Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Management of iatrogenic renal arteriovenous fistula and renal arterial pseudoaneurysm by transarterial embolization

Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of transarterial embolization (TAE) for iatrogenic renal arterial pseudoaneurysm and arteriovenous fistula at our center. Our retrospective analysis included 27 patients who received TAE for iatrogenic renal arterial pseudoaneurysm and arteriovenous fistula between January 2006 and January 2016. Data on demographics, type of minimally invasive renal procedures, clinical manifestation, imaging features, embolization procedure, and perioperative details were collected. The technical and clinical success rates were analyzed. Furthermore, the changes in serum creatinine and eGFR before and after embolization were recorded and compared by t test. The median time between iatrogenic renal injury and TAE was 3 days (range, 0–110 days), with most patients (24/27, 88.9%) receiving TAE within 14 days. Only 1 patient was diagnosed with renal artery pseudoaneurysm 110 days after laproscopic partial nephrectomy. The technical and clinical success rates were 100% and 96.3%, respectively, with 1 patient requiring a second embolotherapy at the third postoperative day. No other patient required additional endovascular or surgical intervention due to recurrent hemorrhage. The mean serum creatinine before TAE was 92.8 ± 25.3 &mgr;mol/L and after TAE, 96.1 ± 27.7 &mgr;mol/L (P = .095). The eGFR of pre- and postembolization was 75.2 ± 26.5 mL/min/1.73 m2 and 72.5 ± 26.2 mL/min/1.73 m2 (P = .16). No severe complications were observed during follow-up. This retrospective review demonstrated that TAE for the treatment of iatrogenic renal artery pseudoaneurysm and/or arteriovenous fistula was safe and associated with high technical and clinical success rate.
Crater landscape: two-dimensional oxygen gradients in the circulatory system of the microcrustacean Daphnia magna

SUMMARY Oxygen transport processes in millimetre-sized animals can be very complex, because oxygen molecules do not exclusively follow the pathway predetermined by the circulating fluid but may also simultaneously move from the respiratory surfaces to the tissues along different paths by diffusion. The present study made use of the oxygen-sensitive phosphorescence probe Oxyphor R2 to analyze the internal oxygen pathway in the transparent microcrustacean Daphnia magna. Oxyphor R2 was injected into the circulatory system and the distribution of oxygen partial pressure (PO2) in the haemolymph was measured by phosphorescence lifetime imaging in the PO2 range 0–6 kPa (0–30% air saturation). There were substantial differences in the shape of the two-dimensional PO2 profiles depending on the concentration of haemoglobin (Hb) in the haemolymph. A steep global gradient, from posterior to anterior, occurred in animals with low concentrations of Hb (90–167 μmol l–1 haem). In contrast, animals with a five- to sixfold higher concentration of Hb showed flat internal PO2 gradients which, however, were only present under reduced ambient oxygen tensions (PO2amb=3–1 kPa), when Hb was maximally involved in oxygen transport. Under these conditions, the presence of Hb at high concentrations stabilized the unloading PO2 in the central body to 0.9–0.4 kPa. Independent of Hb concentration and body size, the loading PO2 was always 0.5 kPa below the PO2amb. From these PO2 profiles, it was possible (i) to follow the track of oxygen within the animal, and (ii) to visualize the shift from a diffusion-dominated to a convection-dominated transport as a result of increased Hb concentration.
Reproducibility of high-resolution optical coherence tomography in multiple sclerosis

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive method to quantify neurodegeneration as an outcome in multiple sclerosis clinical trials; however, no data exist on Cirrus spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) reproducibility in patients with multiple sclerosis. The objective of this study was to determine the protocol for achieving optimal inter-visit, inter-rater, and intra-rater reproducibility for studies performed on healthy controls and multiple sclerosis patients utilizing novel high-definition SD-OCT. This is a prospective study of inter-visit, inter-rater, and intra-rater reproducibility in multiple sclerosis patients (n = 58) and healthy controls (n = 32) on Cirrus-HD SD-OCT. Excellent reproducibility of average and quadrantic retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness values, average macular thickness (AMT), and total macular volume (TMV) [measured by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)] was found for inter-visit (healthy controls: mean RNFL = 0.97, quadrant range = 0.92—0.97, AMT = 0.97, TMV = 0.92), inter-rater (MS: mean RNFL = 0.97, quadrant = 0.94—0.98, AMT = 0.99, TMV = 0.96; healthy controls: mean RNFL = 0.97, quadrant = 0.94—0.97, AMT = 0.98, TMV = 0.99), and intra-rater (MS patients: mean RNFL = 0.99, quadrant = 0.83—0.99, AMT = 0.97, TMV = 0.98) reproducibility. The reproducibility of retinal measures derived by Cirrus HD-OCT, especially quadrantic values, is excellent. Specific procedures for OCT acquisition and analysis of retinal imaging metrics using SD-OCT technology may improve the application of this novel technology in multiple sclerosis.
Virus morphogenesis of Helicoverpa armigera nucleopolyhedrovirus in Helicoverpa zea serum-free suspension culture.

Helicoverpa armigera single nucleopolyhedrovirus (HaSNPV) replication in Helicoverpa zea serum-free suspension culture was studied in detail and the sequence of virus morphogenesis was determined by transmission electron microscopy. By 16 h post-infection (p.i.), virus replication was observed in the virogenic stroma by the appearance of nucleocapsids. Polyhedron formation was detected by 24 h p.i. and the polyhedron envelope (PE) was completely formed by 72 h p.i. PE morphogenesis of HaSNPV is significantly different compared to the extensively studied Autograph californica (Ac)MNPV. In AcMNPV-infected cells, fibrillar structures are found in both cytoplasm and nuclei, and the fibrillar structures in nuclei are in close association with maturing polyhedra during PE formation. Fibrillar structures that resemble the AcMNPV fibrillar structures were detected only in the cytoplasm of HaSNPV-infected cells and appeared to interact with calyx precursors there, but their role in PE formation is unclear. However, prominent calyx precursor structures of various shapes and sizes were observed in the nuclei of HaSNPV-infected cells as well, and they appeared to interact with polyhedra during PE formation. Both the calyx precursor structure and the cytoplasmic fibrillar structure were detected only after HaSNPV virion occlusion had started, indicating that they might have a role in formation of PE. Similar calyx precursor structures and cytoplasmic fibrillar structures were observed in both serum-supplemented and serum-free suspension cultures, as well as in HaSNPV-infected larval tissues, indicating that the structures observed are not cell culture artefacts.
CX3CR1 Reduces Kidney Fibrosis by Inhibiting Local Proliferation of Profibrotic Macrophages

A dense network of macrophages and dendritic cells (DC) expressing the chemokine receptor CX3CR1 populates most tissues. We recently reported that CX3CR1 regulates the abundance of CD11c+ DC in the kidney and thereby promotes renal inflammation in glomerulonephritis. Given that chronic inflammation usually causes fibrosis, we hypothesized that CX3CR1 deficiency should attenuate renal fibrosis. However, when we tested this hypothesis using the DC-independent murine fibrosis model of unilateral ureteral obstruction, kidney fibrosis was unexpectedly more severe, despite less intrarenal inflammation. Two-photon imaging and flow cytometry revealed in kidneys of CX3CR1-deficient mice more motile Ly6C/Gr-1+ macrophages. Flow cytometry verified that renal macrophages were more abundant in the absence of CX3CR1 and produced more of the key profibrotic mediator, TGF-β. Macrophages accumulated because of higher intrarenal proliferation, despite reduced monocyte recruitment and higher signs of apoptosis within the kidney. These findings support the theory that tissue macrophage numbers are regulated through local proliferation and identify CX3CR1 as a regulator of such proliferation. Thus, CX3CR1 inhibition should be avoided in DC-independent inflammatory diseases because it may promote fibrosis.
Artificial neural network based automatic face parts prediction system from only fingerprints

Biometrics is a deeply studied and highly developed technology. While biometric systems have been used primarily in limited applications requiring high security tasks like criminal identification and police work, more recently they have been receiving increasing demand for person recognition applications. In spite of all developments in biometrics, there is no study investigating relationships between biometric features in the literature. This study presents a novel intelligent approach analysing the existence of any relationship among fingerprints and face parts. Proposed approach is based on artificial neural networks. Developed system generates the stationary face parts of a person including eyebrows, eyes and nose from only one fingerprint image of the same person without knowing any information about his or her face with the errors among 1.4 % and 4.8 %. The satisfactory results have indicated that there are close realitionships among fingerprints and faces. Improving of the proposed system is still sustained for the purpose of analysing and modelling of this relationship for the future developments in biometrics and security applications.
Haptic Learning of Spatial Concepts: Can Training in Raised-Line Drawings Improve Blind People's Spatial Capacity?

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the impact of instruction in raised-line drawings on the spatial imagery capacity of congenitally and late blind people. The participants first performed preliminary tasks in order to evaluate their individual level of experience in the recognition and production of raised-line drawings. Then, all the participants (experienced congenitally and late blind groups, non-experienced congenitally and late blind groups, and blindfolded sighted participants) were presented with a mental rotation task, a mental spatial displacement task, and a direction judgment task. After this pre-test, half of the non-experienced participants (congenitally and late blind) were trained for 6 months in the recognition and production of raised-line drawings. Then, all the groups were presented again with the 3 spatial tasks (post-test). Results showed that the experienced participants performed better than the non-experienced ones in all the spatial imagery tasks of the pre-test. Contrary to the non-trained participants, the trained participants improved their skills as revealed during the post-test, and they performed as well as the non-trained experienced blind groups on all the spatial tasks of the post-test. These data indicate that a short yet intensive training of the blind people had a significant effect and that the benefits generalize to other spatial tasks (i.e., mental rotation, mental spatial displacement, and direction judgment tasks). In addition to a better understanding of blind people's cognitive functioning, these results may have important implications regarding the value of line drawing training in the education of visually impaired people.
Identification of rpo30, a vaccinia virus RNA polymerase gene with structural similarity to a eucaryotic transcription elongation factor

Eucaryotic transcription factors that stimulate RNA polymerase II by increasing the efficiency of elongation of specifically or randomly initiated RNA chains have been isolated and characterized. We have identified a 30-kilodalton (kDa) vaccinia virus-encoded protein with apparent homology to SII, a 34-kDa mammalian transcriptional elongation factor. In addition to amino acid sequence similarities, both proteins contain C-terminal putative zinc finger domains. Identification of the gene, rpo30, encoding the vaccinia virus protein was achieved by using antibody to the purified viral RNA polymerase for immunoprecipitation of the in vitro translation products of in vivo-synthesized early mRNA selected by hybridization to cloned DNA fragments of the viral genome. Western immunoblot analysis using antiserum made to the vaccinia rpo30 protein expressed in bacteria indicated that the 30-kDa protein remains associated with highly purified viral RNA polymerase. Thus, the vaccinia virus protein, unlike its eucaryotic homolog, is an integral RNA polymerase subunit rather than a readily separable transcription factor. Further studies showed that the expression of rpo30 is regulated by dual early and later promoters.
Parents' extrafamilial resources and children's school attainment

The study presented in this article examined the contribution of parents' extrafamilial resources in childhood to children's completed years of schooling in young adulthood, controlling for human and financial resources. The sample consisted of 901 black and white children observed in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics at ages 11-16 and again at age 22. The findings indicated that human and financial resources of the family are strongly associated with children's schooling and that parents' access to time or money help from friends is significantly associated with the years of schooling completed by children from high-income (but not low-income) families. Help from friends affects college attendance but not high school completion and is not uniform across the socioeconomic spectrum of families. Some residential mobility appears to increase the college attendance of children from high-income families, but it is detrimental to the college attendance of children from low-income families
Student perceptions of communication skills in undergraduate science at an Australian research-intensive university

Higher education institutions globally are acknowledging the need to teach communication skills. This study used the Science Student Skills Inventory to gain insight into how science students perceive the development of communication skills across the degree programme. Responses were obtained from 635 undergraduate students enrolled in a Bachelor of Science at an Australian research-intensive university. Students rated their perceptions of two communication skills, scientific writing and oral scientific communication, across the following indicators: importance of, and improvement in, developing communication skills; the extent to which communication skills were included and assessed in the degree; confidence in using communication skills; and belief of future use of communication skills. While the majority of students perceived both communication skills to be important and of use in the future, their perceptions of the extent to which those skills were included and assessed were less, with oral communication being included and assessed less than scientific writing skills. Significant differences among year levels were discerned for most indicators, signifying a lack of coherent opportunities for students to learn and develop these skills across year levels. Results are discussed through the lens of progressive development of complex learning outcomes, with suggested areas for curriculum development and future research.
An Experimental Study of Soil Temperature Regimes Associated with Solar Disinfestation Techniques Under Greenhouse Conditions in Greece

This paper deals with an experimental study of various techniques that have been applied for soil disinfestation purposes under greenhouse conditions. Various meteorological parameters and soil temperatures were measured for four different experimental soil segments (three associated with different disinfestation techniques and one as a reference) at depths varying between 0–1 m and with a time interval of 5 min in a greenhouse located in the Agricultural University of Athens Campus, Greece. Results showed that plastic polyethylene films such as covers, metallic conductors or a combination of both were able to enhance heat transfer and temperature increase in greenhouse soil. For typical disinfestation conditions, the depth-averaged temperature values for plastic covers, metallic conductors, and the combination of both were found to be higher than those for the reference of about 5°C, 12°C and 15°C, respectively. Moreover, the remained population percentages 50 days after the initiation of the experiment were found to be 19.3%, 25.3%, 37.3% κ α ι 94% of the initial population, for the combination of metallic conductors and plastic covers, metallic conductors, plastic cover, and for the reference, respectively.
Human Rights, Rule of Law and the Contemporary Social Challenges in Complex Societies

Modern societies often claim to be democracies in order to enjoy greater legitimacy. Still, to understand the concept of democracy and how to justify it, the definition of it as self-determined is not sufficient. A complex understanding has to take into account ideas of rule of law as well as human rights. Sometimes these three concepts compete with each other – particularly in societies with a pluralistic approach to what "the good life" should be, such as societies which are made up of distinct cultural backgrounds. This e-book presents a concept of democracy that encompasses at the same time the ideas of rule of law, human rights and self-determination. It contains the main lectures of the XXVI World Congress of Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy, hosted by the Internationale Vereinigung fur Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Brazil) in July 2013.
Theoretical constructs that explain and enhance learning: a longitudinal examination

One important line of inquiry in educational psychology involves the study of change of individuals' cognitive-motivational processes. The conjunctive use of longitudinal data with latent growth curve modeling procedures has, for example, allowed researchers to identify initial levels and to trace trajectories of theoretical variables such as self-efficacy over time. The study reported in this article proposed a conceptual model that depicted relations between a deep-learning approach, mastery goals and self-efficacy over time. A final sample of 195 second-year university students (100 females, 95 males) took part in this three-wave panel study. We used various inventories to test the initial states and rates of change of the three aforementioned constructs. As an a posteriori analysis, we included prior academic achievement as a possible predictor of change. The results ascertained from our analyses indicate an increase in growth of a deep-learning approach, mastery goals and self-efficacy across the two-year period. Importantly, a posteriori results accentuated the role of prior academic achievement as a predictor of the initial level of personal self-efficacy.
Relationship quality and giving behaviour in the UK fundraising sector: Exploring the antecedent roles of religiosity and self‐construal

Purpose – The current study aims to examine the extent to which donor religiosity and self‐construal encourage the development of donor‐perceived relationship quality and intention to give in the future. Donor‐perceived relationship quality is conceptualised as a higher‐order construct composed of trust, commitment, and satisfaction.Design/methodology/approach – The study employed a personally administered structured questionnaire to collect data. A total of 227 completed questionnaires was analysed. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to assess the measurement properties of the study constructs. Structural equation modelling using a full estimation approach was performed to test the proposed research model.Findings – The study results indicate that religiosity and self‐construal are important contributors of relationship quality, while religiosity and relationship quality have a direct impact on intention toward future giving.Research limitations/implications – The study findings provide practition.
Making ads less complex, yet more creative and persuasive: the effects of conventional metaphors and irony in print advertising

Rhetorical tropes like metaphors and irony are widely used in print advertising. Current advertising literature assumes that these different tropes (metaphor, irony) are persuasive when they are sufficiently novel and complex to increase advertising elaboration. However, we propose that, in some cases, tropes can also be persuasive when they present conventional and concrete images of abstract product qualities. To test if conventionality can explain the persuasiveness of various tropes (metaphor, irony), we conducted a 2 (conventional metaphor vs. no metaphor) × 2 (conventional irony vs. no irony) multiple-message experiment. Results demonstrate that conventional metaphors are persuasive by reducing complexity and increasing creativity and ad appreciation. Conventional irony, in contrast, has little effect on persuasiveness. Thus, differentiating between various tropes (metaphor, irony) is important in predicting persuasion effects: advertisers should refrain from using conventional irony, but including conventional metaphors about abstract product qualities in print advertising is advisable.
Melatonin Improves Liver Function in Benzene-Treated Rats

In this study, we investigated the beneficial effects of melatonin against benzene-induced liver function impairments in Wistar rats. After 30 days of treatment, it significantly lowered hepatosomatic indices, bilirubin, and hydroxyproline in male and female benzene-treated rats. Even though it did not influence aspartate aminotransferase, melatonin had beneficial effects on alanine aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase. Our results suggest that melatonin is an effective modulator of liver function in benzenetreated rats thanks to its antioxidative properties. Sažetak Svrha je ovog ispitivanja bila utvrditi zaštitno djelovanje melatonina od oštećenja jetrene funkcije izazvanog benzenom u Wistar štakora. Nakon 30-dnevne primjene, melatonin je značajno snizio hepatosomatski indeks te razine bilirubina i hidroksiprolina u muških i ženskih štakora. Premda nije utjecao na aspartat aminotransferazu, povoljno je djelovao na alanin aminotransferazu i alkalnu fosfatazu. Naši rezultati upućuju na to da melatonin djelotvorno mijenja jetrenu funkciju u štakora izloženih benzenu, upravo zbog svojih antikoksidativnih svojstva.