Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The induction of a secondary corpus luteum on day 12 post-ovulation can delay the time of luteolysis in high-producing Holstein cows.

Luteolysis before the time of maternal recognition of pregnancy is one cause of low fertility in high-producing dairy cows. The objective of this study was to assess whether induction of a secondary corpus luteum (CL) late in the luteal phase would delay the time of luteolysis. Twenty high-producing Holstein cows were synchronized to ovulation (Day 0) with the Ovsynch protocol and received hCG (1500 IU im) on Day 12. Corpora lutea formation (as evaluated by ultrasonography) and plasma P4 concentrations were monitored from Days 4 to 36. hCG treatment induced the formation of one secondary CL (CL2) in 11 of 20 cows (55%) from the dominant follicle (mean diameter: 14.2 ± 0.9 mm) of two-wave (3/11) and three-wave (8/11) cycles. The maximal diameter of the CL2 (23.3 ± 1.9 mm) was reached approximately 6 days after hCG treatment and was correlated with its structural lifespan (p < 0.01). Cows that formed a CL2 after hCG had higher mean plasma P4 concentrations on Day 14 (+4.5 ng/ml) and Day 18 (+3.0 ng/ml) compared with cows without CL2 (p < 0.05). The structural regression of CL2 begun approximately 8 days after that of the CL1, and the median time at which the first drop in circulating P4 levels occurred was later in cows that formed a CL2 than in those that did not (Day 26 vs Day 18; p < 0.01). Thus, the induction of a CL2 by hCG on Day 12 might reduce the risk of premature luteolysis in high-producing dairy cows after insemination.
Evaluation of a multidisciplinary outpatient pain management programme based at a community hospital.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate a multidisciplinary cognitive behavioural therapy pain management programme (PMP) based at a small community hospital. METHODS Patients attending the PMP were assessed at three intervals (pre-training, and 18 and 44 weeks post-training) using a set of seven questionnaires. Information about their general practitioner (GP) and consultant visits was recorded at pre-training and final follow-up visits. Questionnaires were completed and additional personal information recorded before patients attended their appointments. RESULTS Between 1997 and 2006, 163 patients completed at least six sessions out of the eight-week programme. Of these, 70 who had completed at least one questionnaire outcome measure at the three assessment intervals, and 83 who had provided information on their GP and consultant visits at pre-training and final follow-up, were included in the analyses. The results showed that patients reported being more confident in coping with their pain (pain self-efficacy questionnaire) at 18 weeks post-training and their improvement was sustained at the final follow-up. They were significantly less depressed (hospital and anxiety depression scale [HADS]) and reported a large improvement in their quality of life (modified patient generated index) at the final follow-up. They also reported a significant reduction in pain-related GP and consultant visits at their final follow-up. Although there were improvements in the Tampa scale of kinesiophobia, anxiety (HADS-Anx) and sickness impact profile scores, these were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION The result of the evaluation indicated that this PMP, delivered in a community hospital setting, made some significant differences to patients with intractable chronic pain conditions.
Partnership working and the involvement of parents in the health education of 7–11 year-olds

This article reports on findings from a one-year national evaluation of the Primary School/Primary Care Health Links (PS/PC HL) initiative, commissioned in 2003 by the National Drug Prevention Development Team, on behalf of the Department of Health (DH). The primary aim of the PS/PC HL initiative was to develop links between primary and community health care professionals and primary school children in order to increase the children’s knowledge and understanding of a range of health issues. This involved developing innovative ways in which parents could engage in the health education of their children at primary school level. As part of the evaluation, a questionnaire was sent to parents (n = 69) and children (n = 464) to discover to what extent discussions about health issues, in particular substance misuse, were held at home and what messages children were receiving. In this context, substance misuse includes drugs, alcohol and tobacco. This article also examines children’s attitudes towards smoking and alcohol, and considers how parental influence affects children’s ideas about the acceptability of these substances. The findings indicated that whilst over 65% of parents thought that their children knew a lot about exercise and healthy eating, only 20% thought that their children were well informed about alcohol and drug misuse. Despite 80% of children in our survey reporting that they would prefer to discuss health problems with their parents, substance misuse appeared to be a topic rarely discussed at home. The findings confirm, (i) the need for family and community cohesiveness and (ii) reinforces the need for an increase in parents’ knowledge and motivation in order to (iii) raise their confidence in their conversations with their children about substance misuse. Partnership working between teachers, health professionals and parents would appear to be the ideal in effectively reinforcing health messages to children; however, the authors suggest that the culture of accountability both in the teaching and health professions often hinders this process.
Bovine Circadian Locomotor Output Cycles Kaput (CLOCK) and Clusterin (CLU) mRNA Quantitation in Ejaculated Crossbred Bull Spermatozoa.

Mammalian circadian locomotor output cycles kaput (CLOCK) gene encodes a transcription factor that affects both the persistence and the period of circadian rhythms. Earlier reports suggested that CLOCK gene might be associated with male infertility in human. Present investigation, for the first time, reports that CLOCK gene expresses differentially between good and poor quality crossbred bull semen. The relative expression of CLOCK was significantly (p < 0.05) higher among good quality bull semen than motility-impaired ones. Clusterins (CLU) are series of genes associated with a variety of physiological activities including spermatogenesis, apoptosis and degenerative disease conditions. In the present context, we also investigated that the expression of CLU gene was significantly (p < 0.05) higher among motility-impaired crossbred bull semen compared to the good quality one.
The Effect of Rehabilitation on Positive Interpretations of Illness

This study investigated changes in positive perceptions of illness following rehabilitation. Patients completed the 38 positive-item Silver Lining Questionnaire (SLQ) on two occasions: 20 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients on entry to a waiting list and at the start of rehabilitation; 35 COPD and 29 cardiac patients at the start and end of a rehabilitation programme. At first assessment, on average, between seven and 13 items were endorsed depending on group. Positivity increased after rehabilitation for COPD patients ( p <0.01), and cardiac patients ( p <0.001): on average three and four additional items were endorsed respectively. There was no change in positivity for patients on the waiting list. The data suggest that rehabilitation leads to an increase in perceived positive consequences of illness.
Effect of Heat Stress on Concentrations of Faecal Cortisol Metabolites in Dairy Cows.

The negative impact of heat stress on health and productivity of dairy cows is well known. Heat stress can be quantified with the temperature-humidity index (THI) and is defined as a THI ≥ 72. Additionally, animal welfare is affected in cows living under heat stress conditions. Finding a way to quantify heat stress in dairy cows has been of increasing interest over the past decades. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate concentrations of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites [i.e. 11,17-dioxoandrostanes (11,17-DOA)] as an indirect stress parameter in dairy cows without heat stress (DOA 0), with heat stress on a single day (acute heat stress, DOA 1) or with more than a single day of heat stress (chronic heat stress, DOA 2). Cows were housed in five farms under moderate European climates. Two statistical approaches (approach 1 and approach 2) were assessed. Using approach 1, concentrations of faecal 11,17-DOA were compared among DOA 0, DOA 1 and DOA 2 samples regardless of their origin (i.e. cow, unpaired comparison with a one-way anova). Using approach 2, a cow was considered as its own control; that is 11,17-DOA was treated as a cow-specific factor and only paired samples were included in the analysis for this approach (paired comparison with t-tests). In approach 1 (p = 0.006) and approach 2 (p = 0.038), 11,17-DOA values of cows under acute heat stress were higher compared to those of cows without heat stress. Our results also indicate that acute heat stress has to be considered as a confounder in studies measuring faecal glucocorticoid metabolites in cows to evaluate other stressful situations.
Effect of Ca Ionophore On Blastocyst Production Following Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection in Caprine Oocytes.

The aim of the present investigation was to study the effect of calcium ionophore activation on blastocyst production following intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in in vitro-matured Caprine oocytes. A total of 470 in vitro-matured oocytes were selected and randomly divided in to three groups. Cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) recovered by slicing the Caprine ovaries were matured in TCM199 supplemented with 10% foetal bovine serum (FBS) + 10% follicular fluid + FSH (5 μg/ml) + LH (10 μg/ml) + estradiol (1 μg/ml) + EGF (10 ng/ml) + BSA (3 mg/ml) for 27 h in humidified atmosphere at 38.5°C with 5% CO2 in CO2 incubator. After 27 h of culture, selected COCs (n = 470) were separated from cumulus cells by treating with 0.1% hyaluronidase enzyme and passing repeatedly through a fine pipette and randomly divided into three groups. In group 1, (n = 168) matured oocytes were injected with injection micropipette without sperm as control. In group 2, (n = 152) capacitated spermatozoa were injected into cytoplasm of in vitro-matured oocytes through injection micropipette. In group 3, (n = 150) capacitated spermatozoa were injected into cytoplasm of in vitro-matured oocytes through injection micropipette and then activated with 5 μm Ca ionophore for 5 min. The oocytes of all groups were then culture in RVCL media for embryo development. The cleavage rate was observed after 48-72 h of injection. The cleavage rate and blastocyst production in group 1, 2 and 3 were 0.00 and 0.00, 18.42 and 3.57 and 61.33% and 16.30%, respectively. The result indicated that mechanical activation failed to induce cleavage in in vitro-matured Caprine oocytes, whereas chemical activation of intracytoplasmic sperm-injected in vitro-matured Caprine oocytes showed significantly higher cleavage rate and blastocyst production as compare to non-activated oocytes.
Orthotics and Prosthetics National Office Outcomes Tool (opot): Initial Reliability and Validity Assessment for Lower Extremity Prosthetics

ABSTRACT The Orthotics and Prosthetics National Office Outcomes Tool (OPOT) was developed to assess health status, client satisfaction, and prosthetist's perception of function for clients with lower extremity prosthetic needs. The data set comprised 840 adults requiring lower extremity prostheses, as seen in 56 practices by 278 prosthetists from 25 states. Clients completed standardized health status and satisfaction questions and prosthetists completed questions pertaining to client demographics and functional abilities at the initial fitting and at the eight-week follow-up. Data support the reliability and construct validity of the OPOT for clients with lower extremity prosthetic needs.
Breast‐Conserving Therapy for Ductal Carcinoma in Situ: The Van Nuys Experience with Excision Plus Radiation Therapy

Abstract: The incidence of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast has increased significantly in the last 15 years paralleling increases in the use of screening mammography. During that time, breast‐conserving therapy for DCIS has become an established treatment option for patients with DCIS. 185 patients with pure DCIS treated with excision and radiation therapy were studied. The risk of local recurrence increased as nuclear grade or the diameter of the primary tumor increased. It decreased as margin width increased. Tumors containing predominantly comedo histology had an increased local recurrence rate when compared with noncomedo lesions. There was no difference in local recurrence rates for patients treated 4 or 5 days per week. The median time to local recurrence was 53 months. At 12 years, the actuarial local recurrence rate was 24% for all patients. The breast‐cancer specific mortality over the same 12 year period was 3%. The increasing incidence of DCIS necessitates that current treatment options undergo continuous re‐evaluation. Although it is likely that selected subsets of low‐risk patients can be adequately treated with excision and observation, it is equally likely that patients at high risk for local recurrence will require radiation therapy as part of their management if breast preservation is chosen. Our data suggests that histologic factors such as large tumor size, narrow margin width, high nuclear grade, and comedo architecture may aid in selecting which patients require the addition of radiation therapy to their treatment regimen and which patients do not if breast preservation is chosen.
Changes in adolescents' risk factors following peer sexual coercion: Evidence for a feedback loop

Abstract Investigators have identified a number of factors that increase the risk for experiencing sexual coercion, but as yet little is known about how sexual coercion in turn affects these risk factors. Using a sample of 110 adolescents, the current study examined the hypothesis that, after an incident of sexual coercion, adolescents would exhibit increases in several behaviors known to increase risk for victimization. As predicted, after experiencing sexual coercion, adolescents reported increased externalizing symptoms, more frequent sexual intercourse and a greater total number of intercourse partners. Finally, alcohol use, drug use, and problems related to substance use increased. These findings suggest the presence of a feedback loop, in which the experience of sexual coercion leads to an intensification of the factors that initially contributed risk for coercion.
Antisperm antibodies in repeat‐breeding cows: Frequency, detection and validation of threshold levels employing sperm immobilization, sperm agglutination and immunoperoxidase assay

Antisperm antibodies have been found in repeat-breeding(RB) cows, and those causing agglutination and/or immobilization of sperm are considered to be closely related to unexplained infertility. However, a standard protocol for identifying antisperm antibodies (ASA) in cattle is not validated. Therefore, an investigation was undertaken to evaluate sperm immobilization (SIT), sperm agglutination (SAT) and immunoperoxidase (IPT)assays for detection of ASA in serum and their respective threshold levels for confirmation. Animals (heifers, normally breeding, repeat-breeding and pregnant animals) that were free from IBR, brucellosis and uterine infections (screened by clinical examination) were included in the study. Sperm agglutinating, sperm immobilizing and antisperm antibodies evaluated by respective assay were significantly higher (p < .05) in RB cows compared to other groups. The SIT assay was able to identify 61% of RB caused by ASA, more than those employing SAT and IPT. Furthermore, a dilution rate of 1:5 and 1:80 (confirms 59.0 and 57.0% RB+ve)were sufficient to diagnose ASA by SAT and IPT, respectively. Results indicate the presence of __12.6% clumped spermatozoa and __ 2.6%(cut-off value) peroxidase-positive spermatozoa at 1:5 and 1:80 dilutions diagnosed with SAT and IPT, respectively, may be considered as repeaters arising out of ASA. Furthermore, study also showed the presence of lower incidence of ASA positivity in other groups of animals (heifer<normal breeder<pregnant animals) compared to repeaters. Study results show that although IPT is more specific and accurate but SAT and SIT are comparatively simple and cost-effective assays suitable for detecting ASA under field conditions and thus can be recommended for screening of repeaters.
Lexical decision as an endophenotype for reading comprehension: An exploration of an association

Abstract Based on numerous suggestions in the literature, we evaluated lexical decision (LD) as a putative endophenotype for reading comprehension by investigating heritability estimates and segregation analyses parameter estimates for both of these phenotypes. Specifically, in a segregation analysis of a large sample of families, we established that there is little to no overlap between genes contributing to LD and reading comprehension and that the genetic mechanism behind LD derived from this analysis appears to be more complex than that for reading comprehension. We conclude that in our sample, LD is not a good candidate as an endophenotype for reading comprehension, despite previous suggestions from the literature. Based on this conclusion, we discuss the role and benefit of the endophenotype approach in studies of complex human cognitive functions.
Contrast-enhanced low mechanical index endoscopic ultrasound (CELMI-EUS)

low mechanical index endoscopic ultra− sound (CELMI−EUS), a new real−time technique with high resolution. A 73−year−old man presented with unspe− cific abdominal pain and suspected liver cirrhosis (l" Fig. 1) and a pancreatic mass. CELMI−EUS was performed using the Hitachi 900 HV device combined with an electronic echo endoscope (Hita− chi/Pentax EG3870UTK; Hitachi, Tokyo, Japan) and adapted dynamic contrast har− monic wideband pulsed inversion soft− ware, with low mechanical index (0.09 ± 0.30), before and up to 180 seconds after injection of 4.8 ml SonoVue (Bracco, Mi− lan, Italy). To improve the contrast in mi− crovessels, microbubble tracing imaging (MTI) was applied. Enhancement of the liver parenchyma persisted for up to 5 minutes under con− tinuous scanning conditions. No signifi− cant destruction of bubbles was visualiz− ed. CELMI−EUS revealed arterial rim enhancement and delineated central ne− crosis, typical signs of neuroendocrine metastases (l" Fig. 2 and l" Video 1). His− tological examination revealed neuroen− docrine tumor metastasis. While EUS has become established over the past 20 years, real−time contrast ap− plications using low mechanical index were restricted to the transabdominal ap− proach [2]. Recent advances in technolo− gy have supported the development of new endoscopic systems, making it possi− ble to use CELMI−EUS as with a recently described prototype [3]. To distinguish between contrast medium signals and tissue signals, two ultrasound pulses with a 1808 inverted phase are sent out at the same vector line. The received echo information from these two pulses is added, eliminating the linear informa− tion of the fundamental (tissue) signals. The nonlinear echo information of the contrast media can be displayed
The effect of cumulus cells on domestic cat (Felis catus) oocytes during in vitro maturation and fertilization.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of co-culture of denuded oocytes with cumulus cells (CC) or cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) on in vitro maturation (IVM) and in vitro fertilization (IVF). Immature oocytes were collected from ovaries of domestic cats following a routine ovariectomy. Oocytes were matured in vitro for 24 hr within four groups: (i) denuded oocytes (DO), (ii) DO co-cultured with CC, (iii) DO co-cultured with COC and (iv) COC as a control group. In further experiments, COCs were matured in vitro for 24 hr, and then, oocytes were randomly divided into four groups as previously described and fertilized in vitro. Embryos were cultured for up to 7 days. At the end of each experiment, oocytes/embryos were stained with Hoechst 33342 solution and observed under an inverted fluorescence microscope. The results of oocyte maturation showed that their meiotic competence decreased significantly in all experimental groups, compared to the control group. The maturation rates were approximately 45%, 24%, 43% and 76% in experiment 1, and 21%, 14%, 33% and 50% in experiment 2 in groups (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv), respectively. Examination of in vitro fertilization revealed that embryos developed up to the morula stage in all experimental groups. DO and oocytes cultured with COC during fertilization showed a lower cleavage rate-36% and 25% as opposed to those co-cultured with loose CC and the control group-43% and 42%, respectively. Results of this study indicate that cumulus cells connected with an oocyte into a cumulus-oocyte complex are irreplaceable for the maturation of domestic cat oocyte, but that the addition of loose CC may be beneficial for IVF.
Aquaporin 9 is expressed in the epididymis of immature and mature pigs.

Aquaporins (AQPs) are channel proteins that facilitate the transepithelial and bidirectional movement of water. AQP9 is an aquaporin that is expressed in the mammalian epididymis. This water transport contributes to epididymal sperm concentration. This study aimed to examine the morphology of epididymal epithelium in piglets and boars, as well as the expression and immunolocalization of AQP9. The piglets presented an epididymal epithelium in differentiation with principal, basal and apical cells. The cellular population of the epididymal epithelium in boars consisted of principal, basal, apical, clear and narrow cells. The migratory cells known as halo cells were observed in the epididymis of both piglets and boars. AQP9 expression presented differences between piglets and boars. Moderate intensity of AQP9 immunoreaction was observed in the apical border of the epididymal epithelium of the caput and cauda regions in the piglet epididymis. A moderate-to-intense reaction for AQP9 was observed in the nuclei of epithelial cells of the three epididymal regions in the boar epididymis. The region of the cauda epididymis showed reactivity for AQP9 also in the apical border of the epithelium. It is believed that the AQP9 is already functional in piglets at only 1 week of age and is more active, playing a pivotal role in the caput and cauda regions of the epididymis. Moreover, the intense AQP9 expression in the apical border of epithelial cells in the cauda region of the boar epididymis suggests a higher performance of AQP9 in this region, where sperm complete their maturation process, stored and concentrated.
Functional analysis of the interface between the tandem C2 domains of synaptotagmin-1

Synaptotagmin (syt)-1 is a Ca2+ sensor that triggers rapid synaptic vesicle exocytosis. Mutations that disrupt physical interactions between the tandem Ca2+-sensing modules (C2 domains) of syt-1 disrupt regulated membrane fusion in reconstituted fusion reactions and in neurons. Hence contacts between these domains are important for function.