Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluating integrated and community-based care

How do we know what works? The NHS is awash with service innovations, often based in the community, which attempt to tackle the challenge of delivering high-quality community-based care for increasing numbers of people with long-term conditions. Despite this we see continuing increases in emergency hospital admissions. Over the last five years, the Nuffield Trust has undertaken evaluations of over 30 different community-based interventions. In many cases we have been tasked with identifying whether service changes have led to a reduction in emergency admissions and the associated cost to the NHS. Using these indicators, the results have been almost overwhelmingly negative. The one exception was Marie Curie Nursing Services for terminally ill patients. In this paper we outline the main community-based interventions we have evaluated and their impact, and identify nine points that may help those designing, implementing and evaluating such interventions in future. The paper could provide useful learning for the new health and social care integration 'pioneer' sites that will be appointed by the Department of Health by September 2013 (Department of Health, 2013). Evaluating integrated and community-based care 3 Key Points • Recognise that planning and implementing large-scale service changes takes time. • Define the service intervention, clearly including what it is meant to achieve and how, and manage implementation well. • Be explicit about how the desired outcomes are supposed to arise and use interim markers of success. • Consider generalisability and context: they are very important. • If you want to demonstrate statistically significant change, size and time matter. • Hospital use and costs are not the only important impact measures. • Pay attention to the process of implementation as well as outcomes. • Carefully consider the best models for evaluation: for example, a light-touch evaluation for an initial phase, proceeding to a more comprehensive evaluation if enough progress has been made. • Work with what you have: organisation and structural change alone may not achieve the desired outcomes. In future, formative evaluation methods may offer benefits to sites implementing service innovation in particular methods that: • exploit the potential of linked data sets, including greater use of GP data to develop cohort-based techniques for tracking the care of individuals with long-term conditions that include analysis of the quality of care, as well as estimated cost and service use • enable the provision of technical and organisational development advice to sites as part of the …
Zero-error attacks and detection statistics in the coherent one-way protocol for quantum cryptography

This is a study of the security of the Coherent One-Way (COW) protocol for quantumcryptography, proposed recently as a simple and fast experimental scheme. In thezero-error regime, the eavesdropper Eve can only take advantage of the losses in thetransmission. We consider new attacks, based on unambiguous state discrimination,which perform better than the basic beam-splitting attack, but which can be detectedby a careful analysis of the detection statistics. These results stress the importance oftesting several statistical parameters in order to achieve higher rates of secret bits.
Siphon: overload traffic management using multi-radio virtual sinks in sensor networks

There is a critical need for new thinking regarding overload traffic management in sensor networks. It has now become clear that experimental sensor networks (e.g., mote networks) and their applications commonly experience periods of persistent congestion and high packet loss, and in some cases even congestion collapse. This significantly impacts application fidelity measured at the physical sinks, even under light to moderate traffic loads, and is a direct product of the funneling effect; that is, the many-to-one multi-hop traffic pattern that characterizes sensor network communications. Existing congestion control schemes are effective at mitigating congestion through rate control and packet drop mechanisms, but do so at the cost of significantly reducing application fidelity measured at the sinks. To address this problem we propose to exploit the availability of a small number of all wireless, multi-radio virtual sinks that can be randomly distributed or selectively placed across the sensor field. Virtual sinks are capable of siphoning off data events from regions of the sensor field that are beginning to show signs of high traffic load. In this paper, we present the design, implementation, and evaluation of Siphon, a set of fully distributed algorithms that support virtual sink discovery and selection, congestion detection, and traffic redirection in sensor networks. Siphon is based on a Stargate implementation of virtual sinks that uses a separate longer-range radio network (based on IEEE 802.11) to siphon events to one or more physical sinks, and a short-range mote radio to interact with the sensor field at siphon points. Results from analysis, simulation and an experimental 48 Mica2 mote testbed show that virtual sinks can scale mote networks by effectively managing growing traffic demands while minimizing the impact on application fidelity.
Functional Mapping of Human Sensorimotor Cortex with 3D BOLD fMRI Correlates Highly with H215O PET rCBF

Positron emission tomography (PET) functional imaging is based on changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is based on a variety of physiological parameters as well as rCBF. This study is aimed at the cross validation of three-dimensional (3D) fMRI, which is sensitive to changes in blood oxygenation, with oxygen-15-labeled water (H215O) PET. Nine normal subjects repeatedly performed a simple finger opposition task during fMRI scans and during PET scans. Within-subject statistical analysis revealed significant (“activated”) signal changes (p < 0.05, Bonferroni corrected for number of voxels) in contralateral primary sensorimotor cortex (PSM) in all subjects with fMRI and with PET. With both methods, 78% of all activated voxels were located in the PSM. Overlap of activated regions occurred in all subjects (mean 43%, SD 26%). The size of the activated regions in PSM with both methods was highly correlated (rho = 0.87, p < 0.01). The mean distance between centers of mass of the activated regions in the PSM for fMRI versus PET was 6.7 mm (SD 3.0 mm). Average magnitude of signal change in activated voxels in this region, expressed as z-values adapted to timeseries, zt, was similar (fMRI 5.5, PET 5.3). Results indicate that positive blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal changes obtained with 3D principles of echo shifting with a train of observations (PRESTO) fMRI are correlated with rCBF, and that sensitivity of fMRI can equal that of H215O PET.
Sharing the viewing experience through second screens

Despite the ever expanding forms of digital entertainment and the emergence of consumer recording facilities, allowing viewers to time shift their TV viewing habits, there are still certain TV shows and events that create an audience desire to be part of a mass shared experience. In the past direct inter-audience interaction of such events has been restricted to either a shared location at the time of broadcast or later discussions amongst friends and colleagues often described as 'water cooler moments'. With the advent of online social networks that facilitate status updates these moments can be instantly shared in real-time using mobile phone creating a second screen for interaction with TV. In this paper we investigate the emerging role of mobile phones as the facilitator of second screen for TV. This is achieved through the analysis of tweets for a highly popular UK TV show the X Factor and comparing tweets from this show with other shows from a different format. The results highlight the rich source of information that can be extracted in real-time and how audiences are creating their own parallel narrative of the show through Twitter. This interaction has enormous potential for broadcasters and producers both in terms of reinvigorating live TV viewing and creating new forms of audience interaction.
Clustering Algorithms Applied to Spectral Reflectance Recovery from Simulated RGB Camera Responses

: Clustering techniques have been applied to spectral images mostly to classify materials or objects included in the scenes. We present in this study new data concerning the use of clustering algorithms as a pre-processing step for obtaining spectral data from camera responses. Four different clustering algorithms have been used, and the Kohonen maps seem to provide very promising results for spectral recovery based on simulated digital counts wihout or with a high level of additive noise included. We have considered also the how the addition of a wide-band color filter in front of the camera lens to increase the number of channels of the camera from three to six affects the results. The influence of the number of classes for all four algorithms and map configurations for the Kohonen map have been studied as well.
Filtering techniques for the detection of Sunyaev-Zel'dovich clusters in multifrequency CMB maps

The problem of detecting Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) clusters in multifrequency CMB observations is investigated using a number of filtering techniques. A multifilter approach is introduced that optimizes the detection of SZ clusters on microwave maps. An alternative method is also investigated in which maps at different frequencies are combined in an optimal manner so that existing filtering techniques can be applied to the single combined map. The SZ profiles are approximated by the circularly-symmetric template τ(x) = [1 + (x/r c ) 2 ] - θ , with λ ≃ and x ≡ ‖x‖, where the core radius r c and the overall amplitude of the effect are not fixed a priori, but are determined from the data. The background emission is modelled by a homogeneous and isotropic random field, characterized by a cross-power spectrum P v 1 v 2 (q) with q ≡ ‖q‖. The filtering methods are illustrated by application to simulated Planck observations of a 12.8° x 12.8° patch of sky in 10 frequency channels. Our simulations suggest that the Planck instrument should detect 10 000 SZ clusters in 2/3 of the sky. Moreover, we find the catalogue to be complete for fluxes S > 170 mJy at 300 GHz.
Understanding the impact of pulmonary arterial hypertension on patients' and carers' lives

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare, debilitating and rapidly progressive disease. Although there have been important medical advances in PAH management, the search for a cure continues. Despite an increased understanding of the disease, data on the wider effect of PAH on patients and carers, beyond the clinical symptoms, are still limited. In order to explore this, a large-scale international survey investigated four key areas affected by PAH (physical and practical, emotional, social, and information needs) and provides new insight into patients’ and carers’ experiences of living with the disease. The results from the survey highlight not only the limited ability of patients to carry out everyday tasks, but also the financial impact and social isolation experienced by both patients and carers. The study confirmed that a decline in a patient’s World Health Organization functional class, which indicates an increase in clinical severity of the disease, is associated with greater limitations. Results from the survey demonstrate the need for multidisciplinary PAH management and a comprehensive standard of care to assess and improve all aspects of well-being for both patients and carers. In addition, they underline the need for updated PAH guidelines that address these needs.
Music Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Transgender Students and Supportive School Practices

The purpose of this study was to measure music teachers’ attitudes toward transgender individuals and toward school practices that support transgender students. Participants (N = 612) included men and women who teach a variety of music subjects in elementary, middle, and high schools, in urban, suburban, and rural areas. An online questionnaire was distributed to participants representing 28 states in the United States. The questionnaire consisted of demographic information and several attitudinal statements designed to measure music teachers’ attitudes toward transgender individuals (MT-ATTI) and music teachers’ attitudes toward supportive school practices (MT-ATSSP). The results indicated that participants had fairly positive attitudes overall. Multiple regression analyses also revealed that gender and political persuasion on social issues significantly predicted participants’ scores on the MT-ATTI and the MT-ATSSP; female participants had more positive attitudes than did male participants, and individuals identifying as more socially liberal had more positive attitudes than did those identifying as more socially conservative. The variables of school location and age did not significantly predict scores on the MT-ATTI or the MT-ATSSP. Implications for teacher preparation programs and professional development are discussed, and future directions for research are recommended
Impacts of Trades in an Error-Correction Model of Quote Prices

In this paper we analyze and interpret the quote price dynamics of 100 NYSE stocks with varying average trade frequencies. We specify an error-correction model for the log difference of the bid and the ask price, with the spread acting as the error-correction term, and include as regressors the characteristics of the trades occurring between quote observations, if any. We find that short duration and medium volume trades have the largest impacts on quote prices for all one hundred stocks, and that buyer initiated trades primarily move the ask price while seller initiated trades primarily move the bid price. Trades have a greater impact on quotes in both the short and the long run for the infrequently traded stocks than for the more actively traded stocks. Finally, we find strong evidence that the spread is mean reverting.
CFD modelling of cyclone separators: Validation against plant hydrodynamic performance.

The major focus of CFD modelling of industrial process equipment is to simulate the industrial performance of the equipment with reasonable accuracy. In this paper results from CFD simulations of an industrial classification hydrocyclone and an industrial dense medium cyclone are compared with plant measurements from real cyclones of the same dimensions. The measurements used for validation are the feed pressure vs feed flow rate and recovery to underflow vs feed flow rate. The CFD simulations used Large Eddy Simulations, the Differential Reynolds Stress Model and laminar flow. On both cyclones, the DRSM and LES models gave considerably more accurate predictions compared to the laminar simulations and the DRSM model predictions were somewhat more accurate than predictions from the LES model.
Ecological and Dynamical Study of the Creative Process and Affects of Scientific Students Working in Groups

Although creativity has drawn the attention of researchers during the past century, collaborative processes have barely been investigated. In this article, the collective dimension of a creative process is investigated, based on a dynamic and ecological approach that includes an affective component. Dynamic means that the creative process is no longer considered as sequential, and ecological, that the individuals were observed in their normal place of creation. This study was conducted with science students that were required to carry on a research project during 15 weeks in small groups. The results tend to confirm the hypothesis of a nonlinear process, with important variations of the affects depending on the stage. Moreover, each group creative process seems to be specific. The relation between the social functioning of the group and the process is also discussed. Finally, because it is a part of any teamwork, verbalization is proposed as a new powerful tool to investigate creative process.
Experimental Comparisons of Leading Display and RSVP Display of Chinese Dynamic Text in Searching Tasks

Objective: This study investigates user performance and user perceptions of dynamic Chinese text displays (Leading display and RSVP display) when users search for target information. Background: Today, information searching with dynamic displays is widely used in TV programs, on Internet advertisements, for traffic information systems, and more. Method: A human factors experiment was conducted to compare both displays. Eighteen subjects participated in evaluating two simulated interfaces for the leading display and the RSVP display. Results: The results show that the leading display was better in terms of search time and certain subjective measurements (Easiness, frustration, anxiety). The latter results are consistent with the conclusions of other research efforts showing that dynamic displays are more effective and efficient when reading information. Conclusion: The leading display is more useful for Chinese users in terms of both information searching and information reading. Application: This study helps design dynamic displays written in Chinese texts.
Deeply Coupled Auto-encoder Networks for Cross-view Classification

The comparison of heterogeneous samples extensively exists in many applications, especially in the task of image classification. In this paper, we propose a simple but effective coupled neural network, called Deeply Coupled Autoencoder Networks (DCAN), which seeks to build two deep neural networks, coupled with each other in every corresponding layers. In DCAN, each deep structure is developed via stacking multiple discriminative coupled auto-encoders, a denoising auto-encoder trained with maximum margin criterion consisting of intra-class compactness and inter-class penalty. This single layer component makes our model simultaneously preserve the local consistency and enhance its discriminative capability. With increasing number of layers, the coupled networks can gradually narrow the gap between the two views. Extensive experiments on cross-view image classification tasks demonstrate the superiority of our method over state-of-the-art methods.
Persistence of Symptoms in Veterans of the First Gulf War: 5-Year Follow-up

Background During the 1990–1991 Gulf War, approximately 700,000 U.S. troops were deployed to the Persian Gulf theater of operations. Of that number, approximately 100,000 have presented medical complaints through various registry and examination programs. Objectives Widespread symptomatic illness without defining physical features has been reported among veterans of the 1991 Gulf War. We ascertained changes in symptom status between an initial 1995 symptom evaluation and a follow-up in 2000. Methods We assessed mailed symptom survey questionnaires for 390 previously surveyed members of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Gulf War Registry for changes over the 5-year interval in terms of number and severity of symptoms. Results For the cohort as a whole, we found no significant changes in symptom number or severity. Those initially more symptomatic in 1995 showed some improvement over time, but remained much more highly symptomatic than those who had lesser initial symptomatology. Conclusions The symptom outbreak following the 1991 Gulf War has not abated over time in registry veterans, suggesting substantial need for better understanding and care for these veterans.
Electronic Theses and Dissertations Uc San Diego Title: the Development of Color Representations from Infancy to Early Childhood / the Development of Color Representations from Infancy to Early Childhood

This dissertation investigates color representations during early development. It provides new insight into the infant's perceptual experience as well as the process by which children map color words to color percepts. Chapter 1 provides the first experimental evidence for the long-standing theory that a developmental period of exuberant neural connectivity followed by a retraction and reweighting of connections causes infants to experience increased synesthetic intermingling of their sensations that typical adults do not experience. We show that the presence of particular shapes influences color preferences in typical two-and three-month olds, but not in eight-month olds or adults. These data suggest that infants may experience a sensory phenomenon unlike anything experienced by typical adults but similar to the sensory experiences of adults with synesthesia, a rare sensory phenomenon that has been associated with exuberant neural connectivity and is characterized by strong arbitrary associations between different sensations. Chapter 2 examines children's ability to abstract color and assign labels to specific color categories. Children use color words incorrectly for many months before they converge on correct adult definitions. Most current accounts propose that the delay between children's first production of color words and adult-like understanding is due to problems abstracting color as a domain of meaning. Chapter 2 challenges this account with analyses of color word errors in two-to four-year-olds' speech and comprehension. We find that children's errors are systematic and best characterized as overextensions of adult meanings-a finding inconsistent with the notion that these children have not yet abstracted color as a domain of meaning. Chapter 3 examines color word comprehension in younger children between 18-and 33-months and finds that on average, children construct preliminary meanings for some color words prior to producing any color words. In other words, color words are not an exception to the typical pattern of language comprehension before production. These results also imply that color word errors cannot be due to a failure to eScholarship provides open access, scholarly publishing services to the University of California and delivers a dynamic research platform to scholars worldwide. abstract color as a domain of linguistic meaning. Rather, the errors likely result from a process through which children gradually converge on correct language specific color word boundaries Copyright Information: All rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. Contact the author or original publisher for any necessary permissions. eScholarship is not the copyright owner for deposited works. Learn more at 2013 ! iv DEDICATION …
Role of inflammasomes and their regulators in prostate cancer initiation, progression and metastasis

Prostate cancer is one of the main cancers that affect men, especially older men. Though there has been considerable progress in understanding the progression of prostate cancer, the drivers of its development need to be studied more comprehensively. The emergence of resistant forms has also increased the clinical challenges involved in the treatment of prostate cancer. Recent evidence has suggested that inflammation might play an important role at various stages of cancer development. This review focuses on inflammasome research that is relevant to prostate cancer and indicates future avenues of study into its effective prevention and treatment through inflammasome regulation. With regard to prostate cancer, such research is still in its early stages. Further study is certainly necessary to gain a broader understanding of prostate cancer development and to create successful therapy solutions.