Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationship between Vitreous Levels of Matrix Metalloproteinases and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy

To investigate which matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are more likely to be involved in the angiogenic process in proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), we measured the levels of MMPs in the vitreous fluid from patients with PDR and controls and correlated these levels with the levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Vitreous samples from 32 PDR and 24 nondiabetic patients were studied by mosaic multiplex MMPs enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), single ELISA, Western blot and zymography analysis. Epiretinal membranes from 11 patients with PDR were studied by immunohistochemistry. MMP-8 and MMP-13 were not detected. ELISA, Western blot and gelatin ymography assays revealed significant increases in the expression levels of MMP-1, MMP-7, MMP-9 and VEGF in vitreous samples from PDR patients compared to nondiabetic controls, whereas MMP-2 and MMP-3 were not upregulated in vitreous samples from PDR patients. Significant correlations existed between ELISA and zymography assays for the quantitation of MMP-2 (r=0.407; p=0.039) and MMP-9 (r=0.711; p<0.001). Significant correlations were observed between levels of VEGF and levels of MMP-1 (r=0.845; P<0.001) and MMP-9 (r=0.775; p<0.001), and between levels of MMP-1 and MMP-9 (r=0.857; p<0.001). In epiretinal membranes, cytoplasmic immunoreactivity for MMP-9 was present in vascular endothelial cells and stromal monocytes/macrophages and neutrophils. Our findings suggest that among the MMPs measured, MMP-1 and MMP-9 may contribute to the angiogenic switch in PDR.
Kronos: the design and implementation of an event ordering service

This paper proposes a new approach to determining the order of interdependent operations in a distributed system. The key idea behind our approach is to factor the task of tracking happens-before relationships out of components that comprise the system, and to centralize them in a separate event ordering service. This not only simplifies implementation of individual components by freeing them from having to propagate dependence information, but also enables dependence relationships to be maintained across multiple independent systems. A novel API enables the system to detect and take advantage of concurrency whenever possible by maintaining fine-grained information and binding events to a time order as late as possible. We demonstrate the benefits of this approach through several example applications, including a transactional key-value store, and an online graph store. Experiments show that our event ordering service scales well and has low overhead in practice.
Probing the mass-loss history of AGB and red supergiant stars from CO rotational line profiles. II. CO line survey of evolved stars: derivation of mass-loss rate formulae

Context. The evolution of intermediate and low-mass stars on the asymptotic giant branch is dominated by their strong dust-driven winds. More massive stars evolve into red supergiants with a similar envelope structure and strong wind. These stellar winds are a prime source for the chemical enrichment of the interstellar medium. Aims: We aim to (1) set up simple and general analytical expressions to estimate mass-loss rates of evolved stars, and (2) from those calculate estimates for the mass-loss rates of the asymptotic giant branch, red supergiant, and yellow hypergiant stars in our galactic sample. Methods: The rotationally excited lines of carbon monoxide (CO) are a classic and very robust diagnostic in the study of circumstellar envelopes. When sampling different layers of the circumstellar envelope, observations of these molecular lines lead to detailed profiles of kinetic temperature, expansion velocity, and density. A state-of-the-art, nonlocal thermal equilibrium, and co-moving frame radiative transfer code that predicts CO line intensities in the circumstellar envelopes of late-type stars is used in deriving relations between stellar and molecular-line parameters, on the one hand, and mass-loss rate, on the other. These expressions are applied to our extensive CO data set to estimate the mass-loss rates of 47 sample stars. Results: We present analytical expressions for estimating the mass-loss rates of evolved stellar objects for 8 rotational transitions of the CO molecule and thencompare our results to those of previous studies. Our expressions account for line saturation and resolving of the envelope, thereby allowing accurate determination of very high mass-loss rates. We argue that, for estimates based on a single rotational line, the CO(2-1) transition provides the most reliable mass-loss rate. The mass-loss rates calculated for the asympotic giant branch stars range from 4 \times 10^-8 M_E¯ yr^-1 up to 8 \times 10^-5 M_E¯ yr^-1. For red supergiants they reach values between 2 \times 10^-7 M_E¯ yr^-1 and 3 \times 10^-4 M_E¯ yr^-1. The estimates for the set of CO transitions allow time variability to be identified in the mass-loss rate. Possible mass-loss-rate variability is traced for 7 of the sample stars. We find a clear relation between the pulsation periods of the asympotic giant branch stars and their derived mass-loss rates, with a levelling off at ~3 \times 10^-5 M_E¯ yr^-1 for periods exceeding 850 days. Conclusions: Appendices are only available in electronic form at http://www.aanda. org
Two Generations Of Black Caribbean Women‘s Experiences Of The Education System

This study examined the generational differences between the first generation of British born females of Caribbean descent who attended school in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and 1970s and their daughters. Through the exploration of these two generations’ experiences of school the research examined the similar trends and gained an understanding of the difficulties that they encountered and cited as barriers to their education. It explored the worries and anxieties of first generation mothers, and the measures they applied to improve the educational experiences of their daughters. It is qualitative research of twenty-six Black Caribbean women in London and Oxford. Access to participants was gained using the snowballing method and semi-structured interviews were used to trace the discussions about the educational experiences across the two generations. Documentary sources such as government reports and other research provided the historical perspective and contextual background to the study. When these historical documents were analysed they showed there was on-going political tension around educational issues. The main contention of the early immigrants of the 1960s was educational inequality which resulted in a disproportionate number of West Indian children in educationally subnormal schools. The study analyses some areas which were of concern to the mothers in respect to their dissatisfaction with their children’s schooling. It showed that some first generation mothers felt that they received very little support from their parents in school. Immigrant parents were unaware that they were expected to participate in the education of their children. However, unlike their parents, mothers in this study used their experiences of education and applied various measures in an attempt to support the academic performance of their children. This is in contrast to some of the stereotypes of indifference, disengagement and detachment of Black Caribbean parents. There is constant comparative analysis between the mothers’ and daughters’ experiences. The results showed that both mothers and daughters were affected by teachers’ perception, and low academic expectation. The study also highlights their perception of discrimination, isolation, exclusion and prejudicial practices. It seems that the education system through its operations and practices have maintained a structure that undermines self-confidence and performance of some Caribbean students. It was concluded that when mothers and daughters experiences of school were compared that many similarities existed. There was increased access in the education system that resulted in the availability of opportunities to further and higher education. However many issues still exist that prevents greater equality in the British education system.
The Higher Education Enrollment Decision: Feedback on Expected Study Success and Updating Behavior

Abstract This study examines whether providing students with information on their future study success will influence their higher education enrollment decision and lower first-year dropout as a consequence. A randomized field experiment is conducted among 313 law and social science applicants at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The main results suggest that (a) students are generally overly positive about their future performance, (b) enrollment rates increase by 25% if students receive information on future study success, but (c) providing information to students does not reduce first-year dropout. An important conclusion is that the higher enrollment decision is not driven by the extent to which students are self-serving biased or by their updating behavior. Instead this decision seems to be influenced by a fear of failure, in the sense that students who receive a pass-signal (fail-signal) with respect to future study success enroll with higher (lower) probability.
Lymphatic Territories (Lymphosomes) in a Canine: An Animal Model for Investigation of Postoperative Lymphatic Alterations

Background Lymph node dissection is often performed as a part of surgical treatment for breast cancer and malignant melanoma to prevent malignant cells from traveling via the lymphatic system. Currently little is known about postoperative lymphatic drainage pattern alterations. This knowledge may be useful for management of recurrent cancer and prevention of breast cancer related lymphedema. We mapped the complete superficial lymphatic system of a dog and used this canine model to perform preliminary studies of lymphatic architectural changes in postoperative condition. Methods Lymphatic territories (lymphosomes) were mapped with 4 female mongrel carcasses using an indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescent lymphography and a radiographic microinjection technique. Two live dogs were then subjected to unilateral lymph node dissection of lymph basins of the forelimb, and ICG lymphography and lymphangiogram were performed 6 months after the surgery to investigate lymphatic changes. Lymphatic patterns in the carcass were then compared with postoperative lymphatic patterns in the live dogs. Results Ten lymphosomes were identified, corresponding with ten lymphatic basins. Postoperative fluorescent lymphographic images and lymphangiograms in the live dogs revealed small caliber lymphatic network fulfilling gaps in the surgical area and collateral lymphatic vessels arising from the network connecting to lymph nodes in the contralateral and ipsilateral neck in one dog and the ipsilateral subclavicular vein in another dog. Conclusion Our canine lymphosome map allowed us to observe lymphatic collateral formations after lymph node dissection in live dogs. This canine model may help clarify our understanding of postoperative lymphatic changes in humans in future studies.
Constraining our Universe with X-ray and optical cluster data

We have used recent X-ray and optical data in order to impose some constraints on the cosmology and cluster scaling relations. Generically, two kinds of hypotheses define our model. First, we consider that the cluster population is well described by the standard Press–Schechter (PS) formalism, and secondly, these clusters are assumed to follow scaling relations with mass: temperature–mass (T–M) and X-ray luminosity–mass (Lx–M). In contrast with many other authors we do not assume specific scaling relations to model cluster properties such as the usual T–M virial relation or an observational relation or an observational determination of the Lx–T relation. Instead we consider general unconstrained parameter scaling relations. With the previous model (PS plus scalings) we fit our free parameters to several X-ray and optical data sets with the advantage over preceding works that we consider all the data sets at the same time. This prevents us from being inconsistent with some of the available observations. Among other interesting conclusions, we find that only low-density universes are compatible with all the data considered and that the degeneracy between Ωm and σ8 is broken. Also we obtain interesting limits on the parameters characterizing the scaling relations.
Research of the Methylation Status of miR-124a Gene Promoter among Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

Objective. To analyze the methylation status of miR-124a loci in synovial tissues of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients using methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP). Materials and Methods. DNA obtained from the frozen tissue of 7 RA samples, 6 osteoarthritis (OA) samples, and 3 healthy controls were undergoing bisulfite conversion and then analyzed for miR-124a promoter methylation using MSP assay. Results. miR-124-a1 and miR-124-a2 promoter methylation were both seen in 71.4% of RA samples compared to 16.7% of OA samples. miR-124-a3 promoter methylation was seen in 57.1% of RA samples and 0% of OA samples. All the three loci were unmethylated in 3 healthy controls. Conclusion. The methylation status of miR-124a seen in this study concurs with that reported in tumor cells, indicating epigenetic dysregulation constituents, a mechanism in the development of rheumatoid arthritis.
A New 1MV AMS Facility at KIGAM

A 1MV AMS was installed in KIGAM (Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources). After 4 months of installation, the AMS started normal operation from January 2008. This multi-element AMS was developed by HVEE to measure 14C, 10Be, and 26Al. The results of an acceptance test demonstrate that this machine is capable of routine 14C age dating and of measurements of other radioisotopes in terms of accuracy and precision as well as the background level. After installation, an investigation aimed at determining the stable operating conditions was conducted, and background levels were determined to be as low as 10–15 for 14C and 10–14 for 10Be and 26Al.
Measuring the impact of a school-based, integrative approach to play therapy on students with autism and their classroom instructors.

The authors of this study measured the impact of a school-based, integrative approach to play therapy (PT) on four elementaryand middle-school-aged students with autism and their classroom instructors. The play therapist conducted 15 weekly PT sessions with each student to work on their social and emotional awareness individualized education program (IEP) goals and then debriefed students’ instructors to encourage generalization of PT outcomes to the classroom setting. A combination of quantitative and qualitative data were collected, including the Autism Social Skills Profile, psychometric equivalence-tested goal attainment scales aligned with students’ IEP goals, case notes, and end-of-intervention interviews with classroom staff. Findings indicated that three students made gains on the Autism Social Skills Profile, and that all students made more progress than expected on IEP goals, both during PT sessions and in the classroom. Further, students’ instructors described substantial benefits associated with post-PT session debriefings with the play therapist, including improved rapport with students and better understanding of strategies for supporting them during challenging situations.
Role of diffusion weighted MRI in assessment of hypervascular hepatic tumors

Background: Hypervascular hepatic focal lesions may be benign or malignant. Therapy requires an accurate diagnosis, which in turn relies primarily on appropriate imaging and image-guided biopsy. MRI having many sequences, markedly helps in the detection of small lesions and in reaching the diagnosis easily even without contrast injection or the need for biopsy as in hemangiomas. Aim of the Work: To assess the role of diffusion weighted MRI imaging in differentiation between various types of hypervascular hepatic tumors. Patients & Methods: This study included (24) patients, 12 males & 12 females, their ages ranges from 28 to 66 years with a mean age of 49.5 years. The study was performed in Radiology department at Ain Shams University Hospitals and some private clinics in addition to National Cancer institute. Results: Highly statistically significant difference between benign and malignant according to ADC value. Benign lesions have higher mean ADC value compared to malignant lesions. Conclusion: Diffusion-weighted MRI sequence with quantitative ADC measurements can be useful in the differentiation of benign and malignant hypervascular hepatic focal lesions. Recommendations: Further studies on a larger scale of patients are needed to confirm the results obtain by this study.
Impact of Early Deafness and Early Exposure to Sign Language on the Cerebral Organization for Motion Processing

This functional magnetic resonance imaging study investigated the impact of early auditory deprivation and/or use of a visuospatial language [American sign language (ASL)] on the organization of neural systems important in visual motion processing by comparing hearing controls with deaf and hearing native signers. Participants monitored moving flowfields under different conditions of spatial and featural attention. Recruitment of the motion-selective area MT–MST in hearing controls was observed to be greater when attention was directed centrally and when the task was to detect motion features, confirming previous reports that the motion network is selectively modulated by different aspects of attention. More importantly, we observed marked differences in the recruitment of motion-related areas as a function of early experience. First, the lateralization of MT–MST was found to shift toward the left hemisphere in early signers, suggesting that early exposure to ASL leads to a greater reliance on the left MT–MST. Second, whereas the two hearing populations displayed more MT–MST activation under central than peripheral attention, the opposite pattern was observed in deaf signers, indicating enhanced recruitment of MT–MST during peripheral attention after early deafness. Third, deaf signers, but neither of the hearing populations, displayed increased activation of the posterior parietal cortex, supporting the view that parietal functions are modified after early auditory deprivation. Finally, only in deaf signers did attention to motion result in enhanced recruitment of the posterior superior temporal sulcus, establishing for the first time in humans that this polymodal area is modified after early sensory deprivation. Together these results highlight the functional and regional specificity of neuroplasticity in humans.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis Heat Shock Fusion Protein Enhances Class I MHC Cross-Processing and -Presentation by B Lymphocytes1

Exogenous heat shock protein (HSP):peptide complexes are processed for cross-presentation of HSP-chaperoned peptides on class I MHC (MHC-I) molecules. Fusion proteins containing HSP and Ag sequences facilitate MHC-I cross-presentation of linked antigenic epitopes. Processing of HSP-associated Ag has been attributed to dendritic cells and macrophages. We now provide the first evidence to show processing of HSP-associated Ag for MHC-I cross-presentation by B lymphocytes. Fusion of OVA sequence (rOVA, containing OVA230–359 sequence) to Mycobacterium tuberculosis HSP70 greatly enhanced rOVA processing and MHC-I cross-presentation of OVA257–264:Kb complexes by B cells. Enhanced processing was dependent on linkage of rOVA sequence to HSP70. M. tuberculosis HSP70-OVA fusion protein enhanced cross-processing by a CD91-dependent process that was independent of TLR4 and MyD88. The enhancement occurred through a post-Golgi, proteasome-independent mechanism. These results indicate that HSPs enhance delivery and cross-processing of HSP-linked Ag by B cells, which could provide a novel contribution to the generation of CD8+ T cell responses. HSP fusion proteins have potential advantages for use in vaccines to enhance priming of CD8+ T cell responses.
MICROTUBULES IN THE FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRIMARY MESENCHYME IN ARBACIA PUNCTULATA

To experimentally test the suggestion made in the preceding paper that the microtubules are involved in cell shape development during the formation and differentiation of the primary mesenchyme, we applied to the embryos two types of agents which affect cytoplasmic microtubules: (a) colchicine and hydrostatic pressure, which cause the microtubules to disassemble, and (b) D2O, which tends to stabilize them. When the first type of agent is applied to sea urchin gastrulae, the development of the primary mesenchyme ceases, the microtubules disappear, and the cells tend to spherulate. With D2O development also ceases, but the tubules appear "frozen," and the cell asymmetries persist unaltered. These agents appear to block development by primarily interfering with the sequential disassembly and/or reassembly of microtubules into new patterns. The microtubules, therefore, appear to be influential in the development of cell form. On the other hand through a careful analysis of the action of these agents and others on both intra- and extracellular factors, we concluded that the microtubules do rather little for the maintenance of cell shape in differentiated tissues.
Driving Simulator Study: Eco-Driving Training System Based on Individual Characteristics

This research sought to establish an eco-driving training system based on a driving simulator. The eco-driving training system contained five modules: human machine interface, data management, scene management, mode management, and evaluation algorithm management. It was proposed to base the new eco-driving training system on drivers’ individual characteristics. This system first asked drivers to conduct a diagnostic drive on a stretch of roadway in a driving simulator. The data on each driver’s non-ecological driving behaviors under different events were collected. Then each driver was given a customized training course based on an evaluation of his/her driving behaviors during the diagnostic drive. This training process is called eco-driving training based on individual characteristics (EDTIC). Eighty taxi drivers were recruited and divided into two groups for eco-driving training. One group was trained by watching videos, and the other was trained by the EDTIC training. An analysis of results shows that the EDTIC training was significantly more effective than traditional video training. Under the EDTIC training, all driving behaviors improved and emissions and fuel consumption were greatly reduced; the reduction was as great as 8.3–8.4%. The EDTIC training was proven effective at improving the eco-driving behavior of taxi drivers (i.e., professional drivers), and it could also be employed to train other professional drivers (bus and truck drivers) and non-professional drivers.
Policy design in a model with swings in risk appetite

This paper studies the policy implications of habits and cyclical changes in agents' appetite for risk-taking. To do so, it analyses the non-linear solution of a New Keynesian (NK) model, in which slow-moving habits help match the cyclical properties of risk-premia. Our findings suggest that the presence of habits and swings in risk appetite can materially affect policy prescriptions. As in Ljungqvist and Uhlig (2000), a counter-cyclical fiscal instrument can eliminate habit-related externalities. Alternatively, monetary policy can partially curb the associated overconsumption by responding to risk premia. Specifically, periods in which risk premia are elevated (compressed) merit a looser (tighter) policy stance. However, the associated welfare gains appear quantitatively small.