gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Physiological Role of Silent Receptors of Atrial Natriuretic Factor (1987)

A ring-deleted analog of atrial natriuretic factor--des[Gln18, Ser19, Gly20, Leu21, Gly22] ANF4-23-NH2 (C-ANF4-23)--binds with high affinity to approximately 99% of ANF receptors in the isolated perfused rat kidney. In this preparation, C-ANF4-23 is devoid of detectable renal effects and does not antagonize any of the known renal hemodynamic and natriuretic actions of biologically active ANF1-28. In contrast, both C-ANF4-23 and ANF1-28 increase sodium excretion and decrease blood pressure in intact anesthetized rats. This apparent contradiction is resolved by the finding that the ring-deleted analog markedly increases plasma levels of endogenous immunoreactive ANF in the rat. The results show that the majority of the renal receptors of ANF are biologically silent. This new class of receptors may serve as specific peripheral storage-clearance binding sites, acting as a hormonal buffer system to modulate plasma levels of ANF.
Adeno-associated virus vector gene transfer and sarcolemmal expression of a 144 kDa micro-dystrophin effectively restores the dystrophin-associated protein complex and inhibits myofibre degeneration in nude/mdx mice (2002)

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a severe life-threatening X-linked recessive disorder, caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene, for which currently there is no effective treatment. Because of the large size of the dystrophin cDNA (14 kb) this precluded it from being used in early adenovirus- or retrovirus-based gene therapy vectors. However, some therapeutic success has been achieved in mdx mice using adenovirus- and retrovirus-mediated transfer of a 6.3 kb recombinant mini-dystrophin cDNA. Despite this, problems with immunogenicity and inefficient transduction of mature myofibres make these vectors less than ideal for gene transfer to skeletal muscle. Adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors overcome many of the problems associated with other vector systems. However, AAV vectors can only accommodate <5 kb of foreign DNA. For this reason we have produced a micro-dystrophin cDNA gene construct that is <3.8 kb. This construct, driven by a CMV promoter, was introduced into the skeletal muscle of 12-day-old nude/mdx mice using an AAV vector, resulting in specific sarcolemmal expression of micro-dystrophin in >50% of myofibres up to 20 weeks of age, and effective restoration of the dystrophin-associated protein (DAP) complex components. Additionally, evaluation of central nucleation indicated a significant inhibition of degenerative dystrophic muscle pathology. We have therefore shown that the current micro-dystrophin gene delivered in vivo using an AAV vector is not only capable of restoring sarcolemmal DAP complexes, but can also ameliorate dystrophic pathology at the cellular level.
Production and Characterization of Monoclonal Strain‐Specific Antibodies against Prototype Strains of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi (1986)

We have developed 18 hybridoma cell lines which secrete murine monoclonal strain-specific antibodies to prototype strains of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi: nine anti-Gilliam, four anti-Karp and five anti-Kato antibodies. All the monoclonal antibodies reacted only with their homologous strains in direct and indirect immunofluorescence (IF), or indirect immunoperoxidase (IP) test. By IF and IP tests with the monoclonal antibodies, 22 strains of R. tsutsugamushi, which were newly isolated from mites, field rodents and patients with Tsutsugamushi disease (scrub typhus) in Japan, were all clearly identified as either Gilliam or Karp type. Analysis by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting techniques revealed that the monoclonal antibodies recognized primarily the polypeptides of an apparent molecular weight of 54 to 56 kilodaltons of the homologous rickettsial surface. The monoclonal antibodies produced in the present study should enhance the serotyping and further analytical investigation of the rickettsial antigens since they recognize the strain- or type-specific polypeptides and do not show any cross-reaction among strains.
Promotive Effects of Dcr3 Gene on the Occurrence and Progression of Gastric Cancer and its Mechanism. (2014)

DcR3 plays an important role in the occurrence and progression of gastric cancer possibly through inhibiting gastric cancer cell apoptosis.
Activin or Follistatin: Which is More Beneficial to Support Liver Regeneration After Massive Hepatectomy? (2006)

The present study was conducted to compare the effects of exogenous follistatin and activin A on liver regeneration in 90% hepatectomized rats. Intraportal administration of follistatin markedly accelerated liver regeneration, and nuclear BrdU labeling and liver regeneration rate were greatly increased by follistatin. In contrast, administration of activin A attenuated liver regeneration. After 120 h of 90% hepatectomy, histological analysis showed that the hepatic architecture was restored in control and activin-treated rats. However, it was not restored in follistatin-treated rats. The serum bilirubin levels were significantly increased in follistatin-treated rats, and the serum glucose level was significantly lower in follistatin-treated rats. Although follistatin markedly accelerated liver regeneration, it reduced the function of the remnant liver. Treatment with activin A instead may be beneficial to support liver regeneration after massive hepatectomy.
Sex Steroids as a Cause of Adenocarcinoma of the Dorsal Prostate in Nb Rats, and their Influence on the Growth of Transplants (1977)

The development of adenocarcinoma of the dorsal prostate of Nb rats following prolonged treatment with pellets of testosterone propionate alone or with esterone allowed the establishment of transplantable tumor models. Whereas most transplants were autonomous and not influenced by hormones, one estrogen dependent tumor was studied in detail. This tumor would only grow in estro-genised hosts, cells remaining dormant in normal animals. Removal of estrogen from animals with growing tumors led to tumor regression but with progression and eventual regrowth of tumors which were autonomous. Replacement with lower doses of estrogen reduced the extent of regression and prevented autonomous change. When a regressed estrogen dependent tumor was exposed to prolonged treatment with testosterone propionate pellets, the eventual regrowth was found to be androgen dependent and would not grow in estrogenised animals. Progression could apparently be directed by this procedure from estrogen to androgen dependency.
Aggregated Residual Transformations for Deep Neural Networks (2017)

We present a simple, highly modularized network architecture for image classification. Our network is constructed by repeating a building block that aggregates a set of transformations with the same topology. Our simple design results in a homogeneous, multi-branch architecture that has only a few hyper-parameters to set. This strategy exposes a new dimension, which we call cardinality (the size of the set of transformations), as an essential factor in addition to the dimensions of depth and width. On the ImageNet-1K dataset, we empirically show that even under the restricted condition of maintaining complexity, increasing cardinality is able to improve classification accuracy. Moreover, increasing cardinality is more effective than going deeper or wider when we increase the capacity. Our models, named ResNeXt, are the foundations of our entry to the ILSVRC 2016 classification task in which we secured 2nd place. We further investigate ResNeXt on an ImageNet-5K set and the COCO detection set, also showing better results than its ResNet counterpart. The code and models are publicly available online.
Synergistic Cooperation between Sp1 and Smad3/Smad4 Mediates Transforming Growth Factor β1 Stimulation of α2(I)-Collagen (COL1A2) Transcription (2000)

Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGFbeta) is a strong activator of extracellular matrix accumulation. TGFbeta stimulates the gene coding for human alpha2(I)-collagen (COL1A2) by inducing binding of an Sp1-containing complex to an upstream promoter element (TGFbeta responsive element or TbRE) that contains a CAGA box. Here we report that the CAGA box of the TbRE is the binding site of the Smad3/Smad4 complex, and that the binding of the complex is required for TGFbeta-induced COL1A2 up-regulation. Recombinant Smad3 and Smad4 bind in vitro to the CAGA box of COL1A2; TGFbeta treatment of cultured fibroblasts induces Smad3/Smad4 binding to the TbRE; transient overexpression of Smad3 and Smad4 in fibroblasts transactivates TbRE-driven transcription; and COL1A2 gene up-regulation by TGFbeta is abolished in cells stably transfected with plasmids that express dominant negative forms of Smad3 or Smad4. In Sp1-deficient Drosophila Schneider cells, there was cooperative synergy between Smad3/Smad4 and Sp1 at the TbRE site. The analysis also emphasized the requirement of both Sp1- and Smad-binding sites for optimal promoter transactivation. In cells stably transfected with a plasmid expressing a dominant negative form of Sp1, the synergy was shown to be promoter-specific and dependent on the binding of Sp1 to the TbRE. Interestingly, overexpression of dominant negative Sp1 was found to block the antagonistic signal of tumor necrosis factor-alpha on COL1A2 transcription, as well. These results provide the first linkage between the Smad3 and Smad4 proteins and TGFbeta stimulation of type I collagen biosynthesis.
RNA-Dependent Cysteine Biosynthesis in Archaea (2005)

Several methanogenic archaea lack cysteinyl-transfer RNA (tRNA) synthetase (CysRS), the essential enzyme that provides Cys-tRNA(Cys) for translation in most organisms. Partial purification of the corresponding activity from Methanocaldococcus jannaschii indicated that tRNA(Cys) becomes acylated with O-phosphoserine (Sep) but not with cysteine. Further analyses identified a class II-type O-phosphoseryl-tRNA synthetase (SepRS) and Sep-tRNA:Cys-tRNA synthase (SepCysS). SepRS specifically forms Sep-tRNA(Cys), which is then converted to Cys-tRNA(Cys) by SepCysS. Comparative genomic analyses suggest that this pathway, encoded in all organisms lacking CysRS, can also act as the sole route for cysteine biosynthesis. This was proven for Methanococcus maripaludis, where deletion of the SepRS-encoding gene resulted in cysteine auxotrophy. As the conversions of Sep-tRNA to Cys-tRNA or to selenocysteinyl-tRNA are chemically analogous, the catalytic activity of SepCysS provides a means by which both cysteine and selenocysteine may have originally been added to the genetic code.
Quantitative Genetic Variation of Odor-Guided Behavior in a Natural Population of Drosophila melanogaster (1996)

Quantitative genetic variation in behavioral response to the odorant, benzaldehyde, was assessed among a sample of 43 X and 35 third chromosomes extracted from a natural population and substituted into a common inbred background. Significant genetic variation among chromosome lines was detected. Heritability estimates for olfactory response, however, were low, as is typical for traits under natural selection. Furthermore, the loci affecting naturally occurring variation in olfactory response to benzaldehyde were not the same in males and females, since the genetic correlation between the sexes was low and not significantly different from zero for the chromosome 3 lines. Competitive fitness, viability and fertility of the chromosome 3 lines were estimated using the balancer equilibrium technique. Genetic correlations between fitness and odor-guided behavior were not significantly different from zero, suggesting the number of loci causing variation in olfactory response is small relative to the number of loci causing variation in fitness. Since different genes affect variation in olfactory response in males and females, genetic variation for olfactory response could be maintained by genotype x sex environment interaction. This unusual genetic architecture implies that divergent evolutionary trajectories for olfactory behavior may occur in males and females.
Epatologia: ieri, oggi e (forse) domani (2006)

Hepatology was born as a separate medical specialty around the fifties of the last century, its importance progressively grows because of the severity and high prevalence of the liver diseases. The net balance of 50 years of hepatology is definitely positive: prevention (e.g. the fall of post-transfusion HB and HC virus infections), diagnosis and better treatments have achieved better survival and quality of life in liver disease. However, deviations, errors and obsolescence of once highly credited judgements and treatments have occurred, as in any other area of medicine. This review looks back at the main pieces of the progress, and reports some previous errors and inappropriate treatments, speculating on their possible reasons.
Thrombosed dialysis access grafts: percutaneous mechanical declotting without urokinase. (1994)

Mechanical thrombolysis of clotted grafts with currently available catheters yields results similar to those reported with mechanical devices and urokinase. The procedure is relatively inexpensive, safe, and well tolerated.
Direct Observation of Enzyme Activity with the Atomic Force Microscope (1994)

The height fluctuations on top of the protein lysozyme adsorbed on mica were measured locally with an atomic force microscope operated in tapping mode in liquid. Height fluctuations of an apparent size of 1 nanometer that lasted for about 50 milliseconds were observed over lysozyme molecules when a substrate (oligoglycoside) was present. In the presence of the inhibitor chitobiose, these height fluctuations decreased to the level without the oligoglycoside. The most straightforward interpretation of these results is that the height fluctuations correspond to the conformational changes of lysozyme during hydrolysis. It is also possible, however, that the height fluctuations are, at least in part, the result of a different height or elasticity of the transient complex of lysozyme plus the substrate.
[Isolation and structure of neo-gambogic acid from Gamboge (Garcinia hanburryi)]. (1984)

A new yellow acidic component was isolated from Gamboge (Gareinia hanburryi) and named as neo-gambogic acid. Its structure was elucidated as. Ⅱ on the basis of spectroscopic (UV, IR, MS and ~1HNMR) analyses and physicochemical constants. Gambogic acid (Ⅰ) was isolated simultaneously.
A freely-moving monkey treadmill model (2014)

Freely-moving animal models may allow neuroscientists to examine a wider range of behaviors and can provide a flexible experimental paradigm for examining the neural mechanisms that underlie movement generation across behaviors and environments. For BMIs, freely-moving animal models have the potential to aid prosthetic design by examining how neural encoding changes with posture, environment and other real-world context changes. Understanding this new realm of behavior in more naturalistic settings is essential for overall progress of basic motor neuroscience and for the successful translation of BMIs to people with paralysis.
In Vivo Triggering Through 4-1BB Enables Th-Independent Priming of CTL in the Presence of an Intact CD28 Costimulatory Pathway (2002)

Triggering of 4-1BB, a member of the TNFR family, through in vivo administration of agonistic anti-4-1BB Ab delivers a powerful costimulatory signal to CTL. We found this signal to effectively replace the need for CD4(+) T cell help in the cross-priming of tumor-specific CTL immunity. Furthermore, 4-1BB Ab can convert an otherwise tolerogenic peptide vaccine into a formulation capable of efficient CTL priming. Initial activation of naive CTL can occur in the absence of 4-1BB costimulation, but this signal permits increased survival of Ag-stimulated CTL. Because naive CTL do not express 4-1BB at their surface, susceptibility to 4-1BB triggering depends on prior up-regulation of this receptor. We show that this requires both stimulation of the TCR and CD28-dependent costimulation. Accordingly, blockade of the CD28-costimulatory pathway abrogates the capacity of agonistic anti-4-1BB Ab to trigger Th-independent CTL immunity. In conclusion, our data reveal that the 4-1BB-mediated survival signal is positioned downstream of Ag-specific TCR triggering and CD28-dependent costimulation of naive CTL. The powerful effects of 4-1BB triggering on the induction, amplification, and persistence of CTL responses provide a novel strategy for increasing the potency of vaccines against cancers.
Inhibitors of 2-Ketoglutarate-dependent Dioxygenases Block Aspartyl β-Hydroxylation of Recombinant Human Factor IX in Several Mammalian Expression Systems (1989)

While a role has been ascribed to the gamma-carboxyglutamate (Gla) residues in vitamin K-dependent coagulation proteins and the enzyme catalyzing this posttranslational modification has been identified and partially characterized, both the functional significance of a second posttranslationally synthesized amino acid found in these proteins, beta-hydroxyaspartate (Hya), and the aspartyl beta-hydroxylating enzyme remain to be determined. We now report that inhibitors of 2-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases, such as dipyridyl, o-phenanthroline, and pyridine 2,4-dicarboxylate, block hydroxylation of Asp64 in recombinant factor IX molecules produced in three different mammalian expression systems. This hydroxylation was not inhibited by the specific copper chelators 2,9-dimethylphenanthroline or D-penicillamine. The Gla levels in these proteins were unaffected by these compounds and demonstrate that carboxylation proceeds independently of hydroxylation. Using these Hya-deficient recombinant factor IX molecules we demonstrate that this residue does not play a significant role in factor IX binding to endothelial cells under equilibrium conditions. From additional binding studies we have concluded that the Gla domain of factor IX is a major cell binding domain of factor IX. Furthermore, in contrast to studies demonstrating a marked loss of one-stage clotting activity in recombinant factors IX following site-directed mutations of Asp64 to neutral or basic residues (Rees, D. J. G., Jones, I. M., Handford, P. A., Walter, S. J., Esnouf, M. P., Smith, K. J., and Brownlee, G. J. (1988) EMBO J. 7, 2053-2061), we have not found a decrease of one-stage clotting activity with Hya-deficient factor IX. Hya-deficient proteins produced in this manner may prove to be more appropriate to elucidate the function of Hya than those produced by site-directed mutagenesis.
Metagenomics for Mining New Genetic Resources of Microbial Communities (2008)

Recent progress has revealed that the capture of genetic resources of complex microbial communities in metagenome libraries allows the discovery of a richness of new enzymatic diversity that had not previously been imagined. Activity-based screening of such libraries has demonstrated that this new diversity is not simply variations on known sequence themes, but rather the existence of entirely new sequence classes and novel functionalities. This new diversity, the surface of which has thus far only been scratched, constitutes potential for a wealth of new and improved applications in industry, medicine, agriculture, etc., and promises to facilitate in a significant manner our transition to a sustainable society, by contributing to the transition to renewable sources of energy, chemicals and materials, the lowering of pollutant burdens, lower processes energies, etc. Current bottlenecks in metagenomics include insufficient functional characterization and amplifying non-validated annotations of proteins in databases.
Rates of Initial and Recurrent Thromboembolic Disease Among Patients with Malignancy Versus Those without Malignancy: Risk Analysis Using Medicare Claims Data (1999)

Although the association between malignancy and thromboembolic disease is well established, the relative risk of developing initial and recurrent deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE) among patients with malignancy versus those without malignancy has not been clearly defined. The Medicare Provider Analysis and Review Record (MEDPAR) database was used for this analysis. Patients hospitalized during 1988-1990 with DVT/PE alone, DVT/PE and malignancy, malignancy alone, or 1 of several nonmalignant diseases (other than DVT/PE) were studied. The association of malignancy and nonmalignant disease with an initial episode of DVT/PE, recurrent DVT/PE, and mortality were analyzed. The percentage of patients with DVT/PE at the initial hospitalization was higher for those with malignancy compared with those with nonmalignant disease (0.6% versus 0.57%, p = 0.001). The probability of readmission within 183 days of initial hospitalization with recurrent thromboembolic disease was 0.22 for patients with prior DVT/PE and malignancy compared with 0.065 for patients with prior DVT/PE and no malignancy (p = 0.001). Among those patients with DVT/PE and malignant disease, the probability of death within 183 days of initial hospitalization was 0.94 versus 0.29 among those with DVT/PE and no malignancy (p = 0.001). The relative risk of DVT/PE among patients with specific types of malignancy is described. This study demonstrates that patients with concurrent DVT/PE and malignancy have a more than threefold higher risk of recurrent thromboembolic disease and death (from and cause) than patients with DVT/PE without malignancy. An alternative management strategy may be indicated for such patients.
Light-Weight Flexible Carbon Nanotube Based Organic Composites with Large Thermoelectric Power Factors (2011)

Typical organic materials have low thermal conductivities that are best suited to thermoelectrics, but their poor electrical properties with strong adverse correlations have prevented them from being feasible candidates. Our composites, containing single-wall carbon nanotubes, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) and/or polyvinyl acetate, show thermopowers weakly correlated with electrical conductivities, resulting in large thermoelectric power factors in the in-plane direction of the composites, ∼160 μW/m·K(2) at room temperature, which are orders of magnitude larger than those of typical polymer composites. Furthermore, their high electrical conductivities, ∼10(5) S/m at room temperature, make our composites very promising for various electronic applications. The optimum nanotube concentrations for better power factors were identified to be 60 wt % with 40 wt % polymers. It was noticed that high nanotube concentrations above 60 wt % decreased the electrical conductivity of the composites due to less effective nanotube dispersions. The thermal conductivities of our 60 wt % nanotube composites in the out-of-plane direction were measured to be 0.2-0.4 W/m·K at room temperature. The in-plane thermal conductivity and thermal contact conductance between nanotubes were also theoretically estimated.