Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Changes in multiple cytokine concentrations in the aqueous humour of neovascular age-related macular degeneration after 2 months of ranibizumab therapy

Purpose To determine changes in multiple cytokine concentrations in the anterior chamber during the induction phase of ranibizumab treatment in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods This prospective study included 48 treatment-naïve neovascular AMD eyes of 48 patients who received three consecutive monthly injections of ranibizumab at the Japan Community Health Care Organization Tokyo Shinjuku Medical Center between November 2010 and August 2012. We collected ~0.2 mL aqueous humour before the first and third (2 months later) injections. Controls were 80 eyes with cataracts without retinal disease. The cytokines C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 1 (CXCL1), interferon-γ-induced protein 10 (IP-10), C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12), C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 13 (CXCL13), monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), CCL11, C-C motif chemokine ligand 11 (CCL11), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10) and matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) were analysed using multiplex cytokine assays. Results Mean ages of the patients with AMD and controls were 73 and 75 years, respectively, and 31 (65%) and 37 (46%) subjects were men, respectively. Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy was found in 27 eyes (56%). Mean concentrations of cytokines in aqueous humour in patients with neovascular AMD before the first and third ranibizumab injections were as follows (in pg/mL): CXCL1, 8.4 and 3.3; IP-10, 110 and 55; CXCL12, 480 and 240; CXCL13, 9.2 and 2.6; MCP-1, 620 and 220; CCL11, 7.1 and 2.8; IL-6, 5.9 and 1.6; IL-10, 0.15 and 0.015 (all p<0.0001), and MMP-9, 0.92 and 1.5 (p=0.0216), respectively. Concentrations of all cytokines decreased significantly after two consecutive ranibizumab injections, except for MMP-9, which increased significantly. Conclusions After two monthly consecutive antivascular endothelial growth factor injections, inflammatory cytokine levels in the aqueous humour of the eyes with AMD were strongly suppressed, while MMP-9 levels increased.
lncRNAs PVT1 and HAR1A are prognosis biomarkers and indicate therapy outcome for diffuse glioma patients

Diffuse gliomas are well known malignant brain tumors. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), a type of RNA transcript with more than 200 nucleotides, involve in tumorigenesis and development of various cancers. This study focused on identifying differentially expressed lncRNAs in gliomas based on gene expression profiling, and chose certain lncRNAs PVT1, CYTOR, HAR1A and MIAT, which changed with significant differences. Further analysis of TCGA and GEO data revealed that the expressions of PVT1 and CYTOR were up-regulated, while HAR1A and MIAT expressions were down-regulated in gliomas. Their expression patterns were validated in an independent cohort containing 98 glioma specimens and 12 non-tumor tissue controls. High expression of PVT1 and CYTOR as well as low HAR1A and MIAT expression were associated with high Ki-67 level and more TP53 mutation. Kaplan-Meier survival curve and Cox regression analyses showed that glioma patients with high PVT1 expression or low HAR1A expression had poor survival outcome, aberrantly expressed PVT1 and HAR1A could be the independent prognosis biomarkers for glioma patients. Moreover, down-regulation of PVT1 and up-regulation of HAR1A contributed to improve the survival of patients who received chemotherapy and radiotherapy. These results implied that these four lncRNAs might play important role in diffuse gliomas progression, particularly, PVT1 and HAR1A could be explored as promising biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis and target therapy of diffuse gliomas.
Induction of DISE in ovarian cancer cells in vivo

The death receptor CD95/Fas can be activated by immune cells to kill cancer cells. shRNAs and siRNAs derived from CD95 or CD95 ligand (CD95L) are highly toxic to most cancer cells. We recently found that these sh/siRNAs kill cancer cells in the absence of the target by targeting the 3’UTRs of critical survival genes through canonical RNAi. We have named this unique form of off-target effect DISE (for death induced by survival gene elimination). DISE preferentially kills transformed cells and cancer stem cells. We demonstrate that DISE induction occurs in cancer cells in vivo after introducing a lentiviral CD95L derived shRNA (shL3) into HeyA8 ovarian cancer cells grown as i.p. xenografts in mice, when compared to a scrambled shRNA. To demonstrate the possibility of therapeutically inducing DISE, we coupled siRNAs to templated lipoprotein nano particles (TLP). In vitro, TLPs loaded with a CD95L derived siRNA (siL3) selectively silenced a biosensor comprised of Venus and CD95L ORF and killed ovarian cancer cells. In vivo, two siRNA-TLPs (siL2-TLP and siL3-TLP) reduced tumor growth similarly as observed for cells expressing the shL3 vector. These data suggest that it is possible to kill ovarian cancer cells in vivo via DISE induction using siRNA-TLPs.
A Dynamic Hydro-Mechanical and Biochemical Model of Stomatal Conductance for C4 Photosynthesis1

A mechanistic dynamic model predicts CO2 uptake, water release by C4 leaves, simulated stomatal responses and water use optimality in response to light fluctuations over 1 day. C4 plants are major grain (maize [Zea mays] and sorghum [Sorghum bicolor]), sugar (sugarcane [Saccharum officinarum]), and biofuel (Miscanthus spp.) producers and contribute ∼20% to global productivity. Plants lose water through stomatal pores in order to acquire CO2 (assimilation [A]) and control their carbon-for-water balance by regulating stomatal conductance (gS). The ability to mechanistically predict gS and A in response to atmospheric CO2, water availability, and time is critical for simulating stomatal control of plant-atmospheric carbon and water exchange under current, past, or future environmental conditions. Yet, dynamic mechanistic models for gS are lacking, especially for C4 photosynthesis. We developed and coupled a hydromechanical model of stomatal behavior with a biochemical model of C4 photosynthesis, calibrated using gas-exchange measurements in maize, and extended the coupled model with time-explicit functions to predict dynamic responses. We demonstrated the wider applicability of the model with three additional C4 grass species in which interspecific differences in stomatal behavior could be accounted for by fitting a single parameter. The model accurately predicted steady-state responses of gS to light, atmospheric CO2 and oxygen, soil drying, and evaporative demand as well as dynamic responses to light intensity. Further analyses suggest that the effect of variable leaf hydraulic conductance is negligible. Based on the model, we derived a set of equations suitable for incorporation in land surface models. Our model illuminates the processes underpinning stomatal control in C4 plants and suggests that the hydraulic benefits associated with fast stomatal responses of C4 grasses may have supported the evolution of C4 photosynthesis.
Prognostic value of echocardiographic indices of left atrial morphology and function in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease

Background The prognostic relevance of left atrial (LA) morphological and functional variables, including those derived from speckle tracking echocardiography (STE), has been little investigated in veterinary medicine. Objectives To assess the prognostic value of several echocardiographic variables, with a focus on LA morphological and functional variables in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD). Animals One‐hundred and fifteen dogs of different breeds with MMVD. Methods Prospective cohort study. Conventional morphologic and echo‐Doppler variables, LA areas and volumes, and STE‐based LA strain analysis were performed in all dogs. A survival analysis was performed to test for the best echocardiographic predictors of cardiac‐related death. Results Most of the tested variables, including all LA STE‐derived variables were univariate predictors of cardiac death in Cox proportional hazard analysis. Because of strong correlation between many variables, only left atrium to aorta ratio (LA/Ao > 1.7), mitral valve E wave velocity (MV E vel > 1.3 m/s), LA maximal volume (LAVmax > 3.53 mL/kg), peak atrial longitudinal strain (PALS < 30%), and contraction strain index (CSI per 1% increase) were entered in the univariate analysis, and all were predictors of cardiac death. However, only the MV E vel (hazard ratio [HR], 4.45; confidence interval [CI], 1.76‐11.24; P < .001) and LAVmax (HR, 2.32; CI, 1.10‐4.89; P = .024) remained statistically significant in the multivariable analysis. Conclusions and Clinical Importance The assessment of LA dimension and function provides useful prognostic information in dogs with MMVD. Considering all the LA variables, LAVmax appears the strongest predictor of cardiac death, being superior to LA/Ao and STE‐derived variables.
Growing Rods Are an Effective Fusionless Method of Controlling Early-Onset Scoliosis Associated With Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1): A Multicenter Retrospective Case Series

Background: Spinal deformities associated with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) often have an early onset. These curves frequently develop dysplastic features. Rapid progression is common, and is often difficult to control with casting or bracing. Spinal fusion at a young age can potentially interfere with chest and trunk growth. Growing rods (GRs) have been used in early-onset scoliosis (EOS) effectively. The purpose of this study was to evaluate GR use in NF1. Methods: Retrospective data collection was performed from a multicenter EOS database with additional patients from our own institute. Each patient had a genetic diagnosis of NF1 and was treated with GR. Results were compared with reported results of GR in EOS in the literature. Results: Fourteen patients from 5 centers underwent a total of 71 procedures with an average follow-up of 54 months. Mean age at surgery was 6.8 years. Means of initial and final curves were 74 and 36 degrees, respectively (51% correction). Spine grew at an average of 39 mm (11.2 mm per year). Implant-related complications were the most common (8/14, 57%), including failure of proximal construct (5/14), rod breakage (2/14), and prominent implants (1/14). There was no significant difference between screws and hooks as proximal anchors (Fischer test). Two patients had deep infection that needed debridement. Conclusions: This retrospective pooled data study is the first report on the treatment of early-onset NF1 scoliosis with GRs. The use of GRs in these patients effectively controls the spinal deformity and facilitates growth of the spine. The complications were no greater than those seen in other conditions causing EOS. Failure of proximal anchors was found to be the most common complication. Level of Evidence: Level IV—retrospective case series.
Presurgical Orthopedic Treatment Using Modified Nostril Retainers in Patients With Unilateral Cleft Lip With or Without Cleft Palate

Abstract This study aimed to present a new technique for presurgical orthopedic treatment of patients with unilateral cleft lip with or without cleft palate (UCL±P) by means of modified nostril retainers manufactured using a special mold with soft acrylic or orthodontic acrylics material. Nasal molding with the modified nostril retainer is considerably effective and comfortable for the patient.
Sound the alarm: A meta‐analysis on the effect of aquatic noise on fish behavior and physiology

The aquatic environment is increasingly bombarded by a wide variety of noise pollutants whose range and intensity are increasing with each passing decade. Yet, little is known about how aquatic noise affects marine communities. To determine the implications that changes to the soundscape may have on fishes, a meta‐analysis was conducted focusing on the ramifications of noise on fish behavior and physiology. Our meta‐analysis identified 42 studies that produced 2,354 data points, which in turn indicated that anthropogenic noise negatively affects fish behavior and physiology. The most predominate responses occurred within foraging ability, predation risk, and reproductive success. Additionally, anthropogenic noise was shown to increase the hearing thresholds and cortisol levels of numerous species while tones, biological, and environmental noise were most likely to affect complex movements and swimming abilities. These findings suggest that the majority of fish species are sensitive to changes in the aquatic soundscape, and depending on the noise source, species responses may have extreme and negative fitness consequences. As such, this global synthesis should serve as a warning of the potentially dire consequences facing marine ecosystems if alterations to aquatic soundscapes continue on their current trajectory.
Profit-Based Model Selection for Customer Retention Using Individual Customer Lifetime Values

The goal of customer retention campaigns, by design, is to add value and enhance the operational efficiency of businesses. For organizations that strive to retain their customers in saturated, and sometimes fast moving, markets such as the telecommunication and banking industries, implementing customer churn prediction models that perform well and in accordance with the business goals is vital. The expected maximum profit (EMP) measure is tailored toward this problem by taking into account the costs and benefits of a retention campaign and estimating its worth for the organization. Unfortunately, the measure assumes fixed and equal customer lifetime value (CLV) for all customers, which has been shown to not correspond well with reality. In this article, we extend the EMP measure to take into account the variability in the lifetime values of customers, thereby basing it on individual characteristics. We demonstrate how to incorporate the heterogeneity of CLVs when CLVs are known, when their prior distribution is known, and when neither is known. By taking into account individual CLVs, our proposed approach of measuring model performance gives novel insights when deciding on a customer retention campaign. The method is dependent on the characteristics of the customer base as is compliant with modern business analytics and accommodates the data-driven culture that has manifested itself within organizations.
Symbolic analysis methods for masks, circuits and systems

Symbolic representations of systems can achieve a high degree of compaction relative to more explicit forms. By casting and analysis task in terms of operations on a symbolic representation, large and complex systems can be analyzed efficiently. This paper summarizes research in applying symbolic analysis methods to systems at several levels of abstraction. <<ETX>>
Resistance Analyses of HCV NS3/4A Protease and NS5B Polymerase from Clinical Studies of Deleobuvir and Faldaprevir

Background & Aim The resistance profile of anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) agents used in combination is important to guide optimal treatment regimens. We evaluated baseline and treatment-emergent NS3/4A and NS5B amino-acid variants among HCV genotype (GT)-1a and -1b-infected patients treated with faldaprevir (HCV protease inhibitor), deleobuvir (HCV polymerase non-nucleoside inhibitor), and ribavirin in multiple clinical studies. Methods HCV NS3/4A and NS5B population sequencing (Sanger method) was performed on all baseline plasma samples (n = 1425 NS3; n = 1556 NS5B) and on post-baseline plasma samples from patients with virologic failure (n = 113 GT-1a; n = 221 GT-1b). Persistence and time to loss of resistance-associated variants (RAVs) was estimated using Kaplan–Meier analysis. Results Faldaprevir RAVs (NS3 R155 and D168) and deleobuvir RAVs (NS5B 495 and 496) were rare (<1%) at baseline. Virologic response to faldaprevir/deleobuvir/ribavirin was not compromised by common baseline NS3 polymorphisms (e.g. Q80K in 17.5% of GT-1a) or by NS5B A421V, present in 20% of GT-1a. In GT-1b, alanine at NS5B codon 499 (present in 15% of baseline sequences) was associated with reduced response. Treatment-emergent RAVs consolidated previous findings: NS3 R155 and D168 were key faldaprevir RAVs; NS5B A421 and P495 were key deleobuvir RAVs. Among on-treatment virologic breakthroughs, RAVs emerged in both NS3 and NS5B (>90%). Virologic relapse was associated with RAVs in both NS3 and NS5B (53% GT-1b; 52% GT-1b); some virologic relapses had NS3 RAVs only (47% GT-1a; 17% GT-1b). Median time to loss of GT-1b NS5B P495 RAVs post-treatment (5 months) was less than that of GT-1b NS3 D168 (8.5 months) and GT-1a R155 RAVs (11.5 months). Conclusion Faldaprevir and deleobuvir RAVs are more prevalent among virologic failures than at baseline. Treatment response was not compromised by common NS3 polymorphisms; however, alanine at NS5B amino acid 499 at baseline (wild-type in GT-1a, polymorphism in GT-1b) may reduce response to this deleobuvir-based regimen.
Predicting the EU 2014 Election Results in Multiple Countries Using Twitter

Lately, the behaviour of users in Twitter has been explored for various purposes, one of the most famous being the prediction of election results. However, most works make their predictions by relying strictly on Twitter data and are proven ineective when applied on dierent cases. Other works use polls as their ground-truth to train their Twitter features; however, in these approaches, the eectiveness of Twitter features was not satisfactorily demonstrated. Lastly, most past works provide their results after the end of the elections and hence are often considered biased towards the results. In the current work we focused on the 2014 European Union Elections for three countries. We monitored political discussions on Twitter and created time-series of Twitter-extracted feature values around political parties along with aggregated opinion polls as an additional feature. Treating our task as time-series forecasting, we predicted the election results, publishing our predictions for one country before the elections ended. The comparison with previous works and commercial resources reveals the superior performance of the proposed approach; most importantly, the use of Twitter features compared to poll-based ones is explored, revealing significant dierences in error rates and supporting that Twitter can eectively be used for this purpose.
Challenges for acoustic calculation models in "Silent Timber Build", Part 1- FEM

The project "Silent Timber Build" will develop new prediction tools for timber structures. There are several challenges that have to be overcome to provide a full prediction tool. The differences in weight, stiffness and density for wooden structures compared to traditional, heavy and more homogeneous structural material have repercussions on how the sound propagates throughout the structures, affecting the sound and vibration insulation performance and also theories to be used in prediction models. Finite element simulations have proved to be useful in the design phase in a certain low and very low frequency range. By further developing reliable finite element tools for low frequencies, the performance of future wooden constructions can be predicted in a full frequency range, saving both time and money as all calculations, and modifications can be done during the design phase. However the upper limit for using FEM has to be further investigated and then be merged with statistical methods. This article, following another article Part 2, will focus on medium and high frequency range calculations. For full-scale building, Virtual SEA method, as analytic and SEA approaches will be used in frequencies low enough in order to optimize the overlap to FEM.
Efficient PAPR reduction through random constellation mapping

In wireless communications research and commercialization, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) has been established as a key PHY layer enabling technology (e.g., in both 4G and 5G cellular network standards). However, the Peak-to-Average-Ratio (PAPR) problem can lower system performance and has been under intense research in recent years. The trade-off between high PAPR reduction factor and high signal redundancy and/or computational complexity has not been carefully addressed by many works on this problem, and some approaches with state-of-the-art PAPR reduction performance suffer from high bit redundancy. In this paper we propose a novel method for PAPR reduction through random constellation mapping. The proposed method first turns the input symbol into a number of candidate symbols by randomly one-to-one mapping the signal constellation at each position within the symbol. Then the candidate symbol with the lowest PAPR is sent out along with the its candidacy number. This results in very low signal redundancy, and simulation results also show that significant PAPR reduction gains can also be obtained.
Variation in Juniperus durangensis and related junipers (Cupressaceae): Analysis of nrDNA and petN SNPs

Recent discovery of a low shrub from Topia, in the state of Durango, Mexico that appears similar to both J. durangensis and J. jaliscana, prompted the analyses of nrDNA and petN-psbM (cpDNA) SNPs. The plants from Topia differed from J. durangensis by 2 indels but were shown to be closely related as shown in a minimum spanning network. Phytologia 91(2): 353-358 (August, 2009).
AN ENHANCED DSR PROTOCOL USING PATH RANKING TECHNIQUE

Mobile Adhoc networks are infra structure-less and are categorized by multi-hop wireless connectivity and dynamic changing network topology. They are self organized networks without dependency on any fixed infrastructure. Application area of MANET is varied, ranging from small, static networks to large scale highly mobile and highly dynamic networks. Routing is an important issue in wireless adhoc networks. Routing protocols plays a very important role because MANET use dynamic changing network topology. Most famous categories are Proactive, Reactive and Hybrid. Proactive routing protocols setup route based on continuous control traffic information. All routes and maintained all the times. On the other hand Reactive routing protocols does not take any initiative for finding routes. It establishes routes ‘on demand’ basis. Hybrid protocol have the advantages of both proactive and reactive protocol. In this paper, an attempt has been made to compare performance of ZRP (hybrid), DSDV (Proactive) and reactive (DSR and modified DSR) on the basis of their performance in MANETs using NS2 simulator. A comparative study on reactive and proactive has been done by some modification that how DSR can be modified for its performance enhancement from average to something extra to make MANETs more reliable. To achieve this goal DSR is modified by using route ranking technique in order to load balancing, to avoid congestion and lower packet delivery.
Tao , L . , Burghardt , T . , Mirmehdi , M .

Estimating a person’s energy expenditure and activity intensity over time is an important component in managing various health conditions or tracking lifestyle choices. To implement an automatic estimation, most current systems ultimately require users to wear sensor devices. In contrast, this paper presents a framework for the contact-free, real-time estimation of energy expenditure, applicable to daily living scenarios. This is a new application in real-time computer vision. We demonstrate the effectiveness and the benefits of utilising a basic set of features and evaluate the resulting framework on the challenging SPHERE-calorie dataset. To ensure accurate evaluation, automated estimates are compared against a simultaneously taken indirect calorimetry ground truth based on per breath gas exchange. Following detailed experiments, we conclude that the proposed real-time vision pipeline is suitable for monitoring physical activity levels in a controlled environment with higher accuracy than the commonly used manual estimation via metabolic lookup tables (METs), whilst being significantly faster than existing automated methods.