Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tear film images and breakup analyzed using fluorescent quenching.

PURPOSE Tear evaporation should increase fluorescein concentration, causing fluorescence dimming from self-quenching for high but not low fluorescein concentration. This prediction was tested and compared to the predicted effect of "tangential flow" that fluorescence dimming should be similar for high and low concentrations. METHODS A custom optical system was used for video recording of tear film fluorescence in 30 subjects. The subjects were asked to blink at the start of the recording and try to keep their eyes open for the rest of the 60-second recording. An initial recording was made after instillation of 1 μL 0.1% fluorescein followed by further recordings at 5-minute intervals using 0.5% and 5% fluorescein. RESULTS Decay of fluorescence was considerably greater for the high (5%) concentration condition than for the low (0.1%) concentration. This is shown by "ratio images" (ratio of the intensity of a fluorescence image at a later time divided by that of an earlier image), fluorescence decay curves, fluorescence decay rates, and histograms of estimated tear thickness decrease. For example, for the high concentration condition, decay rates were higher than for the low concentration for all 30 subjects (P < 0.0001, binomial test). Additionally, breakup time was significantly reduced for the high compared to the low concentration condition. CONCLUSIONS The greater fluorescence decay and more rapid breakup for the high concentration condition are the results expected if thinning and breakup are mainly due to evaporation, hence causing self-quenching. Fluorescence decay rate for the low concentration condition was not significantly greater than zero.
Effect of Wheat Cultivars and Blends on the Oviposition and Larval Mortality of Cephus cinctus (Hymenoptera: Cephidae) and Parasitism by Bracon cephi (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Abstract The wheat stem sawfly (Cephus cinctus Norton) is a major historical pest of wheat in the northern Great Plains of North America. The insect spends most of its life as a larva protected inside grass stems so that its management has relied on strategies other than insecticides. We conducted a study in southern Alberta from 2006–2009 to assess the effects of wheat species, cultivar, seeding rate, and blending a resistant and a vulnerable cultivar, on oviposition, larval infestation, and cutting damage. The mortality caused by its primary parasitoid, Bracon cephi (Gahan), was also assessed to investigate the potential benefit of cultivar blends to enhance sawfly biological control. Sawfly laid fewer eggs on plants of the durum cultivar ‘AC Avonlea’ and on those of the solid-stemmed cultivar ‘Lillian’ compared to plants of the hollow-stemmed cultivar ‘CDC Go. ’ Larval establishments (infestation) followed a similar pattern to that of oviposition. At these locations there was low cutting damage in most years and to a large extent this was due to mortality inflicted by the parasitoid Bracon cephi (40–60%). However, the remaining mortality was attributed to other factors and host, particularly the inclusion of the solid-stemmed cultivar. Direct and indirect factors likely affected the success of the parasitoid in the crop monocultures and blends, and these mechanisms require further research.
Towards enforcing Network Slicing on RAN: Flexibility and Resources abstraction

– Knowing the variety of services and applications to be supported in the upcoming 5G systems, the current “one fits all” network architecture is no more efficient. Indeed, each 5G service may require different needs in term of latency, bandwidth and reliability; which cannot be sustained by the same physical network infrastructure. In this context, network virtualization represents a viable way to provide a Network Slice tailored to each service. Several 5G initiatives (from industry and academia) have been pushing for solutions to enable Network Slicing in mobile networks, mainly based on Software Defined Networking (SDN), Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and cloud computing as key enablers. The proposed architectures focus principally on the process of instantiating and deploying the Network Slices, while ignoring how they are enforced in the mobile network. Whilst several techniques of slicing the network infrastructure exist, slicing the Radio Access Network (RAN) is still challenging. In this paper, we propose a new framework to enforce Network Slices, featuring radio resources abstraction. The proposed framework is complementary to the ongoing solutions of Network Slicing, and fully compliant with the 3GPP vision. Indeed, our contributions are twofold: a fully programmable Network Slicing architecture based on the 3GPP Dedicated Core Network (DCN) and a Flexible RAN (i.e. programmable RAN) to enforce Network Slicing; a two-level MAC scheduler to abstract and share the physical resources among Slices. Finally, a proof of concept on RAN slicing has been developed on top of OpenAirInterface (OAI) to derive key performance results; focusing on the flexibility and dynamicity of the proposed architecture to share the RAN resources among Slices.
Chlorambucil plus rituximab with or without maintenance rituximab as first‐line treatment for elderly chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients

In a phase II trial, we evaluated chlorambucil and rituximab (CLB‐R) as first‐line induction treatment with or without R as maintenance for elderly chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients. Treatment consisted of eight 28‐day cycles of CLB (8 mg/m2/day, days 1–7) and R (day 1 of cycle 3, 375 mg/m2; cycles 4–8, 500 mg/m2). Responders were randomized to 12 8‐week doses of R (375 mg/m2) or observation. As per intention‐to‐treat analysis, 82.4% (95% CI, 74.25–90.46%) of 85 patients achieved an overall response (OR), 16.5% a complete response (CR), 2.4% a CR with incomplete bone marrow recovery. The OR was similar across Binet stages (A 86.4%, B 81.6%, and C 78.6%) and age categories (60–64 years, 92.3%; 65–69, 85.2%; 70–74, 75.0%; ≥75, 81.0%). CLB‐R was well tolerated. After a median follow‐up of 34.2 months, the median progression‐free survival (PFS) was 34.7 months (95% CI, 33.1–39.5). TP53 abnormalities, complex karyotype, and low CD20 gene expression predicted lack of response; SF3B1 mutation and BIRC3 disruption low CR rates. IGHV mutations significantly predicted PFS. R maintenance tended towards a better PFS than observation and was safe and most beneficial for patients in partial response and for unmutated IGHV cases. CLB‐R represents a promising option for elderly CLL patients. Am. J. Hematol. 89:480–486, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Effects of growth hormone administration and dietary protein intake on insulin-like growth factor I and growth hormone receptor mRNA Expression in porcine liver, skeletal muscle, and adipose tissue.

The effects of growth hormone (GH) and dietary protein on expression of IGF-I and GH receptor (GHR) genes in liver, muscle, and fat of pigs were investigated. Forty-eight intact male Large White x Landrace pigs were allotted to eight treatment groups (four diets with or without GH). The pigs were restriction-fed one of four diets, which differed only in their protein content (9.9, 13.1, 16.2, and 19.4%, as-fed basis), for a total of 3 wk. The pigs were then injected intramuscularly with either porcine GH (50 micrograms.kg-1.d-1 of rpST) or vehicle for the last 7 d. Pigs were slaughtered 4 h after the final injection. Total RNA was extracted from all tissues and then RNase protection assays were performed to measure expression of IGF-I and GHR genes. Expression of IGF-I mRNA was found to be GH responsive in the liver, semitendinosus (ST), and adipose tissue (P < .01) but not in longissimus muscle (LD). Dietary protein increased IGF-I expression only in the adipose tissue (P < .01). Expression of class 2 transcripts of IGF-I were observed only in the livers of GH-treated pigs, with no effect of dietary protein. Expression of GHR mRNA was found to increase with GH administration in liver and skeletal muscle (LD and ST, P < .05) but not in adipose tissue. There were diet x GH interactions on GHR expression in liver, ST, and adipose tissue, resulting in the highest GHR expression being in the high protein-fed, GH-treated group for liver, but in the low protein-fed, GH-treated group for muscle and adipose tissue. This study demonstrates tissue-specific control of expression of the two genes and also tissue-specific promoter usage (IGF-I exon 2 in liver) in response to GH administration.
Self-advocacy and cancer: a concept analysis.

AIM To report an analysis of the concept of self-advocacy among individuals with cancer to clarify its meaning, to differentiate this meaning with related concepts, and to unify understanding of the concept in cancer research and practice. BACKGROUND Cancer survivors are increasingly required to assume an active role in their health care. A thorough analysis of how survivors advocate for themselves is a crucial aspect in supporting survivors' ability to engage and manage their care throughout all stages of cancer survivorship. DESIGN Walker and Avant's eight-step process of conducting a concept analysis was used. DATA SOURCES PubMed, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases were searched for articles, reviews, editorials, and grey literature directly addressing self-advocacy. REVIEW METHODS A broad inquiry into the literature from 1960 to 2012 that produces a definition of self-advocacy. Model and contrary cases of self-advocacy demonstrate the concept's application and intricacies. RESULTS Antecedents to self-advocacy include particular personal characteristics, learned skills, and attainable support. The essential element of self-advocacy and what differentiates it from related concepts, is the internalization of these antecedent resources into self-advocacy thoughts and actions while incorporating personal values and priorities in a way that upholds the survivors' goals and beliefs. A full realization of self-advocacy facilitates a cancer survivor attaining a strong self-concept, sense of control, and adaptation to a life with cancer. CONCLUSIONS Self-advocacy is a process of internalizing skills and resources to act in a way that supports survivors' needs and goals.
House Prices and Monetary Policy in the Euro Area: Evidence from Structural VARs

We use a Bayesian stochastic search variable selection structural VAR model to investigate the heterogeneous impact of housing demand shocks on the macroeconomy and the role of house prices in the monetary policy transmission, across euro area countries. A novel set of identiﬁcation restrictions, which combines zero and sign restrictions, is proposed. By exploiting the cross-sectional dimension of our data, we explore the diﬀerences in the propagation channels of house prices and monetary policy and the challenges they pose in the process of real and nominal convergence in the Eurozone. Among the main results, we ﬁnd a comparatively stronger housing wealth eﬀect on consumption in Ireland and Spain. We provide new evidence in support of the ﬁnancial accelerator hypothesis, showing that house prices play an important role in the availability of loans. A signiﬁcant and highly heterogeneous eﬀect of monetary policy on house price dynamics is also documented. JEL Classification: C22, E21, E31, E44, E52
Impact of Microfinance on Female Empowerment: A Review of the Empirical Literature

Microfinance is considered a major development tool in most developing countries. Specifically, its interventions have been targeted towards women as an empowerment tool. However, recent systematic reviews report on an inconclusive impact of microfinance on female empowerment. This chapter presents a meta-analysis of the impact of microfinance on five measures of female empowerment used in the empirical literature, namely mobility, decision-making power, control over finance, awareness and women's assets. No evidence of a meaningfully positive impact of microfinance on female empowerment is found. This is evident from all three meta-analysis tools used - fixed effects weighted averages, precision effect and funnel asymmetry tests (PET/FAT), and also the multivariate meta-regression analysis (MRA).
Association of television viewing time with central hemodynamic parameters and the radial augmentation index in adults.

BACKGROUND We conducted a study to explore the relationship between television viewing time and central hemodynamic parameters and the radial augmentation index (AIx) in adults. METHODS Random sampling was used to select 732 individuals who attended primary-care centers as subjects for the study. The self-reported time that these individuals spent in viewing television was elicited with a questionnaire and included the number of hours that they spent watching television while sitting or lying down. The subjects' physical activity was estimated through accelerometers attached to their waists. Central hemodynamic parameters and the peripheral augmentation index adjusted for a heart rate of 75 bpm (PAIx75) were measured with pulse-wave application software (A-Pulse CASP). RESULTS The subjects' systolic blood pressure (SBP) (central and peripheral), pulse pressure, and radial AIx showed significant differences between tertiles of television viewing time, with the lowest values in the first tertile (P < 0.01). After adjustment for age and sex, a multiple linear regression analysis showed an association of television viewing time with office SBP. Although the association of television viewing time with central SBP followed the same trend as for office BP, it did not reach statistical significance. After adjustment for age, sex, waist-to-height ratio, physical activity reflected by accelerometer data (counts/min), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, smoking, antihypertensive and antidiabetic medication, and the use of lipid-lowering drugs, an increase in PAIx75 of 0.22 was estimated for each hour of increase in television viewing time (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Television viewing time was directly correlated with PAIx75 in an adult population. This correlation was maintained even after adjustment for physical activity, age, sex, and other cardiovascular risk factors.
Bibliometric analysis of Nobelists’ awards and landmark papers in physiology or medicine during 1983–2012

Abstract Aim. This study's purpose was to determine if there was a relationship between Nobel Laureates’ awards and landmark papers and winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine during 1983–2012. Methods. The 66 Nobelists’ awards and landmark papers in the period 1983–2012 were analyzed. Results. The results showed that the most Nobelists had won Gairdner, Lasker, Howitz or Wolf Award before they won Nobel Prize, indicating that Gairdner Award may be considered as a Nobel Prize’s wind vane. A small number of landmark papers were indeed published in low impact factor journals (10.5% below impact factor 5.0) and some of their citation were low (23.2% below 400 times). There were 61 of 76 landmark papers published in the journals of JCR partition 1, reaching 80%, but 2 of 76 landmark papers were even outside of JCR partition, demonstrating that JCR partition acts as a reciprocal supplement with impact factor and citation times. The test period of Nobel Prize was substantially between 10 to 30 years. There were 5 persons whose landmark papers were cited all above 6000 times to get Nobel Prize within the test period of ten years, suggesting that there is a trend of certain inverse ratio between the citation and the test period of Nobel Prize. Conclusion. These findings provide a new insight into the relationship among Nobel Laureates’ awards, landmark papers and Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
A study of data fusion for Alzheimer's disease based on diffusion magnetic resonance imaging

Alzheimer's disease (AD) has become one of the most serious healthcare problems. As a result, early diagnosis for AD is important for intervention of its deterioration at an early stage. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) provides a non-intrusive examination of cranial nerve diseases, but the precise quantification is a problem for diagnosis. In current study, we proposed an AD recognition method based on quantitative analysis and data fusion of T1 and DTI images. Through segmentation on T1 image, feature extraction of DTI data, and data fusion based on multi-features, recognition accuracy of AD can attain as high as 95.4%. For details, patterns of different features from DTI data were investigated showing that the fusion of volume values, DTI and diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) parameters and the Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) parameters of DTI and DKI are the most distinctive individual features in AD patients. It also implies that during the AD development, neural degeneration could be demyelination, reduction of structural complexity and decrease of brain microstructure connectivity, which can be reflected by different quantitative parameters from brain images, such as brain structure volume, DTI parameters and DKI parameters. Further study on the image features, including more image types, would provide valued method for AD screening or early diagnosis.
An Ethernet based data storage protocol for home network

In this paper, we present an open source network storage protocol, HyperSCSI, which can be applied to build a home storage network. HyperSCSI is designed for transmission of SCSI (small computer system interface) protocol data across Ethernet based network. With HyperSCSI, a home user can access SCSI or non-SCSI storage device (like IDE, USB) natively through the network as if the storage device is attached locally. We describe HyperSCSI protocol architecture, operations, as well as some key protocol features that make it distinct from the other conventional solutions. We also demonstrate the experiment and applications that integrated HyperSCSI protocol with fast Ethernet and IEEE 802.11b/g WLAN (wireless local area network) environment. The results show that it is promising to build efficient and cost-effective HyperSCSI based home storage network that utilizes common-off-the-shelf storage hardware and well deployed network infrastructure.
Patterns of quetiapine use in psychiatric inpatients: an examination of off-label use.

BACKGROUND Despite emerging recognition that off-label use of atypical antipsychotics is widespread, there is little data concerning patterns of such use. To investigate such usage of quetiapine, we evaluated prescribing practices of this drug at our acute-care psychiatric hospital. METHODS Inpatient orders for quetiapine were obtained from October 2004 to March 2006 and divided into standing or prn (as needed) dose regimens. For patients receiving standing dose regimens, diagnosis, total daily dose, and dosing adequacy were ascertained. For patients receiving prn dosing, diagnosis, behavioral indication, dose, and frequency were determined. RESULTS The most common diagnoses in patients receiving standing dose quetiapine were depressive disorders, followed by substance-related, bipolar, and psychotic disorders. Mean dose was 169 +/- 154 mg/day (median = 200 mg/day), with 29.8% of patients receiving > or = 300 mg/day. Only 28.5% of patients had one of the diagnoses for which quetiapine is approved; in these patients, 46.4% received > or = 300 mg/day. Patients receiving prn dosing had a similar distribution of diagnoses. The most common prn dose was 50 mg, given for agitation or insomnia. CONCLUSION We found extensive off-label use of quetiapine. Further research is needed on the safety and efficacy of quetiapine in non-approved doses and diagnoses.
New Treatments of von Willebrand Disease: Plasma Derived von Willebrand Factor Concentrates

During the past 10 years the quality of plasma derived virus inactivated products containing von Willebrand factor (vWF) has improved and the ratios of ristocetin cofactor activity (vWF:RCo) to von Willebrand factor antigen (vWF:Ag) have increased. There are, however, considerable variations in AHF-vWF products with ranges from 0.25 to 1.4 unit of vWF:RCo for each unit of vWF:Ag, and 0.5 to 5.3 units of vWF:RCo for each factor VIIIC (FVIIIC) unit. The availability of a vWF product depleted of FVIII has allowed pharmacokinetic studies of the vWF protein. There have been no dose response studies, dosage regimens remain empirical and are still, except in rare instances, based on FVIIIC dosage. Current concentrates are as effective as cryoprecipitate in the management of patients with vWD non responsive to DDAVP. These concentrates should be preferred to cryoprecipitate which carries a risk of virus transmission.
Genome Sequence of a Clinical Isolate of Campylobacter jejuni from Thailand

ABSTRACT Campylobacter jejuni CG8486, which belongs to the HS4 complex, was isolated from a patient with inflammatory diarrhea in Thailand. This strain caused a diarrheal disease in ferrets comparable to that caused by C. jejuni strain 81-176, but it was much less invasive for epithelial cells in vitro than 81-176. Complete genome sequencing of CG8486 revealed a 1.65-Mb genome that was very similar to the other two published genomes of clinical isolates of C. jejuni, the genomes of 81-176 and NCTC 11168, with a limited number of CG8486-specific genes mapping outside the hypervariable carbohydrate biosynthesis loci. These data suggest that the genes required for induction of inflammatory diarrhea are among the genes shared by CG8486 and 81-176 but that either major changes in the carbohydrate loci and/or more subtle changes in other genes may modulate virulence.
Adult human articular chondrocytes in a microcarrier‐based culture system: expansion and redifferentiation

Expanding human chondrocytes in vitro while maintaining their ability to form cartilage remains a key challenge in cartilage tissue engineering. One promising approach to address this is to use microcarriers as substrates for chondrocyte expansion. While microcarriers have shown beneficial effects for expansion of animal and ectopic human chondrocytes, their utility has not been determined for freshly isolated adult human articular chondrocytes. Thus, we investigated the proliferation and subsequent chondrogenic differentiation of these clinically relevant cells on porous gelatin microcarriers and compared them to those expanded using traditional monolayers. Chondrocytes attached to microcarriers within 2 days and remained viable over 4 weeks of culture in spinner flasks. Cells on microcarriers exhibited a spread morphology and initially proliferated faster than cells in monolayer culture, however, with prolonged expansion they were less proliferative. Cells expanded for 1 month and enzymatically released from microcarriers formed cartilaginous tissue in micromass pellet cultures, which was similar to tissue formed by monolayer‐expanded cells. Cells left attached to microcarriers did not exhibit chondrogenic capacity. Culture conditions, such as microcarrier material, oxygen tension, and mechanical stimulation require further investigation to facilitate the efficient expansion of clinically relevant human articular chondrocytes that maintain chondrogenic potential for cartilage regeneration applications. © 2010 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 29:539–546, 2011