Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Corneal biomechanics in iatrogenic ectasia and keratoconus: A review of the literature

The Ocular Response Analyzer (ORA) (Reichert Ophthalmic Instruments, Buffalo, NY) allows direct measurement of corneal biomechanical properties. Since its introduction, many studies have sought to elucidate the clinical applications of corneal hysteresis (CH) and corneal resistance factor (CRF). More recently, detailed corneal deformation signal waveform analysis (WA) has potentially expanded the diagnostic capabilities of the ORA. In this review, the role of CH, CRF, and WA are examined in keratoconus (KC) and iatrogenic ectasia (IE). The PubMed database was searched electronically for peer-reviewed literature in July 2012 and August 2012 without date restrictions. The search strategy included medical subject heading (MeSH) and natural language terms to retrieve references on corneal biomechanics, CH, CRF, corneal deformation signal WA, IE, and KC. The evidence suggests that while CH and CRF are poor screening tools when used alone, increased sensitivity and specificity of KC and IE screening result when these parameters are combined with tomography and topography. Recent advances in WA are promising, but little is currently understood about its biomechanical and clinical relevance. Future studies should seek to refine the screening protocols for KC and IE as well as define the clinical applicability of WA parameters.
SUBARACHNOID HAEMORRHAGE: WHAT HAPPENS TO THE CEREBRAL ARTERIES?

1. Subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) is a unique disorder and a major clinical problem that most commonly occurs when an aneurysm in a cerebral artery ruptures, leading to bleeding and clot formation. Subarachnoid haemorrhage results in death or severe disability of 50‐70% of victims and is the cause of up to 10% of all strokes. Delayed cerebral vasospasm, which is the most critical clinical complication that occurs after SAH, seems to be associated with both impaired dilator and increased constrictor mechanisms in cerebral arteries. Mechanisms contributing to development of vasospasm and abnormal reactivity of cerebral arteries after SAH have been intensively investigated in recent years. In the present review we focus on recent advances in our knowledge of the roles of nitric oxide (NO) and cGMP, endothelin (ET), protein kinase C (PKC) and potassium channels as they relate to SAH.
Modeling the Dynamic Vegetation–Climate System over China Using a Coupled Regional Model

Using the Regional Climate Model (RegCM) coupled with the Community Land Model (CLM) including modules of carbon–nitrogen cycling (CN) and vegetation dynamics (DV), this study evaluates the performance of the model with different capacity of representing vegetation processes in simulating the present-day climate over China based on three 21-yr simulations driven with boundary conditions from the ERA-Interim reanalysis data during 1989–2009. For each plant functional type (PFT), the plant pheonology, density, and fractional coverage in RegCM-CLM are all prescribed as static from year to year; RegCM-CLM-CN prescribes static fractional coverage but predicts plant phenology and density, and RegCM-CLM-CN-DV predicts plant phenology, density, and fractional coverage. Compared against the observational data, all three simulations reproduce the present-day climate well, including the wind fields, temperature and precipitation seasonal cycles, extremes, and interannual variabilities. Relative to RegCM-CLM, both RegCM-CLM-CN and RegCM-CLM-CN-DV perform better in simulating the interannual variability of temperature and spatial distribution of mean precipitation, but produce larger biases in the mean temperature field. RegCM-CLM-CN overestimates leaf area index (LAI), which enhances the cold biases and alleviates the dry biases found in RegCM-CLM. RegCM-CLM-CN-DV underestimates vegetation cover and/or stature, and hence overestimates surface albedo, which enhances the wintertime cold and dry biases found in RegM-CLM. During summer, RegCM-CLM-CN-DV overestimates LAI in south and east China, which enhances the cold biases through increased evaporative cooling; in the west where evaporation is low, the albedo effect of the underestimated vegetation cover is still dominant, leading to enhanced cold biases relative to RegCM-CLM.
A hierarchy of Ramsey-like cardinals

We introduce a hierarchy of large cardinals between weakly compact and measurable cardinals, that is closely related to the Ramsey-like cardinals introduced by Victoria Gitman, and is based on certain infinite filter games, however also has a range of equivalent characterizations in terms of elementary embeddings. The aim of this paper is to locate the Ramsey-like cardinals studied by Gitman, and other well-known large cardinal notions, in this hierarchy.
Low early-life social class leaves a biological residue manifested by decreased glucocorticoid and increased proinflammatory signaling

Children reared in unfavorable socioeconomic circumstances show increased susceptibility to the chronic diseases of aging when they reach the fifth and sixth decades of life. One mechanistic hypothesis for this phenomenon suggests that social adversity in early life programs biological systems in a manner that persists across decades and thereby accentuates vulnerability to disease. Here we examine the basic tenets of this hypothesis by performing genome-wide transcriptional profiling in healthy adults who were either low or high in socioeconomic status (SES) in early life. Among subjects with low early-life SES, there was significant up-regulation of genes bearing response elements for the CREB/ATF family of transcription factors that conveys adrenergic signals to leukocytes, and significant down-regulation of genes with response elements for the glucocorticoid receptor, which regulates the secretion of cortisol and transduces its antiinflammatory actions in the immune system. Subjects from low-SES backgrounds also showed increased output of cortisol in daily life, heightened expression of transcripts bearing response elements for NF-κB, and greater stimulated production of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin 6. These disparities were independent of subjects' current SES, lifestyle practices, and perceived stress. Collectively, these data suggest that low early-life SES programs a defensive phenotype characterized by resistance to glucocorticoid signaling, which in turn facilitates exaggerated adrenocortical and inflammatory responses. Although these response patterns could serve adaptive functions during acute threats to well-being, over the long term they might exact an allostatic toll on the body that ultimately contributes to the chronic diseases of aging.
Somatic Profiling of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Pathway in Tumors from Patients with Advanced Colorectal Cancer Treated with Chemotherapy ± Cetuximab

Purpose: To study the somatic molecular profile of the EGF receptor (EGFR) pathway in advanced colorectal cancer, its relationship to prognosis, the site of the primary and metastases, and response to cetuximab. Experimental Design: We used Sequenom and Pyrosequencing for high-throughput somatic profiling of the EGFR pathway in 1,976 tumors from patients with advanced colorectal cancer from the COIN trial (oxaliplatin and fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy ± cetuximab). Correlations between mutations, clinicopathologic, response, and survival data were carried out. Results: Sequenom and Pyrosequencing had 99.0% (9,961/10,063) genotype concordance. We identified 13 different KRAS mutations in 42.3% of advanced colorectal cancers, 2 BRAF mutations in 9.0%, 4 NRAS mutations in 3.6%, and 5 PIK3CA mutations in 12.7%. 4.2% of advanced colorectal cancers had microsatellite instability (MSI). KRAS and PIK3CA exon 9, but not exon 20, mutations cooccurred (P = 8.9 × 10−4) as did MSI and BRAF mutations (P = 5.3 × 10−10). KRAS mutations were associated with right colon cancers (P = 5.2 × 10−5) and BRAF mutations with right (P = 7.2 × 10−5) and transverse colon (P = 9.8 × 10−6) cancers. KRAS mutations were associated with lung-only metastases (P = 2.3 × 10−4), BRAF mutations with peritoneal (P = 9.2 × 10−4) and nodal-only (P = 3.7 × 10−5) metastases, and MSI (BRAFWT) with nodal-only metastases (P = 2.9 × 10−4). MSI (BRAFWT) was associated with worse survival (HR = 1.89, 95% CI 1.30–2.76, P = 8.5 × 10−4). No mutations, subsets of mutations, or MSI status were associated with response to cetuximab. Conclusions: Our data support a functional cooperation between KRAS and PIK3CA in colorectal tumorigenesis and link somatic profiles to the sites of metastases. MSI was associated with poor prognosis in advanced disease, and no individual somatic profile was associated with response to cetuximab in COIN. Clin Cancer Res; 19(15); 4104–13. ©2013 AACR.
Decision Analysis Inte R Views on Protective a C Tions in Finland Su P Ported by the Rodos System

This work was undertaken in order to study the utilisation of decision analysis interviews and of the RODOS system when planning protective actions in the case of a nuclear accident. Six decision analysis interview meetings were organised. Interviewees were competent national safety authorities and technical level decision-makers, i.e., those who are responsible for drawing up advice or making presentations of matters to decision-makers responsible for the practical implementation of the actions. The theme of the meetings was to study how uncertainties could be included in the decision-making process and whether pre-structured generic attributes and value trees would help this process and save time. The approach was to present a generic value tree, a decision table and a selected information package at the beginning of the interviews. The interviewees then examined the suggested value tree in order to ensure that no important factors have been omitted and they made changes when necessary. Also, the decision table was examined and altered by some participants and some of them asked for further information on some issues. But all in all the selected approach allowed for more time and effort to be allocated to value trade-offs and elicitation of risk attitudes. All information was calculated with the support of the RODOS system. Predefined value trees were found to ensure that all relevant factors are considered. The participants also felt that RODOS could provide the required information but, as in previous RODOS exercises, they found it more problematic to use decision analysis methods when planning countermeasures in the early phase of a nuclear accident. Furthermore, it was again noted that understanding the actual meaning of ‘soft’ attributes, such as socio-
Modeling and analysis of slow CW decrease IEEE 802.11 WLAN

The IEEE 802.11 medium access control (MAC) protocol provides a contention-based distributed channel access mechanism for mobile stations to share the wireless medium, which may introduce a lot of collisions in case of overloaded active stations. Slow contention window (CW) decrease scheme is a simple and efficient solution for this problem. In this paper, we use an analytical model to compare the slow CW decrease scheme to the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol. Several parameters are investigated such as the number of stations, the initial CW size, the decrease factor value, the maximum backoff stage and the coexistence with the RequestToSend and ClearToSend (RTS/CTS) mechanism. The results show that the slow CW decrease scheme can efficiently improve the throughput of IEEE 802.11, and that the throughput gain is higher when the decrease factor is larger. Moreover, the initial CW size and maximum backoff stage also affect the performance of slow CW decrease scheme.
First-principles study of ground- and excited-state properties of MgO , ZnO , and CdO polymorphs

An ab initio pseudopotential method based on density functional theory, generalized gradient corrections to exchange and correlation, and projector-augmented waves is used to investigate structural, energetical, electronic, and optical properties of $\mathrm{MgO}$, $\mathrm{ZnO}$, and $\mathrm{CdO}$ in rocksalt, cesium chloride, zinc blende, and wurtzite structure. In the case of $\mathrm{MgO}$ we also examine the nickel arsenide structure and a graphitic phase. The stability of the ground-state phases rocksalt $(\mathrm{MgO},\mathrm{CdO})$ and wurtzite $(\mathrm{ZnO})$ against hydrostatic pressure and biaxial strain is studied. We also present the band structures of all polymorphs as well as the accompanying dielectric functions. We discuss the physical reasons for the anomalous chemical trend of the ground-state geometry and the fundamental gap with the size of the group-II cation in the oxide. The role of the shallow $\mathrm{Zn}3d$ and $\mathrm{Cd}4d$ electrons is critically examined.
Self and body esteem perception in multiple sclerosis.

Self esteem and body esteem were examined in a group of 35 relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) patients using the Body Esteem Scale (BES) and the Eysenck Self Esteem Scale (ESES) and compared to age and sex matched normal controls. There were 23 females and 12 males in the MS patient's group; average age 38.9 years (range: 22-52). All participants completed the self-rated BES evaluating the following subscales: females - sexual attractiveness, physical condition and weight concern; males - physical attractiveness, physical condition and upper body strength. In addition all participants were scored, following a semi-structured interview, on the ESES. Psychiatric co-morbidity was excluded using a semi-structured interview by the consulting psychiatrist. All evaluations were carried out during the remitting phase. Statistical analysis, comparing patients to healthy controls, demonstrated lowered self-rating of the physical condition (males < 0.05, females < 0.001). On the other hand, no significant differences were found in the physical (male) or sexual (female)�attractiveness subscales. The mean ESES score in the patients group was 23.2 ± 4.0, slightly above the reported average. The controls mean ESES was 28.4 ± 3.6, (P < 0.05). No correlation was found between self and body esteem amongst M.S. patients. This study emphasizes impaired perception of body esteem in multiple sclerosis patients even in remission. The preservation of physical and sexual attractiveness may be related to the non-disfiguring nature of the disease. Preservation of self-esteem in MS patients suggests that body-esteem should be the focus of supportive treatment.
Monitoring transplanted human mesenchymal stem cells in rat and rabbit bladders using molecular magnetic resonance imaging

This study investigated whether superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)‐labeled human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) may be monitored non‐invasively by in vivo magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with conventional 1.5‐T system examinations in the bladders of rats and rabbits.
Axon Guidance by Diffusible Chemoattractants: A Gradient of Netrin Protein in the Developing Spinal Cord

Gradients of diffusible long-range attractant and repellent proteins have been proposed to guide growing axons during nervous system development, but such gradients have never been visualized directly. In the embryonic spinal cord, commissural axons pioneer a circumferential trajectory to the floor plate at the ventral midline directed by secreted proteins of the netrin family. In the embryonic chick spinal cord netrin-1 mRNA is expressed by floor plate cells and netrin-2 mRNA by neural epithelial cells. Antibodies to the two netrins reveal a gradient of netrin protein directly in the path of commissural axons. The netrin-1 gradient itself extends many cell diameters dorsal to the floor plate, the site of netrin-1 expression. A similar distribution of netrin-1 protein has been detected in embryonic rat and mouse spinal cord. The detection of a gradient of netrin-1 protein supports the operation of long-range chemotropic mechanisms in the developing nervous system.
Robust Path Planning With Imperfect Maps

Abstract : We describe an efficient method for path planning in environments for which prior maps are plagued with uncertainty. Our approach processes the map to determine key areas whose uncertainty is crucial to the planning task. It then incorporates the uncertainty associated with these areas using the recently developed PAO* algorithm to produce a fast, robust solution to the original planning task. We present results from a simulated outdoor navigation scenario.
Restricted movement of lipid and aqueous dyes through pores formed by influenza hemagglutinin during cell fusion

The fusion of cells by influenza hemagglutinin (HA) is the best characterized example of protein-mediated membrane fusion. In simultaneous measurements of pairs of assays for fusion, we determined the order of detectable events during fusion. Fusion pore formation in HA-triggered cell-cell fusion was first detected by changes in cell membrane capacitance, next by a flux of fluorescent lipid, and finally by flux of aqueous fluorescent dye. Fusion pore conductance increased by small steps. A retardation of lipid and aqueous dyes occurred during fusion pore fluctuations. The flux of aqueous dye depended on the size of the molecule. The lack of movement of aqueous dyes while total fusion pore conductance increased suggests that initial HA-triggered fusion events are characterized by the opening of multiple small pores: the formation of a "sieve".
TimeSeriesPaths : Projection-Based Explorative Analysis of Multivariate Time Series Data

The analysis of time-dependent data is an important problem in many application domains, and interactive visualization of time-series data can help in understanding patterns in large time series data. Many effective approaches already exist for visual analysis of univariate time series supporting tasks such as assessment of data quality, detection of outliers, or identification of periodically or frequently occurring patterns. However, much fewer approaches exist which support multivariate time series. The existence of multiple values per time stamp makes the analysis task per se harder, and existing visualization techniques often do not scale well. We introduce an approach for visual analysis of large multivariate time-dependent data, based on the idea of projecting multivariate measurements to a 2D display, visualizing the time dimension by trajectories. We use visual data aggregation metaphors based on grouping of similar data elements to scale with multivariate time series. Aggregation procedures can either be based on statistical properties of the data or on data clustering routines. Appropriately defined user controls allow to navigate and explore the data and interactively steer the parameters of the data aggregation to enhance data analysis. We present an implementation of our approach and apply it on a comprehensive data set from the field of earth observation, demonstrating the applicability and usefulness of our approach.
Effects of horsefly (Tabanidae) salivary gland extracts on isolated perfused rat heart

Abstract The speed with which horseflies (Diptera: Tabanidae) obtain a bloodmeal suggests they have potent vasodilators. We used isolated perfused rat heart to examine the vasoactivity of salivary gland extracts (SGEs) of three horsefly species, Hybomitra bimaculata Macquart, Tabanus bromius Linnaeus and Tabanus glaucopis Meigen. Administration of horsefly SGEs to the heart produced biphasic coronary responses: a decrease and subsequent increase in coronary flow (CF), characterized by initial vasoconstriction followed by prolonged vasodilation of coronary vessels. However, although SGEs of H. bimaculata induced a significant decrease in left ventricular pressure (LVP), the effect on changes in CF was not significant except at the highest dose tested. The ability to reduce LVP without significantly lowering CF, or affecting heart rate and rhythm, represents a unique set of properties that have considerable therapeutic potential if they can be reproduced by a single molecule.
Light enhances learned fear

The ability to learn, remember, and respond to emotional events is a powerful survival strategy. However, dysregulated behavioral and physiological responses to these memories are maladaptive. To fully understand learned fear and the pathologies that arise during response malfunction we must reveal the environmental variables that influence learned fear responses. Light, a ubiquitous environmental feature, modulates cognition and anxiety. We hypothesized that light modulates responses to learned fear. Using tone-cued fear conditioning, we found that light enhances behavioral responses to learned fear in C57BL/6J mice. Mice in light freeze more in response to a conditioned cue than mice in darkness. The absence of significant freezing during a 2-wk habituation period and during intertrial intervals indicated that light specifically modulates freezing to the learned acoustic cue rather than the context of the experimental chamber. Repeating our assay in two photoreceptor mutant models, Pde6brd1/rd1 and Opn4−/− mice, revealed that light-dependent enhancement of conditioned fear is driven primarily by the rods and/or cones. By repeating our protocol with an altered lighting regimen, we found that lighting conditions acutely modulate responses when altered between conditioning and testing. This is manifested either as an enhancement of freezing when light is added during testing or as a depression of freezing when light is removed during testing. Acute enhancement, but not depression, requires both rod/cone- and melanopsin-dependent photoreception. Our results demonstrate a modulation by light of behavioral responses to learned fear.
Neuroimaging in pediatric brain tumors: Gd-DTPA-enhanced, hemodynamic, and diffusion MR imaging compared with MR spectroscopic imaging.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Gadolinium-enhanced MR images assist in defining tumor borders; however, the relation between tumor cell extent and contrast-enhanced regions is unclear. Our aim was to improve conventional neuroimaging of pediatric brain tumors with hemodynamic, diffusion, and spectroscopic MR imaging. METHODS We performed conventional MR and MR spectroscopic imaging in 31 children with neuroglial brain tumors. Hemodynamic MR imaging was performed in 16 patients with a first-pass intravenous bolus of gadolinium diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA); apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) were measured in 12 patients. To account for multiple measurements in a patient, we used a nested analysis of variance. RESULTS At MR spectroscopy, choline (Cho)-containing compounds (indicating tumor) and lipid levels (indicating necrosis) did not correlate with percent Gd-DTPA enhancement on MR images. Percent enhancement was positively correlated with relative cerebral blood volumes (rCBVs) (P =.05) and negatively correlated with ADCs (P <.001). Stepwise multiple linear regression revealed that rCBV (P =.008), ADC (P =.022), and lipid (P <.001) levels were significant independent predictors of percent enhancement. Tumor spectral patterns were detected in tumor regions and outside enhancing tumor beds in patients with clinical progression; these were confirmed at neuropathologic analysis. CONCLUSION MR spectroscopic imaging improves the assessment of pediatric brain tumors by adding biochemical information regarding tumor involvement and by depicting residual or recurrent tumor outside the Gd-DTPA-enhanced tumor bed. rCBV and ADC mapping complemented MR spectroscopic imaging. We recommend the use of MR spectroscopic imaging in addition to conventional MR imaging in assessing pediatric brain tumors.