Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
BET, a novel neuronal transmembrane protein with multiple EGF-like motifs

Using the signal sequence trap method, we have identified a cDNA clone coding for a type I transmembrane protein, BET, with 10 epidermal growth factor (EGF) motifs in the extracellular domain. In situ hybridization revealed that the bet mRNA is specifically expressed in the mitral/tufted cells in the olfactory bulb, Purkinje cells in the cerebellum, and pyramidal cells in the hippocampus. Using polyclonal antibodies, we have demonstrated that the BET protein is highly glycosylated and is localized in patches in the dendrites and in the somata of neurons. Since the predicted structure of BET shares many similarities with the Notch ligands, this novel protein may play crucial roles in establishing the neuronal networks in the olfactory system, cerebellum, and hippocampus. BET is the first transmembrane protein containing only multiple EGF-like repeats specifically expressed in the brain.
Representations of the body surface in postcentral parietal cortex of Macaca fascicularis

The somatotopic organization of the postcentral parietal cortex of the Old World monkey, Macaca fascicularis, was determined with multi‐unit microelectrode recordings. The results lead to the following conclusions: (1) There are at least two complete and systematic representations of the contralateral body surface in the cortex of the postcentral gyrus. One representation is contained within Area 3b, the other within Area 1. (2) While there are important differences in the organization of the two representations, they are basically mirror‐images of each other. (3) Each representation maintains body‐surface adjacency by cortical adjacency in some mediolateral regions. In other regions, two types of discontinuities can be described: first, in which adjacent body surfaces are represented in separate cortical loci; second, in which adjacent cortical regions represent disparate body‐surface regions. The internal organization of each representation is better described as a composite of somatotopic regions (Merzenich et al., '78) than as a serial array of dermatomal bands, or as a “homunculus. ” (4) While architectonic Area 2 responds to stimulation of deep body tissue, at least parts of Area 2 also respond to cutaneous stimulation. The organization of the cutaneous representation of the hand in Area 2 is basically a mirror‐image of the hand representation in Area 1. (5) Area 3a is activated by deep body tissue stimulation, suggesting the possibility of a fourth body representation within the traditional “S‐I” region of somatosensory cortex in macaques. In accord with a previous study in a New World monkey (Merzenich et al., '78), we suggest that the cutaneous representation in Area 3b be considered as SI proper, and that the cutaneous representation in Area 1 be termed the posterior cutaneous field. Furthermore, based on the orientation of the representations of the body surface, as well as other factors, we suggest that the representation in Area 3b is homologous to “SmI” (or “SI”) in non‐primates.
Angiotensin II accelerates endothelial progenitor cell senescence through induction of oxidative stress

Objectives Recent studies have revealed an association between coronary risk factors and both the number and function of bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cell (EPC). We investigated the effect of angiotensin II (Ang II) on EPC senescence, leading to the impairment of proliferative activity. Methods and results EPCs were isolated from peripheral blood and characterized. Both reverse transcription (RT)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Western blotting were used to assess gp91phox expression. Immunofluorescence of nitrotyrosine provided evidence of peroxynitrite formation. Our data indicate that Ang II increased the expression of gp91phox mRNA in a dose-dependent manner, which was attenuated by Ang II type 1 (AT1) receptor antagonist valsartan. Similarly, Western blotting revealed that Ang II stimulated an increase in gp91phox, whereas pre-treatment with Valsartan reduced the Ang II-induced expression of gp91phox protein. Valsartan as well as superoxide dismutase (SOD) also inhibited Ang II-induced peroxynitrite formation. The exposure of cultured EPC to Ang II (100 nmol/l) significantly accelerated the rate of senescence compared to a control during 14 days in culture as determined by acidic β-galactosidase staining. Ang II-induced EPC senescence was significantly inhibited by pre-treatment of either valsartan or SOD (P < 0.01). Because cellular senescence is critically influenced by telomerase, which elongates telomeres, we measured telomerase activity by using PCR-enzyme-linked immunosorbent-based assay. Ang II significantly diminished telomerase activity, although the effect was significantly reduced by pre-treatment with either valsartan or SOD (P < 0.01). We examined whether Ang II-induced EPC senescence translates into an impairment of EPC proliferation. MTS [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenol)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium] assay disclosed an inhibitory effect of Ang II on EPC proliferation. Conclusions Ang II increases gp91phox expression in EPC, which may contribute to oxidative stress, as evidenced by peroxynitrite formation. Ang II accelerates the onset of EPC senescence via increased oxidative stress, which may be related to telomerase inactivation. In addition, Ang II-induced EPC senescence leads to the impairment of proliferative activity.
The effect of a novel, small non-peptidyl molecule butyzamide on human thrombopoietin receptor and megakaryopoiesis

Thrombocytopenia is found in several conditions, and in many of them no treatment is available apart from platelet transfusion. Findings of this study suggest that butyzamide, an orally bioavailable human Mpl activator, may increase platelet production. See related perspective article on page 1445. Background Thrombocytopenia is a common problem in the management of patients with cancer and other conditions that affect hematopoietic cells. In previous clinical trials, the polyethylene-glycol-conjugated recombinant human megakaryocyte growth and development factor increased platelet counts in patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and solid tumors undergoing chemotherapy. However, antibodies to polyethylene-glycol-conjugated recombinant human megakaryocyte growth and development factor develop in healthy volunteers and patients undergoing chemotherapy and cross-react with endogenous thrombopoietin. As a result, clinical development of polyethylene-glycol-conjugated recombinant human megakaryocyte growth and development factor was discontinued in 1998. The aim of this study was to identify an orally bioavailable human Mpl activator that does not develop autoantibodies against endogenous thrombopoietin. Design and Methods We screened our chemical library and created a novel non-peptidyl thrombopoietin receptor, Mpl activator named butyzamide. We evaluated the effect of butyzamide on megakaryopoiesis in vitro using Ba/F3 cells expressing Mpl and human hematopoietic stem cells. For the evaluation of its in vivo effect, we administered butyzamide orally to immunodeficient NOD/Shi-scid,IL-2Rγnull (NOG) mice transplanted with human fetal liver-derived CD34+ cells and investigated the production of human platelets. Results Butyzamide specifically reacted with human Mpl and activated the same signal transduction pathway as thrombopoietin. However, unlike thrombopoietin, butyzamide did not react with murine Mpl and was shown to require the histidine residue in the transmembrane domain of Mpl for its agonistic activity. Butyzamide induced colony-forming unit-megakaryocytes and polyploid megakaryocytes from human CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells, and its effects were comparable to those of thrombopoietin. When butyzamide was administered orally at the doses of 10 and 50 mg/kg for 20 days to NOG mice transplanted with human fetal liver-derived CD34+ cells, the human platelet count increased by 6.2- and 22.9-fold, respectively. Conclusions Butyzamide is an orally bioavailable human Mpl activator, and appears to have potential for clinical development as a therapeutic agent for patients with thrombocytopenia.
SCALABLE METADATA FOR SEARCH , SONIFICATION AND DISPLAY

This paper argues for the need and usefulness of scalable content-based metadata. Scalability is here defined as the conjunction of two properties: arbitrary resolution, and convertibility between resolutions. The need follows directly from the projected exponential trend of media data size, that equally affects metadata. In addition to addressing this need, scalable metadata are useful because they are hierarchical in nature, and incorporate statistics effective for search (in automatic media handling systems) or sonification and display (in interactive media handling systems). Scalable metadata are built upon a small number of statistical operations that offer the right scalability properties: extrema (min, max), mean, variance, covariance, histogram, etc. These statistics are used alone or in combination to produce summary descriptions with a resolution tailored to the needs and constraints of the application. They can also be understood as parametrizations of the distributions of full-resolution descriptor values that they summarize. As such, they support inference mechanisms upon to build search and matching algorithms. For interactive applications, scalable content-based descriptors can be used to produce visual displays that support zooming and navigation within multimedia collections of arbitrary size, under the assistance of visual and auditory feedback.
Coronary heart disease and household air pollution from use of solid fuel: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND Evidence is emerging that indoor air pollution (IAP) from use of solid fuels for cooking and heating may be an important risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). SOURCES OF DATA We searched the Ovid Medline, Embase Classic, Embase and Web of Science databases from inception through to June 12, 2015, to identify reports of primary epidemiological research concerning the relationship of CHD to IAP from solid fuel, the likely magnitude of any increase in risk, and potential pathogenic mechanisms. AREAS OF AGREEMENT The current balance of epidemiological evidence points to an increased risk of CHD from IAP as a consequence of using solid, and especially biomass, fuels for cooking and heating. Relative risks from long-term exposure could be 2- to 4-fold. AREAS OF CONTROVERSY The evidence base is still limited, and although an association of CHD with such IAP from solid fuel is consistent with the known hazards from smoking, environmental tobacco smoke and ambient air pollution, and supported by evidence of effects on inflammatory processes, atherosclerosis and blood pressure, it requires confirmation by larger and more robust studies. GROWING POINTS The completion of two relatively small case-control studies on CHD and IAP from use of biomass fuel demonstrates the feasibility of such research, and is an encouragement to further, larger studies using similar methods. AREAS TIMELY FOR DEVELOPING RESEARCH The need for such research is particularly pressing because the incidence of CHD in developing countries is rising, and IAP may interact synergistically with the risk factors that are driving that increase. Furthermore, relatively cheap methods are available to reduce IAP from use of solid fuels, and there are indications from intervention studies that these may impact beneficially on CHD as well as other diseases caused by such pollution.
Enhanced Actin Pedestal Formation by Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 Adapted to the Mammalian Host

Upon intestinal colonization, enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) induces epithelial cells to generate actin “pedestals” beneath bound bacteria, lesions that promote colonization. To induce pedestals, EHEC utilizes a type III secretion system to translocate into the mammalian cell bacterial effectors such as translocated intimin receptor (Tir), which localizes in the mammalian cell membrane and functions as a receptor for the bacterial outer membrane protein intimin. Whereas EHEC triggers efficient pedestal formation during mammalian infection, EHEC cultured in vitro induces pedestals on cell monolayers with relatively low efficiency. To determine whether growth within the mammalian host enhances EHEC pedestal formation, we compared in vitro-cultivated bacteria with EHEC directly isolated from infected piglets. Mammalian adaptation by EHEC was associated with a dramatic increase in the efficiency of cell attachment and pedestal formation. The amounts of intimin and Tir were significantly higher in host-adapted than in in vitro-cultivated bacteria, but increasing intimin or Tir expression, or artificially increasing the level of bacterial attachment to mammalian cells, did not enhance pedestal formation by in vitro-cultivated EHEC. Instead, a functional assay suggested that host-adapted EHEC translocate Tir much more efficiently than does in vitro-cultivated bacteria. These data suggest that adaptation of EHEC to the mammalian intestine enhances bacterial cell attachment, expression of intimin and Tir, and translocation of effectors that promote actin signaling.
Three-dimensional structure of human basic fibroblast growth factor.

The three-dimensional structure of human basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) has been determined by x-ray crystallography and refined to a crystallographic residual of 17.4% at 2.2-A resolution. The structure was initially solved at a nominal resolution of 2.8 A by multiple isomorphous replacement using three heavy-atom derivatives. Although the map clearly showed the overall fold of the molecule, electron density was not observed for the first 19 amino-terminal and the last 3 carboxyl-terminal amino acids, suggesting that they are disordered. The bFGF crystals were grown from 2.0 M ammonium sulfate at pH 8.1 in space group P1 with cell dimensions a = 30.9 A, b = 33.4 A, c = 35.9 A, alpha = 59.5 degrees, beta = 72.0 degrees, and gamma = 75.6 degrees. There is one molecule per unit cell and the crystals diffract to spacings beyond 1.9 A. The overall structure of bFGF can be described as a trigonal pyramid with a fold very similar to that reported for interleukin 1 beta, interleukin 1 alpha, and soybean trypsin inhibitor. An apparent sulfate ion is bound within a basic region on the surface of the molecule and has a ligands the main-chain amide of Arg-120 and the side chains of Asn-27, Arg-120, and Lys-125. This is suggested as the presumed binding site for heparin. Residues 106-115, which are presumed to bind to the bFGF receptor [Baird, A. , Schubert, D. , Ling, N. & Guillemin, R. (1988) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85, 2324-2328], include an irregular loop that extends somewhat from the surface of the protein and is about 25 A from the presumed heparin binding site. The backbone structure of this putative receptor-binding loop is very similar, although not identical, to the corresponding region of interleukin 1 beta.
Organisational and individual strengths use as predictors of engagement and productivity

This study sought to determine whether Perceived Organisational Support for Strengths Use (POSSU) and Proactive Behaviour towards Strengths Use (PBSU) predict engagement and productivity in a sample of South African call centre operators. Participants were 218 call centre operators within the financial services sector (females=51%, males = 49%), representative of the South African population, and predominantly holding secondary educational qualifications. Information was gathered through a cross-sectional quantitative research design comprising self-report measures. The measures were administered on site within a call centre of one of the country's largest financial service providers. Structural equation modelling methods were implemented to establish the model fit of the constructs in the study and to explain structural paths between the variables. Findings showed that POSSU and PBSU are significant predictors of work engagement. PBSU predicted productivity. In addition, engagement mediated the relationship between POSSU/PBSU and productivity. This supports the theoretical context of the job demands-resources (JD-R) model and provides grounds for further exploration of the strengths-based approach (on both organisational and individual levels) as a developmental approach to utilise within organisations to enhance engagement and productivity.
A Model of Ischemia-Induced Neuroblast Activation in the Adult Subventricular Zone

We have developed a rat brain organotypic culture model, in which tissue slices contain cortex-subventricular zone-striatum regions, to model neuroblast activity in response to in vitro ischemia. Neuroblast activation has been described in terms of two main parameters, proliferation and migration from the subventricular zone into the injured cortex. We observed distinct phases of neuroblast activation as is known to occur after in vivo ischemia. Thus, immediately after oxygen/glucose deprivation (6–24 hours), neuroblasts reduce their proliferative and migratory activity, whereas, at longer time points after the insult (2 to 5 days), they start to proliferate and migrate into the damaged cortex. Antagonism of ionotropic receptors for extracellular ATP during and after the insult unmasks an early activation of neuroblasts in the subventricular zone, which responded with a rapid and intense migration of neuroblasts into the damaged cortex (within 24 hours). The process is further enhanced by elevating the production of the chemoattractant SDf-1α and may also be boosted by blocking the activation of microglia. This organotypic model which we have developed is an excellent in vitro system to study neurogenesis after ischemia and other neurodegenerative diseases. Its application has revealed a SOS response to oxygen/glucose deprivation, which is inhibited by unfavorable conditions due to the ischemic environment. Finally, experimental quantifications have allowed us to elaborate a mathematical model to describe neuroblast activation and to develop a computer simulation which should have promising applications for the screening of drug candidates for novel therapies of ischemia-related pathologies.
The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy

Originally published in Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 1996, Vol 41(1), 81. Yalom's text has long been the standard work on group therapy, garnering critical acclaim and clinical use throughout the field. This fourth edition (see record 1995-97355-000) is fully revised and updated to
Collaborative Spectrum Sensing Based on a New SNR Estimation and Energy Combining Method

In order for collaborative spectrum sensing to be effective, the sensing data provided by each radio should be weighted in proportion to their reliability during data combining. The time and processing requirements of the weight estimation process, however, can make weighted data combining infeasible in practical systems. This paper presents a new collaborative sensing method that exploits the correlation of the sensing data provided by a given radio in successive sensing intervals to keep the requirements of weighted data combining at acceptable levels. It is shown that the proposed method offers an excellent tradeoff between reliability and complexity, compared with conventional collaborative sensing methods.
A Modest, but Semantically Well Founded, Inheritance Reasoner

A modest exception allowing inheritance reasoner is presented. The reasoner allows restricted, but semantically well founded, defeasible property inheritance. Furthermore, it gives a well defined and easily understood semantic interpretation to all of the assertions encoded in it. The semantics allows a knowledge engineer to decide what knowledge can be encoded in the system, and gives him understandable formal guarantees about the quality of the conclusions that will be generated. For this reason the system is a more practical, usable inheritance reasoner than others that have appeared in the literature. The system has been fully implemented in a short (< 75 lines) Prolog program which executes all the examples presented, among others. Furthermore, although the system performs a restricted form of inheritance reasoning it can still represent and solve most of the inheritance "puzzles" that have appeared in the literature, including the recent heterogeneous inheritance problems.
The devil is in the details: an analysis of the subtleties between phosphodiesterase inhibitors for erectile dysfunction

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common sexual disorder with numerous etiologies involving multiple organ systems that leads to significant distress and decreased quality of life for the affected men. Fortunately, there are several modalities and interventions for treating ED. Oral medications, intra-urethral compounds, intracorporeal injections, vacuum-assist devices and surgically implanted prostheses are all part of the treatment algorithm. One of the first-lines and certainly the most widely used options for treating ED is the family of oral phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5I). The introduction of these medications in the late 1990s revolutionized the field of sexual medicine. Currently there are no guidelines and minimal literature to help providers choose among drugs in this class. This review will address differences in efficacy and side effects between various members of the oral selective phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor class of drugs.
Reliable Data Collection from Mobile Users for Real-Time Clinical Monitoring

Real-time patient monitoring is critical to early detection of clinical patient deterioration in general hospital wards. A key challenge in such applications is to reliably deliver sensor data from mobile patients. We present an empirical analysis on the reliability of data collection from wireless pulse oximeters attached to users. We observe that most packet loss occur from mobile users to their first-hop relays. Based on this insight we developed the Dynamic Relay Association Protocol (DRAP), a simple and effective mechanism for dynamically discovering the right relays for wireless sensors attached to mobile users. DRAP enables highly reliable data collection from mobile users without requiring any change to complex routing protocols. We have implemented DRAP on the TinyOS platform and a prototype clinical monitoring system. Empirical evaluation showed DRAP delivered at least 96% of pulse oximetry data from multiple users, while maintaining a radio duty cycle below 2.8% and reducing the RAM footprint by 65% when compared to CTP. Our results demonstrates the feasibility and efficacy of wireless sensor network technology for real-time clinical monitoring. Type of Report: Other Department of Computer Science & Engineering Washington University in St. Louis Campus Box 1045 St. Louis, MO 63130 ph: (314) 935-6160 Reliable Data Collection from Mobile Users for Real-Time Clinical Monitoring Octav Chipara1, Christopher Brooks1, Sangeeta Bhattacharya1, Chenyang Lu1, Roger Chamberlain1, Gruia-Catalin Roman1, Thomas C. Bailey2 Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis Washington University School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis