Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
LGR8 Signal Activation by the Relaxin-like Factor*

The relaxin-like factor (RLF) is thought to be responsible for the intra-abdominal migration of the testis during mammalian development. Our latest studies of RLF and LGR8 have revealed that the N-terminal region of the A chain is not required for receptor binding but is indispensable for cyclic AMP generation. RLF derivatives with six residues deleted from the N terminus of the A chain are active, whereas further truncation, up to the first A chain cysteine (A-10), yields tightly binding ligands devoid of signaling activity. These derivatives are specific competitive inhibitors (RLFi) of RLF. Although receptor binding is dependent upon B chain residues, the N-terminal region of the A chain is a generic trigger of the trans-membrane signaling activity.
Chronic Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia in Elderly Females

Background: The vast majority of reports of inappropriate sinus tachycardia (IST) had included predominantly young females with ages ranging between 15 and 46 years. In contrast, the present study presents the findings in four elderly females (aged 61–71 years) with long‐standing symptoms of palpitations, more than 15 years, in whom IST was diagnosed in their 6th or 7th decade.
Antithrombotics for stroke prevention in non-valvular atrial fibrillation: an update

Nurses and nurse practitioners play an integral role in initiating and managing antithrombotic prophylaxis in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Since the advent of warfarin in the 1950s, there have been few changes in this field until recently. Warfarin has been used for decades and has well-demonstrated efficacy. However, it also has well-known drawbacks, including an unpredictable dose response, need for anticoagulation monitoring, frequent dose adjustments, and many drug and food interactions. A new generation of anticoagulants, which includes direct thrombin inhibitors and selective Factor Xa inhibitors, shows the potential to significantly improve options for antithrombotic prophylaxis and to positively affect patient outcomes. The objective of this review is to update nurses on the new oral anticoagulants, other recent developments, such as improved risk-assessment techniques, and the role of over-the-counter products, including aspirin.
Duck cerebellum participates in regulation of food intake via the neurotransmitters serotonin and neuropeptide Y

Abstract Two important neurotransmitters, serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) and neuropeptide Y (NPY), have been confirmed to be involved in food intake regulation. To clarify whether the cerebellum participates in modulation of food intake through these two neurotransmitters, we investigated the distribution and expression levels of 5-HT and NPY in cerebellum of the duck. Our results showed that 5-HT and NPY were distributed only at the Purkinje cell layer of the duck cerebellum. Moreover, the expression level of 5-HT in fasted (4 h) and tryptophan (100–200 mg/kg)-treated ducks was significantly higher than that in control animals (P < 0.01), whereas the expression of NPY was significantly decreased (P < 0.01). Therefore, our results indicated that inhibitory regulation of food intake respectively increased and decreased cerebellar 5-HT and NPY in the duck.
Validation of the MDRF-Indian Diabetes Risk Score (IDRS) in another south Indian population through the Boloor Diabetes Study (BDS).

OBJECTIVE To validate the MDRF-Indian Diabetes Risk Score (IDRS) in a south Indian population in coastal Karnataka. METHODS The study was conducted at Boloor locality in Mangalore on adults aged 20 years or more. The study group comprised 551 participants (68.9% response rate). The OGTT was performed using 75 gms of glucose. The MDRF-IDRS was calculated using age, family history of diabetes, physical activity and waist measurement. ROC curves were constructed to identify the optimum value (> or = 60%) of IDRS for determining diabetes as diagnosed using WHO consulting group criteria. RESULTS We found that 71 of the study individuals were known diabetic subjects (KD) while 45 subjects were diagnosed to have newly diagnosed diabetes (NDD). An IDRS score of > or =60 had the best sensitivity (62.2%) and specificity of (73.7%) for detecting undiagnosed diabetes in this community. CONCLUSION Our study confirms and validates the MDRF-IDRS as being a valid simple and reliable screening tool to identify undiagnosed diabetes in the community. The MDRF-IDRS score > or =60 had the highest sensitivity and specificity to identify undiagnosed diabetes.
Transforming students' views of data with EMC academic alliance

call to action for higher education is to present real business problems, both those stemming from IT and those addressed by IT, in the most practical manner possible, and accentuating as many of the real pitfalls and pain points as we can. Given where IT is headed, educators should start with virtual and cloud infrastructures that require a broad array of skills crossToday’s IT industry faces a formidable challenge: explosive growth of digital information. According to a 2012 study by International Data Corporation (IDC) [6], the world is doubling the amount of information created every two years and by 2020 will generate 50 times the amount of information that exists today. At the same time, IT staff equipped to manage this influx of information is predicted to grow less than 1.5 times [2].
Evidence for phase memory in two-photon down conversion through entanglement with the vacuum.

An experiment has been carried out in which two pairs of light beams produced by down conversion in two nonlinear crystals driven by a common pump were mixed by two beam splitters, and the coincidence rate for simultaneous detections of mixed signal and idler photons was measured. It is found that the down-converted light carries information about the phase of the pump field through the entanglement of the down-converted photons with the vacuum.
On-demand Resource Allocation Policies for Computational Steering Support in Grids

We propose an infrastructure for resource management in the Grids with two novel resource allocation strategies and compare them to the most common policy of advance reservation. An advance reservation approach utilizes a fixed execution time penalty for reserving resources at specific times in the future. Alternatively, our allocation strategies rely on the frequently dynamic information of node availabilities to make on-demand allocation decisions based on the most frequently updated information. We investigate the effectiveness of our approach in terms of performance, system utilization, and access accuracy. We demonstrate that, by placing full trust to each system component, this results in an increased performance in serving application requests without causing severe accuracy and performance degradation, as the number of nodes and requests increases.
Actions of glucagon on flux rates in perfused rat liver. 2. Relationship between inhibition of glycolysis and stimulation of respiration by glucagon.

The relationship between inhibition of glycolysis and stimulation of oxygen consumption by glucagon was studied in perfused rat livers. The two effects exhibit similar kinetics and dose-response curves; they are slower and less sensitive to the glucagon concentration than the stimulatory effect on glycogenolysis. A stoichiometry of 1 mol extra oxygen consumed/1.8 mol of diminished lactate plus pyruvate production was found. Under conditions where glucagon did not cause a marked inhibition of glycolysis (i.e. low glycolytic flux rates in the fasted state or in the presence of ethanol), oxygen consumption was also not markedly increased. These findings provide evidence that the major portion of glucagon-induced stimulation of hepatic respiration in the fed state is due to an enhanced demand for mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation to compensate for the diminished extramitochondrial ATP production following inhibition of glycolysis by glucagon.
Demining robots - requirements and constraints

One of the most urgently needed applications for mobile robots is demining. Using robots in a minefield is accomplished with severe demands for mobility in an environment covered with dense vegetation and containing various obstacles. Furthermore, it is required that robot should cover the whole area with the detector, avoiding previously detected mines. Different configurations of demining robots are analyzed regarding control and navigation, size and locomotion.
The Processing of Holliday Junctions by BLM and WRN Helicases Is Regulated by p53* 210

BLM, WRN, and p53 are involved in the homologous DNA recombination pathway. The DNA structure-specific helicases, BLM and WRN, unwind Holliday junctions (HJ), an activity that could suppress inappropriate homologous recombination during DNA replication. Here, we show that purified, recombinant p53 binds to BLM and WRN helicases and attenuates their ability to unwind synthetic HJ in vitro. The p53 248W mutant reduces abilities of both to bind HJ and inhibit helicase activities, whereas the p53 273H mutant loses these abilities. Moreover, full-length p53 and a C-terminal polypeptide (residues 373–383) inhibit the BLM and WRN helicase activities, but phosphorylation at Ser376 or Ser378 completely abolishes this inhibition. Following blockage of DNA replication, Ser15 phospho-p53, BLM, and RAD51 colocalize in nuclear foci at sites likely to contain DNA replication intermediates in cells. Our results are consistent with a novel mechanism for p53-mediated regulation of DNA recombinational repair that involves p53 post-translational modifications and functional protein-protein interactions with BLM and WRN DNA helicases.
Varicella zoster disease of the central nervous system: epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory features 10 years after the introduction of the varicella vaccine.

BACKGROUND Since the introduction of live attenuated varicella zoster virus (VZV) vaccine in 1995 there has been a significant reduction in varicella incidence and its associated complications, but the impact on VZV-associated central nervous system (CNS) disease has not been assessed. METHODS In this descriptive study we evaluated patients referred to the California Encephalitis Project from 1998 to 2009 with VZV PCR-positive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory data were collected using a standardized case form. Specimens were genotyped using multi-single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis. RESULTS Twenty-six specimens were genotyped from patients 12-85 years of age (median, 46 years). Clinical presentations included meningitis (50%), encephalitis (42%), and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) (8%). Only 11 patients (42%) had a concomitant herpes zoster rash. Genotype analysis identified 20 European Group (Clade1, Clade 3) strains; 4 Asian (Clade 2) strains, and 2 Mosaic Group (Clade 4, Clade VI) strains. One specimen was recognized as vaccine strain by identifying vaccine-associated SNPs. CONCLUSIONS VZV continues to be associated with CNS disease, with meningitis being the most frequent clinical presentation. CNS VZV disease often presented without accompanying zoster rash. Sequencing data revealed multiple genotypes, including 1 vaccine strain detected in the CSF of a young patient with meningitis.
Issues in Industrialization, Environment and Health in Developing Countries

are now major issues for many developing countries who remain strongly development oriented and give priority to solving immediate socio-economic problems. While all agree that an* appropriate balance between development benefits and undesirable side-effects, especially on health, is necessary, there is no agreement as to what constitutes &dquo;appropriate&dquo; or how the use of the health dollar may be maximized. Ecological damage and health effects are confused frequently, leading to controversy in public health policies and priorities. Perception of ecological, socio-economic and health issues differ according to the local background. Thus, policies are not determined by public health and scientific consideration but by political imperatives and self interest. Attitudes toward real, potential, or trivial risks are very different in advanced countries with multiple options than in industrializing countries with limited resources. In the latter, major social changes have resulted in overall pressure on the medical and public health services and the existing technical infrastructure. Factors influencing such changes include: control of communicable diseases; cottage industries; smoking; population dynamics; and socio-economic needs, including unemployment, education, housing, sewage, hospitals, finance, industry, etc. It should be noted that industrial and technological innovations will not necessarily be a rerun of the classical industrial revolution, but rather situations in which
PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF COG1649, A NEW FAMILY OF PREDICTED GLYCOSYL HYDROLASES

SUMMARY Motivation: Recent progress in genome sequencing has resulted in accumulation of a huge number of new protein sequences. The majority of them were not and will never be characterized enzymatically. Grouping these proteins into families allows to predict their enzymatic activity or another biologic function on the basis of known homologs. If there is no enzymatically characterized relatives, then it is relevant to perform experimental study of most divergent representatives. A preliminary annotation is possible on the basis of detailed analysis of evolutionary relationship with proteins from other families. COG1649 (Pfam DUF187) is among families with no characterized members. Results: Analyzing COG1649 we identified a new family of hypothetical glycoside hydrolases by using sequence similarity. Four subfamilies were distinguished in it on the basis of pairwise sequence comparison and phylogenetic analysis. Iterative sequence analysis revealed the relationship of the COG1649 family with the GH27, GH31, and GH36 families of glycosidases, which belong to the α-galactosidase superfamily, as well as a more distant relationship with some other glycosidase families (GH13 and GH20).
Applying LTI protocol to exercise solving in a moodle platform

This paper presents the development of an application to propose complex exercises to students on a Moodle platform by connecting to an external server through LTI (Learning Tools Interoperability) protocol. The system has been applied to automatic grading of hardware descriptions made by students using the high level hardware description language VHDL. In this application the student has to upload his or her description in a Moodle platform and this description is simulated in another server with the appropriate simulation software. Thus, an immediate evaluation of the exercise is obtained with the need of additional software in the platform that hosts the Moodle platform and the student database, being another computer managed by teachers that performs simulations. The system is easily scalable to other fields different from digital electronics as Pspice.
Online Feature Transformation Learning for Cross-Domain Object Category Recognition

In this paper, we introduce a new research problem termed online feature transformation learning in the context of multiclass object category recognition. The learning of a feature transformation is viewed as learning a global similarity metric function in an online manner. We first consider the problem of online learning a feature transformation matrix expressed in the original feature space and propose an online passive aggressive feature transformation algorithm. Then these original features are mapped to kernel space and an online single kernel feature transformation (OSKFT) algorithm is developed to learn a nonlinear feature transformation. Based on the OSKFT and the existing Hedge algorithm, a novel online multiple kernel feature transformation algorithm is also proposed, which can further improve the performance of online feature transformation learning in large-scale application. The classifier is trained with k nearest neighbor algorithm together with the learned similarity metric function. Finally, we experimentally examined the effect of setting different parameter values in the proposed algorithms and evaluate the model performance on several multiclass object recognition data sets. The experimental results demonstrate the validity and good performance of our methods on cross-domain and multiclass object recognition application.
BMPs are required at two steps of limb chondrogenesis: formation of prechondrogenic condensations and their differentiation into chondrocytes.

Formation of the long bones requires a cartilage template. Cartilage formation (chondrogenesis) proceeds through determination of cells and their aggregation into prechondrogenic condensations, differentiation into chondrocytes, and later maturation. Several studies indicate that members of the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) family promote cartilage formation, but the exact step(s) in which BMPs are involved during this process remains undefined. To resolve this issue, we have used a retroviral vector to misexpress the BMP antagonist Noggin in the embryonic chick limb. Unlike previous reports, we have characterized the resulting phenotype in depth, analyzing histological and early chondrogenic markers, as well as the patterns of cell death and proliferation. Misexpression of Noggin prior to the onset of chondrogenesis leads to the total absence of skeletal elements, as previously reported (J. Capdevila and R. L. Johnson, 1998, Dev. Biol. 197, 205-217). Noggin inhibits cartilage formation at two distinct steps. First, we demonstrate that mesenchymal cells do not aggregate into prechondrogenic condensations, and additional results suggest that these cells persist in an undifferentiated state. Second, we show that differentiation of chondroprogenitors into chondrocytes can also be blocked, concurrent with expanded expression of a presumptive joint region marker. In addition, we observed alterations in muscle and tendon morphogenesis, and the potential role of BMPs in these processes will be discussed. Our studies therefore provide in vivo evidence that BMPs are necessary for different steps of chondrogenesis: chondroprogenitor determination and/or condensation and subsequent differentiation into chondrocytes.
Properly reading the histone code by MS‐based proteomics

Histone proteins are essential elements for DNA packaging. Their PTMs contribute in modeling chromatin structure and recruiting enzymes involved in gene regulation, DNA repair, and chromosome condensation. This fundamental aspect, together with the fact that histone PTMs can be epigenetically inherited through cell generations, enlightens their importance in chromatin biology, and the consequent necessity of having biochemical techniques for their characterization. Nanoflow LC coupled to MS (nanoLC‐MS) is the strategy of choice for protein PTM accurate quantification. However, histones require adjustments to the digestion protocol such as lysine derivatization to obtain suitable peptides for the analysis. nanoLC‐MS has numerous advantages, spanning from high confidence identification to possibility of high throughput analyses, but the peculiarity of the histone preparation protocol requires continuous monitoring with the most modern available technologies to question its reliability. The work of Meert et al. (Proteomics 2015, 15, 2966–2971) establishes which protocols lead to either incomplete derivatization or derivatization of undesired amino acid residues using a combination of high resolution MS and bioinformatics tools for the alignment and the characterization of nanoLC‐MS runs. As well, they identify a number of side reactions that could be potentially misinterpreted as biological PTMs.
Update on the impact of Chlamydia trachomatis infection on male fertility

With approximately 90 million cases annually, infection with Chlamydia trachomatis is the most prevalent sexually transmitted bacterial disease in the world. Considering that these infections are often asymptomatic and cause major complications like acute pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, infertility or infant pneumonia, the estimated costs for diagnosis and treatment in the USA amounts to 2.2 million US dollars for each 500 cases. Therefore, there is a high need for correct, quick and cost‐effective diagnosis and treatment of this urogenital tract infection. New innovative therapies provide good results with regard to efficacy and patients’ compliance. The success rates of treatments are at least 95%. However, the occurrence of antibiotic resistance should not be ignored and new treatment schemes must be developed. The state‐of‐the‐art of diagnosis and treatment of chlamydial infections as well as the pathophysiology is discussed in this review. In conclusion, infections with C. trachomatis is an important public health problem, especially in third world and developing countries, and more socio‐economic studies linking secondary prevention of chlamydial infections, infertility and adverse pregnancy outcome are needed to understand more of its aetiology. In addition, diagnosis and treatment should be improved. Data in men revealed that past infections but not present infections are more related to male infertility. There is still controversial results. In future studies, function of the seminal vesicles and evaluation of the antioxidant capacity should be taken into account when role of C. trachomatis infection on male fertility is assessed.
Reducing Media Viewing: Implications for Behaviorists.

American children spend an average of 6 hours and 32 minutes each day using various forms of media. Research has suggested that this high level of exposure has a negative impact on children’s attitudes and behaviors. For example, media violence increases aggression in children, especially video games which allows children to be the aggressor and obtain rewards for violent acts against others. In addition, media influences sexual behaviors and attitudes by sending contradictory messages that glamorize sexual activity and disregard the risks of such behaviors. Along with these negative behavioral influences, media also impacts children’s health and is linked to the rise of childhood obesity. From 1980 to 2000, rates of children being overweight have doubled, while obesity continually is associated with higher rates of hypertension, asthma, type II diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The majority of research has found a link between the amount of time children spend watching TV and their body weight. Given that 81% of children age 2-7 use media unsupervised (Kaiser Family Foundation, 1999), parents need to play a more active role in monitoring their children’s use of electronic entertainment activities and structuring socialization activities. In this article, we will review behavioral technologies to assist parents in reducing their children’s media use.