Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationship between rs1801157 polymorphism in stromal cell-derived factor gene and systemic lupus erythematosus risk

Objective Present meta-analysis was performed to investigate the role of stromal cell-derived factor (SDF-1) gene rs1801157 polymorphism in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Results Five publications with 1,087 cases and 1,181 controls were incorporated in this meta-analysis. Overall, a marginal association between SDF-1 rs1801157 polymorphism and reduced SLE risk was found under GA vs. GG model (OR = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.70–1.00). A similar result was also observed in Asian subgroup under the same comparison after stratification analysis by ethnicity (OR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.63–1.00). Materials and Methods All included studies were retrieved from PubMed, EMBASE, Google Scholar Web and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated to appraise the strength of association between SDF-1 rs1801157 polymorphism and SLE risk. The stratification analysis was also performed according to ethnicity. In addition, heterogeneity was examined with Q test, and sensitivity analysis was used to test the stability of final results. Begg’s funnel plot and Egger’s test were adopted to evaluate publication bias. Conclusions SDF-1 rs1801157 polymorphism may not influence the risk of SLE. However, more studies with larger sample sizes involving different populations are needed to further explore this issue.
Evolution of the persistent spin helix in the presence of Hartree-Fock fields

We derive a spin diffusion equation for a spin-orbit coupled two-dimensional electron gas including the Hartree-Fock field resulting from 1st order electron-electron interactions. We find that the lifetime of the persistent spin helix, which emerges for equal linear Rashba- and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions, can be enhanced considerably for large initial spin polarizations due to the Hartree-Fock field. The reason is a reduction of the symmetry-breaking cubic Dresselhaus scattering rate by the Hartree-Fock field. Also higher harmonics are generated and the polarization of the persistent spin helix rotates out of the (Sy,Sz)-plane acquiring a finite Sx-component. This effect becomes more pronounced, when the cubic Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction is large.
Triclosan impairs excitation–contraction coupling and Ca2+ dynamics in striated muscle

Triclosan (TCS), a high-production-volume chemical used as a bactericide in personal care products, is a priority pollutant of growing concern to human and environmental health. TCS is capable of altering the activity of type 1 ryanodine receptor (RyR1), but its potential to influence physiological excitation–contraction coupling (ECC) and muscle function has not been investigated. Here, we report that TCS impairs ECC of both cardiac and skeletal muscle in vitro and in vivo. TCS acutely depresses hemodynamics and grip strength in mice at doses ≥12.5 mg/kg i.p., and a concentration ≥0.52 μM in water compromises swimming performance in larval fathead minnow. In isolated ventricular cardiomyocytes, skeletal myotubes, and adult flexor digitorum brevis fibers TCS depresses electrically evoked ECC within ∼10–20 min. In myotubes, nanomolar to low micromolar TCS initially potentiates electrically evoked Ca2+ transients followed by complete failure of ECC, independent of Ca2+ store depletion or block of RyR1 channels. TCS also completely blocks excitation-coupled Ca2+ entry. Voltage clamp experiments showed that TCS partially inhibits L-type Ca2+ currents of cardiac and skeletal muscle, and [3H]PN200 binding to skeletal membranes is noncompetitively inhibited by TCS in the same concentration range that enhances [3H]ryanodine binding. TCS potently impairs orthograde and retrograde signaling between L-type Ca2+ and RyR channels in skeletal muscle, and L-type Ca2+ entry in cardiac muscle, revealing a mechanism by which TCS weakens cardiac and skeletal muscle contractility in a manner that may negatively impact muscle health, especially in susceptible populations.
Not all lies are spontaneous: An examination of deception across different modes of communication

An online diary study was performed to investigate deception across different media. One hundred and four individuals participated in the study, with 76 completing the diaries. Individuals were most likely to lie on the telephone. Planned lies, which participants also rated the most serious, were more likely told via SMS (short message service) text messaging. Most lies were told to people participants felt closest to. The featurebased model provides a better account of the deceptions reported by participants than do media richness theory or social distance theory. However, the authors propose a reworked feature-based model to explain deception across different media. They suggest that instant messaging should be treated as a near synchronous mode of communication. We suggest that the model needs to distinguish between spontaneous and planned lies.
Trophic biology and migratory patterns of sympatric

The trophic ecology (diet and head morphology) and migration patterns of two closely related salmonid fishes, Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus (L., 1758)) and Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma (Walbaum, 1792)), were examined in tributaries of Lake Aleknagik, southwestern Alaska, to test for differentiation between species. Schoener’s index of proportional overlap and multivariate analyses of diets suggested that these species had significantly different trophic niches. Arctic char and the largest individuals of both species had the most diverse diets, and sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka (Walbaum, 1792)) eggs dominated the diet of both species, especially Arctic char. Arctic char had larger jaws and wider heads than Dolly Varden of similar body length, which may contribute to interspecific diet difference. The species also differed in migration patterns; otolith microchemistry indicated that juvenile Arctic char were produced by nonanadromous mothers, whereas the mothers of the Dolly Varden had been to sea in the season prior to spawning. The species also segregate in spawning habitat (Arctic char in the lakes and Dolly Varden in streams), as well as in juvenile rearing habitat. Our study provides the first evidence of divergent feeding and migratory ecology between sympatric juvenile Arctic char and Dolly Varden, differences that may constrain hybridization and introgression between them.
Towards better selective forwarding and delay attacks detection in wireless sensor networks

A number of intrusion detection techniques have been proposed to detect different kinds of active attacks on wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Selective forwarding and delay attacks are two simple but effective attacks that can disrupt the communication in WSNs. We propose two parametrized collaborative intrusion detection techniques and optimize their parameters for given scenarios using extensive simulations and multiobjective evolutionary algorithms. Moreover, we sample the whole search space to enable evaluation of evolution performance. We evaluate the influence of changes of the number of malicious nodes on the intrusion detection performance.
Effect of Superplasticizer on Transverse Relaxation Time Curve of Cement Paste

The transverse relaxation time T2 distribution of the cement paste hydration before the initial of setting was studied under 23 MHz proton nuclear magnetic resonance,using pure cement paste and the cement paste with superplasticizer,then obtaining the relaxation time curve at different hydration time(5,30,60,90,120 min). It is found that the relaxation time distribution curves sys-tematically exhibits three T2 relaxation peaks;the first one,between 0.01ms and 0.20 ms,whose value is very small and which may be the physical bond water,or caused by the noise of the spectrometer;the second one,between 0.21 ms and 1.20 ms,which is quite insensitive to hydration time(before initial setting time),using the superplasticizer can reduce its area.It is attributed to water em-bedded in flocculated cement grains before setting occurs;the third one,between 1.21 ms and 20 ms,which is the main peak of the curve.The effect of superplasticizer on the peak is that the peaks shift gradually to the long T2 value.It can be attributed to bulk water surrounding cement grains.
An Analysis on the Spatial Characteristics of Satisfaction on the Residential Environment Using Tweets

The purpose of this study is to analyze the regional difference of spatial distribution of residential satisfaction by extracting the elements of residential satisfaction in the text of tweet data. We determined three themes such as “safety”, “amenity” and “convenience”, base search terms by theme. And we detailed the search terms by base search term in order to retrieve the tweets related to the satisfaction of residential environments. We analyzed the selected tweets and visualized the results of analysis on the map and then investigated the satisfaction of residential environments through the index analysis which was a proportion of tweet ratio of theme to whole tweet ratio by region This study shows that it may replace the offline survey method by the analysis of tweets on SNS in investigating the satisfaction of residential environments by regions in South Korea.
Uniform Stability of a Particle Approximation of the Optimal Filter Derivative

Sequential Monte Carlo methods, also known as particle methods, are a widely used set of computational tools for inference in non-linear non-Gaussian state-space models. In many applications it may be necessary to compute the sensitivity, or derivative, of the optimal filter with respect to the static parameters of the state-space model; for instance, in order to obtain maximum likelihood model parameters of interest, or to compute the optimal controller in an optimal control problem. In Poyiadjis et al. [2011] an original particle algorithm to compute the filter derivative was proposed and it was shown using numerical examples that the particle estimate was numerically stable in the sense that it did not deteriorate over time. In this paper we substantiate this claim with a detailed theoretical study. Lp bounds and a central limit theorem for this particle approximation of the filter derivative are presented. It is further shown that under mixing conditions these Lp bounds and the asymptotic variance characterized by the central limit theorem are uniformly bounded with respect to the time index. We demon- strate the performance predicted by theory with several numerical examples. We also use the particle approximation of the filter derivative to perform online maximum likelihood parameter estimation for a stochastic volatility model.
Whole-exome sequencing reveals genetic variants in ERC1 and KCNG4 associated with complete hydatidiform mole in Chinese Han women

Complete hydatidiform mole (CHM) is a rare pregnancy-related disease with invasive potential. The genetics underlying the sporadic form of CHM have not been addressed previously, but maternal genetic variants may be involved in biparental CHM. We performed whole-exome sequencing of 51 patients with CHM and 47 healthy women to identify genetic variants associated with CHM. In addition, candidate variants were analyzed using single base extension and Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry in 199 CHM patients and 400 healthy controls. We validated candidate variants using Sanger sequencing in 250 cases and 652 controls, including 205 new controls. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms, c.G48C(p.Q16H) inERC1 and c.G1114A(p.G372S) in KCNG4, were associated with an increased risk of CHM (p<0.05). These variants may contribute to the pathogenesis of CHM and could be used to screen pregnant women for this genetic abnormality.
The Coming-of-Age of Subcutaneous Injectable Contraception

DMPA-SC is a contraceptive injectable formulation that provides women and couples another important voluntary family planning option. It offers characteristics that many women like, including cost and time savings, and has the potential to be delivered by a range of health care cadres in a variety of service delivery channels. DMPA-SC is a contraceptive injectable formulation that provides women and couples another important voluntary family planning option. It offers characteristics that many women like, including cost and time savings, and has the potential to be delivered by a range of health care cadres in a variety of service delivery channels.
mation for Mate Copying in an Invertebrate

Frédéric Mery,1,2,7 Susana A.M. Varela,3,4,7 Étienne Danchin,3,4,* Simon Blanchet,4 Deseada Parejo,5 Isabelle Coolen,4 and Richard H. Wagner6 1Laboratoire Évolution, Génomes et Spéciation UPR 9034, CNRS 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, Cedex France 2Université Paris-Sud 11 91405 Orsay, Cedex France 3Université Pierre et Marie Curie Laboratoire ‘‘Fonctionnement et Évolution des Systèmes Écologiques’’ CNRS–UMR 7625, Bât. A, 7e Étage 7 quai Saint-Bernard, Case 237 F-75252 Paris, Cedex 05 France 4Université de Toulouse UPS Laboratoire d’Évolution et Diversité Biologique (EDB) CNRS–UMR 5174 118 Route de Narbonne, Bât. 4R3 31062 Toulouse, Cedex 9 France 5Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, CSIC c/ General Segura 1 04001 Almerı́a Spain 6Konrad Lorenz Institute for Ethology Austrian Academy of Sciences Savoyenstrasse 1a A-1160 Vienna Austria
The effect of patellar taping on lower extremity running kinematics in individuals with patellofemoral pain syndrome

ABSTRACT Purpose: To investigate the effects of patellar taping (Leukotape® (LT), Pinetown, South Africa, Kinesio Tape (KT), Dortmund, Germany, or no tape) on lower extremity kinematics in runners with and without patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS). Methods: In total, 20 healthy individuals and 12 with PFPS ran on a treadmill under different taping conditions and lower extremity kinematics and stride characteristics were obtained using Peak Motus Software, Colorado, USA. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and mixed factorial analysis of variance (p < 0.05). Results: Significant taping effects were found for hip (F(2,60) = 16.79, p = 0.0001) and knee (F(2,60) = 17.27, p = 0.0001) flexion angles at initial contact, and peak hip flexion angles during swing (F(2,60) = 6.55, p = 0.003). Increased flexion was noted with LT more than KT and no tape conditions. Similarly, peak knee flexion angles during stance (F(2,60) = 3.51, p = 0.03) and flight time (F(2,60) = 5.01, p = 0.01) revealed significant taping effects, with LT resulting in more flexion (p = 0.04) and shorter flight times (p = 0.01) than the no tape condition. Furthermore, a significant taping effect was seen for peak knee flexion angle during swing (F(2,60) = 4.96, p = 0.01), with the KT resulting in less flexion than LT (p = 0.04) and no tape conditions (p = 0.04). Conclusion: The application of tape during running may impact on hip and knee flexion angles at initial contact, as well as flight time.
The role of bovine seminal plasma in fertility

Bovine seminal plasma (SP) is known to have an effect on spermatozoa and the female reproductive tract. The differences in fertility among individuals could be due to variations in SP composition and its effect on both spermatozoa and the inseminated female. Single Layer Centrifugation (SLC) has been shown to select the most robust spermatozoa from the ejaculate and can be used to separate spermatozoa from SP. The purpose of this thesis was to study the various effects of bovine SP. The thesis was divided into 4 studies: Study I was to determine the effects of SLC on post-thaw sperm quality. Study II investigated the effect of adding SP back to SP-free sperm samples. Study III investigated the effect of bovine SP on bovine endometrial epithelial cells (bEEC) in culture. Study IV determined the effect of season and SLC on sperm quality. Our results show that bull spermatozoa selected by SLC had a higher proportion with high mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and a higher superoxide production than controls. The SLC-selected samples had a higher proportion of spermatozoa with normal morphology and a lower proportion with bent tails than controls; they had better kinematics than controls. However, sperm viability and chromatin integrity were not different between treatments. Adding 5% bovine SP had a beneficial effect on sperm velocity. Moreover, there was a beneficial effect of adding 5% heterologous SP from high fertility bulls on sperm velocity but a deleterious effect on chromatin integrity. Total cell number and viability of bEEC after challenge with 1% SP from either high or low fertility bulls did not differ from controls. In contrast, challenge with 4% SP from high or low fertility bulls (300H or 300L) negatively affected bEEC cell number and viability. Challenge with 300L had a greater adverse effect than 300H. There were differences in semen characteristics and sperm morphology among seasons. However, sperm kinematics, viability, chromatin integrity and MMP were not different between seasons. In conclusion, these results indicated that SLC can be used to enhance bull sperm quality. Moreover, adding bovine SP prior to cryopreservation affected sperm quality depending on the proportion of SP and the fertility of the bull from which it came. Bovine SP had a negative effect on bEEC in both a dose-dependent and fertility–dependent manner. Season had a slight effect on sperm morphology. Further studies are needed to investigate the factors involved in the interaction between SP and spermatozoa or bEEC, such as differences in SP composition between low and high fertility bulls, and breed and age of bull, as well as their effects on fertility. Keywords: bovine SP, fertility, proportion of SP, Uterus cell, sperm quality, Climate, frozen semen
Dorsolateral prefrontal transcranial magnetic stimulation in patients with major depression locally affects alpha power of REM sleep

Sleep alterations are among the most important disabling manifestation symptoms of Major Depression Disorder (MDD). A critical role of sleep importance is also underlined by the fact that its adjustment has been proposed as an objective marker of clinical remission in MDD. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) represents a relatively novel therapeutic tool for the treatment of drug-resistant depression. Nevertheless, besides clinical evaluation of the mood improvement after rTMS, we have no clear understanding of what are the neurophysiological correlates of such treatment. One possible marker underlying the clinical outcome of rTMS in MDD could be cortical changes on wakefulness and sleep activity. The aim of this open-label study was to evaluate the efficacy of a sequential bilateral rTMS treatment over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) to improve the mood in MDD patients, and to determine if rTMS can induce changes on the sleep structure, and if those changes can be used as a surrogate marker of the clinical state of the patient. Ten drug-resistant depressed patients participated to ten daily sessions of sequential bilateral rTMS with a low-frequency TMS (1 Hz) over right-DLPFC and a subsequent high-frequency (10 Hz) TMS over left-DLPFC. The clinical and neurophysiological effects induced by rTMS were evaluated, respectively by means of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), and by comparing the sleep pattern modulations and the spatial changes of EEG frequency bands during both NREM and REM sleep, before and after the real rTMS treatment. The sequential bilateral rTMS treatment over the DLPFC induced topographical-specific decrease of the alpha activity during REM sleep over left-DLPFC, which is significantly associated to the clinical outcome. In line with the notion of a left frontal hypoactivation in MDD patients, the observed local decrease of alpha activity after rTMS treatment during the REM sleep suggests that alpha frequency reduction could be considered as a marker of up-regulation of cortical activity induced by rTMS, as well as a surrogate neurophysiological correlate of the clinical outcome.
Arbitrary Topology Shape Reconstruction from Planar Cross Sections

In computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound imaging, reconstruction of the 3D object from the 2D scalar-valued slices obtained by the imaging system is difficult because of the large spacings between the 2D slices. The aliasing that results from this undersampling in the direction orthogonal to the slices leads to two problems, known as the correspondence problem and the tiling problem. A third problem, known as the branching problem, arises because of the structure of the objects being imaged in these applications. Existing reconstruction algorithms typically address only one or two of these problems. In this paper, we approach all three of these problems simultaneously. This is accomplished by imposing a set of three constraints on the reconstructed surface and then deriving precise correspondence and tiling rules from these constraints. The constraints ensure that the regions tiled by these rules obey physical constructs and have a natural appearance. Regions which cannot be tiled by these rules without breaking one or more constraints are tiled with their medial axis (edge Voronoi diagram). Our implementation of the above approach generates triangles of 3D isosurfaces from input which is either a set of contour data or a volume of image slices. Results obtained with synthetic and actual medical data are presented. There are still specific cases in which our new approach can generate distorted results, but these cases are much less likely to occur than those which cause distortions in other tiling approaches.
Fruit and vegetable intakes, dietary antioxidant nutrients, and total mortality in Spanish adults: findings from the Spanish cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-Spain).

BACKGROUND Epidemiologic data suggest that persons with diets rich in fruit and vegetables are at a lower risk of several chronic diseases and mortality than are persons with diets poor in fruit and vegetables. Often, this effect is attributed to antioxidant micronutrients found in plant foods. OBJECTIVE We aimed to assess the relation of mortality to the consumption of fruit, vegetables, and other plant foods and to the dietary intake of vitamin C, vitamin E, and carotenoids. DESIGN The study was a prospective study in the Spanish cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. During 6.5 y of follow-up, 562 deaths occurred in 41 358 subjects aged 30-69 y. Proportional hazards regression analysis was used to assess the relation between dietary factors and total mortality. RESULTS After adjustment for age, sex, and several potential confounders, the hazard ratio for the highest versus the lowest quartile of consumption was 0.79 (95% CI: 0.62, 1.00; P for trend = 0.029) for fresh fruit, 0.72 (0.56, 0.91; P for trend = 0.006) for root vegetables, and 0.77 (0.60, 0.98; P for trend = 0.015) for fruiting vegetables (ie, vegetables that contain the "fruit" part of the plant, the seeds). The corresponding figures for antioxidant nutrients were 0.74 (0.58, 0.94; P for trend = 0.009) for vitamin C, 0.68 (0.53, 0.87; P for trend = 0.006) for provitamin A carotenoids, and 0.65 (0.51, 0.84; P for trend 0.001) for lycopene. The effect of vitamin C and provitamin A disappeared after adjustment for total antioxidant capacity in plant foods. CONCLUSIONS A high intake of fresh fruit, root vegetables, and fruiting vegetables is associated with reduced mortality, probably as a result of their high content of vitamin C, provitamin A carotenoids, and lycopene. Antioxidant capacity could partly explain the effect of ascorbic acid and provitamin A but not the association with lycopene.