Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular sequelae of proteasome inhibition in human multiple myeloma cells

The proteasome inhibitor PS-341 inhibits IκB degradation, prevents NF-κB activation, and induces apoptosis in several types of cancer cells, including chemoresistant multiple myeloma (MM) cells. PS-341 has marked clinical activity even in the setting of relapsed refractory MM. However, PS-341-induced apoptotic cascade(s) are not yet fully defined. By using gene expression profiling, we characterized the molecular sequelae of PS-341 treatment in MM cells and further focused on molecular pathways responsible for the anticancer actions of this promising agent. The transcriptional profile of PS-341-treated cells involved down-regulation of growth/survival signaling pathways, and up-regulation of molecules implicated in proapoptotic cascades (which are both consistent with the proapoptotic effect of proteasome inhibition), as well as up-regulation of heat-shock proteins and ubiquitin/proteasome pathway members (which can correspond to stress responses against proteasome inhibition). Further studies on these pathways showed that PS-341 decreases the levels of several antiapoptotic proteins and triggers a dual apoptotic pathway of mitochondrial cytochrome c release and caspase-9 activation, as well as activation of Jun kinase and a Fas/caspase-8-dependent apoptotic pathway [which is inhibited by a dominant negative (decoy) Fas construct]. Stimulation with IGF-1, as well as overexpression of Bcl-2 or constitutively active Akt in MM cells also modestly attenuates PS-341-induced cell death, whereas inhibitors of the BH3 domain of Bcl-2 family members or the heat-shock protein 90 enhance tumor cell sensitivity to proteasome inhibition. These data provide both insight into the molecular mechanisms of antitumor activity of PS-341 and the rationale for future clinical trials of PS-341, in combination with conventional and novel therapies, to improve patient outcome in MM.
Serologic Evidence of Newcastle Disease In Captive Mallards and Swans*

Newcastle disease virus (NDV) hemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibody titers of 1:20 or greater were detected in 80 of 200 serums from adult female and 9 of 35 adult male mallard breeders tested from three commercial game farm flocks in Wisconsin and Illinois. Six of 106 serums from mallard ducklings also were considered to be reactors. Almost half (49) of 100 swan serums from five aviculturist flocks in Michigan had HI antibody titers of 1:20 or greater. The possible significance of these findings regarding waterfowl management practices was discussed.
The life cycle of phagosomes: formation, maturation, and resolution

Phagocytosis, the regulated uptake of large particles (>0.5 μm in diameter), is essential for tissue homeostasis and is also an early, critical component of the innate immune response. Phagocytosis can be conceptually divided into three stages: phagosome, formation, maturation, and resolution. Each of these involves multiple reactions that require exquisite spatial and temporal orchestration. The molecular events underlying these stages are being unraveled and the current state of knowledge is briefly summarized in this article.
Development of the New Lung Allocation System in the United States

aDepartment of Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA bScientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA cScientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, University Renal Research and Education Association, Ann Arbor, MI, USA dUnited Network for Organ Sharing, Richmond, VA, USA eDepartment of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago IL, USA fDepartment of Pediatrics, Washington University, St. Louis, MI, USA gDepartment of Surgery, University of Colorado, Denver, CO, USA ∗Corresponding author: Thomas M. Egan, ltxtme@med.unc. edu
Smooth Gradient Representations as a Unifying Account of Chevreul's Illusion, Mach Bands, and a Variant of the Ehrenstein Disk

Recent evidence suggests that the primate visual system generates representations for object surfaces (where we consider representations for the surface attribute brightness). Object recognition can be expected to perform robustly if those representations are invariant despite environmental changes (e.g., in illumination). In real-world scenes, it happens, however, that surfaces are often overlaid by luminance gradients, which we define as smooth variations in intensity. Luminance gradients encode highly variable information, which may represent surface properties (curvature), nonsurface properties (e.g., specular highlights, cast shadows, illumination inhomogeneities), or information about depth relationships (cast shadows, blur). We argue, on grounds of the unpredictable nature of luminance gradients, that the visual system should establish corresponding representations, in addition to surface representations. We accordingly present a neuronal architecture, the so-called gradient system, which clarifies how spatially accurate gradient representations can be obtained by relying on only high-resolution retinal responses. Although the gradient system was designed and optimized for segregating, and generating, representations of luminance gradients with real-world luminance images, it is capable of quantitatively predicting psychophysical data on both Mach bands and Chevreul's illusion. It furthermore accounts qualitatively for a modified Ehrenstein disk.
Shp2, an SH2-containing Protein-tyrosine Phosphatase, Positively Regulates Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Signaling by Dephosphorylating and Inactivating the Inhibitor Sprouty*

Src homology 2-containing phosphotyrosine phosphatase (Shp2) functions as a positive effector in receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) signaling immediately proximal to activated receptors. However, neither its physiological substrate(s) nor its mechanism of action in RTK signaling has been defined. In this study, we demonstrate that Sprouty (Spry) is a possible target of Shp2. Spry acts as a conserved inhibitor of RTK signaling, and tyrosine phosphorylation of Spry is indispensable for its inhibitory activity. Shp2 was able to dephosphorylate fibroblast growth factor receptor-induced phosphotyrosines on Spry both in vivo and in vitro. Shp2-mediated dephosphorylation of Spry resulted in dissociation of Spry from Grb2. Furthermore, Shp2 could reverse the inhibitory effect of Spry on FGF-induced neurite outgrowth and MAP kinase activation. These findings suggest that Shp2 acts as a positive regulator in RTK signaling by dephosphorylating and inactivating Spry.
A wide range planar coil based displacement sensor with high sensitivity

A new, non-contact, planar spiral coil based inductive displacement sensor is presented in this paper. The proposed sensor has a fixed planar coil and a movable U-shaped magnetic core. The coil is designed such that the inductance vs. displacement of the sensor has a predictable characteristic that can be easily represented. The sensor presented has a sinusoidal characteristic, which helps to retrieve the displacement information from the inductance value easily, without the need of a look-up table, which is not the case for most of the sensors that use planar coils. The inductance characteristic for the proposed is symmetric with respect to the center of the coil. A simple method to distinguish the position of the core between the two halves of the coil is proposed in the paper. This not only solves the symmetry problem, but also enables to extend the sensor range with multiple coils connected in series. A Phase-Sensitive Detector (PSD) based measurement is employed to measure the inductance. This approach provides two advantages; (a) very low sensitivity to external interferences and (b) the sensitivity (of output vs. displacement) remain constant even if multiple number of coils are connected in series to increase the range of the sensor. A finite element analysis has been conducted to design the coil and to analyze the effect of vertical movement of the core. A prototype of the proposed sensor and measurement scheme has been developed and tested. The results are presented in the paper. The low-cost sensor presented will be useful for many industrial linear position sensing applications.
Evidence for Gd 3 1 inhibition of membrane ATP permeability and purinergic signaling

Evidence for Gd 3 1 inhibition of membrane ATP permeability and purinergic signaling. Am. J. Physiol. 277 ( Gastrointest. Liver Physiol. 40): G1222–G1230, 1999. —Extracellular ATP functions as an important autocrine and paracrine signal that modulates a broad range of cell and organ functions through activation of purinergic receptors in the plasma membrane. Because little is known of the cellular mechanisms involved in ATP release, the purpose of these studies was to evaluate the potential role of the lanthanide Gd 3 1 as an inhibitor of ATP permeability and to assess the physiological implications of impaired purinergic signaling in liver cells. In rat hepatocytes and HTC hepatoma cells, increases in cell volume stimulate ATP release, and the localized increase in extracellular ATP increases membrane Cl 2 permeability and stimulates cell volume recovery through activation of P 2 receptors. In cells in culture, spontaneous ATP release, as measured by a luciferin-luciferase-based assay, was always detectable under control conditions, and extracellular ATP concentrations increased 2- to 14-fold after increases in cell volume. Gd 3 1 (200 µM) inhibited volume-sensitive ATP release by . 90% ( P , 0.001), inhibited cell volume recovery from swelling ( P , 0.01), and uncoupled cell volume from increases in membrane Cl 2 permeability ( P , 0.01). More-over, Gd 3 1 had similar inhibitory effects on ATP release from other liver and epithelial cell models. Together, these ﬁndings support an important physiological role for constitutive release of ATP as a signal coordinating cell volume and membrane ion permeability and suggest that Gd 3 1 might prove to be an effective inhibitor ofATP-permeable channels once they are identiﬁed.
A fuzzy classification system based on memetic algorithm for cancer disease diagnosis

Classification systems have been widely utilized in medical domain to explore patient's data and extract a predictive model. This model helps physicians to improve their prognosis, diagnosis or treatment planning procedures. Cancer disease is one of the main research topics in the medical field. We are looking for to develop a computer system for powerful and reliable cancer diagnostic model development based on microarray data. An accurate classifier with linguistic interpretability using a small number of relevant genes is beneficial to microarray data analysis and development of inexpensive diagnostic tests. The aim of this paper is to use a Memetic (Genetic Local Search) classification system to extract a set of fuzzy rules for diagnosis of cancer disease. A new memetic algorithm has been proposed which is capable of extracting interprétable and accurate fuzzy if-then rules from cancer data. In this paper, we applied our system on 14_Tumors dataset and we'll show that our approach is useful in cancer tumor detection based on the results.
Ecdysteroids during Early Embryonic Development in Silkworm Bombyx mori: Metabolism and Functions

Abstract It has been well established that eggs of insects, including those of the silkworm Bombyx mori, contain various molecular species of ecdysteroids in free and conjugated forms. In B. mori eggs, 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) is a physiologically active molecule. In nondiapause eggs, 20E is produced by the conversion of maternal conjugated ecdysteroids (ecdysteroid-phosphates) and by de novo biosynthesis. In contrast, in diapause eggs, neither of these metabolic processes occurs. In de novo biosynthesis of 20E in B. mori eggs, hydroxylation at the C-20 position of ecdysone, which is catalyzed by ecdysone 20-hydroxylase, is a rate-limiting step. Furthermore, we found that a novel enzyme, called ecdysteroid-phosphate phosphatase (EPPase), specifically catalyzes the conversion of ecdysteroid-phosphates to free ecdysteroids. The developmental changes in the expression pattern of EPPase mRNA correspond closely to changes in the enzyme activity and in the amounts of free ecdysteroids in eggs. EPPase is localized in the cytosol of yolk cells, and the bulk of maternal ecdysteroid-phosphates is bound to vitellin and stored in yolk granules. The vitellin-bound ecdysteroid-phosphates are scarcely hydrolyzed by EPPase. Therefore, to examine how ecdysteroid-phosphates are hydrolyzed by EPPase during embryonic development further investigations were focused on yolk granules. Recent data indicate that acidification in yolk granules, induced by vacuolar H+-ATPase, triggers the dissociation of ecdysteroid-phosphates from the vitellinecdysteroid-phosphates complex and the dissociated ecdysteroid-phosphates are released from yolk granules to the cytosol. To explain the process of the increase in the level of 20E during embryonic development in B. mori eggs, a possible model is proposed.
Usefulness of radiological findings for predicting cochlear implantation outcomes in children with cochlear nerve deficiency: a pilot study

Abstract Conclusion: Children with CND received limited benefits from CIs and their results varied. The size of the vestibulocochlear nerve relative to the facial nerve could potentially be used as a predicator for CI outcomes in children with CND. Objective: This study aimed to (1) retrospectively review the outcomes of cochlear implants (CIs) in children with cochlear nerve deficiency (CND) and (2) evaluate the clinical usefulness of radiological findings as predictors for post-implantation outcomes. Methods: Study participants included 10 children with bilateral CND and profound sensorineural hearing loss. The preoperative magnetic resonance imaging and temporal bone computed tomography scans were evaluated. Auditory processing capability and speech perception performance were measured with Categories of Auditory Performance (CAP) and Speech Intelligibility Rating (SIR) scales. Aided hearing thresholds with CI were measured. The relationships between CI outcomes and the sizes of vestibulocochlear nerve and cochlear nerve canal (CNC) were analysed. Results: Although post-operative CAP scores and hearing thresholds significantly improved in children with CND, their results were worse than those measured in implanted children with normal cochlear nerve. No significant correlation was found between the CI outcomes and the vestibulocochlear nerve diameters or the CNC diameters in children with CND. However, children with larger vestibulocochlear-nerve-to-facial-nerve-ratios got better results.
Cell surface antigens of human malignant melanoma. II. Serological typing with immune adherence assays and definition of two new surface antigens

Immune adherence assays revealed that 10 out of 18 melanoma patients had demonstrable antibody to surface antigens of autologous cultured melanoma cells, with serum titers ranging from 1/4 to 1/160. Autologous fibroblasts showed no reactions with these sera. Antibody from individual patients showed reproducible temperature preference for maximal reactivity. Two new melanoma antigenic systems were defined in this study. The first, BD, was restricted to autologous melanoma and could not be demonstrated in absorption tests on 12 allogeneic melanoma cell lines. The other, AH, was found on 5 of 12 melanomas and represents a class of shared melanoma surface antigens. Neither BD nor AH antigen was found on normal cells from autologous, allogeneic, or xenogeneic sources or on any nonmelanoma tumor cell line. Methods are now available to develop a comprehensive serological classification of the surface antigens of melanoma.
Deformation-based morphometry of the brain for the development of surrogate markers in Alzheimer's disease

Cette these developpe un cadre algorithmique pour l’analyse et la quantification des changements structurels longitudinaux dans la maladie d’Alzheimer. Nous proposons une modelisation hierarchique des differents niveaux de variabilite qui caracterisent les observations longitudinales dans des sequences temporelles d’images cerebrales de resonance magnetique (IRM) en s’appuyant sur un algorithme de recalage diffeomorphe parametre par des champs de vitesse stationnaires (SVFs). Pour obtenir une methode efficace et robuste de quantification des changements entre deux images IRM, nous proposons une methode de recalge, les LCC-demons, qui optimise la correlation locale comme mesure de similarite entre les images LCC-demons. On derive ensuite des mesures de l’atrophie regionale du cerveau qui sont stables et consistantes en quantifiant les changements de volume de diverses regions ou en mesurant le deplacement des frontieres de ces regions. Pour analyser de maniere coherente les evolutions longitudinales au niveau d’une population, nous avons etudie le transport parallele des trajectoires des deformations de chaque patient vers une reference anatomique (un atlas). Grâce a la theorie des groupes de Lie, nous avons pu justifier le parametrage stationnaire des diffeomorphismes, et deriver de nouvelles strategies efficaces pour le transport parallele de SVFs. Ceci permet de realiser des statistiques de groupe sur l’evolution de l’atrophie sut la transformation sous-jacente entiere et non plus sur quelques-unes de ses caracteristiques seulement. Ces contributions methodologiques permettent de nouvelles analyses cliniques de l’evolution pathologique de la maladie d’Alzheimer, de maniere a la fois exploratoire et quantitative. Nous proposons ainsi plusieurs approches ayant une tres bonne puissance statistique pour localiser l’evolution differentielle de differentes populations cliniques, pour evaluer les changements de volume regionaux, et enfin pour le diagnostic clinique dans les phases initiales de la maladie.
Life Skills Profile (LSP). Presentazione

Strumenti e una Sezione di EPS dedicata alia pubblicazione di strumenti di valutazione e di misura utili per la ricerca epidemiologica in psichiatria. II testo degli strumenti viene pubblicato integralmente, accompagnato da una presentazione da parte del curatore, da una introduzione e dalle istruzioni per l'uso fornite dagli autori. Strumenti si pone tra gli obiettivi principali quello di aumentare il grado di conoscenza sugli strumenti di misurazione in psichiatria e di facilitare la diffusione e l'utilizzo di strumenti validati e correttamente tradotti nella nostra lingua. Saremo lieti di prendere in considerazione per la pubblicazione contributi provenienti da ricercatori italiani che abbiano sviluppato e validato strumenti originali o tradotto strumenti stranieri.
Differences in highly pathogenic avian influenza viral pathogenesis and associated early inflammatory response in chickens and ducks

We studied the immunological responses in the lung, brain and spleen of ducks and chickens within the first 7 days after infection with H7N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Infection with HPAI caused significant morbidity and mortality in chickens, while in ducks the infection was asymptomatic. The HPAI viral mRNA load was higher in all investigated tissues of chickens compared with duck tissues. In the lung, brain and spleen of HPAI-infected chickens, a high, but delayed, pro-inflammatory response of IL-6 and IL-1β mRNA was induced, including up-regulation of IFN-β, IFN-γ, TLR3 and MDA-5 mRNA from 1 day post infection (p.i.). Whereas in ducks already at 8 h p.i. , a quicker but lower response was found for IL-6, IL-1β and iNOS mRNA followed by a delayed activation of TLR7, RIG-I, MDA5 and IFN-γ mRNA response. Virus-infected areas in the lung of chickens co-localized with KUL-01+ (macrophages, dendritic cells), CD4+, and CD8α+ cells, during the first day after infection. However, only KUL-01+ cells co-localized with the virus after 1 day p.i. In ducks, CVI-ChNL-68.1+ (macrophage-like cells), CD4+ and CD8α+ cells and apoptosis co-localized with the virus within 8 h p.i. Apoptosis was detected in the brain and lung of HPAI-infected chickens after 2 days p.i. and apoptotic cells co-localized with virus-infected areas. In conclusion, excessive delayed cytokine inflammatory responses but inadequate cellular immune responses may contribute to pathogenesis in chickens, while ducks initiate a fast lower cytokine response followed by the activation of major pattern recognition receptors (TLR7, RIG-I, MDA5) and a persistent cellular response.
A seamless transfer strategy of islanded and grid-connected mode switching for microgrid based on droop control

In this paper, the structure and control method of microgrid in both islanded mode and grid-connected mode are presented. And a seamless transfer strategy for droop controlled distributed generations from islanded mode to grid-connected mode is proposed. This transfer strategy is based on droop method and consisted of frequency synchronization and phase synchronization. It could avoid a frequency and phase oscillation, and do not have an effect on the power sharing of droop control. After synchronizations the bypass switch closes at a zero-crossing of voltage, and at the same time the control mode charges from the voltage sources based on droop control to current sources. Simulation results are presented to show the performance and feasibility of this proposed strategy.
Gulliver’s Politics

Political conservatives have been widely documented to regard out-group members as hostile, perceive individuals of ambiguous intent as malevolent, and favor aggressive solutions to intergroup conflict. A growing literature indicates that potential violent adversaries are represented using the dimensions of envisioned physical size/strength to summarize opponents’ fighting capacities relative to the self or in-group. Integrating these programs, we hypothesized that, compared to liberals, conservatives would envision an ambiguous out-group target as more likely to pose a threat, yet as vanquishable through force, and thus as less formidable. Participants from the United States (Study 1) and Spain (Study 2) assessed Syrian refugees, a group that the public widely suspects includes terrorists. As predicted, in both societies, conservatives envisioned refugees as more likely to be terrorists and as less physically formidable. As hypothesized, this “Gulliver effect” was mediated by confidence in each society’s capacity to thwart terrorism via aggressive military or police measures.
The interaction of plasminogen activator with a reconstituted basement membrane matrix and extracellular macromolecules produced by cultured epithelial cells

Laminin and fibronectin are glycoproteins that influence cell behavior and mediate cell/substratum adhesion. We have examined the interaction of these macromolecules with the serine protease plasminogen activator (PA) in two types of extracellular matrices; one produced by the murine Engelbreth‐Holm‐Swarm (EHS) tumor (Matrigel™), and another by normal kidney epithelial cells in culture. Matrigel™ was found to contain significant quantities of tissue‐type PA (tPA). Two of the major components of Matrigel™, laminin and type IV collagen, were also examined. Tissue‐type PA was associated with purified preparations of laminin; however, it was not found associated with type IV collagen. Normal kidney epithelial cells in culture secrete large amounts of urokinase (UK) and deposit a subepithelial matrix containing both laminin and fibronectin. These matrix macromolecules were isolated from the deposited matrix by immunoprecipitation, examined by zymography, and found to contain UK. The potential role of this interaction in the mechanisms of cell migration and matrix remodeling is discussed.