Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Glaucoma Patient Expression of Medication Problems and Nonadherence

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine if patient demographic factors influenced self-reporting of medication side effects, difficulty with drop instillation, and nonadherence to glaucoma therapy. Methods English-speaking adult glaucoma patients (n = 279) from six ophthalmology clinics were enrolled. Patients’ medical visits were videotaped and patients were interviewed immediately afterward by research assistants. The videotapes were transcribed verbatim and coded to identify patients who expressed problems with medication side effects, eye drop administration, and nonadherence during the glaucoma office visits. Generalized estimating equations were performed to identify whether patient characteristics were associated with expression of problems with glaucoma medication and medication nonadherence during the office visit. Results Patients with lower health literacy were significantly less likely to express problems with side effects (odds ratio [OR], 0.47; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.25 to 0.88) and eye drop administration (OR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.11 to 0.63) during the visit. Patients who reported eye drop administration and side effect problems during the interview were significantly more likely to express these problems to their ophthalmologist (OR, 3.13; 95% CI, 1.82 to 5.37 and OR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.12 to 3.08, respectively). Patients who expressed a problem with eye drop administration and with side effects were significantly more likely to express medication nonadherence to their ophthalmologist (OR, 2.89; 95% CI, 1.44 to 5.80 and OR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.16 to 3.54, respectively). Patients who reported greater than 80% medication adherence during the interview were significantly less likely to express nonadherence to their ophthalmologist (OR, 0.22; 95% CI, 0.12 to 0.40). Conclusions Eye care providers should be aware that glaucoma patients with lower health literacy are less likely to express problems with side effects and eye drop administration. Providers should work with patients to assess medication-related problems to mitigate potential barriers to medication adherence because patients who expressed medication problems were also more likely to express nonadherence.
Effects of Testosterone Replacement in Middle-Aged Men With Dysthymia: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

Mid-life onset male dysthymic disorder (DD) seems to be a distinct clinical condition with limited therapeutic options. Testosterone replacement is mood-enhancing and has been proposed as an antidepressant therapy, though this strategy has received limited systematic study. We therefore conducted a six-week double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial in 23 men with DD and with low or low-normal testosterone (T) level (i.e, screening total serum testosterone <350 ng/dL). Enrolled men were randomized to receive intramuscular injections of 200 mg of testosterone cypionate or placebo every 10 days. The primary outcome measures were the Clinical Global Impression (CGI) improvement score and the 21-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) score. Twenty-three patients were randomized. The mean (SD) age of the enrolled patients was 50.6 (7.0) years and that of total testosterone level was 339 (93) ng/dL. The median duration of the current dysthymic episode was 3.6 (2.3) years, and the mean (SD) HDRS was 14.0 (2.9). After the intervention, the mean HDRS score decreased significantly more in the testosterone group (7.46 [4.56]) than in the placebo group (1.8 [4.13], t21 = −3.07, P = 0.006). Remission, defined as a CGI improvement score of 1 or 2 and a final HDRS score lower than 8, was achieved by 7 (53.8%) of 13 in the testosterone group and 1 (10%) of 10 in the placebo group (P = 0.03). Testosterone replacement may be an effective antidepressant strategy for late-onset male dysthymia.
Head Movement and Facial Expression Transfer from 2D Video to a 3D Model

The realistic transfer of facial animation from a face in a 2D video to a 3D model has proved to be a persistent challenge in recent years. In this thesis we propose a method which transfers both the head movement and facial expressions of a person in a 2D video to a 3D model. Our method uses corresponding feature points on both the 3D model and 2D face to calculate the rigid head pose of the person in the video. This pose is given by a rotation and a linear transformation. Once these parameters are calculated, they are used to transform the 3D model so that the head is in the correct position. The next step is to transfer the expression of the 2D face onto the rotated 3D model. The facial expression is represented by the displacement of the current set of feature points in the 2D video relative to a set of reference feature points. We assume that these facial expression feature points only move in 2 dimensions. We then use the displacement vectors to transform the corresponding feature points on the 3D model. These newly transformed feature points are used to drive a Laplacian deformation which computes the positions of the remaining non-feature points on the 3D model. The final results constructed using this algorithm are both accurate and realistic. This method improves upon previous research in the area which assumed that the head remained static throughout the video. The simple acquisition system of the input video data ensures that this technique could be implemented in applications where motion capture or 3D scanning systems are unavailable. Our method can be used in a wide range of applications including character animation for 3D films, online avatars, expression exaggeration and reconstructing a video sequence from multiple viewpoints.
Fortnightly Review: Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring: a guide for general practitioners

Summary points Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring is an increasingly popular method of recording blood pressure It improves the precision and reproducibility of blood pressure measurement, eliminates observer errors and bias, and allows assessment of white coat hypertension and white coat responses It is indicated particularly in the evaluation of patients with borderline hypertension, resistant hypertension, or variable blood pressure None of the major trials of treatment in hypertension has been conducted using ambula- tory blood pressure recordings; because of this the prognostic value of such monitoring remains uncertain The optimal method of data analysis, the importance of day and night time readings and of white coat responses, cost effectiveness, and the fact that few marketed devices have been fully vali- dated also need addressing Despite these issues, ambulatory monitoring is already making an important contribution to the assessment and management of selected patients with high blood pressure
Cerebral oxygenation during cardiopulmonary resuscitation with epinephrine and vasopressin in pigs.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Administration of vasopressin during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) improves vital organ blood flow compared with epinephrine, but the effect of vasopressin on cerebral oxygenation and cerebral venous hypercarbia during CPR has not previously been studied. METHODS Fourteen pigs were allocated to receive either epinephrine (0.2 mg/kg) or vasopressin (0.4 U/kg) after 4 minutes of ventricular fibrillation and 3 minutes of CPR. Cerebral blood flow was determined by radiolabeled microspheres, and arterial and cerebral venous blood gases were measured. RESULTS Cerebral blood flow, measured before and 90 seconds and 5 minutes after drug administration, was 9 (3; 12), 25 (19; 27), and 18 (10; 23) mL/min per 100 g (median and 25th and 75th percentiles, respectively) in the epinephrine group and 12 (5; 16), 51 (48; 70), and 53 (45; 63) mL/min per 100 g in the vasopressin group (P<.05 at 90 seconds, P<.01 at 5 minutes between groups). Five minutes after drug administration, cerebral venous Pco2 was 63 (59; 68) mm Hg in the epinephrine group and 47 (43; 55) mm Hg in the vasopressin group (P<.01); at the same time cerebral venous pH was 7.18 (7.17; 7.20) and 7.26 (7.22; 7.36) (P<.01) in the epinephrine and vasopressin groups, respectively. Cerebral oxygen extraction ratio, calculated before and 90 seconds and 5 minutes after drug administration, was 0.42 (0.32; 0.57), 0.47 (0.41; 0.57), and 0.56 (0.56; 0.64) in the epinephrine group and 0.43 (0.38; 0.45), 0.38 (0.25; 0.44), and 0.35 (0.33; 0.49) in the vasopressin group (P<.05 at 90 seconds and 5 minutes). CONCLUSIONS Compared with epinephrine, vasopressin not only increases cerebral blood flow but also improves cerebral oxygenation and decreases cerebral venous hypercarbia when administered during CPR in pigs.
Combining technology mapping with post-placement resynthesis for performance optimization

This paper presents an innovative two-phase approach which combines technology mapping with logic resynthesis for minimizing the post-placement delays. The main idea is to alleviate the effect of inaccurate delay models in the mapping phase and to use a more accurate post-placement delay model in the logic resynthesis phase. To achieve this, our mapping phase disables the operations which may provide unpredictable effects on the circuit performance and leave them to be solved in the resynthesis phase. In the resynthesis phase, a post-placement delay model is extracted from the placement of the circuits. The techniques developed in our resynthesis algorithm are remapping, signal substitution, and gate duplication. Based on a wide range of benchmark examples, experimental results show that our approach provides 17% reduction in terms of post-placement delays when compared with SIS-1.2.
Microorganisms in heavy metal bioremediation: strategies for applying microbial-community engineering to remediate soils

The remediation of heavy-metal-contaminated soils is essential as heavy metals persist and do not degrade in the environment. Remediating heavy-metal-contaminated soils requires metals to be mobilized for extraction whilst, at the same time, employing strategies to avoid mobilized metals leaching into ground-water or aquatic systems. Phytoextraction is a bioremediation strategy that extracts heavy metals from soils by sequestration in plant tissues and is currently the predominant bioremediation strategy investigated for remediating heavy-metal-contaminated soils. Although the efficiency of phytoextraction remains a limiting feature of the technology, there are numerous reports that soil microorganisms can improve rates of heavy metal extraction. This review highlights the unique challenges faced when remediating heavy-metal-contaminated soils as compared to static aquatic systems and suggests new strategies for using microorganisms to improve phytoextraction. We compare how microorganisms are used in soil bioremediation (i.e. phytoextraction) and water bioremediation processes, discussing how the engineering of microbial communities, used in water remediation, could be applied to phytoextraction. We briefly outline possible approaches for the engineering of soil communities to improve phytoextraction either by mobilizing metals in the rhizosphere of the plant or by promoting plant growth to increase the root-surface area available for uptake of heavy metals. We highlight the technological advances that make this research direction possible and how these technologies could be employed in future research.
Generalized dynamic programming approaches for object detection: detecting spine boundaries and vertebra endplates

Object detection employing high-level knowledge is a challenging problem in image analysis. The authors propose a dynamic programming approach to address some related issues in this aspect. In particular, we propose to fuse the detection of two curves to form a dual dynamic programming procedure so that spatial relationships between the two curves can be enforced. In another pursuit of applying object level knowledge, we propose to introduce local backward tracing to the forward propagation step in dynamic programming, so that global constraints, containing even unknown parameters, can be imposed in a progressive manner. These approaches are explained in the context of spine landmark detection. Experimental results are presented to show the efficiency of the proposed methods. The methods are extendable to other application domains.
Current Indications, Techniques and Results of Cytoreductive Surgery with Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy for Intra-Abdominal Malignancies

Over the last decades, there has been a paradigm shift regarding the management of peritoneal dissemination of intra-abdominal malignancies. Previously believed to be an end-stage disease amenable only to palliative management, several studies have reported achieving significant survival advantage by applying cytoreduction of the tumour load with or without intraoperative hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy administration. It is hard to classify this procedure as curative despite the reported good results in achieving a reasonable 5-years survival. However, its ability to control the disease process is clearly recognized in different types of intra-abdominal malignancies and its role is better understood within the new concept of treating advanced cancer as a chronic disease. The aim of this review is to discuss the concept, techniques, results and complications of this approach. Current indications and future directions will also be emphasized.
Intra-oral bone harvesting: two methods compared using histological and histomorphometric assessments.

AIM This study used morphometric analyses to compare two methods for the intra-oral harvesting of particulate bone: Mectron Piezosurgery® and the Meta Micross®. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty patients requiring bilateral germectomy of the lower third molars for orthodontic reasons were selected and a sample was harvested from each patient from a standardised donor site (the cortical bone in the area of the retromolar triangle). Ten samples were obtained for each method. The particulate collected were subjected to a histological examination and the samples were analysed considering the following parameters: the mean surface area of fragments, the mean surface area considered vital and the mean surface area considered non-vital, the mean percentage of area considered vital and the mean percentage of area considered non-vital, the mean number of normal osteocytes and the mean number of osteocytes with morphological changes identified per unit area (600,000 μm(2)). The results were analysed, calculating the mean and the corresponding standard deviations, and testing their significance using Student's t-test, and plotted in graphs. RESULTS Mectron Piezosurgery® produced significantly larger particles (P<0.05) than the Meta Micross®, with a larger mean surface area considered vital and a significantly larger (P<0.05) surface area considered non-vital. Mectron Piezosurgery® also produced a smaller mean percentage of area considered vital (64.83%) and a larger mean percentage of area considered non-vital (35.17%) by comparison with the Meta Micross® (75.34% and 24.66%, respectively). The data also showed that the two methods produce a similar quantity of empty lacunae, and that the Mectron Piezosurgery® produces a larger quantity of osteocytes. CONCLUSIONS The analyses conducted demonstrated that the particulate collected with the Meta Micross® had a smaller mean surface area of the fragments and a smaller surface area of bone considered non-vital than in the particulate collected using Mectron Piezosurgery®.
Students’ Level of Knowledge Construction and Pattern of Social Interaction in an Online Forum

 Abstract — The asynchronous discussion forum is one of the most widely used activities in learning management system environment. Online forum allows participants to interact, construct knowledge, and can be used to complement face to face sessions in blended learning courses. However, to what extent do the students perceive the benefits or advantages of forum remain to be seen. Through content and social network analyses, instructors will be able to gauge the students’ engagement and knowledge construction level. Thus, this study aims to analyze the students’ level of knowledge construction and their participation level that occur through online discussion. It also attempts to investigate the relationship between the level of knowledge construction and their social interaction patterns. The sample involves 23 students undertaking a master course in one public university in Malaysia. The asynchronous discussion forum was conducted for three weeks as part of the course requirement. The finding indicates that the level of knowledge construction is quite low. Also, the density value of 0.11 indicating the overall communication among the participants in the forum is low. This study reveals that strong and significant correlations between SNA measures ( in-degree centrality, out-degree centrality) and level of knowledge construction. Thus, allocating these active students in different group aids the interactive discussion takes place. Finally, based upon the findings, some recommendations to increase students’ level of knowledge construction and also for further research are proposed.
A Novel Beamforming Technique: Introducing a Convex Constrained Optimization and Compressed-Sensing Model

In this article, the problem of providing robustness to the array receiver configuration so as to achieve robust mainlobe gain and low sidelobes under the highly dynamic condition is addressed. We introduce a novel convex constrained optimization and compressed-sensing (CS) beamforming model (CCOB-CS) in which spatially sparse signals are reconstructed using an orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) algorithm. The desired signal beam gain can be obtained using the convex constrained optimization beamforming (CCOB) algorithm. MATLAB software is used for the Monte Carlo tests, which are performed for four different array element conditions.
Crystal structures of apo wild‐type M. jannaschii tyrosyl‐tRNA synthetase (TyrRS) and an engineered TyrRS specific for O‐methyl‐L‐tyrosine

The Methanococcus jannaschii tRNATyr/TyrRS pair has been engineered to incorporate unnatural amino acids into proteins in E. coli. To reveal the structural basis for the altered specificity of mutant TyrRS for O‐methyl‐l‐tyrosine (OMeTyr), the crystal structures for the apo wild‐type and mutant M. jannaschii TyrRS were determined at 2.66 and 3.0 Å, respectively, for comparison with the published structure of TyrRS complexed with tRNATyr and substrate tyrosine. A large conformational change was found for the anticodon recognition loop 257–263 of wild‐type TyrRS upon tRNA binding in order to facilitate recognition of G34 of the anticodon loop through π‐stacking and hydrogen bonding interactions. Loop 133–143, which is close to the tRNA acceptor stem‐binding site, also appears to be stabilized by interaction with the tRNATyr. Binding of the substrate tyrosine results in subtle and cooperative movements of the side chains within the tyrosine‐binding pocket. In the OMeTyr‐specific mutant synthetase structure, the signature motif KMSKS loop and acceptor stem‐binding loop 133–143 were surprisingly ordered in the absence of bound ATP and tRNA. The active‐site mutations result in altered hydrogen bonding and steric interactions which favor binding of OMeTyr over l‐tyrosine. The structure of the mutant and wild‐type TyrRS now provide a basis for generating new active‐site libraries to evolve synthetases specific for other unnatural amino acids.
Rate control for low delay H.264/AVC transmission over channels with burst error

A rate control approach is proposed to deal with the low delay H.264/AVC video transmission over channels with burst errors by applying stochastic optimization technique. Based on the exponential rate-distortion and the linear variance prediction model, the one pass rate control algorithm will take into account the channel state and round trip delay, and make an immediate decision on the optimal rate allocation for the video frame. Simulation results show that for different end to end delay constraints and round trip delay, the number of lost frames is significantly reduced, and the average reconstruction peek signal to noise ratio is improved by 0.5-1.6dB, compared with the reference rate control scheme [ARA, 01]
Antioxidant activity of rye bread enriched with milled buckwheat groats fractions.

BACKGROUND Buckwheat, despite its broad nutritional benefits, is still not widely appreciated grain. It contains a protein with preferred amino acid composition and it is a valuable source of micronutrients and vitamins of the B group and vitamin E. Moreover, buckwheat groats have a high amount of polyphenols, including flavonoids and flavones. Eating rye bread is beneficial due to its high content of dietary fiber, phenolic acids and characteristic taste and aroma. Therefore, the use of rye flour and buckwheat mill products for bread may allow obtaining a product of high nutritional value and flavor. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of buckwheat products addition and baking process on the antioxidant properties of rye-buckwheat blends and breads. MATERIAL AND METHODS Experimental material was rye flour type 580 and buckwheat flour, wholegrain flour and bran obtained by grinding buckwheat groats. Buckwheat products share was 20 and 35%. The control was the rye flour. In the rye-buckwheat blends and bread loaves, the contents of selected flavonoids by HPLC method, total polyphenols content by Folin-Ciocalteu method and the antioxidant activity by the DPPH˙ radical scavenging method were determined. RESULTS Buckwheat bran was significantly richer in total polyphenols, rutin, quercetin, orientin and isoorientin than other buckwheat products and rye flour. Bread after baking contained similar amount of total polyphenols and quercetin and have a comparable ability to scavenge 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radicals (DPPH˙) than the corresponding blends. Baking process negatively affected the amount of rutin, orientin and isoorientin. CONCLUSIONS The use of buckwheat bran as a replacement for wheat flour in bread significantly increases its nutritional value. The process of baking unequally affects the content of particular groups of antioxidant compounds.
Early-onset Amyloid Deposition and Cognitive Deficits in Transgenic Mice Expressing a Double Mutant Form of Amyloid Precursor Protein 695*

We have created early-onset transgenic (Tg) models by exploiting the synergistic effects of familial Alzheimer's disease mutations on amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) biogenesis. TgCRND8 mice encode a double mutant form of amyloid precursor protein 695 (KM670/671NL+V717F) under the control of the PrP gene promoter. Thioflavine S-positive Aβ amyloid deposits are present at 3 months, with dense-cored plaques and neuritic pathology evident from 5 months of age. TgCRND8 mice exhibit 3,200–4,600 pmol of Aβ42 per g brain at age 6 months, with an excess of Aβ42 over Aβ40. High level production of the pathogenic Aβ42 form of Aβ peptide was associated with an early impairment in TgCRND8 mice in acquisition and learning reversal in the reference memory version of the Morris water maze, present by 3 months of age. Notably, learning impairment in young mice was offset by immunization against Aβ42 (Janus, C., Pearson, J., McLaurin, J., Mathews, P. M., Jiang, Y., Schmidt, S. D., Chishti, M. A., Horne, P., Heslin, D., French, J., Mount, H. T. J., Nixon, R. A., Mercken, M., Bergeron, C., Fraser, P. E., St. George-Hyslop, P., and Westaway, D. (2000)Nature 408, 979–982). Amyloid deposition in TgCRND8 mice was enhanced by the expression of presenilin 1 transgenes including familial Alzheimer's disease mutations; for mice also expressing a M146L+L286V presenilin 1 transgene, amyloid deposits were apparent by 1 month of age. The Tg mice described here suggest a potential to investigate aspects of Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis, prophylaxis, and therapy within short time frames.