Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Visual outcome after correcting the refractive error of large pupil patients with wavefront-guided ablation

Purpose To investigate the efficacy and predictability of wavefront-guided laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) treatments using the iris registration (IR) technology for the correction of refractive errors in patients with large pupils. Setting Horus Vision Correction Center, Alexandria, Egypt. Methods Prospective noncomparative study including a total of 52 eyes of 30 consecutive laser refractive correction candidates with large mesopic pupil diameters and myopia or myopic astigmatism. Wavefront-guided LASIK was performed in all cases using the VISX STAR S4 IR excimer laser platform. Visual, refractive, aberrometric and mesopic contrast sensitivity (CS) outcomes were evaluated during a 6-month follow-up. Results Mean mesopic pupil diameter ranged from 8.0 mm to 9.4 mm. A significant improvement in uncorrected distance visual acuity (UCDVA) (P < 0.01) was found postoperatively, which was consistent with a significant refractive correction (P < 0.01). No significant change was detected in corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) (P = 0.11). Efficacy index (the ratio of postoperative UCDVA to preoperative CDVA) and safety index (the ratio of postoperative CDVA to preoperative CDVA) were calculated. Mean efficacy and safety indices were 1.06 ± 0.33 and 1.05 ± 0.18, respectively, and 92.31% of eyes had a postoperative spherical equivalent within ±0.50 diopters (D). Manifest refractive spherical equivalent improved significantly (P < 0.05) from a preoperative level of −3.1 ± 1.6 D (range −6.6 to 0 D) to −0.1 ± 0.2 D (range −1.3 to 0.1 D) at 6 months postoperative. No significant changes were found in mesopic CS (P ≥ 0.08), except CS for three cycles/degree, which improved significantly (P = 0.02). Magnitudes of primary coma and trefoil did not change significantly (P ≥ 0.34), with a small but statistically significant increase in primary spherical aberration. Conclusion Wavefront-guided LASIK provides an effective correction of low to moderate myopia or myopic astigmatism in large pupil patients without deterioration of visual quality.
Hiding Miss Latencies with Multithreading on the Data Diffusion Machine

Large parallel computers require techniques to tolerate the potentially large latencies of accessing remote data. Multithreading is one such technique. We extend previous studies of multithreading by investigating its use on the Data Diffusion Machine (DDM), a virtual shared memory machine in which data migrates according to its use. We use a detailed emulator to study DDM''s with up to 72 nodes, allowing the scalability of multithreading to be tested further than in other studies. The results are promising and show that the applications tested can all benefit from multithreading on the DDM. Most applications however reach the ceiling of their parallelism. We briefly discuss how the results may generalise to other architectures.
I Think They Think We are Good Citizens: The Role of Meta-Perceptions in Employees' Reactions to Corporate Social Responsibility

Successfully managing employees' corporate social performance (CSP) perceptions requires insights into their antecedents. However, not much is currently known on the subject. We contribute to the micro-level corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature in two ways: (a) we investigate the antecedents of employees' CSP perceptions; (b) we integrate both customers' perceptions of CSP-as these are construed by employees-and employees' own CSP perceptions into a comprehensive framework. Specifically, we examine (a) the antecedent role of employee-customer CSR causal meta-attributions (i.e., what employees think customers think about the company's motives underlying CSR programs); and (b) the antecedent and moderating role of employee-customer CSP meta-perceptions (i.e., what employees think customers think about the company's overall social performance) on employees' CSP perceptions and, in turn, on employees' affective organizational commitment. Our study highlights that employees' CSR assessments are more complex than previously thought with employees guessing the perceptions (and attributions) others make about their firm.
Systematic review of diagnostic utility and therapeutic effectiveness of cervical facet joint interventions.

BACKGROUND Chronic, recurrent neck pain is common and is associated with high pain intensity and disability, which is seen in 14% of the adult general population. Controlled studies have supported the existence of cervical facet or zygapophysial joint pain in 36% to 67% of these patients. However, these studies also have shown false-positive results in 27% to 63% of the patients with a single diagnostic block. There is also a paucity of literature investigating therapeutic interventions of cervical facet joint pain. STUDY DESIGN A systematic review of cervical facet joint interventions. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the accuracy of diagnostic facet joint nerve blocks and the effectiveness of cervical facet joint interventions. METHODS Medical databases and journals were searched to locate all relevant literature from 1966 through December 2008 in the English language. A review of the literature of the utility of facet joint interventions in diagnosing and managing facet joint pain was performed according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) criteria for diagnostic studies and observational studies and the Cochrane Musculoskeletal Review Group criteria as utilized for interventional techniques for randomized trials. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE The level of evidence was defined as Level I, II, or III based on the quality of evidence developed by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). OUTCOME MEASURES For diagnostic interventions, studies must have been performed utilizing controlled local anesthetic blocks which achieve at minimum 80% relief of pain and the ability to perform previously painful movements. For therapeutic interventions, the primary outcome measure was pain relief (short-term relief up to 6 months and long-term relief greater than 6 months) with secondary outcome measures of improvement in functional status, psychological status, return to work, and reduction in opioid intake. RESULTS Based on the utilization of controlled comparative local anesthetic blocks, the evidence for the diagnosis of cervical facet joint pain is Level I or II-1. The indicated evidence for therapeutic cervical medial branch blocks is Level II-1. The indicated evidence for radiofrequency neurotomy in the cervical spine is Level II-1 or II-2, whereas the evidence is lacking for intraarticular injections. LIMITATIONS A systematic review of cervical facet joint interventions is hindered by the paucity of published literature and lack of literature for intraarticular cervical facet joint injections. CONCLUSIONS The evidence for diagnosis of cervical facet joint pain with controlled comparative local anesthetic blocks is Level I or II-1. The indicated evidence for therapeutic facet joint interventions is Level II-1 for medial branch blocks, and Level II-1 or II-2 for radiofrequency neurotomy.
Kinetics of Induction of the Lactose Operon on an Episome in Salmonella typhimurium

A kinetic study of induction of the enzymes of the lactose operon was carried out under conditions known to affect the kinetics of derepression of the enzymes of the histidine operon. The results show that the lactose system is similar to the histidine system in its responsiveness to conditions thought to affect the formylating capacity of the cell. This was demonstrated in the following ways: (i) trimethoprim, which is known to reduce the formylating capacity of the cell, gives rise to a relatively long interval between the times of induction of β-galactosidase and transacetylase; (ii) under conditions in which the histidine operon is derepressed, chloramphenicol causes a prolongation of the interval between the times of induction of the two enzymes, and this prolongation is reversed by adenine, methionine, and serine, compounds known to enrich the one-carbon pool of the cell; and (iii) 4-amino-5-imidazolcarboxamide ribonucleoside, a compound which may act as a drain for formyl groups, reverses the effect of the latter compounds. The finding that the interval between the times of induction of the two enzymes is shortened under conditions expected to maintain a relatively high intracellular fo rmylating capacity suggests that under certain conditions translation of the polycistronic messenger ribonucleic acid of the lactose operon may be initiated at more than one site or may proceed more rapidly from the operator end.
Yoruban contributions to the literature on keloids.

N an address at the National Gallcry of Art, Washington, D.C., in January 1970, Dr. EkpoEyo, the director of the Nigeria Department of Antiquities, challenged the claims and widely held views that the so-called "primitive and developing peoples" of Africa had made no worthwhile contributions to the foundation and growth of knowledge. He pointed out that this conclusion had always been the outcome of studies and reviews limited to the written form of literature alone, and cautioned that a true assessment of the contributions of these people to knowledge can only come from careful study of their oral and art forms of literature as these were the only media through which they perpetuated and thus passed on their knowledge to posterity. ' On this advice, investigations have been carried out in Western Nigeria on Yoruba myth (oral literature) embodied in the Ifa Literary Corpus,2 and on the terra-cotta heads (art literature) excavated from different groves in Ife, the religious capital of the Yorubas. The purpose of these investigatiors was to find out the contribution, if any, which the Yoruba people of Western Nigeria have made to the body of world literature on keloid, which affects about 6% of the population.3 This paper reports the
Identification of immune response-related genes and signalling pathways in spleen of Vibrio parahaemolyticus-infected Epinephelus fuscoguttatus (Forskal) by next-generation sequencing.

The aquaculture of high market value marine fish, brown-marbled grouper, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus (Forskal) is expanding rapidly. However, this has been limited by the high incidence of disease outbreaks due to intensive culture techniques that included crowded stocking density of fish, the use of agricultural pesticides and antibiotics in fish farming, and immune suppression caused by pollution (Kai 1993). Vibriosis is among the diseases causing serious negative impact to the grouper aquaculture industry with high mortality rates to brown-marbled grouper fry (Sarjito et al. 2009; Pan, Wang & Chen 2013). An outbreak in Taiwan identified the causative pathogen to be Vibrio alginolyticus (Lee 1995). The list of causative pathogen of vibriosis has expanded to include Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio cholerae (Yii, Yang & Lee 1997). However, fish possess a complex system of innate defence, which is expected to be more important than specific immunity particularly towards bacteria (Whyte 2007; Long et al. 2013). The innate defence mechanisms are temperature independent and are critical in the aquatic environment. Compared to antibody production by temperate species which occurs at optimum temperature, takes at least 4–6 weeks, the innate defence has immediate action to kill and restrict the invasion of pathogens within 0– 4 h after encountering of the pathogens (Ellis 2001). Spleen is an important lymphoid organ in fish (Neale & Chavin 1971; Ortiz-Muniz & Sigel 1971; Davies & Withrington 1973; Zapata & Cooper 1990; Press & Evensen 1999). Transcriptome-wide study is a suitable method to rapidly identify differentially expressed genes on a large scale and also facilitates functional studies. A comparative gene expression analysis was conducted on Vibrio parahaemolyticus-infected grouper and control. De novo transcriptome analysis using next-generation sequencing performed on spleen samples disclosed intracellular immune signalling pathways involved in bacterial infection, which may aid in downstream studies of the disease resistant variants. Grouper fingerlings of an approximate total length of 3 inches were acclimated in seawater at approximate salinity of 30 PPT, pH 6.8 for Correspondence C-F Low, Laboratory of Marine Biotechnology, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia (e-mail: low_cf5433@yahoo.com.my)
Understanding the Relationship Between Mothers’ Attitudes Toward Television and Children’s Television Exposure: A Longitudinal Study of Reciprocal Patterns and the Moderating Role of Maternal Stress

This two-wave panel study among mothers (N = 508) of children between ages six months and six years investigated a) the possibility of a reciprocal relationship between mothers’ attitudes toward television and children’s television viewing, and b) the conditional probability of this reciprocal relationship. Two-wave multigroup cross-lagged analyses provided evidence for reciprocal patterns that depend on the level of maternal stress. The findings indicated that mothers’ attitudes toward television predicted children’s subsequent television viewing among non-stressed mothers, but not among stressed mothers. Children’s television viewing predicted mothers’ subsequent negative attitudes toward television among stressed mothers, but not among non-stressed mothers. Implications for the role of parents’ attitudes regarding children’s television viewing are discussed.
Prevalence of pancreatic autoantibodies in non-diabetic patients with autoimmune thyroid disease and its relation to insulin secretion and glucose tolerance

ABSTRACT Objective We evaluated the prevalence of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GADA) and tyrosine phosphatase-protein antibodies (IA2A), their titers and their relation to first phase insulin response (FPIR) and glucose tolerance in autoimmune thyroid diseases (ATDs) patients. Subjects and methods Graves’ disease (GD; n = 181) and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT; n = 143) patients in addition to healthy controls (n = 93) were studied. Secondly, FPIR and oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) were performed in 11 anti-pancreatic islet–cell (+) and in 20 anti-pancreatic–cell (-) patients. Results There was a non significant trend for higher prevalence of GADA positivity in GD vs HT (7.2% vs 2% p = 0.06), but the GADA titers were higher in HT. We also did not find a significant difference in IA2 prevalence (0.7% vs 0.0%) between these two groups or compared to the control group. In the subsequent analysis, low FPIR was found in 10% of these patients but without statistical difference for OGTT between pancreatic antibody–positive and –negative patients. Conclusion A trend for greater prevalence of GADA was observed for GD patients than for HT or control. However, the titers of these autoantibodies were higher in HT patients, but there was no significant relation to insulin secretion and glucose tolerance at that moment and stage of autoimmune diseases.
Isolation of aerobic cultivable cellulolytic bacteria from different regions of the gastrointestinal tract of giant land snail Achatina fulica

The enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose by cellulases is one of the major limiting steps in the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to yield bioethanol. To overcome this hindrance, significant efforts are underway to identify novel cellulases. The snail Achatina fulica is a gastropod with high cellulolytic activity, mainly due to the abundance of glycoside hydrolases produced by both the animal and its resident microbiota. In this study, we partially assessed the cellulolytic aerobic bacterial diversity inside the gastrointestinal tract of A. fulica by culture-dependent methods and evaluated the hydrolytic repertoire of the isolates. Forty bacterial isolates were recovered from distinct segments of the snail gut and identified to the genus level by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Additional phenotypic characterization was performed using biochemical tests provided by the Vitek2 identification system. The overall enzymatic repertoire of the isolated strains was investigated by enzymatic plate assays, containing the following substrates: powdered sugarcane bagasse, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), p-nitrophenyl-β-D-glucopyranoside (pNPG), p-nitrophenyl-β-D-cellobioside (pNPC), 4-methylumbelliferyl-β-D-glucopyranoside (MUG), 4-methylumbelliferyl-β-D-cellobioside (MUC), and 4-methylumbelliferyl-β-D-xylopyranoside (MUX). Our results indicate that the snail A. fulica is an attractive source of cultivable bacteria that showed to be valuable resources for the production of different types of biomass-degrading enzymes.
Vector ℓ0 latent-space principal component analysis

Principal component analysis (PCA) is a widely used signal processing technique. Instead of performing PCA in the data space, we consider the problem of sparse PCA in a potentially higher dimensional latent space. To do so, we zero-out groups of variables using vector £o regularization. The estimation is based on the maximization of the penalized log-likelihood, for which we develop an efficient coupled expectation-maximization (EM) - minorization-maximization (MM) algorithm. For the special case when the latent- and observation space are identical, our method corresponds to an existing vector £o PCA method, which we verify using simulations. The proposed method can also be utilized for penalized linear regression and we use simulations to demonstrate superior estimation performance. As an example of a practical application, we use our method to localize cortical activity from magnetoencephalography (MEG) data.
Mal Interacts with Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor-associated Factor (TRAF)-6 to mediate NF-κB Activation by Toll-like Receptor (TLR)-2 and TLR4*

The Toll-interleukin-1 receptor domain-containing adapter Mal (MyD88 adapter-like protein) is involved in Toll-like receptor (TLR)-2 and TLR4 signal transduction. However, no studies have yet identified a function for Mal distinct from the related adapter MyD88. In this study, we have identified a putative TRAF6 interaction site in Mal but not in MyD88 and we demonstrate that Mal can be co-immunoprecipitated with TRAF6. Overexpression of MalE190A, which contains a mutation within the TRAF6-binding motif, failed to induce the expression of an NF-κB-dependent reporter gene, p65-mediated transactivation of gene expression, or activation of Jun N-terminal kinase or p42/p44 MAP kinase, which are induced with wild type Mal. MalE190A inhibited TLR2- and TLR4-mediated activation of NF-κB. These results identify a specific role for Mal in TLR-mediated signaling in regulating NF-κB-dependent gene transcription via its interaction with TRAF6.
Civic Education, Community Norms, and Political Indoctrination

non-legal norms mentioned by Macaulay may be interpreted as part of the occupational morality of businessmen. Let me repeat the norms he cites: "commitments are to be honored in almost all situations"; ''one does not welsh on a deal"; "one ought to produce a good product and stand behind it"; "a man's word or handshake . is the equivalent of the bindingness of a contract. " These and other norms comprising the occupational morality of business executives and some staff specialists may function as counter-norms, from the point of view of the legal system, as the recent price-fixing case in the electrical industry suggests. Eventually, some of these new and emerging non-legal norms may supersede the law of contract. Historically, it is noteworthy that as mercantilists and early entrepreneurs came into conflict with one another they gradually developed a body of law in England called the "law merchant. " This body of private self-regulatory law was eventually incorporated into the common law of England and subsequently into the common law of the United States. After giving rise to this elaborate system of law, the modernday successors to mercantilists and entrepreneurs-as Macaulay has discoveredoften find it convenient to disregard the labors of their predecessors in going about their daily transactions. Will some of the non-contractual norms that are evolving as part of the "occupational morality" of businessmen lay the groundwork for a new body of law for the regulation of business? We sociologists may be tempted to conclude that Macaulay's paper is merely a gloss on Durkheim's well-known analysis of the non-contractual elements in contract. I think that it is more than that. This study adds to our understanding of the relationship between legal and non-legal norms in society and of the relationships among formal organizations.
Psychometric properties of the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHF-Q)

Objective:To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHF-Q) in patients with atrial fibrillation. Design: A prospective study of the patients who underwent DC electrical cardioversion. Setting: Clinics of cardiology and thoracic surgery of the University Hospital in Groningen, the Netherlands. Main outcome measures: The disease-specific MLHF-Q and generic measures of quality of life were administered. The sensitivity to change over time was tested with effect sizes (ES). Internal consistency of MLHF-Q scales was estimated with Cronbach's alpha. To evaluate the construct validity multitrait–multimethod analysis was applied. The ‘known group validity’ was evaluated by the comparison of mean scores and effect sizes between two groups of the New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification (NYHA I versus II–III). Stability of MLHF-Q scales was estimated in a subgroup of patients who remained stable. Perfect congruence analysis and factor analysis were applied to confirm the a priori determined structure. Results: Cronbach's alpha was ≥0.80 of the MLHF-Q scales. Perfect congruence analysis (PCA) showed that the results resemble quite well the a priori assumed factor structure. Multitrait–multimethod analysis showed convergent validity coefficients ranging from 0.59 to 0.73 (physical impairment dimension) and 0.39 to 0.69 (emotional dimension). The magnitude of change can be interpreted as medium (ES = 0.50). The results of a ‘test–retest’ analysis in a stable group can be valued as satisfactory for the MLHF-Q scales (Pearson's r > 0.60). The physical dimension and the overall score of the MLHF-Q discriminated significantly between the NYHA I and II–III groups (p < 0.001) with large effect sizes (ES > 1.0). Conclusions: The MLHF-Q has solid psychometric properties and the outcome of the current study indicates that the MLHF-Q is an effective and efficient instrument.
Interactions in Epidemiology: Relevance, Identification, and Estimation

S ufﬁcient-cause models represent biologic interactions (including synergism) in the form of coparticipation of factors in a sufﬁcient cause 1–3 (causal coaction). In this issue of the journal, VanderWeele 1 provides new results relating sufﬁcient-cause models to regression models. These results reinforce the point that concepts of biologic interaction do not in general correspond to the concept of statistical interaction, because the latter is only the need for a product term in a statistical model. 4,5 They further underscore that, without strict assumptions, sufﬁcient-cause interactions do not correspond to interdepen-dence of effects in potential-outcomes (counterfactual) models. I will examine the practical relevance and limitations of using epidemiologic regressions to study interactions, however the latter are deﬁned.