Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characteristics of reversal optic cupping in adults glaucoma after reduction of intraocular pressure.

PURPOSE According to Quigley's hypothesis the dense of connective tissue is the least and the pores of the lamina cribrosa are the largest at the superior and inferior poles of the lamina cribrosa, therefore they are the most vulnerable location to be involved in the characteristic glaucomatous optic nerve damage. To get clinical evidence for the hypothesis, the reversal of optic cup in adults glaucoma after reduction of intraocular pressure (IOP) was examined. METHODS The stereoscopic flicker comparison on with computerized image system was used to monitor the optic cup's changing, 2 serial superposed stereo pairs were displayed alternatively and rapidly and the changing parts appeared moving Under the stereoscopic observation, the changes of 3-dimension optic cup could be seen and the false positive phenomena caused by photographic angle variation, vascular pulsation could be differentiated from the characteristic change of the cup. Stereo fundus photographs were taken from 31 eyes with hypertension glaucoma before and after treatment of reduction of IOPs which was either diamox administration or trabeculectomy. RESULTS The result showed that the reversal of optic cups after reduction of IOPs were mostly asymmetrical, especially at the inferior and/or superior poles. By multiple stepwise regression, it is known that the amount of the change is only correlated with the initial elevated IOP. CONCLUSIONS The study indicated that it was the distortion and deformity of the lamina cribrosa leading to shearing stress that results in glaucomatous characteristic damage in structure and function. The individual tolerance of the lamina cribrosa to the high intraocular pressure and the locations of individual vulnerable at the optic nerve head are various.
Identifying Selection in the Within-Host Evolution of Influenza Using Viral Sequence Data

The within-host evolution of influenza is a vital component of its epidemiology. A question of particular interest is the role that selection plays in shaping the viral population over the course of a single infection. We here describe a method to measure selection acting upon the influenza virus within an individual host, based upon time-resolved genome sequence data from an infection. Analysing sequence data from a transmission study conducted in pigs, describing part of the haemagglutinin gene (HA1) of an influenza virus, we find signatures of non-neutrality in six of a total of sixteen infections. We find evidence for both positive and negative selection acting upon specific alleles, while in three cases, the data suggest the presence of time-dependent selection. In one infection we observe what is potentially a specific immune response against the virus; a non-synonymous mutation in an epitope region of the virus is found to be under initially positive, then strongly negative selection. Crucially, given the lack of homologous recombination in influenza, our method accounts for linkage disequilibrium between nucleotides at different positions in the haemagglutinin gene, allowing for the analysis of populations in which multiple mutations are present at any given time. Our approach offers a new insight into the dynamics of influenza infection, providing a detailed characterisation of the forces that underlie viral evolution.
Biometric Recognition via Eye Movements: Saccadic Vigor and Acceleration Cues

Previous research shows that human eye movements can serve as a valuable source of information about the structural elements of the oculomotor system and they also can open a window to the neural functions and cognitive mechanisms related to visual attention and perception. The research field of eye movement-driven biometrics explores the extraction of individual-specific characteristics from eye movements and their employment for recognition purposes. In this work, we present a study for the incorporation of dynamic saccadic features into a model of eye movement-driven biometrics. We show that when these features are added to our previous biometric framework and tested on a large database of 322 subjects, the biometric accuracy presents a relative improvement in the range of 31.6--33.5% for the verification scenario, and in range of 22.3--53.1% for the identification scenario. More importantly, this improvement is demonstrated for different types of visual stimulus (random dot, text, video), indicating the enhanced robustness offered by the incorporation of saccadic vigor and acceleration cues.
Obsessive–compulsive disorder: a review of the diagnostic criteria and possible subtypes and dimensional specifiers for DSM‐V

Background: Since the publication of the DSM‐IV in 1994, research on obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) has continued to expand. It is timely to reconsider the nosology of this disorder, assessing whether changes to diagnostic criteria as well as subtypes and specifiers may improve diagnostic validity and clinical utility. Methods: The existing criteria were evaluated. Key issues were identified. Electronic databases of PubMed, ScienceDirect, and PsycINFO were searched for relevant studies. Results: This review presents a number of options and preliminary recommendations to be considered for DSM‐V. These include: (1) clarifying and simplifying the definition of obsessions and compulsions (criterion A); (2) possibly deleting the requirement that people recognize that their obsessions or compulsions are excessive or unreasonable (criterion B); (3) rethinking the clinical significance criterion (criterion C) and, in the interim, possibly adjusting what is considered “time‐consuming” for OCD; (4) listing additional disorders to help with the differential diagnosis (criterion D); (5) rethinking the medical exclusion criterion (criterion E) and clarifying what is meant by a “general medical condition”; (6) revising the specifiers (i.e., clarifying that OCD can involve a range of insight, in addition to “poor insight,” and adding “tic‐related OCD”); and (7) highlighting in the DSM‐V text important clinical features of OCD that are not currently mentioned in the criteria (e.g., the major symptom dimensions). Conclusions: A number of changes to the existing diagnostic criteria for OCD are proposed. These proposed criteria may change as the DSM‐V process progresses. Depression and Anxiety, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Split-thickness Skin Grafting in the Treatment of Surgically Operated Diabetic Foot. A Retrospective 2-Year Study (2010-2011)

Split-thickness skin grafting, a method used in plastic surgery in the treatment of skin defects resulting from surgery, has lately been used more and more widely in the treatment of wounds with significant missing tissue occurring in the evolution of diabetic foot pathology; at the same time, it is a highly controversial topic as regards its long-term effectiveness in diabetic patients. Material and method: This is a presentation of a retrospective 2-year study (2010-2011) involving 44 diabetic patients with post-surgical skin defects in the lower limb who underwent split-thickness skin grafting. Objectives: The aim of the analysis was to identify the causes influencing the success or failure of the graft in the 44 diabetic patients who, apart from different vasculopathies or neuropathies, also have significant comorbidities. Outcome: Out of the 44 patients, 11 female (25%) and 33 male (75%), 36 had successful grafts (82%) and in 8 cases (18%) the graft failed. After surgery, the patients were monitored weekly in the first month, then monthly, and then every 2 months up to 2 years. Average healing time was between 2 and 8 weeks. The following aspects were analyzed: breakdown according to gender and patient background, length of hospitalization relative to the defect site, the degree of anemia, the levels of glycated hemoglobin and fasting glucose, the area of the skin defect, comorbidities, smoking, microbial flora in the recipient site right before grafting. All of these aspects were correlated with the rate of success or failure of the graft. The cost of hospitalization was compared between the two groups. Conclusions: The results of this retrospective study indicate that split-thickness skin grafting should be a method of choice in reducing the healing time for skin defects in patients with surgically operated diabetic foot.
Grassmannian Regularized Structured Multi-View Embedding for Image Classification

Images are usually represented by features from multiple views, e.g., color and texture. In image classification, the goal is to fuse all the multi-view features in a reasonable manner and achieve satisfactory classification performance. However, the features are often different in nature and it is nontrivial to fuse them. Particularly, some extracted features are redundant or noisy and are consequently not discriminative for classification. To alleviate these problems in an image classification context, we propose in this paper a novel multi-view embedding framework, termed as Grassmannian regularized structured multi-view embedding, or GrassReg for short. GrassReg transfers the graph Laplacian obtained from each view to a point on the Grassmann manifold and penalizes the disagreement between different views according to Grassmannian distance. Therefore, a view that is consistent with others is more important than a view that disagrees with others for learning a unified subspace for multi-view data representation. In addition, we impose the group sparsity penalty onto the low-dimensional embeddings obtained hence they can better explore the group structure of the intrinsic data distribution. Empirically, we compare GrassReg with representative multi-view algorithms and show the effectiveness of GrassReg on a number of multi-view image data sets.
Can antioxidant supplementation slow the aging process?

The oxidative stress theory of aging is well supported by accumulated evidence from various aging intervention studies. Early antioxidant supplementation studies indicate life span extensions by antioxidant feeding in various experimental organisms. Data collected under tightly controlled conditions show that the feeding of 2‐mercaptoethanol (0.25%) effectively prolonged both the median and maximum life spans of mice. Evidence has been obtained showing dietary vitamin E to protect against oxidative damage to DNA in human lymphocytes and white blood cells. Other clear evidence of vitamin E's protective effect has been seen in its suppressive action of LDL oxidation both in vitro and in vivo. New evidence on the physiological roles of antioxidants, in addition to their well‐known role as free radical scavengers, is emerging from recent research. For instance, the beneficial effect of vitamin E in improving glucose transport and the insulin sensitivity and its putative role as a regulator of cell proliferation should open new research dimensions. This presentation will review some of the anti‐aging aspects of dietary antioxidant supplementation, as well as the potential problems of its long‐term administration that stem from our lack of knowledge about free radical metabolism and the regulation of endogenous defense mechanisms.
EXTINCTION SPACE—A METHOD FOR THE QUANTIFICATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF CHANGES IN MORPHOSPACE ACROSS EXTINCTION BOUNDARIES

Three main modes of extinction are responsible for reductions in morphological disparity: (1) random (caused by a nonselective extinction event); (2) marginal (a symmetric, selective extinction event trimming the margin of morphospace); and (3) lateral (an asymmetric, selective extinction event eliminating one side of the morphospace). These three types of extinction event can be distinguished from one another by comparing changes in three measures of morphospace occupation: (1) the sum of range along the main axes; (2) the sum of variance; and (3) the position of the centroid. Computer simulations of various extinction events demonstrate that the pre‐extinction distribution of taxa (random or normal) in the morphospace has little influence on the quantification of disparity changes, whereas the modes of the extinction events play the major role. Together, the three disparity metrics define an “extinction‐space” in which different extinction events can be directly compared with one another. Application of this method to selected extinction events (Frasnian‐Famennian, Devonian‐Carboniferous, and Permian‐Triassic) of the Ammonoidea demonstrate the similarity of the Devonian events (selective extinctions) but the striking difference from the end‐Permian event (nonselective extinction). These events differ in their mode of extinction despite decreases in taxonomic diversity of similar magnitude.
Experimental Study of Rounded Ejector Inlets for Pulse Detonation Engines

An experimental investigation is described in which thrust augmentation was measured for a variety of Pulse Detonation Engine (PDE) ejectors. This study is part of an ongoing project focused on the complete understanding of thrust augmentation of PDE driven ejectors. Prior experiments considered utilized straight ejectors with distinct lengths and constant diameters. In this experiment, an additional rounded inlet mounted on various straight ejectors was utilized to determine its effect on thrust augmentation. Measurements were taken to determine the effect on performance at different overlap positions between the detonation tube and the ejector. Higher thrust augmentation measurements were obtained with the rounded ejector inlet . Thrust increments with the rounded inlet increased as much as 39% from the baseline values. Furthermore, experiments carried out with the straight and rounded ejector inlet both indicate that thrust augmentation reaches a maximum value at a positive overlap position from which it decreases sharply as the distance is increased. It is also noted that at a zero overlap position, average thrust values all seem to drop and fall within the same range.
Herschel-ATLAS: Extragalactic number counts from 250 to 500 microns

Aims. The Herschel-ATLAS survey (H-ATLAS) will be the largest area survey to be undertaken by the Herschel Space Observatory. It will cover 550 sq. deg. of extragalactic sky at wavelengths of 100, 160, 250, 350 and 500 μm when completed, reaching flux limits (5σ) from 32 to 145 mJy. We here present galaxy number counts obtained for SPIRE observations of the first ∼14 sq. deg. observed at 250, 350 and 500 μm. Methods. Number counts are a fundamental tool in constraining models of galaxy evolution. We use source catalogs extracted from the H-ATLAS maps as the basis for such an analysis. Correction factors for completeness and flux boosting are derived by applying our extraction method to model catalogs and then applied to the raw observational counts. Results. We find a steep rise in the number counts at flux levels of 100−200 mJy in all three SPIRE bands, consistent with results from BLAST. The counts are compared to a range of galaxy evolution models. None of the current models is an ideal fit to the data but all ascribe the steep rise to a population of luminous, rapidly evolving dusty galaxies at moderate to high redshift.
Crystal structure of calpain reveals the structural basis for Ca2+‐dependent protease activity and a novel mode of enzyme activation

The combination of thiol protease activity and calmodulin‐like EF‐hands is a feature unique to the calpains. The regulatory mechanisms governing calpain activity are complex, and the nature of the Ca2+‐induced switch between inactive and active forms has remained elusive in the absence of structural information. We describe here the 2.6 Å crystal structure of m‐calpain in the Ca2+‐free form, which illustrates the structural basis for the inactivity of calpain in the absence of Ca2+. It also reveals an unusual thiol protease fold, which is associated with Ca2+‐binding domains through heterodimerization and a C2‐like β‐sandwich domain. Strikingly, the structure shows that the catalytic triad is not assembled, indicating that Ca2+‐binding must induce conformational changes that re‐orient the protease domains to form a functional active site. The α‐helical N‐terminal anchor of the catalytic subunit does not occupy the active site but inhibits its assembly and regulates Ca2+‐sensitivity through association with the regulatory subunit. This Ca2+‐dependent activation mechanism is clearly distinct from those of classical proteases.
Diffusion MRI of Structural Brain Plasticity Induced by a Learning and Memory Task

Background Activity-induced structural remodeling of dendritic spines and glial cells was recently proposed as an important factor in neuroplasticity and suggested to accompany the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP). Although T1 and diffusion MRI have been used to study structural changes resulting from long-term training, the cellular basis of the findings obtained and their relationship to neuroplasticity are poorly understood. Methodology/Principal Finding Here we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to examine the microstructural manifestations of neuroplasticity in rats that performed a spatial navigation task. We found that DTI can be used to define the selective localization of neuroplasticity induced by different tasks and that this process is age-dependent in cingulate cortex and corpus callosum and age-independent in the dentate gyrus. Conclusion/Significance We relate the observed DTI changes to the structural plasticity that occurs in astrocytes and discuss the potential of MRI for probing structural neuroplasticity and hence indirectly localizing LTP.
Stationary Black Holes: Uniqueness and Beyond

The spectrum of known black hole solutions to the stationary Einstein equations has increased in an unexpected way during the last decade. In particular, it has turned out that not all black hole equilibrium configurations are characterized by their mass, angular momentum and global charges. Moreover, the high degree of symmetry displayed by vacuum and electro-vacuum black hole space-times ceases to exist in self-gravitating non-linear field theories. This text aims to review some of the recent developments and to discuss them in the light of the uniqueness theorem for the Einstein-Maxwell system.
Material Characteristics of Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer ( GFRP ) Bars at High Temperature

The lack of adequate information on glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) material characteristics at high temperatures lowers the accuracy of analytical and design models developed to predict the behaviour of GFRP reinforced concrete members. This paper presents experimental results of a series of tensile tests on GFRP bars at elevated temperatures. These results are a part of ongoing comprehensive material tests on various GFRP products from different manufacturers. Up until now, material tests conducted on GFRP bars have been limited to bars of up to 12 mm in diameter. To represent real fire situations in typical FRP reinforced concrete structures, two novel features have been implemented in the experimental program: large and commonly used GFRP reinforcements (#5 with nominal diameter of 16 mm), and tensile tests under transient temperature. Temperature ranges from 25 to 400 ̊C have been considered for steady state temperature tests. In transient condition tests, specimens are loaded before heat exposure. For the transient temperature tests, bars loaded to service levels (75 kN) failed at temperatures above 500 ̊C.
Expression of pair-rule gene homologues in a chelicerate: early patterning of the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae

Embryo segmentation has been studied extensively in the fruit fly, Drosophila. These studies have demonstrated that a mechanism acting with dual segment periodicity is required for correct patterning of the body plan in this insect, but the evolutionary origin of the mechanism, the pair-rule system, is unclear. We have examined the expression of the homologues of two Drosophila pair-rule genes, runt and paired (Pax Group III), in segmenting embryos of the two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae Koch). Spider mites are chelicerates, a group of arthropods that diverged from the lineage leading to Drosophila at least 520 million years ago. In T. urticae, the Pax Group III gene Tu-pax3/7 was expressed during patterning of the prosoma, but not the opisthosoma, in a series of stripes which appear first in even numbered segments, and then in odd numbered segments. The mite runt homologue (Tu-run) in contrast was expressed early in a circular domains that resolved into a segmental pattern. The expression patterns of both of these genes also indicated they are regulated very differently from their Drosophila homologues. The expression pattern of Tu-pax3/7 lends support to the possibility that a pair-rule patterning mechanism is active in the segmentation pathways of chelicerates.
Environmental and public health implications of wastewater quality

The reuse of treated effluent (for agriculture and as supplement for drinking water needs) is currently receiving attention as a reliable water source. This paper is aimed at reviewing the environmental and health impacts of untreated or inadequately treated wastewater effluents. The quality of wastewater effluents is responsible for the degradation of the receiving water bodies. This is because untreated or inadequately treated wastewater effluent may lead to eutrophication in receiving water bodies and also create environmental conditions that favour proliferation of waterborne pathogens of toxin-producing cyanobacteria. In extension, recreational water users and anyone else coming into contact with the infected water is at risk. Although various microorganisms play many beneficial roles in wastewater systems, a great number of them are considered to be critical factors in contributing to numerous waterborne outbreaks. Also, wastewater effluents have been shown to contain a variety of anthropogenic compounds, many of which have endocrine-disrupting properties. Since large amounts of wastewater effluents are passed through sewage treatment systems on a daily basis, there is a need to remedy and diminish the overall impacts of these effluents in receiving water bodies. In order to comply with wastewater legislations and guidelines, there is a need for adequate treatment before discharge. This can be achieved through the application of appropriate treatment processes, which will help to minimize the risks to public health and the environment. To achieve unpolluted wastewater discharge into receiving water bodies, careful planning, adequate and suitable treatment, regular monitoring and appropriate legislations are necessary.
Plant-Based Production of Recombinant Plasmodium Surface Protein Pf38 and Evaluation of its Potential as a Vaccine Candidate

Pf38 is a surface protein of the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum. In this study, we produced and purified recombinant Pf38 and a fusion protein composed of red fluorescent protein and Pf38 (RFP-Pf38) using a transient expression system in the plant Nicotiana benthamiana. To our knowledge, this is the first description of the production of recombinant Pf38. To verify the quality of the recombinant Pf38, plasma from semi-immune African donors was used to confirm specific binding to Pf38. ELISA measurements revealed that immune responses to Pf38 in this African subset were comparable to reactivities to AMA-1 and MSP119. Pf38 and RFP-Pf38 were successfully used to immunise mice, although titres from these mice were low (on average 1∶11.000 and 1∶39.000, respectively). In immune fluorescence assays, the purified IgG fraction from the sera of immunised mice recognised Pf38 on the surface of schizonts, gametocytes, macrogametes and zygotes, but not sporozoites. Growth inhibition assays using αPf38 antibodies demonstrated strong inhibition (≥60%) of the growth of blood-stage P. falciparum. The development of zygotes was also effectively inhibited by αPf38 antibodies, as determined by the zygote development assay. Collectively, these results suggest that Pf38 is an interesting candidate for the development of a malaria vaccine.