Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Expression of N-acetyllactosamine and β1,4-Galactosyltransferase (β4GalT-I) During Adenoma-Carcinoma Sequence in the Human Colorectum

We set out to determine the expression profiles of glycoproteins possessing N-acetyllactosamine, a precursor carbohydrate of sialyl Lex, during colorectal cancer development. We immunohistochemically analyzed the distribution of N-acetyllactosamine as well as of β4GalT-I, a member of the β1,4-galactosyltransferase family responsible for N-acetyllactosamine biosynthesis, in normal mucosa and in adenoma and carcinoma of the human colorectum. Using monoclonal antibody H11, N-acetyllactosamine was barely detectable in the normal mucosa. In low-grade adenoma, however, N-acetyllactosamine was weakly but definitely expressed on the cell surface, and its expression level was moderately increased in high-grade adenoma and markedly increased in carcinoma in situ as well as in advanced carcinoma. To detect β4GalT-I, we used a newly developed polyclonal antibody (designated A18G), which is specific for the stem region of human β4GalT-I. Faint expression of β4GalT-I was detectable in normal mucosa, and the expression level was moderately increased in low-grade adenoma and in high-grade adenoma and markedly increased in carcinoma in situ and advanced carcinoma. The expression of N-acetyllactosamine was highly correlated with the expression of β4GalT-I in these tumor cells. These results indicate that the expression level of β4GalT-I is apparently enhanced during tumorigenesis in the colorectum and that β4GalT-I mostly directs the carcinoma-associated expression of N-acetyllactosamine on the colorectal tumor cell surface.
Spatially consistent pathloss modeling for millimeter-wave channels in urban environments

This paper consider a fundamental issue of pathloss modeling in urban environments, namely the spatial consistency of the model as the mobile station (MS) moves along a trajectory through street canyons. We show that the traditional model of power law pathloss plus lognormally distributed variations can provide misleading results that can have serious implications for system simulations. Rather, the pathloss coefficient has to be modeled as a random variable that changes from street to street, and is also a function of the street orientation. Variations of the channel gain, taken over the ensemble of the whole cell (or multiple cells) thus consist of the compound effect of these pathloss coefficient variations together with traditional shadowing variations along the trajectory of movement. Ray tracing results demonstrate that ignoring this effect can lead to a severe overestimation of shadowing standard deviation. While the effect is irrelevant for “drop-based” simulations, it can have critical impact on system simulations that require spatial consistency for large-scale movement, such as most mm-wave systems.
An External Focus of Attention Results in Greater Swimming Speed

We examined effects of attentional focus on swimming speed. Participants' task was to swim one length of a pool (16 m) using the front crawl stroke. In Experiment 1, intermediate swimmers were given attentional focus instructions related to the crawl arm stroke or the leg kick, respectively. Participants were instructed to focus on “pulling your hands back” or “pushing the instep down” (internal focus), or on “pushing the water back/down” (external focus), respectively. Swim times were significantly shorter with an external focus. In Experiment 2, a control condition was included. Times were significantly faster in the external focus compared with both the internal focus and control conditions. These findings have implications for enhancing performance in swimming.
Coordinate Suppression of ERBB2 and ERBB3 by Enforced Expression of Micro-RNA miR-125a or miR-125b*

Deregulation of micro-RNAs (miRNAs) is emerging as a major aspect of cancer etiology because their capacity to direct the translation and stability of targeted transcripts can dramatically influence cellular physiology. To explore the potential of exogenously applied miRNAs to suppress oncogenic proteins, the ERBB oncogene family was chosen with a bioinformatics search identifying targeting seed sequences for miR-125a and miR-125b within the 3′-untranslated regions of both ERBB2 and ERBB3. Using the human breast cancer cell line SKBR3 as a model for ERBB2 and ERBB3 dependence, infection of these cells with retroviral constructs expressing either miR-125a or miR-125b resulted in suppression of ERBB2 and ERBB3 at both the transcript and protein level. Luciferase constructs containing the 3′ 3′-untranslated regions of ERBB2 and ERBB3 demonstrated ∼35% less activity in miR-125a- and miR-125b-expressing cells relative to controls. Additionally, phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and AKT was suppressed in SKBR3 cells overexpressing either miR-125a or miR-125b. Consistent with suppression of both ERBB2 and ERBB3 signaling, miR-125a-or miR-125b-overexpressing SKBR3 cells were impaired in their anchorage-dependent growth and exhibited reduced migration and invasion capacities. Parallel studies performed on MCF10A cells demonstrated that miR-125a or miR-125b overexpression produced only marginal influences on the growth and migration of these non-transformed human mammary epithelial cells. These results illustrate the feasibility of using miRNAs as a therapeutic strategy to suppress oncogene expression and function.
Why Behavioural Genetics is Important for Psychiatry

Psy chia try con tin ues to suf fer from be ing split into “two cul tures” (1). From a purely bio logi cal per spec tive, men tal dis or ders have been seen as ge netic ab er ra tions that cause neu ro chemi cal and physio logi cal dys func tion. From a purely psy cho so cial per spec tive, men tal dis or ders have been seen as the re sult of bad par ent ing and so cial dis rup tion. At tempts have been made to in te grate these con cep tual worlds by ex am in ing the in ter ac tions be tween pre dis po si tion and stress (2, 3). How ever, one rarely finds re search de signs meas ur ing bio logi cal and psy cho so cial vari ables in the same sub jects.
MX2 gene expression tends to be downregulated in subjects with HLA-DQB1*0602.

OBJECTIVE There is a close association between narcolepsy and the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DQB1*0602. The detailed influence and function of this specific HLA allele with regard to narcolepsy have not yet been elucidated. Our previous report identified the myxovirus resistance 2 (MX2) gene as a narcolepsy-specific dysregulated gene; however, the report had a limitation-the control groups were not HLA matched. In this study, we examined the possibility of an association between MX2 expression and HLA haplotypes. DESIGNS The expression levels of the MX2 gene in 3 groups (24 narcolepsy with cataplexy patients; 24 age-, sex-, and HLA-DQB1 genotype-matched controls; and 24 age- and sex-matched controls without the HLA-DQB1*0602 allele) were measured by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. RESULTS The expression level of the MX2 gene tended to be downregulated in subjects carrying HLA-DQB1*0602, compared with that of the control subjects without this allele. There was no difference in the MX2 expression level between the narcolepsy subjects and the HLA-DQB1 genotype-matched control subjects. CONCLUSION Our previous finding-the narcolepsy-specific reduction of MX2 gene expression-was not replicated in this follow-up study. The expression level of the MX2 gene in white blood cells was found to be lower in subjects with the HLA-DQB1*0602 than in subjects without this allele, suggesting that there exists a relationship between the HLA-DQB1*0602 allele and MX2 gene expression. This might be a possible explanation for the strong HLA association observed in narcolepsy.
Purification of Exfoliatin Produced by Staphylococcus aureus of Bacteriophage Group 2 and Its Physicochemical Properties

An effective method for the isolation and purification of exfoliatin which has been recently reported by Melish and others as the staphylococcal toxin responsible for the scalded skin syndrome and the physicochemical properties of the purified toxin were described. From an active crude toxin produced by one of the clinical isolates of phage group 2, four types of toxic proteins which were all capable of causing the typical Nikolsky sign in neonatal mice were obtained and designated A, B, C, and D toxins. They had a molecular weight of about 24,000 and showed the same serological features in neutralization and precipitation tests, but were different from each other in showing a different single band with their respective mobilities in polyacrylamide disk electrophoresis. They were precipitated between pH 4.0 and 4.5 and lost their exfoliative capabilities. The resulting precipitates, however, could be solubilized in acetate buffer containing 0.5% sodium dodecyl sulfate, restoring their toxicities to almost the same extent as before. They were all stable when heated at 60 C for 60 min and at 100 C for 20 min, but lost their toxicities when heated at 100 C for 40 min. Additionally, the present authors observed that some staphylococcal strains not belonging to the typical phage group 2, isolated from patients with the scalded skin syndrome, were also capable of producing a similar but serologically unrelated exfoliative toxin.
Weighted tuning of a PI speed controller for induction motor

In this paper, a weighted tuning method of a PI speed controller for induction motor is presented, based on Ziegler-Nichols (Z-N) tuning formula. The method improves the problem of parameter choice, reduces the over shoot and is simple as Z-N. The control system of induction motor drive is based on direct torque control. Results of simulation show the Weighted PI controller is actually better than traditional one's.
IgLON Cell Adhesion Molecules Are Shed from the Cell Surface of Cortical Neurons to Promote Neuronal Growth*

Background: Ectodomain shedding by the metalloproteinase family affects axon guidance and neurite outgrowth. Results: IgLON family members are metalloproteinase substrates that promote neurite outgrowth in a metalloproteinase-dependent manner. Conclusion: IgON family members are shed from the surface of cortical neurons to promote neurite extension. Significance: Proteolytic cleavage of IgLON family members could have critical roles in specific targeting and synaptogenesis in cortical neurons. Matrix metalloproteinases and a disintegrin and metalloproteinases are members of the zinc endopeptidases, which cleave components of the extracellular matrix as well as cell surface proteins resulting in degradation or release of biologically active fragments. Surface ectodomain shedding affects numerous biological processes, including survival, axon outgrowth, axon guidance, and synaptogenesis. In this study, we evaluated the role of metalloproteinases in regulating cortical neurite growth. We found that treatment of mature cortical neurons with pan-metalloproteinase inhibitors or with tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-3 reduced neurite outgrowth. Through mass spectrometry, we characterized the metalloproteinase-sensitive cell surface proteome of mature cortical neurons. Members of the IgLON family of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored neural cell adhesion molecules were identified and validated as proteins that were shed from the surface of mature cortical neurons in a metalloproteinase-dependent manner. Introduction of two members of the IgLON family, neurotrimin and NEGR1, in early embryonic neurons was sufficient to confer sensitivity to metalloproteinase inhibitors in neurite outgrowth assays. Outgrowth experiments on immobilized IgLON proteins revealed a role for all IgLON family members in promoting neurite extension from cortical neurons. Together, our findings support a role for metalloproteinase-dependent shedding of IgLON family members in regulating neurite outgrowth from mature cortical neurons.
Redundant Fault-tolerant Computer Structure Based On Dynamic Reconfiguration Bus

Wang Ying, Zhou Ji-qin, Zhang Wei-gong, Ding Li-hua College of Information Engineering, Capital Normal University, Beijing, 100048, China Beijing Engineering Research Center of High Reliable Embedded System, Beijing, 100048, China Beijing Center for Mathematics and Information Interdisciplinary Sciences, Beijing, 100048, China wangyingstudio@163.com, zhoujiqin@sina.com, zwg771@139.com, dinglihua@cnu.edu. cn
Random amplified polymorphic DNA markers for discriminating Cochliomyia hominivorax from C. macellaria (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

Abstract The screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel), is one of the most important pests of livestock in the Western Hemisphere. During early immature stages it is morphologically very similar (first instars are virtually indistinguishable) to the secondary screwworm, C. macellaria (Fabricius). Here, the utility of the random amplified polymorphic DNA–polymerase chain reaction (RAPD–PCR) was explored as a technique for developing molecular genetic markers for these two species. Of the 120 arbitrary primers screened, 21 primers produced markers that were further investigated. Seven of the 21 primers produced clear and reproducible markers that were tested with DNA of five individuals from four populations of each species; five of these primers showed 12 RAPD markers that differentiated the species in all populations. Analyses of data from these seven primers also suggested that intraspecific polymorphisms exist that could be useful in distinguishing populations of screwworms. Some population genetic tools, such as genetic distance, cluster analysis and bootstrapping, were used to statistically explore these polymorphisms. The resulting statistics showed 100% support for the ability of RAPD–PCR to discriminate between the two species. Bootstrapping with data from one of the genetic distance calculations produced a tree with all individual screwworms in the correct populations, indicating that RAPD–PCR has promise for displaying intraspecific genetic variation that could be used in establishing the general geographic origin of screwworm samples.
Development of method to automatically select passpoints for close range photogrammetry in dense urban areas

This paper proposes a methodology to select passpoints from images obtained using close-range photogrammetry. In this method, matches on stereo-pairs are extracted using Scale-Invariant Feature transform (SIFT) (Lowe, 2004), and erroneous matches are removed using Random Sample Consensus (RANSAC) (Fischler et al, 1981). At this stage, a lot of candidates of passpoints are available, and the number of points should be reduced to save computation time for external orientation. Therefore, limited number of passpoints are selected in terms of spatial dispersion by using the score obtained by SIFT. As a result, almost all erroneous matches could be removed and the validation result demonstrated that the accuracy of segment lengths was acceptable.
A Dynamic Swarm Approach to Artificial Potential Field Collision Avoidance Technical Report # CSSE 1202

Path planning and collision avoidance for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) has been a growing area of research because of their increasing importance in both the civilian and military aviation sectors. This study introduces a method for implementing dynamic swarm formation and separation within an artificial potential field (APF) framework for collision avoidance. Bivariate normal APF functions were combined with field limit functions to form the basis of a collision avoidance system. Swarm rules were then implemented to allow for flexible close formation flight of clustered UASs that were headed towards clustered waypoints. Vehicles in close formation flight patterns ignore each other’s APFs and effectively combine their fields in order to decrease unnecessary APF interference with other UASs in the airspace. When combined with a genetic algorithm to optimize APF and swarm parameters, this method offered significant improvements to UAS collision avoidance in crowded airspace compared to flight without a collision avoidance algorithm, and has the potential to improve UAS flight performance in many areas outside of collision avoidance.
Room impulse responses measurement using a moving microphone

In this paper, we present a technique to record a large set of room impulse responses using a microphone moving along a tra jectory. The technique processes the signal recorded by the microphone to reconstruct the signals that would have been recorded at all possible spatial positions along the array. The speed of movement of the microphone is shown to be the key factor for the reconstruction. This fast method of recording spatial impulse responses can also be applied for the recording of head-related transfer functions.
Reply: B‐cell frequency in HCV‐related mixed cryoglobulinemia

We read with great interest the article by Holz et al. published in HEPATOLOGY. The authors provide information on immunophenotypic changes of peripheral B cells (PBLs) in 17 chronically hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients with mixed cryoglobulinemia (MC). They underlined the primary role of B cells in the pathogenesis of MC. The occurrence of B-cell subpopulations biased toward anergy and/or apoptosis was demonstrated. As unexpected findings, they reported a significant reduction of total circulating B-cell number in MC patients as compared with control populations. They concluded that, naive B cells being more prone to apoptosis and representing the largest fraction of the major B-cell compartment, their reduced frequency may contribute to the observed reduction in CD19þ Bcell number in these patients. These data, indeed, contradict many previously published observations showing an expanded number of PBLs in MC populations. Stirred by these observations, we reassessed the results of immunophenotypic analyses of PBLs assessed in 100 HCV-related MC and in 100 HCV-infected patients without MC and in 50 healthy controls. In all patients, PBLs were obtained on the same day of liver biopsy and in no case were cells thawed after cryopreservation. All had histological diagnosis of chronic hepatitis without cirrhosis. The patient groups had a comparable total lymphocyte frequency of 1,435 6 277 cells/lL in cryoglobulinemic and 1,280 6 196 cells/lL in noncryoglobulinemic patients. As shown in Fig. 1, the results demonstrate a significant enrichment of circulating B cells in MC patients. As a measure of range values, MC patients showed a CD19þ B-cell frequency higher than 20% in almost 80%. These results are not in line with data reported by Holz et al., whose observations may support the notion of compartmentalization of lymphocyte subpopulations. An altered trafficking of B cells with an increased number of naive phenotype in circulation may be proposed, in that activated B cells are selectively retained. HCV induces changes regulating lymphocyte homing, migration, or adhesion to the extracellular matrix. Furthermore, the sharp prevalence of male sex in Holz et al.’s population accounts for a distinct subgroup of cryoglobulinemic patients. They found a 2.4 male/female ratio, which is a very unusual finding. The high prevalence of females in cryoglobulinemic patients is a long-standing observation. In this context remarkable differences in sex distribution within the patients considered by Holz et al. may suggest that hormone patterns may contribute to the modification of characteristics of the B-cell immune response.
Orthodontic expansion treatment and adenotonsillectomy in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea in prepubertal children.

STUDY OBJECTIVE Rapid maxillary expansion and adenotonsillectomy are proven treatments of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in children. Our goal was to investigate whether rapid maxillary expansion should be offered as an alternative to surgery in select patients. In addition, if both therapies are required, the order in which to perform these interventions needs to be determined. DESIGN Prepubertal children with moderate OSA clinically judged to require both adenotonsillectomy and orthodontic treatment were randomized into 2 treatment groups. Group 1 underwent adenotonsillectomy followed by orthodontic expansion. Group 2 underwent therapies in the reverse sequence. SUBJECTS Thirty-two children (16 girls) in an academic sleep clinic. METHOD Clinical evaluation and polysomnography were performed after each stage to assess efficacy of each treatment modality. RESULTS The 2 groups were similar in age, symptoms, apnea-hypopnea index, and lowest oxygen saturation. Two children with orthodontic treatment first did not require subsequent adenotonsillectomy. Thirty children underwent both treatments. Two of them were still symptomatic and presented with abnormal polysomogram results following both therapies. In the remaining 28 children, all results were significantly different from those at entry (P = 0.001) and from single therapy (P = 0.01), regardless of the order of treatment. Both therapies were necessary to obtain complete resolution of OSA. CONCLUSION In our study, 87.5% of the children with sleep-disordered breathing had both treatments. In terms of treatment order, 2 of 16 children underwent orthodontic treatment alone, whereas no children underwent surgery alone to resolve OSA. Two children who underwent both treatments continued to have OSA.
CNVs and genetic medicine (excitement and consequences of a rediscovery)

The extensive variability of individual human genomes contributes to phenotypic variability. Structural genomic variants, and copy number variants (CNVs) in particular, have recently been rediscovered as contributors to the genomic plasticity and evolution and as pathoetiologic elements for both monogenic and complex traits. Herein we review some of the consequences of CNVs in the context of human inherited diseases.
Adherence to prescribed antiretroviral therapy in human immunodeficiency virus-infected children in the PENTA 5 trial

Background. Most studies of adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy in children have been retrospective or cross-sectional. Factors relating to the caregiver, the child and the medication are all considered to be important for good adherence. Methods. Adherence with taking prescribed medication was assessed by questionnaires completed at 4, 12, 24 and 48 weeks by caregivers of previously untreated HIV-infected children participating in the PENTA 5 trial, which was designed to evaluate different dual nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor therapy combinations with and without the protease inhibitor nelfinavir. The effects of several factors on adherence and the effect of adherence on virologic suppression were assessed by multivariate logistic regression. Results. Caregivers returned 266 questionnaires including at least 1 for 108 (84%) children in the trial. Nelfinavir was reported to be the most difficult drug to take (38% of questionnaires), but the difficulty decreased over time, P = 0.02. Comments on difficulties in taking and remembering drugs related to fear of disclosure and to unpleasant characteristics of the drugs. Full adherence was reported in 74% of questionnaires, did not change over time and was reported more frequently in children older than 10 years and those with symptomatic HIV disease. More children reporting full adherence achieved HIV RNA <400 copies/ml (e.g. at 48 weeks 79%vs. 50% reporting some nonadherence; overall P = 0.01). Conclusion. Good adherence with taking prescribed medication was associated with virologic response. Social factors were important in explaining nonadherence.