Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
[Total percutaneous endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair].

OBJECTIVE To determine the safety and efficacy of total percutaneous endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair using the Perclose ProGlide suture-mediated closure system. METHODS From May 2008 to April 2010, 36 abdominal aortic aneurysm patients were undergone total percutaneous endovascular repair. There were 30 male and 6 female patients with a mean age of 68 years. Endografts used included 3 Endurant endografts, 13 Talent endografts, and 20 Zenith endografts. Prior to insertion of the introducer sheath, two ProGlides were pre-set to 18 to 24 F access sites and one to 14 to 16 F access sites. At last, suture the arteriotomy by tying down knots of the ProGlide following removal of the sheath. Technical success, complications, and procedure and access closure times were evaluated. Follow-up protocol consisted of computed tomography angiograms performed at 3, 6, 9, 12 months, and annually thereafter. RESULTS Twenty patients were operated under local anesthesia and 16 patients under general anesthesia. A total of 68 femoral arteries were closed with 128 devices. Thirty-eight vessels were with 2 devices, while 8 arteries required 3 devices and 2 arteries required 4 devices for hemostasis and an additional 20 vessels only required a single device. Sixty-three (63/68, 92.6%) vessels were closed successfully. Two vessels converted to open closure. Three vessels complicated with hematomas without surgical procedure. The mean follow-up was (12±3) months. There was one asymptomatic femoral artery dissection 3 months after operation. CONCLUSIONS Total percutaneous endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair is safe and effective. But it should be performed at hybrid operating room where can convert to open procedure if necessary.
Environmental Ambiance as a New Window on Wandering

This cross-sectional study explored relations between environmental ambiance and locomotion behaviors of elders with dementia (EWD), addressing the larger goal of developing theory explaining how environment affects wandering and other behaviors, thereby illuminating a pathway to intervention. A sample of 47 EWD (older than age 65, Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE] ≤ 23) from nursing homes and assisted-living facilities were studied through a random, cluster, sampling strategy. Participants were measured once for stable characteristics and videotaped for 12, randomly chosen, 20-minute periods over 2 separate days at least 48 hours apart. Hierarchical liner modeling was used to analyze data that focused on the observation as the unit of analysis, with repeated observations nested within participants. Results validated an influence of ambiance on locomoting behaviors, highlighting the importance of addressing the emotional valence of social and physical environments in care of EWD.
Identification of discrete functional domains of HIV‐1 integrase and their organization within an active multimeric complex.

HIV‐1 integrase protein possesses the 3′ processing and DNA strand transfer activities that are required to integrate HIV DNA into a host chromosome. The N‐, C‐terminal and core domains of integrase are necessary for both activities in vitro. We find that certain pairs of mutant integrase proteins, which are inactive when each protein is assayed alone, can support near wild type levels of activity when both proteins are present together in the reaction mixture. This complementation implies that HIV‐1 integrase functions as a multimer and has enabled us to probe the organization of the functional domains within active mixed multimers. We have identified a minimal set of functional integrase domains that are sufficient for 3′ processing and DNA strand transfer and find that some domains are contributed in trans by separate monomers within the functional complex.
Biological Effects Induced by Non-thermal Ultrasound and Implications for Cancer Therapy

Recent advancements in imaging and targeting have expanded the utility of ultrasound therapy with increasing attention being paid to the application of ultrasound in cancer therapy. We present in this article a review of the biological effects of non-thermal ultrasound that could find application in cancer treatment in the near and long term. A careful examination of the ultrasound parameters that elicited these observed effects is needed so that one may refine and apply these results for clinical application. Reported biological effects from non-thermal ultrasound have been categorized into mechanical and chemical means of action. Cavitation and acoustic radiation force are the main contributors to sonomechanical effects of ultrasound while reactive oxygen species contribute to its sonochemical effects. These two categories are responsible for observations such as induction of apoptosis in cancer cells, disturbance of the cytoskeleton, enhancement of gene transfection and chemotherapeutic potency, and modulation of cellular proliferation and protein synthesis. In this review we have considered the biological effects of non-thermal ultrasound, the range of parameters at which these biological effects are observed, and the applicability of the observed biological effects to cancer therapy.
CD99 Signals Caspase-Independent T Cell Death1

Death signaling by Fas and TNF receptors plays a major role in the control of activated mature T cells. However, the nature of the death receptors, which may be used by the immune system to control T cells that have not acquired susceptibility to Fas ligand or TNF, is not established. In this study, we demonstrate that engagement of distinct epitopes on CD99 rapidly induces T cell death by a novel caspase-independent pathway. A new mAb to these CD99 epitopes, Ad20, induces programmed cell death of transformed T cells as determined by morphological changes, phosphatidylserine exposure on the cell surface, and uptake of propidium iodide. In general, ligation of CD99 induced kinetically faster and more profound death responses as compared with the impact of anti-Fas and TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL). Ad20-induced programmed cell death was observed with seven of eight T cell lines examined, and notably, only two of these were distinctly responsive to anti-Fas and TRAIL. CD99-mediated death signaling proceeded independently of functional CD3, CD4, CD45, and p56lck, revealed distinctions from CD47-mediated T cell death responses, and was not influenced by interference with CD47 signaling. In contrast to the effect on transformed T cell lines, Ad20-induced death responses were not observed with normal peripheral T cells. Thus, our data suggest that CD99 is linked to a novel death pathway that may have biologic relevance in control of early T cells.
Expression of RGS3, RGS4 and Gi alpha 2 in acutely failing donor hearts and end-stage heart failure.

BACKGROUND Regulators of G-protein Signalling (RGS) proteins have been shown to limit in vitro signalling of G proteins. In common with end-stage heart failure, we have recently shown that upregulation of the inhibitory G-protein, Gialpha, occurs in acutely failing donor hearts unused for transplantation due to severe myocardial dysfunction. In light of recent data on RGS proteins, we have evaluated mRNA and protein expression of RGS3, RGS4 and Gialpha2 in the myocardium from normal, end-stage failing and acutely failing unused donor hearts. METHODS AND RESULTS Myocardial samples were obtained from end-stage failing hearts explanted prior to transplantation (n=19), unused donor hearts with ejection fractions < 30% (n=14) and used donor hearts with good function (ejection fraction > 60%) (n=4-7). mRNA levels were quantified using quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Levels of RGS3 and RGS4 mRNA were found to be significantly upregulated in unused donor and end-stage failing myocardium (P < 0.05 and 0.01, and P < 0.05 and 0.02, respectively) compared to non-failing hearts. Protein abundance of RGS3 and RGS4 was found to be higher in myocardium from end-stage failing hearts, and relative RGS4 expression higher in unused donor hearts. CONCLUSIONS We show here that RGS3 and RGS4 mRNA and protein expression is upregulated in human heart failure. These observations suggest that RGS4 may be induced in the heart to regulate cell signalling pathways in response to hypertrophy, and support the existence of a negative feedback loop for the long-term regulation of hypertrophy.
A single 60‐min bout of peristaltic pulse external pneumatic compression transiently upregulates phosphorylated ribosomal protein s6

We investigated whether a single 60‐min bout of whole leg, peristaltic pulse external pneumatic compression (EPC) altered select growth factor‐related mRNAs and/or various phospho(p)‐proteins related to cell growth, proliferation, inflammation and apoptosis signalling (e.g. Akt‐mTOR, Jak‐Stat). Ten participants (8 males, 2 females; aged 22·2 ± 0·4 years) reported to the laboratory 4 h post‐prandial, and vastus lateralis muscle biopsies were obtained prior to (PRE), 1 h and 4 h post‐EPC treatment. mRNA expression was analysed using real‐time RT‐PCR and phosphophorylated and cleaved proteins were analysed using an antibody array. No changes in selected growth factor‐related mRNAs were observed following EPC. All p‐proteins significantly altered by EPC decreased, except for p‐rps6 (Ser235/236) which increased 31% 1 h post‐EPC compared to PRE levels (P = 0·016). Notable decreases also included p‐BAD (Ser112; −28%, P = 0·004) at 4 h post‐EPC compared to PRE levels. In summary, an acute bout of EPC transiently upregulates p‐rps6 as well as affecting other markers in the Akt‐mTOR signalling cascade. Future research should characterize whether chronic EPC application promotes alterations in lower‐limb musculature and/or enhances exercise‐induced training adaptations.
How We Did How, What and Why - HOMIO's Participation in QAC4 of NTCIR-6

In our paper we describe our second collective challenge to NTCIR-6 Question Answering Challenge (QAC4). Also this time we decided to investigate the limits of the ”as automatic as possible” approach to QA. Three teams of Otaru University of Commerce, Mie University and Hokkaido University concentrated on three new question types and the last team also remodeled its WWW Verifier to cope with these types. We will introduce our ideas and methods and then conclude with results and a proposal of further innovations.
Cloning of the Escherichia coli recJ chromosomal region and identification of its encoded proteins

A 9.6-kilobase BamHI-SalI fragment carrying recJ+ was cloned into vector pBR322. Deletion and transposon mutagenesis were used to map the recJ gene on this fragment. The maxicell protein-labeling technique was used to correlate a functional recJ gene with the presence of a polypeptide of 53,000 apparent molecular weight. Two additional genes, one encoding two proteins of 26,000 and 25,000 Mr and the other encoding a 31,000-Mr protein, were mapped on a 3.7-kilobase HindIII-SalI subfragment with recJ. Functions for these adjacent genes are not known; however, insertion mutations in these genes lessen the expression of the putative recJ protein detected in maxicells. A 9.6-kilobase BamHI-SalI fragment carrying the temperature-sensitive mutation recJ147 was also cloned and used for complementation studies to identify other recJ mutations.
DC programming for power minimization in a multicell network with RF-powered relays

We consider a multicell network where an amplify-and-forward relay is deployed in each cell to help the base station (BS) serve its cell-edge user. We assume that each relay scavenges energy from all received radio signals to process and forward the information data from the BS to the corresponding user. For this, a power splitter and a wireless energy harvester are implemented in the relay. Our aim is to minimize the total power consumption in the network while guaranteeing minimum data throughput for each user. To this end, we develop a resource management scheme that jointly optimizes three parameters, namely, BS transmit powers, power splitting factors for energy harvesting and information processing at the relays, and relay transmit powers. As the formulated problem is highly nonconvex, we devise a successive convex approximation algorithm based on difference-of-convex-functions (DC) programming. The proposed iterative algorithm transforms the nonconvex problem into a sequence of convex problems, each of which is solved efficiently in each iteration. We prove that this path-following algorithm converges to an optimal solution that satisfies the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) conditions of the original nonconvex problem. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed joint optimization solution substantially improves the network performance.
Enhancing Topic Detection in Twitter Using the Crowdsourcing Process

A decade ago, the crowdsourcing term was first coined and used to represent a method for expressing the wisdom of the crowd in accomplishing tasks that need human intelligence rather than machines and can be more efficiently accomplished time and financial wise using the crowd rather than indoor experts. This crowdsourcing process mainly contains four modules: designing incentives, then collecting, aggregating and verifying received information. The expert discovery module can be added to reduce the cost and enhance reliability and accuracy. The crowdsourcing process is used in this work to harness the mental ability of reliable Internet users around the globe and to improve the knowledge discovery techniques over social media; especially Twitter. The main objective is to improve the quality of the Twitter Exemplar-based topic detection system. The feedback from the crowd is utilized to adjust weights of the cosine similarity function deployed in the Exemplar-based topic detection algorithm. Testing the system using the Football Association Cup (FA Cup) dataset, it is found that the crowdsourcing has achieved a constant increase in the topic recall (by up to 15%), term precision (by up to 4%) and term recall (by up to 3%). Therefore, the new weights succeeded in increasing the three measures of topic quality significantly.
Prader-Willi Syndrome With a Long-Contiguous Stretch of Homozygosity Not Covering the Critical Region

Prader-Willi syndrome is a common and complex disorder affecting multiple systems. Its main manifestations are infantile hypotonia with a poor sucking reflex, a characteristic facial appearance, mild mental retardation, hypogonadism and early-onset obesity. Prader-Willi syndrome is due to the absence of paternally expressed imprinted genes at 15q11.2-13, and 3 main mechanisms are known to be involved in its pathogenesis: paternal microdeletions, maternal uniparental disomy events, and imprinting defects. DNA methylation analysis can detect almost all individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome but is unable to distinguish between the molecular classes of the disease. Thus, additional methods are necessary to identify the molecular classes. Here, we employed chromosomal microarray analysis–single nucleotide polymorphism for diagnosis and detected a long-contiguous stretch of homozygosity on chromosome 15, which is highly predictive of maternal uniparental disomy on chromosome 15. Other methods, including fluorescence in situ hybridization, chromosomal microarray analysis–comparative genomic hybridization, genotyping and family linkage analysis, were performed for further validation. In conclusion, our study highlights the use of long-contiguous stretch of homozygosity detection for the diagnosis of Prader-Willi syndrome.
Reaction of Keratinocytes to Exogenous DNA

Keratinocytes have the ability to take up oligonucleotides (ODN) and plasmid DNA probably by receptor-mediated endocytosis or macropinocytosis. Despite the use of DNA for antisense and gene therapy, little is known about the regulation of genes following exposure to nucleic acids. To systematically identify gene regulation in keratinocytes upon exposure to ODN, we screened human cytokine DNA arrays containing 383 different genes and found interleukin-1α (IL-1α), IL-1β, integrin β1, α-tubulin and follistatin greatly induced, while most genes were unaffected. The time course and concentration dependence for IL-1α and follistatin was confirmed by the standard Northern blot technique and found to be induced by picomolar or femtomolar concentrations of ODN. ODN of different length and sequence induced comparable amounts of IL-1α and follistatin. Their induction was independent of the negative charge and of several proinflammatory compounds and proteins such as lipopolysaccharides, IL-1β or IFN-γ, but was partly inhibited by activin A. In summary, our study revealed several genes of the acute phase protein family that were induced in a non-sequence-specific manner following the exposure of normal human keratinocytes to ODN. Therefore, it is tempting to speculate that, upon internalization, ODN bind to an intracellular receptor (e.g. Toll-like receptor 9), which mediates signaling.
Dynein Light Chain 1 (LC8) Association Enhances Microtubule Stability and Promotes Microtubule Bundling*

Background: Dynein Light Chain 1 (LC8) has been shown to pull down tubulin subunits, suggesting that it interacts with microtubules. Results: LC8 decorates microtubules in vitro and in Drosophila embryos, promotes microtubule assembly, and stabilizes microtubules both in vitro and in tissue-cultured cells. Conclusion: LC8 stabilizes microtubules. Significance: Data provide the first evidence of a novel MAP-like function of LC8. Dynein light chain 1 (LC8), a highly conserved protein, is known to bind to a variety of different polypeptides. It functions as a dimer, which is inactivated through phosphorylation at the Ser-88 residue. A loss of LC8 function causes apoptosis in Drosophila embryos, and its overexpression induces malignant transformation of breast cancer cells. Here we show that LC8 binds to tubulin, promotes microtubule assembly, and induces the bundling of reconstituted microtubules in vitro. Furthermore, LC8 decorates microtubules both in Drosophila embryos and in HeLa cells, increases the microtubule stability, and promotes microtubule bundling in these cells. Microtubule stability influences a number of different cellular functions including mitosis and cell differentiation. The LC8 overexpression reduces the susceptibility of microtubules to cold and nocodazole-induced depolymerization in tissue-cultured cells and increases microtubule acetylation, suggesting that LC8 stabilizes microtubules. We also show that LC8 knockdown or transfection with inhibitory peptides destabilizes microtubules and inhibits bipolar spindle assembly in HeLa cells. In addition, LC8 knockdown leads to the mitotic block in HeLa cells. Furthermore, molecular docking analysis using the crystal structures of tubulin and LC8 dimer indicated that the latter may bind at α-β tubulin junction in a protofilament at sites distinct from the kinesin and dynein binding sites. Together, we provide the first evidence of a novel microtubule-associated protein-like function of LC8 that could explain its reported roles in cellular metastasis and differentiation.
A Comparison of the Performance of Model‐Based Confidence Intervals When the Correct Model Form Is Unknown: Coverage of Asymptotic Means

We conducted a simulation study to examine the performance of confidence intervals when multiplicative and additive rate (Poisson regression) models are fit to follow-up data, but the model form may be misspecified. Data were generated from over 129,000 different population structures that ranged from sub-additive to supra-multiplicative. When a multiplicative model was fit, all of the confidence intervals that we examined performed well as interval estimators of the asymptotic means of the point estimators, even when the correct model form was not multiplicative. When an additive model was fit, (1) only the likelihood ratio interval and the score interval with expected information consistently performed well, and they consistently performed better than any of the Wald intervals that we examined; (2) Wald intervals performed better when calculated with observed information rather than with expected information; and (3) Wald intervals with expected information performed better when the information matrix was evaluated at the restricted maximum likelihood estimate rather than the unrestricted maximum likelihood estimate.
Healthy lifestyle behaviors among individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in urban and rural communities in China: a large community-based epidemiological study

Background Lifestyle modification is one of the most cost-effective strategies in self-management and secondary prevention of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, the prevalence of healthy lifestyle behaviors in COPD patients in China remains unclear. The objective of this study was to examine the rates of healthy lifestyle behaviors including smoking cessation, regular exercise, and healthy diet in community population with COPD in China. Methods We recruited 46,285 individuals aged 35–70 years from 115 urban and rural communities in 12 provinces of China from 2005 to 2009. We recorded the smoking status, physical activity intensity, and quality of diet for all spirometry-diagnosed COPD patients by standardized questionnaires. Results Among 3,690 individuals with COPD, 18.2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 13.0–24.9) quitted smoking, 27.1% (95% CI, 24.7–29.7) exercised often, and 34.8% (95% CI, 31.8–38.0) ate high-quality diet. More than half of the individuals followed one or less key healthy lifestyle, and only 8.4% (95% CI, 7.0–10.0) followed all of the three healthy behaviors. Urban residents had significant higher rates of smoking cessation (23.5% [95% CI, 17.3–31.1] vs 14.4% [95% CI, 9.9–20.5], p=0.0008), regular exercise (45.6% [95% CI, 42.4–48.8] vs 14.0% [95% CI, 12.1–16.2], p<0.0001), and healthy diet (38.5% [95% CI, 35.5–41.6] vs 32.2% [95% CI, 29.2–35.4], p=0.0013) than rural residents. Age, sex, education level, body mass index, respiratory symptoms, and family income were associated with healthy living, and the strength of associations varied between urban and rural areas. Conclusion There is a large gap between the anticipated rate and the real participation in healthy lifestyle behaviors in Chinese adults with COPD, especially in rural communities. Simple and effective strategies are warranted to improve patients’ lifestyle in China.
SiGe composition and thickness effects on NBTI in replacement metal gate / high-κ technologies

The dependence of NBTI on SiGe thickness and composition for epitaxially grown layers on (100) and (110) Si substrates is studied in detail. It is found that SiGe thickness has no significant impact on NBTI at lower Ge%. However, lower NBTI degradation was observed with increasing Ge%, even though the interface state densities (Nit) increase with respect to Si. This improved NBTI is due to band offset limited VT, indicating that the improvement is substrate related rather than interface related. The physical mechanism is then discussed in terms of Ge%-induced variation in the band alignment.
Energy price shocks and milk price adjustments

ABSTRACT Much previous research on energy price transmission sheds light on the relationship between oil prices and aggregate commodity prices, such as for agricultural products, or food price indexes. This letter uses data from 12 U.S. cities between 2001 and 2011 to examine how energy prices are transmitted to fluid milk products at the retail level. Results indicate the existence of an asymmetric energy pass-through (a rise is transmitted faster than a fall in prices) and that private label milk products are more insulated from energy price shocks and adjust at similar rate with national manufacturer brands.