Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Treatment of fungal keratitis by penetrating keratoplasty

AIM To study the use of penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) for the treatment of severe fungal keratitis that could not be cured by antifungal medication. METHODS A retrospective analysis of 108 cases of severe fungal keratitis in which PKP was performed served as the basis for this study. Fungal keratitis was diagnosed by KOH staining of corneal scrapings or by confocal microscopic imaging of the cornea. All patients received a combination of topical and oral antifungal medicines without steroids as the first course of therapy. Patients whose corneal infection was not cured or in whom the infection progressed during antifungal treatment were given a PKP. After surgery, the patients continued to receive antifungal therapy with gradual tapering of the dose over a 1–2 month period. Cyclosporine was used to prevent graft rejection beginning 2 weeks after PKP. Topical steroid only was administered to the patient whose donor graft was over 8.5 mm and with a heavy iris inflammation 2 weeks after PKP. The surgical specimens were used for microbiological evaluation and examined histopathologically. The patients were followed for 6–24 months after PKP. Graft rejection, clarity of the graft, visual acuity, and surgical complications were recorded. RESULTS Corneal grafts in 86 eyes (79.6%) remained clear during follow up. There was no recurrence of fungal infection and the visual acuity ranged from 40/200 to 20/20. Complications in some patients included recurrent fungal infection in eight eyes (7.4%), corneal graft rejection in 32 eyes (29.6%), secondary glaucoma in two eyes (1.9%), and five eyes (4.6%) developed cataracts. 98 of 108 of the recipient corneas had PAS positive fungal hyphae in tissue sections; 97 of 108 were culture positive for various fungi, includingFusarium (63),Aspergillus (14),Candida (9),Penicillium (4), and seven cases in which septate hyphae were seen but identification of the organism was not conclusive. CONCLUSIONS PKP is an effective treatment for fungal keratitis that does not respond to antifungal medication. Early surgical intervention before the disease becomes advanced is recommended. It is critical that the surgical procedure remove the infected tissue in its entirety in order to effect a cure.
Component proximity effects in high density and high switching speed power converters

High density high switching frequency power converters component interactions become an important issue. Compact power units do not have the luxury separating sensitive components and functions at desired distances apart. High switching frequency converters need to be designed with components as close as possible to each other with short track lengths to reduce unwanted parasitic effects. This creates a coupling effect between components reducing the component efficiency and increasing the noise pollution problem. The coupling effect need to be reduced to acceptable levels by placing and rotating components in optimal positions increasing the performance of the system. A few papers have been published on the topic showing complex analysis of stray magnetic fields from inductors and capacitors and possible design guidelines optimising placement of components. Complex structures such as multiple components combined with the enclosure and even mounting structures are more difficult to analyse. Simulating the latter, an electromagnetic simulation tool based on computational electromagnetic techniques called FEKO was used for analysing structural influences on component placement. Trace loops and trace positions can also be analysed and optimally designed with FEKO. A Helmholtz coil test bed according to MIL-STD-461-E was manufactured to verify the results obtained. The Helmholtz coil is actually an alternative method testing for radiated magnetic field susceptibility. The same device can be used for testing component and structure interference influences. Different components, such as inductors, capacitors and semiconductors can be positioned and rotated in the Helmholtz magnetic field to quickly verify the least susceptible angle of the component.
The impacts of intrinsic and extrinsic motivators on ubiquitous delivery decision making

The purpose of this study is to empirically examine the causal relationship between intrinsic-extrinsic motivators and decision performance in a ubiquitous decision-making environment. Specifically, 340 delivery service men were surveyed, and an empirical analysis was conducted by regarding the Mobile Delivery System MDS as a Ubiquitous Decision Support System UDSS. Then, Structural Equation Modelling SEM analysis was performed using AMOS 18 and PASW 18. The results revealed that the individual factors of intrinsic motivation, personal innovativeness and knowledge self-efficacy did not have a significant effect on the ubiquitous decision-making process; however, trustworthiness, a relational factor, did. Mobility and locatability of extrinsic motivators, composed of technological factors, had significant effects. In addition, a significant causal relationship between the ubiquitous decision-making process and time/cost saving and decision satisfaction was identified.
Brain Functional Network Based on Mutual Information Analysis of EEGs and its Application to Schizophrenia

This paper presents a novel construction method of brain functional network by using spatial mutual information to estimate quantitatively correlation between different channels of electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. Firstly, 32-channel EEG signals were collected and the alpha rhythm of each signal was extracted by a wavelet packet filter, the spatial mutual information of different EEG channels was calculated respectively, the appropriate threshold was selected to construct the functional network. Then the research framework was applied to characterize the brain network difference of the schizophrenic patients and the control group. The result indicates that the network construction method proposed in this paper could portray different brain function states and it also can become a new effective method in analyzing and understanding the mechanism of patients with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses.
Analysis of long-period waveguide grating arrays

The authors analyze an array of long-period waveguide gratings with coupled-mode theory and show that the grating array can provide effective power transfer among the waveguides at specific wavelengths in the absence of evanescent-field coupling. In particular, they derive the general conditions for obtaining an arbitrary distribution of power splitting ratios among the waveguides and discuss several special cases. They also present a design example using practical waveguide parameters to demonstrate the feasibility of forming such grating arrays for the realization of multiport broadband couplers and add/drop multiplexers
The Effect of Anxiety Emotion on Information Processing of Decision Making: Based on Computer Stimulate

The effect of anxiety emotion on information processing of decision making was explored by computer stimulate experiment. The results showed that people with high anxiety used longer time to processing information than that with low anxiety. The depth of information search of low anxiety was more than that of high anxiety. Individual with high anxiety was inclined to use heuristic strategies, and Individual with low anxiety was inclined to adopt analysis strategies.
Rescuing stalled replication forks: MMS22L-TONSL, a novel complex for DNA replication fork repair in human cells

Comment on: Piwko W, et al. EMBO J 2010; 29:4210-22, Duro E, et al. Mol Cell 2010; 40:632–44, O’Connell BC, et al. Mol Cell 2010; 40:645–57 and O’Donnell L, et al. Mol Cell 2010; 40:619–31.
Comparison of Different Compression Techniques for Brain Tumor Sub-Classification

-- In clinical practice, diagnostic dilemmas are frequently encountered in discriminating the heterogeneous cancers into distinct types. In this paper we have chronicled the development of a brain tumor sub-classification system based on artificial neural network. Conventional methods of subtype classification depend largely on the physician’s knowledge and experience. This method is time intensive and can lead to false negatives. The experimental results showed that the proposed classifiers achieved a superior accuracy of close to 100%. Our designed system leads to highly accurate sub-classification of brain tumors and a minimum human interface is required for the sub-classification purposes.
Genome-wide analysis of SINA family in plants and their phylogenetic relationships†

SINA genes in plants are part of a multigene family with 5 members in Arabidopsis thaliana, 10 members in Populus trichocarpa, 6 members in Oryza sativa, at least 6 members in Zea mays and at least 1 member in Physcomitrella patens. Six members in maize were confirmed by RT-PCR. All SINAs have one RING domain and one SINA domain. These two domains are highly conserved in plants. According to the motif organization and phylogenetic tree, SINA family members were divided into 2 groups. In addition, through semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis of maize members and Digital Northern analysis of Arabidopsis and rice members, we found that the tissue expression patterns are more diverse in monocot than in Arabidopsis.
Activity-Based Motion Estimation Scheme for H.264 Scalable Video Coding

This paper proposes a motion estimation scheme to reduce the computational complexity of multilayer motion estimation for scalable video coding. Based on the result of the motion estimation of the lower resolution layer referred to as base layer, we developed a new approach for exploring the search range of the enhancement layer with high coding efficiency. This approach is based on the activity defined as the absolute difference between the motion vector predictor and the final motion vector. Based on the correlation of the activities between neighboring layers, an inter-layer activity model was developed using a curve-fitted linear equation to exploit the activity in the base layer for deciding the search center and the search range of the enhancement layer. Each activity pair in the neighboring layers is used to associate the relevant macroblock to one of two groups; boundary region and interior region. The base-layer motion vector predictor is basically selected over all the activity regions; for each activity region, the proposed motion estimation algorithm decides whether to include the median motion vector predictor or not. Minimal sufficient search range is also decided from the inter-layer activity prediction factor that is adjusted to the given sequence. The proposed scheme reduced the execution time of motion estimation by 99.26% at the cost of 1.56% bit-rate increase and 0.048 dB peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) decrease on average compared with the conventional full-search algorithm. The fast full-search block matching algorithm can also be incorporated to obtain the extra CPU time reduction in the motion estimation process. By adopting the fast full-search block matching algorithm (FFSBMA) in JSVM reference software, the CPU time was reduced by up to 91.84% and the memory bandwidth was reduced by 90% at the sacrifice of 1.27% bit-rate increase and 0.041 dB PSNR decrease on average compared with the FFSBMA only.
Prokaryote populations of extant microbialites along a depth gradient in Pavilion Lake, British Columbia, Canada

Pavilion Lake in British Columbia, Canada, is home to modern‐day microbialites that are actively growing at multiple depths within the lake. While microbialite morphology changes with depth and previous isotopic investigations suggested a biological role in the formation of these carbonate structures, little is known about their microbial communities. Microbialite samples acquired through the Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP) were first investigated for phototrophic populations using Cyanobacteria‐specific primers and 16S rRNA gene cloning. These data were expounded on by high‐throughput tagged sequencing analyses of the general bacteria population. These molecular analyses show that the microbial communities of Pavilion Lake microbialites are diverse compared to non‐lithifying microbial mats also found in the lake. Phototrophs and heterotrophs were detected, including species from the recently described Chloroacidobacteria genus, a photoheterotroph that has not been previously observed in microbialite systems. Phototrophs were shown as the most influential contributors to community differences above and below 25 meters, and corresponding shifts in heterotrophic populations were observed at this interface as well. The isotopic composition of carbonate also mirrored this shift in community states. Comparisons to previous studies indicated this population shift may be a consequence of changes in lake chemistry at this depth. Microbial community composition did not correlate with changing microbialite morphology with depth, suggesting something other than community changes may be a key to observed variations in microbialite structure.
The Status Quo Analysis of New Energy Industry Standardization System in NingXia Province

In the paper, new energy industrial standardization status quo of NingXia Province is analyzed. The frame diagram of new energy standard system of NingXia Province is established based on the standard retrieval database. According to the new energy industrial standard system frame diagram, reasons of restrict the new energy industry development of NingXia Province are analyzed and some suggestions are proposed. Finally, some proposals about new energy industry standard system construction are offered.
Parkinson Phenotype in Aged PINK1-Deficient Mice Is Accompanied by Progressive Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Absence of Neurodegeneration

Background Parkinson's disease (PD) is an adult-onset movement disorder of largely unknown etiology. We have previously shown that loss-of-function mutations of the mitochondrial protein kinase PINK1 (PTEN induced putative kinase 1) cause the recessive PARK6 variant of PD. Methodology/Principal Findings Now we generated a PINK1 deficient mouse and observed several novel phenotypes: A progressive reduction of weight and of locomotor activity selectively for spontaneous movements occurred at old age. As in PD, abnormal dopamine levels in the aged nigrostriatal projection accompanied the reduced movements. Possibly in line with the PARK6 syndrome but in contrast to sporadic PD, a reduced lifespan, dysfunction of brainstem and sympathetic nerves, visible aggregates of α-synuclein within Lewy bodies or nigrostriatal neurodegeneration were not present in aged PINK1-deficient mice. However, we demonstrate PINK1 mutant mice to exhibit a progressive reduction in mitochondrial preprotein import correlating with defects of core mitochondrial functions like ATP-generation and respiration. In contrast to the strong effect of PINK1 on mitochondrial dynamics in Drosophila melanogaster and in spite of reduced expression of fission factor Mtp18, we show reduced fission and increased aggregation of mitochondria only under stress in PINK1-deficient mouse neurons. Conclusion Thus, aging Pink1−/− mice show increasing mitochondrial dysfunction resulting in impaired neural activity similar to PD, in absence of overt neuronal death.
Understanding the Dynamics of Contemporary Political Polarization Through Agent-Based Models

According to recent popular narrative, Americans and the politicians they support are developing increasingly extreme opinions across a wide range of issues, and, as a result, citizens and their representatives are much less likely to interact and collaborate with those with whom they disagree. Many have gone so far as to vilify others who identify with the opposite party, further hampering social cohesion and meaningful policy progress. In the aftermath of the 2016 election, Professor Matthew Gentzkow wrote a summary of much of the contemporary literature on the nature of political polarization, describing several key phenomena that characterize the current state of polarization in the US. First, the distribution of individuals’ self-identified positions along the liberal-conservative spectrum has not actually changed in the last 40 years. In fact, the overall distributions of beliefs about specific issues have remained singly-peaked rather than becoming bimodal as a result of people developing more extreme opinions. However, the median Democrat is much more liberal and the median Republican is much more conservative than they both were 20 years ago. How is this observation possible if the distributions of beliefs have not changed? Gentzkow points to the increase in the correlation between beliefs and the correlation between any one belief and identifying with a certain political party as the primary causes [1]. Political processes occur primarily in a social context, meaning that social structure, individual behaviors, and the landscape of political beliefs are intimately intertwined in a way that is not very well understood. In this paper, we study the bidirectional relationship between network structure and agent beliefs by defining and simulating several theoretical models to answer the following questions:
Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomies: the burden of treatment from a patient perspective.

AIM This paper reports a study of patients' experiences of this relatively new technology, and explores possible strategies for defining, delineating and addressing patients' concerns, problems and needs. BACKGROUND The number of patients in the community relying on percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy for their nutritional needs is increasing, but percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy feeding is not problem-free. However, few studies report on its impact from a patient perspective. METHODS Twenty adults with long-term percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomies were interviewed in their own homes, using both semi-structured and structured approaches. Qualitative data were analysed thematically and related to a symptom checklist and an established quality of life measure, the Short Form-12. FINDINGS Most participants felt that insertion of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy had been life-saving, but found that percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy feeding came to dominate their lives and was associated with an appreciable "burden of treatment". Some, but not all, of the problems recounted were unavoidable: percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy feeding inevitably imposed physical restrictions on mobility; 17/20 participants had experienced serious technical problems with their percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tubes. On structured questioning, all interviewees had some, potentially treatable, gastrointestinal symptoms, and eight had continuous problems. In some cases, the burden of treatment was exaggerated by being unanticipated and, for 13 patients, difficulties with care provided by non-specialist services. Describing this "burden of treatment" for each patient required both a narrative and a structured approach: without the symptom checklists, some important and treatable problems were missed. Both physical and mental health Short Form-12 scores were low, and mental health scores were congruent with the interview data. CONCLUSIONS It might be possible to reduce the "burden of treatment" identified by incorporating a structured approach to patient monitoring and by reviewing the occupational territories of specialist and non-specialist practitioners. Further research with larger numbers of participants is needed to explore the integration of narrative and quantitative data when determining patients' clinical needs.
Renal cilia display length alterations following tubular injury and are present early in epithelial repair.

BACKGROUND Renal cilia are flow sensors that are required for the maintenance of normal kidney architecture. Defects in this organelle are frequently associated with polycystic kidney disease, but the role of renal cilia during acute tubular injury has not been investigated. METHODS We have analysed the presence and dimensions of renal cilia following renal ischaemia-reperfusion and ureteral obstruction injury in the mouse, and related these results to injury and repair of the renal tubule. The expression of genes encoding cilium-localized proteins was measured following ischaemia-reperfusion injury. RESULTS Ischaemia-reperfusion injury was demonstrated to affect the length of cilia in the renal tubule and duct. The average length of renal cilia in the proximal tubule decreases 1 day (2.8 +/- 0.4 microm) and 2 days (3.0 +/- 0.2 microm) after injury, as compared to the control uninjured proximal tubule (4.2 +/- 0.3 microm). Later in the injury and repair process at 4 and 7 days, the average length of cilia increases in both the proximal (7 days = 6.2 +/- 0.3 microm) and distal tubule/collecting duct (4 days = 4.4 +/- 0.3 microm; 7 days = 5.5 +/- 0.4 microm; control 2.5 +/- 0.1 microm). The expression level of genes encoding cilium-localized products did not correlate with the increase in cilium length following ischaemia-reperfusion injury. Ureteral obstruction for 8 days also caused lengthening (8 days UUO = 5.8 +/- 0.3 microm; control 2.5 +/- 0.1 microm) of renal cilia in the distal tubule/collecting duct. During the repair process that follows ischaemia-reperfusion injury, cilia were present on the dedifferentiated cells that proliferate and adopt an epithelial phenotype to facilitate the repair of the ischaemic renal tubule. CONCLUSIONS We propose roles for the renal cilium in responding to changes in the renal environment caused by injury, and in the repair process that re-establishes the epithelial layer of the damaged renal tubule.
Mechanisms of stent thrombosis analysed by optical coherence tomography: insights from the national PESTO French registry.

AIMS Angiography has limited value for identifying the causes of stent thrombosis (ST). We studied a large cohort of patients by optical coherence tomography (OCT) to explore ST characteristics and mechanisms. METHODS AND RESULTS A prospective multicentre registry was screened for patients with confirmed ST. Optical coherence tomography was performed after initial intervention to the culprit lesion (in 69% of cases in a deferred procedure). Stent thrombosis was classified as acute (AST), sub-acute (SAST), late (LST), and very late (VLST). Optical coherence tomography records were analysed in a central core lab. The analysis included 120 subjects aged 61.7 [51.4-70.7]; 89% male. Very late ST was the clinical presentation in 75%, LST in 6%, SAST in 15%, and AST in 4% of patients. Bare metal stents (BMS) were used in 39%, drug-eluting stents (DES) in 59% and bioresorbable vascular scaffolds in 2% of the cases. Optical coherence tomography identified an underlying morphological abnormality in 97% of cases, including struts malapposition (34%), neoatherosclerotic lesions (22%), major stent underexpansion (11%), coronary evagination (8%), isolated uncovered struts (8%), edge-related disease progression (8%), and neointimal hyperplasia (4%). Ruptured neoatherosclerotic lesions were more frequent with BMS than with DES (36 vs. 14%, P = 0.005), whereas coronary evaginations were more frequent with DES than with BMS (12 vs. 2%, P = 0.04). LST + VLST were mainly related to malapposition (31%) and neoatherosclerosis (28%), while prominent mechanisms for AST + SAST were malapposition (48%) and underexpansion (26%). CONCLUSION In patients with confirmed ST, OCT imaging identified an underlying morphological abnormality in 97% of cases.