Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Past and present of corneal refractive surgery

Surgical correction of refractive errors is becoming increasingly popular. In the 1990s, the excimer laser revolutionized the field of corneal refractive surgery with PRK and LASIK, and lately refractive lenticule extraction (ReLEx) of intracorneal tissue, using only a femtosecond laser, has become possible. Two new procedures were developed, ReLEx flex (FLEX) and ReLEx smile (SMILE).
The safety of transdermal nicotine as an aid to smoking cessation in patients with cardiac disease.

BACKGROUND Transdermal nicotine therapy is widely used to aid smoking cessation, but there is uncertainty about its safety in patients with cardiac disease. METHODS In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial at 10 Veterans Affairs medical centers, we randomly assigned 584 outpatients (of whom 576 were men) with at least one diagnosis of cardiovascular disease to a 10-week course of transdermal nicotine or placebo as an aid to smoking cessation. The subjects were monitored for a total of 14 weeks for the primary end points of the study (death, myocardial infarction, cardiac arrest, and admission to the hospital due to increased severity of angina, arrhythmia, or congestive heart failure); the secondary end points (admission to the hospital for other reasons and outpatient visits necessitated by increased severity of heart disease); any side effects of therapy; and abstinence from smoking. RESULTS There were 48 primary and 78 secondary end points noted in a total of 95 subjects. At least one of the primary end points was reached by 5.4 percent of the subjects in the nicotine group and 7.9 percent of the subjects in the placebo group (difference, 2.5 percent; 95 percent confidence interval, -1.6 to 6.5 percent; P=0.23). In the nicotine group, 11.9 percent of the subjects had at least one of the secondary end points, as compared with 9.7 percent in the placebo group (difference, 2.2 percent; 95 percent confidence interval, -2.2 to 7.4 percent; P= 0.37). After 14 weeks the rate of abstinence from smoking was 21 percent in the nicotine group, as compared with 9 percent in the placebo group (P=0.001), but after 24 weeks the abstinence rates were not significantly different (14 percent vs. 11 percent, P= 0.67). CONCLUSIONS Transdermal nicotine does not cause a significant increase in cardiovascular events in high-risk outpatients with cardiac disease. However, the efficacy of transdermal nicotine as an aid to smoking cessation in such patients is limited and may not be sustained over time.
Association between the IRF5 rs2004640 functional polymorphism and systemic sclerosis: a new perspective for pulmonary fibrosis.

OBJECTIVE There is now growing evidence that connective tissue diseases, including systemic sclerosis (SSc), share a common genetic background. Microarray studies support a pivotal role of type I interferon (IFN) in the pathophysiology of connective tissue diseases. Interferon regulatory factors coordinate the expression of type I IFNs, and the IRF5 gene has been identified as a susceptibility gene of systemic lupus and Sjögren's syndrome. The aim of this study was to determine whether the IRF5 rs2004640 single-nucleotide polymorphism is associated with SSc. METHODS The IRF5 rs2004640 (GT) functional polymorphism was genotyped in 1,641 subjects of French European Caucasian origin: a discovery set comprising 427 patients with SSc and 380 control subjects and a replication set comprising 454 patients with SSc and 380 control subjects. RESULTS In both the discovery set and the replication set, the TT genotype was significantly more common in patients with SSc than in control subjects, with an odds ratio (OR) for the combined populations of 1.58 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.18-2.11 [P for trend 0.002]). Analyses of the whole SSc population showed a significant association between homozygosity for the T allele and the presence of antinuclear antibodies (corrected P [Pcorr]=0.04, OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.16-2.17) and fibrosing alveolitis (Pcorr=0.001, OR 2.07, 95% CI 1.38-3.11). In a multivariate analysis model including the diffuse cutaneous subtype of SSc and positivity for anti-topoisomerase I antibodies, the IRF5 rs2004640 TT genotype remained associated with fibrosing alveolitis (P=0.029, OR 1.92, 95% CI 1.07-3.44). CONCLUSION The IRF5 rs2004640 GT substitution is associated with susceptibility to SSc. These data provide new insight into the pathogenesis of SSc, including clues to the mechanisms leading to fibrosing alveolitis.
Identifying the Career-Interest Profiles of Junior-High-School Students Through Latent Profile Analysis

ABSTRACT Exploring the career-interest profiles of students has both practical and theoretical significance; however, a minimal amount of research has been conducted to address this issue. The present study combined latent profile analysis and differentiation values to investigate the career-interest profiles of 13,853 junior-high-school students. The results indicate that while the students’ interests could be stratified into 25 profiles, 44.6% of students could be classified the as having low-differentiation profiles (such as like or dislike all types of vocational activities) and 24.9% of students could be classified the as having the artistic-social (like both artistic and social types of activities) profile. In addition, the proportions of females and males differed significantly among the profiles, but different grades did not. The proportion of males was higher for all three low-differentiation groups than of female proportions. Implications for career practices and future research are proposed.
On the optimality of negligence and causation standards in cases of uncertain causation

We analyze different liability rules in a model of uncertainty over causation where harm may either be caused by a potentially liable injurer or a natural entity. The court can only imperfectly observe the injurer’s level of care, and the value of the risky activity is private information to the injurer. We aim at explaining why strict liability is only rarely applied to cases of uncertain causation, and why causation standards (threshold probabilities) and negligence standards (due care levels) are used simultaneously. Depending on the probability that the natural entity causes the accident, we show that either strict liability, ordinary or gross negligence may be second-best optimal. Furthermore, we show that adopting threshold probabilities and due care levels jointly may increase social welfare if the injurer has private information on the risk caused by the natural entity.
Endothelial cell NADPH oxidase mediates the cerebral microvascular dysfunction in sickle cell transgenic mice

Although blood cell‐endothelial cell adhesion and oxidative stress have been implicated in the pathogenesis of sickle cell disease (SCD), the nature of the linkage between these vascular responses in SCD remains unclear. The objective of this study was to determine whether superoxide derived from endothelial cell‐associated NADPH oxidase mediates the leukocyte‐endothelial (L/E) and platelet‐endothelial cell (P/E) adhesion that is observed in the cerebral microvasculature of sickle cell transgenic (βS) mice. Intravital fluorescence microscopy was used to monitor L/E and P/E adhesion in brain postcapillary venules of wild‐type (WT), SOD1 transgenic (SOD1‐TgN), and gp91phox (NADPH oxidase)‐deficient mice that were transplanted with bone marrow from βS mice. Hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) yielded intense P/E and L/E adhesion responses in cerebral venules of βS/WT chimeras that were significantly attenuated in both βS/SOD1‐TgN, and βS/gp91phox−/− chimeras. Pretreatment of βS/WT chimeras with the iron‐chelator desferroxamine blunted the blood cell‐endothelial cell adhesion responses to H/R, whereas pretreatment with the xanthine oxidase inhibitor allopurinol had no effect. These findings suggest that superoxide derived from endothelial cell NADPH‐oxidase and catalytically active iron contribute to the proinflammatory and prothrombogenic responses associated with sickle cell disease.
Factors affecting visual acuity after accelerated crosslinking in patients with progressive keratoconus.

PURPOSE The present study aimed to report the outcomes of patients with progressive keratoconus who were treated via accelerated crosslinking (CXL) 6 months earlier and to determine the factors that promoted improved visual acuity after treatment. METHODS This retrospective study included 35 eyes of 34 patients with progressive keratoconus who underwent CXL. Topographical measurements were obtained preoperatively and in the first, third, and sixth months postoperatively using a rotating Scheimpflug camera. The uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), flat keratometry (K) value (K1), steep K value (K2), average K value (avgK), topographic cylindrical value (Cyl), apical keratoscopy front (AKf), apical keratoscopy back (AKb), symmetry index front (SIf), symmetry index back (SIb), and thinnest point of the cornea (ThkMin) were recorded. RESULTS At the 6-month follow-up, the mean UCVA and BCVA values were improved, and the K values remained stable. Statistically significant decreases in AKf (p=0.04) and the thinnest point of the cornea (p=0.001) and a statistically significant increase in AKb (p=0.01) were observed. A correlation analysis revealed that the preoperative BCVA, UCVA, K1, K2, avgK, AKf, and AKb values significantly affected visual acuity at the 6-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS Accelerated CXL is an effective treatment for the prevention or even reversal of keratoconus progression. The preoperative K values and apexes of the anterior and posterior cornea were found to affect visual acuity at 6 months after accelerated CXL. Both AKb steepening and AKf flattening appear to be important factors in the stabilization of keratometric values and improvement of visual outcomes.
Nitrogen Fixation Mutants of Medicago truncatula Fail to Support Plant and Bacterial Symbiotic Gene Expression1[W][OA]

The Rhizobium-legume symbiosis culminates in the exchange of nutrients in the root nodule. Bacteria within the nodule reduce molecular nitrogen for plant use and plants provide bacteria with carbon-containing compounds. Following the initial signaling events that lead to plant infection, little is known about the plant requirements for establishment and maintenance of the symbiosis. We screened 44,000 M2 plants from fast neutron-irradiated Medicago truncatula seeds and isolated eight independent mutant lines that are defective in nitrogen fixation. The eight mutants are monogenic and represent seven complementation groups. To monitor bacterial status in mutant nodules, we assayed Sinorhizobium meliloti symbiosis gene promoters (nodF, exoY, bacA, and nifH) in the defective in nitrogen fixation mutants. Additionally, we used an Affymetrix oligonucleotide microarray to monitor gene expression changes in wild-type and three mutant plants during the nodulation process. These analyses suggest the mutants can be separated into three classes: one class that supports little to no nitrogen fixation and minimal bacterial expression of nifH; another class that supports no nitrogen fixation and minimal bacterial expression of nodF, bacA, and nifH; and a final class that supports low levels of both nitrogen fixation and bacterial nifH expression.
Global synchronization of stochastically disturbed memristive neurodynamics via discontinuous control laws

This paper presents the theoretical results on the master-slave (or driving-response) synchronization of two memristive neural networks in the presence of additive noise. First, a control law with a linear time-delay feedback term and a discontinuous feedback term is introduced. By utilizing the stability theory of stochastic differential equations, sufficient conditions are derived for ascertaining global synchronization in mean square using this control law. Second, an adaptive control law consisting of a linear feedback term and a discontinuous feedback term is designed to achieve global synchronization in mean square, and it does not need prior information of network parameters or random disturbances. Finally, simulation results are presented to substantiate the theoretical results.
Raindrop detection algorithm for ADAS

Vision based advance driver assistance system (ADAS) completely rely on the images captured by the vehicle bound camera. Vision based ADAS also referred as computer vision based ADAS depends on clear images from surroundings for its algorithm implementation. If the images are hampered from external weather conditions such as rain or fog, the ADAS functionalities are affected. In general, checking the image, whether it is free from raindrop occlusions is one of the steps in the pre-processing, as clear, noise free images are required for ADAS algorithm deployments, which would enhance the ADAS functionalities. In ADAS, generically raindrop occlusions is identified by comparing two successive images then sorting analysis using displacement formulae or by identifying them typically based on photometric or geometric properties of raindrop. The computation time and the accuracy for these approaches are trade off factors. In this paper, we propose an algorithm to detect the raindrop, where detection is performed using thresholding and feature transform only on single frame. The approach reduces the computation time and memory resource, executing only on current frame. Once the raindrop occlusion is affirmed, an interrupt is sent to the concurrent algorithm about the occlusions and abort the same. To retrieve the region from occlusion we follow one of the generic method employing Gauss filter.
Biochemical Toxicity of Ivermectin in Wistar Albino Rats

Ivermectin, a macrocyclic lactone, is commonly used against parasitic diseases in both animals and human beings. Although, its anti-parasitic activity is well known, there is dearth of literature on its effect on the host. The present study on biochemical effects of ivermectin in Wistar albino rats was undertaken to evaluate if it is toxic to the host. This investigation evaluated the effect of ivermectin on the plasma concentrations of AST, ALT, triglycerides, cholesterol, LDH and the hepatic levels of nucleic acids, proteins, malondialdehde (MDA) and non-protein sulfhydryl groups (NP-SH) in Wistar albino rats. The animals were intraperitoneally (ip) treated with different doses (5, 10 and 15 mg/kg., body weight) of ivermectin as a single dose and sacrificed after 24 hrs. The treatment induced significant biochemical changes in both plasma and the hepatic cells. The observed toxicity may be due to the disruption of chlorides and calcium in the cellular equilibrium, stimulation of catecholamines, GABA receptors and the genesis of cAMP caused by the oxidant nature of certain neurotransmitter metabolites triggered by ivermectin. The present investigation suggests that ivermectin-induced biochemical changes in the host animal may be few of the probable mechanisms of its antiparasitic activity.
10 GEOMETRIC GRAPH THEORY

In the traditional areas of graph theory (Ramsey theory, extremal graph theory, random graphs, etc.), graphs are regarded as abstract binary relations. The relevant methods are often incapable of providing satisfactory answers to questions arising in geometric applications. Geometric graph theory focuses on combinatorial and geometric properties of graphs drawn in the plane by straight-line edges (or, more generally, by edges represented by simple Jordan arcs). It is a fairly new discipline abounding in open problems, but it has already yielded some striking results that have proved instrumental in the solution of several basic problems in combinatorial and computational geometry (including the k-set problem and metric questions discussed in Sections 1.1 and 1.2, respectively, of this Handbook). This chapter is partitioned into extremal problems (Section 10.1), crossing numbers (Section 10.2), and generalizations (Section 10.3).
High-temperature and melting behaviour of nanocrystalline refractory compounds: an experimental approach applied to thorium dioxide

The behaviour from 1500 K up to melting of nanocrystalline (nc) thorium dioxide, the refractory binary oxide with the highest melting point (3651 K), was explored here for the first time using fast laser heating, multi-wavelength pyrometry and Raman spectroscopy for the analysis of samples quenched to room temperature. Nc-ThO2 was melted at temperatures hundreds of K below the melting temperature assessed for bulk thorium dioxide. A particular behaviour has been observed in the formed liquid and its co-existence with a partially restructured solid, possibly due to the metastable nature of the liquid itself. Raman spectroscopy was used to characterize the thermal-induced structural evolution of nc-ThO2. Assessment of a semi-empirical relation between the Raman active T2g mode peak characteristics (peak width and frequency) and crystallites size provided a powerful, fast and non-destructive tool to determine local crystallites growth within the nc-ThO2 samples before and after melting. This semi-quantitative analysis, partly based on a phonon-confinement model, constitutes an advantageous, more flexible, complementary approach to electron microscopy and powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD) for the crystallite size determination. The adopted experimental approach (laser heating coupled with Raman spectroscopy) is therefore proven to be a promising methodology for the high temperature investigation of nanostructured refractory oxides.
The importance of relational coordination for integrated care delivery to older patients in the hospital.

AIM This study investigated relational coordination among professionals providing healthcare to hospitalized older patients and assessed its impact on integrated care delivery. BACKGROUND Previous studies have shown that relational coordination is positively associated with the delivery of acute, emergency and trauma care. The effect of relational coordination in integrated care delivery to hospitalized older patients remains unknown. METHODS This cross-sectional study was part of an examination of integrated care delivery to hospitalized older patients. Data were collected using questionnaires distributed to hospital professionals (192 respondents; 44% response rate). RESULTS After controlling for demographic variables, regression analyses showed that relational coordination was positively related to integrated care delivery (β = 0.20; P ≤ 0.05). Relational coordination was lower among professionals in the same discipline, and higher between nurses and others than between medical specialists and others. Relational coordination and integrated care delivery were significantly higher in geriatrics than in other units (both P ≤ 0.001). CONCLUSIONS The enhancement of relational coordination among healthcare professionals is positively associated with integrated care delivery to older patients. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT Relational coordination should be improved between medical specialists and others and higher levels of relational coordination and integrated care delivery should be achieved in all hospital units.
Contrôle d'exécution des mouvements d'un robot mobile : apllication à l'assistance à la conduite automobile

Cette these presente une etude du probleme du controle d'execution des mouvements d'un robot mobile autonome. D'une maniere generale, un systeme decisionnel autonome est constitue de trois fonctions : la perception, la decision et l'action. La perception construit un modele de l'environnement du robot. La decision utilise ce modele pour generer un plan nominal et le traduire en une suite de consignes de mouvement. L'action transforme enfin ces consignes en commandes adequates pour les effecteurs du robot. L'environnement du robot considere est dynamique, les consignes de mouvement doivent alors assurer une reactivite du robot face aux evenements imprevus qui peuvent survenir pendant l'execution du plan nominal, nous parlons alors du controle d'execution et c'est le point sur lequel nous avons concentre notre etude. Dans le cas d'un robot mobile de type voiture se deplacant dans un reseau routier, nous avons mis au point un controleur d'execution qui assure les tâches suivantes : analyse de la situation courante, adaptation du plan nominal (utilisation d'une base de regles), et generation periodique des consignes de mouvement necessaires a` l'execution du plan nominal adapte (utilisation de techniques de champs de potentiels). Ce controleur d'execution a ete d'abord integre au sein d'une architecture de controle assurant l'autonomie des mouvements du robot. Nous avons ensuite adapte les techniques presentees pour une application reelle d'assistance a` la conduite automobile (demonstrateur francais ProLab II, Action Pro-Art du projet Europeen Eureka PROMETHEUS). Une validation experimentale du demonstrateur a ete realisee avec succes en octobre 1994 sur une voiture Peugeot 605 (manifestation europeenne Prometheus Board Members Meeting'94).
Birefringence Characteristics of Squeezed Lattice Photonic Crystal Fibers

By using the supercell lattice method, we investigate the influence of the squeezing lattice on the birefringence characteristics of photonic crystal fibers (PCFs). We first define the concept of squeezing ratio and then present a model, with which several types of PCFs are simulated. Simulation results show that the squeezing of PCFs' lattice with the uniform air holes in the cladding can break the multifold symmetry of PCFs and make PCFs highly birefringent. Furthermore, it is reported for the first time to our knowledge that the polarity of PCFs' birefringence can change several times as the air-hole diameter changes.
Global climate change and phenotypic variation among red deer cohorts

The variability of two fitness–related phenotypic traits (body weight and a mandibular skeletal ratio) was analysed among cohorts and age–classes of red deer in Norway. Phenotypic variation among cohorts was pronounced for calves, yearlings and reproductively mature adults. Fluctuations in cohort–specific mean body weights and skeletal ratios of adults correlated with global climatic variation in winter conditions influenced by the North Atlantic Oscillation while cohorts were in utero. Red deer born following warm winters were smaller than those born after cold winters, and this inter–cohort variability persisted into adulthood. Phenotypic variation among cohorts of red deer influenced by climate change may pose consequences for fitness of cohorts since body size and condition contribute to reproductive success and survival in male and female red deer. In particular, the recent trend of increasingly warm winters in northern Europe and Scandinavia may lead to reduced body size and fecundity of red deer, and perhaps other ungulates, in those areas.