Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The common MELAS mutation A3243G in mitochondrial DNA among young patients with an occipital brain infarct

The syndrome of mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis, and strokelike episodes (MELAS) may present with symptoms that resemble a stroke. The strokelike episodes most commonly involve the posterior part of the cerebrum. We identified retrospectively 38 patients with an occipital stroke between ages 18 to 45 years during a 19-year period in a hospital serving as the only neurologic center for a specific population. The common MELAS mutation at the base pair 3243 (A3243G) of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was analyzed in blood samples. We found four patients (10%) with a clinical or molecular diagnosis of a mitochondrial disorder. Two of the patients carried the A3243G mutation, suggesting frequencies of 6% among patients younger than 45 years of age and 14% among patients younger than 30 years for this mutation. Furthermore, we identified two patients with a clinically definite mitochondrial disorder, and sequencing of the 22 transfer RNA genes revealed the mtDNA mutation A12308G in one patient. Clinical evaluation revealed that occipital stroke was part of a more complex syndrome in these four patients. These population-based findings demonstrate that the A3243G mutation in the mtDNA, and mitochondrial disorders are not uncommon among young patients with occipital stroke.
Insulin Receptor Substrate-2 Regulates Aerobic Glycolysis in Mouse Mammary Tumor Cells via Glucose Transporter 1*

The insulin receptor substrate (IRS) proteins are cytoplasmic adaptor molecules that function as signaling intermediates downstream of activated cell surface receptors. Based on data implicating IRS-2 but not IRS-1 in breast cancer invasion, survival, and metastasis, we assessed the contribution of IRS-1 and IRS-2 to aerobic glycolysis, which is known to impact tumor growth and progression. For this purpose, we used tumor cell lines derived from transgenic mice that express the polyoma virus middle T antigen (PyV-MT) in the mammary gland and that are wild-type (WT) or null for either Irs-1 (Irs-1–/–) or Irs-2 (Irs-2–/–). Aerobic glycolysis, as assessed by the rate of lactic acid production and glucose consumption, was diminished significantly in Irs-2–/– cells when compared with WT and Irs-1–/– cells. Expression of exogenous Irs-2 in Irs-2–/– cells restored the rate of glycolysis to that observed in WT cells. The transcription factor FoxO1 does not appear to be involved in Irs-2-mediated glycolysis. However, Irs-2 does regulate the surface expression of glucose transporter 1 (Glut1) as assessed by flow cytometry using a Glut1-specific ligand. Suppression of Glut1 expression inhibits Irs-2-dependent invasion, which links glycolysis to mammary tumor progression. Irs-2 was shown to be important for mammalian target of rapamycin (mTor) activation, and Irs-2-dependent regulation of Glut1 surface expression is rapamycin-sensitive. Collectively, our data indicate that Irs-2, but not Irs-1, promotes invasion by sustaining the aerobic glycolysis of mouse mammary tumor cells and that it does so by regulating the mTor-dependent surface expression of Glut1.
Predictive cardiovascular risk factors in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

BACKGROUND Traditional cardiovascular risk factors and uremia-related specific factors have been identified in patients with CKD, explaining the highest risk for morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to analyze the predictive power of several cardiovascular risk factors and markers in a population of stable patients with moderate CKD. METHODS One hundred twenty-eight (78 M, 50 F) outpatients with estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) <60 mL/min were included in the study. Medical records about cardiovascular factors were recorded. Analytical parameters and cardiac markers were analyzed. The patients were prospectively followed, and the end points were fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events. RESULTS After a mean follow-up of 22.3 months, 27 patients had a cardiovascular event. The patients who suffered a cardiovascular event were older (P= 0.002), with more anemia (P= 0.014), higher pulse pressure (P= 0.011), and cTnT levels (P= 0.000). In addition, they had more prevalence of LVH (P= 0.001), diabetes (P= 0.013), previous coronary heart disease (P= 0.008), chronic heart failure (P= 0.000), vascular peripheral disease (P= 0.006), and had also a higher score of 10-year coronary heart disease predicted risk (P= 0.006). Age [hazard ratio (HR) 1.07, P= 0.02], previous coronary artery disease (HR 4.08, P= 0.0012), and cTnT levels (HR 1.64, P= 0.0000) independently predicted cardiovascular events on multivariate Cox analysis. CONCLUSION In stable patients with CKD, age and previous coronary artery disease were the traditional cardiovascular risk factors more predictive for cardiovascular events. Cardiac troponin T is a powerful marker of cardiovascular events in CKD patients.
An Object-Based Approach for Mapping Shrub and Tree Cover on Grassland Habitats by Use of LiDAR and CIR Orthoimages

Due to the abandonment of former agricultural management practices such as mowing and grazing, an increasing amount of grassland is no longer being managed. This has resulted in increasing shrub encroachment, which poses a threat to a number of species. Monitoring is an important means of acquiring information about the condition of the grasslands. Though the use of traditional remote sensing is an effective means of mapping and monitoring land cover, the mapping of small shrubs and trees based only on spectral information is challenged by the fact that shrubs and trees often spectrally resemble grassland and thus cannot be safely distinguished and classified. With the aid of LiDAR-derived information, such as elevation, the classification of spectrally similar objects can be improved. In this study, we applied high point density LiDAR data and colour-infrared orthoimages for the classification of shrubs and trees in a study area in Denmark. The classification result was compared to a classification based only on colour-infrared orthoimages. The overall accuracy increased significantly with the use of LiDAR and, for shrubs and trees specifically, producer’s accuracy increased from 81.2% to 93.7%, and user’s accuracy from 52.9% to 89.7%. Object-based image analysis was applied in combination with a CART classifier. The potential of using the applied approach for mapping and monitoring of large areas is discussed.
Evaluation of a multiplex selective enrichment broth SEL for simultaneous detection of injured Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes

Although many rapid and high throughput molecular methods have been developed in the recent years for the multiplex detection of foodborne pathogens, the simultaneous recovery and enrichment of sublethally injured cells is still a problem that needs to be considered. Combined with previous established multiplex real-time PCR assay, the capability of simultaneous recovery and enrichment of sublethally injured Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7 and L. monocytogenes cells was evaluated in a multiplex selective enrichment broth SEL. The injured cells were obtained by heat shock. After evaluation of different procedures, 1 h of recovery period prior to 20 h of enrichment was proved to be necessary for the detection of less than 10 CFU/5 mL broth of injured L. monocytogenes. When the detection method was applied to artificially contaminated ground beef, all the three injured pathogens could be simultaneously detected without discrimination by real-time PCR combined with SEL broth, the detection limit was < 5 CFU/10 g ground beef. Comparatively, when BPW was employed as the enrichment broth in the same detection procedure, injured L. monocytogenes could not be detected if the initially spiked level was below 102 CFU/10 g ground beef. Considering the capability of co-enrichment and high detection effectiveness, the real-time PCR assay combined with SEL broth herein appears to be a promising tool for high-throughput screening of a large number of processed food samples, which require either single or multiple pathogen detection. More important, the sublethally injured foodborne pathogen cells were also detectable.
On Zhongyong Rationality: The Confucian Doctrine of the Mean as a Missing Link between Instrumental Rationality and Communicative Rationality

This paper follows the theoretical footsteps of Weber and Habermas, among others, to unravel the advent of modernity in terms of the problematic of rationality and rationalization. Seen in this light, it can be maintained that a major malaise of modern society stems from the proliferation and domina tion of instrumental rationality on the one hand, and the alleged subjective, relativistic nature of value rationality on the other. Habermas' postulation of the construct of communicative rationality, in the final analysis, is intended as a solution to this problem by positing a universal and objective founda tion for value consensus. Though the ideal speech situation he propounded may serve as a yardstick to measure the application of communicative rationality, its significance is however more theoretical than practical. The preconditions of its realization can hardly be attained in a society where instrumental rationality has long since prevailed. To be more specific, there is simply no guarantee that people motivated by instrumental-rational goals would have the readiness or intent to enter into rational communication with others.
A study of the expression of laminin in the spinal cord of the frog during development and regeneration

In the present experiments, we have used an affinity‐purified polyclonal antibody to laminin to determine the time course of expression of laminin in the central nervous system (CNS) of Rana temporaria tadpoles during normal development and during restoration of the dorsal columns of the spinal cord. Immunoblotting analysis indicated that in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) of adult frogs the antibody recognized proteins of molecular weights 350–400 and 205–220 kDa, corresponding to the A and B chains respectively of mammalian laminin. Immunohistochemistry with our antibody suggested that laminin was absent from the tadpole spinal cord, and did not appear even in the basal lamina of the blood vessels within the spinal cord until after metamorphosis. Furthermore, there was no evidence of laminin expression in the dorsal columns after hemisection of the spinal cord. However, throughout development laminin was present in basal lamina outside the CNS, in particular in the pial membranes, and in the basal lamina of blood vessels and sheath cells in the dorsal and ventral roots. Electron microscopy showed that the blood vessels of CNS capillaries had basal laminae throughout development that was morphologically indistinguishable from that seen in peripheral vessels.
Angiotensin II and Aldosterone Regulate Gene Transcription Via Functional Mineralocortocoid Receptors in Human Coronary Artery Smooth Muscle Cells

Inhibition or blockade of the angiotensin-aldosterone system consistently decreases ischemic cardiovascular events in clinical trials. The steroid hormone aldosterone acts by binding to the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR), a ligand activated transcription factor that is a member of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily. MR binds and is activated by aldosterone and cortisol with equal affinity, but MR activation by cortisol is diminished in tissues that express the cortisol-inactivating enzyme 11-&bgr;-hydroxysteroid-dehydrogenase-2 (11&bgr;HSD2). Although previous studies support that the vasculature is a target tissue of aldosterone, MR-mediated gene expression in vascular cells has not been demonstrated or systematically explored. We investigated whether functional MR and 11&bgr;HSD2 are expressed in human blood vessels. Human coronary and aortic vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) express mRNA and protein for both MR and 11&bgr;HSD2. The endogenous VSMC MR mediates aldosterone-dependent gene expression, which is blocked by the competitive MR antagonist spironolactone. Inhibition of 11&bgr;HSD2 in coronary artery VSMCs enhances gene transactivation by cortisol, supporting that the VSMC 11&bgr;HSD2 is functional. Angiotensin II also activates MR-mediated gene transcription in coronary artery VSMCs. Angiotensin II activation of MR-mediated gene expression is inhibited by both the AT1 receptor blocker losartan and by spironolactone, but not by aldosterone synthase inhibition. Microarray and quantitative RT-PCR experiments show that aldosterone activates expression of endogenous human coronary VSMC genes, including several involved in vascular fibrosis, inflammation, and calcification. These data support a new MR-dependent mechanism by which aldosterone and angiotensin II influence ischemic cardiovascular events, and suggest that ACE inhibitors and MR antagonists may decrease clinical ischemic events by inhibiting MR-dependent gene expression in vascular cells.
Influence of Helicobacter pylori eradication on the management of type 2 diabetes.

BACKGROUND/AIMS H. pylori eradication therapy has been widely performed. In addition, the number of patients with type 2 diabetes is increasing worldwide. The aim of this study was to understand the influence of H. pylori eradication therapy on the management of type 2 diabetes. METHODOLOGY A total of 174 patients with type 2 diabetes who did not have an active peptic ulcer or serious complications and were cured successfully of their H. pylori infection at our institute were included in this study. The time course of mean glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) values and body mass index (BMI) during the year before and after H. pylori eradication were assessed by a paired Student's t-test. RESULTS No significant changes in mean HbA1c values were observed during the year before or after eradication. However, the mean BMI, which did not change during the year before eradication, increased significantly at 6 months (23.1±2.6kg/m2, p<0.05) and 12 months (23.1±2.7kg/m2, p<0.05) after eradication as compared with the time point of eradication (22.9±2.6kg/m2). CONCLUSIONS H. pylori eradication significantly increased BMI but not HbA1c in patients with type 2 diabetes, despite diabetes treatment.
NEURAL NETWORKS APPLICATIONS IN BANKRUPTCY FORECASTING : A STATE OF THE ART

Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) implementation in bankruptcy forecasting become more and more numerous. We present a domain overview, observing 24 experimentations, separating the passed and the future trend. The choice on variables and neural architecture are distinguished. With ten years of research, ANN reached a first step of maturity and the goal of applications changes. New techniques appear. KEYWORD : Artificial Neural Networks, Bankruptcy Forecasting.
Ethnic employment penalties in Britain

It has been known for many years that Britain's ethnic minorities suffer disadvantage in employment. Recent findings have, however, shown a gap between the experiences of different minority groups. Indians and Chinese have employment rates and earnings levels similar to those of white members of the population; Caribbeans, Africans, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis fare worse. Eleven years of Labour Force Survey data have been combined, so that the employment of men in their 20s and 30s can be analysed in terms of age and migration, educational qualifications, the economic environment and family structures. The contrasts between different groups' economic positions are all the more striking when educational attainments are taken into account.
Polybrominated biphenyl toxicosis in rats fed an iodine-deficient, iodine-adequate, or iodine-excess diet.

Young male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed 0, 1, 10, or 100 ppm of polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) in iodine-deficient, iodine-adequate (0.2 ppm), or iodine-excess (1000 ppm) diets. Six rats in each of the 12 groups were killed at 30 days and the remaining six in each group at 60 days. Growth rates were similar in all rats fed diets containing 0, 1, or 10 ppm PBB but were slower from 30 to 60 days in rats given 100 ppm PBB. Results of routine hematologic examinations and urinalyses were essentially normal. Although liver weights were substantially increased by PBB, the smallest increases were in rats fed an iodine-deficient diet. Thyroid weights were increased by iodine deficiency and by 10 and 100 ppm PBB. Electropherograms of serum proteins, serum lipoproteins, and LDH isozymes at 60 days from rats given PBB indicated hepatic alterations, but changes were least dramatic in rats fed an iodine-deficient diet plus PBB and most severe in rats fed iodine-excess diets plus PBB. Hepatic lesions were basically similar to those previously described except that bile duct proliferation was seen at 60 days only in rats fed an iodine-deficient diet and 100 ppm PBB. Histologic changes in thyroid glands were associated with iodine deficiency and with PBB. The iodine-excess diet plus 100 ppm PBB induced squamous metaplasia of respiratory bronchiolar epithelium. These results indicate interrelationships between PBB and iodine which may affect the toxicosis caused by PBB. ImagesFIGURE 1.FIGURE 2.FIGURE 3.
Proposal for a Ultra Low Voltage NAND gate to withstand Power Analysis Attacks

In this paper we promote the Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) NAND gate to replace either partly or entirely the encryption block of a design to withstand power analysis attack. Keywords—Differential Power Analysis (DPA), Low Voltage (LV), Ultra Low Voltage (ULV), Floating-Gate (FG) and supply current analysis.
Evolutionary solution for the RNA design problem

MOTIVATION RNAs play fundamental roles in cellular processes. The function of an RNA is highly dependent on its 3D conformation, which is referred to as the RNA tertiary structure. Because the prediction or experimental determination of these structures is difficult, so many works focus on the problems associated with the RNA secondary structure. Here, we consider the RNA inverse folding problem, in which an RNA secondary structure is given as a target structure and the goal is to design an RNA sequence that folds into the target structure. In this article, we introduce a new evolutionary algorithm for the RNA inverse folding problem. Our algorithm, entitled Evolutionary RNA Design, generates a sequence whose minimum free energy structure is the same as the target structure. RESULTS We compare our algorithm with INFO-RNA, MODENA, RNAiFold and NUPACK approaches for some biological test sets. The results presented in this article indicate that for longer structures, our algorithm performs better than the other mentioned algorithms in terms of the energy range, accuracy, speedup and nucleotide distribution. Particularly, the generated RNA sequences in our method are much more reliable and similar to the natural RNA sequences.
Clinical Relevance of Tumor Cells with Stem-Like Properties in Pediatric Brain Tumors

Background Primitive brain tumors are the leading cause of cancer-related death in children. Tumor cells with stem-like properties (TSCs), thought to account for tumorigenesis and therapeutic resistance, have been isolated from high-grade gliomas in adults. Whether TSCs are a common component of pediatric brain tumors and are of clinical relevance remains to be determined. Methodology/Principal Findings Tumor cells with self-renewal properties were isolated with cell biology techniques from a majority of 55 pediatric brain tumors samples, regardless of their histopathologies and grades of malignancy (57% of embryonal tumors, 57% of low-grade gliomas and neuro-glial tumors, 70% of ependymomas, 91% of high-grade gliomas). Most high-grade glioma-derived oncospheres (10/12) sustained long-term self-renewal akin to neural stem cells (>7 self-renewals), whereas cells with limited renewing abilities akin to neural progenitors dominated in all other tumors. Regardless of tumor entities, the young age group was associated with self-renewal properties akin to neural stem cells (P = 0.05, chi-square test). Survival analysis of the cohort showed an association between isolation of cells with long-term self-renewal abilities and a higher patient mortality rate (P = 0.013, log-rank test). Sampling of low- and high-grade glioma cultures showed that self-renewing cells forming oncospheres shared a molecular profile comprising embryonic and neural stem cell markers. Further characterization performed on subsets of high-grade gliomas and one low-grade glioma culture showed combination of this profile with mesenchymal markers, the radio-chemoresistance of the cells and the formation of aggressive tumors after intracerebral grafting. Conclusions/Significance In brain tumors affecting adult patients, TSCs have been isolated only from high-grade gliomas. In contrast, our data show that tumor cells with stem cell-like or progenitor-like properties can be isolated from a wide range of histological sub-types and grades of pediatric brain tumors. They suggest that cellular mechanisms fueling tumor development differ between adult and pediatric brain tumors.
Towards Trustworthy Kiosk Computing

We present a system in which a user leverages a personal mobile device to establish trust on a public computing device, or kiosk, prior to revealing personal information to that kiosk. We have designed and implemented a protocol by which the mobile device determines the identity and integrity of the software running on the kiosk. A similar protocol simultaneously allows a kiosk owner to verify that the kiosk is running only approved software. Our system combines a number of emerging security technologies, including the Trusted Platform Module, the Integrity Measurement Architecture, and new support in times86 processors for establishing a dynamic root of trust. In ongoing work, we plan to use virtual machines to support the important case where the user wishes to run personal software on the kiosk. We are also continuing to explore several open issues we have identified surrounding trust in a kiosk scenario.
Neural mechanisms of recovery following early visual deprivation

Natural patterned early visual input is essential for the normal development of the central visual pathways and the visual capacities they sustain. Without visual input, the functional development of the visual system stalls not far from the state at birth, and if input is distorted or biased the visual system develops in an abnormal fashion resulting in specific visual deficits. Monocular deprivation, an extreme form of biased exposure, results in large anatomical and physiological changes in terms of territory innervated by the two eyes in primary visual cortex (V1) and to a loss of vision in the deprived eye reminiscent of that in human deprivation amblyopia. We review work that points to a special role for binocular visual input in the development of V1 and vision. Our unique approach has been to provide animals with mixed visual input each day, which consists of episodes of normal and biased (monocular) exposures. Short periods of concordant binocular input, if continuous, can offset much longer episodes of monocular deprivation to allow normal development of V1 and prevent amblyopia. Studies of animal models of patching therapy for amblyopia reveal that the benefits are both heightened and prolonged by daily episodes of binocular exposure.