Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Subjective versus Objective Accommodative Amplitude: Preschool to Presbyopia

Purpose This study compared subjective and objective accommodative amplitudes to characterize changes from preschool to presbyopia. Methods Monocular accommodative amplitude was measured with three techniques in random order (subjective push-up, objective minus lens stimulated, and objective proximal stimulated) on 236 subjects aged 3 to 64 years using a 1.5-mm letter. Subjective push-up amplitudes were the dioptric distance at which the target first blurred along a near-point rod. Objective minus lens stimulated amplitudes were the greatest accommodative response obtained by Grand Seiko autorefraction as subjects viewed the stimulus at 33 cm through increasing minus lens powers. Objective proximal stimulated amplitudes were the greatest accommodative response obtained by Grand Seiko autorefraction as subjects viewed the stimulus at increasing proximity from 40 cm up to 3.33 cm. Results In comparison with subjective push-up amplitudes, objective amplitudes were lower at all ages, with the most dramatic difference occurring in the 3- to 5-year group (subjective push-up, 16.00 ± 4.98 diopters [D] vs. objective proximal stimulated, 7.94 ± 2.37 D, and objective lens stimulated, 6.20 ± 1.99 D). Objective proximal and lens stimulated amplitudes were largest in the 6- to 10-year group (8.81 ± 1.24 D and 8.05 ± 1.82 D, respectively) and gradually decreased until the fourth decade of life when a rapid decline to presbyopia occurred. There was a significant linear relationship between objective techniques (y = 0.74 + 0.96x, R2 = 0.85, p < 0.001) with greater amplitudes measured for the proximal stimulated technique (mean difference, 0.55 D). Conclusions Objective measurements of accommodation demonstrate that accommodative amplitude is substantially less than that measured by the subjective push-up technique, particularly in young children. These findings have important clinical implications for the management of uncorrected hyperopia.
Nitric oxide blunts the endothelin‐mediated pulmonary vasoconstriction in exercising swine

We have previously shown that vasodilators and vasoconstrictors that are produced by the vascular endothelium, including nitric oxide (NO), prostanoids and endothelin (ET), contribute to the regulation of systemic and pulmonary vascular tone in swine, in particular during treadmill exercise. Since NO and prostanoids can modulate the release of ET, and vice versa, we investigated the integrated endothelial control of pulmonary vascular resistance in exercising swine. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that increased NO and prostanoid production during exercise limits the vasoconstrictor influence of ET, so that loss of these vasodilators results in exaggerated ET‐mediated vasoconstriction during exercise. Fifteen instrumented swine were exercised on a treadmill at 0–5 km h−1 before and during ETA/ETB receptor blockade (tezosentan, 3 mg kg−1i.v.) in the presence and absence of inhibition of NO synthase (Nω‐nitro‐l‐arginine, 20 mg kg−1i.v.) and/or cyclo‐oxygenase (indometacin, 10 mg kg−1i.v.). In the systemic circulation, ET receptor blockade decreased vascular resistance at rest, which waned with increasing exercise intensity. Prior inhibition of either NO or prostanoid production augmented the vasodilator effect of ET receptor blockade, and these effects were additive. In contrast, in the pulmonary bed, ET receptor blockade had no effect under resting conditions, but decreased pulmonary vascular resistance during exercise. Prior inhibition of NO synthase enhanced the pulmonary vasodilator effect of ET receptor blockade, particularly during exercise, whereas inhibition of prostanoids had no effect, even after prior NO synthase inhibition. In conclusion, endogenous endothelin limits pulmonary vasodilatation in response to treadmill exercise. This vasoconstrictor influence is blunted by NO but not by prostanoids.
Use of Social Words in Autobiographies and Longevity

Objective: To analyze the relationship between social word use in autobiographies and longevity. Although there is substantial evidence that our social relationships are associated with mortality, interpretation of this work is weakened by the limitations of assessing the social environment with structured questionnaires and interviews. By analyzing the word content of autobiographies, we could assess spontaneous indicators of important social relationships and relate them to longevity. This technique is less subject to social desirability reporting biases and more sensitive to aspects of the social environment that are central to how one experiences his or her social world. Methods: The autobiographies of 96 psychologists and 220 literary writers were digitized and scanned for social relationship word frequency via a computerized word counting program. Archival data were collected on birth and death dates, year of publication, place of birth, age when the autobiography was written, and sex. Results: After controlling for sex, year of birth, and age at the time of writing, we found that higher use of words indicating social roles/integration (e.g., father, sister, neighbor, co-worker) was associated with an increased lifespan in both samples. Specific social categories assessing the use of family role terms (e.g., aunt, family, brother) and references to other individuals (e.g., they, we, us, everyone) also predicted longer life, but only in the sample of psychologists. Conclusions: Assessing social word use in autobiographies provided an indirect measure of social relationships that predicted longevity. This technique of analyzing writing samples may be useful in future archival research as well as in studies where it is desirable to study social relationships in an indirect fashion. ST = social ties; LIWC = linguistic inquiry and word count
Fatty acid composition of adipose tissue, an indication of dietary fatty acids, and breast cancer prognosis.

PURPOSE Fatty acid composition of adipose tissue is an indicator of the long-term ingestion pattern of several specific fatty acids. There is good correlation of antecedent diet with the essential fatty acids, and there is reflection of the diet with the fatty acids that can be synthesized. The relationship between the fatty acid levels and lymph node status and clinical outcome was examined. METHODS At the time of diagnostic surgery, 161 women with clinical stage T1NO breast cancer had subcutaneous adipose tissue (breast and abdominal) aspirated. The concentrations of 35 fatty acids, seven summed classes, and six fatty acid groups were measured by capillary gas chromatography. Lymph node status was determined with axillary dissection, and patients were followed-up (mean, 7.3 years) for clinical outcome. RESULTS There was no significant association of any adipose tissue fatty acids with overall survival, although few (16 of 161 women) died of breast cancer. However, the odds of having positive lymph nodes (57 of 161 women) were significantly higher for women with a greater adipose tissue proportion of oleic acid (odds ratio [OR], 7.56; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.78 to 32.1) or total saturated acids (OR, 8.43; 95% CI, 1.48 to 40.0) and significantly lower with a higher proportion of trans fatty acids (OR, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.07 to 0.77), as assessed by multivariate logistic regression. CONCLUSION These data support previous research with dietary questionnaire methodology, suggesting that specific dietary fatty acids may be associated with breast cancer promotion. Further research with long-term clinical follow-up is necessary to investigate these observations in large, diverse populations before dietary recommendations can be envisioned.
Neural Stem Cells: Progenitors or Panacea?

Are neural stem cells (NSCs) maintained as totipotent precursors by the specialized environment within the stem cell niche or are they simply progenitors, which, while retaining their ability to proliferate, are parcellated and restricted along with their postmitotic brethren? In this review, we focus on what has been learned in recent years about endogenous populations of NSCs in the embryonic and adult brain. We compare the data garnered from in vitro analysis to what has been learned from the transplantation of NSCs into the developing, adult or lesioned brain.
Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma and Abdominal Computed Tomography Utilization in Adult Trauma Patients: Trends over the Last Decade

Objective. We sought to describe the trend in abdominal CT use in adult trauma patients after a point-of-care emergency ultrasound program was introduced. We hypothesized that abdominal CT use would decrease as FAST use increased. Methods. We performed a retrospective study of 19940 consecutive trauma patients over the age of 18 admitted to our level one trauma center from 2002 through 2011. Data was collected retrospectively and recorded in a trauma registry. We plotted the rate of FAST and abdominal CT utilization over time. Head CT was used as a surrogate for overall CT utilization rates during the study period. Results. Use of FAST increased by an average of 2.3% (95% CI 2.1 to 2.5, P < 0.01) while abdominal CT use decreased by the same rate annually. The percentage of patients who received FAST as the sole imaging modality for the abdomen rose from 2.0% to 21.9% while those who only received an abdominal CT dropped from 21.7% to 2.3%. Conclusions. Abdominal CT use in our cohort declined while FAST utilization grew in the last decade. The rising use of FAST may have played a role in the reduction of abdominal CT performed as decline in CT utilization appears contrary to overall trends.
Antitumor effect of miR-27b-3p on lung cancer cells via targeting Fzd7.

OBJECTIVE Lung cancer is the most common malignancy with the highest mortality rate among cancers. microRNAs (miRNAs) have been confirmed to be closely related to the physiological disorder, especially the tumor process. This study aimed to investigate the effect of miR-27b-3p on lung tumor cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS The expressions of miR-27b-3p in lung tumors and adjacent non-tumors lung tissues were compared. We test the bonding effect of miR-27b-3p on the Fzd7 promoter, and miR-27b-3p effects on the Fzd7 expression in both NCI-H446 and A549 cells. Then, effects of miR-27b-3p and Fzd7 on these cells viability, survival and apoptosis were detected, respectively. In addition, the possible mechanism of miR-27b-3p affected these cells apoptosis was explored by analyzing the expression of apoptosis-related factors. RESULTS We found that miR-27b-3p was low expressed in lung tumors compared to adjacent non-tumorous lung tissues. miR-27b-3p directly targeted Fzd7 promoter and negatively regulated Fzd7 expression. Fzd7 promoted NCI-H446 and A549 cells viability and survival, inhibited cells apoptosis. However, miR-27b-3p effects on these cells were quite the opposite to Fzd7. The expressions of apoptosis-related factors were associated positively with miR-27b-3p and showed a negative correlation with Fzd7 expression. CONCLUSIONS The miR-27b-3p was lowly expressed in lung cancer tissues, and played the role of a tumor suppressor. It could promote cell apoptosis and suppress cancer cells viability and survival via down-regulating Fzd7. It suggested that miR-27b-3p might be a potential target for the prophylaxis and treatment of lung cancer.
Encapsulated cell-based biodelivery of meteorin is neuroprotective in the quinolinic acid rat model of neurodegenerative disease.

PURPOSE Encapsulated cell (EC) biodelivery is a promising, clinically relevant technology platform to safely target the delivery of therapeutic proteins to the central nervous system. The purpose of this study was to evaluate EC biodelivery of the novel neurotrophic factor, Meteorin, to the striatum of rats and to investigate its neuroprotective effects against quinolinic acid (QA)-induced excitotoxicity. METHODS Meteorin-producing ARPE-19 cells were loaded into EC biodelivery devices and implanted into the striatum of rats. Two weeks after implantation, QA was injected into the ipsilateral striatum followed by assessment of neurological performance two and four weeks after QA administration. RESULTS Implant-delivered Meteorin effectively protected against QA-induced toxicity, as manifested by both near-normal neurological performance and reduction of brain cell death. Morphological analysis of the Meteorin-treated brains showed a markedly reduced striatal lesion size. The EC biodelivery devices produced stable or even increasing levels of Meteorin throughout the study over 6 weeks. CONCLUSIONS Stereotactically implanted EC biodelivery devices releasing Meteorin could offer a feasible strategy in the treatment of neurological diseases with an excitotoxic component such as Huntington's disease. In a broader sense, the EC biodelivery technology is a promising therapeutic protein delivery platform for the treatment of a wide range of diseases of the central nervous system.
Approximation schemes for multidimensional packing

We consider a classic multidimensional generalization of the bin packing problem, namely, packing d-dimensional rectangles into the minimum number of unit cubes. Our two results are: an asymptotic polynomial time approximation scheme for packing d-dimensional cubes into the minimum number of unit cubes and a polynomial time algorithm for packing rectangles into at most OPT bins whose sides have length (1 + ε), where OPT denotes the minimum number of unit bins required to pack the rectangles. Both algorithms also achieve the best possible additive constant term. For cubes, this settles the approximability of the problem and represents a significant improvement over the previous best known asymptotic approximation factor of 2 - (2/3)d + ε. For rectangles, this contrasts with the currently best known approximation factor of 1.691.
Gene Expression Signature Analysis Identifies Vorinostat as a Candidate Therapy for Gastric Cancer

Background Gastric cancer continues to be one of the deadliest cancers in the world and therefore identification of new drugs targeting this type of cancer is thus of significant importance. The purpose of this study was to identify and validate a therapeutic agent which might improve the outcomes for gastric cancer patients in the future. Methodology/Principal Findings Using microarray technology, we generated a gene expression profile of human gastric cancer–specific genes from human gastric cancer tissue samples. We used this profile in the Broad Institute's Connectivity Map analysis to identify candidate therapeutic compounds for gastric cancer. We found the histone deacetylase inhibitor vorinostat as the lead compound and thus a potential therapeutic drug for gastric cancer. Vorinostat induced both apoptosis and autophagy in gastric cancer cell lines. Pharmacological and genetic inhibition of autophagy however, increased the therapeutic efficacy of vorinostat, indicating that a combination of vorinostat with autophagy inhibitors may therapeutically be more beneficial. Moreover, gene expression analysis of gastric cancer identified a collection of genes (ITGB5, TYMS, MYB, APOC1, CBX5, PLA2G2A, and KIF20A) whose expression was elevated in gastric tumor tissue and downregulated more than 2-fold by vorinostat treatment in gastric cancer cell lines. In contrast, SCGB2A1, TCN1, CFD, APLP1, and NQO1 manifested a reversed pattern. Conclusions/Significance We showed that analysis of gene expression signature may represent an emerging approach to discover therapeutic agents for gastric cancer, such as vorinostat. The observation of altered gene expression after vorinostat treatment may provide the clue to identify the molecular mechanism of vorinostat and those patients likely to benefit from vorinostat treatment.
An instrument to assess organizational readiness to implement knowledge management process

The Concept of knowledge management (KM) is highly being studied nowadays as it plays a major role in the competitive business world. Though different aspects of KM are being exposed in the literature, very limited information is available on organizational readiness for KM process implementation. Hence, the present authors propose a research model by integrating knowledge creation theory, KM enablers, and individual acceptance models. In addition, an instrument that can be used to measure the organizational readiness for KM process implementation also presented. The reliability of the proposed instrument is proved after testing it among academic staffs of a Malaysian university.
Determination of Asymptomatic Malaria among Afghani and Pakistani Immigrants and Native Population in South of Kerman Province, Iran

Background: This study was proposed to monitor the situation of asymptomatic malaria among the native population and Afghani and Pakistani immigrants in Kahnooj and Ghale-Ganj districts from Kerman Province, Southeastern Iran. Methods: A number of 180 and 120 individuals from Kahnooj and Ghale-Ganj respectively were registered and considered based on a cross-sectional surveillance method. From 300 registered cases, 200 individuals (66.7%) were selected among Afghani and Pakistani immigrants and the rest (33.3%) were native resident individuals. All samples were processed with employing microscopical examination, Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) and Semi- nested Multiplex PCR techniques. Results: None of the samples collected from native residents showed any malaria parasite, but among Afghani immigrants, one asymptomatic vivax malaria was detected in a 12 yr old girl with 280 parasites per microliter of blood. Moreover, one symptomatic vivax malaria was detected from a Pakistani immigrant with 47560 parasites per microliter of blood. All results obtained via microscopical method, confirmed by RDTs and PCR techniques. Conclusion: To achieve the malaria elimination program different studies are needed that to be performed. Monitoring the asymptomatic malaria in all over the malaria endemic areas especially among the immigrant individuals is the most crucial necessity.
A Comparison of Structural Testing Strategies Based on Subdomain Testing and Random Testing

Both partition testing and random testing methods are commonly followed practice towards selection of test cases. For partition testing, the program’s input domain is divided into subsets, called subdomains, and one or more representatives from each subdomain are selected to test the program. In random testing test cases are selected from the entire program’s input domain randomly. The main aim of the paper is to compare the fault-detecting ability of partition testing and random testing methods. The results of comparing the effectiveness of partition testing and random testing may be surprising to many people. Even when partition testing is better than random testing at finding faults, the difference in effectiveness is marginal. Using some effectiveness metrics for testing and some partitioning schemes this paper investigates formal conditions for partition testing to be better than random testing and vice versa.
Latent Tuberculosis and Active Tuberculosis Disease Rates among the Homeless, New York, New York, USA, 1992–2006

We conducted a retrospective study to examine trends in latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and TB disease rates among homeless persons in shelters in New York, NY, 1992–2006. Although TB case rates fell from 1,502/100,000 population to 0, a 31% LTBI rate in 2006 shows the value of identifying and treating TB in the homeless.
Periodic variation of torque and its relations to interfacial sticking and slipping during friction stir welding

The fraction of slipping between the tool and the workpiece during friction stir welding was calculated based on the measured torque and axial force with a sampling frequency of 1000 Hz. The results showed that the torque and fraction of slipping present a variation with the same periodicity that is equal to the time of one tool rotation. A model was proposed to present the average slipping fraction under different process parameters. The variation of the contact condition between the tool and the workpiece in one rotation was explained.
Quantization Effects in TanDEM-X Data

TerraSAR-X add-on for Digital Elevation Measurement (TanDEM-X) is an innovative spaceborne bistatic SAR system comprising the twin satellites TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X (TSX and TDX, respectively). The primary objective of the mission is the generation of a worldwide, timely, and consistent digital elevation model (DEM) in a bistatic synthetic aperture radar (SAR) configuration with unprecedented accuracy. For TanDEM-X and for future spaceborne SAR missions, an increasing volume of onboard data is going to be demanded. This is due to the employment of large bandwidths, high pulse repetition frequencies, and multiple polarizations, which implies inevitably hard requirements in terms of onboard memory and downlink capacity. In this scenario, SAR raw data quantization represents an essential aspect. The data rate employed for the digitization of the recorded radar signal affects both the amount of data to be stored and transmitted to the ground and the quality of the resulting SAR products. In this paper, the impact of quantization on TanDEM-X monostatic and interferometric data is evaluated. Key quantities in estimating interferometric and SAR performance, such as coherence and phase errors, are investigated in detail. Based on the obtained results, an optimization of the resource-allocation strategy for the global DEM acquisition of TanDEM-X is discussed.
n ITO/p InP : a photo and electroluminescent diode

ITO/InP photodetectors and electroluminescent diodes have been fabricated spraying a ITO layer onto a single crystal p InP. The results of electrical and interface characterizations agree with a model of a buried homojunction. The maximum quantum efficiency reaches 0.9. The electroluminescence is correlated to the recombination on the acceptors in the p InP, the emitted light at 1.34 eV for a direct current of 0.1 A is 0.67 mW.
Reduced activity within the dorsal endogenous orienting of attention network to fearful expressions in youth with disruptive behavior disorders and psychopathic traits

Abstract Using behavioral and blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response indices through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the current study investigated whether youths with disruptive behavior disorders (conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder) plus psychopathic traits (DBD + PT) show aberrant sensitivity to eye gaze information generally and/or whether they show particular insensitivity to eye gaze information in the context of fearful expressions. The participants were 36 children and adolescents (ages 10–17 years); 17 had DBD + PT and 19 were healthy comparison subjects. Participants performed a spatial attention paradigm where spatial attention was cued by eye gaze in faces displaying fearful, angry, or neutral affect. Eye gaze sensitivity was indexed both behaviorally and as BOLD response. There were no group differences in behavioral response: both groups showed significantly faster responses if the target was in the congruent spatial direction indicated by eye gaze. Neither group showed a Congruence × Emotion interaction; neither group showed an advantage from the displayer's emotional expression behaviorally. However, the BOLD response revealed a significant Group × Congruence × Emotion interaction. The comparison youth showed increased activity within the dorsal endogenous orienting network (superior parietal lobule and inferior parietal sulcus) for fearful congruent relative to incongruent trials relative to the youth with DBD + PT. The results are discussed with reference to current models of DBD + PT and possible treatment innovations.