Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical Features and Response to Treatment of Prolactinomas in Children and Adolescents: A Retrospective Single-Centre Analysis and Review of the Literature

Background: Paediatric prolactinomas are rare. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical features and outcome of paediatric patients with prolactinomas. Methods: In this single-centre retrospective analysis, clinical, biochemical, and radiological features of all paediatric patients with pituitary adenomas diagnosed between 2000 and 2016 were evaluated. Results: Among 21 patients with pituitary adenomas, 12 patients with prolactinomas (median age 14.2 years, range 11–16.6 years, 8 females, 4 males) were identified (7 macro- and 5 microprolactinomas). The most common clinical symptoms were headaches (67%) and pubertal delay (67%). All patients with macroprolactinomas with prolactin concentrations >10,000 mU/L had at least 1 pituitary hormone deficiency. Cabergoline as first-line treatment (n = 11, median follow-up of 37 months, range 12–89 months) induced normoprolactinemia (n = 8), reduced the mean tumour volume by 80%, and ameliorated headaches (p = 0.016) and pubertal delay (p = 0.031), whereas intermittent moderate side effects occurred in 55%. Conclusion: Adolescents with headaches and pubertal delay should be investigated for prolactinomas. Treatment with cabergoline is well tolerated and effective in reducing clinical symptoms and prolactin concentrations was well as inducing tumour shrinkage. Further clinical prospective studies are needed to standardize paediatric treatment modalities.
Solution-Processed UV and Visible Photodetectors Based on Y-Doped ZnO Nanowires with TiO2 Nanosheets and Au Nanoparticles

Various chemical solutions were employed to fabricate the Au nanoparticles (NPs), TiO2 nanosheets, and Y-doped ZnO nanowires on glass substrates via the photochemical, sol–gel, and hydrothermal methods, respectively. The core–shell of the TiO2/ZnO:Y nanowires was dusted with Au nanoparticles. The ultrathin (2.48–7.02 nm) TiO2 nanosheet has a noncrystalline structure, and the various sizes (3.0–33.91 nm) of Au NPs enhanced the light absorption ability. The Au nanoparticles/TiO2 nanosheet/ZnO:Y nanowires featured a high UV on/off ratio of 1786.0 and various visible photoresponses of 154.1–27.3 with a variety of LEDs. Apparently, the coated noncrystalline TiO2 nanosheet improved the response speed. The external quantum efficiency of the sample was ∼5.1% and offered a higher responsivity in the visible light region due to the localized surface plasmon resonance effect.
Repeatability and Agreement of Visual Acuity Using the ETDRS Number Chart, Landolt C Chart, or ETDRS Alphabet Chart in Eyes With or Without Sight-Threatening Diseases

Importance The Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) alphabet chart is not feasible for measuring best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) for individuals who are unfamiliar with the Roman alphabet. The ETDRS Landolt C chart is an alternative, but it may not reflect true BCVA among those with confusion between left and right. The ETDRS number chart might overcome these limitations, but little is known regarding its reliability. Objective To evaluate repeatability and agreement of BCVA using the ETDRS number chart or Landolt C chart compared with ETDRS alphabet charts in healthy and diseased eyes. Design, Setting, and Participants A cross-sectional study was conducted in Thailand from July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2016, among 154 adult Thai individuals. Those who could read Roman alphabets were classified into the following 4 groups, using 1 eye per participant: group A, which comprised 60 healthy eyes (BCVA, 20/20-20/25); group B, which comprised 40 eyes with age-related cataract, diabetic macular edema, or age-related macular degeneration (BCVA, 20/20-20/40); group C, which comprised 40 eyes with age-related cataract, diabetic macular edema, or age-related macular degeneration (BCVA, 20/50-20/100); and group D, which comprised 14 eyes with age-related cataract, diabetic macular edema, or age-related macular degeneration (BCVA, 20/125-20/200). Interventions Two standardized 4-m BCVA measurements with 3 different Precision Vision ETDRS charts (PV number, Landolt C, and alphabet), in random sequence, performed 30 minutes apart. Main Outcomes and Measures Repeatability, agreement, and testing duration of BCVA. Results Of 154 Thai participants (82 women and 72 men; mean [SD] age, 52.9 [18.2] years), the ETDRS number chart had strong repeatability coefficients (group A, 0.61 [95% CI, 0.42-0.75]; group B, 0.87 [95% CI, 0.78-0.93]; group C, 0.81 [95% CI, 0.67-0.90]; and group D, 0.81 [95% CI, 0.49-0.94]). Concordance correlation coefficients between the number and alphabet charts were also strong (group A, 0.89 [95% CI, 0.82-0.93]; group B, 0.97 [95% CI, 0.94-0.98]; group C, 0.92 [95% CI, 0.86-0.96]; and group D, 0.96 [95% CI, 0.87-0.99]), while the concordance correlation coefficients between the Landolt C and alphabet charts were lower (group A, 0.72 [95% CI, 0.52-0.83]; group B, 0.83 [95% CI, 0.68-0.91]; group C, 0.79 [95% CI, 0.61-0.89]; and group D, 0.89 [95% CI, 0.66-0.97]). The mean letter score difference between the number and alphabet charts was 1 (95% limits of agreement, −4 to +6) compared with −7 (95% limits of agreement, −18 to +5; P < .001) between the Landolt C and alphabet charts. Conclusions and Relevance The repeatability coefficients and concordance correlation coefficients suggest that ETDRS number charts are viable for measuring BCVA in clinical practice and trials for individuals who are unfamiliar with the Roman alphabet.
Outcome of Therapeutic Keratoplasty in Hopeless Microbial Keratitis Cases Otherwise Advised Evisceration

Purpose: To study the outcome of therapeutic keratoplasty in severe microbial keratitis cases otherwise advised evisceration. Methods: A retrospective, single-center clinical audit included 28 patients with severe microbial keratitis presenting from April 2014 to April 2016. Patients with microbial keratitis either affecting more than 2 quadrants of the limbus and/or cases with infections involving more than 180 mm2 of the cornea who were advised evisceration by more than one ophthalmologist were included. Cases with endophthalmitis were excluded. At 3 months, the outcome was “success” if resolution of infection occurred without recurrence and evisceration was not required. Success was termed “complete” if best vision was 6/24 or better and “partial” otherwise. The outcome was termed a “failure” if infection recurred in the graft or the eye was eviscerated. Results: Mean age of the patients (male:female, 17:11) was 49.5 years, and the mean duration of symptoms before surgery was 28.6 days. Evisceration was required in 2/28 cases. The outcome was “success” in 22/28 cases (78.6%)—complete (10/22); partial (12/22)—and “failure” in 6/28 cases. The outcome was poorer in general in fungal keratitis (n = 16) than bacterial keratitis (n = 7). Conclusions: Primary evisceration is best avoided in infections limited to the anterior segment. Even in hopeless cases, every eye deserves a fair chance.
Transfer Adversarial Hashing for Hamming Space Retrieval

Hashing is widely applied to large-scale image retrieval due to the storage and retrieval efficiency. Existing work on deep hashing assumes that the database in the target domain is identically distributed with the training set in the source domain. This paper relaxes this assumption to a transfer retrieval setting, which allows the database and the training set to come from different but relevant domains. However, the transfer retrieval setting will introduce two technical difficulties: first, the hash model trained on the source domain cannot work well on the target domain due to the large distribution gap; second, the domain gap makes it difficult to concentrate the database points to be within a small Hamming ball. As a consequence, transfer retrieval performance within Hamming Radius 2 degrades significantly in existing hashing methods. This paper presents Transfer Adversarial Hashing (TAH), a new hybrid deep architecture that incorporates a pairwise t-distribution cross-entropy loss to learn concentrated hash codes and an adversarial network to align the data distributions between the source and target domains. TAH can generate compact transfer hash codes for efficient image retrieval on both source and target domains. Comprehensive experiments validate that TAH yields state of the art Hamming space retrieval performance on standard datasets.
The transcription factor Dach1 is essential for podocyte function

Dedifferentiation and loss of podocytes are the major cause of chronic kidney disease. Dach1, a transcription factor that is essential for cell fate, was found in genome‐wide association studies to be associated with the glomerular filtration rate. We found that podocytes express high levels of Dach1 in vivo and to a much lower extent in vitro. Parietal epithelial cells (PECs) that are still under debate to be a type of progenitor cell for podocytes expressed Dach1 only at low levels. The transfection of PECs with a plasmid encoding for Dach1 induced the expression of synaptopodin, a podocyte‐specific protein, demonstrated by immunocytochemistry and Western blot. Furthermore, synaptopodin was located along actin fibres in a punctate pattern in Dach1‐expressing PECs comparable with differentiated podocytes. Moreover, dedifferentiating podocytes of isolated glomeruli showed a significant reduction in the expression of Dach1 together with synaptopodin after 9 days in cell culture. To study the role of Dach1 in vivo, we used the zebrafish larva as an animal model. Knockdown of the zebrafish ortholog Dachd by morpholino injection into fertilized eggs resulted in a severe renal phenotype. The glomeruli of the zebrafish larvae showed morphological changes of the glomerulus accompanied by down‐regulation of nephrin and leakage of the filtration barrier. Interestingly, glomeruli of biopsies from patients suffering from diabetic nephropathy showed also a significant reduction of Dach1 and synaptopodin in contrast to control biopsies. Taken together, Dach1 is a transcription factor that is important for podocyte differentiation and proper kidney function.
Astrocyte glycogen and lactate: New insights into learning and memory mechanisms

Memory, the ability to retain learned information, is necessary for survival. Thus far, molecular and cellular investigations of memory formation and storage have mainly focused on neuronal mechanisms. In addition to neurons, however, the brain comprises other types of cells and systems, including glia and vasculature. Accordingly, recent experimental work has begun to ask questions about the roles of non‐neuronal cells in memory formation. These studies provide evidence that all types of glial cells (astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and microglia) make important contributions to the processing of encoded information and storing memories. In this review, we summarize and discuss recent findings on the critical role of astrocytes as providers of energy for the long‐lasting neuronal changes that are necessary for long‐term memory formation. We focus on three main findings: first, the role of glucose metabolism and the learning‐ and activity‐dependent metabolic coupling between astrocytes and neurons in the service of long‐term memory formation; second, the role of astrocytic glucose metabolism in arousal, a state that contributes to the formation of very long‐lasting and detailed memories; and finally, in light of the high energy demands of the brain during early development, we will discuss the possible role of astrocytic and neuronal glucose metabolisms in the formation of early‐life memories. We conclude by proposing future directions and discussing the implications of these findings for brain health and disease. Astrocyte glycogenolysis and lactate play a critical role in memory formation. Emotionally salient experiences form strong memories by recruiting astrocytic β2 adrenergic receptors and astrocyte‐generated lactate. Glycogenolysis and astrocyte–neuron metabolic coupling may also play critical roles in memory formation during development, when the energy requirements of brain metabolism are at their peak.
A qualitative study of life events and psychological needs underlying the decision to have cosmetic surgery

Objective A thorough psychological assessment of patients requesting cosmetic surgery can help to protect them from the risk of postoperative dissatisfaction and the onset and/or aggravation of psychiatric disorders. This study seeks to shed more light on why people desire cosmetic surgery and thus help surgeons, psychiatrists, and psychologists to conduct assessments before surgery. Methods In-depth interviews were conducted with 35 subjects who requested cosmetic surgery. The interviews were recorded and transcribed and then analyzed qualitatively with Grounded Theory. Themes and categories were identified and compared in logical order, to build a consistent theoretical model. Results In each interview, we identified one or more recent events that the subjects considered to be contributing factors in their decisions to have cosmetic surgery. We observed that 33 of 35 patients said they sought cosmetic surgery at a time when they were experiencing, or had just experienced, one or more major changes in their bodies or their relationships. Recent life events triggered or strengthened specific psychological needs in the subjects: to cope with the past and with change, attain a consistent identity, find or regain a positive self-image, alter others’ perceptions, define themselves in relation to others, or please themselves or others. Patients said that they chose plastic surgery to fulfill one or more of these needs. Conclusions This study identifies the role of recent events in inciting individuals to resort to cosmetic surgery. This factor provides new perspectives for surgeons to understand those patients and opens new avenues for research.
Temperature sensor based on highly germanium-doped fiber with rounded tip

A compact temperature sensor with highly germanium-doped fiber (Ge-fiber) is experimentally demonstrated. It is based on an in-line Michelson interferometer, which is constructed by splicing a 1mm-long, 75 mol. % GeO2-doped fiber to a single mode fiber (SMF) and fusing the tip into rounded shape. Since the differential refractive index of the Ge-fiber is much higher than that of normal fibers, length of the proposed sensor probe has been greatly reduced. The rounded surface provides as a concave mirror to enhance the reflection, thus leads to a high extinction ratio to the interference fringes. By monitoring wavelength shift of the reflection spectrum, temperature measurement was realized with a high sensitivity of 89.5 pm/°C, which is much higher than normal fiber based MI sensors owing to higher thermo-optic coefficient of the Ge-fiber. The advantages of the sensor are its compact size, facile fabrication and high sensitivity, which make it a potential candidate in point measurement of temperature.
Drivers of health system strengthening: learning from implementation of maternal and child health programmes in Mozambique, Nepal and Rwanda

Abstract There is a growing understanding that strong health systems are crucial to sustain progress. Health systems, however, are complex and much of their success depends on factors operating at different levels and outside the health system, including broader governance and political commitment to health and social development priorities. Recognizing these complexities, this article offers a pragmatic approach to exploring the drivers of progress in maternal and child health in Mozambique, Nepal and Rwanda. To do this, the article builds on a semi‐systematic literature review and case study findings, designed and analysed using a multi‐level framework. At the macro level, governance with effective and committed leaders was found to be vital for achieving positive health outcomes. This was underpinned by clear commitment from donors coupled by a significant increase in funding to the health sector. At the meso level, where policies are operationalized, inter‐sectoral partnerships as well as decentralization and task‐shifting emerged as critical. At micro (service interface) level, community‐centred models and accessible and appropriately trained and incentivized local health providers play a central role in all study countries. The key drivers of progress are multiple, interrelated and transversal in terms of their operation; they are also in a constant state of flux as health systems and contexts develop. Without seeking to offer a blueprint, the study demonstrates that a ‘whole‐system’ approach can help elicit the key drivers of change and potential pathways towards desirable outcomes. Furthermore, understanding the challenges and opportunities that are instrumental to progress at each particular level of a health system can help policy‐makers and implementers to navigate this complexity and take action to strengthen health systems.
Oxytocin under opioid antagonism leads to supralinear enhancement of social attention

Significance In the past decade, there has been an increase in studies using oxytocin (OT) for improving social cognition, but results have been inconsistent. In this study, we took advantage of the physiological relationship between the opioid and OT systems and tested the benefit of administering OT under simultaneously induced opioid antagonism during dyadic gaze interactions. Coadministration of OT and opioid blocker leads to supralinear enhancement of prolonged and selective attention to a live partner and increases interactive gaze after critical social events. Furthermore, we provide neurogenetic evidence in the human brain supporting the interaction between specific opioid receptor genes and the genes for OT processing. Our results suggest a new avenue for amplifying the efficacy of OT in clinical populations. To provide new preclinical evidence toward improving the efficacy of oxytocin (OT) in treating social dysfunction, we tested the benefit of administering OT under simultaneously induced opioid antagonism during dyadic gaze interactions in monkeys. OT coadministered with a μ-opioid receptor antagonist, naloxone, invoked a supralinear enhancement of prolonged and selective social attention, producing a stronger effect than the summed effects of each administered separately. These effects were consistently observed when averaging over entire sessions, as well as specifically following events of particular social importance, including mutual eye contact and mutual reward receipt. Furthermore, attention to various facial regions was differentially modulated depending on social context. Using the Allen Institute’s transcriptional atlas, we further established the colocalization of μ-opioid and κ-opioid receptor genes and OT genes at the OT-releasing sites in the human brain. These data across monkeys and humans support a regulatory relationship between the OT and opioid systems and suggest that administering OT under opioid antagonism may boost the therapeutic efficacy of OT for enhancing social cognition.
Living alone and depression: the modifying role of the perceived neighborhood environment

ABSTRACT Objective: Older adults who live alone are more likely to report feelings of depression than those who live with a spouse or other family members. This study examines the effects of residential status and perceived neighborhood characteristics on depression in middle-aged and older adults. Methods: This study is based on a probability sample of 1049 adults aged 55–98 years (M = 69 years) residing in Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, PA, USA in 2014. Thirty percent of participants reported living alone. We tested a multivariate model using living alone (vs. living with a family member or others) and perceived neighborhood physical and social quality as predictors of depressive symptomatology while controlling for age, sex, race, education, and disability. Results: Living alone (compared to living with a family member) was associated with elevated levels of depressive symptomatology. However, perceptions of neighborhood social quality moderated this association. Living alone was more highly associated with depression when the perceived social quality of the neighborhood was low. Neighborhood social quality was not associated with depression among older adults who lived with a family member. Perceptions of neighborhood physical quality were not significantly associated with depression. Conclusions: Perceptions of good neighborhood social quality is important for adults who live alone, in terms of fewer symptoms of depression.
Parvalbumin-Positive Interneurons Regulate Neuronal Ensembles in Visual Cortex

For efficient cortical processing, neural circuit dynamics must be spatially and temporally regulated with great precision. Although parvalbumin-positive (PV) interneurons can control network synchrony, it remains unclear how they contribute to spatio-temporal patterning of activity. We investigated this by optogenetic inactivation of PV cells with simultaneous two-photon Ca2+ imaging from populations of neurons in mouse visual cortex in vivo. For both spontaneous and visually evoked activity, PV interneuron inactivation decreased network synchrony. But, interestingly, the response reliability and spatial extent of coactive neuronal ensembles during visual stimulation were also disrupted by PV-cell suppression, which reduced the functional repertoire of ensembles. Thus, PV interneurons can control the spatio-temporal dynamics of multineuronal activity by functionally sculpting neuronal ensembles and making them more different from each other. In doing so, inhibitory circuits could help to orthogonalize multicellular patterns of activity, enabling neural circuits to more efficiently occupy a higher dimensional space of potential dynamics.
No benefit of ultrasound‐guided transversus abdominis plane blocks over wound infiltration with local anaesthetic in elective laparoscopic colonic surgery: results of a double‐blind randomized controlled trial

Advances in laparoscopic techniques combined with enhanced recovery pathways have led to faster recuperation and discharge after colorectal surgery. Peripheral nerve blockade using transversus abdominis plane (TAP) blocks reduce opioid requirements and provide better analgesia for laparoscopic colectomies than do inactive controls. This double‐blind randomized study was performed to compare TAP blocks using bupivacaine with standardized wound infiltration with local anaesthetic (LA).