Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intracellular Trafficking of CD23: Differential Regulation in Humans and Mice by Both Extracellular and Intracellular Exons1

In mouse models of food allergy, we recently characterized a new CD23b-derived splice form lacking extracellular exon 5, bΔ5, which undergoes constitutive internalization and mediates the transepithelial transport of free IgE, whereas classical CD23b is more efficient in transporting IgE/allergen complexes. These data suggested that regulation of endocytosis plays a central role in CD23 functions and drove us to systematically compare the intracellular trafficking properties of human and murine CD23 splice forms. We found that CD23 species show similar endocytic behaviors in both species; CD23a undergoes constitutive clathrin-dependent internalization, whereas CD23b is stable at the plasma membrane. However, the mechanisms controlling these similar behaviors appeared to be different. In mice, a positive internalization signal was localized in the cytoplasmic region shared by all CD23 splice forms. This positive signal was negatively regulated by the intracellular CD23b-specific exon. In addition, the fact that alternative splice forms lacking exons of the extracellular region (5, 6, 7, and/or 8) were all constitutively internalized suggested that endocytosis of murine CD23 is regulated by a process similar to the outside-in signaling of integrins. In humans, the internalization signal was mapped in the CD23a-specific intracellular exon. Interestingly, this signal also behaved as a basolateral targeting signal in polarized Madin-Darby canine kidney cells. The latter result and the fact that human intestinal cell lines were found to coexpress both CD23a and CD23b provide a molecular explanation for the initial observations that CD23 was found at the basolateral membrane of intestinal epithelial cells from allergic patients.
Toward superfast three-dimensional optical metrology with digital micromirror device platforms

Abstract. Decade-long research efforts toward superfast three-dimensional (3-D) shape measurement leveraging the digital micromirror device (DMD) platforms are summarized. Specifically, we will present the following technologies: (1) high-resolution real-time 3-D shape measurement technology that achieves 30 Hz simultaneous 3-D shape acquisition, reconstruction, and display with more than 300,000 points per frame; (2) superfast 3-D optical metrology technology that achieves 3-D measurement at a rate of tens of kilohertz utilizing the binary defocusing method we invented; and (3) the improvement of the binary defocusing technology for superfast and high-accuracy 3-D optical metrology using the DMD platforms. Both principles and experimental results are presented.
KNOWLEDGE IS THE LIGHT OF LIFE

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between knowledge Management (KM) and innovation capability in two universities. They are the American University in Cairo and Mansoura University. Given the scarcity of studies that investigated these variables within the higher education context, we borrowed gold et al model that links KM to performance effectiveness in business sector and adapted it to the higher education context. According to this model, KM is seen as KM infrastructure (Culture, structure, and technology), and KM processes (k-acquisition, k-conversion, kapplication, and k-protection). The findings show that AUC supersedes Mansoura University in terms of KM infrastructure, KM processes, and innovation. Also, results show that there is a significant and positive relationship between KM infrastructure, KM processes, and Innovation.
RGB–D terrain perception and dense mapping for legged robots

Abstract This paper addresses the issues of unstructured terrain modeling for the purpose of navigation with legged robots. We present an improved elevation grid concept adopted to the specific requirements of a small legged robot with limited perceptual capabilities. We propose an extension of the elevation grid update mechanism by incorporating a formal treatment of the spatial uncertainty. Moreover, this paper presents uncertainty models for a structured light RGB-D sensor and a stereo vision camera used to produce a dense depth map. The model for the uncertainty of the stereo vision camera is based on uncertainty propagation from calibration, through undistortion and rectification algorithms, allowing calculation of the uncertainty of measured 3D point coordinates. The proposed uncertainty models were used for the construction of a terrain elevation map using the Videre Design STOC stereo vision camera and Kinect-like range sensors. We provide experimental verification of the proposed mapping method, and a comparison with another recently published terrain mapping method for walking robots.
Annotation, Modelling and Analysis of Fine-Grained Emotions on a Stance and Sentiment Detection Corpus

There is a rich variety of data sets for sentiment analysis (viz., polarity and subjectivity classification). For the more challenging task of detecting discrete emotions following the definitions of Ekman and Plutchik, however, there are much fewer data sets, and notably no resources for the social media domain. This paper contributes to closing this gap by extending the SemEval 2016 stance and sentiment dataset with emotion annotation. We (a) analyse annotation reliability and annotation merging; (b) investigate the relation between emotion annotation and the other annotation layers (stance, sentiment); (c) report modelling results as a baseline for future work.
Multidrug resistance modulators and doxorubicin synergize to elevate ceramide levels and elicit apoptosis in drug‐resistant cancer cells

To provide insight for the development of more effective clinical agents, the authors attempted to elucidate the mechanisms of action of multidrug resistance (MDR) modulators. Previously, the authors found that MDR modulators blocked the conversion of ceramide to glucosylceramide in MDR cells, thereby enhancing cytotoxicity. Because ceramide is a critical component of the apoptosis signaling cascade, the current study examined the impact of therapy using agents that elicit ceramide formation combined with agents that block ceramide glycosylation.
Effect of Melissa officinalis capsule on the mental health of female adolescents with premenstrual syndrome: a clinical trial study

Abstract Introduction In spite of its importance, the psychological health requirements of adolescents are ignored; due to the occurrence of mental disorders in this age group and also public interest in the use of supplementary and alternative treatments such as herbal drugs for mental disorders, this study was carried out aimed at examining the impact of the Melissa officinalis capsule on the psychological health of female adolescents. Methodology In this randomized clinical trial study, 100 female adolescents were assigned to two groups of either drug and placebo groups. The data collection tool includes demographic information recording note and General Health Standard Questionnaire (GHQ). Intervention has been done in the menstrual cycle during 3 successive months and patients received two 600 mg drug daily in the intervention group, and the control group received placebo. After the intervention, the scores of the participants’ psychological health were measured in both groups and data were analyzed through independent t-test using SPSS software version 16. Results The study results showed that psychosomatic symptoms score (p < 0.001), anxiety and sleeping disorder (p < 0.001), and social function disorder (p = 0.021) in the experiment group was significantly less than that of the placebo group. Conclusion Based on the findings of this study, Melissa officinalis can decrease psychosomatic symptoms, sleeping disorder and anxiety, depression and disorder in social function in female adolescents.
Development of the Pediatric Research in Inpatient Settings (PRIS) Network: lessons learned.

Since the term ‘‘hospitalist’’ was coined in 1996, the field of hospital medicine has grown exponentially. Hospitalists are caring for increasing numbers of adults—including Medicare beneficiaries in hospitals across the United States. Pediatric hospital medicine has grown in parallel. By 1998, 50% of pediatric department chairs across the US and Canada had implemented hospitalist programs, with another 27% reporting they were soon to do so. A bit more than a decade later, pediatric hospitalists can be found in nearly every major academic medical center, and in a large proportion of community hospitals throughout the US and Canada. In the past several years, major advances have begun to occur in the manner in which hospital medicine research is conducted. In this article, we will describe the manner in which pediatric hospital medicine research has advanced over the past several years, culminating in the conduct of several large multicenter research projects through the Pediatric Research in Inpatient Settings (PRIS) Network. We believe that lessons learned in the development of PRIS could help foster the growth of other current and future networks of hospitalist researchers, and lay the groundwork for national improvement efforts.
Avian influenza H9N2 subtype in Poland – characterization of the isolates and evidence of concomitant infections

In April/May 2013, four outbreaks of avian influenza virus (AIV) infections caused by H9N2 subtype were diagnosed in Poland in fattening turkey flocks exhibiting a drop in feed and water intake, depression, respiratory signs and mortality. The subsequent serological survey carried out on samples collected between June 2012 and September 2013 from 92 poultry flocks detected positive sera in two additional meat turkey flocks located in the same province. The analysis of amino acids in the haemagglutinin and neuraminidase glycoproteins revealed that the detected H9N2 viruses possessed molecular profiles suggestive of low pathogenicity, avian-like SAα2,3 receptor specificity and adaptation to domestic poultry. Phylogenetic studies showed that these H9N2 AIVs grouped within the Eurasian clade of wild bird-origin AIVs and had no relationship with H9N2 AIV circulating in poultry in the Middle East and Far East Asia over the past decade. Experimentally infected SPF chickens with the index-case H9N2 virus remained healthy throughout the experiment. On the other hand, ten 3-week-old commercial turkeys infected via the oculonasal route showed respiratory signs and mortality (2/10 birds). Additional diagnostic tests demonstrated the consistent presence of DNA/RNA of Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale, Bordetella avium and, less frequently, of astro-, rota-, reo-, parvo- and adenoviruses in turkeys both from field outbreaks and laboratory experiment. Although no microbiological culture was performed, we speculate that these secondary pathogens could play a role in the pathogenicity of the current H9N2 infections.
Fibrinogen-binding protein/clumping factor from Staphylococcus aureus

The binding of staphylococcal components to fibrinogen was studied. Fibrinogen-binding material from lysed staphylococcal cells or culture supernatants was affinity purified on fibrinogen-Sepharose and analyzed on Western (immuno-) blots by the use of fibrinogen and antifibrinogen antibodies. Two main bands of 87 and 19 kilodaltons (kDa) and a weaker band of 35 kDa bound specifically to fibrinogen. A monoclonal antibody bound to all three bands, indicating that these were of the same origin. The yield of these components was much higher in the culture supernatant than on washed cells, suggesting that these molecules are essentially extracellular products. In a plasma coagulase test, the 87-kDa band, but not the 19-kDa band, clotted rabbit plasma, demonstrating that the 87-kDa molecule is coagulase. This was further confirmed by the fact that the 87-kDa band binds specifically to prothrombin. It was shown that the 87- and the 19-kDa molecules were present on the cell surface by surface labeling the cells with 125I. In addition, the fact that killed and washed cells could induce plasma clotting demonstrates that staphylococci have coagulase exposed on the surface. It was concluded that cell-bound coagulase has affinity for fibrinogen also in the absence of prothrombin and thus is responsible for the clumping of staphylococci in fibrinogen.
Enhanced Ras activity preserves dendritic size and extension as well as synaptic contacts of neurons after functional deprivation in synRas mice

The monomeric GTP‐binding protein p21Ras has been repeatedly implicated in neuronal stability and plastic changes of the adult nervous system. Recently, we have shown that expression of constitutively active Ras protein in transgenic synRas mice results in a significant increase in the dendritic size and complexity of differentiated pyramidal neurons as well as in increased synaptic connectivity. In the present study, we examined the organization of the vibrissae‐barrel cortex in synRas mice and the effects of enhanced Ras activity on deprivation‐induced dendritic reorganization after vibrissectomy. The results demonstrate a significant increase in vibrissae‐barrel sizes and proportional spacing between barrels in synRas mice, suggesting that the neuronal target specificity of thalamocortical terminals is preserved. Accordingly, the arrangement of double bouquet cells at the borders of barrel columns ensuring functional distinctness is unchanged. Partial vibrissectomy is followed by significant dendritic regression of corresponding pyramidal neurons in the barrel cortex of wild‐type mice, which, however, could not be observed in synRas mice. The results provide the first evidence for a role of Ras in preserving neuronal structure after functional deprivation in vivo.
3D Printing of Conductive Complex Structures with In Situ Generation of Silver Nanoparticles

Coupling the photoreduction of a metal precursor with 3D-printing technology is shown to allow the fabrication of conductive 3D hybrid structures consisting of metal nanoparticles and organic polymers shaped in complex multilayered architectures. 3D conductive structures are fabricated incorporating silver nitrate into a photocurable oligomer in the presence of suitable photoinitiators and exposing them to a digital light system.
“We’ve Got to Break Down the Shame”

News articles play a role in reproducing or challenging stigma. Stigma, in turn, can be a barrier to men’s mental health help seeking. We used discursive analytic principles to analyze portrayals of men’s communication about depression in news articles over a 5-year period. We found that news articles depicted men who were open about depression as experiencing positive outcomes such as recovery. Such depictions might challenge stigma associated with talking about mental health concerns. However, some articles problematically positioned depressed men as individually responsible for defying stigma and achieving recovery. We suggest that portraying depression as something that impacts a plurality of men is one way that media messages might dispel stigma. We drew recommendations from the findings about the language that could be used by media, mental health campaigns, and health service providers to mitigate the impact of stigma on men’s mental health help seeking.
Electronic and Magnetic Properties of SrTiO3/LaAlO3 Interfaces from First Principles

A number of intriguing properties emerge upon the formation of the epitaxial interface between the insulating oxides LaAlO3 and SrTiO3. These properties, which include a quasi two‐dimensional conducting electron gas, low temperature superconductivity, and magnetism, are not present in the bulk materials, generating a great deal of interest in the fundamental physics of their origins. While it is generally accepted that the novel behavior arises as a result of a combination of electronic and atomic reconstructions and growth‐induced defects, the complex interplay between these effects remains unclear. In this report, we review the progress that has been made towards unraveling the complete picture of the SrTiO3/LaAlO3 interface, focusing primarily on present ab initio theoretical work and its relation to the experimental data. In the process, we highlight some key unresolved issues and discuss how they might be addressed by future experimental and theoretical studies.
Combinatorial Expression of GATA4, Nkx2-5, and Serum Response Factor Directs Early Cardiac Gene Activity*

Herein, the restricted expression of serum response factors (SRF) closely overlapped withNkx2-5 and GATA4 transcripts in early chick embryos coinciding with the earliest appearance of cardiac α-actin (αCA) transcripts and nascent myocardial cells. The combinatorial expression of SRF, a MADS box factor Nkx2-5 (a NK4 homeodomain), and/or GATA4, a dual C4 zinc finger protein, in heterologous CV1 fibroblasts and Schneider 2 insect cells demonstrated synergistic induction of αCA promoter activity. These three factors induced endogenous αCA mRNA over a 100-fold in murine embryonic stem cells. In addition, the DNA-binding defective mutant Nkx2-5pm efficiently coactivated the αCA promoter in the presence of SRF and GATA4 in the presence of all four SREs and was substantially weakened when individual SREs were mutated and or serially deleted. In contrast, the introduction of SRFpm, a SRF DNA-binding mutant, blocked the activation with all of the αCA promoter constructions. These assays indicated a dependence upon cooperative SRF binding for facilitating the recruitment of Nkx2-5 and GATA4 to the αCA promoter. Furthermore, the recruitment of Nkx2-5 and GATA4 by SRF was observed to strongly enhance SRF DNA binding affinity. This mechanism allowed for the formation of higher ordered αCA promoter DNA binding complexes, led to a model of SRF physical association with Nkx2-5 and GATA4.
L-Buthionine (S,R) sulfoximine depletes hepatic glutathione but protects against ethanol-induced liver injury.

BACKGROUND L-Buthionine (S,R) sulfoximine (BSO) is an inhibitor of glutathione biosynthesis and has been used as an effective means of depleting glutathione from cells and tissues. Here we investigated whether treatment with BSO enhanced ethanol-induced liver injury in mice. METHODS Female C57Bl/6 mice were pair fed with control and ethanol-containing liquid diets in which ethanol was 29.2% of total calories. During the final 7 days of pair feeding, groups of control-fed and ethanol-fed mice were given 0, 5 or 7.6 mM BSO in the liquid diets. RESULTS Compared with controls, ethanol given alone decreased total liver glutathione. This effect was exacerbated in mice given ethanol with 7.6 mM BSO, causing a 72% decline in hepatic glutathione. While ethanol alone caused no decrease in mitochondrial glutathione, inclusion of 7.6 mM BSO caused a 2-fold decline compared with untreated controls. L-Buthionine (S,R) sulfoximine did not affect ethanol consumption, but serum ethanol levels in BSO-treated mice were nearly 6-fold lower than in mice given ethanol alone. The latter decline in serum ethanol was associated with a significant elevation in the specific activities of cytochrome P450 2E1 and alcohol dehydrogenase in livers of BSO-treated animals. Ethanol consumption caused a 3.5-fold elevation in serum alanine aminotransferase levels but the enzyme fell to control levels when BSO was included in the diet. L-Buthionine (S,R) sulfoximine administration also attenuated ethanol-induced steatosis, prevented the leakage of lysosomal cathepsins into the cytosol, and prevented the ethanol-elicited decline in proteasome activity. CONCLUSIONS L-Buthionine (S,R) sulfoximine, administered with ethanol, significantly depleted hepatic glutathione, compared with controls. However, despite the decrease in hepatic antioxidant levels, liver injury by ethanol was alleviated, due, in part, to a BSO-elicited acceleration of ethanol metabolism.
What is significant in whole-genome linkage disequilibrium studies?

How will we find the susceptibility genes underlying complex human diseases? Genome scans for linkage have produced equivocal results. Currently, a great deal of hope is riding on the notion that systematic searches for linkage disequilibrium (LD) in isolated populations will provide a more powerful approach. The critical task of interpreting the significance of results from such studies poses thorny statistical problems, but-in contrast to linkage analysis-the issues have received little attention. An article by Durham and Feingold in this issue of the Journal takes a step toward remedying this situation. LD mapping relies on the assumption that a single ancestral mutation is responsible for a large proportion of disease cases in a present-day population. The chromosome on which the mutation originally arose carried a particular set of marker alleles-the ancestral haplotype. With passing generations, this haplotype is whittled away by recombination (and possibly altered by mutation) but should be largely preserved in the region around the mutation. Detection of such a region of identity by descent (IBD) among affected individuals provides evidence that the region contains a disease gene. The strength of the evidence depends on the probability of IBD in a random (unrelated to disease) chromosomal region. The size of the conserved region decreases with the number of generations since the mutation was introduced into the population. Note that the principle of LD mapping is the same as that of linkage analysis-affected individuals should, by virtue of their common ancestry, share alleles in a chromosomal region containing a susceptibility gene. In linkage analysis, the relationships among individuals are known and are directly exploited by tracing inheritance in families, while in LD mapping the relationships are more distant and typically are unknown, apart from
Aep3p Stabilizes the Mitochondrial Bicistronic mRNA Encoding Subunits 6 and 8 of the H+-translocating ATP Synthase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae*

Subunits 6 and 8 of the mitochondrial ATPase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae are encoded by the mitochondrial genome and translated from bicistronic mRNAs containing both reading frames. The stability of the two major species of ATP8/6 mRNA, which differ in the length of the 5′-untranslated region, depends on the expression of several nuclear-encoded factors. In the present study, the product of the gene designated AEP3 (open reading frame YPL005W) is shown to be required for stabilization and/or processing of both ATP8/6 mRNA species. In an aep3-disruptant strain, the shorter ATP8/6 mRNA was undetectable, and the level of the longer mRNA was reduced to ∼35% that of wild type. Localization of a hemagglutinin-tagged version of Aep3p showed that the protein is an extrinsic constituent of the mitochondrial inner membrane facing the matrix.
9-cis-13,14-Dihydroretinoic Acid Is an Endogenous Retinoid Acting as RXR Ligand in Mice

The retinoid X receptors (RXRs) are ligand-activated transcription factors which heterodimerize with a number of nuclear hormone receptors, thereby controlling a variety of (patho)-physiological processes. Although synthetic RXR ligands are developed for the treatment of various diseases, endogenous ligand(s) for these receptors have not been conclusively identified. We show here that mice lacking cellular retinol binding protein (Rbp1-/-) display memory deficits reflecting compromised RXR signaling. Using HPLC-MS and chemical synthesis we identified in Rbp1-/- mice reduced levels of 9-cis-13,14-dihydroretinoic acid (9CDHRA), which acts as an RXR ligand since it binds and transactivates RXR in various assays. 9CDHRA rescues the Rbp1-/- phenotype similarly to a synthetic RXR ligand and displays similar transcriptional activity in cultured human dendritic cells. High endogenous levels of 9CDHRA in mice indicate physiological relevance of these data and that 9CDHRA acts as an endogenous RXR ligand.