Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Strongly Recommend Evaluationof Clinical Outcomes of IVF/ICSIwith Cumulative Pregnancy Rate

Strongly Recommend Evaluation of Clinical Outcomes of IVF/ICSI with Cumulative Pregnancy Rate Objective: In order to reduce the multiple pregnancy rates, we strongly recommend the use of cumulative pregnancy rate after one oocytes retrieval cycle and all the available embryos transferred to assess the clinical outcomes of IVF/ICSI. Methods: We estimated cumulative pregnancy rate per oocyte retrieval among patients undergoing IVF/ICSI in 2011 at our center. Couples were followed until either discontinuation (no embryo to transfer) or pregnancy with visualization of gestational sac on ultrasound. Analyses were stratified according to maternal age.
Ventromedial prefrontal cortex activity and pathological worry in generalised anxiety disorder.

BACKGROUND Pathological worry is a hallmark feature of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), associated with dysfunctional emotional processing. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is involved in the regulation of such processes, but the link between vmPFC emotional responses and pathological v. adaptive worry has not yet been examined.AimsTo study the association between worry and vmPFC activity evoked by the processing of learned safety and threat signals. METHOD In total, 27 unmedicated patients with GAD and 56 healthy controls (HC) underwent a differential fear conditioning paradigm during functional magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS Compared to HC, the GAD group demonstrated reduced vmPFC activation to safety signals and no safety-threat processing differentiation. This response was positively correlated with worry severity in GAD, whereas the same variables showed a negative and weak correlation in HC. CONCLUSIONS Poor vmPFC safety-threat differentiation might characterise GAD, and its distinctive association with GAD worries suggests a neural-based qualitative difference between healthy and pathological worries.Declaration of interestNone.
The Fibrin Cleavage Product Bβ15-42 Channels Endothelial and Tubular Regeneration in the Post-acute Course During Murine Renal Ischemia Reperfusion Injury

Early and adequate restoration of endothelial and tubular renal function is a substantial step during regeneration after ischemia reperfusion (IR) injury, occurring, e.g., in kidney transplantation, renal surgery, and sepsis. While tubular epithelial cell injury has long been of central importance, recent perception includes the renal vascular endothelium. In this regard, the fibrin cleavage product fibrinopeptide Bβ15-42 mitigate IR injury by stabilizing interendothelial junctions through its affinity to VE-cadherin. Therefore, this study focused on the effect of Bβ15-42 on post-acute physiological renal regeneration. For this, adult male C57BL/6 mice were exposed to a 30 min bilateral renal ischemia and reperfusion for 24 h or 48 h. Animals were randomized in a non-operative control group, two operative groups each treated with i.v. administration of either saline or Bβ15-42 (2.4 mg/kg) immediately prior to reperfusion. Endothelial activation and inflammatory response was attenuated in renal tissue homogenates by single application of Bβ15-42. Meanwhile, Bβ15-42 did not affect acute kidney injury markers. Regarding the angiogenetic players VEGF-A, Angiopoietin-1, Angiopoietin-2, however, we observed significant higher expressions at mRNA and trend to higher protein level in Bβ15-42 treated mice, compared to saline treated mice after 48 h of IR, thus pointing toward an increased angiogenetic activity. Similar dynamics were observed for the intermediate filament vimentin, the cytoprotective protein klotho, stathmin and the proliferation cellular nuclear antigen, which were significantly up-regulated at the same points in time. These results suggest a beneficial effect of anatomical contiguously located endothelial cells on tubular regeneration through stabilization of endothelial integrity. Therefore, it seems that Bβ15-42 represents a novel pharmacological approach in the targeted therapy of acute renal failure in everyday clinical practice.
An Elastic Image Registration Approach for Wireless Capsule Endoscope Localization

Wireless Capsule Endoscope (WCE) is an innovative imaging device that permits physicians to examine all the areas of the Gastrointestinal (GI) tract. It is especially important for the small intestine, where traditional invasive endoscopies cannot reach. Although WCE represents an extremely important advance in medical imaging, a major drawback that remains unsolved is the WCE precise location in the human body during its operating time. This is mainly due to the complex physiological environment and the inherent capsule effects during its movement. When an abnormality is detected, in the WCE images, medical doctors do not know precisely where this abnormality is located relative to the intestine and therefore they can not proceed efficiently with the appropriate therapy. The primary objective of the present paper is to give a contribution to WCE localization, using image-based methods. The main focus of this work is on the description of a multiscale elastic image registration approach, its experimental application on WCE videos, and comparison with a multiscale affine registration. The proposed approach includes registrations that capture both rigid-like and non-rigid deformations, due respectively to the rigid-like WCE movement and the elastic deformation of the small intestine originated by the GI peristaltic movement. Under this approach a qualitative information about the WCE speed can be obtained, as well as the WCE location and orientation via projective geometry. The results of the experimental tests with real WCE video frames show the good performance of the proposed approach, when elastic deformations of the small intestine are involved in successive frames, and its superiority with respect to a multiscale affine image registration, which accounts for rigid-like deformations only and discards elastic deformations.
Antenatal Education on Childbirth Self-Efficacy for Egyptian Primiparous Women: A Randomized Control Trial

Antenatal education is provided as a standard guideline in developed countries but till now, there is no standard program in developing countries. This study aimed to test the application of antenatal education on childbirth self-efficacy for Egyptian primiparous women. Subjects and methods: A randomized Control Trial was utilized comparing two groups of women an antenatal education group (n=52) and a routine antenatal care control group (n=52). The study was carried out at Antenatal Clinic at Mansoura New General Hospital, Mansoura city, Egypt between November 2015 and August 2016. Results: Women who attended antenatal education classes had a greater childbirth self-efficacy and a lower perceived labour pain (p=<0.001). Conclusion: Antenatal educational classes give an actual chance for helping primiparous women increasing childbirth self-efficacy, and reducing labour pain in the first and second stages. The study recommended the importance of designing and applying antenatal education classes as an essential component of standard antenatal care at different affiliated Egyptian public hospitals. Designing and applying childbirth preparation classes in the third trimester of pregnancy particularly for primigravidas. Designing comprehensive updated booklet of childbirth preparation which is suited and tailored to the culture of the Egyptian women and distributed through private and different affiliated Egyptians antenatal clinics. Finally immediate strategies should be adopted to move from medicalization of childbirth to humanistic and low intervention midwife-led care which is empowering Egyptians women.
Local versus Global Low-Rank Promotion in Dynamic MRI Series Reconstruction

Introduction: Several recent works (e.g. [1-3]) have suggested that dynamic MRI series reconstructions can be significantly improved by promoting low-rank (LR) structure in the estimated image series when it is reshaped into Casorati form (NxNxT series NxT matrix) [2]. When T<< N, the rank of the (reshaped) true underlying image may actually be not much less than T. For such cases, aggressive rank reduction will result in temporal blurring [3] while only modest rank reduction will fail to remove noise. In [4], Bydder and Du [4] proposed a (rank-preserving) spectral filtering technique for multiecho MRI that operates on overlapping image subregions. In this work, we propose that a similar restriction to only local operations can potentially overcome some of the challenges faced by LR promoting methods when the row and column dimensions of the Casorati matrix differ significantly. This generalization of the LR promoting image series reconstruction paradigm, which we call Locally Low Rank (LLR) image recovery, spatially decomposes an image series estimate into a (redundant) collection of overlapping blocks and promotes that each block, when put into Casorati form, be independently LR. Methods: Without loss of generality, only the recovery of fully-sampled but noisy dynamic series will be considered here. Recall the rank-constrained estimation problem: ( ) ( ) { } 2
"Rhetoric to Reality"- Efficacy of Punica Granatum Peel Extract on Oral Candidiasis: An in vitro Study.

INTRODUCTION Global usage of synthetic drugs inadvertently has resulted in deleterious effects and antimicrobial resistance. Phytoextarcts with therapeutic properties appear to be appropriate substitutes for synthetic drugs. Punica granatum (Pomegranate) is a fruit rich in nutraceuticals and therapeutic properties that has lead to its widespread use as folk-medicine for treating innumerable diseases. AIM To determine the in vitro antifungal efficacy of Punica granatum peel extract against the oral Candida compared with clotrimazole. MATERIALS AND METHODS An in vitro study was carried out on 60 saliva samples collected from patients confirmed by clinical and mycological examination as oral candidiasis and subjected to culture on Saborauds Dextrose Agar (SDA) medium and incubated at 37°C for 48 hours. The cultured Candida species were subjected to antifungal susceptibility test by agar well diffusion method. Punica granatum peel extract (Group-I), Ethanol (Group-II Negative control), Clotrimazole (Group-III-Positive control) were inoculated in wells and incubated. Zones of inhibitions were measured with a digital Vernier's callipers and subjected to statistical analysis. ANOVA (analysis of variance) was performed to compare inhibition zones and concentrations of all the three groups. RESULTS Antifungal efficacy of Punica granatum group and Clotrimazole group were statistically significant with p-value <0.05. Additionally, with the increase in the concentration there was an increase in the inhibitory efficacy against Candida species. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of peel extract of Punica granatum approximated with that of the clotrimazole. CONCLUSION The present research was just a venture to usual clinical approach. The results of the study reveal that MIC of peel extract of Punica granatum approximated with that of the clotrimazole. Hence, peel extract of Punica granatum may be used as a substitute for antifungal agents in clinical trials with standardization so as to minimize the deleterious effects for patient compliance.
Intracellular localisation of human HIF-1α hydroxylases: implications for oxygen sensing

Hypoxia-inducible factor1 (HIF-1) is an essential transcription factor for cellular adaptation to decreased oxygen availability. In normoxia the oxygen-sensitive α-subunit of HIF-1 is hydroxylated on Pro564 and Pro402 and thus targeted for proteasomal degradation. Three human oxygen-dependent HIF-1α prolyl hydroxylases (PHD1, PHD2, and PHD3) function as oxygen sensors in vivo. Furthermore, the asparagine hydroxylase FIH-1 (factor inhibiting HIF) has been found to hydroxylate Asp803 of the HIF-1 C-terminal transactivation domain, which results in the decreased ability of HIF-1 to bind to the transcriptional coactivator p300/CBP. We have fused these enzymes to the N-terminus of fluorescent proteins and transiently transfected the fusion proteins into human osteosarcoma cells (U2OS). Three-dimensional 2-photon confocal fluorescence microscopy showed that PHD1 was exclusively present in the nucleus, PHD2 and FIH-1 were mainly located in the cytoplasm and PHD3 was homogeneously distributed in cytoplasm and nucleus. Hypoxia did not influence the localisation of any enzyme under investigation. In contrast to FIH-1, each PHD inhibited nuclear HIF-1α accumulation in hypoxia. All hydroxylases suppressed activation of a cotransfected hypoxia-responsive luciferase reporter gene. Endogenous PHD2mRNA and PHD3mRNA were hypoxia-inducible, whereas expression of PHD1mRNA and FIH-1mRNA was oxygen independent. We propose that PHDs and FIH-1 form an oxygen sensor cascade of distinct subcellular localisation.
Influence measures for the Waring regression model

In this paper we present a regression model where the response variable is a count data that follows a Waring distribution. The Waring regression model allows for analysis of phenomena where the Geometric regression model is inadequate, because the probability of success on each trial, p, is different for each individual and p has an associated distribution. Estimation is performed by maximum likelihood, through the maximization of the Q-function using EM algorithm. Diagnostic measures are calculated for this model. To illustrate the results, an application to real data is presented. Some specific details are given in the Appendix of the paper.
Formation of Bragg Band Gaps in Anisotropic Phononic Crystals Analyzed With the Empty Lattice Model

Bragg band gaps of phononic crystals generally, but not always, open at Brillouin zone boundaries. The commonly accepted explanation stems from the empty lattice model: assuming a small material contrast between the constituents of the unit cell, avoided crossings in the phononic band structure appear at frequencies and wavenumbers corresponding to band intersections; for scalar waves the lowest intersections coincide with boundaries of the first Brillouin zone. However, if a phononic crystal contains elastically anisotropic materials, its overall symmetry is not dictated solely by the lattice symmetry. We construct an empty lattice model for phononic crystals made of isotropic and anisotropic materials, based on their slowness curves. We find that, in the anisotropic case, avoided crossings generally do not appear at the boundaries of traditionally defined Brillouin zones. Furthermore, the Bragg “planes” which give rise to phononic band gaps, are generally not flat planes but curved surfaces. The same is found to be the case for avoided crossings between shear (transverse) and longitudinal bands in the isotropic case.
Is fruit and vegetable intake associated with asthma or chronic rhino ‐ sinusitis in European adults ? Results from the Global Allergy and Asthma Network of Excellence ( GA 2 LEN ) Survey

Background: Fruits and vegetables are rich in compounds with proposed antioxidant, anti‐allergic and anti‐inflam‐ matory properties, which could contribute to reduce the prevalence of asthma and allergic diseases. Objective: We investigated the association between asthma, and chronic rhino‐sinusitis (CRS) with intake of fruits and vegetables in European adults. Methods: A stratified random sample was drawn from the Global Allergy and Asthma Network of Excellence (GALEN) screening survey, in which 55,000 adults aged 15–75 answered a questionnaire on respiratory symptoms. Asthma score (derived from self‐reported asthma symptoms) and CRS were the outcomes of interest. Dietary intake of 22 subgroups of fruits and vegetables was ascertained using the internationally validated GALEN Food Frequency Questionnaire. Adjusted associations were examined with negative binomial and multiple regressions. Simes proce‐ dure was used to control for multiple testing. Results: A total of 3206 individuals had valid data on asthma and dietary exposures of interest. 22.8% reported hav‐ ing at least 1 asthma symptom (asthma score ≥1), whilst 19.5% had CRS. After adjustment for potential confounders, asthma score was negatively associated with intake of dried fruits (β‐coefficient −2.34; 95% confidence interval [CI] −4.09, −0.59), whilst CRS was statistically negatively associated with total intake of fruits (OR 0.73; 95% CI 0.55, 0.97). Conversely, a positive association was observed between asthma score and alliums vegetables (adjusted β‐coefficient 0.23; 95% CI 0.06, 0.40). None of these associations remained statistically significant after controlling for multiple testing. Conclusion and clinical relevance: There was no consistent evidence for an association of asthma or CRS with fruit and vegetable intake in this representative sample of European adults.
Experimentally Achievable Accuracy Using a Digital Image Correlation Technique in measuring Small-Magnitude (<0.1%) Homogeneous Strain Fields

Measuring small-magnitude strain fields using a digital image correlation (DIC) technique is challenging, due to the noise-signal ratio in strain maps. Here, we determined the level of accuracy achievable in measuring small-magnitude (<0.1%) homogeneous strain fields. We investigated different sets of parameters for image processing and imaging pre-selection, based on single-image noise level. The trueness of DIC was assessed by comparison of Young’s modulus (E) and Poisson’s ratio (ν) with values obtained from strain gauge measurements. Repeatability was improved, on average, by 20–25% with experimentally-determined optimal parameters and image pre-selection. Despite this, the intra- and inter-specimen repeatability of strain gauge measurements was 5 and 2.5 times better than DIC, respectively. Moreover, although trueness was also improved, on average, by 30–45%, DIC consistently overestimated the two material parameters by 1.8% and 3.2% for E and ν, respectively. DIC is a suitable option to measure small-magnitude homogeneous strain fields, bearing in mind the limitations in achievable accuracy.
A new "American" subgroup of African-lineage Chikungunya virus detected in and isolated from mosquitoes collected in Haiti, 2016

As part of on-going arboviral surveillance activity in a semi-rural region in Haiti, Chikungunya virus (CHIKV)-positive mosquito pools were identified in 2014 (the peak of the Caribbean Asian-clade epidemic), and again in 2016 by RT-PCR. In 2014, CHIKV was only identified in Aedes aegypti (11 positive pools/124 screened). In contrast, in sampling in 2016, CHIKV was not identified in Ae. aegypti, but, rather, in (a) a female Aedes albopictus pool, and (b) a female Culex quinquefasciatus pool. Genomic sequence analyses indicated that the CHIKV viruses in the 2016 mosquito pools were from the East-Central-South African (ECSA) lineage, rather than the Asian lineage. In phylogenetic studies, these ECSA lineage strains form a new ECSA subgroup (subgroup IIa) together with Brazilian ECSA lineage strains from an isolated human outbreak in 2014, and a mosquito pool in 2016. Additional analyses date the most recent common ancestor of the ECSA IIa subgroup around May 2007, and the 2016 Haitian CHIKV genomes around December 2015. Known CHIKV mutations associated with improved Ae. albopictus vector competence were not identified. Isolation of this newly identified lineage from Ae. albopictus is of concern, as this vector has a broader geographic range than Ae. aegypti, especially in temperate areas of North America, and stresses the importance for continued vector surveillance.
Toxic effects of endosulfan on haematological and biochemical indices of Clarias gariepinus

The effects of endosulfan pesticide were investigated on juvenile of Clarias gariepinus. Acute test was carried out using 0.04, 0.05, 0.06, 0.07 and 0.08 ppm of endosulfan pesticide with the 96 h LC50 value determined by probit analysis. Chronic bioassays were evaluated on haematological and biochemical indices of the fish for a period of 60 days using four sub lethal concentrations (0.0005, 0.0010, 0.0025 and 0.0050 ppm). Blood sample was collected on days 15, 30, 45 and 60 for haematological and at day 60 only for biochemical analysis. The 96 h LC50 value of endosulfan for C. gareipinus was 0.052 ppm. There was significant reduction (P<0.05) in red blood cell (RBC) at days 15, 30 and 45, haemoglobin (Hb) at days 15 and 45, and packed cell volume (PCV) at all days of the evaluation. White blood cell (WBC) values however showed significant increase (P<0.05) at days 45 and 60. There were variations in mean values of mean cell volume (MCV), mean cell haemoglobin (MCH) and mean cell haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) with significant increase observed only at day 15 of MCHC. Significant reduction in values was obtained for total protein and globulin while significant increase was observed in cholesterol. Results obtained in this study suggest that exposure to low concentrations of endosulfan induced stress and altered the haematological and biochemical indices of treated fish.
A small, portable RNA device for the control of exon skipping in mammalian cells

Abstract Splicing is an essential and highly regulated process in mammalian cells. We developed a synthetic riboswitch that efficiently controls alternative splicing of a cassette exon in response to the small molecule ligand tetracycline. The riboswitch was designed to control the accessibility of the 3′ splice site by placing the latter inside the closing stem of a conformationally controlled tetracycline aptamer. In the presence of tetracycline, the cassette exon is skipped, whereas it is included in the ligand's absence. The design allows for an easy, context-independent integration of the regulatory device into any gene of interest. Portability of the device was shown through its functionality in four different systems: a synthetic minigene, a reporter gene and two endogenous genes. Furthermore, riboswitch functionality to control cellular signaling cascades was demonstrated by using it to specifically induce cell death through the conditionally controlled expression of CD20, which is a target in cancer therapy.
A Study on Correlation Between Adult Personality and Alexithymia

Objective: To explore the correlation between adult personality and alexithymia.Methods: The investigation was carried out in four villages with a total of 1,440 households in Xinxiang,Henan.From them 310 were randomly selected to be subjects,and administered Eysenck Personality Questionnaire(EPQ) and Toronto Alexithymia Scale assessment,and then made descriptive statistics,Pearson correlation were conducted to the 288 valid questionnaires.Results: The psychoticism of personality had significant positive association with extroverted thinking(r=0.246,P0.01),but had no association with the ability of description affection(r=0.053,P0.05) and fantasy(r=0.026,P0.05). Extroversion and introversion dimension had signification negative association with fantasy(r=-0.162,P0.01),and had signification negative association with the ability of distinguishing affection from physical feeling(r=-0.181,P0.05) and extroverted thinking(r=-0.151,P0.05). Neurotism dimension had signification positive association with the ability of description affection(r=0.433,P0.01) and the ability of distinguishing affection from physical feeling(r=-0.154,P0.01),while had negative association with fantasy(r=-0.154,P0.01). Conclusion: The personality of adult had significant association with alexithymia.