Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exploring gender differences in trauma exposure and the emergence of symptoms of PTSD among incarcerated men and women

Our study examines gender differences in traumatic exposure and associated posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms reported by a 266 male and female inmates. In our sample, 94.7% of the inmates had experienced at least one traumatic event identified in Trauma History Questionnaire – Modified. Male inmates reported higher rates of witnessing harm to others in childhood (22.4%) and adolescence (43.25) and female inmates, higher rates of interpersonal sexual trauma in childhood (31.2%), adolescence (35.3%), and adulthood (27.7%). Women showed higher rates of PTSD (40.2%) when compared to men (12.5%), as measured by the total PTSD score of the Impact of Event Scale – Revised. The combined trauma types explained 12% and 16% of the total PTSD score in the female and male samples, respectively. In the female model, interpersonal sexual trauma was a significant predictor of PTSD symptoms; whereas in the male model, interpersonal nonsexual trauma was a significant predictor. We discuss these findings as they inform our understanding of gender differences in trauma response and psychiatric morbidity in adulthood.
Cross-Culture Validation of the HIV/AIDS Stress Scale: The Development of a Revised Chinese Version

Background Being HIV-infected is a stressful experience for many individuals. To assess HIV-related stress in the Chinese context, a measure with satisfied psychometric properties is yet underdeveloped. This study aimed to examine the psychometric characteristics of a simplified Chinese version of the HIV/AIDS Stress Scale (SS-HIV) among people living with HIV/AIDS in central China. Method A total of 667 people living with HIV (92% were male) were recruited from March 1st 2014 to August 31th 2015 by consecutive sampling. A standard questionnaire package containing the Chinese HIV/AIDS Stress Scale (CSS-HIV), the Chinese Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and the Chinese Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) were administered to all participants, and 38 of the participants were selected randomly to be re-tested in four weeks after the initial testing. Results Our data supported that a revised 17-item CSS-HIV had adequate psychometric properties. It consisted of 3 factors: emotional stress (6 items), social stress (6 items) and instrumental stress (5 items). The overall Cronbach’s α was 0.906, and the test-retest reliability coefficient was 0.832. The revised CSS-HIV was significantly correlated with the number of HIV-related symptoms, as well as scores on the PHQ-9 and GAD-7, indicating acceptable concurrent validity. Conclusion The 17-item Chinese version of the SS-HIV has potential research and clinical utility in identifying important stressors among the Chinese HIV-infected population and in understanding the effects of stress on adjustment to HIV.
Combat Exposure and Posttraumatic Stress Symptomatology Among U. S. Soldiers Deployed to the Gulf War

Among the most stressful experiences soldiers encounter during combat is exposure to dead and wounded soldiers and civilians. This article examines the early (9 months postcombat) psychological reactions of U.S. Army soldiers deployed from Germany who served in frontline combat units during the Persian Gulf War. In particular, the article focuses on stress symptoms associated with soldiers' exposure to death and wounding during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Those soldiers exposed to casualties, especially U.S. casualties, had greater distress scores as measured by the Impact of Event Scale (IES) and a tripartite measure of posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptomatology modeled on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev. [DSM-III-R]; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) than did those without such exposure. Rank, type of casualty exposure, and current problems with coworkers and chain of command were additively related to explained variance in IES and PTS symptoma.
An electronic documentation system increases diagnostic code capture for very low birth weight infants

INTRODUCTION Information describing medical interventions and patient outcome of very low birth weight (VLBW; BW <1500 grams) infants who receive neonatal intensive care is necessary to evaluate the quality of health care. We developed an electronic patient documentation system (EDS) called PCode to identify and select patient diagnostic (DX) codes and compared EDS to the previous paper-based documentation system (PDS). Our hypothesis was that EDS would capture more patient diagnostic codes than PDS. METHODS PDS was originally developed as a two page 'code sheet' which listed all 275 neonatal diagnoses/management options and corresponding 3-4 character diagnostic (DX) codes, organized by organ system. PDS code sheets were manually completed by one of three trained 'coders' for every neonatal patient. EDS was developed as a Java application with the 'coder' selecting DX codes from drop lists also categorized by organ system. The study intervention was patient code selection using either the PDS or the EDS system. Both systems produced a paper DX code summary. PDS data capture occurred from 11/1997-3/1999 followed by EDS data capture until 8/2000. The primary outcome variable was DX codes captured per patient. Data were analyzed using independent t-test and linear regression. RESULTS The number of diagnoses increased with decreasing birth weight. After linear regression was applied to control for birth weight, the number of DX codes was 31% greater in the EDS group, 7.2 +/- 2.9 DX codes/patient, p=0.008. There was a trend towards fewer erroneous DX codes in the EDS group. The most common DX codes were hyaline membrane disease, sepsis evaluation and hyperbilirubinemia, as expected for this patient population. CONCLUSIONS EDS captured more VLBW infant DX codes compared to PDS. These results support the transition toward electronic data documentation for the neonatal clinical environment. Electronically linking PCode to the patient database has been initiated and should reduce manual coding errors.
Graft flow as a predictor of thrombosis in hemodialysis grafts.

BACKGROUND The effort to reduce the incidence of graft thrombosis is mainly based on predicting venous stenosis by measuring venous drip chamber pressures. In this study we evaluated whether graft flow measurements, using an ultrasound dilution technique, would be of additional value to identify patients at risk for thrombosis. METHODS In fifty consecutive patients with a bridge graft we measured graft flow and venous drip chamber pressure at a dialyzer blood flow of 200 ml/min. The results of these flow measurements were not used for selection of patients, nor for a diagnostic or therapeutic procedure. All thrombotic events and (radiological or surgical) interventions were registered. RESULTS A total of 17 patient-years were analyzed. In 17 patients an intervention was done, and in 18 patients thrombosis occurred. The incidence rate of thrombosis was higher in patients with a flow < 600 ml/min (N = 13) compared to patients with a flow > 600 ml/min (N = 37; rate ratio 7. 2; 95% CI, range 2.84 to 18.24, P < 0.001). In 4 patients with a flow < 600 ml/min an intervention was done within the first two months after the flow measurement. In the remaining 9 patients, 6 grafts thrombosed within this period. Five interventions were done in patients with a flow > 600 ml/min. In the remaining 32 patients only two developed spontaneous thrombosis. Remarkably, venous drip chamber pressure measurements did not discriminate between patients with graft flow > or < 600 ml/min, and showed a wide range in patients who developed spontaneous thrombosis within two months. CONCLUSION We suggest that graft flow measurements are helpful in selecting patients at risk for graft thrombosis.
New Directions in Corporate Governance and Finance: Implications for Business Ethics Research

ABSTRACT: Corporate governance and finance are dynamic academic fields that offer myriad opportunities for business ethics analysis. Within the corporate governance triad in recent years, shareholders have increased their power over boards of directors and executives through both regulation and movements to change corporate by-laws. The impact of board characteristics on firm performance has proven elusive, leading to questions concerning board processes and individual director beliefs and behaviors. At the same time, CEOs have lost considerable power, leaving many struggling to regain their control and maintain their compensation levels, while others adopt a stewardship approach to their posts. In the field of finance, the recent financial debacle has led to a reexamination of financial regulation and of the fundamental nature and purpose of the industry. All of these issues provide business ethicists fodder for investigation and analysis.
Early changes in hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA levels predict response to interferon treatment in noncirrhotic HCV patients.

UNLABELLED The role of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA quantification in determining ideal interferon (IFN) treatment of noncirrhotic HCV liver disease is uncertain. The specific aim of this study was to determine whether measurement of baseline HCV RNA or changes in HCV RNA levels (DHCV RNA) early during therapy predict response to IFN alpha in noncirrhotic HCV patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS Twenty-one noncirrhotic patients with chronic HCV were treated with 3 MU IFN alpha-2a three times per week. HCV RNA levels were determined at baseline and after two, four, six, eight and 12 weeks of treatment. Baseline HCV RNA and DHCV RNA during therapy were compared with treatment response results at six months. Data were expressed as mean +/- SE, and differences were assessed using Student's t test. RESULTS Twenty-one patients initiated IFN alpha therapy. Two patients were noncompliant and lost to follow-up. One patient discontinued IFN alpha due to side effects. Apart from age, where responders tended to be younger than nonresponders, the baseline clinical characteristics and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase, bilirubin and HCV RNA levels did not differ between IFN alpha responders and nonresponders. Levels of HCV RNA were significantly lower after both two and four weeks of therapy in IFN alpha responders compared with nonresponders (P<0.001). Changes in log HCV RNA levels after both two and four weeks of therapy were significantly greater in IFN alpha responders compared with nonresponders (P<0.001). Changes in log HCV RNA of more than 1.0 after two weeks of IFN alpha therapy identified all six-month responders, with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 89%. Potential financial impact of these findings on patients' management was also calculated. Decisions regarding discontinuation of therapy based on early changes in HCV RNA levels would result in a 40% to 50% reduction in IFN alpha cost. CONCLUSIONS In noncirrhotic HCV patients, the change in quantitative HCV RNA after the first two weeks of IFN alpha therapy identifies responders. This finding would result in a 40% to 50% cost savings if decisions about continuing IFN alpha were based on early changes in HCV RNA levels rather than ALT or HCV RNA assessment after the completion of three months of IFN alpha treatment.
Generative versus discriminative training of RBMs for classification of fMRI images

Neuroimaging datasets often have a very large number of voxels and a very small number of training cases, which means that overfitting of models for this data can become a very serious problem. Working with a set of fMRI images from a study on stroke recovery, we consider a classification task for which logistic regression performs poorly, even when L1- or L2- regularized. We show that much better discrimination can be achieved by fitting a generative model to each separate condition and then seeing which model is most likely to have generated the data. We compare discriminative training of exactly the same set of models, and we also consider convex blends of generative and discriminative training.
Nightingales respond more strongly to vocal leaders of simulated dyadic interactions

Although vocal interactions in songbirds have been well studied, little is known about the extent to which birds attend to their conspecifics' interactions. Attending to others' interactions can provide valuable information since vocal interactions are often asymmetrical and can reflect differences in the state or quality of the signallers. Playback experiments with simulated dyadic interactions showed that male territorial nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos) attend to asymmetries in interactions and respond more strongly to rivals that overlap the songs of their counterpart. In order to test if nightingales respond differently to two interacting rivals that are alternating songs asymmetrically (with leader–follower roles), we simulated an interaction using a dual–speaker design. Subjects discriminated between the simulated singing strategies and responded more intensely at the loudspeaker playing the preceding songs. This suggests that individuals whose songs precede in an interaction when there is no acoustic overlap are perceived as more serious rivals. Intense responses to the preceding songs compared with intense responses to the overlapping (non–preceding) songs in a previous study also indicate that discrimination is not the result of one specific proximate cue such as greater attention to the first– or last–heard stimulus. Thus, these results provide further evidence that by listening to asymmetries in conspecifics vocal interactions, receivers can obtain valuable information on their relative differences.
High serum follistatin levels in women with ovarian endometriosis.

BACKGROUND Follistatin is an activin-binding protein produced by several tissues, including endometrium and endometriotic implants. We aimed to quantify follistatin in patients with ovarian endometriosis and investigate its value as a diagnostic marker. METHODS Women undergoing laparoscopic excision of ovarian endometrioma (n = 52) or other benign ovarian cysts (n = 52) were studied, plus women with non-ovarian endometriosis (n = 11) and healthy controls (n = 27). Serum was collected from all subjects, and peritoneal and cystic fluid from a subset with endometrioma. Follistatin was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The diagnostic accuracy of follistatin to detect endometrioma was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and compared with cancer antigen (CA)-125. RESULTS Serum follistatin was increased in women with ovarian endometrioma (2080 +/- 94 pg/ml) compared with controls (545 +/- 49 pg/ml, P < 0.001), other benign ovarian cysts (795 +/- 60 pg/ml, P < 0.001) or non-ovarian endometriosis (1271 +/- 115 pg/ml, P < 0.001). Cystic fluid showed a higher concentration of follistatin (9850 +/- 4461 pg/ml) than peritoneal fluid (1885 +/- 261 pg/ml, P < 0.001) and serum (P < 0.001). Follistatin levels detected 48/52 cases of endometrioma (92% sensitivity) at 1433 pg/ml cut-off, corresponding to 92% specificity. CA-125 detected only 44% of endometriomas with 90% specificity. ROC curve comparison showed follistatin was more accurate than CA-125 to discriminate women with endometrioma either from controls or women with other benign ovarian cysts (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Serum follistatin is increased in women with endometriosis and allows clear distinction between endometrioma and other benign ovarian cysts. Follistatin has the sensitivity and specificity to become a useful clinical marker of ovarian endometrioma.
A Reexamination of Public-Versus Private-School Achievement: The Case for Missing Data

AbstractThe purpose of this research was to evaluate the effects of four data-replacement techniques on the High School and Beyond data set. A review of several previous studies indicated that estimating missing values by employing regression-based techniques is superior to other methods, particularly the variable-mean method. Because previous studies examined the effects of Missing Data Techniques (MDTs) on generated data sets where values were deleted at random, the current study was designed to evaluate the impact of the missing data techniques on a real data set for which the missing data pattern was unknown. Three studies that had analyzed the High School and Beyond data set were replicated. Missing data were first replaced using the variable mean, simple regression, and iterative regression methods, and then the analyses were repeated. Results from the analyses of the treated data sets were compared with the results of the original analyses. The findings indicated that the use of data-replacement te.
Linguistic homogeneity in Galician and Portuguese borderland communities

This paper discusses recent research findings within the borderland regions of southern Galicia and northern Portugal regarding the linguistic continuity and the use of language as a symbol of ethnic identity. A brief historical overview outlines the social, ethnic and cultural borders and their configuration within geographical and political frontiers. The notion of border regimes and synchronic cross-border geolinguistic diffusion is examined to determine the extent of mutual intelligibility, the distribution of contextual functions within the borderland communities and the extent of the dialectal continuum. The opinions of the borderland communities r egarding the issue of ethnolinguistic identities, their emblematic and unifying characterisations and impact within cross-border cultures are then examined, taking into consideration the official language status of both Galician and Portuguese within their respective territories. Speculative conclusions indicate that because of increased cross-border contact, phonetic levelling is occurring between the varieties.
Optimal pulse shaping for plasma processing

Thin-film etching and deposition using low-pressure plasma reactors is an integral part of the fabrication of very-large-scale integrated (VLSI) circuits. Standard operation of plasma reactors uses an RF power source with constant average power to excite a plasma in the vacuum chamber. Recently, several researchers have shown empirically that operation of plasma reactors with a periodic power input has the promise to increase the flexibility of plasma processing, in the sense that a greater range of operating conditions is achievable. This paper presents a numerical analysis of a global model for an argon plasma with the aim of answering the following questions: First, can a periodic input achieve effective operating conditions that cannot be achieved using steady-state inputs? Second, if the answer to the first question is yes, what is the shape of the periodic input required to achieve a particular operating point? This technique was utilized to give answers to these questions in one particular case. It was shown that periodic operation of an argon plasma can create variations in the ratio of metastable argon density to ionized argon density beyond that achievable using constant power. In addition, strong evidence is given that arbitrarily shaped modulating waveforms have advantages over simple pulse width modulation.
Gender Responses to Automobile and Office Sitting - Influence of Hip, Hamstring, and Low-Back Flexibility on Seated Postures

Understanding factors that influence preferred sitting postures is considered important to prevent low-back pain (LBP) associated with seated exposures. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of gender and flexibility (hip, hamstring, and low-back) on lumbo-pelvic postures adopted when performing laboratory-simulated computer work and automobile driving. Ten female and 9 male volunteers were exposed to 10 minutes each of the abovementioned sitting conditions. Sagittal lumbo-pelvic kinematics were recorded during each sitting condition. Correlation analyses were per- formed between lumbo-pelvic postures and various measures of hip, hamstring, and low-back flexibility. When driving, females exhibited 9.8 degrees more posterior pelvic tilt (p = 0.0329) and 10.5 degrees more lumbar flexion (p = 0.0116) than males with respect to their lumbo-pelvic alignments in upright standing. When performing seated computer work, it was males who experienced greater posterior pelvic tilt (p = 0.0048). Individuals with greater hip flexibility, typically fe- males, adopted lumbar flexion postures closer to their voluntary end-range while driving (r = 0.5709; p = 0.0107). Indi- viduals who exhibited greater posterior pelvic tilt in office chair sitting, typically males, were those with less hip (r = - 0.5484; p = 0.0150) and hamstring (r = -0.4690; p = 0.0496) flexibility. Given that differences exist between males and females with respect to various indices of hip, hamstring, and low-back flexibility, it is possible that gender-based differ- ences in seated postures are related to inherent differences in flexibility between the sexes. These findings suggest that strategies to prevent LBP associated with sitting may depend on both individual flexibility characteristics and the type of seated exposure.
Supporting the Use of Social Media by Emergency Managers: Software Tools to Overcome Information Overload

Information overload has been suggested as a potential barrier to use of social media by emergency managers, especially for gathering information during disasters. This paper, based on a survey of 477 U.S. county-level emergency managers, examines the relationship of the perception of information overload as a barrier to social media use for gathering information, to the intention to use social media. It also examines the relationship of perceived usefulness of certain technological advancements currently being developed to intention to use. Results indicate that emergency managers’ perception of information overload as a barrier to use is negatively related to intention to use it, while perceptions of the usefulness of these technologies are positively related to intention to use. The study calls attention to the importance of resolving information overload to increase the use of social media for emergency management, and suggests the implementation of appropriate software tools to ameliorate this problem.
The Experience of Receiving and Delivering Consultation in a Residential Childcare Setting for Looked-after and Accommodated Children: A Sequential Exploratory Design

Looked-after and accommodated children are at higher risk of poor mental health and behavioural difficulties and experience high levels of emotional and psychological distress. Consultation plays a pivotal role in providing indirect support to vulnerable children and young people. The aim of this study was to explore the experience of consultation in three residential childcare settings. A mixed-methods sequential exploratory design was used. In the initial phase, a questionnaire survey exploring consultees' experience of the consultation process was conducted in three residential care establishments (N = 30). In the second phase, focus groups were conducted with both staff groups and consultants (N = 15). Results from the first phase identified themes around the interpersonal skills of the consultant, the helpfulness and the limitations of consultation. Using a thematic analysis approach in this second phase, three consultee themes emerged: the value of consultation, a new way of working, and the consultation relationship. The three consultant themes identified were: understanding roles, challenges, and building the consultation relationship. Results are discussed with reference to the current literature. These findings may impact on service development and clinical practice to improve the quality of care for looked-after and accommodated children.