Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
STAT proteins: From normal control of cellular events to tumorigenesis

Signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) proteins comprise a family of transcription factors latent in the cytoplasm that participate in normal cellular events, such as differentiation, proliferation, cell survival, apoptosis, and angiogenesis following cytokine, growth factor, and hormone signaling. STATs are activated by tyrosine phosphorylation, which is normally a transient and tightly regulates process. Nevertheless, several constitutively activated STATs have been observed in a wide number of human cancer cell lines and primary tumors, including blood malignancies and solid neoplasias. STATs can be divided into two groups according to their specific functions. One is made up of STAT2, STAT4, and STAT6, which are activated by a small number of cytokines and play a distinct role in the development of T‐cells and in IFNγ signaling. The other group includes STAT1, STAT3, and STAT5, activated in different tissues by means of a series of ligands and involved in IFN signaling, development of the mammary gland, response to GH, and embriogenesis. This latter group of STATS plays an important role in controlling cell‐cycle progression and apoptosis and thus contributes to oncogenesis. Although an increased expression of STAT1 has been observed in many human neoplasias, this molecule can be considered a potential tumor suppressor, since it plays an important role in growth arrest and in promoting apoptosis. On the other hand, STAT3 and 5 are considered as oncogenes, since they bring about the activation of cyclin D1, c‐Myc, and bcl‐xl expression, and are involved in promoting cell‐cycle progression, cellular transformation, and in preventing apoptosis. J. Cell. Physiol. 197: 157–168, 2003© 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
THE STANDARD OF CARE IN TREATING PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS

In recent years, several guidelines and algorithms have appeared to help clinicians address the issues of best practice in the management of psychiatric disorders. As the standard of care has moved from the use of first-generation antipsychotic medications to the use of atypical antipsychotics in the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, clinicians are faced with the challenge of when to change medications in patients and which medications to choose. And, with the widespread use of atypical antipsychotics has come an increased concern with the evaluation, treatment, and possible prevention of metabolic syndrome and other complications associated with antipsychotic pharmacotherapy. What is the standard of care in treating schizophrenia and bipolar disorders? How can clinicians optimize outcomes in treating serious mental illness across the lifetime of the patient? What should guide the clinician in choosing a therapeutic agent? And, if complications arise, how can the clinician move confidently from one agent to another? This article presents a summary of the recent literature on treatment response and recommended interventions in individuals who present with psychotic illness, paying particular attention to strategies that optimize treatment and outcomes in the stable phase. It addresses the clinical issues that bear on the selection of antipsychotic agents and examines the process of switching from one antipsychotic to another. With the introduction of second-generation antipsychotic agents has come a change in the concept of stability and a redefinition of the goals for the stable phase of illness. This article reviews the process of assessment of ongoing treatment, considering what goals are appropriate, and when to revise treatment goals. Finally, this article examines new assessment tools and collaborative treatment models. (Adv Stud Med. 2005;5(3C):S216-S229)
Increased levels of vascular endothelial growth factor in aqueous humor of patients with diabetic retinopathy: Is it the whole truth?

Doppler imaging that shows branching from CRA and not from choroidal circulation. Cilioretinal arteries have been shown histologically to originate from short posterior ciliary arteries and, in rare instances, directly from choroidal vessels. [6] First described by Muller in 1856,[6] they appear ophthalmoscopically to emerge from the optic disc or disc margin separately from CRA or its branches. [7] They make a characteristic bend as they leave the disc margin and are recognizable on fundoscopy. It has also been recognized, however, that ophthalmoscopic examination is not a true guide to the presence or absence of a cilioretinal artery. [4] Hence, it is diffi cult to say just from Fig. 2 of Case 1 that the upper artery is a cilioretinal artery.
The Schizosaccharomyces pombe MBF complex requires heterodimerization for entry into S phase

In Schizosaccharomyces pombe, MBF is a DNA-binding complex suspected to activate the transcription of genes necessary for entry into S phase. The MBF complex contains both p85cdc10 and p72res1/sct1. To obtain a better understanding of how the MBF complex regulates gene expression at the G1/S transition, we have performed a genetic analysis of p72res1. We determined that p72res1 can bind specifically to the cdc22 promoter, when analyzed by gel mobility shift assay, and that the N-terminal 157 amino acids of p72res1 are sufficient for this specific binding. When overexpressed in vivo, a fragment of p72res1 containing this DNA-binding domain could rescue a strain carrying a temperature-sensitive cdc10 allele at the restrictive temperature as well as a strain with a cdc10 null allele. We also determined that the C-terminal region of p72res1 is necessary and sufficient for binding to p85cdc10. Overexpression of the cdc10-binding domain of p72res1 leads to a G1 arrest with a cdc phenotype and a decrease on MBF activity. Overexpression of full-length p72res1 also leads to a growth arrest that can be rescued by overexpression of p85cdc10. These results imply that the MBF activity in vivo is dependent on the interaction of p85cdc10 with p72res1.
MOSCOVICI Y PIAGET: EL ORIGEN DE LAS REPRESENTACIONES SOCIALES

Nos proponemos identificar, en primer lugar, las ideas de Piaget que han influido en la elaboracion de la teoria de las representaciones sociales: la reinterpretacion de las creencias infantiles estudiadas por el primer Piaget en la obra de Moscovici, por un lado, y la adopcion de las tesis constructivistas, por el otro. Luego, nos referiremos la diferencia de enfoques respecto de la relacion entre sentido comun y ciencia, con el proposito de iluminar la especificidad de cada uno. A este efecto, distinguiremos la pretension de universalidad del saber logico-matematico frente a la diversidad de las representaciones, asi como la logica operatoria de Piaget en relacion a la logica del sentido comun de Grize. Creemos que el dialogo entre ambos programas puede ayudar a comprender sus respectiva ubicacion en la psicologia contemporanea. Resumen en Ingles Our aim was the identification, firstly, of Piagets influence in the elaboration of social representations theory: the revisiting of children beliefs studied of the early Piaget on the Moscovici work. Second, the Moscovicis claim of constructivist theses. Then a differentiation of perspectives will be presented, regarding the relationship between common sense and science, in an attempt to highlight the specificity of each one of these kinds of knowledge. So, the aspiration of universality of logical-mathematical knowledge will be differentiated from the representational diversity, and also the operational logic of Piaget will be contrasted to the Grizes logic of common sense. We hope the dialog between both programs could help understanding its place on contemporary psychology. Palabras Clave representacion-social; constructivismo; sentido-comun; logica-natural
Legal Status of Software Engineering

Is the term "software engineering" a misnomer? That question has long been debated within the computer science, programming, and software engineering community. Naysayers point to the software activity's large trial-and-error component and its notable lack of solid intellectual and ethical underpinnings. On the affirmative side, ACM and the lEEE Computer Society recently joined forces to move software engineering toward professional status. Currently, software engineering is not one of the 36 engineering professions recognized and licensed in the United States. This situation is more serious than you might think, because 48 states have laws on their books that prohibit anyone who is not licensed from using the term "engineer" in describing his occupation and work. >
Conformational heterogeneity and intrinsic disorder in enzyme regulation: Glucokinase as a case study

Many human proteins are predicted to contain intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs), yet their occurrence in enzymes is notably rare. Human pancreatic glucokinase (GCK) is one of a small, but growing number of enzymes shown to possess an IDR. In this commentary, we summarize the results of recent biophysical studies that provide evidence for a functionally significant disorder-order transition within the IDR of GCK during the enzyme's catalytic cycle. High-resolution NMR studies indicate that kinetic cooperativity in GCK results from glucose-mediated millisecond conformational dynamics within the structurally heterogeneous and partially disordered small domain of this monomeric enzyme, whereby the precise timescale of these motions is critical for the manifestation of the kinetic cooperativity effect. GCK provides an excellent case study for understanding how structural and dynamic alterations within an IDR enable novel regulatory mechanisms. These studies also establish GCK as a model system for investigating the functional consequences of disorder and conformational heterogeneity in enzymatic systems in general.
Comparison of Hearing Aids Over the 20th Century

Objective To measure hearing aid performance using circuitry representative of the major eras of technological advancement during the 20th century. Design Twenty subjects with audiometric profiles consistent with hearing aid candidacy were fit with each of seven hearing aids. No directional microphones were used and binaural benefit was not assessed. Each hearing aid was fit to the strategy or fitting scheme of the era, or that which was intended by the presenting manufacturer. Electroacoustic and/or real ear measures of gain, output, bandwidth, and distortion were obtained. Objective outcome measures assessing speech perception in backgrounds of noise were obtained. Subjective outcome measures of sound quality and ease of listening were obtained in the laboratory and in real life settings. Results Electroacoustic and real ear measures indicate that gain and bandwidth have increased, and output and distortion have decreased with current electronic aids. Speech perception ability across the different outcome measures showed significantly poorer performance with the body and linear hearing aids when input levels were high; when input levels were low, outcome measures with hearing aids using a dynamic range compression were not negatively affected. At the most adverse signal to noise ratios, none of the hearing aids was shown to be superior. Measured bandwidth did not correlate highly with speech perception ability for any of the objective outcome measures used. For the subjective measures of sound quality done in a blinded manner, no significant differences were found across different listening situations for current hearing aids. Conclusions The two most important factors for aided speech perception appear to be the audibility and distortion of the signal. No current compression scheme proved superior with the outcome measures used in this investigation.
Sternal reconstruction with synthetic mesh and metallic plates for high grade tumours of the chest wall.

OBJECTIVE To present our experience of reconstruction of the chest wall after sternectomy for high grade tumours. DESIGN Retrospective study. SETTING University hospital, Italy. SUBJECTS 18 patients who required sternectomy for high grade tumours. INTERVENTIONS After wide resection of the tumour the sternum and chest wall were reconstructed with polypropylene (Marlex) mesh and mouldable titanium plates. Pedicled muscle flaps were used to complete the reconstruction. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Morbidity, mortality, and outcome. RESULTS The 18 tumours were chondrosarcomas (n = 7); osteosarcomas, radiation-induced sarcomas, and local recurrences after breast cancer (n = 2 each); and angiosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, liposarcoma, malignant fibrous histiocytoma, and metastatic renal carcinoma (n = 1 each). One patient died in hospital. Two patients developed wound infections, one required repeated aspirations of a pleural effusion, and one patient later developed loosening of the plate that had been sutured to the clavicular stump. At the time of follow-up (mean 32 months, range 12-74) 16 patients were alive, all of whom had returned to their normal life style. CONCLUSIONS The technique is easy to follow and has the advantages of a short hospital stay and good local control. It obviates the need for postoperative mechanical ventilation, and means that patients are not prevented from working because of incapacity.
Discriminating Protective from Nonprotective Plasmodium-Specific CD8+ T Cell Responses

Despite decades of research, malaria remains a global health crisis. Current subunit vaccine approaches do not provide efficient long-term, sterilizing immunity against Plasmodium infections in humans. Conversely, whole parasite vaccinations with their larger array of target Ags have conferred long-lasting sterilizing protection to humans. Similar studies in rodent models of malaria reveal that CD8+ T cells play a critical role in liver-stage immunity after whole parasite vaccination. However, it is unknown whether all CD8+ T cell specificities elicited by whole parasite vaccination contribute to protection, an issue of great relevance for enhanced subunit vaccination. In this article, we show that robust CD8+ T cell responses of similar phenotype are mounted after prime-boost immunization against Plasmodium berghei glideosome-associated protein 5041–48–, sporozoite-specific protein 20318–325–, thrombospondin-related adhesion protein (TRAP) 130–138-, or circumsporozoite protein (CSP) 252–260-derived epitopes in mice, but only CSP252–260- and TRAP130–138-specific CD8+ T cells provide sterilizing immunity and reduce liver parasite burden after sporozoite challenge. Further, CD8+ T cells specific to sporozoite surface-expressed CSP and TRAP proteins, but not intracellular glideosome-associated protein 50 and sporozoite-specific protein 20, efficiently recognize sporozoite-infected hepatocytes in vitro. These results suggest that: 1) protection-relevant antigenic targets, regardless of their immunogenic potential, must be efficiently presented by infected hepatocytes for CD8+ T cells to eliminate liver-stage Plasmodium infection; and 2) proteins expressed on the surface of sporozoites may be good target Ags for protective CD8+ T cells.
Characteristics of the optimal receiver of information signals with unknown discontinuous parameters

In this work the universal method for determination of characteristics of optimal detectors and measurers of information signals with the unknown discontinuous parameters, based on approximation of solving statistics or its increment by local Markovian random process, is considered. Application of the offered approach for calculation of false alarm and missing probabilities, and bias and variance of time delay estimate of the discontinuous quasi-determined and random pulse is illustrated.
Evidence of multiple paternity and mate selection for inbreeding avoidance in wild eastern chipmunks

Mate selection for inbreeding avoidance is documented in several taxa. In mammals, most conclusive evidence comes from captive experiments that control for the availability of mates and for the level of genetic relatedness between mating partners. However, the importance of mate selection for inbreeding avoidance as a determinant of siring success in the wild has rarely been addressed. We followed the reproduction of a wild population of eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) during five breeding seasons between 2006 and 2009. Using molecular tools and parentage assignment methods, we found that multiple paternity (among polytocous litters) varied from 25% in an early‐spring breeding season when less than a quarter of females in the population were reproductively active to 100% across three summer breeding seasons and one spring breeding season when more than 85% of females were reproductively active. Genetically related parents were common in this population and produced less heterozygous offspring. Furthermore, litters with multiple sires showed a higher average relatedness among partners than litters with only a single sire. In multiply sired litters, however, males that were more closely related to their partners sired fewer offspring. Our results corroborate findings from captive experiments and suggest that selection for inbreeding avoidance can be an important determinant of reproductive success in wild mammals.
Unveiling the Mask of Phishing: Threats, Preventive Measures, and Responsibilities

Phishing, a new-rise identity fraud of this century has already caused huge financial loss and social disorder. This paper provides an overview of the evolution and forecasted trend of phishing activities with detailed analysis on common phishing features, proliferation channels, relevant anti-phishing measures, related legislation, and an anti-phishing framework from the perspective of social responsibility. The objective of the research is to enhance public awareness of phishing and to inform end users and owners of e-commerce sites proper measures to detect and prevent this criminal activity.
Quantitation of the Action of Ethylenediaminetetraacetic Acid and Tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane on a Gram-Negative Bacterium by Vancomycin Adsorption

Changes in the cell wall of a species of Flavobacterium can be quantitated by measuring vancomycin adsorption. Treatment of the cells with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid or tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (or both) increased adsorption of the antibiotic.
Membrane Glycerolipid Remodeling Triggered by Nitrogen and Phosphorus Starvation in Phaeodactylum tricornutum1

Nitrogen and phosphorus limitations trigger distinct remodeling processes and adaptive responses at the level of membrane and storage glycerolipids in a marine model diatom. Diatoms constitute a major phylum of phytoplankton biodiversity in ocean water and freshwater ecosystems. They are known to respond to some chemical variations of the environment by the accumulation of triacylglycerol, but the relative changes occurring in membrane glycerolipids have not yet been studied. Our goal was first to define a reference for the glycerolipidome of the marine model diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum, a necessary prerequisite to characterize and dissect the lipid metabolic routes that are orchestrated and regulated to build up each subcellular membrane compartment. By combining multiple analytical techniques, we determined the glycerolipid profile of P. tricornutum grown with various levels of nitrogen or phosphorus supplies. In different P. tricornutum accessions collected worldwide, a deprivation of either nutrient triggered an accumulation of triacylglycerol, but with different time scales and magnitudes. We investigated in depth the effect of nutrient starvation on the Pt1 strain (Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa no. 1055/3). Nitrogen deprivation was the more severe stress, triggering thylakoid senescence and growth arrest. By contrast, phosphorus deprivation induced a stepwise adaptive response. The time scale of the glycerolipidome changes and the comparison with large-scale transcriptome studies were consistent with an exhaustion of unknown primary phosphorus-storage molecules (possibly polyphosphate) and a transcriptional control of some genes coding for specific lipid synthesis enzymes. We propose that phospholipids are secondary phosphorus-storage molecules broken down upon phosphorus deprivation, while nonphosphorus lipids are synthesized consistently with a phosphatidylglycerol-to-sulfolipid and a phosphatidycholine-to-betaine lipid replacement followed by a late accumulation of triacylglycerol.
The Role of Phenotypic Plasticity in Color Variation of Tularosa Basin Lizards

Abstract An experimental approach was taken to evaluate the role of phenotypic plasticity in reptile coloration for three lizard species which exhibit dramatic variation in dorsal body darkness associated with different substrate environments. In southern New Mexico, blanched color morphs of Aspidoscelis inornata, Holbrookia maculata, and Sceloporus undulatus inhabit the gypsum dunes of White Sands, and a melanic color morph of S. undulatus is found on the Carrizozo lava flow. Temperature was manipulated to determine the extent of physiological (rapid) plasticity in coloration for all three species. Color change in response to short-term stimuli did not explain the variation among lizards from different habitats. Although lizards of all color morphs were slightly darker when colder, more melanic lizards displayed a diminished capacity for rapid color change. Common garden experiments were conducted to evaluate the potential for ontogenetic plasticity in coloration for H. maculata and S. undulatus. Offspring from mothers of different substrate environments were distinguishable by color despite identical developmental conditions. Hatchlings and adults exhibited similar coloration for H. maculata, but a developmental trajectory in coloration was observed in S. undulatus. Overall, environmental variation alone did not explain differences in dorsal coloration among lizards from distinctive habitats. Results from these experiments support the hypotheses that color morphology in Tularosa Basin lizards has a strong heritable component and that observed variation is likely adaptive.