Purpose
To assess the reliability and agreement of non‐invasive break‐up time (NIBUT) in symptomatic and asymptomatic contact lens (CL) wearers using automatic objective and conventional subjective ...techniques.
Methods
In this prospective cross‐sectional study, soft CL wearers, classified into symptomatic and asymptomatic based on the Contact Lens Dry Eye Questionnaire‐8, underwent NIBUT assessment with the CL in situ. The CA‐800 Corneal Analyzer and the EasyTear® VIEW+ Tearscope were used for objective and subjective evaluation, respectively. The within‐subject repeatability and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were calculated. The agreement between the devices was compared using the Bland–Altman method.
Results
A total of 141 CL wearers (51 male and 90 female) with a mean age of 33.6 (SD = 12.2) years were included. The repeatability and ICC values obtained with the CA‐800 device when measuring NIBUT were 5.4 s and 58.6% across the whole sample, 4.2 s and 48.8% for the asymptomatic group and 7.1 s and 68.4% for the symptomatic group. When using the subjective method (EasyTear®), the respective repeatability and ICC values were 7.3 s and 32.7% for the whole sample, 6.5 s and 30.4% for the asymptomatic group and 8.6 s and 35.9% for the symptomatic group. The CA‐800 device provided significantly (p < 0.001) shorter NIBUT values compared with EasyTear® for the whole sample (3.3 2.9 vs. 8.1 3.4 s), the asymptomatic (3.3 3.0 vs. 7.7 3.6 s) and the symptomatic (3.8 2.9 vs. 8.6 3.0 s) groups.
Conclusion
Objective (CA‐800) NIBUT assessment provides more reliable measurements than the conventional subjective technique using the EasyTear® device. However, CL practitioners should also be aware that the objective method indicates shorter NIBUT values. Symptomatic CL wearers may also need a higher number of NIBUT measurements to obtain reliable estimations.
We present for the first time an in-depth magnetic characterization of a family of monodisperse cobalt-ferrite nanoparticles (NPs) with average size covering a broad range of particles sizes (from 4 ...to 60 nm), synthesized by thermal decomposition of metal–organic precursors. Metal precursors, surfactants, and synthetic parameters were settled in order to fine-tune the particle size, which preserves a narrow particle size distribution. The morphology of the family of cobalt-ferrite NPs shows a size-dependent behavior, evolving from sphere to octahedrons for size larger than 20 nm and passing through a cubic habit for intermediate sizes. The evolution of the magnetic properties was studied as a function of the particle size and shape, particularly focusing on those determining the best performance as permanent magnet. Although saturation and remnant magnetization increase monotonously with size, reaching a constant value above 20 nm, the coercive field exhibits a nonmonotonic behavior with two distinct maxima values for low and room temperature, respectively. In addition, we evaluated the (BH)max product, the figure of merit of permanent magnets, obtaining the highest value ever reported in the literature for cobalt-ferrite NPs (i.e., 2.1 MGOe (18 kJ/m–3) for 40 nm NPs). This study allowed us to establish, at least on the basis of the (BH)max product, the potentiality of cobalt-ferrite nanoparticles in current permanent magnet technology.
The aim of this study was to observe the validity, diagnostic capacity, and reliability of the thermographic technique in the analysis of sensitive and motor sequelae in patients with chronic brain ...damage.
A longitudinal descriptive observational study was performed. Forty-five people with impairment in at least one anatomical region participated in and completed this study. All patients who had become infected by SARS-CoV-2 in the past year were excluded. Thermographic measurement was conducted, and the Modified Ashworth Scale and Pressure Pain Threshold was analyzed.
A high correlation between two times of thermography data was observed. The Spearman correlations obtained between the Ashworth score on each leg and the temperature given by thermography were all significant.
Despite the above, the Spearman correlations obtained between the PPT in each leg and the temperature offered by thermography were not significant in any of the measurements. For this reason, thermography is a potential tool for the diagnosis and assessment of neuromuscular motor sequelae, but not for sensitive sequelae, after brain injury. Nevertheless, for the time being, no statistical relationship has been observed between the data reported by thermography and PPT; thus, future studies are needed to further investigate these results.
C1 inhibitor (C1Inh) deficiency is responsible for hereditary angioedema (C1‐INH‐HAE) and caused by variants of the SERPING1/C1INH/C1NH gene. C1Inh is the major control of kallikrein–kinin system. ...C1Inh deficiency leads to its uncontrolled activation, with subsequent generation of the vasoactive peptide bradykinin. This update documents 748 different SERPING1 variants, including published variants and additional 120 unpublished ones. They were identified as heterozygous variants (n = 729), as homozygous variants in 10 probands and as compound heterozygous variants (nine combinations). Six probands with heterozygous variants exhibited gonadal mosaicism. Probands with heterozygous (n = 72) and homozygous (n = 1) variants were identified as de novo cases. Overall, 58 variants were found at positions showing high residue conservation among serpins, and have been referred to as a mousetrap function of C1Inh: reactive center loop, gate, shutter, breach, and hinge. C1Inh phenotype analysis identified dysfunctional serpin variants with failed serpin–protease association and a residual 105‐kDa species after incubation with target protease. Regarding this characteristic, in conditions with low antigenic C1Inh, 74 C1‐INH‐HAE probands presented with an additional so‐called intermediate C1‐INH‐HAE phenotype. The present update addresses a comprehensive SERPING1 variant spectrum that facilitates genotype–phenotype correlations, highlighting residues of strategic importance for serpin function and for identification of C1Inh deficiency as serpinopathy.
Several conventional genomic Bayesian (or no Bayesian) prediction methods have been proposed including the standard additive genetic effect model for which the variance components are estimated with ...mixed model equations. In recent years, deep learning (DL) methods have been considered in the context of genomic prediction. The DL methods are nonparametric models providing flexibility to adapt to complicated associations between data and output with the ability to adapt to very complex patterns.
We review the applications of deep learning (DL) methods in genomic selection (GS) to obtain a meta-picture of GS performance and highlight how these tools can help solve challenging plant breeding problems. We also provide general guidance for the effective use of DL methods including the fundamentals of DL and the requirements for its appropriate use. We discuss the pros and cons of this technique compared to traditional genomic prediction approaches as well as the current trends in DL applications.
The main requirement for using DL is the quality and sufficiently large training data. Although, based on current literature GS in plant and animal breeding we did not find clear superiority of DL in terms of prediction power compared to conventional genome based prediction models. Nevertheless, there are clear evidences that DL algorithms capture nonlinear patterns more efficiently than conventional genome based. Deep learning algorithms are able to integrate data from different sources as is usually needed in GS assisted breeding and it shows the ability for improving prediction accuracy for large plant breeding data. It is important to apply DL to large training-testing data sets.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
During the initial stages of drug use, cocaine-induced neuroadaptations within the ventral tegmental area (VTA) are critical for drug-associated cue learning and drug reinforcement processes. These ...neuroadaptations occur, in part, from alterations to the transcriptome. Although cocaine-induced transcriptional mechanisms within the VTA have been examined, various regimens and paradigms have been employed to examine candidate target genes. In order to identify key genes and biological processes regulating cocaine-induced processes, we employed genome-wide RNA-sequencing to analyze transcriptional profiles within the VTA from male mice that underwent one of four commonly used paradigms: acute home cage injections of cocaine, chronic home cage injections of cocaine, cocaine-conditioning, or intravenous-self administration of cocaine. We found that cocaine alters distinct sets of VTA genes within each exposure paradigm. Using behavioral measures from cocaine self-administering mice, we also found several genes whose expression patterns corelate with cocaine intake. In addition to overall gene expression levels, we identified several predicted upstream regulators of cocaine-induced transcription shared across all paradigms. Although distinct gene sets were altered across cocaine exposure paradigms, we found, from Gene Ontology (GO) term analysis, that biological processes important for energy regulation and synaptic plasticity were affected across all cocaine paradigms. Coexpression analysis also identified gene networks that are altered by cocaine. These data indicate that cocaine alters networks enriched with glial cell markers of the VTA that are involved in gene regulation and synaptic processes. Our analyses demonstrate that transcriptional changes within the VTA depend on the route, dose and context of cocaine exposure, and highlight several biological processes affected by cocaine. Overall, these findings provide a unique resource of gene expression data for future studies examining novel cocaine gene targets that regulate drug-associated behaviors.
En este artículo se discute cómo se construye la imagen idealizada del "profesor de matemáticas deseado" a través de discursos y relaciones de poder. Se considera que el profesor tiene un papel ...activo en el funcionamiento de la escuela y es responsable de producir individuos matemáticamente competentes y productivos que puedan tener éxito en la sociedad. Además, se analiza cómo el profesor debe adaptarse constantemente a las demandas de la sociedad de control, que está en constante cambio y exige nuevas habilidades y conocimientos. El artículo se basa en los conceptos de Foucault y Deleuze para analizar la construcción del profesor de matemáticas deseado y cómo está regulado por las demandas y las instituciones sociales. A pesar de cuestionar si el profesor puede resistir esta regulación y crear algo diferente, el artículo concluye que el profesor es consumido por el mismo sistema. Por lo tanto, se destaca la importancia de ser crítico y promover un ambiente socialmente efectivo en el que el profesor pueda participar activamente en su desarrollo profesional. En otras palabras, se explora la construcción de la imagen idealizada del profesor de matemáticas deseado, cómo el profesor debe adaptarse constantemente a las demandas cambiantes de la sociedad de control y la importancia de ser crítico y promover un ambiente socialmente efectivo en el que el profesor pueda participar activamente en su desarrollo profesional.
Nonlinear optical nanostructured materials are gaining increased interest as optical limiters for various applications, although many of them suffer from reduced efficiencies at high‐light fluences ...due to photoinduced deterioration. The nonlinear optical properties of ferrite core/shell nanoparticles showing their robustness for ultrafast optical limiting applications are reported. At 100 fs ultrashort laser pulses the effective two‐photon absorption (2PA) coefficient shows a nonmonotonic dependence on the shell thickness, with a maximum value obtained for thin shells. In view of the local electric field confinement, this indicates that core/shell is an advantageous morphology to improve the nonlinear optical parameters, exhibiting excellent optical limiting performance with effective 2PA coefficients in the range of 10−12 cm W−1 (100 fs excitation), and optical limiting threshold fluences in the range of 1.7 J cm−2. These values are comparable to or better than most of the recently reported optical limiting materials. The quality of the open aperture Z‐scan data recorded from repeat measurements at intensities as high as 35 TW cm−2, indicates their considerably high optical damage thresholds in a toluene dispersion, ensuring their robustness in practical applications. Thus, the high photostability combined with the remarkable nonlinear optical properties makes these nanoparticles excellent candidates for ultrafast optical limiting applications.
Ultrashort laser pulse (100 fs) excitation of spinel‐based core/shell nanoparticles reveals a nonmonotonic variation of the effective two‐photon absorption coefficient, with a maximum value seen for relatively thin shells. Considering local field enhancement effects, nonlinear transmission studies and finite‐difference time‐domain simulations indicate that core/shell is an advantageous morphology to improve the nonlinearity of the composite for applications like ultrafast optical limiting.
The applications of exchange coupled bi-magnetic hard/soft and soft/hard ferromagnetic core/shell nanoparticles are reviewed. After a brief description of the main synthesis approaches and the ...core/shell structural–morphological characterization, the basic static and dynamic magnetic properties are presented. Five different types of prospective applications, based on diverse patents and research articles, are described: permanent magnets, recording media, microwave absorption, biomedical applications and other applications. Both the advantages of the core/shell morphology and some of the remaining challenges are discussed.
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