Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Prospective Profile of Visual Field Loss following Stroke: Prevalence, Type, Rehabilitation, and Outcome

Aims. To profile site of stroke/cerebrovascular accident, type and extent of field loss, treatment options, and outcome. Methods. Prospective multicentre cohort trial. Standardised referral and investigation protocol of visual parameters. Results. 915 patients were recruited with a mean age of 69 years (SD 14). 479 patients (52%) had visual field loss. 51 patients (10%) had no visual symptoms. Almost half of symptomatic patients (n = 226) complained only of visual field loss: almost half (n = 226) also had reading difficulty, blurred vision, diplopia, and perceptual difficulties. 31% (n = 151) had visual field loss as their only visual impairment: 69% (n = 328) had low vision, eye movement deficits, or visual perceptual difficulties. Occipital and parietal lobe strokes most commonly caused visual field loss. Treatment options included visual search training, visual awareness, typoscopes, substitutive prisms, low vision aids, refraction, and occlusive patches. At followup 15 patients (7.5%) had full recovery, 78 (39%) had improvement, and 104 (52%) had no recovery. Two patients (1%) had further decline of visual field. Patients with visual field loss had lower quality of life scores than stroke patients without visual impairment. Conclusions. Stroke survivors with visual field loss require assessment to accurately define type and extent of loss, diagnose coexistent visual impairments, and offer targeted treatment.
Packing Unequal Disks in a Circular Container Using a Population Based Algorithm

There are a lot of researches focused on the problem of unequal disks packing for its simplicity in definition and plenty of applications. Because it is NP-hard, most of them are heuristics. up to now, one of the best heuristics is iterated Tabu search. in this paper, we enhance this method by making it population based. We maintain a queue for the best k solutions found so far, and at each time, we choose a solution from it according to an elaborately set probability, perturb the solution and optimize it by adaptive Tabu search, finally, update the queue using the result of the optimization. to see the efficiency of our algorithm, we use it to solve a couple of benchmark problems, and the computational results showed its efficiency by beating several world records.
Two Tales of Chromatin Remodeling Converge on HUB1

Eukaryotic DNA is packaged into chromatin, the basic unit of which is the nucleosome, consisting of DNA wound around histone protein complexes. There are four core histones, known as H2A, H2B, H3, and H4, and two copies of each of these proteins come together to form a histone octamer complex around
Quality and constraint driven workflow composition

Complex business workflows are becoming an integral part of day-to-day business activities. As companies merge or embark in collaborations, there is a need to analyze, update, and integrate existing workflow specifications and run-time applications, to generate new ones that conform to specific target requirements and constraints. We propose a software engineering framework and its associated algorithms to compute the optimal composition of target workflows from constituent ones. First, we present a mechanism to compose services from constituent workflows to form a new target workflow. Second, since the composition process may entail the compliance to certain compositional, structural, or behavioral constraints we present a quantitative technique that is based on tolerance thresholds similar to those used in constraint satisfaction problems to restrict the number of constraints violated during the composition process. Finally, we provide an algorithm to compute the optimal composition of workflows with respect to a target workflow. Evaluation results by applying the technique to sample workflows are also presented
TuA-2-4 EFFECTS OF ADDITIVES AND DEEP UV IRRADIATION ON MAGNETIC HARD DISK TO WEAR ON MAGNETIC HEAD

Cyclotriphosphazene additives are commonly added to the magnetic hard disk lubricant to improve the durability of magnetic head. In our experiments, we discovered that the use of additives did not translate to an improvement in durability of magnetic head when it comes in contact with the magnetic hard disk at the 1nm lubricant thickness regime. The burnish rate of the magnetic head became worse. Improvement in durability will occur only after deep UV irradiation (185nm) treatment.
Security Issues in Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a framework for providing various computing and storage services on the on-demand basis via the internet. It provides access to a user pool of shared network and storage resources using the server of the service provider without materially acquiring these resources. Hence, it saves managing cost and time for various organizations as well as individual users. Many industries, such as education, banking, healthcare and manufacturing are widely adapting cloud services due to their efficiency, flexibility and reduction of costs. Since, cloud services are universally accessible; it makes accessing data process a lot easier than traditional storage methods. Some popular cloud providers where client data is stored and maintained are Google, Amazon, SalesForce, Microsoft, etc. However, cloud technology is completely internet dependent and hence, faces as many threats as that are existing in the networks such as intranets. These threats can occur in various forms such as traffic hijacking, insecure interface and APIs, malicious insiders, abuse of cloud services, shared technology vulnerabilities, data breaches, perimeter security model broken or unknown risk profile. The primary objective of this paper is to acknowledge the major issues of security and provide a solution to overcome them.
Transplacental thyroxine and fetal brain development.

We all know that thyroid hormone is essential for normal brain development, so it is perhaps not surprising to read the title of the report by Lavado-Autric et al. in this issue of the JCI (1), indicating that thyroid hormone affects brain development in the rat. However, the article addresses two matters that are central to an ongoing debate about important details of thyroid hormone action in the developing brain. Lavado-Autric et al. (1) report that subtle insufficiency of thyroid hormone in the pregnant rat disrupts the migration of neurons in the fetal cortex and hippocampus, leading to the presence of neurons in aberrant locations of the adult offspring’s brain and “blurring” cortical layers. Thus, the two important issues addressed in the design of this work are the timing of thyroid hormone action in the developing brain and the relative sensitivity of the fetal brain to maternal thyroid hormone insufficiency. Considering that maternal hypothyroxinemia may be 150–200 times more prevalent than congenital hypothyroidism (CH), several authors have recently speculated that screening for thyroid function should be routine for women early in their pregnancy (2) or for nonpregnant women of reproductive age.
Salmonella infections of the ovary and peritoneum of chickens.

It has long been established that Salmonella pullorum and S. gallinarum may localize in the ovary of both chickens and turkeys, producing transovarian infection. S. typhimurium has been isolated occasionally from the ovary of turkeys (4). The literature does not appear to contain convincing evidence of ovarian infection of chickens with non-host-adapted salmonellae. Attempts to produce ovarian infection by artificial' exposure of adult hens have been either inconclusive or negative (1,2,3). Isolation of salmonellae from egg contents cannot be accepted as proof of transovarian infection, because of the possibility of shell penetration by the patho-
Electrical properties of egg cell membranes.

The scope of this review is the electrical properties of the egg cell membrane. The first section concerns the resting potential, action potential, and K permeabilities of the egg cell membrane; these properties are compared with those of the maturing oocyte and early embryo. The second section concerns electrical phenomena associated with fertilization, in particular, the activation potential or fertilization potential and its function in prevent­ ing polyspermy and possibly in initiating development. Certain related topics have been reviewed elsewhere and are not discussed here: electrical phenomena associated with the establishment of pattern in the embryo (73); electrical coupling between blastomeres ( 124); and the development of membrane channels at later embryonic stages ( 139). Other reviews about the electrical properties of the egg cell membrane have been written (44, 58). One confusing issue in describing properties of eggs is the definitions of "egg" and "oocyte. " Two different definitions are commonly used. Some­ times the term oocyte is used to refer to stages not yet ready to be fertilized, whereas other authors distinguish oocytes and eggs according to the stage of meiosis, i.e. oocyte is used to refer to any stage before meiosis is complete and egg is used to refer to subsequent stages. This is confusing since in different species fertilization occurs at different stages of meiosis of the female gamete ( 13 1). (The male gamete has always completed meiosis at the time of fertilization.) Rather than attempt to reform this ambiguous usage, in general we have used the terminology used in the papers under discussion. 385
PELLETIZING WASTE COMPOST AND FLY ASH MIXTURE TO PRODUCE FERTILIZING MATERIAL

Abstract – The basic idea in this study is to develop a method to convert compost waste into pellets with the addition of fly ash. The pellets are to be used as soil conditioners suitable for plant production. The article introduces a method of how to make compost waste and fly ash easier to process and distribute, to enhance their soil improving and fertilization properties, and to improve the preconditions for their exploitation in general. The effect of raw material characteristics on pelletization and plant production are shown. According to the results, the pellets with-stood handling to a certain extent, and their size and form varied significantly but remained distributable. The product granules can be used as a fertilizer or soil conditioner, as such, for certain garden plants, or for private home gardens where the pellet-provided nutrient amounts can be quite sufficient. However, the fly ash component of the granules should be clean enough or cleaned from heavy metals by, for example, electrostatic pre-cipitation.
NTP-CERHR monograph on the potential human reproductive and developmental effects of hydroxyurea.

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction (CERHR) conducted an evaluation of the potential for hydroxyurea to cause adverse effects on reproduction and development in humans. Hydroxyurea is a drug used to treat cancer, sickle cell disease, and thalassemia. It is the only treatment for sickle cell disease in children, aside from blood transfusion and, in severe cases, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Hydroxyurea is FDA-approved for use in adults with sickle cell anemia to reduce the frequency of painful crises and the need for blood transfusions. Hydroxyurea may be given to children and adults with sickle cell disease for an extended period of time or for repeated cycles of therapy. Treatment with hydroxyurea is associated with known side effects such as cytotoxicity and myelosuppression, and hydroxyurea is genotoxic (can damage DNA). CERHR selected hydroxyurea for evaluation because of: its increasing use for treatment of sickle cell disease in children and adults, knowledge that it inhibits DNA synthesis and is cytotoxic, and published evidence of reproductive and developmental toxicity in rodents. The results of this evaluation are published in the NTP-CERHR Monograph on Hydroxyurea, which includes the NTP Brief and Expert Panel Report on the Reproductive and Developmental Toxicity of Hydroxyurea. Additional information related to the evaluation process, including public comments received on the draft NTP Brief and the final expert panel report, are available on the CERHR website (http:// cerhr.niehs.nih.gov/). See hydroxyurea under "CERHR Chemicals" on the homepage or go directly to http://cerhr.niehs. nih.gov/chemicals/hydroxyurea/hydroxyurea-eval.html). The NTP reached the following conclusions on the possible effects of exposure to hydroxyurea on human reproduction or development. The possible levels of concern, from lowest to highest, are negligible concern, minimal concern, some concern, concern, and serious concern. The NTP expresses serious concern that exposure of men to therapeutic doses of hydroxyurea may adversely affect sperm production. This level of concern is for all males who have reached puberty. The NTP concurs with the Expert Panel that there is concern that exposure of pregnant women to hydroxyurea may result in birth defects, abnormalities of fetal growth, or abnormal postnatal development in offspring. The NTP concurs with the Expert Panel that there is minimal concern that exposure of children to therapeutic doses of hydroxyurea at 5 -15 years of age will adversely affect growth. NTP will transmit the NTP-CERHR Monograph on the Potential Human Reproductive and Developmental Effects of Hydroxyurea to federal and state agencies, interested parties, and the public and make it available in electronic PDF format on the CERHR web site (http://cerhr niehs nih gov) and in printed text or CD from CERHR.
Changes in global gene and protein expression during early mouse liver carcinogenesis induced by non-genotoxic model carcinogens oxazepam and Wyeth-14,643.

We hypothesized that the mouse liver tumor response to non-genotoxic carcinogens would involve some common early gene and protein expression changes that could ultimately be used to predict chemical hepatocarcinogenesis. In order to identify a panel of genes to test, we analyzed global differences in gene and protein expression in livers from B6C3F1 mice following dietary treatment with two rodent carcinogens, the benzodiazepine anti-anxiety drug oxazepam (2500 p.p.m.) and the hypolipidemic agent Wyeth (Wy)-14,643 (500 p.p.m.) compared with livers from untreated mice. Male mice were exposed for 2 weeks and 1, 3 or 6 months to oxazepam or Wy-14,643 in an age-matched study design. By histopathological evaluation, no liver preneoplastic foci or tumors were detected at 6 months in treated or control groups. By cDNA microarray analysis [NIEHS Mouse Chip (8700 genes); n = 3 individual livers/group, four hybridizations/sample], expression of 36 genes or 220 genes were changed relative to control livers following 6 months of oxazepam or Wy-14,643 treatment, respectively. To obtain a more comprehensive picture of gene/protein expression changes, we also conducted a proteomics study by 2D-gel electrophoresis followed by matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry on cytoplasmic, nuclear, and microsomal subcellular fractions of the same liver samples utilized for the cDNA microarray analysis. Real-time PCR, western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry were utilized for validation and to expand the results to other time points. Cyp2b20, growth arrest- and damage-inducible gene beta (Gadd45beta), tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced protein 2 and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1 (Igfbp5) genes and proteins were upregulated by oxazepam, and Cyp2b20, Cyclin D1, proliferating cell nuclear antigen, Igfbp5, Gadd45beta and cell death-inducing DNA fragmentation factor alpha subunit-like effector A exhibited higher expression after Wy-14,643 treatment. Most of these genes/proteins were also deregulated at 2 weeks. There appeared to be more distinct than common changes in the expression of carcinogenesis-related genes/proteins between the two compounds, suggesting that the major carcinogenic pathways are different for these compounds and may be distinct for different chemical classes.
Effect of Phosphatidylserine on Unitary Conductance and Ba2+ Block of the BK Ca2+–activated K+ Channel

Incorporation of BK Ca2+–activated K+ channels into planar bilayers composed of negatively charged phospholipids such as phosphatidylserine (PS) or phosphatidylinositol (PI) results in a large enhancement of unitary conductance (gch) in comparison to BK channels in bilayers formed from the neutral zwitterionic lipid, phospatidylethanolamine (PE). Enhancement of gch by PS or PI is inversely dependent on KCl concentration, decreasing from 70% at 10 mM KCl to 8% at 1,000 mM KCl. This effect was explained previously by a surface charge hypothesis (Moczydlowski, E., O. Alvarez, C. Vergara, and R. Latorre. 1985. J. Membr. Biol. 83:273–282), which attributed the conductance enhancement to an increase in local K+ concentration near the entryways of the channel. To test this hypothesis, we measured the kinetics of block by external and internal Ba2+, a divalent cation that is expected to respond strongly to changes in surface electrostatics. We observed little or no effect of PS on discrete blocking kinetics by external and internal Ba2+ at 100 mM KCl and only a small enhancement of discrete and fast block by external Ba2+ in PS-containing membranes at 20 mM KCl. Model calculations of effective surface potential sensed by the K+ conduction and Ba2+-blocking reactions using the Gouy-Chapman-Stern theory of lipid surface charge do not lend support to a simple electrostatic mechanism that predicts valence-dependent increase of local cation concentration. The results imply that the conduction pore of the BK channel is electrostatically insulated from the lipid surface, presumably by a lateral distance of separation (>20 Å) from the lipid head groups. The lack of effect of PS on apparent association and dissociation rates of Ba2+ suggest that lipid modulation of K+ conductance is preferentially coupled through conformational changes of the selectivity filter region that determine the high K+ flux rate of this channel relative to other cations. We discuss possible mechanisms for the effect of anionic lipids in the context of specific molecular interactions of phospholipids documented for the KcsA bacterial potassium channel and general membrane physical properties proposed to regulate membrane protein conformation via energetics of bilayer stress.
S-Adenosyl-L-methionine–Dependent Restriction Enzymes

Restriction–modification (R–M) enzymes are classified into type I, II, III, and IV, based on their recognition sequence, subunit composition, cleavage position, and cofactor requirements. While the role of S-Adenosyl-L-methionine (AdoMet) as the methyl group donor in the methylation reaction is undisputed, its requirement in DNA cleavage reaction has been subject to intense study. AdoMet is a prerequisite for the DNA cleavage by most type I enzymes known so far, with the exception of R.EcoR124I. A number of new type II restriction enzymes belonging to the type IIB and IIG family were found to show AdoMet dependence for their cleavage reaction. The type III enzymes have been found to require AdoMet for their restriction function. AdoMet functions as an allosteric effector of the DNA cleavage reaction and has been shown to bring about conformational changes in the protein upon binding.
Motor Skill Training, but not Voluntary Exercise, Improves Skilled Reaching After Unilateral Ischemic Lesions of the Sensorimotor Cortex in Rats

Background and Purpose . Exercise and rehabilitative training each have been implicated in the promotion of restorative neural plasticity after cerebral injury. Because motor skill training induces synaptic plasticity and exercise increases plasticity-related proteins, we asked if exercise could improve the efficacy of training on a skilled motor task after focal cortical lesions. Methods . Female young and middle-aged rats were trained on the single-pellet retrieval task and received unilateral ischemic sensorimotor cortex lesions contralateral to the trained limb. Rats then received both, either, or neither voluntary running and/or rehabilitative training for 5 weeks beginning 5 days postlesion. Motor skill training consisted of daily practice of the impaired forelimb in a tray-reaching task. Exercised rats had free access to running wheels for 6 h/day. Reaching function was periodically probed using the single-pellet retrieval task. Results. In young adults, motor skill training significantly enhanced skilled reaching recovery compared to controls. However, exercise did not significantly enhance performance when administered alone or in combination with skill training. There was also no major benefit of exercise in older rats. Additionally, there were no effects of exercise in a measure of coordinated forelimb placement (the foot-fault test) or in immunocytochemical measures of several plasticity-related proteins in the motor cortex. Conclusions. In young and middle-aged animals, exercise did not improve motor skill training efficacy following ischemic lesions. Practicing motor skills more effectively improved recovery of these skills than did exercise. It remains possible that an alternative manner of administering exercise would be more effective.
The Aggregate Effects of the Hartz Reforms in Germany

This paper quantifies the impact of the Hartz reforms on matching efficiency, using monthly SOEP gross worker flows (1983-2009). We show that, until the early 2000s, close to 60% of changes in the unemployment rate are due to changes in the inflow rate (job separation). On the contrary, since the implementation of the reforms in the mid-2000s, the importance of the outflow rate (job finding) has been steadily increasing. This indicates that matching efficiency has improved substantially in recent years. Results from an estimated matching function — pointing to efficiency gains of more than 20% — corroborate this finding.
Number of nodes examined and staging accuracy in colorectal carcinoma.

PURPOSE The objective of this study was to determine the number of nodes that need to be examined to accurately reflect the histology of the regional lymphatics in colorectal carcinoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients undergoing curative resection for T2 and T3 colorectal cancer between 1992 and 1996 were reviewed. Pathologic data from these patients were entered into a computerized database for storage, retrieval, and analysis. The major outcome measured was the number of nodes that need to be examined to achieve a node-positive rate consistent with that reported in the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) report. RESULTS The number of nodes examined ranged from 0 to 78 (mean, 17 nodes). Node-negative patients had fewer nodes examined (mean, 14 nodes) than node-positive patients (mean, 20 nodes; P =.003). The entire sample had a node-positive rate of 38.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 32% to 45.5%), not statistically different from that in the NCDB report. When at least 14 nodes were examined, the percent of patients with at least one positive node was 33.3% (95% CI, 24.6% to 42.3%), not statistically different from the NCDB report. CONCLUSION In a sample of patients statistically similar to the sample in the NCDB report, the examination of at least 14 nodes after resection of T2 or T3 carcinoma of the colon and rectum will accurately stage the lymphatic basin.
Convergence of a Traffic Signs-Based Fog Density Model

Multiple-vehicle accidents caused by reduced visibility conditions occur during localized fog and often result in fatalities and injuries. The extreme variability in density, predictability, and location of the hazard further complicates the task of improving highway safety conditions. This paper presents a novel approach for estimating visibility condition using an onboard camera and a digital map encoding traffic signs informations. Ability to respond in a timely fashion to sudden local change in visibility conditions is specifically investigated.