Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
[Retinal tamponade with silicone oil - long term results].

AIM The aim of this study is to evaluate the frequency and efficacy of silicone oil (SO) retinal tamponade in various retinal diseases. The incidence of silicone oil tamponade according to individual indications, incidence of complications and duration of tamponade were evaluated in the study. MATERIAL AND METHODS A retrospective study included 510 eyes that were operated on pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) from January 2010 to December 2012. In our group we evaluated 241 men and 189 women, age 4-84 years, mean 62 years . Follow-up period was 12 to 48 months, an average of 27.5 months . We evaluated 253 eyes with diabetic retinopathy, 201 eyes with regmatogenous retinal detachment, 34 eyes with endophthalmitis and 22 eyes after the injury. RESULTS In 253 diabetic retinopathy eyes (DR) silicone oil tamponade was indicated in 56 eyes (22.1 %). Silicone oil removal was done on 22 eyes (39.3 %), the average length of SO tamponade was 9.7 months. After SO removal BCVA (best corrected visual acuity) 0,1 and worse had 12 eyes (54,6 %), 0,2 - 0,4 had 5 eyes (22,7 %) and 0,5 or better had 5 eyes (22,7 %). Permanent SO tamponade was left in 34 diabetic retinopathy eyes (60.7 %). Secondary glaucoma (SG) was present in 40 eyes (71.5 %). In 201 retinal detachment (RD) eyes silicone oil tamponade was used in 76 eyes (37.8 %). Secondary glaucoma was present in 31 eyes (40.8 %). Silicone oil was successfully removed in 40 eyes (52.6 %), the average length of tamponade was 9.2 months. In this group BCVA 0,1 and worse had 22 eyes (55,0 %), 0,2 - 0,4 had 15 eyes (37,5 %) and 0,5 or better had 3 eyes (7,5 %). 36 eyes (47,4 %) RD eyes had permanent silicone oil tamponade. In a group of 34 eyes with endophthalmitis SO tamponade was used in 16 eyes (47 %). Secondary glaucoma was present in 3 eyes (18.8 %). Silicone oil removal we did in 11 eyes (68.8 %), the average length of SO tamponade was 5.5 months. After SO removal BCVA 0,1 and worse had 3 eyes (27,2 %), 0,2 - 0,4 had 4 eyes (36,4 %) and 0,5 or better had 4 eyes (36,4 %). 5 eyes (31.2 %) with endophthalmitis had permanent SO tamponade. Out of 22 eyes with eye injuries SO tamponade was used in 14 eyes (63.6 %). 5 eyes (35.7 %) had secondary glaucoma. In 9 eyes (64.3 %) silicone oil was removed, the average length of tamponade was 9.1 months. In this group BCVA 0,1 and worse had 6 eyes (66,7 %), 0,2-0,4 had 1 eye (11,1 %) and 0,5 or better had 2 eyes (22,2 %). Permanent silicone oil tamponade had 5 eyes (35,7 %). In group of 56 phakic eyes (100 %) with silicone oil tamponade we followed cataract progression. 26 eyes (40 %) had cataract surgery in 6 month follow up, 47 eyes (72.3 %) in 1 year follow up and 57 eyes (87.7 %) had cataract surgery in 3 years follow up. CONCLUSION Silicone oil tamponade is the method of choice for long-term and stable retinal tamponade, which is important for good functional outcomes of the surgical intervention. The silicone oil tamponade of the retina is nowadays irreplaceable, despite of its potential risks and complications.
Decreased Perfusion in Young Alcohol-Dependent Women as Compared With Age-Matched Controls

Aim: To use the superior spatial resolution of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine differences in cerebral perfusion between young alcohol dependent and normal women. Methods: Eight alcohol dependent women and 8 controls (all ages 18–25) received single-slice resting perfusion-weighted MRI (directly proportional to brain blood flow), with slices located above the corpus callosum. Results: Alcohol-dependent women had decreased perfusion in prefrontal and left parietal regions. Conclusions: Reduced perfusion has not previously been reported in young, physically healthy alcohol dependent females, yet is consistent with previously reported decreased cerebral activity in alcohol dependence.
Bifurcation theory, adaptive dynamics and dynamic energy budget-structured populations of iteroparous species

In this paper, we describe a technique to evaluate the evolutionary dynamics of the timing of spawning for iteroparous species. The life cycle of the species consists of three life stages, embryonic, juvenile and adult whereby the transitions of life stages (gametogenesis, birth and maturation) occur at species-specific sizes. The dynamics of the population is studied in a semi-chemostat environment where the inflowing food concentration is periodic (annual). A dynamic energy budget-based continuous-time model is used to describe the uptake of the food, storage in reserves and allocation of the energy to growth, maintenance, development (embryos, juveniles) and reproduction (adults). A discrete-event process is used for modelling reproduction. At a fixed spawning date of the year, the reproduction buffer is emptied and a new cohort is formed by eggs with a fixed size and energy content. The population consists of cohorts: for each year one consisting of individuals with the same age which die after their last reproduction event. The resulting mathematical model is a finite-dimensional set of ordinary differential equations with fixed 1-year periodic boundary conditions yielding a stroboscopic map. We will study the evolutionary development of the population using the adaptive dynamics approach. The trait is the timing of spawning. Pairwise and mutual invasibility plots are calculated using bifurcation analysis of the stroboscopic map. The evolutionary singular strategy value belonging to the evolutionary endpoint for the trait allows for an interpretation of the reproduction strategy of the population. In a case study, parameter values from the literature for the bivalve Macoma balthica are used.
Bacterial degradation of monocyclic aromatic amines

Aromatic amines are an important group of industrial chemicals, which are widely used for manufacturing of dyes, pesticides, drugs, pigments, and other industrial products. These compounds have been considered highly toxic to human beings due to their carcinogenic nature. Three groups of aromatic amines have been recognized: monocyclic, polycyclic, and heterocyclic aromatic amines. Bacterial degradation of several monocyclic aromatic amines has been studied in a variety of bacteria, which utilizes monocyclic aromatic amines as their sole source of carbon and energy. Several degradation pathways have been proposed and the related enzymes and genes have also been characterized. Many reviews have been reviewed toxicity of monocyclic aromatic amines; however, there is lack of review on biodegradation of monocyclic aromatic amines. The aim of this review is to summarize bacterial degradation of monocyclic aromatic amines. This review will increase our current understanding of biochemical and molecular basis of bacterial degradation of monocyclic aromatic amines.
Pharmacokinetics of azithromycin and concentration in body fluids and bronchoalveolar cells in foals.

OBJECTIVE To determine the pharmacokinetics of azithromycin and its concentration in body fluids and bronchoalveolar lavage cells in foals. ANIMALS 6 healthy 6- to 10-week-old foals. PROCEDURE Azithromycin (10 mg/kg of body weight) was administered to each foal via i.v. and intragastric (i.g.) routes in a crossover design. After the first i.g. dose, 4 additional i.g. doses were administered at 24-hour intervals. A microbiologic assay was used to measure azithromycin concentrations in serum, peritoneal fluid, synovial fluid, pulmonary epithelial lining fluid (PELF), and bronchoalveolar (BAL) cells. RESULTS Azithromycin elimination half-life was 20.3 hours, body clearance was 10.4 ml/min x kg, and apparent volume of distribution at steady state was 18.6 L/kg. After i.g. administration, time to peak serum concentration was 1.8 hours and bioavailability was 56%. After repeated i.g. administration, peak serum concentration was 0.63 +/- 0.10 microg/ml. Peritoneal and synovial fluid concentrations were similar to serum concentrations. Bronchoalveolar cell and PELF concentrations were 15- to 170-fold and 1- to 16-fold higher than concurrent serum concentrations, respectively. No adverse reactions were detected after repeated i.g. administration. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE On the basis of pharmacokinetic values, minimum inhibitory concentrations of Rhodococcus equi isolates, and drug concentrations in PELF and bronchoalveolar cells, a single daily oral dose of 10 mg/kg may be appropriate for treatment of R. equi infections in foals. Persistence of high azithromycin concentrations in PELF and bronchoalveolar cells 48 hours after discontinuation of administration suggests that after 5 daily doses, oral administration at 48-hour intervals may be adequate.
Sound Processing for Better Coding of Monaural and Binaural Cues in Auditory Prostheses

Despite many considerable technical advances in the field of hearing aids and cochlear implants, people using auditory prostheses still have major problems with speech understanding in the presence of interfering sounds and with directional hearing. Both abilities are dependent on sound stream segregation in real-world listening environments. In this paper, two timely and important issues related to sound stream segregation in auditory prostheses are addressed, namely, the coding of monaural and binaural cues. Several state-of-the-art signal processing algorithms used in cochlear implants (CIs) and in hearing aids (HAs) are introduced. A review is given of some recent proposals to improve temporal coding in monaural CIs, and of recent work to improve the transmission of binaural cues in both HAs, CIs, and combined acoustic and electric hearing (bimodal hearing). The ultimate aim is to improve speech and music perception, and, additionally, the preservation of binaural cues to preserve directional hearing.
Genesis of a Fungal Non-Self Recognition Repertoire

Conspecific allorecognition, the ability for an organism to discriminate its own cells from those of another individual of the same species, has been developed by many organisms. Allorecognition specificities are determined by highly polymorphic genes. The processes by which this extreme polymorphism is generated remain largely unknown. Fungi are able to form heterokaryons by fusion of somatic cells, and somatic non self-recognition is controlled by heterokaryon incompatibility loci (het loci). Herein, we have analyzed the evolutionary features of the het-d and het-e fungal allorecognition genes. In these het genes, allorecognition specificity is determined by a polymorphic WD-repeat domain. We found that het-d and het-e belong to a large gene family with 10 members that all share the WD-repeat domain and show that repeats of all members of the family undergo concerted evolution. It follows that repeat units are constantly exchanged both within and between members of the gene family. As a consequence, high mutation supply in the repeat domain is ensured due to the high total copy number of repeats. We then show that in each repeat four residues located at the protein/protein interaction surface of the WD-repeat domain are under positive diversifying selection. Diversification of het-d and het-e is thus ensured by high mutation supply, followed by reshuffling of the repeats and positive selection for favourable variants. We also propose that RIP, a fungal specific hypermutation process acting specifically on repeated sequences might further enhance mutation supply. The combination of these evolutionary mechanisms constitutes an original process for generating extensive polymorphism at loci that require rapid diversification.
Quasi-Euclidean uncalibrated epipolar rectification

This paper deals with the problem of epipolar rectification in the uncalibrated case. First the calibrated (Euclidean) case is recognized as the ideal one, then we observe that in that case images are transformed with a collineation induced by the plane at infinity, which has a specific structure. That structure is therefore imposed to the sought transformation while minimizing the rectification error. Experiments show that this method yields images that are remarkably close to the ones produced by Euclidean rectification.
Player Modeling Evaluation for Interactive Fiction

A growing research community is working towards employing drama management components in story-based games that guide the story towards specific narrative arcs depending on a particular player’s playing patterns. Intuitively, player modeling should be a key component for Drama Manager (DM) based approaches to succeed with human players. In this paper, we report a particular implementation of the DM component connected to an interactive story game, Anchorhead, while specifically focusing on the player modeling component. We analyze results from our evaluation study and show that similarity in the trace of DM decisions in previous games can be used to predict interestingness of game events for the current player. Results from our current analysis indicate that the average time spent in performing player actions provides a strong distinction between players with varying degrees of gaming experience, thereby helping the DM to adapt its strategy based on this information.
Resilience Assessment of Social-Ecological Systems in MENA Region: An Application of Tri-Capital Framework in Jordan, Tunisia & Morocco

Drylands of MENA regions have diverse agricultural production systems that are embedded under more global social-ecological systems (SESs). In order to meet population needs, food production intensification schemes in this area engender social and environmental costs because of the vulnerability of these systems, which orients current research to promoting sustainable intensification. Considering the complexity, vulnerability and diversity of systems, by this work, we propose, at a first level, a typology of social-ecological systems’ resilience profiles in MENA region, using an explanatory set of variables defining rural livelihoods and agricultural systems on one hand, as well as resilience determinants; buffer capacity, self-organization and capacity for learning, on the other hand. Consequently, we proceed to measure and scale precariousness (Pr) indicator, which represents the distance to collapse point, for the different social-ecological systems resulting from the typology using the Tri-capital Framework method which consists of developing and scoring composite indicators. By tri-capital, we relate to economic capital (EC), social capital (SC) and natural capital (NC). For data analysis; factor analysis, typology and indicators scoring, we used SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). The study covers three countries: Jordan, Tunisia and Morocco; where data were collected by ICARDA in 2014 within Consortium Research Program on Livestock (CRP1.1). The results highlighted the diversity of and differences, or similarities, between production systems in the same country and between countries. The Pr indicator values start from zero to 5.3; while householders with Pr between zero and 3.50 are considered weakly resilient. Therefore, if the Pr indictor is ranged between 3.50 and 4.20, householders are considered moderately resilient and if the score is between 4.20 and 5.28, they are strongly resilient. It is revealed that a moderate resilience is engendered by balanced contributions of natural, economic and social capital which highlights the importance of a holistic approach in promoting sustainable intensification and making rural development policies.
Extraction of temperature distribution using deep neural networks for BOTDA sensing system

Extraction of temperature distribution using the method of deep neural networks (DNN) for Brillouin optical time domain analyzer (BOTDA) system is demonstrated experimentally. After appropriate training of DNN model, temperature distribution information along the fiber under test could be directly extracted from the experimentally obtained local Brillouin gain spectrums (BGS) using DNN without the need of calculating Brillouin frequency shift (BFS) and transforming it to temperature as conventional Lorentz curve fitting (LCF) method does. The results of Temperature extraction using DNN show comparable accuracy to that of using conventional LCF method.
Initiation and elongation in fibrillation of ALS-linked superoxide dismutase

Familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (fALS) caused by mutations in copper–zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD1) is characterized by the presence of SOD1-rich inclusions in spinal cords. Similar inclusions observed in fALS transgenic mice have a fibrillar appearance suggestive of amyloid structure. Metal-free apo-SOD1 is a relatively stable protein and has been shown to form amyloid fibers in vitro only when it has been subjected to severely destabilizing conditions, such as low pH or reduction of its disulfide bonds. Here, by contrast, we show that a small amount of disulfide-reduced apo-SOD1 can rapidly initiate fibrillation of this exceptionally stable and highly structured protein under mild, physiologically accessible conditions, thus providing an unusual demonstration of a specific, physiologically relevant form of a protein acting as an initiating agent for the fibrillation of another form of the same protein. We also show that, once initiated, elongation can proceed via recruitment of either apo- or partially metallated disulfide-intact SOD1 and that the presence of copper, but not zinc, ions inhibits fibrillation. Our findings provide a rare glimpse into the specific changes in a protein that can lead to nucleation and into the ability of amyloid nuclei to recruit diverse forms of the same protein into fibrils.
The Fate of Typhoid Bacilli injected Intravenously into Normal and Typhoid Immune Rabbits.

Introduction. Hopkins and Parker,' in their work on the fate of hemolytic streptococci injected into susceptible and insusceptible animals, found that most of the organisms were taken up by the lung, especially in insusceptible animals as the cat or in the partially immunized rabbit. On account of the unavoidable interruption of this work, preliminary observations on the effect of immunization could not be extended far enough to lead to a definite conclusion. It was with the purpose of investigating this phase of immunity that the present work was undertaken. As it is difficult to produce a real immunity in rabbits to the streptococcus hemolyticus, we decided to work with typhoid bacilli even though we were dealing then with a toxemia rather than an infection.
Title Individual , household and gender preferences for socialtransfers

This paper reports the results of a nationally representative survey that assessed individual and household willingness to pay extra taxes for increased levels of social transfers in Ireland. Different respondents interpret willingness-to-pay questions as referring to individual or household budgets. This paper demonstrates that the most important variable explaining this is financial integration within the household and we argue that this is a potentially crucial source of differential item functioning in willingness-to-pay studies. Furthermore, individuals take intra-household bargaining considerations in to account when forming preferences for policies. Specifically, we find that gender differences emerge significantly for a specific fiscal policy when the policy alters the intra-household entitlement to income between the partners.
Central CO 2 Chemoreception in Cardiorespiratory Control Central CO 2 chemoreception and integrated neural mechanisms of cardiovascular and respiratory control

Guyenet PG, Stornetta RL, Abbott SB, Depuy SD, Fortuna MG, Kanbar R. Central CO2 chemoreception and integrated neural mechanisms of cardiovascular and respiratory control. J Appl Physiol 108: 995–1002, 2010. First published January 14, 2010; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00712. 2009. —In this review, we examine why blood pressure (BP) and sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) increase during a rise in central nervous system (CNS) PCO2 (central chemoreceptor stimulation). CNS acidification modifies SNA by two classes of mechanisms. The first one depends on the activation of the central respiratory controller (CRG) and causes the much-emphasized respiratory modulation of the SNA. The CRG probably modulates SNA at several brain stem or spinal locations, but the most important site of interaction seems to be the caudal ventrolateral medulla (CVLM), where unidentified components of the CRG periodically gate the baroreflex. CNS PCO2 also influences sympathetic tone in a CRG-independent manner, and we propose that this process operates differently according to the level of CNS PCO2. In normocapnia and indeed even below the ventilatory recruitment threshold, CNS PCO2 exerts a tonic concentration-dependent excitatory effect on SNA that is plausibly mediated by specialized brain stem chemoreceptors such as the retrotrapezoid nucleus. Abnormally high levels of PCO2 cause an aversive interoceptive awareness in awake individuals and trigger arousal from sleep. These alerting responses presumably activate wake-promoting and/or stress-related pathways such as the orexinergic, noradrenergic, and serotonergic neurons. These neuronal groups, which may also be directly activated by brain acidification, have brainwide projections that contribute to the CO2-induced rise in breathing and SNA by facilitating neuronal activity at innumerable CNS locations. In the case of SNA, these sites include the nucleus of the solitary tract, the ventrolateral medulla, and the preganglionic neurons.
Ecological Active Vision: Four Bioinspired Principles to Integrate Bottom–Up and Adaptive Top–Down Attention Tested With a Simple Camera-Arm Robot

Vision gives primates a wealth of information useful to manipulate the environment, but at the same time it can easily overwhelm their computational resources. Active vision is a key solution found by nature to solve this problem: a limited fovea actively displaced in space to collect only relevant information. Here we highlight that in ecological conditions this solution encounters four problems: 1) the agent needs to learn where to look based on its goals; 2) manipulation causes learning feedback in areas of space possibly outside the attention focus; 3) good visual actions are needed to guide manipulation actions, but only these can generate learning feedback; and 4) a limited fovea causes aliasing problems. We then propose a computational architecture (“BITPIC”) to overcome the four problems, integrating four bioinspired key ingredients: 1) reinforcement-learning fovea-based top-down attention; 2) a strong vision-manipulation coupling; 3) bottom-up periphery-based attention; and 4) a novel action-oriented memory. The system is tested with a simple simulated camera-arm robot solving a class of search-and-reach tasks involving color-blob “objects. ” The results show that the architecture solves the problems, and hence the tasks, very efficiently, and highlight how the architecture principles can contribute to a full exploitation of the advantages of active vision in ecological conditions.
Calculation of dynamic and thermodynamic parameters from spatial data of high spatial resolution of a weather event’s specific case study event that occurred on the 16th and 17th of July 2017

The intense weather conditions that occurred on July 16 and 17, 2017 were the reason for further analysis and study of this event. In order for the results to have a higher confidence level, discrete spatial discrepancy data on a normal 0.125 X 0.125 grid, which are available from the European Center Meteorological Weather Forecasting (ECMWF), at the Hellenic National Meteorological Service (HNMS) were used. Thermodynamic parameters such as potential vortiticity, potential temperature, sensible and latent heat fluxes and static stability were calculated. Finally, all of the above were determined by the real picture of the weather and Eumetsat’s satellite imagery.