Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protein U, a late-developmental spore coat protein of Myxococcus xanthus, is a secretory protein

Protein U is a spore coat protein produced at the late stage of development of Myxococcus xanthus. This protein was isolated from developmental cells, and its amino-terminal sequence was determined. On the basis of this sequence, the gene for protein U (pru) was cloned and its DNA sequence was determined, revealing an open reading frame of 179 codons. The product from this open reading frame has a typical signal peptide of 25 amino acid residues at the amino terminal end, followed by protein U of 154 residues. This result indicates that protein U is produced as a secretory precursor, pro-protein U, which is then secreted across the membrane to assemble on the spore surface. This is in sharp contrast to protein S, a major spore coat protein produced early in development, which has no signal peptide, indicating that there are two distinct pathways for trafficking of spore coat proteins during the differentiation of M. xanthus.
Heads‐up: New roles for the fragile X mental retardation protein in neural stem and progenitor cells

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common form of inherited mental retardation and is caused by the loss of function for Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein (FMRP), a selective RNA‐binding protein with a demonstrated role in the localized translation of target mRNAs at synapses. Several recent studies provide compelling evidence for a new role of FMRP in the development of the nervous system, during neurogenesis. Using a multi‐faceted approach and a variety of model systems ranging from cultured neurospheres and progenitor cells to in vivo Drosophila and mouse models these reports indicate that FMRP is required for neural stem and progenitor cell proliferation, differentiation, survival, as well as regulation of gene expression. Here we compare and contrast these recent reports and discuss the implications of FMRP's new role in embryonic and adult neurogenesis, including the development of novel therapeutic approaches to FXS and related neurological disorders such as autism. genesis 49:424–440,2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A 28 Gb/s Multistandard Serial Link Transceiver for Backplane Applications in 28 nm CMOS

This paper presents a power- and area-efficient multistandard serial link transceiver designed for backplane application rates of up to 28 Gb/s, such as OIF CEI-25G, CEI-28G, and IEEE 802.3bj 100G-KR4. The receiver features a continuous-time linear equalizer, variable gain amplifier, and a 14-tap decision feedback equalizer, including eight floating taps. The transmitter has a 2:1 multiplexer with a duty cycle distortion corrected half-rate clock and a full-rate source-series terminated driver with a 5-tap feed-forward equalizer. The shared PLL employs a transformer-based LC-VCO that achieves a VCO tuning range of 20G to 29 GHz and 0.23 ps RMS jitter at 28.125 GHz. The transmitter output shows only 50 fs duty-cycle distortion. The transceiver can compensate a 40 dB insertion loss backplane channel (excluding package) at a data rate of 25.78 Gb/s with eight channels running simultaneously. It is fabricated in 28 nm standard CMOS and analog section consumes only 295 mW at 1 V supply with transmitter driver at 1.25 V. Such low power consumption and performance are achieved by combination of advanced 28 nm process, low power and performance driven receiver and transmitter topologies, widely adopted bandwidth extension techniques, built-in analog calibrations and one common PLL with a transformer based VCO for four transceivers.
Psychometric high-risk paradigm, perceptual aberrations, and schizotypy: an update.

The psychometric high-risk strategy represents a useful methodologic adjunct to the traditional genetic high-risk research approach in the study of the etiology and development of schizophrenia. During the past 15 years, considerable research activity has focused on psychometrically identified individuals hypothesized to be en route to schizophrenia (i.e., putative schizotypes). The Perceptual Aberration Scale (PAS) has figured prominently in such prediction-oriented psychometric high-risk work. This report examines research using the PAS completed since 1987 that has established the instrument as a valid index for detecting liability for schizophrenia (or schizotypy) and as, arguably, the schizotypy index of choice for research. These results are presented and interpreted in light of Meehl's theoretical framework of schizotypy. Other measures of and assessment devices for schizotypy (schizophrenia-related liability) are identified. Of these other measures, the Chapmans' Magical Ideation Scale and the schizophrenia liability index of Moldin and colleagues are particularly well established. Methodologic suggestions for future psychometric high-risk and other work using objective measures of schizotypic psychopathology are offered. It is strongly recommended that future studies of schizotypy (or those in the planning stages, relying on psychometric detection methods use multiple psychometric indices to tap schizotypy or use a psychometric index in association with other promising biobehavioral markers of schizophrenia liability (e.g., sustained attentional deficits, eye movement dysfunction) for maximum efficiency in both location and definition of schizotypes.
Recipient Glycemic Micro-environments Govern Therapeutic Effects of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Infusion on Osteopenia

Therapeutic effects of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) infusion have been revealed in various human disorders, but impacts of diseased micro-environments are only beginning to be noticed. Donor diabetic hyperglycemia is reported to impair therapeutic efficacy of stem cells. However, whether recipient diabetic condition also affects MSC-mediated therapy is unknown. We and others have previously shown that MSC infusion could cure osteopenia, particularly in ovariectomized (OVX) mice. Here, we discovered impaired MSC therapeutic effects on osteopenia in recipient type 1 diabetes (T1D). Through intensive glycemic control by daily insulin treatments, therapeutic effects of MSCs on osteopenia were maintained. Interestingly, by only transiently restoration of recipient euglycemia using single insulin injection, MSC infusion could also rescue T1D-induced osteopenia. Conversely, under recipient hyperglycemia induced by glucose injection in OVX mice, MSC-mediated therapeutic effects on osteopenia were diminished. Mechanistically, recipient hyperglycemic micro-environments reduce anti-inflammatory capacity of MSCs in osteoporotic therapy through suppressing MSC interaction with T cells via the Adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway. We further revealed in diabetic micro-environments, double infusion of MSCs ameliorated osteopenia by anti-inflammation, attributed to the first transplanted MSCs which normalized the recipient glucose homeostasis. Collectively, our findings uncover a previously unrecognized role of recipient glycemic conditions controlling MSC-mediated therapy, and unravel that fulfillment of potent therapeutic effects of MSCs requires tight control of recipient micro-environments.
To Detect the Distribution of Non-Uniform Random Waypoints

The Non-Uniform Random Waypoint (NU-RWP) mobility model has recently be proposed as a potential mobility model for the study of wireless mobile networks. However, it is difficult to obtain the waypoints distribution of NU-RWP in most practical situations. In this paper, we analytically derive the relationship between waypoints distribution and the number of hosts' arrivals that could be detected by sensors. An estimation scheme using supervised learning algorithm is proposed to simplify the evaluation of the distribution function. Simulations are carried out to verify the correctness of our proposed scheme.
Optimal preparation for video capsule endoscopy: a prospective, randomized, single-blind study.

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIM Visualization of the small bowel by video capsule endoscopy (VCE) is frequently impaired by intestinal contents. Different bowel preparations have been studied with controversial results. The aim of this study was to determine a satisfactory and tolerable bowel preparation for VCE. METHODS Ninety patients were randomized to three preparation regimens. Group A underwent VCE after clear liquid diet and overnight fast, while groups B and C received respectively 1 or 2 L of polyethylene glycol (PEG) solution before VCE. For each VCE five segments of 10 minutes were selected, one at the start of each quartile of the small-intestinal transit time, the fifth being the last 10 minutes of the ileum transit. Mucosal visibility was regarded as good if more than 75 % of the mucosa could be evaluated. All patients answered a questionnaire regarding procedure tolerability. RESULTS The use of PEG solution led to a significant improvement in mucosal visualization. Mucosal visibility was good in the terminal ileum in 25 % of patients in group A, 52 % in group B, and 72 % in group C. The diagnostic yield did not change significantly. The use of 2 L of PEG solution was considered more uncomfortable than no PEG solution or 1 L of the same. CONCLUSION One liter of PEG solution improves mucosal visualization without causing discomfort for the patient.
In vivo role of nitric oxide in plant response to abiotic and biotic stress

Over the past few years, nitric oxide (NO) has emerged as an important regulator in many physiological events, especially in response to abiotic and biotic stress. However, the roles of NO were mostly derived from pharmacological studies or the mutants impaired NO synthesis unspecifically. In our recent study, we highlighted a novel strategy by expressing the rat neuronal NO synthase (nNOS) in Arabidopsis to explore the in vivo role of NO. Our results suggested that plants were able to perform well in the constitutive presence of nNOS, and provided a new class of plant experimental system with specific in vivo NO release. Furthermore, our findings also confirmed that the in vivo NO is essential for most of environmental abiotic stresses and disease resistance against pathogen infection. Proper level of NO may be necessary and beneficial, not only in plant response to the environmental abiotic stress, but also to biotic stress.
T. S. Eliot's Prosody and the Free Verse Tradition: Restricting Whitman's "Free Growth of Metrical Laws"

the publication of the first edition of Leaves of Grass in 1855, he proclaimed in the now well-known preface that the "rhyme and uniformity of perfect poems show a free growth of metrical laws and bud from them as unerringly and loosely as lilacs or roses on a bush" (1973 [1855]: 716). The poetry of the 1855 and successive editions drew its sound structure primarily from the metrical laws of the language system instead of from literary tradition. The poetry was rooted in language itself, as spoken in America, and not in the literary tradition that had been developed and defined in Great Britain (Gates 1985; Hollis 1983). One of the difficulties in studying free verse has been seeing the identity of its varied types. Recent research has established a prosodic identity of free verse in the structuralization of verse from the linguistic system. Differences within the free verse tradition can now be determined as variations on the ways the structuring takes place to produce meanings and effects. Walt Whitman's poetry has been shown to be highly wrought from the shaping of sound units stylized from speech and writing (Gates 1985); and William Carlos Williams's prosody has been demonstrated to be an intricate working of these stylized units in lines and across lines in such a way that the sound and meaning systems of language are exploited for polysemy and heightened emotion (Gates 1987).
Locally advanced/inflammatory breast cancers treated with intensive epirubicin-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy: are there molecular markers in the primary tumour that predict for 5-year clinical outcome?

BACKGROUND Locally advanced and/or inflammatory breast cancer (LABC) is a heterogeneous disease. Molecular markers may help to understand this heterogeneity. This paper reports the results of a study assessing the potential prognostic or predictive value of HER-2, p53, cyclinD1, MIB1, ER and PgR expression by immunohistochemistry from patients included in an EORTC-NCIC-SAKK trial. PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 448 patients with a cytological or histological diagnosis of LABC were randomised into a trial comparing two anthracycline-based neoadjuvant regimens. Chemotherapy was followed by standard locoregional therapy. Survival was comparable in both arms. We collected and analysed centrally paraffin-embedded tumour specimens from 187 (72.5%) of 258 patients that had a histological diagnosis. RESULTS Of the patients included in this molecular marker study 114 relapsed and 91 died. In the multivariate analysis p53 positivity was associated with a shorter progression-free survival [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.96; 95% CI 1.33-2.91; P = 0.0008) and a shorter overall survival (HR = 1.98; 95% CI 1.28-3.06; P = 0.002). PgR positivity predicted for a longer overall survival (HR = 0.54; 95% CI 0.35-0.83; P = 0.0045). CONCLUSIONS p53 was an independent factor predicting for survival. In order to clarify whether p53 is a pure prognostic and/or a predictive factor, a phase III trial is being conducted (EORTC 10994/BIG 00-01 study) using functional assay in yeast from frozen tumour samples.
Cognitive Performance during Sustained Wakefulness: A Low Dose of Caffeine Is Equally Effective as Modafinil in Alleviating the Nocturnal Decline

Cognitive performance at night exhibits a substantial drop, typically before dawn. One of the means of dealing with this phenomenon, as well as with the accompanying sleepiness during sustained wakefulness, is the administration of stimulants. The most widely used and well‐documented stimulants are caffeine, amphetamines, and modafinil. Of these, amphetamines are the least recommended, as they may severely affect behavior. Caffeine and modafinil seem to produce relatively milder side effects and usually only at high doses. Previous comparison studies have revealed equal efficacy of both the stimulants in maintaining alertness and performance during sustained wakefulness. However, these studies used relatively high, and thus not completely safe, doses of these drugs (600 mg caffeine and 400 mg modafinil). Therefore, the aim of the present study was to assess the efficacy of a low and medically safe dose of caffeine (200 mg) and modafinil (200 mg) in maintaining cognitive performance during sustained wakefulness. A flight simulation task was chosen for the assessment of the stimulants in a counter‐balanced, within‐subject design under four different conditions: baseline (no drugs), placebo, caffeine (200 mg), and modafinil (200 mg). The equal effectiveness of both drugs in abolishing the nocturnal drop in cognitive performance, as well as of oral temperature and blood pressure, supported the use of low doses of caffeine and modafinil for the maintenance of alertness in healthy subjects during sustained wakefulness.
Broad-host-range vectors for delivery of TnphoA: use in genetic analysis of secreted virulence determinants of Vibrio cholerae

Gene fusions between the cholera toxin structural genes and phoA, which encodes bacterial alkaline phosphatase, were identified after TnphoA mutagenesis of the cloned genes in Escherichia coli and were then mobilized into Vibrio cholerae. The activities of the hybrid proteins were detectable in V. cholerae and suggested that, like cholera toxin, they were secreted beyond the cytoplasm. To extend the utility of TnphoA to identify additional genetic export signals in V. cholerae and other gram-negative bacteria, TnphoA delivery vectors utilizing broad-host-range plasmids were developed. By using V. cholerae as a model system, insertion mutants carrying active phoA gene fusions were identified as colonies expressing alkaline phosphatase, which appeared blue on agar containing the indicator 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl phosphate. Since alkaline phosphatase is active only upon export from the cytoplasm, PhoA+ colonies resulting from the mutagenesis procedure were enriched for insertions in genes that encode secreted proteins. Insertion mutations were identified in the gene encoding a major outer membrane protein, OmpV, and in tcpA, which encodes a pilus (fimbrial) subunit. Mutant strains harboring chromosomal insertions isolated in this manner can be used to assess the role of the corresponding inactivated gene products on survival of V. cholerae in vivo. The expression of the hybrid proteins as determined by measuring alkaline phosphatase activity also allowed the convenient study of virulence gene expression.
Occupational risk assessment of oxidative stress and genotoxicity in workers exposed to paints during a working week

ObjectivesPaints are complex mixtures of solvents and metals that can induce health damages in workers exposed to them. The aim of the present work was to evaluate possible oxidative and genotoxic effects in workers exposed to paints.Material and MethodsPeripheral blood and buccal cell samples were collected from 33 workers exposed to paints and 29 non-exposed workers (controls) during an ordinary working week (Monday morning and Friday evening). Oxidative markers were assessed using thiobarbituric acid assay, carbonylated proteins, superoxide dismutase and catalase activities. Hippuric acid and delta-aminolevulinic acid were determined as biomarkers of toluene and lead exposure, respectively. Genotoxicity was measured through comet assay and micronucleus (MN) frequencies.ResultsThe exposed group showed higher hippuric acid and delta-aminolevulinic acid levels (Friday samples) and lower superoxide dismutase activity (Monday samples) in relation to control group. DNA damage index (comet assay) was higher in the exposed group, both in Monday and Friday samples, compared to the control group. No differences were observed in frequency of micronuclei (MN) between the groups, either in lymphocytes or buccal cells. However, the exposed group presented an increase (Monday samples) in nuclear buds frequency in lymphocytes — a marker of gene amplification — as well as an increase in condensed chromatin in the buccal cells (Monday and Friday samples), suggesting induction of apoptosis. Furthermore, a decrease in the nuclear division index (Friday samples) was observed in the exposed group, indicating that paint exposure induces cytostatic effects in lymphocytes.ConclusionThe results suggest that individuals exposed to paints have increased levels of DNA damage.
Planar scan matching using incident angle

The main contribution of this paper is a planar scan matching algorithm that makes use of the incident angle of a scan point as a feature to enhance the robustness to large relative transformations, particularly in orientation. A new definition of the incident angle is introduced and its consistency with respect to relative transformation between scans is demonstrated. A method that uses the Radial distance and Incident Angle (RIA) for scan alignment, that can efficiently estimate the relative transformation between two scans, is proposed. This approach is designed as a preprocessor for fine scan matching and it is able to pre-align scans that have large angular but limited translational displacement. Scans collected with aggressive robot motion in two typical indoor environments as well as benchmark datasets, are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of RIA when compared with a range of scan matching algorithms reported in the literature.
Effect of 10%, 30%, and 60% body weight traction on the straight leg raise test of symptomatic patients with low back pain.

STUDY DESIGN Single group test-retest repeated measures. OBJECTIVES To determine the effects of lumbar traction with 3 different amounts of force (10%, 30% and 60% body weight) on pain-free mobility of the lower extremity as measured by the straight leg raise (SLR) test. BACKGROUND There are several recommendations on how lumbar traction should be performed, but the duration, frequency, force, and type of technique to be applied differ among the sources. METHODS AND MEASURES Ten subjects with subjective complaints of low back pain or radicular symptoms with a positive unilateral SLR test below 45 degrees participated in this study. The pain-free mobility of the lower extremity in the SLR test position was measured prior to and immediately following 5 minutes of static traction in the supine position. Random assignment in the order of the amount of applied traction was implemented. RESULTS The straight leg raise measurements were found to be significantly greater immediately following 30% and 60% of body weight traction as compared to pretraction and 10% of body weight traction. The mean (SD) SLR measurements were pretraction (24.1 degrees +/- 13.0), 10% of body weight traction (27.4 degrees +/- 14.5), 30% of body weight traction (34.0 degrees +/- 14.3), 60% of body weight traction (36.5 degrees +/- 15.8). CONCLUSIONS The results of this study indicate that traction in this group of patients improved the mobility of the lower extremity during the SLR test. Both 30% and 60% of body weight tractions were shown to be effective for increasing motion beyond pretraction levels.
Anomalous mole–fraction effects in recombinant and native cyclic nucleotide–gated channels in rat olfactory receptor neurons

Anomalous mole–fraction effects (AMFE) were studied, using the inside–out configuration of the patchclamp technique, in both recombinant wild–type α–homomeric rat olfactory adenosine 3′,5′–cyclic monophosphate (cAMP)–gated channels (rOCNC1) expressed in human embryonic kidney cells (HEK 293) and native cyclic nucleotide–gated (CNG) channels in acutely isolated rat olfactory receptor neurons. Single–channel and macroscopic currents were activated by 200 μM and 500 μM cAMP, respectively. Macroscopic currents, measured with mixtures of Na+–NH4+ or Cs+–Li+ in the cytoplasmic bathing solution, displayed AMFE in the rOCNC1 channels at both positive and negative membrane potentials. The rOCNC1 single–channel conductance showed a distinct minimum (or maximum) in an 80% Na+–20% NH4+ mixture (or a 60% Cs+–40% Li+ mixture), but only at positive membrane potentials. Macroscopic measurements in native olfactory CNG channels with mixtures of Na+–NH4+ indicated similar AMFE. These results suggest that both native CNG channels and recombinant α–homomeric channels allow several ions to be present simultaneously within the channel pore. They also further validate the dominant role of the α–subunit in permeation through these channels, provide the first evidence to suggest that rOCNC1 channels have multi–ion properties and further justify the use of the rOCNC1 channel as an effective model for structure–function studies of ion permeation and selectivity in olfactory CNG channels.