Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rapidly evolving lineages impede the resolution of phylogenetic relationships among Clitellata (Annelida).

The phylogenetic relationships of the Clitellata were investigated using a data set with published and new complete or partial 18S rRNA and mtCOI gene sequences of 13 and 49 taxa representing 8 and 14 families, respectively. Three different alignments were considered for 18S, and the possible influence of departures from rate constancy among sites was evaluated by analyses using a Gamma model of rate heterogeneity. Maximum-likelihood estimates of the shape parameter alpha of the Gamma distribution were very low, whatever the alignment or the gene considered, suggesting that phylogenetic reconstructions taking into account the rate heterogeneity among sites are likely to be the most reliable. Analyzed separately, the two genes did not resolve the relationships among the Clitellata, but the consensus tree was congruent with the morphology-based relationships. Our data suggest the inclusion of the Euhirudinea, Acanthobdellida, and Branchiobdellida in the Oligochaeta and suggest the Lumbriculidae as the link between both assemblages. Although separate analyses of both genes, as well as different alignments for the 18S rRNA sequences, yielded conflicting results concerning the phylogenetic position of leeches and leech-like worms vis-à-vis the Oligochaeta, subsequent analyses using the Gamma model greatly reduced the observed inconsistencies. Our analyses show that among the Clitellata, the leeches and the leech-like and gutless worms represent significantly faster evolving lineages. It is suggested that the observed higher mutation rates may be explained by the fact that these lineages contain almost exclusively commensal and/or parasitic taxa.
The role of mastery and social resources in the associations between disability and depression in later life.

PURPOSE Although disability is widely acknowledged as a risk factor for late-life depression, few studies have studied the potential of psychosocial factors to alter the association between disability and depression. The present study assessed the impacts of mastery and social resources (social network, social support, and satisfaction with support) on depression and, in particular, whether they modify the link between disability and depression. DESIGN AND METHODS The direct and moderating effects of mastery and social resources were empirically tested using a sample of 406 community-dwelling older adults who were cognitively intact (mean age = 72.3). RESULTS Higher level of mastery and greater satisfaction with support had significant direct effects on depression and also buffered the adverse impact of disability on depression. IMPLICATIONS The findings support the importance of psychosocial factors in modifying the association between disability and depression and suggest that efforts to enhance positive psychosocial attributes should be emphasized in interventions for older adults.
Amelioration of streptozotocin-induced diabetes in mice using human islet cells derived from long-term culture in vitro1

Background. Long-term maintenance of the phenotype of &bgr; cells in vitro is difficult. The objective of this study was to examine an in vitro method for preserving the capacity of adult human &bgr; cells to express insulin. We evaluated the use of long-term cultured islet cells for the treatment of diabetic SCID mice. Methods. Human islets were isolated from cadaveric donors. The islets were cultured as monolayers and clusters in repeating cycles for 4 months. Thereafter, the cells were tested in vitro for their capacity to express insulin and to secrete insulin in response to glucose challenge. Finally, the cluster-cultured cells were transplanted under the kidney capsule and into the kidney tissue in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic SCID mice. Results. Approximately 3.6% of cultured islet cells in cluster phase expressed insulin at 4 months and this was confirmed using immuno-gold-labeling electron microscopy. The cultured islet cells secreted insulin in response to glucose challenge in a dose-dependent manner. After transplantation, the islet cells redifferentiated and generated >20% insulin positive cells. The 4-month cultured cells rendered the blood glucose level near normal in mild diabetic mice (7.25 mM±1.595 vs. 15.225 mM±2.55, P <0.0025). Conclusion. It is possible to preserve the capacity of adult human islets to express insulin over a 4-month period in vitro, and this capacity was enhanced significantly by transplantation into SCID mice. The described system will be useful in studies of &bgr; cell proliferation and differentiation.
Modelos de evaluación de producción científica para el área de Ciencias de la Computación

RESUMEN La evaluacion de la produccion cientifica de un autor o de un grupo de investigacion, asi como la determinacion del impacto generado por una publicacion cientifica han sido temas de interes en las ultimas decadas. En la actualidad, se dispone de una gran cantidad de metricas para la valoracion del impacto de documentos cientificos, sin embargo, los modelos de evaluacion utilizados en la generacion de tales indicadores presentan diversas limitaciones que afectan su implementacion. Entre estos inconvenientes se destaca la falta de adaptabilidad de los modelos para considerar las diferentes caracteristicas inherentes a un area de conocimiento especifica y el caracter unidimensional del analisis llevado a cabo. En este marco, la presente linea de investigacion pretende desarrollar un modelo de evaluacion de la produccion cientifica que integre caracteristicas a fin de mitigar los problemas de los metodos actuales y constituir una herramienta de calidad para la determinacion del impacto de la produccion cientifica, especificamente en el ambito de las ciencias de la computacion.
OUR EXPERIENCE WITH SENTINEL LYMPH NODE DETECTION AND BIOPSY IN BREAST CANCER AND MALIGNANT MELANOMA

The aim of this study was to establish whether it is necessary to employ three methods or whether it is sufficient to use one or two methods for sentinel lymph node detection in breast cancer and malignant melanoma patients. There are described methods of scintigraphic detection, utilisation of surgical gamma probe and isosulfan blue dye in patients with these malignant tumours. Sentinel nodes were examined by one, two, or all three methods in 83 breast cancer patients and 149 melanoma patients. No nodes were found by any of the three methods in 2 patients with breast cancer and 6 patients with malignant melanoma. Generally, by scintigraphy, 193 lymph nodes (average 2.3 in 1 patient) were imaged in the group of breast cancer patients, and 268 lymph nodes in malignant melanoma patients (average 1.8 in 1 patient). In the group of patients with breast cancer, scintigraphy failed to display the sentinel lymph node in 6 patients – success rate of lymphoscintigraphy was 92.8 %. The detection rate of the lymph node using the gamma probe was 88.5 %. The success rate of lymph node detection using blue dye was 86.4 %. A combination of scintigraphy, blue dye, and probe proved a sentinel lymph node in 97.6 % of all patients examined (in 81 of 83 patients). In the group of patients with malignant melanoma, the success rate of lymphoscintigraphy was 94.6 %, the success rate of lymph node detection using blue dye was 75.8 %, the success rate of the sentinel lymph node detection using the gamma probe was 85.2 %, and generally we proved a sentinel lymph node in 96 % of all patients examined (in 143 of 149 patients). Lymph node metastatic involvement was demonstrated in 36 patients (43.4 % of all) with breast cancer and in 14 patients with malignant melanoma (9.4 % of all). It follows from the finding data that parallel use of scintigraphy, surgical gamma probe, and isosulfan blue dye is the most effective for sentinel lymph node detection.
Persistence of Neighborhood Demographic Influences over Long Phylogenetic Distances May Help Drive Post-Speciation Adaptation in Tropical Forests

Studies of forest dynamics plots (FDPs) have revealed a variety of negative density-dependent (NDD) demographic interactions, especially among conspecific trees. These interactions can affect growth rate, recruitment and mortality, and they play a central role in the maintenance of species diversity in these complex ecosystems. Here we use an equal area annulus (EAA) point-pattern method to comprehensively analyze data from two tropical FDPs, Barro Colorado Island in Panama and Sinharaja in Sri Lanka. We show that these NDD interactions also influence the continued evolutionary diversification of even distantly related tree species in these FDPs. We examine the details of a wide range of these interactions between individual trees and the trees that surround them. All these interactions, and their cumulative effects, are strongest among conspecific focal and surrounding tree species in both FDPs. They diminish in magnitude with increasing phylogenetic distance between heterospecific focal and surrounding trees, but do not disappear or change the pattern of their dependence on size, density, frequency or physical distance even among the most distantly related trees. The phylogenetic persistence of all these effects provides evidence that interactions between tree species that share an ecosystem may continue to promote adaptive divergence even after the species’ gene pools have become separated. Adaptive divergence among taxa would operate in stark contrast to an alternative possibility that has previously been suggested, that distantly related species with dispersal-limited distributions and confronted with unpredictable neighbors will tend to converge on common strategies of resource use. In addition, we have also uncovered a positive density-dependent effect: growth rates of large trees are boosted in the presence of a smaller basal area of surrounding trees. We also show that many of the NDD interactions switch sign rapidly as focal trees grow in size, and that their cumulative effect can strongly influence the distributions and species composition of the trees that surround the focal trees during the focal trees’ lifetimes.
Transient goiter enlargement after administration of 0.3 mg of recombinant human thyrotropin in patients with benign nontoxic nodular goiter: a randomized, double-blind, crossover trial.

BACKGROUND Recombinant human (rh) TSH, in doses from 0.01 to 0.9 mg, has been used to augment the effect of radioiodine ((131)I) therapy in patients with a benign nontoxic nodular goiter. Transient thyroid enlargement and thyrotoxicosis may be seen following (131)I therapy. AIM The aim of the study was to investigate whether rhTSH per se causes goiter enlargement, until now an issue evaluated only in healthy nongoitrous subjects. METHODS In random order, 10 patients with nontoxic nodular goiter [mean 39.8 +/- 20.5 (sd) ml] received either 0.3 mg rhTSH or isotonic saline in a double-blinded crossover design. Thyroid volume (by ultrasound) and function were closely monitored during the following 28 d. RESULTS Saline injection did not affect thyroid function or size. After rhTSH, median serum TSH increased from baseline 0.97 mU/liter (range 0.39-1.56) to 37.0 mU/liter (range 18.5-55.0) at 24 h (P < 0.01), with a subsequent decline to subnormal levels at d 7. Mean free T(4) and free T(3) increased significantly from baseline to a maximum at 48 h. Twenty-four hours after rhTSH, the mean goiter volume was significantly increased by 9.8 +/- 2.3% (sem) (P = 0.01) and after 48 h by 24.0 +/- 5.1% (P = 0.002). The goiter enlargement had reverted at d 7. Nine patients had symptoms of hyperthyroidism and/or cervical compression after rhTSH, as opposed to one during placebo treatment (P < 0.02). CONCLUSIONS A transient average goiter enlargement of up to 24% is seen after 0.3 mg rhTSH. This may lead to a significant cervical compression when used for augmentation of (131)I therapy in patients with goiter. The use of lower doses of rhTSH needs to be explored.
Cloning and Mutational Analysis of the γ Gene fromAzotobacter vinelandii Defines a New Family of Proteins Capable of Metallocluster Binding and Protein Stabilization*

Dinitrogenase is a heterotetrameric (α2β2) enzyme that catalyzes the reduction of dinitrogen to ammonium and contains the iron-molybdenum cofactor (FeMo-co) at its active site. Certain Azotobacter vinelandii mutant strains unable to synthesize FeMo-co accumulate an apo form of dinitrogenase (lacking FeMo-co), with a subunit composition α2β2γ2, which can be activated in vitro by the addition of FeMo-co. The γ protein is able to bind FeMo-co or apodinitrogenase independently, leading to the suggestion that it facilitates FeMo-co insertion into the apoenzyme. In this work, the non-nif gene encoding the γ subunit (nafY) has been cloned, sequenced, and found to encode a NifY-like protein. This finding, together with a wealth of knowledge on the biochemistry of proteins involved in FeMo-co and FeV-co biosyntheses, allows us to define a new family of iron and molybdenum (or vanadium) cluster-binding proteins that includes NifY, NifX, VnfX, and now γ. In vitro FeMo-co insertion experiments presented in this work demonstrate that γ stabilizes apodinitrogenase in the conformation required to be fully activable by the cofactor. Supporting this conclusion, we show that strains containing mutations in both nafY and nifX are severely affected in diazotrophic growth and extractable dinitrogenase activity when cultured under conditions that are likely to occur in natural environments. This finding reveals the physiological importance of the apodinitrogenase-stabilizing role of which both proteins are capable. The relationship between the metal cluster binding capabilities of this new family of proteins and the ability of some of them to stabilize an apoenzyme is still an open matter.
Effect of Dialysis Modality and Membrane Transport Characteristics on Dialysate Protein Losses of Patients on Peritoneal Dialysis

Objective To determine if peritoneal dialysis modality has an impact on protein losses in dialysate. Design Retrospective, cross-sectional study. Patients 190 patients who had selected peritoneal dialysis were classified into one of four transport categories (high, high-average, low-average, or low) based on standard peritoneal equilibration test results. Patients were then assigned to continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) or nightly intermittent peritoneal dialysis (NIPD) based on membrane transport characteristics and individual preferences. Results Patients with similar membrane transport characteristics had essentially no differences in dialysate protein and albumin losses whether treated with CAPD or NIPD. Conclusions Although high transporters may be better managed with short -dwell therapies such as nocturnal intermittent peritoneal dialysis or daily ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, consistent marked decreases in protein losses cannot be cited as a benefit of NIPD over CAPD.
Factors influencing endothelial function in healthy pre- and post-menopausal women of the EU-RISC study

Background: We studied the impact of lifestyle, body composition, different insulin sensitivity indices and the first insulin response in healthy pre- and post-menopausal women with a low cardiovascular risk profile (the EU-RISC study, ‘Relationship between Insulin Sensitivity and Cardiovascular Disease’ (n = 51, 47 ± 4 years, body mass index 23.6 ± 3.7 kg/m2, waist girth 79.2 ± 10.3 cm) on endothelial function (flow mediated arterial dilatation (FMD)), an early marker for atherosclerosis. Results: Waist circumference (p = 0.06), tobacco consumption (p = 0.02) and leucocyte count (p = 0.09) were inversely related with FMD in both pre- and post-menopausal women. Neither insulin sensitivity nor first insulin response indices were correlated with FMD. In pre-menopausal women (n = 24), waist (p < 0.02), waist-to-hip ratio (p < 0.02), HDL cholesterol (p < 0.01) and smoking habits (p < 0.03) were significantly correlated with endothelial function. In postmenopausal women (n = 27) age (r = −0.17, p = 0.04) was related with FMD. Conclusion: Smoking and waist circumference, a simple marker of visceral adiposity, were related with endothelial function in healthy pre- and post-menopausal women.
Efficient Weight-based Private Matching for proximity-based mobile social networks

Proximity-based mobile social networks (PMSNs) are becoming increasingly popular in recent years with the explosive growth of mobile devices, where a user can find a best matching friend in vicinity through profile matching. However, the matching process calls for the publication of users' personal information, which conflicts with users' growing privacy concerns about revealing their profiles to strangers. To achieve privacy-preserving friend discovery, many schemes are proposed based on traditional cryptographic methods, such as homomorphic and commutative encryption, which inevitably introduce tremendous overhead to the system and are not practical for the resource-limited mobile devices. In this paper, we propose an Efficient Weight-based Private Matching (EWPM) protocol, which provides a realistic matching approach considering both the number of common interests and the corresponding weights on them. In EWPM, we utilize the Confusion Matrix Transformation (CMT) algorithm to achieve a secure and efficient matching. Security analysis and detailed simulations show that our proposed scheme can realize privacy-preserving friend discovery with higher efficiency.
A Large Scale Laboratory Cage Trial of Aedes Densonucleosis Virus (AeDNV)

ABSTRACT Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae) the primary vector of dengue viruses (DENV1–4), oviposit in and around human dwellings, including sites difficult to locate, making control of this mosquito challenging. We explored the efficacy and sustainability of Aedes Densonucleosis Virus (AeDNV) as a biocontrol agent for Ae. aegypti in and among oviposition sites in large laboratory cages (>92 m3) as a prelude to field trials. Select cages were seeded with AeDNV in a single oviposition site (OPS) with unseeded OPSs established at varied distances. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to track dispersal and accumulation of AeDNV among OPSs. All eggs were collected weekly from each cage and counted. We asked: (1) Is AeDNV dispersed over varying distances and can it accumulate and persist in novel OPSs? (2) Are egg densities reduced in AeDNV treated populations? AeDNV was dispersed to and sustained in novel OPSs. Virus accumulation in OPSs was positively correlated with egg densities and proximity to the initial infection source affected the timing of dispersal and maintenance of viral titers. AeDNV did not significantly reduce Ae. aegypti egg densities. The current study documents that adult female Ae. aegypti oviposition behavior leads to successful viral dispersal from treated to novel containers in large-scale cages; however, the AeDNV titers reached were not sufficient to reduce egg densities.
Signaling by hepatocyte growth factor in neurons is induced by pharmacological stimulation of synaptic activity

Activity‐dependent signaling by growth factors is hypothesized to link synaptic activity to structural and functional modifications of neurons. The receptor tyrosine kinase Met and its ligand, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), are clustered at excitatory synapses and may regulate aspects of excitatory synaptic function, as HGF increases expression of excitatory synaptic proteins, enhances their clustering at sites along dendrites, and increases current through the NMDA receptor. In this article, we test for secretion or activation of HGF and for activation of Met in response to pharmacological stimulation of synaptic activity. Stimulation of dissociated hippocampal neuron cultures with glutamate caused increased immunocytochemical staining against HGF on nonpermeabilized cells. Glutamate treatment also decreased the amount of pro HGF and increased the amount of the proteolytically‐activated HGF in immunoblots of neuron culture lysates, and increased the levels of activated HGF in culture media. Stimulation of neuron cultures with glutamate or bicuculline induced autophosphorylation of Met on dendrites and the soma of neurons. Pretreatment of neurons with glutamate receptor inhibitors prior to glutamate treatment blocked autophosphorylation of Met. These results suggest that HGF can participate in activity‐dependent signaling in neurons. Synapse 61:199–204, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Early treatment of childhood fevers with pre‐packaged antimalarial drugs in the home reduces severe malaria morbidity in Burkina Faso

In rural, malaria‐endemic Burkina Faso, we evaluated the impact of the use of pre‐packaged antimalarial drugs (PPAM), by mothers in the home, on the progression of disease in children from uncomplicated fever to severe malaria. In each village of one province, a core group of opinion leaders (mainly older mothers) was trained in the management of uncomplicated malaria, including the administration of PPAM. Full courses of antimalarial (chloroquine) and antipyretic (aspirin) drugs were packaged in age‐specific bags and made widely available through community health workers who were supplied through the existing drug distribution system. Drugs were sold under a cost‐recovery scheme. Local schoolteachers conducted surveys in a random sample of 32 villages at the end of the high transmission seasons in 1998 and 1999. Disease history and the treatment received were investigated for all children under the age of 6 years having suffered from a fever episode in the previous 4 weeks. ‘Uncomplicated malaria’ was defined as every episode of fever and ‘severe malaria’ as every episode of fever followed by convulsions or loss of consciousness. During the study period, 56%[95% confidence interval (CI) 50–62%] of 3202 fever episodes in children under 6 years of age were treated promptly by mothers with the pre‐packaged drugs made available by the study. A total of 59% of children receiving PPAM were reported to have received the drugs over the prescribed 3‐day period, while 52% received the correct age‐specific dose. PPAM use was similar among literate (61%) and non‐literate mothers (55%) (P = 0.08). The overall reported risk of developing severe malaria was 8%. This risk was lower in children treated with PPAM (5%) than in children not treated with PPAM (11%) (risk ratio = 0.47; 95% CI 0.37, 0.60; P < 0.0001). This estimate of the impact of PPAM was largely unchanged when account was taken of potential confounding by age, sex, maternal literacy status, year or village. Our findings support the view that, after appropriate training and with adequately packaged drugs made available, mothers can recognize and treat promptly and correctly malarial episodes in their children and, by doing so, reduce the incidence of severe disease.