Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Celastrol Suppresses Morphological and Transcriptional Responses in Microglial Cells Upon Stimulation with Double-Stranded RNA

ABSTRACT Despite the pivotal role of microglia in the immune system of the brain, a growing body of evidence suggests that excessive microglial activation provokes neuronal and glial damage, leading to neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory disorders. Celastrol, a triterpene, is a potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compound derived from perennial creeping plants belonging to the Celastraceae family. In the current study, we have analyzed the effect of celastrol on morphological and transcriptional responses in microglial MG6 cells upon stimulation with double-stranded RNA, a strong activator of innate immune cells. In the presence of celastrol, morphological changes were inhibited in double-stranded RNA-stimulated microglia. It was also found that the treatment of microglia with celastrol led to a significant decrease in the double-stranded RNA-induced expression of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines. These data demonstrate that celastrol inhibits morphological and transcriptional responses during microglial activation.
[A preliminary exploration of low-dose semicoronal CT of the sacroiliac joints in the diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis].

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the clinical value of low-dose semicoronal computerized tomography (CT) of sacroiliac joints (SIJ) in the early diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). METHODS Patients who were diagnosed with AS and had received axial CT examination of SIJs over the past 2 years were recruited. All of them simultaneously underwent a low-dose semicoronal CT of SIJs. The clinical data were recorded. Radiation dose was compared between low-dose CT and the previous conventional axial CT. Image quality of low-dose CT was assessed and correlation between image quality and weight or body mass index (BMI) was analyzed. CT images of the two groups were graded by modified New York criteria, the Lee criteria and the Innsbruck criteria. The kappa coefficient was used to assess the consistency of grading between the two groups. RESULTS Thirty-three patients were enrolled in this study. The effective dose (ED) of semicoronal SIJ CT was 3.37 mSv which was 49% lower than conventional axial CT (6.56 mSv). Lower dose had the potential protection of gonads. The quality of images in male patients with BMI<25 kg/m(2) and all female patients were good or excellent. There was a significant negative correlation between image quality and BMI (r=-0.746, P=0.000; r=-0.784, P=0.000; respectively). All patients were diagnosed as sacroiliitis by modified New York criteria and the grading of two groups was consistent. The consistency of grading between two groups was satisfactory no matter which classification criteria was used. (k=0.897 with Lee criteria; k=0.814 with Innsbruck criteria; P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS The radiation dose of semicoronal SIJ CT is significantly lower than that of the conventional axial CT with comparable efficacy of diagnosis.
On the Stiles‐Crawford effect and ocular imagery

Abstract To study the modifying effect on spherical aberration of the retinal directional sensitivity (the Stiles‐Crawford effect), ocular imagery was simulated by computer ray‐tracing in a phakic and a pseudophakic model eye. The Stiles‐Crawford effect was found to reduce the distance between the paraxial focus and the effective least blur focus. The modifying effect on spherical aberration was found to be insignificant for pupil sizes below 4 mm, and to increase in magnitude above this size. For an 8 mm pupil, the effective focus was found to move 0.3 mm and 0.2 mm toward the paraxial focus for the phakic and the pseudophakic eye, respectively. This corresponded to a shift of 1.0 D and 0.6 D in the spectacle plane, respectively. The modifying effect of the retinal directional sensitivity should be taken into account in the theory of ocular refraction and in objective keratometry and refractometry.
CROSS-CORRELATIONS AS A COSMOLOGICAL CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR

We present a new procedure to measure the large-scale carbon monoxide (CO) emissions across cosmic history. As a tracer of large-scale structure (LSS), the CO gas content as a function of redshift can be quantified by its three-dimensional fluctuation power spectra. Furthermore, cross-correlating CO emission with other LSS tracers offers a way to measure the emission as a function of scale and redshift. Here we introduce the model relevant for such a cross-correlation measurement between CO and other LSS tracers, and between different CO rotational lines. We propose a novel use of cosmic microwave background (CMB) data and attempt to extract redshifted CO emissions embedded in the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data set. We cross-correlate the all-sky WMAP7 data with LSS data sets, namely, the photometric quasar sample and the luminous red galaxy sample from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Releases 6 and 7, respectively. We are unable to detect a cross-correlation signal with either CO(1–0) or CO(2–1) lines, mainly due to the instrumental noise in the WMAP data. However, we are able to rule out models more than three times greater than our more optimistic model. We discuss the cross-correlation signal from the thermal Sunyaev–Zeldovich effect and dust as potential contaminants, and quantify their impact for our CO measurements. We discuss forecasts for current CMB experiments and a hypothetical future CO-focused experiment, and propose to cross-correlate CO temperature data with the Hobby–Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment Lyα-emitter sample, for which a signal-to-noise ratio of 58 is possible.
Methodological Challenges in Evaluating the Effectiveness of Women's Crisis Houses Compared With Psychiatric Wards: Findings From a Pilot Patient Preference RCT

There are several methodological difficulties to address when evaluating acute psychiatric services. This study explored potential methods in evaluating the effectiveness of women's crisis houses compared with psychiatric wards in a pilot patient preference randomized controlled trial. Women requiring voluntary admission to a psychiatric hospital or women's crisis house were asked to enter this pilot and different options for recruitment were explored, including different recruitment sites in the pathway to admission and methods for including women without capacity. Forty-one percent (n = 42) of women entering the study agreed to be randomized and 59% (n = 61) entered patient preference arms. Only 7% of women were recruited before admission and 1 woman without capacity entered the study, despite procedures to facilitate this. Recruitment of patients with acute psychiatric crises is therefore challenging; researchers evaluating acute services should establish a consensus on how ethically and practically to recruit patients in this setting.
Epidemiology and clinical significance of nontuberculous mycobacteria in patients negative for human immunodeficiency virus in Switzerland.

Over the last decades, the rate of isolation of tubercle bacilli has declined in the developed countries, while the incidence of infection with nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) has increased. In a retrospective study, we analyzed all cases of patients negative for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and from whom NTM were isolated in the Zurich area of Switzerland from 1983 to 1988. During the 6-year study period, 513 patients infected with NTM were identified, 34 of whom had clinically significant disease. The presentation of mycobacteriosis was found to be lung disease in 23 cases, soft-tissue disease in 10 cases, and disseminated disease in one case. The highest attack rate of pulmonary mycobacteriosis was 0.49% and was found in the group of patients 41-50 years old. During the 6-year period, the incidence of tuberculosis declined from 16.2 to 13.2 per 100,000 population, while the incidence of mycobacteriosis increased from 0.4 to 0.9 per 100,000 population. Clinically nonsignificant NTM isolates were found more frequently in patients with chronic lung diseases (P less than .01) and especially in patients with a history of tuberculosis (P less than .001).
Prevalence and clinical correlates of focal choroidal excavation in eyes with age-related macular degeneration, polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy and central serous chorioretinopathy

Purpose To describe the prevalence and clinical characteristics of focal choroidal excavation (FCE) in patients with exudative maculopathy due to age-related macular degeneration with choroidal neovascularisation (AMD-CNV), polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) and central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). Methods Three hundred and forty-three patients (343 presenting eyes and 255 fellow unaffected eyes) from consecutive patients presenting with untreated AMD-CNV, PCV or CSC are prospectively recruited. Two independent retinal specialists masked to the clinical diagnosis graded the presence of FCE by examining the findings from spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). The frequency and clinical characteristics of FCE in each of the three clinical diagnosis groups were compared. Results The diagnosis in the presenting eye was AMD-CNV in 92 patients, PCV in 149 patients, retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP) in 3 patients and CSC in 99 patients; 255 fellow eyes free of clinical diseases were also graded. The prevalence of FCE was 2.3% (total 14 eyes; 10 presenting eyes, 4 fellow eyes) out of 598 eyes examined. In presenting eyes, FCE was most prevalent in PCV (6.0%), followed by AMD-CNV (1.0%) and CSC (0%), p=0.02. In fellow eyes, the prevalence of FCE was 2.9%, 0% and 1.2% in patients with PCV, AMD-CNV and CSC, respectively. Eyes with FCE had a significantly longer axial length (24.93±1.65 mm vs 23.49±1.10 mm, p<0.001), but otherwise, all other characteristics were similar. Conclusions FCE is more common in PCV than AMD-CNV and CSC. Disturbance in the choroid/retinal pigment epithelium/Bruch membrane interface affected by FCE may be linked to the pathogenesis of PCV and AMD-CNV.
In vitro studies of the domains of the nitrogen fixation regulatory protein NIFA

The prokaryotic enhancer-binding protein NIFA is a multidomain transcriptional activator that catalyzes the formation of open complexes at nitrogen fixation (nif) promoters by a specialized form of RNA polymerase containing sigma 54. The NIFA protein from Klebsiella pneumoniae consists of three domains: the N-terminal domain of unknown function; the central catalytic domain, which is sufficient for transcriptional activation; and the C-terminal DNA-binding domain. Purified fusion proteins between maltose-binding protein (MBP) and NIFA deleted of its N-terminal domain (MBP-delta N-NIFA) or its C-terminal domain (MBP-NIFA-delta C) activated transcription from the K. pneumoniae nifH promoter both in vitro and in vivo. We previously showed that the same was true for a fusion between MBP and the central domain of NIFA. These results indicate that NIFA is sufficiently modular for all fusions carrying its catalytic domain to be active. Unexpectedly, however, simple predictions regarding the location of determinants of the heat lability and insolubility of NIFA, which were based on previous studies of its isolated central and C-terminal domains, were not borne out. Contrary to a previous report from this laboratory, we found that the in vitro start site of transcription for the K. pneumoniae nifH operon could be either of two adjacent G residues, as others had reported in vivo. This was true independent of the activator, i.e., with MBP-NIFA and MBP-delta N-NIFA and with the homologous activator NTRC. When open complexes were formed with GTP as the activating nucleotide, the upstream G residue was probably as a consequence of initiation of transcription.
Dna Damage in Crepis Capillaris Cells in Response to in Vitro Conditions

We analyzed DNA damage, mitotic activity and polyploidization in Crepis capillaris callus cells during shortand long-term in vitro culture, and the influence of plant growth regulators on these processes. Changes in the concentration of growth regulators altered the stability of callus. The level of DNA damage was highly dependent on the growth regulator composition of the medium. Cytokinin at high concentrations damaged DNA in the absence of auxin. Shortand long-term callus differed in sensitivity to growth regulators. Mitotic activity changed when callus was transferred to medium with modified growth regulators. Callus cell nuclear DNA content increased with age and in response to plant growth regulators. Hormones played a role in the genetic changes in C. capillaris callus culture. We demonstrated the usefulness of C. capillaris callus culture as a model for analyzing the effect of culture conditions, including plant growth regulators, on genetic stability.
Main Pancreatic Ductal Anatomy Can Direct Choice of Modality for Treating Pancreatic Pseudocysts (Surgery Versus Percutaneous Drainage)

ObjectiveTo test the hypothesis that pancreatic ductal anatomy may predict the likely success of percutaneous drainage of pseudocysts of the pancreas. Summary Background DataVarious modalities are currently applied to pseudocysts, with little or no data to aid in the choice of management strategy. Pancreatic ductal anatomy was assessed and a system to categorize ductal changes was established. MethodsPatients with a diagnosis of pancreatic pseudocyst were evaluated from 1985 to 2000. Two hundred fifty-three patients have been included in this series. Pancreatic ductal anatomy was defined using endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and categorized as a normal duct, a stricture, or complete cut-off of the pancreatic duct. Communication between the duct and cyst was noted. ResultsAmong the 253 patients, 68 (27%) had spontaneous resolution. Fifty of the remaining 185 had percutaneous drainage and 148 (13 of whom failed to respond to percutaneous drainage) had surgery. There were no deaths in either group. Mean length of time with catheter drainage among all percutaneous drainage patients was 79.2 ± 19.6 days. Patients with normal pancreatic ducts and those with strictures but no communication between the duct and the cyst who had percutaneous drainage had a much shorter length of hospital stay (6.1 ± 4.6 days) than patients with strictures and duct–cyst communication and patients with complete cut-off of the duct (33.5 ± 5.2 days and 39.1 ± 7.9 days, respectively). Length of drainage also correlated with ductal anatomy. All patients with chronic pancreatitis failed to respond to percutaneous drainage. ConclusionsPancreatic ductal anatomy provides a clear correlation with the failure and successes of pseudocysts managed by percutaneous drainage as well as predicting the total length of drainage. Percutaneous drainage is best applied to patients with normal ducts and is acceptably applied to patients with stricture but no cyst–duct communication.
IL-17 in protective immunity to intracellular pathogens

The identification of a new T cell subset referred to as T helper 17 (Th17) cells and its role in protective immunity against extracellular bacterial infections is well established. In contrast, initial studies suggested that the IL-23-IL-17 pathway was not required for protection against intracellular pathogens such as mycobacterial infections. However, recent studies demonstrate that Th17-IL-23 pathway may play a crucial role in protective immunity against other intracellular pathogens by regulating the innate and adaptive immune responses. The current outlook on the role of IL-23-IL-17 pathway in protective immunity to intracellular pathogens is discussed here.
A high-level Petri net based model for web services composition and verification

The evolution of the internet and the competitiveness between enterprises are the major factors in the explosion of web services use. The concept of web services composition is a natural evolution of this technology. It aims to build new value added services, using existing ones. However, this task remains highly complex and requires formal techniques for its completion. In this paper, we propose a high level Petri nets approach that successfully accomplishes this task. In this context, we define a web service modelling technique using the G-net formalism. We also propose an expressive algebra that permits the combination of the modelled services. In order to take benefit from the Maude formal verification tools, we have suggested a method that permits the translation of a modelled service from a G-net model to an equivalent Maude specification. The defined approach has successfully been automated using the Java programming language.
Transport of macromolecules across microvascular walls: the two-pore theory.

In this review we summarized the evidence favoring the concept that the major plasma proteins are passively transported across vascular walls through water-filled pathways by means of convection and diffusion. With regard to solute transport, a majority of microvascular walls seems to show a bimodal size selectivity. This implies the presence of a high frequency of functional small pores, restricting proteins, and an extremely low number of non-size-selective pathways, permitting the passage of macromolecules from blood to tissue, here denoted large pores. We discussed the general behavior of such a heteroporous system. A major consequence of two-pore heteroporosity is that large-solute transport must mainly occur due to convection through large pores at low filtration rates, that is, at normal or even zero lymph flows. Indeed, convection must be the predominating transport mode for most solutes across large pores when the net filtration rate is zero. Under these (transient) conditions, the convective leak of macromolecules across large pores will be counterbalanced by absorption of essentially protein-free fluid through protein-restrictive pores. In a heteroporous membrane, proteins can thus be transported by solvent drag across vascular walls in the absence of a net convection. Normally the steady-state transcapillary fluid flow (lymph flow) is about equally partitioned among small and large pores, which makes lymph essentially a "half and half" mixture of protein-free ultrafiltrate and plasma. With increasing fluid flows, however, the plasma filtrate will be progressively diluted, eventually reaching a protein concentration largely in proportion to the fractional hydraulic conductance accounted for by the large pores (alpha L). Under these high lymph flow conditions, not only the large-pore transport but also the small-pore transport (of smaller macromolecules) will become convective. At low lymph flows, however, the small-pore transport of smaller macromolecules is usually mostly diffusive. An important implication of capillary heteroporosity is that single-pore formalism is inadequate for correctly evaluating the capillary sieving characteristics. With the use of homoporous transport formalism, the "lumped" macromolecular PS and sigma will therefore vary as a function of transcapillary fluid flow (Jv). However, it is approximately correct to use single-pore formalism for conditions when Jv is very high during steady state. Thus, if minimal sieving coefficients can be measured for macromolecules, then these values will accurately reflect (1 - sigma). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Natural Interaction and Computer Graphics Applications

Natural Interaction with computers has been a challenging topic of research since the very beginning of the digital era and refers to the possibility, on the user’s part, of exploiting natural abilities to control the machine and interpret its outputs. If in the infancy of computer graphics this meant using visual representation and pen pointing, nowadays more reﬁned techniques are needed to ﬁt the wide range of applications, from home entertainment to virtual and augmented reality. This paper describes some advances in gesture, tangible and surface computing, showing how such interaction models, if treated as a continuum, improve the usability, accessibility and overall experience of computer graphics applications
Xeno-Cannibalism: A Survival “Escamotage”

Several lines of evidence have demonstrated that self-cannibalism (macroautophagy) is a well regulated process of cell repair as well as of molecule and organelle recycling that allows the cells to survive. However, autophagic activity also represents a cell death pathway characterized by specific features that differentiate autophagy from other cell death processes. We found that cells that are able to exert intense autophagic activity were also able to engulf and digest entire cell siblings. This phenomenon represents a sort of xeno-cannibalism. We wonder whether these two phenomena, self and xeno-cannibalism, could be related the latter being an exacerbation of the first and providing a further survival option to the cells. Addendum to: Cannibalism of Live Lymphocytes by Human Metastatic but not Primary Melanoma Cells L. Lugini, P. Matarrese, A. Tinari, F. Lozupone, C. Federici, E. Iessi, M. Gentile, F. Luciani, G. Parmiani, L. Rivoltini, W. Malorni and S. Fais Cancer Res 2006; 66:3629-38
REGIONALE VERKEHRSINFRASTRUKTUR IN DER BRD. INVESTITIONEN UND ANLAGEVERMOEGEN.

DIE ARBEIT LIEFERT DATENMATERIAL UEBER DAS REGIONALE ANLAGEVERMOEGEN STAATLICHER INSTANZEN ODER OEFFENTLICHER UND PRIVATER UNTERNEHMENSBEREICHE DES VERKEHRS SOWIE DARAUS ABLEITBARE KENNZIFFERN FUER DIE REGIONALE AUSSTATTUNG MIT VERKEHRSANLAGEN IN DER BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND. DIE HIER VORGENOMMENE REGIONALE DISAGGREGATION ERSTRECKT SICH FUER DAS QUERSCHNITTSJAHR 1970 AUF DIE AUCH IN DER BUNDESFERNSTRASSENPLANUNG VERWENDETEN 79 RAUMEINHEITEN. DIE REGIONALEN BERECHNUNGEN DES VERKEHRLICHEN ANLAGEVERMOEGENS (IN PREISEN VON 1962) ERFOLGEN DIFFERENZIERT NACH BAUTEN UND AUSRUESTUNGEN FUER DIE VERKEHRSBEREICHE EISENBAHNEN, STRASSEN UND BRUECKEN, STRASSENBAHNEN UND U-BAHNEN, VERKEHRSFLUGHAEFEN, WASSERSTRASSEN, HAEFEN SOWIE ROHRFERNLEITUNGEN. MIT HILFE VON KORRELATIONSRECHNUNGEN IM RAHMEN EINES INTERREGIONALEN AUSSTATTUNGSVERGLEICHS WERDEN TENDENZAUSSAGEN UEBER DIE AUSRICHTUNG DER BISHERIGEN INFRASTRUKTURPOLITIK ERARBEITET. DIE BISHERIGE INVESTITIONSPOLITIK WAR DARAUF AUSGERICHTET, EINE ANGEMESSENE REGIONALE VERKEHRSAUSSTATTUNG UNTER PRODUKTIONSWIRTSCHAFTLICHEN ASPEKTEN ZU SCHAFFEN. IM BEREICH DER STRASSEN UND EISENBAHNEN IST EIN ENGER ZUSAMMENHANG MIT DER REGIONALEN BEVOELKERUNGSKONZENTRATION NACHZUWEISEN. DAS ZIEL EINER GLEICHMAESSIGEN FLAECHENERSCHLIESSUNG IST BEI DEN GEMEINDE-, KREIS- UND LANDSTRASSEN IN BEGRENZTEN UMFANG ZU ERKENNEN.