Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Statistical aspects of the normal visual field in short-wavelength automated perimetry.

PURPOSE To determine the intraindividual and interindividual characteristics of normal sensitivity derived by short-wavelength automated perimetry (SWAP) as a function of threshold algorithm. To determine also the influence of ocular media absorption on the magnitude of the interindividual variation in normal sensitivity, and hence the confidence limits, derived by SWAP. METHODS The sample comprised 51 normal subjects, stratified for age by decade (mean age, 55.5 years; range, 24-83 years) and experienced in white-on-white (W-W) perimetry and SWAP. One randomly assigned eye of each subject was examined on three occasions with Program 30-2 of the 640 Humphrey Field Analyzer using the Full Threshold and FASTPAC strategies for SWAP and W-W perimetries. Ocular media absorption (OMA) was assessed by the difference in scotopic sensitivity to stimuli of 410 and 560 nm. RESULTS The group mean examination time (P < 0.001) was greater for SWAP than for W-W perimetry for both the Full Threshold (15.0% longer) and FASTPAC strategies (16.8% longer). The gradient of the age-decline in Mean Sensitivity for SWAP was approximately 25% less steep when corrected for OMA than when uncorrected. The interindividual normal variability, expressed as the coefficient of variation, for SWAP without correction for OMA was 2.7 times greater (range 2.0-3.9), and with correction 1.9 times greater (range 1.4-2.9), than that for W-W perimetry. CONCLUSIONS The increased interindividual normal variability of SWAP, exacerbated by the lack of correction for OMA, currently limits the utility of SWAP in that the reduction in sensitivity required to indicate abnormality was proportionately greater than for W-W perimetry.
Pseudo Exclusive-OR for LDPC Coded Two-Way Relay Block Fading Channels

We present a novel adaptive physical layer network coding (PLNC) at the relay, called pseudo exclusive-or (PXOR), for LDPC coded two-way relay (TWR) block fading channels. Based on the pairwise check decoding (PCD), the check relationship table generated by the proposed PXOR mapping obtains the same Hamming distances of the PLNC mapped codewords as that of conventional XOR mapping. In the meantime, the PXOR mapping optimizes the Euclidean distances by adjusting the symbol distances dynamically as far as possible in order to compensate the amplitude fading and phase deviation of the TWR block fading channels. For the system end-to-end error probability, simulation results show that the proposed coded PXOR considerably outperforms the coded conventional XOR and achieves the same performance as the complicated coded CNC for considered two TWR block fading channels.
A Generative Model for Parts-based Object Segmentation

The Shape Boltzmann Machine (SBM) [1] has recently been introduced as a state-of-the-art model of foreground/background object shape. We extend the SBM to account for the foreground object's parts. Our new model, the Multinomial SBM (MSBM), can capture both local and global statistics of part shapes accurately. We combine the MSBM with an appearance model to form a fully generative model of images of objects. Parts-based object segmentations are obtained simply by performing probabilistic inference in the model. We apply the model to two challenging datasets which exhibit significant shape and appearance variability, and find that it obtains results that are comparable to the state-of-the-art.
PARENTAL ATTENTION, LEARNING MOTIVATION, EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND INFLUENCE ON LEARNING OUTCOMES

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of parental attention, learning motivation, and emotional intelligence on student learning outcomes in basic accounting subjects for class X at SMK Negeri in East Jakarta. This study's population consisted of students enrolled in class X Accounting at State Vocational Schools in East Jakarta, with an accessible population of 213 students and a sample size of 138 respondents. The t-test and F tests are used to test the hypothesis in this study. The t-test results indicate that there is a positive and marginally significant relationship between parental attention and learning outcomes, learning motivation and learning outcomes, and emotional intelligence and learning outcomes. The results of the F test indicate that parental attention, learning motivation, and emotional intelligence have a positive and statistically significant effect on academic achievement. The influence of parental attention, learning motivation, and emotional intelligence on learning outcomes yielded a coefficient of determination of 13.4%; the remaining variance was attributable to unmeasured factors.
Distributed council election

This paper studies the problem of electing a small number of representatives (council) out of a (possible large) group of anonymous candidates. The problem arises in scenarios such as multicast where, to avoid feedback implosion, a small subset of the receivers is chosen to provide feedback on network conditions. We present several algorithms for this problem and analyze the expected number of messages and rounds required for their convergence. In particular, we present an algorithm that almost always converges in one round using a small number of messages (for typical council size) when the number of hosts is known. In the case where the number of hosts is unknown (and too large to be polled), our algorithms converge in a small number of rounds that improves previous results by Bolot et al. (1994).
Kinetics and Thermodynamics of Reserpine Adsorption onto Strong Acidic Cationic Exchange Fiber

The kinetics and thermodynamics of the adsorption process of reserpine adsorbed onto the strong acidic cationic exchange fiber (SACEF) were studied by batch adsorption experiments. The adsorption capacity strongly depended on pH values, and the optimum reserpine adsorption onto the SACEF occurred at pH = 5 of reserpine solution. With the increase of temperature and initial concentration, the adsorption capacity increased. The equilibrium was attained within 20 mins. The adsorption process could be better described by the pseudo-second-order model and the Freundlich isotherm model. The calculated activation energy Ea was 4.35 kJ/mol. And the thermodynamic parameters were: 4.97<ΔH<7.44 kJ/mol, -15.29<ΔG<-11.87 kJ/mol and 41.97<ΔS<47.35 J/mol·K. The thermodynamic parameters demonstrated that the adsorption was an endothermic, spontaneous and feasible process of physisorption within the temperature range between 283 K and 323 K and the initial concentration range between 100 mg/L and 300 mg/L. All the results showed that the SACEF had a good adsorption performance for the adsorption of reserpine from alcoholic solution.
Purification and characterization of D-serine deaminase activator protein

We purified the dsdC gene product, the specific activator of dsdA (D-serine deaminase) gene expression, to about 25% homogeneity from a strain in which its expression was amplified 100-fold. The purification involved, successively: DNase and high-salt treatment of cell extracts, DNA-cellulose chromatography, and Dyematrex (Amicon Corp.) column chromatography. We identified the protein as a discrete spot on two-dimensional O'Farrell gels after the DNA-cellulose step and quantitated it by densitometry. The active form was found to be a dimer. We estimated that there were eight activator dimers per wild-type cell. The activator is a slightly basic protein, with an experimental Km for its ligand D-serine of about 7 X 10(-6)M. The low concentration of the activator in wild-type cells and its autorepression may explain the previously observed partial dominance of dsdC+ in dsdCc/dsdC+ merodiploids.
beta-1,3-Glucan-Induced Host Phospholipase D Activation Is Involved in Aspergillus fumigatus Internalization into Type II Human Pneumocyte A549 Cells

The internalization of Aspergillus fumigatus into lung epithelial cells is a process that depends on host cell actin dynamics. The host membrane phosphatidylcholine cleavage driven by phospholipase D (PLD) is closely related to cellular actin dynamics. However, little is known about the impact of PLD on A. fumigatus internalization into lung epithelial cells. Here, we report that once germinated, A. fumigatus conidia were able to stimulate host PLD activity and internalize more efficiently in A549 cells without altering PLD expression. The internalization of A. fumigatus in A549 cells was suppressed by the downregulation of host cell PLD using chemical inhibitors or siRNA interference. The heat-killed swollen conidia, but not the resting conidia, were able to activate host PLD. Further, b -1,3-glucan, the core component of the conidial cell wall, stimulated host PLD activity. This PLD activation and conidia internalization were inhibited by anti-dectin-1 antibody. Indeed, dectin-1, a b -1,3-glucan receptor, was expressed in A549 cells, and its expression profile was not altered by conidial stimulation. Finally, host cell PLD1 and PLD2 accompanied A. fumigatus conidia during internalization. Our data indicate that host cell PLD activity induced by b -1,3-glucan on the surface of germinated conidia is important for the efficient internalization of A. fumigatus into A549 lung epithelial cells.
Ubiquitin C‐terminal hydrolase‐L1 as a biomarker for ischemic and traumatic brain injury in rats

Ubiquitin C‐terminal hydrolase‐L1 (UCH‐L1), also called neuronal‐specific protein gene product 9.5, is a highly abundant protein in the neuronal cell body and has been identified as a possible biomarker on the basis of a recent proteomic study. In this study, we examined whether UCH‐L1 was significantly elevated in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) following controlled cortical impact (CCI) and middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO; model of ischemic stroke) in rats. Quantitative immunoblots of rat CSF revealed a dramatic elevation of UCH‐L1 protein 48 h after severe CCI and as early as 6 h after mild (30 min) and severe (2 h) MCAO. A sandwich enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay constructed to measure UCH‐L1 sensitively and quantitatively showed that CSF UCH‐L1 levels were significantly elevated as early as 2 h and up to 48 h after CCI. Similarly, UCH‐L1 levels were also significantly elevated in CSF from 6 to 72 h after 30 min of MCAO and from 6 to 120 h after 2 h of MCAO. These data are comparable to the profile of the calpain‐produced αII‐spectrin breakdown product of 145 kDa biomarker. Importantly, serum UCH‐L1 biomarker levels were also significantly elevated after CCI. Similarly, serum UCH‐L1 levels in the 2‐h MCAO group were significantly higher than those in the 30‐min group. Taken together, these data from two rat models of acute brain injury strongly suggest that UCH‐L1 is a candidate brain injury biomarker detectable in biofluid compartments (CSF and serum).
A linear logical framework

We present the linear type theory LLF as the formal basis for a conservative extension of the LF logical framework. LLF combines the expressive power of dependent types with linear logic to permit the natural and concise representation of a whole new class of deductive systems, namely those dealing with state. As an example we encode a version of Mini-ML with references including its type system, its operational semantics, and a proof of type preservation. Another example is the encoding of a sequent calculus for classical linear logic and its cut elimination theorem. LLF can also be given an operational interpretation as a logic programming language under which the representations above can be used for type inference, evaluation and cut-elimination.
HCoop: A Cooperative and Hybrid Resource Scheduling for Heterogeneous Jobs in Clouds

Heterogeneous workloads composed of long batch jobs and short term jobs are increasingly common in modern datacenters, which poses a challenge to resource scheduling for improving throughput and resource utilization. Achieving high resource utilization and throughput is important to the cloud provider for achieving high revenue. To address this challenge, we propose HCoop, a cooperative and hybrid resource scheduling for high resource utilization and throughput in clouds. HCoop first uses the machine learning algorithm to classify jobs into two categories (long jobs and short jobs) based on the extracted features. Then, it allocates the regular virtual machines (VMs) to tasks of long jobs with higher SLO (Service Level Objective) availability guarantee, and selectively allocates the spot instances to tasks of short jobs for improving the overall resource utilization while ensuring the SLO availability for short jobs. Also, HCoop leverages the complementary of tasks’ requirements on different resource types and the heterogeneity of jobs/tasks in job/task size, and it packs complementary tasks whose demands on multiple resource types are complementary to each other and allocates them to a VM to further increase the resource utilization. Extensive experimental results based on a real cluster and Amazon EC2 cloud service show that HCoop achieves high resource utilization and throughput compared to existing strategies.
Body image disturbance and quality of life in Chinese patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

BACKGROUND Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a painful inflammatory disease of the axial skeleton that can cause body image disturbance (BID) and may lead to psychological changes in AS patients. OBJECTIVE This study investigated the effect of AS patient physical and psychological status on BID and quality of life (QOL). METHODS Overall, 112 AS patients (84 males, 28 females; mean age, 32.8 ± 10.8) and 127 healthy age-matched individuals (control group; 78 males, 49 females; mean age, 36.9 ± 12.6) were screened for inclusion in the single-centre study. Multiple instruments assessing physical function, psychological function, body image, and QOL were applied. Multivariate stepwise regression analyses were used to determine factors associated with BID, anxiety, and depression. RESULTS Of 103 AS patients and 121 control subjects, AS patients exhibited greater BID-associated social function, social life, and role function impairments (BID Questionnaire [BIDQ] 2.42 vs. 1.02; 2.20 vs. 1.19; 2.54 vs. 0.72, respectively), lower behavioural avoidance (BIDQ 3.07 vs. 3.49), and similar decreases in vitality and mental health (p < .01). Impaired social function predicted anxiety and depression in AS patients. Disease status (daily activity, general health, and pain) and psychological status (BID, anxiety, and depression) predicted poor QOL (p < .05). CONCLUSION BID may play a significant role in causing clinical psychological dysfunction in AS patients, including anxiety and depression. Further research is required to fully assess whether these observations are similar in patients with variant AS severity. BID may be useful in clinical prognostic assessment and AS management. PRACTITIONER POINTS AS patients investigated in this study exhibited BID. There were significant relationships between the BIDQ, disease and psychological variables, and QOL. Disease status, BID, and anxiety and depression indicated a poor QOL.
Cognitive Bias, Functional Cortical Geometry, and the Frontal Lobes: Laterality, Sex, and Handedness

Performance of patients with quadrant lesions on the inherently ambiguous Cognitive Bias Task (CBT) suggests sexual dimorphism in the fundamental aspects of functional cortical geometry, by emphasizing different cerebral axes. In right-handed males, extreme context-dependent and context-independent response selection biases are reciprocally linked to left vs. right frontal systems. In right-handed females, these complementary biases appear to be reciprocally linked to posterior vs. frontal cortices. Frontal lobe functions are more lateralized in males than females due to sexual dimorphism of the left frontal systems. Both in males and females, patterns of CBT scores in non-right-handers with quadrant lesions are opposite to those found in right-handers. This suggests the existence of two functionally and neurally distinct cognitive selection mechanisms. Both mechanisms involve the frontal lobes, but their exact neuroanatomy depends on sex and handedness.
Update on the application of optic nerve sheath fenestration.

BACKGROUND With the ongoing development of surgical procedures and instruments, the safety of optic nerve sheath fenestration (ONSF) has been improved. OBJECTIVE Through the past three decades, progress has been made in preventing visual loss from chronic optic nerve swelling in idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), secondary intracranial hypertension and local optic nerve diseases. We now review the updated application of ONSF in those diseases. METHODS The application of ONSF in papilledema due to IIH, secondary intracranial hypertension to cerebral venous sinus occlusion, Cryptococcal meningitis, and intracranial mass or tumors is reviewed. Additionally, the potential benefits of ONSF in local optic neuropathy from optic nerve sheath meningioma, optic nerve drusen, traumatic optic neuropathy and optic nerve/sheath biopsy are also described. RESULTS Although ONSF has little or no effect on intracranial pressure, it is a safe, relative easy and effective surgical procedure to prevent or reverse visual loss in IIH. When other treatment modalities fail to timely protect vision, ONSF can be useful in protecting visual function or delay visual loss in secondary intracranial hypertension. CONCLUSION We recommend that ONSF should be considered as a meaningful alternative or an adjunct therapy to reduce or delay the visual morbidity of these diseases, although the use of ONSF for some of them remains controversial.
Quality of Life in Dilated Cardiomyopathy with Refractory Chronic Heart Failure Undergoing Devices Implantation

Heart failure is the final stage of most of cardiac diseases. It is a complex syndrome in which the patients should have the following features: symptoms of heart failure, typically shortness of breath at rest or during exertion, and/or fatigue; signs of fluid retention such as pulmonary congestion or ankle swelling; and objective evidence of an abnormality of the structure or function of the heart at rest. This progressive syndrome as a high incidence and prevalence and poor prognosis: four-year mortality is around 50% with 40% of the patients admitted to hospital dying or readmitted within a year (European Society of Cardiology, 2008). With ageing, many patients will develop chronic heart failure, which, because of its symptoms, patient’s awareness of their risk of dying, and the effects of therapy, together with frequent hospitalizations, has considerable impact on patient’s health-related quality of life. In the actual field of management, implantable devices have an important role for select patients. According to the European Society of Cardiology guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure (2008), cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator function is recommended to reduce morbidity and mortality in patients in New York Heart Association III-IV class who are symptomatic despite optimal medical therapy, and who have a reduced ejection fraction (left ventricular ejection fraction ≤35%) and QRS prolongation (QRS width ≥120 ms) and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator is recommended for primary prevention of sudden death to reduce mortality in patients with ventricular dysfunction due to prior myocardial infarction or non-ischemic cardiomyopathy with a left ventricular ejection fraction ≤35% in New York Heart Association functional class II or III, receiving optimal medical therapy, and who have reasonable expectation of survival with good functional status for more than one year. The effect of these therapies in the quality of life in general and regarding the type of therapeutic response in particular is a field under investigation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of cardiac resynchronization therapy and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator in the quality of life of patients with chronic heart failure refractory to optimal pharmacological therapy in the first six months after device implantation.
Construction of Text Summarization Corpus for the Credibility of Information on the Web

Recently, the credibility of information on the Web has become an important issue. In addition to telling about content of source documents, indicating how to interpret the content, especially showing interpretation of the relation between statements appeared to contradict each other, is important for helping a user judge the credibility of information. In this paper, we will describe the purpose and the way in the construction of a text summarization corpus. Our purpose in the construction of the corpus includes the following three points; to collect Web documents relevant to several query sentences, to prepare gold standard data to evaluate smaller sub-processes in the extraction process and the summary generation process, to investigate the summaries made by human summarizers. The constructed corpus contains six query sentences, 24 manually-constructed summaries, and 24 collections of source Web documents. We also investigated how the descriptions of interpretation, which help a user judge the credibility of other descriptions in the summary, appear in the corpus. As a result, we confirmed that showing interpretation on conflicts is important for helping a user judge the credibility of information.
Seroprevalence of Serum Bactericidal Antibodies against Group W135 and Y Meningococci in England in 2009

ABSTRACT Serological surveillance has been used in the United Kingdom to inform vaccine policy for several infections, including those with group C meningococci. Meningococcal conjugate vaccines, containing capsular groups A, W135, and Y in addition to C, are now available, but their use in the United Kingdom is restricted to at-risk groups and travelers to areas of endemicity. The aim of this study was to establish a baseline for natural immunity for groups W135 and Y. Serum samples collected in 2009 from individuals of all ages were obtained from the Health Protection Agency Seroepidemiology Unit, which collects residual sera from participating laboratories across the country. Serum bactericidal antibody (SBA) activity against two reference strains, representing groups Y (strain M03 241125) and W135 (strain M01 240070), was determined with 1,191 sera using a standardized complement-mediated SBA assay, with complement derived from baby rabbits (rSBA). The age-specific geometric mean titers (GMTs) and percentages of individuals with rSBA titers of ≥8 were calculated, together with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Overall, 18.4% and 19.6% had rSBA titers of ≥8 for groups W135 and Y, respectively. Antibody prevalence varied by age. In general, rSBA titers were low for younger children, with serum samples from 7% and 13% of children under 5 years achieving titers of ≥8 against groups W135 and Y, respectively. GMTs peaked for 20- to 24-year-olds for group W135 (GMT, 7.1; 95% CI, 4.7, 10.9) and for 30- to 44-year-olds for group Y (GMT, 8.6; 95% CI, 5.9, 12.7). Unlike seroprevalence against group B meningococci, there was not an obvious peak in SBA titers in samples from teenagers. Natural immunity against group W135 and Y meningococci in England appears to be low.