Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Histology of the Urogenital System in the American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana), with Emphasis on Male Reproductive Morphology

Previous studies have revealed variations in the urogenital system morphology of amphibians. Recently, the urogenital system of salamanders was reviewed and terminology was synonymized across taxa. Discrepancies exist in the terminology describing the urogenital system of anurans, which prompted our group to develop a complete, detailed description of the urogenital system in an anuran species and provide nomenclature that is synonymous with those of other amphibian taxa. In Rana catesbeiana, sperm mature within spermatocysts of the seminiferous tubule epithelia and are transported to a series of intratesticular ducts that exit the testes and merge to form vasa efferentia. Vasa efferentia converge into single longitudinal ducts (Bidder's ducts) on the lateral aspects of the kidneys. Branches from the longitudinal ducts merge with genital kidney renal tubules through renal corpuscles. The nephrons travel caudally and empty into the Wöffian ducts. Similar to salamanders, the caudal portion of the kidneys (termed the pelvic kidneys in salamanders) only possesses nephrons involved in urine formation, not sperm transport. Data from the present study provide a detailed description and synonymous nomenclature that can be used to make future comparative analyses between taxa more efficient.
Towards standardization of the description and publication of next-generation sequencing datasets of fungal communities.

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Differential genomic imprinting of major histocompatibility complex class I antigens in the placenta of the rat.

The RT1.A and Pa (class I) loci in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) of the rat are genomically imprinted in the placenta, since only the paternally derived antigens are expressed. To determine whether the RT1.E (class I) locus, which defines the end of the MHC opposite RT1.A, is genomically imprinted in the placenta, two different types of crosses were studied: all possible mating combinations of the DA (AaE-) and WF (AuEu) inbred strains and various matings of the R16 (AaE-), R33 (AaEu), and R34 (AaE-) congenic recombinant strains. The results showed that the Eu locus was not imprinted. Thus, genomic imprinting can be different at two endogenous loci that are part of a multigene family in tight-linkage disequilibrium. The lack of Eu imprinting is not due to the locus' being monomorphic, since the monomorphic Pa locus is imprinted, and it is most probably not due to its distance from the imprinted RT1.A and Pa loci (0.4 cM). We suggest that the control of the imprinting may lie in the physical structure of the DNA proximate to the imprinted locus.
Enhanced Transport of Materials into Enamel Nanopores via Electrokinetic Flow

The ability to infiltrate various molecules and resins into dental enamel is highly desirable in dentistry, yet transporting materials into dental enamel is limited by the nanometric scale of their pores. Materials that cannot be infiltrated into enamel by diffusion/capillarity are often considered molecules with sizes above a critical threshold, which are often considered to be larger than the pores of enamel. We challenge this notion by reporting the use of electrokinetic flow to transport solutions with molecules with sizes above a critical threshold—namely, an aqueous solution with a high refractive index (Thoulet’s solution) and a curable fluid resin infiltrant (without acid etching)—deep into the normal enamel layer. Volume infiltration by Thoulet’s solution is increased by 5- to 6-fold, and resin infiltration depths as large as 600 to 2,000 µm were achieved, in contrast to ~10 µm resulting from diffusion/capillarity. Incubation with demineralization solution for 192 h resulted in significant demineralization at noninfiltrated histologic points but not at resin infiltrated. These results open new avenues for the transport of materials in dental enamel.
Transition metals and polyol pathway in the development of diabetic neuropathy in rats

The transition metal–catalyzed reaction is a major source of oxygen free radicals, which play an important role in vascular dysfunction leading to ischemia in diabetic tissues. The inhibition of polyol pathway hyperactivity has been reported to ameliorate neurovascular abnormalities in diabetic rats and has been proposed to improve the oxygen free radical scavenging capacity. The present study was conducted to compare the effect of a transition metal chelating agent, trientine (TRI), on diabetic neuropathy with that of an aldose reductase inhibitor, NZ‐314 (NZ).
Meta-analysis of Egg Consumption and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke

The possible relationship between dietary cholesterol and cardiac outcomes has been scrutinized for decades. However, recent reviews of the literature have suggested that dietary cholesterol is not a nutrient of concern. Thus, we conducted a meta-analysis of egg intake (a significant contributor to dietary cholesterol) and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke. A comprehensive literature search was conducted through August 2015 to identify prospective cohort studies that reported risk estimates for egg consumption in association with CHD or stroke. Random-effects meta-analysis was used to generate summary relative risk estimates (SRREs) for high vs low intake and stratified intake dose–response analyses. Heterogeneity was examined in subgroups where sensitivity and meta regression analyses were conducted based on increasing egg intake. A 12% decreased risk (SRRE = 0.88, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.81–0.97) of stroke was observed in the meta-analysis of 7 studies of egg intake (high vs low; generally 1/d vs <2/wk), with little heterogeneity (p-H = 0.37, I2 = 7.50). A nonstatistically significant SRRE of 0.97 (95% CI, 0.88–1.07, p-H = 0.67, I2 = 0.00) was observed in the meta-analysis of 7 studies of egg consumption and CHD. No clear dose–response trends were apparent in the stratified intake meta-analyses or the meta regression analyses. Based on the results of this meta-analysis, consumption of up to one egg daily may contribute to a decreased risk of total stroke, and daily egg intake does not appear to be associated with risk of CHD. Key Teaching Points: • The role of egg consumption in the risk of stroke and coronary heart disease has come under scrutiny over many years. • A comprehensive meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies that reported risk estimates for egg consumption in association with CHD or stroke was performed on the peer-reviewed epidemiologic literature through August 2015. • Overall, summary associations indicate that intake of up to 1 egg daily may be associated with reduced risk of total stroke. • Overall, summary associations show no clear association between egg intake and increased or decreased risk of CHD. • Eggs are a relatively low-cost and nutrient-dense whole food that provides a valuable source of protein, essential fatty acids, antioxidants, choline, vitamins, and minerals.
The yield of colorectal cancer among fast track patients with normocytic and microcytic anaemia.

INTRODUCTION We receive fast track referrals on the basis of iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) for patients with normocytic anaemia or for patients with no iron studies. This study examined the yield of colorectal cancer (CRC) among fast track patients to ascertain whether awaiting confirmation of IDA is necessary prior to performing bowel investigations. METHODS A review was undertaken of 321 and 930 consecutive fast track referrals from Centre A and Centre B respectively. Contingency tables were analysed using Fisher's exact test. Logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate significant predictors of CRC. RESULTS Overall, 229 patients were included from Centre A and 689 from Centre B. The odds ratio for microcytic anaemia versus normocytic anaemia in the outcome of CRC was 1.3 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.5-3.9) for Centre A and 1.6 (95% CI: 0.8-3.3) for Centre B. In a logistic regression analysis (Centre B only), no significant difference in CRC rates was seen between microcytic and normocytic anaemia (adjusted odds ratio: 1.9, 95% CI: 0.9-3.9). There was no statistically significant difference in the yield of CRC between microcytic and normocytic anaemia (p=0.515, Fisher's exact test) in patients with anaemia only and no colorectal symptoms. Finally, CRC cases were seen in both microcytic and normocytic groups with or without low ferritin. CONCLUSIONS There is no significant difference in the yield of CRC between fast track patients with microcytic and normocytic anaemia. This study provides insufficient evidence to support awaiting confirmation of IDA in fast track patients with normocytic anaemia prior to requesting bowel investigations.
Experimental Model of Degloving Injury in Rats: Effect of Allopurinol and Pentoxifylline in Improving Viability of Avulsed Flaps

Background Degloving injuries may be a challenge when it comes to deciding the surgical approach to be used. Repositioning of the flap and suturing are faster and more straightforward, but often these procedures often lead to total or partial loss of the avulsed flap. Pharmacological agents with vascular properties that enhance the viability of the reattached flap could be beneficial to patients with degloving injuries. Experimental models with which to test this hypothesis are scarce. An experimental model reproducing a degloving injury of the hind limb of rats was developed in our department, and the effects of pentoxifylline (Ptx) and allopurinol (Alp) were assessed. Methods In all, 3 groups of rats were studied (25 rats each). A hind limb degloving model was used in all groups, resulting in a reverse flow flap. The flap was then repositioned and sutured. The control (Ct) group received only saline solution, the Ptx group received pentoxifylline (25 mg/kg), and the Alp group received allopurinol (45 mg/kg). The rats were observed for 7 days, after which they were killed, and the flap was removed. The total area of the avulsed flap and the necrotic area were measured. Results The median total flap area (cm2) was 5.6 for the Ct group, 5.5 for the Ptx group, and 5.8 for the Alp group (P = 0.9465). Thus, the flaps were similar. The median necrotic flap area (cm2) was 3.3 for the Ct group, 2.3 for the Ptx group, and 1.9 for the Alp group (P = 0.0001). There was a statistical difference between the Ct and Ptx groups and the Ct and Alp groups (P < 0.05). Conclusions The areas of necrosis observed in the degloved flaps of the rats’ hind limbs were smaller in the pentoxifylline and allopurinol groups. Although allopurinol seems to be more efficient, the difference was not significant.
Evidence that the Granulocyte‐Specific Antigen NC1 Is Identical with NA2

The neutrophil‐specific antigen NC1 is defined by an antibody in the serum of a mother who gave birth to a child with alloimmune neonatal neutropenia. NC1 has been reported to be associated with the neutrophil‐specific antigen NA2, but the precise relation of NC1 and NA2 remained unclear. Therefore, we investigated the serum using the antigen capture assay MAIGA and the granulocyte (GIFT) and lymphocyte (LIFT) immunofluorescence tests. In GIFT, no NA association was observed. In LIFT, serum antibodies bound preferably to lymphocytes with the HLA antigens HLA‐B7 and cross‐reacting antigens. In MAIGA, an antibody specific for the NA2 variant of the granulocyte Fcγ‐receptor III was observed. The NA2 specificity was confirmed by testing granulocytes from 40 further different donors. This indicates that the NC1 and NA2 antigens are identical. A positive GIFT result but a negative one in LIFT using cells of an NA2‐negative typed individual suggest the presence of an additional, non‐NA2‐specific granulocyte antibody.
The fastest carry lookahead adder

Adder is a very basic component in a central processing unit. The speed of compute becomes the most considerable condition for a designer. The carry lookahead adder is the highest speed adder nowadays. In this paper, a new method for modifying the carry lookahead adder is proposed. Based on the analysis of gate delay and simulation, the proposed modified carry lookahead adder is faster than the carry lookahead adder.
Apprentissage profond de formes manuscrites pour la reconnaissance et le repérage efficace de l'écriture dans les documents numérisés

Malgre les efforts importants de la communaute d’analyse de documents, definir une representation robuste pour les formes manuscrites demeure un defi de taille. Une telle representation ne peut pas etre definie explicitement par un ensemble de regles, et doit plutot etre obtenue avec une extraction intelligente de caracteristiques de haut niveau a partir d’images de documents. Dans cette these, les modeles d’apprentissage profond sont investigues pour la representation automatique de formes manuscrites. Les representations proposees par ces modeles sont utilisees pour definir un systeme de reconnaissance et de reperage de mots individuels dans les documents. Le choix de traiter les mots individuellement est motive par le fait que n’importe quel texte peut etre segmente en un ensemble de mots separes. Dans une premiere contribution, une representation non supervisee profonde est proposee pour la tâche de reperage de mots manuscrits. Cette representation se base sur l’algorithme de regroupement spherical k-means, qui est employe pour construire une hierarchie de fonctions parametriques encodant les images de documents. Les avantages de cette representation sont multiples. Tout d’abord, elle est definie de maniere non supervisee, ce qui evite la necessite d’avoir des donnees annotees pour l’entrainement. Ensuite, elle se calcule rapidement et est de taille compacte, permettant ainsi de reperer des mots efficacement. Dans une deuxieme contribution, un modele de bout en bout est developpe pour la reconnaissance de mots manuscrits. Ce modele est compose d’un reseau de neurones convolutifs qui prend en entree l’image d’un mot et produit en sortie une representation du texte reconnu. Ce texte est represente sous la forme d’un ensemble de sous-sequences bidirectionnelles de caracteres formant une hierarchie. Cette representation se distingue des approches existantes dans la litterature et offre plusieurs avantages par rapport a celles-ci. Notamment, elle est binaire et a une taille fixe, ce qui la rend robuste a la taille du texte. Par ailleurs, elle capture la distribution des sous-sequences de caracteres dans le corpus d’entrainement, et permet donc au modele entraine de transferer cette connaissance a de nouveaux mots contenant les memes sous-sequences. Dans une troisieme et derniere contribution, un modele de bout en bout est propose pour resoudre simultanement les tâches de reperage et de reconnaissance. Ce modele integre conjointement les textes et les images de mots dans un seul espace vectoriel. Une image est projetee dans cet espace via un reseau de neurones convolutifs entraine a detecter les differentes forms de caracteres. De meme, un mot est projete dans cet espace via un reseau de neurones recurrents. Le modele propose est entraine de maniere a ce que l’image d’un mot et son texte soient projetes au meme point. Dans l’espace vectoriel appris, les tâches de reperage et de reconnaissance peuvent etre traitees efficacement comme un probleme de recherche des plus proches voisins.
Effectiveness of cognitive therapy for delusions in routine clinical practice

Background Previous studies have suggested that cognitive therapy is effective in modifying delusions. Aims To assess the effectiveness of cognitive therapy on patients seen in routine clinical work. Method Eighteen patients with chronic delusions were treated using cognitive therapy, after the method of Chadwick and Lowe. A single-case multiple-baseline experimental design was used, including a control treatment. Each subject was used as their own control. Results Six patients reduced conviction in their delusions during cognitive therapy and not during the control treatment. Seven patients' conviction ratings did not change. Five patients showed a variable response. Degree of conviction did not fall to zero in any patient. All patients reported that the therapy had been helpful; six spontaneously mentioned changes in psychotic thinking. Conclusions One-third of patients with chronic delusions whom we treated responded to delusion modification with a reduction in degree of belief. Change within therapy sessions predicted outcome, as did variation in the conviction during baseline. Cognitive therapy with delusions should aim at reducing distress as well as conviction.
The fine structure of Sphaerotilus natans.

Sphaerotilus natans developed sheathed filaments in stationary liquid cultures and motile swarm cells in shaken ones. Electron microscopy of negatively stained preparations and thin sections showed that the sheath consists of fibrils. When the filaments were grown in broth with glucose added, the sheath was much thicker and the cells were packed with granules of poly-β-hydroxybutyrate.Swarm cells possess a subpolar tuft of 10 to 30 flagella and a polar organelle which is usually inserted in a lateral position and believed to be ribbon-shaped. The polar organelle consists of an inner layer joined by spokes to an accentuated plasma membrane. The flagellar hook terminates in a basal disk, consisting of two rings, which is connected by a central rod to a second basal disk.
THE HIGH-VOLUME HORMONALLY ACTIVE CHEMICAL BISPHENOL A: HUMAN EXPOSURE, HEALTH HAZARDS AND NEED TO FIND ALTERNATIVES

SOURCES AND ROUTES OF EXPOSURE AND METABOLIC FATE The chemical bisphenol A (BPA) was first used as a component of Bakelite, a plastic from which billiard balls and some other products were made in the early to mid 20th century. Similar to many phenolic compounds, BPA was reported to be a synthetic estrogen in 1936, and BPA had the efficacy of estradiol (Dodds and Lawson 1936). In the 1950s polymer chemists discovered that these estrogenic BPA molecules could be polymerized to make polycarbonate, a hard, clear plastic. BPA is also used in the manufacture of the resin lining of food and beverage cans in the USA and many other countries. In addition to being the monomer that is used in the above products, BPA is also used as an additive (plasticizer) in other types of plastic, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC). BPA is one of the highest production volume chemicals in commerce, with over 8-billion pounds produced in 2008 (Bailin et al. 2008). The range of products that contain BPA is not known due to product confidentiality laws that protect corporations from revealing the chemicals used in products. A question that is often asked is: How could chemists have used a chemical that had been reported to act like a sex hormone to make plastic products such as baby bottles? The “green chemistry” movement not only provides answers to this question (which is that they did not pay attention to biological effects), but most importantly, it provides solutions (Anastas and Kirchhoff 2002).
Immunohistochemical expression of cytosolic phospholipase A2α in non-small cell lung carcinoma.

PURPOSE Cytosolic phospholipase A2α is the main target enzyme for the non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that have been shown to suppress carcinogenesis in both experimental model and epidemiologic studies. METHODS We examined cPLA2α expression in normal, premalignant bronchial epithelial cells and nonsmall cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) samples using an immunohistochemical staining technique. Included in the current study were 76 NSCLC samples and 52 bronchial biopsy samples obtained. RESULTS In the normal bronchial epithelium, cPLA2α expression was found to be completely negative whereas positive cPLA2α expression was limited to a few macrophages, inflammatory cells. There were relatively more cPLA2α positive tumors, as defined by positive staining in >10% of tumor cells 24 of 76 tumors (32%). When tumor types were considered, there were more cPLA2α positive adenocarcinomas compared with squamous cell carcinomas (17 of 36 adenocarcinomas (47%) vs. 6 of 34 squamous cell carcinomas (18%); P=0.02). Although smokers tended to have more cPLA2α positive tumors than nonsmokers (23 of 64 tumors in the smokers (36%) vs. 1 of 12 tumors in the nonsmokers (8%); P=0.06). CONCLUSION The results of the current study suggest that cPLA2α expression may not be a useful intermediate biomarker in bronchial chemoprevention trials. Nevertheless, considering the patterns of cPLA2α expression in tumor cells, cPLA2α expression status may be a useful parameter when designing treatment strategies for a subset of NSCLC patients.