Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Isolation and characterization of osteoblast precursor cells from human bone marrow

Osteoblasts are derived from precursor cells present in low frequency in the stromal element of bone marrow. Because of the lack of a practical procedure to isolate osteoblast precursors from early cultures of plastic adherent cells from bone marrow, previous studies of marrow stromal cells have been made in confluent cultures of bone marrow when the osteoblast (OB) precursors are already differentiated. Also these studies utilized cultures containing mixed populations of cells including hematopoietic cells. Thus we have employed a negative immunoselection procedure to remove contaminating hematopoietic cells and to isolate nearly homogeneous populations of early human stromal cells derived from the plastic‐adherent mononuclear marrow cells cultured in the presence of serum. By reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) analysis for mRNA, and by immunocytochemical study for protein, we studied the sequential expression in culture of multiple markers of the osteoblast phenotype‐alkaline phosphatase, osteopontin, parathyroid hormone receptor, types I and III procollagen, and osteocalcin‐as well as lipoprotein lipase (LPL), a marker of the adipocyte phenotype. At an early stage of culture (7‐9 days), human OB precursors formed colonies of variable sizes that expressed low levels of mRNA and protein concentrations of OB markers, and their concentration increased on growth to a confluent monolayer (approximately 14 days). LPL mRNA was expressed at high levels in the colony stage, and its level decreased upon confluency, suggesting a loss of potential for commitment to the adipocyte lineage. Interestingly, treatment with dexamethasone at 10−8 M increased the expression for some of the osteoblast markers and for the LPL gene and was required for the deposition of mineralized matrix and for the formation of adipocytes containing cytoplasmic lipid droplets in confluent cultures. Cloned single early colonies were able to coexpress the osteoblast and adipocyte markers (as assessed by RT‐PCR). Thus these immunoselected marrow stromal cells have the characteristics of authentic human osteoblast precursor cells which also are capable of differentiating into adipocytes.
Annoyance and performance during the experimental chemical challenge of subjects with multiple chemical sensitivity.

OBJECTIVES This study explored the subjective reactions and psychological test performance of smell-intolerant subjects during consecutive challenges to chemicals with contrasting neurotoxic properties. METHODS Women with symptoms compatible with multiple chemical sensitivity (N=10) and healthy referents (N=20) were individually challenged in an exposure chamber. All the subjects attended two separate 2-hour sessions of exposure to n-butyl acetate and toluene, in counterbalanced sequence. After an initial phase without exposure, air concentrations were increased in steps ranging from 3.6 to 57 mg/m3 for n-butyl acetate and from 11 to 180 mg/m3 for toluene. The response measures comprised ratings of annoyance and smell intensity and also neurobehavioral test performance. RESULTS Both groups showed an increase in annoyance ratings and a decrease in test performance in the initial unexposed chamber phase and also in the first phase of the chemical exposure, these results indicating slight immediate expectancy or "suggestion" effects. During the six chamber phases, the ratings of mucous membrane irritation and fatigue showed a steeper increase in the group with multiple chemical sensitivity than among the referents, while the ratings of smell intensity and smell annoyance were similar in the two groups. A reduction in test performance was observed during the chamber phases, particularly in the group with multiple chemical sensitivity. No relation was found between the ratings or performance and chemical substance. CONCLUSIONS Stronger immediate expectancy or "suggestion" reactions than normal did not characterize the group with multiple chemical sensitivity. This group showed a stronger than normal gradual build-up of fatigue, mucous membrane irritation, and reduced performance during chemical exposure. The results offer the most support to an irritative basis for multiple chemical sensitivity.
Experience and information loss in auditory and visual memory

Recent studies show that recognition memory for sounds is inferior to memory for pictures. Four experiments were conducted to examine the nature of auditory and visual memory. Experiments 1–3 were conducted to evaluate the role of experience in auditory and visual memory. Participants received a study phase with pictures/sounds, followed by a recognition memory test. Participants then completed auditory training with each of the sounds, followed by a second memory test. Despite auditory training in Experiments 1 and 2, visual memory was superior to auditory memory. In Experiment 3, we found that it is possible to improve auditory memory, but only after 3 days of specific auditory training and 3 days of visual memory decay. We examined the time course of information loss in auditory and visual memory in Experiment 4 and found a trade-off between visual and auditory recognition memory: Visual memory appears to have a larger capacity, while auditory memory is more enduring. Our results indicate that visual and auditory memory are inherently different memory systems and that differences in visual and auditory recognition memory performance may be due to the different amounts of experience with visual and auditory information, as well as structurally different neural circuitry specialized for information retention.
Strong Intensification of the Arabian Sea Oxygen Minimum Zone in Response to Arabian Gulf Warming

The highly saline, oxygen‐saturated waters of the Arabian Gulf (hereafter the Gulf) sink to intermediate depths (200–300 m) when they enter the Arabian Sea, ventilating the World's thickest oxygen minimum zone (OMZ). Here, we investigate the impacts of a warming of the Gulf consistent with climate change projections on the intensity of this OMZ. Using a series of eddy‐resolving model simulations, we show that the warming of the Gulf waters increases their buoyancy and hence limits their contribution to the ventilation of intermediate depths. This leads to an intensification of the OMZ and an increase in denitrification that depletes subsurface nitrate and limits deoxygenation at depth. The projected future concomitant increase of Gulf salinity only partially reduces the OMZ intensification. Our findings highlight the importance of the Arabian marginal seas for the biogeochemistry of the North Indian Ocean and stress the need for improving their representation in global climate models.
Internal Consistency and Discriminant Validity of a Delay-Discounting Task With an Adult Self-Reported ADHD Sample

Objective: The purpose of this research was to evaluate the reliability and discriminant validity of a behavioral task of impulsivity, the delay-discounting task. Method: Young adults were asked to report ADHD diagnostic status and to complete the delay-discounting task. The internal consistency of the task was determined, task performances of individuals with and without self-reported ADHD were compared, and the ability of this task to discriminate between participants with and without self-reported ADHD was assessed. Results: The delay-discounting task showed very good to excellent internal consistency. Furthermore, participants with self-reported ADHD responded to the task in a more impulsive manner than did non-ADHD participants. Finally, moderate discriminant validity for detecting self-reported ADHD using this task was found. Conclusion: Findings showed that the delay-discounting task is a promising task for both clinical research and practice as it has strong reliability overall and has moderate discriminant ability for self-reported ADHD in young adults. (J. of Att. Dis. 2011; 15(5) 412-422)
Resection of Locally Advanced Pancreatic Neoplasms after Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy with Nab-Paclitaxel and Gemcitabine following FOLFIRINOX Failure

The incidence of pancreatic cancer has dramatically increased over the past years, but the prognosis has not improved. Between 30 and 40% of tumors are considered locally advanced, essentially due to vascular involvement. In recent years, new chemotherapy protocols with high response rates have been developed. FOLFIRINOX seems to be an interesting option in this situation, but hematologic toxicity could be an obstacle to its prescription. Nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine offer significant response rates with a reasonable safety profile. We report here a single-center experience of 2 cases with a locally advanced pancreatic cancer initially considered unresectable, progressive after first-line neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy, and then treated with second-line nab-paclitaxel/gemcitabine chemotherapy.
Last‐mile supply chain efficiency: an analysis of learning curves in online ordering

Purpose – As companies extend supply chains via direct delivery to consumers, supply chain efficiency depends upon the usability of the online ordering system. The purpose of this paper is to focus on customer order cycle efficiency gains through the “learnability” of web sites.Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyzes empirical data using nonlinear regression from seven firms and over 4,000 customers to examine how order time – an important performance metric – changes within an online grocery ordering environment.Findings – The evidence supports various forms of power‐law learning for web‐based ordering (i.e. the first few orders involve substantial learning). However, significant differences exist between web sites, and a portion of the ordering time may be irreducible.Research limitations/implications – The research lends insight into how web sites influence last‐mile supply chain efficiency via differing learning rates in the order cycle. Perceptual measures were used in order to assess custom.
Deposition of inhaled man-made mineral fibres in the lungs of rats.

The lung retention of man-made mineral fibres by rats, sacrificed 5 days after the end of a 6 day period of exposure to the airborne fibre, has been examined as a function of fibre length, diameter and aerodynamic equivalent diameter. The retention of fibres < 0.5 μm dia. showed a peak of about 7.6% at 21 μm fibre length and was significantly higher than the retention (< 1%) of fibres in the diameter categories 0.5-0.7 μm and 0.7-1.0 %mUm. In terms of aerodynamic equivalent diameter, retention was a maximum, ca. 7%, at de = 1 μm, but decreased rapidly to about 0.5 % at de between 1.5 and 2.5 μm amd 0.01% at ca. 4 μm. When fibre length only was considered, irrespective of diameter, retention fell sharply as length increased from 2 to 10 μm, then more slowly to < 0.05% at ca. 40 μm.
Detection of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Using PCR Compared to the Conventional Proportional Method

Result: One hundred nineteen (91.5%) showed Mycobacterium tuberculosis-like colonies, 65 of which were randomly subjected to PCR and examined for the presence of IS6110 insertion sequences. Fifty-six (86.2%) were confirmed members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The result of antibiotics susceptibility testing revealed that 32/56 (57.1%) of the strains were resistant to RIF, 36/56 (64.3%) to INH and 30/56 (53.6%) were resistant to both drugs (MDR). The conventional method showed 21/56 (37.5%) were resistant to RIF, 32/56 (57.1%) to INH and 16/56 (28.6%) were resistant to both drugs (MDR). Conclusion: Not all resistant strains detected by conventional were detected by PCR method; 14 (25%) were missed for RIF, 9 (16.1%) for INH and 4 (7.1%) for both. This represents a significant lack of sensitivity of the PCR technique, which could be due to the presence of other types of mutations that needs other primers and PCR protocol.
Consideration of Barrier Protection and Latex Protein Allergy in the Evaluation of Medical Gloves

The issues surrounding medical gloves have become increasingly complicated over the past 15 years. The AIDS epidemic, allergies, needlesticks, new glove materials, and, most recently, an increased risk of biohazards all factor into the choice of medical gloves. This article examines the research available on two of the issues affecting medical glove choice: barrier protection and latex protein allergy.
Benznidazole therapy for Chagas disease in asymptomatic Trypanosoma cruzi -seropositive former blood donors: evaluation of the efficacy of different treatment regimens.

INTRODUCTION: Chagas disease currently affects 5.7 million people in Latin America and is emerging in non-endemic countries. There is no consensus concerning the efficacy of trypanocidal therapy for patients with the chronic form of the disease. We evaluated cardiac function and sociodemographic, clinical, and serologic characteristics of a group of asymptomatic Trypanosoma cruzi-seropositive former blood donors, and compared the effects of benznidazole treatment applied for different lengths of time. METHODS: Blood donors who screened positive for T. cruzi between 1998 and 2002 were recruited 10 years later for follow-up (n = 244); 46 individuals had received treatment. Three subjects had terminated treatment prematurely. The remaining 43 individuals were divided into two groups: individuals who had received benznidazole therapy for 50-60 days (n = 28; BT ≤60 group) or more than 60 days (n = 15; BT >60). Serologic assays, biochemical tests, electrocardiographic, echocardiographic, and clinical examinations were performed on all participants. Parasite loads were determined by qualitative and quantitative polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Parasitemia was significantly reduced in the BT ≤60 and BT >60 groups compared with the untreated group. There were no differences in epidemiologic profiles or clinical, biochemical, electrocardiographic, or echocardiographic data between any of the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Despite elimination or significant reduction in parasitemia in patients with chronic Chagas disease who received benznidazole, there was no clinical difference between those who were treated for >60 days and those treated for a shorter duration. Furthermore, the adverse effects of benznidazole appear to be less severe than previous reports would suggest.
Assembly Mechanisms of Neotropical Butterfly Communities Along an Environmental Gradient

Our goal was to test the hypothesis that assembly processes that limit species similarity (i.e., competition) predominantly occur in more ‘stable’ abiotic environments, whereas habitat filtering (i.e., habitat characteristics) is a major driver of community composition within more variable environments at regional (e.g., aseasonal vs seasonal forests) and local scales (e.g., understory vs. canopy). A combined approach of phylogenetic- and functional trait-based analyses using forewing length and aspect ratio as traits, were used to this hypothesis. A 3-year survey was carried out at three sites (i.e., wet, transition and dry forests) across a climatic gradient in western Ecuador. Transition and dry forests were considered as seasonal, whereas wet forest were considered aseasonal. Butterflies were sampled using traps baited with rotting banana and prawn every two months from Nov 2010 to Sep 2013. Traps were set up at two heights, in the understory and canopy. DNA was extracted to sequence the barcode’ section of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase 1 (COI) for phylogenetic analyses. Measurements of morphological traits, forewing length and aspect ratio were done using digital photographs of specimens. A total of 6466 specimens representing 142 species of Nymphalidae were recorded. Based on phylogenetic- and trait-based analyses, we rejected the hypothesis that assembly processes that limit species similarity (i.e., competition) are likely to predominantly occur in more ‘stable’ abiotic environments, whereas habitat filtering can be a major driver of community composition within more variable environments at regional (i.e., aseasonal forest vs seasonal forests) and local scales (i.e., understory vs. canopy). My study of assembly mechanisms revealed the opposite pattern, with stronger evidence for the action of ecological filters in the assembly of butterfly communities from the wet aseasonal forests, and competition likely to be a major assembly process within dry seasonal forests. The present study therefore provided new insights into community assembly mechanisms in one of the richest butterfly faunas worldwide.
Lipoprotein Subclasses Determined by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Coronary Atherosclerosis in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Objective. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are at increased risk of atherosclerosis, but routine lipid measurements differ little from those of people without RA. We examined the hypothesis that lipid subclasses determined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) differed in patients with RA compared to controls and are associated with disease activity and the presence of coronary-artery atherosclerosis. Methods. We measured lipoprotein subclasses by NMR in 139 patients with RA and 75 control subjects. Lipoproteins were classified as large low-density lipoprotein (LDL; diameter range 21.2–27.0 nm), small LDL (18.0–21.2 nm), large high-density lipoprotein (HDL; 8.2–13.0 nm), small HDL (7.3–8.2 nm), and total very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL; ≥ 27 nm). All subjects underwent an interview and examination; disease activity was quantified by the 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28) and coronary artery calcification (CAC) was measured with electron-beam computed tomography. Results. Concentrations of small HDL particles were lower in patients with RA (18.2 ± 5.4 nmol/l) than controls (20.0 ± 4.4 nmol/l; p = 0.003). In patients with RA, small HDL concentrations were inversely associated with DAS28 (rho = −0.18, p = 0.04) and C-reactive protein (rho = −0.25, p = 0.004). Concentrations of small HDL were lower in patients with coronary calcification (17.4 ± 4.8 nmol/l) than in those without (19.0 ± 5.8 nmol/l; p = 0.03). This relationship remained significant after adjustment for the Framingham risk score and DAS28 (p = 0.025). Concentrations of small LDL particles were lower in patients with RA (1390 ± 722 nmol/l) than in controls (1518 ± 654 nmol/l; p = 0.05), but did not correlate with DAS28 or CAC. Conclusion. Low concentrations of small HDL particles may contribute to increased coronary atherosclerosis in patients with RA.
Impact of environment on co-evolution between hosts and parasites

5 Résumé . 7 List of Figures . 10 List of Tables . 11 General introduction . 13 Chapter 1 Effects of food variability on growth and reproduction of Aedes aegypti . 25 Chapter 2 Context-dependent relationship between parasite growth and Chapter 3 virulence in a microsporidia-mosquito interaction . 39 The role of the environment on the evolution of tolerance and Chapter 4 resistance to a pathogen . 53 Antagonistic coevolution and resources alter the host’s life history Chapter 5 evolution . 65 Synthesis and future research . 79 Chapter 6 Acknowledgements . 83 References . 85
Nutrients Suppress Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase/Akt Signaling via Raptor-Dependent mTOR-Mediated Insulin Receptor Substrate 1 Phosphorylation

ABSTRACT Nutritional excess and/or obesity represent well-known predisposition factors for the development of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). However, molecular links between obesity and NIDDM are only beginning to emerge. Here, we demonstrate that nutrients suppress phosphatidylinositol 3 (PI3)-kinase/Akt signaling via Raptor-dependent mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin)-mediated phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1). Raptor directly binds to and serves as a scaffold for mTOR-mediated phosphorylation of IRS-1 on Ser636/639. These serines lie close to the Y632MPM motif that is implicated in the binding of p85α/p110α PI3-kinase to IRS-1 upon insulin stimulation. Phosphomimicking mutations of these serines block insulin-stimulated activation of IRS-1-associated PI3-kinase. Knockdown of Raptor as well as activators of the LKB1/AMPK pathway, such as the widely used antidiabetic compound metformin, suppress IRS-1 Ser636/639 phosphorylation and reverse mTOR-mediated inhibition on PI3-kinase/Akt signaling. Thus, diabetes-related hyperglycemia hyperactivates the mTOR pathway and may lead to insulin resistance due to suppression of IRS-1-dependent PI3-kinase/Akt signaling.
Prevention of Chronic Glomerular Uremia in Steroid Resistant Glomerulonephritis. A Clinical Trial with a New Antithrombotic Agent

To investigate the possibility of slowing down disease progression 27 patients with primary glomerular diseases unresponsive to steroids and cytotoxic drugs were treated with Defibrotide. This drug is a single stranded DNA fraction which has profibrinolytic and deaggregating properties and can promote the generation and release of prostacyclin from vascular tissue. Before treatment all patients showed proteinuria in excess of 1 g/day and 16 had a nephrotic syndrome (59%); 10 patients had serum creatinine above 1.6 mg/dl (37%) and 6 were hypertensive. After therapy a significant decrease in daily proteinuria was observed, although the reduction exceeded 50% of pre-treatment values in only 16 patients (59%). A progressive decrease in serum creatinine occurred in patients with abnormal renal function; serial measurement of renal plasma flow showed a progressive improvement with an average increase of 6 and 12%, after 1 and 3 months of treatment, respectively. These observations confirm the view that drugs improving endothelial function and renal hemodynamics can be of value in the treatment of chronic glomerular diseases and can contribute to the maintenance of renal function.
In vitro and in vivo studies with BL-S786, cefoxitin, and cefamandole

The in vitro antimicrobial activities of BL-S786, cefoxitin, and cefamandole against 90 isolates of Enterobacteriaceae, including Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Enterobacter cloacae and E. aerogenes, were studied by using an agar dilution procedure. Comparison of geometric mean minimal inhibitory concentrations showed that BL-S786 was half as active as cefamandole against Enterobacter species, 2 to 4 times more active than cefamandole against all other species, and 4 to 25 times more active than cefoxitin against all species. In vivo experiments employed acute protection tests in infected mice, using five isolates each of the five genera. Drugs were administered intramuscularly in two doses 3 h apart at dosages of 2.5, 5, 10, 20, and 40 mg per mouse. In most instances, BL-S786 was the most efficacious drug, being some 1.3 to 9.1 times more active than cefoxitin in all experiments and 1.5 to 8.7 times more active than cefamandole in most experiments. BL-S786 and cefamandole were comparable in activity in experiments with E. aerogenes, whereas BL-S786 was superior in experiments with E. cloacae.