Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Retinal Degeneration in a Murine Model of Retinal Ischemia by Unilateral Common Carotid Artery Occlusion

Retinal degeneration is a progressive retinal damage in ocular vascular diseases. There are several reasons for this, such as occlusion of arteries or veins, diabetic retinopathy, or hereditary retinal diseases. To study pathological mechanisms of retinal degeneration, it is required to develop experimentally reproducible and clinically relevant models. In our previous studies, we developed a murine model of retinal hypoperfusion by unilateral common carotid artery occlusion (UCCAO) which mimics the pathophysiology of ocular ischemic syndrome (OIS) in humans, and described broad pathological mechanisms in the retina after UCCAO. However, there still remain missing pieces of the ocular pathologic process by UCCAO. In this study, we examined those unfound mechanisms. UCCAO was performed on adult mice. Ocular dysfunctions, histological deficits, and inflammation were examined after UCCAO, compared with sham-operated mice. Evaluation values were analyzed by electrophysiological, histological, and molecular biological methods. Eyelid drooping was permanently seen after UCCAO. Induction time point of acute reversible cataract under anesthesia was shortened. Retinal/visual dysfunctions were detected 2-4 weeks after UCCAO. Specifically, scotopic b-wave was more affected than a-wave, with the dysfunction of photopic b-wave. Impaired oscillatory potentials and visual evoked potential were constantly observed. Pathological Müller gliosis/inflammation was featured with NeuN-positive cell loss in the ganglion cell layer. Axial length, intraocular pressure, pupillary light reflex, and retinal pigment epithelium/choroidal thickness were not changed by UCCAO. A murine model of retinal ischemia by UCCAO can be useful for studying a series of degenerative process in the ischemic retina.
Addressing age-related pen-based target acquisition difficulties

Technology is increasingly being promoted as a means of addressing age-related cognitive and sensory impairments and enabling seniors to live more independently. Pen-based devices such as Personal Digital Assistants and Tablet PCs are appealing platforms for these endeavors because they are small, mobile, and powerful. Relative to the mouse, pen-based devices have been shown to be particularly beneficial for older adults. However, in terms of garnering wide-spread adoption, the mouse has historically dominated, leading researchers to focus chiefly on identifying and addressing its ageand motor-related limitations. In contrast, pen-based limitations for older users have been relatively unexplored. This thesis begins to fill that gap in the literature. Our first experiment, an empirical evaluation of pen-based target acquisition across the adult lifespan, identified three main sources of pen-based target acquisition difficulty—missing-just-below, slipping, and drifting—and demonstrated how these difficulties vary across task situation and age. In addition, this work showed that including older adults as participants can help uncover general peninteraction problems: the missing-just-below and drifting difficulties were evident in both younger and older users alike. We next developed seven new target acquisition techniques to improve penbased interaction, specifically addressing the three difficulties identified, and particularly targeting older adults. Our techniques built upon existing mouse-based techniques developed for older users and pen techniques for younger users. In total, we conducted three experiments to evaluate the seven new pen-based techniques: Reassigned and Deactivated (for missing-just-below), Tap and Glide (for drifting), and Steady, Bubble, and Steadied-Bubble (for slipping). Through these
Multi-View Urban Scene Classification with a Complementary-Information Learning Model

Traditional urban scene-classification approaches focus on images taken either by satellite or in aerial view. Although single-view images are able to achieve satisfactory results for scene classification in most situations, the complementary information provided by other image views is needed to further improve performance. Therefore, we present a complementary information-learning model (CILM) to perform multi-view scene classification of aerial and ground-level images. Specifically, the proposed CILM takes aerial and ground-level image pairs as input to learn view-specific features for later fusion to integrate the complementary information. To train CILM, a unified loss consisting of cross entropy and contrastive losses is exploited to force the network to be more robust. Once CILM is trained, the features of each view are extracted via the two proposed feature-extraction scenarios and then fused to train the support vector machine classifier for classification. The experimental results on two publicly available benchmark data sets demonstrate that CILM achieves remarkable performance, indicating that it is an effective model for learning complementary information and thus improving urban scene classification.
Single-Cell Analysis of Aneurysmal Aortic Tissue in Patients with Marfan Syndrome Reveals Dysfunctional TGF-β Signaling

The molecular and cellular processes leading to aortic aneurysm development in Marfan syndrome (MFS) remain poorly understood. In this study, we examined the changes of aortic cell populations and gene expression in MFS by performing single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA seq) on ascending aortic aneurysm tissues from patients with MFS (n = 3) and age-matched non-aneurysmal control tissues from cardiac donors and recipients (n = 4). The expression of key molecules was confirmed by immunostaining. We detected diverse populations of smooth muscle cells (SMCs), fibroblasts, and endothelial cells (ECs) in the aortic wall. Aortic tissues from MFS showed alterations of cell populations with increased de-differentiated proliferative SMCs compared to controls. Furthermore, there was a downregulation of MYOCD and MYH11 in SMCs, and an upregulation of COL1A1/2 in fibroblasts in MFS samples compared to controls. We also examined TGF-β signaling, an important pathway in aortic homeostasis. We found that TGFB1 was significantly upregulated in two fibroblast clusters in MFS tissues. However, TGF-β receptor genes (predominantly TGFBR2) and SMAD genes were downregulated in SMCs, fibroblasts, and ECs in MFS, indicating impairment in TGF-β signaling. In conclusion, despite upregulation of TGFB1, the rest of the canonical TGF-β pathway and mature SMCs were consistently downregulated in MFS, indicating a potential compromise of TGF-β signaling and lack of stimulus for SMC differentiation.
Advances in the Regulation of Weed Biological Control in South Africa

Regulation of biological control (biocontrol) is essential to ensure its continued safety and to enhance its acceptability as a key contributor to the management of damaging invasive alien plants in South Africa. Local researchers were concerned that regulators may become risk averse and over-cautious, thus preventing introductions of safe biocontrol agents, as bureaucratic impediments have contributed to the decline in the number of biocontrol releases in several other countries. In South Africa, the introduction of a transparent and inclusive review process has averted these concerns. Legislation in South Africa enables departments concerned with protecting environmental and agricultural resources, to work together to regulate potential risks. An interdepartmental committee, advised by independent specialists, facilitate the review of research into the safety of potential biocontrol agents. Regulators have reviewed and timeously assessed 26 potential biocontrol agents between 2013 and 2020. This has ensured that the considerable benefits from safe biocontrol agents are available for management of some of South Africa's worst invasive alien plants. We review the system in South Africa and suggest possible improvements to the regulatory framework.
Biocidal Potential of Indigenous Flora of Soon Valley (Khushab, Pakistan) against Helicoverpa armigera Hübner and Spodoptera litura Fabricius (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Muhammad Zeeshan Majeed1*, Mehar Zubair Shehzad1, Sylvain Nafiba Ouedraogo2, Muhammad Asam Riaz1, Syed Rizwan3, Kanwer Shahzad Ahmed1 and Saadia Wahid1 1Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, University of Sargodha, Sargodha 40100, Pakistan 2Institut des Sciences de l’Environnement et du Développement Rural (ISEDR), Université de Dédougou, BP 176, Dédougou, Burkina Faso 3Faculty of Eastern Medicine, Hamdard University, Karachi 74600, Pakistan Article Information Received 11 April 2021 Revised 19 July 2021 Accepted 17 August 2021 Available online 30 December 2021 (early access)
Sensitivity tables for the design of flexible processes (1) ― How much contingency in heat exchanger networks is cost-effective?

Methode de conception de reseaux d'echangeurs de chaleur flexibles. Developpement de tables de sensibilite simples qui permettent de decider ou la contingence est la moins couteuse et quand l'efficacite du cout marginal d'une telle contingence cesse de valoir le coup
English Language Variation of Tourist Guide: A Case Study of Indonesian Context

Individuals frequently speak English differently depending on their native language or the society they live in. A primary goal of our research is to learn more about the unique linguistic characteristics of the Indonesian people. This study aims to discover the language variation of English used by Indonesian tourist guides. Researchers used library and field research to perform the analysis. The researcher gathered data by recording, transcribing, and categorizing it in three separate processes. Furthermore, the researchers utilized a descriptive qualitative method to examine the usual linguistic features of English used by the tour guide. According to the findings of this study, the code choice of the three tour guides is relatively comparable. They used some particular lexical, namely actually, so, this is I and ‘and then’ In addition, they perform code-switching and code-mixing. Keywords: English, Language Variation, Tourist, Guide, Indonesia
POTENTIAL RESOURCES, LOCAL COMMUNITIES’ ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS FOR OUTDOOR RECREATION AND ECOTOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN URBAN FRINGE HAREGO AND BEDEDO CONSERVED FOREST, SOUTH WOLLO ZONE, ETHIOPIA

The study identified the potential resources and examined the local communities’ attitudes and perception towards outdoor recreation and ecotourism development in the urban fringe Harego and Bededo conserved forest, Ethiopia. Mixed research approach was applied along with descriptive and sequential explanatory design. Questionnaire, interview and personal observations were data gathering instruments. Consequently, 336 respondents were randomly selected while key informants were selected purposefully. Simple descriptive analysis, crosstabs and independent t test has been applied to analyze the quantitative data while the qualitative data was analyzed using interpretative analysis technique. The study revealed that the areas have plethora of fauna and flora resources, amazing landscapes and are huge potentials for outdoor recreation and ecotourism development. More significantly, there is positive attitude and perception from the local people which is important for outdoor recreation and ecotourism, their intentions of direct involvement for the development necessities are also very promising while there is a statistically significant difference between high school and below holders (Mean=18.11, sig. 0.001) and college diploma and above holders (Mean=20.89, sig. 0.001).
Immunogenetic aspects of idiopathic recurrent miscarriage in the Kazakh population

There are numerous scientific studies of recurrent miscarriage (RM) with possible causes, such as fetal chromosomal abnormalities, infectious agents, adverse environmental factors, bad habits, anatomical defects, thrombophilic disorders, etc. However, RM causes in 50% of cases remain unknown. These RM cases do not have any explainable etiology, and they require in-depth etiopathogenesis study, thus they are considered idiopathic RM. The purpose of this research is to study polymorphisms relationship of the immune response genes CX3CR1 (rs3732379, Val249Ile), CTLA4 (rs3087243, CT60 G/A), and HLA DQA1, DQB1, DRB1 (major histocompatibility complex, class II) with the idiopathic form of recurrent miscarriage (iRM) development in Kazakh population. Independent replicative TagMan genotyping for 302 patients with iRM and 300 women with normal reproduction was performed. It has been shown that carriage of unfavorable genotypes (Val/Ile, Val/Val) by the Val249Ile polymorphism of the CX3CR1 gene increases the risk of developing iRM by 1.43 times. Search for associations of genes allelic variants of HLA class 2 complex with iRM revealed *501 allele in DQA1 locus, *0301 in DQB1 locus, *10, *12, *15, *16 alleles in DRB1 locus, which increases the risk of developing iRM in Kazakh population with OR from 1.34 to 4.5. As a result of the study, obtained highly significant associations of immune response genes with the development of iRM in the Kazakh population indicate the possible involvement of the immune system interaction of mother cells with syncytiotrophoblast, which is realized by vascularization defects, defective embryo implantation, and leads to early pregnancies’ termination.
Social change, cultural resistance: a meta-analysis of the influence of television viewing on gender role attitudes

ABSTRACT In the last decades, there have been substantial changes in public attitudes toward gender roles and in television’s landscape and messages. Our meta-analysis of nearly 50 years of studies of television’s contribution to gender role attitudes is based on 485 effect sizes from 69 independent samples (N = 57,542) and reveals an overall effect size of . 102. While we found no evidence of any decline of this association over time, it is significantly weaker for gender role attitudes related to the public sphere. Our findings imply that television viewing may strengthen an “egalitarian essentialism ideology,” that is, a discrepancy between the endorsement of gender equity in the public sphere/workplace and the persistence of traditional views regarding the private/domestic sphere.
Analysis of the iodine distribution map in patients with diagnosis of pulmonary embolism: Initial results

Objectives: Analysing the iodine map distribution in patients with pulmonary embolism diagnosis by Dual Energy Computed Tomography. Materials and methods: Twenty-four images of pulmonary angiotomography by dual energy computed tomography were used to determinate the presence of pulmonary thrombi and identify the perfusion defects (PDs) in the Iodine Maps. Moreover, the iodine density (mg/ml) were measured in normal lung parenchyma and lung parenchyma with PDs areas. The documentary analysis was used thought the data collection sheet and the Likert scale questionnaire. The statistic software SPSS v.25 was used. Results: Thirty-four thrombi were found (21 occlusive and 13 partials occlusive) at monochromatic images. Forty-one perfusion defects (PD) were found at Iodine Maps, these have multiple origins: pulmonary thrombi (69.23%), artifacts (17.95%) and other alterations (12.82%). Furthermore, two new thrombi (5.56%) were identified, both were occlusive and segmental level. Mean Iodine density showed statistically significant differences among normal lung parenchyma (1.65 ± 0.66 mg/ml; [0.77-2.79 mg/ ml]) and parenchyma with PD areas (0.51 ± 0.26 mg/ml; [0.12-1.02 mg/ml])(p=0.000). Mean iodine density also had statistically significant differences between parenchyma with occlusive PD and partial occlusive PD (p=0.000). Iodine Map diagnostic quality was excellent (54.17%), good (33.33%), moderate (12.50%). Conclusion: The Iodine distribution Map offers a benefit greater than 5% in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism by Dual-Energy Computed Tomography.
Mass evacuation - human behavior and crowd dynamics - What do we know?

The field of mass evacuation has existed for a long time. Already during the Roman Empire era evacuation problematic was considered. In modern times the field has gained more attention during the last couple of decades, especially for sports grounds and stadiums. Through analysis of some well-known historical crowd disasters and through a literature survey the aim has been to compile the most important findings. The aim has also been to analyze problem areas, knowledge and development opportunities. Regarding the problems of mass evacuation, preventive measures like design and contingency plan is of high importance. In addition there is a need for good communication and to take proper actions when an accident occurs. Some phenomenon that may arise during crowded situations have been found. These phenomenon are an indication that a catastrophic situation might emerge. With knowledge and understanding of those the expectation is, with the help of live video recordings and simulation softwares, to get a warning about the elevated risk for the crowd.
DETERMINANTS OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN BLACK TEA PROCESSING FACTORIES A CASE OF KENYA TEA DEVELOPMENT AGENCY

xii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION. 1 1.1 Background to the study. 1 1.2 Statement Of The Problem. 3 1.3 Purpose of the study. 4 1.4 Objectives of the study. 4 1.5 Research Questions. 5 1.6 Significance of the study.5 1.7 Delimitations of the study. 6 1.8 Limitations of the study. 7 1.9 Assumptions of the study. 7 1.10 Definition of Significant Terms as Used In the Study. 8 1.11 Organization of the study. 9
The Impact of a Training Program for Development Strength Endurance with Taking L-Arginine on Body Composition and 5000m Running Records

The purpose of the study was to find out the effects of Strength Endurance exercises program and taking L- Arginine on body composition and (5000) m running records. To achieve the purpose of the study, eighteen apparently healthy players from the infantry in Armed Forces selected as subjects who are playing (5000) m running. They were randomly divided into two groups of (9) subjects of each group. Group one acted as an experimental group who underwent strength endurance exercises with L- Arginine intake, and group two acted as a control group who underwent strength endurance exercises with placebo capsules for eight weeks for both groups two times a week. The subjects were tested on selected criterion variables such as strength endurance tests, body composition evaluation, and records of (5000) m running, that’s immediately before and after the training period. After souring of the equivalent of the two groups, the suggested program had achieved. The result of the present study had revealed that there were a significant difference found among the experimental and control group in muscle mass (MM), the rate of water (RW), the rate of fat (RF), the rate of burn (RB), legs strength endurance (LSE), arms strength endurance (ASE), core strength endurance (CSE), and the records of (5000) m running for the experimental group compared with the control group. Whereas there was no significant difference in back strength endurance (BSE). The researchers recommended with Supplying of L- Arginine with Strength Endurance exercises for players of long-distance to increase the ability to performance which is affect the record levels. Key words: Strength endurance, L- Arginine, 5000m running.
The status of food allergy and parental burden of preschoolers in Jeju area

Purpose: Food allergies in children are known to impact the quality of life for growing children as well as their parents. This study investigates the status of food allergy and its management among preschoolers, and evaluates the effect on parental burden. Methods: In May 2019, five kindergartens and daycare centers in Jeju area were randomly selected, and parents (n = 638) who had preschoolers younger than 6-year-old were surveyed using a questionnaire. A total of 387 participants were included in the final data analysis. Results: The percentage of children (aged 3 to 6 years old) who experienced food allergies was 16.8%; 44.6% had been diagnosed as having a food allergy by doctors. Food allergies were first experienced in more than two-thirds of the subjects when they were less than a year old. Egg and milk were the most frequent allergenic foods with some skin related symptoms. A mere 15.4% children suffering from food allergies were offered substitutes for their allergenic foods. Lastly, as compared to other parents, the parents of children who experienced food allergies had not only higher nutritional knowledge, but also heavier parental burden including emotional distress. Regardless of their nutritional knowledge, parents of children with food allergy expressed their willingness to attend nutrition education classes, if available in future. Conclusion: For prevention of food allergies and proper nourishment of children with food allergies, there is a necessity to provide customized-nutritional education for the affected parents to help alleviate their parental burden, especially for reducing emotional distress.
The Cusp–Core Problem in Gas-Poor Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies

This review deals with the inconsistency of inner dark matter density profiles in dwarf galaxies, known as the cusp–core problem. In particular, we aim to focus on gas-poor dwarf galaxies. One of the most promising solutions to this cold dark matter small-scale issue is the stellar feedback, but it seems to be only designed for gas-rich dwarfs. However, in the regime of classical dwarfs, this core mechanism becomes negligible. Therefore, it is required to find solutions without invoking these baryonic processes as dark matter cores tend to persist even for these dwarfs, which are rather dark-matter-dominated. Here, we have presented two categories of solutions. One consists of creating dark matter cores from cusps within cold dark matter by altering the dark matter potential via perturbers. The second category gathers solutions that depict the natural emergence of dark matter cores in alternative theories. Given the wide variety of solutions, it becomes necessary to identify which mechanism dominates in the central region of galaxies by finding observational signatures left by them in order to highlight the true nature of dark matter.
The Thiazole-5-Carboxamide GPS491 Inhibits HIV-1, Adenovirus, and Coronavirus Replication by Altering RNA Processing/Accumulation

Medicinal chemistry optimization of a previously described stilbene inhibitor of HIV-1, 5350150 (2-(2-(5-nitro-2-thienyl)vinyl)quinoline), led to the identification of the thiazole-5-carboxamide derivative (GPS491), which retained potent anti-HIV-1 activity with reduced toxicity. In this report, we demonstrate that the block of HIV-1 replication by GPS491 is accompanied by a drastic inhibition of viral gene expression (IC50 ~ 0.25 µM), and alterations in the production of unspliced, singly spliced, and multiply spliced HIV-1 RNAs. GPS491 also inhibited the replication of adenovirus and multiple coronaviruses. Low µM doses of GPS491 reduced adenovirus infectious yield ~1000 fold, altered virus early gene expression/viral E1A RNA processing, blocked viral DNA amplification, and inhibited late (hexon) gene expression. Loss of replication of multiple coronaviruses (229E, OC43, SARS-CoV2) upon GPS491 addition was associated with the inhibition of viral structural protein expression and the formation of virus particles. Consistent with the observed changes in viral RNA processing, GPS491 treatment induced selective alterations in the accumulation/phosphorylation/function of splicing regulatory SR proteins. Our study establishes that a compound that impacts the activity of cellular factors involved in RNA processing can prevent the replication of several viruses with minimal effect on cell viability.