Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effects of Trabeculectomy on Pseudoexfoliation Glaucoma and Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma

Purpose To compare long-term effects of trabeculectomy on pseudoexfoliation glaucoma (PXG) and primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). Methods This retrospective case-control study included 53 eyes of PXG and 76 eyes of POAG. Intraocular pressure (IOP), number of antiglaucoma medications used, surgical success rate, and occurrence of complications were observed and statistically analyzed in both groups at 3 and 6 months and at 1, 3, and 5 years after trabeculectomy. Surgical success was defined according to the following 3 criteria: (1) IOP ≤ 21 mmHg; (2) IOP ≤ 18 mmHg; (3) IOP ≤ 15 mmHg. Complete success is defined as patients met these criteria without medical treatment, and qualified success is defined as patients met these criteria with medical treatment (≤3 medications). Cumulative probabilities of success were compared using the Kaplan–Meier survival analysis. Results For the 3 criteria, there were no statistically significant differences in complete and qualified success rates between the two groups at 3 and 6 months after trabeculectomy (P > 0.05). For criterion A, complete success rates in PXG at 3 and 5 years after surgery were lower than those in POAG; for criterion B, complete and qualified success rates in PXG at 3 and 5 years after surgery were lower than those in POAG; for criterion C, complete and qualified success rates in PXG at 1, 3, and 5 years after surgery were lower than those in POAG, the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusions The short-term success rates of both types of glaucoma were similar; however, the long-term success rate of PXG was significantly lower, and it was difficult to achieve long-term control of IOP at a low target level.
Effect of Unitary Soil Tillage Energy on Soil Aggregate Structure and Erosion Vulnerability

The integrated soil tillage developed in the Institute of Biosystem Engineering is based on a single pass of basic tillage, secondary tillage and sowing or planting. The integrated soil tillage enables to achieve a relatively high mechanical strength of the soil. An important element of the technology is the use of tillage roller sets which significantly influence the obtained aggregate structure and its eolic resistance. The aim of the study was to determine the influence of roller speed under various soil moisture conditions on the aggregate structure of the arable soil layer. The research was carried out on the production field in Dziećmierowo, Wielkopolska Voivodeship, Poland, on medium soil with the mechanical composition of light clay. During the research, cultivation sets with two units of Campell + Croskill platelet and studded rollers were used. For two actual soil moisture levels and five speeds within the range of 3–7 km/h, the influence of unit tillage energy at three levels of the cultivating layer (0–5 cm, 5–10 cm and 10–15 cm) was analyzed on the aggregate structure of soil and the content of aggregates with the highest resistance to wind erosion. The results of the work lead to the conclusions that it is possible to use the working speed and overloading of rollers set in integrated soil tillage trailer to manipulate the process of forming an optimal, erosion-resistant soil layer. However, it should be pointed out that for even very similar types of roller sets, the process control under different soil moisture conditions may be different and require an individual test.
Trust and Reputation Framework for Social Web Platforms: Research Agenda and Preliminary Model

Trust and reputation systems (TRSs) have recently seen as a vital asset for the safety of online interaction environment. They present in many practical applications, e.g., e-commerce and social web. A lot of more complicated systems in numerous disciplines also have been studied and proposed in academia. They work as a decision support tool for participants in the system, helping them decide whom to trust and how trustworthy the person is in fulﬁlling a transaction. They are also an eﬀective mechanism to encourage honesty and cooperation among the users resulting in healthy online markets or communities. The basic idea is to let parties rate each other so that new public knowledge can be created from personal experiences. The greatest challenge in designing a TRS is making it robust against malicious attacks. In this paper, we provide readers an overview on the reasearch topic of TRSs, propose a consistent research agenda in studying and designing a robust TRS, and present an implemented reputation computing engine alongside simulation results, which is our preliminary work to acquire the target of a trust and reputation framework for social web applications.
Anti-quorum sensing, anti-bacterial, and immunomodulatory properties of Panax ginseng

The increased emergence of multi-drug and pandrug resistant bacteria necessitates the identification of new therapies. Although antibiotics are used to treat infections, the novel antibiotic discovery rate lags behind development of resistance. Antibiotics in clinical use combat infection through bactericidal or bacteriostatic action, which allows for selection of resistant strains. To impede or avoid resistance, treatments targeting microbial cell pathways critical for virulence and pathogenicity, but not essential for viability are being explored. One such signaling pathway is quorum sensing (QS) which regulates virulence factor expression in many pathogenic bacteria. Interference with this signaling pathway results in attenuation of pathogenicity and allows the host immune response system to eradicate the infection. Natural products have long been a rich source of antibiotic scaffolds as well as inhibitors of QS. Panax ginseng has been used as an herbal panacea for thousands of years, yet its ability to inhibit bacterial growth and QS is only beginning to be characterized. This review provides a brief outline of the microbial infection process, an overview of quorum sensing, an introduction to the use of natural products as alternative therapies, and a synopsis of the current literature describing the anti-bacterial and anti-QS activities of Panax ginseng. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Text-as-data methods for comparative policy analysis

Text-as-data methods are a broad set of techniques and approaches relying on the automated or semi-automated analysis of text. They have become increasingly prevalent in the social sciences, and are part of a broader trend in which, taken together, the internet and computational social science tools have changed the kinds of questions that social scientists can ask and answer successfully (Golder and Macy, 2014; Lazer and Radford, 2017). Text analysis holds a prominent place in these developments. Texts have always been a primary data source for social scientists. AsMonroe and Schrodt (2008, 351)write, “text is arguably themost pervasive—and certainly the most persistent—artifact of political behavior. ” In the internet age, texts have become particularly plentiful, and accessible with relative ease. The large amount of text available to researchers, combined with new computational tools, have promoted the development of text-as-data approaches in which texts are analyzed statistically with different degrees of automatization. The promise of the approach is that it can both apply existing theories to new data and uncover new phenomena that previously remained hidden (Evans and Aceves, 2016). As González-Bailón (2017, xviii) writes: “when the right connections are made, much of the data-driven research that is being conducted today speaks directly to long-standing (and unresolved) theoretical discussions. ” Text-as-data approaches are becoming mainstream in political science. Typical applications revolve around research question where at least one element is based on political communication theories such as agenda setting, issue definition, or framing (for reviews, see Grimmer and Stewart, 2013; Lucas et al., 2015; Wilkerson and Casas, 2017). From a practical perspective, these approaches allow researchers to conduct more efficiently research they have been doing
Evidence for a systemic embryotoxic effect of early luteal regression in the ewe

Evidence for a systemic embryotoxic effect of early luteal regression in the ewe. Beth A. Costine Experiments were performed to determine if a short-lived corpus luteum was embryotoxic in ewes given supplemental progesterone and the route of transfer of embryotoxic products. Mated ewes were lutectomized or sham lutectomized on day 4 after estrus. Following surgery, ewes received saline or PGF2α through days 6 or 7. Pregnancy rate was reduced after treatment with PGF2α (P < 0.001) compared to controls and was increased in PGF2α-treated ewes by lutectomy (P < 0.05). Mated ewes with bilateral ovulations were unilaterally lutectomized, and each uterine horn was ligated to eliminate intercornual flow on day 4 after estrus. Treatment with PGF2α on day 5 through 8 reduced pregnancy rates (P < 0.01), but embryonic survival did not differ in the uterine horns ipsilateral or contralateral to the regressing CL. The regressing CL is embryotoxic in progesterone-supplemented ewes, and embryotoxic luteal products have been shown to act by non-local pathways.
Sample deposition onto cryo-EM grids: from sprays to jets and back

Sample preparation within single-particle cryo-electron microscopy can still be a significant bottleneck, with issues in reproducibility, ice quality and sample loss. New approaches have recently been reported that use spraying or pin printing instead of the traditional blotting approach. Here, experience in the use of different nozzle designs and spraying regimes is reported together with their influence on the resulting spray and grid quality.
Effect of P-K solubilizing bacteria and nitrogen chemical fertilizer on Growth, Yield and Nitrate leaf of Brassica juncea L. cultivated on acid sulphate soils

A field study was conducted to determine the effect of P-K solubilizing bacteria and nitrogen chemical fertilizer on growth, yield and nitrate in leaf of Brassica juncea L cultivated on acid sulphate soil together with soil fertility as pH soil, N total and organic matter. Twelve P-K solubilizing bacterial strains plus nitrogen chemical fertilizer (0N, 25N and 50N), bacterial liquid were directly watered into plant at 3 stages [6, 12 and 21 days after planting] during vegetable cultivation, chemical fertilizer (100 N – 80 P2O5 – 40 K2O) and control (no-inoculation). The study revealed that twelve P-K solubilizing bacterial strains are PGPR which they have characteristics as nitrogen fixation, phosphate and potassium solubilization, application of more nitrogen chemical concentration, increasing nitrate concentration of leaf and concentration of N total and organic matter in acid sulphate soil. Application of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus NT30 strain plus 25 kgN/ha chemical fertilizer in Brassica juncea cultivation was the best cultural practice because the this model not only supported the highest biomass, low nitrate in leaf of Brassica juncea but also improved soil fertility as high pH soil, N total soil and organic matter.
Patient Handover as a Learning Activity for Medical Students

The move of medical education in North America to a model based on teaching competencies rather than knowledge requires new methods of assessment. As part of a longer-term project to create objective and quantifiable measures for the learning of these competencies, we argue that the focus should be on the Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) that are associated with each competency. In this paper we present a theoretical constructivist analysis of one such EPA, that of patient handover, which is critical to patient safety. By applying an Activity Theory analysis to this EPA, we were able to identify, and thus quantify, key components of the EPA. Analysis of student performance on an online virtual patient simulation of a trauma case indicated that surgical clerkship students were able to correctly mention the majority of the procedures that expert surgeons indicated were most important, but only used less than a third of the professional terms that experts thought appropriate. This result points to a need to increase direct instruction in professional communication among medical learners, while demonstrating that Activity Theory provides an analysis that not only captures what is happening in the learning, but also can be used to develop objective and quantifiable assessment metrics.
‘Diabesity’ and Insulin Resistance: Results from a Study in a Rural Setting of Haryana, India

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus and obesity are closely related in terms of both pathogenesis and pathophysiology. Both metabolic disorders in turn result in vascular complications such as cardiovascular diseases through unknown mechanisms which may be linked to a cluster of risk factors including insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, hyperinsulinemia and systemic inflammation. Dyslipidemia, an important component of insulin resistance syndrome, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and obesity, is characterized by increased triglycerides, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol and decreased high density lipoprotein-cholesterol. Aims and Objectives: The present study was undertaken to estimate and compare the levels of fasting plasma glucose, serum lipid profile and insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and non-diabetic subjects with and without obesity. Materials and Methods: A total of 400 subjects comprising 200 T2DM patients (with and without obesity) attending the OPDs and wards of Department of Medicine, M.M Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Mullana, Ambala and 200 non-diabetic subjects (with obesity and without obesity) from amongst the attendants of the patients and volunteers in the age range of 30-70 years of either sex were selected for the study. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and serum lipid profile levels including total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL-C, HDL-C and VLDL-C were measured while insulin resistance was calculated using homeostasis model assessment method (HOMA). Results: It was observed that fasting plasma glucose levels were significantly higher in non-obese than obese diabetics (p 0.05), although obese individuals were more insulin resistant than non-obese subjects. Conclusion: The subjects with both DM and obesity were significantly more insulin resistant than those suffering from either of two diseases. It is imperative that persons with co-existent DM and obesity should be regularly monitored for their blood lipid levels in order to reduce the associated cardiovascular disease risk.
Propensity Score Matching to Analyze the Impact of Implementing Good Agricultural Practices on White Pepper Farming in Bangka Belitung Islands Province

White pepper produced by farmers in the Bangka Belitung Islands Province is internationally recognized as a product that is unique in both taste and quality. Thus, in international trade, the geographical indication label of Muntok White Pepper is applied. Efforts to maintain quality and productivity are carried out by applying good agricultural practices. This study aimed to examine the impact of implementing Good Agricultural Practices on productivity, selling prices, and income of white pepper farmers in the Bangka Belitung Islands Province. This study used primary cross-section data collected from farmers in the production center of white pepper in the West Bangka Regency, South Bangka Regency, and Central Bangka Regency. The survey was conducted in April-June 2019. A sampling of respondents consisted of 142 farmer respondents who implemented GAP and 82 non-GAP farmers. This study estimated the impact of implementing GAP using the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) technique. The results show that the application of GAP significantly increased productivity, selling prices, and income of white pepper farmers. GAP socialization activity is an essential factor in its application; thus, future GAP socialization activities should be improved and more evenly distributed to all areas of white pepper farming.
Upper limb robotic neurorehabilitation after pediatric stroke

Introduction. Pediatric brain stroke is a rare condition, with the incidence of 1.2–13/100,000. The most common consequence is hemiparesis with unilateral hand impairment. There is level 4 evidence that robotics may improve the function of upper limbs. In this paper, we present the effect of combined robotic rehabilitation and kinesitherapy on the distal portion of the arm in the chronic phase of hemiparesis in childhood. Case outline. In a 7.5-year-old girl the treatment with robotic neurorehabilitation was administered in the chronic phase of post-stroke rehabilitation, 18 months after the stroke, involving individualized kinesitherapy for 30 minutes, and virtual reality-based rehabilitation using the robotic Smart Glove for 30 minutes. The rehabilitation protocol was administered for 12 weeks (five times a week). The results of therapeutic evaluation showed that the level 2 of Manual Ability Classification System remained unchanged until the end of treatment, while the grade assigned for the spasticity of flexors in the forearm and fingers was 2 at the treatment onset, 1+ after four weeks of therapy, and 1 after eight and 12 weeks of therapy. Qualitative improvement of arm function through the increase of the overall value of the Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test was evidenced at each evaluation testing, being the greatest after the first four weeks of rehabilitation (4.83%). Conclusion. The result of our study suggests that combined robotic rehabilitation and kinesitherapy can improve the functional motor performance of the arm involved in the chronic recovery phase after a pediatric stroke.
Screening gelatin hydrogel and calcium alginate beads as scaffold approach for immobilization of horseradish peroxidase enzyme: Comparative operational and thermal stability study

Immobilization of enzymes is a highly beneficial technique where it augments industrial process economics by allowing enzyme re-use and improving process productivity and robustness. Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) is a highly available enzyme of wide industrial applications. Calcium alginate (Ca-Alg-HRP) and gelatin (Gel-HRP) were screened for the immobilization of hydrogen peroxide enzyme for improvement of its industrial applications. The immobilization procedure onto Ca alginate beads was accomplished by gelation method where calcium ions were used as cross-linking agent. For gelatin hydrogel, glutraldehyde was added to enzyme/gelatin mixture to complete cross-linking. The effect of immobilization on the pH and temperature profile, thermal and operational stability and reusability of biocatalyst activity was assessed. Immobilization caused a change in pH/activity profile of HRP with a marginal shift in optimum pH from 7.0 to 7.5 for free and immobilized HRP, respectively. Whereas the temperature/activity profile was improved upon immobilization. Both thermal and operational stability were enhanced as a result of immobilization. The half-life of immobilized HRP at both 50°C and 70°C was found to be higher than the free enzyme with a reported half life of 1034 min and stabilization factor of (61.5%) . Reusability of the immobilized HRP was also studied and the results showed that both methods allowed for consecutive runs with residual catalytic activity of 80% after five successive cycles. The suggested immobilization supports proved to provide protective effect for HRP with improved thermal and operational stability and allowed re-use and recovery of the enzyme.
Plant Pest Risk Assessment for Event 3272 Corn

“Plant Pest The term “plant pest” means any living stage of any of the following that can directly or indirectly injure, cause damage to, or cause disease in any plant or plant product: (A) A protozoan. (B) A nonhuman animal. (C) A parasitic plant. (D) A bacterium. (E) A fungus. (F) A virus or viroid. (G) An infectious agent or other pathogen (H) Any article similar to or allied with any of the articles specified in the preceding subparagraphs. ”
The Views of Bahir Dar University academic leaders on the role of organizational culture in implementing management innovations

The purpose of this study is to understand the views of academic leaders on the role of organizational culture while implementing management innovation at Bahir Dar University. Using a qualitative case study, data were collected using an in-depth interview (from sixteen purposefully selected academic leaders) and relevant documents (such as the BPR document and university strategic plan), and were thematically analyzed based on the selected dimensions of organizational culture in the conceptual framework. The findings show that participants consider organizational culture as decisive factor for organizational success even though the university’s culture has been considered as a barrier to the implementation of the management innovation (Business Process Reengineering). Presence of poor understanding of the innovation, low commitment and sense of ownership, disconnection between middle and top level leaders, and reporting for conformity were some of the major challenges reported. Moreover, the participants seem to have poor recall of the university’s core values. Participants’ responses also indicate clash between old and new elements of culture, and less effort has been made to reconcile new values with old ones which later posed difficulty to live up to the underlying principles of the innovation. From the results, it can be said that the organizational culture at the time of this study was less conducive to implement management innovation (BPR in this case). Further suggestions for better considerations of organizational culture are forwarded.
Detecting contiguous regions having traffic problems using taxi trajectories

: Nowadays, taxi is one of the most popular transportation modes. There is a large amount of passenger using taxi everyday and taxi trajectories represent the mobility of people. In the big cities, taxi is equipped GPS device and run during 24 hours per day, they may be used to extract reliable information for transportation status. This paper states our method using taxi trajectories in Hanoi, Vietnam during 4 weeks from September 18th to October 15 th . In our method, Hanoi map is divided into the smaller regions with a predefined size. We identify the contiguous regions where jams happen during different time slots and their correlations.
Uncertainty Analysis of Roughness Measurements for a Large-Scale Canal

Factors related to the uncertainty of roughness measurements were analyzed in a large-scale canal: the Middle Route Project (MRP) in China. With field observation data of seven canal sections, a formula to estimate the uncertainties of the roughness coefficients was derived, and sensitivity coefficients were determined. Curves illustrating the variations of the sensitivity coefficients and roughness coefficient uncertainties with spaces between water level stations are presented. Exponential fitting formulas were generated. In this study, it was shown that the flow rate measurements were the main source of error and dominated the calculation of the uncertainty. The uncertainty can be reduced by increasing the space between water level stations. This is especially effective within a specific spacing range, which can be identified from the fitting formulas.