Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acute kidney injury: quoi de neuf?

BACKGROUND Acute kidney injury (AKI) is frequently encountered in the nephrology practice. Serum creatinine, with its many shortcomings, is still the main biomarker used to detect AKI. METHODS This review focuses on recent advances in definition, diagnosis, risk factors, and molecular mechanisms of AKI. In addition, specific AKI syndromes such as contrast-induced AKI, hepatorenal syndrome, and acute decompensated heart failure are discussed. The connection between AKI and subsequent chronic kidney disease and recent developments in renal replacement therapy are also covered. RESULTS Novel biomarkers such as cystatin C and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) are being investigated to replace serum creatinine in the detection of AKI. Recent studies suggest that intravenous (IV) fluid use is beneficial for the prevention of contrast-induced AKI, while N-acetylcysteine use is not as well established. Diuretics are clearly beneficial in the treatment of acute decompensated heart failure. Ultrafiltration is less promising and can lead to adverse side effects. Although terlipressin use in hepatorenal syndrome is associated with reduced mortality, it is not available in the United States; combination therapy with midodrine, octreotide, and albumin provides an alternative. Fluid resuscitation is frequently used in critically ill patients with AKI; however, overly aggressive fluid resuscitation is frequently associated with an increased risk of mortality. A 3-step approach that combines guided fluid resuscitation, establishment of an even fluid balance, and an appropriate rate of fluid removal may be beneficial. If fluid resuscitation is needed, crystalloid solutions are preferred over hetastarch solutions. Renal replacement therapy is the last resort in AKI treatment, and timing, modality, and dosing are discussed. Research suggests that AKI leads to an increased incidence of subsequent chronic kidney disease. However, this relationship has not been fully established and additional studies are needed for clarification. CONCLUSION Despite major advances in AKI research, serum creatinine remains the major biomarker for the detection of AKI. The following interventions have shown to be beneficial: IV fluids for contrast-induced AKI; diuretics for acute decompensated heart failure/cardiorenal syndrome; and combination therapy with midodrine, octreotide, and albumin for hepatorenal syndrome. Fluid resuscitation in a patient with AKI should be used with caution because too liberal use of fluids can be associated with increased mortality. AKI appears to be related to increased rates of subsequent chronic kidney disease, and patients with AKI should therefore be monitored closely. Recent studies on renal replacement therapy have neither revealed an optimal timing for initiation of dialysis nor a clear advantage for a specific dialysis modality.
Effects of Innovation on the Structure of Labor Market in China

In this article, two-equation dynamic model is constructed to analyze both relative and absolute effects of innovation on the demand of skilled and unskilled labor, namely if skill-biased technical change happens in China. GMM-SYS techniques are applied to panel data comprising 30 regions over 7 years from 2006 to 2012. Results provide evidence that R&D funds will leads to increasing demand of skilled workers and decreasing demand of unskilled workers. R&D expenditure grows by 1%, demand of the skilled worker will grow by 0.0364%, but the unskilled will reduce by 0.01%. However, when using the number of granted patents to represent technical change, results show to be unskilled bias. The main reason may be that most of patent subjects in China come from foreign countries, and utilization rate of patents in domestic companies is not high. Thus, comprehensively enhancing the capacity rate of independent innovation, implementing the innovation-driven strategy, are basic ways to optimize the structure of the labor market in China.
High serum level of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 predicts histological grade of intracerebral gliomas.

BACKGROUND No serum marker is currently available for the diagnosis and treatment of gliomas. Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) controls the proteolytic activity in cancer cells and cellular migration during angiogenesis. PATIENTS AND METHODS To verify the potential of PAI-1 as a serum marker for gliomas, the serum PAI-1 concentrations were measured by ELISA in 57 glioma patients and 34 healthy volunteers. RESULTS We found significantly higher serum levels in the patients with high-grade gliomas than in the healthy volunteers (p = 0.0009, unpaired t-test) and those with low-grade tumors (p = 0.0074). Furthermore, high-grade glioma patients with a low serum level of PAI-1 survived significantly longer than those with high levels (p = 0.0082). Immunohistochemical analysis using anti-PAI-1 antibody revealed dense and spotty staining in the high-grade tumor tissues from the patients with high serum PAI-1 levels. CONCLUSION These results suggest that the serum PAI-1 level can be a marker for the prediction of histological grade in intracerebral glioma.
Monetary policy shocks and the dynamics of agricultural commodity prices: evidence from structural and factor‐augmented VAR analyses

Fluctuation in commodity prices is a significant and timely issue to be studied. This study is to examine the impact of monetary policy and other macroeconomic shocks on the dynamics of agricultural commodity prices. The major contributions of this study are twofold. First, unlike other studies that use indexes, this study analyzes the commodities individually, affording the inclusion of commodityâ€ specific fundamentals such as the level of inventoryâ€”an important determinant of commodity priceâ€”in a structural VAR framework. Second, it exploits a rich data set of agricultural commodity prices which includes commodities that are usually overlooked in the literature, and extracts a common factor using the dynamic factor model to understand the extent of comovement of the prices and to gauge the extent to which macroeconomic shocks drive the â€œcomovementâ€ in a factorâ€ augmented VAR (FAVAR) framework. The findings show that monetary policy, global economic conditions, and the U.S. dollar exchange rates play an important role in the dynamics of agricultural commodity prices.
microRNA‐145 downregulates SIP1‐expression but differentially regulates proliferation, migration, invasion and Wnt signaling in SW480 and SW620 cells

microRNA‐145 (miR‐145) has been shown to act as a tumor suppressor in colorectal cancer but its role in the regulation of epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) is unclear. Ectopic expression of miR‐145 suppressed the proliferation, migration and invasion in SW480 but surprisingly enhanced these traits in its metastatic counterpart, SW620 cells, while, antimiR‐145 reversed the effects of miR‐145 in both of these human colorectal cancer cells. In SW480 and SW620 cells, SMAD‐interacting protein 1 (SIP1), was identified as a target of miR‐145, and its expression was suppressed both at mRNA and protein levels, and siRNA‐SIP1 mimicked the effects of miR‐145. Further, re‐introduction of SIP1 alone or its co‐expression with miR‐145, rescued SW480 and SW620 cells from the effects of miR‐145, indicating that the distinct functions of miR‐145 might be mediated, in part, through SIP1. Since Wnt signaling plays an essential role in EMT in CRC progression, the effects of miR‐145 on the expression of Wnt signaling intermediates and EMT markers were studied. Re‐expression of miR‐145 was found to downregulate the expression of CTNNB1, TCF4, CCND1, VIM, and SNAI, but, upregulated CDH1 expression in SW480 cells. On the other hand, miR‐145 exhibited an oncogenic potential in SW620 cells by actuating Wnt signaling and the expression of EMT‐relevant markers. These results strongly hint that the paradoxical functions of miR‐145 in the regulation of proliferation, migration and invasion might be mediated through downregulation of SIP1, and differential tuning of Wnt signaling and EMT‐mediators.
Pharmacological inhibition of DNA repair enzymes differentially modulates telomerase activity and apoptosis in two human leukaemia cell lines

Purpose: To investigate the effect of wortmannin and 3‐aminobenzamide (3‐AB) on telomerase activity and apoptosis in two human leukaemia cells. Materials and methods: MOLT‐4 (p53‐wild type) and KG1a (p53‐null) cells were irradiated with γ‐rays (3 Gy at 1.57 Gy min−1) and the effects of wortmannin and 3‐AB were evaluated. Telomerase activity was measured by polymerase chain reaction and the expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase, human telomerase RNA and telomerase‐associated protein 1 was assessed by reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction. Apoptosis was evaluated by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. Results: A radiation‐induced up‐regulation of telomerase activity was observed from 4 h post‐irradiation in both cell lines. This up‐regulation was abrogated by wortmannin and 3‐AB. Telomerase activity was maximal 24 h post‐irradiation, coinciding with an accumulation of human telomerase reverse transcriptase mRNA. Apoptosis and G2/M arrest were evident from 4 h post‐irradiation in MOLT‐4 cells. KG1a cells exhibited a G2/M block at 24 h post‐irradiation and apoptosis increased between 24 and 48 h post‐irradiation. 3‐AB abolished G2/M blockage and enhanced radiation‐induced apoptosis in both cell lines, while wortmannin increased apoptosis only in MOLT‐4 cells. Conclusions: 3‐AB inhibits the radiation‐associated telomerase activity increase and enhances apoptosis in MOLT‐4 and KG1a cells. Wortmannin, which also inhibits the radiation‐associated telomerase activity increase in both cell lines, does not modify radiation‐induced apoptosis in KG1a cells. DNA repair enzymes might be selective targets for enhancing radiosensitivity in certain tumour cells.
Follow‐up of antibody responses to human papillomavirus type 16 E7 in patients treated for cervical carcinoma

A synthetic peptide comprising amino acids 6‐35 of HPV‐16 E7 was used in an ELISA to screen sera taken from 31 cervical carcinoma patients. Sera obtained before and during treatment, and in follow‐up, were tested for the presence of antibodies to this peptide. Sixteen patients with negative pretreatment serum determination remained negative during treatment and follow‐up. Of the 15 patients with positive pretreatment sera, 12 showed a decrease in anti‐E7 6–35 antibody level during treatment. During follow‐up an increase in anti‐E76–35 antibody level was observed in 6 out of 7 patients with progressive or recurrent disease, whereas all patients who remained in complete remission showed stable or further decreasing antibody levels. During the course of disease of the 15 seropositive patients, serum anti‐E76–35 antibody levels were compared with serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC‐Ag) profiles, a clinically useful tumor marker in the management of cervical cancer patients. Similar patterns were observed in 10 out of 15 patients. The results of this study suggest that in a subset of cervical cancer patients, anti‐E76–35 antibody response against HPV‐16 E7 at least partially depends on the presence of viable tumor lesions, and that to some extent the anti‐E7 profile reflects the course of disease. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, inc.
The bacterial transposon Tn7 causes premature polyadenylation of mRNA in eukaryotic organisms: TAGKO mutagenesis in filamentous fungi.

TAGKO is a Tn7-based transposition system for genome wide mutagenesis in filamentous fungi. The effects of transposon insertion on the expression of TAGKO alleles were examined in Magnaporthe grisea and Mycosphaerella graminicola. Northern analysis showed that stable, truncated transcripts were expressed in the TAGKO mutants. Mapping of the 3'-ends of TAGKO cDNAs revealed that they all contain Tn7 end sequences, regardless of the transposon orientation. Polyadenylation signals characteristic of eukaryotic genes, preceded by stop codons in all frames, are located in both ends of the bacterial transposon. Thus, TAGKO transcripts are prematurely polyadenylated, and truncated proteins are predicted to be translated in the fungal mutants. Depending on the extent of protein truncation, TAGKO mutations in HPD4 (encoding p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase) resulted in tyrosine sensitivity in the two fungi. Similarly, a particular M.grisea CBS1 (encoding cystathionine beta-synthase) TAGKO cDNA failed to complement cysteine auxotrophy in a yeast CBS mutant. TAGKO, therefore, represents a useful tool for in vivo study of truncated gene products in filamentous fungi.
Transethnic differences in GWAS signals: A simulation study

Genome‐wide association studies (GWASs) have allowed researchers to identify thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and other variants associated with particular complex traits. Previous studies have reported differences in the strength and even the direction of GWAS signals across different populations. These differences could be due to a combination of (1) lack of power, (2) allele frequency differences, (3) linkage disequilibrium (LD) differences, and (4) true differences in causal variant effect sizes.
Modulation of Electrophysiology by Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Psychiatric Disorders: A Systematic Review

Objective Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive neuromodulation technique increasingly used to relieve symptoms of psychiatric disorders. Electrophysiologic markers, such as electroencephalography (EEG) and event-related potentials (ERP), have high temporal resolution sensitive to detect plastic changes of the brain associated with symptomatic improvement following tDCS application. Methods We performed systematic review to identify electrophysiological markers that reflect tDCS effects on plastic brain changes in psychiatric disorders. A total of 638 studies were identified by searching PubMed, Embase, psychINFPO. Of these, 21 full-text articles were assessed eligible and included in the review. Results Although the reviewed studies were heterogeneous in their choices of tDCS protocols, targeted electrophysiological markers, and disease entities, their results strongly support EEG/ERPs to sensitively reflect plastic brain changes and the associated symptomatic improvement following tDCS. Conclusion EEG/ERPs may serve a potent tool in revealing the mechanisms underlying psychiatric symptoms, as well as in localizing the brain area targeted for stimulation. Future studies in each disease entities employing consistent tDCS protocols and electrophysiological markers would be necessary in order to substantiate and further elaborate the findings of studies included in the present systematic review.
Visceral obesity, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance and cancer

This paper presents emerging evidence linking visceral adiposity and the metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) with carcinogenesis. The link between obesity and cancer has been clearly identified in a multitude of robust epidemiological studies. Research is now focusing on the role of visceral adipose tissue in carcinogenesis; as it is recognised as an important metabolic tissue that secretes factors that systemically alter the immunological, metabolic and endocrine milieu. Excess visceral adipose tissue gives rise to a state of chronic systemic inflammation with associated insulin resistance and dysmetabolism, collectively known as the MetSyn. Prospective cohort studies have shown associations between visceral adiposity, the MetSyn and increased risk of breast cancer, colorectal cancer and oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Furthermore, visceral adiposity and the MetSyn have been associated with increased tumour progression and reduced survival. The mechanisms by which visceral adiposity and the MetSyn are thought to promote tumorigenesis are manifold. These include alterations in adipokine secretion and cell signalling pathways. In addition, hyperinsulinaemia, subsequent insulin resistance and stimulation of the insulin-like growth factor-1 axis have all been linked with visceral adiposity and promote tumour progression. Furthermore, the abundance of inflammatory cells in visceral adipose tissue, including macrophages and T-cells, create systemic inflammation and a pro-tumorigenic environment. It is clear from current research that excess visceral adiposity and associated dysmetabolism play a central role in the pathogenesis of certain cancer types. Further research is required to elucidate the exact mechanisms at play and identify potential targets for intervention.
Allelic variants of hexose transporter Hxt3p and hexokinases Hxk1p/Hxk2p in strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and interspecies hybrids

The transport of sugars across the plasma membrane is a critical step in the utilization of glucose and fructose by Saccharomyces cerevisiae during must fermentations. Variations in the molecular structure of hexose transporters and kinases may affect the ability of wine yeast strains to finish sugar fermentation, even under stressful wine conditions. In this context, we sequenced and compared genes encoding the hexose transporter Hxt3p and the kinases Hxk1p/Hxk2p of Saccharomyces strains and interspecies hybrids with different industrial usages and regional backgrounds. The Hxt3p primary structure varied in a small set of amino acids, which characterized robust yeast strains used for the production of sparkling wine or to restart stuck fermentations. In addition, interspecies hybrid strains, previously isolated at the end of spontaneous fermentations, revealed a common amino acid signature. The location and potential influence of the amino acids exchanges is discussed by means of a first modelled Hxt3p structure. In comparison, hexokinase genes were more conserved in different Saccharomyces strains and hybrids. Thus, molecular variants of the hexose carrier Hxt3p, but not of kinases, correlate with different fermentation performances of yeast. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Comparing decision trees with logistic regression for credit risk analysis

Abstract Credit risk evaluation is an important and interesting problem in financial analysis domain. Several techniques like expert systems, neural networks etc. have been used for credit rating. However these methods have limitations of knowledge bottleneck, slow learning etc. Recently decision trees have been proposed as the white-box models for learning and classification. In this work an attempt has been made to evaluate decision tree learning scheme with a logistic regression classifier on default risk of agricultural loans. It has been found that the decision tree classifiers will produce good results with parsimonious models. 1. Introduction Credit-risk evaluation is a very challenging and important data mining problem in the domain of financial analysis. Many classification methods have been suggested in the literature to tackle this problem. But most of them are not accepted by the practicing experts due to various reasons. Against this background, we examine two classifiers in terms of their accuracy, True Positive and False Negatives with a view to evaluating their comparative efficacy. We use the data from two banks in India pertaining to the agricultural production loans given to farmers in and around Honavar, a backward block in Karnataka, India.
Observer-based fault detection for a dual-motor driving servo system

In this paper, the problem of fault detection for a dual-motor driving servo system is investigated. The dual-motor driving servo system is modeled as a linear system with disturbances, and the actuator and sensor faults are both considered. Based on the system model, an observer-based fault detection scheme which consists of a residual generator and a residual evaluator is proposed. An optimal residual generator based on the H∞/H∞ index is designed to guarantee a suitable trade-off between sensitivity to faults and robustness against disturbances, and then the residual evaluator including a norm-based residual evaluation function and a threshold is presented to detect the occurrence of faults. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed method.
Olfactory Cues for Oviposition Behavior in Toxorhynchites moctezuma and Toxorhynchites amboinensis (Diptera: Culicidae)

Abstract In laboratory tests gravid female Toxorhynchites moctezuma (Dyar & Knab) and Toxorhynchites amboinensis (Doleschall) were offered the choice of black oviposition jars containing a diethyl ether extract of water collected from a natural oviposition site for these species (i.e., used tires), a dilution series of 4-methylcyclohexanol, 3-methylindole, 2-methylphenol, 3-methylphenol and 4-methylphenol, or solvent. Tire water extract and all test compounds acted as oviposition attractants and stimulants for both species, with the threshold amounts required to elicit these behaviors varying between the species and among the compounds tested.
Evidence suggesting that the elevated plasma triiodothyronine concentration of rats fed on protein deficient diets is physiologically active

1. Some metabolic indicators of thyroid hormone activity have been investigated in rats fed on either protein-deficient or energy-restricted diets. 2. Rats were divided into three groups. Control animals were maintained on a diet of protein energy: total energy (P:E) value of 0.20, while the low-protein group (LP) were allowed ad lib. access to food of P:E 0.03. Energy-restricted (ER) rats were given limited amounts of a control diet (P:E 0.20) such that their rate of growth matched that of LP animals. 3. Animals fed on the LP diet had elevated plasma concentrations of both total and free triiodothyronine (T3)concentrations whereas those on the ER regimen showed values below those of controls. 4. The activities of mitochondria1 α-glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1. 1.99.5) and of the αglycerol-3-phosphate shuttle system were elevated in the liver of LP rats, but malate-aspartate shuttle operation was reduced. All three activities were reduced in ER animals. 5. Cytochrome c oxidase (EC 1.9.3.1) activity of brown adipose tissue indicated a high rate of thermogenic activity in this tissue in LP rats, but ER animals showed some evidence of below normal function. 6. The results indicate that both the raised plasma T3 of LP rats and the reduced levels observed in ER animals are physiologically significant.