Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Discriminating expression of differentiation markers evolves in transplants of benign and malignant human skin keratinocytes through stromal interactions

Accumulating evidence indicates a decisive role for the adjacent stroma in tumour growth and dissemination. However, it is not clear how far altered differentiation such as expression of aberrant keratins and vimentin, common in invasive human carcinomas, may reflect intrinsic cell properties or a response to the tumour environment. We have addressed this by transplanting benign and malignant human HaCaT‐ras keratinocytes, seeded on collagen matrix, onto nude mice. Initially, epithelia derived from benign and malignant cells, being separated from host stroma by collagen, were poorly organized and exhibited the same differentiation markers, as identified by immunofluorescence and in situ hybridization. Epidermal basal and suprabasal keratins were expressed persistently even upon contact with newly formed stroma and malignant cell invasion. In contrast, non‐epidermal keratins (K4/K13, K8/18, K19), which were similarly synthesized by benign and malignant cells in culture and in early transplants, were differentially regulated with increasing stromal vicinity. While both proteins and mRNAs were downregulated in benign epithelia, the malignant, invasive tumour cells continuously expressed these non‐epidermal keratins throughout (K19), suprabasally (K4/13) or at invasive sites (K8/18). Furthermore, the mesenchymal protein vimentin was expressed de novo in invasive areas confronting tumour stroma. Thus, atypical tissue markers, similarly synthesized in isolated cells in vitro, are downregulated in benign but maintained and upregulated in malignant epithelia. This is presumably caused by the neighbouring stroma being permanently activated by malignant epithelia. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Anaerobic degradation of sulfamethoxazole by mixed cultures from swine and sewage sludge

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the anaerobic degradation of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and the associated bacterial community changes in swine and sewage sludges. The degradation rate of SMX was higher in swine sludge than in sewage sludge. The addition of lactate, citrate, and sucrose had significant effects on SMX degradation, and sucrose addition yielded a higher SMX degradation rate than the other additives. At concentrations of 0.1–10 g/l sucrose, the SMX degradation rates increased in the sludge. The bacterial genera from swine sludge with sucrose exhibited the highest SMX degrading efficiency. Seventeen bacterial genera were found to be the major bacterial community members involved in SMX degradation in the sludge.
The profession of neuropsychology in Spain: results of a national survey

Abstract Objective: To examine the current status of professional neuropsychology in Spain, with particular focus on the areas of professional training, current work situation, evaluation and diagnostic practice, rehabilitation, teaching, and research. Methods: Three hundred and thirty-nine self-identified professionals in neuropsychology from Spain completed an online survey between July and December of 2013. Respondents had an average age of 35.8 years and 77% were women. Results: Ninety-seven percent of the respondents identified as psychologists; 82% of the sample had a master’s degree, and 33% a doctoral degree. The majority (91%) received their neuropsychological training at a graduate level; 88% engaged in neuropsychological evaluation, 59% in rehabilitation, 50% in research, and 40% in teaching. Average number of hours per week dedicated to work in neuropsychology was 29.7, with 28% of the respondents reporting working in hospitals, 17% in not-for-profit rehabilitation centers, 15% in universities, and 14% in private clinics. Clinicians primarily work with individuals with stroke, traumatic brain injury, and dementia. The top perceived barriers to development of neuropsychology in Spain included lack of clinical and academic training opportunities, and negative attitude toward professional collaboration. Conclusions: The field of neuropsychology in Spain is young and rapidly growing. There is a need to regulate professional neuropsychology, improve graduate curricula, enhance existing clinical training, develop professional certification programs, validate and create normative data for existing neuropsychological tests, and create new, culturally relevant instruments.
Short-chain ubiquitination mediates the regulated endocytosis of the aquaporin-2 water channel

To regulate mammalian water homeostasis, arginine-vasopressin (AVP) induces phosphorylation and thereby redistribution of renal aquaporin-2 (AQP2) water channels from vesicles to the apical membrane. Vice versa, AVP (or forskolin) removal and hormones activating PKC cause AQP2 internalization, but the mechanism is unknown. Here, we show that a fraction of AQP2 is modified with two to three ubiquitin moieties in vitro and in vivo. Mutagenesis revealed that AQP2 is ubiquitinated with one K63-linked chain at K270 only. In Madin–Darby canine kidney cells, AQP2 ubiquitination occurs preferentially when present in the apical membrane, is transiently increased with forskolin removal or PKC activation, and precedes its internalization. Internalization kinetics assays with wild type (wt) and ubiquitination-deficient (K270R) AQP2 revealed that ubiquitination enhances AQP2 endocytosis. Electron microscopy showed that a translational fusion of AQP2 with ubiquitin (AQP2-Ub) localized particularly to internal vesicles of multivesicular bodies (MVBs), whereas AQP2-K270R largely localized to the apical membrane, early endosomes, and the limiting membrane of MVBs. Consistent with this distribution pattern, lysosomal degradation was extensive for AQP2-Ub, low for AQP2-K270R, and intermediate for wt-AQP2. Our data show that short-chain ubiquitination is involved in the regulated endocytosis, MVB sorting, and degradation of AQP2 and may be the mechanism used by AVP removal and PKC-activating hormones to reduce renal water reabsorption. Moreover, because several other channels are also (short-chain) ubiquitinated, our data suggest that ubiquitination may be a general mediator for the regulated endocytosis and degradation of channels in higher eukaryotes.
Are Islamic banks better immunized than Conventional banks in the current economic crisis

Acknowledgment I would like to thank my family for their support and patience during the two-and-a-half years it has taken me to graduate. As well, I would like to thank my friend, Maheen Kamali, for her understanding. I would also like to thank Dr. D.N. Pandey for his help and for his direction with this thesis. Also, I would like to thank Ajay Rai for assisting me in finding the right data to be used for the methodology of this thesis.
Qualitative Changes Accompany Memory T Cell Generation: Faster, More Effective Responses at Lower Doses of Antigen1

The generation of memory T cells is critically important for rapid clearance and neutralization of pathogens encountered previously by the immune system. We have studied the kinetics of response and Ag dose requirements for proliferation and cytokine secretion of CD4+ memory T cells to examine whether there are qualitative changes which might lead to improved immunity. TCR Tg CD4+ T cells were primed in vitro and transferred into T cell-deficient hosts. After 6 or more weeks, the persisting T cells were exclusively small resting cells with a memory phenotype: CD44high CD62L+/− CD25−. Memory CD4 T cells showed a similar pattern of response as naive cells to peptide analogues with similar Ag dose requirements for IL-2 secretion. However, memory cells (derived from both Th2 and Th1 effectors) displayed faster kinetics of cytokine secretion, cell division, and proliferation, enhanced proliferation in response to low doses of Ag or peptide analogues, and production of IL-4, IL-5, and IFN-γ. These results suggest there is a much more efficient response of CD4 memory T cells to Ag re-exposure and that the expanded functional capacity of memory cells will promote a rapid development of effector functions, providing more rapid and effective immunity.
Establishing affective human robot interaction through contextual information

Determining human intention is a challenging task for establishing affective human robot interaction. The aim of this paper is to provide a vision based framework to achieve a level of understanding about people in an environment before engaging in active communication or interaction. The proposed method combines multiple cues in a Bayesian framework to identify people in the scene and determine potential intentions. To improve the system performance, contextual feedback is used, which allows the Bayesian network to evolve and adjust itself according to the surrounding environment. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique in dealing with human-robot interaction in a relatively crowded environment.
G-protein gene 825C>T polymorphism is associated with response to clozapine in Brazilian schizophrenics.

AIMS Clozapine treatment of schizophrenia is effective only in 30-60% of individuals. Since genetic factors are believed to play a significant role in the variation of response to antipsychotics, the aim of the present study was to verify the effect of a G-protein gene polymorphism on clozapine response and clozapine-induced generalized seizures in Brazilian patients with schizophrenia. PATIENTS & METHODS In total, 121 schizophrenic patients in treatment with clozapine were genotyped for the 825C>T polymorphism it the GNB3 gene using PCR. RESULTS Homozygosity for the T825 allele was more frequent among nonresponders (chi(2) = 7.708; p = 0.021), and carriers of this allele had a higher risk to present a convulsion episode (chi(2) = 7.279; p = 0.007). These results were confirmed after controlling for covariates by logistic regression. CONCLUSION Our data suggest an influence of the 825C>T polymorphism on clozapine response in persons with schizophrenia and also on a specific neurological side effect (generalized seizures) under clozapine treatment.
Elimination of harmonics in multilevel inverters with non-equal DC sources using PSO

Multilevel inverters supplied from equal and constant dc sources almost donpsilat exist in practical applications. The variation of the dc sources affects the values of the switching angles required for each specific harmonic profile, as well as increases the difficulty of the harmonic eliminationpsilas equations. This paper presents an extremely fast optimal solution of harmonic elimination of multilevel inverters with non-equal dc sources using a novel Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. The overall system is suitable for large variable speed drives, UPS systems, and on-line utility applications such as static var compensation. A set of mathematical equations describing the general output waveform of the multilevel inverter with non-equal dc sources is formulated. PSO is then employed to compute the optimal solution set of switching angles, if it exists for each required harmonic profile. Theoretical studies for different case studies regarding the number of levels and harmonic profile are carried out to show the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed technique, and validated through both simulations and laboratory experimentation.
Guided Filter Demosaicking For Fourier Spectral Filter Array

We recently introduced a spectral filter array design for single-shot multispectral imaging that is based on Fourier transform spectroscopy. In this article, we investigate feasibility of guided filter demosaicking for our SFA design. Introduction Conventional colorimetric image sensors capture red, green, and blue samples. Multispectral image (MSI) system capture more than three spectral components with the goal to detect, identify, or track objects based on their spectral characteristics. Drawing on the success of the color filter array (CFA) in conventional cameras, spectral filter arrays (SFA) have been proposed as a single-shot MSI solution [1, 2, 3, 6, 5, 4]. Specifically, N predetermined spectral filters are spatially multiplexed over the pixel array. An interpolation step (known as demosaicking) is needed to recover a full resolution multispectral image. Most existing SFA designs use narrowband filters that make measurements over a small interval of wavelength/wavenumber ranges. However, question remains as to whether narrowband samples faithfully represent spectral features such as the wavelengths at which spectral peaks and attenuation occur. We recently proposed a novel MSI based on Fourier transform spectroscopy [10], aimed at presenting the spectral features of interest with fewest spectral samples. Appealing to the fact that each interferometric measurement is equivalent to taking inner product between a sinusoidal function and the full spectrum in the wavenumber domain, we replaced the narrowband filter with broadband filters whose transmittance follows sinusoidal shape, a process by which we obtain interferometric measurements at every pixel. We proved that Fourier spectroscopy-based MSI preserves spectral features more accurately than the narrowband MSI [11], and proposed spatial arrangements of SFA using these sinusoidal filters (hereafter referred to as Fourier SFA) [10]. In our earlier work, less emphasis was placed on the demosaicking procedure. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of repurposing demosaicking method in [5] for the Fourier SFA pattern in [10]. Fourier Spectral Filter Array Design Spectral imagery is typically represented as a three dimensional cube, where two dimensions are associated to pixel coordinates and one dimension is in wavelength/wavenumber. Figure 1(a) illustrates a typical hyperspectral image in spacewavenumber representation X̂(n,σ), where n ∈Z2 is the pixel index and σ is the wavenumber index. Since X̂(n,σ) is a high bandwidth data for all σ ∈ (σmin,σmax) values, it is difficult to determine which narrowband filter sets should be chosen for MSI. By comparison, the interferometric measurements in Fourier transform spectroscopy are sampled in the optical path difference (OPD) domain. A forword Fourier transform is applied to the OPD samples to yield spectral data in wavelength/wavenumber domain. Figure 1(b) shows hyperspectral image in space-OPD domain:
Mirtazapine for the Treatment of Hot Flushes in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Prospective Pilot Trial

Abstract: The purposes of the study are to evaluate the efficacy and safety of mirtazapine 30 mg/daily for 12 weeks to reduce hot flushes (HF) in women with previous breast cancer and to assess the influence of the same treatment on sleep quality and other menopausal symptoms. A prospective pilot trial was conducted in 40 breast cancer patients with at least seven HF per day. A HF diary was completed daily; sleep quality and other menopausal symptoms were assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) and the SF‐36 Health Survey. Treatment was never started by 13 out of 40 patients (32.5%) and was interrupted by 7 out of 27 patients (25%) due to of the occurrence of side effects (mostly somnolence). In the remaining 20 patients who completed the three months treatment period, there was a 55.6% (p < 0.05) reduction in HF frequency and 61.9% (p < 0.05) reduction in HF score as compared to baseline. A significant reduction in the MRS score (32.8%; p < 0.05) was observed. Mirtazapine appears to be effective in reducing HF in breast cancer survivors. The more frequent side effect was somnolence. A sizeable compiliance problem has been observed due to the reluctance to take antidepressant drugs and to side effects.
No Evidence for Ethnic and Racial Bias in the Tryout Edition of the Merrill-Palmer Scale—Revised

This research examined a revised version of the Merrill-Palmer Scale, a test of childhood development, to assess the cultural validity of items, i.e., Differential Item Functioning. Archival data were used to determine the Differential Item Functioning of items for 245 African-American, Euro-American, and Hispanic children, ages 3–6 years. Subjects were gathered from all four regions of the United States. Potential bias was examined through the use of partial correlations. Statistical analyses suggest that the Tryout Edition of the Merrill-Palmer Scale–Revised was not systematically biased toward any of the three racial groups examined.
A Design Method for Single-Polarization Holey Fibers With Improved Beam Quality Factor

Recently, there has been an increasing interest in developing single polarization fibers for applications such as polarization splitters, polarizers, high power lasers, etc. Usually, the polarization maintenance can be achieved by form birefringence, such as by creating elliptical cores, or material anisotropy, or by stress-applying parts inside the fiber. However, this results into the non-Gaussian field distributions due to the distortion of fiber core, therefore leading to the degradation of beam quality factor M 2. In this study, we propose a design method for single-polarization holey fibers with improved beam quality by introducing the resonant coupling phenomenon between the central depressed core and the elliptical cores arranged on either side of the central core. The proposed single-polarization holey fiber with 1-m length has the extinction ratio of 30 dB over 10-nm wavelength range and a good beam quality factor M 2 = 1.31.
Escherichia coli Exposure Inhibits Exocytic SNARE‐Mediated Membrane Fusion in Mast Cells

Mast cells orchestrate the allergic response through the release of proinflammatory mediators, which is driven by the fusion of cytoplasmic secretory granules with the plasma membrane. During this process, SNARE proteins including Syntaxin4, SNAP23 and VAMP8 play a key role. Following stimulation, the kinase IKKβ interacts with and phosphorylates the t‐SNARE SNAP23. Phosphorylated SNAP23 then associates with Syntaxin4 and the v‐SNARE VAMP8 to form a ternary SNARE complex, which drives membrane fusion and mediator release. Interestingly, mast cell degranulation is impaired following exposure to bacteria such as Escherichia coli. However, the molecular mechanism(s) by which this occurs is unknown. Here, we show that E. coli exposure rapidly and additively inhibits degranulation in the RBL‐2H3 rat mast cell line. Following co‐culture with E. coli, the interaction between IKKβ and SNAP23 is disrupted, resulting in the hypophosphorylation of SNAP23. Subsequent formation of the ternary SNARE complex between SNAP23, Syntaxin4 and VAMP8 is strongly reduced. Collectively, these results demonstrate that E. coli exposure inhibits the formation of VAMP8‐containing exocytic SNARE complexes and thus the release of VAMP8‐dependent granules by interfering with SNAP23 phosphorylation.
RIN transfer in copumped Raman amplifiers using polarization-combined diodes

Pump-to-signal relative-intensity-noise (RIN) transfer in a forward-pumped Raman amplifier using polarization-combined diodes is measured and analyzed. For the first time, by means of experiment and simulations, we call attention to the impact of the polarized nature of stimulated Raman scattering on RIN transfer. We show that measuring the RIN at the output of a depolarized Raman pump and inserting this figure in the commonly used RIN transfer equation is not sufficient for good signal RIN prediction. Although depolarizing the Raman pump enables polarization-independent signal gain, proper modeling of RIN transfer should include the polarization dependence of the Raman effect and the polarization mode dispersion of the fiber.
Limited diagnostic value of microRNAs for detecting colorectal cancer: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND MicroRNAs have been demonstrated to play important roles in the development and progression of colorectal cancer. Several studies utilizing microRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers for colorectal cancer (CRC) have been reported. The aim of this meta-analysis was to comprehensively and quantitatively summarize the diagnostic value of microRNAs for detecting colorectal cancer. METHODS We searched PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library for published studies that used microRNAs as biomarkers for the diagnosis of colorectal cancer. Summary estimates for sensitivity, specificity and other measures of accuracy of microRNAs in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer were calculated using the bivariate random effects model. A summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve was also generated to summarize the overall effectiveness of the test. RESULT Thirteen studies from twelve published articles met the inclusion criteria and were included. The overall sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio and diagnostic odd ratio of microRNAs for the diagnosis of colorectal cancer were 0.81 (95%CI: 0.79-0.84), 0.78 (95%CI: 0.75-0.82), 4.14 (95%CI: 2.90- 5.92), 0.24 (95%CI: 0.19-0.30), and 19.2 (95%CI: 11.7-31.5), respectively. The area under the SROC curve was 0.89. CONCLUSIONS The current evidence suggests that the microRNAs test might not be used alone as a screening tool for CRC. Combining microRNAs testing with other conventional tests such as FOBT may improve the diagnostic accuracy for detecting CRC.
Impact of Foreign Trade on Employment and Wages in Indian Manufacturing

This study attempts to investigate the impact of international trade on the manufacturing employment and wages in India over the period 1980–2005. Given India’s abundant labour force, the empirical evidence will provide an indication on the role of trade openness in labour market in terms of employment and wages. We employ three standard modelling approaches, namely, factor content, growth decomposition and panel data modelling approaches, to verify the role of trade on employment and wages. We use panel data at the industry level obtained from Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) and World Bank trade data set. Our results suggest that international trade has not had any significant impact on employment generation in the manufacturing sector in India. While there is little evidence on any significant effect of export orientation on employment, import penetration had a detrimental effect on employment generation.