Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neurotrophin and neurotrophin receptor expression by cells of the human lamina cribrosa.

PURPOSE To determine whether cells and tissue from the human lamina cribrosa (LC) express neurotrophin and tyrosine kinase (trk) receptor mRNA and protein and whether these cells secrete neurotrophins. METHODS Synthesis of cDNA and the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were conducted using total RNA obtained from well-characterized cell lines from the human LC and human optic nerve head (ONH) tissue. Immunofluorescent localization and Western blot analysis were used to evaluate neurotrophin and trk protein expression in cells and tissue from the human LC. Immunoassay systems (ELISAs) were used to detect the secretion of neurotrophins. RESULTS Two morphologically distinct cell types (LC cells and ONH astrocytes) were isolated and characterized from the human LC. Messenger RNA for each of the neurotrophins, three full-length trk receptors and two truncated trk receptors were detected in both cell types and in human ONH tissue. Protein for the neurotrophins and trk receptors were detected in LC cells, ONH astrocytes, and ONH tissue. Neither cell type expressed mRNA or protein for the low-affinity neurotrophin receptor p75. The secretion of neurotrophins was observed in both cell types. CONCLUSIONS Cells from the human LC express mRNA and protein of neurotrophins and trk receptors. In addition, cells from the LC secrete neurotrophins, which suggests that there is paracrine and/or autocrine signaling within the LC. Neurotrophin signaling within this region of the ONH may play important roles in the maintenance of the normal LC and in such diseases as glaucoma.
Quantitative analysis of lipid deposits from Schnyder’s corneal dystrophy

AIM To report the quantitation of the lipid composition of a corneal button from a Japanese woman in her 60s with clinically and histopathologically proved Schnyder’s corneal dystrophy. METHODS Total lipids extracted from the corneal button of the patient were analysed by the method of thin layer chromatography flame ionisation detection. Two different solvent systems were used for neutral lipid analysis and phospholipid analysis. Results were compared with three age matched corneal buttons obtained from cadaveric eyes. RESULTS The lipids that accumulated in the cornea in Schnyder’s dystrophy consisted mainly of unesterified cholesterol and phospholipids. The analysis of phospholipids showed sphingomyelin to be the predominant phospholipid in the patient’s cornea. CONCLUSION Findings suggest that this disorder involves a disturbance of the metabolism of cholesterol and/or sphingomyelin metabolism that is limited to the cornea.
Multifunctional clinical decision support system based on clinical practice guidelines

A multifunctional system for clinical decision support (SACRAL) is presented. The system supports the decisions based on recommendations from clinical practice guidelines and individual risk factors, generates reports, provides statistical data analysis, automatic generation of quality registry and audit which includes quality indicators. SACRAL is implemented in a general hospital, has 5 modules “Cardiology”, “Oncology”, “Neurology”, “Surgery” and “Preventive Medicine”), including 52 scenarios. Proposed concept of multifunctional clinical decision support system with automated register generation and clinical audit has proved its practical value for routine use in a general hospital. It can be used universally for various clinical domains and any clinical practice guidelines.
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in the Leptin-a Gene and Associations with Growth Traits in the Orange-Spotted Grouper (Epinephelus coioides)

Leptin is a multifunctional protein involved in processes such as body weight regulation, energy expenditure, fat metabolism, food intake, and appetite regulation. Duplicate leptin genes, leptin-a and leptin-b, were previously detected in the orange-spotted grouper. In this study, we cloned the full-length open reading frame (ORF) of the leptin-a gene in the orange-spotted grouper, searched for polymorphisms, and performed association analyses between these polymorphisms and seven growth traits. Six polymorphisms, consisting of 2 SNPs in intron 1 (c.182T > G, c.183G > T) and 4 SNPs in exon 2 (c.339C > G, c.345C > T, c.447G > A, c.531C > T), were identified and genotyped in 200 individuals. The c.182T > G and c.183G > T polymorphisms showed complete linkage and were analyzed together. Association analyses revealed that the c.182 + 183TG > GT polymorphism was significantly associated with body weight (BWT) and body width (BWH), with the AB (TG/GT) genotype showing positive effects on growth traits. Additionally, the SNP c.447G > A was significantly associated with BWT, BWH, overall length (OL), trunk width (TW), and head length (HL), with the GA genotype displaying positive effects on growth traits. The c.531C > T SNP showed a close association between the TT genotype and decreased growth. Our results demonstrate that several polymorphisms in the leptin-a gene are associated with growth traits and can be used for marker-assisted selection (MAS) in orange-spotted grouper populations.
THE INTERACTION OF DONOR AND HOST LYMPHOID CELLS IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF RENAL CORTICAL DESTRUCTION INDUCED BY A LOCAL GRAFT VERSUS HOST REACTION

The graft versus host reaction (GVHR), which results from the injection of parental strain spleen cells beneath the kidney capsule of F1 hybrid rats, is transferable during its developmental phase into F1 hybrid hosts isogeneic with the primary host, but not into secondary hosts of the parental (donor) strain. Furthermore, the GVHR propagates but rarely in secondary hybrid hosts which are allogeneic with respect to the primary hosts, but which are also genetically tolerant of donor-type cells. These findings indicate that the donor cells not only initiate the GVHR but also maintain it by virtue of immunologically specific activity. Whole-body irradiation of (LBf)F1 and (LBN)F1 hosts 24 hours prior to the injection of parental (L) spleen cells results in inhibition of the subsequent GVHR to a degree commensurate with the radiation damage sustained by the lymphoid system of the host. Furthermore, propagation of transferred GVHRs did not occur if susceptible secondary hybrid hosts had been previously irradiated. These findings indicate that radiosensitive host cells play a continuing and essential role in the pathogenesis of the invasive-destructive lesion. It is concluded that the development of this lesion depends upon the continuous interaction of the specifically reactive donor-type cells with an immunologically non-specific population of host mononuclears.
Improving Islet Engraftment by Gene Therapy

Islet cell transplantation is currently the only feasible long-term treatment option for patients with type 1 diabetes. However, the majority of transplanted islets experience damage and apoptosis during the isolation process, a blood-mediated inflammatory microenvironment in the portal vein upon islet infusion, hypoxia induced by the low oxygenated milieu, and poor-revascularization-mediated lack of nutrients, and impaired hormone modulation in the local transplanted site. Strategies using genetic modification methods through overexpression or silencing of those proteins involved in promoting new formation of blood vessels or inhibition of apoptosis may overcome these hurdles and improve islet engraftment outcomes.
Users' adoption of mobile services: Preference and location personalization

The topic of mobile services has piqued the interest of practitioners. Mobile service providers invest many resources to provide mobile services of higher quality in the hope of gaining more business opportunities and higher customer satisfaction. They often increase the service quality through the use of personalization, i.e., generating customized mobile content for each individual. Despite the proliferation of mobile personalization worldwide, prior studies are not definitive regarding whether and if users have a positive perception of personalized mobile services. If this question is left unanswered, mobile service providers do not know whether their investment can be justified. This paper examines how two types of personalization, preference personalization and location personalization, affect users' trust and distrust in the services and how trust and distrust affects users' adoption intention. Trust and distrust are not opposite ends of a single continuum. They are two constructs. While much information systems research examines the role of trust in technology use, distrust has been under investigated. Distrust manifests as users' suspicions of the competence and intent of a technology. In this study, we conducted a four-week experiment with 165 participants. The participants received personalized mobile content for restaurant recommendations. After four weeks, they reported their trust beliefs and distrust beliefs about personalized mobile services. We found that both types of personalization increase users' trust, but at the same time, they increase users' distrust. Trust has a positive effect on users' intention to adopt mobile services, whereas distrust has a negative effect on it. This paper also discusses the research and practical implications of the findings and describes opportunities for future research.
reducing bacteria in a eutrophic 1 shallow meromictic lake 2 3

Title Vertical distribution of major sulfate-reducing bacteria in a shallow eutrophic meromictic lake Author(s) Kubo, Kyoko; Kojima, Hisaya; Fukui, Manabu Citation Systematic and Applied Microbiology, 37(7): 510-519 Issue Date 2014-10 Doc URL http://hdl.handle. net/2115/57661 Type article (author version) Additional Information There are other files related to this item in HUSCAP. Check the above URL. File Information manuscript.pdf
Introducing a Method to Derive an Enterprise-Specific SOA Operating Model

Considering that each IT-organization is based on an established IT-governance the introduction of SOA as a new overall architectural approach will change the requirements for the specific governance model. The paper presents a SOA-specific governance model which differentiates an operating model, service lifecycle management, service ownership, cost allocation, and meta-data management support. Based on the company's maturity along the SOA-relevant dimensions IT-governance, SOA experience, and process maturity, its size, as well as its organizational structure the paper discusses an SOA operating model with organizational structure, roles, responsibilities, and KPIs. The main assumption of the approach is the alignment of the organizational structure of IT with a functional domain model. This operating model is the outcome of ten industrial workshops and one complex case study based on standards as CobiT and ITIL.
Antecedents and Consequences of Job Engagement: Empirical Study of Bank Employees

Abstract Job engagement has been widely studied in the present scenario in developed countries as the issue of disengaged workforce is creating a concern among practitioners. As global organizations are functioning even in least developing countries, the scenario is similar in their contexts too. Thus, building upon Kahn’s conceptualization of engagement, this study proposed counterproductive work behavior under contextual performance as an outcome of the job engagement. The study also examined variables like core self-evaluation and perceived organizational support as antecedents of job engagement. Task performance and organizational citizenship behaviors are outcome variables. Furthermore, it also examined the mediating nature of job engagement. The survey was filled by 285 bank employees of Nepal. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to test hypotheses. Regression results showed significant positive relationships between antecedent variables and job engagement, and job engagement and outcome variables. Similarly, partial mediation was observed among core self-evaluation and task performance, core self-evaluation and organizational citizenship behaviors, and core self-evaluation and counterproductive work behaviors, and full mediation was observed in the relationship between perceived organizational support and task performance, and perceived organizational support and counterproductive work behaviors. This study adds counterproductive work behaviors in the job engagement model suggested by Kahn.
Semantic Based Network Growth in Instant Messaging Environment

The instant information exchanging network of the Internet is interpreted as the consequences of invisible connection between humans. In the graph based studies the nodes are human beings and the edges represent various social relationships. The interactions among users can be interpreted via the formation and evolution of semantics. The interactive as well as intertwined behaviors are the foundation of network itself; at the same time, they shape the way how and where the network will evolve. This paper proposes a network growth model based on the semantic similarity as well as popularity of nodes. In our model, the nodes represent Sina Weibo blogs and are with semantics, the links are subscribing hyperlinks between nodes. The probability of link establishment between two nodes then calculated from the similarity between nodes. The data and experiments are based on Sina Weibo blogs, which are the continuous results of interactions by users. We collect data using WebCrawler from Sina API, obtaining a portion of the whole network. Results show that the statistic properties of Sina Weibo are in close analogy with that of social network and also the characteristic complex network. The studied network contains a number of very high-degree nodes; these nodes are the cores which small groups strongly clustered, and low-degree nodes at the fringes of the network. However, some nodes with too much semantics (especially under one category) are in decreased chances of having links from newly added nodes. The reason may lies in that the over-abundant semantics remains confusion for knowledge acquiring.
Connections of cat auditory cortex: I. Thalamocortical system

Despite the functional importance of the medial geniculate body (MGB) in normal hearing, many aspects of its projections to auditory cortex are unknown. We analyzed the MGB projections to 13 auditory areas in the cat using two retrograde tracers to investigate thalamocortical nuclear origins, topography, convergence, and divergence. MGB divisions and auditory cortex areas were defined independently of the connectional results using architectonic, histochemical, and immunocytochemical criteria. Each auditory cortex area received a unique pattern of input from several MGB nuclei, and these patterns of input identify four groups of cortical areas distinguished by their putative functional affiliations: tonotopic, nontonotopic, multisensory, and limbic. Each family of areas received projections from a functionally related set of MGB nuclei; some nuclei project to only a few areas (e.g., the MGB ventral division to tonotopic areas), and others project to all areas (e.g., the medial division input to every auditory cortical area and to other regions). Projections to tonotopic areas had fewer nuclear origins than those to multisensory or limbic‐affiliated fields. All projections were organized topographically, even those from nontonotopic nuclei. The few divergent neurons (mean: 2%) are consistent with a model of multiple segregated streams ascending to auditory cortex. The expanded cortical representation of MGB auditory, multisensory, and limbic affiliated streams appears to be a primary facet of forebrain auditory function. The emergence of several auditory cortex representations of characteristic frequency may be a functional multiplication of the more limited maps in the MGB. This expansion suggests emergent cortical roles consistent with the divergence of thalamocortical connections. J. Comp. Neurol. 507:1879–1900, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
New models for perceived voice quality prediction and their applications in playout buffer optimization for VoIP networks

Perceived voice quality is an important metric in VoIP applications. The quality is mainly affected by network impairments such as delay, jitter and packet loss. Playout buffer at the receiving side can be used to compensate for the effects of jitter based on a tradeoff between delay and loss. The main aim in this paper is to find an efficient perceived quality prediction method for perceptual optimization of playout buffer. The contributions of the paper are three-fold. First, we propose an efficient new method for predicting voice quality for buffer design/optimization. The method can also be used for voice quality monitoring and for QoS control. In the method, nonlinear regression models are derived for a variety of codecs (e.g. G.723.1/G.729/AMR/iLBC) with the aid of ITU PESQ and the E-model. Second, we propose the use of minimum overall impairment as a criterion for buffer optimization. This criterion is more efficient than using traditional maximum mean opinion score (MOS). Third, we show that the delay characteristics of voice over IP traffic is better characterized by a Weibull distribution than a Pareto or an exponential distribution. Based on the new voice quality prediction model, the Weibull delay distribution model and the minimum impairment criterion, we propose a perceptual optimization buffer algorithm. Preliminary results show that the proposed algorithm can achieve the optimum perceived voice quality compared with other algorithms under all network conditions considered.
The Acute Phase of Trypanosoma cruzi Infection Is Attenuated in 5-Lipoxygenase-Deficient Mice

In the present work we examine the contribution of 5-lipoxygenase- (5-LO-) derived lipid mediators to immune responses during the acute phase of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in 5-LO gene knockout (5-LO−/−) mice and wild-type (WT) mice. Compared with WT mice, the 5-LO−/− mice developed less parasitemia/tissue parasitism, less inflammatory cell infiltrates, and a lower mortality. This resistance of 5-LO−/− mice correlated with several differences in the immune response to infection, including reduced PGE2 synthesis; sustained capacity of splenocytes to produce high levels of interleukin (IL)-12 early in the infection; enhanced splenocyte production of IL-1β, IL-6, and IFN-γ; rapid T-cell polarization to secrete high quantities of IFN-γ and low quantities of IL-10; and greater numbers of CD8+CD44highCD62Llow memory effector T cells at the end of the acute phase of infection. The high mortality in WT mice was associated with increased production of LTB4/LTC4, T cell bias to produce IFN-γ, high levels of serum nitrite, and marked protein extravasation into the peritoneal cavity, although survival was improved by treatment with a cys-LT receptor 1 antagonist. These data also provide evidence that 5-LO-derived mediators negatively affect host survival during the acute phase of T. cruzi infection.
Prevalence and outcomes of diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease in COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with important chronic comorbid diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and hypertension. The present study analysed data from 20,296 subjects aged ≥45 yrs at baseline in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC) and the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS). The sample was stratified based on baseline lung function data, according to modified Global Initiative for Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) criteria. Comorbid disease at baseline and death and hospitalisations over a 5-yr follow-up were then searched for. Lung function impairment was found to be associated with more comorbid disease. In logistic regression models adjusting for age, sex, race, smoking, body mass index and education, subjects with GOLD stage 3 or 4 COPD had a higher prevalence of diabetes (odds ratio (OR) 1.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1–1.9), hypertension (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.3–1.9) and cardiovascular disease (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.9–3.0). Comorbid disease was associated with a higher risk of hospitalisation and mortality that was worse in people with impaired lung function. Lung function impairment is associated with a higher risk of comorbid disease, which contributes to a higher risk of adverse outcomes of mortality and hospitalisations.
Impact of meteorological anomalies in the 2003 summer on Gross Primary Productivity in East Asia

Abstract. Northern Eurasia experienced anomalous weather conditions in the 2003 summer. We examined how forest ecosystems responded to the meteorological anomalies during the period using the dataset collected at flux monitoring sites in Asia, including a boreal forest in Mongolia, temperate forests in China and Japan, and a sub-tropical forest in China, as well as the dataset from satellite remote sensing. From July to August 2003, an active rain band stayed in the mid-latitude in East Asia for an unusually long period. Under the influence of the rain band, the Gross Primary Production (GPP), of temperate forests was 20–30% lower in the 2003 summer than in other years due to significant reduction in the Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density (PPFD). The GPP of a cool-temperate forest in the north of the rain band was slightly enhanced by the higher PPFD; however, the GPP of a sub-tropical forest located in the south of the rain band was reduced by drought stress due to extremely hot and dry conditions. The correlation coefficients for the year-to-year changes in the PPFD and GPP during mid-summer were calculated, and the spatial distribution was examined. The spatial pattern of the PPFD was calculated by satellite data, and that of the GPP was estimated by a regression-type model, which was trained and tested by ground observation data. The correlation was positive in the mid- and high-latitudes since light was an essential factor of the summer GPP. On the other hand, a negative correlation appeared in the lower latitudes, suggesting that the water limitation was much more important than the PPFD in the region. Our study illustrated that the integration of flux data from wide areas by combining satellite remote sensing data can help us gain an understanding of the ecosystem responses to large-scale meteorological phenomena.
Anti-Forensics of Environmental-Signature-Based Audio Splicing Detection and Its Countermeasure via Rich-Features Classification

Numerous methods for detecting audio splicing have been proposed. Environmental-signature-based methods are considered to be the most effective forgery detection methods. The performance of existing audio forensic analysis methods is generally measured in the absence of any anti-forensic attack. Effectiveness of these methods in the presence of anti-forensic attacks is therefore unknown. In this paper, we propose an effective anti-forensic attack for environmental-signature-based splicing detection method and countermeasures to detect the presence of the anti-forensic attack. For anti-forensic attack, dereverberation-based processing is proposed. Three dereverberation methods are considered to tamper with the acoustic environment signature. Experimental results indicate that the proposed dereverberation-based anti-forensic attack significantly degrades the performance of the selected splicing detection method. The proposed countermeasures exploit artifacts introduced by the anti-forensic processing. To detect the presence of potential anti-forensic processing, a machine learning-based framework is proposed. In particular, the proposed anti-forensic detection method uses a rich-feature model consisting of Fourier coefficients, spectral properties, high-order statistics of musical noise residuals, and modulation spectral coefficients to capture traces of dereverberation attacks. The performance of the proposed framework is evaluated on both synthetic data and real-world speech recordings. The experimental results show that the proposed rich-feature model can detect the presence of anti-forensic processing with an average accuracy of 95%.