Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A β1/2 Adrenergic Receptor‐Sensitive Intracellular Signaling Pathway Modulates CCL2 Production in Cultured Spinal Astrocytes

The phosphorylation of c‐jun N‐terminal kinase (JNK) and the subsequent production of C–C chemokine CCL2 (monocyte chemoattractant protein; MCP‐1) in spinal astrocytes contribute to the initiation of neurological disorders including chronic pain. Astrocytes express neurotransmitter receptors which could be targeted to ameliorate neurological disorders. In the current study, the involvement of the β‐adrenergic system in the regulation of JNK activity and CCL2 production after stimulation with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α, one of many initiators of neuroinflammation, was elucidated. Treatment of cultured spinal astrocytes with isoproterenol (a β‐adrenergic receptor agonist; 1 µM) reduced both TNF‐α‐induced JNK1 phosphorylation, as observed by Western blotting, and the subsequent increase of both CCL2 mRNA expression and CCL2 production, which were measured by real time‐PCR and ELISA, respectively. The effects of isoproterenol were completely blocked by pretreatment with either propranolol (a β‐adrenoceptor antagonist) or H89 (a protein kinase A [PKA] inhibitor). The current study revealed that the regulation of glycogen synthase kinase‐3β (GSK‐3β) activity is a crucial factor in the inhibitory action of isoproterenol. The TNF‐α‐induced JNK1 phosphorylation was significantly blocked by treatment with GSK‐3β inhibitors (either LiCl or TWS119), and stimulation of β‐adrenergic receptors induced the inhibition of GSK‐3β through the phosphorylation of Ser9. Moreover, treatment with isoproterenol markedly suppressed the TNF‐α‐induced increase of CCL2 mRNA expression and CCL2 production through a β‐adrenergic receptor‐PKA pathway mediated by GSK‐3β regulation. Thus, activation of β1/2 adrenergic receptors expressed in spinal astrocytes could be a novel method of moderating neurological disorders with endogenous catecholamines or selective agonists. J. Cell. Physiol. 229: 323–332, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Fabry disease defined: baseline clinical manifestations of 366 patients in the Fabry Outcome Survey

Background Fabry disease is a rare X‐linked disorder caused by deficient activity of the lysosomal enzyme α‐galactosidase A. Progressive accumulation of the substrate globotriaosylceramide in cells throughout the body leads to major organ failure and premature death. In response to the recent introduction of enzyme replacement therapy, the Fabry Outcome Survey (FOS) was established to pool data from European clinics on the natural history of this little‐known disease and to monitor the long‐term efficacy and safety of treatment. This paper presents the first analysis of the FOS database and provides essential baseline data against which the effects of enzyme replacement can be measured.
Use of e-journals by research scholars at Aligarh Muslim University and Banaras Hindu University

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to find out the level of awareness and use of e‐journals by the researchers of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) – both central universities funded by the University Grants Commission.Design/methodology/approach – A well‐structured questionnaire is administered to the research scholars of the AMU and BHU to collect data regarding the use of e‐journals.Findings – The survey reveals that most of the research scholars are aware of the availability of e‐journals and largely use them for reference purposes in their research work. They fully agree that with the usage of e‐journal the quality of research work improves with enrichment of appurtenant contents and materials leading to high‐quality manuscript. It is however found that lack of training is the obstacle in proper and full utilization of e‐journals.Research limitations/implications – The present paper consists only of e‐journal users and the geographical area is restricted t.
Evaluation of Selected Parameters in a Sugar Beet Translocation System.

In a previous paper (3 ), we reported oni the kinietics of C'4 translocationi in sugar beet as measured in a conventional short-term labeling experiment. was presented that the rate of C14 translocation is linearly related to the specific activity of the sucrose in the source leaf, as would be anticipated in a steady-state systeml if sucrose were the domiinant source of the transport molecule. specific were maiintainied constant known for the total duration of the translocationi period.
Relation Between Organizational Climate and its Dimensions and Knowledge-sharing Behavior among Knowledge Workers Relación entre el Clima Organizacional y sus Dimensiones y Comportamiento del Conocimiento Compartido entre Trabajadores del Conocimiento

This study aimed at identifying the relation of organizational climate and its dimensions from the PMCO measuring test for organizational climate (Cardenas & Villamizar, 2008, as cited in Cardenas, Arciniegas y Barrera, 2009) - in knowledge-sharing behavior, which was measured from the psychosocial variables and organizational conditions of knowledge-sharing behavior test (Castaneda y Fernandez, 2007). 100 participants from two types of organizations participated on this study: one of private nature and one public. A correlation of 0.578 between organizational climate and knowledge-sharing behavior was found. When carrying out an analysis of each organization, it was evident that the level of correlation between climate and knowledge-sharing behavior was highly significant in the public organization: There was a reliability level higher to 99%. There was no correlation found between the two variables studied in the private organization -with an r of 0.093 to 95%. As for the dimensions of climate and knowledge-sharing behavior, the results showed that in all public universities (including level of work, which got the lowest relation) these are statistically significant to 99.9%. In the private university only a relation to the personal growth dimension of 95% was found.
Genetic variants in C5 and poor response to eculizumab.

BACKGROUND Eculizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that targets complement protein C5 and inhibits terminal complement-mediated hemolysis associated with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH). The molecular basis for the poor response to eculizumab in a small population of Japanese patients is unclear. METHODS We assessed the sequences of the gene encoding C5 in patients with PNH who had either a good or poor response to eculizumab. We also evaluated the functional properties of C5 as it was encoded in these patients. RESULTS Of 345 Japanese patients with PNH who received eculizumab, 11 patients had a poor response. All 11 had a single missense C5 heterozygous mutation, c.2654G → A, which predicts the polymorphism p.Arg885His. The prevalence of this mutation among the patients with PNH (3.2%) was similar to that among healthy Japanese persons (3.5%). This polymorphism was also identified in a Han Chinese population. A patient in Argentina of Asian ancestry who had a poor response had a very similar mutation, c.2653C → T, which predicts p.Arg885Cys. Nonmutant and mutant C5 both caused hemolysis in vitro, but only nonmutant C5 bound to and was blocked by eculizumab. In vitro hemolysis due to nonmutant and mutant C5 was completely blocked with the use of N19-8, a monoclonal antibody that binds to a different site on C5 than does eculizumab. CONCLUSIONS The functional capacity of C5 variants with mutations at Arg885, together with their failure to undergo blockade by eculizumab, account for the poor response to this agent in patients who carry these mutations. (Funded by Alexion Pharmaceuticals and the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare of Japan.).
Disjoint Decomposition of Markov Chains and Sampling Circuits in Cayley Graphs

Markov chain decomposition is a tool for analysing the convergence rate of a complicated Markov chain by studying its behaviour on smaller, more manageable pieces of the state space. Roughly speaking, if a Markov chain converges quickly to equilibrium when restricted to subsets of the state space, and if there is sufficient ergodic flow between the pieces, then the original Markov chain also must converge rapidly to equilibrium. We present a new version of the decomposition theorem where the pieces partition the state space, rather than forming a cover where pieces overlap, as was previously required. This new formulation is more natural and better suited to many applications. We apply this disjoint decomposition method to demonstrate the efficiency of simple Markov chains designed to uniformly sample circuits of a given length on certain Cayley graphs. The proofs further indicate that a Markov chain for sampling adsorbing staircase walks, a problem arising in statistical physics, is also rapidly mixing.
Comparing On-Body dynamic channels for two antenna designs

This paper presents the characterisation of the transmission channel for On-Body communications at 2.45 GHz. Starting from real-time dynamic measurements, performed both in indoor and anechoic, the channel was characterised considering three different components: a mean channel gain, a shadowing and a fast fading contributions. The antenna effect on channel characteristics was accounted for, repeating all acquisitions with two different designs: one normally and the other one tangentially polarized with respect to the body surface.
STUDIES ON FOLIC ACID IN INFANCY.

The level of folic and folinic acid in whole blood was assayed in 373 healthy infants from birth to one year. Folic acid was high at birth and dropped gradually over the first 8 postnatal weeks. The mean value for the remainder of the first year was significantly below the adult mean. Folinic acid was likewise high at birth and dropped parallel with the folic acid. However, following the initial drop, folinic acid mean values remained well above the adult mean. Folic and folinic acid values were higher in breast-fed than in artificially fed infants and lower in infants whose economic status was poor than in babies belonging to families of higher income.
Emulsifier of Arthrobacter RAG-1: isolation and emulsifying properties

The oil-degrading Arthrobacter sp. RAG-1 produced an extracellular nondialyzable emulsifying agent when grown on hexadecane, ethanol, or acetate medium. The emulsifier was prepared by two procedures: (i) heptane extraction of the cell-free culture medium and (ii) precipitation with ammonium sulfate. A convenient assay was developed for measurement of emulsifier concentrations between 3 and 75 micrograms/ml. The rate of emulsion fromation was proportional to both hydrocarbon and emulsifier concentrations. Above pH 6, activity was dependent upon divalent cations; half-maximum activity was obtained in the presence of 1.5 mM Mg2+. With a ratio of gas oil to emulsifier of 50, stable emulsions were formed with average droplet sizes of less than 1 micron. Emulsifier production was parallel to growth on either hydrocarbon or nonhydrocarbon substrates during the exponential phase; however, production continued after growth ceased.
Alveolar ridge augmentation with titanium mesh and a combination of autogenous bone and anorganic bovine bone: a 2-year prospective study.

BACKGROUND Recently, the use of bovine bone mineral (BBM) in combination with autogenous bone for alveolar ridge augmentation before implant placement has increased in favor because of concerns over morbidity associated with extraoral donor sites. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the clinical and radiographic parameters of implants placed in augmented ridges using a 70:30 mixture of autogenous bone and BBM in association with micro-mesh over a 2-year period. METHODS Sixteen partially edentulous patients requiring bone augmentation were consecutively treated for 19 reconstructive procedures and delayed implant placement (44 implants) after 8 to 9 months of submerged mesh healing. Clinical examinations were performed and radiographs of the implants were taken 6 months after prosthetic loading and once a year during a 2-year follow-up. RESULTS Only one (5.3%) of the 19 micro-meshes became exposed after 2 months and was removed. Computed tomography scans of the alveolar ridge pre- and postreconstruction demonstrated mean vertical augmentation of 3.71 +/- 1.24 mm and mean horizontal augmentation of 4.16 +/- 0.59 mm. All of the implants were retained after 2 years, yielding a 100% survival rate. The mean bone resorption around the implants was 1.37 +/- 0.32 mm during the observation period. Only three implants demonstrated bone resorption >2 mm, whereas 41 implants were considered clinically successful, resulting in a success rate of 93.1%. CONCLUSION This 2-year prospective study demonstrated that implants placed into augmented bone using this technique exhibited peri-implant stability with high survival (100%) and success (93.1%) rates.
Post-Emergence Herbicidal Activity of Nanoatrazine Against Susceptible Weeds

Poly(ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL) nanocapsules have been previously developed as a carrier system for atrazine. However, the efficacy of this nanoformulation against weeds commonly found in crop cultures has not been tested yet. Here, we evaluated the post-emergence herbicidal activity of PCL nanocapsules containing atrazine against Amaranthus viridis (slender amaranth) and Bidens pilosa (hairy beggarticks), in comparison with a commercial formulation of atrazine. For both species, treatment with atrazine-loaded nanocapsules (at 2000 g ha-1) led to a greater decrease in the photosystem II activity (above 50% inhibition relative to the control) than the commercial atrazine formulation at the same concentration (around 40% inhibition). The growth of A. viridis plants was equally reduced by nanoatrazine and commercial formulation (above 64% for root and 75% for shoot). In the case of B. pilosa, atrazine-loaded nanocapsules decreased more effectively the root and shoot growth than the commercial formulation, leading to a loss of plant biomass. Moreover, for both species, the use of ten-fold diluted atrazine-loaded PCL nanocapsules (200 g ha-1) resulted in the same inhibitory effect in root and shoot growth as the commercial formulation at the standard atrazine dose. These results suggest that the utilization of atrazine-containing PCL nanocapsules potentiated the post-emergence control of A. viridis and B. pilosa by the herbicide. Thus, this nanoformulation emerges as an efficient alternative for weed control.
Synchronous Generator Fault Investigation by Experimental and Finite-Element Procedures

The finite-element calculations and experimental measurements are employed in this paper to detect faults in a two-pole synchronous generator. A special benchmark constructed for this study allows imposing short circuits in the rotor winding, and it is used to verify the numerical results. The air-gap magnetic field can be detected by means of sensors placed inside the machine, and it can be calculated by the finite-element method (FEM) as well.
Motivated empathy: The mechanics of the empathic gaze

Successful human social interactions frequently rely on appropriate interpersonal empathy and eye contact. Here, we report a previously unseen relationship between trait empathy and eye-gaze patterns to affective facial features in video-based stimuli. Fifty-nine healthy adult participants had their eyes tracked while watching a three-minute long “sad” and “emotionally neutral” video. The video stimuli portrayed the head and shoulders of the same actor recounting a fictional personal event. Analyses revealed that the greater participants' trait emotional empathy, the more they fixated on the eye-region of the actor, regardless of the emotional valence of the video stimuli. Our findings provide the first empirical evidence of a relationship between empathic capacity and eye-gaze pattern to the most affective facial region (eyes).
Papilloedema and MRI enhancement of the prechiasmal optic nerve at the acute stage of Leber hereditary optic neuropathy

The authors report a case of one patient from a family carrying the homoplasmic Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) G11778A mitochondrial DNA mutation with papilloedema 9 months prior to the acute stage of LHON and still present at the onset of visual loss. During the vision loss, the MRI demonstrated a T2 hyperintensity and an enhancement of the prechiasmal left optic nerve, suggesting the existence of an inflammatory mechanism. A retrospective review of the chart of two others members of the same family, with bilateral optic disc oedema at onset of the vision loss, suggests that the relationship of papilloedema and acute phase of LHON may not be just a coincidence, at least in this family. The visual loss related to LHON could have been triggered in the setting of the chronic papilloedema, associated with the intracranial hypertension.
Nuclear translocation and carboxyl‐terminal domain phosphorylation of RNA polymerase II delineate the two phases of zygotic gene activation in mammalian embryos

In mammalian embryos, zygotic gene transcription initiates after a limited number of cell divisions through a two‐step process termed the zygotic gene activation (ZGA). Here we report that RNA polymerase II undergoes major changes in mouse and rabbit preimplantation embryos during the ZGA. In transcriptionally inactive unfertilized oocytes, the RNA polymerase II largest subunit is predominantly hyperphosphorylated on its carboxy‐terminal domain (CTD). The CTD is markedly dephosphorylated several hours after fertilization, before the onset of a period characterized by a weak transcriptional activity. The largest subunit of RNA polymerase II then lacks immunological and drug‐sensitivity characteristics related to its phosphorylation by the TFIIH‐associated kinase and gradually translocates into the nuclei independently of DNA replication and mitosis. A phosphorylation pattern of the largest subunit, close to that observed in somatic cells, is established in both mouse and rabbit embryos at the stage when transcription becomes a requirement for further development (respectively at the 2‐ and 8/16‐cell stage). As these events occurred in the presence of actinomycin D, the nuclear translocation of RNA polymerase II and the phosphorylation of the CTD might be major determinants of ZGA.
SURGICAL OUTCOME OF RECURRENT LUMBAR DISC HERNIATION: EXPERIENCE WITH 30 PATIENTS

Objective: To study the outcome of recurrent lumbar disc herniation managed surgically. Material and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted in Neurosurgery Department of Lady Reading Hospital and Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar from Mar, 2005 to Feb, 2008 with 06 month follow-up. This study included patients who underwent re-do surgery for re-herniation of lumbar disc herniation at previous operated level of L4-5 and L5-S1. Data was collected on a proforma containing name, age and sex of patients along with findings of previous surgery, clinical outcome of previous surgery, present neurological status with signs and symptoms, investigations, complications and follow-up findings. Results: Thirty patients including 22 (73.33%) male and 08 (26.66%) female were operated upon for recurrent lumbar disc herniation. Twenty two (73.3%) patients were pain free after surgery. Improvement in SLR was 80% (n=24/30) complications after 01 month. Overall complication rate was 40%. Five (16.66%) patients had dural in which 02 (6.66%) postop CSF leak, 01 (3.33%) had superficial wound infection, 01 (3.33%) had discitis, 01 (3.33%) had foot drop and 02 (6.66%) had urinary retention. Patients with foot drop did not showed any improvement postoperatively after 06 month of follow-up. Conclusion: Surgery for recurrent lumbar disc herniation appears to be effective procedure in which better overall outcome and improvement in pain can be achieved.
Introducing executive information systems into organizations: separating fact from fallacy

Several factors have been proposed by researchers to explain why organizations are motivated to introduce executive information systems (EIS) now. These are identified and categorized in this paper and the results of an empirical study which examined the relevance of these factors in practice are presented. The findings of the study question the relevance and validity of some of the factors that have been identified – most notably that EIS are being introduced at the request of executives who are becoming increasingly computer literate and see EIS as a means of coping with today's extremely competitive business environment. The study findings suggest that IS department push and EIS envy are factors which play a significant role in the emergence of EIS in organizations.
Pre-transplant biomarkers and prediction of post-transplant outcomes in kidney transplantation

Different biomarkers have been recently described bringing interesting results regarding predictive outcomes in the field of kidney transplantation. In this setting, an evaluation for pre-transplant biomarkers especially in the era of expanded criteria donors (ECDs) and non-heart-beating donors (NHBDs) could help transplant physicians to make decisions on allocation or even on discharge of the allograft. Furthermore, identify pre-transplant biomarkers is useful for a risk stratification of delayed graft function (DGF), acute rejection (AR) episodes and chronic allograft dysfunction (CAD) after kidney transplantation (KT). In this review, we report recent findings on pre-transplant biomarkers from various biological samples from donors or recipients.
In Praise of the Hyperglycemic Clamp: A method for assessment of β-cell sensitivity and insulin resistance

The most widely used methods for the assessment of beta-cell response and peripheral tissue sensitivity to insulin include the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), the frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test, and the hyperinsulinemiceuglycemic clamp technique. During an OGTT, glucose levels increase after a variable lag period, then reach a peak and fall variably among individuals. The response even varies in the same subject upon repeat testing. A more reproducible glucose curve is achieved with an intravenous glucose tolerance test in which the plasma glucose levels rise rapidly to a very high level and fall exponentially. In neither of the two methods is a steady-state glucose level achieved. In the hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp technique, a steady-state glucose level can be maintained at any level of hyperinsulinemia. However, an assessment of beta-cell sensitivity is not obtained. The less used hyperglycemic clamp technique can assess beta-cell sensitivity as well as peripheral tissue sensitivity. Moreover, a measure of glucose effectiveness or non-insulin-mediated glucose uptake can also be determined. With this technique the beta-cells of all subjects are stimulated with the same arterial glucose concentration, thus enabling assessment of beta-cell response to identical plasma glucose levels. Comparison of responses to stable hyperglycemic stimuli can be made in glucose-tolerant and -intolerant states with the addition of various substances, either alone or in combination. The use of the hyperglycemic clamp and several of its variant forms is reviewed as an alternative method for assessment of glucose homeostasis.