Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of ADAMTS-9 and ADAMTS-20 as a Distinct ADAMTS Subfamily Related to Caenorhabditis elegans GON-1*

We demonstrate that in humans, two metalloproteases, ADAMTS-9 (1935 amino acids) and ADAMTS-20 (1911 amino acids) are orthologs of GON-1, an ADAMTS protease required for gonadal morphogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans. ADAMTS-9 and ADAMTS-20 have an identical modular structure, are distinct in possessing 15 TSRs and a unique C-terminal domain, and have a similar gene structure, suggesting that they comprise a new subfamily of human ADAMTS proteases. ADAMTS20 is very sparingly expressed, although it is detectable in epithelial cells of the breast and lung. However, ADAMTS9 is highly expressed in embryonic and adult tissues, and therefore we characterized the ADAMTS-9 protein further. Although the ADAMTS-9 zymogen has many proprotein convertase processing sites, pulse-chase analysis, site-directed mutagenesis, and amino acid sequencing demonstrated that maturation to the active form occurs by selective proprotein convertase (e.g. furin) cleavage of the Arg287–Phe288 bond. Although lacking a transmembrane sequence, ADAMTS-9 is retained near the cell surface as well as in the ECM of transiently transfected COS-1 and 293 cells. COS-1 cells transfected with ADAMTS9 (but not vector-transfected cells) proteolytically cleaved bovine versican and aggrecan core proteins at the Glu441–Ala442bond of versican V1 and the Glu1771–Ala1772bond of aggrecan, respectively. In contrast, the ADAMTS-9 catalytic domain alone was neither localized to the cell surface nor able to confer these proteolytic activities on cells, demonstrating that the ancillary domains of ADAMTS-9, including the TSRs, are required both for specific extracellular localization and for its versicanase and aggrecanase activities.
The Clinical and Economic Consequences of Screening Young Men for Genital Chlamydial Infection

Background Wide-scale application of urine-based screening of asymptomatic men for chlamydial infection has not been thoroughly assessed. Goal The goal was to compare clinical and economic consequences of three strategies: (1) no screening, (2) screening with ligase chain reaction (LCR) assay of urine, and (3) prescreening urine with a leukocyte esterase test (LE) and confirming positives with LCR. Study Design We used a decision analytic model. Results At a chlamydia prevalence of 5%, the no screening cost was $7.44 per man screened, resulting in 522 cases of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) per 100,000 men. LE-LCR was most cost-effective, preventing 242 cases of PID over no screening at an additional cost of $29.14 per male screened. The LCR strategy prevented 104 more cases of PID than LE-LCR but cost $22.62 more per male screened. For this to be more efficient than LE-LCR, the LCR assay cost needed to decline to ≤$18. Conclusion At a chlamydia prevalence of 5%, LE-LCR is the most efficient use of resources. If LCR cost decreases or chlamydia prevalence increases, the LCR strategy is favored.
On the trajectory planning of a planar elastic manipulator under gravity

Feedforward control design of flexible robot can take advantage of planning algorithm. In this paper two such algorithms have been presented, one for static case and the other for dynamic case. Both the algorithms are iterative in nature and are computationally based on the minimization of position or tracking error defined at the end-effector level. The algorithms are simple but computationally expensive. The performance is tested on a planar two-link arm through simulation and the results show the capability of the methods to compensate error due to deflection of the flexible links at the time of static condition of positioning and to track a given trajectory effectively at the time of dynamic condition of tracking under end kinematic constraints.
Tractable stability analysis for systems containing repeated scalar slope‐restricted nonlinearities

This paper proposes an LMI‐based approach for studying the stability of feedback interconnections of a finite dimensional LTI system and a nonlinear element that consists of several identical scalar nonlinearities that have restrictions on their sector and slope. The results are based on the integral quadratic constraint stability analysis framework and other recent results that give a sharp characterisation of stability multipliers for monotone, repeated scalar nonlinearities. Several examples show the effectiveness of the proposed approach; the lack of conservatism in the results is noteworthy. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
High quality rendering using ray tracing and photon mapping

Ray tracing and photon mapping provide a practical way of efficiently simulating global illumination including interreflections, caustics, color bleeding, participating media and subsurface scattering in scenes with complicated geometry and advanced material models. This halfday course will provide the insight necessary to efficiently implement and use ray tracing and photon mapping to simulate global illumination in complex scenes. The presentation will cover the fundamentals of ray tracing and photon mapping including efficient techniques and data-structures for managing large numbers of rays and photons. In addition, we will describe how to integrate the information from the photon maps in shading algorithms to render global illumination effects such as caustics, color bleeding, participating media, subsurface scattering, and motion blur. Finally, we will describe recent advances for dealing with highly complex movie scenes as well as recent work on realtime ray tracing and photon mapping.
Recurrent non-absorbable suture erosion into the bladder after a Pereyra bladder neck suspension

Delayed migration of sutures into the bladder after colposuspension procedures have been well documented in the literature. Biyani and Upsdell (1998) published a case report of late migration of the suture occurring 7 years after a Stamey endoscopic bladder neck suspension. Mandikandan et al. (2004) presented a case of intravesical foreign body granuloma post-Burch colposuspension. There are other reports of similar complications after bladder or pelvic surgery for incontinence. Most patients presented with lower urinary tract infection-like symptoms. The suture erosion and calculi formation were diagnosed by endoscopic assessment of the bladder. However, recurrent suture erosion case reports over a period of time are rare. Literature search revealed only one particular case report by Cardozo (1997) describing recurrent suture erosion following a Stamey-type endoscopic bladder neck suspension. This patient presented over a period of 2 years following the procedure. We are presenting here a case of recurrent suture erosion over even a longer period of time, 3 years and 8 years after a Pereyra bladder neck suspension procedure.
A risk of essential thrombocythemia in carriers of constitutional CHEK2 gene mutations

Germline mutations of the CHEK2 gene have been reported in some myeloid and lymphoid malignancies, but their impact on development of essential thrombocythemia has not been studied. In 16 out of 106 (15.1%) consecutive patients, newly diagnosed with essential thrombocythemia, we found one of four analyzed CHEK2 mutations: I157T, 1100delC, IVS2+1G>A or del5395. They were associated with the increased risk of disease (OR=3.8; P=0.002). The median age at ET diagnosis among CHEK2+/JAK2V617F+ patients was seven years lower than that among CHEK2−/JAK2V617F+ (52 vs. 59 years; P=0.04), whereas there was no difference in the medians of hematologic parameters between these groups. The results obtained suggest that CHEK2 mutations could potentially contribute to the susceptibility to essential thrombocythemia. The germline inactivation of CHEK2, as it seems, has no direct impact on the development of disease, but it could cause disruption of cell cycle checkpoints and initiate or support the cancerogenic process of essential thrombocythemia at a younger age.
Chapter 1 Stochastic Processes and Brownian Motion

This last point, however, raises a serious question: how well does equilibrium thermodynamics really motivate our understanding of nonequilibrium phenomena? Is it reasonable for an organometallic chemist to analyze a catalytic cycle in terms of rate-law kinetics, or for a biochemist to treat the concentration of a solute in an organelle as a bulk mixture of compounds? Under many circum­ stances, equilibrium thermodynamics suffices, but a growing number of outstanding problems in chemistry – from electron transfer in light-harvesting complexes to the chemical mechanisms behind immune system response– concern processes that are fundamentally out of equilibrium.
How Do Synaptic Coupling and Spatial Temporal Delay Influence Traveling Waves in Nonlinear Nonlocal Neuronal Networks?

We are concerned with existence, uniqueness, and stability of the traveling wave of a nonlocal model equation which incorporates spatial temporal delay due to the finite propagation velocity of action potentials along axons. In particular, we investigate how wave shape, speed, and stability vary as the synaptic coupling and the model parameters change. The synaptic coupling may be of pure excitation, lateral inhibition, or lateral excitation. We introduce two concepts: the speed index function and the stability index function. One interesting point is that we can define the stability index function through the speed index function. By using this relationship, the stability of the traveling wave can be analyzed easily. These concepts (the speed index function and the stability index function) may play very important roles in rigorous mathematical analysis of traveling waves of nonlinear singularly perturbed systems of integral differential equations. The analysis and results on the speed, the speed index f.
Non-sedating antihistamines in the treatment of chronic idiopathic urticaria using patient-reported outcomes

ABSTRACT Background: Chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) greatly impairs quality of life (QoL). Thus, patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures, using validated scoring instruments, are probably the most accurate tools available for assessing the efficacy of medications that treat CIU, such as second-generation antihistamines. Research methods: A structured search of the MEDLINE database was conducted to identify English-language papers published between 1 January 1991 and 30 September 2007 on the treatment of CIU with the second-generation antihistamines cetirizine, desloratadine, fexofenadine, and levocetirizine, and their effects on patient-reported QoL. We used the following search terms alone or in combination: ‘chronic idiopathic urticaria’; ‘pruritus’; ‘wheals’; ‘hives’; ‘second-generation antihistamines’; ‘cetirizine’; ‘desloratadine’; ‘fexofenadine’; ‘levocetirizine’; and ‘quality of life’. Scope: We evaluated the effects of second-generation antihistamines on the QoL of subjects with CIU using desloratadine as a treatment model. Desloratadine was selected because it is the most frequently assessed non-sedating second-generation antihistamine in QoL studies in patients with CIU. Findings: Desloratadine 5 mg QD improved QoL in numerous PRO studies. Treatment with desloratadine significantly (p < 0.05) lowered (better) scores in three studies (n = 364) that used validated dermatology-specific scoring instruments. Three 6-week double-blind, placebo-controlled trials (n = 553) found that desloratadine significantly (p < 0.05) improved patient-reported pruritus, sleep disruption, and interference with daily activities. Desloratadine was associated with a low incidence of adverse events and an overall tolerability profile similar to placebo. Limitations: Limitations in this review include divergence in search practices that may lead to omission of relevant research, unintentional error in data transfer, inconsistency in quality of selected papers, and potential publication bias against papers that report results from small studies. Conclusions: The favorable impact of second-generation antihistamines on the QoL of patients with CIU was demonstrated using desloratadine, the most frequently investigated drug in this field, as a treatment model.
The E3 Ligase RNF34 is a Novel Negative Regulator of the NOD1 Pathway

Background/Aims: To identify the regulator of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 1 (NOD1) and its regulatory function. Methods and Results: We performed a yeast two-hybrid screening assay and identified the E3 ligase RNF34 as a candidate partner of NOD1. Using co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) and glutathione S transferase (GST)-pull down assays, we further confirmed that RNF34 is associated with NOD1. Western blotting showed that RNF34 downregulated the stability of NOD1 and promoted its ubiquitination. Functional analysis demonstrated that RNF34 overexpression inhibited NOD1-dependent activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-γB), whereas knockdown of RNF34 using small interfering RNA increased NF-γB activation following stimulation from NOD1 overexpression or transfection of γ-D-glutamyl-meso-diaminopimelic acid. Conclusion: These findings confirm that RNF34 is a negative regulator of the NOD1 pathway through direct interaction and ubiquitination of NOD1, and suggest a novel regulatory mechanism of NOD1.
Notes on Failure

IF WRITISG QUICKESSOSE'S SESSEOF LU-Elike falling in love, like being precariously in love, it is not because one has any confidence in achieving success, but hecause one is most painfully and constantly made aware of mortality: the persistent question being, Is this the work I fail to complete, is this the "posthumous" work that will draw forth so much pity . , . The practicing writer, the writer-at-work, the writer immersed in his or her project, is not an entity at all, let alone a person, hut some curious melange of wildly varying states of mind, clustered toward what might be called the darker end of the spectrum: indecision, frustration, pain, dismay, despair, remorse, impatience, outright failure. To be honored in midstream for one's lahor would be ideal, but impossible; to be honored after the fact is always too late, for hy then another project has been hegun, another concatenation of indefinahle states. Perhaps one must ,contend with vaguely warring personalities, in some sort of seluential arrangement? -perhaps premonitions of failure are"l>ut the sours wise economy, in not risking hubris? -it cannot matter,
Challenges of passive infrared indoor localization

In this paper a new approach for locating people indoors is proposed. Since location based services become relevant for an increasing number of people, e. g. the location dependent automatic control of lighting, there is a need for unobtrusive and easy to use location systems. Especially in the field of healthcare, where the monitoring of elderly people becomes more and more important, such a system is mandatory. However, most of the existing solutions require people to wear a special hardware tag. To overcome this drawback, we propose a localization approach exploiting the thermal radiation of humans. For this purpose, existing sensor technologies are evaluated and the arising challenges and according counteractive measures are discussed. Finally, a simple triangulation based localization algorithm and the results of some early-stage experiments are presented.
Adjacent genes, for COL2A1 and the vitamin D receptor, are associated with separate features of radiographic osteoarthritis of the knee.

OBJECTIVE To study the association of the COL2A1 genotype, in relation to the vitamin D receptor (VDR) genotype, with features of radiographic osteoarthritis (ROA) in a population of elderly men and women. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed a population-based sample of 851 men and women ages 55-80 years from a large cohort study, the Rotterdam Study. We determined the prevalence of ROA of the knee according to the Kellgren/Lawrence (K/L) score and features of ROA (presence of osteophytes and narrowing of the joint space [JSN]) without considering clinical parameters of the disease. Genotypes were determined at a variable-number tandem repeats marker 1 kb downstream of the COL2A1 gene using a newly developed heteroduplexing method. The VDR genotype was previously determined by a direct molecular haplotyping polymerase chain reaction method to establish the phase of alleles at 3 adjacent restriction fragment length polymorphisms for Bsm I, Apa I, and Taq I. RESULTS We found the COL2A1 genotype to be associated with a 2-fold increased risk for JSN, but not with osteophytes or the K/L score. We had previously found the VDR genotype to be associated with osteophytes and the K/L score, but not with JSN. When the COL2A1 genotype was analyzed in combination with the VDR genotype, we found evidence suggesting that the presence of haplotypes of the 2 genes was associated with increased risk for ROA. CONCLUSION Our findings demonstrate that both the COL2A1 gene and the VDR gene are involved in ROA, but in separate features. The COL2A1 genotype is associated with JSN, while the VDR genotype is associated with osteophytes.
Development of a ceiling-robots system and its motion control

This paper proposes a ceiling-robots system, con-CEILrge, for a new type service robots by separating a human living space and a robot work space. For the realization of such robot system, a triangle-shaped omni-crawler movement platform, the ceiling structure for the platform, a crane mechanism acceptable to the slant directional traction, and motion control considering variable tention from the payload are devised. The prototype of the movement platform was built, and the basic function of the movement was evaluated. For the control issue, the SDRE internal force control with the projection method was presented and the control method was evaluted by simulation in case of two-robots formation. Through the prototyping and simulatoin, it was shown that the concept of this movement mechanism was adequate for the purpose and sufficient performance of the motion was obtained. Moreover, the control system devices for the overhead traveling robot was developed by using an This control system used Android OS type smartphone to send commands.
Epidural Ropivacaine Infusion for Postoperative Analgesia After Major Lower Abdominal Surgery--A Dose Finding Study

Ropivacaine exhibits less cardiotoxicity and causes less motor block than bupivacaine when used in equianalgesic doses.This makes ropivacaine potentially well suited for epidural infusion for postoperative analgesia. The aim of this study was to determine which of three concentrations of epidurally administered ropivacaine infused for postoperative analgesia would attenuate intravenous opioid analgesia requirements while also minimizing motor block. Forty ASA I-III patients, having major lower abdominal surgery, completed the study. They were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups: Group S, control, epidural saline (n = 10); Group 1, epidural 0.1% ropivacaine (n = 10); Group 2, epidural 0.2% ropivacaine (n = 10); and Group 3, epidural 0.3% ropivacaine (n = 10). The study was double-blind. Initial epidural analgesia was established with 0.5% ropivacaine, and then general anesthesia induced for surgery. Once in the recovery room, epidural infusions were commenced at 10 mL/h and maintained at that rate for 21 h. Intravenous patient controlled analgesia (PCA) morphine was used as required by the patients for supplemental analgesia. Total PCA morphine use was more over the 21-h period in Group S than all the ropivacaine groups, being significantly so for Group 2 (median values: Group S, 43.3 mg; Group 1, 18.7 mg; Group 2, 7.5 mg; Group 3, 19 mg; for Group 2, P = 0.03). Visual analog scale (VAS) scores on coughing were significantly lower (i.e., less pain) than control for all ropivacaine groups after 4 h of infusion and also for Groups 2 and 3 after 8 h of infusion. (Median VAS (mm) on coughing at 8 h: Group S = 70, Group 1 = 56, Group 2 = 32, Group 3 = 0; for Groups 2 and 3, P < 0.05 compared to Group S). There was a dose-related increase in the amount of motor block, with Group 3 having significantly more motor block than all other groups at 4 and 8 h. For postoperative analgesia, the epidural infusion of 0.2% ropivacaine provided the best balance of analgesia with minimal motor block. (Anesth Analg 1995;81:982-6)
The role of trust and authority in the citation behaviour of researchers

Introduction. This paper reports on an interview-based citation behaviour study, part of a wider study of trust in information resources, investigating why researchers chose to cite particular references in one of their publications. Their motivations are explored, with an emphasis on whether they regarded the reference as an authoritative and trustworthy source, and, if so, to what extent and why. Method. Semi-structured critical incident interviews were carried out with eighty-seven researchers from the UK and the USA. Analysis. The answers were analysed using qualitative techniques and then grouped under descriptive headings of the types of reasons for citation provided. These were then used to create a table of these types of reason and the frequency of their use. Results. The motivations for citing were found to be complex and multi-faceted but, in nearly all cases, researchers do regard the authority and trustworthiness of the cited source as an important factor in choosing to cite it. This suggests that citation is at least partly an acknowledgement of the intellectual influence of the content of the cited source. It was also found, however, that researchers have strong social networks of trust and collaboration. They make considerable use of these in receiving and gathering information for research and thus context is also important in their eventual citation decisions. Conclusions. Citing behaviour does include an acknowledgement of useful intellectual content, but this process cannot be separated from the researcher's position in networks of trusted social and research influence. The digital transition has provided tools to help maintain and develop these social networks and it has also made it easier for researchers to investigate the credentials of the sources of documents. This suggests that the current distinction in the literature between normative and constructionist theories of citation behaviour may not capture the nuanced and complex relationship between these two factors.
Indole Can Act as an Extracellular Signal inEscherichia coli

ABSTRACT Previous work has shown that lacZ fusions to thecysK, astD, tnaB, and gabT genes inEscherichia coli are activated by self-produced extracellular signals. Using a combination of ethyl acetate extraction, reversed-phase C18 chromatography, and thin-layer chromatography, we have purified an extracellular activating signal from E. coli supernatants. Mass spectrometry revealed a molecule with an m/z peak of 117, consistent with indole. Nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of the purified E. colifactor and synthetic indole revealed identical profiles. Using synthetic indole, a dose-dependent activation was observed withlacZ fusions to the gabT, astD, andtnaB genes. However,cysK::lacZ and several control fusions were not significantly activated by indole. Conditioned medium prepared from a tnaA (tryptophanase) mutant, deficient in indole production, supported 26 to 41% lower activation of thegabT and astD fusions. The residual level of activation may be due to a second activating signal. Activation of thetnaB::lacZ fusion was reduced by greater than 70% in conditioned medium from a tnaAmutant.