Common AZFc structure may possess the optimal spermatogenesis efficiency relative to the rearranged structures mediated by non-allele homologous recombination.

The azoopsermia factor c (AZFc) region of human Y-chromosome is an essential genomic segment for spermatogenesis with frequent non-allele homologous recombination (NAHR). Recent case-control studies on the association of the NAHR-based AZFc structural mutations with spermatogenic failure produced inconsistent results. To more precisely evaluate their spermatogenesis effects, we investigated the correlation between the subdivided AZFc mutations and sperm production in 3,439 Han Chinese males.

Analysis of prognostic factors for survival after hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma based on a bayesian network.

Background: The prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after hepatectomy involves many factors. Previous studies have evaluated the separate influences of single factors; few have considered the combined influence of various factors. This paper combines the Bayesian network (BN) with importance measures to identify key factors that have significant effects on survival time.