Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
INTRAOCULAR PRESSURE IN PATIENTS WITH DIABETIC MACULAR EDEMA TREATED WITH DEXAMETHASONE INTRAVITREAL IMPLANT IN THE 3-YEAR MEAD STUDY

Purpose: To evaluate the occurrence, management, and clinical significance of increases in intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with diabetic macular edema treated with dexamethasone intravitreal implant (DEX implant). Methods: Randomized, multicenter, 3-year, Phase III study. Patients (N = 1,048) with diabetic macular edema were randomized to DEX implant 0.7-mg, DEX implant 0.35-mg, or sham procedure with retreatment allowed at ≥6-month intervals (seven injections maximum). Results: In the DEX implant 0.7-mg, DEX implant 0.35-mg, and sham groups, respectively, ≥10-mmHg IOP increases from baseline occurred in 27.7%, 24.8%, and 3.7% of patients, and their frequency did not increase with repeat injections. IOP-lowering medication was used by 41.5%, 37.6%, and 9.1% of patients. Only one patient (0.3%) in each DEX implant group had filtering surgery to manage a steroid-induced IOP increase. Among DEX implant 0.7-mg–treated patients with and without a ≥10-mmHg IOP increase, 21.9% (21 of 96) and 22.4% (57 of 255), respectively, achieved ≥15-letter best-corrected visual acuity gain at the end of the study, and mean average change in central retinal thickness from baseline was −127 &mgr;m and −106 &mgr;m, respectively. Conclusion: DEX implant demonstrated clear benefit of treatment despite increases in IOP. Sequential implants had no cumulative effect on IOP.
Analytical Decisional Model for Publish/Subscribe Systems on MANET

This paper presents an analytical model for monitoring and analyzing QoS of publish/subscribe systems on MANET. The proposed customizable model ensures the user a good quality of service requirements and combines both proactive and reactive statistical analysis. In fact, the reactive analysis, suitable for multimedia applications, aims to detect failures by approximating latency series with a Gumbel distribution. Besides, the proactive analysis, suitable for crisis management applications, forecasts failures occurrence relaying on the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average Formula. Finally, a hybrid analysis was proposed by dynamically switching from reactive to predictive forms of analysis whenever QoS violations are noticed. The correlation method was also used to identify source failure causes once they were detected or predicted. The efficiency and accuracy of the proposed scheme were validated by performing simulation.
Natural Killer Lysis Receptor (NKLR)/NKLR-Ligand Matching as a Novel Approach for Enhancing Anti-Tumor Activity of Allogeneic NK Cells

Background NK cells are key players in anti tumor immune response, which can be employed in cell-based therapeutic modalities. One of the suggested ways to amplify their anti tumor effect, especially in the field of stem cell transplantation, is by selecting donor/recipient mismatches in specific HLA, to reduce the inhibitory effect of killer Ig-like receptors (KIRs). Here we suggest an alternative approach for augmentation of anti tumor effect of allogeneic NK cells, which is founded on profile matching of donor NK lysis receptors (NKLR) phenotype with tumor lysis-ligands. Methodology/Principal Findings We show that an NKLR-mediated killing directly correlates with the NKLR expression intensity on NK cells. Considerable donor variability in the expression of CD16, NKp46, NKG2D and NKp30 on circulating NK cells, combined with the stability of phenotype in several independently performed tests over two months, indicates that NKLR-guided selection of donors is feasible. As a proof of concept, we show that melanoma cells are dominantly recognized by three NKLRs: NKG2D, NKp30 and NKp44. Notably, the expression of NKp30 on circulating NK cells among metastatic melanoma patients was significantly decreased, which diminishes their ability to kill melanoma cells. Ex vivo expansion of NK cells results not only in increased amount of cells but also in a consistently superior and predictable expression of NKG2D, NKp30 and NKp44. Moreover, expanded NK cultures with high expression of NKG2D or NKp30 were mostly derived from the corresponding NKG2Dhigh or NK30high donors. These NK cultures subsequently displayed an improved cytotoxic activity against melanoma in a HLA/KIR-ligand mismatched setup, which was NKLR-dependent, as demonstrated with blocking anti-NKG2D antibodies. Conclusions/Significance NKLR/NKLR-ligand matching reproducibly elicits enhanced NK anti-tumor response. Common NKLR recognition patterns of tumors, as demonstrated here in melanoma, would allow implementation of this approach in solid malignancies and potentially in hematological malignancies, either independently or in adjunction to other modalities.
Arabidopsis Has Two Redundant Cullin3 Proteins That Are Essential for Embryo Development and That Interact with RBX1 and BTB Proteins to Form Multisubunit E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Complexes in Vivow⃞

Cullin-based E3 ubiquitin ligases play important roles in the regulation of diverse developmental processes and environmental responses in eukaryotic organisms. Recently, it was shown in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Caenorhabditis elegans, and mammals that Cullin3 (CUL3) directly associates with RBX1 and BTB domain proteins in vivo to form a new family of E3 ligases, with the BTB protein subunit functioning in substrate recognition. Here, we demonstrate that Arabidopsis thaliana has two redundant CUL3 (AtCUL3) genes that are essential for embryo development. Besides supporting anticipated specific AtCUL3 interactions with the RING protein AtRBX1 and representative Arabidopsis proteins containing a BTB domain in vitro, we show that AtCUL3 cofractionates and specifically associates with AtRBX1 and a representative BTB protein in vivo. Similar to the AtCUL1 subunit of the SKP1-CUL1-F-box protein–type E3 ligases, the AtCUL3 subunit of the BTB-containing E3 ligase complexes is subjected to modification and possible regulation by the ubiquitin-like protein Related to Ubiquitin in vivo. Together with the presence of large numbers of BTB proteins with diverse structural features and expression patterns, our data suggest that Arabidopsis has conserved AtCUL3-RBX1-BTB protein E3 ubiquitin ligases to target diverse protein substrates for degradation by the ubiquitin/proteasome pathway.
Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal

ABSTRACT Hormozgan Province plays a vital role in ﬁshery, petroleum, and industrial activi-tiesinsouthernIran.However,nocomprehensivestudiesonorganicpollutionhavebeen performed. PCBs and PAHs were analyzed in surface sediments from areasreceiving industrial (nine sites), river (one site), and urban (two sites) efﬂuents. The sediment samples were collected in March and September 2010 (in dry andwet seasons) at the highest tidal time. The overall pollution level of PCBs rangedfrom 2.5 ± 0.8 to 462.0 ± 206.7 ng/g dry weight. CB153 congener dominated inmost of the sediment samples. Congener proﬁles of PCBs showed close similaritywith formulations of commercial products such as Aroclor 1260 and 1254 g. A widerangeof55.3to1231. 6ng/gdryweightwasdetectedforPAHs.ResultsofPCAandPCA-MLRtestsconﬁrmedbothpetrogenicandpyrogenicoriginsforPAHpollution. The higher means ofPAHs andPCBs in industrial and urban wastewaters werefound near the shore, evidencing the role of these wastewaters in the PAH and PCBcontamination in Hormozgan sediment. The concentrations of PAHs and PCBs indetected hotspots exceed the U.S. NOAA sediment quality guidelines.
Combat-Acquired Traumatic Brain Injury, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and Their Relative Associations With Postdeployment Binge Drinking

Objective:To examine whether experiencing a traumatic brain injury (TBI) on a recent combat deployment was associated with postdeployment binge drinking, independent of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Methods:Using the 2008 Department of Defense Survey of Health Related Behaviors among Active Duty Military Personnel, an anonymous survey completed by 28 546 personnel, the study sample included 6824 personnel who had a combat deployment in the past year. Path analysis was used to examine whether PTSD accounted for the total association between TBI and binge drinking. Main Measures:The dependent variable, binge drinking days, was an ordinal measure capturing the number of times personnel drank 5+ drinks on one occasion (4+ for women) in the past month. Traumatic brain injury level captured the severity of TBI after a combat injury event exposure: TBI-AC (altered consciousness only), TBI-LOC of 20 or less (loss of consciousness up to 20 minutes), and TBI-LOC of more than 20 (loss of consciousness >20 minutes). A PTSD–positive screen relied on the standard diagnostic cutoff of 50+ on the PTSD Checklist-Civilian. Results:The final path model found that while the direct effect of TBI (0.097) on binge drinking was smaller than that of PTSD (0.156), both were significant. Almost 70% of the total effect of TBI on binge drinking was from the direct effect; only 30% represented the indirect effect through PTSD. Conclusion:Further research is needed to replicate these findings and to understand the underlying mechanisms that explain the relationship between TBI and increased postdeployment drinking.
Crimean—Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus Clade IV (Asia 1) in Ticks of Western Iran

ABSTRACT Crimean—Congo Hemorrhagic Fever virus (CCHFV) is transmitted through the bite of an infected tick, or by direct contact with CCHFV-infected patients' blood or the products of infected livestock. In 2012, ticks were collected in eight regions of Lorestan Province, Iran. In total, 434 ticks were collected. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was used for the detection of CCHFV RNA. Of 434 ticks, 419 (96.6%) ticks were from the family Ixodidae (hard ticks) and 15 (3.5%) ticks were from the family Argasidae (soft ticks). The presence of CCHFV RNA was detected in 29 (6.7%) of 434 ticks. The infected tick species include Hyalomma asiaticum (n = 7, 7.4%), Hyalomma anatolicum (n = 12, 13.2%), Hyalomma marginatum (n = 1, 16.7%), and Rhipicephalus sanguineus (n = 9, 4.3%). These empirical data demonstrated that the majority of CCHFV-positive ticks belonged to the Ixodidae. None of the Argasidae and Haemaphysalis sulcata species was infected with CCHFV. The phylogenetic analyses of the tick-derived CCHFV strains revealed that all 29 viral strains fell in clade IV (Asia 1). The most abundant species of tick collected in this study was R. sanguineus followed by different species of Hyalomma. Given the infection rate among collected ticks, H. marginatum was the most abundant infected tick species (16.7%) followed by H. anatolicum (13.2%), H. asiaticum (7.4%), and R. sanguineus (4.3%).
Factor Mobility and Fiscal Policy in the EU: Policy Issues and Analytical Approaches

Increased integration of labour and capital markets creates significant challenges for the welfare states of modern Europe. Taxation of capital and labour that finances extensive programs of cash and in-kind redistribution creates incentives for capital owners and workers to locate in regions where they obtain favorable fiscal treatment. Competition among countries for mobile resources constrains their ability to alter the distribution of income and may lead to reductions in the size and scope of redistributive policies. Mobility of labour and capital is imperfect, however. Recent trends indicate that labour and capital are neither perfectly mobile nor perfectly immobile, but rather adjust gradually to market conditions and economic policies. This paper presents an explicitly dynamic analysis showing that governments can achieve some redistribution when it is costly for factors of production to relocate. As the costs of factor mobility fall, however, the effectiveness of redistributive policies is more limited, and governments have weaker incentives to pursue them. Liberalised immigration policies, EU enlargement, and other steps that promote integration of the factors markets of Western Europe with those of surrounding regions thus present a challenge to policymakers if they also wish to maintain fiscal systems with extensive redistribution.
Umbrales en la respuesta de humedad del suelo a condiciones meteorológicas en una ladera Altoandina

Soil and vegetation cover play a critical role in the hydrology of the Andean Paramo generating runoff primarily by shallow subsurface flow. Understanding the dynamics of soil moisture response under pristine vegetation cover during rainfall events is essential for water resource planning considering the increasing anthropogenic pressure. Hence, this study focuses on the evaluation of the factors and thresholds controlling maximum changes in soil moisture (Δθmax) during rainfall events and their dynamics during different wetness conditions (from dry to wet). To determine the factors controlling Δθmax, a nonparametric Spearman correlation coefficient test was applied. We found that the factors controlling Δθmax were the precipitated volume, intensity, moisture conditions just before the event and the 5- and 15-days antecedent weather conditions. The threshold analysis shows a response of increase or decrease as function of moisture state, topographic position and soil layer depth. This study demonstrates that under pristine Andean Paramo vegetation precipitation, antecedent moisture and weather conditions determine to a significant degree the soil moisture status affecting subsequently hillslope connectivity and hydrologic functioning.
The Impact of Biofuel and Greenhouse Gas Policies on Land Management, Agricultural Production, and Environmental Quality

The Impact of Biofuel and Greenhouse Gas Policies o n Land Management, Agricultural Production, and Environmental Quality. (May 2011) Justin Scott Baker, B.S., Texas Tech University; M.S., Texas Tech University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Bruce A. McCarl This dissertation explores the combined effects of bi fuel mandates and terrestrial greenhouse gas GHG mitigation incentive s on land use, management intensity, commodity markets, welfare, and the full costs of G HG abatement through conceptual and empirical modeling. First, a simple conceptual model of land allocation and management is used to illustrate how bioenergy poli cies and GHG mitigation incentives could influence market prices, shift the land suppl y between alternative uses, alter management intensity, and boost equilibrium commodi ty prices. Later, a major empirical modeling section uses the U.S. Forest and Agricultural Sector Optimization Model with Greenhouse Gases (FA SOMGHG) to simulate land use and production responses to various biofuel and cli mate policy scenarios. Simulations are performed to assess the effects of imposing bio fuel mandates in the U.S. consistent with the Renewable Fuels Standard of the Energy Ind ependence and Security Act of 2007 (RFS2). Simulations are run for several climat e mitigation policy scenarios (with
50 Hz sinusoidal magnetic fields do not affect human lymphocyte activation and proliferation in vitro

In the last 30 years, an increasing public concern about the possible harmful effects of electromagnetic fields generated by power lines and domestic appliances has pushed the scientific community to search for a correct and comprehensive answer to this problem. In this work the effects of exposure to 50 Hz sinusoidal magnetic fields, with a magnetic flux density of 0.05 mT and 2.5 mT (peak values), were studied on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) collected from healthy young and elderly donors. Cell activation and proliferation were investigated by using flow cytometry techniques and 3H-TdR incorporation assays, respectively. The results obtained indicated that exposure to the fields altered neither DNA synthesis nor the capacity of lymphocytes to enter the activation phase and progress into the cell cycle. Thus, the conclusions are that two important functional phases of human lymphocytes, such as activation and proliferation, are not affected by exposures to 50 Hz magnetic fields similar to those found under power lines.
Luteal phase support in intrauterine insemination cycles

Intrauterine insemination (IUI) treatment aims to increase the rate of conception by increasing the chances that the maximum number of healthy sperm reach the site of fertilization. IUI with controlled ovarian stimulation is frequently used in assisted reproduction practice. Although widely used, the efficacy of luteal support in IUI remains controversial. In this article, we aimed to review what we know regarding luteal support in IUI cycles and to adjudicate about the clinical use and benefits of this treatment. Based on the study results available in the literature, it appears to be beneficial to supplement the luteal phase in gonadotropin-stimulated IUI cycles that yield more than one follicle.
Extraction of Response Waveforms of Heartbeat and Blood Pressure to Swallowing

Summary Background: Evaluating the accurate responses of the cardiovascular system to external stimuli is important for a deeper understanding of cardiovascular homeostasis. However, the responses should be distorted by the conventional time domain analysis when a frequency of the effect of external stimuli matches that of intrinsic fluctuations. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to propose a mixed signal processing of time domain and respiratory phase domain to extract the response waveforms of heartbeat and blood pressure (BP) to external stimuli and to clarify the physiological mechanisms of swallowing effects on the cardiovascular system. Methods: Measurements were conducted on 12 healthy humans in the sitting and standing positions, with each subject requested to swallow every 30 s between expiration and inspiration. Waveforms of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and respiratory-related BP variations were extracted as functions of the respiratory phase. Then, respiratory effects were subtracted from response waveforms with reference to the respiratory phase in the time domain. Results: As a result, swallowing induced tachycardia, which peaked within 3 s and recovered within 8 s. Tachycardia was greater in the sitting position than during standing. Furthermore, systolic BP and pulse pressure immediately decreased and diastolic BP increased coincident with the occurrence of tachycardia. Subsequently, systolic BP and pulse pressure recovered faster than the R-R interval. Conclusions: We conclude that swallowing-induced tachycardia arises largely from the decrease of vagal activity and the baroreflex would yield fast oscillatory responses in recovery.
Gymnasts and orienteers display better mental rotation performance than nonathletes

Abstract. The aim of this study was to examine whether athletes differ from nonathletes regarding their mental rotation performance. Furthermore, it investigated whether athletes doing sports requiring distinguishable levels of mental rotation (orienteering, gymnastics, running), as well as varying with respect to having an egocentric (gymnastics) or an allocentric perspective (orienteering), differ from each other. Therefore, the Mental Rotations Test (MRT) was carried out with 20 orienteers, 20 gymnasts, 20 runners, and 20 nonathletes. The results indicate large differences in mental rotation performance, with those actively doing sports outperforming the nonathletes. Analyses for the specific groups showed that orienteers and gymnasts differed from the nonathletes, whereas endurance runners did not. Contrary to expectations, the mental rotation performance of gymnasts did not differ from that of orienteers. This study also revealed gender differences in favor of men. Implications regarding a differenti.
Usefulness of Eschar PCR for Diagnosis of Scrub Typhus

ABSTRACT We report here on the case of a child who was infected with scrub typhus, and we made the diagnosis according to the serology and by performing PCRs on the child's eschar. The patient was treated with azithromycin, and he did not experience any complications. Performing nested PCR on the eschar might be both a rapid diagnostic test for scrub typhus in the early acute stage and a differential test as to whether or not a scab is a scrub typhus eschar.
2 Related Work 1 . 2 . 1 Novelty Search

Novelty search is a recent and promising approach to evolve neurocontrollers, especially to drive robots. The main idea is to maximize the novelty of behaviors instead of the efficiency. However, abandoning the efficiency objective(s) may be too radical in many contexts. In this paper, a Paretobased multi-objective evolutionary algorithm is employed to reconcile novelty search with objective-based optimization by following a multiobjectivization process. Several multiobjectivizations based on behavioral novelty and on behavioral diversity are compared on a maze navigation task. Results show that the bi-objective variant “Novelty + Fitness” is better at fine-tuning behaviors than basic novelty search, while keeping a comparable number of iterations to converge.
Activity Estimation for Field-Programmable Gate Arrays

This paper examines various activity estimation techniques in order to determine which are most appropriate for use in the context of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). Specifically, the paper compares how different activity estimation techniques affect the accuracy of FPGA power models and the ability of power-aware FPGA CAD tools to minimize power. After comparing various existing techniques, the most suitable existing techniques are combined with two novel enhancements to create a new activity estimation tool called ACE-2.0. Finally, the new publicly available tool is compared to existing tools to validate the improvements. Using activities estimated by ACE-2.0, the power estimates and power savings were both within 1% of the results obtained using simulated activities
Local human pressures influence gene flow in a hybridizing Daphnia species complex

Anthropogenic environmental changes are considered critical drivers of the genetic structure of populations and communities through, for example, the facilitation of introgressive hybridization between syntopic species. However, the mechanisms by which environmental perturbations trigger changes in the genetic structure of populations and communities, such as the processes that determine the directionality of hybridization and patterns of mitochondrial introgression over many generations, remain largely unexplored. In this study, the changes in genetic structure of hybridizing members of the Daphnia longispina species complex were reconstructed over the last 100 years for three large temperate lakes under strong anthropogenic pressures via palaeogenetic analyses of resting egg banks. Drastic changes in the genetic structure of the Daphnia community, associated with hybridization events between D. longispina and D. galeata and subsequent introgression, were detected in Lakes Geneva and Bourget. In Lake Bourget, these changes were induced by the successful establishment of D. galeata with rising phosphorus levels and reinforced by the sensitivity of D. longispina to fish predation pressure. In Lake Geneva, the pattern of hybridization during eutrophication is more likely a function of the original taxonomic composition of the species complex in this lake. Lakes seem to require at least a meso‐oligotrophic status to allow D. galeata populations to establish and accordingly no D. galeata genotypes were found in the egg bank of oligotrophic Lake Annecy. In contrast to the generally assumed pattern of unidirectional hybridization in this species complex, bidirectional hybridization was recorded in Lakes Geneva and Bourget. Our results also demonstrate complex genetic trajectories within this species complex and highlight the irreversibility of changes in the genotypic architecture of populations driven by local human pressures. Finally, we show that extensive hybridization and introgression do not necessarily result in a large and homogenous hybrid swarm.