Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
BM-derived cells restore expression of peroxiredoxin V in the airways following acute naphthalene injury in mice.

BACKGROUND Naphthalene-induced respiratory tract toxicity in mice is characterized by specific and rapid loss of the Clara cell population, which is restored only after several days. The sources of restoration of this cell population remain unclear. We investigated whether BM-derived cells participated in the process of epithelial restoration following naphthalene toxicity compared with bacterial infection. We further investigated the role of BM-derived cells in restoration of expression of peroxiredoxin V (PRXV), one of the major proteins of antioxidant defense, specifically expressed in the bronchial epithelium. METHODS We transplanted GFP-tagged BM cells into 5 Gy-irradiated C57BL/6 recipients. Following 1 month of recovery, experimental animals were subjected to 250 mg/kg naphthalene i.p. An additional group of animals received intratracheal instillation of Escherichia coli to induce acute bacterial inflammation. Animals were killed at 1-12 days after naphthalene and analyzed immunohistochemically. RESULTS Recipients' cells of bronchial epithelium demonstrated significantly reduced levels of PRXV expression following naphthalene. In animals with acute bacterial inflammation, PRXV levels were not reduced in epithelium and participation of BM-derived cells in epithelial restoration was minimal. Following naphthalene, GFP(+) cells were present in large numbers in lung parenchyma and epithelium of conducting airways starting at 1 day following injury. GFP(+) progeny of BM cells was the major source of PRXV in the epithelium. DISCUSSION These data suggest that BM-derived cells may provide a source of antioxidant protection of airways by expression of PRXV in a model of acute epithelial respiratory tract toxicity.
Endometriosis still a challenge

Abstract Endometriosis is a debilitating disease with features of chronic inflammation. Endometriosis appears to be one of the most common benign gynecological proliferations in premenopausal women since it is estimated that 10–15% of reproductive aged women suffer from pelvic endometriosis. The biology of endometriosis is unclear. Despite its prevalence, this disease remains poorly understood and current studies prove that there is no relationship between the extent of the disease and its symptomatology. There is no blood test available for the diagnosis of endometriosis. Up to this point, there is no single very successful option for the treatment of endometriosis. Due to the relatively poor efficacy of hormonal therapy for endometriosis, several other experimental therapies are currently undergoing clinical trial.
The Composition of the Culture Medium Influences the β-1,3-Glucan Metabolism of Aspergillus fumigatus and the Antifungal Activity of Inhibitors of β-1,3-Glucan Synthesis

ABSTRACT In vitro testing of Aspergillus fumigatus susceptibility to echinocandins has always been a challenge. Using a simple and quick colorimetric method to analyze the activity of inhibitors of β-1,3-glucan synthesis, we found that the composition of the culture medium significantly influences glucan synthesis and consequently the antifungal properties of inhibitors of β-1,3-glucan synthesis when they are tested alone or in combination with chitin synthase inhibitors.
Body Mass Index and the Risk of Cardiovascular and All-Cause Mortality Among Patients With Hypertension: A Population-Based Prospective Cohort Study Among Adults in Beijing, China

Background Studies on the association between body mass index (BMI) and death risk among patients with hypertension are limited, and the results are inconsistent. We investigated the association between BMI and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality among hypertensive patients in a population of Beijing, China. Methods We conducted a prospective cohort study of 2535 patients with hypertension aged 40 to 91 years from Beijing, China. Participants with a history of CVD at baseline were excluded from analysis. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate the association of different levels of BMI stratification with CVD and all-cause mortality. Results During a mean follow-up of 8.1 years, 486 deaths were identified, including 233 cases of CVD death. The multivariable-adjusted hazards ratios for all-cause mortality associated with BMI levels (<20, 20–22, 22–24, 24–26 [reference group], 26–28, 28–30, and ≥30 kg/m2) were 2.03 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.48–2.78), 1.61 (95% CI, 1.18–2.20), 1.30 (95% CI, 0.95–1.78), 1.00 (reference), 1.12 (95% CI, 0.77–1.64), 1.33 (95% CI, 0.90–1.95), and 1.66 (95% CI, 1.10–2.49), respectively. When stratified by age, sex, or smoking status, the U-shaped association was still present in each subgroup (P > 0.05 for all interactions). Regarding the association of BMI with CVD mortality, a U-shaped trend was also observed. Conclusions The present study showed a U-shaped association of BMI with CVD and all-cause mortality among patients with hypertension. A lowest risk of all-cause mortality was found among hypertensive patients with BMI between 24 and 26 kg/m2.
Deterministic Mechanical Model of T-Killer Cell Polarization Reproduces the Wandering of Aim between Simultaneously Engaged Targets

T-killer cells of the immune system eliminate virus-infected and tumorous cells through direct cell–cell interactions. Reorientation of the killing apparatus inside the T cell to the T-cell interface with the target cell ensures specificity of the immune response. The killing apparatus can also oscillate next to the cell–cell interface. When two target cells are engaged by the T cell simultaneously, the killing apparatus can oscillate between the two interface areas. This oscillation is one of the most striking examples of cell movements that give the microscopist an unmechanistic impression of the cell's fidgety indecision. We have constructed a three-dimensional, numerical biomechanical model of the molecular-motor-driven microtubule cytoskeleton that positions the killing apparatus. The model demonstrates that the cortical pulling mechanism is indeed capable of orienting the killing apparatus into the functional position under a range of conditions. The model also predicts experimentally testable limitations of this commonly hypothesized mechanism of T-cell polarization. After the reorientation, the numerical solution exhibits complex, multidirectional, multiperiodic, and sustained oscillations in the absence of any external guidance or stochasticity. These computational results demonstrate that the strikingly animate wandering of aim in T-killer cells has a purely mechanical and deterministic explanation.
Bacterial exopolysaccharides: biosynthesis pathways and engineering strategies

Bacteria produce a wide range of exopolysaccharides which are synthesized via different biosynthesis pathways. The genes responsible for synthesis are often clustered within the genome of the respective production organism. A better understanding of the fundamental processes involved in exopolysaccharide biosynthesis and the regulation of these processes is critical toward genetic, metabolic and protein-engineering approaches to produce tailor-made polymers. These designer polymers will exhibit superior material properties targeting medical and industrial applications. Exploiting the natural design space for production of a variety of biopolymer will open up a range of new applications. Here, we summarize the key aspects of microbial exopolysaccharide biosynthesis and highlight the latest engineering approaches toward the production of tailor-made variants with the potential to be used as valuable renewable and high-performance products for medical and industrial applications.
Innovation, Collaboration, and Learning in Regional Clusters: A Study of SMEs in the Aberdeen Oil Complex

Issues of regional innovation and learning have attracted growing interest from economic geographers and related specialists in recent years. The advantages to be gained from localised networks and learning are claimed to be particularly important for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in helping offset the size-related advantages of larger firms. Such claims are part of a wider rediscovery of the benefits of clustering and agglomeration in economic geography. Yet, to date, theoretical speculation about the renewed importance of geographical clustering for SMEs has run ahead of detailed empirical research. Beyond a few well-known case studies of high-technology clusters, there have been few attempts systematically to ‘test’ assertions made about the links between innovation, collaboration, and learning. The authors' purpose in this paper is to contribute new empirical evidence to this debate through a case study of SMEs in the Aberdeen oil complex. Although they find some evidence to support the role of localised forms of collaboration among the most innovative SMEs, the authors' results also indicate the importance of extralocal networks of knowledge transfer and the unequal power relations that underpin interfirm relations. These findings reinforce recent calls for a shift of focus from ‘regions’ to ‘networks’, raising some fundamental questions about the substantive basis of clusters policy.
Réseaux de conseils d'administration et adoption de pratiques de gouvernance d'entreprise

Les developpements recents des perspectives cognitives de la gouvernance d’entreprise considerent le conseil d’administration comme un lieu d’apprentissage et un apporteur de ressources cognitives (Charreaux et Wirtz, 2006). Cette recherche [1] repose sur l’idee que les reseaux de conseils d’administration (CA) constituent un mode d’acquisition de connaissances et de competences. L’objectif est de comprendre le role de ces reseaux dans l’adoption des pratiques de gouvernance d’entreprise. Plus particulierement, il s’agit de discuter des effets de deux formes de capital social : la cohesion du reseau et l’ouverture du reseau. La recherche presentee ici montre la contribution significative de l’ouverture des reseaux de CA a l’adoption des pratiques de gouvernance d’entreprise et met en evidence l’interet de la diversite des ressources mobilisables par les CA au sein de leurs reseaux.
Open-label treatment with citalopram in patients with irritable bowel syndrome: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND This open-label pilot study investigated whether the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) citalopram improves symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a functional gastrointestinal disorder with frequent psychiatric comorbidity. METHOD Fifteen patients meeting Rome I criteria for IBS were administered open-label citalopram (20-40 mg/day) for 12 weeks. The study was conducted from October 2000 to August 2001. RESULTS Twelve (80%) of the 15 subjects reported a > or = 50% decrease in the presence of abdominal pain, 10 (67%) reported a > or = 50% reduction in the severity of the symptom, and 12 (80%) reported a > or = 50% reduction in the frequency of the symptom. Approximately one half of the patients met criteria for remission (> or = 70% improvement) of abdominal pain. CONCLUSION Results of this pilot study suggest that large controlled trials are needed to further evaluate the efficacy of SSRIs such as citalopram for the treatment of IBS.
"Ten Million Readers Can't Be Wrong!, " or Can They? On the Role of Information About Adoption Stock in New Product Trial

Most new-product frameworks in marketing and economics, as well as lay beliefs and practices, hold that the larger the stock of adoption of a new product, the greater the likelihood of additional adoption. Less is known about the underlying mechanisms as well as the conditions under which this central assumption holds. We use a series of field and consequential choice experiments to demonstrate the existence of nonpositive and even negative effects of large adoption stock information on the likelihood of subsequent adoption. The results highlight the degree of homophily with the adopting stock as well as the level of customer uncertainty as key characteristics determining the nature of the effect of stock information. In particular, information about a large existing adoption stock generates a positive effect on adoption only under moderate customer uncertainty combined with sufficient homophily; in other levels of uncertainty and/or homophily we find effects ranging from null to negative. This is the fir.
Agile Information Systems Development Teams: Is Empowerment Taken for Granted?

Agile Information Systems Development (ISD) principles emphasize self-organizing teams and empowered individuals in order to build more effective architecture and design. Agile ISD puts a higher emphasis of social interactions and human aspects of software development, and self-organizing teams act as enablers of these human aspects. In agile ISD teams, members have high autonomy over choosing their tasks and the way they perform the tasks. Team members benefit from the collective decision making and shared ownership of the project. However, in the agile ISD literature the terms “self-organization”, “autonomy” and “empowerment” are using interchangeably and without clear and specific definition. Adapting an interpretive case study design in a leading enterprise software company, this research-in-progress differentiates “self-organization”, and “empowerment” and uses the team-level four-dimensional conceptualization of team psychological empowerment by Kirkman and Rosen (1999) (potency, meaningfulness, autonomy and impact), to study whether self-organization indicates empowerment in agile ISD teams.
Control of Redundant Robots Under Hard Joint Constraints: Saturation in the Null Space

We present an efficient method for addressing online the inversion of differential task kinematics for redundant manipulators, in the presence of hard limits on joint space motion that can never be violated. The proposed Saturation in the Null Space (SNS) algorithm proceeds by successively discarding the use of joints that would exceed their motion bounds when using the minimum norm solution. When processing multiple tasks with priority, the SNS method realizes a preemptive strategy by preserving the correct order of priority in spite of the presence of saturations. In the single- and multitask case, the algorithm automatically integrates a least possible task-scaling procedure, when an original task is found to be unfeasible. The optimality properties of the SNS algorithm are analyzed by considering an associated quadratic programming problem. Its solution leads to a variant of the algorithm, which guarantees optimality even when the basic SNS algorithm does not. Numerically efficient versions of these algorithms are proposed. Their performance allows real-time control of robots executing many prioritized tasks with a large number of hard bounds. Experimental results are reported.
Solving the N-Queens Puzzle with P Systems

The N-queens puzzle consists on placing N queens on an N × N grid in such way that no two queens are on the same row, column or diagonal line. In this paper we present a family of P systems with active membranes (one P system for each value of N) that provides all the possible solutions to the puzzle.
17‐(allylamino)‐17‐demethoxygeldanamycin drives Hsp70 expression but fails to improve morphological or functional recovery in injured skeletal muscle

The stress inducible 70 kDa heat shock protein (Hsp70) is instrumental to efficient morphological and functional recovery following skeletal muscle injury because of its roles in protein quality control and molecular signalling. Therefore, in attempt to improve recovery, Hsp70 expression was increased with 17‐(allylamino)‐17‐demethoxygeldanamycin (17‐AAG) prior to and following an intramuscular injection of barium chloride (BaCl2) into the tibialis anterior (TA) of healthy young mice. To assess recovery, regenerating fibre cross‐sectional area (CSA) of the TA and in vivo peak isometric torque produced by the anterior crural muscles (TA, extensor digitorum longus and extensor hallucis muscles) were analyzed for up to 3 weeks after the injury. Because treatment of 17‐AAG and Hsp70 are known to influence inflammatory and myogenic signalling, tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) and myogenin content were also assessed. This study reports that 17‐AAG was effective at up‐regulating Hsp70 expression, increasing content fivefold in the uninjured muscle. However, this significant increase in Hsp70 content did not enhance morphological or functional recovery following the injury, as the return of regenerating fibre CSA and in vivo peak isometric torque did not differ compared to that of the injured muscle from the vehicle treated mice. Treatment with 17‐AAG also altered TNF‐α and myogenin content, increasing both to a greater extent after the injury. Together, these findings demonstrate that although 17‐AAG may alter molecular makers of regeneration, it does not improve recovery following BaCl2‐induced skeletal muscle injury in healthy young mice.
VSR: A Routing Protocol based on a Structure of Self-Organization

Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANets) are spontaneous wireless networks of mobile nodes without any fixed infrastructure. The routing problem focuses major attention since it suffers currently from a lack of performances and scalability. Besides, a self-organization structures the network and introduces a hierarchy. We propose here a new framework of routing protocols to benefit from a virtual topology of self-organization. The backbone is useful to introduce a first level of hierarchy and to limit the reactive overhead. Besides, clusters introduce a second level of hierarchy and create stable routes. VSR combines the assets of reactive and proactive flat routing with the self-organization hierarchy and allows local route repair.
Adrenergic responses of the coronary vessels.

THE EFFECTS of stimulation of the cardiac sympathetic nerves and of circulating catecholamines on the heart and coronary circulation have been studied extensively for more than 80 years. The biochemical, electrophysiological, and mechanical responses of the myocardium have been described in considerable detail but surprisingly little is known about the adrenergic responses of the coronary vessels. This is because of the difficulty in separating the direct actions of adrenergic agents on coronary smooth muscle tn the intact animal from the secondary effects induced by the almost simultaneous changes in transmural pressure and myocardial metabolism. A common approach to the problem of separating these effects has been to use adrenergic agents which selectively stimulate or block specific myocardial or coronary adrenotropic receptors. It therefore is appropriate to begin with a brief outline of the classification of these receptors.
INTERGENERATIONAL CONTACT, ATTITUDES, AND STEREOTYPES OF ADOLESCENTS AND OLDER PEOPLE

Contradictory findings characterize the literature on the efficacy of intergenerational programs that bring children and older persons together for joint activities to promote more positive attitudes and stereotypes. Nor is it clear whether cross-generational attitudes are negative to begin with. The research reported in this paper operationalized the constructs of attitudes and stereotypes by employing ideographic measures based on the attitude model of Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) and adopted the principles of the contact hypothesis in organizing a cross-age program. Sixty-three middle school adolescents (age 11–13) were randomly assigned to cross-age contact, didactic instruction, or control conditions for a 6-week program. Overall, adolescents and older persons held generally positive attitudes and stereotypes of each other. Relative to the control group, the contact group adolescents’ attitudes toward older people became more positive. There was no change in the didactic group. Following contact, the older people showed more positive attitudes toward younger people and scored higher on a measure of life satisfaction.
The neuropsychological outcomes of concussion: a systematic review of meta-analyses on the cognitive sequelae of mild traumatic brain injury.

UNLABELLED Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI), also known as concussion, has become a growing public health concern, prevalent in both athletic and military settings. Many researchers have examined post-mTBI neuropsychological outcomes, leading to multiple meta-analyses amalgamating individual study results. OBJECTIVE Considering the plethora of meta-analytic findings, the next logical step stands as a systematic review of meta-analyses, effectively reporting key moderators that predict post-mTBI neuropsychological outcomes. METHOD A systematic review of reviews yielded 11 meta-analyses meeting inclusion criteria (i.e., English-language systematic reviews/meta-analyses covering post-mTBI observational cognitive research on late adolescents/adults), with their findings qualitatively synthesized based on moderator variables (i.e., cognitive domain, time since injury, past head injury, participant characteristics, comparison group, assessment technique, and persistent symptoms). RESULTS The overall effect sizes ranged for both general (range: .07-.61) and sports-related mTBI (range: .40-.81) and differed both between and within cognitive domains, with executive functions appearing most sensitive to multiple mTBI. Cognitive domains varied in recovery rates, but overall recovery occurred by 90 days postinjury for most individuals and by 7 days postinjury for athletes. Greater age/education and male gender produced smaller effects sizes, and high school athletes suffered the largest deficits post-mTBI. Control-group comparisons yielded larger effects than within-person designs, and assessment techniques had limited moderating effects. CONCLUSIONS Overall, meta-analytic review quality remained low with few studies assessing publication or study quality bias. Meta-analyses consistently identified adverse acute mTBI-related effects and fairly rapid symptom resolution. Future meta-analyses should better operationally define cognitive constructs to produce more consistent effect estimates across domains.
An evaluation of the spectral characteristics of switching converters with chaotic carrier-frequency modulation

This paper presents an evaluation of the spectral characteristics of switching converters with a chaotic carrier-frequency modulation scheme (CCFMS). By incorporating a Chua's circuit (CC) into the pulsewidth modulator for driving the switches, three modulation schemes, including the standard pulsewidth modulation scheme, periodic carrier-frequency modulation scheme, and CCFMS, can be realized with the CC in equilibrium, limit cycle, and chaos, respectively. The property of frequency spreading in CCFMS is studied by using a statistical analysis method. The developed model is applied to formulate the power spectral densities of the input current and the output voltage of the three basic DC/DC converters under CCFMS. Theoretical predictions are verified with experimental measurements.