Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Socio-economic status and incidence of renal replacement therapy: a registry study of Australian patients.

BACKGROUND Socio-economic disadvantage has been linked to higher incidence of end-stage kidney disease in developed countries. Associations between socio-economic status (SES) and incidence of renal replacement therapy (RRT) have not been explored for different kidney diseases, genders or age groups in a country with universal access to healthcare. METHODS We investigated the incidence of non-indigenous patients commencing RRT in Australia in 2000-09, using the Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant (ANZDATA) Registry. Patient postcodes were grouped into deciles using a standard SES index. We analysed incidence by five groups of kidney diseases, age groups, gender and geographic remoteness. RESULTS Incidence of RRT decreased with increasing area advantage. Differences were most evident for the most disadvantaged areas [markedly increased burden; incident rate ratio (IRR) 1.27; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.18-1.38] and most advantaged decile (decreased burden, IRR 0.76; 95% CI 0.72-0.81), compared with decile 5. Patients with diabetic nephropathy showed the greatest disparities: residents of the most disadvantaged decile were 2.38 (95% CI 2.09-2.71) times more at risk than the most advantaged decile. Congenital and genetic kidney diseases showed lesser gradients-the most disadvantaged decile was 1.28 times (95% CI 0.98-1.68) more at risk. SES was not associated with incidence for patients older than 69 years. DISCUSSION These SES gradients existed, despite all Australians having access to healthcare. Diseases associated with lifestyle show the greatest gradients with SES.
Competitive Mechanisms Subserve Attention in Macaque Areas V2 and V4

It is well established that attention modulates visual processing in extrastriate cortex. However, the underlying neural mechanisms are unknown. A consistent observation is that attention has its greatest impact on neuronal responses when multiple stimuli appear together within a cell’s receptive field. One way to explain this is to assume that multiple stimuli activate competing populations of neurons and that attention biases this competition in favor of the attended stimulus. In the absence of competing stimuli, there is no competition to be resolved. Accordingly, attention has a more limited effect on the neuronal response to a single stimulus. To test this interpretation, we measured the responses of neurons in macaque areas V2 and V4 using a behavioral paradigm that allowed us to isolate automatic sensory processing mechanisms from attentional effects. First, we measured each cell’s response to a single stimulus presented alone inside the receptive field or paired with a second receptive field stimulus, while the monkey attended to a location outside the receptive field. Adding the second stimulus typically caused the neuron’s response to move toward the response that was elicited by the second stimulus alone. Then, we directed the monkey’s attention to one element of the pair. This drove the neuron’s response toward the response elicited when the attended stimulus appeared alone. These findings are consistent with the idea that attention biases competitive interactions among neurons, causing them to respond primarily to the attended stimulus. A quantitative neural model of attention is proposed to account for these results.
Leadership, emotions and school outcomes in Romania

Personal and collective emotions play an important role in our private and social lives. Educational research suggests that emotions are powerful motivational forces that can impact upon leadership practices as well as on teaching and learning at individual and classroom level. However, less is known about the role of emotional experiences and displays in relation to leadership practices and school outcomes at organisational level. In order to develop more substantial knowledge, this mixed method study aims to explore the relationship between leadership styles, emotions and school outcomes from an organisational perspective in several urban schools from Timisoara, Romania. A sample of 408 teaching and non-teaching staff from 18 schools took part in a survey and 14 participants from two selected case study schools took part in semi-structured interviews. A widely used model of leadership is proposed by Bass & Avolio (1994) who identify transformational, transactional and laissez-faire practices. In this study, the quantitative data analysis using the Multifactorial Leadership Questionnaire developed by Bass and Avolio (ibid) suggests that a hybrid leadership that combines transformational and transactional elements such as contingent reward, individual consideration and charismatic behaviours is positively associated with positive emotions such as joy, enthusiasm and hope and with better outcomes such as perceived school success. The survey findings identify more variation and subtlety of negative emotions compared to positive emotions and also examine the role of self-other rapport in experiencing and displaying emotion at work. Secondly, the qualitative data reveal various contextualized meanings of leadership, emotions and school success, provides an integrated perspective of findings and allows for comparison of the overall results with previously published literature. Furthermore, the thesis presents emergent theoretical models for the study of leadership, emotions and school development and performance. Finally, the implications of the overall findings for policy and practice are discussed by taking into consideration the Romanian cultural and educational context.
Hubungan Kecerdasan Emosi dengan Kemampuan Coping Adaptif

This study was aimed to analyze the correlation between adaptive coping and emotional intelligence (EI). The subject of this study (N=69) are high school students in SMU Negeri 8 Yogyakarta, whose age ranged from 15 to 17 years old. Adaptive coping is measured by adaptive coping scale, and EI is measured by EI scale. Researcher developed both scale. Data was analyzed using Pearson’s product moment correlation. Results show that there are: positive correlation between EI and problem focused coping (PFC) part I (r=0,302; p=0,006), negative correlation between EI and emotional focused coping (EFC) and confrontative coping (CC) part I (r=‐0,322; p=0,004), and negative correlation between EI and PFC and CC part II (r=‐0,366; p=0,001). Spearman’s test correlation used to analyze correlation between EI and EPC part II, because this correlation did not meet linearity assumption. Spearman’s test correlation show that there is no correlation between EI and EPC part II (p=0,337). Based on these minor hypothesis, it is concluded that generally there is correlation between EI and adaptive coping ability.
Diagnostic and Therapeutic Management of Cardiac Sarcoidosis -Application of High Resolution Electrocardiography

Sarcoidosis is a common multisystem granulomatous disease of unknown etiology. Overall the prognosis is not necessarily deleterious because organ involvement is usually asymptomatic except for ocular or cutaneous involvements and the disease is often selflimiting. Cardiac Sarcoidosis is rare (5%) but once the heart is involved, the patient’s prognosis is poor because of the development of fatal arrhythmias, atrioventricular conduction disturbance or refractory congestive heart failure (Newman et al., 1997). Despite advanced research, a clear cause and pathogenesis for sarcoidosis remains unknown. Sarcoidosis is thought to be caused by an abnormal, exaggerated response of the immune system. Infectious agents such as Propionibacterium acnes, Mycobacteria suspected of causing sarcoidosis (Nishiwaki et al., 2004; Hance, 1998) , but The American Thoracic Society's wide-ranging Statement on Sarcoidosis suggested that there is no clear evidence of an infectious agent causing sarcoidosis. Genetic factors such as the human leucocyte antigens (specifically HLA-DRB1) may be a predisposition for sarcoidosis (Maliark et al., 1998), but not the only cause. Currently, sarcoidosis is considered to be caused by multiple factors.
Using vision and haptic sensing for human-humanoid joint actions

Human-humanoid haptic joint actions are collaborative tasks requiring a sustained haptic interaction between both parties. As such, most research in this field has concentrated on how to use solely the robot's haptic sensing to extract the human partners' intentions. With this information, interaction controllers are designed. In this paper, the addition of visual sensing is investigated and a suitable framework is developed to accomplish this. This is then tested on examples of haptic joint actions namely collaboratively carrying a table. Additionally a visual task is implemented on top of this. In one case, the aim is to keep the table level taking into account gravity. In another case, a freely moving ball is balanced to keep it from falling off the table. The results of the experiments show that the framework is able to utilize both information sources properly to accomplish the task.
Patient-doctor agreement on recall of clinical trial discussion across cultures.

BACKGROUND The purpose was to investigate patient-doctor agreement on clinical trial discussion cross-culturally. METHODS In the International Breast Cancer Study Group Trial 33-03 on shared decision-making for early breast cancer in Australian/New Zealand (ANZ) and Swiss/German/Austrian (SGA) centers, doctor and patient characteristics plus doctor stress and burnout were assessed. Within 2 weeks post-consultation about treatment options, the doctor and patient reported independently, whether a trial was discussed. Odds ratios of agreement for covariables were estimated by generalized estimating equations for each language cohort, with doctor as a random effect. RESULTS In ANZ, 21 doctors and 339 patients were eligible; in SGA, 41 doctors and 427 patients. In cases where the doctor indicated 'no trial discussed', 82% of both ANZ and SGA patients agreed; if the doctor indicated 'trial discussed', 50% of ANZ and 38% of SGA patients agreed, respectively. Factors associated with higher agreement were: low tumor grade and fewer patients recruited into clinical trials in SGA; public institution, patient born in ANZ (versus other), higher doctor depersonalization and personal accomplishment in ANZ. CONCLUSION There is discordance between oncologists and their patients regarding clinical trial discussion, particularly when the doctor indicates that a trial was discussed. Factors contributing to this agreement vary by culture.
Estudo da série histórica de mortalidade por suicídio no Espírito Santo (de 1980 a 2006)

OBJECTIVE: Study historical series of suicide in Espirito Santo (1980 to 2006) and its stratifications. METHODS: A descriptive, retrospective study based on historical series of events. The registered deaths were included from the System of Information on Mortality per Suicide by residents of Espirito Santo (1980 to 2006). The historical series were put together and the mortality coefficients per suicide were calculated for a certain period. Afterwards, the direct method was used in order to fit death table numbers into a pattern - in this stage, the population number was taken from data published by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics in 2000. So the death tables could be calculated, the Microsoft Excel software was used. The equations of linear tendencies and the statics of adjustment into the model (R2 value and p-value of model adequacy) were collected from the Statistical Package for Social. Sciences software. The level of significance adopted was of 5%. RESULTS: The tendency of growth of a death table per suicide in Espirito Santo was 24.9%. Regarding men, 23.8%. The age group between 10 and 14 years and those above 30 until 59 years old had a strong growth tendency. CONCLUSION: Suicidal acts were more common among men. The main age group which may be likely to have a growth in is the one ranging from 30 and 57 years old.
Changes in wage inequality

We examine trends in wage inequality in the US and other countries over the past four decades. We show that there has been a secular increase in the 90-50 wage differential in the US and the UK since the late 1970s. By contrast the 50-10 differential rose mainly in the 1980s and flattened or fell in the 1990s and 2000s. We analyze the reasons for these trends and conclude that a version of the skill biased technical change hypothesis combined with institutional changes (the decline in the minimum wage and trade unions) continues to offer the best explanation for the observed patterns of change.
Team role behaviour and task environment

Based on Belbin’s model of management team role behaviour and the theories on organizational environment, proposes that managers’ team role preferences are influenced by the immediate social context, that is, the organizational task environment. Analysing the task environments of five organizations and the team role preferences of 100 managers, finds significant support for the hypotheses that the task environmental dimensions differentiate the clusters of the preferences.
Laying the Foundation for Employment: The Role of Social Capital in Educational Achievement

This paper examines the role of social capital--the set of supportive interpersonal interactions that exists in the family, community, and school--in promoting educational achievement. Employing data on public school students from the National Education Longitudinal Survey (NELS) and other secondary data sources, we examine the link between students' access to social capital and important educational benchmarks, especially standardized test scores for math and reading. Building on previous research, we attempt to refine the conceptualization and measurement of social capital. We then undertake a new exploration of test score gains realized by students over the course of the 8th to 12th grades in order to assess the extent to which social capital attributes of the family, school, and community contribute to such gains. Finally, we outline the implications of our findings in guiding education policy activities in rural America.
Where Did It All Go Wrong ? A Model of Error From the Spectator's Perspective

The development of new interfaces for musical expression has created a need to study how spectators comprehend new performance technologies and practices. As part of a larger project examining how interactions with technology can be communicated with the spectator, we relate our model of spectator understanding of error to the NIME discourse surrounding transparency, mapping, skill and success.
Top Leaders Community Detection Approach in Information Networks

Much of the data of scientific interest, particularly when independence of data is not assumed, can be represented in the form of information networks where data nodes are joined together to form edges corresponding to some kind of associations or relationships. Such information networks abound, like protein interactions in biology, web page hyperlink connections in information retrieval on the Web, cellphone call graphs in telecommunication, co-authorships in bibliometrics, crime event connections in criminology, etc. All these networks, also known as social networks, share a common property, the formation of connected groups of information nodes, called community structures. These groups are densely connected nodes with sparse connections outside the group. Finding these communities is an important task for the discovery of underlying structures in social networks, and has recently attracted much attention in data mining research. In this paper, we present Top Leaders, a new community mining approach that, simply put, regards a community as a set of followers congregating around a potential leader. Our algorithm starts by identifying promising leaders in a given network then iteratively assembles followers to their closest leaders to form communities, and subsequently finds new leaders in each group around which to gather followers again until convergence. Our intuitions are based on proven observations in social networks and the results are very promising. Experimental results on benchmark networks verify the feasibility and eectiveness of our new community mining approach.
BER of Subcarrier MPSK and MDPSK Systems in Atmospheric Turbulence

Bit-error rate (BER) performance of subcarrier M-ary phase-shift keying (MPSK) and M-ary differential PSK (MDPSK) is analyzed for optical wireless communications over Gamma-Gamma and lognormal turbulence channels. We study the relation between the exact BER and the approximate BER, which is obtained by dividing the symbol-error rate by the number of bits per symbol, for subcarrier MPSK and MDPSK modulations. The asymptotic BER performance gap between the exact and the approximate BERs is quantified analytically through our asymptotic analyses. The accuracy of the approximate BER of both MPSK and MDPSK depends on the channel conditions. Under weak turbulence conditions, the approximate BER expression can be used to predict the system performance with high accuracy, while under strong turbulence conditions the approximate BER becomes inaccurate and can only serve as a loose lower bound of the exact BER. The asymptotic BER performance loss of MDPSK with respect to MPSK is also quantified analytically.
Childhood resilience in relation to the physical and mental health of the family

The thesis comprises three papers; a literature review, an empirical paper, and a reflective paper. The first is a critical review of studies of interventions aimed at preventing depression among children of parents with depression. Much research evidences the potential negative impact on this young population, and therefore researchers have begun to use family, cognitivebehavioural, and parenting interventions, to try to prevent the onset of depression in these children, instead bolstering resilience. The review finds that although the research is relatively new, there are promising signs that all of these types of interventions may help in some way towards preventing the transmission of depression from parent to child, but further research is needed to determine the validity and duration of these effects. The empirical paper presents a study of resilience in children who have a sibling with diabetes, as compared to a control group. It was found that when controlling for covariates of self-esteem and family functioning, resilience levels were the same for both groups. Previous research has focussed on the potential negative impact on siblings of children with health or learning difficulties, but this research suggests that this population may also be as resilient as their peers whose siblings do not have such difficulties. The final chapter discusses reflections on the research process, and areas of personal and professional learning and development that have arisen as a result.
The impact of an immunization training certificate program on the perceived knowledge, skills and attitudes of pharmacy students toward pharmacy-based immunizations

Objective To assess the impact of a national immunization training certificate program on the perceived knowledge, skills and attitudes of pharmacy students toward pharmacy-based immunizations. Methods The study design utilized a pre- and post-survey administered to pharmacy students before and after the American Pharmacists Association’s (APhA) Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery program. The primary outcome explored was a change in the perceived knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the pharmacy students. A five-point Likert scale (i.e. strongly agree = 5, strongly disagree = 1) was used for measuring the main outcomes, which was summated by adding the individual item scores in each section to form a composite score for each outcome. Results The certificate training program resulted in a significant improvement in knowledge (38.5% increase in score, p<0.001) and skills (34.5% increase in score, p<0.001), but not attitudes (1% increase in score, p=0.210). Conclusions The national immunization training certificate program had a positive impact on the perceived knowledge and skills of pharmacy students. However, no change was observed regarding students’ perceived attitudes toward pharmacy-based immunizations.
Reliable molecular identification of nine tropical whitefly species

The identification of whitefly species in adult stage is problematic. Morphological differentiation of pupae is one of the better methods for determining identity of species, but it may vary depending on the host plant on which they develop which can lead to misidentifications and erroneous naming of new species. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fragment amplified from the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene is often used for mitochondrial haplotype identification that can be associated with specific species. Our objective was to compare morphometric traits against DNA barcode sequences to develop and implement a diagnostic molecular kit based on a RFLP-PCR method using the COI gene for the rapid identification of whiteflies. This study will allow for the rapid diagnosis of the diverse community of whiteflies attacking plants of economic interest in Colombia. It also provides access to the COI sequence that can be used to develop predator conservation techniques by establishing which predators have a trophic linkage with the focal whitefly pest species.
Tile Drainage Nitrate Losses and Corn Yield Response to Fall and Spring Nitrogen Management.

Nitrogen (N) management strategies that maintain high crop productivity with reduced water quality impacts are needed for tile-drained landscapes of the US Midwest. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of N application rate, timing, and fall nitrapyrin addition on tile drainage nitrate losses, corn ( L.) yield, N recovery efficiency, and postharvest soil nitrate content over 3 yr in a corn-soybean [ (L.) Merr. ] rotation. In addition to an unfertilized control, the following eight N treatments were applied as anhydrous ammonia in a replicated, field-scale experiment with both corn and soybean phases present each year in Illinois: fall and spring applications of 78, 156, and 234 kg N ha, fall application of 156 kg N ha + nitrapyrin, and sidedress (V5-V6) application of 156 kg N ha. Across the 3-yr study period, increases in flow-weighted NO concentrations were found with increasing N rate for fall and spring N applications, whereas N load results were variable. At the same N rate, spring vs. fall N applications reduced flow-weighted NO concentrations only in the corn-soybean-corn rotation. Fall nitrapyrin and sidedress N treatments did not decrease flo8w-weighted NO concentrations in either rotation compared with fall and spring N applications, respectively, or increase corn yield, crop N uptake, or N recovery efficiency in any year. This study indicates that compared with fall N application, spring and sidedress N applications (for corn-soybean-corn) and sidedress N applications (for soybean-corn-soybean) reduced 3-yr mean flow-weighted NO concentrations while maintaining yields.