Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Body weight loss reverts obesity-associated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE Few randomized clinical studies have evaluated the impact of diet and physical activity on testosterone levels in obese men with conflicting results. Conversely, studies on bariatric surgery in men generally have shown an increase in testosterone levels. The aim of this study is to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of available trials on the effect of body weight loss on sex hormones levels. DESIGN Meta-analysis. METHODS An extensive Medline search was performed including the following words: 'testosterone', 'diet', 'weight loss', 'bariatric surgery', and 'males'. The search was restricted to data from January 1, 1969 up to August 31, 2012. RESULTS Out of 266 retrieved articles, 24 were included in the study. Of the latter, 22 evaluated the effect of diet or bariatric surgery, whereas two compared diet and bariatric surgery. Overall, both a low-calorie diet and bariatric surgery are associated with a significant (P<0.0001) increase in plasma sex hormone-binding globulin-bound and -unbound testosterone levels (total testosterone (TT)), with bariatric surgery being more effective in comparison with the low-calorie diet (TT increase: 8.73 (6.51-10.95) vs 2.87 (1.68-4.07) for bariatric surgery and the low-calorie diet, respectively; both P<0.0001 vs baseline). Androgen rise is greater in those patients who lose more weight as well as in younger, non-diabetic subjects with a greater degree of obesity. Body weight loss is also associated with a decrease in estradiol and an increase in gonadotropins levels. Multiple regression analysis shows that the degree of body weight loss is the best determinant of TT rise (B=2.50±0.98, P=0.029). CONCLUSIONS These data show that weight loss is associated with an increase in both bound and unbound testosterone levels. The normalization of sex hormones induced by body weight loss is a possible mechanism contributing to the beneficial effects of surgery in morbid obesity.
A Single European Regulatory Authority

Periodically during the 1980s and 1990s the idea of a single European regulator for telecommunications (a Euro‐FCC) caught the imagination of the European Parliament or a Commissioner. In 2006 the EC proposed the European Telecom Market Authority (ETMA). On the one hand, telecommunications regulators are temporary, to be phased out as competition takes holds,on the other they have an enduring role because of underlying economic characteristics. In the late 1990s there were serious discussions at the European Union (EU) level about a single regulator. There was no enthusiasm with market players and governments finally comfortable with national regulatory systems. At the same period, regulators began to meet to discuss common issues, if not always to collaborate or to agree. There were long debates during the 1999 Review about harmonization, the roles of the regulators and of the veto powers of the EC. The result was a series of compromises, including the creation of the European Regulators Group (ERG). Originally a “variable geometry” had been proposed, but instead it was reduced to a lowest common denominator of issues. While NRAs are required to notify all other NRAs of their draft decisions, they have uniformly declined to comment on these. A proposal by Commissioner Reding for a single regulator in May 2006 came out of the blue. The ERG worked hard to convert the proposal into a confederation of existing regulators. The creation of further institutions faceds legal obstacles. While the nominal reason for ETMA was harmonization and the single market, it was unlikely this will have been the result. The regulators have, until now, shown a remarkable capacity to diverge, within a common framework, objectives and instruments. The most that might be expected is some increased cooperation, achieving greater coherence. Ultimately, the argument that national markets are different remains difficult to refute.There has never been significant political or industry support for a single regulator. The member states fear the loss of influence over national markets. The NRAs fear for their own existence. The operators fear the disruption and increased regulation.
Malfunction of the Da Vinci robotic system during robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy: an international survey.

PURPOSE To determine how urologists manage technical malfunction of the Da Vinci robotic system during robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). MATERIALS AND METHODS A web-based survey was sent to urologists performing RARP. The survey questions were related to the stage of operation during which robotic malfunction occurred, management of malfunctions, and most common types of robotic malfunction. In addition, data were collected concerning surgical volume and training. RESULTS One hundred (56.8%) of the 176 responding surgeons had experienced an irrecoverable intraoperative malfunction. Eighty respondents experienced mechanical failure before starting RARP, of which 46 (57.5%) rescheduled, 15 (18.8%) performed an open radical approach, 12 (15%) performed standard laparoscopic prostatectomy, and 4 (4.9%) docked another robot. Sixty-three respondents experienced mechanical failure before starting urethrovesical anastomosis, of which 26 (41.2%) converted to an open procedure, 20 (31.7%) converted to standard laparoscopy, 10 (15.8%) finished with one less arm, and 3 (4.7%) aborted the procedure. Thirty-two respondents experienced malfunction before completion of the anastomosis, of which 20 (62.5%) converted to standard laparoscopy, while 12 (37.5%) converted to open surgery. Fellowship trained surgeons were more likely to complete the prostatectomy using standard laparoscopy (P = 0.05). No significant differences existed between surgeons performing a high volume or low volume of prostatectomies in regard to management of malfunctions. CONCLUSION Intraoperative breakdown of the Da Vinci robot is uncommon, but patients should be counseled preoperatively and a plan devised on how breakdown will be managed. Intracorporeal suturing skills allow conversion to a pure laparoscopic approach, if necessary. Consequently, standard laparoscopic suturing skills should remain in the residency curriculum.
Does Action Observation Training With Immediate Physical Practice Improve Hemiparetic Upper-Limb Function in Chronic Stroke?

Background. The mirror neuron network provides a neural mechanism to prime the motor system through action observation in stroke survivors. Objective. To examine whether action observation training with immediate physical practice improves upper-limb function in chronic stroke. Methods. In a within-subject design, 14 chronic stroke survivors were assessed at baseline, then participated in 2 weeks of relaxation-sham plus physical practice (control) and reassessed. Thereafter, they participated in 2 weeks of action observation training coupled with immediate physical practice (intervention), followed by a final assessment. Duration of each action observation video sequence (priming exposure) was 30 s followed immediately by practice of the observed motor skill. Results. There were significant improvements in control and intervention phases on primary outcome measures—Upper Extremity Fugl-Meyer Motor Assessment (FMA) and Functional Test of the Hemiparetic Upper Extremity (FTHUE)—as well as secondary outcome measures of self-perceptions of arm use. Gains in the primary outcomes were greater during the intervention phase (action observation + physical practice; FMA, 10.64; FTHUE level, 0.79, and tasks, 1.57) than during the control phase (relaxation-sham plus physical practice; FMA, 6.64; FTHUE level, 0.43, and tasks, 1.00). Interviews with participants highlighted the added value of watching an actor perform the movement before physically attempting to perform the action. Conclusions. This study provides preliminary evidence of the additive value of action observation plus physical practice over relaxation-sham plus physical practice. There appears to be capacity for further recovery of upper-limb function in chronic stroke that persists at least in the short term.
Histamine H1 Receptor-Stimulated Interleukin 8 and Granulocyte Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor Production by Bronchial Epithelial Cells Requires Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase Signaling via Protein Kinase C

Background: Histamine stimulates the release of several cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-8 and granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor, from bronchial epithelial cells. However, the functional individual histamine receptor subtype and intracellular signaling in bronchial epithelial cells are poorly defined. Methods: Using human primary epithelial cells and the NCI-H292 cell line, we examined the expression of histamine receptor subtypes and histamine-induced second messenger. We also evaluated the involvements of mitogen-activated protein kinase, protein kinase C (PKC) and epidermal growth factor receptor in cytokine expression caused by histamine. Results: Histamine H1 receptor (H1R) was the only subtype expressed in both types of cells. Histamine elevated intracellular calcium ion without affecting cAMP levels. Histamine induced the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2. Histamine also phosphorylated PKC and myristoylated alanine-rich C kinase substrate. Ro-31-8220, a PKC inhibitor, and PD98059, a mitogen-activated protein/ERK kinase inhibitor, suppressed the histamine-induced ERK activation and the production of granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor and IL-8. On the contrary, histamine had no effect on the phosphorylation of epidermal growth factor receptor, and its specific inhibitor AG1478 failed to inhibit the histamine-induced ERK activation. Olopatadine, an H1 antagonist, completely blocked the histamine-related responses, whereas H2 and H3 antagonists did not. Histamine also augmented the IL-8 production caused by IL-4 or tumor necrosis factor-α. Conclusions: The H1R-PKC-ERK pathway may play crucial roles in eliciting cytokine production from bronchial epithelial cells stimulated by histamine, leading to airway inflammation.
Foreign Investment and Constraints to Mercosur: Preliminary Conclusions and Research Subjects (Inversion Extranjera Y Restriccion Externa En El Mercosur)

This paper identifies some issues to build a research agenda on the effects of transnationalization and economic development among Mercosur countries. The first section discusses an analytical framework for the understanding of the relation between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and the balance of payments constraints to growth in developing countries, assuming that different types of FDI may affect such constraints in opposite directions, according to alternative theories. Section II contains a historical perspective of transnationalization in these countries, using a long-run FDI series analysis and resuming some characteristics of the last period. Finally, in the third section, some preliminary conclusions are outlined, attempting to meet the analytical framework and the empirical stylized facts, which allow to identify some issues or topics for such a research agenda.
Overdominance interacts with linkage to determine the rate of adaptation to a new optimum

Overdominance, or a fitness advantage of a heterozygote over both homozygotes, can occur commonly with adaptation to a new optimum phenotype. We model how such overdominant polymorphisms can reduce the evolvability of diploid populations, uncovering a novel form of epistatic constraint on adaptation. The fitness load caused by overdominant polymorphisms can most readily be ameliorated by evolution at tightly linked loci; therefore, traits controlled by multiple loosely linked loci are predicted to be strongly constrained. The degree of constraint is also sensitive to the shape of the relationship between phenotype and fitness, and the constraint caused by overdominance can be strong enough to overcome the effects of clonal interference on the rate of adaptation for a trait. These results point to novel influences on evolvability that are specific to diploids and interact with genetic architecture, and they predict a source of stochastic variability in eukaryotic evolution experiments or cases of rapid evolution in nature.
Calreticulin displays in vivo peptide-binding activity and can elicit CTL responses against bound peptides.

Calreticulin is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperone that displays lectin activity and contributes to the folding pathways for nascent glycoproteins. Calreticulin also participates in the reactions yielding assembly of peptides onto nascent MHC class I molecules. By chemical and immunological criteria, we identify calreticulin as a peptide-binding protein and provide data indicating that calreticulin can elicit CTL responses to components of its bound peptide pool. In an adoptive immunotherapy protocol, dendritic cells pulsed with calreticulin isolated from B16/F10.9 murine melanoma, E.G7-OVA, or EL4 thymoma tumors elicited a CTL response to as yet unknown tumor-derived Ags or the known OVA Ag. To evaluate the relative efficacy of calreticulin in eliciting CTL responses, the ER chaperones GRP94/gp96, BiP, ERp72, and protein disulfide isomerase were purified in parallel from B16/F10.9, EL4, and E.G7-OVA tumors, and the capacity of the proteins to elicit CTL responses was compared. In both the B16/F10.9 and E.G7-OVA models, calreticulin was as effective as or more effective than GRP94/gp96 in eliciting CTL responses. Little to no activity was observed for BiP, ERp72, and protein disulfide isomerase. The observed antigenic activity of calreticulin was recapitulated in in vitro experiments, in which it was observed that pulsing of bone marrow dendritic cells with E.G7-OVA-derived calreticulin elicited sensitivity to lysis by OVA-specific CD8+ T cells. These data identify calreticulin as a peptide-binding protein and indicate that calreticulin-bound peptides can be re-presented on dendritic cell class I molecules for recognition by CD8+ T cells.
Antioxidants selectively suppress activation of NF-kappa B by human T-cell leukemia virus type I Tax protein

Oxygen radical scavengers, such as dithiocarbamates and cysteine derivatives, inhibit activation of the ubiquitous transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappa B) after treatment of cells with tumor necrosis factor, phorbol ester, and interleukin-1. An involvement of oxygen radicals was more directly evident from the induction of NF-kappa B by low concentrations of H2O2 and the demonstration that cells stimulated with various NF-kappa B inducers release H2O2 and superoxide. In this study, we used the antioxidant pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) to investigate whether the activation of NF-kappa B by the viral transactivator Tax from human T-cell leukemia virus type I also depends on the production of reactive oxygen intermediates. The Tax-induced activation of the DNA-binding activity of NF-kappa B in Jurkat T cells was potently suppressed by micromolar concentrations of PDTC. Within the same concentration range, PDTC and two other dithiocarbamates also strongly interfered with transactivation of the long terminal repeat (LTR) of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 by Tax but had no effect on transactivation of the same LTR by Tat. Transactivation of the human T-cell leukemia virus type I LTR by Tax was also barely influenced. Tax seems to activate NF-kappa B by a mechanism shared with all other inducers of NF-kappa B tested so far. It appears that one of the pleiotropic activities of Tax leads to an enhanced production of oxygen radicals that are required for activation of NF-kappa B.
Stylized Facts and Dynamic Modeling of High-frequency Data on Precious Metals

Taking advantage of a trades-and-quotes database, the main stylized facts and dynamic properties of a time series related to spot precious metals, that is, gold, silver, palladium, and platinum, are documented. The behavior of spot prices, returns, volume, and selected liquidity measures is analyzed. A clear evidence of periodic patterns matching the trading hours of the most active markets, London, Zurich, New York, as well as Asian markets, is found. The time series of spot returns have thus properties similar to those of traditional financial assets with fat tails, asymmetry, periodic behaviors in the conditional variances, and volatility clustering. The empirical analyzes show, as expected, that gold is the most liquid and less volatile asset, whereas palladium and platinum are traded less.
Traditional butchery methods linked to vCJD cluster

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that hospital workers cannot test pregnant women for use of illegal drugs without their informed consent or a valid warrant if the purpose is to alert the police to a potential crime. The court's 6 to 3 decision stemmed from a 10 year old lawsuit brought against the city of Charleston, South Carolina, by women who were arrested, under a cooperative programme between a public …
A 610GHz imager In 0.18 micron CMOS process

In this paper, a 610GHz imager composed of an on-chip antenna, a NMOS direct detector and an operational amplifier in 0.18 micron standard CMOS process is proposed. To satisfy the requirements of process design rules, we make some modifications to a rectangle patch antenna without lowering its performance. Based on the principle of distributed resistive self-mixing, the detector can work beyond the cutoff frequency of the technology and facilitate broadband detection. The operational amplifier makes use of a current mirror circuit to change a differential amplifier into a single-input-single-output circuit, which not only reduces common mode noise but matches the single-end antenna. According to our simulation, the imager achieves a responsivity (Rv) of 17.6 KV/W.
Exploring the Differences between Human and Machine Translation

Chinese second language learners of English often use Machine Translators (MT) to translate personal and professional messages from their first language to English. MT’s are not perfect and have historically create messages that lack the cohesiveness and authenticity of natively written English. This paper describes our attempts to quantify the differences between human translation and machine translation in a specific scope with that hope that both MTs and post editing systems can be benefited through awareness of common error and differences between human and machine translations. In order to achieve this we implemented existing algorithms designed to identify common errors in machine translated sentences and a sentence dependency analysis to identify key differences between the translations. ​ [1] With this information further work targeting the underlying causes of these errors can be developed.
Treatment of patients with hepatitis C and cirrhosis

Recommendations for treatment of hepatitis C in patients with cirrhosis are difficult. Few prospective studies have focused on treatment of patients with advanced disease, and response rates appear to be lower and serious side effects more frequent in patients with cirrhosis. In patients with compensated cirrhosis, combination therapy with interferon alfa (3 million units [MU] 3 times a week) and ribavirin (1,000 or 1,200 mg/d) results in a sustained virological response (SVR) in 33% to 41% of patients. Responses to combination therapy are not significantly higher using peginterferon alfa 2a (180 μg/wk; 43%) or peginterferon alfa 2b (1.5 μg/kg/wk; 44%) compared with standard interferon. In using peginterferon in combination therapy, the benefits of once weekly dosing need to be weighed against the higher risks of cytopenias and greater costs with the pegylated formulations. Combination therapy results in some degree of histological improvement even in patients who are virological non‐responders. These findings provide the scientific basis for ongoing studies of maintenance therapy with peginterferon to prevent complications of cirrhosis in non‐responder patients with hepatitis C. Recommendations for management of decompensated cirrhosis and of recurrent hepatitis C after liver transplantation are difficult because of limitations of data, most of which are derived from uncontrolled case series. Combination therapy is poorly tolerated in both groups and rates of response are low. Thus, while the medical need is great, treatment of patients with decompensated cirrhosis or with recurrent hepatitis C after transplantation should be undertaken cautiously and only within the confines of prospective clinical trials. (HEPATOLOGY 2002;36:S185‐S194).
A new digital signature scheme

Authentication plays an important role in cryptography. It allows Alice to have high confidence that the message she received originated from Bob, but it does not allow her to convince a third party that Bob actually sent the message. This makes authentication suitable between two trusting parties. In this paper, we introduce a new signature scheme that allows Alice to sign a message and let Bob verify its integrity. Moreover, it does not let Alice later on deny her signature and allows Bob to decide either to verify the invalidity of the signature block or assume that Alice's denial is false.
Prenatal dexamethasone treatment in conjunction with rescue therapy of human surfactant: a randomized placebo-controlled multicenter study.

OBJECTIVES A placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind study was performed to determine whether prenatal dexamethasone (DEX) treatment improves the outcome of the preterm infant when exogenous surfactant is available. METHODS 157 pregnant women at five hospitals with threatened preterm delivery and with lengths of gestation < 32 weeks received either DEX (dose 6 mg four times at 12-hour intervals) or placebo (PL). Prenatal treatment was not repeated. Preterm infants received rescue therapy of human surfactant (maximum four doses) if they required ventilatory support and at least 40% oxygen for the treatment of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). RESULTS Enrolled pregnant women delivered 188 live-born neonates, of whom 79 (DEX 41 and PL 38 neonates) were born 1 to 14 days after the prenatal treatment. Neonates born within 1 to 14 days after the initial DEX treatment had a lower incidence of RDS (DEX, 44%; PL, 79%; P < .01), lower requirements of surfactant (DEX, 22%; PL, 53%; P < .01), shorter duration of ventilatory support (DEX, 2.0 days; PL, 5.3 days; P < .05) and oxygen therapy (DEX, 2.0 days; PL, 7.0 days; P < .01), and a higher neonatal survival without ventilatory support (P < .05) than PL-treated neonates. DEX-treated neonates had higher mean blood pressure than PL-treated neonates during the first 3 days after birth. Among all neonates treated with DEX, there was a lower incidence of intraventricular hemorrhage or periventricular leucomalacia (DEX, 13%; PL, 33%; P < .01). Reduction in the incidence of intraventricular hemorrhage or periventricular leucomalacia in DEX-treated neonates was particularly associated with exogenous human surfactant therapy (DEX+surfactant 10%; PL+surfactant 48%; P < .01). CONCLUSIONS Prenatal DEX treatment combined with exogenous human surfactant therapy in preterm infants decreases pulmonary morbidity and cerebral complications, and increases survival without severe morbidity.