Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Edinburgh Research Explorer Dying and necrotic neutrophils are anti-inflammatory secondary to the release of alpha-defensins

Neutrophils are recruited to sites of injury but their timely removal is thought to be vital to prevent exacerbating inflammation. In addition, the recognition of apoptotic cells by cells of the innate immune system provides potent anti-inflammatory and anti-immunogenic signals. In this paper we describe how human neutrophils dying by apoptosis or necrosis release anti-inflammatory peptides, the alpha defensins. This family of small cationic peptides, effectively inhibits the secretion of multiple pro-inflammatory cytokines and nitric oxide from macrophages, the main innate immune cell found at sites of chronic inflammation. In addition, the systemic administration of necrotic neutrophil supernatants and alpha defensins protects mice from a murine model of peritonitis. Hence their effects may be far reaching and serve to kill microbes whilst regulating a potentially tissue destructive inflammatory response.
Identiﬁcation, Quantiﬁcation, and Method Validation of Anthocyanins †

: Nowadays, anthocyanins have gained scientiﬁc and industrial attention due to their biological activities and coloring properties. In this regard, anthocyanins have been proposed for use in the development of new nutraceutical foods to replace synthetic additives as well as to be value-added ingredients. The aim of this study was to evaluate current data on identiﬁcation and quantiﬁcation techniques and the validation process of such methods. Our results showed that anthocyanins have been identiﬁed by different methods, including nuclear magnetic resonance and chromatography-based techniques. Although problems have been described in this validation, most of the reports showed positive results on the validation parameters, suggesting that the current analytical technology offers a satisfactory identiﬁcation and quantiﬁcation of anthocyanins.
Concentrated Ownership and Equilibrium Asset Prices ∗ Job Market Paper

I study the dynamics of asset prices in an economy in which investors choose whether to hold diversified or concentrated portfolios of risky assets. The latter are valuable, as they increase the productivity of the corresponding enterprises. I capture the tradeoff between risk sharing and productivity gains by introducing what I call “active capital”: people who participate in such investments are restricted in their outside opportunities but receive extra compensation. In equilibrium, active and standard capital coexist. The willingness to provide active capital is mainly determined by risk considerations. Therefore, the quantity of active capital fluctuates jointly with risk premia, amplifying their variations. As a consequence, the price of volatility risk exposure can be large and return volatility is mainly induced by fluctuations in future expected returns. These results are particularly strong when fundamental volatility is low, because at such time, a large number of concentrated owners are likely to exit their positions and sell off their assets. ∗I thank my advisors Lars Hansen, Zhiguo He, Stavros Panageas, and Pietro Veronesi for their continuous guidance. I am grateful for comments and suggestions from Marianne Andries, Nina Boyarchenko, John Heaton, Ralph Koijen, Serhiy Kozak, Erik Loualiche, Alan Moreira, Matthew Plosser, Shri Santosh, Harald Uhlig, and participants in the Finance Workshop and Economic Dynamics Working Group at the University of Chicago. Research support from the Sanford J. Grossman Fellowship in Honor of Arnold Zellner and from the Stevanovich Center for Financial Mathematics is gratefully acknowledged. Any opinions expressed herein are the author’s and not necessarily those of these individuals and institutions. †University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Economics Department, vhaddad@chicagobooth.edu.
Efﬁciency and Productivity of Local Educational Administration in Korea Using the Malmquist Productivity Index

: As local governments around the world struggle to ﬁnance and deliver quality education under ﬁscal constraints, pressures mount to increase efﬁciency and productivity in order to obtain more output from the same or fewer resources. Focusing on the case of Korea, this study investigates the productivity of outputs in local ofﬁces of education (OEs) through the analysis of personnel and ﬁnancial factors by year (2012–2016). Overall, the results indicate the efﬁcient operation of the OEs in Korea. The Malmquist productivity index (MPI) mean decreased from 2012 to 2014, increased from 2014 to 2015, and decreased from 2015 to 2016. The rate of chronological change in each OE’s MPI showed the same pattern of change in the distribution ratio of school expenditures. Finally, the MPI had the same pattern as the Technical Change Index. Policy implications are provided.
Distinct expression pattern of IFN- (cid:1) and TNF- (cid:1) in juvenile idiopathic arthritis synovial tissue

Objectives . Recent laboratory and clinical data suggest that two prototype autoimmune diseases, systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis are mainly driven by distinct cytokines, interferon (IFN)- (cid:1) and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)- (cid:1) , respectively. We here investigated the presence and characteristics of natural type I IFN-producing cells (IPCs), as well as IFN- (cid:1) and TNF- (cid:1) expression at sites of inflammation in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Methods . Peripheral blood (PB) and synovial fluid (SF) mononuclear cells (MNCs) ( n ¼ 25 each) from JIA patients with active disease were studied. IPCs were identified as BCDA-2 þ CD123 þ HLA-DR þ CD45RA þ cells, and dendritic cells (DCs) as CD11c þ CD14 (cid:1) /low lin (cid:1) cells by flow cytometry. IPCs and DCs were analysed for Toll-like receptor-7 and -9 mRNA expression by real-time polymerase chain reaction. IFN- (cid:1) was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in serum, SF and in supernatants of influenza virus-infected, cultured IPCs. Synovial tissues of n ¼ 6 additional JIA patients were analysed by immunohistochemistry using mAbs against CD123, IFN- (cid:1) , TNF- (cid:1) , CD3, CD19 and CD138. Results . IPCs were enriched in SF MNCs compared with PB MNCs in all JIA patients. Influenza-induced, but no spontaneous IFN- (cid:1) release was detected from SF IPCs, and serum and SF IFN
Dual Lipid Modiﬁcation of Arabidopsis G g -Subunits Is Required for Efﬁcient Plasma Membrane Targeting 1[C][W][OA]

Posttranslational lipid modiﬁcations are important for proper localization of many proteins in eukaryotic cells. However, the functional interrelationships between lipid modiﬁcation processes in plants remain unclear. Here we demonstrate that the two heterotrimeric G-protein g -subunits from Arabidopsis ( Arabidopsis thaliana ), AGG1 and AGG2, are prenylated, and AGG2 is S -acylated. In wild type, enhanced yellow ﬂuorescent protein-fused AGG1 and AGG2 are associated with plasma membranes, with AGG1 associated with internal membranes as well. Both can be prenylated by either protein geranylgeranyltransferase I (PGGT-I) or protein farnesyltransferase (PFT). Their membrane localization is intact in mutants lacking PFTactivity and largely intact in mutants lacking PGGT-I activity but is disrupted in mutants lacking both PFT and PGGT-I activity. Unlike in mam- mals, Arabidopsis G g s do not rely on functional G a for membrane targeting. Mutation of the sixth to last cysteine, the putative S -acylation acceptor site, causes a dramatic change in AGG2 but not AGG1 localization pattern, suggesting S -acylation serves as an important additional signal for AGG2 to be targeted to the plasma membrane. Domain-swapping experiments suggest that a short charged sequence at the AGG2 C terminus contributes to AGG2’s efﬁcient membrane targeting compared to AGG1. Our data show the large degree to which PFT and PGGT-I can compensate for each other in plants and suggest that differential lipid modiﬁcation plays an important regulatory role in plant protein localization. (CGTTGCTCTAGATCAAA-GAATGGAGCAGC), and reverse primer QZJ6 (CGTTGCTCTAGATCAAA- GAATGGAAGAGC) inAGG2toSer. PCR subcloned into pCR-Blunt II-TOPO (Invitrogen/Life Technologies) and ligated as a Hin dIII/ Xba I fragment into pCAM - EYFP - C1 (Preuss et al., 2004), a pCAMBIA-(CAMBIA) based plant expression vector. The cDNAs are in frame with EYFP at the N terminus under the control of the 35S promoterof Cauliﬂower mosaic virus . The corresponding constructs pEYFP - AGG1 , pEYFP - AGG1 C95S , pEYFP - AGG2 and pEYFP - AGG2 C97S transformed into Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58 electroporation. AGG 1C93S ampliﬁed by QZY41 QZY42 TCCA). AGG1m2 ampliﬁed by QZY41 and QZY47 AGG 2C95S ampliﬁed by QZY43 QZY44 AGG2m1 am- pliﬁed QZY43 QZY48 AGG1 C93S , AGG1m2 , AGG2 C95S AGG2m1 D -TOPO 2003). The corresponding binary vector GFP - AGG1 C93S , GFP - AGG1m2 , GFP AGG2 C95S , and GFP - AGG2m1 was transformed into C58. Arabidopsis plants were transformed by the ﬂoral dip method (Clough and Bent, 1998). Transient assay in Nicotiana benthamiana is through leaf inﬁltration.
OPTH_A_320987 3147..3152

1Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 2Ophthalmology Department, Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia; 3Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 4Sunway Specialist Center Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia; 5Gleneagles Hospital, Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Purpose: The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of microbial contamination of multi-user preserved ophthalmic drops (POD) in Ophthalmology Outpatient Clinic (OOC), to compare the rate of contamination between the dropper tip and the residual contents in the bottle, and to identify the contaminating organisms. Methods: This was an observational cross-sectional study using a convenience sampling method conducted in the OOC of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Center, Malaysia. The samples of POD bottles were divided into groups obtained after 14 days (T14) and after 30 days (T30) of use. The contamination rate at the dropper tip and in the residual contents was determined and the contaminating organisms were identified. Results: A total of 140 of 149 extended-use POD bottles were included. The prevalence of contamination was 30%. There was a statistically significant difference in the rate of contamination between samples T14 and T30 (19% and 11%, respectively; p=0.046). Proparacaine and tropicamide showed higher contamination rates in the T14 samples (p=0.027 and p=0.497, respectively) than in the T30 samples. The site of contamination was higher at the dropper tip than in the residual contents (p>0.05). Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species were the most frequently identified contaminants (89%). Conclusion: The dropper tip was more contaminated than the residual contents, and coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species, which are common commensal flora of the ocular conjunctiva and skin, were the most frequently identified organisms.
High-density genetic linkage map construction and QTL mapping of grain shape and size in the wheat population ×

High-density genetic linkage maps are necessary for precisely mapping quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling grain shape and size in wheat. By applying the Infinium iSelect 9K SNP assay, we have constructed a high-density genetic linkage map with 269 F 8 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) developed between a Chinese cornerstone wheat breeding parental line Yanda1817 and a high-yielding several QTL loci responsible for grain shape and size that could serve as target regions for fine mapping and marker assisted selection in wheat breeding programs.
Wave–turbulenceinteraction-induced vertical mixing and its effects in ocean and climate models

validated in numerical model experiments and ﬁeld observations. It ﬁrmly establishes the critical role of wave–turbulence interaction effects in both general ocean circulation models and atmosphere–ocean coupled models, which could greatly improve the understanding of the sea surface temperature and water column properties distributions, and hence model-based climate forecasting capability.
TGF (cid:2) Signaling Promotes Juvenile Granulosa Cell Tumorigenesis by Suppressing Apoptosis

Molecular changes that give rise to granulosa cell tumors of the ovary are not well understood. Previously, we showed that deletion in granulosa cells of the bone morphogenetic protein recep-tor-signaling transcription factors, Smad1 and Smad5 , causes development of metastatic granulosa cell tumors that phenocopy the juvenile form of granulosa cell tumors (JGCTs) in humans. The TGF (cid:2) -SMAD2/3 pathway is active in JGCTs, but its role is unknown. We tested the in vivo contribution of TGF (cid:2) -SMAD signaling to JGCT development by genetically deleting the common Smad4 from Smad1/5 double knockout mice. Smad1/5/4 triple knockout mice were sterile and had significantly increased survival and delayed tumor development compared to those for the Smad1/5 double knockout mice. The few tumors that did develop were smaller, showed no evidence of metastasis, and had increased apoptosis. In the human JGCT cell line COV434, TGF (cid:2) 1 increased viability by inhibiting apoptosis through a TGF (cid:2) type I receptor–dependent repression of caspase activity and inhibition of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage. These data support a tumor-promoting function of TGF (cid:2) in JGCTs
Sur les in'egalit'es de Sobolev logarithmiques

On logarithmic Sobolev inequalities). — This book is an overview on logarithmic Sobolev inequalities. These inequalities turned out to be a subject of intense activity during the past years, from analysis and geometry in nite and in nite dimension, to probability theory and statistical mechanics, and many developments are still to be expected. The book is a pedestrian approach to logarithmic Sobolev inequalities, accessible to a wide audience. It is divided into chapters of independent interest. The fundamental example of the Bernoulli and Gaussian distributions is the starting point to logarithmic Sobolev inequalities as they were de ned by Gross in the mid-seventies. Hypercontractivity and tensorisation form two main aspects of these inequalities, that are actually part of the larger family of classical Sobolev inequalities in functional analysis. A chapter is devoted to the curvature-dimension criterion, which is an e cient tool to establish functional inequalities. Another chapter describes a characterization of measures which satisfy logarithmic Sobolev or Poincaré inequalities on the real line, using Hardy's inequalities. Interactions with various domains in analysis and probability are developed. A rst study deals with the concentration of the measure phenomenon, useful in statistics as well as geometry. The relationships between logarithmic Sobolev inequalities and the transportation of measures are considered, in particular through their approach to concentration. A control of the speed of convergence to equilibrium of nite state Markov chains is described in terms of the spectral gap and the logarithmic Sobolev constants. The last part is a modern reading of the notion of entropy in information theory and of the several links between information theory and the Euclidean form of the Gaussian logarithmic Sobolev inequality. The genesis of this inequalities can thus be traced back in the early contributions of Shannon and Stam. This book focuses on the methods and the characteristics of the treated properties, rather than the most general elds of study. Chapters are mostly self-contained. The bibliography, without being encyclopedic, tries to give a rather complete state of the art on the topic, including some very recent references. PANORAMAS & SYNTHÈSES 10
Effects of Isoﬂurane and Sevoﬂurane on Intracellular Calcium and Contractility in Pressure-overload Hypertrophy

Background: Depression of myocardial contractility as a result of isoﬂurane appears to be greater in myocardial hypertrophy, and the cellular basis for this difference in susceptibility is not clear. In this study we examined the effects of isoﬂurane and sevoﬂurane on contractility and intracellular calcium in an animal model of pressure-overload hypertrophy. Methods: Pressure-overload hypertrophy was established in young male ferrets by banding the main pulmonary artery for 1 month and the effects of isoﬂurane and sevoﬂurane on contractility and intracellular calcium ([Ca 2 (cid:1) ] i ) were examined in isolated right ventricular papillary muscles, trabeculae, and myocytes. Intracellular calcium was measured with the biolu- minescent photoprotein aequorin in isolated papillary muscles, and also with the ﬂuorescent indicator ﬂuo-3 in isolated ventricular myocytes. In addition, Ca 2 (cid:1) sensitivity was assessed in isolated trabeculae after disruption of the surface membrane with a nonionic detergent (skinned ﬁbers). Results: In the presence of isoﬂurane and sevoﬂurane, papillary muscles from banded animals exhibited a greater depres- sion of contractility and isolated ventricular myocytes showed a greater decrease in peak [Ca 2 (cid:1) ] i . Furthermore, baseline calcium sensitivity was decreased and the slope of the relationship between [Ca 2 (cid:1) ] and force was increased in skinned trabeculae from banded animals. Isoﬂurane decreased calcium sensitivity in trabeculae from both normal and banded animals. Conclusions: These results suggest that changes in [Ca 2 (cid:1) ] i and altered calcium sensitivity are both responsible for the exaggerated effects of some volatile anesthetics on contractility in pres-sure-overload hypertrophy.
Whole-body and muscle protein metabolism are not affected by acute deviations from habitual protein intake in older men: the Hormonal Regulators of Muscle and Metabolism in Aging (HORMA) Study 1–4

Background: Acute deviations in protein intake before the quantiﬁcation of protein kinetics in older humans may explain the controversy over the effects of older age on muscle protein synthesis and proteolysis rates. Objective: We hypothesized that an acute decrease in protein intake from the habitual intake is associated with lower muscle protein synthesis and higher proteolysis rates, whereas an acute increase in protein intake from the habitual intake is associated with higher muscle protein synthesis and lower proteolysis rates. Design: In 112 community-dwelling healthy men aged 65–90 y, we quantiﬁed resting whole-body [1,2- 13 C 2 ]leucine kinetics, muscle mixed protein fractional synthesis rates (FSRs), and muscle proteasome proteolytic enzyme activities after participants consumed for 3 d controlled research meals (0.9–1.1 g protein (cid:1) kg 2 1 (cid:1) d 2 1 ) that contained more or less protein than that habitually consumed and that induced alterations in nitrogen balance. Results: Protein kinetic parameters were not signiﬁcantly different between the groups, despite controlled research protein intakes that were lower ( 2 0.2 to 2 0.3 g (cid:1) kg 2 1 (cid:1) d 2 1 ) or higher (+0.2 g (cid:1) kg 2 1 (cid:1) d 2 1 ) than habitual intakes and that induced negative ( 2 22 to 2 25 mg (cid:1) kg 2 1 (cid:1) d 2 1 ) or positive (22–25 mg (cid:1) kg 2 1 (cid:1) d 2 1 ) nitrogen balance. Within these acutely altered protein intake and nitrogen balance boundaries, a reduction in protein intake from habitual intake and induction of negative nitrogen balance were not associated with higher proteolysis or lower muscle FSR, and an acute increase in protein intake from habitual intake and induction of positive nitrogen balance were not associated with lower proteolysis or higher muscle FSR. A higher quantitative insulin sensitivity check index was associated with lower whole-body proteolysis rates. Conclusions: The practice of acutely controlling protein intake, even at intakes lower than habitual intakes that induce negative nitrogen balance, before quantifying human protein kinetics does not signiﬁcantly reduce muscle protein synthesis or increase proteolysis. Factors other than protein intake explain lower muscle protein synthesis rates with advanced age. This trial is registered at clinicaltrials.
Amino Acid d 13 C Analysis Shows Flexibility in the Routing of Dietary Protein and Lipids to the Tissue of an Omnivore Integrative and Comparative Biology

Synopsis Stable-isotope analysis (SIA) has revolutionized animal ecology by providing time-integrated estimates of the use of resources and/or habitats. SIA is based on the premise that the isotopic composition of a consumer’s tissues originates from its food, but is offset by trophic-discrimination (enrichment) factors controlled by metabolic processes associated with the assimilation of nutrients and the biosynthesis of tissues. Laboratory preparation protocols dictate that tissues both of consumers and of their potential prey be lipid-extracted prior to analysis, because (1) lipids have carbon isotope ( d 13 C) values that are lower by approximately 3–8 ø than associated proteins and (2) amino acids in consumers’ proteinaceous tissues are assumed to be completely routed from dietary protein. In contrast, models of stable-isotope mixing assume that dietary macromolecules are broken into their elemental constituents from which non-essential amino acids are resynthesized to build tissues. Here, we show that carbon from non-protein dietary macromolecules, namely lipids, was used to synthesize muscle tissue in an omnivorous rodent ( Mus musculus ). We traced the influence of dietary lipids on the synthesis of consumers’ tissues by inversely varying the dietary proportion of C 4 -based lipids and C 3 -based protein while keeping carbohydrate content constant in four dietary treatments, and analyzing the d 13 C values of amino acids in mouse muscle after 4 months of feeding. The influence of dietary lipids on non-essential amino acids varied as function of biosynthetic pathway. The source of carbon in ketogenic amino acids synthesized through the Krebs cycle was highly sensitive to dietary lipid content, with significant increases of approximately 2–4 ø in Glutamate and Aspartate d 13 C values from the 5% to 15% dietary lipid treatment. Glucogenic amino acids (Glycine and Serine) were less sensitive to dietary lipid, but increased by approximately 3–4 ø from the 25% to 40% lipid diet. As expected, the d 13 C values of essential amino acids did not vary significantly among diets. Although lipids provide a calorie-rich resource that fuels energy requirements, our results show that they also can be an important elemental source of carbon that contributes to the non-essential amino acids used to build structural tissue like muscle. As such, the calculation of trophic-discrimination factors for animals that consume a lipid-rich diet should consider lipid carbon as a building block for proteinaceous tissues. Careful consideration of the macromolecular composition in the diet of the consumer of interest will help to further refine the use of SIA to study animal ecology and physiology.
Accuracy of fine needle aspiration cytology in categorization of breast lumps

Diagnostic breast lump FNAC is an important part of of triple assessment. At a tertiary hospital retrospective study was done.The study compared malignant lesions diagnosed on fnac with its histopathological diagnosis. 125 cases were selected for the study of which 29 cases found to be positive for malignancy. Two cases found to be false negative. The sensitivity of FNAC for detection of malignancy was 92.59% while specificity 100%. The conclusion is that FNAC can be a very important diagnostic test in detecting malignancy in palpable breast lumps.The research show the final histopathology diagnosis highly correlating with the cytological diagnosis.