Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Testicular Cancer: Genes, Environment, Hormones

Testicular cancer (TC) represents one of the most peculiar clinical challenges at present. In fact, currently treatments are so effective ensuring a 5 years disease-free survival rate in nearly 95% of patients. On the other hand however, TC represents the most frequent newly diagnosed form of cancer in men between the ages of 14 and 44 years, with an incidence ranging from <1 to 9.9 affected individuals per 100,000 males across countries, while the overall incidence is also increasing worldwide. Furthermore, cancer survivors show a 2% risk of developing cancer in the contralateral testis within 15 years of initial diagnosis. This complex and multifaceted scenario requires a great deal of effort to understand the clinical base of available evidence. It is now clear that genetic, environmental and hormonal risk factors concur and mutually influence both the development of the disease and its prognosis, in terms of response to treatment and the risk of recurrence. In this paper, the most recent issues describing the relative contribution of the aforementioned risk factors in TC development are discussed. In addition, particular attention is paid to the exposure to environmental chemical substances and thermal stress, whose role in cancer development and progression has recently been investigated at the molecular level.
Influence of Oral Contraceptive Use on Adaptations to Resistance Training

Introduction: The majority of young women use oral contraceptives (OCs). Use of OCs has been associated with lower myofibrillar protein and tendon collagen synthesis rates, but it is unknown whether OCs will limit the adaptive response of myotendinous tissue to resistance training. Design and Methods: Fourteen healthy untrained young regular OC users (24 ± 1 years, fat% 32 ± 1, 35 ± 2 ml⋅min-1⋅kg-1) and 14 NOC users (non-OC, controls) (24 ± 1 years, fat% 32 ± 2, 34 ± 2 ml⋅min-1⋅kg-1) performed a 10-week supervised lower extremity progressive resistance training program. Before and after the intervention biopsies from the vastus lateralis muscle and the patellar tendon were obtained. Muscle (quadriceps) and tendon cross-sectional area (CSA) was determined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, and muscle fiber CSA was determined by histochemistry. Maximal isometric knee extension strength was assessed by dynamometry while 1 repetition maximum (RM) was determined during knee extension. Results: Training enhanced CSA in both muscle (p < 0.001) and tendon (p < 0.01). A trend toward a greater increase in muscle CSA was observed for OC (11%) compared to NOC (8%) (interaction p = 0.06). Analysis of mean muscle fiber type CSA showed a trend toward an increase in type II muscle fiber area in both groups (p = 0.11, interaction p = 0.98), whereas type I muscle fiber CSA increased in the OC group (n = 9, 3821 ± 197 to 4490 ± 313 mm2, p < 0.05), but not in NOC (n = 7, 4020 ± 348 to 3777 ± 354 mm2, p = 0.40) (interaction p < 0.05). Post hoc analyses indicated that the effect of OCs on muscle mass increase was induced by the OC-users (n = 7), who used OCs containing 30 μg ethinyl estradiol (EE), whereas the response in users taking OCs with 20 μg EE (n = 7) did not differ from NOC. Both the OC and NOC group experienced an increase in maximal knee strength (p < 0.001) and 1RM leg extension (p < 0.001) after the training period with no difference between groups. Conclusion: Use of OCs during a 10-week supervised progressive resistance training program was associated with a trend toward a greater increase in muscle mass and a significantly greater increase in type I muscle fiber area compared to controls. Yet, use of OCs did not influence the overall increase in muscle strength related to training.
Field Evaluation of DNA Based Biodiversity Monitoring of Caribbean Mosquitoes

Mosquito borne diseases pose a threat to human health worldwide. Disease risk is primarily determined by presence and abundance of vector species. A better understanding of mosquito diversity and abundance can direct improved vector control, but this requires a combination of monitoring techniques that yield both rapid and reliable information. Particularly improved larval detection is pivotal to move towards more targeted management with less environmental impact. Current detection methods rely strongly on manual labour and taxonomic expertise, which greatly limits the extent to which these methodologies can be employed. As such, insight in the efficiency of novel, high-throughput vs. traditional sampling techniques is required. We compared the effectiveness of a recently developed environmental DNA (eDNA) approach on water and sediment samples with other commonly used sampling techniques (‘dipping’ for larvae and adult trapping) in a field study on three Caribbean islands. All sampling methods were employed across a range of ecologically contrasting sites. Species identification was performed both morphologically and molecularly using an in-house developed reference database supplemented with sequences from BOLD and GenBank. Our analysis of water samples from 39 sites shows that eDNA sampling can be more reliable than dipping, yields a higher within-sample richness and produces a subset of the adult community in all sampled water types. Furthermore, for both adults and larvae, our identifications showed complete overlap between morphological and molecular approaches in 133 out of 134 samples. Overall, results from this study provide evidence that both our eDNA-based detection of larvae and our DNA-based identification of larvae and adults present methods that are, although more expensive, as reliable, and for some species even more reliable than the currently used methods. Additionally, our results highlight that a DNA approach can be used to identify larvae of early developmental stages, which generally lack important morphological characteristics. As such it allows for development of efficient disease control strategies, verification of management effectiveness and monitoring of population dynamics.
Isolation and Characterization of the Stress-Tolerant Candida tropicalis YHJ1 and Evaluation of Its Xylose Reductase for Xylitol Production From Acid Pre-treatment Wastewater

A stress-tolerant yeast was isolated from honey using acid hydrolysate generated from sequential acid-/alkali-pretreatment of empty palm fruit bunch fiber (EPFBF). The isolated yeast was identified molecularly, taxonomically, and morphologically as Candida tropicalis YHJ1, and analyzed for application in xylitol production. The isolated yeast showed stress tolerance toward various chemical reagents and could grow with up to 600 g/L xylose in the culture medium. This yeast also had a broad carbohydrate utilization spectrum, and its xylitol yield was greatest in medium supplemented with xylose as the sole carbon source. In batch fermentation for xylitol production, the yeast could convert xylose prepared from acidic EPFBF pretreatment wastewater into xylitol. Interestingly, C. tropicalis YHJ1 xylose reductase, containing a Ser279 residue, exhibited more effective xylitol conversion compared to orthologous Candida enzymes containing Leu279 or Asn279; this improvement was associated with NADPH binding, as predicted through homologous structure modeling and enzyme kinetic analysis. Taken together, these results show a novel stress-tolerant yeast strain that may be applicable to xylitol production from toxic lignocellulosic byproducts.
Functional Translocation of Broca's Area in a Low-Grade Left Frontal Glioma: Graph Theory Reveals the Novel, Adaptive Network Connectivity

We describe frontal language reorganization in a 50–60 year-old right-handed patient with a low-grade left frontotemporal insular glioma. Pre-operative fMRI revealed robust activation in the left superior temporal gyrus (Wernicke Area, WA) and in the right inferior frontal gyrus (right anatomical homolog of Broca Area, BA). Intra-operative cortical stimulation of the left inferior frontal gyrus and adjacent cortices elicited no speech deficits, and gross total resection including the expected location of BA resulted in no speech impairment. We employed statistical inference methods to reconstruct the functional brain network and determined how different brain areas connect with one another. We found that the right homolog of the BA in this patient functionally connected to the same areas as the left BA in a typical healthy control. As opposed to the functional connection of the left BA in a healthy brain, the right BA did not connect directly with the left WA, but connected indirectly, mediated by the pre-Supplementary Motor Area and the Middle Frontal Gyrus. This case illustrates that pre-surgical fMRI may be used to identify atypical hemispheric language reorganization in the presence of brain tumor and that network theory opens the possibility for future insight into the neural mechanism underlying the language reorganization.
Human Antimicrobial RNases Inhibit Intracellular Bacterial Growth and Induce Autophagy in Mycobacteria-Infected Macrophages

The development of novel treatment against tuberculosis is a priority global health challenge. Antimicrobial proteins and peptides offer a multifaceted mechanism suitable to fight bacterial resistance. Within the RNaseA superfamily there is a group of highly cationic proteins secreted by innate immune cells with anti-infective and immune-regulatory properties. In this work, we have tested the human canonical members of the RNase family using a spot-culture growth inhibition assay based mycobacteria-infected macrophage model for evaluating their anti-tubercular properties. Out of the seven tested recombinant human RNases, we have identified two members, RNase3 and RNase6, which were highly effective against Mycobacterium aurum extra- and intracellularly and induced an autophagy process. We observed the proteins internalization within macrophages and their capacity to eradicate the intracellular mycobacterial infection at a low micro-molar range. Contribution of the enzymatic activity was discarded by site-directed mutagenesis at the RNase catalytic site. The protein induction of autophagy was analyzed by RT-qPCR, western blot, immunofluorescence, and electron microscopy. Specific blockage of auto-phagosome formation and maturation reduced the protein's ability to eradicate the infection. In addition, we found that the M. aurum infection of human THP1 macrophages modulates the expression of endogenous RNase3 and RNase6, suggesting a function in vivo. Overall, our data anticipate a biological role for human antimicrobial RNases in host response to mycobacterial infections and set the basis for the design of novel anti-tubercular drugs.
Nerve Growth Factor Pathobiology During the Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease

The current review summarizes the pathobiology of nerve growth factor (NGF) and its cognate receptors during the progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Both transcript and protein data indicate that cholinotrophic neuronal dysfunction is related to an imbalance between TrkA-mediated survival signaling and the NGF precursor (proNGF)/p75NTR-mediated pro-apoptotic signaling, which may be related to alteration in the metabolism of NGF. Data indicate a spatiotemporal pattern of degeneration related to the evolution of tau pathology within cholinotrophic neuronal subgroups located within the nucleus basalis of Meynert (nbM). Despite these degenerative events the cholinotrophic system is capable of cellular resilience and/or plasticity during the prodromal and later stages of the disease. In addition to neurotrophin dysfunction, studies indicate alterations in epigenetically regulated proteins occur within cholinotrophic nbM neurons during the progression of AD, suggesting a mechanism that may underlie changes in transcript expression. Findings that increased cerebrospinal fluid levels of proNGF mark the onset of MCI and the transition to AD suggests that this proneurotrophin is a potential disease biomarker. Novel therapeutics to treat NGF dysfunction include NGF gene therapy and the development of small molecule agonists for the cognate prosurvival NGF receptor TrkA and antagonists against the pan-neurotrophin p75NTR death receptor for the treatment of AD.
Emotion Regulation Tendencies and Leadership Performance: An Examination of Cognitive and Behavioral Regulation Strategies

Emotion regulation is advocated to be an important factor underlying effective leadership given the task demands and interpersonal stressors facing organizational leaders. Despite the recognition of emotion regulation processes in leadership literature, there is a need for additional theorizing and empirical research on the specific cognitive and behavioral strategies utilized by leaders. This effort attempts to address this gap by examining individual tendencies in four emotion regulation strategies, situation modification, attentional deployment, cognitive reappraisal, and suppression, and their association with leadership task performance. Using an undergraduate student sample, this correlational study assessed the relationship between emotion regulation tendencies and performance in emotionally-relevant domains of leadership. Results provide partial support, suggesting that situation modification and cognitive reappraisal are positively related to leadership performance, whereas suppression was found to relate negatively with performance. Emotion regulation strategies were also found to account for variance in leadership performance above and beyond other emotion-related individual differences. Taken together, these findings suggest that certain regulation processes may be more functional for leaders and extend emotion regulation research in the leadership domain. Theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed.
Electrophysiological Subtypes and Prognostic Factors of Guillain-Barre Syndrome in Northern China

Objectives: To assess the epidemiology of different electrophysiological subtypes of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) and investigate the factors affecting the prognosis of the acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN) subtype in northern China. Methods: According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke diagnostic criteria for GBS, 104 consecutive GBS patients were recruited from the Department of Neurology of the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, China from 2014 to 2018. Results: Based on nerve conduction studies (NCSs), AMAN was the most common subtype in Northern China, accounting for 58 patients (55.8%). AMAN patients had significantly higher prevalence of antecedent diarrhea, longer duration of hospitalization, and slightly slower recovery than those with acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (AIDP), but there was no statistical difference in disease severity or short-term prognosis between AMAN and AIDP. Based on multivariate regression analysis, AMAN patients with antecedent diarrhea (OR = 0.16, 95% CI: 0.03–0.756, p = 0.021) or conduction blocks (CBs) (OR = 0.033, 95% CI: 0.001–0.787, p = 0.035) had dramatically better short-term prognosis. Decreased compound action potential with distal stimulation (dCMAP) amplitude was associated with significant slower speed of recovery(OR = 8.31, 95% CI: 2.55–27.10, p = 0.02). Conclusion: AMAN is still the most common subtype of GBS in northern China. A decline in dCMAP amplitude is predictive factor of a slow recovery and poor outcome of GBS. Diarrhea and CBs may be the factors for better short-term prognosis in AMAN patients in Northern China.
Aspect and the Interpretation of Motion Verbs in L2 Greek

This study examines the role of aspect in L2 acquisition within the framework of the Interpretability Hypothesis (Tsimpli 2003; Hawkins and Hattori 2006). Aspect in Greek is a grammaticalized, interpretable feature affecting the argument structure and the telic/atelic interpretation of manner-of-motion verbs. As such, aspect is relevant to the syntax-semantics and the syntaxdiscourse interfaces. Native speakers and L2 learners of Greek were tested on the comprehension and production of manner-of-motion verbs. The results show that aspectual distinctions are appropriately used by L2 learners, at both interfaces. However, unlike native speakers, L2 learners rely more on lexical properties of prepositions and verbs than on grammatical aspect to encode (a)telicity. Moreover, L2 grammars of Greek seem to involve a one-to-one correspondence between perfectivity and telicity.
Textbook Research as Scientific Research: Towards a Common Ground for Research on Mathematics Textbooks

This article explores research issues and methods of textbook research. Drawing on literatures and the author’s own work in the area of mathematics textbook research, it conceptualizes textbooks as an intermediate variable in the context of education and hence defines textbook research as disciplined inquiry into issues about textbooks and the relationships between textbooks and other factors in education. Furthermore, it argues that to further advance the field of textbook research, researchers need to expand research issues from descriptive issues focusing on what textbooks are to correlational and especially causal issues including why the textbooks are and how textbooks function in the context of education, and for this purpose, researchers must go beyond textbook analysis, comparison and use to employ more empirically-based and particularly experimental method and view more rigorously textbook research as scientific research
D.R.A.M.A. - De veloping Rational Agents to Mimic Actors

Autonomous Digital Actors are believable characters endowed with dramatic acting skills that could represent an advance regarding the authoring process of character-based animations. This article presents an architecture that covers all main requirements towards the design and development of an Autonomous Digital Actor. Although it has not been fully implemented yet, a theoretical example is presented to demonstrate its usage. It is expected that such authoring tool could facilitate the task of authoring character animations, by simplifying the knowledge and skills demanded to produce an animation, thus reducing costs and effort spent on this.
Bioelectrical Impedance for Accuracy Detecting Body Composition Changes during an Activity Intervention

ABSTRACT Body composition is an important component of an individual's health and fitness profile. The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) in detecting percent body fat (%BF) changes throughout a physical activity intervention in previously sedentary, overweight men and women. Fourteen men (mean ± SD; 46 ± 7 yr) and 22 women (47 ± 5 yr) with a body mass index of ≥25 kg·m−2 participated in an intervention of 10,000 steps per day for 36 wk. %BF was measured by air displacement plethysmography (ADP; criterion measure) and BIA at baseline, 20 wk, and 36 wk. During the 36-wk intervention, the women lost 1.6 ± 4.8 kg and the men lost 3.9 ± 4.2 kg. There was a significant three-way interaction for %BF across time points, device, and sex (P = 0.019). Among women, ADP and BIA detected %BF changes of −1.9% ± 2.0% and 0.5% ± 1.8%, respectively, from baseline to 20 wk, and −1.5% ± 2.3% and 0.3% ± 2.5%, respectively, from baseline to 36 wk. Among men, ADP and BIA detected %BF changes of −1.9% ± 1.8% and −1.5% ± 1.9%, respectively, from baseline to 20 wk, and −2.8% ± 3.7% and −2.3% ± 2.6%, respectively, from baseline to 36 wk. There was a significant difference in the accuracy of BIA in detecting %BF changes compared with ADP in women but not men on a group level. However, on an individual level, there was greater variation in BIA's accuracy in tracking %BF changes in both sexes. Compared with ADP, BIA is a suitable method for detecting %BF changes in a group of overweight men, but not women. However, caution should be exercised when using BIA to track body composition changes in either sex on an individual level.
S70 Clinical effectiveness results from the first interim analysis of the VOCAL study; an observational study of ivacaftor in patients with cystic fibrosis and selected non-G551D gating mutations

Introduction and objectives In a prior Phase 3 trial (KONNECTION), CF patients with a non-G551D gating mutation showed improvements in pulmonary and systemic outcomes with ivacaftor (IVA). VOCAL is an ongoing multinational (UK, IT, NL) observational study to assess real-world effectiveness of IVA in CF patients with a non-G551D gating mutation (G178R, S549N, S549R, G551S, G1244E, S1251N, S1255P or G1349D). Methods VOCAL has 4 years planned prospective data collection from enrollment. In this interim analysis, outcomes included percent predicted (pp) FEV1, pulmonary exacerbations (PEx), BMI, mortality and organ transplantation, evaluated for 12 months both before and after IVA initiation. Baseline was IVA initiation date. A mixed model for repeated measures for continuous outcomes and a negative binomial model for PEx was used. Results 71 of 73 enrolled patients completed 12 months treatment: 25 (34%) male, mean (SD) age 26.9 (13.5) years, 23 (32%)<18 years old, mean (SD) baseline ppFEV164.7% (24.5). There was significant improvement in absolute ppFEV1 at 6 months, sustained over 12 months (Least Squares [LS] Mean Change [MC] 10.6%; p<0.0001) with significant change (p<0.01) in absolute ppFEV1 annual rate of decline from –3.01%/year pre-IVA to –0.06%/year post-IVA (ppFEV1 measures in first 30 days of IVA related to initial ppFEV1 increase were excluded). Significant reduction in PEx event rate per patient year was observed: 0.81 pre-IVA to 0.24 post-IVA (rate ratio [RR] 0.29; 95% CI 0.15, 0.56). Improvement from baseline at 12 months in BMI (LS MC: 1.0 Kg/m2) for patients aged ≥20 years and BMI-z score for patients<20 years (LS MC 0.6) was significant (p<0.0001). There was one death unrelated to IVA and no transplants. No new safety signals were identified. Conclusion Consistent with KONNECTION, real-world use of IVA in CF patients with a non-G551D gating mutation demonstrated significant and sustained improvements in ppFEV1, PEx and BMI. Reduction in ppFEV1 rate of decline indicates IVA is a disease-modifying therapy for treating CF. This abstract was previously presented at the 2018 ECFS Congress in Belgrade and is available online in Journal of Cystic Fibrosis (Volume 17, Supplement 3, pp. S10, https://www.cysticfibrosisjournal.com/article/S1569-1993(18)30146-2/abstract) Sponsored by Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated
REQUEST GLOBALIZATION IN AN INFOSTATION NETWORK

This paper considers the problem of finding an optimal deployment of information resources on an InfoStation network in order to minimize the overhead and reduce the time needed to satisfy user requests for resources. Two formal models are developed for formalizing the problem – a static model and a dynamic model. Ideas of how to use these models for solving the problem of optimal deployment of resources are presented.