Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Immersive Teleconferencing System Based on Video-Avatar for Distance Learning

Teleconference is an important means of communication in distance learning courses. Unlike other technologies used in education, the technology that enables virtual conferencing has changed little since it began to be used. Even the transition from analog to digital technology and the adoption of IP technology changed little in the communication characteristics of this media, basically the same of 2D. The project presented here is part of a new field of research, called immersive telecommunication, which aims at increasing the sense of immersion and presence of the participants. For this purpose, a videoconferencing system was developed, which allows presenters to immerse themselves in a 3D virtual environment, through their video-avatar, and be watched remotely in the form of 3D video. This system integrates several subprojects, involving the capture and rendering of a video-avatar, background removal, gesture recognition, interaction design, among others. The aim of this paper is to present the system architecture and an overview of its modules, the key challenges and adopted solutions.
Association of lower urinary tract symptoms and chronic ischaemia of the lower urinary tract in elderly women and men: assessment using colour Doppler ultrasonography

To investigate, using transrectal colour Doppler ultrasonography, (TRCDUS) whether perfusion of the bladder and prostate is reduced in elderly patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), common in later life, as experimental data suggest that chronic ischaemia has a key role in the development of LUTS.
Feature-selective Attention in Frontoparietal Cortex: Multivoxel Codes Adjust to Prioritize Task-relevant Information

Human cognition is characterized by astounding flexibility, enabling us to select appropriate information according to the objectives of our current task. A circuit of frontal and parietal brain regions, often referred to as the frontoparietal attention network or multiple-demand (MD) regions, are believed to play a fundamental role in this flexibility. There is evidence that these regions dynamically adjust their responses to selectively process information that is currently relevant for behavior, as proposed by the “adaptive coding hypothesis” [Duncan, J. An adaptive coding model of neural function in prefrontal cortex. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2, 820–829, 2001]. Could this provide a neural mechanism for feature-selective attention, the process by which we preferentially process one feature of a stimulus over another? We used multivariate pattern analysis of fMRI data during a perceptually challenging categorization task to investigate whether the representation of visual object features in the MD regions flexibly adjusts according to task relevance. Participants were trained to categorize visually similar novel objects along two orthogonal stimulus dimensions (length/orientation) and performed short alternating blocks in which only one of these dimensions was relevant. We found that multivoxel patterns of activation in the MD regions encoded the task-relevant distinctions more strongly than the task-irrelevant distinctions: The MD regions discriminated between stimuli of different lengths when length was relevant and between the same objects according to orientation when orientation was relevant. The data suggest a flexible neural system that adjusts its representation of visual objects to preferentially encode stimulus features that are currently relevant for behavior, providing a neural mechanism for feature-selective attention.
Relationships between Drug Exposure, Changes in Metabolic Parameters and Body Fat in HIV-Infected Patients Switched to a Nucleoside Sparing Regimen

Background The pathogenesis of metabolic disturbances in treated HIV infection is incompletely understood. Methods Relationships between fasted metabolic parameters, body composition, and drug plasma concentrations were investigated in 59 patients who switched from failed nucleoside analogue treatment to ritonavir-boosted indinavir and efavirenz therapy. Metabolic parameters, peripheral fat, visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and drug plasma concentrations were measured prospectively. Results Ritonavir exposure was found to be negatively correlated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) changes, with a 2.4% decrease in HDL-c for each unit increase in ritonavir concentration ratio. Significant associations between indinavir or efavirenz concentrations and metabolic disturbances were not observed. Total cholesterol (TC) correlated positively with high body mass index (BMI) and negatively with baseline limb fat mass: each unit increase in BMI and each kilogram reduction in baseline limb fat corresponded with a TC increase of 2.4% and 4.1%, respectively. Baseline triglyceride levels were lower in those patients with relatively greater limb fat mass: each kilogram reduction of total limb fat mass was associated with a 15.7% increase in triglyceride concentration. Changes in VAT were positively correlated with TC: for every unit TC increase a 0.3% VAT increase was observed (over 48 weeks). Conclusions Reduced limb fat mass at the start of the study treatment, increases in VAT mass, and higher plasma concentrations of ritonavir on study treatment were each - to varying degrees - associated with various metabolic disturbances.
Personality Traits and Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Background and Aims: Both personality changes and behavioural and psychological symptoms (BPS) may be associated with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in later life and help identify incipient dementia. We wished to investigate the links between personality and BPS in MCI. Method: We studied premorbid personality traits as estimated 5 years back and their changes in 83 control subjects and 52 MCI patients using the revised NEO Personality Inventory for the Five-Factor Model completed by a proxy. Information on BPS was obtained using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). Analyses were controlled for current depression and anxiety. Results: Premorbid neuroticism and openness to experience were associated with the total NPI score. The changes in neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experiences, and conscientiousness were associated with apathy and affective symptoms. Conclusions: Personality changes and BPS occur in MCI. The occurrence of affective BPS and apathy is associated with both premorbid personality traits and their changes.
Subcellular distribution of Wnt pathway proteins in normal and neoplastic colon

Mutations in the APC tumor suppressor gene are present in approximately 85% of colorectal tumors and are thought to contribute early in the process of tumorigenesis. The truncated protein resulting from most APC mutations can lead to elevated β-catenin levels in colon tumor cells. APC and associated proteins thus form a β-catenin regulatory complex, with axin playing a key role. Although cell culture studies have revealed intriguing aspects of this complex, little characterization has been done in human colonocytes, the target tissue of colon carcinogenesis. The present study of intact human colon crypts, adenomatous polyps, and adenocarcinomas focuses on subcellular localization of some key elements of the complex: β-catenin, APC, axin, and axin2. We examined endogenous protein localization within the framework of three-dimensional tissue architecture by using laser scanning confocal microscopy, and immunofluorescence staining of whole-mount fixed tissue from more than 50 patients. Expression patterns suggest that APC and axin colocalize in the nucleus and at lateral cell borders, and show that axin2 is limited to the nucleus. Altered nuclear expression of axin seen in colon polyps and carcinomas may be a consequence of the loss of full-length APC and the advent of nuclear β-catenin. The observation of nuclear β-catenin in fewer than half of carcinoma images and only rarely in polyps indicates that nuclear translocation of β-catenin may not be an immediate consequence of the loss of APC.
Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty for Intraocular Pressure Elevation After Intravitreal Triamcinolone Acetonide Injection

Purpose. Intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide has increasingly become a therapeutic option for neovascular, inflammatory, and edematous intraocular diseases. A common side effect of this treatment is a steroid-induced elevation of intraocular pressure. In most of these patients, the rise in intraocular pressure can be treated topically. Those cases that cannot be treated medically have been treated with filtering surgery. This report presents a case of intraocular pressure elevation after intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide injection that was successfully treated with selective laser trabeculoplasty. Case Report. A 63-year-old white man presented with brow ache on the right side approximately 3 months after undergoing intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide for diabetic macular edema in the right eye. Applanation tonometry revealed an intraocular pressure of 45 mm Hg in the involved eye. After initial treatment with topical medications, the patient underwent selective laser trabeculoplasty. Now, 6 months postlaser treatment, the intraocular pressure in the involved eye is stable at 15 mm Hg without topical medications. Conclusions. A steroid-induced elevation of intraocular pressure is a common and widely reported side effect of treatment with intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide. This case report suggests that selective laser trabeculoplasty has potential as first- or second-line therapy for intraocular pressure elevation after intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide injection.
¿Se pueden vivir experiencias óptimas en el trabajo?: analizando el flow en contextos laborales

Se puede definir el "FIoW' como una experiencia optima extremadamente disfrutada, que se caracteriza por la atencion y concentracion focalizada, la existencia de metas retadoras, feedback sobre el desempeno, y control sobre la situacion, la distorsion del tiempo, y el disfrute intrinseco (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990; Moneta y Czikszentmihalyi, 1996; Seligman y Czikszentmihalyi, 2000). El presente estudio examina la estructura factorial de un instrumento desarrollado para medir el Flow en el trabajo, en una muestra de 770 empleados espanoles de diferentes sectores ocupacionales. Los resultados, a partir de analisis factoriales confirmatorios, muestran que el ajuste del modelo de tres factores (satisfaccion intrinseca, absorcion y competencia percibida) es superior al del modelo de un solo factor (experiencia de Flow), confirmando de este modo nuestra hipotesis sobre la multidimensionalidad de la estructura del Flow.
Estimation of future PM2.5- and ozone-related mortality over the continental United States in a changing climate: An application of high-resolution dynamical downscaling technique

This paper evaluates the PM2.5- and ozone-related mortality at present (2000s) and in the future (2050s) over the continental United States by using the Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program (BenMAP-CE). Atmospheric chemical fields are simulated by WRF/CMAQ (horizontal resolution: 12 × 12km), applying the dynamical downscaling technique from global climate-chemistry model under the Representative Concentration Pathways scenario (RCP 8.5). Future air quality results predict that the annual mean PM2.5 concentration in continental U.S. decreases nationwide, especially in the Eastern U.S. and west coast. However, the ozone concentration is projected to decrease in the Eastern U.S. but increase in the Western U.S. Future mortality is evaluated under two scenarios (1) holding future population and baseline incidence rate at the present level and (2) using the projected baseline incidence rate and population in 2050. For PM2.5, the entire continental U.S. presents a decreasing trend of PM2.5-related mortality by the 2050s in Scenario (1), primarily resulting from the emissions reduction. While in Scenario (2), almost half of the continental states show a rising tendency of PM2.5-related mortality, due to the dominant influence of population growth. In particular, the highest PM2.5-related deaths and the biggest discrepancy between present and future PM2.5-related deaths both occur in California in 2050s. For the ozone-related premature mortality, the simulation shows nation-wide rising tendency in 2050s under both scenarios, mainly due to the increase of ozone concentration and population in the future. Furthermore, the uncertainty analysis shows that the confidence interval of all causes mortality is much larger than that for specific causes, probably due to the accumulated uncertainty of generating datasets and sample size. The confidence interval of ozone-related all cause premature mortality is narrower than the PM2.5-related all cause mortality, due to its smaller standard deviation of the concentration-mortality response factor. Implications: The health impact of PM2.5 is more linearly proportional to the emission reductions than ozone. The reduction of anthropogenic PM2.5 precursor emissions is likely to lead to the decrease of PM2.5 concentrations and PM2.5 related mortality. However, the future ozone concentrations could increase due to increase of the greenhouse gas emissions of methane. Thus, to reduce the impact of ozone related mortality, anthropogenic emissions including criteria pollutant and greenhouse gas (i.e. methane) need to be controlled.
The Impact on IPO Assurance Fees of Commercial Bank Entry into the Equity Underwriting Market

Changes in the provisions of the United States Banking Act of 1933 have allowed the entry of commercial banks into the initial public offering (IPO) underwriting market. In this paper, we examine the effect of commercial bank equity underwriting on the fees paid to auditors. We predict that IPO assurance fees will be higher for equity offerings underwritten by commercial banks than for offerings handled by traditional underwriters because (1) commercial banks are relatively inexperienced in bringing firms public, requiring additional assistance from accounting firms in the IPO process; (2) new entrants into the underwriting market may manage lower quality issues that require additional assurance services; and/or (3) since commercial banks have greater resources than do traditional investment banks, they are likely to be exposed to greater litigation risk, providing incentives for commercial bank underwriters to ensure that the IPO firm purchases greater assurance from the auditor. However, we expect fees .
Pattern of antimicrobial drug resistance of Salmonella Typhi and Paratyphi A in a Teaching Hospital in Islamabad.

OBJECTIVE To see the pattern of antimicrobial drug resistance among Salmonella serovars. METHODS This longitudinal, observational study was conducted at Khan Research Laboratories Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan, from May 2012 to December 2014. All patients presenting with typhoid fever with positive blood culture were included. Age, gender, salmonella serovar and sensitivity to 9 antimicrobial drugs were taken into account. The tested antimicrobial drugs were ampicillin, trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole, chloramphenicol, nalidixic acid, ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, levofloxacin, ceftriaxone and cefixime. SPSS 22 was used for analysis. RESULTS Of the 197 patients, 118(59.9%) were males and 79(40.1%) were females. Moreover, there were 78(39.6%) children and 119(60.4%) adults. The overall mean age was 19.58±13.82 years. Patients with positive culture for salmonella typhi were 155(78.7%) while patients with positive cultures for salmonella paratyphi A were 42(21.3%). No other serovar was found in this study. Overall percentage of multidrug resistance for both salmonella typhi and paratyphi was 74(37.5%). CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of multidrug resistance and quinolone resistance among salmonella serovars was high.
Aβ treatment and P301L tau expression in an Alzheimer's disease tissue culture model act synergistically to promote aberrant cell cycle re‐entry

Microarrays enable the observation of gene expression in experimental models of Alzheimer's disease (AD), with implications for the human pathology. Histopathologically, AD is characterized by Aβ‐containing plaques and tau‐containing neurofibrillary tangles. Here, we used a human SH‐SY5Y neuroblastoma cell system to assess the role of P301L mutant human tau expression, and treatment with or without Aβ on gene regulation. We found that Aβ and P301L tau expression independently affect the regulation of genes controlling cell proliferation and synaptic elements. Moreover, Aβ and P301L tau act synergistically on cell cycle and DNA damage genes, yet influence specific genes within these categories. By using neuronally differentiated P301L tau cells, we can show that Aβ treatment induces an early upregulation of cell cycle control and synaptic genes. At the protein level, by using Kinetworks™ multi‐immunoblotting and BrdU labelling, we found that although P301L tau and Aβ both affected levels of cell cycle proteins, their effects were distinct, in particular concerning DNA damage proteins. Moreover, DNA synthesis was observed only when SH‐SY5Y cells overexpressed human wild‐type or P301L tau and were incubated with Aβ. Thus, our study shows that Aβ treatment and human tau overexpression in an AD cell culture model act synergistically to promote aberrant cell cycle re‐entry, supporting the mitosis failure hypothesis in AD.
Cyanobacterial distributions along a physico-chemical gradient in the Northeastern Pacific Ocean.

The cyanobacteria Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus are important marine primary producers. We explored their distributions and covariance along a physico-chemical gradient from coastal to open ocean waters in the Northeastern Pacific Ocean. An inter-annual pattern was delineated in the dynamic transition zone where upwelled and eastern boundary current waters mix, and two new Synechococcus clades, Eastern Pacific Clade (EPC) 1 and EPC2, were identified. By applying state-of-the-art phylogenetic analysis tools to bar-coded 16S amplicon datasets, we observed higher abundance of Prochlorococcus high-light I (HLI) and low-light I (LLI) in years when more oligotrophic water intruded farther inshore, while under stronger upwelling Synechococcus I and IV dominated. However, contributions of some cyanobacterial clades were proportionally relatively constant, e.g. Synechococcus EPC2. In addition to supporting observations that Prochlorococcus LLI thrive at higher irradiances than other LL taxa, the results suggest LLI tolerate lower temperatures than previously reported. The phylogenetic precision of our 16S rRNA gene analytical approach and depth of bar-coded sequencing also facilitated detection of clades at low abundance in unexpected places. These include Prochlorococcus at the coast and Cyanobium-related sequences offshore, although it remains unclear whether these came from resident or potentially advected cells. Our study enhances understanding of cyanobacterial distributions in an ecologically important eastern boundary system.
A global analysis of CNVs in swine using whole genome sequence data and association analysis with fatty acid composition and growth traits

Copy number variations (CNVs) are important genetic variants complementary to SNPs, and can be considered as biomarkers for some economically important traits in domestic animals. In the present study, a genomic analysis of porcine CNVs based on next-generation sequencing data was carried out to identify CNVs segregating in an Iberian x Landrace backcross population and study their association with fatty acid composition and growth-related traits. A total of 1,279 CNVs, including duplications and deletions, were detected, ranging from 106 to 235 CNVs across samples, with an average of 183 CNVs per sample. Moreover, we detected 540 CNV regions (CNVRs) containing 245 genes. Functional annotation suggested that these genes possess a great variety of molecular functions and may play a role in production traits in commercial breeds. Some of the identified CNVRs contained relevant functional genes (e.g., CLCA4, CYP4X1, GPAT2, MOGAT2, PLA2G2A and PRKG1, among others). The variation in copy number of four of them (CLCA4, GPAT2, MOGAT2 and PRKG1) was validated in 150 BC1_LD (25% Iberian and 75% Landrace) animals by qPCR. Additionally, their contribution regarding backfat and intramuscular fatty acid composition and growth–related traits was analyzed. Statistically significant associations were obtained for CNVR112 (GPAT2) for the C18:2(n-6)/C18:3(n-3) ratio in backfat and carcass length, among others. Notably, GPATs are enzymes that catalyze the first step in the biosynthesis of both triglycerides and glycerophospholipids, suggesting that this CNVR may contribute to genetic variation in fatty acid composition and growth traits. These findings provide useful genomic information to facilitate the further identification of trait-related CNVRs affecting economically important traits in pigs.
IgE Cross-Linking or Lipopolysaccharide Treatment Induces Recruitment of Th2 Cells to the Lung in the Absence of Specific Antigen1

We previously showed that Th1 cells can increase recruitment of Th2 cells to the lungs even in the absence of the Th2-specific Ag. The fact that Th2 recruitment is independent from the Th2 cell Ag suggested that Th1 cells may support Th2 cell recruitment using their Ag-nonspecific proinflammatory functions. To investigate the potential for inflammatory stimuli that are distinct from Ag-specific signals to affect the recruitment of T cells, we tested whether cross-linking of IgE or treatment with LPS modulated influx of Th2 cells into the airways in the presence or absence of inhaled Ag. When naive mice that had been treated with OVA-specific Th2 cells and passively sensitized with anti-DNP IgE were challenged by intranasal administration of either DNP-haptenated OVA or DNP-BSA, increased numbers of Th2 cells were recruited to the lung compared with mice challenged intranasally with OVA alone. Intranasal administration of LPS also increased recruitment of Th2 cells to the airways. These two distinct inflammatory stimuli increased the numbers of recruited Th2 cells equally with or without concurrent challenge using the cognate Th2 Ag. This Ag-independent recruitment of Th2 cells to the lung was not associated with localization of these cells to the regional lymph nodes and was independent of Th2 cell activation. Interestingly, P- or E-selectin contributed to Th2 cell recruitment to the lung. These data suggest that Th2 cells of the adaptive immune response are similar to cells of the innate immune response in their lack of requirement for protein Ag to initiate cell recruitment. They demonstrate further that recruitment can occur independently of Ag-dependent activation.