Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nordic research in ophthalmology.

PURPOSE To provide an overview of some of the current activities in eye research in the Nordic countries. METHODS The presentations at the biannual Nordic Congress of Ophthalmology, held in Tampere, Finland in 2002, were reviewed and the contributions found most noteworthy are included in this article along with a limited discussion of each research field. However, space requirements prevented the inclusion of many interesting scientific contributions. RESULTS Important contributions in various subfields of eye research and ophthalmology are reviewed. These include cornea, cataract, paediatric ophthalmology, glaucoma, diabetic eye disease, age-related macular degeneration, physiology and pharmacology and oncology. CONCLUSIONS Eye research is very active in the Nordic countries and significant contributions are being made to ophthalmology in several fields on a world scale. We hope to continue to review Nordic contributions to eye research after each Nordic Congress of Ophthalmology and plan to make the reviews more systematic and comprehensive in the future.
[Pathologic diagnosis of 1123 post-transplant liver biopsies from 665 liver transplant patients].

OBJECTIVE To summarize the Chinese experience in pathologic diagnosis of liver biopsies after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLTx). METHODS 1123 post-transplant liver biopsies from 665 OLTx patients from the Shanghai Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Tianjin First Central Hospital, Guangzhou Sun Yat-sen University and Chongqing Southwest Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. All liver biopsies were stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Immunohistochemical studies for cytomegalovirus, HBsAg, CK19, CD4 and CD8 were also performed in selected examples. RESULTS In the involved hospitals, 4 to 12 types of complications were encountered after OLTx. The number of liver biopsies performed for each patient ranged from 1 to 9 (mean = 2.2). The timing of these biopsies varied from the second to the 2877 th post-transplant day. The 5 most common complications were acute cellular rejection (35.6%), ischemic-reperfusion injury (13.4%), biliary stricture (5.6%), drug complication (5.0%) and chronic rejection (4.7%). The 5 earliest complications after OLTx were primary non-function (occurring at day 4.7 +/- 2.1), ischemic-reperfusion injury (occurring at day 14.0 +/- 4.0), acute cellular rejection (occurring at day 32.1 +/- 62.9), hepatic artery thrombosis / stricture (occurring at day 62.9 +/- 74.2) and cytomegalovirus infection (occurring at day 107.7 +/- 93.0). CONCLUSIONS This study has evaluated the types, incidence and timing of major complications occurring after OLTx. The most important issue is the distinction between rejection and non-rejection pathology. Thorough understanding of atypical pathologic features of these complications is necessary. The Banff Schema (rejection activity index) for grading liver allograft rejection is useful for monitoring anti-rejection therapy and should be used routinely.
The experience of women in male-dominated occupations: A constructivist grounded theory inquiry

Orientation: Women in male-dominated occupations face unique challenges and use distinct coping strategies affecting their motivation and retention in these occupations. Research purpose: The purpose was to explore the experiences of women working in maledominated occupations to clarify the challenges they face and identify coping strategies that enable them to continue on their career paths. Motivation for the study: Many women who choose male-dominated careers soon change in favour of more female-dominated or gender-balanced career paths. An understanding of women’s experiences may facilitate strategies geared towards their motivation and retention in male-dominated occupations. Research design, approach and method: The authors conducted this exploratory qualitative study from a constructivist grounded theory perspective. They used a purposive sample of five women and conducted in-depth unstructured interviews. They analysed data using a constructivist grounded theory methodology. Main findings: The authors found that formal and covert organisational practices, which upheld gender discrimination and bias, were the main challenges that women face. These practices included the inadequate accommodation of women’s unique physical, identity and work-life balance needs. Elements of women’s resilience included the use of femininity, adopting male characteristics, mentorship and intrinsic motivational factors. Practical/managerial implications: The findings may guide organisations to develop and implement policies, strategies and initiatives geared towards attracting, integrating, retaining, supporting and motivating women who are, or wish to be, employed in historically maledominated occupations. Contribution/value-add: This study contributes to an evolving body of knowledge aimed at understanding how to integrate and retain women in male-dominated occupations better.
Measurement of Retinal Blood Flow Using Fluorescently Labeled Red Blood Cells,,

Accurately measuring blood flow in the retina is an important challenge, as blood flow reflects the health of retinal tissue and is disrupted in many diseases. Existing techniques for measuring blood flow are limited due to the complex assumptions and calculations required. Abstract Blood flow is a useful indicator of the metabolic state of the retina. However, accurate measurement of retinal blood flow is difficult to achieve in practice. Most existing optical techniques used for measuring blood flow require complex assumptions and calculations. We describe here a simple and direct method for calculating absolute blood flow in vessels of all sizes in the rat retina. The method relies on ultrafast confocal line scans to track the passage of fluorescently labeled red blood cells (fRBCs). The accuracy of the blood flow measurements was verified by (1) comparing blood flow calculated independently using either flux or velocity combined with diameter measurements, (2) measuring total retinal blood flow in arterioles and venules, (3) measuring blood flow at vessel branch points, and (4) measuring changes in blood flow in response to hyperoxic and hypercapnic challenge. Confocal line scans oriented parallel and diagonal to vessels were used to compute fRBC velocity and to examine velocity profiles across the width of vessels. We demonstrate that these methods provide accurate measures of absolute blood flow and velocity in retinal vessels of all sizes.
Validation of a web-based dietary questionnaire designed for the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet: the DASH Online Questionnaire

Abstract Objective With the upsurge in online dietary modification programmes, online dietary assessment tools are needed to capture food intake. Although the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet is recommended by the US Department of Agriculture, there are no online instruments that capture DASH food servings. Our objective was to assess the validity of a new, short, online dietary questionnaire developed to capture intake of DASH food servings. The DASH Online Questionnaire (OLQ) was validated against the well-known Block Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). Design This was a cross-sectional validation of the DASH OLQ, which contained eleven food groups (breakfast cereals; dairy; drinks; fats and oils; fruits; grains and snacks; meat, fish and poultry; mixed dishes; sweets; vegetables; and nuts, seeds and legumes). Each subject completed a DASH OLQ once weekly for four weeks and one 98.2 Block FFQ (110 questions) between weeks 2 and 4. DASH OLQ were averaged and then compared with the Block FFQ for nutrient intakes as well as intakes of DASH food groups. Setting Boston University Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts. Subjects One hundred and ninety-one faculty and staff at Boston University Medical Center aged 20–70 years. Results There were significant positive correlations between the Block FFQ and the DASH OLQ for all food groups ranging from r = 0·8 for the nuts/seeds/legumes category to r = 0·3 for vegetables and mixed dishes. A comparison of nutrient intakes found strong positive correlations in all nutrient categories. Of particular interest in the DASH diet and the web-based nutrition and physical activity programme were total fat (r = 0·62), total carbohydrate (r = 0·67), total K (r = 0·68), total Ca (r = 0·69), total vitamin C (r = 0·60) and total energy intake (r = 0·68). Conclusions The DASH OLQ captures food and nutrient intake well in relation to the more established Block FFQ.
Enhanced Detection of Tuberculous Mycobacteria in Animal Tissues Using a Semi-Nested Probe-Based Real-Time PCR

Bovine tuberculosis has been tackled for decades by costly eradication programs in most developed countries, involving the laboratory testing of tissue samples from allegedly infected animals for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) members, namely Mycobacterium bovis. Definitive diagnosis is usually achieved by bacteriological culture, which may take up to 6–12 weeks, during which the suspect animal carcass and herd are under sanitary arrest. In this work, a user-friendly DNA extraction protocol adapted for tissues was coupled with an IS6110-targeted semi-nested duplex real-time PCR assay to enhance the direct detection of MTC bacteria in animal specimens, reducing the time to achieve a diagnosis and, thus, potentially limiting the herd restriction period. The duplex use of a novel β-actin gene targeted probe, with complementary targets in most mammals, allowed the assessment of amplification inhibitors in the tissue samples. The assay was evaluated with a group of 128 fresh tissue specimens collected from bovines, wild boars, deer and foxes. Mycobacterium bovis was cultured from 57 of these samples. Overall, the full test performance corresponds to a diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of 98.2% (CIP95% 89.4–99.9%) and 88.7% (CIP95% 78.5–94.7%), respectively. An observed kappa coefficient was estimated in 0.859 (CIP95% 0.771–0.948) for the overall agreement between the semi-nested PCR assay and the bacteriological culture. Considering only bovine samples (n = 69), the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were estimated in 100% (CIP95% 84.0–100%) and 97.7% (CIP95% 86.2–99.9%), respectively. Eight negative culture samples exhibiting TB-like lesions were detected by the semi-nested real-time PCR, thus emphasizing the increased potential of this molecular approach to detect MTC-infected animal tissues. This novel IS6110-targeted assay allows the fast detection of tuberculous mycobacteria in animal specimens with very high sensitivity and specificity, being amenable and cost effective for use in the routine veterinary diagnostic laboratory with further automation possibilities.
Visualization of the trabeculo-Descemet membrane in deep sclerectomy after Nd:YAG goniopuncture: an in vivo confocal microscopy study.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the morphologic characteristics of the trabeculo-Descemet membrane (TDM) by in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) after deep sclerectomy with collagen implant and to correlate the findings with the intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering effect of goniopuncture. METHODS Twenty eyes of 19 patients were evaluated in a prospective, observational case series. Examination using IVCM and measurement of IOP were performed 15 minutes before and 15 minutes after Nd:YAG goniopuncture. RESULTS Two groups could be distinguished on the basis of morphologic characteristics of the TDM before goniopuncture. In group 1 (13 eyes), the TDM was characterized by the presence of an area of epithelial cells in the deep stromal level. After goniopuncture, an opening at the TDM with dispersed epithelial cells was visible. In group 2 (7 eyes), fibrotic tissue overlying the TDM was observed in all cases, and no openings were visible after goniopuncture. Group 1 had a statistically significant decrease in mean (SD) IOP after goniopuncture (21.6 [4.8] mm Hg before and 13.5 [4.6] mm Hg after, P = .008); there was no significant change in group 2 (19.2 [4.3] mm Hg before and 20.8 [7.5] mm Hg after, P = .30). There was a strong correlation between the presence of fibrous tissue and percentage of IOP lowering after goniopuncture (ρ = -0.89, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS The presence of fibrotic tissue covering the TDM is associated with failure of goniopuncture. Use of IVCM may be valuable in predicting the efficacy of goniopuncture in patients with elevated IOP after deep sclerectomy with collagen implant.
Temporal memory in human amnesic subjects and rats with specific brain lesions.

Temporal processing was assessed in a group of alcoholic Korsakoff subjects, post viral encephalitic subjects, alcoholic control and normal control subjects. Subjects were tested on their ability to reproduce and estimate intervals of time ranging from 3 to 96 seconds. Also, a computerised analogue of the fixed interval procedure used with animals was designed and used to test subjects' estimations of intervals of 15 and 30 seconds. Memory for temporal order was also assessed using an object recency task which also incorporated a recognition memory test. It was found that Korsakoff subjects were impaired at all intervals both in the temporal estimation tests and the fixed interval procedure compared to the alcoholic control subjects, whereas the post-encephalitic subjects performed similarly to the normal control group. Both amnesic groups, however, were severely impaired on the test of temporal order memory. The results suggested that these two aspects of temporal processing were unrelated and that neither was related to severity of amnesia. There was no evidence to support the view that amnesic subjects' temporal order deficits are a result of frontal lobe dysfunction, but the temporal duration judgments correlated significantly with tests of cognitive estimation suggesting a contribution of frontal lobe function to estimation of temporal duration. Temporal order memory was assessed in rats with either radiofrequency lesions of the fornix or aspiration lesions of medial prefrontal cortex using a delayed non-matching to sample procedure. Neither lesion group was impaired on this test of recency memory although both were impaired on a spatial non-matching task. These results are discussed in relation to previous animal studies and their implications for human amnesia.
A 24-week, randomized, controlled trial of adjunctive sibutramine versus topiramate in the treatment of weight gain in overweight or obese patients with bipolar disorders.

OBJECTIVES Patients with bipolar disorder (BD) have an increased risk of obesity as well as psychotropic-associated weight gain. The objective of this study was to compare sibutramine and topiramate as adjunctive treatments for psychotropic-associated weight gain in overweight or obese outpatients with BD. METHODS In this 24-week, open-label, flexible-dose, comparison trial, 46 outpatients with bipolar disorders who had a body mass index (BMI) > or =30 kg/m(2), or > or =27 kg/m(2) with obesity-related comorbidities, and psychotropic-associated weight gain were randomly assigned to receive sibutramine (n = 18; 5-15 mg/day) or topiramate (n = 28; 25-600 mg/day). The primary outcome measure was weight loss. Secondary measures included changes in BMI, percent body weight loss, and mood symptoms. RESULTS Patients randomized either to sibutramine or topiramate lost comparable amounts of weight (4.1 +/- 5.7 and 2.8 +/- 3.5 kg, respectively) and displayed similar rates of weight loss (0.85 and 0.82 kg/week, respectively). However, only four (22%) patients receiving sibutramine and six (21%) patients receiving topiramate completed the 24-week trial. In addition, the attrition patterns for the two drugs were different, with patients discontinuing topiramate doing so early in treatment and patients discontinuing sibutramine doing so throughout treatment. Also, higher ratings of manic and depressive symptoms significantly increased risk for early topiramate discontinuation compared to that for sibutramine. CONCLUSIONS Adjunctive sibutramine and topiramate may have comparable weight loss effects in overweight or obese bipolar patients with psychotropic-associated weight gain, but are each associated with similarly high discontinuation rates. In addition, they may have different attrition profiles. Compared to sibutramine, discontinuation of topiramate may be more likely to occur early in treatment and may be more dependent upon manic and depressive symptoms.
Comparison of most-to-least to error correction to teach tacting to two children diagnosed with autism

Abstract This study compared most-to-least prompting to an error correction procedure involving feedback and remedial trials for teaching two children with autism a variety of expressive labels. Using an adapted alternating treatment design nested into a multiple probe design, experimenters taught each participant how to expressively label different pictures of cartoon characters or comic book characters. Results indicated that, while both procedures were effective, participants learned more skills with the error correction procedure, and the error correction procedure was more efficient than most-to-least prompting.
Multicast ad hoc routing through mobility-aware Steiner tree meshes with consistency across different mobility models

We study the problem of reducing the data overhead of mesh-based multicast ad hoc routing protocols while maintaining high packet delivery ratios (PDR). Our proposed approach adaptively controls the redundancy added by the routing protocol to the minimal data overhead multicast mesh. We show that the problem of finding the minimal data overhead multicast mesh is NP-complete, and we offer a heuristic algorithm to approximate such a mesh. Based on the heuristic algorithm, we propose and evaluate several mesh construction algorithms. We show that the mobility-aware variant being able to control the reliability of the mesh depending upon the mobility of the network offers the best performance. Our simulation results show that our proposed approach offers similar PDRs than ODMRP at a much lower data overhead. In addition, the simulations show that our mobility metric provides consistent results across different mobility models.
Escalating Slant

A wealth of evidence has shown that people verbally overestimate the slant of hills by 15° to 20° (Bhalla & Proffitt, 1999; Creem-Regehr, Gooch, Sahm, & Thompson, 2004; Proffitt, Bhalla, Gossweiler, & Midgett, 1995). Over the past 15 years, one of the most widely accepted explanations to account for conscious overestimates of slant has been that people’s perception of slant relates the incline of hills to physiological potential, or how much motor effort the hills would require to climb. Consistent with this explanation, research has shown that decreased physiological potential due to fatigue, poor health, increasing age, or the burden of a weighted backpack leads to further exaggerations of the steepness of hills (Bhalla & Proffitt, 1999; Proffitt et al., 1995). Similarly, hills look steeper from the top than from the bottom, presumably because they are more difficult and dangerous to descend than to ascend (Proffitt et al., 1995; Stefanucci, Proffitt, Clore, & Parekh, 2008). More recently, the evidence favoring a physiological explanation has been disputed. For example, demand characteristics have been shown to explain the effects of weighted backpacks (Durgin et al., 2009). Other work has shown that older people and college-age students estimate slopes the same (i.e., achieve the same estimates), contradicting the work showing the effects of increasing age (Durgin, Hajnal, Li, Tonge, & Stigliani, 2010; Norman, Crabtree, Bartholomew, & Ferrell, 2009). Further, Ross (2006) found that downhill slopes and uphill slopes appear to be equally steep, and Li and Durgin (2009) determined that estimates of downhill slopes depend on where one stands relative to the edge when looking down from the top. Li and Durgin suggested, too, that overestimates of uphill slopes in previous work may be explained by a scale expansion of perceived optical slant. In the present study, we investigated whether increasing observers’ physiological potential—that is, making it easier for them to traverse a slanted surface―would lead them to provide lower estimates of slant. Participants were asked to verbally estimate the slant of a flight of stairs and an escalator. According to the physiological-potential account, estimates would be lower for stairs than for hills, because stairs are easier to climb than similarly sloped hills, and estimates would be lowest of all for the escalator, because traversing an escalator requires no motor effort.
Pressures and stresses in freezing water drops

Calculations of the pressure in the liquid core of a freezing water droplet and stresses in the surrounding ice shell are made. The theory is developed in terms of two mechanical models for the ice. The first model assumes it is elastic and the second that it is linearly viscoelastic. The calculated pressure development is compared with that measured in drops one centimetre in diameter. It is concluded that the visco- elastic theory is sufficient for describing the pressure growth, but overestimates the magnitudes of the stresses in the shell. It is suggested that a treatment using a non- linear dependence of strain rate on stress would yield a more realistic stress distribution.
CX3CR1 Is Expressed by Human B Lymphocytes and Meditates CX3CL1 Driven Chemotaxis of Tonsil Centrocytes

Background Fractalkine/CX3CL1, a surface chemokine, binds to CX3CR1 expressed by different lymphocyte subsets. Since CX3CL1 has been detected in the germinal centres of secondary lymphoid tissue, in this study we have investigated CX3CR1 expression and function in human naïve, germinal centre and memory B cells isolated from tonsil or peripheral blood. Methodology/Principal Findings We demonstrate unambiguously that highly purified human B cells from tonsil and peripheral blood expressed CX3CR1 at mRNA and protein levels as assessed by quantitative PCR, flow cytometry and competition binding assays. In particular, naïve, germinal centre and memory B cells expressed CX3CR1 but only germinal centre B cells were attracted by soluble CX3CL1 in a transwell assay. CX3CL1 signalling in germinal centre B cells involved PI3K, Erk1/2, p38, and Src phosphorylation, as assessed by Western blot experiments. CX3CR1+ germinal centre B cells were devoid of centroblasts and enriched for centrocytes that migrated to soluble CX3CL1. ELISA assay showed that soluble CX3CL1 was secreted constitutively by follicular dendritic cells and T follicular helper cells, two cell populations homing in the germinal centre light zone as centrocytes. At variance with that observed in humans, soluble CX3CL1 did not attract spleen B cells from wild type mice. OVA immunized CX3CR1−/− or CX3CL1−/− mice showed significantly decreased specific IgG production compared to wild type mice. Conclusion/Significance We propose a model whereby human follicular dendritic cells and T follicular helper cells release in the light zone of germinal centre soluble CX3CL1 that attracts centrocytes. The functional implications of these results warrant further investigation.
Current management of melanoma: Benefits of surgical staging and adjuvant therapy

Issues regarding appropriate management of stage I to III melanoma are addressed. Accurate surgical staging is critical to identifying patients who can benefit from therapeutic lymph node dissection and adjuvant therapy. Patients with primary tumors ≥1 mm thick are appropriate candidates for sentinel lymph node biopsy, and node‐positive patients benefit from therapeutic lymphadenectomy. Although the overall survival benefit of high‐dose interferon has been questioned, the weight of evidence supports the use of adjuvant therapy in patients with stage IIB and III disease. J. Surg. Oncol. 2003;82:209–216. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.