Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The human spiral ganglion.

The adult normal human spiral ganglion (SG) was analyzed with regard to ultrastructure and immunohistochemistry. The cytoskeleton of the SG cells was found to comprise F-actin, intermediate filaments (IFs) and microtubules (MTs). The IF subgroups (cytokeratins, Cks; neurofilaments, NFs, vimentin, glial fibrillary acidic proteins, GFAP; desmin) displayed characteristic staining patterns. Ck No. 8 was found in all SG cells, whereas vimentin was lacking. GFAP stained only a small subpopulation of SG cells (type 2? ). The light (68 kD) and medium-sized chains of NFs occurred in all SG cells and axons, whereas the 200-kD NF subunit was only found in the axonal hillock of (type 2? ) SG cells, but in no other part of the cytoplasm, and regionally in nerve fibres. MAP-1 and MAP-2 occurred in all SG cells but only MAP-1 was found in the nerve fibres. The calcium-binding protein synaptophysin (SY) was expressed only in SG cells, in contrast to the S-100 which occurred more generally in the labyrinth. The neuropeptides VIP and substance P were identified in all SG cells, in contrast to NPY which was expressed in a small subpopulation of SG cell (type 2? ). Staining for neuron-specific enolase (NSE) identified most (type 1? ) but not all SG cells. The cell surface glycoprotein Thy-1 was expressed in SG cells in a way similar to that described for neurons in the CNS. The SG cells express a high degree of cytoskeletal complexity, allowing one to distinguish between type 1 and type 2 cells. The cell bodies and their adjacent nerve fibres show characteristic features of calcium-binding proteins, surface membrane glycoproteins, NSE and neuropeptides but the basic pattern is still similar to neurons in the CNS.
Evolution of sociality in spiders leads to depleted genomic diversity at both population and species levels

Across several animal taxa, the evolution of sociality involves a suite of characteristics, a “social syndrome,” that includes cooperative breeding, reproductive skew, primary female‐biased sex ratio, and the transition from outcrossing to inbreeding mating system, factors that are expected to reduce effective population size (Ne). This social syndrome may be favoured by short‐term benefits but come with long‐term costs, because the reduction in Ne amplifies loss of genetic diversity by genetic drift, ultimately restricting the potential of populations to respond to environmental change. To investigate the consequences of this social life form on genetic diversity, we used a comparative RAD‐sequencing approach to estimate genomewide diversity in spider species that differ in level of sociality, reproductive skew and mating system. We analysed multiple populations of three independent sister‐species pairs of social inbreeding and subsocial outcrossing Stegodyphus spiders, and a subsocial outgroup. Heterozygosity and within‐population diversity were sixfold to 10‐fold lower in social compared to subsocial species, and demographic modelling revealed a tenfold reduction in Ne of social populations. Species‐wide genetic diversity depends on population divergence and the viability of genetic lineages. Population genomic patterns were consistent with high lineage turnover, which homogenizes the genetic structure that builds up between inbreeding populations, ultimately depleting genetic diversity at the species level. Indeed, species‐wide genetic diversity of social species was 5–8 times lower than that of subsocial species. The repeated evolution of species with this social syndrome is associated with severe loss of genomewide diversity, likely to limit their evolutionary potential.
Generation of conventional and dissipative solitons in a graphene-mode-locked fiber laser

We report on the optical saturable absorption of graphene and demonstrate its application for the generation of conventional soliton (CS) and dissipative soliton (DS) in an erbium-doped fiber laser. By precisely adjusting the polarization controller, soliton propagation exhibits two optional directions with different cavity lengths and dispersion. The fiber laser is capable of generating 800 fs CS with clear spectral sidebands and 18.2 ps DS with steep spectral edges, respectively. Our results show that the fiber laser emitting two different ultrashort pulse sources is quite attractive for potential applications requiring different pulse profiles.
Apathy in Mild Parkinson's Disease: Neuropsychological and Neuroimaging Evidence.

BACKGROUND Apathy is one of the most common neuropsychiatric symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD). Few studies have investigated the cognitive and neuroanatomical correlates of apathy in PD, and those which have done so have not controlled for the presence of other neuropsychiatric comorbidities. OBJECTIVE To explore the cognitive and neuroanatomical correlates of apathy in PD at a mild disease stage. METHODS Sixty-five PD patients and 24 healthy controls participated in this study. Patients underwent extensive neuropsychological screening, neuropsychiatric assessment using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory, structural MRI scanning, and neurological examination. Voxel-based independent t-test analyses were used to assess the differences in grey and white matter volumes between the sample groups with/without apathy/neuropsychiatric symptoms. RESULTS Patients with apathy had lower grey matter volume in several brain areas including the left insula, left inferior/middle/medial frontal gyrus, right anterior cingulate, and the left superior temporal gyrus. Significant impairments were found in tests assessing executive functions, and a trend-level significant difference was observed in long term memory tests in patients with apathy, when compared with patients without apathy. CONCLUSIONS Apathy was associated with greater levels of atrophy in the frontal and temporal cortex, and anterior cingulate, as well as overall lower level of cognitive performance, particularly in executive function and memory skills. Apathy appears to be associated with cognitive impairments in PD, therefore, treatment of this symptom might mitigate its effects on cognitive performance in this clinical population.
Post‐transplant lymphoproliferative disorder: a heterogeneous conundrum – response to Weisenburger DD & Gross TG

& J.W. Vardiman), pp. 343–349. IARC, Lyon. Trappe, R. , Oertel, S. , Leblond, V. , Mollee, P., Sender, M. , Reinke, P., Neuhaus, R. , Lehmkuhl, H. , Horst, H.A. , Salles, G. , Morschhauser, F. , Jaccard, A. , Lamy, T. , Leithauser, M. , Zimmermann, H. , Anagnostopoulos, I. , Raphael, M. , Riess, H. & Choquet, S. ; for the German PTLD Study Group & European PTLD Network. (2012) Sequential treatment with rituximab followed by CHOP chemotherapy in adult B-cell post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD): the prospective international multicentre phase 2 PTLD-1 trial. The Lancet Oncology, 13, 196–206.
A six-genotype genetic prognostic model for papillary thyroid cancer.

A unique prognostic role of the genetic duet of BRAF V600E and TERT promoter mutations in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) has been recently established, but the role of RAS mutation in this genetic interplay remains to be established. Using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data of patients with PTC from 19 medical centers, we investigated the interactions among the three mutations in clinical outcomes of PTC. We found that BRAF and RAS mutations were mutually exclusive, but both were associated with TERT promoter mutations, with the genetic duet of BRAF/RAS and TERT mutations occurring in 34/388 (8.76%) patients. BRAF/RAS or TERT mutation had no or minimal effect alone, whereas coexisting BRAF/RAS and TERT mutations had a robust synergistic effect on poor clinicopathologic outcomes of PTC, including disease recurrence and patient mortality. For example, PTC recurrence rate was 52% with coexisting BRAF V600E/RAS and TERT promoter mutations vs 6.9% with no mutation, corresponding to a HR of 8.17 (95% CI 3.09-21.58), which remained significant at 14.71 (95% CI 2.79-77.61) after adjustment for clinicopathologic factors and institution. BRAF/RAS mutation or TERT mutation alone minimally affected Kaplan-Meier patient survival curves, whereas the genetic duet was associated with a sharp curve decline. Thus, by confirming and expanding previous findings in single-institution studies, this multicenter data analysis establishes a six-genotype genetic prognostic model for poor outcomes of PTC with a risk order of genetic duet of BRAF V600E/RAS mutation and TERT mutation >>>>BRAF V600E = TERT mutation alone >RAS mutation alone = wild-type genes.
Multivoxel proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy

Introduction: Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is a hereditary disorder that causes progressive muscle wasting. This study evaluates the use of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) as a biomarker of muscle strength and function in FSHD. Methods: Thirty‐six individuals with FSHD and 15 healthy controls underwent multivoxel 1H MRS of a cross‐section of the mid‐thigh. Concentrations of creatine, intramyocellular and extramyocellular lipids, and trimethylamine (TMA)‐containing compounds in skeletal muscle were calculated. Metabolite concentrations for individuals with FSHD were compared with those of controls. The relationship between metabolite concentrations and muscle strength was also examined. Results: The TMA/creatine (Cr) ratio in individuals with FSHD was reduced compared with controls. The TMA/Cr ratio in the hamstrings also showed a moderate linear correlation with muscle strength. Discussion: 1H MRS offers a potential method of detecting early muscle pathology in FSHD prior to the development of fat infiltration. Muscle Nerve 57: 958–963, 2018
Intraperitoneal Meropenem for Polymicrobial Peritoneal Dialysis-Related Peritonitis

With the current rise in multiresistant gram-negative bacteria, carbapenems are more frequently used. Surprisingly, limited data exist on the pharmacokinetics of meropenem in peritoneal dialysis (PD)-related peritonitis. We report on the pharmacokinetics of repeated intraperitoneal (IP) meropenem during 21 days as treatment for polymicrobial multiresistent PD-related peritonitis. Our current report supports daily doses of 125 mg/L intraperitoneal meropenem in all bags as an effective and safe modality in the treatment of PD-associated peritonitis with multiresistant microorganisms. No signs of over- or underdosing were found based on serial drug concentration measurements at fixed time points up to 21 days.
Update on Health Literacy and Diabetes

Purpose Inadequate literacy is common among patients with diabetes and may lead to adverse outcomes. The authors reviewed the relationship between literacy and health outcomes in patients with diabetes and potential interventions to improve outcomes. Methods We reviewed 79 articles covering 3 key domains: (1) evaluation of screening tools to identify inadequate literacy and numeracy, (2) the relationships of a range of diabetes-related health outcomes with literacy and numeracy, and (3) interventions to reduce literacy-related differences in health outcomes. Results Several screening tools are available to assess patients’ print literacy and numeracy skills, some specifically addressing diabetes. Literacy and numeracy are consistently associated with diabetes-related knowledge. Some studies suggest literacy and numeracy are associated with intermediate outcomes, including self-efficacy, communication, and self-care (including adherence), but the relationship between literacy and glycemic control is mixed. Few studies have assessed more distal health outcomes, including diabetes-related complications, health care utilization, safety, or quality of life, but available studies suggest low literacy may be associated with increased risk of complications, including hypoglycemia. Several interventions appear to be effective in improving diabetes-related outcomes regardless of literacy status, but it is unclear if these interventions can reduce literacy-related differences in outcomes. Conclusions Low literacy is associated with less diabetes-related knowledge and may be related to other important health outcomes. Further studies are needed to better elucidate pathways by which literacy skills affect health outcomes. Promising interventions are available to improve diabetes outcomes for patients with low literacy; more research is needed to determine their effectiveness outside of research settings.
Editorial: a novel technology for the assessment of non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease

1. Laharie D, Riviere R. Editorial: weighing the global risk of cancer with thiopurines in inflammatory bowel disease. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2018;47:689-690. 2. Lu MJ, Qiu XY, Mao XQ, Li XT, Zhang HJ. Systematic review with meta-analysis: thiopurines decrease the risk of colorectal neoplasia in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2018;47:318-331. 3. Jess T, Lopez A, Andersson M, Beaugerie L, Peyrin-Biroulet L. Thiopurines and risk of colorectal neoplasia in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: a meta-analysis. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2014;12:1793-1800. e1. 4. Cheddani H, Dauchet L, Fumery M, et al. Cancer in elderly onset inflammatory bowel disease: a population-based study. Am J Gastroenterol. 2016;111:1428-1436. 5. Kotlyar DS, Lewis JD, Beaugerie L, et al. Risk of lymphoma in patients with inflammatory bowel disease treated with azathioprine and 6-mercaptopurine: a meta-analysis. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2015;13:847-858.e4; quiz e48-50. 6. Park SK, Ye BD, Lee C, et al. Risk and clinical characteristics of lymphoma in Korean patients with inflammatory bowel diseases: a multicenter study. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2015;49:e11-e16. 7. Ariyaratnam J, Subramanian V. Association between thiopurine use and nonmelanoma skin cancers in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: a meta-analysis. Am J Gastroenterol. 2014;109:163-169. 8. Allegretti JR, Barnes EL, Cameron A. Are patients with inflammatory bowel disease on chronic immunosuppressive therapy at increased risk of cervical high-grade dysplasia/cancer? A Meta-analysis Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2015;21:1089-1097. 9. Shelton E, Laharie D, Scott FI, et al. Cancer recurrence following immune-suppressive therapies in patients with immune-mediated diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Gastroenterology. 2016;151:97-109 e4. 10. Beaugerie L, Carrat F, Colombel JF, et al. Risk of new or recurrent cancer under immunosuppressive therapy in patients with IBD and previous cancer. Gut. 2014;63:1416-1423. 11. Bar F, Sina C, Fellermann K. Thiopurines in inflammatory bowel disease revisited. World J Gastroenterol. 2013;19:1699-1706. 12. Kirchgesner J, Beaugerie L, Carrat F, et al. Impact on life expectancy of withdrawing thiopurines in patients with crohn’s disease in sustained clinical remission: a lifetime risk-benefit analysis. PLoS ONE. 2016;11:11:e0157191.
Foreground detection of moving object using Gaussian mixture model

The segmentation/Detection of a moving object is one of the important step in computer vision application, such as remote sensing, medical imaging, traffic surveillance, machine/robot vision, microscopic imaging etc. In this paper “Gaussian Mixture model” for background subtraction/foreground detection has been applied which computes a foreground mask on a moving object (which is either the color video frame or series of a gray scale image). The blob analyzer has also been used to calculate statistics of identified region in a binary image. The result shows that the proposed algorithm can detect the moving object effectively while occluded by the box.
Photonic integrated circuit optical phase lock loop tuneable active filter

We report the first foundry-fabricated photonic integrated circuit (PIC) optical phase lock loop (OPLL) tuneable active optical filter for optical frequency comb line selection and amplification. The PIC containing DBR lasers and photodiodes is integrated with low frequency electronics to create an OPLL, which functions as a highly selective optical filter with sub-GHz bandwidth and 50dB out-of-band suppression. The OPLL output is a single tone coherent with the comb line, whose optical power is 6dB higher than the selected input line, and whose frequency can be offset from the input line by an agile and precisely defined frequency.
Optimal Offering of Demand Response Aggregation Company in Price-Based Energy and Reserve Market Participation

This paper investigates the combined price-based scheduling/participation of generation company (GENCO) and demand response aggregation company (DRACO) in energy and reserve markets. The temporally coupled customer behavior can be better represented using the load profile attributes, when compared to the traditional approach with random willingness assignment. The proposed cost models for energy and reserve offerings consider the effect of load type, load pattern consumption, and availability/flexibility patterns of each type of load with time of use constraints. The load curtailment (LC) cost model accounts for criticality and willingness of the responsive loads via utilization factor and availability factors, respectively. The proposed cost models present a realistic picture of LC cost by eliminating the random willingness factor of the existing LC cost models. Thereafter, various cases of market participation with different reserve payment policies are formulated for combined participation of GENCO and DRACO. In addition, the sensitivity of participation decision of various entities to the seasonal load variation is examined for summer and winter loading profiles. The proposed cost models and scheduling framework is simulated using GENCO with ten thermal units and DRACO with various load types, profiles distributed across different load sectors comprising of commercial, residential, industrial, municipal, and agricultural loads. The combined participation resulted in improved market surplus with reduced GENCO surplus. Also, the energy and reserve market surplus dependence on seasonal load patterns is observed across different test cases and payment policies.
Clinical characteristics of the first cases of invasive candidiasis in China due to pan-echinocandin-resistant Candida tropicalis and Candida glabrata isolates with delineation of their resistance mechanisms

Echinocandin antifungal agents have become the first-line therapy for invasive candidiasis (IC) in many countries. Despite their increasing use, resistance to this class of drug is, overall, still uncommon. Here, we report two patients from the People’s Republic of China with IC, one with infection caused by pan-echinocandin-resistant Candida tropicalis and the other by pan-echinocandin-resistant Candida glabrata. We also describe the mechanisms of drug resistance of these isolates. The echinocandin-resistant C. glabrata isolate was cultured from ascitic fluid of a 46-year-old male patient with intra-abdominal IC developing after surgery in 2012. This patient had had no prior antifungal exposure. The echinocandin-resistant C. tropicalis isolate was cultured from chest drainage fluid of a 60-year-old female patient with severe coronary disease and lung infection. Prior to culture and identification of the isolate, the patient had received micafungin treatment for 19 days. Both isolates were cross-resistant to micafungin, anidulafungin, and caspofungin, with minimum inhibitory concentration values of ≥2 µg/mL. The amino acid substitution E655K was found adjacent to the FKS2 HS1 region of the C. glabrata isolate, while the substitution S80P were found in the FKS1 HS1 region of the C. tropicalis isolate. This report highlights the emergence of echinocandin resistance in two important non-albicans Candida species. Although the overall prevalence of echinocandin resistance is low in the People’s Republic of China, monitoring of antifungal susceptibility trends in all Candida species is warranted.
Vitamin D modulation of innate immune responses to respiratory viral infections

Vitamin D, in addition to its classical functions in bone homeostasis, has a modulatory and regulatory role in multiple processes, including host defense, inflammation, immunity, and epithelial repair. Patients with respiratory disease are frequently deficient in vitamin D, implying that supplementation might provide significant benefit to these patients. Respiratory viral infections are common and are the main trigger of acute exacerbations and hospitalization in children and adults with asthma and other airways diseases. Respiratory monocytes/macrophages and epithelial cells constitutively express the vitamin D receptor. Vitamin D, acting through this receptor, may be important in protection against respiratory infections. Whether the in vitro findings can be translated into a substantial in vivo benefit still remains uncertain. Here we review the in vitro data on the role of vitamin D in antiviral innate immunity, the data concerning the deficient levels of vitamin D in lung diseases, and the in vivo role of supplementation as protection against respiratory viral infections in healthy individuals and in patients with chronic respiratory diseases. Finally, we suggest ways of improving the effectiveness of vitamin D as an adjuvant in the prevention and treatment of acute respiratory infections.
Beta thalassaemia intermedia due to co‐inheritance of three unique alpha globin cluster duplications characterised by next generation sequencing analysis

Co-inheritance of a thalassaemia reduces chain imbalance and disease severity in b thalassaemia homozygotes, while increasing a globin output in heterozygotes increases chain imbalance, converting a typically asymptomatic carrier state to that of thalassaemia intermedia. The outcome depends on the number of a globin genes inherited as one or two copies of triplicated (/aaa), or quadruplicated (/aaaa) a globin complexes, and the type of b thalassaemia mutation (b or b) (Thein, 2008). Another mechanism of increasing a globin output is through segmental duplication of the whole a globin complex (Harteveld et al, 2008) but breakpoints of the reported duplications have not been fully characterised due to technological limitations. Here, we applied a previously described next generation sequencing (NGS) methodology (Shooter et al, 2015a,b) to characterise three a globin cluster duplications, permitting to-the-base resolution in two of the three cases. Patient samples were referred for work-up of unusually severe phenotype in b thalassaemia carriers. In Family 1 (Fig 1A), the proband was a 54-year-old Chinese male with hypochromic microcytic anaemia since infancy. His partner (Anglo-Saxon English) and two older sons had normal haematological profiles; the youngest son (aged 14 years) had a haematological profile similar to that of the father. Both father and son had
Performance enhancement of duplex antenna for wireless communication

A compact and integrated duplex antenna has been designed. The duplex action is made possible by integrating the duplexer and a rectangular dual band patch antenna. A couple of sets of split ring resonators are used for filtering while a stub loaded resonator serve as the junction resonator. A slot in the ground is provided to achieve coupling between the rectangular patch antenna and the hairpin resonator. Further, to make this design compact, the 50 ohms interface and the matching networks between them are eliminated. This proposed duplex antenna provides two frequency channels of 2.41–2.47 GHz for transmitting and 2.71–2.78 GHz for receiving. It provides better isolation and is compact as compared to other designs in the literature. The simulated results indicate that the isolation for both transmitting and receiving bands is 52.5 dB.