Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diurnal Intraocular Pressure Fluctuations with Self-tonometry in Glaucoma Patients and Suspects: A Clinical Trial

SIGNIFICANCE This article shows that self-tonometry can provide robust measures of diurnal intraocular pressure (IOP) and also detect changes to IOP in response to treatment within a short period of monitoring. These advances in IOP monitoring may contribute to improved management of glaucoma patients and suspects. PURPOSE The aim of this study was to prospectively investigate the utility of rebound self-tonometry performed over several weeks for detecting diurnal IOP fluctuations in glaucoma patients and suspects and also initial response to topical treatment in glaucoma patients. METHODS Forty patients were recruited following glaucoma-specific examination. Subsequent to successful training with the iCare HOME tonometer, patients were instructed to measure IOP, in a sitting position, four times a day over 4 to 6 weeks. Date, time, laterality, and IOP downloaded from the tonometer and clinical examination data, including applanation IOP and corneal thickness, were analyzed. A user satisfaction survey was also administered at study completion. t Test and analysis of variance were used to compare groups and IOP across days. Pearson correlation was used to compare measurements to Goldmann applanation tonometry and IOP measurements from the first day/s to the overall mean IOP. RESULTS Twenty-seven patients (18 suspects and 9 glaucoma patients) completed data collection. Patients self-measured IOP on 118 (±29) occasions for 40 (±7.4) days. Two dominant patterns of fluctuation were revealed: peak IOP upon awakening (n = 11) and at midday (n = 13). Diurnal IOP measured in the first 7 days showed strong correlation to diurnal IOP across the entire study period (r2 = 0.82, P < .0001). Within 24 hours of treatment commencement (latanoprost 0.005% ophthalmic solution), IOP reduced from 23.9 (±5.2) to 16.1 (±2.6) mmHg. Overall, patients rated the instrument as easy to use, although difficulties with correct alignment were expressed. CONCLUSIONS Rebound self-tonometry demonstrated utility for measuring diurnal IOP fluctuations in most patients, hence enhancing management of patient with or at risk of developing glaucoma.
Charging infrastructure placement for electric vehicles: An optimization prospective

Electric Vehicles (EVs) can be considered as a step forward towards the green environment and economical transportation. Moreover, EVs offer fuel economy, clean environment, and less cost of vehicle charging as compared to gasoline refilling. These are the main motivations towards the adaptation of EVs by the users. In order to increase the penetration of EVs into the transportation system, the EV charging stations become necessary to fulfill the charging needs. The charging stations can be placed considering different scenarios and objectives. Placement of charging stations in the service area requires a huge amount of budget and their locations are critical to select. In this paper, we formulate an optimization problem with an objective to minimize the overall cost of the charging infrastructure placement subject to the constraint on charging requirements in the service area. The proposed problem is solved using the branch and bound algorithm. Simulations results show the effectiveness of proposed placement strategy to minimize overall placement cost.
Synthetic Aperture Sequential Beamforming

A synthetic aperture focusing (SAF) technique denoted synthetic aperture sequential beamforming (SASB) suitable for 2D and 3D imaging is presented. The technique differ from prior art of SAF in the sense that SAF is performed on pre-beamformed data contrary to channel data. The objective is to improve and obtain a more range independent lateral resolution compared to conventional dynamic receive focusing (DRF) without compromising frame rate. SASB is a two-stage procedure using two separate beamformers. First a set of B-mode image lines using a single focal point in both transmit and receive is stored. The second stage applies the focused image lines from the first stage as input data. The SASB method has been investigated using simulations in Field II and by off-line processing of data acquired with a commercial scanner. The performance of SASB with a static image object is compared with DRF. For the lateral resolution the improvement in FWHM equals a factor of 2 and the improvement at -40 dB equals a factor of 3. With SASB the resolution is almost constant throughout the range. The resolution in the near field is slightly better for DRF. A decrease in performance at the transducer edges occur for both DRF and SASB, but is more profound for SASB.
The Thermal Biology of Digestion in Rubber Boas (Charina bottae): Physiology, Behavior, and Environmental Constraints

Coadaptation predicts a match between the thermal physiology and thermoregulatory behavior of reptiles. We tested this prediction by studying the digestive biology of rubber boas (Charina bottae). We measured the thermal dependence of gastric digestive rate and passage rate in rubber boas from 10°C to 35°C. We examined the effect of digestion on their thermal preference by measuring the temperatures of C. bottae in a thermal gradient before and after feeding. While the passage rates calculated from the body temperatures of digesting snakes were higher than the passage rates calculated from the body temperatures of nondigesting snakes, there was no difference in calculated digestive rates. These results indicate that the thermoregulatory behavior of C. bottae may be more tightly correlated with factors affecting passage rate than with digestive rate alone. Results of simulating the constraints of the thermal environment on the digestive biology of C. bottae showed that digestion would take more than twice as long in the spring as in the summer. In addition, during the summer, snakes thermoregulating as digesting snakes would pass food 12% faster than those thermoregulating as nondigesting snakes. These results demonstrate how interpretation of laboratory studies can be improved when combined with measurements of appropriate environmental conditions.
Dalteparin sodium

Dalteparin sodium (Fragmin™, Pharmacia Corporation) is a low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) with a mean molecular weight of approximately 5000 Da. As with the other LMWHs, dalteparin sodium has certain advantages over unfractionated heparin (UFH), most important of which are improved bio-availability by sc. injection, a prolonged antithrombotic activity which is highly correlated with body weight permitting the o.d. administration of the drug. Dalteparin sodium has been subjected to a large number of well-designed randomised clinical trials for the prevention and treatment of thrombotic disorders. Based on data from the randomised clinical trials, dalteparin sodium has been approved internationally for a wide spectrum of clinical indications (e.g., prevention of thromboembolic events after surgery). Dalteparin sodium has also been studied in randomised controlled trials in the maintenance of graft patentcy following peripheral vascular surgery, in place of warfarin for the long-term treatment of patients presenting with deep vein thrombosis (DVT), in the prevention of upper extremity thrombosis in patients with indwelling portacath devices and in pregnant patients with a history of previous venous thromboembolism with or without thrombophilia. Dalteparin sodium has been compared with heparin for the prevention of thrombotic complications during haemodyalisis and haemofiltration. These studies have shown promising results but further work is required before dalteparin sodium can be recommended for these indications.
Making the Connection between Police Information and Knowledge Use, Organizational Culture, and Information Use Outcomes

1 PREFACE . 3 Preliminary Chapters . 3 Journal Articles Submitted For Peer Review . 4 The Role of Exegesis and Narrative . 5 CHAPTER ONE . 7 Knowledge Management in Contemporary North American Policing Models . 7 The Research Context: Overview of Contemporary Policing Challenges . 7 Evolution of North American Police Policy and Practice in the Past 20 Years . 11 Community-oriented policing. 11 Problem-oriented policing. 12 Compstat. 14 Intelligence-led policing. 15 Evidence-based policing. 16 Paradigm Shift in North American Policing 20 . New competencies and values. 20 The relationship between police and academe. 21 Summary of Propositions in Contemporary North American Policing . 27 Overview . 29 Definitions of Data, Information, and Knowledge . 29
International Expansion and Riskiness of Banks

We exploit an original dataset on European G-SIBs to assess how banks' internationalization affects risk in the banking sector. We find a robust negative correlation between foreign expansion and banking risk as captured by various individual bank and systemic risk metrics. An IV strategy based on gravity regressions allows us to conclude that in our sample there is strong evidence that banks' foreign expansion reduces risk, both from an individual bank and a systemic viewpoint. This reduction is associated with better asset diversification with no evidence of any relevant detrimental effect of possible regulatory arbitrage.
Monetary and fiscal policy interactions in a post Keynesian open-economy model

ABSTRACT Using a post Keynesian model, this study aims to analyze the stabilizing role of fiscal and monetary policies in an open economy with a managed exchange rate regime. The real exchange rate is modeled as an endogenous variable and inflation explained using the conflicting claims approach. The dynamic properties of macroeconomic equilibrium are evaluated in different regimes of fiscal and monetary policies. The main result of this study suggests that the preferred policy regime is the one in which economic authorities are complementary and fiscal policy plays an explicitly active role. In this regime, the fiscal policy must commit to the target for the rate of capacity utilization and the monetary authority must commit to the inflation target.
Altruism And Organism: Disentangling The Themes Of Multilevel Selection Theory

The evolution of groups into adaptive units, similar to single organisms in the coordination of their parts, is one major theme of multilevel selection theory. Another major theme is the evolution of altruistic behaviors that benefit others at the expense of self. These themes are often assumed to be strongly linked, such that altruism is required for group‐level adaptation. Multilevel selection theory reveals a more complex relationship between the themes of altruism and organism. Adaptation at every level of the biological hierarchy requires a corresponding process of natural selection, which includes the fundamental ingredients of phenotypic variation, heritability, and fitness consequences. These ingredients can exist for many kinds of groups and do not require the extreme genetic variation among groups that is usually associated with the evolution of altruism. Thus, it is reasonable to expect higher‐level units to evolve into adaptive units with respect to specific traits, even when their members are not genealogically related and do not behave in ways that are obviously altruistic. As one example, the concept of a group mind, which has been well documented in the social insects, may be applicable to other species.
Suppression of Repeat-Mediated Gross Mitochondrial Genome Rearrangements by RecA in the Moss Physcomitrella patens[C][W]

RecA and its ubiquitous homologs are crucial components in homologous recombination. Besides their eukaryotic nuclear counterparts, plants characteristically possess several bacterial-type RecA proteins localized to chloroplasts and/or mitochondria, but their roles are poorly understood. Here, we analyzed the role of the only mitochondrial RecA in the moss Physcomitrella patens. Disruption of the P. patens mitochondrial recA gene RECA1 caused serious defects in plant growth and development and abnormal mitochondrial morphology. Analyses of mitochondrial DNA in disruptants revealed that frequent DNA rearrangements occurred at multiple loci. Structural analysis suggests that the rearrangements, which in some cases were associated with partial deletions and amplifications of mitochondrial DNA, were due to aberrant recombination between short (<100 bp) direct and inverted repeats in which the sequences were not always identical. Such repeats are abundant in the mitochondrial genome, and interestingly many are located in group II introns. These results suggest that RECA1 does not promote but rather suppresses recombination among short repeats scattered throughout the mitochondrial genome, thereby maintaining mitochondrial genome stability. We propose that RecA-mediated homologous recombination plays a crucial role in suppression of short repeat-mediated genome rearrangements in plant mitochondria.
A stochastic model predictive control approach for series hybrid electric vehicle power management

This paper illustrates the use of stochastic model predictive control (SMPC) for power management in vehicles equipped with advanced hybrid powertrains. Hybrid vehicles use two or more distinct power sources for propulsion, and their complex powertrain architecture requires the coordination of all the subsystems to achieve target performances in terms of fuel consumption, driveability, component life-time, exhaust emissions. Many control strategies have been presented and successfully applied, mainly based on heuristics or rules and tuned on certain reference drive cycles. To take into account that cycles are not exactly known a priori in driving routine, this paper proposes a stochastic approach for the power management problem. We focus on a series hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), which combines an internal combustion engine and an electric motor. The power demand from the driver is modeled as a Markov chain estimated on several driving cycles and used to generate scenarios in the SMPC law. Simulation results over a standard driving cycle are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed stochastic approach and compared with other deterministic approaches.
Stillbirth Rate in a Teaching Hospital in South-Eastern Nigeria: A Silent Tragedy

Background: Stillbirths often are not seen as a major public health problem, for despite increasing attention and investment on maternal, neonatal, and child health, stillbirths remain invisible. Aim: The objective of this study was to determine the stillbirth rate at the Imo State University Teaching Hospital, Orlu. Subjects and Methods: Analysis of the case records of stillbirths that occurred in the institution over a 5-year period from 1st July 2005 to 30th June 2010 was made. Data retrieved was analyzed for age of the women, parity, presumptive risk factor for the stillbirth, and booking status of the women. Also, the total births during the period of study were obtained. A P-value of <0.05 is said to be significant at confidence level of 95% (95/100). Results: There were a total of 1,142 deliveries within the study period, out of which 206 resulted in stillbirths. This gave an institutional stillbirth rate of 18% (180/1000 deliveries). One-hundred and fifty-five 75.2% (155/206) of the stillbirths were macerated stillbirth. The age range of the women was 15-44 years. The modal age was 31 years. The age group of 26-30 years had the highest prevalence rate of stillbirths of 79 (38.3%, 79/206), while age group of more than 40 years contributed the least with four stillbirths 4 (1.9%, 4/206). Conclusion: The stillbirth rate at the institution is too high and efforts must be made to reduce it.
Regional Discontinuities and the Effectiveness of Further Training Subsidies for Low-Skilled Employees

The author analyzes the effects of further training subsidies for low-skilled employees on individual labor market outcomes in Germany. Using detailed administrative data, the author exploits cross-regional variation in the policy styles of local employment agencies to identify causal effects of program participation. Findings show that training subsidies significantly increase cumulative employment duration and earnings in the short run and middle run for compliers, that is, those workers who additionally participate due to a more generous policy style in their agency. These gains are particularly pronounced for certain subgroups, such as women. A rough cost-benefit analysis, however, suggests that the program overall is not beneficial for the public budget.
Physical Fitness Qualities of Professional Rugby League Football Players: Determination of Positional Differences

A total of 146 professional rugby league football players, contracted to 2 teams competing in England (n = 45) and Australia (n = 101), participated in this study. All players completed the following series of physical fitness performance tests: 1 repetition maximum squat and bench press, 15-and 40-m sprint, agility run, 5-minute run for distance, 60-second sit-up, 30-second plyometric push-up, and measurement of body weight and subcutaneous skinfold (4 sites). Analysis of variance with a criterion α level of p < 0.05, was used to determine if any significant difference could be found when grouping players into 3 different positional categories typically identified in the sport. There were a number of significant differences with respect to test results between categories, and this was apparent for all 3 systems of categorization. On the basis of these findings, we recommend that to more efficiently structure the physical fitness training of players, the players should be grouped either according to the 2 broad positional categories of forwards or backs or according to the 4 categories of forwards, distributors, adjustables, and outside backs. Grouping players according to the 9 specific ositions played on the team is not warranted.
Visualization and quantification of vesicle trafficking on a three‐dimensional cytoskeleton network in living cells

Recent progress in biology and microscopy has made it possible to acquire multidimensional data on rapid cellular activities. Unfortunately, the data analysis needed to describe the observed biological process still remains a major bottleneck. We here present a novel method of studying membrane trafficking by monitoring vesicular structures moving along a three‐dimensional cytoskeleton network. It allows the dynamics of such structures to be qualitatively and quantitatively investigated. Our tracking method uses kymogram analysis to extract the consistent part of the temporal information and to allow the meaningful representation of vesicle dynamics. A fully automatic extension of this method, together with a statistical tool for dynamic comparisons, allows the precise analysis and comparison of overall speed distributions and directions. It can handle typical complex situations, such as a dense set of vesicles moving at various velocities, fusing and dissociating with each other or with other cell compartments. The overall approach has been characterized and validated on synthetic data. We chose the Rab6A protein, a GTPase involved in the regulation of intracellular membrane trafficking, as a molecular model. The application of our method to GFP‐Rab6A stable cells acquired using fast four‐dimensional deconvolution video‐microscopy gives considerable cellular dynamic information unreachable using other techniques.
Panel regression analysis of electricity prices and renewable energy in the European Union

This paper provides an econometric panel data model with data collected from 13 member states of the European Union over the period between 2010 and 2013 analysing two energy and climate relationships. First, it investigates the impact of the share of renewable energy sources in the final electricity production on the European consumer electricity prices. Second, it analyzes whether the replacement of fossil fuels by renewable energy causes a significant decrease in the greenhouse gases (specifically carbon dioxide) emissions. The results of our model analysis suggest that household electricity prices in the studied countries increase with the deployment of renewable electricity production. On the contrary, a negative effect of the renewables used in energy consumption on the CO2 emissions produced was found by the model regression.
Allocation of in-house services: Experimental comparison of allocation mechanisms

In this paper we consider the problem of allocating scarce resources in a divisionalized company; the resources are made available by the headquarters and requested by profit centers (PCs). This problem was observed at a large german insurance company (LAGIC). Currently, the resources are allocated for free; for the future, LAGIC proposes to use an iterative allocation mechanism to solve the allocation problem. Alternatively, we present a combinatorial auction-based allocation mechanism. Within experimental tests the performance of these two mechanisms is analyzed. To this end, instances are generated motivated by the problem size and structure occurring at LAGIC.
False positive 18FDG PET-CT results due to exogenous lipoid pneumonia secondary to oily drug inhalation

Rationale: Exogenous lipoid pneumonia is a rare condition due to abnormal presence of oily substances in the lungs. It is a rarely known cause for false positive 18FDG PET-CT results and can sometimes lead to invasive investigations. Searching and finding the source of the oily substance is one of the keys to the diagnosis. Inhalation of oily drugs during snorting has rarely been described. Patient concerns: A patient with well controlled HIV infection was referred for an 18FDG PET-CT to assess extension of Kaposi's disease, recently removed from his right foot. The patient had no particular symptoms. Diagnoses: Abnormal uptake of 18FDG was found in a suspicious lung nodule. An experienced radiologist thought the nodule was due to lipoid pneumonia. Interventions: Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid did not contain lipid-laden macrophages but bronchoscopy showed violet lesions resembling Kaposi's disease lesions. Lobectomy was performed after a multidisciplinary discussion. Outcomes: Anatomopathological analysis revealed the nodule was due to lipoid pneumonia. The patient's quality of life did not diminish after the operation and he is still in good health. The source of the oily substance causing lipoid pneumonia was found after the surgery: the patient used to snort oily drugs. Lessons: The presence of a suspicious lung nodule possibly due to lipoid pneumonia in a patient with known Kaposi's disease was difficult to untangle and lead to invasive surgery. It is possible that if a source of exogenous lipoid pneumonia had been found beforehand, surgery could have been prevented.