Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of Actin Microfilaments in Black Creek Canal Virus Morphogenesis

ABSTRACT We have investigated the involvement of cytoskeletal proteins in the morphogenesis of Black Creek Canal virus (BCCV), a New World hantavirus. Immunofluorescent staining of BCCV-infected cells revealed a filamentous pattern of virus antigen, the appearance of which was sensitive to treatment with cytochalasin D, an actin microfilament-depolymerizing drug. Double immunofluorescence staining of BCCV-infected Vero cells with anti-BCCV nucleocapsid (N) monoclonal antibody and phalloidin revealed a colocalization of the BCCV N protein with actin microfilaments. A similar, though less prominent, filamentous pattern was observed in BHK21 cells transiently expressing the BCCV N protein alone but not in cells expressing the BCCV G1 and G2 glycoproteins. Moreover, the association of the N protein with actin microfilaments was confirmed by coimmunoprecipitation with β-actin-specific antibody. Treatment of the BCCV-infected Vero cells at 3 days postinfection with cytochalasin D decreased the yield of released BCCV by 94% relative to the yield from untreated cells. Pretreatment of Vero cells with cytochalasin D prior to and during BCCV adsorption and entry had no effect on the outcome of virus production. These results indicate that actin filaments may play an important role in hantavirus assembly and/or release.
A new queuing scheme for handoffs in 3G wireless networks

An analytical framework which employs a multiple queuing scheme (MQS) for handoff calls in wireless networks is considered. Results show that, MQS and delay-dependent priority queuing (DDPQ) reported in Xhafa and Tonguz (2001) reduce handoff dropping probability by 40% when compared to the first-in-first-out (FIFO) scheme. It is also shown that, if one compares the MQS and DDPQ schemes, MQS achieves lower handoff dropping probability when the percentage of high-mobility handoff call users is greater than 38%.
Relationship of Pituitary Prolactin and LH to Mammary and Uterine Growth of Pubertal Rats During the Estrous Cycle∗ †

Summary Mammary and uterine development and their relationships to the pituitary content of prolactin and LH were studied during the five estrous cycles after vaginal opening in rats. Cumulative mammary and uterine growth was completed largely by the fourth estrous cycle after puberty. Although there was a lag of 1 day between peak mammary and uterine development, virtually all of this growth occurred during the estrogenic phase of the estrous cycle. Involutionary changes occurred in both organs during the progestational phase of the estrous cycle. Pituitary prolactin concentration was greater at proestrus (0.032 IU/mg) and metestrus (0.041 IU/mg) than at estrus (0.015 IU/mg) or diestrus (0.015 IU/mg). Pituitary LH concentration, which averaged 0.72, 0.31, 0.27, and 0.33 μ/mg at proestrus, estrus, metestrus, and diestrus, respectively, was correlated (r=0.58, p<.01) with changes in uterine RNA/DNA ratio.
Gene Action Studies of Different Quantitative Traits in Maize

The present study was carried out to determine the type of gene action, genetic parameters of yield and other quantitative traits by crossing 8 diverse maize inbred lines in complete diallel fashion. Seed of F1 population along with their parents was planted in randomized complete block design replicated thrice. Analysis of variance showed that inbred lines differed significantly among each other for all traits. The estimates of components of genetic variation revealed that non additive genetic effects were more pronounced in the inheritance of plant height, days to 50% tasseling, days to 50% silking, ear height and grain yield per plant. Directional dominance was observed for all the characters under study. Asymmetrical gene distribution was observed for all the attributes except ear height for which parental lines contained equal number of dominant and recessive genes. The graphic analysis showed that all the characters were under the genetic control of over dominance type of gene action, therefore, the material can easily be exploited for heterotic effect.
Sex steroids and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in men.

BACKGROUND Sex steroid levels are related to metabolic outcomes that could convey higher risk of premature death. METHODS We examined whether total or free testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, and sex hormone-binding globulin levels are related to all-cause or cause-specific mortality in men. Data were obtained from the Massachusetts Male Aging Study, a population-based cohort study of 1709 men aged 40 to 70 years. Men were followed up for all-cause and cause-specific mortality. RESULTS Complete data were available for 1686 men, with 395 deaths occurring during 15.3 years of follow-up. With age adjustment, dihydrotestosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin levels were associated with ischemic heart disease mortality, and free testosterone level was associated with respiratory mortality. In multivariate-adjusted models, higher free testosterone (P=.02) and lower dihydrotestosterone (P=.04) levels were significantly associated with ischemic heart disease mortality, although the latter association was not robust to differences in model selection. The relative risk of death from ischemic heart disease per 1-SD lower free testosterone level was 0.80 (95% confidence interval, 0.64-0.99). Free testosterone level was significantly associated with respiratory mortality (P=.002), with a multivariate-adjusted relative risk per 1-SD lower free testosterone level of 1.90 (95% confidence interval, 1.24-2.92). Total testosterone level was unrelated to mortality, and sex hormone-binding globulin was not significantly associated with mortality after multivariate adjustment. CONCLUSIONS In men, endogenous sex steroid levels seem to have relatively weak associations with mortality. These data provide little support for the hypothesis that endogenous sex steroid levels are associated with risk of premature death but suggest that further investigation of the relationship between sex steroids and mortality from ischemic heart disease and respiratory disease may be warranted.
Occurrence of Porphyromonas gingivalis and Tannerella forsythensis in periodontally diseased and healthy subjects.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence and level of Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) and Tannerella forsythensis (T. forsythensis) in subgingival plaque samples from both healthy individuals and periodontal patients in different age groups. METHODS A total of 498 subgingival plaque samples were studied. These samples were collected from 407 individuals diagnosed with periodontal disease (210 adult periodontitis [AP], 78 rapidly progressive periodontitis [RPP], and 119 refractory periodontitis [Ref-P] cases) and 91 healthy (H) subjects. P. gingivalis and T. forsythensis were detected by indirect immunofluorescent assay using species-specific polyclonal antisera to P. gingivalis strain (FDC 381) and T. forsythensis strain (FDC 335). The prevalence of P. gingivalis and T. forsythensis was compared by chi-square analysis. Differences in P. gingivalis and T. forsythensis levels among various periodontal status and age groups was determined by one-way analysis of variance and Fisher's multiple comparison tests. The association between the presence of P. gingivalis or T. forsythensis in different periodontal status and age groups was measured using odds ratios. RESULTS P. gingivalis was found in 85.7% (P < 0.0001) and T. forsythensis in 60.7% (P = 0.0002) of diseased subjects compared to 23.1% and 39.6%, respectively, in healthy subjects. P. gingivalis, but not T. forsythensis, was detected more frequently in any diseased group than in the H group in every age group (P<0.0001). No significant difference was found in the prevalence of P. gingivalis and T. forsythensis among age groups, except T. forsythensis was more prevalent in the age group of 40 to 59 years than in the age group < 20 years (chi2 = 3.93, P = 0.047) in the H group. The mean level of P. gingivalis and T. forsythensis was significantly higher in diseased groups than in the H group (P < 0.0001). The odds ratio for P. gingivalis in the AP group (25.0) was greater than any other group for P. gingivalis or T. forsythensis compared to the H group. CONCLUSIONS These data suggested that P. gingivalis is closely associated with the pathogenesis of periodontitis and that it may not be a normal inhabitant of periodontally healthy subjects. T. forsythensis is also important in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease; however, whether it causes periodontal disease or is a secondary invader of periodontal lesions remains to be determined.
Unusually stable helix formation in short alanine-based peptides.

Short, 16-residue, alanine-based peptides show stable alpha-helix formation in H2O. This result is surprising when contrasted with the classical view that regards the alpha-helix as a marginally stable structure in H2O and considers short helices unstable. The alanine-based peptides are solubilized by insertion of three or more residues of a single charge type, lysine (+) or glutamic acid (-). The results cannot be explained by helix stabilization resulting from concentration-dependent association or by the interaction of charged residues with the helix dipole. Our results are not predicted by the parameters for alanine and lysine that have been determined by the "host-guest" method: these parameters predict that a 16-residue peptide should not show measurable alpha-helix formation. Analysis of the role of the hydrophobic interaction in alpha-helix formation [Richards, F.M. & Richmond, T. (1978) in Molecular Interactions and Activity in Proteins, Ciba Foundation Symposium 60, ed. Wolstenholme, G.E. (Excepta Medica Amsterdam), pp. 23-25] does not show an unusually strong hydrophobic interaction in a helical block of alanine residues. The likely explanation for our results is, therefore, that individual alanine residues have a high helical potential. It is not yet known whether any other amino acids show this property, and the origin of this property is also unknown.
The curative effects of LPN combined LCA in treating with middle and advanced renal cancer.

OBJECTIVE To discuss the curative effects of laparoscopy partial nephrectomy (LPN) combined with laparoscopy cryoablation (LCA) in treating renal cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 58 patients that were diagnosed with phase III-IV renal cancer in the Hospital from February 2013 to October 2014 were enrolled in this study. After obtaining the approval of Ethics Committee of the Hospital as well as the informed consent of the patients and their relatives, the patients were randomly divide into two groups: control group consisted of 24 patients, who were treated with LPN + chemo radiotherapy and the observation group consisted of 34 patients, who were treated with LPN in combination of LCA + chemo radiotherapy. RESULTS The rate of successful operation was significantly higher in the observation group than in control group and the prevalence of per procedural complications in observation group was significantly lower than that of control group, and these differences had statistical significance (p < 0.05). Glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) after operation and 6-month follow-up in observation group was significantly higher than that in control group, and the level of serum creatinine (sCr) was significantly lower compared to the control group and the differences had statistical significance (p < 0.05). Follow-up survival rate of patients in the observation group was significantly higher than that of control group, recurrence rate and recurrence time of patients in the observation group was significantly lower than those of control group and the difference had statistical significance (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS LPN combined LCA therapy was quite effective in treating with middle and advanced renal cancer. Compared with pure LPN therapy, LPN combined LCA therapy could significantly improve the surgical effects, retain the functions of the renal unit and improve the patients' prognosis.
A method for knowledge construction from natural language based on reinforcement learning

It is promising to raise the intelligence level of service robot by extracting information from natural language. The problem has been noticed that NLP system frequently mislabel passive voice verb phrases as being in the active voice on the condition without auxiliary verb, which will reduce the correctness of produced knowledge based on natural language. A method based on reinforcement learning for household knowledge construction is proposed in this paper, according to the problem. Firstly, a dynamic simulation platform modelled on the laboratoryl is built. Secondly, a system of justification is designed as agent to produce scores of the action sequences from natural language. Thirdly, with the combination of above parts, we adopt reinforcement learning algorithm for training to obtain the appropriate compositions of action sequences. As preprocessing has been made to reduce the complexity of the actions and states, expected results can be obtained with this method.
Distal bypass to a critically ischemic foot increases the skin perfusion pressure at the opposite site of the distal anastomosis

Introduction The purpose of the study was to reveal the effect of blood flow supply to the foot by analyzing the skin perfusion pressure values and the pedal arch connection after bypass surgery. Patients and methods We selected 48 operated limbs whose skin perfusion pressure was measured pre- and post-operatively on the opposite site of distal anastomosis. We also assigned the ischemic limbs to three groups according to the patency of the pedal arch: good, intermediate, and poor. Results The mean value of skin perfusion pressure increased significantly from 27.0 ± 14.9 to 52.8 ± 16.0 (p < 0.001) post-operatively. Skin perfusion pressure improved in most of the limbs post-operatively and decreased or unchanged in only four limbs, all of which showed improved tissue loss. Three amputated limbs were due to infection, and all showed an increase in skin perfusion pressure. Conclusion It was difficult to correlate limb prognosis to skin perfusion pressure and the pedal arch connection.
Effect of Ticarcillin on Gentamicin and Tobramycin Pharmacokinetics in a Patient with End‐stage Renal Disease

Aminoglycoside antibiotics are frequently used in combination with extended-spectrum penicillins for the treatment of gram-positive and gram-negative infections. ’ In vitro studies have shown that a high penicil1in:aminoglycoside concentration ratio for a prolonged period of time may result in a significant degree of chemical inactivation of the aminoglycoside. *, This inactivation phenomenon has also been observed when these two drug classes are used concomitantly in patients with renal failure.No in vivo study has compared the inactivation of gentamicin and tobramycin by ticarcillin, however. We report the case of a patient with end-stage renal disease who received both gentamicin and tobramycin therapy, alone and in combination with ticarcillin. The effect of ticarcillin on the pharmacokinetic values of the two aminoglycosides is assessed. The clinical and pharmacokinetic implications of these observations are discussed.
Electroconvulsive Therapy and Klinefelter Syndrome

Abstract Klinefelter syndrome is a common sex chromosome disorder characterized by the presence of 1 or more extra X chromosomes, and the most prevalent karyotype is 47,XXY. Epidemiological studies have showed that patients with Klinefelter syndrome had a significantly increased risk of psychosis. We presented a case of a patient with Klinefelter syndrome who was characterized by psychiatric symptoms. The patients had been refractory to clozapine and sodium valproate, but a remarkable improvement occurred after a cycle of 11 sessions of modified electroconvulsive therapy.
The hippocampo-neocortical dialogue.

In gross anatomical terms, the hippocampal archicortex can be conceived as an "appendage' of the large neocortex. In contrast to neocortical areas, the main output targets of the hippocampus are the same as its main inputs (i.e., the entorhinal cortex). Highly processed information about the external world (the content) reaches the hippocampus via the entorhinal cortex, whereas information about the "internal world' (the context) is conveyed by the subcortical inputs. Removal of the context makes the content illegible, as demonstrated by the observation that the behavioral impairment following surgical removal of hippocampopetal subcortical inputs is as devastating as removing the hippocampus itself. From its strategic anatomical position and input-output connections, it may be suggested that the main function of the hippocampal formation is to modify its inputs by feeding back a processed "reafferent copy' to the neocortex. I hypothesize that neocortico-hippocampal transfer of information and the modification process in neocortical circuitries by the hippocampal output take place in a temporally discontinuous manner and might be delayed by minutes, hours, or days. Acquisition of information may happen very fast during the activated state of the hippocampus associated with theta/gamma oscillations. Intrahippocampal consolidation and the hippocampal-neocortical transfer of the stored representations, on the other hand, is protracted and carried by discrete quanta of cooperative neuronal bursts during slow wave sleep.
Does snoring predict sleepiness independently of apnea and hypopnea frequency?

Obstructive apneas and hypopneas during sleep are a well recognized cause of excessive daytime sleepiness. Snoring is also associated with excess sleepiness, although it is not known whether this reflects an independent effect of snoring or whether snoring is simply a marker for obstructive sleep apnea. To further explore the relation of snoring to sleepiness, we conducted a cross-sectional cohort study of community-dwelling adults participating in the Sleep Heart Health Study. The study sample comprises 2,737 men and 3,040 women with a mean age of 64 (SD 11) yr. Sleepiness was quantified using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Snoring history was obtained via a self-completion questionnaire. The respiratory disturbance index (RDI), defined as the number of apneas plus hypopneas per hour of sleep, was measured during in-home polysomnography. The ESS score increased progressively with increasing RDI, from a mean of 7.1 (4.2) in subjects with RDI < 1.5 to 8.8 (4.8) in subjects with RDI >/= 15 (p < 0.001). A progressive increase in ESS score was also seen across five categories of snoring frequency, from 6.4 (4.2) in current nonsnorers to 9.3 (4.8) in subjects who snored six to seven nights per week (p < 0.001). The prevalence of excessive daytime sleepiness, defined as an ESS score >/= 11, increased from 15% in never-snorers to 39% in those who snored six to seven nights per week. The relation of snoring to sleepiness was seen at all levels of RDI, with no significant change in the relation of snoring to ESS score after adjustment for RDI in multivariate models. The effects of snoring and RDI on sleepiness were little affected by adjustment for age, sex, race, body mass index, or questionnaire evidence of insufficient sleep time or nocturnal leg jerks or cramps. We conclude that both snoring and RDI are independently associated with excess sleepiness in community-dwelling, middle-aged and older adults.
Proteasomal selection of multiprotein complexes recruited by LIM homeodomain transcription factors

Complexes composed of multiple proteins regulate most cellular functions. However, our knowledge about the molecular mechanisms governing the assembly and dynamics of these complexes in cells remains limited. The in vivo activity of LIM homeodomain (LIM-HD) proteins, a class of transcription factors that regulates neuronal development, depends on the high-affinity association of their LIM domains with cofactor of LIM homeodomain proteins (LIM-HDs) (CLIM, also known as Ldb or NLI). CLIM cofactors recruit single-stranded DNA-binding protein 1 (SSDP1, also known as SSBP3), and this interaction is important for the activation of the LIM-HD/CLIM protein complex in vivo. Here, we identify a cascade of specific protein interactions that protect LIM-HD multiprotein complexes from proteasomal degradation. In this cascade, CLIM stabilizes LIM-HDs, and SSDP1 stabilizes CLIM. Furthermore, we show that stabilizing cofactors prevent binding of ubiquitin ligases to multiple protein interaction domains in LIM-HD recruited protein complexes. Together, our results indicate a combinatorial code that selects specific multiprotein complexes via proteasomal degradation in cells with broad implications for the assembly and specificity of multiprotein complexes.
Factors Regulating the Timing of Puberty Onset in Female Rhesus Monkeys (Macaca mulatta): Role of Prenatal Androgens, Social Rank, and Adolescent Body Weight1

Abstract This study investigated whether prenatal androgen exposure, social rank, and body weight are factors regulating pubertal development in outdoor-housed female rhesus monkeys. Subjects' mothers received injections of testosterone enanthate (20 mg/ wk), flutamide (an androgen receptor blocker, 30 mg/kg twice daily), or vehicle during Gestational Days 35/40–70 (early) or Days 105/110–140 (late). Monitoring of pubertal development began around 28 mo of age during the fall breeding season, with frequent assessment of menstruation, circulating steroids, and weight. Menarche occurred 1.5 mo later in females treated late in gestation than in females treated early in gestation. This short menarche delay occurred in females treated with androgen, flutamide, or vehicle. No effect of prenatal manipulations on first ovulation were found. Social rank was related to first ovulation but not menarche, with low-ranked females less likely than high- or middle-ranked females to ovulate at 2.5 yr than at 3.5 yr of age. Females ovulating early, around 2.5 yr, had higher pubertal body weights and body mass indexes (BMI) than did females ovulating later, suggesting that better nutritional reserves or positive energy balance affect pubertal development. Thus, social rank and likely nutritional status influenced pubertal development in this study. Hormonal manipulations had no detectable effect; instead, handling late in gestation, which may have increased maternal adrenal activity, delayed menarche. This finding contrasts with earlier studies that showed that prenatal androgens delay menarche by 4–6 mo on average. This study supports late gestation as a period of increased sensitivity to environmental insult and demonstrates that multiple factors, including prenatal programming, modulate the specific timing of pubertal events.