Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE EFFECT OF NICOTINE ON ANTI–VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR THERAPY IN A MOUSE MODEL OF NEOVASCULAR AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to evaluate the effect of nicotine on anti–vascular endothelial growth factor therapy in the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Methods: One group of mice received nicotine in drinking water and the other group received water only. Choroidal neovascularization (CNV) was induced with a laser. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor-&agr;7 (nAChR&agr;7) expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Bevacizumab or adiponectin peptide II (APNpII) was injected intravitreally on Day 7 postlaser, and the effects were evaluated on Days 14 and 21. &agr;-Bungarotoxin was injected intraperitoneally on Days 2 to 5, and its effect was evaluated on Day 14. Results: Expression of nAChR&agr;7 was 2 to 7 times higher between Days 3 and 7 postlaser compared with naive mice. In water-fed mice, APNpII, bevacizumab, and &agr;-bungarotoxin significantly reduced CNV size. In nicotine-fed mice, treatment with APNpII or bevacizumab did not significantly reduce CNV size, whereas &agr;-bungarotoxin did have an effect. Comparing water- and nicotine-fed mice, CNV size was 61% to 86% smaller in water-fed mice except for the &agr;-bungarotoxin group, where there was no difference. Platelet-derived growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor expression was 1.5- to 2.5-fold higher at Day 14 in nicotine-treated mice. Conclusion: Nicotine significantly blocks the effect of anti–vascular endothelial growth factor therapy in the treatment of laser-induced neovascular age-related macular degeneration. nAChR&agr;7 is significantly upregulated during the formation of CNV, and treatment with an nAChR&agr;7 antagonist decreases CNV size irrespective of nicotine administration.
Submacular DL-alpha-aminoadipic acid eradicates primate photoreceptors but does not affect luteal pigment or the retinal vasculature.

PURPOSE Macular telangiectasia type 2 (MT2) is a condition of uncertain etiology characterized by retinal vascular abnormalities, depletion of luteal pigment, and photoreceptor loss. To model this condition, the authors recently used a purportedly glial-selective toxin, DL-α-aminoadipic acid (DL-α-AAA), to test the effect of Müller cell disruption on the blood-retinal barrier in rats. In this study, they investigated macular changes after subretinal injection of DL-α-AAA in monkeys. METHODS Various doses of DL-α-AAA were injected beneath the macula in eight monkey eyes. Eyes were examined by multifocal electroretinography (mfERG), optical coherence tomography (OCT), fundus autofluorescence, color photography, and fluorescein angiography. Five months after injection, eyes were examined by histology and immunohistochemistry for changes in photoreceptors and the retinal glia. In vitro studies evaluated the effect of DL-α-AAA on 661W cone photoreceptor viability. RESULTS Subretinal injection of DL-α-AAA resulted in virtually complete ablation of photoreceptors in the injected area, as shown by OCT and histology, and severely impaired mfERG responses. Müller cells, albeit activated, survived the injury. Macular pigment remained unchanged in the central fovea. Subretinal injection of DL-α-AAA did not induce vascular leakage, though it increased the fundus autofluorescence. DL-α-AAA had a dose-dependent toxic effect on 661W photoreceptors. CONCLUSIONS Submacular injection of DL-α-AAA induced severe damage to photoreceptors but failed to eliminate Müller cells in monkeys. Central macular pigment persisted despite loss of photoreceptors, and the retinal vasculature was unaffected. These observations may have significance in studying the roles of different cellular components in the pathogenesis of MT2.
Epidemiologic aspects of the Bam earthquake in Iran: the nephrologic perspective.

BACKGROUND Acute renal failure is a serious, preventable, and potentially reversible midterm complication after mass disasters. In 2003, an earthquake struck Bam, Iran. This article studies the epidemiologic aspects of the earthquake from a nephrologic perspective. METHODS A questionnaire was sent to the reference hospitals. The resulting database of 2,086 traumatized patients hospitalized in the first 10 days was analyzed. RESULTS Mean age was 29.0 +/- 15.6 years. Compared with the resident population, the percentage of patients was lower among children and teenagers younger than 15 years and higher among young and middle-aged adults (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference between mean ages of patients with acute renal failure and other patients. Time under the rubble was longer for patients with acute renal failure (6.2 +/- 4.1 versus 2.1 +/- 3.9 hours; P < 0.001). These patients were hospitalized later (3.1 +/- 2.8 versus 1.5 +/- 1.7 days after the disaster; P < 0.001) and longer (16.7 +/- 12.8 versus 12.5 +/- 11.3 days; P < 0.001). Sepsis (11.6% versus 0.5%), disseminated intravascular coagulation (7.3% versus 0.3%), adult respiratory distress syndrome (9.1% versus 1.4%), fasciotomy (38.9% versus 1.9%), amputation (6.1% versus 0.5%), and death (12.7% versus 1.9%) were markedly more frequent among patients with acute renal failure (P < 0.001 for all). CONCLUSION Hospitalized patients were mostly young and middle-aged adults. Patients with acute renal failure were entrapped longer and hospitalized later and for longer periods. Medical complications, surgical procedures, and mortality were greater in the latter group. Early extrication and quick hospitalization with appropriate multidisciplinary care are cornerstones to prevent acute renal failure and its subsequent mortality in earthquake conditions.
Regional enteritis in early infancy.

Regional enteritis has rarely been observed in infancy; only six cases have been reported. We treated six infants who presented with symptoms within the first five months of life. Each of the infants developed distal small bowel obstruction which required laparotomy. Four infants had a variable period of weight loss, diarrhea, melena, anemia, and fever, while two others presented with intestinal obstruction after only a brief prodrome. Gross and microscopic findings were consistent with regional enteritis: segmental transmural inflammatory and ulcerative process chiefly involving the terminal ileum. Steroids do not appear to be of definite benefit.
Low Bone Mineral Density in Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Background and Purpose: Pathological fractures are common in pediatric neuromuscular disorders. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry has become the most accepted technique for the measurement of bone mineral density (BMD) in adults and children. Limited data are available on BMD in pediatric neuromuscular diseases except Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the results of all dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scans done in a period of 23 months at a tertiary care pediatric neuromuscular center. BMD was performed on spine region L1-4. Osteopenia was classified as mild if the Z scores were between 0 and −1.5, moderate if Z scores were between −1.5 and −2.5, and severe if Z scores were > −2.5 standard deviation scores. Results: Eighty-four dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scans were performed on 79 patients between the ages of 4 months and 18 years with the mean age of 8 years. Z scores were used to compare their BMDs. BMD was lowest in patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) with Z score of −2.25 ± 0.31 standard deviation scores. The Z score for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy was −1.72 ± 0.1. The BMD in nonambulatory patients with SMA was significantly decreased compared with ambulatory patients with SMA (P < 0.05). Conclusions: We conclude that osteopenia is common in children with neuromuscular disorders. Patients with SMA have the lowest BMD.
Elimination of the cardiac natriuretic peptides B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal proBNP by hemodialysis.

The measurement of natriuretic peptides for the diagnosis of heart failure has been a major breakthrough in cardiology (1)(2). B-Type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is synthesized as preproBNP mainly in the ventricular myocardium. On ventricular myocyte stretch, preproBNP is enzymatically cleaved to proBNP and released in the form of the hormonally active BNP and the inactive N-terminal proBNP (NT-proBNP). Both BNP and NT-proBNP have been shown to reflect heart failure severity (1), but studies on their sensitivity and specificity for different degrees of heart failure produced conflicting results (3)(4)(5)(6). Both BNP and NT-proBNP can be used for the diagnosis of heart failure, but there are important differences between the two tests, particularly regarding influence of age and renal function (1). In addition to glomerular filtration, BNP is eliminated from plasma mainly through natriuretic peptide receptors and degraded by neutral endopeptidases (7)(8)(9). In contrast, NT-proBNP possibly is largely eliminated by glomerular filtration only (4). This explains the strong influence of renal function on NT-proBNP concentrations. Because of the normal decrease in glomerular filtration rate with increasing age, the diagnostic cutoff for NT-proBNP depends on age (1). This is also true for BNP(10), but to a much lesser extent. Importantly, both BNP and NT-proBNP concentrations can be increased in the setting of hemodialysis (11)(12)(13)(14). The prevalence of chronic heart failure is significantly increased in dialysis patients and is associated with left ventricular hypertrophy, which may be secondary to volume overload and hypertension (15)(16)(17). Reports on the effect of hemodialysis on plasma concentrations of BNP and NT-proBNP showed significant decreases in BNP (11 …
Social media as communicative genres

As a focus of study, ‘social media’ tend to lack definitional clarity and grounding in theories of media and text. This paper establishes and discusses a conceptual framework for defining social media as communicative genres, constituted by the interplay between interactive functionalities configured at the software level and the invocation and appropriation of various software functionalities to achieve specific purposes in and through users’ actual communicative practices. I suggest that social media might be seen as particularly dynamic genres, subject to continuous disruption and uncertainty,owing to their deinstitutionalised and participatory character, and the shifting roles of producers and recipients in the networks and conversations that make up social media content.
Application of Time-Resolved 3D Digital Subtraction Angiography to Plan Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformation Radiosurgery

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Time-resolved 3D-DSA (4D-DSA) enables viewing vasculature from any desired angle and time frame. We investigated whether these advantages may facilitate treatment planning and the feasibility of using 4D-DSA as a single imaging technique in AVM/dural arteriovenous fistula radiosurgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty consecutive patients (8 dural arteriovenous fistulas and 12 AVMs; 13 men and 7 women; mean age, 45 years; range, 18–64 years) who were scheduled for gamma knife radiosurgery were recruited (November 2014 to October 2015). An optimal volume of reconstructed time-resolved 3D volumes that defines the AVM nidus/dural arteriovenous fistula was sliced into 2D-CT-like images. The original radiosurgery treatment plan was overlaid retrospectively. The registration errors of stereotactic 4D-DSA were compared with those of integrated stereotactic imaging. AVM/dural arteriovenous fistula volumes were contoured, and disjoint and conjoint components were identified. The Wilcoxon signed rank test and the Wilcoxon rank sum test were adopted to evaluate registration errors and contoured volumes of stereotactic 4D-DSA and integration of stereotactic MR imaging and stereotactic 2D-DSA. RESULTS: Sixteen of 20 patients were successfully registered in Advanced Leksell GammaPlan Program. The registration error of stereotactic 4D-DSA was smaller than that of integrated stereotactic imaging (P = .0009). The contoured AVM volume of 4D-DSA was smaller than that contoured on the integration of MR imaging and 2D-DSA, while major inconsistencies existed in cases of dural arteriovenous fistula (P = .042 and 0.039, respectively, for measurements conducted by 2 authors). CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of stereotactic 4D-DSA data for gamma knife radiosurgery for brain AVM/dural arteriovenous fistula is feasible. The ability of 4D-DSA to demonstrate vascular morphology and hemodynamics in 4 dimensions potentially reduces the target volumes of irradiation in vascular radiosurgery.
Killing Civilization: A Reassessment of Early Urbanism and Its Consequences. JUSTIN JENNINGS. 2016. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. 374 pp. 30 halftones, 11 maps, 4 charts. $75.00 (hardback), ISBN 978-0-8263-5660-4.

Currently, there are three explanations that Grayson describes and dissects. The “Overkill Hypothesis,” proposed by Paul Martin, states that Clovis people hunted megafauna to extinction. We know this hypothesis is null because it hinges on points now shown false: Clovis First (they weren’t), Clovis big-game hunters (they weren’t), all megafauna went extinct 11,000 years ago (they didn’t), and terrestrial animals on islands become extinct following human colonization (they do). While the last is true, it has little bearing on the continent-wide extinctions that occurred up and down the Americas. Proponents of the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis hold that a comet impacted Earth around 10,900 years ago and caused the onset of the Younger Dryas, the end of Clovis and the formation of the black mats that cap Clovis sites, and the extinction of North America’s megafauna. Grayson offers a point-bypoint rebuttal of the hypothesis. The “Clovis Comet” depends on one grand event that ended the lineages of megafauna; however, an impact of that magnitude would have had a wider array of fallouts. It does not explain why some animals went extinct well before 10,900 or why a population of woolly mammoths made a last stand on a northern island in the Arctic Ocean until 3,700 years ago. Climate change, specifically the drastic seasonal temperature changes that occurred at the end of the Pleistocene, caused irreversible changes in plant communities, shifts in small mammal ranges, and catastrophic effects on large mammal populations. The altered environmental conditions put Gleasonian individualism into play—the concept that members of a biological community react to environmental shifts at the individual species level, not as a cohesive unit. How mammoths in Florida reacted to those changes can only be understood through detailed population histories and environmental records of Florida mammoths. Repeat this for every species that went extinct in every location where they once thrived, and then we might understand the events that occurred at the end of the last Ice Age. This is Grayson’s vision for the way forward to the past.
Scanning rodents on the High Resolution Research Tomograph (HRRT) with point spread function reconstruction: A feasibility study

The ECAT High Resolution Research Tomograph (HRRT) is a dedicated human brain PET camera with a 6% absolute sensitivity and a (2.3mm)3 spatial resolution, improving to (1.8mm)3 when point spread function (PSF) resolution recovery algorithms are used. These values are very close to those of the dedicated small animal PET camera microPET FOCUS 120 (F120). The larger axial and transaxial FoV of the HRRT compared to the F120 allows in principle for whole body imaging of several rats at the same time thus potentially reducing scanning costs and time. In this study we investigate the feasibility of using the HRRT for small animal brain studies by comparing the tissue input binding potentials (BPnd) obtained from scans of the same rats imaged on the F120 and on the HRRT. The animal experiments are complemented by phantom studies aimed at investigating noise properties relevant to the size of typical regions of interest used in rat brain image analysis. Our investigations show that (i) without PSF modelling the BPND obtained from HRRT data are lower than those obtained on the F120 by 28%, (ii) with PSF modelling the BPND obtained from HRRT data are 15% higher than those obtained on the F120, (iii) the reproducibility on the HRRT is 81% when PSF modelling is not used, lower than the F120 reproducibility (92%), and decreases even further with PSF modelling to 73%. In addition Gibbs type artefacts are clearly visible when PSF modelling is used. In summary, while the resolution achieved with PSF modelling might be comparable to that obtained with the F120, the clumpy noise structure coupled with the introduction of Gibbs type artefacts in the images reconstructed with this technique currently preclude the use of the HRRT for reliable small animal brain imaging.
Rainfall Estimation Accuracy of a Nationwide Instantaneously Sampling Commercial Microwave Link Network: Error Dependency on Known Characteristics

Commercial microwave links are installed and maintained for the purpose of telecommunication. Hydrometeors between transmitting and receiving antennas cause the microwave signal to be attenuated. From signal attenuation, the path-averaged rainfall intensity can be calculated. A 7-month dataset of instantaneously logged signal powers from almost 2000 unique links in the Netherlands is analyzed. Rainfall intensities are calculated with the RAINLINK package with a novel preprocessing module, enabling the package to be applied on instantaneously logged data from now on. Rainfall intensities per link are validated with the path-averaged rainfall intensities according to a gauge-adjusted radar product. Both the overall performance and the dependence of errors on link characteristics and measurement conditions are evaluated. The coefficient of variation decreases from 3.70 to 2.32 and the correlation increases from 0.30 to 0.63 from instantaneous to daily estimates of rainfall accumulations. The coefficient of variation is also smaller during heavy rainfall. Errors are largest for pathlengths shorter than 2 km, for observations during the late night and early morning, and for observations during colder months (when solid or melting precipitation could occur and dew is more likely to form on the antennas). Comparison of our results with those of earlier studies shows that minimum/maximum sampling (widely employed in network management systems) outperforms instantaneous sampling regarding detection of both quantity and occurrence of rain at a 15-min sampling rate in the Dutch climate.
Teacher–student interpersonal relationships and academic motivation within one school year: developmental changes and linkage

The present study explored the developmental changes of teacher–student interpersonal relationships as well as that of academic motivation among first-grade secondary school students. In addition, the link between teacher–student interpersonal behaviour and academic motivation across the school year was investigated. The data were collected 5 times within a school year, from 566 students of 20 mathematics and English classes, from 3 secondary schools in The Netherlands. Multilevel growth curve modelling was applied. Analysis of within-year changes in teacher–student interpersonal relationships revealed that the quality of relationships decreased over time. The decrease was more pronounced for Proximity than for Influence. Moreover, students' controlled motivation increased slightly, while autonomous motivation decreased systematically over time. Teacher–student interpersonal relationships are significant predictors of autonomous motivation. Several determinants like subject taught, class type, teacher gender, and student gender can explain differences in developmental trajectories of both interpersonal behaviour and academic motivation over time.
The Impact of Buy-Now Features in Pay-per-Bid Auctions

Pay-per-bid auctions require all bidders to pay for every bid. However, paying bidding fees without receiving the auction item in return often causes high dissatisfaction among losers, resulting in heated discussions and high churn rates. To reduce these negative reactions, pay-per-bid auctioneers created the Buy-Now feature, which allows losers to put all or part of the bidding fees that they paid during an auction toward buying the auction item. Using unique data, including individual customer bidding histories and cost data from more than 6,800 pay-per-bid auctions, we find that, overall, the Buy-Now feature leads to more aggressive bidding behavior, attracts more bidders, increases loyalty, and results in a higher profit per auction. However, for voucher auctions that represent common value auctions, the Buy-Now feature causes a decrease in the number of bidders and the profit per auction, although we find an increase in the average number of bids per bidder. We also show theoretically that a bidder can pursue a risk-free bidding strategy. However, we find empirically that bidders rarely use this strategy.
İlköğretim Sekizinci Sınıf Fen ve Teknoloji Dersi Genetik Ünitesindeki Kavram Yanılgılarının Giderilmesinde Grafik Materyallerin Etkisi

Son yillarda fen egitimi alaninda yapilan calismalar cogunlukla ogrencilerin sahip olduklari kavram yanilgilarinin tespiti ve giderilmesi uzerine yogunlasmaktadir. Bu calisma ilkogretim sekizinci sinif Fen ve Teknoloji dersi “Genetik” konusundaki kavram yanilgilarinin tespiti ve bu yanilgilarin anlam cozumleme tablolari, kavram aglari, kavram haritalari gibi grafik materyaller kullanilarak giderilmesinin geleneksel yonteme gore etkililiginin incelenmesi amaciyla gerceklestirilmistir. Ogrencilerde var olan kavram yanilgilarinin tespiti icin daha once konunun islendigi lise birinci sinif ogrencileri ile sekizinci sinif ogrencilerine acik uclu sorular yoneltilmis ve kavram yanilgilari tespit edilmistir. Elde edilen verilerle ve gerekli literatur taramasindan sonra konuyla ilgili test hazirlanmis ve Erzurum ilinde bir ilkogretim okulunda deney ve kontrol grubuna on test ve son test olarak uygulanmistir. “Genetik” unitesinin ogretimi, deney grubunda grafik materyaller kullanilarak, kontrol grubuna ise geleneksel ogretim yontemi kullanilarak gerceklestirilmistir. Ogrencilerin basari seviyeleri arasindaki farki belirlemek amaciyla t-testi yapilmistir. Calisma sonucunda istatistiksel olarak deney grubunun kontrol grubuna gore daha basarili oldugu gorulmustur