Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Low testosterone is associated with poor health status in men with human immunodeficiency virus infection: a retrospective study

Men with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection are often hypogonadal and develop several HIV‐associated non‐acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) (HANA) conditions that impair overall health status. No studies explored the relationship between health status and serum testosterone (T) in HIV‐infected men. This study aims to investigate the association between total serum T and HANA, multimorbidity, and frailty in a large cohort of 1359 HIV‐infected men and to explore the relationship between patients’ overall health status and serum T. Among biochemical and hormonal measurement performed the main are serum total T, free triiodothyronine (fT3), and luteinizing hormone. Other outcome measurements include anthropometry, assessment of comorbidities and disabilities, overall health status defined as the number of HANA and by the 38‐item multimorbidity frailty index, anthropometry, and bone mineral density. The cumulative relative risk of comorbidities is increased in HIV‐infected men with hypogonadism (p < 0.001) and hypogonadism is associated with several comorbidities. The prevalence of hypogonadism increases progressively with the increase of the number of comorbidities. Frailty index is inversely related to serum total T (age‐adjusted r = 0.298, r2 = 0.089, p < 0.0001). Serum fT3 levels are significantly lower in hypogonadal than eugonadal men (p = 0.022). This suggests that low serum T could be considered a sensitive marker of frailty and poor health status and that the latter might induce hypogonadism. The more HIV‐infected men are frail the more they are hypogonadal. This suggests that hypogonadism might be a naturally occurring condition in unhealthy HIV‐infected men and raises concern about the safety of T treatment. In conclusion, low serum T is associated with multimorbidity, HANA, and frailty in HIV‐infected men and this association seems to be bidirectional. Given the wide attitude to offer T treatment to HIV‐infected men, caution is needed when prescribing T to HIV‐infected male patients, especially if the patient is unhealthy or frail.
Ask and ye shall receive: a study in “social engineering”

Hacker folklore abounds with awe-inspiring tales of gaunt, caffeine-sustained teenagers tirelessly picking global electronic locks from afar in a quest for knowledge or recognition. Sometimes it is difficult to remind ourselves that the reality is a lot less enchanting. Certainly, although hackers are known to proclaim an enthusiasm for artfully finding and breaching loopholes (in both code and law), it would appear that most just want to get access to accounts by the most expedient means possible. Even if you do not share this perception, it is a good level at which to pitch your security policy. To use an analogy, security policies which seek to prevent an intruder from gaining access to a house by hang-gliding onto the roof and abseiling down the chimney should also consider that the front door ought not to be open.
PRDM16 enhances nuclear receptor-dependent transcription of the brown fat-specific Ucp1 gene through interactions with Mediator subunit MED1

PRDM16 induces expression of brown fat-specific genes in brown and beige adipocytes. Here, Iida et al. show that PRDM16, through its zinc finger domains, directly interacts with the MED1 subunit of the Mediator complex and is recruited to the enhancer of the brown fat-specific Ucp1 gene through this interaction. This enhances thyroid hormone receptor-driven transcription in a biochemically defined system in a Mediator-dependent manner, thus providing a direct link to the general transcription machinery.
Endocytosis of EGFR requires its kinase activity and N-terminal transmembrane dimerization motif

Summary EGFR signaling is attenuated by endocytosis and degradation of receptor–ligand complexes in lysosomes. Endocytosis of EGFR is known to be regulated by multiple post-translational modifications. The observation that prevention of these modifications does not block endocytosis completely, suggests the involvement of other mechanism(s). Recently, receptor clustering has been suggested to induce internalization of multiple types of membrane receptors. However, the mechanism of clustering-induced internalization remains unknown. We have used biparatopic antibody fragments from llama (VHHs) to induce EGFR clustering without stimulating tyrosine kinase activity. Using this approach, we have found an essential role for the N-terminal GG4-like dimerization motif in the transmembrane domain (TMD) for clustering-induced internalization. Moreover, conventional EGF-induced receptor internalization depends exclusively on this TMD dimerization and kinase activity. Mutations in this dimerization motif eventually lead to reduced EGFR degradation and sustained signaling. We propose a novel role for the TMD dimerization motif in the negative-feedback control of EGFR. The widely conserved nature of GG4-like dimerization motifs in transmembrane proteins suggests a general role for these motifs in clustering-induced internalization.
Involvement of Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator in Mouse Sperm Capacitation*

Mammalian sperm acquire fertilizing ability in the female tract during a process known as capacitation. In mouse sperm, this process is associated with increases in protein tyrosine phosphorylation, membrane potential hyperpolarization, increase in intracellular pH and Ca2+, and hyperactivated motility. The molecular mechanisms involved in these changes are not fully known. Present evidence suggests that in mouse sperm the capacitation-associated membrane hyperpolarization is regulated by a cAMP/protein kinase A-dependent pathway involving activation of inwardly rectifying K+ channels and inhibition of epithelial sodium channels (ENaCs). The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is a Cl- channel that controls the activity of several transport proteins, including ENaCs. Here we explored whether CFTR is involved in the regulation of ENaC inhibition in sperm and therefore is essential for the capacitation-associated hyperpolarization. Using reverse transcription-PCR, Western blot, and immunocytochemistry, we document the presence of CFTR in mouse and human sperm. Interestingly, the addition of a CFTR inhibitor (diphenylamine-2-carboxylic acid; 250 μm) inhibited the capacitation-associated hyperpolarization, prevented ENaC closure, and decreased the zona pellucida-induced acrosome reaction without affecting the increase in tyrosine phosphorylation. Incubation of sperm in Cl--free medium also eliminated the capacitation-associated hyperpolarization. On the other hand, a CFTR activator (genistein; 5-10 μm) promoted hyperpolarization in mouse sperm incubated under conditions that do not support capacitation. The addition of dibutyryl cyclic AMP to noncapacitated mouse sperm elevated intracellular Cl-. These results suggest that cAMP-dependent Cl- fluxes through CFTR are involved in the regulation of ENaC during capacitation and thus contribute to the observed hyperpolarization associated with this process.
F-actin-dependent Insolubility of Chromatin-modifying Components*

Many complexes involved in chromatin modification are difficult to isolate and commonly found associated with nuclear matrix preparations. In this study, we examine the elution properties of chromatin-modifying components under different extraction conditions. We find that most, but not all, histone acetyltransferases and histone deacetylases predominantly partition with the nuclear pellet during intermediate salt extraction. In attempts to identify a biological basis for the observed insolubility, we demonstrate that depolymerizing cellular actin, but not cellular tubulin, mobilizes a significant proportion of the insoluble pool into the intermediate salt-soluble nuclear extract. The disruption of cellular F-actin releases a specific subset of high molecular weight, active, nuclear histone deacetylase complexes that are not found under normal conditions. This study demonstrates that actin polymerization, a physiologically relevant process, is responsible for the observed insolubility of these components during nuclear extract preparation and establishes a simple strategy for isolating subsets of chromatin-modifying complexes that are otherwise depleted or absent under the same extraction conditions.
A novel CRLH transmission Line using Spiral Resonator

In this paper, a novel composite right / left handed transmission line structure composed of six double spiral ring resonator is proposed. The proposed transmission line is designed, simulated and fabricated using an extremely thin and flexible substrate. The unit cell of the proposed transmission line, consisting of a double spiral resonator, is simulated using Ansys designer simulation software. The unit cell dispersion diagram and the impedance characteristic are analyzed to characterize the metamaterial properties of the transmission line structure. The proposed composite right/left handed transmission line exhibits a double negative characteristic with reasonable agreement between the simulated and measured characteristics.
Combining Wristband Display and Wearable Haptics for Augmented Reality

Taking advantages of widely distributed hardware such as smartphones and tablets, Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR) market is rapidly growing. Major improvements can be envisioned in increasing the realism of virtual interaction and providing multimodal experiences. We propose a novel system prototype that locates the display on the forearm using a rigid support to avoid constraints due to hand-holding, and is equipped with hand tracking and cutaneous feedback. The hand tracking enables the manipulation of virtual objects, while the haptic rendering enhances the user’s perception of the virtual entities. The experimental setup has been tested by ten participants, that expressed their impressions about usability and functionality of the wrist-mounted system w.r. t. the traditional hand-held condition. Subjects’ personal evaluations suggest that the AR experience provided by the wrist-based approach is more engaging and immersive.
GATA-1 Utilizes Ikaros and Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 To Suppress Hes1 and To Promote Erythropoiesis

ABSTRACT The transcription factor Hairy Enhancer of Split 1 (HES1), a downstream effector of the Notch signaling pathway, is an important regulator of hematopoiesis. Here, we demonstrate that in primary erythroid cells, Hes1 gene expression is transiently repressed around proerythroblast stage of differentiation. Using mouse erythroleukemia cells, we found that the RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated depletion of HES1 enhances erythroid cell differentiation, suggesting that this protein opposes terminal erythroid differentiation. This is also supported by the decreased primary erythroid cell differentiation upon HES1 upregulation in Ikaros-deficient mice. A comprehensive analysis led us to determine that Ikaros favors Hes1 repression in erythroid cells by facilitating recruitment of the master regulator of erythropoiesis GATA-1 alongside FOG-1, which mediates Hes1 repression. GATA-1 is then necessary for the chromatin binding of the NuRD remodeling complex ATPase MI-2, the transcription factor GFI1B, and the histone H3K27 methyltransferase EZH2 along with Polycomb repressive complex 2. We show that EZH2 is required for the transient repression of Hes1 in erythroid cells. In aggregate, our results describe a mechanism whereby GATA-1 utilizes Ikaros and Polycomb repressive complex 2 to promote Hes1 repression as an important step in erythroid cell differentiation.
A collaborative framework of web service recommendation with clustering-extended matrix factorisation

QoS-based web service recommendation is an important technique to select suitable services to users. In this paper, we aim to achieve superior recommendation accuracy by leveraging the known QoS records. To achieve this goal, we employ the clustering algorithm and Matrix Factorisation model MF, and propose a collaborative framework of web service recommendation. Using the clustering algorithm, we cluster users and services into different clusters based on their QoS records, and identify similar cluster centres for each user and each service. We propose two clustering-extended MF models, i.e., service clustering-extended MF model SC-EMF and user clustering-extended MF model UC-EMF. In both models, the QoS values are predicted by two parts. One is the invocation experience of the target service or user, and the other is that of the similar centres. The experimental results show the effectiveness of our models.
Borrelia burgdorferi Stimulates the Production of Interleukin-10 in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells from Uninfected Humans and Rhesus Monkeys

ABSTRACT Heat-killed Borrelia burgdorferi spirochetes stimulate in vitro production of interleukin-10 (IL-10) at both mRNA and protein levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of uninfected rhesus monkeys. A concomitant down-modulation of IL-2 gene transcription was observed. Neither IL-4 nor gamma interferon gene expression was ostensibly affected by B. burgdorferispirochetes. These phenomena were observed regardless of whether the stimulating spirochetes belonged to the B. burgdorferisensu stricto, Borrelia afzelii, or Borrelia garinii genospecies, the three main species that cause Lyme disease. B. burgdorferi also induced production of IL-10 in uninfected human PBMC, indicating that this effect might play a role in human Lyme disease. Purified lipidated outer surface protein A (OspA), but not its unlipidated form, induced the production of high levels of IL-10 in uninfected human PBMC. Thus, the lipid moiety is essential in the induction of IL-10 in these PBMC. B. burgdorferi M297, a mutant strain that lacks the plasmid that encodes OspA and OspB, also induced IL-10 gene transcription in PBMC, indicating that this phenomenon is not causally linked exclusively to OspA and its lipid moiety. These results demonstrate that B. burgdorferi can stimulate the production of an antiinflammatory, immunosuppressive cytokine in naive cells and suggest that IL-10 may play a role both in avoidance by the spirochete of deleterious immune responses and in limiting the inflammation that the spirochete is able to induce.
Comparison of metabolic control among diabetic subjects at two clinics.

A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate whether glucose control in 20 non-insulin-dependent diabetic subjects seen at a remote rural clinic was comparable to control achieved in 66 diabetic subjects seen at the regional hospital clinic. Sampling was done to assure that study subjects were representative of all care-seeking, diagnosed diabetics in a well-defined Navajo community. The two groups of patients were comparable in terms of age, sex, and duration of diabetes from time of diagnosis. Compliance with care, hospitalization rates, and complication rates were similar in each group. Results showed no significant differences in glycemic control between the rural clinic (mean fasting plasma glucose = 177, mean random plasma glucose = 227) and the regional hospital clinic (mean fasting plasma glucose = 187, mean random plasma glucose = 249). The percentages of diabetics under "acceptable" control by American Diabetes Association guidelines was 40 percent at the rural clinic and 29 percent at the hospital clinic (P greater than .05). The authors conclude that adequacy of glycemic control in diabetics is not compromised by providing care at a remote rural clinic.
Analysis of PKF: A Communication Cost Reduction Scheme for Wireless Sensor Networks

Energy efficiency is a primary concern for wireless sensor networks (WSNs). One of its most energy-intensive processes is the radio communication. This work uses a predictor combined with a Kalman filter (KF) to reduce the communication energy cost for cluster-based WSNs. The technique, called PKF, is suitable for typical WSN applications with adjustable data quality and tens of picojoule computation cost. However, it is challenging to precisely quantify its underlying process from a mathematical point of view. Through an in-depth mathematical analysis, we formulate the tradeoff between energy efficiency and reconstruction quality of PKF. One of our prominent results for that is the explicit expression for the covariance of the doubly truncated multivariate normal distribution; it improves the previous methods and has generality. The validity and accuracy of the analysis are verified with both artificial and real signals. The simulation results, using real temperature values, demonstrate the efficiency of PKF: without additional data degradation, it reduces the communication cost by more than 88%. Compared to previous works based on KF, PKF requires less computational effort while improving the reconstruction quality; compared with the techniques without KF, the advantages of PKF are even more significant. It reduces the transmission rate of them by at least 29%. Besides, it can be integrated into network level techniques to further extend the whole network lifetime.
Effectiveness of laparoscopic surgeries in treating infertility related to endometriosis.

INTRODUCTION Endometriosis is defined as an illness caused by the presence of foci of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity. The illness is found in 5-10% of women at reproductive age. In the group of those suffering from endometriosis, the percentage of infertile women amounts to 50%. At higher stages of endometriosis clinical advancement, the suggested treatment is the application of assisted reproductive technology. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was assessment of the effectiveness of laparoscopy in treating infertility related to endometriosis among women treated in our clinic in 2009-2012. MATERIALS AND METHOD The clinic is a medical centre focused on advanced minimally invasive surgical treatment, especially laparoscopic surgeries in diseases of the uterus - with a focus on laparoscopic surgeries for patients with endometriosis of the recto-vaginal area. 53 female patients treated for infertility who underwent a laparoscopic surgical procedure to remove the foci of endometriosis in 2009-2012, were analysed retrospectively. After the surgical procedure, the patients were observed over a period of 12 months, during which the frequency of pregnancies (including natural and assisted pregnancies) was assessed in relation to the stage of endometriosis advancement (rAFS). RESULTS In 17 out of 53 (32%) patients who underwent the surgical procedure a clinical pregnancy was diagnosed. 11 out of 53 (20.75%) women became pregnant spontaneously, 6 out of 53 (11.32%) patients became pregnant as a result of assisted reproductive technology (ART) (5 IVF and 1 IUI). The average time from the date of surgical procedure to spontaneous pregnancy amounted to 6 months. CONCLUSIONS Laparoscopy is a vital therapeutic method. Operative laparoscopy is an efficient method for treating infertility related to endometriosis, and the procedure seems to be the most effective particularly at stage III rAFS. The period for expectant management after a surgical procedure should last 6 months.
Effects of Flickering Light on Refraction and Changes in Eye Axial Length of C57BL/6 Mice

Aims: To investigate the effectiveness and feasibility of inducing myopia in mice by flickering-light (FL) stimulation. Methods: Forty-five 28-day-old C57BL/6 (B6) mice were randomly assigned to three groups: control group, FL stimulation group and form deprivation (FD) group. Mice in the control group were raised under 250 lux illumination from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Mice in the FL group were raised under illumination with a duty cycle of 50% at a flash rate of 2 Hz from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. for 6 weeks. Mice in the FD group were raised under the same conditions as the control group; the right eyes of the mice were covered with semitransparent hemispherical plastic shells serving as eye diffusers. The refractive state and axial length (AL) of the right eyes were measured by eccentric infrared photorefraction and A-scan ultrasonography, respectively, before treatment and after 2, 4, 6 or 8 weeks’ treatment. Results: After 6 weeks’ exposure to FL, the refraction became more myopic compared with the control group as indicated by longer AL compared with the control group (p < 0.05); the FD eyes were more myopic than the FL eyes (p < 0.05). However, some mice lost their eye diffusers, and lens opacities were found. Conclusion: Myopia can be induced by FL in B6 mice. The myopic shift induced by FL is less than that induced by FD, but FL causes fewer side effects, and is safery and easier to manipulate.
A sEMG-Driven Soft ExoSuit Based on Twisted String Actuators for Elbow Assistive Applications

The scope of this letter is to show the applicability of the Twisted String Actuators (TSAs) for lightweight, wearable and assistive robotic applications. To this aim, we have developed a novel surface electromyography (sEMG)-driven soft ExoSuit using the TSAs to perform both single and dual-arm elbow assistive applications. The proposed ExoSuit, with an overall weight of 1650 g, uses a pair of TSAs mounted in the back of the user, connected via tendons to the user's forearms to actuate each arm independently for supporting external loads. We confirm this new light-weight and customizable wearable solution via multiple user studies based on the biceps and tricep’ sEMG measurements. We demonstrate that user's muscles can automatically activate and regulate the TSAs and compensate for the user's effort: by using our controller based on a Double Threshold Strategy (DTS) with a standard PID regulator, we report that the system was able to limit the biceps’ sEMG activity under an arbitrary target threshold, compensating a muscular activity equal to 220% (related to a single arm 3 kg load) and 110% (related to a dual arm 4 kg load) of the threshold value itself. Moreover, the triceps’ sEMG signal detects the external load and, depending on the threshold, returns the system to the initial state where it requires no assistance from the ExoSuit. The experimental results show the proposed ExoSuit's capabilities in both single and dual-arm load compensation tasks. Therefore, the applicability of the TSAs is experimentally demonstrated for a real-case assistive device, fostering future studies and developments of this kind of actuation strategy for wearable robotic systems.