Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Immunological characterization of cell‐surface and soluble forms of membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase in human breast cancer cells and in fibroblasts

Membrane type (MT) 1 matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activates progelatinase A (pro–MMP‐2), a type IV collagenase, on the cell surface of tumors; however, its function in breast cancer progression and metastasis is not fully understood. To examine the expression of MT1‐MMP in breast cancer cells and fibroblasts, a specific rabbit antibody (Ab) directed against a unique synthetic peptide derived from the human MT1‐MMP catalytic domain was produced, purified, and characterized. This Ab is not likely to cross‐react with MT2‐, MT3‐, or MT4‐MMP or any other MMPs. MT1‐MMP expression and pro–MMP‐2 activation were stimulated by concanavalin A in two human breast carcinoma cell lines (BT549 and MDA‐MB‐231) and in normal human fetal‐lung fibroblasts (HFL‐1) and were slightly upregulated by breast cancer cell–fibroblast interactions. Both pro‐MT1‐MMP in plasma membrane (63.4 kDa) and the soluble forms of the enzyme in culture medium (57.6 and 25–30 kDa) were detected by immunoblot analysis, suggesting that cell‐surface MT1‐MMP exhibits an active conformation without the removal of its propeptide domain and that the mature enzyme is shed into the medium. In breast cancer cells, MT1‐MMP and a recombinant catalytic domain of MT1‐MMP were unable to activate pro‐matrilysin, indicating that MT1‐MMP is not a universal activator of all MMPs. MT1‐MMP may play an important role in the invasive growth and spread of breast cancer cells by specifically activating pro–MMP‐2 to cleave the connective‐tissue barrier. Furthermore, use of the specific Ab may aid in the investigation of the role of MT1‐MMP in human tumors. Mol. Carcinog. 22:84–94, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Small Risk of Serious Neurologic Complications Related to Lumbar Epidural Catheter Placement in Anesthetized Patients

Previous studies have identified pain during needle/catheter placement or during the injection of local anesthetic as a risk factor for the development of persistent paresthesias after regional anesthetic techniques. The performance of regional blockade on anesthetized patients theoretically increases the risk of postoperative neurologic complications, because these patients are unable to respond to painful stimuli. In this study, we evaluated the frequency of neurologic complications in 4298 thoracic surgical patients undergoing lumbar epidural catheter placement while under general anesthesia. Catheters were placed immediately after the induction and tracheal intubation or on completion of the surgical procedure, before emergence. Most epidural catheters (4220, or 98.2%) were used solely for postoperative analgesia; only 78 (1.8%) epidural catheters were used for intraoperative anesthesia. In 4239 (98.6%) patients, an opioid alone was administered. The remaining 56 (1.3%) patients received a local anesthetic or local anesthetic/opioid mixture epidurally. Analgesia was graded as excellent or good in 92.2% of patients. Side effects included sedation in 455 (10.6%), nausea or emesis in 328 (7.6%), pruritus in 116 (2.7%), and respiratory depression (pH ⩽7.3 and PaCO2 ≥50 mm Hg) in 308 (7.2%) patients. The mean duration of epidural analgesia was 2.4 ± 0.8 days (range, 0–10.7 days). There were no neurologic complications, including spinal hematoma, epidural abscess or catheter site infections, radicular symptoms, or persistent paresthesias (95% confidence interval, 0%–0.08%). In one patient, the epidural catheter broke during removal, and a portion was retained. The patient was notified; no long-term sequelae were noted. Six patients developed new neurologic symptoms or postoperative worsening of a previous neurologic condition unrelated to epidural catheterization. We conclude that the risk of neurologic complications associated with lumbar epidural catheter placement in anesthetized patients is small. However, the relative risk of this practice, compared with epidural catheter placement in awake patients, is unknown. IMPLICATIONS: We report no neurologic complications in 4298 patients undergoing epidural catheter placement while under general anesthesia. Although the risk of neurologic complications associated with lumbar epidural catheter placement in anesthetized patients is small, the relative risk compared with epidural catheterization in awake patients is unknown.
Surfactant in the preterm infant: what's going on

Surfactant treatment has been demonstrated to decrease pneumothorax and mortality in preterm infants. Natural surfactants are better than synthetic surfactants. Early rescue treatment with surfactant is better than late treatment, whereas the role of surfactant prophylaxis is under re-evaluation due to the actual large diffusion of antenatal steroid and nasal continuous positive airway pressure treatment which have changed the clinical characteristics of preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome. It is possible that in the next future anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties of exogenous natural surfactants may be improved through their combination with adequate agents with the aim of counteracting the pathogenetic role of inflammatory and oxidative lung injury injuries in the development of brochopulmonary dysplasia.
Deep Dynamic Factor Models

We propose a novel deep neural net framework - that we refer to as Deep Dynamic Factor Model (D2FM) -, to encode the information available, from hundreds of macroeconomic and financial time-series into a handful of unobserved latent states. While similar in spirit to traditional dynamic factor models (DFMs), differently from those, this new class of models allows for nonlinearities between factors and observables due to the deep neural net structure. However, by design, the latent states of the model can still be interpreted as in a standard factor model. In an empirical application to the forecast and nowcast of economic conditions in the US, we show the potential of this framework in dealing with high dimensional, mixed frequencies and asynchronously published time series data. In a fully real-time out-of-sample exercise with US data, the D2FM improves over the performances of a state-of-the-art DFM.
Risk factors for adverse in-hospital outcomes in acute colonic diverticular hemorrhage.

AIM To investigate the factors associated with transfusion, further bleeding, and prolonged length of stay. METHODS In total, 153 patients emergently hospitalized for diverticular bleeding who were examined by colonoscopy were prospectively enrolled. Patients in whom the bleeding source was identified received endoscopic treatment such as clipping or endoscopic ligation. After spontaneous cessation of bleeding with conservative treatment or hemostasis with endoscopic treatment, all patients were started on a liquid food diet and gradually progressed to a solid diet over 3 d, and were discharged. At enrollment, we assessed smoking, alcohol, medications [non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)], low-dose aspirin, and other antiplatelets, warfarin, acetaminophen, and oral corticosteroids), and co-morbidities [hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, cerebro-cardiovascular disease, chronic liver disease, and chronic kidney disease (CKD)]. The in-hospital outcomes were need for transfusion, further bleeding after spontaneous cessation of hemorrhage, and length of hospital stay. The odds ratio (OR) for transfusion need, further bleeding, and prolonged length of stay were estimated by logistic regression analysis. RESULTS No patients required angiographic embolization or surgery. Stigmata of bleeding occurred in 18% of patients (27/153) and was treated by endoscopic procedures. During hospitalization, 40 patients (26%) received a median of 6 units of packed red blood cells. Multivariate analysis revealed that female sex (OR = 2.5, P = 0.02), warfarin use (OR = 9.3, P < 0.01), and CKD (OR = 5.9, P < 0.01) were independent risk factors for transfusion need. During hospitalization, 6 patients (3.9%) experienced further bleeding, and NSAID use (OR = 5.9, P = 0.04) and stigmata of bleeding (OR = 11, P < 0.01) were significant risk factors. Median length of hospital stay was 8 d. Multivariate analysis revealed that age > 70 years (OR = 2.1, P = 0.04) and NSAID use (OR = 2.7, P = 0.03) were independent risk factors for prolonged hospitalization (≥ 8 d). CONCLUSION In colonic diverticular bleeding, female sex, warfarin, and CKD increased the risk of transfusion requirement, while advanced age and NSAID increased the risk of prolonged hospitalization.
Cooperative bicircular target tracking using multiple unmanned aerial vehicles

This paper investigates the problem of tracking a moving target using multiple fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) under a new bicircular formation. This new formation for cooperative standoff target tracking is first developed by maximizing the amount of Fisher information. Guidance vector fields are designed, and based on them, a cooperation approach is proposed to adapt the unknown target velocity and achieve the cooperative bicircular tracking. Speed and heading rate are firstly controlled to track the guidance vector fields separately for each UAV, then the speed is further adjusted to maintain the desired angular separation between the UAVs. Simulation experiments are given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
An analytical random direction-based method in user mobility modeling for wireless networks

In mobile communications, mobility modeling is involved in several aspects such as signaling and traffic load analysis. In particular, the accuracy of mobility models become essential for the evaluation of system design alternatives and network implementation cost issues. In this paper, we propose a mobility model which is appropriate for the practical analysis of the full range of mobile communications design issues. The model provides different levels of details for the user mobility behavior and can be adapted to any environment topology. This random direction based model can be applied in analytical purpose. This model is described by motion direction and user velocity. The motion direction of users is related to real street patterns and is modeled by discrete time and discrete state Gauss Markov. The velocity of users is modeled as Gaussian with variable mean and variance with respect to traffic factor. Simulation results confirm the preferences of the proposed method in both simulation and analytical estimations
Forced-Choice Tests as Single-Case Experiments in the Differential Diagnosis of Intentional Symptom Distortion

Symptom validity testing has become a prolific research field in neuropsychology. Its original and most powerful version is the forced-choice procedure that continues to play an important role because it allows for an experimental approach to test the hypothesis of intentional symptom distortion. When conducting forced-choice tests, below-chance response patterns are considered to be indicative of this type of distortion. In this article, we discuss the rationale behind the forced-choice technique and its historical development. We also present three case vignettes that illustrate the experimental background of forced-choice testing and how it may help to clarify diagnostic issues. The diagnostic considerations in these cases concerned (1) complete memory loss, (2) Ganser syndrome, and (3) dementia. Employing forced-choice methodology, intentional false symptom production could be demonstrated in all three patients. Thus, the cases demonstrate how, in the context of substantial external benefits, forced-choice testing may help to determine whether healthy individuals try to appear psychologically impaired.
Hematopoietic progenitor cel harvest and functionality in Fanconi anemia patients.

Recently, Croop et al[1][1] reported the feasibility of mobilizing and collecting peripheral blood CD34+ progenitor cells from patients with Fanconi anemia. The authors performed successful apheresis collection in 6 of 8 patients. They showed that prolonged granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-
Tooth Loss in Aggressive Periodontitis

Aggressive periodontitis (AgP) is thought to have a faster rate of progression than chronic periodontitis (CP). However, there is a lack of studies systematically investigating disease progression and tooth loss in AgP. A systematic search of the literature was conducted by two independent reviewers for longitudinal studies including patients with AgP (previously known as ‘periodontosis’, ‘juvenile’ or ‘early-onset’ periodontitis) indicating measures of disease progression. Ovid MEDLINE® and Embase databases were searched for at least 5-year longitudinal human studies in AgP patients. In total, 16 studies were included in the review, from an initial search of 1,601 titles. Heterogeneity was detected for disease definition and clinical data reporting; hence meta-analysis was feasible only for the objective measure ‘tooth loss’. The average tooth loss for all AgP cases was 0.09 (95% C.I. = 0.06-0.16) per patient-year. The corresponding values by diagnosis were 0.05, 0.14, and 0.12 tooth loss per patient-year, respectively, for LAgP, GAgP, and un-specified AgP. For studies reporting tooth loss during the ‘observational period’ (excluding extractions at initial therapy), the average tooth loss for AgP was 0.09 per patient-year. High heterogeneity was detected for these analyses. In conclusion, most studies report good long-term stability of treated AgP cases.
The Booms and Busts of Beta Arbitrage

Low-beta stocks deliver high average returns and low risk relative to high-beta stocks, an opportunity for professional investors to “arbitrage” away. We argue that beta-arbitrage activity generates booms and busts in the strategy’s abnormal trading profits. In times of low arbitrage activity, the beta-arbitrage strategy exhibits delayed correction, taking up to three years for abnormal returns to be realized. In contrast, when arbitrage activity is high, prices overshoot and then revert in the long run. We document a novel positive-feedback channel operating through firm leverage that facilitates these boom-and-bust cycles. This paper was accepted by Lukas Schmid, finance. Funding: This work is financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China [NSFC Grant Number 72303226] and the Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China [NSFC Grant Number 72233003]. Supplemental Material: The internet appendix and data are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023. 4929 .
Higher Serum Eosinophil Cationic Protein Levels in Children with Cow's Milk Allergy

Background In the pathogenesis of cow's milk allergy, abnormal immunologically mediated reactions play a basic role. Eosinophil activation also participates in the development of several allergies. The purpose of this study was to characterize the degree of this activation by measuring the serum level of eosinophil cationic protein (sECP) and establishing whether it is a useful parameter in monitoring oral cow's milk allergy. Methods The sECP level of 35 patients with previously confirmed cow's milk allergy (mean age, 16 months) was evaluated using a fluoroimmunoassay before the cow's milk rechallenge test and at 2 hours and 24 hours after cow's milk challenge. Results Of the 35 children with previously confirmed cow's milk allergy, 10 had positive clinical reactions after the milk rechallenge test, whereas 25 children had no reaction. The median sECP level of all the patients before the challenge test was significantly higher (12.4 &mgr;g/L) than that of the control group (4.3 &mgr;g/L) (P < 0.05). Two hours after the challenge, the median sECP of all patients (9.4 &mgr;g/L) was lower than the starting values. The median sECP levels were higher in children with positive challenge test results at all time points. However, this difference was not statistically significant. Conclusions The normalization of sECP level may indicate the cessation of the cow's milk allergy. Therefore, the measurement of sECP may be helpful in determining the optimal time in which to repeat the challenge test, when the result will more likely be negative. The significant decrease of the sECP level 2 hours after the beginning of milk challenge test may be explained by the fact that this protein is excreted into the intestinal lumen.
Unveiling relationships between regions of interest and image fidelity metrics

This paper presents the results of two computational experiments designed to investigate whether the success of recent image fidelity metrics can be attributed to the fact that these metrics implicitly incorporate region- of-interest information. Modified versions of four metrics (PSNR, WSNR, SSIM, and VIF) were created by incorporating spatially varying weights chosen to maximize correlation between each metric and subjective ratings of fidelity for images from the LIVE image database. The results reveal that all metrics can benefit from spatially varying weights, especially when the regions are hand-chosen based upon the objects in an image. However, the results suggest that PSNR and VIF would benefit the most from spatial weighting in which the weights are determined based on region of interest information. Additionally, the results show that object based regions follow an intuitive weighting pattern.
Conceitos de fertilidade do solo e manejo adequado para as regiões tropicais.

A Organizacao das Nacoes Unidas para Alimentacao e Agricultura (FAO, 2009) alertou para a necessidade de ampliar a producao mundial de alimentos em 70% ate 2050 por conta do crescimento da populacao. No ano em questao, havera 2,3 bilhoes de pessoas a mais do que hoje para se alimentar. A FAO estima que mais de 120 milhoes de hectares de terra serao necessarios para suprir as necessidades, mas acredita que boa parte da producao de alimentos devera ser por meio do aumento da produtividade das areas ja cultivadas, principalmente das regioes tropicais. Solos cultivados sao limitantes para a producao de alimentos, pois os cultivos seguidos tendem a diminuir a fertilidade. Nos tropicos, onde a pressao populacional e maior, a expansao agricola dependera essencialmente do cultivo de solos ? velhos? (solos que ficaram muito tempo expostos a acao das chuvas e do sol e consequentemente sao mais pobres em nutrientes), acidos, de baixa fertilidade nutricional ou com problemas de deficit hidrico. Ante as peculiaridades da agricultura nas regioes tropicais, onde se insere o Brasil, torna-se necessario o conhecimento detalhado das caracteristicas e propriedades quimicas e fisicas dos solos, objetivando seu manejo adequado, o uso mais apropriado de insumos e producoes mais rentaveis. A avaliacao da fertilidade quimica dos solos e de utilidade para a definicao das quantidades e tipos de fertilizantes, corretivos e manejo geral que devem ser aplicados ao solo visando a manutencao ou a recuperacao de sua produtividade. Sendo assim, o objetivo deste trabalho foi apresentar os principais conceitos da fertilidade dos solos e relaciona-los as formas de manejo mais adequadas para as regioes tropicais. Este trabalho compreende conceitos de fertilidade do solo e representa um texto basico para compreensao da relacao entre produtividade agropecuaria e aplicacoes de geotecnologias, tal como o uso de sensoriamento remoto e tecnicas de geoprocessamento.
Evolution and human tissue expression of the Cres/Testatin subgroup genes, a reproductive tissue specific subgroup of the type 2 cystatins

SUMMARY The cystatin family comprises a group of generally broadly expressed protease inhibitors. The Cres/Testatin subgroup (CTES) genes within the type 2 cystatins differs from the classical type 2 cystatins in having a strikingly reproductive tissue‐specific expression, and putative functions in reproduction have therefore been discussed. We have performed evolutionary studies of the CTES genes based on gene searches in genomes from 11 species. Ancestors of the cystatin family can be traced back to plants. We have localized the evolutionary origin of the CTES genes to the split of marsupial and placental mammals. A model for the evolution of these genes illustrates that they constitute a dynamic group of genes, which has undergone several gene expansions and we find indications of a high degree of positive selection, in striking contrast to what is seen for the classical cystatin C. We show with phylogenetic relations that the CTES genes are clustered into three original groups, a testatin, a Cres, and a CstL1 group. We have further characterized the expression patterns of all human members of the subfamily. Of a total of nine identified human genes, four express putative functional transcripts with a predominant expression in the male reproductive system. Our results are compatible with a function of this gene family in reproduction.
Allosensitized humans are at no greater risk of humoral rejection of GT‐KO pig organs than other humans

Abstract: Background: The availability of pigs homozygous for α1,3‐galactosyltransferase gene‐knockout (GT‐KO) has enabled study of the incidence and cytotoxicity of primate antibodies directed to antigens other than Galα1,3Gal (Gal), termed non‐Gal antigens.
Body mass estimates of phytosaurs (Archosauria: Parasuchidae) from the Petrified Forest Formation (Chinle Group: Revueltian) based on skull and limb bone measurements.

Phytosaurs were the largest and most common semi-aquatic predators of the Late Triassic. Although their skulls are relatively common in the fossil record, articulated, or even associated skeletons are extremely rare, so it has always been difficult to gauge just how large (mass or length) an individual phytosaur may have been. Body mass in particular is an important physiological variable, often used for the scaling of organs, biomass determination, biomechanics, and locomotion. We take advantage of phytosaurs’ general similarity to extant crocodilians to attempt to reconstruct body mass and length based on measurements of the skulls and limbs of phytosaurs from the Upper Triassic Snyder and Canjilon quarries in north-central New Mexico. These quarries, in the Painted Desert Member of the Petrified Forest Formation (Revueltian: early-mid Norian) preserve catastrophic death assemblages that appear to well-represent discrete populations of phytosaurs. We also utilize a snout-vent measurement based on an articulated skeleton from the Canjilon quarry to compare the accuracy of different equations based on discrete limb elements. Body mass estimates for Snyder quarry phytosaurs range between 25 and 500 kg, with most specimens yielding estimates of approximately 200-350 kg. The Canjilon quarry sample encompasses fewer juveniles and more robust adults, including one individual that may have weighed as much as 535 kg. From equations based on nine extant crocodilian genera, these Revueltian phytosaurs appear to have approached 4.5 m total body length for a ~ 400 kg phytosaur. The prevalence of subadult to adult phytosaurs in both quarries based on body mass estimates corroborates qualitative estimates of the population structure based on skull sizes alone, thereby reinforcing the hypothesis that both quarries are catastrophic assemblages.