Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
East-West gradient in semen quality in the Nordic-Baltic area: a study of men from the general population in Denmark, Norway, Estonia and Finland.

BACKGROUND Denmark and Norway have a three-fold higher incidence of testicular cancer than Estonia and Finland. Groups of young men from Denmark, Norway, Finland and Estonia were investigated to elucidate whether semen parameters and other related parameters follow a gradient between these countries, as does the gradient in incidence of testicular cancer. METHODS In total, 968 young men from the general population in these four countries were investigated according to the same protocol. Possible confounders were evaluated, and included in the statistical analysis when appropriate. Inter-laboratory differences in assessment of sperm concentrations were controlled by an external quality control programme and morphology assessment was centralized to one person. RESULTS The Finnish and Estonian men had an adjusted median sperm concentration of 54 and 57 x 10(6)/ml, respectively and the Norwegian and Danish men 41 x 10(6)/ml. The corresponding total sperm counts were 185, 174, 133 and 144 x 10(6). The frequency of normal sperm in men from Finland was 8.9%, Estonia 9.2%, Norway 6.9% and Denmark 6.4%. Within all four groups of men, a relationship between increasing levels of inhibin-B and increasing sperm counts was observed. However, inhibin-B levels were not predictive of sperm count differences between countries. CONCLUSIONS It is believed that the men examined were representative of the normal population of young men in all four countries as they were recruited from groups attending a compulsory medical examination, and not selected for known fertility or semen quality. Moreover, the majority of participants had no prior knowledge of their fertility potential. It appears that an east-west gradient exists in the Nordic-Baltic area with regard to semen parameters, this being in parallel with the incidences of testicular cancer. Further investigations are required to determine whether these findings are due to genetic differences, to different environments, or perhaps to a combination of both factors.
STUDENT-CENTRED LEARNING: WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR STUDENTS AND LECTURERS?

he term student-centred learning (SCL) is widely used in the teaching and learning literature. Many terms have been linked with student-centred learning, such as flexible learning (Taylor 2000), experiential learning (Burnard 1999), self-directed learning and therefore the slightly overused term ‘student-centred learning’ can mean different things to different people. In addition, in practice it is also described by a range of terms and this has led to confusion surrounding its implementation.The concept of student-centred learning has been credited as early as 1905 to Hayward and in 1956 to Dewey’s work (O’Sullivan 2003). Carl Rogers, the father of client-centred counseling, is associated with expanding this approach into a general theory of education (Burnard 1999; Rogoff 1999). The term student-centred learning was also associated with the work of Piaget and more recently with Malcolm Knowles (Burnard 1999). Rogers (1983a:25), in his book ‘Freedom to Learn for the 80s’, describes the shift in power from the expert teacher to the student learner, driven by a need for a change in the traditional environment where in this ‘so-called educational atmosphere, students become passive, apathetic and bored’. In the School system, the concept of child-centred education has been derived, in particular, from the work of Froebel and the idea that the teacher should not ‘interfere with this process of maturation, but act as a guide’ (Simon 1999). Simon highlighted that this was linked with the process of development or ‘readiness’, i.e. the child will learn when he/she is ready (1999). The paradigm shift away from teaching to an emphasis on learning has encouraged power to be moved from the teacher to the student (Barr and Tagg 1995). The teacher-focused/transmission of information formats, such as lecturing, have begun to be increasingly criticised and this has paved the way for a widespread growth of ‘student-centred learning’ as an alternative approach. However, despite widespread use of the term, Lea et al. (2003) maintain that one of the issues with student-centred learning is the fact that ‘many institutions or educators claim to be putting student-centred learning into practice, but in reality they are not’ (2003:322).
Neuroendoscopic Resection of Intraventricular Tumors and Cysts through a Working Channel with a Variable Aspiration Tissue Resector: A Feasibility and Safety Study

Pure neuroendoscopic resection of intraventricular lesions through a burr hole is limited by the instrumentation that can be used with a working channel endoscope. We describe a safety and feasibility study of a variable aspiration tissue resector, for the resection of a variety of intraventricular lesions. Our initial experience using the variable aspiration tissue resector involved 16 patients with a variety of intraventricular tumors or cysts. Nine patients (56%) presented with obstructive hydrocephalus. Patient ages ranged from 20 to 88 years (mean 44.2). All patients were operated on through a frontal burr hole, using a working channel endoscope. A total of 4 tumors were resected in a gross total fashion and the remaining intraventricular lesions were subtotally resected. Fifteen of 16 patients had relief of their preoperative symptoms. The 9 patients who presented with obstructive hydrocephalus had restoration of cerebrospinal fluid flow though one required a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. Three patients required repeat endoscopic resections. Use of a variable aspiration tissue resector provides the ability to resect a variety of intraventricular lesions in a safe, controlled manner through a working channel endoscope. Larger intraventricular tumors continue to pose a challenge for complete removal of intraventricular lesions.
Algebraic Topology Foundations of Supersymmetry and Symmetry Breaking in Quantum Field Theory and Quantum Gravity: A Review

A novel algebraic topology approach to supersymmetry (SUSY) and symmet- ry breaking in quantum field and quantum gravity theories is presented with a view to developing a wide range of physical applications. These include: controlled nuclear fusion and other nuclear reaction studies in quantum chromodynamics, nonlinear physics at high energy densities, dynamic Jahn-Teller effects, superfluidity, high temperature superconduc- tors, multiple scattering by molecular systems, molecular or atomic paracrystal structures, nanomaterials, ferromagnetism in glassy materials, spin glasses, quantum phase transitions and supergravity. This approach requires a unified conceptual framework that utilizes ex- tended symmetries and quantum groupoid, algebroid and functorial representations of non- Abelian higher dimensional structures pertinent to quantized spacetime topology and state space geometry of quantum operator algebras. Fourier transforms, generalized Fourier- Stieltjes transforms, and duality relations link, respectively, the quantum groups and quan- tum groupoids with their dual algebraic structures; quantum double constructions are also discussed in this context in relation to quasi-triangular, quasi-Hopf algebras, bialgebroids, Grassmann-Hopf algebras and higher dimensional algebra. On the one hand, this quantum algebraic approach is known to provide solutions to the quantum Yang-Baxter equation. On the other hand, our novel approach to extended quantum symmetries and their associated representations is shown to be relevant to locally covariant general relativity theories that are consistent with either nonlocal quantum field theories or local bosonic (spin) models with the extended quantum symmetry of entangled, 'string-net condensed' (ground) states.
Control-Based Program Analysis

We explore a novel approach to higher-order program analysis which combines lazy data propagation with ideas from optimal lambda-reduction to produce a different form of program analysis. This analysis produces only a control-flow graph; we derive all other information (e.g. values of variables) directly from this graph. The resulting analysis is flowand context-sensitive with a provable polynomial-time bound. The analysis is formalized and proved correct and terminating, and an initial implementation is described.
An Algebraic, Analytic, and Algorithmic Investigation on the Capacity and Capacity-Achieving Input Probability Distributions of Finite-Input– Finite-Output Discrete Memoryless Channels

In this paper, we investigate the capacity and capacity-achieving input probability distributions (IPDs) of finite-input-finite-output discrete memoryless channels (DMCs). In the general respect, we establish a novel and simple characterization for the capacity-achieving IPDs of a DMC, which is equivalent to the conventional Kuhn-Tucker conditions. We then prove a conjecture of Majani and Rumsey, which claims that every probability component of each capacity-achieving IPD of a DMC with positive capacity is less than 1-e-1, where e = 2.71828182. is the base of natural logarithms. It remains an open problem whether there exists an explicit closed-form solution for the capacity and capacity-achieving IPDs of a general finite-input-finite-output DMC, except for the two-input-two-output DMC. In the algebraic respect, we demonstrate that there does not, in general, exist an algebraic solution for the capacity-achieving IPDs of an m-input-n-output DMC for any m ges 2 . and any n ges 3. In the analytic respect, however, we can obtain an explicit closed-form analytic solution, represented as an infinite series, for the capacity-achieving IPD of a two-input-three-output DMC. We also provide a formula for the average capacity of weakly symmetric DMCs and show that the average capacity in nats per channel use of the n-input-m-output weakly symmetric DMCs increases for n ges 2 but has a finite limit of 1 - gamma as n rarr infin, where gamma = 0.57721566. is Euler's constant. In the algorithmic respect, the convergence of the Arimoto-Blahut algorithm is proved in a direct and elementary way. A new and simple iterative algorithm for calculating a capacity-achieving IPD is then proposed, which is provably convergent for all DMCs with positive transition probabilities. Finally, the characterization and determination of the set of all capacity-achieving IPDs of a DMC are addressed.
Expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors in urinary tract of rabbits and humans.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs, α, β/δ, and γ) are members of the nuclear receptor superfamily of ligand-activated transcription factors. PPARs regulate the expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism. 8( S)-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (8- S-HETE), leukotriene B4(LTB4), and hypolipidemic fibrates activate PPARα, whereas PPARγ is activated by prostaglandin metabolites. The present studies examined the intrarenal and tissue distribution of rabbit and human PPARα, -β/δ, and -γ mRNAs. Nuclease protection showed PPARα predominated in liver, heart, and kidney, whereas PPARγ, a putative adipose-specific transcription factor, was in white adipose tissue, bladder, and ileum, followed by kidney and spleen. Lower expression levels of PPARβ/δ were observed in several tissues. In situ hybridization of kidney showed PPARα mRNA predominated in proximal tubules and medullary thick ascending limbs of both rabbit and human. PPARγ was exclusively expressed in medullary collecting duct and papillary urothelium. Immunoblot confirmed the expression of PPARγ protein in freshly isolated inner medullary collecting ducts. mRNAs for all the PPARs were expressed in the ureter and bladder in both rabbit and human, but PPARγ expression was greatest. This distinct distribution of PPAR isoforms has important implications for lipid-activated gene transcription in urinary epithelia.
Black-White Inequalities in Mortality and Life Expectancy, 1933–1999: Implications for Healthy People 2010

Objectives. Optimistic predictions for the Healthy People 2010 goals of eliminating racial/ethnic disparities in health have been made based on absolute improvements in life expectancy and mortality. This study sought to determine whether there is evidence of relative improvement (a more valid measure of inequality) in life expectancy and mortality, and whether such improvement, if demonstrated, predicts future success in eliminating disparities. Methods. Historical data from the National Center for Health Statistics and the Census Bureau were used to predict future trends in relative mortality and life expectancy, employing an Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model. Excess mortality and time lags in mortality and life expectancy for blacks relative to whites were also estimated. Results. Based on data for 1945 to 1999, forecasts for relative black:white age-adjusted, all-cause mortality and white:black life expectancy at birth showed trends toward increasing disparities. From 1979, when the Healthy People initiative began, to 1998, the black:white ratio of age-adjusted, gender-specific mortality increased for all but one of nine causes of death that accounted for 83.4% of all US mortality in 1998. From 1980 to 1998, average numbers of excess deaths per day among American blacks relative to whites increased by 20%. American blacks experienced 4.3 to 4.5 million premature deaths relative to whites in 1940–1999. Conclusions. The rationale that underlies the optimistic Healthy People 2010 forecasts, that future success can be built on a foundation of past success, is not supported when relative measures of inequality are used. There has been no sustained decrease in black-white inequalities in age-adjusted mortality or life expectancy at birth at the national level since 1945. Without fundamental changes, most probably related to the ways medical and public health practitioners are trained, evaluated, and compensated for prevention-related activities, as well as further research on translating the findings of prevention studies into clinical practice, it is likely that simply reducing disparities in access to care and/or medical treatment will be insufficient. Millions of premature deaths will continue to occur among African Americans.
Admittance Control for Robotic Loading : Design and Experiments with a 1-Tonne Loader and a 14-Tonne LHD

This paper describes the design, tuning, and extensive field testing of an admittance-based Autonomous Loading Controller (ALC) for robotic excavation. Several iterations of the ALC were tuned and tested in fragmented rock piles—similar to those found in operating mines—by using both a robotic 1-tonne capacity Kubota R520S diesel-hydraulic surface loader and a 14-tonne capacity Atlas Copco ST14 underground load-haul-dump (LHD) machine. On the R520S loader, the ALC increased payload by 18 % with greater consistency, although with more energy expended and longer dig times when compared with digging at maximum actuator velocity. On the ST14 LHD, the ALC took 61 % less time to load 39 % more payload when compared to a single manual operator. The manual operator made 28 dig attempts by using three different digging strategies, and had one failed dig. The tuned ALC made 26 dig attempts at 10 and 11 MN target force levels. All 10 11 MN digs succeeded while 6 of the 16 10 MN digs failed. The results presented in this paper suggest that the admittance-based ALC is more productive and consistent than manual operators, but that care should be taken when detecting entry into the muck pile.
What do patients with glaucoma think about personal health records?

Putting patients in control of their records is one way of promoting patient centred care and patients with chronic health problems may benefit most from personal health records (PHRs). Glaucoma management is often complicated by incomplete understanding and poor adherence to treatment, two areas which a PHR may help to address. This study aimed to discover what patients with glaucoma think about PHRs and what type of information a glaucoma PHR should contain.
Abundance Estimation from Multiple Photo Surveys: Confidence Distributions and Reduced Likelihoods for Bowhead Whales off Alaska

Summary. Maximum likelihood estimates of abundance are obtained from repeated photographic surveys of a closed stratified population with naturally marked and unmarked individuals. Capture intensities are assumed log‐linear in stratum, year, and season. In the chosen model, an approximate confidence distribution for total abundance of bowhead whales, with an accompanying likelihood reduced of nuisance parameters, is found from a parametric bootstrap experiment. The confidence distribution depends on the assumed study protocol. A confidence distribution that is exact (except for the effect of discreteness) is found by conditioning in the unstratified case without unmarked individuals.
Using R for introductory statistics

DATA What Is Data? Some R Essentials Accessing Data by Using Indices Reading in Other Sources of Data UNIVARIATE DATA Categorical Data Numeric Data Shape of a Distribution BIVARIATE DATA Pairs of Categorical Variables Comparing Independent Samples Relationships in Numeric Data Simple Linear Regression MULTIVARIATE DATA Viewing Multivariate Data R Basics: Data Frames and Lists Using Model Formula with Multivariate Data Lattice Graphics Types of Data in R DESCRIBING POPULATIONS Populations Families of Distributions The Central Limit Theorem SIMULATION The Normal Approximation for the Binomial for loops Simulations Related to the Central Limit Theorem Defining a Function Investigating Distributions Bootstrap Samples Alternates to for loops CONFIDENCE INTERVALS Confidence Interval Ideas Confidence Intervals for a Population Proportion, p Confidence Intervals for the Population Mean, u Other Confidence Intervals Confidence Intervals for Differences Confidence Intervals for the Median SIGNIFICANCE TESTS Significance Test for a Population Proportion Significance Test for the Mean (t-Tests) Significance Tests and Confidence Intervals Significance Tests for the Median Two-Sample Tests of Proportion Two-Sample Tests of Center GOODNESS OF FIT The Chi-Squared Goodness-of-Fit Test The Chi-Squared Test of Independence Goodness-of-Fit Tests for Continuous Distributions LINEAR REGRESSION The Simple Linear Regression Model Statistical Inference for Simple Linear Regression Multiple Linear Regression ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE One-Way ANOVA Using lm() for ANOVA ANCOVA Two-Way ANOVA TWO EXTENSIONS OF THE LINEAR MODEL Logistic Regression Nonlinear Models APPENDIX A: GETTING, INSTALLING, AND RUNNING R Installing and Starting R Extending R Using Additional Packages APPENDIX B: GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACES AND R The Windows GUI The Mac OS X GUI Rcdmr APPENDIX C: TEACHING WITH R APPENDIX D: MORE ON GRAPHICS WITH R Low- and High-Level Graphic Functions Creating New Graphics in R APPENDIX E: PROGRAMMING IN R Editing Functions Using Functions Using Files and a Better Editor Object-Oriented Programming with R INDEX
Asymptomatic Intracranial Arterial Stenosis and Metabolic Syndrome: The APAC Study

Purpose The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. We investigated potential associations between MetS and asymptomatic intracranial arterial stenosis (ICAS) in a general population. Methods The community-based “Asymptomatic Polyvascular Abnormalities in Community Study” examined asymptomatic polyvascular abnormalities in a Chinese population aged 40+ years without history of stroke and coronary heart disease. MetS was defined by the International Diabetes Federation criteria. Asymptomatic ICAS was diagnosed by transcranial color-coded Doppler sonography. Results Out of 5393 study participants, asymptomatic ICAS was detected in 713 (13.2%) participants, and MetS in 1323 (24.5%) individuals. Prevalence of asymptomatic ICAS increased significantly from 7.5% to 24.2% with increasing number of MetS components. After adjusting for age, gender, physical activity, body mass index, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, MetS was significantly associated with asymptomatic ICAS (OR: 1.50; 95%CI: 1.23,1.83). Compared with the subgroup without MetS, the ORs for asymptomatic ICAS increased (P<0.0001) for each of 5 components of MetS from 1.71 (95%CI: 1.27,2.30), to 2.20 (95%CI: 1.63,2.98), 2.79 (95CI: 2.01,3.88), 3.08 (95%CI: 2.11,4.51) and 4.27 (95%CI: 2.22,8.20). Conclusions In multivariate analysis, MetS was an independent and additional factor associated with asymptomatic ICAS. Study participants with 5 MetS components had a 4 times higher risk of asymptomatic ICAS than participants with no MetS component.
Evolutionary Conservation of Divergent Pro-Inflammatory and Homeostatic Responses in Lamprey Phagocytes

In higher vertebrates, phagocytosis plays a critical role in development and immunity, based on the internalization and removal of apoptotic cells and invading pathogens, respectively. Previous studies describe the effective uptake of these particles by lower vertebrate and invertebrate phagocytes, and identify important molecular players that contribute to this internalization. However, it remains unclear if individual phagocytes mediate internalization processes in these ancient organisms, and how this impacts the balance of pro-inflammatory and homeostatic events within their infection sites. Herein we show that individual phagocytes of the jawless vertebrate Petromyzon marinus (sea lamprey), like those of teleost fish and mice, display the capacity for divergent pro-inflammatory and homeostatic responses following internalization of zymosan and apoptotic cells, respectively. Professional phagocytes (macrophages, monocytes, neutrophils) were the primary contributors to the internalization of pro-inflammatory particles among goldfish (C. auratus) and lamprey (P. marinus) hematopoietic leukocytes. However, goldfish showed a greater ability for zymosan phagocytosis when compared to their jawless counterparts. Coupled to this increase was a significantly lower sensitivity of goldfish phagocytes to homeostatic signals derived from apoptotic cell internalization. Together, this translated into a significantly greater capacity for induction of antimicrobial respiratory burst responses compared to lamprey phagocytes, but also a decreased efficacy in apoptotic cell-driven leukocyte homeostatic mechanisms that attenuate this pro-inflammatory process. Overall, our results show the long-standing evolutionary contribution of intrinsic phagocyte mechanisms for the control of inflammation, and illustrate one effective evolutionary strategy for increased responsiveness against invading pathogens. In addition, they highlight the need for development of complementary regulatory mechanisms of inflammation to ensure continued maintenance of host integrity amidst increasing challenges from invading pathogens.
Genetic Association at the 9 p 21 Glaucoma Locus Contributes to Sex Bias in Normal-Tension Glaucoma

Department of Ophthalmology, Flinders University, Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Ophthalmic Research Laboratories, South Australian Institute of Ophthalmology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Centre for Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Lions Eye Institute, Perth, Western Australia, Australia Department of Ophthalmology, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Centre for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology and Westmead Millennium Institute, University of Sydney, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia Statistical Genetics, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia