Objectives: Several reports suggest that chronic pesticide exposure may affect semen quality and male fertility in humans. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between ...occupational exposure to organophosphate (OP) and carbamate (CB) pesticides and semen quality, as well as levels of reproductive and thyroid hormones of Venezuelan farm workers. Methods: Thirty-five healthy men (unexposed group) and 64 male agricultural workers (exposed group) were recruited for clinical evaluation of fertility status. Fresh semen samples were evaluated for sperm quality and analyzed for DNA fragmentation index (DFI) by flow cytometry. Pesticide exposure was assessed by measuring erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and plasma butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) with a Test-mate ChE field kit. Serum levels of total testosterone (Tt), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), prolactin (PRL), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (FT4) were analyzed using enzyme immunoassay kits. Results: Evidence of pesticide exposure was found in 87.5% of farmers based on AChE and BuChE inhibition. Significant increments were observed in sperm DFI with significant decreases in some semen parameters. DFI was negatively correlated with BuChE, sperm concentration, morphology and vitality in these workers. The levels of Tt, PRL, FT4 and TSH appeared to be normal; however, there was a tendency for increased LH and FSH levels in exposed workers. Conclusions: Our results confirm the potential impact of chronic occupational exposure to OP/CB pesticides on male reproductive function, which may cause damage to sperm chromatin, decrease semen quality and produce alterations in reproductive hormones, leading to adverse reproductive health outcomes.
Full text
Available for:
FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
To validate a new practical Sepsis Severity Score for patients with complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAIs) including the clinical conditions at the admission (severe sepsis/septic shock), the ...origin of the cIAIs, the delay in source control, the setting of acquisition and any risk factors such as age and immunosuppression.
The WISS study (WSES cIAIs Score Study) is a multicenter observational study underwent in 132 medical institutions worldwide during a four-month study period (October 2014-February 2015). Four thousand five hundred thirty-three patients with a mean age of 51.2 years (range 18-99) were enrolled in the WISS study.
Univariate analysis has shown that all factors that were previously included in the WSES Sepsis Severity Score were highly statistically significant between those who died and those who survived (p < 0.0001). The multivariate logistic regression model was highly significant (p < 0.0001, R2 = 0.54) and showed that all these factors were independent in predicting mortality of sepsis. Receiver Operator Curve has shown that the WSES Severity Sepsis Score had an excellent prediction for mortality. A score above 5.5 was the best predictor of mortality having a sensitivity of 89.2 %, a specificity of 83.5 % and a positive likelihood ratio of 5.4.
WSES Sepsis Severity Score for patients with complicated Intra-abdominal infections can be used on global level. It has shown high sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratio that may help us in making clinical decisions.
Full text
Available for:
IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
•Implementing a Fuzzy Iterative Clustering algorithm using the event-related fMRI as input data.•Calculating the short-range functional connectivity by over-segmentation objects named ...supervoxels.•Evaluation of similarity among supervoxels via Detrended Cross-Correlation Analysis to get the long-range functional connectivity.•Computing the critical points and the statistical test to find the significantly related supervoxels.•A supervoxels-based representation adapted to a schizophrenia diagnosis.
Background and Objective: The schizophrenia diagnosis represents a difficult task because of the confusing descriptions of symptoms given by the patient, their similarity among several disorders, the lower familiarity with genetic predisposition, and the probably inadequate response to the treatment. Neuro-biological markers of schizophrenia, as a quantitative relationship between the psychiatrist’s reports and the biology of the brain, could be used. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) obtain the subject’s performance in cognitive tasks and may find significant differences between the patient’s data and controls. The input data of classifiers may imply alterations in diagnosis; therefore, it is essential to ensure an adequate representation to describe the entire dataset classified.
Methods: We propose a supervoxels-based representation calculated by two main steps: the short-range connectivity, supervoxels’ generation using a Fuzzy Iterative Clustering algorithm, and the long-range connectivity, employing Detrended Cross-Correlation Analysis among supervoxels. The unrelated supervoxels, through a statistical test based on critical points calculated empirically, are removed. The remainder supervoxels are the input for feature selectors to extract the discriminative supervoxels. We implement support vector machine classifiers using the correlation coefficient of the significant supervoxels. The dataset of 1.5 Tesla was downloaded from the SchizConnect site, where the fMRI data, during an auditory oddball task, was acquired. We calculate the performance of the classifiers using a leave-one-out cross-validation and compute the area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve and a permutation test to ensure no bias in the classifiers.
Results: According to the permutation test, with p-values less than the significance level of 0.05, the classifiers extract discriminative class structure from data where no bias is shown. Our supervoxels-based representation gets the maximum values of sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 92.9%, 100%, and 96.4%, respectively. The discriminative brain regions, to discern among patients and controls, are extracted; these regions also are mentioned by the related works.
Conclusions: The proposed representation, based on supervoxels, is a data-driven model that does not use predefined models of the signal nor pre-relocated brain regions of interest. The results are competitive against the related works, and the relevant supervoxels are related to the schizophrenia diagnosis.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The purpose of this study was to compare the neurotrophic factor response following one session of high-intensity exercise, resistance training or both in a cohort of physically inactive overweight ...adults aged 18-30 years old. A randomized, parallel-group clinical trial of 51 men (23.6 ± 3.5 years; 83.5 ± 7.8 kg; 28.0 ± 1.9 kg/m
) who are physically inactive (i.e., < 150 min of moderate-intensity exercise per week or IPAQ score of <600 MET min/week for >6 months) and are either abdominally obese (waist circumference ≥90 cm) or have a body mass index, BMI ≥25 and ≤ 30 kg/m
were randomized to the following four exercise protocols: high-intensity exercise (4 × 4 min intervals at 85-95% maximum heart rate HRmax interspersed with 4 min of recovery at 75-85% HRmax) (
= 14), resistance training (12-15 repetitions per set, at 50-70% of one repetition maximum with 60 s of recovery) (
= 12), combined high-intensity and resistance exercise (
= 13), or non-exercising control (
= 12). The plasma levels of neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), neurotrophin-4 (also known as neurotrophin 4/5; NT-4 or NT-4/5), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were determined before (pre-exercise) and 1-min post-exercise for each protocol session. Resistance training induced significant increases in NT-3 (+39.6 ng/mL 95% CI, 2.5-76.6;
= 0.004, and NT-4/5 (+1.3 ng/mL 95% CI, 0.3-2.3;
= 0.014), respectively. Additionally, combined training results in favorable effects on BDNF (+22.0, 95% CI, 2.6-41.5;
= 0.029) and NT-3 (+32.9 ng/mL 95% CI, 12.3-53.4;
= 0.004), respectively. The regression analysis revealed a significant positive relationship between changes in BDNF levels and changes in NT-4/5 levels from baseline to immediate post-exercise in the combined training group (
= 0.345,
= 0.034) but not the other intervention groups. The findings indicate that acute resistance training and combined exercise increase neurotrophic factors in physically inactive overweight adults. Further studies are required to determine the biological importance of changes in neurotrophic responses in overweight men and chronic effects of these exercise protocols.
ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02915913 (Date: September 22, 2016).
Technological innovation in the design and manufacture of temporary immersion systems (TIS) has increased in the past decade. Innovations have involved the size, fitting, and replacement of ...components, as well as manufacturing materials. Air replacement by compressor has also been substituted by air replacement by preset tilting/rotation of culture bottles. This design modification aims to increase the biological yield (number of shoots) produced in these bottles and reduce manufacturing costs. However, the operative principle has remained unchanged through time: promote an environment where explant immersions in the culture medium are programmable. The changes in the TIS design involve advantages and disadvantages, generating the efficiency of one type over another. However, validation to identify the most effective type of TIS should be carried out for each plant species. This chapter lists the different types of temporary immersion available on the market, emphasizing the advantages and disadvantages of each when used for plant micropropagation.
An improved class AB version of the super source follower is used to implement a compact and power-efficient second order analog low-pass filter. The proposed circuit achieves a 41% power reduction ...as well as an improvement in linearity and pass band gain with respect to its class A counterpart. Measurement results of a test chip prototype fabricated in a 180 nm CMOS technology show a power consumption ranging from 50.3 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\mu \text{W} </tex-math></inline-formula> to 85.27 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\mu \text{W} </tex-math></inline-formula> for cutoff frequencies from 600 kHz to 890 kHz, with a supply voltage of ±0.75 V. A third order intermodulation distortion of −35.34 dB (for an input signal of 0.4 mV pp and 350 kHz) and a THD of −69.7 dB (for an input signal of 0.4 mV pp and 100 kHz) are measured, which results in an improvement with respect to the conventional class A version of 13.98 dB and 43.6 dB, respectively. The silicon area is 0.0592 mm 2 (using external capacitors).
•The reliability of section analysis for design of squat shear walls is investigated.•The self-centering of hybrid GFRP-steel reinforced squat walls is addressed.•The economic aspects of design of ...hybrid GFRP-steel reinforced shear walls are discussed.•A promising structural application of SFRC shear walls is proposed.
Experimental results show that concrete shear walls reinforced with a hybrid scheme of steel and fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bars are able to achieve similar strength, stiffness and ductility to the walls constructed of conventional steel-reinforced concrete (RC). The elastic response of the FRP bars provides self-centering capacity to the system and mitigates the post-yield strength deterioration observed in the typical hysteretic response of RC walls, while the steel reinforcement provides ductility and energy dissipation capacity. Evidently, adoption of this innovative type of wall in construction requires a better understanding of performance of the hybrid system at the material and system levels, both through experimental testing and development of reliable numerical models. In this study, the finite-element analysis model developed by the authors is used to conduct a comprehensive parametric study on hybrid GFRP-steel reinforced shear walls. First, the validated model is used to address some other design aspects of tested specimens such as presence of axial load and arrangement of GFRP bars. Next, the reliability of the section analysis based on CSA A23.3-14 code for design of conventional and hybrid squat walls are investigated. The self-centering and economic aspects of design of hybrid GFRP-steel reinforced walls are also addressed. Using the analysis model, a promising structural application of SFRC (steel fiber-reinforced concrete) shear walls is also proposed. Findings of this study can assist practitioners with a more reliable and convenient shear wall design.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
In this work, the binding mechanism of new Polyketide Synthase 13 (Pks13) inhibitors has been studied through molecular dynamics simulation and free energy calculations. The drug Tam1 and its ...analogs, belonging to the benzofuran class, were submitted to 100 ns simulations, and according to the results obtained for root mean square deviation, all the simulations converged from approximately 30 ns. For the analysis of backbone flotation, the root mean square fluctuations were plotted for the Cα atoms; analysis revealed that the greatest fluctuation occurred in the residues that are part of the protein lid domain. The binding free energy value (ΔG
bind
) obtained for the Tam16 lead molecule was of −51.43 kcal/mol. When comparing this result with the ΔG
bind
values for the remaining analogs, the drug Tam16 was found to be the highest ranked: this result is in agreement with the experimental results obtained by Aggarwal and collaborators, where it was verified that the IC
50
for Tam16 is the smallest necessary to inhibit the Pks13 (IC
50
= 0.19 μM). The energy decomposition analysis suggested that the residues which most interact with inhibitors are: Ser1636, Tyr1637, Asn1640, Ala1667, Phe1670, and Tyr1674, from which the greatest energy contribution to Phe1670 was particularly notable. For the lead molecule Tam16, a hydrogen bond with the hydroxyl of the phenol not observed in the other analogs induced a more stable molecular structure. Aggarwal and colleagues reported this hydrogen bonding as being responsible for the stability of the molecule, optimizing its physic-chemical, toxicological, and pharmacokinetic properties.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, GIS, IJS, KISLJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK
Previous studies have shown the benefits of native banana starch (NBS) supplementation in improving glucose metabolism and reducing body weight (BW) in humans. However, the effect of this starch on ...appetite regulation is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of NBS rich resistant starch on subjective measurements of appetite, energy intake, and appetite hormones in healthy subjects. Postprandial glucose and insulin responses were also assessed. In a randomized, single-blind, crossover study, 28 healthy young subjects consumed a beverage containing either 40 g of NBS or 40 g of digestible corn starch (DCS) on two separate occasions. Effects on appetite were estimated using visual analogue scales (VAS) and satiety hormone responses. At the end of the intervention, participants were provided with a pre-weighed ad libitum homogeneous test meal. After a washout period of 1 week, subjects received the alternative treatment. NBS supplementation induced a reduction in food intake, glucose area under the curve (AUC)-180 min, and insulin AUC-180 min. However, there was no associated effect on the subjective appetite ratings or gut hormones. NBS supplementation may help to reduce meal size and control BW.
Treatment of (Ind)(tBu3P = N)TiCl2 (1; Ind = indenyl) with AlR3 (R = Et, iBu, Me) affords heterobimetallic species of the form (Ind)(tBu3PN)Ti(μ2-Cl)2AlR2 (R = Et, 2-Et; iBu, 2-iBu; Me, 2-Me). ...The formation of these compounds occurs chemically or can be selectively triggered by electrochemical reduction of 1 in THF electrolyte solution containing AlR3. Cyclic voltammetry studies indicate that 1 undergoes one-electron reduction at ca. −2.0 V vs ferrocenium/ferrocene; in the presence of AlR3, reduction initiates coordination of AlR2 to the nascent TiIII core and formation of 2-Me, 2-Et, and 2-iBu. Oxidation of these heterobimetallic species occurs at more positive potentials and leads to regeneration of 1. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and magnetic resonance experiments confirm the formation of paramagnetic TiIII, AlIII species with each AlR3 reagent. However, spectroscopic results and gas chromatography show that 2-Me is significantly less stable than 2-iBu and that 2-iBu is less stable than 2-Et. 2-Me, 2-Et, and 2-iBu are all active precatalysts for ethylene polymerization, but the diminished stability of 2-Me and 2-iBu in comparison with 2-Et is reflected in unique polymerization results in each case. 2-iBu produces polyethylene with a particularly broad molecular weight distribution (MWD), suggesting useful formation of multiple active species during catalysis. Conversely, 2-Me is a poor catalyst, suggesting detrimental speciation occurs with this system under the polymerization conditions.
Full text
Available for:
IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
PDF
![Heterobimetallic [Ti, Al] C...](http://api.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/image/issn/XR4PS5YY4K/0276-7333/small "Heterobimetallic [Ti, Al] Complexes: Divergent Synthesis, Redox Properties, and Ethylene Polymerization Catalysis")