Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Real world use of loteprednol etabonate ophthalmic gel 0.5% in cases representative of comorbid pathologies responding to minimally invasive glaucoma surgery

Purpose: With the increasing use of minimally invasive surgical techniques for intraocular pressure (IOP) lowering in glaucoma patients, there is a need to examine best practices regarding the postoperative management of these patients. Corticosteroids, though effective in controlling postoperative ocular pain and in ﬂ ammation, present distinct challenges in glaucoma surgery patients, as their use can be associated with IOP elevation. Loteprednol etabonate (LE) is an ocular corticosteroid designed to have an improved safety pro ﬁ le relative to other corticosteroids. Methods: We report here a representative selection of cases in which patients were successfully treated with LE ophthalmic gel 0.5% (LE gel) following a variety of minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) procedures. Cases included patients undergoing various procedures including a Trabectome combined with cataract surgery; micro-stent surgery (iStent) combined with cataract surgery; supraciliary CyPass Micro-Stent placement combined with cataract surgery; Kahook Dual Blade goniotomy; and ab interno canaloplasty using the iTrack catheter. Observations: In all cases, use of LE gel during the postoperative period appeared effective and safe in reducing in ﬂ ammation and controlling pain. No adverse events or IOP elevations were noted, even in those patients continuing use of LE gel past the postoperative period for longer than six months with documented follow-up. In two cases, patients with elevated IOP using either prednisolone or di ﬂ uprednate postoperatively were switched to LE gel, with a subsequent reduction in IOP. Conclusions: This selection of cases involving patients undergoing MIGS suggests that LE gel may be an effective and safe option for treating postoperative in ﬂ ammation and pain following such procedures with minimal to no effect on IOP or other negative sequalae.
A Method of Population Spatialization Considering Parametric Spatial Stationarity: Case Study of the Southwestern Area of China

Population is a crucial basis for the study of sociology, geography, environmental studies, and other disciplines; accurate estimates of population are of great significance for many countries. Many studies have developed population spatialization methods. However, little attention has been paid to the differential treatment of the spatial stationarity and non-stationarity of variables. Based on a semi-parametric, geographically weighted regression model (s-GWR), this paper attempts to construct a novel, precise population spatialization method considering parametric stationarity to enhance spatialization accuracy; the southwestern area of China is used as the study area for comparison and validation. In this study, the night-time light and land use data were integrated as weighting factors to establish the population model; based on the analysis of variables characteristics, the method uses an s-GWR model to deal with the spatial stationarity of variables and reduce regional errors. Finally, the spatial distribution of the population (SSDP) of the study area in 2010 was obtained. When assessed against the traditional regression models, the model that considers parametric stationarity is more accurate than the models without it. Furthermore, the comparison with three commonly-used population grids reveals that the SSDP has a percentage error close to zero at the county level, while at the township level, the mean relative error of SSDP is 33.63%, and that is >15% better than other population grids. Thus, this study suggests that the proposed method can produce a more accurate population distribution.
Is Vertical Jump Associated with Change of Direction Ability in Soccer Players? A Pilot Study

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between vertical jump and change of direction ability with different agility test performances of soccer players. Twenty-six male soccer players (age=9.4±0.5 years, height=138.8±8.7 cm, weight=31.1±5.6 kg, body mass index=16.0±2.0 kg.m-2) from U9-U10 age categories of a first division team in Turkish Professional Soccer League were tested for vertical jump (countermovement jump) and change of direction ability (CODA) with, Hexagon, 505 and Illinois agility tests. Relationship between these agility tests and vertical jump (VJ) were assessed by Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient test. There was no significant relationship between VJ and any measure of CODA tests. In conclusion, it can be said that VJ is not associated with CODA performance of soccer players. Despite the fact that there have been many studies supporting these results in the literature, these cross-sectional relationships should be investigated longitudinally with the larger research groups for different age categories and sport-specific research design for different jumping directions.
Compensation for Geometrical Deviations in Additive Manufacturing

The design of additive manufacturing processes, especially for batch production in industrial practice, is of high importance for the propagation of new additive manufacturing technology. Manual redesign procedures of the additive manufactured parts based on discrete measurement data or numerical meshes are error prone and hardly automatable. To achieve the required final accuracy of the parts, often, various iterations are necessary. To address these issues, a data-driven geometrical compensation approach is proposed that adapts concepts from forming technology. The measurement information of a first calibration cycle of manufactured parts is the basis of the approach. Through non-rigid transformations of the part geometry, a new shape for the subsequent additive manufacturing process was derived in a systematic way. Based on a purely geometrical approach, the systematic portion of part deviations can be compensated. The proposed concept is presented first and was applied to a sample fin-shaped part. The deviation data of three manufacturing cycles was utilised for validation and verification.
Clinical Advancement and Challenges of ex vivo Expansion of Human Cord Blood Cells

Apart from peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC), umbilical cord blood (UCB) is now a recognized source of stem cells for transplantation. UCB is an especially important source of stem cells for minority populations, which would otherwise be unable to find appropriately matched adult donors. UCB has fewer mature T lymphocytes compared with peripheral blood, thus making a UCB transplantation (UCBT) with a greater degree of HLA mismatch possible. The limited cell dose per UCB sample is however associated with delayed engraftment and a higher risk of graft failure, especially in adult recipients. This lower cell dose can be optimized by performing double unit UCBT, ex vivo UCB expansion prior to transplant and enhancement of the capabilities of the stem cells to home to the bone marrow. UCB contains naïve and immature T cells, thus posing significant challenges with increased risk of infections, graft versus host diseases (GVHD) and relapse following UCBT. Cell engineering techniques have been developed to circumnavigate the immaturity of the T cells, and include virus-specific cytotoxic T cells (VSTs), T cells transduced with disease-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR T cells) and regulatory T cell (Tregs) engineering. In this article, we review the advances in UCB ex vivo expansion and engineering to improve engraftment and reduce complications. As further research continues to find ways to overcome the current challenges, outcomes from UCBT will likely improve.
Perpetuating paranoia: citizenship, civil liberties and counter-terrorism

The adoption of various anti-terror policies by Western governments post-9/11 has generated discussion on the legitimacy of such counter-terror mechanisms and their influence on the rights of citizens. This paper aims at establishing a connection between counter-terrorism, civil liberties and citizenship with the intent of expanding the already existing literature on citizen’s sentiments towards counter-terrorism measures. While presenting data from various research studies from Western nation-states, it is my intention to bring attention to the feelings of racialized citizens as primary targets of the presented counter-terror tools. I will argue that there is reason to assume that such counter-terrorism policies presented foster the development of what I refer to as paranoia for racialized citizens living in Western countries. I will suggest that there is reason to suspect that these mechanisms advance unintended consequences that may exacerbate what the initial policies aimed at deterring.
The timing of childbirth and labour market outcomes*

We study the effect of childbirth and its timing on female labour market outcomes in Italy. The impact on yearly labour earnings and participation is traced up to 21 years since school completion by estimating a factor analytic model with dynamic selection into treatments. We find that childbearing, especially the first delivery, negatively affects female labour supply. Women having their first child soon after school completion are able to catch up with childless women only after 12-15 years. The timing matters, with minimal negative consequences observed if the first child is delayed up to 7-9 years after exiting formal education.
Radial Growth Rate Responses of Western Juniper (Juniperus occidentalis Hook.) to Atmospheric and Climatic Changes: A Longitudinal Study from Central Oregon, USA

Research Highlights: In this longitudinal study, we explore the impacts of changing atmospheric composition and increasing aridity on the radial growth rates of western juniper (WJ; Juniperus occidentalis Hook). Since we sampled from study locations with minimal human agency, we can partially control for confounding influences on radial growth (e.g., grazing and logging) and better isolate the relationships between radial growth and climatic conditions. Background and Objectives: Our primary objective is to determine if carbon dioxide (CO2) enrichment continues to be a primary driving force for a tree species positively affected by increasing CO2 levels circa the late 1990s. Materials and Methods: We collected data from mature WJ trees on four minimally disturbed study sites in central Oregon and compared standardized radial growth rates to climatic conditions from 1905–2017 using correlation, moving-interval correlation, and regression techniques. Results: We found the primary climate driver of radial growth for WJ is antecedent moisture over a period of several months prior to and including the current growing season. Further, the moving-interval correlations revealed that these relationships are highly stable through time. Despite a trend toward increasing aridity manifested through significant increases in maximum temperatures during the summer growing season, WJ radial growth post-1960 exceeds growth pre-1960, especially during drought years. Our results support prior conclusions that increasing atmospheric CO2 increases water-use efficiency for this semiarid species, which allows the trees to continue to grow during climatic periods negatively associated with radial growth. Conclusions: Recent studies have shown that semiarid ecosystems are important for understanding global variations in carbon uptake from the atmosphere. As WJ woodlands cover an extensive region in western North America and have undergone rapid expansion during the 20th and 21st centuries, they may become an increasingly important carbon sink.
Changes in Adipose Tissue Distribution and Association between Uric Acid and Bone Health during Menopause Transition

Despite convincing experimental evidence, epidemiological studies on the effects of serum uric acid (SUA) on bone health are still conflicting since factors influencing SUA bioavailability have not been adequately considered. To shed some light on this issue, we investigated the impact of adiposity and menopause status on the relationship between SUA and bone health. We examined SUA in relation to bone mineral density (BMD) at different skeletal sites and with markers of bone metabolism in 124 pre-menopausal and 234 post-menopausal women and assessed whether adiposity, evaluated by anthropometry and dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), might have a discriminant role. After conservative adjustment (covariates: age, hormones treatment, smoking and time since menopause), SUA showed a significant and positive association with total hip BMD (β = 0.220, p < 0.01) among postmenopausal women, maintained also after adjustment for legs adiposity. Notably, stratification for waist circumference quartiles revealed that the correlation between SUA and total hip BMD was significant (r = 0.444, p = 0.001) in the highest quartile (91–100 cm). Our results suggest that SUA might be beneficial for bone health in postmenopausal women being characterized by a more android fat distribution, ascribing to SUA a discriminant role during menopause transition, potentially relevant also for men.
YoungChildren’sNear andFarTransfer of theBasicTheoryofNatural Selection:AnAnalogical Storybook Intervention

Misconceptions about adaptation bynatural selection arewidespread among adults and likely stem, in part, from cognitive biases and intuitive theories observable in early childhood. Current educational guidelines that recommend delaying comprehensive instruction on the topic of adaptation until adolescence therefore raise concerns because children’s scientifically inaccurate theories about species may be left unchallenged for many years, allowing them to entrench and become difficult to overcome. In consequence, this investigation sought to explorewhether classrooms of kindergartners and second graders could acquire a basic but comprehensive understanding of adaptation from an intervention constructed around two picture storybooks that mechanistically explain natural selection. Learning was assessed in near and far transfer contexts both immediately and a month later. Kindergartners and second graders demonstrated substantial learning of biological information; however, second graders showed pronounced abilities to near and far generalize, immediately and over time.Results suggest that causally cohesive interventionswith an emphasis on mechanistic explanation facilitate children’s classroom learning of complex counterintuitive scientific ideas. # 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017.
Levels of Cognitive Congruence between Managers and Team Members’ Perceptions of Cooperation at Work

Much of the research on the psychological dynamics of performance teams suffers from the following limitations: consideration of only one theoretical framework and analysis of just one perspective (e.g., manager–coach or team member). To address these shortcomings, this study used a Global Cooperation concept that synthesized five psychological frameworks: coordination, cohesion, cooperation, integration, and identification. The objective of this study was to examine the level of congruence–symmetry between the two perspectives and the tendency for managers–coaches and team members to reduce cognitive dissonance in the perception of global cooperation. To this end, 108 managers–coaches and members of performance teams were studied (range: 23−60 years old) using a Cooperative Workteam Questionnaire (CWQ). Results revealed that the greatest amount of asymmetry was observed in Global Cooperation and Emotional Cooperation, while less asymmetry was found in Personal Growth, and good congruence–fit in Conditioned Cooperation. Results are discussed in terms of their theoretical meaning and practical implications for interventions on performance teams.
Can Climate Change Awareness Predict Pro-Environmental Practices in Restaurants? Comparing High and Low Dining Expenditure

The purpose of this study is to develop a better understanding of what makes consumers reduce waste in order to address climate change, particularly when dining out. To accomplish this goal, this research constructs an extended theory of planned behavior model, using four main constructs of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and behavioral intention and incorporating climate change awareness and mitigation pursuing actions, anticipated pride and guilt, and high and low levels of dining expenses. An online survey was conducted of 482 respondents aged 20 years old or over who had dined in restaurants in the previous month in 2019. A partial least squares-structural (PLS) equation modeling analysis has been utilized with multi-group analysis. Results reveal that climate change awareness has significant effects on attitude and behavior intention, and climate change mitigation pursuing actions positively influence attitude and behavioral intention to reduce waste. Consumers’ anticipated emotions lead to their behavioral intention. Diners’ behavioral intention to reduce waste is significantly influenced by their attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control on waste reduction in restaurants. The levels of dining expenses significantly moderate seven out of nine hypotheses. Research on consumers’ waste reduction in relation to climate change is not sufficiently conducted in the foodservice sector. Using an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) to understand diner behavior related to waste reduction and climate change, this study therefore makes an important contribution to improving sustainability in foodservices, especially in the Asian context.
EQUITY VALUATION IN THE PRESENCE OF ACCOUNTING NOISE: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE USING PROFIT MARGINS

We investigate the way investors utilize accounting data in equity valuation in the presence of various sources of accounting noises that impede the persistence and the predictive value of reported earnings. Our empirical findings are consistent with the hypothesis that investors implement ratio analysis of disaggregated earnings data to imperfectly detect accounting noises of various types and adjust for them when pricing firms’ equity. In appears that investors look at deviations of reported earnings components from their expected fundamental ratios, using them as imperfect indicators of hidden nonrecurring earnings items arising from reporting manipulations, measurement biases and economic events of a transitory nature. These indicators assist investors to partially clear reported earnings of noises and elicit the persistent kernel of earnings as an improved basis for equity valuation. The empirical evidence also suggests that investors rely more heavily on this process of clearing accounting earnings of noises when pricing firms with relatively stable financial ratios.
Effect of seasonal dynamics on the chemical properties of the soil of a Northern Guinea savanna ecosystem in Nigeria

Investigations were carried out into the effects of seasonal changes on some soil chemical properties in the Northern Guinea savanna ecosystem in Nigeria. The study was carried out in Kamuku National Park is located in Birnin Gwari of Nigeria in 2011and 2012. Twenty plots were randomly selected for soil sampling from 100 plots of 10 m × 10 m at four different seasons viz: January (dry season), May (beginning of rains), September (peak of rains) and November (end of rains). Different soil depths were sampled: 0 to 4.9 cm, 5 to 9.9 cm, 10 to 14.9 and 15 to 20 cm at five randomly selected locations. The chemical properties that were mostly influenced by seasonal changes are soil organic matter, total nitrogen, soil pH, available phosphorus, exchangeable cations (Ca, Mg and K), and cation exchange capacity (CEC). The two major seasons that show profound influence on soil properties are dry season (January) and peak of rainy season (September). Soil pH and available phosphorus were higher in dry season (January) and of the beginning of rainy season (May) and remain low at the peak of the rainy season (September). In contrast, soil organic matter and total nitrogen were low in dry season (January) due to burning of the vegetation. However nitrogen content increased at the peak of rainy season (September), due to nitrogen fixation. The increase in the total exchangeable bases (TEB) could be distributed to their importance in the tissue synthesis. There was decline in most soil nutrients during active growth of the woodland savanna trees. Therefore, the limitation of N, P, Ca, Mg, Na and K is most likely to occur in September (peak of rainy season).
The Determinants of Art Prices : Analysis of Joan Miró

We study the determinants of art prices of Joan Miró analyzing 255 of his artworks sold at Sotheby's and Christie's between 2003 and 2017, and performing a hedonic price regression. Miró's works command higher prices, ceteris paribus, when: they were painted on canvas, were sold at Sotheby's and in New York City or London, were traded in the evening session, the larger their area, if they had appeared in an art book, the greater the number of words used to describe the respective lot, and depending on the period in which they had been painted. The prices of Miró's paintings increased substantially between 2003 and 2008, and then declined, coinciding with the global financial crisis of 2009. This is the first exhaustive study carried out on the determinants of the prices of Joan Miró's works. So far, only studies of Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol have been of conducted. Joan Miró has well-defined artistic periods, which also allows us determining the impact on the price of the works carried out in each period.
On Friction Reduction by Surface Modifications in the TEHL Cam/Tappet-Contact-Experimental and Numerical Studies

The overall energy efficiency of machine elements and engine components could be improved by using new technologies such as surface modifications. In the literature, surface engineering approaches like micro-texturing and the application of diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings were frequently studied separately, with focus on a specific model contact and lubrication conditions. The contribution of the current study is to elucidate and compare the underlying friction reduction mechanisms of the aforementioned surface modifications in an application-orientated manner. The study applied the operating conditions of the thermo-elastohydrodynamically lubricated (TEHL) cam/tappet-contact of the valve train. Therefore, tribological cam/bucket tappet component Stribeck tests were used to determine the friction behavior of ultrashort pulse laser fabricated microtextures and PVD/PECVD deposited silicon-doped amorphous carbon coatings. Moreover, advanced surface characterization methods, as well as numerical TEHL tribo-simulations, were utilized to explore the mechanisms responsible for the observed tribological effects. The results showed that the DLC-coating could reduce the solid and fluid friction force in a wide range of lubrication regimes. Conversely, micro-texturing may reduce solid friction while increasing the fraction of fluid friction.