Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Contact lenses in the visual correction of keratoconus.

A two and one-half year (April 1985-October 1987) retrospective review of all newly referred keratoconus patients was performed to determine the treatment regimen of previously diagnosed "contact lens failures. " The records of 48 patients (average age 32 +/- 9.0 years; 24 males, 24 females) were reviewed. Thirty-nine patients had been diagnosed as "contact lens failures" and referred for surgical intervention. Of these 39 patients, seven eyes were excluded from evaluation (four with prior grafts, two cases of unilateral keratoconus, and one with a dense central scar). Of the remaining 71 eyes, 57 (80%) (average keratometry 50.7 +/- 5.1 D, range 43-73) were successfully refit with contact lenses. All obtained a daily wearing time of 12 hours or more and a visual acuity of 20/40 or better--with 87% realizing 20/30 or better. The data suggest that the vast majority of keratoconus patients previously thought to be contact lens intolerant can be successfully refit and achieve excellent visual acuity and prolonged wearing times.
The Value of Going Green in the Hotel Industry: Evidence from Beijing

Based on several unique datasets in Beijing, this article investigates the value of going green in the hotel industry by combining the traditional hedonic pricing model with the state‐of‐the‐art content analysis of online reviews. The results indicate that the rate of complaints about the indoor environmental quality of green hotels is roughly 19% lower than that for nongreen hotels. Hedonic regression analysis concludes that green hotels enjoy a significant room rate premium of 6.5% without reducing occupancy rates, mainly due to improved indoor environmental quality. Recognizing the presence of such cobenefits is likely to induce hoteliers to embrace green practices.
Plasma-volume contraction and exercise-induced hypoxaemia modulate erythropoietin production in healthy humans.

This study examined exercise-induced hypoxaemia (EIH) and plasma volume contraction as modulators of serum erythropoietin (Epo) production. Five athletes cycled for 3 min at supra-maximal power outputs, at each of two different elevations (1,000 m and 2,100 m). Five subjects were exposed to normobaric hypoxia (F(I)O(2)=0.159), seven subjects underwent plasmapheresis to reduce plasma volume and eight subjects were time controls for Epo levels. Oxyhaemoglobin saturation was significantly reduced during exercise and during normobaric hypoxia. The time period of haemoglobin oxygen saturation <91% was 24+/-29 s (mean+/-S.D., n=5) for exercise at 1000 m, 136+/-77 s (mean+/-S.D., n=5) for exercise at 2100 m and 178+/-255 s (mean+/-S.D., n=5) with resting hypoxic exposure. However, significantly increased serum Epo levels were observed only following exercise (24+/-3%; mean+/-S.D., n=5 at 1,000 m and 36+/-5%; mean+/-S.D., n=5 at 2,100 m). Volume contraction also resulted in increased serum Epo (35+/-6%; mean+/-S.D., n=7) in spite of a significant rise in haematocrit of 2.2%. Despite similar degrees of arterial desaturation, only the hypoxaemia induced by exercise was associated with an increase in serum Epo. This finding indicates that other factors, in addition to hypoxaemia, are important in modulating the production of Epo in response to exercise. Volume depletion in the absence of exercise resulted in increases in Epo levels that were comparable with those observed in response to exercise. The paradoxical responses of the increased haematocrit and the increase in Epo in subjects undergoing plasmapheresis suggests that plasma volume may also modulate the production of Epo.
General practitioners' and family physicians' negative beliefs and attitudes towards discussing smoking cessation with patients: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE To estimate the proportion of general practitioners (GPs) and family physicians (FPs) with negative beliefs and attitudes towards discussing smoking cessation with patients. METHODS A systematic review. STUDY SELECTION All studies published in English, in peer-reviewed journals, which allowed the extraction of the proportion of GPs and FPs with negative beliefs and attitudes towards discussing smoking cessation. DATA SYNTHESIS Negative beliefs and attitudes were extracted and categorised. Proportions were synthesized giving greater weight to those obtained from studies with larger samples. Those assessed in two or more studies are reported. RESULTS Across 19 studies, eight negative beliefs and attitudes were identified. While the majority of GPs and FPs do not have negative beliefs and attitudes towards discussing smoking with their patients, a sizeable minority do. The most common negative beliefs were that such discussions were too time-consuming (weighted proportion: 42%) and were ineffective (38%). Just over a quarter (22%) of physicians reported lacking confidence in their ability to discuss smoking with their patients, 18% felt such discussions were unpleasant, 16% lacked confidence in their knowledge, and relatively few considered discussing smoking outside of their professional duty (5%), or that this intruded upon patients' privacy (5%), or that such discussion were inappropriate (3%). CONCLUSIONS In addition to providing skills training, interventions designed to increase the implementation of smoking cessation interventions by primary care physicians may be more effective if they address a range of commonly held negative beliefs and attitudes towards discussing smoking cessation. These include beliefs and values that influence primary care physicians' judgements about whether discussing smoking is an effective use of their time.
Non-Representational Research Methodologies: An Introduction

These are the days when the inevitable realization that our work is utterly inadequate at apprehending the intricate textures of the lifeworld subjects of our analysis and description strikes with its mightiest force. These are the days when reading again one’s writings, playing back one’s video or audio documentaries, staring at one’s photos, or recalling one’s performances pushes an author over the depressing abyss of self-insuffi ciency and doubt. These are the days when researchers wish they had chosen an art career devoid of the pretensions of accurate representation. For some of us the doldrums of these forlorn days fade away with the next long-awaited book contract or the prospect of a jaunt to an exotic conference destination. But the awareness that our work is invariably partial, simplistic, or even unimaginative and inauthentic is bound to resurface again, and again. Depiction—it seems—is futile. Should we then surrender? Or perhaps come up with a new scientifi c method? Or maybe, given the zeitgeist, a cute new “app” for our journals? Maybe we could. But we will not be doing any of that here. This book is not a self-help manual for the sufferer of a midlife epistemological crisis. It does not promise handy solutions, formulas, procedures, or codes for a more accurate representation of disparate lifeworlds. And because it does not aim to offer original laments over the crisis of representation or the death of the author it does not hope to lend a shoulder to cry on either. So, you might wonder: what exactly are these sheets of paper good for? Well, for a more radical solution, really: to quit—hopefully for good—our obsession with representation. Let this volume be a manifesto for the ethos of non-representational research . Non-representational research—the skeptical reader might immediately react—sounds like the most apropos synonym for non-funded and non-published research. How can, after all, research—which is the very process of describing, understanding, and explaining an empirical reality—deny its very raison d’être? How can people whose job responsibility is to be all but fi ction authors pretend to be able to obliterate the single criterion that separates them from the domain of fantasy? 1 Non-Representational Research Methodologies An Introduction
Development of the DESIGN‐R with an observational study: An absolute evaluation tool for monitoring pressure ulcer wound healing

DESIGN is a seven‐item (depth, exudates, size, inflammation/infection, granulation, necrosis, and pocket) monitoring scale for pressure ulcers developed in 2002 by the scientific education committee of the Japanese Society of Pressure Ulcers. DESIGN is a very useful tool for chronological monitoring of each pressure ulcer, but a key limitation of this tool is its inability to compare the wound‐healing process among different pressure ulcers in different patients due to a lack of statistical item weighting. Our aim was to weight DESIGN items by statistical analysis and develop a new validated tool to overcome this limitation. Subjects comprised 3,601 patients with pressure ulcers. Patients were followed every week during the study period. To establish the weighting of each item and grade, we estimated the probabilities of wound healing at 12‐month follow‐up using multivariable Cox's regression analysis. Weighting (−β value) for each item in order of the highest rank was: pocket, 2.289; size, 1.573; inflammation/infection, 0.778; granulation tissue, 0.682; exudate, 0.543; and necrotic tissue, 0.529. Based on these findings, a new, validated “DESIGN‐Rating tool” for monitoring the progression of pressure ulcer healing was developed, implying the development of an absolute evaluation tool and clinical indicator to assess the quality of medical care.
Novel flow cytometric analysis of the blood–brain barrier

The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is primarily comprised of brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMVEC) and astrocytes and serves as a physical and chemical barrier that separates the periphery from the brain. We describe a flow cytometric method using our in vitro model of the human BBB to characterize BMVEC surface junctional proteins critical for maintenance of barrier function, cell viability, and leukocyte adhesion. For this methodology, BMVEC are cocultured with astrocytes in a transwell tissue culture insert to establish the barrier, after which time the BBB are treated with specific agents, and the BMVEC collected for flow cytometric analyses. We use a standard and optimized method to recover the BMVEC from the coculture model that maintains junctional protein expression and cell viability. A novel leukocyte adhesion assay enables a quantitative analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) interactions with the BMVEC and can be used to assess the adhesion of many cell types to the BBB. Furthermore, this method enables the concomitant analysis of a large number of adhesion molecules and tight junction proteins on both the BMVEC and adherent PBMC under homeostatic and pathologic conditions. Flow cytometry is an extremely powerful tool, and this technique can also be applied to assess variables not performed in this study, including cell cycle progression, and calcium flux. © 2015 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry
Temporal Changes in Maternal Serum Biochemical Markers of Trisomy 21 across the First and Second Trimester of Pregnancy

Background Many maternal serum markers show concentration changes in Down's syndrome pregnancies but the magnitude of the change in median marker levels varies with gestation. To date these changes have not been accurately specified. Methods The trends in marker median levels between 6 and 20 weeks of gestation were examined for alphafetoprotein (AFP), free β human chorionic gonadotrophin (F β-hCG), total human chorionic gonadotrophin (ThCG) and pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A) by a meta-analysis of data obtained from our collaborative studies and routine screening programmes for Down's syndrome over a 10-year period. Data were available from between 709 and 1082 Down's syndrome pregnancies and from between 14 607 and 153 909 unaffected pregnancies for each marker. The median multiple of the median (MoM) and mean log10MoM for each marker at each completed week of gestation were estimated and the trend with gestation smoothed using a weighted least squares regression model. Results The gestational ages at which maximum separation of marker levels occurred, comparing affected and unaffected pregnancies, and the respective regressed median MoMs and mean log10MoMs, were: for AFP at 16 weeks, 0·72 MoM, 0·14288 log10MoM; for F β-hCG at 15 weeks, 2·24 MoM, 0·35034 log10MoM; for ThCG at 16 weeks, 1·93 MoM, 0·28548 log10MoM, as well as before 8 weeks (< 0·65 MoM, 0·18853 log10MoM); and for PAPP-A before 8 weeks, < 0·33 MoM, 0·47727 log10MoM. Conclusion There is significant temporal variation in mean log10MoM values for the screening markers investigated. Screening algorithms, modified to take account of this variation, should allow more accurate gestation-specific risks to be calculated in individual pregnancies.
A homolog of interleukin-10 is encoded by the poxvirus orf virus

A gene encoding a polypeptide with homology to interleukin-10 (IL-10) has been discovered in the genome of orf virus (OV) strain NZ2, a parapoxvirus that infects sheep, goats, and humans. The predicted polypeptide sequence shows high levels of amino acid identity to IL-10 of sheep (80%), cattle (75%), humans (67%), and mice (64%), as well as IL-10-like proteins of Epstein-Barr virus (63%) and equine herpesvirus (67%). The C-terminal region, comprising two-thirds of the OV protein, is identical to ovine IL-10, which suggests that this gene has been captured from its host sheep during the evolution of OV. The IL-10-like gene is transcribed early. Conditioned medium from COS cells transfected with a eukaryotic expression vector containing the OV IL-10-like gene showed the same biological activity as ovine IL-10 in a murine thymocyte proliferation assay. OV IL-10 is likely to be important in immune evasion by OV, since IL-10 is a multifunctional cytokine that has inhibitory effects on nonspecific immunity and Th1 effector function.
Defective mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate production in skeletal muscle from patients with dominant optic atrophy due to OPA1 mutations.

OBJECTIVE To assess whether impaired energy metabolism in skeletal muscle is a hallmark feature of patients with dominant optic atrophy due to several different mutations in the OPA1 gene. DESIGN We used phosphorus 31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy to assess calf muscle oxidative metabolism in subjects with molecularly defined dominant optic atrophy carrying different mutations in the OPA1 gene. In a subset of patients, we also evaluated serum lactate levels after exercise and muscle biopsy results for histology and mitochondrial DNA analysis. SETTING University neuromuscular and neurogenetics and magnetic resonance imaging units. PATIENTS Eighteen patients with dominant optic atrophy were enrolled from 8 unrelated families, 7 of which carried an OPA1 mutation predicted to induce haploinsufficiency and 1 with a missense mutation in exon 27. Fifteen patients had documented optic atrophy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Presence of skeletal muscle mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation dysfunction as assessed by phosphorus 31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy, serum lactate levels, and histological and mitochondrial DNA analysis. RESULTS Phosphorus 31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy showed reduced phosphorylation potential in the calf muscle at rest in patients with an OPA1 mutation (-24% from normal mean; P = .003) as well as a reduced maximum rate of mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate synthesis (-36%; P < .001; ranging from -28% to -49% in association with different mutations). In 4 of 10 patients (40%), the serum lactate level after exercise was elevated. Only 2 of 5 muscle biopsies, from the 2 patients with a missense mutation, showed slight myopathic changes. Low levels of mitochondrial DNA multiple deletions were found in all muscle biopsies. CONCLUSIONS Defective oxidative phosphorylation in skeletal muscle is a subclinical feature of patients with OPA1-related dominant optic atrophy, indicating a systemic expression of the OPA1 defect, similar to that previously reported for Leber hereditary optic neuropathy due to complex I dysfunction. This defect of oxidative phosphorylation does not appear to depend on the low amounts of mitochondrial DNA multiple deletions detected in muscle biopsies.
“A vicious circle”: Repatriation of Bissau-Guinean Quranic Schoolboys From Senegal

ABSTRACT This article treats repatriation of Bissau-Guinean Quranic schoolboys from Senegal where they beg for their teachers who are named marabouts. Data is based on fieldwork that occurred between 2009 and 2017 and focuses on the marabouts, parents, villagers, NGO staff and boys who have been repatriated to Guinea-Bissau. Repatriation benefits some actors while others are hurt. The authorities strive to fulfill commitments to combat child trafficking vis-à-vis the international community, however without prosecuting the marabouts who are influential community leaders. The NGOs keep their business going and “capture” boys for repatriation, which some marabouts and parents use as free transport for boys to Guinea-Bissau in line with seasonal labor demands. Many of the repatriated boys return to Senegal to escape stigma, rejection, and mistrust attached with repatriation at the family and community levels. While back, some boys keep on with Quranic studies, others run some business or take village boys with them to beg. Through repatriation, boys circulate between the countries, yet most Bissau-Guinean Quranic schoolboys in Senegal never enter the circle. The marabouts, empowered with symbolic capital, adjust to the dynamism of repatriation as a social space, aiming to keep the position as the masters of the game.
The participation of all women in the school

Objeto: Las “otras mujeres”, mujeres sin titulacion academica cuyas voces tradicionalmente han sido silenciadas, protagonizan procesos de transformacion personales cuando se potencia su participacion en los centros educativos. A traves de las clases, realizando voluntariado, formando parte de los organos de decision del centro o implicandose en asociaciones, las “otras mujeres” estan promoviendo su propio aprendizaje y rompiendo con estereotipos culturales y de genero. Pero ademas, la inclusion de las voces de las “otras mujeres” en los espacios de cuya participacion han estado excluidas permite canalizar demandas y reivindicaciones que repercuten tanto en la mejora de la gestion de los centros educativos como en la superacion de las desigualdades sociales de todas las mujeres. Diseno/metodologia: Partiendo de la metodologia comunicativa, el articulo esta construido a partir de una revision en profundidad de las publicaciones cientificas en el ambito del feminismo dialogico asi como del analisis del estudio de caso llevado a cabo en la Asociacion Heura de la Escuela de personas adultas La Verneda-Sant Marti (Barcelona), una asociacion creada y gestionada por mujeres adultas en procesos de formacion basica que tiene entre sus objetivos la promocion educativa y social de mujeres que, por el hecho de carecer de titulaciones basicas, estan en riesgo de quedar relegadas de las esferas de participacion social. Aportaciones y resultados: Los resultados muestran como la inclusion de la diversidad de voces aportadas por las “otras mujeres” es clave para mejorar la calidad de la educacion, al ampliar y diversificar los recursos existentes, y para la democratizacion de los canales de participacion y representacion de los centros educativos, lo que repercute en la mejora de la gestion de los propios centros. Por otro lado, tambien muestra como las “otras mujeres” estan logrando incorporar sus demandas y reivindicaciones en las agendas politicas y reestructurar los servicios sociales y educativos de sus barrios, favoreciendo la transformacion de su entorno. Valor anadido: El presente articulo analiza las formas de participacion educativa desarrollada por las “otras mujeres” en los centros mostrando como su inclusion consigue generar impacto en tres ambitos: en el personal, en los propios centros y en la sociedad.
Temephos‐resistant larvae of Simulium sanctipauli associated with a distinctive new chromosome inversion in untreated rivers of south‐western Ghana

Larvae of the Simulium damnosum Theobald complex (Diptera: Simuliidae) were sampled in June 1996 from two sites in south‐west Ghana where larviciding has not been applied: Sutri Rapids on the Tano river (05°23′ N 02°38′ W) and Sekyere‐Heman on the Pra river (05°11′ N 01°35′ W). All specimens were identified as Simulium sanctipauli Vajime & Dunbar sensu stricto (Diptera: Simuliidae). Bioassays with temephos (organophosphorus larvicide employed by the Onchocerciasis Programme for systematic treatment of most rivers across West Africa since the 1970s) showed about five‐fold resistance in the Tano population (LC95 2.37–3.14 mg/L) and slight tolerance to temephos in the Pra population (LC95 0.67–0.76 mg/L), vs. the diagnostic concentration of 0.625 mg/L. Larval salivary polytene chromosomes of S. sanctipauli showed fixed inversions 1S‐24/24, standard IIL‐6 and a new inversion IL/36 polymorphism at Sutri on the Tano. These karyotype characteristics differ from those of temephos‐resistant S. sanctipauli in rivers of Côte d'Ivoire and other sites on the Tano in Ghana. Thus, temephos resistance in S. sanctipauli at Sutri is associated with distinct chromosomal configurations, showing that immigration was unlikely. This resistance could have been locally selected by exposure of S. sanctipauli larval populations to agrochemicals run‐off from cocoa, coffee and oil plantations flanking the rivers.
Risk factors for burn-out in caregivers of stroke patients, and possibilities for intervention

Objective: To identify which caregivers of stroke patients living at home experience the highest levels of strain and are at risk of burn-out, and to investigate how support for caregivers of stroke patients could best be organized, and when this support should be offered. Design and setting: Caregivers of stroke patients were recruited in four regions of the Netherlands. A total of 212 caregivers were interviewed. Multiple stepwise regression analysis was performed to determine the effects of patient and caregiver characteristics, resources, coping strategies and duration of the caregiver role on caregiver strain, mental well-being and vitality. Subjects:The majority of the caregivers were female spouses. Their mean age was 64 years, and their socioeconomic status middle class. Stroke had occurred about 3.5 years ago on average. Main outcome measures:The following main outcome measures were used: the Caregiver Strain Index, and two scales of the Short Form-36 to measure caregivers’ mental well-being and vitality. Results: Severe cognitive, behavioural and emotional changes in the patient constitute the main risk factors for caregiver burn-out. Women, younger caregivers and caregivers in poor physical health were also identified as risk groups. Caregivers with high perceived self-efficacy, satisfied with social support, and frequently using the coping strategy confronting, experience less strain, higher mental well-being and greater vitality. Duration of the caregiver role does not influence caregivers’ strain, mental well-being or vitality. Conclusions: Women, younger caregivers, caregivers in poor physical health, and caregivers of patients with severe changes are at risk of burn-out. Support programmes should focus on self-efficacy, social support, and the coping strategy confronting. No specific moment could be identified at which support programmes should be offered.