Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Morphology of the Corneal Limbus Following Standard and Accelerated Corneal Collagen Cross-Linking (9 mW/cm2) for Keratoconus

Purpose: To evaluate the morphological features of the corneal limbus as measured by in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) following standard and accelerated corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL) for keratoconus. Methods: Patients with progressive keratoconus scheduled to undergo standard CXL (group 1; 31 patients, 3 mW/cm2, 370 nm, 30 minutes), or accelerated CXL (group 2; 20 patients, 9 mW/cm2, 370 nm, 10 minutes) in the worse eye were included in this prospective study. Thirty eyes of 30 age-matched patients served as controls (group 3). All patient eyes underwent IVCM scanning of the central cornea and the inferior limbal area at baseline and 1, 3, and 6 months after CXL. Results: After CXL, epithelial regrowth was complete by day 4 in both groups 1 and 2. There were no statistically significant differences between the baseline mean central corneal wing or basal cell density, limbus-palisade middle or basal cell densities of groups 1, 2, or 3. At postoperative months 1, 3, and 6, there were no statistically significant differences in either central or limbus-palisade epithelial cell densities or diameters in keratoconic eyes that underwent standard or accelerated CXL (P > 0.05). The morphology of the limbal cells was preserved as well. Conclusions: The morphology of limbus structures seems to be preserved following standard and accelerated CXL in short-term follow-up, as measured using IVCM.
Communication-based cooperative tasks: how the language expressiveness affects reinforcement learning

We consider a cooperative multi-agent system in which cooperation may be enforced by communication between agents but in which agents must learn to communicate. The system consists of a game in which agents may move in a 2D world and are given the task of reaching specified targets. Each agent knows the target of another agent but not its own, thus the only way to solve the task is for the agents to guide one another using communication and, in particular, by learning how to communicate. We cast this game in terms of a partially observed Markov game and show that agents may learn policies for moving and communicating in the form of a neural network by means of reinforcement learning. We investigate in depth the impact on the learning quality of the expressiveness of the language, which is a function of vocabulary size, number of agents and number of targets.
Opposite relationship of hippocampal and rhinal cortex damage to delayed nonmatching‐to‐sample deficits in monkeys †

Three recent studies in macaque monkeys that examined the effects on memory of restricted hippocampal lesions (Murray and Mishkin, J Neurosci 1998;18:6568–6582; Beason‐Held et al., Hippocampus 1999;9:562–574; Zola et al., J Neurosci 2000;20:451–463) differed in their conclusions about the involvement of the hippocampus in recognition memory. Because these experiments used a common behavioral procedure, trial‐unique visual delayed nonmatching‐to‐sample (DNMS), a quantitative synthesis (“meta‐analysis”) was performed to determine whether hippocampal lesions produced a reliable net impairment in DNMS performance, and whether this impairment was related to the magnitude of hippocampal damage. A similar analysis was performed on data from monkeys with perirhinal or rhinal cortex damage (Meunier et al., J Neurosci 1993;13:5418–5432; Buffalo et al., Learn Mem 1999;6:572–599). DNMS performance scores were transformed to d′ values to permit comparisons across studies, and a loss in d′ score, a measure of the magnitude of the recognition deficit relative to the control group, was calculated for each operated monkey. Two main findings emerged. First, the loss in d′ following hippocampal damage was reliably larger than zero, but was smaller than that found after lesions limited to the perirhinal cortex. Second, the correlation of loss in d′ with extent of hippocampal damage was large and negative, indicating that greater impairments were associated with smaller hippocampal lesions. This relationship was opposite to that between loss in d′ and rhinal cortex damage, for which larger lesions were associated with greater impairment. These findings indicate that damage to the hippocampus and to the rhinal cortex affects recognition memory in different ways. Furthermore, they provide a framework for understanding the seemingly disparate effects of hippocampal damage on recognition memory in monkeys, and by extension, for interpreting the conflicting reports on the effects of such damage on recognition memory abilities in amnesic humans. Hippocampus 2001;11:61–71. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
College student protective strategies and drinking consequences.

OBJECTIVE This study explored the relationships between college student gender, alcohol use, protective strategies and harmful drinking consequences. METHOD A derivation sample (N = 3,851; 54% women) and a replication sample (N = 4,151; 55% women) of undergraduate students completed the Campus Alcohol Survey (CAS) in classroom settings. RESULTS Although women drank less than men and were less likely to experience harmful consequences, they were more likely to use protective strategies. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that students who consumed at least six drinks when they partied--especially men-were less likely to experience more common consequences (e.g., poor academic performance, property damage, unconsciousness, riding in a vehicle with others who have been drinking) if they engaged in self-protective strategies. Such strategies also helped students who exceeded the median number of drinks to moderate the effect of drinking on less common consequences (e.g., vehicular accidents, class failure, conflicts with authorities). CONCLUSIONS These findings add to the growing literature on contextual events that protect students from harm while drinking.
Temperature differentially affects encounter and docking thermodynamics of antibody–antigen association

Using BIACORE SPR, we have examined the mechanism of temperature effects on the binding kinetics of two closely related antibody Fabs (H10 and H26) which recognize coincident epitopes on hen egg‐white lysozyme (HEL), and whose association and dissociation kinetics are best described by the two‐step conformational change model which we interpret as molecular encounter and docking. Time‐course series data obtained at a series of six temperatures (6, 10, 15, 25, 30 and 37 °C) showed that temperature differentially affects the rate constants of the encounter and docking steps. Docking is more temperature‐sensitive than the encounter step, and energetically less favorable at higher temperatures. At elevated temperatures, the time required for docking is longer and the apparent increase in off‐rate reflects the greater proportion of the molecules failing to dock and remaining in the less stable encounter state. As a consequence, distribution of free energy change between the encounter and docking steps is altered. At physiological temperature (37 °C) the docking step of the H26 complex is energetically unfavorable and most complexes essentially do not dock. There is a significant decrease in total free energy change of the H26 complex at higher temperatures. Elevated temperature changes the rate‐limiting step of H26–HEL association from the encounter to the docking step, but not that of H10–HEL. Our results indicate that the mechanism by which elevated temperature reduces the affinities of antigen–antibody complexes is to decrease the net docking rate, and/or stability of the docked complex; at higher temperatures, a smaller proportion of the complexes actually anneal to a more stable docked state. This mechanism may have broad applicability to other receptor–ligand complexes. Published in 2002 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Construction of MoS2/Si nanowire array heterojunction for ultrahigh-sensitivity gas sensor

Few-layer MoS2 thin films were synthesized by a two-step thermal decomposition process. In addition, MoS2/Si nanowire array (SiNWA) heterojunctions exhibiting excellent gas sensing properties were constructed and investigated. Further analysis reveals that such MoS2/SiNWA heterojunction devices are highly sensitive to nitric oxide (NO) gas under reverse voltages at room temperature (RT). The gas sensor demonstrated a minimum detection limit of 10 ppb, which represents the lowest value obtained for MoS2-based sensors, as well as an ultrahigh response of 3518% (50 ppm NO, ∼50% RH), with good repeatability and selectivity of the MoS2/SiNWA heterojunction. The sensing mechanisms were also discussed. The performance of the MoS2/SiNWA heterojunction gas sensors is superior to previous results, revealing that they have great potential in applications relating to highly sensitive gas sensors.
Teaching object oriented programming course using cooperative learning method based on game design and visual object oriented environment

Learning object oriented programming (OOP) is a hard task for many beginning students who have already familiar with procedural language paradigm. Over the last six semesters, only about 59.27% students who take OOP class passed. To address persistent difficulties mainly imposed by the already known paradigm, we adopted the approach of cooperative learning based on game design with visual programming environment to teach OOP. Using the context of game design, we identify the concept of object to assist students with understanding object oriented design principles. In this research, we use GameMaker to teach about object concept by creating a game and MinimUML to teach about class design before implementing any code. As the implementation of cooperative learning, the class is divided as some groups. This method is implemented in second semester of year 2008/2009 in five classes and about 124 students have taken this course. This method can improve the student passing grades from 59.27% in the previous semesters become 80.64%.
eTandem Language Learning and Foreign Language Anxiety among Colombian learners of German

Although eTandems, offering the opportunity of real life contact to speakers of one's target language, are suggested as an anxiety-reducing, confidence-increasing approach to language learning, these effects have not been investigated empirically. The aim of this article is to explore the experiences and perceptions of 11 Colombian learners of German as a foreign language who participated in a German-Spanish eTandem project. Data were collected by means of interviews and focus groups, and evaluated using qualitative content analysis. Results support the anxiety-reducing and confidence-raising nature of eTandem Language Learning. These effects, however, are not in every case transferable into the language classroom.
Metalinguistic Abilities of Young Hearing-Impaired Children: Performance on a Judgment of Synonymy Task

Metalinguistic abilities of 20 hearing-impaired children between the ages of 4 and 10 years were assessed in this study. Children were asked to judge synonymy of sentence pairs presented in Signed English, Pidgin Sign English, and American Sign Language. Results indicated that none of these children had developed metalinguistic abilities in any of the sign language systems available to them. Sentence pairs with different meanings were easier than synonymous pairs, which suggests that their metalinguistic abilities are developing in a pattern similar to that of hearing children. Females performed significantly better than males.
Structural Basis for the Recognition of Lewis Antigens by Genogroup I Norovirus

ABSTRACT Noroviruses (NoVs) bind to histo-blood group antigens, namely, ABH antigens and Lewis antigens. We previously showed the NoVs GI/2, GI/3, GI/4, and GI/8 were able to strongly bind to Lewis a (Lea) antigen, which is expressed by individuals who are nonsecretors. In this study, to investigate how Lewis antigens interact with GI NoV virion protein 1 (VP1), we determined the crystal structures of the P domain of the VP1 protein from the Funabashi 258 (FUV258) strain (GI/2) in complexes with Lea, Leb, H type 1, or A type 1 antigens. The structures were compared with those of the NV/68 strain (GI/1), which does not bind to the Lea antigen. The four loop structures, loop P, loop S, loop A, and loop B, continuously deviated by more than 2 Å in length between the Cα atoms of the corresponding residues of the FUV258 and NV/68 P domains. The most pronounced differences between the two VP1 proteins were observed in the structures of loop P. In the FUV258 P domain, loop P protruded toward the next protomer, forming a Lea antigen-binding site. The Gln389 residue make a significant contribution to the binding of the Lea antigen through the stabilization of loop P as well as through direct interactions with the α4-fucosyl residue (α4Fuc) of the Lea antigen. Mutation of the Gln389 residue dramatically affected the degree of binding of the Lewis antigens. Collectively, these results suggest that loop P and the amino acid residue at position 389 affect Lewis antigen binding.
Polycystic ovary syndrome, depression, and affective disorders.

OBJECTIVE To assess the prevalence of depression and psychologic disorders and their effect on the quality of life in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. METHODS We performed a PubMed search of major relevant articles published during the period from 1985 to 2009 dealing with polycystic ovary syndrome, associated psychologic morbidity, and the relationship to clinical and biochemical changes affecting the quality of life. RESULTS In patients with polycystic ovary syndrome, the presence of depression and allied disorders was frequently noted to diminish mental well-being, affect, and self-worth. The symptoms often associated with this syndrome, such as hirsutism, obesity, irregular menses, and subfertility, were a major source of psychologic morbidity. Obesity was the most prevalent cause of mental distress, whereas other features such as hirsutism and infertility were less well defined as major factors. Although the findings in some studies have been inconclusive, the presence of clinically significant eating disorders and a 7-fold increase in the suicide rate have been reported in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. CONCLUSION Women with polycystic ovary syndrome have a high risk for depression and affective disorders that impair their quality of life. The presence of obesity, eating disorders, hirsutism, poor self-image, and a significant suicide rate makes evaluation of their emotional state an integral part of their assessment and treatment. For adequate treatment of the woman with polycystic ovary syndrome, a biopsychosocial model should be used, with all aspects of the patient's mental status considered before implementation of optimal intervention.
Photoheterotrophic Fluxome in Synechocystis sp. Strain PCC 6803 and Its Implications for Cyanobacterial Bioenergetics

ABSTRACT This study investigated metabolic responses in Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803 to photosynthetic impairment. We used 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU; a photosystem II inhibitor) to block O2 evolution and ATP/NADPH generation by linear electron flow. Based on 13C-metabolic flux analysis (13C-MFA) and RNA sequencing, we have found that Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 employs a unique photoheterotrophic metabolism. First, glucose catabolism forms a cyclic route that includes the oxidative pentose phosphate (OPP) pathway and the glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (PGI) reaction. Glucose-6-phosphate is extensively degraded by the OPP pathway for NADPH production and is replenished by the reversed PGI reaction. Second, the Calvin cycle is not fully functional, but RubisCO continues to fix CO2 and synthesize 3-phosphoglycerate. Third, the relative flux through the complete tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and succinate dehydrogenase is small under heterotrophic conditions, indicating that the newly discovered cyanobacterial TCA cycle (via the γ-aminobutyric acid pathway or α-ketoglutarate decarboxylase/succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase) plays a minimal role in energy metabolism. Fourth, NAD(P)H oxidation and the cyclic electron flow (CEF) around photosystem I are the two main ATP sources, and the CEF accounts for at least 40% of total ATP generation from photoheterotrophic metabolism (without considering maintenance loss). This study not only demonstrates a new topology for carbohydrate oxidation but also provides quantitative insights into metabolic bioenergetics in cyanobacteria.
N-gram Approximation of Latent Words Language Models for Domain Robust Automatic Speech Recognition

SUMMARY This paper aims to improve the domain robustness of language modeling for automatic speech recognition (ASR). To this end, we focus on applying the latent words language model (LWLM) to ASR. LWLMs are generative models whose structure is based on Bayesian soft class-based modeling with vast latent variable space. Their ﬂexible attributes help us to e ﬃ ciently realize the e ﬀ ects of smoothing and dimensionality reduction and so address the data sparseness problem; LWLMs constructed from limited domain data are expected to robustly cover unknown multiple domains in ASR. However, the attribute ﬂexibility seriously increases computation complexity. If we rigorously compute the generative probability for an observed word sequence, we must consider the huge quantities of all possible latent word assignments. Since this is computationally impractical, some approximation is inevitable for ASR implementation. To solve the problem and apply this approach to ASR, this paper presents an n-gram approximation of LWLM. The n-gram approximation is a method that approximates LWLM as a simple back-o ﬀ n-gram structure, and o ﬀ ers LWLM-based robust one-pass ASR decoding. Our experiments verify the e ﬀ ectiveness of our approach by evaluating perplexity and ASR performance in not only in-domain data sets but also out-of-domain data sets.
LESSER REDUCTION IN BONE MINERAL DENSITY BY THE IMMUNOSUPPRESSANT, FK506, COMPARED WITH CYCLOSPORINE IN RATS

Background. Posttransplantation osteopenia leading to osteoporosis induced commonly by treatment with immunosuppressants including cyclosporine (CsA) is a severe complication and results in lowering the quality of life in patients receiving organ transplantation. FK506 is a newly developed immunosuppressant and is currently being used for the prevention of rejection after organ transplantation. In this study, to investigate whether FK506 as well as CsA would cause osteopenia or not, we evaluated the effect of FK506 on bone mineral density and several parameters relevant to bone metabolism in comparison with that of CsA using normal rats. Methods. Ten-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with FK506 (vehicle, 1 mg/kg, and 3.2 mg/kg) or CsA (vehicle, 10 mg/kg, and 32 mg/kg) by daily oral gavage for 28 days. Bone mineral density of the femur, plasma insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), and urinary deoxypyridinoline were determined by peripheral quantitative computerized tomography, radioimmunoassay, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. Results. The reduction in bone mineral density of the femur was observed in both FK506- and CsA-treated rats. The reduction in CsA-treated rats, however, was statistically significant and strikingly severe, whereas that in FK506-treated rats was much less severe than CsA. Plasma IGF-I levels were significantly elevated in FK506-treated rats but not in CsA-treated rats. Urinary deoxypyridinoline levels were unchanged in FK506-treated rats but elevated in CsA-treated rats. Conclusions. Compared with CsA, FK506 does not appear to induce severe osteopenia by high-turnover bone metabolism in the rat by mediating via IGF-I induction in part. The results suggest that FK506 may exert favorable effects on bone metabolism in patients with organ transplantation compared with CsA. To assess this idea, further clinical investigations focused on bone metabolism will be required.
Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura-haemolytic uremic syndrome in relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis patients on high-dose interferon beta

Since its approval 20 years ago, interferon beta (IFNbeta) has been used as first-line therapy in multiple sclerosis (MS). Throughout these years, the most common adverse effects have been asymptomatic abnormalities in haematological and hepatic tests that tend to be mild, transient, and dose-related, and that usually are not cause for discontinuation,1 its safety profile deemed as good. However, infrequent, more severe adverse effects of type I IFNs have been reported, such as vasculopathic complications, druginduced autoimmune diseases and anti-phospholipid antibodies as well as direct nephrotoxicity.2,3 Although these adverse effects have been mostly associated with IFN-alpha therapy, in a number of cases they have been linked to treatment with IFNbeta, resulting in the inclusion of these disorders as possible adverse drug reactions in the updates of product characteristics for IFN-beta.4 In this issue, Larochelle et al. present three female MS patients who developed a thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura-haemolytic uremic syndrome (TTP-HUS) after being treated with subcutaneous IFN-beta 1a for more than one year. TTP and HUS are disorders causing microangiopathic haemolysis in patients without vascular devices or other diseases.5 Druginduced TTP-HUS can be caused by many medications and, although uncommon, it can have severe or even fatal consequences.6 Several possible pathogenic mechanisms underlying the microangiopathic adverse events of IFN-beta have been proposed, such as the development of anti-ADAMTS13 antibodies,7 defective regulation of the complement system5 or a cumulative dose-dependent drug toxicity.8,9 Larochelle et al. briefly speculate on how any of these mechanisms could have triggered the TTPHUS in their patients, and address their low body mass index as having a possible role in a dose-related toxicity pathogenesis that led to the development of the TTP-HUS more than one year after IFN-beta therapy initiation.
Aging does not attenuate plantaris muscle hypertrophy in male Fischer 344 rats.

PURPOSE The present study examined the effect of extreme old age on the plasticity of the rat plantaris muscle in response to an increase in mechanical load. METHODS Male Fischer 344 rats, aged 7 months (adult) and 25 months (old) underwent bilateral surgical ablation of the gastrocnemius muscle to functionally overload (OV) the fast-twitch plantaris muscle for 8 wk RESULTS At 27 months of age, plantaris wet weight and cross-sectional area (CSA) were unaffected by age, but aging decreased peak isometric tension (Po) 27% (P < 0.05). Plantaris muscle myosin heavy chain composition indicated a loss of faster myosin heavy chains (MHC) isoforms with concomitant increases in slower MHC in old rats (P < 0.05). In adult rats, OV increased muscle CSA and Po 72% and 83%, respectively (P < 0.05). Similarly, OV increased CSA and Po 69% and 73%, respectively, in old rats (P < 0.05). Average fiber CSA increased 57% and 68% in adult-OV and old-OV rats, respectively (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Collectively, our data indicate that plantaris muscle mass and plasticity in response to increased mechanical load are well conserved in very aged male Fischer 344 rats.