Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phosphorylation by Protein Kinase CK2 Modulates the Activity of the ATP Binding Cassette A1 Transporter*

In a previous characterization of the ABCA subfamily of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, we identified potential protein kinase 2 (CK2) phosphorylation sites, which are conserved in eukaryotic and prokaryotic members of the ABCA transporters (Peelman, F., Labeur, C., Vanloo, B., Roosbeek, S., Devaud, C., Duverger, N., Denefle, P., Rosier, M., Vandekerckhove, J., and Rosseneu, M. (2003) J. Mol. Biol. 325, 259-274). These phosphorylation residues are located in the conserved cytoplamic R1 and R2 domains, downstream of the nucleotide binding domains NBD1 and NBD2. To study the possible regulation of the ABCA1 transporter by CK2, we expressed the recombinant cytoplasmic domains of ABCA1, NBD1+R1 and NBD2+R2. We demonstrated that in vitro ABCA1 NBD1+R1, and not NBD2+R2, is phosphorylated by CK2, and we identified Thr-1242, Thr-1243, and Ser-1255 as the phosphorylated residues in the R1 domain by mass spectrometry. We further investigated the functional significance of the threonine and serine phosphorylation sites in NBD1 by site-directed mutagenesis of the entire ABCA1 followed by transfection into Hek-293 Tet-Off cells. The ABCA1 flippase activity, apolipoprotein AI and AII binding, and cellular phospholipid and cholesterol efflux were enhanced by mutations preventing CK2 phosphorylation of the threonine and serine residues. This was confirmed by the effect of specific protein kinase CK2 inhibitors upon the activity of wild type and mutant ABCA1 in transfected Hek-293 Tet-Off cells. The activities of the mutants mimicking threonine phosphorylation were close to that of wild type ABCA1. Our data, therefore, suggest that besides protein kinase A and C, protein kinase CK2 might play an important role in vivo in regulating the function and transport activity of ABCA1 and possibly of other members of the ABCA subfamily.
Hormonal and regional influences of the oviduct on the development of rabbit embryos.

The enfluence of hormones and oviductal regions on the development of rabbit embryos was studied. Unicellular rabbit zygotes were taken from the oviducts of untreated females and placed in unligated oviducts or oviducts ligated at either the utero-tubal or ampullar-isthmic junctions of females pretreated with estradiol and/or progesterone. 50 hours after transfer the embryos were examined and normal embryos were then transferred to pseudopregnant animals for continuation to term. Ligation of the oviducts of 1-day pseudopregnant rabbits did not affect the normal development of the embryo. The percentages of normal zygote cleavage and continuation to implantation were 42% in the whole unligated oviduct 32% in oviducts ligated at the utero-tubal junction and 28% in oviducts ligated at the ampullar-isthmic junction. The isthmus of 10-day pseudopregnant rabbits seemed to afford normal zygote cleavage though the rate of successful implantation was only 6% in uterine recipients. In estrogen-treated ovariectomized females embryo development was markedly impaired which suggests the presence of an estrogen-stimulated factor in the ampullar fluid that is detrimental to embryonic development.
Highly effective method of human oocyte activation

Summary Fresh and aged unfertilised human oocytes were activated by electroporation and by exposure to isotonic solution of mannitol supplemented with low concentrations of calcium magnesium and chloride. Over 95% of the fresh oocytes were activated, all showing formation of one pronucleus and extrusion of the second polar body. Oocytes activated 1 and 2 days post-collection showed activation rates of 66.6% and 64.1%, respectively; however, the proportion of one-pronucleate oocytes in these groups was significantly lower (61.6% and 23.5%, respectively). There was no difference in the activation efficiency between the two activation modes. Twelve activated oocytes from the freshly collected group cleaved when left in culture. It is concluded that, in the human, a brief exposure to isotonic solution of mannitol with low concentrations of calcium, magnesium and chloride is a very effective activation stimulus.
INSERÇÃO DE BOUND EXTERNO AO METODO DE RESOLUÇÃO EM ÁRVORE APLICADO AO TSP

O Problema do Caixeiro Viajante (PCV) trata da ordenacao/sequenciamento de um dado conjunto de pontos de tal forma que um caminho passando por todos os pontos, uma unica vez em cada ponto, e voltando ao ponto inicial seja minimo. Embora exista uma vasta literatura a respeito do PCV, uma pequena parte desta trata da relacao do PCV com o Problema de designacao PD junto a estrutura de resolucao exata de adicao de restricoes de sub-rotas por meio de arvore de decisao. O objetivo deste trabalho e verificar a eficiencia de se realizar uma insercao de um Bound para o problema, posteriormente ao seu inicio, dessa forma, eliminado ramos da arvore a serem exploradas pelo algoritmo. Os resultados mostraram que de fato existe uma melhora ao se partir de um Bound externo a arvore, em relacao aqueles produzidos pela propria arvore.
Protection against measles virus-induced encephalitis by anti-mimotope antibodies: the role of antibody affinity.

Synthetic peptides mimicking a conformational B-cell epitope (M2) of the measles virus fusion protein (MVF) were used for the immunization of BALB/c mice and the anti-peptide and anti-virus antibody titers induced were compared. Of the panel of tested peptides, a chimeric peptide consisting of two copies of a T-helper epitope (residues 288-302 of MVF) and one copy of the mimotope M2 (TTM2) and a multiple antigen peptide with eight copies of M2 (MAP-M2) induced the highest titers of anti-M2 and anti-MV antibodies. Furthermore, peptides TTM2 and MAP-M2 induced antibodies with highest affinity for the mimotope and highest avidity for measles virus. Immunization with the MAP-M2 construct induced high titers of high-affinity anti-M2 antibody despite the absence of a T-helper epitope, and lymphocyte proliferation data suggest that the addition of M2 to the MAP resulted in the generation of a structure capable of stimulating T-cell help. Sera with anti-M2 reactivity were pooled according to affinity values for binding to M2, and high- and low-affinity pools were tested for their ability to prevent MV-induced encephalitis in a mouse model. The high-affinity serum pool conferred protection in 100% of mice, whereas the lower affinity pool conferred protection to only 50% of animals. These results indicate the potential of mimotopes for use as synthetic peptide immunogens and highlight the importance of designing vaccines to induce antibodies of high affinity.
Neurotoxic‐related changes in tyrosine hydroxylase, microglia, myelin, and the blood‐brain barrier in the caudate‐putamen from acute methamphetamine exposure

Changes in the histological morphology of the caudate‐putamen (CPu) were determined after a high‐dose methamphetamine (METH) exposure in an effort to elucidate whether BBB disruption plays a role in CPu neurotoxicity. This was accomplished by evaluating the tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity (TH‐IR), isolectin B4 reactivity, Black Gold II (BG‐II) and Fluoro‐Jade C (FJ‐C) staining, and immunoreactivity to mouse immunoglobulin G (IgG‐IR) in adult male mice at 90‐min, 4‐h, 12‐h, 1‐day, and 3‐day post‐METH exposure. The IgG‐IR indicated that the BBB was only modestly altered in the CPu at time points after neurodegeneration occurred and dependent on hyperthermia and status epilepticus. The modest CPu IgG‐IR changes observed in the perivascular areas indicated that immunoglobulins were present on some CPu microglia 1 day or more after METH. The first signs of CPu damage were swellings in the TH‐IR axons, myelin damage, and a few degenerating neurons at 4‐h post‐METH. The loss of TH‐IR was dependent on hyperthermia but not seizures or CPu neurodegeneration, and the TH‐IR was virtually absent throughout the CPu within 12 h. Surprisingly, signs of FJ‐C labeling (degenerating) axons in the CPu were seen only in the regions of pronounced somatic neurodegeneration and independent of TH‐IR loss. Microglial activation did not occur until 1 day or more post‐METH. In summary, a major BBB disruption within the CPu does not directly contribute to neurotoxicity in this single high‐dose METH exposure. However, seizure activity produced or exacerbated by amygdalar BBB disruption can significantly increase CPu somatic neurodegeneration (but not affect dopamine (DA) terminal damage). The time course of microglial activation indicates a response to the neurodegeneration, myelin damage, and/or damaged DA terminals after loss of TH‐IR. Synapse 62:193–204, 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Abdominal Wall Lump After Cesarean Delivery

BACKGROUND: An abdominal wall desmoid tumor is a rare event, has a strong tendency for local invasion and recurrence, and usually presents as an abdominal lump. CASE: A 35-year-old multiparous woman presented with a painful abdominal lump that had been slowly increasing in size. The pain was not associated with menstruation. Clinical examination, ultrasonography, and abdominal magnetic resonance imaging were performed and suggested a large, sharply defined mass measuring approximately 11×7.1 cm in the right anterolateral abdominal wall. There was no family history of familial adenomatous polyposis. The mass was excised and sent for histopathologic examination, which indicated abdominal wall desmoid tumor. CONCLUSION: Abdominal wall desmoid tumors can be diagnostic dilemmas and should be considered in the differential diagnosis for lumps in the abdomen in women.
Mutational analysis of receptor interaction and membrane fusion activity of Sindbis virus

Mutational analysis of the viral spike proteins has greatly contributed to our current understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the membrane fusion process of alphaviruses. The studies described in this thesis attempt to further unravel the molecular basis of the membrane fusion activity of SIN, by site-specific mutagenesis of amino acids in the E2 and E1 glycoprotein sequences. These mutations are generated in full-length clones of SIN. The receptor interaction and the membrane fusion characteristics of the mutants are analyzed by cell binding assays, on-line lipid mixing assays, content mixing assays, and analysis of the viral spike conformational changes. The first chapters deal with the general characteristics of the membrane fusion process of SIN with liposomes. Subsequently, the influence of post-translational modifications, including glycosylation, palmitoylation, PE2 cleavage, of the viral glycoproteins on the membrane fusion process of SIN is investigated.
Epilepsy Surgery in Tuberous Sclerosis: A Systematic Review

Summary: Purpose: Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is often associated with intractable epilepsy. Although epilepsy surgery has gained interest in recent years uncertainties exist about which patients are good surgical candidates. A systematic review of the available literature has been undertaken to assess the overall outcome of epilepsy surgery and identify risk factors of seizure recurrence.
Full W-band power amplifier/combiner utilizing GaAs technology

This paper reports the first full-band, W-band (75–110 GHz) power amplifier utilizing GaAs MMICs. The MMIC, developed using a commercially available 0. 1µm GaAs pHEMT process, demonstrated a small-signal gain of greater than 15 dB with a typical Psat of 14 dBm across W-band. Four of these MMICs were combined using a low-loss, 4-way septum combiner to produce an output power of 19 dBm ±1 dB across the 75 to 110 GHz band.
A leitura em múltiplas fontes: um processo investigativo

Neste artigo se discute a leitura, em ambiente digital, como um processo de investigacao. A internet oferece um ambiente muito rico aos leitores e, por isso, exige deles uma navegacao consciente, bem como uma boa selecao de informacoes pertinentes e confiaveis para o cumprimento dos objetivos de leitura. Sendo assim, pode-se dizer que a leitura na internet costuma ser uma atividade de investigacao que envolve a formulacao de perguntas e a investigacao para a construcao de saberes. Apresentam-se, aqui, algumas estrategias que podem contribuir para uma leitura bem-sucedida e que podem orientar, tambem, o trabalho dos professores que pretendem ajudar aos alunos no trabalho com textos na internet para aquisicao de conhecimento
THE DEMONSTRATION OF SUBSTANCES IN HUMAN SERA WHICH INHIBIT COMPLEMENT FIXATION IN ANTIGEN-ANTIBODY SYSTEMS OF LYMPHOGRANULOMA VENEREUM, PSITTACOSIS, MUMPS, Q FEVER, AND LYMPHOCYTIC CHORIOMENINGITIS

In a previous paper we reported that an inhibitory substance had been demonstrated in some human sera showing prozone reactions with the antigens of lymphogranuloma venereum and psittacosis (Schmidt et al., 1952). When a second human serum, which ordinarily would fix complement with lymphogranuloma venereum and psittacosis antigens, was allowed to react with these antigens in the presence of the serum showing prozones, complement fixation was inhibited in the region of the prozones. Karrer et al. (1950a) have reported an instance in which a pigeon anti-ornithosis serum showing a prozone reaction displayed similar inhibitory activity. Other investigators have discovered that the immune sera of certain avian and mammalian species will not fix complement with their homologous antigens, but will inhibit the fixation of complement which normally occurs in the presence of the antigen and homologous complementfixing immune sera of other species (Calmette and Massol, 1910; Zinsser and Parker, 1923; Goodner and Horsfall, 1936; Rice, 1948a; Rice, 1951). Such inhibitory activity generally is thought to be due to the presence in the sera of specific antibodies which, although they are not capable of forming complement-fixing complexes with the antigen, nevertheless combine specifically with the antigen and bind it so that it no longer is available for combination with complementfixing antibodies in a second immune serum. On the assumption that the inhibitory substances actually represent a type of antibody, so-called
Studies on well water and possible health risks in Katsina, Nigeria

SUMMARY Well water was sampled from all four major wards in Katsina town. All 20 samples taken showed high coliform counts. Sixty-five per cent contained ≥ 2400 coliforms per 100 ml while the remainder had counts ranging from 79 to 920. Faecal coliforms and non-cholera vibrios were detected in all samples. There was no significant relationship between the coliform counts and the distances of latrines to wells, water table to ground level, slope relationship between wells and latrines, the pH of water and whether the wells were left permanently open or not. Salmonella sp. , Enterobacter sp. and Pseudomonas sp. were each isolated from about 10% of the samples, while Proteus sp. was isolated from 40%, Citrobacter sp. 15%, Alcaligenes sp. 5% and an unidentified Gram-negative rod from 5%. Only 2 (10%) of the sampled households, representing 23 (9·6%) of the 239 people exposed to well-water had pipeborne water in addition. It was concluded that well water in Katsina town could be a human health hazard.
An Efficient Sudden-Power-Off-Recovery Design with Guaranteed Booting Time for Solid State Drives

Solid state drives (SSDs) that deliver high- bandwidth and low-latency performance have become the mainstream of storage devices in modern systems. Over the past years, there has been a great deal of researches conducted to improve the SSD performance or reliability with parallel or efficient address translation designs. On the contrary, little work is done for the optimization to guarantee the booting/recovery time of SSDs after any sudden power-off. Motivated by the fact that the fast-growing SSD capacity gradually makes existing scanning and recovering processes become infeasible and unacceptable, we propose an efficient sudden-power-off-recovery design to recover an SSD with guaranteed booting time. The proposed design was implemented on an SSD prototyping platform equipped with in-house NAND flash memories and was evaluated with various benchmarks. The results demonstrate that after sudden power-off, the prototyped SSD can be recovered with a guaranteed and bounded booting time between 80ms and 200ms.
Usando o Translog para registrar os acionamentos de teclas e mouse e rastrear os movimentos oculares de tradutores

Embora o registro de acionamentos de teclas e mouse (do inglês, key logging) abra muitas possibilidades para o estudo do processo tradutório, a inclusão do rastreamento ocular (do inglês, eye tracking) aumenta consideravelmente nossa capacidade de conhecer os tipos de processos que o tradutor executa em determinado momento. Apresenta-se, neste trabalho, uma descrição de como o software Translog foi remodelado tecnologicamente no contexto do projeto Eye-to-IT, financiado pela União Europeia, para poder integrar o registro de acionamentos de teclas e mouse com o rastreamento ocular e como os dados brutos da combinação desses dois métodos foram representados. Em seguida, disponibiliza-se uma análise de uma pequena amostra de dados a fim de se proceder a uma formulação provisória de um recorrente microciclo de processamento em seis etapas, o qual introduz a palavra “âncora” como um novo conceito. Sugere-se, de forma otimista, que um ciclo básico do tipo apresentado pode funcionar tanto como base para uma análise computacional de grandes volumes de dados de movimentos oculares e de acionamentos de teclas e mouse, quanto como o centro de um modelo computacional da tradução humana. Palavras-chave: Processos tradutórios. Registro de acionamentos de teclas e mouse. Rastreamento ocular. Translog.
Predictors of Resuming Therapy Within Four Weeks After Discharge from Inpatient Rehabilitation

Abstract Purpose: To identify the percentage of persons with stroke resuming therapy within 4 weeks of inpatient rehabilitation discharge, to compare the characteristics of those who did and did not resume therapy, and to determine the predictors of resuming physical (PT), occupational (OT), and speech (ST) therapy. Method: Sociodemographic, stroke-related, and therapy data for persons with stroke (N = 131) were abstracted from inpatient rehabilitation charts. FIM™, Stroke Impact Scale, Geriatric Depression Scale, and data on therapy received after discharge were also collected. Results: Logistic regression models demonstrated that minorities were less likely to resume PT (odds ratio [OR] = 0.30) and OT (OR = 0.25). Survivors with neglect/visual-field cut/spatial-perceptual loss were 2–3 times more likely to resume PT, OT, and ST. Survivors with higher scores on the SIS Physical domain subscale were less likely to resume PT (OR = 0.98) and OT (OR = 0.97). Men were 3.3 times more likely to have OT than women. Those with comprehensive health insurance were 11.2 times more likely to receive ST. Conclusions: The benefits of outpatient therapy are not universally available to all persons with stroke. Further research needs to explore the factors that hinder the prompt resumption of therapy for minority and female persons with stroke and to test appropriate interventions.
Precision measurement technique of integrated MOS capacitor mismatching using a simple on-chip circuit

A precision measurement technique of the capacitor mismatchings of integrated circuits has been required, that is insensitive to parasitic capacitors on the chip, stray capacitors in measurement circuits, and external noises. A new ac measurement technique is developed here that uses an on-chip source-follower circuit and a simple algorithm. The source-follower circuit lowers the output impedance and thereby excludes the effects of external noises and stray capacitors in measurement circuits. In the present technique, capacitively divided ac voltage after the bandpass filter is measured in two steps by exchanging the terminals of the serial capacitors using external switches. Capacitor mismatching, defined by the relative capacitance tolerance\Delta C/C, is derived as the ratio of the difference between the two measured voltages to their average. This derivation significantly reduces errors arising from parasitic capacitors on the chip, the nonlinearity of the source-follower circuit, and the pulse wave that can give the gate bias voltage of the source-follower transistor. The measurement error is estimated to be, in the worst case, 0.1 percent of\Delta C/C.
Intuitive Visualisierung von Zielregionen in der minimal invasiven Chirurgie mittels projektorbasierter Erweiterter Realität

Intuitive verstandliche Navigationshilfen fur Operateure in der minimal invasiven Chirurgie werden durch das vorgestellte Erweiterte Realitats - System direkt auf den Korper des Patienten projiziert. Das System berechnet Pfade einer Intervention anhand aufgezeichneter Trajektorien und erstellt daraus einen Navigationspfad, der aus einer Abfolge von Zielregionen besteht. Der Operateur kann diesen Pfad fur eine praoperative Planung nutzen und modifizieren. Zu Beginn der Operation werden optimierte Trokarpositionen auf den Korper des Patienten projiziert. Intraoperativ werden dann Zielregionen ausgehend von der Instrumentenspitze des chirurgischen Instruments visualisiert um die Navigation zu erleichtern. Durch Selektion der endoskopischen Kamera als Zielregion, kann zudem die Navigation der Instrumentenspitzen in das Sichtfeld der Kamera erleichtert werden. Die vorgestellten Navigationshilfen sind intuitiv verstandlich und ermoglichen einen Zielfindungsprozess mit einer durchschnittlichen Genauigkeit von 2.6mm. Durch zusatzliche Projektion von Bildgebungsdaten kann die Indirektion aufgehoben werden, welche durch die Blickrichtung des Operateurs auf das Endoskopbild entsteht.
Dissociation between affective sharing and emotion understanding in juvenile psychopaths

Abstract Empathy dysfunction is one of the core characteristics of youth with callous–unemotional (CU) traits. How such a dysfunction is associated with abnormal neural processing, however, remains to be determined. This study combined assessment of Hare Psychopathy Checklist Youth Version, pressure pain threshold, and event-related brain potentials elicited by the perception of people in pain in 15 young offenders with low CU traits (LCU), 13 with high CU traits (HCU), and 15 typically developing controls. Compared to the controls, LCU and HCU had higher pain thresholds. Although only the central late positive potential (LPP) was reduced in LCU, both the frontal N120 and central LPP were diminished in HCU. When exposed to situations in which someone was harmed by another, HCU retained the LPP, and this response was significantly correlated with their psychopathic traits and pain thresholds. Both groups had no deficit in sensorimotor resonance as assessed by mu suppression. These results demonstrate that youth with HCU exhibit atypical neural dynamics of pain empathy processing in the early stage of affective arousal, which is coupled with their relative insensitivity to actual pain. Their capacity to understand intentionality, however, was not affected. Such uncoupling between affective arousal and emotion understanding may contribute to instigating aggressive behaviors in juvenile psychopaths.