Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of six weekly transfusions on canine marrow grafts: tests for sensitization and abrogation of sensitization by procarbazine and antithymocyte serum.

We have previously shown that blood transfusions can immunize a dog and lead to rejection of a subsequent marrow graft despite lethal total body irradiation (TBI). Sensitization to histocompatibility antigens induced by two prior transfusions of whole blood could be overcome by a regimen of procarbazine and anti-thymocyte serum (ATS) preceding TBI. The current study investigated a) whether this regimen could abrogate sensitization induced by six weekly transfusions given from days --50 to --15 preceding a marrow graft, and b) whether platelet survival studies and two in vitro tests of immunity could predict marrow graft rejection. All donor-recipient pairs were histoincompatible, unrelated, and of different breed. Twenty-two recipients received platelet concentrate transfusions and eight received whole blood transfusions. Recipients were given 1200 R TBI and a graft of marrow and peripheral blood leukocytes from the transfusion donor on day 0. Three of 15 recipients (20%) given procarbazine, 12.5 mg/kg i.v. on days --8, --6, and --4, and ATS, 0.6 ml/kg subcutaneously on days --7, --5 and --3, Rejected their grafts, whereas 11 of 15 dogs (73%) not given procarbazine and ATS rejected their grafts (p less than 0.01). Serum lymphocytotoxic antibodies, peripheral leukocyte migration inhibition, and in vivo donor platelet recovery and survival were studied in those recipients receiving six weekly transfusions and in 18 other recipients receiving a single donor transfusion 3 months before marrow grafting. No significant correlation was found among these in vitro and in vivo tests of sensitization. Sensitization to marrow grafts was not reliably detected by the presence of cytotoxic antibodies or leukocyte migration inhibition. Platelet survival, however, was positively correlated with the results of marrow grafting in 12 of 15 (80%) evaluable recipients (p approximately 0.15).
Isolation and Distribution of a Novel Iron-Oxidizing Crenarchaeon from Acidic Geothermal Springs in Yellowstone National Park

ABSTRACT Novel thermophilic crenarchaea have been observed in Fe(III) oxide microbial mats of Yellowstone National Park (YNP); however, no definitive work has identified specific microorganisms responsible for the oxidation of Fe(II). The objectives of the current study were to isolate and characterize an Fe(II)-oxidizing member of the Sulfolobales observed in previous 16S rRNA gene surveys and to determine the abundance and distribution of close relatives of this organism in acidic geothermal springs containing high concentrations of dissolved Fe(II). Here we report the isolation and characterization of the novel, Fe(II)-oxidizing, thermophilic, acidophilic organism Metallosphaera sp. strain MK1 obtained from a well-characterized acid-sulfate-chloride geothermal spring in Norris Geyser Basin, YNP. Full-length 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that strain MK1 exhibits only 94.9 to 96.1% sequence similarity to other known Metallosphaera spp. and less than 89.1% similarity to known Sulfolobus spp. Strain MK1 is a facultative chemolithoautotroph with an optimum pH range of 2.0 to 3.0 and an optimum temperature range of 65 to 75°C. Strain MK1 grows optimally on pyrite or Fe(II) sorbed onto ferrihydrite, exhibiting doubling times between 10 and 11 h under aerobic conditions (65°C). The distribution and relative abundance of MK1-like 16S rRNA gene sequences in 14 acidic geothermal springs containing Fe(III) oxide microbial mats were evaluated. Highly related MK1-like 16S rRNA gene sequences (>99% sequence similarity) were consistently observed in Fe(III) oxide mats at temperatures ranging from 55 to 80°C. Quantitative PCR using Metallosphaera-specific primers confirmed that organisms highly similar to strain MK1 comprised up to 40% of the total archaeal community at selected sites. The broad distribution of highly related MK1-like 16S rRNA gene sequences in acidic Fe(III) oxide microbial mats is consistent with the observed characteristics and growth optima of Metallosphaera-like strain MK1 and emphasizes the importance of this newly described taxon in Fe(II) chemolithotrophy in acidic high-temperature environments of YNP.
Effects of Trainer Reputation and Trainees' Need for Cognition on Training Outcomes

The authors examined the effects of trainer reputation and trainees' need for cognition on training outcomes. Participants (N = 75) read a sheet describing a trainer as either effective or ineffective or they were given no information. Participants then viewed a videotaped lecture, evaluated the lecture, and completed a self-efficacy scale and knowledge test. The authors did not find an interaction of trainer reputation and need for cognition on clarity ratings. Participants with low need for cognition were influenced by the trainer reputation, whereas participants with high need for cognition were not. Self-efficacy mediated the relationship between the interaction of trainer reputation and need for cognition on declarative knowledge.
Efficacy of VIP as Treatment for Bacteria-Induced Keratitis Against Multiple Pseudomonas aeruginosa Strains.

PURPOSE Previous studies have demonstrated the efficacy of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) treatment in regulating inflammation following bacterial keratitis induced by the P. aeruginosa strain 19660. However, in the current study we assessed whether disease outcome is specific to 19660 or if VIP treatment is effective against multiple P. aeruginosa strains. METHODS B6 mice received daily IP injections of VIP from -1 through 5 days post injection (p.i.). Control mice were similarly injected with PBS. Corneal infection was induced using PA 19660, PAO1 or KEI 1025. Disease response was documented and bacterial plate counts and myeloperoxidase assays were performed. Expression of select inflammatory mediators as well as enzymes associated with lipid mediator production was assessed after VIP treatment. KEI 1025 was characterized by cytotoxicity and invasion assays and then confirmed for ExoS/ExoU expression. RESULTS VIP treatment converted the susceptible response to resistant for the three P. aeruginosa strains tested. Disease response was significantly reduced with no corneal perforation. Anti-inflammatory mediators were enhanced after VIP treatment, while pro-inflammatory molecules were reduced compared to controls. Furthermore, VIP reduced inflammatory cell persistence in the cornea after infection with each of the P. aeruginosa strains. CONCLUSIONS VIP treatment is effective at ameliorating disease pathogenesis for multiple P. aeruginosa strains, both cytotoxic and invasive. This study is also the first to indicate a possible role for VIP regarding lipid mediator expression in the eye. In addition, the clinical isolate, KEI 1025, was characterized as an invasive strain. Overall, this study strengthens the preclinical development of VIP as a therapeutic agent for ocular infectious disease.
Morphological, phylogenetic, and ecological diversity of the new model species Setaria viridis (Poaceae: Paniceae) and its close relatives.

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Species limits of the emerging model organism Setaria viridis (tribe Paniceae, subtribe Cenchrinae) are not well defined. It is thought to be related to S. adhaerens, S. faberi, S. verticillata, and S. verticilliformis and in North America occurs with the morphologically similar S. pumila. An integrated approach was taken to evaluate its variation and relationships with the other taxa. METHODS Statistical morphology, flow cytometry, molecular phylogenetics, and growth experiments were employed to examine the group's physical variation, polyploidy, evolutionary relationships, and drought ecology, respectively. KEY RESULTS SETARIA VIRIDIS contributed one genome to the tetraploids S. faberi, S. verticillata, and S. verticilliformis; the other genome of the latter two was contributed by S. adhaerens. Setaria pumila is unrelated. Morphologically, S. viridis is most similar to S. faberi, but all tested accessions of S. viridis were diploid, whereas those of S. faberi were all tetraploid. Principal component analysis of 70 morphological characters consistently separated S. viridis from S. faberi, largely by spikelet characters. The diagnostic morphological characters are not affected by watering. Setaria faberi is far more sensitive to drought, in terms of mortality and morphological stunting, than S. viridis or S. pumila. CONCLUSIONS SETARIA VIRIDIS is a diploid species and has contributed to several polyploid derivatives. The most morphologically similar of the polyploids is S. faberi, which differs in spikelet features, phylogenetics, genome size, and ecological response to drought. Researchers using field-collected S. viridis as a model organism will benefit from the clear delimitation provided in this study.
Long-term Results of Deep Sclerectomy With Collagen Implant in Exfoliative Glaucoma

PurposeTo evaluate the long-term results and complications of deep sclerectomy with collagen implant in exfoliative glaucoma (EXG). Patients and MethodsA total of 22 eyes of 22 patients with medically uncontrolled EXG were consecutively included in this study and were followed-up prospectively. Intraocular pressure (IOP), number of antiglaucoma medications, visual acuity, and slit-lamp examination were performed before and after surgery, at day 1, week 1, and at months 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 48, and 54. Intraoperative and postoperative complications were recorded and managed accordingly. Complete success was defined as IOP ≤18 mm Hg without antiglaucoma medications and qualified success as IOP ≤18 mm Hg with or without antiglaucoma medications. ResultsAfter a mean follow-up time of 48.5±12.2 months (range, 12 to 54), mean IOP was significantly reduced from 29.9±8.1 mm Hg preoperatively to 13.2±3.2 mm Hg (P<0.0001). Complete and qualified success rates were 54.5% and 90.9%, respectively. The mean number of antiglaucoma medications per patient was significantly reduced from 2.4±0.67 to 0.59±0.85 (P<0.0001). Goniopuncture with Nd:YAG laser was performed on 14 eyes (63.6%). Mean IOP was reduced from 21.8±8.8 mm Hg to 9±3.2 mm Hg after goniopuncture (P=0.00058). Four eyes (18.2%) required 5-fluorouracil subconjunctival injections and 7 eyes (31.8%) showed cataract progression. ConclusionsDeep sclerectomy with collagen implant seems to provide reasonable long-term IOP control in EXG with few postoperative complications.
Prevalence of Alcohol and Other Substance Use in Patients with Eating Disorders.

OBJECTIVE The major aim of this study was to investigate any association between binge eating and purging and alcohol and substance use. METHOD The Eating Disorder Questionnaire was completed by 2966 patients. Each patient was assigned to an approximate diagnostic group based on a DSM-5-based algorithm. RESULTS Patients with bulimia nervosa (BN) used alcohol/other substances with higher frequencies compared to patients with anorexia nervosa-restricting type (AN-R), binge eating disorder (BED), and eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS; p < 0.001). Patients with anorexia nervosa-binge eating/purging type (AN-BP) were more likely to use alcohol/substances than those with AN-R [odds ratio for alcohol use: 3.58 (p < 0.01); odds ratio for substance use: 30.14 (p < 0.01)]. Higher frequencies of binge eating and purging were associated with higher frequencies of substance use. DISCUSSION Patients who manifest both binge eating and purging behaviour are at higher risk of substance use which may have important treatment implications.
Intergenerational activities involving persons with dementia: An observational assessment

Although benefits of intergenerational programs (IGP) have been identified for older adults, adults with dementia are rarely targeted for such programs. Characteristics of dementia challenge caregivers to find appropriate activities that successfully engage the adults. With consideration of participants' abilities and interests, beneficial IGP can be facilitated. A co-located program for children and seniors was assessed for effects of IGP on adults with dementia. Results indicate that affect was higher during IGP for treatment group members than during non-IGP activities for treatment and comparison group members. Behaviors supporting personhood were common during IGP and non-IGP activities for treatment and comparison group members. Cognitive ability was unassociated with participation in IGP and affect during IGP. Findings suggest IGPs are appropriate and effective for persons with dementia.
Bayesian Feature Selection for Clustering Problems

Bayesian methods have been successfully used for feature selection in many supervised learning tasks. In this paper, the adaptation of such methods for unsupervised learning (clustering) is investigated. We adopt an algorithm that iterates between clustering (assuming that the number of clusters is unknown a priori) and feature selection. From this standpoint, two Bayesian approaches for feature selection are addressed: (i) Naive Bayes Wrapper (NBW), and (ii) Markov Blanket Filter (MBF) obtained from the construction of Bayesian networks. Experiments in ten datasets illustrate the performance of each proposed method. Advantages of feature selection are demonstrated by comparing the results obtained from Bayesian feature selection with the results achieved without any kind of feature selection, i.e., using all the available features. In most of the performed experiments, NBW and MBF have allowed reducing the number of features, while providing good quality partitions in relation to those found by means of the full set of features. Also, NBW has outperformed its Bayesian feature selection counterpart (MBF) in most of the assessed datasets, mainly when the cardinality of the selected feature subset is taken into consideration.
Reduced expression of the Aalpha subunit of protein phosphatase 2A in human gliomas in the absence of mutations in the Aalpha and Abeta subunit genes.

Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) consists of 3 subunits: the catalytic subunit, C, and the regulatory subunits, A and B. The A and C subunits both exist as 2 isoforms (alpha and beta) and the B subunit as multiple forms subdivided into 3 families, B, B' and B". It has been reported that the genes encoding the Aalpha and Abeta subunits are mutated in various human cancers, suggesting that they may function as tumor suppressors. We investigated whether Aalpha and Abeta mutations occur in human gliomas. Using single strand conformational polymorphism analysis and DNA sequencing, 58 brain tumors were investigated, including 23 glioblastomas, 19 oligodendrogliomas and 16 anaplastic oligodendrogliomas. Only silent mutations were detected in the Aalpha gene and no mutations in the Abeta gene. However, in 43% of the tumors, the level of Aalpha was reduced at least 10-fold. By comparison, the levels of the Balpha and Calpha subunits were mostly normal. Our data indicate that these tumors contain very low levels of core and holoenzyme and high amounts of unregulated catalytic C subunit.
Comparison of attitudes toward long-acting injectable antipsychotics among psychiatrists and patients

The current prescription rate of long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAI) is less than 1% in Korea. This study aimed to investigate the reason for LAI underuse by surveying the attitudes toward LAI among psychiatrists and patients receiving LAI. A total of 173 psychiatrists and 99 patients receiving LAI participated in the survey. Participating psychiatrists were divided into two groups according to experience with prescribing LAI to at least 10 patients. The two psychiatrist groups did not differ significantly in terms of sociodemographic characteristics and clinical practice patterns. However, the group with higher experience more frequently provided explanations of LAI to their patients and was more satisfied with the use of LAI than the group with less experience. Acceptance rates of patients to the recommendation for LAI treatment and satisfaction of psychiatrists with the outcome of LAI were also significantly higher in the group with higher experience. Psychiatrists with less experience with LAI were more negative toward LAI than patients receiving LAI as well as psychiatrists with higher experience. In conclusion, attitudes of psychiatrists toward LAI were closely related to the use of LAI. The negative attitude and reluctance of psychiatrists, rather than patient resistance, may contribute toward the underuse of LAI.
Identification of the Human Homologue of the Early-Growth Response Gene Snk, Encoding a Serum-Inducible Kinase

Murine serum inducible kinase (mSnk) was recently cloned and characterized as an early-growth response gene involved in cell proliferation. Here we report the isolation and characterization of its human homologue, named hSnk. Sequence comparison shows that hSnk is highly conserved and its deduced protein sequence shares a significant amino acid identity with mSnk and rSnk proteins, as well as with other polo family kinase gene products. A survey ofhSnk expression reveals that while a wide variety of human tissues express a low to moderate level of hSnk transcripts, fetal tissues, testis, and spleen express the most abundant hSnk transcripts. In addition, serum stimulation rapidly induces hSnk expression in fibroblast cells, reaching the peak level of induction within one hour post treatment. Considering that Plk and Prk, two other known human polo-family kinases, control cell cycle checkpoint and cell cycle progression, our current observations suggest that hSnk may also play an important role in cells undergoing rapid cell division or having a high mitotic index.
A retinohypothalamic projection in the rat

A direct projection from the retina to the hypothalamus was demonstrated in the rat. Following injection of tritiated leucine or proline into the posterior chamber of the eye, labelled protein was shown autoradiographically in the suprachiasmatic nuclei of the medial hypothalamus, both ipsilateral and contralateral to the injected eye. The labelling of the nucleus was heaviest in its ventral portion but extended throughout the nucleus. No evidence for a projection to the supraoptic nucleus or any other hypothalamic nucleus was observed. All of the known terminal nuclei of the primary and accessory optic tracts were heavily labelled. The projection to the suprachiasmatic nucleus could not be clearly confirmed in material prepared using the Fink‐Heimer method for the demonstration of degenerating axon terminals. Electron microscopic study of the suprachiasmatic nucleus following orbital enucleation showed degenerating endings making synaptic contacts with small dendrites of the suprachiasmatic nucleus cells. These first appeared at three days after operation and were nearly gone by seven days. Thus, the retinohypothalamic tract in the rat appears to arise from the ganglion cells of the retina and to terminate on the smaller dendritic branches of the neurons of the suprachiasmatic nucleus.
Analysis of the Anaplasma marginale Major Surface Protein 1 Complex Protein Composition by Tandem Mass Spectrometry

ABSTRACT The protective major surface protein 1 (MSP1) complex of Anaplasma marginale is a heteromer of MSP1a and MSP1b, encoded by a multigene family. The msp1β sequences were highly conserved throughout infection. However, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis identified only a single MSP1b protein, MSP1b1, within the MSP1 complex.
SUPERQUANTUM CORRELATIONS IN NON-LOCAL HIDDEN VARIABLE THEORIES

Quantum mechanical phenomena have a ected our lives in numerous ways. Their impact on modern technology ranges from everyday applications such as transistors, lasers and solar cells to ground breaking equipment such as Scanning-Tunneling electron microscopes. However, in spite all results in fundamental quantum theory research, various aspects of the theory are still not fully understood. This report investigates one of these challenges, namely the quantum correlations between particles in an entangled state. Early research into entangled states by Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen concluded that quantum mechanics theory is incomplete, and subsequently Bell showed that is must exhibit nonlocal correlations. This report reviews and compares two recent nonlocal hidden variable models that exhibit correlations that are more nonlocal than quantum mechanics. The rst model by Barnett, Dowker and Rideout is based on quantum measure theory, while the model by Ghirardi and Romano is a crypto-nonlocal model. Our comparison addresses the question why PR boxes, a theoretical device that allows superquantum correlations, have not been observed in nature. We argue that the type of correlations that a hidden variable models allows, are highly dependent on the type of framework used to express the model as well as on the parameters of the variables.
Expression of the Autoimmune Susceptibility Gene FcRL3 on Human Regulatory T Cells Is Associated with Dysfunction and High Levels of Programmed Cell Death-1

CD4+FoxP3+ regulatory T cells (Treg) play a critical role in maintaining self-tolerance and inhibiting autoimmune disease. Despite being a major focus of modern immunological investigation, many aspects of Treg biology remain unknown. In a screen for novel candidate genes involved in human Treg function, we detected the expression of an autoimmune susceptibility gene, FcRL3, in Treg but not in conventional CD4+ T cells. FcRL3 is an orphan receptor of unknown function with structural homology to classical Fc receptors. Numerous genetic studies have demonstrated a link between a single nucleotide polymorphism in the FCRL3 promoter and both overexpression of FcRL3 and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Given the critical role of Treg in suppressing autoimmunity, we sought to ascertain how expression of FcRL3 relates to the phenotype, differentiation, and function of Treg. We show in this study that FcRL3 is expressed on a population of thymically derived Treg that exhibits a memory phenotype and high levels of programmed cell death-1. Purified FcRL3+ Treg are less responsive to antigenic stimulation in the presence of IL-2 than their FcRL3− counterparts, despite intact proximal and distal IL-2 signaling as determined by phosphorylation of Stat-5 and upregulation of Bcl2. In vitro suppression assays demonstrated that FcRL3+ Treg have reduced capacity to suppress the proliferation of effector T cells. These data suggest that FcRL3 expression is associated with Treg dysfunction that may, in turn, contribute to the loss of self-tolerance and the development of autoimmunity.