Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Primary ankle ligament augmentation versus modified Brostrom‐Gould procedure: a 2‐year randomized controlled trial

More than 20% of patients develop chronic instability following appropriate management of an ‘ankle sprain’. There is little research comparing surgical techniques. ‘Anatomical’ procedures, such as the modified Brostrom‐Gould (MBG), are generally preferred. However, not all patients are suitable for this procedure. Augmentation of a primary repair using a synthetic ligament, such as the ligament augmentation reconstruction system (LARS), is another ‘anatomic’ option. Our objective was to compare the clinical outcome following the MBG with that following the LARS technique using a prospective randomized clinical trial.
Women-only Leadership Positions in the Middle East: Exploring Cultural Attitudes towards Syrian Women for Sport Career Development

Based on the gender ratios in the leadership positions of general sport organisation in Syria, this article aims to explore the reasons behind the low level of women in sport leadership positions. Leadership training used in the general sport organisation in Syria for high-skilled leaders serves to understand the how individual leaders develop in sport bodies, but it fails to explain the reasons for the low level of women in senior sport administrative positions. In this study, I attempt to analyze the cultural aspects to find out: the nature of challenges surrounding women's' career development; and how Syrian women learn and develop within the institutional-cultural context of Syria. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews with ten Syrian women leaders: eight from sports governing bodies, one from the National Olympic Committee, and one from the high executive committee. Implications for addressing the challenges for the low level of women in top management in Syrian sport are outlined.Keywords: national culture, leadership, development, Syrian women, and sport.
Water-Deficit Tolerance in Sweet Potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] by Foliar Application of Paclobutrazol: Role of Soluble Sugar and Free Proline

The objective of this study was to elevate water deficit tolerance by improving soluble sugar and free proline accumulation, photosynthetic pigment stabilization, photosynthetic abilities, growth performance and storage root yield in sweet potato cv. ‘Tainung 57’ using a foliar application of paclobutrazol (PBZ). The experiment followed a Completely Randomized Block Design with four concentrations of PBZ: 0 (control), 17, 34, and 51 μM before exposure to 47.5% (well irrigation), 32.3% (mild water deficit) or 17.5% (severe water deficit) soil water content. A sweet potato cultivar, ‘Japanese Yellow’, with water deficit tolerance attributes was the positive check in this study. Total soluble sugar content (sucrose, glucose, and fructose) increased by 3.96-folds in ‘Tainung 57’ plants treated with 34 μM PBZ grown under 32.3% soil water content (SWC) compared to the untreated plants, adjusting osmotic potential in the leaves and controlling stomatal closure (represented by stomatal conductance and transpiration rate). In addition, under the same treatment, free proline content (2.15 μmol g-1 FW) increased by 3.84-folds when exposed to 17.5% SWC. PBZ had an improved effect on leaf size, vine length, photosynthetic pigment stability, chlorophyll fluorescence, and net photosynthetic rate; hence, delaying wilting symptoms and maintaining storage root yield (26.93 g plant-1) at the harvesting stage. A positive relationship between photon yield of PSII (ΦPSII) and net photosynthetic rate was demonstrated (r2 = 0.73). The study concludes that soluble sugar and free proline enrichment in PBZ-pretreated plants may play a critical role as major osmoprotectant to control leaf osmotic potential and stomatal closure when plants were subjected to low soil water content, therefore, maintaining the physiological and morphological characters as well as storage root yield.
The organizational challenges of mixed-income development: privatizing public housing through cross-sector collaboration

One of the largely undocumented dimensions of public housing transformation in the United States is the multi-sector, multi-organizational collaborations whose charge is to manage the local implementation of mixed-income developments. In Chicago, private real estate developers entered into partnerships with the Chicago Housing Authority to finance, design, build, and manage the new developments. Key topics considered in this paper include the structures and processes of new organizational working relationships that have been established, how they are evolving over time, and the key operational challenges confronted in creating and sustaining them. We argue that these cross-sector collaborations within the context of the privatization of public housing generate complex organizational roles and dynamics that would benefit from far greater intentionality, clarity, and support to promote effectiveness and accountability.
Information Abstraction for Heterogeneous Real World Internet Data

Everyday around 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created. There is also a growing trend toward integrating real world data into the Internet, which is provided by sensory devices, smart phones, GPS, and many other sources that capture and communicate real world data. The term Internet of Things (IoT) refers to billions of devices that produce and exchange data related to real world objects (i.e., Things). This paper focuses on how to optimize the data exchange between the sensory devices and applications in IoT and Cyber-Physical systems. In particular, a method to construct higher-level abstractions of data at local gateways is proposed. This will reduce the traffic load imposed on the communication networks that provide the real world data. The proposed method is based on an information processing algorithm where gateways analyze the data collected from the sensors and create higher level abstractions. We enhance the symbolic aggregate approximation (SAX) algorithm that is used as a building block of the abstraction creation framework, into an optimized version for sensor data, called sensor SAX. We extend the parsimonious covering theory that is usually used for medical purposes with a probabilistic parsimonious criterion in the temporal domain to infer abstractions based on time-dependent sensor data. The proposed method is analyzed and evaluated over a real world data set and the results are discussed in terms of the data size reduction, accuracy, and latency needed to create the abstractions.
Teaching Leadership and Policy Change in a Public Affairs School

Abstract Public affairs graduate schools may have difficulty integrating public leadership and management and the analysis of public policies and the political process. Too often in the curriculum, process is separated from analysis, and policy issues are separated from politics and the mechanics of policy making. This article describes the design and operation of a two-course sequence, taught at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, that fosters this integration and helps students gain a stronger sense of themselves as leaders and stronger skills for intervening in the policy process from a variety of standpoints.
CORRELATES OF HELMINTH COMMUNITY IN THE RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE (ALECTORIS RUFA L.) IN SPAIN

Between 1992 and 1996, 587 wild red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa) from 16 Spanish provinces were examined to study the variations of helminth communities in this game species across a broad geographical area. The survey revealed 13 species of helminth parasites. Dicrocoelium sp. , Rhabdometra nigropunctata, and Cheilospirura gruweli were the most common species, whereas Raillietina bolivari, Choanotaenia infundibulum, Tetrameres sp. , and Capillaria anatis were the most rare. Subulura suctoria, Heterakis gallinarum, Heterakis tenuicaudata, Capillaria contorta, Trichostrongylus tenuis, and Raillietina tetragona occurred with intermediate frequencies. The abundance of C. gruweli, S. suctoria, H. tenuicaudata, T. tenuis, and R. tetragona was inversely correlated to latitude and directly correlated to yearly mean temperature, whereas the abundance of Dicrocoelium sp. was directly correlated to latitude and inversely correlated to yearly mean temperature. The abundance of R. tetragona was inversely correlated to latitude and yearly mean humidity. The number of helminths per partridge and the number of helminth species per partridge were lower in young birds than in adults. Partridge body condition was inversely correlated to abundance of C. contorta. Richer infracommunities were linked to richer component communities. At the infracommunity level, total number of helminths per partridge and number of helminth species per partridge were inversely correlated to latitude and directly correlated to yearly mean temperature. At the component community level, both species richness and diversity (Simpson's index) were inversely correlated to latitude and directly correlated to mean temperature. Across the broad geographical range of the study area, the helminth parasite communities of red-legged partridges had marked geographical variation in their structure. Our results suggest that this variation is determined by the distribution of both intermediate and definitive hosts. We discuss the implications of this variation for the hypothesis that supplementary releases of captive-bred partridges for sport hunting can affect the helminth fauna of wild red-legged partridges.
The Impact of Nursing Work Environments on Patient Safety Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Burnout Engagement

Objective: To test a theoretical model of professional nurse work environments linking conditions for professional nursing practice to burnout and, subsequently, patient safety outcomes. Background: The 2004 Institute of Medicine report raised serious concerns about the impact of hospital restructuring on nursing work environments and patient safety outcomes. Few studies have used a theoretical framework to study the nature of the relationships between nursing work environments and patient safety outcomes. Methods: Hospital-based nurses in Canada (N = 8,597) completed measures of worklife (Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index), burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Service Scale), and their report of frequency of adverse patient events. Results: Structural equation modeling analysis supported an extension of Leiter and Laschinger's Nursing Worklife Model. Nursing leadership played a fundamental role in the quality of worklife regarding policy involvement, staffing levels, support for a nursing model of care (vs medical), and nurse/physician relationships. Staffing adequacy directly affected emotional exhaustion, and use of a nursing model of care had a direct effect on nurses' personal accomplishment. Both directly affected patient safety outcomes. Conclusions: The results suggest that patient safety outcomes are related to the quality of the nursing practice work environment and nursing leadership's role in changing the work environment to decrease nurse burnout.
AAA+ Machines of Protein Destruction in Mycobacteria

The bacterial cytosol is a complex mixture of macromolecules (proteins, DNA, and RNA), which collectively are responsible for an enormous array of cellular tasks. Proteins are central to most, if not all, of these tasks and as such their maintenance (commonly referred to as protein homeostasis or proteostasis) is vital for cell survival during normal and stressful conditions. The two key aspects of protein homeostasis are, (i) the correct folding and assembly of proteins (coupled with their delivery to the correct cellular location) and (ii) the timely removal of unwanted or damaged proteins from the cell, which are performed by molecular chaperones and proteases, respectively. A major class of proteins that contribute to both of these tasks are the AAA+ (ATPases associated with a variety of cellular activities) protein superfamily. Although much is known about the structure of these machines and how they function in the model Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli, we are only just beginning to discover the molecular details of these machines and how they function in mycobacteria. Here we review the different AAA+ machines, that contribute to proteostasis in mycobacteria. Primarily we will focus on the recent advances in the structure and function of AAA+ proteases, the substrates they recognize and the cellular pathways they control. Finally, we will discuss the recent developments related to these machines as novel drug targets.
A Simple GHz Resonator for Superconducting Materials Characterization

This work examines the design and operation of a longitudinal resonant cavity, paired with monopole send and reciprocal patch receive antennae, that couples radio-frequency energy to a superconducting thin film carrying high current densities (~105 A/cm2). The dielectric substrate supporting the film penetrates the waveguide, which operates in an evanescent mode below the design cutoff frequency of 18 GHz. Oscillatory vortex motion in the thin film is found to produce a small (~0.1 mV) dc voltage. When the niobium film is patterned to form an aperture that permits resonant conditions within the waveguide volume, the measured voltage increases by an order of magnitude. The increase is explained in the framework of the Larkin-Ovchinnikov model for quasiparticle behavior inside a moving normal vortex core. Operated near the superconducting transition, this device is useful for materials characterization, including the possibility to extract parameters including the pinning force. The authors suggest that the device could be used to characterize the pinning potential or to explore quasiparticle dynamics in superconducting thin films.
The Interaction between Yield Curve and Macroeconomic Factors

[EN] Understanding the determinants of yield curve and its interaction with economic variables is quite crucial for both policymakers and investors. This note aims to explore the relation between yield curve and macroeconomic factors. To this end, firstly, the yield curve is depicted by a small number of unobservable factors, namely the level, slope and curvature, using Nelson-Siegel methodology for the 2006:02-2017:08 period. Rather than combining the yield curve factors with a few macroeconomic variables, a comprehensive dataset is set used, which is comprised of 164 global and domestic macroeconomic/financial variables. The principal components obtained under four categories (global variables, inflation, domestic financial variables, and economic activity) are incorporated into a Vector Autoregressive model together with the yield curve factors. Empirical results suggest that the level factor responds to shocks originated from inflation, domestic financial variables and global variables. Furthermore, the slope factor is affected by shocks in global variables, and the curvature factor appears to be influenced by domestic financial developments. Overall, the results indicate the significance of macroeconomic information on the yield curve, especially of domestic financial variables and global variables. Given the spillover effects of unconventional monetary policies of advanced countries, emerging market bond rates tend to be exposed to the swings in the global financial conditions, which weakens the monetary policy transmission in emerging countries. [TR] [TR] Getiri egrisinin belirleyicilerinin ve iktisadi degiskenlerle olan etkilesiminin anlasilmasi politika yapicilar ve yatirimcilar icin onem tasimaktadir. Bu notta, getiri egrisi ve makroekonomik faktorler arasindaki dinamik iliski incelenmektedir. Bu amacla ilk asamada getiri egrisi, 2006:02- 2017:08 donemi icin Nelson-Siegel yontemi kullanilarak seviye, egim ve egrilik faktorleri uzerinden ozetlenmistir. Uygulamada yaygin metot olan getiri egrisinin birkac makroekonomik gostergeyle iliskilendirilmesi yerine, kuresel ve yerel makroekonomik/finansal 164 seriyi iceren bir veri seti kullanilmistir. Getiri egrisi faktorleri ve dort sektorden elde edilen temel bilesenler arasinda vektor ozbaglanim analizi gerceklestirilmistir. Ampirik sonuclar, seviye faktorunun enflasyon gelismeleri, yerel finansal degiskenler ile kuresel degiskenlerden etkilendigine isaret etmektedir. Ek olarak, egim faktoru kuresel degiskenlerden, egrilik faktoru ise yerel finansal gelismelerden etkilenmektedir. Ozetle, sonuclar kuresel finansal degiskenler basta olmak uzere, makroekonomik degiskenlerin getiri egrisini onemli derecede etkiledigine isaret etmektedir. Geleneksel-olmayan para politikasi uygulamalarinin bulasicilik etkisi dikkate alindiginda, gelismekte olan ulke tahvil faizlerinin kuresel kosullardaki degisimlere duyarli oldugu ve bu durumun para politikasi aktarim mekanizmasini azalttigi gorulmektedir.
Regular aerobic exercise modulates age‐associated declines in cardiovagal baroreflex sensitivity in healthy men

1 Cardiovagal baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), the arterial baroreflex‐mediated change in the R‐R interval per unit change in systolic blood pressure, decreases with advancing age in sedentary adult humans. We determined the effects of regular aerobic exercise on the age‐related decline in cardiovagal BRS. 2 In the cross‐sectional study, 133 healthy men 18‐79 years of age who were either sedentary, performing moderate aerobic exercise, or endurance exercise trained were studied. Among the sedentary men, cardiovagal BRS (phase IV of Valsalva's manoeuvre) was progressively lower (P < 0·05) in the middle‐aged (≈33 %) and older (≈60 %) groups compared with the young group. In contrast, cardiovagal BRS was similar in the young and middle‐aged men in the moderate exercise and endurance‐trained groups. Cardiovagal BRS was lower (P < 0·05) in the older exercising men, but the magnitude of decline across age (≈30 %) was only half as great as that in sedentary men. Cardiovagal BRS was 40‐75 % greater (P < 0·05) in middle‐aged and older men who exercised regularly compared with their sedentary peers. 3 In the intervention study, a 3 month aerobic exercise intervention (primarily walking) increased cardiovagal BRS by an average of 25 % (P < 0·05) in 13 previously sedentary middle‐aged and older (56 ± 1 years) healthy men. 4 Our results demonstrate for the first time that regular aerobic exercise: (1) attenuates the age‐associated decline in cardiovagal BRS; and (2) partially restores the loss of cardiovagal BRS in previously sedentary middle‐aged and older healthy men.
Homeobox genes in vertebrate forebrain development and disease

Homeobox genes are an evolutionarily conserved class of transcription factors that are key regulators of developmental processes such as regional specification, patterning, migration and differentiation. In both mouse and humans, the developing forebrain is marked by distinct boundaries of homeobox gene expression at different developmental time points. These genes regulate the patterning of the forebrain along the dorsal/ventral and rostral/caudal axes and are also essential for the differentiation of specific neuronal subtypes. Inhibitory interneurons that arise from the ganglionic eminences and migrate tangentially to the neocortex and hippocampus are dramatically affected by mutations in several homeobox genes. In this review, we discuss the identification, expression patterns, loss‐ and/or gain‐of‐function models, and confirmed transcriptional targets for a set of homeobox genes required for the correct development of the forebrain in the mouse. In humans, mutations of homeobox genes expressed in the forebrain have been shown to result in mental retardation, epilepsy or movement disorders. The number of homeobox genes currently linked to human nervous system disease is surprisingly low, perhaps reflecting the essential functions of these genes throughout embryogenesis or the degree of functional redundancy during central nervous system development.
Home sampling and pooling of vaginal samples are effective tools for genetic screening of Chlamydia trachomatis among high school female students in Lithuania

The aims were 1) to estimate the prevalence of C. trachomatis infection among sexually active female students in Kaunas, Lithuania; 2) to investigate the usefulness of personal invitation, self-sampling, and pooling of samples for screening; and 3) to evaluate the costs of the approaches used. A cross-sectional study inviting 795 female students (18–31 y of age) from 7 high schools and 1 college in Kaunas was performed. The response rate was 67% (533/795). Self-obtained vaginal samples were analysed, individually and pooled (n=3), using Digene Hybrid Capture II CT/NG Test. The overall prevalence of C. trachomatis infection was 5.6%. Among the sexually active female students 20–24 y of age (n=424), the prevalence was 7.1%; however, the prevalence varied from 0% to 14.2% at the different schools. For estimation of the population prevalence based solely on identification of C. trachomatis positive pools, the pooling strategy reduced the costs by 85%. For estimation of population prevalence and for diagnosis of each individual sample, pooling reduced the costs by 70%. Targeted screening, using pooling to reduce the expenses, mainly of 3rd and 4th y Lithuanian female students could be recommended. By extended personal contact and internet-based communication, increased participation rates may be attained.
Balance of Pro- and Anti-Inflammatory Cytokines Correlates with Outcome of Acute Experimental Pseudomonas aeruginosa Keratitis

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to elucidate the expression of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in mouse corneas infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Three bacterial strains (invasive, cytotoxic, or CLARE [contact lens-induced acute red eye]) which have recently been shown to produce distinct patterns of corneal disease in the mouse were used. The left mouse (BALB/c) corneas were scarified and infected with 2 × 106 CFU of one of the three P. aeruginosa strains, while right eyes served as controls. Animals were examined at 1, 4, 8, 16, and 24 h with a slit lamp biomicroscope to grade the severity of infection. Following examination, eyes were collected and processed for histopathology, multiprobe RNase protection assay for cytokine mRNA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to quantitate cytokine proteins, and myeloperoxidase activity to quantitate polymorphonuclear leukocytes. The kinetics of appearance and magnitude of expression of key cytokines varied significantly in the three different phenotypes of P. aeruginosa infection. The predominant cytokines expressed in response to all three phenotypes were interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-1Ra, and IL-6. In response to the invasive strain, which induced severe corneal inflammation, significantly lower ratios of IL-1Ra to IL-1β were present at all time points, whereas corneas challenged with the CLARE strain, which induced very mild inflammation, showed a high ratio of IL-1Ra to IL-1β. The outcome of infection in bacterial keratitis correlated with the relative induction of these pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, and exogenous administration of recombinant rIL-1Ra (rIL-1Ra) was able to reduce the disease severity significantly. These findings point to the therapeutic potential of rIL-1Ra protein in possible treatment strategies for bacterial keratitis.