Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exclusion of Known Protease Activated Receptors in Factor VIIa-induced Signal Transduction

Summary The protease activity is mandatory for intracellular activities induced by coagulation factor VIIa (FVIIa), and in this way it resembles signal transduction induced by thrombin and trypsin caused by specific, proteolytic cleavage of protease activated receptors (PARs). The mechanism for FVIIa-induced signal transduction is, however, not known although a mechanism involving PAR cleavage has been deduced from studies of cytosolic Ca2+ release and p44/p42 mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation. In the present work we have examined the possibilities that i) FVIIa-induced signal transduction involves the activation of one of the four known PARs, or ii) exposure of cells to FVIIa releases a soluble ligand that is responsible for MAPK activation. For this purpose, we evaluated the effects of FVIIa, thrombin, FXa, trypsin and PAR agonist peptides on the Ca2+ release and MAPK activation in tissue factor-(TF) transfected baby hamster kidney (BHK[+TF]) cells and Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells. FVIIa induced a significant MAPK signal in BHK(+TF) cells and in MDCK-I and -II cells whereas no MAPK activation was observed with thrombin, FXa or PAR agonist peptides. Thrombin, trypsin, PAR-1 and PAR-2 agonist peptides induced a prominent Ca2+ response in both cell types. In contrast the cells did not respond with a detectable Ca2+ signal when treated with FVIIa. These results suggest that the intracellular activity induced by FVIIa is distinctly different from that induced by trypsin, thrombin and FXa not involving any of the known PARs. Conditioned medium from BHK(+TF) cells treated with FVIIa failed to induce a MAPK response in untreated BHK(+TF) cells when FVIIa was removed by immunoadsorption from the medium prior to its transfer to the untreated BHK(+TF) cells. Although it is not possible entirely to exclude a transient response close to the cell surface, the data suggest that the intracellular response was not induced by an autocrine release of a soluble mediator to the medium.
A Wideband Dual-Polarized Omnidirectional Antenna for Base Station/WLAN

A wideband dual-polarized omnidirectional antenna is proposed for mobile communication base station and 2.4 GHz wireless local area network applications. An integrated design is achieved by combining an inverted-cone monopole for vertical polarization (VP) and a modified cross bow-tie dipole for horizontal polarization (HP). The proposed antenna has a compact size because the HP element acts as the HP radiating element and the ground plane for the VP element simultaneously. The proposed VP and HP antennas are excited by a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$50~\Omega $ </tex-math></inline-formula> Sub-Miniature-A connector and a broadband feeding network, respectively. The overall volume of the proposed antenna is only <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$0.35\lambda _{0}\times 0.35\lambda _{0}\times 0.25\lambda _{0}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> (with <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\lambda _{0}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> being the wavelength of the lowest frequency). Simulation results show that the dual-polarized omnidirectional antenna achieves a bandwidth (for <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\vert \text{S}_{11}\vert < -10$ </tex-math></inline-formula> dB) of about 41.5% (1.64–2.5 GHz) with an isolation of at least 25 dB and the gain variations at the center frequency in the horizontal plane are 0.7 dB for VP and 2.3 dB for HP. The good agreements between the simulation and measured results validate the proposed design.
THE NUTRITION OF BRUCELLAE: UTILIZATION OF SINGLE AMINO ACIDS FOR GROWTH

Previous research in this laboratory (Gerhardt and Wilson, 1948) demonstrated the ability of brucellae to grow in chemically defined media with ammonium salts, asparagine, glutamic acid, or histidine as the sole nitrogen source. These findings were extended in the present study to include the evaluation of approxi mately 27 amino acids and related nitrogen compounds employed singly as the nitrogen source for growth. The few satisfactory nitrogen sources also were compared as sources of carbon and energy.
Bioenergetics of sulfur reduction in the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus

The bioenergetic role of the reduction of elemental sulfur (S0) in the hyperthermophilic archaeon (formerly archaebacterium) Pyrococcus furiosus was investigated with chemostat cultures with maltose as the limiting carbon source. The maximal yield coefficient was 99.8 g (dry weight) of cells (cdw) per mol of maltose in the presence of S0 but only 51.3 g (cdw) per mol of maltose if S0 was omitted. However, the corresponding maintenance coefficients were not found to be significantly different. The primary fermentation products detected were H2, CO2, and acetate, together with H2S, when S0 was also added to the growth medium. If H2S was summed with H2 to represent total reducing equivalents released during fermentation, the presence of S0 had no significant effect on the pattern of fermentation products. In addition, the presence of S0 did not significantly affect the specific activities in cell extracts of hydrogenase, sulfur reductase, alpha-glucosidase, or protease. These results suggest either that S0 reduction is an energy-conserving reaction, i.e., S0 respiration, or that S0 has a stimulatory effect on or helps overcome a process that is yield limiting. A modification of the Entner-Doudoroff glycolytic pathway has been proposed as the primary route of glucose catabolism in P. furiosus (S. Mukund and M. W. W. Adams, J. Biol. Chem. 266:14208-14216, 1991). Operation of this pathway should yield 4 mol of ATP per mol of maltose oxidized, from which one can calculate a value of 12.9 g (cdw) per mol of ATP for non-S0 growth. Comparison of this value to the yield data for growth in the presence of S0 reduction is equivalent to an ATP yield of 0.5 mol of ATP per mol of S0 reduced. Possible mechanism to account for this apparent energy conservation are discussed.
Changes of corneal topography indices after CXL in progressive keratoconus assessed by Scheimpflug camera.

PURPOSE To evaluate the accuracy of Scheimpflug camera topography indices in detecting the therapeutic effect of corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL) on progressive keratoconus in the long term. METHODS Fifty eyes of 25 patients with keratoconus were enrolled. CXL was performed in 25 eyes with progressive keratoconus (CXL group) and 25 fellow eyes with nonprogressive keratoconus served as controls. Thinnest corneal thickness, anterior keratometry (flat, steep), and keratoconus indices were measured with Scheimpflug camera before and 12 to 25 months after CXL. Regression analysis was used to evaluate the influence of corneal thickness and follow-up time on flattening effect of CXL. RESULTS At baseline, steep keratometric values were significantly higher and thinnest corneal thickness values were lower in the CXL group (P = .027, .034), parallel with increased values of keratoconus indices: index of surface variance (P = .013), index of vertical asymmetry (P = .038), keratoconus index (P = .019), center keratoconus index (P = .039), index of height asymmetry (P = .037), index of height decentration (P = .0016), and radius minimum (P = .008). After adjustment for thinnest corneal thickness and follow-up time, CXL showed significant flattening effect expressed by changes in radius minimum (P < .001), index of surface variance (P = .03), keratoconus index (P = .006), center keratoconus index (P = .03), and index of height asymmetry (P = .026). Thinnest corneal thickness had significant influence on changes of index of surface variance (P = .049), index of vertical asymmetry (P = .01), and center keratoconus index (P = .03). Follow-up time showed no significant influence in any models (P > .05). CONCLUSIONS Topographic indices indicate corneal flattening after CXL in the long term. Monitoring keratoconus index and index of height asymmetry should be the preferred choice in daily clinical practice because changes in values of these indices are independent from initial corneal thickness.
Detection of Streptococcus mutans using padlock probe based on Rolling Circle Amplification (RCA)

The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a padlock probe based on the Rolling Circle Amplific ation (RCA), which targeted to 16S-23S rDNA region of S. mutans . The specificity of developed padlock probe was te sted for DNA within a panel strains, including S. mutans isolated from the saliva and reference strains of the genus Streptococcus , as well as total DNA samples of biofilm and saliv a. The results were positive either for DNA samples of S. mutans or DNA samples recovered from the biofilm and sali va revealing the specificity of designed padlock probe. The padlock probe based on the RCA was prove d to be an effective, reproducible method for S. mutans detection and demonstrated the possibility of a ra pid detection and accurate identification of S. mutans infection.
Population Pharmacokinetic Model for a Novel Oral Hypoglycemic Formed In Vivo: Comparing the Use of Active Metabolite Data Alone Versus Using Data of Upstream and Downstream Metabolites

The purpose of this analysis was to develop a population pharmacokinetic model for CS‐917, an oral hypoglycemic prodrug, and its 3 metabolites. The population pharmacokinetic model was used to predict exposure of the active moiety R‐125338 and thus to identify potential CS‐917 dosage reduction criteria. The dataset included 6 phase I and IIa studies in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The pharmacokinetic profile of CS‐917 and its metabolites was described by a series of linked 1‐ and 2‐compartmental models. Simulations showed that moderate renal impairment has a clinically significant impact on exposure to R‐125338. A separate population pharmacokinetic analysis of R‐125338 alone revealed similar results. In conclusion, a population pharmacokinetic model fit to the active moiety alone yielded similar predictions and substantially reduced the analysis time compared to the more complex model developed for CS‐917 and its metabolites. Increased exposure to R‐125338 in the presence of moderate renal impairment may be an important consideration for dose selection.
Sample-size calculations for Cohen's kappa.

In recent years, researchers in the psychosocial and biomedical sciences have become increasingly aware of the importance of sample-size calculations in the design of research projects. Such considerations are, however, rarely applied for studies involving agreement of raters. Published results on this topic are limited and generally provide rather complex formulas. In addition, they generally make the assumption that the raters have the same set of frequencies for the possible ratings. In this article I show that for the case of 2 raters and 2 possible ratings the assumptions of equal frequencies can be dropped. Tables that allow for almost immediate sample-size determination for a variety of common study designs are given.
Breast Reduction with Ultrasound-Assisted Lipoplasty

Ultrasound-assisted lipoplasty for reduction of fatty breasts and fixation has been found to be a safe technique with promising aesthetic results when it is applied in selected patients and performed by a surgeon with expertise with ultrasound-assisted body contouring. From 1995 to 2000, 120 patients were treated with ultrasound energy to decrease the fatty component of the breast tissue and at the same time to lift the breast mound. Each patient was evaluated preoperatively with mammograms for correct assessment of the nature and consistency of the breast tissue. Only patients with fibrofatty and fatty breast parenchyma were selected for breast reduction and fixation with ultrasound-assisted lipoplasty. Patients with suspect mammograms (calcification) and a strong family history of breast cancer were not considered. All the prescreening and the postoperative long-term mammographic evaluations were conducted by a radiologist with high competence in breast tissue resonance. Patients’ age ranged from 17 to 53 years. Total aspirate ranged from 300 to 1200 ml for size, of which 65 percent was supranatant (fat) and 35 percent was infranatant (tumescence solution and blood). Patients were operated on while they were under general anesthesia; more recently, pure tumescent anesthesia was tried with success in minor cases. Breast dimensions were assessed with breast sizers (before and after the operation), and breast measurements were assessed using a classic breast drawing. Minimum follow-up of patients was 4 years. Particular care was given to evaluating long-term breast tissue appearance through mammographic studies and to looking for suspected calcifications. No evidence of a suspect mass or calcifications was found during the 4-year follow-up. The main advantages of the technique are a significant reduction in breast volume (up to three cup sizes), significant breast lift (up to 5 cm), and nearly invisible scars (1.5 cm in length at the inframammary sulcus and at the axilla).
Beer, liquor, and wine consumption and serum uric acid level: the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the relationship between intakes of beer, liquor, and wine and serum uric acid levels in a nationally representative sample of men and women. METHODS Using data from 14,809 participants (6,932 men and 7,877 women) age > or =20 years in The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988-1994), we examined the relationship between intakes of beer, liquor, and wine and serum uric acid levels. Alcohol intake was assessed by a food frequency questionnaire. RESULTS Serum uric acid levels increased with increasing beer or liquor intake but not with increasing wine intake. After adjusting for age, the difference in serum uric acid levels as compared with no intake increased with increasing beer or liquor intake (P values for trend <0.001), but the association was inverse with increasing wine intake (P for trend <0.001). After adjusting mutually for these alcoholic beverages and for other risk factors for hyperuricemia, including dietary risk factors, the associations were attenuated but remained significant for beer or liquor (multivariate difference per serving per day 0.46 mg/dl [95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.32, 0.60] and 0.29 mg/dl [95% CI 0.14, 0.45], respectively; both P values for trend <0.01), but not for wine (0.04 mg/dl [95% CI -0.20, 0.11]; P for trend=0.6). CONCLUSION These data suggest that the effect of individual alcoholic beverages on serum uric acid levels varies substantially: beer confers a larger increase than liquor, whereas moderate wine drinking does not increase serum uric acid levels.
The Effects of Cell Duplication and Noise in a Pattern Generating Network

Stability against stochastic variation is an important property for biological systems. This paper investigates the robustness of the rhythmic activity produced by a model of the segmental rhythm generator for locomotion in the lamprey, by introducing stochastic properties into the network. In addition, since neuronal models for vertebrate systems often use a single neuron to represent a large class of cells, this paper explores one of the consequences of such reduction, by investigating the effects of duplicating all the cells of the network on its stability against stochastic variation. We have found the basic model network to be very stable, and have found that this stability is increased by doubling the number of cells in the network.
Thin Microwave Quasi-Transparent Phase-Shifting Surface (PSS)

A thin phase-shifting surface is described that consists of three metallic and two dielectric layers. The metallic layers consist of conducting shapes, which are tuned to introduce the desired phase shift on an incident wave, while maintaining a very high amplitude of transmission coefficient. Such a quasi-transparent surface is then applied to phase-correcting devices and their operation validated experimentally.
CDC6 interaction with ATR regulates activation of a replication checkpoint in higher eukaryotic cells

CDC6, a replication licensing protein, is partially exported to the cytoplasm in human cells through phosphorylation by Cdk during S phase, but a significant proportion remains in the nucleus. We report here that human CDC6 physically interacts with ATR, a crucial checkpoint kinase, in a manner that is stimulated by phosphorylation by Cdk. CDC6 silencing by siRNAs affected ATR-dependent inhibition of mitotic entry elicited by modest replication stress. Whereas a Cdk-phosphorylation-mimicking CDC6 mutant could rescue the checkpoint defect by CDC6 silencing, a phosphorylation-deficient mutant could not. Furthermore, we found that the CDC6-ATR interaction is conserved in Xenopus. We show that the presence of Xenopus CDC6 during S phase is essential for Xenopus ATR to bind to chromatin in response to replication inhibition. In addition, when human CDC6 amino acid fragment 180-220, which can bind to both human and Xenopus ATR, was added to Xenopus egg extracts after assembly of the pre-replication complex, Xenopus Chk1 phosphorylation was significantly reduced without lowering replication, probably through a sequestration of CDC6-mediated ATR-chromatin interaction. Thus, CDC6 might regulate replication-checkpoint activation through the interaction with ATR in higher eukaryotic cells.
Cervical papillomaviruses segregate within morphologically distinct precancerous lesions

We combined molecular hybridization and histological analysis of 58 biopsy samples from the uterine cervix to correlate the presence of certain strains of human papillomaviruses (HPVs) with specific pathological changes. HPV sequences were frequently detected (85%) in biopsies that contained a broad spectrum of precancerous changes. The presence of HPV 16 correlated strongly with precancers that exhibited morphological aberrations commonly found in invasive carcinomas and precancers that have a high risk of progression. This association underscores the potential importance of HPV type 16 in the genesis of genital cancers and emphasizes the value of histological analysis for detecting potentially oncogenic HPVs.
Using the Google N-Gram corpus to measure cultural complexity

Empirical studies of broad-ranging aspects of culture, such as ‘cultural complexities’ are often extremely difficult. Following the model of Michel et al. (Michel, J.-B., Shen, Y. K., Aiden, A. P. et al. (2011). Quantitative analysis of culture using millions of digitized books. Science, 331(6014): 176–82), and using a set of techniques originally developed to measure the complexity of language, we propose a text-based analysis of a large corpus of topic-uncontrolled text to determine how cultural complexity varies over time within a single culture. Using the Google Books American 2Gram corpus, we are able to show that (as predicted from the cumulative nature of culture), US culture has been steadily increasing in complexity, even when (for economic reasons) the amount of actual discourse as measured by publication volume decreases. We discuss several implication of this novel analysis technique as well as its implications for discussion of the meaning of ‘culture. ’ .
[Determination of twenty pesticide residues in Viscum coloratum by gas chromatography using cloud-point extraction].

OBJECTIVE To establish a gas chromatography method for simultaneous determination of organochlorine and pyrethroid pesticide residues in Viscum coloratum by cloud-point extraction (CPE). METHOD Pesticides were extracted with the non-ionic surfactant Triton X-100. The apparatus was gas chromatography with electron capture detector and the separation was performed on an Hp-5 column. The pesticide residues were calculated by external standard method. RESULT Good linear relation was obtained over the range of 5-500 microg L(-1) for organochlorine and 10-1,000 microg L(-1) for pyrethroid. The limits of detection was 1.5-7.5 microg kg(-1). The average recoveries of organochlorine and pyrethroid were 74.15% -111.6% with corresponding RSD of 4.0% -9.1%. CONCLUSION The sample and rapid method was applied to pesticide residues determination.
Consistent Patterns in the Development and Immunodominance of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1)-Specific CD8+ T-Cell Responses following Acute HIV-1 Infection

ABSTRACT Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-specific CD8+ T-cell responses generated during acute infection play a critical role in the initial control of viremia. However, little is known about the viral T-cell epitopes targeted during acute infection or about their hierarchy in appearance and relative immunodominance over time. In this study, HIV-1-specific CD8+ T-cell responses in 18 acutely infected individuals expressing HLA-A3 and/or -B7 were characterized. Detailed analysis of CD8 responses in one such person who underwent treatment of acute infection followed by reexposure to HIV-1 through supervised treatment interruptions (STI) revealed recognition of only two cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes during symptomatic acute infection. HIV-1-specific CD8+ T-cell responses broadened significantly during subsequent exposure to the virus, ultimately targeting 27 distinct CTL epitopes, including 15 different CTL epitopes restricted by a single HLA class I allele (HLA-A3). The same few peptides were consistently targeted in an additional 17 persons expressing HLA-A3 and/or -B7 during acute infection. These studies demonstrate a consistent pattern in the development of epitope-specific responses restricted by a single HLA allele during acute HIV-1 infection, as well as persistence of the initial pattern of immunodominance during subsequent STI. In addition, they demonstrate that HIV-1-specific CD8+ T-cell responses can ultimately target a previously unexpected and unprecedented number of epitopes in a single infected individual, even though these are not detectable during the initial exposure to virus. These studies have important implications for vaccine design and evaluation.
Self‐reported life satisfaction and treatment factors in patients with schizophrenia, major depression and anxiety disorder

Our aim was to study the associations between life satisfaction and treatment factors and how depression affects these associations among patients with schizophrenia (n=403), major depression (n= 349) and anxiety disorder (n= 139) from a defined area. Treatment satisfaction and compliance were high, but life satisfaction was low regardless of diagnostic group. Patients with schizophrenia recorded better life satisfaction than patients with the other disorders. There were few independent associations between life satisfaction and treatment factors. Fortunately, factors amenable to treatment intervention, such as depression, problem‐solving ability and social support. were independently related to life satisfaction in every diagnostic group. Depression decreased these associations significantly only in patients with schizophrenia. Life satisfaction and treatment satisfaction should be included as separate variables in treatment outcome studies.