Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hydrogel-delivered brain-derived neurotrophic factor promotes tissue repair and recovery after stroke

Stroke is the leading cause of adult disability. Systemic delivery of candidate neural repair therapies is limited by the blood–brain barrier and off-target effects. We tested a bioengineering approach for local depot release of BDNF from the infarct cavity for neural repair in chronic periods after stroke. The brain release levels of a hyaluronic acid hydrogel + BDNF were tested in several stroke models in mouse (strains C57Bl/6, DBA) and non-human primate (Macaca fascicularis) and tracked with MRI. The behavioral recovery effects of hydrogel + BDNF and the effects on tissue repair outcomes were determined. Hydrogel-delivered BDNF diffuses from the stroke cavity into peri-infarct tissue over 3 weeks in two mouse stroke models, compared with 1 week for direct BDNF injection. Hydrogel delivery of BDNF promotes recovery of motor function. Mapping of motor system connections indicates that hydrogel-BDNF induces axonal sprouting within existing cortical and cortico-striatal systems. Pharmacogenetic studies show that hydrogel-BDNF induces the initial migration of immature neurons into the peri-infarct cortex and their long-term survival. In chronic stroke in the non-human primate, hydrogel-released BDNF can be detected up to 2 cm from the infarct, a distance relevant to human functional recovery in stroke. The hydrogel can be tracked by MRI in mouse and primate.
Zinc reduces turkey sperm oxygen uptake in vitro.

The effect of zinc and histidine (a zinc chelator) on oxygen (O2) uptake by turkey sperm was examined in diluents without and with added fructose. The presence of . 5 mM zinc in a diluent without fructose depressed sperm O2 uptake significantly below that of sperm in diluent alone or in diluent with 3 mM histidine but did not depress sperm fertility. Histidine had no effect on sperm O2 uptake. Sperm O2 uptake in diluents containing 1 mM fructose was significantly less in the presence of zinc than in diluents alone or in diluent with histidine. It was suggested that zinc may play a regulatory role in sperm O2 uptake in vivo.
Long-Term Biomechanical and Histologic Results of WST-D/NIR Corneal Stiffening in Rabbits, Up to 8 Months Follow-up.

Purpose To determine the long-term safety and efficacy of WST-D/near-infrared (NIR) corneal stiffening. Methods One eye of 23 New Zealand White rabbits was de-epithelialized mechanically followed by topical application of 2.5 mg/mL WST11, combined with dextran-500 (WST-D) for 20 minutes. Subsequently, samples were irradiated with a NIR (755 nm) laser at 10 mW/cm2 for 30 minutes. Untreated fellow eyes served as controls. One week (n = 4), 1 month (n = 6), 4 months (n = 9), or 8 months (n = 4) after treatment rabbits were euthanized. Corneal strips were cut in superior-inferior direction for extensiometry testing (1, 4, and 8 months), and histologic sections were prepared for evaluation of keratocyte distribution (1 week and 8 months). Results Elastic modulus after treatment was significantly higher than in paired controls (16.0 ± 2.3 MPa versus 9.6 ± 3.6 MPa [P = 0.008], 18.1 ± 4.5 MPa versus 12.6 ± 2.3 MPa [P = 0.003], and 18.6 ± 3.6 MPa versus 14.2 ± 3.6 MPa [P = 0.010], at 1, 4, and 8 months, respectively). A significant decrease in keratocyte count at the anterior stroma was observed directly after treatment (1.5 ± 1.7 vs. 19.0 ± 4.1 [P = 0.002]). At 8 months keratocyte repopulation appeared completed, with similar distribution in treated and untreated corneas (15.9 ± 1.1 vs. 14.5 ± 2.5 [P = 0.562]). Corneal thickness was comparable between treated and untreated corneas at all time points. Conclusions WST-D/NIR treatment resulted in significant and persistent long-term increase in corneal stiffness. Initial keratocyte apoptosis in the anterior stroma is followed by repopulation to normal level at 8 months after treatment. The safe nature of NIR light allows treatment of corneas of any thickness without endangering corneal endothelium or deeper ocular structures, potentially benefiting patients deemed unsuitable for riboflavin/UV-A cross-linking.
Semen and carcass evaluation of broiler breeder males fed low protein diets.

At 43 days of age, 246 broiler breeder males were randomly assigned to either a 9, 12, or 15% protein diet (isocaloric) fed on a restricted basis until birds were 50 wk of age. Birds fed the 15% protein diet served as the control group for maintaining body weight. All groups received equal quantities of feed. Semen production was monitored weekly from 17 through 49 wk of age. Semen was evaluated for volume, concentration, and number of spermatozoa per ejaculate during four periods: 25 through 30, 36 through 37, 42 through 43, and 48 through 49 wk of age. Carcass composition and testes weight were sampled at 22 and 28 wk; at 50 wk of age all remaining males were analyzed. The dietary protein effect on body weight was linear (P less than .05). Birds fed the 9% protein diet had the lowest weights, while birds fed 12 and 15% protein became similar in body weight with increasing age. Semen volume, concentration, number of spermatozoa per ejaculate, and testes weight were unaffected by dietary protein level. The percentage of males that produced semen when fed the 9% protein diet was greater (P less than or equal to .09) with males fed 12 and 15% dietary protein. Dietary protein had a significant negative linear effect (P less than or equal to .001) on percent carcass fat at 50 wk of age but no effect on percentage carcass protein. Reducing dietary protein to 9% decreased male body weight slightly, increased carcass fat, and had no adverse effects on semen production through 50 wk of age.
Playful Surveys: Easing Challenges of Human Subject Research with Online Crowds

A major challenge of human subject research lies in motivating enough subjects to participate in studies. Traditionally, participants are extrinsically motivated, for example by getting paid for their contribution. Together with the effort of organizing and supervising experiments, this renders human subject research either very expensive, or reduces the validity due to small sample sizes. This work describes the method of utilizing playful web-based surveys to intrinsically motivate contributors to participate in studies and illustrates the approach with two examples: a study of the effect of retouching portraits on the perception of human faces and according estimates of wealth and success that was distributed via a single announcement on a social network and attracted more than 2400 participants within a five months period, as well as a study on the perception of a questionnaire in the form of a playful survey as compared to a more traditional online questionnaire, which showed that participants are more likely to recommend playful surveys to friends than normal surveys.
Influence of dietary calcium and phosphorus on urinary calcium in commercial leghorn hens.

An experiment was conducted to determine the influence of dietary Ca (2, 4, and 6%) and P (.3 and .6% total) on urinary Ca and pH and on plasma Ca++ and inorganic P (Pi) in commercial Leghorn hens. Urine (six hens per treatment) or blood (eight hens per treatment) was collected from hens at 0, 7, 14, and 21 h postoviposition on Days 3 and 10 after its introduction to treatment diets. Low dietary P reduced (P less than or equal to .05) plasma Pi concentrations. The lowest concentration of dietary Ca reduced (P less than or equal to .05) plasma Ca++. Urinary pH and Ca were lowest at 14 h after oviposition. Increasing dietary Ca from 4 to 6% had no influence on urinary Ca excretion when the diet contained . 6% P. However, when the diet contained 4% Ca, lowering dietary P (from .6% to .3%) increased urinary Ca significantly. Increasing dietary Ca to 6% in the presence of low dietary P further elevated urinary Ca. Urine was acidic with all diets except with that containing 6% Ca and . 3% P at 14 h after oviposition. Results indicate that low dietary P has a greater influence on elevating urinary Ca in laying hens than excess dietary Ca.
Increased Water Yields Following Harvesting Operations on a Drained Coastal Watershed

Forest harvesting operations have been reported to affect annual and seasonal outflow characteristics from drained forest watersheds. Increases in forest outflow, nutrient concentrations, and suspended sediments are commonly seen as a result of these forest management activities. Thus, it is important to assess the impact of forest management activities on hydrology, soils, and water quality on drained forested lands. The impact of harvesting a 23-ha mature natural (primarily hardwood) forest stand located in Washington County near Plymouth, North Carolina was evaluated using a paired watershed approach. Event outflow, event peak flow, and number of flow days were significantly increased by the harvesting operation. Mean event outflow increased from 22.6 mm on the control to 47.3 mm on the harvested, which represents a 2-fold increase. Similarly, event peak flow and number of flow days from the harvested watershed were more than 50 percent greater than observed on the control. Daily outflow and water table depths observed on the harvested watershed were similar to those from the control. Mean water table depths for the harvested and control were 68 and 97 cm during the treatment period.
Job Satisfaction, Retirement Attitude and Intended Retirement Age: A Conditional Process Analysis across Workers’ Level of Household Income

In the contemporary workplace, insight into retirement behaviors is of crucial importance. Previous empirical evidence has found mixed results regarding the relationship between work attitudes, such as job satisfaction, and retirement behaviors, suggesting that further scholarly examination incorporating moderating and mediating variables into retirement models is needed. Drawing on comparative models of attitude to retirement, we hypothesized a direct relationship between job satisfaction and intended retirement age for workers with a high household income and an indirect relationship between job satisfaction and intended retirement age, via retirement attitude, for workers with a low or mean household income. We collected data from a sample of 590 United Kingdom workers aged 50+. Using conditional process analysis, we found that the underlying mechanisms in our research model differ according to socio-economic status. We found no direct effect between job satisfaction and intended retirement age. However, an indirect effect was observed between job satisfaction and intended retirement age, via retirement attitude, for both low- and mean-household income individuals. Specifically, the relationship between job satisfaction and retirement attitude differed according to socio-economic group: for high-household income older workers, there was no relationship between job satisfaction and retirement attitude. However, for low- and mean-household income older workers, we observed a negative relationship between job satisfaction and retirement attitude. Otherwise stated, increases in job satisfaction for mean and low household income workers are likely to make the prospect of retirement less attractive. Therefore, we argue that utmost care must be taken around the conditions under which lower income employees will continue their work when getting older in order to protect their sustainable employability.
Effect of protein and energy intake of broiler breeder hens on performance of broiler chicken offspring.

Two hundred and forty individually caged Hubbard x Hubbard broiler breeders (BB) were fed one of six diets at 150 g/bird per day, which provided 19 or 25 g protein and 325, 385, or 450 kcal nitrogen-corrected metabolizable energy. In Trial 1, chicks hatched from 29-wk-old BB were sexed and 12 females and 12 males placed in each of four replicate floor pens per treatment. A 23% crude protein (CP) starter (0 to 20 day), 20% CP grower (21 to 34 day) and 18% CP finisher (35 to 41 day) diets were fed. Protein intake of BB had no effect on body weight of offspring. Energy intake of BB had no effect on growth of female offspring; however body weights of 20 day-old-male offspring were 575, 586, and 601 g for low, medium, and high energy intake, respectively (P less than or equal to .01). Increasing BB energy intake increased carcass protein and reduced fat in male offspring (P less than or equal to .01) and decreased the percentage of Canada Grade B ratings for both sexes (P less than or equal to .05). In Trials 2 to 4, chicks from BB at 32, 36, and 40 wk were sexed and cage-reared to 21 days of age. The energy intake of BB had no effect on female offspring growth. Male offspring weighed 570, 563, and 585 g for the low, medium, and high energy intakes, respectively (P less than or equal to .01).
Quasi-Polynomial Time Approximation Schemes for Target Tracking

We consider the problem of tracking $n$ targets in the plane using $2n$ cameras. We can use two cameras to estimate the location of a target. We are then interested in forming $n$ camera pairs where each camera belongs to exactly one pair, followed by forming a matching between the targets and camera pairs so as to best estimate the locations of each of the targets. We consider a special case of this problem where each of the cameras are placed along a horizontal line $l$, and we consider two objective functions which have been shown to give good estimates of the locations of the targets when the distances between the targets and the cameras are sufficiently large. In the first objective, the value of an assignment of a camera pair to a target is the tracking angle formed by the assignment. Here, we are interested in maximizing the sum of these tracking angles. A polynomial time 2-approximation is known for this problem. We give a quasi-polynomial time algorithm that returns a solution whose value is at least a $(1-\epsilon)$ factor of the value of an optimal solution for any $\epsilon > 0$. In the second objective, the cost of an assignment of a camera pair to a target is the ratio of the vertical distance between the target and $l$ to the horizontal distance between the cameras in the camera pair. In this setting, we are interested in minimizing the sum of these ratios. A polynomial time 2-approximation is known for this problem. We give a quasi-polynomial time algorithm that returns a solution whose value is at most a $(1+\epsilon)$ factor of the value of an optimal solution for any $\epsilon > 0$.
Para - And Intraurethral Penile Tumor - Like Condilomatosis

Condyloma acuminata represents an epidermal manifestation, associated with the epidermotropic human papillomavirus (HPV). They have been reported as the most common sexually transmitted disease, with prevalence exceeding 50%, increased up to 4 times, within the last two decades, as the most common side of affection are the penis, vulva, vagina, cervix, perineum, and perianal area, with increased prevalence in young, sexually active individuals. Increased attention should be focused on lesions, caused by types, with moderate (33, 35, 39, 40, 43, 45, 51-56, 58) or high risk potential (types 16, 18) for malignant transformation, leading to further development of cancers of anus, vagina, vulva and penis, as well as cancers of the head and neck. A provident of coexistence of many of these types in the same patient could be seen in approximately 10-15% of patients, as the lack of adequate information on the oncogenic potential of many other types complicated the treatment and the further outcome. Although the variety of treatment options, genital condylomata acuminata still show high recurrent rate to destructive topical regiments, because of the activation of the viruses at some point, which emphasise the importance of virus- eradication, instead only of the topical destruction of the lesions. Despite decreasing the recurrent rate, the most important goal of immunisation is the reduction of the incidence of HPV-associated squamous cell carcinomas using either the quadrivalent (Silgard/Gardasil) or the bivalent (Cervarix) HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine. We present a patient with periurethral condylomata acuminate, who refused performing of a biopsy for determining the virus type, as we want to emphasize the importance of the virus - treatment in all cases of genital warts, instead only of topical destruction of the lesions, not only because of the recurrence incidence rate, but also because of the well - known oncogenic potential of some HPV - types, as well as the unknown potential of various underestimated types, in contrast.
ERα promotes murine hematopoietic regeneration through the Ire1α-mediated unfolded protein response

Activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR) sustains protein homeostasis (proteostasis) and plays a fundamental role in tissue maintenance and longevity of organisms. Long-range control of UPR activation has been demonstrated in invertebrates, but such mechanisms in mammals remain elusive. Here, we show that the female sex hormone estrogen regulates the UPR in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Estrogen treatment increases the capacity of HSCs to regenerate the hematopoietic system upon transplantation and accelerates regeneration after irradiation. We found that estrogen signals through estrogen receptor α (ERα) expressed in hematopoietic cells to activate the protective Ire1α-Xbp1 branch of the UPR. Further, ERα-mediated activation of the Ire1α-Xbp1 pathway confers HSCs with resistance against proteotoxic stress and promotes regeneration. Our findings reveal a systemic mechanism through which HSC function is augmented for hematopoietic regeneration.
Presence of the diurnal rhythms of monocyte count and macrophage activities in chicks.

The diurnal rhythms of monocyte count in the peripheral blood and the nonspecific activities of peritoneal macrophages were investigated in 6- to 12-wk-old White Leghorn chicks. It was evident that monocyte count and activities of peritoneal macrophages, i.e., phagocytosis and microbicidal activity, showed clear diurnal rhythms. The rhythmic pattern of monocyte count was biphasic, unlike those of humans or mice (which exhibit a monophasic fluctuation pattern). Diurnal rhythms of phagocytic activity and microbicidal activity also showed two peaks. However, the correspondence of fluctuation patterns between phagocytic activity and microbicidal activity that have been shown in chicken heterophils was not shown in chicken macrophages. This result suggests that the activities of both functions fluctuate independently in chicken macrophages. The patterns of macrophage-nonspecific activities were not in agreement with any rhythmic patterns concerning B cell and T cell activities reported previously. This result may indicate that the accessory functions of macrophage for helper T cell activation are not involved in the formation of the rhythmic patterns of B cell and T cell functions in chicks.
The Influence of Familiarization on Physical Fitness Test Results in Primary School-Aged Children.

PURPOSE The number of familiarization sessions in fitness assessments seems to be critical and inconsistent. Therefore, the primary aim of this research was to determine the number of familiarization attempts that stabilize the results in particular physical fitness tests. The secondary aim was to establish the test reliability through familiarization sessions. METHODS Thirty-nine primary school children participated in this research (age: 10.8 years, body mass: 40.6 ± 8.9 kg, and body height: 145.3 ± 7.2 cm). During six sessions, with one session every third day, participants performed the following tests to assess explosive strength (vertical jump and standing long jump), coordination (polygon backward and polygon with turn) and flexibility (toe touch). RESULTS The results of repeated analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that there were significant increases (p < .05) in the polygon backward and polygon with turn performances from the first to third familiarization session. The standard error of measurement decreased as sessions progressed, indicating little within subject variation between the coordination test results following a familiarization period. Statistically significant differences were identified in the vertical jump test from the fourth test session compared with the first session. On the other hand, statistically significant differences for the standing long jump test were only found in the final session compared with the initial session. In the toe touch test, there were no significant increases from the first to the final familiarization session. All tests showed high a reliability coefficients, ranging from 0.979 to 0.991. CONCLUSION Polygon backward and polygon with turn performance may be a practical, reliable method to assess coordination in primary school-aged children. However, completion of at least 3 practice sessions is suggested for participants to obtain a stable score. In addition, both jump tests are feasible for assessing skill-related fitness in young children, although the scientific reliability of the two tests should be questioned and the tests should be tailored to fit the age group of the children.
Analysis of Complex System Development Based on Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping

This article represents one of the contemporary trends in the application of the latest methods of classification in business, where intense competition and the desire to expand drive this science to far-reaching prospects using the discusses months and the most recent classification and forecasting algorithms such as SVM, FFM, C4.5, which are used to build better business decision support models, including basic steps in data pre-processing such as Attributes using Information Gain Ratio and filling missing values with several algorithms:K-Means,K-NearestNeighbor,Linear Regression,Neural Network(Back Propagation)
The use of pharmacogenomics, epigenomics, and transcriptomics to improve childhood asthma management: Where do we stand?

Asthma is a complex multifactorial disease and it is the most common chronic disease in children. There is a high variability in response to asthma treatment, even in patients with good adherence to maintenance treatment, and a correct inhalation technique. Distinct underlying disease mechanisms in childhood asthma might be the reason of this heterogeneity. A deeper knowledge of the underlying molecular mechanisms of asthma has led to the recent development of advanced and mechanism‐based treatments such as biologicals. However, biologicals are recommended only for patients with specific asthma phenotypes who remain uncontrolled despite high dosages of conventional asthma treatment. One of the main unmet needs in their application is lack of clinically available biomarkers to individualize pediatric asthma management and guide treatment. Pharmacogenomics, epigenomics, and transcriptomics are three omics fields that are rapidly advancing and can provide tools to identify novel asthma mechanisms and biomarkers to guide treatment. Pharmacogenomics focuses on variants in the DNA, epigenomics studies heritable changes that do not involve changes in the DNA sequence but lead to alteration of gene expression, and transcriptomics investigates gene expression by studying the complete set of mRNA transcripts in a cell or a population of cells. Advances in high‐throughput technologies and statistical tools together with well‐phenotyped patient inclusion and collaborations between different centers will expand our knowledge of underlying molecular mechanisms involved in disease onset and progress. Furthermore, it could help to select and stratify appropriate therapeutic strategies for subgroups of patients and hopefully bring precision medicine to daily practice.