Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Portrayal of Mental Health and Illness in Australian Non-Fiction Media

Objective: To provide a detailed picture of the extent, nature and quality of portrayal of mental health/illness in Australian non-fiction media. Method: Media items were retrieved from Australian newspaper, television and radio sources over a 1-year period, and identifying/descriptive data extracted from all items. Quality ratings were made on a randomly selected 10% of items, using an instrument based on criteria in Achieving the Balance (a resource designed to promote responsible reporting of mental health/illness). Results: Reporting of mental health/illness was common, with 4351 newspaper, 1237 television and 7801 radio items collected during the study period. Media items most frequently focused on policy/program initiatives in mental health (29.0%), or on causes/ symptoms/treatment of mental illnesses (23.9%). Stories about mental health issues in the context of crime were relatively uncommon, accounting for only 5.6% of items. Most media items were of good quality on eight of the nine dimensions; the exception was that details of appropriate help services were only included in 6.4% of items. Conclusions: In contrast to previous research, the current study found that media reporting of mental health/illness was extensive, generally of good quality and focused less on themes of crime and violence than may have been expected. This is encouraging, since there is evidence that negative media portrayal of mental health/illness can detrimentally affect community attitudes. However, there are still opportunities for improving media reporting of mental health/illness, which should be taken up in future media strategies.
Comparison of clinical management of young and elderly asthmatics by respiratory specialists and general practitioners

Abstract Background: Asthmatic death in the elderly is a serious problem worldwide. Differences in clinical skill between respiratory specialists (RS) and general practitioners (GP) are important in asthma control. The aim of this study was to compare asthma management between RS and GP. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out in Shimane, Japan, in February 2009 using a questionnaire about patient background, treatment, asthma control test (ACT) and adherence to treatment. We secured the cooperation of 48 clinics (39 private clinics and 9 general hospitals). Asthmatics were divided into the elderly and young groups, and also into the RS and GP groups. Results: Clinical data of 779 patients were available for analysis. Elderly patients constituted 464 (RS group: 192, GP group: 272), while those of the young group were 315 (RS group: 207, GP group: 108). RS prescribed inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) to their elderly and young patients more than GP. The total ACT score was higher in young RS group than in young GP group, but no such difference was noted in the elderly. Despite more asthma-related symptoms, the ACT showed that elderly GP asthmatics used fewer rescue inhalers than elderly RS. Self-assessment was higher in elderly GP than elderly RS asthmatics. Adherence to therapy was better in elderly patients than young patients. Conclusions: Elderly asthmatics treated by GPs underestimated the severity of their asthma and asthmatics seen by GPs were undertreated. The results stress the need to engage patients in educational activities, to adhere to guidelines, and to improve the coordination between GP and RS.
Ischemic stroke: effects of etiology and patient age on the time course of the core apparent diffusion coefficient.

PURPOSE To determine whether the evolution of the core apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of water in ischemic stroke varies with patient age or infarct etiology. MATERIALS AND METHODS One hundred forty-seven patients with stroke underwent 236 diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging examinations. Etiologies of lesions were classified according to predefined criteria; in 224 images, the diagnosis of lacune could be firmly established or excluded. ADC was measured in the center of each lesion and in contralateral normal-appearing brain. A model was used to describe the time course of relative ADC (rADC), which is calculated by dividing the lesion ADC by the contralateral ADC, and to test for age- or etiology-related differences in this time course. RESULTS Transition from decreasing to increasing rADC was estimated at 18.5 hours after stroke onset. In subgroup analysis, transition was earlier in nonlacunes than in lacunes (P =.02). There was a trend toward earlier transition in patients older than the median age of 66.0 years, compared with younger patients (P =.06). Pseudonormalization was estimated at 216 hours. Among nonlacunes, the rate of subsequent rADC increase was more rapid in younger patients than in older patients (P =.001). Within the smaller sample of lacunes, however, no significant age-related difference in this rate was found. CONCLUSION Differences in ADC depending on the patient's age and infarct etiology suggest differing rates of ADC progression.
FACTORS AFFECTING STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION IN SOCIAL SECURITY INSTITUTIONS: A CASE STUDY OF NSSF

Purpose: The current study is an assessment of the factors affecting strategy implementation in social security institutions. A case study of NSSF was taken Methodology: The study adopted a descriptive case study research design. The population of the study was 1660 employees of NSSF. Sampling targeted 10.4 percent of the total population of employees. Stratified random sampling was used to select the 173 employees from three strata namely, top management, middle management and junior officers. The study adopted a descriptive case study research design. Data was analyzed by the use of descriptive statistics and inferential analysis. Specifically, means, frequencies and percentages were used. Factor Analysis and Correlation analysis was used to extract the relevant factors and their relationship with strategy implementation. The findings presented in tables, figures and graphs. Results: Findings indicated that the organization leadership at NSSF is not effective and this may have led to poor strategy implementation. The culture at NSSF was not conducive for strategy implementation and this may have led to poor strategy implementation. The organization structure at NSSF was inconsistent with strategy implementation and this may have led to poor strategy implementation. The management of organization resources at NSSF is not effective and this may have led to poor strategy implementation. The organization politics at NSSF are not conducive for strategy implementation and this may have contributed to the poor implementation of strategy. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study suggests that the study should be replicated in the private sector institutions that deal with retirement savings. This would yield results for comparison between private and public institutions. In addition, this study is merely descriptive and lacks statistical rigor. It is therefore suggested that regression and correlation analysis should be conducted in future studies in order to establish the sensitivity of the factors to strategy implementation.
Large Scale Image Retrieval for Location Estimation

The geo-graphical location at which an image or video was taken is a key piece of multimedia information. Such geo-information has become an indispensable component of systems enabling personalized and context-aware multimedia services. The research reported in this thesis investigates how to automatically derive geo-information from multimedia content. In particular, it focuses on the challenge of estimating the geo-coordinates of the location of an image solely on the basis of its visual content. The goal of the research is to develop a scalable visual content-based location estimation system for images and to investigate the possibilities to improve its accuracy and reliability to a substantial extent. The system should be applicable in both the geo-constrained scenario, in which the multimedia item is taken at one of a previously defined set of locations, and the geo-unconstrained scenario, in which the multimedia item could have been taken anywhere in the world. The thesis makes two different kinds of contributions. The first is high-level framework design. We develop a generic large-scale image retrieval-based framework for location estimation. The second is optimization of specific components of the system. We develop two approaches, geometric verification and geo-distinctive visual element matching, that address specific challenges faced by our retrieval-based framework. The resulting system makes location estimation more tractable in case of large image collections, and also more reliable. Our experimental results demonstrate that the system leads to an overall significant improvement of the location estimation performance and redefines the state-of-the art in both geo-constrained and geo-unconstrained location estimation. Based on the findings presented in this thesis, we make recommendations for future research directions, which we think are substantial and promising for large scale image retrieval and geo-location estimation.
Loss of antibody activity in human immunoglobulin A exposed extracellular immunoglobulin A proteases of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Streptococcus sanguis

Immunoglobulin A (IgA) proteases are extracellular enzymes elaborated by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, N. meningitidis, and Streptococcus sanguis. These enzymes each cleave human IgA1 at a critically situated prolyl-threonyl peptide bond to yield Fab alpha and Fc alpha fragments. To study their effect on the antibody activity of human IgA, we enzymatically digested a group of five human IgA monoclonal immunoglobulins with high-titer rheumatoid factor or cold agglutinin activity and human serum macroamylase, an amylase-IgA complex. In contrast to four control IgM rheumatoid factor monoclonal proteins, whose activity was unaffected by enzyme, gonococcal and streptococcal IgA proteases caused prompt, major reductions of IgA antibody activity to negligible levels and converted macroamylase activity to amylase of normal size, as determined by molecular sieve chromatography. In addition, both enzymes promptly deagglutinated sensitized cells that had been aggregated by IgA rheumatoid factors, indicating that IgA bound to antigen is also susceptible to enzyme cleavage. Fab fragments of Iga protein Chr, a rheumatoid factor, showed essentially no antigen-binding activity despite the high titers observed with the parent protein. These studies emphasize the high degree of specificity of the microbial proteases for IgA and their potential for interfering with antibody activity in the IgA1 subclass.
A randomised trial of a retropubic tension‐free vaginal tape versus a mini‐sling for stress incontinence

Please cite this paper as: Basu M, Duckett J. A randomised trial of a retropubic tension‐free vaginal tape versus a mini‐sling for stress incontinence. BJOG 2010; DOI: 10.1111/j.1471‐0528.2010. 02513.x.
Does body posture during tree felling influence the physiological load of a chainsaw operator?

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Holding determined body postures during work is connected with muscles activity. The more forced the posture, the larger the number of muscles taking an active part in holding and stabilizing the work posture. During logging, the greatest share of awkward (forced) working postures occurs in tree felling by chainsaw. MATERIAL AND METHODS A group of 10 experienced fellers aged 47.5±7.3 (37 - 59-years-old) was studied. Heart rate (HR) was measured during simulation of felling activity in 4 working postures: back bent forward with straight legs (stoop), back bent forward with bent legs (flexed-stoop), squat and kneeling on one knee (half-kneel). RESULTS The lowest value of HR was noticed for squatting - 114.1 bpm, then for kneeling on one knee - 116.3 bpm. HR during felling in a standing posture with straight legs amounted to 121.5 bpm and for standing with bent legs 125.3 bpm. For all studied postures the differences in average HR values were statistically significant at p<0.01. CONCLUSIONS A working posture during tree felling by chainsaw has influence on the level of physiological workload of an operator. Standing bent forward body postures cause higher heart response than squatting and half-kneeling.
Systematic longevity risk: to bear or to insure?

Abstract We compare two contracts for managing systematic longevity risk in retirement: a collective arrangement that distributes the risk among participants, and a market-provided annuity contract. We evaluate the contracts’ appeal with respect to the retiree's welfare, and the viability of the market solution through the financial reward to the annuity provider's equityholders. We find that individuals prefer to bear the risk under a collective arrangement than to insure it with a life insurers' annuity contract subject to insolvency risk (albeit small). Under realistic capital provision hypotheses, the annuity provider is incapable of adequately compensating its equityholders for bearing systematic longevity risk.
Postpartum maternal morbidity in Jos, North-Central Nigeria.

INTRODUCTION Postpartum maternal morbidity is a serious public health problem. Major acute and long-term obstetric morbidities affect the life and reproductive career of women. OBJECTIVE To determine the incidence, pattern and associated factors of postpartum maternal morbidity in the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) and offer suggestions on various interventions to reduce this postpartum morbidity. MATERIALS AND METHODS This was a 3-year prospective observational study at the JUTH between April 2005 and March 2008. All patients who delivered or were treated in the hospital for postpartum morbidity were recruited for the study. RESULTS A total of 9056 women delivered, of which 246 (2.72%) were treated for postpartum morbidity. Most of the patients (32.9%) were between 25 and 29 years old. A majority of the women (58.5%) were of Parity 2 to 4. House officers and senior house officers supervised most (43.5%) of the deliveries. The most common postpartum maternal morbidity was primary postpartum hemorrhage (35.4%). This was followed by hypertensive disorders (24.8%) and genital tract sepsis (16.7%). There was a statistically significant relationship between accoucher and postpartum maternal morbidity. CONCLUSION The incidence of postpartum morbidity was high, with hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders and genital tract sepsis being common problems. It is hoped that supervision of deliveries by skilled medical personnel and active management of the third stage of labor will reduce the incidence of postpartum hemorrhage.
THE NATIONAL BUDGET SYSTEM AND ITS EFFECTIVENESS ON PUBLIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT WITHIN MINISTRIES IN RWANDA

The national budget system shows what the government intends to do during the period of its fiscal calendar and how it intends to finance its activities. It is these budgetary activities and their implications on public financial management that the study sought to assess. Particularly, the study was guided by the research questions as to whether the national budget system of Rwanda is perceived to be effective in terms of preparation, execution, reporting and follow up? ; how effective the Rwandan system of budget is, in terms of compliance and clean up audit? ; and whether the Rwandan budget system help in enhancing the effectiveness of public financial management? The study applied descriptive and inferential research technique in analysing both quantitative and qualitative data, form five ministries in Rwanda. The results indicated that the national budget system and effective public sector financial management of selected ministries are significantly correlated.
Morphology of Ureaplasma urealyticum (T-mycoplasma) organisms and colonies

The morphology of Ureaplasm urealyticum in broth cultures was studied by phase-contrast microscopy. Most organisms appeared singly or in pairs. Long filaments and long chains of cocci, common in classical mycoplasma cultures, were not observed. On solid medium, U. urealyticum produced "fried-egg" colonies which developed according to the scheme suggested by Razin and Oliver (J. Gen. Microbiol., 1961) for the morphogenesis of the classical mycoplasma colonies. The formation of the peripheral zone of the colonies followed that of the central zone only when growth conditions were adequate, Hence, the appearance of peripheral zones, and consequently the larger colony size, can be taken as an indicator of improved growth conditions. Incubation in an atmosphere of 100% CO2 resulted in significantly larger colonies than in an atmosphere of N2, O2, or air. CO2 acts as a buffer, keeping the pH at the optimal range for Ureaplasma growth (pH 6.0 to 6.5) in the presence of the ammonia produced from the urea hydrolyzed by the organisms. The addition to the medium of 0.01 M urea together with 0.01 M putrescine enabled better growth than with urea alone. Small amounts of phosphate improved growth in an atmosphere of CO2, apparently fulfilling a nutritional role. Under nitrogen, higher phosphate concentrations were required for good growth, apparently serving as a buffer as well as a nutrient. Sodium chloride and sucrose which had been added to increase the tonicity of the medium inhibited growth above 0.1 M. An increase in the agar concentration above 2% resulted in decreased colony size. Likewise, prolonged drying of the agar plates caused a marked decrease in colony size, mostly affecting the peripheral zone. The addition of both urea and putrescine to the growth medium and incubation in a humidified CO2 atmosphere are recommended for improved growth and formation of fried-egg colonies of U. ureaplyticum on agar. It must be emphasized that these experiments were carried out with a laboratory-adapted strain.
Gas6 induces proliferation in prostate carcinoma cell lines expressing the Axl receptor

Axl is a tyrosine kinase receptor and although it is expressed in malignancy such as leukemia, colon cancer, melanoma, endometrial, prostate and thyroid cancers, its role has not been completely elucidated yet and appears to be complex. The ligand of Axl, Gas6, is a 75 KDa multimodular protein with an N‐terminal gamma‐carboxy‐glutamic acid that is essential for binding. Gas6 has a mitogenic effect on several normal cell lines. The receptor Axl is expressed in primary prostate carcinoma and in prostate cancer cell lines as such as PC‐3 and DU 145. We demonstrated a mitogenic activity determined by Gas6/Axl interaction in these undifferentiated metastatic human prostatic cancer cell lines. This effect is proportional to Axl expression, not due to inhibition of apoptosis, and induces AKT and MAPK phosphorylation. However, only MEK phosphorylation seems to be essential for growth signaling. Our results suggest that Axl overexpression and activation by Gas6 could be involved in progression of prostate neoplastic disease. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Pancreatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia: A New Nomenclature and Classification System for Pancreatic Duct Lesions

Proliferative epithelial lesions in the smaller caliber pancreatic ducts and ductules have been the subject of numerous morphologic, clinical, and genetic studies; however, a standard nomenclature and diagnostic criteria for classifying these lesion have not been established. To evaluate the uniformity of existing systems for grading duct lesions in the pancreas, 35 microscopic slides with 35 representative duct lesions were sent to eight expert pathologists from the United States, Canada, and Europe. Kappa values for interobserver agreement could not be calculated initially because more than 70 different diagnostic terms were used by the eight pathologists. In several cases, the diagnoses rendered for a single duct lesion ranged from “hyperplasia,” to “metaplasia,” to “dysplasia,” to “carcinoma in situ. ” This review therefore demonstrated the need for a standard nomenclature and classification system. Subsequently, during a working group meeting, the pathologists agreed to adopt a single standard system. The terminology pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (or PanIN) was selected, and diagnostic criteria for each grade of PanIN were established (http://pathology.jhu.edu/pancreas_panin). This new system was then evaluated by having the eight pathologists rereview the original 35 cases. Only seven different diagnoses were rendered, and kappa values of 0.43, 0.14, and 0.42 were obtained for PanINs 1, 2, and 3 respectively. Cases assigned other diagnoses (e.g., squamous metaplasia) collectively had a kappa value of 0.41. These results show both the potential of the classification system, and also the difficulty of classifying these lesions even with a consistent nomenclature. However, even when there is lack of consensus, having a restricted set of descriptions and terms allows a better understanding of the reasons for disagreement. It is suggested that we adopt and apply this system uniformly, with continued study of its reliability and use, and possibly further refinement. The acceptance of a standard classification system will facilitate the study of pancreatic duct lesions, and will lead ultimately to a better understanding of their biologic importance.
Emergency department utilization in the United States and Ontario, Canada.

OBJECTIVES The current crisis in the emergency care system is characterized by worsening emergency department (ED) overcrowding. Lack of health insurance is widely perceived to be a major contributing factor to ED overcrowding in the United States. This study aimed to compare ED visit rates in the United States and Ontario, Canada, according to demographic and clinical characteristics. METHODS This was a cross sectional study consisting of a nationally representative sample of 40,253 ED visits included in the 2003 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey in the United States, and all ED visits recorded during 2003 by the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System in Ontario, Canada. The main outcome was the number of ED visits per 100 population per year. RESULTS The annual ED visit rate in the United States was 39.9 visits (95% confidence interval = 37.2 to 42.6) per 100 population, virtually identical to the rate in Ontario, Canada (39.7 visits per 100 population). In both the United States and Ontario, Canada, those aged 75 years and older had the highest ED visit rate and women had a slightly higher ED visit rate than men. The most common discharge diagnosis was injury/poisoning, accounting for 25.6% of all ED visits in the United States and 24.7% in Ontario, Canada. Overall, 13.9% of ED patients in the United States were admitted to hospitals, compared with 10.5% in Ontario, Canada. CONCLUSIONS ED visit rates and patterns are similar in the United States and Ontario, Canada. Differences in health insurance coverage may not have a substantial impact on the overall utilization of emergency care.