Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Challenges in Age-Related Macular Degeneration: From Risk Factors to Novel Diagnostics and Prevention Strategies

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a chronic multifactorial eye disease representing the primary cause of vision loss in people aged 60 years and older. The etiopathogenesis of the disease remains uncertain, with several risk factors contributing to its onset and progression, such as genotype, aging, hypertension, smoking, overweight, and low dietary intake of carotenoids. Since the aging populations of the industrialized world are increasing rapidly, the impact of AMD in the socio-economical life-developed countries is expected to increase dramatically in the next years. In this context, the benefits of prevention and early disease detection for prompt and effective treatment can be enormous to reduce the social and economic burden of AMD. Nutritional and lifestyle changes, including dietary intake of xanthophyll pigments, such as lutein and zeaxanthin, no smoking, and regular exercise, are known to protect from risk of AMD progression from early to advanced disease stages. In this review, we present the clinical outcomes of a pilot study on trans-scleral iontophoresis delivery of lutein in patients with AMD. Topical delivery of lutein directly to the macula may provide a more efficient method for enriching the macular pigment and for achieving greater patient compliance to therapy than oral administration and thus enhancing prevention strategies. Modern diagnostic methodologies shall address the major problem of accurately detecting the risk of transition from intermediate AMD to advanced AMD stages. Adaptive optics retinal imaging and resonance Raman spectroscopy are two highly promising technologies for the objective assessment of patients with AMD. In this review, we present some of their clinical applications for collecting quantitative measurements of retinal cellular changes and macular content of xanthophyll pigments, respectively. In conclusion, there is great expectation that technological advancements in AMD management will deliver improved screening, therapeutic prevention, and diagnostic systems in the coming decade through a pro-active strategy of “treatment for prevention” that will aim to reduce the global burden of vision loss caused by AMD in the elderly.
Une double approche modulaire de l'apprentissage par renforcement pour des agents intelligents adaptatifs. (A Twofold Modular Approach of Reinforcement Learning for Adaptive Intelligent Agents)

Cette these s'est interessee a deux domaines de l'intelligence artificielle : d'une part l'apprentissage par renforcement (A/R), et d'autre part les systemes multi-agents (SMA). Le premier permet de concevoir des agents (entites intelligentes) en se basant sur un signal de renforcement qui recompense les decisions menant au but fixe, alors que le second concerne l'intelligence qui peut venir de l'interaction d'un groupe d'entites (dans la perspective que le tout soit plus que la somme de ses parties). Chacun de ces deux outils souffre de diverses difficultes d'emploi. Le travail que nous avons mene a permis de montrer comment chacun des deux outils peut servir a l'autre pour repondre a certains de ces problemes. On a ainsi concu les agents d'un SMA par A/R, et organise l'architecture d'un agent apprenant par renforcement sous la forme d'un SMA. Ces deux outils se sont averes tres complementaires, et notre approche globale d'une conception “progressive” a prouve son efficacite.
Plasmodium lacertiliae n. sp., and other saurian blood parasites from the New Guinea area.

Blood smears recently obtained from approximately 60 specimens of Leiolopisma fuscum procured from Goodenough Island (in the D'Entrecastaux Island Group) contained the following parasites: Plasmodium lacertiliae n. sp. , unidentified haemosporidia and haemogregarines, Haemogregarina, Trypanosoma, and microfilariae. Several air-dried smears stained by Wright's method were examined from each lizard and most of the lizards were infected with one or more of these types of parasites.
Bile Salt Hydrolase Degrades β-Lactam Antibiotics and Confers Antibiotic Resistance on Lactobacillus paragasseri

Bile salt hydrolase (BSH) is a well-characterized probiotic enzyme associated with bile detoxification and colonization of lactic acid bacteria in the human gastrointestinal tract. Here, we isolated a putative BSH (LpBSH) from the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus paragasseri JCM 5343T and demonstrated its bifunctional activity that allows it to degrade not only bile salts but also the antibiotic (penicillin). Although antibiotic resistance and bile detoxification have been separately recognized as different microbial functions, our findings suggest that bifunctional BSHs simultaneously confer ecological advantages to host gut bacteria to improve their survival in the mammalian intestine by attaining a high resistance to bile salts and β-lactams. Strain JCM 5343T showed resistance to both bile salts and β-lactam antibiotics, suggesting that LpBSH may be involved in this multi-resistance of the strain. We further verified that such bifunctional enzymes were broadly distributed among the phylogeny, suggesting that the bifunctionality may be conserved in other BSHs of gut bacteria. This study revealed the physiological role and phylogenetic diversity of bifunctional enzymes degrading bile salts and β-lactams in gut bacteria. Furthermore, our findings suggest that the hitherto-overlooked penicillin-degrading activity of penicillin acylase could be a potential new target for the probiotic function of gut bacteria.
An Efficient Technique for Bit Error Probability Estimation of MLSDA-Turbo Decoder

In this thesis, we applied the Importance Sampling (IS) method [1, 2, 3] to estimate the performance of the MLSDA-turbo decoder proposed in [4]. Unlike the brutal force Monte Carlo (MC) simulation [5], which often requires a very large number of simulation trials to achieve meaningful estimate of system performance, the IS technique can provide an efficient estimate with less trials. The success of the IS technique relies on the proper choice of the biased channel. Hence, the first task of the thesis is to find the right biased channel (or equivalently, the suitable error events) to ensure the efficiency of the IS simulation. By the simulation results, the best IS simulation among the channels we tried in this thesis yielded a moderate improvement in performance estimation. After the selection of the right biased channel, we investigated the time-unreachable performance region (of the MLSDA-turbo decoder) for MC simulation. We conclude that the best biased channel among all simulation channels we used indeed has the channel property similar to the mathematically optimal channel for IS technique.
Thyroid axis in patients with Cushing's syndrome.

Thyroid hormone values and serum thyrotropin (thyroid-stimulating hormone [TSH]) responses to the intravenous administration of 400 micrograms of protirelin were determined in ten patients with Cushing's syndrome and in ten matched normal subjects. In patients with Cushing's syndrome, the serum thyroxine (T4) level was mildly depressed and free T4 level was normal. The mean (+/- SD) concentrations of serum triiodothyronine (T3) and free T3 were both reduced in patients compared with normal subjects (P less than .001). At 20 and 60 minutes after protirelin administration, serum TSH levels were, respectively, 3.3 +/- 2.7 microU/mL and 2.6 +/- 2.3 microU/mL in patients with Cushing's syndrome and 12.3 +/- 5.4 microU/mL and 10.7 +/- 5.4 microU/mL in normal subjects (P less than .001). The reduced serum T3 and free T3 levels are due to a glucocorticoid suppressive effect on the peripheral conversion of T4 to T3. The protirelin test is of limited value in assessing the thyroid status because the response of TSH is frequently blunted or absent due to glucocorticoid excess.
Entrepreneurship: Turning Your Intellectual Capital Into Tangible Results

Innovation is necessary for any business, including healthcare, to survive and thrive. Innovation requires ‘‘ideas,’’ and excellent ideas can be shaped into intellectual capital with economic value. Nurses and clinical nurse specialists (CNSs), in particular, are perfectly positioned to be full players in today’s ‘‘idea’’ economy. On February 10, 2006, the Indiana University School of Nursing, in collaboration with Community Health Network, hosted its first National Nurse Entrepreneurship Conference. The 2-day program, held in Indianapolis and entitled ‘‘Turning Your Intellectual Capital Into a Business,’’ attracted 54 participants from 12 states. The purpose of the conference was to provide nurses with foundational knowledge to develop unique nursing ideas into innovative patient care products and services and other health-related services. The program focused on turning intellectual capital into both entrepreneurial business ventures and intrapreneurial ventures that create winwin scenarios for individuals and their employers. According to Dr Brenda Lyon (written communication, March 2006), Professor at Indiana University School of Nursing and a leader in planning the conference,
Visual Rehabilitation After Severe Alkali Injury With Piggyback Hyper O2 Contact Lenses

Purpose. To report successful visual rehabilitation following severe bilateral alkali injury using piggyback hyperoxygen-transmissible (hyper O2) contact lenses. Methods. Case report and literature review. Results. More than 15 years after a severe bilateral alkali injury, multiple surgical procedures including repeat bilateral penetrating keratoplasty, severe tear deficiency, and chronic ocular surface disruption, the patient achieved 20/30 best-corrected vision through the simultaneous use of a hyper O2rigid gas permeable contact lens over a hyper O2soft contact lens in his right eye. The patient has tolerated this piggyback combination without any adverse reactions or complications, and his corneal graft remains clear and healthy. Conclusion. Visual rehabilitation for conditions that compromise the ocular surface can be accomplished by utilizing newer soft and rigid contact lens materials that facilitate oxygen transmission, thereby promoting epithelial healing and improving safety in extended wear situations. These newer materials may potentially reduce complications previously associated with extended wear therapeutic lenses.
Threshold Compensated UHF Rectifier With Local Self-Calibrator

This letter presents a threshold-compensated UHF rectifier with a local self-calibrator in a 0.18-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> CMOS process. The self-calibrator compensates the intrinsic-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$V_{{\mathrm{th}}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> voltage for a broad range of input power intensity to decrease the sensitivity of the rectifier’s power conversion efficiency (PCE) to the input power fluctuations. This makes the structure suitable for wireless charging applications, where efficient RF-to-DC conversion at different RF intensities is required. The proposed circuitry includes two auxiliary rectifiers and a dummy load. The output voltage of the first auxiliary rectifier generates the required positive compensation voltage for the main rectifier, while the second rectifier limits this voltage for large RF inputs. Thus, the efficiency drop due to the extra compensation voltage is avoided. Measurement results of the prototype at 433-MHz ISM band using various loads show almost constant PCE values over an incident power range of more than 10 dB. The measured maximum PCE is 34%, and the peak short-circuit current is 12 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{A}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> at −17 dBm RF power.
The Eurasian genes of the 2009 pandemic influenza virus: an integrative perspective on their conveyance to and assimilation in America

Abstract The formation of pandemic influenza genotypes varied phylogeographically and ecophylogenetically throughout their fully recognized recent 100-years natural history, involving consistently avian plus human genes, and at times swine genes. The last four traceable pandemic strains (PSs) included two American H1N1 viruses with genomes predominantly containing swine genes, of which at least one genome originated from both America and Eurasia; and two non-H1N1 Asian viruses with genomes entirely originating from Asia, and having no swine genes. This study explores whether there is a particular interhemispheric system underlying such divergence, and its properties. Unlike the assumption that transport of live pigs from Eurasia to America facilitated the formation of the 2009 H1N1 PS in America, it is suggested that conveyance of Eurasian swine genes to America, and their assimilation therein, took place through a distinct, perfectly natural ecophylogenetic machinery. The latter conjunctively involves, foremost, a native Asian duck–swine–man interface, a Holarctic chain of certain migratory Anas ducks, a native American turkey–swine–man interface, and two specific clades of American influenza A viruses. Likewise, the described machinery could have readily given rise to the 1918 H1N1, and, presumably, earlier American PSs, altogether constituting private cases of a much broader, self-sustained, permanent phylogeographic system.
“Double crush” in Parkinson's disease

lines of evidence suggest that repeated exercise-induced activation of the HPA axis, such as in endurance-trained subjects, leads to HPA axis adaptation. The ability of neuroactive steroids to reduce HPA axis activation may play an important role in homeostasis being re-established following stressful events. Considering that acute stress results in a rapid increase of neuroactive steroids to levels known to modulate GABAA receptor function, exercise as a positive stressor may beneficially affect the epileptic brain. Based on the evidence presented, we postulate that the reduced seizure susceptibility after exercise programs observed in human and animal studies could also be attributed to neurosteroid regulation. On the whole, we would like to express our congratulations to Lawrence and colleagues for their interesting paper and to highlight the possible role of exercise intervention in this context.
Molecular analysis of the rat MHC. II. Isolation of genes that map to the RT1.E-grc region.

An initial mapping analysis of growth and reproduction complex (grc) and grc+ genomic DNA identified several restriction fragment length polymorphisms specific for the grc region of the MHC. To analyze further the genomic organization and structure of the grc, a cosmid library was constructed from a grc+-bearing strain (R21). One cosmid cluster, encompassing 41.4 kb of DNA, contained four, or possibly five, class I genes that mapped to the RT1.E-grc region Two unique non-class I fragments were isolated from certain cosmids within this cluster. These fragments were hybridized to genomic DNA derived from five rat strains (BIL/2, R18, R21, R22, and BIL/1), and the results showed that grc-bearing rats have a deletion of at least 3.1 kb of DNA in the region immediately adjacent to the MHC. The loss of the genes in this region is probably the cause of the growth and reproductive defects in these animals and probably also of their increased susceptibility to chemical carcinogens.
A small-angle neutron scattering investigation of rigid polyelectrolytes under shear

Solutions of a rigid polyelectrolyte molecule, sulfo-poly(phenyleneterephthalamide) (SPTTA), in deuterated water have been investigated using small-angle neutron scattering. At low concentrations (1 wt%) the scattering spectrum presents a soft maximum similar to that of the interaction of rod-like objects. Two counterions are used, H + and Li + , and it is shown that aggregation is favoured as the proportion of Li + counterions increases. When kept at rest at room temperature, the solutions exhibit spontaneous birefringence. A 1 wt% solution was investigated under shear and it is shown that a very small shear rate is needed to produce a very strong alignment of rod-like objects. Such alignment saturates at high shear rates. Upon cessation of shear, a very long relaxation time is observed. The set of results strongly suggest aggregation of rigid polyelectrolyte molecules into long needles exhibiting very small cross sections.
The Creation, Interpretation and Contestation of Institutions - Revisiting Historical Institutionalism*

One shortcoming of much of the historical institutionalist literature is its alleged lack of testable propositions and the elusive notion of ‘unintended consequences’ of initial institutional choices. This article, which offers an historical institutionalist explanation of institutional creation and operation, aims to overcome these shortcomings. We develop a set of propositions and demonstrate their plausibility by exploring the creation of the European Community's budgetary treaty in 1970 and the operation of the enacted treaty provisions. We demonstrate that, under specific conditions, actors may be doomed to opt for ‘dysfunctional’ institutions at the moment of their creation. Furthermore, we show that the notion of ‘unintended consequences’ does not necessarily help us to understand the reason for the contestation of treaty provisions.
Is Bat Guano a Reservoir of Geomyces destructans

Bat guano from six different karst caves in Slovenia was screened by PCR for the presence of Geomyces destructans [1]. Two identical DNA sequences from guano heaps in two of the caves with recent bat droppings were retrieved. These sequences were closely related to several unidentified Geomyces clones and to pathogenic G. destructans, but definitive identification remained elusive. Despite the presence of Geomyces species, thus far there has been no report of Whitenose syndrome (WNS) symptoms in bats in Slovenia. Overall physical and chemical conditions in guano, particularly in large guano heaps, offer a suitable environment which might serve as a reservoir for pathogenic Geomyces strains and could represent a permanent reservoir for in situ infection of bats. Screening of guano and analysis of more data related to guano ecology could lend clues to control WNS outbreaks and mortality linked to G. destructans.
Blacks in an aging society

This chapter discusses the specific social problems involved in an aging society and their impact on black children teenagers the middle-aged and elderly as well as with the implications they pose for US society as a whole. The number of blacks aged 65 and over has been increasing faster than the number of whites of those ages but elderly blacks comprise a smaller group in absolute numbers than comparable whites. The major social problems confronting black children today are poverty inadequate health care and poor quality education. Shrinking federal funding and restricive eligibility requirements have limited the effectiveness of federal health care programs. Teenage pregnancies and out-of-wedlock births are especially disturbing problems among black teenage women. The critical social problems of the middle-aged blacks today are divorce separation difficulties in psychological adjustment low morale as workers and declining physical abilities accompanied by decreases in labor force participation. Feelings of personal efficacy are highest for older whites while in the labor force but highest for older blacks when they leave it. The black middle-aged who are most likely to be stressed are women members of the underclass the divorced and the separated. If current trends in disability and early labor force withdrawal continue there is a distinct possibility that blacks will cease working and begin retirement before midlife. In summary the renowned strengths of the black family will be put to a severe test as society ages and as larger and more powerful groups compete for limited resources. These specific areas are in need of policy attention: 1) the black infant 2) the black child 3) the black teenager 4) the black middle-aged and 5) the black elderly.
Extended Split Operator method as an efficient way for computing dynamics of a spinor F=1 Bose-Einstein condensate

In this work we present a very effi cient way of solving a spinor version of a time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GP). The method we use is a modification of the well known Spli t Operator Method (SOM) - applied to the case of F = 1 spinor Bose-Einstein condensates. We focus here on F = 1 case for an educational purpose only - the extension to higher values of F is straightforward. Our extension of the SOM to the spinor version has many advantages: it is fast, stable, and keeps constant all the physical constrain ts (constants of motion) at very high level.
Long-term results with combined treatment in adult localized extraskeletal Ewing's sarcoma (ES): A retrospective analysis of 51 patients (pts) from a single referral center.

10548 Background: After the first description in 1975, only small series of adult extraskeletal ES have been reported. In general, adulthood is claimed to be an adverse prognostic factor, while the meaning of extraskeletal origin is less established. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed adult pts with extraskeletal, localized ES, undergoing medical therapy between 1988 and 2004, who were included in the dataset of the current Adult Sarcoma Medical Unit at Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milano, Italy, which serves as a reference center for adult soft tissue sarcoma. Fifty-one pts were treated with a combined approach, including chemotherapy, surgery when appropriate, and radiation therapy. Overall, 27/51 pts were male, and age ranged from 16 to 63 years. Site of primary lesions was: thorax 14 (27%), limbs 18 (35%), paravertebral region 5 (10%), pelvis 4 (8%), head&neck 3 (6%), superficial trunk 6 (12%), other 1 (2%). Seven pts presented with locally advanced disease. Chemotherapy regimens included: vincristine (V), ifosfamide (I), epirubicin (E)/adriamycin (A), dacarbazine (D), actinomycinD (ActD), cisplatin (C), etoposide (Et). 35/51 pts (68%) underwent preoperative chemotherapy: 30 pts received IVE × 4-7 cycles; 5 pts received VAI alternating with IEt × 9 cycles. 42/51 pts underwent surgery; 38/51 pts received radiation therapy. RESULTS Response rate to induction chemotherapy including antracicline, ifosfamide + etoposide was 83%. Of these pts, 9 showed a complete response (CR), 17 a partial response (PR), 3 a minor response (MR), 3 stable disease (SD), and 3 progressive disease (PD). Overall, DFS at 10 years (y) was 55%. Pts with limb, head&neck, or superficial trunk lesions had a better outcome compared to those with other primary sites (DFS at 10y is 71% vs 33%). CONCLUSIONS In this series of adult pts with extraskeletal ES, response rate and DFS were comparable to those of ES of bone in conventional series. The primary site may identify a subset of pts with worse outcome and prognosis, for whom more intensive treatments could be investigated. No significant financial relationships to disclose.