Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ROUTINE TONOMETRY FOR DETECTION OF GLAUCOMA IN IN‐PATIENTS, WITH A FIVE‐YEAR FOLLOW‐UP

Within the past 15-20 years various papers have been published dealing with the results achieved from routine tonometry of apparently healthy eyes. By this procedure presence of a not previously recognized primary (simple) glaucoma has been disclosed at an early stage in 1.5 2 per cent of the examined subjects aged 40 or older. Reference may be made to reviews on the subject by Leydhecker (1960) and Ourgaud & fitienne (1961), among others. Although the problem has been widely discussed on the basis of the stated investigations, some doubt still prevails as to whether and to which extent the glaucoma-prophylactic work should include routine tonometry of individuals who have no other contact with an ophthalmologist. Neither has it been clarified how intensely such examinations should be carried through, if chosen. Of the extreme views advanced, one is that routine tonometry of individuals who have no contact with an ophthalmologist ought to be reserved for purposes of research only. At the opposite extreme we have the views advanced specially by American workers, from the first routine tonometries (Brav 1951) to the most recent ones (McDonald & Johnsos 1965). These workers claim that it would be a desirable thing to have tonometry included in the ordinary physical examination carried out by the general practitioner or on admission to hospital. Examinations of hospitalized patients are performed as important preventive measures in the cases of various diseases. I t therefore seems natural to include routine tonometry of in-patients in the glaucoma-prophylactic work. Only few investigations have been made, however, which might serve as a basis for estimating the usefulness of routine tonemetry among patients admitted to non-ophthalmological units.
Diagnostic Performance of [18F]FDG‐PET and Ictal [99mTc]‐HMPAO SPECT in Occipital Lobe Epilepsy

Summary: Purpose: We investigated whether interictal F‐18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography ([18F]FDG‐PET) or ictal [99mTc]‐HMPAO single‐photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was useful to find epileptogenic zones in occipital lobe epilepsy (OLE).
Vaccination and autoimmunity-'vaccinosis': a dangerous liaison?

The question of a connection between vaccination and autoimmune illness (or phenomena) is surrounded by controversy. A heated debate is going on regarding the causality between vaccines, such as measles and anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV), and multiple sclerosis (MS). Brain antibodies as well as clinical symptoms have been found in patients vaccinated against those diseases. Other autoimmune illnesses have been associated with vaccinations. Tetanus toxoid, influenza vaccines, polio vaccine, and others, have been related to phenomena ranging from autoantibodies production to full-blown illness (such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA)). Conflicting data exists regarding also the connection between autism and vaccination with measles vaccine. So far only one controlled study of an experimental animal model has been published, in which the possible causal relation between vaccines and autoimmune findings has been examined: in healthy puppies immunized with a variety of commonly given vaccines, a variety of autoantibodies have been documented but no frank autoimmune illness was recorded. The findings could also represent a polyclonal activation (adjuvant reaction). The mechanism (or mechanisms) of autoimmune reactions following immunization has not yet been elucidated. One of the possibilities is molecular mimicry; when a structural similarity exists between some viral antigen (or other component of the vaccine) and a self-antigen. This similarity may be the trigger to the autoimmune reaction. Other possible mechanisms are discussed. Even though the data regarding the relation between vaccination and autoimmune disease is conflicting, it seems that some autoimmune phenomena are clearly related to immunization (e.g. Guillain-Barre syndrome). The issue of the risk of vaccination remains a philosophical one, since to date the advantages of this policy have not been refuted, while the risk for autoimmune disease has not been irrevocably proved. We discuss the pros and cons of this issue (although the temporal relationship (i.e. always 2-3 months following immunization) is impressive).
Similarity-based Unification

Unification plays a central rule in Logic Programming. We ”soften” the unification process by admitting that two first order expressions can be ”similar” up to a certain degree and not necessarly identical. An extension of the classical unification theory is proposed accordingly. Indeed, in our approach, inspirated by the unification algorithm of Martelli-Montanari, the systems of equations go through a series of ”sound” transformations until a solvable form is found yielding a substitution that is proved to be a most general extended unifier for the given system of equations.
Response Times to Electrocutaneous Stimulation

Response times were obtained from 9 Ss responding to DC electrocutaneous signals. Each S received a series of 160 signals varying randomly in inter-signal interval (response to onset of next signal) and location. The results indicated that of the 5 inter-signal intervals employed, those being 7, 10, and 12 sec. in duration produced faster mean response times than those of 2 and 4 sec. Response times to the locations, the left hand, left foot, right hand, and right foot, did not differ significantly from one another but significantly interacted with Ss.
Cardiac vagal preganglionic neurones in the intermediate zone of the brainstem in anaesthetized cats

Cardiac vagal preganglionic neurones (CVPNs) show respiratory modulation in the nucleus ambiguus but not in the dorsal vagal nucleus. Both types of neurones can be activated by pulmonary C fibre afferents. Another brainstem area that has been identified as containing CVPNs is the intermediate zone between the dorsal vagal nucleus and nucleus ambiguus. Experiments were carried out in α‐chloralose‐anaesthetized cats to determine the physiological properties of these CVPNs and their responses to pulmonary C fibre afferent activation. Seven CVPN axons in the right cardiac vagal branches were identified and found to be localized in the intermediate zone with a conduction velocity of between 1.2 and 1.6 m s−1, in the C fibre range. These seven CVPNs [either showing spontaneous activity (n= 1) or having activity induced by dl‐homocysteic acid applied ionophoretically (n= 3)] were neither respiratory modulated nor did they receive a baroreceptor input, thus being similar to those found in the dorsal vagal nucleus. Right atrial injections of phenylbiguanide excited all four CVPNs tested. In conclusion, CVPNs located in the intermediate zone have similar properties to those in the dorsal vagal nucleus but not the nucleus ambiguus.
Online stickiness: its antecedents and effect on purchasing intention

Website stickiness, the website's ability to retain online customers and prolong his/her duration of each stay, is one of the key factors to e-commerce success. However, how to make customers stick around is still unclear to online retailers. This paper examines the antecedents as well as effect of customer's intention to stick on a website. A model is developed and tested using a survey of 434 web users. The results confirm that the web user's willingness to stick to a website is a strong predictor of his/her intention to transact. Web managers thus need to put emphasis on the creation of the website stickiness. The results of this study also suggest that the formation of the stickiness is affected by web user attitude towards a website, trust in a website and the quality of website content. Implications of these findings are discussed for researchers and practitioners.
An Assessment of the Effect of Gendered Decision-making and Access to Institutional Support Services on Maize Production Efficiency in Kenya

The need to effectively integrate gender in agriculture is a topical issue in research and policy debates. Previous studies have shown that women in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) face challenges in accessing productive resources such as land, and this reduces their productivity compared to men. Most of these studies, however, have analyzed male-headed versus female-headed households, and this approach fails to take into account the women who are in male-headed households, for example. Moreover, the combined effect of gendered decision-making and access to institutional support services on agricultural productivity and efficiency has not received adequate focus in empirical work. The main objective of this study was to assess the effect of intra-household decision-making and access to institutional support services (group membership, credit, extension, agricultural training forums) on maize production efficiency in Kenya. Using primary data collected from Bungoma and Meru counties, a multivariate probit model was applied to analyze factors affecting men’s and women’s participation in decision-making, while stochastic frontier production functions were used to estimate technical efficiency. Findings indicate that men and women do not have equal roles in household decision-making and access to institutional support services. Women had higher group membership while men had higher education levels, access to agricultural training forums and were found to be more likely to contribute to decisions on input and labour use. Extension, mobile phone use and credit had a positive effect on efficiency. Based on these results, the study recommends implementation of gender-based interventions such as agricultural training forums for women, as well as providing incentives that encourage men to join and contribute productively to agricultural development groups. This will ensure fairness in access to resources and improved efficiency.
Reviewing the Role of Culture in Strategic Information Systems Research: A Call for Prescriptive Theorizing on Culture Management

Culture is an important topic in strategic information systems (IS) research, particularly because information technology (IT) projects are often accompanied by cultural challenges. While culture has been widely analyzed in this discipline, there is a lack of research that systematically examines the role of culture in strategic IS research. With a structured literature review, we investigate the relation patterns between culture, strategy, and IS-related concepts in terms of dependent, moderating, and independent variables and the research approach in terms of descriptive, normative, and prescriptive. Four different patterns emerge, each one closely related to specific forms of theorizing and corresponding research designs. Research streams focusing on descriptive explanations of culture’s role are rather exhausted. IS research that builds on a normative understanding of culture exists in selected areas, while theorizing on the prescriptive management of culture has been largely neglected despite the relevance of cultural challenges in IS projects. We derive areas for future research and present two themes that emerged in our study to demonstrate how descriptive and normative approaches can provide a foundation for research on the prescriptive management of culture in strategic IS projects: the management of cultural clashes and the management of cultural identity.
Attenuated Afferent Arteriolar Response to Acetylcholine in Goldblatt Hypertension

We tested the hypothesis that endothelium-dependent afferent arteriolar vasodilation is impaired in the nonclipped kidney of two-kidney, one clip Goldblatt hypertensive rats relative to sham-operated controls. Five to six weeks after positioning of a 0.25-mm clip on the left renal artery, systolic pressure averaged 173±10 mm Hg in Goldblatt rats and 118±4 mm Hg in controls (p < 0.01). The right kidney was harvested for videometric study of the microvasculature using the in vitro blood-perfused juxtamedullary nephron technique. Kidneys from Goldblatt and control rats were perfused at renal arterial pressures of 150 and 110 mm Hg, respectively. Afferent arteriolar inside diameter did not differ between control (20.3±0.7 μm) and Goldblatt (21.1±1.7 μm) kidneys. Determination of afferent responses to increasing concentrations of the endothelium-dependent vasodilator acetylcholine (1 nM to 10 μM) in the bathing solution unveiled a shift to the right in the dose-response relation in Goldblatt rats. Afferent arterioles from control kidneys dilated significantly when exposed to 1 nM acetylcholine, whereas a 1,000-fold higher concentration was required to dilate arterioles from Goldblatt rats. Sodium nitroprusside, an endothelium-independent vasodilator, increased afferent diameter to a similar extent in both groups. In a separate group of normal kidneys, vasodilator responses to 10 μM acetylcholine were completely blocked by 1,000 μM nitro-L-arginine, an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthesis. Thus, endothelium-dependent afferent vasodilation appears to be impaired in the nonclipped kidney of Goldblatt hypertensive rats. This phenomenon could contribute to the altered renal hemodynamic status characteristic of Goldblatt hypertension.
Paediatric leptospirosis: A population based case-control study from Chennai, India

The surveillance in Chennai identified 134 children and 443 adults clinically suspected for leptospirosis. Of these, 35 (26.1%) children and 118 (26.6%) adults had laboratory confirmed diagnosis for leptospirosis. The paediatric leptospirosis exhibited a higher frequency of classic features of Weil′s disease. The prevalent serovar encountered was Icterohaemorrhagiae with no difference in the pattern of infecting serovars between the two groups. Further, confirmation of diagnosis was achieved by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with a positivity of 28.4% (specificity 96%). Univariate analysis showed significant association of paediatric leptospirosis with rat infestation (odds ratio 87.4). Thus, PCR facilitates early diagnosis of febrile illness among paediatric cases.
Overexpression of corticotropin‐releasing factor in Barrington’s nucleus neurons by adeno‐associated viral transduction: effects on bladder function and behavior

The stress‐related neuropeptide, corticotropin‐releasing factor (CRF), is prominent in neurons of the pontine micturition center, Barrington’s nucleus. These neurons co‐innervate spinal preganglionic neurons that control the bladder, and locus coeruleus (LC) neurons that provide norepinephrine innervation throughout the brain. Adeno‐associated viral (AAV) vector‐mediated transfer of CRF cDNA was used to increase CRF expression in Barrington’s nucleus neurons and investigate the impact of a gain of function in Barrington’s nucleus spinal and LC projections. AAV transfer of the reverse CRF cDNA sequence served as the control. Bladder urodynamics and behavior were assessed 4 weeks after vector injection into Barrington’s nucleus. Rats with bilateral injections of AAV–CRF cDNA into Barrington’s nucleus had immunohistochemical evidence of CRF overexpression in neurons and transport to the spinal cord and LC. The bladder : body weight ratio was greater and micturition pressure was less in these rats compared with controls, consistent with an inhibitory influence on bladder function. Other indices of urodynamic function were not altered. CRF innervation of the LC was increased in rats with bilateral Barrington’s nucleus injections of AAV–CRF cDNA, and this was associated with increased burying behavior, an endpoint of LC activation by CRF. The results provide immunohistochemical evidence for viral vector‐induced CRF overexpression in Barrington’s nucleus neurons and underscore the ability of AAV vector‐mediated transfer to increase CRF function in selective circuits. The findings support an inhibitory influence of CRF in Barrington’s nucleus regulation of the bladder and an excitatory influence on the brain norepinephrine system that translates to behavioral activation.
Do skiers with similar race time but different age pace similarly in a cross-country ski marathon?

: Pacing strategies have mainly been investigated for runners, but little is known for cross-country skiers. We investigated the pacing strategies in 105,565 female and male age group athletes competing between 1998 and 2016 in the ‘Engadin Ski Marathon’. This race is the largest cross-country skiing marathon held in Europe covering the exact distance of a marathon. Split times are taken at the time stations 10 km (A), 20 km (B) and 35 km (C). We hypothesized to find a difference in pacing between younger and older athletes with similar race times. We calculated three percentage changes of speed, Change A (100 × (split2 - split1)/split1), Change B (100 × (split3 - split2)/split2) and Change C (100 × (split4 - split3)/split3). The men-to-women ratio was lower in the slower performance groups. In both women and men, the faster groups were more prevalent in the younger age groups and the slower groups in the older age groups; only the < 2 hours group increased speed in Change A. A non-linear variation of change in speed was observed across performance groups in Change B and C. The differences in variation of pacing by performance groups among age groups were trivial. In summary, the findings did not confirm our hypothesis that skiers of different age with similar race time would pace differently. Therefore, sex and performance, not age, should be the main criteria for coaches and skiers in order to optimize the pacing strategy in a cross-country skiing marathon.
Increasing the rate of heating: A potential therapeutic approach for achieving synergistic tumour killing in combined hyperthermia and chemotherapy

Purpose: A synergistic cancer cell killing effect of sub-lethal hyperthermia and chemotherapy has been reported extensively. In this study, in vitro cell culture experiments with a uterine cancer cell line (MES-SA) and its multidrug resistant (MDR) variant MES-SA/Dx5 were conducted in order to investigate the role of heating rate in achieving a synergistic effect. The mode of cell death, induction of thermal tolerance and P-glycoprotein (P-gp) mediated MDR following two different rates of heating were studied. Materials and methods: Doxorubicin (DOX) was used as the chemotherapy drug. A rapid rate hyperthermia was achieved by near infrared laser (NIR) excited indocyanine green (ICG) dye (absorption maximum at 808 nm, ideal for tissue penetration). A slow rate hyperthermia was provided by a cell culture incubator. Results: The potentiating effect of hyperthermia to chemotherapy can be maximised by increasing the rate of heating. When delivered at the same thermal dose, a rapid increase in temperature from 37°C to 43°C caused more cell membrane damage than gradually heating the cells from 37°C to 43°C and thus allowed for more intracellular accumulation of DOX. Meanwhile, the rapid rate laser-ICG hyperthermia at 43°C caused cell necrosis whereas the slow rate incubator hyperthermia at 43°C induced mild apoptosis. At 43°C a positive correlation between thermal tolerance and the length of hyperthermia exposure is identified. Conclusions: This study shows that by increasing the rate of heating, less thermal dose is needed in order to overcome P-gp mediated MDR.
PDGF-AB release during and after haemodialysis procedure.

BACKGROUND During haemodialysis blood membrane contact causes the release of the content of platelet alpha-granules, which contain platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF). In view of its possible role in accelerated atherosclerotic processes, we evaluated the intra- and post-dialytic changes in PDGF-AB serum levels during haemodialysis sessions performed using a cellulosic membrane. METHODS Using the ELISA method, PDGF-AB, platelet factor-4 (PF4) and beta-thromboglobulin (beta-TG) levels were determined in peripheral blood, as well as in arterial and venous haemodialyser lines, in 10 patients each of whom underwent five consecutive dialysis sessions with a CU membrane. Blood samples were taken at 0, 15, 30, 60, 120, 180 and 240 min during dialysis and at 1, 4 and 20 h after the end of the session. In the same group of patients the levels of the same molecules were also determined after a heparin bolus injection of 4500 IU, blood samples were taken at 0, 15 and 30 min after injection of the bolus. RESULTS PDGF-AB serum levels increased, remained consistently high during the haemodialysis session (in particular +134+/-20% after 30 min, P<0.001, and +140+/-5% after 240 min, P<0.001) and returned to basal values only after 20 h following the end of the session. PF4 and beta-TG showed a similar trend to PDGF. The heparin bolus injection caused only a small increase (+15+/-5% at 30 min) in PDGF-AB serum levels. CONCLUSIONS PDGF-AB is released during dialysis mainly as consequence of the blood-membrane contact and it returns only slowly to basal values.
Creating Slovenian Language Resources for Development of Speech-to-speech Translation Components

Article brings detailed information about procedures of building Slovenian lexica within the LC-STAR project, and also detailed information about the size of that lexica. University of Maribor joined the LC-STAR project in order to provide appropriate language resources for developing speech-to-speech translation technology for Slovenian language. Lexica exists from three parts: 65.000 common words, 45.000 proper names and 6.000 special application domain words. All lexica will be morpho-syntactically tagged and phonetically transcribed. Quality of produced language resources is ensured by independent validation.
Myoclonus–dystonia

Objective: To clarify the clinical and neurophysiologic spectrum of myoclonus–dystonia patients with mutations of the SGCE gene. Methods: We prospectively studied 41 consecutive patients from 22 families with documented mutations of the SGCE gene. The patients had a standardized interview, neurologic examination, and detailed neurophysiologic examination, including surface polymyography, long-loop C-reflex studies, and EEG jerk-locked back averaging. Results: We noted a homogeneous electrophysiologic pattern of myoclonus of subcortical origin with short jerks (mean 95 msec, range 25 to 256 msec) at rest, during action, and during posture; there were no features of cortical hyperexcitability (specifically no abnormal C-reflex response and no short-latency premyoclonic potential on back-averaging studies). Myoclonus was either isolated or associated with mild to moderate dystonia, and predominated in the neck/trunk or proximal upper limbs in most cases. We found that 22% of the patients had a spontaneous improvement in their dystonia before reaching adulthood and that hypotonia can occasionally be a presenting symptom of the disorder. Conclusion: We describe the myoclonus in patients with mutations in the SGCE gene and characterize the electrophysiologic pattern of this myoclonus. This pattern may help to improve the sensitivity of molecular tests and to define homogeneous populations suitable for inclusion in therapeutic trials.