Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Microtubules cut loose at the cell cortex

The ability of the microtubule cytoskeleton to rapidly and locally reorganize itself in response to intra- and extracellular signals is essential to its wide range of functions. A site of tightly regulated microtubule dynamics—and the major interface between the microtubule cytoskeleton and the extracellular environment—is the cell cortex, where the selective stabilization and destabilization of microtubule plus-ends is required for normal cell division, morphogenesis and migration. In a recent study, we found that the cortex of Drosophila S2 and D17 cells is coated with the microtubule severing enzyme and plus-end depolymerase, Kat-60, which actively suppresses microtubule growth and stability along the cell edge. We have proposed that cortical Kat-60 functions by uncapping plus-ends, thereby activating another microtubule depolymerase, KLP10A, preloaded onto the end. The localized destruction of microtubule plus-ends at a specific cortical could feed into larger regulatory pathways, such as those in control of the actin cytoskeleton, to influence cell polarization and motility.
Comparison of ageing results for transformer oil-paper insulation subjected to thermal ageing in mineral oil and ageing in retardant oil

The properties of insulation paper immersed in ageing-retardant oil and mineral oil were studied through a 264 days ageing experiment. Measurements of the color of the oil, the furfural concentration in the oil, water concentration, the degree of polymerization, and the acid concentration in the paper were performed. The results show that the ageing-retardant oil cannot only resist the oxidation of the oil itself, but also the ageing of the paper immersed within. The relevant inhibition mechanisms were studied. This paper demonstrates the ageing-retardant oil is capable of bounding water molecules. In addition, the esterification, which can resist the hydrolysis of the insulation paper, was studied through infrared spectrum analysis. Furthermore, this paper proposes that the combination of esterification and the hydrogen bonds will contribute to the anti-ageing ability.
Thr270Ile in embC (Rv3793) Is Not a Marker for Ethambutol Resistance in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex

We thank Goude et al. for their extensive study of the role of embC (Rv3793) in ethambutol (EMB) resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (9). Their finding that the Thr270Ile change on its own plays no role in EMB resistance is of particular importance (9). Clinical studies had found this mutation in numerous EMB-resistant but also some EMB-sensitive isolates (13, 15, 16, 19-21). However, given that this mutation usually coincided with additional mutations in embCAB, its relevance for EMB resistance remained unclear (15). We note that this particular embC single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) had been detected in a number of further instances but not discussed in the context of EMB resistance. First, it is present in Mycobacterium bovis AF2122/97 and the two closely related vaccine strains M. bovis BCG strain Pasteur 1173P2 and BCG strain Tokyo 172, both of which are sensitive to EMB (1, 8, 17, 18, 22). Second, it was found in all Mycobacterium africanum West African 1 strains (5444 04 and 11821 03) and West African 2 strains (4141 04 and GM 0981) sequenced as part of the M. tuberculosis Phylogeographic Diversity Sequencing Project (3, 7, 10). Third, it occurs in all M. tuberculosis Indo-Oceanic lineage 1 strains (K21, K93, T17, T83, and 95 0545), for which valid sequence information is available (7). Fourth, the orthologs of the closest, fully sequenced relatives of the M. tuberculosis complex (MTBC) (M. leprae TN, M. avium 104, M. avium k10, M. ulcerans Agy99, and M. marinum; deposited in the TB Database under gene family cluster ID 360180271) also display an Ile at this position (7). In contrast, all evolutionary “modern” M. tuberculosis strains (lineages 2 to 4) have the Thr (2, 4, 5, 7, 11, 12, 14, 23). This demonstrates that Ile is the ancestral amino acid at position 270 of EmbC in MTBC rather than a marker for EMB resistance, which agrees with the findings by Goude et al. (9). Moreover, the geographic variation in the frequency of Thr270Ile in the aforementioned clinical studies is in line with this conclusion. With 47 and 32% of strains, this mutation was most common in two studies from India (20, 21). Conversely, lineage 1 strains are known not to be frequent in either Germany or Uzbekistan, as confirmed by the fact that Thr270Ile was found only in 3% of strains (6, 10, 15).
Acute Myelogenous Leukemia at Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center, 2010 to 2012: Retrospective Analysis of Molecular Genetic Evaluation

Over the last several decades, advancements in the understanding of genetic and molecular origins of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have brought about significant changes in how the disease is classified, diagnosed, and treated. The change from the traditional French-American-British classification system to that of the World Health Organization redefined how the disease is diagnosed not only morphologically but genetically. With genetic information proving to have prognostic value, the newer classification system, which incorporates results of cytogenetic and molecular analyses, allows better definition of disease and risk stratification, ultimately guiding treatment choices. As understanding and advancements in the molecular basis of AML continue to grow and influence patient management, the importance of an accurate and thorough initial patient evaluation is paramount. We performed a review of AML cases diagnosed at Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center from February 2010 to December 2012 to assess the thoroughness of initial diagnostic evaluations based on current guidelines, including up-to-date molecular analyses for mutations in NPM1, CEBPA, FLT3, and C-KIT. Results showed that patients newly diagnosed with AML undergo thorough diagnostic evaluation in keeping with current recommendations, and many had further genetic and molecular evaluations, which although considered optional or investigational, have prognostic significance. We identified potential areas of improvement for making this diagnostic evaluation more specific to the patient and the patient's disease. Currently, we are investigating having patients undergo reflex genetic testing if they meet certain criteria to better define their specific disease while avoiding unnecessary genetic evaluations that come at increased cost.
Textual Characteristics of Different-sized Corpora

Recently, textual characteristics, i.e. certain language statistics, have been proposed to compare corpora originating from different genres and domains, to give guidance in language engineering processes and to estimate the transferability of natural language processing algorithms from one corpus to another. However, until now it is unclear how these textual characteristics behave for different-sized corpora. We monitor the behavior of 7 textual characteristics across 4 genres – news articles, Wikipedia articles, general web text and fora posts – and 10 corpus sizes, ranging from 100 to 3,000,000 sentences. Thereby we show, certain textual characteristics are almost constant across corpus sizes and thus might be used to reliably compare different-sized corpora, while others are highly corpus size-dependent and thus may only be used to compare similaror same-sized corpora. Moreover we find, although textual characteristics vary from genre to genre, their behavior for increasing corpus size is quite similar.
Hidden Markov Model Ensemble for Activity Recognition Using Tri-Axis Accelerometer

Recently, thanks to a variety of sensors equipped on smartphone, a lot of research about mobile activity recognition using accelerometer have been studied for context inference of mobile user and healthcare applications. Previous works, however, have a limitation in classifying some activities because of intra-class variations and inter-class similarities. To handle this problem, in this paper we propose a novel method to recognize activity of smart phone user based on hidden Markov model, where an ensemble method of hidden Markov models is proposed and used to recognize activity. To evaluate our method, we have carried out some experiments by using UCI Human Activity Recognition dataset, and as a result we have achieved about 83.51% accuracy when using two simple features, mean and standard deviation. It is a comparable result to other powerful discriminative methods such as support vector machine and multilayer perceptron.
Interfacial dynamics in complex fluids

Complex fluids refer to those with internal microstructures whose evolution affects the macroscopic dynamics of the material, especially the rheology [7]. Examples include polymer solutions and melts, liquid crystals, gels and micellar solutions. Such materials often have great practical utilities since the microstructure can be manipulated via processing flow to produce outstanding mechanical, optical or thermal properties. A good example is main-chain liquid-crystalline polymers (LCPs). Their molecular backbone is rodlike, with a degree of rigidity, such that the polymer assumes an anisotropic orientational order due to spontaneous alignment of the molecules. This order, further enhanced by extensional flows, leads to exceedingly high strength and modulus in the Kevlar fiber, a commercially successful product of du Pont. An important way of utilizing complex fluids is through composites. By blending two immiscible components together, one may derive novel or enhanced properties from the composite, and this is often a more economical route to new materials than synthesis. Moreover, the properties of composites may be tuned to suit a particular application by varying the composition, concentration and, most importantly, the interfacial morphology. Take polymer blends for example [11]. Under optimal processing conditions, the dispersed phase is stretched from drops into a fibrillar morphology. Upon solidification, the long fibers act as in situ reinforcement and impart great strength to the composite. The effect is particularly strong if the fibrillar phase is liquid crystalline [2]. The dispersed phase may also be solid as in colloidal dispersions, or gas as in thermoplastic foams. From a scientific viewpoint, the essential physics in all such composites is the coupling between interfacial dynamics and complex rheology of the components. Despite their practical importance, our current knowledge of two-phase complex fluids is very limited. The main difficulty is that these materials have a myriad of internal boundaries, which move, deform, break up and reconnect during processing. This leads to a seemingly intractable mathematical problem, and also hampers experimental observation and measurement. A secondary difficulty is that the rheology of each component alone is highly complex, with the internal microstructure coupled with the flow field. Thus, these materials feature dynamic coupling of three disparate length scales: molecular conformation inside each component, mesoscopic interfacial morphology and macroscopic hydrodynamics. An understanding of the interfacial dynamics in complex fluids is a major fundamental challenge as well as a significant practical need. The problem involves several traditional disciplines: mathematical modeling, numerical computation, soft-matter physics, fluid mechanics, material science and engineering. An objective of the workshop is to explore new research directions in the context of multi-disciplinary interactions.
Causal links between RSV infection and asthma: no clear answers to an old question.

This is the authors' final version of the paper published in Amercian Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care, 2009, 179(12), pp. 1079-1080. The definitive version is available at http://ajrccm.atsjournals. org/content/vol179/issue12/index.dtl. DOI: 10.1164/rccm.200904-0567ED
Update on the management and the role of intraperitoneal chemotherapy for ovarian cancer

Purpose of review Ovarian cancer is the commonest gynaecological cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide. The majority of patients with ovarian cancer present at an advanced stage, and up to 70% of those treated with a curative approach eventually recur and succumb to their disease. This article examines the management of ovarian cancer over the years and the role of intraperitoneal chemotherapy in the treatment algorithm. Recent findings The surgical paradigm for ovarian cancer has changed and the goal is optimal cytoreduction with no residual disease. Intraperitoneal chemotherapy has been found to be superior to intravenous treatment alone, and the combination of cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) has produced encouraging results with improved disease-free and overall survivals at acceptable morbidity and mortality rates. Summary The most important prognostic factor for ovarian cancer survival is the ability to achieve optimal cytoreduction with no residual disease. CRS and HIPEC should be considered as an option for the management of advanced ovarian cancer and further trials are required to determine its role in both the primary and recurrent settings.
Alternating electron and proton transfer steps in photosynthetic water oxidation

Water oxidation by cyanobacteria, algae, and plants is pivotal in oxygenic photosynthesis, the process that powers life on Earth, and is the paradigm for engineering solar fuel–production systems. Each complete reaction cycle of photosynthetic water oxidation requires the removal of four electrons and four protons from the catalytic site, a manganese–calcium complex and its protein environment in photosystem II. In time-resolved photothermal beam deflection experiments, we monitored apparent volume changes of the photosystem II protein associated with charge creation by light-induced electron transfer (contraction) and charge-compensating proton relocation (expansion). Two previously invisible proton removal steps were detected, thereby filling two gaps in the basic reaction-cycle model of photosynthetic water oxidation. In the S2 → S3 transition of the classical S-state cycle, an intermediate is formed by deprotonation clearly before electron transfer to the oxidant (). The rate-determining elementary step (τ, approximately 30 µs at 20 °C) in the long-distance proton relocation toward the protein–water interface is characterized by a high activation energy (Ea = 0.46 ± 0.05 eV) and strong H/D kinetic isotope effect (approximately 6). The characteristics of a proton transfer step during the S0 → S1 transition are similar (τ, approximately 100 µs; Ea = 0.34 ± 0.08 eV; kinetic isotope effect, approximately 3); however, the proton removal from the Mn complex proceeds after electron transfer to . By discovery of the transient formation of two further intermediate states in the reaction cycle of photosynthetic water oxidation, a temporal sequence of strictly alternating removal of electrons and protons from the catalytic site is established.
Evaluation of non-HDLc and total cholesterol : HDLc Ratio as Cumulative Marker of Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes

Kathmandu Univ Med J 2010;9(32):398-404 ABSTRACT Background Cardiovascular disease (CVD), is the primary cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with diabetes and have approximately two to four times higher CVD rate than adult without diabetes. Low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is primarily used as the marker of cardiovascular risk in diabetes despite its several limitations. Although several newer markers of CVD are emerging, no marker has been established in Nepal. Objectives The study was designed to evaluate the non-high-density-lipoproteincholesterol(NonHDL-C) and Total Cholesterol to High density lipoprotein cholesterol (TC:HDL-C ratio) as CVD risk marker in diabetes mellitus. Methods The study was conducted in the Department of Bbiochemistry, Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences. The study comprised of 76 diabetic subjects and 60 nondiabetic subjects. The anthropometric and biochemical parameters were measured. The Non-HDL-C and TC:HDL-C ratio were also calculated employing their respective formula. Results Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), blood pressure and lipid parameters were significantly different between diabetic subjects and non-diabetic subjects. There was increased non-HDL-C and TC:HDL-C ratio in subjects with diabetes mellitus. Furthermore, statistically significant correlations of non-HDL-C and TC:HDL-C ratio were obtained with BMI, WC, total cholesterol, HDL-C and LDL-C in diabetic subjects. Conclusions The present study observation revealed that the Non-HDL-C and TC: HDL-C strongly correlate with established independent risk factors such as obesity(WC), elevated blood pressure, HDL-C and LDL-C in diabetes. Thus, the evaluation of Non-HDL-C and TC: HDL-C ratio can be used as the simple, cost-effective and cumulative marker of cardiovascular risk in diabetes mellitus.
Harmonic virtual impedance design for a synchronverter-based battery interface converter

The role of inertia emulation and voltage control is fundamental to support the integration of distributed generation in weak power grids and Virtual Synchronous Machines (VSMs) represent an attractive solution to assume both of these roles. However, VSMs act as voltage sources and this makes it difficult to address power quality issues. Virtual impedances are commonly applied in the literature to address voltage and quality problems, but this control strategy has been seldom studied for synchronverters. This paper presents a detailed discrete-time design procedure of harmonic virtual impedances for a battery interface converter that emulates a synchronous generator. It will be shown that the proposed virtual impedance provides configurable output impedance in the case of a weak grid while stability margins are maximized. All the control system improvements were tested experimentally by using two 15 kVA synchronverters connected to a configurable weak grid.
Diffraction-Limited Imaging with Ground-Based Optical Telescopes

The construction of diffraction-limited images with ground-based optical telescopes by means of closure-phase observations is explored. The effect of redundant baselines on closure-phase observations is analyzed, and it is shown that for bright objects a nonredundant-mask approach is superior to the use of the full aperture. Observations of closure phase with a nonredundant mask on the 200 in. Hale Telescope are presented, and compared with the predictions of atmospheric seeing theory. It is demonstrated that fairly complex images can be constructed from closure-phase observations alone.
Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) induced antimicrobial gene expression in the male reproductive tract of rat: evaluation of the potential of Defensin 21 to limit infection

Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a common pathogen in epididymitis, which represents a prevalent entity in male reproductive tract infections (RTI). Although current treatment regimens using antibiotics are satisfactory, development of antimicrobial resistance by the pathogen represents a challenge in the management of RTI. Hence, identification of antimicrobial peptides as alternatives to antibiotics has gained importance. We demonstrate that in a rat epididymo‐orchitis model induced with uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) strain MTCC 729, the expression of defensins and defensin‐like Spag11 genes are induced in the epididymis and testes. The induction of antimicrobial gene expression is paralleled by phosphorylation of the NF‐kB subunit p65 and the inhibitor of NFkB (IkB‐alpha), decreased levels of histone deacetylase 1 and increased methylation of Histone 3, indicating the role of classical Toll‐like receptor mediated signaling and epigenetic regulation. Recombinant Defensin 21, when administered to UPEC‐infected rats, substantially reduced the bacterial load in the epididymis and testis and proved to be more effective than gentamycin. The ability of Defensin 21 to limit RTI provides support that antibacterial proteins of the male reproductive tract may be used as potential alternatives to antibiotics in treatment of this disease.
Stratum corneum moisturization at the molecular level: an update in relation to the dry skin cycle.

‘Stratum Corneum Moisturization At The Molecular Level’ [1] was published over a decade ago to review what was known about the biology of a common cosmetic problem called ‘dry skin’ (Figure 1). At the same time Warner and Lilly [2] in 1994 published ‘The correlation of water content with ultrastructure in the stratum corneum’ and demonstrated for the first time the precise location of the reduced water content of the skin in dry skin conditions, namely the outermost layers of the stratum corneum (SC). These key publications described the current state of the art of dry skin knowledge. Since then significant advances have been made in our understanding of the pathophysiology of dry skin.
Sentinel Lymph Nodes Study: How to Do it Right? The Argentinean Experience

To the Editor: We would like to express our opinion about the article by Treseler et al. (1). We congratulate them on the exhaustive review of the most recent and relevant information about sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) evaluation and its clinical implications. In this letter we would like to stress some points regarding molecular studies. Even though most published data have shown a decrease in overall and disease-free survival in patients with micrometastases detected by hematoxylineosin (HE) or immunohistochemistry (IHC), the latter is not routinely recommended for clinical practice in most countries (1). However, retrospective studies of serial sections with HE have revealed metastases in approximately 30% of cases (2). To date, molecular-techniques for detection of specific markers by Retro Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) are only used for experimental purposes. In the last few years, several molecular markers has been proposed in the literature, such as CEA, PIP, CK19, MUC1, PSE, mammaglobin (MAG) A, and MAG-B (3). Recently, worldwide literature has demonstrated that MAG is the most sensitive and specific (3–6). Over the last 2 years, our research group has pioneered the study of MAG (both isoforms A and B) in Argentine. The purpose of our study was to analyze the presence of messenger RNA of MAG A and B in breast SLN by RT-PCR, and to correlate these findings with routine techniques (HE and IHC). To date, this experimental protocol includes 40 patients, all of them with primary tumor size £3 cm, and no palpable axillary lymphadenopathies. Conventional techniques (HE) showed metastases in 4 ⁄ 40 cases. We found 5 ⁄ 40 cases with IHC (Cytokeratin AE1-AE3), one of them negative with HE. Molecular biology techniques revealed 12 ⁄ 40 positive SLN with MAG A and B by RT-PCR, which comprised the five above-mentioned cases (four cases were positive with MAG-A, three with MAG-B, and five with both). Our study is one of the first designs using an RT-PCR multiplex, which includes both isoforms of MAG (A and B), in an attempt to increase the detection rate. Our results with molecular biology (12 ⁄ 40) are similar to other published data (3,7,8). Multiplex RT-PCR technique for MAG A and B proves to be specific and sensitive. To date, the only patient with HE(+), IHC(+), MGBA(+), and MGB-B(+) had disease relapse at 23 months of follow-up. All the other patients appear to be disease-free. However, we believe that they should be followed up for a longer period of time to determine whether there is a significant impact of RT-PCR positive findings. Our study has shown the Argentinean experience with a known molecular marker but with a novel approach to RT-PCR technique. Finally, we hope to encourage the development of new research protocols that include the use of molecular techniques in SLN evaluation. Based on current knowledge, we think other experimental protocols including more patients and a longer follow-up should be further developed, in order to assess their real prognostic value.