Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
End-of-life care in general practice: A cross-sectional, retrospective survey of ‘cancer’, ‘organ failure’ and ‘old-age/dementia’ patients

Background: End-of-life care is often provided in primary care settings. Aim: To describe and compare general-practitioner end-of-life care for Dutch patients who died from ‘cancer’, ‘organ failure’ and ‘old-age or dementia’. Design: A cross-sectional, retrospective survey was conducted within a sentinel network of general practitioners. General practitioners recorded the end-of-life care of all patients who died (1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011). Differences in care between patient groups were analysed using multivariate logistic regressions performed with generalised linear mixed models. Setting/participants: Up to 63 general practitioners, covering 0.8% of the population, recorded the care of 1491 patients. Results: General practitioners personally provided palliative care for 75% of cancer, 38% of organ failure and 64% of old-age/dementia patients (adjusted odds ratio (confidence interval): cancer (reference category); organ failure: 0.28 (0.17, 0.47); old-age/dementia: 0.31 (0.15, 0.63)). In the week before death, 89% of cancer, 77% of organ failure and 86% of old-age/dementia patients received palliative treatments: (adjusted odds ratio (confidence interval): cancer (reference category); old-age/dementia: 0.54 (0.29, 1.00); organ failure: 0.38 (0.16, 0.92)). Options for palliative care were discussed with 81% of cancer, 44% of organ failure and 39% of old-age/dementia patients (adjusted odds ratio (confidence interval): cancer (reference category); old-age/dementia: 0.34 (0.21, 0.57); organ failure: 0.17 (0.08, 0.36)). Conclusion: The results highlight the need to integrate palliative care with optimal disease management in primary practice and to initiate advance care planning early in the chronic disease trajectory to enable all patients to live as well as possible with progressive illness and die with dignity and comfort.
Teenage Aspirations for Future Careers and Occupational Outcomes

Abstract In a follow-up study of over 17,000 individuals born 12 years apart (in 1958 and 1970) this article investigates the formation and realization of teenage career aspirations in a changing sociohistorical context. Two types of analytical models, a mediating model and a contextual systems model, were used to analyze the processes by which the effects of social structure influence teenage aspirations and subsequent occupational attainment. Both models suggest that teenage aspirations in combination with educational attainments are a major driving force in the occupational development of young people and that they mediate the effects of socioeconomic background factors. The contextual system model is an elaboration of the mediating model, providing additional insights into the effects of distal and proximal contexts. Differences in the experiences of young people growing up 12 years apart indicate that the sociohistorical context plays a key role in shaping occupational progression. For the later born cohort the importance of educational credentials has increased, both in influencing teenage aspirations and predicting adult occupational outcomes.
The Research of Motivation for Word-of-Mouth: Based on the Self-Determination Theory

To understand the generation of WOM motivation, this research studies the relationship between three innate psychological needs (e.g. autonomy, competence, and relatedness) and word-of-mouth motivation based on Self-Determination Theory. How the expertise of the sender, the relationship strength between the sender and the receiver affect the motivation of word-of-mouth through these three psychological needs is also studied. A questionnaire based survey was employed to collect data. The results indicate that three psychological needs affect the motivation of word-of-mouth. Moreover, the expertise of the sender affects the motivation of word-of-mouth through competence need, and the relationship strength between the sender and the receiver affects word-of-mouth motivation through relatedness need. This study will help companies to get deeper understanding of WOM motivation, and suggestions is given to improve satisfaction of consumer basic psychological needs in marketing activities. Authors note Acknowledgements The fund project, the National Natural Science Fund “The research of customer need knowledge of employers in service companies”(71172166)
Candidate Image in Election Campaigns: Attribute Agenda Setting, Affective Priming, and Voting Intentions

Combining three telephone surveys during the 2006 Israeli elections and a content analysis of leading Israeli newspapers, this study extended the function of attribute agenda setting and priming. Analysis documented that throughout the course of a campaign, public opinion fluctuates in tandem with the saliency of candidate attributes emphasized in the news. We also found an important consequence of attribute agenda setting, affective priming of candidate attributes, by which the prominent tone of the media's candidate attributes functions as a criterion for evaluating a candidate's suitability. Finally, this public evaluative tone was linked with voting intentions for the candidate's political party.
The exocrine pancreas and protein-calorie malnutrition.

Pancreatic function tests, using a dual-tube technique and stimulating the pancreas with secretin and pancreozymin, were performed on patients with kwashiorkor (before and after treatment), marasmus, and chronic malnutrition as well as on a group of control children. The volume output from the pancreas, the pH of the juice and the enzymes amylase, lipase, trypsin, chymotrypsin, and ribonuclease were studied. The color index of the juice was also measured. The results demonstrated that the volume output and the ability to raise the pH of the pancreatic juice was not affected in the malnourished children. Patients with kwashiorkor and marasmus, however, had a grossly deficient enzyme output. There was complete and early restoration of pancreatic function after the initiation of dietary therapy in kwashiorkor and marasmus. The older chronically malnourished patients demonstrated a range of results varying from normal to abnormal. A significant positive correlation was demonstrated between enzyme output and the serum albumin concentration. There was no quantitative deficit in the output of bile among children with protein-calorie malnutrition.
Effects of plant invasions on wildlife in desert grasslands

Like all grasslands across North America, the distribution of desert grasslands has been reduced markedly, and remnants have been altered extensively by humans. In Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, USA, and in Mexico, desert grasslands have been invaded by dozens of non-native plants, especially perennial grasses that evolved in arid systems with similar climate and disturbance regimes. In desert grasslands invaded by non-native plants, biomass, richness, and diversity of native plants typically decrease, whereas plant density, biomass, and litter typically increase. These changes in composition and structure of the plant community affect animals that inhabit grassland ecosystems, with the direction and magnitude of effects reflecting the resource needs of each species, the degree of plant invasion, and the contrast in structure between invading and native plants. When non-native plants present similar structural cues but provide different levels of resources than native plants, cues that trigger habitat selection by animals may be decoupled from the resources linked evolutionarily to that cue, creating the potential for an ecological trap. Plant invasions also influence the ecological drivers that maintain grasslands in an open condition, which will alter the long-term dynamics of plant and animal populations. Specifically, by increasing fuel load and continuity, fires in invaded grasslands increase in frequency and intensity relative to those in native grasslands. Although eradication is unlikely once a non-native plant has naturalized, retaining patches of native vegetation within a matrix of non-native plants may provide a strategy to reduce effects of plant invasions on wildlife in grasslands. © 2013 The Wildlife Society.
Quantifying the Mismatch between Emerging Scale-Out Applications and Modern Processors

Emerging scale-out workloads require extensive amounts of computational resources. However, data centers using modern server hardware face physical constraints in space and power, limiting further expansion and calling for improvements in the computational density per server and in the per-operation energy. Continuing to improve the computational resources of the cloud while staying within physical constraints mandates optimizing server efficiency to ensure that server hardware closely matches the needs of scale-out workloads. In this work, we introduce CloudSuite, a benchmark suite of emerging scale-out workloads. We use performance counters on modern servers to study scale-out workloads, finding that today’s predominant processor microarchitecture is inefficient for running these workloads. We find that inefficiency comes from the mismatch between the workload needs and modern processors, particularly in the organization of instruction and data memory systems and the processor core microarchitecture. Moreover, while today’s predominant microarchitecture is inefficient when executing scale-out workloads, we find that continuing the current trends will further exacerbate the inefficiency in the future. In this work, we identify the key microarchitectural needs of scale-out workloads, calling for a change in the trajectory of server processors that would lead to improved computational density and power efficiency in data centers.
Obesity paradox disappears in coronary artery bypass graft patients during 20-year follow-up

Aims: Although obesity is a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD), it might be associated with a favourable prognosis in patients with CHD. The aim of the study was to evaluate this so called ‘obesity paradox’ during a follow-up period of 20 years in patients who had undergone coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Methods and results: The study population consisted of 922 CHD patients who had undergone CABG between 1993 and 1994. Pre and perioperative data was collected from patient records and supplemented with patient questionnaires, telephone contacts and data from national archives. The 10-year postoperative prognosis of normal-weight patients (body mass index (BMI) 18.5–24.9 kg/m2) was inferior to that of overweight (BMI 25.0–29.9 kg/m2) and obese patients (BMI⩾30.0 kg/m2) and to the background population. Beyond 10 years the prognosis of obese patients deteriorated when compared with the overweight group. At the end of the 20-year follow-up, survival of the normal weight group was 0.68 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.49–0.87; p<0.001), the overweight group 0.82 (95% CI, 0.71–0.92; p<0.001), and the obese group 0.67 (95% CI, 0.49–0.85; p<0.001), when compared with their background populations (=1.00). Obese patients developed diabetes more frequently and died more frequently of cardiovascular disease than patients in the two other study groups during the second postoperative decade (p<0.01). Conclusion: During long-term follow-up the obesity paradox seems to disappear due to progression of cardiometabolic disease in patients who have undergone CABG.
A Support Vector Method for Clustering

We present a novel method for clustering using the support vector machine approach. Data points are mapped to a high dimensional feature space, where support vectors are used to define a sphere enclosing them. The boundary of the sphere forms in data space a set of closed contours containing the data. Data points enclosed by each contour are defined as a cluster. As the width parameter of the Gaussian kernel is decreased, these contours fit the data more tightly and splitting of contours occurs. The algorithm works by separating clusters according to valleys in the underlying probability distribution, and thus clusters can take on arbitrary geometrical shapes. As in other SV algorithms, outliers can be dealt with by introducing a soft margin constant leading to smoother cluster boundaries. The structure of the data is explored by varying the two parameters. We investigate the dependence of our method on these parameters and apply it to several data sets.
Can we forget the Mini-Mental State Examination? A systematic review of the validity of cognitive screening instruments within one month after stroke

Objective: To review systematically studies investigating the convergent, criterion, and predictive validity of multi-domain cognitive screening instruments in the first four weeks after stroke. Data sources: Electronic databases (Pubmed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Embase) were searched until June 2014. Review methods: Studies concerning screening for cognitive dysfunction in stroke patients using multi-domain instruments, within four weeks postinfarct or haemorrhagic stroke, using tests taking no longer than one hour. Convergent, criterion, and predictive validity were examined. Results: A total of 51 studies investigating 16 cognitive screening instruments were identified. None of the instruments covered all of the most affected cognitive domains. Only one study investigated the convergent validity of a multi-domain test during the (sub)acute phase after stroke. A total of 15 studies examined the criterion validity of cognitive measurements during the acute phase after stroke. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment and Higher Cortical Function Deficit Test had good criterion validity. A total of 24 studies examined the predictive ability of multi-domain cognitive instruments applied in the acute phase after stroke. The Cognistat, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and Functional Independence Measure-cognitive showed good predictive validity. The Mini-Mental State Examination is the most widely used cognitive screening instrument, but shows insufficient criterion validity. Conclusion: None of the existing instruments fulfils all criteria. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment is the best candidate at present, provided items measuring speed of information processing are added, and further studies investigating the optimal cut-offs are conducted.
Single-sex Teaching in a Co-educational Comprehensive School in England: An evaluation based upon students' performance and classroom interactions

This article focuses on single-sex teaching in co-educational schools, through a case study of one such school where single-sex teaching has been the norm since the school was established in the early 1970s. The long-established nature of this mode of organisation gives scope to discuss the long-term effectiveness of such single-sex groupings on students' learning, through an analysis of achievement levels in the school at 16 +, and through a consideration of the nature of classroom interactions and the engagement of girls and boys in mathematics and geography lessons. Analysis of students' performance since the introduction of the General Certificate of Secondary Education examination reveals that, in most years, girls have consistently achieved better results than boys in most subjects, but that the relative improvement levels of both girls and boys over time are similar, and significantly higher than the national average. Interviews with staff and students, and analysis of patterns of classroom interac.
Motivating Boys and Motivating Girls: Does Teacher Gender Really Make a Difference?

We explore the impact of student gender, teacher gender, and their interaction on academic motivation and engagement for 964 junior and middle high school students. According to the gender-stereotypic model, boys fare better academically in classes taught by males and girls fare better in classes taught by females. The gender-invariant model suggests that the academic motivation and engagement of boys and girls is the same for men and women teachers. We also examine the relative contribution of student-, class-, and school-level factors, finding that most variation was at the individual student level. Of the statistically significant main effects for gender, most favoured girls. In support of the gender-invariant model, academic motivation and engagement does not significantly vary as a function of their teacher's gender, and in terms of academic motivation and engagement, boys do not fare any better with male teachers than female teachers.
Proteomic Identification of Target Proteins of Thiodigalactoside in White Adipose Tissue from Diet-Induced Obese Rats

Previously, galectin-1 (GAL1) was found to be up-regulated in obesity-prone subjects, suggesting that use of a GAL1 inhibitor could be a novel therapeutic approach for treatment of obesity. We evaluated thiodigalactoside (TDG) as a potent inhibitor of GAL1 and identified target proteins of TDG by performing comparative proteome analysis of white adipose tissue (WAT) from control and TDG-treated rats fed a high fat diet (HFD) using two dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) combined with MALDI-TOF-MS. Thirty-two spots from a total of 356 matched spots showed differential expression between control and TDG-treated rats, as identified by peptide mass fingerprinting. These proteins were categorized into groups such as carbohydrate metabolism, tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, signal transduction, cytoskeletal, and mitochondrial proteins based on functional analysis using Protein Annotation Through Evolutionary Relationship (PANTHER) and Database for Annotation, Visualization, Integrated Discovery (DAVID) classification. One of the most striking findings of this study was significant changes in Carbonic anhydrase 3 (CA3), Voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1), phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein 1 (PEBP1), annexin A2 (ANXA2) and lactate dehydrogenase A chain (LDHA) protein levels between WAT from control and TDG-treated groups. In addition, we confirmed increased expression of thermogenic proteins as well as reduced expression of lipogenic proteins in response to TDG treatment. These results suggest that TDG may effectively prevent obesity, and TDG-responsive proteins can be used as novel target proteins for obesity treatment.
Modeling Information Ethics: The Joint Moderating Role of Chieh-Peng Lin Locus of Control and Job Insecurity

Information unethical behavior is con- cerned with ethical behavioural conflicts in the use of information, information technologies, and infor- mation systems (Kuo and Hsu, 2001). This study examines the combination of locus of control (LOC) and job insecurity ( JI) as a joint moderator on the decision making process for information ethical behavioral intentions. A conceptual model is proposed to see the joint moderating role of LOC and JI. In the model, ethical behavioral intentions are influenced directly by ethical attitude, personal values, and per- ceived behavioural control. Simultaneously, personal values also indirectly influence ethical behavioral intentions through the mediation of ethical attitude. The causal relationships are moderated by the joint moderator. Notably, the moderating effects were simultaneously examined using data from undergrad- uates in the MIS department of a college. The influ- ences of the ethical attitude and personal values on ethical behavioral intentions are found to be similar for those with external locus of control and insecu- rity perception (Confusionists) and those with internal locus of control and security perception (Controlists). Furthermore, the influences of personal values on ethical attitude, and of perceived behavioural control on ethical behavioral intentions, are both greater for Controlists than Confusionists. Implications of the empirical findings are discussed.
Learning communities for curriculum change: key factors in an educational change process in New Zealand

Increasingly school change processes are being facilitated through the formation and operation of groups of teachers working together for improved student outcomes. These groupings are variously referred to as networks, networked learning communities, communities of practice, professional learning communities, learning circles or clusters. The formation and support of these types of groups to build capacity has been a major feature in the professional support landscape for New Zealand schools for a number of years, with sustainability and longevity of these groups seen as success criteria. A professional learning community approach was adopted by the New Zealand Ministry of Education to help schools implement the revised New Zealand Curriculum by facilitating the development of community members’ capacities and expertise in school curriculum design. In this article I report on my experience as the facilitator of one professional learning community of nine schools that worked together over a two-year period. Three significant phases in the life of this community are identified and illustrated: establishing, converging, and diverging. I contend that sustainability and longevity are not necessarily key determinants of a community’s success, but that success can be attained through the community’s ability to flexibly achieve its purposes and prepare for future change.
The Measure of American Religious Traditions: Theoretical and Measurement Considerations

Our original article espoused a simple way to recode religious groups on the General Social Survey (GSS) into historically meaningful categories and attempted to steer social scientists away from assigning these groups to a “Liberal-Moderate-Conservative” scale (Smith 1990). Among other problems, such scales create arbitrary cutpoints, have little to do with the historical movements that gave rise to particular religious affiliations and tend to conflate religious, economic, social and political ideas into one monolithic measure. In contrast, we assigned Protestants to mainline, evangelical and Black Protestant categories. In 12 short years, our classificatory system (RELTRAD) has become the standard way to code GSS affiliation data and has been utilized in many other survey efforts. Since its publication, no competing classificatory schemes have emerged to replace it. This article extends our earlier work and raises a series of theoretical and methodological issues for consideration by scholars in efforts to classify religious groups for analysis purposes.
The Prevalence and Outcomes of Care Proceedings Involving Parents with Learning Difficulties in the Family Courts

Background Parents with learning difficulties are known to face a high risk of losing their children. This paper reports findings from a study designed to throw light on the numbers of parents with learning difficulties and their children coming before the Family Courts in Children Act proceedings and what happened to them as a result. Method The paper presents descriptive information on the characteristics of the parents and children, the basis of professional concerns in these cases, and details of the final outcomes and placement decisions extracted from a documentary review of court files. Results Parents with learning difficulties were found to be disproportionately represented in care proceedings and their children were significantly more likely to be freed for adoption than the children of any other group of parents. Conclusions On the basis of the research evidence, parents with learning difficulties appear to be treated more harshly because of their disability, raising the question of the interface between disability discrimination legislation and the Children Act in such cases.