Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Metabolic Control of Ca2+/Calmodulin-dependent Protein Kinase II (CaMKII)-mediated Caspase-2 Suppression by the B55β/Protein Phosphatase 2A (PP2A)*

Background: CaMKII autophosphorylates at Thr286 in cell-free lysates supplemented with glucose-6-phosphate (G6P). Results: The B55β and C subunits of PP2A interact with and dephosphorylate CaMKII at novel sites following addition of G6P. Conclusion: B55β/PP2A is critical for stimulating CaMKII in the presence of G6P. Significance: This work identifies a novel role for a specific phosphatase complex in controlling CaMKII. High levels of metabolic activity confer resistance to apoptosis. Caspase-2, an apoptotic initiator, can be suppressed by high levels of nutrient flux through the pentose phosphate pathway. This metabolic control is exerted via inhibitory phosphorylation of the caspase-2 prodomain by activated Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII). We show here that this activation of CaMKII depends, in part, on dephosphorylation of CaMKII at novel sites (Thr393/Ser395) and that this is mediated by metabolic activation of protein phosphatase 2A in complex with the B55β targeting subunit. This represents a novel locus of CaMKII control and also provides a mechanism contributing to metabolic control of apoptosis. These findings may have implications for metabolic control of the many CaMKII-controlled and protein phosphatase 2A-regulated physiological processes, because both enzymes appear to be responsive to alterations in glucose metabolized via the pentose phosphate pathway.
A Histologic Study of Ovarian Endometriosis with Emphasis on Hyperplastic and Atypical Changes

One hundred ninety-four cases of ovarian endometriosis, encountered during a 3-year period, were studied. In addition to endometrial-type epithelium and stroma that were present in each of these cases, oviduct-type epithelium was demonstrated in 26, papillary epithelial-lined projections in 7, and hobnail cells in 36 patients. Forty-three cases showed reactive epithelial changes, probably due to inflammation and regeneration. There were 4 cases of ade nomalous hyperplasia. Severe epithelial atypism was seen in 7 patients (3.6%), I in conjunction with adenomatous hyperplasia. Although the areas of severe epithelial atypism in ovarian endometriosis may be of reactive origin, one must also consider the possibility that in some instances these atypical changes may constitute a neoplastic potential.
Comparison of epidemiological evaluations under different caries diagnostic thresholds.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the influence of different settings, epidemiological and clinical, and different diagnostic thresholds on caries detection in a group of 7-10-year-old children in Brazil. MATERIALS AND METHODS In total, 983 children aged 7-10 years old and enrolled in four public schools were randomly selected. Three examiners performed epidemiological examinations followed by an examination of the same children in a clinical setting. The examinations of cleaned and dried teeth in both settings were carried out using a dental mirror and ball-ended probe, under natural light in the epidemiological setting examinations and under artificial light during the clinical setting examinations. For the analysis of results, comparisons were focused on WHO (World Health Organization) diagnostic thresholds versus WHO+IL (initial lesions) diagnostic thresholds, both under epidemiological conditions, in order to demonstrate the influence of the inclusion of IL in the study; and WHO+IL in the epidemiological setting versus WHO+IL in the clinical setting, aiming to demonstrate the importance of examination setting. Outcome measures were dmfs, DMFS, ds, Ds, sealants and number of children 'free' of caries. Paired t-test and McNemar's test were used to test the difference between means and proportions for each age group. RESULTS Epidemiological examinations, under the WHO diagnostic threshold, showed significant differences for all outcome measures when compared with the WHO +IL threshold. Statistical differences were also detected when comparingthe WHO+IL threshold under different settings. CONCLUSION The choice of a diagnostic threshold (WHO or WHO+IL) and the conditions of examination (epidemiological or clinical) were important for caries detection.
Undersampling the system matrix of a single sided MPI-scanner

Compressed sensing has been shown to be a useful method for reducing the acquisition time of a system matrix in Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI). The system matrix is acquired by discretising the field of view (FOV) and performing a measurement on each of the resulting spatial points. The combination of the spectra of those measurements is the system matrix. Using methods of compressed sensing, the FOV can be undersampled by acquiring a subset of the spatial points and reconstructing the system matrix in a sparse domain. In the last years, the system matrix of a 2D MPI scanning device by Philips research has been exploited. In this work, proven methods have been applied on a new dataset that has been acquired using a 2D single sided MPI scanning device.
International Tables of Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load Values: 2008

OBJECTIVE—To systematically tabulate published and unpublished sources of reliable glycemic index (GI) values. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—A literature search identified 205 articles published between 1981 and 2007. Unpublished data were also included where the data quality could be verified. The data were separated into two lists: the first representing more precise data derived from testing healthy subjects and the second primarily from individuals with impaired glucose metabolism. RESULTS—The tables, which are available in the online-only appendix, list the GI of over 2,480 individual food items. Dairy products, legumes, and fruits were found to have a low GI. Breads, breakfast cereals, and rice, including whole grain, were available in both high and low GI versions. The correlation coefficient for 20 staple foods tested in both healthy and diabetic subjects was r = 0.94 (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS—These tables improve the quality and quantity of GI data available for research and clinical practice.
Conformational Changes of Escherichia coli RNA Polymerase ς70 Factor Induced by Binding to the Core Enzyme*

Mutants of RNA polymerase ς70subunit from Escherichia coli with unique cysteine residues engineered into conserved region 1 (autoinhibition domain of ς70), region 2.4 (−10 DNA element binding domain), region 4.2 (−35 DNA element binding domain), and a nonconserved region between regions 1 and 2 were prepared. The chemical reactivity of the cysteine at each position was determined for free ς70 and ς70 in complex with the core polymerase and was used as a measure of a conformational response of a particular region of the protein to an interaction with the core polymerase. Both increases and decreases in cysteine reactivity were observed in the presence of core polymerase at several positions in ς70, providing direct physical evidence for modulation of ς70 conformation by the core enzyme. Binding of the core polymerase resulted in increased solvent exposure of DNA binding domains of ς70 and in more complex changes in the autoinhibition domain (region 1). Similar conformational changes in ς70 were detected using fluorescence probes covalently attached to cysteine residues engineered into ς70. Thus, the results obtained provided physical evidence supporting a model in which core enzyme allosterically regulates DNA binding activity of ς70 by “unmasking” its DNA binding domains.
Awareness für IT-Sicherheit und Datenschutz in der Hochschulausbildung - Eine empirirsche Untersuchung

Der vorliegende Kurzbeitrag diskutiert den Begriff der Awareness fur Datenschutz und IT-Sicherheit sowie die Notwendigkeit einer entsprechenden Ausbildung an Hochschulen und stellt die wichtigsten Ergebnisse einer empirischen Untersuchung dar. Bei dieser zeigt sich, dass es den meisten Teilnehmern vor allem an der Fahigkeit zur Ubertragung theoretischen Wissens auf reale Situationen fehlt.
A Functional Transsulfuration Pathway in the Brain Links to Glutathione Homeostasis*

Oxidative stress and diminished glutathione pools play critical roles in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer and Parkinson disease. Synthesis of glutathione, the most abundant mammalian antioxidant, is regulated at the substrate level by cysteine, which is synthesized from homocysteine via the transsulfuration pathway. Elevated homocysteine and diminished glutathione levels, seen in Alzheimer and Parkinson disease patients suggest impairments in the transsulfuration pathway that connects these metabolites. However, the very existence of this metabolic pathway in the brain is a subject of controversy. The product of the first of two enzymes in this pathway, cystathionine, is present at higher levels in brain as compared with other organs. This, together with the reported absence of the second enzyme, γ-cystathionase, has led to the suggestion that the transsulfuration pathway is incomplete in the brain. In this study, we incubated mouse and human neurons and astrocytes and murine brain slices in medium with [35S]methionine and detected radiolabel incorporation into glutathione. This label transfer was sensitive to inhibition of γ-cystathionase. In adult brain slices, ∼40% of the glutathione was depleted within 10 h following γ-cystathionase inhibition. In cultured human astrocytes, flux through the transsulfuration pathway increased under oxidative stress conditions, and blockade of this pathway led to reduced cell viability under oxidizing conditions. This study establishes the presence of an intact transsulfuration pathway and demonstrates its contribution to glutathione-dependent redox-buffering capacity under ex vivo conditions in brain cells and slices.
Update on Guillain‐Barré syndrome

Understanding of Guillain‐Barré syndrome (GBS) has progressed substantially since the seminal 1916 report by Guillain et al. Although Guillain, Barré, and Strohl summarised the syndrome based on observations of two French infantrymen, 2012 saw the beginning of an ambitious collaborative study designed to collect detailed data from at least 1,000 patients worldwide (IGOS, www.gbsstudies.org/about‐igos). Progress has been made in many areas even since GBS was last reviewed in this journal in 2009. GBS subsequently received prominent attention in light of concerns regarding H1N1 influenza vaccinations, and several large‐scale surveillance studies resulted. Despite these developments, and promising pre‐clinical studies, disease‐modifying therapies for GBS have not substantially altered since intravenous immunoglobulin was introduced over 20 years ago. In other areas, management has improved. Antibiotic prophylaxis in ventilated patients reduces respiratory tract infection, thromboprophylaxis has reduced the risk of venous thromboembolism, and there is increasing awareness of the benefit of high‐intensity rehabilitation. This article highlights some of the interesting and thought‐provoking developments of the last 3 years, and is based on a plenary lecture given at the 2012 Peripheral Nerve Society (PNS) meeting.
Subversion of Cellular Autophagy Machinery by Hepatitis B Virus for Viral Envelopment

ABSTRACT Autophagy is a conserved eukaryotic mechanism that mediates the removal of long-lived cytoplasmic macromolecules and damaged organelles via a lysosomal degradative pathway. Recently, a multitude of studies have reported that viral infections may have complex interconnections with the autophagic process. The findings reported here demonstrate that hepatitis B virus (HBV) can enhance the autophagic process in hepatoma cells without promoting protein degradation by the lysosome. Mutation analysis showed that HBV small surface protein (SHBs) was required for HBV to induce autophagy. The overexpression of SHBs was sufficient to induce autophagy. Furthermore, SHBs could trigger unfolded protein responses (UPR), and the blockage of UPR signaling pathways abrogated the SHB-induced lipidation of LC3-I. Meanwhile, the role of the autophagosome in HBV replication was examined. The inhibition of autophagosome formation by the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3-MA) or small interfering RNA duplexes targeting the genes critical for autophagosome formation (Beclin1 and ATG5 genes) markedly inhibited HBV production, and the induction of autophagy by rapamycin or starvation greatly contributed to HBV production. Furthermore, evidence was provided to suggest that the autophagy machinery was required for HBV envelopment but not for the efficiency of HBV release. Finally, SHBs partially colocalized and interacted with autophagy protein LC3. Taken together, these results suggest that the host's autophagy machinery is activated during HBV infection to enhance HBV replication.
The media’s gatekeeping function means that party press coverage often reproduces and reinforces existing power structures

In election campaigns, parties and candidates want to get their message across to the public, and the central means of doing so is by generating media coverage. Yet, the media does not slavishly pay attention to each party’s campaign messages. Which actors are most likely to hit the media? And which campaign messages are most likely to make the news? Thomas M. Meyer, Martin Haselmayer and Markus Wagner present research which shows that parties are in general rather successful in getting their messages to the media. However, the media’s gatekeeping function also reproduces existing distributions of power and attention: party messages are most likely to be covered if messages are spread by powerful politicians and if they fit with the current media issue agenda.
WHAT CAN BE LOCALIZED IN THE BRAIN? TOWARD A “FACTOR” THEORY ON BRAIN ORGANIZATION OF COGNITION

A theoretical integration attempt among the lesional (neuropsychological), physiological (functional), and psychometric models of cognition is presented in this article. Recent neuroimaging techniques particularly fMRI have shown that there are some brain functions (i.e., simple) that can be localized into single brain areas whereas there are others (i.e., complex) that cannot. Clinical neuropsychology has been able to propose some “cognitive factors” based on empirical observations in patients with brain lesions. Factor analysis in psychometry may provide an additional tool to extract some constitutive elements of psychological functions (factors). “Factors” in factor analysis, however, may have different levels of specificity. Some times they refer to functional systems (complex cognition); in other occasions to elements of cognition (“cognitive factors”). It is emphasized that the very same brain areas (and cognitive factors) may be potentially involved in different types of cognition. It is proposed that complex cognition depends on specific patterns of activation of different brain areas and specific circuitries (“modules”), each one making its own contribution to the whole system (functional system). Impairment in a specific cognitive factor, on the other hand, may result in diverse types of impairments. At the moment, it seems feasible to suppose some cognitive factors responsible for normal neuropsychological performance. Theoretically, the impairment in any of these factors could be responsible for some specific neuropsychological syndromes.
Mice Null for Frizzled4 (Fzd4−/−) Are Infertile and Exhibit Impaired Corpora Lutea Formation and Function1

Abstract Previous studies showed that transcripts encoding specific Wnt ligands and Frizzled receptors including Wnt4, Frizzled1 (Fzd1), and Frizzled4 (Fzd4) were expressed in a cell-specific manner in the adult mouse ovary. Overlapping expression of Wnt4 and Fzd4 mRNA in small follicles and corpora lutea led us to hypothesize that the infertility of mice null for Fzd4 (Fzd4−/−) might involve impaired follicular growth or corpus luteum formation. Analyses at defined stages of reproductive function indicate that immature Fzd4−/− mouse ovaries contain follicles at many stages of development and respond to exogenous hormone treatments in a manner similar to their wild-type littermates, indicating that the processes controlling follicular development and follicular cell responses to gonadotropins are intact. Adult Fzd4−/− mice also exhibit normal mating behavior and ovulate, indicating that endocrine events controlling these processes occur. However, Fzd4−/− mice fail to become pregnant and do not produce offspring. Histological and functional analyses of ovaries from timed mating pairs at Days 1.5–7.5 postcoitus (p.c.) indicate that the corpora lutea of the Fzd4−/− mice do not develop normally. Expression of luteal cell-specific mRNAs (Lhcgr, Prlr, Cyp11a1 and Sfrp4) is reduced, luteal cell morphology is altered, and markers of angiogenesis and vascular formation (Efnb1, Efnb2, Ephb4, Vegfa, Vegfc) are low in the Fzd4−/− mice. Although a recently identified, high-affinity FZD4 ligand Norrin (Norrie disease pseudoglioma homolog) is expressed in the ovary, adult Ndph−/− mice contain functional corpora lutea and do not phenocopy Fzd4−/− mice. Thus, Fzd4 appears to impact the formation of the corpus luteum by mechanisms that more closely phenocopy Prlr null mice.
Morphological variations in a tooth family through ontogeny in Pleurodeles waltl (Lissamphibia, Caudata)

Most nonmammalian species replace their teeth continuously (so‐called polyphyodonty), which allows morphological and structural modifications to occur during ontogeny. We have chosen Pleurodeles waltl, a salamander easy to rear in the laboratory, as a model species to establish the morphological foundations necessary for future molecular approaches aiming to understand not only molecular processes involved in tooth development and replacement, but also their changes, notably during metamorphosis, that might usefully inform studies of modifications of tooth morphology during evolution. In order to determine when (in which developmental stage) and how (progressively or suddenly) tooth modifications take place during ontogeny, we concentrated our observations on a single tooth family, located at position I, closest to the symphysis on the left lower jaw. We monitored the development and replacement of the six first teeth in a large growth series ranging from 10‐day‐old embryos (tooth I1) to adult specimens (tooth I6), using light (LM), scanning (SEM), and transmission electron (TEM) microscopy. A timetable of the developmental and functional period is provided for the six teeth, and tooth development is compared in larvae and young adults. In P. waltl the first functional tooth is not replaced when the second generation tooth forms, in contrast to what occurs for the later generation teeth, leading to the presence of two functional teeth in a single position during the first 2 months of life. Larval tooth I1 shows dramatically different features when compared to adult tooth I6: a dividing zone has appeared between the dentin cone and the pedicel; the pulp cavity has enlarged, allowing accommodation of large blood vessels; the odontoblasts are well organized along the dentin surface; tubules have appeared in the dentin; and teeth have become bicuspidate. Most of these modifications take place progressively from one tooth generation to the next, but the change from monocuspid to bicuspid tooth occurs during the tooth I3 to tooth I4 transition at metamorphosis. J. Morphol. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A three-step in vitro procedure for estimating intestinal digestion of protein in ruminants.

A three-step in vitro procedure was developed to estimate intestinal digestion of proteins in ruminants. Dacron bags containing feed samples were suspended in the rumen for 16 h. Residue containing 15 mg of N after ruminal exposure was incubated for 1 h in 10 mL of a . 1 N HCl solution containing 1 g/L of pepsin. After incubation, pH was neutralized with . 5 mL of 1 N NaOH and 13.5 mL of a pH 7.8 phosphate buffer containing 37.5 mg of pancreatin were added to the solution and incubated at 38 degrees C. After a 24-h incubation, 3 mL of a 100% (wt/vol) trichloroacetic acid solution were added to precipitate undigested proteins. Preincubation of samples in the rumen did not affect (P > .05) pepsin-pancreatin digestion of residual CP in soybean meal (SBM), corn gluten meal (CGM), and blood meal (BM) and reduced (P < .05) pepsin-pancreatin digestion of residual CP in hydrolyzed feather meal (HFM), fish meal (FM), and meat and bone meal (MBM) (80 vs 70, 88 vs 81, and 82 vs 56%, respectively, for nonruminal vs ruminal preincubation). Pepsin digestion before pancreatin digestion increased (P < .05) CP digestion of all proteins tested by a mean of 23 percentage units. The pancreatin digestion step was validated using 34 duodenal samples from which small intestinal CP digestion was determined in vivo. The regression equation of in vivo estimates on pancreatin digestion had an r value of . 91 (P < .001). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Histopathology of liver biopsies from a thiopurine-naïve inflammatory bowel disease cohort: Prevalence of nodular regenerative hyperplasia

Objective. Nodular regenerative hyperplasia (NRH) and sinusoidal dilatation have been described in relation to thiopurine use in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, there is a dearth of data on the prevalence of these histological abnormalities in general. The aim of our study was to describe the prevalence of these histological liver changes in a thiopurine-naïve IBD cohort. Material and methods. Liver biopsy specimens were obtained from patients who were treated in a referral center and who underwent gastrointestinal surgery for IBD. Patients were excluded if thiopurines were ever used. The liver specimens were pathohistologically assessed with special attention to NRH. Results. A total of 83, properly stained, liver specimens (Crohn's disease 61%) were evaluated. NRH was observed in 6% compared to sinusoidal dilatation of varying degree in 34% of specimens. An older age at biopsy was correlated with NRH (p=0.015). Fibrosis and steatosis of varying degrees were detected in 31% and 36% of liver biopsies, respectively. No cases of liver cirrhosis were observed. Conclusions. Pathohistological hepatic abnormalities are common in non-thiopurine using IBD patients. The association between thiopurine use, NRH and sinusoidal dilatation may be weaker than as reported in recent literature, as there is relatively high background prevalence in selected series.