Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of b-Blockers and Prostaglandins Treatments in Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma

Objectives: Retrospective study to compare long-term effects of treatment with β-blockers and prostaglandins by assessing changes in visual fields. Methods and Patients: The group included 60 patients of approximately the same age (61 and 62 year olds), with the same changes in the visual field and the same central corneal thickness (556 μm), of which 30 were treated with β-blockers (18 females and 12 males) and 30 with prostaglandins (15 females and 15 males). There were no changes in medication in the course of treatment. During the follow-ups, the intraocular pressure was in the range 10 to 20 mmHg. We evaluated the changes in visual fields (pattern defects) at the last examination in 2012. The results were compared with findings in visual fields from 2005. No subject had any eye or systemic disease that could affect changes in the visual field. Corneal pachymetry was performed with a Tomey SP-100 ultrasound device. The visual field was examined by static perimetry using a MEDMONT M 700 device with a fast threshold glaucoma program. For comparison of the two groups treated with β-blockers and prostaglandins, we used the Mann-Whitney´s test. For comparison of treatment with β-blockers timolol, carteolol, betaxozol and vistagan, we used the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis´ test, and subsequently to compare therapies with prostaglandins latanoprost and bimatoprost, we used the non-parametric two-sided Mann-Whitney´s test. Results: With statistical analysis, we have found neither changes between β-blockers and prostaglandins treatments (p=0.395 to 0.836) nor differences between different beta-blockers (p=0.495 to 0.576). Similarly, we found no statistically significant changes in either treatment with bimatoprost and latanoprost (0.575 to 0.965). Conclusion: Our results in the follow-up period of seven years showed no difference in the functional changing of visual field between the treatments with β-blockers and prostaglandins.
Effects on Accidents of Time into Shift and of Short Breaks between Shifts.

This study aimed to determine whether there was a peak in accidents in the second to fourth hours within a shift and to compare the effect on accidents of the presence or absence of a break of only eight hours between shifts in a shift cycle ("quick returns"). Archival accident records were obtained for a four-year period from two sister works within the same division of a heavy-industrial organization. The works had many similarities but differed in the shift systems used. One had "quick returns," whereas the other did not. Accident frequencies were analyzed across four variables, site, shift, time on shift, and process code (process code identified the process area in which the worker operated). These were analyzed by hierarchical log-linear analysis, using a significance level of 0.05. The results indicated there was a peak in accidents in the second and third hours into a shift, but provided only slight evidence for a detrimental effect of "quick returns. "
Systematic analysis of the visual projection neurons of Drosophila melanogaster. I. Lobula‐specific pathways

In insects, visual information is processed in the optic lobe and conveyed to the central brain. Although neural circuits within the optic lobe have been studied extensively, relatively little is known about the connection between the optic lobe and the central brain. To understand how visual information is read by the neurons of the central brain, and what kind of centrifugal neurons send the control signal from the central brain to the optic lobe, we performed a systematic analysis of the visual projection neurons that connect the optic lobe and the central brain of Drosophila melanogaster. By screening ∼4,000 GAL4 enhancer‐trap strains we identified 44 pathways. The overall morphology and the direction of information of each pathway were investigated by expressing cytoplasmic and presynapsis‐targeted fluorescent reporters. A canonical nomenclature system was introduced to describe the area of projection in the central brain. As the first part of a series of articles, we here describe 14 visual projection neurons arising specifically from the lobula. Eight pathways form columnar arborization in the lobula, whereas the remaining six form tangential or tree‐like arborization. Eleven are centripetal pathways, among which nine terminate in the ventrolateral protocerebrum. Terminals of each columnar pathway form glomerulus‐like structures in different areas of the ventrolateral protocerebrum. The posterior lateral protocerebrum and the optic tubercle were each contributed by a single centripetal pathway. Another pathway connects the lobula on each side of the brain. Two centrifugal pathways convey signals from the posterior lateral protocerebrum to the lobula. J. Comp. Neurol. 497:928–958, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Influence of cis Element Arrangement on Promoter Strength in Trichoderma reesei

ABSTRACT Trichoderma reesei can produce up to 100 g/liter of extracellular proteins. The major and industrially relevant products are cellobiohydrolase I (CBHI) and the hemicellulase XYNI. The genes encoding both enzymes are transcriptionally activated by the regulatory protein Xyr1. The first 850 nucleotides of the cbh1 promoter contain 14 Xyr1-binding sites (XBS), and 8 XBS are present in the xyn1 promoter. Some of these XBS are arranged in tandem and others as inverted repeats. One such cis element, an inverted repeat, plays a crucial role in the inducibility of the xyn1 promoter. We investigated the impact of the properties of such cis elements by shuffling them by insertion, exchange, deletion, and rearrangement of cis elements in both the cbh1 and xyn1 promoter. A promoter-reporter assay using the Aspergillus niger goxA gene allowed us to measure changes in the promoter strength and inducibility. Most strikingly, we found that an inverted repeat of XBS causes an important increase in cbh1 promoter strength and allows induction by xylan or wheat straw. Furthermore, evidence is provided that the distances of cis elements to the transcription start site have important influence on promoter activity. Our results suggest that the arrangement and distances of cis elements have large impacts on the strength of the cbh1 promoter, whereas the sheer number of XBS has only secondary importance. Ultimately, the biotechnologically important cbh1 promoter can be improved by cis element rearrangement. IMPORTANCE In the present study, we demonstrate that the arrangement of cis elements has a major impact on promoter strength and inducibility. We discovered an influence on promoter activity by the distances of cis elements to the transcription start site. Furthermore, we found that the configuration of cis elements has a greater effect on promoter strength than does the sheer number of transactivator binding sites present in the promoter. Altogether, the arrangement of cis elements is an important factor that should not be overlooked when enhancement of gene expression is desired.
ANGULAR DIAMETERS AND EFFECTIVE TEMPERATURES OF 25 K GIANT STARS FROM THE CHARA ARRAY

Using Georgia State University's Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy Array interferometer, we measured angular diameters for 25 giant stars, six of which host exoplanets. The combination of these measurements and Hipparcos parallaxes produces physical linear radii for the sample. Except for two outliers, our values match angular diameters and physical radii estimated using photometric methods to within the associated errors with the advantage that our uncertainties are significantly lower. We also calculated the effective temperatures for the stars using the newly measured diameters. Our values do not match those derived from spectroscopic observations as well, perhaps due to the inherent properties of the methods used or because of a missing source of extinction in the stellar models that would affect the spectroscopic temperatures.
PanLex: Building a Resource for Panlingual Lexical Translation

PanLex, a project of The Long Now Foundation, aims to enable the translation of lexemes among all human languages in the world. By focusing on lexemic translations, rather than grammatical or corpus data, it achieves broader lexical and language coverage than related projects. The PanLex database currently documents 20 million lexemes in about 9,000 language varieties, with 1.1 billion pairwise translations. The project primarily engages in content procurement, while encouraging outside use of its data for research and development. Its data acquisition strategy emphasizes broad, high-quality lexical and language coverage. The project plans to add data derived from 4,000 new sources to the database by the end of 2016. The dataset is publicly accessible via an HTTP API and monthly snapshots in CSV, JSON, and XML formats. Several online applications have been developed that query PanLex data. More broadly, the project aims to make a contribution to the preservation of global linguistic diversity.
Thyroid Hormones and the Metabolic Syndrome

Background: Clustering of various metabolic parameters including abdominal obesity, hyperglycaemia, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, elevated triglycerides and hypertension have been used worldwide as metabolic syndrome to predict cardiometabolic risk. Thyroid dysfunction impacts on various levels of these components. Objectives: The purpose of the present review is to summarize available data on thyroid hormone-dependent action on components of the metabolic syndrome. Methods: A PubMed search for any combination of hyperthyroidism, thyrotoxicosis or hypothyroidism and metabolic syndrome, blood pressure, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, glucose, diabetes mellitus, body weight or visceral fat was performed. We included papers and reviews published between 2000 and today but accepted also frequently cited papers before 2000. Results: There is convincing evidence for a major impact of thyroid function on all components of the metabolic syndrome, reflecting profound alterations of energy homeostasis at many levels. Conclusion: Even though the interactions shown in animal models and man are complex, it is evident that insulin sensitivity is highest and adverse thyroid effects on the metabolic system are lowest in euthyroid conditions.
Dose-dependent effects of testosterone on sexual function, mood, and visuospatial cognition in older men.

CONTEXT The relationships between testosterone dose and its effects on sexual function, mood, and visuospatial cognition are poorly understood. OBJECTIVE To elucidate testosterone dose-response relationships in older men, we examined the effects of graded testosterone doses on sexual function, mood, and visuospatial cognition in healthy, older men (age, 60-75 yr). SETTING This study was performed at the General Clinical Research Center. INTERVENTION/METHODS Subjects each received a long-acting GnRH agonist to suppress endogenous testosterone production and were randomized to receive one of five doses (25, 50, 125, 300, and 600 mg) of testosterone enanthate weekly for 20 wk. Questionnaires were used to evaluate sexual function. Scores for overall sexual function as well as subcomponents of sexual function (libido, sexual activity, and erectile function) were calculated. RESULTS Changes in overall sexual function (P = 0.003) and waking erections (P = 0.024) differed by dose. An interaction between libido and being sexually active was observed, such that libido changed by testosterone dose only among men who reported being sexually active at the beginning of the study (P = 0.009). Men's log-transformed free testosterone levels during treatment were positively correlated with overall sexual function (P = 0.001), waking erections (P = 0.040), spontaneous erections (P = 0.047), and libido (P = 0.027), but not with intercourse frequency (P = 0.428) or masturbation frequency (P = 0.814). No effects of testosterone dose were observed on two measures of mood: Hamilton's Depression Inventory (P = 0.359) and Young's Mania Scale (P = 0.851). The number of trials completed on a computer-based test of visuospatial cognition differed by dose (P = 0.042), but the number of squares correctly completed on this task did not differ by dose (P = 0.159). CONCLUSIONS Different aspects of male behavior respond differently to testosterone. When considered together with previous data from young men, these data indicate that testosterone dose-response relationships for sexual function and visuospatial cognition differ in older and young men.
Superconductivity from perturbative one-gluon exchange in high density quark matter

We study color superconductivity in QCD at asymptotically large chemical potential. In this limit, pairing is dominated by perturbative one-gluon exchange. We derive the Eliashberg equation for the pairing gap and solve this equation numerically. Taking into account both magnetic and electric gluon exchanges, we find $\Delta\sim g^{-5}\exp(-c/g)$ with $c=3\pi^2/\sqrt{2}$, verifying a recent result by Son. For chemical potentials that are of physical interest, $\mu< 1$ GeV, the calculation ceases to be reliable quantitatively, but our results suggest that the gap can be as large as 100 MeV.
Learning to Avoid Errors in GANs by Manipulating Input Spaces

Despite recent advances, large scale visual artifacts are still a common occurrence in images generated by GANs. Previous work has focused on improving the generator's capability to accurately imitate the data distribution $p_{data}$. In this paper, we instead explore methods that enable GANs to actively avoid errors by manipulating the input space. The core idea is to apply small changes to each noise vector in order to shift them away from areas in the input space that tend to result in errors. We derive three different architectures from that idea. The main one of these consists of a simple residual module that leads to significantly less visual artifacts, while only slightly decreasing diversity. The module is trivial to add to existing GANs and costs almost zero computation and memory.
Darkening Swiss glacier ice

Abstract. The albedo feedback is an important driver of glacier melt over bare-ice surfaces. Light-absorbing impurities strongly enhance glacier melt rates but their abundance, composition and variations in space and time are subject to considerable uncertainties and on-going scientific debates. In this study, we assess the temporal evolution of shortwave broadband albedo derived from 19 end-of summer Landsat scenes for the bare-ice areas of 39 large glaciers in the western and southern Swiss Alps. Trends in bare-ice albedo crucially depend on the spatial scale considered. No significant negative temporal trend in bare-ice albedo was found on a regional to glacier-wide scale. However, at higher spatial scales, certain areas of bare-ice including the lowermost elevations and margins of the ablation zones revealed significant darkening over the study period 1999 to 2016. A total glacier area of 16 km 2 (equivalent to about 12 % of the average end-of-summer bare-ice area in the study area) exhibited albedo trends significant at the 95 % confidence level or higher. Most of this area was affected by a negative albedo trend of about −0.05 per decade. Generally, bare-ice albedo exhibits a strong interannual variability, caused by a complex interplay of meteorological conditions prior to the acquisition of the data, local glacier characteristics and the date of the investigated satellite imagery. Although, a darkening of glacier ice was found to be present over only a limited region, we emphasise that due to the recent and projected growth of bare-ice areas and prolongation of the ablation season in the region, the albedo feedback will considerably enhance the rate of glacier mass loss in the Swiss Alps in the near future.
Thermolabile MTHFR genotype and retinal vascular occlusive disease

BACKGROUND Raised levels of total plasma homocysteine (tHcy) are associated with an increased risk of retinal vascular occlusive disease. A thermolabile form of a pivotal enzyme in homocysteine metabolism, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), has been associated with vascular occlusive disease and raised tHcy levels. The relation between thermolabile MTHFR genotype, tHcy, and retinal vascular occlusive disease has not been determined. METHODS A retrospective case-control study involving hospital based controls and cases with retinal vascular occlusions in whom tHcy levels had been determined was undertaken. Genotyping for the MTHFR 677 C-T mutation that specifies the thermolabile form of the enzyme was performed by established methods in all subjects. The relation between homozygosity for thermolabile MTHFR genotype (TT), raised tHcy levels, and risk of retinal vascular occlusive disease was examined. RESULTS 87 cases of retinal vascular occlusive disease (mean age 68.7 years) comprising 26 cases of retinal artery occlusion and 61 of retinal vein occlusion were compared with 87 controls (mean age 70.2 years). The TT genotype did not confer a significantly increased risk of retinal vascular occlusive disease. The mean tHcy level was significantly higher in the cases than in the controls (p<0.0001). Overall, and in both the cases and controls, the frequency of the TT genotype was higher in those with normal tHcy levels than in those with increased levels of tHcy. However, the TT genotype did not significantly alter the risk of increased tHcy levels in these patients. CONCLUSIONS The TT genotype is not associated with an increased risk of retinal vascular occlusive disease or increased tHcy levels in this group of elderly patients. In older patients, nutritional rather than genetic factors may be more important in increasing tHcy levels, a known risk factor for retinal vascular occlusive disease.
Sibling risks in cancer: clues to recessive or X-linked genes?

A systematic analysis of cancer risks to offspring and to siblings of cancer cases was carried out based on the nation-wide Swedish Family-Cancer Database. For all 13 cancer sites examined, risks to both offspring and siblings of cases of cancer at the same site were significantly elevated. The relative risk to siblings was approximately 2 fold more than the offspring risk for cancers of the prostate, testis, kidney and bladder, suggesting that recessive or X-linked susceptibility genes may be important for these cancers. Risks to siblings of cases where a parent was also affected were increased >20 fold over population rates for colorectal, ovarian, prostate and renal cancer, and for leukaemia, consistent with the effects of rare high-risk susceptibility alleles. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer. com
Coping Profile Differences in the Biopsychosocial Functioning of Patients With Temporomandibular Disorder

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate whether biopsychosocial functioning differences exist between samples of patients with temporomandibular disorder (TMD) who differ in coping profiles as assessed by the Multidimensional Pain Inventory. Methods: A total of 322 patients who presented with TMD were administered a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment battery, and the acute or chronic status of their disorder was determined. A follow-up evaluation was conducted 6 months later to determine the status of their pain. Results: TMD patients with dysfunctional and interpersonally distressed coping profiles demonstrated more acute and chronic psychosocial difficulties than patients with adaptive coper profiles. The data also suggest that having a dysfunctional/distressed coping profile on the Multidimensional Pain Inventory has some predictive value in determining the likelihood of developing chronicity in the absence of treatment. Conclusions: The presence of a dysfunctional/distressed coping profile in patients with TMD is likely to provide clinicians with important information about the biopsychosocial functioning of those patients, which, in turn, will help to determine the most effective treatment modalities to use with TMD patients.
Diagnosing soil degradation and fertilizer use relationship for sustainable cotton production in Benin

Abstract In Benin and many other cotton-producing countries of West Africa, unsustainable natural resource management is hindering agricultural growth, food security, and poverty reduction. This study addressed the sustainability of fertilizer-based soil fertility management practices in Benin. It diagnosed the relationship between differential soil degradation status over space and fertilizer use in cotton production systems. Referring to sound land use principles, it found that present fertilizer use practices overlook the spatial differences in soil fertility status in export-oriented cotton production systems. Considering more relevant short-run fertilizer needs based on desirable fertilizer doses, the potentials for sustainable fertilizer use were then assessed considering the likelihood of change towards best practices of integrated soil fertility management. More rational fertilizer use practices will be critical in the future to inducing higher cotton yields while preserving the environment. Adjusting current fertilizer recommendations to site-specific soil conditions is urgently required to enhance the sustainability of cotton production systems in Benin. Fertilizer policies will need to rely on updated information on soil and land use dynamics, and be innovative enough to induce a steady increase in agricultural productivity and improved net incomes cotton growers.
Novelty and diversity in information retrieval evaluation

Evaluation measures act as objective functions to be optimized by information retrieval systems. Such objective functions must accurately reflect user requirements, particularly when tuning IR systems and learning ranking functions. Ambiguity in queries and redundancy in retrieved documents are poorly reflected by current evaluation measures. In this paper, we present a framework for evaluation that systematically rewards novelty and diversity. We develop this framework into a specific evaluation measure, based on cumulative gain. We demonstrate the feasibility of our approach using a test collection based on the TREC question answering track.