pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Progestogen-only contraceptive use among breastfeeding women: a systematic review

AbstractBackgroundPostpartum women need effective contraception. Concerns have been raised that use of progestogen-only contraceptives (POCs) may affect breastfeeding performance and infant health outcomes.ObjectivesWe investigated the clinical outcomes of breastfeeding duration, initiation of supplemental feeding and weaning, as well as infant outcomes including infant growth, health and development among breastfeeding women using POCs compared with breastfeeding women not using POCs.Search strategyWe searched the PubMed database for all articles published from database inception through December 2014.Selection criteriaWe included primary research studies of breastfeeding women of any age or parity who received POCs, including progestogen-only pills, injectables, implants or hormonal intrauterine devices (IUDs). The main outcomes were breastfeeding performance (as measured by initiation, continuation, frequency and exclusivity of breastfeeding) and infant health (as measured by growth, development or adverse health effects).ResultsForty-nine articles reporting on 47 different studies were identified that investigated the use of POCs in breastfeeding women and reported clinically relevant outcomes of infant growth, health or breastfeeding performance. Studies ranged from poor to fair methodological quality and generally failed to show negative effects of the use of POCs on breastfeeding outcomes or on infant growth or development. One randomized controlled trial (RCT) raises concerns that immediate insertion of the levonorgestrel IUD postpartum may be associated with poorer breastfeeding performance when compared with delayed insertion, although two other RCTs evaluating early etonogestrel implants compared with delayed initiation of implants or depot medroxyprogesterone acetate failed to find such an association.ConclusionThe preponderance of evidence fails to demonstrate adverse breastfeeding outcomes or negative health outcomes in infants such as restricted growth, health problems or impaired development. Evidence newly added to this review was largely consistent with previous evidence
Reductive group schemes, the Greenberg functor, and associated algebraic groups

AbstractLet A be an Artinian local ring with algebraically closed residue field k, and let G be an affine smooth group scheme over A. The Greenberg functor F associates to G a linear algebraic group G≔(FG)(k) over k, such that G≅G(A). We prove that if G is a reductive group scheme over A, and T is a maximal torus of G, then T is a Cartan subgroup of G, and every Cartan subgroup of G is obtained uniquely in this way. Moreover, we prove that if G is reductive and P is a parabolic subgroup of G, then P is a self-normalising subgroup of G, and if B and B′ are two Borel subgroups of G, then the corresponding subgroups B and B′ are conjugate in G
Low-Dose Vascular Photodynamic Therapy Decreases Tumor Interstitial Fluid Pressure, which Promotes Liposomal Doxorubicin Distribution in a Murine Sarcoma Metastasis Model

AbstractINTRODUCTION: Solid tumors are known to have an abnormal vasculature that limits the distribution of chemotherapy. We have recently shown that tumor vessel modulation by low-dose photodynamic therapy (L-PDT) could improve the uptake of macromolecular chemotherapeutic agents such as liposomal doxorubicin (Liporubicin) administered subsequently. However, how this occurs is unknown. Convection, the main mechanism for drug transport between the intravascular and extravascular spaces, is mostly related to interstitial fluid pressure (IFP) and tumor blood flow (TBF). Here, we determined the changes of tumor and surrounding lung IFP and TBF before, during, and after vascular L-PDT. We also evaluated the effect of these changes on the distribution of Liporubicin administered intravenously (IV) in a lung sarcoma metastasis model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A syngeneic methylcholanthrene-induced sarcoma cell line was implanted subpleurally in the lung of Fischer rats. Tumor/surrounding lung IFP and TBF changes induced by L-PDT were determined using the wick-in-needle technique and laser Doppler flowmetry, respectively. The spatial distribution of Liporubicin in tumor and lung tissues following IV drug administration was then assessed in L-PDT–pretreated animals and controls (no L-PDT) by epifluorescence microscopy. RESULTS: L-PDT significantly decreased tumor but not lung IFP compared to controls (no L-PDT) without affecting TBF. These conditions were associated with a significant improvement in Liporubicin distribution in tumor tissues compared to controls (P < .05). DISCUSSION: L-PDT specifically enhanced convection in blood vessels of tumor but not of normal lung tissue, which was associated with a significant improvement of Liporubicin distribution in tumors compared to controls
Modelling impacts of climate change on arable crop diseases: progress, challenges and applications

Combining climate change, crop growth and crop disease models to predict impacts of climate change on crop diseases can guide planning of climate change adaptation strategies to ensure future food security. This review summarises recent developments in modelling climate change impacts on crop diseases, emphasises some major challenges and highlights recent trends. The use of multi-model ensembles in climate change modelling and crop modelling is contributing towards measures of uncertainty in climate change impact projections but other aspects of uncertainty remain largely unexplored. Impact assessments are still concentrated on few crops and few diseases but are beginning to investigate arable crop disease dynamics at the landscape level
5-HTTLPR–environment interplay and its effects on neural reactivity in adolescents

AbstractIt is not known how 5-HTTLPR genotype×childhood adversity (CA) interactions that are associated with an increased risk for affective disorders in population studies operate at the neural systems level. We hypothesized that healthy adolescents at increased genetic and environmental risk for developing mood disorders (depression and anxiety) would demonstrate increased amygdala reactivity to emotional stimuli compared to those with only one such risk factor or those with none. Participants (n=67) were classified into one of 4 groups dependent on being homozygous for the long or short alleles within the serotonin-transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) of the SLC6A4 gene and exposure to CA in the first 11years of life (present or absent). A functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation was undertaken which involved viewing emotionally-salient face stimuli. In addition, we assessed the role of other variables hypothesized to influence amygdala reactivity, namely recent negative life-events (RNLE) assessed at ages 14 and 17, current anxiety symptoms and psychiatric history. We replicated prior findings demonstrating moderation by gene variants in 5-HTTLPR, but found no support for an effect of CA on amygdala reactivity. We also found a significant effect of RNLE aged 17 with amygdala reactivity demonstrating additive, but not interactive effects with 5-HTTLPR. A whole-brain analysis found a 5-HTTLPR×CA interaction in the lingual gyrus whereby CA appears to differentially modify neural reactivity depending on genotype. These results demonstrate that two different forms of environmental adversities interplay with 5-HTTLPR and thereby differentially impact amygdala and cortical reactivity
Uncovering Scaling Laws to Infer Multidrug Response of Resistant Microbes and Cancer Cells

SummaryDrug resistance in bacterial infections and cancers constitutes a major threat to human health. Treatments often include several interacting drugs, but even potent therapies can become ineffective in resistant mutants. Here, we simplify the picture of drug resistance by identifying scaling laws that unify the multidrug responses of drug-sensitive and -resistant cells. On the basis of these scaling relationships, we are able to infer the two-drug response of resistant mutants in previously unsampled regions of dosage space in clinically relevant microbes such as E. coli, E. faecalis, S. aureus, and S. cerevisiae as well as human non-small-cell lung cancer, melanoma, and breast cancer stem cells. Importantly, we find that scaling relations also apply across evolutionarily close strains. Finally, scaling allows one to rapidly identify new drug combinations and predict potent dosage regimes for targeting resistant mutants without any prior mechanistic knowledge about the specific resistance mechanism
Timing matters: The impact of label synchrony on infant categorisation

AbstractThe impact of labelling on infant visual categorisation has yielded contradictory outcomes. Some findings indicate a beneficial role while others point to interference effects in the presence of labels. The locus of these divergent outcomes is largely unclear. We explore the hypothesis that the timing of the label is of crucial importance, proposing that synchronous presentation of words and objects induces a higher processing load than asynchronous presentation (image onset before labelling). A novelty preference experiment with 12-month-olds reveals that synchronous presentation leads to a diminished preference for a novel object on test in comparison to asynchronous labelling, suggesting a detrimental impact on category learning. However, analyses of infants’ gaze patterns to object parts reveal that even synchronous labels do not hinder learning completely. We conclude that synchronous labels interfere with the familiarisation process, but this process involves shifts in familiarity vs. novelty preference rather than overshadowing of visual learning. Besides offering detailed insight into the effects of labelling on infants’ visual attention, these findings offer the potential to reconcile previous contradictory results
Circadian Clock-Coordinated 12 Hr Period Rhythmic Activation of the IRE1α Pathway Controls Lipid Metabolism in Mouse Liver

SummaryThe mammalian circadian clock plays a fundamental role in the liver by regulating fatty acid, glucose, and xenobiotic metabolism. Impairment of this rhythm has been shown to lead to diverse pathologies, including metabolic syndrome. Currently, it is supposed that the circadian clock regulates metabolism mostly by regulating expression of liver enzymes at the transcriptional level. Here, we show that the circadian clock also controls hepatic metabolism by synchronizing a secondary 12 hr period rhythm characterized by rhythmic activation of the IRE1α pathway in the endoplasmic reticulum. The absence of circadian clock perturbs this secondary clock and provokes deregulation of endoplasmic reticulum-localized enzymes. This leads to impaired lipid metabolism, resulting in aberrant activation of the sterol-regulated SREBP transcription factors. The resulting aberrant circadian lipid metabolism in mice devoid of the circadian clock could be involved in the appearance of the associated metabolic syndrome
Effectiveness of a graded exercise therapy program for patients with chronic shoulder complaints

An operant behavioural and time-contingent graded exercise therapy program was developed to improve functional ability irrespective of pain experience in patients with chronic shoulder complaints. The clinical effectiveness of graded exercise therapy compared to usual care was evaluated in a randomised clinical trial. Assessments were carried out before and after 12 weeks of treatment. Performance of daily activities was measured by two outcome measures: the main complaints instrument and the Shoulder Disability Questionnaire (SDQ). Patients were eligible for participation if they had suffered from shoulder complaints for at least three months. Patients suffering from systemic diseases, referred pain or severe biomedical or psychiatric disorders were excluded. Patients (n = 176) were randomised and allocated either to graded exercise therapy (n = 87) or usual care (n = 89). Graded exercise therapy led to greater improvement in the performance of daily activities than usual care. However, only mean differences between groups in performance of activities related to the main complaints reached statistical significance (p = 0.049; 95% CI 0.0 to 15.0). The observed beneficial effects were considered to be small to moderate (calculated effect sizes: 0.30 for the main complaints instrument and 0.07 for the SDQ). Subgroup analysis showed larger improvements on the mean complaints instrument in patients not reporting pain reduction over time. Graded exercise therapy seems to be less effective in restoring performance of daily activities as assessed by the SDQ in patients showing a painful arc during physical examination. Results showed that graded exercise therapy is more effective in restoring the ability to daily activities in patients with chronic shoulder complaints than usual care, although beneficial effects are small
EFA6 activates Arf6 and participates in its targeting to the Flemming body during cytokinesis

AbstractThe small GTPase Arf6 is transiently associated with the ingressing cleavage furrow and subsequently targeted to the Flemming body during cytokinesis, suggesting its activation around the cleavage furrow. Here, we show that EFA6 (exchange factor for Arf6) localizes on the cleavage furrow through its PH domain. Time-lapse analysis showed that both EFA6 and Arf6 are transiently localized around the ingressing cleavage furrow, but only Arf6 is subsequently targeted to the Flemming body. Expression of an EFA6 mutant suppresses Arf6 recruitment onto the Flemming body. These results suggest that EFA6 participates in activation of Arf6 around the cleavage furrow during cytokinesis
MSSM-like from SU5×D4 models

AbstractUsing finite discrete group characters and symmetry breaking by hyperflux as well as constraints on top-quark family, we study minimal low energy effective theory following from SU5×D4 models embedded in F-theory with non-abelian flux. Matter curves spectrum of the models is obtained from SU5×S5 theory with monodromy S5 by performing two breakings: first from symmetric group S5 to S4 subsymmetry, and next to dihedral D4 subgroup. As a consequence, and depending on the ways of decomposing triplets of S4, we end with three types of D4-models. Explicit constructions of these theories are given and a MSSM-like spectrum is derived
Rapid adherence to collagen IV enriches for tumour initiating cells in oral cancer

AbstractBackgroundAlthough several approaches for identification and isolation of carcinoma cells with tumour initiating properties have been established, enrichment of a population of pure and viable tumour-initiating cells (TICs) is still problematic. This study investigated possibilities to isolate a population of cancer cells with tumour initiating properties based on their adherence properties, rather than expression of defined markers or clonogenicity.MethodsSeveral human cell lines derived from oral dysplasia and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), as well as primary cells derived from patients with OSCC were allowed to adhere to collagen IV-coated dishes sequentially. Rapid adherent cells (RAC), middle adherent cells (MAC) and late adherent cells (LAC) were then harvested and further investigated for their morphology, stem cell-like properties and molecular profile while grown in vitro and tongue xenotransplantation in NOD-SCID mice at serial dilutions.ResultsRAC showed significantly higher colony forming efficiency (p<0.05), sphere forming ability, greater migration ability (p<0.05), exhibited longer G2 phase and displayed higher expression of integrin β1 and other stem-cell related molecules as compared to MAC and LAC. RAC induced tongue tumours in NOD-SCID mice with the highest incidence. These tumours were also bigger and metastasised more frequently in loco-regional lymph nodes than MAC and LAC.ConclusionsThese findings prove for the first time that OSCC cells with tumour initiating properties can be enriched based on their rapid adhesiveness to collagen IV. This separation procedure provides a potentially useful tool for isolating TICs in OSCC for further studies on understanding their characteristics and drug-resistant behaviour
The balance function in azimuthal angle is a measure of the transverse flow

AbstractThe charge or barion number balance function in the relative azimuthal angle of a pair of particles emitted in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions is studied. The π+π− and pp¯ balance functions are computed using thermal models with two different set of parameters, corresponding to a large freeze-out temperature and a moderate transverse flow or a small temperature and a large transverse flow. The single-particle spectra including pions from resonance decays are similar for the two scenarios, on the other hand the azimuthal balance function is very different and could serve as an independent measure of the transverse flow at the freeze-out
Greater tibial bone strength in male tennis players than controls in the absence of greater muscle output

SummaryBackground/ObjectiveThe greatest forces experienced by bones result from muscular contractions—muscles produce most force in high-velocity eccentric contractions. Bouncing movements, e.g., sprinting or hopping—where such contractions occur—are highly beneficial for lower limb bones. However, there is a growing body of evidence that torsional stresses are highly osteogenic. Sports in which frequent quick turning occurs—hence large torsional stresses can be expected—e.g., tennis, may also improve bone strength even in the absence of large ground reaction and muscle forces.MethodsTo investigate the relative effects of bouncing and turning movements on bones, we recruited 47 older men (mean age 62.4 ± 12.9 years). They were competitive sprinters (representing exposure to bouncing movement), competitive tennis players (turning movements), and inactive controls. Peripheral quantitative computed tomography scans of tibial diaphysis at 66% distal–proximal length were taken; muscle sizes from peripheral quantitative computed tomography and countermovement jump performance were also examined.ResultsBone strength of tennis players was clearly greater than that of controls (23% greater bone mass; p < 0.001) and similar to that in sprinters. Tennis players' jump relative power and height were 15% and 25% lower than those of sprinters (p < 0.05) and similar to control values, being 2% greater and 6% lower, respectively (p > 0.5). Material eccentricity analysis suggests that torsional stresses may be a significant adaptive stimulus to tibial bone.ConclusionResults suggest that sports with quick turning movements are highly osteogenic, even in the absence of greater muscular output. This may be related to the large torsional stresses produced during turning movements
Cross Talk and Interference Enhance Information Capacity of a Signaling Pathway

AbstractA recurring motif in gene regulatory networks is transcription factors (TFs) that regulate each other and then bind to overlapping sites on DNA, where they interact and synergistically control transcription of a target gene. Here, we suggest that this motif maximizes information flow in a noisy network. Gene expression is an inherently noisy process due to thermal fluctuations and the small number of molecules involved. A consequence of multiple TFs interacting at overlapping binding sites is that their binding noise becomes correlated. Using concepts from information theory, we show that in general a signaling pathway transmits more information if 1), noise of one input is correlated with that of the other; and 2), input signals are not chosen independently. In the case of TFs, the latter criterion hints at upstream cross-regulation. We demonstrate these ideas for competing TFs and feed-forward gene-regulatory modules, and discuss generalizations to other signaling pathways. Our results challenge the conventional approach of treating biological noise as uncorrelated fluctuations, and present a systematic method for understanding TF cross-regulation networks either from direct measurements of binding noise or from bioinformatic analysis of overlapping binding sites
Charged-particle distributions in s=13 TeV pp interactions measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

AbstractCharged-particle distributions are measured in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, using a data sample of nearly 9 million events, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 170 μb−1, recorded by the ATLAS detector during a special Large Hadron Collider fill. The charged-particle multiplicity, its dependence on transverse momentum and pseudorapidity and the dependence of the mean transverse momentum on the charged-particle multiplicity are presented. The measurements are performed with charged particles with transverse momentum greater than 500 MeV and absolute pseudorapidity less than 2.5, in events with at least one charged particle satisfying these kinematic requirements. Additional measurements in a reduced phase space with absolute pseudorapidity less than 0.8 are also presented, in order to compare with other experiments. The results are corrected for detector effects, presented as particle-level distributions and are compared to the predictions of various Monte Carlo event generators
Leptonic CP violation phases, quark–lepton similarity and seesaw mechanism

AbstractWe explore generic features of the leptonic CP violation in the framework of the seesaw type I mechanism with similarity of the Dirac lepton and quarks mass matrices mD. For this, we elaborate on the standard parametrization conditions which allow to simultaneously obtain the Dirac and Majorana phases. If the only origin of CP violation is the left-handed (LH) transformation which diagonalizes mD (similar to quarks), the leptonic CP violation is suppressed and the Dirac phase is close to π or to 0 with sinδCP≈(sinθ13q/sinθ13)cosθ23sinδq∼λ2sinδq. Here λ∼θC, is the Cabibbo mixing angle, and θ13q and θ13 are the 1–3 mixing angles of quarks and leptons respectively. The Majorana phases β1 and β2 are suppressed as λ3sinδq. For Majorana neutrinos implied by seesaw, the right-handed (RH) transformations are important. We explore the simplest extension inspired by Left–Right (L–R) symmetry with small CKM-type CP violation. In this case, seesaw enhancement of the CP violation occurs due to strong hierarchy of the eigenvalues of mD leading to δCP∼1. The enhancement is absent under the phase factorization conditions which require certain relations between parameters of the Majorana mass matrix of RH neutrinos
Decay constants of heavy meson of 0− state in relativistic Salpeter method

AbstractThe decay constants of pseudoscalar heavy mesons of 0− state are computed by means of the relativistic (instantaneous) Salpeter equation. We solved the full Salpeter equation without making any further approximation, such as ignoring the small component wave function. Therefore, our results for the decay constants include the complete relativistic contributions from the light and the heavy quarks. We obtain FDs≈248±27, FD≈230±25(D0,D±), FBs≈216±32, FB≈196±29(B0,B±), FBc≈322±42 and Fηc≈292±25 MeV
Testing quark mixing in minimal left–right symmetric models with b-tags at the LHC

AbstractMotivated by a hint in a CMS search for right-handed W-bosons in eejj final states, we propose an experimental test of quark-mixing matrices in a general left–right symmetric model, based on counting the numbers of b-tags from right-handed W-boson hadronic decays. We find that, with our test, differences between left- and right-handed quark-mixing matrices could be detected at the LHC with s=14 TeV. With an integrated luminosity of about 20/fb, our test is sensitive to right-handed quark-mixing angles as small as about 30° and with 3000/fb, our test's sensitivity improves to right-handed mixing angles as small as about 7.5°. Our test's sensitivity might be further enhanced by tuning b-tagging efficiency against purity