Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Presence of Anti‐Neutrophil Antibodies Reflects Clinical and Genetic Heterogeneity Within Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Summary: A detailed investigation of the relationship between anti‐neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) status, HLA genotype, and clinical patterns of inflammatory bowel disease was carried out, involving 236 European patients resident in the United Kingdom [120 had ulcerative colitis (UC), 116 had Crohn's disease (CD)]. ANCA status was determined on coded plasma samples in Los Angeles using a two‐stage assay [fixed neutrophil enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and indirect immunofluorescence], and HLA genotyping was carried out by polymerase chain reaction. The results provide evidence that ANCA reflect clinical and genetic heterogeneity within the inflammatory bowel diseases. In the UC patients, 78.3% were ANCA positive [64.2 perinuclear (pANCA)], but only 46.5% CD patients were ANCA positive (19.3% p‐ANCA). Furthermore, mean ELISA binding was significantly lower in CD (14.5% ± 18.8% versus 40.5% ± 41.0% in UC, p = 2.31 × 10−9). Only 15 CD samples, all from patients with colonic disease, displayed ELISA >20%; and the six CD patients with highest ELISA binding had clinical features very similar to ulcerative colitis. Moreover, in UC, significant relationships between ANCA status and genotype were noted. Thus, 92.7% of patients with the DR3 DQ2 TNF2 haplotype were ANCA positive [p = 0.03 versus DR3 DQ2 TNF2‐negative patients (73.9%)]. ELISA binding was increased in DR3 DQ2 TNF2‐positive patients (56.0 versus 35.7%, p = 0.02). In this population of UC, ANCA was not associated with DR2, DR4, or clinical pattern. These data emphasize the many factors that need to be considered in genetic marker studies in inflammatory bowel disease. Extensive disease heterogeneity, ethnicity, and methodological differences in ANCA detection are all pertinent.
Serum parvalbumin, an indicator of muscle disease in murine dystrophy and myotonia

The soluble Ca++ ‐binding protein parvalbumin (PV) is highly concentrated in fast muscle fibers of the wild type mouse. Employing Sandwich ELISA, we have shown that PV is present in the serum of normal mice and that its level is indicative of the disease status of muscle. Elevated PV levels were found in mice with X‐linked dystrophy (mdx) and reduced levels in myotonic (ADR) mice. Serum creatine kinase (CK) levels were elevated in mdx and normal in ADR mice. Because myotonic mouse muscle has a strongly reduced PV content, the reduced PV serum levle in ADR mice indicated that serum PV is derived from skeletal muscle. Serum PV in mdx mice, in which muscle PV content is close to normal, is a measure of the necrosis of fast muscle fibers. Serum levels of PV and CK were not significantly elevated in heterozygous (mdx/+) carrier females. Serum PV in Duchenne patients was below the limit of detection.
A low power baseband processor with clock variance-tolerant for UHF RFID transponder

A novel low-power digital baseband processor for a passive UHF RFID transponder in compliance with the ISO 18000-6B protocol is presented in this paper. By analysing the system requirement, different techniques are proposed for reducing power consumption. Furthermore, a novel clock generating scheme is implemented to accommodate the fluctuation of the frequency from the local oscillator. The chip was designed in TSMC 0. 18μm mixed-signal CMOS process, and the area of the proposed baseband processor is 0.71mm×0.155mm. Post-layout simulation results show that the baseband processor dissipates only 0.92uW at 1.28MHz clock.
A true hermaphrodite dispermic chimera with 46, XX and 46, XY karyotypes

A 16‐year‐old male with hypospadias and gynaecomastia had a rudimentary uterus with a right Fallopian tube and ovary; the left gonad was a functioning testis. Cytogenetic studies showed cells with46, XX and46, XY sex chromosomes in cultured blood, skin and gonadal tissues. Cells with the46, XX constitution predominated in all tissues. Extensive investigations failed to demonstrate blood cell and serum chimerism, but there was little genetic variation of these characters between family members. Cytogenetic studies demonstrated that the father had contributed different marker chromosomes to the46, XY and46, XX cell lines of the propositus, whereas the mother had contributed the same two informative markers to both cell lines. The patient was a chimera with two diploid cell lines of different sex that had developed from the products of two separate acts of syn‐gamy. Dispermy was demonstrated, and, whereas there was no evidence of different maternal contributions to the chimeric cell lines, uncertainty remains that these were identical.
Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor Modulates the Surface Expression of Effector Cell Molecules and Primes Respiratory Burst Activity in Human Neutrophils

Basic fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF) mediates a variety of biological responses such as angiogenesis and hematopoiesis. We examined the effect of b-FGF on human neutrophil functions in vitro. The surface expression of effector cell molecules on neutrophils was determined by flow cytometry and monoclonal antibodies. b-FGF increased the expression of CD11b leukocyte integrin and complement receptor type 1 on neutrophils and decreased the expression of L-selectin on neutrophils in a dose- and time-dependent manner. We also examined the effect of b-FGF on the respiratory burst activity in neutrophils. Although b-FGF alone did not induce intracellular oxidative product formation by neutrophils, it enhanced H2O2 production in neutrophils stimulated by N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine or phorbol myristate acetate. These findings suggest that b-FGF may participate in the inflammatory process via modulating the surface expression of effector cell molecules and enhancing respiratory burst activity in neutrophils.
New Frontiers in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Neutrophilic Lung Diseases

Neutrophils, or polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs), are a key component in the innate immune system and a powerful player in host defense. Because of this, PMNs have been studied for over a century, although current understanding of their primary function, traf‐ ficking to sites of infection and catabolyzing microbial pathogens, is unchanged. PMNs are viewed by some as mere blunt immune instruments, utilized by the host against a broad ar‐ ray of pathogens. However, a careful review of both neutrophil function and dysfunction re‐ veals a cell of discrete coordination in both normal homeostasis and disease. Herein, we provide a review of neutrophil biology focusing on PMNs role in chronic inflammatory lung disease. We provide a summary of the current knowledge of these cellular first responders and detail novel therapeutics related to combating their dysfunction in chronic disease.
Brain-Imaging Detection of Visual Scene Encoding in Long-term Memory for TV Commercials

ABSTRACT The authors report on experimental research using a new brain imaging technique (steady-state probe topography or SSPT) to investigate whether patterns of brain activity in the left or right frontal hemispheres could identify which frames from new TV commercials would be recognised by consumers one week later. The research revealed that video scenes held on screen for 1.5 seconds or longer were better recognised, and that scenes that elicited the fastest brain activity in the left frontal hemisphere were better recognised. The authors conclude that visual content that stimulates left-brain activity would create memorable advertising - and suggest a new method of pre-testing commercials.
Conditional Sox9 ablation reduces chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan levels and improves motor function following spinal cord injury

Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) found in perineuronal nets and in the glial scar after spinal cord injury have been shown to inhibit axonal growth and plasticity. Since we have previously identified SOX9 as a transcription factor that upregulates the expression of a battery of genes associated with glial scar formation in primary astrocyte cultures, we predicted that conditional Sox9 ablation would result in reduced CSPG expression after spinal cord injury and that this would lead to increased neuroplasticity and improved locomotor recovery. Control and Sox9 conditional knock‐out mice were subject to a 70 kdyne contusion spinal cord injury at thoracic level 9. One week after injury, Sox9 conditional knock‐out mice expressed reduced levels of CSPG biosynthetic enzymes (Xt‐1 and C4st), CSPG core proteins (brevican, neurocan, and aggrecan), collagens 2a1 and 4a1, and Gfap, a marker of astrocyte activation, in the injured spinal cord compared with controls. These changes in gene expression were accompanied by improved hind limb function and locomotor recovery as evaluated by the Basso Mouse Scale (BMS) and rodent activity boxes. Histological assessments confirmed reduced CSPG deposition and collagenous scarring at the lesion of Sox9 conditional knock‐out mice, and demonstrated increased neurofilament‐positive fibers in the lesion penumbra and increased serotonin immunoreactivity caudal to the site of injury. These results suggest that SOX9 inhibition is a potential strategy for the treatment of SCI. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Immunoglobulin‐G subclass antidonor reactivity in transplant recipients

Outcomes may differ after kidney transplantation compared to combined liver‐kidney transplantation. In animal models, distinct patterns of antidonor immunoglobulin (Ig) G subclasses are associated with either rejection or transplant tolerance. Flow cytometry has increased the sensitivity of antidonor immunoglobulin detection. We compared antidonor IgG subclass responses in kidney transplant recipients to those in recipients of liver or multiorgan grafts. In this study of 19 organ (kidney, liver, pancreas) transplantations, recipient serum incubated with donor splenocytes was tested by flow cytometry for the presence of IgM, IgG, or IgG subclass 1–4. Sera before transplantation and 10 days and 100 days after transplantation were used. No differences were seen in antidonor IgM, IgG, or IgG subclass antibodies among recipients of kidney transplants and liver grafts or combination grafts, either before or after transplantation. IgG4 gradually but significantly increased after transplantation in all groups. High levels of antidonor IgG3 either before transplantation or produced after it were found in 3 kidney recipients who experienced acute rejection. No other patients experienced rejection, and no other increase in IgG3 was seen. In conclusion, antidonor IgG subclass profiles may be useful to distinguish populations at risk of rejection but they do not differentiate the immunological response after kidney transplantation from that after liver or combined transplantation. A late rise in antidonor IgG4 is consistent with decreased antidonor reactivity thought to occur late after transplantation. (Liver Transpl 2004;10:1055–1059.)
Glucose: a Continuous Risk Factor for Cardiovascular Disease

The glucose level that defines diabetes mellitus is that level above which patients have a high risk of eye, kidney, and neuronal disease. The risk of these complications rises as glucose levels increase, and decreases as therapy brings the glucose level down. Thus, in patients with diabetes, glucose is a continuous, modifiable risk factor for eye, kidney and peripheral nerve disease. Plasma glucose concentrations in the diabetic range are also a continuous risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Moreover, epidemiological evidence shows that the relationship between plasma glucose concentration and CVD extends well below the glucose level defined for diabetes and even impaired glucose tolerance. This continuous relationship between glucose and CVD exists in all people, not just in those with a defined metabolic disease, and is therefore similar to the relationship between cholesterol or blood pressure and CVD. It may be secondary to either a direct effect of elevated glucose or to some underlying metabolic abnormality that raises both glucose and cardiovascular risk. Whether interventions that lower glucose will also lower the risk of CVD is still unknown; the results of clinical trials are awaited. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Effect of Galantamine Added to Clozapine on Cognition of Five Patients With Schizophrenia

Abstract:Although clozapine may be beneficial for the treatment of cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia, it may also impair some cognitive skills as a result of its anticholinergic activity. In this case series, the impact of galantamine administration on 5 patients with schizophrenia who had been treated with clozapine are reported. Neuropsychological assessment was administered before and after 8 weeks of 16 mg/d galantamine treatment. In this case series, galantamine was well tolerated by all of the patients. Three of the patients were much improved in sustained attention tasks. Most of the patients were also improved in psychomotor speed and selective attention tasks. Two patients with low pretreatment memory scores seemed to also be improved. Our results suggest that the possible role of galantamine as a cognitive enhancer in schizophrenia should be investigated in controlled trials.
Visual tracking based on the color attention preserved sparse generative object model

A new color attention preserved sparse generative object model is proposed to handle occlusion and illumination variations in the visual tracking task. The color attention is represented by the fast calculated color descriptor on color names, which is used to weight the similarity measurement of the sparse generative model. In the sparse generative model, the image region of the object is divided into patches. And we take into consideration of the spatial information of each patch to handle the occlusion. The color attention assists the sparse generative model to match the spatial structure of the object and handle illumination variation and heavy occlusion on the object. The update scheme considers both the original template and the latest observations, which enables the tracker to deal with appearance change effectively and alleviate the drifting problem. Experiments on the several video databases under the influence of various factors demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method.
Analgesia following day‐case knee arthroscopy—the effect of piroxicam with or without bupivacaine infiltration

Sixty patients presenting for day‐case arthroscopy of the knee under general anaesthesia were studied. Patients were randomly allocated to receive, in addition to intramuscular piroxicam 20mg, either bupivacaine 0.25% 20 ml applied locally to the knee at the end of the procedure (n = 30) or no further intra‐operative analgesia (n = 30). Visual analogue pain scores were significantly lower at 1,2 and 4 h postoperatively in the bupivacaine group (p < 0.05). A higher proportion of patients in the piroxicam‐only group required supplemental analgesia before discharge from hospital. The combination of piroxicam and bupivacaine provided superior analgesia to piroxicam alone.
Albumin administration in the management of neonatal hypoalbuminaemia

The use of 20% albumin infusion in the management of neonatal hypoalbuminaemia remains controversial as there is a paucity of evidence-based guidelines. Neonatal hypoalbuminaemia is associated with various adverse clinical conditions, including necrotising enterocolitis, sepsis and respiratory distress syndrome.1–4 A meta-analysis by Vincent et al showed that decreased serum albumin is an independent risk factor for mortality and morbidity.5 Clinical benefit was demonstrable in four studies with an attained albumin level of more than 30 g/l.5 Specifically, in these studies with …
Walking robot with a circulating gait

The Ambler walking robot has been developed specifically for autonomous exploration of planetary and lunar surfaces. The Ambler, which maintains its body on a level trajectory while walking, has unique orthogonal legs that are stacked under the body instead of the traditional animal-like arrangement of legs around the body. The resulting stacked configuration leads to a novel circulating gait that promises to improve mobility in terrains of extreme roughness. The Ambler's level body motion, orthogonal legs, and circulating gait greatly simplify physical control, terrain model construction, and motion planning-all of which are traditional impediments to autonomous travel across rough terrain. <<ETX>>
H2O2, Which Causes Macrophage-Related Stress, Triggers Induction of Expression of Virulence-Associated Plasmid Determinants in Rhodococcus equi

ABSTRACT The response of the intracellular pathogen Rhodococcus equi to H2O2 treatment, a situation potentially encountered after the oxidative burst of alveolar macrophages, was analyzed. Compared to other bacteria, including Deinococcus radiodurans, R. equi showed exceptionally high resistance to this stress. A proteomic approach showed that four polypeptides present in the wild-type strain (85F) are missing in the plasmid-cured strain 85F(P-), and by using a DNA macroarray, we identified two plasmid-encoded vap genes, vapA and vapG, whose expression was highly induced by H2O2 treatment. Whereas the transcript size of vapA was compatible with a monocistronic mRNA, the transcript of vapG was considerably longer. Rapid amplification of cDNA ends PCRs showed that the transcriptional start sites of the two operons were 69 and 269 nucleotides (nt) upstream of the start codon, respectively. Analysis of these leader sequences revealed the presence of a small open reading frame named podG, which encodes a sequence of 55 amino acids preceded by a putative ribosome binding site sequence in the vapG transcript. Taking this result into account, the untranslated leader of the podG/vapG operon is 87 nt. Alignment of this sequence with the leader sequences of vapA and vapD, genes previously shown to be induced by acid, revealed significant homologies. Since our results showed that vapA, vapD, and vapG are genes highly induced by macrophage-related stresses, their gene products may, within the Vap protein family, play a dominant role inside these phagocytic cells and may be the most promising candidates for vaccination strategies.
Infection during induction of remission in acute lymphocytic leukemia

The effects of infectious diseases during the transition from untreated acute lymphocytic leukemia to induction of remission were studied in 100 children enrolled consecutively into a standardized protocol for chemotherapy. During the initial 6 weeks of therapy, 30 patients had no evidence of infection; 19 had episodes of fever without other evidence of infection, and 51 had one or more episodes of infectious diseases. Most of the infections and febrile episodes occurred prior to and during the first week of therapy. Bacterial sepsis or meningitis and systemic candidiasis accounted for the serious infections. The incidence was inversely related to the absolute neutrophil count. Immunoglobulin values were normal. The occurrence of infection during the initial 6 weeks of anticancer therapy had no relation to success or failure of induction and continuation of complete remission of the leukemia.
Low-Power Printed Circuit Board Fluxgate Sensor

A new printed circuit board flat fluxgate sensor with integrated coils and amorphous alloy core was developed and its excitation parameters optimized for low-power consumption. The power consumption achieved with 10 kHz, 300 mA p-p pulse excitation with duty cycle 12.5% was only 3.9 mW, which is three times lower than that for sinewave B excitation. The sensor sensitivity reached 94 V/T. The required excitation bridge supply voltage was only 0.47 V. The low-cost low-power sensor has a temperature offset stability of 120 nT in the -20 to +70 degC temperature range and 0.17%/degC open-loop sensitivity tempco due to the use of a new core embedding technique. The perming error due to 10 mT field shock was suppressed below 1.2 muT. The short-time offset stability was 38 nT within 3 h. Thus the developed sensor is more precise and less energy consuming than a periodically flipped anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) sensor. The achieved parameters are sufficient for compass with 0.1deg error
Peroxynitrite Targets the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor, Raf-1, and MEK Independently to Activate MAPK*

Activation of ERK-1 and -2 by H2O2 in a variety of cell types requires epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) phosphorylation. In this study, we investigated the activation of ERK by ONOO− in cultured rat lung myofibroblasts. Western blot analysis using anti-phospho-ERK antibodies along with an ERK kinase assay using thephosphorylated heat- andacid-stable protein (PHAS-1) substrate demonstrated that ERK activation peaked within 15 min after ONOO− treatment and was maximally activated with 100 μm ONOO−. Activation of ERK by ONOO− and H2O2 was blocked by the antioxidant N-acetyl-l-cysteine. Catalase blocked ERK activation by H2O2, but not by ONOO−, demonstrating that the effect of ONOO−was not due to the generation of H2O2. Both H2O2 and ONOO− induced phosphorylation of EGFR in Western blot experiments using an anti-phospho-EGFR antibody. However, the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor AG1478 abolished ERK activation by H2O2, but not by ONOO−. Both H2O2 and ONOO− activated Raf-1. However, the Raf inhibitor forskolin blocked ERK activation by H2O2, but not by ONOO−. The MEK inhibitor PD98059 inhibited ERK activation by both H2O2 and ONOO−. Moreover, ONOO− or H2O2 caused a cytotoxic response of myofibroblasts that was prevented by preincubation with PD98059. In a cell-free kinase assay, ONOO− (but not H2O2) induced autophosphorylation and nitration of a glutathioneS-transferase-MEK-1 fusion protein. Collectively, these data indicate that ONOO− activates EGFR and Raf-1, but these signaling intermediates are not required for ONOO−-induced ERK activation. However, MEK-1 activation is required for ONOO−-induced ERK activation in myofibroblasts. In contrast, H2O2-induced ERK activation is dependent on EGFR activation, which then leads to downstream Raf-1 and MEK-1 activation.
Downlink/uplink identification of time-division duplexing-OFDMA systems for cognitive radios

When coexisting with dual-link primary systems, secondary systems in cognitive radios should first distinguish between the primary downlinks and uplinks in order to efficiently explore their respective spectrum opportunities. Because of the assumptive prior knowledge about the time-frequency locations of primary downlinks and uplinks, this procedure is usually not considered in the design of cognitive radios. In this paper, a cooperative method is proposed for the downlink/uplink identification of time-division duplex-based orthogonal frequency-division multiple access systems. In this method, the power level of the primary link is extracted as the key feature, which also contributes to the subsequent cognitive behaviours. The effects of the primary and secondary systems and the effects of the detection parameters on the identification accuracy are all analysed in detail. The simulation results show that the proposed method can identify the primary links precisely and quickly with low complexity.
The Freshness of Web search engines’ databases

This study measures the frequency in which search engines update their indices. Therefore, 38 websites that are updated on a daily basis were analysed within a time-span of six weeks. The analysed search engines were Google, Yahoo and MSN. We find that Google performs best overall with the most pages updated on a daily basis, but only MSN is able to update all pages within a time-span of less than 20 days. Both other engines have outliers that are quite older. In terms of indexing patterns, we find different approaches at the different engines: While MSN shows clear update patterns, Google shows some outliers and the update process of the Yahoo index seems to be quite chaotic. Implications are that the quality of different search engine indices varies and not only one engine should be used when searching for current content.