Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Increased Caspase 3 and Bax Immunoreactivity Accompany Nuclear GAPDH Translocation and Neuronal Apoptosis in Parkinson's Disease

In situ end labeling combined with YOYO staining was used to mark apoptotic DNA fragmentation and chromatin condensation respectively in human postmortem brain sections. Increased numbers of apoptotic neuronal nuclei were identified in the Parkinson's disease (PD) nigra compared with age-matched controls. Caspase 3 and Bax showed increased immunoreactivity in melanized neurons of the PD nigra compared with controls. Importantly, GAPDH nuclear accumulation was also observed in the PD nigra, suggesting apoptotic rather than necrotic cell death. Interestingly, both Lewy bodies and the intranuclear Marinesco's bodies were GAPDH immunoreactive in the PD brain.
Biological And Health Effects Of Exposure To Kerosene-Based Jet Fuels And Performance Additives

Over 2 million military and civilian personnel per year (over 1 million in the United States) are occupationally exposed, respectively, to jet propulsion fuel-8 (JP-8), JP-8 +100 or JP-5, or to the civil aviation equivalents Jet A or Jet A-1. Approximately 60 billion gallons of these kerosene-based jet fuels are annually consumed worldwide (26 billion gallons in the United States), including over 5 billion gallons of JP-8 by the militaries of the United States and other NATO countries. JP-8, for example, represents the largest single chemical exposure in the U.S. military (2.53 billion gallons in 2000), while Jet A and A-1 are among the most common sources of nonmilitary occupational chemical exposure. Although more recent figures were not available, approximately 4.06 billion gallons of kerosene per se were consumed in the United States in 1990 (IARC, 1992). These exposures may occur repeatedly to raw fuel, vapor phase, aerosol phase, or fuel combustion exhaust by dermal absorption, pulmonary inhalation, or oral ingestion routes. Additionally, the public may be repeatedly exposed to lower levels of jet fuel vapor/aerosol or to fuel combustion products through atmospheric contamination, or to raw fuel constituents by contact with contaminated groundwater or soil. Kerosene-based hydrocarbon fuels are complex mixtures of up to 260+ aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon compounds (C 6 -C 17+ ; possibly 2000+ isomeric forms), including varying concentrations of potential toxicants such as benzene, n-hexane, toluene, xylenes, trimethylpentane, methoxyethanol, naphthalenes (including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [PAHs], and certain other C 9 -C 12 fractions (i.e., n-propylbenzene, trimethylbenzene isomers). While hydrocarbon fuel exposures occur typically at concentrations below current permissible exposure limits (PELs) for the parent fuel or its constituent chemicals, it is unknown whether additive or synergistic interactions among hydrocarbon constituents, up to six performance additives, and other environmental exposure factors may result in unpredicted toxicity. While there is little epidemiological evidence for fuel-induced death, cancer, or other serious organic disease in fuel-exposed workers, large numbers of self-reported health complaints in this cohort appear to justify study of more subtle health consequences. A number of recently published studies reported acute or persisting biological or health effects from acute, subchronic, or chronic exposure of humans or animals to kerosene-based hydrocarbon fuels, toconstituent chemicals of these fuels, or to fuel combustion products. This review provides an in-depth summary of human, animal, and in vitro studies of biological or health effects from exposure to JP-8, JP-8 +100, JP-5, Jet A, Jet A-1, or kerosene.
Many Chromosomal Genes Modulate MarA-Mediated Multidrug Resistance in Escherichia coli

ABSTRACT Multidrug resistance (MDR) in clinical isolates of Escherichia coli can be associated with overexpression of marA, a transcription factor that upregulates multidrug efflux and downregulates membrane permeability. Using random transposome mutagenesis, we found that many chromosomal genes and environmental stimuli affected MarA-mediated antibiotic resistance. Seven genes affected resistance mediated by MarA in an antibiotic-specific way; these were mostly genes encoding unrelated enzymes, transporters, and unknown proteins. Other genes affected MarA-mediated resistance to all antibiotics tested. These genes were acrA, acrB, and tolC (which encode the major MarA-regulated multidrug efflux pump AcrAB-TolC), crp, cyaA, hns, and pcnB (four genes involved in global regulation of gene expression), and the unknown gene damX. The last five genes affected MarA-mediated MDR by altering marA expression or MarA function specifically on acrA. These findings demonstrate that MarA-mediated MDR is regulated at multiple levels by different genes and stimuli, which makes it both complex and fine-tuned and interconnects it with global cell regulation and metabolism. Such a regulation could contribute to the adaptation and spread of MDR strains and may be targeted to treat antibiotic-resistant E. coli and related pathogens.
A probabilistic approach for financial IoT data

The extraction of information from the Internet of Things (IoT) plays a fundamental role in many research fields. In this work we focus our attention on financial data, used to describe self-financing portfolios in a complete market. Here, the absence of the arbitrage principle, the existence and the uniqueness of no arbitrage price are valid. With these hypotheses we can resort to the Black-Scholes model in order to determine the expression of no arbitrage price. In this model, frictional costs are avoided. Moreover, selling and buying of every amount of the assets and short sellings are allowed. In other words, traders can sell amount of assets even if they do not own them. Finally, this model is composed by a risk-free and a Geometric Brownian motion risk assets.
Molecular-clock models for estimating evolutionary rates and timescales

The molecular clock presents a means of estimating evolutionary rates and timescales using genetic data. These estimates can lead to important insights into evolutionary processes and mechanisms, as well as providing a framework for further biological analyses. In order to deal with rate variation among genes and among lineages, a diverse range of molecular-clock models have been developed. These models have been implemented in various software packages and differ in their statistical properties, ability to handle different forms of rate variation, capacity to incorporate calibrations, and tractability for analysing large data sets. Choosing a suitable molecular-clock method can be a challenging exercise, but a number of model-selection techniques are available. In this review, we describe the different forms of evolutionary rate heterogeneity and explain how they can accommodated in molecular-clock analyses. We provide an outline of the various clock models that are available, including the strict clock, multi-rate clocks (including local clocks), and relaxed clocks. Techniques for calibration and clock-model selection are also described, along with methods for handling multilocus data sets. We conclude our review with some comments about the future of molecular clocks.
Role of free radicals in viral pathogenesis and mutation

Oxygen radicals and nitric oxide (NO) are generated in excess in a diverse array of microbial infections. Emerging concepts in free radical biology are now shedding light on the pathogenesis of various diseases. Free‐radical induced pathogenicity in virus infections is of great importance, because evidence suggests that NO and oxygen radicals such as superoxide are key molecules in the pathogenesis of various infectious diseases. Although oxygen radicals and NO have an antimicrobial effect on bacteria and protozoa, they have opposing effects in virus infections such as influenza virus pneumonia and several other neurotropic virus infections. A high output of NO from inducible NO synthase, occurring in a variety of virus infections, produces highly reactive nitrogen oxide species, such as peroxynitrite, via interaction with oxygen radicals and reactive oxygen intermediates. The production of these various reactive species confers the diverse biological functions of NO. The reactive nitrogen species cause oxidative tissue injury and mutagenesis through oxidation and nitration of various biomolecules. The unique biological properties of free radicals are further illustrated by recent evidence showing accelerated viral mutation by NO‐induced oxidative stress. NO appears to affect a host's immune response, with immunopathological consequences. For example, NO is reported to suppress type 1 helper T cell‐dependent immune responses during infections, leading to type 2 helper T cell‐biased immunological host responses. NO‐induced immunosuppression may thus contribute to the pathogenesis of virus infections and help expansion of quasispecies population of viral pathogens. This review describes the pathophysiological roles of free radicals in the pathogenesis of viral disease and in viral mutation as related to both nonspecific inflammatory responses and immunological host reactions modulated by NO. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Determinants of patient satisfaction in chronic illness.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether primary care provided by generalists versus subspecialists resulted in different levels of patient satisfaction among persons with chronic illness. METHODS A survey containing the Primary Care Provider Questionnaire and the Health Status Questionnaire (HSQ) was mailed to 2 population-based cohorts of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or diabetes mellitus (DM). All subjects were at least 35 years old and Rochester, Minnesota residents. Descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation coefficients, and multiple regression models were used to describe and compare the determinants of patient satisfaction. RESULTS A total of 86 people (74% female) with RA and 208 people (56% male) with DM responded to the survey. Age range was 41-95 years and median disease duration was 8.7 years (RA) and 13.0 years (DM). Most patients described their health as fair or good. After adjusting for sex differences, RA patients were more likely than DM patients to report having a specialist as their primary care doctor. RA patients, whether reporting seeing a specialist or a generalist, had comparable HSQ physical health, mental health, social functioning, vitality, and bodily pain scores. DM patients seeing a specialist had more bodily pain and poorer physical functioning than those seeing a generalist. Across both chronic illnesses and physician specialties, median scores for patient satisfaction ranged from 17-18 for overall satisfaction (maximum 20); 30-33 for interpersonal skills (maximum 35); 23-26 for technical quality (maximum 30); and 20 for access to care (maximum 25). Multiple linear regression models revealed that 6.8-7.3% of the variation in satisfaction could be explained by HSQ scores, patient demographics, and physician specialty. CONCLUSION Both RA and DM patients were highly satisfied with their care, regardless of the specialty of the provider. Physician specialty, patient demographics, and HSQ scores explained only a small proportion in the variation in satisfaction. These findings point to the need for additional research to further elucidate the determinants of patient satisfaction.
Rapid autocatalytic activation of the M4 metalloprotease aureolysin is controlled by a conserved N‐terminal fungalysin‐thermolysin‐propeptide domain

The Staphylococcus aureus proteolytic cascade consists of a metalloprotease aureolysin (Aur), which activates a serine protease zymogen proSspA, which in turn activates the SspB cysteine protease. As with other M4 metalloproteases, including elastase of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the propeptide of proAur contains an N‐terminal fungalysin‐thermolysin‐propeptide (FTP) domain. Autocatalytic activation of proAur was initiated by processing at T85↓L86 in the FTP domain. This differed from the mechanism described for proElastase, where the FTP domain has an RY motif in place of TL86, and processing occurred at the junction of the propeptide and metalloprotease domains, which remained as an inactive complex during passage across the outer membrane. When TL86 in the FTP domain was replaced with RY, an intact N‐terminal propeptide was secreted, but the M4 metalloprotease domain was degraded. Consequently, this segment of the FTP domain promotes intramolecular processing of proAur while bestowing a chaperone function, but discourages processing within the FTP domain of proElastase, where activation must be co‐ordinated with passage across a second membrane. We conclude that the FTP domain of proAur is adapted to facilitate a rapid autocatalytic activation mechanism, consistent with the role or proAur as initiator of the staphylococcal proteolytic cascade.
C Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche The Impact of IXPs on the AS-level Topology Structure of the Internet

The AS-level topology of the Internet has been quit e a hot research topic in the last few years. However, only a small number of stu dies have been developed that give a structural interpretation of this graph. Such an in terpretation is crucially important in order to test protocols and optimal routing algorit hms, to design efficient networks, and for failure detection purposes. Moreover, most rese arch does not highlight the role that IXPs have on the AS-level structure of the Internet , although their role is recognized as fundamental. The initial contribution of this study is an analys is of the most important AS-level topologies that are publicly found on the web and a analysis of the topology obtained when they are merged. We compiled structural inform ation from this topology making considerable use of the k-core decomposition techni que to delineate various particular classes of nodes. Next, we associated node properti es with a reasonable modus operandi of the ASs on the Internet. The second contribution is a study of the impact that ASs connected to IXPs and BGP connections crossing IXPs have on the AS-level topology. To achieve this, we developed a procedure to gather reliable information related to IXPs and their participants.
Analyse de Signaux Sociaux pour la Modélisation de l'interaction face à face. (Analysis of Social Signals for modelling Face-to-Face Interaction)

Cette these se situe a la frontiere des domaines de la reconnaissance de signaux emotionnels et de l'analyse de l'interaction sociale. Dans un premier temps, nous avons etudie une emotion non prototypique, appelee motherese, qui joue un role important dans l'interaction parent-enfant. Afin d'etudier cette emotion, nous avons developpe un systeme de detection automatique des emotions base d'abord sur l'apprentissage supervise. Ensuite pour pallier au manque de donnees etiquetees, nous avons developpe une approche semi-supervisee permettant une meilleure qualite de classification avec un cout inferieur. Cette approche permet de combiner des exemples etiquetes et non etiquetes pour l'apprentissage. Le systeme propose est une extension de l'algorithme de co-apprentissage. Cette approche est dite multi-vue car elle consiste a combiner differentes vues (descripteur+classifieur) afin d'obtenir une prediction unique par exemple de test. Au-dela de la reconnaissance de signaux emotionnels, il s'agit de structurer et d'interpreter les differents signaux de communication dans un contexte d'interaction face a face. Nous avons propose un modele computationnel de l'interaction parent-enfant. Il consiste a modeliser les reponses des enfants par rapport aux stimulations des parents. Nous avons propose ainsi des analyses quantitative et statistique afin d'etudier l'interdependance des signaux d'interaction et les comportements humains, en particulier le role de motherese pour l'engagement de l'interaction parent-enfant. Enfin, dans le but d'identifier les groupes de comportements les plus pertinents, nous avons developpe une technique de regroupement automatique de signaux qui permet d'extraire les differents patterns interactifs. Cette extraction de comportements interactifs permet de discriminer differents groupes: enfants avec developpement typique, autistique et avec retard mental.
In vitro reconstitution of the activated zeaxanthin state associated with energy dissipation in plants

Dissipation of excess light energy in plant photosynthetic membranes plays an important role in the response of plants to the environment, providing short-term balancing between the intensity of sunlight and photosynthetic capacity. The carotenoid zeaxanthin and the photosystem II subunit PsbS play vital roles in this process, but the mechanism of their action is largely unexplained. Here we report that the isolated photosystem II subunit PsbS was able to bind exogenous zeaxanthin, the binding resulting in a strong red shift in the absorption spectrum, and the appearance of characteristic features in the resonance Raman spectrum and a distinct circular dichroism spectrum, indicating pigment–protein, as well as specific pigment–pigment, interaction. A strong shift in the absorption spectrum of PsbS phenylalanine residues after zeaxanthin binding was observed. It is concluded that zeaxanthin binding to PsbS is the origin of the well known energy dissipation-related 535-nm absorption change that we showed in vivo to arise from activation of 1–2 molecules of this pigment. The altered properties of zeaxanthin and PsbS that result from this interaction provide the first direct indication about how they regulate energy dissipation.
FAZER O BEM SEM OLHAR A QUEM: O CASO DO PARQUE BETO CARRERO WORLD

O caso de ensino aborda a questao da Responsabilidade Social Corporativa (RSC) em um negocio no setor do turismo, o Parque Beto Carrero World (BCW), localizado no sul do Brasil. E relatado por Alexandra, coordenadora do instituto dessa empresa, que vem realizando acoes voltadas para a comunidade local. A coordenadora se pergunta se tais acoes correspondem as necessidades reais das partes interessadas (stakeholders), bem como se essas acoes estao de acordo com as dimensoes de RSE modelos Carroll (1991) e Schwartz e Carroll (2008). O caso usa dados coletados de fontes secundarias (analise de documentos) e de fontes primarias (entrevistas, observacao in loco e questionarios aplicados a diferentes publicos). O objetivo do caso e aplicar os fundamentos teoricos da CSR para uma situacao real vivida pela gestao de uma organizacao, com base em resultados de uma pesquisa cientifica. Ele pode ser usado nas disciplinas de Gestao Ambiental, Etica Empresarial e Responsabilidade Social Corporativa, em cursos de graduacao e pos-graduacao. Ao abordar os problemas vividos em uma empresa real com um forte impacto economico, este caso oferece aos estudantes a oportunidade de relacionar os conhecimentos teoricos com a pratica empresarial. Alem disso, e o tema da RSE que tem sido amplamente estudado e praticado por empresas e que ainda nao esta presente, na forma de caso, no ensino de administracao.
Clinicopathological analysis of papillary thyroid cancer with PIK3CA alterations in a Middle Eastern population.

CONTEXT Genetic aberration in phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway has been detected in numerous and diverse human cancers. PIK3CA, which encodes for the catalytic subunit of p110alpha of PI3K, is amplified in some cases of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). Mutations in the PIK3CA have also been identified in thyroid cancers and, although relatively common in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, are uncommon in PTC. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to investigate genetic alterations like PIK3CA gene mutation, PIK3CA amplification, RAS, and RAF mutations and to further explore the relationship of these genetic alterations with various clinicopathological characteristics in Middle Eastern PTC. DESIGN We used the fluorescence in situ hybridization technique for analysis of PIK3CA amplification from 536 PTC cases, and selected amplified samples were further validated by real-time quantitative PCR. Mutation analysis was done by direct DNA sequencing of PIK3CA, N2-RAS, and BRAF genes. RESULTS PIK3CA amplification was seen in 265 of 499 PTC cases analyzed (53.1%); PIK3CA gene mutations in four of 207 PTC (1.9%); N2-RAS mutations in 16 of 265 PTC (6%); and BRAF mutations in 153 of 296 PTC (51.7%). N-RAS mutations were-associated with an early stage (P = 0.0465) and lower incidence of extrathyroidal extension (P = 0.027), whereas BRAF mutations were-associated with metastasis (P = 0.0274) and poor disease-free survival (P = 0.0121) in PTCs. CONCLUSION A higher incidence of PIK3CA alterations and the possible synergistic effect of PIK3CA alterations and BRAF mutations suggest their major role in Middle Eastern PTC tumorigenesis and argue for therapeutic targeting of PI3K/AKT and MAPK pathways.
Qualitative and quantitative analysis of Potentilla fulgens roots by NMR, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation with time-of-flight MS, electrospray ionisation MS/MS and HPLC/UV.

INTRODUCTION Potentilla fulgens is a commonly used folk medicine by natives of northeast India, Nepal and Bhutan and is rich in polyphenolic and triterpene constituents. OBJECTIVE To identify chemomarkers in the roots of P. fulgens by an interplay of (13)C-NMR, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation with time-of-flight (MALDI/TOF) MS, electrospray ionisation (ESI) MS/MS and HPLC/UV. MATERIAL AND METHODS The (13)C-NMR spectrum of crude methanolic extract was recorded in deuterated dimethyl sulphoxide. For MALDI/TOF/MS analysis, 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid was used as the matrix. For determination of chemical constituents, two independent simple isocratic HPLC/UV methods for monomeric/oligomeric flavanols and triterpene acids were developed and validated. RESULTS The (13)C-NMR spectrum of the methanolic extract indicated the presence of B-type oligomeric polyphenolics containing mainly epicatechin/catechin (epicat/cat) and epiafzelechin/afzelechin (epiafz/afz) as the monomeric units. Several isobaric monomeric and oligomeric flavanols and triterpenoids were tentatively identified by MALDI/TOF/MS and ESI/MS/MS. Fourteen compounds (four monomeric and five dimeric flavanols and five triterpene acids) were isolated using repeated column chromatography and semi-preparative HPLC, and were quantitated using HPLC/UV. CONCLUSION It is evident from these analyses that roots of P. fulgens contain flavans, including oligomeric flavanols, as major constituents followed by triterpene acids. The methods described can be applied to other Potentilla species to identify their constituents.
A blind equalizer for nonstationary discrete-valued signals

Adaptive algorithms are proposed for blind equalization of communication channels. The algorithms explicitly utilize the finite alphabetical set of the input signals and minimize a criterion that depends solely on the alphabetical set. The method is shown to be able to handle nonstationary signals without requiring or estimating their time-varying statistical parameters. Simulation results are presented to test and demonstrate the method.