Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In Vivo Foveal Development Using Optical Coherence Tomography.

PURPOSE To characterize the time course of normal foveal development in vivo in term infants and young children using handheld spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (HH-SDOCT). METHODS We obtained 534 HH-SDOCT scans from 261 infants, children, and young adults with a mean age of 4.9 years (range, 0-27 years). Each retinal layer was manually segmented in ImageJ and correlated with gestational age (GA) and visual acuity (VA). The developmental trajectories of each retinal layer at the fovea, parafovea, and perifovea were calculated using fractional polynomial modeling. RESULTS The central macular thickness (CMT) increases logarithmically between birth and 48.6 months GA. The foveal ganglion cell (GCL), inner plexiform, inner nuclear (INL), and outer plexiform layers decrease in thickness exponentially until 18 months GA. Interestingly, the parafoveal and perifoveal GCL and INL thicknesses initially decrease until 17 months GA and then increase in thickness until 65.5 GA. The foveal outer nuclear layer, inner segment, and outer segment of the photoreceptors increase in thickness logarithmically until 32.4, 26.9, and 45.3 months GA, respectively. The parafoveal and perifoveal outer retinal layers increase in thickness more gradually until 146 months GA. The thickness of the outer retinal layers and CMT were strongly correlated with VA, with r = 0.54 (P < 0.0001) and r = 0.52 (P < 0.0001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS We have modeled for the first time the complex, nonlinear developmental trajectories for each retinal layer and demonstrate that development continues until adolescence. Our description of normal development will be helpful in diagnosing, monitoring, and understanding pediatric retinal disease.
PROLIFERATING INFLORESCENCE MERISTEM, a MADS-Box Gene That Regulates Floral Meristem Identity in Pea1

SQUAMOSA and APETALA1 are floral meristem identity genes from snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) and Arabidopsis, respectively. Here, we characterize the floral meristem identity mutation proliferating inflorescence meristem(pim) from pea (Pisum sativum) and show that it corresponds to a defect in the PEAM4 gene, a homolog of SQUAMOSA and APETALA1. ThePEAM4 coding region was deleted in thepim-1 allele, and this deletion cosegregated with thepim-1 mutant phenotype. The pim-2 allele carried a nucleotide substitution at a predicted 5′ splice site that resulted in mis-splicing of pim-2 mRNA. PCR products corresponding to unspliced and exon-skipped mRNA species were observed. The pim-1 and pim-2 mutations delayed floral meristem specification and altered floral morphology significantly but had no observable effect on vegetative development. These floral-specific mutant phenotypes and the restriction ofPIM gene expression to flowers contrast with other known floral meristem genes in pea that additionally affect vegetative development. The identification of PIM provides an opportunity to compare pathways to flowering in species with different inflorescence architectures.
Factors influencing bacteriological cure after antibiotic therapy of clinical mastitis

Antibiotic therapy of clinical mastitis (CM) is difficult and often results in unsatisfactory outcomes. At detection of every CM case a reliable prognosis for the probability of bacteriological cure (BC) is beneficial to avoid useless application of antibiotic treatments. Therefore, factors which are associated with BC of CM have to be determined. A randomised, matched field study was conducted on 24 free-stall dairy farms located in Northern and Central Germany. Data of CM cases receiving antibiotic treatment were recorded. A foremilk sample of the affected quarter was taken before treatment and again approximately 14 days and 21 days after the end of therapy for bacteriological examination. The BC of every CM case was determined. Animal-, pathogen-, treatment-, herdand environment-related factors were added to every CM case and analysed statistically for associations with BC of the CM cases. The study resulted in the following findings: The overall BC rate was 74.6%. Cows with bacteriologically cured CM cases showed a lower somatic cell count, based on the seven Dairy Herd Improvement (DHI) test days before treatment (individual sum-200-7), and milk yield in the final DHI test before CM occurrence than cows with bacteriologically non-cured CM cases. The probability of BC decreased significantly if a cow had previously suffered from more than one CM case in current lactation. The likelihood of BC decreased significantly in CM cases where staphylococci were cultured in pre-treatment samples, especially due to the low BC rate of Staphylococcus aureus (46.7%), compared to CM cases caused by Enterobacteriaceae, streptococci or other pathogens. The probability of BC decreased with an increasing amount of the pathogen excreted pre-treatment.
PREVALENCE OF BACTERIA IN THE VAGINA OF NORMAL YOUNG WOMEN

We report on factors related to the prevalence of bacteria in the vagina of 1498 women who were attending a family planning clinic. Anaerobes were significantly commoner in women with an abnormal vaginal discharge on clinical examination, in women with a history of a troublesome vaginal discharge and in women who used an intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD) than in others. The association between anaerobes and abnormalities of vaginal discharge was found both in women who used the IUCD and in women who did not. We found no significant associations between symptoms and other bacterial species or combinations of species. Coliforms were significantly commoner in women who did not use tampons, in women who used the diaphragm and in women who had received recent antibacterial or antifungal treatment than in others. Lactobacilli were significantly commoner in women who used the contraceptive pill, and were significantly less common in women who harboured Candida albicans, anaerobes, coliforms or enterococci and in women who had been treated with antibacterial drugs, than in others. We found no important associations between the presence of bacteria and the patients' age, parity or social class.
Landmarks for consistent nerve sparing during robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.

Consistently identifying and dis-secting in either the interfascial or intrafascial plane, how-ever, may be challenging. A number of techniques to performnerve-sparing without cautery/harmonic energy have beenpreviously described. We outline an approach to spare theneurovascular bundle (NVB) that emphasizes definition ofposteromedial and anterolateral prostatic contours withlandmarks to facilitate dissection of the interfascial plane,separating the two leaves of lateral pelvic fascia.
Chemical sympathectomy and maternal separation affect neonatal stress responses and adrenal sensitivity to ACTH.

The participation of sympathetic adrenal innervation in the control of the neonatal adrenocortical system and in changes in adrenal sensitivity after maternal separation for 24 h was tested in 10- and 23-day-old pups. Chemical sympathectomy by guanethidine (20 mg/kg body wt) decreased basal and stimulated corticosterone compound B (B) secretion without affecting adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) release, abolished the enhanced adrenal sensitivity to ACTH induced by maternal separation in 10-day-old pups, but did not modify adrenal sensitivity following ether stress in 23-day-old pups. Guanethidine treatment did not affect body and adrenal weight or adrenal choline acetyltransferase activity, but it increased tyrosine hydroxylase activity at both ages. Both chronic guanethidine treatment and acute corticotropin-releasing factor immunoneutralization reduced plasma B levels after maternal separation without affecting plasma ACTH levels. Maternal separation in 10-day-old pups enhanced basal and stimulated ACTH and B secretion after exposure to ether vapors and insulin-induced hypoglycemia (IIH). In nonseparated pups, IIH did not stimulate ACTH secretion and caused small increases in B secretion; however, the enhanced response of separated pups to IIH was due to the effects of intraperitoneal injection. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Lagrangian air mass tracking with smart balloons during ACE-2

A 3rd-generation smart balloon designed at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Air Resources Laboratory Field Research Division, in collaboration with the University of Hawaii, was released from ship-board during the recent Second Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-2) to provide Lagrangian air-mass tracking data. ACE-2 is the 3rd in a series of field experiments designed to study the chemical, physical, and radiative properties and processes of atmospheric aerosols and their role in climate and is organized by the international global atmospheric chemistry (IGAC) program. The adjective smart in the title of this paper refers to the fact that the buoyancy of the balloon automatically adjusts through the act of pumping air into or releasing air from the ballast portion of the balloon when it travels vertically outside a barometric pressure range set prior to release. The smart balloon design provides GPS location, barometric pressure, temperature, relative humidity, and other data via a transponder to a C130 research aircraft flying in the vicinity of the balloon. The addition of 2-way communication allows interactive control of the balloon operating parameters by an observer. A total of 3 cloudy Lagrangian experiments were conducted during the ACE-2 field program which lasted from 16 June through 26 July 1997. This paper reviews the design and capability of the smart balloons and their performance during the ACE-2 Lagrangian experiments. Future development and applications of the technology are discussed.
Antimicrobial Prescription Analysis in Relation with Rationality and Cost Effectiveness in a Tropical Diseases Hospital of Eastern India

Objectives: Antimicrobials are the most commonly used and at the same time misused drugs in prescriptions. The present pilot survey in a government teaching hospital of tropical diseases has been targeted to generate the utilization data of antimicrobial agents based on which a specific Institutional antimicrobial guideline could be generated. Methods: 100 prescriptions, each containing at least one or more antimicrobial agents were collected in a random sampling manner from the medical indoor of Carmichael Hospital for Tropical Diseases. Assessment of rationality of all prescriptions was performed. Results: The present study showed that out of 100 prescriptions 8 % of the prescriptions were semi-rational, 1% was irrational and the rest were considered rational. Among the different classes of antimicrobial agents cephalosporins remained the most frequently (33%) prescribed agent followed by aminopenicillins (15%). Discussion: Very low incidence of semirational and irrational prescriptions in this pilot study is a good indicator of proficiency of the prescribers and availability of good hospital supply. Polypharmacy was noted in large no. of prescriptions having some associated tropical diseases, especially in multiple infections. In most of the cases first choice antimicrobials were used. Conclusions: For rational use of antimicrobials more importance should be given on laboratory confirmation by culture sensitivity tests of different clinical specimens. Further study is necessary to formulate a standard antimicrobial guideline for common infective ailments in hospital practice of tropical diseases.
Residue and Dissipation Dynamics of Abamectin in Tomato Fruit Using QuEChERS Methodology

An effective analytical method for the residue analysis of a novel acaricides abamectin and its dissipation in tomato were studied. Abamectin residues were extracted from tomato samples and the extract was cleaned up according to QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe) method and determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with photo diode array detector (HPLC–DAD). At fortification levels of 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 mg/ kg in tomato, it was shown that recoveries ranged from 89.4 % to 95.6 %. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were found to be 0.02 and 0.01 mg/ kg, respectively. The dissipation half-life time of abamectin residues in tomato was 2.4 days. According to maximum residue limit (MRL) 0.5 mg /kg, the pre harvest interval (PHI) of abamectin on tomato was 8 days after the treatment. Based on the results of this study and the relevant residue regulation, abamectin residue levels will be acceptable when applied to tomato in Libya.
Calculation of the fractal dimension of diffusion-limited aggregation by the renormalization-group approach in an arbitrary Euclidean dimension d.

We use the real-space renormalization-group approach to calculate the fractal dimension of diffusion-limited aggregation for a lattice with an arbitrary Euclidean dimension d. The results obtained are in good agreement with numerical results. We prove that D\ensuremath{\rightarrow}d-1 as d\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\infty}.
Bacterial Isolation, Culture Sensitivity Test, Endometrial Cytology of Postpartum Cows and Assessment of Their Reproductive Performance

Bacterial contamination is common in the uterus during early postpartum period. 80 to 100% of cows are found to have bacterial contamination of the uterus in the first 2 weeks postpartum (Foldi et al., 2006). Many of these bacteria are eliminated during the first 5 weeks after parturition, but the remaining bacteria cause uterine disease in some cows. Common bacteria isolated from cows with uterine infections are Escherichia coli, Prevotella spp. (Sheldon et al., 2006). Other studies also found Staphylococcus spp. , Streptococcus spp. or non-coliform aerobic gram-negative rods (Kaczmarowski et al., 2004; Jadon et al., 2005). To choose an appropriate antimicrobial agent for treatment of postpartum uterine infection, it is essential to know the susceptibility of the pathogen to antibiotics Antimicrobial resistance has emerged as important problem in human and veterinary medicine and antimicrobial agent misuse is considered the most important International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 9 (2017) pp. 519-527 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas. com
Leukemia Inhibitory Factor Enhances Formation of Germ Cell Colonies in Neonatal Mouse Testis Culture1

Abstract Spermatogonial stem cells continuously divide in the testis to support spermatogenesis throughout the life of adult male animals. Although very few spermatogonial stem cells are present in vivo, we recently succeeded in expanding these cells in vitro. Germ cells from postnatal testes were able to proliferate in the presence of several types of cytokines, and they formed uniquely shaped colonies of spermatogonia (germline stem or GS cells). These cells reinitiated normal spermatogenesis when transplanted into seminiferous tubules. However, much remains unknown about the contributions of cytokines to successful stem cell culture. In the present study, we examined the role of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) in GS cell culture. We found that the addition of LIF to newborn testis cell culture enhances the formation of germ cell colonies. Ciliary neurotrophic factor, but not oncostatin M, had the same effect, although they both bind to the IL-6ST (gp130) receptor. On the other hand, GS cells could be established from pup or adult testes in the absence of LIF. No phenotypic or functional difference was found between GS cells established from different stages, and normal offspring were born from pup-derived GS cells that had been maintained in the absence of LIF, indicating that LIF per se is not involved in the self-renewal of GS cells. These results demonstrate that LIF is useful in the initiation of GS cell culture and suggest that LIF or a related cytokine is involved in the maturation of gonocytes into spermatogonia.
Role of Glucocorticoids in Cystic Ovarian Disease: Expression of Glucocorticoid Receptor in the Bovine Ovary

The aim of this study was to characterize the expression of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in the components of normal bovine ovary and in animals with cystic ovarian disease (COD). Changes in the protein and mRNA expression levels were determined in control cows and cows with COD by immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR. GR protein expression in granulosa cells was higher in cysts from animals with spontaneous COD and adrenocorticotropic hormone-induced COD than in tertiary follicles from control animals. In theca interna cells, GR expression was higher in cysts from animals with spontaneous COD than in tertiary follicles from control animals. The increase in GR expression observed in cystic follicles suggests a mechanism of action for cortisol and its receptor through the activation/inactivation of specific transcription factors. These factors could be related to the pathogenesis of COD in cattle.
Assessing the impact of the social network on marking photos as favorites in flickr

Understanding user behavior in user generated-contend systems (UGCs) is a fundamental building block for maximizing usefulness of these systems. For example, the importance of users' connections and the degree of iteration is needed in order to build meaningful recommendation systems. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of users' network on marking photos as favorites in Flickr considering various levels of distance between users in the network topology. We have observed that users' first-degree contacts are clearly the biggest contributors to the evaluation of hers/his photos (i.e., marking them as favorites). This result indicates that, in contrast to other UGCs such as Twitter and Digg, contact relations are a good indication of content interests in Flickr.
Human STELLAR, NANOG, and GDF3 Genes Are Expressed in Pluripotent Cells and Map to Chromosome 12p13, a Hotspot for Teratocarcinoma

Genes required to maintain pluripotency in human embryonic stem (hES) cells are largely unknown, with the exception of OCT‐4, a homolog of mouse Oct‐4, which is critical for the establishment of the embryonic inner cell mass and the generation of totipotent mouse embryonic stem (mES) cell lines. In the current study, we identified two genes with expression similar to OCT‐4, in that they are largely restricted to pluripotent hES cells, premeiotic germ lineage cells, and testicular germ cell tumor cells. Furthermore, we determined that upon hES cell differentiation, their expression is downregulated. The genes we identified in the current study include the human stella‐related (STELLAR) gene, which encodes a highly divergent protein (with just 32.1% identity to mouse stella over the 159 amino acid sequence) that maps to human chromosome 12p13. Notably, human STELLAR is located distal to a previously uncharacterized homeobox gene, which is the human homolog of the recently identified murine gene, Nanog, and proximal to the GDF3 locus, whose transcription is restricted to germ cell tumor cells. Our characterization of STELLAR, NANOG, and GDF3 suggests that they may play a similar role in humans as in mice, in spite of their remarkable evolutionary divergence.
Discrete scatterers and autocorrelations of multiply scattered light.

The intensity autocorrelation function of light backscattered from the surface of concentrated suspensions of small spheres is studied. Here, it is shown that for isotropic scatterers the discrete nature of the scatterers is very important in determining the autocorrelation function, a point that is neglected in the continuum diffusion model. In the case of highly anisotropic scatterers, a one-dimensional diffusion model does not suffice to describe a photon's path, which is characterized both by a slowly changing direction and position
Robust nonlinear control of sampled-data systems

This paper investigates the control problem for a class of uncertain nonlinear sampled-data systems which are affine in the inputs. A nonlinear bounded real lemma for sampled-data systems with nonlinear time-varying parameter uncertainty is provided. Based on this nonlinear bounded real lemma, the robust control problem is solved in terms of both continuous and discrete Hamilton–Jacobi equations.
Exploring the nanoworld with terahertz and infrared laser spectrometers and chemical nanoscopes

Research on biomolecules, proteins, and living cells requires extremely sensitive spectrometers to harvest the response from precious, small quantity samples. Exploring the large biological parameter space of different mutations, concentrations, pH-values and temperatures demands fast data acquisition and high signal-to-noise ratios for satisfying statistics. We developed terahertz and infrared spectrometers to facilitate the study of biological samples. A chemical nanoscope combines near-field methods with in-group developments of infrared tunable lasers accessing volumes of 10-20 liter in the fingerprint region. We explored THz quantum cascade lasers and THz video rate imaging based on amorphous silicon micro-bolometers to combine spectral and spatial resolution.
Evaluation of the SCTP Optimal Path Selection with Ant Colony Optimization Probabilistic Equation Implementation

This paper evaluates the proposed SCTP optimal path selection mechanism which implements the Ant Colony Optimization probabilistic equation. The proposed mechanism uses three parameters, which are the path delay, RSSI level at the mobile node and the RSSI level at the corresponding node, as the decision criteria. A cross-layer architecture is proposed to obtain the value from the Physical layer. In addition, a new parameter for the SCTP Heartbeat chunk is introduced in order to share the RSSI information between the nodes in the SCTP association. A brief comparison between using two parameters (path delay and RSSI at mobile node only) and three parameters (plus RSSI at the corresponding node) is also included. The experimental evaluations show that the proposed mechanism is able to select the optimal path.
Estrategia «treat to target» en la artritis reumatoide: beneficios reales

El tratamiento de la artritis reumatoide con un objetivo o estrategia «treat to target» es una propuesta importada de la literatura cardiovascular y endocrina. Se propone que la meta terapeutica en artritis reumatoide deberia ser la remision clinica o alternativamente un estado de bajo nivel de actividad clinica. El reumatologo deberia medir y documentar la actividad de la enfemedad en cada visita y, si el paciente no ha alcanzado la meta deseada, deberian hacerse los ajustes terapeuticos para lograrla. Las evidencias actuales en ensayos clinicos y meta-analisis apoyan que esta estrategia tiene beneficios clinicos importantes en pacientes con artritis reumatoide temprana cuando se compara con el tratamiento medico habitual. Tambien se describe que el utilizar un tratamiento protocolizado reporta mayores beneficios. Se presentan elementos de una implementacion exitosa en cohortes de artritis reumatoide temprana en Holanda. Se discute la necesidad de tener mas informacion del beneficio en pacientes con artritis reumatoide establecida
Tactile and Tangible Interfaces in Handheld AR for Children

This paper presents a comparative study between tangible user interfaces (TUIs) and tactile user interfaces (TacUIs) in handheld AR, with a contribution to the state of the art in HCI oriented to children. While TUIs work with the manipulation of physical objects, TacUIs work with virtual representations of them. In our evaluations to compare these two interactions with primary school children, we found that the TacUI was the fastest for completing the task, what makes it better suited for educational purposes. The TacUI was found easier to use by the children, although the TUI was found more solid and less slippery. Our conclusions should be of interest not only to educational researchers, but also to the general HCI community working on tangible and tactile interfaces.