Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of the effectiveness between the adapted-double phototherapy versus conventional-single phototherapy.

BACKGROUND Jaundice is very common in neonates during the first few days of life. Severe hyperbilirubinemia is potentially neurotoxic, resulting in bilirubin encephalopathy. Phototherapy has been used widespread and proven to be effective in lowering serum bilirubin. The efficacy of phototherapy depends on the type of light-source, the intensity of light and the area of skin exposed. Double phototherapy with a fiber-optic blanket has been reported to be more effective in reducing bilirubin than conventional phototherapy. However, a fiber-optic blanket or bili-bed is very expensive, thus the authors designed the adapted-double phototherapy by using ordinary fluorescent lamps that are much cheaper and more easily available. OBJECTIVE To compare the efficacy and safety of adapted-double phototherapy (DP) using daylight fluorescent lamps to conventional phototherapy (CP) in healthy term infants with hyperbilirubinemia. DESIGN Prospective randomized controlled trial study. METHOD Term infants who met phototherapy criteria were randomized into two groups of phototherapy; the adapted DP placing daylight fluorescent lamps 38 cm above and 32 cm below the crib to produce 9-10 microw/cm2/nm (n = 24) versus CP of similar irradiance (n = 27). RESULT There were no significant differences between the two groups with respect to birth weight, gestational age, hematocrit at enrollment and cause of hyperbilirubinemia. Infants in the DP group had higher bilirubin levels and were slightly older at the time of enrollment than those in the CP group. The bilirubin reduction rate after therapy was significantly greater in the DP compared to CP; 0.22 +/- 0.12 mg/dl/h vs 0.14 +/- 0.1 mg/dl/h on day 1 of therapy (p = 0.02) and 0.16 +/- 0.11 mg/ dl/h vs 0.1 +/- 0.05 mg/dl/h on day 2 (p = 0.06). Duration of phototherapy was shorter in DP; 34.9 +/- 12.6 h vs 43.7 +/- 17.5 h in CP group (p = 0.039). No differences in side effects were found between two groups. CONCLUSION The adapted-DP using daylight fluorescent lamps in this study has proven to be safe and more effective in reducing bilirubin than CP. It could be an alternative model for intensified phototherapy as it produces a reasonable cost-effectiveness and is easy to apply.
ISSUES, PROBLEMS, AND PITFALLS IN ASSESSING SEX DIFFERENCES: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SEX DIFFERENCES

To survey, evaluate, and distill the empirical evidence regarding psychological sex differences at a time of intense, polarized debate on the issues of equality of the sexes and changing sex roles is an awesome responsibility. Eleanor Maccoby and Carol Jackiin were not intimidated by this consequential challenge. Their book, The Psy chology of Sex Differences, already has become a frequently cited reference work because of the reputation of the authors, the con temporary interest in the topic of sex differences, the scope of the book's coverage, and the extensive bibliography provided. The au thors' conclusions about sex differences have received wide circula tion in both scientific journals and the lay press and have been ac cepted by many as an authoritative assessment of the nature and extent of psychological sex differences. Further, the Maccoby and Jackiin evaluation of the empirical literature may be expected to have important implications for psychological theorizing, for the direction of future research, and for the course of future social policy. Because of its potential influence, therefore, the work requires close scrutiny and careful evaluation as to its conceptual, empirical, and inferential adequacy. The positive contributions of the book have been discussed elsewhere (e.g., Emmerich, 1975); to avoid redundancy, I have de fined my own task here as one of providing a critical appraisal of the evidential support for the authors' conclusions about sex differences. The book, a sequel to Maccoby's The Development of Sex Differ ences published in 1966, assays the results of approximately 1600 studies published, for the most part, between 1966 and 1973. The authors surveyed the psychological journals that most frequently in clude findings about psychological sex differences and abstracted those studies analyzing between-sex differences for inclusion in their 233-page Annotated Bibliography. Additionally, other sources were
What is a reasonable weight loss? Patients' expectations and evaluations of obesity treatment outcomes.

Expert panels and governmental guidelines now recommend that obese persons seek modest (i.e., "reasonable") reductions in body weight rather than striving for "ideal" weights. Little is known, however, about patients' views of what is a "reasonable" weight loss. This study assessed patients' goals, expectations, and evaluations of various outcomes before, during, and after 48 weeks of treatment. Before treatment, 60 obese women (99.1 +/- 12.3 kg; body mass index of 36.3 +/- 4.3 kg/ m2) defined their goal weight and 4 other weights: "dream weight"; "happy weight"; "acceptable weight"; and "disappointed weight. " Goal weight averaged a 32% reduction in body weight. A 17-kg weight loss was defined as disappointed; a 25-kg loss, was acceptable. After 48 weeks of treatment and a 16-kg weight loss, 47% of patients did not achieve even a disappointed weight. These data illustrate the dramatic disparity between patients' expectations and professional recommendations and the need to help patients accept more modest weight loss outcomes.
Overnight Motor Skill Learning Outcomes in Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Effect of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure.

STUDY OBJECTIVE To determine the effectiveness of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy in alleviating known impairments in the overnight consolidation of motor skill learning in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). METHODS Twenty-five patients with untreated moderate-severe OSA, 13 first-night CPAP users, 17 compliant CPAP users, and 14 healthy control patients were trained on a motor sequence learning task (Sequential Finger Tapping Task, SFTT) and were subsequently tested prior to and after polysomnographic recorded sleep. Measures of subjective sleepiness (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale) and sustained attention (Psychomotor Vigilance Task) were also completed before and after sleep. RESULTS Typical analyses of overnight improvement on the SFTT show significantly greater overnight gains in motor task speed in controls (+11.6 ± 4.7%, p = 0.007) and compliant CPAP users (+8.9 ± 4.3%, p = 0.008) compared to patients with OSA (-4.86 ± 4.5%). Additional analyses suggest that these improvements in motor performance occurred prior to the sleep episode, as all groups significantly improved (15% to 22%) over a 10-min presleep rest period. Thereafter, performance in all groups significantly deteriorated over sleep (6% to 16%) with trends toward patients with OSA showing greater losses in performance compared to control patients and compliant CPAP users. No between-group differences in subjective sleepiness and sustained attention were found presleep and postsleep. CONCLUSIONS The current data suggest impairments in overnight motor learning in patients with OSA may be a combination of deficient stabilization of memory over a sleep episode as well as increased vulnerability to time on task fatigue effects. Compliant CPAP usage possibly offsets both of these impediments to learning outcomes by improving both sleep quality and subsequent daytime function.
A Discriminant Analysis of Factors Associated with The Adoption Of Certified Organic Farming By Smallholder Farmers in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

Discriminant analysis was used to identify the characteristics that distinguish between fully-certified organic, partially-certified organic and non-organic farmers in Umbumbulu district, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa (SA) during October- November 2004. 200 farmers interviewed were drawn by purposively selecting the 151 members of the Ezemvelo Farmers’ Organisation (EFO), and by random sampling 49 non-organic farmers in wards neighbouring EFO. Results from the two estimated discriminant functions suggested that farmers with higher household sizes, incomes, input costs per hectare and number of chickens owned, locations further from innovators and less risk aversion were more likely to be certified as organic. Household location should be considered in delineating target domains for introducing new technologies especially where resources are limited. There is a need for key stakeholders to increase smallholder’s capacity to bear risk by decreasing the perceived risk of adoption of certified organic farming.
Fitness‐compensatory mutations in rifampicin‐resistant RNA polymerase

Mutations in rpoB (RNA polymerase β‐subunit) can cause high‐level resistance to rifampicin, an important first‐line drug against tuberculosis. Most rifampicin‐resistant (RifR) mutants selected in vitro have reduced fitness, and resistant clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis frequently carry multiple mutations in RNA polymerase genes. This supports a role for compensatory evolution in global epidemics of drug‐resistant tuberculosis but the significance of secondary mutations outside rpoB has not been demonstrated or quantified. Using Salmonella as a model organism, and a previously characterized RifR mutation (rpoB R529C) as a starting point, independent lineages were evolved with selection for improved growth in the presence and absence of rifampicin. Compensatory mutations were identified in every lineage and were distributed between rpoA, rpoB and rpoC. Resistance was maintained in all strains showing that increased fitness by compensatory mutation was more likely than reversion. Genetic reconstructions demonstrated that the secondary mutations were responsible for increasing growth rate. Many of the compensatory mutations in rpoA and rpoC individually caused small but significant reductions in susceptibility to rifampicin, and some compensatory mutations in rpoB individually caused high‐level resistance. These findings show that mutations in different components of RNA polymerase are responsible for fitness compensation of a RifR mutant.
ROBUST MATCHING OF AERIAL IMAGES WITH LOW OVERLAP

: This paper addresses the problem of aerial image matching. We analyze existing approaches to this problem and show that, though the modern algorithms cope with the task quite well, their results are deteriorated in case of low overlap and significant rotation angle between the images. A two-stage feature-based image matching scheme is presented. It is shown that preliminary stage of simplified (shift-rotation) model estimation is crucial in case of low overlap and influences significantly the whole matching scheme. We introduce a novel method of shift-rotation model estimation, based on the voting procedure in parameter space, which allows finding the correct model in case of extremely difficult input data (overlap area is less than 10%) without using any additional information. Finally, the experimental results of our method on both synthetic and real data are presented. We compare our results with one of the state of the art SAC-based model estimators and show that our algorithm outperforms existing methods in case of very small overlap.
Quartz Crystal Preferred Orientation and Recrystallization Patterns from Naturally Deformed Rocks Under Constriction

This study analyzes crystal preferred orientation (CPO) patterns within constrictional quartz-rich gneisses. Quartz deformation and CPO patterns are an area of interest because quartz is one of the most prevalent minerals in earth's crust. Understanding the typical way that quartz crystals reorient under different states of strain can provide geologists with an additional tool for understanding paleo-strain. Temperature and strain geometry are two dominant factors that control the orientation of quartz crystals within a rock. Temperature determines which slip planes are active and slip planes typically reorient so that they are perpendicular to maximum stress. Previous workers have suggested that the respective orientations and degrees to which quartz cand a-axes cluster to form girdles or points can be used to determine if a rock deformed in constrictional, flattening, or plane strain states (Barth et al. 2010). This study serves to test this hypothesis. Two samples with high and low temperature quartz fabrics were obtained for this study. Both samples showed clear constrictional geometries in the field. Further measurement of the quartz grains verified that the ratio of S1/S2 and S2/S3 for both samples yielded points on the Flinn diagram within the constrictional field. Electron backscatter diffraction maps of the quartz crystal preferred orientations were inconsistent with the predictions for constrictional fabrics. The results of the Waterman Hills sample are similar to the pattern for prism <a> slip and rhomb <a> slip with a component of non-coaxial shear, and suggest that quartz CPOs are sensitive to very small differences in the orientation of principal strain. The Ontario, Canada sample was higher temperature and had few individual measured grains. This sample appeared to have a mix of prism <a> and prism <c> slip. Our results suggest that the degree to which quartz axes cluster to form girdles or points is not a reliable tool for interpreting strain geometry for constrictional fabrics.
The shape of the first collapsed objects.

In the early seventies, there was a conjecture (based on the Zel'dovich approximate solution) that the first collapse of a self-gravitating dustlike medium (appropriate approximation for nonbaryonic dark matter) results in the formation of a ``pancake'' object that is a thin surface. Recent works cast doubt on the Zel'dovich conjecture, suggesting that the first collapse might be pointlike or filamentlike rather than pancakelike. Our $N$-body simulations show first pancake collapse. We can reject with 97% confidence the Bayesian prior that the other kinds of collapse are more or equally probable.
Optimized Sub‐Sampling of Point Sets for Surface Splatting

Using surface splats as a rendering primitive has gained increasing attention recently due to its potential for high‐performance and high‐quality rendering of complex geometric models. However, as with any other rendering primitive, the processing costs are still proportional to the number of primitives that we use to represent a given object. This is why complexity reduction for point‐sampled geometry is as important as it is, e.g., for triangle meshes. In this paper we present a new sub‐sampling technique for dense point clouds which is specifically adjusted to the particular geometric properties of circular or elliptical surface splats. A global optimization scheme computes an approximately minimal set of splats that covers the entire surface while staying below a globally prescribed maximum error toleranceε. Since our algorithm converts pure point sample data into surface splats with normal vectors and spatial extent, it can also be considered as a surface reconstruction technique which generates a hole‐free piecewise linearC−1continuous approximation of the input data. Here we can exploit the higher flexibility of surface splats compared to triangle meshes. Compared to previous work in this area we are able to obtain significantly lower splat numbers for a given error tolerance.
Diffusion Tensor Imaging of the Optic Nerve in Subacute Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy at 3 T

RESULTS: The mean ADC and orthogonal eigenvalue in affected nerves increased, and the mean FA was reduced compared with clinically unaffected contralateral nerves (P .001) and control nerves (P .001). However, no significant changes of the mean principal eigenvalue in affected nerves compared with unaffected contralateral nerves (P .13) and control nerves (P .14) were seen. There was a significant correlation of whole-field VEP amplitude with ADC (r 0.63, P .001) and (r 0.47, P .015) but no correlation with FA (P .06) and (P .06).
La cultura en las organizaciones y sus efectos sobre la participación de los empleados

espanolLas diferencias culturales influyen en los diversos sistemas de direccion participativa y en el exito de estos sistemas. Asi ha podido ser comprobado, despues de confeccionar una escala de medida indicativa del tipo de cultura organizativa que era percibida por el directivo en su empresa, sobre la base de un conjunto de artefactos culturales generalizables a cualquier organizacion, divididos en dos tipos: culturas tradicionales frente a progresistas. Estos dos tipos de culturas, se relacionan en el sentido esperado, con el grado de participacion de los empleados percibido y deseado desde la direccion, tanto a nivel individual como grupal y organizacional. Estos efectos son, en lo esencial, de caracter indirecto a traves de las repercusiones que la cultura muestra sobre el nivel de poder con que cuenta el directivo y la necesidad de acometer transformaciones en los sistemas de toma de decisiones seguidos por su empresa. EnglishCultural differences influence the different systems of participative management and their outcomes. This has been proved, by making up a questionnaire about organizational culture perceived by the manager, which included a set of cultural facts divided into two types: traditional versus progressive cultures. Both types are correlated, as we expected, with the employee participation, perceived and desired by the manager, at an individual level as well as a group and organizational level. These effects are, mainly, indirect through the level of power the manager has and the need the company has to introduce changes in its decision-making procedures.
Thomas' theorem meets Bayes' rule: A model of the iterated learning of language

We develop a Bayesian Iterated Learning Model (BILM) that models the cultural evolution of language as it is transmitted over generations of learners. We study the outcome of iterated learning in relation to the behavior of individual agents (their biases) and the social structure through which they transmit their behavior. BILM makes individual learning biases explicit and offers a direct comparison of how individual biases relate to the outcome of iterated learning. Most earlier BILMs use simple one parent to one child (monadic) chains of homogeneous learners to study the outcome of iterated learning in terms of bias manipulations. Here, we develop a BILM to study two novel manipulations in social parameters: population size and population heterogeneity, to determine more precisely what the transmission process itself can add to the outcome of iterated learning. Our monadic model replicates the existing BILM results, however our manipulations show that the outcome of iterated learning is sensitive to more factors than are explicitly encoded in the prior. This calls into question the appropriateness of assuming strong Bayesian inference in the iterated learning framework and has important implications for the study of language evolution in general.
Combining Belief Functions Issued from Dependent Sources

Dempster’s rule for combining two belief functions assumes the independence of the sources of information. If this assumption is questionable, I suggest to use the least specific combination minimizing the conflict among the ones allowed by a simple generalization of Dempster’s rule. This increases the monotonicity of the reasoning and helps us to manage situations of dependence. Some properties of this combination rule and its usefulness in a generalization of Bayes’ theorem are then considered.
Supplier Selection using Multi-criteria Decision Making Approaches: A Current Review

Selection of supplier is one of the most important decisions in purchasing. An inappropriate decision on supplier may affect the whole supply chain management. Decision making can be a stressful process as the performance of potential suppliers is evaluated based on multi-criteria. Various multicriteria decision making approaches have been proposed to solve supplier selection problem. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of supplier selection using multi-criteria decision making approaches from 2009 to 2013. The present paper extends the previous reviews by gathering related articles appearing in the international journals and conferences proceedings. Two classifications of individual approaches and integrated approaches were made in this paper. This review aids the researchers and decision makers in applying the approaches effectively. From the observation, it was noticed that six papers or 19 percent were using individual approaches against 25 papers or 81 percent of integrated approaches. About 48 percent of approaches in the category of integrated approaches were decision making method based on fuzzy set theory. The reviews also notice that 25 out of 31 papers (81%) considered quality as the most important criterion in supplier selection process. This paper offers useful information for other researchers since it provides the latest evidence of decision making approaches in supplier selection.
Happy News from the Dismal Science: Reassessing the Japanese Fiscal Policy and Sustainability

We analyze fiscal policy and fiscal sustainability in Japan using a variant of the methodology developed in Blanchard (1990). We find that Japan can achieve fiscal sustainability over a 100-year horizon with relatively small changes in the tax-to-GDP ratio. Our analysis differs from more pessimistic analyses in several dimensions. First, since Japanese net debt is only half that of gross debt, we demonstrate that the current debt burden is much lower than is typically reported. This means that monetization of the debt will have little impact on Japan's fiscal sustainability because Japan's problem is the level of future liabilities not current ones. Second, we argue that one obtains very different projections of social security burdens based on the standard assumption that Japan's population is on a trend towards extinction rather than transitioning to a new lower level. Third, we demonstrate that some modest cost containment of the growth rate of real per capita benefits, such as cutting expenditures for shrinking demographic categories, can dramatically lower the necessary tax burden. In sum, no scenario involves Japanese taxes rising above those in Europe today and many result in tax-to-GDP ratios comparable to those in the United States.