Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cumulus Cell Transcriptome after Cumulus-Oocyte Complex Exposure to Nanomolar Cadmium in an In Vitro Animal Model of Prepubertal and Adult Age

Simple Summary Cadmium (Cd), a highly toxic environmental contaminant, negatively affects human and animal fertility in females. In sheep, Cd displays age-dependent bioaccumulation at ovarian level. At environmental nanomolar concentrations, it reduces oocyte fertilization by inducing oxidative stress on cumulus cells (CCs), a cell population of the cumulus-oocyte complex (COC) supporting oocyte growth, functional maturation and fertilization. In this study, the modifications induced by Cd exposure to all the genes expressed in CCs of in vitro matured COCs, recovered from the ovaries of adult and prepubertal sheep, were analysed by RNA sequencing. A set of genes significantly dysregulated upon Cd exposure was identified. Effects of Cd were more relevant in CCs from adult than from prepubertal COCs. Most genes were upregulated while a minority of them were downregulated. Some genes were already known as involved in ovarian activity or Cd-induced effects, whereas others were completely new in these fields. These findings identify in the sheep, an important livestock species with translational relevance in human reproduction, the set of genes controlling oocyte functional competence, altered by Cd. These biomarkers will make it possible to identify oocytes that cannot be fertilized to evaluate whether they are to be discarded or recovered with detoxifying treatments. Abstract Cadmium (Cd), a highly toxic pollutant, impairs oocyte fertilization, through oxidative damage on cumulus cells (CCs). This study analysed the transcriptomic profile of CCs of cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) from adult and prepubertal sheep, exposed to Cd nanomolar concentration during in vitro maturation. In both age-groups, CCs of matured oocytes underwent RNA-seq, data analysis and validation. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in adult (n = 99 DEGs) and prepubertal (n = 18 DEGs) CCs upon Cd exposure. Transcriptomes of adult CCs clustered separately between Cd-exposed and control samples, whereas prepubertal ones did not as observed by Principal Component Analysis. The transcriptomic signature of Cd-induced CC toxicity was identified by gene annotation and literature search. Genes associated with previous studies on ovarian functions and/or Cd effects were confirmed and new genes were identified, thus implementing the knowledge on their involvement in such processes. Enrichment and validation analysis showed that, in adult CCs, Cd acted as endocrine disruptor on DEGs involved in hormone biosynthesis, cumulus expansion, regulation of cell signalling, growth and differentiation and oocyte maturation, whereas in prepubertal CCs, Cd affected DEGs involved in CC development and viability and CC-oocyte communications. In conclusion, these DEGs could be used as valuable non-invasive biomarkers for oocyte competence.
Updated Organic Composition and Potential Therapeutic Properties of Different Varieties of Olive Leaves from Olea europaea

Olea europaea L. folium merits further exploration of the potential of its substrates for therapeutic supplements. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted on samples of Madural, Verdeal, and Cobrançosa elementary leaves and leaf sprouts (mamões) collected in the region of Valpaços, Portugal. Organic analysis assessed the moisture content, total carbohydrates, ash, protein, and fat contents, total phenolic content (TPC), vitamin E, and fatty acid (FA) profiles. Moisture content was determined through infrared hygrometry and TPC was determined by a spectrophotometric method. Concerning organic analysis, all leaf samples showed similar moisture content, though Cobrançosa’s leaf sprouts and Verdeal’s elementary leaves had slightly lower contents. Meanwhile, these cultivars also showed a higher TPC, α-tocopherol isomer, and fatty acid composition (FAC). FAC in all samples exhibited higher contents of PUFA and SFA than MUFA, with a predominance of linolenic and palmitic acids. Organic analyses of Cobrançosa’s leaf sprouts and Verdeal’s elementary leaf extracts allow for the prediction of adequate physiological properties regarding neuroinflammatory, neurobehavioral, metabolic, cardiovascular, osteo-degenerative, anti-ageing, pulmonary, and immunological defense disorders. These physiological changes observed in our preliminary in silico studies suggest an excellent nutraceutical, which should be borne in mind during severe pandemic situations.
“You’ll Be Chased Away”: Sources, Experiences, and Effects of Violence and Stigma among Gay and Bisexual Men in Kenya

Gay and bisexual men in Kenya face extreme socio-political stigma which manifests in widespread violence and discrimination across socio-ecological levels. We conducted individual in-depth interviews with 60 gay and bisexual men in western and central Kenya. Interview transcripts were thematically analyzed using an inductive, phenomenological approach to qualitatively examine experiences of stigma and violence at the interpersonal and institutional levels. A total of seven primary themes and four sub-themes emerged from the data. At the interpersonal level, participants described stigma and violence from family, friends, and romantic/sexual partners with sub-themes for gay-baiting violence, blackmail, intimate partner violence, and commitment phobia. At the institutional level, participants described stigma and violence from religious, employment, educational, and healthcare institutions. This stigma and violence severely impacted the lives of participants including their mental health, physical health, sexual health, socioeconomic status, and ability to access health-promoting services. These data identify sources of stigma and describe how this stigma manifests in the everyday lives of gay and bisexual men in Kenya. Study findings and quotes from participants highlight the severity of violence, stigma, and discrimination faced by this community and emphasize the need for decriminalization of same-sex sexualities as well as interventions to support health and wellbeing.
Computer simulation results for bounds on the effective conductivity of composite media

This paper studies the determination of third‐ and fourth‐order bounds on the effective conductivity σe of a composite material composed of aligned, infinitely long, identical, partially penetrable, circular cylinders of conductivity σ2 randomly distributed throughout a matrix of conductivity σ1. Both bounds involve the microstructural parameter ζ2 which is a multifold integral that depends upon S3, the three‐point probability function of the composite. This key integral ζ2 is computed (for the possible range of cylinder volume fraction φ2) using a Monte Carlo simulation technique for the penetrable‐concentric‐shell model in which cylinders are distributed with an arbitrary degree of impenetrability λ, 0≤λ≤1. Results for the limiting cases λ=0 (‘‘fully penetrable’’ or randomly centered cylinders) and λ=1 (‘‘totally impenetrable’’ cylinders) compare very favorably with theoretical predictions made by Torquato and Beasley [Int. J. Eng. Sci. 24, 415 (1986)] and by Torquato and Lado [Proc. R. Soc. London Ser.
Sarcopenic obesity definitions and their associations with physical frailty in older Brazilian adults: data from the SARCOS study

ABSTRACT Objective: To identify the obesity diagnosis with the highest association with physical frailty associated with sarcopenia EWGSOP II (sarcopenic obesity). Subjects and methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of 371 community-dwelling older adults. Appendicular skeletal lean mass and total body fat (TBF) were assessed using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, and physical frailty was defined using Fried's criteria. The phenotypes were identified according to the presence of sarcopenia by EWGSOP II and obesity, which was diagnosed using two concepts: BMI obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) and TBF obesity (percentage of TBF ≥ 35% for women and ≥ 25% for men). Finally, the association of each group with physical frailty was evaluated. Results: The mean age was 78.15 ± 7.22 years. Sarcopenia EWGSOP II was diagnosed in 19.8% (n = 73), body mass index obesity was identified in 21.8% (n = 81), TBF obesity was identified in 67.7% (n = 251), and physical frailty was identified in 38.5% (n = 142). In a regression analysis for frailty, sarcopenic TBF obesity presented an odds ratio of 6.88 (95% confidence interval 2.60-18.24; p < 0.001). Conclusion: In older Brazilian adults, sarcopenic obesity diagnosed by TBF obesity has a robust association with frailty and is independent of body mass index.
Influence of COVID-19-Related Interventions on the Number of Inpatients with Acute Viral Respiratory Infections: Using Interrupted Time Series Analysis

After the first COVID-19 patient was diagnosed, non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing and behavior change campaigns were implemented in South Korea. The social distancing policy restricted unnecessary gatherings and activities to prevent local transmission. This study aims to evaluate the effect of social distancing, a strategy for COVID-19 prevention, on the number of acute respiratory infection inpatients. This study used the number of hospitalized patients with acute respiratory infection from the Infectious Disease Portal of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) between the first week of January 2018, to the last week of January 2021. Intervention 1t represents the first patient occurrence of COVID-19, Intervention 2t represents the relaxing of the social distancing policy. We used acute respiratory infection statistics from Korea and segmented regression analysis was used. The analysis showed that the trend of the number of acute respiratory infection inpatients decreased after the implementation of the first patient incidence of COVID-19 due to prevention activities. After the relaxing of the social distancing policy, the number of inpatients with acute respiratory infections significantly increased. This study verified the effect of social distancing on the reduction in hospital admissions for acute respiratory viral infections.
Hierarchical Divergence-Conforming Vector Bases for Pyramid Cells

Divergence-conforming hierarchical vector bases for the pyramid consist of face- and volume-based functions obtained by a simple procedure that uses a new paradigm recently introduced by this author to produce pyramid bases. In order to define the bases’ order, the procedure starts by mapping the pyramids into a cube of a new Cartesian space, which we call the grandparent space, where the basis functions and their divergences take on polynomial form. Then we get the face-based functions of zero polynomial order and the volume-based functions of the first order. Functions of arbitrarily high order are obtained by multiplying the vector functions of the lowest order by independent scalar polynomials of higher order. Our face-based functions conform to those of other differently shaped elements to allow the use of hybrid meshes, while the multiplicative construction technique generates right away the volume-based basis functions. The completeness of the bases is demonstrated and all the basis functions we obtain are suitably normalized; their expression involves orthogonal polynomials which are easy to implement and alleviate the loss of linear independence.
FMvC: Fast Multi-View Clustering

In multi-view clustering, an eigen-decomposition of the Laplacian matrix of the graph is usually necessary. This leads to a significant increase in time cost and also requires post-processing such as $k$ -means. In addition, some methods require learning a uniform graph matrix. In large-scale data, this process significantly increase time and memory costs. To address these problems, this paper proposes Fast Multi-view Clustering (FMvC). First, non-negative constraints are added to the objective function from the unified view of relaxed normalized and ratio cuts. Then, graph reconstruction is performed on the similarity matrix using an indication matrix to ensure that the obtained graph has robust intra-cluster and weak inter-cluster connectivity. Besides, the operation speed of the method can be further enhanced by setting a common labeling matrix. Finally, the problem is solved optimally based on the strategy of alternating directional multipliers. Experimental results on eight real-world datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, which can always outperform eleven existing baseline algorithms.
Proposal of quantification method of dynamic system reliability model of digital RPS using Markov state-transition model

ABSTRACT In safety systems of the latest nuclear power plants such as the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) and the latest Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR), digital circuits are used for start-up signals of a reactor protection system (RPS) and emergency core cooling systems (ECCS). And several studies have been conducted to develop the method to build a system reliability model of RPS to be combined with probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) so far. However, these studies have not been sufficiently progressed in terms of the quantitative evaluation and coupling with the conventional PRA method. Despite of the efforts of Task group of Digital system reliability failure mode taxonomy (DIGREL, later becoming Working Group on Digital Instrumentation and Control [WGDIC]) of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)/Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) in this field, the situation has not changed sufficiently. From these backgrounds, this paper presents a rational quantitative evaluation method of the dynamic system reliability model of the digital RPS which can represent time-dependency and is consistent with the conventional PRA method. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Concordance assessment through comparison with urine cotinine: Does self-report adequately reflect passive smoking?

INTRODUCTION There is a paucity of studies evaluating passive smoking (PS) by comparing self-report (SR) and biomarkers. Our study aimed to confirm whether SR could accurately reflect PS compared to biomarkers, a golden standard for assessing the exposure of non-smokers. METHODS We used the 2014-2020 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data and selected 29622 non-smokers aged >19 years as the study participants. The PS rate by SR was assessed during the last 7 days, and participants were interviewed to investigate their exposure at home, work, indoors, and in public places. In addition, participants having a limit of detection ≥0.5 ng/mL in urine cotinine (UC) was defined as the exposure group. All analyses reflected the weights of complex sampling. We first compared the rates of PS using biomarkers and SR, and then the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated based on biomarkers. RESULTS PS exposure by UC was the highest (44.4%), and the exposure by SR was significantly lower (5.1–29.5%). Kappa and sensitivity in PS in the indoor home (HPS) were lower than those in indoor workplaces (WPS) and indoor public places (PPS). Moreover, overall sensitivity and PPV were lower, and specificity and NPV were relatively higher in accuracy. Lastly, the sensitivity was poor, and the specificity was relatively good, which means that measurement by SR would identify people who were actually exposed to PS as non-exposed. CONCLUSIONS Despite exposure to PS, the use of the SR method is more likely to classify participants in the non-exposed group. Hence, to overcome measurement error in SR and reflect exposure in any place and setting, biomonitoring and SR should be performed.
Factors Associated with Aging in Place among Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Korea: Findings from a National Survey

Ever since baby boomers started turning 65 years old in 2020, Korea is set to become a super-aged society by 2025. This makes it the world’s fastest-aging society. Aging in place (AIP) has become a policy direction to prepare for an aging society and improve older adults’ quality of life. It refers to the ability of older adults to remain in their homes and communities as they age, allowing them to reside in their place of preference and access the services they require to promote their quality of life. A cross-sectional study design was employed using data sampled from the 2020 National Survey of Older Koreans. In total, 9930 older adults (aged between 65 and 99 years old) participated. The results confirmed that the intention to pursue AIP is related to personal factors (education, income, house ownership, smoking, exercise, depression), interpersonal and communal factors (unmet healthcare needs, need for home care services, family contact), and policy level factors (basic pension beneficiary, long-term care services) using an ecological model. The findings may promote individual health behaviors and help fill the gap between unmet healthcare needs and community care services that positively influence older adults’ AIP.
Dairy Cows’ Temperament and Milking Performance during the Adaptation to an Automatic Milking System

Simple Summary Dairy cows undergo an adaptative period during changes to a new milking system, such as automatic milking. During this period, cows could experience stress, affecting their health and productive performance. How cows cope with this period would depend on their individual characteristics, such as their temperament. In the present study, the relationships between temperament (measured by different handling yard tests), productive traits, and milking behaviours were evaluated. Cows classified as calm by the flight speed test exhibited more kicks and produced less milk during their first milkings with the automatic milking system than cows classified as reactive. Therefore, when the temperament was classified based on the flight speed test, calm animals presented greater difficulty in adapting to an automatic milking system than reactive ones. Understanding how cows adapt to new milking systems allows for the development of management strategies designed to improve animal welfare and the productive efficiency of the herds. Abstract Adaptative responses of cows to an automatic milking system (AMS) could depend on their temperament, i.e., cows with certain temperament profiles could be able to cope more successfully with the AMS. The relationships between dairy cows’ temperament, behaviour, and productive parameters during the changeover from a conventional milking system (CMS) to an AMS were investigated. Thirty-three multiparous cows were classified as ‘calm’ or ‘reactive’ based on each of the temperament tests conducted: race time, flight speed (FS), and flight distance, at 5, 25, and 45 days in milk at CMS, then the cows were moved from the CMS to the AMS. During the first five milkings in AMS, the number of steps and kicks during each milking were recorded. The daily milk yield was automatically recorded. The number of steps did not vary by temperament classification, but the number of kicks per milking was greater for calm (0.45 ± 0.14) than for reactive cows (0.05 ± 0.03) when they were classified by FS (p < 0.01). During the first seven days in the AMS, reactive cows for the FS test produced more milk than calm cows (36.5 ± 1.8 vs. 33.2 ± 1.6 L/day; p = 0.05). In conclusion, behavioural and productive parameters were influenced by cows´ temperament during the milking system changeover since the calm cows kicked more and produced less than the reactive ones.
Elevated serum FGF21 levels predict heart failure during hospitalization of STEMI patients after emergency percutaneous coronary intervention

Background Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) has multiple cardioprotective effects including modulation of glucolipid metabolism, anti-inflammation, and anti-oxidative stress, but its association with the heart failure during hospitalization in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing emergency percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has not been reported. Methods A total of 348 STEMI patients treated with emergency PCI were included from January 2016 to December 2018. Relevant biochemical indicators were measured by central laboratory. Serum FGF21 levels were measured by ELISA. The occurrence of heart failure during hospitalization was recorded. Patients’ cardiac function was assessed by echocardiography. Results Serum FGF21 levels were significantly higher in the STEMI group with heart failure than in the group without heart failure (249.95 ± 25.52 vs. 209.98 ± 36.35, P < 0.001). Serum FGF21 levels showed a strong positive correlation with N-terminal precursor B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in STEMI patients (r = 0.749, P < 0.001). FGF21 was found to be an independent risk factor for the development of heart failure during hospitalization in STEMI patients by binary logistic regression analysis. The area under curve (AUC) for FGF21 to predict the development of heart failure during hospitalization in STEMI patients was 0.816 (95% CI [0.770–0.863]) according to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Conclusion Elevated serum FGF21 levels have been shown to be a strong predictor of heart failure during hospitalization in patients with STEMI after emergency PCI.
Mutation distributions among patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia from five regions of Brazil: a systematic review

ABSTRACT Congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by CYP21A2 gene mutations, and its molecular diagnosis is widely used in clinical practice to confirm the hormonal diagnosis. Hence, considering the miscegenation of the Brazilian population, it is important to determine a mutations panel to optimise the molecular diagnosis. The objective was to review the CYP21A2 mutations’ distribution among Brazilian regions.Two reviewers screened Brazilian papers up to February 2020 in five databases. The pair-wise comparison test and Holm method were used in the statistical analysis. Nine studies were selected, comprising 769 patients from all regions. Low proportion of males and salt-wasters was identified in the North and Northeast regions, although without significant difference. Large gene rearrangements also had a low frequency, except in the Center-West and South regions (p < 0.05). The most frequent mutations were p.I172N, IVS2-13A/C>G, p.V281L and p.Q318X, and significant differences in their distributions were found: p.V281L was more frequent in the Southeast and p.Q318X in the Center-West and Northeast regions (p < 0.05). Thirteen new mutations were identified in 3.8%-15.2% of alleles, being more prevalent in the North region, and six mutations presented a founder effect gene. Genotype-phenotype correlation varied from 75.9%-97.3% among regions. The low prevalence of the salt-wasting form, affected males and severe mutations in some regions indicated pitfalls in the clinical diagnosis. The good genotype-phenotype correlation confirms the usefulness of molecular diagnosis; however, the Brazilian population also presents significant prevalence of novel mutations, which should be considered for a molecular panel.