Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EFFECT OF PLAY INTERVENTION IN THE REDUCTION OF ANXIETY AMONG PREOPERATIVE CHILDREN

An important index used to estimate the Nation’s health is the health status of children in the country. Children are more vulnerable due to their lack of knowledge of procedures, a lack of control, a lack of explanation in child-appropriate terms, and a lack of pain management. Hospitalized children may experience high level of anxiety due to many different factors both physical and psychological factors. The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of play intervention on anxiety among children admitted in preoperative wards of selected hospitals at Mangalore. The objectives of the study were to determine the effectiveness of play intervention among experimental group. The study design was two group pre-test post- test design. The sample comprised of 60 preoperative school age children in the age of 6-12 years who were selected by Purposive sampling technique and divided into experimental and control group. Pretest anxiety was assessed and play intervention (video game) was given to the experimental group along with the routine care and only routine care to the control group. The data was collected by using demographic proforma and numerical state anxiety scale. The study result showed that the calculated‘t’ value (t= 4.225) was greater than the table value (t58 = 1.671) at 0.05 level of significance. The pre-test anxiety score was independent of all the demographic variables such as age, gender, religion, type of family, residence, care giver present during hospital stay, past child reactions to any procedures. The finding of the study shows that the play intervention was effective in reducing the anxiety among preoperative children.
Increased risk of stroke in hypertensive women using hormone therapy: analyses based on the Danish Nurse Study.

BACKGROUND Recent randomized clinical trials suggest an increased risk of stroke with hormone therapy (HT), whereas observational studies have suggested mixed results. Differences in design, definitions of HT exposure, and stroke outcome may explain these discrepancies. Little attention has been paid to identifying subgroups of women who are particularly sensitive to HT. OBJECTIVES To investigate the risk of various stroke outcomes among women using HT based primarily on estradiol-17beta (unopposed or combined with norethisterone acetate) and to assess the potential modifying effect by presence of risk factors for stroke. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING In 1993, the Danish Nurse Study was established, and questionnaires on lifestyle and HT use were sent to all Danish nurses older than 44 years, of whom 19,898 (85.8%) replied. PARTICIPANTS Postmenopausal women (n = 13,122) free of previous major cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease and cancer. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke (n = 144) identified in the national registries of hospital discharges and cause of deaths in the total follow-up through December 31, 1998. RESULTS In 1993, 28.0% of the 13 122 were current HT users, 14.3% were past users, and 57.7% were never users. Overall, HT exposure was not consistently associated with stroke. However, subdivision based on the presence of hypertension showed a significantly increased risk of stroke among hypertensive women. Compared with hypertensive never HT users, an increased risk of total stroke was found with current use (hazard ratio, 2.35; 95% confidence interval, 1.16-4.74) and especially with current use of estrogen-progestin (hazard ratio, 3.00; 95% confidence interval, 1.33-6.76). Normotensive women had no increased risk of stroke with HT. CONCLUSIONS We found an increased risk of stroke among hypertensive but not normotensive women using HT. The present study suggests that HT should be avoided in hypertensive women.
Modeling of a magneto-rheological damper using modified FNN without force sensor input

This paper proposes a model for magneto-rheological (MR) dampers using feed-forward neural network (FNN) that does not require force information. Existing methods that utilize FNN to predict the damping force generated by an MR damper use previous time-histories of displacement, voltage and force as inputs. The resulting predicted force is accurate but requires that real-time force measurements be available through the installation of force sensors to the system. Unlike the previous FNN model, the proposed model does not require these force measurements, therefore leading to a simpler and more economical implementation of the MR damper model. The system is designed using time-histories of displacement, current and velocity to predict damping force. This paper shows results of proposed model compare to previous FNN model using training and validation data sets generated by experimental MR damper system.
Health and Exposure Concerns of Veterans Deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan

Objective: We report the clinical concerns of US veterans of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom evaluated at the New Jersey War-Related Illness and Injury Study Center (NJ WRIISC) between June 2004 and January 2006. Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review of veterans' health and exposure concerns. Results: Veterans (n = 56) reported an average of 4 (standard deviation [SD] = 2.1; range, 0–9) physical health concerns, and 2.7 (SD = 2.3; range, 0–10) exposure concerns. The majority of veterans (55%) had a mental health concern, most commonly, posttraumatic stress disorder. The most common exposure concerns were depleted uranium, multiple vaccinations, and poor air quality. Greater proportions of Reserve veterans reported genitourinary concerns and exposure to smoke from burning trash than active duty veterans. Conclusions: Veterans of military operations in Southwest Asia have deployment-related health and exposure concerns that will need to be addressed by their ambulatory care physicians.
Aggressive plaque modification with rotational atherectomy and/or cutting balloon before drug-eluting stent implantation for the treatment of calcified coronary lesions.

INTRODUCTION Calcified coronary lesions may be associated with stent underexpansion, malapposition, and high rates of restenosis. The use of drug-eluting stents (DES) in such lesions has not been fully addressed in the major trials. We sought to examine the outcomes of patients who were treated with plaque modification (PM) to facilitate DES implantation. METHODS We analyzed 164 calcified coronary lesions in 145 consecutive patients who underwent aggressive PM with either rotational atherectomy (RA) and/or cutting balloon (CB) before DES implantation. CB was used in moderate calcified lesions and RA alone or followed by CB in severe calcified lesions. RESULTS Patients were 68.7 +/- 10.1 years old, 47% were diabetic, 34% had left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < or =50%, and 39% had 3-vessel disease. Ninety-five percent of lesions were classified as B2/C, 100% as moderately/severely calcified. PM was achieved by using CB in 57% and by RA alone or followed by CB in 43%. In 100%, a DES was implanted. There was no failure to deliver a stent. At 15 +/- 11 months follow-up, the overall major adverse cardiac events (MACE) rate was 9.6% (3.4% cardiac death, 2.3% myocardial infarction, and 3.4% target lesion revascularization [TLR]). The only independent predictor of MACE was LVEF < or =50% (odds ratio 3.88; 95% confidence interval: 1.15-13.1; P = 0.03). The incidence of stent thrombosis (ST) was 2.1%. There were no significant differences in MACE and TLR based on the type of PM used. CONCLUSIONS In this population at high risk of restenosis, aggressive PM by CB and/or RA before DES implantation provides excellent mid-term outcomes with only 3.4% TLR and 2.1% ST.
A New Theory on Philo’s Reversal

Etude de la signification du renversement de position de Philon dans la partie XII des «Dialogues sur la religion naturelle» de Hume. Soulevant la question de la defense de la croyance religieuse en general, l'A. soutient la these selon laquelle la position de Hume face a la religion est une forme d'atheisme stratonicien, en reference a Straton de Lampsaque, developpant une conception naturaliste de la cause de l'univers et de Dieu
A Study of Small Business Owners’ Personal Characteristics and the Use of Marketing Information in the Food and Drink Industry: A Resource-Based Perspective

Market orientation (MO) – which is the propensity of a firm to collect and utilise information from the market – is an important leverage of competitive advantage. This paper helps to better understand why some owner-managers engage with market intelligence why others simply do not. The relationship among the owner-manager’s personal characteristics, entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and MO are explored, despite existing literature neglected testing these simple but important relationships. We adopt a resource-based view (RBV) of the firm perspective. This study aims to establish whether the personal characteristics of the entrepreneur impact the use of marketing information. More specifically, this study tests entrepreneurial attitude orientation, marketing expertise and demographic variables for an effect on the use of different types and sources of marketing information as well as the frequency of information usage. Data were collected through a regional survey of 296 small business owners and senior managers in SMEs in the Scottish food and drink industry. Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) and regression analysis was used to test hypothesised relationships. Personal characteristics such as age (p .05). Implications for policy makers and practitioners involving small business subsidies and entrepreneurs’ marketing training are discussed.
Options for the Prevention of Rotavirus Disease Other Than Vaccination

High-quality clinical practice guidelines and recommendations are characterised by a full review of all of the available options for the prevention of a particular disease. Several interventions other than vaccination for the prevention of rotavirus (RV) gastroenteritis (GE) and acute diarrhoea in children have been studied in clinical trials. These interventions include improved sanitation and hand hygiene (1–7), passive immunisation (8–13), probiotics (14–23), and promotion of breast-feeding (15,24–34). In this article, we have restricted our discussion to the studies that have considered RV infection or disease as a separate outcome measure.
Individual Learner Differences and Second Language Acquisition: A Review

The level of second language acquisition depends on many factors controlled by nature or shaped by nurture. The present paper studies the role of individual learner differences in second language acquisition (SLA). The individual differences, viz., age, sex, aptitude, motivation, cognitive style, learning strategies, and personality are defined and classified. A detailed review of the studies conducted in relation to the seven individual differences follows. The paper concludes by emphasizing that a language teacher must recognize the individual differences in his/ her students in order to impart effective language learning.
Choice of Healthcare Providers among Insured Persons in Ghana

Since the introduction of the National Health Insurance Scheme in Ghana in 2003, there has been little evidence with regards the type of providers from whom these insured persons seek healthcare. This study examines the choice of healthcare providers under the National Health Insurance Scheme in Ghana, using nine hundred and eighty eight (988) insured persons. Stratified random sampling technique was employed in selecting respondents, while the multinomial logistic regression was employed. Factors such as cash amount paid, waiting time and proximity to facility were found to discourage the use of orthodox healthcare among insured persons. The study recommend that social and economic infrastructure such as roads, telecommunication, and health centres should be expanded and / or improved in some cases to make orthodox healthcare providers more accessible and affordable, at the same time, it reduce the demand for unorthodox healthcare among the insured persons. Keywords: Multinomial Logit, Insured Persons, NHIS, Ghana
Lipooligosaccharides Containing Phosphorylcholine Delay Pulmonary Clearance of Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae

ABSTRACT Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) causes pulmonary infections in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other mucociliary clearance defects. Like many bacteria inhabiting mucosal surfaces, NTHi produces lipooligosaccharide (LOS) endotoxins that lack the O side chain. Persistent NTHi populations express a discrete subset of LOS glycoforms, including those containing phosphorylcholine (PCho). In this study, we compared two NTHi strains with isogenic mutants lacking PCho for clearance from mice following pulmonary infection. Consistent with data from other model systems, populations of the strains NTHi 2019 and NTHi 86-028NP recovered from mouse lung contained an increased proportion of PCho+ variants compared to that in the inocula. PCho− mutants were more rapidly cleared. Serial passage of NTHi increased both PCho content and bacterial resistance to clearance, and no such increases were observed for PCho− mutants. Increased PCho content was also observed in NTHi populations within non-endotoxin-responsive C3H/HeJ and Toll-like receptor 4 null (TLR4−/−) mice, albeit at later times postinfection. Changes in bacterial subpopulations and clearance were unaffected in TLR2−/− mice compared to the subpopulations in and clearance from mice of the parental strain. The clearance of PCho− mutants occurred at earlier time points in both strain backgrounds and in all types of mice. Comparison of bacterial populations in lung tissue cryosections by immunofluorescent staining showed sparse bacteria within the air spaces of C57BL/6 mice and large bacterial aggregates within the lungs of MyD88−/− mice. These results indicate that PCho promotes bacterial resistance to pulmonary clearance early in infection in a manner that is at least partially independent of the TLR4 pathway.
Potential anti-inflammatory treatments against cutaneous sulfur mustard injury using the mouse ear vesicant model

In spite of several decades of research, no effective treatment to skin injuries following exposure to sulfur mustard (HD) has yet been found. In the present study, the mouse ear vesicant model was applied to awake mice in order to evaluate the efficiency of potential anti-inflammatory treatments in preventing HD-induced skin damages. Clinical follow-up and histological evaluation were used to characterize the injuries to the skin and to evaluate the efficiency of the drugs that were applied. Thus, the extent of mouse ear oedema and the histopathological changes following a single application of 0.2 or 1 L of neat HD for 10 min (representing moderate and severe lesions, respectively), were monitored. Typical HD skin lesions were observed including epithelial and dermal damage. The development of the injury in mouse ears was found to be very similar to that reported in human skin. Screening of post-exposure topical steroids and non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) proved that HD-induced inflammation could be diminished significantly as long as the treatment was applied during the early stages following exposure. A combined application of these drugs approved to be particularly effective in reducing inflammation.
Comparison of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion versus anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion for the treatment of contiguous two-level cervical spondylotic myelopathy

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical effectiveness and safety of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) and anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion (ACCF) for treating contiguous two-level cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM). Methods: The authors searched electronic databases for relevant studies that compared the clinical effectiveness of ACDF and ACCF for the treatment of patients with contiguous two-level CSM. Data extraction and quality assessment were conducted, and RevMan 5.2 was used for data analysis. The random effects model was used if there was heterogeneity between studies; otherwise, the fixed effects model was used. Results: A total of six studies were included in our meta-analysis. No statistical difference was observed with regard to complications, degeneration of the level adjacent to the fusion, fusion rate, arm and neck VAS score, postoperative JOA score between ACCF and ACDF. Compared with ACDF group, the blood loss and operation time were significantly higher in the ACCF group, however, Cobb and fused segment height were significantly lower. Conclusions: Our meta-analysis reveals that surgical treatments of contiguous two-level CSM are similar in terms of most clinical outcomes using ACDF or ACCF. However, owing to the limitations of the current study, high-quality clinical studies with larger sample sizes are still needed to confirm our results.
The Quest; History And Meaning In Religion

In "The Quest" Mircea Eliade stresses the cultural function that a study of the history of religions can play in a secularized society. He writes for the intelligent general reader in the hope that what he calls a new humanism "will be engendered by a confrontation of modern Western man with unknown or less familiar worlds of meaning. " "Each of these essays contains insights which will be fruitful and challenging for professional students of religion, but at the same time they all retain the kind of cultural relevance and clarity of style which makes them accessible to anyone seriously concerned with man and his religious possibilities. " Joseph M. Kitagawa, "Religious Education""
Leaf Functional Anatomy in Relation to Photosynthesis1

Rubisco is a large enzyme with a molecular mass of approximately 550 kD. The maximum rate of CO2 fixation (i.e. ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate [RuBP] carboxylation) at CO2 saturation is only 15 to 30 mol CO2 mol−1 Rubisco protein s−1 at 25°C. Affinity to CO2 is also low, and the K m, K c, at 25°C
Persistently Elevated Levels of von Willebrand Factor Antigen in HIV Infection

Summary Levels of circulating von Willebrand factor (vWf) antigen are thought to reflect endothelial involvement in various disorders. In the present study we found markedly elevated plasma levels of vWf in HIV-infected patients demonstrated on both cross-sectional and longitudinal testing. Notably, we found that a persistent rise in vWf antigen was associated with progression of HIV-related disease. This elevation of vWf antigen represented functionally normal vWf as evaluated by plasma FVIII, ristocetin cofactor assay and vWf multimer analyses. While HIV-infected patients showed enhanced platelet activation, platelets did not contribute substantially to the increased vWf levels. The high vWf levels were significantly correlated with high viral load, and during HAART, the pronounced decline in HIV RNA levels was accompanied by a corresponding decrease in vWf. The persistent elevation of functionally normal vWf during HIV infection, most probably reflecting a persistent endothelial cell activation, may have an important role in the pathogenesis of HIV infection.
The Reality of Rule-Following

Drawing on Wittgensteinian materials, Saul Kripke has raised a problem for anyone who thinks that we follow rules, say rules of meaning, in the ordinary sense of that phrase: the sense in which it suggests that rules are entities we can identify at a time and form the intention of trying to honour thereafter. ' He has presented a sceptical challenge to the idea of rule-following, elaborating-if not wholly endorsing arguments which purport to show that the idea is rooted in illusion. I believe that this challenge is of the greatest importance in the philosophy of mind, though many practitioners seem to think that they can ignore it. I argue that the challenge can be met and the reality of rulefollowing vindicated. But I show that in order to meet it in this way, some quite dramatic shifts have to be made in the ways of conceiving mentality that have become standard among philosophers and psychologists. The paper is in four parts. In the first I give a characterization of rules and rule-following, trying to show how central they are in our everyday thought about ourselves. In the second I present the sceptical challenge, drawing heavily on Kripke's work; I exercise some license here, since I do not aspire to be an exegete either of Kripke or of Wittgenstein. In the third section I offer my response to the challenge, outlining a non-sceptical conception of rules and rule-following. In the fourth section I look at three corollaries of the response. And then in the last section I buttress the response, showing how the non-sceptical conception can be extended to encompass public as well as private rules. One word of warning, in case too much is expected. I formulate the problem of rule-following, and I propose a solution, on the assumption that a creature which does not follow rules in my sense, and is not therefore a speaker or thinker-see section i-may yet be capable of having beliefs, desires, and intentions, including beliefs, desires, and intentions directed to others of its kind: it may yet be an intentional and even social subject. Those who want to ascribe intentionality only to speakers or thinkers will quarrel with this assumption but they will probably endorse a variant that would serve my purposes equally well: they will recognize the possibility that creatures who do not follow rules may yet display a suitably complex range of recognitional, behavioural, and information-processing skills. The important point is that rule-
MARKOV CHAIN MODELS IN PRACTICE: A REVIEW OF LOW COST SOFTWARE OPTIONS

Markov processes (or Markov chains) are used for modeling a phenomenon in which changes over time of a random variable comprise a sequence of values in the future, each of which depends only on the immediately preceding state, not on other past states. A Markov process (PM) is completely characterized by specifying the finite set S of possible states and the stationary probabilities (i.e. time-invariant) of transition between these states. The software most used in medical applications is produced by TreeAge, since it offers many advantages to the user. But, the cost of the Treeage software is relatively high. Therefore in this article two software alternatives are presented: Sto Tree and the zero cost add-in package "markovchain" implemented in R. An example of a cost-effectiveness analysis of two possible treatments for advanced cervical cancer, previously conducted with the Treeage software, is re-analyzed with these two low cost software packages. You can find a Spanish version of this paper in the following link: http://faculty.sites. uci.edu/lrkeller/publications/
Genetic contribution of the HLA region to the familial clustering of coeliac disease

In order to assess the effect of the HLA region on familiality of coeliac disease (CD), we carried out a study on 121 CD index cases and 325 first degree relatives. The transmission disequilibrium test confirmed the importance of the HLA‐DR3 haplotype in CD susceptibility. However, the different distortion found in affected children inheriting maternal or paternal DR3 alleles suggested that the sex of the parent might influence the risk conferred by this haplotype. The increase in risk to siblings of affected individuals relative to the risk in the general population (λs) and the contribution of the HLA genes to this clustering (λsHLA) have also been estimated. Non‐overlapping data from the literature have been collected and combined with our sample to extend such analysis. Then, the percentage contribution of the HLA region to the development of CD among siblings was 36·2%. This result confirms that the HLA genotypes are an important genetic background to CD development but shows that additional susceptibility factors remain to be identified.