Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of a Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccination Program on Carriage among Children in Norway

ABSTRACT In July 2006, the seven-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) was introduced in Norway with a reduced (2 doses + 1 boost) dose schedule. Post-PCV7 shifts in pneumococcal reservoirs were assessed by two point prevalence studies of nasopharyngeal colonization among children in day care centers, before (2006) and after (2008) widespread use of PCV7. Nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained from 1,213 children, 611 in 2006 and 602 in 2008. A total of 1,102 pneumococcal isolates were recovered. Serotyping, multilocus sequence typing, and antimicrobial drug susceptibility testing were performed on all isolates. Although carriage of PCV7 serotypes decreased among both vaccinated and unvaccinated children, the overall prevalence of pneumococcal carriage remained high (80.4%) after vaccine introduction. The pneumococcal populations were diverse, and in the shift toward non-PCV7 serotypes, expansion of a limited number of established clonal complexes was observed. While non-antimicrobial-susceptible clones persisted among PCV7 serotypes, antimicrobial resistance did not increase among non-PCV7 serotypes. Direct and indirect protection of PCV7 against nasopharyngeal colonization was inferred from an overall decrease in carriage of PCV7 serotypes. No preference was found for nonsusceptible clones among the replacing non-PCV7 serotypes.
Sociocultural influences on psychosocial adjustment in Antarctica.

Abstract : Psychological stress is a 'normal' part of wintering-over in the Antarctic given the unusual living conditions of small groups, the harsh environment, and the prolonged isolation from outside contact. The degree of stress, however, is influenced by different sociocultural factors. Three in particular are examined in this paper: (1) those located in the individual personality; (2) those located in the sociocultural backgrounds of station personnel; and (3) those located in the sociocultural systems of the stations themselves. Certain conflicts emerge from the interaction of these influences. The process of social comparison which fosters group homogeneity also generates perceptions of relative control over the social environment and self-esteem. Those people who perceive themselves to be powerless or helpless because they cannot exercise autonomy in either a social or a psychological sense have the greatest difficulty in adjusting to the Antarctic environment. Resources enabling one to deal with similar conflicts in the outside world are absent here, while strategies such as social isolation may be viewed as adaptive in this particular environment. Other processes, such as values, group behavior, and group identity serve to bring together a group of individuals whose sociocultural and personality idiosyncracies are integrated into a cultural form common to the confined or isolated group.
Fuzzy modelling using fuzzy mathematical programming

In this paper we will describe several methods that solve, using mathematical programming, different problems that, although can be used in others fields in the fuzzy modelling context, we have used them in the of fuzzy classification context. These problems are: feature selection, rule selection and clustering. In order to evaluate the accuracy of these methods, a lot of data sets have been used. Two of these have been: the classical Iris data set and the Wisconsin Breast Cancer data set.
Careful examination of thyroid specimen intraoperatively to reduce incidence of inadvertent parathyroidectomy during thyroid surgery.

OBJECTIVE To assess the incidence and clinical relevance of inadvertent parathyroidectomy during thyroidectomy, and the possibility of reducing its occurrence. DESIGN Retrospective study. SETTING University hospital. PATIENTS Consecutive patients who underwent thyroidectomy from 1999 to 2005, divided into 2 groups (group 1, those with inadvertent parathyroidectomy; and group 2, those without inadvertent parathyroidectomy). Patients who underwent surgical procedures for recurrent thyroid disease, intentional parathyroidectomy, and resection of central compartment viscera were excluded. INTERVENTIONS All pathology reports were reviewed for the presence of any parathyroid tissue in the resected specimen. Age, sex, preoperative diagnosis, thyroid hormonal status, substernal thyroid extension, number of parathyroid glands identified and spared at the time of surgery, autotransplantation of parathyroid gland, and final histologic findings were recorded. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Identification of parathyroid tissue in resected specimens and postoperative symptomatic hypocalcemia. RESULTS A total of 307 patients were included. Surgical procedures included bilateral or unilateral thyroidectomy (95% and 5% of procedures, respectively). Central neck lymph node dissection was performed in 5% of cases. Pathologic findings showed inadvertent parathyroidectomy in 12% of cases. Of these, 32% were recognized intraoperatively. The parathyroid tissue was found in extracapsular locations in 37% of cases, intracapsular locations in 39%, and intrathyroidal locations in 24%. There was no statistical difference between the 2 groups in terms of sex, preoperative diagnosis, substernal extension, extent of surgery, pathologic diagnosis, and occurrence of postoperative hypocalcemia, except for the presence of thyroiditis. CONCLUSION Careful examination of the surgical specimen intraoperatively decreases the incidence of inadvertent parathyroidectomy during thyroidectomy.
Long Term Symptoms and Limitations of Activity of People with Traumatic Brain Injury: A Ten-Year Follow-up

This study examined the effect of Traumatic Brain Injury 10 years post-injury. Frequencies of head injury symptoms and activity limitation by level of severity were measured in a consecutive series of 61 adults who were admitted to a tertiary-care center for traumatic brain injury. Irritability and Anxiety were the most frequently reported symptoms from the Head Injury Symptom Checklist. Bothered by noise and Bothered by light were the least frequently reported. Trouble hearing what is said in a group conversation and Trouble hearing what is said in a one-to-one conversation were the most commonly reported limitations of activity from the Health and Activity Limitations Survey. Overall, this study illustrates that symptoms remain many years following brain injury, irrespective of the injury's severity.
Barriers to Optimum End‐of‐life Care for Minority Patients

Although major efforts are underway to improve end‐of‐life care, there is growing evidence that improvements are not being experienced by those at particularly high risk for inadequate care: minority patients. Ethnic disparities in access to end‐of‐life care have been found that reflect disparities in access to many other kinds of care. Additional barriers to optimum end‐of‐life care for minority patients include insensitivity to cultural differences in attitudes toward death and end‐of‐life care and understandable mistrust of the healthcare system due to the history of racism in medicine. These barriers can be categorized as institutional, cultural, and individual. Efforts to better understand and remove each type of barrier are needed. Such efforts should include quality assurance programs to better assess inequalities in access to end‐of‐life care, political action to address inadequate health insurance and access to medical school for minorities, and undergraduate and continuing medical education in cultural sensitivity.
Study of intramammary infections in dairy goats from mountainous regions in Italy

Abstract Extract The manufacture of dairy products from the milk of small ruminants presents an opportunity to improve the economics of farming in remote areas such as the mountainous regions in northern Italy. Mastitis, particularly subclinical and chronic, is the most persistent and widespread problem affecting milk quality. Currently, there is a lack of information concerning the most common causal agents of mastitis in dairy goat herds in Italy. This study was undertaken to determine the aetiology and prevalence of intramammary infections (IMI), and to measure somatic cell counts (SCC) of dairy goats in mountainous regions of northern Italy.
Acute stress disorder as a predictor of posttraumatic stress symptoms.

OBJECTIVE Using the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for acute stress disorder, the authors examined whether the acute psychological effects of being a bystander to violence involving mass shootings in an office building predicted later posttraumatic stress symptoms. METHOD The participants in this study were 36 employees working in an office building where a gunman shot 14 persons (eight fatally). The acute stress symptoms were assessed within 8 days of the event, and posttraumatic stress symptoms of 32 employees were assessed 7 to 10 months later. RESULTS According to the Stanford Acute Stress Reaction Questionnaire, 12 (33%) of the employees met criteria for the diagnosis of acute stress disorder. Acute stress symptoms were found to be an excellent predictor of the subjects' posttraumatic stress symptoms 7-10 months after the traumatic event. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest not only that being a bystander to violence is highly stressful in the short run, but that acute stress reactions to such an event further predict later posttraumatic stress symptoms.
Multiuser Resource Allocation Optimization Using Bandwidth-Power Product in Cognitive Radio Networks

In this paper, the problem of resource allocation optimization is studied for a single-cell multiuser cognitive radio network in the presence of primary user networks. The spectral access of the cognitive radio network is based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA). A joint bandwidth and power allocation is performed so that users' rate requirements are satisfied, and the integrity of primary user communication is preserved. In this work, two unique challenges are addressed. The first is the incorporation of primary user activity in the design of resource allocation technique, and the second is the limited hardware capabilities of cognitive terminals compared to those available at the cognitive base station. To address these problems, a novel resource allocation framework is proposed based on the bandwidth-power product minimization, which is an effective metric in evaluating the spectral resource consumption in a cognitive radio environment. The framework takes into consideration the challenges aforementioned. The results show significant enhancement in spectral efficiency by using our framework compared to classical power adaptive optimization using iterative waterfilling scheme.
Comparing Feature-Based Models of Harmony

Predictive processing is a fundamental process in music cognition. While there are a number of predictive models of melodic structure, fewer approaches exist for harmony/chord prediction. This paper compares the predictive performance of n-gram, HMM, autoregressive HMMs as well as feature-based (or multiple-viewpoint) n-gram and Dynamic Bayesian Network Models of harmony, which used a basic set of duration and mode features. The evaluation was performed using a hand-selected corpus of Jazz standards. Multiple-viewpoint n-gram models yield strong results and outperform plain HMM models. However, feature-based DBNs outperform n-gram models and HMMs when incorporating the mode feature, but perform worse when duration is added to the models. Results suggest that the DBNs provide a promising route to modelling tonal harmony.
Efficient Algorithms for Parsing the DOP Model? A Reply to Joshua Goodman

This note is a reply to Joshua Goodman's paper "Efficient Algorithms for Parsing the DOP Model" (Goodman, 1996; cmp-lg/9604008). In his paper, Goodman makes a number of claims about (my work on) the Data-Oriented Parsing model (Bod, 1992-1996). This note shows that some of these claims must be mistaken.
The Enhancement of Visuospatial Processing Efficiency Through Buddhist Deity Meditation

This study examined the effects of meditation on mental imagery, evaluating Buddhist monks' reports concerning their extraordinary imagery skills. Practitioners of Buddhist meditation were divided into two groups according to their preferred meditation style: Deity Yoga (focused attention on an internal visual image) or Open Presence (evenly distributed attention, not directed to any particular object). Both groups of meditators completed computerized mental-imagery tasks before and after meditation. Their performance was compared with that of control groups, who either rested or performed other visuospatial tasks between testing sessions. The results indicate that all the groups performed at the same baseline level, but after meditation, Deity Yoga practitioners demonstrated a dramatic increase in performance on imagery tasks compared with the other groups. The results suggest that Deity meditation specifically trains one's capacity to access heightened visuospatial processing resources, rather than generally improving visuospatial imagery abilities.
Moral cover for capitalism

Purpose – In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Max Weber chronicled how seventeenth‐century religious tenets expounded by John Calvin inadvertently laid the ideological groundwork for the flourishing of eighteenth‐century capitalism. In this early work on the rise of capitalism, Weber examined the changes in attitudes of business and accepted ethical business behavior and the transition of justification from religious tenets and guidance to more secular, yet rational explanations. The purpose of this paper is to contend this transition from religious to secular moral cover for business ethics was aided by the harmony‐of‐interests doctrine, which provided moral, but secular, cover for the pursuit of self‐interest and personal wealth with an implicit, secular rationalization of promoting the public good.Design/methodology/approach – Although Weber used Benjamin Franklin as an exemplar of the earlier Calvinist Protestantism and spirit of capitalism, advocates a case study of Robert Keayne, a.
Going with the grain: Mobile devices in practice

Fifty-seven alumni of a global Masters program participated in research into their use of mobile devices. Drawing on questionnaire and interview data, the paper examines how far the devices were embedded in the personal and professional lives of these alumni, most of whom were aged 35-54. All had experience of online and distance education, and most worked in education or training. The study revealed some innovative uses of mobile devices, a selection of which is reported in this paper. The paper links the findings to wider debates about the changing relationship between learners and educational institutions, and the role of mobile devices in enabling individuals to engage in learning conversations. Data are provided on which devices were used by the alumni and for what purposes, and the paper explores the implications of these findings for educators.
Concurrent and longitudinal relationships between development in graphic, language and symbolic play domains from the fourth to the fifth year

This research investigated the developing inter-relationships between language, graphic symbolism and symbolic play both concurrently and longitudinally from the fourth to the fifth year of childhood. Sixty children (n? =? 60) aged between 3 and 4? years completed multiple assessments of language and assessments of graphic symbolism, symbolic play and non-verbal intelligence. A year later, 31 children (n? =? 31) were re-tested using the same assessments. The findings revealed that skills within each symbolic domain were inter-related during the fourth year, appearing to develop in a domain-general type fashion based upon a common underlying symbolic mechanism. However, between the fourth and the fifth years, only language had predictive validity, suggesting a shift towards the verbal mediation of symbolic play and graphic symbolism as language becomes progressively internalized (Vygotsky, 1962, 1978).
The practical paradox of technology: The influence of communication technology use on employee burnout and engagement

ABSTRACT Technological advancements in the workplace frequently have produced contradictory effects by facilitating accessibility and efficiency while increasing interruptions and unpredictability. We combine insights from organizational paradoxes and the job demands–resources model to construct a framework identifying positive and negative mechanisms in the relationship between communication technology use (CTU) and employee well-being, operationalized as work engagement and burnout. In this study of Dutch workers, we demonstrate that CTU increases well-being through positive pathways (accessibility and efficiency) and decreases well-being through negative pathways (interruptions and unpredictability). We highlight the importance of (1) investigating CTU resources and demands simultaneously to grasp the relationship between CTU and employee well-being, and (2) considering CTU's downsides to successfully implement new communication technologies and flexible work designs.
Gender-Specific Relationship between Obesity and Major Depression

Objective Prior research suggests a bidirectional relationship between obesity and major depressive disorder (MDD), but the results have been heterogeneous. Differences between males and females in the association of MDD with obesity may contribute to inconsistent results. Thus, this study was designed to determine whether sex has a differential effect on the relationship between MDD and obesity, and to explore the potential mechanisms. Methods All participants were diagnosed with MDD, and depression severity was measured using the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Body weight and height were measured to calculate body mass index (BMI). Body composition, including total fat, trunk fat, android fat, and visceral fat mass, was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Subjects provided blood samples, and serum was extracted for measuring the inflammatory factors using human immunoassay kits. Results Among all obesity measures, depressed women had greater BMI and total body fat. By contrast, depressed men had greater visceral fat mass. However, only in depressed women was depression correlated with several measures of obesity, including BMI, total body fat, and visceral fat mass. A stepwise multiple regression analysis was conducted, and only visceral fat entered the regression model and was most predictive of depression in women (β = 0.60, p = 0.007). Moreover, compared with depressed men, depressed women had higher leptin levels after controlling for BMI, total body fat, and visceral fat. Conclusion These results highlight gender differences in determining the association between obesity and depression, and elevated leptin level is a potential mechanism linking MDD to obesity in depressed women. Understanding a gender-specific relationship between obesity and MDD would allow clinicians to target and personalize therapies in the hope of improving health outcomes.
Second Malignant Neoplasms and Cause of Death in Patients With Germ Cell Cancer: A Danish Nationwide Cohort Study.

Importance Patients given systemic treatment for testicular germ cell cancer (GCC) are at increased risk for a second malignant neoplasm (SMN). Previous studies on SMN and causes of death lacked information on the exact treatment applied or were based on patients receiving former treatment options. Objective To evaluate the treatment-specific risks for SMN and death in a nationwide population-based cohort of patients with GCC treated with current standard regimens. Design, Setting, and Participants This study examined a Danish nationwide cohort of 5190 men with GCC who entered the Danish Testicular Cancer database between January 1, 1984, and December 31, 2007. Treatment results were compared with a randomly sampled, age-stratified, population-based control group. Cases of gonadal and extragonadal primary were included in the nationwide cohort. The treatments were surveillance only; retroperitoneal radiotherapy (RT); bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (BEP); or more than 1 line of treatment (MTOL). Main Outcomes and Measures Cumulative incidence and hazard ratios (HRs) for SMN and death calculated by the Cox proportional hazards model were compared with those of age-matched controls. Results The study population comprised 2804 patients with seminoma and 2386 with nonseminoma. The median follow-up was 14.4 years (interquartile range, 8.6-20.5 years). The 20-year cumulative incidence of SMN with death as a competing risk was 7.8% (surveillance), 7.6% (BEP), 13.5% (RT), 9.2% (MTOL), and 7.0% (controls). We found no increased risk for SMN after surveillance, while the HRs were 1.7 (95% CI, 1.4-2.0), 1.8 (95% CI, 1.5-2.3), and 3.7 (95% CI, 2.5-5.5), respectively, after BEP, RT, and MTOL. Mortality owing to non-GCC causes was decreased after surveillance, but increased by 1.3 times after BEP and RT and by 2.6 times after MTOL. Excess mortality due to SMN was found after BEP (HR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.2-2.2), RT (HR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.5-2.9), and MTOL (HR, 5.8; 95% CI, 3.6-9.6). Conclusions and Relevance We found no increased risk for SMN or death among patients undergoing surveillance only. The risks for SMN and death due to SMN were increased after BEP alone, RT alone, and MTOL. Approaches to define patients who might benefit from less intensive treatment are needed.
Goodbye or Identify: Detrimental Effects of Downsizing on Identification and Survivor Performance

Research shows that after layoffs, employees often report decreased commitment and performance which has been coined the survivor syndrome. However, the mechanisms underlying this effect remain underexplored. The purpose of the paper is to show that reduced organizational identification can serve as an explanation for the survivor syndrome. We conducted a laboratory experiment, in which participants work as a group of employees for another participant who acts as employer. In the course of the experiment, the employer decides whether one of his or her employees should be laid off or not. Mediation analysis supports a social identity-based explanation for the emergence of the survivor syndrome: downsizing causes lower identification with the employer which in turn relates to lower performance of employees.