Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transcatheter Delivery of c‐myc Antisense Oligomers Reduces Neointimal Formation in a Porcine Model of Coronary Artery Balloon Injury

BackgroundSmooth muscle cell proliferation and extracellular matrix accumulation are the principal mechanisms leading to vascular restenosis. We have previously demonstrated the growth-inhibitory effect of antisense oligomers targeting the c-myc proto-oncogene in human smooth muscle cells. The goal of this study was to investigate whether c-myc antisense oligomers reduce neointimal formation in balloon-denuded porcine coronary arteries. Methods and ResultsFirst, type I collagen synthesis, which reflects synthetic function, was markedly reduced following c-myc antisense oligomers in porcine vascular smooth muscle cells independent of the growth inhibition. These effects in vitro provided the rationale for assessing c-myc antisense oligomers in the prevention of neointima in vivo. Second, the efficiency of single transcatheter delivery of oligomers into denuded porcine coronary arteries was determined. Despite rapid plasma clearance following local delivery, oligomers persisted at the site of injection for at least 3 days, exceeding by severalfold their concentration in peripheral organs. Third, morphometric analyses were carried out in balloon-denuded coronary arteries at 1 month after transcatheter c-myc an-V tisense oligomer administration. Maximal neointimal area was reduced from 0.80±0.17 mm2 in the control group (n=12) to 0.24±0.06 mm2 in the antisense-treated group (n= 13, P<.01). Likewise, a significant reduction in maximal neointimal thickness was observed in the antisense-treated group (P<.01). These changes in vascular remodeling following denuding injury resulted in an increase in residual lumen from 64±6% in the control group to 81±5% in the antisense-treated group (P<.05). Conclusions(1) Single transcatheter administration al-lowed for endoluminal delivery of oligomers to the site of coronary arterial injury. (2) C-myc antisense oligomers reduced the formation of neointima in denuded coronary arteries, implying a therapeutic potential of this approach for the prevention of coronary restenosis. (3) It is postulated that the c-myc proto-oncogene is involved in the process of vascular remodeling, regulating smooth muscle cell proliferation and extracellular matrix synthesis.
Visual Target Tracking Based on Multiple Cues and Particle Filter

The problem of target tracking in video sequences is addressed in this paper. The framework we choose is particle filter which can deal with non-linear/non-Gaussian models effectively. A particle filter can create several hypotheses in state space by randomly sampling and evaluate the true state by weighing them respectively. Color is a powerful feature in target tracking, but with color only it may be difficult to distinguish the object from background when they have similar color distribution or the illumination varies. We try to conquer the problem by using multiple cues extracted from video sequences. Here the color information is fused with the motion information in particle filter. The fusion of these two kinds of information can make the tracking process more robust. Several tracking results are given to illustrate the effectiveness of our proposed method.
Interrelationship of cyclic AMP, lipolysis, and respiration in brown fat cells.

FAIN, JOHN N. , MARK D. JACOBS, AND YVONNE C. CLEMENT-, CORMIER. Interrelationship of cyclic AMP, Zipolysis, and respiration in brown fat cells. Am. J. Physiol. 224(Z): 346-351. 1973. -The marked stimulation of oxygen consumption in brown fat cells seen after the addition of norepinephrine is thought to be secondary to the stimulation of adenylate cyclase and result from a K+-dependent uncoupling action of free fatty acids released as a result of activation of lipolysis by cyclic AMP. The present studies indicate that there was a good correlation between the ability of catecholamines and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) to affect cyclic AMP accumulation, lipolysis, and respiration. Propranolol, a beta-adrenergic antagonist, blocked the effects of both serotonin and norepinephrine. High concentrations of ouabain reduced the stimulation of cyclic AMP accumulation, lipolysis, and oxygen consumption by catecholamines but did not inhibit the effects of theophylline on lipolysis or cyclic AMP accumulation. The stimulation of respiration by added fatty acids was also unaffected by ouabain. Ouabain increased glucose conversion to carbon dioxide and decreased lactate accumulation.
Aquaporin-4 Protein Is Stably Maintained in the Hypertrophied Muscles by Functional Overload

Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) is a selective water channel that is located on the plasma membrane of myofibers in skeletal muscle and is bound to α1-syntrophin. It is considered that AQP4 is involved in the modulation of homeostasis in myofibers through the regulation of water transport and osmotic pressure. However, it remains unclear whether AQP4 expression is altered by skeletal muscle hypertrophy to modulate water homeostasis in myofibers. The present study investigated the effect of muscle hypertrophy on the changes in AQP4 and α1-syntrophin expression patterns in myofibers. Novel findings indicated in the present study were as follows: 1) Expression levels of AQP4 and α1-syntrophin were stably maintained in hypertrophied muscles, and 2) AQP4 was not expressed in the myofibers containing the slow-type myosin heavy chain isoform (MHC) with or without the presence of fast-type MHC. The present study suggests that AQP4 may regulate the efficiency of water transport in hypertrophied myofibers through its interaction with α1-syntrophin. In addition, this study suggests that AQP4 expression may be inhibited by a regulatory mechanism activated under physiological conditions that induces the expression of slow-type MHC in skeletal muscles.
Mantle cell lymphoma and diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma of the testis: a unique case of composite non‐Hodgkin lymphoma

Primary testicular non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is a rare entity with the most common histologic subtype consisting of diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Patients with primary testicular lymphoma (PTL) have a poor prognosis and a higher propensity for relapse. Also rare are composite lymphomas (CL) defined as two or more morphologically and phenotypically distinct lymphomas coexisting in a single organ or tissue. Here we present the first reported case of primary testicular composite lymphoma consisting of DLBCL and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL).
Targeting Toxoplasma Tubules: Tubulin, Microtubules, and Associated Proteins in a Human Pathogen

ABSTRACT Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite that causes serious opportunistic infections, birth defects, and blindness in humans. Microtubules are critically important components of diverse structures that are used throughout the Toxoplasma life cycle. As in other eukaryotes, spindle microtubules are required for chromosome segregation during replication. Additionally, a set of membrane-associated microtubules is essential for the elongated shape of invasive “zoites,” and motility follows a spiral trajectory that reflects the path of these microtubules. Toxoplasma zoites also construct an intricate, tubulin-based apical structure, termed the conoid, which is important for host cell invasion and associates with proteins typically found in the flagellar apparatus. Last, microgametes specifically construct a microtubule-containing flagellar axoneme in order to fertilize macrogametes, permitting genetic recombination. The specialized roles of these microtubule populations are mediated by distinct sets of associated proteins. This review summarizes our current understanding of the role of tubulin, microtubule populations, and associated proteins in Toxoplasma; these components are used for both novel and broadly conserved processes that are essential for parasite survival.
Phase Congruency based edge saliency detection and rate control for perceptual image and video coding

Phase Congruency (PC) features are firstly introduced into image and video coding field in this paper. As an effective tool to measure the edge information for image textures, PC change can be used to evaluate the compression loss, i.e. the coding distortions in image and video coding. Firstly, the compression influences on PC maps are given and analyzed. Secondly, the relationship between the consumed bits and the PC distortion are modeled. Lastly, the Mean-Squared-Error (MSE) based and PC distortion based optimized Coding Tree Unit (CTU) level bit allocation solutions are combined as a two step bit allocation and rate control method for intra frames for High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). Experimental results demonstrate that, compared with the state-of-the-art JCTVC-K0103 and JCTVC-M0257 methods, for small size videos, the proposed method can achieve significant R-D performance gains, and also works well on PC map preservation, quality smoothness and bit rate accuracy.
Histoplasmosis in animals.

Histoplasmosis was the most common endemic mycosis in dogs in the United States and Canada between 1964 and 1976 (1). The case rates per 100,000 patient-yearsat-risk at 14 colleges of veterinary medicine for histoplasmosis was 2.5 times higher than blastomycosis and 3.5 times higher than coccidioidomycosis (1). The relative risk in dogs today is unknown. In humans in the United States, histoplasmosis was the most common cause for hospitalization, 1.5 times more common than coccidioidomycosis and 4.4 times more common than blastomycosis (2). Many veterinarians are unaware that histoplasmosis is the most common endemic mycosis.
Bas van Fraassen : Two Different Perspectives on Causality and Quantum Mechanics

Moritz Schlick’s interpretation of the causality principle is based on Schlick’s understanding of quantum mechanics and on his conviction that quantum mechanics strongly supports an empiricist reading of causation in his sense. The present paper compares the empiricist position held by Schlick with Bas van Fraassen’s more recent conception of constructive empiricism. It is pointed out that the development from Schlick’s understanding of logical empiricism to constructive empiricism reflects a difference between the understanding of quantum mechanics endorsed by Schlick and the understanding that had been established at the time of van Fraassen’s writing.
A novel feedforward noise shaping for word-length reduction

In this paper, we present a novel approach to shape the quantization noise during word-length reduction. In comparison to the traditional feedback noise shaping, our approach is feedforward and thus inherently stable. It can achieve one or multiple frequency notches in the quantization noise spectrum with controlled notch width and notch depth while keeping the out-of-band noise level lower than the feedback noise shaping. Results from a digital communication example demonstrate the performance of this new noise shaping method.
Leadership cultures and discursive hybridisation : On the cultural production of leadership in higher education reforms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of leadership culture and analyse how leadership cultures are produced in higher education reforms, in a hybridised discursive context of traditional academic values and emerging managerialism and leaderism. Design/methodology/approach – Building on a perspective on leadership as a cultural phenomenon emerging in processes in which societal, sectorial and professional discursive resources are invoked, this study adds to earlier studies on how notions of leadership are involved in the transformation of higher education organisations. To this end, the method combines a traditional qualitative study of change initiatives over a long period of time with participative observation. Focusing on two vignettes, the analysis centres on how several discursive resources are drawn upon in daily interaction. Findings – The emergence of hybrid leadership cultures in which several discursive resources are drawn upon in daily interaction is illustrated. This pa.
Preference Heterogeneity in Experiments: Comparing the Field and Laboratory

Do laboratory experiments provide a reliable basis for measuring field preferences? Economists recognize that preferences can differ across individuals, but only a few attempts have been made to elicit individual preferences for representative samples of a population in a particular geographical area, region or country. Our primary objective is to directly compare estimates of preferences elicited from a convenience sample and the estimates for the wider population from which that sample is drawn. We examine the strengths and weaknesses of laboratory and field experiments to detect differences in preferences over risk and time that are associated with standard, observable characteristics of the individual.
Development and characterization of suramin-resistant Chinese hamster fibrosarcoma cells: drug-dependent formation of multicellular spheroids and a greatly enhanced metastatic potential.

Suramin-resistant DC-3F/SU 1,000 Chinese hamster fibrosarcoma cells were obtained by continuous exposure of parental DC-3F cells to increasing concentrations of suramin (1 mg/ml final concentration). These cells are 10-fold more resistant to suramin compared to the parental cell line as determined by colony formation in the continuous presence of drug; the 50% effective dose for DC-3F is 35 micrograms/ml whereas the 50% effective dose for DC-3F/SU 1,000 is 380 micrograms/ml. The resistance is not due to reduced drug accumulation and is stable for at least 10 months in the absence of drug. Sensitive and resistant cells show comparable growth rate, cell size, and DNA content. In the presence of suramin, DC-3F/SU 1,000 cells form big multicellular spheroids which regrow as monolayer cultures when the drug is removed. Similar morphological changes are not observed for sensitive DC-3F cells exposed to isotoxic doses of suramin but appeared early on during the development of resistance. Inoculation of DC-3F or DC-3F/SU 1,000 cells s.c. into nude mice results in 100% tumor take within 1 week for both groups. Although the tumor size increases at the same rate, only animals given injections of DC-3F/SU 1,000 cells show extensive and persistent s.c. hemorrhages around the tumor. By 3 weeks, 30% of DC-3F-injected mice (9 of 30) show approximately 5 metastases/lung compared to -262 metastases/lung in 100% of DC-3F/SU 1,000-inoculated mice (30 of 30). These findings have several important implications: (a) given the fact that suramin is currently used clinically, special precaution may be warranted in patients undergoing suramin treatment; (b) the drug may possess an unusual potential to interfere with processes essential to invasion and metastasis which, when properly used, may result in the development of antimetastatic therapies; and (c) suramin may serve as a model compound for other molecules of the antiangiogenic and/or antimetastatic type.
Utility of Two Cancer Organization Websites for a Multiethnic, Public Hospital Oncology Population: Comparative Cross-Sectional Survey

Background While information websites have been developed by major cancer organizations, their appropriateness for patients in multiethnic, multilingual public hospital settings has received limited attention. Objective The objective of the study was to determine the utility of cancer information websites for a public hospital patient population. Methods A 70-item questionnaire was developed to evaluate cancer information seeking behavior, Internet access and use, and content appropriateness of two cancer information websites: People Living with Cancer from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and Breast Cancer Info from the Susan Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (SKF). Interviews were conducted with consecutive consenting oncology patients seen in a public hospital oncology clinic. Results Fifty-nine persons participated in the survey. The response rate was 80%. Participants were Caucasian (25%), African American (19%), Hispanic (42%), and Asian/Pacific Islander (11%). English was the primary language in 53% of participants, 56% had a high school education or less, and 74% had an annual income less than US $35000. With respect to computer and Internet use, 71% had computer access, and 44% searched for cancer information online, with more being interested in obtaining online information in the future (63%). Participants who had computer access were likely to be English speaking (P = .04). Those less likely to have previously used a computer tended to have a lower annual income (P = .02) or to be males aged 55 years or older (P < .05). When shown sample content from the two websites, almost all participants stated that it was “easy to understand” (ASCO 96%, SKF 96%) and had “easy to understand terms” (ASCO 94%, SKF 92%). Somewhat fewer respondents agreed that the websites provided “information they could use” (ASCO 88%, SKF 80%) or that they would return to these websites (ASCO 73%, SKF 68%). The majority planned to “discuss website information with their oncologists” (ASCO 82%, SKF 70%). Conclusions Multiethnic, multilingual cancer patients at a public county hospital commonly had Internet access and found the content of two websites representative of major cancer organizations to be both understandable and useful.
USE OF MOTHER TONGUE IN ENGLISH OBSERVATION DIARIES

The use of mother tongue in foreign langue classes is a poorly investigated area, although its importance is inevi table taken the amount of input, thus the success of language learn ing into consideration. Research in this field is carried ou t mainly in the form of lesson observations, which provide fertile groun d for the investigation of classroom practices. One productiv e way of the observations is English-specialised primary teacher s’ monitoring, because a written document called observation diary is made about the ongoing teaching and learning practice of langu age classes. In this paper the appearance and types of mother tongu e use are summarised relying on observation diaries which inc lude observation logs and lesson plans. Mother tongue use shapes a c omplex system in the context of language users, forms, functions and school tasks. Teachers’ and learners’ practise of using mother to ngue is discussed in relation to the variety of these constituents. The most commonly used forms of mother tongue use on the part of the teacher are explanation, command, and disciplining, while langu age learners use it mainly for translation and summary. The observat ion diary writer’s mother tongue use materializes in the form of comme nts related to the course of the lesson. Depending on language forms, there are a number of functions to which mother tongue is used, such as organization, disciplining, teaching grammatical ru les, explaining rules of games, giving additional information, etc. The tendency of mother tongue use is outlined and results are also demonstrated by classes. The research method made the calculation o f time duration spent on mother tongue use possible, thus the estim ated time by language classes and by particular language blocks are also indicated.
Notification of occupational disease and the risk of work disability: a two-year follow-up study.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to analyze if notification of an occupational disease increases the risk of work disability. METHODS We included 2304 patients examined at the Department of Occupational Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, 1998-2005 and followed them for two years. A total of 564 patients were notified of an occupational disease when they were examined at baseline and 1740 patients were not. We obtained weekly information on sick payment, unemployment payment, disability pension, rehabilitation benefit, and other social benefits during the two years of follow-up from a national register. Using Cox regression models, we analyzed notification and adjusted hazard ratios (HRadj) of work disability (defined as >12 weeks of social benefits during the first or second year of follow-up). RESULTS Prior to notification, notified patients had higher levels of clinical, occupational, and social characteristics that predict poorer vocational prognosis. Analyses that adjusted for these differences showed an increased risk of work disability following notification for patients who were working when notified at baseline (HRadj 1.46, 95% CI 1.17-1.82). No effect was seen for patients who were not working. CONCLUSIONS Notification of an occupational disease may, as an unintended side effect, increase the risk of work disability. A cautious interpretation is warranted because data analyses may not fully have accounted for the poorer vocational prognosis already present at baseline.
Efficient program synthesis using constraint satisfaction in inductive logic programming

We present NrSample, a framework for program synthesis in inductive logic programming. NrSample uses propositional logic constraints to exclude undesirable candidates from the search. This is achieved by representing constraints as propositional formulae and solving the associated constraint satisfaction problem. We present a variety of such constraints: pruning, input-output, functional (arithmetic), and variable splitting. NrSample is also capable of detecting search space exhaustion, leading to further speedups in clause induction and optimality. We benchmark NrSample against enumeration search (Aleph's default) and Progol's A* search in the context of program synthesis. The results show that, on large program synthesis problems, NrSample induces between 1 and 1358 times faster than enumeration (236 times faster on average), always with similar or better accuracy. Compared to Progol A*, NrSample is 18 times faster on average with similar or better accuracy except for two problems: one in which Progol A* substantially sacrificed accuracy to induce faster, and one in which Progol A* was a clear winner. Functional constraints provide a speedup of up to 53 times (21 times on average) with similar or better accuracy. We also benchmark using a few concept learning (non-program synthesis) problems. The results indicate that without strong constraints, the overhead of solving constraints is not compensated for.
The hidden elasticity of avian and mammalian genomes

Genome size in mammals and birds shows remarkably little interspecific variation compared to other taxa. Yet, genome sequencing has revealed that many mammal and bird lineages have experienced differential rates of transposable element (TE) accumulation, which would be predicted to cause substantial variation in genome size between species. Thus, we hypothesize that there has been co-variation between the amount of DNA gained by transposition and lost by deletion during mammal and avian evolution, resulting in genome size homeostasis. To test this model, we develop a computational pipeline to quantify the amount of DNA gained by TE expansion and lost by deletion over the last 100 million years (My) in the lineages of 10 species of eutherian mammals and 24 species of birds. The results reveal extensive variation in the amount of DNA gained via lineage-specific transposition, but that DNA loss counteracted this expansion to various extent across lineages. Our analysis of the rate and size spectrum of deletion events implies that DNA removal in both mammals and birds has proceeded mostly through large segmental deletions (>10 kb). These findings support a unified ‘accordion’ model of genome size evolution in eukaryotes whereby DNA loss counteracting TE expansion is a major determinant of genome size. Furthermore, we propose that extensive DNA loss, and not necessarily a dearth of TE activity, has been the primary force maintaining the greater genomic compaction of flying birds and bats relative to their flightless relatives.