Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Combined Neuroprotective Action of JWH-015 and AM251 in the CA1 Hippocampal Area of Transient Global Cerebral Ischemia

Transient global cerebral ischemia (TGCI) induces by bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO), and it mediates neuronal cell death of the CA1 hippocampal area. AM251 is a cannabinoid receptors type 1 (CB1) blocker that has been known to be protective against transient focal cerebral ischemia. JWH-015 is a selective agonist of CB2 and activator of CB1 that is involved in promotion of neuronal recovery and survival. The role of combined application of JWH-015 with AM251 in the rat model of GCI has been surveyed in this study. Male Wistar rats underwent 20 min of ischemia followed by reperfusion. Then, 1 mg/kg JWH015 and 2 mg/kg AM251 were administered through caudal vein. The groups were control, sham, ischemia, vehicle, AM251, JWH-015 and AM251 + JWH-015. Animals were sacrificed at 14 days after reperfusion. The AM251 + JWH-015 group showed a significant increase in the protein expressions of AKT1, Bad 14-3-3, Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL, but it showed a considerable decrease in the protein expressions of Bad and JNK1/2 (p ≤ 0.05 vs. AM251, and JWH-015 groups). The AM251 + JWH-015 group had a significant higher number of alive cells and lower number of TUNEL-positive cells in the CA1 hippocampal area, and it also had a considerable improvement of spatial memory (p ≤ 0.05 vs. AM251, and JWH-015 groups). The results of this study showed that combined application of AM251 and JWH-015 could be neuroprotective against detrimental effects of ischemia probably via suppression of neuronal apoptosis and maintenance of their survival.
miR-381 functions as a tumor suppressor by targeting ETS1 in pancreatic cancer

Increasing evidence shows that microRNA (miR)-381 is involved in the carcinogenesis and biologic progression of various types of cancer in humans. However, its potential biologic role and mechanism in pancreatic cancer remain to be elucidated. In the present study, the expression and functional role of miR-381 in pancreatic cancer were investigated. It was found that miR-381 was significantly downregulated in pancreatic cancer tissues and cell lines. The biological functions of miR-381 were examined by measuring cell proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis in vitro and in vivo. The miR-381 target gene and signaling pathway were identified by luciferase activity assay and western blot assay. In vitro experiments confirmed that the enforced expression of miR-381 markedly suppressed cell proliferation, migration and invasion, and induced apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells. By contrast, silencing the expression of miR-381 had the opposite effect. In addition, miR-381 inhibited xenograft tumor growth in vivo. Furthermore, ETS1 was identified as a direct target of miR-381, and western blot analysis showed that miR-381 negatively modulated the expression of ETS1. It was also demonstrated that miR-381 serves a key role in pancreatic cancer cells through regulating the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. In conclusion, the data obtained suggested that miR-381 mediated cell proliferation, migration and invasion by targeting ETS1, partly through PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. These results provide novel insights into understanding the potential effects and molecular mechanism of miR-381 on pancreatic cancer. miR-381 may serve as a novel potential marker for pancreatic cancer treatment in the future.
Intravitreal Aflibercept for Retinal Angiomatous Proliferation: Results of a Prospective Case Series at 96 Weeks

Introduction: Retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP) is a subtype of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Untreated, the lesions are thought to be aggressive and lead to a poor visual outcome. Despite some limitations, studies reporting the treatment of RAP lesions with the intravitreal anti-VEGF drugs ranibizumab and bevacizumab have demonstrated variable but generally favourable responses. More recently, aflibercept has been licensed for the treatment of nAMD and may offer some advantages over other agents. We present the visual and anatomical outcomes at 96 weeks of patients with RAP lesions who were treated with intravitreal aflibercept, according to the pivotal VIEW study nAMD treatment protocol. Methods: This is a prospective study of treatment-naïve patients with Reading Centre-graded RAP lesions. The patients received aflibercept every 8 weeks, after 3 initial monthly injections, up to and including week 48. During weeks 52–96, patients received injections at least every 12 weeks, with monthly evaluations for interim injections if they fulfilled the retreatment criteria. At each visit, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) central macular thickness (CMT) were measured. Results: Forty-six patients reached study completion at week 96. Mean BCVA had improved by 6.0 (standard deviation [SD] 7.9) and 4.8 (SD 7.4) ETDRS letters at 52 (p = 0.003) and 96 (p = 0.02) weeks, respectively, from a baseline of 57.3 (SD 12.0) letters. At 52- and 96-week time points, 45/46 (98%) and 41/46 (89%) of patients, respectively, had maintained their vision (<15 letters of BCVA lost). At the 96-week time point, 13/46 (28%) of patients had gained ≥15 letters and also demonstrated a mean reduction in CMT of 162 μm (SD 106) (p = <0.0001), with 72% of maculae being fluid-free. Using univariate analysis, we found no significant difference between any of the visual outcome measures in this study and the pivotal VIEW study; the mean number of injections required and change in CMT were also similar. Conclusions: In this study, we present the 96-week results, of the largest series to date, of patients treated prospectively with aflibercept for RAP using the VIEW protocol. We show that they benefited from treatment to a degree similar to those with type 1 and 2 nAMD.
Proteolytic, lipidergic and polysaccharide molecular recognition shape innate responses to house dust mite allergens

House dust mites (HDMs) are sources of an extensive repertoire of allergens responsible for a range of allergic conditions. Technological advances have accelerated the identification of these allergens and characterized their putative roles within HDMs. Understanding their functional bioactivities is illuminating how they interact with the immune system to cause disease and how interrelations between them are essential to maximize allergic responses. Two types of allergen bioactivity, namely proteolysis and peptidolipid/lipid binding, elicit IgE and stimulate bystander responses to unrelated allergens. Much of this influence arises from Toll‐like receptor (TLR) 4 or TLR2 signalling and, in the case of protease allergens, the activation of additional pleiotropic effectors with strong disease linkage. Of related interest is the interaction of HDM allergens with common components of the house dust matrix, through either their binding to allergens or their autonomous modulation of immune receptors. Herein, we provide a contemporary view of how proteolysis, lipid‐binding activity and interactions with polysaccharides and polysaccharide molecular recognition systems coordinate the principal responses which underlie allergy. The power of the catalytically competent group 1 HDM protease allergen component is demonstrated by a review of disclosures surrounding the efficacy of novel inhibitors produced by structure‐based design.
Tight Evaluation of Real-Time Task Schedulability for Processor’s DVS and Nonvolatile Memory Allocation

A power-saving approach for real-time systems that combines processor voltage scaling and task placement in hybrid memory is presented. The proposed approach incorporates the task’s memory placement problem between the DRAM (dynamic random access memory) and NVRAM (nonvolatile random access memory) into the task model of the processor’s voltage scaling and adopts power-saving techniques for processor and memory selectively without violating the deadline constraints. Unlike previous work, our model tightly evaluates the worst-case execution time of a task, considering the time delay that may overlap between the processor and memory, thereby reducing the power consumption of real-time systems by 18–88%.
Preterm Birth is Associated With Increased Blood Pressure in Young Adult Women

Background While there is some evidence of elevated blood pressure later in life in preterm survivors, data on adult women are still lacking. Thus, we assessed the associations between preterm birth and blood pressure in young adult women. Methods and Results We studied 5232 young adult women who volunteered for military service in Sweden between 1990 and 2007. Anthropometric and clinic blood pressure data were collected during the medical examination at the time of conscription. There was a progressive decline in systolic and diastolic blood pressures, as well as in mean arterial pressure, with increasing gestational age. Women born preterm had an adjusted increase in systolic blood pressure of 3.8 mm Hg (95% CI, 2.5–5.1; P<0.0001) and mean arterial pressure of 1.9 mm Hg (95% CI, 0.9–2.8; P=0.0001) compared with young women born at term. Rates of systolic hypertension were also considerably higher in young women born preterm (14.0% versus 8.1%, P<0.0001), as were rates of isolated systolic hypertension. The adjusted relative risk of systolic hypertension in women born preterm was 1.72 (95% CI, 1.26–2.34; P<0.001) that of women born at term or post‐term, but there was no significant difference in the risk of diastolic hypertension (adjusted relative risk, 1.60; 95% CI, 0.49–5.20). Conclusions Young adult women born preterm display elevated systolic blood pressure and an increased risk of hypertension compared with peers born at term or post‐term.
Relationships between calf muscle density and muscle strength, mobility and bone status in the stroke survivors with subacute and chronic lower limb hemiparesis.

OBJECTIVE To determine the relationship between muscle density and neuromusculoskeletal status in stroke survivors with subacute and chronic hemiparesis. METHODS Community-dwelling adults were recruited into one of 3 groups (11 per group): subacute stroke group (SSG, <6 months post-stroke), chronic stroke group (CSG, >1 year post-stroke), or age- and gender-matched control group (CG). Muscle density, muscle mass and tibial bone status (cortical density, mass and polar stress-strain index (pSSI)) were measured bilaterally at the tibial 66% site using peripheral quantitative computed tomography. Muscle strength of ankle plantarflexors and knee extensors was assessed using isokinetic dynamometry. Mobility was assessed using the Berg Balance Scale. Univariate regression analyses by group tested whether side-to-side differences in muscle density and measures of neuromusculoskeletal status were related. RESULTS In the SSG and CG, relationships were observed for muscle density and ankle plantarflexor strength (R²= 0.365 and 0.503). Muscle density related to muscle mass in the CG only (R²= 0.889). Muscle density related to cortical bone density in the SSG (R²= 0.602) and pSSI in the CSG (R²= 0.434). CONCLUSIONS Muscle density may provide insight into the side-to-side changes in muscle and bone strength following hemiparetic stroke.
Methyltransferase‐like 21e inhibits 26S proteasome activity to facilitate hypertrophy of type IIb myofibers

Skeletal muscles contain heterogeneous myofibers that are different in size and contractile speed, with type IIb myofiber being the largest and fastest. Here, we identify methyltransferase‐like 21e (Mettl21e), a member of newly classified nonhistone methyltransferases, as a gene enriched in type IIb myofibers. The expression of Mettl21e was strikingly up‐regulated in hypertrophic muscles and during myogenic differentiation in vitro and in vivo. Knockdown (KD) of Mettl21e led to atrophy of cultured myotubes, and targeted mutation of Mettl21e in mice reduced the size of IIb myofibers without affecting the composition of myofiber types. Mass spectrometry and methyltransferase assay revealed that Mettl21e methylated valosin‐containing protein (Vcp/p97), a key component of the ubiquitin‐proteasome system. KD or knockout of Mettl21e resulted in elevated 26S proteasome activity, and inhibition of proteasome activity prevented atrophy of Mettl21e KD myotubes. These results demonstrate that Mettl21e functions to maintain myofiber size through inhibiting proteasome‐mediated protein degradation. —Wang, C. , Zhang, B. , Ratliff, A. C. , Arrington, J., Chen, J., Xiong, Y. , Yue, F. , Nie, Y. , Hu, K. , Jin, W. , Tao, W. A. , Hrycyna, C. A. , Sun, X. , Kuang, S. Methyltransferase‐like 21e inhibits 26S proteasome activity to facilitate hypertrophy of type IIb myofibers. FASEB J. 33, 9672–9684 (2019). www.fasebj. org
Combined Effects of Physical Activity, Dietary Isoflavones and 17β-Estradiol on Movement Drive, Body Weight and Bone Mineral Density in Ovariectomized Female Rats

Reduced estrogen levels occurring during menopause in woman are accompanied by a variety of disorders, e. g. , hot flushes, depressions, osteoporosis, increase of body weight, and reduced movement drive. In this study we investigated the combined effects of physical activity, estradiol substitution, and a phytoestrogen-rich diet on bone mineral density, increase of body weight, and movement drive in an animal model. Ovariectomized (OVX) female Wistar rats were either fed an isoflavone-rich diet (IRD) or substituted with 17beta-estradiol (E2) for 3 months. Sham-operated rats (Sham) and vehicle-treated OVX animals served as controls. One half of the animals had the opportunity of voluntary wheel running. OVX rats displayed an eight times lower movement activity than Sham animals. E2 treatment, but not IRD, significantly increased the movement activity of OVX rats. During 3 months the lowest increase of body weight was observed in Sham animals, the highest rate in OVX animals. Along with running activity E2 treatment, but not IRD, also lowered the increase of body weight significantly compared to OVX animals. Bone mineral density (BMD) in the trabecular area of the tibia was strongly reduced in OVX rats compared to Sham animals. In contrast to IRD, E2 substitution resulted in a protection of BMD in this area compared to OVX animals. Our data demonstrate that body weight, movement drive, and BMD are positively influenced by E2. The steroid estrogen acts in the trabecular area of the tibia in a bone-protective manner, increases movement drive and antagonizes the increase of body weight. All these effects could not be observed in animals fed an isoflavone-rich diet.
Seven-Year Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms and Their Predictors Among Older Americans

Objective: This study examined the trajectories of depressive symptoms and associated factors in older adults using an enhanced group-based trajectory modeling. Method: The study sample consisted of 7,573 adults aged ≥65 years from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (Rounds 1-7). Depressive trajectories were estimated using a group-based trajectory modeling accounting for nonrandom attrition. Results: A four-trajectory model including “persistently low” (77.7%), “increasing” (7.9%), “declining,” (5.5%), and “persistently high” (8.9%) was the best fit using methods accounting for nonrandom attrition. In comparison, methods not accounting for attrition estimated that only 3.2% of older adults were on the “persistently high” trajectory. There were significant differences in depressive trajectories by age, race/ethnicity, sex, physical, and cognitive functioning, and social connections. Discussion: Persistently high depressive symptoms affected a larger proportion of older adults than previously estimated. Depression had a more long-term and increasing course in the oldest-old.
High-intensity interval training followed by post-exercise cold-water immersion does not alter angiogenic circulating cells, but increases circulating endothelial cells.

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) induces vascular adaptations that might be attenuated by post-exercise cold-water immersion (CWI). Circulating angiogenic cells (CAC) participate in the vascular adaptations and circulating endothelial cells (CEC) indicate endothelial damage. CAC and CEC are involved in vascular adaptation. Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate post-exercise CWI during HIIT on CAC and CEC and on muscle angiogenesis-related molecules. Seventeen male subjects performed 13 HIIT sessions followed by 15 min of passive recovery (n=9) or CWI at 10° C (n=8). HIIT consisted of cycling (8-12 bouts, 90-110% peak power). The first and the thirteenth sessions were similar (8 bouts at 90% of peak power). Venous blood was drawn before exercise (baseline) and after the recovery strategy (post-recovery) in the first (pre-training) and in the thirteenth (post-training) sessions. For CAC and CEC identification lymphocyte surface markers (CD133, CD34 and VEGFR2) were used. Vastus lateralis muscle biopsies were performed pre- and post-training for protein (p-eNOSser1177) and gene (VEGF and HIF-1) expression analysis related to angiogenesis. CAC was not affected by HIIT or post-exercise CWI. Post-exercise CWI increased acute and baseline CEC number. Angiogenic protein and genes were not differently modulated by post-CWI. HIIT followed by either recovery strategy does not alter CAC number. Post-exercise CWI increases a marker of endothelial damage both acutely and chronically, suggesting that this post-exercise recovery strategy might cause endothelial damage. ●HIIT followed by CWI did not alter CAC; ●HIIT followed by CWI increased CEC; ●Post-exercise CWI might cause endothelial damage.
Integrative Analysis of Pathological Images and Multi-Dimensional Genomic Data for Early-Stage Cancer Prognosis

The integrative analysis of histopathological images and genomic data has received increasing attention for studying the complex mechanisms of driving cancers. However, most image-genomic studies have been restricted to combining histopathological images with the single modality of genomic data (e.g., mRNA transcription or genetic mutation), and thus neglect the fact that the molecular architecture of cancer is manifested at multiple levels, including genetic, epigenetic, transcriptional, and post-transcriptional events. To address this issue, we propose a novel ordinal multi-modal feature selection (OMMFS) framework that can simultaneously identify important features from both pathological images and multi-modal genomic data (i.e., mRNA transcription, copy number variation, and DNA methylation data) for the prognosis of cancer patients. Our model is based on a generalized sparse canonical correlation analysis framework, by which we also take advantage of the ordinal survival information among different patients for survival outcome prediction. We evaluate our method on three early-stage cancer datasets derived from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project, and the experimental results demonstrated that both the selected image and multi-modal genomic markers are strongly correlated with survival enabling effective stratification of patients with distinct survival than the comparing methods, which is often difficult for early-stage cancer patients.
Seasonal Effect on Pregnancy Loss Rates in Humans

Deliveries of pregnancies have been shown to have a peak incidence in late summer/ early fall at higher latitudes in the northern hemisphere. Seasonal effects on conception rates have been suggested by many studies, relying on records of birth^. ^. ^ Since birth records d o not include data on early prcgnancy losses, the probability exists that seasonal birth rates are at least partially influenced by seasonal abortion rates. An increase in abortions was reported in late winter/early spring in Britain during the years 1959-1960 and a similar trend was noted in Quebec for 1961-1966.5 A higher stillbirth frequency was also reported for the United States between 1952-1961 with the peak in March.6 Additionally, fetal loss in rats has been demonstrated to result from high environmental temperatures. ' We studied the possibility of seasonal affects on spontaneous abortions and ectopic pregnancies, in a climate with hot summers.
Complete Chloroplast Genome Sequence of a White Spruce (Picea glauca, Genotype WS77111) from Eastern Canada

Here, we present the complete chloroplast genome sequence of white spruce (Picea glauca, genotype WS77111), a coniferous tree widespread in the boreal forests of North America. This sequence contributes to genomic and phylogenetic analyses of the Picea genus that are part of ongoing research to understand their adaptation to environmental stress. ABSTRACT Here, we present the complete chloroplast genome sequence of white spruce (Picea glauca, genotype WS77111), a coniferous tree widespread in the boreal forests of North America. This sequence contributes to genomic and phylogenetic analyses of the Picea genus that are part of ongoing research to understand their adaptation to environmental stress.
Détection de mots clés et d'expressions régulières en vue de la reconnaissance d'entités nommées dans des documents manuscrits. (Keyword detection and regular expression spotting for named entity recognition in handwritten documents)

Les travaux presentes dans cette these concernent la detection de mots cles et d’expressions regulieres en vue de la reconnaissance d’entites nommees dans des documents manuscrits non contraints. Les entites nommees telles que les noms et prenoms, les noms de compagnies ou les montants numeriques constituent generalement une majeure partie de l’information d’un document. D’un point de vue industriel, la detection et la reconnaissance de ces entites nommees permettrait donc d’avoir une comprehension profonde du document traite. Les entites nommees sont des informations tres variables, dont la definition depend fortement du probleme considere. Les entites nommees liees a une problematique de tri du courier (nom et prenom de personne, type et nom de voie, nom de ville, code postal) sont par exemple differentes de celles liees a un probleme de categorisation de documents (lexique de mots clefs lies au domaine). Cette variabilite rend la detection des entitees nommees difficile. Lorsque l’on considere des images de documents, la detection et la reconnaissance des entites nommees est egalement confrontee a la problematique de reconnaissance du texte, perturbee par la variablite de l’ecriture (notamment sur les documents manuscrits), ainsi qu’au bruit lie a la numerisation. La premiere contribution de cette these est un systeme de reconnaissance de mots isoles base sur un Champs Aleatoire Conditionnel (CAC), ce qui d’apres notre bibliographie n’a pas encore ete propose. La deuxieme contribution est un systeme generique de detection de mots cles et d’expressions regulieres permettant de detecter n’importe quelle sequence dans une ligne de texte. Une structure se demarque des autres par ses performances et sa capacite a traiter des requetes tres difficiles, le BLSTM-CTC. Cette derniere semble etre la cle de la resolution du probleme initial.