Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Divergent regulation of HIV‐1 replication in PBMC of infected individuals by CC chemokines: suppression by RANTES, MIP‐1α, and MCP‐3, and enhancement by MCP‐1

We investigated the role of different CC chemokines, including regulated upon activation normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES), macrophage inflammatory protein‐1α (MIP‐1α), monocyte chemotactic protein‐1 (MCP‐1), and MCP‐3 on virus replication in cultures established from CD8+ T cell‐depleted peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of HIV‐infected individuals that were either cocultivated with allogeneic T cell blasts (ATCB) of uninfected individuals or directly stimulated by mitogen plus interleukin‐2. RANTES was the only chemokine that showed a clear‐cut suppressive effect on HIV replication in both culture systems, although inhibitory effects were frequently also observed with MIP‐1α, MCP‐3, and, occasionally, with MCP‐1. In contrast, MCP‐1 frequently enhanced HIV production in most patients’ cultures or cocultures that were characterized by secreting relatively low levels (<20 ng/mL) of MCP‐1. When CD8‐depleted PBMC of HIV+ individuals were cocultivated with ATCB of uninfected healthy donors, a positive correlation was observed between MCP‐1 concentrations and the enhancement of HIV‐1 replication occurring after depletion of CD8+ cells from donors’ cells. Depletion of CD14+ cells (monocytes) from ATCB resulted in the down‐regulation of virus replication during co‐cultivation with CD8‐depleted PBMC of infected individuals. Of interest, MCP‐1 up‐regulated HIV production in these CD14‐depleted ATCB cocultures. Altogether these observations suggest that MCP‐1 may represent an important factor enhancing HIV spreading, particularly in anatomical sites, such as the brain, where infection of macrophages and microglial cells plays a dominant role.
Maternal characteristics associated with vaccination of young children.

OBJECTIVE Mothers can be instrumental in gaining access to vaccination services for their children. This study examines maternal characteristics associated with vaccination in US preschool children. METHODS We analyzed data from 21 212 children aged 19 to 35 months in the National Immunization Survey. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify maternal characteristics associated with completion of all recommended vaccinations in these children. RESULTS Factors most strongly associated with undervaccination included having mothers who were black; had less than a high school education; were divorced, separated, or widowed; had multiple children; were eligible for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) but not participating; or had incomes below 50% of the federal poverty level. CONCLUSION Because most mothers play an important role in their children's vaccination, it is important to address maternal concerns and barriers when developing public health interventions for promoting childhood vaccinations. Encouraging eligible women and their children to participate in the WIC program and providing support and encouragement for immunization to mothers with multiple children may improve early childhood vaccination coverage.
Peanut Allergens Attached with p-Aminobenzamidine Are More Resistant to Digestion than Native Allergens

Despite being known as resistant proteins, peanut allergens (Ara h 1 and Ara h 2) can be digested and cause allergic reactions. Making the allergens more resistant to digestion may aid in non-absorption and excretion of the allergens. Our objectives were to make Ara h 1 and Ara h 2 more resistant to digestion and test them in a model system using trypsin as the digestive enzyme. The resistant allergens were prepared by covalently attaching p-aminobenzamidine (pABA), a protease inhibitor, to peanut allergens in an extract or on a PVDF membrane using glutaraldehyde, and were then tested for resistance to trypsin digestion. SDS-PAGE and Western blot were performed to determine the allergenic capacity of the modified allergens. A control was prepared using glycine instead. Results showed that Ara h 2, when covalently attached with pABA, was more resistant to trypin digestion than the native allergen. Similarly, Ara h 1, prepared on a PVDF membrane and treated with pABA, displayed a resistance to trypsin digestion. Treatment of the allergens with glycine (a control) instead of pABA showed that the modified allergens were as digestible as native allergens. Blot assays showed that the pABA-treated allergens exhibited a lower allergenic capacity than native allergens. It was concluded that pABA, when attached to peanut allergen Ara h 1 or Ara h 2, inhibited digestion of the allergen by trypsin and reduced their allergenic capacity as well.
Effects of silane coupling agents on the electrical properties of silica/epoxy nanocomposites

Effects of surface modification agents on the properties of silica (SiO2) /epoxy resin (EP) nanocomposites were studied for the significant impacts of the interface structure between the fillers and resin matrix. The surface modification agent of KH550, KH560 and KH570 were grafted to the surfaces of SiO2 fillers. The original and modified SiO2 fillers were characterized by FTIR and TG. Nanocomposite samples were prepared by solution blended process, using 0.3 wt% SiO2 as filler and epoxy resin as polymer matrix respectively. DSC analysis was performed to investigate the glass transition temperature (Tg). Dielectric spectroscopy and breakdown tests were conducted to measure the dielectric permittivity, dielectric loss and breakdown strength. The results show that SiO2 can be grafted with KH550, KH560 and KH570 effectively. Compared with neat epoxy, the Tg and breakdown strength of nanocomposites increased. Influences on the dielectric permittivity were found, depending on the interface between SiO2 fillers and resin matrix. In terms of Tg, breakdown strength and dielectric loss, the KH550 and KH560 modified nanocomposites performed better than the KH570 modified nanocomposites, which is due to the amino and epoxy group on the molecular structure of KH550 and KH560 respectively. These chemical groups played positive roles in cross-linking reaction and building better interfaces for nanocomposites.
Polydextrose, Lactitol, and Fructo-Oligosaccharide Fermentation by Colonic Bacteria in a Three-Stage Continuous Culture System

ABSTRACT In vitro fermentations were carried out by using a model of the human colon to simulate microbial activities of lower gut bacteria. Bacterial populations (and their metabolic products) were evaluated under the effects of various fermentable substrates. Carbohydrates tested were polydextrose, lactitol, and fructo-oligosaccharide (FOS). Bacterial groups of interest were evaluated by fluorescence in situ hybridization as well as by species-specific PCR to determine bifidobacterial species and percent-G+C profiling of the bacterial communities present. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) produced during the fermentations were also evaluated. Polydextrose had a stimulatory effect upon colonic bifidobacteria at concentrations of 1 and 2% (using a single and pooled human fecal inoculum, respectively). The bifidogenic effect was sustained throughout all three vessels of the in vitro system (P = 0.01 seen in vessel 3), as corroborated by the bacterial community profile revealed by %G+C analysis. This substrate supported a wide variety of bifidobacteria and was the only substrate where Bifidobacterium infantis was detected. The fermentation of lactitol had a deleterious effect on both bifidobacterial and bacteroides populations (P = 0.01) and decreased total cell numbers. SCFA production was stimulated, however, particularly butyrate (beneficial for host colonocytes). FOS also had a stimulatory effect upon bifidobacterial and lactobacilli populations that used a single inoculum (P = 0.01 for all vessels) as well as a bifidogenic effect in vessels 2 and 3 (P = 0.01) when a pooled inoculum was used. A decrease in bifidobacteria throughout the model was reflected in the percent-G+C profiles.
Is the glass half empty or half full?

Genetic studies are a critical source of knowledge about neurodegenerative diseases. The identification of families with an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance has proven crucial in improving our care of patients with conditions such as Alzheimer disease (AD) and Parkinson disease. This work has led to improvements in diagnostic accuracy, a better understanding of the biologic mechanisms underlying disease, and most importantly, the identification of targets for therapeutic intervention. Recently, genetic studies of patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) have proven to be very fruitful. Two distinct, genetically determined causes have been defined in the last decade. These include the locus of the gene coding for the microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT) on chromosome 17,1 and within the last 2 years, the gene coding for progranulin (GRN), also on chromosome 17.2,3 In this issue of Neurology ®, Seelaar et al. report their comprehensive assessment of the frequency and cause of a strong family history …
The Tumor Suppressor PTEN Negatively Regulates Insulin Signaling in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes*

PTEN is a tumor suppressor with sequence homology to protein-tyrosine phosphatases and the cytoskeleton protein tensin. PTEN is capable of dephosphorylating phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate in vitro and down-regulating its levels in insulin-stimulated 293 cells. To study the role of PTEN in insulin signaling, we overexpressed PTEN in 3T3-L1 adipocytes ∼30-fold above uninfected or control virus (green fluorescent protein)-infected cells, using an adenovirus gene transfer system. PTEN overexpression inhibited insulin-induced 2-deoxy-glucose uptake by 36%, GLUT4 translocation by 35%, and membrane ruffling by 50%, all of which are phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-dependent processes, compared with uninfected cells or cells infected with control virus. Microinjection of an anti-PTEN antibody increased basal and insulin stimulated GLUT4 translocation, suggesting that inhibition of endogenous PTEN function led to an increase in intracellular phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate levels, which stimulates GLUT4 translocation. Further, insulin-induced phosphorylation of downstream targets Akt and p70S6 kinase were also inhibited significantly by overexpression of PTEN, whereas tyrosine phosphorylation of the insulin receptor and IRS-1 or the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase were not affected, suggesting that the Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway remains fully functional. Thus, we conclude that PTEN may regulate phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-dependent insulin signaling pathways in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.
Improvement suggestions for the DSRM model Full Paper

This study addresses the process of Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM). The study’s proposal is that the DSRM process can be revised by relevant elements, such as user experience, co-creativity, and trust building. The research revealed that user-centered aspects and user-computer interactions are important for the success of the design and realization of information systems, and thus are necessary to take into account in the DSRM process model. The main findings of the study are that it is imperative to integrate the users’ experience and design research, trust building, and co-creativity aspects into the DSRM process as early as possible. It is also vital to train users to use the system so that the system’s design-development-dissemination continuums can be as effective as possible. The outcome of this study addresses the DSRM process and its modularity, usefulness, and feasibility in the field of information systems design theory.
A study of encoding overhead in network management protocols

Next‐Generation Network (NGN) is a critical scenario in terms of network management because of its network dimension, its number of users and its heterogeneity. Since the introduction of the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) at the beginning of the 1990s, much effort has been devoted to the development of new network management technologies. Both the Desktop Management Task Force (DMTF) and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) have developed different network and system management protocols, such as Common Open Policy Service, Web‐Based Enterprise Management, Network Configuration and even adapted other protocols, such as Diameter and Web Services. A network management technology with poor scalability could compromise NGN management and ultimately NGN network behaviour. This paper analyses the network overhead of several management technologies developed by the DMTF and IETF, and goes on to compare their results with the usage of SNMP. Furthermore, some deployment recommendations are proposed for performance optimization in NGNs. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Autonomic dysfunction in presymptomatic and early symptomatic Huntington’s disease

Kobal J, Melik Z, Cankar K, Bajrovic FF, Meglic B, Peterlin B, Zaletel M. Autonomic dysfunction in presymptomatic and early symptomatic Huntington’s disease. Acta Neurol Scand: 2010: 121: 392–399. © 2009 The Authors Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Munksgaard.
Thrombospondin type-1 domain-containing 7A in idiopathic membranous nephropathy.

BACKGROUND Idiopathic membranous nephropathy is an autoimmune disease. In approximately 70% of patients, it is associated with autoantibodies against the phospholipase A2 receptor 1 (PLA2R1). Antigenic targets in the remaining patients are unknown. METHODS Using Western blotting, we screened serum samples from patients with idiopathic membranous nephropathy, patients with other glomerular diseases, and healthy controls for antibodies against human native glomerular proteins. We partially purified a putative new antigen, identified this protein by means of mass spectrometry of digested peptides, and validated the results by analysis of recombinant protein expression, immunoprecipitation, and immunohistochemical analysis. RESULTS Serum samples from 6 of 44 patients in a European cohort and 9 of 110 patients in a Boston cohort with anti-PLA2R1-negative idiopathic membranous nephropathy recognized a glomerular protein that was 250 kD in size. None of the serum samples from the 74 patients with idiopathic membranous nephropathy who were seropositive for anti-PLA2R1 antibodies, from the 76 patients with other glomerular diseases, and from the 44 healthy controls reacted against this antigen. Although this newly identified antigen is clearly different from PLA2R1, it shares some biochemical features, such as N-glycosylation, membranous location, and reactivity with serum only under nonreducing conditions. Mass spectrometry identified this antigen as thrombospondin type-1 domain-containing 7A (THSD7A). All reactive serum samples recognized recombinant THSD7A and immunoprecipitated THSD7A from glomerular lysates. Moreover, immunohistochemical analyses of biopsy samples from patients revealed localization of THSD7A to podocytes, and IgG eluted from one of these samples was specific for THSD7A. CONCLUSIONS In our cohort, 15 of 154 patients with idiopathic membranous nephropathy had circulating autoantibodies to THSD7A but not to PLA2R1, a finding that suggests a distinct subgroup of patients with this condition. (Funded by the French National Center for Scientific Research and others.).
Implications of the Cytosolic Phospholipase A2 Knockout Mouse on Perioperative Therapeutics

The eicosanoids are a family of lipids that are derived from 20-carbon fatty acids. In recent years specialists in anesthesia, critical care, and pain management have increasingly used new drugs that modify the eicosanoid responses of patients. Such drugs include parenteral cyclooxygenase inhibitors (ketorolac), specific cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors (celecoxib, rofecoxib), and leukotriene modifiers (zileuton, pranlukast, zafirlukast, montelukast). In humans, arachidonic acid (5, 8, 11, 14-eicosatetraenoic acid) is the predominant 20-carbon fatty acid and is the primary source of eicosanoids. Because arachidonic acid is a major component of the phospholipids in cellular membranes and the precursor of the eicosanoids, its intracellular traffic is highly regulated. The phospholipase A2 (PLA2) enzymes are the most important element in the regulation of cellular arachidonic acid. As we will review in this article, there is considerable experimental evidence to suggest that drug therapies aimed at modifying the PLA2 enzymes can have important and beneficial clinical effects.
Antibodies against cyclic citrullinated peptide in Japanese psoriatic arthritis patients

Anti‐cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti‐CCP) are highly considered to indicate disease severity and be predictive markers in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RA patients who are positive for anti‐CCP tend to progress more frequently to joint deformity and functionally deteriorate more than negative patients. A study concerning the presence of anti‐CCP in Japanese patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) has been published. Our aim was to clarify that anti‐CCP could be a potentially useful marker in PsA patients. We herein describe a PsA patient with presence of anti‐CCP. We examined anti‐CCP in 15 patients with PsA, and compared with 18 controls who had other types of psoriasis. Three PsA patients were positive for anti‐CCP, but no controls showed positive. The anti‐CCP‐positive patients had higher counts of radiographic erosion, higher prevalence rates of polyarticular disease, use of disease‐modifying anti‐rheumatic drugs, and the human leukocyte antigen DRB1*04 shared epitope than negative patients. Our study demonstrated that anti‐CCP was potentially both predictive and a severity marker of joint involvement in PsA, the same as in RA.
The syndrome of the inconsistent mother.

A common syndrome where the mother is inconsistent in disciplining and the child is disobedient is described. Difficulty arises because the mother conceives of discipline as a hostile act directed at the child and attempts to minimize the hostility by inconsistent permissiveness. A simple form of therapy aimed at reducing the guilt is often dramatically effective for such cases.
Venous Thromboembolism in Cirrhosis

The cirrhosis population represents a unique subset of patients who are at risk for both bleeding and developing venous thromboembolic events (VTEs). It has been commonly misunderstood that these patients are naturally protected from thrombosis by deficiencies in coagulation factors. As a result, the cirrhosis population is often falsely perceived to be “autoanticoagulated. ” However, the concept of “autoanticoagulation” conferring protection from thrombosis is a misnomer. While patients with cirrhosis may have a bleeding predisposition, not uncommonly they also experience thrombotic events. The concern for this increased bleeding risk often makes anticoagulation a difficult choice. Prophylactic and therapeutic management of VTE in patients with cirrhosis is a difficult clinical problem with the lack of clear established guidelines. The elucidation of laboratory and/or clinical predictors of VTE will be useful in this setting. This review serves to examine VTE and the use of anticoagulation in the cirrhosis population.
Capture and release of DNA using aminosilane‐modified bacterial magnetic particles for automated detection system of single nucleotide polymorphisms

Bacterial magnetic particles (BMPs) were modified with 3‐[2‐(2‐aminoethylamino)‐ethylamino]‐propyltrimethoxysilane (AEEA) to produce a dense amine surface. Modification of BMPs in a toluene solution resulted in an increased amine yield, and approximately 11.3 × 104 surface amines were detected on a single particle. The modified BMPs were capable of efficient electrostatic capture of DNA. The maximum amount of DNA captured on 10 µg of aminosilane‐modified BMPs was 600 ng. A 10 mM phosphate buffer effectively released the captured DNA. This efficiency was dramatically enhanced by incubation at 80°C and DNA recovery from aminosilane‐modified BMPs approached 95%. DNA extraction from whole blood using these modified BMPs, followed by PCR, was successfully performed. Furthermore, automated single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) detection of the aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) was demonstrated. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Robust Submodular Maximization: Offline and Online Algorithms

In this work, we consider the robust submodular maximization problem subject a matroid constraint in the offline and online setting. In the offline version, we are given a collection of $k$ monotone submodular functions and matroid on a ground set of size $n$. The goal is to select one independent set that maximizes the minimum of the submodular functions. Given the complexity of the problem, we design a bi-criteria approximation algorithm that returns a set that is the union of a logarithmic number of independent sets. In the online version of the problem, we receive a new collection of functions at each time step and aim to pick an independent set in every stage. We measure the performance of the algorithm in the regret setting. Again, we give a bi-criteria approximation algorithm which gives a (nearly) optimal approximation as well as regret bounds. This result rely crucially on modifying the Follow-the-Perturbed-Leader algorithm of [Kalai and Vempala, 2005].
Coding across heterogeneous parallel erasure broadcast channels is useful

Motivated by recent efforts to harness millimeter-wave (mmWave) bands, known to have high outage probabilities, we explore a K-user parallel packet-erasure broadcast channel that consists of orthogonal subchannels prone to packet-erasures. Our main result is two-fold. First, in the homogeneous channel where all subchannels have the same erasure probability, we show that the separation principle holds, i.e., coding across subchannels provides no gain. Second, in the heterogeneous channel where the subchannels have different erasure probabilities, we devise a scheme that employs coding across subchannels and show that the principle fails to hold, i.e., coding across subchannels provides a gain. Inspired by this finding, we demonstrate our scheme to be effective in harnessing the mmWave bands. Compared to the current approach in the 4G systems which allocates subchannels to users exclusively, we show that our scheme offers a huge gain. We find the gain to be significant in scenarios where the erasure probabilities are largely different, and importantly to increase with the growth of K. Our result calls for joint coding schemes in future wireless systems to meet growing mobile data demands.