Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Minimizing Surgically Induced Astigmatism at the Time of Cataract Surgery Using a Square Posterior Limbal Incision

Purpose. To compare the surgically induced astigmatism from clear corneal and square posterior limbal incisions at the time of cataract surgery. Methods. Surgically induced astigmatism was calculated for a set of eyes after cataract surgery using a temporal 2.2 mm square posterior limbal incision. Results were compared to similar available data from surgeons using clear corneal incisions of similar size. Results. Preoperative corneal astigmatism averaged 1.0 D and was not significantly different between the incision types. Surgically induced astigmatism with the 2.2 mm posterior limbal incision averaged 0.25 ± 0.14 D, significantly lower in magnitude than the aggregate surgically induced astigmatism produced by the 2.2 mm clear corneal incision (0.68 ± 0.49 D). Conclusion. The 2.2 mm square posterior limbal incision induced significantly less, and significantly less variable, surgically induced astigmatism relative to a similar-sized clear corneal incision. This is likely to improve refractive outcomes, particularly important with regard to premium intraocular lenses.
Strategic Pragmatism: The Culture of Singapore's Economics Development Board

Per capita income in Singapore has gone from $500 to more than $20,000 in a little over twenty-five years. Edgar Schein, a social psychologist with a long and celebrated research interest in organizational studies, examines the cultural history of the key intstitution that spawned this economic miracle. Through interviews and full access to Singapore's Economic Development Board (EDB), Schein shows how economic development was successfully promoted. He delves into the individual relationships and the overall structure that contributed to the EDB's effectiveness in propelling Singapore, one of Asia's "little dragons" into the modern era. In his foreword, Lester Thurrow locates Schein's organizational and case-specific account within a larger economic and comparative framework. Over a period of two years, Schein studied how the EDB was created, the kind of leadership it provided, the management structure it used, the human resource policies it pursued, and how it influenced other organizations within the Singapore government. Schein sat in on EDB meetings and extensively interviewed current and former members of the board, Singapore's leaders who created the board, and businesspeople who have dealt with the board. His book intertwines the perspective of the board's members and its investor clients in an analysis that uses both organization and cross-cultural theory. Although there are currently studies of comparable Japanese and Korean organizations, this is the first detailed analysis of the internal structure and functioning of the economic development body of Singapore, a key player in the Asian and world markets.
Effect of early monocular enucleation upon ocular dominance columns and cytochrome oxidase activity in monkey and human visual cortex

We examined cytochrome oxidase (CO) activity in striate cortex of four macaque monkeys after monocular enucleation at ages 1, 1, 5, and 12 weeks. These animal experiments were performed to guide our interpretation of CO patterns in occipital lobe specimens obtained from two children who died several years after monocular enucleation during infancy for tumor. In the macaques, the ocular dominance columns were labelled by injecting [3H]proline into the remaining eye. After enucleation at age 1 week, ocular dominance columns were eliminated in layer IVcβ, resulting in a uniform pattern of autoradiographic label and CO staining. However, columns could still be seen in wet, unstained sections and with the Liesegang silver stain. Autoradiographs through layers IVcα and IVa showed residual, shrunken columns belonging to the missing eye, indicating that enucleation has less drastic effects in these layers. In the two human cases, enucleation at age 1 week also resulted in uniform CO staining in layer IVc. In the macaque after enucleation at age 5 weeks, ocular dominance columns belonging to the missing eye were severely narrowed, but still occupied 20% of layer IVcβ. CO revealed wide, dark columns alternating with thin, pale columns in layer IVcβ. The CO pattern and the columns labelled by autoradiography matched perfectly. After enucleation at age 12 weeks, only mild shrinkage of ocular dominance columns occurred. Enucleation at ages 1, 5, and 12 weeks did not alter the pattern of thin-pale–thick-pale stripes in V2. The main findings from this study were that (1) CO histochemistry accurately labels the boundaries of columns in layer IVcβ of macaque striate cortex after early monocular enucleation, making it a suitable technique for defining the critical period for plasticity of ocular dominance columns in human striate cortex; (2) enucleation causes more severe shrinkage of ocular dominance columns than eyelid suture; (3) early monocular enucleation obliterates ocular dominance columns in layer IVcβ, but their pattern remains visible in wet sections and with the Liesegang stain; and (4) enucleation does not affect CO staining in V2.
The bone conduction implant: Clinical results of the first six patients

Abstract Objective: To investigate audiological and quality of life outcomes for a new active transcutaneous device, called the bone conduction implant (BCI), where the transducer is implanted under intact skin. Design: A clinical study with sound field audiometry and questionnaires at six-month follow-up was conducted with a bone-anchored hearing aid on a softband as reference device. Study sample: Six patients (age 18–67 years) with mild-to-moderate conductive or mixed hearing loss. Results: The surgical procedure was found uneventful with no adverse events. The first hypothesis that BCI had a statistically significant improvement over the unaided condition was proven by a pure-tone-average improvement of 31.0 dB, a speech recognition threshold improvement in quiet (27.0 dB), and a speech recognition score improvement in noise (51.2 %). At speech levels, the signal-to-noise ratio threshold for BCI was − 5.5 dB. All BCI results were better than, or similar to the reference device results, and the APHAB and GBI questionnaires scores showed statistically significant improvements versus the unaided situation, supporting the second and third hypotheses. Conclusions: The BCI provides significant hearing rehabilitation for patients with mild-to-moderate conductive or mixed hearing impairments, and can be easily and safely implanted under intact skin.
Testing real interest parity in the European Monetary System

Current discussions on Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in Europe have stressed the need for enhanced integration of goods and factor markets as a pre condition of moving as costlessly as possible to a single currency system. The real interest differential - and hence tests of real interest parity - provide a summary measure of the degree of residual integration necessary such that these conditions are met. Empirical tests suggest a rejection of real interest parity among European Monetary System (EMS) member countries, at least during recent years. Further, a decomposition of the differential suggests that imperfect integration of goods markets, as reflected in a failure of ex-ante PPP, is largely responsible for this finding.
Different Lattitudes, Different Attitudes: Educator Narratives of a Professional Development in Honduras

The curriculum studies field is marked by two significant concerns—the desire for a complex conversation about connection and diversity and the drive to address structural inequities. Drawing from the rich theoretical field of postpositivist realism and in the intellectually rigorous tradition of curriculum studies, this inquiry traces the socioemotional and pedagogical development of five educators before and after a brief professional development experience abroad as they explored what a pedagogy of hope (Freire, 2004; hooks, 2003) might look like. These five participants traveled to Honduras during the summer of 2009 with Heifer Project International (HPI), a non-profit, non governmental community development organization as participants in their Study Tour for Educators. Heifer created the Study Tour, a nine day, intensive immersion into social justice topics, in order to support the ongoing process of critical engagement with the issues of hunger, poverty and care for the Earth. The long term objective of the professional development is increased personal and professional advocacy in home communities and schools. This study explores topics of conscientization, solidarity and political advocacy. Through the narratives of these individuals, readers can experience the triumph of successful community development, the struggle for social justice and the burgeoning
Design, modeling and characterization of a novel meso-scale SMA-actuated torsion actuator

This paper presents our work on design, modeling, and characterization of a novel shape memory alloy (SMA)-actuated torsion actuator for meso-scale robots. Development of a miniature torsion actuator is challenging, but it can enhance the agility and enlarge the workspace of meso-scale robots. This torsion actuator comprises a pair of antagonistic SMA torsion springs, which bi-directionally actuate the actuator by Joule heating and natural cooling. First, the mechanical design of the torsion actuator is presented, followed by the fabrication of SMA torsion springs. Then, we present the constitutive model of the SMA torsion spring with an analysis of its strain change, and derive a quasi-static model with the Coulomb friction torque for this torsion actuator. Finally, a series of characterization experiments are conducted on the SMA torsion spring and the torsion actuator prototype to determine the values of all model parameters. This work shows that the properties of the SMA-actuated torsion actuator can be appropriately characterized by experiments and the actuator is feasible for robotics applications.
Adaptive Management in the Courts

Adaptive management has become the tonic of natural resources policy. With its core idea of “learning while doing,” adaptive management has infused the natural resources policy world to the point of ubiquity, surfacing in everything from mundane agency permits to grand presidential proclamations. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to suggest that these days adaptive management is natural resources policy. But is it working? Does appending “adaptive” in front of “management” somehow make natural resources policy, which has always been about balancing competing claims to nature’s bounty, something more and better? Many legal and policy scholars have asked that question, with mixed reviews. Their evaluations, however, have rested on theory, program-specific surveys, and isolated case studies. This article provides the first comprehensive review of adaptive management from the perspective that likely matters most to the natural resource agencies practicing adaptive management - how is it faring in the courts? Part I of the Article examines the theory, policy, and practice of adaptive management, focusing on the experience of the federal resource management agencies. The end product in practice is something we call “a m-lite,” a watered down version of the theory that resembles ad hoc contingency planning more than it does planned “learning while doing. ” This gap between theory and practice leads to profound disparities between how agencies justify decisions and how adaptive management in practice arrives at the courthouse doorsteps. In Part II we review how these disparities have played out in courts considering claims that agency practice of adaptive management has not lived up to its theoretical promise or to the legal demands of substantive and procedural environmental law. We extract three key themes from the body of case law in this respect. Part III extends from the existing case law to draw lessons for agencies and Congress about the future practice of adaptive management. Our ultimate message to agencies is that a m-lite can be an effective decision method - and one that survives judicial scrutiny - but agencies must be more disciplined about its design and implementation. This includes resisting the temptation to employ adaptive management to dodge burdensome procedural requirements, substantive management criteria, and contentious stakeholder participation. If faithfully followed and enforced, this model, despite its flaws, could serve as an important component of natural resources policy to confront problems of the future as daunting as climate change.
Repertoire of Intensive Care Unit Pneumonia Microbiota

Despite the considerable number of studies reported to date, the causative agents of pneumonia are not completely identified. We comprehensively applied modern and traditional laboratory diagnostic techniques to identify microbiota in patients who were admitted to or developed pneumonia in intensive care units (ICUs). During a three-year period, we tested the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) of patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia, community-acquired pneumonia, non-ventilator ICU pneumonia and aspiration pneumonia, and compared the results with those from patients without pneumonia (controls). Samples were tested by amplification of 16S rDNA, 18S rDNA genes followed by cloning and sequencing and by PCR to target specific pathogens. We also included culture, amoeba co-culture, detection of antibodies to selected agents and urinary antigen tests. Based on molecular testing, we identified a wide repertoire of 160 bacterial species of which 73 have not been previously reported in pneumonia. Moreover, we found 37 putative new bacterial phylotypes with a 16S rDNA gene divergence ≥98% from known phylotypes. We also identified 24 fungal species of which 6 have not been previously reported in pneumonia and 7 viruses. Patients can present up to 16 different microorganisms in a single BAL (mean ± SD; 3.77±2.93). Some pathogens considered to be typical for ICU pneumonia such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Streptococcus species can be detected as commonly in controls as in pneumonia patients which strikingly highlights the existence of a core pulmonary microbiota. Differences in the microbiota of different forms of pneumonia were documented.
On the detection of intelligent mobile targets in a mobile sensor network

We consider the problem of intelligent mobile target detection in a mobile sensor network, where targets have higher sensing ranges and speeds than the sensors. (i) We propose novel algorithms for the sensors to detect targets with larger sensing ranges and speeds than the sensors. Also, our algorithms can achieve much faster detection for the targets than the most recent algorithm in the literature. (ii) In case of targets with lower speeds than the sensors, we propose a simple coordination framework between the targets. (iii) We propose new performance measures to evaluate target detection systems, namely, the coverage area of the targets and the collected information by the targets about the surveillance area. According to these metrics, we show by simulation that our sensors movement strategies, and by using a comparable number of sensors, can solve the open problem and no target can evade from being detected irrespective of its sensing range and speed, and within an adaptable detection time. Our simulation also shows that our simple targets coordination strategy gives much better performance than the independent targets in terms of the above metrics.
Dynamic Changes of Connexin-43, Gap Junctional Protein, in Outer Layers of Cumulus Cells Are Regulated by PKC and PI 3-Kinase During Meiotic Resumption in Porcine Oocytes

Abstract Mammalian oocytes are surrounded by numerous layers of cumulus cells, and the loss of gap junctional communication in the outer layers of cumulus cells induces meiotic resumption in oocytes. In this study, we investigated the dynamic changes in the gap junctional protein connexin-43 in cumulus cells during the meiotic resumption of porcine oocytes. The amount of connexin-43 in all layers of cumulus cells recovered from cumulus-oocyte complexes was increased after 4-h cultivation. However, at 12-h cultivation, the positive signal for connexin-43 immunoreactivity was markedly reduced in the outer layers of cumulus cells. When these reductions of connexin-43 were blocked by protein kinase C (PKC) or phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase inhibitor, networks of filamentous bivalents (i.e., advanced chromosomal status) were undetectable in the germinal vesicle of the oocyte. After 28-h cultivation, when the majority of oocytes were reaching the metaphase I (MI) stage, the connexin-43 in the inner layers of cumulus cells was phosphorylated, regardless of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase activation. These results suggest that the initiation of meiotic resumption, namely, the formation of networks of filamentous bivalents in germinal vesicle, is associated with the reduction of gap junctional protein connexin-43 in the outer layers of cumulus cells via the PKC and/or PI 3-kinase pathway. Moreover, the connexin-43 in the inner layers of cumulus cells is phosphorylated during meiotic progression beyond the MI stage, regardless of MAP kinase activation in cumulus cells surrounding the oocyte.
Bandwidth-Efficient Cooperative Relaying Schemes with Multiantenna Relay

We propose coded cooperative relaying schemes in which all successfully decoded signals from multiple sources are forwarded simultaneously by a multiantenna relay to a common multiantenna destination to increase bandwidth efficiency. These schemes facilitate various retransmission strategies at relay and single-user and multiuser iterative decoding techniques at destination, suitable for trade-offs between performance, latency, and complexity. Simulation results show that the proposed schemes significantly outperform direct transmission under the same transmit power and bandwidth efficiency.
Evolution of the Standard Simulation Architecture

Abstract : This paper proposes the standardization of a layered simulation architecture that addresses the critical modeling needs of the DoD simulation community. The Standard Simulation Architecture works with HLA to provide the additional infrastructure necessary for developing highly inter-acting, decoupled software models, while simultaneously supporting technology infusion from R&D organizations. A layered architecture is proposed to modularize critical capabilities including high-speed communications between nodes in a multiprocessing federate, general-purpose software utilities, modeling semantics, time management, interest management, and automated interoperability with HLA. The interface layers must be standardized to promote (1) model development, (2) portability and interoperability with other models, (3) scalable high performance, and (4) technology infusion from the research community. Through the standardization process, COTS, GOTS, and Open Source business models are supported. The Standard Simulation Architecture extends interoperability and reuse principles to (1) the entities residing within a multiprocessing federate and to (2) the components hierarchically residing within an entity or within components. This standardized hierarchical modeling paradigm promotes development of reusable entity and component repositories that can be reused to support different modeling applications. Instead of providing only course-grained interoperability through HLA, the Standard Simulation Architecture also supports medium and fine-grained interoperability between entities and their components.
Gravitational waves in vacuum spacetimes with cosmological constant. II. Deviation of geodesics and interpretation of nontwisting type N solutions

In a suitably chosen essentially unique frame tied to a given observer in a general spacetime, the equation of geodesic deviation can be decomposed into a sum of terms describing specific effects: isotropic (background) motions associated with the cosmological constant, transverse motions corresponding to the effects of gravitational waves, longitudinal motions and Coulomb-type effects. Conditions under which the frame is parallelly transported along a geodesic are discussed. Suitable coordinates are introduced and an explicit coordinate form of the frame is determined for spacetimes admitting a nontwisting null congruence. Specific properties of all nontwisting type N vacuum solutions with cosmological constant Λ (nonexpanding Kundt class and expanding Robinson–Trautman class) are then analyzed. It is demonstrated that these spacetimes can be understood as exact transverse gravitational waves of two polarization modes “+” and “×,” shifted by π/4, which propagate “on” Minkowski, de Sitter or anti-de Sitter backgrounds. It is also shown that the solutions with Λ>0 may serve as exact demonstrations of the cosmic “no-hair” conjecture in radiative spacetimes with no symmetry.
Automatic handling of Frequently Asked Questions using Latent Semantic Analysis

We present results from using Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) for automatic handling of FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions). FAQs have a high language variability and include a mixture of technical and non-technical terms. LSA has a potential to be useful for automatic handling of FAQ as it reduces the linguistic variability and capture semantically related concept. It is also easy to adapt for FAQ. LSA does not require any sophisticated linguistic analyses and merely involves various vector operations. We evaluate LSA for FAQ on a corpus comprising 4905 FAQ items from a collection of 65000 mail conversations. Our results show that Latent Semantic Analysis, without linguistic analyses, gives results that are on par other methods for automatic FAQ.
A generic pushbroom sensor model for high-resolution satellite imagery applied to SPOT5, Quickbird and ALOS data sets

A new generic pushbroom sensor model for high-resolution satellite images is presented. The sensor orbit and attitudes are modelled by splines. In order to determine the parameters of the orbit and attitude splines, direct observations for the satellite orbits and attitudes that are provided by the data vendors in metadata files are considered. As these direct observations are usually contaminated by systematic errors, the pushbroom sensor model also requires a correction model for these systematic errors. Unfortunately, the definitions of file formats and model parameters provided by the vendors are usually different and sometimes not compatible with a sensor model based on a perspective transformation. Our new sensor model is designed to be applicable to a large variety of sensors. Vendor-specific definitions are mapped to the definitions of our sensor model during data import. A rigorous model is employed for compensating systematic errors in the orbit and attitude data. In this paper, we present the sensor model and describe the way the vendor-specific definitions are mapped to the definitions of the new sensor model for Quickbird, SPOT 5 and ALOS/PRISM. First results for the correction of systematic errors will be given for Quickbird and SPOT 5 for test sites in Melbourne and Bhutan. * Corresponding author.