Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
State Legislation Related to Increasing Physical Activity: 2006-2012.

BACKGROUND Strategies to improve physical activity prevalence often include policy and environmental changes. State-level policies can be influential in supporting access and opportunities for physical activity in schools and communities. The purpose of this study was to explore the prevalence of state legislation related to physical activity and identify the correlates of enactment of this legislation. METHODS An online legislative database was used to collect bills from 50 states in the U.S. from 2006 to 2012 for 1010 topics related to physical activity. Bills were coded for content and compiled into a database with state-level variables (eg, obesity prevalence). With enactment status as the outcome, bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted. RESULTS Of the 1,542 bills related to physical activity introduced, 30% (N = 460) were enacted. Bills on public transportation and trails were more likely to be enacted than those without these topics. Primary sponsorship by the Republican Party, bipartisan sponsorship, and mention of specific funding amounts were also correlates of enactment. CONCLUSION Policy surveillance of bills and correlates of enactment are important for understanding patterns in legislative support for physical activity. This information can be used to prioritize advocacy efforts and identify ways for research to better inform policy.
Serial measurements of the rapid-shallow-breathing index as a predictor of weaning outcome in elderly medical patients.

STUDY OBJECTIVES To determine the usefulness of serial measurements of the rapid-shallow-breathing index (f/VT) as a predictor for successfully weaning elderly medical patients from mechanical ventilator support using a threshold value (< or =130) derived specifically for this population. DESIGN Prospective observational study using parameters suggested from retrospective analysis. SETTING Medical ICUs of a university-affiliated private teaching hospital. PATIENTS Using data obtained from a retrospective analysis of 10 medical patients > or =70 years old who had failed weaning, 49 additional medical patients older than 70 years were studied prospectively. INTERVENTIONS Standard weaning parameters were determined using a hand-held spirometer. Respiratory rate (f, breaths/min) and tidal volume (VT, liters) were measured at the beginning of a spontaneous breathing trial and hourly thereafter for up to 5 h using the same hand-held spirometer. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS Retrospective analysis showed that the published threshold value for f/VT (< or =105) had poor predictability for weaning success when measured at the beginning of the weaning trial. In the 9 of 10 patients who failed to wean in the retrospective review, the f/VT increased to > 130 as the trial progressed over 2 to 3 h. Using an f/VT < or =130 as the threshold value for prospectively predicting successful weaning, the diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value increased from 84%, 92%, 57%, 87%, and 67%, respectively, when measured at the beginning of the weaning trial to 92%, 93%, 89%, 97%, and 80%, respectively, when measured 3 h later. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for f/VT also improved from 0.81 to 0.93. CONCLUSIONS Serial measurements of the rapid-shallow-breathing index in medical elderly patients during a period of spontaneous breathing can accurately predict the ability to be successfully weaned from mechanical ventilator support.
Hexosamine-containing peptides in spores of Bacillus subtilis, B. megatherium and B. cereus.

In a previous paper (Powell & Strange, 1953) the isolation of non-dialysable peptides containing hexosamine from exudates produced by germinating spores ofBacillus 8ubtilis and B. megatherium was described. More precise chemical definition can now be given to these peptides. In the following report, a comparison is made between their constitution and that ofthe peptides present in extracts from disintegrated resting spores, and from vegetative cells. A strain of B. cereu.s isolated from air is also included in the investigation.
Biventricular pacing for heart failure

Left bundle branch block in structurally normal hearts results in loss of synchrony of ventricular contraction and impairs both regional and global left ventricular systolic function.1 In hearts with good overall left ventricular systolic function this has very little clinical effect. But in patients with ischaemic or idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy it further impairs already poor systolic function and may have a major clinical impact. The prevalence of conduction delay in patients with heart failure is as high as 30%,2 and this has led to the development of biventricular pacing in an attempt to restore synchronous ventricular contraction and so improve left ventricular function. Biventricular pacing involves the transvenous placement of a third pacing lead via the right atrium and coronary sinus into a left ventricular cardiac vein; this is in addition to the standard pacing leads in the right atrium and right ventricle3 and permits simultaneous stimulation of the right and left ventricles. What is the evidence that this works? Several studies have indicated that biventricular …
A New in Vivo Cross-linking Mass Spectrometry Platform to Define Protein–Protein Interactions in Living Cells*

Protein–protein interactions (PPIs) are fundamental to the structure and function of protein complexes. Resolving the physical contacts between proteins as they occur in cells is critical to uncovering the molecular details underlying various cellular activities. To advance the study of PPIs in living cells, we have developed a new in vivo cross-linking mass spectrometry platform that couples a novel membrane-permeable, enrichable, and MS-cleavable cross-linker with multistage tandem mass spectrometry. This strategy permits the effective capture, enrichment, and identification of in vivo cross-linked products from mammalian cells and thus enables the determination of protein interaction interfaces. The utility of the developed method has been demonstrated by profiling PPIs in mammalian cells at the proteome scale and the targeted protein complex level. Our work represents a general approach for studying in vivo PPIs and provides a solid foundation for future studies toward the complete mapping of PPI networks in living systems.
Cycling without Cyclins

Complex oscillations in the activation and inactivation of cyclin-dependent kinase complexes propel mammalian cells through the cycle. A recent spate of studies seems to indicate that many, if not most, of these seemingly essential molecules may, in some senses, be dispensable. If true, that would mean the essential components of the mammalian cell cycle are not much different from those found in prokaryotes. That, in turn, would imply a fair amount redundancy exists in the system which may call into question current cancer treatment strategies designed to target some of these "dispensable" cell cycle control molecules. Key Words: cyclin-dependent kinases, cyclin E, knockout, S phase, cell cycle
SEPARATING THE TUBE WAVE RESPONSE FROM THE BACKGROUND RESPONSE

Conventional crosswell surveys are expensive because a source must be placed downhole, which means that the hole must be prepped and placed off-line for a number of days. We suggest an interesting but unproven alternative: place a source on the surface, drop a simple obstruction-like device downhole that scatters tube wave arrivals from the surface source, and use the scattered tube waves energy as a seismic source in that borehole. We test this idea by computing the tube wave responses from a synthetic crosswell data set and use these tube-wave responses to construct a well-resolved velocity image between the wells. The tube wave responses are also computed from field data recorded with a conventional crosswell survey. The processing method is based on stacking of coherent seismic energy that emanates from the location of tube wave scattering. Results show that the arrival time of both the transmitted arrivals and reflection events in the tube wave responses agree well with those in the real common shot gathers. However, there are fewer reflection events in the tube wave responses than in the conventional shot gathers and their bandwidth is not as wide. Nevertheless, this result suggests the possibility that more economical crosswell seismic surveys can be performed using surface seismic sources and tube wave scatterers in the source well. The remaining question is whether or not the tube wave scatterer is strong enough to generate reflections with a sufficiently high signal-to-noise ratio.
Cancer Therapy : Preclinical Human Regulatory T Cells Do Not Suppress the Antitumor Immunity in the Bone Marrow : A Role for Bone Marrow Stromal Cells in Neutralizing Regulatory T Cells

Purpose: Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are potent tools to prevent graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) induced after allogeneic stem cell transplantation or donor lymphocyte infusions. Toward clinical application of Tregs for GVHD treatment, we investigated the impact of Tregs on the therapeutic graft-versus-tumor (GVT) effect against human multiple myeloma tumors with various immunogenicities, progression rates, and localizations in a humanized murine model. ExperimentalDesign: Immunodeficient Rag2 / gc / mice, bearing various humanmultiplemyeloma tumors, were treated with human peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) alone or together with autologous ex vivo cultured Tregs. Mice were analyzed for the in vivo engraftment, homing of T-cell subsets, development of GVHD and GVT. In additional in vitro assays, Tregs that were cultured together with bone marrow stromal cells were analyzed for phenotype and functions. Results: Treatment with PBMC alone induced variable degrees of antitumor response, depending on the immunogenicity and the growth rate of the tumor. Coinfusion of Tregs did not impair the antitumor response against tumors residing within the bone marrow, irrespective of their immunogenicity or growth rates. In contrast, Tregs readily inhibited the antitumor effect against tumors growing outside the bone marrow. Exploring this remarkable phenomenon, we discovered that bone marrow stroma neutralizes the suppressive activity of Tregs in part via production of interleukin (IL)-1b/IL-6.We furthermore found in vitro and in vivo evidence of conversion of Tregs into IL-17–producing T cells in the bone marrow environment. Conclusions: These results provide new insights into the Treg immunobiology and indicate the conditional benefits of future Treg-based therapies. Clin Cancer Res; 19(6); 1467–75. 2012 AACR.
Effect of Bcl‐xL overexpression on apoptosis and autophagy in recombinant Chinese hamster ovary cells under nutrient‐deprived condition

Upon nutrient deprivation during culture, recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (rCHO) cells are subjected to two types of programmed cell death (PCD), apoptosis and autophagy. To investigate the effect of Bcl‐xL overexpression on apoptosis and autophagy in rCHO cells, an erythropoietin (EPO)‐producing rCHO cell line with regulated Bcl‐xL overexpression (EPO‐off‐Bcl‐xL) was established using the Tet‐off system. The expression level of Bcl‐xL in EPO‐off‐Bcl‐xL cells was tightly regulated by doxycycline in a dose‐dependent manner. Bcl‐xL overexpression enhanced cell viability and extended culture longevity in batch culture. Upon nutrient depletion in the later stage of batch culture, Bcl‐xL overexpression suppressed apoptosis by inhibiting the activation of caspase‐3 and ‐7. Simultaneously, Bcl‐xL overexpression also delayed autophagy, characterized by LC3‐II accumulation. Immunoprecipitation analysis with a Flag‐tagged Bcl‐xL revealed that Bcl‐xL interacts with Bax and Bak, essential mediators of caspase‐dependent apoptosis, as well as with Beclin‐1, an essential mediator of autophagy, and may inhibit their pro‐cell death function. Taken together, it was found that Bcl‐xL overexpression inhibits both apoptosis and autophagy in rCHO cell culture. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2009;103: 757–766. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Measurement Invariance of the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) Across Three Chinese University Student Groups From Canada and China

The current study assessed the measurement equivalence of the Wong & Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) with three groups of Chinese university students. Two research sessions were conducted—one in Beijing, China with university students (N = 680), and the other in Calgary, Canada where two groups of Chinese students were administered the WLEIS in either Chinese (N = 151) or English (N = 151). The WLEIS had satisfactory reliability, the four-factor structure was replicated, and metric invariance was supported across the three groups. The present study provided empirical support to the growing emotional intelligence measurement invariance literature and demonstrated the robustness of both the English and Chinese versions of the WLEIS.
Retrospective analysis of viral load and SIV antibody responses in rhesus macaques infected with pathogenic SIV: predictive value for disease progression.

The prognostic significance of SIV plasma viral load in macaques has not been well established, primarily owing to the small numbers of animals in experimental groups. In addition, many investigators have noted that animals that fail to develop an anti-SIV humoral response develop disease rapidly. To establish the prognostic significance of viral load and seroconversion, we retrospectively analyzed the plasma viral load and serology data from 74 rhesus macaques infected with SIVmac. Viral load was analyzed at three time points: in the peak (days 7-21), acute (days 30-55), and chronic (days 80-100) periods postinfection. High viral load in the peak and acute phases was associated with more rapid development of disease (p = 0.0086, p = 0.0004, respectively). We defined clinical outcome as rapid ( <1 year) or slow (> or =1 year) progression. When peak and acute viral loads were analyzed together, acute viral load was more strongly associated with rapid progression (p = 0.03). Slow progression was strongly associated with chronic viral loads below the median of 3.47 x 10(5) RNA copies/ml. Despite having preexisting anti-SIV antibodies, 7 of 23 vaccinated animals were rapid progressors. All unvaccinated animals that mounted a humoral response to SIV were slow progressors. Animals that received a formalin-fixed, microencapsulated SIV vaccine prior to infection had lower peak viral loads than unvaccinated animals (p = 0.0005), but developed disease at the same rate. Overall, in naive animals, viral load is an important prognostic indicator of the disease progression rate. We found that viral load measured during the chronic phase (days 80-100) of infection was most closely associated with disease progression. We also found that a formalin-fixed, microencapuslated SIV vaccine reduced viral load without affecting clinical outcome. This latter finding may have implications for the evaluation of HIV-1 human vaccine trials.
Tolbutamide stimulates exocytosis of glucagon by inhibition of a mitochondrial‐like ATP‐sensitive K+ (KATP) conductance in rat pancreatic A‐cells

1 Capacitance measurements were used to examine the effects of the sulphonylurea tolbutamide on Ca2+‐dependent exocytosis in isolated glucagon‐secreting rat pancreatic A‐cells. 2 When applied extracellularly, tolbutamide stimulated depolarization‐evoked exocytosis 4.2‐fold without affecting the whole‐cell Ca2+ current. The concentration dependence of the stimulatory action was determined by intracellular application through the recording pipette. Tolbutamide produced a concentration‐dependent increase in cell capacitance. Half‐maximal stimulation was observed at 33 μm and the maximum stimulation corresponded to a 3.4‐fold enhancement of exocytosis. 3 The stimulatory action of tolbutamide was dependent on protein kinase C activity. The action of tolbutamide was mimicked by the general K+ channel blockers TEA (10 mm) and quinine (10 μm). A similar stimulation was elicited by 5‐hydroxydecanoate (5‐HD; 10 μm), an inhibitor of mitochondrial ATP‐sensitive K+ (KATP) channels. 4 Tolbutamide‐stimulated, but not TEA‐induced, exocytosis was antagonized by the K+ channel openers diazoxide, pinacidil and cromakalim. 5 Dissipating the transgranular K+ gradient with nigericin and valinomycin inhibited tolbutamide‐ and Ca2+‐evoked exocytosis. Furthermore, tolbutamide‐ and Ca2+‐induced exocytosis were abolished by the H+ ionophore FCCP or by arresting the vacuolar (V‐type) H+‐ATPase with bafilomycin A1 or DCCD. Finally, ammonium chloride stimulated exocytosis to a similar extent to that obtained with tolbutamide. 6 We propose that during granular maturation, a granular V‐type H+‐ATPase pumps H+ into the secretory granule leading to the generation of a pH gradient across the granular membrane and the development of a positive voltage inside the granules. The pumping of H+ is facilitated by the concomitant exit of K+ through granular K+ channels with pharmacological properties similar to those of mitochondrial KATP channels. Release of granules that have been primed is then facilitated by the addition of K+ channel blockers. The resulting increase in membrane potential promotes exocytosis by unknown mechanisms, possibly involving granular alkalinization.
Effects of Pyridine and Methanol on the Biodegradation of 2-methylpyridine by Activated Sludge under Denitrifying Conditions

Lab-scale batch experiments were conducted to investigate the biodegradation of 2-methylpyridine as sole carbon source under denitrifying conditions. Moreover, effects of pyridine and methanol on the biodegradation of 2-methylpyridine were also studied. Under denitrifying conditions, 2-methylpyridine of 100 mg/L was degraded in 13 h as sole carbon source. When pyridine was used as co-substrate with 2-methylpyridine, 2-methylpyridine degradation was inhibited, and pyridine was degraded prior to 2-methylpyridine. On the contrary, methanol promoted the degradation of 2-methylpyridine.
The Role of NFAT in Osteoclast Formation

Abstract: Osteoclasts are cells of monocyte–macrophage origin that degrade bone matrix. Receptor activator of NF‐κB ligand (RANKL) induces osteoclast formation in the presence of macrophage‐colony‐stimulating factor (M‐CSF) and costimulatory signals. RANKL induces activation of the TNF receptor‐associated factor 6 (TRAF6) and c‐Fos pathways, which lead to the osteoclast‐specific event, that is, autoamplification of nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT)c1, the master transcription factor for osteoclast differentiation. Autoamplification of NFATc1 is dependent on the calcium signaling of immunoglobulin‐like receptors associated with immunoreceptor tyrosine‐based activation motif (ITAM)‐harboring adaptors. In addition to the calcineurin–NFATc1 axis, calcium signaling activates the calmodulin‐dependent kinase pathway, which also plays a critical role in osteoclast formation. Such advances in the understanding of the molecular mechanism of osteoclast differentiation are expected to lead to novel therapeutic approaches to bone diseases.
Pseudo-Zernike moment invariants to blur degradation and similarity transformation

The moment invariants have been widely used as feature descriptors against both blur degradation and similarity transformation in pattern recognition. Since Pseudo-Zernike moments outperform other moments in feature matching and object recognition, we propose a new set of Pseudo-Zernike moment invariants holding for blur and similarity transformation simultaneously in this paper to improve the match results. In order to construct the proposed invariants, we also establish the relationship between the Pseudo-Zernike moments of the distorted images and those of the original images with respect to circularly symmetric point spread function. The experimental results are presented to confirm that compared to the other moment invariants, the proposed combined invariants have better invariance and more powerful discriminating ability in terms of pattern recognition accuracy, especially when the images contain noises.
First description of eye muscle ‘poulies’ by Tenon in 1805

Last December (2001), the Journal published a translation of what we believed to be the first description of eye muscle ‘poulies’ by Phillibert Sappey in 1888.1 Sappey was Professor of Anatomy and President of the Academie de Medecine in Paris and in his book, described the ‘orbital aponeurosis and associated smooth muscle fibers’, with a ‘central portion of the orbital aponeurosis’ and ‘orbital aponeurosis expansions’. The muscle sheaths were called first-order expansions, and the ‘tendinous slips with smooth-muscle fibers associated with these slips’ second-order expansions. The latter represented ‘a pulley and a check ligament’. They contained not only fibrous tissue but also smooth muscle fibers. They inserted anteriorly on the orbital wall and, he said, originated from the fibrous muscle sheath and not from eye muscle fibers. Sappey quoted works by Bonnet2 (1841) and Tenon3 (1816) and, with considerable difficulty, we were able to get copies of these books.
Effect of amino acid substitutions on calmodulin binding and cytolytic properties of the LLP-1 peptide segment of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 transmembrane protein

Previous studies have identified two highly basic amphipathic helical regions in the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 transmembrane protein that, in vitro, display both cytolytic and calmodulin-binding and -inhibitory properties that could contribute to cellular dysfunctions and cytopathogenesis during a persistent viral infection. In the current study, the structural specificity of the cytolytic and calmodulin-binding activities of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 lentivirus lytic peptide (LLP-1) are examined with synthetic peptide homologs and analogs. The results of these studies demonstrate that even minor changes in LLP-1 amino acid content can markedly affect these properties, suggesting that sequence variation in these highly conserved LLP sequences may correlate with alterations in viral cytopathic properties.
Characterization of glycine‐N‐methyltransferase‐gene expression in human hepatocellular carcinoma

Messenger RNA differential display was used to study liver‐gene expression in paired tumor and non‐tumor tissues from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. mRNA differential display and Northern‐blot analyses showed that a 0.8‐kb cDNA fragment was diminished or absent from the tumorous tissues of 7 HCC patients. The cDNA fragment was sequenced and found to have 98.7% nucleotide sequence homology with human glycine‐N‐methyltransferase cDNA (GNMT). In addition, there was no detectable level of GNMT expression in 4 human HCC cell lines, SK‐Hep1, Hep 3B, HuH‐7 and HA22T, examined by Northern‐blot assay. A full‐length GNMT cDNA clone‐9‐1‐2 was obtained by screening a Taiwanese liver cDNA library. In comparison with the GNMT cDNA sequence reported elsewhere, clone 9‐1‐2 had 4 nucleotide differences resulting in 1 amino‐acid change. Immunohistochemical staining with rabbit anti‐recombinant GNMT serum showed that GNMT protein almost completely disappeared in liver‐cancer cells, while it was abundant in the non‐tumorous liver cells. Down‐regulation of GNMT gene expression may be involved in the pathogenesis of liver cancer. Int. J. Cancer 75:787–793, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Design of an electrophoretic module for protein separation

In this paper we discuss the model, theory and design optimization of an electrophoretic separation system configured as a split flow thin fractionation, which can be used for protein separation from milk samples as part of an integrated analytical system for detection of contaminants or pathogens. In particular, we describe the design and the fabrication strategy to achieve optimal separation and a sample-processing throughput in the order of ml/min.