Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hypoxia‐inducible factors 1α and 2α exert both distinct and overlapping functions in long bone development

The hypoxia‐inducible factors have recently been identified as critical regulators of angiogenic–osteogenic coupling. Mice overexpressing HIFα subunits in osteoblasts produce abundant VEGF and develop extremely dense, highly vascularized long bones. In this study, we investigated the individual contributions of Hif‐1α and Hif‐2α in angiogenesis and osteogenesis by individually disrupting each Hifα gene in osteoblasts using the Cre‐loxP method. Mice lacking Hif‐1α demonstrated markedly decreased trabecular bone volume, reduced bone formation rate, and altered cortical bone architecture. By contrast, mice lacking Hif‐2α had only a modest decrease in trabecular bone volume. Interestingly, long bone blood vessel development measured by angiography was decreased by a similar degree in both ΔHif‐1α and ΔHif‐2α mice suggesting a common role for these Hifα subunits in skeletal angiogenesis. In agreement with this idea, osteoblasts lacking either Hif‐1α or Hif‐2α had profound reductions in VEGF mRNA expression but only the loss of Hif‐1α impaired osteoblast proliferation. These findings indicate that expression of both Hif‐1α and Hif‐2α by osteoblasts is required for long bone development. We propose that both Hif‐1α and Hif‐2α function through cell non‐autonomous modes to promote vascularization of bone and that Hif‐1α also promotes bone formation by exerting direct actions on the osteoblast. J. Cell. Biochem. 109: 196–204, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Electoral Tourism, Normative Power or Instrumentalised Practice? European Union Election Observation Missions in Africa

Since 1994, the European Union (EU) has participated in 142 Election Observation Missions (EOMs) and Election Expert Missions (EEMs) (EEAS, 2016). Yet, even though they are significant, there has been limited scholarly work on EU-EOMs. This article seeks to close this gap. By offering a comprehensive analysis, this article argues that EU-EMOs exemplify how the EU and African governments see election monitoring as an instrumentalised tool. The discussion reveals that the practice of intrumentalisation significantly hinders norm diffusion through EU-EOMs. Introducing various subject areas, the first section illustrates how the EU’s role in international relations and with it EU-EOMs are marked by the EU’s dichotomous character and inherent tensions between its normative and strategic commitments. Building on these insights, the second section challenges constructivist concepts of norm diffusion. The third section projects the instrumental nature of election monitoring through the quantitative and case study analysis. This mixed methods approach aims to integrate factors that explain why actors engage with each other through EU-EOMs, notably trade, aid and legitimacy. It further scrutinises what occurs during EU-EOMs and how these interactions can lead to the internalisation of norms. The conclusion draws on the theoretical and empirical findings to discuss why the EU is unable to effectively diffuse norms through EU-EOMs and how these findings alter our understanding of election monitoring.
A Proline-Rich Region with a Highly Periodic Sequence in Streptococcal β Protein Adopts the Polyproline II Structure and Is Exposed on the Bacterial Surface

ABSTRACT Proline-rich regions have been identified in many surface proteins of pathogenic streptococci and staphylococci. These regions have been suggested to be located in cell wall-spanning domains and/or to be required for surface expression of the protein. Because little is known about these regions, which are found in extensively studied and biologically important surface proteins, we characterized the proline-rich region in one such protein, the β protein of group B streptococci. The proline-rich region in β, designated the XPZ region, has a proline at every third position, and the sequence is highly periodic in other respects. Immunochemical analysis showed that the XPZ region was not associated with the cell wall but was exposed on the bacterial surface. Moreover, characterization of a β mutant lacking the XPZ region demonstrated that this region was not required for surface expression of the β protein. Comparison of the XPZ region in different β proteins showed that it varied in size but always retained the typical sequence periodicity. Circular dichroism spectroscopy indicated that the XPZ region had the structure of a polyproline II helix, an extended and solvent-exposed structure with exactly three residues per turn. Because of the three-residue sequence periodicity in the XPZ region, it is expected to be amphipathic and to have distinct nonpolar and polar surfaces. This study identified a proline-rich structure with unique properties that is exposed on the surface of an important human pathogen.
Ultra-toughened nylon 12 nanocomposites reinforced with IF-WS2

Inorganic fullerene-like WS2 nanoparticle- (IF-WS2) reinforced nylon 12 nanocomposites have been prepared through effective ultrasonic mixing without using any surfactant, followed by molding at 220 °C. Morphological characterizations using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) have revealed the excellent dispersion of IF-WS2 nanoparticles in the nylon 12 matrix. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses have confirmed that a phase transition from α′-phase to a more stable γ-phase took place during the sintering of nylon 12, regardless of the amount of IF-WS2 added to the matrix. At a very low IF-WS2 content of 2 wt%, the tensile strength and bending strength of the composites increased slightly by 27% and 28%, respectively. However, the toughness dramatically improved by 185% and 148% at IF-WS2 additions of 0.25 and 0.5 wt%, respectively, when compared to the neat nylon 12. It is believed that such improvements should mainly be attributed to the well-dispersed IF-WS2 within the matrix. The vastly improved toughness suggests that the resulting polymer nanocomposites could be promising for structural and high-performance impact applications.
STAT1 Signaling Is Not Regulated by a Phosphorylation-Acetylation Switch

ABSTRACT The treatment of cells with histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) was reported to reveal the acetylation of STAT1 at lysine 410 and lysine 413 (O. H. Krämer et al., Genes Dev. 20:473–485, 2006). STAT1 acetylation was proposed to regulate apoptosis by facilitating binding to NF-κB and to control immune responses by suppressing STAT1 tyrosine phosphorylation, suggesting that STAT1 acetylation is a central mechanism by which histone deacetylase inhibitors ameliorate inflammatory diseases (O. H. Krämer et al., Genes Dev. 23:223–235, 2009). Here, we show that the inhibition of deacetylases had no bearing on STAT1 acetylation and did not diminish STAT1 tyrosine phosphorylation. The glutamine mutation of the alleged acetylation sites, claimed to mimic acetylated STAT1, similarly did not diminish the tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT1 but precluded its DNA binding and nuclear import. The defective transcription activity of this mutant therefore cannot be attributed to STAT1 acetylation but rather to the inactivation of the STAT1 DNA binding domain and its nuclear import signal. Experiments with respective cDNAs provided by the authors of the studies mentioned above confirmed the results reported here, further questioning the validity of the previous data. We conclude that the effects and potential clinical benefits associated with histone deacetylase inhibition cannot be explained by promoting the acetylation of STAT1 at lysines 410 and 413.
Efficient combining technique with a low-complexity detect-and-forward relay for cooperative diversity scheme

This paper studies what is the right relay protocol strategy for a Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) cooperative diversity scheme. In this scheme, an improved Maximum Likelihood Detection (MLD) featuring Log-likelihood (LLR) combining technique is also introduced. A basic cooperative diversity scheme of a source node (S), a relay node (R) and a common destination node (D) is considered. This scheme employs a low-complexity relaying scheme which detects the signals (i.e. hard-decision) and forwards (DAF) to the destination node. A popular Decode-and-Forward (DF) relay protocol and Soft-forwarding (SF) protocol are also investigated for comparison. Simulation and analytical results demonstrate that the knowledge of S-R link quality doesn't contribute to the improvement to the proposed scheme. Nonetheless, the proposed scheme still achieves a fairly remarkable result. This improvement is achieved by using only a cheap DAF relaying protocol which is well-suited for resource limited conditions, for instance, in sensor networks. The results are validated through a simulation work and compared with maximum ratio combiner (MRC) and cooperative-MRC (C-MRC).
Commercial Off-the-Shelf Digital Cameras on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Multitemporal Monitoring of Vegetation Reflectance and NDVI

This paper demonstrates the ability to generate quantitative remote sensing products by means of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with one unaltered and one near infrared-modified commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) camera. Radiometrically calibrated orthomosaics were generated for 17 dates, from which digital numbers were corrected to surface reflectance and to normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Validation against ground measurements showed that 84%–90% of the variation in the ground reflectance and 95%–96% of the variation in the ground NDVI could be explained by the UAV-retrieved reflectance and NDVI, respectively. Comparisons against Landsat 8 data showed relationships of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$0.73\leq R^{2} \geq 0.84$ </tex-math></inline-formula> for reflectance and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$0.86\leq R^{2} \geq 0.89$ </tex-math></inline-formula> for NDVI. It was not possible to generate a fully consistent time series of reflectance, due to variable illumination conditions during acquisition on some dates. However, the calculation of NDVI resulted in a more stable UAV time series, which was consistent with a Landsat series of NDVI extracted over a deciduous and evergreen woodland. The results confirm that COTS cameras, following calibration, can yield accurate reflectance estimates (under stable within-flight illumination conditions), and that consistent NDVI time series can be acquired in very variable illumination conditions. Such methods have significant potential in providing flexible, low-cost approaches to vegetation monitoring at fine spatial resolution and for user-controlled revisit periods.
On the Efficient Implementation of the Multiband Joint Detection Framework for Wideband Spectrum Sensing in Cognitive Radio Networks

An efficient and low-complexity algorithm for implementing a newly proposed wideband spectrum sensing framework in cognitive radio systems is presented. The framework which is known as multiband joint detection identifies suitable secondary transmission opportunities while protecting the primary network from harmful interference imposed by the secondary network. It has previously been demonstrated that the optimization problem obtained from the framework can be made convex if certain practical constraints are applied. In order to have a more insightful view of the optimization process and make the implementation of the framework more time- and cost-effective, an efficient algorithm which searches for the optimal solution with much lower complexity compared to other commonly used numerical algorithms is proposed. It is established that the iteration-complexity and the complexity-per-iteration of the proposed algorithm increases linearly with the number of optimization variables (i.e. the number of narrowband channels). The proposed algorithm is evaluated via simulation and is shown to obtain the optimal solution quickly and efficiently.
Enhancing Neurobehavioral Gains with the Aid of Games and Exercise (ENGAGE): Initial open trial of a novel early intervention fostering the development of preschoolers’ self-regulation

Poor self-regulation during the preschool years predicts a wide array of adverse adult outcomes and, as such, is an important treatment target. We assessed the efficacy of a novel early intervention aimed at fostering the development of preschoolers’ self-regulation. Enhancing Neurobehavioral Gains with the Aid of Games and Exercise (ENGAGE) involves parents and children playing a wide range of games targeting self-regulation on a daily basis over a 5-week period. Twenty-five New Zealand families, in whom parents identified their children as difficult to manage, took part in this study. Parent hyperactivity, aggression, and attention problems ratings on the BASC-2 were used to assess improvements in behavioral self-regulation, and subtests of the Stanford Binet-5 and NEPSY-2 were used to assess improvements in cognitive control. Improvements in parent-rated hyperactivity, aggression, and attention problems were maintained throughout the 12-month follow-up. In addition, improvements were found in two neurocognitive areas associated with self-regulation. While more rigorous randomized controlled trials are necessary, ENGAGE shows promise as a novel intervention for developing self-regulation in at-risk preschoolers.
Variability in surface electromyography of right arm biceps brachii muscles between male adolescent, vicenarian and tricenarian with distinct electrode placement

The aim of this paper was to verify and measure the variability in surface electromyography (sEMG) of upper arm biceps brachii muscle during isometric contraction. Nine healthy right arm dominated males from three age-groups (adolescents, vicenarian, and tricenarian) were selected for the study. Electrodes were placed horizontally on three individual locations of the subjects' biceps brachii muscle, i.e., on the muscle belly of the biceps brachii, and on the upper and lower portion of the muscle belly. Average EMG (mean), standard deviation (SD), and coefficient of variations (CV, %) were calculated to verify the consistency of the different age groups' muscle activities. Moreover, EMG mean values were analyzed with two-way repeated measures analysis of variances (ANOVA) to monitor significant intra- and inter-muscle coordination. An online, three-channel connected and touch-proof wireless sensor was used to record the EMG signal. The results revealed muscle variability and consistency as well as the significant superiority on the biceps brachii muscle. This findings attempt to fulfill the gaps left by previous experiments based on EMG variability, subject's age variation, electrode placement, muscle contractions, etc. and to identify areas for further researche in the fields of rehabilitation, sports, and other biomedical concerns.
Antibiofouling polymer-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles as potential magnetic resonance contrast agents for in vivo cancer imaging.

We report the fabrication and characterization of antifouling polymer-coated magnetic nanoparticles as nanoprobes for magnetic resonance (MR) contrast agents. Magnetite superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) were coated with the protein- or cell-resistant polymer, poly(TMSMA-r-PEGMA), to generate stable, protein-resistant MR probes. Coated magnetic nanoparticles synthesized using two different preparation methods (in situ and stepwise, respectively) were both well dispersed in PBS buffer at a variety of pH conditions (pH 1-10). In addition, dynamic light scattering data revealed that their sizes were not altered even after 24 h of incubation in 10% serum containing cell culture medium, indicative of a lack of protein adsorption on their surfaces. When the antibiofouling polymer-coated SPION were incubated with macrophage cells, uptake was significantly lower in comparison to that of the popular contrast agent, Feridex I.V. , suggesting that the polymer-coated SPION can be long-circulated in plasma by escaping from uptake by the reticular endothelial system (RES) such as macrophages. Indeed, when the coated SPION were administered to tumor xenograft mice by intravenous injection, the tumor could be detected in T2-weighted MR images within 1 h as a result of the accumulation of the nanomagnets within the tumor site. Although the poly(TMSMA-r-PEGMA)-coated SPION do not have any targeting ligands on their surface, they are potentially useful for cancer diagnosis in vivo.
MiR-1271 Inhibits Cell Proliferation, Invasion and EMT in Gastric Cancer by Targeting FOXQ1

Background/Aims: FOXQ1 overexpression has been reported to enhance tumor growth and invasion. However, the biological function of FOXQ1 and the mechanism underlying its upregulation in gastric cancer (GC) remain unknown. Methods: QPCR was used to detect the expression of miR-1271 and FOXQ1 in specimens from GC patients. FOXQ1-siRNA, and miR-1271 mimics and inhibitor were transfected into human MGC-803 and SGC-7901 cells. The transwell assay was used to examine the cell invasive ability. The regulation mechanism was confirmed by luciferase reporter assay. Markers of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) were detected by western blot analysis. Results: MiR-1271 was downregulated in both GC tissues and GC cell lines. The expression of miR-1271 was inversely correlated with tumor size (P = 0.017), tumor stage (P = 0.035), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.018), and TNM stage (P = 0.025). Ectopic expression of miR-1271 dramatically suppressed GC cell proliferation, invasion, and EMT. Furthermore, FOXQ1 was identified as a direct target of miR-1271. Knockdown of FOXQ1 inhibited GC cell malignant behavior, whereas FOXQ1 overexpression partially restored the suppression effects of miR-1271. Additionally, miR-1271 expression was negatively correlated with FOXQ1 in GC tissues. Conclusions: MiR-1271 inhibits cell proliferation, invasion, and EMT in GC by directly suppressing FOXQ1 expression.
[Impact of an integrated treatment approach of the severely injured patients (ISS =/> 16) on hospital mortality and quality of care].

BACKGROUND Outcome of severely injured patients is sharply influenced by the level of prehospital and hospital organization. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of the re-organization of the trauma care process on the quality of care and final outcome of major trauma (ISS =/< 16) victims. SETTING the Emergency Department (ED) of a 1600 bedded tertiary care hospital. INTERVENTION a standardized approach to major trauma patients (MT) was implemented: Written protocols were established and trauma teams were organized. All anesthesiologists and trauma surgeons involved in trauma care were enrolled in an educational program including ATLS Courses and the Italian Resuscitation Council Prehospital Trauma Care Course. One of the targets was to assure the early orthopedic stabilization of limb and pelvis fractures. METHODS Data of all major trauma victims admitted to the ED during 3 comparable periods of time: before (Jan-May 1998), during (Jan-May 1999) and after (Jan-May 2000) the implementation of the process, were retrospectively and prospectively collected and analyzed. RESULTS MT patients admitted to the hospital increased from 39 in 1998 to 106 in 2000. For similar ISS (30.2 +/- 11.3 in 1998, 29.6 +/- 13.7 in 1999 and 30.5 +/- 12.9 in 2000) hospital mortality dropped from 42% in 1998 to 20.8%. The mean time from hospital admission to surgical orthopedic stabilization was 12 days in 1998, 4.6 in 1999 and 1.3 in 2000. In 2000, 86% of the patients with limbs fractures who required surgical stabilization, were treated within 36 hours from admission vs 11% in 1998. CONCLUSIONS The implementation of written protocols for trauma care, the organization of trauma teams, educational programs including ATLS and PTC-IRC Courses and a strategy of early stabilization of limb fractures are associated with a dramatic decrease in hospital mortality for major trauma.
FBG Sensing Glove for Monitoring Hand Posture

A wearable sensing glove for monitoring hand gestures and posture has been developed. The glove sensing capability is based on optical fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) sensors. These sensors, due to their inherent self-referencing and multiplexing capability, are a value-added choice for this application. A single optical fiber would cross all the hand with Bragg structures in specific spots, as the finger joints. The functionality and performance of the glove was fully evaluated. The sensor response was linear to the hand movements for opening and closing down. Through the sensor response, it was possible to retrieve information about the joint angles from which other set of information like finger force can be estimated. The developed glove was able to provide numerical data about the angles of the hand posture in real time. The simplicity of the system and performance makes it well suitable for physical therapy applications, study of the human kinematics during sport activity, virtual reality or even remote control applications, among others.
Preliminary experience with intra-arterial nicardipine as a treatment for cerebral vasospasm.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Papaverine is the primary intra-arterial (IA) treatment for vasospasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH); however, is it limited in effect and by adverse effects. We prospectively studied the use of IA nicardipine as a treatment for vasospasm. METHODS Over 12 months, all patients with SAH who required interventional treatment for vasospasm were given IA nicardipine with or without angioplasty. Vasospasm was determined by serial clinical assessments and/or daily transcranial Doppler (TCD) imaging and confirmed by angiography. Doses of IA nicardipine per vessel were 0.5-6 mg. All patients were monitored for increased intracranial pressure (ICP) and change in cardiovascular or neurologic status. RESULTS Forty-four vessels in 18 patients with vasospasm were treated with IA nicardipine alone. TCD data for 38 vessels (15 cases) were available. All vessels demonstrated immediate angiographic dilatation after IA nicardipine. No sustained cardiovascular changes were after treatment. ICP was transiently elevated in five patients and persistently elevated in one. Mean peak systolic velocities at TCD imaging were significantly reduced from pretreatment values in all treated vessels for 4 days after infusion (268.9 +/- 77.8 vs 197.6 +/- 74.1 cm/s, P <.001). Neurologic improvement after IA nicardipine occurred in eight (42.1%) patients. No clinical deterioration was noted. CONCLUSION As shown by TCD imaging, IA nicardipine has an immediate and sustained effect on vasospasm. It does not appear to have sustained effect on ICP or cardiovascular status. This treatment warrants further study to determine its safety and efficacy.