Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prophylaxis of fungal infections in transplant patients

Fungi are an important cause of infection in patients undergoing solid organ transplantation and bone marrow or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (BMT/HSCT). The incidence and mortality of fungal infections differ according to the organ and the time since transplantation. In the first 30 days after transplantation, yeast (primarily Candida spp.) predominate. After the first month, filamentous fungi, such as Aspergillus spp. , are the most frequent agents of infection (1-6). In BMT/HSCT patients, however, invasive aspergillosis has two peaks of incidence: one at one month post-transplantation and another approximately 90 days after the transplant if the patient develops chronic graft versus host disease (7,8). Among solid organ transplantation, liver and lung transplant have the highest risk for fungal infection due to underlying diseases, surgical techniques and the graft itself (4,9). Antifungal prophylaxis use is well established following some transplant types, such as BMT/HSCT and liver (10,11). However, few studies have evaluated heart and pancreas transplants. One of the major challenges is the prevention of filamentous fungal infections, especially by Aspergillus spp. , in high-risk patients, such as those who have undergone an allogeneic BMT and developed chronic graft versus host disease or undergone a lung transplantation (12,13). To standardize the use of primary prophylaxis in transplant patients, we analyzed the literature related to the following transplants: liver, kidney, heart, lung, and HSCT. The IDSA (Infectious Diseases Society of America) system was used to determine the levels of evidence.
Organization and Microscopic Anatomy of the Adult Human Facial Nerve: Anatomical and Histological Basis for Surgery

Background: Despite the progress in microsurgical repair of the facial nerve, the results remain unpredictable and the structural anatomy of the facial nerve poorly understood. The aim of this study was to show how the connective tissue and the nerve fibers are distributed in a serial cross-section of the facial nerve from its origin to its termination. Methods: Sixty facial nerves from 30 embalmed adult human cadavers were dissected for micro-anatomic study. The facial nerves were serially sectioned every 2 mm from the apparent origin and were prepared for light microscopy study. The endoneural fascicular arrangement was observed, the number of myelinated fibers was counted, and connective tissue was explored. Results: There was an absence of real fascicular organization of the facial nerve in the pontocerebellar cistern and in the internal acoustic meatus. The real fascicular organization with perineurium and epineurium appeared from the geniculate ganglion. The number of fascicles increased in a proximo-distal way, and their diameter diminished. In the extratemporal part, some nerves had a low number of fascicles (two to six), and others had a high number of fascicles (seven to 15). The number of fascicles changed along the course of the facial nerve, especially in the extratemporal part. Conclusions: The truly fascicular structure appeared after the geniculate ganglion, and the rate of connective tissue progressed in a proximo-distal way. The high numbers of fascicles and the great structural variability of each facial nerve segment constitute a difficulty in nerve repair.
Emerging therapeutics in sleep

The development of new therapeutics for sleep disorders is increasingly dependent upon understanding the basic brain circuitry that underlies sleep–wake regulation, and how it may be pharmacologically manipulated. In this review, we consider the pathophysiological basis of major sleep disorders that often are seen by neurologists, including excessive daytime sleepiness, insomnia, narcolepsy, rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, and restless legs syndrome, as well as circadian disorders, and we review the current and potential future therapeutic approaches. Ann Neurol 2013;74:435–440
National guidelines for the judicious use of glycopeptides in Belgium.

OBJECTIVE The 'HICPAC guidelines', published in the USA in 1995 stressed the crucial role of restrictive usage of glycopeptides in the strategy to limit the emergence and spread of resistant enterococci. Because controversy still remains in Belgium on the necessity and feasability of restricting glycopeptide usage, the infectious diseases advisory board (IDAB) developed a consensus statement on the judicious use of glycopeptides in Belgium. METHODS The literature on the indications for glycopeptide treatment was reviewed, categorized and discussed by a working party of the IDAB.Consequently, the IDAB reached consensus on the warranted indications for glycopeptide use in Belgium. RESULTS The opinion of the IDAB-members is reported in a consensus statement specifying the indications for treatment and for prophylaxis with glycopeptide antimicrobials, as well as the situations where glycopeptides should not be used, taking into account the specific epidemiology of bacterial resistance, the availability of antibiotics and the common prescribing practices in Belgium. CONCLUSIONS The IDAB concludes that restrictive usage of glycopeptides must also be a priority in Belgium. Guidelines on the judicious use of these antibiotics adapted to the national situations must contribute to this objective.
Asymmetric bidirectional view synthesis for free viewpoint and three-dimensional video

Virtual view synthesis is a key technology for future free viewpoint video and three-dimensional video applications. A novel asymmetric bidirectional view synthesis method is proposed for multi-view video plus depth based systems. An intermediate virtual view is synthesized based on two adjacent reference views, which are termed as the main view and the auxiliary view. The main view contains two-dimensional color images plus per-pixel depth information. The auxiliary view only contains two-dimensional color images without depth information. The basic depth-image-based rendering technique is firstly optimized with a distance- and- depth weighted algorithm to solve the visibility and resampling problems and then applied in the following four-step view synthesis process. First, extract the occluded color data from the auxiliary view. Second, generate the corresponding occluded depth data. Then, generate two candidate virtual view images based on the main view information and the occluded information. Last, asymmetrically synthesize the two candidate virtual view images to generate the final virtual view image. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that the proposed method can generate intermediate virtual views with high image quality.
Primary Stability/Mobility of 1-Stage and 2-Stage Dental Implants: A Comparative In Vitro Study

Purpose:To evaluate the primary stability of 1-stage (nonsubmerged) and 2-stage (submerged) implants via newest wireless resonance frequency (RF) analyzer and newer wireless mobility measuring (MM) device. Materials and Methods:Six 1-stage dental implants with internal hex connection and six 2-stage dental implants, 4.1 mm in diameter and 11.5 mm in length, were inserted bilaterally into the first premolar, second premolar, and first molar regions of 6 standard mandibular transparent self-curing acrylic resin models. After that, the periimplant circular bone defects were created in millimeter increments ranging between 0 and 5 mm to the same extent on all implants. Results:Implant stability quotient values significantly decreased at 1-stage and 2-stage implants when periimplant defects increased. Similar implant stability quotient values were found for both implant types; however, significantly lower MM values were noted for 2-stage implants. Irrespective of implant systems, the results indicated a significant association between wireless RF analyzer and wireless MM device. Conclusion:Both wireless RF analyzer and wireless MM device were adequate in assessing implant stability. There was no difference between 2-stage and 1-stage implant systems, except lower MM values were noted for nonsubmerged implants.
Factor requirements for transcription in the Archaeon Sulfolobus shibatae

Archaea (archaebacteria) constitute a domain of life that is distinct from Bacteria (eubacteria) and Eucarya (eukaryotes). Although archaeal cells share many morphological features with eubacteria, their transcriptional apparatus is more akin to eukaryotic RNA polymerases I, II and III than it is to eubacterial transcription systems. Thus, in addition to possessing a 10 subunit RNA polymerase and a homologue of the TATA‐binding protein (TBP), Archaea possess a polypeptide termed TFB that is homologous to eukaryotic TFIIB. Here, we investigate the factor requirements for transcription of several promoters of the archaeon Sulfolobus shibatae and its associated virus SSV. Through in vitro transcription and immunodepletion, we demonstrate that S.shibatae TBP, TFB and RNA polymerase are not complexed tightly with one another and that each is required for efficient transcription of all promoters tested. Furthermore, full transcription is restored by supplementing respective depleted extracts with recombinant TBP or TFB, indicating that TBP‐associated factors or TFB‐associated factors are not required. Indeed, gel‐filtration suggests that Sulfolobus TBP and TFB are not associated stably with other proteins. Finally, all promoters analysed are transcribed accurately and efficiently in an in vitro system comprising recombinant TBP and TFB, together with essentially homogeneous preparation of RNA polymerase. Transcription in Archaea is therefore fundamentally homologous to that in eukaryotes, although factor requirements appear to be much less complex.
Surgical management of juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma: Analysis of 162 cases from 1995 to 2012

The purpose of this study was to report on a series of 162 patients presenting with juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma in a single academic hospital during the past 17 years, in an effort to compare outcomes between open and transnasal endoscopic approach, and to define an ideal treatment strategy.
Profiling Caenorhabditis elegans non-coding RNA expression with a combined microarray

Small non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are encoded by genes that function at the RNA level, and several hundred ncRNAs have been identified in various organisms. Here we describe an analysis of the small non-coding transcriptome of Caenorhabditis elegans, microRNAs excepted. As a substantial fraction of the ncRNAs is located in introns of protein-coding genes in C.elegans, we also analysed the relationship between ncRNA and host gene expression. To this end, we designed a combined microarray, which included probes against ncRNA as well as host gene mRNA transcripts. The microarray revealed pronounced differences in expression profiles, even among ncRNAs with housekeeping functions (e.g. snRNAs and snoRNAs), indicating distinct developmental regulation and stage-specific functions of a number of novel transcripts. Analysis of ncRNA–host mRNA relations showed that the expression of intronic ncRNA loci with conserved upstream motifs was not correlated to (and much higher than) expression levels of their host genes. Even promoter-less intronic ncRNA loci, though showing a clear correlation to host gene expression, appeared to have a surprising amount of ‘expressional freedom’, depending on host gene function. Taken together, our microarray analysis presents a more complete and detailed picture of a non-coding transcriptome than hitherto has been presented for any other multicellular organism.
From Planning to Implementation: Streamlining Compliance for U.S. Rodent Eradications

Author(s): Feldman, Gabrielle; Howald, Gregg | Abstract: Implementing rodent eradication projects on federally owned islands in the U.S. can take 10 or more years to plan and often accounts for more than 50% of total project expenses. Consequently, identifying ways to improve planning efficiency by streamlining the compliance process will allow land managers to restore more islands, thereby increasing ecosystem productivity and improving species resilience. The compliance process, defined here as fulfilling National Environmental Policy Act requirements and securing all necessary state and federal permits, creates a valuable and robust framework to examine goals, develop alternatives, assess anticipated impacts, establish partnerships, and engage the public. Additionally, it provides permitting agencies and the public an opportunity to participate in the planning process. One significant challenge to the planning process is that many variables that need to be accounted for early in the process are social, economic, or political in nature and are frequently overlooked, downplayed, or disregarded. We reviewed the planning documents for several rodent eradication projects and identified areas where the process could be streamlined, described lessons learned, and made recommendations for future projects. Streamlining can be achieved by identifying programmatic solutions, understanding social and political constraints, and developing a robust, transparent assessment of a range of alternatives.
Increased sorbitol pathway activity generates oxidative stress in tissue sites for diabetic complications.

Chronic diabetic complications, in particular, nephropathy, peripheral and autonomic neuropathy, "diabetic foot," retinopathy, and cardiovascular disease, remain the major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus. Growing evidence indicates that both increased activity of the sorbitol pathway of glucose metabolism and enhanced oxidative stress are the leading factors in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications. The relation between the two mechanisms remains the area of controversy. One group has reported that increased sorbitol pathway activity has a protective rather than detrimental role in complication-prone tissues because the pathway detoxifies toxic lipid peroxidation products. Others put forward a so-called "unifying hypothesis" suggesting that activation of several major pathways implicated in diabetic complications (e.g., sorbitol pathway) occurs due to increased production of superoxide anion radicals in mitochondria and resulting poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase activation. This review (a) presents findings supporting a key role for the sorbitol pathway in oxidative stress and oxidative stress-initiated downstream mechanisms of diabetic complications, and (b) summarizes experimental evidence against a detoxifying role of the sorbitol pathway, as well as the "unifying concept. "
Waveguide index contrast: implications for passive integrated optical components

The index contrast increase of integrated optical waveguides permits to move towards very large scale of integration of photonic integrated circuits, mainly because of the very small bending radius achievable. Furthermore, high index contrast waveguides allow to access new devices, such as ring resonators, more compact and with better spectral characteristics. These two invaluable advantages push to consider new technologies, new materials and new solutions to exploit the integrated optic world. Trying to see the index contrast as a free parameter in the design of a dielectric waveguide, we discuss the general properties and the main impairments of high index contrast waveguides. Not always an increase of the index contrast corresponds to an increase of the waveguide and circuit criticity.
Proteomics of the aqueous humor in healthy New Zealand rabbits

There are several physiological roles postulated for aqueous humor, a liquid located in the anterior and posterior chamber of the eye, such as maintenance of the intraocular pressure, provision of nutrients, and removal of metabolic waste from neighboring tissues and provision of an immune response and protection during inflammation and infection. To link these function to specific or classes of proteins, identification of the aqueous humor proteome is essential. Aqueous humor obtained from healthy New Zealand white rabbits was analyzed using three synergistic protein separation methods: 1‐D gel electrophoresis, 2‐DE, and 1‐DLC (RPLC) prior to protein identification by MS. As each of these separation methods separates intact proteins based on different physical properties (pIs, molecular weights, hydrophobicity, solubility, etc.) the proteome coverage is expanded. This was confirmed, since overlap between all three separation technologies was only about 8.2% with many proteins found uniquely by a single method. Although the most dominant protein presented in normal aqueous humor is albumin, by using this extensive separation/MS strategy, additional proteins were identified in total amount of 98 nonredundant proteins (plus an additional ten proteins for consideration). This expands the current protein identifications by approximately 65%. The aqueous humor proteome comprises a specific selection of cellular and plasma based proteins and can almost exclusively be divided into four functional groups: cell–cell interactions/wound healing, proteases and protease inhibitors, antioxidant protection, and antibacterial/anti‐inflammatory proteins.
Affinity prefractionation for MS‐based plasma proteomics

The plasma proteome has proven to be one of the most challenging proteomes to profile using currently available proteomics technologies. A plethora of methodologies have been used to profile human plasma in order to discover potential biomarkers for disease and for therapy optimization. Affinity‐based prefractionation coupled to MS has been shown to be one of the most successful ways to dig deeper into the plasma proteome. Depletion of high abundant plasma proteins is becoming an initial method of choice in any plasma profiling project. However, several other affinity‐based enrichment methods have been published in recent years. Here we review both protein and peptide affinity prefractionation methods coupled with MS‐based proteomics. Analysis of the proportion of cellular and extracellular annotated proteins of publicly available MS plasma proteomics data is performed to estimate the analytical depth of various prefractionation methods.
Multisource Classification of Color and Hyperspectral Images Using Color Attribute Profiles and Composite Decision Fusion

In this work, we treat the problem of combined classification of a high spatial resolution color image and a lower spatial resolution hyperspectral image of the same scene. The problem is particularly challenging, since we aim for classification maps at the spatial resolution of the color image. Contextual information is obtained from the color image by introducing Color Attribute Profiles (CAPs). Instead of treating the `R', `G', and `B' bands separately, the color image is transformed into CIE-Lab space. In this color space, attribute profiles are extracted from the `L' band, which corresponds to the Luminance, while the `a' and `b' bands, which contain the color information, are kept intact, and the resulting images are transformed back into RGB space. The spectral information is obtained from the hyperspectral image. A Composite Decision Fusion (CDF) strategy is proposed, combining a state-of-the-art kernel-based decision fusion technique with the popular composite kernel classification approach. Experiments are conducted, using simulated data and a real multisource dataset containing airborne hyperspectral data and orthophotographic data from a suburban area in Belgium. These experiments show that our CAPs perform well with respect to other approaches for extracting attribute profiles from high resolution color images, and that the proposed CDF strategy produces meaningful results with respect to concatenation and the highlighted state-of-the-art approaches for combining multisource data.
Environmental and economic effects of sulfur dioxide emissions trading pilot scheme in China: A quasi-experiment

In this study, we consider the sulfur dioxide emissions trading pilot scheme (SETPS) of China, with pilot provinces as the treatment group and other provinces as the control group. We employ the difference-in-differences method to estimate the effects of the SETPS on pollution mitigation and economic growth. Results show that the SETPS plays a robust role both in China’s industrial sulfur dioxide abatement and in economic growth. Furthermore, by applying regression analysis to explore regional heterogeneity, we find that it has a stronger effect on industrial sulfur dioxide reduction in the Central China than it does in the Eastern and Western China, and it also exerts a positive influence on economic growth in the Western China. Moreover, a time-trend analysis indicates that the pollution reduction effect of the SETPS has decreased, while the economic growth effect has slightly increased since 2007.
Effect of Subanesthetic Concentrations of Enflurane and Halothane on Human Behavior

Ten male volunteers performed 3 tasks before, during, and following administration of 3 levels of alveolar halothane (0.05, 0.1, and 0.2%) for one-half hour each and (on a separate occasion) enflurane (0.15, 0.3, and 0.4%) for one-half hour each. The concentrations of halothane tested represented 7, 13, and 27% of MAC values, respectively; those of enflurane were 9, 18, and 24% of MAC. The tasks were a choice-reaction time test, a digit span test, and a Purdue Pegboard Assembly test. Volunteers also were tested for amnesia with word pairs and a picture. No effects or only slight effects on mental function could be detected at the lowest concentrations of either agent. At higher concentrations both agents impaired function, as indicated by an increase in reaction time, decreased ability to remember numbers, and decreased ability to assemble a simple structural array. Amnesia for word pairs but not pictures occurred at 27% of MAC for halothane and 18% of MAC for enflurane. All test scores reverted to control levels within one-half hour after discontinuing the anesthetic. Our results indicate that subanesthetic but not trace levels of enflurane or halothane can impair mental performance and manual dexterity and produce amnesia. The levels of anesthetic required far exceed those experienced by operating room personnel. However, such levels might be found for several hours in patients following prolonged anesthesia.
Secure transmission scheme based on dual- thresholds for simultaneous wireless information and power transfer

This paper studies a simultaneous wireless information and power transfer system with multiple external eavesdroppers and internal curious users. We model the random network by Poisson cluster process in consideration of the case where eavesdroppers hide around certain targets. Focusing on the users that work in harvesting-transmitting mode with time switching receivers, we establish communication model via time division multiple access. On this basis, we propose a lightweight secure transmission scheme based on dual-thresholds for physical-layer security enhancement, which consists of two protocols applied to the downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmission respectively. In the DL, we design a dynamic information-power switching transmission protocol based on signal-to-noise ratio threshold, which provides an opportunistic approach to reform the fixed period allocation of information and power transfer; in the UL, an energy threshold is proposed for users to control the transmission, which is called a user-led on-off transmission protocol. Furthermore, we give a comprehensive performance analysis for the proposed scheme in terms of delay, reliability, security and secrecy throughput. Based on the analysis results, we optimize the two thresholds and the DL-UL allocation coefficient to maximize the secrecy throughput. Simulation results show the proposed scheme can bring about a substantial secrecy gain.