Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Fixation Disparity Curve with the Modified Near Mallett Unit and the Wesson Fixation Disparity Card in Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Subjects

Purpose: The purpose of this study is the evaluation of fixation disparity curve (FDC) parameters with an instrument that includes a central fusion lock (the modified near Mallett unit) and another without one (the Wesson fixation disparity card) to determine which is useful for diagnosis of symptomatic from asymptomatic subjects. Materials and Methods: In this analytical-descriptive study, 100 students were selected randomly and divided into symptomatic and asymptomatic groups. FDC parameters were determined with the Wesson card and the modified near Mallett unit for each subject and compared in symptomatic and asymptomatic groups. Data were analyzed by Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney U, Spearman correlation coefficient and Chi-square tests. Results: The mean slope, y-intercept, and x-intercept with the Mallett unit and the Wesson card were significantly different in the symptomatic and asymptomatic groups (p < 0.001). Significant correlations were obtained between the Mallett unit and the Wesson card in y-intercept, x-intercept and slope (p < 0.001). There was a significant difference in the distributions of fixation disparity curve types in the two symptom groups with the Mallett unit (p = 0.01) and the Wesson card (p = 0.002) by Chi-square test. Conclusions: Among symptomatic participants in this study, both Type I and Type III FD are more common than previously thought, but depend upon the method used to measure it. The x-intercepts were on average displaced in the base-in direction, y-intercepts were shifted in the exo direction, and the slopes were steeper with the Wesson FD card compared with the modified near Mallett unit. This may be related to the design of two devices. These differences were more significant in the symptomatic group.
ncertainty , task environment , and organization design : An empirical nvestigation vner

The paper addresses two broad research questions: 1. How do internal uncertainty associated with the task environment and external uncertainty arising from market volatility impact organization design? 2. What are the relationships among various elements of organization design: delegation of decision-making, incentives, monitoring, and internal labor market practices (promotion, training, employment security)? We expand on Prendergast (2002a), who challenged the conventional view of a tradeoff between risk and incentives, and build a single unified framework for answering our two research questions. Using a uniquely rich dataset that contains detailed information about the task environment of core employees and organization design at the individual, group and firms levels in 530 Minnesota firms in the mid 1990s, we first find support for Prendergast’s key argument that internal uncertainty (over which employees have control) affects directly the allocation of decision-making and only indirectly incentives (via allocation of decision-making). This confirms similar findings by Foss and Laursen (2005), DeVaro and Kurtulus (2010) and Shi (2011). We also find that internal uncertainty has much impact on organization design through the choice of delegation of decision-making at the employee level, less so at the group level, and very little at the firm level, whereas external (market) uncertainty has little effect on organization design, especially at the individual and group level. Decision-making, monitoring, various internal labor market practices and incentives are strongly related to each other through substitution and complementarity. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Magnetoviscoelasticity parametric model of an MR elastomer vibration mitigation device

Both experimental and modeling studies of magnetic field induced viscoelastic properties of magnetorheological (MR) elastomers under different loading cases are discussed. Anisotropic MR elastomer (MRE) samples with different concentrations of carbonyl iron powder, natural rubber and additives are fabricated and four MRE vibration mitigation devices are manufactured to investigate the dynamic viscoelastic properties of MREs under varying magnetic fields, displacement amplitudes and frequencies in the shear mode. The characteristics of the dynamic properties of the MRE devices are obtained in terms of the experimentally determined shear storage modulus and loss factor. These results demonstrate that the MREs exhibit variable stiffness and damping properties. Based on the studies of properties of viscoelastic materials and the experimental results of MREs, a parameter model is proposed to describe MRE performances. The four parameters under various working conditions, such as magnetic field, displacement amplitude and frequency, are identified by using the Matlab optimization algorithm. Comparisons between experimental and numerical results are discussed, and the results show that the proposed parameter model can describe the performances of MRE devices very well.
Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, monoclonal B‐lymphocytosis and pregnancy: five cases, a literature review and discussion of management

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) occurs rarely with pregnancy and monoclonal B‐Lymphocytosis (MBL) has not previously been described in this setting. CLL is predominantly a disease of the elderly and affects men twice as often as women and hence only an estimated 2% of patients are females of childbearing age. We identified only five reported cases of CLL in pregnancy in the literature. We describe two additional cases, plus three other women with CLL dealing with pregnancy‐related decisions. We review the literature and discuss proposals for management and issues that arise in this relatively uncommon occurrence. In contrast to many other haematological malignancies where longer remissions are typically associated with a lower risk of relapse, most patients with CLL who require treatment will ultimately relapse with current therapy. This complex setting requires careful consideration and well informed patients to assist with decisions related to pregnancy.
Efficacy of infectious bronchitis virus vaccinations in the field: association between the α-IBV IgM response, protection and vaccine application parameters

Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is, in spite of vaccination, still a major cause of respiratory problems in broilers and of poor egg production in breeders and layers in many parts of the world. A possible cause of the insufficient protection induced by vaccination is an inadequate application of the vaccine. This paper reports the results of two field studies. In the first, the results of the α-IBV IgM enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) on post-vaccination sera were compared with the efficacy of the IBV vaccination against homologous challenge of the same broilers. The results showed that groups with at least 50% positive sera in the IgM ELISA at 10 days post vaccination had a high level of protection against challenge. Most groups of broilers with a low level of IgM ELISA positives had a low or moderate level of protection against challenge. In a second field study, the IgM response to IBV vaccination was compared with detailed information of the vaccination process of 360 spray-vaccinated flocks of about 2-week-old broilers, layer pullets, broiler breeders and broiler grandparents. The information included parameters such as flock size, type of chicken, housing, age of the chicken, application route, vaccine, dose, water quantity and temperature, ventilation and light management, combination with other vaccines and temperature of the house. The aim was to identify factors that might be associated positively or negatively with the IgM response and thereby with the expected level of protection against homologous challenge under field conditions. Significant associations were detected between the level of IgM response and factors regarding type of bird, flock size, housing type, ventilation management, light management, age/interval of vaccination, interval between vaccination and blood sampling, and temperature of the water that was used to reconstitute the vaccine. This knowledge can be useful to improve the average efficacy of IBV vaccination in the field.
Systematic Stroke Prevention

Purpose of Review: This review summarizes the systematic approaches that can be used to optimize secondary stroke prevention. Systematic secondary stroke prevention involves not only prescribing stroke patients the appropriate medications to manage risk factors, but also optimizing the effectiveness of those drugs by focusing on medication adherence. Medication adherence is defined as the extent to which patients take their medications as prescribed by their providers. Recent Findings: Many potential barriers to adherence exist, including relationships among patient, provider, and the health system. Medication reconciliation at discharge and early follow-up are steps that may increase medication adherence, decrease medication errors, and improve the transition to home. In addition, inclusion of the primary provider or stroke specialist in decisions regarding the management of antithrombotic therapy for procedures is important, as discontinuing these medications is often associated with recurrent ischemic events. Summary: Prevention of recurrent stroke should be a priority for patients, caregivers, providers, and health systems. Medication-taking behavior should be considered from all of these perspectives in order to optimize adherence.
Competitive Training of Mixtures of Independent Deep Generative Models

A common assumption in causal modeling posits that the data is generated by a set of independent mechanisms, and algorithms should aim to recover this structure. Standard unsupervised learning, however, is often concerned with training a single model to capture the overall distribution or aspects thereof. Inspired by clustering approaches, we consider mixtures of implicit generative models that ``disentangle'' the independent generative mechanisms underlying the data. Relying on an additional set of discriminators, we propose a competitive training procedure in which the models only need to capture the portion of the data distribution from which they can produce realistic samples. As a by-product, each model is simpler and faster to train. We empirically show that our approach splits the training distribution in a sensible way and increases the quality of the generated samples.
Oxygen Permeability through Internal Oxidation Zone in Fe-Cr Alloys under Dry and Humid Conditions at 973 and 1 073 K

Internal oxidation of Fe–Cr alloys were investigated in dry and humid atmospheres at temperatures of 973 and 1073 K in order to clarify the effect of humidity on the oxygen permeability in internal oxidation zone. The oxygen partial pressure in the chamber was fixed by Fe/FeO powder mixture. The calculated oxygen permeability increases linearly with increasing Cr concentration in the alloys, both at 973 and 1073 K. Moreover, the presence of humidity enhanced the oxygen permeability compared with that under dry condition. The oxygen permeability through IOZ in humid atmosphere is larger than that in dry atmosphere as a factor of 1.2.
Trabecular bone in the bird knee responds with high sensitivity to changes in load orientation

SUMMARY Wolff's law of trajectorial orientation proposes that trabecular struts align with the orientation of dominant compressive loads within a joint. Although widely considered in skeletal biology, Wolff's law has never been experimentally tested while controlling for ontogenetic stage, activity level, and species differences, all factors that may affect trabecular bone growth. Here we report an experimental test of Wolff's law using a within-species design in age-matched subjects experiencing physiologically normal levels of bone strain. Two age-matched groups of juvenile guinea fowl Numida meleagris ran on a treadmill set at either 0° (Level group) or 20° (Incline group), for 10 min per day over a 45-day treatment period. Birds running on the 20° inclined treadmill used more-flexed knees than those in the Level group at midstance (the point of peak ground reaction force). This difference in joint posture enabled us to test the sensitivity of trabecular alignment to altered load orientation in the knee. Using a new radon transform-based method for measuring trabecular orientation, our analysis shows that the fine trabecular bone in the distal femur has a high degree of correspondence between changes in joint angle and trabecular orientation. The sensitivity of this response supports the prediction that trabecular bone adapts dynamically to the orientation of peak compressive forces.
Textile Concentric Ring Electrodes for ECG Recording Based on Screen-Printing Technology

Among many of the electrode designs used in electrocardiography (ECG), concentric ring electrodes (CREs) are one of the most promising due to their enhanced spatial resolution. Their development has undergone a great push due to their use in recent years; however, they are not yet widely used in clinical practice. CRE implementation in textiles will lead to a low cost, flexible, comfortable, and robust electrode capable of detecting high spatial resolution ECG signals. A textile CRE set has been designed and developed using screen-printing technology. This is a mature technology in the textile industry and, therefore, does not require heavy investments. Inks employed as conductive elements have been silver and a conducting polymer (poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate; PEDOT:PSS). Conducting polymers have biocompatibility advantages, they can be used with flexible substrates, and they are available for several printing technologies. CREs implemented with both inks have been compared by analyzing their electric features and their performance in detecting ECG signals. The results reveal that silver CREs present a higher average thickness and slightly lower skin-electrode impedance than PEDOT:PSS CREs. As for ECG recordings with subjects at rest, both CREs allowed the uptake of bipolar concentric ECG signals (BC-ECG) with signal-to-noise ratios similar to that of conventional ECG recordings. Regarding the saturation and alterations of ECGs captured with textile CREs caused by intentional subject movements, silver CREs presented a more stable response (fewer saturations and alterations) than those of PEDOT:PSS. Moreover, BC-ECG signals provided higher spatial resolution compared to conventional ECG. This improved spatial resolution was manifested in the identification of P1 and P2 waves of atrial activity in most of the BC-ECG signals. It can be concluded that textile silver CREs are more suitable than those of PEDOT:PSS for obtaining BC-ECG records. These developed textile electrodes bring the use of CREs closer to the clinical environment.
Primary analysis of a prospective, randomized, single-blinded phase II trial evaluating the HER2 peptide GP2 vaccine in breast cancer patients to prevent recurrence

GP2 is a HER2-derived, HLA-A2+ restricted peptide. Phase I studies showed GP2 administered with GM-CSF to be safe and immunogenic. Here we report the primary analysis of a prospective, randomized, multicenter phase II adjuvant trial conducted to determine the vaccine's efficacy. The trial enrolled HLA-A2+, clinically disease-free, node-positive and high-risk node-negative breast cancer patients with tumors expressing HER2 (immunohistochemistry[IHC] 1+-3+). Patients were randomized to GP2+GM-CSF versus GM-CSF alone. Disease-free survival (DFS) was analyzed in intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-treatment cohorts; pre-specified subgroup analyses were performed for patients with IHC 3+ or FISH+ disease. The trial enrolled 180 patients; 89 received GP2+GM-CSF and 91 received GM-CSF alone. The groups were well-matched for clinicopathologic characteristics. Toxicities have been minimal. The Kaplan-Meier estimated 5-year DFS rate in the ITT analyses was 88% (95% CI:78-94%) in vaccinated vs. 81% (95% CI:69-89%) (P = 0.43) in control patients after a 34 month median follow-up. In the per-treatment analysis, the estimated 5-year DFS rates were 94% (95% CI:83-98%) and 85% (73-92%) (P = 0.17). In IHC 3+/FISH+ patients, the estimated 5-year DFS rate was 94% (82-98%) in vaccinated patients (n = 51) vs. 89% (71-96%) in control patients (n = 50), (P = 0.86) in the ITT analyses and 100% vs. 89% (71-96%) in vaccinated vs. control patients in the per-treatment analyses (P = 0.08). While the overall ITT analysis did not demonstrate benefit to vaccination, this trial confirmed that the GP2 vaccine is safe and suggests that vaccination may have clinical activity, particularly in patients with HER2 overexpression who received the full vaccine series (ie per-treatment group).
Corrosion of epoxy-coated reinforcement in marine bridges with locally deficient concrete

Epoxy-coated rebar (ECR) has been used in approximately 300 Florida bridges, in an attempt to control corrosion of the substructure in the splash-evaporation zone. Early severe ECR corrosion was observed in the substructure of several Florida ECR bridges (Group 1) where the substructure was built with permeable concrete of high apparent chloride diffusivity DApp. Other ECR bridges built during the same period and having similar DApp were projected to show corrosion damage starting on the following decade. Examination of several of those bridges (Group 2) confirmed that projection. Other recently examined Florida ECR bridges (Groups 3 and 4) were built with very low to moderate permeability concrete having correspondingly low to moderate DApp values at normally sound concrete locations. Those bridges were projected not to show early corrosion at normal locations and that projection has also been confirmed. However, some incidence of thin structural cracks exists affecting a small fraction of the substructure. Chloride transport there is much faster than through the matrix in otherwise low permeability concrete and work has confirmed that early corrosion can develop there. A predictive ECR corrosion model was applied that replicated most of the damage function features observed in the field. The model divides the substructure in separate elements with individual chloride exposure, concrete permeability, concrete rebar cover, and extent of ECR coating imperfections. Additionally, a model for projecting impact of preexisting cracking on corrosion damage was developed. The projections indicate that relatively isolated cracking should only create topical concrete damage with reduced maintenance requirements. However, model projections indicated that even though assuming that the incidence of damage is limited to a small region around the crack, if the crack orientation with respect to the rebar were adverse and chloride transport were greatly enhanced (as it could be expected in relatively wide cracks), corrosion damage from localized concrete deficiencies could significantly increase maintenance costs. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) measurements of ECR in extracted cores showed good potential for non destructive characterization of the extent of coating damage. A possible method accounting for frequency dispersion effects in the high frequency response (of importance to assess extent of defects) was introduced.
How Functional Is Moringa oleifera? A Review of Its Nutritive, Medicinal, and Socioeconomic Potential

Moringa oleifera is an important tropical food plant that seems to have great nutritional, therapeutic, industrial, agricultural, and socioeconomic value. Dietary consumption of its parts and preparations is encouraged by several organizations, health food enthusiasts, and other specialists as a strategy of personal health preservation and self-medication in the treatment of various diseases. Studies extoling its ability to mitigate various degenerative ailments now exist in both the scientific and the popular literature. At face value, and considering the volume of reports available, much of this enthusiasm seems to be indeed justified. However, it is imperative to distinguish rigorous scientific evidence from anecdote. To achieve this, relevant experimental and review articles were sought and read critically to identify recent patterns and trends on this subject matter. Studies on the medicinal and functional properties of M. oleifera are available from various parts of the world, especially developing regions. Attempts have been made to parse the contemporary scientific data available supporting the claims regarding the phytochemical, nutritive, medicinal, environmental, agricultural, and socioeconomic capabilities of this plant. Studies reviewed provide compelling, albeit preliminary experimental evidence of therapeutic potential of the plant. It is important that M. oleifera products and preparations be properly chemically characterized and standardized before being administered.
Parental Self-Efficacy: A Concept Analysis Related to Teen Parenting and Implications for School Nurses

Levels of parental self-efficacy are correlated with both positive and negative care delivery and developmental outcomes for parents and their infants. School nurses are in a unique position to facilitate parenting self-efficacy in teen parents. Using the concept analysis framework of Walker and Avant, parental self-efficacy is analyzed and elucidated to distinguish the concept’s defining attributes, antecedents, consequences, and empirical referents. The operational definition of parental self-efficacy arising from this concept review is an individual’s belief that he or she is capable of integrating and executing the knowledge and skills necessary to parent their infant. Model, borderline, related, and contrary cases are presented, along with implications for school nursing practice. School nurses are ideally situated to assist teen parents with parental self-efficacy realization tasks.
Outcomes after ischemic stroke for hospitals with and without Joint Commission–certified primary stroke centers

Background: The Joint Commission (JC) began certifying primary stroke centers (PSCs) in the United States in 2003. We assessed whether 30-day risk-standardized mortality (RSMR) and readmission (RSRR) rates differed between hospitals with and without JC-certified PSCs in 2006. Methods: The study cohort included all fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries ≥65 years old discharged with a primary diagnosis of ischemic stroke (International Classification of Diseases, ninth revision, Clinical Modification 433, 434, 436) in 2006. Hierarchical linear regression models calculated hospital-level RSMRs and RSRRs, adjusting for patient demographics, comorbid conditions, and hospital referral region. Hospitals were categorized as being higher than, no different from, or lower than the national average. Results: There were 310,381 ischemic stroke discharges from 315 JC-certified PSC and 4,231 noncertified hospitals. Mean overall 30-day RSMR and RSRR were 10.9% ± 1.7% and 12.5% ± 1.4%, respectively. The RSMRs of hospitals with JC-certified PSCs were lower than in noncertified hospitals (10.7% ± 1.7% vs 11.0% ± 1.7%), but the RSRRs were comparable (12.5% ± 1.3% vs 12.4% ± 1.7%). Almost half of JC-certified PSC hospitals had RSMRs lower than the national average compared with 19% of noncertified hospitals, but 13% of JC-certified PSC hospitals had lower RSRRs vs 15% of noncertified hospitals. Conclusions: Hospitals with JC-certified PSCs had lower RSMRs compared with noncertified hospitals in 2006; however, differences were small. Readmission rates were similar between the 2 groups. PSC certification generally identified better-performing hospitals for mortality outcomes, but some hospitals with certified PSCs may have high RSMRs and RSRRs whereas some hospitals without PSCs have low rates. Unmeasured factors may contribute to this heterogeneity.