Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Detection of retinal neovascularizations using 45 ° and 60 ° photographic fields with varying 45 ° fields simulated on a 60 ° photograph

PURPOSE To compare the effectiveness of one- and two-field 45 degrees and 60 degrees fundus photography for detection of retinal neovascularizations (NVEs); to compare the detection of NVEs in macular 45 degrees fields centred on the fovea, between the fovea and the disc and with the nasal border along the nasal disc margin with that in standard 60 degrees one- and two-fields. METHODS Two ophthalmologists assessed red-free, black and white screening and follow-up photographs of 58 out of a total 72 patients referred for treatment for NVEs over the 3 year period 1997-99. The assessment included analysis of the numbers, sizes and locations of NVEs identified in different photographic fields defined by a transparent grid placed over two standard 60 degrees fields. RESULTS Testing of 45 degrees macular fields disclosed 59/81 (73%), 50/81 (62%) and 64/81 (79%), respectively, of NVEs detected in a 60 degrees fovea-centred photograph. Kappa values for detecting at least one NVE, when present, were 0.62 (95% CI 0.40-0.83), 0.38 (95% CI 0.19-0.57) and 0.83 (95% CI 0.62-0.99). The corresponding figures when compared with two-field 60 degrees photography were 59/111 (53%), 50/111 (45%) and 64/111 (58%), respectively. One macula-centred 60 degrees field disclosed 81/111 (73%) of NVEs detected by 60 degrees two-field photography with an additional optic disc-centred field. Two-field 45 degrees photography disclosed 86/111 (77%) of NVEs detected by two-field 60 degrees photography. A total of 90% of NVEs detected in the optic disc-centred 60 degrees field only were also detected in the corresponding 45 degrees field. CONCLUSION One-field 45 degrees photography cannot be recommended as a screening method for diabetic retinopathy. Two-field 45 degrees photography (macula-centred and disc-centred fields) disclosed 77% of NVEs detected by the corresponding two-field 60 degrees photography.
Reactivation of embryonic nodal signaling is associated with tumor progression and promotes the growth of prostate cancer cells

Nodal is a member of the transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) superfamily that directs embryonic patterning and promotes the plasticity and tumorigenicity of tumor cells, but its role in the prostate is unknown. The goal of this study was to characterize the expression and function of Nodal in prostate cancer and determine whether, like other TGFβ ligands, it modulates androgen receptor (AR) activity.
Endoscopy-assisted Breast Conserving Surgery for Breast Cancer: A Preliminary Clinical Experience

performed with making only small incisions that become Purpose: Breast conserving surgery (BCS) has replaced modified radical mastectomy as the standard treatment for early breast cancer. However, even though the original shape of the breast is preserved, the significant scarring after BCS detracts from the natural appearance of the breast. Endoscopyassisted breast surgery can be performed with small incisions that become inconspicuous after surgery. We report herein on our preliminary clinical experience for the aesthetic and treatment results of endoscopy-assisted BCS (EA-BCS). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 22 consecutive patients who underwent EA-BCS between June 2006 and February 2008. The skin incisions were made at the periareolar and axillary sites. We performed a dyeand/or radioisotope-guided sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), and we dissected the axillary lymph nodes (level I and II), and excised tissue under endoscopic assistance. We carried out frozen section biopsies to rule out tumor invasion on the resection margins. The following information was obtained: the clinical and histopathological characteristics, the operative procedures, the surgical outcomes, the cosmetic evaluation, and the patients’ satisfaction. Results: The average age of the patients was 52.0 years (range, 32-74 years). The mean tumor size was 2.2 cm (range, 0.7-5.5 cm). All the patients underwent EA-BCS and SLNB. The postoperative complications were as follows: lymphedema in two patients, wound infection in three patients, and a total mastectomy due to positive margins on the final biopsy report in one patient. No locoregional recurrence was observed on the follow-up study (mean, 24.0 months). There were good to excellent aesthetic results for 95% of the evaluated cases. Almost all the patients were satisfied with the outcome of surgery. Conclusion: EA-BCS was a feasible and effective procedure for treating patients with breast cancer and it achieved good aesthetic results with reducing the surgical scarring. However, further study with more patients and long-term follow-up is needed.
Factors Influencing Occupational Therapists' Clinical Decision Making for Clients with Upper Limb Performance Dysfunction following Brain Injury

Occupational therapists make clinical decisions to help clients with upper limb performance dysfunction following brain injury to achieve their goals. Although occupational therapy services have traditionally been separated for paediatric and adult populations, it has been proposed that a common process can be used to make clinical decisions for children and adults with upper limb performance dysfunction following brain injury. This study compared the factors that influenced the clinical decisions of experienced occupational therapists who worked with either children or adults with upper limb performance dysfunction after brain injury to determine if the clinical decision-making process was common for all clients with brain injury. Eleven occupational therapists with experience in working with clients with brain injury participated in two focus groups. Six had experience in working with children and five in working with adults. The discussions were audiotaped, transcribed and analysed using NUD*IST Version 4 data management software. The intrinsic or client-related factors identified as influencing clinical decision making were the client's condition, personal attributes and occupational performance needs. The extrinsic factors were related both to the therapist (knowledge of ‘feel’, experience, treatment preferences, confidence and personal convictions and beliefs) and to the environment (context of service provision and organisational culture and constraints). The consistency in the factors identified across different caseloads appeared to indicate that a common protocol would be suitable for guiding clinical decision making for both children and adults with varying patterns and intensity of upper limb performance dysfunction. Further research is needed to determine the clinical usefulness of such a protocol and the consistency of client outcomes following its use.
Multidisciplinary Family Support in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services

The increasing incidence and upward trends detected in child and adolescent mental health problems over the past 25 years, nationally and internationally, have caused concern among children and young people, parents or carers, professionals and politicians. In the UK, recent governments have focused attention on this problem, commissioned research and begun to implement measures to provide a response to the growing numbers of troubled children and young people. This article details the development of a multidisciplinary initiative designed to stimulate innovative ideas in the field of early intervention and relieve demand on the specialist child and adolescent mental health services. External evaluation of the service took place over a two-year period using an inclusive qualitative model.
Status of time-dependent response versus scan-angle (RVS) for Terra and Aqua MODIS reflective solar bands

The MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) has 20 reflective solar bands (RSB), which are calibrated using a solar diffuser (SD) and near-monthly scheduled lunar observations via a space view (SV) port. The sensor responses observed at two different angles of incidence (AOI) from the SD and lunar measurements are used to track the on-orbit RSB gain changes as well as the response versus scan-angle (RVS) changes. The MODIS RSB have experienced wavelength dependent degradation since launch with the larger degradation observed at the shorter wavelengths. In addition to the SD and lunar observations, the MODIS Characterization Support Team (MCST) regularly monitors the response trending at multiple AOI over selected desert sites. In Collection 6 (C6), a new algorithm using the EV measurements from pseudoinvariant desert sites was developed to better characterize the MODIS scan-angle dependence and it led to a significant improvement in the long-term calibration consistency of the MODIS Level 1B (L1B) products. This approach is formulated for all RSB, and its application was recently extended to Terra band 10, leading to a significant improvement in the ocean-color products. This paper discusses the current status and performance of the on-orbit RVS characterization as applied in C6. Also, the various challenges and future improvement strategies associated with trending the EV response for the high-gain ocean bands are discussed.
Scene change detection in an MPEG-compressed video sequence

An algorithm is proposed for the detection of abrupt scene change and special editing effects such as dissolve in a compressed MPEG/MPEG-2 bitstream with minimal decoding of the bitstream. Scene changes are easily detected with DCT DC coefficients and motion vectors. By performing minimal decoding on the compressed bitstream, the processing speed for searching a video database of compressed image sequences can be dramatically improved. In addition, the algorithm may also be applied in video scene browsing and video indexing as well.
An opportunity not to be missed – immunisation as an entry point for hygiene promotion and diarrhoeal disease reduction in Nepal

Diarrhoea is a leading cause of death in children under 5 years of age, due mostly to failures to increase access to safe water and improve sanitation and hygiene practices (WASH). Rotavirus vaccines are a useful addition to existing diarrhoeal disease control measures. Recommendations are to introduce the vaccine in low-income settings. A study was conducted in Nepal to examine whether immunisation programmes offer a useful entry point for hygiene promotion as part of a comprehensive approach for diarrhoea control. Service-provider and recipient perspectives on integration were explored in focus group discussions with Female Community Health Volunteers and caregivers of infants in Kaski district, Western Region. Key health, WASH and disease surveillance informants (government, I/NGOs and donors) were interviewed at national, regional and district level. Incorporating hygiene promotion into the immunisation programme was acceptable and fits with the recommendations of the National Committee on Immunisation Practice. Implementation through routine immunisation was preferred over a vaccination campaign approach. Discussions concluded that this approach should be piloted as a next step to ensure the development of a strategy that can optimise hygiene promotion delivery and uptake, and ultimately contribute to the reduction of the burden of diarrhoeal diseases in Nepal.
Long‐term recovery of irradiated prostate cancer increases cancer stem cells

Despite improvements in treatment, prostate cancer (PC) remains the second‐leading cause of cancer death in men. Radiotherapy is among the first‐line treatments for PC, but a significant number of patients relapse. Recent evidence supports the idea that PC is initiated by a subset of cells, termed cancer stem cells (CSCs). CSCs have also been implicated in radioresistance in various malignancies, but their role in PC has not yet been investigated.
Proposal for the John Cade Fellowship

The Hon Justice Annabelle Bennett AO, Chair of the NHMRC Council, asked the audience at a NHMRC Research Council dinner in Canberra, in 2012, the question: How could you transform the mental health of Australians? My interest was triggered immediately and my thinking ultimately ended with my ‘research application’ for a John Cade Fellowship about 8 months later. My answer to this question was that: The mental health of Australians will be radically transformed if it were possible to implement what we already know about preventing and treating the common mental health disorders. We have effective strategies, but too few Australians who could benefit are offered them. By harnessing Internet technologies, the aims of the Fellowship application were to test effective methods to implement proven prevention strategies at the population level and to increase help-seeking in those who need treatment. In 2004, Gavin Andrews identified two areas with potential to achieve a reduction in the burden of common mental disorders – and by an astonishing estimated 45% (Andrews et al., 2004). These were to prevent depression (potentially resulting in a 22% reduction in burden) and to increase the rate at which those needing treatments actually receive them (an additional 23% reduction if fully implemented). A central tenet of my Fellowship application was that technologies could assist and, indeed, accelerate translation in these two areas. Information communication technology (ICT) is increasingly recognised as a driver and transformer of health practice, including in psychiatry and psychology. In his recent report of medical health research in New South Wales, Wills (2012: viii) noted that these advances ‘position us at the start of arguably the most exciting era of health and medical research’. ICT is currently being used to deliver many e-health applications. These are effective in preventing and treating mental health conditions and the Internet serves as a platform to disseminate them. Pervasive personal health devices, such as those installed within mobile phones, can be used to collect individual data on risk factors, and thus offer for the first time the potential to collect individual data and develop personalised, tailored programs delivered universally. The Internet also provides the opportunity for fostering social connectedness, through social media sites, such as Facebook, Instagram, tweets, emails and SMS. These social networking modalities can be studied, harnessed and influenced, thereby creating a unique opportunity to change attitudes and bring about behavioural change at a population level.
Knowledge prioritisation for ERP implementation success: Perspectives of clients and implementation partners in UK industries

Knowledge management is crucial for enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems implementation in real industrial environments, but this is a highly demanding task. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of knowledge identification, categorisation and prioritisation that contributes to achieving ERP implementation success. ,This study adopts a mixed methods approach; a qualitative phase to identify and categorise knowledge types and sub-types; conducting in-depth interviews with ERP clients and implementation partners; plus a quantitative phase to prioritise knowledge types and sub-types based on their contribution to achieving ERP success for business performance improvement. An analytic hierarchy process-based questionnaire was used to collect empirical data for the quantitative phase. ,This study has been able to identify, categorise and rank various types of ERP-related knowledge based on in-depth interviews and survey responses from both ERP clients and implementation partners. In total, 4 knowledge types and 21 sub-types were ranked based on their contribution to achieving ERP success; 4 variables of information quality, systems quality, individual impact and organisational impact were used to measure ERP success. ,The empirical findings demonstrate exactly what kinds of knowledge need to be managed, enabling knowledge prioritisation when a client organisation or an implementation partner steps into an ERP implementation, in a real industrial environment.
Of mice and men‐warning: Intact versus castrated adult male mice as xenograft hosts are equivalent to hypogonadal versus abiraterone treated aging human males, respectively

Immune deficient male mice bearing human prostate cancer xenografts are used to evaluate therapeutic response to novel androgen ablation approaches and the results compared to surgical castration based upon assumption that testosterone microenvironment in intact and castrated adult male mice mimics eugonadal and castrated aging adult human males.
Towards strategic flexibility: social networks, climate and uncertainty

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study how the size of social networks and the strength of their ties can help CEOs acquire understanding and information from external sources to enable their firms to achieve greater strategic flexibility and the moderating role of organizational climate and uncertainty. Design/methodology/approach – The hypotheses were tested using the data provided by 203 managers of medium-sized and large Spanish firms using regression analysis. Findings – The paper shows that firms have higher levels of strategic flexibility when their CEOs’ social networks are larger. Furthermore, CEOs have more incentives to use strong social-networking ties to develop strategic flexibility when there exists a positive organizational climate and a high degree of environmental uncertainty. Practical implications – An understanding of these issues offers opportunities to assist CEOs embarking on a new strategic option or to become more effective in building and utilizing their networking acti.
Developing a roadmap for the translation of e-mental health services for depression

Objective: e-Mental health services have been shown to be effective and cost-effective for the treatment of depression. However, to have optimal impact in reducing the burden of depression, strategies for wider reach and uptake are needed. Method: A review was conducted to assess the evidence supporting use of e-mental health programmes for treating depression. From the review, models of dissemination and gaps in translation were identified, with a specific focus on characterising barriers and facilitators to uptake within the Australian healthcare context. Finally, recommendations for promoting the translation of e-mental health services in Australia were developed. Results: There are a number of effective and cost-effective e-health applications available for treating depression in community and clinical settings. Four primary models of dissemination were identified: unguided, health service–supported, private ownership and clinically guided. Barriers to translation include clinician reluctance, consumer awareness, structural barriers such as funding and gaps in the translational evidence base. Conclusion: Key strategies for increasing use of e-mental health programmes include endorsement of e-mental health services by government entities, education for clinicians and consumers, adequate funding of e-mental health services, development of an accreditation system, development of translation-focused activities and support for further translational research. The impact of these implementation strategies is likely to include economic gains, reductions in disease burden and greater availability of more interventions for prevention and treatment of mental ill-health complementary to existing health and efficient evidence-based mental health services.
A no-reference stereoscopic quality metric

Although a lot of progress has been made in the development of 2D objective video quality metrics, the area of 3D video quality metrics is still in its infancy. Many of the proposed metrics are simply adaptations of 2D quality metrics that consider the depth channel as an extra color channel. In this paper, we propose a 3D no-reference objective quality metric that estimates 3D quality taking into account spatial distortions, excessive disparity, depth representation and temporal information of the video. The metric is resolution and frame-rate independent. To estimate the amount of spatial distortion in the video, the proposed metric uses a blockiness metric. The contribution of motion and excessive disparity to 3D quality is calculated using a non-linear relative disparity measure and a frame-rate proportional motion measure. The metric's performance is verified against the COSPAD1 database. The MOS predicted using the proposed metric obtained good correlation values with the subjective scores. The performance was on average better than the performance of two simple 2D full reference metrics: SIMM and PSNR.
Mindfulness-based stress reduction for long-term physical conditions: A systematic review

Objective: To identify whether mindfulness-based stress reduction is effective in improving physical health outcomes for long-term physical conditions. Method: A systematic review of the literature (retrieved from MEDLINE, PubMed and PsycINFO). Results: Fifteen studies were included in the review. None of the studies assessed as having a low risk of bias demonstrated significant improvements in physical health status although there was some emerging evidence that mindfulness-based stress reduction may be useful in pain conditions. There was some preliminary evidence that it may also be effective in improving primary insomnia and irritable bowel syndrome. Small to moderate effect sizes were also found for asthma, pain, tinnitus, fibromyalgia and somatization disorders. Conclusion: Although there is some preliminary support for the use of mindfulness-based stress reduction in physical health conditions, further research is required before it could be considered an effective intervention for improving physical health outcomes.
Establishment of primary patient‐derived xenografts of palliative TURP specimens to study castrate‐resistant prostate cancer

Fresh patient specimens of castrate‐resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) are invaluable for studying tumor heterogeneity and responses to current treatments. They can be used for primary patient‐derived xenografts (PDXs) or serially transplantable PDXs, but only a small proportion of samples grow successfully. To improve the efficiency and quality of PDXs, we investigated the factors that determine the initial engraftment of patient tissues derived from TURP specimens.