Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Contact Lens-Based Technique for Expansion and Transplantation of Autologous Epithelial Progenitors for Ocular Surface Reconstruction

Background. A healthy cornea is reliant on a distinct population of stem cells (SC) that replace damaged or aging epithelium throughout life. Depletion of the SC pool or damage to the niche can result in a blinding and painful condition known as limbal-SC deficiency (LSCD). Although current treatment strategies for reconstituting the ocular surface for patients suffering LSCD are promising, they are complicated by transferring autologous or allogeneic progenitors in the presence of animal, human, and synthetic products. We report on the safe and efficacy of a unique autologous SC transfer technique that utilizes an Food and Drug Administration-approved contact lens (CL) as the SC substrate and carrier for patients with LSCD. Methods. Three patients with LSCD due to aniridia (n=1) and posttreatment for recurrent ocular surface melanoma (n=2) were included. Limbal (n=2) or conjunctival biopsies (n=1) were harvested and progenitors expanded ex vivo on therapeutic CLs in the presence of autologous serum. Cell-laden CLs were transferred to the patient's corneal surface and clinical outcome measures were recorded (follow-up range, 8–13 months). Results. A stable transparent corneal epithelium was restored in each patient. There was no recurrence of conjunctivalization or corneal vascularization, and a significant improvement in symptom score occurred in all patients. Best-corrected visual acuity was increased in all eyes after the procedure. Conclusion. Ex vivo expansion of ocular surface epithelium in the presence of autologous serum and transplantation with the aid of a soft CLs is a promising new technique capable of achieving ocular surface rehabilitation.
No . 2 , 2010 Assessment of the impact of orthotic gait training on balance in children with cerebral palsy

The cerebral palsy symptoms are, among others, balance and gait disorders. The goal of this study was to assess balance capabilities in children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy rehabilitated using Lokomat active orthosis. The experimental group included children with cerebral palsy, aged 6–14 years, independent standing, level II-III according to GMFCS classification. The cohort was randomly divided into two groups. The balance was assessed on a stabilometric platform. The experimental group was administered a rehabilitation program with the use of Lokomat active orthosis. Statistically significant improvement of balance was found in the experimental group; however, in the control group the improvement was also visible, but not on the statistically significant level. While comparing the results of both groups, significantly bigger improvement was achieved by the children from the experimental group. Lokomat active orthosis is one of the newest devices applied in the rehabilitation. The study shows that training with active orthosis can have positive influence on the balance improvement in children with CP and that further analysis of the impact of such training on locomotive functions is needed.
Granulopoiesis-stimulating factors in the prevention for adverse effects in the therapeutic treatment of malignant lymphoma.

BACKGROUND Granulopoiesis-stimulating factors (G-CSF and GM-CSF) are being used to prevent febrile neutropenia and infections in the treatment of patients with malignant lymphoma. The question whether G-CSF and GM-CSF improve dose-intensity, tumour response and overall survival in this patient population has not been answered yet. Since the results from single studies are inconclusive a systematic review was required. OBJECTIVES To undertake a systematic review in patients with malignant lymphoma to determine the effectiveness of G-CSF and GM-CSF to prevent neutropenia, febrile neutropenia, infection, improve quality of life, adherence to the treatment protocol, tumour response, freedom from treatment failure (FFTF), overall survival (OS) and to assess adverse events of G-CSF and GM-CSF. SEARCH STRATEGY Medline, Embase, CancerLit, the Cochrane Library and smaller databases, Internet-databases of ongoing trials, conference proceedings of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Society of Hematology were searched. We included full-text and abstract publications as well as unpublished data. SELECTION CRITERIA Randomised controlled trials comparing prophylaxis with G-CSF or GM-CSF versus placebo/no prophylaxis in adult patients with malignant lymphoma undergoing chemotherapy were included in this review. Both study arms had to receive identical chemotherapy and supportive care. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Eligibility and quality assessment, data extraction and analysis were done in duplicate. All authors were contacted to obtain missing data. MAIN RESULTS We included 11 eligible studies with 1434 randomised patients. Compared with no prophylaxis, G-/GM-CSF significantly reduced the relative risk for severe neutropenia (RR 0.64 [95% CI 0.55-0.75]), febrile neutropenia (RR 0.74 [95% CI 0.62-0.89]) and infection (RR 0.74 [95% CI 0.64-0.85]). There was no evidence for G-/GM-CSF to decrease the number of patients who required iv antibiotics (RR 0.82 [95%CI 0.57-1.18]), to reduce infection related mortality (RR 2.07 [95% CI 0.81-5.34]), or to improve complete tumour response (RR 1.06 [95% CI 0.96-1.16]), FFTF (HR 1.22 [95% CI 0.83-1.80]) and OS (HR 0.98 [95% CI 0.81-1.18]). None of the studies evaluated quality of life parameters. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS G-CSF and GM-CSF, when given prophylactically in patients with malignant lymphoma undergoing conventional chemotherapy, reduce the risk of neutropenia, febrile neutropenia and infection. However, based on the currently available randomised trials in this clinical setting, there is no evidence for G-/GM-CSF to provide a significant advantage in terms of complete tumour response, FFTF and OS.
Loss of cortical and thalamic neuronal tenascin‐C expression in a transgenic mouse expressing exon 1 of the human Huntington disease gene

A transgenic mouse containing the first exon of the human Huntington's disease (HD) gene has revealed a variety of behavioral and pathophysiological anomalies reminiscent of certain aspects of human Huntington's disease (HD). The present study has found that expression of the extracellular matrix glycoprotein tenascin‐C appears to be unaffected in astroglial cells in wild‐type and R6/2 transgenic mice that express the mutant huntingtin protein but that it is conspicuously absent in two neuronal populations within the cerebral cortex and thalamus of the R6/2 mice. Loss of tenascin‐C expression begins between the fourth and eighth postnatal weeks, coincidental with the onset of abnormal behavioral phenotype and the appearance of intranuclear inclusion bodies and neuropil aggregates. By 12 weeks, R6/2 mice exhibit a complete absence of tenascin‐C neuronal immunolabeling, a disappearance of cRNA probe‐positive neurons across discrete cytoarchitectonic regions of the dorsal thalamus (e.g., the ventromedial, parafascicular, lateral posterior, and posterior thalamic groups) and frontal cortex, and an accompanying thalamic astrogliosis. The loss of neuronal tenascin‐C expression includes structures that are known to send converging excitatory axonal projections to the caudate‐putamen, the structure that is most at risk for neurodegeneration in HD. Altered neuronal expression of tenascin‐C in R6/2 mice implicates altered transcriptional activities of the mutant huntingtin protein. The abnormal biochemistry and possibly abnormal activity of thalamostriate and corticostriate projection neurons may also affect abnormal neuronal activities in their primary connectional target, the neostriatum, which is severely compromised in HD. J. Comp. Neurol. 430:485–500, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
SEOF: an adaptable object prefetch policy for object-oriented database systems

The performance of object access can be drastically improved by an efficient object prefetch policy. In this paper, we present a new prefetch policy, called Selective Eager Object Fetch (SEOF), which prefetches objects only from selected candidate pages without using any high-level object semantics. Our policy considers both the correlations and the frequencies of fetching objects. Unlike existing prefetch policies, this policy utilizes the memory and the swap space of clients efficiently without resource exhaustion. Furthermore, the proposed policy has good adaptability to both the effectiveness of clustering and the database size. We show the performance of the proposed policy through experiments over various multi-client system configurations.
Tumor necrosis factor receptor 1-mediated signaling is required for skin cancer development induced by NF-κB inhibition

NF-κB signaling plays an important role in skin development and epidermal growth control. Moreover, inhibition of NF-κB signaling in murine epidermal keratinocytes in vivo, by expression of a keratin 5 (K5)-directed superrepressor form of inhibitor of NF-κB (IκBα), results in an inflammatory response characterized by a massive dermal infiltration of neutrophils, epidermal hyperplasia, and a rapid development of aneuploid squamous cell carcinomas (SCC). We now show that by crossing K5-IκBα mice onto a tumor necrosis factor receptor 1(Tnfr1)-null background, both the inflammatory and the tumorigenic responses are blocked. The specificity of the block is illustrated by the fact that K5-IκBα mice lacking the IL-1 receptor type 1 (Il1r1) develop inflammation and squamous cell carcinomas. Reconstitution of lethally irradiated K5-IκBα/Tnfr1-/- mice with Tnfr1+/- bone-marrow does not induce the inflammatory or the tumorigenic phenotype, indicating a critical dependence on Tnfr1-mediated signaling in skin cells or nonimmune cells. Our results suggest a critical role of local Tnfr1-mediated signaling and associated inflammatory response cooperating with repressed keratinocyte NF-κB signaling in driving skin cancer development.
Is Helicobacter pylori infection a risk factor for idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura in children?

BACKGROUND Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is an autoimmune bleeding disorder, which occurs as a result of autoantibodies attachment to the platelets surface and subsequent destruction. Several organisms can mimic features of human antigens (Ags) and induce autoantibody production. One of these organisms is Helicobacter pylori (HP). We assessed the prevalence and relationship of HP infection with ITP in a population of children. MATERIALS AND METHODS One hundred and six children younger than 18 years old were enrolled in this case-control study in which 42 children with ITP were in the case group and 64 healthy children were in the control group. Stool exam for detection of HP-Ag were performed and the variables were compared between the two groups. RESULTS Mean ± standard deviation age of case and control group was 6.4 ± 3.4 and 8.6 ± 4.4 years old, respectively. HP stool Ag differ significantly between the case and the control groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Our results support the role of HP in ITP of children, and urea breath test or Ag detection of HP in stool of these patients is recommended.
Cost simulation and optimization of fresh cold chain logistics enterprises based on SD

In this paper, the system dynamics method is used to construct the structural model of the operating cost of fresh cold chain logistics enterprises considering the carbon emissions, and the simulation experiments are carried out by using Vensim software. The results show that the application of system dynamics in fresh cold chain logistics enterprises cost control can reflect the complex relationship between the various factors within the system better, and obtain the back relationship between carbon emissions and the total cost, the method can provide guidance and reference for cost control of the fresh cold chain logistics enterprises.
Blocage et écoulement d'un milieu granulaire dense et désordonné autour d'un obstacle rigide

Ce travail experimental porte sur les mecanismes de penetration d'un objet rigide (intrus) au sein d'un milieu granulaire modele, dense et desordonne dans une configuration a deux dimensions. Nous mesurons simultan'ement la force de trainee et le mouvement des grains autour de l'intrus fixe dans le referentiel du laboratoire. Le milieu granulaire confine dans une cellule horizontale rectangulaire est entraine a vitesse constante. Nous avons teste l'influence de differents parametres de controle comme la fraction surfacique de grains (compacite du milieu granulaire), les rapports d'aspect de la cellule et les diametres des obstacles cylindriques, ainsi que la vitesse de translation. Nous avons mis en evidence le role preponderant de la compacite du milieu granulaire sur les niveaux de force observes et sur l'apparition d'une cavite dans le sillage de l'intrus. Nous avons attribue les fluctuations des niveaux de force observes a des mecanismes de blocage/deblocage visibles sur les champs de deplacements des grains et relies a la compressibilite finie du milieu granulaire confine.
Entropy-based divergent and convergent modular pattern reveals additive and synergistic anticerebral ischemia mechanisms

Module-based network analysis of diverse pharmacological mechanisms is critical to systematically understand combination therapies and disease outcomes. We first constructed drug-target ischemic networks in baicalin, jasminoidin, ursodeoxycholic acid, and their combinations baicalin and jasminoidin as well as jasminoidin and ursodeoxycholic acid groups and identified modules using the entropy-based clustering algorithm. The modules 11, 7, 4, 8 and 3 were identified as baicalin, jasminoidin, ursodeoxycholic acid, baicalin and jasminoidin and jasminoidin and ursodeoxycholic acid-emerged responsive modules, while 12, 8, 15, 17 and 9 were identified as disappeared responsive modules based on variation of topological similarity, respectively. No overlapping differential biological processes were enriched between baicalin and jasminoidin and jasminoidin and ursodeoxycholic acid pure emerged responsive modules, but two were enriched by their co-disappeared responsive modules including nucleotide-excision repair and epithelial structure maintenance. We found an additive effect of baicalin and jasminoidin in a divergent pattern and a synergistic effect of jasminoidin and ursodeoxycholic acid in a convergent pattern on “central hit strategy” of regulating inflammation against cerebral ischemia. The proposed module-based approach may provide us a holistic view to understand multiple pharmacological mechanisms associated with differential phenotypes from the standpoint of modular pharmacology.
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services Experience Design Board: A tool for visualizing and designing experience-centric service delivery processes

Experience-centric service (ExS) is a type of service through which customers experience emotionally appealing events and activities that result in distinctive memory. The literature argues that ExS design should be a research priority in this experience economy, yet little is known on how to articulate ExSs in their design. This paper proposes a tool called Experience Design Board for visualizing an ExS delivery process as a basis for its analysis and design. The tool is a matrix-shaped board where the key factors of experience creation in ExS (namely, servicescape, frontstage employees, other customers, backstage employees, and technology support systems) are represented in rows, and the customer experience phases are placed in columns. The tool is useful in analyzing and designing how the key factors of ExS create customer experience. The tool integrates several work streams within the evolving ExS literature into its structure and is generic enough to accommodate various ExSs in physical and digital experience contexts. By visualizing an ExS delivery process from beginning to end, the designer can obtain a systematic understanding of the essential attributes of ExS and can use it for an e ﬀ ective design. This tool would serve as a basis for service design in this experience economy.
The impact of digitalization on intellectual property strategy An exploratory study of Nordic engineering firms

An increasingly large share of firms in various industries have in the recent decade embedded digital technology in their products, processes and business models. Firms have therefore broadened their technology bases. As firms in different industries are moving into the same technology area, new issues of how intellectual property (IP) should be managed arise. Previous research has not aligned the areas of digitalization, technology strategy, and IP management. This study therefore attempts to clarify how digitalization affects firms’ technology strategies and in turn firms’ IP strategies. To investigate how firms work with these issues, interviews were conducted with 23 IP managers in 18 large technology-intensive Nordic firms. The empirical findings from these interviews reveal that as firms add digital technology with multiple external approaches for technology acquisition, they move into complex innovation ecosystems with multiple new types of actors. Furthermore, appropriability regimes for digital technology generally require multiple forms of protection, e.g. protection of an invention with both copyright, secrecy, and patent protection of complementary technologies. Additionally, embedding digital technology in products makes freedom to operate more difficult to achieve due to increased complexity in the surrounding patent landscapes. The empirical findings also reveal that data is to be considered an important, valuable asset. These findings suggest that appropriability needs to be expanded from a single-firm perspective to an innovation ecosystem perspective, and that multiple complementary assets and protective forms need to be managed in a strategic and holistic way.
Integrated Surveillance System for National Security-A Review

In this paper, we survey the state-of-the-art in the development of automated visual surveillance systems and discuss on how this can be applied for the national security. Video surveillance system is the very complex task that needs to combine multiple technologies together. We summarize the progress of this technology in term of sensor and devices, infrastructure, and intelligent technologies. The intelligent technology for video analysis is emphasized more deeply on the ability of object and human recognition techniques, to understand their actions and interactions. The increasing need for intelligent surveillance in the national security, especially in the south of Thailand, for law enforcement and military applications makes automated video surveillance systems become very important. We discuss on why the CCTV based system installed in the area is only a basic necessary step for the better system with more powerful features needed for nation security protection. Keywords— CCTV, surveillance system, video analysis
Candidacidal activity of macrophages from immunocompetent and congenitally immunodeficient mice.

The chemotactic, phagocytic, and candidacidal activities of peritoneal exudate macrophages from immunocompetent heterozygous (bg/+) and immunodeficient homozygous (bg/bg, bg/bg-nu/+, and bg/bg-nu/nu) beige mice were assessed. Overall, macrophages from all strains of mice tested not only were able to migrate into the peritoneal cavity in response to several eliciting agents but showed a comparable capacity to phagocytize fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled, heat-killed Candida albicans. However, some populations of peritoneal exudate macrophages from homozygous beige mice (e.g., thioglycollate-elicited) and resident peritoneal macrophages from bg/bg mice incubated in vitro with supernatants from concanavalin A-stimulated splenocytes had poorer candidacidal activity than did control macrophages from bg/+mice. Interferon-gamma enhanced the in vitro candidacidal activity of macrophages from homozygous and heterozygous beige mice. As indicated by inhibitors, poor macrophage candidacidal activity seemed to correlate better with deficient nitric oxide--than with superoxide anion-mediated killing. These data suggest that impaired candidacidal activity of macrophages from homozygous beige mice may explain their enhanced susceptibility to candidiasis.
Dark Fermentative Bio-hydrogen Production from sugarbeet processing wastes

The bio-hydrogen generation potential of sugar-beet processing wastes (sugar-beet processing wastewater and beet-pulp) through dark fermentation was investigated in this study. To this purpose, the bio-hydrogen production from only beet-pulp and co-digestion of beet-pulp and sugar-beet processing wastewater at high COD values were tested. The results of this study revealed that the reactor fed by 20 g/L COD beet-pulp provided the highest bio-hydrogen production yield (95.6 mL H2 /g COD) and bio-hydrogen production efficiency of beet-pulp is higher than co-digestion of beet-pulp and sugar-beet processing wastewater.
MEASUREMENT oF MoToR NERVE coNDUcTIoN VELocITY IN THREE DIFFERENT SPoRTS

Mailing address: rua Agamenon Magalhães, 550, Centro. 55930-000 Camutanga, PE, Brasil. paulo_ncb@hotmail.com ABSTRAcT Introduction: Electrodiagnostic tests such as nervous conduction studies are mainly aimed at the general public, not at athletes. Therefore, information about motor nervous conduction velocity (MNCV) is scarce for trained subjects, especially when comparing different sports. Objective: Was to measure MNCV of the median and common fibular nerves in three groups of sport modalities. Methods: A group of middle distance runners (MrG, n=6), a group of sprint runners (SrG, n=4) and a group of handball players (HG, n=5) were analyzed and compared to a control group (CG, n=9). Each volunteer was submitted to a single examination where data necessary to measure MNCV from the lower limbs of MrG and of SrG; upper limbs of HG and both upper and lower limbs of CG were collected. Data analysis presented normal distribution and homogeneous variances in all cases; therefore, a Student’s t test for independent samples ws used to compare means of MNCV of the athlete groups and the CG, as well as in the mean comparison of SrG and MrG (intergroup comparison). The paired Student’s t test was used to compare MNCV means of the dominant limb (Dl) and non-dominant limb (NDl) (intragroup comparison). results: Significant difference was found in the comparison between SrG and CG and between MrG and CG, but only in the Dl comparison in the last case. On the other hand, in the intragroup comparison, there was significant difference only in the comparison between Dl and NDl of the HG. Conclusion: This study suggests that MNCV benefits from physical exercise, especially in those sports where lower limbs are predominantly used. It also suggests that greater use of one upper limb over the other could lead to significant differences in MNCV values of Dl and NDl.
Object tracking based on harmony search: comparative study

Abstract. Visual tracking can be treated as an optimization problem. A new meta-heuristic optimal algorithm, Harmony Search (HS), was first applied to perform visual tracking by Fourie et al. As the authors point out, many subjects are still required in ongoing research. Our work is a continuation of Fourie’s study, with four prominent improved variations of HS, namely Improved Harmony Search (IHS), Global-best Harmony Search (GHS), Self-adaptive Harmony Search (SHS) and Differential Harmony Search (DHS) adopted into the tracking system. Their performances are tested and analyzed on multiple challenging video sequences. Experimental results show that IHS is best, with DHS ranking second among the four improved trackers when the iteration number is small. However, the differences between all four reduced gradually, along with the increasing number of iterations.