Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chronic insulin treatment causes insulin resistance in 3T3-L1 adipocytes through oxidative stress

Insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia are commonly present in obesity and pre-diabetes, and hyperinsulinemia is both a marker and a cause for insulin resistance. However, the molecular link between hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance remains elusive. The present study examined the effect of chronic insulin treatment on the reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, insulin signalling and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. The results showed that chronic insulin treatment significantly increased the intracellular generation of superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radical. ROS induced by chronic insulin treatment inhibited insulin signalling and glucose uptake, induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and JNK activation. Furthermore, these effects were reversed by antioxidants N-acetylcysteine, superoxide dismutase or catalase. These results suggested that ROS, ER stress and JNK pathway are involved in insulin resistance induced by chronic insulin treatment. Therefore, oxidative stress could be a potential interventional target for hyperinsulinemia-induced insulin resistance and related diseases.
Hospice enrollment and evaluation of its causal effect on hospitalization of dying nursing home patients.

OBJECTIVE To examine the patient, nursing home (NH), hospice provider, and local market factors associated with the selection of the Medicare hospice benefit by eligible NH residents, and evaluate the causal effect of hospice on end-of-life hospitalization rates. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING Secondary data for 1995-1997 for NH residents. STUDY DESIGN This retrospective cohort study includes NH residents in five states (Kansa, Maine, New York, Ohio, South Dakota) who died in the years 1995-1997. Medicare claims identified hospice enrollment and hospitalizations. Geocoding of NHs, hospice providers, and hospitals was used to identify local markets. The two outcome measures are hospice enrollment and hospitalization of NH residents in their last 30 days of life. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHOD A file was constructed linking MDS assessments to Medicare claims and denominator files, NH provider files (OSCAR), hospice provider of service files, and the area resource file. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Twenty-six percent of hospice and 44 percent of nonhospice residents were hospitalized in their last 30 days of life (odds ratio [OR] 0.45; 95 percent confidence interval [CI]: 0.42-0.48). Adjusting for confounders, hospice patients were less likely than nonhospice residents to be hospitalized (OR 0.47; 95 percent CI: 0.45-0.50). Adding inverse propensity score weighting, hospice patients were still less likely than nonhospice residents to be hospitalized (OR 0.56; 95 percent CI: 0.53-0.61). CONCLUSIONS Hospice selection introduces some bias in the evaluation of the causal effect of hospice on end-of-life hospitalization rates. However, even after adjusting for selection bias, hospice does have a powerful effect in reducing end-of-life hospitalization rates.
Structural similarity-based ranking of stereo algorithms for dynamic adaptation in real-time robot navigation

Real-time navigation of mobile robot in an unconstrained environment is a challenging area of research and it has several applications such as autonomous systems, military applications, security systems, etc. State-of-the-art stereo vision-based robot navigation system uses a specific stereo matching algorithm during complete navigation, which fails to handle radiometric variations such as change in illumination and exposure. The available illumination and exposure invariant stereo algorithms are computationally expensive and may not be suitable for real-time applications. This research ranked the existing correlation-based stereo algorithms for different real-time conditions by analysing its quality of the disparity using range structural similarity index measure. The proposed evaluation ranking table can be used to generate better disparity at each instance during the robot navigation.
Heat Shock-Initiated Apoptosis Is Accelerated and Removal of Damaged Cells Is Delayed in the Testis of Clusterin/ApoJ Knock-Out Mice1

Abstract The secretion and localization of clusterin in the testis has led to the hypothesis that clusterin plays a role in spermatogenesis. Furthermore, the association of clusterin with apoptosis, cellular injury, disease, and regression of nongonadal tissues has led to the hypothesis that clusterin acts to protect cells from apoptosis or may be involved in tissue remodeling. To investigate the role of clusterin in the testis, we analyzed clusterin knock-out (cluKO) mice to determine the impact of the absence of clusterin on spermatogenesis. Furthermore, we investigated the cellular response to injury caused by methoxyacetic acid (MAA) toxicity and mild heat exposure in the cluKO mice to determine the extent to which clusterin protects against apoptosis or participates in tissue remodeling. We found that cluKO mice were fertile and had essentially normal spermatogenesis with the exception of some incomplete spermiation after stage VIII. No differences in testicular morphology or the incidence of apoptosis in the testis were seen between the cluKO and clusterin wild-type (cluWT) mice after MAA treatment. In contrast, apoptosis was delayed in the cluWT mice compared with the cluKO mice after heat exposure, suggesting that clusterin does have a slight protective effect against apoptosis under some conditions. Also, a dramatic loss of germ cells after heat stress occurred earlier in the cluWT testes than in the cluKO testes. Clusterin is clearly acting in a dual role in that cells can be protected from damage and dead cells can be more easily removed after some types of cellular damage but not after others.
How to Get Beyond Uniform When Applying MaxEnt to Interval Uncertainty

In many practical situations, the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) approach leads to reasonable distributions. However, in an important case when all we know is that the value of a random variable is somewhere within the interval, this approach leads to a uniform distribution on this interval -- while our intuition says that we should have a distribution whose probability density tends to 0 when we approach the interval's endpoints. In this paper, we show that in most cases of interval uncertainty, we have additional information, and if we account for this additional information when applying MaxEnt, we get distributions which are in perfect accordance with our intuition.
Evaluation of Mandibular Reconstruction With Particulate Cancellous Bone Marrow and Titanium Mesh After Mandibular Resection Due to Tumor Surgery

There are numerous treatment modalities for mandibular defects after tumor surgery. Autogenous particulate cancellous bone marrow graft combined with titanium mesh (PCBM-MESH) is an alternative procedure. The purpose of this study was to evaluate PCBM-MESH for mandibular reconstruction. There were a total of 10 cases from 2000 to 2011. Mandibles were successfully reconstructed in 9 cases; however, reconstruction failed in 1 case. Overall, the recovery of facial contours was excellent; conversely, the evaluation of prosthetic treatment varied widely. Thus, we suggest 3 steps for mandibular reconstruction: (1) recover the continuity of bone segments; (2) simulate optimum facial contours and dental occlusion; and (3) perform the occlusion with dental prostheses. PCBM-MESH is a valuable method for mandibular defects—particularly for restoring facial contours and a favorable alveolar ridge.
Detection of pancreatic islet tissue following islet allotransplantation in man.

Qualitative and quantitative standards have been recently proposed for islet isolation assessment in humans and large animals (1). The ultimate test of viability is functional activity after transplantation into a diabetic recipient. Morphologic identification of insulin-containing transplanted islets could provide important correlative data and eventually confirm the functional results. Recently, several centers reported prolonged insulin independence after human islet allotransplantation (2–5). The present report describes the first identification of islet tissue in a liver biopsy after intrahepatic islet allotransplantation in man. Human islets were obtained from 2 multiorgan donors by a modification (6) of the automated method for human islet isolation (7). The islets were purified on Eurocollins-Ficoll gradients (8) using a cell separator (9, 10) (COBE 2991, Lakewood, CO). On March 16, 1990 258,000 islets of an average diameter of 150 μ (1) were transplanted via portal vein injection following an upper abdominal exenteration and liver replacement (2). The procedure was performed in a 52-year-old woman for adenocarcinoma of the ampulla of Vater infiltrating the duodenal wall, with liver metastasis. Immunosuppression was with FK506 as described previously (2).
Ion Channel and Neurotransmitter Modulators as Electroceutical Approaches to the Control of Cancer

The activities of individual cells must be tightly coordinated in order to build and maintain complex 3-dimensional body structures during embryogenesis and regeneration. Thus, one way to view cancer is within systems biology as a network disorder affecting the ability of cells to properly interact with a morphodynamic field of instructive signals that keeps proliferation and migration orchestrated toward the anatomical needs of the host or-ganism. One layer of this set of instructive microenvironmental cues is bioelectrical. Voltage gradients among all somatic cells (not just excitable nerve and muscle) control cell behavior, and the ionic coupling of cells into networks via electrochemical synapses allows them to implement tissue-level patterning decisions. These gradients have been increasingly impli-cated in the induction and suppression of tumorigenesis and metastasis, in the emerging links between developmental bioelectricity to the cancer problem. Consistent with the well-known role of neurotransmitter molecules in transducing electrical activity to downstream cascades in the brain, serotonergic signaling has likewise been implicated in cancer. Here, we review these recent data and propose new approaches for manipulating bioelectric and neurotransmitter pathways in cancer biology based on a bioelectric view of cancer. To sup-port this methodology, we present new data on the effects of the SSRI Prozac and its analog (ZINC ID = ZINC06811610) on survival of both cancer (MCF7) and normal (MCF10A) breast cells exposed to these compounds. We found an IC50 concentration (25 μM for Pro-zac and 100 μM for the Prozac analog) at which these compounds inhibited tumor cell sur-vival and proliferation. Additionally, at these concentrations, we did not observe alterations in a non-tumoral cell line. This constitutes a proof-of-concept demonstration for our hy-pothesis that the use of both existing and novel drugs as electroceuticals could serve as an alternative to highly toxic chemotherapy strategies replacing or augmenting them with less toxic alternatives. We believe this new approach forms an exciting roadmap for future bio-medical advances.
A binary analog to the entropy-power inequality

Let (X/sub n/), (Y/sub n/) be independent stationary binary random sequences with entropy H(X), H(Y), respectively. Let h( zeta )=- zeta log zeta -(1- zeta )log(1- zeta ), 0 or= sigma (X)* sigma (Y), where sigma (Z)=h/sup -1/ (H(Z)), and alpha * beta = alpha (1- beta )+ beta (1- alpha ). When (Y/sub n/) are independent identically distributed, this reduces to Mrs. Gerber's Lemma from A.D. Wyner and J. Ziv (1973). >
Visual development in primates: Neural mechanisms and critical periods

Despite many decades of research into the development of visual cortex, it remains unclear what neural processes set limitations on the development of visual function and define its vulnerability to abnormal visual experience. This selected review examines the development of visual function and its neural correlates, and highlights the fact that in most cases receptive field properties of infant neurons are substantially more mature than infant visual function. One exception is temporal resolution, which can be accounted for by resolution of neurons at the level of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). In terms of spatial vision, properties of single neurons alone are not sufficient to account for visual development. Different visual functions develop over different time courses. Their onset may be limited by the existence of neural response properties that support a given perceptual ability, but the subsequent time course of maturation to adult levels remains unexplained. Several examples are offered suggesting that taking account of weak signaling by infant neurons, correlated firing, and pooled responses of populations of neurons brings us closer to an understanding of the relationship between neural and behavioral development. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 75: 1080–1090, 2015
Ammonia volatilization from enhanced-efficiency urea on no-till maize in brazilian cerrado with improved soil fertility

High nitrogen losses by ammonia volatilization are expected when urea is used as the source of N. The use of controlled-release urea and urease inhibitors are possible strategies to reduce such losses and increase nitrogen use efficiency. This study aimed to evaluate nitrogen losses by ammonia volatilization from stabilized, slow and controlled release urea and its absorption by maize grown under no-till in an improved Cerrado soil. Four N sources were used: conventional urea, urea + N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT), urea + Cu and B and urea coated by sulfur + polymers. These N sources were surface applied along the rows using three N doses of 100, 150 and 200 kg ha-1. No N was added to the control. Data were collected regarding N losses by volatilization, the N contents accumulated in the stubble and grains, and the yields of the stubble and grains. Stabilized urea and slow release urea were efficient for postponing the ammonia volatilization peaks. The urease inhibitors postponed the peaks for up to two days, reducing the accumulated volatilization by 18% when compared with common urea. Polymer sulfur coated urea resulted in a 37% reduction in ammonia volatilization. Increasing the N application rate to 200 kg ha-1 resulted in 16% greater yields and 37% greater N accumulation in the plants relative to the control. However, the stabilized and slow-release urea did not improve the N accumulation or yield. Consequently, the nitrogen use efficiency of maize was not improved relative to the use of conventional urea.
Targeted disruption of the homeobox transcription factor Bapx1 results in lethal skeletal dysplasia with asplenia and gastroduodenal malformation

NK homeobox genes have been shown to play important roles in cell‐type specification and organogenesis. Murine Bapx1, a member of NK homeobox gene family, is expressed in all the cartilageous tissues that undergo endochondral bone formation, and in gut mesentery during embryogenesis, suggesting that Bapx1 may be a key transcription factor ragulating the development of these organs.
Sp1 Is Up-regulated in Cellular and Transgenic Models of Huntington Disease, and Its Reduction Is Neuroprotective*

Interactions between mutant huntingtin (Htt) and a variety of transcription factors including specificity proteins (Sp) have been suggested as a central mechanism in Huntington disease (HD). However, the transcriptional activity induced by Htt in neurons that triggers neuronal death has yet to be fully elucidated. In the current study, we characterized the relationship of Sp1 to Htt protein aggregation and neuronal cell death. We found increased levels of Sp1 in neuronal-like PC12 cells expressing mutant Htt, primary striatal neurons, and brain tissue of HD transgenic mice. Sp1 levels were also elevated when 3-nitropropionate (3-NP) was used to induce cell death in PC12 cells. To assess the effects of knocking down Sp1 in HD pathology, we used Sp1 siRNA, a heterozygous Sp1 knock-out mouse, and mithramycin A, a DNA-intercalating agent that inhibits Sp1 function. The three approaches consistently yielded reduced levels of Sp1 which ameliorated toxicity caused by either mutant Htt or 3-NP. In addition, when HD mice were crossed with Sp1 heterozygous knock-out mice, the resulting offspring did not experience the loss of dopamine D2 receptor mRNA characteristic of HD mice, and survived longer than their HD counterparts. Our data suggest that enhancement of transcription factor Sp1 contributes to the pathology of HD and demonstrates that its suppression is beneficial.
4/spl times/4 arrays of FET-SEED embedded control 2/spl times/1 optoelectronic switching nodes with electrical fan-out

We describe a 4 by 4 array of embedded control two input, one output optoelectronic switching nodes based on the field effect transistor self electro-optic effect device (FET-SEED) technology. The arrays have electrical fan-out to remove the loss associated with optical fan-out in the system application. Extensive testing was done on several arrays at 156 Mb/s per channel with optical switching energies below 100 fJ, with the output driver limiting the maximum data rate to 400 Mb/s. Power dissipation, noise margin, crosstalk, sensitivity to stray light, and uniformity of both threshold and output waveforms are also discussed. <<ETX>>
Non-invasive positive pressure ventilation in the preterm neonate: reducing endotrauma and the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia

Forty years after its initial description, the clinical definition of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) has changed but its aetiology and treatment are still debated.1 2 The incidence of BPD is greatest in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants of <28 weeks’ gestation.1 The severity of BPD has decreased with advances in care, including surfactant treatment, but primary prevention of BPD by avoiding premature birth remains elusive. Targets for decreasing the incidence of BPD include reducing oxygen exposure, avoiding lung infection/inflammation and avoiding ventilator-induced lung injury. Oxygen exposure is linked to the occurrence of BPD.3 Preterm human neonates have oxidant stress from birth, and animal data demonstrate poor antioxidant defences.4 5 Thus avoidance of unnecessary oxygen exposure from birth is recommended.6 7 However, BPD can develop when continuous supplemental oxygen is not administered.1 Fetal/neonatal inflammation, infectious and non-infectious, has been causally linked to BPD,1 2 but treatment with postnatal steroids is problematic. A reduction in BPD with inhaled nitric oxide may be limited to neonates with birth weights >1000 g.8–10 Although some neonates can develop BPD despite minimal mechanical ventilation, a significant association exists between invasive artificial ventilation and BPD.1 Indeed, room air artificial ventilation of the fetal lamb results in lung injury similar to BPD.11 Measures to minimise ventilator-induced lung injury must begin from birth.6 12–14 Reducing the duration of artificial ventilation by early extubation to nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) can minimise lung injury in immature baboons.15 However, extubation failure occurs with NCPAP mainly owing to apnoea,16 despite caffeine treatment that is associated with decreased BPD.17 Non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) increases successful extubation by ∼30%. 18–20 Although no strong evidence confirms that NIPPV reduces the occurrence of BPD, …
A Population-Based Assessment of Midlife Portuguese Women's Experience of Perimenopause and Menopause

The frequency of changes experienced by menopausal women is variable in different cultures. It is our purpose to identify the symptoms that Portuguese women consider to be related to menopause. We also wish to evaluate the relations between these symptoms and menopausal status, sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, and medication—menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) and psychotropics. In women with a low educational level, the frequency of symptoms and the consumption of psychotropic medication is higher, and the practice of exercise is lower, as is the use of MHT. Our results may be useful in providing guidance to health care professionals.
Total and High-density Lipoprotein Cholesterol in Adults: United States, 2011-2014.

KEY FINDINGS High levels of total cholesterol and low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the "good cholesterol") are risk factors for coronary heart disease (1-3). During 2009-2010, 13.4% of adults had high total cholesterol and 21.3% had low HDL cholesterol (4). This report presents estimates of the percentage of adults with high total and low HDL cholesterol during 2011-2014, and trends in prevalence of high total and low HDL cholesterol from 2007-2008 to 2013-2014. Analysis is based on measured cholesterol only and does not account for cholesterol-lowering medication use.
Automatic building reconstruction from high resolution InSAR data using stochastic geometrical model

In this paper, a fully automatic building reconstruction method for high resolution interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data is presented. This method is based on stochastic geometrical model. Firstly, a building detection procedure is implemented on the big image and the entire scene is divided into building clips. After that, the reconstruction process is utilized for each building clip. In the reconstruction process, a building in 3D space is projected to the image plane and then decomposed to feature regions including layover, corner line, roof and shadow. We explore the statistic properties of the each region, and include it in the posterior function, together with the edge term and the prior we defined. Finally, in order to overcome local optima, a group of special transmission kernels are designed. The experimental results on TanDEM-X data demonstrate the effectiveness of our method.
Software framework for tensor stream processing on embedded vision platforms

The paper presents architecture and basic functionality of a software framework for analysis of abrupt changes in a stream of multi-dimensional data. The method is based on the tensor stream analysis, aimed to operate on computer platforms of various computational power. The method was adapted and tested in the problem of shot detection in monochrome and color video. Abrupt signal changes are detected based on the concept drift detector tailored to video signals. In this paper we focus upon presentation of the structure and functionality of the software components and classes. Also implementation details pertinent to the embedded vision platforms are discussed. Experimental results show many interesting properties and future applications of the proposed framework.
Mammalian LIN‐7 PDZ proteins associate with β‐catenin at the cell–cell junctions of epithelia and neurons

The heterotrimeric PDZ complex containing LIN‐2, LIN‐7 and LIN‐10 is known to be involved in the organization of epithelial and neuronal junctions in Caenorhabditis elegans and mammals. We report here that mammalian LIN‐7 PDZ proteins form a complex with cadherin and β‐catenin in epithelia and neurons. The association of LIN‐7 with cadherin and β‐catenin is Ca2+ dependent and is mediated by the direct binding of LIN‐7 to the C‐terminal PDZ target sequence of β‐catenin, as demonstrated by means of co‐immunoprecipitation experiments and in vitro binding assays with the recombinant glutathione S‐transferase:LIN‐7A. The presence of β‐catenin at the junction is required in order to relocate LIN‐7 from the cytosol to cadherin‐mediated adhesions, thus indicating that LIN‐7 junctional recruitment is β‐catenin dependent and that one functional role of the binding is to localize LIN‐7. Moreover, when LIN‐7 is present at the β‐catenin‐containing junctions, it determines the accumulation of binding partners, thus suggesting the mechanism by which β‐catenin mediates the organization of the junctional domain.