Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Laser Bleb Reduction for Bleb Dissection With Krypton Green Laser: Technique and Outcomes

PurposeLasers have been used to treat dysfunctional blebs, but the laser remodeling of blebs that dissect into the palpebral fissure has not been reported. We describe the unique use of krypton green laser to treat dissected blebs and discuss treatment outcomes. Patients and MethodsRetrospective review of consecutive patients undergoing laser bleb reductions (LBRs) over a 6-year period. Failure was defined as persistent dissection and/or symptoms or loss of intraocular pressure (IOP) control despite medications. ResultsSixteen patients underwent a total of 23 LBRs and were followed-up for a mean of 12.4 months (median=9.5 mo). Ten patients (63%) were treated successfully, and 6 patients (37%) failed treatment. Persistent dissection and/or symptoms were the most common reasons for failure (5/6), whereas 1 patient lost IOP control. Three (30%) of those treated successfully required the reintroduction of ocular hypotensive medications for pressure control. The mean IOP increased from 9.1±5.2 mm Hg before treatment to 11.7±8.1 mm Hg after treatment (P=0.02). Common complications included intraoperative discomfort (26%), conjunctival injection (22%), postoperative discomfort (13%), and dissection into the untreated side (9%). In the failure group, more laser spots (P=0.05) and higher power levels (P=0.00001) were used. ConclusionsKrypton LBR may be a useful initial treatment modality for symptomatic bleb dissection. Success rates may be modest, but most adverse effects are mild and/or transient; however, significant loss of IOP control can occasionally occur.
Sport sponsorship: The relationship between team loyalty, sponsorship awareness, attitude toward the sponsor, and purchase intentions

Sponsorship studies have generally been focused on attitudinal measures of fan loyalty to understand the reactions to abstract sponsors. This study examines the relationships between both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty with sponsorship awareness, attitude toward two actual sponsors, and purchase intentions. Data were collected among fans of a professional soccer team, and the results of a structural equation model provide evidence that attitudinal loyalty impacts the attitude toward both sponsors and purchase intentions. Behavioral loyalty influences sponsorship awareness, and impacts differently the attitude and purchase intentions toward each sponsor. Sponsorship awareness influences significantly the attitude toward both sponsors, while the attitude toward the sponsor was the strongest predictor of purchase intentions. These findings highlight the importance of examining actual sponsors and suggest managerial implications, such as the need for sponsors to help attract fans to the stadium and to des.
Neural transplants as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease?

Embryonic neural tissues can survive transplantation into the brain, where the grafted cells grow, connect with the host brain, and can alleviate many of the functional consequences of experimental brain damage in laboratory animals (Bjorklund et al. 1987; Dunnett & Bjorklund, 1987). In the last three years these techniques have developed from the laboratory to the first clinical trials of neural transplants for the alleviation of neurodegenerative disease. These trials have been primarily conducted for Parkinson's disease, and over 100 patients around the world have now received embryonic tissue grafts in the brain. Although only few reports are yet available, there is sufficient information to conclude that in at least a few cases the grafts have survived and yield demonstrable benefit to the recipients (e.g. Lindvall et al. 1990). Such advances in the context of Parkinson's disease lead to the inevitable speculation: might similar strategies be effective for other neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Alzheimer's disease? Laboratory studies have indicated that neural grafts can ameliorate deficits in several partial animal models of the human disease based on neurotransmitter and trophic factor replacement in aged animals and animals with lesions. These observations indicate that neural grafts can repair some specific neurodegenerative changes associated with Alzheimer's disease. However, whether they lead on to a viable therapy in patients will depend on whether these particular changes represent the fundamental deficit of Alzheimer's disease, or are merely phenomena secondary to other neurodegenerative events which remain unalleviated.
Designing round-trip systems by change propagation and model partitioning

Software development processes incorporate a variety of different artifacts (e.g., source code, models, and documentation). For multiple reasons the data that is contained in these artifacts does expose some degree of redundancy. Ensuring global consistency across artifacts during all stages in the development of software systems is required, because inconsistent artifacts can yield to failures. Ensuring consistency can be either achieved by reducing the amount of redundancy or by synchronizing the information that is shared across multiple artifacts. The discipline of software engineering that addresses these problems is called Round-Trip Engineering (RTE). In this thesis we present a conceptual framework for the design RTE systems. This framework delivers precise definitions for essential terms in the context of RTE and a process that can be used to address new RTE applications. The main idea of the framework is to partition models into parts that require synchronization—skeletons— and parts that do not—clothings. Once such a partitioning is obtained, the relations between the elements of the skeletons determine whether a deterministic RTE system can be built. If not, manual decisions may be required by developers. Based on this conceptual framework, two concrete approaches to RTE are presented. The first one—Backpropagation-based RTE—employs change translation, traceability and synchronization fitness functions to allow for synchronization of artifacts that are connected by non-injective transformations. The second approach—Role-based Tool Integration—provides means to avoid redundancy. To do so, a novel tool design method that relies on role modeling is presented. Tool integration is then performed by the creation of role bindings between role models. In addition to the two concrete approaches to RTE, which form the main contributions of the thesis, we investigate the creation of bridges between technical spaces. We consider these bridges as an essential prerequisite for performing logical synchronization between artifacts. Also, the feasibility of semantic web technologies is a subject of the thesis, because the specification of synchronization rules was identified as a blocking factor during our problem analysis. The thesis is complemented by an evaluation of all presented RTE approaches in different scenarios. Based on this evaluation, the strengths and weaknesses of the approaches are identified. Also, the practical feasibility of our approaches is confirmed w.r. t. the presented RTE applications.
Integration of content and context modalities for multimedia big data retrieval

of a dissertation at the University of Miami. Dissertation supervised by Professor Mei-Ling Shyu. No. of pages in text. (160) With the proliferation of digital photo-capture devices and the development of web technologies, the era of big data has arrived, which poses challenges to process and retrieve vast amounts of data with heterogeneous and diverse dimensionality. In the field of multimedia information retrieval, traditional keyword-based approaches perform well on text data, but it can hardly adapt to image and video due to the fact that a large proportion of this data nowadays is unorganized. This means the textual descriptions of images or videos, also known as metadata, could be unavailable, incomplete or even incorrect. Therefore, Content-Based Multimedia Information Retrieval (CBMIR) has emerged, which retrieves relevant images or videos by analyzing their visual content. Various data mining techniques such as feature selection, classification, clustering and filtering, have been utilized in CBMIR to solve issues involving data imbalance, data quality and size, limited ground truth, user subjectivity, etc. However, as an intrinsic problem of CBMIR, the semantic gap between low-level visual features and high-level semantics is still difficult to conquer. Now, with the rapid popularization of social media repositories, which allows users to upload images and videos, and assign tags to describe them, it has brought new directions as well as new challenges to the area of multimedia information retrieval. As suggested by the name, multimedia is a combination of different content forms that include text, audio, images, videos, etc. A series of research studies have been conducted to take advantage of one modality to compensate the other for
The Lumbar Bone Mineral Density Is Affected by Long-Term Poor Metabolic Control in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes mellitus

Aim: To analyze whether bone mineral density (BMD) and bone resorption status are influenced by long-term metabolic control and duration of disease in adolescents with long-standing type 1 diabetes mellitus. Methods: Twenty-seven adolescents (age 13.1 ± 1.7 years, duration of diabetes 6.9 ± 3.0 years) were studied. The BMD, expressed as z score, was measured at the lumbar spine (L1–L4) using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, while the urinary excretion of total deoxypiridinoline (Dpyd), a marker of bone resorption, was measured by immunoassay and was corrected by creatinine (Cr). Linear and multivariate correlations between lumbar BMD z score or Dpyd/Cr excretion and age and disease variables [short-term (Hb A1clatest) or long-term (Hb A1cwholeduration) metabolic control, duration, ‘diabetes impact index’ (mean Hb A1cwholeduration x duration of disease in months)] were sought. Results: In diabetic subjects the mean BMD z score was –0.44 ± (SD) 1.02 (95% CI: –0.03; –0.84), and the Dpyd/Cr excretion was not increased. A negative correlation was found between lumbar BMD z score and age (r –0.59; p = 0.001), duration (r –0.39; p = 0.04), and the diabetes impact index (r –0.4; p = 0.04). The Dpyd/Cr ratio correlated negatively with age (r –0.40; p = 0.04) and positively with height velocity (r 0.42; p = 0.04). By using multiple linear regression, age showed a significant inverse correlation with lumbar BMD z score (β = –0.39; p = 0.0005). A negative correlation was found between lumbar BMD z score and Hb A1cwholeduration (β = –0.40; p = 0.02) or diabetes impact index (β = –0.001; p = 0.01). Conclusions: Poor metabolic control may expose adolescents with long-standing type 1 diabetes to the risk of developing osteopenia in adult age. Optimization of metabolic control in growing diabetic children may prevent osteoporosis in later life.
Prospective, Open-Label Comparative Study of Liver Toxicity in an Unselected Population of HIV-Infected Patients Treated for the First Time with Efavirenz or Nevirapine

Abstract Objective: To compare the two nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) when first introduced in an antiretroviral regimen, a prospective open-label assessment of the frequency, severity, risk factors, and outcome of hepatotoxicity was performed. Method: Liver enzymes were followed-up during 18 months in patients who received efavirenz (EFV; 324 patients) or nevirapine (NVP; 299). Results: The two study groups were comparable, except for the lower baseline CD4+ count found in the EFV group. No differences were found when considering the type and duration of eventual prior anti-HIV therapy; frequency and length of protease inhibitors, methadone, or anti-tubercular drug use; HCV-HBV co-infection; other hepatobiliary disorders; and alcohol-drug abuse. The frequency of overall and first-month drug interruption proved similar in the two study groups. A hepatotoxicity characterized by at least a 2-fold increase of transaminases versus baseline was significantly linked with NVP, and the number of patients showing hepatotoxicity tended to a reduction in the EFV group. Also the time to peak transaminase alterations was shorter in the NVP group. All significant differences regarding liver-pancreatic toxicities were controlled per eventual baseline hepatobiliary-pancreatic diseases, HIV stage, and concurrent drug therapies. Discussion: Hepatotoxicity is a significant concern in the setting of antiretroviral-treated HIV disease. NVP-based HAART may be more hepatotoxic than EFV-based HAART, and a role is played by chronic liver disorders. Although concurrent hepatobiliary disorders and the possible hepatotoxicity of antiretrovirals do not represent contraindications to nonnucleoside inhibitor use, strict monitoring is recommended.
The Physiological Response of Picophytoplankton to Temperature and Its Model Representation

Picophytoplankton account for most of the marine (sub-)tropical phytoplankton biomass and primary productivity. The contribution to biomass among plankton functional types (PFTs) could shift with climate warming, in part as a result of different physiological responses to temperature. To model these responses, Eppley's empirical relationships have been well established. However, they have not yet been statistically validated for individual PFTs. Here, we examine the physiological response of nine strains of picophytoplankton to temperature; three strains of picoprokaryotes and six strains of picoeukaryotes. We conduct laboratory experiments at 13 temperatures between -0.5°C and 33°C and measure the maximum growth rates and the chlorophyll a to carbon ratios. We then statistically validate two hypotheses formulated by Eppley in 1972: the response of maximum growth rates to temperature (1) of individual strains can be represented by an optimum function, and (2) of the whole phytoplankton group can be represented by an exponential function. We also quantify the temperature-related parameters. We find that the temperature span at which growth is positive is more constrained for picoprokaryotes (13.7 - 27°C), than for picoeukaryotes (2.8 - 32.4°C). However, the modelled temperature tolerance range (ΔT) follows an unimodal function of cell size for the strains examined here. Thus, the temperature tolerance range may act in conjunction with the maximum growth rate to explain the picophytoplankton community size structure in correlation with ocean temperature. The maximum growth rates obtained by a 99th quantile regression for the group of picophytoplankton or picoprokaryotes are generally lower than the rates estimated by Eppley. However, we find temperature-dependencies (Q10) of 2.3 and of 4.9 for the two groups, respectively. Both of these values are higher than the Q10 of 1.88 estimated by Eppley and could have substantial influence on the biomass distribution in models, in particular if picoprokaryotes were considered an independent PFT. We also quantify the increase of the chlorophyll a to carbon ratios with increasing temperature due to acclimation. These parameters provide essential and validated physiological information to explore the response of marine ecosystems to a warming climate using ocean biogeochemistry models.
Interference and Facilitation among Personal Goals: Differential Associations with Subjective Well-Being and Persistent Goal Pursuit

Three studies demonstrate that mutual facilitation and interference among personal goals are distinct characteristics rather than mutually exclusive opposites and have different functions for psychological well-being and goal pursuit. The three studies vary in design (cross-sectional, short-termlongitudinal) and follow a multimethod approach using questionnaires, diaries, and objective behavioral information. Results show that interference among goals (resulting from resource constraints and incompatible goal attainment strategies) is negatively associated with trait and state well-being, whereas mutual facilitation among goals (resulting from instrumental goal relations and overlapping goal attainment strategies) is positively associated with involvement in goal pursuit.
Decay-Initiating Endoribonucleolytic Cleavage by RNase Y Is Kept under Tight Control via Sequence Preference and Sub-cellular Localisation

Bacteria depend on efficient RNA turnover, both during homeostasis and when rapidly altering gene expression in response to changes. Nevertheless, remarkably few details are known about the rate-limiting steps in targeting and decay of RNA. The membrane-anchored endoribonuclease RNase Y is a virulence factor in Gram-positive pathogens. We have obtained a global picture of Staphylococcus aureus RNase Y sequence specificity using RNA-seq and the novel transcriptome-wide EMOTE method. Ninety-nine endoribonucleolytic sites produced in vivo were precisely mapped, notably inside six out of seven genes whose half-lives increase the most in an RNase Y deletion mutant, and additionally in three separate transcripts encoding degradation ribonucleases, including RNase Y itself, suggesting a regulatory network. We show that RNase Y is required to initiate the major degradation pathway of about a hundred transcripts that are inaccessible to other ribonucleases, but is prevented from promiscuous activity by membrane confinement and sequence preference for guanosines.
Effect of rumen protein degradability on milk yield of dairy cows in early lactation.

Twenty-four mature Holstein cows were fed diets of 40% corn silage and 60% concentrate (dry matter) beginning at parturition through wk 16 of lactation. A control concentrate (corn, soybean meal, and barley) was fed through wk 4 followed by assignment of cows to either a concentrate of low or high rumen protein degradability. In situ trials with two fistulated cows fed similar diets yielded rumen protein degradabilities of 78.5, 70.3, 69.9, 67.3, 49.1, and 36.5% for barley, corn, corn gluten feed, soybean meal, brewer's grains, and cottonseed meal. The low degradability concentrate (corn, cottonseed meal, brewer's grains, and corn gluten feed) had an estimated rumen protein degradation of 52.9% and a total ration crude protein of 14.3%. The high degradability concentrate containing corn, barley, and soybean meal was 72.8% rumen degradable, and total ration protein for this treatment was 14.5%. Dry matter intakes were 21.0 and 22.0 kg/day for the low and high degradability diets. Milk yield, fat percent, and fat-corrected milk were not affected by treatment. Milk protein percent and protein yield decreased from 3.00 to 2.84% and 1.07 to . 99 kg/day in the high and low degradability diets. Efficacy of use of degradability as a criterion for feed formulation is questioned until understanding of both feed protein breakdown and microbial synthesis is greater.
A Comparative Study of Olmesartan and Valsartan on Insulin Sensitivity in Hypertensive Patients with Diabetes Mellitus or Impaired Glucose Tolerance (OVIS Study)

Activation of renin angiotensin system is implicated in insulin resistance. In mega trials, it has been suggested that angiotensin receptor blockers may be beneficial on insulin sensitivity in hypertensive patients. We conducted a multicenter, open-label, parallel-group trial to compare the effects of olmesartan and valsartan on insulin sensitivity and adiponectin levels in 206 hypertensive patients with diabetes mellitus or impaired glucose tolerance. Patients were randomly assigned to either olmesartan 20 mg/day or valsartan 80 mg/day treatment for 24 weeks. Blood pressure, fasting glucose, fasting insulin, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and serum adiponectin levels were measured. The efficacy was evaluated in 197 patients (olmesartan, n=98; valsartan, n=99). At baseline, all parameters except for systolic blood pressure (SBP) and serum triglyceride did not differ between the 2 groups. HbA1c decreased slightly after a 24-week treatment with valsartan, but not olmesartan, while the decrease did not significantly differ in the two groups. There was no difference in the change from the baseline between olmesartan and valsartan groups concerning fasting glucose, fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, and adiponectin levels after 24-week treatment. The decrease in SBP tended to be greater in the olmesartan group than in the valsartan group even with adjustment for the baseline difference. In conclusion, there was no significant difference in insulin sensitivity or adiponectin levels between the olmesartan and valsartan groups. In the standard dose, olmesartan significantly decreased SBP as compared with valsartan.
A case of adult‐onset dementia with argyrophilic grains

A case of progressive dementia in a 68‐year‐old woman was characterized by the postmortem finding of widespread argyrophilic grains in the cerebral cortex. The grains consisted of 10‐ to 13‐nm filaments in deposits ranging up to 9 μm in length and 3 μm in diameter. The grains stained positive with Alz‐50 monoclonal antibody. Cortical brain tissue levels were minimally elevated for acetylcholinesterase, moderately reduced for choline acetyltransferase, and sharply reduced for glutaminase. Although the case was clinically indistinguishable from Alzheimer's disease, plaque and tangle pathological findings were absent. We confirm cortical changes of the type described by Braak and Braak and provide additional data on subcortical changes in this case.
Plasma adiponectin levels and blood pressures in nondiabetic adolescent females.

Adiponectin is an adipose-derived plasma protein. Recently the plasma adiponectin levels have been linked to most variables of metabolic syndrome (MS) and risk factors of coronary artery disease (CAD). However, its relation with blood pressure is yet unclear. Here we report the relationship between the plasma adiponectin levels and blood pressures in 68 female adolescents (age 16.1 +/- 1.8 yr). We found that the plasma adiponectin levels correlated significantly with both the systolic blood pressure (SBP) (gamma = -0.47, P = 0.000) and diastolic blood pressure (gamma = -0.30, P = 0.014). In linear regression models with adjustment for age and the other anthropometric or metabolic factors, only the SBP, but not the diastolic blood pressure, was independently related to the plasma adiponectin levels. The mean plasma adiponectin levels between the subjects in the lowest quartile of SBP (SBP < or = 100 mm Hg) and those in the highest quartile (SBP > or = 118 mm Hg) were significantly different (P = 0.035). In conclusion, the SBP is inversely related to the plasma adiponectin independent of the other variables of the MS and other risk factors of CAD in healthy adolescent females. This further strengthens the potential roles of adiponectin in the pathophysiology of MS and CAD.
The study on relationship between disclosure degree of annual reporting and company-specific features based on meta analysis

Based on Meta-Analysis, the paper tests company-specific characteristic's effect on disclosure degree of annual reporting for two times. The company-specific features include size, listing status, debt leverage, performance and accounting firm's size. The first test indicates that size and listing status are significant variable on disclosure degree, while leverage, performance and audit firm size do not show significant influence. For further test, disclosure degree is categorized as voluntary, mandatory and mix ones, while size is classified into total assets and annual sales, listing status into listing or not and listing in which stock market, leverage into debt/equity, debt/assets, long-term liability/equity, and profitability into net profit/assets, net profit/sales and net profit/equity. However, the second test demonstrates that relationship between disclosure degree of annual reporting and company specific feature is complicated and varied. The result suggests previous study be careful concerns and further research needed.