Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Slowly Progressive Keratouveitis in a Patient with Known Systemic Leishmaniasis and HIV

We would like to report a complex case of ocular leishmaniasis. A 38-year old West-African patient with a history of HIV and cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania major presented with a conjunctival nodule. Direct microscopic evaluation of a conjunctival biopsy revealed Leishmania amastigotes. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on the conjunctival biopsy, performed at the reference laboratory of the Institute of Tropical Medicine, targeting a 115-bp sequence of the 18S rRNA gene of Leishmania spp. , aided in the diagnosis of conjunctival and disseminated cutaneous leishmaniasis. A positive control (L. donovani, 0.1 pg/mL) and negative water control were run together with the samples to control the amplification process. A real-time PCR targeting the human beta-globine gene was used to control the DNA extraction efficiency. The cutaneous manifestations consisted of multiple small nonulcerating nodules on hands, arms, and face, as well as an ulcer on the right leg. Medical history was significant for HIV (treated with ritonavir, atazanavir, lamivudine, and abacavir, CD4 count: 140 (11.5%) and viral load (5400 copies/mL) at the time of conjunctival biopsy, large B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (in remission after 5 courses of CHOP), and pancytopenia with positive PCR for CMV treated with ganciclovir. Clinical improvement was seen on a systemic regimen of meglumine antimoniate (Glucantime, Sanofi-Aventis, France) 850 mg daily. Despite the improvement, this was discontinued due to a druginduced pancreatitis. The treatment was completed with liposomal amphotericin (AmbiSome, Gilead, California) 150 mg, once weekly. Two years later the patient presented with severe photophobia, discomfort, and blurred vision. Visual acuity was 0.5 (0.8 with pinhole) in the right eye (RE) and 0.64 (no improvement with pinhole) in the left eye (LE). CD4 count was at 312 (10%) and viral load at 520 copies/mL under antiretroviral therapy. Biomicroscopy showed bilateral superficial punctate keratitis, extensive stromal infiltration, granulomatous keratic precipitates, aqueous cells, and flare. The conjunctiva was hyperemic with a marked ciliary flush and pterygia. Posterior segment showed no abnormalities. The diagnosis of a granulomatous anterior uveitis was made and topical therapy with fluorometholone and hyaluronic acid-based artificial tears was initiated. Symptoms and vision improved with a visual acuity of 1.0 (RE) and 0.5 (LE). Two months later, the patient returned with a severe recurrence of the anterior uveitis with intense photophobia and pain in both eyes. Visual acuity was counting fingers bilaterally. Slit-lamp examination revealed an increase in granulomatous keratic precipitates, cells, and flare, hypopyon in RE, corneal edema, marked ciliary flush, and conjunctival
Information Needs and the Related Characteristics of Japanese Family Caregivers of Newly Diagnosed Patients With Cancer

In Japan, family caregivers of newly diagnosed patients with cancer usually receive information on the patient from healthcare professionals before patients are told the truth. Efforts to provide suitable information to these caregivers may be crucial to improving the quality of life in patients as well as in family caregivers. A descriptive correlational study explored and assessed the informational needs of family caregivers of newly diagnosed patients with cancer. Data were obtained by a semistructured interview with a questionnaire administered to 66 caregivers. Information needs were assessed on disease, treatment, prognosis, and patient and family care. In addition, the demographic and situational characteristics related to individual information needs were investigated by logistic regression analyses. More than 70% of caregivers wanted the disease-related information and about one third of those wanted the care-related information for the patient and family. The disease-related information needs had significant correlations only with the demographic variables. The care-related information needs were correlated both with the demographic variables and with the situational variables such as the presence of pain in the patient and the presence of other family caregivers. Our results may help healthcare professionals to plan the appropriate provision of information to newly diagnosed patients with cancer and their family caregivers.
Segmenting hotel customers based on the Technology Readiness Index.

The extent to which hotel guests accept and use technology both during a hotel stay and on their own can be a useful means of segmenting guests. One excellent mechanism for establishing segments based on customers' inclination toward technology is the Technology Readiness Index (TRI), as shown by the study described here. A test of the TRI with 865 business and leisure hotel customers in the United States revealed an approximate normal distribution that ranged from people who seek to use technology at every turn to those who essentially want nothing to do with it. Furthermore, a comparison of the travel habits of the high and low technology-ready guests revealed numerous differences that should be of interest to the hotel companies. For example, guests with a high TRI score tended to travel more frequently on business and were willing to pay relatively high room rates. A greater percentage of male guests were in the high TRI group than were in the low TRI group. The study also found that the hotel guests with high TRI scores were relatively young, more highly educated, and more affluent than the sample as a whole. The technology-adept guests were more likely to patronize upscale hotels than were the other members of the sample. Thus, executives who wish to differentiate their hotels using technology should carefully consider the response to high-tech innovations that will come from their target guest segments.
End-stage renal failure and regulatory activities of CD4+CD25bright+FoxP3+ T-cells.

BACKGROUND The defensive immune system in patients with end-stage renal failure is impaired at multiple levels. This state of immune incompetence is associated with continuous activation of the immune system. An additional explanation for this state of activation may be the disturbed function of CD4(+)CD25(bright+)FoxP3(+) regulatory T-cells. METHODS The phenotype and function of peripheral regulatory T-cells from patients with end-stage renal failure (N = 80) and healthy controls (N = 17) was studied by flow cytometry, RT-PCR and mixed lymphocyte reaction. Patients were on haemodialysis (N = 40), peritoneal dialysis (N = 26) or not treated with dialysis yet (N = 14). The latter group had a glomerular filtration rate of <20 ml/min/ 1.73 m(2). RESULTS The basal IL-2 mRNA level was high in patient-PBMC (P = 0.0002 versus healthy controls). The absolute number of CD4(+)CD25(bright+) T-cells was low in patients (P < 0.05 versus healthy controls). Furthermore, proliferation of patient-PBMC upon allogeneic stimulation was impaired (P < 0.0001 versus healthy controls). The regulatory function of CD4(+)CD25(bright+) T-cells was determined in the setting of direct allorecognition. First, the effect of depletion of CD25(bright+) cells from patient-PBMC on proliferation was low. Second, co-culture of CD25(bright+) cells with CD25(neg/dim) cells (1:10 ratio) showed impaired regulatory function (P < 0.001 versus healthy controls), which was especially pronounced in patients on dialysis. The FOXP3 mRNA level was also low upon stimulation (P = 0.0002 versus healthy controls). CONCLUSIONS In line with previous studies, we observed an overactivated but functionally compromised immune system in patients with end-stage renal failure. It now appears that in this setting, regulation by CD4(+)CD25(bright+)FoxP3(+) T-cells is also impaired.
Phosphorylation of Histone H3 at Serine 10 Cannot Account Directly for the Detachment of Human Heterochromatin Protein 1γ from Mitotic Chromosomes in Plant Cells*

Heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) controls heterochromatin formation in animal cells, at least partly through interaction with lysine 9 (Lys-9)-methylated histone H3. We aimed to determine whether a structurally conserved human HP1 protein exhibits conserved heterochromatin localization in plant cells and studied its relation to modified histone H3. We generated transgenic tobacco plants and cycling cells expressing the human HP1γ fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP) and followed its association with chromatin. Plants expressing GFP-HP1γ showed no phenotypic perturbations. We found that GFP-HP1γ is preferentially associated with the transcriptionally “inactive” heterochromatin fraction, a fraction enriched in Lys-9-methylated histone H3. During mitosis GFP-HP1γ is detached from chromosomes concomitantly with phosphorylation of histone H3 at serine 10 and reassembles as cells exit mitosis. However, this phosphorylation cannot directly account for the dissociation of GFP-HP1γ from mitotic chromosomes inasmuch as phosphorylation does not interfere with binding to HP1γ. It is, therefore, possible that phosphorylation at serine 10 creates a “code” that is read by as yet an unknown factor(s), eventually leading to detachment of GFP-HP1γ from mitotic chromosomes. Together, our results suggest that chromatin organization in plants and animals is conserved, being controlled at least partly by the association of HP1 proteins with methylated histone H3.
Comparison of Different Methods Used to Inhibit Physeal Growth in a Rabbit Model

A rabbit model was used to compare the rate, efficacy, and histologic appearance of physeal growth inhibition effected by Phemister epiphysiodesis, epiphyseal stapling, and percutaneous epiphysiodesis. Each technique led to an effective physeal closure, although the Phemister and staple methods produced more rapid deceleration of growth. A slower rate of physeal closure was seen after percutaneous epiphysiodesis, because this technique produced a gap in the bone that initially filled with fibrous tissue before forming bridges of trabecular bone leading to closure of the growth plate. Elevation of the periosteum alone produced an initial growth stimulation followed by early physiologic physeal closure. The amount of physis to ablate when doing a percutaneous epiphysiodesis is controversial. These results suggest that a percutaneous technique with limited physeal ablation, as used in the current study, effects a slower rate of growth inhibition than that by the Phemister and staple techniques. A percutaneous technique that ablates a larger portion of the physis may be desirable to obtain more rapid growth inhibition.
Stakeholder Pressures and Climate Change Disclosure: Australian Evidence

This paper investigates the stakeholder pressures behind corporate accountability and disclosures in relation to climate change. By means of a questionnaire survey, the study focuses on ascertaining the views of a sample of stakeholder groups such as government bodies, institutional investors, environmental NGOs, media accounting professionals, and researchers to examine their perceptions of pressures upon Australian corporations to be accountable in relation to climate change. Prior social and environmental research found that NGOs (Deegan and Blomquist, 2006; Tilt, 1994) and the media (Brown and Deegan, 1996; Islam and Deegan, 2010) were powerful stakeholder groups influencing corporate social and environmental disclosure practices. Our paper finds that along with NGOs and the media, institutional investors and regulators (governments) are equally important and powerful actors for applying pressure for corporate accountability in relation to climate change. Based on the findings of the paper, we would argue that climate change is an issue with no single stakeholder group involved, rather it is a set of stakeholder groups including regulators, institutional investors, the media, and NGOs who demand corporations to be accountable.
Adaptive will: the evolution of attention deficit disorder.

The increasing prevalence of attention-deficit disorder among American school children was a source of significant controversy in the 1990s. This paper looks at the social and historical contexts in which ADD evolved in order to understand its emergence as a coherent and widespread entity. Changes in expert models of child behavior interacted with the formation of new identities around disability to shape a milieu in which the disorder could thrive. The pattern of affect control, of what must and what must not be restrained, regulated, and transformed, is certainly not the same in this stage as in the preceding one of court aristocracy. In keeping with its different interdependencies, bourgeois society applies stronger restrictions to certain impulses, while in the case of others aristocratic restrictions are simply continued and transformed to suit the changed situation (Elias, 1994, p. 125).
Differential Expression of GABAA/Benzodiazepine Receptor Subunit mRNAs and Ligand Binding Sites in Mouse Cerebellar Neurons Following In Vivo Ethanol Administration: An Autoradiographic Analysis

Abstract: The γ‐aminobutyric acidA (GABAA)/benzodiazepine (BZ) receptor is a pentamer composed of subunits belonging to several classes (α1–6, β1–4, γ1–4, δ, and ρ1 and ρ2). In situ hybridization, radioligand autoradiography, and immunocytochemistry were used to examine GABAA/BZ receptor α1, α6, β2, β3, and γ2 subunit expression in murine Purkinje, granule, and deep cerebellar neurons after in vivo ethanol exposure. Chronic ethanol treatment resulted in decreased α1 subunit mRNA expression in each cell type, whereas the expression of α6 and γ2 subunit mRNA levels increased; no changes were observed in the expression of β2 and β3 subunit mRNA. GABA and BZ agonist binding and antibody staining paralleled the changes in mRNA levels. Acute ethanol injection resulted in increased expression of α1 and β3 mRNAs, whereas levels of α6, β2, and γ2 mRNAs remained stable. Our results indicate that, in cerebellar neurons, the expression of specific GABAA/BZ receptor subunit mRNAs, polypeptides, and binding sites is independently regulated by in vivo administration of alcohol. The observed changes were not restricted to any one cerebellar cell type, because subunit expression in Purkinje, granule, and deep cerebellar cells was similarly affected.
Bank Competition and Financial Stability: A Comparative Study of Mutual Savings Banks and Commercial Banks in Korea

This study examines the influence of competition and concentration on financial stability in the Korean financial industry. Specifically, we test two alternative hypotheses: the competition-fragility hypothesis versus competition-stability hypothesis by using the sample of two different types of banks − Korean commercial banks and mutual savings banks (MSBs). Using measures for the competitive level and financial stability such as the Boone Index and Z-score, we find that the relationship between competition and stability varies depending on the characteristics of financial institutions. In commercial banks as well as MSBs, however, our estimated Boone Indices suggest that competition was much higher before the recent global financial crisis, but after then it has gradually declined. As Boyd and De Nicolo (2005) suggest, competition has a positive effect on the stability of MSBs with greater business risk and weaker corporate governance. In reality, higher concentration and risk-shifting effects in a less competitive loan market have increased default risks of some MSBs since the recent crisis. Commercial banks, on the contrary, tend to be less stable when they face competition pressure while the relationship is nonlinear.
The COMPASS Model for Improving the Care of Patients with Chronic Mental and Physical Diseases

There is substantial scientific evidence that collaborative care management for patients with chronic physical and mental health conditions can greatly improve their quality of care, outcomes and satisfaction, as well as be cost-effective and even cost saving in the long run. However, these care models have not been widely used in primary care settings, in part because existing payment models do not fully cover their costs and existing care models do not support their delivery.
New Venture Opportunity Cost of Capital and Financial Contracting

Investments in new ventures involve financial contracts between an entrepreneur and outside investors. Investors, such as venture capital firms, represent well-diversified investors. In contrast, the entrepreneur must commit a substantial fraction of human and financial capital to the venture. Consequently, the entrepreneur's required rate of return depends on total risk, in the context of the entrepreneur’s other assets. In this paper, we use the Capital Asset Pricing Model as an approximation of the asset pricing model used by well-diversified investors. Accordingly, the entrepreneur faces the risk-return tradeoff of the CAPM as the opportunity cost of holding an under-diversified portfolio that includes investment in the venture. We model the required rate of return of the entrepreneur, assuming investment in the venture is one of two assets in the portfolio and that the other is the market portfolio. We explore opportunities for value creation when the parties to a financial contract have different costs of bearing risk. We also present empirical data on factors relevant to new venture cost of capital estimation.
The use of tympanometry in predicting otic barotrauma.

Static acoustic impedance tympanometry was used to examine 80 subjects prior to and after exposure to decreased ambient pressure in a hypobaric chamber. The predictive value of tympanometry in detecting those individuals likely to suffer from otitic barotrauma (aerotitis media) was evaluated. The results suggest that testing prior to altitude exposure is of no value in identifying those individuals who will suffer from otitic barotrauma during flight. Tympanometry however proved a useful tool in confirming the presence of barotrauma following flight, but it was no more useful than taking a history and performing an ear examination.
Differences of English and Chinese as Written Languages and Strategies in English Writing Teaching

The size of both the United States and China guarantees that many people will communicate in English and Chinese. But those two common languages do not guarantee perfect communication in writing practice for several reasons. This paper explores the factors resulting in non-understandable communication of English and Chinese as written language, and some strategies applied by English teachers when training students’ English writing.
The role of involvement and identification on event quality perceptions and satisfaction

Purpose – Since the introduction of martial arts in the global community through a variety of international sport events, the sport of Taekwondo (TKD) has grown rapidly. Although the magnitude of the TKD market has increased, few systematic studies have been conducted to understand TKD participants, particularly consumer variables associated with TKD events. The rapid growth of TKD as a global cultural product warrants a better understanding of event consumers and their decision‐making processes. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to investigate consumers' quality perceptions and satisfaction by focusing on their sport involvement and identification.Design/methodology/approach – Research respondents (n = 215) were spectators of the 2007 US Open TKD Championship, an annual event held by USA Taekwondo Inc.Findings – Results suggest that identification and involvement positively influence event quality perceptions and satisfaction. Specifically, highly identified fans/competitors are highly satisfied .
Web Usability and User Trust on E-commerce Websites in Pakistan

Web usability is an integral part of e-commerce. Users are less prone to the websites which are difficult to navigate and slow in response time. E-commerce business is growing aggressively on daily basis, but lack of user trust can impede this growth. Success of online business is largely dependent on getting user’s trust. There are different techniques and models to measure web usability and user trust level, but they are not covering all aspects of web usability. So we proposed a new enhanced SUPR-Q model with six (6) parameters, such as Usability, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Learnability, Satisfaction and Security. We performed an experiment with one hundred twenty (120) participants to measure the web usability and user’s trust on two famous e-commerce websites of Pakistan (daraz.pk & homeshopping.pk). We divided our participants into two equal groups, such as Random and Regular group on the basis of their previous shopping exposure. Our results shows that usability score of Regular group who did shopping most frequently were better than the Random group which was less exposed with shopping experience. Regular group was more satisfied from both websites with the score of 46.8% on daraz.pk and 44.8% on homshopping.pk as compared to Random group. Both groups showed higher usability score on daraz.pk which was 45.2% in case of Regular group and 40% in case of Random group due to the higher effectiveness and efficiency of web interface. The overall results showed that trust on e-commerce website plays vital role in user’s satisfaction and purchasing.
Determinants of Member Satisfaction with Unions in South Korea

This paper uses a large sample of Korean union members working in different industries and occupations to test a model of union satisfaction. The results suggest that internal union relations --members representation and union leader effectiveness-- are the most important determinants of members' satisfaction with their union. We argue that this supports the proposition that unions that rely on decentralized collective bargaining as the prime method of employment regulation depend heavily on internal union relations for their effectiveness. This is particularly the case in Korea where the state has shown limited sympathy for independent trade unionism and where collective workplace relations remain relatively informal. We conclude that internal union relations contribute to union governance, effectiveness, and legitimacy, all of which are likely to affect members' satisfaction with their union.
Do Measures of Media Engagement Correlate with Product Purchase Likelihood?

ABSTRACT Engagement in media by consumers has emerged as an important area of interest for media providers, advertising agencies, and advertisers. This article empirically investigates a set of dimensions of engagement for three media channels: television, magazines, and the internet. In addition, this study explores the relationship of media engagement to likelihood of purchase as well as the more general construct of advertising receptivity. The results reveal that there is evidence of a strong relationship between engagement in media and purchase intent and ultimately advertising receptivity.
Using Machine Learning to Understand Top-Down Effects in an Ecosystem: Opportunities, Challenges, and Lessons Learned

The soil decomposer community is a primary driver of carbon cycling in forest ecosystems. Understanding the processes that regulate this community is critical to our understanding of the global carbon cycle and fungal mediated impact on climate change. Inadequate statistical strength in traditional soil food web studies has limited our capacity to disentangle the cascading effect of top-level predators on the composition of complex fungal communities. We hypothesize that machine learning can help with this complex problem. This paper examines the opportunities for machine learning in this domain, presents initial results from such analysis, identifies challenges encountered with initial effort, and charts a path forward.