Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ocular gene transfer with self-complementary AAV vectors.

PURPOSE Self-complementary AAV (scAAV) vectors have been developed to circumvent rate-limiting second-strand synthesis in single-stranded AAV vector genomes and to facilitate robust transgene expression at a minimal dose. In this study, the authors investigated the effects of intraocular injections of type 2 scAAV.GFP in mice. METHODS Dose-response experiments were performed to compare conventional single-strand AAV type 2 (ssAAV2) vectors with scAAV2 vectors encoding an identical expression cassette. RESULTS Subretinal injection of 5 x 10(8) viral particles (vp) of scAAV.CMV-GFP resulted in green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression in almost all retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells within the area of the small detachment caused by the injection by 3 days and strong, diffuse expression by 7 days. Expression was strong in all retinal cell layers by days 14 and 28. In contrast, 3 days after subretinal injection of 5 x 10(8) vp of ssAAV.CMV-GFP, GFP expression was detectable in few RPE cells. Moreover, the ssAAV vector required 14 days for the attainment of expression levels comparable to those observed using scAAV at day 3. Expression in photoreceptors was not detectable until day 28. Dose-response experiments confirmed that onset of GFP expression was more rapid and robust after subretinal injection of scAAV.CMV-GFP than of ssAAV.CMV-GFP, resulting in pronounced expression in photoreceptors and other retinal neurons. Similar results were obtained for intravitreous injections. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that scAAV vectors may be advantageous for ocular gene therapy, particularly in retinal diseases that require rapid and robust transgene expression in photoreceptor cells.
Life Review: Preventing Despair in Newly Relocated Nursing Home Residents Short- and Long-Term Effects

Relocation to a nursing home places frail elders at risk for developing depression and suicide ideation. This study followed two hundred and fifty-six newly relocated nursing home residents for five years. Using a Solomon Four research design, participants were divided into four groups, two control and two experimental, one each with pretesting and all with posttesting. Participants in the control groups received a friendly visit and those in the experimental groups received the intervention of life review. Immediate short-term results showed the life review to be an effective preventive intervention for clinical depression (p = .05). Additionally, when looking at long-term effects at one year, there were significant decreases in depression (p = .05), hopelessness (p = .01), and psychological well-being (p = .02) with measurable increases in life satisfaction (p = .08). These findings support the hypothesis that life review prevents despair in frail elders newly admitted to a nursing home.
Effects of Nitrogen Fertilizer and Mulch Application on Growth Performance and Pod Yields of Hot Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) under Irrigated Condition

Hot pepper is an important vegetable and spice crop in Ethiopia. However, the productivity of hot pepper is limited by poor soil fertility and lack of proper soil and water conservation measures under irrigated condition. Therefore, hot pepper crop response to nitrogen (N) fertilizer and mulching experiment was conducted at Alage ATVET College. The treatments consisted of three mulch types (no mulch, transparent plastic mulch, and dry banana leaves mulch) and four levels of N (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg N ha-1) factorial arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. A hot pepper cultivar commonly known as “MarekoFana” was used for the study. Days to 50% flowering, 50% fruit set, maturity and harvest were significantly prolonged in response to increasing N application. The delays were about 7, 19, 23 and 12 days at the N levels of 50, 100 and 150 kg N ha-1respectively compared to the control. The analysis of variance revealed that plant height, number of branches per plant, number of pods per plant, dry weight of seeds per pod, total weight of dried pods per plant, weight of individual dry pods and width were significantly (P = .001) increased by the main effect of mulching. Generally, the results revealed that nitrogen application significantly (P = .001) influenced all growth parameters, pod yield, and yield components of the crop. Nitrogen application at 100 kg ha-1 resulted in the highest total dried pod yield (4.5 tha-1), marketable yield (3.76 t ha- 1), pod length (13.3 cm), pod width (3.2 cm), mean dry weight of pod (3.85 g), and seed number per pod (108.4). The interaction of N and mulching also significantly (P = .05) affected marketable and total pod yields. In conclusion, based on agronomic performance and partial budget analyses results we recommend a combined application of dry banana leaves mulch and 100 kg N ha-1 for economically feasible and sustainable hot pepper production in Alage areas of Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia.
PENGARUH SENAM LANSIA TERHADAP PERUBAHAN NYERI PERSENDIAN PADA LANSIA DI KELURAHAN KOMPLEK KENJERAN, KECAMATAN BULAK, SURABAYA

The aging process has led to changes in the body's anatomical and function on the elderly. Joint pain is one of the problems frequently encountered on elderly. Exercise in elderly is one of motion excellent exercise therapy for maintaining health of the elder, including reducing joint pain experienced. This study was aimed to know the effect of exercise with decrease of joint pain in elderly at Kelurahan Komplek Kenjeran, Kecamatan Bulak Surabaya. Design used was quasy experiment. Sample were 20 respondents taken according to inclusion criteria. The samples were divided in two groups, treatment (10 respondents) and control (10 respondets). The independent variable were exercise in elderly and dependent variable was joint pain scale. Data were then analyzed using wilcoxon test and mann-whitney u test with α≤ 0,05. Wilcoxon signed rank test results showed p=0.008 for treatment group and p=0.157 for control group. Mann Whitney U test showed (p=0.513). It can be concluded that there were significant relationship between exercise in elderly with improvement joint pain on elderly at Kelurahan Komplek Kenjeran Kec. Bulak Surabaya in February 2014. It recommended for nurses to improve the practice of gymnastics elderly to maintaining the health of elderly. Further research expected to examine other factors that may can improvement effect of joint pain on the elderly
Setting the Foundations for PoP-Based Internet Evolution Models

Developing an evolution model of the Internet has been a long standing research challenge. Such a model can improve the design and placement of communication infrastructure, reducing costs and improving users' quality of experience. While communication infrastructure is tightly coupled to geographical locations, Internet modelling and forecasting in the last decade used network elements that are only loosely bounded to any geographical location. In this paper we set the foundations for developing an evolution model of the Internet based on the Point of Presence (PoP) level. As PoPs have a strong geographical grip they can better represent the evolution of the Internet. We annotate the PoP topologies of the Internet with geographical, economic and demographic information to achieve an understanding of the dynamics of the Internet's structure, in order to identify the constitutive laws of Internet evolution. We identify GDP as the strongest indicator on the country level, and the size of the TV market as the strongest indicator on the US metropolitan level. Finally, we draw attention to the limitations of developing a world-wide evolution model.
Automatic sense disambiguation using machine readable dictionaries: how to tell a pine cone from an ice cream cone

The meaning of an English word can vary widely depending on which sense is intended. Does a fireman feed fires or put them out? It depends on whether or not he is on a steam locomotive. I am trying to decide automatically which sense of a word is intended (in written English) by using machine readable dictionaries, and looking for words in the sense definitions that overlap words in the definition of nearby words. The problem of deciding which sense of a word was intended by the writer is an important problem in information retrieval systems. At present most retrieval systems rely on manual indexing; if this is to be replaced with automatic text processing, it would be very desirable to recognize the correct sense of each word as often as possible. Previous work has generally either suggested (a) detailed frames describing the particular word senses,t*’ or (b) global statistics about the word occurrences.3 The first has not yet been made available in any real application, and the second may give the wrong answer in specific local instances. This procedure uses available dictionaries, so that it will process any text; and uses solely the immediate context. To consider the example in the title, look at the definition of pine in the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English: there are, of course, two major senses. “kind of evergreen tree with needle-shaped leaves. ” and “waste away through sorrow or illness. ” And cone has three separate definitions: “solid body which narrows to a’ point . *’ “something of this shape w-hether solid or hollow. ,” and “fruit of certain evergreen trees. ” Note that both evergreen and tree are common to two of the sense definitions: thus a program could guess that if the two words pine cone appear together, the likely senses are those of the tree and its fruit
Intrinsic Square Function Characterizations of Variable Weak Hardy Spaces

Abstract. Let p(·) : R → (0,∞) be a variable exponent function satisfying the globally log-Hölder continuous condition. In this article, via using the atomic and Littlewood-Paley function characterizations of variable weak Hardy spaceWHp(·)(Rn), the author establishes its intrinsic square function characterizations including the intrinsic Littlewood-Paley g-function, the intrinsic Lusin area function and the intrinsic g∗ λ-function.
PHENOTYPIC DIVERSITY OF FINGER MILLET (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.) GENOTYPES

An experiment was conducted at Hill Crops Research Program (HCRP), Kabre, Dolakha under Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Nepal (NARC), during rainy season of 2018 with objective to identify the level of genetic difference present in the finger millet genotypes being cultivated for selecting genotypes in different agro-climatic region in Nepal using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, cluster analysis and principle component analysis. P value of REML procedure revealed that significant variation was observed in 16 finger millet genotypes for baring head, days to 50% flowering, days to 50 % heading, days to 75 % maturity, finger length, flag leaf length, plant stand, plant height, number of finger, peduncle length, no of productive tiller, thousand grain weight, grain yield and straw yield showed selection and development of suitable varieties for different agro-climatic region of Nepal. Traits baring head, finger length, number of fingers, flag leaf length, peduncle length, productive tiller, thousand kernel weight, plant stand, straw yield were positively correlated with grain yield revealed that selection within this is importance for improvement grain yield. Cluster I consists up six early mature genotypes named as KLE-178,GE-0383, ACC#6022,GE-0382,KLE-0150,ACC#0124 can be used to development of early mature genotypes for mountain regions where chilling stress occurs at maturity period whereas similarly cluster II, III and IV consisted up 10 late mature genotypes named as ACC#2843, ACC#2860, ACC#8827-1,Sailung-Kodo1,NE-1703-34,KLE-236,ACC#2311,GE-0356, farmer’s variety, GE-0480 can be used to develop high yielding late mature varieties for mid hill and terai regions these genotypes may be of interest to researcher for selection of materials for breeding program in different agro-climatic region of Nepal.
Hypotension Caused by Extracorporeal Circulation: Serotonin From Pump-Activated Platelets Triggers Nitric Oxide Release

Background—Cardiopulmonary bypass and hemodialysis often cause hypotension. We investigated a possible role of pump-induced platelet activation with consequent serotonin release. Methods and Results—In rats, a heparin-coated extracorporeal shunt was placed between the proximal part of a carotid artery and the distal part of a femoral artery. Autoperfusion did not affect platelets or hemodynamics. Pump perfusion, however, immediately elicited strong platelet aggregation, whereas aortic pressure rapidly fell to 60±12% (mean±SD) of its prepump value, partially recovered, and then progressively decreased to 70±12% at 2 hours. Femoral resistance doubled and then decreased to 59±11%. The initial changes in aortic pressure and femoral resistance were proportional to the amount of platelet aggregation, were accompanied by a rise (6-fold) in plasma serotonin levels downstream of the pump, but not in the aorta, and could be mimicked by serotonin-infusion into the leg. All hemodynamic changes were prevented or largely reduced by blockade of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)2 receptors with pizotifen or ritanserin. The hypotension and femoral resistance decrease could also be prevented or abolished by inhibiting the production of nitric oxide (NO), an intermediate in 5-HT2B receptor-induced vasodilation. When the extracorporeal blood was pumped into the aortic arch instead of the femoral artery, the hypotensive effect was similar and also NO dependent, but it was absent with venous return. Conclusions—Pump perfusion with arterial return of the blood causes hypotension by endothelial NO-release, which in turn is triggered by serotonin from activated platelets.
Implementing post-orthodontic compliance among adolescents wearing removable retainers through Whatsapp: a pilot study

Purpose: To determine whether the use of social media is useful in improving compliance and follow-up attendance among patients wearing retainers after orthodontic treatment. Patients and methods: Sixty post-orthodontic patients (aged 16–19 years), randomized in two groups: follow-up supported by participation in WhatsApp chat group (SG), and Control Group (CG). All patients were scheduled for quarterly check-ups for monitoring of orthodontic stability by measurement of intercanine width at the beginning of the study (t0) and every 4 months t1, t2, t3) for 1 year of observation. Patients in the SG additionally participated in a WhatsApp chat group, where they would send, on a weekly basis, snapshots showing his/her occlusion. Every month, the orthodontist acting as the moderator awarded the best five snapshots by publishing a ranking in the chat. Results: Participants in the SG featured smaller changes from the intercanine widths at baseline (at debonding) compared to the CG patients at all times during 1 year of follow-up. Follow-up attendance was regular in both groups in the first 8 months of follow-up. After that, patient compliance decreased in the CG, with eight patients missing check-up appointments. Conclusion: Engaging adolescent patients directly through WhatsApp activity seems to increase regularity in wearing removable retainers, attendance to follow-up schedule, and yield better long-term outcome in terms of orthodontic stability and compliance.
Testing the need for carbon in salt/adhesive electrodes for surface electromyography measurements: Preliminary results

We compared previously carbon/salt/adhesive (CSA) electrodes with Ag/AgCl electrodes for surface electromyography (sEMG) signals collection. We found no differences in amplitude, but CSA electrodes exhibited a significantly better response to noise and motion artifacts. However, the carbon component may not be needed, and the salt/adhesive (SA) mixture might be as good as CSA for such a task. Either CSA or SA mixtures have the potential to provide the unique advantages of having longer (theoretically infinite) shelf life and potentially lower cost, compared to the gold standard Ag/AgCl hydrogel electrodes. In order to determine if carbon contribution is necessary for effective sEMG measuring capabilities the mixture, the functionality of SA electrodes utilizing different levels of salt concentration were compared to the capabilities of CSA electrodes. The levels consisted of 10%, 15%, and 25% salt concentration. Six subjects have been recruited so far to collect simultaneous recordings of sEMG signals using CSA and SA electrodes, side-by-side on triceps brachii, tibial anterior muscles, biceps brachii and quadriceps femoris. For all three levels of salt concentration in the SA electrodes, high correlation was found to the CSA electrodes on the estimated linear envelopes, RMS envelope and power spectrum density. Furthermore, no significant differences in amplitude, compared to CSA electrodes, were found for the three concentrations. Based on signal-to-noise and signal-to-motion measures on the preliminary data set, it seems like adding carbon to the mixture improves the response to motion, but impairs the noise corruption of the sEMG signals.
Expression of the circadian clock gene Period2 in the hippocampus: possible implications for synaptic plasticity and learned behaviour

Genes responsible for generating circadian oscillations are expressed in a variety of brain regions not typically associated with circadian timing. The functions of this clock gene expression are largely unknown, and in the present study we sought to explore the role of the Per2 (Period 2) gene in hippocampal physiology and learned behaviour. We found that PER2 protein is highly expressed in hippocampal pyramidal cell layers and that the expression of both protein and mRNA varies with a circadian rhythm. The peaks of these rhythms occur in the late night or early morning and are almost 180° out-of-phase with the expression rhythms measured from the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the same animals. The rhythms in Per2 expression are autonomous as they are present in isolated hippocampal slices maintained in culture. Physiologically, Per2-mutant mice exhibit abnormal long-term potentiation. The underlying mechanism is suggested by the finding that levels of phosphorylated cAMP-response-element-binding protein, but not phosphorylated extracellular-signal-regulated kinase, are reduced in hippocampal tissue from mutant mice. Finally, Per2-mutant mice exhibit deficits in the recall of trace, but not cued, fear conditioning. Taken together, these results provide evidence that hippocampal cells contain an autonomous circadian clock. Furthermore, the clock gene Per2 may play a role in the regulation of long-term potentiation and in the recall of some forms of learned behaviour.
Gender differences: evidence from field tournaments

Women are under-represented in top positions, such as in business or in politics. Traditional explanations, like differences in productivity and discrimination, are now complemented by psychological explanations based on lab experiments. We provide the first attempt to assess the comparative importance of psychological and traditional explanations in a natural field experiment, namely chess competitions. Controlling for discrimination and productivity, we find that women are suffering a systematic handicap when playing against men. This "psychological" effect is further amplified through the tournament structure, preventing women from reaching top positions in the chess hierarchy. The effect is only marginally smaller when we consider the most experienced individuals or the most women-friendly countries.
History of psychiatry in West Africa

This paper explores the social context of the development of mental asylums in colonial Nigeria. The characteristics of the medical leadership is described, as is the environmental condition of the asylums. The colonial period produced conceptualizations of the African mind and of the pattern and distribution of mental illness in Africans. These conceptualizations are critically examined.
Nonverbal leakage in robots: Communication of intentions through seemingly unintentional behavior

Human communication involves a number of nonverbal cues that are seemingly unintentional, unconscious, and automatic-both in their production and perception-and convey rich information on the emotional state and intentions of an individual. One family of such cues is called “nonverbal leakage. ” In this paper, we explore whether people can read nonverbal leakage cues-particularly gaze cues-in humanlike robots and make inferences on robots' intentions, and whether the physical design of the robot affects these inferences. We designed a gaze cue for Geminoid-a highly humanlike android-and Robovie-a robot with stylized, abstract humanlike features-that allowed the robots to “leak” information on what they might have in mind. In a controlled laboratory experiment, we asked participants to play a game of guessing with either of the robots and evaluated how the gaze cue affected participants' task performance. We found that the gaze cue did, in fact, lead to better performance, from which we infer that the cue led to attributions of mental states and intentionality. Our results have implications for robot design, particularly for designing expression of intentionality, and for our understanding of how people respond to human social cues when they are enacted by robots.
Reality Checks and Nested Forecast Model Comparisons

This paper develops a novel and effective bootstrap method for simulating asymptotic critical values for tests of equal forecast accuracy and encompassing among many nested models. The bootstrap, which combines elements of fixed regressor and wild bootstrap methods, is simple to use. We first derive the asymptotic distributions of tests of equal forecast accuracy and encompassing applied to forecasts from multiple models that nest the benchmark model – that is, reality check tests applied to nested models. We then prove the validity of the bootstrap for these tests. Monte Carlo experiments indicate that our proposed bootstrap has better finite-sample size and power than other methods designed for comparison of non-nested models. We conclude with empirical applications to multiple-model forecasts of commodity prices and GDP growth.
The Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Status - A Risk Factor for Future Cardiovascular Disease

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age with a prevalence estimated at 4–8% (Azziz et al., 2004; Moran & Teede, 2009). It is associated with a range of reproductive, obstetric, metabolic and psychological features. Reproductive and obstetric manifestations include hyperandrogenism, menstrual dysfunction, infertility and pregnancy complications, such as early pregnancy loss, gestational diabetes, pregnancy-induced hypertensive disorders and neonatal complications (Boomsma et al., 2006). Additionally, women with PCOS cluster risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) as well as the metabolic syndrome (MS). As a consequence, metabolic complications and potential major long-term sequelaes include: an elevated risk of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), type 2 DM (Legro, 1999, as cited in Moran & Teede, 2009), as well as an increased rate of hypertension and CVD (Shaw et al., 2008). Although there are still aspects to be cleared regarding the longterm consequences of these well-known cardiovascular (CV) risk factors, the research that has been conducted so far seems to indicate that patients with PCOS are at increased risk for adverse CV morbidity and mortality. Of utmost importance is the fact that these women are likely to develop CV disease early, and that even very young and nonobese patients may be affected (Moran & Teede, 2009; Lorenz & Wild, 2007).