Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of patients with chronic liver disease.

OBJECTIVES To explore knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and barriers to care among patients with chronic liver disease (CLD). METHODS Three separate, one-time-only, 60-minutes focus group sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using an editing style of analysis. RESULTS In total, 13 focus group participants provided 254 discrete comments. Emerging themes included: negative lifestyles/behaviors, lack of CLD knowledge, negative attitudes/emotions, stigma and negativity, health insurance, inaccessible/high cost medical care, drug/alcohol abuse, and discriminately sharing CLD diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS Participants felt lack of CLD knowledge was a key factor in how patients perceived prevention, risks, causes, and treatment. These findings contribute to the important, yet limited, base of knowledge about CLD and provide a benchmark for future, more extensive studies and interventions.
Correlates of weapon carrying in school among adolescents in three countries.

OBJECTIVES To determine the factors associated with weapon carrying in school among Czech, Russian, and US adolescents. METHODS Logistic regression was used to analyze data drawn from the Social and Health Assessment (SAHA). RESULTS Violent behavior (perpetration / victimization) was linked to adolescent weapon carrying in all countries. Substance use was associated with weapon carrying among boys in all countries. Greater parental warmth reduced the odds for weapon carrying among Czech and Russian adolescents. Associating with delinquent peers was important for weapon carrying only among US adolescents. CONCLUSIONS Factors associated with weapon carrying in school vary among countries although violent behavior and substance use may be associated with weapon carrying across countries.
Health behaviors and work-related outcomes among school employees.

OBJECTIVE To determine the association between selected health behaviors and work-related outcomes among 2398 school-based employees who voluntarily enrolled in a worksite wellness program. METHODS This study presents participants' baseline data collected from a personal health assessment used by Well-Steps, a third-party wellness company. RESULTS Employees with high levels of exercise, fruit/vegetable consumption, or restful sleep exhibited higher job-performance and job-satisfaction, and lower absenteeism (p < .05). When all 3 behaviors occurred simultaneously, there was higher job-performance (Prevalence Ratio=1.09; 95% CI=1.05-1.13), job-satisfaction (Prevalence Ratio=1.53; 95% CI=1.30-1.80), and lower absenteeism (Prevalence Ratio=1.16; 95% CI=1.08-1.325). Further, number of co-occurring health behaviors influenced other satisfaction and emotional health outcomes. CONCLUSION Selected healthy behaviors, individually or co-occurring, are associated with health outcomes potentially important at the worksite.
Hookah Smoking and Facilitators/Barriers to Lounge Use among Students at a US University.

OBJECTIVE To examine hookah tobacco use, hookah lounge attendance, and facilitators and barriers to hookah lounge attendance. METHODS A cross-sectional Web-based survey of a random sample of 1332 undergraduate students (Mean Age = 21.2 years) attending a United States university. RESULTS The majority of respondents (72.8%) had ever smoked hookah tobacco, and 28% of those had ever smoked during adolescence. The majority of ever hookah smokers (81.5%) and a portion of never hookah smokers (20%) had ever been to a hookah lounge. The adjusted odds of ever visiting a hookah lounge were 2.1 times higher among participants who reported that the closest hookah lounge to the university was < 5 miles away than those who reported that the closest hookah lounge was ≥ 5 miles away. Facilitators of visiting hookah lounges included friends and close proximity of hookah lounges to campus; barriers included cost of smoking hookah, crowded lounges, and having to be 18 years old. CONCLUSION Youth are vulnerable to experimenting with hookah tobacco smoking. Hookah lounges provide patrons the opportunity to smoke hookah tobacco with smoker and non-smoker friends in entertaining settings. Our findings suggest that zoning laws and anti-hookah smoking legislation may help curb hookah uptake by prohibiting hookah lounges from opening in close proximity to universities, reducing the density of hookah lounges in cities, and raising the admission age for hookah lounges to 21 years.
Development and Testing of a Revised Cooking Matters for Adults Survey.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to: (1) develop and psychometrically test a survey designed to assess Cooking Matters for Adults (CMA); and (2) assess changes in outcomes from pre- to post-pilot testing in English-speaking CMA classes to support the construct validity of the survey. METHODS Cognitive interviewing participants were drawn from a low-income convenience sample in Omaha, Nebraska (N = 21). The survey included items to assess dietary patterns and choices, sociodemographics, and psychosocial correlates. Analyses were conducted with SPSS and included descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha, and paired sample t-tests. RESULTS Cognitive interviewing resulted in changes to survey layout and wording. Factor analysis revealed 4 actors with Cronbach alphas supporting internal consistency. Between pretest and posttest, fruit intake increased (p < .05) and non-fried potatoes decreased (p < .05). Selection of healthy dietary options (low-fat dairy and milk, sodium, lean meats; p's < .05), healthy food preparation (p < .001), and cooking confidence (p < .001) increased and perceived barriers to cooking (p < .01) decreased. CONCLUSIONS The CMA Survey includes psychometrically sound items and positive self-reported changes. This survey can be a valuable resource for other similar programs.
Medical Marijuana Legalization and Co-use in Adult Cigarette Smokers.

OBJECTIVES We examined effects of long-term medical marijuana legalization on cigarette co-use in a sample of adults. METHODS We conducted secondary analysis using data from the 2014 US Tobacco Attitudes and Beliefs Survey, which consisted of cigarette smokers, aged ≥ 45 years (N = 506). Participants were categorized by their state residence, where medical marijuana was (1) illegal, (2) legalized < 10 years, and (3) legalized ≥ 10 years. The Web-based survey assessed participants' marijuana use, beliefs and attitudes on marijuana, and nicotine dependence using Fagerstrom Tolerance for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) and Hooked on Nicotine Checklist (HONC) scores. RESULTS In cigarette smokers aged ≥ 45 years, long-term legalization of medical marijuana was associated with stable positive increases in marijuana use prevalence (ever in a lifetime) (p = .005) and frequency (number of days in past 30 days) (unadjusted p = .005; adjusted p = .08). Those who reported marijuana co-use had greater FTND and HONC scores after adjusting for covariates (p = .05). CONCLUSIONS These preliminary findings warrant further examination of the potential impact of long-term legalization of medical marijuana on greater cigarette and marijuana co-use in adults and higher nicotine dependence among co-users at the population level.
Inequalities of general physicians and specialists visits’ utilization and its determinants in Iran: a population based study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study, inequalities between general physicians’ and specialists’ visits in Shiraz. Also, the factors effecting the utilization of visits were determined. Design/methodology/approach – Concentration index and curves, ranked by income and quality of life were used to estimate the amount of inequality in the utilization of services. Health utilization data which had been gathered already were used for this purpose. Poisson regression was used to construct the models. Findings – Results of the study showed that, inequalities in specialists’ visits were higher than GPs’. Complementary insurances users and females used more specialist services. People with higher quality of life utilized fewer GPs’ and specialists’ services. Originality/value – New evidences about inequality in health services utilization and its components in Iran was surveyed.
Weight Perception and Weight-control Intention among Youth in the COMPASS Study.

OBJECTIVES Youth weight perceptions and the association with weight-control intentions were explored by sex and body mass index (BMI). METHODS Cross-sectional analyses (frequency, chi-square, multiple logistic regression) were conducted among 44,861 grade 9-12 students in Year 2(Y2:2013-2014) of the COMPASS study, adjusting for sex and race/ethnicity. RESULTS Overall, weight underestimations were more common than overestimations, although there were differences by sex and race/ethnicity. Boys were relatively more likely to underestimate their weight status, and girls were more likely to overestimate. Compared to youth with normal-weight BMIs, students with overweight BMIs were more inclined to underestimate their weight, and those with BMIs in the obese range had higher odds of accurately perceiving their weight. Regardless of BMI, youth with overweight perceptions were more likely to report trying to lose weight than those who perceived their weight to be "about right," whereas youth with underweight perceptions tended to report efforts to gain weight. CONCLUSIONS While youth with overweight BMIs did not necessarily perceive their weight as such, accurate perceptions were more likely once BMI reached the obese range. Results suggest weight perception is a more useful predictor of weight-control intentions than self-reported weight status among youth.
On the Rainbow Vertex-Connection

Abstract A vertex-colored graph is rainbow vertex-connected if any two vertices are connected by a path whose internal vertices have distinct colors. The rainbow vertex-connection of a connected graph G, denoted by rvc(G), is the smallest number of colors that are needed in order to make G rainbow vertexconnected. It was proved that if G is a graph of order n with minimum degree δ, then rvc(G) < 11n/δ. In this paper, we show that rvc(G) ≤ 3n/(δ+1)+5 for [xxx] and n ≥ 290, while rvc(G) ≤ 4n/(δ + 1) + 5 for [xxx] and rvc(G) ≤ 4n/(δ + 1) + C(δ) for 6 ≤ δ ≤ 15, where [xxx]. We also prove that rvc(G) ≤ 3n/4 − 2 for δ = 3, rvc(G) ≤ 3n/5 − 8/5 for δ = 4 and rvc(G) ≤ n/2 − 2 for δ = 5. Moreover, an example constructed by Caro et al. shows that when [xxx] and δ = 3, 4, 5, our bounds are seen to be tight up to additive constants.
Increasing Donor Designation through Black Churches: Results of a Randomized Trial

Context African Americans are disproportionately represented among those awaiting a transplant, but many are reluctant to donate their organs. Objective To test the effectiveness of using lay health advisors to increase organ donation among church members. Design Churches were pair-matched by average estimated income and size and then randomized to 1 of 2 interventions: one addressing organ donation and the other addressing increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables. Setting Twenty-two African American churches in Southeast Michigan. Patients or Other Participants Church members were trained to serve as lay health advisors (called peer leaders). Interventions Peer leaders conducted organ donation discussions with church groups and showed a DVD created for this program that was tailored to African American churches. Main Outcome Measures The primary outcome was verified registration in the state's donor registry. Participants also completed pre/post questionnaires regarding their attitudes about organ donation. Results Once clustering, baseline value, and demographics were adjusted for, the intervention and comparison groups did not differ on any of the 3 attitude scales on the posttest. In logistic regression analysis, with baseline donation status, demographics, and church clustering controlled for, the odds of self-reported enrollment at 1-year posttest did not differ by condition (odds ratio, 1.23; 95% CI, 0.87–1.72). A total of 211 enrollments in the state registry from participating churches were verified. Of these, 163 were from intervention churches and 48 were from comparison churches. Conclusions Use of lay health advisors through black churches can increase minority enrollment in a donor registry even absent change in attitudes.
The Alcohol Relapse Risk Assessment: A Scoring System to Predict the Risk of Relapse to Any Alcohol Use after Liver Transplant

Context Alcohol relapse after liver transplant heightens concern about recurrent disease, nonadherence to the immunosuppression regimen, and death. Objectives To develop a scoring system to stratify risk of alcohol relapse after liver transplant. Design Retrospective medical record review. Setting and Participants All adult liver transplants performed from May 2002 to February 2011 at a single center in the United States. Main Outcome Measure The incidence of return to any alcohol consumption after liver transplant. Results Thirty-four percent (40/118) of patients with a history of alcohol abuse/dependency relapsed to use of any alcohol after liver transplant. Nine of 25 hypothesized risk factors were predictive of alcohol relapse after liver transplant: absence of hepatocellular carcinoma, tobacco dependence, continued alcohol use after liver disease diagnosis, low motivation for alcohol treatment, poor stress management skills, no rehabilitation relationship, limited social support, lack of nonmedical behavioral consequences, and continued engagement in social activities with alcohol present. Each independent predictor was assigned an Alcohol Relapse Risk Assessment (ARRA) risk value of 1 point, and patients were classified into 1 of 4 groups by ARRA score: ARRA I = 0, ARRA II = 1 to 3, ARRA III = 4 to 6, and ARRA IV = 7 to 9. Patients in the 2 higher ARRA classifications had significantly higher rates of alcohol relapse and were more likely to return to pretransplant levels of drinking. Conclusion Alcohol relapse rates are moderately high after liver transplant. The ARRA is a valid and practical tool for identifying pretransplant patients with alcohol abuse or dependency at elevated risk of any alcohol use after liver transplant.
Poor anticoagulation control in patients taking warfarin at a tertiary and district-level prothrombin clinic in Cape Town, South Africa.

BACKGROUND Warfarin is the most commonly used anticoagulant for both primary and secondary prevention of thromboembolism. For anticoagulation efficacy, the international normalised ratio (INR) needs to be within the therapeutic range for at least 65% of time on warfarin. OBJECTIVES To describe INR control in patients on long-term warfarin and identified predictors of good INR control at two dedicated warfarin follow-up clinics in Cape Town, South Africa (SA). METHODS We reviewed clinical records of patients in care at the INR clinics at Mitchell's Plain Community Health Centre and Groote Schuur Hospital. We included patients who had been on warfarin therapy for at least 27 months and excluded patients with <6 months of INR monitoring data or a >70-day gap between INR tests in the calculation period, and if >25% of follow-up time was at an alternative site. The time in therapeutic range (TTR) over 180 days using the Rosendaal method was calculated, and we categorised INR control as good if the TTR was ≥65%. We constructed a multivariate logistic regression model to identify associations with good INR control. RESULTS We included 363 patients, with a median age of 55 years (interquartile range (IQR) 44 - 64), of whom 65.6% were women. The most common indications for warfarin were valvular heart disease (45.7%) and atrial fibrillation (25.1%). The mean TTR was 47%, with only 91/363 patients having good INR control. In a multivariate model adjusted for age, sex, clinic and target INR, patients aged ≥55 years were more likely to have good INR control than younger patients (adjusted odds ratio 1.69, 95% confidence interval 1.03 - 2.79). Poorly controlled patients had more frequent INR monitoring than those with good INR control, with a median of 8 INRs (IQR 6 - 10) v. 6 INRs (IQR 5 - 8) in the 180-day period (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Only 25.1% of patients in our study achieved good INR control, despite regular INR monitoring. There is an urgent need to improve anticoagulation control of patients receiving warfarin in SA. Validated dosing algorithms are required, and access to lower warfarin dosage formulations may optimise individual dose titration. Advocacy for these formulations is advised.
Les effets du bruit sur la santé mentale : recension des écrits

La presente etude est une revue critique de la documentation scientifique sur les effets du bruit sur la sante mentale. Cette etude a ete realisee sur la base de la recherche de mots-cles, de l’impact factor des revues, du nombre de fois que l’article a ete cite. Hinari a servi de base des donnees. L’analyse et la selection des articles scientifiques nous ont permis de les regrouper en trois categories d’etudes. Les etudes fondamentales ont dose les taux des hormones de stress dans le plasma, les urines et la salive. Les etudes experimentales ont expose les sujets humains a la pollution sonore pour evaluer les deficits de leurs memoire, attention et performance. Les etudes epidemiologiques ont evalue les deficits cognitifs chez les eleves etudiant dans des milieux bruyants et l’etat de sante mentale des individus habitant aux alentours des aeroports, voies ferrees et des autoroutes. Les etudes fondamentales et experimentales ont abouti a un consensus scientifique sur les effets negatifs du bruit tandis que les resultats des etudes epidemiologiques ne permettent pas de tirer des conclusions solides, des etudes ulterieures s’averent donc necessaires.
Creation of a criterion-referenced Military Optimal Performance Challenge.

PURPOSE To compare an empirical, Army doctrine-based (endurance, strength, mobility, military relevant tasks), criterion-referenced, body mass (BM) unbiased Military Optimal Performance Challenge (MOPC) to the Army's Physical Fitness Test (APFT) and thus assisting commanders to determine military readiness. METHODS Militarily-relevant physical assessments were combined to create a composite MOPC score. The MOPC and APFT were administered to 20 male, military subjects during a 2-week period. Data collection included 3-Mile Run, Mobility Test, Upper/Lower Body Strength/Endurance, Simulated Casualty Evacuation Test. The APFT was administered through Army guidelines before MOPC data collection. RESULTS The APFT was influenced by BM, lean body mass (LBM) (r = -0.44; r(2) = 0.20; p = 0.04), whereas MOPC was less impacted (r = 0.21; r(2) = 0.04; p = 0.32). Eight subjects, as viewed by %APFT, are "fit for duty" (80.6%); however, all eight subjects' mean score as %MOPC was <50%. CONCLUSIONS The MOPC offers a robust approach to military readiness and is free of the confounding influence of BM. The MOPC is a unique assessment requiring a multitude of abilities to garner success and may assist in training for functional combat performance skills demanding high work capacities.
High-resolution ultrasound findings in the symptomatic residual limbs of amputees.

INTRODUCTION Amputations are increasingly prevalent because of medical complications associated with diabetes, meningitis, peripheral vascular disease, and neoplasms as well as road traffic accidents and war. The use of ultrasound (U/S) to diagnose the cause of pain in the residual limb of amputees is presented together with a review of the literature. PATIENTS AND METHODS 133 civilian patients with one or more amputations were included in the study. They were seen over a 2-year period, at the Douglas Bader Unit, Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton, Surrey, United Kingdom, in an outpatient setting. Patients were scanned using a Philips ATL/HDI 5000 U/S scanner. RESULTS There were 89 male and 44 female patients, age range 14 to 91 years, with a total of 136 amputated sites. 80% of amputations involved the lower limb. Neuromas were the most frequently found lesions, followed by inflammatory edema, soft-tissue calcifications, bony spurs, soft-tissue infection, overuse injuries, bursae, and skin lesions. Scar tissue, bony erosion, bone infection, aneurysm formation, venous thrombosis, and myodesis failure were less frequently seen. CONCLUSIONS There is a wide spectrum of lesions in the amputated limb, which can be visualized by high-resolution U/S. Neuromas were the most frequent lesions seen.
Prevalence and Trends of Cigarette Smoking Among Military Personnel in Taiwan: Results of 10-Year Anti-Smoking Health Promotion Programs in Military.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prevalence and trends of cigarette smoking among young military conscripts, military officers, and military university students during recently 10 years in Taiwan. METHODS Repeated cross-sectional surveys were conducted annually among young military conscripts and military university students from 2006 to 2014. All the young conscripts were reviewed within 1 month at the military training center and before retiring after 1 year of military services. The military officers were included using purposive sampling from 2004 to 2008 and 2013 to 2014 in different military services. Military university students were included in this study. Freshman and senior students were random sampled as the study subjects. Participants completed a structured questionnaire that included questions on general demographics and health-related behaviors. Current smokers is defined as subjects who smoked ≥1 cigarette/day during the past 30 days or had smoked ≥100 cigarettes in their lifetime or still have the habit of smoking during study. We used a χ2 test to examine the difference between the prevalence of cigarette smoking among different groups. The Cochran-Armitage test for trend was applied to examine the change of prevalence of smoking after repeated cross-sectional surveys among populations. RESULTS The prevalence of cigarette smoking within military training center and after 1-year military services was 48.6% and 48.1% on 2006, which became 39.2% and 38.6% on 2010, and then further declined to 31.0% and 30.1% on 2014. For military officers, the trends of prevalence of smoking among different military services showed slight decline from 2004 to 2008, but decreased significantly between 2013 and 2014. The prevalence of smoking in 2014 was 32.1%, 32.8%, and 32.4% for the Army, Navy, and Air Force, respectively. More interestingly, the prevalence of smoking of freshman and senior students increased during the first 5 years (2007-2011) of survey and then decreased after 2012. Furthermore, in 2014, the prevalence of smoking decreased as the difference became smaller, 4.5% and 6.1% for freshman and senior, respectively. CONCLUSION During this 10-year period, the smoking cessation programs include in-class education course, out-door physical training, antismoking clinic, and group therapy. After these military health promoting programs, there are some beneficial effects to decline the prevalence of cigarette smoking for military personnel in Taiwan. However, more active intervention and health promoting programs in prevention and cessation of smoking are needed for the military. The military also have to develop specific approaches and programs to prevent cigarette smoking among conscripts and officers.