 reactivity and activation (expression of CD154) was detected in peripheral and duodenal lymphocytes of all healthy (16 young, 27 age-matched, 11 triathletes) and disease controls (17 patients with tuberculosis) tested. However, 32 Whipple’s disease patients showed reduced or absent T. whipplei-specific Th1 responses, whereas their capacity to react to other common Ags like tetanus toxoid, tuberculin, actinomycetes, Giardia lamblia, or CMV was not reduced compared with controls. Hence, we conclude that an insufficient T. whipplei-specific Th1 response may be responsible for an impaired immunological clearance of T. whipplei in Whipple’s disease patients and may contribute to the fatal natural course of the disease.
Phosphoglycerol substituents present on the cyclic beta-1,2-glucans of Rhizobium meliloti 1021 are derived from phosphatidylglycerol

The synthesis of periplasmic cyclic beta-1,2-glucans is a property unique to species of the family Rhizobiaceae. For this reason, it is generally believed that these molecules may play an important role in the plant infection process. In the present study, we determined that the cyclic beta-1,2-glucans produced by Rhizobium meliloti 1021 were predominantly anionic in character and contained both phosphoglycerol and succinic acid substituents. In addition, we demonstrated that phosphatidylglycerol was the source of the phosphoglycerol substituents present on these oligosaccharides and that greater than 60% of the total phospholipid turnover in this organism involved this substitution reaction.
Iron-Regulated Protein HupB of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Positively Regulates Siderophore Biosynthesis and Is Essential for Growth in Macrophages

ABSTRACT Mycobacterium tuberculosis expresses the 28-kDa protein HupB (Rv2986c) and the Fe3+-specific high-affinity siderophores mycobactin and carboxymycobactin upon iron limitation. The objective of this study was to understand the functional role of HupB in iron acquisition. A hupB mutant strain of M. tuberculosis, subjected to growth in low-iron medium (0.02 μg Fe ml−1), showed a marked reduction of both siderophores with low transcript levels of the mbt genes encoding the MB biosynthetic machinery. Complementation of the mutant strain with hupB restored siderophore production to levels comparable to that of the wild type. We demonstrated the binding of HupB to the mbtB promoter by both electrophoretic mobility shift assays and DNA footprinting. The latter revealed the HupB binding site to be a 10-bp AT-rich region. While negative regulation of the mbt machinery by IdeR is known, this is the first report of positive regulation of the mbt operon by HupB. Interestingly, the mutant strain failed to survive inside macrophages, suggesting that HupB plays an important role in vivo.
Characterization of Dendritic Cells and Macrophages Generated by Directed Differentiation from Mouse Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Methods have been established to generate dendritic cells (DCs) from mouse and human embryonic stem (ES) cells. We designated them as ES‐DCs and mouse models have demonstrated the induction of anti‐cancer immunity and prevention of autoimmune disease by in vivo administration of genetically engineered ES‐DCs. For the future clinical application of ES‐DCs, the histoincompatibility between patients to be treated and available human ES cells and the ethical concerns associated with human ES cells may be serious obstacles. However, recently developed induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology is expected to resolve these issues. This report describes the generation and characterization of DCs derived from mouse iPS cells. The iPS cell‐derived DCs (iPS‐DCs) possessed the characteristics of DCs including the capacity of T‐cell‐stimulation, antigen‐processing and presentation and cytokine production. DNA microarray analyses revealed the upregulation of genes related to antigen‐presenting functions during differentiation into iPS‐DCs and similarity in gene expression profile in iPS‐DCs and bone marrow cell‐derived DCs. Genetically modified iPS‐DCs expressing antigenic protein primed T‐cells specific to the antigen in vivo and elicited efficient antigen‐specific anti‐tumor immunity. In addition, macrophages were generated from iPS cells (iPS‐MP). iPS‐MP were comparable with bone marrow cell‐derived macrophages in the cell surface phenotype, functions, and gene expression profiles. Stem Cells 2009;27:1021–1031
Effects of Streptozotocin‐Induced Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus on Total Protein Concentrations and Cation Contents in the Isolated Pancreas, Parotid, Submandibular, and Lacrimal Glands of Rats

Abstract: This study investigated the effect of streptozotocin (STZ)‐induced type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) on total protein concentration and levels of sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), magnesium (Mg2+), zinc (Zn2+), copper (Cu2+), calcium (Ca2+), and iron (Fe2+) in the pancreas, parotid, submandibular, and lacrimal glands of the rat, compared to age‐matched control animals. Protein concentrations were measured by the Bradford Assay, whereas levels of Na+, K+, Mg2+, Zn2+, Cu2+, Ca2+, and Fe2+ were measured by flame photometry and atomic absorbance spectrophotometry. The results show marked changes in the characteristics of diabetic and control animals. Diabetic rats and their different glands weighed significantly (P < 0.05) less compared to age‐matched controls. Diabetic rats also have significantly elevated blood glucose and significantly reduced plasma insulin, compared to controls. The results also show that the concentrations of proteins and levels of cations were significantly (P < 0.05) reduced in the pancreas, parotid, submandibular and lacrimal glands of diabetic rats, compared to glands from age‐matched animals. These differences in the cation contents and protein levels in STZ‐induced DM in this study, along with supporting evidences from previous studies, may provide evidence for the development of long‐term complications of DM including exocrine gland deficiencies.
Arabidopsis TH2 Encodes the Orphan Enzyme Thiamin Monophosphate Phosphatase[OPEN]

Genomic, transcriptomic, genetic, and biochemical evidence implicates Arabidopsis TH2 in dephosphorylation of thiamin monophosphate, a key step in biosynthesis of thiamin diphosphate, an essential cofactor for central metabolic enzymes. To synthesize the cofactor thiamin diphosphate (ThDP), plants must first hydrolyze thiamin monophosphate (ThMP) to thiamin, but dedicated enzymes for this hydrolysis step were unknown and widely doubted to exist. The classical thiamin-requiring th2-1 mutation in Arabidopsis thaliana was shown to reduce ThDP levels by half and to increase ThMP levels 5-fold, implying that the THIAMIN REQUIRING2 (TH2) gene product could be a dedicated ThMP phosphatase. Genomic and transcriptomic data indicated that TH2 corresponds to At5g32470, encoding a HAD (haloacid dehalogenase) family phosphatase fused to a TenA (thiamin salvage) family protein. Like the th2-1 mutant, an insertional mutant of At5g32470 accumulated ThMP, and the thiamin requirement of the th2-1 mutant was complemented by wild-type At5g32470. Complementation tests in Escherichia coli and enzyme assays with recombinant proteins confirmed that At5g32470 and its maize (Zea mays) orthologs GRMZM2G148896 and GRMZM2G078283 are ThMP-selective phosphatases whose activity resides in the HAD domain and that the At5g32470 TenA domain has the expected thiamin salvage activity. In vitro and in vivo experiments showed that alternative translation start sites direct the At5g32470 protein to the cytosol and potentially also to mitochondria. Our findings establish that plants have a dedicated ThMP phosphatase and indicate that modest (50%) ThDP depletion can produce severe deficiency symptoms.
CD4+ Memory Stem Cells Are Infected by HIV-1 in a Manner Regulated in Part by SAMHD1 Expression

ABSTRACT CD4+ and CD8+ memory T cells with stem cell-like properties (TSCM cells) have been identified in mice, humans, and nonhuman primates and are being investigated for antitumor and antiviral vaccines and immunotherapies. Whether CD4+ TSCM cells are infected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was investigated by using a combination HIV reporter virus system in vitro and by direct staining for HIV p24 antigen ex vivo. A proportion of TSCM cells were found to express the HIV coreceptors CCR5 and CXCR4 and were infected by HIV both in vitro and in vivo. Analysis of viral outcome following fusion using the combination reporter virus system revealed that TSCM cells can become productively or latently infected, although the vast majority of TSCM cells are abortively infected. Knockdown of the HIV restriction factor SAMHD1 using Vpx-containing simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) virion-like particles enhanced the productive infection of TSCM cells, indicating that SAMHD1 contributes to abortive infection in these cells. These results demonstrate that CD4+ TSCM cells are targets for HIV infection, that they become productively or latently infected at low levels, and that SAMHD1 expression promotes abortive infection of this important memory cell subset. IMPORTANCE Here we demonstrate the susceptibility of CD4+ memory stem cells (TSCM cells) to infection by HIV in vitro and in vivo, provide an in-depth analysis of coreceptor expression, demonstrate the infection of naïve and memory CD4+ T cell subsets with both CCR5- and CXCR4-tropic HIV, and also perform outcome analysis to calculate the percentage of cells that are productively, latently, or abortively infected. Through these outcome studies, we determined that the vast majority of TSCM cells are abortively infected by HIV, and we demonstrate that knockdown of SAMHD1 significantly increases the frequency of infection of this CD4+ T cell subset, indicating that SAMHD1 is an active restriction factor in TSCM cells.
Does the XBRL Reporting Format Provide Incremental Information Value? A Study Using XBRL Disclosures During the Voluntary Filing Program

This study investigates whether the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) reporting format provides incremental information value beyond the same 10K/10Q filings previously provided in HTML format. Using a sample from the XBRL Voluntary Filing Program, we document a significant increase in stock price variance on the day when voluntary XBRL reports are filed. We find market response is stronger when more content is filed on the same day. To evaluate relative information value, we decompose the quarterly return variance for three primary news announcements related to earnings including earnings announcement, HTML filing, and XBRL filing. We find XBRL filings have larger relative information value than HTML filings. Our results indicate that the XBRL reporting format provides incremental information content.
Quantitative analysis of MUC1 and MUC5AC mRNA in pancreatic juice for preoperative diagnosis of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic juice is a promising type of diagnostic sample for pancreatic cancer, and members of the mucin (MUC) family are diagnostic candidates. To evaluate the utility of MUC family members as diagnostic markers, we measured MUC mRNA expression in pancreatic tissues and pancreatic juice obtained from patients with different pancreatic diseases as well as in pancreatic cancer cell lines by real‐time PCR. Furthermore, to support the possibility of early diagnosis by quantification of MUC1 and MUC5AC, immunohistochemistry and microdissection‐based quantitative analysis of mRNA were carried out. There was no significant correlation between MUC1 and MUC5AC expression in cell lines. When β‐actin was used as a reference gene, median MUC1 and MUC5AC mRNA expression levels were remarkably greater in tumoral tissues than in non‐tumoral tissues, but median MUC4 and MUC6 mRNA expression levels were not. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that quantitative analysis of MUC1 and MUC5AC mRNA in pancreatic juice is better diagnostic modality than that of MUC4 and MUC6 mRNA. Immunohistochemistry showed that MUC1 and MUC5AC were highly expressed in invasive ductal carcinomas (IDC) and moderately expressed in high‐grade pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN); no staining was observed in normal ducts. Analysis of cells isolated by microdissection showed stepwise upregulation of MUC1 and MUC5AC in the development of high‐grade PanIN to IDC. Our results suggest that MUC1 and MUC5AC are upregulated stepwise in pancreatic carcinogenesis and that quantitative assessment of MUC1 and MUC5AC mRNA in pancreatic juice has high potential for preoperative diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Distinction between chloride-dependent transport systems for taurine and beta-alanine in rabbit ileum.

This study describes the influx of taurine and beta-alanine across the brush-border membrane of rabbit distal ileum. The kinetics of JmcTau [concentration at which half-maximal activation occurs (K1/2) = 41 microM and Jmax = 24 nmol.cm-2.h-1] are consistent with the kinetics of taurine uptake by jejunal brush-border vesicles. The taurine carrier differs from the beta-alanine carrier by being insensitive to leucine inhibition and by the jejunoileal variation of influx along the small intestine. The K1/2 for sodium and chloride activation of the beta-alanine carrier (48 and 8 mM, respectively) differ markedly from the values reported for the taurine carrier. In addition, taurine is not transported by the beta-alanine carrier. Thus the study demonstrates that the taurine and beta-alanine carriers are separate entities, and it adds to the imino and the taurine carriers the beta-alanine carrier as a third chloride-dependent intestinal transporter of amino acids.