Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dementia in primary care: why the low detection rate?

OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to find reasons for the low detection rate of dementia in primary care. Another aim was to investigate the attitudes and knowledge on dementia among Swedish general practitioners (GPs). DESIGN Two-hundred-and-twenty-eight postal questionnaires were distributed to GPs in the county of Ostergötland. SETTING Primary care in Sweden. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The opinions of GPs on dementia management in primary care. RESULTS The response rate was 67%. GPs showed a good knowledge of dementia diseases but underestimated the occurrence of dementia. They presented a positive attitude towards managing patients with dementia and considered that existing drug therapy justified an active search for patients with dementia in primary care, but they believed the efficacy of the drugs to be limited. Assessing the social environment of patients and organising social support were regarded as the most difficult tasks in the management of demented patients. CONCLUSION The study indicates that the main obstacles are a lack of resources and a sceptical attitude to the benefits of drug treatment. Co-operation between the community services, specialist clinics and the primary care team should be improved.
Shielding effectiveness properties of carbon-fiber reinforced composite for HIRF applications

This paper investigates the shielding effectiveness properties of different types of carbon fiber reinforced composites (CFRC), typically used aboard air-vehicles, in the frequency range from 100 kHz up to 18 GHz. Both single-layer and multilayer, unidirectional or woven, CFRCs are analyzed, and the critical issue concerning sample preparation is addressed. The study is aimed at defining an effective single layer model of the CFRC laminate, characterized by an effective frequency-dependent electrical conductivity, which is extracted from the measured shielding effectiveness.
How Northern High-Latitude Volcanic Eruptions in Different Seasons Affect ENSO

The impact of northern high-latitude volcanic (NHV) eruptions on El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is investigated based on ensemble simulations with the Community Earth System Model. The seasonality of the atmospheric circulation influences the NHV aerosol dispersion, causing stronger (weaker) Northern Hemisphere cooling after the January and April (July and October) eruptions. ENSO’s response is found to be more dependent on NHV eruption seasons than that on tropical eruption seasons. The January eruption causes an El Niño in an eruption year [year (0) hereafter] while an El Niño occurs in year (1) after the October eruption. No significant El Niño occurs after the April (July) eruption. A diagnostic analysis reveals that these El Niños’ developments are attributed to the positive zonal, meridional advective, and thermocline feedbacks, triggered by the western Pacific westerly anomalies. The anomalous North Pacific cyclone (NPC) and Asian monsoon are key systems to excite anomalous westerlies, which are caused by the NHV-induced midlatitude cooling and Eurasian continent–North Pacific thermal contrast. After the January eruption, the anomalous NPC develops in early summer and connects with a weakened Asian summer monsoon, which excites anomalous westerlies over the Indo-western Pacific, activating the Bjerknes feedback. For the October eruption, the anomalous NPC and enhanced East Asian winter monsoon bring cold air to the Maritime Continent and warm the subtropical central North Pacific through surface heat flux exchange, exciting the westerly anomalies. These results suggest that the strong dependence on the seasonal timing of NHV should be a critical element of data–model comparisons.
High prevalence of esophageal dysmotility in asymptomatic obese patients.

BACKGROUND Obesity is an important health problem affecting >500 million people worldwide. Esophageal dysmotility is a gastrointestinal pathology associated with obesity; however, its prevalence and characteristics remain unclear. Esophageal dysmotilities have a high prevalence among obese patients regardless of gastrointestinal symptoms. OBJECTIVE To identify the prevalence of esophageal dysmotility among obese patients. The secondary goals were to characterize these pathologies in obese patients and identify risk factors. METHOD A prospective study from January 2009 to March 2010 at the University of Montreal Hospital Centre (Montreal, Quebec) was performed. Every patient scheduled for bariatric surgery underwent preoperatory esophageal manometry and was included in the study. Manometry was performed according to a standardized protocol with the following measures: superior esophageal sphincter - coordination and release during deglutition; esophageal body - presence, propagation, length, amplitude and type of esophageal waves of contraction; lower esophageal sphincter - localization, tone, release, intragastic pressure and intraesophageal pressure. All reference values were those used in the digestive motility laboratory. A gastrointestinal symptoms questionnaire was completed on the day manometry was performed. Chart reviews were performed to identify comorbidities and treatments that could influence the results. RESULTS A total of 53 patients were included (mean [± SD] age 43 ± 10 years; mean body mass index 46 ± 7 kg/m; 70% female). Esophageal manometry revealed dysmotility in 51% (n=27) of the patients. This dysmotility involved the esophageal body in 74% (n=20) of the patients and the inferior sphincter in 11% (n=3). Mixed dysmotility (body and inferior sphincter) was found in 15% (n=4) of cases. The esophageal body dysmotilities were hypomotility in 85% (n=23) of the patients, either from insignificant waves (74% [n=20]), nonpropagated waves (11% [n=3]) or low-amplitude waves (33% [n=9]). Gastroesophageal symptoms were found in 66% (n=35) of obese patients, including heartburn (66% [n=23]), regurgitation (26% [n=9]), dysphagia (43% [n=15]), chest pain (6% [n=2]) and dyspepsia (26% [n=9]). Among symptomatic patients, 51% (n=18) had normal manometry and 49% (n=17) had abnormal manometry (statistically nonsignificant). Among asymptomatic patients (n=18), 44% (n=8) had normal manometry and 56% (n=10) had abnormal manometry (statistically nonsignificant). Furthermore, no statistical differences were found between the normal manometry group and the abnormal manometry group with regard to medication intake or comorbidities. CONCLUSION Esophageal dysmotilities had a high prevalence in obese patients. Gastrointestinal symptoms cannot predict the presence of esophageal dysmotility. Hypomotility of the esophageal body is the most common dysmotility, especially from the absence of significant waves.
Incremental FRESURF LDMOSFET structure for enhanced voltage blocking capability on a 0.13μm, SOI based technology

In this paper, a novel structure based on the Floating RESURF LDMOSFET is proposed for enhanced off-state blocking capability. The new structure facilitates the implementation of FRESURF concept in thicker epi technologies for higher voltage tiers. An additional floating island is introduced, sandwiched between the standard drift region and heavily doped buried layer, which makes the Incremental FRESURF action feasible. Best case BVDSS of 130V with RDS,ON of 1. 6mω-cm2 has been experimentally realized on a 0. 13μm, SOI based smart power technology which is a significant improvement as compared to other state of the art integrated high voltage technologies
KEH-Gait: Towards a Mobile Healthcare User Authentication System by Kinetic Energy Harvesting

Accelerometer-based gait recognition for mobile healthcare systems has became an attractive research topic in the past years. However, a major bottleneck of such system is it requires continuous sampling of accelerometer, which reduces battery life of wearable sensors. In this paper, we present KEHGait, which advocates use of output voltage signal from kinetic energy harvester (KEH) as the source for gait recognition. KEHGait is motivated by the prospect of significant power saving by not having to sample the accelerometer at all. Indeed, our measurements show that, compared to conventional accelerometerbased gait detection, KEH-Gait can reduce energy consumption by 78.15%. The feasibility of KEH-Gait is based on the fact that human gait has distinctive movement patterns for different individuals, which is expected to leave distinctive patterns for KEH as well. We evaluate the performance of KEH-Gait using two different types of KEH hardware on a data set of 20 subjects. Our experiments demonstrate that, although KEH-Gait yields slightly lower accuracy than accelerometer-based gait detection when single step is used, the accuracy problem can be overcome by the proposed Multi-Step Sparse Representation Classification (MSSRC). We discuss the advantages and limitations of our approach in detail and give practical insights to the use of KEH in a real-world environment.
Impact of resistive-open defects on the heat current of TAS-MRAM architectures

Magnetic Random Access Memory (MRAM) is an emerging technology with the potential to become the universal on-chip memory. Among the existing MRAM technologies, the Thermally Assisted Switching (TAS) MRAM technology offers several advantages compared to the others technologies: selectivity, single magnetic field and integration density. As any other types of memory, TAS-MRAMs are prone to defects, so TAS-MRAM testing needs definitely to be investigated since only few papers can be found in the literature. In this paper we analyze the impact resistive-open defects on the heat current of a TAS-MRAM architecture. Electrical simulations were performed on a hypothetical 4×4 TAS-MRAM architecture enabling any read/write operations. Results show that W0 and/or W1 operations may be affected by the resistive-open defects. This study provides insights into the various types of TAS-MRAM defects and their behavior. As future work, we plan to utilize these analyses results to guide the test phase by providing effective test algorithm targeting fault related to actual defects that may affect TAS-MRAM architecture.
Stability and Stabilization of Takagi–Sugeno Fuzzy Systems via Sampled-Data and State Quantized Controller

In this paper, we investigate the problem of stability and stabilization for sampled-data fuzzy systems with state quantization. By using an input delay approach, the sampled-data fuzzy systems with state quantization are transformed into a continuous-time system with a delay in the state. The transformed system contains nondifferentiable time-varying state delay. Based on some integral techniques, some new stability and stabilization criteria are first proposed by a modified Lyapunov functional. Furthermore, in the case of no quantization, some new stability and stabilization criteria are also obtained. It is shown that the new stability and stabilization criteria can provide a larger upper bound of the sampling interval than some existing ones in the literature. Two simulation examples are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed design method.
Insights Into the Mechanisms and Mediators of the Effects of Air Pollution Exposure on Blood Pressure and Vascular Function in Healthy Humans

Fine particulate matter air pollution plus ozone impairs vascular function and raises diastolic blood pressure. We aimed to determine the mechanism and air pollutant responsible. The effects of pollution on heart rate variability, blood pressure, biomarkers, and brachial flow-mediated dilatation were determined in 2 randomized, double-blind, crossover studies. In Ann Arbor, 50 subjects were exposed to fine particles (150 &mgr;g/m3) plus ozone (120 parts per billion) for 2 hours on 3 occasions with pretreatments of an endothelin antagonist (Bosentan, 250 mg), antioxidant (Vitamin C, 2 g), or placebo. In Toronto, 31 subjects were exposed to 4 different conditions (particles plus ozone, particles, ozone, and filtered air). In Toronto, diastolic blood pressure significantly increased (2.9 and 3.6 mm Hg) only during particle-containing exposures in association with particulate matter concentration and reductions in heart rate variability. Flow-mediated dilatation significantly decreased (2.0% and 2.9%) only 24 hours after particle-containing exposures in association with particulate matter concentration and increases in blood tumor necrosis factor &agr;. In Ann Arbor, diastolic blood pressure significantly similarly increased during all of the exposures (2.5 to 4.0 mm Hg), a response not mitigated by pretreatments. Flow-mediated dilatation remained unaltered. Particulate matter, not ozone, was responsible for increasing diastolic blood pressure during air pollution inhalation, most plausibly by instigating acute autonomic imbalance. Only particles from urban Toronto additionally impaired endothelial function, likely via slower proinflammatory pathways. Our findings demonstrate credible mechanisms whereby fine particulate matter could trigger acute cardiovascular events and that aspects of exposure location may be an important determinant of the health consequences.
Excisional surgery versus ablative surgery for ovarian endometriomata: a Cochrane Review.

BACKGROUND The objective of this review was to determine which is the most effective technique for treating an ovarian endometrioma; excision or ablation. METHODS A systematic review employing the principles of the Cochrane Menstrual Disorders and Subfertility Group was undertaken. No randomized studies of the management of endometriomata by laparotomy were found. Two randomized studies of the laparoscopic management of ovarian endometriomata of >3 cm in size were included. RESULTS Laparoscopic excision of the cyst wall of the endometrioma was associated with a reduced rate of recurrence of the endometrioma [odds ratio (OR) 0.41, confidence interval (CI) 0.18-0.93], reduced requirement for further surgery (OR 0.21, CI 0.05-0.79), reduced recurrence rate of the symptoms of dysmenorrhoea (OR 0.15, CI 0.06-0.38), dyspareunia (OR 0.08, CI 0.01-0.51) and non-menstrual pelvic pain (OR 0.10, CI 0.02-0.56). It was also associated with a subsequently increased rate of spontaneous pregnancy in women who had documented prior subfertility (OR 5.21, CI 2.04-13.29). CONCLUSIONS There is some evidence that excisional surgery for endometriomata provides for a more favourable outcome than drainage and ablation, with regard to the recurrence of the endometrioma, recurrence of symptoms and subsequent spontaneous pregnancy in women who were previously subfertile. Consequently this should be the favoured surgical approach. However, we found no data to indicate the best surgical approach in women planning to undergo assisted reproductive techniques.
Neoadjuvant therapy in pancreatic cancer: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of prospective studies

There is a strong rationale and many theoretical advantages for neoadjuvant therapy in pancreatic cancer (PC). However, study results have varied significantly. In this study, a systematic review and meta‐analysis of prospective studies were performed in order to evaluate safety and effectiveness of neoadjuvant therapy in PC. Thirty‐nine studies were selected (n = 1458 patients), with 14 studies focusing on patients with resectable disease (group 1), and 19 studies focusing on patients with borderline resectable and locally advanced disease (group 2). Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was administered in 97.4% of the studies, in which 76.9% was given radiotherapy and 74.4% administered with chemoradiation. The complete and partial response rate was 3.8% and 20.9%. The incidence of grade 3/4 toxicity was 11.3%. The overall resection rate after neoadjuvant therapy was 57.7% (group 1: 73.0%, group 2: 40.2%). The R0 resection rate was 84.2% (group 1: 88.2%, group 2: 79.4%). The overall survival for all patients was 16.79 months (resected 24.24, unresected 9.81; group 1: 17.76, group 2: 16.20). Our results demonstrate that neoadjuvant therapy has not been proven to be beneficial and should be considered with caution in patients with resectable PC. Patients with borderline resectable or locally advanced disease may benefit from neoadjuvant therapy, but further research is needed.
Joint stiffness identification of industrial serial robots

SUMMARY This paper presents a new methodology for the joint stiffness identification of industrial serial robots and as consequence for the evaluation of both translational and rotational displacements of the robot's end-effector subject to an external wrench (force and torque). In this paper, the robot's links are supposed to be quite stiffer than the actuated joints as it is usually the case with industrial serial robots. The robustness of the identification method and the sensitivity of the results to measurement errors, and the number of experimental tests are also analyzed. The Kuka KR240-2 robot is used as an illustrative example throughout the paper.
Dealing with discreteness: making `exact’ confidence intervals for proportions, differences of proportions, and odds ratios more exact

‘Exact’ methods for categorical data are exact in terms of using probability distributions that do not depend on unknown parameters. However, they are conservative inferentially. The actual error probabilities for tests and confidence intervals are bounded above by the nominal level. This article examines the conservatism for interval estimation and describes ways of reducing it. We illustrate for confidence intervals for several basic parameters, including the binomial parameter, the difference between two binomial parameters for independent samples, and the odds ratio and relative risk. Less conservative behavior results from devices such as (1) inverting tests using statistics that are ‘less discrete’, (2) inverting a single two-sided test rather than two separate one-sided tests each having size at least half the nominal level, (3) using unconditional rather than conditional methods (where appropriate) and (4) inverting tests using alternative p-values. The article concludes with recommendations for selecting an interval in three situations—when one needs to guarantee a lower bound on a coverage probability, when it is sufficient to have actual coverage probability near the nominal level, and when teaching in a classroom or consulting environment.
Career Development as a Determinant of Organizational Growth: Modelling the Relationship between these Constructs in the Nigerian Banking Industry

Background: Career development is argue to be “an ongoing, formalized effort” engage by organizations in enriching the organization’s human resources in alignment with employees’ and the organization’s needs. Methods: A sample was drawn from First City Monument Bank (FCMB) with two hundred and sixty five respondents. SPSS was used to analyze demographic characteristics of the respondents, while AMOS 21 was adopted for the Structural Equation modeling of the survey model. Results: Many of the associations between the tested variables were strong and positive. However, all the tested independent variables such as reward, recognition, skills, promotion had positive impact on organizational growth, while experience had negative impact. Conclusion: Results support the literature, in terms of the relationships between independent and dependent variables with the exception of experience, which had negative impact on organizational growth. Therefore, management should employ better strategies in retaining their experienced employees, which tends to effect on the organizational growth.
Symptom Representation and Treatment-Seeking Prior to Diagnosis of Atrial Fibrillation

Early treatment-seeking for symptoms of atrial fibrillation (AF) is critical to avert AF-related stroke and heart failure, but early treatment is hindered if symptoms are not accurately interpreted. The purpose of this research was to describe symptom representation and treatment-seeking responses prior to diagnosis of AF. For this descriptive study, 150 participants were surveyed to describe the type and temporality of symptoms, perceptions regarding the cause, seriousness, controllability of symptoms, and responses to symptoms prior to diagnosis. Participants’ mean age was 66.5 years, and 51% were female. Participants perceived symptoms as having nondisease-based causes, as not very serious, and as amenable to self-management. The majority took a wait and see response with 69% waiting more than 1 week after symptom onset to seek treatment. Lack of recognition of the seriousness of symptoms of AF and delayed treatment put patients at risk of poorer outcomes.
Preliminary Finnish Measures of Eating Competence Suggest Association with Health-Promoting Eating Patterns and Related Psychobehavioral Factors in 10–17 Year Old Adolescents

Eating competence is an attitudinal and behavioral concept, based on The Satter Eating Competence Model. In adults, it has been shown to be associated with a higher quality of diet. Eating competence or its association with the quality of diet has not been studied in adolescents. The aim of the current study was to explore the utility of using a preliminary Finnish translation of the ecSI 2.0 for evaluating presumed eating competence and its association with food selection, meal patterns and related psychobehavioral factors in 10–17 year old adolescents. Altogether 976 10–17 years old Finnish adolescents filled in the study questionnaire. When exploring the construct validity of ecSI 2.0, the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated acceptable model fit and all four components of the ecSI 2.0 (eating attitudes, food acceptance, internal regulation of food intake, management of eating context) correlated with each other and were internally consistent. Over half (58%) of the adolescents scored 32 or higher and were thus classified as presumably eating competent (pEC). Eating competence was associated with greater meal frequency, more frequent consumption of vegetables and fruits, and more health-promoting family eating patterns. In addition the pEC, adolescents more often perceived their body size as appropriate, had less often tried to lose weight and had a higher self-esteem and a stronger sense of coherence than the not pEC ones. Family eating patterns and self-esteem were the main underlying factors of eating competence. In conclusion, this preliminary study suggests eating competence could be a useful concept to characterize eating patterns and related behaviors and attitudes in adolescents. However, these preliminary findings need to be confirmed in further studies with an instrument fully validated for this age group.
Winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus stock enhancement in New Hampshire: Developing optimal release strategies

WINTER FLOUNDER, Pseudopleuronectes americanus, STOCK ENHANCEMENT IN NEW HAMPSHIRE: DEVELOPING OPTIMAL RELEASE STRATEGIES by Elizabeth Alden Fairchild University of New Hampshire, May, 2002 As part o f a program to assess the feasibility of winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus, stock enhancement, optimal release size, site, season, and condition of cultured, juvenile winter flounder were evaluated. To determine optimal release size, the predator-prey size relationship between winter flounder and the green crab, Carcinus maenas, was examined. The number of flounder killed per day was significantly higher (31%) in winter flounder < 20 mm compared to all other larger fish size classes (4-8% killed/day). Additionally, these fish were attacked at a faster rate than any other fish size class. These results suggest that only flounder > 20 mm should be released. Field studies were conducted in three potential release sites in the Great Bay Estuary during 1999-2001 to determine optimal release site and season. Optimal site selection was based on growth and survival of caged, cultured fish in relation to water temperature, prey availability, and sediment composition. Optimal season was selected based on the temporal distribution, abundance, and sizes of wild flounder, and their primary prey and predators. Within the estuary, Broad Cove was chosen as the optimal