Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Retinal nerve fiber layer, ganglion cell complex, and choroidal thicknesses in migraine.

PURPOSE To evaluate the thicknesses of the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), ganglion cell complex (GCL), and choroid layer using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) for investigating the effects of vascular changes on the eye and optic nerve in patients who have migraine with aura. METHODS Forty-five patients who had migraine with aura (migraine group) and 45 healthy individuals (control group) were enrolled in the study. Age, gender, duration after migraine diagnosis, intraocular pressure, and axial length measurements were recorded in each case. RNFL, GCL, and choroid layer thicknesses were measured using SD-OCT in all participants. RESULTS The mean age was 36.1 ± 6.7 (20-45) years in the migraine group and 35.7 ± 8.6 (19-45) years in the control group. There was no significant difference in the RNFL thicknesses of the temporal and nasal quadrants (p >0.05). The RNFL thicknesses of the superior and inferior quadrants were significantly lower in the migraine group compared with those in the control group (p =0.001, p <0.01, respectively). Measurements for the superior and inferior GCL were not significantly different between the groups (p >0.05). Subfoveal, temporal, and nasal choroidal thickness measurements at 500 µm, 1000 µm, and 1500 µm were significantly lower in the migraine group than in the control group (p =0.001; p <0.01, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Compared with the controls, the RNFL and choroid layer were determined to be thinner in patients who had chronic migraine with aura.
How crosscutting weak ties are established—the case of Muslims in Europe

ABSTRACT Building on the work of Granovetter [1973. “The Strength of Weak Ties. ” American Journal of Sociology 78 (6): 1360–1380. ], weak ties are assumed to play a vital role in processes of integration. In this paper, the focus lies on weak ties that cut across ethnic boundaries, connecting Muslim immigrants to members of the ethnic majority in six European host societies. The aim is twofold: a descriptive analysis of the existence of those crosscutting weak ties amongst different groups of Muslim immigrants and an explanatory analysis focusing on the structural factors that make the establishment of such ties more likely. In the latter part, the native populations are also taken into account, allowing for a bidirectional perspective. Using ordinal logistic regression models, we found that emancipatory factors such as education and language skills are positively associated with having weak ties, whereas conservative values and religiosity decrease the likelihood of establishing many weak ties. A diverse neighbourhood appears to play a pivotal role in the formation of weak ties from both a native and an immigrant perspective.
Connecting Analysis of Speech Acts and Performance Analysis - An Initial Study

This paper presents an initial case study on connecting the analysis of speech acts of students in discussion forums and the analysis of performance. At first, to understand better the posting pattern of this study, various statistical overviews of postings are presented. Participation is very skewed, a result well in line with observation of others. The overview also suggests a positive relation between posting in the discussion forum and, both, engagement and performance. The theory of speech acts is used to capture the role(s) played by posts. The results suggest that globally strong students tend to have a role of help-givers, and weak students a role of help-seekers, though giving help and seeking help among strong students could be balanced.
An Investigation of Subjective Sleep and Fatigue Measures for Use With Elite Athletes

This study investigated the properties of the Athens Insomnia Scale (Soldatos et al., 2000), the Fatigue Severity Scale (Krupp et al., 1989), and subscales of the SLEEP-50 Questionnaire (Spoormaker et al., 2005) in elite Australian athletes, to determine their appropriateness for this population. Fifty-nine athletes (29 male, 30 female, M = 21.86 yrs, SD = 7.44) from elite basketball, rowing, netball, beach volleyball, and sailing squads completed measures. A subset (n = 20) completed measures again at a 1-month interval, and a further subset (n = 5) were interviewed about their thoughts regarding the measures and their understanding of sleep. All scales and subscales displayed high internal consistency, apart from that which contained items not theoretically related, and all displayed good 1-month test-retest reliability. All measures were significantly correlated, demonstrating convergent validity. Athletes reported few sleep problems, but moderate fatigue. Athletes stated the measures produced accurate reflections of their sleep and fatigue, but also suggested improvements. Research limitations and implications are discussed.
SR-IOV Support for Virtualization on InfiniBand Clusters: Early Experience

High Performance Computing (HPC) systems are becoming increasingly complex and are also associated with very high operational costs. The cloud computing paradigm, coupled with modern Virtual Machine (VM) technology offers attractive techniques to easily manage large scale systems, while significantly bringing down the cost of computation, memory and storage. However, running HPC applications on cloud systems still remains a major challenge. One of the biggest hurdles in realizing this objective is the performance offered by virtualized computing environments, more specifically, virtualized I/O devices. Since HPC applications and communication middlewares rely heavily on advanced features offered by modern high performance interconnects such as InfiniBand, the performance of virtualized InfiniBand interfaces is crucial. Emerging hardware-based solutions, such as the Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV), offer an attractive alternative when compared to existing software-based solutions. The benefits of SR-IOV have been widely studied for GigE and 10GigE networks. However, with InfiniBand networks being increasingly adopted in the cloud computing domain, it is critical to fully understand the performance benefits of SR-IOV in InfiniBand network, especially for exploring the performance characteristics and trade-offs of HPC communication middlewares (such as Message Passing Interface (MPI), Partitioned Global Address Space (PGAS)) and applications. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that offers an in-depth analysis on SR-IOV with InfiniBand. Our experimental evaluations show that for the performance of MPI and PGAS point-to-point communication benchmarks over SR-IOV with InfiniBand is comparable to that of the native InfiniBand hardware, for most message lengths. However, we observe that the performance of MPI collective operations over SR-IOV with InfiniBand is inferior to native (non-virtualized) mode. We also evaluate the trade-offs of various VM to CPU mapping policies on modern multi-core architectures and present our experiences.
Are boycott motives rationalizations

Previous models of boycott motivation are incomplete because they only consider beliefs and attitudes. This article argues that consumers' proximity to the consequences of the critical actions of a company is the primary trigger of the desire to boycott. As consumers need to justify this desire, they search for supportive arguments. Thus, the arguments consumers give to explain why they are boycotting or not are pre-decisional rationalizations rather than independent rational considerations. Consequently, the paper suggests that scholars need to respecify the antecedents identified in prior studies. These constructs are mediator variables of the indirect influence of proximity on boycott participation. The paper tests the assumptions on the basis of survey data gathered from 544 consumers using the example of a real boycott that was called in response to factory relocation. The model proposed was tested by means of partial least squares regression analysis. The mediation hypotheses were examined using simple and multiple mediation tests. The empirical study confirms that boycott motives are mainly rationalizations of a pre-existing desire to boycott, which is contingent on proximity. Managerial implications and avenues for further research are proposed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
EVALUATING MEDIATION STRATEGIES

The article examines one of the most important aspects of mediation behavior, namely, the factors that influence the choice of a mediation strategy. A conceptual framework accounting for mediation behavior is developed, and an original data set on cases of international mediation is utilized to suggest the validity of the framework. The analysis indicates the importance of motivational and contextual factors in explaining mediation behavior and strategies. The article argues that greater attention should be given to the context of a dispute in future studies on international mediation.
Risk Factors and Incidence of Postoperative Delirium in Elderly Chinese Patients

Objectives: To investigate the incidence of postoperative delirium among elderly patients and to examine the interrelationship between basic vulnerability and precipitating factors for delirium. Design and Methods: This was a prospective cohort study. Data were collected in a tertiary medical center in Taipei, Taiwan. From the 1st to the 5th postoperative day, nurses assessed patients using a confusion-screening tool. Patients with signs of delirium were closely examined for changes in behavior and cognitive status and vital signs, and laboratory data were collected to further validate the organic etiology of delirium. Patients were finally diagnosed according to the DSM-IV criteria in consensus meetings. Subjects: Seven hundred and one elderly patients, that were admitted consecutively for elective orthopedic or urologic surgery, were enrolled in this study. All subjects met the following criteria: (1) 65 years of age or older; (2) able to communicate orally in Chinese, and (3) not unconscious, delirious, deaf, or aphasic upon admission. Results: The overall incidence of delirium among these subjects was 5.1%. Logistic regression analysis identified that older age and preexisting cognitive impairment were vulnerability factors, and that the use of psychoactive drugs was a precipitating factor for delirium. Patients with both basic vulnerability and the precipitating factor had a 56-fold increased probability of delirium (0.28 vs. 0.005 in comparison with those who did not exhibit these factors). Conclusion: Few risk factors of postoperative delirium in the older Chinese sample were identified. The only modifiable risk factor appears to be the use of psychoactive drugs.
Social exchange theories and sexuality

Social Exchange Theory is one of the social science theories that have been applied to the study of human sexuality. This theoretical perspective is of particular relevance for understanding sexuality as it is negotiated between two people who have a relationship with each other. In this article, I describe three specific social exchange models with particular relevance to sexuality: equity theory (e.g., Walster, Walster, & Berscheid, 1978), the Investment Model (Rusbult, 1980, 1983), and the Interpersonal Model of Sexual Satisfaction (Lawrance & Byers, 1992, 1995). Then, I discuss how the general social exchange perspective or one of the more specific exchange models/theories has been applied to five topics that focus on sexuality within a relational context: (a) partner selection, (b) onset of sexual activity, (c) sexual satisfaction, (d) sexual initiation and refusal, and (e) extradyadic sexual behavior.
PEROXISOME PROLIFERATOR-ACTIVATED RECEPTOR-&ggr; LIGANDS 15-DEOXY-&dgr;12,14-PROSTAGLANDIN J2 AND PIOGLITAZONE INHIBIT HYDROXYL PEROXIDE-INDUCED TNF-&agr; AND LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE-INDUCED CXC CHEMOKINE EXPRESSION IN NEONATAL RAT CARDIAC MYOCYTES

Ligands for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor &ggr; (PPAR-&ggr;) such as prostaglandin metabolite 15-deoxy-&dgr;12,14-prostaglandin J2 (15d-PGJ2) or thiazolidinedione pioglitazone have been identified as a new class of anti-inflammatory compounds with possible clinical applications. Reactive oxygen species play an important role in the generation of cellular damage by induction of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines during myocardial I/R. These events were preceded by activation of the transcription factors nuclear factor (NF)-&kgr;B pathway. It has been suggested that myocardium overproduces TNF-&agr; after I/R, and locally produced TNF-&agr; is sufficient to cause severe impairment of cardiac function. LPS-induced CXC chemokine (LIX) is a rodent chemokine with potent neutrophil-chemotactic activity. Based on this concept, we examined the effects of 15d-PGJ2 and pioglitazone on oxidative stress-induced TNF-&agr; and LIX expression in neonatal rat cardiac myocytes. Pretreatment of myocytes with 15d-PGJ2 or pioglitazone decreased hydrogen peroxide-induced TNF-&agr; and LIX production (mRNA and protein) in a concentration-dependent manner. The beneficial effects of both ligands were associated with reduction of hydrogen peroxide-induced NF-&kgr;B activation. Treatment with 15d-PGJ2, but not pioglitazone, caused dose-dependent activation of heat shock factor 1, which could render cells unresponsive to stimulation of NF-&kgr;B. The cytoprotection afforded by pioglitazone was attenuated by the PPAR-&ggr; antagonist GW9662, which failed to affect the beneficial effects afforded by 15d-PGJ2. Taken together, these results demonstrate that treatment with these chemically distinct ligands of PPAR-&ggr; results in diverse anti-inflammatory mechanisms.ABBREVIATIONS-15d-PGJ2-15-deoxy-&dgr;12,14-prostaglandin J2; HSE-heat shock element; HSF 1-heat shock factor 1; C-cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant; LIX-LPS-induced CXC chemokine; NF-&kgr;B-nuclear factor-&kgr;B; PPAR-&ggr;-peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor &ggr;
Effects of guided reflexivity and team feedback on team performance improvement: The role of team regulatory processes and cognitive emergent states

The effectiveness of decision-making teams depends largely on the quality of information processing. Prior research has shown that guided team reflexivity and team feedback are important means of advancing team information processing and outcomes. However, the nature of the relationships, and how these relate to team regulatory processes, cognitive emergent states, and ultimately team performance, is currently poorly understood. Drawing on reflexivity and team information-processing theory, we proposed and found that teams that received guided team reflexivity or a combination of both guided reflexivity and feedback showed higher levels of actual reflection than teams that received neither a reflexivity intervention nor feedback. Conditional process analysis showed that the effects of team reflection on team performance improvement were mediated by a path from shared team mental models to shared task mental models and to adaptation. Finally, we also expected that team reflection would be lower in virtual teams than in face-to-face teams. These hypotheses were tested experimentally among 98 student teams that communicated either face-to-face or virtual (via chat) while completing a collective decision-making task. The information distribution among team members constituted a hidden profile. The results supported all our hypotheses, except for the one relating to virtuality.
ChIP-seq guidelines and practices of the ENCODE and modENCODE consortia

Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) followed by high-throughput DNA sequencing (ChIP-seq) has become a valuable and widely used approach for mapping the genomic location of transcription-factor binding and histone modifications in living cells. Despite its widespread use, there are considerable differences in how these experiments are conducted, how the results are scored and evaluated for quality, and how the data and metadata are archived for public use. These practices affect the quality and utility of any global ChIP experiment. Through our experience in performing ChIP-seq experiments, the ENCODE and modENCODE consortia have developed a set of working standards and guidelines for ChIP experiments that are updated routinely. The current guidelines address antibody validation, experimental replication, sequencing depth, data and metadata reporting, and data quality assessment. We discuss how ChIP quality, assessed in these ways, affects different uses of ChIP-seq data. All data sets used in the analysis have been deposited for public viewing and downloading at the ENCODE (http://encodeproject.org/ENCODE/) and modENCODE (http://www.modencode.org/) portals.
Analysis of Morphology and Gait Function After Intraarticular Calcaneal Fracture

Summary: Open reduction and internal fixation is suggested by an increasing number of investigators as preferable treatment of displaced intraarticular calcaneal fractures. Assuming that quasianatomical reduction coincides with adequate function, many surgeons rely on morphological parameters (standard radiography, computed tomography) to demonstrate the effectiveness of surgery by achieving an optimum restoration of calcaneal geometry and joint surfaces. In order to correlate morphologic parameters and functional assessment, a prospective study was performed on 45 patients after surgical treatment of intraarticular calcaneal fractures using standard radiographic and computed tomographic scores, clinical evaluation, and gait analysis (dynamic pedography). Mean follow-up time after reconstruction was 23 months (range 18–50). Although clinical evaluation and assessment of gait function corresponded well with each other, radiographic scores showed a poor to moderate correlation with functional evaluation (r = 0.29–0.62); this was probably due to the missing analysis of soft tissue parameters. The comparison of clinical results and gait parameters with the individual radiographical parameters allowed us to identify those factors, with the greatest influence seen on the functional prognosis (i.e., calcaneal width, arthrosis in the neighboring joints). Morphologic analysis after calcaneal reconstruction based on radiographic techniques cannot predict subsequent function or substitute for functional assessment. However, it does allow for practical conclusions for surgical strategy in primary osseous reconstruction or secondary corrections.
High-Field fMRI Reveals Brain Activation Patterns Underlying Saccade Execution in the Human Superior Colliculus

Background The superior colliculus (SC) has been shown to play a crucial role in the initiation and coordination of eye- and head-movements. The knowledge about the function of this structure is mainly based on single-unit recordings in animals with relatively few neuroimaging studies investigating eye-movement related brain activity in humans. Methodology/Principal Findings The present study employed high-field (7 Tesla) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate SC responses during endogenously cued saccades in humans. In response to centrally presented instructional cues, subjects either performed saccades away from (centrifugal) or towards (centripetal) the center of straight gaze or maintained fixation at the center position. Compared to central fixation, the execution of saccades elicited hemodynamic activity within a network of cortical and subcortical areas that included the SC, lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), occipital cortex, striatum, and the pulvinar. Conclusions/Significance Activity in the SC was enhanced contralateral to the direction of the saccade (i.e., greater activity in the right as compared to left SC during leftward saccades and vice versa) during both centrifugal and centripetal saccades, thereby demonstrating that the contralateral predominance for saccade execution that has been shown to exist in animals is also present in the human SC. In addition, centrifugal saccades elicited greater activity in the SC than did centripetal saccades, while also being accompanied by an enhanced deactivation within the prefrontal default-mode network. This pattern of brain activity might reflect the reduced processing effort required to move the eyes toward as compared to away from the center of straight gaze, a position that might serve as a spatial baseline in which the retinotopic and craniotopic reference frames are aligned.
Empowering users against sidejacking attacks

SideJacking occurs when an attacker intercepts a session cookie and uses it to impersonate a user and gain unauthorized access to a web-based service. To prevent SideJacking, a server should enable HTTPS and configure all session cookies to only be transmitted over a secure link. Many websites do not do this, however, and the user may be unaware. In this work we present a Firefox extension that will allow users to quickly and easily determine whether the server they are visiting is susceptible to SideJacking attacks.
Serum anti-Müllerian hormone expression in women with premature ovarian failure.

BACKGROUND Premature ovarian failure (POF) is generally irreversible. However, developing follicles up to the antral stage are reported in POF and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) might be a good indicator of follicular presence. This study analysed serum AMH, ovarian histology and AMH immunoexpression in POF patients. METHODS A cross-sectional study of 48 POF patients in an Endocrinology Department setting. Patients had an ovarian biopsy simultaneously with serum AMH sampling and/or ovarian AMH immunostaining. RESULTS Mean serum AMH was 1.04 +/- 1.66 ng/ml. Serum AMH was significantly higher in women with 15 or more follicles at ovarian histology (P = 0.001). Comparison of ovarian AMH immunostaining from POF patients and 10 normal controls revealed a normal AMH expression in POF pre-antral follicles, but a decreased expression at the early antral stages. Serum AMH was undetectable in 77% of the patients with 0-5 AMH immunopositive follicles and detectable in 100% of the patients with more than 15 AMH immunopositive follicles. CONCLUSIONS AMH levels in POF patients could identify women with persistent follicles. The decrease of AMH immunoexpression in POF antral follicles could suggest a defect of antral development.
The parenting styles of divorced fathers and their predictors

Research on paternal parenting after divorce indicated that children benefit from authoritative parenting. Fathers are not equally likely to be authoritative. Research on differences in divorced fathers’ parenting styles remains underdeveloped. We sought to address this gap, investigating the predictors of paternal parenting styles following divorce. First, latent class analysis was utilized to derive parenting styles for divorced fathers. Second, predictors of these styles were investigated with multinomial logistic regression. Analyses examined Belgian data on 404 children (49.01% girls) and their parents. Results reveal that important predictors include not only father and child characteristics but also mother characteristics and divorce-related characteristics. The findings therefore lend support to the idea of studying paternal parenting following divorce within a multilateral family framework.