Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Peripheral Vessel Leakage (PVL): A New Angiographic Finding in Diabetic Retinopathy Identified with Ultra Wide-Field Fluorescein Angiography

Purpose: To characterize the relationship between peripheral vessel leakage and other angiographic features of diabetic retinopathy. Design: Retrospective, consecutive case series. Methods: Consecutive ultra wide-field angiographs obtained at a single institution for diabetic retinopathy were graded for angiographic characteristics including macular edema, retinal neovascularization, retinal vascular perfusion abnormalities, and retinal vascular staining and leakage. Results: Angiographic characteristics of 264 eyes of 143 patients were evaluated. Findings included focal and diffuse angiographic macular edema (150/264, 57%), neovascularization (107/264, 41%), late peripheral vascular leakage (PVL) (107/264, 41%), and peripheral non-perfusion (142/264, 54%). Amongst all subjects untreated peripheral non-perfusion was associated with anterior neovascularization (78% vs. 48%, p = 0.0001, Fisher exact test) and posterior neovascularization (78% vs. 43%, p < 0.0001), but not with macular edema (p = 0.71). PVL was associated with peripheral non-perfusion (78% vs. 38%, p < 0.0001) and posterior neovascularization (53% vs. 35%, p = 0.01), but not with macular edema (p = 0.449). However, focal macular edema was strongly associated with PVL (33% vs. 13%, p = 0.008) in eyes without peripheral non-perfusion. Amongst untreated eyes with non-proliferative retinopathy and macular edema, there was a trend for association between macular edema and peripheral non-perfusion (p = 0.065). Conclusion: Untreated peripheral non-perfusion and late peripheral vascular leakage detected using ultra wide-field FA are associated with neovascularization in diabetic retinopathy. PVL may be associated with focal diabetic macular leakage in this cohort.
Modeling of submarine cables connected with offshore wind farms for transient anlysis

This paper investigates modeling of a submarine cable connected with an offshore wind farm for a transients' analysis comparing fundamental experimental results. This study make clear an effect of reflection waves at the interface between an aerial part and an underwater part of the cable in an offshore wind farm can be expressed as a series connection of cables with different modal components. In ATP simulations, an underwater cable can be treated as a buried cable in the ground with equivalent resistivity A simulate result shows a significant wave deformation depending on a quite slow mode 0 component in the water. It is confirmed that resistivity of water and the permittivity of the corrosion proof layer of the cable should be pay attention for such kinds of investigations.
The role of taurine in diabetes and the development of diabetic complications

The ubiquitously found β‐amino acid taurine has several physiological functions, e.g. in bile acid formation, as an osmolyte by cell volume regulation, in the heart, in the retina, in the formation of N‐chlorotaurine by reaction with hypochlorous acid in leucocytes, and possibly for intracellular scavenging of carbonyl groups. Some animals, such as the cat and the C57BL/6 mouse, have disturbances in taurine homeostasis. The C57BL/6 mouse strain is widely used in diabetic and atherosclerotic animal models. In diabetes, the high extracellular levels of glucose disturb the cellular osmoregulation and sorbitol is formed intracellularly due to the intracellular polyol pathway, which is suspected to be one of the key processes in the development of diabetic late complications and associated cellular dysfunctions. Intracellular accumulation of sorbitol is most likely to cause depletion of other intracellular compounds including osmolytes such as myo‐inositol and taurine. When considering the clinical complications in diabetes, several links can be established between altered taurine metabolism and the development of cellular dysfunctions in diabetes which cause the clinical complications observed in diabetes, e.g. retinopathy, neuropathy, nephropathy, cardiomyopathy, platelet aggregation, endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis. Possible therapeutic perspectives could be a supplementation with taurine and other osmolytes and low‐molecular compounds, perhaps in a combinational therapy with aldose reductase inhibitors. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Identification of Bacillus subtilis SipW as a Bifunctional Signal Peptidase That Controls Surface-Adhered Biofilm Formation

ABSTRACT Biofilms of microbial cells encased in an exopolymeric matrix can form on solid surfaces, but how bacteria sense a solid surface and upregulate biofilm genes is largely unknown. We investigated the role of the Bacillus subtilis signal peptidase, SipW, which has a unique role in forming biofilms on a solid surface and is not required at an air-liquid interface. Surprisingly, we found that the signal peptidase activity of SipW was not required for solid-surface biofilms. Furthermore, a SipW mutant protein was constructed that lacks the ability to form a solid-surface biofilm but still retains signal peptidase activity. Through genetic and gene expression tests, the non-signal peptidase role of SipW was found to activate biofilm matrix genes specifically when cells were on a solid surface. These data provide the first evidence that a signal peptidase is bifunctional and that SipW has a regulatory role in addition to its role as a signal peptidase.
Dark chocolate improves endothelial and platelet function

The effects of chocolate on cardiovascular health are still a matter of debate. Chocolate may adversely affect cardiovascular risk because of its effects on glucose, lipids, and body weight or potentially favour cardiovascular health through antioxidative effects of chocolate ingredients, such as flavonoids (present in dark but not white chocolate). Endothelial dysfunction and platelet activation are cornerstones in the pathogenesis of atherothrombosis, leading to vasoconstriction, thrombus formation, and inflammation. Smoking is a major cardiovascular risk factor. The mechanisms promoting atherothrombosis in smokers primarily include increased oxidative stress that enhances proatherogenic processes such as low density lipoprotein oxidation and inactivation of endothelium derived nitric oxide. Platelets contribute both to acute coronary syndromes and to the progression of atherothrombosis. Both active and passive cigarette smoking has consistently been shown to induce endothelial dysfunction. Therefore, smokers serve as an ideal model to study the beneficial vascular effects of antioxidant strategies such as dark chocolate.1 The goal of the present study was to investigate whether the beneficial antioxidant effect of polyphenol-rich dark chocolate can induce an improvement of endothelial and platelet function in healthy volunteers with known endothelial dysfunction and platelet hyperreactivity. Twenty five male smokers were enrolled in the study after giving written informed consent. Women were excluded for known sex hormone induced differences in vascular tone and reactivity. All study participants did not take any medication, including vitamins or dietary supplements. The local institutional ethical review board approved the protocol. To assess the effect of dark …
Laterally coupled BAW filters with 5% bandwidth

Lateral coupling between thin-film bulk acoustic wave resonators (LBAW) is a promising technology for fabrication of bandpass filters. Previously, narrow bandwidth of realized filters has been the main problem for the applicability of this technology. In this paper, solidly-mounted LBAW filters with different number of electrodes and passband width up to 5% are presented. Thin-film AlN is used as the piezoelectric material with a Mo bottom electrode and an Al top electrode. Filters consist of interdigital electrodes with varied electrode number, electrode width and gap between the electrodes. Acoustic coupling strength obtained at 2 GHz varies from 1%…1.5% for 2-electrode devices to 5% given by 31-electrode filters. With post-measurement matching to 120 Ω ‖ 5 nH, electrical frequency response obtained with 31-electrode LBAW shows a minimum insertion loss of 2‖3 dB and a relative 3-dB bandwidth of 5% at 2 GHz. Effect of electrode number to filter passband is studied.
Salivary Proteome and Its Genetic Polymorphisms

Abstract: Salivary diagnostics for oral as well as systemic diseases is dependent on the identification of biomolecules reflecting a characteristic change in presence, absence, composition, or structure of saliva components found under healthy conditions. Most of the biomarkers suitable for diagnostics comprise proteins and peptides. The usefulness of salivary proteins for diagnostics requires the recognition of typical features, which make saliva as a body fluid unique. Salivary secretions reflect a degree of redundancy displayed by extensive polymorphisms forming families for each of the major salivary proteins. The structural differences among these polymorphic isoforms range from distinct to subtle, which may in some cases not even affect the mass of different family members. To facilitate the use of modern state‐of‐the‐art proteomics and the development of nanotechnology‐based analytical approaches in the field of diagnostics, the salient features of the major salivary protein families are reviewed at the molecular level. Knowledge of the structure and function of salivary gland–derived proteins/peptides has a critical impact on the rapid and correct identification of biomarkers, whether they originate from exocrine or non‐exocrine sources.
Medial prefrontal cortical integration of psychological stress in rats

The present study aimed to determine whether the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) (prelimbic and infralimbic regions) is implicated in the integration of a stress response. Sprague‐Dawely rats were implanted with telemetry probes and guide cannulae so that either muscimol or vehicle could be administered locally within the mPFC or dorsomedial hypothalamus (DMH). The heart rate and blood pressure of rats was continuously recorded as either muscimol or vehicle was administered centrally and rats were either exposed to restraint stress or left alone in their home cages. After the stress challenge, or equivalent period, rats that had received intra‐mPFC injections were processed for immunohistochemical detection of Fos throughout the neuraxis. Bilateral microinjection of muscimol into the mPFC had no effect upon either baseline cardiovascular parameters or restraint stress‐induced tachycardia or pressor responses whereas, in the DMH, pretreatment with muscimol attenuated the cardiovascular stress response. Analysis of Fos expression throughout the CNS of nonstressed rats showed no effect of muscimol injections into the mPFC on baseline expression in the nuclei examined. In contrast, rats that had received muscimol injections into their mPFC and were subsequently restrained exhibited an increase in the number of Fos‐positive cells in the DMH, medial amygdala, and medial nucleus tractus solitarius as compared to vehicle‐injected rats that experienced restraint stress. These results indicate that, during acute psychological stress, the mPFC does not modulate the cardiovascular system in rats but does inhibit specific subcortical nuclei to exert control over aspects of an integrated response to a stressor.
MBS zone configuration schemes for wireless multicast and broadcast service

The Multicast Broadcast Service (MBS) zone technology is proposed to provide MBS with high QoS on Mobile Communications Networks (MCNs). An MBS zone consists of a group of Base Stations (BSs) synchronized to transmit the same MBS content using the same multicasting channel, which potentially reduces the time delay for Mobile Stations (MSs) to handoff between different BSs in the same MBS zone. However, significant time delay still incurs while MSs handoff between different BSs belonging to different MBS zones (i.e., the inter-MBS zone handoff). To reduce the possibility for the inter-MBS zone handoff, we may increase the size of an MBS zone (i.e., more BSs contained in an MBS zone), which may result in poor multicasting channel utilization. This paper proposes the OverLapping Scheme (OLS) and the Enhanced OverLapping Scheme (EOLS) for more flexible MBS zone configuration to get better performance for MBS in terms of QoS and radio resource utilization. We propose the analytical models for the original MBS zone technology (namely the Basic scheme), and the OLS scheme, which are validated against the simulation experiments. Based on the simulation results, we investigate the performance for the Basic scheme, the OLS scheme, and the EOLS scheme. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Simulation-based analysis for NBTI degradation in combinational CMOS VLSI circuits

The negative-bias temperature instability (NBTI) is one of the dominant aging degradation mechanisms in today Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) Integrated Circuits (IC). With the further decreasing of the transistor dimensions and reduction of supply voltage, the NBTI degradation may become a critical reliability threat. Nevertheless, most of the EDA tools lack in the ability to predict and analyse the impact of the NBTI. Other tools able to analyse the NBTI, are often on very low design level and requiring significant computational resources. The purpose of this master work is to analyse the impact of the NBTI aging degradation in the combinational part of VLSI CMOS circuits. For that purpose, a gate-level NBTI simulation flow for estimating the degraded circuit performance parameters is proposed and implemented. The flow is NBTI model independent and tool independent. A particular implementation is made based on the Reaction-Diffusion NBTI model, and the tools: HotSpot 5.0, Candance Encounter, Synopsys Design Compiler, Synopsys Prime-Time. The results of the NBTI simulation are outputted in the format of statistical data of the gate delay degradation, the critical path delay degradation and length change, and the power consumption change. In addition, a heatmap visualizing the delay degradation is generated. Finally, a set of simulations are performed on circuits from the ISCAS89 and NXP benchmark suits. The statistical data are presented, and the impact of the NBTI degradation is analysed.
Effect of collection frequency on the semen quality of broiler breeder

1. Seven 35-week-old Hubbard broiler breeder males were subjected to three semen collection frequencies either once every 2 d (48 h), daily (24 h) or twice daily (12 h). 2. Semen characteristics including motility, volume, concentration and sperm numbers per ejaculate were determined for each ejaculate. 3. Sperm motility was unaffected by collection interval, but semen volume was lower at 12 than 24 h intervals. Sperm concentration was lower at 12 than 48 h intervals. 4. At 24 and 48 h number of sperm per collection (1·7 ± 0·2, 1·8 ± 0·2 × 109) were higher than at 12 h (1·2 ± 0·1 × 109). 5. The number of semen doses over a 6-d period increased linearly as the frequency of collection increased from once every 2 d to twice daily. 6. It is concluded that output was theoretically maximal at twice daily collection, but in practice not all cockerels may be able to maintain full performance with such a demanding regime.
Can Waist Circumference Be Used as an Anthropometric Parameter to Assess the Obesity Related Pregnancy Outcome: A Case Control Study

Introduction: The prevalence of obesity is increasing in women of reproductive age. Maternal obesity is associated with increased morbidity and mortality for both mother and offspring. BMI has been criticized as a limited measure of total obesity. Measurement of waist circumference can be useful in the assessment of abdominal obesity and disease risk. The study is aimed to evaluate the waist circumference as an anthropometric parameter in identifying women at risk of developing obstetric complications. Material and Methods: A prospective study was conducted at a tertiary health care centre on 200 antenatal women of age between 18 to 35 years with singleton pregnancy attending the antenatal clinic before 8 weeks of gestation. Women were divided into two groups. Group I included 100 women with waist circumference < 80 cm and Group II included 100 women with waist circumference ≥ 80 cm. Weight, height and waist circumference were measured and BMI was calculated. All the women were followed throughout their pregnancies as per the routine antenatal follow up. The fetomaternal outcome was recorded and analyzed statistically. Results: The two groups were comparable in age, parity and demographic profile. The maternal and neonatal complications—preeclampsia (p = 0.0052, RR 0.5062, 95% CI 0.2935 - 0.8728), gestational diabetes mellitus, preterm labor, postdatism, need for induction of labor (p value 0.0081, RR 0.6263, 95% CI 0.4314, 0.9091), instrumental vaginal delivery, cesarean delivery (p = 0.0072, RR 0.5745, 95% CI 0.3696, 0.8929), shoulder dystocia, PPH, macrosomia, neonatal asphyxia, admission to NICU were reported more in Group II women as compared to Group I. Conclusion: Assessment of waist circumference in early pregnancy provides a simple and practical parameter for predicting obesity related pregnancy outcome. All pregnancies in centrally obese women (waist circumference ≥ 80 cm) shall be acknowledged as high risk.
iJava: un nuevo lenguaje para facilitar el paso del paradigma imperativo al orientado a objetos

La aplicacion del enfoque procedural permite una presentacion paulatina y escalonada de los conceptos de programacion imperativa. Sin embargo, algunos alumnos tienen dificultades al pasar a estudiar orientacion a objetos (OO), especialmente si se utiliza un lenguaje distinto en cada paradigma. Por otro lado, el empleo de Java en la docencia de ambos modelos es criticado por lo inadecuado que resulta desde el punto de vista pedagogico y la confusion, y malos habitos, que puede llegar a generar en los alumnos. Para continuar aplicando el enfoque procedural facilitando la transicion del paradigma imperativo al OO se ha desarrollado un nuevo lenguaje de programacion imperativo denominado iJava. En este articulo se describe este lenguaje y su entorno de desarrollo especifico, los aspectos pedagogicos que se han tenido en cuenta en su diseno y como favorece una transicion paulatina hacia Java durante el aprendizaje de las bases de la programacion imperativa. Finalmente se comenta la experiencia de su aplicacion durante el curso 2008-09.
Las TIC y el desarrollo del aprendizaje en educación inicial

El articulo se propone describir, la aplicabilidad de las nuevas Tecnologias de informacion y comunicacion (TIC) ademas el desarrollo del aprendizaje en educacion inicial, tomando en cuenta el avance asombroso de la tecnologia su relacion directa entre esta y el surgimiento de estrategias para la operacionalizacion con ninos y ninas, seres con gran potencial, en virtud, de la inexistencia de trabas mentales ante el conocimiento. Con la entrada progresiva de las nuevas TIC se ha logrado un cambio social, los cuales designan a la vez un conjunto de innovaciones tecnologicas pero tambien las herramientas que permiten una redefinicion radical del funcionamiento de la sociedad. La educacion inicial se inserta en un enfoque de educacion y desarrollo humano como un continuo. En este sentido, la labor del docente, es ofrecer conocimientos abiertos al analisis, la reflexion y al cambio, que faciliten el aprendizaje y propiciar entornos mas variados. A tal efecto, se realizo una revision bibliografica exhaustiva, ademas, la formacion profesional y laboral de la autora. Por cuanto, concibe a la investigacion como un proceso sistematico orientado a la comprension en profundidad de fenomenos, tendiente a la generacion de conocimientos, bien para transformar o simplemente aportes teoricos en pro del mejoramiento de la educacion. Por consiguiente es una investigacion documental en un estadio descriptivo. Finalmente, es importante el ejemplo de la ninez ante los cambios y la inexistencia de fuerzas restrictivas y parametros cognitivos predeterminados que obstaculizan la aceptacion de la tecnologia en el hecho educativo. La educacion, debe adaptarse a cada individuo, pues, presenta diversas habilidades, destrezas y capacidades cognoscitivas para aprender; la tarea del mediador es saber reconocerlas y tratar de orientar sus estrategias y recursos. Las TIC son herramientas que facilitan el aprendizaje y el desarrollo de habilidades cognitivas, cuando estan bien orientadas por un mediador.
A Comparison of Social Tagging Designs and User Participation

Social tagging empowers users to categorize content in a personally meaningful way while harnessing their potential to contribute to a collaborative construction of knowledge (Vander Wal, 2007). In addition, social tagging systems offer innovative filtering mechanisms that facilitate resource discovery and browsing (Mathes, 2004). As a result, social tags may support online communication, informal or intended learning as well as the development of online communities.
Maximized virulence in a sterilizing pathogen: the anther‐smut fungus and its co‐evolved hosts

Host sterilization is a common feature of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Because host reproductive failure may free up resources for pathogen reproduction and transmission, theory predicts that selection on sterilizing pathogens will favour maximum virulence (i.e. complete sterilization). We examined patterns of infection in sexually transmitted anther‐smut fungi (Microbotryum) on four of their host species in the Caryophyllaceae. Using controlled fungal matings and experimental inoculations, we compared disease expression in inoculations ranging from host‐specific pathogens to hybrids and cross‐species treatments. Our data support the existence of host‐specific sibling species within the genus Microbotryum based on a low infection rate from cross‐inoculations and reduced fitness for hybrid pathogens. These patterns of host specificity and reproductive isolation, however, were not absolute. We did observe some successful cross‐species and hybrid infections, but the expression of disease was frequently incomplete, including only partial host sterilization and the failed dehiscence of pathogen spores. The prevalence of these maladapted disease phenotypes may greatly inhibit the emergence of novel host pathogen combinations. Infections by hybrid pathogen genotypes were intermediate, in terms of both infection rate and the normality of disease symptoms, between host‐specific and cross‐inoculated pathogens. In addition, the frequency with which hybrid and cross‐inoculated anther‐smut pathogens were able to infect but not sterilize new hosts supports the prediction that sterilizing STDs are under selection to maximize virulence in natural populations.