Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Microdermabrasion as a Novel Tool to Enhance Drug Delivery via the Skin: An Animal Study

BACKGROUND Microdermabrasion is a widely performed skin rejuvenation procedure. It can partly ablate and homogenize the stratum corneum (SC) layers. OBJECTIVE The effect of microdermabrasion treatment on the skin permeation of hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs was examined in this study. METHODS 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) and clobetasol 17-propionate were used as the hydrophilic and lipophilic permeants, respectively. In vitro skin delivery using porcine skin and in vivo topical application employing nude mouse as the animal model were both used to examine the effect of microdermabrasion. The vacuum pressures used in this study (15–25 cmHg) were much lower than those used for therapeutic purposes. RESULTS The 5-FU permeation across microdermabrasion-treated skin was 8- to 24-fold higher than that across intact skin and depended on differences in treatment pressure and duration. An intensity of 15 cmHg for 10 seconds showed the greatest enhancement of 5-FU delivery via the skin. In contrast to the results for 5-FU, microdermabrasion reduced the skin permeation and deposition of topically applied clobetasol. The partitioning effect of clobetasol from the vehicle to the SC may have predominated this result. Microdermabrasion also enhanced the skin delivery of the hydrophilic 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA). Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) of microdermabrasion-treated skin revealed intense red fluorescence of ALA-transformed protoporphyrin (PpIX) within the epidermis and upper dermis. CONCLUSIONS Microdermabrasion can improve the skin permeation of hydrophilic molecules.
Periodontitis associated with chronic kidney disease among Mexican Americans.

OBJECTIVE In comparison to non-Hispanic whites, a number of health-care disparities, including poor oral health, have been identified among Hispanics in general and Mexican Americans in particular. We hypothesized that Mexican Americans with chronic kidney disease (CKD) would have higher prevalence of chronic periodontitis compared with Mexican Americans with normal kidney function, and that the level of kidney function would be inversely related to the prevalence of periodontal disease. METHODS We examined this hypothesis using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1988-1994 (NHANES III) data set. We followed the American Academy of Periodontology/Center for Disease Control and Prevention case definition for periodontitis. Glomerular filtration rate was estimated using the CKD-Epidemiology equation for Hispanic populations. The classification to CKD stages was based on the National Kidney Foundation Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative. RESULTS Periodontitis prevalence increased across the kidney function groups showing a statistically significant dose-response association (P<0.001). Mexican Americans with reduced kidney function were twofold more likely to have periodontitis compared with Mexican Americans with normal kidney function after adjusting for potential confounders such as smoking, diabetes, and socioeconomic status. Multivariate adjusted odds ratio for periodontitis significantly increased with 1, 5, and 10 mL/minute estimated glomerular filtration rate reduction from the mean. CONCLUSION This is the first report, to the best our knowledge, that showed an increase of periodontitis prevalence with decreased kidney function in this population.
The Metabolic Equivalent: Reevaluating What We Know About the MET

Exercise prescriptions are designed to improve fitness, reduce risk factors for chronic disease, and promote safety during exercise participation. One of the essential components of an individualized exercise prescription is intensity, which can be determined from either directly measured or estimated workloads. A mechanism used to derive the intensity of the exercise prescription is the metabolic equivalent (MET). The MET is an expression of energy cost and is commonly used by health and fitness professionals to quantify the amount of energy required to perform an activity. This value, when expressed as a resting measure, has widely been accepted to represent 3.5 ml oxygen/kg body weight/ minute or 1 kcal/kg body weight/hour. A widespread acceptance has allowed the MET to become increasingly used as a common descriptor of workload across most modalities and all populations (2). In fact, to ease exercise and activity prescription, a compendium of physical activities has been described (1), in which physical activities were assigned intensities based on the ratio of work metabolic rate to a standard resting metabolic rate (MET). Although these intensity values were originally derived from the best available published and unpublished data, they were not designed to determine precise energy costs (1). This compendium, however, is frequently used by researchers, fitness professionals, and exercise physiologists to identify and prescribe physical activities for various populations of clients (1,22). There is, however, increasing evidence that the current MET value of 3.5 ml oxygen/kg body weight/minute, or 1 kcal/kg body weight/hour, significantly overestimates directly measured resting oxygen consumption values and caloric expenditure, potentially reducing the accuracy of the MET as a tool for estimating energy expenditure and caloric expenditure during physical activity (1,3,8,9,25). This is particularly true in people with increased body fat percentages or cardiovascular disease (11,24,25).
Cross-Reactive Antigen Is Required to Prevent Erosion of Established T Cell Memory and Tumor Immunity: A Heterologous Bacterial Model of Attrition1

Induction and maintenance of T cell memory is critical for the control of intracellular pathogens and tumors. Memory T cells seem to require few “maintenance signals,” though often such studies are done in the absence of competing immune challenges. Conversely, although attrition of CD8+ T cell memory has been characterized in heterologous viral models, this is not the case for bacterial infections. In this study, we demonstrate attrition of T cell responses to the intracellular pathogen Listeria monocytogenes (LM) following an immune challenge with a second intracellular bacterium, Mycobacterium bovis (bacillus Calmette-Guérin, BCG). Mice immunized with either LM or recombinant LM (expressing OVA; LM-OVA), develop a potent T cell memory response. This is reflected by peptide-specific CTL, IFN-γ production, and frequency of IFN-γ-secreting T cells to native or recombinant LM Ags. However, when the LM-infected mice are subsequently challenged with BCG, there is a marked reduction in the LM-specific T cell responses. These reductions are directly attributable to the effects on CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and the data are consistent with a loss of LM-specific T cells, not anergy. Attrition of the Ag (OVA)-specific T cell response is prevented when LM-OVA-immunized mice are challenged with a subsequent heterologous pathogen (BCG) expressing OVA, demonstrating memory T cell dependence on Ag. Although the reduction of the LM-specific T cell response did not impair protection against a subsequent LM rechallenge, for the first time, we show that T cell attrition can result in the reduction of Ag-specific antitumor (B16-OVA) immunity previously established with LM-OVA immunization.
gigantea Suppresses immutans Variegation by Interactions with Cytokinin and Gibberellin Signaling Pathways1[W][OPEN]

A central component of the circadian clock suppresses variegation in chloroplast biogenesis through synergistic interactions between cytokinin and gibberellin signaling networks. The immutans (im) variegation mutant of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) is an ideal model to gain insight into factors that control chloroplast biogenesis. im defines the gene for PTOX, a plastoquinol terminal oxidase that participates in the control of thylakoid redox. Here, we report that the im defect can be suppressed during the late stages of plant development by gigantea (gi2), which defines the gene for GI, a central component of the circadian clock that plays a poorly understood role in diverse plant developmental processes. imgi2 mutants are late flowering and display other well-known phenotypes associated with gi2, such as starch accumulation and resistance to oxidative stress. We show that the restoration of chloroplast biogenesis in imgi2 is caused by a development-specific derepression of cytokinin signaling that involves cross talk with signaling pathways mediated by gibberellin (GA) and SPINDLY (SPY), a GA response inhibitor. Suppression of the plastid defect in imgi2 is likely caused by a relaxation of excitation pressures in developing plastids by factors contributed by gi2, including enhanced rates of photosynthesis and increased resistance to oxidative stress. Interestingly, the suppression phenotype of imgi can be mimicked by crossing im with the starch accumulation mutant, starch excess1 (sex1), perhaps because sex1 utilizes pathways similar to gi. We conclude that our studies provide a direct genetic linkage between GI and chloroplast biogenesis, and we construct a model of interactions between signaling pathways mediated by gi, GA, SPY, cytokinins, and sex1 that are required for chloroplast biogenesis.
CD40‐deficient dendritic cells producing interleukin‐10, but not interleukin‐12, induce T‐cell hyporesponsiveness in vitro and prevent acute allograft rejection

The induction of an immune response or tolerance is mediated by corresponding subsets of dendritic cells (DC). However, the property of tolerogenic DC is not clear. Recently, we have characterized a population of CD11c+ splenic DC derived from long‐term mixed leucocyte culture (LT‐MLC), which are able to proliferate upon stimulation and have a strong primary mixed leucocyte reaction (MLR)‐stimulating activity in conventional MLR. In this study, we show that, in contrast to the irradiated ones, non‐irradiated LT‐MLC‐derived DC induce polyclonal antigen‐specific T‐cell hyporesponsiveness when cocultured with allogeneic splenocytes for 3–11 days. The degree of the hyporesponsiveness increased with the length of coculture. Although these DC expressed major histocompatibility complex class II and B7 costimulatory molecules, which are down‐regulated during coculture, they expressed very low or undetectable CD40 before and after coculture, respectively. The CD40‐deficient DC spontaneously produce interleukin‐10 (IL‐10), but not IL‐12. The skewed balance between IL‐10 and IL‐12 is associated with their capability to induce T‐cell hyporesponsiveness, because a neutralizing antibody to IL‐10, exogenous recombinant IL‐12 or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) significantly blocked the hyporesponsiveness. Accordingly, infusion of a small number of non‐irradiated LT‐MLC‐derived DC (5×105) significantly prolonged the survival of a vascularized heterotopic murine heart transplant, whereas irradiated DC accelerated graft rejection. These data suggest that CD40‐deficient DC producing IL‐10, but not IL‐12 can induce T‐cell hyporesponsiveness in vitro and in vivo.
FRAMING ADVERBIALS AND THEIR ROLE IN DISCOURSE COHESION FROM CONNEXION TO FORWARD LABELLING

In this synthetic presentation, I will briefly mention general findings on the cohesive function of some preposed IP adjuncts and focus on the fact that these adverbials, which we call "framing adverbials", support forward-looking cohesive links that contrast with the well-known backward-looking ties expressed by connectives and anaphora.
Methane Production in Minnesota Peatlands

Rates of methane production in Minnesota peats were studied. Surface (10- to 25-cm) peats produced an average of 228 nmol of CH4 per g (dry weight) per h at 25°C and ambient pH. Methanogenesis rates generally decreased with depth in ombrotrophic peats, but on occasion were observed to rise within deeper layers of certain fen peats. Methane production was temperature dependent, increasing with increasing temperature (4 to 30°C), except in peats from deeper layers. Maximal methanogenesis from these deeper regions occurred at 12°C. Methane production rates were also pH dependent. Two peats with pHs of 3.8 and 4.3 had an optimum rate of methane production at pH 6.0. The addition to peat of glucose and H2-CO2 stimulated methanogenesis, whereas the addition of acetate inhibited methanogenesis. Cysteine-sulfide, nitrogen-phosphorus-trace metals, and vitamins-yeast extract affected methane production very little. Various gases were found to be trapped or dissolved (or both) within peatland waters. Dissolved methane increased linearly to a depth of 210 cm. The accumulation of metabolic end products produced within peat bogs appears to be an important mechanism limiting carbon turnover in peatland environments.
Diffusion Imaging of the Human Spinal Cord and the Vertebral Column

During the last decade, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) has matured from an experimental tool to a clinically useful modality that has not only significantly impacted the diagnosis of (acute) cerebral stroke but has also shown utility in other abnormalities of the brain. Although DWI should be equally sensitive to changes in the spine, it has been used far less frequently in this region of the body. This is mainly because of the inhomogeneous magnetic environment, the small size of the spinal cord, and increased motion in and around the spine. However, once these limitations are overcome, a whole range of applications can be envisioned. Already now, DWI promises to be able to differentiate between benign and malignant vertebral compression fractures. As in the brain, the immediate reduction of diffusivity following ischemic damage in the spinal cord may provide an early identification of patients with infarction. The study of diffusion anisotropy may open new avenues for the detection and better understanding of damage to the long fiber tracts with important clinical implications for disorders like multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It may also be possible to address, in a more refined manner, mechanisms of damage such as occur with spondylotic myelopathy. To lay the basis for future research in these areas, we will discuss the most appropriate DWI methods for the spine. Following an overview of the basic principles of DWI and associated pitfalls, the most commonly used imaging methods are addressed. Finally, experimental and clinical applications in the spinal cord and the vertebral column and their clinical relevance thus far are reviewed.
A bandwidth in-sensitive low stall sparse matrix vector multiplication architecture on reconfigurable FPGA platform

Sparse Matrix with dense Vector Multiplication (SpMxV) is a key computational kernel for most mathematical high performance computing problems. SpMxV implementation on FPGAs provides better performance but memory bandwidth limitations and pipeline stalling are still ongoing research concerns. This research proposes an FPGA optimized single bit stream column major sparse compression format that ensures decreased memory bandwidth and storage requirement. The architecture ensures low pipeline stalling by effectively performing 3 floating point operations per cycle per processing element. The proposed architecture is demonstrated with known benchmarks on ZYNQ-ZC702 FPGA. Result shows that on average our approach achieves compression ratios of 3.0 to 5.3 with respect to conventional CSR format. And peak compression ratio of 20.0 can be achieved for certain matrices used in our research. Low stall architecture proves 40 to 150% depreciation in stall cycles providing better overall efficiency.
Gender and the Khasi Family Structure: Some Implications of the Meghalaya Succession to Self-Acquired Property Act, 1984

The motivation for the present paper springs from two different sources. The first is the passing of the Meghalaya Succession to Self-Acquired Property (Khasi and Jaintia Special Provision) Act 1984 (hereafter referred to as the Succession Act) by an all-male Meghalaya Legislative Assembly.1 This aroused my curiosity to study the effects of the Act on social relationships among the Khasi. The second source is my experience in teaching a course on Kinship and Family Life in India for M.A. students; it made me aware of the dearth of in-depth studies on Khasi matriliny. Although I have not attempted to fill this lacuna, I try to highlight some of the lesser known facts of Khasi social organization in this paper. In doing so I also take account of the economic and political dimensions of Khasi society besides studying their values and ideas. I do this because I consider that social roles cannot be defined simply in terms of one single principle. To grasp the basic principles of social organization it is important to look for the comprehensive meanings with which society clothes its members. This attempt led me to discover that social definitions of gender and gender distinctions are more impor tant than kinship principles per se in understanding Khasi social organization.
Plasma glucose measurement in diabetes: impact and implications of variations in sample collection procedures with a focus on the first hour after sample collection

Abstract Background: Previous studies of participants with plasma glucose concentrations at or near the glucose reference range demonstrate glucose loss following delayed separation and extraction of plasma from the cellular components of blood, of ≤7% per hour. We aimed to assess pre-analytical glucose loss in diabetic subjects, focusing on the first hour after sample collection. Methods: Venous blood was collected from diabetes clinic attendees, into a series of lithium heparin PST™ (plasma separator tube) and fluoride oxalate Vacutainers™. Baseline (reference) plasma glucose measurements were undertaken on samples prepared under refrigerated conditions. The remaining samples underwent a series of controlled pre-analytical delays in sample preparation, at room temperature. Plasma glucose was measured using the hexokinase method. Results: Median baseline glucose (mmol/L) for the 62 participants was 10.6 (range 3.4–31.1). Using lithium heparin PST™ tubes, mean glucose loss (95% CI) was 0.16 (0.09–0.23) after 30 min delay in plasma preparation and 0.28 (0.21–0.34) after 60 min delay. Glucose loss was independent of both baseline glucose and also individual cellular count. Fluoride failed to inhibit glucose loss within the first hour after sample collection. Immediate plasma centrifugation of PST™ tubes, followed by delayed plasma extraction (median delay 92 min), produced a mean glucose loss of 0.02 mmol/L (–0.05–0.09). Conclusions: Samples collected into lithium heparin PST™ tubes show pre-analytical glucose loss at 1 h that is independent of baseline glucose and cellular count. Furthermore, immediate plasma separation using these tubes attenuates glucose loss across a wide range of glucose concentrations.
Clinical Diagnosis of Intra-abdominal Infections

Abstract Abdominal sepsis results in high morbidity and mortality. Intra-abdominal infectious complications are one of the most common infectious pathologies seen in critically ill patients. Approximately 30% of patients admitted to an ICU with intra-abdominal infection succumb to their illness, and when peritonitis arises as a complication of a previous surgical procedure, or recurs during ICU admission, mortality rates exceed 50%. Thus early detection and treatment are essential to minimize patient complications. Critically ill patients are often clinically unevaluable due to distracting injuries, respiratory failure, obtundation, or other pathology. Even when patients can be examined, the clinical exam is frequently unreliable and/or misleading. The diagnostic approach to identifying abdominal problems will differ, depending upon the hemodynamic stability of the patient. Patients who have low systolic blood pressures, who are pressor-dependent, may be too unstable to undergo analyses that require trips away from the ICU or emergency department. Intra-abdominal pathology may be detected by ultrasound or diagnostic peritoneal lavage. When critically ill patients are stable enough to undergo some diagnostic evaluation of their abdomen, the approach is somewhat simpler. Overall, computerized tomography (CT) is the imaging modality of choice for most intra-abdominal processes. For diagnosis of intra-abdominal conditions using CT scanning it is optimal if patients receive both oral and intravenous contrast. An exception to the use of Ct scanning is evaluation of suspected biliary pathology, which is best imaged by ultrasound. It will identify calculous and acalculous cholecystitis and may show changes in the gallbladder or common bile duct associated with biliary obstruction.
Single‐step protease cleavage elution for identification of protein–protein interactions from GST pull‐down and mass spectrometry

The study of protein–protein interactions is a major theme in biological disciplines. Pull‐down or affinity‐precipitation assays using GST fusion proteins have become one of the most common and valuable approaches to identify novel binding partners for proteins of interest (bait). Non‐specific binding of prey proteins to the beads or to GST itself, however, inevitably complicates and impedes subsequent analysis of pull‐down results. A variety of measures, each with inherent advantages and limitations, can minimise the extent of the background. This technical brief details and tests a modification of established GST pull‐down protocols. By specifically eluting only the bait (minus the GST tag) and the associated non‐specific binding proteins with a simple, single‐step protease cleavage, a cleaner platform for downstream protein identification with MS is established. We present a proof of concept for this method, as evidenced by a GST pull‐down/MS case study of the small guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) Rab31 in which: (i) sensitivity was enhanced, (ii) a reduced level of background was observed, (iii) distinguishability of non‐specific contaminant proteins from genuine binders was improved and (iv) a putative new protein–protein interaction was discovered. Our protease cleavage step is readily applicable to all further affinity tag pull‐downs.
Does economic vulnerability moderate the association between transportation mode and social activity restrictions in later life?

ABSTRACT Transportation is critical to older adults’ ability to participate in social activities in their community. We examined the association between modes of transportation and restrictions in social activity (i.e. visiting with others, religious attendance, clubs and organised activities, and going out for enjoyment), with particular attention to the moderating effects of economic vulnerability. We used logistic regression to analyse data from 7,197 community-dwelling older adults from the 2011 wave of the National Health and Aging Trends Study, a representative sample of adults aged 65 and over in the United States of America. Economic vulnerability moderated the association between transportation mode and social activity restrictions. Findings suggest that even when economically vulnerable older adults have access to driving, walking or public transit, they may be at a higher risk for social exclusion than their counterparts with more financial resources.