Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Burnout among Nurses

Results are presented of a cross-national study on burnout among 200 Polish and 183 Dutch female nurses. The reliablity and the factorial validity of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) is satisfactory in both countries. However, evidence for the content validity of the MBI is likewise equivocal in both samples. Polish nurses are significantly more burned out than their Dutch colleagues, even after controlling for differences in work situations in both countries. Subjective work stressors (i.e., uncertainty and a perceived imbalance between investments and outcomes in relationships with patients) contribute most strongly to bumout in Polish as well as in Dutch nurses. Personality characteristics and aspects of the work situation play a less prominent role. Although the work situation of Polish and Dutch nurses differs considerably, psychological variables-notably, experienced job stress-are likewise crucial in understanding burnout among nurses of both countries.
Nelson's (1976) modified card sorting test: A review

We review studies of Nelson's (1976) Modified Card Sorting Test (MCST) that have examined the performance of subjects with frontal lobe dysfunction. Six studies investigated the performance of normal controls and patients with frontal lobe dysfunction, whereas four studies compared the performance of frontal and nonfrontal patients. One further study compared the performance of amnesic patients both on the MCST and on the original Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Evidence regarding the MCST's differential sensitivity to frontal lobe dysfunction is weak, as is the evidence regarding the equivalence of the MCST and WCST. It is likely that the MCST is an altogether different test from the standard version. In the absence of proper normative data for the MCST, we provide a table of scores derived from the control groups of various studies. Given the paucity of evidence, further research is required before the MCST can be recommended for use as a marker of frontal lobe dysfunction.
Personal coping strategies for managing the side effects of antiretroviral therapy among patients at an HIV/AIDS clinic in Uganda

The side effects of antiretroviral (ARV) medications negatively impact patients’ quality of life and adherence to treatment. This study describes the burden of side effects from ARV treatment as experienced by a sample of HIV/AIDS patients and identifies the personal strategies they used to cope with the side effects. A total of 166 participants were recruited from a non-governmental HIV/AIDS clinic in Entebbe, Uganda. Most of the participants (76%) were females and the mean age of the sample was 38 years. Although the participants had taken ARV medications for an average period of nine months, a large proportion (76%) could not name the medications they were taking. The mean side-effects burden for the participants was five side effects. The most common adverse effects reported were tiredness, nightmares, mood swings, nausea, poor appetite, insomnia, vomiting and dizziness. The main strategies the patients used for coping with the side effects were those categorised under information-seeking, social-support seeking and positive-emotion-focused coping. However, 27% of the participants reported non-adherence to their ARV medications as a strategy to cope with the side effects. The findings show a significant relationship between the side-effects burden and a patient's age (r = 0.530, p ≤ 0.01) and level of education (r = 0.394, p ≤ 0.01). The findings indicate that in the short term after initiating ARV treatment most patients are able to cope with the high burden of side effects through appropriate strategies, but a sizable portion will fail to cope appropriately and thus resort to non-adherence. Clinicians should assist patients with continuous health education and counselling that focuses on appropriate strategies to cope with the side effects of ARVs in order to buffer the negative impact of HIV treatment on patients’ adherence and quality of life.
Systemic Inflammation Biomarkers Predict Survival in Patients of Early Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Treated With Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy - A Single Center Experience

Background: Increasing evidence indicates a relationship between systemic inflammation and survival following treatment in various tumors. However, the correlation of systematic inflammation with survival after stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) in early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not been well established. Patients and methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients with newly diagnosed early stage NSCLC treated with SABR in a single institution from 2011 to 2015. The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and lymphocyte- monocyte ratio (LMR) were calculated as systemic inflammation biomarkers. Overall survival (OS) was the first end-point. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) was used to determine cut-off points for OS. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression were used to investigate the potential factors associated with OS. Results: In the 63 patients who were eligible for analysis. The median follow up after SBRT was 29.5 months (range 8-67 months) while the 3-year OS was 74.2%. Based on ROC analysis, optimal cut-off values of NLR, PLR, and LMR were 2.06, 199.55 and 4.0, respectively. Significant survival benefit was found in the NLR ≤2.06 group (p=0.028), PLR≤199.55 group (p=0.001), and LMR˃4.0 group (p=0.046). Univariate analysis indicated that low NLR (p=0.011), low PLR (p=0.003), and high LMR (p=0.014) were correlated with improved survival. Multivariate analysis indicated that high PLR (p=0.033) and low LMR (p=0.046) were independent prognostic factors for poor survival. Conclusions: In patients of early stage NSCLC who received SABR, pretreatment NLR, PLR, and LMR could be considered useful prognostic indicators of OS. These metrics may provide reliable and convenient predictors to identify patients who would benefit from SABR.
Cold War political culture and the return of systems rationality

This study places systems rationalism - the most important phase in managerial systems discourse’s dissemination - within the context of Cold War’s incipience in the United States. Quantitative and qualitative analyses are offered based on primary data collected systematically from the Harvard Business Review and Advanced Management, supplemented by additional macro-data and secondary historiographic sources. The study’s findings indicate that systems rationalism was shaped by a formative event, short but intensive, combining two processes: the eruption of the Cold War political culture and concurrent managerial struggles over hegemony. Managerial discourse appropriated Cold War ideological concepts and national myths and translated them into rational-instrumental terms. The resultant discursive formation hybridizing particularistic-ethnocentrism and universal-rationalism became the birthplace of systems rationalism. Systems rationalism’s possible contributions to the enhancement of managerial power are discussed, as well as implications for the understanding of present managerial discourse
Estrogen Receptor Function as Revealed by Knockout Studies: Neuroendocrine and Behavioral Aspects

Estrogens are an important class of steroid hormones, involved in the development of brain, skeletal, and soft tissues. These hormones influence adult behaviors, endocrine state, and a host of other physiological functions. Given the recent cloning of a second estrogen receptor (ER) cDNA (the ER beta), work on alternate spliced forms of ER alpha, and the potential for membrane estrogen receptors, an animal with a null background for ER alpha function is invaluable for distinguishing biological responses of estrogens working via the ER alpha protein and those working via another ER protein. Data generated to date, and reviewed here, indicate that there are profound ramifications of the ER alpha disruption on behavior and neuroendocrine function. First, data on plasma levels of estradiol (E2), testosterone (T), and luteinizing hormone (LH) in wild-type (WT) versus ER alpha- mice confirm that ER alpha is essential in females for normal regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary gonadal axis. Second, ovariectomized female ER alpha- mice do not display sexual receptivity when treated with a hormonal regime of estrogen and progesterone that induces receptivity in WT littermates. Finally, male sexual behaviors are disrupted in ER alpha- animals. Given decades of data on these topics our findings may seem self-evident. However, these data represent the most direct test currently possible of the specific role of the ER alpha protein on behavior and neuroendocrinology. The ER alpha- mouse can be used to ascertain the specific functions of ER alpha, to suggest functions for the other estrogen receptors, and to study indirect effects of ER alpha on behavior via actions on other receptors, neurotransmitters, and neuropeptides.
Differences in Activation Area Within Brodmann Area 2 Caused by Pressure Stimuli on Fingers and Joints

AbstractIn this study, a constant pressure stimulus was applied on the 3 joints (first [p1], second [p2], and third [p3] joints) of 4 fingers (index, middle, ring, and little fingers), and the activation areas within Brodmann area 2 (BA 2) were compared for these different fingers and joints by using functional magnetic resonance imaging.Eight healthy male college students (25.4 ± 1.32 years) participated in the study. Each session was composed of 3 blocks, and each block was composed of a Control phase (30 seconds) and a Pressure phase (30 seconds). No pressure stimulus was applied in the Control phase, during which the subjects would simply lay comfortably with their eyes closed. In the Pressure phase, a pressure stimulus was applied onto one of the joints of the selected finger.For each finger and joint, BA 2 areas activated by the pressure stimulus were extracted by the region of interest method. There was a significant difference in the activation areas for the different fingers (P = .042) as well as for the different joints (P = .050). The activation area decreased in the order of the little, index, and middle fingers, as well as in the order of p1, p3, and p2.
Spatio-Temporal Matching for Human Pose Estimation in Video

Detection and tracking humans in videos have been long-standing problems in computer vision. Most successful approaches (e.g., deformable parts models) heavily rely on discriminative models to build appearance detectors for body joints and generative models to constrain possible body configurations (e.g., trees). While these 2D models have been successfully applied to images (and with less success to videos), a major challenge is to generalize these models to cope with camera views. In order to achieve view-invariance, these 2D models typically require a large amount of training data across views that is difficult to gather and time-consuming to label. Unlike existing 2D models, this paper formulates the problem of human detection in videos as spatio-temporal matching (STM) between a 3D motion capture model and trajectories in videos. Our algorithm estimates the camera view and selects a subset of tracked trajectories that matches the motion of the 3D model. The STM is efficiently solved with linear programming, and it is robust to tracking mismatches, occlusions and outliers. To the best of our knowledge this is the first paper that solves the correspondence between video and 3D motion capture data for human pose detection. Experiments on the CMU motion capture, Human3.6M, Berkeley MHAD and CMU MAD databases illustrate the benefits of our method over state-of-the-art approaches.
Effect of intensive voice treatment on tone‐language speakers with Parkinson's disease

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of intensive voice therapy on Cantonese speakers with Parkinson's disease. The effect of the treatment on lexical tone was of particular interest. Four Cantonese speakers with idiopathic Parkinson's disease received treatment based on the principles of Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT). Outcome measures included perceptual measures and acoustic correlates of loudness, pitch, intonation, and tone (only intonation and tone are detailed in this study). All four participants demonstrated an increase in loudness, an increase in pitch and pitch range, and improved intonation during connected speech, as measured perceptually and acoustically. However, there were no obvious changes in the accuracy of lexical tone production, based on either phonetic transcription or acoustic analysis. The lack of improvement in lexical tones may support previous claims of a dissociation in fundamental frequency control for intonation and lexical tone production.
Physiological characterization, localization and synaptic inputs of bursting and nonbursting neurons in the trigeminal principal sensory nucleus of the rat

A population of neurons in the trigeminal principal sensory nucleus (NVsnpr) fire rhythmically during fictive mastication induced in the in vivo rabbit. To elucidate whether these neurons form part of the central pattern generator (CPG) for mastication, we performed intracellular recordings in brainstem slices taken from young rats. Two cell types were defined, nonbursting (63%) and bursting (37%). In response to membrane depolarization, bursting cells, which dominated in the dorsal part of the NVsnpr, fired an initial burst followed by single spikes or recurring bursts. Non‐bursting neurons, scattered throughout the nucleus, fired single action potentials. Microstimulation applied to the trigeminal motor nucleus (NVmt), the reticular border zone surrounding the NVmt, the parvocellular reticular formation or the nucleus reticularis pontis caudalis (NPontc) elicited a postsynaptic potential in 81% of the neurons tested for synaptic inputs. Responses obtained were predominately excitatory and sensitive to glutamatergic antagonists DNQX and/or APV. Some inhibitory and biphasic responses were also evoked. Bicuculline methiodide or strychnine blocked the IPSPs indicating that they were mediated by GABAA or glycinergic receptors. About one‐third of the stimulations activated both types of neurons antidromically, mostly from the masseteric motoneuron pool of NVmt and dorsal part of NPontc. In conclusion, our new findings show that some neurons in the dorsal NVsnpr display both firing properties and axonal connections which support the hypothesis that they may participate in masticatory pattern generation. Thus, the present data provide an extended basis for further studies on the organization of the masticatory CPG network.
Attributional Analysis of Achievement-related Behavior

In recent years, one of the most active areas of social psychological research has been the investigation of how individuals in everyday life "figure out" what causes behavior. Attribution theory is a term given to various theories concerned with the problem of investigating causal perception (e.g., Jones, Kanouse, Kelley, Nisbett, Valins, & Weiner, 1972). An "attribution" is the inference that an observer makes about the causes of behavior-either his own or another person's. One application of attribution theory that has a direct relevance to education was undertaken by Weiner (Weiner, Frieze, Kukla, Reed, Rest, & Rosenbaum, 1971). Weiner et al. attempted to analyze individuals' achievement-related behavior as determined by individuals' causal perception of successes and failures. Although Weiner (1972a) introduced the basic principles of his model to educational researchers, the accumulation of new research has refined the model and presented new possibilities for its application to education. In particular, the model could be used to explain students' performance on learning tasks. This paper systematically reviews the attributional model of achievement-related behavior and suggests possible educational implications. The paper will review recent research on individual differences when causal attributions are made about successes and failures. First, the attributional model of achievement behavior will be presented. Second, evidence that shows individual differences in making attributions will be surveyed. Third, studies that illustrate differential performance on achievement-related tasks by individuals who differ in their attributions will be reviewed. Finally, educational implications will be discussed.
Image Segmentation by Data-driven Markov Chain Monte Carlo

ÐThis paper presents a computational paradigm called Data-Driven Markov Chain Monte Carlo (DDMCMC) for image segmentation in the Bayesian statistical framework. The paper contributes to image segmentation in four aspects. First, it designs efficient and well-balanced Markov Chain dynamics to explore the complex solution space and, thus, achieves a nearly global optimal solution independent of initial segmentations. Second, it presents a mathematical principle and a K-adventurers algorithm for computing multiple distinct solutions from the Markov chain sequence and, thus, it incorporates intrinsic ambiguities in image segmentation. Third, it utilizes data-driven (bottom-up) techniques, such as clustering and edge detection, to compute importance proposal probabilities, which drive the Markov chain dynamics and achieve tremendous speedup in comparison to the traditional jump-diffusion methods [12], [11]. Fourth, the DDMCMC paradigm provides a unifying framework in which the role of many existing segmentation algorithms, such as, edge detection, clustering, region growing, split-merge, snake/balloon, and region competition, are revealed as either realizing Markov chain dynamics or computing importance proposal probabilities. Thus, the DDMCMC paradigm combines and generalizes these segmentation methods in a principled way. The DDMCMC paradigm adopts seven parametric and nonparametric image models for intensity and color at various regions. We test the DDMCMC paradigm extensively on both color and gray-level images and some results are reported in this paper.
Finding Meaning in the Dementia Caregiving Relationship

Finding Meaning in the Dementia Caregiving Relationship by Bomin Shim Department of Nursing Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Linda L. Davis, Supervisor ___________________________ Julie Barroso ___________________________ Owen Flanagan ___________________________ Catherine L. Gilliss An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Nursing in the Graduate School of Duke University 2011 Copyright by Bomin Shim 2011
Computers and Mathematics with Applications

In this paper, the concepts of Janowski functions and the conic regions are combined to define a new domain which represents the conic type regions. Different views of this modifiedconicdomainforspecificvaluesareshowngraphicallyforbetterunderstandingof thebehaviorofthisdomain.Theclassofsuchfunctionswhichmaptheopenunitdisk E onto this modified conic domain is defined. Also the classes of k -uniformly Janowski convex and k -Janowski starlike functions are defined and their coefficient inequalities are formulated. The coefficient bound for a certain class of analytic functions, proved by Owa et al. (2006) in [16], has also been improved.
Supporting Breastfeeding through Workplace, Early Childhood Centre and Family Relations: Educators' Experiences

BREASTFEEDING IS OF BENEFIT to both infants and mothers (World Health Organization [WHO], 2009). WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding up to the age of six months and continued breastfeeding up to two years of age. For mothers returning to work or study during the first 12 months of the infants' life, the issue of how to best support breastfeeding becomes paramount. This qualitative study explored early childhood educators' experiences of supporting breastfeeding mothers returning to work or study at a multi-campus Australian university. Five educators from two university-based workplace early childhood centres were interviewed. The findings from the educator interviews were analysed using Rogoff's (2003) cultural-institutional focus of analysis. We found that promotion and support of breastfeeding for working mothers depends upon the inter-related factors of workplace/early childhood centre proximity, flexibility and communication. We argue that the development of mutual trust and confidence between the mother, early childhood centre and workplace are essential for enabling working women to breastfeed for longer.
Failure to Relax Negative Supercoiling of DNA Is a Primary Cause of Mitotic Hyper-recombination in Topoisomerase-deficient Yeast Cells*

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, DNA topoisomerases I and II can functionally substitute for each other in removing positive and negative DNA supercoils. Yeast Δtop1 top2(ts) mutants grow slowly and present structural instability in the genome; over half of the rDNA repeats are excised in the form of extrachromosomal rings, and small circular minichromosomes strongly multimerize. Because these traits can be reverted by the extrachromosomal expression of either eukaryotic topoisomerase I or II, their origin is attributed to the persistence of unconstrained DNA supercoiling. Here, we examine whether the expression of the Escherichia coli topA gene, which encodes the bacterial topoisomerase I that removes only negative supercoils, compensates the phenotype of Δtop1 top2(ts) yeast cells. We found that Δtop1 top2(ts) mutants expressing E. colitopoisomerase I grow faster and do not manifest rDNA excision and minichromosome multimerization. Furthermore, the recombination frequency in repeated DNA sequences, which is increased by nearly two orders of magnitude in Δtop1 top2(ts) mutants relative to the parental TOP+ cells, is restored to normal levels when the bacterial topoisomerase is expressed. These results indicate that the suppression of mitotic hyper-recombination caused by eukaryotic topoisomerases I and II is effected mainly by the relaxation of negative rather than positive supercoils; they also highlight the potential of unconstrained negative supercoiling to promote homologous recombination.
Father-son relationship quality and associated adolescent risks

International research over the past two decades has advanced knowledge in the study of fathers and the protective role they play in the prevention of adolescent risk behaviours. Studies have often investigated parental relationships and their influence on adolescent risk behaviours but rarely the specific role of the adolescents’ relationships with their fathers or father figures in prevention of risk behaviour. Three main hypotheses were investigated: first, that the theoretically aligned dimensions of relationship quality would be nomogically validated; second, that there would be little significance difference in the dimensions of relationship quality across groupings of father residential status; and third, that the quality of the fatherson relationship is a stronger predictor of risk behaviour than father’s residential status (whether the adolescent lived with the father or not), or whether the “father” is a biological father or not. Three samples of adolescents were included: a fatherresident group (biological fathers reside in the adolescents’ homes) (N = 196); a nonresident group (biological fathers live elsewhere) (N = 72); and a father figure group (no contact with biological father) (N = 58). The school-based sample of 331 participants all resided in a low-income area of Cape Town. Risk behaviours were investigated using the Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT). Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) risk behaviour was assessed on a POSIT sub-scale designed specifically for South Africa, the POSIT HIV/STD Risk