Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Surface of Lipid Droplets Is a Phospholipid Monolayer with a Unique Fatty Acid Composition*

We found that caveolin-2 is targeted to the surface of lipid droplets (Fujimoto, T., Kogo, H., Ishiguro, K., Tauchi, K., and Nomura, R. (2001) J. Cell Biol. 152, 1079–1085) and hypothesized that the lipid droplet surface is a kind of membrane. To elucidate the characteristics of the lipid droplet surface, we isolated lipid droplets from HepG2 cells and analyzed them by cryoelectron microscopy and by mass spectrometry. By use of cryoelectron microscopy at the stage temperature of 4.2 K, the lipid droplet surface was observed as a single line without any fixation or staining, indicating the presence of a single layer of phospholipids. This result appeared consistent with the hypothesis that the lipid droplet surface is derived from the cytoplasmic leaflet of the endoplasmic reticulum membrane and may be continuous to it. However, mass spectrometry revealed that the fatty acid composition of phosphatidylcholine and lysophosphatidylcholine in lipid droplets is different from that of the rough endoplasmic reticulum. The ample presence of free cholesterol in lipid droplets also suggests that their surface is differentiated from the bulk endoplasmic reticulum membrane. On the other hand, although caveolin-2β and adipose differentiation-related protein, both localizing in lipid droplets, were enriched in the low density floating fraction, the fatty acid composition of the fraction was distinct from lipid droplets. Collectively, the result indicates that the lipid droplet surface is a hemi-membrane or a phospholipid monolayer containing cholesterol but is compositionally different from the endoplasmic reticulum membrane or the sphingolipid/cholesterol-rich microdomain.
Gene Expression Patterns Associated with the Biosynthesis of the Sunscreen Scytonemin in Nostoc punctiforme ATCC 29133 in Response to UVA Radiation

ABSTRACT Under exposure to UV radiation, some cyanobacteria synthesize sunscreen compounds. Scytonemin is a heterocyclic indole-alkaloid sunscreen, the synthesis of which is induced upon exposure to UVA (long-wavelength UV) radiation. We previously identified and characterized an 18-gene cluster associated with scytonemin biosynthesis in the cyanobacterium Nostoc punctiforme ATCC 29133; we now report on the expression response of these genes to a step-up shift in UVA exposure. Using quantitative PCR on cDNAs from the N. punctiforme transcriptome and primers targeting each of the 18 genes in the cluster, we followed their differential expression in parallel subcultures incubated with and without UVA. All 18 genes are induced by UVA irradiation, with relative transcription levels that generally peak after 48 h of continuous UVA exposure. A five-gene cluster implicated in the process of scytonemin biosynthesis solely on the basis of comparative genomics was also upregulated. Furthermore, we demonstrate that all of the genes in the18-gene region are cotranscribed as part of a single transcriptional unit.
An unbiased parametric imaging algorithm for nonuniformly sampled biomedical system parameter estimation

An unbiased algorithm of generalized linear least squares (GLLS) for parameter estimation of nonuniformly sampled biomedical systems is proposed. The basic theory and detailed derivation of the algorithm are given. This algorithm removes the initial values required and computational burden of nonlinear least regression and achieves a comparable estimation quality in terms of the estimates' bias and standard deviation. Therefore, this algorithm is particular useful in image-wide (pixel-by-pixel based) parameter estimation, e.g., to generate parametric images from tracer dynamic studies with positron emission tomography. An example is presented to demonstrate the performance of this new technique. This algorithm is also generally applicable to other continuous system parameter estimation.
Challenges of virtualization FPGA in a cloud context

Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGAs) have been known as high efficient devices providing architectural flexibility, reconfigurability and high timing performances for embedded real time systems. For highly critical applications, FPGA provides low power consumption, significant resource optimization and can meet the real time constraints. Data acquisition systems and many measurement systems for industrial applications are based on standalone platforms integrating FPGA. Now the FPGA are considered in cloud computing for which the concept of “cloud FPGA” has been emerging over the last few years. Cloud FPGA leads to a set of challenges to be solved and clarifying what is the Cloud FPGA and which types of cloud FPGA exist should be detailed. In this context, the paper reviews the main challenges of FPGA, either mono or multi based sensor network applications. We show that these challenges based on each step of the design flow can play a key role in the future of sensor networks when proposing a cloud FPGA infrastructure.
A reconstruction of the Vienna skull of Hadropithecus stenognathus

Franz Sikora found the first specimen and type of the recently extinct Hadropithecus stenognathus in Madagascar in 1899 and sent it to Ludwig Lorenz von Liburnau of the Austrian Imperial Academy of Sciences. Later, he sent several more specimens including a subadult skull that was described by Lorenz von Liburnau in 1902. In 2003, some of us excavated at the locality and found more specimens belonging to this species, including much of a subadult skeleton. Two frontal fragments were found, and these, together with most of the postcranial bones, belong to the skull. CT scans of the skull and other jaw fragments were made in Vienna and those of the frontal fragments at Penn State University. The two fragments have been reunited with the skull in silico, and broken parts from one side of the skull have been replaced virtually by mirror-imaged complete parts from the other side. The parts of the jaw of another individual of a slightly younger dental age have also been reconstructed virtually from CT scans with mirror imaging and by using the maxillary teeth and temporomandibular joints as a guide to finish the reconstruction. Apart from forming a virtual skull for biomechanical and systematic analysis, we were also able to make a virtual endocast. Missing anterior pieces were reconstructed by using part of an endocast of the related Archaeolemur majori. The volume is 115 ml. Hadropithecus and Archaeolemur seem to have had relatively large brains compared with the other large-bodied subfossil lemurs.
Development of a Family–School Intervention for Young Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Abstract. Although numerous studies have evaluated the effectiveness of multimodal psychosocial interventions for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, these programs are limited in that there has not been an explicit focus on the connection between family and school. This study was designed to develop and pilot test a family–school intervention, Family-School Success—Early Elementary (FSS-EE), for kindergarten and first-grade students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Key components of FSS-EE were family–school behavioral consultation, daily report cards, and strategies to improve parent–child relationships and family involvement in education. FSS-EE was developed using a multistep iterative process. The piloted version consisted of 12 weekly sessions including 6 group meetings, 4 individualized family sessions, and 2 school-based consultations. Families participating in the study were given the choice of placing their children on medication; 25% of children were on medication at the time of random assignment. Children (n = 61) were randomly assigned to FSS-EE or a comparison group controlling for nonspecific treatment effects. Outcomes were assessed at post intervention and 2-month follow-up. Study findings indicated that FSS-EE was feasible to implement and acceptable to parents and teachers. In addition, the findings provided preliminary evidence that FSS-EE is effective in improving parenting practices, child behavior at school, and the student–teacher relationship.
Laser via generation into flexible substrates

The microelectronics industry is moving toward smaller feature sizes. The main driving forces are to improve performance and to lower cost. From the performance point of view the small distances between chips together with the short interconnection routes have of great importance in order to achieve faster operation. The application of polymeric materials for the insulating and protective layers of interconnect substrates is beneficial to the performance and to the cost of a circuit module as well. An advanced technology for the fabrication of very high density interconnects applies microvia flexible substrates. This technology has particular significance for the interposers of chip scale packages. Laser processing of polymeric materials applied for via generation, image transfer, contour cutting, etc. has proved to be an efficient tool for the fabrication of interconnect substrates. The paper describes some results of a research project that aims at the application of CO/sub 2/ and frequency multiplied Nd:YAG lasers for drilling via holes into copper clad flexible laminates of polyimide, epoxy and polyester base materials. The effect of the application of an interfacing (adhesive) layer is also the topic of the investigations. The physics of processing using a wavelength range from the far infrared radiation of the CO/sub 2/ laser till the UV wavelengths of frequency quadrupled Nd:YAG lasers are considered to be modeled, examined and evaluated.
The major outer sheath protein of Treponema denticola selectively inhibits Rac1 activation in murine neutrophils

Treponema denticola major outer sheath protein (Msp) inhibits neutrophil chemotaxis in vitro, but key regulatory mechanisms have not been identified. Because the Rac small GTPases regulate directional migration in response to chemoattractants, the objective was to analyse the effects of Msp on formyl‐methionyl‐leucyl‐phenylalanine (fMLP)‐mediated neutrophil polarization and Rac activation in murine neutrophils. Msp pretreatment of neutrophils inhibited both polarization and chemotactic migration in response to fMLP. Activation of small GTPases was measured by p21 binding domain (PBD) pulldown assays, followed by Western analysis, using monoclonal anti‐Rac1, anti‐Rac2, anti‐cdc42 and anti‐RhoA antibodies. Enriched native Msp selectively inhibited fMLP‐stimulated Rac1 activation in a concentration‐dependent manner, but did not affect Rac2, cdc42 or RhoA activation. Murine neutrophils transfected with vectors expressing fluorescent probes PAK‐PBD‐YFP and PH‐AKT‐RFP were used to determine the effects of Msp on the localization of activated Rac and PI3 kinase products. Real‐time confocal images showed that Msp inhibited the polarized accumulation of activated Rac and PI3‐kinase products upon exposure to fMLP. The findings indicate that T. denticola Msp inhibition of neutrophil polarity may be due to the selective suppression of the Rac1 pathway.
Amphiphilic Helical Peptide Enhances the Uptake of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes by Living Cells

The success of many projected applications of carbon nano-tubes (CNTs) to living cells, such as intracellular sensors and nanovectors, will depend on how many CNTs are taken up by cells. Here we report the enhanced uptake by HeLa cells of single-walled CNTs coated with a designed peptide termed nano-1. Atomic force microscopy showed that the dispersions were composed of individual and small bundles of nano-1 CNTs with 0.7- to 32-nm diameters and 100- to 400-nm lengths. Spectroscopic characterizations revealed that nano-1 disperses CNTs in a non-covalent fashion that preserves CNT optical properties. Elemental analyses indicated that our sample preparation protocol involving sonication and centrifugation effectively eliminated metal impurities associated with CNT manufacturing processes. We further showed that the purified CNT dispersions are taken up by HeLa cells in a time- and temperature-dependent fashion, and that they do not affect the HeLa cell growth rate, evidence that the CNTs inside cells are not toxic under these conditions. Finally, we discovered that ~6-fold more CNTs are taken up by cells in the presence of nano-1 compared with medium containing serum but no peptide. The fact that coating CNTs with a peptide enhances uptake offers a strategy for improving the performance of applications that require CNTs to be inside cells.
Efficacy of intramuscular diclofenac and fluid replacement in prevention of post-ERCP pancreatitis.

AIM To assess the efficacy of intramuscular diclofenac and fluid replacement for prevention of post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) pancreatitis. METHODS A prospective, placebo-controlled study was conducted in 80 patients who underwent ERCP. Patients were randomized to receive parenteral diclofenac at a loading dose of 75 mg followed by the infusion of 5-10 mL/kg per hour isotonic saline over 4 h after the procedure, or the infusion of 500 mL isotonic saline as placebo. Patients were evaluated clinically, and serum amylase levels were measured 4, 8 and 24 h after the procedure. RESULTS The two groups were matched for age, sex, underlying disease, ERCP findings, and type of treatment. The overall incidence of pancreatitis was 7.5% in the diclofenac group and 17.5% in the placebo group (12.5% in total). There were no significant differences in the incidence of pancreatitis and other variables between the two groups. In the subgroup analysis, the frequency of pancreatitis in the patients without sphincter of Oddi dysfunction (SOD) was significantly lower in the diclofenac group than in the control group (P = 0.047). CONCLUSION Intramuscular diclofenac and fluid replacement lowered the rate of pancreatitis in patients without SOD.
A design of phase II cancer trials using total and complete response endpoints

Phase II clinical trials in oncology are used for initial evaluation of the therapeutic efficacy of a new treatment regimen. Simon's two‐stage design based on total response (TR) rate is commonly used for such trials. Several authors have proposed alternative strategies to consider either response and toxicity or response and early progression. Because TR consists of both partial response (PR) and complete response (CR) and these two types of responses have different effects on subsequent patient outcome, Lin and Chen proposed a flexible design that is based on a weighted average of PR and CR rates as a way to recognize the differential significance of the two levels of response. Panageas and colleagues, on the other hand, used a trinomial model and direct search to consider a rejection region for PR and CR separately. In this paper, we reformat their hypotheses to assess efficacy based on TR and CR. A new two‐stage optimum phase II trial design based on TR and CR is developed. We provide guides on searching the stopping and rejecting regions and on determining sample size. An example of a phase II trial for glioblastomas treatment is presented. In this trial, physicians would be interested in either stable disease (SD), PR, or CR as an indication of efficacy. However, because PR and CR rarely occur, observation of any PR or CR will lean towards acceptance of the treatment. Our design has the advantage of being close to the traditional Simon two‐stage design while still having the flexibility to treat responses (PR and CR in this example) differently than SD. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The spatial frequency spectrum of fearful faces modulates early and mid-latency ERPs but not the N170.

Prioritized processing of fearful compared to neutral faces is reflected in behavioral advantages such as lower detection thresholds, but also in enhanced early and late event-related potentials (ERPs). Behavioral advantages have recently been associated with the spatial frequency spectrum of fearful faces, better fitting the human contrast sensitivity function than the spectrum of neutral faces. However, it is unclear whether and to which extent early and late ERP differences are due to low-level spatial frequency spectrum information or high-level representations of the facial expression. In this pre-registered EEG study (N = 38), the effects of fearful-specific spatial frequencies on event-related ERPs were investigated by presenting faces with fearful and neutral expressions whose spatial frequency spectra were manipulated so as to contain either the average power spectra of neutral, fearful, or both expressions combined. We found an enlarged N170 to fearful versus neutral faces, not interacting with spatial frequency. Interactions of emotional expression and spatial frequencies were observed for the P1 and Early Posterior Negativity (EPN). For both components, larger emotion differences were observed when the spectrum contained neutral as opposed to fearful frequencies. Importantly, for the EPN, fearful and neutral expressions did not differ anymore when inserting fearful frequencies into neutral expressions, whereas typical emotion differences were found when faces contained average or neutral frequencies. Our findings show that N170 emotional modulations are unaffected by expression-specific spatial frequencies. However, expression-specific spatial frequencies alter early and mid-latency ERPs. Most notably, the EPN to neutral expressions is boosted by adding fearful spectra-but not vice versa.
Mast cell chymase inhibition reduces atherosclerotic plaque progression and improves plaque stability in ApoE-/- mice.

AIMS mast cells have been shown to accumulate in the adventitia of human atherosclerotic plaques and were recently demonstrated by us to contribute to plaque progression and instability. In this study, we investigated whether selective inhibition of mast cell chymases would affect the lesion development and stability. METHODS AND RESULTS the protease inhibitor RO5066852 appeared to be a potent inhibitor of chymase activity in vitro and ex vivo. With this inhibitor, we provide three lines of evidence that chymase inhibition can prevent many pro-atherogenic activities. First, oral administration of RO5066852 reduced spontaneous atherosclerosis in the thoracic aorta of apoE(-/-) mice. Second, chymase inhibition prevented the accelerated plaque progression observed in apoE(-/-) mice that were exposed to repetitive episodes of systemic mast cell activation. Furthermore, RO5066852 enhanced lesional collagen content and reduced necrotic core size. Third, RO5066852 treatment almost completely normalized the increased frequency and size of intraplaque haemorrhages observed in apoE(-/-) mice after acute perivascular mast cell activation in advanced atherosclerosis. CONCLUSION our data indicate that chymase inhibition can inhibit pro-atherogenic and plaque destabilizing effects which are associated with perivascular mast cell activation. Our study thus identifies pharmacological chymase inhibition as a potential therapeutic modality for atherosclerotic plaque stabilization.
Irreversible inactivation of the methotrexate transport system of L1210 cells by carbodiimide-activated substrates.

Methotrexate and 1-ethyl-3(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide react to form a relatively unstable product (activated methotrexate) that irreversibly inhibits methotrexate transport in L1210 mouse leukemia cells. The rate of methotrexate transport was reduced 50% by pretreatment of cells with activated methotrexate at a concentration of 1 microM and by 98% upon exposure to an excess (40 microM) of this agent. Specificity was demonstrated by the fact that activated methotrexate had no effect on other transport systems (i.e. leucine and phosphate) and that complete protection against inactivation was afforded by either the unlabeled substrate (methotrexate) or a competitive inhibitor (phosphate). The carbodiimide-generated derivatives of aminopterin, folate, and p-aminobenzoylglutamate were also irreversible inhibitors of methotrexate transport, and their relative effectiveness paralleled the ability of the parent compounds (aminopterin greater than methotrexate greater than folate greater than p-aminobenzoylglutamate) to act as reversible transport inhibitors. Measurements at 4 degrees C showed that activated methotrexate (Ki = 0.8 microM) was a competitive inhibitor for binding of methotrexate (KD = 0.4 microM) to the transport protein. Treatment of the cells with sufficient activated methotrexate to inhibit transport increased the KD for methotrexate to 0.9 microM but had no effect on total methotrexate-binding activity. Methotrexate efflux was also reduced but was not blocked by an excess of this reagent.
Human Performance Consequences of Stages and Levels of Automation

Objective: We investigated how automation-induced human performance consequences depended on the degree of automation (DOA). Background: Function allocation between human and automation can be represented in terms of the stages and levels taxonomy proposed by Parasuraman, Sheridan, and Wickens. Higher DOAs are achieved both by later stages and higher levels within stages. Method: A meta-analysis based on data of 18 experiments examines the mediating effects of DOA on routine system performance, performance when the automation fails, workload, and situation awareness (SA). The effects of DOA on these measures are summarized by level of statistical significance. Results: We found (a) a clear automation benefit for routine system performance with increasing DOA, (b) a similar but weaker pattern for workload when automation functioned properly, and (c) a negative impact of higher DOA on failure system performance and SA. Most interesting was the finding that negative consequences of automation seem to be most likely when DOA moved across a critical boundary, which was identified between automation supporting information analysis and automation supporting action selection. Conclusion: Results support the proposed cost–benefit trade-off with regard to DOA. It seems that routine performance and workload on one hand, and the potential loss of SA and manual skills on the other hand, directly trade off and that appropriate function allocation can serve only one of the two aspects. Application: Findings contribute to the body of research on adequate function allocation by providing an overall picture through quantitatively combining data from a variety of studies across varying domains.