Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ongoing Immunoglobulin Class Switch DNA Recombination in Lupus B Cells: Analysis of Switch Regulatory Regions

Inflammation and tissue damage in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are mediated by class-switched autoantibodies reactive with nucleic acids, nucleic acid-binding proteins, phospholipids and other self-antigens. While some healthy individuals produce IgM antibodies with specificities similar to those of lupus patients, immunoglobulin class switching to mature downstream isotypes appears to be required for the generation of pathogenic autoantibodies. To characterize the cellular and molecular basis of pathogenic autoantibody production in SLE, we studied the capacity of peripheral blood B cells of naïve phenotype from patients with SLE, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or healthy control subjects to spontaneously switch to IgG and IgA. In addition, we determined the DNA sequences of the upstream evolutionary conserved sequence (ECS)-Iγ promoter regulatory regions that control germline IH-CH transcription and class switch DNA recombination (CSR) to IgG1, IgG2 and IgG4. IgM+IgD+ B cells from patients with SLE, but not those from RA or healthy control subjects, underwent spontaneous CSR, as assessed by expression of germline Iγ1-Cγ1, Iγ2-Cγ2, Iγ3-Cγ3, Iγ4-Cγ4 and Iα1-Cα1 transcripts, mature (switched) VHDJH-Cγ1, VHDJH-Cγ2, VHDJH-Cγ3 and VHDJH-Cα1 transcripts and secreted IgG and IgA. Although polymorphic DNA sequences were identified in the ECS-Iγ1, ECS-Iγ2 and ECS-Iγ4 promoter regions, the transcription factor-binding sites that mediate germline Iγ-Cγ transcription were conserved in patients and controls. However, distinct patterns of nuclear protein binding to an ECS-Iγ promoter sequence that contains both positive and negative regulatory elements were observed in SLE patients and controls. These results support a role for exogenous signals, such as through CD40 ligation, rather than altered genomic sequence, in the increased production of class switched autoantibodies in SLE.
Human adipose tissue stromal vascular fraction cells differentiate depending on distinct types of media

Abstract. Objectives: Angiogenesis, the process of formation of blood vessels, is essential for many physiological as well as pathological processes. It has been shown that human adipose tissue contains a population of non‐characterized cells, called stromal‐vascular fraction (SVF) cells, which are able to differentiate into several lineages. The aim of this study was to determine conditions for promoting differentiation of human adipose tissue progenitors towards endothelial cells, as well as to show that SVF cells cooperate with differentiated endothelium in capillary network formation. Materials and methods: Stromal vascular fraction cells were isolated according to modified Hauner's method and after adaptation they were cultured in pro‐angiogenic or pro‐adipogenic medium. Cells were characterized by presence of surface antigens by flow cytometry, and by expression of genes characteristic for endothelial cells or for adipocytes, quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction. A number of tests were performed to verify their differentiation. Results: Differentiation of human SVF cells towards endothelium was stimulated by the presence of serum and absence of adipogenic factors, documented by the pattern of gene expression as well as different functional in vitro assays. SVF cells were found to work together with human umbilical vein endothelial cells to form capillary networks. Conclusions: Here, we show that differentiation of SVF cells to endothelial cells or adipocyte‐like cells depended on the medium used. Our work provides a clear model for analysing the differentiation capacity of SVF cells.
A Polynomial Method for Fitting Continuous Distributions of Exponentials with Positivity Constraint

The need to fit sums of decaying exponentials to data is ubiquitous in the life sciences, where biological systems are often modeled as collections of interconnected compartments. When the number of compartments is extremely large, it becomes more appropriate to consider the data concerned as the integral of a continuous distribution of exponentials. A method is presented for determining distributions of exponentials from data which can be implemented on a personal computer. The technique, termed the "polynomial method," assumes that the distributions are smooth and slowly varying and can be represented by a low-order polynomial. An iterative addition to the technique is also described that allows positive distributions to be recovered, should this be appropriate. The technique is applied to simulated data and to relaxed expiration volume data obtained from dogs.
Long-term Effects of Remote Ischemic Preconditioning on Kidney Function in High-risk Cardiac Surgery Patients: Follow-up Results from the RenalRIP Trial

Background: In a multicenter, randomized trial, the authors enrolled patients at high-risk for acute kidney injury as identified by a Cleveland Clinic Foundation score of 6 or more. The authors enrolled 240 patients at four hospitals and randomized them to remote ischemic preconditioning or control. The authors found that remote ischemic preconditioning reduced acute kidney injury in high-risk patients undergoing cardiac surgery. The authors now report on the effects of remote ischemic preconditioning on 90-day outcomes. Methods: In this follow-up study of the RenalRIP trial, the authors examined the effect of remote ischemic preconditioning on the composite endpoint major adverse kidney events consisting of mortality, need for renal replacement therapy, and persistent renal dysfunction at 90 days. Secondary outcomes were persistent renal dysfunction and dialysis dependence in patients with acute kidney injury. Results: Remote ischemic preconditioning significantly reduced the occurrence of major adverse kidney events at 90 days (17 of 120 [14.2%]) versus control (30 of 120 [25.0%]; absolute risk reduction, 10.8%; 95% CI, 0.9 to 20.8%; P = 0.034). In those patients who developed acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery, 2 of 38 subjects in the remote ischemic preconditioning group (5.3%) and 13 of 56 subjects in the control group (23.2%) failed to recover renal function at 90 days (absolute risk reduction, 17.9%; 95% CI, 4.8 to 31.1%; P = 0.020). Acute kidney injury biomarkers were also increased in patients reaching the major adverse kidney event endpoint compared to patients who did not. Conclusions: Remote ischemic preconditioning significantly reduced the 3-month incidence of a composite endpoint major adverse kidney events consisting of mortality, need for renal replacement therapy, and persistent renal dysfunction in high-risk patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Furthermore, remote ischemic preconditioning enhanced renal recovery in patients with acute kidney injury.
Avaliação funcional em pacientes amputados de membros inferiores

A avaliacao funcional possui grande importância para os amputados, uma vez que a reabilitacao deste grupo de pacientes visa melhorar a mobilidade e a independencia pessoal. O objetivo deste estudo foi buscar na literatura instrumentos existentes para se avaliar a funcao em pacientes amputados de membros inferiores e realizar uma analise critica dos textos selecionados. Foram incluidos 52 artigos publicados no periodo entre 1985 a 2005, nos idiomas ingles, portugues, espanhol e frances, nas bases de dados Lilacs, Medline, Pubmed, Cochrane e por meio de busca nao eletronica, a partir das referencias dos artigos selecionados. Este estudo demonstrou que existem diversos instrumentos usados para avaliar a funcao em pacientes amputados, porem nao ha um considerado padrao-ouro e que instrumentos genericos nao especificos para medir funcao de amputados sao inapropriados para uso com este grupo de pacientes.
Performance evaluation of the pull-type packet compensation protocol with common spreading sequences for broadcasting system

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate performance of the pull-type packet compensation protocol with common spreading sequences by theoretical analysis. This protocol is the loss packet compensation scheme for broadcasting services using road to vehicle communications (RVC). In this paper, the blocking probability, the average time to complete compensation and the average number of packet transmissions are analyzed. As the result, the pull-type packet compensation protocol outperforms the push-type packet compensation protocol
Monitoring heparin anticoagulation in the acute phase response

The anticoagulant effect of unfractionated heparin (UFH) is monitored using the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT). An APTT of 1·5–2·5 times the control is usually taken as the therapeutic range and assumed to reflect an anti‐activated factor X (anti‐Xa) level of 0·35–0·7 u/ml. However, in some cases, despite administration of sufficient heparin to achieve a therapeutic anti‐Xa assay level, the APTT remains sub‐therapeutic. This ‘apparent heparin resistance’ is commonly due to high levels of factor VIII (FVIII). In these situations, the anti‐Xa is usually preferred for monitoring in order to avoid, what might be, dangerously high levels of heparin. We hypothesized that at high FVIII levels, the heparin resistance encountered may be genuine rather than apparent and that higher doses of heparin may indeed be needed for an equivalent anticoagulant effect. The relationship between heparin level, APTT and anticoagulant effect at different FVIII concentrations was determined using thrombelastography and the thrombin generation assay. Thromboelastographic and thrombin generation parameters concurred with APTT, demonstrating a genuine heparin resistance in the presence of high FVIII levels. This suggests that APTT may be a more accurate measure of anticoagulant effect in vivo than anti‐Xa.
miR-455-5p promotes cell growth and invasion by targeting SOCO3 in non-small cell lung cancer

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer. miR-455-5p has increased expression and the ability to promote tumorigenesis in certain cancers. However, the role of miR-455-5p in NSCLC has not been sufficiently investigated. SOCS3 (suppressor of cytokine signaling 3), an important tumor suppressor, is often aberrantly inactivated in various tumors, but it is currently unclear whether SOCO3 is a target of miR-455-5p. In the present study, we investigated the role of miR-455-5p in NSCLC. We found that the expression of miR-455-5p was up-regulated in NSCLC tumor tissues compared to corresponding noncancerous tissues, and its expression was correlated with metastasis and tumor node metastasis in NSCLC tissue. We then showed that miR-455-5p promoted migration, invasion and proliferation in NSCLC cell lines. Additionally, we also found that SOCS3 was the direct target gene of miR-455-5p. Consistently, the expression of SOCS3 was negatively correlated with the expression of miR-455-5p in NSCLC tissues. We further show that aberrant miR-455-5p expression is partially controlled by activated ERK signaling in NSCLC. Therefore, miR-455-5p could enhance the growth and metastasis of NSCLC by inhibiting SOCS3, thus providing a potential molecular therapeutic target for the treatment of NSCLC patients.
Dynamic breast MR imaging: are signal intensity time course data useful for differential diagnosis of enhancing lesions?

PURPOSE To assess the relevance of the signal intensity time course for the differential diagnosis of enhancing lesions in dynamic magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the breast. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two hundred sixty-six breast lesions were examined with a two-dimensional dynamic MR imaging series and subtraction postprocessing. Time-signal intensity curves of the lesions were obtained and classified according to their shapes as type I, which was steady enhancement; type II, plateau of signal intensity; or type III, washout of signal intensity. Enhancement rates and curve types of benign and malignant lesions were compared. RESULTS There were 101 malignant and 165 benign lesions. The distribution of curve types for breast cancers was type I, 8.9%; type II, 33.6%; and type III, 57.4%. The distribution of curve types for benign lesions was type I, 83.0%; type II, 11.5%; and type III, 5.5%. The distributions proved significantly different (chi 2 = 139.6; P < .001). The diagnostic indices for signal intensity time course were sensitivity, 91%; specificity, 83%; and diagnostic accuracy, 86%. The diagnostic indices for the enhancement rate were sensitivity, 91%; specificity, 37%; and diagnostic accuracy, 58%. CONCLUSION The shape of the time-signal intensity curve is an important criterion in differentiating benign and malignant enhancing lesions in dynamic breast MR imaging. A type III time course is a strong indicator of malignancy and is independent of other criteria.
Comprehensive review of therapeutic interventions in managing chronic spinal pain.

BACKGROUND Available evidence documents a wide degree of variance in the definition and practice of interventional pain management. OBJECTIVE To provide evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for interventional techniques in the treatment of chronic spinal pain. DESIGN Best evidence synthesis. METHODS Strength of evidence was assessed by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) criteria utilizing 5 levels of evidence ranging from Level I to III with 3 subcategories in Level II. OUTCOMES Short-term pain relief was defined as relief lasting 6 months or less and long-term relief as longer than 6 months, except < or = one year and > one year for intradiscal therapies, mechanical disc decompression, spinal cord stimulation, and intrathecal infusion systems. RESULTS The indicated evidence for therapeutic interventions is Level I for caudal epidural steroid injections in managing disc herniation or radiculitis, and discogenic pain without disc herniation or radiculitis. The evidence is Level I to II-1 for percutaneous adhesiolysis in management of pain secondary to post-lumbar surgery syndrome. The evidence is Level II-1 or II-2 for therapeutic cervical, thoracic, and lumbar facet joint nerve blocks; for caudal epidural injections in managing pain of post-lumbar surgery syndrome, and lumbar spinal stenosis, for cervical interlaminar epidural injections in managing cervical pain (Level II-1); for lumbar transforaminal epidural injections; and spinal cord stimulation for post-lumbar surgery syndrome. LIMITATIONS The limitations of this guideline preparation included a paucity of literature, lack of updates, and lack of conflicts in preparation of systematic reviews and guidelines by various organizations. CONCLUSION The indicated evidence for therapeutic interventions is variable from Level I to III. This comprehensive review includes the evaluation of evidence for therapeutic procedures in managing chronic spinal pain and recommendations. However, this review and recommendations do not constitute inflexible treatment recommendations or "standard of care. "
Outage performance of opportunistic AF OFDM relaying over Rician fading channel

This paper analyzes closed-form outage probability of opportunistic amplify-and-forward (AF) for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) relaying over Rician fading environment. The opportunistic relay node is selected by maximizing signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) over all the relay nodes. In this paper, we propose a method by which a closed form outage probability approximation for opportunistic AF OFDM relaying can be evaluated by utilizing the approximation of Marcum Q-function. The outage probability is derived over independent and identically distributed (i.i.d) fading channel and independent but not identically distributed (i.n.d) fading channel. The investigation indicates that the number of relay nodes has to be increased in order to improve the outage performance of opportunistic AF OFDM relaying irrespective of the number of subcarriers used by the transceivers. We derive a closed-form outage probability approximation over Rician fading channels at high SNR regime and it is validated through the Monte-Carlo simulation results.
Mechanical scanning with a dual-layer pillbox antenna for millimeter-wave applications

A low-profile, high performance, multi-beam, low-cost multi-layer pillbox antenna has been recently proposed by the authors [1] [2], as a possible solution for high demanding millimeter-wave applications (surveillance systems, automotive radars, telecommunication applications, etc.). In these works a passive electronic system was used for steering the antenna main beam. However, thanks to the low profile, low weight and compactness of the structure, a mechanical scanning can be an attractive solution for those applications where a continuous steering of the main beam is required for tracking moving objects or connection maintenance (satellite based telecommunication applications). This solution would be a cheaper alternative compared to expensive phased approaches or hybrid combinations of mechanical and electronic scanning. The antennas structure is shown in Fig.1. It is based on a SIW (Substrate Integrated Waveguide, [3] [4]), double layer pill-box structure where the feeding and radiating parts are located in two different substrates connected by an integrated symmetric parabolic reflector and several coupling slots (quasi-optical system). In the following the three main parts of the system (quasi-optical system, input part and radiating part) are introduced together with some numerical results at f0=24.15 GHz.
Gaining efficiencies: resources and demand for dialysis around the globe.

OBJECTIVES End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is a debilitating condition resulting in death unless treated. Treatment options are transplantation and dialysis. Alternative dialysis modalities are peritoneal dialysis (PD) and hemodialysis (HD), each of which has been shown to produce similar outcomes and survival. Nevertheless, the financial implications of each modality are different and these differences vary by country, especially in the developing world. Changes in clinically appropriate dialysis delivery leading to more efficient use of resources would increase the resources available to treat ESRD or other disabling conditions. This article outlines the relative advantages of HD and PD and uses budget impact analysis to estimate the country-specific, 5-year financial implications on total dialysis costs assuming utilization shifts from HD to PD in two high-income (UK, Singapore), three upper-middle-income (Mexico, Chile, Romania), and three lower-middle-income (Thailand, China, Colombia) countries. RESULTS Peritoneal dialysis is a clinically effective dialysis option that can be significantly cost-saving compared to HD, even in developing countries. CONCLUSIONS The magnitude of costs associated with treating ESRD patients globally is large and growing. PD is a clinically effective dialysis option that can be used by a majority of ESRD patients and can also be significantly cost-saving compared to HD therapy. Increasing clinically appropriate PD use would substantially reduce health-care costs and help health-care systems meet ever-tightening budget constraints.
Compositional analysis of Helicobacter pylori rough-form lipopolysaccharides

Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was used to analyze the macromolecular heterogeneity of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) from seven fresh clinical isolates and three culture collection strains of the human pathogen Helicobacter pylori. All the clinical isolates produced smooth-form LPS with O side chains of relatively homogeneous chain length, whereas the culture collection strains yielded rough-form LPS. A better yield of the latter LPS was obtained when combined protease pretreatment and hot phenol-water extraction were used than when the conventional phenol-water technique alone was used for extraction. The LPS of the three culture collection strains (S-24, C-5437, and NCTC 11637) were chemically characterized. Constituents common to all the LPS were fucose, D-mannose, D-glucose, D-galactose, D-glycero-D-manno-heptose, L-glycero-D-manno-heptose, and 3-deoxy-D-manno-2-octulosonic acid. The molar ratios of the hexoses differed between different strains, thereby reflecting structural differences. Phosphate, phosphorylethanolamine, and pyrophosphorylethanolamine were present also. Free lipid A contained D-glucosamine and fatty acids, with phosphate and a minor amount of ethanolamine. The major fatty acids were ester- and amide-bound 3-hydroxyoctadecanoic acid and ester-bound octadecanioc and 3-hydroxyhexadecanoic acids, with minor amounts of ester-bound tetradecanoic and hexadecanoic acids. In addition to the uncommonly long 3-hydroxy fatty acids, an unusual phosphorylation pattern was deduced to be present in the lipid A.
Construction of Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase deletion mutants of Brucella abortus: analysis of survival in vitro in epithelial and phagocytic cells and in vivo in mice

Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD) deletion mutants of Brucella abortus S2308, a virulent strain, and S19, a vaccine strain, were generated by gene replacement. A deletion plasmid, pBA delta sodknr, was constructed by excising the Cu-Zn SOD gene (Cu-Zn sod) from a 2.3-kb B. abortus DNA fragment of plasmid pBA20-1527 and inserting a 1.4-kb DNA fragment encoding kanamycin resistance into the Cu-Zn sod excision site. The deletion plasmid was introduced into B. abortus by electroporation, and Southern blot analysis confirmed that the antibiotic resistance fragment had replaced Cu-Zn sod in kanamycin-resistant colonies. The survival and growth of Cu-Zn SOD mutant strains were compared with that of the parental strains in HeLa cells and in the mouse macrophagelike cell line J774. The survival and growth of the Cu-Zn SOD mutant strains were similar to those of their respective parental strains in HeLa and J774 cell lines. The kinetics of infection with these strains were examined in BALB/c mice. The splenic levels of the S19 Cu-Zn SOD mutant recovered from intraperitoneally infected BALB/c mice were approximately 10-fold lower than those of the parental strain through 26 days postinfection. Thereafter, infection sharply declined in both groups, and by 105 days postinfection, no organisms were detected. The splenic levels of the S2308 Cu-Zn SOD mutant were lower than those of wild-type S2308-infected mice. The spleen weights of mice infected with the S2308 Cu-Zn SOD mutant were consistently lower than those of wild-type S2308-infected mice. These results suggest that the antioxidant enzyme Cu-Zn SOD plays a role in the survival and pathogenicity of B. abortus in vivo.
Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis with myeloproliferative syndrome with myelodysplasia: Bronchoalveolar lavage reduces white blood cell count

Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) is a rare disorder characterized by surfactant component accumulation in the alveolar space. Primary PAP is likely an autoimmune disorder caused by antibodies to granulocyte‐macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM‐CSF). When an underlying disease causes PAP, this is called secondary PAP. Hematologic malignancies are an important cause of secondary PAP. As the pathogenesis of primary PAP has become more fully understood, improvements in diagnostic and therapeutic approaches have followed. However, when PAP is secondary to an underlying hematologic malignancy, much remains unclear. Here we describe for the first time a patient with hybrid myelodysplastic syndrome/myeloproliferative syndrome and PAP who had a marked decrease in her white blood cell count following a transbronchial biopsy accompanied by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). Similar significant decreases in WBC count accompanied clinical improvement following two unilateral BALs. Given that patients with pulmonary alveolar proteinosis frequently have elevated GM‐CSF in bronchoalveolar fluid, this observation provides a unique vantage point to understand the pathophysiology of secondary PAP. Am. J. Hematol. 81:634–638, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.