Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of the Experiences of Occupational Performance Questionnaire: Validity and Reliability in a Sample of Individuals with Severe Mental Disorders

The purpose of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of a new tool called the Experiences of Occupational Performance Questionnaire (EOPQ) and also to investigate whether there were any gender differences in the answers. The EOPQ was completed by 32 women and 73 men with severe mental disorders, who participated in an occupation arranged by the healthcare system in Sweden. The EOPQ was originally developed from interviews with six women participating in occupational therapy. An analysis of the content validity of the EOPQ was performed with the help of seven occupational therapists. Forty-six of the 49 items in the EOPQ were valued as representative of the concept occupation as a resource in therapy. Principal component analysis performed in two steps yielded seven factors called: "Satisfaction with own ability"; "Confidence in own ability"; "Capability to perform"; "Challenge"; "Ability to handle difficult situatio"; "Forgetting time and self"; and "Identification with others". The internal consistency calculated by Cronbach's f values varied between 0.63 and 0.91 in the seven factors. No gender differences were found on the factor level but differences in five items were found. The results showed that EOPQ could be used as a tool to measure therapeutic potentials in occupations and could also contribute to knowledge to secure the use of occupations as a therapeutic resource for individuals with severe mental disorders.
The construct validity of two burnout measures

The present study was carried out among a sample of 667 Dutch nurses and assesses three aspects of the construct validity of the two most widely used self-report burnout questionnaires: The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the Burnout Measure (BM). Although the factorial validity of the three-dimensional structure of the MBI was convincingly demonstrated by confirmatory factor analysis with LISREL, four weak and ambiguous items were identified. Regarding the BM, some doubts have arisen about its one-dimensionality. The congruent validity of the questionnaires was well established: They both refer to the core element of the burnout syndrome (i.e. exhaustion). Moreover, linear structural analyses suggested that burnout is a two multi-dimensional construct consisting of an affective component (i.e. exhaustion) and an attitudinal component (i.e. a negative attitude towards recipients and towards one's job performance). However, the discriminant validity of the first component is rather poor since it considerably overlaps with self-reported somatic complaints and psychological strain. It is concluded that the MBI can be employed as a reliable and valid multi-dimensional indicator of burnout in professionals who work with people. The BM assesses the non-specific affective component of burnout (i.e. exhaustion) and should therefore be supplemented by a scale that measures the attitudinal component of the syndrome.
A Rare Case of Left Ventricular Pseudoaneurysm Due To Tuberculosis in a 13-Year-Old Boy

A 13-year-old male from Madagascar presented with a six-year medical history of paroxysmal atrial tachycardia treated by propranolol. The patient also reported visual blurriness concomitant to paroxysmal tachycardia. On examination, he had bilateral inguinal lymphadenopathy with preserved overall condition and no pyrexia. On electrocardiogram, there was no rhythm disturbance nor sign of ischemia. Chest radiography demonstrated a small circular calcification in the LA area (Figure 1C). The lung parenchyma was normal. Echocardiography, chest computed tomography scan, cardiac myocardial resonance imaging, and catheterization revealed a small calcification below a voluminous mass with a central cavity (Figure 1A, B, and D). This LVPA, measuring 6 cm in diameter, was located encompassed between the great vessels and LA. It communicated with the LV through a fistula with a narrowed ostium (Figure 2A, B). Doppler ultrasound revealed systolic flow from the LV to the LVPA registered at 4 m/s. In diastole, the LVPA drained through his latter opening into the LV and through a small second fistula into the LA (Figure 2C). Left atrial pressure assessed by pulmonary capillary wedge pressure was 5 mm Hg. Two congenital vascular malformations were associated: a superior vena cava duplication without innominate vein and a right aortic arch. Computed tomography scan showed no additional mediastinal mass/ lymph node enlargement. Despite close contact between LVPA and circumflex artery, there was no coronary obstruction. Figure 1. Location of left ventricular pseudoaneurysm (LVPA) within the mediastinum. Transthoracic echocardiogram demonstrating (A) a large voluminous heterogeneous mass with calcified wall and (B) its communication to the left ventricle (LV), by Doppler ultrasound. Chest X-ray (C) showing a circular calcification in the area of the left atrium (LA). Computed tomography (CT) scan (D) showing the LVPA located below the great vessels, leaning on the LA roof and communicating to the LV through a narrow neck/orifice.
Effects of Mortality Salience on Capital Punishment Sentencing Decisions

Despite the empirical success of Terror Management Theory (TMT) and the possibility that capital jurors may be unable to escape mortality salience effects, no studies have applied TMT to capital punishment trials. This research asked mock jurors to focus on their own death, the victim's death, or the defendant's death while reviewing a capital trial. Mock jurors who focused on the victim's or defendant's death (but not their own death) relied more on their attitudes toward the death penalty to make sentencing decisions than did other participants. These results raise questions about the usefulness of TMT in understanding capital jury decision making.
Communication complexity of group key distribution

Communication complexity has al~vays been an important issue Ivhen designing group key distribution systems. This paper systematically studies \vhat can be achieved for the most common measures of protocol complexity. Lo\ver bounds for the total number of messages, the total number of exchanges, and the number of necwsary rounds are established, ~vherebymodels that allo~vbroadcasting have to be distinguished from those that do not. For every measure of protocol complexity, we furthermore show that the corresponding bound is realistic for DiffieHellmau-based prot~ COISby referring to or introducing protocols that match the bound or exceed it by only one.
Δ9‐tetrahydrocannabinol decreases somatic and motivational manifestations of nicotine withdrawal in mice

The possible interactions between Δ9‐tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9‐THC) and nicotine remain unclear in spite of the current association of cannabis and tobacco in humans. The aim of the present study was to explore the interactions between these two drugs of abuse by evaluating the consequences of Δ9‐THC administration on the somatic manifestations and the aversive motivational state associated with nicotine withdrawal in mice. Acute Δ9‐THC administration significantly decreased the incidence of several nicotine withdrawal signs precipitated by mecamylamine or naloxone, such as wet‐dog‐shakes, paw tremor and scratches. In both experimental conditions, the global withdrawal score was also significantly attenuated by acute Δ9‐THC administration. This effect of Δ9‐THC was not due to possible adaptive changes induced by chronic nicotine on CB1 cannabinoid receptors, as the density and functional activity of these receptors were not modified by chronic nicotine administration in the different brain structures investigated. We also evaluated the consequences of Δ9‐THC administration on c‐Fos expression in several brain structures after chronic nicotine administration and withdrawal. c‐Fos was decreased in the caudate putamen and the dentate gyrus after mecamylamine precipitated nicotine withdrawal. However, acute Δ9‐THC administration did not modify c‐Fos expression under these experimental conditions. Finally, Δ9‐THC also reversed conditioned place aversion associated to naloxone precipitated nicotine withdrawal. Taken together, these results indicate that Δ9‐THC administration attenuated somatic signs of nicotine withdrawal and this effect was not associated with compensatory changes on CB1 cannabinoid receptors during chronic nicotine administration. In addition, Δ9‐THC also ameliorated the aversive motivational consequences of nicotine withdrawal.
An investigation of the dispositional nature of the time management construct

Abstract Two studies were conducted to examine the dispositional nature of the time management construct. In the first study, 93 undergraduate students completed the Time Management Behavior Scale (TMBS) and three other time-attitude scales. An examination of the correlations between the overall scales and sub-scales provided support for the convergent validity of the TMBS. In the second study, undergraduate students completed the TMBS and the Sense of Coherence (SOC) scale at two points in the academic semester: High stress (n = 106) and low stress (n = 92). TMBS was positively and significantly correlated with SOC at both time periods. Moreover, students' self-reported use of time management behaviors remained relatively stable under varying levels of academic pressure providing some support for the dispositional nature of the time management construct.
Sources of Motivation among Nigerian Managers

Abstract This study, based on an eight-stage model of African motivation, investigated the factors involved in the motivational tendencies of Nigerian management personnel and whether Nigerian workers are more motivated by lower-order or higher-order motivators. These motivators were chosen out of those historical factors that have influenced Nigerian people's lives. A new instrument of 86 items was administered to 172 Nigerian managers, who answered the items on a 5-point scale. Data analyses revealed that the managers regarded work as a means to an end; preferred higher-order to lower-order motivators; and were driven mostly by technological benefits, intellectual growth, foreign mentality, religion, and eternal life.
Unequal error protection of LT codes over noisy channels

We propose a new unequal error protection (UEP) scheme for Luby Transform (LT) codes over additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channels. In contrast to the state-of-the-art UEP scheme for LT codes where the effective code rates are exploited for UEP, we characterize the variable-node degree distribution to achieve UEP for LT codes. For performance analysis, we compare the lower bounds on bit error rate for our proposed scheme and a conventional UEP-based LT codes over AWGN channels for various parameters. Moreover, it is demonstrated through numerical examples that our proposed UEP scheme has better performance than the conventional UEP-based LT codes over a wide range of code rates and channel conditions.
The beneficial effects of prosocial spending on happiness: work hard, make money, and spend it on others?

Previous research has shown that the way people spend their money is as important to happiness as how much money people earn. Specifically, it has been shown that spending money on others contributes more to an individual’s happiness than spending money on oneself. In the present study, we investigated this effect and examined the role of the money’s origin. Students were randomly assigned either to spend a small amount of money on themselves or to spend the money on others. Moreover, half of the participants received the money as a wage, whereas the other half received the money as a windfall. The results replicated previous research indicating that prosocial spenders report greater happiness than do selfish spenders. However, the happiness effect was unaffected by the source of the money (i.e. wage vs. windfall). Implications for well-being and happiness are discussed.
Violent incidents in a secure unit

Abstract All aggressive incidents occurring in a medium secure unit of 30 beds were examined over a period of 3 years. The characteristics of aggressive patients and the most serious incidents which caused physical harm were analysed. The study demonstrated that admission to a medium secure unit is itself the best indicator of violent behaviours. Some 75 per cent of all patients exhibited violent behaviour and diagnosis or legal status was not a predictor of this. Monitoring the levels of aggression had some effect on the management of violence. Two out of every three incidents involved a physical threat or actual blow and 4.5 per cent of all incidents resulted in medical treatment of the victim. The clinic admitted a high proportion of patients diagnosed as having paranoid schizophrenia, yet this category of patient was underrepresented in the data for violent incidents. Those with personality disorder were as likely as anyone to display violence.
Hodgkin lymphoma and Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV): No evidence to support hit‐and‐run mechanism in cases classified as non‐EBV‐associated

The Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV) is associated with a proportion of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) cases, and this association is believed to be causal. The aetiology of cases lacking EBV in the tumour cells (EBV HRS‐ve), which make up the majority of cases in western countries, is obscure. It has been suggested that EBV may also cause these tumours by using a hit‐and‐run mechanism. Support for this idea comes from the finding that most young adult patients, who are likely to have a good immune response to EBV, have EBV HRS‐ve HL. We investigated this possibility using a combined serologic and molecular approach. Analysis of EBV seroprevalence rates in an epidemiologic study of young adult HL revealed that cases with EBV HRS‐ve HL were more likely to be EBV‐seronegative than controls. Furthermore, additional studies clearly showed that some HL patients have never been infected by EBV. Quantitative PCR was used to look for the presence of deleted EBV genomes in a series of adult cases with both EBV HRS+ve and HRS‐ve HL. Subgenomic fragments were detected in equimolar proportions. This study, therefore, found no evidence to support the idea that a hit‐and‐run mechanism involving EBV plays a role in the pathogenesis of HL. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Environmental Aspects of Cryptosporidium Species: A Review

In the last decade Cryptosporidium spp. has been recognized as one of the most common causes of acute self-limiting gastroenteritis caused by a protozoan parasite in immunocompetent people. Infection in the immunocompetent has been described in 26 countries, with a reported prevalence of 0.6-20% in western countries and 4-20% in developing countries-. In the immunocompromised, such as those with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS),cryptosporidiosis is a common and life-threatening condition causing profuse intractable diarrhoea with severe dehydration, malabsorption and wasting, and documented spread to other organsand, in AIDS patients, has a prevalence of 3-4% in the USA and >50% in certain areas of Africa and Haiti'. In 1988, 3397 cases were recorded by the Communicable Diseases Surveillance Centres in the UK (2852 in England, Wales and N Ireland; 545 in Scotland). Six species of the genus Cryptosporidium are known, C. parvum and C. muris infect mammals, C. baileyi and C. meleagridis infect birds, C. serpentis infect reptiles and C. nasorum infect fish. C. parvum is the major species responsible for clinical disease in man and domestic animals", Person to person transmission, transmission from other mammals to man (anthropozoonosis), from man to other animals (zooanthroponosis), waterborne and airborne transmission have been documented. Cryptosporidium completes its life cycle within a single host and transmission is via the oocyst excreted in the faeces of the infected host. Over 108 oocysts can be excreted daily in human faeces, and infected calves can excrete up to 1010 oocysts daily for up to 14 days". The broad host range exemplified by C. parvum, and the high output of infective oocysts from numerous mammalian hosts ensure a high level of environmental contamination; and oocysts from humans, present in sewage discharges, or from livestock, present in agricultural run-off and muck in a watershed will contribute to the level of waterborne oocysts. Three features of the life cycle of C. parvum enhance the likelihood of its waterborne transmission to man. Firstly, C. parvum is responsible for diarrhoeal disease in mammals including man, enhancing the likelihood of zoonotic transmission, secondly, the lifecycle is completed within one host, and autoinfection occurs within this monoxenous life cycle ensuring that large numbers of infective oocysts are excreted in faeces, and thirdly, oocystsare environmentally robust. C. parvum oocysts are small (4-6/tm), thick walled and can survive, under experimental conditions, for up to 18 months in isotonic solutions at 4°C (D A Blewett, personal communication), which indicates the likelihood of prolonged survival in the aquatic environment. However, oocysts are unable to survive freezing. The risk to humans from ingesting small numbers of viable oocysts is unknown, although as for other protozoa parasitic in the gastrointestinal tract of man, the minimum infective dose may be small; 100 oocysts produced infection in 22% of mice", whereas 10 oocysts produced infection in two out of two infant primates tested",
The use of eye tracking in research on video-based second language (L2) listening assessment: A comparison of context videos and content videos

Investigating how visuals affect test takers’ performance on video-based L2 listening tests has been the focus of many recent studies. While most existing research has been based on test scores and self-reported verbal data, few studies have examined test takers’ viewing behavior (Ockey, 2007; Wagner, 2007, 2010a). To address this gap, in the present study I employ eye-tracking technology to record the eye movements of 33 test takers during the Video-based Academic Listening Test (VALT). Specifically, I aim to explore test takers’ oculomotor engagement with two types of videos – context videos and content videos – from the VALT, and the relationship between the test takers’ viewing behavior and test performance. Eye-tracking measures comprising fixation rate, dwell rate, and the total dwell time for context and content videos were compared using paired-samples t-tests. Additionally, each measure was correlated with test scores for items associated with each video type. Results revealed statistically significant differences between fixation rates and between total dwell time values, but no difference between the dwell rates for context and content videos. No statistically significant relationship was found between the three eye-tracking measures and the test scores. Directions for future research on video-based L2 listening assessment are discussed.
Influences of Uterine Adenomyosis on Muscle Invasion and Prognosis of Endometrioid Adenocarcinoma

Objective Endometrial cancer often coexists with uterine adenomyosis. However, little is known about the clinical characteristics of these cases. Thus, cases of endometrial cancer occurring with and without uterine adenomyosis were compared, and the influences of uterine adenomyosis on the clinical progress of endometrial cancer were examined. Materials and Methods Of endometrial cancer patients who underwent hysterectomies in our facility from 2002 to 2011, we included only endometrioid adenocarcinoma patients in our study. The patients were divided into 2 groups, adenomyosis group and nonadenomyosis group, according to the presence/absence of uterine adenomyosis. Patient characteristics, stage, histopathological grade, muscle invasion, recurrence, and mortality were retrospectively compared and examined. Results There were 362 cases of endometrioid adenocarcinoma of the uterine body, of which 121 (33.4%) and 241 cases (66.6%) were in the adenomyosis and nonadenomyosis group, respectively. There were no significant differences with respect to the disease stages or ratios of the histopathological grade between the 2 groups. In the adenomyosis group/nonadenomyosis group, 5-year progression-free survival for International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stages I and II was 89.9%/93.7% and that for stages III and IV was 70.6%/62.0%; the 5-year overall survival was 100%/95.9% for FIGO stages I and II, and 88.0%/73.5% for stages III and IV. There were no significant between-group differences for either progression-free survival or overall survival. When limiting the results to only FIGO stage I endometrioid adenocarcinoma, despite no grade variance between the 2 groups, a significant difference was observed in the ratios of outer-half muscle invasion between the adenomyosis and nonadenomyosis groups (19.5% [17/87] vs 10.1% [16/158], P < 0.05); however, the prognosis was similar in the 2 groups. Conclusions Uterine adenomyosis is associated with deep myometrial invasion in stage I endometrioid adenocarcinoma; however, it did not affect the recurrence or mortality rates.
Patterns of MRI atrophy in tau positive and ubiquitin positive frontotemporal lobar degeneration

We applied optimised voxel based morphometry (VBM) to brain MRIs from autopsy proven cases of tau positive frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD-T, n = 6), ubiquitin and TDP-43 positive/tau negative FTLD (FTLD-U, n = 8) and cognitively normal controls (n = 61). The analysis revealed that FTLD-T and FTLD-U both show atrophy in the frontal cortex and striatum, but striatal atrophy is more severe in FTLD-T. Manual region of interest tracing of caudate and putamen volumes confirmed the VBM findings. These anatomical differences may help distinguish between FTLD spectrum pathological subtypes in vivo.
Effect of exopolysaccharide from Ganoderma applanatum on the electrical properties of mouse fibroblast cells line L929 culture using an electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) - Preliminary study.

UNLABELLED IIntroduction and objective. In recent years there has been intensified research on medicinal preparations of fungal origin. Some fungal polysaccharides may directly affect the inhibition of cancer cells proliferation which, stopping the cell cycle, leads to apoptosis. One of these substances (component of extract of Ganoderma spp) is extensively tested for its anti-cancer properties on the tumor cell lines. Electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) is an in vitro impedance measuring system using alternating current (AC) to determinate the behaviour of the cells in physiological conditions. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to examine the electric properties (resistance, capacitance and impedance) of mouse fibroblasts cell line L929 after treatment by different concentration of crude exopolysaccharides from Ganoderma applanatum (GpEPS) in real time by ECIS technique. MATERIALS AND METHODS For the study, the L929 cell line culture was treated by different concentrations of GpEPS: C1=228.5 µg/mL; C2=22.85 µg/mL; C3=2.285 µg/mL; C4=0.2285 µg/mL; and C5=0.02285 µg/mL. Default optimal frequencies were used: Resistance (R) 4000Hz, Impedance (Z) 16000Hz, Capacitance (C) 64000Hz. RESULTS The study demonstrated that GpEPS had no significant effect on the resistance, capacitance and impedance cells cultures, which implies that there is no significant effect on the physiological processes of L929 fibroblasts. This indicates the possibility of using GpEPS preparation in anti-cancer therapy. CONCLUSIONS In the future, following further studies (comprising in preventive and therapeutic actions), GpEPS can be safely used in anti-cancer therapy which does not cause side-effects or damage to healthy cells.