Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Five Mediates Activation of Lung Xanthine Oxidoreductase in Response to Hypoxia

Background Xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR) is involved in oxidative metabolism of purines and is a source of reactive oxygen species (ROS). As such, XOR has been implicated in oxidant-mediated injury in multiple cardiopulmonary diseases. XOR enzyme activity is regulated, in part, via a phosphorylation-dependent, post-translational mechanism, although the kinase(s) responsible for such hyperactivation are unknown. Methods and Results Using an in silico approach, we identified a cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK5) consensus motif adjacent to the XOR flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) binding domain. CDK5 is a proline-directed serine/threonine kinase historically linked to neural development and injury. We tested the hypothesis that CDK5 and its activators are mediators of hypoxia-induced hyperactivation of XOR in pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (EC) and the intact murine lung. Using complementary molecular and pharmacologic approaches, we demonstrated that hypoxia significantly increased CDK5 activity in EC. This was coincident with increased expression of the CDK5 activators, cyclin-dependent kinase 5 activator 1 (CDK5r1 or p35/p25), and decreased expression of the CDK5 inhibitory peptide, p10. Expression of p35/p25 was necessary for XOR hyperactivation. Further, CDK5 physically associated with XOR and was necessary and sufficient for XOR phosphorylation and hyperactivation both in vitro and in vivo. XOR hyperactivation required the target threonine (T222) within the CDK5-consensus motif. Conclusions and Significance These results indicate that p35/CDK5-mediated phosphorylation of T222 is required for hypoxia-induced XOR hyperactivation in the lung. Recognizing the contribution of XOR to oxidative injury in cardiopulmonary disease, these observations identify p35/CDK5 as novel regulators of XOR and potential modifiers of ROS-mediated injury.
Imaging Infection and Inflammation

1Nuclear Medicine Unit, Department of Medical-Surgical Sciences and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Ospedale S. Andrea, “Sapienza” University, Via di Grottarossa 1035, 00189 Roma, Italy 2Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9700 RB Groningen, Netherlands 3Nuclear Medicine Department, Bichat-Claude Bernard Hospital and Paris Diderot University, 46 Rue Henri Huchard, 75018 Paris, France
Performance analysis of biologically inspired coupled circular antenna array

We propose to design a small-size circular antenna array inspired by the female Ormia ochracea's coupled ears and demonstrate its high direction of arrival (DOA) estimation performance. The female Ormia is able to locate male crickets' calls accurately, for reproduction purposes, despite the small distance between its ears compared with the incoming wave-length. This phenomenon has been explained by the mechanical coupling between the Ormia's ears, modeled by a pair of differential equations. In this paper, we first solve the differential equations governing the Ormia ochracea's ear response, and convert the response to the pre-specified radio frequencies. Using the converted response, we implement the biologically inspired coupling as a multi-input multi-output filter on a uniform circular antenna array output, and compute the mean-square angular error bound on the 3-D localization accuracy. With numerical examples we demonstrate the advantages of the coupling effect.
Platelet activation with unfractionated heparin at therapeutic concentrations and comparisons with a low-molecular-weight heparin and with a direct thrombin inhibitor.

BACKGROUND The growing use of heparin in acute thrombotic disorders, coupled with the availability of many new antithrombotic agents, emphasizes the need for adequate characterization of the platelet effects of the various anticoagulants. Controversial platelet effects have been reported with heparin (eg, enhanced platelet activation in vitro with high doses and no such effect in vivo at therapeutic doses). This study examined platelet receptor activation and platelet aggregation at therapeutic concentrations of unfractionated heparin (UFH), of enoxaparin, a low-molecular-weight heparin, and of argatroban, a direct thrombin inhibitor. METHODS AND RESULTS Platelet P-selectin (CD62) and activated GP IIb/IIIa (PAC-1) expression on platelet membrane was quantified in whole blood as well as platelet aggregation in platelet-rich plasma in 43 patients with unstable angina before and during treatment with UFH or enoxaparin. Studies were also carried out in blood of seven normal volunteers after addition ex vivo of UFH (0.25 U/mL), enoxaparin (0.25 U/mL), argatroban (1 ng/mL), and normal saline. UFH in patients with unstable angina increased the percentage of circulating platelets positive to PAC-1 from 2.7+/-1.7% to 4.4+/-3.4% (P<.05) and to CD62 from 1.6+/-0.9% to 2.7+/-1.5% (P<.01). Platelets were also hyperresponsive to stimulation with ADP and with the thrombin-receptor agonist peptide. Aggregation to ADP increased from 6.8+/-4.6% to 11.2+/-7.0% and to TRAP from 5.2+/-3.5% to 11.1+/-6.0% (P<.001). The addition of UFH to blood of normal volunteers resulted also in activation of GP IIb/IIIa receptors, expression of P-selectin, and enhanced platelet aggregation. Enoxaparin had only minor effects on platelet activation in vivo and ex vivo, and argatroban, evaluated ex vivo, had no detectable effects. CONCLUSIONS Therapeutic concentrations of UFH are associated with platelet activation.
Robust switched control of MIMO multi-model plants

The paper deals with robust switched controller design for MIMO plants under arbitrary switching. Two design approaches are compared. First, a novel frequency domain switched controller design procedure is used based on the small gain theory guaranteeing closed-loop stability of the multi-model plant in all operation modes and stable switching between them. To guarantee robust stability in individual operation modes the Equivalent Subsystems Method is developed. Secondly, a state-space approach is applied; a robust static output feedback controller is designed based on a small modification of a heuristic approach developed for switched model predictive control design. Effectiveness of both design approaches is verified via simulations on a MIMO plant model. Resulting controllers are compared in terms of achieved closed-loop performance.
How Well Does the American Community Survey Count Naturalized Citizens?

BACKGROUND Citizenship status among the foreign born is a crucial indicator of social and political incorporation, yet there are good reasons to suspect that citizenship status is inaccurately reported on U.S. surveys. OBJECTIVE This paper updates research carried out in the mid-1990s by Passel and Clark (1997) on the extent to which foreign-born non-citizen respondents in U.S. government-sponsored surveys misreport as naturalized citizens. METHODS We compare demographic estimates of the resident naturalized foreign-born population in 2010, based on administrative data, to estimates from the 2010 American Community Survey (ACS). RESULTS Similar to previous research, we find that misreporting in the ACS is especially high among immigrants from all countries/regions who report fewer than five years in the U.S. We also find that among longer-term foreign-born residents, misreporting is concentrated only among those originating in Mexico, especially men, a finding that diverges from Passel and Clark in that we find no evidence of over-reporting among immigrants from Central America and the Caribbean. Finally, the estimated magnitude of misreporting, especially among longer-term Mexican-born men, is sensitive to assumptions about the rate of emigration in our administrative-based demographic estimates, and assumptions about coverage error in the ACS, though altering these assumptions does not change the conclusions drawn from the general patterns of the results. CONCLUSIONS For applications that use citizenship as an indicator of legal status, we recommend that self-reported data on citizenship be accepted at face value for all groups except those with less than five years of U.S. residence and Mexican men.
Does meal ingestion enhance sensitivity of visceroperception assessment in irritable bowel syndrome?

Background Visceral hypersensitivity is frequently observed in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Previous studies have shown that administration of a meal can aggravate symptoms or increase visceroperception in IBS patients. We investigated whether meal ingestion could increase the sensitivity of the barostat procedure for the detection of visceral hypersensitivity in IBS patients.
Getting a Clean Shot on a Blurred Target: Improving Targeting for Strategic Scanning through Action Research in 10 French Organizations

Targeting comprises defining the part of the business environment that corresponds to organizations’ strategic objectives and priorities. Targeting is not an easy process because it includes the interaction of managers who come from different organizational units that might have a fragmentary and blurred understanding of the overall issue. Through an action research, we designed and evaluated a GSS to help managers target strategic scanning in fuzzy contexts. Evaluations through interventions in 10 French organizations allowed both participants to achieve relevant targets and researchers to propose four major improvements to targeting activities: 1) use suggested lists of actors and topics as starting points to trigger and facilitate discussions, 2) define actor and topic importance to produce useful targeting results, 3) evaluate the organization’s perceived capacity to be informed early enough, and 4) define a mechanism to signal scanning relevancy in the short, mid-, or long term. From a management perspective, our results help managers in their strategic scanning activity by 1) identifying information needs for strategically scanning fuzzy subjects, 2) reducing risk of strategic scanning failure, 3) enabling organizations to assess their scanning capabilities, 4) identifying scanning priorities according to a temporal horizon, and 5) fostering teamwork participation.
ERCC1/XPF Protects Short Telomeres from Homologous Recombination in Arabidopsis thaliana

Many repair and recombination proteins play essential roles in telomere function and chromosome stability, notwithstanding the role of telomeres in “hiding” chromosome ends from DNA repair and recombination. Among these are XPF and ERCC1, which form a structure-specific endonuclease known for its essential role in nucleotide excision repair and is the subject of considerable interest in studies of recombination. In contrast to observations in mammalian cells, we observe no enhancement of chromosomal instability in Arabidopsis plants mutated for either XPF (AtRAD1) or ERCC1 (AtERCC1) orthologs, which develop normally and show wild-type telomere length. However, in the absence of telomerase, mutation of either of these two genes induces a significantly earlier onset of chromosomal instability. This early appearance of telomere instability is not due to a general acceleration of telomeric repeat loss, but is associated with the presence of dicentric chromosome bridges and cytologically visible extrachromosomal DNA fragments in mitotic anaphase. Such extrachromosomal fragments are not observed in later-generation single-telomerase mutant plants presenting similar frequencies of anaphase bridges. Extensive FISH analyses show that these DNAs are broken chromosomes and correspond to two specific chromosome arms. Analysis of the Arabidopsis genome sequence identified two extensive blocks of degenerate telomeric repeats, which lie at the bases of these two arms. Our data thus indicate a protective role of ERCC1/XPF against 3′ G-strand overhang invasion of interstitial telomeric repeats. The fact that the Atercc1 (and Atrad1) mutants dramatically potentiate levels of chromosome instability in Attert mutants, and the absence of such events in the presence of telomerase, have important implications for models of the roles of recombination at telomeres and is a striking illustration of the impact of genome structure on the outcomes of equivalent recombination processes in different organisms.
VERY LOW H–O–H BENDING FREQUENCIES. VI. VIBRATIONAL SPECTRA OF CdCl2·H2O

The infrared and Raman spectra of CdCl2·H2O as well as those of a series of its partially deuterated analogues were recorded at room and at liquid-nitrogen temperature (RT and LNT, respectively). The combined results from the analysis of the spectra were used to assign the observed bands. In the difference IR spectrum of the compound with low deuterium content (≈ 4 % D) recorded at RT, one broad bands is observed at around 2590 cm–1 while in the LNT spectrum two bands appear (at 2584 cm–1 and 2575 cm–1). The appearance in the LNT spectrum of these two bands which are due to the stretching OD modes of the isotopically isolated HDO molecules points to the existance of two crystallographically different hydrogen bonds and is in accordance with the structural data for this compound. In the LNT infrared and Raman spectra of the protiated compound, one band, at 1583 cm-1, is observed in the region of the bending НОН vibrations with a frequency that is decreasing with lowering the temperature. An interesting finding related to this band is that its frequency is lower than that for the water molecule in the gas phase (1594 cm–1). In the RT and LNT IR spectra, only one strong band (at 560 cm–1) is observed in the region of the librations of water molecules (700 cm–1 – 400 cm–1).
Laparoscopic versus open liver resection: a meta-analysis of long-term outcome

Background: Laparoscopic liver resection is growing in popularity, but the long-term outcome of patients undergoing laparoscopic liver resection for malignancy has not been established. This paper is a meta-analysis and compares the long-term survival of patients undergoing laparoscopic (LHep) versus open (OHep) liver resection for the treatment of malignant liver tumours. Methods: A PubMed database search identified comparative human studies analysing LHep versus OHep for malignant tumours. Clinical and survival parameters were extracted. The search was last conducted on 18 March 2012. Results: In total, 1002 patients in 15 studies were included (446 LHep and 556 OHep). A meta-analysis of overall survival showed no difference [1-year: odds ratio (OR) 0.71, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.42 to 1.20, P = 0.202; 3-years: OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.56 to 1.03, P = 0.076; 5-years: OR 0.8, 95% CI 0.59 to 1.10, P = 0.173]. Subset analyses of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and colorectal metastases (CRM) were performed. There was no difference in the 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival for HCC or in the 1-year survival for CRM, however, a survival advantage was found for CRM at 3 years (LHep 80% versus OHep 67.4%, P = 0.036). Conclusions: Laparoscopic surgery should be considered an acceptable alternative for the treatment of malignant liver tumours.
Local decision maximum margin metric learning for hyperspectral target detection

Detecting certain targets from hyperspectral images (HSIs) is of great interest for both civilian and military applications, with the aim being to detect and identify target pixels based on specific spectral signatures. However, the classical algorithms are generally dependent on the specific statistical hypothesis test, and the algorithms may only perform well with certain assumptions. Therefore, in this paper, a novel metric-learning-based target detection framework, named local decision maximum margin metric learning (LDM3L), is proposed for HSI target detection. The proposed method can better separate the target samples from background ones, without the need for certain assumptions. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms both the state-of-the-art target detection algorithms and the other classical metric learning methods.
F-box and WD repeat domain-containing 7 regulates intestinal cell lineage commitment and is a haploinsufficient tumor suppressor.

BACKGROUND & AIMS The E3 ubiquitin ligase F-box and WD repeat domain-containing 7 (Fbw7) degrades several proto-oncogenes including c-Myc, cyclinE, Notch1, and c-Jun. Fbw7 is the fourth most frequently mutated gene in human colorectal carcinomas and has recently been described as a poor prognosis marker in human colorectal carcinoma; however, the molecular mechanism underlying fbw7 mutations in intestinal tumor suppression is unclear. METHODS To address the role of fbw7 in intestinal homeostasis and tumorigenesis, we generated conditional knock-out mice lacking fbw7 in the intestine and evaluated the effect of fbw7 absence in normal intestinal homeostasis and in adenomatous polyposis coli-mediated tumorigenesis. In parallel, we analyzed a cohort of human tumors bearing mutations in fbw7. RESULTS Fbw7 was found to be highly expressed in the transit-amplifying progenitor cell compartment, and its deletion resulted in impaired goblet cell differentiation and accumulation of highly proliferating progenitor cells. This function of Fbw7 was mirrored during tumor formation because absence of Fbw7 increased proliferation and decreased differentiation of tumors triggered by aberrant Wnt signalling. Fbw7 exhibited haploinsufficiency for intestinal tumor suppression. Biallelic fbw7 inactivation increased cellular proliferation in physiologic and pathologic conditions in a c-Jun-dependent manner. Increased Notch activity was also observed in human tumors carrying heterozygous fbw7 mutations, suggesting that fbw7 haploinsufficiency for antagonizing Notch activity is conserved between human and murine cancers. CONCLUSIONS Fbw7 regulates intestinal biology and tumorigenesis by controlling the abundance of different substrates in a dose-dependent fashion, providing a molecular explanation for the heterozygous mutations of fbw7 observed in human colorectal carcinoma.
Effect of depositing parameters on microstructures and properties of multi arc ion plating ZrTiN films

ZrTiN hard coatings were deposited on WC/TiC/Co cemented carbide substrate by multi arc ion plating. During the depositing, the four most important parameters are target current, nitrogen flowrate, deposition temperature and negative substrate bias voltage. This paper presented a detailed analysis of the effect of these four depositing parameters on the microstructures and properties of ZrTiN thin films respectively. In addition, we also systematically investigated the microstructure, elemental composition, crystal orientation, lattice parameter, grain size, adhesive strength and microhardness of the films. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that only the face centred cubic phase was formed in the films, but the crystal orientation varied with different deposition conditions. Microhardness and adhesive strength of the coatings were associated with elemental composition, crystal orientation and microstructures. The optimum films obtained possessed comprehensive mechanical properties with an adhesive strength of 84·1 N and a microhardness of 30·4 GPa and exhibited the strongest (111) preferred orientation.
Wireless remote localization system utilizing ambient RF/solar power scavenging RFID tags

A novel hybrid batteryless tag design using ambient solar and proposed RF power is presented. The novelty of this system is that the RFID tag not only uses ambient RF/solar power to power itself, but also it uses it as triggering mechanism for initiating data communication. A remote localization system with very good accuracy utilizing this tag configuration and making use of RFID to Wireless Sensor Node communication is showcased as an end application with tremendous potential.
Channel Equalization for Multi-Antenna FBMC/OQAM Receivers

In this paper, the problem of channel equalization in filter bank multicarrier (FBMC) transmission based on the offset quadrature-amplitude modulation (OQAM) subcarrier modulation is addressed. Finite impulse response (FIR) per-subchannel equalizers are derived based on the frequency sampling (FS) approach, both for the single-input multiple-output (SIMO) receive diversity and the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) spatially multiplexed FBMC/OQAM systems. The FS design consists of computing the equalizer in the frequency domain at a number of frequency points within a subchannel bandwidth, and based on this, the coefficients of subcarrier-wise equalizers are derived. We evaluate the error rate performance and computational complexity of the proposed scheme for both antenna configurations and compare them with the SIMO/MIMO OFDM equalizers. The results obtained confirm the effectiveness of the proposed technique with channels that exhibit significant frequency selectivity at the subchannel level and show a performance comparable with the optimum minimum mean-square-error equalizer, despite a significantly lower computational complexity. The possibility of tolerating significant subchannel frequency selectivity gives more freedom in the multicarrier system parameterization. For example, it is possible to use significantly wider subcarrier spacing than what is feasible in OFDM, thus relieving various critical design constraints.
Electron Microscopic Evidence for Linear Insertion of Bacteriophage MU-1 in Lysogenic Bacteria

Temperate bacteriophage Mu-1 was used to generate a lysogenic derivative of the F′lac episome of Escherichia coli. Intact, covalently circular molecules of F′lac and lysogenic F′lac Mu+ deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) were isolated and examined by electron microscopy. The mean contour lengths of F′lac and F′lac Mu+ molecules were 37.6 ± 0.4 μm and 53.2 ± 0.4 μm, respectively. The mean difference, 15.6 μm, is similar to the mean contour length of 12.9 ± 0.1 μm obtained for linear DNA molecules released by osmotic shock from mature phage Mu-1 virions. These results provide direct physical evidence that phage Mu-1 integrates by linear insertion of its genome into the DNA of lysogenic host bacteria. Chemical and physical analyses of phage Mu-1 DNA indicate that it is similar to E. coli DNA in respect of gross base composition, buoyant density, and melting temperature.
Concentric and single fiber needle electrodes yield comparable jitter results in myasthenia gravis

The single fiber needle electrode (SFNE), which is designed to isolate single muscle fiber action potentials, has played an important role in the diagnosis of myasthenia gravis (MG). However, the concentric needle electrode (CNE) has been recently adopted by some workers to study neuromuscular instability in MG, and reference data have also been obtained in healthy subjects. In this study we wanted to establish whether data acquired using the SFNE is comparable to that obtained using the CNE when studying patients with MG. We established reference data for our laboratory using the CNE for orbicularis oculi (OO) and extensor digitorum communis (EDC). We compared data from 24 MG patients using both SFNE and CNE and found no significant differences in mean jitter values for either muscles. We correlated the neurophysiological data obtained by either electrode with various clinical assessments, the ice pack test, OO and EDC strength measurement, and MGFA classification of disease, and we found no significant relation. We compared discomfort scores for the two needle electrodes for each muscle and found that the discomfort scores for CNE are significantly lower (P = 0.0004). We conclude that the CNE is a useful alternative electrode for studying single fiber potentials, but more reference data from normal control subjects is desirable. Muscle Nerve, 2008