Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ATP‐sensitive K+ channels and cellular K+ loss in hypoxic and ischaemic mammalian ventricle.

1. The contribution of ATP‐sensitive K+ (K+ATP) channels to the rapid increase in cellular K+ efflux and shortening of action potential duration (APD) during early myocardial ischaemia and hypoxia remains controversial, because for the first 10 min of ischaemia or hypoxia in intact hearts cytosolic [ATP] remains about two orders of magnitude greater than the [ATP] causing half‐maximal blockade of K+ATP channels in excised membrane patches. The purpose of this study was to investigate this apparent discrepancy. 2. During substrate‐free hypoxia, total, diastolic and systolic unidirectional K+ efflux rates increased by 43, 26 and 103% respectively after 8.3 min in isolated arterially perfused rabbit interventricular septa loaded with 42K+. APD shortened by 39%. From the Goldman‐Hodgkin‐Katz equation, the relative increases in systolic and diastolic K+ efflux rates were consistent with activation of a voltage‐independent K+ conductance. 3. During total global ischaemia, [K+]o measured with intramyocardial valinomycin K(+)‐sensitive electrodes increased at a maximal rate of 0.68 mM min‐1, which could be explained by a less than 26% increase in unidirectional K+ efflux rate (assuming no change in K+ influx), less than the increase during hypoxia. APD shortened by 23% over 10 min. 4. During hypoxia and ischaemia, cytosolic [ATP] decreased by about one‐third from 6.8 +/‐ 0.5 to 4.3 +/‐ 0.3 and 4.6 +/‐ 0.4 mM respectively, and free cytosolic [ADP] increased from 15 to 95 and approximately 63 microM respectively. 5. To estimate the percentage of activation of current through K+ATP channels (IK,ATP) necessary to double the systolic K+ efflux rate (comparable to the increase during hypoxia), K+ efflux during a single simulated action potential was measured by blocking non‐K+ currents under control conditions and after IK,ATP was fully activated by metabolic inhibitors. Activation of 0.41 +/‐ 0.07% of maximal IK,ATP was sufficient to double the systolic K+ efflux rate. The equivalent amount of constant hyperpolarizing current also shortened the APD in the isolated myocytes by 41 +/‐ 5%, compared to the 39% APD shortening observed during hypoxia in the intact heart. 6. The degree of activation of IK,ATP expected to occur during hypoxia and ischaemia was estimated by characterizing the ATP sensitivity of K+ATP channels in the presence of 2 mM‐free Mgi2+ and 0, 10, 100 and 300 microM‐ADPi in inside‐out membrane patches excised from guinea‐pig ventricular myocytes. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Simultaneous detection of peripheral mononuclear cell and plasma tissue factor expression for prevention and treatment of ischemic cardiocerebrovascular diseases.

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to simultaneously observe the expression of mononuclear cells (Mo) and plasma tissue factor (TF) in patients with ischemic cardiocerebrovascular diseases during the stage of acute onset and after the following three weeks and three months for exploration of the clinical implications concerned. METHODS MoTF mRNA and plasma TF antigen (TFAg) from 76 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) together with 46 patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and 61 healthy controls were quantitated respectively through RT-PCR and ELISA. RESULTS Compared with the results in the control group, the level of MoTFmRNA and plasma TF in the other groups increased simultaneously and dramatically in the acute stage, which showed a good correlation among the groups (P<0.01), especially in AIS group. The quantitative data showed that both MoTF mRNA and plasma TF remained higher than that of the control group (P<0.01 and P<0.05) after three weeks from the acute onset. It was after three months that the content of MoTF mRNA, in spite of its relatively high level (P<0.05), began to decline in AMI and AIS groups. In this stage the level of MoTFmRNA in AIS group was lower than that in the acute onset stage (P<0.05), while the reduction of plasma TF in AMI and AIS groups was not significantly different from that of the control group (P>0.05). However, the reduced level of plasma TF was still different from that in the acute onset stage (P<0.05). CONCLUSION The simultaneous increase of the level of peripheral MoTF mRNA and plasma TF in the acute onset stage of ischemic cardiocerebrovascular diseases shows a good correlation and suggests the up-regulation of MoTF mRNA's expression participates in the maintenance and expansion of thrombotic formation. Dynamic monitoring of MoTF mRNA and plasma TF at different time points after acute onset has important clinical implications for prevention and treatment of arterial thrombotic diseases.
Long-term outcomes and quality of life after intestine transplantation

Purpose of reviewOver the past decade intestine transplantation has been accepted as standard therapy for patients with life-threatening complications of parenteral nutrition. For patients without life-threatening complications, continued therapy with parenteral nutrition has been standard despite seemingly similar patient survival in the short term. It is important to define the long-term patient and graft survival as well as complications encountered late after transplantation in order to understand the role for expansion of the indications for intestinal transplantation. Recent findingsDivergent immunosuppression strategies have been proposed by single centers, largely with similar improvements in patient survival over time. Current patient survival in the short term (1 year) and long term (5–10 years) have reached 78–85% and 56–61% in single-center series. Distinguishing the cause of diarrhea after the closure of the ostomy is problematic and justifies the ongoing efforts to identify a biomarker that might be used in place of allograft biopsy. Late rejection episodes are largely related to viral infections or noncompliance and the risk for malignancy appears confined primarily to adult recipients. Nutritional and growth parameters of children more than 2 years after intestinal transplantation demonstrate the majority have excellent bowel function/absorption (albeit frequent eating disorders) and normal growth velocity. Finally, preliminary reports from several new studies of quality of life after intestinal transplantation have been able to correlate the decreases in quality of life described to complications of the transplant or ongoing need for invasive devices or nutritional support. SummaryFor patients who undergo intestinal transplantation patient survival appears similar to remaining on parenteral nutrition. The inclination is therefore to move toward earlier transplantation and avoid the need for concomitant liver transplantation. The long-term outcomes, however, are not thoroughly described and at this time it appears premature to electively offer intestinal transplantation.
Atmospheric Effect Analysis and Correction of the Microwave Vegetation Index

Microwave vegetation index (MVI) is a vegetation index defined in microwave bands. It has been developed based on observations from AMSR-E and widely used to monitor global vegetation. Recently, our study found that MVI was influenced by the atmosphere, although it was calculated from microwave bands. Ignoring the atmospheric influence might bring obvious uncertainty to the study of global vegetation. In this study, an atmospheric effect sensitivity analysis for MVI was carried out, and an atmospheric correction algorithm was developed to reduce the influence of the atmosphere. The sensitivity analysis showed that water vapor, clouds and precipitation were main parameters that had an influence on MVI. The result of the atmospheric correction on MVI was validated at both temporal and spatial scales. The validation showed that the atmospheric correction algorithm developed in this study could obviously improve the underestimation of MVI on most land surfaces. Seasonal patterns in the uncorrected MVI were obviously related to atmospheric water content besides vegetation changes. In addition, global maps of MVI showed significant differences before and after atmospheric correction in the northern hemisphere in the northern summer. The atmospheric correction will make the MVI more reliable and improve its performance in calculating vegetation biomass.
ARPC1/Arc40 Mediates the Interaction of the Actin-related Protein 2 and 3 Complex with Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome Protein Family Activators*

The actin-related protein 2 and 3 (Arp2/3) complex is a seven-subunit protein complex that nucleates actin filaments at the cell cortex. Despite extensive cross-linking, crystallography, genetic and biochemical studies, the contribution of each subunit to the activity of the complex remains largely unclear. In this study we characterized the function of the 40-kDa subunit, ARPC1/Arc40, of the yeast Arp2/3 complex. We showed that this subunit is indeed a stable component of the Arp2/3 complex, but its highly unusual electrophoretic mobility eluded detection in previous studies. Recombinant Arc40 bound the VCA domain of Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein family activators at a Kd of 0.45 μm, close to that of the full complex with VCA (0.30 μm), and this interaction was dependent on the conserved tryptophan at the COOH terminus of VCA. Using a newly constructed Δarc40 yeast strain, we showed that loss of Arc40 severely reduced the binding affinity of the Arp2/3 complex with VCA as well as the nucleation activity of the complex, suggesting that Arc40 contains an important contact site of the Arp2/3 complex with VCA. The Δarc40 cells exhibited reduced growth rate, loss of actin patches, and accumulation of cables like actin aggregates, phenotypes typical of other subunit nulls, suggesting that Arc40 functions exclusively within the Arp2/3 complex.
Host Factors in Enterovirus 71 Replication

ABSTRACT Enterovirus 71 (EV71) infections continue to remain an important public health problem around the world, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. There is a significant mortality rate following such infections, and there is neither any proven therapy nor a vaccine for EV71. This has spurred much fundamental research into the replication of the virus. In this review, we discuss recent work identifying host cell factors which regulate the synthesis of EV71 RNA and proteins. Three of these proteins, heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1 (hnRNP A1), far-upstream element-binding protein 2 (FBP2), and FBP1 are nuclear proteins which in EV71-infected cells are relocalized to the cytoplasm, and they influence EV71 internal ribosome entry site (IRES) activity. hnRNP A1 stimulates IRES activity but can be replaced by hnRNP A2. FBP2 is a negative regulatory factor with respect to EV71 IRES activity, whereas FBP1 has the opposite effect. Two other proteins, hnRNP K and reticulon 3, are required for the efficient synthesis of viral RNA. The cleavage stimulation factor 64K subunit (CstF-64) is a host protein that is involved in the 3′ polyadenylation of cellular pre-mRNAs, and recent work suggests that in EV71-infected cells, it may be cleaved by the EV71 3C protease. Such a cleavage would impair the processing of pre-mRNA to mature mRNAs. Host cell proteins play an important role in the replication of EV71, but much work remains to be done in order to understand how they act.
Echolocation behaviour of the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) in an obstacle avoidance task of increasing difficulty

Four big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) were challenged in an obstacle avoidance experiment to localize vertically stretched wires requiring progressively greater accuracy by diminishing the wire-to-wire distance from 50 to 10 cm. The performance of the bats decreased with decreasing gap size. The avoidance task became very difficult below a wire separation of 30 cm, which corresponds to the average wingspan of E. fuscus. Two of the bats were able to pass without collisions down to a gap size of 10 cm in some of the flights. The other two bats only managed to master gap sizes down to 20 and 30 cm, respectively. They also performed distinctly worse at all other gap sizes. With increasing difficulty of the task, the bats changed their flight and echolocation behaviour. Especially at gap sizes of 30 cm and below, flight paths increased in height and flight speed was reduced. In addition, the bats emitted approach signals that were arranged in groups. At all gap sizes, the largest numbers of pulses per group were observed in the last group before passing the obstacle. The more difficult the obstacle avoidance task, the more pulses there were in the groups and the shorter the within-group pulse intervals. In comparable situations, the better-performing bats always emitted groups with more pulses than the less well-performing individuals. We hypothesize that the accuracy of target localization increases with the number of pulses per group and that each group is processed as a package.
Characterization of iris sphincter smooth muscle endothelin receptor subtypes which are coupled to cyclic AMP formation and polyphosphoinositide hydrolysis.

In the mammalian iris sphincter smooth muscle, endothelins (ET) activate both adenylate cyclase and the polyphosphoinositide cascade, and the levels of cyclic AMP (cAMP) and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) produced are species specific. Radioligand binding studies, using [125I]ET-1 and [125I]ET-3 and determination of changes in cAMP, IP3 and contraction due to the peptides revealed the existence of ETA and ETB receptor subtypes in this tissue. In rabbit sphincter, ETA receptors constitute about 80% of total ET receptor population and these are coupled to IP3 production and contraction. In bovine sphincter, ETB receptors constitute about 72% of the total ET receptors and these are coupled to cAMP formation. Thus, in rabbit sphincter: 1) ET-1 and ET-2, two potent ETA receptor agonists, induced IP3 production and contraction at a much higher rate than ET-3, a weak ETA agonist. The EC50 for contraction by ET-1, ET-2 and ET-3 were 40, 45 and 300 nM, respectively. 2) Sarafotoxin-S6c (SRTX-c), a selective ETB receptor agonist, had no effect on IP3 and contraction in this tissue. 3) D-Asp-L-Pro-D-Val-L-Leu-D-Trp (BQ-123), a selective ETA receptor antagonist, inhibited the above responses to ET. 4) ET and SRTX-c induced cAMP formation at a much lower rate than that of IP3 and contraction. In contrast, in the bovine sphincter: 1) ET and SRTX-c induced cAMP formation in a dose-dependent manner, the order of potency being SRTX-c > ET-3 congruent to ET-2 congruent to ET-1. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Female gender and post-ERCP pancreatitis: Is the association caused by difficult cannulation?

Abstract Objective. Female gender is a well-known risk factor for the development of post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) pancreatitis, but the underlying mechanism for this increased risk has remained unknown. We hypothesize that cannulation difficulty might play a part in this association. The aim of the current study was to determine whether the female papilla is more difficult to cannulate than the male papilla. Material and methods. Prospective data collection with emphasis on cannulation was conducted in 364 consecutive biliary ERCP procedures performed by very experienced ERCP endoscopists through native papilla in a tertiary referral university hospital. Results. Although the cannulation times seemed to be longer and alternative cannulation techniques seemed to be needed more frequently for successful cannulation in female than male patients, no statistically significant differences (p = 0.061 and 0.054, respectively) in the cannulation process could be found between the genders. Conclusions. The study was not able to confirm that the cannulation of the female papilla is more troublesome than the cannulation of the male papilla.
Chlamydia trachomatis infections among Yemeni school pupils in relation to environmental conditions.

OBJECTIVE This study is aimed at establishing the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis infections among school pupils in Sana'a, Republic of Yemen, and to explore the association of infection with environmental and social factors. METHODS A total of 787 school children, 529 boys and 258 girls, were randomly selected for enrollment in this study. Four hundred and twenty-nine were from 4 schools in Sana'a city, and 358 from 3 rural schools around Sana'a, Republic of Yemen. Questionnaire forms were filled in for each child to investigate environmental and social factors. Sera were tested for anti Chlamydia trachomatis IgG antibodies using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay CTM-IgG . RESULTS An overall rate of infection of 45.9% was determined. The rate of infection among rural pupils (73.2%) was higher (P<0.0001) than that among urbanones (23.1%). The rate of infection was found significantly (P<0.001) inversely correlated with age of the pupils. Environmental factors which were found to influence the infection rate were; rural residence, unplastered walls, mud floor, lack of stand pipe water, lack of latrine and presence of animals within dwelling with odds ratio of 9.1, 6.3, 6.1, 5.2, 3.7, 3.5 and 1.7. Also, the male sex and illiteracy of the parents has been found to be risk factors for infection. CONCLUSION Prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection was found to be high. The prevalence correlates inversely with age. Rural residence, environmental conditions and social factors were risk factors for infections. Yemen could be identified as a trachoma endemic area, which should be targeted by the control programs.
Feasibility and Effectiveness of Virtual Reality Training on Balance and Gait Recovery Early after Stroke: A Pilot Study

Objective: To investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of virtual reality training for improving balance and/or gait during inpatient rehabilitation of patients within 12 weeks after stroke. Methods: Sixteen patients within 12 weeks after stroke and dependent gait as categorised with a Functional Ambulation Category score of 2 or 3 were included in this longitudinal pilot study. Participants received eight 30-min sessions of virtual reality training during four weeks as part of the regular inpatient rehabilitation program. Feasibility was assessed using compliance with the training, adverse events, experiences of the participants and the physiotherapists; and effectiveness with the Berg Balance Scale, centre of pressure velocity, Functional Ambulation Category and 10-meter walking test. Results: Participants positively evaluated the intervention and enjoyed the training sessions. Also, physiotherapists observed the training as feasible and beneficial for improving balance or gait. Compliance with the training was 88% and no serious adverse events occurred. The Berg Balance Scale, anterior-posterior centre of pressure velocity, Functional Ambulation Category and 10-meter walking test showed significant improvement after four weeks of training (p<0.05). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that virtual reality training in patients early after stroke is feasible and may be effective in improving balance and/or gait ability.
The Effect of Education on Old Age Cognitive Abilities: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design

In this paper we exploit the 1947 change to the minimum school-leaving age in England from 14 to 15, to evaluate the causal effect of a year of education on cognitive abilities at older ages. We use a regression discontinuity design analysis and find a large and significant effect of the reform on males' memory and executive functioning at older ages, using simple cognitive tests from the English Longitudinal Survey on Ageing (ELSA) as our outcome measures. This result is particularly remarkable since the reform had a powerful and immediate effect on about half the population of 14-year-olds. We investigate and discuss the potential channels by which this reform may have had its effects, as well as carrying out a full set of sensitivity analyses and robustness checks.
Comparative respiratory effects of ozone and ambient oxidant pollution exposure during heavy exercise.

Fifty volunteer bicyclists were exposed to purified air containing ozone (O/sub 3/) at controlled concentrations of 0, 0.08, 0.16, 0.24, and 0.32 ppm, and to oxidant polluted ambient air (mean O/sub 3/ concentration 0.15 ppm, mean total particulate concentration 295 .mu.g/m/sup 3/) in suburban Los Angeles. Exposures (in random order, 14 days apart) involved one hour of heavy continuous exercise (mean minute volume 57 L) plus brief warm up and cool down periods. Significant forced expiratory function decrements and symptom increases occurred in ambient air exposures. In controlled O/sub 3/ exposures, responses were significant at 0.16 ppm and higher; their severity increased with increasing O/sub 3/ concentration. Effects were only partially reversed after one hour's rest in purified air. Ambient exposures produced about the same response as O/sub 3/ alone at the same concentration. Thus coexisting pollutants do not appear to enhance the irritancy of O/sub 3/ in typical moderate ambient oxidant pollution episodes. However, O/sub 3/ itself can produce respiratory irritation at concentrations slightly above the health based federal ambient air quality standard of 0.12 ppm O/sub 3/, at high ventilation rates required during heavy exercise.
Adjuvant Activity of a Nontoxic Mutant of Escherichia coli Heat-Labile Enterotoxin on Systemic and Mucosal Immune Responses Elicited against a Heterologous Antigen Carried by a LiveSalmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Vaccine Strain

ABSTRACT Systemic and mucosal antibody responses against both the major subunit of colonization factor antigen I (CFA/I) of enterotoxigenicEscherichia coli (ETEC) and the somatic lipopolysaccharide expressed by recombinant bivalent Salmonella vaccine strains were significantly enhanced by coadministration of a detoxified derivative with preserved adjuvant effects of the ETEC heat-labile toxin, LT(R192G). The results further support the adjuvant effects of LT(R192G) and represent a simple alternative to improve responses against passenger antigens expressed by orally delivered Salmonella vaccine strains.
Meeting In Time Recording The Workgroup Conversation

Participants: Helen Myers, AAMA; Giselle Easton, AAMA; N'Muta Jones, BAEO; Lauri Briscoe, StreetSchools Network; Nicodemus Ford, AHSI; Nancy Cruse, Diploma Plus; Jane Butler, Communities in Schools (Georgia); Kelly Schrepfer, See Forever Maya Angelou; Kari Thierer, Big Picture Learning; Jeff Blount, Big Picture Learning; Joe Brenkert, Gateway to College; Jon Haradon, Big Picture Learning; Carlo Atene, Gateway to College; and Tim Scheidt, AHSI
Corticoid Response to Stress in the Steroid-Inhibited Rat

Summary A method is described which permits both the ascorbic acid and corticosteroid content of the same adrenal gland to be determined. Adrenal response to the stress of unilateral adrenalectomy was investigated in normal and hydrocortisone-inhibited rats. Hydrocortisone administration prevented the ascorbic acid depletion which occurred in untreated animals in response to stress. The steroid-inhibited animals, however, exhibited an increase in adrenal corticosterone concentrations equal to that of the saline treated controls, although the basal level from which this increase occurred was markedly lower. It is suggested that pre-treatment with hydrocortisone may alter the physiological “set” at which the corticoid component of the stress response is operating, but does not inhibit the response itself.