Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
First meiosis of early dictyate nuclei from primordial oocytes in mature and activated mouse oocytes

Summary Nuclei of diplotene (dictyate) primordial oocytes (PO) were transferred to metaphase II oocytes and to activated mouse oocytes using cell fusion techniques. In a metaphase II oocyte, the PO nucleus condenses within 2–3 h to bivalents which become arranged on the first meiotic spindle. After oocyte activation, homologous chromosomes segregate between the oocyte and the first polar body, and a diploid pronucleus-like nucleus reforms from the one set of dyads. This nucleus condenses in the first embryonic mitosis into 40 ‘somatic’ chromosomes which coexist in the common metaphase plate with 20 somatic chromosomes originating from the female pronucleus. Shortening of the time between fusion and activation to about 1 h prevents bivalent differentiation. The PO nucleus condenses only partially and reforms, after oocyte activation, a pronucleus-like nucleus. This nucleus gives rise at the first embryonic mitosis to 20 bivalents which coexist with 20 somatic chromosomes originating from the female pronucleus. A PO nucleus introduced into an activated egg completes the first cell cycle as an intact interphase nucleus. It never condenses in the first embryonic mitosis into bivalents, and undergoes only initial condensation (preceding bivalent differentiation). These results indicate that: (1) condensation into bivalents, meiotic spindle formation and first meiotic division can be greatly accelerated by the introduction of an early diplotene (dictyate) oocyte nucleus into a metaphase II oocyte, and (2) depending on whether the diplotene nucleus enters the first embryonic (mitotic) cell cycle after just initiating or after completing the first meiosis, it gives rise at the first cleavage division to meiotic (bivalents) or ‘somatic’ chromosomes respectively.
Pulse Wave Reflection in Currently and Previously Preeclamptic Women

Objective. Disturbed maternal endothelial function is believed to be central in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia and has been observed to persist for several years following the preeclamptic pregnancy. Endothelial dysfunction has been reported to cause increased pulse wave reflection, a measure of systemic arterial stiffness. This study tested the hypothesis that preeclampsia and a history of preeclampsia are associated with increased pulse wave reflection. Design and Methods. We carried out a cross-sectional case-control study of 26 pregnant women with preeclampsia, 26 pregnant controls, 22 normotensive nonpregnant previously preeclamptic women, and 22 nonpregnant controls. Pulse wave reflection was assessed by applanation tonometry on the radial artery. Results. Pregnant preeclamptic women had a significantly higher heart rate–adjusted augmentation index than did pregnant controls (23 ± 1 vs. 8 ± 1%, P < 0.001). The augmentation index of women with a history of preeclampsia was similar to that of the nonpregnant controls (9 ± 2 vs. 9 ± 2%, P = 0.78). In a multiple linear regression analysis (R2 = 0.76) the augmentation index of pregnant women was independently associated with a diagnosis of preeclampsia (P < 0.001) and heart rate (P < 0.001), but not with mean arterial blood pressure (P = 0.59). Conclusions. This study demonstrates that pulse wave reflection and, thus, systemic arterial stiffness are increased in pregnant women with preeclampsia, but not in normotensive nonpregnant women with a history of preeclampsia. The results support the concept of generalized vascular dysfunction in preeclampsia.
Selection from visual persistence by perceptual groups and category membership.

Following Sperling, the nature of the representation of visual information during visual persistence has been investigated by comparing partial-report (PR) and whole-report (WR) estimates of available information. A PR superiority is considered evidence for the representation of the cued stimulus dimension in visual persistence. In general, PR cues based on a physical characteristic produce a PR superiority, but PR cues based on a category distinction give no higher estimates of available information than is obtained with WR. These findings have been used to support an interpretation of visual persistence based upon a storage system metaphor (e.g., iconic memory), whereby a critical characteristic of the stored information is its "literal" precategorical nature. The present experiments explored whether there are reasonable alternative explanations for the fact that only physical PR cues typical produced a PR superiority. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrate that the effectiveness of physical PR cues depends upon the "goodness' of the perceptual groups defined by the cued dimension. Perceptual grouping within multi-letter displays was varied according to the principles of proximity (Exp. 1) and similarity (Exp. 2), and the results showed greater PR superiorities when the demand characteristics of the cues were compatible with the implied perceptual groups in the displays. Experiments 3 and 4 establish that PR cues based upon a category distinction (letter-digit) produce a PR superiority when both cue onset latency and cue uncertainty are equated across PR and WR conditions. Circular alphanumeric displays were used, and category PR cues and WR cues were either presented in separate trial blocks (Exp. 3) or intermixed at two possible cue delays relative to display onset (-1000 msec or 0 msec). A PR superiority was found in all conditions. In addition, Experiment 5 shows that the magnitude of this category PR superiority decreased systematically with increases in cue delay (-900 msec, -300 msec, +300 msec, and +900 msec), and in Experiment 6, it was found that the PR superiorities for both physical and category cues decrease at comparable rates with increased cue delay. Since perceptual grouping influences the effectiveness of physical PR cues and category PR cues produce a PR superiority under appropriate conditions, the results question the validity of interpretions of visual persistence that imply the existence of a literal, precategorical storage system. It is suggested that a multichannel view of the visual system provides a more adquate theoretical conceptualization of visual persistence.
Influence of education level on cancer survival in Sweden.

BACKGROUND While cancer survival at several sites has historically been shown to vary by education level, a current comprehensive assessment of survival following a cancer diagnosis in Sweden, a country with universal health care and cancer screening, has yet to be carried out. METHODS Using the 2006 update of the Swedish Family-Cancer Database and Cox's proportional hazards regression methods, we calculate the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval to estimate the influence of education level on site-specific cancer survival. RESULTS Significant positive associations between education level and cancer survival were observed following a diagnosis of upper aerodigestive track cancer, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, kidney cancer, urinary bladder cancer, melanoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, breast cancer, endometrial cancer, cervical cancer, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer. Although the HRs differed between cancer sites, compared with women and men completing <9 years of education, university graduates were associated with a significant 40% improved survival for all cancer sites combined. CONCLUSIONS Survival differences by education level were observed for both indolent and aggressive malignancies.
Exposure to acute physical and psychological stress alters the response of rat macrophages to corticosterone, neuropeptide Y and beta-endorphin

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of acute exposure to electric tail shock stress (ES) and a stress witnessing procedure (SW), as models for physical and psychological stress paradigms, respectively on adherence, phagocytosis and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) release from rat peritoneal macrophages. In addition, we studied the in vitro effects of corticosterone (CORT), neuropeptide Y (NPY) and beta-endorphin (BE) on adherence, phagocytosis and H2O2 release from macrophages isolated from control rats and from rats that had been exposed to ES or SW procedures 24 h earlier. ES and SW comparably diminished phagocytosis and H2O2 release, but did not influence macrophage adherence. In vitro treatment with CORT and NPY notably suppressed phagocytosis and potentiated H2O2 release from macrophages. BE suppressed both phagocytosis and H2O2 release from macrophages. Previous exposure to ES and SW altered the responsiveness of the isolated macrophages to their in vitro treatment with mediators of stress, making the cells less sensitive to the influence of CORT and NPY and to a lesser extent to BE. It could be concluded that changes in the local macrophage milieu induced by ES and SW 24 h earlier modify macrophage responses to subsequent in vitro exposure to the stress mimics, CORT, NPY and BE.
Nondaily smoking and alcohol use, hazardous drinking, and alcohol diagnoses among young adults: findings from the NESARC.

BACKGROUND Nondaily smoking and heavy alcohol use are prevalent behaviors among young adults, with nondaily smoking occurring primarily in the context of alcohol use. Although the relationship between drinking and daily smoking has been well characterized in young adults, few epidemiological investigations have investigated the association between nondaily smoking and drinking behavior. METHODS We examined Wave 1 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC; Grant et al., 2003b; n = 43,093). Young adults (aged 18 to 25 years; n = 5,838) were stratified on current smoking behavior (daily, nondaily, and nonsmokers in the past 12 months) and differences in weekly quantity of alcohol use, frequency of alcohol use, frequency of binge drinking behavior, rates of NIAAA-defined hazardous drinking, and rates of DSM-IV alcohol diagnoses were investigated. College student status was examined. RESULTS Twenty-five percent were current smokers and 7% were smoking on a nondaily basis. Seventy-one percent were current drinkers, 39% reported binge drinking at least once a month, 41% met criteria for hazardous drinking, and 18% had alcohol use disorders. Across all measures of alcohol use, there was a significant effect of smoking status, with daily smokers having greater alcohol use patterns, compared with nondaily smokers, with nonsmokers consuming the least. Nondaily smokers were more likely to report any binge drinking in the past 12 months. However, daily smokers were more likely to report daily binge drinking. With regard to hazardous drinking and alcohol use disorders, nondaily smoking conferred the greatest risk, followed by daily smoking with nonsmoking as the reference group. Multinomial logistic regression demonstrated that the odds of being a hazardous drinker were 16 times greater (95% CI 9.46-26.48) in a nondaily smoker compared with a nonsmoker, whereas the odds for a daily smoker were increased by 7-fold (95% CI 5.54-9.36). A similar pattern of results was demonstrated for DSM-IV alcohol diagnoses. No differences across college student status were observed. CONCLUSIONS The increased risk of hazardous drinking and alcohol use disorders conferred by nondaily smoking supports the findings that nondaily smoking and drinking are highly concomitant behaviors. Results such as these suggest that interventions disengaging alcohol and cigarette use patterns (e.g., smoking bans in alcohol venues) might serve to limit the occurrence of hazardous drinking among young adults at heightened risk for this behavior.
Blockade of CCL2/CCR2 signalling ameliorates diabetic nephropathy in db/db mice.

BACKGROUND CCL2/C-C chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2) signalling is suggested to play a significant role in various kidney diseases including diabetic nephropathy. We investigated the renoprotective effect of a CCR2 antagonist, RS102895, on the development of diabetic nephropathy in a type 2 diabetic mouse model. METHODS Six-week-old diabetic db/db and non-diabetic db/m mice were fed either normal chow or chow mixed with 2 mg/kg/day of RS102895 for 9 weeks. We investigated the effects of CCR2 antagonism on blood glucose, blood pressure, albuminuria and the structure and ultrastructure of the kidney. RESULTS Diabetes-induced albuminuria was significantly improved after CCR2 antagonist treatment, and glucose intolerance was improved in the RS102895-treated diabetic mice. RS102895 did not affect blood pressure, body weight or kidney weight. Mesangial expansion, glomerular basement membrane thickening and increased desmin staining in the diabetic kidney were significantly improved after RS102895 treatment. The up-regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA expression and the down-regulation of nephrin mRNA expression were markedly improved in the kidneys of RS102895-treated diabetic mice. Increased renal CD68 and arginase II and urinary malondialdehyde in diabetes were effectively attenuated by RS102895 treatment. CONCLUSION Blockade of CCL2/CCR2 signalling by RS102895 ameliorates diabetic nephropathy not only by improving blood glucose levels but also by preventing CCL2/CCR2 signalling from altering renal nephrin and VEGF expressions through blocking macrophage infiltration, inflammation and oxidative stress in type 2 diabetic mice.
Nutrients Mediate Intestinal Bacteria–Mucosal Immune Crosstalk

The intestine is the shared site of nutrient digestion, microbiota colonization and immune cell location and this geographic proximity contributes to a large extent to their interaction. The onset and development of a great many diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease and metabolic syndrome, will be caused due to the imbalance of body immune. As competent assistants, the intestinal bacteria are also critical in disease prevention and control. Moreover, the gut commensal bacteria are essential for development and normal operation of immune system and the pathogens are also closely bound up with physiological disorders and diseases mediated by immune imbalance. Understanding how our diet and nutrient affect bacterial composition and dynamic function, and the innate and adaptive status of our immune system, represents not only a research need but also an opportunity or challenge to improve health. Herein, this review focuses on the recent discoveries about intestinal bacteria–immune crosstalk and nutritional regulation on their interplay, with an aim to provide novel insights that can aid in understanding their interactions.
Monitoring of Tumor Response to Au Nanorod-Indocyanine Green Conjugates Mediated Therapy With Fluorescence Imaging and Positron Emission Tomography

Fluorescence imaging can track the expression of fluorescent protein and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose based positron emission tomography ( [18F]FDG-PET) can evaluate the changes of [18F]FDG uptake in tumor cells during the antitumor treatment. In this work, fluorescence imaging and [18F]FDG-PET were both employed to monitor tumor response to Au nanorod-indocyanine green (AuNR-ICG) conjugates mediated therapy in a subcutaneous MDA-MB-231 mouse xenograft model. Serial fluorescence and [18F]FDG-PET images following the antitumor treatment were obtained and quantitative analysis revealed significant decreases in fluorescence intensity and metabolic activity in tumors treated with AuNR-ICG conjugates under near infrared laser irradiation. The results suggest that the combination of fluorescence and [18F]FDG-PET imaging can provide a noninvasive tool to assess the tumor response to antitumor therapy on a molecular scale.
Analysis of long non-coding RNA expression profiles in gastric cancer.

AIM To investigate the expression patterns of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in gastric cancer. METHODS Two publicly available human exon arrays for gastric cancer and data for the corresponding normal tissue were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). We re-annotated the probes of the human exon arrays and retained the probes uniquely mapping to lncRNAs at the gene level. LncRNA expression profiles were generated by using robust multi-array average method in affymetrix power tools. The normalized data were then analyzed with a Bioconductor package linear models for microarray data and genes with adjusted P-values below 0.01 were considered differentially expressed. An independent data set was used to validate the results. RESULTS With the computational pipeline established to re-annotate over 6.5 million probes of the Affymetrix Human Exon 1.0 ST array, we identified 136053 probes uniquely mapping to lncRNAs at the gene level. These probes correspond to 9294 lncRNAs, covering nearly 76% of the GENCODE lncRNA data set. By analyzing GSE27342 consisting of 80 paired gastric cancer and normal adjacent tissue samples, we identified 88 lncRNAs that were differentially expressed in gastric cancer, some of which have been reported to play a role in cancer, such as LINC00152, taurine upregulated 1, urothelial cancer associated 1, Pvt1 oncogene, small nucleolar RNA host gene 1 and LINC00261. In the validation data set GSE33335, 59% of these differentially expressed lncRNAs showed significant expression changes (adjusted P-value < 0.01) with the same direction. CONCLUSION We identified a set of lncRNAs differentially expressed in gastric cancer, providing useful information for discovery of new biomarkers and therapeutic targets in gastric cancer.
Higher levels and blunted diurnal variation of cortisol in frail older women.

BACKGROUND Frailty is an important geriatric condition with increased vulnerability to stressors (e.g., infection and injury) and for developing functional dependence and mortality. Impairments in signaling pathways, including neuroendocrine alterations, are thought to be involved in the etiology of frailty, but have not been well characterized to date. We evaluated whether higher levels and blunted diurnal variation of salivary cortisol are cross-sectionally associated with frailty burden. METHODS Two hundred fourteen community-dwelling women, 80-90 years old, from the Women's Health and Aging Study participated in this study between 2004 and 2005. Seven saliva samples were collected for cortisol measurement over a 24-hour period. Main outcomes were awakening, evening, and overall mean cortisol; diurnal amplitude; and rate of decline of cortisol level during morning hours. All cortisol concentrations were log-transformed. Frailty burden was calculated, based on a previously validated tool, as the number (0-5) of the following criteria present: weakness, exhaustion, weight loss, slowness, and inactivity. RESULTS Significant positive associations were found between frailty burden and evening cortisol (beta = 0.11, p =.04), and between frailty burden and 24-hour mean cortisol (beta = 0.07, p =.03). Increasing frailty burden was significantly associated with smaller declines in cortisol during morning hours (beta = 0.04, p =.02). Frailty burden of > or =2 was associated with a smaller diurnal amplitude (beta = -0.34, p =.03). Awakening cortisol was not significantly associated with frailty burden (beta = 0.01, p =.8). All analyses included adjustments for several important confounders. CONCLUSIONS Our findings provide the first epidemiological evidence that higher levels and blunted diurnal variation of cortisol may be involved in the vulnerability and clinical presentation observed in frail older women.
Camp happiness.

In the outside world, children with serious skin conditions often face isolation and loneliness. Their peers give them nicknames, uninformed adults ask difficult questions. Once they get to Camp Horizon, however, they forget their disease, and swim, boat, stargaze, sing around the fire. They meet other children just like themselves. According to one boy, 'This place is like Heaven on Earth for me. "
Crucial role of CA cleavage sites in the cap‐snatching mechanism for initiating viral mRNA synthesis

In viral cap‐snatching, the endonuclease intrinsic to the viral polymerase cleaves cellular capped RNAs to generate capped fragments that are primers for viral mRNA synthesis. Here we demonstrate that the influenza viral polymerase, which is assembled in human cells using recombinant proteins, effectively uses only CA‐terminated capped fragments as primers for viral mRNA synthesis in vitro. Thus we provide the first in vitro system that mirrors the cap‐snatching process occurring in vivo during virus infection. Further, we demonstrate that when a capped RNA substrate contains a CA cleavage site, the functions of virion RNA (vRNA) differ from those previously described: the 5′ terminal sequence of vRNA alone is sufficient for endonuclease activation, and the 3′ terminal sequence of vRNA functions solely as a template for mRNA synthesis. Consequently, we are able to identify the vRNA sequences that are required for each of these two separable functions. We present a new model for the influenza virus cap‐snatching mechanism, which we postulate is a paradigm for the cap‐snatching mechanisms of other segmented, negative‐strand and ambisense RNA viruses.
Insertion of the endotracheal tube, laryngeal mask airway and oesophageal‐tracheal Combitube®. A 6‐month comparative prospective study of acquisition and retention skills by medical students

Objective: To assess the ability of medical students to learn and retain skills of airway manipulation for insertion of the endotracheal tube, the laryngeal mask airway (Laryngeal Mask Company, Henley‐on‐Thames, UK) and the oesophageal‐tracheal Combitube® (Kendall‐Sheridan Catheter Corp., Argyle, NY, USA). Methods: A 6‐month prospective study was conducted among fifth‐year medical students attending a 3‐week clerkship in the Division of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine in the Soroka Medical Center. All the students viewed a demonstration of insertion technique for the endotracheal tube, the laryngeal mask airway and the Combitube®, followed by formal teaching in a mannikin. At the end of the program, the insertion skills were demonstrated in the mannikin, the success rate on the first attempt was registered and the students were requested to assess (by questionnaire) their ability to execute airway manipulation (phase 1). Six months later, the students were requested to repeat the insertion technique, and a similar re‐evaluation applied (phase 2). Results: The success rate, during the first phase, at first attempts was 100% for the laryngeal mask airway and the Combitube®, compared to 57.4% for the endotracheal tube (P < 0.02), and 92.6%, 96.2% and 62.9% (P < 0.02) respectively for the second phase of the study. Conclusion: Learning and retention skills of medical students, in a mannikin, are more accentuated with the laryngeal mask airway and the Combitube® than seen with an endotracheal tube.