Evaluation of Empirical and Machine Learning Approaches for Estimating Monthly Reference Evapotranspiration with Limited Meteorological Data in the Jialing River Basin, China.

The accurate estimation of reference evapotranspiration (ET0) is crucial for water resource management and crop water requirements. This study aims to develop an efficient and accurate model to estimate the monthly ET0 in the Jialing River Basin, China. For this purpose, a relevance vector machine, complex extreme learning machine (C-ELM), extremely randomized trees, and four empirical equations were developed. Monthly climatic data including mean air temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity, and wind speed from 1964 to 2014 were used as inputs for modeling. A total comparison was made between all constructed models using four statistical indicators, i.e., the coefficient of determination (R2), Nash efficiency coefficient (NSE), root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE). The outcome of this study revealed that the Hargreaves equation (R2 = 0.982, NSE = 0.957, RMSE = 7.047 mm month-1, MAE = 5.946 mm month-1) had better performance than the other empirical equations. All machine learning models generally outperformed the studied empirical equations. The C-ELM model (R2 = 0.995, NSE = 0.995, RMSE = 2.517 mm month-1, MAE = 1.966 mm month-1) had the most accurate estimates among all generated models and can be recommended for monthly ET0 estimation in the Jialing River Basin, China.

Incidence and Risk Factors of Post-Operative Depression in Patients Undergoing Transurethral Resection of Prostate for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia.

BACKGROUND: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a frequent-occurring disease in middle-aged and elderly men. This work is a prospective study and aims at exploring the incidence of post-operative depression and the potential risk factors of depression in a cohort of patients with BPH in China. METHODS: In this survey, 611 men who underwent transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) were strictly selected at our institution from January 2016 to August 2019. Zung Self-rating Depression Scale was used for evaluation of depressive symptoms. Sociodemographic, clinical and other data were also collected. RESULTS: We found that 152/611 (24.9%) patients suffered from different degree of depression at 6 months after TURP, including mild symptoms (20.9%) and moderate/severe symptoms (3.9%). A total of 421 (68.9%) patients developed post-TURP erectile dysfunction (ED). The occurrence of depression was closely associated with marital status, education level, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, severity of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), duration of BPH, erectile function, and comorbidities (such as diabetes, dyslipidaemia and bladder stone). The risk factors related to the severity of depression included widowed or single marital status, frequent alcohol consumption, moderate or severe LUTS, longer duration (> 5 years) of BPH, ED, urinary continence, and comorbidities such as diabetes and bladder stone. CONCLUSION: Many risk factors are related to the occurrence of depression in patients undergoing TURP. Widowed or single marital status, frequent alcohol consumption, moderate or severe LUTS, longer duration of BPH, ED, urinary incontinence and comorbidities such as diabetes and bladder stone are connected with the increase odds of moderate or severe depressive symptom.

The relationship between vascular endothelial growth factor and spermatogenesis disturbance in an experimentally-induced unilateral cryptorchidism murine model.

This study is to explore the relationship between vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and pathological changes in cryptorchidism by using murine model of intraperitoneal cryptorchidism with surgical operation. To investigate the relationship between the changes of VEGF expression and heat stress inducing germ cell damage in testicular tissue. Six-week-old ICR male mice were operated to make unilateral cryptorchidism mouse model. Here in our study, a remarkable damaged of germ cells are seen in murine model of unilateral cryptorchidism. And the expression of VEGF was significantly changed in a time dependent way and consistent with the pathological changes of testis, this leading us to conclude that there was a negative correlation between VEGF levels and germ cell damage in unilateral cryptorchidism mouse model. We propose that there is a time dependent decrease of VEGF expression in cryptorchidism and confirm that VEGF is essential in spermatogenesis disorder caused by cryptorchidism and non-obstructive azoospermia.

miR-34c disrupts spermatogonial stem cell homeostasis in cryptorchid testes by targeting Nanos2.

BACKGROUND: Cryptorchidism as a common genitourinary malformation with the serious complication of male infertility draws widespread attention. With several reported miRNAs playing critical roles in spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs), we aimed to explore the fundamental function of the highly conserved miR-34c in cryptorchidism. METHODS: To explore whether miR-34c participates in spermatogenesis by regulating Nanos2, we examined the effect of overexpression and inhibition for miR-34c on Nanos2 expression in GC-1 cells. Moreover, the expression levels of miR-34c and Nanos2 with cryptorchidism in humans and mice were examined. Furthermore, the homeostasis of SSCs was evaluated through counting the number of promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger (PLZF) positive spermatogonia in murine cryptorchid testes. RESULTS: In the present study, we show that miR-34c could inhibit the expression of Nanos2 in GC-1 cells. Meanwhile, miR-34c significantly decreased in both the testicular tissues of patients with cryptorchidism and surgery-induced murine model of cryptorchidism. Western blot revealed that the protein level of Nanos2 was up-regulated and showed to be negatively correlated to the expression of miR-34c in our model. The abnormal expression of miR-34c/Nanos2 disrupted the balance between SSC self-renewal and differentiation, eventually damaging the spermatogenesis of cryptorchid testes. CONCLUSIONS: The miR-34c/Nanos2 pathway provides new insight into the mechanism of male infertility caused by cryptorchidism. Our results indicate that miR-34c may serve as a biological marker for treatment of infertility caused by cryptorchidism.

Estimating forest carbon fluxes using four different data-driven techniques based on long-term eddy covariance measurements: Model comparison and evaluation.

With the recent availability of large amounts of data from the global flux towers across different terrestrial ecosystems based on the eddy covariance technique, the use of data-driven techniques has been viable. In this study, two advanced techniques, namely adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and extreme learning machine (ELM), were developed and investigated for their viability in estimating daily carbon fluxes at the ecosystem level. All the data used in this study were based upon the long-term chronosequence observations derived from the flux towers in eight forest ecosystems. Both ANFIS and ELM methods were further compared with the most widely used artificial neural network (ANN) and support vector machine (SVM) methods. Moreover, we also focused on probing into the effects of internal parameters on their corresponding approaches. Our estimates showed that most variation in each carbon flux could be effectively explained by the developed models at almost all the sites. Moreover, the forecasting accuracy of each method was strongly dependent upon their respective internal algorithms. The best training function for ANN model can be acquired through the trial and error procedure. The SVM model with the radial basis kernel function performed considerably better than the SVM models with the polynomial and sigmoid kernel functions. The hybrid ELM models achieved similar predictive accuracy for the three fluxes and were consistently superior to the original ELM models with different transfer functions. In most instances, both the subtractive clustering and fuzzy c-means algorithms for the ANFIS models outperformed the most popular grid partitioning algorithm. It was demonstrated that the newly proposed ELM and ANFIS models were able to produce comparable estimates to the ANN and SVM models for forecasting terrestrial carbon fluxes.

Association between RNA-binding protein Ptbp2 and germ cell injury in an experimentally-induced unilateral cryptorchidism murine model.

RNA binding protein polypyrimidine tract binding protein 2 (Ptbp2) as a key alternative splicing regulator for male germ cell development is well established. However, its expression levels and role in cryptorchidism testes tissues has not been explored. Additionally, the molecular mechanism of heat stress impacts the correct proliferation and differentiation of germ cells is unclear. To investigate whether changes in Ptbp2 expression are correlated with heat stress-induced germ cell injury in testicular tissue, we used a murine model of intraperitoneal cryptorchidism with surgical operation. Here we present compelling evidence that germ cells are severely damaged in mice with unilateral cryptorchidism, with non-obstructive azoospermia. And the Ptbp2 and Pgk2 mRNA levels were significantly decreased in parallel, leading us to conclude that the negative correlation between Ptbp2 levels and germ cell injury in unilateral cryptorchidism murine model. We hypothesize that Ptbp2 is susceptible to heat stress and its disruption has resulted in stability decline of germ cell transcripts Pgk2 mRNA, which consequently lead to germ cell injury in cryptorchidism testes. Thus, we confirm that Ptbp2 is an essential factor in heat stress-induced sperm cell injury and non-obstructive azoospermia.

Prevalence of Prostatitis-Like Symptoms and Outcomes of NIH-CPSI in Outpatients with Lifelong and Acquired PE: Based on a Large Cross-Sectional Study in China.

Premature ejaculation (PE) is one of the most common sexual dysfunctions, which were associated with prostatitis-like symptoms (PLS). We intended to explore the prevalence of prostatitis-like symptoms and outcomes of National Institutes of Health-Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) scores in outpatients with lifelong (LPE) and acquired premature ejaculation (APE). From December 2013 to December 2015, a total of 498 consecutive heterosexual men with PE and 322 male healthy subjects without PE were enrolled. Each of them completed a detailed questionnaire on demographics information, sexual and medical histories, and the NIH-CPSI. Assessment of NIH-CPSI and definition of PLS and PE were used to measure the PLS and NIH-CPSI scores and ejaculatory function for all subjects. Finally, a total of 820 subjects (including 498 men in PE group and 322 men in control group) were enrolled in our study. The mean ages were significantly different between PE and no PE groups. Men with PE reported worse PLS and higher NIH-CPSI scores (P < 0.001 for all). Similar findings were also observed between men with LPE and APE. Men with APE also reported higher rates of PLS and scores of NIH-CPSI (P < 0.001 for all). Multivariate analysis showed that PLS and NIH-CPSI scores were significantly associated with PE.

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Premature Ejaculation in the Anhui Male Population in China: Evidence-Based Unified Definition of Lifelong and Acquired Premature Ejaculation.

INTRODUCTION: In 2014, new evidence-based definitions of lifelong premature ejaculation (LPE) and acquired premature ejaculation (APE) were proposed by the International Society for Sexual Medicine. Based on the new PE definitions, the prevalence of and factors associated with LPE and APE have not been investigated in China. AIM: To evaluate the prevalence of and factors associated with LPE and APE in men with the complaint of PE in China. METHODS: From December 2011 to December 2015, a cross-sectional field survey was conducted in five cities in the Anhui province of China. Questionnaire data of 3,579 men were collected in our database. The questionnaire included subjects' demographic information and medical and sexual histories. Men who were not satisfied with their time to ejaculate were accepted as having the complaint of PE. Men with the complaint of PE who met the new definition of PE were diagnosed as having LPE or APE. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: New definition of LPE and APE. RESULTS: Of 3,579 men who completed the questionnaire, 34.62% complained of PE. Mean age, body mass index, and self-estimated intravaginal ejaculatory latency time for all subjects were 34.97 ± 9.02 years, 23.33 ± 3.56 kg/m2, and 3.09 ± 1.36 minutes, respectively. The prevalences of LPE and APE in men with the complaint of PE were 10.98% and 21.39%, respectively. LPE and APE were associated with age, body mass index, and smoking and exercise rates (P < .001 for all comparisons). Men with APE reported more comorbidities than men with LPE, especially in the presence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and heart disease (P < .001 for all comparisons). CONCLUSION: In this study, the prevalences of LPE and APE in men with the complaint of PE were 10.98% and 21.39%, respectively. Patients with APE were older and more likely to smoke, had more comorbidities, and had a higher body mass index than patients with LPE.

[RNA-binding protein PTB in spermatogenesis: Progress in studies].

RNA binding proteins (RBPs) regulate the function of cells by interacting with nascent transcripts and therefore are receiving increasing attention from researchers for their roles in tissue development and homeostasis. The polypyrimidine tract binding (PTB) protein family of RBPs are important posttranscriptional regulators of gene expression. Further investigations on the post-transcriptional regulation mechanisms and isoforms of PTB proteins in the spermatogenesis show that PTB protein 1 (Ptbp1) is a predominant isoform in mitotic cells (spermatogonia), while Ptbp2 predominates in meiotic spermatocytes and postmeiotic spermatids and binds to the specific 3' untranslated region (3' UTR) of the phosphoglycerate kinase 2 (Pgk-2) mRNA, which helps to stabilize Pgk-2 mRNA in male mouse germ cells. In case of Ptbp2 inactivation in the testis, the differentiation of germ cells arrests in the stage of round spermatids, with proliferation of multinucleated cells in the seminiferous tubule, increased apoptosis of spermatocytes, atrophy of seminiferous tubules, and lack of elongating spermatids, which consequently affects male fertility. This article presents an overview on the structure of the PTB protein and its role in regulating mammalian spermatogenesis.