Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Results of the Application of Intraoperative Mitomycin C in Dacryocystorhinostomy

Purpose Dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) is widely accepted as the procedure of choice for surgical correction of lacrimal drainage system obstruction distal to common canaliculus in adulthood. The success rate of DCR has been reported to be from 63% to 99%. DCR failure has been attributed to membranous occlusion of the rhinostomy site caused by soft tissue scarring. More recently, use of mitomycin C (MMC) has been described in lacrimal drainage surgery. The beneficial effect of MMC as a surgical adjunct is thought to be related to its potent inhibition of fibroblast proliferation. Methods To improve the success rate of DCR, the authors used MMC as an adjunct to surgery in 130 patients with nasolacrimal duct obstruction undergoing lacrimal surgery. They were assigned randomly into a MMC DCR group and a regular DCR group (control group). Results The mean age of the MMC group was 40 ± 15 years and that of the control group was 42 ± 16 years. The standard surgical techniques of an external DCR were used in all patients of both groups. Patients were followed for 6 months. The authors evaluated the patients with subjective symptoms (improvement in tearing) and objective findings such as the height of tear meniscus, fluorescein dye test, and patency at the time of irrigation. There was no significant difference in the age between the two groups (p=1.00). Six patients in the mitomycin group were symptomatic after 6 months' follow-up; probe and irrigation showed non-patency of lacrimal system. The success rate in the MMC group was therefore 90.5% (59/65), and in the conventional group it was 92.4% (60/65). No significant difference between the two groups was present (p=0.75). Conclusions The authors conclude that the use of intraoperative MMC in DCR surgery does not change the success rate of this procedure.
Study on Behavior in Tension of Reinforced Concrete Members Strengthened by Carbon Fiber Sheet

This paper presents experimental results on the behavior in tension of reinforced concrete members strengthened with carbon fiber sheets (CFS). CFS reduced the crack spacing and brought about good crack width control as well as a significant change in the average bond stress and the average stress of steel reinforcing bars and concrete. The deterioration mechanism of the CFS bond properties near cracks was presented.
Isomerization of dietary lycopene during assimilation and transport in plasma

Diets of individuals were supplemented with tomatoes, either cooked or as tomato purée in order to compare uptake of lycopene from intact and homogenized fruit tissue matrices. Following a diet containing cooked tomatoes over three consecutive 7-day periods, little change in the carotenoid levels in plasma lipoproteins occurred. In contrast, a diet supplemented with concentrated tomato purée, over a 2 week period, caused a significant (p < 0.05) increase in lycopene levels in plasma, showing that the lycopene within intact cells is less bioavailable than that from processed tissue. The isomeric composition of plasma lycopene was significantly different to that of the ingested purée. A number of cis-isomers (predominantly 5-cis, 13-cis and 9-cis-) were detected in plasma, that are not present in the lycopene from purée. The significance of the increase in lycopene following dietary supplementation with respect to bioavailability and the causes of isomerization are discussed.
Strategic trade and industrial policy towards dynamic oligopolies

In this paper characterise optimal trade and industrial policy in dynamic oligopolistic markets. If governments can commit to future policies, optimal first-period intervention should diverge from the profit-shifting benchmark to an extent which exactly offsets the strategic behaviour implied by Fudenberg and Tirole''s "fat cats and top dogs" taxonomy of business strategies. Without government commitment, there is an additional basis for intervention, whose sign depends on the strategic substitutability between future policy and current actions. We consider a variety of applications (to R&D spillovers, consumer switching costs, etc.) and extensions to second-best, revenue-constrained and entry-promotion policies.
Quantitative studies of the optical and UV spectra of Galactic early B supergiants - I. Fundamental parameters

Aims. We undertake an optical and ultraviolet spectroscopic analysis of a sample of 20 Galactic B0-B5 supergiants of luminosity classes Ia, Ib, Iab, and II. Fundamental stellar parameters are obtained from optical diagnostics and a critical comparison of the model predictions to observed UV spectral features is made. Methods. Fundamental parameters (e.g., ${T_{\rm eff}}$, ${\rm log L_{*}}$, mass-loss rates and CNO abundances) are derived for individual stars using CMFGEN, a nLTE, line-blanketed model atmosphere code. The impact of these newly derived parameters on the Galactic B supergiant ${T_{\rm eff}}$ scale, mass discrepancy, and wind-momentum luminosity relation is examined. Results. The B supergiant temperature scale derived here shows a reduction of about 1000-3000 K compared to previous results using unblanketed codes. Mass-loss rate estimates are in good agreement with predicted theoretical values, and all of the 20 B0-B5 supergiants analysed show evidence of CNO processing. A mass discrepancy still exists between spectroscopic and evolutionary masses, with the largest discrepancy occurring at ${\rm log\ (L/L_{\odot}})$ ~ 5.4. The observed WLR values calculated for B0-B0.7 supergiants are higher than predicted values, whereas the reverse is true for B1-B5 supergiants. This means that the discrepancy between observed and theoretical values cannot be resolved by adopting clumped (i.e., lower) mass-loss rates as for O stars. The most surprising result is that, although CMFGEN succeeds in reproducing the optical stellar spectrum accurately, it fails to precisely reproduce key UV diagnostics, such as the $\ion{N}{v}$ and $\ion{C}{iv}$ P Cygni profiles. This problem arises because the models are not ionised enough and fail to reproduce the full extent of the observed absorption trough of the P Cygni profiles. Conclusions. Newly-derived fundamental parameters for early B supergiants are in good agreement with similar work in the field. The most significant discovery, however, is the failure of CMFGEN to predict the correct ionisation fraction for some ions. Such findings add further support to revising the current standard model of massive star winds, as our understanding of these winds is incomplete without a precise knowledge of the ionisation structure and distribution of clumping in the wind.
Plxnd1 Expression in Thymocytes Regulates Their Intrathymic Migration While That in Thymic Endothelium Impacts Medullary Topology

An important role for plexinD1 in thymic development is inferred from studies of germline Plxnd1 knockout (KO) mice where mislocalized CD69+ thymocytes as well as ectopic thymic subcapsular medullary structures were observed. Given embryonic lethality of the Plxnd1−/− genotype, fetal liver transplantation was employed in these prior analyses. Such embryonic hematopoietic reconstitution may have transferred Plxnd1 KO endothelial and/or epithelial stem cells in addition to Plxnd1 KO lymphoid progenitors, thereby contributing to that phenotype. Here we use Plxnd1flox/flox mice crossed to pLck-Cre, pKeratin14-Cre, or pTek-Cre transgenic animals to create cell-type specific conditional knockout (CKO) lines involving thymocytes (D1ThyCKO), thymic epithelium (D1EpCKO), and thymic endothelium (D1EnCKO), respectively. These CKOs allowed us to directly assess the role of plexinD1 in each lineage. Loss of plexinD1 expression on double positive (DP) thymocytes leads to their aberrant migration and cortical retention after TCR-mediated positive selection. In contrast, ectopic medulla formation is a consequence of loss of plexinD1 expression on endothelial cells, in turn linked to dysregulation of thymic angiogenesis. D1EpCKO thymi manifest neither abnormality. Collectively, our findings underscore the non-redundant roles for plexinD1 on thymocytes and endothelium, including the dynamic nature of medulla formation resulting from crosstalk between these thymic cellular components.
Gray Matter Density of Auditory Association Cortex Relates to Knowledge of Sound Concepts in Primary Progressive Aphasia

Long-term memory integrates the multimodal information acquired through perception into unified concepts, supporting object recognition, thought, and language. While some theories of human cognition have considered concepts to be abstract symbols, recent functional neuroimaging evidence has supported an alternative theory: that concepts are multimodal representations associated with the sensory and motor systems through which they are acquired. However, few studies have examined the effects of cortical lesions on the sensory and motor associations of concepts. We tested the hypothesis that individuals with disease in auditory association cortex would have difficulty processing concepts with strong sound associations (e.g., thunder). Human participants with the logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA) performed a recognition task on words with strong associations in three modalities: Sound, Sight, and Manipulation. LvPPA participants had selective difficulty on Sound words relative to other modalities. Structural MRI analysis in lvPPA revealed gray matter atrophy in auditory association cortex, as defined functionally in a separate BOLD fMRI study of healthy adults. Moreover, lvPPA showed reduced gray matter density in the region of auditory association cortex that healthy participants activated when processing the same Sound words in a separate BOLD fMRI experiment. Finally, reduced gray matter density in this region in lvPPA directly correlated with impaired performance on Sound words. These findings support the hypothesis that conceptual memories are represented in the sensory and motor association cortices through which they are acquired.
Crystal structure of poly[[di-μ3-acetato-tetraaquabis(μ2-cyclohexane-1,4-dicarboxylato)dilanthanum(III)] dihydrate]

The title compound is a binuclear lanthanum(III) complex having each metal ion in decacoordination with oxygen atoms from 1,4-chdc2− ligands, acetate groups and coordinated water molecules to form a distorted bicapped square antiprismatic geometry. The strong intermolecular O–H⋯O and weak C–H⋯O interactions lead to the construction of a three-dimensional supramolecular architecture.
Antibodies Elicited in Response to EBNA-1 May Cross-React with dsDNA

Background Several genetic and environmental factors have been linked to Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). One environmental trigger that has a strong association with SLE is the Epstein Barr Virus (EBV). Our laboratory previously demonstrated that BALB/c mice expressing the complete EBNA-1 protein can develop antibodies to double stranded DNA (dsDNA). The present study was undertaken to understand why anti-dsDNA antibodies arise during the immune response to EBNA-1. Methodology/Principal Findings In this study, we demonstrated that mouse antibodies elicited in response to EBNA-1 cross-react with dsDNA. First, we showed that adsorption of sera reactive with EBNA-1 and dsDNA, on dsDNA cellulose columns, diminished reactivity with EBNA-1. Next, we generated mononclonal antibodies (MAbs) to EBNA-1 and showed, by several methods, that they also reacted with dsDNA. Examination of two cross-reactive MAbs—3D4, generated in this laboratory, and 0211, a commercial MAb—revealed that 3D4 recognizes the carboxyl region of EBNA-1, while 0211 recognizes both the amino and carboxyl regions. In addition, 0211 binds moderately well to the ribonucleoprotein, Sm, which has been reported by others to elicit a cross-reactive response with EBNA-1, while 3D4 binds only weakly to Sm. This suggests that the epitope in the carboxyl region may be more important for cross-reactivity with dsDNA while the epitope in the amino region may be more important for cross-reactivity with Sm. Conclusions/Significance In conclusion, our results demonstrate that antibodies to the EBNA-1 protein cross-react with dsDNA. This study is significant because it demonstrates a direct link between the viral antigen and the development of anti-dsDNA antibodies, which are the hallmark of SLE. Furthermore, it illustrates the crucial need to identify the epitopes in EBNA-1 responsible for this cross-reactivity so that therapeutic strategies can be designed to mask these regions from the immune system following EBV exposure.
Glucocorticoid stress hormones and the effect of predation risk on elk reproduction

Predators affect prey demography through direct predation and through the costs of antipredator behavioral responses, or risk effects. Experiments have shown that risk effects can comprise a substantial proportion of a predator's total effect on prey dynamics, but we know little about their strength in wild populations, or the physiological mechanisms that mediate them. When wolves are present, elk alter their grouping patterns, vigilance, foraging behavior, habitat selection, and diet. These responses are associated with decreased progesterone levels, decreased calf production, and reduced population size [Creel S, Christianson D, Liley S, Winnie JA (2007) Science 315:960]. Two general mechanisms for the effect of predation risk on reproduction have been proposed: the predation stress hypothesis and the predator-sensitive-food hypothesis. Here, we used enzyme immunoassay to measure fecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations for 1,205 samples collected from 4 elk populations over 4 winters to test the hypothesis that the effect of predation risk on elk reproduction is mediated by chronic stress. Across populations and years, fecal glucocorticoid concentrations were not related to predator-prey ratios, progesterone concentrations or calf-cow ratios. Overall, the effect of wolf presence on elk reproduction is better explained by changes in foraging patterns that carry nutritional costs than by changes in glucocorticoid concentrations.
Controversies in appendicitis.

BACKGROUND Appendectomy for appendicitis is a common operation that is performed by most general surgeons. Despite the large number of appendectomies, numerous management controversies continue. METHODS Review of the pertinent English language literature. RESULTS Controversy persists regarding the use of imaging studies for diagnosis, laparoscopic vs. open surgical methods, nonoperative management of uncomplicated appendicitis, delayed management of the patient with phlegmon from severe appendicitis, the necessity for interval appendectomy, and the merits of deferral of off-hour appendectomy until the following morning. This review identifies the published reports that support the pros and cons of each controversy. CONCLUSIONS Class I data generally are lacking to support the resolution of these controversies. Additional well-controlled clinical trials are necessary to obtain definitive answers.
Conic controller synthesis that minimizes an upper bound on the closed-loop ℋ2-norm

The Conic Sector Theorem is a versatile input-output stability result that can be used to ensure closed-loop, input-output stability where better-known results, such as the Passivity and Small Gain Theorems, cannot. Moreover, conic sectors can be used to characterize a variety of input-output properties, such as gain, phase, and minimum gain. This paper proposes a linear-matrix-inequality-based approach to the synthesis of conic controllers that minimize an upper-bound on the closed-loop v-norm. This provides a valuable tool for robust and optimal control by combining the utility of conic sectors and the Conic Sector Theorem with ℋ2-optimal control.
Strong functional representation lemma and applications to coding theorems

This paper shows that for any random variables X and Y, it is possible to represent Y as a function of (X, Z) such that Z is independent of X and I(X; Z| Y) ≤ log(I(X; Y)+1)+4. We use this strong functional representation lemma (SFRL) to establish a tighter bound on the rate needed for one-shot exact channel simulation than was previously established by Harsha et. al., and to establish achievability results for one-shot variable-length lossy source coding and multiple description coding. We also show that the SFRL can be used to reduce the channel with state noncausally known at the encoder to a point-to-point channel, which provides a simple achievability proof of the Gelfand-Pinsker theorem. Finally we present an example in which the SFRL inequality is tight to within 5 bits.
Quantifying Aversion to Costly Typing Errors in Expert Mobile Text Entry

Text entry is an increasingly important activity for mobile device users. As a result, increasing text entry speed of expert typists is an important design goal for physical and soft keyboards. Mathematical models that predict text entry speed can help with keyboard design and optimization. Making typing errors when entering text is inevitable. However, current models do not consider how typists themselves reduce the risk of making typing errors (and lower error frequency) by typing more slowly. We demonstrate that users respond to costly typing errors by reducing their typing speed to minimize typing errors. We present a model that estimates the effects of risk aversion to errors on typing speed. We estimate the magnitude of this speed change, and show that disregarding the adjustments to typing speed that expert typists use to reduce typing errors leads to overly optimistic estimates of maximum errorless expert typing speeds.
The A2′N Mutation of the RDL &ggr;-Aminobutyric Acid Receptor Conferring Fipronil Resistance in Laodelphax striatellus (Hemiptera: Delphacidae)

ABSTRACT The planthopper Laodelphax striatellus (Fallén) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) is a serious insect pest of rice, Oryza sativa L. , and has developed resistance to fipronil in Japan. Sequence analysis of L. striatellus RDL &ggr;-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor subunit (LS-RDL) genes from a fipronilresistant population and a fipronil-susceptible strain identified the A2′N mutation (index number for M2 membrane-spanning region), that was previously implicated in fipronil resistance in the planthopper Sogatella furcifera (Horváth) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae). Nineteen of 21 fipronil-resistant L. striatellus individuals were genotyped as heterozygous for the A2′N mutation, suggesting that this mutation is associated with fipronil resistance and that most fipronil-resistant L. striatellus express wild-type and A2′N mutant LS-RDL simultaneously. To confirm the role of the A2′N mutation of LS-RDL, Drosophila Mel-2 cells were transfected with wild-type and A2′N mutant LS-RDL genes, either individually or together. A membrane potential assay showed that fipronil had no inhibitory effect at 10 &mgr;M on cells transfected with the A2′N mutant LS-RDL gene with or without the wild-type LS-RDL gene. By contrast, the IC50 value of fipronil for wild-type LS-RDL homomers was 14 nM. These results suggest that the A2′N mutation of the RDL GABA receptor subunit confers fipronil resistance in L. striatellus as well as S. furcifera.
GENERATING SEQUENCES OF FUNCTIONS

We consider the problem of obtaining an arbitrary countable collection of functions with specific properties as a composition of finitely many functions with the same property. The functions investigated are continuous, Baire-n, Lebesgue or Borel measurable, increasing, and differentiable functions on [0, 1], and increasing functions on .
Sequence analysis Prediction of zinc-binding sites in proteins from sequence

Motivation: Motivated by the abundance, importance and unique functionality of zinc, both biologically and physiologically, we have developed an improved method for the prediction of zinc-binding sites in proteins from their amino acid sequences. Results: By combining support vector machine (SVM) and homology-based predictions, our method predicts zinc-binding Cys, His, Asp and Glu with 75% precision (86% for Cys and His only) at 50% recall according to a 5-fold cross-validation on a non-redundant set of protein chains from the Protein Data Bank (PDB) (2727 chains, 235 of which bind zinc). Consequently, our method predicts zinc-binding Cys and His with 10% higher precision at different recall levels compared to a recently published method when tested on the same dataset.
A DECOUPLED FEDERATE ARCHITECTURE FOR DISTRIBUTED SIMULATION CLONING

Distributed simulation cloning technology is designed to perform “what-if” analysis of existing High Level Architecture (HLA) based distributed simulations. The technology aims to enable the examination of alternative scenarios concurrently within the same simulation execution session. State saving and recovery are necessary for cloning a federate at runtime. However it is very difficult to have a generic state manipulation mechanism for any existing federate, as these can be developed independently and freely. The correctness of replicating a running federate significantly depends on the Runtime Infrastructure (RTI) software. The distributed simulation also needs fault tolerance to provide robustness at runtime. This paper proposes a decoupled federate architecture to address the above issues. A normal federate is decoupled into two processes, which execute the simulation model (virtual federate) and the local RTI component (physical federate) respectively. The decoupled approach interlinks the two processes together via Inter-Process Communication. The virtual federate interacts with the RTI through the standard RTI service interface supported by a customized library. The decoupled architecture ensures the correct replication of federates and facilitates fault tolerance at the RTI level. At the same time, it provides user transparency and reusability to existing federate codes. Benchmark experiments have been performed to study the extra overhead incurred by the decoupled federate architecture against the normal federate. The encouraging experimental results indicate that the proposed approach has a performance close to the normal one in terms of latency and time synchronization.
On The Evolution of Multicellularity Larry Bull

In this paper the initial conditions for the emergence of multicellular organisms are examined. Using the tuneable abstract NKC model of evolution comparisons in evolutionary performance are made between unicellular organisms and very simple multicellular organisms, under varying conditions. The results show that multicellularity without differentiation appears selectively neutral, but that differentiation to soma proves beneficial as the amount of epistasis in the fitness landscape increases. This is explained by considering mutations in the generation of daughter cells and their subsequent effect on the propagule's fitness. This is interpreted as a simple example of the Baldwin effect.
Crowdsourcing Multiple Choice Science Questions

We present a novel method for obtaining high-quality, domain-targeted multiple choice questions from crowd workers. Generating these questions can be difficult without trading away originality, relevance or diversity in the answer options. Our method addresses these problems by leveraging a large corpus of domain-specific text and a small set of existing questions. It produces model suggestions for document selection and answer distractor choice which aid the human question generation process. With this method we have assembled SciQ, a dataset of 13.7K multiple choice science exam questions. We demonstrate that the method produces in-domain questions by providing an analysis of this new dataset and by showing that humans cannot distinguish the crowdsourced questions from original questions. When using SciQ as additional training data to existing questions, we observe accuracy improvements on real science exams.