Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EFFECT OF CHANGE IN DRUSEN EVOLUTION ON PHOTORECEPTOR INNER SEGMENT/OUTER SEGMENT JUNCTION

Purpose: To evaluate the integrity of photoreceptor inner segment/outer segment (IS/OS) junction after change of drusen size in age-related macular degeneration using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. Methods: Drusen volume raster scans were performed with the Spectralis spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (Heidelberg Engineering) through 2,624 drusen in 14 eyes with clinically dry age-related macular degeneration, which had been longitudinally followed-up between 23 and 28 months without intervention (mean, 26.3 months). All eyes had Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study visual acuity. A total of 416 of 2,624 drusen were analyzed. Results: Of 416 drusen, 83 (20%) were found to have regressed spontaneously (Group A), 212 (51%) showed no change in size (Group B), and 121 (29%) progressed (Group C). Mean drusen size of all drusen was 63.7 ± 25.7 &mgr;m. Cross-sectional analysis of drusen morphology showed a correlation between drusen size and disrupted IS/OS junction/photoreceptor integrity (r = −0.48, P < 0.001). Of the drusen that regressed over time, there was intact IS/OS junction integrity. Even drusen that caused a major disruption showed IS/OS restoration in 74% of the drusen (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Progression of drusen shows structural disruption of the IS/OS junction. After drusen regression, the IS/OS junction is either able to restore as drusen regress or was artifactitiously compressed and not initially visible because of the initial drusen compression of the IS/OS junctional line. Therefore, drusen evolution may play an important role in affecting the photoreceptor IS/OS junction integrity.
Terminal distribution of the corticospinal projection from the hand/arm region of the primary motor cortex to the cervical enlargement in rhesus monkey

To further our understanding of the corticospinal projection (CSP) from the hand/arm representation of the primary motor cortex (M1), high‐resolution anterograde tracing methodology and stereology were used to investigate the terminal distribution of this connection at spinal levels C5 to T1. The highest number of labeled terminal boutons occurred contralaterally (98%) with few ipsilaterally (2%). Contralaterally, labeled boutons were located within laminae I–X, with the densest distribution found in lamina VII and, to a lesser extent, laminae IX and VI. Fewer terminals were found in other contralateral laminae. Within lamina VII, terminal boutons were most prominent in the dorsomedial, dorsolateral, and ventrolateral subsectors. Within lamina IX, the heaviest terminal labeling was distributed dorsally. Ipsilaterally, boutons were found in laminae V–X. The most pronounced distribution occurred in the dorsomedial and ventromedial sectors of lamina VII and fewer labeled boutons were located in other ipsilateral laminae. Segmentally, contralateral lamina VII labeling was highest at levels C5–C7. In contrast, lamina IX labeling was highest at C7–T1 and more widely dispersed among the quadrants at C8–T1. Our findings suggest dominant contralateral influence of the M1 hand/arm CSP, a contralateral innervation pattern in lamina VII supporting Kuypers (1982) conceptual framework of a “lateral motor system,” and a projection to lamina IX indicating significant influence on motoneurons innervating flexors acting on the shoulder and elbow rostrally (C5–C7), along with flexors, extensors, abductors and adductors acting on the digits, hand and wrist caudally (C8–T1). J. Comp. Neurol. 521:4205–4235, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Clinical Consequences of Metformin-Associated Vitamin B 12 Deficiency Among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Aim: Metformin is the first-line treatment in type 2 diabetic patients. However, it may raise homocystein levels through vitamin B12 deficiency, which might adversly affects its alleged cardiovascular advantages. In this study, we investigated the association between metformin-associated vitamin B12 deficiency and the occurrence of silent myocardial ischemia and hematological abnormalities in type 2 diabetes. Methods: This hospital-based cross-sectional study evaluated 798 asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes and at least one cardiovascular risk factor. Biological and clinical parameters were compared first between the 497 metformin-treated patients and the 301 metformin-free patients, and second between metformin users with and without vitamin B12 deficiency. Outcomes included vitamin B12 deficiency (<150 pmol/l), hyperhomocysteinemia (>15 μmol/l), anemia, macrocytosis and silent myocardial ischemia (positive stress myocardial perfusion imaging). Results: Mean diabetes duration of the whole sample was 14.3 ± 9.5 years. Crude prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency was 12.5% in metformintreated patients and 6.1% in metformin free patients (p<0.01). The homocystein level was not increased in metformin users, but among them it was higher in vitamin B12 deficient patients. In both univariate and multivariate analyses, metformin-associated vitamin B12 deficiency was not related to increased risks of hyperhomocysteinemia, silent myocardial ischemia, or to the combined endpoint of macrocytosis and anemia. Conclusion: This large cross-sectional study confirms that vitamin B12 deficiency is more common among metformin users, but does not suggest a detrimental effect of metformin on silent myocardial ischemia nor on hematological abnormalities, even though such effects cannot be excluded.
Impacts of genetic bottlenecks on soybean genome diversity

Soybean has undergone several genetic bottlenecks. These include domestication in Asia to produce numerous Asian landraces, introduction of relatively few landraces to North America, and then selective breeding over the past 75 years. It is presumed that these three human-mediated events have reduced genetic diversity. We sequenced 111 fragments from 102 genes in four soybean populations representing the populations before and after genetic bottlenecks. We show that soybean has lost many rare sequence variants and has undergone numerous allele frequency changes throughout its history. Although soybean genetic diversity has been eroded by human selection after domestication, it is notable that modern cultivars have retained 72% of the sequence diversity present in the Asian landraces but lost 79% of rare alleles (frequency ≤0.10) found in the Asian landraces. Simulations indicated that the diversity lost through the genetic bottlenecks of introduction and plant breeding was mostly due to the small number of Asian introductions and not the artificial selection subsequently imposed by selective breeding. The bottleneck with the most impact was domestication; when the low sequence diversity present in the wild species was halved, 81% of the rare alleles were lost, and 60% of the genes exhibited evidence of significant allele frequency changes.
The Role of Market Information in Adoption of Agricultural Seed Technology in Rural Uganda

In this paper, the authors evaluate the impact of access to ICT-based market information on prices received by farmers and the intensity of adoption of improved hybrid and composite maize varieties. Propensity score matching is applied to cross-sectional survey data from farmers whose major cash crop is maize. Results indicate that adoption of improved maize has a positive and significant effect on maize yields, gross maize revenue per acre, and gross margins. The authors find that access to ICT-based market information has a positive and significant impact on the level of output prices received and the intensity of adoption of improved maize. Access to ICT-based market information implies better prices and this positively affects the intensity of adoption of improved seed. The implication is that improving food security and farm incomes should consider both the promotion of yield-augmenting agricultural technologies and improved access to ICT-based market information.
CoCoNutTrix: Collaborative Retrofitting for Information Visualization

In this paper, the authors retrofitted a version of NodeTrix, a single-user graph visualization environment based on the InfoVis toolkit, to support multiple independent mice. The resulting low-cost environment was called CoCoNutTrix (Colocated Collaborative NodeTrix). Then, it was assessed how analysts viewed CoCoNutTrix and whether it effectively supported collaborative data analysis among domain experts using real data sets for social-network analysis. Our goal is to refine and expand our knowledge about retrofitting and hence designing colocated collaborative- visualization systems.
Nanoparticle bound nucleic acid probes for DNA detection and gene inactivation

In this project, a gold nanoparticle system has been developed that is able to detect SNP variations through a DNA based anthracene probe. A second probe is bound to the gold nanoparticle which allows the fluorescent output of the anthracene probe to be normalized. This allows the detection of SNP variations without the need for an initial reading, opening the possibility for using this system for cellular SNP identification. Through this work a new method for coating gold nanoparticles in oligonucleotides has been developed. In further work, the use of gold nanoparticles to deliver siRNA into cells and induce gene inactivation was investigated. Efforts to improve the knockdown efficiency of these siRNA-gold nanoparticles were made by integrating a second probe onto the nanoparticle surface, non-specific effects were observed upon addition of this second probe.
Bayesian Inverse Problems with l1 Priors: A Randomize-Then-Optimize Approach

Prior distributions for Bayesian inference that rely on the $l_1$-norm of the parameters are of considerable interest, in part because they promote parameter fields with less regularity than Gaussian priors (e.g., discontinuities and blockiness). These $l_1$-type priors include the total variation (TV) prior and the Besov space $B_{1,1}^s$ prior, and in general yield non-Gaussian posterior distributions. Sampling from these posteriors is challenging, particularly in the inverse problem setting where the parameter space is high-dimensional and the forward problem may be nonlinear. This paper extends the randomize-then-optimize (RTO) method, an optimization-based sampling algorithm developed for Bayesian inverse problems with Gaussian priors, to inverse problems with $l_1$-type priors. We use a variable transformation to convert an $l_1$-type prior to a standard Gaussian prior, such that the posterior distribution of the transformed parameters is amenable to Metropolized sampling via RTO. We demonstrate thi.
Optimisation of Periodic Search Strategies for Electronic Support

Solutions to the sensor-scheduling problem in electronic support (ES) are central to successful receiver operation. The scenario is examined in which a programmable, frequency-agile receiver is required to monitor a wide bandwidth for threat emitters from a known list. A theory is developed to allow the sweep time of the receiver, together with individual dwell times on each band, to be jointly optimised in order to minimise the intercept time with threat emitters. In theoretical and simulation studies, it is found that improvements of more than 10%, and sometimes much more, can be achieved on maximum and expected intercept times with respect to other periodic and jittered search strategies.
A Mobile Educational Game Accessible to All, Including Screen Reading Users on a Touch-Screen Device

Serious games are increasingly used for supporting education and many other activities via entertainment. Unfortunately, they are not accessible to visually-impaired people who have a very limited selection for games, especially in the mobile context. Usually they can rely just on specified games. Our aim is investigating how to overcome this gap for visually-impaired people. To this end, in this work a mobile educational game accessible also via screen reader on a touch-screen is presented. Through the app we investigated: (1) a gesture-based interaction modality to perform exercises on a touch-screen when a screen reader is running; (2) an equal opportunity in enjoying perception also by those cannot see the user interface. A pilot test confirmed a positive impact of the first prototype on the end-users.
Discriminative mixture weight estimation for large Gaussian mixture models

This paper describes a new approach to acoustic modeling for large vocabulary continuous speech recognition (LVCSR) systems. Each phone is modeled with a large Gaussian mixture model (GMM) whose context-dependent mixture weights are estimated with a sentence-level discriminative training criterion. The estimation problem is cast in a neural network framework, which enables the incorporation of the appropriate constraints on the mixture weight vectors, and allows a straight-forward training procedure, based on steepest descent. Experiments conducted on the Callhome-English and Switchboard databases show a significant improvement of the acoustic model performance, and a somewhat lesser improvement with the combined acoustic and language models.
New Approach Based on ANFIS Computation to Study the Threshold Voltage Behavior Including Trap Effects for Nanoscale DG MOSFETs

In recent years, the aggressive scaling of CMOS technology has reduced the associated geometry to very low dimensions. At the same time, this process is accompanied inevitably with an increased reliability concern expressed basically by the ageing degradation that is a well-recognized challenge for further MOSFET family scaling. In this work, an Adaptive Network Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) based approach is proposed to model the relative degradation of the threshold voltage caused by the hot carrier effect. The DG MOSFET device under study is subject to both short channel and quantum confinement effects which make the direct application of analytical tools a very hard task to achieve. The obtained results show good agreement with numerical simulations (Atlas 2D-simulator) so that the proposed approach might serve as a basis for more complex degradation behavior modeling frameworks.
SSRIs Do Not Worsen Parkinson's Disease: Evidence from an Open-Label, Prospective Study

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have been reported to be useful in the treatment of depression in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, a few reports have suggested that SSRIs may worsen parkinsonian motor symptomatology and extrapyramidal side effects have been reported in depressed patients treated with SSRIs. So far, no prospective trial comparing the effects of different SSRIs in depressed patients with PD has been performed. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of four SSRIs (citalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, and sertraline) on motor performance and their efficacy on depression in a group of patients with PD. Sixty-two consecutive nondemented, nonfluctuating, depressed patients with PD were included in four treatment groups (15 patiens received citalopram, 16 fluoxetine, 16 fluvoxamine, and 15 sertraline). The evaluation of extrapyramidal and depressive symptomatology was performed with use of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Beck Depression Inventory, and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale at baseline and after 1, 3, and 6 months. Fifty-two patients completed the study. UPDRS scores were not significantly modified by the add-on therapy with each of the SSRIs studied. A significant improvement in depressive symptoms from baseline to the end of the trial was obtained with all SSRIs (Beck and Hamilton scores improving;p < 0.05 according to an analysis of variance). Our findings suggest that SSRIs do not significantly worsen extrapyramidal symptomatology and may ameliorate depression in patients with PD.
Domain Analyses Reveal That Chlamydia trachomatis CT694 Protein Belongs to the Membrane-localized Family of Type III Effector Proteins*

Background: The Chlamydia trachomatis secreted effector CT694 is deployed during invasion and exerts multiple effects on host cells. Results: Residues 40–80 of CT694 contain a domain necessary and sufficient for peripheral localization to eukaryotic membranes. Conclusion: CT694 employs membrane association to manifest effects on host cells. Significance: Elucidating functional protein domains is essential to understand molecular mechanisms of infection employed by the pathogen C. trachomatis. The Chlamydia trachomatis type three-secreted effector protein CT694 is expressed during late-cycle development yet is secreted by infectious particles during the invasion process. We have previously described the presence of at least two functional domains within CT694. CT694 was found to interact with the human protein Ahnak through a C-terminal domain and affect formation of host-cell actin stress fibers. Immunolocalization analyses of ectopically expressed pEGFP-CT694 also revealed plasma membrane localization for CT694 that was independent of Ahnak binding. Here we provide evidence that CT694 contains multiple functional domains. Plasma membrane localization and CT694-induced alterations in host cell morphology are dependent on an N-terminal domain. We demonstrate that membrane association of CT694 is dependent on a domain resembling a membrane localization domain (MLD) found in anti-host proteins from Yersinia, Pseudomonas, and Salmonella spp. This domain is necessary and sufficient for localization and morphology changes but is not required for Ahnak binding. Further, the CT694 MLD is able to complement ExoS ΔMLD when ectopically expressed. Taken together, our data indicate that CT694 is a multidomain protein with the potential to modulate multiple host cell processes.
Scalable layered space-time codes for wireless communications: performance analysis and design criteria

Dual antenna-array systems provide very high capacity compared to single antenna systems in a Rayleigh fading environment. If the transmitter does not have the channel state information, to utilize this high capacity, space-time codes must be employed. The diagonally-layered space-time (DLST) architecture is a structure that is capable of providing a high data rate for a low decoding complexity. We analyze the performance of DLST codes with a hard decision-feedback decoder and a soft decision-feedback decoder with iterative decoding. We analyze the error probability performance and propose the criteria for designing the constituent codes.
The systemic inflammatory response syndrome predicts short-term outcome after transapical transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

OBJECTIVE Despite the minimally invasive nature of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), the incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) and mortality is of major concern. Several studies showed that outcome was influenced by the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) in patients undergoing percutaneous TAVI. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether SIRS after transapical TAVI was associated with short-term outcome. DESIGN Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data. SETTING Intensive care unit in a tertiary-care hospital. PARTICIPANTS In 121 patients undergoing transapical TAVI for severe aortic stenosis between March 2010 and October 2013, the incidence of SIRS during the first 48 hours was studied. The relation between the occurrence of SIRS and any adverse event during hospital stay was investigated. Any adverse event was defined as the composite of mortality, AKI, infection, stroke, myocardial infarction, and bleeding. INTERVENTION none. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Sixty-five (53.7%) patients developed SIRS during 48 hours after transapical TAVI. The occurrence of SIRS was associated independently with an increased risk of any adverse event (adjusted odds ratio: 4.0, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.6-9.6; p=0.002), which was mainly an increased risk of death (odds ratio: 5.5, 95% CI: 1.1-25.9; p=0.031). Patients with SIRS had a longer median duration of intensive care unit stay compared with patients without SIRS (2 v 1 day; p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS SIRS predicts short-term outcome in patients undergoing transapical TAVI.
Intestinal absorption of the bile acid analogue 75Se-homocholic acid-taurine is increased in primary biliary cirrhosis, and reverts to normal during ursodeoxycholic acid administration

Background: Whether ileal absorption of bile acid is up or downregulated in chronic cholestasis is still debated, and most evidence has come from animal studies. Aims: To compare ileal bile acid absorption in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and in healthy control subjects, and to assess the effect of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). Patients: We studied 14 PBC patients before and during (n=11) UDCA administration, 14 healthy control subjects, and 14 Crohn’s disease patients (as disease controls). Methods: We used cholescintigraphy to measure retention in the enterohepatic circulation over five successive days of the bile acid analogue 75Se-homocholic acid-taurine (75SeHCAT) as an index of ileal bile acid absorption. Results were expressed as 75SeHCAT fractional turnover rate (FTR) and t½12. Results:75SeHCAT FTR was 0.19 (0.11)/day, 0.34 (0.11)/day (p<0.001), and 0.83 (0.32)/day in PBC patients, healthy controls (p<0.0001), and Crohn’s patients (p<0.001), respectively, which increased to 0.36 (0.16)/day in PBC patients during UDCA treatment (p<0.005). 75SeHCAT t½12 was 4.8 (2.1) days in PBC patients, 2.2 (0.5) days (p<0.001) in healthy controls, and 1.0 (0.5) days (p<0.001) in Crohn’s disease patients. 75SeHCAT t½12 decreased to 2.2 (0.93) days (p< 0.001) in PBC patients during UDCA treatment. Conclusions: Our results support the concept that ileal bile acid absorption is upregulated in PBC patients, and that this effect may contribute towards damaging the cholestatic liver. This upregulation of bile acid absorption is abolished by UDCA.
A critical review and meta-analysis of the unconscious thought effect in medical decision making

Based on research on the increasingly popular unconscious thought effect (UTE), it has been suggested that physicians might make better diagnostic decisions after a period of distraction than after an equivalent amount of time of conscious deliberation. However, published attempts to demonstrate the UTE in medical decision making have yielded inconsistent results. In the present study, we report the results of a meta-analysis of all the available evidence on the UTE in medical decisions made by expert and novice clinicians. The meta-analysis failed to find a significant contribution of unconscious thought (UT) to the accuracy of medical decisions. This result cannot be easily attributed to any of the potential moderators of the UTE that have been discussed in the literature. Furthermore, a Bayes factor analysis shows that most experimental conditions provide positive support for the null hypothesis, suggesting that these null results do not reflect a simple lack of statistical power. We suggest ways in which new studies could usefully provide further evidence on the UTE. Unless future research shows otherwise, the recommendation of using UT to improve medical decisions lacks empirical support.