Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification and mapping of human saphenous vein medial smooth muscle proteins by two‐dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

Changing smooth muscle phenotype and abnormal cell proliferation are important features of vascular pathology, including the failure of saphenous vein bypass grafts. We have characterised and mapped protein expression in human saphenous vein medial smooth muscle, using two‐dimensional (2‐D) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The 2‐D system comprised a nonlinear immobilised pH 3–10 gradient in the first dimension (separating proteins with isoelectric point values between pH 3–10), and 12%T total gel concentration sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the second dimension (separating proteins in the range 14 000–200 000 Daltons). Using a combination of peptide mass fingerprinting by matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionisation‐time of flight mass spectrometry and partial amino acid sequencing by nanospray tandem mass spectrometry, a subset of 149 protein spots was analysed, with 129 protein spots being identified and mapped. The data presented here are an important addition to the limited knowledge of venous medial smooth muscle protein expression in vivo. Our protein map will facilitate the identification of proteins differentially expressed in human saphenous vein bypass grafts. In turn, this may lead to the elucidation of molecular events involved in saphenous vein bypass graft failure. The map should also provide a basis for comparative studies of protein expression in vascular smooth muscle of varying origins.
Role of the gooseberry gene in Drosophila embryos: maintenance of wingless expression by a wingless‐‐gooseberry autoregulatory loop.

During Drosophila embryogenesis, segment polarity genes, such as engrailed (en), wingless (wg) and gooseberry (gsb) show complex interactions that provide positional information along the antero‐posterior axis within each segment. Little is known about the specific role of each of these genes in this pattern determining process. Here we demonstrate that the main function of gsb, which encodes a transcription factor containing a paired‐domain and a prd‐type homeodomain, is the maintenance of wg expression by a wg‐gsb autoregulatory loop after 6 h of development. The function of wg, the homologue of the murine Wnt‐1 gene, is to specify the denticle pattern by repressing a default state of ubiquitous denticle formation in the ventral epidermis. This repression of denticles by the wg signal is different from the wingless signalling pathways that activate gsb or en. Mutual activations involving gsb, wg and en show temporal asymmetries that lead to their different mutant phenotypes. A general model is proposed for the generation of morphogenetic fields by self‐propagating autoregulatory loops.
Sucesión de la gestión empresarial de una Mipyme en el marco del gobierno corporativo

Este trabajo de grado estudia una alternativa viable a fin de evitar que ATEC LTDA. , empresa dedicada al mantenimiento, reparacion y modernizacion de ascensores de todo tipo, desaparezca en el momento que el socio fundador y dueno actual, transfiera la gestion y administracion empresarial.
Reliability analysis of aircraft servo-actuation systems based on the evidential networks with imprecise information

A servo-actuation system is one of the key executing subsystems of the flight control system of an aircraft. With the development of the fly-by-wire control systems, the redundant servo-actuation systems have been extensively applied. A servo-actuation system has a long life and high reliability, which results in the lack of experiment information. In the meantime, the available data is insufficient and imprecise during its product design stage. In this paper, the evidential networks or simply EN are adopted to handle the imprecise probabilities. The formulae of marginal belief mass for series and parallel systems are represented respectively. The basic reliability model and mission reliability model of a three-redundancy servo-actuation system in an aircraft flight control system are analyzed using the EN approach, respectively. The EN manage and quantify the imprecision of the servo-actuation effectively, and propagate the imprecision from the root nodes to the top nodes, which represent system reliability.
General anaesthesia combined with bilateral paravertebral blockade (T11-T12-L1) vs general anaesthesia for bilateral varicocelectomy. A randomized double-blind clinical trial.

INTRODUCTION Varicocelectomy is a common operation in urology associated with considerable postoperative pain. The aim of this prospective, randomized, double-blind study was to investigate whether a combination of general anesthesia and bilateral nerve stimulator guided paravertebral nerve blocks could provide better postoperative pain relief compared to general anesthesia in combination with placebo paravertebral nerve block. METHODS Sixty patients scheduled for varicocelectomy were randomized prospectively. Thirty patients each in either the active group (general anaesthesia combined with nerve stimulator guided bilateral paravertebral block) or the control group (general anaesthesia combined with normal saline nerve stimulator guided bilateral paravertebral block). Postoperative pain was assessed by visual analogue scale scores at predetermined time intervals. RESULTS The active group was found to have better postoperative pain-relief (p < 0.005), reduced need for analgesics (p < 0.05), and also a more rapid return to normal activities (p < 0.001) compared to control group. Higher surgeon and patient satisfaction (p < 0.001) were noted in the active group compared to the control group. CONCLUSION Preoperative paravertebral blockade combined with general anesthesia showed significantly reduced postoperative pain scores and analgesic consumption, earlier return to normal activity and was associated with better patient and surgeon satisfaction during varicocelectomy surgery.
Primary aldosteronism (PA) and endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) bioavailability

Objective Patients with primary aldosteronism (PA) experience more cardiovascular events than patients with essential hypertension matched for risk factor profile. Endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) represent a bone marrow‐derived cell population implicated in vascular healing whose number correlates to the cardiovascular risk factor profile. Aldosterone has been reported to decrease EPC proliferation in rats.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa outer membrane adhesins for human respiratory mucus glycoproteins

The attachment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to human respiratory mucus represents an important step in the development of lung infection, especially in cases of cystic fibrosis. For this purpose, microtiter plate adhesion assays have been developed and have suggested that nonpilus adhesins of P. aeruginosa are the most important ones for binding to human respiratory mucins. In order to characterize these mucin-binding adhesins, outer membrane proteins (OMP) from two adhesive strains, 1244-NP and PAK-NP, and their poorly adhesive rpoN mutants, 1244-N3 and PAK-N1, were prepared by a mild extraction with Zwittergent 3-14. Mucin-binding adhesins were detected after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and blotting of the OMP on nitrocellulose replicas, using human bronchial mucins labeled with 125I. The binding properties of these OMP with lactotransferrin, another glycoprotein abundant in respiratory mucus, were also studied. Radiolabeled mucins detected four bands at 48, 46, 28, and 25 kDa with strain PAK-NP. With the nonmucoid strain 1244-NP, five bands were observed at 48, 46, 42, 28, and 25 kDa. The bands at 48 and 25 kDa were also visualized by radiolabeled lactotransferrin. These bands were partially or completely displaced by nonradiolabeled respiratory mucin glycopeptides but not by tetramethylurea, suggesting that they recognized carbohydrate sites. In contrast, the poorly adhesive strains showed weakly binding bands. These results demonstrate that outer membranes from two different nonpiliated P. aeruginosa strains express multiple adhesins with an affinity for human respiratory mucins and/or lactotransferrin.
Sensitivity of Household Reported Medical Conditions in the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey

Introduction:Accurate survey data on medical conditions are critical for health care researchers. Although medical condition data are complex and are subject to reporting error, little information exists on the quality of household reported condition data. Methods:We used pooled data from 4 years (2002–2005) of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) to estimate the extent to which household respondents may underreport 23 types of medical conditions. The medical expenditure panel survey is a nationally representative annual survey of approximately 15,000 households which collects medical condition information in 2 separate components—the Household Component (HC) and the Medical Provider Component (MPC). We computed sensitivity rates based on linked HC and MPC data under the assumption that if collection of medical conditions from household respondents was complete, then the conditions reported in the MPC would also be reported in the HC. Results:Sensitivity rates ranged from a high of 93.8% to a low of 37.4% and were 75% or higher for 10 of the 23 conditions analyzed. The overall sensitivity rate for the 23 conditions combined was 74%. Conclusions:Household reports tended to be more accurate for conditions that are highly salient, cause pain, require hospitalization, require ongoing treatment, have specific recognizable treatment, alter lifestyle, and/or affect daily life (eg, pregnancy, diabetes, and kidney stones). In addition, reporting generally was better when conditions are classified in broader categories rather than in more detail.
Resonance Raman spectroscopic evidence for the FeS4 and Fe-O-Fe sites in rubrerythrin from Desulfovibrio vulgaris.

Resonance Raman (RR) spectra of the non-heme iron protein rubrerythrin from Desulfovibrio vulgaris unequivocally demonstrate the presence of both a rubredoxin-type FeS4 site and a (mu-oxo)diiron(III) cluster. The RR spectra of rubrerythrin excited at 496.5 and 568.2 nm are dominated by bands similar to those of rubredoxin and conform to the vibrational pattern expected for a distorted FeS4 tetrahedron of an Fe(S-Cys)4 site. Numerous overtone and combination bands of the Fe-S stretches are also observed, and a band at 650 cm-1 is assigned to a cysteine C-S stretching mode. The 374-, 355-, and 340-cm-1 bands, assigned to the three components of the v3(T2) asymmetric FeS4 stretching mode, are 2-8 cm-1 lower than the corresponding frequencies for the Desulfovibrio gigas rubredoxin FeS4 site. Similar differences in frequencies of bands assigned to SFeS bending modes between rubredoxin and rubrerythrin are also detected. These frequency differences imply either slightly weaker Fe-S bonds or subtle conformational differences among the cysteinyl ligands in the rubrerythrin versus rubredoxin FeS4 sites. The RR spectrum of rubrerythrin excited at 406.7 nm shows dramatically diminished intensities of the FeS4 bands with concomitant enhancement of a band at 514 cm-1. This band shifts 18 cm-1 to lower frequency when the protein is dissolved in H(2)18O. The frequency of this band and the 18O isotope shift are those expected for the symmetric Fe-O-Fe stretch of a bent oxo-bridged diiron(III) cluster and indicate that this cluster has at least one additional bridging ligand. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
4‐aminopyridine activates potassium currents by activation of a muscarinic receptor in feline atrial myocytes.

1. The effects of 4‐aminopyridine (4‐AP) on action potentials, macroscopic membrane currents and single‐channel recording from cardiac left atrial myocytes of the adult cat were studied using the whole‐cell and cell‐attached configurations of the patch‐clamp technique. 2. 4‐AP (1 mM) produced a hyperpolarization of the resting membrane potential and a shortening of action potential duration. Under voltage‐clamp conditions, we have found that 4‐AP increased a background current and a delayed rectifier outward current. These effects were antagonized by atropine. In addition, both effects seemed to be mediated through a pertussis toxin‐sensitive G protein. 3. The background current induced by 4‐AP displayed properties that are highly similar to those of the inwardly rectifying potassium current activated by acetylcholine (IK(ACh)). The time‐dependent potassium current activated by 4‐AP has kinetic and pharmacological properties different from those of the delayed rectifier potassium current previously identified in cardiac myocytes. 4. The activation of the delayed rectifier‐like potassium current could be explained by the activation of a novel muscarinic receptor subtype in which acetylcholine acts as the antagonist. Another possibility is that 4‐AP activates IK(ACh) in a time‐ and voltage‐dependent manner.
Neuroprotective effects of hypothermia and erythropoietin after perinatal asphyxia in newborn rats

Abstract Objective: Evaluation of neuroprotective effects of hypothermia, erythropoietin and their simultaneous use after perinatal asphyxia in newborn rats. Method: Histerectomy was performed to Wistar female rats on the last day of gestation. Perinatal asphyxia was induced by submersion of uterus containing pups in saline for 15 min. After resuscitation, pups were randomized into 4 groups, 15 animals in each: G1 – asphyxia; G2 – asphyxia + hypothermia (rectal temperature 33 °C for 1 h); G3 – asphyxia + erythropoietin (Darbepoetin-α 2.5 μg, intraperitoneally) and G4 – asphyxia + erythropoietin + hypothermia. Pups were sacrificed on 7th day of life and histopathological analysis of hippocampus was performed. Results: Measure of damage to dorsal, ventral and entire hippocampus was significantly lower in groups G2, G3 and G4 than in group G1 (p ∼ 0.00; respectively). Measure of damage to hippocampus in group G4 was significantly lower than in group G2 (p = 0.029). Conclusions: This study demonstrates that simultaneous use of hypothermia and erythropoietin has more expressed neuroprotective effects than sole use of hypothermia after perinatal asphyxia in newborn rats.
Macrophage secretome from women with HIV‐associated neurocognitive disorders

Thirty to 50% of HIV patients develop HIV‐associated neurocognitive disorders (HANDs) despite combined antiretroviral therapy. HIV‐1‐infected macrophages release viral and cellular proteins that induce neuronal degeneration and death. We hypothesize that changes in the macrophage secretome of HIV‐1 seropositive patients with HAND may dissect proteins related to neurotoxicity.
Brand- und Abplatzverhalten von Faserbeton in Strassentunneln

Das Gesamtziel des Forschungsprojektes zum "Brand- und Abplatzverhalten von Faserbeton in Strassentunneln" war die Verifizierung und Validierung des Einflusses von Kunststofffasern auf das Brand- und Abplatzverhalten von Tunnelbetonen unter besonderer Beruecksichtigung der spezifischen Randbedingungen in Strassentunneln. Dabei sollte im Rahmen der Forschungsarbeit eruiert werden, inwieweit sich mit Kunststofffasern modifizierte Tunnelbetone, die entsprechend ihrer Betonzusammensetzung den gueltigen Vorgaben der ZTV-ING zusammengesetzt werden sollten, fuer den Strassentunnelbau als bauliche Brandschutzmassnahme eignen. Es wurde untersucht, welche Fasergehalte und Fasergeometrien in den Tunnelbetonen einzusetzen sind, damit ein explosionsartiges Abplatzen des Betons infolge der Brandbeanspruchungen mit dem schnellen Temperaturanstieg und den hohen Maximaltemperaturen verhindert werden kann. Des Weiteren wurde experimentell verifiziert, ob bei den festgelegten Betonen ohne Faserzugabe und fasermodifizierten Tunnelbetonen, die zulaessige Maximaltemperatur von 300 Grad C in Hoehe der tragenden Bewehrung (vergleiche ZTV-ING, Teil 5 (Tunnelbau), Abschnitt 1, 10.3. 2) nicht ueberschritten wird. Ein weiteres Ziel der Arbeit war es, herauszufinden, ob die in der ZTV-ING, Teil 5, Abschnitt 2, 10.3. 2, geforderte verzinkte Mattenbewehrung (N94) fuer die offene Bauweise als wirksamer Schutz gegen auftretende Abplatzungen infolge einer einseitigen Temperaturbeanspruchung durch die ZTV-ING-Kurve angesetzt werden kann. Diese zuvor beschriebenen grundlegenden Zielstellungen wurden vor allem an grossmassstaeblichen Bauteilversuchen experimentell untersucht. Dabei wurden entsprechend der Trennung in ZTV-ING fuer Tunnelbauwerke in die geschlossene Bauweise (ZTV-ING, Teil 5, Tunnelbau, Abschnitt 1 und in die offene Bauweise (ZTV-ING, Teil 5, Tunnelbau, Abschnitt 2) angepasste Tunnelbetonrezepturen und verschiedene Probekoerpergeometrien untersucht. Mit der Durchfuehrung des Forschungsprojektes sollte insgesamt der Nachweis des positiv wirksamen Einflusses von PP-Fasern auf das Brand- und Abplatzverhalten von ZTV-ING-konformen Tunnelbetonen fuer die Anwendung in Strassentunneln erbracht und zudem im Grossversuch gezeigt werden, dass es moeglich ist, fasermodifizierte Tunnelbetone mit praxisueblichen Einbaukonsistenzen zielsicher herzustellen. (A) Schlussbericht zum Forschungsprojekt 15.448/2007/ERB (ITRD-Nummer D708449) im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums fuer Verkehr, Bau und Stadtentwicklung. Titel in Englisch: Fire and flaking behaviour of fibre-reinforced concrete in road tunnels.
The Expression of HoxB5 and its Role in Neonatal Rats with Chronic Lung Disease

The purpose of this investigation is to research the expression and effect of HoxB5 during pulmonary injury and to investigate the repairing ability of alveolar epithelial cells in such processes. Eighty neonatal rats were randomly divided into two groups: a group of high concentration of oxygen and the control group. The high oxygen group would inhale 85 to 90% oxygen and the control group would inhale air. The lung tissues on the 1st, 3rd, 7th, 14th, and 21st days would be obtained, in which immunohistochemical assay and Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) would be performed to test the expressions of proteins and mRNAs of surfactant protein C (SPC) and AQP5. For expression of HoxB5 protein and its mRNA, immunohistochemical assay, western blot, in-situ hybridization, and RT-PCR would be run. The expression of SPC in the group of high concentration of oxygen was significantly reduced on day 3. Its expressions on day 14 and day 21 were significantly higher than those of the control group (p < 0.05). The expression of AQP5 in the group of high concentration of oxygen progressively decreased and such difference with the control group was significant (p < 0.05). The four experimental methods all showed the expression of HoxB5 in the group with high concentration of oxygen gradually decreased since day 7 (p < 0.05). High concentration of oxygen is damaging to alveolar epithelial cells. Although the number of type II alveolar epithelial cells (AECII) increases, its ability to differentiate and transform is significantly reduced and the reduced expression level of HoxB5 is possibly the reason for AECII to lose differentiation function to AECI.
Phenotypic Alteration of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells Precedes Elastolysis in a Mouse Model of Marfan Syndrome

Abstract— Marfan syndrome is associated with early death due to aortic aneurysm. The condition is caused by mutations in the gene (FBN1) encoding fibrillin-1, a major constituent of extracellular microfibrils. Prior observations suggested that a deficiency of microfibrils causes failure of elastic fiber assembly during late fetal development. Mice homozygous for a targeted hypomorphic allele (mgR) of Fbn1 revealed a predictable sequence of abnormalities in the vessel wall including elastic fiber calcification, excessive deposition of matrix elements, elastolysis, and intimal hyperplasia. Here we describe previously unrecognized concordant findings in elastic vessels from patients with Marfan syndrome. Furthermore, ultrastructural analysis of mgR mice revealed cellular events that initiate destructive changes. The first detectable abnormality was an unusually smooth surface of elastic laminae, manifesting the loss of cell attachments that are normally mediated by fibrillin-1. Adjacent cells adopted alteration in their expression profile accompanied by morphological changes but retained expression of vascular smooth muscle cell markers. The abnormal synthetic repertoire of these morphologically abnormal smooth muscle cells in early vascular lesions included elastin, among other matrix elements, and matrix metalloproteinase 9, a known mediator of elastolysis. Ultimately, cell processes associated with zones of elastic fiber thinning and fragmentation. These data suggest that the loss of cell attachments signals a nonproductive program to synthesize and remodel an elastic matrix. This refined understanding of the pathogenesis of vascular disease in Marfan syndrome will facilitate the development of therapeutic strategies.
The Energy Complexity of Broadcast

Energy is often the most constrained resource in networks of batterypowered devices, and as devices become smaller, they spend a larger fraction of their energy on communication (transceiver usage) not computation. As an imperfect proxy for true energy usage, we define energy complexity to be the number of time slots a device transmits/listens; idle time and computation are free. In this paper we investigate the energy complexity of fundamental communication primitives such as Broadcast in multi-hop radio networks. We consider models with collision detection (CD) and without (No-CD), as well as both randomized and deterministic algorithms. Some take-away messages from this work are as follows. Time lower bounds imply energy lower bounds. The energy complexity of Broadcast in a multi-hop network is connected to the time complexity of LeaderElection in a single-hop (clique) network. Many existing lower bounds on time complexity immediately transfer to energy complexity. For example, in the CD and No-CD models, Broadcast requires Ω(logn) and Ω(log2 n) energy, respectively, w.h. p. Energy- and time-efficient broadcasting. It requires Ω(D) time to solve Broadcast even allowing unlimited energy budget, where D is the diameter of the network. The complexity measures of energy and time are in conflict, and it is an open problem whether both can be minimized simultaneously. We show that it is possible to achieve near optimality in time complexity with only poly logn energy cost. For any constant ε > 0, Broadcast can be solved in O(D1+ε logO(1/ε) n) time with O(logO(1/ε) n) energy.
Pharmacokinetics, bioavailability, plasma protein binding and disposition of nalidixic acid in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

1. The pharmacokinetics, disposition and bioavailability of nalidixic acid were examined in Rainbow Trout following i.v. and per os administration (5 mg/kg). 2. Nalidixic acid was biexponentially eliminated from plasma following i.v. dosing (t1/2 alpha = 0.06 h, t1/2 beta = 23.0 h). The volume of distribution (Vss) and total body clearance (Clb) were 964.7 ml/kg and 31.5 ml/kg/h, respectively. 3. In vitro plasma protein binding was specific and saturable over a range of concentrations from 0.43 microM to 20.0 mM. Binding was approx. 26% at kinetically relevant plasma concentrations. 4. Apparent oral bioavailability was determined to be > 100%, suggesting that nalidixic acid was largely bioavailable and non-linear pharmacokinetics were evoked. 5. Oral studies demonstrated the highest 14C nalidixic acid equivalent concentrations in bile, intestine and liver. Muscle contained intermediate concentrations but among all organs accounted for the greatest total amount of drug (12.2% of dose). Mass balance studies demonstrated composite values for per cent of dose administered of 23.7, 18.8, 8.5, 10.0, 7.4 and 2.3% for 1, 2, 3, 6, 9 and 15 days, respectively. 6. A glucuronic acid conjugate of nalidixic acid was identified by n.m. r. and mass spectral analysis as the single primary metabolite.