Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The inhibition by diphenyleneiodonium and its analogues of superoxide generation by macrophages.

Peritoneal macrophages were elicited in rats by using casein as a stimulus; when stimulated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) they produced O2. -. Nearly 60% of the total cytochrome b had a low Em,7.0 of -247 mV, typical of the cytochrome b component found in the NADPH-dependent O2(.-)-generating oxidase of neutrophils. The rate of O2. - generation by macrophages was 1.23 mol of O2. -/s per mol of cytochrome b. Treatment of intact macrophages with diphenyleniodonium (DPI) at 0.9 microM caused 50% inhibition of PMA-induced O2. - generation, with little effect on mitochondrial respiratory activity; KCN inhibited respiratory activity without affecting PMA-induced O2. - generation. A similar specificity of inhibition was found for di-2-thienyliodonium (50% inhibition of O2.- generation at 0.5 microM) and, at higher concentrations, for diphenyl iodonium. When macrophage suspensions were incubated with [125I]DPI followed by autoradiography of SDS/polyacrylamide-gel-electrophoresis-separated polypeptides, radioactivity was most strongly associated with a band of Mr 45,000, similar to that found in neutrophils [Cross & Jones (1986) Biochem. J. 237, 111-116]. The O2(.-)-generating oxidase of macrophages appears to have components in common with the NADPH oxidase of neutrophils, despite differences in activity. Its sensitivity to DPI suggests that selective prevention of radical generation by macrophages in vivo is possible.
MRI predictors of risk of incident Alzheimer disease

Objective: To determine if baseline entorhinal and hippocampal volumes and their rate of atrophy could predict the risk of incident Alzheimer disease (AD). Methods: The authors used proportional odds models to assess the relationship between entorhinal and hippocampal size and risk of incident AD among 58 nondemented elderly people. All participants were followed with annual clinical evaluations and structural MRI scans for up to 5 years (baseline and 5 years of follow-up). At baseline, 23 of 58 participants received a diagnosis of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 35 of 58 were healthy control subjects with no cognitive impairment. Structural MRI scans were acquired with a T1-weighted three-dimensional spoiled gradient-recalled echo pulse sequence in a 1.5 T scanner. Entorhinal and hippocampal volumes were derived from 1.6-mm gapless coronal images reformatted to be perpendicular to the long axis of the hippocampus and were normalized by dividing with intracranial volume. Results: Fourteen of 58 nondemented participants developed AD during the follow-up period. Initial diagnosis of MCI was a significant predictor of incident AD. In addition, both baseline entorhinal volume and its slope of decline were independent predictors of incident AD, but initial hippocampal size and its rate of decline were not, after controlling for entorhinal volume. Conclusion: In nondemented individuals, entorhinal cortex atrophy is associated with risk of Alzheimer disease.
Age-related benefits of digital noise reduction for short-term word learning in children with hearing loss.

PURPOSE To determine the rate of word learning for children with hearing loss (HL) in quiet and in noise compared to normal-hearing (NH) peers. The effects of digital noise reduction (DNR) were examined for children with HL. METHOD Forty-one children with NH and 26 children with HL were grouped by age (8-9 years and 11-12 years). The children learned novel words associated with novel objects through a process of trial and error. Functions relating performance across trials were calculated for each child in each listening condition and were compared. RESULTS Significant effects were observed for age (older > younger) in the children with NH and listening condition (quiet > noise) in the children with HL. Significant effects of hearing status were also observed across groups (NH > HL), indicating that the children with HL required more trials to learn the new words. However, word learning improved significantly in noise with the use of DNR for the older but not for the younger children with HL. Hearing aid history and signal-to-noise ratio did not contribute to performance. CONCLUSION Word learning was significantly reduced in younger children, in noise, and in the presence of hearing loss. Age-related benefits of DNR were apparent for children over 10 years of age.
Circulating levels of insulin, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), IGF-II, and IGF-binding proteins in the small for gestational age fetal rat.

Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are important regulators of somatic growth in childhood and circulate in association with specific binding proteins (IGFBPs). Insulin is important for the regulation of IGFs and IGFBPs in postnatal life and is required for normal growth in utero. We asked whether alterations in the availability of IGFs and/or their BPs may contribute to impaired fetal growth 24 h after bilateral uterine artery ligation when circulating levels of insulin are low and fetuses are small for gestational age (SGA). Bilateral uterine arterial ligation or sham surgery was performed on maternal rats on day 19 of gestation (term = 21.5 days). One day after ligation, fetuses were SGA compared to shams (2.9 +/- 0.1 vs. 3.5 +/- 0.1 g/fetus, respectively; P < 0.001), and liver weight was reduced (242 +/- 9 vs. 300 +/- 6 mg/liver; P < 0.001). Serum levels of both insulin and IGF-I were reduced approximately 50% in SGA litters compared to those in shams (P < 0.001) and correlated with each other (P < 0.02). IGF-I levels also correlated with fetal body and liver weights (P < 0.005 for each) even after controlling for the effects of insulin. Insulin levels correlated with body and liver weights (P < 0.02 and P < 0.03, respectively), but these relationships were not significant after controlling for the effects of IGF-I. Serum levels of IGF-II were not significantly reduced in SGA and did not correlate with fetal weight or insulin or IGF-I levels. [125I]IGF-I binding assay demonstrated that the availability of IGFBPs was increased in SGA serum, and Western ligand blotting indicated that circulating levels of 32K IGFBPs were increased in SGA fetuses compared to shams. Densitometric analysis indicated that levels of 32K IGFBPs were 4-fold greater in SGA litters (P < 0.001 vs. shams), and the level of 32K IGFBPs correlated with fetal body and liver weights (P < 0.05 for each) and with levels of both insulin and IGF-I (P < 0.001 for each), but not with levels of IGF-II. Immunoblotting with newly developed antiserum against rat IGFBP-1 confirmed that levels of immunoreactive 32K IGFBP-1 are increased in SGA serum, and immunoprecipitation studies confirmed that IGFBP-1 accounted for the rise in 32K IGFBPs in SGA serum. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Insulin resistance in polycystic ovary syndrome

Hyperinsulinaemia is found in 30% of slim and 75% of obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Despite resistance to insulin action in terms of glucose transport, increased insulin levels may cause hyperandrogenaemia by enhancement of androgen production in the ovaries where insulin acts as co-gonadotrophin. Recent interest in insulin resistance results from the recognition that it predisposes to various metabolic abnormalities, and could be involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Women with polycystic ovary syndrome frequently have metabolic disturbances associated with insulin resistance, and recent long-term follow-up studies have indicated that they also have a higher incidence of diabetes and hypertension later in life compared with control populations. This review describes the association of hyperinsulinaemia with hyperandrogenism, metabolic and circulatory changes in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Special emphasis is placed on recent studies of molecular mechanisms of insulin resistance in polycystic ovary syndrome and clinical implications of hyperinsulinaemia in these women.
Loss of MIR15A and MIR16‐1 at 13q14 is associated with increased TP53 mRNA, de‐repression of BCL2 and adverse outcome in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

This study was conducted to investigate the possibility that TP53 mRNA is variably expressed in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and that under‐expression is associated with TP53 dysfunction and adverse outcome. Although TP53 mRNA levels did indeed vary among the 104 CLL samples examined, this variability resulted primarily from over‐expression of TP53 mRNA in 18 samples, all of which lacked TP53 deletion/mutation. These patients had higher lymphocyte counts and shorter overall and treatment‐free survival times compared to cases with low TP53 mRNA expression and no TP53 deletion/mutation. Furthermore, TP53 mRNA levels did not correlate with levels of TP53 protein or its transcriptional target CDKN1A. We speculated that the adverse outcome associated with TP53 mRNA over‐expression might reflect variation in levels of MIR15A and MIR16‐1, which are encoded on chromosome 13q14 and target TP53 and some oncogenes including BCL2. In keeping with our hypothesis, 13q14 copy number and levels of MIR15A/MIR16‐1 correlated positively with one another but negatively with levels of TP53 mRNA and BCL2 mRNA. Our findings support a model in which loss of MIR15A/MIR16‐1 at chromosome 13q14 results in adverse outcome due to de‐repression of oncogenes such as BCL2, and up‐regulation of TP53 mRNA as a bystander effect.
Incidence and clinical significance of immunogenicity to infliximab in Crohn's disease: A critical systematic review

Background: Infliximab (IFX) is a chimeric (mouse/human) anti‐TNF‐alpha monoclonal antibody approved for the treatment of refractory luminal and fistulizing Crohn's disease (CD). It is a source of potential immunogenicity for humans, with the occurrence of anti‐infliximab antibodies (ATIs), which are thought to interfere with the pharmacodynamics and/or pharmacokinetics of the compound. It remains unclear whether ATIs have any clinical importance for drug efficacy or safety. We review studies specifically evaluating the incidence of ATIs in CD and their impact on the efficacy and safety of IFX. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken by electronic searches of the PubMed and SCOPUS databases from earliest records to October 2008, as well as reference lists of all relevant articles and relevant abstracts from meetings. Results: The biological and clinical mechanisms of ATI development are poorly understood. The incidence of ATIs in vivo depends on multiple analytical and clinical factors, both patient‐ and treatment‐related. The presence of ATIs is weakly and variably associated with clinical response or infusion reactions, but not with reactions relevant to clinical decision‐making. Enormous variation in the methods of reporting ATIs and immunogenicity of IFX make almost any interpretation possible from different studies, but few have clinical relevance. Conclusions: There is no clear evidence that ATIs have an impact on efficacy or safety, nor a need to measure or prevent them in clinical practice. Circulating drug concentration may be a more relevant measure of immunogenicity. (Inflamm Bowel Dis 2009)
Prevalence of Diabetes and Impaired Glucose Tolerance and Plasma Glucose Levels in U.S. Population Aged 20–74 Yr

The prevalence of physician-diagnosed diabetes and of undiagnosed diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) that meet National Diabetes Data Group (NDDG) and World Health Organization (WHO) criteria have been estimated for the U.S. population aged 20–74 yr from the 1976–1980 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. This survey included a demographic/medical history questionnaire administered in the participant's home and a detailed examination composed of a physician's exam, special clinical procedures, other tests, and collection of blood and urine specimens. Survey participants were selected from 1970 census data through a stratified multistage probability sampling scheme. Of 17,390 eligible residents aged 20–74 yr, 15,357 (88.3%) participated in the interview and are the basis for estimates of diagnosed diabetes; 11,858 (68%) participated in the exam. A half sample of 5901 examinees was selected to receive a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) performed in the morning after an overnight 10- to 16-h fast. Of these examinees, valid OGTT data were obtained for 3772 people without a medical history of diabetes, and these are the basis for estimates of undiagnosed diabetes and IGT. The major reasons for incomplete OGTT data were inability of participants to attend the examination center in the morning and lack of adherence to the fasting instructions. Despite the relatively low response rates, evidence is presented that data on both the interviewed sample and those receiving the OGTT, when adjusted for the 1970–1980 census characteristics by age, race, sex, income, and geographic location, are representative of the U.S. population. Extrapolation of these data to the U.S. population aged 20–74 yr indicates a total diabetes prevalence of 6.6% by NDDG criteria, or more than 8 million people with diabetes. The prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes (3.2%) was almost equal to that of previously diagnosed diabetes (3.4%). Total rates of diabetes increased with age, from 2.0% at age 20–44 yr to 17.7% at age 65–74 yr. Rates were approximately equal by sex but were greater in Blacks than in Whites. The prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes by WHO criteria (3.4%) was similar to that by NDDG criteria, but the rate of impaired glucose tolerance (11.2%) was more than twice the NDDG estimate (4.6%). Both obesity and parental history of diabetes were associated with significantly higher rates of diabetes and IGT. Fasting plasma glucose was relatively insensitive to age, but 1-h and 2-h post-75-g glucose values increased significantly with age.
Treatment of Recurrent Stenotrophomonas maltophilia Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia with Doxycycline and Aerosolized Colistin

Objective: To report a case of recurrent Stenotrophomonas maltophilia ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) that was successfully treated with doxycycline and aerosolized colistin. Case Summary: A 28-year-old male was admitted with a severe head injury and required mechanical ventilation. The patient developed S. maltophilia VAP on hospital day 17, which was cured after 7 days of treatment with high-dose intravenous trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX). However, on day 34, the patient developed recurrent S. maltophilia VAP that did not respond clinically or demonstrate eradication on follow-up culture after 10 days of TMP/SMX. At that time, TMP/SMX was discontinued and treatment was initiated with intravenous doxycycline and aerosolized colistin. The VAP episode was cured after 14 days of treatment with doxycycline/aerosolized colistin. Discussion: S. maltophilia is an emerging cause of VAP in some centers. This organism is associated with high mortality rates and has few treatment options because it is intrinsically resistant to most drug classes. Recent data suggest that doxycycline and aerosolized colistin each are effective in treatment of other multidrug-resistant organisms, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii. However, this is the first report describing the use of this antibiotic regimen for S. maltophilia. High-dose TMP/SMX is considered to be the drug of choice primarily based on excellent in vitro activity. Few data exist on how to treat patients who fail therapy with TMP/SMX or cannot receive that drug because of resistance, allergy, or adverse events. Thus, it is important to report alternative methods for treating this infection. Conclusions: The positive clinical response to doxycycline and aerosolized colistin seen in the patient described here suggests that this combination may be an alternative treatment in patients who fail initial treatment or cannot receive standard therapies.
New design method for a WDM system employing broad-band Raman amplification

The authors propose and demonstrate a new design method for a wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) system employing broad-band Raman amplification. Based on the proposed method, the noise/nonlinear performance can be improved by more than 1.7 dB for a 100-nm bandwidth WDM system by purely continuous-wave counterpumping.
Ultrawide-band integrated circuit package antenna in LTCC technology

A compact ultrawide-band (UWB) integrated circuit package antenna (ICPA) with a small footprint of 6.18times11. 35 mm2 has been designed for the fist time in a 20times10times1.2 mm3 low-temperature cofired ceramic (LTCC) package format with feeding network and the transceiver chip loaded. The chip-package co-EM simulation method is used. A design procedure based on the return loss parameter is illustrated. The measured UWB antenna without integration confirms its UWB impedance matching from 3.5 GHz to 10.2 GHz. Whereas the simulated UWB antenna in integration achieves a -10-dB impedance bandwidth of 6.7 GHz which covers the upper UWB band from 5.05 to 11.75 GHz with available radiation patterns. It also achieves the radiation efficiency of >96% and the gain of 2.5 to 4.3 dBi over the simulated UWB frequency range. The results and design guidelines of UWB ICPA presented are useful and inspiring for engineers interested in the single package UWB radio implementation.
Role of M protein in adherence of group A streptococci

The role of the M protein in adherence of group A streptococci to human epithelial cells was directly tested by using an isogenic pair of M+ and M- strains. There was no difference between these strains in the number of streptococcal units that adhered to buccal or tonsillar epithelial cells, indicating the following: (i) that adhesins that are not dependent upon M protein expression are present on the surface of group A streptococci and (ii) that the M protein is not the primary streptococcal adherence ligand. However, the M+ strain adhered to tonsillar epithelial cells as aggregates. This aggregation was dependent on the presence of the M protein, since the isogenic M- strain did not clump. The coaggregation of streptococci suggests that the M protein plays an important role in promoting the formation of microcolonies after initial attachment. Binding to fibronectin, a potential epithelial cell receptor for group A streptococci, was also the same for the isogenic M+ and M- strains as well as for an isogenic strain with a regulatory mutation that decreases the expression of M protein. In summary, the M protein is not the primary streptococcal adhesin, nor is it required to orient the streptococcal adhesin and/or fibronectin receptor.
The Cytoplasmic Domain of Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-stimulating Factor (GM-CSF) Receptor α Subunit Is Essential for Both GM-CSF-mediated Growth and Differentiation*

Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) regulates differentiation, survival, and proliferation of colony-forming unit-granulocyte-macrophage progenitor cells. The biologic actions of GM-CSF are mediated by binding to a specific receptor consisting of two chains designated as α and β subunits. We have demonstrated that the murine FDC-P1-derived cell line WT-19 transfected with the human GM-CSF receptor α and β subunits (GM-CSFRα and β) can be induced to differentiate by the addition of human GM-CSF (hGM-CSF). By expressing a series of GM-CSFRα mutants in WT19 cells, we have determined the amino acid domains of the GM-CSFRα cytoplasmic domain that regulate cell differentiation, proliferation, and survival. We found that the membrane proximal proline-rich domain and adjacent 16 residues are essential for both hGM-CSF-dependent cell proliferation and differentiation. In contrast, the C-terminal region of the GM-CSFRα cytoplasmic domain was not necessary for cell differentiation mediated by hGM-CSF, but the removal of this region severely impaired the ability of hGM-CSF to support cell survival. While the activation of JAK2, Shc, Erk, and STAT5 proteins correlated with hGM-CSF-mediated cell growth, cellular differentiation occurred in the absence of activation of these signal transduction pathways.
Microwave characterization of materials during corrosion: Application to wireless sensors

A new method for corrosion monitoring of metals and alloys is presented. It is based on the change of the radiofrequency (RF) wave propagation in a microstrip line during its corrosion. The microstrip line is produced in the same metal as the mechanical structure under monitoring. The studied frequencies correspond to the ISM bands. During the corrosion process, measured transmission decreases from 0 to 40 dB. This lost is clearly explained by simulations. Consequently, experimental data and simulations results provide fundamental basis on the sensing mechanisms of the method and evidence, in particular, the possibility to distinguish between localized and uniform corrosion. Due to the nature of the method, the sensitive microstrip can be very easily integrated through different architectures into RF wireless sensors. As the consequence, the proposed method should be considered as promising and reliable tool for corrosion monitoring of several materials exposed to various environments.
Does CSR Contribute to Sustainable Development? What a Régulation Approach Can Tell Us

We argue that corporate social responsibility depends on two distinct stylized facts concerning régulation and power. The first—institutional CSR—is institutional in nature, the other—strategic CSR—is economic and productive. The former permits and stabilizes the latter, which in turn gives rise to political compromises structuring institutional mechanisms. CSR strategies and institutions correspond to a private, oligopolistic régulation which shows no signs of being able to pursue a sustainable development regime. JEL classification: B52, D02, L15, M14, P17
Genital Mycoplasma and Chlamydia trachomatis infections in patients with genital tract infections attending a tertiary care hospital of North India

Limited data are available on the prevalence of genital mycoplasmas and Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) among Indian patients with genital tract infections. The objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence of Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU), Mycoplasma hominis (MH), Mycoplasma genitalium (MG), and CT in patients with genital tract infections. The antimicrobial susceptibilities of UU and MH were also assessed. Endocervical swabs/urethral swabs and first void urine samples of patients (n = 164) were collected. UU and MH were detected by culture and multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). MG and CT were identified by PCR. Ureaplasma isolates were further biotyped and serotyped. Antimicrobial susceptibility was done by microbroth dilution method. UU, MH, MG, and CT were detected in 15.2%, 5.4%, 1.2%, and 6% patients, respectively. Ureaplasma parvum serovar 3/14 was the most prevalent. All isolates of UU and MH were uniformly susceptible to doxycycline and josamycin. Routine screening for these pathogens and antimicrobial susceptibility testing is warranted to prevent sequel of infections and formulate treatment guidelines.
Iterative Bipartite Graph Edit Distance Approximation

One of the major tasks in many applications in the field of document analysis is the computation of dissimilarities between two or more objects from a given problem domain. Hence, employing graphs as representation formalism evokes the need for powerful, fast and flexible graph based dissimilarity models. Graph edit distance is powerful and applicable to any kind of graphs but suffers from its high computational complexity. Recently, however, a novel framework for graph edit distance approximation has been introduced. While the run time of this novel procedure is very convincing, the precision of the approximated graph distances is dissatisfying in some cases. The present paper introduces a generalized version of the existing approximation framework using an iterative bipartite procedure. With empirical investigations on three real world data sets we show that our extension substantially improves the accuracy of the approximations while the run time is increased only linearly with the number of additional iterations.