Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ophthalmic transplantology: anterior segment of the eye - part I.

BACKGROUND Transplantology is a quickly developing field of ophthalmology. It currently is able to treat many inherited, degenerative, inflammatory, traumatic, and cancerous diseases. This review outlines recent concepts and methods of treating ocular diseases with tissue and cell grafts. Ocular transplants related to the anterior part of the eye, including the conjunctiva and the cornea, are reviewed in Part 1. MATERIAL/METHODS The scientific literature dated from January 2005 to July 2011 was thoroughly searched using Medline and PubMed. Publications dated 2009, 2010, and 2011 were analyzed in detail. Search terms were as follows: auto-, homo-, heterologous transplantation, eyeball, ocular adnexa, anterior segment of the eye, cornea, lamellar keratoplasty, stem cells, cultured cells. Further data were found at the website of the Eye Bank Association of America. RESULTS Nearly all tissues of the anterior segment of the eye (the conjunctiva, sclera, eye muscles, and cornea) are transplanted. Because of the recent significant progress in the field, cornea transplantation was analyzed in more detail, specifically procedures such as limbus grafts and anterior and posterior lamellar keratoplasty. Indications, advantages, and drawbacks of the transplant techniques were also reviewed. CONCLUSIONS Recent progress in the field of cornea transplants allows treatment at the level of the endothelium and the use of cultured limbal epithelial stem cell grafts. However, compared with previous techniques, modern and multilayered transplant techniques of the cornea require much more expertise and longer training of the surgeon, as well as expensive and technologically advanced equipment. The availability of donor tissue is still the main limitation affecting all transplants. Therefore, cell culturing techniques such as stem cells, as well as artificial cornea projects, seem to be very promising.
Mechanism of tyrosine D oxidation in Photosystem II

Using quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics calculations and the 1.9-Å crystal structure of Photosystem II [Umena Y, Kawakami K, Shen J-R, Kamiya N (2011) Nature 473(7345):55–60], we investigated the H-bonding environment of the redox-active tyrosine D (TyrD) and obtained insights that help explain its slow redox kinetics and the stability of TyrD•. The water molecule distal to TyrD, located ∼4 Å away from the phenolic O of TyrD, corresponds to the presence of the tyrosyl radical state. The water molecule proximal to TyrD, in H-bonding distance to the phenolic O of TyrD, corresponds to the presence of the unoxidized tyrosine. The H+ released on oxidation of TyrD is transferred to the proximal water, which shifts to the distal position, triggering a concerted proton transfer pathway involving D2-Arg180 and a series of waters, through which the proton reaches the aqueous phase at D2-His61. The water movement linked to the ejection of the proton from the hydrophobic environment near TyrD makes oxidation slow and quasiirreversible, explaining the great stability of the TyrD•. A symmetry-related proton pathway associated with tyrosine Z is pointed out, and this is associated with one of the Cl− sites. This may represent a proton pathway functional in the water oxidation cycle.
Energy-Efficient Localized Routing in Random Multihop Wireless Networks

A number of energy-aware routing protocols were proposed to seek the energy efficiency of routes in multihop wireless networks. Among them, several geographical localized routing protocols were proposed to help making smarter routing decision using only local information and reduce the routing overhead. However, all proposed localized routing methods cannot guarantee the energy efficiency of their routes. In this paper, we first give a simple localized routing algorithm, called Localized Energy-Aware Restricted Neighborhood routing (LEARN), which can guarantee the energy efficiency of its route if it can find the route successfully. We then theoretically study its critical transmission radius in random networks which can guarantee that LEARN routing finds a route for any source and destination pairs asymptotically almost surely. We also extend the proposed routing into three-dimensional (3D) networks and derive its critical transmission radius in 3D random networks. Simulation results confirm our theoretical analysis of LEARN routing and demonstrate its energy efficiency in large scale random networks.
Seasonality of stroke in Finland

Abstract Introduction: The burden of stroke is increasing globally. Reports on seasonal variations in stroke occurrence are conflicting and long-term data are absent. Methods: A retrospective cohort study using discharge registry data of all acute stroke admissions in Finland during 2004–2014 for patients ≥18 years age. A total of 97,018 admissions for ischemic stroke (IS) were included, 18,252 admissions for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and 11,271 admissions for subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Results: The rate of IS admissions increased (p = 0.025) while SAH admission rate decreased (p < 0.0001), and ICH admission rate remained stable during the study period. The lowest seasonal admission rates were detected in summer and the highest in autumn for all stroke subtypes. Seasonal variation of IS was more pronounced in men (p = 0.020), while no sex difference was detected in ICH or SAH. The seasonal patterns of in-hospital mortality and length of stay (LOS) differed markedly by stroke subtype. Diagnoses of hypertension, atrial fibrillation, or diabetes showed no seasonality. Conclusions: All major stroke subtypes occurred most commonly in autumn and most infrequently in summer. Seasonality of in-hospital mortality and length of hospital stay appears to vary by stroke subtype. The seasonal pattern of ischemic stroke occurrence appears to have changed during the past decades. Key messages All major stroke subtypes (ischemic stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage, subarachnoid hemorrhage) occurred most frequently in autumn and least frequently in summer. Seasonal patterns of in-hospital mortality and length of stay differed markedly by stroke subtype. The seasonal pattern of ischemic stroke occurrence in Finland seems to have changed compared to 1982–1992.
Biliary stones: an atypical cause of abdominal pain in paediatric age group.

OBJECTIVE To identify Paediatric patients with biliary stone disease presenting to a tertiary care hospital in order to determine the etiology, presentation and management. METHODS Retrospective study of all cases of ultrasonographically proven biliary stones under the age of 15 years from January 1988 to December 2008. Data included their risk factors, complications, management and outcome. RESULTS Total 32 patients were identified with biliary stones, treated in the hospital. Mean age at presentation was 8.25 +/- 3.33 years. Sixteen patients underwent cholecystectomy. CONCLUSION Paediatric cholelithiasis is an atypical and under-diagnosed cause of abdominal pain in childhood. True prevalence of the disease may be higher than reported. Appropriate surgical intervention is required in patients with symptomatic and complicated biliary lithiasis.
Deposition of “Polysiloxane” Thin Films Containing Silver Particles by an RF Asymmetrical Discharge

The aim of the present work is to produce silver-containing Sic x O y H z thin films by using simultaneous sputtering of silver and plasma polymerization in an HMDSO plasma. The ratio of plasma polymerization to sputtering was adjusted by using a pulsed flow rate of the hexamethyldisiloxane precursor, which permitted an accurate control of the co-deposition process. The presence of silver in the gas phase was detected by optical emission spectroscopy. The silver volume fraction was controlled over a wide range by superimposing physical sputtering onto the polymerization process taking place simultaneously within a very low and narrow range of HMDSO plasma pressure. The polymer matrix structures were analyzed by several techniques. FTIR spectra revealed the presence of Si-O-Si, Si-C-Si, SiCH 3 and C=C groups whose amount varied with the silver content. TEM analysis showed Ag nanoparticles with sizes varying from 4 to 70 nm depending on the silver volume fraction.
Hedgehog Signaling Inhibitors as Anti-Cancer Agents in Osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma is a rare type of cancer associated with a poor clinical outcome. Even though the pathologic characteristics of OS are well established, much remains to be understood, particularly at the molecular signaling level. The molecular mechanisms of osteosarcoma progression and metastases have not yet been fully elucidated and several evolutionary signaling pathways have been found to be linked with osteosarcoma pathogenesis, especially the hedgehog signaling (Hh) pathway. The present review will outline the importance and targeting the hedgehog signaling (Hh) pathway in osteosarcoma tumor biology. Available data also suggest that aberrant Hh signaling has pro-migratory effects and leads to the development of osteoblastic osteosarcoma. Activation of Hh signaling has been observed in osteosarcoma cell lines and also in primary human osteosarcoma specimens. Emerging data suggests that interference with Hh signal transduction by inhibitors may reduce osteosarcoma cell proliferation and tumor growth thereby preventing osteosarcomagenesis. From this perspective, we outline the current state of Hh pathway inhibitors in osteosarcoma. In summary, targeting Hh signaling by inhibitors promise to increase the efficacy of osteosarcoma treatment and improve patient outcome.
Double-layer Optical Fiber Coating Analysis by Withdrawal from a Bath of Oldroyd 8-constant Fluid

In the present work we explore an approximate solution of the Navier-Stokes equations for optical fiber coating in a pressure type die by withdrawal from a bath of two immiscible Oldroyd 8-conatant fluid under constant pressure gradient in the axial direction using two-layer coating flow. The constitutive equation of motion has been solved by using optimal homotopy asymptotic method (OHAM) for velocity fields. The theoretical analysis of flow rate, thickness of coated fiber optics and shear stress on surface of fiber optics were also derived. Moreover, the flow phenomenon has been studied under the influence of dilatant constant �� , the pseudoplastic constant �� , constant pressure gradient ��, viscosity parameter η₁, and radii ratio �� . We noticed that with the increase in dilatant constant �� the velocity and volume flow rate decrease whereas the thickness of coated fiber optics increases. Further, it is found that the velocity profile increases with increasing in pseudoplastic constant �� and pressure gradient �� . Also, the profile of shear stress decreases with increase of �� and increases with increase of viscosity parameter �� ₁ and pseudoplastic constant �� . Further, we noticed that the flow rate increases with increase in pseudo plastic constant �� and pressure gradient ��. The behavior of radii ratio �� on coated fiber optics is similar to that of �� .
Haptic negotiation and role exchange for collaboration in virtual environments

We investigate how collaborative guidance can be realized in multi-modal virtual environments for dynamic tasks involving motor control. Haptic guidance in our context can be defined as any form of force/tactile feedback that the computer generates to help a user execute a task in a faster, more accurate, and subjectively more pleasing fashion. In particular, we are interested in determining guidance mechanisms that best facilitate task performance and arouse a natural sense of collaboration. We suggest that a haptic guidance system can be further improved if it is supplemented with a role exchange mechanism, which allows the computer to adjust the forces it applies to the user in response to his/her actions. Recent work on collaboration and role exchange presented new perspectives on defining roles and interaction. However existing approaches mainly focus on relatively basic environments where the state of the system can be defined with a few parameters. We designed and implemented a complex and highly dynamic multimodal game for testing our interaction model. Since the state space of our application is complex, role exchange needs to be implemented carefully. We defined a novel negotiation process, which facilitates dynamic communication between the user and the computer, and realizes the exchange of roles using a three-state finite state machine. Our preliminary results indicate that even though the negotiation and role exchange mechanism we adopted does not improve performance in every evaluation criteria, it introduces a more personal and human-like interaction model.
On the Kung-Traub Conjecture for Iterative Methods for Solving Quadratic Equations

Kung-Traub’s conjecture states that an optimal iterative method based on d function evaluations for finding a simple zero of a nonlinear function could achieve a maximum convergence order of 2 d−1. During the last years, many attempts have been made to prove this conjecture or develop optimal methods which satisfy the conjecture. We understand from the conjecture that the maximum order reached by a method with three function evaluations is four, even for quadratic functions. In this paper, we show that the conjecture fails for quadratic functions. In fact, we can find a 2-point method with three function evaluations reaching fifth order convergence. We also develop 2-point 3rd to 8th order methods with one function and two first derivative evaluations using weight functions. Furthermore, we show that with the same number of function evaluations we can develop higher order 2-point methods of order r + 2 , where r is a positive integer, ≥ 1 . We also show that we can develop a higher order method with the same number of function evaluations if we know the asymptotic error constant of the previous method. We prove the local convergence of these methods which we term as Babajee’s Quadratic Iterative Methods and we extend these methods to systems involving quadratic equations. We test our methods with some numerical experiments including an application to Chandrasekhar’s integral equation arising in radiative heat transfer theory.
A theoretical investigation into the performance of the Hopfield model

An analysis is made of the behavior of the Hopfield model as a content-addressable memory (CAM) and as a method of solving the traveling salesman problem (TSP). The analysis is based on the geometry of the subspace set up by the degenerate eigenvalues of the connection matrix. The dynamic equation is shown to be equivalent to a projection of the input vector onto this subspace. In the case of content-addressable memory, it is shown that spurious fixed points can occur at any corner of the hypercube that is on or near the subspace spanned by the memory vectors. Analysed is why the network can frequently converge to an invalid solution when applied to the traveling salesman problem energy function. With these expressions, the network can be made robust and can reliably solve the traveling salesman problem with tour sizes of 50 cities or more.
An Integral Approach to Programming Sensor Networks

In this paper we present a complete approach to programming sensor networks. The main contribution concerns the separation of three abstraction levels, viz., application level, network level and node level, leaving more room for standardization than with current practices. In addition we propose to program the network from an overall perspective rather than programming individual nodes. The proposed model is event-based, corresponding closely to the nature of wireless sensors and admits content-based addressing of nodes and groups of nodes. The paper describes how the three abstraction levels come together and gives examples of the approach at all three levels.
Identifying Genes Responsible for Intellectual Disability in Consanguineous Families

Consanguinity is an important determinant of birth defects including intellectual disability (ID). Consanguineous populations have a relative high prevalence of autosomal recessive forms of intellectual disability (ARID), which constitute a highly heterogeneous group of disorders both in their clinical presentation and in their genetic aetiology. The availability of large cohorts of consanguineous families and the advent of next-generation sequencing techniques is currently accelerating the pace of gene identification in ARID. Because of the extreme heterogeneity, it is anticipated that hundreds of ARID (candidate) genes will be identified in the near future. With this robust progress, the proof of causality of the identified candidate genes is challenging. To this end, genetic recurrence, cellular assays and animal modelling would serve as three non-exclusive strategies, in order to assign causality to a certain gene. Extensive genetic investigations in consanguineous populations will help in reducing the total disease burden through proper genetic counselling. Moreover, such findings will be helpful to elucidate different pathways and further for possible therapeutic interventions.
The glucagon‐like peptide‐1‐based therapeutics exenatide and saxagliptin did not cause detrimental effects on the pancreas in mice, rats, dogs and monkeys

Recent reports in the literature have suggested that glucagon‐like peptide‐1 (GLP‐1)‐based therapies may lead to increased risk of pancreatic pathology leading to chronic pancreatic injury and pancreatic neoplasia. Extensive non‐clinical and clinical safety testing was conducted to support the global development of exenatide twice daily, exenatide once weekly and saxagliptin. Our aim was to integrate these non‐clinical data obtained with both mechanisms of GLP‐1‐based drugs to provide complementary data regarding the potential for drug‐induced pancreatic safety signals.
Ultra-green construction: reactive magnesia masonry products

As worldwide production of Portland cement (PC) is one of the major contributors to global anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, a range of carbon-reduction initiatives are being considered. One recent development, namely reactive magnesia cements, has received significant attention as a promising sustainable alternative to PC. Reactive magnesia cements are blends of PC and reactive magnesia in different proportions depending on the intended application, from high-density concrete to porous masonry units. An extensive investigation into the strength development of reactive magnesia cement masonry units, in which the PC is either partially or completely replaced by reactive magnesia, has been carried out. The results show that when subjected to accelerated carbonation conditions, such units can achieve strengths that far exceed those of corresponding PC blocks – both in laboratory studies and full-scale commercial trials. In order to determine their environmental advantages, quantification of carbon diox.
Hugoniot Analysis of Composite Materials

A generalized set of conservation equations (i.e., the Hugoniot relations) across a disturbance propagating through a composite material with a steady velocity are derived within the framework of the Theory of Inter acting Continua. By providing a rational basis for comparison, the analysis clarifies the differences between the earlier studies in this field. In addition, the present development of the material interactions simplifies the Hugo niot analysis and corrects some misconceptions about the interaction terms. The materials are treated as discrete immiscible fluids with zero strength. The theory is directly applicable to homogenized mixtures or composites laminated in the direction of wave propagation. Binary mixtures have been employed to demonstrate certain aspects of the present formulation. Some numerical calculations are included which illustrate the significance of different constitutive assumptions on the nature of the interaction
Expression of the Memory Marker CD45RO on Helper T Cells in Macaques

Background In humans it has been reported that a major site of the latent reservoir of HIV is within CD4+ T cells expressing the memory marker CD45RO, defined by the mAb UCHL1. There are conflicting reports regarding the expression of this antigen in macaques, the most relevant animal species for studying HIV pathogenesis and testing new therapies. There is now a major effort to eradicate HIV reservoirs and cure the infection. One approach is to eliminate subsets of cells housing the latent reservoir, using UCHL1 to target these cells. So that such studies may be performed in macaques, it is essential to determine expression of CD45RO. Methods We have used immunofluorescence and flow cytometry to study cell surface expression of CD45RO on lymphocytes from PBMC, lymphoid, and GI organs of rhesus, pigtailed, and cynomolgus macaques. Both direct and indirect immunofluorescence experiments were performed. Findings CD45RO is expressed on a subset of CD4+ lymphocytes of all pigtailed, a fraction of rhesus, and neither of the cynomolgus macaques studied. The binding of UCHL1 to macaque cells was of lower avidity than to human cells. This could be overcome by forming UCHL1 multimers. Directly conjugating fluors to UCHL1 can inhibit UCHL1 binding to macaque cells. Patterns of UCHL1 expression differ somewhat in macaques and humans, and from that of other memory markers often used in macaques. Conclusions CD45RO, defined with mAb UCHL1, is well expressed on CD4+ cells in pigtailed macaques. Using tissues recovered from latently infected pigtailed macaques we are determining whether UCHL1, or other memory markers, can define the cellular locus of the reservoir. The low avidity of this interaction could limit the utility of UCHL1, in its conventional form, to eliminate cells in vivo and test this approach in macaque models of HIV infection.
A Causal Role for Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex in Choice-Induced Preference Change

After a person chooses between two items, preference for the chosen item will increase and preference for the unchosen item will decrease because of the choice made. In other words, we tend to justify or rationalize our past behavior by changing our attitude. This phenomenon of choice-induced preference change has been traditionally explained by cognitive dissonance theory. Choosing something that is disliked or not choosing something that is liked are both cognitively inconsistent and, to reduce this inconsistency, people tend to change their subsequently stated preference in accordance with their past choices. Previously, human neuroimaging studies identified posterior medial frontal cortex (pMFC) as a key brain region involved in cognitive dissonance. However, it remains unknown whether the pMFC plays a causal role in inducing preference change after cognitive dissonance. Here, we demonstrate that 25 min, 1 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation applied over the pMFC significantly reduces choice-induced preference change compared with sham stimulation or control stimulation over a different brain region, demonstrating a causal role for the pMFC.