Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Involvement of neural adaptation in the recovery of vision after laser refractive surgery.

PURPOSE To investigate whether the gradual improvement in unaided visual acuity commonly seen after laser refractive surgery is attributable, in part, to neural adaptation to blur. METHODS Unaided logMAR visual acuity was measured at presentation (blur adapted) and immediately after refraction and removal of refractive correction (correction adapted) in 26 patients with low myopic residual refractive error after laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). The difference in unaided visual acuity (correction adapted--blur adapted) indicates a dominance of practice effect (if negative) or blur adaptation (if positive). A combination of blur adaptation and practice effect is possible. RESULTS Overall, the mean unaided visual acuity at presentation (blur adapted) was 0.16+/-0.16 (mean+/-standard deviation) logMAR, and the mean unaided visual acuity immediately after refraction and removal of refractive correction (correction adapted) was 0.14+/-0.14 logMAR, giving a difference (correction adapted--blur adapted) of -0.02+/-0.06 logMAR. This difference was not significant (analysis of variance [ANOVA] F1,25=0.204, P>.05), suggesting neither blur adaptation nor practice effect. However, during the first 10 weeks after surgery, the difference in unaided visual acuity was -0.07+/-0.05 logMAR, suggesting a practice effect. After 10 weeks, the mean difference was +0.02+/-0.05 logMAR, suggesting any practice effect is offset by blur adaptation. These values were significantly different (ANOVA F1,25= 13.53, P<.01). CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that patients do not adapt to surgically induced blur, on average, until 10 weeks after LASIK. The reason for this delay is uncertain; perhaps instability of blur hinders adaptation during the early postoperative period. Part of the gradual visual improvement after LASIK appears to be due to neural adaptation to blur.
1.8-V 10-GHZ ring VCO design using 0.18-&#956;m CMOS technology

This paper presents a three-stage 0.18-mum CMOS ring oscillator for use at 10-GHz. The circuit utilizes the feedforward technique in the delay cells. Together with the positive feedback provided by a cross-coupled nMOS pair in each delay cell, the performance of the oscillator is further enhanced. The output frequency ranges from 10.5 to 8.1 GHz with control voltages varying from 0 to 1.5 V. The phase noise is -92 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset from the center frequency of 9.5 GHz
Understanding the Relationship between Incentive Design and Participation in U.S. Workplace Wellness Programs

Purpose. We aimed to understand how employer characteristics relate to the use of incentives to promote participation in wellness programs and to explore the relationship between incentive type and participation rates. Design. A cross-sectional analysis of nationally representative survey data combined with an administrative business database was employed. Settings/Subjects. Random sampling of U.S. companies within strata based on industry and number of employees was used to determine a final sample of 3000 companies. Of these, 19% returned completed surveys. Measures. The survey asked about employee participation rate, incentive type, and gender composition of employees. Incentive types included any incentives, high-value rewards, and rewards plus penalties. Analysis. Logistic regressions of incentive type on employer characteristics were used to determine what types of employers are more likely to offer which type of incentives. A generalized linear model of participation rate was used to determine the relationship between incentive type and participation. Results. Employers located in the Northeast were 5 to 10 times more likely to offer incentives. Employers with a large number of employees, particularly female employees, were up to 1.25 times more likely to use penalties. Penalty and high-value incentives were associated with participation rates of 68% and 52%, respectively. Conclusion. Industry or regional characteristics are likely determinants of incentive use for wellness programs. Penalties appear to be effective, but attention should be paid to what types of employees they affect.
Volume Coherence Estimation for Random Forest Height Retrieval Based on Polinsar Data

The volume coherence is an important parameter in the two-layer model for random forest height retrieval. Though it is "invisible" from the observation, it can be estimated from the data. Considering the argument range of the coherences for all the possible polarizations, six polarizations can be obtained for each scattering cell. The volume coherence can be estimated more reasonably and the ground phase center can be determined more accurately. It benefits to improve the height retrieval accuracy by this model. The proposed method is validated by using L-band single-baseline polarimetric interferometric SAR data collected with the DLR Experimental SAR system.
Dividend policy as a factor for managing company value: Comparing trends in emerging markets

Stock markets, which are a kind of catalyst for the level of development and dynamics of national and regional economies, have attracted the attention of researchers and practitioners, especially in emerging markets. The gradual transformation of emerging to developed market in terms of basic parameters cannot, by definition, be standardized and homogeneous from a regional aspect. The subject of this article is the formulation and testing of hypotheses about the influence of various dividend policy options on the value of oil and gas companies in emerging markets. In particular, we compare two estimates: (a) actual value of the company according to market data; and (b) theoretical (intrinsic) value of the company calculated on the basis of forecast data on systematic dividend payments using the simulation method (Monte Carlo method). The identification of statistically significant relationships between these estimates allows us to build a real mechanism for managing the company’s value in the context of the Value-Based Management (VBM) model. The logic and methodology of modeling and assessing the intrinsic value of the company, substantiated by the authors, was tested on actual publicly reported data of the largest listed companies in the oil and gas sector in a number of emerging markets in various regions of the world. The choice of sector was determined by particularities of the development of these companies, in particular the existence and certain continuity of the dividend policy. In developed markets, modeling business value in conjunction with dividend payments has been studied since the mid 1970s. The specifics of emerging markets (including the Russian case) are such that in fact only in recent years it has become possible to conduct research aimed at identifying the characteristics of the dividend policy of companies represented in these markets. Until recently, a relatively small history of dividend payments did not allow the construction of more or less reasonable hypotheses about trends and features. Moreover, results obtained were largely insignificant from the standpoint of statistical methods (an extremely small amount of data). It was not necessary to talk about a certain continuity of the dividend policy in the context of a rather stochastic procedure for accruing dividends at an early stage of public business in emerging markets. The situation has begun to change in recent years. The authors of this article substantiate the assumption that the existence of a successive dividend policy is an indispensable condition for the transition of the emerging stock market to the developed category.
Long-term assessment of seed provenance effect on the establishment of the perennial grass Bromus erectus

Abstract Questions: Do short-term seed-addition experiments reliably tell us about seed limitation of perennial species? Does seed provenance affect recruitment success? Locations: Three dry grassland sites (Negrentino, Poma, San Giorgio), southern Switzerland. Methods: 18 000 seeds of Bromus erectus of three provenances were sown in a reciprocal design with temporal replication. Frequent checks were made of all emerged individuals of two seed cohorts over three years and continued annual checks of one cohort until year eight. Performance was determined by number and size of emerging and surviving individuals and a combined measure of population vigour. Results: From a three-year perspective, all sites appeared to be seed limited, and differences due to seed provenance were small. Over five years, two sites showed an increasingly superior performance of the local over the foreign populations. At one of these two sites, average individuals remained small and a decrease in number and individual phytomass since the fifth year suggested complete microsite limitation. Reproductive individuals only occurred at the other sites and confirmed seed limitation after eight years. The best performing site had the first reproductive individuals in the fourth year. Conclusions: B. erectus showed a long pre-reproductive phase during which the prediction of establishment success by individual counts can be misleading if plant size is not also measured. The effect of seed provenance was clearly indicated where populations established most successfully and local-over-foreign superiority increased with time.
A flexible Java GPU-enhanced visualization framework and its applications

A flexible biomedical visualization framework implemented with Java, OpenGL, and OpenCL performs efficient volume rendering with large, multi-modal datasets. The framework takes advantage of the parallel processing power on modern graphics hardware with novel OpenCL and GLSL shading language implementations. The Java and GPU environment provide portable advanced biomedical image visualization applications. Several applications built on top of the GPU framework are also presented to show the extensibility of the application. These include multi-surface rendering, stereoscopic rendering, image fusion, and diffusion tensor visualization.
The Bacteriophage P1 HumD Protein Is a Functional Homolog of the Prokaryotic UmuD′-Like Proteins and Facilitates SOS Mutagenesis in Escherichia coli

ABSTRACT The Escherichia coli umuD and umuC genes comprise an operon and encode proteins that are involved in the mutagenic bypass of normally replication-inhibiting DNA lesions. UmuD is, however, unable to function in this process until it undergoes a RecA-mediated cleavage reaction to generate UmuD′. Many homologs ofumuDC have now been identified. Most are located on bacterial chromosomes or on broad-host-range R plasmids. One such putative homolog, humD (homolog of umuD) is, however, found on the bacteriophage P1 genome. Interestingly,humD differs from other umuD homologs in that it encodes a protein similar in size to the posttranslationally generated UmuD′ protein and not UmuD, nor is it in an operon with a cognate umuC partner. To determine if HumD is, in fact, a bona fide homolog of the prokaryotic UmuD′-like mutagenesis proteins, we have analyzed the ability of HumD to complement UmuD′ functions in vivo as well as examined HumD’s physical properties in vitro. When expressed from a high-copy-number plasmid, HumD restored cellular mutagenesis and increased UV survival to normally nonmutablerecA430 lexA(Def) and UV-sensitive ΔumuDC recA718 lexA(Def) strains, respectively. Complementing activity was reduced when HumD was expressed from a low-copy-number plasmid, but this observation is explained by immunoanalysis which indicates that HumD is normally poorly expressed in vivo. In vitro analysis revealed that like UmuD′, HumD forms a stable dimer in solution and is able to interact with E. coli UmuC and RecA nucleoprotein filaments. We conclude, therefore, that bacteriophage P1 HumD is a functional homolog of the UmuD′-like proteins, and we speculate as to the reasons why P1 might require the activity of such a protein in vivo.
The Contact Lens and Myopia Progression (CLAMP) Study: Design and Baseline Data

Background. Although previous contact lens myopia control studies indicate that rigid contact lenses slow the progression of myopia in children, they have all suffered from limitations that challenge the significance of their results. The Contact Lens and Myopia Progression (CLAMP) Study addresses the limitations of previous studies and attempts to correct them by implementing alternative Study designs. The CLAMP study also measures all the ocular components to examine the potential mechanism of treatment effect. Methods. Eligible children were fitted with rigid gas-permeable contact lenses and enrolled in a run-in period to determine whether they were able to adapt to rigid contact lens wear. Subjects who successfully completed the run-in period were randomly assigned to wear rigid contact lenses or soft contact lenses for the remainder of the 3-year study. The primary outcome measure will be the 3-year change in cycloplegic autorefraction; the secondary outcome measures will include the 3-year change in axial length, peripheral autorefraction, crystalline lens curvatures, corneal curvature and thickness, accommodation, and intraocular pressure, which are being measured annually. Results. We examined 148 eligible subjects who participated in the run-in period. Of the 148 eligible subjects, 116 (78.4%) were able to adapt to rigid contact lens wear and were enrolled in the CLAMP Study. The mean age of the participants at the baseline visit was 10.5 years, and 59.5% were girls. At the randomization visit, the mean (±SD) spherical equivalent refractive error in the right eye was −2.09 ± 0.89 D, the mean central curvature of the right cornea by videokeratography was 44.5 ± 1.3 D, and the mean axial length of the right eye was 24.13 ± 0.71 mm. Conclusions. Four of five children aged 8- to 11-years-old were able to adapt to rigid gas-permeable contact lens wear. The CLAMP Study aims to further clarify the effect of rigid gas-permeable contact lenses on myopia progression in children.
Automatic Thresholding Techniques for Alzheimer ’ s Disease Diagnosis

Images has become an essential role in diagnosis the diseases especially the Magnetic Resonance Imaging(MRI). However, used(MRI)that diagnosis Alzheimer's disease is still remains a challenge, especially in the early stages, when the disease offers more chances to be treated. In this paper we present medical images diagnosis for Alzheimer's disease using different thresholding techniques. The used method is Otsu method ,because it is one of the most effective thresholding techniques for most real world images with regard to uniformity and shape measures. Our experiments will be as a test to determine which technique is effective in thresholding (extraction) atrophy neurons in the brain, and in the future these techniques can be very useful in detection other diseases .
Protein electrostatics and pKa blind predictions; contribution from empirical predictions of internal ionizable residues

In this study, we validate and probe the description of electrostatic interactions within proteins by predicting and comparing pKa values of ionizable groups in a series of mutated staphylococcal nuclease variants with experiments. This set of pKa values is found to be the most challenging pKa data to date, because ionizable residues have been introduced in hydrophobic patches in the protein interior and are therefore significantly shifted from their reference solvated values. We find that using PROPKA2 (Li et al., Proteins 2005;61:704–721) results in an rmsd value close to 2 for true blind predictions (1.6 if we reassign the tightly coupled Asp19/21 pair) and close to 1 for postpredictions with the newly developed PROPKA3 (Olsson et al., J. Chem. Theor. Comp. 2011;7:525–537). We also use the performance of the Null‐model, predictions made with the reference value only, to provide a better description of the expected errors in pKa predictions and to compare submissions made using different subsets of the pKa data more consistently. Proteins 2011; © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Comparative genomic hybridization-based oncogenetic tree model for genetic classification of breast cancer.

OBJECTIVE To describe a genetic progression pathway in breast cancer by a maximum likelihood-based tree model representing the dependencies between chromosomal imbalances. STUDY DESIGN One hundred six cases were studied by comparative genomic hybridization, followed by maximum likelihood estimation of an oncogenetic tree model. RESULTS The tree model identified 3 clusters with correlated chromosomal imbalances. The first cluster included losses at 4q, 5q, 6q, 9p, 13q and a gain at 17q; the second cluster included gains at 1q, 8q, 16p and 20q; the third cluster included losses at 8p, 11q, 16q and 18q. The imbalances nearest the root of the tree were the loss at 13q (cluster 1), the gain at 1q (cluster 2) and the loss at 18q (cluster 3), reflecting an early change in breast cancer evolution. Cox regression analysis revealed the tumor stage and the grade as relevant for overall survival (p = 0.001) and the tumor stage, the grade and the loss at 16q as relevant for disease-free survival (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION Methods like oncogenetic tree analysis provide insights into the genetic progression of breast cancer and may extract relevant markers detected by screening methods like comparative genomic hybridization for further studies.
Surface-Tension-Driven Self-Alignment of Microchips on Black-Silicon-Based Hybrid Template in Ambient Air

In this paper, we demonstrate self-alignment of microchips on a simple-to-fabricate hybrid template with both water and UV-curing adhesive (EPO-TEK UVO-114). The hybrid template contains receptor sites with solid edges for droplet confinement and large wetting contrast between the receptor sites and the substrate for microchip manipulation. Nanostructured black silicon surface functionalized with fluoropolymer is used as a substrate, while protruded silicon dioxide patterns covered with fluoropolymer serve as receptor sites. A simple and fast process consisting only of one pass of photolithography, cryogenic deep reactive-ion etching (RIE), and RIE steps is used to fabricate the hybrid template. The self-assembly tests are carried out in a hybrid microassembly setup. Dummy microchips of sizes 200 μm × 200 μm × 50 μm are self-aligned on 200 μm × 200 μm receptor sites in ambient air with both water and adhesive.
A Tensor-Based Pattern-Recognition Framework for the Interpretation of Touch Modality in Artificial Skin Systems

Artificial skin systems support human-robot interactions through touch. The interpretation of touch modalities indeed represents a crucial component for the future development of robots that can properly interact with humans. Independently of the specific employed transducer, one of the key issues is how to process the massively complex and high-dimensional tactile data. In this paper, machine learning technologies (namely, support vector machines and extreme learning machines) support a pattern-recognition framework that can fully exploit the tensor morphology of the tactile signal. Furthermore, a practical strategy is provided to address the intricacies of the training procedure. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Deoxyribonucleic acid and outer membrane: strains diploid for the oriC region show elevated levels of deoxyribonucleic acid-binding protein and evidence for specific binding of the oriC region to outer membrane

We have recently reported that part of the chromosomal deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of Escherichia coli is associated with the outer membrane fraction and that an outer membrane protein having a molecular weight of 31,000 probably is involved in this association (H. Wolf-Watz and A. Norqvist, J. Bacteriol. 140:43-49, 1979). We have now found that F' merodiploid strains containing two copies of the DNA between bglB and ilv have increased levels of this protein and an increased amount of DNA in their outer membranes. Increased levels of the protein are also found when lambda asn phage, containing at 1.5-megadalton fragment of DNA located to the right of the uncA uncB genes but to the left of oriC, are induced. It therefore seems that this 1.5-megadalton fragment of DNA either codes for or binds to the 31,000-dalton outer membrane protein. Hybridization studies utilizing DNA found to be bound to outer membrane and DNA isolated from a specialized transducing phage lambda asn 132 revealed that at least 5 to 10% of outer membrane DNA has a DNA sequence homologous with a chromosomal segment carried by this oriC-containing phage.
The obstetric and gynaecological management of women with inherited bleeding disorders – review with guidelines produced by a taskforce of UK Haemophilia Centre Doctors’ Organization

Summary. The gynaecological and obstetric management of women with inherited coagulation disorders requires close collaboration between obstetrician/gynaecologists and haematologists. Ideally these women should be managed in a joint disciplinary clinic where expertise and facilities are available to provide comprehensive assessment of the bleeding disorder and a combined plan of management. The haematologist should arrange and interpret laboratory tests and make provision for appropriate replacement therapy. These guidelines have been provided for healthcare professionals for information and guidance and it is also intended that they are readily available for women with bleeding disorders.
High performance CMOS integrated PWM/PFM dual-mode DC-DC buck converter

This paper presents a dual-mode CMOS integrated DC-DC buck converter for portable application. The proposed dual-mode buck converter is designed to be controlled by PFM (pulse frequency modulation) and PWM (pulse width modulation) modes. The converter for the application of wide current range and high power efficiency is used to generate the voltage of 0.5–3.0 V with the battery source of 3.3–5.0 V which has the load current range of 30–200 mA. PFM control is applied to obtain high power efficiency when the load-current is low under 50 mA, while PWM is designed to be operated in the higher range of load-current. A ring-type VCO (voltage-controlled oscillator) is used in PFM circuit and provides a variable frequency to correspond to the output current. In PWM control circuit, the combination of sensing current and ramp signal are applied in feedback circuit of converter. The proposed dual-mode DC-DC buck converter is integrated with 0.18 μm CMOS process. Simulation result shows that the converter provides the well-regulated line and load regulations with power efficiency of 80–90%.