Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Mechanism of Oxygen Sensing in Yeast

Heme plays central roles in oxygen sensing and utilization in many living organisms. In yeast, heme mediates the effect of oxygen on the expression of many genes involved in using or detoxifying oxygen. However, a direct link between intracellular heme level and oxygen concentration has not been vigorously established. In this report, we have examined the relationships among oxygen levels, heme levels, Hap1 activity, and HAP1 expression. We found that Hap1 activity is controlled in vivo by heme and not by its precursors and that heme activates Hap1 even in anoxic cells. We also found that Hap1 activity exhibits the same oxygen dose-response curves as Hap1-dependent aerobic genes and that these dose-response curves have a sharp break at ∼1 μm O2. The results show that the intracellular signaling heme level, reflected as Hap1 activity, is closely correlated with oxygen concentration. Furthermore, we found that bypass of all heme synthetic steps but ferrochelatase by deuteroporphyrin IX does not circumvent the need for oxygen in Hap1 full activation by heme, suggesting that the last step of heme synthesis, catalyzed by ferrochelatase, is also subjected to oxygen control. Our results show that multiple heme synthetic steps can sense oxygen concentration and provide significant insights into the mechanism of oxygen sensing in yeast.
A Context for Extramural Funding at State Comprehensive Universities: Tilting at Windmills or Fighting the Good Fight?

Once upon a time, colleges hired professors to teach students. It was a simple world. But in the 1800s, the German model of higher education began to influence American higher education, and we embraced the notion of faculty members who would both develop knowledge and transmit it to students. This expanded the job of the professor considerably, although the spread of this model across higher education was gradual. Indeed, it is still underway. Despite the widely held notion that a faculty member who is engaged in his or her discipline offers more to a department and to students than someone whose professional development stopped upon completion of the Ph.D., there are still some academics who believe that research actually detracts from teaching. However, this view seems to carry less and less weight—at least where standards for tenure, promotion, and merit are concerned. In fact, there are few faculty positions where expectations for scholarly activity have not increased over the decades.
Time delay of electroencephalogram index calculation: analysis of cerebral state, bispectral, and Narcotrend indices using perioperatively recorded electroencephalographic signals.

BACKGROUND Monitoring of anaesthetic depth with EEG-derived indices may detect EEG changes associated with awareness and thereby help to decrease the incidence of intraoperative awareness with postoperative recall. All currently available monitors need varying time periods to calculate a new index when reacting to changes in anaesthetic depth. The exact time delay for calculation of new index values is unknown. In a previous study, we used simulated EEG signals and found considerable time lags for the cerebral state index (Danmeter, Odense, Denmark), the bispectral index (Aspect Medical Systems Inc., Newton, MA, USA), and the Narcotrend index (MonitorTechnik, Bad Bramstedt, Germany). The aim of this study was to investigate whether the time delays observed with simulated EEG signals also applied to real EEG data. METHODS We used perioperatively recorded EEG data from a database corresponding to the awake state, general anaesthesia, and suppression of cortical activity, respectively. After a switch from one state of consciousness to another, the time necessary for all indices to adjust the index value to the underlying input signal was measured. RESULTS We found time delays for all indices between 24 (7) and 122 (23) s before the new state was indicated. In accordance with our previous results, these time delays were not constant and depended on the particular starting and target index value. Results were different for decreasing and increasing values. CONCLUSIONS Our results may show a limitation of the value of electronic EEG indices in prevention of awareness with recall. Furthermore, due to different time delays for ascending and descending values, the results of pharmacodynamic studies may be influenced by this phenomenon.
High-dose CHOP as initial therapy for patients with poor-prognosis aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: a dose-finding pilot study.

PURPOSE To purpose of this study was to develop a more effective approach to the treatment of patients with poor-prognosis aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). PATIENTS AND METHODS Thirty newly diagnosed patients with bulky (> or = 10 cm) advanced-stage aggressive NHL were enrolled onto a pilot study. The study was designed to determine the maximum-tolerated dosages (MTD) of cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin that could be used in a high-dose cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) regimen with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) support and to assess preliminarily the efficacy of the regimen. RESULTS In the initial dose-finding portion of the study, cumulative thrombocytopenia was the dose-limiting toxicity. At the MTD, the regimen included four 21-day cycles of cyclophosphamide 4 gm/m2, doxorubicin 70 mg/m2, vincristine 2 mg, and prednisone 100 mg for 5 days with mesna and G-CSF support. At the MTD, 65% of treatment cycles were complicated by febrile neutropenia, 84% of patients received at least one platelet transfusion for platelet counts less than 20,000/microL, and there was one treatment-related death. Nineteen of 22 (86%; 90% confidence interval [CI], 68 to 96) patients treated at the MTD achieved an initial complete response (CR), and 79% (90% CI, 58 to 92) of the complete responders and 69% of all patients remain progression-free with 20 months median follow-up. CONCLUSION The high-dose CHOP regimen may be an effective alternative for patients with poor-prognosis aggressive NHL.
DNA polymorphisms at the BCL11A, HBS1L-MYB, and β-globin loci associate with fetal hemoglobin levels and pain crises in sickle cell disease

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a debilitating monogenic blood disorder with a highly variable phenotype characterized by severe pain crises, acute clinical events, and early mortality. Interindividual variation in fetal hemoglobin (HbF) expression is a known and potentially heritable modifier of SCD severity. High HbF levels are correlated with reduced morbidity and mortality. Common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at the BCL11A and HBS1L-MYB loci have been implicated previously in HbF level variation in nonanemic European populations. We recently demonstrated an association between a BCL11A SNP and HbF levels in one SCD cohort [Uda M, et al. (2008) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 105:1620–1625]. Here, we genotyped additional BCL11A SNPs, HBS1L-MYB SNPs, and an SNP upstream of Gγ-globin (HBG2; the XmnI polymorphism), in two independent SCD cohorts: the African American Cooperative Study of Sickle Cell Disease (CSSCD) and an SCD cohort from Brazil. We studied the effect of these SNPs on HbF levels and on a measure of SCD-related morbidity (pain crisis rate). We strongly replicated the association between these SNPs and HbF level variation (in the CSSCD, P values range from 0.04 to 2 × 10−42). Together, common SNPs at the BCL11A, HBS1L-MYB, and β-globin (HBB) loci account for >20% of the variation in HbF levels in SCD patients. We also have shown that HbF-associated SNPs associate with pain crisis rate in SCD patients. These results provide a clear example of inherited common sequence variants modifying the severity of a monogenic disease.
Biobanking: A Challenge Facing Pathologists in Egypt.

Background: Biobanking today plays a key tool in biomedical research. Establishment and proper running of biobanks in developing countries is confronted with a number of challenges of legal, ethical, and financial nature. Considering that there are no guidelines or regulations to control biobanking in Egypt; major ethical issues arise and are often managed by research ethics committees (RECs). Pathologists are the custodians of tissue samples in different universities and hospitals; they have an important role in advancement of scientific research. So, they have to equip themselves adequately to manage the evolution of pathology work towards integration of biomarker analysis in clinical research and to deal with the ethical and legal issues of biobanks in Egypt. Review Article Abd El-Aal et al.; BJMMR, 13(1): 1-10, 2016; Article no.BJMMR. 21583 2 Objective/Aim: The purpose of this review is to highlight the current situation of human tissue research and biobanking in Egypt with Comparative policy of other countries. We will address the role of pathologists and the difficulties and challenges facing the process of initiating biobanks and give some recommendations that might help different stakeholders for biobanking in Egypt. Conclusion: Egypt is one of the developing countries which are in need to implement biobanks to improve the quality of research. The review highlights the different challenges facing biobanks in Egypt, mainly: lack of legislations, consent form, public trust, tissue transfer and commercialization. It also discuss the role of pathologists and research ethics committees in establishing and maintaining the work in these biobanks; and to make every effort for the interests of the participants, community and scientific progress, hopefully for good future biomedical research in Egypt.
Quality of life and satisfaction with outcome among prostate-cancer survivors.

BACKGROUND We sought to identify determinants of health-related quality of life after primary treatment of prostate cancer and to measure the effects of such determinants on satisfaction with the outcome of treatment in patients and their spouses or partners. METHODS We prospectively measured outcomes reported by 1201 patients and 625 spouses or partners at multiple centers before and after radical prostatectomy, brachytherapy, or external-beam radiotherapy. We evaluated factors that were associated with changes in quality of life within study groups and determined the effects on satisfaction with the treatment outcome. RESULTS Adjuvant hormone therapy was associated with worse outcomes across multiple quality-of-life domains among patients receiving brachytherapy or radiotherapy. Patients in the brachytherapy group reported having long-lasting urinary irritation, bowel and sexual symptoms, and transient problems with vitality or hormonal function. Adverse effects of prostatectomy on sexual function were mitigated by nerve-sparing procedures. After prostatectomy, urinary incontinence was observed, but urinary irritation and obstruction improved, particularly in patients with large prostates. No treatment-related deaths occurred; serious adverse events were rare. Treatment-related symptoms were exacerbated by obesity, a large prostate size, a high prostate-specific antigen score, and older age. Black patients reported lower satisfaction with the degree of overall treatment outcomes. Changes in quality of life were significantly associated with the degree of outcome satisfaction among patients and their spouses or partners. CONCLUSIONS Each prostate-cancer treatment was associated with a distinct pattern of change in quality-of-life domains related to urinary, sexual, bowel, and hormonal function. These changes influenced satisfaction with treatment outcomes among patients and their spouses or partners.
Predictors of Voluntary Home-Smoking Restrictions and Associations with an Objective Measure of In-Home Smoking among Subsidized Housing Tenants

Purpose. Examine predictors of voluntary home-smoking restrictions (HSRs) and associations with an objective measure of in-home smoking. Design. Cross-sectional. Setting. Publicly subsidized multiunit housing units managed by private company in Columbus, Ohio, without a smoke-free housing policy. Subjects. Probability sample of primary leaseholders (N = 301, 64% response rate). Measures. Self-reported knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors collected during face-to-face survey in fall 2011, including individual (e.g., knowledge of health effects), social (e.g., number of friends who smoke), and environmental (e.g., safety) factors hypothesized to be related to having HSRs. Surface nicotine concentration (μg/m2) based on samples collected from wood surface in respondents' living rooms (n = 279). Analysis. Multiple linear and logistic regression were used to identify factors associated with having HSRs and with indoor surface nicotine concentrations. Results. Fewer than one-third (29.2%) of tenants had complete HSRs, while more than half (55.8%) had partial restrictions. Several individual and social factors, but no environmental/community factors, were associated with having HSRs. Type of HSRs (p < .001) and smoking status (p < .001) were independently associated with mean surface nicotine concentrations. Conclusion. Few subsidized housing tenants voluntarily limit in-home smoking. Partial restrictions could be considered as a harm reduction strategy but may be less effective among smokers. Strategies to change social norms are also needed to modify in-home smoking behavior among subsidized housing tenants.
The utilisation of online alternative media towards participatory democracy: a Malaysian case

This study examines the utilisation of online alternative media towards participatory democracy. Since the enactment of the Communication and Multimedia Act 1999, online alternative media such as Malaysiakini, Malaysia Today, and the Malaysian Insider have played a pivotal role in many political events including the post-Mahathir-Anwar political crisis, the 2008 financial crisis, election campaign, Anwar’s sodomy case, and Dr. Hasan Ali’s disclosure of PAS weaknesses. This study has explored the role of online alternative media and answered the enquiry of how Malaysians have utilised it for participatory democracy.The specific objective of this study to comprehend how public corresponds to online alternative media towards participatory democracy. This study employed qualitative content analysis as data analysis technique.The findings imply that participatory democratic stance via the alternative media is less significant.
Computational prosodic markers for autism

We present results obtained with new instrumental methods for the acoustic analysis of prosody to evaluate prosody production by children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Typical Development (TD). Two tasks elicit focal stress — one in a vocal imitation paradigm, the other in a picture-description paradigm; a third task also uses a vocal imitation paradigm, and requires repeating stress patterns of two-syllable nonsense words. The instrumental methods differentiated significantly between the ASD and TD groups in all but the focal stress imitation task. The methods also showed smaller differences in the two vocal imitation tasks than in the picture-description task, as was predicted. In fact, in the nonsense word stress repetition task, the instrumental methods showed better performance for the ASD group. The methods also revealed that the acoustic features that predict auditory-perceptual judgment are not the same as those that differentiate between groups. Specifically, a key difference between the groups appears to be a difference in the balance between the various prosodic cues, such as pitch, amplitude, and duration, and not necessarily a difference in the strength or clarity with which prosodic contrasts are expressed.
A CMOS Current-Reused Transceiver with Stacked LNA and Mixer for WPAN

A low power transceiver is designed in 0.25 mum CMOS technology. Designed transceiver is composed of CMOS PA and low-IF receiver architecture for high integration. To reduce the power dissipation, current-reused topology is used in Rx and up-conversion mixer. And, the simulated power consumption of PA is minimized by optimizing the size of power cells. The power consumptions are 31 mW and 69 mW for Rx and Tx paths, respectively, with 2.5 V supply voltage. Voltage conversion gain of designed receiver is varied from 11.5 to 27.5 dB. Output power is 14.7 dBm with 40 % of PAE at P1dB, and phase noise of QVCO is -122 dBc/Hz@1MHz. These performances are sufficient for WPAN applications such as Zig-Bee and Bluetooth
Novel insect orcokinins: Characterization and neuronal distribution in the brains of selected dicondylian insects

Orcokinins are a family of myotropic neuropeptides identified in various decapod crustaceans and recently in a cockroach. Their presence in the crustacean nervous system and hemolymph suggests that they act as hormones and as locally acting neuromodulators. To provide further evidence for the existence of orcokinins in insects, we identified a novel orcokinin‐related peptide in the locust Schistocerca gregaria and used an antiserum against Asn13‐orcokinin for immunostaining in the brains of selected dicondylian insects, including a silverfish, three polyneopteran species (a cockroach and two locusts), and three endopterygote species (a moth, a bee, and a fly). As analyzed by MALDI‐TOF spectrometry and nanoelectrospray Q‐TOF, the locust orcokinin is a novel tetradecapeptide with striking sequence similarity to crustacean orcokinins. Orcokinin immunostaining was widespread and occurred in similar patterns in the brain of the silverfish and the polyneopteran species. Prominent immunostaining was detected in the optic lobe, especially in the medulla and in the accessory medulla, in local interneurons of the antennal lobe, and in extrinsic and intrinsic mushroom‐body neurons. All parts of the central complex and many other areas of the brains were densely stained. In the silverfish, the cockroach, and the locusts, processes in the corpora cardiaca showed orcokinin immunoreactivity, suggesting that orcokinins also serve a hormonal role. In contrast to the case in polyneopteran species, immunostaining was completely lacking in the brains of the honeybee, fruitfly, and sphinx moth. This indicates that orcokinins either are modified considerably or may be completely absent in the brains of endopterygote insects. J. Comp. Neurol. 490:57–71, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Schistosomiasis and Strongyloidiasis Recommendations for Solid-Organ Transplant Recipients and Donors.

Introduction and Epidemiology Schistosomiasis is a geographically restricted disease caused by several species of the trematode worm Schistosoma. If untreated, it can lead to major disability and death. Typically, only nonspecific symptoms, such as cachexia and anemia occur, but occasionally patients experience more severe complications arising from hepatic (portal hypertension and its related consequences) and urinary involvement. Although in the past few years, preventive measures have reduced the worldwide burden of infection, active transmission still occurs on several different continents. Almost all cases of human schistosomiasis are caused by 5 species of Schistosoma: S.mansoni (SouthAmerica,Caribbean, Arabic peninsula, and Africa), S. haematobium (Africa andMiddle East), S. mekongi (Laos, Camboja), S. intercalatum (Africa), and S. japonicum (China, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand). It is estimated that between 200 and400millionpeople are infected with any species; however, more than 90% of
Analysis of the Cellular Parameters of the Immune Responses contributing to Resistance and Susceptibility of Mice to Infection with the Intracellular Parasite, Leishmania major

Although the course of infection induced by L.major in mice is influenced by several factors, including the parasite virulence, the macrophage permissiveness to this parasite and response to T cell-produced lymphokines, this review has been restricted to summarizing, the recent data concerning the T-cell responses generated during infection and their effect on the disease process. Experimental evidence strongly suggests that T-cell responses play a fundamental role in resistance and susceptibility of mice to infection with L.major. It appears that resolution of lesion and exacerbation of disease result from the activity of distinct specific CD4+ T cells. There is a consensus of opinion that CD4+ T cells from the TH1 functional phenotype are generally endowed with protective function through their secreted lymphokines (e.g. IFN-gamma). However, some evidence exists that other lymphokines (e.g. TNF) might be involved in resolution of lesions. Results exist which indicate that some TH1 CD4+ T cells also contribute to susceptibility to infection. Their specificity differs from that of protective TH1 cells in the sense that these T cells might recognize parasite antigens not appropriately presented by parasitized macrophages and therefore, although releasing IFN-gamma, would not be able to concentrate this lymphokine on the surface of macrophages containing multiplying L.major. It appears that parasite-specific TH2 cells play an important role, through the IL-4 that they produce, in the severe disease seen in BALB/c mice. Determining the mechanisms responsible for the expansion of TH2 cells in genetically susceptible mice as well as assessing whether or not some parasite antigens are preferentially recognized by TH1 and TH2 cells are areas of investigation of prime importance for the rational design of a vaccine against leishmaniasis. Several observations indicate that CD8+ T cells have a role in the resolution of lesions induced by this parasite. Precise investigation of the mechanism(s) accounting for their beneficial effect might depend upon our ability to derive and maintain in vitro homogenous populations and clones of L.major-specific CD8+ T cells.
Tolerance in Internet gaming disorder: A need for increasing gaming time or something else?

Background and aims The criterion of tolerance in DSM-5 Internet gaming disorder (IGD) refers to a need for increasing time spent gaming. However, this focus on “need for gaming time” may overlook some of the broader motivations, outcomes, or effects of gaming that underlie excessive play. This study aimed to explore regular and problematic gamers’ experiences and perceptions of tolerance in IGD. Methods An online survey of 630 adult gamers yielded 1,417 text responses to open-ended questions. A thematic analysis of 23,373 words was conducted to extract dominant themes. Results Participants reported that they increasingly desired game items, status, or story progress as they became more involved or invested in games. As players develop higher standards of play in games, an increasing number of potential reward outcomes may have diminishing mood-modifying effects. None of the participants, including those with self-reported IGD, explicitly referred to a need for increasing time spent gaming. Discussion and conclusions These results suggest that players may be motivated by preferences for specific goals or reinforcers in games rather than wanting an amount of time spent gaming. Thus, problematic gaming may involve a need for completion of increasingly intricate, time-consuming, or difficult goals to achieve satisfaction and/or reduce fears of missing out. Further research is needed to determine whether these cognitive and motivational factors related to gaming stimuli should extend or replace the concept of tolerance in IGD or be considered as separate but related processes in disordered gaming.