Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Long-Term Hearing Results After Ossiculoplasty.

OBJECTIVES To determine if the OOPS index is predictive of long-term hearing results after ossiculoplasty. STUDY DESIGN Case series with retrospective chart review. SETTING Tertiary care otology practice. PATIENTS Adult and pediatric patients (3-88 years of age). INTERVENTIONS Ossiculoplasty with cartilage tympanoplasty, with or without mastoidectomy. OUTCOME MEASURES Primary outcome measures included short-term hearing results (pure-tone average air-bone gap [PTA-ABG] measured between 60 days and 1 year after surgery), long-term hearing results (PTA-ABG measured ≥5 years after surgery), and the rate of successful ABG closure to ≤20 dB. Secondary measures included the need for revision surgery, delayed tympanic membrane graft failure, worsening conductive hearing loss (after an initially satisfactory hearing result), and recurrence of cholesteatoma. RESULTS There was no significant difference between adults and children for short-term hearing results (average post-op PTA-ABG was 18.9 dB vs. 19.8 dB, respectively; p = 0.544), long-term hearing results (average final PTA-ABG was 19.3 dB vs. 19.4 dB, respectively; p = 0.922), or rate of ABG closure to less than 20 dB (63.1% vs. 58.0%, p = 0.282). Spearman's rank-order correlation (ρ) identified a strong positive correlation between OOPS index score and average post-operative PTA-ABG (ρ = 0.983; p < 0.001; 2-tailed), as well as average long-term PTA-ABG (ρ = 0.950, p < 0.001; 2-tailed). CONCLUSIONS The OOPS index makes it possible to accurately prognosticate hearing outcomes in adult and pediatric patients undergoing ossiculoplasty in both the short term and the long term.
Evaluation of the Occlusion Status of Coiled Intracranial Aneurysms with MR Angiography at 3T: Is Contrast Enhancement Necessary?

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: MR angiography (MRA) is increasingly used as a noninvasive imaging technique for the follow-up of coiled intracranial aneurysms. However, the need for contrast enhancement has not yet been elucidated. We compared 3D time-of-flight MRA (TOF-MRA) and contrast-enhanced MRA (CE-MRA) at 3T with catheter angiography. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-seven patients with 72 aneurysms underwent TOF-MRA, CE-MRA, and catheter-angiography 6 months after coiling. Occlusion status on MRA was classified as adequate (complete and neck remnant) or incomplete by 2 independent observers. For TOF-MRA and CE-MRA, interobserver agreement, intermodality agreement, and correlation with angiography were assessed by κ statistics. RESULTS: Catheter-angiography revealed incomplete occlusion in 12 (17%) of the 69 aneurysms; 3 aneurysms were excluded due to MR imaging artifacts. Interobserver agreement was good for CE-MRA (κ = 0.77; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.55–0.98) and very good for TOF-MRA (κ = 0.89; 95% CI, 0.75–1.00). Correlation of TOF-MRA and CE-MRA with angiography was good. The sensitivity of TOF-MRA and CE-MRA was 75% (95% CI, 43%–95%); the specificity of TOF-MRA was 98% (95% CI, 91%–100%) and of CE-MRA, 97% (95% CI, 88%–100%). All 5 incompletely occluded aneurysms, which were additionally treated, were correctly identified with both MRA techniques. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve for TOF-MRA and CE-MRA were 0.90 (95% CI, 0.79–1.00) and 0.91 (95% CI, 0.79–1.00). Intermodality agreement between TOF-MRA and CE-MRA was very good (κ = 0.83; 95% CI, 0.65–1.00), with full agreement in 66 (96%) of the 69 aneurysms. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, TOF-MRA and CE-MRA at 3T were equivalent in evaluating the occlusion status of intracranial aneurysms after coiling. Because TOF-MRA does not involve contrast administration, this method is preferred over CE-MRA.
The role of passion in driving entrepreneurial behaviours and performance

This thesis provides an original contribution towards the understanding of the role of entrepreneurial passion in the context of entrepreneurial behaviours and business performance. It develops a conceptual framework by integrating two seminal theories in the field of passion, namely the dualistic model of passion and the theory of entrepreneurial passion. This theoretical model, involving relationships between entrepreneurial passion (harmonious and obsessive) and entrepreneurial behaviours, which in turn are linked to business performance, is empirically tested using data from 218 Russian small and medium organisations. The findings confirmed that both harmonious and obsessive entrepreneurial passion lead to high levels of engagement, persistence and opportunity creation behaviours. As expected, the effects of obsessive entrepreneurial passion were generally stronger. The study concluded that entrepreneurs who are more engaged in entrepreneurial activities are likely to derive better performance results. Similarly, the more entrepreneurs create opportunities, the more likely their business performance will improve. On the contrary, persistence was found to have no effect on business performance, meaning that no matter how persistent entrepreneurs may be in entrepreneurial activities, this will not affect business performance. In addition to that, post-hoc mediation analysis revealed that engagement and opportunity creation behaviours fully mediate the obsessive entrepreneurial passion – business performance relationship. This thesis is an attempt to advance the conceptualisation and position of the passion construct in the literature by demonstrating its important outcomes within an entrepreneurial context. Theoretical, entrepreneurial and educational implications of the study findings are discussed and exciting areas for future research suggested.
Work‐family conflict in a southern European country: The influence of job‐related and non‐related factors

Shows the results of a survey about the antecedents of work‐family conflict in a sample of Spanish employees. Analyses and discusses the influence of job‐related and non‐related factors. The results indicate that both groups of factors are antecedents of work‐family conflict. Even though gender is not a significant variable to explain work‐family conflict, the empirical study found differences at the time to explain the antecedents of men and women's work‐family conflict. A few family‐domain and work‐domain perceptions had a strong influence on work‐family conflict such as the gender roles, importance of family, job flexibility and job mental and physical requirements. Some of these perceptions suggest the influence of a culture where traditional gender roles still prevail and family as an institution is very strong. Functional mobility and educational level are also antecedents of work‐family conflict. However, job category level, marital status, and social benefits do not have any influence on work‐family conflict in the multivariate analysis, but the bivariate analysis showed that they have indeed an influence on the work‐family conflict according to the hypotheses developed in the research framework.
The use of pragmatic devices by German non-native speakers of English

Mastering the pragmatic norms of another language is one of the greatest challenges to non-native speakers. One particularly difficult aspect of pragmatic conventions is the appropriate use of pragmatic devices such as like, you know, I think, and or something like that which have been found to serve a number of important textual and interactive functions in discourse. This study investigates the use of such devices by non-native speakers in cross-cultural conversations in terms of frequency and function in order to establish to what extent L2 usage differs from native speaker norms. In particular, the study examines the use of the English pragmatic devices like, eh and General Extenders (and things like that, or something like that) by German non-native speakers of English (GNNSE) in interactions with native speakers of New Zealand English (NSNZE). The results are compared with the use of these forms in native-native conversations in New Zealand English and the use of close equivalent forms in German by the same GNNSE. The analysis is based on a corpus of approximately 18 1⁄2 hours of dyadic conversation or about 224,338 words of transcription.
Ellipsoidal Harmonics for 3-D Shape Description and Retrieval

In this paper, a novel approach for 3-D Shape description and retrieval based on the theory of ellipsoidal harmonics is presented. Four novel descriptors are introduced: the surface ellipsoidal harmonics descriptor, which concerns 3-D objects that are described as polygonal surfaces; the volumetric ellipsoidal harmonics descriptor, which is applicable to volumetric 3-D objects; the generalized ellipsoidal harmonics descriptor that is applied to any local 3-D object descriptors; and, finally, the combined ellipsoidal-spherical harmonics descriptor, which leads to a compact and powerful descriptor that inherits the advantages of both approaches: the rotation invariance properties of the spherical harmonics and the directional information enclosed in ellipsoidal harmonics. Experimental results performed using well-known 3-D object databases prove the retrieval efficiency of the proposed approach.
Relationship Between Job-Stress and Burnout: Organizational Support and Creativty as Predictor Variables

The study aimed to understand whether organizational support and individual's creativity will moderate effects of job stress and burnout, so an inverse relationship between organizational support, creativity, and burnout was predicted to occur. Sample of the study comprised of 70 individuals employed with private corporate firms and private banks. A linear regression model was applied on all variables. The resulting model was found to be significant. R =. 523, F (2,67) = 12.622, with job stress as the dependent variable. Job stress and burnout were inversely related to organizational SIp port, however individual's creativity level did not effect either the level of stress or burnout. Results are discussed in the light of present findings and their implications for creating organizational environment conducive for better productivity and performance.
Object-Based Versus Object-Centred Neglect in Reading Words

Neglect dyslexia is a reading disorder which affects the identification of portions of words or sentences and is typically due to right-brain damage. Caramazza and Hillis (1990a, b) proposed a model of representation of words whereby various patterns of neglect dyslexia are attributed to selective impairment to the different forms of representation. According to the model, patients with first and second level deficits will “neglect” those parts of horizontally presented words that fall on one side of the retina, or on one side of the string centre, respectively, but will read vertically presented words without errors. A patient with a third level deficit will neglect letters at the beginning of the word irrespective of whether they fall on the right or left half of the retina, or on the right or the left of the word centre. In the present paper I describe an atypical pattern of neglect errors that is not easily explicable by this model and is better interpreted as an object- based neglect within an ego-centred frame of reference.
Development and Validation of an Islamic Religious Orientation Scale with Pilgrims of Imam Reza Shrine

The present study aimed at exploring the factorial validity of an enlarged Religious Orientation Scale (ROS) within an Islamic context. To this end, several national and international pilgrims visiting the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, Iran, were interviewed and eleven items were added to the thirty-three-item ROS developed and validated by Khodadady and Bagheri (2012). The forty-four-item Islamic ROS (IROS) was then administered to seven hundred forty nine pilgrims as they entered it through its sixteen gates to pray. The application of the Principal Axis Factoring to the data and rotating the extracted factors via Varimax with Kaiser Normalization showed that ten latent variables having the initial eigenvalues of one and higher underlie the scale, i.e., Inspirational, Intrinsic, Congregational, Social, Ceremonial, Sacrificial, Theo-Pacific, Humanitarian, Concessional and Observant. Internal consistency reliability estimates indicated that the IROS and its latent variables provide reliable measures of religious orientations. The scale and its underlying factors are discussed by employing schema theory and suggestions are made for future research.
A Novel Human Antibody against Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 gp120 Is V1, V2, and V3 Loop Dependent and Helps Delimit the Epitope of the Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Immunoglobulin G1 b12

ABSTRACT The V1/V2 and V3 loops are proximal to the CD4 binding site (CD4bs) of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) gp120 and undergo conformational change upon CD4 receptor engagement by the HIV-1 envelope spike. Nearly all of the reported monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against the CD4bs exhibit a very limited capacity to neutralize HIV-1. However, one such human MAb, immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) b12, is uniquely able to neutralize primary isolates across subtypes with considerable potency. The molecular basis for the anti-HIV-1 activity of b12 is not fully understood but is relevant to vaccine design. Here we describe a novel human MAb, 4KG5, whose binding to monomeric gp120 is moderately enhanced by IgG1 b12. In sharp contrast, 4KG5 binding to gp120 is inhibited by soluble CD4 (sCD4) and by all other (n = 14) anti-CD4bs MAbs tested. 4KG5 is unable to recognize gp120 in which either V1, V2, or V3 has been deleted, and MAbs against the V2 or V3 loops inhibit the binding of 4KG5 to gp120. Moreover, 4KG5 is able to inhibit the binding of the CD4-induced MAbs 17b and X5 in the absence of sCD4, whereas 17b and X5 only weakly inhibit the binding of 4KG5 to gp120. Mutagenesis of gp120 provides further evidence of a discontinuous epitope of 4KG5 that is formed by the V1/V2 loop, the V3 loop, and a portion of the bridging sheet (C4). 4KG5 was isolated as a single-chain Fv from a phage display library constructed from the bone marrow of an HIV-1-seropositive subject (FDA2) whose serum neutralizes HIV-1 across subtypes. Despite its source, we observed no significant neutralization with 4KG5 against the autologous (R2) virus and several other strains of HIV-1. The results suggest a model in which antibody access to the CD4bs on the envelope spike of HIV-1 is restricted by the orientation and/or dynamics of the V1/V2 and V3 loops, and b12 avoids these restrictions.
The Interaction Between Gender Stereotypes and Life Values as Factors in the Choice of Profession

The sex-role identity of both men and women is formed and changes as a function of the conditions of upbringing, schooling, and the degree of pressure of sex-role stereotypes that are instilled by the mass media. In spite of the proclaimed “equal opportunities” for men and women when it comes to acquiring some profession, stereotypical notions about “men’s” or “women’s” specialties as they have been formed historically still hold sway among a substantial portion of the population. A typically masculine image that was described in the 1960s [7] persists to this day, and it includes a set of traits that relate to professional competence, rational thinking, and an active life stance, while a typically feminine image has to do with social and communicative skills, heartfelt warmth, and emotional support. A meta-analysis of gender differences in the importance of particular characteristics of work when it comes to the choice of a profession showed that thirty-three to forty features are substan-
Reexamining the Cost of Corporate Criminal Prosecutions

Agency theory foments the expectation that corporate criminal prosecutions mitigate crime by inducing firms to self-regulate. Whether this bears out in reality remains a topic of contentious debate. Although the U.S. government began prosecuting firms over a century ago, insufficient empirical evidence exists to determine how the costs of prosecutions actually affect firms. Moreover, the limited empirical record tells a surprising and somewhat confusing story. Scholars of management and related disciplines have consistently found that criminal convictions have negligible impacts on shareholder wealth despite theoretical expectations to the contrary. To explain these surprising findings and better understand how firms experience the costs of prosecutions, I apply agency theory to the criminal prosecution process and propose that each legally defined action in that process communicates unique information regarding potential and actual agency costs (i.e., sanctions). I also propose that formal convictions appear to elicit no reaction from principals because firm responses to early events in the prosecution process, what I call “conviction harbingers,” foretell unfavorable verdicts and sanctions well before courts make them official. Findings derived from a sample of 177 cases largely confirm my expectations by showing that prosecutions cause firm value to decline nearly 11%. In addition to exceeding previous estimates by a factor of three, this amount exceeds direct fines by a factor of five (i.e., shareholders lost more than $5 of wealth for each dollar of sanctions). I conclude by outlining implications of these findings for agency theory, corporate governance, policy, and practice.
Vicarious Learning and Socio-Economic Transformation in Indian Trans-Himalaya: An evolutionary tale of economic development and policy making

Recently, it has been suggested that the process of economic development should ideally be viewed as a socioeconomic transformation. Such a view requires a comprehensive understanding of how agents learn and change their behaviour. However, these aspects have only been inadequately addressed in development theory. This paper argues that social-cognitive vicarious learning theories can become a useful methodological tool by incorporating a triadic interaction between personal factors (beliefs, values), behaviour and environment. Our analysis is based on a survey of the Indian trans-Himalayan regions. The development trajectory of these regions suggests that a proper understanding of the vicarious learning mechanism provides crucial insight into the speed of socioeconomic transformations. It also helps to identify appropriate change agents within a society and, in turn, underscores the need for a comprehensive, yet flexible, development policy framework.
Low‐frequency stimulation of group III and IV hind limb afferents evokes reflex pressor responses in decerebrate rats

Contraction of freely perfused hind limb muscles in decerebrate rats evokes the exercise pressor reflex, resulting in sympathetic activation and increased blood pressure. This reflex is propagated along mechanically sensitive group III and metabolically sensitive group IV afferent nerve fibers. Recent research by our laboratory has focused on the exaggeration of the exercise pressor reflex in decerebrate rats with simulated peripheral artery disease, which was induced by ligating the femoral artery for 72 h before the start of the experiment. Recently, we showed that ligating the femoral artery increased the responses of single fiber group III and IV triceps surae muscle afferents to static contraction. The objective of this study was to determine if electrical stimulation of group III and IV afferents at frequencies approximating those occurring during static contraction was capable of reflexively increasing arterial blood pressure. We directly stimulated muscle afferents in the absence of muscle contraction for both freely perfused and ligated rats. We established 0.25 Hz as the minimal stimulation frequency to observe a sustained blood pressure response. The blood pressure response increased in a graded fashion as both stimulus frequency and motor threshold were increased. Additionally, we observed similar blood pressure responses from both freely perfused and ligated rats, suggesting that spinal and medullary processing of group III and IV afferent input plays no role in augmenting the pressor response to contraction caused by femoral artery ligation.
First-generation student transition to university:an exploratory study into the first-year experience ofstudents attending University Kebangsaan Malaysia

Transition is the movement, the passage of change from one role to another. This research offers an in-depth understanding of how the transition to university is experienced by first-generation students. To explore and understand the process of change underlying the transition process, this research uses qualitative research methods, semi-structured interviews and journal writing. Drawing from the data, a longitudinal case study followed the 16 students’ transition experiences for nine months, from the first semester to the end of the second semester of the first year. The research focused on three fundamental issues: higher education aspirations and decisions, the challenges encountered in the initial week of first year and the adjustment process, arguing that an understanding of these three aspects is necessary for a better understanding of the formation of learner identity. The research findings demonstrate that in the early weeks of university students experienced disjuncture between expectations held prior to commencing university and the reality they encounter. These phases are characterized as experiencing conflict with their new role and anxieties with their ability to manage the academic demands and expectations. Based on the evidence gathered, this is caused by inaccurate information they receive from third parties and during their prior educational experience. Early experience, whether positive or negative, is an important phase within this movement. Students become more active agents by being engaged and identifying difficulties and finding solutions. Student engagement both in class and out-of-class provides them with more accurate information on the knowledge and skills for their learning identity. Academic and non-academic support received both on and off campus comes from a range of sources including lecturers, peers and seniors, parents and family members, all of whom are identified as important contributors to the adjustment process of these first-generation students.
Long-term competition between sulfate reducing and methanogenic bacteria in UASB reactors treating volatile fatty acids.

The competition between acetate utilizing methane-producing bacteria (MB) and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) was studied in mesophilic (30 degrees C) upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) reactors (upward velocity 1 m h-1; pH 8) treating volatile fatty acids and sulfate. The UASB reactors treated a VFA mixture (with an acetate:propionate:butyrate ratio of 5:3:2 on COD basis) or acetate as the sole substrate at different COD:sulfate ratios. The outcome of the competition was evaluated in terms of conversion rates and specific methanogenic and sulfidogenic activities. The COD:sulfate ratio was a key factor in the partitioning of acetate utilization between MB and SRB. In excess of sulfate (COD:sulfate ratio lower than 0.67), SRB became predominant over MB after prolonged reactor operation: 250 and 400 days were required to increase the amount of acetate used by SRB from 50 to 90% in the reactor treating, respectively, the VFA mixture or acetate as the sole substrate. The competition for acetate was further studied by dynamic simulations using a mathematical model based on the Monod kinetic parameters of acetate utilizing SRB and MB. The simulations confirmed the long term nature of the competition between these acetotrophs. A high reactor pH (+/-8), a short solid retention time (<150 days), and the presence of a substantial SRB population in the inoculum may considerably reduce the time required for acetate-utilising SRB to outcompete MB.