Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TREAT-AND-EXTEND REGIMENS WITH ANTI-VEGF AGENTS IN RETINAL DISEASES: A Literature Review and Consensus Recommendations

Purpose: A review of treat-and-extend regimens (TERs) with intravitreal anti–vascular endothelial growth factor agents in retinal diseases. Methods: There is a lack of consensus on the definition and optimal application of TER in clinical practice. This article describes the supporting evidence and subsequent development of a generic algorithm for TER dosing with anti–vascular endothelial growth factor agents, considering factors such as criteria for extension. Results: A TER algorithm was developed; TER is defined as an individualized proactive dosing regimen usually initiated by monthly injections until a maximal clinical response is observed (frequently determined by optical coherence tomography), followed by increasing intervals between injections (and evaluations) depending on disease activity. The TER regimen has emerged as an effective approach to tailoring the dosing regimen and for reducing treatment burden (visits and injections) compared with fixed monthly dosing or monthly visits with optical coherence tomography–guided regimens (as-needed or pro re nata). It is also considered a suitable approach in many retinal diseases managed with intravitreal anti–vascular endothelial growth factor therapy, given that all eyes differ in the need for repeat injections. Conclusion: It is hoped that this practical review and TER algorithm will be of benefit to health care professionals interested in the management of retinal diseases.
Wearable sensing systems for healthcare monitoring

Since our society is rapidly aging, there exists an urgent need to shift from passive medical care to preventive medicine and health management, to improve individuals' quality of life and reduce medical expenses. At the same time, rapid advances in micro-machine and LSI technologies with revolutionary advances in wireless information and communication technology have enabled development of wearable sensing systems for healthcare monitoring in daily life. We have been developing a comprehensive physiological and environmental information processing platform on the basis of wearable sensors for services to counter lifestyle diseases. This paper focuses on wearable physiological sensing and its applications to healthcare.
Superconducting proximity effect through high-quality high-conductance tunnel barriers.

The temperature dependence of the critical current of very high-conductance $\mathrm{Nb}\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{Al}{\mathrm{O}}_{x}\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{Al}\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{Al}{\mathrm{O}}_{x}\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{Nb}$ tunnel junctions with thin middle Al layers (thickness ${d}_{\mathrm{Al}}$ 2-8 nm) shows a tail above the Al critical temperature, whose amplitude strongly depends on ${d}_{\mathrm{Al}}$. This is interpreted as evidence of a proximity effect through tunnel barriers whose high quality and transparency can be independently assessed. These data have been modeled within the framework of the McMillan model using independently measurable barrier transmission factors, and obtaining an excellent quantitative agreement.
The CARES‐SF used for prospective assessment of health‐related quality of life after stem cell transplantation

Objective: By employing the Cancer Rehabilitation and Evaluation System short form (CARES‐SF) prospectively we wanted to focus on the rehabilitation needs after high‐dose chemotherapy (HDC) and stem cell transplantation, in order to identify problems that should be addressed by health‐care professionals during the course of disease and treatment.
Between private property rights and national preferences: the Bank of Israel's early years

The history of the Bank of Israel is often told as a story that leads from servitude to independence. According to this conception, the bank was a weak and marginal institution during the developmental period of the state, and it turned into an independent actor in the neoliberal period. This article argues that the portrayal of the bank as marginal during the developing period fails to recognize the essential role it played in contributing to the capacity of the state to allocate credit more effectively. It maintains that that Bank of Israel provided the state with market compatible instruments in order to govern the banking system and depoliticized the allocation of credit. The establishment of the bank had two effects on Israel's political economy: it enabled the government to weaken its dependence on the Histadrut as an agent of development and it allowed it to nurture linkages with the private sector.
Control of French and Japanese subsidiaries in China: implementing control mechanisms before and after the global economic crisis

The central research question investigated herein involves why and how multinational firms implement various instruments and mechanisms to maintain control over their subsidiaries in China. During 2005–2007, the authors interviewed expatriate managers in charge of 12 French and 10 Japanese subsidiaries in China. The interviews show that multinational companies base their subsidiary control policy on four main control dimensions: the share of capital, expatriation, the training of local employees and the formalization of the organizational structure. A thematic content analysis of the 22 interviews provides deeper insight into the way, and the reasons why, multinational companies implement these four control dimensions. Since the subject companies all sell globally, this study also considers the effects of the global economic crisis of 2008–2009 on their control policies. Specifically, in early 2010, a sample of expatriate managers commented on the impact of the global economic crisis on their activities in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as on the corporate implementation of the four control dimensions.
Innate immune cell networking in hepatitis C virus infection

Persistent viral infection, such as HCV infection, is the result of the inability of the host immune system to mount a successful antiviral response, as well as the escape strategies devised by the virus. Although each individual component of the host immune system plays important roles in antiviral immunity, the interactive network of immune cells as a whole acts against the virus. The innate immune system forms the first line of host defense against viral infection, and thus, virus elimination or chronic HCV infection is linked to the direct outcome of the interactions between the various innate immune cells and HCV. By understanding how the distinct components of the innate immune system function both individually and collectively during HCV infection, potential therapeutic targets can be identified to overcome immune dysfunction and control chronic viral infection.
Americanism in the Twenty-First Century: Public Opinion in the Age of Immigration

1. Introduction 2. The 21st century Americanism survey 3. Defining American identity in the 21st century 4. Policy implications of multidimensional Americanism 5. The myths and realities of identity prioritization 6. Does 'becoming American' create a 'better' American? 7. Immigrant resentment: when the work ethic backfires 8. The politics of American identity.
The Clinical and Economic Burden of Hyperkalemia on Medicare and Commercial Payers.

BACKGROUND Hyperkalemia (serum potassium >5.0 mEq/L) may be caused by reduced kidney function and drugs affecting the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and is often present in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). OBJECTIVE To quantify the burden of hyperkalemia in US Medicare fee-for-service and commercially insured populations using real-world claims data, focusing on prevalence, comorbidities, mortality, medical utilization, and cost. METHODS A descriptive, retrospective claims data analysis was performed on patients with hyperkalemia using the 2014 Medicare 5% sample and the 2014 Truven Health Analytics MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounter databases. The starting study samples required patient insurance eligibility during ≥1 months in 2014. The identification of hyperkalemia and other comorbidities required having ≥1 qualifying claims in 2014 with an appropriate International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis code in any position. To address the differences between patients with and without hyperkalemia, CKD subsamples were analyzed separately. Mortality rates were calculated in the Medicare sample population only. The claims were grouped into major service categories; the allowed costs reflected all costs incurred by each cohort divided by the total number of member months for that cohort. RESULTS The prevalence of hyperkalemia in the Medicare and commercially insured samples was 2.3% and 0.09%, respectively. Hyperkalemia was associated with multiple comorbidities, most notably CKD. The prevalence of CKD in the Medicare and the commercially insured members with hyperkalemia was 64.8% and 31.8%, respectively. After adjusting for CKD severity, the annual mortality rate for Medicare patients with CKD and hyperkalemia was 24.9% versus 10.4% in patients with CKD without hyperkalemia. The allowed costs in patients with CKD and hyperkalemia in the Medicare and commercially insured cohorts were more than twice those in patients with CKD without hyperkalemia. Inpatient care accounted for >50% of costs in patients with CKD and hyperkalemia. CONCLUSION Hyperkalemia is associated with substantial clinical and economic burden among US commercially insured and Medicare populations.
“I Have a Voice—Hear Me!” Findings of an Australian Study Examining the Resettlement and Integration Experience of Refugees and Migrants from the Horn of Africa in Australia

Using the lens of “integration criteria” developed by Ager and Strang, this article presents the findings of a project documenting the resettlement and integration experiences of refugees and migrants from the Horn of Africa (HoA) in Australia. While refugees have enormous potential to integrate successfully, and many do, there are obstacles which persist. These include: trauma; separation of family members; lack of adequate on-arrival information and support; difficulties with language acquisition; lack of access to appropriate and affordable housing; lack of education support; discrimination in the work force; conflict within families; racism; and violence against women.
Antigen‐independent expansion of T cells from psoriatic skin lesions: phenotypic characterization and antigen reactivity

The pathogenesis of psoriasis appears to depend on T cells, which have been proposed to mediate the disease through an autoimmune process. To test this hypothesis we have propagated four T‐cell lines from biopsies of psoriatic skin lesions by antigen‐independent methods. Flow cytometric immunophenotyping showed the lines to be composed mainly of CD4‐positive, αβ‐cell receptor (TCR)‐positive cells, which secreted a cytokine profile suggestive of predominant T‐helper type 1 (Th1) status. Analysis of TCR variable region (Vβ) usage revealed two‐ to eight‐fold increases in the expression of certain Vβ species in lesional lines as compared with autologous peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), with the increased Vβ species being expressed on more than 5% of cells in two of the lines. Lines were also used to test for responses to a range of epidermal antigen preparations in the presence of irradiated autologous PBMC as antigen‐presenting cells. The lines failed to proliferate in response to psoriatic lesional stratum corneum extracts, dispase‐separated normal human epidermal extracts, and an epidermal keratin preparation before and after trypsinization, in spite of good proliferative responses to anti‐CD3 which indicated that the lines were not anergic. In addition, the lines and PBMC from normal volunteers and the patients with psoriasis gave little or no response to recombinant streptococcal M protein. Thus, in spite of accumulating evidence for selective expansion of certain Vβ‐expressing T cells in psoriatic lesions, epidermal autoantigens have not been identified by using a bioassay which depended largely on the proliferation of lesional CD4‐positive cells. The role of streptococcal M protein, which bears some homology with epidermal keratin is also open to question, at least in chronic plaque psoriasis. Further work is therefore required to obtain direct evidence that autoimmune processes are important in the pathogenesis of chronic plaque psoriasis.
Reconciling people's livelihoods and environmental conservation in the rural landscapes in Kenya: Opportunities and challenges in the Amboseli landscapes

Two of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2000 are: eradication of extreme poverty and hunger; and ensuring environmental sustainability. The link between depressed livelihoods and unsustainable use of land and natural resources can be seen in Kenyan rangelands. Here, the local community is dependent on land and its resources for livelihoods, but the demand and competition is increasing, endangering both the resources they depend on and threatening environmental health. Amboseli is an Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL) area that experiences ecological constraints, resource limitations, and low economic investment. Local communities in such landscapes are resource-dependent for their daily livelihoods, and have few socio-economic opportunities. Pastoralism, which is the main source of their wealth, continues to decline and exploitation by a few local elites and poor local leadership further depresses livelihoods. Other challenges to these poor rural landscapes are increasing human population which increases demands on natural resources and environment; persistent hunger; low universal primary education; poor gender equality and empowerment of women; environmental degradation; and lack of local and global partnership for development. This paper focuses on the two Millennium Development Goals mentioned above. Linkages, challenges and opportunities in enhancing rural livelihoods while promoting environmental sustainability in rural landscapes of the Amboseli Rural Landscape are discussed.
Laser-Linewidth-Tolerant Feed-Forward Carrier Phase Estimator With Reduced Complexity for QAM

An improved feed-forward carrier phase estimation scheme with further complexity reduction is presented and numerically verified for quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) formats. Based on the blind phase search (BPS) algorithm, a general two-stage configuration is first derived by removing several restrictions assumed in the prior art. Two guidelines for determining the design parameters are then proposed to minimize the computational complexity while mitigating the pattern effect and maintaining the tolerance to laser linewidth. Taking square 64QAM as an example, the computational efforts can be reduced by a factor of 4 while keeping the same tolerance to laser linewidth as compared to a single-stage BPS estimator.
To ‘douche’ or not to ‘douche’: hygiene habits may have detrimental effects on vaginal microbiota

Abstract The importance of a healthy vaginal micro-flora is indisputable. Therefore, intravaginal practices, such as vaginal douching (VD), may inhibit or lower the colonisation of beneficial Lactobacilli strains. Although the results of disrupted vaginal microbiota have been widely reported in the literature, direct microbicidal effects of products used for VD have been rarely studied. Moreover, there are certain studies advocating the beneficial effects of VD. This in vitro study was designed to provide more evidence to help health care givers in disseminating the knowledge that VD might have detrimental effects on vaginal microbiota. Three commercially available VD products (A, B and C) were examined for their minimal inhibiting concentrations (MICs) against Lactobacilli strains. Although the MICs of product A (ranging from 0.19% to 0.09%, p < .05) were proven to be lower than the other two, all the products were potentially able to inhibit the growth of Lactobacilli strains effectively, and hence should be used with caution. Impact statement What is already known on this subject? The importance of vaginal microbiota has long been reported for the maintenance of health. The lack of a healthy vaginal ecosystem may lead to various diseases including pelvic inflammatory disease, bacterial vaginosis, sexually transmitted diseases, etc. Moreover, studies also stress that lack of beneficial bacteria may lead to miscarriages, premature delivery, ectopic pregnancy and cervical cancer. Despite a huge amount of data regarding the importance of vaginal microbiota, studies confirm that women still utilise VD for various reasons. Whilst the detrimental effect of VD have been widely reported in the literature; there are a few publications advocating the potential benefits of VD. Educational efforts are reported to lessen this practice. What do the results of this study add? In this in vitro study we aimed to substantiate the bactericidal potential of three commercially available products. There are studies about the clinical outcomes of VD, but a limited number of in vitro studies exist. Our results represent a direct measure of how potentially destructive VD is. What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? This information can be used for educational purposes, enhancing the efforts provided by health care givers used to lessen VD practice.
Particle Swarm Optimization applied to relational data clustering

This work introduces a hard clustering algorithm based on Particle Swarm Optimization metaheuristic that is able to partition objects considering their relational descriptions given by a single dissimilarity matrix. The PSO is a metaheuristic based on population which is well known for its simplicity, good performance and it was already designed as clustering algorithm for vector data. The proposed PSO algorithm uses a modified version of the HCMdd algorithm as local search. The HCMdd algorithm is a variant of the well known hard K-medoids clustering algorithm for relational data, that is designed to provide a partition and a representative for each cluster. The performance and the usefullness of the proposed algorithm, in comparison with HCMdd, RHCM and Spectral clustering algorithms, these last two are also able to work with relational data, are illustrated with suitable normalized data sets from the UCI Machine Learning Repository.
Care, markets and migration in a globalising world: Introduction to the Special Issue

Over the past two decades three phenomena have grown in social, political and economic significance for welfare states in Europe and beyond: the development of care provision for young children and older and disabled adults; the promotion of markets and the widespread use of market mechanisms to deliver welfare services; and the migration of workers, an increasing number of whom are women, from poorer to richer regions of the world. In this Special Issue we look at these developments and the very specific ways in which these three phenomena have become increasingly intertwined, that is to say, how marketisation and migrant care labour have become central and interrelated features of care policy and provision. In situating this analysis within globalising processes, we extend the scope of our particular crossnational comparisons within Europe – here referring to England, Sweden, Finland, Spain and Italy – to include Australia, the US, Canada, Japan and Korea. (We do not cover Eastern Europe except in so far as, for a number of European countries, this has become a significant region of origin for migrant care workers.) This scope allows the articles to interrogate, in their different cross-national comparisons, the issue of how far, irrespective of regime or region, are there convergences in the development of care policies, in their marketisation and in their use of migrant labour, and how might we analyse and explain these? As such, this collection represents one of the first detailed and sustained cross-national analyses of care markets and migration in developed welfare states in Europe and beyond.1 Before outlining these developments and what the articles tell us about them, we briefly explain the genesis of this special issue. A core group was established in 2007 through funding from a British Academy/Academy of the Social Sciences of Australia Collaborative International Study Scheme which led to a conference in 2008 at the University of New South Wales, organised with the support of the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth and the Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales. In October 2009 a further conference on the ‘Political and Social Economy of 449777 ESP22410.1177/0958928712449777Williams and BrennanJournal of European Social Policy 2012
Modelling differentiated services in UMTS networks

One of the main features of the third generation (3G) mobile networks is their capability to provide different classes of services; especially multimedia and real-time services in addition to the traditional telephony and data services. These new services, however, will require higher quality of service (QoS) constraints on the network mainly regarding delay, delay variation and packet loss. Additionally, the overall traffic profile in both the air interface and inside the network will be rather different than used to be in today's mobile networks. Therefore, providing QoS for the new services will require more than what a call admission control algorithm can achieve at the border of the network. Continuous buffer control in both the wireless and the fixed part of the network ensures that higher priority traffic is treated in the proper way. This paper proposes and analytically evaluates a buffer management scheme that is based on multilevel priority and partial buffer sharing (PBS) policy for all buffers at the border and inside the wireless network. The analytical model is based on the G/G/1/N censored queue with single server and R (R /spl ges/ 2) priority classes under the head of line (HOL) service rule for the PBS scheme. The traffic is modelled using the generalised exponential distribution. The paper presents an analytical solution based on the approximation using the maximum entropy (ME) principle. The numerical results show the capability of the space prioritised buffer management scheme to provide higher QoS for the higher priority service classes.
Bacteriophage P22 Antitermination boxB Sequence Requirements Are Complex and Overlap with Those of λ

ABSTRACT Transcription antitermination in phages λ and P22 uses N proteins that bind to similar boxB RNA hairpins in regulated transcripts. In contrast to the λ N-boxB interaction, the P22 N-boxB interaction has not been extensively studied. A nuclear magnetic resonance structure of the P22 N peptide boxBleft complex and limited mutagenesis have been reported but do not reveal a consensus sequence for boxB. We have used a plasmid-based antitermination system to screen boxBs with random loops and to test boxB mutants. We find that P22 N requires boxB to have a GNRA-like loop with no simple requirements on the remaining sequences in the loop or stem. U:A or A:U base pairs are strongly preferred adjacent to the loop and appear to modulate N binding in cooperation with the loop and distal stem. A few GNRA-like hexaloops have moderate activity. Some boxB mutants bind P22 and λ N, indicating that the requirements imposed on boxB by P22 N overlap those imposed by λ N. Point mutations can dramatically alter boxB specificity between P22 and λ N. A boxB specific for P22 N can be mutated to λ N specificity by a series of single mutations via a bifunctional intermediate, as predicted by neutral theories of evolution.