Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Uptake, Barriers and Outcomes in the Follow-up of Patients Referred for Free-of-Cost Cataract Surgery in the Sao Paulo Eye Study

Abstract Purpose: To determine uptake, barriers and outcomes in the follow-up of patients referred for free-of-charge, expedited cataract surgery in the Sao Paulo Eye Study (SPES). Methods: SPES was a population-based study of urban, low-middle income residents aged ≥50 years. Presenting visual acuity (PVA), best-corrected visual acuity, refraction, and slit-lamp examination were performed in 3677 participants. For subjects with cataract as a principal cause of best-corrected visual acuity ≤20/40, surgery was offered free of charge. Two years after the baseline study, surgery uptake, barriers to surgery, and visual outcomes were analyzed. Results: Among 210 (5.71%) participants who had a cataract surgery indication at baseline, 164 (78.1%) were successfully contacted and 55 (33.5%) reported being operated on for cataract, with 51 agreeing to be re-examined. In a multiple logistic regression model, age, sex, schooling, previous cataract surgery, and PVA at baseline were not significantly associated with surgery uptake. Co-existing health conditions (20.4%), fear of surgery (12.2%) and fear of losing eyesight (11.6%) were the most frequent barriers to cataract surgery adherence. Among the 69 eyes operated on in the interval between baseline and follow-up, PVA ≥20/63 was observed in 50 (72.6%, 95% confidence interval, CI, 62.2–82.3%), PVA <20/63–20/200 in 11 (15.8%, 95% CI 8.9–22.9%) and PVA <20/200 in 8 (11.6%, 95% CI 5.3–17.9%). Conclusions: Quality of surgery is an increasing determinant of uptake rates. Although free-of-charge and expedited cataract surgery was offered, surgical outcomes might have influenced the low uptake. Aside from cataract surgery campaigns, improvement of surgeon skills, accurate biometry, treatment of ocular comorbidities, postoperative follow-up and eye-care education are needed.
Current THD reduction for high-power-density LCL-filter-based grid-tied inverter operated in discontinuous current mode

This paper proposes a discontinuous current mode (DCM) feedback current control for a single-phase grid-tied inverter in order to minimize a LCL filter without worsening total harmonic distortion (THD) of a grid current. In DCM, there are two nonlinearities occurring in the transfer functions; the first non-linearity occurs in the duty-ratio-to-current transfer function which worsens the current command response, whereas the second nonlinearity occurs in the disturbance-to-current transfer function which reduces the disturbance effect. In the proposed DCM current control, the first nonlinearity is compensated by utilizing the duty ratio at the previous calculation period in order to achieve the same control performance of the current command response as in continuous current mode. Meanwhile, the second nonlinearity is utilized in order to reduce the disturbance effect when the LCL filter with a small impedance is applied. Furthermore, a design procedure of the LCL filter is introduced under the condition that the impedance of the LCL filter can be minimized without worsening the grid current THD by applying the proposed DCM control. A 1-kW 100-kHz inverter with several LCL filters of different impedances (3.0%, 0.6% and 0.04%) is constructed in order to confirm the operation of the proposed DCM current control. As a result, the grid current THD is reduced from 8.5% to 3.7% at rated load. Furthermore, the inductor volume is reduced by 77.0%, whereas the converter loss is reduced by 17.1%.
Automated Fugl-Meyer Assessment using SVR model

A simple, objective and quantitative unsupervised outcome measure is considered vital in the home-based rehabilitation for stroke patients. The Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) scale is widely utilized in the clinical practice, while not suitable in the home settings due to its subjective and time-consuming property. In this paper, a Support Vector Regression (SVR) based evaluation model was presented to automatically estimate the FMA scores for Shoulder-Elbow movement. The estimation was obtained by analyzing accelerometer data recorded during the performance of 4 tasks from Shoulder-Elbow FMA. A combined feature selection method based on ReliefF-SVR was implemented to simplify the calculation and improve the model performance. Twenty-four subjects were involved in this study and results showed that it was possible to achieve accurate estimation of Shoulder-Elbow FMA scores using the proposed model and a cross-validation prediction error value of 2.1273 was achieved.
Nanocarrier for the Transdermal Delivery of an Antiparkinsonian Drug

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the potential of nanoemulsions as nanodrug carrier systems for the percutaneous delivery of ropinirole. Nanoemulsions comprised Capryol 90 as the oil phase, Tween 20 as the surfactant, Carbitol as the cosurfactant, and water as an external phase. The effects of composition of nanoemulsion, including the ratio of surfactant and cosurfactant (Smix) and their concentration on skin permeation, were evaluated. All the prepared nanoemulsions showed a significant increase in permeation parameters such as steady state flux (Jss) and permeability coefficient (Kp) when compared to the control (p < 0.01). Nanoemulsion composition (NEL3) comprising ropinirole (0.5% w/w), Capryol 90 (5% w/w), Smix 2:1 (35% w/w), and water (59.5% w/w) showed the highest flux (51.81 ± 5.03 µg/cm2/h) and was selected for formulation into nanoemulsion gel. The gel was further optimized with respect to oil concentration (Capryol 90), polymer concentration (Carbopol), and drug content by employing the Box–Behnken design, which statistically evaluated the effects of these components on ropinirole permeation. Oil and polymer concentrations were found to have a negative influence on permeation, while the drug content had a positive effect. Nanoemulsion gel showed a 7.5-fold increase in skin permeation rate when compared to the conventional hydrogel. In conclusion, the results of the present investigation suggested a promising role of nanoemulsions in enhancing the transdermal permeation of ropinirole.
Free radicals, antioxidants, and endothelial cell damage after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty

Background:Oxygen-derived free radicals (ODFRs) and subsequent lipid peroxidation may be responsible for myocardial damage associated with ischaemia/reperfusion after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). These potentially cytotoxic ODFRs are likely to be generated in the plasma, where the primary target organ or cell may be the endothelium. Some of these toxic effects may be limited by the action of antioxidant enzymes such as glutathione peroxidase (GPx). The aim of this study was to determine whether there was evidence of ODFR-mediated damage to the endothelium after PTCA and to examine the roles of lipid peroxides and GPx. Methods:Serial samples of plasma were obtained at the time of catheter insertion, at the time of balloon inflation, 10 min after inflation, and 60min after inflation, from 16 patients undergoing PTCA. We measured levels of von Willebrand factor (vWf, a specific product of the endothelium and a marker of damage), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS, an indirect measure of the activity of ODFRs in peroxidizing lipoproteins), and the antioxidant GPx. Results:There was a simultaneous peak in the levels of TBARS (P= 0.0096) with a fall in the levels of GP (P= 0.004) 10 min after balloon deflation. Sixty min after balloon deflation, GPx levels were still reduced (P= 0.005) but there was a rise in levels of vWf (P= 0.038). Conclusions:Our interpretation of these data is that an early peak in ODFR activity associated with PTCA causes an endothelial injury 1 h after inflation. This may be related to the reduced ability of GP$$ to scavenge ODFRs.
Predicting the stock prices of G7 countries with Bitcoin prices

This paper attempts to establish that some inherent features of the Bitcoin price can be exploited to produce better forecast results for stock prices. It does so by constructing predictive models for stock prices of G7 countries with symmetric and asymmetric prices of Bitcoin. The underlying statistical properties of Bitcoin prices such as persistence and conditional heteroscedasticity are captured in the estimation process using the Westerlund and Narayan (2015) estimator that allows for such effects in forecasting. There are two striking findings from the analysis. First, the results suggest that accounting for asymmetries is more likely to enhance the predictive power of Bitcoin in forecasting stock prices regardless of the data sample and forecast horizon. Secondly, the Bitcoin-based predictive model for stock prices, particularly the asymmetric variant, outperforms the Fractionally Integrated Autoregressive Moving Average (ARFIMA) model. While there are concerns as to whether the cryptocurrencies are veritable substitutes to the conventional financial assets, their close link with the developed stock exchanges such as those in the G7 countries suggests that they share some common characteristics such as news effects [asymmetries] which can be exploited when forecasting the behaviour of stock prices.
Improved resolution for ultrasound Fourier imaging

Ultrasound Fourier imaging was first initiated by Jian-yu Lu during the 90's. Using this method, one can compute an ultrasound image using a single emission, allowing a very high frame rate (up to 10000 frames per second). The main limitation of this method is the presence of geometrical artifacts, which tend to reduce the image resolution. In this study, we propose to use steered plane waves in reception instead of spherical waves as in [1]. This helps sampling the non-null part of the ultrasound spectrum with finer resolution, while reducing the presence of artifacts. A plane wave is emitted. Back-scattered signals are measured using multiple steered plane waves. Those signals 1D spectrum contain spatial information merged to create the 2D ultrasound image spectrum. Due to axial modulation, this 2D spectrum features 2 symmetric lobes. The image resolution increases when using plane waves instead of spherical waves because the sampling of these lobes is easier. The PSF size is measured both in simulation and experimentally for each method. For conventional imaging technique, this size is 155 by 311µm in axial and transverse directions. Standard Fourier imaging leads to a size of 156 by 279µm. With our spectral imaging, this size is 154µm in axial direction and 252µm in transverse direction. Using steered plane wave in a Fourier imaging framework increases the beamformed image resolution, especially in the transverse direction when compared to other beamforming methods.
Analysis of Protein Expression Profile in the Cerebellum of Cerebral Infarction Rats After Treadmill Training

Mizutani K, Sonoda S, Hayashi N, Takasaki A, Beppu H, Saitoh E, Shimpo K: Analysis of protein expression profile in the cerebellum of cerebral infarction rats after treadmill training. Objective:To investigate the relation between protein expression changes in the cerebellum and improvement of motor coordination in rats with cerebral infarction. Design:The rat group with treadmill training (n = 10) were compared with the rat group without treadmill training (n = 10) after 2.5 hrs of transient middle cerebral artery occlusion. Motor performance measured by the rotarod test and alteration of protein expression using two-dimensional electrophoresis based on proteomics in the cerebellum were examined. Results:In behavioral evaluation, the mean latency until falling from the rotating rod in the group with treadmill training was significantly longer (P < 0.01) than that in the group without treadmill training 24 days after surgery. As for protein expression, it was revealed by proteome analysis and Western blotting that the expression of the two protein spots, 25-kDa synaptosomal-associated protein and glial fibrillary acidic protein, were significantly enhanced in the cerebellum of rats with treadmill training than that in rats without a treadmill training. Conclusions:The 25-kDa synaptosomal-associated protein and glial fibrillary acidic protein may be related to the underlying mechanisms of improvement of motor coordination and exercise-induced angiogenesis, that is, remodeling of synaptic connections and proliferation of astroglial cells, respectively.
Effects of exercise training on left ventricular function and peripheral resistance in patients with chronic heart failure: A randomized trial.

CONTEXT Exercise training in patients with chronic heart failure improves work capacity by enhancing endothelial function and skeletal muscle aerobic metabolism, but effects on central hemodynamic function are not well established. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of exercise training on left ventricular (LV) function and hemodynamic response to exercise in patients with stable chronic heart failure. DESIGN Prospective randomized trial conducted in 1994-1999. SETTING University department of cardiology/outpatient clinic in Germany. PATIENTS Consecutive sample of 73 men aged 70 years or younger with chronic heart failure (with LV ejection fraction of approximately 0.27). INTERVENTION Patients were randomly assigned to 2 weeks of in-hospital ergometer exercise for 10 minutes 4 to 6 times per day, followed by 6 months of home-based ergometer exercise training for 20 minutes per day at 70% of peak oxygen uptake (n=36) or to no intervention (control group; n=37). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Ergospirometry with measurement of central hemodynamics by thermodilution at rest and during exercise; echocardiographic determination of LV diameters and volumes, at baseline and 6-month follow-up, for the exercise training vs control groups. RESULTS After 6 months, patients in the exercise training group had statistically significant improvements compared with controls in New York Heart Association functional class, maximal ventilation, exercise time, and exercise capacity as well as decreased resting heart rate and increased stroke volume at rest. In the exercise training group, an increase from baseline to 6-month follow-up was observed in mean (SD) resting LV ejection fraction (0.30 [0.08] vs 0.35 [0.09]; P=.003). Mean (SD) total peripheral resistance (TPR) during peak exercise was reduced by 157 (306) dyne/s/cm(-5) in the exercise training group vs an increase of 43 (148) dyne/s/cm(-5) in the control group (P=.003), with a concomitant increase in mean (SD) stroke volume of 14 (22) mL vs 1 (19) mL in the control group (P=.03). There was a small but significant reduction in mean (SD) LV end diastolic diameter of 4 (6) mm vs an increase of 1 (4) mm in the control group (P<.001). Changes from baseline in resting TPR for both groups were correlated with changes in stroke volume (r=-0.76; P<.001) and in LV end diastolic diameter (r=0.45; P<.001). CONCLUSIONS In patients with stable chronic heart failure, exercise training is associated with reduction of peripheral resistance and results in small but significant improvements in stroke volume and reduction in cardiomegaly. JAMA. 2000.
Improving Family History Collection

Family history is important for assessing risk of cancer. This study aimed to improve cancer family history communication and collection by training and motivating lay individuals to construct pedigrees. The authors' ultimate goal is to improve identification of familial cancer. Participants (n = 200) completed preintervention, postintervention, and 1-week follow-up surveys to assess pedigree construction. The intervention reviewed basic construction and interpretation of a pedigree for familial cancer. As a result of intervention, individuals reported more positive attitudes about collecting family history, were more likely to intend to speak to family and physicians about cancer risk, better understood a sample pedigree, and constructed more detailed pedigrees of their family history. At follow-up, 25% of the sample had spoken with their families about cancer risk. For those individuals who had not spoken with family, higher postintervention pedigree knowledge was associated with greater intentions to speak with family in the future. The intervention improved the communication and collection of pedigrees and communication about cancer risk, which could be used to improve the identification of individuals with familial cancers and awareness of family cancer risk.
Increasing Investor Happiness with Holistic and Goal-Based Investment Advice

A holistic wealth overview coupled with goal-based investing is the basis for excellent wealth management and increased investor happiness. Potentially innovative technologies and a shift in focus of financial advisors will offer the tools clients need to understand and manage their holistic wealth situation, empowering them to gain full control over their wealth and to avoid behavioral biases.
Conditionally transposition-defective derivative of Mu d1(Amp Lac)

A Mu d1 derivative is described which is useful for genetic manipulation of Mu-lac fusion insertions. A double mutant of the specialized transducing phage Mu d1(Amp Lac c62ts) was isolated which is conditionally defective in transposition ability. The Mu d1 derivative, designated Mu d1-8(Tpn[Am] Amp Lac c62ts), carries mutations which virtually eliminate transposition in strains lacking an amber suppressor. In such strains, the Mu d1-8 prophage behaves like a standard transposon. It can be moved from one strain of Salmonella typhimurium to another by the general transducing phage P22 with almost 100% inheritance of the donor insertion mutation. When introduced into a recipient carrying supD, supE, or supF, 89 to 94% of the Ampr transductants were transpositions of the donor Mu d1-8, from the transduced fragment into new sites. The stability of Mu d1-8 in a wild-type, suppressor-free background was sufficient to permit use of the fusion to select constitutive mutations without prior isolation of deletions to stabilize the fusion. Fusion strains could be grown at elevated temperature without induction of the Mu d prophage. The transposition defect of Mu d1-8 was corrected by a plasmid carrying the Mu A and B genes.
High‐resolution subunit detection of glutamate receptor by ultrasmall gold nanoparticles

In this study, we aimed to increase the sensitivity of protein labeling using 1.4 nm gold nanoparticles and glutamate δ2 receptor (GluD2) from the postsynaptic membrane of the Purkinje cells. The very small marker size of the particles reduces the steric hindrance between antibodies leading to a higher labeling efficiency of more than one subunit per single receptor molecule. The nanoparticles are visible in 200 kV dark‐field scanning transmission electron microscope on freeze‐fractured carbon replica of nervous tissue after plasma cleaning treatment. The different elemental composition of nanoparticles as Au nanogold or CdS quantum dot can be distinguished by energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy. This method ensures detection of an average of three subunits per GluD2 and often labels all four of them with 1.4 nm Au nanoparticles. It is concluded that this high‐resolution microscopic method is useful for exploring the quaternary structure of membrane proteins. Microsc. Res. Tech. 75:1159–1164, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Effect of 2-alkynoic acids on in vitro growth of bacterial and mammalian cells

3-Decynoyl-N-acetylcystamine is known to inhibit the in vitro growth of Escherichia coli but not of yeasts or mammalian cells. Neither the free acid nor the 2 positional isomer is active (L. R. Kass, J. Biol. Chem. 243:3223-3228, 1968). Other studies have shown that 2-hexadecynoic acid is fungitoxic whereas most of the shorter chain isomers are inactive (H. Gershon and L. Shanks, Can J. Microbiol. 24:591-597, 1978). Since these studies suggested that positional or chain length isomers of the acetylenic acids may selectively inhibit the growth of microorganisms, the effect of the alkynoic acids on the in vitro growth of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria was evaluated. 2-Hexadecynoic acid was found to be the most active species. This acid was bacteriostatic for all gram-positive bacteria tested. The acid was readily taken up by the treated cells and incorporated into the phospholipid fraction. When added to the culture medium, 2-hexadecynoic acid inhibited the growth of HeLa cells, but when mixed with an equivalent amount of palmitic acid, growth inhibition was not observed.
Action Research Articles on Education in Turkey: A Content Analysis

This study is a content analysis of action research articles in the field of education which were published in Turkish journals and indexed by SSCI and ULAKBIM databases. Therefore, 80 articles were examined. The data was collected through a form developed by the researchers. The articles were analyzed according to the theme and code list provided on the form. The themes included the publication date, journal title, journal type, index, language, source of the articles; the number, gender, nationality, occupation, role of the authors; location, field, topic of the studies; research design, action research type and cycle of the studies; sampling level, size and method; duration, data collection and analysis method; validity and reliability method, and citation count of the studies. The data obtained was interpreted in terms of the percentage and frequency. The most remarkable results of the study are that action research is a less preferred type of research in Turkey, mostly conducted by academicians, and the teacher researchers are very few. In addition, the need to acquire more knowledge and experience on the main features of action research such as its methodology, types and cycle, and the role of the researcher can be considered as another important result derived from the study. Finally, it is hoped that the study will increase the interest in action research and contribute to the researchers.
A Predictive Analytics Understanding of Cooperative Membership Heterogeneity and Sustainability

Recent advances in cooperative theory have focused on membership heterogeneity as being a significant challenge for cooperative sustainability. We use predictive analytics to forecast U.S. farmer cooperative sustainability at an aggregate level and include multiple dimensions of membership heterogeneity. We report the importance and shape of the effect of membership heterogeneity when predicting and forecasting cooperative sustainability in the near-term. We also report forecasts of cooperative sustainability given expected changes to membership heterogeneity. The data this study used are from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)-Economic Research Service (ERS) Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) joined with USDA-Rural Development cooperative financial data at the state level. Membership heterogeneity was found to be less relevant than other variables included in the model for predicting cooperative business volume and number of cooperatives headquartered per state, and an estimate of cooperative sustainability. Membership heterogeneity effects were mostly offsetting given expected changes to member heterogeneity, and/or were offset due to changes to other macro factors. Consequently, we conclude membership heterogeneity may affect the number of cooperatives and extent consistent with theoretical literature at a micro level; however, we also expect a similar level of sustainability of cooperatives at an aggregate level in the near-term despite changes to membership heterogeneity.