Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Male genital skin biopsy

genital symptoms to sexually transmitted infections, genital dermatoses and malignant conditions of the genital tract will also present to GU medicine clinics. Some of these patients require a diagnostic skin biopsy and previous studies have shown that genital biopsy in GU medicine clinic is safe, and may reduce time to diagnosis. Our audit assessed the spectrum of pathology seen in our GU medicine diagnostic skin biopsy clinic, evaluated the accuracy of the clinician’s diagnosis compared with histological findings and evaluated referral care pathways. A retrospective case-notes review of all patients who attended our biopsy clinic since its inception in July 2003 to April 2009 (total 69 months) was conducted. During this period, 462 patients were referred to the biopsy clinic. Of these, 386 attended and biopsy was performed on 311; the biopsy rate was thus 81%. This is higher than reported in the above article, which may reflect a higher threshold for referral to the diagnostic biopsy clinic, given our previous experience that this is a useful diagnostic tool. Of those patients who underwent skin biopsy, there was a male predominance (281 [90%] men compared with 30 [10%] women) as the majority of women are referred to a separate dedicated vulval clinic in our department. The age of patients seen ranged from 16 to 76 years (mean 40 years). Two hundred and fifty-eight (83%) of 311 biopsies yielded a definitive diagnosis. Where histology yielded definitive diagnosis, the clinical diagnosis matched the histological diagnosis in 135 (53%) of cases, showing the utility of this investigation in diagnosing difficult clinical cases. Diagnoses made at biopsy are shown in Figure 1. The range of diagnoses made was very similar to Samuel et al., and of note there is a remarkably similar proportion of patients in both our series who were diagnosed with lichen sclerosus and lichen planus (16% versus 16%) and non-specific/eczematous changes (28 versus 25%). Data were available regarding onward referral pathways in 163/311 (52%) of patients undergoing genital biopsy; 51 (31%) of patients were referred to their GP for ongoing management, 63 (39%) required referral to dermatology, 27 (17%) required referral to another tertiary specialist and 22 (13%) were discharged requiring no further follow-up. The results of our audit provide reassuring data, suggesting that biopsy within in a GU medicine clinic has a good diagnostic yield (83%) for a range of diagnoses. Clinical diagnosis concurred with histological diagnosis in 53% of cases, illustrating that diagnostic biopsy has an important role as an investigation available for diagnosing genital conditions. The range and proportion of diagnoses seen at both centres was remarkably similar. At least 45% of our patients biopsied were able to avoid the need for further specialist referral. We conclude that skin biopsy in GU medicine setting can also reduce the need for onward referral to other specialties, reducing overall costs and increasing convenience for patients and concurs with other studies that penile biopsy is a safe and useful procedure. – 3
Polarimetric measurement of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in glaucoma diagnosis.

PURPOSE To evaluate reliability and diagnostic value of polarimetric measurements of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in the diagnosis of glaucoma. METHODS The study included 81 eyes with perimetric glaucoma with glaucomatous changes of the optic disc and visual field defects; 52 eyes with preperimetric glaucoma with glaucomatous optic disc abnormalities and normal achromatic visual fields; and 70 normal eyes. For determination of reliability, four examiners repeated polarimetric measurements five times in ten normal subjects. RESULTS The polarimetric variables were significantly correlated with increasing mean visual field defect and decreasing neuroretinal rim area. In correlation analyses with visual field defects, correlation coefficients were highest for the variable "superior/nasal ratio" and "the Number," a variable calculated by the neural network of the device. In correlations with neuroretinal rim area, correlation coefficients were highest for measurements of the inferior nerve fiber layer thickness. The preperimetric glaucoma group and the control group differed significantly in the variables "superior/nasal ratio" and "the Number" and, to a smaller degree, in the variables "superior/temporal ratio" and "superior/inferior ratio. " The Number variable had a sensitivity of 82% and 58% at a predefined specificity of 80% in separating perimetric glaucoma patients and preperimetric glaucoma patients, respectively, from control subjects. Reproducibility of the polarimetric measurements ranged between 70% and 89%. CONCLUSION Polarimetric measurements of the RNFL thickness can detect glaucomatous optic nerve damage in patients with visual field loss, and in some patients with preperimetric glaucomatous optic nerve damage. Considering the fast performance, easy handling, and low maintenance costs, RNFL polarimetry may be helpful in glaucoma diagnosis.
Rest-activity cycles in childhood and adolescent depression.

OBJECTIVE To quantify circadian rhythms in rest-activity cycles in depressed children and adolescents. METHOD Rest-activity cycles were evaluated by actigraphy over five consecutive 24-hour periods in 100 children and adolescents, including 59 outpatients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 41 healthy normal controls. Total activity, total light exposure, and time spent in light at more than 1,000 lux were averaged over the recording period for each participant. Time series analysis was used to determine the amplitude and period length of circadian rhythms in rest-activity. RESULTS Overall, adolescents with MDD had lower activity levels, damped circadian amplitude, and lower light exposure and spent less time in bright light than healthy controls. Among children, those with MDD showed lower light exposure and spent less time in bright light, but only depressed girls showed damped circadian amplitude. The sex differences were substantially greater in the MDD group than in the normal control group. CONCLUSIONS These results confirm damped circadian rhythms in children and adolescents with MDD and highlight the influence of gender and age on these measures.
Segmentation and motivation of foreign tourists in world heritage sites. A case study, Quito (Ecuador)

ABSTRACT This paper presents an analysis of the current relationships between three fundamental constructs in the decision-making process of the visitor – motivation, satisfaction and loyalty – of a tourist destination World Heritage Site like the city of Quito, Ecuador. The results demonstrate the existence of three motivational dimensions among foreign visitors to visit the city: firstly cultural, secondly circumstantial and finally hedonic-gastronomic. Additionally, and tending to the motivational schemes, four types of foreign visitors have been identified: a hedonic-gastronomic cultural tourist, a hedonic-gastronomic tourist, a circumstantial hedonic-gastronomic cultural tourist and an alternative tourist. The reasons or motives of the visit reveal that only the hedonic-gastronomic dimension discriminates significantly as far as the degree of perceived satisfaction and loyalty declared by the visitors are concerned.
Auditory Dysfunction

One hundred thirty-three children with school problems referred to a hospital-based multidisciplinary clinic were screened audiologically to determine the frequency of auditory problems, and to determine whether one could predict auditory problems from clinical data. Ninety-three (69.9%) failed one or more parts of the screening procedure. Twenty-two children (7.9% of the total group) had abnormal hearing acuity, 33 (30.6%) abnormal speech discrimination in noise, and 73 (62.4%) abnormal short term auditory memory. These figures are significantly higher than those found in a representative sample of school children. Not one of 16 items from parent and teacher questionnaires and neurodevelopmental findings predicted auditory acuity or speech in noise problems; there were correlations between short term auditory memory items and parental and teacher rating of a language problem, teacher rating of reading and sequencing problem, and neurodevelopmental finding of auditory sequencing problem. In view of this inability to clinically predict auditory processing deficits, the authors suggest that a full audiological assessment, including short term memory and speech in noise testing, is warranted as part of the evaluation of children with learning difficulties.
Multi-Channel Attribution: The Blind Spot of Online Advertising

In this paper, we study the problem of attributing credit for customer acquisition to different components of a digital marketing campaign using an analytical model. We investigate attribution contracts through which an advertiser tries to incentivize two publishers that affect customer acquisition. We situate such contracts in a two-stage marketing funnel, where the publishers should coordinate their efforts to drive conversions. First, we analyze the popular class of multi-touch contracts where the principal splits the attribution among publishers using fixed weights depending on their position. Our first result shows the following counterintuitive property of optimal multi-touch contracts: higher credit is given to the portion of the funnel where the existing baseline conversion rate is higher. Next, we show that social welfare maximizing contracts can sometimes have even higher conversion rate than optimal multi-touch contracts, highlighting a prisoners’ dilemma effect in the equilibrium for the multi-touch contract. While multi-touch attribution is not globally optimal, there are linear contracts that “coordinate the funnel” to achieve optimal revenue. However, such optimal-revenue contracts require knowledge of the baseline conversion rates by the principal. When this information is not available, we propose a new class of ‘reinforcement’ contracts and show that for a large range of model parameters these contracts yield better revenue than multi-touch.
Disinflation, external vulnerability, and fiscal intransigence: some unpleasant Mundellian arithmetic

ABSTRACT This paper examines the policy challenges that a country faces when it wants to both reduce inflation and maintain a sustainable external position. Robert Mundell’s policy assignment framework suggests that these two goals may be mutually incompatible unless monetary and fiscal policies are properly coordinated. Unfortunately, if the fiscal authority is unwilling to cooperate – a case of fiscal intransigence – and central banks pursue a disinflation on a “go it alone” basis, their country’s external position may further deteriorate. A dynamic analysis shows that if the central bank itself lacks credibility, it must rely even more on cooperation from the fiscal authority. The paper thus extends Sargent and Wallace’s “unpleasant monetarist arithmetic” to an open economy: a central bank’s efforts to stabilize prices and output using a “go it alone” strategy (no help from the fiscal) may be thwarted by external factors: more external debt, higher risk premia and exchange rate passthrough.
The time-varying effect of inflation uncertainty on inflation for Turkey

ABSTRACT We investigate the effect of inflation uncertainty on inflation from January 1982 through March 2016 for Turkey by using the Stochastic Volatility in Mean model with time-varying parameters. Our empirical evidence from consumer price index (CPI) inflation suggests that the observed positive relationship between inflation and inflation uncertainty is not robust. This positive relationship diminishes after 2002. This finding is valid for all five subcomponents of CPI inflation; however, for Health Services, Transportation Services, and Recreational and Cultural Services, an inflation-positive association is reported after 2010.
The essential role of Cited2, a negative regulator for HIF-1α, in heart development and neurulation

Cited2 is a cAMP-responsive element-binding protein (CBP)/p300 interacting transcriptional modulator and a proposed negative regulator for hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α through its competitive binding with HIF-1α to CBP/p300. Disruption of the gene encoding Cited2 is embryonic lethal because of defects in the development of heart and neural tube. Morphological and Doppler echocardiographic analyses of Cited2−/− embryos reveal severe cardiovascular abnormalities, including pulmonic arterial stenosis and ventricular septal defects accompanied by high peak outflow velocities, features of the human congenital cardiac defect termed tetralogy of Fallot. The mRNA levels of several HIF-1α-responsive genes, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), Glut1, and phosphoglycerate kinase 1, increased in the Cited2−/− hearts. The increase of VEGF levels is significant, because defects in the Cited2−/− embryos closely resemble the major defects observed in the VEGF transgenic embryos. Finally, compared with wild-type, cultured fibroblasts from Cited2−/− embryos demonstrate an enhanced expression of HIF-1α-responsive genes under hypoxic conditions. These observations suggest that functional loss of Cited2 is responsible for defects in heart and neural tube development, in part because of the modulation of HIF-1 transcriptional activities in the absence of Cited2. These findings demonstrate that Cited2 is an indispensable regulatory gene during prenatal development.
Contractor Work Preparation Process Improvement Using Lean Six Sigma

To ensure the health and safety of their workforce and protection of their assets and the environment, a global oil and gas company operating in Indonesia requires comprehensive identification and evaluation of job hazards that were included in work permitting process prior work execution in the field. Based on 20 data points obtained in August 2013, start-working time for contractors who worked for Capital Project Management (CPM) Team in Facility B was in average at 09.05 a.m. The aim of this paper is to present how the firm implemented Lean Six Sigma to reduce non-added value activities while fulfilling to its safety requirements and to share lessons learned from practical and theory testing perspective. The methodology used is Lean Six Sigma’s DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) as mandated by the corporate policy of the firm. This research adopts a mix-methods approach, by using both qualitative and quantitative data. This study was a one year longitudinal study of the Lean Six Sigma implementation to improve contractors’ work preparation process. The improvement resulted in reduction of non-value added activities and successfully increased the available working time per day by 59.3 minutes in average. The results of this case study reconfirm Lean Six Sigma as a good management theory since it shows a consistency between the theory and the real practice in a global oil and gas company in Indonesia.
A five‐nucleotide sequence protects DNA from exonucleolytic degradation by AddAB, the RecBCD analogue of Bacillus subtilis

Homologous recombination in Bacillus subtilis requires the product of the addA and addB genes, the AddAB enzyme. This enzyme, which is both a helicase and a powerful nuclease, is thought to be the counterpart of the Escherichia coli RecBCD enzyme. From this analogy, it is expected that the nuclease activity of AddAB can be downregulated by a specific DNA sequence, which would correspond to the chi site in E. coli. Using protection of linear double‐stranded DNA as a criterion, we identified the five‐nucleotide sequence 5′‐AGCGG‐3′, or its complement 5′‐CCGCT‐3′, as being sufficient for AddAB nuclease attenuation. We have shown further that this attenuation occurs only if the sequence is properly oriented with respect to the translocating AddAB enzyme. Finally, inspection of the complete B. subtilis genome revealed that this five‐nucleotide sequence is over‐represented and is, in a majority of cases, co‐oriented with DNA replication. Based on these observations, we propose that 5′‐AGCGG‐3′, or its complement, is the B. subtilis analogue of the E. coli chi sequence.
Counting k-component forests of a graph

We describe an algorithm for computing the number of k-component spanning forests of a graph G that runs in polynomial time for fixed k. The algorithm is based on earlier work by Liu and Chow. Our contributions are a simpler graph-theoretic proof of their formula and a demonstration of how Jacobi's Theorem can be applied to improve the asymptotic time complexity. By matroid duality, the number of connected spanning subgraphs of cyclomatic number c of a planar graph equals the number of c + 1-component forests in the dual. Thus, one application of this research is an algorithm for counting connected spanning unicyclic subgraphs of a planar graph. We show this can be done in time O(M(n)), where M(n) is the time complexity of multiplying together two n by n matrices.
Identification of Snapin and Three Novel Proteins (BLOS1, BLOS2, and BLOS3/Reduced Pigmentation) as Subunits of Biogenesis of Lysosome-related Organelles Complex-1 (BLOC-1)*

Biogenesis of lysosome-related organelles complex-1 (BLOC-1) is a ubiquitously expressed multisubunit protein complex required for the normal biogenesis of specialized organelles of the endosomal-lysosomal system, such as melanosomes and platelet dense granules. The complex is known to contain the coiled-coil-forming proteins, Pallidin, Muted, Cappuccino, and Dysbindin. The genes encoding these proteins are defective in inbred mouse strains that serve as models of Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS), a genetic disorder characterized by hypopigmentation and platelet storage pool deficiency. In addition, mutation of human Dysbindin causes HPS type 7. Here, we report the identification of another four subunits of the complex. One is Snapin, a coiled-coil-forming protein previously characterized as a binding partner of synaptosomal-associated proteins 25 and 23 and implicated in the regulation of membrane fusion events. The other three are previously uncharacterized proteins, which we named BLOC subunits 1, 2, and 3 (BLOS1, -2, and -3). Using specific antibodies to detect endogenous proteins from human and mouse cells, we found that Snapin, BLOS1, BLOS2, and BLOS3 co-immunoprecipitate, and co-fractionate upon size exclusion chromatography, with previously known BLOC-1 subunits. Furthermore, steady-state levels of the four proteins are significantly reduced in cells from pallid mice, which carry a mutation in Pallidin and display secondary loss of other BLOC-1 subunits. Yeast two-hybrid analyses suggest a network of binary interactions involving all of the previously known and newly identified subunits. Interestingly, the HPS mouse model strain, reduced pigmentation, carries a nonsense mutation in the gene encoding BLOS3. As judged from size exclusion chromatographic analyses, the reduced pigmentation mutation affects BLOC-1 assembly less severely than the pallid mutation. Mutations in the human genes encoding Snapin and the BLOS proteins could underlie novel forms of HPS.
New Paradigms on the Transport Functions of Maturation-stage Ameloblasts

Fully matured dental enamel is an architecturally and mechanically complex hydroxyapatite-based bioceramic devoid of most of the organic material that was essential in its making. Enamel formation is a staged process principally involving secretory and maturation stages, each associated with major changes in gene expression and cellular function. Cellular activities that define the maturation stage of amelogenesis include ion (e.g., calcium and phosphate) transport and storage, control of intracellular and extracellular pH (e.g., bicarbonate and hydrogen ion movements), and endocytosis. Recent studies on rodent amelogenesis have identified a multitude of gene products that appear to be linked to these cellular activities. This review describes the main cellular activities of these genes during the maturation stage of amelogenesis.
Reduction in duodenal endocrine cells in irritable bowel syndrome is associated with stem cell abnormalities.

AIM To determine whether the decreased density of duodenal endocrine cells in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is associated with abnormalities in stem cell differentiation. METHODS The study sample comprised 203 patients with IBS (180 females and 23 males with a mean age of 36 years) and a control group of 86 healthy subjects without gastrointestinal complaints (77 females and 9 males with a mean age of 38 years). The patients included 80 with mostly diarrhoea (IBS-D), 47 with both diarrhoea and constipation (IBS-M), and 76 with mostly constipation (IBS-C). Both the patients and controls underwent gastroscopy and four biopsy samples were taken from the descending part of the duodenum, proximal to the papilla of Vater. The biopsy samples were sectioned and immunostained for Musashi 1 (Msi-1), neurogenin 3 (NEUROG3), secretin, cholecystokinin (CCK), gastric inhibitory peptide (GIP), somatostatin and serotonin. Immunostaining was performed with an ultraView Universal DAB Detection Kit (v1.02.0018, Venata Medical Systems, Basal, Switzerland) using the BenchMark Ultra immunohistochemistry/in situ hybridization staining module (Venata Medical Systems). Endocrine cell densities were quantified by computerized image analysis using the Olympus cellSens imaging program. RESULTS The densities of Msi-1 and NEUROG3 cells were significantly lower in IBS patients, regardless of the subtype, than in the controls (77 ± 17 vs 8 ± 2; P = 0.0001, and 351 ± 33 vs 103 ± 22; P = 0.00002, respectively). Furthermore, the densities of secretin, and CCK cells were significantly lower in patients with diarrhoea as the predominant IBS symptom (IBS-D) than in the controls (161 ± 11 vs 88 ± 8; P = 0.00007, and 325 ± 41 vs 118 ± 10; P = 0.00006, respectively), but not in patients with constipation as the predominant IBS symptom (IBS-C) or those with both diarrhoea and constipation (IBS-M). The GIP cell density was significantly reduced in both IBS-D (152 ± 12 vs 82 ± 7; P = 0.00003), and IBS-C (152 ± 12 vs 107 ± 8; P = 0.01), but not in IBS-M. The densities of somatostatin cells in the controls and the IBS-total, IBS-D, IBS-M and IBS-C patients were 81 ± 8, 28 ± 3, 20 ± 4, 37 ± 5 and 28 ± 4 cells/mm(2) epithelium, respectively. The density of somatostatin cells was lower in IBS-total, IBS-D, IBS-M and IBS-C patients than in the controls (P = 0.00009, 0.00006, 0.009 and 0.00008, respectively). The density of serotonin cells did not differ between IBS patients and controls. CONCLUSION The reduction in duodenal endocrine cells in IBS patients found in this study is probably attributable to the reduction in cells expressing Msi-1 and NEUROG3.
On-chip delay measurement circuit

A novel On-chip delay measurement circuit is presented which is suitable for wide applications involving on-chip measurements, monitoring and process compensation. The circuit is based upon multiple characterization units consisting of ring oscillator, latches and counter. The delay unit used in ring oscillator defines the measurement resolution for the characterization unit. Each characterization unit has different delay cell with delay varying by few Pico-seconds (~1 to 5 picoseconds) with other one, which helps in increasing the resolution. All units give values based on their delay units and collectively all values forms a statistical space whose median gives the pulse width value. In this way, the circuit overcomes the limitations of earlier proposed on-chip measurement systems by offering high accuracy, high resolution and wide range of measurement using very few components. Silicon results on CMOS 40nm technology node for characterization of memory access time based upon proposed system are also presented.