Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence and Severity of Symptomatic Dry Eyes in Hispanics

Purpose. Past studies have not addressed the prevalence of dry eyes in the growing US Hispanic population. 463 Hispanic patients were screened in an optometric practice located in Southern California. Methods. A single symptom variable of self-assessed ocular dryness was used to categorize patients. Results. Of the patients 43.6% had some symptoms of dryness. Twenty-five percent had clinically relevant (mild, moderate or severe) scores that may merit treatment. The findings were 16.4% classified as mild (dryness score 2), 6.2% were moderate (dryness score 3) and 2.3% were severe (dryness score 4). Age was a significant predictor of dryness level. As age increased, severity of dryness increased (p <.001). The mean age for None or Trace were significantly lower than for Mild and Moderate (p <.05). Gender was not a useful as a second predictor of self-reported dryness. Conclusion. Southern Californian Hispanics seen in a optometric practice have a higher prevalence for dry eye symptoms than most other previously studied ethnic populations not selective for age.
Characteristics of detrusor contractility during micturition in diabetics

Pressure‐flow studies were performed in 26 diabetics without bladder‐outlet obstruction to objectively quantify detrusor activity and its variance during micturition by using the watts factor (WF) and to clarify the factors inducing a post‐void residual volume (PVR). The WFmax values obtained from the pressure‐flow studies were low in the majority of diabetics. There was a significant negative correlation between WFmax and PVR. A fading contraction strength during voiding was also observed that gave rise to an increased volume of residual urine, indicating that detrusor activity could not be maintained until the bladder was completely emptied in the diabetics. A positive correlation between bladder capacity and PVR was also observed. Our results indicate that residual urine in diabetics is related to a decrease in the maximum detrusor contraction strength, the fading of detrusor contractility during voiding, and an increase in the size of the bladder. Neurourol. Urodynam. 18:163–171, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The role of monoclonal antibodies in the treatment of lymphomas

Introduction: Monoclonal antibodies are a relatively new class of agents for the treatment of lymphoma. Areas covered: Review of the published literature focusing on therapeutic trials of monoclonal antibodies in lymphoma. Because of the extensive number of antibodies under development, this review will focus on either commercially available antibodies or those under development with published advanced clinical data. Expert opinion: The monoclonal antibodies are a unique class of drugs, which induce tumor lysis by immunologic mechanisms rather than DNA damage by more traditional chemotherapy or radiotherapy. These agents have a relatively benign side effect profile and have significant activity in chemoresistant lymphoma. Because this is a relatively new class of therapeutic agents, their role in the treatment of lymphoma is still being ascertained. These drugs appear to be synergistic with traditional chemotherapeutic agents and may play a significant role in maintenance therapy of the lymphomas.
The Role of Knee Arthrodesis After TKA Infection

Infection after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a devastating complication posing substantial clinical and financial burden, which incidence is increasing in line with the rise of the number of TKAs performed worldwide. The incidence of this complication rates from 1% in primary TKAs to 5.8% after TKAs revision in long series [1]. The lowest reinfection rate after a prior reimplantation for septic TKA has been reported near 30% [2].
Efficient Memory Partitioning for Parallel Data Access in FPGA via Data Reuse

Parallelizing the memory accesses in a nested loop is a critical challenge to facilitate loop pipelining. An effective approach for high-level synthesis on field-programmable gate array is to map these accesses to multiple on-chip memory banks using a memory partitioning technique. In this paper, we propose an efficient memory partitioning algorithm with low overhead and low time complexity for parallel data access via data reuse. We find that for most applications in image and video processing, a large amount of data can be reused among different iterations of a loop nest. Motivated by this observation, we propose to cache reusable data using on-chip registers, organized as register chains. The nonreusable data are then separated into several memory banks by a memory partitioning algorithm. We revise the existing padding method to cover cases occurring frequently in our method wherein certain components of partition vector are zeros. Experimental results have demonstrated that compared with the state-of-the-art algorithms, the proposed method is efficient in terms of execution time, resource overhead, and power consumption across a wide range of access patterns extracted from applications in image and video processing. As for the testing patterns, the execution time is typically less than one millisecond. And the number of required memory banks is reduced by 59.7% on average, which leads to an average reduction of 78.2% in look-up tables, 65.5% in flip-flops, 37.1% in DSP48Es, and therefore 74.8% reduction in dynamic power consumption. Moreover, the storage overhead incurred by the proposed method is zero for most widely used access patterns in image filtering.
Shear force detector using piezo-resistive beams with sidewall-doping

This paper reports on a shear force detector using piezo-resistive beams with sidewall doping embedded in elastic body. These beams are formed using a 20 μm-thick device Si layer of an SOI (Silicon on Insulator) wafer. Shear force is measured by the resistance change due to the extension/compression of the sidewall. The size of the beams is 180 μm × 15 μm × 20 μm (length × width × thickness). Using these shear force detectors, a triaxial tactile sensor can be fabricated.
A CO2 Profile Retrieving Method Based on Chebyshev Fitting for Ground-Based DIAL

The vertical profile of atmospheric CO2 is of great scientific significance in identifying carbon sinks and sources, and estimating CO2 emissions or uptakes. Differential absorption Light Detection And Ranging (DIAL), has been widely accepted as the most promising technique to sense atmospheric CO2. The classical method to retrieve measurements, generated from range-resolved detection, is derived from differentiating the measured column content, but its performance in dealing with aerosol backscatter signals is poor. To address this issue, this paper proposes a derivative method, which is based on Chebyshev fitting to the measured differential absorption optical depth. We created a performance evaluation model to assess the performance of the proposed method. Simulations revealed that the error of a single CO2 profile in data retrieval can be reduced to less than 4 ppm in 6000 m. The precision of long-term mean CO2 profile is expected to be less than 1 ppm. We believe that this novel method can be used in other applications also, e.g., trace gas measurements collected using DIAL, especially when the signal-to-noise-ratio of received signal is small.
The research on micro-blog public opinion index and the application of prototype system

The micro-blogs, as a new social media, possesses big differences with other social media on the aspect of information updating frequency, organization structure, user connection and etc, which have astonishing power of convergence and penetration. Based on this, it is proposed in this paper that Micro-Blog Public Opinion Index (MBPOI), which consists of five sub-indexes QI, II, RI, PI and CI (Quantity Index, Intensity Index, Relation Index, Polarity Index, Confidence Index) multi-dimensionally, is used to measure and evaluate the public topics and issues discussed in the micro-blogs. In the meanwhile, taking “ABB automatic world 2011” activity as example, the MBPOI prototype system is verified; it has been shown from the results that the MBPOI, which uses five sub-indexes method, owns much better effect by quantifying the topics/issues' influence in multi-dimensions and multi-levels, and provides effective micro-blogs analysis reports for monitoring and tracking the “ABB automatic world 2011” activity.
A family of cyclin-like proteins that interact with the Pho85 cyclin-dependent kinase

In budding yeast, entry into the mitotic cell cycle, or Start, requires the Cdc28 cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) and one of its three associated G1 cyclins, Cln1, Cln2, or Cln3. In addition, two other G1 cyclins, Pcl1 and Pcl2, associate with a second Cdk, Pho85, to contribute to Start. Although Pho85 is not essential for viability, Pcl1,2-Pho85 kinase complexes become essential for Start in the absence of Cln1,2-Cdc28 kinases. In addition, Pho85 interacts with a third cyclin, Pho80, to regulate acid phosphatase gene expression. Other cellular roles for Pho85 cyclin-Cdk complexes are suggested by the multiple phenotypes associated with deletion of PHO85, in addition to Start defects and deregulated acid phosphatase gene expression. Strains with pho80, pcl1, and pcl2 deletions show only a subset of the pho85 mutant phenotypes, suggesting the existence of additional Pho85 cyclins (Pcls). We used two-hybrid screening and database searching to identify seven additional cyclin-related genes that may interact with Pho85. We found that all of the new genes encode proteins that interacted with Pho85 in an affinity chromatography assay. One of these genes, CLG1, was previously suggested to encode a cyclin, based on the protein's sequence homology to Pcl1 and Pcl2. We have named the other genes PCL5, PCL6, PCL7, PCL8, PCL9, and PCL10. On the basis of sequence similarities, the PCLs can be divided into two subfamilies: the Pcl1,2-like subfamily and the Pho80-like subfamily. We found that deletion of members of the Pcl1,2 class of genes resulted in pronounced morphological abnormalities. In addition, we found that expression of one member of the Pcl1,2 subfamily, PCL9, is cell cycle regulated and is decreased in cells arrested in G1 by pheromone treatment. Our studies suggest that Pho85 associates with multiple cyclins and that subsets of cyclins may direct Pho85 to perform distinct roles in cell growth and division.
Absorption of cyanocobalamin, coenzyme B 12 , methylcobalamin, and hydroxocobalamin at different dose levels.

The whole body retention of radioactive cyanocobalamin, coenzyme B12, methylcobalamin, and hydroxocobalamin was measured by whole body monitoring after oral doses of 1, 5 and 25 μg. At each dose level there were significant differences between the values for whole body retention of the different cobalamins.
Vulvar Intraepithelial Neoplasia III: A Clinical Study of the Outcome in 113 Cases With Relation to the Later Development of Invasive Vulvar Carcinoma

Objective: To determine the outcome of 113 women with vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN), particularly in reference to the later development of invasive vulvar carcinoma. Methods: All cases of VIN III seen between 1961 and 1993 were reviewed. Results: Seven of eight untreated cases of VIN III progressed to invasive vulvar cancer within 8 years, and the eighth regressed spontaneously. Four women developed invasive vulvar carcinoma 7-18 years after treatment. Thus, 3.8% of treated patients later developed invasive vulvar carcinoma, and 87.5% of untreated patients progressed to invasive carcinoma. Conclusion: There is a substantial risk that untreated VIN III will progress to invasive cancer.
Knowledge management in law firms in Botswana: Some lessons for small law firms

This article investigates the challenges to knowledge management in small law firms in Botswana and suggests some lessons for enhancing knowledge management. The growing literature on knowledge management has focused largely on insights into its use in large law firms. There is very little writing on techniques of enhancing knowledge management in small law firms. Although large firms may be seen as logical users of sophisticated knowledge management systems, there is an increasing need for small firms to capture and intelligently exploit their knowledge.This is because in the knowledge economy, these firms continue to play a major role in generating gross income and in enhancing economic development. However, not much attention has been given to knowledge management in small firms. This research uses open- and closed-ended questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and a literature review to contribute to the body of knowledge on knowledge management in small firms and promote an awareness of its use amongst small law firms. It also suggests techniques for enhancing knowledge management in small law firms. There is a paucity of research in the use of qualitative and quantitative approaches in understanding knowledge management in small firms.
Evaluation of the Vicorder, a novel cuff-based device for the noninvasive estimation of central blood pressure

Objectives: The Vicorder is a new brachial cuff-based device that estimates central blood pressure (cBP) using a brachial-to-aortic transfer function. The aim of this study was to evaluate cBP estimated by the Vicorder. Methods: During cardiac angiography, cBP estimated by the Vicorder and the SphygmoCor was evaluated against simultaneous invasive cBP in 50 patients. The two devices were also compared noninvasively in a separate group of 90 healthy individuals. Results: Central SBP (cSBP) obtained with each device satisfied the American Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation accuracy criteria when peripheral waveforms were calibrated to invasive mean arterial pressure (MAP)/DBP: estimated − invasive cSBP difference, −4.0 ± 7.4 mmHg, Vicorder, P < 0.001; −1.4 ± 7.9 mmHg, SphygmoCor, P = 0.21. When oscillometric brachial SBP/DBP was used for peripheral waveform calibration, cSBP was underestimated by Vicorder (&Dgr; −6.4 ± 7.4 mmHg, P < 0.001 versus invasive) and more so by SphygmoCor (&Dgr; −11.9 ± 7.2 mmHg, P < 0.001 versus invasive). Conversely, cSBP was more closely estimated by SphygmoCor when waveforms were calibrated to brachial MAP/DBP (&Dgr; −2.8 ± 9.4 mmHg, P = 0.04 versus invasive). In the noninvasive study, Vicorder cSBP correlated well with SphygmoCor cSBP when SphygmoCor waveforms were calibrated to brachial MAP/DBP (121 ± 16 versus 121 ± 17 mmHg, P = 0.2) but not when brachial SBP/DBP was used for calibration (115 ± 19 mmHg, P < 0.001). Conclusion: The Vicorder and SphygmoCor devices provide reliable estimates of cSBP when calibrated to invasive pressure. When calibrated to brachial BP, both devices underestimated cSBP, although this was attenuated when SphygmoCor was calibrated to brachial MAP/DBP. Vicorder may be a simple alternative to tonometry-based methods for noninvasive assessment of cBP.
Optimizing the Design of the Landing Slope of the Zao Jumping Hill

This paper describes a process for optimizing the design of the landing slope of the Zao jumping hill. The features of the landing slope that we considered were the construction fee, the safety of the jumpers on landing, the length of the flight distance such that it makes it an interesting spectacle, and the difficulty for unskilled jumpers. We regard these features as objective functions. The findings can be summarized as follows: it is possible to control the four objective functions by changing the profile of the landing slope; the safety on landing is almost equivalent to the difficulty for unskilled jumpers; there is a trade-off between the length of the flight distance and the safety on landing and the difficulty for unskilled jumpers; the construction fee is influenced by the horizontal distance between the edge of the take-off table and the Kpoint; and the safety on landing, the flight distance and the difficulty for unskilled jumpers are influenced by the ratio of the height difference and the horizontal distance between the edge of the take-off table and the K-point.
Activation of Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase (Rubisco) Involves Rubisco Activase Trp16

The role of the N-terminal region of tobacco Rubisco activase in ATP hydrolysis and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) activation was examined by construction of mutant proteins. Deletion of the first 50 amino acids of Rubisco activase almost completely eliminated the ability to activate Rubisco, without changing the ATP-hydrolyzing and self-associating properties of the enzyme. Thus, the N-terminus of Rubisco activase is distinct from the ATP-hydrolyzing domain and is required for Rubisco activation. Directed mutagenesis of the species-invariant tryptophan residue at position 16 inhibited Rubisco activation but not the binding or hydrolysis of ATP. The ability to activate Rubisco was less severely inhibited when Trp was replaced by a Tyr or Phe than by an Ala or Cys, indicating that an aromatic residue at position 16 and particularly a Trp is required for proper activation of Rubisco. Fluorescence quenching of the 7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazole-modified W16C mutant upon addition of nucleotide suggested that position 16 becomes more solvent accessible in response to nucleotide binding. However, changes in the intrinsic fluorescence of truncated and Trp16 mutants upon addition of ATP were similar to those of the wild type, evidence that Trp16 is not the residue reporting the conformational change that accompanies subunit association.
Diffusion et combinaison des TIC

La diffusion des outils TIC dans les entreprises francaises en 2006 concerne plusieurs domaines : les reseaux, la gestion des donnees et leur integration. La diffusion des outils de reseaux est poussee dans les plus grandes entreprises ou les ? liales qui cumulent les outils. Un phenomene de rattrapage s’observe pour la plupart de ces outils de reseaux, ce qui signi? e l’existence d’une fracture numerique temporaire. Pour les outils plus complexes, de gestion de donnees ou d’integration, des fractures plus structurelles, liees principalement a la taille, apparaissent. La differenciation de l’informatisation des entreprises passe desormais plus par les choix de logiciels que par l’equipement materiel. Les usages des logiciels et des applications dessinent ainsi de nouvelles differenciations entre les entreprises. Par exemple, pour les ERP, trois strategies distinctes sont identi? ees : le pilotage ? nancier, economique et par projet.
GPU in-Memory Processing Using Spark for Iterative Computation

Due to its simplicity and scalability, MapReduce has become a de facto standard computing model for big data processing. Since the original MapReduce model was only appropriate for embarrassingly parallel batch processing, many follow-up studies have focused on improving the efficiency and performance of the model. Spark follows one of these recent trends by providing in-memory processing capability to reduce slow disk I/O for iterative computing tasks. However, the acceleration of Spark's in-memory processing using graphics processing units (GPUs) is challenging due to its deep memory hierarchy and host-to-GPU communication overhead. In this paper, we introduce a novel GPU-accelerated MapReduce framework that extends Spark's in-memory processing so that iterative computing is performed only in the GPU memory. Having discovered that the main bottleneck in the current Spark system for GPU computing is data communication on a Java virtual machine, we propose a modification of the current Spark implementation to bypass expensive data management for iterative task offloading to GPUs. We also propose a novel GPU in-memory processing and caching framework that minimizes host-to-GPU communication via lazy evaluation and reuses GPU memory over multiple mapper executions. The proposed system employs message-passing interface (MPI)-based data synchronization for inter-worker communication so that more complicated iterative computing tasks, such as iterative numerical solvers, can be efficiently handled. We demonstrate the performance of our system in terms of several iterative computing tasks in big data processing applications, including machine learning and scientific computing. We achieved up to 50 times speed up over conventional Spark and about 10 times speed up over GPU-accelerated Spark.
Update on human systemic lupus erythematosus genetics

Purpose of review Susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has a genetic component. In recent years, nine complete genome scans using family collections that differ greatly in ethnic compositions and geographic locations have identified several strong, confirmed SLE susceptibility loci. Evidence implicating individual gene polymorphisms (or haplotypes) within some of the linked intervals has been reported. This review highlights recent findings that may lead to the identification of putative genes and new insights in the pathogenesis of SLE. Recent findings Eight of the best-supported SLE susceptibility loci are 1q23, 1q25-31, 1q41-42, 2q35-37, 4p16-15.2, 6p11-21, 12p24, and 16q12. These are chromosomal regions exhibiting genome-wide significance for linkage in single studies and suggestive evidence for linkage in other samples. Linkage analyses conditioning on pedigrees in which one affected member manifesting a particular clinical condition have also yielded many chromosomal regions linked to SLE. The linked interval on chromosome 6p has been narrowed to 0.5 ∼ 1.0 Mb (million basepairs) of 3 MHC class II containing risk haplotypes in white subjects. Cumulative results have shown that hereditary deficiencies of complement component C4A (a MHC class III gene) confer risk for SLE in almost all ethnic groups studied. The FcγR genes (located at 1q23) have been convincingly demonstrated to play an important role in susceptibility to SLE (and/or lupus nephritis). The evidence for the intronic single nucleotide polymorphism of program cell death gene 1 (PDCD1 at 2q37) to confer susceptibility is promising but not yet compelling. Within several established susceptibility loci, evidence for association of positional candidate genes is emerging. Summary Further replications of linkage and association are the immediate task. The respective contribution of each susceptibility gene, relationships between genotypes and phenotypes, and potential interactions between susceptibility gene products need to be elucidated. This line of investigation is now well poised to provide novel insights into how genetic variants can affect functional pathways leading to the development of SLE.
Reverse Genetic Generation of Recombinant Zaire Ebola Viruses Containing Disrupted IRF-3 Inhibitory Domains Results in Attenuated Virus Growth In Vitro and Higher Levels of IRF-3 Activation without Inhibiting Viral Transcription or Replication

ABSTRACT The VP35 protein of Zaire Ebola virus is an essential component of the viral RNA polymerase complex and also functions to antagonize the cellular type I interferon (IFN) response by blocking activation of the transcription factor IRF-3. We previously mapped the IRF-3 inhibitory domain within the C terminus of VP35. In the present study, we show that mutations that disrupt the IRF-3 inhibitory function of VP35 do not disrupt viral transcription/replication, suggesting that the two functions of VP35 are separable. Second, using reverse genetics, we successfully recovered recombinant Ebola viruses containing mutations within the IRF-3 inhibitory domain. Importantly, we show that the recombinant viruses were attenuated for growth in cell culture and that they activated IRF-3 and IRF-3-inducible gene expression at levels higher than that for Ebola virus containing wild-type VP35. In the context of Ebola virus pathogenesis, VP35 may function to limit early IFN-β production and other antiviral signals generated from cells at the primary site of infection, thereby slowing down the host's ability to curb virus replication and induce adaptive immunity.