Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fractal analysis of retinal microvasculature and coronary heart disease mortality.

AIM Fractal analysis provides a global assessment of vascular network architecture. We examined the relationship of retinal vascular fractal dimension (D(f)) with coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality. METHODS AND RESULTS We examined the relationship of D(f) with 14-year CHD mortality in a prospective, population-based cohort of 3303 participants aged 49 years or older. D(f) was measured from digitized fundus photographs using computer-automated methods; CHD mortality was documented from Australian National Death Index records. Mean D(f) in this population was 1.441 (standard deviation, 0.024). Over 14 years, there were 468 (14.2%) CHD deaths. Participants with suboptimal D(f) (lowest and highest quartiles) had 50% higher 14-year CHD mortality than those with optimal D(f) (middle quartiles), after adjusting for age, blood pressure, and other risk factors. Among participants aged ≤ 70 years, suboptimal D(f) was associated with a nearly two-fold higher risk of CHD mortality [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1.89, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.25, 2.84 for the lowest quartile and HR 1.87, CI 1.30, 2.69 for the highest quartile, compared with middle quartiles]. CONCLUSIONS D(f) is a novel means of quantifying microvascular branching that independently predicted 14-year CHD mortality. These findings suggest that suboptimal microvascular branching may play a role in development of clinical cardiovascular disease.
Effect of Unilateral, Bilateral, and Combined Plyometric Training on Explosive and Endurance Performance of Young Soccer Players

Abstract Ramírez-Campillo, R, Burgos, CH, Henríquez-Olguín, C, Andrade, DC, Martínez, C, Álvarez, C, Castro-Sepúlveda, M, Marques, MC, and Izquierdo, M. Effect of unilateral, bilateral, and combined plyometric training on explosive and endurance performance of young soccer players. J Strength Cond Res 29(5): 1317–1328, 2015—The aim of the study was to compare the effects of bilateral, unilateral, or combined bilateral and unilateral plyometric training (PT) on muscle power output, endurance, and balance performance adaptations in young soccer players. Four groups of young soccer players (age 11.4 ± 2.2 years) were divided into control group (CG; n = 14), bilateral group (BG; n = 12), unilateral group (UG; n = 16), and bilateral + unilateral group (B + UG; n = 12). Players were measured in unilateral and bilateral countermovement jump with arms, 5 multiple bounds test, 20-cm drop jump reactive strength index, maximal kicking velocity, sprint and agility test time, endurance, and balance performance. The PT was applied during 6 weeks, 2 sessions per week, for a total of 2,160 jumps. After intervention, all PT groups showed a statistically significant (p ⩽ 0.05) change in all performance measures, with no statistically significant differences between treatments. Among the 21 performance measures, the B + UG showed a significantly (p ⩽ 0.05) higher performance change in 13 of them vs. the CG, whereas the UG and BG showed only 6 and 3, respectively. The current study showed that bilateral, unilateral, and combined bilateral and unilateral PT ensured significant improvement in several muscular power and endurance performance measures in young soccer players. However, the combination of unilateral and bilateral drills seems more advantageous to induce superior performance improvements.
Has government been mediatized? A UK perspective

There has been little empirical research to date on the consequences of mass media change for the processes of government in the United Kingdom, despite a well-documented concern since the 1990s with ‘political spin’. Studies have focussed largely on the relative agenda setting power of political and media actors in relation to political campaigning rather than the actual everyday workings of public bureaucracies, although UK case studies suggest that the mass media have influenced policy development in certain key areas. The study of government’s relations with media from within is a small but growing sub-field where scholars have used a combination of methods to identify ways in which central bureaucracies and executive agencies adapt to the media. We present the results of a preliminary study involving in-depth interviews with serving civil servants, together with archival analysis, to suggest that media impacts are increasingly becoming institutionalized and normalized within state bureaucracies: a process we identify as mediatization. A specific finding is a shift in the relationship between government, media and citizens whereby social media is enabling governments to become news providers, bypassing the ‘prism of the media’ and going direct to citizens.
Consumers’ Preferences and Willingness-To-Pay for Misfit Vegetables

Food retailers are accustomed not to offer the so-called "Misfits", that is fruits and vegetables whose appearance do not meet the best visual quality standards. This is due to the assumption that consumers only prefer fruits and vegetables with perfect appeal, which ultimately contribute towards the global, food waste bad tendencies. Therefore, it is important to understand consumers’ acceptance of the pricing possibilities for misfits. This aspect inspired the current study, which is aimed to investigate whether consumers could accept or reject misfit vegetables if there were any possibility of choosing such produce. A sample of 200 consumers was surveyed in Bologna, Italy, in June 2014 using a choice experiment approach and fresh carrots as the product of interest. Data were analysed using both Multinomial Logit (mnl) and Random Parameter Logit (rpl) models. The results suggest that appearance actually influenced consumer preferences for fresh carrots, on the basis of deformation as well as irregularity in terms of size, reducing the probability to purchase. However, consumers were showing more tolerance for irregular sized carrots compared to deformed ones. In addition, misfits were more accepted by consumers purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables at fresh food market compared to supermarket customers.
Phosphoproteomic Profiling Reveals IL6-Mediated Paracrine Signaling within the Ewing Sarcoma Family of Tumors

Members of the Ewing sarcoma family of tumors (ESFT) contain tumor-associated translocations that give rise to oncogenic transcription factors, most commonly EWS/FLI1. EWS/FLI1 plays a dominant role in tumor progression by modulating the expression of hundreds of target genes. Here, the impact of EWS/FLI1 inhibition, by RNAi-mediated knockdown, on cellular signaling was investigated using mass spectrometry–based phosphoproteomics to quantify global changes in phosphorylation. This unbiased approach identified hundreds of unique phosphopeptides enriched in processes such as regulation of cell cycle and cytoskeleton organization. In particular, phosphotyrosine profiling revealed a large upregulation of STAT3 phosphorylation upon EWS/FLI1 knockdown. However, single-cell analysis demonstrated that this was not a cell-autonomous effect of EWS/FLI1 deficiency, but rather a signaling effect occurring in cells in which knockdown does not occur. Conditioned media from knockdown cells were sufficient to induce STAT3 phosphorylation in control cells, verifying the presence of a soluble factor that can activate STAT3. Cytokine analysis and ligand/receptor inhibition experiments determined that this activation occurred, in part, through an IL6-dependent mechanism. Taken together, the data support a model in which EWS/FLI1 deficiency results in the secretion of soluble factors, such as IL6, which activate STAT signaling in bystander cells that maintain EWS/FLI1 expression. Furthermore, these soluble factors were shown to protect against apoptosis. Implications: EWS/FLI1 inhibition results in a novel adaptive response and suggests that targeting the IL6/STAT3 signaling pathway may increase the efficacy of ESFT therapies. Mol Cancer Res; 12(12); 1740–54. ©2014 AACR.
Employment Nondiscrimination Acts and Corporate Innovation

We show that U.S. state-level Employment Non-Discrimination Acts (ENDAs) — laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity — spur innovation. We find a significant increase in patents and patent citations for firms headquartered in states that have passed ENDAs relative to firms headquartered in states that have not. This result is more pronounced for firms that previously have not implemented pro-gay non-discrimination policies, for firms in states with a large homosexual population, and for firms in human capital-intensive industries. Lastly, we provide evidence suggesting that ENDAs affect innovation by matching pro-gay employees, who are generally more creative than anti-gay employees, with innovative firms.
Multiple BH3 Mimetics Antagonize Antiapoptotic MCL1 Protein by Inducing the Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Response and Up-regulating BH3-only Protein NOXA*

BH3 mimetics are small molecules designed or discovered to mimic the binding of BH3-only proteins to the hydrophobic groove of antiapoptotic BCL2 proteins. The selectivity of these molecules for BCL2, BCL-XL, or MCL1 has been established in vitro; whether they inhibit these proteins in cells has not been rigorously investigated. In this study, we used a panel of leukemia cell lines to assess the ability of seven putative BH3 mimetics to inhibit antiapoptotic proteins in a cell-based system. We show that ABT-737 is the only BH3 mimetic that inhibits BCL2 as assessed by displacement of BAD and BIM from BCL2. The other six BH3 mimetics activate the endoplasmic reticulum stress response inducing ATF4, ATF3, and NOXA, which can then bind to and inhibit MCL1. In most cancer cells, inhibition of one antiapoptotic protein does not acutely induce apoptosis. However, by combining two BH3 mimetics, one that inhibits BCL2 and one that induces NOXA, apoptosis is induced within 6 h in a BAX/BAK-dependent manner. Because MCL1 is a major mechanism of resistance to ABT-737, these results suggest a novel strategy to overcome this resistance. Our findings highlight a novel signaling pathway through which many BH3 mimetics inhibit MCL1 and suggest the potential use of these agents as adjuvants in combination with various chemotherapy strategies.
Corneal endothelial cell loss after multiple vitreoretinal procedures and the use of silicone oil.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Corneal decompensation and complications are a frequent cause of visual loss after vitreoretinal surgery. This paper presents data regarding endothelial cell loss in aphakic and pseudophakic silicone oil filled eyes when oil was retained for many months. This study updates our previous investigation on the subject. PATIENTS AND METHODS The corneal endothelial cell count of 10 eyes of 10 consecutive patients who had undergone vitreoretinal surgery, including fluid-gas exchange and ultimately silicone oil placement, were obtained. The patients underwent an average of 2.7+/-0.9 vitreoretinal procedures before the final procedure which induced the placement of silicone oil in the vitreous cavity. All had inferior iridectomies. The endothelial cell density measurements were obtained an average of 1 year after silicone oil placement. In all eyes, the oil was felt necessary for long term tamponade and therefore was not removed. The cell density of the operated eye was compared to the fellow eye, none of which had undergone silicone oil placement. RESULTS Both gas and retained silicone oil contribute to the loss of corneal endothelial cell density. The average endothelial cell loss in the 10 eyes with oil retained for an average of 10+/-12 months was 68.8 +/-31.4%, as compared to the fellow eye. The average cell loss was higher in the three eyes with silicone oil in the anterior chamber (range 44 to >95%). Pseudophakic eyes fared better, on average, than aphakic eyes (51.66+/-28% vs. 66.63+/-26.3%) with respect to cell loss. Five aphakic eyes and 1 pseudophakic eye developed corneal edema. CONCLUSIONS Endothelial cell loss occurs after vitreoretinal surgery and is exacerbated by long term silicone oil retention. The corneal endothelial cell damage is probably cumulative from procedure to procedure. Endothelial cell loss may be pronounced in eyes without a physical barrier between the anterior segment and the vitreous cavity, and in eyes where oil migrates into anterior chamber.
Framing of Mad Cow Media Coverage

When a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, is confirmed, it causes a major impact economically, socially, culturally, and geographically. Through framing analysis, this study examined the way in which a case of BSE confirmed in Canada was covered in Canadian and American newspapers. By examining what the major newspapers emphasized, what sources they used for information on the disease, and the frames used in reporting the outbreak, results indicated a significant difference between American and Canadian print media coverage surrounding the mad cow outbreak. Specifically, U.S. newspapers primarily reported the outbreak as posing a high risk to humans, while Canadian newspapers primarily reported the outbreak as a crisis for the Canadian cattle industry. Overall, the news coverage of the mad cow disease outbreak in May 2003 was negative, potentially causing uncertainty and fear in Canada and the United States. If journalists cover only agricultural news that is problematic or associated with risk—like mad cow disease—then it can be expected that consumers will continue to lack accurate knowledge and understanding of agricultural and food-related issues. This research is available in Journal of Applied Communications: https://newprairiepress.org/jac/vol89/iss4/3
Development of vernier acuity and grating acuity in normally reared monkeys

Abstract The developmental time courses for vernier acuity and grating acuity were measured longitudinally in infant Macaca nemestrina monkeys. Behavioral measurements of vernier and grating acuity were made at regular intervals during development. Near birth, grating acuity is relatively more mature than vernier acuity. The proportional rate of vernier acuity development is faster than that for grating acuity. During the course of development, grating acuity improves approximately 15-fold whereas vernier acuity improves about 60-fold. Both visual functions approach adult levels at about the same age, around 40 weeks postnatally. Although grating acuity develops about four times faster in monkeys than in humans, vernier acuity development in monkeys and humans does not appear to reflect the same relationship. Adult levels of vernier acuity for the monkeys are about a factor of 2 poorer than are typically reported for humans. The differential development of vernier acuity and grating acuity does not necessarily reflect development at different levels of the visual system.
Constitutional Judicial Behavior: Exploring the Determinants of the Decisions of the French Constitutional Council

This article empirically assesses the relevance of three theories of judicial decision-making for the French Constitutional Council. Our empirical analysis follows previous works by integrating more recent observations, and proposes a new methodology by exploiting new data for cases post 1995. After analyzing the 612 cases published between 1974 and 2013, we focus on cases post 1995 for which we know the exact composition of the court. Our results suggest that (1) political/ideological voting occurs, (2) Justices restrain themselves from invalidating laws, and (3) a court’s independence suffers from political power concentration in other institutions. All in all, these results suggest the need for a reform of the Constitutional Council to strengthen its independence.
LF-Interpretability and Language Development: A Study of Verbal and Nominal Features in Greek Normally Developing and SLI Children

This paper includes (i) a comparison of the developmental pattern of certain morphosyntactic features in normally developing (ND) Greek children with similar data from a group of children with specific language impairment and (ii) a new analysis of the differences found. The analysis is based on a minimalist notion of LF interpretability. Depending on the feature-specification of lexical items (i.e., [+/- interpretable] at LF), a different route of development follows. In addition, phonological salience of both interpretable and noninterpretable features is argued to play an important role in an account of crosslinguistic differences in both normal and exceptional development.
Parametrised Interface Automata

Interface theories (ITs) enable us to analyse the compatibility of interfaces and refine interfaces while preserving their compatibility. However, most ITs are for finite state interfaces whereas real software systems are heavily parametrised involving components, of which the number cannot be a priori fixed. We present, at least to our knowledge, the first IT which allows to specify the parametric number of parametrised interfaces. The formalism is based on interface automata (IAs), where the parameters are types, which determine the number of replicated components, and variables, which refer to individual components. Moreover, we provide a fully algorithmic procedure for checking the compatibility of and refinement between parametrised IAs. The procedure determines upper bounds, i.e., cut-offs, for the parameters such that both the parametrised verification tasks collapse into finitely many checks between finite state IAs up to the cut-offs. The proof technique behind the results is a generalisation of an existing technique used in the context of safety property verification. We have implemented the approach and applied it to an example system.
Objective assessment of image quality: effects of quantum noise and object variability.

A number of task-specific approaches to the assessment of image quality are treated. Both estimation and classification tasks are considered, but only linear estimators or classifiers are permitted. Performance on these tasks is limited by both quantum noise and object variability, and the effects of postprocessing or image-reconstruction algorithms are explicitly included. The results are expressed as signal-to-noise ratios (SNR's). The interrelationships among these SNR's are considered, and an SNR for a classification task is expressed as the SNR for a related estimation task times four factors. These factors show the effects of signal size and contrast, conspicuity of the signal, bias in the estimation task, and noise correlation. Ways of choosing and calculating appropriate SNR's for system evaluation and optimization are also discussed.
Does Mass Immigration Destroy Institutions? 1990s Israel As a Natural Experiment

The relaxation of emigration restrictions in the Soviet Union and the State’s subsequent collapse led to a large exogenous shock to Israel’s immigrant flows because Israel allows unrestricted immigration for world-wide Jews. Israel’s population increased by 20% in the 1990s due to immigration from the former Soviet Union. These immigrants did not bring social capital that eroded the quality of Israel’s institutional environment. We find that economic institutions’ improved substantially over the decade. Our synthetic control methodology indicates that it is likely that the institutions improvement would not have occurred to the same degree without the mass migration. Our case study indicates that immigrant participation in the political process is the main mechanism through which the migration caused institutional change.
From Observation to Information: Data-Driven Understanding of on Farm Yield Variation

Agriculture research uses “recommendation domains” to develop and transfer crop management practices adapted to specific contexts. The scale of recommendation domains is large when compared to individual production sites and often encompasses less environmental variation than farmers manage. Farmers constantly observe crop response to management practices at a field scale. These observations are of little use for other farms if the site and the weather are not described. The value of information obtained from farmers’ experiences and controlled experiments is enhanced when the circumstances under which it was generated are characterized within the conceptual framework of a recommendation domain, this latter defined by Non-Controllable Factors (NCFs). Controllable Factors (CFs) refer to those which farmers manage. Using a combination of expert guidance and a multi-stage analytic process, we evaluated the interplay of CFs and NCFs on plantain productivity in farmers’ fields. Data were obtained from multiple sources, including farmers. Experts identified candidate variables likely to influence yields. The influence of the candidate variables on yields was tested through conditional forests analysis. Factor analysis then clustered harvests produced under similar NCFs, into Homologous Events (HEs). The relationship between NCFs, CFs and productivity in intercropped plantain were analyzed with mixed models. Inclusion of HEs increased the explanatory power of models. Low median yields in monocropping coupled with the occasional high yields within most HEs indicated that most of these farmers were not using practices that exploited the yield potential of those HEs. Varieties grown by farmers were associated with particular HEs. This indicates that farmers do adapt their management to the particular conditions of their HEs. Our observations confirm that the definition of HEs as recommendation domains at a small-scale is valid, and that the effectiveness of distinct management practices for specific micro-recommendation domains can be identified with the methodologies developed.
Lentiviral Vector-Based Prime/Boost Vaccination against AIDS: Pilot Study Shows Protection against Simian Immunodeficiency Virus SIVmac251 Challenge in Macaques

ABSTRACT AIDS vaccination has a pressing need for more potent vaccination vectors capable of eliciting strong, diversified, and long-lasting cellular immune responses against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Lentiviral vectors have demonstrated efficiency not only as gene delivery vehicles for gene therapy applications but also as vaccination tools. This is likely due to their ability to transduce nondividing cells, including dendritic cells, enabling sustained endogenous antigen presentation and thus the induction of high proportions of specific cytotoxic T cells and long-lasting memory T cells. We show in a first proof-of-concept pilot study that a prime/boost vaccination strategy using lentiviral vectors pseudotyped with a glycoprotein G from two non-cross-reactive vesicular stomatitis virus serotypes elicited robust and broad cellular immune responses against the vector-encoded antigen, simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) GAG, in cynomolgus macaques. Vaccination conferred strong protection against a massive intrarectal challenge with SIVmac251, as evidenced both by the reduction of viremia at the peak of acute infection (a mean of over 2 log10 fold reduction) and by the full preservation of the CD28+ CD95+ memory CD4+ T cells during the acute phase, a strong correlate of protection against pathogenesis. Although vaccinees continued to display lower viremia than control macaques during the early chronic phase, these differences were not statistically significant by day 50 postchallenge. A not-optimized SIV GAG antigen was chosen to show the strong potential of the lentiviral vector system for vaccination. Given that a stronger protection can be anticipated from a modern HIV-1 antigen design, gene transfer vectors derived from HIV-1 appear as promising candidates for vaccination against HIV-1 infection.