Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Early Intervention of Tyrosine Nitration Prevents Vaso-Obliteration and Neovascularization in Ischemic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy and retinopathy of prematurity are blinding disorders that follow a pathological pattern of ischemic retinopathy and affect premature infants and working-age adults. Yet, the treatment options are limited to laser photocoagulation. The goal of this study is to elucidate the molecular mechanism and examine the therapeutic effects of inhibiting tyrosine nitration on protecting early retinal vascular cell death and late neovascularization in the ischemic retinopathy model. Ischemic retinopathy was developed by exposing neonatal mice to 75% oxygen [postnatal day (p) 7–p12] followed by normoxia (21% oxygen) (p12–p17). Peroxynitrite decomposition catalyst 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrinato iron III chloride (FeTPPS) (1 mg/kg), the nitration inhibitor epicatechin (10 mg/kg) or the thiol donor N-acetylcysteine (NAC, 150 mg/kg) were administered (p7–p12) or (p7–p17). Vascular endothelial cells were incubated at hyperoxia (40% oxygen) or normoxia (21% oxygen) for 48 h. Vascular density was determined in retinal flat mounts labeled with isolectin B4. Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor, caspase-3, and poly(ADP ribose) polymerase (PARP), activation of Akt and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and tyrosine nitration of the phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase p85 subunit were analyzed by Western blot. Hyperoxia-induced peroxynitrite caused endothelial cell apoptosis as indicated by expression of cleaved caspase-3 and PARP leading to vaso-obliteration. These effects were associated with significant tyrosine nitration of the p85 subunit of PI 3-kinase, decreased Akt activation, and enhanced p38 MAPK activation. Blocking tyrosine nitration of PI 3-kinase with epicatechin or NAC restored Akt phosphorylation, and inhibited vaso-obliteration at p12 and neovascularization at p17 comparable with FeTPPS. Early inhibition of tyrosine nitration with use of epicatechin or NAC can represent safe and effective vascular-protective agents in ischemic retinopathy.
What Evidence Do We Have for Pharmaceutical Galactagogues in the Treatment of Lactation Insufficiency?—A Narrative Review

Inadequate breast milk supply is a frequently reported reason for early discontinuation of breastfeeding and represents a critical opportunity for intervening to improve breastfeeding outcomes. For women who continue to experience insufficient milk supply despite the utilisation of non-pharmacological lactation support strategies, pharmacological intervention with medications used to augment lactation, commonly referred to as galactagogues, is common. Galactagogues exert their pharmacological effects through altering the complex hormonal milieu regulating lactation, particularly prolactin and oxytocin. This narrative review provides an appraisal of the existing evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of pharmaceutical treatments for lactation insufficiency to guide their use in clinical practice. The greatest body of evidence surrounds the use of domperidone, with studies demonstrating moderate short-term improvements in breast milk supply. Evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of metoclopramide is less robust, but given that it shares the same mechanism of action as domperidone it may represent a potential treatment alternative where domperidone is unsuitable. Data on remaining interventions such as oxytocin, prolactin and metformin is too limited to support their use in clinical practice. The review provides an overview of key evidence gaps and areas of future research, including the impacts of pharmaceutical galactagogues on breast milk composition and understanding factors contributing to individual treatment response to pharmaceutical galactagogues.
Levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in familial longevity: the Leiden Longevity Study

Background: Low levels of 25(OH) vitamin D are associated with various age-related diseases and mortality, but causality has not been determined. We investigated vitamin D levels in the offspring of nonagenarians who had at least one nonagenarian sibling; these offspring have a lower prevalence of age-related diseases and a higher propensity to reach old age compared with their partners. Methods: We assessed anthropometric characteristics, 25(OH) vitamin D levels, parathyroid hormone levels, dietary vitamin D intake and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with vitamin D levels. We included offspring (n = 1038) of nonagenarians who had at least one nonagenarian sibling, and the offsprings’ partners (n = 461; controls) from the Leiden Longevity Study. We included age, sex, body mass index, month during which blood sampling was performed, dietary and supplemental vitamin D intake, and creatinine levels as possible confounding factors. Results: The offspring had significantly lower levels of vitamin D (64.3 nmol/L) compared with controls (68.4 nmol/L; p = 0.002), independent of possible confounding factors. There was no difference in the levels of parathyroid hormone between groups. Compared with controls, the offspring had a lower frequency of a genetic variant in the CYP2R1 gene (rs2060793) (p = 0.04). The difference in vitamin D levels between offspring and controls persisted over the 2 most prevalent genotypes of this SNP. Interpretation: Compared with controls, the offspring of nonagenarians who had at least one nonagenarian sibling had a reduced frequency of a common variant in the CYP2R1 gene, which predisposes people to high vitamin D levels; they also had lower levels of vitamin D that persisted over the 2 most prevalent genotypes. These results cast doubt on the causal nature of previously reported associations between low levels of vitamin D and age-related diseases and mortality.
Spatial-Temporal Variations of Water Quality and Its Relationship to Land Use and Land Cover in Beijing, China

Rapid urbanization with intense land use and land cover (LULC) change and explosive population growth has a great impact on water quality. The relationship between LULC characteristics and water quality provides important information for non-point sources (NPS) pollution management. In this study, we first quantified the spatial-temporal patterns of five water quality variables in four watersheds with different levels of urbanization in Beijing, China. We then examined the effects of LULC on water quality across different scales, using Pearson correlation analysis, redundancy analysis, and multiple regressions. The results showed that water quality was improved over the sampled years but with no significant difference (p > 0.05). However, water quality was significantly different among nonurban and both exurban and urban sites (p < 0.05). Forest land was positively correlated with water quality and affected water quality significantly (p < 0.05) within a 200 m buffer zone. Impervious surfaces, water, and crop land were negatively correlated with water quality. Crop land and impervious surfaces, however, affected water quality significantly (p < 0.05) for buffer sizes greater than 800 m. Grass land had different effects on water quality with the scales. The results provide important insights into the relationship between LULC and water quality, and thus for controlling NPS pollution in urban areas.
The influence of functional and symbolic metaphors on product perception

This study is about the perception of abstract product properties like a product’s personality and the possible influence of metaphorical contexts and regulatory focus. In two experiments participants evaluated pictures of products via an online questionnaire in one of three context conditions, featuring a functional metaphor, a symbolic metaphor or a control condition. In the first experiment metaphorical context information with symbolically or functionally related content showed different effects for utilitarian and symbolic products. Functional metaphors enhanced perceived sincerity and competence in symbolic products while symbolic metaphors enhanced sophistication in utilitarian products. In a second experiment the effects of functional and symbolic metaphors on the perception of product personality and product attitude of a neutral product was investigated while controlling for the regulatory focus of participants. The results showed that regulatory focus had no effect on product personality perceptions.
Six widespread bacterial clones among Escherichia coli K1 isolates

Variable properties among Escherichia coli isolates include serotype, electrophoretic migration of major outer membrane proteins, metabolic properties, production of hemolysin or colicin or both, and plasmid content. These characteristics were compared in E. coli strains of capsular types K1, K5, K92, and K100 and in non-encapsulated isolates. The 234 bacterial strains from the United States and Europe which we studied had been isolated from healthy or diseased individuals recently or as long ago as 1941. Regardless of source, most O7:K1, O16:K1, and O75:K100 isolates could be assigned to three unique, serotype-specific groups, which were interpreted as representing three bacterial clones. Two bacterial (sub)clones each were discerned among the O18:K1 and O18:K5 isolates, and two further, distinct clones were discerned among the O1:K1 isolates. The implications of these results for epidemiological analyses and for virulence are discussed.
Performance Comparison of Routing Protocols of MANET in Real World Scenario using NS3

ad hoc network (MANET) is a collection of several wireless devices or mobile users that can communicate among themselves over wireless links in a peer to peer basis and thereby creating a dynamic, arbitrary graph. But some adverse characteristics of MANET like dynamic topology, limited bandwidth, link failure and energy constraints, imposes new demands on routing protocol. This paper aims to study the performance evaluation and comparison of three prominent routing protocols: Destination Sequence Distance Vector (DSDV), Ad-hoc On demand Distance Vector (AODV) and Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR), in a real life scenario. In a given scenario, students investigate the historical site in which number of packets being sends and number of nodes in the network affects the communication reliability. Extensive simulations are made to evaluate the performance of these protocols using various performance differential metrics like packet delivery ratio, total energy consumption and throughput using NS3. In the end it is seen that in most simulation results, proactive routing protocols (DSDV, OLSR) performed significantly better than reactive routing protocols.
An Ankyrin-like Protein with Transmembrane Domains Is Specifically Lost after Oncogenic Transformation of Human Fibroblasts*

We have identified a novel transformation-sensitive mRNA, which is present in cultured fibroblasts but is lacking in SV40 transformed cells as well as in many mesenchymal tumor cell lines. The corresponding gene is located on human chromosome 8 in band 8q13. The open reading frame of the mRNA encodes a protein of 1119 amino acids forming two distinct domains. The N-terminal domain consists of 18 repeats that are related to the cytoskeletal protein ankyrin. The C-terminal domain contains six putative transmembrane segments that resemble many ion channels. This overall structure is reminiscent of TRP-like proteins that function as store-operated calcium channels. The novel protein with anM r of 130 kDa is expressed at a very low level in human fibroblasts and at a moderate level in liposarcoma cells. Overexpression in eukaryotic cells appears to interfere with normal growth, suggesting that it might play a direct or indirect role in signal transduction and growth control.
Causes of cardioembolism in cases of ischemic stroke Causes Number Rheumatic heart disease Prosthetic valve Infective endocarditis Complete heart block Atrial septal defect Coarctation of aorta Cardiac surgery

Numerous etiologies are responsible for cases of stroke in young adults. This study reviews the causes of two types of stroke (ischemic and intracerebral hemorrhage) in young adults aged 15 to 40 years, admitted to our center (a tertiary care center) from 1997 to 2002. The purpose of this study is to determine the relative frequency of causes of stroke in young adults and compare this with published data in the literature. Using the codes 46.0 to 46.8 of the International Classification of Diseases10 Edition (ICD-10), cases were identified from the records of the stroke patients admitted in Imam Khomeini Hospital and the data were collected from their files using a comprehensive questionnaire. Forty-two cases of ischemic stroke (62%) and 26 cases of intracerebral hemorrhage (38%) were identified. The leading cause of ischemic stroke was cardioembolism (38.1%), followed by atherosclerosis in 5 cases (11.9%). Among cardiac causes infarction was attributable to consequences of rheumatic heart disease in 8 cases. In 3 cases a cessation or decrease in dose of warfarin was followed directly by an ischemic stroke. The most leading cause of intracerebral hemorrhage was hypertension (30.8%). Other causes were anticoagulant therapy, intratumoral hemorrhage, aplastic anemia, leukemia, arteriovenous malformations, and chronic active hepatitis. In conclusion, cardioembolism and hypertension were the most leading causes of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke in young adults admitted in our hospital. Acta Medica Iranica, 44(2): 119-124; 2006 ©2006 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.
High Level of Correlation of Human Papillomavirus-16 DNA Viral Load Estimates Generated by Three Real-time PCR Assays Applied on Genital Specimens

Human papillomavirus-16 (HPV-16) viral load could be a biomarker predictive of the presence of high-grade cervical lesions. Recently, several real-time PCR assays have been developed to accurately measure HPV-16 viral load. However, results from various reports using these assays cannot be compared because interassay test correlation has not been documented. The variability of HPV-16 DNA quantitation was assessed by comparing three real-time PCR assays (HPV-16 L1, HPV-16 E6, and HPV-16 E6 PG) applied on 144 genital samples (125 cervicovaginal lavages and 19 specimens collected using vaginal tampons) obtained from 84 women (66 HIV seropositive and 18 HIV seronegative). Correlation was greater between the HPV-16 E6 assays [correlation coefficient (ρ) = 0.92] than between each E6 assay and HPV-16 L1 assay (ρ = 0.83 and 0.84, respectively). The median HPV-16 copies measured by HPV-16 E6 PG (14,609 HPV-16 copies/2 μL sample) and HPV-16 E6 (18,846 HPV-16 copies/2 μL) were similar (P = 0.27) but were both greater than the median HPV-16 copies measured with the L1 assay (4,124 HPV-16 copies/2 μL; P < 0.001). Correlations between HPV-16 E6 assays were similar for samples containing non-European (ρ = 0.93) or European (ρ = 0.95) variants. However, the correlation between HPV-16 L1 and HPV-16 E6 PG or HPV-16 E6 was lower for specimens containing non-European variants (ρ = 0.80 and 0.76, respectively) compared with specimens containing European variants (ρ > 0.85). HPV-16 DNA quantity estimated with the three assays was comparable although lower with the HPV-16 L1 assay. The level of correlation depended on viral polymorphism, viral load, and cervical disease status.
Multi-modal Analysis of Music: A large-scale Evaluation

Multimedia data by definition comprises several different types of content. Music specifically inherits audio at its core, text in the form of lyrics, images by means of album covers, and video in the form of music videos. Yet, in many Music Information Retrieval applications, only the audio content is utilised. A few recent studies have however shown the usefulness of incorporating also other modalities; in most of these studies, textual information in the form of song lyrics or also artist biogra- phies, were employed. Following this direction, the contribution of this paper is a large-scale evaluation of the combination of audio and text (lyrics) features for genre classification, on a database comprising over 20.000 songs. We briefly present the audio and lyrics features employed, and provide an in-depth discussion of the experimental results.
Short-blocklength non-binary LDPC codes with feedback-dependent incremental transmissions

One advantage of feedback in a point-to-point memoryless channel is the reduction of the average blocklength required to approach capacity. This paper presents a communication system with feedback that uses carefully designed non-binary LDPC (NB-LDPC) codes and incremental transmissions to achieve 92-94% of the idealized throughput of rate-compatible sphere-packing with maximum-likelihood decoding (RCSP-ML) for average blocklengths of 150-450 bits. The system uses active feedback by carefully selecting each bit of additional incremental information to improve the reliability of the least reliable variable node. The system uses post processing in the decoder to further improve performance. The average blocklengths of 150-450 bits are small enough that feedback provides a throughput advantage but also large enough that overhead that might be associated with transmitter confirmation is more easily tolerated.
Mls‐1 Superantigen: Molecular Characterization and Functional Analysis

In conventional lymphocyte stimulation, antigen-presenting cells (APC) process and present foreign antigen in the binding groove of the class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules to a specific group of T lymphocytes (Babbit et al. 1985, Buus et al. 1987, Brown et al. 1988). A novel group of antigens has been defined recently, termed superantigens (SAG) (Janeway et al. 1989, White et al. 1989, Marrack et al. 1991, Frankel et al. 1991, Woodland et al. 1991, Dyson et al. 1991), which unlike conventional antigens do not require processing by APCs (Carlsson et al. 1988, Fleischer & Schrezenmeier 1988), and bind outside the peptide binding groove formed by the class II MHC molecules (Karp et al. 1990, Dellabona et ai. 1990). Recognition of conventional antigens by T cells is mediated by both the a and ji chains of the T-cell receptor (TCR). In contrast, SAGs characteristically stimulate a large polyclonal population of T cells, predominantly on the basis of the V^ element of the TCR (Kappler et al. 1987). Bacterial enterotoxins such as the staphylococcus toxin A, and B, (Janeway et al. 1989, White et al. 1989), and the rabies virus nucleocapsid protein (Lafon et al. 1992), are examples of proteins that function as SAGs. Endogenous SAGs like the murine Mis (Minor lymphocyte stimulating) were originally described as elements that stimulate T lymphocyte proliferation in cultures of MHC-matched T cells (Festenstein 1973). Several distinct loci of these genes termed Mis have since been identified. Recently, several groups have demonstrated that the Murine Mammary Tumor Virus (MMTV) encodes the Mis SAG within the U3 region of the viral 3' long terminal repeat (Acha-Orbea et al. 1991, Choi et al. 1991, Beutner
Smart traffic light in terms of the cognitive road traffic management system (CTMS) based on the Internet of Things

This work is aimed to describe a cognitive traffic management system (CTMS) based on the Internet of Things approach. Telecommunication technologies, which can be used for the system development and deployment, are analyzed. Smart traffic light integration is proposed as a replacement of the existing traffic lights. The main purpose of such replacement is to optimize traffic management processes which are made by government authorities. Smart traffic light integration excludes mistakes caused by human factor. Proposed approach can be used as a part of e-government system in further.
Fast and Accurate Resonance Assignment of Small-to-Large Proteins by Combining Automated and Manual Approaches

The process of resonance assignment is fundamental to most NMR studies of protein structure and dynamics. Unfortunately, the manual assignment of residues is tedious and time-consuming, and can represent a significant bottleneck for further characterization. Furthermore, while automated approaches have been developed, they are often limited in their accuracy, particularly for larger proteins. Here, we address this by introducing the software COMPASS, which, by combining automated resonance assignment with manual intervention, is able to achieve accuracy approaching that from manual assignments at greatly accelerated speeds. Moreover, by including the option to compensate for isotope shift effects in deuterated proteins, COMPASS is far more accurate for larger proteins than existing automated methods. COMPASS is an open-source project licensed under GNU General Public License and is available for download from http://www.liu. se/forskning/foass/tidigare-foass/patrik-lundstrom/software? l=en. Source code and binaries for Linux, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows are available.
Longitudinal paths to the metabolic syndrome: can the incidence of the metabolic syndrome be predicted? The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

OBJECTIVE To determine the predictors of incidence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) (Adult Treatment Panel III criteria) and to determine if longitudinal changes in specific MetS components differ by age or gender in participants who developed versus those who did not develop MetS. METHODS A total of 506 men and 461 women (baseline age 52.4 +/- 17.5 years) from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging (BLSA) were followed longitudinally (at least two study visits), and censored when they developed the MetS or reported use of antihypertensive or lipid-lowering medications. RESULTS After a follow-up period of 6 years, the incidence of the MetS was 25.5% in men and 14.8% in women. As many as 66% of men and 73% of women with one or two altered MetS components at baseline did not develop the MetS. Predictors of developing MetS were higher baseline abdominal obesity or triglycerides and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (area under receiver-operated curve [AUC] = 0.84 in men, 0.88 in women). Addition of the rate of changes in MetS components over time slightly improved predictive accuracy (AUC = 0.94 in men, 0.92 in women). Men were more likely than women to have the MetS without obesity, whereas women were more likely than men to have the MetS without an altered glucose metabolism. CONCLUSIONS The patterns of MetS components and the longitudinal changes that lead to the MetS are different in men and women. Interestingly, components with the highest prevalence prior to MetS development, such as elevated blood pressure, are not necessarily the stronger risk factors.
Effect of Microencapsulation Shear Stress on the Structural Integrity and Biological Activity of a Model Monoclonal Antibody, Trastuzumab

The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of process shear stressors on the stability of a model monoclonal antibody, trastuzumab. Trastuzumab, at concentrations of 0.4–4.0 mg/mL, was subjected to sonication, freeze-thaw, lyophilisation, spray drying and was encapsulated into micro- and nanoparticles. The stressed samples were analysed for structural integrity by gel electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE, and size exclusion chromatography (SEC), while the conformational integrity was analysed by circular dichroism (CD). Biological activity of the stressed trastuzumab was investigated by measuring the inhibition of cell proliferation of HER-2 expressing cell lines. Results show that trastuzumab was resistant to the process shear stresses applied and to microencapsulation processes. At the lowest concentration of 0.4 mg/mL, a low percent (<9%) of soluble/reversible aggregates may have been formed. No loss of structural integrity, conformation was observed and no significant change in the biological activity of trastuzumab was observed (ANOVA; p > 0.05). The results of this study conclude that trastuzumab may be resistant to various processing stresses. These findings have important implications with respect to pharmaceutical processing of monoclonal antibodies.