Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular basis of glomerular permselectivity

Recent discoveries in kidney research have given new insights into the molecular make-up of the glomerular filter and mechanisms of permselectivity. The identification of mutations in the genes for glomerular basement membrane type IV collagen has thus demonstrated the central role of the glomerular basement membrane as the structural skeleton of the glomerular capillary. Regional deterioration of this framework not only leads to proteinuria, but also to significant leakage of red blood cells into the urinary space. Tracer studies and the characaterization of other glomerular basement membrane components, such as proteoglycans, have also emphasized the role of the glomerular basement membrane in the permselectivity process. However, more recent studies on nephrin, a key component of the slit diaphragm, as well as the podocyte and slit diaphragm-associated intracellular proteins, CD2-associated protein, podocin and α-actinin-4, have emphasized the role of the slit diaphragm as a central size-selective filtration barrier. These data have provided a completely new understanding of the mechanisms of proteinuria, both in inherited and acquired diseases. In this review, we present the recent progress made in the characterization of proteins that are important for glomerular permselectivity.
Microsatellite Stable Colorectal Cancers Stratified by the BRAF V600E Mutation Show Distinct Patterns of Chromosomal Instability

The BRAF (V600E) mutation in colorectal cancers that are microsatellite stable (MSS) confers a poor patient prognosis, whereas BRAF mutant microsatellite-unstable (MSI) colorectal cancers have an excellent prognosis. BRAF wild type cancers are typically MSS and display chromosomal instability (CIN). CIN has not been extensively studied on a genome-wide basis in relation to BRAF mutational status in colorectal cancer. BRAF mutant/MSS (BRAFmut/MSS) cancers (n = 33) and BRAF mutant/MSI (BRAFmut/MSI) cancers (n = 30) were compared for presence of copy number aberrations (CNAs) indicative of CIN, with BRAF wild type/MSS (BRAFwt/MSS) cancers (n = 18) using Illumina CytoSNP-12 arrays. BRAFmut/MSS and BRAFwt/MSS cancers showed comparable numbers of CNAs/cancer at 32.8 and 29.8 respectively. However, there were differences in patterns of CNA length between MSS cohorts, with BRAFmut/MSS cancers having significantly greater proportions of focal CNAs compared to BRAFwt/MSS cancers (p<0.0001); whereas whole chromosomal arm CNAs were more common in BRAFwt/MSS cancers (p<0.0001). This related to a reduced average CNA length in BRAFmut/MSS compared to BRAFwt/MSS cancers (20.7 Mb vs 33.4 Mb;p<0.0001); and a smaller average percent of CIN affected genomes in BRAFmut/MSS compared to BRAFwt/MSS cancers (23.9% vs 34.9% respectively). BRAFmut/MSI cancers were confirmed to have low CNA rates (5.4/cancer) and minimal CIN-affected genomes (average of 4.5%) compared to MSS cohorts (p<0.0001). BRAFmut/MSS cancers had more frequent deletion CNAs compared to BRAFwt/MSS cancers on 6p and 17q at loci not typically correlated with colorectal cancer, and greater amplification CNAs on 8q and 18q compared to BRAFwt/MSS cancers. These results indicate that comparable rates of CIN occur between MSS subgroups, however significant differences in their patterns of instability exist, with BRAFmut/MSS cancers showing a ‘focal pattern’ and BRAFwt/MSS cancers having a ‘whole arm pattern’ of CIN. This and the genomic loci more frequently affected in BRAFmut/MSS cancers provides further evidence of the biological distinctions of this important cancer subgroup.
Risk of infection and sepsis in severely injured patients related to single nucleotide polymorphisms in the lectin pathway

Infectious complications remain a serious threat to patients with multiple trauma. Susceptibility and response to infection is, in part, heritable. The lectin pathway plays a major role in innate immunity. The aim of this study was to assess whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in three key genes within the lectin pathway affect susceptibility to infectious complications in severely injured patients.
Male breast malignancy in Jos University Teaching Hospital.

BACKGROUND Male breast malignancies are rare. Cancer of the male breast accounts for about 1% of all breast cancers. Poor level of awareness often results in late presentation and delayed diagnosis in our environment. PATIENTS AND METHODS A retrospective study of all cases of male breast cancer (MBC) managed in Jos University Teaching Hospital over a 17-year period (January 1987-December 2003.) RESULTS A total of 302 cases of breast malignancies were managed over the study period. Twenty-six (8.6%) of these were males giving a male:female ratio of 1:10.6. The ages of the 26 MBC cases ranged from 12 years to 85 years, with a mean of 57.9 years and median age of 67 years. The right breast was affected in 15 and the left in 11. Mean duration of symptoms before presentation was 6 months with a range of 3 months to 4 years. All the patients had history of breast lumps, 21 (80.8%) of which were painless. Skin ulceration and axillary node enlargement were present in 19(73.1%) and 24(92.3%) respectively. Five (19.2%) were stage II; 15(57.7%) stage III and 6(23.1%) stage IV. There were 23 (88.5%) carcinomas, 2 (7.7%) fibrosarcomas and a case of Hodgkin's lymphoma. Invasive ductal carcinoma was the most common histological type in 20 (76.9%) of all breast malignancy and 20 (87.0%) of all breast carcinomas. Modified radical mastectomy (mastectomy with axillary clearance with or without division of the pectoralis minor muscle) was done in 10(38.5%) patients. Two of these were fibrosarcomas. Simple mastectomy was done in 13 (50%) as toilet procedures for advanced disease. The only case of Hodgkin's lymphoma had chemotherapy. Bilateral orchidectomy (BO), Tamoxifen, chemotherapy and radiotherapy were offered in 7(26.9%), 13(50%), 17(65.4%) and 7(26.9%) patients respectively. Wound infection was the most common complication in 14(53.8%) patients. There was no case of hospital mortality. CONCLUSION MBC accounts for 8.6% of all breast cancers in our centre. It affects elderly males. Late presentation with advanced disease and ulceration is a common feature in our environment.
What Do We Know About Teacher Leadership? Findings From Two Decades of Scholarship

The concept and practice of teacher leadership have gained momentum in the past two decades. Teachers are assuming more leadership functions at both instructional and organizational levels of practice. Empirical literature reveals numerous small-scale, qualitative studies that describe dimensions of teacher leadership practice, teacher leader characteristics, and conditions that promote and challenge teacher leadership. Less is known about how teacher leadership develops and about its effects. In addition, the construct of teacher leadership is not well defined, conceptually or operationally. Future research focused on the differentiated paths by which teachers influence organizational capacity, professionalism, instructional improvement, and student learning has the potential to advance the practice of teacher leadership. A conceptual framework is offered to guide such inquiry.
Preparedness for emerging infectious diseases: pathways from anticipation to action

Summary Emerging and re-emerging infectious disease (EID) events can have devastating human, animal and environmental health impacts. The emergence of EIDs has been associated with interconnected economic, social and environmental changes. Understanding these changes is crucial for EID preparedness and subsequent prevention and control of EID events. The aim of this review is to describe tools currently available for identification, prioritization and investigation of EIDs impacting human and animal health, and how these might be integrated into a systematic approach for directing EID preparedness. Environmental scanning, foresight programmes, horizon scanning and surveillance are used to collect and assess information for rapidly responding to EIDs and to anticipate drivers of emergence for mitigating future EID impacts. Prioritization of EIDs − using transparent and repeatable methods − based on disease impacts and the importance of those impacts to decision-makers can then be used for more efficient resource allocation for prevention and control. Risk assessment and simulation modelling methods assess the likelihood of EIDs occurring, define impact and identify mitigation strategies. Each of these tools has a role to play individually; however, we propose integration of these tools into a framework that enhances the development of tactical and strategic plans for emerging risk preparedness.
Non-Interactive and Information-Theoretic Secure Publicly Verifiable Secret Sharing

A publicly verifiable secret sharing scheme is more applicable than a verifiable secret sharing because of the property that the validity of the shares distributed by the dealer can be verified by any party. In this paper, we construct a non-interactive and informationtheoretic publicly verifiable secret sharing by a computationally binding and unconditionally hiding commitment scheme and zero-knowledge proof of knowledge.
Energy-Constrained Distortion Reduction Optimization for Wavelet-Based Coded Image Transmission in Wireless Sensor Networks

Image transmissions in wireless multimedia sensor networks (WMSNs) are often energy constrained. They also have requirement on distortion minimization, which may be achieved through unequal error protection (UEP) based communication approaches. In related literature with regard to wireless multimedia transmissions, significantly different importance levels between image-pixel-position information and image-pixel-value information have not been fully exploited by existing UEP schemes. In this paper, we propose an innovative image-pixel-position information based resource allocation scheme to optimize image transmission quality with strict energy budget constraint for image applications in WMSNs, and it works by exploring these uniquely different importance levels among image data streams. Network resources are optimally allocated cross PHY, MAC and APP layers regarding inter-segment dependency, and energy efficiency is assured while the image transmission quality is optimized. Simulation results have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed approach in achieving the optimal image quality and energy efficiency. The performance gain in terms of distortion reduction is especially prominent with strict energy budget constraints and lower image compression ratios.
Autophagy and Apoptosis Have a Role in the Survival or Death of Stallion Spermatozoa during Conservation in Refrigeration

Apoptosis has been recognized as a cause of sperm death during cryopreservation and a cause of infertility in humans, however there is no data on its role in sperm death during conservation in refrigeration; autophagy has not been described to date in mature sperm. We investigated the role of apoptosis and autophagy during cooled storage of stallion spermatozoa. Samples from seven stallions were split; half of the ejaculate was processed by single layer centrifugation, while the other half was extended unprocessed, and stored at 5°C for five days. During the time of storage, sperm motility (CASA, daily) and membrane integrity (flow cytometry, daily) were evaluated. Apoptosis was evaluated on days 1, 3 and 5 (active caspase 3, increase in membrane permeability, phosphatidylserine translocation and mitochondrial membrane potential) using flow cytometry. Furthermore, LC3B processing was investigated by western blotting at the beginning and at the end of the period of storage. The decrease in sperm quality over the period of storage was to a large extent due to apoptosis; single layer centrifugation selected non-apoptotic spermatozoa, but there were no differences in sperm motility between selected and unselected sperm. A high percentage of spermatozoa showed active caspase 3 upon ejaculation, and during the period of storage there was an increase of apoptotic spermatozoa but no changes in the percentage of live sperm, revealed by the SYBR-14/PI assay, were observed. LC3B was differentially processed in sperm after single layer centrifugation compared with native sperm. In processed sperm more LC3B-II was present than in non-processed samples; furthermore, in non-processed sperm there was an increase in LC3B-II after five days of cooled storage. These results indicate that apoptosis plays a major role in the sperm death during storage in refrigeration and that autophagy plays a role in the survival of spermatozoa representing a new pro-survival mechanism in spermatozoa not previously described.
A Novel High-Power Dual-Band Coupled-Line Gysel Power Divider with Impedance-Transforming Functions

A novel coupled-line structure is proposed to design dual-band and high-power Gysel power dividers with inherent impedance-transforming functions. Based on traditional even- and odd-mode technique, the analytical design methods in closed-form formula are obtained and the accurate electrical parameters analysis is presented. Due to the usage of coupled-line sections, more design-parameter freedom and a wider frequency-ratio operation range for this kind of dual-band Gysel powder divider are obtained. Several numerical examples are designed and calculated to demonstrate flexible dual-band applications with different impedance-transforming functions. A practical microstrip power divider operating at 2 GHz and 3.2 GHz is designed, fabricated, and measured. The good agreement between the calculated and measured results verifies our proposed circuit structure and analytical design approach.
A New Over-sample Method Based on Distribution Density

A new method was proposed for leaning from the imbalanced dataset based the samples distribution density in this paper. In the proposed scheme, a model of samples distribution density was designed, followed by the improved smote progress SDD-SMOTE where we smoted the minority samples according to the samples distribution density. Cross-validation results show that proposed SDD-SMOTE method to some extent improves the minority prediction in both the recall and the precision metrics.
Immunoisolaton of the Yeast Golgi Subcompartments and Characterization of a Novel Membrane Protein, Svp26, Discovered in the Sed5-Containing Compartments

ABSTRACT The Golgi apparatus consists of a set of vesicular compartments which are distinguished by their marker proteins. These compartments are physically separated in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell. To characterize them extensively, we immunoisolated vesicles carrying either of the SNAREs Sed5 or Tlg2, the markers of the early and late Golgi compartments, respectively, and analyzed the membrane proteins. The composition of proteins was mostly consistent with the position of each compartment in the traffic. We found six uncharacterized but evolutionarily conserved proteins and named them Svp26 (Sed5 compartment vesicle protein of 26 kDa), Tvp38, Tvp23, Tvp18, Tvp15 (Tlg2 compartment vesicle proteins of 38, 23, 18, and 15 kDa), and Gvp36 (Golgi vesicle protein of 36 kDa). The localization of Svp26 in the early Golgi compartment was confirmed by microscopic and biochemical means. Immunoprecipitation indicated that Svp26 binds to itself and a Golgi mannosyltransferase, Ktr3. In the absence of Svp26, a considerable portion of Ktr3 was mislocalized in the endoplasmic reticulum. Our data suggest that Svp26 has a novel role in retention of a subset of membrane proteins in the early Golgi compartments.
ANALYZING THE IMPACT OF LOCAL PERTURBATIONS OF NETWORK TOPOLOGIES AT THE APPLICATION-LEVEL

OF THE DISSERTATION Analyzing the Impact of Local Perturbations of Network Topologies at the Application-level by Vincent J. Matossian Dissertation Director: Professor Manish Parashar Networked systems are continuously growing in scale and complexity. The technical and policy engineering challenges introduced by such a fast growth are currently addressed locally, with limited understanding of their impact on the whole. Such approaches are becoming impractical and insufficient. Next-generation networks need to address these issues by deploying adaptive and self-managing protocols and mechanisms to relax the persistent need for human-driven management. However, achieving these objectives requires conceptual, physical, and logistical modifications to existing systems and protocols. To this end, the traditional top-down approach to network and application design needs to be supplemented by understanding the bottom-up nature of evolving real-world networks. A critical issue that is significantly impacting computer networks and applications is the absence of an in-depth understanding and lack of control over the structural properties, i.e., topology, of large networks. Network topologies define the link relationships
Cell-based 3D Video Capture of a Freely-moving Object Using Multi-viewpoint Active Cameras

We propose a method to capture 3D video of an object that moves in a large area using active cameras. Our main ideas are to partition a desired target area into hexagonal cells, and to control active cameras based on these cells. Accurate camera calibration and continuous capture of the object with at least one third of the cameras are guaranteed regardless of the object's motion. We show advantages of our method over an existing capture method using fixed cameras. We also show that our method can be applied to a real studio.
Apical corneal barrier disruption in experimental murine dry eye is abrogated by methylprednisolone and doxycycline.

PURPOSE To evaluate the mechanism of apical corneal epithelial barrier disruption in response to experimental ocular surface desiccation and the effects of two anti-inflammatory agents (methylprednisolone and doxycycline) on this process. METHODS Experimental dry eye (EDE) was created in C57BL/6 mice, without or with topical therapy, 1% methylprednisolone, 0.025% doxycycline, or physiologic saline solution (PSS) four times per day. Corneal smoothness and Oregon green dextran (OGD) permeability were assessed. Desquamation of and cornified envelope protein (involucrin and small proline-rich protein [SPRR]-2) expression by the corneal epithelium was evaluated by laser scanning confocal microscopy. Levels of cornified envelope proteins mRNA were measured by real-time PCR. RESULTS Corneal OGD permeability, surface irregularity, and the number of desquamating apical corneal epithelia significantly increased in EDE. Desiccating stress significantly increased expression of involucrin and SPRR-2 in the corneal epithelia. Treatment of EDE with methylprednisolone or doxycycline reduced corneal permeability to OGD, improved corneal smoothness, and decreased involucrin and SPRR-2 immunoreactivity compared with EDE+PSS. CONCLUSIONS Disruption of apical corneal epithelial barrier function in dry eye is accompanied by increased apical desquamation and increased expression of cornified envelope proteins. Topical treatment of EDE with the anti-inflammatory agents methylprednisolone or doxycycline preserves apical corneal barrier function.
Activation of apoptosis signal regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) and translocation of death‐associated protein, Daxx, in substantia nigra pars compacta in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease: protection by α‐lipoic acid

Parkinson's disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disorder, causes severe motor impairment due to loss of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc). MPTP, a neurotoxin that causes dopaminergic cell loss in mice, was used in an animal model to study the pathogenic mechanisms leading to neurodegeneration. We observed the activation of apoptosis signal regulating kinase (ASK1, MAPKKK) and phosphorylation of its downstream targets MKK4 and JNK, 12 h after administration of a single dose of MPTP. Further, Daxx, the death‐associated protein, translocated to the cytosol selectively in SNpc neurons seemingly due to MPTP mediated down‐regulation of DJ‐1, the redox‐sensitive protein that binds Daxx in the nucleus. Coadministration of a‐lipoic acid (ALA), a thiol antioxidant, abolished the activation of ASK1 and phosphorylation of downstream kinases, MKK4, and JNK and prevented the down‐regulation of DJ‐1 and translocation of Daxx to the cytosol seen after MPTP. ALA also attenuated dopaminergic cell loss in SNpc seen after subchronic MPTP treatment. Our studies demonstrate for the first time that MPTP triggers death signaling pathway by activating ASK1 and translocating Daxx, in vivo, in dopaminergic neurons in SNpc of mice and thiol antioxidants, such as ALA terminate this cascade and afford neuroprotection. –Karunakaran S. , Diwakar, L. , Saeed, U. , Agarwal, V. , Ramakrishnan, S. , Iyengar, S. , Ravindranath V. Activation of apoptosis signal regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) and translocation of death associated protein, Daxx in substantia nigra pars compacta in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease: Protection by α‐lipoic acid. FASEB J. 21, 2226–2236 (2007)
Trends of CPU, GPU and FPGA for high-performance computing

Floating-point computing with more than one TFLOP of peak performance is already a reality in recent Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA). General-Purpose Graphics Processing Units (GPGPU) and recent many-core CPUs have also taken advantage of the recent technological innovations in integrated circuit (IC) design and had also dramatically improved their peak performances. In this paper, we compare the trends of these computing architectures for high-performance computing and survey these platforms in the execution of algorithms belonging to different scientific application domains. Trends in peak performance, power consumption and sustained performances, for particular applications, show that FPGAs are increasing the gap to GPUs and many-core CPUs moving them away from high-performance computing with intensive floating-point calculations. FPGAs become competitive for custom floating-point or fixed-point representations, for smaller input sizes of certain algorithms, for combinational logic problems and parallel map-reduce problems.
Monochromosome transfers to syrian hamster BHK cells via microcell fusion provide functional evidence for suppressor genes on human chromosome 9 both for anchorage independence and for tumorigenicity

We previously identified an anchorage independence‐suppressor gene, SAII, on rat chromosome (RNO) 5. RNO5 is homologous to human chromosomes (HSA) I and 9. In order to find the human homolog of the SAII gene, we transferred HSAI and HSA9 to an anchorage‐independent and tumorigenic Syrian hamster BHK 191‐5C cell line by microcell fusion. For HSA9, we used a t(X; 9)‐derivative chromosome to force the retention of this chromosome in hybrids by hypoxanthine‐aminopterin‐thymidine (HAT) selection. To study the possible effect of the X portion of the der(9)t(X; 9), we also transferred a normal X to 191‐5C cells. For HSAI, a neo‐tagged chromosome was introduced. Following the transfer of der(9)t(X; 9) to 191 ‐5C cells, the hybrid cells became anchorage dependent and nontumorigenic, and, upon the loss of this chromosome, the cells regained their tumorigenic and anchorage‐independent phenotypes. The transfer of HSAX or HSAI, on the other hand, affected neither of these phenotypes. These results provide functional proof of suppressor genes on HSA9 involving both anchorage independence and tumorigenicity. In addition, our data suggest the presence of another gene on HSA9 that causes a negative growth effect and whose phenotypic expression, contrary to the suppressor genes, is dosage dependent. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.