Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Detection of Progressive Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness Loss With Optical Coherence Tomography Using 4 Criteria for Functional Progression

PurposeTo compare the rates of retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness loss using optical coherence tomography (OCT) in progressing versus nonprogressing eyes using 4 methods to define functional progression. MethodsNormal and glaucomatous eyes with ≥3 years of follow up were prospectively enrolled. Standard automated perimetry (Swedish Interactive Threshold Algorithm Standard 24-2) and OCT (Stratus OCT, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA) imaging were performed every 6 months in glaucomatous eyes. OCT imaging was performed annually in normal eyes. Functional progression was determined using early manifest glaucoma trial criterion, visual field index (VFI), Progressor software, and the 3-omitting method. ResultsSeventy-six eyes (46 glaucoma and 30 normal) of 38 patients were enrolled with a mean follow-up of 43.9±5.02 months (range: 36 to 48 mo). Eleven eyes progressed using Progressor criterion, 5 eyes using VFI, 2 eyes using the 3-omitting method, and 2 eyes using Early Manifest Glaucoma Trial criterion. The annual rate of average RNFL loss (&mgr;m/y) was significantly greater (P<0.05) in progressing versus nonprogressing eyes using Progressor (−1.0±1.3 vs. 0.02±1.6), VFI (−2.1±1.1 vs. −0.002±1.4), and the 3-omitting method (−2.2±0.2 vs. −0.1±1.5). Mean rate (&mgr;m/y) of average and superior RNFL thickness change was similar (P>0.05) in nonprogressing glaucomatous eyes compared with normal eyes. Using linear mixed-effect models, mean (P<0.001) and peak (P=0.01) intraocular pressure were significantly associated with rate of average RNFL atrophy in glaucomatous eyes. ConclusionsDespite differences in criteria used to judge functional progression, eyes with standard automated perimetry progression have significantly greater rates of RNFL loss measured using OCT compared with nonprogressing eyes.
Use of Modern Family Planning Methods among Women of South-Western Nigeria: A Snapshot

Introduction: The use of modern family planning methods equips couple and single women of reproductive age with the tool to decide when they want to get pregnant, to decide the number of children want to have and the spacing in between childbirths. This has enormous benefits for the women, families and the society at large. Methods: This study was a secondary analysis of the 2013 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). Only the women of reproductive age (15 to 49 years) who reside in the South-Western geo-political zone of Nigeria were included in the study. Data was analysed using Stata 12.1 software and summarized using proportions. Logistic regression was used to determine the factors that affect the use of modern family planning methods. Results were presented as tables. Results: A total of 3,882 women participated in the study. The most common age group was the 25 to 29 years age group (28.77%). The mean age was 30.7±6.2 years. Modern family planning methods was being used by 23.47% of the respondents. Majority (91.32%) of the respondents were married. Lagos state had the highest proportion of women using modern methods (28.98%). Women who had a minimum of secondary education were 1.2 times more likely than those with only primary education to use modern family planning methods (CI=1.035983-1.454942, p = Research Article
A current-mode buck converter with bandwidth reconfigurable for enhanced efficiency and improved load transient response

Current-mode control is commonly used in buck converters. Many current-mode buck converters with variable-frequency controllers have been published for smaller inductance and maintaining efficiency via fast and slow frequency, respectively. However, bandwidth of the current-mode buck converter with fixed compensation coefficients is limited by the lowest switching frequency, thus decreases transient speed. This paper proposes a current-mode buck converter with reconfigurable compensation coefficients controlled by a switched-capacitor compensator and activated by a transient detector. Fabricated in 0. 35μm CMOS process, this chip occupying 0.91mm2 achieves 96.3% peak efficiency. A 5μs settling time is measured with 75mV undershoot for 700mA load transition.
Pivoting strategy for fast LU decomposition of sparse block matrices

Solving large linear systems is a fundamental task in many interesting problems, including finite element methods (FEM) or (non-)linear least squares (NLS) for inference in graphical models such as simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) in robotics or bundle adjustment (BA) in computer vision. Furthermore, the problems of interest here are sparse. The most time-consuming parts are sparse matrix assembly and linear solving. An interesting property of these problems is their block structure. The variables exist in multi-dimensional space such as 2D, 3D or se(3) and hence their respective derivatives are dense blocks. In our previous work (Polok et al. 2013), we demonstrated the benefits of explicitly representing blocks in sparse matrices, namely faster matrix assembly and arithmetic operations. Here, we propose and evaluate a novel sparse block LU decomposition. Our algorithm is on average 3× faster (best case 50×), causes less fill-in and has comparable or often better precision than the conventional methods.
Code-Based Cryptosystems Evolution

This paper describes the original linear code-based cryptosystem and shows how it evolves after successful structural-based attacks have been discovered. All existing modifications of the original Niederreiter public-key algorithm have been classified based on improvements and classified accordingly common characteristics and variety of parameters. Based on the analysis authors approximates further code-based systems movement towards the development of real-life implementations and possible standarts.
How Character Limits Affect the Style and Success of Microposts: The Case of Twitter's Switch from 140 to 280

It is often thought that constraints affect creative production, both in terms of form and quality. Online social media platforms frequently impose constraints on the content that users can produce, limiting the range of possible contributions. Do these restrictions tend to push creators towards producing more or less successful content? How do creators adapt their contributions to fit the limits imposed by social media platforms? In this work, we conduct a matched observational study to answer these questions. On November 7, 2017, Twitter changed the maximum allowable length of a tweet from 140 to 280 characters, significantly altering its signature constraint. In our studies we compare tweets with nearly or exactly 140 characters before the change to tweets of the same length posted after the change. This setup enables us to characterize how users alter their tweets to fit the constraint and how this affects their tweets' success. We find that in response to a length constraint, users write more tersely, use more abbreviations and contracted forms, and use fewer definite articles. Also, although in general tweet success increases with length, we find initial evidence that tweets made to fit the 140 character constraint tend to be more successful than similar length tweets written when the constraint was removed, suggesting that the length constraint improved tweet quality.
A role for C‐C chemokines in fibrotic lung disease

Pulmonary fibrosis is the end point of a chronic inflammatory process characterized by leukocyte recruitment and activation, fibroblast proliferation, and increased extracellular matrix production. Previous studies of models of pulmonary fibrosis have investigated the role of cytokines in the evolution of the fibrotic response. The involvement of tumor necrosis factor and interleukin‐1 in bleomycin‐induced lung injury, a model of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, has been well established, suggesting that cytokines mediate the initiation and maintenance of chronic inflammatory lesions. However, the aforementioned cytokines alone cannot account for the recruitment and activation of specific leukocyte populations found in the bleomycin model. Recently, a family of novel proinflammatory cytokines (chemokines) was cloned and characterized, yielding many putative mediators of leukocyte functions. Macrophage inflammatory protein‐1α (MIP‐1α) and monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1 (MCP‐1) belong to the C‐C chemotactic cytokine family, a group of low‐molecular‐weight peptides. These molecules modulate chemotaxis, proliferation, and cytokine expression in leukocyte subsets. Our group has investigated the roles of MCP‐1 and MIP‐1α in the bleomycin model. Both MCP‐1 and MIP‐1α are expressed in a time‐dependent manner after bleomycin challenge, and passive immunization of these animals with either anti‐MIP‐1α or anti‐MCP‐1 antibodies attenuated leukocyte accumulation. In addition, we have identified specific cell types expressing MCP‐1 or MIP‐1α by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical localization, respectively. Furthermore, our results indicate that MIP‐1α expression is mediated by alveolar macrophage‐derived tumor necrosis factor, identifying an important cytokine pathway in the initiation of pulmonary fibrosis. Finally, anti‐MIP‐1α therapy attenuated fibrosis, providing direct evidence for its involvement in fibrotic pathology. Our work has clearly established that the C‐C chemokines MCP‐1 and MIP‐1α are expressed and contribute to the initiation and maintenance of the bleomycin‐induced pulmonary lesion. J. Leukoc. Biol. 57: 782–787; 1995.
Is there a common resilience mechanism underlying antidepressant drug response? Evidence from 2848 patients.

OBJECTIVES Timing issues of antidepressant drug response are of major clinical relevance, given our current inability to predict when a particular patient will respond to a particular treatment. METHOD We detailed the time characteristics of recovery in a study of 2848 patients (diagnosed according to DSM-III-R/DSM-IV criteria as having major depressive disorder or major depressive episode) who were treated with 7 different anti-depressants and placebo. A 2-dimensional cure model was used to disentangle the 2 central aspects of psychotropic drug response: the proportion of patients in whom a therapeutic response is induced ( incidence) and the time to onset of improvement ( latency). Random-effects models were applied to quantify unexplained heterogeneity. Patients were recruited between June 1982 and May 1998. RESULTS Our analyses yielded no indication for a delayed onset of antidepressant drug response. Rather, we found highly individual time characteristics of recovery along with a continuous distribution of the time spans to onset of improvement under treatment with all active compounds and placebo. The mean +/- SD time to onset of improvement was 13 +/- 1 days and to response was 19 +/- 1 days. Effective antidepressants appeared to trigger and maintain conditions necessary for recovery from the disorder. Odds-ratio analysis based on a random-effects model revealed that early improvers were at least 3 times more likely to become sustained responders with a pooled OR of 9.25, 95% CI = 7.79 to 10.98. CONCLUSIONS Affectively ill patients are likely to possess a common, biological, "resilience"-like component that largely controls recovery from depression. Once triggered, recovery appears to follow a pattern similar to the course observed with placebo, despite marked pharmacologic differences of the triggers. These findings may pave the way for new classes of psychotropic drugs specifically designed to support health-oriented processes underlying the natural resilience of patients.
Intrachannel Nonlinearity Compensation by Inverse Volterra Series Transfer Function

The Volterra series transfer function (VSTF), in which the input-output relationship of a nonlinear system is represented by a series of nonlinear kernel functions, is an elegant tool to model nonlinear systems. The inverse of a nonlinear system can be constructed by analyzing VSTF. We propose a new electronic nonlinearity compensation scheme based on inverse VSTF. We show 1 dB improvement in Q-factor with a 256 Gb/s polarization-division-multiplexed 16-level quadratic amplitude modulation format, and 50% reduction in complexity by lowering the processing rate.
AN INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT TRANSPORT AND LAIRAGE OF FEEDLOT CATTLE ON THE CAMPYLOBACTER PREVALENCE IN FAECES AND ON DRESSED CARCASSES

Donal Minihan1, Micheál O'Mahony2, Paul Whyte2, Seámus Fanning3, Mairead Doyle2 and John D. Collins2 Central Veterinary Research Laboratory, Department of Agriculture and Food, Abbotstown, Castleknock, Dublin 15, Ireland. Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety Laboratory, Department of Large Animal Clinical Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield Dublin 4, Ireland. 3 Centre for Food Safety, University College Dublin, Belfield Dublin 4, Ireland.
Bad News, Technical Development and Cryptocurrencies Stability

Cryptocurrencies are recent, yet they attract great interest and investments. The current level of market efficiency of these assets, nevertheless, is a subject that must be studied. If the asset is dependent on technology, critical failures of the technical structure must lead to negative returns. In such case, bad news about technology -- the so called Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) periods -- are believed to play an important role in price fluctuations. In this paper, we argue FUDs indeed represent an important source of market uncertainty and affect negatively cryptocurrencies prices. Five negative technological reviews of alternative cryptocurrencies are the object of event studies. These cases reveal alternative cryptocurrencies possibly have semi-strong of Market Efficiency as prices quickly adjust to new public analyses of technology.
Effect of human cancerous serum on the chick embryo.

Human cancerous serum was injected i.v. into 10-day-old chick embryos. This caused a high proportion of dead, due to the toxic effect of serum. Among the surviving embryos 25% presented alterations of the connective tissue. The observed malformations, fundamentally different from the spontaneous ones, were mainly edema, evisceration, fragility of the articulations, and abnormalities of the legs. A possible relationship between these malformations and ascorbic acid metabolism is discussed.
TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS IN INDONESIAN FISHERY PROCESSING INDUSTRY: A CASE OF FISHERY CANNED PRODUCT FIRMS

This study aims to analyze technical efficiency and evaluate the effect of some sources of inefficiency in the Indonesian fishery canned firms during the period of 1990-2015. We calculate technical efficiency using the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) method with Time Varying Decay. The average of technical efficiency in this industry during the period of 1990-2015 was only 57%. It indicates that firms in this industry still encounter a problem in allocating the resources in efficient manner. However, during the period of 1994-2015, the efficiency in the Indonesian fishery canned industry has declined. We also employed the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method to evaluate the sources of inefficiency. The results showed that eight variables affected to the efficiency in this industry, thereby it will reduce fishery product competitiveness in the future
Relationship of Cord Blood Immunoglobulin E and Maternal Immunoglobulin E with Birth Order and Maternal History of Allergy in Albanian Mother/Neonate Pairs

BACKGROUND: Previous studies reported that familial factors such as birth order and mothers atopy might influence cord blood levels and development of allergies. AIM: The aim of the study was to evaluate the relationship of cord blood IgE and maternal IgE with birth order and mothers history of allergy in Albanian mother/neonate pairs. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Study population represented 291 mother-infant pairs. Mothers were interviewed with a questionnaire for personal history of allergy and pregnancy history whereas serum IgE levels were determined using sandwich IRMA assay. RESULTS: The mean level of cIgE in neonates with detectable levels was 1.59 (n = 78). No significant difference in means of cIgE was found between first born and later born neonates (p = 0.232) and between neonates of mothers with a negative and positive history of allergy (p = 0.125). Also, no significant difference was found between means of mIgE by birth order, whereas there was a significant difference of mIgE between mothers with and without a history of allergy (p = 0.01). In a group of neonates with detectable cIgE levels, maternal IgE levels were moderately correlated with cIgE levels. CONCLUSION: Cord blood IgE is not affected by birth order and mothers history of allergy, whereas mothers IgE are affected by the history of allergy but not by birth order.
Coffee Certifications as Potential Pathways to Women’s Empowerment in Costa Rica

The market for certified coffee is rapidly expanding and influencing the environmental, economic, and social conditions of global coffee production. Overarching goals of coffee certification schemes, such as fair trade, include encouraging sustainable production practices and promoting equitable trade relations that enhance economic stability and quality of life for producers. Women play a significant role in the coffee industry; yet, they typically have little control over resources and harvest proceeds and limited participation in decision-making processes. Although some certification schemes, namely Fairtrade International, include gender equality and women’s empowerment initiatives, knowledge and understanding of how certifications can create pathways to women’s empowerment remain limited. To address this gap in knowledge, this research consists of a case study comparing two coffee organizations in Costa Rica: CoopeAgri, a mixedgender fair trade-certified cooperative, and ASOMOBI, an all-women’s non-fair tradecertified association. Qualitative methods were employed to obtain in-depth data exploring women’s experiences in the Costa Rican coffee industry and their perspectives on certification schemes and empowerment. Data was analyzed using Jo Rowlands’ (1995) framework conceptualizing empowerment as a result of cultivating forms of “positive power. ” Results suggest that while certification schemes minimally contribute to some components of empowerment, primarily through increased incomes and access to resources in organizations, economic and social factors (e.g. low consumer demand for certified coffee, persistence of traditional gender roles) limit certifications’ capacity to create pathways to empowerment. This study also explores how the scale and structure (i.e. women-only versus mixed-gender) of local organizations influence their ability to facilitate women’s empowerment. Results indicate that smaller-scale, women-only settings may be more effective for creating pathways to empowerment for women in the Costa Rican coffee industry. Results of this preliminary study provide a base upon which future research examining certification schemes and women’s empowerment can be built.
An On-Line Apparatus for Hand Movement Research

In this paper we describe a piece of equipment which we have developed to enable rapid data collection and enhanced control of the relevant variables in our research on movement control. Some of the earlier work has been reported in Beggs and Howarth (1970), Howarth, Beggs and Bowden (1971) and Beggs and Howarth (r972a, b). The data we wished to collect were the terminal accuracy of movement, the timing of movements and the hand position during the movements. The task parameters we wished to control were pacing, source and time of illumination of the target and the hand, the time of the onset and offset of this illumination during the movement, and an indication of alternative targets to aim at. This sophistication of requirements obviously pointed to an online system, and this we have developed using our Elliott 903 machine, with its associated NPL interface and peripherals.
Home Energy Management System Concepts, Configurations, and Technologies for the Smart Grid

Home energy management systems (HEMSs) help manage electricity demand to optimize energy consumption and distributed renewable energy generation without compromising consumers’ comfort. HEMSs operate according to multiple criteria, including energy cost, weather conditions, load profiles, and consumer comfort. They play an increasingly ubiquitous role in energy efficiency through the reduction of electricity consumption within residential and commercial smart grids. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the HEMS literature with reference to main concepts, configurations, and enabling technologies. In doing so, it also provides a summary of HEMS computing trends and popular communication technologies for demand response applications. The ensuing survey offers the reader with an overall overview of current and future trends in HEMS solutions and technologies.
Digital I2 average current mode control for swith-mode power supplies

I2 average current mode control is a promising control technique featuring fast dynamic response, cycle-by-cycle current limiting and accurate current control. By implementing this technique digitally, the number of control loops is reduced, and the complexity of the loop design is simplified. In this paper, the digital control law, which only requires sampling the inductor current once in a cycle, is analyzed in detail. In addition, a small-signal model for this control technique is proposed. Simulation results show that it has a faster transient response than average current mode control while keeping zero DC current error. Experimental results demonstrate the characteristics of this digital implementation of I2 average current mode control and verify the accuracy of the proposed small-signal model.
Reconfigurable Microstrip Patch Antenna With Polarization Switching in Three Switchable Frequency Bands

In this paper, a polarization switchable reconfigurable microstrip patch antenna is designed first, it is extended further to get polarization switching in three switchable frequency bands by using corner connection/disconnection and additional patch connection/disconnection techniques. Three switchable operating bands are obtained with centre frequencies of 5.1 GHz (first band), 5.45 GHz (second band), and 6.3 GHz (third band) using 5 p-i-n diodes. Proposed structure is capable of being switched between left-hand circular polarization (LHCP), right-hand circular polarization (RHCP), and linear polarization (LP) in all three switchable frequency bands. A proximity coupled triangular tapered feed is used to feed the structure to get wide impedance and axial ratio bandwidths. Detailed analysis is carried out to observe the effects of various design parameters on the performance of the circuit. This also gives insight into the behavior of the circuit in terms of resonance frequency which would be useful to translate the structure at different frequency bands for various applications. Measured performance of the antenna agrees well with the simulations. The prototyped antenna has an acceptable reflection coefficient and axial ratio (AR below 3dB) in each operating band. Polarization and frequency diversities of the proposed design could enhance the reliability of modern wireless systems.