Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lamellar Corneal Lenticule Graft to Treat Keratolysis after Alphacor Keratoprosthesis Implantation

Purpose Clinical assessment of AlphaCor keratoprosthesis and evaluation of surgical method to treat keratolysis in case of stromal necrosis occurrence. Methods This is a noncomparative, retrospective, interventional case series. The medical records of 12 eyes of 12 patients who underwent consecutive AlphaCor keratoprosthesis implantations were reviewed. Patients with severe bilateral corneal pathology unsuitable for a conventional corneal graft, a best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) from light perception (LP) to 20/200, with no active ocular surface inflammation, controlled intraocular pressure prior to the surgery, and an unstimulated Schirmer test of >2.5 mm at 5 minutes were included. Postoperative medications included topical dexamethasone, ciprofloxacin, and 2% cyclosporine A. Main outcome measures included BCVA and complications occurrence. Results After a mean follow-up of 25 ± 12.3 months (range 2-38 months), 8 (66.7%) AlphaCor devices were retained. Postoperative BCVA ranged from LP to 20/63 (mean gain of 2.5 ± 3.1 lines). Seven cases of stromal melt (58.3%) occurred. Three were reversed to penetrating keratoplasty and 3 had a donor corneal layer fixated over the AlphaCor with satisfactory results (mean follow-up 23 ± 1.6 months). There were no instances of endophthalmitis, retinal detachment, or glaucoma exacerbation. Conclusions AlphaCor showed a low incidence of the classic keratoprosthesis complications but a high occurrence of recipient cornea necrosis. Corneal melts were successfully managed in 3 cases by lamellar corneal lenticule graft, thereby increasing the retention of AlphaCor and maintaining BCVA.
The Relationship between Organizational Climate and Employee Perceptions of Involvement

One of the key factors that may influence employees’ perceptions of involvement is organizational climate. This article examines the relationship between employee perceptions of involvement and organizational climate. Data were collected using a survey of 269 employees of an information technology company. The authors argue that employee involvement is composed of three essential variables, namely, participation in decision making, teamwork, and communications. Three hierarchical regression analyses were carried out with each of the employee perception of involvement variables as dependent variables. Employee demographic data, employee affective attitudes (job satisfaction, commitment, and stress), and three dimensions of organizational climate (bureaucracy, innovation, and support) were entered into the regression analyses. The results showed that supportive climates and commitment significantly predicted each of the employee involvement variables. The results are related to current research literature on organizational climate and involvement, and the implications for managers are discussed.
Formation and release of arrestin domain-containing protein 1-mediated microvesicles (ARMMs) at plasma membrane by recruitment of TSG101 protein

Mammalian cells are capable of delivering multiple types of membrane capsules extracellularly. The limiting membrane of late endosomes can fuse with the plasma membrane, leading to the extracellular release of multivesicular bodies (MVBs), initially contained within the endosomes, as exosomes. Budding viruses exploit the TSG101 protein and endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) machinery used for MVB formation to mediate the egress of viral particles from host cells. Here we report the discovery of a virus-independent cellular process that generates microvesicles that are distinct from exosomes and which, like budding viruses, are produced by direct plasma membrane budding. Such budding is driven by a specific interaction of TSG101 with a tetrapeptide PSAP motif of an accessory protein, arrestin domain-containing protein 1 (ARRDC1), which we show is localized to the plasma membrane through its arrestin domain. This interaction results in relocation of TSG101 from endosomes to the plasma membrane and mediates the release of microvesicles that contain TSG101, ARRDC1, and other cellular proteins. Unlike exosomes, which are derived from MVBs, ARRDC1-mediated microvesicles (ARMMs) lack known late endosomal markers. ARMMs formation requires VPS4 ATPase and is enhanced by the E3 ligase WWP2, which interacts with and ubiquitinates ARRDC1. ARRDC1 protein discharged into ARMMs was observed in co-cultured cells, suggesting a role for ARMMs in intercellular communication. Our findings reveal an intrinsic cellular mechanism that results in direct budding of microvesicles from the plasma membrane, providing a formal paradigm for the evolutionary recruitment of ESCRT proteins in the release of budding viruses.
The Metaphor–Metonymy Relationship: Correlation Metaphors Are Based on Metonymy

Do metonymies play any role in the emergence of metaphors? There is a debate between scholars who suggest that many metaphors are based on, or derive from, metonymies, versus those who do not see such connection between the two. “Resemblance metaphors” do not seem to have anything to do with metonymy. However, in the case of “correlation metaphors” (see, e.g., Grady, 1997a, 1997b, 1999; Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, 1999), several researchers argue that metaphors arise from, and are not independent of, metonymies. My specific proposal in the article is that correlation-based metaphors emerge from frame-like mental representations through a metonymic stage. I suggest this happens when one of the elements of a frame-like mental structure is generalized (schematized) to a concept that lies outside the initial frame in a different part of the conceptual system. The generalization process leads to sufficient conceptual distance between the initial and the new frame on which metaphors can be based.
Second derivatives of norms and contractive complementation in vector-valued spaces

We consider 1-complemented subspaces (ranges of contractive projections) of vector-valued spaces l(p)(X), where X is a Banach space with a 1-unconditional basis and p is an element of (1,2) boolean OR (2, infinity). If the norm of X is twice continuously differentiable and satisfies certain conditions connecting the norm and the notion of disjointness with respect to the basis, then we prove that every 1-complemented subspace of l(p)(X) admits a basis of mutually disjoint elements. Moreover, we show that every contractive projection is then an averaging operator. We apply our results to the space l(p)(l(q)) with p,q is an element of (1,2) boolean OR (2, infinity) and obtain a complete characterization of its 1-complemented subspaces.
Recurring Patterns: Emily Bronte's Neurosis in Wuthering Heights

Attempts to present a rational explanation of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights have been a growing concern since its publication in 1847. The abundant, yet incoherent, interpretations of Wuthering Heights , make the need for this research timely. This article focuses on ways to achieve a truer and more rational interpretation of the novel. The study indicates that in order to solve the enigma of the novel, the conscious and unconscious thoughts of the author, performing within the text, have to be discovered. The research approach adopted in this study is what is referred to as psychobiography or the Freudian psychoanalytic criticism. The findings of this research underline that Emily Bronte grew up in an oppressive milieu, and she compulsively created phantasy worlds within which she continuously repeated certain patterns. The main conclusion to be drawn from this article is that Emily Bronte was a neurotic person whose unconscious obsessions are projected in Wuthering Heights.
Parcae: a system for flexible parallel execution

Workload, platform, and available resources constitute a parallel program's execution environment. Most parallelization efforts statically target an anticipated range of environments, but performance generally degrades outside that range. Existing approaches address this problem with dynamic tuning but do not optimize a multiprogrammed system holistically. Further, they either require manual programming effort or are limited to array-based data-parallel programs. This paper presents Parcae, a generally applicable automatic system for platform-wide dynamic tuning. Parcae includes (i) the Nona compiler, which creates flexible parallel programs whose tasks can be efficiently reconfigured during execution; (ii) the Decima monitor, which measures resource availability and system performance to detect change in the environment; and (iii) the Morta executor, which cuts short the life of executing tasks, replacing them with other functionally equivalent tasks better suited to the current environment. Parallel programs made flexible by Parcae outperform original parallel implementations in many interesting scenarios.
Immigrant Health through the Lens of Home Visitors, Supervisors, and Administrators: The Florida Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program

OBJECTIVE The Florida Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program aims to minimize the occurrence of adverse maternal and child health outcomes for mothers deemed at-risk during pregnancy or shortly after childbirth. This study sought to understand the needs of and challenges faced by immigrant families in accessing health care through the perspective of Florida MIECHV home visitors, supervisors, and administrators. DESIGN AND SAMPLE In this exploratory qualitative study, focus groups were held at each of the Florida MIECHV-funded program sites with a total of 81 MIECHV staff to discuss how the program addresses a range of participant needs. MEASURES Data were collected through 32 semi-structured focus groups. Transcripts were analyzed using a hybrid approach entailing the development of an a priori codebook and thematic analysis. RESULTS Staff from eight of the 11 programs described social and physical isolation and economic hardship faced by immigrant families enrolled in their programs, resulting in barriers to needed health care and social services. CONCLUSIONS Home visitors in the Florida MIECHV program served as trusted confidants that helped families navigate social services. Future research should focus on the impact that home visiting has on immigrant health and whether this impact is maintained over time.
Change and the practices of actors in civil society: towards an interpretivist exploration of agency in third sector scholarship

A profound reshaping of the relationship between the third sector and state and non-state actors in the new welfare spaces after the economic crash poses questions about how these spaces are co-constructed by actors within them. Third sector scholarship has typically sought to address these questions as if third sector organisations were injured parties being compelled to adapt to survive, and this is matched by a lack of theoretical and empirical attention to the active role played by third sector organisations in constructing these spaces. This article offers a critique of a third sector paradigm for being too rooted in rational actor and historical institutionalism, too focused on organisational adaptation to existing norms and too passive. It argues for a radically decentred interpretivist methodology that will capture the intense struggle over meaning that constitutes civil society and in which third sector narratives are themselves rhetorical weapons.
Behaviour‐related DRD4 polymorphisms in invasive bird populations

It has been suggested that individual behavioural traits influence the potential to successfully colonize new areas. Identifying the genetic basis of behavioural variation in invasive species thus represents an important step towards understanding the evolutionary potential of the invader. Here, we sequenced a candidate region for neophilic/neophobic and activity behaviour – the complete exon 3 of the DRD4 gene – in 100 Yellow‐crowned bishops (Euplectes afer) from two invasive populations in Spain and Portugal. The same birds were scored twice for activity behaviour while exposed to novel objects (battery or slice of apple) in captivity. Response to novel objects was repeatable (r = 0.41) within individuals. We identified two synonymous DRD4 SNPs that explained on average between 11% and 15% of the phenotypic variance in both populations, indicating a clear genetic component to the neophilic/neophobic/activity personality axis in this species. This consistently high estimated effect size was mainly due to the repeated measurement design, which excludes part of the within‐individual nongenetic variance in the response to different novel objects. We suggest that the alternative alleles of these SNPs are likely introduced from the original population and maintained by weak or antagonistic selection during different stages of the invasion process. The identified genetic variants have not only the potential to serve as genetic markers of the neophobic/neophilic/activity personality axis, but may also help to understand the evolution of behaviour in these invasive bird populations.
Undifferentiated embryonic cell transcription factor 1 (UTF1) and deleted in azoospermia‐like (DAZL) expression in the testes of donkeys

Putative markers for each specific germ cell stage can be a useful tool to study the fate and functions of these cells. Undifferentiated embryonic cell transcription factor 1 (UTF1) is a putative marker for undifferentiated spermatogonia in humans, rats and horses. The deleted in azoospermia-like (DAZL) protein is also expressed by differentiated spermatogonia and primary spermatocytes in several species. However, whether the expression patterns of these molecular markers are identical and applicable to donkeys remains to be elucidated. The objective of this study was to investigate the expression patterns of UTF1 and DAZL in donkey testicular tissue, using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Testicular samples were collected from routine field castration of donkeys in Korea. The reproductive stages (pre- or post-puberty) of the testes were determined from the morphological characteristics of cross-sections of the seminiferous tubules. For IHC, the UTF1 and DAZL primary antibodies were diluted at 1:100 and 1:200, respectively. The immunolabelling revealed that UTF1 was expressed in approximately 50% of spermatogonia in the pre-pubertal stage, whereas its expression was limited to an early subset of spermatogonia in the post-pubertal stage. DAZL was expressed in some, but not all, spermatogonia in the pre-pubertal spermatogonia, and interestingly, its expression was also observed in spermatogonia and primary spermatocytes in the post-pubertal stage. Co-immunolabelling of the germ cells with both UTF1 and DAZL revealed three types of protein expression patterns at both reproductive stages, namely UTF1 only, DAZL only and both UTF1 and DAZL. These protein molecules were not expressed in Sertoli and Leydig cells. In conclusion, a co-immunolabelling system with UTF1 and DAZL antibodies may be used to identify undifferentiated (UTF1 only), differentiating (UTF1 and DAZL), and differentiated spermatogonia (DAZL only) in donkey testes.
Zen and the art of sex: examining associations among mindfulness, sexual satisfaction, and relationship satisfaction in dating relationships

The purpose of the present study was to examine the links among the five facets of trait mindfulness, sexual satisfaction, and relationship satisfaction in dating relationships. Three hundred and twenty-two individuals in a current dating relationship completed measures of trait mindfulness, sexual satisfaction, and relationship satisfaction. Results of path analyses indicated that sexual satisfaction fully mediated the associations between the Observing (PE = .08, CI = [.02, .15]) and Nonjudging of Inner Experience (PE = .11, CI = [.03, .19]) facets of mindfulness and relationship satisfaction. In contrast, the three remaining facets of mindfulness (Describing, Acting with Awareness, and Nonreactivity to Inner Experience) were not related to sexual satisfaction or relationship satisfaction. These results suggest that attending to and noticing (but refraining from evaluating) internal and external stimuli may contribute to greater relationship satisfaction specifically by increasing sexual satisfaction with one's partner. Furthermore, findings from the current study provide empirical support for the link between mindfulness and sexual satisfaction in dating relationships and suggest that they may jointly contribute to relationship satisfaction, thus indicating an important area for future research and suggesting a potential target for relationship education and intervention efforts.
Having One's Cake and Being Eaten too: Irish Neo-liberal Corporatism

This paper argues that neo-liberal globalization has neither homogenized Ireland's institutional social economy nor forced a retreat into an Irish cultural fortress. Instead, the elite community of Irish social partners responded to its own national crisis, American led globalization and European integration by taking the country in two apparently contradictory directions at once: towards European neo-corporatism and Anglo-American neo-liberalism. In so doing, they refashioned Ireland's liberal corporatist welfare state into a new form of Irish neo-liberal corporatism symbolically situated between Boston, Berlin and London. However, it is unclear if the internal tensions generated within Irish society by this attempt to reconcile apparent contradictions, and the changing external environment, will allow the Irish to continue having their cake and eating it too.
Isolation prevalence of pulmonary non-tuberculous mycobacteria in Ontario, 1997–2003

Background: The prevalence of pulmonary non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infection is reportedly increasing. A study was undertaken of the “isolation prevalence” of pulmonary NTM in Ontario, Canada between 1997 and 2003 and the frequency of pulmonary NTM “disease”. Methods: In a retrospective cohort, the “isolation prevalence” was studied by reviewing all positive NTM culture results from the Tuberculosis and Mycobacteriology Laboratory, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care in Toronto from 1997 to 2003. This laboratory identifies at least 90% of NTM isolates in Ontario, Canada. Prevalence was compared between years using a negative binomial model. To study the frequency of “disease” (defined by American Thoracic Society criteria), the records of patients who had an isolate in 2003 and had been assessed at our hospital were reviewed. Results: 22 247 pulmonary isolates were obtained from 10 231 patients. The “isolation prevalence” of all species (excluding Mycobacterium gordonae) was 9.1/100 000 in 1997, rising to 14.1/100 000 by 2003 (p<0.0001) with a mean annual increase of 8.4%. Similar increases were observed for individual species. 200 patients assessed at our institution were studied using American Thoracic Society criteria for “disease”. Microbiological criteria were fulfilled by 37%. Of patients with adequate data, 74% fulfilled clinical criteria, 77% fulfilled radiological criteria and 33% fulfilled all criteria. Conclusions: The “isolation prevalence” of pulmonary NTM has significantly and rapidly increased in Ontario; a sizeable proportion of patients are likely to have “disease”.
ALGORITHM FOR CONVEX BODIES

Given a high dimensional convex body K ⊆ IRn by a separation oracle, we can approximate its volume with relative error ε, using O(n) oracle calls. Our algorithm also brings the body into isotropic position. As all previous randomized volume algorithms, we use “rounding” followed by a multiphase Monte-Carlo (product estimator) technique. Both parts rely on sampling (generating random points in K), which is done by random walk. Our algorithm introduces three new ideas: • the use of the isotropic position (or at least an approximation of it) for rounding, • the separation of global obstructions (diameter) and local obstructions (boundary problems) for fast mixing, and • a stepwise interlacing of rounding and sampling.
Algebraic cycles on the relative symmetric powers and on the relative Jacobian of a family of curves. I

Abstract.In this paper we construct and study the actions of certain deformations of the Lie algebra of Hamiltonians on the plane on the Chow groups (resp., cohomology) of the relative symmetric powers $${\mathcal{C}}^{[\bullet]}$$ and the relative Jacobian $${\mathcal{J}}$$ of a family of curves $${\mathcal{C}}/S$$. As one of the applications, we show that in the case of a single curve C this action induces a $${\mathbb{Z}}$$-form of a Lefschetz sl2- action on the Chow groups of C[N]. Another application gives a new grading on the ring CH0(J) of 0-cycles on the Jacobian J of C (with respect to the Pontryagin product) and equips it with an action of the Lie algebra of vector fields on the line. We also define the groups of tautological classes in CH$$^{*}({\mathcal{C}}^{[\bullet]})$$ and in CH$$^{*}({\mathcal{J}})$$ and prove for them analogs of the properties established in the case of the Jacobian of a single curve by Beauville in [5]. We show that our algebras of operators preserve the subrings of tautological cycles and act on them as some explicit differential operators.
Accelerated detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis genes essential for bacterial survival in guinea pigs, compared with mice.

BACKGROUND Mouse and guinea pig models have been used to identify Mycobacterium tuberculosis mutants attenuated for survival. However, unlike mice, M. tuberculosis-infected guinea pigs form caseating granulomas, which may simulate human disease more closely. METHODS We used designer arrays for defined mutant analysis, a high-throughput subtractive competition assay, for genotypically defined M. tuberculosis mutants and compared the survival of the same mutant pools in guinea pig and mouse aerosol models. Selected mutants found to be attenuated in either aerosol model were also analyzed in the mouse hollow-fiber model. RESULTS M. tuberculosis mutants representing 74 genes were tested. Eighteen M. tuberculosis mutants were attenuated for survival in either aerosol model, with 70% of selected mutants also attenuated in the mouse hollow-fiber model. The majority of attenuated mutants in the mouse aerosol model were detected only after 90 days of infection. There was a high degree of concordance between the genes identified by the 2 aerosol models, with detection being significantly earlier in the guinea pig (P<.0003). CONCLUSIONS We identified M. tuberculosis genes required for survival in mammalian lungs. The majority of mouse late-stage survival mutants were detected significantly earlier in the guinea pig, which suggests that differences in tuberculosis-induced lung pathologic changes may account for this accelerated detection.
Impact of severity of autism and intervention time-input on child outcomes: comparison across several early interventions

In this article, written by Phil Reed and Lisa Osborne, both from Swansea University, the impact of severity of autism, and the time-input of the treatment programme, on the outcome effectiveness for four early interventions for individuals on the autism spectrum was explored. The four interventions studied were applied behaviour analysis (ABA), special nursery, an adapted portage intervention, and a local authority approach. Sixty-six children (aged from two years six months to four years) were studied over nine months, in terms of their intellectual, educational and adaptive behavioural functioning. Children undergoing the ABA approach demonstrated greater gains in functioning (especially in educational functioning). There were differences in the way that autism severity and intervention time-input impacted on the different early intervention programmes. For special nursery, portage and local authority approaches, the gains made by the children were inversely related to the severity of their autism and directly related to time-input. In contrast, the converse was true for the ABA approach. These data are discussed with respect to their implications for choosing an intervention strategy for a child on the autism spectrum.