Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
N-cadherin expression in a rat model of retinal detachment and reattachment.

PURPOSE To observe the changes in N-cadherin expression in the retina after experimental retinal detachment (RD) and reattachment in the rat and to explore the role N-cadherin might play after RD. METHODS Forty rat retinas were detached by transscleral injection of 1.4% sodium hyaluronate into the subretinal space. The eyes were enucleated at different time intervals (n = 5), followed by fixation, embedding, and sectioning. The differences in N-cadherin expression in the normal retina, detached retina, and spontaneously reattached retina were determined. Furthermore, an N-cadherin antagonist was injected in combination with 1.4% sodium hyaluronate into the subretinal space in another 10 eyes, in an attempt to demonstrate the role N-cadherin plays after RD. RESULTS N-cadherin was not expressed in the RPE layer of the normal rat retina. After RD, intense immunolabeling of N-cadherin was seen in the RPE cells, the photoreceptors, and the outer limiting membrane (OLM). An increasing number of cytokeratin (CK)-positive cells likely to be RPE cells was found attached to the outer surface of the detached neural retina. Where the retina was reattached, the N-cadherin immunolabeling rapidly decreased. In eyes treated with an N-cadherin antagonist, the retinas appeared thinner than that in eyes without treatment, and the photoreceptor nuclei showed significantly loss. Moreover, CK-positive cells attached to the outer surface of the detached retina were markedly fewer in number. CONCLUSIONS Increased expression of N-cadherin in the RPE cells, the photoreceptor cells, and the OLM of the retina after RD may contribute to RPE cell migration and photoreceptor survival. These changes could be reversed by retinal reattachment.
Bone turnover markers in patients with type 1 Gaucher disease

Bone complications occur frequently in Gaucher disease (GD) and reduce the quality of life of these patients. Skeletal involvement is an important indication for treatment to ameliorate symptoms and reduce the risk of irreversible and debilitating disease. Bone biomarkers have been used to assess disease status and the response to therapy in a number of bone disorders. Here, we examine the literature for evidence of abnormalities in bone turnover markers in patients with type 1 GD to assess whether they might be useful for the assessment of bone involvement in GD. We have found that bone biomarkers in GD show highly variable results which do not currently support their routine use for clinical assessment of bone status, as an indication for therapy initiation, or for monitoring the response to therapy. A greater understanding of bone markers and their relation to the bone manifestations of GD is required.
Use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) in reflection on learning and practice

Introduction: As the use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) grows, the value of reflection of learning and practice draws increased attention from policymakers and evaluators. To learn more about the use of PDAs in practice and learning, the present study describes use of (1) PDAs in patient care and (2) a PDA version of the Virginia Board of Medicine Continuing Competency and Assessment Form (CCAF), a learning portfolio intended to encourage documentation of reflection on practice and medical education. Methods: A purposive sample of 10 practicing physicians (6 male, 7 primary care) was recruited from geographic regions throughout Virginia. Five participants were previous users of a PDA. Three sources of data were analyzed: (1) a questionnaire describing PDA usage, (2) transcripts from telephone interviews, and (3) CCAF written comments. A study team member installed the PDA system and conducted individualized training on the basis of current equipment, software, and skills of the learner. Telephone interviews were completed 4–6 months after training. Results: All physicians accessed the system after training. Use of the PDA was associated with the value of information for making clinical decisions. Information accessed by PDA was used not only for clinical decisions but also for patient education and for teaching medical students. Use of the CCAF prompted physicians to reflect on changes in clinical practice. Discussion: Training on the handheld equipment and applications should include assessment of systems connectivity and integration, access authority, existing skills, and previous use. Proponents of PDA use for clinical decisions should assure access to information that is useful to physicians for reflection on learning and practice.
An Ecological Paradox: The African Wild Dog (Lycaon Pictus) Is Not Attracted to Water Points When Water Is Scarce in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

In dry biomes, spatio-temporal variation in surface water resource stocks is pervasive, with unknown effects on the ranging behaviour of large predators. This study assessed the effect of spatial variation in surface water resources on the ranging behaviour of the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus). We analyzed data for 1992 (dry year with 20 water points) and 2000 (wet year with 30 water points) against presence-only data for five packs of L. pictus in a part of Hwange National Park and adjacent smallholder communal farming areas in western Zimbabwe. Modelling the potential habitat for L. pictus using Maxent with distance from water points (Dw) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) as predictor variables was successful for 2000 (AUC = 0.793) but not successful for 1992 (AUC = 0.423), with L. pictus probability of occurrence near water points being more for year 2000 than for year 1992. The predicted L. pictus range was wider in 1992 (~13888.1 km2) than in 2000 (~958.4 km2) (Test of Proportions, χ2 = 124.52, df = 1, P = 0.00). Using the 2nd order Multitype Nearest Neighbour Distance Function (Gcross), we also observed significant attraction between L. pictus and water points within only ~1km radius for 1992 but up to ~8km radius for 2000. Our study reinforced the notion that surface water resources attract wild dogs in the savannahs but paradoxically less so when water resources are scarce. In particular, our study furthers current understanding of the effects of changing water availability regimes on the endangered L. pictus, providing evidence that the endangered predator’s home range encroaches into potential ecological traps (i.e., smallholder communal farming areas) when water resources are scarce.
External Debt, Budget Deficits and Disequilibrium Exchange Rates

The paper investigates the sources of debt and debt difficulties for a group of Latin American countries. It is argued that external shocks -- oil, interest rates, world recession and the fall in real commodity prices -- cannot account by themselves for the problems. Budget deficits that accommodate terms of trade deterioration and disequilibrium exchange rates are central to a complete explanation. The paper documents that in Chile an extreme currency overvaluation led to a massive shift into imported consumer durables while in Argentina overvaluation in conjunction with financial instability led to large-scale capital flight. In the case of Brazil the budget deficit is the explanation for the growth in external indebtedness.The difference in the experience of the three countries reflects the difference in their openness to the world economy.
Dynamics of perceptual bi-stability : plaids and binocular rivalry compared

This chapter presents a set of findings about the dynamics of bi-stable alternations in the perception of plaids. A plaid is a pattern comprised of two superimposed gratings. When the plaid is set in motion, it becomes an ambiguous stimulus: it can be seen as one pattern moving in a single direction (“coherency”), or as two gratings, each moving in different directions with one sliding over the other (“transparency”). The two possibilities are illustrated in Figure 8.1A. In prolonged viewing, the perception of moving plaids switches back and forth between the coherent and the transparent interpretations – a classic example of perceptual bi-stability. Hans Wallach, who was the first to use superimposed gratings to study motion perception, discussed their bi-stability at some length (Wallach, 1935, Wallach, 1976, Wuerger, Shapley & Rubin, 1996). However, in the modern literature this aspect of plaid perception has been virtually forgotten. Since Adelson and Movshon (1982) re-introduced plaids as a tool for studying motion processing, researchers have been using brief presentation 2AFC methods, overlooking the dynamical aspect (but see von Grunau & Dubé, 1993). We therefore decided to give the bi-stable alternations in plaid perception a closer look.
Angiographic estimates of myocardium at risk during acute myocardial infarction: validation study using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

AIMS Global angiographic scores have been developed to determine the extent of myocardium jeopardized by significant coronary stenosis. We adapted these scores to quantify the anatomic area at risk during acute myocardial infarction. We used contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (CMR) infarct imaging to measure the portion of myocardium that developed necrosis within the so defined angiographic area at risk. METHODS AND RESULTS In 83 subjects presenting for primary percutaneous intervention, the myocardium at risk was estimated angiographically using the Myocardial Jeopardy Index (BARI) and a modified version of the Alberta Provincial Project for Outcome Assessment in Coronary Heart Disease (APPROACH) scores. CMR was performed within a week to measure infarct size, infarct endocardial surface area (infarct-ESA), and infarct transmurality. As infarct transmurality increased, the infarct size closely approximated the myocardium at risk by angiography. In 35 subjects with transmural infarcts, the area at risk by BARI and APPROACH scores matched the infarct size (r = 0.90 and r = 0.92, P < 0.001). Additionally, BARI and APPROACH scores matched the infarct-ESA in all subjects independently of collateral flow and time to reperfusion (r = 0.90 and r = 0.87, P < 0.001). The presence of early reperfusion, collaterals, or both was associated with a progressive decrease in infarct transmurality (P < 0.001 for trend) with no difference in the infarct-ESA. CONCLUSION The myocardium at risk of infarction can be determined angiographically as validated in subjects with transmural myocardial infarcts. Salvage provided by early reperfusion or collaterals occurs by limiting infarct transmurality, thereby the extent of endocardial infarct involved also allows estimation of the myocardium at risk in patients presenting with STEMI.
B Cells Participate in Thymic Negative Selection of Murine Auto-reactive CD4+ T Cells

It is well documented that thymic epithelial cells participate in the process of negative selection in the thymus. In recent years it was reported that also dendritic cells enter the thymus and contribute to this process, thus allowing for the depletion of thymocytes that are specific to peripherally expressed self-antigens. Here we report that also B cells may take part in the elimination of auto-reactive thymocytes. Using a unique mouse model we show that B cells induce negative selection of self-reactive thymocytes in a process that leads to the deletion of these cells whereas regulatory T cells are spared. These findings have direct implication in autoimmunity, as expression of a myelin antigen by B cells in the thymus renders the mice resistant to autoimmune inflammation of the CNS.
Modulation of Westerly Wind Bursts by Sea Surface Temperature: A Semistochastic Feedback for ENSO

Abstract Westerly wind bursts (WWBs) in the equatorial Pacific are known to play a significant role in the development of El Nino events. They have typically been treated as a purely stochastic external forcing of ENSO. Recent observations, however, show that WWB characteristics depend upon the large-scale SST field. The consequences of such a WWB modulation by SST are examined using an ocean general circulation model coupled to a statistical atmosphere model (i.e., a hybrid coupled model). An explicit WWB component is added to the model with guidance from a 23-yr observational record. The WWB parameterization scheme is constructed such that the likelihood of WWB occurrence increases as the western Pacific warm pool extends: a “semistochastic” formulation, which has both deterministic and stochastic elements. The location of the WWBs is parameterized to migrate with the edge of the warm pool. It is found that modulation of WWBs by SST strongly affects the characteristics of ENSO. In particular, coupled fe.
Collaboration and Culture: Organizational Culture and the Dynamics of Collaborative Policy Networks

This paper presents a theory of the role of culture in collaborative policy networks. It builds on the literature that analyzes the factors related to the formation, maintenance, and dissolution of collaborative arrangements by demonstrating the importance of hitherto undertheorized cultural factors. Cultural theory indicates that actors with different cultural viewpoints have distinct and predictable biases in terms of their expectations of collaboration and their preferences concerning how collaborative policy networks are structured. These biases, in turn, shape how collaborative partners are chosen and how collaborative relationships are maintained over time. The theory is illustrated with a case study of the rise and dissolution of a coalition within a housing policy network in Los Angeles. The case illustrates that cultural differences can impede collaboration even when organizations share similar policy goals.
An HVS-based motion vector composition algorithm for spatial resolution transcoding

In spatial resolution reduction transcoding, the original resolution of the incoming frames is reduced to a lower resolution in the outgoing frames. In the reduced resolution the motion vector of every macroblock needs to be calculated from the corresponding four macroblock of the original frame. Instead of reestimating these motion vectors, a number of techniques recompose these vectors using the incoming information to reduce computational complexity. Many techniques utilize the quantized DCT coefficients of residual blocks for composing the invalid vectors. This paper proposes a new motion vector composition technique by normalizing the low frequency DCT coefficients with the visual quantization matrix (VQM) derived from the study of human visual system (HVS). Simulation results show that the performance of this modified technique is better compared to other similar techniques.
Differential Roles of the Frontal Cortex, Basal Ganglia, and Cerebellum in Visuomotor Sequence Learning

TWO TYPES OF MEMORYMemory can be divided into two categories: memory of events or facts, andmemory for skills and rules. These are often called declarative memory andprocedural memory (Squire, 1986; Tulving, 1985), or they are often character-ized as ‘‘what’’ memory and ‘‘how’’ memory. An accumulation of declarativememories will comprise knowledge; an accumulation of procedural memorieswill comprise intelligence.This classiﬁcation is based largely on the fact that amnesic patients, whocannot remember daily episodes, can still learn new behavioral procedures(Cohen and Squire, 1980; Mishkin and Appenzeller, 1987). Because we knowthat the medial temporal areas including the hippocampus are crucial fordeclarative memory, we naturally assume that neural systems for proceduralmemory should be somewhere outside the medial temporal areas.Which brain areas are responsible for holding procedural memory, then? The answer is still far out of reach, partly because procedural memory isdifﬁcult to examine experimentally. Procedural memory cannot be acquiredjust by showing something to the subject; the subject must perform the proce-dure repeatedly. The presence of procedural memory cannot be indicated byjust a yes-or-no answer; it can be expressed only by performing the procedure.Our research on procedural learning and memory is an attempt to breakthrough such difﬁculties. For this purpose, we devised a sequential buttonpress task in which the subjects learn new visuomotor sequences and performwell-learned sequences (Hikosaka et al., 1995). BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS OF VISUOMOTOR SEQUENCE LEARNINGIn front of a subject, in this case a Japanese monkey, is a panel on which16 LED buttons are arranged in a 4 14 matrix (Fig. 1A). Beneath the panelis another button called the ‘‘home key. ’’ If the monkey presses the home key,
A Case Study of the Release Management of a Health-care Information System

This paper describes a case study of the release management of CS-ECIS, a health-care information system developed by the Dutch software vendor ChipSoft. We performed this case study to gain insight into the release management activities of a real-life company. This insight would enable us to propose new ways to ease the effort and reduce the risks associated with release management. The case study consisted of recording both the release management activities for CSECIS and its related development and deployment activities, and subsequently comparing these activities with our initial release management model. The description and comparison enabled us to both evaluate and improve this initial model.
ESTIMATING THE COST OF EQUITY FOR CORPORATIONS THAT REPURCHASE: THEORY AND APPLICATION

ABSTRACT The standard discounted dividend model provides flawed estimates of the cost of equity when corporations repurchase shares, which many now do. A simulation model shows that the discounted dividend model, as customarily applied, will lead to cost of equity estimates that are too low. A corrected model is developed, and illustrated with actual data.
CLUSTERING OF LOW-REDSHIFT (z ⩽ 2.2) QUASARS FROM THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY

We present measurements of the quasar two-point correlation function, ξQ, over the redshift range 0.3 ⩽ z ⩽ 2.2 based upon data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Using a homogeneous sample of 30,239 quasars with spectroscopic redshifts from the Data Release 5 Quasar Catalog, our study represents the largest sample used for this type of investigation to date. With this redshift range and an areal coverage of ≈4000 deg2, we sample over 25 h−3 Gpc3 (comoving) of the universe in volume, assuming the current Lambda Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) cosmology. Over this redshift range, we find that the redshift-space correlation function, ξ(s), is adequately fit by a single power law, with s0 = 5.95 ± 0.45 h−1 Mpc and γs = 1.16+0.11−0.16 when fit over 1.0 h−1 Mpc ⩽ s ⩽ 25.0 h−1 Mpc. We find no evidence for deviation from ξ(s) = 0 at scales of s>100 h−1 Mpc, but do observe redshift-space distortions in the two-dimensional ξ(rp, π) measurement. Using the projected correlation function, wp(rp), we calculate the real-space correlation length, r0 = 5.45+0.35−0.45 h−1 Mpc and γ = 1.90+0.04−0.03, over scales of 1.0 h−1 Mpc ⩽ rp ⩽ 130.0 h−1 Mpc. Dividing the sample into redshift slices, we find very little, if any, evidence for the evolution of quasar clustering, with the redshift-space correlation length staying roughly constant at s0 ∼ 6–7 h−1 Mpc at z ≲ 2.2 (and only increasing at redshifts greater than this). We do, however, see tentative evidence for evolution in the real-space correlation length, r0, at z>1.7. Our results are consistent with those from the 2dF QSO Redshift Survey and previous SDSS quasar measurements using photometric redshifts. Comparing our clustering measurements to those reported for X-ray selected active galactic nucleus at z ∼ 0.5–1, we find reasonable agreement in some cases but significantly lower correlation lengths in others. Assuming a standard ΛCDM cosmology, we find that the linear bias evolves from b ∼ 1.4 at z = 0.5 to b ∼ 3 at z = 2.2, with b(z = 1.27) = 2.06 ± 0.03 for the full sample. We compare our data to analytical models and infer that quasars inhabit dark matter halos of constant mass Mhalo ∼ 2 × 1012 h−1 M☉ from redshifts z ∼ 2.5 (the peak of quasar activity) to z ∼ 0; therefore, the ratio of the halo mass for a typical quasar to the mean halo mass at the same epoch drops with decreasing redshift. The measured evolution of the clustering amplitude is in reasonable agreement with recent theoretical models, although measurements to fainter limits will be needed to distinguish different scenarios for quasar feeding and black hole growth.
Early-Stage Folding in Proteins (In Silico) Sequence-to-Structure Relation

A sequence-to-structure library has been created based on the complete PDB database. The tetrapeptide was selected as a unit representing a well-defined structural motif. Seven structural forms were introduced for structure classification. The early-stage folding conformations were used as the objects for structure analysis and classification. The degree of determinability was estimated for the sequence-to-structure and structure-to-sequence relations. Probability calculus and informational entropy were applied for quantitative estimation of the mutual relation between them. The structural motifs representing different forms of loops and bends were found to favor particular sequences in structure-to-sequence analysis.
The genetic basis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Throughout the past decade, there have been substantial advances in understanding the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Recently, several large genome-wide association and linkage studies have identified common genetic variants in more than a dozen loci that appear to contribute to IPF risk. In addition, family-based studies have led to the identification of rare genetic variants in genes related to surfactant function and telomere biology, and mechanistic studies suggest pathophysiological derangements associated with these rare genetic variants are also found in sporadic cases of IPF. Current evidence suggests that rather than existing as distinct syndromes, sporadic and familial cases of IPF (familial interstitial pneumonia) probably reflect a continuum of genetic risk. Rapidly evolving bioinformatic and molecular biology techniques, combined with next-generation sequencing technologies, hold great promise for developing a comprehensive, integrated approach to defining the fundamental molecular mechanisms that underlie IPF pathogenesis. Emerging genetic studies offer new insights into the fundamental mechanisms of pulmonary fibrosis http://ow.ly/KK9Q3
Preliminary report on empirical study of repeated fragments in internal documentation

In this paper we present preliminary results of an empirical study, in which we used copy/paste detection (PMD CPD implementation) to search for repeating documentation fragments. The study was performed on 5 open source projects, including Java 8 SDK sources. The study shows that there are many occurrences of copy-pasting documentation fragments in the internal documentation, e.g., copy-pasted method parameter description. Besides these, many of the copy-pasted fragments express some domain or design concern, e.g., that the method is obsolete and deprecated. Therefore the study indicates that the cross-cutting concerns are present in the internal documentation in form of documentation phrases.