Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of Albumin Glycation on the Erythrocyte Aggregation: An In Vitro Study

The increased erythrocyte aggregation observed in diabetes mellitus is mainly due to changes in the balance between aggregating factors and anti‐aggregating ones, like albumin. Since chronic hyperglycaemia results in protein glycation, we examined the effect of in vitro glycation of albumin on its anti‐aggregating role with blood from 29 Type 1 diabetic patients and 29 healthy controls. After the addition of glycated and unglycated albumin, samples had a glycation level of 24 % for healthy controls and 28 % for diabetic patients. Erythrocyte aggregation was determined by the analysis of the light backscattered by a blood suspension. Erythrocytes from healthy controls suspended in glycated albumin had significantly higher rates of rouleaux formation (p < 0.01) than in unglycated albumin and increased cohesion of rouleaux (p < 0.05). The erythrocyte aggregation in diabetic patients underwent similar changes (p < 0.01). The time‐resolved fluorescence of the single tryptophan residue was monitored to describe the changes in the conformational equilibrium of albumin. The lifetime data showed that the increases in the two lifetime components and in the relative proportion of the major lifetime are in agreement with a conformational change in albumin after glycation. Thus, the changes in albumin conformation could be responsible for the smaller hypoaggregating effect of glycated albumin.
So Much to Do and So Little Time

In a series of five experiments, we showed that the perception of temporal distance to a future event is shaped by the effort one must invest to realize the event. Studies 1a and 1b showed that when actors are faced with realizing an event by a certain deadline, more effortful events are perceived as closer in time, regardless of the objective temporal distance to the deadline. This negative relationship was reversed, however, when deadlines were absent (Study 2). Finally, priming high effort reduced perceived temporal distance to an event, whereas priming low effort increased perceived temporal distance to the event (Studies 3 and 4). The implications of these findings for models of temporal distance are discussed.
EARLY CANCER DIAGNOSIS SAVES LIVES, CUTS TREATMENT COSTS

Improve public awareness of different cancer symptoms and encourage people to seek care when these arise. Invest in strengthening and equipping health services and training health workers so they can conduct accurate and timely diagnostics. Ensure people living with cancer can access safe and effective treatment, including pain relief, without incurring prohibitive personal or financial hardship. Challenges are clearly greater in lowand middle-income countries, which have lower abilities to provide access to effective diagnostic services, including imaging, laboratory tests, and pathology – all key to helping detect cancers and plan treatment. Countries also currently have different capacities to refer cancer patients to the appropriate level of care.
Venous Thromboembolism and Travel: Is There an Association?

This paper reviews the literature on the association between venous thromboembolism and travel. There are plausible physiological reasons why sitting still for long periods (particularly in the cramped conditions of most aircraft) might predispose to venous thromboembolism. This may have been the explanation for the apparent excess of deaths from pulmonary embolism seen during the first months of the London blitz. No published controlled studies of thromboembolism and travel were identified, but eight case reports were analysed. They covered 25 people aged from 19 to 84 years with deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism following travel. The reports suggest that long journeys are a particular risk and that there are often no symptoms until many hours after leaving the plane (so conventional methods of assessing the hazards of air travel may underestimate the problem). It is concluded that the literature tends to support the hypothesis that venous thromboembolism is associated with travel, but that carefully controlled studies are needed to test this properly.
Ácidos grasos omega-6 y omega-3 en la nutrición perinatal: su importancia en el desarrollo del sistema nervioso y visual

Los acidos grasos poliinsaturados de cadena larga omega-6; acido araquidonico, y omega-3; acido docosahexaenoico, son fundamentales en la formacion de la estructura y en la funcionalidad del sistema nervioso y visual de los humanos. Ambos acidos grasos constituyen mas del 30% de la estructura lipidica del cerebro y de los conos y bastoncitos de la retina. Se estima que la funcion de estos acidos grasos es aportar un alto grado de fluidez a las membranas celulares, permitiendo el movimiento de proteinas en su superficie y dentro de la bicapa lipidica. Estos acidos grasos se forman a partir de precursores de menor tamano de cadena: el acido linoleico da origen al acido araquidonico, y el acido alfa linolenico al acido docosahexaenoico. Esta transformacion ocurre principalmente en el higado. Actualmente se estima que el feto, durante el ultimo tercio del periodo gestacional, y el recien nacido, durante los primeros 6 meses de vida, requieren de un gran aporte de acido araquidonico y de acido docosahexaenoico, debido a que la velocidad de transformacion de los precursores a nivel hepatico no es suficiente para cubrir los requerimientos metabolicos de estos acidos grasos. Es la madre quien los aporta a traves del transporte placentario durante la gestacion y a traves de la leche durante la lactancia. Este aporte proviene de las reservas tisulares de la madre, de su actividad biosintetica y del aporte nutricional de los acidos grasos precursores. De esta forma, el adecuado aporte dietario de los acidos grasos precursores o ya preformados es de vital importancia para la formacion del tejido nervioso y visual. Se han observado alteraciones en la funcionalidad de estos tejidos en lactantes y ninos que no han recibido un aporte adecuado de acidos grasos omega-6 y omega-3 durante la gestacion y en los primeros meses de vida. Actualmente se sugiere que las formulas de reemplazo o de complemento a la leche materna sean suplementadas, ya sea con los acidos grasos omega-6 y omega-3 ya preformados, o con sus precursores
Dissection of the FCGR3A association with RA: increased association in men and with autoantibody positive disease

Objectives Genome-wide association studies in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have failed to examine the FCGR gene cluster because of the confounding effects of segmental duplication. This study aimed to replicate previous candidate gene studies that had identified a significant association between the FCGR3A-158V allele and RA and then sought to estimate specific subgroup effects. Methods FCGR3A-158F/V genotyping was undertaken in a UK Caucasian replication cohort comprising 2049 patients with RA and 1156 controls. Subgroup analyses assessing the magnitude of association according to gender and autoantibody (rheumatoid factor (RF) and cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP)) status were undertaken in a pooled cohort of 2963 patients with RA and 1731 controls. Logistic regression was used to test for interaction between FCGR3A and HLA-DRB1 shared epitope (SE) alleles. Results In the combined RA cohort, borderline association with homozygosity was found for the FCGR3A-158V allele (OR 1.2, p=0.05), which was stronger in men (OR 1.7, p=0.01). Stratification by autoantibody status showed an increased risk in RF and CCP positive RA. Analysis of the FCGR3A-158V and HLA-DRB1 SE interaction revealed roles for both genes in susceptibility to autoantibody positive RA, with no evidence of interaction. Conclusions FCGR3A is a risk factor for the development of autoantibody positive RA, particularly in men, with evidence of a multiplicative effect with HLA-DRB1 SE.
CLASH: MASS DISTRIBUTION IN AND AROUND MACS J1206.2-0847 FROM A FULL CLUSTER LENSING ANALYSIS

We derive an accurate mass distribution of the galaxy cluster MACS J1206.2-0847 (z = 0.439) from a combined weak-lensing distortion, magnification, and strong-lensing analysis of wide-field Subaru BVRcIcz′ imaging and our recent 16-band Hubble Space Telescope observations taken as part of the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble program. We find good agreement in the regions of overlap between several weak- and strong-lensing mass reconstructions using a wide variety of modeling methods, ensuring consistency. The Subaru data reveal the presence of a surrounding large-scale structure with the major axis running approximately northwest–southeast (NW–SE), aligned with the cluster and its brightest galaxy shapes, showing elongation with a ∼2: 1 axis ratio in the plane of the sky. Our full-lensing mass profile exhibits a shallow profile slope dln Σ/dln R ∼ −1 at cluster outskirts (R ≳ 1 Mpc h−1), whereas the mass distribution excluding the NW–SE excess regions steepens farther out, well described by the Navarro–Frenk–White form. Assuming a spherical halo, we obtain a virial mass Mvir = (1.1 ± 0.2 ± 0.1) × 1015 M☉ h−1 and a halo concentration cvir = 6.9 ± 1.0 ± 1.2 (cvir ∼ 5.7 when the central 50 kpc h−1 is excluded), which falls in the range 4 ≲ 〈c〉 ≲ 7 of average c(M, z) predictions for relaxed clusters from recent Λ cold dark matter simulations. Our full-lensing results are found to be in agreement with X-ray mass measurements where the data overlap, and when combined with Chandra gas mass measurements, they yield a cumulative gas mass fraction of 13.7+4.5− 3.0% at 0.7 Mpc h−1(≈ 1.7 r2500), a typical value observed for high-mass clusters.
Nanoparticle Containing sRAGE for Diabetic Wound Healing

We present a novel therapeutic peptide delivery system to improve the healing of diabetic chronic wounds. We have developed fusion proteins of elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) and the soluble receptor for advanced glycation end product (sRAGE) that self-assemble at physiological temperatures. These nanoparticles can be easily purified from a bacterial culture system by inverse temperature cycles, thus enabling rapid and inexpensive purification. In the present study, the fusion proteins were expressed in E.coli and purified by inverse transition temperature cycling. The results indicated that unlike other biopeptide fusion proteins previously reported, sRAGE-ELP nanoparticles are mostly expressed in bacteria as inclusion bodies.
Notch3 intracellular domain accumulates in HepG2 cell line.

BACKGROUND By mediating local cell-cell interactions, the Notch signaling pathway seems to control a variety of processes from cell fate decisions during development, to stem cell renewal and to differentiation in many adult tissues. Hence, perturbed Notch signaling may be involved both in the development and the spread of cancer. The expression and the functional role of some major components of the Notch signaling pathway in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are poorly characterized. MATERIALS AND METHODS Notch3, HES1, Jagged1 and Delta1 were analyzed both at the RNA and protein levels in the HepG2 liver cell line derived from human HCC. RESULTS The results of this study demonstrated, for the first time, that both Jagged1 and Delta1 ligands and the downstream effector gene HES1 are expressed in the HepG2 actively proliferating cell line. Moreover, a high expression of Notch3 intracellular domain, indicative of constitutively activated Notch signaling, was the only detectable Notch3 subunit in HepG2. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that Notch3 may be involved in mechanisms controling the differentiation and the spread of HCC and that Notch3 activation may be dependent on both Jagged1 and Delta 1 ligands.
Fire Sales and Endogenous Volatility

After the collapse of the housing bubble in 2007, severe fire sales of assets in the financial sector are accompanied by a rise in the volatility of bank asset returns. To account for their co-movements, I develop a model that highlights the interaction between the financial health of banks and the volatility of their asset returns. The novel feature of the model is that the volatility of asset returns is endogenously generated by the banks’ risk taking behavior. The risk taking by banks imposes a negative externality on the payoffs of other banks because given the lower valuation of risky assets by secondary market buyers, the liquidation of risky assets depresses the secondary market price of assets. Combining with limited liability, the model can give rise to a vicious feedback loop between a collective risk taking behavior of the banking sector and fire sales of assets. A standard liquidity requirement is shown to have ambiguous effects in stabilizing the financial system depending on the secondary market liquidity. The model suggests a room for counter-cyclical macroprudential policy to improve financial stability. I am deeply indebted to Christophe Chamley for his constant support and advice during this project. I also benefitted greatly from Dirk Hackbarth, Jianjun Miao, Simon Gilchrist, Stephen Terry, Anton Korinek and Kebin Ma. Comments are welcome. Email address: yuej@bu.edu.
Context-Driven Ontological Annotations in DICOM Images - Towards Semantic Pacs

The enormous volume of medical images and the complexity of clinical information systems make searching for relevant images a challenging task. We describe techniques for annotating and searching medical images using ontological semantic concepts. In contrast to extant multimedia semantic annotation work, our technique uses the context from mappings between multiple ontologies to constrain the semantic space and quickly identify relevant concepts. We have implemented a system using the FMA and RadLex anatomical ontologies, the ICD disease taxonomy, and have coupled the techniques with the DICOM standard for easy deployment in current PAC environments. Preliminary quantitative and qualitative experiments validate the effectiveness
Phylogenetic Analysis of Bradyrhizobium japonicum and Photosynthetic Stem-Nodulating Bacteria from Aeschynomene Species Grown in Separated Geographical Regions

Nearly complete and short partial 16S rRNA sequences were derived from PCR-amplified ribosomal DNAs of Bradyrhizobium japonicum USDA 136 and USDA 110 and five strains of bacteriochlorophyll-synthesizing bacteria isolated from stem nodules of Aeschynomene indica and other Aeschynomene species growing in different geographic regions, including India, The Philippines and North America. We confirmed that the five stem-nodulating strains examined synthesize bacteriochlorophyll a, and the absorption spectra of methanol-extracted cells contained a major absorbance peak at 770 nm. Strains isolated on different continents and from different Aeschynomene species were found to be phylogenetically homogeneous and exhibited levels of sequence similarity of more than 99%. The bacteriochlorophyll-synthesizing rhizobia, Bradyrhizobium japonicum, Blastobacter denitrificans, Afipia felis, and Rhodopseudomonas palustris exhibited levels of sequence similarity of 97% or greater and belong to a distinct line of descent within the alpha-2 subdivision of the Proteobacteria. Variable regions between positions 995 and 1045 provide potential target sites for design of a probe that is able to distinguish the photosynthetic rhizobia from closely related taxa.
Wireless Sensor Network and Sensor Fusion Technology for Ubiquitous Smart Living Space Applications (Invited Paper)

This paper describes wireless sensor network (WSN) and sensor fusion technology designed for ubiquitous smart living space applications. With respect to the WSN technology, a new standard from the Zigbee alliance is introduced. This new standard is designed to help constructing the network infrastructure by integrating with the TCP/IP network with the ZigBee network. A new approach for WSN deployment based on this new standard is also presented. With respect to the sensor fusion technology, this paper presents a smart sensing and control algorithm that naturally adjusts the thermal quality of the environment according to the interior and exterior environmental factors and the behavior of the inhabitants in a smart skin environment. The experiment results indicate that the proposed algorithm significantly improves the thermal comfort and effectively reduces energy consumption.
The frequency of cerebral microbleeds increases with CHADS2 scores in stroke patients with non‐valvular atrial fibrillation

Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) are extravasations of blood from lipohyalinized or amyloid angiopathic cerebral arterioles, and the presence and numbers of CMBs are significantly associated with the development of oral anticoagulation (OA)‐related intracranial haemorrhage (ICH). The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is a difference in CMBs burden according to CHADS2 scores or CHA2DS2‐VASc scores in non‐valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients.
Molecular Mobility and Physical Stability of Amorphous Irbesartan

Amorphous systems have attracted considerable attention due to their favorable properties; however, their stability issues still pose a major challenge. The purpose of the present work was to investigate the role of molecular mobility and moisture in the physical stability of a selected pharmaceutical amorphous system. Irbesartan (IBS), a relatively stable glass, was chosen as the model drug, as it exhibits a good physical stability (resistance to crystallization) at temperatures below the glass transition (Tg-50 K). The amorphous system was annealed at temperatures 298 K (25 °C) and 313 K (40 °C) at 0 and 75 % RH to study the effect of temperature and moisture on its relaxation behavior. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to characterize both the crystalline and the freshly prepared glass, and to monitor the extent of relaxation at temperatures below glass transition (Tg) as well as heat capacity changes as a function of temperature. Molecular relaxation time constant (τ) decreased drastically from 302 years to 68 hours with the increase in annealing temperature as determined by Kohlrausch-William-Watts (KWW) equation. IBS was found to be 'relatively' stable in the amorphous state and presented a challenge for temporal measurements. Hence, at low annealing temperatures, (Tg-50 K or below) initial relaxation time (τ 0 ) was estimated using the calori- metric based approach. Amorphous IBS was non-hygroscopic and retained its glassy nature under the accelerated stability conditions. The extent of relaxation in the amorphous drug in the presence of moisture was also estimated.
Relationship between MLR blocking antibodies and the outcome of the third pregnancy in patients with two consecutive spontaneous abortions

To determine the relationship between mixed lymphocyte culture reaction (MLR) blocking antibodies (BAbs), immunological humoral factors, which generated in pregnant women and the outcome of pregnancy, the natural outcome of the third pregnancy in fifty-five patients with primary twice consecutive abortion was evaluated, and MLR-BAbs in sera were examined during their third pregnancy. The third pregnancy in 39 of 55 patients (70.9%) continued successfully, and remaining 16 patients (29.1%) experienced repeated abortion at the first trimester. Out of these 55 patients, MLR-BAbs were examined in 27 (17 with successful outcome and 10 with repeated abortion). The positive rate of MLR-BAbs was 82.4% in patients with successful outcome (15 of 17 cases), and that in patients with repeated abortion was 10% (one of 10 cases). The positive rate of MLR-BAbs was significantly higher in the successful pregnancy group compared with that in the repeated abortion group (p < 0.001). The blocking effect on MLR significantly increased along with the prenatal course in patients with successful outcome. Thus, MLR-BAbs are strongly associated with the outcome of pregnancy in patients with primary twice consecutive spontaneous abortions.
A New Idea for Stroke Rehabilitation: Bilateral Transfer Analysis from Healthy Hand to the Paretic One with a Randomized and Controlled Trial

Background: Bilateral transfer of a motor skill is a phenomenon according to which, one hand can "teach" a skill to the other hand. In this research, controlled and randomized, we tested the ability of bilateral transfer (BT) to improve the coordination of the paretic hand in patients that suffered a stroke, with the aim of restricting the field for further research on the impact of BT in rehabilitation, we analyzed the differences in the expression of BT phenomenon among sexes and side of hemyparesis. Methods: 34 right-handed patients, at the end of the rehabilitation period, were randomly divided into two groups: test and control. They all had a stroke in a single hemisphere in the previous six months and they were selected by a physical examination, the time elapsed from the stroke and cognitive requirements. The experiment consisted in training the healthy hand of each patient from the test group to execute the nine hole peg test (NHPT) 10 times a day, for 3 consecutive days, and then test the paretic hand with the same test and with bimanual tasks. The control group was not trained but went through the same analysis. Results: In the test group we found that the execution speed of NHPT with the paretic hand, after training the healthy hand, was on average 22.6% faster than the value recorded at baseline. Meanwhile, no significant difference was found in the control group. The analysis showed a greater impact of BT among male patients, who were in average 31% faster than controls, and in non dominant paretic hands, that were 30% faster after training. Conclusions: BT was present in hemiparethic patients with moderate stroke after a short time span, it was more evident among male subjects, and from the dominant hand to the paretic non-dominant one.
Pancreatic enzyme supplementation in cystic fibrosis patients before and after fibrosing colonopathy.

BACKGROUND In 1994 we cared for nine cystic fibrosis patients with fibrosing colonopathy. To evaluate the relationship between fibrosing colonopathy and supplemental pancreatic enzymes we reviewed our dosing of enzymes prior to fibrosing colonopathy development and then evaluated the subsequent effect of drastically reducing pancreatic enzyme dose. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed pancreatic enzyme dosing for 267 cystic fibrosis patients with pancreatic insufficiency. The supplemental enzyme history of nine patients with fibrosing colonopathy was contrasted with the history of 258 nonaffected patients. The pancreatic enzyme doses of 75 patients taking at least 6,000 U lipase/kg/meal were systematically reduced to approximately 2,000 lipase units/kg/meal. We evaluated the effect of this dose reduction on change in height and weight z scores one year after achievement of stable enzyme dose. RESULTS In the year prior to diagnosis patients with fibrosing colonopathy took a significantly larger pancreatic enzyme dose, whether assessed by highest dose or cumulative dose, than did nonaffected patients. Similar results were observed after controlling for sex and age. All 75 patients on at least 6,000 U lipase/kg/meal were able to tolerate a significant reduction in dose while achieving clinically acceptable nutrient absorption, with no change over one year in height and weight z scores. CONCLUSIONS Our data demonstrate a strong relationship between very high doses of pancreatic enzyme supplementation and formation of fibrosing colonopathy. These very high doses do not appear to be needed for adequate nutrient absorption and growth.