Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transparency of the bovine corneal stroma at physiological hydration and its dependence on concentration of the ambient anion

De‐epithelialised and de‐endothelialised bovine corneal stromas with a hydration of 3.2 equilibrated at 154 mm NaCl and buffered at pH 7.4 had their optical density (400–750 nm) measured. Stromas equilibrated against 10, 20, 30, 50 or 100 mm NaCl made isotonic to 154 mm NaCl by supplementing with sorbitol were progressively more transparent as NaCl increased. Hypertonic equilibration against 300, 600 or 1000 mm NaCl resulted in a progressive loss of transparency compared with 154 mm NaCl. Light scattering as a function of wavelength fitted a λ−3 function well for 10, 30, 50, 100 and 154 mm NaCl preparations between 450 and 650 nm, but not at higher wavelengths. However, hypertonic 300, 600 and 1000 mm NaCl preparations showed a λ−2 dependence in the 450–750 nm range. Experiments with 154 mm NaCl and either 0 or 300 mm sorbitol suggested that the changes in light scattering in hypertonic preparations are unlikely to be caused by osmotic alterations to the stromal keratocytes. Psychophysical studies of the optical transmission function of preparations indicated that corneal stromas dialysed against 154 mm NaCl had usable optical properties, but preparations dialysed against 10 mm NaCl were effectively unable to transmit an image. The results are related to the known increase of fixed negative charge in the corneal matrix when chloride ions are adsorbed onto the matrix. It is suggested that the ordering force between corneal collagen fibrils, generated in part by anion binding, may be crucial to the physiological functioning of the visual system.
Trunk Function and Ischial Pressure Offloading in Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury

Objective: To determine if there is a relationship between trunk function and offloading of the ischial tuberosities in individuals with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI). Design: Prospective cross-sectional evaluation. Setting: Sub-acute rehabilitation hospital. Participants: Fifteen non-ambulatory participants with complete or incomplete traumatic and non-traumatic SCI, American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS), Classification A-D. Outcome Measures: Isometric trunk strength using a hand held dynamometer, the ability to reach using the multidirectional reach test and offloading times of the ischial tuberosities using a customized pressure mat. Results: Participants who were able to engage in the multidirectional reach test were defined as “Reachers”, whereas individuals who were unable to engage in the multidirectional reach test were defined as “Non-Reachers”. Trunk strength was significantly higher in Reachers compared with Non-Reachers (P < 0.05). Offloading times over the left and right ischial tuberosities were lower in Non-Reachers when compared with Reachers, however the results were statistically significant only for offloading over the right ischial tuberosity (P < 0.05). There was no correlation between trunk strength and pressure offloading times for both groups. Conclusions: Regardless of an individual's ability to engage in a reaching task, participants with spinal cord injury spent more time offloading the left ischial tuberosity compared with the right ischial tuberosity. The study highlights the need to identify factors that may contribute to offloading behavior in individuals with spinal cord injury who lack sufficient trunk strength.
Future vision of the GDB Human Genome Database

In 1973, scientists assembled at the first Human Gene Mapping Workshop to discuss the 64 human genes mapped at that time. In 1989, the GDB Human Genome Database was created to store information on 1,700 mapped human genes. Ten years later, as the human genome project closes in on the release of the complete DNA sequence holding as many as 100,000 human genes, GDB is evolving to continue to meet the needs of the scientific community. Well known as a resource for data which has been stringently reviewed as part of the curation process, GDB prepares to continue to provide a compilation of the human genome including maps, map objects, polymorphisms, and mutations. As more sites across the Internet are established to share biological information, it becomes increasingly burdensome for the scientist to collect data from all sources of a particular domain. In an attempt to reduce this burden, GDB continues to load data from large genome centres and accept submissions from researchers around the world. Moreover, GDB looks to provide a mechanism to link gene‐related information to the human reference sequence. In doing this, GDB plans to establish federated linkages with “boutique” databases around the world that could contain enormous amounts of valuable information about specific genes or chromosomes. Hum Mutat 15:62–67, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Distribution of hemoglobinopathy variants by ethnicity in a multiethnic state

It has been well known for many years that Black Americans are at increased risk for sickle cell disease and that individuals of Mediterranean ancestry are at increased risk for thalassemias. Beyond this, however, complete assessments of the epidemiology of hemoglobinopathies in Americans have been constrained by lack of large enough sample size, incomplete diagnostic work or testing inadequacies, or missing or misleading ethnicity data. California began universal, mandatory screening of all infants born in the state in 1990, and by January 1996, had screened over 3.3 million infants of various ethnic backgrounds. New information is now available on groups at increased risk for disease, as well as carrier status. The overall prevalence of sickle cell disease (all types) remains high in Blacks at 1 per 396 births, but is lower than expected (from east coast/Caribbean published data) for Hispanics at 1 in 36,000 births or from previously published data on other higher risk groups such as Middle Eastern (no cases in over 22,000 screens) or Asian Indian (1 case in 16,000 screens). The distribution of different types of sickle cell disease has also changed, with increased numbers of Hb SE disease resulting from multiethnic partnerships. Demographic trends in California have led to a major sift in the at‐risk groups for major beta thalassemias, with the majority of cases detected in families of Asian. Southeast Asian, and Asian Indian ancestry. The “new” hemoglobinopathy condition in California, Hb E/Beta Thalassemia, is found almost exclusively in Southeast Asians with a prevalence of 1 in every 2,600 births. Carrier conditions are found in virtually every ethnic category, with higher than expected rates in non‐Hispanic Whites (1 per 600 births). © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Efficacy and safety of Apatinib in stage IV sarcomas: experience of a major sarcoma center in China

Purpose This study was conducted to review the efficacy and safety of Apatinib in stage IV sarcoma patients who failed previous chemotherapy. Materials and Methods The clinical information on 16 patients with stage IV sarcomas who failed in prior chemotherapy and subsequently received Apatinib treatment was collected. Apatinib was given 500mg/daily and 4 weeks as a cycle. All patients had at least one measurable extracranial tumor according to Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors 1.0 criteria. Progression free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR) and treatment-related adverse effects (AEs) were reviewed and evaluated. Results Patients was administered Apatinib for 0 to 9 cycles with the median of 3.2 cycles. Median follow-up time was 8.4 months (1 to 12 months). Ten of 16 patients received at least 1 complete cycle of Apatinib treatment were eligible for the efficacy analysis. The median PFS was 8.84 months. Two patients achieved partial response (PR) and 6 patients achieved stable disease (SD). Two patients were evaluated as progression disease (PD) and one patient died of disease progression. The ORR was 20.0% (2/10) and the DCR was 80.0% (8/10). The most common grade 3/4 treatment-related AEs were hypertension (18.7%), hand-foot syndrome (12.5%) and proteinuria (6.3%). No drug-related severe AEs occurred. Conclusion CApatinib treatment in this exploratory study exhibited objective efficacy and manageable toxicity in stage IV sarcoma patients who failed in chemotherapy. This result supports future random controlled trial to further define Apatinib activity in stage IV sarcomas.
Finding Theme Communities from Database Networks: from Mining to Indexing and Query Answering

Given a database network where each vertex is associated with a transaction database, we are interested in finding theme communities. Here, a theme community is a cohesive subgraph such that a common pattern is frequent in all transaction databases associated with the vertices in the subgraph. Finding all theme communities from a database network enjoys many novel applications. However, it is challenging since even counting the number of all theme communities in a database network is #P-hard. Inspired by the observation that a theme community shrinks when the length of the pattern increases, we investigate several properties of theme communities and develop TCFI, a scalable algorithm that uses these properties to effectively prune the patterns that cannot form any theme community. We also design TC-Tree, a scalable algorithm that decomposes and indexes theme communities efficiently. Retrieving 1 million theme communities from a TC-Tree takes only 1 second. Extensive experiments and a case study demonstrate the effectiveness and scalability of TCFI and TC-Tree in discovering and querying meaningful theme communities from large database networks.
Sequestosome 1 Deficiency Delays, but Does Not Prevent Brain Damage Formation Following Acute Brain Injury in Adult Mice

Neuronal degeneration following traumatic brain injury (TBI) leads to intracellular accumulation of dysfunctional proteins and organelles. Autophagy may serve to facilitate degradation to overcome protein debris load and therefore be an important pro-survival factor. On the contrary, clearing may serve as pro-death factor by removal of essential or required proteins involved in pro-survival cascades. Sequestosome 1 (SQSTM1/p62) is a main regulator of the autophagic pathway that directs ubiquinated cargoes to autophagosomes for degradation. We show that SQSTM1 protein levels are suppressed 24 h and by trend 5 days after trauma. In line with these data the expression of Sqstm1 mRNA is reduced by 30% at day 3 after and stays depressed until day 5 after injury, indicating an impaired autophagy post controlled cortical impact (CCI). To determine the potential role of SQSTM1-dependent autophagy after TBI, mice lacking SQSTM1 (SQSTM1-KO) and littermates (WT) were subjected to CCI and brain lesion volume was determined 24 h and 5 days after insult. Lesion volume is 17% smaller at 24 h and immunoblotting reveals a reduction by trend of cell death marker αII-spectrin cleavage. But there is no effect on brain damage and cell death markers 5 days after trauma in SQSTM1-KO compared with WT. In line with these data neurofunctional testing does not reveal any differences. Additionally, gene expression of inflammatory (Tnf-α, iNos, Il-6, and Il-1β) and protein degradation markers (Bag1 and Bag3) were quantified by real-time PCR. Protein levels of LC3, BAG1, and BAG3 were analyzed by immunoblotting. Real-time PCR reveals minor changes in inflammatory marker gene expression and reduced Bag3 mRNA levels 5 days after trauma. Immunoblotting of autophagy markers LC3, BAG1, and BAG3 does not show any difference between KO and WT 24 h and 5 days after TBI. In conclusion, genetic ablation of SQSTM1-dependent autophagy leads to a delay but shows no persistent effect on post-traumatic brain damage formation. SQSTM1 therefore only plays a minor role for secondary brain damage formation and autophagic clearance of debris after TBI.
Seasonal Dynamics of the Flower Head Infestation of Smallanthus maculatus by Two Nonfrugivorous Tephritids

ABSTRACT. Seasonal dynamics of the capitula infested by Dictyotrypeta sp. and Rhynencina spilogaster (Steyskal) (Diptera: Tephritidae) was evaluated throughout the flowering cycle of their host plant the sunflower, Smallanthus maculatus (Cavanilles) Robinson (Asterales: Asteraceae). In central Veracruz, Mexico, along 16 consecutive weeks, a total of 1,017 mature capitula were collected, recording the presence and abundance of immature stages (larvae and pupae) and their related parasitoids. Both fly species were present throughout the entire season, with overall Infestation of 51.5% of the capitula examined. However, Dictyotrypeta sp. infested 11.3%, representing about one-fifth of them, and R. spilogaster was most abundant infesting four times as many capitula (42.9%), whereas both species were found together in only 2.6% of the capitula examined. Based on the temporal occurrence of larvae and pupae into flower heads as well as their associated parasitoids and times of emergence, Dictyotrypeta sp. had two yearly generations, and It seems that the second generation could enter a seasonal diapause; in contrast, R. spilogaster was a univoltine species that entered diapause that lasted until the next year.
Processing of the FMRFamide Precursor Protein in the Snail Lymnaea stagnalis: Characterization and Neuronal Localization of a Novel Peptide, ‘SEEPLY’

In the pulmonate snail Lymnaea stagnalis, FMRFamide‐like neuropeptides are encoded by a multi‐exon genomic locus which is subject to regulation at the level of mRNA splicing. We aim to understand the post‐translational processing of one resulting protein precursor encoding the tetrapeptide FMRFamide and a number of other putative peptides, and determine the distribution of the final peptide products in the central nervous system (CNS) and periphery of Lymnaea. We focused on two previously unknown peptide sequences predicted by molecular cloning to be encoded in the tetrapeptide protein precursor consecutively, separated by the tetrabasic cleavage site RKRR. Here we report the isolation and structural characterization of a novel non‐FMRFamide‐like peptide, the 22 amino acid peptide SEQPDVDDYLRDWLQSEEPLY. The novel peptide is colocalized with FMRFamide in the CNS in a number of identified neuronal systems and their peripheral motor targets, as determined by in situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry. Its detection in heart excitatory motoneurons and in nerve fibres of the heart indicated that the novel peptide may play a role, together with FMRFamide, in heart regulation in the snail. The second predicted peptide, STEAGGQSEEMTHRTA (16 amino acids), was at very low abundance in the CNS and was only occasionally detected. Our current findings, suggestive of a distinct pattern of post‐translational processing, allowed the reassessment of a previously proposed hypothesis that the two equivalent sequences in the Aplysia FMRFamide gene constitute a molluscan homologue of vertebrate corticotrophin releasing factor‐like peptides.
Risk factors and neonatal/infant mortality risk of small-for-gestational-age and preterm birth in rural Nepal

Abstract Objective: Our study seeks to elucidate risk factors for and mortality consequences of small-for-gestational-age (SGA) and preterm birth in rural Nepal. In contrast with previous literature, we distinguish the epidemiology of SGA and preterm birth from each other. Methods: We analyzed data from a maternal micronutrient supplementation trial in rural Nepal (n = 4130). We estimated adjusted risk ratios (aRR) for risk factors of SGA and preterm birth, and aRRs for the associations between SGA/preterm birth and neonatal/infant mortality. We used mutually exclusive categories of term-appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA), term-SGA, preterm-AGA, and preterm-SGA (with term-AGA as reference) in our analyses. Results: Stunted (<145 cm) and wasted (<18.5 kg/m2) women both had increased risk of having term-SGA (aRR 1.36, 95% CI: 1.14-1.61, aRR 1.22, 95% CI: 1.09–1.36 respectively) and preterm-SGA (aRR 2.48, 95% CI: 1.29–4.74, aRR 1.99, 95% CI: 1.33–2.97 respectively), but not preterm-AGA births. Similar results were found for low maternal weight gain per gestational week. Those born preterm-SGA generally experienced the highest neonatal and infant mortality risk, although term-SGA and preterm-AGA newborns also had statistically significantly high mortality risks compared to term-AGA babies. Conclusions: SGA and preterm birth have distinct risk factors and mortality patterns. Maternal chronic and acute malnutrition appear to be associated with SGA outcomes. Because of high SGA prevalence in South Asia and the increased neonatal and infant mortality risk associated with SGA, there is an urgent need to intervene with effective interventions.
Modeling of Broadband Chirped Quantum-Dot Super-Luminescent Diodes

We propose a novel non-excitonic computationally efficient numerical model based on rate equations to describe the spectral characteristics of quantum-dot (QD) super-luminescent diodes (SLDs). It takes into account the inhomogeneous gain broadening due to dot-size dispersion, the effect of QD layers emitting at different wavelengths, and the nonuniform longitudinal distribution of gain and optical power along the waveguide. The model is applied to evaluate the effectiveness of chirping the QD layers in improving the SLD spectral bandwidth and output power. Simulated and experimental results are in good agreement in terms of output power and spectral characteristics versus current. Finally, an example of the possibility to apply the model to optimize SLD performances in terms of spectral bandwidth and power is shown.
Strategies for managing the insufficiency of the proximal landing zone during endovascular thoracic aortic repair.

BACKGROUND The insufficiency of the proximal landing zone (PLZ) is a frequent factor challenging the applicability and efficacy of endovascular repair (EVR) for thoracic aortic disorders. This study discusses two strategies for conquering this challenge. METHODS Ten patients underwent EVR for thoracic aortic diseases during a one-year period ending June 30, 2004. Nine patients had DeBakey type III dissecting aortic aneurysm (DAA), and one had descending thoracic aortic aneurysm (DTAA). The PLZ, defined as the distance from the origin of the left subclavian artery (LSA) to the primary entry tear of the dissection or to the proximal aspect of DTAA, was less than 15 mm in all instances. EVR with intentional coverage of the LSA without any supportive bypass was employed in 6 patients with DAA, and the preliminary right-left carotid and left carotid-subclavian bypass combined with EVR in the DTAA and other 3 DAA cases. RESULTS Technical success was achieved in all the patients. The patient with DTAA died from hemispheric cerebral infarction and subsequent multiple system organ failure following an uneventful recovery from the cervical reconstruction performed 1 week previously. In cases receiving the EVR with intentional coverage of the LSA, in two patients dizziness occurred, which noticeably resolved after intravenous administration of mannitol for 4 to 5 days, and a drop in blood pressure of the left arm was noted in all the cases, but remained clinically silent. No neurological deficits or limb ischaemia developed perioperatively or during the followup, ranging from 3 to 12 months, and complete thrombosis of the thoracic aortic false lumen was revealed on CT at 3 months in the 9 patients with DAA. CONCLUSIONS Both the intentional bypass absent coverage of the LSA and the adjunctive surgical bypass appear to be feasible and effective in managing the insufficiency of the PLZ during the endovascular thoracic aortic repair.
Automatic recognition of coastal and oceanic environmental events with orbital radars

An automatic classification procedure was developed able to identify different oceanic events, detectable in orbital radar images. The procedure was customized to be used in the southeastern Brazilian coast, since the classification training and test used examples extracted from 402 RADARSAT-1 images acquired in this region. Different sets of spectral, geometric and contextual (meteo-oceanographic and location) features of selected low backscatter patches were evaluated. Machine learning procedures (neural networks, decision trees and support vector machines) were used to induce classifiers to differentiate between seven classes, belonging to two categories. The classification procedure involves two steps: first the features area classified in one of two categories - oil spill or meteo- oceanographic phenomena. In the second step, the identification of tree classes of oil spills and four classes of meteo- oceanographic phenomena is done. The oil spill related classes are associated to operational exploration and production spills, ship releases and others. The meteo-oceanographic phenomena include biogenic oils and/or upwellings, algae blooms, low wind areas and rain cells. The models induced by support vector machines and neural networks achieved good results, allowing the operational implementation of the proposed procedures.
Prevalence and comorbidity of DSM-III-R diagnoses in a birth cohort of 15 year olds.

OBJECTIVE To document the prevalence and comorbidities of a range of DSM-III-R diagnoses in a birth cohort of approximately 1,000 New Zealand children. METHOD Parent and child reports were obtained on levels of DSM-III-R symptomatology in the child for five major groups of diagnoses: anxiety disorders, mood disorders, conduct/oppositional disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and substance abuse/dependence. Two methods, optimal informant and latent class modeling, were used to combine parent and child reports to produce a "best estimate" of the prevalence of disorder. RESULTS Both methods produced very similar results. Overall approximately 25% of children met criteria for at least one DSM-III-R diagnosis. Rates of disorder were higher for girls (33% approximately) than for boys (20% approximately), this difference being largely owing to higher rates of anxiety and mood disorders among girls. There were strong tendencies for disruptive behavior and substance use disorders to cluster together and more diffuse tendencies for anxiety and mood disorders to be comorbid with each other and with other disorders. Only a minority (21%) of children with disorders were in contact with any service for their problems. CONCLUSION These findings are consistent with a number of other studies of adolescent populations, both in terms of the prevalence of disorder and the comorbidities between disorders.
A 40nm CMOS highly linear 0.4-to-6GHz receiver resilient to 0dBm out-of-band blockers

SDRs come of age ([1,2]) and transcend beyond just acquiring the reconfigura-bility to replace any standard radio: they develop toward systems where a simplified antenna interface can be used, with most dedicated filtering removed. This requires a receiver accommodating much higher linearity and resilience against out-of-band interference than a standard radio, still achieving competitive sensitivity (especially in the absence of interference). Mixer-first front-ends with excellent linearity have been reported [3]. However, their NF (including 1/f in absence of the LNA gain) is not competitive, and they may suffer from large LO feedthrough to the antenna (LOFT). Moreover they lack receiver functionality such as gain and filtering, which cannot be simply added without compromising linearity. A receiver with mixer-at-the-antenna-based bandpass filter [4] similarly may suffer from LOFT and increased N F. This work presents a full software-defined receiver with 3dB NF that tolerates 0dBm blockers with acceptable blocker NF at maximum gain. It achieves +10dBm out-of-band (OB) IIP3 and >+70dBm IIP2. Such a receiver is to operate using no other than harmonic-rejection filtering.