Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Synergistic Induction of Inflammation by Bacterial Products Lipopolysaccharide and fMLP: An Important Microbial Pathogenic Mechanism1

A wide variety of stimuli have been shown to induce inflammation, but bacteria products/components are considered the major inducers during bacterial infections. We previously demonstrated that bacterial products/components such as LPS, a glycolipid component of the bacterial outer membrane, and formylated peptides (fMLP), a bacterial-derived peptide, induced proinflammatory cytokine gene expression in human peripheral blood monocytes. We now present evidence that mixtures of bacterial products/components LPS and fMLP behave synergistically in the induction of inflammation in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, our results indicate that the TLR4 and the IKKβ-IκBα signaling pathways are involved in the synergistic induction of inflammatory cytokines. The mechanism of synergistic activation of NF-κB is depended on nuclear translocation of p65 and phosphorylation of p65 at both Ser536 and Ser276 sites. These results demonstrate an important role for bacterial products/components from lysed bacteria in the pathogenesis of infectious diseases. We believe that this synergistic induction of inflammation by bacterial products LPS and fMLP represents an important pathogenic mechanism during bacterial infection, which may suggest novel therapeutic strategies or targets to minimize host injury following bacterial infection.
Zinc levels in serum during subcutaneous interleukin-2 immunotherapy of cancer

Fig. 1 Mean serum levels ofzinc during subcutaneous IL-2 immunotherapy in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. venous blood samples were collected before the start of the immunotherapy and at weekly intervals until the end of the immunotherapeutic cycle. Zinc levels in serum were measured by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Normal values obtained in our laboratory (95% confidence limits) were 50-120 mcg/lOO ml. The results were statistically analyzed with Student's t test and analysis of variance, as appropriate. As illustrated in Figure 1, the mean serum levels of zinc did not decrease during subcutaneous IL-2 ad-
Biomarkers of renal recovery after acute kidney injury

Novel biomarkers can be suitable for early acute kidney injury diagnosis and the prediction of the need for dialysis. It remains unclear whether such biomarkers may also play a role in the prediction of recovery after established acute kidney injury or in aiding the decision of when to stop renal support therapy. PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar were searched for studies that reported on the epidemiology of renal recovery after acute kidney injury, the risk factors of recovery versus non-recovery after acute kidney injury, and potential biomarkers of acute kidney injury recovery. The reference lists of these articles and relevant review articles were also reviewed. Final references were selected for inclusion in the review based on their relevance. New biomarkers exhibited a potential role in the early diagnosis of acute kidney injury recovery. Urine HGF, IGFBP-7, TIMP-2 and NGAL may improve our ability to predict the odds and timing of recovery and eventually renal support withdrawal. Acute kidney injury recovery requires more study, and its definition needs to be standardized to allow for better and more powerful research on biomarkers because some of them show potential for the prediction of acute kidney injury recovery.
Making psychiatric epidemiology useful: the contribution of epidemiology to government policy

Objective: This paper aims to discuss the contribution of epidemiology to aspects of public policy that have either a direct influence on mental health and mental disorders, or an indirect effect by influencing environmental factors which influence mental health. Both kinds of public policy will need to be considered by governments wishing to protect, promote and improve the mental health of their populations. The paper draws on information from both relatively wealthy and low‐income countries. Method: The paper defines epidemiology and mental health policy, sets out the range of government policies which may have an impact on mental health, and explores the ways in which epidemiology may contribute to mental health policy in relation to service inputs, processes and outcomes as well as to wider government policies. The paper also examines the advantages and disadvantages of different sources of data. Results: There are a number of reasons to carry out large‐scale surveys of psychiatric morbidity. First, effective policy should address the needs of the population, which can best be assessed by the epidemiology and the social and economic causes and consequences of psychiatric morbidity. Secondly, representative information in a defined geographic area can document the use of existing services and can estimate the extent of unmet needs and the services required meeting those needs. Thirdly, valid information on prevalence and associated risk factors of presumed causal importance allow aetiological hypotheses to be generated and tested and models developed for prevention. Finally, by repeating community surveys, it is possible to monitor the health of the population and trends. Epidemiological findings emphasize the importance of mental health policy addressing the key role of primary care, the social context and social consequences of disorder, the importance of addressing services for children, the need to reduce premature mortality from suicide and from physical illness. Epidemiological findings show that mental health and mental disorders are related to the environment both in its structural physical sense and in the sense of the social processes connected to and influenced by particular settings. Thus epidemiology can contribute to general policies on employment and unemployment, housing and homelessness, education and women's issues. Conclusion: Mental health policy is increasingly recognized as an essential area for countries wishing to enhance their economic, social and human capital. Epidemiological data are a basic prerequisite to informing such policies. Expert professional and epidemiological advice to ministries is essential if policy is to be rooted in the evidence for population needs, risk factors, effective treatments and services, and measurement of outcomes. It is therefore important to develop the capacity for policy work in the psychiatric profession by including public health, epidemiology and policy placements for young psychiatrists.
Galactose Transport in Saccharomyces cerevisiae I. Nonmetabolized Sugars as Substrates and Inducers of the Galactose Transport System

The inducible galactose transport system in bakers' yeast carries out the facilitated diffusion of the nonmetabolized galactose analogues d-fucose and l-arabinose. This capacity depends on the activity of the Ga 2 gene. In some strains, d-fucose and l-arabinose are also gratuitous inducers. Mutants in which the inducibility of the galactose pathway enzymes is altered show a parallel alteration of the inducibility of the galactose transport system.
Coordinate Gene Activity in Response to Agents That Induce Systemic Acquired Resistance.

In a variety of plant species, the development of necrotic lesions in response to pathogen infection leads to induction of generalized disease resistance in uninfected tissues. A well-studied example of this "immunity" reaction is systemic acquired resistance (SAR) in tobacco. SAR is characterized by the development of a disease-resistant state in plants that have reacted hypersensitively to previous infection by tobacco mosaic virus. Here, we show that the onset of SAR correlates with the coordinate induction of nine classes of mRNAs. Salicylic acid, a candidate for the endogenous signal that activates the resistant state, induces expression of the same "SAR genes. " A novel synthetic immunization compound, methyl-2,6-dichloroisonicotinic acid, also induces both resistance and SAR gene expression. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that induced resistance results at least partially from coordinate expression of these SAR genes. A model is presented that ties pathogen-induced necrosis to the biosynthesis of salicylic acid and the induction of SAR.
Iterative state feedback control and its application to robot control

In this paper, a new iterative learning algorithm is proposed for repetitive nonlinear systems. The control system employs a combination of state feedback and iterative learning control (ILC) in which the coefficients of states are learned similar to ILC methods. The control system is in a closed loop format both in iteration domain (because of ILC) and in time domain (because of feedback control) which improves the robustness of the conventional ILC. The convergence of the control algorithm is also proved. Finally, simulation results for a 5-DOF manipulator have been presented to illustrate that the proposed algorithm is more robust than a first order P type ILC method at the presence of white Gaussian noise as a nonrepeating disturbance.
Automatic guidance of a four‐wheel‐steering mobile robot for accurate field operations

As world population growth requires an increasing level of farm production at the same time that environmental preservation is a priority, the development of new agricultural tools and methods is required. In this framework, the development of robotic devices can provide an attractive solution, particularly in the field of autonomous vehicles. Accurate automatic guidance of mobile robots in farming constitutes a challenging problem for researchers, mainly due to the low grip conditions usually found in such a context. From assisted‐steering systems to agricultural robotics, numerous control algorithms have been studied to achieve high‐precision path tracking and have reached an accuracy within ±10 cm, whatever the ground configuration and the path to be followed. However, most existing approaches consider classical two‐wheel‐steering vehicles. Unfortunately, by using such a steering system, only the lateral deviation with respect to the path to be followed can be satisfactorily controlled. Indeed, the heading of the vehicle remains dependent on the grip conditions, and crabwise motions, for example, are systematically observed on a slippery slope, leading to inaccurate field operations. To tackle this drawback, a four‐wheel‐steering (4WS) mobile robot is considered, enabling servo of both lateral and angular deviations with respect to a desired trajectory. The path tracking control is designed using an extended kinematic representation, allowing account to be taken online of wheel skidding, while a backstepping approach permits management of the 4WS structure. The result is an approach taking advantage of both rear and front steering actuations to fully compensate for sliding effects during path tracking. Moreover, a predictive algorithm is developed in order to address delays induced by steering actuators, compensating for transient overshoots in curves. Experimental results demonstrate that despite sliding phenomena, the mobile robot is able to automatically and accurately achieve a desired path, with lateral and angular errors, respectively, within ±10 cm and ±2 deg, whatever its shape and whatever the terrain conditions. This constitutes a promising result in efforts to define efficient tools with which to tackle tomorrow's agriculture challenge. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Recombinant Granulocyte–Macrophage Colony‐Stimulating Factor Activates Human Macrophages to Inhibit Growth or Kill Mycobacterium avium Complex

Organisms belonging to the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) are associated with life‐threatening bacteremia in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). As these organisms survive within macrophages, we examined the ability of recombinant human granulocyte–monocyte colony‐stimulating factor (GM‐CSF) to activate human monocyte‐derived macrophages to inhibit the intracellular growth or kill the most mouse‐virulent MAC strain In our collection that belongs to serotype 1. While unstimulated cells did not inhibit intracellular growth of MAC, macrophages activated by GM‐CSF (10–104 U/ml) inhibited or killed up to 58 ± 5% of the initial inoculum. This activation was dose‐dependent, with maximal change occurring with a dose of 100 U/ml after 72 hr exposure. Inhibition or killing was demonstrated if GM‐CSF was given both before or after establishment of infection. The combination of GM‐CSF (102 U/ml) plus TNF (102 U/ml) augmented macrophage killing (range, 31 ± 4%) compared with GM‐CSF (102 U/ml) alone, but the combination of recombinant human interferon‐gamma (IFNγ) plus GM‐CSF resulted in a significant decrease in intracellular inhibition of growth or killing (13.3 ± 2%) compared with 57.7 ± 5% obtained with GM‐CSF alone. These results indicate that: 1) GM‐CSF can activate macrophages to inhibit intracellular growth or kill MAC; 2) killing may be augmented by TNF; and 3) IFNγ may impair GM‐CSF‐dependent macrophage activation.
MART-1 Is Required for the Function of the Melanosomal Matrix Protein PMEL17/GP100 and the Maturation of Melanosomes*

More than 125 genes that regulate pigmentation have been identified to date. Of those, MART-1 has been widely studied as a melanoma-specific antigen and as a melanosome-specific marker. Whereas the functions of other melanosomal proteins, such as tyrosinase, tyrosinase-related protein-1, dopachrome tautomerase, and Pmel17, are known, the function of MART-1 in melanogenesis, is unclear. A role for MART-1 in pigmentation is expected because its expression pattern and subcellular distribution is quite similar to the other melanosomal proteins and usually correlates with melanin content. We investigated the function of MART-1 using a multidisciplinary approach, including the use of siRNA to inhibit MART-1 function and the use of transfection to re-express MART-1 in MART-1-negative cells. We show that MART-1 forms a complex with Pmel17 and affects its expression, stability, trafficking, and the processing which is required for melanosome structure and maturation. We conclude that MART-1 is indispensable for Pmel17 function and thus plays an important role in regulating mammalian pigmentation.
Differential intracellular distribution and activities of mu- and m-calpains during the differentiation of human myogenic cells in culture.

Calpains are intracellular calcium-dependent cystein proteases active at neutral pH. There have been found in human adult myogenic cells (i.e. satellite cells) 2 forms of calpains requiring either micromolar Ca2+: mu-calpain, or millimolar Ca2+: m-calpain. Calpains could be involved in both intracellular proteolysis and cytoskeleton reorganization required for myogenic cell fusion. We showed significant differences in calpains distribution during differentiation of myogenic cells. Using mono- and polyclonal antibodies against both types of calpains, we localized mu-calpain and m-calpain in cultured human satellite cells. mu-calpain was detected in the nuclei of myoblasts and in the cytoplasm of myotubes. m-calpain was only present in the cytoplasm, and was concentrated near the nuclear envelope. Biochemical assays for calpain activities showed that the amounts of these proteinases were modulated during cell growth and differentiation. m-calpain activity was high at the proliferation phase (day 4 of culture) and reached a maximum with the beginning of fusion (day 8) and decreased slightly when the number of myotubes increased (day 12). This activity profile suggests that m-calpain could play a role in the initiation of fusion of satellite cells. The activity of mu-calpain increased regularly with cell growth, the maximum being reached when the cells differentiate, i.e. when its intracellular localization shifted from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. We conclude that the activity and the intracellular localization of the 2 forms of calpains differ with the state of differentiation of myogenic cells.
Lasers en Dermatologie Ed. 4

Cette nouvelle edition resulte de la mise en commun, par plusieurs auteurs de reference et membres du Groupe Laser, de leurs travaux de synthese et de leurs nombreuses annees d’experience. Depuis les bases fondamentales jusqu’a la securite, ces specialistes presentent les indications therapeutiques, medicales et esthetiques des lasers et des technologies apparentees, ainsi que des appareils domestiques. La multiplicite et la complexite des utilisations et des indications pour un meme appareil sont detaillees au fil des chapitres, et completees par de nombreuses informations pratiques et scientifiques. Cet ouvrage vous apportera les connaissances necessaires pour prendre des decisions adaptees, effectuer les bons gestes en toute securite et apprehender les enjeux d’une technologie qui n’a eu de cesse de progresser ces dernieres annees. Les lasers en dermatologie est l’outil de reference francaise et francophone pour tous les medecins laseristes ; sa quatrieme edition attisera la curiosite et completera les connaissances sur ces technologies pointues.
Achieving health equity: an incremental journey.

Racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care have been well documented in a broad range of medical conditions and health care services in numerous settings. These disparities are not trivial. For example, African Americans suffer shorter life expectancy and higher rates of cancer, stroke, heart disease, HIV and mental illness than do Whites. American Indians and Alaskan Natives also experienc shorter life expectancy than that of Whites. Puerto Ricans, a subset of Hispanic ethnicity, have a significantly higher infant mortality rate than do Whites. Racial and ethnic disparities also exist in the utilization of specialist care, preventive services, renal and bone marrow transplants, and orthopedic procedures such as knee and hip replacements. There are several reasons why identifying and understanding health disparities and marshaling the "political will" needed to eliminate them are essential for all Americans.
Bowel Management in the Neurologically Disabled

such as spasm, it is the nurse who must decide what is required. Patients must be placed in categories and one must decide what one wants to achieve with each group, as the treatment must vary according to both physical and social conditions. For all kinds of chronic condition our constant aim is to encourage patients to live as normal a life as possible, and this means that from the bowel aspect alone they must be socially acceptable. Patients in shared rooms become acutely embarrassed if, for example, the stool is passed during mealtimes. Those who are taken about in cars and into houses for social activities must not be allowed to run any risk of accidents occurring at these times; this applies also to patients sitting in theatres or cinemas. We have also found that problems of constipation or loose stools seriously impede the usefulness of indwelling catheters. For the foregoing reasons we have established a method which we have found effective when all normal efforts at bowel training have failed, and in which patients have complete confidence. We ourselves decide when it is convenient for defacation to take place, taking into consideration the patient's daily routine, including any visitors or planned activities. The number of nurses on duty is also vital as obviously no-one can pay full attention to all details where there is acute staff shortage. We give gentle aperients in the evening to soften the faces, followed next morning by manual removal, always performed very carefully under the supervision of one of our trained experts. The patient soon adjusts to this metlhod of treatment and we very quickly learn how often it is necessary; it varies considerably between individuals, from one to three times a week. This may sound a drastic treatment for nurses to perform as a routine, but any patient who is asked to choose between the uncertainties of the uncontrolled bowel and the complete freedom of anxiety obtained by the positive action of manual removal will rarely opt for the former.
Protein Quality Control and the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/Frontotemporal Dementia Continuum

Protein homeostasis, or proteostasis, has an important regulatory role in cellular function. Protein quality control mechanisms, including protein folding and protein degradation processes, have a crucial function in post-mitotic neurons. Cellular protein quality control relies on multiple strategies, including molecular chaperones, autophagy, the ubiquitin proteasome system, endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated degradation (ERAD) and the formation of stress granules (SGs), to regulate proteostasis. Neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by the presence of misfolded protein aggregates, implying that protein quality control mechanisms are dysfunctional in these conditions. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are neurodegenerative diseases that are now recognized to overlap clinically and pathologically, forming a continuous disease spectrum. In this review article, we detail the evidence for dysregulation of protein quality control mechanisms across the whole ALS-FTD continuum, by discussing the major proteins implicated in ALS and/or FTD. We also discuss possible ways in which protein quality mechanisms could be targeted therapeutically in these disorders and highlight promising protein quality control-based therapeutics for clinical trials.
Chaotic Dynamics in a Low-Energy Transfer Strategy to the Equilateral Equilibrium Points in the Earth-Moon System

In the frame of the equilateral equilibrium points exploration, numerous future space missions will require maximization of payload mass, simultaneously achieving reasonable transfer times. To fulfill this request, low-energy non-Keplerian orbits could be used to reach L4 and L5 in the Earth–Moon system instead of high energetic transfers. Previous studies have shown that chaos in physical systems like the restricted three-body Earth–Moon-particle problem can be used to direct a chaotic trajectory to a target that has been previously considered. In this work, we propose to transfer a spacecraft from a circular Earth Orbit in the chaotic region to the equilateral equilibrium points L4 and L5 in the Earth–Moon system, exploiting the chaotic region that connects the Earth with the Moon and changing the trajectory of the spacecraft (relative to the Earth) by using a gravity assist maneuver with the Moon. Choosing a sequence of small perturbations, the time of flight is reduced and the spacecraft is guided to a proper trajectory so that it uses the Moon's gravitational force to finally arrive at a desired target. In this study, the desired target will be an orbit about the Lagrangian equilibrium points L4 or L5. This strategy is not only more efficient with respect to thrust requirement, but also its time transfer is comparable to other known transfer techniques based on time optimization.