Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Use of a time-resolved immunofluorometric assay for determination of canine C-reactive protein concentrations in whole blood.

OBJECTIVE To develop and validate a time-resolved immunofluorometric assay (TR-IFMA) for measurement of C-reactive protein (CRP) in canine whole blood. ANIMALS 12 healthy dogs and 35 dogs with inflammatory processes. PROCEDURE CRP was isolated from acute-phase serum by affinity chromatography and used as a standard for calibration. Analytic and functional limit of detection and intra-assay and interassay precision were calculated. Accuracy was evaluated by recovery assays and by comparison with results of a commercial ELISA. Correlation between CRP concentrations in whole blood and corresponding plasma fractions was tested by use of TR-IFMA. Stability of blood samples at 4 degrees C was assessed during a 1-month period, and effects of anticoagulants were evaluated. Measurements of CRP in blood samples from 12 healthy dogs were compared with those of 35 dogs with inflammatory diseases. RESULTS Analytic and functional limits of detection were 0.53 and 3.26 microg/mL, respectively. Intra-assay and interassay coefficients of variation varied between 2.1% to 8.9% and 8.0% to 12.3%, respectively. Mean recoveries of added CRP were 104% and 114%. Measurements of CRP by use of TR-IFMA and ELISA were highly correlated (R2 = 0.97). Measurements of CRP in whole blood and in corresponding plasma fractions by use of TR-IFMA were also highly correlated (R2 = 0.97). Neither storage nor use of anticoagulants disturbed measurement of CRP concentrations in whole blood. Concentrations of CRP in whole blood of dogs with inflammation were significantly higher than in healthy dogs. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Determination of CRP concentrations in whole blood may provide a diagnostic test for inflammation in dogs.
A new action potential detector using the MTEO and its effects on spike sorting systems at low signal-to-noise ratios

This paper considers neural signal processing applied to extracellular recordings, in particular, unsupervised action potential detection at a low signal-to-noise ratio. It adopts the basic framework of the multiresolution Teager energy operator (MTEO) detector, but presents important new results including a significantly improved MTEO detector with some mathematical analyses, a new alignment technique with its effects on the whole spike sorting system, and a variety of experimental results. Specifically, the new MTEO detector employs smoothing windows normalized by noise power derived from mathematical analyses and has an improved complexity by utilizing the sampling rate. Experimental results prove that this detector achieves higher detection ratios at a fixed false alarm ratio than the TEO detector and the discrete wavelet transform detector. We also propose a method that improves the action potential alignment performance. Observing that the extreme points of the MTEO output are more robust to the background noise than those of the action potentials, we use the MTEO output for action potential alignment. This brings not only noticeable improvement in alignment performance but also quite favorable influence over the classification performance. Accordingly, the proposed detector improves the performance of the whole spike sorting system. We verified the improvement using various modeled neural signals and some real neural recordings.
Ocular Inflammation in Cynomolgus Macaques Following Intravenous Administration of a Human Monoclonal Antibody

Angiogenesis is a major component of the pathogenesis of various ocular diseases, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD). CNTO95 is a fully human monoclonal antibody against αν integrins that has shown antiangiogenic properties in cynomolgus macaques and rats. Because angiogenesis inhibitors may have the potential to treat AMD, a proof-of-concept study was conducted in a macaque model of laser-induced choroidal neovascularization. In the course of this study, transient, intense anterior chamber ocular inflammation was observed within 24 hours following the first intravitreal or intravenous administration of the human monoclonal antibody. These animals had no outward signs of ocular toxicity or discomfort. Additional ocular safety studies demonstrated that the inflammation following intravenous administration of CNTO95 was not due to a contaminant in the vehicle, not due to endotoxin, and not a nonspecific reaction in the macaques from administration of a human monoclonal antibody. The anterior chamber ocular inflammation noted following the first dose did not recur with subsequent CNTO95 dosing. In repeated-dose toxicology studies, histopathological examination of the eyes revealed no ocular toxicity. The reason for the ocular inflammation following intravenous dosing remains unresolved but may be a secondary manifestation of a first-dose systemic infusion reaction.
Temporal Pore Formation-Mediated Egress from Macrophages and Alveolar Epithelial Cells by Legionella pneumophila

ABSTRACT Legionella pneumophila does not induce apoptosis in the protozoan host, but induces pore formation-mediated cytolysis after termination of intracellular replication (L.-Y. Gao and Y. Abu Kwaik, Environ. Microbiol. 2:79–90, 2000). In contrast to this single mode of killing of protozoa, we have recently proposed a biphasic model by which L. pneumophila kills macrophages, in which the first phase is manifested through the induction of apoptosis during early stages of the infection, followed by an independent and temporal induction of necrosis during late stages of intracellular replication. Here we show that, similar to the protozoan host, the induction of necrosis and cytolysis of macrophages by L. pneumophila is mediated by the pore-forming toxin or activity. This activity is temporally and maximally expressed only upon termination of bacterial replication and correlates with cytolysis of macrophages and alveolar epithelial cells in vitro. We have identified five L. pneumophila mutants defective in the pore-forming activity. The phagosomes harboring the mutants do not colocalize with the late endosomal or lysosomal marker Lamp-1, and the mutants replicate intracellularly similar to the parental strain. Interestingly, despite their prolific intracellular replication, the mutants are defective in cytotoxicity and are “trapped” within and fail to lyse and egress from macrophages and alveolar epithelial cells upon termination of intracellular replication. However, the mutants are subsequently released from the host cell, most likely due to apoptotic death of the host cell. Data derived from cytotoxicity assays, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and electron microscopy confirm the defect in the mutants to induce necrosis of macrophages and the failure to egress from the host cell. Importantly, the mutants are completely defective in acute lethality (24 to 48 h) to intratracheally inoculated A/J mice. We conclude that the pore-forming activity of L. pneumophila is not required for phagosomal trafficking or for intracellular replication. This activity is expressed upon termination of bacterial replication and is essential to induce cytolysis of infected macrophages to allow egress of intracellular bacteria. In addition, this activity plays a major role in pulmonary immunopathology in vivo.
Group Decision Making in the Web 2 . 0 : A decision support system design for changeable contexts

This paper presents the design of a decision making support system that is able to work over changeable contexts, that is, it can add and remove experts and alternatives at any time during the group decision making process. Since changes that Internet has experienced with the appearance of Web 2.0 technologies allow people to easily get in touch using the Internet, we have assumed that the experts are not located in the same room and use the Internet to get in contact and make decisions in an organized way. In order to ease the way that experts use to express their preferences, three different representation formats have been used. Moreover, multi-granular fuzzy linguistic modelling has been used in order to allow the experts to choose the preferences precision. Finally, consensus processes have been used to help experts to reach an agreement before selecting a final alternative.
Ischemic complications of surgery for anterior choroidal artery aneurysms.

OBJECT Anterior choroidal artery (AChA) aneurysms account for 4% of all intracranial aneurysms. The surgical approach is similar to that for other supraclinoid carotid artery lesions, but surgery may involve a higher risk of debilitating ischemic complications because of the critical territory supplied by the AChA. METHODS Between 1968 and 1999, 51 AChA aneurysms in 50 patients were treated using craniotomy and clipping at the Mayo Clinic. There were 22 men (44%) and 28 women (56%) whose average age was 53 years (range 27-79 years). Twenty-four AChA aneurysms (47%) had hemorrhaged; nine patients (18%) had subarachnoid hemorrhage from another aneurysm. Three AChA aneurysms (6%) were associated with symptoms other than rupture. Forty-one patients (82%) achieved a Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) score of 4 or 5 at long-term follow up. The surgical mortality rate was 4%, and major surgical morbidity (GOS < or = 3) was 10%. Eight patients (16%) had clinically and computerized tomography-demonstrated AChA territory infarcts. Five of these strokes manifested in a delayed fashion 6 to 36 hours after the operation, and progressed from mild to complete deficit over hours. In 41 patients the aneurysm arose from the internal carotid artery adjacent to the AChA, and in nine patients the aneurysm arose directly from the origin of the AChA itself; four of these nine patients had postoperative infarction. CONCLUSIONS Surgical treatment of AChA aneurysms involves a significant risk of debilitating ischemic complications. Most postoperative strokes occur in a delayed fashion, offering a potential therapeutic window. Patients with aneurysms arising from the AChA itself have an extremely high risk for postoperative stroke.
Endothelin-A Receptor Blockade Increases Nutritive Skin Capillary Circulation in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes and Microangiopathy

Aims: Endothelin-1 levels are elevated in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and may contribute to impaired microvascular function. We investigated the effect of selective endothelin-A (ETA) receptor blockade (BQ123) on skin microcirculation in patients with type 2 diabetes and albuminuria. Methods: Ten type 2 diabetes patients and 8 non-diabetic controls were investigated. Nutritive skin capillary circulation, investigated by videophotometric capillaroscopy, and total skin microcirculation, assessed by laser Doppler fluxmetry (LDF), were studied during intra-arterial infusion of saline for 15 min, followed by BQ123 infusion for 60 min. Results: Following BQ123 infusion there was a significant increase in resting capillary blood cell velocity (CBV) in patients with type 2 diabetes from 0.24 (0.20–0.34) mm/s at baseline to 0.61 (0.46–0.88) mm/s at 60 min, but no significant change in the control subjects [0.55 (0.10–0.68) vs. 0.38 (0.13–0.88) mm/s; p < 0.005 for difference between groups]. Peak CBV following arterial occlusion and skin temperature increased significantly in the type 2 diabetes group but not in the control group during BQ123 infusion. There were no significant changes in LDF parameters during infusion of BQ123 in either group. Conclusion: ETA receptor blockade improves nutritive skin capillary circulation in patients with type 2 diabetes and microangiopathy.
Up‐regulation of cathepsin X in prostate cancer and prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia

Evidence is accumulating that several proteases are involved in prostate cancer progression. A locus which is often amplified in prostate cancer is the chromosomal region 20q13. Interestingly, one of the genes encoding the cysteine protease cathepsin X maps to this region. The aim of this study was to assess the expression pattern of cathepsin X in malignant and non‐malignant prostatic tissue samples.
[Lifetime prevalence and age of onset of mental disorders in Peru: results of the World Mental Health Study, 2005].

OBJECTIVES To determine the lifetime prevalence of 18 mental disorders and to establish the pattern that those disorders have with the age of onset in five cities of Peru. MATERIALS AND METHODS As part of the World Mental Health Survey, the study in Peru followed a probabilistic multistage sample of people between 18 and 65 years old in Lima, Chiclayo, Arequipa, Huancayo and Iquitos. The desktop version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) was administered. RESULTS The lifetime prevalence of at least one mental disorder was 29% (SE 1.2), and the prevalence of at least two or three was 10.5% (SE 0.7) and 4% (SE 0.4), respectively. Anxiety disorders were more common with 14.9% (SE 0.9) prevalence, followed by mood disorders with 8.2% (SE 0.5), impulse control disorders with 8.1% (SE 0.8), and substance use disorders (5.8%; SE 0.3). The age of onset was earlier for anxiety disorders (15 years old) and for impulse control disorders (20 years old). Younger respondents were more likely to have a mental disorder. CONCLUSIONS Almost a third of the adult population of five cities in Peru has had some psychiatric disorder at a given time in their lives, and comorbidity is common. Most disorders begin before age 30.
Antibacterial activity of two MTA-based root canal sealers.

AIM To evaluate the pH and antibacterial activity of Endo CPM Sealer and MTA Fillapex by two different methods, using white MTA and Endofill as references for comparison. METHODOLOGY Antibacterial activity was evaluated against Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212). The agar diffusion test (ADT) was performed to evaluate the effect before setting. The materials were placed in four equidistant wells made in ten agar plates. After incubation at 37 °C for 48 h, the inhibition zones were measured using a digital paquimeter. The direct contact test (DCT) was performed to assess the antibacterial effect after setting. Suspensions of crushed materials were prepared and mixed with E. faecalis. After different periods of time (1, 6, 15 and 60 min), the survival of bacteria was assessed by using 10-fold serial dilution and cultivated on agar plates in triplicate. Colony-forming units (CFU) mL(-1) were calculated after incubation. pH values were also measured in triplicate. Comparison between sealers in the ADT and DCT was performed by the Kruskal-Wallis test. RESULTS In the ADT, inhibition zones were found with MTA Fillapex and Endofill. They were similar to each other and greater than the other sealers (P < 0.05). None of the tested sealers demonstrated antibacterial activity in the DCT, and thus, all sealers had similar bacterial counts compared with the negative control group (P > 0.05). White MTA and Endo CPM Sealer suspensions had pH values >11, whilst MTA Fillapex and Endofill had lower values. CONCLUSIONS MTA Fillapex and Endofill had an antibacterial effect against E. faecalis before setting, but none of the sealers maintained antibacterial activity after setting, despite the high pH of the MTA-based materials.
Small nonphosphorylated Grb2–SH2 domain antagonists evaluated by surface plasmon resonance technology

The growth factor receptor‐binding protein–Src homology 2 (Grb2–SH2) domain plays an important role in the oncogenic Ras signal transduction pathway, which involves cell proliferation and differentiation. Therefore, the Grb2–SH2 domain has been chosen as our target for development of potential antiproliferative agents. Herein, we report the study of the inhibitory effects of small nonphosphorylated peptide analogs interacting with the Grb2–SH2 domain protein by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technology. A set of 8 related peptide analogs were synthesized, purified, and characterized. Their inhibitory effects on Grb2–SH2 were evaluated by the SPR technology developed with the BIACORE X instrument. The lead peptide, Fmoc–Glu–Tyr–Aib–Asn–NH2 (Fmoc–E–Y–Aib–N; Fmoc: 9‐fluorenylmethyoxycarbonyl; Aib = α‐amino isobutyric acid) inhibited Grb2–SH2 domain function with an IC50 value of 8.7 μM. A molecular modeling study of the lead peptide indicated that the glutamate in the Fmoc peptide is ideally positioned to form a strong salt bridge to Arg 67 in the Grb2–SH2 domain, using both its backbone carbonyl and its acidic group. Residue Glu 89 in Grb2–SH2 flips inward to fill the binding site and partially replace the phosphate group as a hydrogen‐bond acceptor. Results of these studies provide important information for further development of potent nonphosphorylated peptide inhibitors of the Grb2–SH2 domain. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers (Pept Sci), 2005
Riluzole- and Resveratrol-Induced Delay of Retinal Ganglion Cell Death in an Experimental Model of Glaucoma

Abstract Purpose: To evaluate the effects of the neuroprotective agents riluzole and resveratrol on the survival of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) when administered alone or in combination. Materials and methods: Experimental glaucoma was induced by injecting hyaluronic acid into the anterior chamber of Wistar albino rats weekly for a six-week period. Intraocular pressure was measured before and immediately after glaucoma induction. The neuroprotective effects of daily intraperitoneal injections of riluzole (8 mg/kg) and resveratrol (10 mg/kg) were evaluated and compared. After the six-week period, dextran tetramethylrhodamine was applied into the optic nerve and the density of surviving RGCs was evaluated by counting the labeled RGCs in whole mount retinas for retrograde labeling of RGCs. Results: The mean numbers of RGCs were significantly preserved in all treatment groups compared to the vehicle-treated glaucoma group (G). The mean number of RGCs in mm2 were 1207 ± 56 in the control group (C), 404 ± 65 in G group, 965 ± 56 in riluzole-treated group in the early phase of glaucoma (E-Ri), 714 ± 25 in riluzole-treated group in the late phase of glaucoma (L-Ri), 735 ± 29 in resveratrol-treated group in the early phase of glaucoma (E-Re), 667 ± 20 in resveratrol-treated group in the late phase of glaucoma (L-Re), and 1071 ± 49 in riluzole and resveratrol combined-treated group in the early phase of glaucoma (E-RiRe group). Conclusions: When used either alone or in combination, both riluzole and resveratrol, two agents with different mechanisms of action in glaucoma, significantly delayed RGC loss in this study’s experimental glaucoma model.
Anergic CD4+ T Cells Form Mature Immunological Synapses with Enhanced Accumulation of c-Cbl and Cbl-b

CD4+ T cell recognition of MHC:peptide complexes in the context of a costimulatory signal results in the large-scale redistribution of molecules at the T cell–APC interface to form the immunological synapse. The immunological synapse is the location of sustained TCR signaling and delivery of a subset of effector functions. T cells activated in the absence of costimulation are rendered anergic and are hyporesponsive when presented with Ag in the presence of optimal costimulation. Several previous studies have looked at aspects of immunological synapses formed by anergic T cells, but it remains unclear whether there are differences in the formation or composition of anergic immunological synapses. In this study, we anergized primary murine CD4+ T cells by incubation of costimulation-deficient, transfected fibroblast APCs. Using a combination of TCR, MHC:peptide, and ICAM-1 staining, we found that anergic T cells make mature immunological synapses with characteristic central and peripheral supramolecular activation cluster domains that were indistinguishable from control synapses. There were small increases in total phosphotyrosine at the anergic synapse along with significant decreases in phosphorylated ERK 1/2 accumulation. Most striking, there was specific accumulation of c-Cbl and Cbl-b to the anergic synapses. Cbl-b, previously shown to be essential in anergy induction, was found in both the central and the peripheral supramolecular activation clusters of the anergic synapse. This Cbl-b (and c-Cbl) accumulation at the anergic synapse may play an important role in anergy maintenance, induction, or both.
Clarification of the Five-Factor Model With the Abridged Big Five Dimensional Circumplex

This article shows how the Abridged Big Five Dimensional Circumplex (AB5C; W. K. Hofstee, B. de Raad, & L. R. Goldberg, 1992) clarifies disputes about the Big Five or five-factor model. Trait ratings from instruments representing 4 versions of the Big Five (L. R. Goldberg, 1992; R. Hogan & J. A. Johnson, 198 1; R. R. McCrae & P. T. Costa, 1985b, 1987; W T Norman, 1963) were subjected to separate AB5C analyses for 2,148 American and 1,285 German Ss. Replicated results formed standard designation codes representing trait adjectives' primary and secondary factor loadings. These codes unveiled the unique coloring imparted by secondary loadings to different scales proffered by researchers to represent the 5 factors.
A REVIEW ON LONG TERM SHORT MEMORY(LSTM)

—Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network is widely applied in research areas having complex solution having sequential data as text, video format. LSTM handles the long-term dependencies problems in its cell structure (sigma or logic cell). These paper consist review of different RNN-LSTM long-term dependencies applicable areas along with applied problems and its effective model of implementation which has implemented and its future scope. In addition, it is seen as RNN-LSTM network performs well than other machine, deep learning algorithm while predicting the results.
RADLAC II high current electron beam propagation experiment

The resistive hose instability of an electron beam was observed to be convective in recent RADLAC II experiments for higher current shots. The effects of air scattering for these shots were minimal. These experiments and theory suggest low-frequency hose motion which does not appear convective may be due to rapid expansion and subsequent drifting of the beam nose.
Prediction of appropriate timing of palliative care for older adults with non-malignant life-threatening disease: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND most people in contemporary western society die of the chronic diseases of old age. Whilst palliative care is appropriate for elderly patients with chronic, non-malignant disease, few of these patients access such care compared with cancer patients. Objective referral criteria based on accurate estimation of survival may facilitate more timely referral of non-cancer patients most appropriate for specialist palliative care. OBJECTIVE to identify tools and predictor variables that might aid clinicians estimate survival and assess palliative status in non-cancer patients aged 65 years and older. METHODS systematic review and quality assessment using criteria modified from the literature. RESULTS 11 studies that evaluated prognoses in hospitalised and community-based older adults with non-malignant disease were identified. Key generic predictors of survival were increased dependency of activities of daily living, presence of comorbidities, poor nutritional status and weight loss, and abnormal vital signs and laboratory values. Disease-specific predictors of survival were identified for dementia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder and congestive heart failure. No study evaluated the relationship between survival and palliative status. CONCLUSION prognostic models that attempt to estimate survival of < or = 6 months in non-cancer patients have generally poor discrimination, reflecting the unpredictable nature of most non-malignant disease. However, a number of generic and disease-specific predictor variables were identified that may help clinicians identify older, non-cancer patients with poor prognoses and palliative care needs. Simple, well-validated prognostic models that provide clinicians with objective measures of palliative status in non-cancer patients are needed. Additionally, research that evaluates the effect of general and specialist palliative care on psychosocial outcomes in non-cancer patients and their carers is needed.