Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Fibrinogen γ Chain Dodecapeptide Inhibits Agonist-induced Aggregation of Rabbit Platelets and Fibrinogen Binding to Rabbit Glycoprotein IIb-IIIa

Summary The HHLGGAKQAGDV (H12) sequence at the carboxyl termini of the γ chains and the RGD sequences in the Aα chains of human fibrinogen are potential recognition sites for the binding of soluble fibrinogen to glycoprotein IIb-IIIa (GPIIb-IIIa) on activated human platelets. Thus, addition of either H12 or RGD-containing peptides inhibits aggregation of and fibrinogen binding to human platelets. In contrast, we reported previously that RGDS had relatively little inhibitory effect on these functions of rabbit platelets. In the present study, we found that H12 inhibited ADP- and thrombin-induced aggregation of rabbit platelets in a dose-dependent manner. Specificity was demonstrated by the failure of the variant HHLGGAKQAGEV peptide to inhibit ADP-induced aggregation. Furthermore, flow cytometric analyses demonstrated that H12 inhibited the binding of FITC-fibrinogen to ADP-activated rabbit platelets in a dose-dependent manner. To examine the direct interaction of H12 with rabbit GPIIb-IIIa, we performed affinity chromatography by applying an octylglucoside extract of rabbit platelet proteins onto an affinity matrix containing the fibrinogen γ chain sequence. Proteins of ∼135 kDa and ∼95 kDa were specifically eluted by soluble H12, and the 95 kDa protein band was immunoblotted by anti-LIBS1, a monoclonal antibody against human GPIIIa. In control samples, no detectable protein from rabbit platelet lysates was eluted from an RGD affinity matrix by GRGDSP. Collectively, our results demonstrated that H12 inhibits aggregation of and fibrinogen binding to rabbit platelets by directly interacting with rabbit GPIIb-IIIa. These findings suggest that rabbit platelets would serve as a suitable thrombosis model for testing the efficacy of peptide mimetics derived from H12.
Incidence of Depression Related to Isotretinoin Treatment in 100 ACNE Vulgaris Patients

The incidence of depression in acne patients using isotretinoin was assessed in 100 patients with moderate and nodulocystic acne. All patients received 0.75–1.00 mg/kg/day of isotretinoin for 20–28 weeks after acne was assessed. All patients' acne lesions were improved at the end of the treatment period. Psychological state was evaluated at baseline, at Month 3, and Month 6 by a psychiatrist using a Turkish version of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Only one patient's score increased to the clinical level of depression at Month 3 of treatment and declined to subclinical levels at Month 6. Although Hamilton scores increased at Month 3 over baseline scores, except for one patient, others' scores remained below the subclinical level for depression. At the end of Month 6, the mean score decreased below that at Month 3. These changes in means might be related to the onset of clinical effect of isotretinoin.
Quantitative organization of neurotransmitters in the deep cerebellar nuclei of the Lurcher mutant

The Lurcher mutant mouse is characterized by a primary selective loss of Purkinje cells, leading to the near total apoptotic death of these neurons. In contrast to the subsequent massive secondary degeneration of the granule cells and the inferior olivary neurons, only mild degeneration occurs in the deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN). However, it is not known to what extent the different populations of DCN neurons—glutamatergic principal projection neurons, γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA)‐ergic inferior olivary projection neurons, and glycinergic neurons—are affected in their neurotransmitter composition. To answer this question we studied the neurotransmitter contents (glutamate, GABA, and glycine) of DCN neurons and the size of synaptic boutons immunohistochemically on serial semithin sections in both Lurcher and wild‐type mice. Applying the physical dissector counting method, our results confirmed the mild degeneration (a reduction by 20%) of large glutamatergic neurons and a more pronounced degeneration of GABAergic (by 42%) and glycinergic neurons (by 45%). On the other hand, an analysis of neurons colabeled for both GABA and glycine, revealed that this specific colabeling increased in the Lurcher mutant (by 40%). In addition, both the GABA‐immunolabeled (IL) (by 56%) and the glycine‐IL (by 45%) synaptic boutons showed an increase in diameter in the mutant. The density of these boutons showed a decrease of 30% each. In summary, the increase in the number of neurons colabeled for GABA and glycine, together with the increase in the size of the inhibitory synaptic boutons, could help in providing the minimum inhibition needed to maintain a residual “cerebellar” functionality in the Lurcher DCN. J. Comp. Neurol. 452:311–323, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Signaling in Plant-Interacting Fungi: Distinct Messages from Conserved Messengers[W]

Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are evolutionarily conserved proteins that function as key signal transduction components in fungi, plants, and mammals. During interaction between phytopathogenic fungi and plants, fungal MAPKs help to promote mechanical and/or enzymatic penetration of host tissues, while plant MAPKs are required for activation of plant immunity. However, new insights suggest that MAPK cascades in both organisms do not operate independently but that they mutually contribute to a highly interconnected molecular dialogue between the plant and the fungus. As a result, some pathogenesis-related processes controlled by fungal MAPKs lead to the activation of plant signaling, including the recruitment of plant MAPK cascades. Conversely, plant MAPKs promote defense mechanisms that threaten the survival of fungal cells, leading to a stress response mediated in part by fungal MAPK cascades. In this review, we make use of the genomic data available following completion of whole-genome sequencing projects to analyze the structure of MAPK protein families in 24 fungal taxa, including both plant pathogens and mycorrhizal symbionts. Based on conserved patterns of sequence diversification, we also propose the adoption of a unified fungal MAPK nomenclature derived from that established for the model species Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Finally, we summarize current knowledge of the functions of MAPK cascades in phytopathogenic fungi and highlight the central role played by MAPK signaling during the molecular dialogue between plants and invading fungal pathogens.
Surgery for Acromioclavicular Dislocation: Factors Affecting Functional Recovery

The objective of the study is to compare the clinical outcomes of two different interventions for Rockwood type III (or above) acromioclavicular dislocation and study the factors influencing postoperative functional recovery. A total of 60 patients with Rockwood type III (or above) acromioclavicular dislocation were included in the study. Patients were divided into two groups based on the surgical intervention: Clavicular Hook Plate Fixation (Group A) and EndoButton technique of Coracoclavicular Ligament Reconstruction (Group B). Constant shoulder score was employed for the assessment of functional recovery before and after the surgery. Statistical analysis was performed in terms of age, gender, obesity (body mass index), Constant shoulder score, compliance of rehabilitation guidance, and the amount of reduction loss. The Constant score was significantly improved after surgery (P < 0.05). The score was better in Group B compared with Group A in the sixth month after surgery (P < 0.05), but showed no significant difference in the fifteenth month. Compliance with rehabilitation guidance significantly affected the values of the Constant score after the surgery (P < 0.05). Clavicular Hook Plate and EndoButton technique both are effective ways to treat Rockwood type III (or above) acromioclavicular dislocation. However, EndoButton technique is more effective for early functional recovery. Patients’ compliance with rehabilitation guidance is critical for the functional recovery after surgery.
Factors Determining the Duration of Legal Disputes: An Empirical Analysis with Micro Data

This paper attempts to shed light on some factors determining the duration of disputes. To this aim a unique database is used, accounting for eight hundred judgments rendered by the Italian Regional Administrative Courts from 2000 to 2007. Our findings confirm that normative complexity hampers a rapid solution and show that social capital may contribute to reduce the duration of disputes. The number of judges does not appear to be the main variable to explain the time needed to obtain a judgment of the first rank. Finally, the observed differences in duration may also be explained by referring to their topic.
Natural sequence of recovery from child post-traumatic amnesia: A retrospective cohort study

The aim of this study was to determine the sequence of skills recovery during post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) in children with moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Setting: Fifty children aged 8 to 15 years consecutively admitted to a children’s hospital with TBI and PTA>24 were tested in a retrospective cohort study where the main measure was the Westmead PTA Scale (WPTAS). The group analyses show that orientation to time took longer to recover than orientation to person and place, but not memory, while the individual analyses revealed that when orientation to time was grouped with memory, 94% of children recovered orientation to person and place before orientation to time and memory (examiner and pictures). Correlation coefficients between age and the number of days taken to recover skills were not found to be significant. It was established that, in terms of the natural sequence of skills recovery in children aged 8 to 15 years following moderate to severe TBI, recovery of orientation to time is more closely aligned to memory than to orientation to person and place. It was also established that WPTAS items are developmentally appropriate for children aged 8 to 15 years who have sustained TBI. These findings are clinically important because monitoring recovery from PTA both impacts the rehabilitation offered to individuals during acute care and aids discharge planning.
Extended cardiac reconstruction with large area detectors: a simulation study

Recently, three-dimensional cardiac cone beam reconstruction has been introduced for retrospectively gated volume CT imaging. In order to investigate the resulting image quality for large area detectors (LAD), a simulation study has been carried out: The FORBILD thorax phantom has been extended with a dynamic heart insert forming a 4D cardiac CT phantom. Cone beam projection data for 256. 128, 64 and 40-row systems at three different relative pitches (0.1, 0.2 and 0.3) have been simulated at a constant heart rate of 64 bpm. Images have been reconstructed employing the Extended Cardiac Reconstruction (ECR) algorithm. The temporal resolution has been calculated for 256, 128.64 and 40-row systems with different rotation times (0.33 s, 0.42 s, 0.50 s), relative pitches (0.05 up to 0.35) and heart rates (40 up to 120 bpm). With the increased volume coverage of LAD systems, scans with a low to intermediate relative pitch (0.1-0.2) become feasible without resulting in extensive scan times, inhibiting single breath hold acquisitions. With ECR, the image quality is excellent for systems with an increased cone-angle. Alternative reconstruction approaches such as iterative or exact schemes may further improve the image quality for detectors above 128 rows. The study shows that an intermediate relative pitch, e.g. 0.2, is feasible for cardiac data acquisition. It results in good temporal resolution at fast volume coverage.
[Clinical application of perioperative continuous hyperthermic peritoneal perfusion chemotherapy for gastric cancer].

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the clinical effect of intraoperative and early postoperative continuous hyperthermic pertioneal perfusion chemotherapy (CHPPC) for gastric cancer. METHODS Eight-five patients with gastric cancer were randomized into therapeutic group with perioperative CHPPC combined with intravenous chemotherapy (n=44) and control group with intravenous chemotherapy only (n=41). The postoperative complications, adverse effects, local recurrence rates, distant metastasis rates, and 1- and 3-year survival rates were compared between two groups. RESULTS No significant differences were found in the postoperative complications and adverse effects between the two groups. The recurrence rate and distant metastasis rates in the therapeutic group were significantly lower than those in the control group (20.45% vs 43.90%, and 15.90% vs 39.02%, P<0.05). The 1- and 3-year survival rates in the therapeutic group were significantly higher than those in the control group (90.90% vs 78.05%, and 59.09% vs 34.15%, P<0.05). CONCLUSION Perioperative CHPPC for gastric cancer is safe and feasible, and can reduce the recurrence rate, distant metastasis rate and improve the survival for gastric cancer patient after operation.
Methadone Dose, Take Home Status, and Hospital Admission Among Methadone Maintenance Patients

Objectives:Among patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) for opioid dependence, receipt of unobserved dosing privileges (take homes) and adequate doses (ie, ≥ 80 mg) are each associated with improved addiction treatment outcomes, but the association with acute care hospitalization is unknown. We studied whether take-home dosing and adequate doses (ie, ≥80 mg) were associated with decreased hospital admission among patients in an MMT. Methods:We reviewed daily electronic medical records of patients enrolled in one MMT program to determine receipt of take-home doses, methadone dose 80 mg or more, and hospital admission date. Nonlinear mixed-effects logistic regression models were used to evaluate whether take-home doses or dose 80 mg or more on a given day were associated with hospital admission on the subsequent day. Covariates in adjusted models included age, sex, race/ethnicity, human immunodeficiency virus status, medical illness, mental illness, and polysubstance use at program admission. Results:Subjects (n = 138) had the following characteristics: mean age 43 years; 52% female; 17% human immunodeficiency virus–infected; 32% medical illness; 40% mental illness; and 52% polysubstance use. During a mean follow-up of 20 months, 42 patients (30%) accounted for 80 hospitalizations. Receipt of take homes was associated with significantly lower odds of a hospital admission (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.26; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.11–0.62), whereas methadone dose 80 mg or more was not (AOR = 1.01; 95% CI, 0.56–1.83). Conclusions:Among MMT patients, receipt of take homes, but not dose of methadone, was associated with decreased hospital admission. Take-home status may reflect not only patients' improved addiction outcomes but also reduced health care utilization.
Comparative evaluation of multi-label classification methods

This paper presents a comparative evaluation of popular multi-label classification methods on several multi-label problems from different domains. The methods include multi-label k-nearest neighbor, binary relevance, label power set, random k-label set ensemble learning, calibrated label ranking, hierarchy of multi-label classifiers and triple random ensemble multi-label classification algorithms. These multi-label learning algorithms are evaluated using several widely used MLC evaluation metrics. The evaluation results show that for each multi-label classification problem a particular MLC method can be recommended. The multi-label evaluation datasets used in this study are related to scene images, multimedia video frames, diagnostic medical report, email messages, emotional music data, biological genes and multi-structural proteins categorization.
Advance steganography using dynamic octa pixel value differencing

The practice of concealing messages or information within redundant medium is called as steganography. The various types of steganography depends on the choice of redundant medium, which are text, image, audio and video. In image steganography the secret message are embedded into the pixels of cover image to produce stego image i.e. image embedded with secret message bits. Least Significant Bit technique is one of the most widely used image steganography technique but it has many drawbacks like image distortion, detectability, susceptibility to cryptanalysis. To overcome these drawbacks Pixel Value Differencing technique was introduced. In PVD three neighboring pixels are compared with target pixel and there difference is calculated which in turn decides how many bits to embed in the pixel pair with the help of static range table. It minimizes the distortion and increase the storage capacity. But comparing three neighboring pixels is not enough as other surrounding pixels are not taken into consideration for data embedding. The range table is also static consisting of predefined sets of ranges. The proposed system compares all eight neighboring pixels to enhance data embedding capacity. Also, it uses a dynamic range table values of which changes as per the resolution of the image which helps to reduce the distortion. System also makes use of LSB + PVD approach to increase the embedding capacity, where LSB is used in smooth areas of image and PVD is used in edgy areas. Cryptographic measures are also added into system to provide additional data security and data integrity.
Control of human thymocyte migration by Neuropilin-1/Semaphorin-3A-mediated interactions

It is largely established that molecules first discovered in the nervous system are also found in the immune system. Neuropilin-1 (NP-1) was initially identified to mediate semaphorin-induced chemorepulsion during brain development and is also involved in peripheral T cell/dendritic cell interactions. Herein, we studied NP-1 during T cell development in the human thymus. NP-1 is expressed in both cortex and medulla of thymic lobules, being found in distinct CD4/CD8-defined thymocyte subsets. NP-1 is also found in thymic epithelial cells (TEC) in situ and in vitro, and is recruited at the site of TEC–thymocyte contact. Moreover, NP-1 was rapidly up-regulated during thymocyte stimulation by T cell receptor (TCR) and IL-7 or after adhesion to TEC. Semaphorin-3A (Sema-3A), a natural ligand of NP-1, is also present in human thymus, both in TEC and thymocytes, being up-regulated in thymocytes after TCR engagement. Functionally, Sema-3A decreases the adhesion capacity of NP-1+ thymocytes and induces their migration by a repulsive effect. In conclusion, we show here that NP-1/Sema-3A-mediated interactions participate in the control of human thymocyte development.
A simple stratification factor prognostic for survival in advanced cancer: the good/bad/uncertain index.

PURPOSE This article summarizes the third step of a research program to identify variables that supplement the predictive power of the the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS) for survival. The objective was to produce a simple, practical, stratification factor for phase III oncology clinical trials involving patients with advanced malignant disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS A questionnaire was administered to 729 patients with metastatic colorectal or lung cancers. Patients provided a Karnofsky index and appetite rating while physicians provided a survival estimate and the ECOG-PS. Scores for each item were categorized as having a positive, neutral, or negative indication for survival. A patient was classified as having a relatively good prognosis if three or more of the four items showed a positive indication, a bad prognosis if three or more items were negative, and an uncertain prognosis otherwise (Good/Bad/Uncertain [GBU] index). RESULTS The GBU index improved on the prognostic power of a Cox model quartile index and PS alone and increased the accuracy of survival classification estimates by 5% to 10% more than ECOG-PS alone. For patients with PS of 0 or 1, significant survival patterns exist between GBU groups (P=.002 and.0001, respectively). CONCLUSION The GBU index may be recommended as a supplementary stratification factor for certain future phase III trials in metastatic lung or colorectal cancer where patient heterogeneity is a particular concern. The GBU represents a relatively modest increase to the cost and patient burden of a clinical trial given the additional control that is achieved over the potentially confounding concomitant to the treatment variable.
Alteration of Insulin-Receptor Kinase Activity by High-Fat Feeding

It has been demonstrated in in vivo and in vitro experiments that high-fat (HF) feeding causes insulin resistance. To elucidate the mechanism for this effect, we have measured the kinase activity of the insulin receptor purified from livers of HF-fed rats that showed impaired insulin action in isolated rat adipocytes. In adipocyte experiments, HF feeding led to a 65% decrease in the maximal response stimulated by insulin in a 2-deoxyglucose uptake study. Although insulin binding to adipocytes of HF-fed rats also decreased to 50% of control due to decreased binding affinity, the postbinding defect should be accounted for by decreased insulin action in view of the presence of spare receptor. In contrast to adipocytes, insulin binding to the lectin-purified insulin receptor from livers showed no difference in receptor-binding affinity between HF-fed and control rats. Insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of the β-subunit of the insulin receptor was decreased to almost 50% throughout the entire dose-response curve. The study of glutamine-tyrosine (4:1) phosphorylation by the insulin-receptor kinase showed results similar to those of the autophosphorylation study. These results suggest that an HF diet causes insulin resistance by affecting insulin-receptor kinase, which plays an important role in transmembrane signaling between insulin binding and insulin action.
Nicotine dependence severity as a cross-sectional predictor of alcohol-related problems in a sample of adolescent smokers.

INTRODUCTION Given the prevalence of alcohol use among adolescents and its negative consequences, it is important to learn more about correlates of alcohol-related problems in this population. Cigarette smoking appears to be associated with alcohol-related problems in adolescents. The purpose of this study was to assess cigarettes smoked per day and nicotine dependence (ND) severity as predictors of alcohol-related problems in cross-sectional models, using data from a smoking cessation clinical trial for adolescents. METHOD Data obtained at intake were used to assess smoking-related variables as cross-sectional predictors of alcohol-related problems in models along with drinks per week and key demographics, using hierarchical multiple regression. RESULTS ND severity, as measured using the modified Fagerström Tolerance Questionnaire, significantly predicted alcohol-related problems, both when this score included and did not include an item concerning cigarettes smoked per day. A separate continuous item capturing cigarettes per day did not predict alcohol-related problems. DISCUSSION ND severity predicted alcohol-related problems in cross-sectional regression models, holding constant alcohol consumption and key demographics. This suggests that ND severity may be a clinical indicator of alcohol-related problems among adolescent smokers. To our knowledge, this is the first analysis of associations between smoking and alcohol involvement in a sample of adolescent smokers participating in a clinical trial.