Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Unidirectional interaction between two intracellular calcium stores in rat phaeochromocytoma (PC12) cells.

1. A clone of the rat phaeochromocytoma cell line (PC12) was treated with nerve growth factor (NGF) for 4‐6 days and used to study caffeine‐ and bradykinin‐induced Ca2+ release from intracellular Ca2+ stores. The caffeine‐sensitive store can be depleted by Ca(2+)‐induced Ca2+ release (CICR), while the bradykinin‐induced release is mediated by inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate (IP3). The effect of Ca2+ release from these Ca2+ stores on cytosolic free Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) was measured by means of fura‐2 single cell microfluorimetry. 2. Caffeine application caused no or only a small Ca2+ release in untreated cells in normal culture medium. The caffeine‐sensitive pool could be filled by Ca2+ entry into cells through either voltage‐activated Ca2+ channels or ligand‐gated cation channels. 3. Bradykinin application produced substantial Ca2+ release in untreated cells in normal culture medium. The response was enhanced after K(+)‐depolarization of the cells. The bradykinin‐induced release of Ca2+ also caused depletion of the caffeine‐sensitive pool by CICR. However, Ca2+ released from the IP3‐sensitive store was not sequestered into the caffeine‐sensitive Ca2+ store. 4. The caffeine‐induced rise in [Ca2+]i was blocked by ryanodine in a use‐dependent manner. In addition, a substantial use‐dependent ryanodine block resulted from the bradykinin‐induced rise of [Ca2+]i and subsequent CICR. By contrast, the K(+)‐induced rise of [Ca2+]i caused only a marginal use‐dependent ryanodine inhibition of Ca2+ release. 5. Our results suggest an enhancement of the IP3‐induced [Ca2+]i rise in the cytoplasm by CICR from the caffeine‐sensitive pool. 6. A mathematical model adequately simulates our experimental data.
Effect of vitamin E on reproductive function in the mice treated with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin*

The study was conducted to determine the effects of vitamin E on reproductive performance in mice treated with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). The 75 female and 40 male mice were randomly assigned into five groups. The levels of both TCDD and vitamin E given by gavage were 0 and 0 (Control group), 100 and 0 (experimental group I), 100 and 20 (experimental group II), 100 and 100 (experimental group III), and 100 ng/kg/day and 500 mg/kg/day (experimental group IV), respectively. Males and females were mixed to mate at the ratio of 1:2 after 4-week experiment. The gavage treatments were continued until the end of gestation in female mice after mating. The results showed that the litter number, survival rate, and body weight at birth of offspring in experimental group I had significantly decreased, and the females’ pregnancy rate and pup sex ratio in experimental group I had the decreasing tendencies when compared with the control group. The litter number in experimental group III, survival rate in experimental group II and III, body weight at birth in experimental group III and IV exhibited significant increase compared with experimental group I. The female pregnancy rate in both experimental group III and IV recovered to 100%, but there were no significant differences when compared with experimental group I. The pups’ sex ratio had a gradually increasing tendency with increase of vitamin E level, but there was no significant difference among experimental group I–IV. The results suggest that TCDD could induce reproductive toxicity in mice, whereas vitamin E alleviated adverse effects on reproductive performance in mice caused by TCDD.
Extracting the Co-occurrences of DNA Maximal Repeats in both Human and Viruses

This paper aims to extract significant DNA sequences appearing in both the genomes of human and viruses. To extract the co-occurrences of DNA sequences as long as possible, this study adopts a scalable approach that is based on hadoop mapreduce programming model and can extract maximal repeats; meanwhile compute the class frequency distribution of these repeats. The genomes of human and all of 4,388 viruses available in NCBI are downloaded at 2017/1/14. To take the taxonomy of viruses into consideration for further observation, only the 2,712 viruses that had been named with genus are selected from those 4,388 viruses. In this study, the taxonomic level “genus” is as the units (classes) when comparing viruses and human for experiments. Experimental results show that the longest DNA sequence appearing in both human and viruses extracted in this study is 463 base pair (bp), and that sequence, consisting of tandem repeats as “(CTAACC)n”, appears in the 5th human chromosome and virus “Human herpesvirus 6B”. It may be attractive for virologists to have further research why there exists such a long DNA fragment existed in both human and that virus. Indeed, this study may provide a new direction for genomic sequences comparison across classesthat can provide clues to inspect the existence of the relationship between these DNA maximal repeats (genotypes) with biased class frequency distribution and the features of classes (phenotypes).
Choice of a personal physician and patient satisfaction in a health maintenance organization.

CONTEXT Being able to choose one's health care plan has been shown to increase subsequent patient satisfaction with the plan, but it is not known whether choosing one's own primary care physician affects patient satisfaction with the physician. OBJECTIVE To compare satisfaction with care between members of a group-model health maintenance organization (HMO) who chose their primary care physician and members who were assigned a physician. DESIGN Cross-sectional mailed survey with response rate of 71.4%. SETTING A large group-model HMO in northern California. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Nine questions on satisfaction with the primary care physician. SUBJECTS Random sample of HMO members 35 to 85 years of age who were impaneled with a primary care physician. RESULTS Among the 10205 survey respondents, patients who chose their personal physician (n=4748) were 16 to 20 percentage points more likely to rate their satisfaction as "excellent" or "very good" than patients who were assigned a physician (n =5457) for 9 satisfaction measures (P<.001 for each comparison). The association of choice with satisfaction was not due to physicians with higher patient satisfaction being chosen more often, or to differences in patient demographic or socioeconomic characteristics, health values, or health beliefs, or to differences in physician demographics or specialty. In a logistic regression model that adjusted for all of these characteristics, having chosen one's physician was the single predictor most strongly related to having high overall satisfaction (odds ratio, 2.18, 95% confidence interval, 1.95-2.42). CONCLUSION These results suggest that even in a setting of limited physician choice, the opportunity to select one's personal physician may influence subsequent satisfaction.
Clinical significance of striatal DOPA decarboxylase activity in Parkinson's disease.

UNLABELLED We performed dynamic PET studies with fluorodopa (FDOPA) in 9 normal volunteers and 16 patients with Parkinson's disease to investigate the applicability of dopa decarboxylase (DDC) activity measurements as useful markers of the parkinsonian disease process. METHODS From the 3-O-methyl-FDOPA (3OMFD)/PET studies, we obtained mean population values of the kinetic rate constants for 3OMFD (K1M = 0.0400 and k2M = 0.0420). We applied these values to calculate striatal DDC activity using the FDOPA compartmental model. We estimated k3D in this group using dynamic FDOPA-PET and population mean K1M and k2M values. We then applied the mean population K1M and k2M values to estimate k3D(pop) to a new group (6 normal volunteers and 11 patients) studied only with dynamic FDOPA-PET. In all FDOPA/PET studies, we calculated striatal uptake rate constants (KiFD) using a graphical method and also measured the striato-occipital ratio (SOR). RESULTS Although DDC activity has been postulated as a precise indicator of presynaptic nigrostriatal dopaminergic function, KiFD and SOR provided better between-group discrimination than did estimates of striatal DDC activity. KiFD and k3D(pop) both correlated significantly with quantitative disease severity ratings, with a similar degree of accuracy (r = 0.69 and 0.63 for k3D(pop) and KiFD, respectively; p < 0.01). CONCLUSION Although estimated striatal DDC activity correlates with clinical disability, this measure is comparably less effective for early diagnosis. We conclude that a simple estimate such as striatal KiFD is superior to k3D measurements for most clinical and research applications.
AdaptVoD - An Adaptive Video-on-Demand Platform for Mobile Devices

Video-on-demand (VoD) is a technology that enables a subscriber to watch a selected video from a library at any time. This scheme is different from pure video broadcasting in the sense that it provides the subscriber the control to receive video content according to his interests. The Adapt VoD project is a multi-institutional effort to provide a flexible VoD platform for mobile devices. Adapt VoD use a context-aware approach to adapt the multimedia content and transmission parameters to the channel and device characteristics (by means of a transcoding process and adaptive modulation), saving computer and network resources and improving the system's performance.
Towards the profiling of the Arabidopsis thaliana plasma membrane transportome by targeted proteomics

Plant membranes bear a variety of transporters belonging to multigene families that are affected by environmental and nutritional conditions. In addition, they often display high‐sequence identity, making difficult in‐depth investigation by current shot‐gun strategies. In this study, we set up a targeted proteomics approach aimed at identifying and quantifying within single experiments the five major proton pumps of the autoinhibited H+ATPases (AHA) family, the 13 plasma membrane intrinsic proteins (PIP) water channels (PIPs), and ten members of ammonium transporters (AMTs) and nitrate transporter (NRT) families. Proteotypic peptides were selected and isotopically labeled heavy versions were used for technical optimization and for quantification of the corresponding light version in biological samples. This approach allowed to quantify simultaneously nine PIPs in leaf membranes and 13 PIPs together with three autoinhibited H+ATPases, two ammonium transporters, and two NRTs in root membranes. Similarly, it was used to investigate the effect of a salt stress on the expression of these latter 20 transporters in roots. These novel isoform‐specific data were compared with published transcriptome information and revealed a close correlation between PIP isoforms and transcripts levels. The obtained resource is reusable and can be expanded to other transporter families for large‐scale profiling of membrane transporters.
Mechanism of the noradrenergic motor control on the lower oesophageal sphincter in the cat.

1. The release of labelled acetylcholine has been measured on lower oesophageal sphincter (l.o.s.) muscular strips previously loaded with tritiated choline. 2. This release was greatly increased by noradrenaline 10(‐5) g/ml. and unaffected by atropine 10(‐6) g/ml. , but it was practically abolished if hemicholinium 5.2 X 10(‐4) M was added to the incubating bath containing the tritiated choline. 3. A radioautographic study of sections of l.o. s. strips loaded with tritiated choline showed that the radioactivity was mainly located in the nervous cells of the enteric plexuses and that the muscular cells were very poorly labelled. 4. The increased release of acetylcholine induced by noradrenaline did not occur in a Ca2+‐free or in a hypermagnesic Tyrode (12 mM). 5. Tetrodotoxin 10(‐6) G/ml. had no effect on the increased release of acetylcholine induced by noradrenaline. In addition, sucrose gap recordings showed that the depolarizing effect of noradrenaline on l.o. s. muscular strips was unaffected by tetrodotoxin 10(‐6) g/ml. 6. It is concluded that acetylcholine released in the l.o. s. under the action of noradrenaline originated from the synaptic endings of the cholinergic intramural neurones.
A molecular mechanism of action of theophylline: Induction of histone deacetylase activity to decrease inflammatory gene expression

The molecular mechanism for the anti-inflammatory action of theophylline is currently unknown, but low-dose theophylline is an effective add-on therapy to corticosteroids in controlling asthma. Corticosteroids act, at least in part, by recruitment of histone deacetylases (HDACs) to the site of active inflammatory gene transcription. They thereby inhibit the acetylation of core histones that is necessary for inflammatory gene transcription. We show both in vitro and in vivo that low-dose theophylline enhances HDAC activity in epithelial cells and macrophages. This increased HDAC activity is then available for corticosteroid recruitment and predicts a cooperative interaction between corticosteroids and theophylline. This mechanism occurs at therapeutic concentrations of theophylline and is dissociated from phosphodiesterase inhibition (the mechanism of bronchodilation) or the blockade of adenosine receptors, which are partially responsible for its side effects. Thus we have shown that low-dose theophylline exerts an anti-asthma effect through increasing activation of HDAC which is subsequently recruited by corticosteroids to suppress inflammatory genes.
Are Vibrissae Viable Sensory Structures for Prey Capture in Northern Elephant Seals, Mirounga angustirostris?

Little is known about the tactics northern elephant seals (NES) use to capture prey due to the difficulties in observing these animals underwater. NES forage on vertically migrating prey at depths >500 m during day and at night where light levels are negligible. Although NES have increased visual sensitivity in deep water, vision is likely a limited sensory modality. Still images of NES foraging show that the mystacial vibrissae are protracted before prey capture. As a representative phocid, harbor seals can follow hydrodynamic trails using their vibrissae, and are highly sensitive to water velocity changes. In lieu of performance data, vibrissal innervation can be used as a proxy for sensitivity. Although comparative data are few, seals average 1,000 to 1,600 axons per vibrissa (five to eight times more than terrestrial mammals). To test the hypothesis that NES have increased innervation as other pinnipeds, vibrissae from the ventral‐caudal mystacial field from nine individuals were sectioned and stained for microstructure (trichrome) and innervation (Bodian silver stain). Follicles were tripartite and consisted of lower and upper cavernous sinuses separated by a ring sinus containing an asymmetrical ringwulst. The deep vibrissal nerve penetrated the follicular capsule at the base, branched into several bundles, and coursed through the lower cavernous sinus to the ring sinus. Axons in the ring sinus terminated in the ringwulst and along the inner conical body. NES averaged 1,584 axons per vibrissa. The results add to the growing body of evidence that phocids, and perhaps all pinnipeds, possess highly sensitive mystacial vibrissae that detect prey. Anat Rec, 298:750–760, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Cutting Edge: T Cells Trigger CD40-Dependent Platelet Activation and Granular RANTES Release: A Novel Pathway for Immune Response Amplification1

Platelets, in addition to exerting hemostatic activity, contribute to immunity and inflammation. The recent report that platelets express CD40 led us to hypothesize that CD40 ligand (CD40L)-positive T cells could bind to platelets, cause their activation, and trigger granular RANTES release, creating a T cell recruitment feedback loop. Platelets were cocultured with resting or activated autologous T cells and their activation was assessed by P-selectin expression. RANTES binding to endothelial cells was assessed by confocal microscopy, and its biological activity was demonstrated by a T cell adhesion assay. CD40L-positive T cells induced platelet activation through a contact-mediated, CD40-dependent pathway resulting in RANTES release, which bound to endothelial cells and mediated T cell recruitment. Soluble CD40L induced the same events via p38, but not extracellular signal-regulated kinase, phosphorylation. These results show the existence of a novel platelet-dependent pathway of immune response amplification which brings these nonimmune cells close to the level of pathogenic relevance traditionally attributed to classical immune cells.
Burden of cervical cancer and role of screening in India

Abstract Background: Cervical cancer is a major cause of cancer mortality in women and more than a quarter of its global burden is contributed by developing countries. In India, in spite of alarmingly high figures, there is no nationwide government-sponsored screening program. This study was conducted to assess the burden of cervical cancer in India and review the performance characteristics of available cervical cancer screening tools, so as to provide evidence-based recommendations for application of most practically suited screening test to be used in resource-poor field settings. Materials and Methods: MEDLINE and Web of Science electronic database were searched from January 1990 to December 2015, using the keywords such as “cervical cancer”, “screening”, “early detection”, “cervical cytology” and “visual inspection”, and their corresponding MeSH terms in combination with Boolean operators “OR, AND. ” Two authors independently selected studies that are published in English and conducted in India. A total of 11 studies were found to be relevant and eligible to be included in the present study. Results: In India, cervical cancer contributes to approximately 6–29% of all cancers in women. The age-adjusted incidence rate of cervical cancer varies widely among registries; highest is 23.07/100,000 in Mizoram state and the lowest is 4.91/100,000 in Dibrugarh district. The pooled estimates of sensitivity and specificity of visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA), magnified VIA, visual inspection with Lugol's iodine (VILI), cytology (Pap smear), and human papillomavirus DNA were found to be 67.65% and 84.32%, 65.36% and 85.76%, 78.27% and 87.10%, 62.11% and 93.51%, and 77.81% and 91.54%, respectively. Conclusions: In developing countries because of lack of necessary infrastructure and quality control, high-quality cytology screening may not be feasible for wide-scale implementation. Hence, cervical cancer screening program based on visual screening test such as VIA/VILI should be adopted as an integral part of primary health-care setup in resource-poor countries like India.
Density–related changes in sexual selection in red deer

In sexually dimorphic mammals, high population density is commonly associated with increased mortality of males relative to females and with female–biased adult sex ratios. This paper investigates the consequences of these changes on the distribution of male breeding success, the intensity of competition for females and the opportunity for sexual selection. After the red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) population of the North Block of Rum (Inner Hebrides) was released from culling, female numbers rose and male numbers declined, leading to an adult sex ratio of around one male to two females. This change was the result of increased mortality of males relative to females during the first two years of life; of increased emigration rates by young males; and of reduced immigration by males from outside the study area. The increasing bias in the adult sex ratio affected the timing of breeding as well as the distribution of mating success in males. As the adult sex ratio became increasingly biased towards females, the degree of skew in mating success (calculated across all harem–holders) increased, but mature males defended harems for shorter periods and a higher proportion of males held harems. In addition, a higher proportion of calves were fathered by immigrant males and the proportion fathered by males born in the study area declined. These results support the convention that, where high population density is associated with a female–biased adult sex ratio, competition for mates is likely to decline.
Six- and 24-month follow-up of pool exercise therapy and education for patients with fibromyalgia

Objective. To follow patients with fibromyalgia six and 24 months after they finished a six-month treatment programme. The programme comprised pool exercise therapy, adjusted to the patients' limitations, and education based on their health problems. Methods. Twenty-six patients were examined six and 24 months after the completion of the treatment programme with the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), SF-36, the 6-minute walk test, and the Grippit measure. The values obtained at the follow-up examinations were compared with the baseline and post-treatment values. Results. As compared with baseline, symptom severity (FIQ, SF-36), physical function (FIQ, SF-36, 6-minute walk test) and quality of life (SF-36) still showed improvements six months after the completion of treatment (p<0.05). Pain (FIQ, SF-36), fatigue (FIQ, SF-36), walking ability, and social function (SF-36) still showed improvements 2 years after the completion of the programme as compared with the baseline values (p<0.05). No significant changes were found for these variables, when the values obtained at the two follow-up examinations were compared with those of the post-treatment examination. Conclusions. Improvements in symptom severity, physical function and social function were still found six and 24 months after the completed treatment programme.
Ardeco: automatic region detection and conversion

We present Ardeco, a new algorithm for image abstraction and conversion from bitmap images into vector graphics. Given a bitmap image, our algorithm automatically computes the set of vector primitives and gradients that best approximates the image. In addition, more details can be generated in user-selected important regions, defined from eye-tracking data or from an importance map painted by the user. Our algorithm is based on a new two-level variational parametric segmentation algorithm, minimizing Mumford and Shah's energy and operating on an intermediate triangulation, well adapted to the features of the image.