Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Digital Interventions for Problematic Cannabis Users in Non-Clinical Settings: Findings from a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Existing cannabis treatment programs reach only a very limited proportion of people with cannabis-related problems. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess the effectiveness of digital interventions applied outside the health care system in reducing problematic cannabis use. Methods: We systematically searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (2015), PubMed (2009-2015), Medline (2009-2015), Google Scholar (2015) and article reference lists for potentially eligible studies. Randomized controlled trials examining the effects of internet- or computer-based interventions were assessed. Study effects were estimated by calculating effect sizes (ESs) using Cohen's d and Hedges' g bias-corrected ES. The primary outcome assessed was self-reported cannabis use, measured by a questionnaire. Results: Fifty-two studies were identified. Four studies (including 1,928 participants) met inclusion criteria. They combined brief motivational interventions and cognitive behavioral therapy delivered online. All studies were of good quality. The pooled mean difference (Δ = 4.07) and overall ES (0.11) give evidence of small effects at 3-month follow-up in favor of digital interventions. Conclusions: Digital interventions can help to successfully reduce problematic cannabis use outside clinical settings. They have some potential to overcome treatment barriers and increase accessibility for at-risk cannabis users.
The Effects of Self‐selection for Frequency of Training in a Winter Conditioning Program for Football

Information concerning frequency of training for resistance trained individuals is relatively unknown. Problems in designing training programs for student athletes are frequently encountered due to differential time constraints placed upon them. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of self-selection of resistance training frequency on muscular strength. Sixty-one members of an NCAA. Division IAA football team participated in a 10-week winter conditioning program. Each subject was given the option of choosing from a three-day (3d, n=12) four-day (4d, n=15), five-day (5d, n=23) or six-day (6d, n=ll) per week resistance training program. In addition to the strength training, the subjects participated in a football conditioning program twice a week. Testing was conducted before and after the 10-week training program. Field tests common to football off-season conditioning programs were utilized to evaluate strength (1 RM squat and bench press), speed (40-yard sprint), endurance (two-mile run), vertical jump and anthropometric measurements. Posttests revealed significant changes for the 3d group in decreased time for the two-mile run (2mi), decreased sum of skinfolds (SF) and an increased chest girth (CH). The 4d program revealed significant decreases in body weight, 2mi, SF, and increases in 1 RM squat, CH and thigh girths (TH). The 5d group significantly decreased 2mi, and SF, and increased both 1 RM squat and bench press and CH and TH. The 6d group revealed significant decreases in 2mi, and SF, and an increase in 1 RM squat. Of the total variables measured, 4d and 5d frequency groups revealed the greatest amount of improvement. In conclusion, when resistance training frequency is self-selected by athletes (i.e., college football players) it appears that four or five days per week are the optimal choices for developing strength, endurance and muscle mass.
‘Making Work Pay’ – Devising the Best Strategy for Lone Parents in Britain

‘Making work pay’ is the keystone of New Labour's strategy to reduce welfare dependency. This strategy is especially directed at lone parents, through increased financial support for childcare, a specific ‘New Deal’ and reduced benefits for non-working lone parents. Reducing welfare dependency for lone parents has several possible objectives; minimising welfare expenditures, maximising the employment rate, improving the socioeconomic status of women, or improving conditions for their children. This article analyses the implications of each of these objectives for policy design, using evidence from other countries as well as the United Kingdom, and examines the internal coherence of New Labour's policy approach to lone parents and its coherence with other policies on the family and on lifelong learning. The potential effectiveness of ‘making work pay’ is examined through the findings of recent literature, leading to arguments for a carer's allowance.
Passion for online shopping: The influence of personality and compulsive buying

In this study the relationships among personality traits, harmonious passion, obsessive passion, compulsive buying behavior, and online shopping dependency are examined. An empirical survey of 403 student respondents from a Taiwanese university was conducted. Results show that both harmonious passion and obsessive passion can lead to online shopping dependency; passion is related to compulsive buying behavior; compulsive buyers are more online-shopping-dependent than other consumers. It was also found that three personality traits - openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness - can lead individuals to develop a passion for online shopping activities. These findings may be useful for discussing the influence of personality traits on online shopping activities.
Ciprofloxacin does not inhibit mitochondrial functions but other antibiotics do

At clinical concentrations, ciprofloxacin did not inhibit mitochondrial DNA replication, oxidative phosphorylation, protein synthesis, or mitochondrial mass (transmembrane potential). No difference in supercoiled forms of DNA was observed. The tetracyclines and chloramphenicol inhibited protein synthesis at clinically achievable concentrations, while rifampin, fusidic acid, and clindamycin did not.
Model predictive control of automotive powertrains - first experimental results

This paper illustrates the capabilities of model predictive control for the control of automotive powertrains. We consider the minimization of the fuel consumption of a gasoline engine through dynamic optimization. The minimization uses a mean value model of the powertrain and vehicle. This model has two state variables: the pressure in the engine manifold and the engine speed. The control input is the throttle valve angle. The model is identified on a universal dynamometer. Optimal state and control trajectories are calculated using Bock¿s direct multiple shooting method implemented in the software MUSCOD-II. The developed approach is illustrated both in simulation and experimentally for a test case where a vehicle accelerates from 1100 rpm to 3700 rpm in 30 s. The optimized trajectories yield minimal fuel consumption. The experiments show that the optimal engine speed trajectory yields a reduction of the fuel consumption of 12% when compared to a linear trajectory. Thus, it is shown that, even with a simple model, a significant amount of fuel can be saved without loss of the fun-to-drive.
Influence of Yoga and Ayurveda on self-rated sleep in a geriatric population.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Sleep in older persons is characterized by decreased ability to stay asleep, resulting in fragmented sleep and reduced daytime alertness. Pharmacological treatment of insomnia in older persons is associated with hazardous side effects. Hence, the present study was designed to compare the effects of Yoga and Ayurveda on the self rated sleep in a geriatric population. METHODS Of the 120 residents from a home for the aged, 69 were stratified based on age (five year intervals) and randomly allocated to three groups i.e., Yoga (physical postures, relaxation techniques, voluntarily regulated breathing and lectures on yoga philosophy), Ayurveda (a herbal preparation), and Wait-list control (no intervention). The groups were evaluated for self-assessment of sleep over a one week period at baseline, and after three and six months of the respective interventions. RESULTS The Yoga group showed a significant decrease in the time taken to fall asleep (approximate group average decrease: 10 min, P<0.05), an increase in the total number of hours slept (approximate group average increase: 60 min, P< 0.05) and in the feeling of being rested in the morning based on a rating scale (P<0.05) after six months. The other groups showed no significant change. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSION Yoga practice improved different aspects of sleep in a geriatric population.
Moderating Effects of Self-Confidence and Sport Self-Efficacyon the Relationship between Competitive Anxietyand Sport Performance

The aim of this study was to examine moderating effects of self-confidence and sport self-efficacy on the relationship between competitive anxiety and sport performance in a sample of Iranian athletes. A total of 246 volunteer athletes (149 males, 97 females) were included in this study. All participants were asked to complete Multidimensional Competitive Anxiety Questionnaire and Sport Self-Efficacy Scale. To measure the athletes’ sport performance, their coaches were asked to complete the Sport Achevement Scale. The results revealed that self-confidence and sport self-efficacy moderated the relationship between competitive anxiety and sport performance. Analysis of the data revealed that moderating effects of self-confidence for the association of cognitive and somatic dimensions of competitive anxiety with sport performance were partial. On the other hand, the moderating effects of sport self-efficacy for the association of cognitive and somatic dimensions of competitive anxiety with sport performance were full.
[Pulmonary hypertension in autoimmune rheumatic diseases].

OBJECTIVE Pulmonary hypertension is a severe and rapidly progressive disease, particularly frequent in patients with rheumatic diseases. The aims of this study were the following: to determine the prevalence of pulmonary hypertension in Italian patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases, and to evaluate if the presence of a rheumatic disease in general, or of a specific autoimmune rheumatic disease, is a risk factor for the development of pulmonary hypertension. PATIENTS AND METHODS One hundred and thirteen Italian patients with connective tissue diseases (105 females, 8 males), aged 19 to 83 yrs, entered the study. Fifty-one had systemic sclerosis (SSc): 49 were females, 2 males, aged 34 to 83 yrs; 41 had limited cutaneous SSc, 8 diffuse cutaneous SSc, and 2 SSc sine scleroderma. Thirty-three patients had systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): all but one were females, their age ranged from 19 to 82 yrs. Twenty-five had rheumatoid arthritis (RA): 21 females, 4 males, aged 26 to 45 yrs. Three females and one male, 51-77 yrs, had mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD). Systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (SPAP) was assessed by Doppler echocardiography. RESULTS Twenty three patients had pulmonary hypertension, which was more frequent in MCTD than in SLE (75% vs 6.1%, p=0.0002) or in AR (20%, p=0.0313). Pulmonary hypertension was more frequent in SSc than in SLE (25.5% vs 6.1%, p=0.0028) and in limited than in diffuse SSc (21.6% vs 3.9%). SPAP was significantly related to age (r=0.35, p=0.0275), with patients with pulmonary hypertension older than patients with normal SPAP (66+/-13 vs 52+/-16 yrs, p=0.0003). CONCLUSIONS These data show a significant association between pulmonary hypertension and autoimmune rheumatic diseases. Therefore, pulmonary hypertension assessment seems mandatory, at least in MCTD and SSc. However, more studies are needed to clarify the relationship between age and pulmonary hypertension and to verify whether the low prevalence of pulmonary hypertension we found in our SLE patients is related or not to their lower age.
Cerebral blood flow and gray matter volume covariance patterns of cognition in aging

Advancing age results in altered cognitive and neuroimaging‐derived markers of neural integrity. Whether cognitive changes are the result of variations in brain measures remains unclear and relating the two across the lifespan poses a unique set of problems. It must be determined whether statistical associations between cognitive and brain measures truly exist and are not epiphenomenal due solely to their shared relationships with age. The purpose of this study was to determine whether cerebral blood flow (CBF) and gray matter volume (GMV) measures make unique and better predictions of cognition than age alone. Multivariate analyses identified brain‐wide covariance patterns from 35 healthy young and 23 healthy older adults using MRI‐derived measures of CBF and GMV related to three cognitive composite scores (i.e., memory, fluid ability, and speed/attention). These brain‐cognitive relationships were consistent across the age range, and not the result of epiphenomenal associations with age and each imaging modality provided its own unique information. The CBF and GMV patterns each accounted for unique aspects of cognition and accounted for nearly all the age‐related variance in the cognitive composite scores. The findings suggest that measures derived from multiple imaging modalities explain larger amounts of variance in cognition providing a more complete understanding of the aging brain. Hum Brain Mapp 34:3267–3279, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Dimensions of Religious Involvement and Mental Health Outcomes Among Alcohol- and Drug-Dependent Women

SUMMARY The current study examined ties between religious variables and mental health in a high-risk population: lower-income chemically dependent pregnant or parenting women participating in a residential treatment program. The primary goal of the study was to investigate the relationship between various facets of religiousness and mental health symptoms, including depression and post-traumatic stress. Negative religious coping was associated with greater PTSD symptoms, greater depressive symptoms, and greater syndromal depression after controlling for background demographic and addiction variables. Other aspects of religiousness, including positive coping and involvement with organized religion, were not associated with mental health outcomes. These results suggest that negative aspects of religiousness, particularly religious struggle, merit greater attention from clinicians and investigators.
Prevalence of low hemoglobin levels and associations with other disease parameters in rheumatoid arthritis patients: evidence from the CORRONA registry.

OBJECTIVE To estimate the prevalence of low hemoglobin (Hb) levels in a large US cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and examine the relationship between Hb levels and RA severity, associated comorbidities, and quality-of-life parameters by cross-sectional analysis of data from the Consortium of Rheumatology Researchers of North America (CORRONA) registry. METHODS The study population comprised patients with RA >18 years of age and clinical information recorded in the CORRONA registry between October 1, 2001 and February 1, 2007. Patients were separated into low (Hb <13 g/dl for men; <12 g/dl for women) and normal Hb groups (Hb >13 g/dl for men; >12 g/dl for women). Hb levels were calculated from recorded hematocrit values. RESULTS Of the 10,397 study patients, 1734 (16.7%) had low Hb levels and 8663 (83.3%) had normal Hb levels. More patients in the low Hb group had a history of comorbid cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and gastrointestinal disease. The low Hb group exhibited greater disease severity and activity (p<0.05) as reported by patients and rheumatologists. In multivariate analyses, RA severity ([odds ratio] OR 1.24; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.07-1.44) and ESR (OR 1.04; 95% CI: 1.03-1.05), and comorbid bleeding ulcers (OR 2.04; 95% CI: 1.01-4.12) were predictive of low Hb levels. CONCLUSION Despite changes in treatment paradigms, low Hb levels remain prevalent in RA patients. This analysis suggests that low Hb levels may be associated with RA disease severity and the presence of certain comorbidities.
LRGA for solving profit based generation scheduling problem in competitive environment

Deregulated power industries increase the efficiency of electricity production and distribution, and offer higher quality, secure, and more reliable electricity at low prices. In a deregulated environment, utilities are not required to meet the total load demand. Generation companies (GENCOs) schedule the generators that produce less than the predicted load demand and reserve, but aim to deliver maximum profits. The scheduling of generators depends on the market price. More number of generating units are committed when the market price is higher. When more number of generating units are brought in the deregulated market, more profit can be achieved by producing higher amount of power. This paper present a hybrid algorithm to solve a profit based unit commitment problem in a deregulated environment. The proposed algorithm has been developed from generation company's point of view. It maximizes the profit of the generation company in the deregulated power and reserve markets. A hybrid methodology between Lagrangian Relaxation and Generic Algorithm (LRGA) is used to solve generation scheduling in a day-ahead competitive electricity market. The results obtained are quite encouraging and useful in deregulated market optimization.
DISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN SOCIAL WORK: CURRENT AND EMERGING TRENDS

This article reports on current and emerging trends in the use of distance education technologies in social work education. Areas studied include the extent of distance education programs, curricular areas covered, technologies used, pedagogical approaches, intentions for degree-program development, sources of pressure to adopt distance education technologies, and policy issues. Results are given for BSW and MSW programs.
A Friend Living inside Me—The Forms and Functions of Imaginary Companions

Imaginary companions and the characteristics of the children who invent them were explored through interviews. Twenty-six children took part. The first aim was to explore the phenomenon in general, the second to investigate the functions of imaginary companions. General findings concerned the kinds of imaginary companions and some facts about the children who created them. The imaginary companions were mostly same-aged children, but some were different kinds of animal or fantasy creatures. The sources of inspiration varied, comprising friends and siblings. Having a place of their own, where the children could develop their imaginary play, was considered important. The study demonstrated various ways of conducting imaginary play. Imaginary companions functioned as inner mentors, assisting the children in their identity formation work. Imaginary companions were experienced by the children as giving comfort and company, bolstering self-regulation and motivation, enhancing their selves, expanding their personality potential, and finally, enriching their lives.
Robust online 3D reconstruction combining a depth sensor and sparse feature points

Online 3D reconstruction has been an active research area for a long time. Since the release of the Microsoft Kinect Camera and publication of KinectFusion [11] attention has been drawn how to acquire dense models in real-time. In this paper we present a method to make online 3D reconstruction which increases robustness for scenes with little structure information and little texture information. It is shown empirically that our proposed method also increases robustness when the distance between the camera positions becomes larger than what is commonly assumed. Quantitative and qualitative results suggest that this approach can handle situations where other well-known methods fail. This is important in, for example, robotics applications like when the camera position and the 3D model must be created online in real-time.
Applicability of Metrology to Information Technology

In 1959 the Director of the National Bureau of Standards declared “The emergence of science and technology as the paramount concern of the Nation in the 20th century … demanded the highest order of measurement competence, in order to provide the standards and measurement techniques on which maintenance of scientific progress depended. ” Since 1959, information technology has emerged as having a global impact on all facets of industry. However, the “standards and measurement techniques” needed to maintain the scientific progress of information technology into the next century may not be in place. This paper discusses the current state of software metrics.
Pray To the Heavenly Father: a Chinese New Religion in Malaysia

Histoire d'une secte chinoise fondee en 1976 par Guan Tianming (ne en 1936) apres une vision. La secte, qui se designe Baitiangong (Priez le Pere celeste), compte actuellement plus de 2000 membres en Malaisie (dans la Peninsule). Le fondateur a recu pour mission de supprimer l'idolâtrie (polytheisme) et de restaurer le culte monotheiste. Un disciple a fait secession en 1978, apres une vision qui deifiait les Planetes. La secte n'a pas encore de liturgie ni d'Ecriture| le fondateur enseigne cinq principes du salut, par la realisation de la conscience, du soi, de l'âme, du Ciel et de l'Enfer, enfin du Createur. L'apparition de cette secte infirme les previsions de Marjorie Topley (1963) sur la disparition des religions nouvelles dans le monde moderne (Asie).
Political Awareness, Opinion Constraint and the Stability of Ideological Positions

Some studies of public opinion suggest that most people are ignorant about the detail of politics and are simply unable to arrive at a considered vote. They hold that voters are ignorant about the ideological substance of politics, since their opinions do not appear to be constrained by ideas and are unstable over time. However, other studies cast doubt on both the definition of ideology employed in these studies and their operational measures. It is suggested that, once allowance is made for measurement error, the opinions of most voters are constrained and highly stable. This article demonstrates that differences in political awareness result in considerable heterogeneity among the electorate. The opinions of more aware voters are subject to greater constraint and are more stable over time than those of less aware voters. It is therefore suggested that issue-voting models must be applied with caution to less aware voters.