Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EARLY POSTOPERATIVE HYPOTONY AFTER 25-GAUGE SUTURELESS VITRECTOMY WITH STRAIGHT INCISIONS

Purpose: To evaluate the rate, duration, and associated complications of postoperative hypotony after 25-gauge sutureless vitrectomy. Methods: In a retrospective, interventional, institutional case series, 25-gauge sutureless vitrectomy with straight incisions was performed on 111 eyes. Postoperative intraocular pressure (IOP) was measured routinely at 2 hours, 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month. Postoperative IOP, hypotony (IOP, <8 mmHg) rates, and complications associated with low IOP were assessed to determine outcome. Results: Mean follow-up ± SD was 5.45 ± 3.44 months. Mean IOP decreased significantly by 2 hours and on postoperative day 1 (P < 0.001) and increased to preoperative levels at week 1 (P = 0.48). Postoperative hypotony rates were 26.12%, 17.11%, and 8.10% at 2 hours, 1 day, and 1 week, respectively. The ratio of postoperative vitreous hemorrhage in eyes with and without hypotony on day 1 was 2:6 (P = 0.412). Two eyes with macular holes (MHs) filled inadequately with gas endotamponade that remained hypotonic for the first postoperative week underwent reoperation due to unsealed MHs. Conclusions: Twenty-five–gauge sutureless vitrectomy with straight incisions resulted in a hypotony rate of 26.12% at 2 hours that decreased to 17.11% on day 1 and to 8.10% at week 1 but did not increase the incidence of postoperative complications.
Measurement of the microscopic viscosities of microfluids with a dynamic optical tweezers system

Viscosity coefficients of microfluids—Newtonian and non-Newtonian—were explored through the rotational motion of a particle trapped by optical tweezers in a microflute. Unlike conventional methods based on viscometers, our microfluidic system employs samples of less than 30 μl to complete a measurement. Viscosity coefficients of ethanol and fetal bovine serum, as typical examples of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids, were obtained experimentally, and found to be in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions. Additionally, a practical application to a DNA solution with incremental ethidium bromide content was employed and the results are consistent with clinical data, indicating that our system provides a potentially important complementary tool for use in such biological and medical applications.
Stomatal and non - stomatal limitation to photosynthesis in two trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides

A method is disclosed whereby carbon dioxide and methane in a gaseous mixture can be separated with little energy consumption when the gaseous mixture contains large amounts of carbon dioxide, i.e., from about 30 to about 90 mol percent. The method involves the fractionation of the gas mixture at a pressure below the critical pressure of the mixture and at a temperature above the triple point temperature of the mixture.
NNLO fermionic corrections to the charm quark mass dependent matrix elements in B̄ → Xsγ

We compute the virtual (αs2) fermionic contributions to the charm quark mass dependent matrix elements of the → Xsγ decay. In the case of a massless quark loop insertion into the gluon propagator, our result obtained as an expansion in z = mc2/mb2 and an exact expression in terms of multi-fold MB integrals, confirms the findings of Bieri, Greub and Steinhauser [22]. In the case of a b-quark loop insertion, we observe large differences between the actual massive case and the massless approximation. These turn out, as expected, to be less pronounced for the charm quark.
Expression of mRNA and immunoreactivity for the granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor in activated human eosinophils

Using in situ hybridization, we have shown that activated human peripheral blood eosinophils express mRNA for granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Between 15 and 27% of eosinophils gave positive hybridization signals for GM-CSF mRNA after stimulation with the calcium ionophore A23187 or interferon gamma, and 4 and 6% after incubation with interleukin 3 (IL-3) or IL-5. Activated eosinophils also gave specific immunoreactivity with an anti-GM-CSF polyclonal antibody, suggesting translation of the mRNA. These data indicate that eosinophils may be an important source of GM-CSF at sites of allergic inflammation. Furthermore, the identification of GM-CSF production by human eosinophils suggests that the pro-inflammatory potential of this cell type may be substantially greater than hitherto recognized.
Adjustment factors and genetic evaluation for somatic cell score and relationships with other traits of Canadian Holsteins.

Test day SCC records were obtained from the Ontario DHI and converted to somatic cell score using a logarithmic transformation. Adjustment factors for stage of lactation and calendar month were obtained for first and later lactations. Effects of stage of lactation were significant and followed a systematic pattern. Seasonal effects were small. Sire estimated breeding values for lactation mean adjusted test day somatic cell scores were obtained from an animal model based on first, later, and all lactations, assuming a heritability of . 11 and repeatability of . 27. Mean accuracy of estimated breeding values for sires with at least 30 daughters was . 64 for first lactation, . 76 for second to fifth, and . 86 for all lactations. Genetic trends for somatic cell score were not significant. The correlation of breeding values estimated from first lactations with estimates based on later lactations was . 62 for sires with at least 50 daughters, which resulted in an approximate genetic correlation of . 72. Correlations of sire estimated breeding values for somatic cell score from first lactation with estimated breeding values for milk, fat, protein, fat percentage, protein percentage, and milking speed were . 12, . 05, . 11, -. 09, -. 02, and . 20. Correlations between sire estimated breeding values for somatic cell score and type traits were generally small, but favorable with mammary system, -. 13, and fore udder, -. 16, and unfavorable with dairy character, . 24. Somatic cell score should be considered as an auxiliary trait in dairy cattle breeding programs.
Guayule and Russian Dandelion as Alternative Sources of Natural Rubber

ABSTRACT Natural rubber, obtained almost exclusively from the Para rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis), is a unique biopolymer of strategic importance that, in many of its most significant applications, cannot be replaced by synthetic rubber alternatives. Several pressing motives lead to the search for alternative sources of natural rubber. These include increased evidence of allergenic reactions to Hevea rubber, the danger that the fungal pathogen Microcyclus ulei, causative agent of South American Leaf Blight (SALB), might spread to Southeast Asia, which would severely disrupt rubber production, potential shortages of supply due to increasing demand and changes in land use, and a general trend towards the replacement of petroleum-derived chemicals with renewables. Two plant species have received considerable attention as potential alternative sources of natural rubber: the Mexican shrub Guayule (Parthenium argentatum Gray) and the Russian dandelion (Taraxacum koksaghyz). This review will summarize the current production methods and applications of natural rubber (dry rubber and latex), the threats to the production of natural rubber from the rubber tree, and describe the current knowledge of the production of natural rubber from guayule and Russian dandelion.
Rationalization and Cognitive Dissonance: Do Choices Affect or Reflect Preferences?

Cognitive dissonance is one of the most influential theories in psychology, and its oldest experiential realization is choice-induced dissonance. In contrast to the economic approach of assuming a person's choices reveal their preferences, psychologists have claimed since 1956 that people alter their preferences to rationalize past choices by devaluing rejected alternatives and upgrading chosen ones. Here, I show that every study which has tested this preference-spreading effect has overlooked the potential that choices may reflect individual preferences. Specifically, these studies have implicitly assumed that subject's preferences can be measured perfectly, i.e., with infinite precision. Absent this, their methods, even with control groups, will mistakenly identify cognitive dissonance when there is none. Correctly interpreted, several prominent studies actually reject the presence of choice-induced dissonance. This suggests that mere choice may not always induce rationalization, a reversal that may significantly change the way we think about cognitive dissonance as a whole.
The ESO-Sculptor Survey: Luminosity functions of galaxies per spectral type at redshifts 0.1-0.5

We present the first statistical analysis of the complete ESO-Sculptor Survey (ESS) of faint galaxies. The flux- calibrated sample of 617 galaxies with Rc 20:5 is separated into 3 spectral classes, based on a principal component analysis which provides a continuous and template-independent spectral classification. We use an original method to estimate accurate K-corrections: comparison of the ESS spectra with a spectral library using the principal component analysis allows us to extrapolate the missing parts of the observed spectra at blue wavelengths, then providing a polynomial parameterization of K-corrections as a function of spectral type and redshift. We also report on all sources of random and systematic errors which aect the spectral classification, the K-corrections, and the resulting absolute magnitudes. We use the absolute magnitudes to measure the Johnson-Cousins B, V, Rc luminosity functions of the ESS as a function of spectral class. The shape of the derived luminosity functions show marked dierences among the 3 spectral classes, which are common to the B, V, Rc bands, and therefore reflect a physical phenomenon: for galaxies of later spectral type, the characteristic magnitude is fainter and the faint-end is steeper. The ESS also provides the first estimates of luminosity functions per spectral type in the V band. The salient results are obtained by fitting the ESS luminosity functions with composite functions based on the intrin- sic luminosity functions per morphological type measured locally by Sandage et al. (1985) and Jerjen & Tammann (1997). The Gaussian luminosity functions for the nearby Spiral galaxies can be reconciled with the ESS intermediate and late-type luminosity functions if the corresponding classes contain an additional Schechter contribution from Spheroidal and Irregular dwarf galaxies, respectively. The present analysis of the ESS luminosity functions oers a renewed interpretation of the galaxy luminosity function from redshift surveys. It also illustrates how luminosity functions per spectral type may be aected by morphological type mixing, and emphasizes the need for a quantitative morphological classification at z> 0:1 which separates
Peri-implant bone remodeling around an extraction socket: predictions of bone maintenance by finite element method.

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to investigate peri-implant bone remodeling as a response to biomechanical factors, including implant size and contour, magnitude of occlusal load, and properties of osteogenic bone grafts through the use of a computational algorithm. MATERIALS AND METHODS A bone-remodeling algorithm was incorporated into the finite element method, where bone remodeling takes place as a result of the biomechanical alteration caused by dental implant placement and continues until the difference between the homeostatic state and the altered state is minimized. The site-specific homeostatic state was based on a model consisting of a natural tooth. Three long (11-mm) implants and two short (5-mm) implants were investigated. A three-dimensional segment of the mandible was constructed from a computed tomographic image of the premolar region, and an extraction socket was filled with bone graft. RESULTS Generally, the extent of bone loss in the cortical region was greater and denser bone developed at both the implant crest and apex with increased occlusal loads. The areas between implant threads were prone to bone resorption. Bone graft materials that were relatively stiff and that had high equilibrium stimulus values appeared to cause increased bone loss. CONCLUSIONS Short implants are better for conserving the mechanotransductive signaling environment of the natural tooth than long implants. Also, short implants are predicted to lead to less interfacial bone loss at high loads over the long term, while long implants are associated with a more consistent level of bone loss for different amounts of loading. It is also predicted that in the long term, bone grafts with relatively low elastic modulus lead to lower levels of interfacial bone loss.
Combining off- and on-line calibration of a digital camera

We introduce a novel outlook on the self-calibration task, by considering images taken by a camera in motion, allowing for zooming and focusing. Apart from the complex relationship between the lens control settings and the intrinsic camera parameters, a prior off-line calibration allows to neglect the setting of focus, and to fix the principal point and aspect ratio throughout distinct views. Thus, the calibration matrix is dependent only on the zoom position. Given a fully calibrated reference view, one has only one parameter to estimate for any other view of the same scene, in order to calibrate it and to be able to perform metric reconstructions. We provide a close-form solution, and validate the reliability of the algorithm with experiments on real images. An important advantage of our method is a reduced -to one-number of critical camera configurations, associated with it. Moreover we propose a method for computing the epipolar geometry of two views, taken from different positions and with different (spatial) resolutions; the idea is to take an appropriate third view, that is "easy" to match with the other two.
Prevalence and Clinical Spectrum of Liver Disease in Nepalese HIV-Sero-Positive Patients Undergoing Antiretroviral Therapy: A Cross-Sectional Hospital Based Study

Introduction Liver enzyme abnormalities are common in HIV patients, and the prevalence varies across the nations. In Nepal, however, prevalence of liver enzyme disorder and the spectrum of these populations are lacking. Objective The present study sheds light on prevalence and clinical spectrum of liver disease in Nepalese HIV-sero-positive patients. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted at OPD/ART, Clinic of Bir Hospital, NAMS. One hundred and forty-four HIV positive patients were enrolled consecutively and their clinical profiles of liver injury were investigated. Results Of 144 recruited patients, liver enzyme injury was observed in 82 (56.9%). Majority 61 (42.4%) of these cases had hepatocellular type of liver injury. Opportunistic infections were reported in 18 cases, with 9 (6.2%) TB and 8 (5.6%) HCV. Test for significance of liver injury confirmed the absence of any tendency towards an association with coinfection, CD4 cells, ART regimen, and alcohol consumption (P > 0.05). However, gender significantly linked with liver injury as well as the pattern of liver injury (P < 0.05). Conclusion The study revealed high rate of liver injury in a substantial proportion of HIV individuals, stressing that a regular clinic follow-up is necessary for the HIV individuals who are undergoing ART.
Agonist and blocking actions of choline and tetramethylammonium on human muscle acetylcholine receptors

Choline has been used widely as an agonist for the investigation of gain‐of‐function mutants of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. It is useful because it behaves like a partial agonist. The efficacy of choline is difficult to measure because choline blocks the channel at concentrations about four times lower than those that activate it. We have fitted activation mechanisms to single‐channel activity elicited from HEK‐expressed human recombinant muscle nicotinic receptors by choline and by tetramethylammonium (TMA). Channel block by the agonist was incorporated into the mechanisms that were fitted, and block was found not to be selective for the open state. The results also suggest that channel block is very fast and that the channel can shut almost as fast as normal when the blocker was bound. Single‐channel data are compatible with a mechanism in which choline is actually a full agonist, its maximum response being limited only by channel block. However, they are also compatible with a mechanism incorporating a pre‐opening conformation change (‘flip’) in which choline is a genuine partial agonist. The latter explanation is favoured by concentration jump experiments, and by the fact that only this mechanism fits the TMA data. We propose that choline, like TMA, is a partial agonist because it is very ineffective (approximately 600‐fold less than acetylcholine) at eliciting the initial, pre‐opening conformation change. Once flipping has occurred, all agonists, even choline, open the channel with similar efficiency.
Beyond verbs: Understanding actions in videos with text

We consider the problem of joint modeling of videos and their corresponding textual descriptions (e.g. sentences or phrases). Our approach consists of three components: the video representation, the textual representation, and a joint model that links videos and text. Our video representation uses the state-of-the-art deep 3D ConvNet to capture the semantic information in the video. Our textual representation uses the recent advancement in learning word and sentence vectors from large text corpus. The joint model is learned to score the correct (video, text) pairs higher than the incorrect ones. We demonstrate our approach in several applications: 1) retrieving sentences given a video; 2) retrieving videos given a sentence; 3) zero-shot action recognition in videos.
Autoantibodies in lung cancer: possibilities for early detection and subsequent cure

Background: People with lung cancer usually present at a late stage in the course of their disease when their chances of long-term survival are low. At present there is little to offer for early diagnosis, even in those at high risk of developing the disease. Autoantibodies have been shown to be present in the circulation of people with various forms of solid tumour before cancer-associated antigens can be detected, and these molecules can be measured up to 5 years before symptomatic disease. Objective: To assess the potential of a panel of tumour-associated autoantibody profiles as an aid to other lung cancer screening modalities. Methods: Plasma from normal controls (n = 50), patients with non-small cell lung cancer (n = 82) and patients with small cell lung cancer (n = 22) were investigated for the presence of autoantibodies to p53, c-myc, HER2, NY-ESO-1, CAGE, MUC1 and GBU4-5 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Raised levels of autoantibodies were seen to at least 1/7 antigens in 76% of all the patients with lung cancer plasma tested, and 89% of node-negative patients, with a specificity of 92%. There was no significant difference between the detection rates in the lung cancer subgroups, although more patients with squamous cell carcinomas (92%) could be identified. Conclusion: Measurement of an autoantibody response to one or more tumour-associated antigens in an optimised panel assay may provide a sensitive and specific blood test to aid the early detection of lung cancer.
Influence of mate drinking, hot beverages and diet on esophageal cancer risk in south america

To estimate the effects of consuming hot beverages, including mate (an infusion of the herb Ilex paraguayensis), tea, coffee and coffee with milk, and other food items on esophageal cancer risk, we analyzed data from 830 cases and 1,779 controls participating in a series of 5 hospital‐based case‐control studies of squamous‐cell carcinoma of the esophagus conducted in high‐risk areas of South America. After adjusting for the strong effects of tobacco and alcohol consumption, both heavy mate drinking (>1 l/day) and self‐reported very hot mate drinking were significantly associated with esophageal cancer risk in men and women. The magnitude and strength of the association for mate amount and, to a lesser extent, mate temperature were higher for women than men. The joint effects of mate amount and mate temperature were more than multiplicative, following a statistically significant synergistic interaction (p = 0.02) which was particularly evident among heavy drinkers (>1.50 l/day) of very hot mate (odds ratio = 4.14, 95% confidence interval: 2.24–7.67) compared to light drinkers (<0.50 l/day) of cold/warm/hot mate. Consumption of other very hot beverages, such as tea and coffee with milk but not coffee alone, was also significantly associated with an increased risk, in the 2‐ to 4‐fold range. Statistically significant protective associations were identified for high consumption of vegetables, fruits, cereals and tea. In contrast, frequent consumption of meat, animal fats and salt was associated with a moderately increased risk. This pooled analysis adds evidence for a carcinogenic effect of chronic thermal injury in the esophagus induced by the consumption of very hot drinks, including mate. Our study further confirms the protective effect of a dietary pattern characterized by daily consumption of fruits and vegetables and low consumption of meat and animal fats. Int. J. Cancer 88:658–664, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Symptom-modifying effects of oral avocado/soybean unsaponifiables in routine treatment of knee osteoarthritis in Poland. An open, prospective observational study of patients adherent to a 6-month treatment

Objectives Observational studies provide insights into real-life situations. Therefore, we assessed the effects of oral avocado/soybean unsaponifiable (ASU) capsules on pain relief and functional ability in patients, while they were receiving a routine treatment for knee osteoarthritis (OA). Material and methods An open, prospective, observational 6-month study was conducted in 99 centers in Poland in a group of 4822 patients with symptomatic knee OA receiving one 300 mg ASU capsule/day as a routine medication. The patients had no diagnoses of other rheumatic diseases and were not treated with other symptomatic slow-acting drugs for osteoarthritis (SYSADOAs). Data on OA symptoms and therapy were collected from the initiation of ASU treatment (visit 0) and during 3 consecutive control visits performed every 2 months (visits 1–3). Functional Lequesne index, severity of joint pain of one symptomatic knee (Laitinen index and VAS), use of analgesics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), adherence to treatment and adverse events were evaluated and recorded using electronic Case Report Forms. Results Four thousand one hundred and eighty-six patients (86.8%) attended all 4 visits. In 94.2% of patients (mean age 60.7 ±11.6 years SD, 73.4% female) at least one OA risk factor was identified. There was a significant improvement in functional ability between the last and baseline visits as evidenced by the median Lequesne index decreasing from 8 to 4 points (p < 0.001). Measures of pain intensity also fell significantly (p < 0.001) throughout the study: median Laitinen score decreased from 6 to 3 points, median pain at rest VAS – from 1.8 to 0 cm and median pain during walking VAS – from 5.6 to 1.9 cm. The significant differences were also noted between consecutive visits. The proportion of patients using analgesics and NSAIDs declined from 58.8% at the baseline visit to 24.9% at the last visit 3 (p < 0.001). Defined daily dose of NSAIDs decreased significantly from 1 at the baseline visit to 0.67 at the visit 3. Severe adverse events associated with ASU treatment were not observed. Conclusions It was the first observational study in Poland evaluating the effects of routine knee OA treatment with oral ASU. Only a small group of patients (13.2%) treated with ASU discontinued the study. The majority of patients adherent to the ASU treatment for 6 months showed gradual alleviation of joint pain, improvement in functional ability and a significant reduction in NSAIDs intake.