Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
hMSH2 expression is associated with paclitaxel resistance in ovarian carcinoma, and inhibition of hMSH2 expression in vitro restores paclitaxel sensitivity.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the association between paclitaxel resistance, gene copy number, and gene expression in ovarian carcinoma, and to restore paclitaxel sensitivity in a paclitaxel-resistant ovarian carcinoma cell line by using hMSH2-targeting siRNA. Paclitaxel-resistant ovarian carcinoma cell lines OC3/TAX300 and OC3/TAX50 and their parental cell lines were analyzed by comparative genomic hybridization, and the expression levels of hMSH2 in ovarian carcinoma cell lines and tissues were determined. An siRNA targeted to hMSH2 mRNA was used to transfect a paclitaxel-resistant cell line. We assessed the morphological features, proliferation, and susceptibility to apoptosis of the transfected cells after paclitaxel treatment. Chromosome 2p21 (gene locus of hMSH2) was amplified in OC3/TAX300 cells. hMSH2 was overexpressed in 93.9 and 47.6% of paclitaxel-treated and untreated ovarian carcinoma tissue samples (P=0.0001), respectively. hMSH2 was overexpressed in 93.3 and 54.2% of low-differentiated and moderate-to-highly differentiated ovarian carcinoma tissue samples (P=0.0008), respectively. hMSH2 expression was inhibited in the OC3/TAX300 cells transfected with hMSH2 siRNA. hMSH2 siRNA increased paclitaxel sensitivity, inhibited OC3/TAX300 cell proliferation (G2/M arrest), and increased susceptibility to apoptosis. hMSH2 expression was upregulated in ovarian carcinoma cell lines and tissues after paclitaxel treatment. hMSH2 overexpression is related to paclitaxel resistance and poor prognosis. Inhibition of hMSH2 expression in vitro restores paclitaxel sensitivity in paclitaxel‑resistant ovarian carcinoma cell lines and indicates a new direction in adjuvant therapy for ovarian carcinoma.
Intravascular ultrasound radiofrequency analysis after optimal coronary stenting with initial quantitative coronary angiography guidance: an ATHEROREMO sub-study.

AIMS To investigate whether the use of intravascular ultrasound virtual histology (IVUS-VH) leads to any improvements in stent deployment, when performed in patients considered to have had an optimal percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) by quantitative coronary angiography (QCA). METHODS AND RESULTS After optimal PCI result (residual stenosis by QCA<30%), IVUS-VH was performed in 100 patients by protocol, with the option to use the information left to the discretion of the operators. Patients were categorised as: Group1 (n=54), where the IVUS-VH findings were used to evaluate the need for further optimisation of the stent deployment; and Group2 (n=46), where the IVUS-VH was documentary such that the stenting results were considered optimal according to QCA. Optimal stent deployment on IVUS-VH was defined as: normal stent expansion, absence of stent malapposition, complete lesion coverage as indicated by a plaque burden (PB%) between 30-40% and necrotic core confluent to the lumen<10% or PB%<30% at the 5 mm proximal and distal to the stent. The first IVUS-VH in all patients demonstrated the achievement of optimal stent deployment, incomplete lesion coverage, stent under-expansion and stent-edge dissection in 60%, 31%, 20% and 8% of patients, respectively. There was no stent malapposition. In Group 1, 25 patients had optimal stent deployment and did not require further intervention, whilst in 29 patients further intervention was needed (additional stent, n=18; post-dilatation, n=29). Overall optimal stent deployment was finally achieved in 52/54 patients (96%) in Group 1 and 35/46 (76%) of Group 2, p<0.05. CONCLUSIONS IVUS-VH may have a role in facilitating optimal stent implantation and complete lesion coverage.
An IoT-Based Intelligent System for Real-Time Parking Monitoring and Automatic Billing

This paper describes an internet of things (IoT)-based parking sensing system that deploys a robust outdoor vehicle localization and recognition methodologies. Although, parking occupancy monitoring systems have made a considerable progress, smart parking payment is rarely studied in smart parking research. This paper proposes a new low-cost sensor system allowing real-time parking occupancy monitoring along with parking payment without requiring any user/driver interaction. The proposed on-board vehicle transceiver device (VTD) sensor, will be deployed without having to install new components on each parking lot. It has benefits in terms of detection and payment reliability, and reduced expense by reducing the system complexity, infrastructure investment, and battery replacement expense. A robust vehicle recognition and parking occupancy monitoring is achieved using two-fold sensing approach. It is a sequence of motion detector and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) sensing techniques. The sensor is triggered when the vehicle is within a parking area thanks to a proposed radio frequency (RF) wake-up technique. As consequence, the energy consumption is optimized and the VTD has a power saving scheme with a power consumption as low as $20\ \mu \mathrm{W}$ at 3 V supply. The VTD can be seamlessly integrated into the intelligent vehicular ad-hoc networks (inVANETs).
Characterisation of the effects of caffeine on sleep in the rat: a potential model of sleep disruption

Abstract Caffeine is known to disrupt sleep and its administration to human subjects has been used to model sleep disruption. We previously showed that its effects on sleep onset latency are comparable between rats and humans. This study evaluated the potential use of caffeine as a model of sleep disruption in the rat, by assessing its effects on sleep architecture and electroencephalogram (EEG) frequency spectrum, and using sleep-promoting drugs to reverse these effects. Rats were implanted with radiotelemetry devices for body temperature, EEG, electromyogram and locomotor activity. Following recovery, animals were dosed with caffeine (10 mg/kg) alone or in combination with zolpidem (10 mg/kg) or trazodone (20 mg/kg). Sleep was scored for the subsequent 12 h using automated analysis software. Caffeine dose-dependently disrupted sleep: it increased WAKE time, decreased NREM (non-REM) sleep time and NREM bout duration (but not bout number), and decreased delta activity in NREM sleep. It also dose-dependently increased locomotor activity and body temperature. When given alone, zolpidem suppressed REM whilst trazodone increased NREM sleep time at the expense of WAKE, increased NREM bout duration, increased delta activity in NREM sleep and reduced body temperature. In combination, zolpidem attenuated caffeine’s effects on WAKE, whilst trazodone attenuated its effects on NREM sleep, NREM bout duration, delta activity, body temperature and locomotor activity. Caffeine administration produced many of the signs of insomnia that were improved by two of its most successful current treatments. This model may therefore be useful in the study of new drugs for the treatment of sleep disturbance.
Wingless homolog Wnt11 suppresses bacterial invasion and inflammation in intestinal epithelial cells

The Wnt pathway controls cell fate during development and homeostasis in self‐renewing tissues. Wnt signaling is involved in the activation of proinflammatory mediators in inflammatory disorders. However, these studies are focus on the responses of the monocytes to the inflammatory cytokines. How Wnt modulates the host responses to bacteria is unexplored. We reported here that Wnt11 expression was elevated after Salmonella infection in intestinal epithelia cells. We further demonstrated that pathogenic bacteria Salmonella regulate Wnt11 expression and location in vivo. Moreover, we found less Salmonella invasion in the cells with Wnt11 overexpression comparing to the normal cells. Whereas IL‐8 in the Wnt11 transfected cells was undetectable, it was easily detectable in the cells with low level of Wnt11. Inhibition of Wnt led to higher IL‐8 expression comparing to the normal cells after Salmonella infection. Functionally, Wnt11 overexpression inhibited the Salmonella‐induced apoptosis and suppressed the inflammatory NF‐kappaB and JNK activities. AvrA is a bacterial protein that stabilizing beta‐catenin, the down‐stream of Wnt. We found that Wnt11 expression and transcriptional activity were regulated by Salmonella AvrA. Overall, Wnt11 is a novel and important contributor to intestinal homeostasis and host defense.
Control algorithms for dynamic attenuators.

PURPOSE The authors describe algorithms to control dynamic attenuators in CT and compare their performance using simulated scans. Dynamic attenuators are prepatient beam shaping filters that modulate the distribution of x-ray fluence incident on the patient on a view-by-view basis. These attenuators can reduce dose while improving key image quality metrics such as peak or mean variance. In each view, the attenuator presents several degrees of freedom which may be individually adjusted. The total number of degrees of freedom across all views is very large, making many optimization techniques impractical. The authors develop a theory for optimally controlling these attenuators. Special attention is paid to a theoretically perfect attenuator which controls the fluence for each ray individually, but the authors also investigate and compare three other, practical attenuator designs which have been previously proposed: the piecewise-linear attenuator, the translating attenuator, and the double wedge attenuator. METHODS The authors pose and solve the optimization problems of minimizing the mean and peak variance subject to a fixed dose limit. For a perfect attenuator and mean variance minimization, this problem can be solved in simple, closed form. For other attenuator designs, the problem can be decomposed into separate problems for each view to greatly reduce the computational complexity. Peak variance minimization can be approximately solved using iterated, weighted mean variance (WMV) minimization. Also, the authors develop heuristics for the perfect and piecewise-linear attenuators which do not require a priori knowledge of the patient anatomy. The authors compare these control algorithms on different types of dynamic attenuators using simulated raw data from forward projected DICOM files of a thorax and an abdomen. RESULTS The translating and double wedge attenuators reduce dose by an average of 30% relative to current techniques (bowtie filter with tube current modulation) without increasing peak variance. The 15-element piecewise-linear dynamic attenuator reduces dose by an average of 42%, and the perfect attenuator reduces dose by an average of 50%. Improvements in peak variance are several times larger than improvements in mean variance. Heuristic control eliminates the need for a prescan. For the piecewise-linear attenuator, the cost of heuristic control is an increase in dose of 9%. The proposed iterated WMV minimization produces results that are within a few percent of the true solution. CONCLUSIONS Dynamic attenuators show potential for significant dose reduction. A wide class of dynamic attenuators can be accurately controlled using the described methods.
Additive inhibition of dendritic cell allostimulatory capacity by alcohol and hepatitis C is not restored by DC maturation and involves abnormal IL-10 and IL-2 induction.

BACKGROUND Excessive alcohol use results in impaired immunity, and it is associated with increased incidence and progression of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Here we investigated the effects of HCV infection and alcohol on myeloid dendritic cells (DC) that are critical in antiviral immunity. METHODS Immature and mature DCs were generated from monocytes of chronic HCV infected patients (HCV-DC) and controls (N-DC) with IL-4 plus granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in the presence or absence of alcohol (25 mM). DC allostimulatory capacity was tested in mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) and cytokine production by ELISA. RESULTS Allostimulatory capacity of HCV-DCs was reduced compared to N-DCs and it was further inhibited by alcohol treatment (p < 0.01). MLR was also decreased with alcohol-treated N-DCs. DC phenotypic markers and apoptosis were comparable between HCV-DCs and N-DCs irrespective of alcohol treatment. However, HCV-DCs and alcohol-treated N-DCs exhibited elevated IL-10 and reduced IL-12 production. Reduced MLR with HCV-DCs and its further inhibition by alcohol coexisted with decreasing IL-2 levels (p < 0.017). DC maturation partially improved but failed to fully restore the reduced allostimulatory function of either alcohol-treated or alcohol-naïve HCV-DCs (p < 0.018). CONCLUSIONS Alcohol and HCV independently and together inhibit DC allostimulatory capacity, increase IL-10, reduce IL-12 and IL-2 production that cannot be normalized by DC maturation. HCV and alcohol interact to modulate innate and adaptive immune responses via dendritic cells.
Transcriptional and Phenotypic Responses of Listeria monocytogenes to Chlorine Dioxide

ABSTRACT Significant food-borne disease outbreaks have occurred from consumption of ready-to-eat foods, including produce, contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Challenging food matrices (e.g., cantaloupe, sprouts) with limited processing steps postharvest to reduce pathogen loads have underscored a need for new mitigation strategies. Chlorine dioxide (ClO2) is increasingly being used in produce and other food systems to reduce food-borne pathogen levels. The goal of this study was to characterize the transcriptional response and survival of L. monocytogenes 10403S exposed to ClO2. The transcriptional profile of log-phase cells exposed to 300 mg/liter ClO2 for 15 min was defined by whole-genome microarray. A total of 340 genes were significantly differentially expressed. Among the differentially expressed genes, 223 were upregulated (fold change ≥ 1.5; adjusted P value < 0.05) in role categories responsible for protein fate, cellular processes, and energy metabolism. There were 113 and 16 genes differentially expressed belonging to regulatory networks of σB and CtsR, respectively. We assessed L. monocytogenes 10403S survival after exposure to 100, 300, and 500 mg/liter aqueous ClO2 in brain heart infusion (BHI) broth; there was a significant difference between cells exposed to 500 mg/liter ClO2 and those exposed to all other conditions over time (P value < 0.05). Isogenic ΔsigB and ΔctsR mutants exposed to 300 mg/liter ClO2 were more sensitive to ClO2 than the wild type under the same conditions. These results provide an initial insight into the mechanisms that L. monocytogenes employs to survive sublethal ClO2 and further our understanding of the inactivation mechanisms of this increasingly used sanitizer.
Quantitative analysis of measurement overhead for integrity verification

As the use of cloud computing and autonomous computing increases, integrity verification of the software stack used in a system becomes a critical issue. In this paper, we analyze the internal behavior of IMA (Integrity Measurement Architecture), one of the most well-known integrity verification frameworks employed in the Linux kernel. For integrity verification, IMA measures all executables and their configuration files in a trusty manner using TPM (Trust Platform Module). Our analysis reveals that there are two obstacles in IMA, measurement overhead and nondeterminism. To address these problems, we propose two novel techniques, called batch extend and core measurement. The former is a technique that accumulates the measured values of executables/files and extends them into TPM in a batch fashion. The second technique measures some specified executables/files only so that it verifies the core integrity of a system in which a user or a remote party is interested. Real implementation based evaluation shows that our proposal can reduce the booting time from 122 to 23 seconds, while supporting the same integrity verification capability of the default IMA policy.
An OspA serotyping system for Borrelia burgdorferi based on reactivity with monoclonal antibodies and OspA sequence analysis

A total of 136 Borrelia burgdorferi sensu latu strains from various biological sources (ticks, human skin, and cerebrospinal fluid) and geographical sources (Europe and North America) were investigated by Western blot (immunoblot) with eight monoclonal antibodies against different epitopes of the outer surface protein A (OspA). On the basis of the differential reactivities of these monoclonal antibodies, seven OspA serotypes were defined. As determined by 16S rRNA sequence analysis, these serotypes correlated well with recently delineated genospecies: serotype 1 corresponds to B. burgdorferi sensu strictu, serotype 2 corresponds to group VS461, and serotypes 3 to 7 correspond to Borrelia garinii sp. nov. (G. Baranton, D. Postic, I. Saint Girons, P. Boerlin, J.-C. Piffaretti, M. Assous, and P. A. D. Grimont, Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 42:378-383, 1992). Antigenic differences were confirmed by partial sequence analysis of OspA of representatives of each serotype. Comparative sequence analysis suggested that serotype 5 OspA resulted from genetic recombination of serotype 4 and 6 ospA genes. Serotype 2 (group VS461) was most prevalent among European skin isolates (49 of 62 isolates). Among all B. garinii strains included in this study, serotype 6 was most frequently found in ticks and only rarely in human skin and cerebrospinal fluid, whereas serotypes 4 and 5 were isolated from patients but never from ticks. Our data suggest different pathogenic potentials and organotropisms of distinct OspA serotypes and raise the question of true antigenic variation among B. garinii strains.
Software-Defined Network Design driven by Availability Requirements

In Software Defined Networking (SDN), the controller locations are mainly constrained by delays between switches and controllers, and between the controllers themselves. In addition to the delay requirements, the availability of the connections between switches and controllers is also a key issue for control plane performance. Here, we explore the idea of having a spanning tree substructure called the spine, whose links can be upgraded to have high availability in order to support availability requirements for the control paths (routing paths between switches and controllers). We formulate an optimization model of the joint controller placement and spine design problem for SDN networks, under delay, availability and path redundancy requirements.Numerical results are presented showing the trade-offs between the number of controllers, delay requirements and upgrade cost.
Mechanism of Action of TiF4 on Dental Enamel Surface: SEM/EDX, KOH-Soluble F, and X-Ray Diffraction Analysis

This in vitro study aimed to evaluate the action of TiF4 on sound and carious bovine and human enamel. Sound (S) and pre-demineralised (DE) bovine and human (primary and permanent) enamel samples were treated with TiF4 (pH 1.0) or NaF varnishes (pH 5.0), containing 0.95, 1.95, or 2.45% F for 12 h. The enamel surfaces were analysed using SEM-EDX (scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) (n = 10, 5 S and 5 DE) and KOH-soluble fluoride was quantified (n = 20, 10 S and 10 DE). Hydroxyapatite powder produced by precipitation method was treated with the corresponding fluoride solutions for 1 min (n = 2). The formed compounds were detected using X-ray diffraction (XRD). All TiF4 varnishes produced a coating layer rich in Ti and F on all types of enamel surface, with micro-cracks in its extension. TiF4 (1.95 and 2.45% F) provided higher fluoride deposition than NaF, especially for bovine enamel (p < 0.0001). It also induced a higher fluoride deposition on DE samples compared to S samples (p < 0.0001), except for primary enamel. The Ti content was higher for bovine and human primary enamel than human permanent enamel, with some differences between S and DE. The XRD analysis showed that TiF4 induced the formation of new compounds such as CaF2, TiO2, and Ti(HPO4)2·H2O. In conclusion, TiF4 (>0.95% F) interacts better, when compared to NaF, with bovine and human primary enamel than with human permanent enamel. TiF4 provoked higher F deposition compared to NaF. Carious enamel showed higher F uptake than sound enamel by TiF4 application, while Ti uptake was dependent on the enamel condition and origin.
Three distinct chromatin domains in telomere ends of polytene chromosomes in Drosophila melanogaster Tel mutants

Drosophila melanogaster telomeric DNA is known to comprise two domains: the terminal tract of retrotransposons (HeT-A, TART and TAHRE) and telomere-associated sequences (TAS). Chromosome tips are capped by a protein complex, which is assembled on the chromosome ends independently of the underlying terminal DNA sequences. To investigate the properties of these domains in salivary gland polytene chromosomes, we made use of Tel mutants. Telomeres in this background are elongated owing to the amplification of a block of terminal retroelements. Supercompact heterochromatin is absent from the telomeres of polytene chromosomes: electron microscopy analysis identifies the telomeric cap and the tract of retroelements as a reticular material, having no discernible banding pattern, whereas TAS repeats appear as faint bands. According to the pattern of bound proteins, the cap, tract of retroelements and TAS constitute distinct and non-overlapping domains in telomeres. SUUR, HP2, SU(VAR)3-7 and H3Me3K27 localize to the cap region, as has been demonstrated for HP1. All these proteins are also found in pericentric heterochromatin. The tract of retroelements is associated with proteins characteristic for both heterochromatin (H3Me3K9) and euchromatin (H3Me3K4, JIL-1, Z4). The TAS region is enriched for H3Me3K27. PC and E(Z) are detected both in TAS and many intercalary heterochromatin regions. Telomeres complete replication earlier than heterochromatic regions. The frequency of telomeric associations in salivary gland polytene chromosomes does not depend on the SuUR gene dosage, rather it appears to be defined by the telomere length.
Molecular Cloning, Developmental Expression, and Phosphorylation of Ribosomal Protein S6 in the Endocrine Gland Responsible for Insect Molting*

Phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 is requisite for prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH)-stimulated specific protein synthesis and subsequent ecdysteroidogenesis in the prothoracic glands of the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta To better understand the role of S6 in regulating ecdysteroidogenesis, S6 cDNA was isolated from a Manduca prothoracic gland cDNA library and sequenced. The deduced protein is comprised of 253 amino acids, has a molecular weight of 29,038, and contains four copies of a 10-amino acid motif defining potential DNA-binding sites. This Manduca S6 possesses a consensus recognition sequence for the p70s6k binding domain as well as six seryl residues at the carboxyl-terminal sequence of 17 amino acids. Phosphoamino acid analysis revealed that the phosphorylation of Manduca prothoracic gland S6 is limited exclusively to serine residues. Although alterations in the quantity of S6 mRNA throughout the last larval instar and early pupal-adult development were not well correlated with the hemolymph ecdysteroid titer, developmental expression and phosphorylation of S6 were temporally correlated with PTTH release and the hemolymph ecdysteroid titer. These data provide additional evidence that S6 phosphorylation is a critical element in the transduction pathway leading to PTTH-stimulated ecdysteroidogenesis.