Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In vitro evaluation of the role of platelet-activating factor and interleukin-8 in Mannheimia haemolytica-induced bovine pulmonary endothelial cell injury.

OBJECTIVE To develop an in vitro model of the bovine alveolar-capillary interface and to evaluate the roles of interleukin-8 (IL-8) and platelet-activating factor (PAF) in neutrophil-mediated endothelial injury induced by infection with Mannheimia haemolytica. SAMPLE POPULATION Cultured bovine pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells, freshly isolated bovine neutrophils, and monocyte-derived bovine macrophages. PROCEDURE A coculture system was developed in which endothelial cells were grown to confluence in tissue culture inserts, neutrophils were added to the inserts, and macrophages were added to tissue culture wells. Mannheimia haemolytica-derived lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or supernatant was added to activate macrophages, and inhibitors of PAF or IL-8 were added to the insert. Endothelial cell cytotoxicity and permeability (ie, albumin leakage) and neutrophil activation (ie, adhesion, degranulation [lactoferrin expression], and superoxide production) were assessed. RESULTS The addition of M haemolytica-derived LPS to bovine macrophages in the coculture system resulted in significant increases in endothelial cell cytotoxicity and permeability and neutrophil degranulation and adhesion. Inhibition of IL-8 reduced endothelial cell permeability and neutrophil degranulation induced by exposure to M haemolytica-derived supernatant, whereas inhibition of PAF decreased superoxide release by neutrophils. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE In vitro activation of bovine macrophages by M haemolytica-derived LPS resulted in neutrophil activation and neutrophil-mediated endothelial damage. Neutrophil-mediated endothelial injury and neutrophil degranulation were, at least in part, mediated by IL8, whereas PAF promoted superoxide release by neutrophils in this in vitro system designed to mimic the in vivo events that occur during the early stages of bovine pneumonic pasteurellosis.
Postnatal depression and SIDS: A prospective study

Abstract This study was carried out in response to reports from nurses to a post‐neonatal mortality review committee that a number of mothers of infants dying from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) appeared to be depressed before the child's death. The New Zealand Cot Death Study was a 3 year multicentre case‐control study for SIDS. There were 485 SIDS cases in the post‐neonatal age group in the study regions, and these were compared with 1800 control infants. Infants of mothers with either a self‐reported use of medication for psychiatric disorders, a history of hospitalization for psychiatric illness or a family history of postnatal depression had a significantly increased risk of SIDS compared with infants of mothers who were either not using medication (odds ratio (OR) = 1.45; 95% confidence interval (Cl) = 1.03, 2.04) or were without a history of hospitalization for psychiatric illness (OR = 1.80; 95% Cl = 1.03, 3.11) or a family history of postnatal depression (OR = 1.61; 95% Cl = 1.06, 2.43). All mothers of infants born in the study areas over a 1 year period were eligible to complete a questionnaire measuring maternal depression when the infant was 4 weeks of age. Thirty‐three infants subsequently died from SIDS, and they were compared with 174 controls. Fifteen (45.5%) of the mothers of cases were depressed, compared with 28 (16.1%) of the mothers of controls. This prospective study found that the infants of those mothers that were depressed were more likely to die from SIDS than those of the non‐depressed mothers (OR = 4.35; 95% Cl = 1.82, 10.37) and postnatal depression as a risk factor for SIDS was still significant after controlling for possible confounding variables (OR = 3.37; 95% Cl = 1.24, 9.12). We conclude that postnatal depression is a risk factor for SIDS.
Support MUOS All IP Services with the FEC Enhancement

The MUOS (mobile user objective system) relies on 3GPP technology to support the mobile users, which is similar to satellite-UMTS. It involves transmission of the same encoded data over channels that may vary significantly. In order to achieve all IP services in the MUOS ground stations, one of the most important IP quality of service (QoS) parameters, bit-error-rate (BER), required to support IP traffic in the other DoD wideband/narrowband satellite communication systems can be as low as 10-8. The channel code specified in 3GPP is an 8-state PCCC (parallel concatenated constituent code) which suffers BER "flooring" as early as 10-6. It is hard to achieve BER of 10 -8 without a significantly large channel SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) margin. This unnecessarily large margin may impose a problem in closing the user-to-base (U2B) and base-to-user (B2U) link budget limit and the availability. This paper presents an enhanced approach to overcome this shortfall in supporting all IP services within the MUOS and to the other DoD SATCOM systems
Effects of Long-Chain Fatty Acids on Growth of Rumen Bacteria

The effects of low concentrations of long-chain fatty acids (palmitic, stearic, oleic, and vaccenic) on the growth of seven species (13 strains) of rumen bacteria were investigated. Except for Bacteroides ruminicola and several strains of Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens, bacterial growth was not greatly affected by either palmitic or stearic acids. In contrast, growth of Selenomonas ruminantium, B. ruminicola, and one strain of B. fibrisolvens was stimulated by oleic acid, whereas the cellulolytic species were markedly inhibited by this acid. Vaccenic acid (trans Δ11 18:1) had far less inhibitory effect on the cellulolytic species than oleic acid (cis Δ9 18:1). Inclusion of powdered cellulose in the medium appeared to reverse both inhibitory and stimulatory effects of added fatty acids. However, there was little carry-over effect observed when cells were transferred from a medium with fatty acids to one without. Considerable variation in response to added fatty acids was noted among five strains of B. fibrisolvens. In general, exogenous long-chain fatty acids appear to have little, if any, energy-sparing effect on the growth of rumen bacteria.
Effect of CTP Synthetase Regulation by CTP on Phospholipid Synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae *

CTP synthetase (EC 6.3.4.2, UTP:ammonia ligase (ADP-forming)) activity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is allosterically regulated by CTP product inhibition. Amino acid residue Glu161 in the URA7-encoded andURA8-encoded CTP synthetases was identified as being involved in the regulation of these enzymes by CTP product inhibition. The specific activities of the URA7-encoded andURA8-encoded enzymes with a Glu161 → Lys (E161K) mutation were 2-fold greater when compared with the wild-type enzymes. The E161K mutant URA7-encoded andURA8-encoded CTP synthetases were less sensitive to CTP product inhibition with inhibitor constants for CTP of 8.4- and 5-fold greater, respectively, than those of their wild-type counterparts. Cells expressing the E161K mutant enzymes on a multicopy plasmid exhibited an increase in resistance to the pyrimidine poison and cancer therapeutic drug cyclopentenylcytosine and accumulated elevated (6–15-fold) levels of CTP when compared with cells expressing the wild-type enzymes. Cells expressing the E161K mutation in theURA7-encoded CTP synthetase exhibited an increase (1.5-fold) in the utilization of the Kennedy pathway for phosphatidylcholine synthesis when compared with control cells. Cells bearing the mutation also exhibited an increase in the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine (1.5-fold), phosphatidylethanolamine (1.3-fold), and phosphatidate (2-fold) and a decrease in the synthesis of phosphatidylserine (1.7-fold). These alterations were accompanied by an inositol excretion phenotype due to the misregulation of theINO1 gene. Moreover, cells bearing the E161K mutation exhibited an increase (1.6-fold) in the ratio of total neutral lipids to phospholipids, an increase in triacylglycerol (1.4-fold), free fatty acids (1.7-fold), and ergosterol ester (1.8-fold), and a decrease in diacylglycerol (1.3-fold) when compared with control cells. These data indicated that the regulation of CTP synthetase activity by CTP plays an important role in the regulation of phospholipid synthesis.
Fuzzy adaptive observer and filter backsteppping control for nonlinear systems

In this paper, a new fuzzy adaptive control approach is developed for a class of SISO nonlinear systems with unmeasured states. Using fuzzy logic systems to approximate the unknown nonlinear functions, a fuzzy adaptive observer based on filters is introduced for state estimation as well as system identification. Under the framework of the backstepping design, fuzzy adaptive output feedback control is constructed recursively. By theoretical analysis, all the closed-loop signals are semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded, and the tracking errors are proved to converge to a small residual set around the origin.
The Future of Scattered Trees in Agricultural Landscapes

Abstract: Mature trees scattered throughout agricultural landscapes are critical habitat for some biota and provide a range of ecosystem services. These trees are declining in intensively managed agricultural landscapes globally. We developed a simulation model to predict the rates at which these trees are declining, identified the key variables that can be manipulated to mitigate this decline, and compared alternative management proposals. We used the initial numbers of trees in the stand, the predicted ages of these trees, their rate of growth, the number of recruits established, the frequency of recruitment, and the rate of tree mortality to simulate the dynamics of scattered trees in agricultural landscapes. We applied this simulation model to case studies from Spain, United States, Australia, and Costa Rica. We predicted that mature trees would be lost from these landscapes in 90–180 years under current management. Existing management recommendations for these landscapes—which focus on increasing recruitment—would not reverse this trend. The loss of scattered mature trees was most sensitive to tree mortality, stand age, number of recruits, and frequency of recruitment. We predicted that perpetuating mature trees in agricultural landscapes at or above existing densities requires a strategy that keeps mortality among established trees below around 0.5% per year, recruits new trees at a rate that is higher than the number of existing trees, and recruits new trees at a frequency in years equivalent to around 15% of the maximum life expectancy of trees. Numbers of mature trees in landscapes represented by the case studies will decline before they increase, even if strategies of this type are implemented immediately. This decline will be greater if a management response is delayed.
Pathogenic Mechanisms in Periodontal Disease

Periodontal diseases have been considered as "infections" in which micro-organisms initiate and maintain the destructive inflammatory response. Host-mediated tissue destruction occurs via complement activation and the release of lysosomal enzymes, and connective tissue matrix metalloproteinases. Microbial enzymes may damage connective tissues directly, and, together with toxic metabolites and structural materials, are thought to disrupt the reparative activities of fibroblasts and cells of the immune defenses. The significance and relative contributions of host and microbial factors to the disease process remain unresolved. Environmental changes in the gingival sulcus and periodontal pocket and tissues, the degree of the host response and nutrient availability, concomitant with disease progression, compromise tissue metabolism and repair, and allow for enhanced or de novo expression of microbial virulence factors, such as proteases, which alter microbial pathogenicity. Proteolytic destruction of specific antibodies and complement by both viable and non-viable bacterial cells may retard phagocytic killing and removal of pathogens, thus prolonging the inflammatory response. Bacterial products may indirectly mediate tissue destruction by stimulating release of matrix metalloproteinases or by proteolytically inactivating the specific inhibitors of these enzymes.
Sparse Gaussian Processes for Continuous-Time Trajectory Estimation on Matrix Lie Groups

Continuous-time trajectory representations are a powerful tool that can be used to address several issues in many practical simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) scenarios, like continuously collected measurements distorted by robot motion, or during with asynchronous sensor measurements. Sparse Gaussian processes (GP) allow for a probabilistic non-parametric trajectory representation that enables fast trajectory estimation by sparse GP regression. However, previous approaches are limited to dealing with vector space representations of state only. In this technical report we extend the work by Barfoot et al. [1] to general matrix Lie groups, by applying constant-velocity prior, and defining locally linear GP. This enables using sparse GP approach in a large space of practical SLAM settings. In this report we give the theory and leave the experimental evaluation in future publications.
EFFECTS OF NG‐NITRO‐l‐ARGININE ON PRESSURE NATRIURESIS IN ANAESTHETIZED RABBITS

1. We tested the effects of blockade of nitric oxide synthesis on renal function under conditions of controlled renal artery pressure. Our hypothesis was that endogenous nitric oxide plays a role in the natriuresis that accompanies increased renal perfusion pressure. We used a novel technique which employed an extracorporeal circuit to produce step changes over a wide range of renal artery pressures in pentobarbitone‐anaesthetized rabbits.
Diastolic function assessed from tagged MRI predicts heart failure and atrial fibrillation over an 8-year follow-up period: the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis.

OBJECTIVES The strain relaxation index (SRI), a novel diastolic functional parameter derived from tagged magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), is used to assess myocardial deformation during left ventricular relaxation. We investigated whether diastolic function indexed by SRI predicts heart failure (HF) and atrial fibrillation (AF) over an 8-year follow-up. METHODS As a part of the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis, 1544 participants free of known cardiovascular disease (CVD) underwent tagged MRI in 2000-02. Harmonic phase analysis was used to compute circumferential strain. Standard parameters, early diastolic strain rate (EDSR) and the peak torsion recoil rate were calculated. An SRI was calculated as difference between post-systolic and systolic times of the strain peaks, divided by the EDSR peak. It was normalized by the total interval of relaxation. Over an 8-year follow-up period, we defined AF (n = 57) or HF (n = 36) as combined (n = 80) end-points. Cox regression assessed the ability of SRI to predict events adjusted for risk factors and markers of subclinical disease. Integrated discrimination index (IDI) and net reclassification index (NRI) of SRI, compared with conventional indices, were also assessed. RESULTS The hazard ratio for SRI remained significant for the combined HF and AF end-points as well as for HF alone after adjustment. For the combined end-point, IDI was 1.5% (P < 0.05) and NRI was 11.4% (P < 0.05) for SRI. Finally, SRI was more robust than all other existing cardiovascular magnetic resonance diastolic functional parameters. CONCLUSION SRI predicts HF and AF over an 8-year follow-up period in a large population free of known CVD, independent of established risk factors and markers of subclinical CVD.
Motor-Evoked Potentials Reflect Spinal Cord Function in Post-Traumatic Syringomyelia

The purpose of this study was to examine electrophysiologic abnormalities, including motor-evoked potentials, in a patient with post-traumatic syringomyelia before and after syringopleural shunting. A patient with C5 quadriplegia presented with pain, ascending sensory loss, and new weakness in the left upper extremity two yr after spinal cord injury. MRI revealed a syrinx extending from C2 to T12. We measured central motor conduction times (CMCTs) to the biceps, median F-wave latencies, needle electromyography and motor nerve conduction studies. Six days before surgery, CMCTs were 9.0 ms on the left and 7.8 ms on the right (normal<8.0), median F-waves were absent on the left and needle EMG revealed evidence of denervation in the left biceps. Fifteen days after syringopleural shunting at the T7 level, CMCTs had dropped to 6.9 ms on the left and 4.6 ms on the right; the left median F-wave reappeared with a normal latency. Repeat MRI revealed the syrinx to be smaller in diameter. These results suggest that CMCTs measured from magnetic stimulation of the motor cortex may be useful in the diagnosis of post-traumatic syringomyelia, as well as for following such patients postoperatively.
Roles of Arabidopsis ATP/ADP isopentenyltransferases and tRNA isopentenyltransferases in cytokinin biosynthesis

Cytokinins, which are central regulators of cell division and differentiation in plants, are adenine derivatives carrying an isopentenyl side chain that may be hydroxylated. Plants have two classes of isopentenyltransferases (IPTs) acting on the adenine moiety: ATP/ADP isopentenyltransferases (in Arabidopsis thaliana, AtIPT1, 3, 4–8) and tRNA IPTs (in Arabidopsis, AtIPT2 and 9). ATP/ADP IPTs are likely to be responsible for the bulk of cytokinin synthesis, whereas it is thought that cis-zeatin (cZ)-type cytokinins are produced possibly by degradation of cis-hydroxy isopentenyl tRNAs, which are formed by tRNA IPTs. However, these routes are largely hypothetical because of lack of in vivo evidence, because the critical experiment necessary to verify these routes, namely the production and analysis of mutants lacking AtIPTs, has not yet been described. We isolated null mutants for all members of the ATP/ADP IPT and tRNA IPT gene families in Arabidopsis. Notably, our work demonstrates that the atipt1 3 5 7 quadruple mutant possesses severely decreased levels of isopentenyladenine and trans-zeatin (tZ), and their corresponding ribosides, ribotides, and glucosides, and is retarded in its growth. In contrast, these mutants possessed increased levels of cZ-type cytokinins. The atipt2 9 double mutant, on the other hand, lacked isopentenyl- and cis-hydroxy isopentenyl-tRNA, and cZ-type cytokinins. These results indicate that whereas ATP/ADP IPTs are responsible for the bulk of isopentenyladenine- and tZ-type cytokinin synthesis, tRNA IPTs are required for cZ-type cytokinin production. This work clarifies the long-standing questions of the biosynthetic routes for isopentenyladenine-, tZ-, and cZ-type cytokinin production.
Dscam1 in Pancrustacean Immunity: Current Status and a Look to the Future

The Down syndrome cell adhesion molecule 1 (Dscam1) gene is an extraordinary example of diversity: by combining alternatively spliced exons, thousands of isoforms can be produced from just one gene. So far, such diversity in this gene has only been found in insects and crustaceans, and its essential part in neural wiring has been well-characterized for Drosophila melanogaster. Ten years ago evidence from D. melanogaster showed that the Dscam1 gene is involved in insect immune defense and work on Anopheles gambiae indicated that it is a hypervariable immune receptor. These exciting findings showed that via processes of somatic diversification insects have the possibility to produce unexpected immune molecule diversity, and it was hypothesized that Dscam1 could provide the mechanistic underpinnings of specific immune responses. Since these first publications the quest to understand the function of this gene has uncovered fascinating insights from insects and crustaceans. However, we are still far from a complete understanding of how Dscam1 functions in relation to parasites and pathogens and its full relevance for the immune system. In this Hypothesis and Theory article, we first briefly introduce Dscam1 and what we know so far about how it might function in immunity. By focusing on seven questions, we then share our sometimes contrasting thoughts on what the evidence tells us so far, what essential experiments remain to be done, and the future prospects, with the aim to provide a multiangled view on what this fascinating gene has to do with immune defense.
Coding of episodic memory in the human hippocampus

Significance Neurocomputational models hold that episodic memories are represented by sparse, stimulus-specific neural codes. In tests of episodic memory, single-unit recording studies of the human hippocampus have found neurons that operate as general novelty detectors or general familiarity detectors. Here, we investigated whether neurons can be found that sparsely code some recently studied items and not others. In the left hippocampus, but not the amygdala, we found that small fractions of neurons exhibited strong responses to specific repeated words. The remaining large fractions of neurons exhibited a concurrent reduction in firing rates relative to novel words. Both findings are consistent with predictions made by neurocomputational models of how episodic memory is coded in the hippocampus. Neurocomputational models have long posited that episodic memories in the human hippocampus are represented by sparse, stimulus-specific neural codes. A concomitant proposal is that when sparse-distributed neural assemblies become active, they suppress the activity of competing neurons (neural sharpening). We investigated episodic memory coding in the hippocampus and amygdala by measuring single-neuron responses from 20 epilepsy patients (12 female) undergoing intracranial monitoring while they completed a continuous recognition memory task. In the left hippocampus, the distribution of single-neuron activity indicated that only a small fraction of neurons exhibited strong responding to a given repeated word and that each repeated word elicited strong responding in a different small fraction of neurons. This finding reflects sparse distributed coding. The remaining large fraction of neurons exhibited a concurrent reduction in firing rates relative to novel words. The observed pattern accords with longstanding predictions that have previously received scant support from single-cell recordings from human hippocampus.
Normal Breast Milk Limits the Development of Colitis in IL-10–Deficient Mice

Background and AimsThis study examined the role of breast milk in neonatal bacterial colonization of the colon and disease progression in IL-10–deficient mice. MethodsIL-10–deficient mice were cross-fostered at birth and raised until weaning with a normal mother. Results were compared with normal pups cross-fostered to an IL-10–deficient mother. Mice were examined at various ages for histologic disease, levels of colonic bacteria, and proinflammatory cytokine secretion. ResultsIL-10–deficient mice that had been cross-fostered to a normal mother demonstrated normal levels of colonic adherent bacteria and reduced TNF&agr; and IFN&ggr; secretion at 2 to 12 weeks of age. Histologic disease was significantly reduced up to 12 weeks of age. Normal mice cross-fostered to an IL-10–deficient mother had increased levels of adherent bacteria at 2 and 4 weeks and increased IFN&ggr; secretion. This group also demonstrated slight inflammation up until 12 weeks of age. ConclusionBreast milk has a role in neonatal bacterial colonization. Changing the luminal environment of IL-10–deficient mice during the neonatal period alters the natural disease course.