Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intake of food groups and idiopathic asthenozoospermia: a case-control study.

STUDY QUESTION Is there any association between the intake of different food groups and the risk of idiopathic asthenozoospermia? SUMMARY ANSWER A high intake of processed meat and sweets was positively associated with a higher risk of asthenozoospermia, whereas a high intake of fruits, vegetables, poultry, skim milk and sea foods was associated with a lower risk. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY A high intake of lipophilic foods like meat products or milk may be negatively associated with semen quality in humans, whereas some fruits or vegetables may maintain or improve semen quality. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION A case-control study including 72 asthenozoospermic men and 169 normozoospermic men all from infertile couples who underwent face-to-face private interviews, from January 2011 to December 2011. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS Semen was assessed by volume, sperm concentration, motility and morphology. Usual dietary intakes were assessed using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Odds ratios (ORs), 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and evaluation of trends were calculated using logistic regression. The first tertile served as the reference category for regression analyses. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE After adjusting for potential confounders, the risk of asthenozoospermia was significantly higher in the highest tertiles of processed meat (OR: 2.03, 95% CI: 1.70-2.44) and sweets intake (OR: 2.05, 95% CI: 1.09-2.26). Conversely, being in the highest tertile of total fruits and vegetables, the intake of dark green vegetables, skim milk, poultry and sea food intake was associated with a lower risk of asthenozoospermia (P for trend = 0.04, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03 and 0.04, respectively). LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION Recall bias, selection bias and measurement bias are inevitable in this kind of study and residual confounding due to omission or imprecise measurement of important covariates remains possible. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS Patients with asthenozoospermia should be advised to adhere to a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, poultry, skim milk and sea foods while low in processed meat and sweets. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) This study was financially supported by the National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute, Faculty of Nutrition and Food Technology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran. No conflict of interests to declare.
Natural selection on PHYE by latitude in the Japanese archipelago: insight from locus specific phylogeographic structure in Arcterica nana (Ericaceae)

Phytochromes play a key role in allowing plants to monitor their surrounding environment and, conversely, adaptation to local environments has driven the evolutionary history of phytochromes. As a result of natural selection, polymorphisms in phytochrome genes would thus be expected to exhibit locus‐specific phylogeographic structure. To evaluate this hypothesis, we conducted a phylogeographic investigation based on four nuclear genes, including two phytochrome genes (PHYB and PHYE) using 155 samples of Arcterica nana from the entire range of the Japanese archipelago. Bayesian clustering revealed geographic differentiation between northern and southern Japan when all four genes were included. However, this geographic differentiation is inconsistent with previously reported genetic structure of genome‐wide polymorphisms based on amplified fragment length polymorphisms, as these did not show geographic differentiation throughout the Japanese archipelago. In contrast, the north–south differentiation was not apparent when PHYE was excluded. This indicates that PHYE alone could be responsible for the north–south differentiation (FCT = 0.15, P < 0.001). Furthermore, a single nonsynonymous polymorphism (C360T) strongly contributed to geographic differentiation (FCT = 0.57, P < 0.001) and its corresponding amino acid replacement (P120L) was significantly under positive selection based on maximum likelihood analysis (P = 0.98). Consequently, the locus‐specific geographic differentiation in PHYE could be caused by natural selection, suggesting the involvement of PHYE in local adaptation between populations of A. nana in northern and southern Japan. This finding is consistent with a previous study on Cardamine nipponica, indicating the importance of PHYE for local adaptation in Japanese alpine plants.
Loss of Fancc Impairs Antibody-Secreting Cell Differentiation in Mice through Deregulating the Wnt Signaling Pathway

Fanconi anemia (FA) is characterized by a progressive bone marrow failure and an increased incidence of cancer. FA patients have high susceptibility to immune-related complications such as infection and posttransplant graft-versus-host disease. In this study, we investigated the effect of FA deficiency in B cell function using the Fancc mouse model. Fancc−/− B cells show a specific defect in IgG2a switch and impaired Ab-secreting cell (ASC) differentiation. Global transcriptome analysis of naive B cells by mRNA sequencing demonstrates that FA deficiency deregulates a network of genes involved in immune function. Significantly, many genes implicated in Wnt signaling were aberrantly expressed in Fancc−/− B cells. Consistently, Fancc−/− B cells accumulate high levels of β-catenin under both resting and stimulated conditions, suggesting hyperactive Wnt signaling. Using an in vivo Wnt GFP reporter assay, we verified the upregulation of Wnt signaling as a potential mechanism responsible for the impaired Fancc−/− B cell differentiation. Furthermore, we showed that Wnt signaling inhibits ASC differentiation possibly through repression of Blimp1 and that Fancc−/− B cells are hypersensitive to Wnt activation during ASC differentiation. Our findings identify Wnt signaling as a physiological regulator of ASC differentiation and establish a role for the Wnt pathway in normal B cell function and FA immune deficiency.
Cost and Cost-Effectiveness of Switching From Stavudine to Tenofovir in First-Line Antiretroviral Regimens in South Africa

Background:Most first-line antiretroviral therapy regimens in Africa include stavudine (d4T), despite the high incidence of toxicities related to it. We estimated the cost and cost-effectiveness of switching from d4T to tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) in South Africa. Methods:A model was developed to estimate the proportion of patients in a hypothetical cohort who experienced d4T- and TDF-related events over the 2 years after antiretroviral therapy initiation. Transition probabilities, event and drug costs, and utility losses were estimated from primary data and the literature. Outcomes included incremental cost, incremental cost-effectiveness ratio per quality-adjusted life year gained, and threshold prices for TDF. Results:After 2 years, 82.5% of the d4T scenario cohort remained on d4T, 16.6% had switched to AZT, 0.8% had died, and 414 events that did not lead to a drug change had occurred. In the TDF scenario, 97.5% of the cohort remained on TDF. At a baseline cost of TDF of $17.00/month, the incremental cost of the TDF scenario was $128/patient/year and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was $9007 per quality-adjusted life year gained. The change to TDF would be cost neutral for the government at a price of $6.17/month and highly cost effective at a price of $12.94/month. Conclusions:At a TDF price of $17.00/month, savings on d4T toxicity management will offset roughly 20% of the higher price of TDF. The price of TDF would have to fall substantially to make the change cost neutral for South Africa in budgetary terms, but it would be highly cost effective at a price only slightly less than what is currently available.
Genetic and physiological control of host cell lysis by bacteriophage lambda

The timing of host cell lysis at the end of the lytic cycle of phage lambda is under complex control. The lambda S protein stimulates lysis. Another physiological system, the lysis regulator, inhibitis lysis from occurring prematurely. The effects of a series of phage and bacterial mutations on these controls are described. They show that the lambda rex gene plays a role in regulating lysis under suboptimal growth conditions. In certain mutant cells, and especially under anaerobic culture conditions, the rex gene aids in the scheduling of host cell lysis. The data also suggest that the lysis regulator may control the transition of the lambda S protein from an inactive to an active state.
Characteristics of Experimental Autoimmune Hypophysitis in Rats: Major Antigens are Growth Hormone, Thyrotropin, and Luteinizing Hormone in this Model

We produced experim entalautoimmune hypophysitis (EAH) in rats and investi gated its characteristics. Female Lewis rats were immunized by two injections with homologous pituitary homogenate and complete Freund’s adjuvant. Blood was coll ected seri ally from the rats, and serum antibodies to pituitary antigens were examined . The rats were sacrificed 2 or 4 weeks after the final immunization, and hi stological examinations of the endocrineorgans were carried out. Hi stolog ical examination revealedslight , focal infiltration of mononuclearcells in the pituitary gland only in the rats immunized with the pituitary homogenate. Infiltration of mononuclearcells was not observed in the thyroidgland , pancreas, adrenal gland , or ovary. In the serological examination, antibodies to bothcytoso licantigens and cytoplas micparticle a nti gens from the pituitaryg land were detected by enzyme- linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and these antibody levels increased with time. We stern blottingusing the sennn antibodiesidentified an immunoreactive protein of -2 1.5 k.Daamo ng these antigens, and we confirmed that this protein was ratgrow thhormone (GH). Furth ermore, antibodies to GH, thyrotropin (TSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH) were detected by E LISA. Antibodies to folli cule stimulating horm one, prol actin , or adrenocorticotropin were not detected . These data suggest that several antigens from the pituitary gland are involved in EAH inrats, and that GH, TSH, and LH are major antigens among the pituitary antigens in this model.
Reactive oxygen species contribute to Ca2+ signals produced by osmotic stress in mouse skeletal muscle fibres

Ca2+ sparks, localized elevations in cytosolic [Ca2+], are rarely detected in intact adult mammalian skeletal muscle under physiological conditions. However, they have been observed in permeabilized cells and in intact fibres subjected to stresses, such as osmotic shock and strenuous exercise. Our previous studies indicated that an excess in cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation over the ROS scavenging capabilities could be one of the up‐stream causes of Ca2+ spark appearance in permeabilized muscle fibres. Here we tested whether the cytosolic ROS balance is compromised in intact skeletal muscle fibres that underwent osmotic shock and whether this misbalance contributes to unmasking Ca2+ sparks. Spontaneous Ca2+ sparks and the rate of ROS generation were assessed with single photon confocal microscopy and fluorescent indicators fluo‐4, CM‐H2DCFDA and MitoSOX Red. Osmotic shock produced spontaneous Ca2+ sparks and a concomitant significant increase in ROS production. Preincubation of muscle cells with ROS scavengers (e.g. MnTBAP, Mn‐cpx 3, TIRON) nearly eliminated Ca2+ sparks. In addition, inhibitors of NAD(P)H oxidase (DPI and apocynin) significantly reduced ROS production and suppressed the appearance of Ca2+ sparks. Taken together, the data suggest that ROS contribute to the abnormal Ca2+ spark activity in mammalian skeletal muscle subjected to osmotic stress and also indicate that NAD(P)H oxidase is a possible source of ROS. We propose that ROS‐dependent Ca2+ sparks are an important component of adaptive/maladaptive muscle responses under various pathological conditions such as eccentric stretch, osmotic changes during ischaemia and reperfusion, and some muscle diseases.
The Origins of Firm Heterogeneity: A Production Network Approach

We explore firm size heterogeneity in production networks. In comprehensive data for Belgium, firms with more customers have higher total sales but lower sales and lower market shares per customer. Downstream factors, especially the number of customers, explain the vast majority of firm size dispersion. We rationalize these facts with a model of network formation and two-dimensional firm heterogeneity. Higher productivity generates more matches and larger market shares among customers. Higher relationship capability generates more customers and higher sales. Model estimates suggest a strong negative correlation between productivity and relationship capability and potentially large welfare gains from improving relationship capability.
Software architectures for e-commerce computing systems with external hosting

Several medium-to-large companies are currently in the process of using external hosting to deploy their Internet applications. External hosting by such application service providers (ASPs) as IBM provides a low-cost, secure and reliable way for companies to deploy e-commerce enterprise applications without the need to purchase costly infrastructure. However, while designing software for applications that run on the servers of external hosts, performance may suffer if the data and the application reside at two different locations. In this paper, we provide a technique for improving the performance in such applications. This technique is implemented in large industrial software systems. We provide the software architecture and preliminary performance results.
Accuracy of algorithms to predict accessory pathway location in children with Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome

Objective The aim of this study was to examine the accuracy in predicting pathway location in children with Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome for each of seven published algorithms. Patients and interventions ECGs from 100 consecutive children with Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome undergoing electrophysiological study were analysed by six investigators using seven published algorithms, six of which had been developed in adult patients. Main outcome measures Accuracy and concordance of predictions were adjusted for the number of pathway locations. Results Accessory pathways were left-sided in 49, septal in 20 and right-sided in 31 children. Overall accuracy of prediction was 30–49% for the exact location and 61–68% including adjacent locations. Concordance between investigators varied between 41% and 86%. No algorithm was better at predicting septal pathways (accuracy 5–35%, improving to 40–78% including adjacent locations), but one was significantly worse. Predictive accuracy was 24–53% for the exact location of right-sided pathways (50–71% including adjacent locations) and 32–55% for the exact location of left-sided pathways (58–73% including adjacent locations). Conclusions All algorithms were less accurate in our hands than in other authors' own assessment. None performed well in identifying midseptal or right anteroseptal accessory pathway locations.
Progression-free survival as a surrogate endpoint in advanced breast cancer

Objectives: Progression-free survival (PFS) has not been validated as a surrogate endpoint for overall survival (OS) for anthracycline (A) and taxane-based (T) chemotherapy in advanced breast cancer (ABC). Using trial-level, meta-analytic approaches, we evaluated PFS as a surrogate endpoint. Methods: A literature review identified randomized, controlled A and T trials for ABC. Progression-based endpoints were classified by prospective definitions. Treatment effects were derived as hazard ratios for PFS (HRPFS) and OS (HROS). Kappa statistic assessed overall agreement. A fixed-effects regression model was used to predict HROS from observed HRPFS. Cross-validation was performed. Sensitivity and subgroup analyses were performed for PFS definition, year of last patient recruitment, line of treatment, and constant rate assumption. Results: Sixteen A and fifteen T trials met inclusion criteria, producing seventeen A (n = 4,323) and seventeen T (n = 5,893) trial-arm pairs. Agreement (kappa statistic) between the direction of HROS and HRPFS was 0.71 for A (p = .0029) and 0.75 for T (p = .0028). While HRPFS was a statistically significant predictor of HROS for both A (p = .0019) and T (p = .012), the explained variances were 0.49 (A) and 0.35 (T). In cross-validation, 97 percent of the 95 percent prediction intervals crossed the equivalence line, and the direction of predicted HROS agreed with observed HROS in 82 percent (A) and 76 percent (T). Results were robust in sensitivity and subgroup analyses. Conclusions: This meta-analysis suggests that the trial-level treatment effect on PFS is significantly associated with the trial-level treatment effect on OS. However, prediction of OS based on PFS is surrounded with uncertainty.
Indoor range-direction-movement SAR for drone-based radar systems

Locating a target close to a wall or a corner is a challenge for indoor synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging because the radar does not have enough space to effectively form a large aperture. In this paper, we propose a range-direction-movement method for a drone-based frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar system. The solution can effectively form a large aperture when the antennas move in range direction instead of azimuth. Experiments have been conducted to demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of the proposed method.
Comparing Scaffold-Free and Fibrin-Based Adipose-Derived Stromal Cell Constructs for Adipose Tissue Engineering: An In Vitro and in Vivo Study

Success of adipose tissue engineering for soft tissue repair has been limited by insufficient adipogenic differentiation, an unfavorable host response, and insufficient vascularization. In this study, we examined how scaffold-free spheroid and fibrin-based environments impact these parameters in human adipose-derived stromal cell (ASC)-based adipose constructs. ASCs were differentiated in spheroids or fibrin-based constructs. After 7 days, conditioned medium was collected and spheroids/fibrin-based constructs were either harvested or implanted subcutaneously in athymic mice. Following 7 days of implantation, the number of blood vessels in fibrin-based constructs was significantly higher than in spheroids (93 ± 45 vs. 23 ± 11 vessels/mm2) and the inflammatory response to fibrin-based constructs was less severe. The reasons for these results were investigated further in vitro. We found that ASCs in fibrin-based constructs secreted significantly higher levels of the angiogenic factors VEGF and HGF and lower levels of the inflammatory cytokine IL-8. Furthermore, ASCs in fibrin-based constructs secreted significantly higher levels of leptin and showed a 2.5-fold upregulation of the adipogenic transcription factor PPARG and a fourfold to fivefold upregulation of the adipocyte-specific markers FABP4, perilipin, and leptin. These results indicate that fibrin-based ASC constructs are potentially more suitable for ASC-based adipose tissue reconstruction than scaffold-free spheroids.
Mobile content recommendation system for re-visiting user using content-based filtering and client-side user profile

Mobile content recommendation system has been widely used to overcome limitation of usability on mobile device for mobile content filtering problem. However, the system faces the problem related to insufficient information in the early stage. This affects the performance of the system in the prediction of mobile content for relevant items for user. There is a Multi-level Targeting Classification Association Rule (MTCAR) technique that addresses the problem by building an integrated model for mobile content recommendation systems. However, a revisiting user is already associated with certain past history. Therefore, an improved MTCAR technique is proposed to address the problem. In this research MTCAR with content-based filtering and user profile aims to provide better recommendations to revisiting users compared to conventional MTCAR. Users can manage their preferences and profiles, in order to obtain the personalized mobile content thereby improving the overall performance.
The tissue kallikrein-kinin system protects against cardiovascular and renal diseases and ischemic stroke independently of blood pressure reduction

Abstract Tissue kallikrein (hK1) cleaves low-molecular-weight kininogen to produce kinin peptide, which binds to kinin receptors and triggers a wide spectrum of biological effects. Tissue kallikrein levels are reduced in humans and in animal models with hypertension, cardiovascular and renal diseases. Transgenic mice or rats over-expressing human tissue kallikrein or kinin B2 receptor are permanently hypotensive, and somatic kallikrein gene delivery reduces blood pressure in several hypertensive rat models. Moreover, kallikrein gene delivery or kallikrein protein infusion can directly improve cardiac, renal and neurological function without blood pressure reduction. Kallikrein has pleiotropic effects in inhibiting apoptosis, inflammation, proliferation, hypertrophy and fibrosis, and promoting angiogenesis and neurogenesis in different experimental animal models. Kallikrein's effects can be blocked by kinin B2 receptor antagonists. Mechanistically, tissue kallikrein/kinin leads to increased nitric oxide levels and Akt activation, and reduced reactive oxygen species formation, TGF-β1 expression, MAPK and nuclear factor-κB activation. Our studies indicate that tissue kallikrein, through the kinin B2 receptor and nitric oxide formation, can protect against oxidative damage in cardiovascular and renal diseases and ischemic stroke. These novel findings suggest that kallikrein/kinin may serve as new drug targets for the prevention and treatment of heart failure, renal disease and stroke in humans.
Cross‐cultural effect on the brain revisited: Universal structures plus writing system variation

Recognizing printed words requires the mapping of graphic forms, which vary with writing systems, to linguistic forms, which vary with languages. Using a newly developed meta‐analytic approach, aggregated Gaussian‐estimated sources (AGES; Chein et al. [ 2002 ]: Psychol Behav 77:635–639), we examined the neuroimaging results for word reading within and across writing systems and languages. To find commonalities, we compiled 25 studies in English and other Western European languages that use an alphabetic writing system, 9 studies of native Chinese reading, 5 studies of Japanese Kana (syllabic) reading, and 4 studies of Kanji (morpho‐syllabic) reading. Using the AGES approach, we created meta‐images within each writing system, isolated reliable foci of activation, and compared findings across writing systems and languages. The results suggest that these writing systems utilize a common network of regions in word processing. Writing systems engage largely the same systems in terms of gross cortical regions, but localization within those regions suggests differences across writing systems. In particular, the region known as the visual word form area (VWFA) shows strikingly consistent localization across tasks and across writing systems. This region in the left mid‐fusiform gyrus is critical to word recognition across writing systems and languages. Hum Brain Mapp 25:92–104, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.