Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Investigation of time to first presentation and extrahospital factors in the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration: a retrospective cross-sectional study

Objectives To assess the time from symptom onset to treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nvAMD) and to measure the awareness of AMD in Southeast Scotland. Design Retrospective cross-sectional study. Setting Secondary care, Southeast of Scotland. Methods Patients treated with intravitreal therapy (IVT) for nvAMD in Southeast Scotland between 2013 and 2015 were identified using a treatment register. Notes were retrospectively reviewed. We measured time from: (A) symptom onset to first presentation at primary care, (B) referral to ophthalmic clinic appointment and (C) ophthalmic clinic appointment to first IVT treatment. To investigate AMD awareness, we performed a cluster random sample survey of patients visiting non-AMD ophthalmic clinics using a previously validated 12-item questionnaire. Results 195 patients (mean age 78 years) were included in the study. The mean delays between the different stages—A, B and C—were 54.2 (95% CI ±13), 28.2 (95% CI ±4.0) and 31.5 (95% CI ±3.6) days, respectively. There was an additional mean delay of 7.5 (95% CI ±1.6) days when patients were indirectly referred by optometrists via general practitioners (P<0.05). 140 patients (mean age 78) participated in the awareness survey; 62.1% reported being ‘aware’ of AMD but only 37.3% described AMD symptoms correctly. Conclusions There was a significant delay at every step of the nvAMD care pathway. The causes for this were multifactorial and included delays in first presentation to a healthcare provider, referral from primary care and initiation of secondary care treatment. Our data are likely to underestimate prehospital delays as a large number of cases are likely to have undefined symptoms and onset. We also identified suboptimal awareness of AMD which could account for a substantial delay in presentation from symptom onset. These findings highlight the need to address AMD awareness and the need for urgent treatment to prevent avoidable vision loss resulting from nvAMD.
Soluble CD40 ligand release in patients with stable coronary artery disease during elective stent implantation: effect of drug-eluting stent over bare metal stent.

OBJECTIVES We aimed to determine the effect of drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation on soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) levels in patients with stable coronary artery disease undergoing stent replacement. STUDY DESIGN Eighty-nine consecutive patients (33 women, 56 men; mean age 61±10 years) with stable coronary artery disease undergoing stent replacement were recruited. Pre- and post-procedural blood samples were collected for sCD40L analysis, and differences in plasma levels were calculated and expressed as delta sCD40L. Total size and length of implanted stents and pre- and post-dilatation procedures were recorded for each patient, for possible impact on sCD40L release. Patients were followed for one year following procedures for possible adverse cardiac events such as death, myocardial infarction and revascularization. RESULTS Forty-nine patients received bare metal stent (BMS) and 40 patients received DES. There were no differences between BMS- and DES-implanted patients in terms of age, stent size and length, and delta sCD40L plasma levels. Delta sCD40L was correlated only with total implanted stent length (r=0.374, p<0.001). Delta sCD40L levels were divided into quartiles for better determination of the procedural parameters that are effective on biomarker release. Total stent length (p=0.008), stent size (p=0.038) and pre-dilatation procedure (p=0.034) were the statistically differing parameters between delta sCD40L quartiles. Although statistically non-significant, all three adverse events were observed in patients with the highest quartile (p=0.179). CONCLUSION Procedural sCD40L release did not differ between DES- and BMS-implanted stable coronary artery disease patients. Total implanted stent length, stent size and pre-dilatation procedure were the influential parameters on procedural sCD40L release.
Efficacy of B16 melanoma cells exposed in vitro to long-term IFN-alpha treatment (B16alpha cells) as a tumor vaccine in mice.

B16 melanoma cells exposed to >2 weeks of in vitro interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) treatment (B16alpha cells) were UV inactivated and used for vaccination. This vaccination was efficacious against challenge with parental B16 cells in the absence of adjuvant therapy. Vaccinations based on parental cells and B16 cells exposed to short-term in vitro IFN-alpha treatment were not effective. The efficacy of B16alpha vaccination was evaluated using three B16 tumor models. Using intraperitoneal (i.p.) tumor challenge given after vaccination, vaccination efficacy depended on the concentration of IFN-alpha to which B16alpha cells were exposed, the number of inactivated B16alpha cells inoculated, the number of inoculations administered, and the amount of tumor burden. A significant fraction (30%) of vaccinated mice surviving initial challenge had durable immunity against a second parental tumor challenge. This immunity increased to 92% with administration of a single booster vaccination. Using metastatic tumor challenge given after vaccination, vaccination reduced lung metastases by approximately 67%. Using vaccination begun 3 days after subcutaneous (s.c.) tumor challenge, regression of established tumor occurred when vaccination was given i.p. (39%) or contralaterally s.c. (53%). Taken together, the results suggest that vaccination with inactivated B16alpha cells may serve as a model for induction of host tumor immunity against primary or secondary tumors.
Possible Involvement of Liver Resident Macrophages (Kupffer Cells) in the Pathogenesis of Both Intrahepatic and Extrahepatic Inflammation

Liver resident macrophages designated Kupffer cells (KCs) form the largest subpopulation of tissue macrophages. KCs are involved in the pathogenesis of liver inflammation. However, the role of KCs in the systemic inflammation is still elusive. In this study, we examined whether KCs are involved in not only intrahepatic inflammation but also extrahepatic systemic inflammation. Administration of clodronate liposomes resulted in the KC deletion and in the suppression of liver injury in T cell-mediated hepatitis by ConA as a local acute inflammation model, while the treatment did not influence dextran sulfate sodium- (DSS-) induced colitis featured by weight loss, intestinal shrink, and pathological observation as an ectopic local acute inflammation model. In contrast, KC deletion inhibited collagen-induced arthritis as a model of extrahepatic, systemic chronical inflammation. KC deleted mice showed weaker arthritic scores, less joint swelling, and more joint space compared to arthritis-induced control mice. These results strongly suggest that KCs are involved in not only intrahepatic inflammatory response but also systemic (especially) chronic inflammation.
Association analysis between Tourette's syndrome and dopamine D1 receptor gene in Taiwanese children

Objective Recent research suggests that Tourette's syndrome (TS) may result from a defect in the dopamine system. The dopamine 1 receptor (DRD1) gene is a candidate gene in the study of the etiology of neuropsychiatric diseases that may involve dopaminergic abnormalities. We sought to test the hypothesis that the DRD1 gene might play a role in TS. Methods By performing an association study, we collected an independent sample of patients from the midland region of Taiwan and investigated whether DRD1 gene polymorphisms can be used as markers of susceptibility to TS. A total of 148 children with TS and 83 normal control subjects were included in the study. A polymerase chain reaction was used to identify the A/G polymorphism of the DRD1 gene. Genotypes and allelic frequencies for the DRD1 gene polymorphisms in both groups were compared. Results The results showed that genotypes and allelic frequencies for the DRD1 gene polymorphisms in both groups were not significantly different. Conclusion These data suggest that DRD1 gene may not be a useful marker for prediction of the susceptibility of TS.
NT‐3 promotes growth of lesioned adult rat sensory axons ascending in the dorsal columns of the spinal cord

The regeneration capacity of spinal cord axons is severely limited. Recently, much attention has focused on promoting regeneration of descending spinal cord pathways, but little is known about the regenerative capacity of ascending axons. Here we have assessed the ability of neurotrophic factors to promote regeneration of sensory neurons whose central axons ascend in the dorsal columns. The dorsal columns of adult rats were crushed and either brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), glial cell line‐derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), neurotrophin‐3 (NT‐3) or a vehicle solution was delivered continuously to the lesion site for 4 weeks. Transganglionic labelling with cholera toxin β subunit (CTB) was used to selectively label large myelinated Aβ fibres. In lesioned rats treated with vehicle, CTB‐labelled fibres were observed ascending in the gracile fasciculus, but these stopped abruptly at the lesion site, with no evidence of sprouting or growth into lesioned tissue. No CTB‐labelled terminals were observed in the gracile nucleus, indicating that the lesion successfully severed all ascending dorsal column axons. Treatment with BDNF did not promote axonal regeneration. In GDNF‐treated rats fibres grew around cavities in caudal degenerated tissue but did not approach the lesion epicentre. NT‐3, in contrast, had a striking effect on promoting growth of lesioned dorsal column axons with an abundance of fibre sprouting apparent at the lesion site, and many fibres extending into and beyond the lesion epicentre. Quantification of fibre growth confirmed that only in NT‐3‐treated rats did fibres grow into the crush site and beyond. No evidence of terminal staining in the gracile nucleus was apparent following any treatment. Thus, although NT‐3 promotes extensive growth of lesioned axons, other factors may be required for complete regeneration of these long ascending projections back to the dorsal column nuclei. The intrathecal delivery of NT‐3 or other neurotrophic molecules has obvious advantages in clinical applications, as we show for the first time that dorsal column axonal regeneration can be achieved without the use of graft implantation or nerve lesions.
Molecular Mechanisms of PLD Function in Membrane Traffic

The two mammalian phosphatidylcholine (PC)‐selective phospholipase D (PLD) enzymes remove the choline head group from PC to produce phosphatidic acid (PA). PA stimulates phosphatidylinositol(4)phosphate 5‐kinases, can function as a binding site for membrane proteins, is required for certain membrane fusion or fission events and is an important precursor for the production of diacylglycerol (DAG). Both PA and DAG are lipids that favor negatively curved membranes rather than planar bilayers and can reduce the energetic barrier to membrane fission and fusion. Recent data provide a mechanistic explanation for the role PLDs play in some aspects of membrane traffic and provide an explanation for why some membrane fusion reactions require PA and some do not. PLDs also act as guanosine triphosphatase‐activating proteins for dynamin and may participate with dynamin in the process of vesicle fission.
ADHD in school-aged youth

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is considered one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood. Primary care providers are in the unique position of providing comprehensive care—routine care, well child visits, immunizations, and other healthcare needs—to a majority of children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. As such, primary care providers are pivotal in the diagnosis, management, and treatment of this population. This article will address special treatment considerations to aid in the management of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in the primary care setting, including substance use disorders and diversion, cardiac issues and stimulant medication, medication holidays and follow-up monitoring. The database of PubMed was searched using keywords that included attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, children, prevalence, medication holidays, safety, cardiovascular, cardiac, blood pressure, substance use, diversion, adverse drug reactions; inclusion dates were January 1, 2011 to September 30, 2015.
Intrafollicular Steroids and Anti-Müllerian Hormone During Normal and Cystic Ovarian Follicular Development in the Cow1

Abstract Development of follicular cysts is a frequent ovarian dysfunction in cattle. Functional changes that precede cyst formation are unknown, but a role for anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) in the development of follicular cysts has been suggested in humans. This study aimed to characterize intrafollicular steroids and AMH during follicular growth in a strain of beef cows exhibiting a high incidence of occurrence of follicular cysts. Normal follicular growth and cyst development were assessed by ovarian ultrasonography scanning during the 8 days before slaughtering. Experimental regression of cysts was followed by rapid growth of follicles that reached the size of cysts within 3–5 days. These young cysts exhibited higher intrafollicular concentrations of testosterone, estradiol-17beta, and progesterone than large early dominant follicles did in normal ovaries, but they exhibited similar concentrations of AMH. Later-stage cysts were characterized by hypertrophy of theca interna cells, high intrafollicular progesterone concentration, and high steroidogenic acute regulatory protein mRNA expression in granulosa cells. Progesterone and AMH concentrations in the largest follicles (≥10 mm) and cysts were negatively correlated (r == −0.45, P << 0.01). Smaller follicles (<<10 mm) exhibited higher intrafollicular testosterone and estradiol-17beta concentrations in ovaries with cysts compared to normal ovaries. During follicular growth, AMH concentration dropped in follicles larger than 5 mm in diameter and in a similar way in ovaries with and without cysts. In conclusion, enhanced growth and steroidogenesis in antral follicles <<10 mm preceded cyst formation in cow ovaries. Intrafollicular AMH was not a marker of cystic development in the cow, but low AMH concentrations in cysts were associated with luteinization.
Pricing Joint Use of Municipal Services: Theoretical Perspectives and Regulatory Issues

This paper analyses price regulation of inter&#8208;municipal contracts in Finland to demonstrate interpretative problems of regulatory rules specifying full&#8208;cost or market prices and, by so doing, deepen understanding of the theoretical underpinnings for pricing collaborative municipal services. It considers how to price inter&#8208;municipal services taking into account the specific socio&#8208;economic nature of inter&#8208;municipal cooperation, including both financial and non&#8208;financial objectives, through a new joint&#8208;use pricing model of municipal services that challenges the supremacy of full&#8208;cost pricing requirements in cases of inter&#8208;municipal collaborative contracting. Acknowledging limitations and benefits, it concludes European Single Market rules militate against municipal discretion and localism.
Managerial Overconfidence, Self-Attribution Bias, and Downwardly Sticky Investment: Evidence from Korea

ABSTRACT The extant literature on behavioral corporate finance has explored the effects of overconfidence on investment–cash flow sensitivity (ICS) to explain overinvestment, yet it has overlooked the asymmetric behavior of investments in relation to changes in cash flow levels. This study examines whether investments behave asymmetrically responding to changes in cash flows and, if so, how managerial overconfidence affects asymmetric ICS. Using a sample of KOSPI and KOSDAQ firms in Korea, we find the incidence of downwardly sticky ICS in unconstrained firms. We then find that overconfident managers encourage ICS to be stickier than their rational peers do in unconstrained firms. Finally, we find that managerial overconfidence intensified by self-attribution bias induces ICS to get even stickier, suggesting more explicit evidence of corporate investment distortions. The results of alternative tests using the asymmetric models of Homburg and Nasev (2008) are qualitatively consistent with prior results. Overall, our findings imply a higher incidence of excessive investment commitments driven by overconfident managers.
Thermally activated degradation and package instabilities of low flux LEDS

The results achieved in an accelerated life-time test on Phosphor-Converted Light Emitting Diodes (PC-LEDs) have been reported. Two different families of commercially available low-flux devices have been widely characterized and a comparative analysis on performances has been carried out. A wide set of devices has been submitted to a combined electrothermal accelerated stress under different aging conditions. The stress induced a luminous flux decay on LEDs from both series. In particular, the lumen decay was found to be thermally activated for one set of devices. The aged devices showed also a degradation of chromatic properties, in terms of a blue or yellow shift for the two different families. The failure modes found have been detected also in devices aged at constant temperature and no bias. The degradation mechanism responsible for lumen decay and chromatic shift was ascribed to the thermally activated package instabilities. A failure analysis has been carried out on failed devices, detecting different failure modes related to the package (chip detachment) and to the chip (generation of low impedance paths that shorted the junction).
The Turn of the Month Effect in Asia-Pacific Markets: New Evidence

A predictable pattern in equity returns based on the calendar time is dubbed as calendar anomaly. The prevalence of calendar anomalies is considered evidence against the efficient market hypothesis. This article examines one of the most important calendar anomalies, the turn-of-the-month (TOM) effect, in 12 major Asia-Pacific markets during the period January 2000 to April 2015, using both parametric and non-parametric tests. Under investigation, 11 out of 12 markets exhibit significant TOM effects that are independent of the turn-of-the-year (TOY) effect. Moreover, these effects are not present during the period of financial crisis. The persistence of the TOM effect in these markets, even after a quarter of a century of its initial reporting, is a puzzle which needs an explanation.
Towards Efficient Resource Utilization Exploiting Collaboration between HPF and 5G Enabled Energy Management Controllers in Smart Homes

The influence of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) in power systems necessitates Smart Grid (SG) with monitoring and real-time control of electricity consumption. In SG, huge requests are generated from the smart homes in residential sector. Thus, researchers have proposed cloud based centralized and fog based semi-centralized computing systems for such requests. The cloud, unlike the fog system, has virtually infinite computing resources; however, in the cloud, system delay is the challenge for real-time applications. The prominent features of fog are; awareness of location, low latency, wired and wireless connectivity. In this paper, the impact of longer delay of cloud in SG applications is addressed. We proposed a cloud-fog based system for efficient processing of requests coming from the smart homes, their quick response and ultimately reduced cost. Each smart home is provided with a 5G based Home Energy Management Controller (HEMC). Then, the 5G-HEMC communicates with the High Performance Fog (HPF). The HPFs are capable of processing energy consumers’ huge requests. Virtual Machines (VMs) are installed on physical systems (HPFs) to entertain the requests using First Come First Service (FCFS) and Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithms along with Optimized Response Time Policy (ORTP) for the selection of potential HPF for efficient processing of the requests with maximum resource utilization. It is analysed that size and number of virtual resources affect the performance of the computing system. In the proposed system model, micro grids are introduced in the vicinity of energy consumers for uninterrupted and cost optimized power supply. The impact of the number of VMs on the performance of HPFs is analysed with extensive simulations with three scenarios.
A Guiding Conceptual Framework for Individualized Knowledge Management Model Building

This paper presents a conceptual framework for use, by organizational researchers, knowledge management practitioners and business analysts, as a guide to building Knowledge Management (KM) models. This is accomplished through a careful selection of ten prominent KM models which have been discussed critically and used to deepen the theoretical understanding of KM implementation and development. A critical review of ten KM models offers practitioners, as well as researchers, an examination of the ontological and epistemological backgrounds and origins of existing models’ in order to highlight the required components for composing effective KM models. There is limited research supporting the utilization, adaptation or even adoption of KM models that can assist managers seeking a competitive advantage through the implementation of KM processes. Authors of existing KM models claim to provide holistic KM models but when referring back to the central meaning of knowledge and management concepts those models do not generate a thorough coverage of the required characteristics and components. This paper has critically investigated ten widely acknowledged KM models but recognizes that there is a plethora of KM models emerging which have varied foci. The conceptual review of KM models is not an empirical investigation, moreover, a critical analysis that presents a conceptual framework for KM model building. In carrying out this research study, the paper presents the shortfalls of this theoretical research approach but nevertheless, the proposed conceptual framework is envisaged as having value to both practitioners and researchers. This paper sheds light on a series of concerns related to existing KM models, their origins, constructs, and contextualization. For organizational researchers, knowledge management practitioners and business analysts this research study elaborates on issues related to validity, applicability, and generalizability of KM models and defines a set of criteria for KM model building. The paper also impacts on the science of KM presenting perspectives, scope, and contexts in which knowledge is processed.
90 GHz CMOS Phased-Array Transmitter Integrated on LTCC

This paper presents the design of a 90 GHz phased-array transmitter front end on low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology. The monolithic microwave integrated circuit components have been fabricated by the CMOS technology and flip chipped on the LTCC to realize the transmitter front end. The dc and differential hybrid IF signals are provided to the flip-chipped components through the bias and IF lines designed on the LTCC. An $1 \times 4$ patch antenna array has been designed for the transmitter and fabricated on the LTCC. The dc and IF signal pads on the LTCC were soldered to the designed printed circuit board pads for measurements. The measurement results show that by using a receiver horn antenna, the maximum received power at 92 GHz is −37.3 dBm at a communication distance of 1 m. The transmitter is capable of providing ±25° beam steering with respect to boresight and 20° half-power beamwidth at 90 GHz. The total power consumption of the transmitter front end is 656 mW.