Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Leukocytospermia is not an informative predictor of positive semen culture in infertile men: results from a validation study of available guidelines

Abstract STUDY QUESTION Are the European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines for performing semen culture accurate enough for detecting a positive semen culture in Caucasian-European infertile men? SUMMARY ANSWER The majority (80%) of asymptomatic infertile men with a positive sperm culture may miss a proper diagnostic assessment when relying on EAU guidelines; no single parameter can assist in medical decision-making. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY The EAU guidelines suggest performing semen culture in case of increased leukocytes in semen (>106 peroxidase positive white blood cells/ml, i.e. leukocytospermia). STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION A cross-sectional validation study including 523 infertile men was carried out during 2010–2018. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS Infertile men who were asymptomatic for genital infections were enrolled at a single academic center, and a semen culture was obtained in every case. A concentration of >103 cfu/ml urinary tract pathogens in the ejaculate was considered indicative of significant bacteriospermia. Semen analysis values were assessed on the basis of 2010 World Health Organization reference criteria. EAU guidelines for semen culture were used to predict positive semen culture in our cohort and thus validated. Moreover, we tested the predictive performance and accuracy of several clinical parameters and compared them to EAU guidelines. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE A positive semen culture was found in 54 men (10%). The application of EAU guidelines would have missed 43 out of 54 (80%) positive semen cultures with 120/131 (92%) useless examinations. EAU guidelines specificity, sensitivity and discrimination were 74%, 20% and 47%, respectively. When trying to improve positive semen culture prediction, we were unable to find any informative baseline parameter except for serum neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (odds ratio 1.70 (95% CI 1.04–2.77)), although without any improvement in terms of discrimination (P = 0.10). LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION The study was limited by the lack of a control group of fertile men its retrospective nature. Moreover, monoclonal antibodies were not used for leukocyte assessment. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS Since it is not possible to identify infertile men at risk of semen infection, further studies are needed to tailor the execution of semen culture. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) No funding was received for this study. There are no competing interests.
Secretion dynamics of soyasaponins in soybean roots and effects to modify the bacterial composition

Abstract Soyasaponins are triterpenoid saponins widely found in legume plants. These compounds have drawn considerable attention because they have various activities beneficial for human health, and their biosynthesis has been actively studied. In our previous study, we found that legume plants including soybean secrete soyasaponins from the roots in hydroponic culture throughout the growth period, but the physiological roles of soyasaponins in the rhizosphere and their fate in soil after exudation have remained unknown. This study demonstrates that soyasaponins are secreted from the roots of field‐grown soybean, and soyasaponin Bb is the major soyasaponin detected in the rhizosphere. In vitro analysis of the distribution coefficient suggested that soyasaponin Bb can diffuse over longer distances in the soil in comparison with daidzein, which is a typical isoflavone secreted from soybean roots. The degradation rate of soyasaponin Bb in soil was slightly faster than that of daidzein, whereas no soyasaponin Bb degradation was observed in autoclaved soil, suggesting that microbes utilize soyasaponins in the rhizosphere. Bacterial community composition was clearly influenced by soyasaponin Bb, and potential plant growth–promoting rhizobacteria such as Novosphingobium were significantly enriched in both soyasaponin Bb–treated soil and the soybean rhizosphere. These results strongly suggest that soyasaponin Bb plays an important role in the enrichment of certain microbes in the soybean rhizosphere.
Evaluating Precipitation Features and Rainfall Characteristics in a Multi‐Scale Modeling Framework

Cloud and precipitation systems are simulated with a multi‐scale modeling framework (MMF) and compared over the Tropics and Subtropics against the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Radar‐defined Precipitation Features (RPFs) product. A methodology, in close analogy to the TRMM RPFs, is developed to produce simulated precipitation features (PFs) from the output of the embedded two‐dimensional (2D) cloud‐resolving models (CRMs) within an MMF. Despite the limitations of 2D CRMs, the simulated population distribution, horizontal and vertical structure of PFs, and the geographical location and local rainfall contribution of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) are in good agreement with the TRMM observations. However, some model discrepancies are found and can be identified and quantified within the PF distributions. Using model biases in relative population and rainfall contributions, PFs can be characterized into four size categories: small, medium to large, very large, and extremely large. Four different major mechanisms might account for the model biases in each different category: (1) the two‐dimensionality of the CRMs, (2) a positive convection‐wind‐evaporation feedback loop, (3) an artificial dynamic constraint in a bounded CRM domain with cyclic boundaries, and (4) the limited CRM domain size. The second and fourth mechanisms tend to contribute to the excessive tropical precipitation biases commonly found in most MMFs, whereas the other mechanisms reduce rainfall contributions from small and very large PFs. MMF sensitivity experiments with various CRM domain sizes and grid spacings showed that larger domains (higher resolutions) tend to shift PF populations toward larger (smaller) sizes.
Proportional dependencies and asymptotics of probabilistic representations

In this contribution we give a general overview of our work in progress on incorporating proportional dependencies in statistical relational frameworks. We describe the problem of domain-size dependent probabilities that proportional dependencies set out to tackle and explain how they help to solve that problem and how they are implemented in relational logistic regression models, Markov logic networks and general relational Bayesian networks. We then pose the open problem of how to transfer those concepts and results to probabilistic logic programming settings such as Problog.
Screen and Identification of The Protein-protein Interactors of NOR1, a Novel Gene Down-regulated in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

NOR1 is a novel nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC) associated gene. It is significantly down-regulated in NPC cell line HNE1 and spontaneous NPC biopsies. Over-expression of NOR1 in HNE1 cell line is effective to inhibit HNE1 cell growth and proliferation. To establish a clearer picture of what the functions of NOR1 might be and to identify cellular proteins that might bind to NOR1, a yeast two-hybrid screen was performed to search for proteins that interact with NOR1. 10 positive clones which encoded for 7 polypeptides were successfully isolated. Among these 7 candidate interaction proteins, one candidate was mitochondria ATP synthase subunit OSCP. NPC cell line 5-8F cells were transfected with pCMV-myc-NOR1 plasmids, then the mitochondrial proteins and cytoplasmic protein were isolated by cellular subftration and subjected to Western blot assay. The data showed that myc-NOR1 protein distributes in mitochondrion and cytoplasm. Immunofluoresence assay also showed the endogenous NOR1 protein co-localized with mitochondrion in human normal nasopharyngeal epithelial cells NP69, which indicate that NOR1 is a novel mitochondrial protein. The interaction between NOR1 and OSCP was confirmed by specific yeast two-hybrid assay, immunofluoresence co-localization and co-immunoprecipitation assay. These primary work suggests NOR1 may be involved in energe metabolism.
CD248 as a novel therapeutic target in pulmonary arterial hypertension

Abstract Pulmonary vascular remodeling is the most important pathological characteristic of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). No effective treatment for PAH is currently available because the mechanism underlying vascular remodeling is not completely clear. CD248, also known as endosialin, is a transmembrane protein that is highly expressed in pericytes and fibroblasts. Here, we evaluated the role of CD248 in pulmonary vascular remodeling and the processes of PAH pathogenesis. Activation of CD248 in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) was found to be proportional to the severity of PAH. CD248 contributed to platelet‐derived growth factor‐BB (PDGF‐BB)‐induced PASMC proliferation and migration along with the shift to more synthetic phenotypes. In contrast, treatment with Cd248 siRNA or the anti‐CD248 therapeutic antibody (ontuxizumab) significantly inhibited the PDGF signaling pathway, obstructed NF‐κB p65‐mediated transcription of Nox4, and decreased reactive oxygen species production induced by PDGF‐BB in PAMSCs. In addition, knockdown of CD248 alleviated pulmonary vascular remodeling in rat PAH models. This study provides novel insights into the dysfunction of PASMCs leading to pulmonary vascular remodeling, and provides evidence for anti‐remodeling treatment for PAH via the immediate targeting of CD248.
Use of the FRAIL Questionnaire in Patients With End-Stage Kidney Disease

Background: Frailty is a clinical phenotype of decreased physiologic reserve that is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The most meaningful way to assess frailty in patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) is unknown. Objective: To assess the prevalence of frailty in ESKD patients using the easy-to-administer FRAIL scale and, to determine its association with mortality, transplantation, and hospitalization. Design: A cohort study was used. Setting: The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, was the setting of this study. Patients: All eligible adult ESKD patients treated with dialysis from August to November 2017 at The Ottawa Hospital were invited to participate. Measurements: The FRAIL scale. Methods: Eligible patients completed an exercise survey with FRAIL questions embedded within the instrument. Number of comorbid illnesses was determined from the electronic medical record and weight loss was calculated from target weight in the patients’ dialysis prescription. Mortality, transplant status, and hospitalizations were ascertained from the electronic medical record 18 months later; differences by frailty status were evaluated using descriptive statistics. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression models were used to examine the association between frailty and transplant. Results: Of 476 ESKD patients screened, 261 participated; 101 receiving peritoneal dialysis, 135 intermittent hemodialysis, and 25 home hemodialysis. Thirty-nine, 145, and 77 were frail, pre-frail, and not frail, respectively. Employment status, ethnicity, and comorbid illnesses differed significantly by frailty status, but mortality did not. In univariate analysis, frail patients were less likely to be listed for (P = .05) and to receive a kidney transplant (P = .02). However, after adjusting for age and modality, frailty was not statistically associated with a decreased likelihood of transplant (Hazard Ratio: 0.15; confidence interval [CI], 0.02-1.15; P = .068). The results were similar when accounting for the competing risk of death (P = .060). Frail patients were more likely to be hospitalized (P = .01) and spend more time in the hospital (P = .04). Limitations: Single-center design with a relatively short follow-up and small sample size limiting the number of variables that could be assessed in analysis. We also excluded patients who were unable to communicate in English or French and those patients with physical limitations such as amputations, potentially affecting generalizability. Conclusions: Frail ESKD patients as identified by the FRAIL scale are less likely to receive a renal transplant; this association diminished statistically after adjusting for age and modality and when accounting for the competing risk of death. Frail patients were at increased risk of hospitalization. Further study with larger patient numbers and longer follow-up is needed to determine the usefulness of the FRAIL scale in predicting adverse outcomes. Trial registration: Not required as this was an observational study.
The effect of pre-heating on monomer elution from bulk-fill resin composites

Background The present study was aimed to evaluate the effect of pre-heating of bulk -fill resin composites on monomer elution from them. Material and Methods Three different types of resin composites were used including Tetric N-Ceram Bulk Fill, X-tra Fill and X-tra Base. 10 cylindrical samples were prepared from each resin composites. Before light curing, 5 samples were pre-heated until reaching 68˚C, then 5 other samples were polymerized at room temperature. After 24 hours, release of UDMA, TEGDMA and BIS-GMA monomers were measured by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography analysis. Data analysis was performed by two-way ANOVA test, Games-Howell and Sidak post hoc tests. Results Pre-heating did not have any statistically significant effect on the mean values of UDMA, TEGDMA and Bis-GMA elution (p>0.05). The greatest amount of released Bis-GMA and UDMA was obtained from Tetric N-Ceram Bulk-fill composite. The greatest amount of released TEGDMA was obtained from X-tra Fill composite. X-tra Base composite showed the lowest amount of monomer release (P<0.001). Conclusions Pre-heating did not have any effect on monomer release from bulk-fill resin composites. Moreover, the amount and the type of monomers released from various bulk-fill resin composites were not similar. Key words:Bulk fill composite resin, elution, HPLC, residual monomer, temperature.
1. VISUALIZING TIME: THE INFLUENCE OF TIMELINE AXIS AND DIRECTION ON CAUSAL REASONING IN LITIGATION LAW

concept in such a way that meaning can be shared between individuals? Philosopher Mark Johnson and linguist George Lakoff offered a compelling solution to these problems in their Theory of Conceptual Metaphor (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980b). According to this view, a conceptual metaphor differs from a linguistic metaphor in that it is goes deeper than the surface structure of language. Imagine a hypothetical presidential candidate proclaiming, “Under my leadership, we will steer America back on course! We will right her heaving toward liberal policies and hold a course toward freedom. ” In his speech, the candidate invokes the metaphor of COUNTRY is A SHIP, and FUTURE is THE SHIP’S PATH. He uses a number of phrases particular to sailing and navigation to indicate his intentions for political policy. It is highly unlikely, however, that the candidate actually thinks of his country as a sailing ship. Rather, he chooses to use ship-specific language to more clearly and eloquently communicate his point. The metaphor exists only in his language, and not his underlying conceptualization of sailing, politics and geography. Contrast this with the statement, “The deadline is sneaking up on me, but my manuscript is ahead of schedule. ” Here, we see a deadline (an event in time) as moving through space, and the schedule (an ordering
PAST AND PRESENT SCENARIO OF SOLID LIPID NANOPARTICLES:A LITERATURE REVIEW

Research and development of engineered multifunctional and versatile nanoparticles as pharmaceutical drug carriers have stimulated exponential growth in applications to medicine in the last decade. The potential success of the nanoparticles in the clinic relies on consideration of certain important parameters such as nanoparticle manufacturing strategies, their physical properties, partitioning behaviour of drug in solid as well as liquid lipids, drug loading efficiencies, drug release potential and, most importantly, minimum toxicity of the carrier system itself . Solid lipid nanoparticles bear the advantage of being the least toxic for in vivo applications and significant progress have been made in the area of theranostics using lipid-based nanoassemblies. SLN being a colloidal carrier system combines the advantages of emulsions, liposomes, and polymeric nanoparticles. SLNs are lipid based nanoparticles which exhibit higher drug loading capability and are both biocompatible and biodegradable thus very well suited to medicinal application in targeted drug delivery and in vivo imaging. This review paper provides an overview of SLN technology and describes different models of SLN, various formulation techniques, characterization and potential biomedical applications. Keywords-Theranostics, solid lipid nanoparticles, nanoassemblies, characterization, polymeric Nanoparticles, liposomes
Isolation and molecular identification of egg drop syndrome 1976 (EDS-76) virus in Egypt.

To evaluate the current situation of infection with egg drop syndrome 1976 (EDS-76) virus in Egypt, a total of 35 field samples (15 kidneys, 16 oviducts and 4 oviduct swabs) were collected from 10 EDS-vaccinated layer chicken flocks raised in Menoufia, El-Behera and Gharbia governorates during the period 2014-2015. The flocks showed a decreased laying performance associated with the production of soft-shelled eggs. Virus isolation was attempted in 11-day-old embryonated duck eggs via allantoic sac inoculation. Five days after inoculation, the allantoic fluids were tested for the presence of hemagglutinating (HA) activity using chicken erythrocytes. Seven samples were tested positive for HA activity throughout three consecutive passages. The presence of EDS-76 virus was assessed in all HA-positive allantoic fluids by hexon gene-based conventional and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. In 6 (85.7%) out of 7 samples, PCR was successfully applied to detect the virus DNA, meanwhile all the employed samples were tested positive for the presence of EDS-76 virus by real-time PCR assay. The SYBR green-based real-time PCR assay described in the present study was found to be more sensitive and less time consuming than conventional PCR assay for detection of EDS-76 virus genome.
Semismooth Newton method for elasto-plastic torsion kind problems using NVIDIA (cid:114) Cuda

In this work we develop GPU-implementation of semi-smooth Newton method for elasto-plastic torsion kind problem using NVIDIA (cid:114) Cuda TM C. The problem considered can be posed also as variational inequality with gradient constraint. Along with parallelization of ﬁnite element method we experiment with using Ja-cobi method for the solution of the weak equation obtained at each Newton step. We present easy way of ﬁnite element implementation and Jacobi solver using CUSPARSE library which provides set of subroutines for working with sparse matrices and vectors.
Cutoff scores that maximize the total utility of a selection program: Comment on Martin and Raju's (1992) procedure.

S. L. Martin and N. S. Raju (1992) proposed a procedure for setting the cutoff score that maximized the total utility of a selection program by including a continuous function of recruiting costs. In the present article, the authors comment on some limitations of Martin and Raju's approach and suggest a modified procedure that uses a step recruitment-cost function. The modified procedure has the flexibility of allowing variable combinations of recruiting sources in any order to maximize total dollar utility of the selection program. It is also suggested that researchers should work toward the goals of finding the optimal combination of recruiting sources and of developing a confidence interval around the final estimate of the number of applicants based on the estimated variability of labor supply
23. SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA’S WARMEST OCTOBER ON RECORD: THE ROLE OF ENSO AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Introduction. Australia experienced its warmest October on record in 2015 (Australian Bureau of Meteorology 2015). This was primarily the result of an early season heat wave in the beginning of the month, concentrated over southern Australia (SAUS; Fig. 23.1a). The monthly anomaly for maximum temperature over SAUS (5.16°C; Fig. 23.1b) was the largest ever recorded for the region for any month of the year. This unseasonably warm weather over SAUS led to an early start to the bushfire season and caused significant crop losses across one of Australia’s most important agricultural regions, the Murray–Darling basin. The October heat coincided with one of the strongest El Niño events on record. While warm and dry conditions over parts of Australia are typical of an El Niño event, the observed record-breaking temperatures may have been exacerbated by climate change. This study uses very large ensembles of atmosphereonly regional climate model simulations to assess the relative roles of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and anthropogenic climate change in the October 2015 extreme heat across SAUS.
Performance Evaluation Hybridizing

: Most of the VLSI applications, such arithmetic circuits. 1-bit full adder cell is the power digital combinational circuit design— area of digital circuits while maintaining low been presented by hybridizing PTL and GDI XOR-XNOR module has been proposed to improve proposed Hybrid full adder design is based on cascade implementation of XOR module has analysis has been done for the proposed full implementing it in 8-bit CLA adder,4-bit RCA been implemented in various design styles. Their
Genomic fingerprinting of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis

A total of 46 Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato isolates that were isolated from patients with Lyme borreliosis and infected animals or were extracted from ticks of the genus Ixodes were analyzed. Large restriction fragment patterns obtained after cleavage of genomic DNAs with MluI were analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). To eliminate the contribution of plasmid DNA, only fragments greater than 70 kb were used for the analysis. The results indicated that each of the 14 B. burgdorferi sensu stricto isolates were recognized by a band at 135 kbp, each of the 12 Borrelia garinii isolates by two bands (220 and 80 kbp), and each of the 20 Borrelia afzelii isolates by three bands (460, 320, and 90 kbp). Whereas differences in the PFGE patterns among B. burgdorferi sensu stricto isolates and B. garinii isolates were noted, B. afzelii isolates were all similar. Identification of isolates by PFGE correlates with their belonging to a given species within B. burgdorferi sensu lato.
Genomic DNA Extraction and Optimizing RAPD Procedure of Lespedeza floribunda

A RAPD analysis was studied with the genomic DNA extraction of Lespedeza floribunda from its leaves at the flowering period,its dried seed,and its germinating seed using the CTAB method and the SDS method.An optimal reaction system and conditions are composed by 75 ng template DNA, 2.1 mmol/L Mg~(2+), 200 μmol/L dNTP,0.2 pm·μL~(-1),10×buffer 2.5 uL, 1.5 U TaqDNA polymerase,25 uL total reaction buffer. Thermal reaction program suitable for the RAPD analysis was devised as followings: an initial denaturation 94℃ for 3 minutes;45 cycles of 94℃ for 30 seconds,36℃ for 30 seconds,72℃ for 1 minute;and a final extention at 72℃ for 10 minutes。