Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Growth in transitional countries: The long-term impact of under-nutrition on health

Context: Despite significant economic development in many parts of the world, upwards of 150 million children are short for their age. Epidemiologic and clinical data suggest that stunting increases the risk for nutrition-related chronic diseases (NRCD), a particular problem for transitional countries as dietary and environmental shifts that accompany development are also reported to increase the risk for NRCD. Objective and methods: This paper reviews studies on the causes and long-term effects of poor nutrition as well as data from clinical studies of growth retardation and metabolism and body composition that may explain the link between poor growth and later risk for NRCD. Results: Growth retardation is the physical outcome of a complex interaction of socio- economic factors during key periods of development. Growth-retarded children may present with metabolic or body fat distribution profiles that predispose them to NRCD, a risk factor that may be compounded by consuming a diet consistent with the ‘nutrition transition’. Conclusion: It is important to continue studying the long-term physiological changes following recovery from under-nutrition, especially in countries undergoing a ‘nutrition transition’. Estimates suggest that, within 20–30 years, ∼ 2/3 of the world population will reside in urban areas. The potential economic fallout of continued poor nutrition, poor growth and changing diets and activity patterns will be great given the healthcare costs and social problems associated with NRCD.
Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy for Breast Cancer: The Role of Previous Biopsy on Patient Eligibility

Several reports have demonstrated the accurate prediction of axillary nodal status with radiolocalization and selective resection of sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) in patients with breast cancer (BC). Because of concerns over lymphatic disruption, several authors have proposed that prior excisional breast biopsy is a contraindication for SLN biopsy. Clear unfiltered 99mtechnetium-sulfur colloid (1.0 mCi) was injected around the perimeter of the breast lesion (palpable and nonpalpable) or prior biopsy site. Resection of the radiolocalized SLN was then performed. Axillary lymph node dissection was performed immediately after SLN biopsy in the first 57 patients. Eighty-two BC patients underwent SLN biopsy. The SLN was localized in 98 per cent (80 of 82). The type of previously performed diagnostic biopsy or the location of the primary lesion did not influence the ability to localize the sentinel lymph node. In the 57 patients who had axillary lymph node dissection, metastatic disease was identified in 23 per cent (13 of 57). Axillary nodal status was accurately predicted in 98 per cent (56 of 57). Early experience with radiolocalization and selective resection of SLN in BC remains promising. By demonstrating the effective localization of the SLN regardless of the extent of prior biopsy, these data support expanding the number of patients potentially eligible for SLN biopsy.
Cortical reorganization induced by virtual reality therapy in a child with hemiparetic cerebral palsy

Virtual reality (VR) therapy is a new, neurorehabilitation intervention aimed at enhancing motor performance in children with hemiparetic cerebral palsy (CP). This case report investigated the effects of VR therapy on cortical reorganization and associated motor function in an 8‐year‐old male with hemiparetic CP. Cortical activation and associated motor development were measured before and after VR therapy using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and standardized motor tests. Before VR therapy, the bilateral primary sensorimotor cortices (SMCs) and ipsilateral supplementary motor area (SMA) were predominantly activated during affected elbow movement. After VR therapy, the altered activations disappeared and the contralateral SMC was activated. This neuroplastic change was associated with enhanced functional motor skills including reaching, self‐feeding, and dressing. These functions were not possible before the intervention. To our knowledge, this is the first fMRI study in the literature that provides evidence for neuroplasticity after VR therapy in a child with hemiparetic CP.
Topographic analysis of the ganglion cell layer in the retina of the four-eyed fish Anableps anableps

Fish of the genus Anableps (Anablepidae, Cyprinodontiformes) have eyes that are adapted for simultaneous aerial and aquatic vision. In this study we investigate some of the corresponding retinal specializations of the adult Anableps anableps eye using retinal transverse sections and wholemounts. The linear dimensions of the retina were found to be asymmetric with a greater representation of the dorsal compared to the ventral visual field. The total number of neurons in the ganglion cell layer of the ventral hemiretina was on average 3.6 times greater than the values obtained in the dorsal hemiretina. Isodensity contour maps revealed a prominent horizontal visual streak in the ventral hemiretina with an average peak cell density of 18,286 cells/mm2. A second less-well-developed horizontal visual streak was also observed in the dorsal hemiretina. A sub-population of large cells with soma areas between 74 and 188 μm2 was identified and found to be distributed evenly across both hemiretinas. Together, these results show that the sampling gain of the ventral retina is significantly greater than the dorsal segment, that retinal specializations important for mediating acute vision are present in the parts of the visual field immediately above and below the surface of the water, and that visual functions related with the large ganglion cells require more even sampling across the visual field. The relevance of these retinal specializations to the feeding and other behavioral strategies adopted by Anableps is discussed.
An HD-domain phosphodiesterase mediates cooperative hydrolysis of c-di-AMP to affect bacterial growth and virulence

Significance The small nucleotide cyclic di-3′,5′-adenosine monophosphate (c-di-AMP) recently emerged as a ubiquitous signaling molecule among bacteria, with essential roles in both bacterial physiology and host–pathogen interactions. Bacterial mutants with abnormal c-di-AMP levels exhibit growth and virulence defects, reflecting the importance of regulating c-di-AMP synthesis and degradation for normal signal transduction and adaptation to changing environments. Previously documented phosphodiesterases hydrolyze c-di-AMP via the DHH-DHHA1 domain, but they are not present in all c-di-AMP synthesizing species. We identified a previously unrecognized class of His-Asp -domain phosphodiesterases that are widespread across several taxonomic groups. Furthermore, for the bacterial pathogen Listeria monocytogenes, phosphodiesterase mutants exhibit enhanced host inflammation, growth defects inside host cells, and significantly attenuated virulence in a murine model of infection. The nucleotide cyclic di-3′,5′- adenosine monophosphate (c-di-AMP) was recently identified as an essential and widespread second messenger in bacterial signaling. Among c-di-AMP–producing bacteria, altered nucleotide levels result in several physiological defects and attenuated virulence. Thus, a detailed molecular understanding of c-di-AMP metabolism is of both fundamental and practical interest. Currently, c-di-AMP degradation is recognized solely among DHH-DHHA1 domain-containing phosphodiesterases. Using chemical proteomics, we identified the Listeria monocytogenes protein PgpH as a molecular target of c-di-AMP. Biochemical and structural studies revealed that the PgpH His-Asp (HD) domain bound c-di-AMP with high affinity and specifically hydrolyzed this nucleotide to 5′-pApA. PgpH hydrolysis activity was inhibited by ppGpp, indicating a cross-talk between c-di-AMP signaling and the stringent response. Genetic analyses supported coordinated regulation of c-di-AMP levels in and out of the host. Intriguingly, a L. monocytogenes mutant that lacks c-di-AMP phosphodiesterases exhibited elevated c-di-AMP levels, hyperinduced a host type-I IFN response, and was significantly attenuated for infection. Furthermore, PgpH homologs, which belong to the 7TMR-HD family, are widespread among hundreds of c-di-AMP synthesizing microorganisms. Thus, PgpH represents a broadly conserved class of c-di-AMP phosphodiesterase with possibly other physiological functions in this crucial signaling network.
Systematic review of catatonia treatment

Objective To investigate the evidence-based treatment of catatonia in adults. The secondary aim is to develop a treatment protocol. Materials and methods A systematic review of published treatment articles (case series, cohort or randomized controlled studies) which examined the effects of particular interventions for catatonia and/or catatonic symptoms in adult populations and used valid outcome measures was performed. The articles for this review were selected by searching the electronic databases of the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE and PSYCHINFO. Results Thirty-one articles met the inclusion criteria. Lorazepam and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) proved to be the most investigated treatment interventions. The response percentages in Western studies varied between 66% and 100% for studies with lorazepam, while in Asian and Indian studies, they were 0% and 100%. For ECT, the response percentages are 59%–100%. There does not seem to be evidence for the use of antipsychotics in catatonic patients without any underlying psychotic disorder. Conclusion Lorazepam and ECT are effective treatments for which clinical evidence is found in the literature. It is not possible to develop a treatment protocol because the evidence for catatonia management on the basis of the articles reviewed is limited. Stringent treatment studies on catatonia are warranted.
Animal models for chronic lymphocytic leukemia

B‐cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B‐CLL), the most common leukemia in the Western world, results from an expansion of a rare population of CD5+ mature B‐lymphocytes. Although clinical features and genomic abnormalities in B‐CLL have been studied in considerable detail, the molecular mechanisms underlying disease development has remained unclear until recently. In the last 4 years, several transgenic mouse models for B‐CLL were generated. Investigations of these mouse models revealed that deregulation of three pathways, Tcl1‐Akt pathway, TNF‐NF‐kB pathway, and Bcl2‐mediated anti‐apoptotic pathway, result in the development of B‐CLL. While deregulation of TCL1 alone caused a B‐CLL phenotype in mice, overexpression of Bcl2 required aberrantly activated TNF‐NF‐kB pathway signaling to yield the disease phenotype. In this article, we present what has been learned from mice with B‐CLL phenotype and how these mouse models of B‐CLL were used to test therapeutic treatments for this common leukemia. J. Cell. Biochem. 100: 1109–1118, 2007. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Facial expression recognition and subthalamic nucleus stimulation

Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) improves motor signs in Parkinson’s disease. However, clinical studies suggest that DBS of the STN may also affect cognitive and emotional functions. Objective: To study the impact of STN stimulation in Parkinson’s disease on perception of facial expressions. Results: There was a selective reduction in recognition of angry faces, but not other expressions, during STN stimulation. Conclusions: The findings may have important implications for social adjustment in these patients.
Fleischner Lecture. Metabolic functions of the lung and their clinical relevance.

Robert B. Meflins, professor of Pediatrics at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and director of the Pediatric Pulmonary Division at Babies Hospital, received his A.B. at Columbia College in 1948 and his M.D. at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1952. After graduation, he was an intern in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Hospital. In 1953, he moved to Chicago where he served in the Epidemic Intelligence Service, directing the first poison control program in the U.S. He returned to New York to become assistant resident in pediatrics at New York Hospital in 1955 and at Babies Hospital in 1956. In 1957, he joined the faculty of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and has been full-time at Babies Hospital, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center since 1965. Dr. Mellins has held many appointments in government and lay health organizations. From 1973 to 1975, he was chairman of the Committee on Clinical Research of the National Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He has served in the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute as both a member of the steering committee on the Evaluation of Pediatrics Diseases (since 1979) and as chairman of the Task Group on Pediatrics of the Task Force on Pulmonary Technology (in 1980). Having served as the chairman of the Scientific Assembly on Pediatrics of the American Thoracic Society from 1972 to 1973, Dr. Mellins has been elected president of the Society for the 1982-1983 term. From 1975 to 1977, he was Chest Section Chairman of the Task Force on Criteria for Pediatric Pulmonary Training in the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Mellins has received special honors, awards, and fellowships in many organizations. In 1980, Dr. Mellins was both a Christmas Seal professor of the Canadian Lung Association and a recipient of the Stevens Triennial Award for Research at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. This year he is the First Dean’s Distinguished Lecturer in the Clinical Sciences at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Other awards have included a research fellowship in the New York Heart Association (1963-1966), an NIH career development award (1966-1971), and a Career Scientist Award from the Health Research Council of the City of New York (1975), In addition to his numerous university and society responsibilities and grants, Dr. Mellins has had many publications in major journals and important books. He is a member of the American Physiological Society, the Fleischner Society, the Harvey Society, and the Society for Pediatric Research.
Comment on Malinge et al , page 2440 Ikaros , Notch , and GATA 1 cross paths during megakaryopoiesis

Ikaros, Notch, and GATA1 cross paths during megakaryopoiesis ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Ivan Maillard UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN In this issue of Blood, Malinge et al describe new reciprocal interactions between Ikaros, Notch, and GATA transcription factors during megakaryocyte development. Ikaros represses megakaryocytic genes and selected Notch targets, while being turned off by GATA1 upon terminal differentiation.
SUPERSYMMETRIC EFFECTIVE ACTIONS IN FOUR DIMENSIONS

The aim of these lectures is to introduce some of the arguments that have been used successfully in the last five years to obtain exact information about strongly coupled field theories. I will focus on four-dimensional field theories (without gravity), although the techniques described here have been applied to theories in other dimensions and to string/M theory as well. The basic notion is that of a low energy (or Wilsonian) effective action. This is simply a local action describing a theory’s degrees of freedom at energies below a given scale E. An example is the low energy effective action for QCD, chiral perturbation theory describing the interactions of pions at energies E < ΛQCD. In such a theory particles heavier than ΛQCD are included in the pion theory as classical sources. Other examples are the various ten and eleven-dimensional supergravity theories, which appear as effective actions for string/M theory at energies below their Planck scales. The effective action is obtained by averaging over (integrating out) the short distance fluctuations of the theory. If there is a sufficiently small ratio E/Λ between the cutoff energy scale E and the energy scale Λ characteristic of the dynamics of the degrees of freedom being averaged over, renormalization group arguments imply that the effective action can be systematically expanded as a power series in E/Λ—essentially an expansion in the number of derivatives of the fields. We will use low energy effective actions to analyze four dimensional field theories by taking the limit as the cutoff energy scale E goes to zero, or equivalently, by just keeping the leading terms (up to two derivatives) in the low energy fields. I will call such E → 0 low energy effective actions infrared effective actions (IREAs). The idea is to guess an IR effective field content for the microscopic (UV) theory in question and write down all possible IREAs built from these fields consistent with the global symmetries of the UV theory. For a “generic” UV theory this is no better than doing chiral perturbation theory
Complete genome sequence of an aerobic hyper-thermophilic crenarchaeon, Aeropyrum pernix K1.

The complete sequence of the genome of an aerobic hyper-thermophilic crenarchaeon, Aeropyrum pernix K1, which optimally grows at 95 degrees C, has been determined by the whole genome shotgun method with some modifications. The entire length of the genome was 1,669,695 bp. The authenticity of the entire sequence was supported by restriction analysis of long PCR products, which were directly amplified from the genomic DNA. As the potential protein-coding regions, a total of 2,694 open reading frames (ORFs) were assigned. By similarity search against public databases, 633 (23.5%) of the ORFs were related to genes with putative function and 523 (19.4%) to the sequences registered but with unknown function. All the genes in the TCA cycle except for that of alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase were included, and instead of the alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase gene, the genes coding for the two subunits of 2-oxoacid:ferredoxin oxidoreductase were identified. The remaining 1,538 ORFs (57.1%) did not show any significant similarity to the sequences in the databases. Sequence comparison among the assigned ORFs suggested that a considerable member of ORFs were generated by sequence duplication. The RNA genes identified were a single 16S-23S rRNA operon, two 5S rRNA genes and 47 tRNA genes including 14 genes with intron structures. All the assigned ORFs and RNA coding regions occupied 89.12% of the whole genome. The data presented in this paper are available on the internet homepage (http://www.mild.nite.go.jp).
Fish tapeworm Khawia sinensis: an indicator of environmental microcystins?

OBJECTIVES Parasites have recently been recognized as accumulation indicators that take up and bio-concentrate substances from environmental pollution. Interestingly, helminths of fish are known to accumulate metals from the ambient environment and to contain several orders of magnitude higher concentrations than hosts. While the majority of reports mention inorganic toxin accumulation in parasites, studies concerning effects of organic pollution are infrequent and little is known about the potential of parasites to bio-accumulate microcystins. METHODS The parasite-host system of tapeworm Khawia sinensis and common carp (Cyprinus carpio) was used to address this issue. Both the tapeworms and livers were dissected from experimental carps orally exposed to cyanobacterial biomass for 20 days. The total dose of microcystins amounted to 27 mg/kg of feed, i.e., 0.4 mg/kg of fish mass a day. Microcystin concentrations in tapeworms and carp liver tissues were measured using the LC-MS/MS method. RESULTS Considering the three measured microcystin variants LR, YR and RR, only MC-RR was detected and its concentrations in tapeworms and carp liver tissue amounted to 5.78±3.78 ng/g and 2.11±0.74 ng/g fresh weight (p<0.05), respectively. CONCLUSIONS Here we show accumulation of microcystin MC-RR in the tapeworm Khawia sinensis, a parasite of common carp (Cyprinus carpio). As this is the first report addressing this issue, further studies will be necessary to examine this specific parasite-host system.
Full-Composite Fractal Antenna Using Carbon Nanotubes for Multiband Wireless Applications

In this letter, single-wall carbon nanotube (CNT) composite materials are explored for the design of multiband antennas. An accurate electromagnetic (EM) model of the modified Sierpinski fractal composite antenna is developed using Microwave Studio for numerical analysis. For antenna fabrication, we printed CNT on both sides of a substrate and then cut out the desired antenna pattern using a high-precision milling machine. The CNT material was hardened by resin infiltration in order to be processed on the milling machine. The CNT antenna shows satisfactory gain and radiation patterns for UHF-RFID (900 MHz), Bluetooth (2.4 GHz), and WLAN (5.5 GHz) applications. Good agreement between computed and measured results is observed.
Cord blood levels of osteopontin as a phenotype marker of gestational age and neonatal morbidities

Osteopontin (OPN) is a proinflammatory cytokine associated with metabolic syndrome. Extreme birth weight categories including small for gestational age (SGA), and large for gestational age (LGA) are risk factors for metabolic syndrome. However normal levels of plasma OPN in neonates and the relationship of OPN to fetal growth remain unknown. We evaluated the association of umbilical cord blood OPN with gestational age, birth weight, and neonatal outcomes.
Differently labelled glucosamine-precursor pools for the biosynthesis of hyaluronate and heparan sulfate.

1 14C-labelled hyaluronate and heparan sulfate were isolated from bovine arterial tissue following incubation in vitro in the presence of [U-14C]glucose and [1-14C]glucosamine, respectively. The specific radioactivity of hyaluronate was higher than that of heparan sulfate, but the ratio of their specific radioactivities (hyaluronate/heparan sulfate) was 2.5 or 1.2, depending on whether [14C]glucose or [14C]glucosamine was used as the metabolic precursor. 2 In the [14C]glucose experiments the proportion of radioactivity incorporated into the glucosamine and glucuronic acid moiety of hyaluronate was about 1:1, while in the case of heparan sulfate the corresponding ratio was 1:1.7. Values of 3.3 and 1.1 were calculated for the specific radioactivity ratio of the glucosamine moiety of hyaluronate and heparan sulfate (glucosamine-hyaluronate/glucosamine-heparan sulfate) following labelling with [14C]glucose and [14C]glucosamine, respectively. 3 The results are consistent with the assumption that two topographically different pools of immediate metabolic precursors exist in bovine arterial cells, one being for the biosynthesis of hyaluronate and the other for heparan sulfate.