Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cryopreservation of testicular and epididymal sperm: techniques and clinical outcomes of assisted conception

The introduction of the technique of intracytoplasmic sperm injection to achieve fertilization, especially using surgically retrieved testicular or epididymal sperm from men with obstructive or non-obstructive azoospermia, has revolutionized the field of assisted reproduction. The techniques for the retrieval of spermatozoa vary from relatively simple percutaneous sperm aspiration to open excision (testicular biopsy) and the more invasive Micro-TESE. The probability of retrieving spermatozoa can be as high as 100% in men with obstructive azoospermia (congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens, status post-vasectomy). However, in non-obstructive azoospermia, successful sperm retrieval has been reported in 10-100% of cases by various investigators. The surgical retrieval and cryopreservation of sperm, especially in men with non-obstructive azoospermia, to some extent ensures the availability of sperm at the time of intracytoplasmic sperm injection. In addition, this strategy can avoid unnecessary ovarian stimulation in those patients intending to undergo in vitro fertilization-intracytoplasmic sperm injection with freshly retrieved testicular sperm when an absolute absence of sperm in the testis is identified. Several different methods for the cryopreservation of testicular and epididymal sperm are available. The choice of the container or carrier may be an important consideration and should take into account the number or concentration of the sperm in the final preparation. When the number of sperm in a testicular biopsy sample is extremely low (e.g., 1-20 total sperm available), the use of an evacuated zona pellucida to store the cryopreserved sperm has been shown to be an effective approach.
Community Pharmacists' Perceptions about Pharmaceutical Care of Traditional Medicine Products: A Questionnaire-Based Cross-Sectional Study in Guangzhou, China

This study aimed to investigate community pharmacists' perceived responsibility, practice behaviors, knowledge, perceived barriers, and improvement measures towards provision of pharmaceutical care in relation to traditional medicine (TM) products in Guangzhou, China. A self-completion questionnaire was used to survey licensed pharmacists working at community pharmacies. This study found that the community pharmacists in Guangzhou, China, were involved in the provision of TM products during their daily practice but only provided pharmaceutical care in this area with a passive attitude. Extrinsic barriers such as lack of scientific evidence for the safety and efficacy of TM products and unclear definition of their roles and responsibilities were highlighted while intrinsic factors such as insufficient TM knowledge were identified.
Characterization of Metabolic States of Arabidopsis thaliana Under Diverse Carbon and Nitrogen Nutrient Conditions via Targeted Metabolomic Analysis

Plant growth and metabolism are regulated in response to various environmental factors. To investigate modulations in plant metabolism by the combined action of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration and other nutritional factors, we performed targeted metabolomic analysis using Arabidopsis thaliana plants grown under 24 different conditions where the CO2 concentration, amounts and species of nitrogen source, and light intensity were modified. Our results indicate that both the biosynthesis of diverse metabolites and growth are promoted in proportion to the CO2 concentration at a wide range of CO2 levels, from ambient concentrations to an extremely high concentration (3,600 p.p.m.) of CO2. This suggests that A. thaliana has the potential to utilize effectively very high concentrations of CO2. On the other hand, ammonium (but not nitrate) supplied as an additional nitrogen source induced drastic alterations in metabolite composition, including increases in the contents of glucose, starch and several amino acids, and reductions in the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle-related organic acid content under any CO2 conditions. Hierarchical clustering analysis using the metabolite profiles revealed that ammonium is a prominent factor determining metabolic status, while the CO2 concentration is not. However, ammonium-induced metabolic alterations were differently modified by high concentrations of CO2. Hence, our results imply that increases in CO2 concentration may differently influence plant metabolism depending on the nitrogen nutrient conditions.
Complex valued Ray–Singer torsion II

In this paper we extend Witten–Helffer–Sjöstrand theory from selfadjoint Laplacians based on fiber wise Hermitian metrics to nonselfadjoint Laplacians based on fiber wise non‐degenerate symmetric bilinear forms. As an application we show that results about the asymptotics of the Ray–Singer torsion of self‐adjoint Witten deformation, as well as the strategy proposed by Burghelea–Friedlander–Kappeler to derive the comparison of Ray–Singer and Reidemeister torsion, can be extended to nonself‐adjoint Witten deformation. This is then used to conclude the equality of complex analytic and Milnor–Turaev torsion, at least for odd dimensional manifolds, up to sign (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Cervical artery dissection in patients ≥60 years: Often painless, few mechanical triggers

Objective: In a cohort of patients diagnosed with cervical artery dissection (CeAD), to determine the proportion of patients aged ≥60 years and compare the frequency of characteristics (presenting symptoms, risk factors, and outcome) in patients aged <60 vs ≥60 years. Methods: We combined data from 3 large cohorts of consecutive patients diagnosed with CeAD (i.e., Cervical Artery Dissection and Ischemic Stroke Patients–Plus consortium). We dichotomized cases into 2 groups, age ≥60 and <60 years, and compared clinical characteristics, risk factors, vascular features, and 3-month outcome between the groups. First, we performed a combined analysis of pooled individual patient data. Secondary analyses were done within each cohort and across cohorts. Crude and adjusted odds ratios (OR [95% confidence interval]) were calculated. Results: Among 2,391 patients diagnosed with CeAD, we identified 177 patients (7.4%) aged ≥60 years. In this age group, cervical pain (ORadjusted 0.47 [0.33–0.66]), headache (ORadjusted 0.58 [0.42–0.79]), mechanical trigger events (ORadjusted 0.53 [0.36–0.77]), and migraine (ORadjusted 0.58 [0.39–0.85]) were less frequent than in younger patients. In turn, hypercholesterolemia (ORadjusted 1.52 [1.1–2.10]) and hypertension (ORadjusted 3.08 [2.25–4.22]) were more frequent in older patients. Key differences between age groups were confirmed in secondary analyses. In multivariable, adjusted analyses, favorable outcome (i.e., modified Rankin Scale score 0–2) was less frequent in the older age group (ORadjusted 0.45 [0.25, 0.83]). Conclusion: In our study population of patients diagnosed with CeAD, 1 in 14 was aged ≥60 years. In these patients, pain and mechanical triggers might be missing, rendering the diagnosis more challenging and increasing the risk of missed CeAD diagnosis in older patients.
An Eye for an I: A 35-Year-Old Woman With Fluctuating Oculomotor Deficits and Dissociative Identity Disorder

Abstract Physiologic changes, including neurological or pseudo-neurological symptoms, occur across identity states in dissociative identity disorder (DID) and can be objectively measured. The idea that dissociative phenomena might be associated with changes in brain function is consistent with research on the brain effects of hypnosis. The authors report a case of psycho-physiologic differences among 4 alter personalities manifested by a 35-year-old woman with DID. Differences in visual acuity, frequency of pendular nystagmus, and handedness were observed in this patient both when the alter personalities appeared spontaneously and when elicited under hypnosis. The authors consider several diagnostic possibilities for these findings and discuss whether prevailing treatment recommendations for DID patients could possibly be modified to ameliorate such visual and neurologic symptoms.
Are Financial Sector Policies Effective in Deepening the Malaysian Financial System?

This paper provides an empirical assessment of the effects of financial sector policies on development of the financial system in Malaysia over the period 1959-2005. The technique of principal component analysis is used to construct a summary measure of interest rate policies in order to account for the joint influence of various interest rate controls imposed on the Malaysian financial system. The results show that economic development, interest rate controls and capital liquidity requirements positively affect the level of financial development. However, higher statutory reserve requirements and the presence of directed credit programs appear to be harmful for development of the Malaysian financial system. The results provide some support to the argument that some form of financial restraints may help promote financial development.
Efficient power analysis using synthetic testcases

Power dissipation has become an important consideration for processor designs. Assessing power using simulators is problematic given the long runtimes of real applications. Researchers have responded with techniques to reduce the total number of simulated instructions while still maintaining representative simulation behavior. Synthetic testcases have been shown to reduce the number of necessary instructions significantly while still achieving accurate performance results for many workload characteristics. In this paper, we show that the synthetic testcases can rapidly and accurately assess the dynamic power dissipation of real programs. Synthetic versions of the SPEC2000 and STREAM benchmarks can predict the total power per cycle to within 6.8% error on average, with a maximum of 15% error, and total power per instruction to within 4.4% error. In addition, for many design changes for which IPC and power change significantly, the synthetic testcases show small errors, many less than 5%. We also show that simulated power dissipation for both applications and synthetics correlates well with the IPCs of the real programs, often giving a correlation coefficient greater than 0.9.
Insects on Plants: Explaining the Paradox of Low Diversity within Specialist Herbivore Guilds

Classical niche theory explains the coexistence of species through their exploitation of different resources. Assemblages of herbivores coexisting on a particular plant species are thus expected to be dominated by species from host-specific guilds with narrow, coexistence-facilitating niches rather than by species from generalist guilds. Exactly the opposite pattern is observed for folivores feeding on trees in New Guinea. The least specialized mobile chewers were the most species rich, followed by the moderately specialized semiconcealed and exposed chewers. The highly specialized miners and mesophyll suckers were the least species-rich guilds. The Poisson distribution of herbivore species richness among plant species in specialized guilds and the absence of a negative correlation between species richness in different guilds on the same plant species suggest that these guilds are not saturated with species. We show that herbivore assemblages are enriched with generalists because these are more completely sampled from regional species pools. Herbivore diversity increases as a power function of plant diversity, and the rate of increase is inversely related to host specificity. The relative species diversity among guilds is thus scale dependent, as the importance of specialized guilds increases with plant diversity. Specialized insect guilds may therefore comprise a larger component of overall diversity in the tropics (where they are also poorly known taxonomically) than in the temperate zone, which has lower plant diversity.
In Vitro Eye-Blink Classical Conditioning Is NMDA Receptor Dependent and Involves Redistribution of AMPA Receptor Subunit GluR4

The classically conditioned vertebrate eye-blink response is a model in which to study neuronal mechanisms of learning and memory. A neural correlate of this response recorded in the abducens nerve can be conditioned entirely in vitro using an isolated brainstem–cerebellum preparation from the turtle by pairing trigeminal and auditory nerve stimulation. Here it is reported that conditioning requires that the paired stimuli occur within a narrow temporal window of <100 msec and that it is blocked by the NMDA receptor antagonistd,l-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid. Moreover, there is a significant positive correlation between the levels of conditioning and greater immunoreactivity with the glutamate receptor 4 (GluR4) AMPA receptor subunit in the abducens motor nuclei, but not with NMDAR1 or GluR1. It is concluded that in vitroclassical conditioning of an abducens nerve eye-blink response is generated by NMDA receptor-mediated mechanisms that may act to modify the AMPA receptor by increasing GluR4 subunits in auditory nerve synapses.
Unsupervised Metaphor Paraphrasing using a Vector Space Model

We present the first fully unsupervised approach to metaphor interpretation, and a system that produces literal paraphrases for metaphorical expressions. Such a form of interpretation is directly transferable to other NLP applications that can benefit from a metaphor processing component. Our method is different from previous work in that it does not rely on any manually annotated data or lexical resources. First, our method computes candidate paraphrases according to the context in which the metaphor appears, using a vector space model. It then uses a selectional preference model to measure the degree of literalness of the paraphrases. The system identifies correct paraphrases with a precision of 0.52 at top rank, which is a promising result for a fully unsupervised approach.
The chelifores of sea spiders (Arthropoda, Pycnogonida) are the appendages of the deutocerebral segment

SUMMARY Within the last decade, gene expression patterns and neuro‐anatomical data have led to a new consensus concerning the long‐debated association between anterior limbs and neuromeres in the arthropod head. According to this new view, the first appendage in all extant euarthropods is innervated by the second neuromere, the deutocerebrum, whereas the anterior‐most head region bearing the protocerebrum lacks an appendage. This stands in contrast to the clearly protocerebrally targeted “antennae” of Onychophora and to some evidence for protocerebral limbs in fossil euarthropod representatives. Yet, the latter “frontal appendages” or “primary antennae” have most likely been reduced or lost in the lineage, leading to extant taxa. Surprisingly, a recent neuro‐anatomical study on a pycnogonid challenged this evolutionary scenario, reporting a protocerebral innervation of the first appendages, the chelifores. However, this interpretation was soon after questioned by Hox gene expression data. To re‐evaluate the unresolved controversy, we analyzed neuro‐anatomy and neurogenesis in four pycnogonid species using immunohistochemical techniques. We clearly show the postprotocerebral innervation of the chelifores, which is resolved as the plesiomorphic condition in pycnogonids when evaluated against a recently published comprehensive phylogeny. By providing direct morphological support for the deutocerebral status of the cheliforal ganglia, we reconcile morphological and gene expression data and argue for a corresponding position between the anterior‐most appendages in all extant euarthropods. Consequently, other structures have to be scrutinized to illuminate the fate of a presumptive protocerebral appendage in recent euarthropods. The labrum and the “frontal filaments” of some crustaceans are possible candidates for this approach.
A Basilar Membrane Resonator for an Active 2-D Cochlea

In this paper we present a basilar membrane resonator design for an active 2D cochlea. It incorporates some of the non-linear behaviour exhibited in the real cochlea by utilizing a quality factor control loop. This control loop varies the gain and the frequency selectivity of the resonator based on the amplitude of the input signal.
Impairment and executive functioning associated with symptoms of sluggish cognitive tempo, ADHD, anxiety, and depression

This study examined the relationships among Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT), ADHD, anxiety, and depression symptom sets in a college sample, and the extent to which these symptom sets predicted executive functioning and functional impairment. Also, this study investigated (a) the extent to which functional impairment and executive functioning (EF) problems were uniquely accounted for by SCT symptoms when controlling for ADHD, anxiety, and depression symptoms, and (b) which high symptom group accounted for the greatest amount of impairment. College students (N = 458) completed a demographic questionnaire and self-report scales of ADHD, SCT symptoms, anxiety, and depression symptoms, as well as functional impairment and EF problems. Students were divided into four groups: high levels of SCT symptoms (High SCT: n = 45), high levels of ADHD symptoms (High ADHD: n = 10), high levels of SCT and ADHD symptoms (High SCT + ADHD: n = 15), and those without high levels of SCT or ADHD symptoms (Controls: n = 388). Thirteen percent of the sample was found to have high levels of SCT, and most of these students did not have a diagnosis of ADHD or high number of ADHD symptoms. The results indicated that SCT symptoms share a moderate to strong correlation with the other symptom sets; however, high levels of SCT symptoms often occur separate from high levels of ADHD, anxiety, or depression symptoms. Interestingly, SCT symptoms accounted for the most unique variance for both EF problems and functional impairment. Both SCT groups (High SCT and High SCT + ADHD) demonstrated more impairment and executive function problems than the controls. It appears that SCT may be a separate clinical construct worthy of additional study in college students. IMPAIRMENT AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING ASSOCIATED WITH SYMPTOMS OF SLUGGISH COGNITIVE TEMPO, ADHD, ANXIETY, AND DEPRESSION By Whitney Lee Muhlenkamp Wood B.A., Cedarville University, 2010 Master’s Thesis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master’s of Science in Psychology Syracuse University May 2013 Copyright Whitney L. M. Wood 2013 All Rights Reserved
Constitutive innate immunity is a component of the pace-of-life syndrome in tropical birds

We studied the relationship between one component of immune function and basal metabolic rate (BMR), an indicator of the ‘pace-of-life syndrome’, among 12 tropical bird species and among individuals of the tropical house wren (Troglodytes aedon), to gain insights into functional connections between life history and physiology. To assess constitutive innate immunity we introduced a new technique in the field of ecological and evolutionary immunology that quantifies the bactericidal activity of whole blood. This in vitro assay utilises a single blood sample to provide a functional, integrated measure of constitutive innate immunity. We found that the bactericidal activity of whole blood varied considerably among species and among individuals within a species. This variation was not correlated with body mass or whole-organism BMR. However, among species, bacteria killing activity was negatively correlated with mass-adjusted BMR, suggesting that species with a slower pace-of-life have evolved a more robust constitutive innate immune capability. Among individuals of a single species, the house wren, bacteria killing activity was positively correlated with mass-adjusted BMR, pointing to physiological differences in individual quality on which natural selection potentially could act.
Sherlock Holmes and the proteome − a detective story

The performance of a hexapeptide ligand library in capturing the ‘hidden proteome’ is illustrated and evaluated. This library, insolubilized on an organic polymer and available under the trade name ‘Equalizer Bead Technology’, acts by capturing all components of a given proteome, by concentrating rare and very rare proteins, and simultaneously diluting the abundant ones. This results in a proteome of ‘normalized’ relative abundances, amenable to analysis by MS and any other analytical tool. Examples are given of analysis of human urine and serum, as well as cell and tissue lysates, such as Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae extracts. Another important application is impurity tracking and polishing of recombinant DNA products, especially biopharmaceuticals meant for human consumption.
Universally Attainable Error-Exponents for Rate-Constrained Denoising of Noisy Sources

Consider the problem of rate-constrained reconstruction of a finite-alphabet discrete memoryless signal X = (X1, . . . , Xn), based on a noise-corrupted observation sequence Z , which is the finite-alphabet output of a Discrete Memoryless Channel (DMC) whose input is X. Suppose that there is some uncertainty in the source distribution, in the channel characteristics, or in both. Equivalently, suppose that the distribution of the pairs (Xi, Zi), rather than completely being known, is only known to belong to a set Θ. Suppose further that the relevant performance criterion is the probability of excess distortion, i.e., letting X(Z) denote the reconstruction, we are interested in the behavior of Pθ ( ρ(X, X(Z)) > dθ ) , where ρ is a (normalized) block distortion induced by a single-letter distortion measure and Pθ denotes the probability measure corresponding to the case where (Xi, Zi) ∼ θ, θ ∈ Θ. Since typically this probability will either not decay at all or do so at an exponential rate, it is the rate of this decay which we focus on. More concretely, for a given rate R ≥ 0 and a family of distortion levels {dθ}θ∈Θ, we are interested in families of exponential levels {Iθ}θ∈Θ which are achievable in the sense that for large n there exist rate-R schemes satisfying − 1 n logPθ ( ρ(X, X(Z)) > dθ ) ≥ Iθ for all θ ∈ Θ. Our main result is a complete “single-letter” characterization of achievable levels {Iθ}θ∈Θ per any given triple (Θ, R, {dθ}θ∈Θ). Equipped with this result, we later turn to addressing the question of the “right” choice of {Iθ}θ∈Θ. Relying on methodology recently put forth by Feder and Merhav in the context of the composite hypothesis testing problem, we propose a competitive minimax approach for the choice of these levels and apply our main result for characterizing the associated key quantities. Subsequently, we apply the main result to characterize optimal performance in a Neyman-Pearson-like setting, where there are two possible noise-corrupted signals. In this problem, the goal of the observer of the noisy signal, rather than having to determine which of the two it is (as in the hypothesis testing problem), is to reproduce the underlying clean signal with as high a fidelity as possible (e.g., lowest number of symbol errors when distortion measure is Hamming), under the assumption that one source is active, while operating at a limited information rate R and subject to a constraint on the fidelity of reconstruction when the other source is active. Finally, we apply our result to characterize a sufficient condition for the source class, Θ, to be universally encodable in the sense of the existence of schemes attaining the optimal distribution-dependent exponent, simultaneously for all sources in the class. This condition was shown in an earlier work to suffice for universality in expectation.