Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of mechanical delipation in porcine oocytes on mitochondrial distribution, ROS activity and viability after vitrification.

BACKGROUND Porcine oocytes were sensitive to cooling because of the presence of excessive lipids. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of lipid removal on the mitochondrial distribution, the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the viability of porcine oocytes after vitrification. MATERIALS AND METHODS Porcine oocytes were cultured in vitro, and lipid droplets were removed at the MII stage by mechanical delipation via micromanipulation. Mitochondrial distribution, ROS activity and oocyte viability were assessed after delipation and vitrification. RESULTS Vitrification disrupted mitochondrial distribution in oocytes. The vitrified groups had a significantly lower rate of oocytes with normal mitrochondrial distribution than the fresh control group (39.6% and 58.5% versus 88.9%). The percentage of oocytes with normal mitochondrial distribution was significantly lower in the delipated group than that in the undelipated group after vitrification (39.6% vs 58.5%, p < 0.05). Vitrification also increased the ROS activity (p < 0.05); but there was no significant difference between the delipated and the undelipated groups (p > 0.05). Delipated oocytes developed into blastocysts via parthenogenetic activation without vitrification. Delipation significantly decreased the rate of blastocyst formation. Vitrification also decreased the rates of cleavage and blastocyst formation (p < 0.05). The delipated group had a significantly higher cleavage rate than the undelipated group after vitrification (21.4% versus 10.4%). CONCLUSION Lipid removal at the MII stage via micromanipulation impaired their subsequent development of porcine oocytes. Although vitrification causes an abnormal distribution of mitochondria and an increase in ROS production in porcine oocytes, the removal of lipid droplets improves subsequent development after vitrification.
Androgen Receptor: Structural Domains and Functional Dynamics after Ligand‐Receptor Interaction

Abstract: Androgens are C‐19 steroids secreted primarily from the testes and adrenals that play a critical role in reproduction. Reproductive functions of androgens are mediated through coordination of diverse physiological processes ranging from brain functions to specific cell proliferation and apoptosis. At the molecular level, most of these regulatory influences are exerted by altered expression of appropriate genes by the androgen receptor (AR), a member of the nuclear receptor (NR) superfamily. The unliganded AR is a cytoplasmic protein and, upon ligand binding, it translocates into the nucleus. Thereafter, in conjunction with other transcription factors and coactivators, the AR influences transcription of target genes through a multistep process that includes its clustering in a subnuclear compartment. Here, we describe the genomic organization of the AR, the role of individual structural domains in specific AR function, and the influence of agonistic/antagonistic ligands in the intracellular movement of the receptor. We also show that the AR is capable of undergoing multiple rounds of nucleocytoplasmic recycling after ligand binding and dissociation. Xenobiotic ligands, considered as selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs), can modulate AR activity by inhibiting either its nuclear translocation or its subnuclear clustering and subsequent transactivation function.
Electrospray and tandem mass spectrometric characterization of acylglycerol mixtures that are dissolved in nonpolar solvents.

This paper presents electrospray mass spectrometric analysis of mixtures containing monoglycerides, diglycerides, and triglycerides. Sample compounds were dissolved in concentrations of 1-50 pmol/microL in chloroform:methanol (70:30, v:v), which was modified by the addition of alkall-metal or ammonium salts or by addition of formic acid to favor the addition of a cationic species to the sample molecules. Electrospray mass spectrometric analysis of acylglycerol standards yielded positive-ion current signals for (M + Na)+ or (M + NH4)+ of all the species that were present at low picomole per microliter concentrations with no fragmentation. For equimolar concentrations of these sample compounds, there was a general decrease in ion current response as the analyte polarity decreased. Therefore, acylglycerols that contained unsaturated fatty acid chains were observed to exhibit a response in the mass spectrum greater than those with saturated chains, and ion signals resulting from the molecular adduct ions of monoglycerides were more abundant than those of diglycerides, which were more abundant than those of triglycerides in the mass spectrum. Electrospray mass spectrometric analysis of an unknown lipid material recovered from a mammalian cell culture reactor revealed a mixture of triglycerides containing mostly C14, C16, and C18 fatty acids with varying degrees of unsaturation. The results obtained by electrospray mass spectrometry compared favorably to those obtained by gas chromatography after saponification and methylation of fatty acid components of the triglycerides. MS/MS fragmentation of sodiated acylglycerols required a dissociation energy significantly greater than that required for fragmentation of ammoniated acylglycerols, so MS/MS characterization of acylglycerols was generally performed on the ammoniated compounds. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Hospital outbreak of Klebsiella pneumoniae resistant to broad-spectrum cephalosporins and beta-lactam-beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations by hyperproduction of SHV-5 beta-lactamase

An aminoglycoside- and ceftazidime-resistant strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae K2 producing the extended-spectrum beta-lactamase SHV-5 infected or colonized 14 pediatric patients at Guy's Hospital. The patients were mostly neonates recovering from cardiac surgery for congenital defects. The organism was also isolated from a nurse and from the father of one of the children. Four patients had septicemia, and two septicemic neonates with postoperative renal failure died. Aminoglycoside and cephalosporin resistance transferred to Escherichia coli in vitro on a 160-kb plasmid, and a similar resistant E. coli strain was isolated from the stools of one of the affected children. The epidemic organism colonized the bowel and skin and was probably transmitted via staff hands. Five wards were involved because of extensive patient movements. The outbreak was controlled by patient isolation and attention to handwashing. All of the isolates of the outbreak strain were identical by phage typing, ribotyping, plasmid profiling, and biochemical and serological testing, but they varied in their production of SHV-5. Some isolates produced normal amounts of SHV-5 and were susceptible to beta-lactam-beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations. Others, including the single isolate of multiresistant E. coli, produced up to five times as much enzyme as "normal" isolates. This hyperproduction resulted in increased resistance to several penicillins and cephalosporins and to the beta-lactam-beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, ampicillin-sulbactam, piperacillin-tazobactam, and ceftazidime-clavulanic acid. The hyperproduction of SHV-5 by K. pneumoniae and E. coli seen in this outbreak suggests that beta-lactam-beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations may be unreliable for the treatment of organisms producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamases.
Implementation of sedation guidelines in clinical practice in Italy: results of a prospective longitudinal multicenter study.

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS Following publication in 2000 of the Italian Guidelines for Sedation in Digestive Endoscopy, the authors carried out a dissemination program and an audit of the impact of the Guidelines in clinical practice. The primary aim was to evaluate any changes in sedation methods at the start of and during the study period (at 0, 6, and 12 months). Secondary study aims were detailed analyses of endoscopies regarding sedation, complications, and patient satisfaction. PATIENTS AND METHODS The prospective, observational, multicenter study was commenced in 60 centers (31 first- and 29 second-level) which opted to have seminars on the Guidelines; results concerning sedation practices in relation to endoscopic procedure, complications, and patient satisfaction were recorded at the start of the study (phase 0) and at 6 and 12 months. Over a 1-year period, 5261 sedated and unsedated patients undergoing endoscopic procedures were enrolled (with data collection between December 1999 and June 2002). The results were analyzed using the chi-squared test. RESULTS Data were available for all three assessment time points from 29 of the 60 centers. The sedation rate, between phase 0 and 2, increased by 12.75% in first-level centers and 0.73% in second-level centers with midazolam use increasing from 34% to 41%. For colonoscopy, sedation usage increased from 52% to 56%. Adverse events occurred in 0.47% of the patients, without long-term sequelae or death, and patient satisfaction was only slightly, but not significantly higher with sedation (90.4% of sedated patients were "very satisfied" vs. 87% of unsedated patients who were "satisfied"), but the examination was more likely to be complete in sedated patients and this difference was statistically significant ( P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS We conclude that if sedation is used as recommended by the Guidelines, it is possible to control clinical risk by using high quality endoscopic procedures.
The effects of nano-scale iron doping on superconductivity and microstructure of MgB2 bulk

Mg<inf>1−x</inf>Fe<inf>x</inf>B<inf>2</inf> superconductor was prepared by in situ solid state reaction to study the effects of nano-iron doping on the superconductivity of MgB<inf>2</inf>. Two kinds of nano-iron sources were used: nano-iron particles and nano-iron wires. It was found that crystal structure was not affected by nano-iron doping for either form of dopant source. T<inf>c</inf>, J<inf>c</inf>, and H<inf>irr</inf> were severely suppressed by iron nano-particles doping. In contrast, with iron nano-wires doping, T<inf>c</inf> of the MgB<inf>2</inf> superconductors were not changed remarkably, while their J<inf>c</inf> and H<inf>irr</inf> were slightly enhanced at all the temperature ranges investigated in this work. Under 4 T field, the sample doped with 1 % wt iron nano-wires reached the highest J<inf>c</inf> of 1.1×10<sup>4</sup> A/cm<sup>2</sup> at 10 K and 2.2×10<sup>2</sup> A/cm<sup>2</sup> at 20 K, respectively. It was argued that the Fe nano-wires may be introduced into MgB<inf>2</inf> as external pinning centers in high field region.
Hybrid Method for Computing Word-Pair Similarity based on Web Content

With the development of the Web, there is a great amount of information available on Web pages, which opens new perspectives for sharing information, allowing the collaborative construction of content. We took advantage of this shared information in our work in order to measure the similarity between words. Our measure uses on one hand, an online English dictionary provided by the Semantic Atlas project of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and on the other hand, a page counts based metric returned by a social website.
Look Who's Talking! A Roadside Survey of Drivers’ Cell Phone Use

Objective: The objective of this study was to quantify Melbourne drivers’ rates of handheld and hands-free phone use and the driver, vehicle, site, and time characteristics associated with phone use. Additionally, this study sought to examine any change in the prevalence of handheld cell phone use by Melbourne drivers between 2006 and 2009. Method: Observational survey of vehicle drivers at various times of the day and week at 3 sites across metropolitan Melbourne during May 2009. Results: A total of 195 (3.4%) of the 5813 drivers observed were using handheld phones and 81 (1.4%) were using hands-free phones. This represents a significant increase in handheld phone usage rates compared to those found in an earlier study conducted in Melbourne in 2006. Cell phone use was associated with a range of driver, vehicle, site, and time characteristics. Handheld phone users were predominately young or middle-aged drivers who drove cars or 4-wheel-drive vehicles (4WDs), and this activity was more likely to occur in the late afternoon. Use of hands-free phones did not differ significantly across gender, age group, vehicle type, observation site, or time of day; however, use of hands-free phones was higher on weekdays compared to weekends. Conclusions: Despite legislation being in place, drivers’ handheld cell phone use is still a major road safety concern, particularly for young and middle-aged drivers. The effectiveness of other strategies for decreasing handheld usage rates, including increased surveillance and tougher penalties, need to be ascertained.
An Evaluation of Intrusive Instrumental Intelligibility Metrics

Instrumental intelligibility metrics are commonly used as an alternative to listening tests. This paper evaluates 12 monaural intrusive intelligibility metrics: SII, HEGP, CSII, HASPI, NCM, QSTI, STOI, ESTOI, MIKNN, SIMI, SIIB, and <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{sEPSM}^\text{corr}$</tex-math></inline-formula>. In addition, this paper investigates the ability of intelligibility metrics to generalize to new types of distortions and analyzes why the top performing metrics have high performance. The intelligibility data were obtained from 11 listening tests described in the literature. The stimuli included Dutch, Danish, and English speech that was distorted by additive noise, reverberation, competing talkers, preprocessing enhancement, and postprocessing enhancement. SIIB and HASPI had the highest performance achieving a correlation with listening test scores on average of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\bf \rho =0.92$</tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX"> $\bf \rho =0.89$</tex-math></inline-formula>, respectively. The high performance of SIIB may, in part, be the result of SIIBs developers having access to all the intelligibility data considered in the evaluation. The results show that intelligibility metrics tend to perform poorly on datasets that were not used during their development. By modifying the original implementations of SIIB and STOI, the advantage of reducing statistical dependencies between input features is demonstrated. Additionally, this paper presents a new version of SIIB called <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{SIIB}^\text{Gauss}$</tex-math></inline-formula>, which has similar performance to SIIB and HASPI, but takes less time to compute by two orders of magnitude.
Interferon-gamma release assays piloted as a latent tuberculous infection screening tool in Canadian federal inmates.

BACKGROUND Interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) may be useful in diagnosing latent tuberculous infection (LTBI) in inmates; however, published experience in these settings is limited. OBJECTIVE To identify variables associated with IGRA positivity among Canadian federal inmates with positive tuberculin skin test (TST) results. DESIGN On intake, TST-positive (≥10 mm) inmates were offered an IGRA (QuantiFERON(®)-TB Gold), and demographic and historical data were collected. IGRA-positive and -negative inmates were compared using the χ(2) test and multivariable logistic regression; the final model's goodness of fit was assessed using Hosmer-Lemeshow test and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). RESULTS Of 96 TST-positive inmates, 31 (32.3%) were IGRA-positive. Variables associated with positive IGRA were age >45 years (11/20 vs. 20/75, P = 0.016) and previous LTBI treatment (9/20 vs. 13/55, P = 0.032) in univariate analysis, and being from a country with a moderate or high estimated tuberculosis (TB) incidence (OR 3.5, 95%CI 1.3-9.4, P = 0.013) and absence of bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination (OR 3.3, 95%CI 1.2-9.0, P = 0.017) in multivariable analysis. The data fit the model well, classifying the group better than chance alone (AUC 0.67, P = 0.007). CONCLUSION High discordance with TST, particularly among BCG-vaccinated inmates and those from low TB incidence countries, suggest that IGRA may be useful in Canadian federal penitentiary screening programmes.
Efficacy of antiviral therapy for hepatitis C after liver transplantation with cyclosporine and tacrolimus: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Cyclosporine A (CSA), but not tacrolimus (TAC), inhibits hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication in vitro. Clinical reports on the efficacy of interferon‐α (IFNα)–based antiviral therapy (AVT) for recurrent HCV after liver transplantation (LT) with CSA and TAC are conflicting. Our aim was to assess whether AVT for recurrent HCV after LT is more effective with CSA or TAC. We performed an electronic database search (1995‐2012) and a manual abstract search (2005‐2012). The a priori defined eligibility criteria included the use of AVT for recurrent HCV with IFN (standard or pegylated) and ribavirin and the reporting of sustained virological response (SVR) rates with CSA and TAC (the primary outcome). Two authors identified and extracted data independently. Dichotomous data were expressed as relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) with a random effects model. In all, 5058 references were retrieved, and 1 randomized controlled trial (RCT) and 17 observational studies (13 full‐text articles) met the eligibility criteria; the meta‐analysis was based on the latter studies. The pooled SVR rates were 42% (395/945) with CSA and 35% (471/1364) with TAC (RR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.00‐1.39, P = 0.05). Although the pooled data contained significant heterogeneity (I2 = 45%, P = 0.02), the SVR rates in the RCT were comparable (39% with CSA and 35% with TAC). Limiting the analysis to the 7 studies reporting on 40 or more patients in each group (with 1634 patients in all) favored CSA (RR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.09‐1.38, P < 0.001), and heterogeneity disappeared (I2 = 0%, P = 0.62). In conclusion, IFN‐based AVT for recurrent HCV after LT seems marginally more effective with CSA versus TAC; the study heterogeneity, however, limits firm conclusions. Liver Transpl 19:36–48, 2013. © 2012 AASLD.
A linear switched-flux PM machine with 9/10 primary/secondary pole number

Based on the optimal primary and secondary pole number combination selection principle of linear switched-flux PM machine (LSFPMM) with odd poles primary, a novel 9/10 primary/secondary poles LSFPMM has been developed. In order to increase the thrust force density, some major design parameters, such as secondary pole width, split ratio and primary slot width, were investigated by finite element analysis (FEA). Because of the discontinuity of the primary, there exists longitudinal end effect in LSFPMMs, which significantly affects the smoothness of thrust force. In order to decrease the thrust force ripple under on-load condition, the effective method of utilizing end auxiliary tooth was adopted and their positions were also optimized. Finally, the electromagnetic performances were calculated and compared, which could be beneficial to understand the characteristics of LSFPMM. The results demonstrate that the odd pole primary is suitable to LSFPMM and may be a good candidate for long-stroke direct linear drive application.
DENDRITIC CELLS: A COMPLEX SIMPLICITY

Dendritic cells (DC) are essential antigen-presenting cells that initiate and regulate adaptive immune responses. There are distinct DC populations of diverse origins, which develop from hematopoietic progenitors already committed to the lymphoid or the myeloid lineages and, in the latter case, even from terminally differentiated macrophages. One may assume that DC of lymphoid origin are dedicated to the adaptive immune system, along which they have phylogenetically co-evolved, whereas myeloid DC would be more involved as an interface between the innate and adaptive immune systems. However, any DC can ultimately present antigens in either an immunogenic or tolerogenic manner according to whether they are more or less or not at all activated towards maturation, depending on the condition under which they encountered antigen. Hence, DC either induce the appropriate immune response to pathogens or prevent autoimmune reactivity. Thus, besides default programming, which should be necessary to face the challenges of their usual setting, each type of DC can also display functions that are similar, in an instructive mode, to elicit immune responses deemed necessary for unexpected stimuli. In such a system, DC provide enough flexibility and sufficient redundancy to ensure that an essential function of the immune system, i.e., passing information from its innate to adaptive arms and affecting the latter’s responses, occurs under optimal conditions. Working on the basis of such a unified theory of DC diversity should be useful for learning to adequately manipulate the immune system for the development of cellular immunotherapy.
Variation in the lipid content and composition of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba at South Georgia

Samples of Antarctic knll Euphausia superba Dana from 8 sites around South Georgia were analysed for total lipid and lipid class composition. Samples consisted predominantly of immature krill, and females were entirely absent from samples from 2 of the 8 sites studied Individual fresh mass varied from 0.16 to 1 72 g (median values of 0 47 g (0 16 to 0.94), 1 14 g (0.71 to 1.63) and 1.46 g (0.94 to 1.72) for immatures, males and females respectively). Lipid amounts varied from 5 to 147 mg ind. "' (median values of 17.8 mg (5.1 to 64.2), 21.0 mg (9.3 to 87 7) and 70 3 mg (17 3 to 146 9) for immatures, males and females respectively) Triacylglycerol (TAG) and phosphatidylcholme were the 2 most abundant lipid classes in all krill. Multivariate analysis of lipid composition indicated significant over- lap between sex-maturity classes, although female kriU tended to be distinguished from males by higher proportions of TAG and lower proportions of phosphatidylserine plus phosphatidylinositol, Reproductive investment is implicated in the overall variability in lipid content and composition, with females containing high lipid levels as reserves for egg production, whilst males showed apparent lipid deficits resulting from short-term mobilisation of storage material for spermatophore production and attachment Significant and systematic site-to-site variability in hpid content and composition were evident in the samples and this could not be explained by the sex ratio or krill size
Searching in heterogeneous and limiting environments: foraging strategies of white-lipped peccaries (Tayassu pecari)

Abstract Searching for patchily distributed, highly localized, and seasonally variable resources in heterogeneous environments poses significant challenges for social species living in cohesive groups. Here, we studied the searching strategies of a highly social mammal, the white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), in Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, Mexico. Calakmul Biosphere Reserve is a seasonal tropical forest where important resources, such as water and food, are patchy distributed and temporarily scarce. We attempted to determine what theoretical searching model best explained the movement patterns of groups of white-lipped peccaries, including short-tailed, long-tailed, and scale-free distributions. We found that the only distribution that was well supported by the data was a zero-inflated lognormal distribution; this implies a general pattern of normally short-range intensive searching with occasional long-distance directed movements taking the animals away from previously searched areas. We also found that groups concentrated foraging activities around sources of water during the dry season, behaving as central-place foragers while occasionally searching distant areas. We discuss the potential adaptive values of such behavioral strategies for social species living in highly heterogeneous environments.