Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A consumer informed workshop can improve knowledge and attitude to patient-centered care among hospital clinicians-in-training

Purpose: Patient and family involvement in the education and training of medical practitioners increases the likelihood that the care delivered will meet the needs of service users and carers. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a consumer informed educational program on knowledge and attitude to patient-centered care among hospital clinical trainees. Methods: A total of 66 junior medical staff and 35 orthoptists in training were invited to participate in a controlled before-and-after trial at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital from October to November, 2011. Thirty-eight participants were allocated to the intervention program (interactive workshop) and 63 to the control program (assigned reading). Questionnaires regarding knowledge, attitude, and practice, patient-practitioner orientation and communication were administered. Differences between groups and differences before and after the program were evaluated using the t-test or Chi-square test, as appropriate. Narrative data obtained from the questionnaires were analyzed using Grounded Theory qualitative analysis techniques. Results: A total of 24 participants (63%) completed the intervention program and eight (13%) the control program. The intervention group felt more prepared to introduce themselves and their role (Chi-square = 11.19, P = 0.01) and to acknowledge patients’ waiting time prior to consultation (Chi-square 8.52, P = 0.04) compared with the control group. For the intervention group, there was an improvement in mean score on the Communication Assessment Tool (mean change = 0.55, P = 0.01). Conclusion: There were minor improvements in self-perceived knowledge and attitude to patient-centered care and communication among hospital clinicians-in-training following a consumer informed education program. The majority of participants who received this program agreed it would influence how they conducted future consultations. Further work is required to determine if these improvements translate to sustainable changes in clinical practice and patient satisfaction.
Data Mining in the Classroom: Discovering Groups' Strategies at a Multi-tabletop Environment

Large amounts of data are generated while students interact with computer based learning systems. These data can be analysed through data mining techniques to find patterns or train models that can help tutoring systems or teachers to provide better support. Yet, how can we exploit students’ data when they perform small-group face-to-face activities in the classroom? We propose a novel approach that aims to address this by discovering the strategies followed by students working in small-groups at a multi-tabletop classroom. We apply two data mining techniques, sequence and process mining, to analyse the actions that distinguish groups that needed more coaching from the ones that worked more effectively. To validate our approach we analysed data that was automatically collected from a series of authentic university tutorial classes. The contributions of this paper are: i) an approach to mine face-to-face collaboration data unobtrusively captured at a classroom with the use of multi-touch tabletops, and ii) the implementation of sequence mining and process modelling techniques to analyse the strategies followed by groups of students. The results of this research can be used to provide real-time or after-class indicators to students; or to help teachers effectively support group learning in the classroom.
Exploring the Influence of Decision Style on Decision Support System Acceptance by GPs

While clinical DSS have many proven benefits in the medical field, their uptake by GPs has been limited. This research explores the influence of decision styles as a possible explanatory variable for the usage of DSS. Insight into the reasons why GPs do not use clinical DSS will allow the development of strategies to facilitate more widespread adoption with consequent improvements across many areas. Depth interviews were conducted with 37 GPs comprising a mix of education backgrounds, experience and gender. In addition respondents completed a decisions styles questionnaire. Results indicated that users of DSS were more likely to have an integrative decision style while non users adopted a flexible decision style. Decision style was also strongly correlated to education with overseas trained doctors more likely to have integrative decision styles and Australian trained GPs exhibiting flexible styles.
Efficacy of Anti-RON Antibody Zt/g4–Drug Maytansinoid Conjugation (Anti-RON ADC) as a Novel Therapeutics for Targeted Colorectal Cancer Therapy

Purpose: The receptor tyrosine kinase RON is critical in epithelial tumorigenesis and a drug target for cancer therapy. Here, we report the development and therapeutic efficacy of a novel anti-RON antibody Zt/g4–maytansinoid (DM1) conjugates for targeted colorectal cancer (CRC) therapy. Experimental Design: Zt/g4 (IgG1a/κ) was conjugated to DM1 via thioether linkage to form Zt/g4–DM1 with a drug-antibody ratio of 4:1. CRC cell lines expressing different levels of RON were tested in vitro to determine Zt/g4–DM1-induced RON endocytosis, cell-cycle arrest, and cytotoxicity. Efficacy of Zt/g4–DM1 in vivo was evaluated in mouse xenograft CRC tumor model. Results: Zt/g4–DM1 rapidly induced RON endocytosis, arrested cell cycle at G2–M phase, reduced cell viability, and caused massive cell death within 72 hours. In mouse xenograft CRC models, Zt/g4–DM1 at a single dose of 20 mg/kg body weight effectively delayed CRC cell-mediated tumor growth up to 20 days. In a multiple dose-ranging study with a five injection regimen, Zt/g4–DM1 inhibited more than 90% tumor growth at doses of 7, 10, and 15 mg/kg body weight. The minimal dose achieving 50% of tumor inhibition was approximately 5.0 mg/kg. The prepared Zt/g4–DM1 is stable at 37°C for up to 30 days. At 60 mg/kg, Zt/g4–DM1 had a moderate toxicity in vivo with an average of 12% reduction in mouse body weight. Conclusion: Zt/g4–DM1 is highly effective in targeted inhibition of CRC cell-derived tumor growth in mouse xenograft models. This work provides the basis for development of humanized Zt/g4–DM1 for RON-targeted CRC therapy in the future. Clin Cancer Res; 20(23); 6045–58. ©2014 AACR.
Locking without blocking: making lock based concurrent data structure algorithms nonblocking

Nonblocking algorithms for concurrent data structures guarantee that a data structure is always accessible. This is in contrast to blocking algorithms in which a slow or halted process can render part or all of the data structure inaccessible to other processes. This paper proposes a technique that can convert most existing lock-based blocking data structure algorithms into nonblocking algorithms with the same functionality. Our instruction-by-instruction transformation can be applied to any algorithm having the following properties: •Interprocess synchronization is established solely through the use of locks. •There is no possiblity of deadlock (e.g. because of a well-ordering among the lock requests). In contrast to a previous work, our transformation requires only a constant amount of overhead per operation and, in the absence of failures, it incurs no penalty in the amount of concurrency that was available in the original data structure. The techniques in this paper may obviate the need for a wholesale reinvention of techniques for nonblocking concurrent data structure algorithms.
The Impact of Distractions on the Usability and the Adoption of Mobile Devices for Wireless Data Services

Mobile devices are becoming increasingly popular, having already reached over 1.5 billion mobile subscribers. Although progress has been made in terms of technological innovations, usability challenges still face m-Business (mobile business) application. This paper explores how the context of use impacts the usability of mobile devices. An empirical study was undertaken to investigate the impact of distractions on the usability and its subsequent effect on consumers’ behavioural intention towards using a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) for wireless data services. Distractions were simulated in this study in the form of either user motion or environmental noise (i.e. background auditory and visual stimuli). A structural equation modelling analysis confirmed the impacts of distractions on perceived usability (i.e. efficiency and effectiveness) of, and in turn the users’ satisfaction with and behavioural intention to use, a PDA for wireless data services. Implications of these findings for theory, practice, and future research are outlined.
Widespread Disruption of Functional Brain Organization in Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease

Early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients present a different clinical profile than late-onset AD patients. This can be partially explained by cortical atrophy, although brain organization might provide more insight. The aim of this study was to examine functional connectivity in early-onset and late-onset AD patients. Resting-state fMRI scans of 20 early-onset (<65 years old), 28 late-onset (≥65 years old) AD patients and 15 “young” (<65 years old) and 31 “old” (≥65 years old) age-matched controls were available. Resting-state network-masks were used to create subject-specific maps. Group differences were examined using a non-parametric permutation test, accounting for gray-matter. Performance on five cognitive domains were used in a correlation analysis with functional connectivity in AD patients. Functional connectivity was not different in any of the RSNs when comparing the two control groups (young vs. old controls), which implies that there is no general effect of aging on functional connectivity. Functional connectivity in early-onset AD was lower in all networks compared to age-matched controls, where late-onset AD showed lower functional connectivity in the default-mode network. Functional connectivity was lower in early-onset compared to late-onset AD in auditory-, sensory-motor, dorsal-visual systems and the default mode network. Across patients, an association of functional connectivity of the default mode network was found with visuoconstruction. Functional connectivity of the right dorsal visual system was associated with attention across patients. In late-onset AD patients alone, higher functional connectivity of the sensory-motor system was associated with poorer memory performance. Functional brain organization was more widely disrupted in early-onset AD when compared to late-onset AD. This could possibly explain different clinical profiles, although more research into the relationship of functional connectivity and cognitive performance is needed.
Application-specific configuration selection in the cloud: Impact of provider policy and potential of systematic testing

Provider policy (e.g., bandwidth rate limits, virtualization, CPU scheduling) can significantly impact application performance in cloud environments. This paper takes a first step towards understanding the impact of provider policy and tackling the complexity of selecting configurations that can best meet the cost and performance requirements of applications. We make three contributions. First, we conduct a measurement study spanning a 19 months period of a wide variety of applications on Amazon EC2 to understand issues involved in configuration selection. Our results show that provider policy can impact communication and computation performance in unpredictable ways. Moreover, seemingly sensible rules of thumb are inappropriate - e.g., VMs with latest hardware or larger VM sizes do not always provide the best performance. Second, we systematically characterize the overheads and resulting benefits of a range of testing strategies for configuration selection. A key focus of our characterization is understanding the overheads of a testing approach in the face of variability in performance across deployments and measurements. Finally, we present configuration pruning and short-listing techniques for minimizing testing overheads. Evaluations on a variety of compute, bandwidth and data intensive applications validate the effectiveness of these techniques in selecting good configurations with low overheads.
Specificity of a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detecting Aspergillus galactomannan

The specificity of a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detecting Aspergillus galactomannan was tested with exoantigens of 29 fungi cultured from clinical specimens. Cross-reactivity was observed with Penicillium chrysogenum, Penicillium digitatum, and Paecilomyces variotii. Furthermore, 40 serum samples obtained from bacteremic patients with hematologic malignancies were retrospectively tested by sandwich ELISA. False-positive reactions with the serum were reproducible but did not correspond with the results of culture of specific microorganisms. Moreover, the microorganisms cultured from the blood showed no reactivity by the sandwich ELISA.
Solar geoengineering could substantially reduce climate risks—A research hypothesis for the next decade

We offer a hypothesis that if solar geoengineering (SG) were deployed to offset half of the increase in global‐mean temperature from the date of deployment using a technology and deployment method chosen to approximate a reduction in the solar constant then, over the 21st century, it would (a) substantially reduce the global aggregate risks of climate change, (b) without making any country worse off, and (c) with the aggregate risks from side‐effects being small in comparison to the reduction in climate risks. We do not set out to demonstrate this hypothesis; rather we propose it with the goal of stimulating a strategic engagement of the SG research community with policy‐relevant questions. We elaborate seven sub‐hypotheses on the effects of our scenario for key risks of climate change that could be assessed in future modeling work. As an example, we provide a defence of one of our sub‐hypotheses, that our scenario of SG would reduce the risk of drought in dry regions, but also identify issues that may undermine this sub‐hypothesis and how future work could resolve this question. SG cannot substitute for emissions mitigation but it may be a useful supplement. It is our hope that scientific and technical research over the next decade focuses more closely on well‐articulated variants of the key policy‐relevant question: could SG be designed and deployed in such a way that it could substantially and equitably reduce climate risks?
Aim-mat: the auditory image model in MATLAB

This paper describes a version of the auditory image model (AIM) [1] implemented in MATLAB. It is referred to as "aim-mat" and it includes the basic modules that enable AIM to simulate the spectral analysis, neural encoding and temporal integration performed by the auditory system. The dynamic representations produced by non-static sounds can be viewed on a frame-by-frame basis or in movies with synchronized sound. The software has a sophisticated graphical user interface designed to facilitate the auditory modelling. It is also possible to add MATLAB code and complete modules to aim-mat. The software can be downloaded from http://www.mrccbu. cam.ac. uk/cnbh/aimmanual.
Predicting Vigorous Physical Activity of Corporate Employees: Comparing the Theories of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior

The purpose of the present study was to compare the utility of the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior in predicting the exercise intentions and behavior of corporate employees. Corporate employees (/7=332) who completed two questionnaires served as subjects. The first questionnaire assessed intentions, subjective norm, attitude, and perceived control with respect to participating in regular, vigorous physical activity. Participants also completed a follow-up questionnaire 4 weeks later that assessed self-reported frequency of vigorous physical activity during those 4 weeks. Hierarchical-regression analyses indicated that perceived behavioral control (the critical variable in the theory of planned behavior) accounted for a significant portion of the variance in intentions and self-reported exercise behavior, above that accounted for by reasoned action. These results lend support to Ajzen's theory of planned behavior, which suggests that individuals' perceptions of control are most important w.
Design of input shapers for suppressing vibrations in the Z-plane

Input shaping technique is well used for reducing residual vibrations of flexible systems. However, the strategies of both the time domain and the vector diagram are complex to improve the robustness of an input shaper. Zero placement method in the z-plane is utilized to design multi-hump robust input shapers. Two or more shaper zeros are placed nearby the system pole to work out the typical symmetric multi-hump input shapers conveniently. Furthermore, the design strategy can also be used to design unsymmetric input shapers and the shapers which are robust to both modeling frequency and damp ratio. This design strategy is easier to derive and implement. Application in the anti-swing control of overhead cranes verified the fine performance of this strategy. A better suppression of the load vibrations is obtained using the proposed new multi-hump input shapers, which are more robust to the variation of the cable length
Knowledge of journal impact factors among nursing faculty: a cross-sectional study

Objective The research assessed nursing faculty awareness and knowledge of the journal impact factor (JIF) and its impact on their publication choices. Methods A qualitative cross-sectional questionnaire was developed using Fluid Survey and distributed electronically to nursing faculty and instructors at three post-secondary institutions in Saskatchewan. Data were collected on place and status of employment, knowledge and awareness of JIFs, and criteria used to choose journals for publication. Results A total of forty-four nursing faculty and instructors completed the questionnaire. The authors found that faculty lack awareness or complete understanding of JIFs and that JIFs are not the most important or only criterion used when they choose a journal for publication. Conclusions There are various reasons for choosing a journal for publication. It is important for librarians to understand faculty views of JIFs and their criteria for choosing journals for publication, so that librarians are better equipped to guide researchers in considering their academic goals, needs, and personal values.
A Safety Review and Meta-Analyses of Bevacizumab and Ranibizumab: Off-Label versus Goldstandard

Background We set out a systemic review to evaluate whether off-label bevacizumab is as safe as licensed ranibizumab, and whether bevacizumab can be justifiably offered to patients as a treatment for age-related macular degeneration with robust evidence of no differential risk. Methods and Findings Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Library were searched with no limitations of language and year of publication. We included RCTs with a minimum follow-up of one year which investigated bevacizumab or ranibizumab in direct comparison or against any other control group (indirect comparison). Direct comparison (3 trials, 1333 patients): The one year data show a significantly higher rate of ocular adverse effects (AE) with bevacizumab compared to ranibizumab (RR = 2.8; 95% CI 1.2–6.5). The proportion of patients with serious infections and gastrointestinal disorders was also higher with bevacizumab than with ranibizumab (RR = 1.3; 95% CI 1.0–1.7). Arterial thromboembolic events were equally distributed among the groups. Indirect comparison: Ranibizumab versus any control (5 trials, 4054 patients): The two year results of three landmark trials showed that while absolute rates of serious ocular AE were low (≤2.1%), relative harm was significantly raised (RR = 3.1; 95% CI 1.1–8.9). A significant increase in nonocular haemorrhage was also observed with ranibizumab (RR = 1.7; 95% CI 1.1–2.7). Bevacizumab versus any control (3 trials, 244 patients): We were unable to judge the safety profile of bevacizumab due to the poor quality of AE monitoring and reporting in the trials. Conclusions Evidence from head-to-head trials raises concern about an increased risk of ocular and multiple systemic AE with bevacizumab. Therefore, clinicians and patients should continue to carefully weight up the benefits and harms when choosing between the two treatment options. We also emphasize the need for studies that are powered not just for efficacy, but for defined safety outcomes based on the signals detected in this systematic review.
Teacher Identified Professional Learning Needs to Effectively Include a Child With Down Syndrome in Primary Mathematics

The practices of effective primary school teachers including students with Down syndrome in their mathematics classes are largely unexplored and many teachers feel unprepared to teach students with an intellectual disability. The authors sought to find out what these specific professional learning (PL) needs were and if they changed over time. A mixed methods study was undertaken to investigate the practices of primary mathematics teachers including students with Down syndrome in regular class lessons in two Australia educational jurisdictions. A variety of approaches was used to gain an understanding of their practices. Findings are based on responses to a questionnaire administered to teaching teams at the beginning and end of the school year. There was a strong endorsement of inclusion as an appropriate practice in primary mathematics. The PL needs of teaching teams changed across the teaching year. Early requirements concerned understanding Down syndrome and its impact on learning and behavior. As the school year progressed, PL needs changed toward a greater focus on the need for specific resources and strategies for teaching mathematics. The PL requirements of teachers included the need for “in-time” support. The authors conclude that even if it may be infrequent when a teacher has a student with Down syndrome in a mathematics class, teachers still need access to PL that evolves across the school year, from less focus on syndrome-specific information to greater emphasis on teaching mathematics through adjusting learning outcomes and teaching approaches.