Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efeito da deficiencia do oxido nitrico e da sildenafila na função do trato urinario : estudo experimental em ratos

Sintomas do trato urinario inferior (STUI) estao associados com a piora da Qualidade de Vida dos pacientes e geram custos substanciais para a sociedade. Nos ultimos anos houve aumento no conhecimento da fisiopatologia e historia natural do STUI e obstrucao benigna da prostata (OBP). O oxido nitrico (NO) tem sido implicado como neurotransmissor em varios sitios do sistema nervoso de mamiferos, incluindo as sinapses perifericas do trato urogenital em homens. Estudos recentes avaliaram os efeitos dos inibidores da enzima fosfodiesterase tipo 5 (PDE5) em pacientes com STUI secundario a OBP e observou-se melhora dos sintomas. Como, atualmente, nao se sabe o exato papel da sildenafila no tratamento da disfuncao miccional associado a OBP foi sugerido em um desses estudos que novas bases fisiopatologicas seriam necessarias para avaliar o efeito do inibidor da fosfodiesterase no trato urinario inferior. Objetivos: Os objetivos deste estudo foram determinar os efeitos urodinâmicos da inibicao da sintese de oxido nitrico pela N-nitro-L-arginina metil ester (L-NAME), bem como a acao da sildenafila no trato urinario inferior de ratos com deficiencia cronica de NO. Materiais e Metodos: No estudo foram utilizados 27 ratos da especie Wistar que foram submetidos a estudo urodinâmico, sendo nove controles (Grupo 1), oito tratado com L-NAME (60mk/Kg/dia dissolvido em agua) por 30 dias (Grupo 2), quatro tratados somente com sildenafila (100µg/Kg intravenoso) (Grupo 3) e seis tratados com L-NAME por 30 dias seguidos de administracao aguda de sildenafila intravenoso(100µg/Kg) (Grupo 4). Resultados: A administracao cronica e sistemica de L-NAME resultou em aumento significativo no numero de contracoes nao associado a miccao (0,98 ±0,75 versus 2,71 ±0,89), limiar de volume (1,26 ±0,38 versus 2,8 ±1,64) e frequencia dos ciclos de miccao (1,2 ±0,65 versus 1,79 ±0,78), comparando Grupos 1 e 2, respectivamente. A administracao intravenosa de sildenafila para os animais do Grupo 3 nao alterou a frequencia (pre-sildenafila 1,23 ±0,37 versus pos-sildenafila 1,3 ±0,15) e a amplitude dos ciclos de miccao (pre-sildenafila 8,5 ±3,16 versus pos-sildenafila 9,0 ±2,99). Foi encontrada diferenca significativa entre os Grupos 3 e 4 em relacao a frequencia dos ciclos de miccao apos administracao da sildenafila (1,3 ±0,15 versus 0,35 ±0,25). A amplitude, antes da administracao da sildenafila foi maior no Grupo 4 (8,50 ±3,16 versus 27,0 ±8,73; Grupos 3 e 4, respectivamente), porem tornou-se semelhante aos animais do Grupo 3 apos a sildenafila (9,0 ±2,99 versus 7,5 ±6,6; Grupos 3 e 4, respectivamente). Conclusoes: A reducao sistemica de oxido nitrico promove contracoes involuntarias do detrusor e ciclos de miccao de menor intervalo. A administracao da sildenafila, em animais com deficiencia cronica de oxido nitrico, promove diminuicao do numero de ciclos de miccao e da amplitude das contracoes Abstract
[Diet-induced obesity affects testis development in pubertal rats].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of diet-induced obesity on the developmental process of testes in pubertal rats. METHODS Eighty 21-day-old male SD rats were randomly divided into a control group (n=32) and an experiment group (n=48), and fed respectively on a normal diet and a high-fat diet. And changes in the body weight, Lee's index, testis weight and epididymis weight were measured at the end of the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th week after the treatment, that is, when the rats were 6, 7, 8 and 9 weeks old. The concentrations of testosterone and estradiol were determined by Access immunoassay system and the morphological alterations in testis development observed by HE staining. RESULTS The body weight of the high-fat group obviously increased at the end of the 3rd week (P < 0.05), 26.6% heavier than that of the control by the end of the 6th week (P < 0.01), and Lee's index was also obviously increased (P < 0.01). Compared with the controls, the testicular coefficient declined in the high-fat group at the end of the 5th and 6th week (P < 0.05), plasma TG and TC remarkably increased, the testosterone level obviously decreased (P < 0.05), estradiol concentration lowered at the end of the 3rd, 4th and 5th week but dramatically increased at the 9th, with significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.01). Microscope examination showed that spermatogenic epithelial cells were arranged in disorder, the spermatogenic cell layers reduced and the number of mature sperms reduced. CONCLUSION High-fat diet can induce nutritional obesity in pubertal rats, which in turn may lead to the underdevelopment of the testis and the abnormal level of gonadal hormones.
Limit Theorems for Regressions with Unequal and Dependent Errors

This paper deals with the asymptotic distribution of the vectorial least squares estimators (LSE) for the parameters in multiple linear regression systems. The regression constants are assumed to be known; the errors are assumed (a) to be independent but not necessarily identically or normally distributed (section 3), or (b) to constitute a generalized linear discrete stochastic process (section 4). The latter part includes the case of regression for time series. Conditions are studied under which the joint distribution functions (d.f.'s) of the vectorial LSE's tend to a multivariate normal d.f. as the sample size increases. In the proof a central limit theorem (CLT) for weighted averages of independent random variables is used. In case (a), a theorem for large classes of linear regressions is proved (theorem 3.2), whose conditions are in a certain sense also necessary. The theorem simultaneously permits consistent estimation of the limiting covariance matrix of the LSE's. The results in case (b) are contained in theorems 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6. They are not naturally of as closed a form as those pertinent to case (a) because of the more complicated nature of the problem. Some use of spectral theory is made. Several examples are discussed (section 3.3). The assumptions made in this paper are weaker than those of results published earlier in the literature. (For a more recent survey, compare [6].) Their structure is quite simple so that they ought to be useful in applications. Section 4.4 contains some remarks on multivariate regression equations.
Focus on Babies: A Note on Parental Attitudes and Preferences for Organic Babyfood

The motivation behind purchases of organic foods is not necessarily straightforward. Some individuals may purchase organic foods for health reasons, while others may do so because of concern for the environment. The issue is even more complicated when thinking about babyfood. Because of children’s developing systems, parents and other care givers could be more concerned about the effects of pesticides in conventional foods. However, this issue is relatively unexplored. This study reports results from focus groups with parents of small children regarding their attitudes and preferences, including risk perceptions, toward organic and conventional babyfood.
Angle-Based Hierarchical Classification Using Exact Label Embedding

Abstract Hierarchical classification problems are commonly seen in practice. However, most existing methods do not fully use the hierarchical information among class labels. In this article, a novel label embedding approach is proposed, which keeps the hierarchy of labels exactly, and reduces the complexity of the hypothesis space significantly. Based on the newly proposed label embedding approach, a new angle-based classifier is developed for hierarchical classification. Moreover, to handle massive data, a new (weighted) linear loss is designed, which has a closed form solution and is computationally efficient. Theoretical properties of the new method are established and intensive numerical comparisons with other methods are conducted. Both simulations and applications in document categorization demonstrate the advantages of the proposed method. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.
Cooperation of hybrid agents in models of manufacturing systems

The cooperation of hybrid agents is synthesized in this paper and applied to continuous manufacturing system. The hybrid agent makes a cooperation of continuous and discrete event devices possible. First Order Hybrid Petri Nets (FOHPN) are utilized in order to model the elementary autonomous hybrid agents. The cooperation of hybrid agents is based on the DES (discrete-event systems) control theory. It is realized by means of DES supervision methods and the agent negotiation. The proposed approach is illustrated in details on the cooperation of hybrid production lines in a real continuous manufacturing systems.
Trial of standard versus modified expiration to achieve end-of-test spirometry criteria.

To assess whether satisfying American Thoracic Society (ATS) end-of-test spirometry criteria can be enhanced by modifying the patient's expiratory technique, we conducted a cross-over trial of two expiratory techniques in 48 patients with a range of pulmonary functions (Group 1, n = 12: FEV1/FVC < 0.45; Group 2, n = 11: FEV1/FVC, 0.45 to 0.60; Group 3, n = 16: FEV1/FVC, 0.61 to 0.74; Group 4, n = 9: FEV1/FVC > or = 0.75). After randomizing the order of testing, each patient performed three exhalations using a "standard" forced expiratory maneuver and a modified expiratory technique consisting of an initial maximal expiratory effort followed by a "relaxed expiration" for as long as possible. Patients initiated "relaxed expiration" when instructed by the supervising technician, who issued the instruction to relax when expiratory airflow fell to < or = 200 ml/s (as determined by flow-volume loop analysis). ATS end-of-test criteria were satisfied significantly more often using the modified expiratory technique (58.3% of testing sessions) than using the standard technique (18.7% of sessions, p = 0.001) because of prolongation of the forced expiratory time (FET) with the modified technique in all patient groups. In the 38 patients with FEV1/FVC < or = 0.75, the largest FVC and FET rose significantly using the modified expiratory technique, without compromising the largest FEV1 in any group. In patients with FEV1/FVC > or = 0.75, FET increased without concomitant changes in FVC or FEV1. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Formação de professores de espanhol para crianças no Brasil: alguns caminhos possíveis

Este trabalho procura delinear a atual situacao do ensino de espanhol como lingua estrangeira para criancas brasileiras. Partimos das questoes legais que envolvem a aprendizagem e o ensino a criancas nos primeiros anos do Ensino Fundamental e que apresentam uma lacuna na qual e possivel incluir o ensino de lingua estrangeira antes do proposto nas referidas leis. Apoiamo-nos, tambem, nas teorias de desenvolvimento propostas por Piaget (1967) e Vygotsky (1993) que descrevem as etapas pelas quais as criancas passam. Fundamentamo-nos, ainda, nos postulados sobre aquisicao/aprendizagem de linguas estrangeiras de Krashen (1995) bem como na hipotese do input compreensivel, na medida em que entendemos que interage com a teoria vygostkyana sobre a zona de desenvolvimento proximal (ZDP). Alem disso, tomamos como base os estudos de Cameron (2001) sobre ensino e aprendizagem de linguas estrangeiras para criancas, nos quais sao criticados alguns pontos da teoria de Piaget, entre eles a limitacao etaria que o pesquisador afirmava que as criancas apresentam. Valemo-nos, ainda, do trabalho de Carranza (2002) que concorda com a hipotese do filtro afetivo formulada por Krashen que, segundo aquela pesquisadora, atua diretamente no processo de aquisicao da lingua estrangeira. Este artigo, com base na pesquisa no qual se apoia, oferece, tambem, algumas sugestoes de atividades para o ensino de linguas estrangeiras para criancas e, por fim, recomenda a implantacao de cursos de formacao de professores de espanhol como lingua estrangeira para criancas, uma vez que, ate este momento, nao se tem noticia da existencia de um programa como esse.
Analysis of Clostridium difficile Isolates from Nosocomial Outbreaks at Three Hospitals in Diverse Areas of Japan

ABSTRACT Clostridium difficile isolates recovered from patients with C. difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) at three hospitals located in diverse areas of Japan were analyzed by three typing systems, PCR ribotyping, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and Western immunoblotting. At the three hospitals examined, a single PCR ribotype strain (type smz) was predominant and accounted for 22 (65%) of 34, 18 (64%) of 28, and 11 (44%) of 25 isolates, respectively. All of the 51 isolates that represented PCR ribotype smz were nontypeable by PFGE because of DNA degradation. Since the type smz strain did not react with any of the antisera against 10 different serogroups (A, B, C, D, F, G, H, I, K, and X), we prepared a new antiserum against a type smz isolate. All 51 type smz isolates presented identical banding patterns, reacting with the newly prepared antiserum (designated subserogroup JP-0 of serogroup JP). These results were compared with those of a strain from a hospital outbreak that occurred in New York, which has been identified as type J9 by restriction enzyme analysis and type 01/A by arbitrarily primed PCR but was nontypeable by PFGE because of DNA degradation. This strain was reported to be epidemic at multiple hospitals in the United States. The J9 strain represented a PCR ribotype pattern different from that of a type smz strain and was typed as subserogroup G-1 of serogroup G by immunoblot analysis. A single outbreak type causing nosocomial CDAD in Japan was found to be different from the strain causing multiple outbreaks in the United States, even though the outbreak strains from the two countries were nontypeable by PFGE because of DNA degradation.
Attachment and sexual health behaviors in homeless youth.

PURPOSE To explore relationships and group differences in attachment-related constructs (social connectedness and social support) and sexual health behaviors in a sample of homeless youth. DESIGN AND METHODS An exploratory design, this study analyzed baseline data from an ongoing intervention study. Survey data were collected by audio, computer-assisted self-interview (A-CASI) from a nonprobability sample of homeless youth (n = 176). RESULTS Social connectedness was positively correlated with period of time homeless, while social support was positively related to sexual self-concept and to self-efficacy and intention to use condoms. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS The street group that homeless youth identify with may be a potential resource for peer-mentoring and skill-building regarding healthy sexual behavior.
Suppressing the Nonlinearity of Free Running VCSEL Using Selective-Optical Feedback

In this letter, the nonlinear dynamics of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) subjected to the optical feedback and a modulation signal is investigated experimentally. For this purpose, orthogonal polarization optical feedback (OOF) and parallel polarization optical feedback, which are defined by a T-shaped feedback scheme, are employed. The result obtained show that the nonlinearity of the VCSEL is entirely supressed and the 3-dB bandwidth is enhanced with the OOF. We show that the harmonics distortions are significantly improved with the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th harmonics components of the VCSEL's polarization modes reduced to the noise floor. Essentially, the OOF is proposed as a new tool to improve the linear dynamic range and the analogue performance of the VCSEL.
Recruitment of mRNAs to cytoplasmic ribonucleoprotein granules in trypanosomes

Trypanosomes are outstanding examples of the importance of mRNA metabolism in the regulation of gene expression, as these unicellular eukaryotes mostly control protein synthesis by post‐transcriptional mechanisms. Here, we show that mRNA metabolism in these organisms involves recruitment of mRNAs and proteins to microscopically visible ribonucleoprotein granules in the cytoplasm. These structures engage transcripts that are being translated and protect mRNAs from degradation. Analysis of the protein composition of trypanosomal mRNA granules indicated that they contain orthologous proteins to those present in P bodies and stress granules from metazoan organisms. Formation of mRNA granules was observed after carbon‐source deprivation of parasites in axenic culture. More important, mRNA granules are formed naturally in trypanosomes present in the intestinal tract of the insect vector. We suggest that trypanosomes make use of mRNA granules for transient transcript protection as a strategy to cope with periods of starvation that they have to face during their complex life cycles.
Controlled synchronization of delayed weighted complex network with different kinds of nodes

This paper considers the controlled synchronization of delayed weighted complex dynamical network consisting of heterogeneous nodes. By adding controllers to nodes of the second kind in the model presented consisting of two kinds of nodes, both delay-independent and delay-dependent stability criteria for the controlled synchronization state of the network are derived. It is shown that the stability of the controlled synchronization state depends on the dynamics of nodes of the first kind, the inner-coupling matrix, the out-coupling matrix, the weighted matrix and the controllers designed. The efficiency of the derived results is illustrated by numerical examples.
Mucociliary clearance in patients with cystic fibrosis and in normal subjects.

The aim of this study was to examine baseline mucociliary clearance (MCC) in patients with cystic fibrosis (n = 30; mean +/- SEM age, 23 +/- 1 yr; FEV1, 68 +/- 5% pred; range, 14 to 126%) and a group of normal subjects (n = 12; mean age, 27 +/- 1 yr) after an aerosol deposition of 99mTc-sulphur colloid (mass median diameter, 4.8 microns; geometric standard deviation, 1.6). Dynamic geometric mean images were formed from gamma camera data, and the percent clearance of activity after 60 min (%C60) was calculated for the whole right lung. Initial deposition of the aerosol was determined in terms of the penetration index, the ratio of peripheral to central activity. For normal subjects, an increase in mean inspiratory flow rate (MIFR) (49 +/- 5 versus 21 +/- 3 L/min, p < 0.05) resulted in an increase in whole right lung MCC (%C60, 31 +/- 4 versus 18 +/- 2%; p < 0.05). When aerosol delivery was controlled (MIFR, 34 +/- 5 versus 36 +/- 5 L/min), there was excellent reproducibility between studies (whole lung %C60, 34 +/- 8 versus 31 +/- 7; NS). The measurement of MCC was highly reproducible in six patients studied on four occasions with a mean coefficient of variation of 3.3 +/- 1%. A breathing pattern to accentuate central deposition was utilized in the patient studies (MIFR, 49 +/- 4 L/min). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Single Cell Transcriptome Sequencing of Zebrafish Testis Revealed Novel Spermatogenesis Marker Genes and Stronger Leydig-Germ Cell Paracrine Interactions

Spermatogenesis in testis is an important process for sexual reproduction, and worldwide about 10–15 percent of couples suffer from infertility. It is of importance to study spermatogenesis at single cell level in both of human and model organisms. Currently, single-cell RNA sequencing technologies (scRNA-seq) had been extensively applied to the study of cellular components and its gene regulations in the testes of different species, including human, monkey, mouse, and fly, but not in zebrafish. Zebrafish was a widely used model organism in biology and had been extensively used for the study of spermatogenesis in the previous studies. Therefore, it is also important to profile the transcriptome of zebrafish testis at single cell level. In this study, the transcriptomes of 14, 315 single cells from adult male zebrafish testes were profiled by scRNA-seq, and 10 cell populations were revealed, including Leydig cell, Sertoli cell, spermatogonia cell (SPG), spermatocyte, and spermatids. Notably, thousands of cell-type specific novel marker genes were identified, including sumo3b for SPG, krt18a.1 for Sertoli cells, larp1b and edrf1 for spermatids, which were also validated by RNA in situ hybridization experiments. Interestingly, through Ligand-Receptor (LR) analyses, zebrafish Leydig cells demonstrated stronger paracrine influence on germ cells than Sertoli cells. Overall, this study could be an important resource for the study of spermatogenesis in zebrafish and might also facilitate the study of the genes associated with human infertility through using zebrafish as a model organism.
Analyse biomécanique de l'appui sportif : contributions méthodologiques et application au saut en kungfu wushu

L'analyse biomecanique du geste sportif vise a mieux comprendre les mecanismes de la performance, en vue de l'ameliorer tout en limitant le risque de blessures. Dans le sport de haut niveau, les appuis constituent une des cles de la performance. Couramment utilisee pour l'analyse de la marche, la dynamique inverse permet de quantifier les actions inter-segmentaires, potentiellement traumatiques, au cours du mouvement. Cette methode comporte toutefois certains biais, dont deux peuvent etre particulierement importants au cours de mouvements sportifs a fortes accelerations : l'artefact des tissus mous et la precision du torseur dynamique. Ce travail a pour premier objectif de proposer des adaptations methodologiques pour l'analyse par dynamique inverse d'appuis sportifs. D'abord, l'interet de la methode des « centres articulaires moyens », basee sur l'utilisation de clusters rigides, est montre pour l'acquisition de la cinematique segmentaire. Ensuite, l'influence de la frequence d'echantillonnage et de la methode de derivation discrete sur le calcul des accelerations est evaluee. Enfin, la validation d'un modele volumique personnalise permettant une meilleure estimation des parametres inertiels que les modeles proportionnels couramment utilises est presentee. Le second objectif de ce travail consiste en l'application des methodes ainsi developpees a l'analyse du comportement mecanique de la cheville au cours de sauts de type pliometrique et a l'evaluation personnalisee du risque de blessures du membre inferieur chez des athletes d'elite en kungfu wushu. Ces analyses seront faites en parallele de la mesure de caracteristiques specifiques de l'athlete, telles que l'amplitude articulaire de la cheville et les modules d'elasticite de differentes structures du triceps sural obtenus par elastographie. Les perspectives pour l'application a l'entrainement seront abordees, en termes d'evolution des pratiques et de prevention personnalisee des blessures.
Degrees of Freedom of Y Channel with Single-Antenna Users: Transmission Scheme and Beamforming Optimization

In this paper, we investigate the degrees of freedom (DOF) of the Y channel consisting of three single-antenna users and a two-antenna common access relay, where each user intends to exchange independent messages with the other two users with the assistance of the relay. We show that the DOF of this particular scenario is 1.5. In order to prove this result, we firstly derive a DOF upper bound based on cut-set bound by allowing cooperation among users, which shows that the total DOF is upper bounded by 1.5. Then we propose a novel transmission scheme based on asymmetric signal space alignment (ASSA) to demonstrate the achievability of the upper bound. Theoretical evaluation and numerical results confirm that the upper bound can be achieved by utilizing ASSA, which also proves the optimality of the ASSA-based scheme in terms of DOF. Combining the upper bound and achievability, we conclude that the exact DOF is 1.5. Moreover, we present a novel iterative joint beamforming optimization (I-JBO) algorithm to further improve the sum rate. Numerical simulations have been provided to demonstrate the convergence speed and performance advantage of the I-JBO algorithm.