Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nodular regenerative hyperplasia of the liver in Felty's syndrome.

Five patients with Felty's syndrome are described who were found at operation or at post-mortem, and in one case on percutaneous liver biopsy, to have nodular regenerative hyperplasia of the liver. Liver-function tests were slightly abnormal in three patients, and in three patients there was evidence of portal hypertension, one patient dying from bleeding oesophageal varices.This condition appeared to be truly related to Felty's syndrome for not a single instance of it was found in a post-mortem study of 51 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and of other series of patients with diseases associated with splenomegaly. Whether compression of intrahepatic vasculature from the nodular regenerative hyperplasia is an important factor in the portal hypertension that occasionally develops in Felty's syndrome, and whether an increase in splenic blood flow consequent on the splenomegaly by causing changes in portal blood flow or intrahepatic distribution of blood could be responsible for the change in hepatic histology requires further study.
Control of Human Muscle-type Carnitine Palmitoyltransferase I Gene Transcription by Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptor*

The expression of several genes involved in intra- and extracellular lipid metabolism, notably those involved in peroxisomal and mitochondrial β-oxidation, is mediated by ligand-activated receptors, collectively referred to as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs). To gain more insight into the control of expression of carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) genes, which are regulated by fatty acids, we have examined the transcriptional regulation of the human MCPT I gene. We have cloned by polymerase chain reaction the 5′-flanking region of this gene and demonstrated its transcriptional activity by transfection experiments with the CAT gene as a reporter. We have also shown that this is a target gene for the action of PPARs, and we have localized a PPAR responsive element upstream of the first exon. These results show that PPAR regulates the entry of fatty acids into the mitochondria, which is a crucial step in their metabolism, especially in tissues like heart, skeletal muscle and brown adipose tissue in which fatty acids are a major source of energy.
The Middle Voice in Fula

Various writers on the language of the Fulani, or, have included in their accounts a description of the three Voices of the verbal system, and a brief statement of their role in the operation of the language. But no detailed analysis of Voice in Fula has yet been published. Such an analysis is attempted in this article, on the basis of the speech of two informants from Gombe Division in Northern Nigeria. 2. The term Voice is here applied to each of the three series of verbal affixes which are found in Fula. The tense affixes fall into three series, differing in distribution and behaviour, and to some extent in meaning. These series cut across the tenses, so that each tense (except for the Negative of Quality and the Imperative) has three different tense-signs associated with it, each belonging to a different series. Thus in the two sets of sentences.
False-negative results in detection of monoclonal proteins by capillary zone electrophoresis: a prospective study.

Over the last 5 years, capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) with the use of fused-silica capillaries has been increasingly introduced in clinical laboratories for routine serum-protein electrophoresis (1). The multichannel, automated Paragon CZE 2000 instrument (seven capillaries in parallel; Beckman Coulter) represented an especially attractive alternative to time-consuming manual techniques. CZE has been documented to perform reliably for the analysis of serum proteins and for the detection of monoclonal components (2)(3). We reported (4) that the sensitivity of the Paragon CZE 2000 system for the detection of monoclonal components (93%) was superior to the sensitivity of cellulose acetate gel electrophoresis (74%) and agarose gel electrophoresis (86%). In a prospective study, Katzman et al. (5) reported sensitivities of 95% and 91% for seven-capillary electrophoresis and agarose gel electrophoresis, respectively. When compared with agarose gel electrophoresis, CZE was able to detect more low-concentration IgA monoclonal components or light chains that were hidden in agarose gel electrophoresis because of comigration with transferrin or C3 (6). Paraproteins that are missed by CZE are typically very low-concentration monoclonal components that are also missed by agarose gel electrophoresis, but not by immunofixation. Problems with the detection of monoclonal components by CZE have been described (7)(8). Using a single-capillary Beckman P/ACE instrument with a capillary and buffer different from the Paragon CZE 2000 system, Jenkins and Guerin (7) performed a prospective study on 5500 specimens in which they compared CZE with agarose gel electrophoresis for the detection of monoclonal components. The authors identified six paraproteins that did not separate correctly on CZE. On agarose gel electrophoresis, all of these proteins migrated in the very slow γ region. The pI …
Clustering of Large Hydrophobes in the Hydrophobic Core of Two-stranded α-Helical Coiled-Coils Controls Protein Folding and Stability*

The de novo design and biophysical characterization of two 60-residue peptides that dimerize to fold as parallel coiled-coils with different hydrophobic core clustering is described. Our goal was to investigate whether designing coiled-coils with identical hydrophobicity but with different hydrophobic clustering of non-polar core residues (each contained 6 Leu, 3 Ile, and 7 Ala residues in the hydrophobic core) would affect helical content and protein stability. The disulfide-bridged P3 and P2 differed dramatically in α-helical structure in benign conditions. P3 with three hydrophobic clusters was 98% α-helical, whereas P2 was only 65% α-helical. The stability profiles of these two analogs were compared, and the enthalpy and heat capacity changes upon denaturation were determined by measuring the temperature dependence by circular dichroism spectroscopy and confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry. The results showed that P3 assembled into a stable α-helical two-stranded coiled-coil and exhibited a native protein-like cooperative two-state transition in thermal melting, chemical denaturation, and calorimetry experiments. Although both peptides have identical inherent hydrophobicity (the hydrophobic burial of identical non-polar residues in equivalent heptad coiled-coil positions), we found that the context dependence of an additional hydrophobic cluster dramatically increased stability of P3 (ΔTm ≈ 18 °C and Δ[urea]½ ≈ 1.5 m) as compared with P2. These results suggested that hydrophobic clustering significantly stabilized the coiled-coil structure and may explain how long fibrous proteins like tropomyosin maintain chain integrity while accommodating polar or charged residues in regions of the protein hydrophobic core.
Variability and Immunogenicity of Caprine Arthritis-Encephalitis Virus Surface Glycoprotein

ABSTRACT The complete surface glycoprotein (SU) nucleotide sequences of three French isolates of caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus (CAEV) were determined and compared with those of previously described isolates: three American isolates and one French isolate. Phylogenetic analyses revealed the existence of four distinct and roughly equidistant evolutionary CAEV subtypes. Four conserved and five variable domains were identified in the SU. The fine specificities of antibodies produced against these domains during natural infection were examined using a pepscan analysis. Nine immunogenic segments were delineated throughout the conserved and variable domains of SU, two of them corresponding to conserved immunodominant epitopes. Antigenic determinants which may be involved in the immunopathogenic process induced by CAEV were identified. These results also provide sensitive and specific antigen peptides for the serological detection and differentiation of CAEV and visna/maedi virus infections.
product development Expanded Bed Adsorption Expanded Bed Adsorption – Challenges and Advances in Column and Process Design

T he concept of chromatography in Expanded Bed Adsorption (EBA) was first proposed in early 90s. The initial advantage of the idea was to be able to directly process particulate containing biological feedstocks for target products, while still maintaining sufficiently high separation efficiency that is usually enjoyed only by the traditional chromatography columns. EBA could potentially replace several traditional unit operations combined, namely centrifugation, filtration, and capture chromatography. EBA can significantly shorten the overall processing time, increase the overall yield, and save both capital investment and operating cost for many biological purification processes Figure 1. EBA is different from the fluidized bed used in the traditional chemical industry. The media beads are only intended to be fluidized in their local area, instead of a full mixing stage as in a fluidized bed, to provide reasonably high separation efficiency (plate count). A typical EBA operation involves the following steps: bed stabilization/equilibration, sample loading, washing, elution, regeneration and cleaning, and re-equilibration as shown in Figure 2. The settled EBA bed is first expanded by applying upward flow that is sufficiently fast to fluidize the media beads. Particulate containing feedstock will be directly applied into the column after equilibration. The target proteins or smaller molecules will be binded to the EBA absorbent while other contaminants such as Nucleotide and lipids pass through. A wash will be applied using fresh buffer to remove the loosely bound contaminant molecules after the sample loading. Elution step is usually run as a packed bed by lowering the top adaptor and applying downward flow. The target proteins or molecules that were binding on the adsorbent will be eluted from the column and collected. The column will then be cleaned/regenerated using stronger agents such as sodium hydroxide and re-equilibrated using the starting buffer for the next loading cycle.
The impact of preoperative oral ingestion of water on intraoperative gastric fluid volume for elective gastroscopy: A randomized controlled trial

Background: Preoperative fasting of clear fluids is recommended to reduce the incidence of pulmonary aspiration under anesthesia but non-compliance may cause aspiration or an inconvenient delay in surgery. Safe reduction of fasting time below the current standard of 2 hours has been reported but has not been demonstrated clinically. The aim of this study was to determine if reducing the fast of clear fluids to 1 hour increases residual gastric volume. Methods: 181 adult patients scheduled for gastroscopy at three sites were randomized to receive 200 ml of water either 80-150 (Standard Fast group) or 40-75 minutes (Short Fast group) before anesthesia. Patients were stratified to current proton pump and antacid therapy. Gastric contents were aspirated under vision by gastroscopy after induction of anesthesia and the volume and pH were compared between groups. Results: Non-compliance with fasting time resulted in exclusion of 41 patients leaving 140 patients for analysis. The mean fasting times (mean ± SD) were 102 ± 20.5 min in the Standard Fast group and 56 ± 10.8 min in the Short Fast group. The proportions of patients receiving proton pump inhibitors were not different between groups (45.2% and 47.8% respectively, p=1.0). The gastric volumes and pH were similar (volume: 0.18 ml/kg ± 0.25 and 0.19 ml/kg ± 0.31, P=0.92; pH: 2.85 ± 2.02 and 3.10 2.48, P=0.61). There was no correlation between fasting time and gastric volume (r -0.03; p=0.72) or pH (r-0.02; p=0.84) and no difference in the proportion of participants with residual gastric volumes greater than 0.4 ml/kg. Conclusions: In patients without risk factors for delayed gastric emptying, consumption of 200 ml of water up to 56 minutes before general anesthesia does not significantly affect gastric volume and pH compared with a longer fasting time of 102 minutes.
Normalizing GDNF expression in the spinal cord alleviates cutaneous hyperalgesia but not ongoing pain in a rat model of bone cancer pain

Bone cancer pain (BCP) is the most common complication in patients with bone cancer. Glial cell line‐derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is believed to be involved in chronic pain conditions. In this article, the expression and roles of GDNF were studied in a rat model of BCP induced by tibia injection of Walker 256 rat mammary gland carcinoma cells. Significant mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia and ongoing pain were observed beginning as early as day 5 post injection. The expression level of GDNF protein examined on day 16 after tibia injection was decreased in the L3 dorsal root ganglion (DRG) and lumbar spinal cord, but not in other spinal levels or the anterior cingulate cortex. Phosphorylation of Ret, the receptor for GDNF family ligands, was also decreased. Furthermore, normalizing GDNF expression with lentiviral vector constructs in the spinal cord significantly reduced mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia, spinal glial activation, and pERK induction induced by tibia injection, but did not affect ongoing pain. Together these findings provide new evidence for the use of GDNF as a therapeutic treatment for bone cancer pain states.
Relações entre controle acionário e remuneração de executivos

Este artigo buscou analisar se o controle acionario poderia ser um fator determinante da remuneracao dos executivos. O estudo justifica-se pela carencia de pesquisas que tentem analisar o controle acionario como variavel que auxilia a explicar o nivel de remuneracao de executivos no Brasil. A amostra de pesquisa foi composta por 144 empresas listadas na BM&FBOVESPA nos anos de 2011, 2012 e 2013. Os dados sobre desempenho organizacional e controle acionario foram coletados do banco de dados Economatica®. Para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa testou-se o controle acionario percentualmente e atraves da criacao de grupos para classificar as empresas em funcao do grau de concentracao do controle. Os resultados mostram que o controle acionario possui relacao negativa e estatisticamente significativa com a remuneracao. Os indicadores atrelados ao lucro contabil foram significantes (ROE e lucro por acao), assim como o EBITDA. Por outro lado, nao se identificou relacao significante para a variavel Dividendos por Acao. Concluiu-se que a definicao de variaveis para elaboracao da formula de remuneracao dos executivos e impactada por conflitos de agencia que podem restringir a escolha dos indicadores, e que empresas com controle mais disperso remuneram melhor seus executivos.
Findings of Florid Cemento-Osseous Dysplasia: a Report of Three Cases

ABSTRACT Background Florid cemento-osseous dysplasia (FCOD) is a benign jaw lesion originating from periodontal ligament tissues usually asymptomatic and diagnosed accidentally at routine dental radiographic examination. The purpose of this paper is to report three cases diagnosed as FCOD with their clinical, radiographic and histological findings. Methods Radiologic and clinical symptoms of three cases diagnosed as FCOD are presented. Serum alkaline phosphatase test and biopsy taken from two of the patients are discussed to eliminate the Paget's disease. Results Three patients diagnosed as FCOD and called for routine follow-up. Because of no sign of infection or osteomyelitis, conservative treatment was applied. Conclusions Radiographic examination is significant for the diagnosis of florid cemento-osseous dysplasia, especially in the asymptomatic cases. The roles of the dentist are to ensure the follow-up of the diagnosed patients and to take the necessary measures for preventing from the infections.
Weekly alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, and the risk of ischemic stroke

To assess the role of current weekly alcohol consumption as a risk factor for cerebral infarction, we administered a pretested questionnaire to 205 middle-aged and elderly acute ischemic stroke patients and 410 outpatient controls matched by age, sex, race, and method of hospital payment. The frequency of hypertension (p < 0.001) and transient ischemic attacks (p = 0.051), and mean weekly alcohol consumption (p = 0.0286) and mean pack-years cigarette exposure (p = 0.0168) were higher among stroke index cases than controls. For weekly alcohol consumption and mean pack-years cigarette exposure, there was a highly significant dose-response effect. In analyses to assess the possibility of mutual confounding effects of independent variables, we found hypertension and smoking to be independent risk factors for ischemic stroke, while alcohol consumption was not. Separate analyses by sex yielded similar results. We conclude that current weekly alcohol consumption may not be an independent risk factor for cerebral infarction in middle-aged and elderly patients.
Characterization of nickel nanocones routed by electrodeposition without any template

This work reports the synthesis of Ni nanocones by a one-step electrodeposition method without any template. With the addition of ethylenediamine dihydrochloride (EDA·2HCl) in the nickel plating solution, the novel Ni conical structure can be easily deposited onto different metal surfaces. The as-prepared nickel nanocones grow preferentially along directions with very sharp tips. The conical structures are single crystalline without any disruption of the lattice planes. In addition, the Ni nanocone structure is demonstrated to show magnetocrystalline anisotropy and enhance the magnetic properties when compared with other Ni nanostructures.
COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF THE ECONOMIC COSTS IN PATIENTS UNDERWENT ENDOSCOPIC SURGERY ON NEPHROLITHIASIS IN DEPENDENCE ON PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF SURGICAL COMPLICATIONS

Main aim of our study was to evaluate economic costs associated with the elimination of complications of endoscopic treatment of nephrolithiasis. We retrospectively analyzed medical reports of the 1027 patients (597 men 58.1% and 430 women 41.9%), at age (mean±SD) 38.9±15.6. There were 22 (2.1%) intraoperative complications observed in 14 (1.4%) patients. These patients got into amount of 180 (17.5%) patients developed 235 complications in the postoperative period. Fifty nine additional interventions were required for the elimination of observed complications. Postoperative hospital stay among 180 patients was 7.02±0.42 days, compared to 4.31±0.07 days in 847 patients without complications (p<0.05), duration of kidney draining 7.07±0.91 and 2.43±0.10 correspondingly (p<0.01). Complications occurred during postoperative period in patients who underwent endoscopic surgery for nephrolithiasis prolong hospital stay up to 56%, and increases the cost of treatment up to 25%. The study of prevention of infectious and inflammatory complications, as well as other intraand postoperative complications evidently will lead to reduction the costs of endoscopic methods of nephrolithiasis treatment. FARKHAD AKILOV, SHUKHRAT GIYASOV, SHUKHRAT MUKHTAROV, FURKAT NASIROV
Change in physical activity after smoking cessation: the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study.

AIMS To estimate physical activity trajectories for people who quit smoking, and compare them to what would have been expected had smoking continued. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS A total of 5115 participants in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study (CARDIA) study, a population-based study of African American and European American people recruited at age 18-30 years in 1985/6 and followed over 25 years. MEASUREMENTS Physical activity was self-reported during clinical examinations at baseline (1985/6) and at years 2, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20 and 25 (2010/11); smoking status was reported each year (at examinations or by telephone, and imputed where missing). We used mixed linear models to estimate trajectories of physical activity under varying smoking conditions, with adjustment for participant characteristics and secular trends. FINDINGS We found significant interactions by race/sex (P = 0.02 for the interaction with cumulative years of smoking), hence we investigated the subgroups separately. Increasing years of smoking were associated with a decline in physical activity in black and white women and black men [e.g. coefficient for 10 years of smoking: -0.14; 95% confidence interval (CI) = -0.20 to -0.07, P < 0.001 for white women]. An increase in physical activity was associated with years since smoking cessation in white men (coefficient 0.06; 95% CI = 0 to 0.13, P = 0.05). The physical activity trajectory for people who quit diverged progressively towards higher physical activity from the expected trajectory had smoking continued. For example, physical activity was 34% higher (95% CI = 18 to 52%; P < 0.001) for white women 10 years after stopping compared with continuing smoking for those 10 years (P = 0.21 for race/sex differences). CONCLUSIONS Smokers who quit have progressively higher levels of physical activity in the years after quitting compared with continuing smokers.
Potential role for platelet apheresis for post‐liver transplant thrombocytosis complicating portal vein thrombosis

Except for patients with underlying myeloproliferative diseases (MPD), thrombocytosis is rarely encountered in cirrhotic patients after liver transplantation. Although the long‐term control of primary thrombocytosis is important for the prevention of graft thrombosis in MPD patients, the threshold for intervention and best mode for the control of persistent reactive thrombocytosis after liver transplantation is unclear. We present two patients with extreme reactive thrombocytosis (over 1,000 × 109/l) due to intra‐abdominal sepsis after liver transplantation. Furthermore, both patients suffered from bleeding problems as well as ongoing venous thrombosis of the graft. Rapid control of the platelet count was achieved using platelet apheresis. The use of cell separation procedures may be a relatively rapid, reversible, and reasonably safe way to control platelet counts peri‐operatively in liver transplant recipients. J. Clin. Apheresis 19:192–196, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Genome‐Wide Fitness and Genetic Interactions Determined by Tn‐seq, a High‐Throughput Massively Parallel Sequencing Method for Microorganisms

The lagging annotation of bacterial genomes and the inherent genetic complexity of many phenotypes is hindering the discovery of new drug targets and the development of new antimicrobial agents and vaccines. This unit presents Tn‐seq, a method that has made it possible to quantitatively determine fitness for most genes in a microorganism and to screen for quantitative genetic interactions on a genome‐wide scale and in a high‐throughput fashion. Tn‐seq can thus direct studies on the annotation of genes and untangle complex phenotypes. The method is based on the construction of a saturated transposon insertion library. After library selection, changes in the frequency of each insertion mutant are determined by sequencing flanking regions en masse. These changes are used to calculate each mutant's fitness. The method was originally developed for the Gram‐positive bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae, a causative agent of pneumonia and meningitis, but has now been applied to several different microbial species.