LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
A meta-analysis of educational interventions designed to enhance cultural competence in professional nurses and nursing students.

OBJECTIVES
Increasing professional nurses' and nursing students cultural competence has been identified as one way to decrease the disparity of care for vulnerable and minority groups, but effectiveness of training programs to increase competence remains equivocal. The purpose of this project is to synthesize educational interventions designed to increase cultural competence in professional nurses and nursing students.


DESIGN
A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to synthesize all existing studies on increasing cultural competence.


DATA SOURCES
A comprehensive search and screen procedures was conducted to locate all cultural competence interventions implemented with professional nurses and nursing students.


REVIEW METHODS
Two independent researchers screened and coded the included studies. Effect sizes were calculated for each study and a random-effects meta-analysis was conducted.


RESULTS
A total of 25 studies were included in the review. Two independent syntheses were conducted given the disparate nature of the effect size metrics. For the synthesis of treatment-control designed studies, the results revealed a non-statistically significant increase in cultural competence (g¯=.38, 95% CI: -.05, .79, p=.08). Moderator analyses indicated significant variation as a function of the measurements, participant types, and funding source. The pretest-posttest effect size synthesis revealed a significant increase in overall cultural competence (g¯=.45, 95% CI: .24, .66, p<.01). Moderator analyses indicated, however, that the effect sizes varied as functions of the measurement, funding source, and publication type.


CONCLUSIONS
Interventions to increase cultural competence have shown varied effectiveness. Greater research is required to improve these interventions and promote cultural competence.
Design and Analysis of Slotless Brushless DC Motor

This paper presents a design method for a small-sized slotless brushless dc motor. Distributed hexagonal windings are employed for achieving a high torque density and for ease of manufacture. Numerical approaches with an analytic model are used to analyze the magnetic and output characteristics of the motor. The proposed motor is manufactured, and the empirical results are compared with the results of the simulation.
IMPLICATIONS OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE FOR THE ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF HUMAN HEALTH RISKS OF CHEMICALS IN THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

Global climate change (GCC) is likely to alter the degree of human exposure to pollutants and the response of human populations to these exposures, meaning that risks of pollutants could change in the future. The present study, therefore, explores how GCC might affect the different steps in the pathway from a chemical source in the environment through to impacts on human health and evaluates the implications for existing risk-assessment and management practices. In certain parts of the world, GCC is predicted to increase the level of exposure of many environmental pollutants due to direct and indirect effects on the use patterns and transport and fate of chemicals. Changes in human behavior will also affect how humans come into contact with contaminated air, water, and food. Dietary changes, psychosocial stress, and coexposure to stressors such as high temperatures are likely to increase the vulnerability of humans to chemicals. These changes are likely to have significant implications for current practices for chemical assessment. Assumptions used in current exposure-assessment models may no longer apply, and existing monitoring methods may not be robust enough to detect adverse episodic changes in exposures. Organizations responsible for the assessment and management of health risks of chemicals therefore need to be more proactive and consider the implications of GCC for their procedures and processes.
Resource pricing game in geo-distributed clouds

Cloud computing enables larger classes of application service providers to distribute their services to world-wide users in multiple regions without their own private data centers. Heterogeneity and resource limitation of geo-graphically distributed cloud data centers impose application service providers to have incentives to optimize their computing resource usage while guaranteeing some level of quality of service. Recent studies proposed various techniques for optimization of computing resource usage from cloud users (or application service providers) perspective with little consideration of competition. In addition, optimization efforts of application service providers motivate cloud service providers owning multiple geo-distributed clouds to decide their computing resource prices considering their efforts. In this context, we formulate this problem for cloud service providers as a game of resource pricing in geo-distributed clouds. One of the main challenges in this problem is how to model the best responses of application service providers, given resource price information of clouds in non-overlapped regions. We propose a novel concave game to describe the quantity competition among application service providers reducing payment while guaranteeing fair service delay to end users. Furthermore, we optimize the prices of computing resources to converge to the equilibrium. In addition, we show several characteristics of the equilibrium point and discuss their implications to design computing resource markets for geo-distributed clouds.
TREATMENT OF ACUTE ATOPIC ECZEMA BY CHIROPRACTIC CARE

OBJECTIVE
To investigate a patient with atopic eczema and assess how they responded to chiropractic care.


METHOD
The study was run over a 7 week period with chiropractic treatments (diversified technique) on a once weekly schedule.


OUTCOME MEASURES
To measure the effect of treatment, a rating system was developed and the intensity of a range of symptoms was recorded (through a questionnaire) on a twice weekly basis.


RESULTS
The results attained showed there was a marked improvement in the eczema symptoms following the chiropractic care. The patient reported an improvement in eczematous symptoms of excoriation, pruritus, oedema and general psychological ease. These findings were also confirmed by photographic evidence which documented the change in the lesions.


DISCUSSION
The case is presented to assist practitioners making a more informed decision on the treatment of choice for eczema. The outcome of this case is also discussed in relation to recent research that concludes that chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy has a role in the treatment for some people with non-neuromusculoskeletal conditions.


CONCLUSION
It appears that chiropractic care may have assisted this patient with eczema. However, more research is required to investigate the role that chiropractic has in the treatment of patients with eczema, and the potential mechanisms that could explain the improvement.
A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of selegiline transdermal system in depressed adolescents.

OBJECTIVE
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled flexible-dose, parallel group trial was conducted at 26 clinical investigational sites in the United States to examine the safety and efficacy of the selegiline transdermal system (STS) (EMSAM®) in adolescents (ages 12-17 years) meeting American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. (DSM-IV) criteria for moderate to severe major depressive disorder (MDD) without psychotic features.


METHODS
Adolescents (n=308) with moderate to severe MDD were randomized to either STS (n=152) or placebo (n=156). Two hundred and fifteen (69.8%) subjects completed the study and 17 (5.5%) reported discontinuation because of adverse events (AEs). The primary efficacy outcome measure was the mean change from baseline to end of study (week 12 last observation carried forward [LOCF]) in the Children's Depression Rating Scale-Revised (CDRS-R) total score. Secondary outcome measures included end-point Clinical Global Impressions - Severity (CGI-S) and Clinical Global Impressions - Improvement (CGI-I).


RESULTS
Patients on STS or placebo had a significant decline from baseline (p<0.001) on their CDRS-R total score with mean reductions±SD as follows: STS 21.4±16.6; placebo 21.5±16.5. Both groups had similar response rates (58.6% vs. 59.3%) defined as CGI-I of 1 or 2 at study end. However, these between-group efficacy findings were without statistical significance. The overall incidence of reported AEs was 62.5% for STS-treated patients and 57.7% for placebo-treated patients. Most commonly reported AEs in STS or placebo groups were application site reactions (STS=24.3%; placebo=21.8%), headache (STS=17.1%; placebo=16.7%), and nausea (STS=7.2%; placebo=7.7%). Treatment groups did not differ on any laboratory parameters, vital signs, or electrocardiogram (ECG) findings. No suspected hypertensive crises were reported in the trial.


CONCLUSIONS
These data demonstrated that the STS was safe and well tolerated in this adolescent sample. However, both STS-treated and placebo-treated subjects demonstrated a decline from baseline in depressive symptoms (CDRS-R total score) over the length of the study, without statistical superiority by either group.
Do we spontaneously form stable trustworthiness impressions from facial appearance?

It is widely assumed among psychologists that people spontaneously form trustworthiness impressions of newly encountered people from their facial appearance. However, most existing studies directly or indirectly induced an impression formation goal, which means that the existing empirical support for spontaneous facial trustworthiness impressions remains insufficient. In particular, it remains an open question whether trustworthiness from facial appearance is encoded in memory. Using the 'who said what' paradigm, we indirectly measured to what extent people encoded the trustworthiness of observed faces. The results of 4 studies demonstrated a reliable tendency toward trustworthiness encoding. This was shown under conditions of varying context-relevance, and salience of trustworthiness. Moreover, evidence for this tendency was obtained using both (experimentally controlled) artificial and (naturalistic varying) real faces. Taken together, these results suggest that there is a spontaneous tendency to form relatively stable trustworthiness impressions from facial appearance, which is relatively independent of the context. As such, our results further underline how widespread influences of facial trustworthiness may be in our everyday life. (PsycINFO Database Record
Tomorrow's world that we shall build today

Consciousness, Literature and the Arts Series, vol. 4, Series Editor: Daniel Meyer-Dinkgrafe. Deposited in accordance with the self-archiving policy of Rodopi Publishing.
Effect of a nurse-coordinated prevention programme on cardiovascular risk after an acute coronary syndrome: main results of the RESPONSE randomised trial

OBJECTIVE
To quantify the impact of a practical, hospital-based nurse-coordinated prevention programme on cardiovascular risk, integrated into the routine clinical care of patients discharged after an acute coronary syndrome, as compared with usual care only.


DESIGN
RESPONSE (Randomised Evaluation of Secondary Prevention by Outpatient Nurse SpEcialists) was a randomised clinical trial.


SETTING
Multicentre trial in secondary and tertiary healthcare settings.


PARTICIPANTS
754 patients admitted for acute coronary syndrome.


INTERVENTION
A nurse-coordinated prevention programme, consisting of four outpatient nurse clinic visits, focusing on healthy lifestyles, biometric risk factors and medication adherence, in addition to usual care.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The main outcome was 10-year cardiovascular mortality risk as estimated by Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation at 12 months follow-up. Secondary outcomes included Framingham Coronary Risk Score at 12 months, in addition to changes in individual risk factors. Risk factor control was classified as 'poor' if 0 to 3 factors were on target, 'fair' if 4 to 6 factors were on target, and 'good' if 7 to 9 were on target.


RESULTS
The mean Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation at 12 months was 4.4 per cent (SD 4.5) in the intervention group and 5.4 per cent (SD 6.2) in the control group (p=0.021), representing a 17.4% relative risk reduction. At 12 months, risk factor control classified as 'good' was achieved in 35% of patients in the intervention group compared with 25% in the control group (p=0.003). Attendance to the nurse-coordinated prevention programme was 92%. In the intervention group, 86 rehospitalisations were observed against 132 in the control group (relative risk reduction 34.8%, p=0.023).


CONCLUSIONS
The nurse-coordinated hospital-based prevention programme in addition to usual care is a practical, yet effective method for reduction of cardiovascular risk in patients with coronary disease. Our data suggest that the counselling component of the programme may lead to a reduction in hospital readmissions.


TRIAL REGISTRATION TRIALREGISTERNL IDENTIFIER
TC1290.
The saga continues.

THE FACT that lives have been lost because someone came up with the idea of enforced cannibalism for cattle under the guise of protein supplements, is a sad indictment of capitalism and seriously compromises the public's sympathy for farmers and government alike. Failure to anticipate longterm problems arising from such unnatural practices and to provide strategic plans for dealing with them has left the government very vulnerable and the public confused.
Uncorrected refractive error in older British adults: the EPIC-Norfolk Eye Study.

AIM
To investigate the prevalence of, and demographic associations with, uncorrected refractive error (URE) in an older British population.


METHODS
Data from 4428 participants, aged 48-89 years, who attended an eye examination in the third health check of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk study and had also undergone an ophthalmic examination were assessed. URE was defined as ≥1 line improvement of visual acuity with pinhole-correction in the better eye in participants with LogMar presenting visual acuity (PVA) <0.3 (PVA <6/12). Refractive error was measured using an autorefractor without cycloplegia. Myopia was defined as spherical equivalent ≤-0.5 dioptre, and hypermetropia ≥0.5 dioptre.


RESULTS
Adjusted to the 2010 midyear British population, the prevalence of URE in this Norfolk population was 1.9% (95% CI 0.6% to 3.1%). Lower self-rated distance vision was correlated with higher prevalence of URE (p(trend)<0.001). In a multivariate logistic regression model adjusting for age, gender, retirement status, educational level and social class, independent significant associations with URE were increasing age (p(trend)<0.001) and having hypermetropic or myopic refractive error. Wearing distance spectacles was inversely associated with URE (OR 0.34, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.55, p<0.001). There were 3063 people (69.2%) who wore spectacles/contact lenses for distance vision. Spectacle wear differed according to type of refractive error (p<0.001), and use rose with increasing severity of refractive error (p(trend)<0.001).


CONCLUSION
Although refractive error is common, the prevalence of URE was found to be low in this population reflecting a low prevalence of PVA<0.3.
The Greatest “Tech-Onomic Push-Pull” in Human History

This article is based on a visionary talk presented at the 50th DAC. With a stimulating push-pull analogy, the article pleasantly compares the evolution of key industries from past, current and future eras, and underline the fundamental role of EDA in the high tech industry.
Chemical Constraints Governing the Origin of Metabolism: The Thermodynamic Landscape of Carbon Group Transformations under Mild Aqueous Conditions

The thermodynamics of organic chemistry under mildaqueous conditions was examined in order to begin to understand itsinfluence on the structure and operation of metabolism and itsantecedents. Free energies (ΔG) were estimated for four types ofreactions of biochemical importance – carbon-carbon bond cleavage andsynthesis, hydrogen transfer between carbon groups, dehydration ofalcohol groups, and aldo-keto isomerization. The energies werecalculated for mainly aliphatic groups composed of carbon, hydrogen,and oxygen. The energy values showed (1) that generally when carbon-carbon bond cleavage involves groups from different functional groupclasses (i.e., carboxylic acids, carbonyl groups, alcohols, andhydrocarbons), the transfer of the shared electron-pair to the morereduced carbon group is energetically favored over transfer to themore oxidized carbon group, and (2) that the energy of carbon-carbonbond transformation is primarily determined by the functional groupclass of the group that changes oxidation state in the reaction (i.e., the functional group class of the group that donates the sharedelectron-pair during cleavage, or that accepts the incipient sharedelectron-pair during synthesis). In contrast, the energy of hydrogentransfer between carbon groups is determined by the functional groupclass of both the hydrogen-donor group and the hydrogen-acceptorgroup. From these and other observations we concluded that thechemistry involved in the origin of metabolism (and to a lesser degreemodern metabolism) was strongly constrained by (1) the limited redox-based transformation energy of organic substrates that is readilydissipated in a few energetically favorable irreversible reactions;(2) the energy dominance of a few transformation half-reactions thatdetermines whether carbon-carbon bond transformation (cleavage orsynthesis) is energetically favorable (ΔG < –3.5 kcal/mol), reversible(ΔG between ±3.5 kcal/mol), or unfavorable (ΔG > +3.5 kcal/mol);and (3) the dependence of carbon group transformation energy on thefunctional group class (i.e., oxidation state) of participatinggroups that in turn is contingent on prior reactions and precursors inthe synthetic pathway.
Shortest path problem considering on-time arrival probability Yu (

This paper studies the problem of finding a priori shortest paths to guarantee a given likelihood of arriving on-time in a stochastic network. Such ‘‘reliable” paths help travelers better plan their trips to prepare for the risk of running late in the face of stochastic travel times. Optimal solutions to the problem can be obtained from local-reliable paths, which are a set of non-dominated paths under first-order stochastic dominance. We show that Bellman’s principle of optimality can be applied to construct local-reliable paths. Acyclicity of local-reliable paths is established and used for proving finite convergence of solution procedures. The connection between the a priori path problem and the corresponding adaptive routing problem is also revealed. A label-correcting algorithm is proposed and its complexity is analyzed. A pseudo-polynomial approximation is proposed based on extreme-dominance. An extension that allows travel time distribution functions to vary over time is also discussed. We show that the time-dependent problem is decomposable with respect to arrival times and therefore can be solved as easily as its static counterpart. Numerical results are provided using typical transportation networks. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Efficacy of wrist working splints in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized controlled study.

OBJECTIVE
To investigate the efficacy of wrist working splints after a period of splinting in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).


METHODS
We performed a 4-week randomized controlled trial among 33 RA patients with wrist arthritis. Patients were randomly allocated to the splinting group (n = 17) or the control group (n = 16). Patients in the splinting group received a prefabricated wrist working splint and were instructed to use this splint as much as possible during the day. The primary outcome measure was average wrist pain during the past week, measured using a visual analog scale (VAS). Secondary outcome measures were grip strength and functional ability. The latter was measured using the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand questionnaire and the short version of the Sequential Occupational Dexterity Assessment. Measurements were performed at baseline and after 4 weeks. Performance tests were performed without splint. Differences in change scores between the splinting and the control group were analyzed using analysis of covariance. To indicate the magnitude of the treatment effects, effect sizes were calculated.


RESULTS
A large and highly significant treatment effect on wrist pain was found. VAS pain scores decreased by 32% in the splinting group and increased by 17% in the control group. Small and nonsignificant treatment effects were found with regard to nonsplinted grip strength and functional ability.


CONCLUSION
Prefabricated wrist working splints are highly effective in reducing wrist pain after 4 weeks of splint wearing in RA patients with wrist arthritis.
Modeling and simulation of a simple building energy system

A mathematical model for building energy systems (BES) is developed which maps the energy transfer processes occurring within the building space. Construction elements making up the building space and the heating and cooling plant responsible for thermal comfort of the occupants are also modeled. This involved quantification of linkages between temperature and humidity conditions and level occupancy (number of occupants, occupancy schedule) within building space. Thermal energy transfer processes of conductive, convective, and radiative heat balance for each surface of the construction elements and a convective heat balance for the building space are modeled. Building space zone is modelled for both sensible and latent thermal energy transfer. State space approach is used to model the building construction elements such as walls, with the parameters estimated using a nonlinear time invariant optimization algorithm with constraints. HVAC system is modelled with a control valve, heat emitter, occupancy driven ventilation controlled through a PID controller. A complete building energy system (BES) modeling procedure based on first principles of building physics is presented. BES model is simulated using MATLAB/Simulink and the results depict the temperature variations within the building space at less computational times.