Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Macular ganglion cell complex parameters by optical coherence tomography in cases of multiple sclerosis without optic neuritis compared to healthy eyes

Purpose: To compare different macular thickness parameters and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness between recently diagnosed cases of multiple sclerosis (MS) without optic neuropathy (ON) and healthy individuals. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed between June 2014 and June 2015. All subjects underwent ocular and retinal examination. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) was used to measure the thickness of different layers of the retina at macular and peripapillary regions and at different quadrants. Between groups comparison was performed with P < 0.05 indicating statistical significance. Results: There were 32 eyes in the MS group and 74 eyes in the control group. The MS group was significantly younger than the control group (P < 0.001). The mean ganglion cell complex (GCL++) thickness in superior macular area was 64.1 ± 8.9 μ in the MS group and 71.1 ± 5.9 μ in the control group. The thickness of the RNFL did not statistically differ in each of the quadrants between groups. Despite controlling for age, the macular thickness parameters were significantly thinner in eyes with MS compared to healthy eyes (P < 0.01). Conclusion: The macular ganglion cell complex (mGCC) parameters were significantly reduced in recently diagnosed cases of MS as compared to healthy individuals.
Advanced Strategies for Therapeutic Targeting of Wild-Type and Mutant p53 in Cancer

TP53 is a tumor suppressor gene that encodes a sequence-specific DNA-binding transcription factor activated by stressful stimuli; it upregulates target genes involved in growth suppression, cell death, DNA repair, metabolism, among others. TP53 is the most frequently mutated gene in tumors, with mutations not only leading to loss-of-function (LOF), but also gain-of-function (GOF) that promotes tumor progression, and metastasis. The tumor-specific status of mutant p53 protein has suggested it is a promising target for cancer therapy. We summarize the current progress of targeting wild-type and mutant p53 for cancer therapy through biotherapeutic and biopharmaceutical methods for (1) boosting p53 activity in cancer, (2) p53-dependent and p53-independent strategies for targeting p53 pathway functional restoration in p53-mutated cancer, (3) targeting p53 in immunotherapy, and (4) combination therapies targeting p53, p53 checkpoints, or mutant p53 for cancer therapy.
EFECTOS ALELOPÁTICOS DE EXTRACTOS ACUOSOS DE CERRAJA SOBRE LA GERMINACIÓN Y ELONGACIÓN RADICULAR DE ACHICORIA Y CEBOLLA DE VERDEO

Las plantas cultivadas y las malezas liberan metabolitos secundarios al ambiente que pueden afectar el crecimiento y desarrollo de plantas cultivadas. Se evaluo el efecto alelopatico de extractos acuosos de cerraja (Sonchus oleraceus L.) sobre la germinacion y elongacion radicular de cebolla de verdeo (Allium schoenoprasum L.) y de achicoria (Cichorium intybus L.). Se prepararon extractos acuosos, a 10% de concentracion, con parte aerea seca y molida de plantas de cerraja y agua destilada (1:10 p/v) sin maceracion y con maceracion de 48 hs y, a partir de estos extractos concentrados (considerados como 100%) se obtuvieron diluciones al 50 y al 20%. Se colocaron 50 semillas de las especies cultivadas en estudio por placa de Petri, sobre papel filtro con 2 ml de agua en el testigo y 2 ml de cada extracto concentrado y de sus diluciones. Se determino pH y conductividad electrica de los extractos concentrados. Se evaluo el porcentaje de germinacion a las 48 y 96 hs y la elongacion radicular a las 96 hs de iniciado el tratamiento. El Diseno fue Completamente Aleatorizado con tres repeticiones. Los datos fueron sometidos a ANOVA (P= 0,01) y las medias comparadas por el test de Tukey (P= 0,05) o a traves de una prueba de t (P = 0,.05). Extractos acuosos de S. oleraceus redujeron la germinacion y elongacion radicular de cebolla de verdeo y de achicoria, incrementandose la inhibicion al aumentar la concentracion. El tiempo de maceracion influyo sobre la germinacion a concentraciones medias, pero no en la elongacion radicular. La conductividad y el pH no influyeron en los resultados obtenidos.
FastPlace 2.0: an efficient analytical placer for mixed-mode designs

In this paper, we present FastPlace 2.0 - an extension to the efficient analytical standard-cell placer - FastPlace, to address the mixed-mode placement problem. The main contributions of our work are: (1) Extensions to the global placement framework of FastPlace to handle mixed-mode designs. (2) An efficient and optimal minimum perturbation macro legalization algorithm that is applied after global placement to resolve overlaps among the macros. (3) An efficient legalization scheme to legalize the standard cells among the placeable segments created after fixing the movable macros. On the ISPD 02 mixed-size placement benchmarks, our algorithm is 16.8times and 7.8times faster than state-of-the-art academic placers Capo 9.1 and Feng-shui 5.0 respectively. Correspondingly, we are on average, 12% and 3% better in terms of wirelength over the respective placers
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Antidepressive Effect of Electroconvulsive Therapy: Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses of the Preclinical and Clinical Literature

Emerging data suggest that Electro-Convulsive Treatment (ECT) may reduce depressive symptoms by increasing the expression of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF). Yet, conflicting findings have been reported. For this reason we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the preclinical and clinical literature on the association between ECT treatment (ECS in animals) and changes in BDNF concentrations and their effect on behavior. In addition, regional brain expression of BDNF in mouse and human brains were compared using Allen Brain Atlas. ECS, over sham, increased BDNF mRNA and protein in animal brain (effect size [Hedge’s g]: 0.38―0.54; 258 effect-size estimates, N = 4,284) but not in serum (g = 0.06, 95% CI = -0.05―0.17). In humans, plasma but not serum BDNF increased following ECT (g = 0.72 vs. g = 0.14; 23 effect sizes, n = 281). The gradient of the BDNF increment in animal brains corresponded to the gradient of the BDNF gene expression according to the Allen brain atlas. Effect-size estimates were larger following more ECT sessions in animals (r = 0.37, P < .0001) and in humans (r = 0.55; P = 0.05). There were some indications that the increase in BDNF expression was associated with behavioral changes in rodents, but not in humans. We conclude that ECS in rodents and ECT in humans increase BDNF concentrations but this is not consistently associated with changes in behavior.
Heat Transfer Correlations for Laminar Free Convection in Vertical Channels with Asymmetrically Heated Isothermal Walls

Abstract Laminar free convection in a vertical channel with isothermal walls is a classical heat transfer problem. In general, the channel walls may be at different temperatures, leading to a difference in the rate of heat transfer at the walls. Although numerical and experimental results are often presented in terms of average wall Nusselt numbers, separate correlations for heat transfer at each wall are rarely available. The few existing relations are complex in form due to the extra parameters introduced to facilitate the correlation of results. Moreover, the existing correlations do not reflect the physics of the problem in full. In this work, the three-temperature problem of laminar-free convection of air in a tall vertical channel with isothermal walls is studied in a new theoretical framework, namely the extended Newton formulation. This formulation eliminates the need for an effective temperature difference, hence simplifying the presentation and correlation of the results. The dQdT technique was utilized along with computational fluid dynamics to calculate the average paired Nusselt numbers that characterize the extended Newton formulation of the problem. The dQdT results were then used to derive heat transfer correlations which are both simpler in form and more accurate than the existing correlations. The proposed correlations are applicable to cases of both channel walls hotter or both colder than the ambient air.
The Political Economy of Public Sector Absence : Experimental Evidence from Pakistan ⇤

In many developing countries, public sector absence is both common and resistant to reform. One explanation is that politicians preferentially provide public jobs with limited work requirements as patronage. We test this patronage hypothesis in Pakistan using: (i) a randomized evaluation of a novel smartphone absence monitoring technology; (ii) data on election outcomes in the 240 constituencies where the experiment took place; (iii) attendance recorded during unannounced visits; (iv) surveys of connections between politicians and health sta↵; and (v) a survey of the universe of health supervisors. Four sets of results are consistent with this view. First, 36 percent of health o cers report interference by a politician in the previous year when sanctioning an employee and report this twice as often in uncompetitive constituencies. Second, doctors are 21 percentage points less likely to be present if they know their politician, 32 percentage points less likely to be present if they work in an uncompetitive constituency, and are only at work during 10 percent of normal reporting hours if both conditions are true. Third, the e↵ect of the smartphone monitoring technology, which almost doubled inspection rates, is highly localized to competitive constituencies and to monitored employees who do not know their politician. Last, we find evidence that program impact is in part due to the transmission of information to senior o cers. We test this by manipulating the salience of sta↵ absence in data presented to senior o cials using an online dashboard. Highlighting absence leads to larger subsequent improvements in attendance for facilities located in a competitive constituencies.
m6A modification of U6 snRNA modulates usage of two major classes of pre-mRNA 5’ splice site

Alternative splicing of messenger RNAs is associated with the evolution of developmentally complex eukaryotes. Splicing is mediated by the spliceosome, and docking of the pre-mRNA 5’ splice site into the spliceosome active site depends upon pairing with the conserved ACAGA sequence of U6 snRNA. In some species, including humans, the central adenosine of the ACAGA box is modified by N6 methylation, but the role of this m6A modification is poorly understood. Here we show that m6A modified U6 snRNA determines the accuracy and efficiency of splicing. We reveal that the conserved methyltransferase, FIO1, is required for Arabidopsis U6 snRNA m6A modification. Arabidopsis fio1 mutants show disrupted patterns of splicing that can be explained by the sequence composition of 5’ splice sites and cooperative roles for U5 and U6 snRNA in splice site selection. U6 snRNA m6A influences 3’ splice site usage and reinforces splicing fidelity at elevated temperature. We generalise these findings to reveal two major classes of 5’ splice site in diverse eukaryotes, which display anti-correlated interaction potential with U5 snRNA loop 1 and the U6 snRNA ACAGA box. We conclude that U6 snRNA m6A modification contributes to the selection of degenerate 5’ splice sites crucial to alternative splicing.
Analysis of PCDD/Fs and PCBs in Human Blood and Characteristics of Contamination Sources

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins(PCDDs), dibenzofurans(PCDFs), and biphenyls(PCBs) were analyzed by HRGC/HRMS in human blood samples from the Siwha industrial area in Korea. The PCDD/F and PCB concentrations in workers were higher than those in residents. The average TEQ concentrations of PCDD/Fs in workers and residents were 40.3 pg I-TEQs/g lipid and 16.6 pg I-TEQs/g lipid, respectively, and the total PCB concentrations were 174.1 ng/g lipid and 151.0 ng/g lipid, respectively. When applied to principal component analysis, the PCDD/F congener distributions of workers were differentiated from those of residents. But, all of them were similar to the distribution in several Korean foods. Estimated daily intake(EDI) of each person was calculated, and then only 40% to the total people were within the tolerable daily intake range(1-4pg I-TEQ/kg bw/day) suggested by WHO(1997).
Evolutionary and Biomedical Insights from the Rhesus Macaque Genome

The rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) is an abundant primate species that diverged from the ancestors of Homo sapiens about 25 million years ago. Because they are genetically and physiologically similar to humans, rhesus monkeys are the most widely used nonhuman primate in basic and applied biomedical research. We determined the genome sequence of an Indian-origin Macaca mulatta female and compared the data with chimpanzees and humans to reveal the structure of ancestral primate genomes and to identify evidence for positive selection and lineage-specific expansions and contractions of gene families. A comparison of sequences from individual animals was used to investigate their underlying genetic diversity. The complete description of the macaque genome blueprint enhances the utility of this animal model for biomedical research and improves our understanding of the basic biology of the species.
REDUCING CONFLICT THROUGH THE IMPROVED DESIGN OF PEDESTRIAN-VEHICLE SPACES

The aim of this research is to reduce pedestrian-vehicle conflicts through the improved design of pedestrian-vehicle spaces. The cues to priority given to drivers and pedestrians by 9 common design elements of pedestrian-vehicle spaces were examined. Seventy-five participants were divided to form a driver perspective group and a pedestrian perspective group. The groups received a series of randomly ordered photographs, taken from either driver or pedestrian perspective, where the 9 features were graphically removed or added from 4 different pedestrian vehicle spaces. Participants rated each photograph in terms of perceived comfort, priority, and clarity regarding who has priority. Results provide some evidence that the addition of tactile features sends conflicting visual messages to pedestrians and drivers, whereas the addition of pedestrian lines sends clear visual signals. Individually, each feature enhanced pedestrians' sense of priority without affecting drivers. Multiple features should be used in combination when designing shared pedestrian vehicle spaces. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E210413.
First report of canine demodicosis by short-bodied Demodex Mite (Acari, Demodecidae) in Spain

espanolLa sarna demodecica es una dermatitis frecuente en perros. Los acaros foliculares estan bien documentados, aunque se han identificado nuevas especies que residen en los anexos foliculares y en la superficie epitelial. Estas nuevas especies justifican la existencia de cuadros clinicos distintos. En este articulo se describe un caso de demodecia por un Demodex de cuerpo corto en un Yorkshire Terrier, su morfologia, el cuadro clinico y la evolucion tras el tratamiento EnglishDemodicosis is a common dermatosis in dogs. Although follicular mites have been well-documented, new mite species residing in the follicular adnexa and on the surface epithelium have been identified. These newly observed species of Demodex mites have led to the identification of additional patterns of clinical disease. In the present paper we describe the occurrence of a short form of Demodex mite on a Yorkshire Terrier, its morphology, the clinical picture and post-treatment evolution
Weight, volume, and center of mass of segments of the human body

Abstract : This study was designed to supplement existing knowledge of the weight, volume, and center of mass of segments of the human body and to permit their more accurate estimation on the living from anthropometric dimensions. Weight, volume, and center of mass of 14 segments of the body were determined on 13 male cadavers. Presented are descriptive statistics of these variables as well as a series of regression equations predicting these parameters from anthropometry. Included in the seven supporting appendices are reports of studies of the mid-volume of segments as an approximation of their center of mass, relationships between standing and supine anthropometry, postmortem changes in gross body size, and comparisons between densities of fresh and preserved human tissues.
ffi cient Estimation of Semiparametric Multivariate Copula Models ∗

We propose a sieve maximum likelihood (ML) estimation procedure for a broad class of semiparametric multivariate distribution models. A joint distribution in this class is characterized by a parametric copula function evaluated at nonparametric marginal distributions. This class of models has gained popularity in diverse fields due to a) its flexibility in separately modeling the dependence structure and the marginal behaviors of a multivariate random variable, and b) its circumvention of the “curse of dimensionality” associated with purely nonparametric multivariate distributions. We show that the plug-in sieve ML estimates of all smooth functionals, including the finite dimensional copula parameters and the unknown marginal distributions, are semiparametrically efficient; and that their asymptotic variances can be estimated consistently. Moreover, prior restrictions on the marginal distributions can be easily incorporated into the sieve ML procedure to achieve further efficiency gains. Two such cases are studied in the paper: (i) the marginal distributions are equal but otherwise unspecified, and (ii) some but not all marginal distributions are parametric. Monte Carlo studies indicate that the sieve ML estimates perform well in finite samples, especially so when prior information on the marginal distributions is incorporated.
Thyroid FNA cytology: Impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic and vaccination in a Brazilian series

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic prompted changes in medical practice, with a reduction in cytopathology volumes and a relative increase in the malignancy rate during lockdown and the initial postlockdown period. To date, no study has evaluated the impact of these changes on the volume of rapid on‐site evaluation (ROSE) or on the frequency of cases according to The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBSRTC) categories after vaccination.
AGILE: a methodology for Advanced Governance of Information services through Legal Engineering

To address agility in public administration, the Agile project developed a reference knowledge acquisition infrastructure for legal knowledge, based on a dynamic and design-oriented conceptualization of the legal system. The main objective of the project was to reframe legal knowledge as a knowledge source in a design-oriented task ontology, building on insights from the CommonKADS methodology for intelligent system design. The methodology makes case law, and legal expert knowledge of critical incidents in organizations -- two diagnostic knowledge sources underutilized in modern management and engineering -- more accessible as a resource for design of agile organizational structures and intelligent systems.
Technical Advance Immuno-LCM: Laser Capture Microdissection of Immunostained Frozen Sections for mRNA Analysis

Microdissection of routinely stained or unstained frozen sections has been used successfully to obtain purified cell populations for the analysis of cell-specific gene expression patterns in primary tissues with a complex mixture of cell types. However, the precision and usefulness of microdissection is frequently limited by the difficulty to identify different cell types and structures by morphology alone. We therefore developed a rapid immunostaining procedure for frozen sections followed by laser capture microdissection (LCM) and RNA extraction, which allows targeted mRNA analysis of immunophenotypically defined cell populations. After fixation, frozen sections are immunostained under RNAse-free conditions using a rapid three-step streptavidin-biotin technique, dehydrated and immediately subjected to LCM. RNA is extracted from captured tissue, DNAse I treated, and reverse transcribed. Acetone-, methanol, or ethanol/acetone-fixed sections give excellent immunostaining after 12 to 25 minutes total processing time. Specificity, precision, and speed of microdissection is markedly increased due to improved identification of desired (or undesired) cell types. The mRNA recovered from immunostained tissue is of high quality. Single-step PCR is able to amplify fragments of more than 600 bp from both housekeeping genes such as b-actin as well as cell-specific messages such as CD4 or CD19, using cDNA derived from less than 500 immunostained, microdissected cells. Immuno-LCM allows specific mRNA analysis of cell populations isolated according to their immunophenotype or expression of function-related antigens and significantly expands our ability to investigate gene expression in heterogeneous tissues. (Am J Pathol 1999, 154:61–66)
Role of programmed cell death ligand-1 expression on prognostic and overall survival of breast cancer

Background: Recently, the correlation of immunological checkpoint marker programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) and the prognosis of various cancers has been a research hotspot. The aim of this study is to examine the prognostic effect of PD-L1 in breast cancer. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library database were searched for eligible studies and additional hand-searching were reviewed as an augmentation. Pooled hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), disease-free survival (DFS)/recurrence-free survival (RFS), and metastasis-free survival (MFS) were estimated using fixed- or random-effect models. Results: Data from 19 studies involving 12,505 patients were collected. Study quality was assessed according to guidelines for assessing quality in prognostic studies. PD-L1 expression was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis (P < .001), high tumor grade (P < .001), negative hormone receptor (P < .001), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positivity (P < .001), high Ki67 (P < .001), and high tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) (P < .001). PD-L1 expression had no significant impact on CSS (pooled HR 0.83, 95% CI = 0.64–1.09, P = .19) or MFS (pooled HR 1.11, 95% CI = 0.62–1.97, P = .72), but significantly correlated with shortened OS (pooled HR 1.52, 95% CI = 1.14–2.03, P = .004) and DFS (pooled HR 1.31, 95% CI = 1.14–1.51, P < .000). Subgroup analysis showed that not PD-L1 RNA expression, but protein expression was associated with shorter survival, in addition, the adverse prognostic effect of PD-L1 expression remained in luminal A, luminal B, and HER2 subtype, not in basal-like or triple-negative subtype. Conclusions: An elevated PD-L1 expression significantly correlates with high-risk prognostic indicators and decreased survival in patients with breast cancer.