Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sequential Modification of Serines 621 and 624 in the Raf-1 Carboxyl Terminus Produces Alterations in Its Electrophoretic Mobility*

The Raf-1 serine/threonine protein kinase plays a central role in many of the mitogenic signaling pathways regulating cell growth and differentiation. The regulation of Raf-1 is complex, and involves protein-protein interactions as well as changes in the phosphorylation state of Raf-1 that are accompanied by alterations in its electrophoretic mobility. We have previously shown that a 33-kDa COOH-terminal, kinase-inactive fragment of Raf-1 underwent a mobility shift in response to the stimulation of cells with serum or phorbol esters. Here we demonstrate that treatment of NIH 3T3 cells or Sf9 cells with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) also induces the mobility shift of the kinase-inactive Raf-1 fragment. A series of deletion mutants of the Raf-1 COOH terminus were analyzed, and the region required for the mobility shift was localized to a 78-amino acid fragment (residues 566-643). Metabolic labeling revealed that the slower migrating forms of the 33-kDa and of the smaller fragment contained phosphorus. Mutation of a previously characterized phosphorylation site, serine 621, to alanine prevented the mobility shift as well as phosphate incorporation or Src and Ras-dependent kinase activation in Sf9 cells when this mutation was engineered into the full-length Raf-1. Mutation of 621 to aspartate yielded a protein that existed in both the shifted and unshifted forms, demonstrating that a negative charge at 621 was necessary, but not sufficient, for the mobility shift to occur; however, its full-length form was still resistant to activation in the Sf9 system. Additional mutation of nearby serine 624 to alanine blocked the shift, implicating this residue as the site of the second of a two-step modification process leading to the slower migrating form. Co-expression of the 33-kDa fragment with an activated form of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase in NIH 3T3 led to the appearance of the shifted form in a serum-independent manner. These results demonstrate that a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase-induced event involving modification of serines 621 and 624 leads to the mobility shift of Raf-1.
Design of adaptive neural fuzzy formation controller for multi-robot systems

This paper aims to investigate the formation control of multi-robot systems, where the first-order kinematic model of a differential wheeled robot is considered. Based on the graph theory and consensus algorithm, an adaptive neural fuzzy formation controller is designed with the capability of on-line learning. The learning rules of controller parameters can be derived from the analyzing of Lyapunov stability. Simulations are adopted to verify the feasibility of proposed techniques. From simulation results, the proposed adaptive neural fuzzy controller can provide better formation responses compared to conventional consensus algorithm.
Prospective Evaluation Usefulness of the Brief Pain Inventory in Patients with Opioid Addiction Receiving Methadone Maintenance Treatment

Methods: This study includes participants from the Genetics of Opioid Addiction (GENOA) prospective cohort study. We assessed the prognostic value of different pain measures for predicting opioid relapse. Pain measures include the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) and patients’ response to a direct pain question all study participants were asked from the GENOA case report form (CRF) “are you currently experiencing or have been diagnosed with chronic pain? ” Performance characteristics of the GENOA CRF pain measure was estimated with sensitivity and specificity using the BPI as the gold standard reference. Prognostic value was assessed using pain classification as the primary independent variable in an adjusted analysis using 1) the percentage of positive opioid urine screens and 2) high-risk opioid use (≥ 50% positive opioid urine screens) as the dependent variables in a linear and logistic regression analyses, respectively.
Use of Epinephrine in Patients with Drug-Induced Anaphylaxis: An Analysis of the Beijing Pharmacovigilance Database

Background: Few studies assessing the use of epinephrine in drug-induced anaphylaxis (DIA) in the hospital setting are available. We utilized the Beijing Pharmacovigilance Database (BPD) to evaluate the appropriateness of epinephrine for DIA management. Methods: DIA cases collected in the BPD from January 2004 to December 2014 were adjudicated and analyzed for demographics, causative drugs, clinical signs, outcomes, initial treatment, route, dosing, and cardiovascular adverse events (CAE) of epinephrine. Results: DIA was primarily caused by antibiotics (38.4%), radiocontrast agents (11.9%), traditional Chinese medicine injections (10.9%), and chemotherapeutic drugs (10.3%). Only 708 (59.5%) patients received epinephrine treatment. Patients who received epinephrine were more likely to experience wheezing (p < 0.001) and respiratory arrest (p < 0.001). Among 518 patients with a complete record of the epinephrine administration route, the percentage of patients receiving it by intramuscular (IM) injection, subcutaneous (SC) injection, intravenous (IV) bolus injection, or IV continuous infusion was 16.9, 31.5, 43.5, and 8.1%, respectively. Among the 427 patients with a record of both the administration route and the dosing, an overdose was more likely with IV bolus (94.1%) in contrast to IM injection (56.6%; p < 0.001) or SC injection (43.7%; p < 0.001). Among the patients analyzed for CAE (n = 349), 17 patients accounted for 19 CAE, and 13 (76.5%) of these patients were overdosed with epinephrine. Conclusion: Underuse, inappropriate IV bolus use, and overdosing were the 3 major problems with epinephrine use in DIA in China. Educational training for health care professionals on the appropriate use of epinephrine in managing anaphylactic reactions is suggested.
Hotspot wireless LANs to enhance the performance of 3G and beyond cellular networks

At present, WLANs supporting broadband multimedia communications are being developed and deployed around the world. Standards include HIPERLAN/2 defined by ETSI BRAN and the 802.11 family defined by the IEEE. These systems provide channel adaptive data rates up to 54 Mb/s (in a 20 MHz channel spacing) over short ranges up to 200 m. The HIPERLAN/2 standard also specifies a flexible radio access network that can be used with a variety of core networks, including UMTS. It is likely that WLANs will become an important complementary technology to 3G cellular systems and will typically be used to provide hotspot coverage. In this article the complementary use of WLANs in conjunction with UMTS is presented. In order to quantify the capacity enhancement and benefits of cellular/hotspot interworking we have combined novel ray tracing, software-simulated physical layer performance results, and optimal base station deployment analysis. The study focuses on an example deployment using key lamppost mounted WLAN access points to increase the performance (in terms of capacity) of a cellular network.
Low-complexity Matrix Embedding Using an Efficient Iterative Search Strategy

This study proposes a novel suboptimal embedding algorithm for binary messages based on a low- weight search embedding (LWSE) strategy. The suboptimal LWSE strategy involves using algorithm to perform an embedding procedure by using a parity check matrix. The optimal embedding algorithm, which is based on the maximun likelihood (ML) algorithm, aims to locate the coset leader and minimize embedding distortion. The optimal embedding based on linear codes can achieve high embedding efficiency but incurs high computation. Conversely, the LWSE does not need to locate the coset leader, but instead requires suboptimal object. Because its corresponding weight remains close to that of the coset leader, the algorithm proceeds in an efficiently iterative manner. When using the optimal ML algorithm for a situation involving the highest operation complexity, the operation complexity of the suboptimal LWSE is linearly proportional to the number of code dimension.
The mouse mismatch repair protein, MSH3, is a nucleoplasmic protein that aggregates into denser nuclear bodies under conditions of stress

The mismatch repair protein, MSH3, together with MSH2, forms the MutSβ heterodimer which recognizes and repairs base pair mismatches and larger insertion/deletion loops in DNA. Lack of specific antibodies against mouse MSH3 has hampered studies of its expression and localization. Mouse MSH3 is not immunogenic in normal mice. This problem was overcome by immunizing msh3‐knockout mice and generating a panel of ten monoclonal antibodies, two of which localize MSH3 specifically in cultured mouse cells and bind to an epitope containing amino‐acids 33–37. The panel also includes two antibodies that recognise both mouse and human MSH3 and bind to a conserved epitope containing amino‐acids 187–194. The mouse MSH3‐specific antibodies show that MSH3 is a nuclear protein with a finely‐granular nucleoplasmic distribution, largely absent from areas of condensed heterochromatin. Specificity of the localization was demonstrated by absence of immunostaining in a cell line from the msh3‐knockout mouse. Furthermore, we show for the first time that stress treatment of mouse cells with ethanol or hydrogen peroxide caused the re‐distribution of MSH3 into nuclear bodies containing the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), a known binding partner of MutSβ. J. Cell. Biochem. 112: 1612–1621, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
EFFECT OF JASPLAKINOLIDE ON THE GROWTH, ENCYSTATION, AND ACTIN CYTOSKELETON OF ENTAMOEBA HISTOLYTICA AND ENTAMOEBA INVADENS

The effect of jasplakinolide, an actin-polymerizing and filament-stabilizing drug, on the growth, encystation, and actin cytoskeleton of Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba invadens was examined. Jasplakinolide inhibited the growth of E. histolytica strain HM-1:IMSS and E. invadens strain IP-1 in a concentration-dependent manner, the latter being more resistant to the drug. The inhibitory effect of jasplakinolide on the growth of E. histolytica trophozoites was reversed by removal of the drug after exposure to 1 µM for 1 day. Encystation of E. invadens as induced in vitro was also inhibited by jasplakinolide. Trophozoites exposed to jasplakinolide in encystation medium for 1 day did not encyst after removal of the drug, whereas those exposed to the drug in growth medium for 7 days did encyst without the drug. The process of cyst maturation was unaffected by jasplakinolide. Large round structures were formed in trophozoites of both amoebae grown with jasplakinolide; these were identified as F-actin aggregates by staining with fluorescent phalloidin. Accumulation in trophozoites of both amoebae of actin aggregates was observed after culture in jasplakinolide. Also, E. invadens cysts formed from trophozoites treated with jasplakinolide contained the actin aggregate. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblot analysis revealed that the jasplakinolide treatment led to an increase in the proportion of F-actin associated with formation of the aggregate. The results suggest that aggregates are formed from the cortical flow of F-actin filaments, and that these filaments would normally be depolymerized but are artificially stabilized by jasplakinolide binding.
Escherichia coli recBC deletion mutants

Mutants of Escherichia coli with deletions of the recB and recC genes were obtained by two methods using transposable DNA elements. The phenotypes of these mutants are similar to those of mutants with recBC point mutations. These results indicate that the RecBC gene products, exonuclease V, is not essential for the growth of E. coli but is important for DNA repair and recombination.
Social communication model of pain.

Clinicians and researchers are challenged to understand the dynamic interplay among biological, psychological, and social determinants of pain. The social communication model,2,8 (Fig. 1), provides an inclusive framework for organizing and considering these facets and their relationships. Understanding any episode of pain, acute or chronic, requires grasping the broad picture and details at biological, psychological, and social levels of analysis. The social communication model of pain specifi es necessary domains to be attended to in the education of researchers and practitioners.1,16
Bits_Pilani@INLI-FIRE-2017: Indian Native Language Identification using Deep Learning

The task of Native Language Identification involves identifying the prior or first learnt language of a user based on his writing technique and/or analysis of speech and phonetics in second language. There is a surplus of such data present on social media sites and organised dataset from bodies like Educational Testing Service(ETS), which can be exploited to develop language learning systems and forensic linguistics. In this paper we propose a deep neural network for this task using hierarchical paragraph encoder with attention mechanism to identify relevant features over tendencies and errors a user makes with second language for the INLI task in FIRE 2017. The task involves six Indian languages as prior/native set and english as the second language which has been collected from user's social media account.
The Compact Yagi Antenna Design Serve Beamforming Operation and Smart Antenna Application

In this paper, a compact and lower profile Yagi-Uda antenna with a balanced to unbalanced (sleeve balun) feed network and directional beam controlled by reflector and directors is presented. Parasitic director, driver and reflector of the designed antenna are designed to control the beam peak and beam bandwidth by the director toward the end-fire direction to centralize radiation power energy for point to point downlink and uplink multi direction multiplexed wireless communication applications and applied 4×4 beamforming (bulter matrix) network for smart antenna design and measurement.
The power–law relationship between citation‐based performance and collaboration in articles in management journals: A scale‐independent approach

The objective of this article is to determine if academic collaboration is associated with the citation‐based performance of articles that are published in management journals. We analyzed 127,812 articles published between 1988 and 2013 in 173 journals on the ISI Web of Science in the “management” category. Collaboration occurred in approximately 60% of all articles. A power–law relationship was found between citation‐based performance and journal size and collaboration patterns. The number of citations expected by collaborative articles increases 21.89 or 3.7 times when the number of collaborative articles published in a journal doubles. The number of citations expected by noncollaborative articles only increases 21.35 or 2.55 times if a journal publishes double the number of noncollaborative articles. The Matthew effect is stronger for collaborative than for noncollaborative articles. Scale‐independent indicators increase the confidence in the evaluation of the impact of the articles published in management journals.
IL-12 Alone and in Synergy with IL-18 Inhibits Osteoclast Formation In Vitro1

IL-12, like IL-18, was shown to potently inhibit osteoclast formation in cultures of cocultures of murine osteoblast and spleen cells, as well as in adult spleen cells treated with M-CSF and receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL). Neither IL-12 nor IL-18 was able to inhibit RANKL-induced osteoclast formation in cultured RAW264.7 cells, demonstrating that IL-12, like IL-18, was unable to act directly on osteoclastic precursors. IL-12, like IL-18, was found to act by T cells, since depletion of T cells from the adult spleen cell cultures ablated the inhibitory action of IL-12 and addition of either CD4 or CD8 T cells from C57BL/6 mice to RANKL-stimulated RAW264.7 cultures permitted IL-12 or IL-18 to be inhibitory. Additionally, IL-12 was still able to inhibit osteoclast formation in cocultures with osteoblasts and spleen cells from either GM-CSF R−/− mice or IFN-γ R−/− mice, indicating that neither GM-CSF nor IFN-γ was mediating osteoclast inhibition in these cultures. Combined, IL-18 and IL-12 synergistically inhibited osteoclast formation at concentrations 20- to 1000-fold less, respectively, than when added individually. A candidate inhibitor could not be demonstrated using neutralizing Abs to IL-4, IL-10, or IL-13 or from mRNA expression profiles among known cytokine inhibitors of osteoclastogenesis in response to IL-12 and IL-18 treatment, although the unknown inhibitory molecule was determined to be secreted from T cells.
Prognostic impact of pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in castration-resistant prostate cancer patients treated with first-line docetaxel

Abstract Background: The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), a measure of systemic inflammatory response, has been associated with poor outcome in several solid tumors, including prostate cancer. We retrospectively investigated the prognostic role of pretreatment NLR in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients treated with first-line docetaxel. Methods: All CRPC patients treated with first-line docetaxel at two Italian institutions, with available data about baseline neutrophil and lymphocyte values, were included in this retrospective analysis. Patients were divided in two groups according to NLR ratio (low NLR: ≤3; high NLR: >3). Outcome measures were progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS), measured from the start of docetaxel treatment. Univariate and multivariate analysis (adjusting for baseline prostate-specific antigen, alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase, hemoglobin, albumin, performance status, use of opioids and presence of visceral disease) were performed. Results: One hundred and seventy-nine patients treated between 2004 and 2016 were analyzed and 110 had information about pretreatment NLR. Forty-six patients (42%) had low NLR and 64 (58%) had high NLR. Median PFS was 8.8 months in patients with low NLR versus 7.3 months in those with high NLR [hazard ratio (HR) 1.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.75–1.69, p = . 58]. Median OS was 34.9 months in patients with low NLR versus 20.2 months in those with high NLR (HR 1.85, 95% CI 1.07–3.19, p = .02). At multivariate analysis, NLR confirmed an independent impact on OS (HR 3.16, 95% CI 1.50–6.65, p = .002). Conclusion: In this retrospective series, metastatic CRPC patients who started first-line docetaxel with a low pretreatment NLR had a significantly better survival. In addition to known prognostic factors, NLR can be useful to improve prognostic evaluation of patients in this setting.
Comparative effects of various T cell subtypes on GVHD in a murine model for MHC-matched unrelated donor transplant.

Studies were undertaken to achieve a further understanding of T cell subtype involvement in minor-histocompatibility graft-versus-host disease (MiHL-GVHD) as it may occur in MHC-matched unrelated donor (MUD) transplantation. For this, the H-2 identical, but minor-histocompatibility disparate, B10.S----SJL/J mouse model was employed, using a 50/50 mixture of B10.S spleen and marrow cells to induce GVHD in the SJL/J recipients. Utilizing dual labeling flow cytometry analysis, the relative distributions of the various T cell subtypes within the spleen and marrow of the B10.S donor strain were determined. The effects of selectively depleting for pan-T (Thy-1+), CD-4 (L3T4+), CD-8 (Lyt-2+), or CD-5 (Lyt-1+) cells were then evaluated and the results were compared with the incidence and severity of GVHD in the recipients. The data reinforced the results of previous studies indicating that a significant element of MiHL-GVHD is dependent on CD-8 cytolytic T cells which may operate independently of any helper cell input. However, they also indicated that the presence of CD-4 helper cells can accelerate the response. Furthermore, they suggested that the induction of MiHL-GVHD in MUD transplants may not be limited to the activity of fully matured T cells, but that other immature T cell subtypes, lacking in both the CD-4 and CD-8 markers, may likewise be involved.
Can a Remotely Delivered Auditory Training Program Improve Speech-in-Noise Understanding?

PURPOSE The aims of this study were to determine if a remotely delivered, Internet-based auditory training (AT) program improved speech-in-noise understanding and if the number of hours spent engaged in the program influenced postintervention speech-in-noise understanding. METHOD Twenty-nine first-time hearing aid users were randomized into an AT group (hearing aids + 3 week remotely delivered, Internet-based auditory training program) or a control group (hearing aids alone). The Hearing in Noise Test (Nilsson, Soli, & Sullivan, 1994) and the Words-in-Noise test (Wilson, 2003) were administered to both groups at baseline + 1 week and immediately at the completion of the 3 weeks of auditory training. RESULTS Speech-in-noise understanding improved for both groups at the completion of the study; however, there was not a statistically significant difference in postintervention improvement between the AT and control groups. Although the number of hours the participants engaged in the AT program was far fewer than prescribed, time on task influenced the postintervention Words-in-Noise but not Hearing in Noise Test scores. CONCLUSION Although remotely delivered, Internet-based AT programs represent an attractive alternative to resource-intensive, clinic-based interventions, their demonstrated efficacy continues to remain a challenge due in part to issues associated with compliance.
Impaired NADPH oxidase activity in Rac2‐deficient murine neutrophils does not result from defective translocation of p47phox and p67phox and can be rescued by exogenous arachidonic acid

Rac2 is a hematopoietic‐specific Rho‐GTPase that plays a stimulus‐specific role in regulating reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase activation and other functional responses in neutrophils. In this study, rac2‐/‐ neutrophils were shown to have significantly decreased NADPH oxidase activity and actin remodeling in response to exogenous arachidonic acid (AA), as previously observed for phorbol 12‐myristate 13‐acetate (PMA) or formyl‐Met‐Leu‐Phe (fMLP) as agonists. PMA‐, fMLP‐, or AA‐induced translocation of p47phox and p67phox to the plasma membrane was not impaired in rac2‐‐ neutrophils. Combined stimulation of rac2‐/‐ neutrophils with exogenous AA and PMA had a synergistic effect on NADPH oxidase activity, and superoxide production increased to a level that was at least as high as wild‐type cells and had no effect on fMLP‐elicited enzyme activity. Membrane translocation of p47phox and p67phox as well as Rac1 activation was not increased further by combined PMA and AA stimulation. Inhibitor studies were consistent with important roles for phorbol ester‐activated protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms and an atypical isoform, PKCζ, in superoxide production by wild‐type and rac2‐/‐ neutrophils stimulated with AA and PMA. In addition, PMA‐stimulated release of AA and cytoplasmic phospholipase A2 expression in rac2‐/‐ neutrophils were similar to wild‐type, suggesting that deficient AA production by PMA‐stimulated rac2‐/‐ neutrophils does not explain the effect of exogenous AA on oxidase activity. Although not required for translocation of p47phox and p67phox, Rac2 is necessary for optimal activity of the assembled oxidase complex, an effect that can be replaced by exogenous AA, which may act directly or via an exogenous AA‐induced mediator.