Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mechanism of insulin‐like growth factor I‐mediated proliferation of adult neural progenitor cells: role of Akt

Insulin‐like growth factor I (IGF‐I) is involved in the proliferation and differentiation of adult neural progenitor cells; however, the underlying mechanism is not clear. We analysed the involvement of the phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase/Akt and MEK/extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK) pathways in the IGF‐I‐mediated proliferation of rat neural progenitor cells. Stimulation of neural progenitor cells with IGF‐I enhanced the phosphorylation of Akt but not ERK. Cell proliferation assay demonstrated that 2‐(4‐morpholinyl)‐8‐phenyl‐4H‐1‐benzopyran‐4‐one (phosphoinositide 3‐kinase inhibitor) but not 1,4‐diamino‐2,3‐dicyano‐1,4‐bis(2‐aminophenylthio)‐butadiene (U0126) (ERK inhibitor) inhibited the IGF‐I‐induced survival of cells, whereas fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF‐2) enhanced the IGF‐I‐mediated survival of cells. Consistent with the cell proliferation assay, 5′bromo‐2‐deoxy‐uridine incorporation studies established a negative role for IGF‐I in proliferation. However, FGF‐2 (ERK activator) in the presence of IGF‐I (Akt activator) increased the proliferation of cells. Accordingly, stimulation of the ERK pathway by FGF‐2 induced the expression of cyclin D1, which is essential for the entry of cells into cell cycle, and IGF‐I in the presence of FGF‐2 up‐regulated the expression of cyclin D1. IGF‐I in the absence or presence of FGF‐2 increased the phosphorylation of glycogen synthase kinase, thus supporting its role in the survival of neural progenitor cells. To further confirm the role of ERK activation in the proliferation, we cultured cells in FGF‐2 + IGF‐I‐containing medium in the presence and absence of U0126 (ERK inhibitor), and showed the inhibition of nestin expression in U0126‐treated cells. The decrease in the cyclin D1 content in conjunction with the inhibition of nestin expression by ERK inhibitor confirms the role of ERK in the proliferation of cells.
Overconfidence and Effect on Firm Financial Decisions in the Context of Behavioral Corporate Finance

In this study it is examined the effect of managerial overconfidence on financial decisions. The financial decisions that into account in this research are consist of capital structure, investment and dividend payment. Survey method was used for data collection purpose. The survey contains questions that measure overconfidence and to obtain information about financial decisions and about the participants. The study covers 255 companies operating in Istanbul. Parametric and nonparametric hypothesis tests were performed to analyze the data. As a result of the study, found that the managers had a high degree of overconfidence bias and this bias had a certain level of influence on the financial decisions.
Activated partial thromboplastin time and outcome after thrombolytic therapy for acute myocardial infarction: results from the GUSTO-I trial.

BACKGROUND Although intravenous heparin is commonly used after thrombolytic therapy, few reports have addressed the relationship between the degree of anticoagulation and clinical outcomes. We examined the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) in 29,656 patients in the Global Utilization of Streptokinase and t-PA for Occluded Coronary Arteries (GUSTO-I) trial and analyzed the relationship between the aPTT and both baseline patient characteristics and clinical outcomes. METHODS AND RESULTS Intravenous heparin was administered as a 5000-U bolus followed by an initial infusion of 1000 U/h, with dose adjustment to achieve a target aPTT of 60 to 85 seconds. aPTTs were collected 6, 12, and 24 hours after thrombolytic administration. Higher aPTT at 24 hours was strongly related to lower patient weight (P < .00001) as well as older age, female sex, and lack of cigarette smoking (all PT< .0001). At 12 hours, the aPTT associated with the lowest 30-day mortality, stroke, and bleeding rates was 50 to 70 seconds. There was an unexpected direct relationship between the aPTT and the risk of subsequent reinfarction. There was a clustering of reinfarction in the first 10 hours after discontinuation of intravenous heparin. CONCLUSIONS Although the relationship between aPTT and clinical outcome was confounded to some degree by the influence of baseline prognostic characteristics, aPTTs higher than 70 seconds were found to be associated with higher likelihood of mortality, stroke, bleeding, and reinfarction. These findings suggest that until proven otherwise, we should consider the aPTT range of 50 to 70 seconds as optimal with intravenous heparin after thrombolytic therapy.
Predictors of Osteoporosis and Vertebral Fractures in Patients Presenting with Moderate-to-Severe Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease

Abstract Bone mineral density (BMD) alone does not reliably predict osteoporotic fractures. The Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) was developed to estimate the risk of fracture in the general population. This study was designed to identify predictors of osteoporosis and vertebral fractures in patients presenting with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We studied 85 patients (mean age = 75 years; 92% men) with moderate to very severe COPD. Osteoporosis and vertebral fractures were diagnosed with dual energy X-ray absorptiometric scan and vertebral X-rays, respectively. Patient characteristics, including age, gender, body mass index (BMI), and results of pulmonary function tests, chest computed tomography scan, blood and urinary biomarkers of bone turnover were recorded, and a FRAX score was calculated by a computer-based algorithm. Osteoporosis, defined as a T score < –2.5, found in 20 patients (24%), was associated with female gender, BMI, dyspnea scale, long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT), vital capacity (VC), emphysema score on computed tomography, measurements of serum and urinary biomarkers of bone turnover. Vertebral fractures, diagnosed in 29 patients (35%), were strongly correlated with age, LTOT, VC, and forced expiratory volume in 1 sec, treatment with oral corticosteroid or warfarin, and weakly associated with the presence of osteoporosis. There was no correlation between FRAX score and prevalence of vertebral fractures, suggesting that neither BMD alone nor FRAX score would predict the presence of vertebral fractures in COPD patients. A disease-specific algorithm to predict osteoporotic fractures is needed to improve the management of patients suffering from COPD.
Impulse noise mitigation using precoded SCFDMA for uplink PLC systems

This article presents a new transceiver structure for uplink power line communication (PLC) system based on single carrier frequency division multiple access (SCFDMA) for the mitigation of inherent PLC noise i.e. impulse noise. Moreover, SCFDMA also promises low PAPR values than the conventional orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA). Furthermore, this work also suggests the employment of linear precoding via Walsh Hadamard transform (WHT) and Zadoff Chu transform (ZCT) to improve the transceiver performance. Adaptive bit loading is also recommended instead of fixed loading to circumvent the channel impairments. Performance of the proposed transceiver in terms of bit error rate (BER) and peak to average power ratio (PAPR) is evaluated in the form of simulations. Results demonstrate that the proposed transceiver for uplink PLC systems perform better than the conventional transceiver design in the presence of additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and impulse noise.
Cerebrospinal fluid corticosteroid levels and cortisol metabolism in patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension: a link between 11beta-HSD1 and intracranial pressure regulation?

CONTEXT The etiology of idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is unknown. We hypothesized that obesity and elevated intracranial pressure may be linked through increased 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) activity. OBJECTIVE The aim was to characterize 11β-HSD1 in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) secretory [choroid plexus (CP)] and drainage [arachnoid granulation tissue (AGT)] structures, and to evaluate 11β-HSD1 activity after therapeutic weight loss in IIH. DESIGN AND SETTING We conducted in vitro analysis of CP and AGT and a prospective in vivo cohort study set in two tertiary care centers. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS Twenty-five obese adult female patients with active IIH were studied, and 22 completed the study. INTERVENTION Fasted serum, CSF, and 24-h urine samples were collected at baseline, after 3-month observation, and after a 3-month diet. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Changes in urine, serum, and CSF glucocorticoids (measured by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry) after weight loss were measured. RESULTS 11β-HSD1 and key elements of the glucocorticoid signaling pathway were expressed in CP and AGT. After weight loss (14.2±7.8 kg; P<0.001), global 11β-HSD1 activity decreased (P=0.001) and correlated with reduction in intracranial pressure (r=0.504; P=0.028). CSF and serum glucocorticoids remained stable, although the change in CSF cortisone levels correlated with weight loss (r=-0.512; P=0.018). CONCLUSIONS Therapeutic weight loss in IIH is associated with a reduction in global 11β-HSD1 activity. Elevated 11β-HSD1 may represent a pathogenic mechanism in IIH, potentially via manipulation of CSF dynamics at the CP and AGT. Although further clarification of the functional role of 11β-HSD1 in IIH is needed, our results suggest that 11β-HSD1 inhibition may have therapeutic potential in IIH.
Molecular Imaging of TGFβ-Induced Smad2/3 Phosphorylation Reveals a Role for Receptor Tyrosine Kinases in Modulating TGFβ Signaling

Purpose: The dual modality of TGFβ, both as a potent tumor suppressor and a stimulator of tumor progression, invasion, and metastasis, make it a critical target for therapeutic intervention in human cancers. The ability to carry out real-time, noninvasive imaging of TGFβ-activated Smad signaling in live cells and animal models would significantly improve our understanding of the regulation of this unique signaling cascade. To advance these efforts, we developed a highly sensitive molecular imaging tool that repetitively, noninvasively, and dynamically reports on TGFBR1 kinase activity. Experimental Design: The bioluminescent TGFβR1 reporter construct was developed using a split firefly luciferase gene containing a functional sensor of Smad2 phosphorylation, wherein inhibition of TGFβ receptor1 kinase activity leads to an increase in reporter signaling. The reporter was stably transfected into mammalian cells and used to image in vivo and in vitro bioluminescent activity as a surrogate for monitoring TGFBR1 kinase activity. Results: The reporter was successfully used to monitor direct and indirect inhibition of TGFβ-induced Smad2 and SMAD3 phosphorylation in live cells and tumor xenografts and adapted for high-throughput screening, to identify a role for receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors as modulators of TGFβ signaling. Conclusion: The reporter is a dynamic, noninvasive imaging modality for monitoring TGFβ-induced Smad2 signaling in live cells and tumor xenografts. It has immense potential for identifying novel effectors of R-Smad phosphorylation, for validating drug–target interaction, and for studying TGFβ signaling in different metastasis models. Clin Cancer Res; 17(23); 7424–39. ©2011 AACR.
Suicidal ideation and pharmacotherapy among STEP-BD patients.

OBJECTIVE Little is known about the effects of lithium on suicidal ideation or about the possible antisuicidal effects of divalproex, second-generation antipsychotics, or antidepressants among persons with bipolar disorder. METHODS Using a cross-sectional design, the authors examined patterns of psychotropic drug use relative to suicidal ideation among 1,000 patients with bipolar disorder in the National Institute of Mental Health's Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder (STEP-BD). RESULTS The presence of suicidal ideation was similar between patients who were taking any lithium and those who were not (22.2 percent and 25.8 percent, respectively) and between those who were taking any divalproex and those who were not (20.3 percent and 21.5 percent). Suicidal ideation was significantly more prevalent among patients who were taking a second-generation antipsychotic than those who were not (26 percent and 17 percent) and those who were taking an antidepressant and those who were not (25 percent and 14 percent). After other variables had been controlled for, lithium prescriptions were significantly more common among patients who had suicidal ideation. CONCLUSIONS Among patients with bipolar disorder who have suicidal ideation, antidepressants and second-generation antipsychotics appear to be prescribed by community practitioners more often than other medications, with lithium reserved for those with more severe illness characteristics.
Rapid faecal tests for detecting disease activity in colonic inflammatory bowel disease

Increasing numbers of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have raised the need for a rapid noninvasive means to monitor disease activity. We validated two rapid tests for faecal calprotectin and one for faecal lactoferrin and compared them to the most common clinical and endoscopic scores, enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) calprotectin test and systemic inflammation markers.
Apoptosis in epithelial cells of apical radicular cysts.

AIM To investigate the occurrence of apoptotic cell death in the epithelium of radicular cysts and to compare its frequency in lesions presenting a distinct functional state. METHODOLOGY Twenty radicular cysts were selected and arranged into two groups with 10 lesions in each group: atrophic (quiescent) and hyperplastic (active) epithelium. Morphologic investigations of apoptosis were conducted by means of optic microscopy in haematoxylin and eosin slides. Immunohistochemical techniques to detect the bcl-2 protein were carried out by streptavidin-biotin-peroxidase assay. In both instances, 30 sequential high-power microscopic fields were observed to determine apoptotic (AI) and bcl-2 immunostaining (bcl-2I) indexes. The presence of AI and bcl-2I within the two groups was compared using the t-test. Correlation between the AI and the bcl-2I was investigated using the Spearman test. RESULTS Apoptosis was detected in the epithelium of all cysts. Higher AI levels were found in lesions with an atrophic (0.17 +/- 0.19) rather than a hyperplastic (0.10 +/- 0.10) epithelium. The same was found for the bcl-2I levels (0.06 +/- 0.03 vs. 0.04 +/- 0.01, respectively). However, these differences were not statistically significant. A positive and significant correlation was found between AI and bcl-2I. CONCLUSIONS Apoptosis was always present in the epithelium of the lesions and was more frequent in lesions with atrophic (quiescent) epithelium.
Quantitative Microbiological Analysis of Bacterial Community Shifts in a High-Rate Anaerobic Bioreactor Treating Sulfite Evaporator Condensate

The bacterial population of a high-rate, anaerobic, fixed-bed loop reactor treating sulfite evaporator condensate from the pulp industry was studied over a 14-month period. This period was divided into seven cycles that included a startup at the beginning of each cycle. Some 82% of the total biomass was immobilized on and between the porous glass rings filling the reactor. The range of the total number of microorganisms in these biofilms was 2 × 109 to 7 × 109 cells per ml. Enumeration and characterization by microbiological methods and by phase-contrast, epifluorescence, and electron microscopy showed that the samples consisted mainly of the following methanogens: a Methanobacterium sp. , a Methanosarcina sp. , a Methanobrevibacter sp. , and a Methanothrix sp. , as well as furfural-degrading sulfate-reducing bacteria resembling Desulfovibrio furfuralis. Viable counts of hydrogenotrophic methanogens were relatively stable (mostly within the range of 3.2 × 108 to 7.5 × 108 cells per ml), but Methanobrevibacter cells increased from <5 to 30% of the total hydrogenotrophic count after transfer of the fixed bed into a second reactor vessel. Acetotrophic methanogens reached their highest numbers of 1.3 × 108 to 2.6 × 108 cells per ml in the last fermentation cycles. They showed a morphological shift from sarcinalike packets in early samples to single coccoid forms in later phases of the fermentation. Furfural-degrading sulfate reducers reached counts of 1 × 107 to 5.8 × 107 cells per ml. The distribution of the chief metabolic groups between free fluid and biofilms was analyzed in the fifth fermentation cycle: 4.5 times more furfural degraders were found in the free fluid than in the biofilms. In contrast, 5.8 times more acetotrophic and 16.6 times more hydrogenotrophic methanogens were found in the biofilms than in the free liquid. The data concerning time shifts of morphotypes among the trophic groups of methanogens corroborated the trends observed by using immunological assays on the same samples.
Mitigating eSiGe strain relaxation using cryo-implantation technology for PSD formation

Strain techniques have been adopted and widely used in the advanced nodes since early 65nm for carrier mobility improvement. For PMOS, eSiGe incorporation in the SD is the process of choice to induce compressive strain in the channel for mobility improvement. To further lower the contact resistance, it is preferred to boost Boron concentration for pSD formed by eSiGe process. Normal implant process could lead strain relaxation caused by implant damage. In this paper, cryo-implantation technology is applied and characterization of strain relaxation is conducted using a state-of-the-art 28nm CMOS process flow. Experimental results indicate strain relaxation can be reduced with cryo implants relative to the room temperature implants. This study clearly showed that cryo-implantion reduced damage formation resulting in junction leakage reduction.
Estimating Missing Data in Temporal Data Streams Using Multi-Directional Recurrent Neural Networks

Missing data is a ubiquitous problem. It is especially challenging in medical settings because many streams of measurements are collected at different—and often irregular—times. Accurate estimation of the missing measurements is critical for many reasons, including diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. Existing methods address this estimation problem by interpolating within data streams or imputing across data streams (both of which ignore important information) or ignoring the temporal aspect of the data and imposing strong assumptions about the nature of the data-generating process and/or the pattern of missing data (both of which are especially problematic for medical data). We propose a new approach, based on a novel deep learning architecture that we call a Multi-directional Recurrent Neural Network that interpolates within data streams and imputes across data streams. We demonstrate the power of our approach by applying it to five real-world medical datasets. We show that it provides dramatically improved estimation of missing measurements in comparison to 11 state-of-the-art benchmarks (including Spline and Cubic Interpolations, MICE, MissForest, matrix completion, and several RNN methods); typical improvements in Root Mean Squared Error are between 35%–50%. Additional experiments based on the same five datasets demonstrate that the improvements provided by our method are extremely robust.
Anti-inflammatory effects of propofol during cardiopulmonary bypass: A pilot study

Introduction: Propofol has been suggested as a useful adjunct to cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) because of its potential protective effect on the heart mediated by a decrease in ischemia-reperfusion injury and inflammation at clinically relevant concentrations. In view of these potentially protective properties, which modulate many of the deleterious mechanism of inflammation attributable to reperfusion injury and CPB, we sought to determine whether starting a low dose of propofol infusion at the beginning of CPB would decrease inflammation as measured by pro-inflammatory markers. Materials and Methods: We enrolled 24 patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). The study group received propofol at rate of 120 mcg/kg/min immediately after starting CPB and was maintained throughout the surgery and for the following 6 hours in the intensive care unit (ICU). The control group received propofol dose of 30-50 mcg/kg/min which was started at the time of chest closure with wires and continued for the next 6 hours in the ICU. Interleukins (IL) -6, -8 and -10 and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) were assayed. Result: The most significant difference was in the level of IL-6 which had a P value of less than 0.06. Starting a low dose propofol early during the CPB was not associated with significant hemodynamic instability in comparison with the control group. Conclusion: Our study shows that propofol may be suitable as an anti-inflammatory adjunct for patients undergoing CABG.
EPA and DHA reduce LPS-induced inflammation responses in HK-2 cells: evidence for a PPAR-gamma-dependent mechanism.

BACKGROUND Recent studies have shown that fish oil, containing omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3 PUFAs) eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (C20:5 omega 3), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (C22:6 omega 3) retard the progression of renal disease, especially in IgA nephropathy (IgAN). Despite increasing knowledge of the beneficial effects of fish oils, little is known about the mechanisms of action of omega-3 PUFAs. It has been reported that activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) inhibits production of proinflammatory cytokines. Both EPA and DHA have been shown to activate PPARs. The aim of this study was to examine if omega-3 PUFAs have anti-inflammatory effects via activation of PPARs in human renal tubular cells. METHODS An immortalized human proximal tubular cell line [human kidney-2 (HK-2) cells] was used in all experiments. Conditioned media was collected from omega-3 PUFAs- treated cells and subjected to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Total cellular RNA was isolated from the above cells for real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Nuclear Extracts were prepared from the HK-2 cells for transcription factor activation assay. RESULTS Both EPA and DHA at 10 micromol/L and 100 micromol/L concentrations effectively decreased lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) activation and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) expression. EPA and DHA also increased both PPAR-gamma mRNA and protein activity (two- to threefold) in HK-2 cells. A dose of 100 micromol/L bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE) abolished the PPAR-gamma activation induced by both EPA and DHA and removed the inhibitory effect of EPA and DHA on LPS-induced NF-kappaB activation in HK-2 cells. Overexpression of PPAR-gamma further inhibited NF-kappaB activation compared to the control cells in the presence of EPA and DHA. CONCLUSION Our data demonstrate that both EPA and DHA down-regulate LPS-induced activation of NF-kappaB via a PPAR-gamma-dependent pathway in HK-2 cells. These results suggest that PPAR-gamma activation by EPA and DHA may be one of the underlying mechanisms for the beneficial effects of fish oil.