Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of a risk stratification and prevention index for stratified care in chronic low back pain. Focus: yellow flags (MiSpEx network)

Introduction: Chronic low back pain (LBP) is a major cause of disability; early diagnosis and stratification of care remain challenges. Objectives: This article describes the development of a screening tool for the 1-year prognosis of patients with high chronic LBP risk (risk stratification index) and for treatment allocation according to treatment-modifiable yellow flag indicators (risk prevention indices, RPI-S). Methods: Screening tools were derived from a multicentre longitudinal study (n = 1071, age >18, intermittent LBP). The greatest prognostic predictors of 4 flag domains (“pain,” “distress,” “social-environment,” “medical care-environment”) were determined using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression analysis. Internal validity and prognosis error were evaluated after 1-year follow-up. Receiver operating characteristic curves for discrimination (area under the curve) and cutoff values were determined. Results: The risk stratification index identified persons with increased risk of chronic LBP and accurately estimated expected pain intensity and disability on the Pain Grade Questionnaire (0–100 points) up to 1 year later with an average prognosis error of 15 points. In addition, 3-risk classes were discerned with an accuracy of area under the curve = 0.74 (95% confidence interval 0.63–0.85). The RPI-S also distinguished persons with potentially modifiable prognostic indicators from 4 flag domains and stratified allocation to biopsychosocial treatments accordingly. Conclusion: The screening tools, developed in compliance with the PROGRESS and TRIPOD statements, revealed good validation and prognostic strength. These tools improve on existing screening tools because of their utility for secondary preventions, incorporation of exercise effect modifiers, exact pain estimations, and personalized allocation to multimodal treatments.
Peer relationships in counseling psychology training

Twelve students from APA-accredited counseling psychology doctoral programs were interviewed about their experiences with peers in their program, and about their values and beliefs about peer relationships in graduate school. Interview data were analyzed using consensual qualitative research. Participants reported a wide range of positive (e.g. collaborative and supportive) and negative (e.g. competitive and hostile) interactions with peers inside and outside of the classroom, in research, and in clinical work. Compared to advisory and supervisory relationships, peer relationships were typically less formal and more open. The sharing of common training experiences generally facilitated mutual understanding among trainees. In addition, a visual analog scale, the peer relationship scale (PRS), was used to measure participants’ closeness with peers. Results from the PRS appeared to be useful in distinguishing participants with the most positive and negative peer relationships, warranting further investigation of its psychometric properties and application in program evaluation and research on training. Implications for training are discussed.
E‐teacher Challenges and Competences in International Comparative Social Work Courses

This paper focuses on how technology used by the Virtual Classroom for Social Work in Europe (VIRCLASS) enables the development of multimedia learning material, creates a supportive learning environment for students and teachers, and promotes communication across national borders. One significant outcome of this programme has been that the process of developing a common curriculum plan and the learning material has triggered the development of digital competence on the part of the teachers. The paper discusses the impact on the teachers' role of using a Virtual Book with screen lectures, audio‐visual triggers and a video‐case. Two cohorts completed the programme between 2005 and 2007. The discussion of the development of a new teacher role, where teachers can be seen as a Community of Learners, is undertaken from a socio‐cultural perspective where data from the first cohort are important as a backdrop for the discussion. Outlined from the teachers' experiences, four important e‐teacher competences emerge—facilitator competences, ICT competences, supervision/coaching competences, and collaboration competences. From this, knowledge, skills and attitudes are explored.
A Promising Start: An Evaluation of the HIPPY Program in New Zealand

Three studies were carried out to investigate the impact of participation in the Home Instruction Programme for Preschool and Year One Youngsters (HIPPY) on New Zealand children's reading ability, school readiness and school behaviour. In study 1, scores on a Reading Diagnostic Survey were obtained for 77 six‐year‐old HIPPY children and 704 six‐year‐old non‐HIPPY children. In study 2, 29 HIPPY children who had recently entered school and 29 control children were assessed using four subsections of the Metropolitan Readiness tests. In the third study the Behavioural Academic Self Esteem Scale (BASE) was completed by teachers for the HIPPY and control children in study 2 as well as all their classmates. HIPPY children were found to show consistently better performance on all of the measures used and the differences reached statistical significance on three of the six sub‐tests of the Reading Diagnostic Survey and the BASE scale.
Phase Transitions on Fixed Connected Graphs and Random Graphs in the Presence of Noise

In this paper, we study the phase transition behavior emerging from the interactions among multiple agents in the presence of noise. We propose a simple discrete-time model in which a group of non-mobile agents form either a fixed connected graph or a random graph process, and each agent, taking bipolar value either +1 or -1, updates its value according to its previous value and the noisy measurements of the values of the agents connected to it. We present proofs for the occurrence of the following phase transition behavior: At a noise level higher than some threshold, the system generates symmetric behavior (vapor or melt of magnetization) or disagreement; whereas at a noise level lower than the threshold, the system exhibits spontaneous symmetry breaking (solid or magnetization) or consensus. The threshold is found analytically. The phase transition occurs for any dimension. Finally, we demonstrate the phase transition behavior and all analytic results using simulations. This result may be found useful in the study of the collective behavior of complex systems under communication constraints.
Guidelines for Conducting and Reporting Meta-Analyses

As meta-analytic methods are being applied to an ever wider variety of research domains, it is becoming apparent that researchers need more guidance than is currently available to produce replicable and consistent sets of findings. The present paper suggests some general guidelines to govern four critical steps in the meta-analytic process These are (1) selection and coding of studies, (2) correction of coefficients for artifacts, (3) interpretation of results, and (4) resolution of conflicting meta-analyses.
Clinical significance of lipoarabinomannan detection in urine using a low-cost point-of-care diagnostic assay for HIV-associated tuberculosis

Objective:A low-cost point-of-care urine assay for lipoarabinomannan (LAM) used for screening patients prior to antiretroviral therapy (ART) rapidly diagnoses a proportion of tuberculosis (TB) cases. We determined the characteristics and outcomes of such patients. Methods:Adults enrolling in a South African township ART clinic were systematically screened for pulmonary TB by testing paired sputum samples using microscopy, liquid culture and Xpert MTB/RIF in a centralized laboratory. Stored urine samples were retrospectively tested for LAM using the Determine TB-LAM assay, but results did not inform treatment. Patients were followed up in the routine ART service and early (90-day) programmatic outcomes were determined. Analysis was restricted to those with CD4 cell counts below 200 cells/&mgr;l. Results:Of patients with CD4 cell counts below 200 cells/&mgr;l and complete results (n = 325), 59 (18.2%) had culture-positive TB. Of these, 23 (39%) patients tested urine LAM-positive and 36 (61%) urine LAM-negative. Patients with LAM-positive TB had much lower CD4 cell counts, higher plasma viral loads, lower haemoglobin concentrations and lower BMIs compared to those with LAM-negative TB. They also had evidence of higher mycobacterial load, more frequently testing sputum smear-positive, Xpert-positive (sputum and urine) and having a shorter time to sputum culture positivity. Of five (8.5%) patients who died, four did so before TB treatment was started. All five retrospectively tested LAM-positive. Conclusions:A low-cost point-of-care urine test for LAM rapidly diagnoses a sub-group of cases with advanced HIV-associated TB and poor prognosis. If used in combination with laboratory-based diagnostics, treatment delays would decrease and survival might be improved.
Humanitarian Attitudes and Support of Government Responsibility for Social Welfare

This article examines humanitarian attitudes and the individualistcollectivist orientation of graduates of various social work study programs of a major university in Hong Kong and some major universities and colleges in China. Research shows that the respondents have a positive regard for humanitarian issues, related to the perception of social welfare as a government responsibility. Hong Kong graduates are more humanistic and more collectivist in orientation than their PRC counterparts. Some responses re.ect an emphasis on self-reliance and adherence to this as a means of achieving human dignity.
Effects of HIV-1 serostatus, HIV-1 RNA concentration, and CD4 cell count on the incidence of malaria infection in a cohort of adults in rural Malawi.

BACKGROUND To assess the effects of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection on susceptibility to malaria, we compared the incidence rates of malaria by HIV type 1 (HIV-1) serostatus, baseline blood HIV-1 RNA concentration, and baseline CD4 cell count, over the course of a malaria season. METHODS We followed a cohort of 349 adults in Malawi. For the 224 HIV-1-seropositive adults (64% of the cohort), we measured HIV-1 RNA concentration (n=187) and CD4 cell count (n=184) at baseline. Parasitemia was defined as presence of asexual parasites on a thick film of blood and was treated with sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine (SP), in accordance with national policy. Hazard ratios (HRs) of parasitemia were estimated using Cox regression. Demographics were adjusted for. RESULTS HIV-1 seropositivity was associated with parasitemia (adjusted HR, 1.8 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 1.2-2.7] for a first parasitemia episode; adjusted HR, 2.5 [95% CI, 1.5-4.2] for a second parasitemia episode [> 14 days after the first episode]; adjusted HR, 1.9 [95% CI, 1.4-2.6] for parasitemia overall). Treatment failure (parasitemia < or = 14 days after SP treatment) did not differ by HIV-1 serostatus (risk ratio, 1.3 [95% CI, 0.5-3.2]). HIV-1 RNA concentrations and CD4 cell counts were moderately but inconsistently associated with parasitemia. A high parasite density with fever was associated with HIV-1 seropositivity and low CD4 cell count. CONCLUSION HIV-infected adults in malaria-endemic areas are at increased risk for malaria. Where possible, additional malaria prevention efforts should be targeted at this population.
CLOSET: An Efficient Algorithm for Mining Frequent Closed Itemsets

Association mining may often derive an undesirably large set of frequent itemsets and association rules. Recent studies have proposed an interesting alternative: mining frequent closed itemsets and their corresponding rules, which has the same power as association mining but substantially reduces the number of rules to be presented. In this paper, we propose an eecient algorithm, CLOSET, for mining closed itemsets, with the development of three techniques: (1) applying a compressed, frequent pattern tree FP-tree structure for mining closed itemsets without candidate generation, (2) developing a single preex path compression technique to identify frequent closed itemsets quickly, and (3) exploring a partition-based projection mechanism for scalable mining in large databases. Our performance study shows that CLOSET is eecient and scalable over large databases, and is faster than the previously proposed methods.
Swedish emergency medical services’ identification of potential candidates for primary healthcare: Retrospective patient record study

Abstract Objective: To investigate patients who called the emergency medical services (EMS) for primary healthcare (PHC) problems. Design: A retrospective and exploratory patient record study from an EMS perspective, comparing two groups: those who were potential candidates for PHC and those who were not. All data were gathered from EMS and hospital records. Settings: The study was completed at the EMS and five hospital areas in the western region of Sweden. Subjects: The patients (n = 3001) who called the EMS in 2011. Data were missing for 10%. Main outcome measures: The frequency and the clinical characteristics of the patients who called the EMS and were actually potential candidates for PHC. Results: Of a total of 2703 patients, a group of 426 (16%) were assessed as potential candidates for PHC and could thus be treated at a level of care other than the emergency department. Patients who were classified as suitable for PHC were found at all priority levels and within all symptom groups, but were younger and healthier than the other group. Conclusion: Numerous patients seeking help from the EMS do not end up at the most appropriate level in the healthcare system. Implications: In the EMS, guidelines are needed to enable pre-hospital emergency nurses to assess and triage patients to the most appropriate level of healthcare. Key points Patients calling the emergency medical services do not always end up at an appropriate level of healthcare. In total, 16% of patients were identified by the Swedish emergency medical services as potential candidates for primary healthcare. These patients were younger and healthier than those needing care at the emergency department. They were found at all priority levels and within all symptom groups.
Expression and importance of zinc-finger transcription factor Slug in adenoid cystic carcinoma of salivary gland.

BACKGROUND It has been reported that zinc-finger transcription factor Slug plays a critical role in tumor proliferation and differentiation, relapse, invasion, metastasis, and decreased survival. However, there is little information on the expression and role of Slug in salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC). METHOD Demographic variables and primary tumor site, dates of diagnoses, perineural invasion, local regional recurrence, and distant metastasis of 121 cases of salivary ACC treated at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University between 1996 and 2005 were retrieved. The Slug expression of all these cases was examined by immunohistochemical methods. The association between Slug expression and clinicopathological variables was analyzed using Chi-squared test, and the prognostic factors were examined by univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS Our data demonstrated that the positive expression of Slug was observed in 71.90% (87/121) of cases. Slug expression was significantly associated with tumor site, TNM stage, histological pattern, perineural invasion, local regional recurrence and distant metastasis of patients with ACC (P<0.05). And Slug expression, local regional recurrence and distant metastasis were independent and significant prognostic factors in all patients. CONCLUSIONS It is proposed that Slug may play an important role in the invasion and metastasis of ACC, and that Slug had the potential for one of the strong invasion and metastasis indicators at presentation of ACC patients.
Predicting disagreement between physicians and patients on depression response and remission

Demographic, personality, and disease-related factors all contribute when patients disagree with physicians on the severity of subjective symptoms. This study aims to create a model, on the basis of patient factors at treatment initiation, for longitudinal prediction of disagreement on treatment response and remission in depressed patients. Four hundred patients with major depressive disorder were studied during a clinical drug trial. Repeated assessments with the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and the self-rating version (MADRS-S) were used to indicate response or remission. Factors at baseline and week 2 were tested for inclusion in a model for the prediction of discordance on remission and response between patients and physicians at week 8. The models were then tested, in the same population, at weeks 12, 16, and 24. Model AUCs ranged from 0.71 to 0.74 for week 8. The models that were validated at weeks 12, 16, and 24 indicated stability in the predictive value of the models. The risk for longitudinal disagreement in the evaluation of depression treatment response and remission in clinical practice and drug trials can be predicted using factors at study initiation and at week 2.
Restoration or Renovation? Evaluating Restorative Justice Outcomes

Critics of restorative justice claim that its popularity is based on 'humanistic sentiment' and suggest that the process is incapable of achieving its aim of restoring victims and offenders. The current study sought to establish if restorative justice is capable of restoring victims and offenders in a meaningful manner, or if the process simply results in a superficial renovation of the impact of crime. Seventy-two victims and offenders participated in a community group conference model of restorative justice and were compared on outcome variables with a control group of victims and offenders who underwent a conventional court process. Results demonstrate that the process is capable of impacting upon variables associated with the criminal act. Furthermore, it is argued that a reduction in offending behaviour and victimisation impact are realistic outcomes of the restorative justice processes. Finally, regression analysis indicated that victims were satisfied with the restorative justice process as a result of their greater participation rather than their satisfaction with reparation or restitution.
Population fluctuations of light-attracted chrysomelid beetles in relation to supra-annual environmental changes in a Bornean rainforest

Abstract In Southeast Asian tropical rainforests, two events, severe droughts associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation and general flowering, a type of community-wide mass flowering, occur at irregular, supra-annual intervals. The relationship between these two supra-annual events and patterns of insect population fluctuations has yet to be clearly elucidated. Leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae) are major herbivores and flower-visitors of canopy trees, affecting their growth and reproduction and, in turn, affected by tree phenology; but their population fluctuations in the Southeast Asian tropics have not been extensively investigated. We examined population fluctuation patterns of the 34 most dominant chrysomelid species in relation to the two supra-annual events by conducting monthly light-trapping over seven years in a lowland dipterocarp forest in Borneo. Our results showed large community variation in population fluctuation patterns and a supra-annual (between-year) variation in abundance for most of the dominant chrysomelids that was significantly larger than the annual (within-year) variation. Specifically, in response to a severe drought in 1998, chrysomelid species exhibited different population responses. These results show that population fluctuations of individual species, rather than the entire assemblage, must be analyzed to determine the effects of changes in environmental conditions on the structure of insect assemblages in the tropics, especially in regions where supra-annual environmental changes are relatively more important than seasonal changes.
Effects of age of acquisition on grammatical sensitivity: Evidence from on-line and off-line tasks

ABSTRACT American Sign Language (ASL) provides a unique opportunity to investigate the effects of late exposure to a primary language on adult linguistic processing. In Experiment 1, a video sign-monitoring task was used to investigate the grammatical sensitivity of 11 native signers (exposed to ASL from birth) and 10 late signers (exposed to ASL at a mean age of 12 years) to errors in ASL verb agreement. The results indicated that native signers, but not late signers, were sensitive to errors in verb agreement. Experiment 2 utilized both sign monitoring and off-line grammaticality judgments. Sentences which contained errors in either verb agreement or temporal aspect were presented to 10 native signers, 10 early signers (exposed to ASL between the ages of 2 and 7), and 10 late signers (exposed to ASL between the ages of 10 and 20). The results indicated that native signers were sensitive to errors in both verb agreement and aspect, and that early and late signers were only sensitive to errors in aspect morphology. In the off-line grammaticality test, all three groups were equally able consciously to detect the grammatical errors. These findings suggest that late exposure to a primary language affects the on-line integration of verb agreement information within a sentence, but does not affect sensitivity to semantic distinctions encoded by aspect morphology.
Deletion of Krüppel‐Like Factor 4 in Endothelial and Hematopoietic Cells Enhances Neointimal Formation Following Vascular Injury

Background Krüppel‐like factor 4 (Klf4) is involved in a variety of cellular functions by activating or repressing the transcription of multiple genes. Results of previous studies showed that tamoxifen‐inducible global deletion of the Klf4 gene in mice accelerated neointimal formation following vascular injury, in part via enhanced proliferation of smooth muscle cells (SMCs). Because Klf4 is also expressed in non‐SMCs including endothelial cells (ECs), we determined if Tie2 promoter‐dependent deletion of Klf4 in ECs and hematopoietic cells affected injury‐induced neointimal formation. Methods and Results Klf4 conditional knockout (cKO) mice were generated by breeding Tie2‐Cre mice and Klf4 floxed mice, and their phenotype was analyzed after carotid ligation injury. Results showed that injury‐induced repression of SMC differentiation markers was unaffected by Tie2 promoter‐dependent Klf4 deletion. However, of interest, neointimal formation was significantly enhanced in Klf4‐cKO mice 21 days following carotid injury. Moreover, Klf4‐cKO mice exhibited an augmented proliferation rate, enhanced accumulation of macrophages and T lymphocytes, and elevated expression of cell adhesion molecules including vascular cell adhesion molecule–1 (Vcam1) and E‐selectin in injured arteries. Mechanistic analyses in cultured ECs revealed that Klf4 inhibited tumor necrosis factor‐α–induced expression of Vcam1 through blocking the binding of nuclear factor‐κB to the Vcam1 promoter. Conclusions These results provide evidence that Klf4 in non‐SMCs such as ECs regulates neointimal formation by repressing arterial inflammation following vascular injury.