Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improving Patient Flow Through an Outpatient Breast Clinic: A Quality Improvement Project.

This consultant-led outpatient breast clinic in a large teaching hospital in Dublin often experiences clinic delays due to slow patient flow through the clinic processes. Patients have expressed dissatisfaction with the long queuing times and staff believe that patient flow can be improved with enhanced communication. The aim of this Quality Improvement Project is to examine the clinic process in detail using Lean and Six Sigma tools within a DMAIC framework to discover the priority delay points and recommend measures to improve patient flow. The choice of tools used was guided by a comprehensive literature review. Value Stream Mapping techniques are applied and a basic queuing simulation Gantt chart model is created to demonstrate that the proposed new consultation rates and staff availability changes can reduce patient clinic waiting times. Under the recommendations, no staffing, major process changes or extra funding is required to reduce queuing bottlenecks in the clinic, only the introduction of a patient flow co-ordinator role for a current staff member. The expected outcomes after implementation are an average reduction of waiting time to first clinician consultation for non-Triple Assessment patients of 28% and for Triple Assessment patients a 56% reduction, with clinics finishing 15 minutes earlier. Additionally, this project plan’s recommendations of improved clinic communication tools, patient flow control measures, monitoring, training and feedback proposals, should create a culture of continuous quality improvement and increase patient and staff satisfaction.
The conductivity mechanism and an improved C−V model of ferroelectric PZT thin film

A dense, homogeneous and crack-free ferroelectric PZT thin film with 〈100〉-preferred orientation was produced using the sol-gel method. The volume fraction α(100) of 〈100〉-oriented grains in the PZT film was calculated [α(100) ≈ 80%] from XRD of the PZT thin film and powder. The PZT thin film exhibits an open polarization vs. electric field loop and a low leakage current density from 10−8 A/cm2 to 10−7 A/cm2. The electrical conduction data were fit to a Schottky-emission model with deep traps from 100 kV/cm to 250 kV/cm. A modified capacitance model was introduced that adds electrical domain capacitance based on a metal-ferroelectric-metal (MFM) system with Schottky contacts. The model reproduces the observed non-linear capacitance vs. voltage behavior of the film.
Role of insulin in the expression of PMP22, a myelin protein during diabetic peripheral neuropathy

One of the long-term complications of diabetes is diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). DPN, which is characterized by the neuron demyelination often causes sensory loss.We have earlier reported the role of insulin in the expression of myelin proteins such as myelin basic protein (MBP) and myelin associated glycoprotein (MAG) during diabetic peripheral neuropathy condition. But the effect of insulin on the expression of Peripheral Myelin Protein 22 (PMP22) was not clear. Therefore, in this current study, we have analyzedthe effect of insulin on the expression of PMP22, both in vitro and in vivo using protein and mRNA expression studies. Results from both Western blotting and real time PCR confirmed that, expression of PMP22 concentration was decreased in diabetic condition and was recovered to normal upon treatment with insulin. These results corroborate the possibleneurotrophic role of insulin in enhancing the expression of PMP22 in the diabetic neuropathy condition.
Comparison the Protective Effects of L-Carnitine and Acetyl L-Carnitine on Blood Glucose and Lipid Peroxidation Level in Diabetic Rats

Aims: New medications with less side-effect are increasingly noticed now a day. L-Carnitine and Acetyl L-Carnitine reduce the secondary side-effects of Type I diabetes. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of oral administration of the materials on the blood glucose and the lipid per-oxidation of the liver and brain tissues in the diabetic rats. Materials & Methods: In the experimental study, 50 male Wistar rats were studied. The rats were randomly divided into five groups including control (the healthy rats), negative control (the diabetic rats), and three treatment diabetic groups. The diabetic groups received 110mg/Kg alloxan via injection to become diabetic. The treatment groups received L-Carnitine, Acetyl L-Carnetine, and LCarnetine with Acetyl L-Carnetine (300mg/Kg) as gavage for 30 days. The lipid per-oxidation, the serum glucose, the lipid profile, and the liver enzymes were measured at the end of the experiment. Data was analyzed using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey complementary test. Findings: The fasting blood concentration, triglyceride, cholesterol, creatinine, the serum liver enzymes, and the level of the liver tissue malondialdehyde significantly decreased in treatment diabetic group than diabetic group without any treatment, while HDL level increased as well (p<0.05). The brain tissue malondialdehyde and the serum HDL decreased and increased due to the administration of Acetyl L-Carnitine, respectively. Nevertheless, it affected no other parameter significantly. The positive effects of L-Carnitine were reduced by the administration of Acetyl L-Carnitin with L-Carnitine. Conclusion: The administration of L-Carnitine further reduces the secondary side-effects of diabetes than Acetyl L-Carnitine. In addition, simultaneous administration of the materials is not recommended.
Long-Term Monitoring of Green Turtle Nesting on Tromelin Island Demonstrates Stable Reproduction and Population Parameters

Abstract Situated about 500 km off the Malagasy east coast, the island of Tromelin is a key nesting site for the endangered green turtle, Chelonia mydas, in the south Western Indian Ocean. Nesting turtles found in this isolated island have been closely monitored since the 1970s, but the most recent estimates of nesting parameters date from 1986. Using mark–recapture data, track counts, and nests monitoring data collected over the 2009/2010 nesting peak, reproductive characteristics, population size, and offspring production were updated and discussed in the light of the track survey undertaken from 1986 to 2010. Females showed a consistent reproductive behaviour compared with previous studies in terms of clutch frequency (2.75 ± 1.46) and nesting success (0.65). Nest indices such as hatching success (0.76 ± 0.25) and emergence success (0.61 ± 0.33) were also included in the range of values calculated in the 1980s. Importantly, the estimated number of nesters and production in eggs and hatchlings were similar to older estimates, suggesting a relative demographic stability. For the 2009/2010 year-long nesting season, the size of the nesting population was estimated at about 1500 individuals, which produced around 480,900 eggs (± 103,900), resulting in 289,200 emerging hatchlings (± 152,000). These results are promising and support the effectiveness of conservation measures undertaken in the Iles Eparses, but further comparable monitoring is needed in the coming years to confirm the stability in Tromelin's green turtle nesting population.
Unique Combinations of Stakeholders in a Transfrontier Conservation Area Promote Biodiversity-Agriculture Integration

The world seeks to balance biodiversity protection and food production. Transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs) provide unique opportunities for strategies that combine agriculture with biodiversity conservation at a landscape level, known as ecoagriculture. We identified and consulted ecoagriculture stakeholders in a smallholder farming community within a TFCA. Data were obtained through key informant interviews and questionnaire surveys. Eighty-eight percent of key informants indicated that planned ecoagriculture was feasible in the area and 95% of interviewed farmers positively considered to plan the integration of biodiversity conservation and farming. Potential conflicts of interest were revealed among stakeholders but to a large extent, stakeholder roles and interests were complementary, creating an environment conducive to effective coordinated ecoagriculture planning.
Knowledge Readiness Sense-making Organizational Behavior NURSES' WORK ENVIRONMENT & TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION ADOPTION: ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE AFTER MAKING SENSE OF IT ALL by

Clinical information systems are being introduced into nurses’ work at an alarming rate. These systems are implemented with limited input from nurses who provide direct patient care, and without considering human factors in the systems design and implementation process. The need for nurses to be involved at every level of decision-making as it relates to technological innovation into their work is imperative to mitigate system failure and truly support their work. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is two-fold: 1) to discuss evidence that suggests that the nurse is not really viewed as an end user in most clinical information systems implementations and 2) to describe the implications of this misperception to the nurse, organization, and nursing profession.
4 Why Siblings Are Like Darwin ' s Finches : Birth Order , Sibling Competition , and Adaptive Divergence within the Family Frank )

Parents often express surprise at the range of differences in their children's personalities. For example, one child may be unusually fun-loving and sociable, whereas another child may be shy and introverted. Or one child might be a highly organized neat-freak, but another may revel in clutter. A Darwinian perspective on family dynamics sheds considerable light on these kinds of sibling differences, which are driven by principles that are well known to evolutionary biologists. Given their impressive disparities, human siblings are a lot like Darwin's finches, that famous group of birds from the Galapagos Islands that has played such an important role in evolutionary theory. The 14 species of Darwin's finches are all derived from a single ancestor that colonized these volcanic islands more than two million years ago (Grant & Grant, 2008). From an ancestral species that is thought to have resembled the presentday warbler finch, the original colonists have evolved into 7 species of insectivorous tree finches, 2 species that consume the flowers and fruits of cactus, 1 species that eats fruits and leaves, and 4 species of ground finches that have their beaks graduated according to the size of the seeds they consume (Figure 4.1). So extensive is the diversity among the 14 species in this remarkable avian subfamily that Charles Darwin, during his five-week visit to the Galapagos Islands in 1835, mistook some of these finch species for members of distinctly different bird families. Only after returning to England
The use of Web 2.0 technologies in marketing classes: Key drivers of student acceptance

With the proliferation in Web 2.0 technologies, many marketing educators are experimenting with new teaching and learning tools (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Second Life). The benefits of such technologies are often touted by scholars, and indeed, there is a good deal of evidence to support such a view. However, increasingly, educators are highlighting some of the limitations of technology in the learning environment. To draw parallels with other new product research in marketing, the adoption of new learning technologies is often not so widespread. The literature exhibits inconsistency about the willingness of students to adopt new technology in a learning environment, but no systematic research into the factors that affect technology acceptance yet exists. This research fills a gap in the literature by applying an augmented Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to understand students' future intentions to adopt Twitter, a Web 2.0 technology shown to offer students a variety of benefits. By using partial least squares, the research shows that the main proximal driver of student adoption of Twitter is a utilitarian attitude. Students need to be convinced about ‘what's in it for me’, rather than persuaded about the technology's hedonic benefits. Other affective variables such as an individual's affinity with computers and risk tolerance were also found to be important drivers of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, the TAM's key antecedents. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Atmospheric methane removal by boreal plants

Several studies have proposed aerobic methane (CH4) emissions by plants. If confirmed, these findings would further increase the imbalance in the global CH4 budget which today underestimates CH4sinks. Oxidation by OH‐radicals in the troposphere is the major identified sink followed by smaller contribution from stratospheric loss and oxidation by methano‐ and methylotrophic bacteria in soils. This study directly investigated CH4 exchange by plants in their natural environment. At a forest site in central Sweden, in situ branch chamber measurements were used to study plant ambient CH4 exchange by spruce (Picea abies), birch (Betula pubescens), rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) and pine (Pinus sylvestris). The results show a net uptake of CH4 by all the studied plants, which might be of importance for the methane budget.
Politics in Serbia 1990-2002: A cleavage of world views

The paper analyzes socio-psychological sources of political divisions in post-communist Serbia. Following the argument that authoritarianism is intrinsically associated with the opposition to pro-democratic political change, it is hypothesized that authoritarianism is associated with the support for the former communists, and increasingly over time for radical nationalists. The data analysis utilizes three data sets, from 1990, 1996 and 2002, that is from periods that represent three crucial stages in the development of the Serbian post-communist politics. Discriminant analysis of party preferences showed that preferences for authoritarian political options and ideological orientations were tied to authoritarianism as an individual difference variable and specific socio-structural characteristics. The paper offers an interpretation of the Serbian politics throughout 1990s in terms of a cleavage of world views.
Focus on Implantation Embryonic diapause and its regulation

Embryonic diapause, a condition of temporary suspension of development of the mammalian embryo, occurs due to suppres-sion of cell proliferation at the blastocyst stage. It is an evolutionary strategy to ensure the survival of neonates. Obligate diapause occurs in every gestation of some species, while facultative diapause ensues in others, associated with metabolic stress, usually lactation. The onset, maintenance and escape from diapause are regulated by cascades of environmental, hypophyseal, ovarian and uterine mechanisms that vary among species and between the obligate and facultative condition. In the best-known models, the rodents, the uterine environment maintains the embryo in diapause, while estrogens, in combination with growth factors, reinitiate development. Mitotic arrest in the mammalian embryo occurs at the G0 or G1 phase of the cell cycle, and may be due to expression of a speciﬁc cell cycle inhibitor. Regulation of proliferation in non- mammalian models of diapause provide clues to orthologous genes whose expression may regulate the reprise of proliferation in the mammalian context.
Family and Gender Still Matter: The Heterogeneity of Returns To Education in Germany

Using information on family background, we estimate returns to education, allowing for the heterogeneity of returns. In order to control for the unobserved heterogeneity shared by family members, we construct a siblings sample and employ family fixed-effects and family correlated random-effects models. Our main result is that family background still matters despite the substantial political efforts to equalize educational opportunities in Germany. Persons with less-educated parents earn lower wages, but have higher returns to education. This supports the view that persons from less-educated backgrounds still face higher marginal costs in the educational system. The same interplay between the wage level and marginal returns is found for the effect of gender and cohort.
On the distortion in conformal mapping of variable domains

Formanyproblems inconformal mapping it is of importance to have precise quantitative information concerning the variation of the mapping function of a region onto a circle, under a deformation of the region. A number of estimates for this variation in terms of parameters, which measure the deformation and the smoothness of the boundary of the region, have been given in the literature. A survey of such results is contained in [13] and [i1 ](2). While the degree of the change in the mapping function itself has been investigated for various general configurations, the corresponding question concerning the distortion, i.e. the derivative of the mapping function, has been studied primarily for nearly circular regions. The object of the present paper is to obtain such estimates of the distortion for arbitrary regions under quite general hypotheses. The paper is divided into two parts. The question considered in the first part arose in connection with the following theorem [8, p. 364]. Suppose C and Cn (n= 1, 2, * * * ) denote closed Jordan curves which are represented by the equations
An Empirical Analysis of Population Growth on Economic Development: The Case Study of Bangladesh

The population growth has a vital impact on economic development. There are two instructs of thought regarding this issue. Some researchers maintain that population has a negative impact on economic development while others are convinced that the effects are positive. Bangladesh’s population increased 430 percent over the year1950-2012. Multivariate analyses of 1981 to 2014 data from the Bangladesh Economic Survey and from the International Financial Statistics yearbooks found significant and negative relationship between population growth and measures of economic advancement. These results demonstrate that rapid population growth is a real problem in Bangladesh because it contributes to lower investment growth and diminishes the savings rate. Today foreign investment and export promotion have only a small impact on Bangladesh’s economic growth. Owing to its rapid population growth, Bangladesh has among the world’s highest dependency ratios. Policy makers can address these serious economic consequences of rapid population growth by investing in family planning services. Development of independent media and liberal education in educational institutions will in time also help by encouraging a smaller family size ideal.
Zubereraren herskariak: azterketa akustikoa

Some northern varieties of Basque possess three series of plosive or oral stop consonants : voiced /b d g/, voiceless unaspirated /p t k/, and voiceless aspirated /ph th kh/. Among the languages of Europe, Basque seems to be unique in presenting this three-way opposition (although a similar contrast was found in Ancient Greek and it is not unusual in other parts of the worId). For this reason it is important to document this phonological contrast ; even more so since the dialects that maintain this contrast (which is believed to have been much more general in Basque in the past) appear to be in serious danger of extinction. For the study reported here, data were collected from 4 male speakers of Zuberoan or Souletin, the easternmost Basque dialect using a high-quality digital recorder. The data were then analyzed using a computerized speech analysis sytem (Ahotsa, developed by I. Hernaez). Voice Onset Time (VOT) measurements were taken, since this acoustic dimension has been proven to have an excellent correlation with voicing and aspiration in many other languages. The results agree with those that have been reported for other languages with a similar three-way contrast. In utterance-initial position, /b d g/ are prevoiced (negative VOT), /p t k/ have present a short lag (VOT around 20 ms) and the aspirated /ph th kh/ present a much longer lag (average VOT between 60 and 80 ms depending on the place of articulation of the consonant).
Recognizing Suffering or Resistance? Honoring the Courage of Indigenous Quechua Women in Post Conflict Ayacucho, Peru

Based on extensive field work in Ayacucho, the area most affected by the past armed conflict in Peru (1980–2000), this practice note outlines some of the contributions to justice and reconciliation made by Quechua women in post-conflict Ayacucho and hypothesizes a number of reasons why these contributions have not been recognized to the same extent as their suffering.
Bone Marrow Iron Staining is a Reliable Test for Elimination of Iron Deficiency Anemia Rather than its Diagnosis.

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the most frequent type of anemia. The use of biochemical markers is a challenging way of diagnosis in case of inflammation and functional iron deficiency. The role of bone marrow aspirate iron staining is criticized because it is an invasive method and has no accurate standardization. This study was planned to find the value of bone marrow iron staining in diagnosis of iron deficiency. Four hundred and seven cases who had bone marrow aspirate iron staining and simultaneous serum iron tests have been reviewed retrospectively and 47 such cases were evaluated prospectively. Bone marrow iron was negative in 125 (%30.7) cases in retrospective cohort. There was significant differences in serum iron, ferritin, transferrin saturation between bone marrow iron negative and positive cohorts (p< 0.001). Low serum transferrin saturation (<15%) and ferritin (<15 ng/ml) levels are consistent with iron deficiency. On this standard, in both retrospective and prospective cohorts, rates for specificiy (85.5% and 90.4%, respectively) and negative predictivity (97.5% and 100%, respectively) of bone marrow iron staining were relatively high compared with the sensitivity and positive predictivity of the same test. The results of this study show that the evaluation of bone marrow iron staining is a more reliable test for the elimination of IDA rather than its diagnosis.
Reach Versus Competition in Channels with Internet and Traditional Retailers

We examine the strategic and welfare implications of competition between traditional (retail) and Internet channels for goods where characteristics such as trust in the seller, returns, after-sales support, and physical inspection are important. Terming these as fixed online disutility costs, we develop extensions to two paradigm models – the Salop (1979) “circle around the lake model” and the Balasubramanian (1998) “pure e-tailer in the center” model – to include traditional retailers selling through the Internet channel. In these extensions, we conceptualize and specify how the online disutility costs of purchasing can be mitigated if the purchase is from a dual-channel retailer, defining the extent of mitigation as a function of distance from the traditional physical outlet. We compare these four models in prices, profits, consumer, and social welfare. We find that the impact of competition from a pure e-tailer and reach from dual-channel retailers in the Internet channel improves consumer welfare while at the same time lowering social efficiency. This is because consumers incur greater online disutility costs than transportation costs in order to obtain lower prices that result from online competition. We also find that consumers do not receive the advantages of mitigation of online disutility costs when these costs are high as dual-channel retailer prices in both channels are greater than they are in the presence of a pure e-tailer. Yet the reverse occurs when online disutility costs are low as this increases the competition between the dual-channel retailers’ Internet channels. However, it is only profitable for traditional retailers to extend into the Internet channel if the online disutility costs are high enough to forestall a pure e-tailer. Taken together, our results show how the extension of market reach when traditional retailers also sell through the Internet channel can confound the effects of competition.