Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Changes in oxidized lipids drive the improvement in monocyte activation and vascular disease after statin therapy in HIV

Background:Oxidative stress plays a significant role in atherosclerosis development. HIV infection has been linked with heightened cardiovascular disease risk. HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors may reduce oxidative stress and subsequently subclinical vascular disease in HIV. Design/methods:This is a randomized, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the effect of rosuvastatin in HIV-infected adults on stable antiretroviral therapy with low-density lipoprotein less than 130 mg/dl and increased inflammation or T-cell activation on subclinical vascular disease. Changes over 48 weeks in oxidative stress markers, oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) and F2-isoprostane/creatinine ratio (F2-IsoP/Cr), were compared between groups. Spearman correlation and multivariable linear regression were used to evaluate relationships between changes in markers of oxidative stress, inflammation and monocyte activation and carotid intima media thickness (CIMT). Results:One hundred and forty-seven adults enrolled (72 to rosuvastatin and 75 to placebo). In the rosuvastatin group, oxLDL decreased significantly over 24 weeks compared to placebo [mean absolute change in log-oxLDL for rosuvastatin –0.2 ± 0.468 log U/l (P < 0.001 within-group) vs. placebo –0.018 ± 0.456 log U/l (P = 0.83 within-group); P = 0.004 between groups] and this change was linked with changes in soluble CD14 and proportion of patrolling monocytes (CD14dimCD16+). Although oxLDL levels increased after initially declining and were not different from placebo at week 48, the early improvement in oxLDL was associated with improved CIMT at week 48. Changes in F2-IsoP/Cr were not significant between groups. Conclusion:Rosuvastatin decreases oxLDL levels early after initiation and is associated with decreased monocyte activation. Early improvement in oxLDL is linked with improved CIMT in treated HIV infection.
Understanding Object Weight from Human and Humanoid Lifting Actions

Humans are very good at interacting with each other. This natural ability depends, among other factors, on an implicit communication mediated by motion observation. By simple action observation we can easily infer not only the goal of an agent, but often also some “hidden” properties of the object he is manipulating, as its weight or its temperature. This implicit understanding is developed early in childhood and is supposedly based on a common motor repertoire between the cooperators. In this paper, we have investigated whether and under which conditions it is possible for a humanoid robot to foster the same kind of automatic communication, focusing on the ability to provide cues about object weight with action execution. We have evaluated on which action properties weight estimation is based in humans and we have accordingly designed a set of simple robotic lifting behaviors. Our results show that subjects can reach a performance in weight recognition from robot observation comparable to that obtained during human observation, with no need of training. These findings suggest that it is possible to design robot behaviors that are implicitly understandable by nonexpert partners and that this approach could be a viable path to obtain more natural human-robot collaborations.
Involvement of rppH in Thermoregulation in Pseudomonas syringae

ABSTRACT Temperature, among other environmental factors, influences the incidence and severity of many plant diseases. Likewise, numerous traits, including the expression of virulence factors, are regulated by temperature. Little is known about the underlying genetic determinants of thermoregulation in plant-pathogenic bacteria. Previously, we showed that the expression of both fliC (encoding flagellin) and syfA (encoding a nonribosomal polypeptide synthetase) was suppressed at high temperatures in Pseudomonas syringae. In this work, we used a high-throughput screen to identify mutations that conferred overexpression of syfA at elevated temperatures (28°C compared to 20°C). Two genes, Psyr_2474, encoding an acyl-coenzyme A (CoA) dehydrogenase, and Psyr_4843, encoding an ortholog of RppH, which in Escherichia coli mediates RNA turnover, contribute to thermoregulation of syfA. To assess the global role of rppH in thermoregulation in P. syringae, RNA sequencing was used to compare the transcriptomes of an rppH deletion mutant and the wild-type strain incubated at 20°C and 30°C. The disruption of rppH had a large effect on the temperature-dependent transcriptome of P. syringae, affecting the expression of 569 genes at either 20°C or 30°C but not at both temperatures. Intriguingly, RppH is involved in the thermoregulation of ribosome-associated proteins, as well as of RNase E, suggesting a prominent role of rppH on the proteome in addition to its effect on the transcriptome.
Short-term high-fat diet alters substrate utilization during exercise but not glucose tolerance in highly trained athletes.

We determined the effect of a high-fat diet and carbohydrate (CHO) restoration on substrate oxidation and glucose tolerance in 7 competitive ultra-endurance athletes (peak oxygen uptake [VO(2peak)] 68 +/- 1 ml x kg(-1) x min(-1); mean +/- SEM). For 6 days, subjects consumed a random order of a high-fat (69% fat; FAT-adapt) or a high-CHO (70% CHO; HCHO) diet, each followed by 1 day of a high-CHO diet. Treatments were separated by an 18-day wash out. Substrate oxidation was determined during submaximal cycling (20 min at 65% VO(2peak)) prior to and following the 6 day dietary interventions. Fat oxidation at baseline was not different between treatments (17.4 +/- 2.1 vs. 16.1 +/- 1.3 g x 20 min(-1) for FAT-adapt and HCHO, respectively) but increased 34% after 6 days of FAT-adapt (to 23.3 +/- 0.9 g x 20 min(-1), p < . 05) and decreased 30% after HCHO (to 11.3 +/- 1.4 g x 20 min(-1), p < . 05). Glucose tolerance, determined by the area under the plasma [glucose] versus time curve during an oral glucose tolerance (OGTT) test, was similar at baseline (545 +/- 21 vs. 520 +/- 28 mmol x L(-1) x 90 min(-1)), after 5-d of dietary intervention (563 +/- 26 vs. 520 +/-18 mmol x L(-1) x 90 min(-1)) and after 1 d of high-CHO (491 +/- 28 vs. 489 +/- 22 mmol x L(-1) x 90 min(-1) for FAT- adapt and HCHO, respectively). An index of whole-body insulin sensitivity ( S(I), 10000/divided by fasting [glucose] x fasting [insulin] x mean [glucose] during OGTT x mean [insulin] during OGTT) was similar at baseline (15 +/- 2 vs. 17 +/- 5 arbitrary units), after 5-d of dietary intervention (15 +/- 2 vs. 15 +/- 2) and after 24 h of CHO loading (17 +/- 3 vs. 18 +/- 2 for FAT- adapt and HCHO, respectively). We conclude that despite marked changes in the pattern of substrate oxidation during submaximal exercise, short-term adaptation to a high-fat diet does not alter whole-body glucose tolerance or an index of insulin sensitivity in highly-trained individuals.
Neonatal infarction within basal cerebral vein territory

In this report, an unusual intracranial haemorrhage in a term male infant born to a mother with diabetes is explained on the basis of occlusion of both basal veins of Rosenthal. This diagnosis relies on anatomical location and iconographic aspect of the clots. Evidence that this vessel is occluded cannot be ascertained from ultrasound or MR angiographic techniques in the neonatal period. The basal vein has not been implicated in previous reports of neonatal brain haemorrhage.
On isometric embeddings of graphs

Si G est un graphe connexe fini (V, E), une facon standard de definir une distance d G sur G est de definir d G (x, y) comme etant le nombre d'aretes dans un chemin le plus court joignant x et y dans V. On etudie la theorie des plongements isometriques de graphes dans des produits cartesiens d'espaces metriques
Impact of Left Atrial Appendage Closure During Cardiac Surgery on the Occurrence of Early Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation, Stroke, and Mortality: A Propensity Score–Matched Analysis of 10 633 Patients

Background: Prophylactic exclusion of the left atrial appendage (LAA) is often performed during cardiac surgery ostensibly to reduce the risk of stroke. However, the clinical impact of LAA closure in humans remains inconclusive. Methods: Of 10 633 adults who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting and valve surgery between January 2000 and December 2005, 9792 patients with complete baseline characteristics, surgery procedure, and follow-up data were included in this analysis. A propensity score–matching analysis based on 28 pretreatment covariates was performed and 461 matching pairs were derived and analyzed to estimate the association of LAA closure with early postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) (atrial fibrillation ⩽30 days of surgery), ischemic stroke, and mortality. Results: In the propensity-matched cohort, the overall incidence of POAF was 53.9%. In this group, the rate of early POAF among the patients who underwent LAA closure was 68.6% versus 31.9% for those who did not undergo the procedure (P<0.001). LAA closure was independently associated with an increased risk of early POAF (adjusted odds ratio, 3.88; 95% confidence interval, 2.89–5.20), but did not significantly influence the risk of stroke (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.07; 95% confidence interval, 0.72–1.58) or mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.92; 95% confidence interval, 0.75–1.13). Conclusions: After adjustment for treatment allocation bias, LAA closure during routine cardiac surgery was significantly associated with an increased risk of early POAF, but it did not influence the risk of stroke or mortality. It remains uncertain whether prophylactic exclusion of the LAA is warranted for stroke prevention during non–atrial fibrillation-related cardiac surgery.
Expansion and differentiation of CD14+CD16− and CD14++CD16+ human monocyte subsets from cord blood CD34+ hematopoietic progenitors

To determine whether monocytes can be generated from CD34+ hematopoietic progenitors in large numbers, cord blood CD34+ cells were first expanded for 3–10 days in X‐VIVO 10 medium supplemented with FCS, stem cell factor (SCF), thrombopoietin (TPO), and Flt‐3 Ligand (Flt‐3L), and then differentiated in IMDM medium supplemented with FCS, SCF, Flt‐3L, IL‐3 and M‐CSF for 7–14 days. These two step cultures resulted in up to a 600‐fold mean increase of total CD14+ cells. Using this approach, two subpopulations of monocytes were obtained: CD14+CD16− and CD14++CD16+ occurring at 2:1 ratio. 1.25(OH)2 Vitamin D3 added to the differentiation medium altered this ratio by decreasing proportion of CD14++CD16+ monocytes. In comparison to CD14+CD16−, the CD14++CD16+ cells showed different morphology and an enhanced expression of CD11b, CD33, CD40, CD64, CD86, CD163, HLA‐DR, and CCR5. Both subpopulations secreted TNF and IL‐12p40 but little or no IL‐10. CD14++CD16+ monocytes released significantly more IL‐12p40, were better stimulators of MLR but showed less S. aureus phagocytosis. These subpopulations are clearly different from those present in the blood and may be novel monocyte subsets that represent different stages in monocyte differentiation with distinct biological function.
Genome Profiling and Potential Biomarkers in Neurodegenerative Disorders

Neurodegenerative disorders (NDG) are incurable, progressive and debilitating conditions resulting from progressive degeneration and death of nerve cells. They are among the most serious health problems faced by modern society. Most of these disorders become more common with advancing age, including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. The burden of these neurodegenerative diseases is growing inexorably as the population ages, with incalculable economic and human costs. According to the Global Burden of Disease Study, a collaborative study of the World Health Organization, the World Bank and the Harvard School of Public Health, dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases will be the eighth cause of disease burden for developed regions in 2020 [1, 2]. Also, according to the WHO, neurodegenerative diseases will become the world’s second leading cause of death by 2050, overtaking cancer [2]. True, such estimates and predictions need to be taken with caution, but they definitely confirm that neurodegenerative diseases are of an increasing public concern. Most NDG diseases are characterized by the aggregation of intracellular proteins. Majority of neurodegenerative disorders occur sporadically and are believed to arise through interactions between genetic and environmental factors. Only a small minority belong to familial forms where certain disease occurs due to a mutation of the gene coding for the abnormally aggregating protein. We differentiate many types of NDG disease, but the lines that separate one from another are often unclear. For instance, symptoms such as motor impairment and dementia may occur in many different types of NDG disease. Motor impairment similar to that seen in Parkinson’s disease is not enough to rule out other diagnoses, especially when both motor and cognitive impairment are present. At the time being, there is no such diagnostic test that can clearly indicate the presence, absence, or category of a NDG disease. Individual diagnosis is based on clinical evaluation of the symptoms, with the exception of monogenic NDG diseases, such as Huntington's disease (HD). HD is a single gene disorder and cause is invariably trinucleotide expansion mutation [3]. Definitive diagnosis of certain NDG diseases still relies on neuropathological evaluation. But it has been demonstrated that brain pathology can show marked overlap among the syndromes of age-related cognitive and motor impairment [4]. Also, previous research reports have shown that pathological markers do not always correlate optimally with clinical findings. Some individuals with extensive neuropathology may retain relatively
Efficacy and Safety of Fractional CO2 Laser Resurfacing in Non-hypertrophic Traumatic and Burn Scars

Background: Fractional photothermolysis is one of the most effective treatment options used to resurface scars of different aetiologies. Aim: To assess the efficacy and safety of fractional CO2 laser resurfacing treatment in the management of non-hypertrophic traumatic and burn scars. Materials and Methods: Twenty-five patients affected by non-hypertrophic traumatic and burn scars were treated with four sessions of fractional CO2 laser resurfacing treatment at 6-weekly intervals. Patients were photographed at each visit and finally, 3 months after the end of treatment schedule. Response to treatment was assessed clinically as well as by comparing the initial photograph of the patient with the one taken at the last follow-up visit 3-months after the final treatment session. Changes in skin texture, surface irregularity and pigmentation were assessed on a quartile grading scale and scored individually from 0 to 4. A mean of the three individual scores was calculated and the response was labelled as ‘excellent’ if the mean score achieved was >2. A score of 1-2 was labeled as good response while a score below 1 was labeled as ‘poor’ response. The subjective satisfaction of each patient with the treatment offered was also assessed at the last follow-up visit. Results: The commonest site of scarring treated was the face followed by hands. Response to treatment was rated as excellent in 60% (15/25) patients while 24% (6/25) and 16% (4/25) patients were labeled as good and poor responders, respectively. Skin texture showed better response than other variables with average score of 2.44. Linear post-traumatic scars were seen to respond less than other morphological types. Majority of the patients (19 out of 25) were highly satisfied with the treatment offered. No long-term adverse effects were noted in any patient. Conclusions: Fractional photothermolysis with a fractional CO2 laser gives excellent results in patients with post-burn scars with minimal adverse effects. Limitations: Lack of a control group and small sample size are limitations of this study.
Defeating the VPIN: Slipping into the Noise

We use the volume synchronized probability of informed trading (VPIN) to evaluate the performance of different trading strategies in an order-driven simulated market. The performance of this nonparametric metric is assessed in terms of informed traders exploiting its weaknesses when mimicking the trade behavior of uninformed traders and in its protection of market makers from the risk of trading with an informed trader. We show that an informed trader can accumulate a larger position while a pooling equilibrium holds by exploiting the VPIN structure, that the VPIN has a high rate of false-positives, and that it may detect informed trading under certain conditions.
Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia in children: A 5‐year retrospective review

Objective: The clinical presentation of Staphyloccocus aureus bacteraemia has been well described in adults, but there is a paucity of published data on the presentation of S. aureus bacteraemia in children. This review sought to compare the presentation of S. aureus in children with that of adults.
Evidence for population sub‐structuring in São Tomé e Príncipe as inferred from Y‐chromosome STR analysis

Seven Y‐chromosome STR loci, DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392 and DYS393 have been analysed in population samples of Angolares, Forros and Tongas, three ethnic groups from the African archipelago of São Tomé e Príncipe (Gulf of Guinea). Complete typings were obtained for 103 chromosomes, which belonged to 79 different haplotypes. The mean heterozygosity per locus in the overall São Tomean sample was 0.566, with the highest value found among Forros and the lowest among Angolares. Angolares also showed the lowest level of haplotype diversity. On average, the mean pairwise difference between two random haplotypes from Angolares, Forros and Tongas was 4.69, 6.74 and 6.23 repeats, respectively. The genetic distances were found to be statistically significant between Angolares and Forros or Tongas. In accordance, AMOVA revealed that the percentage of variation attributable to differences among groups was only significant when we distinguished between Angolares and non‐Angolares. Globally, these results indicate that, with respect to the pool of male lineages of São Tomé e Príncipe, some genetic sub‐structuring does exist, basically determined by the Angolares ethnic group.
Remining PICMET: 1987–2008

The Engineering and Technology Management Research Council (ETMERC) is an international association for professionals in the field of management of technology. ETMERC encourages education in the field of management of technology, and serves as a central information resource for practitioners. As part of its mission the association facilitates the exchange of information, supports the expansion of engineering and technology management, and assists in benchmarking for educational standards. Understandably, the organization is interested in metrics of knowledge creation and diffusion in support of its mission. The Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET) hosted nine conferences on the field of management of technology. The proceedings of the conferences serve as a knowledge base for further analysis in this paper. There are three key contributions of this paper: the paper updates previous efforts to mine PICMET; provides key indicators in support of the ETMERC mission; and examines new approaches to modeling and forecasting trends in knowledge. The paper employs a loglets approach for understanding waves of concepts emerging over time. The paper also employs a hierarchical random graph technique for analyzing the architectural and combinatorial character of these emergent concepts. The paper concludes with a reflection on the relevance of the findings for supporting the educational and informational mission of ETMERC.
Anaplasma phagocytophilum APH_1387 Is Expressed throughout Bacterial Intracellular Development and Localizes to the Pathogen-Occupied Vacuolar Membrane

ABSTRACT Obligate vacuolar pathogens produce proteins that localize to the host cell-derived membranes of the vacuoles in which they reside, yielding unique organelles that are optimally suited for pathogen survival. Anaplasma phagocytophilum is an obligate vacuolar bacterium that infects neutrophils and causes the emerging and potentially fatal disease human granulocytic anaplasmosis. Here we identified APH_1387 as the first A. phagocytophilum-derived protein that associates with the A. phagocytophilum-occupied vacuolar membrane (AVM). APH_1387, also referred to as P100, is a 61.4-kDa acidic protein that migrates with an apparent molecular weight of 115 kDa on SDS-PAGE gels. It carries 3 tandem direct repeats that comprise 58% of the protein. Each APH_1387 repeat carries a bilobed hydrophobic alpha-helix domain, which is a structural characteristic that is consistent with the structure of chlamydia-derived proteins that traverse inclusion membranes. APH_1387 is not detectable on the surfaces of A. phagocytophilum dense core organisms bound at the HL-60 cell surface, but abundant APH_1387 is detected on the surfaces of intravacuolar reticulate cell and dense core organisms. APH_1387 accumulates on the AVM throughout infection. It associates with the AVM in human HL-60, THP-1, and HMEC-1 cells and tick ISE6 cells. APH_1387 is expressed and localizes to the AVM in neutrophils recovered from A. phagocytophilum-infected mice. This paper presents the first direct evidence that A. phagocytophilum actively modifies its host cell-derived vacuole.
Aerospace Communications and Networking in the Next Two Decades: Current Trends and Future Perspectives [Scanning the Issue]

This issue highlights the current and future trends of aerospace communications and networking, including satellites, high-altitude platforms (HAPs), optical deep-space communications, interplanetary communications, aircraft communications, with a look at those "classical" services that still lead the mass market of aerospace applications and will do so into the future.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder after Stroke

A series of 309 admissions to a stroke unit was examined for anxiety symptoms. Patients were diagnosed with DSM-III-R generalized anxiety disorder (CAD) symptom criteria. They were divided into groups of no anxiety (59.2%), worried but not fulfilling GAD criteria (13.9%), and GAD (26.9%). Patients were then divided into depressed and nondepressed groups based on the existence of DSM-III major or minor (dysthymic) depression. These groups were not significantly different in their background characteristics, family or personal psychiatric history, social support or the severity of physical impairment. Anxiety plus depression was associated with left, cortical lesions, whereas anxiety alone was associated with light hemisphere lesions. Patients with worry had anterior and patients with GAD had posterior right hemisphere lesions. These findings suggest that anxiety disorder (independent of depression) is not related to background characteristics or to severity of impairment but is, in part, influenced by the brain structures that are injured.