Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Book Reviews: A User-Friendly Guide to Multivariate Calibration and Classification, An Academic Addition to the NIR Bookshelf

This is a book that many people have waited for, and waited a long time too. There are a few good books that take up Multivariate Calibration in Chemlstry':" but some of them are rather theoretlcal.t-' too speciallsed" or slightly outdated. ' The authors promise a user-friendly guide to the subject and it seems that they have succeeded. The book is hardbound and printed on high quality paper, the text is large and clear and there is a large white margin on every page. The authors have introduced a useful system of margin notes to fill up the margin where necessary. There are four different types of such notes as is explained in the preface. The number of equations is reasonable, and all equations and notation have been explained satisfactorily. I have been teaching multivariate calibration for over ten years using Reference 1 and lately also 3 and I realise the need for an updated clear and systematic introduction to the subject for practical users. This book is very promising in this respect. Given the reputation of the authors and the name of the publisher, one may expect a lot of examples from near infrared spectroscopy and they are there. One thing that I noticed immediately is that many of the figures look familiar but that is because I have known all the authors and their publications for such a long time. The authors also explain that the origin of the text is the collection of calibration columns in the newsletter called NIR news. That is somehow reflected in the final result, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. The chapters are systematically organised and take up most of the topics that the readers need to know about: • the need for multivariate calibration • important calibration methods and their interpretation • interpretation of regression models • non-linearities • data transformation • variable selection • validation and residuals • outlier detection • construction of calibration sets • calibration transfer Chapters 1 and 2 are about notation, the history of the book and the goals of the authors. The really interesting stuff
Extending the interval for port-a-cath maintenance

Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the outcome of port-a-cath (PAC) maintenance every three months in patients with gynecologic malignancies with the goal of standardizing a safe and appropriate interval that would maintain patency and minimize side effects. Methods: We performed a retrospective medical record review and evaluation of all patients with a Bard? PAC who were noted to have no evidence of disease (NED) during the years 2003 to 2010. The interval between accessions and any complications related to the presence of the PAC were recorded. Relevant complications included skin infections, bacteremia, thrombosis, and occlusions. Statistical analysis was done using the Fisher’s exact test. Results: A total of 201 patients had PAC placed and 43 patients underwent PAC accessions to maintain patency. The total number of accessions was 150 with a median number per patient of 2.0 (range 1 - 10). The mean time between flushes was 112 days (SD = 57). When comparing women in maintenance who had flushes within 90 days versus those who had flushes over 90 days apart, there was no difference in infection or occlusion rates between these groups (p = 0.515). In the Conclusion: Infections and occlusions are rare in women with gynecologic malignancies undergoing maintenance of their PAC. Longer intervals between PAC flushes do not appear to affect the outcome in our patients. Our ongoing data and follow-up confirm that extending the interval of PAC accession to every 3 months, rather than monthly, is safe, effective and convenient in the patient population with gynecologic malignancies.
Funktionelle Beurteilung von Kinderschuhen anhand der Ganganalyse von Kindern im Lauflernalter

RESEARCH QUESTION: Although gait patterns of children are well described in gait analysis studies for barefoot gait, loading patterns in gait with shoes have not been analysed compared to barefoot gait. METHODS: 30 children (age 1.8 to 4.8 years) were examined. Ground reaction forces were recorded using two series connected Kistler plates, taking the 3D coordinates and the time coordinate. The gait aspect was recorded using a video system. Three shoe types were tested against each other and against barefoot gait. RESULTS: 1399 gait cycles, 739 barefoot, 660 with shoes were usable for calculation. Statistic analyses comparing barefoot gait to gait with shoes showed: A significant increase in ground contact duration, a shifting of maximal load from the rear towards the midfoot area, a significant increased maximal load, a cushioning of the initial impact at primary ground contact. A comparison between the shoes showed no significant influence of a medial subtalar orthotic support. CONCLUSION: Shoes cause a significant change of loading patterns. But there are also significant differences between different shoe types. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Shoes for children must provide a stabilisation for the hindfoot, and must not restrict motion in the areas of the ankle and the metatatrsophalangeal joints. The amount of load in the different gait phases must be considered for the construction of a dynamic shoe for children.
Bilan de l'enquête nationale sur les effets indésirables cutanés du kétoprofène gel enregistrés entre le 01/09/1996 et le 31/08/2000

: A French nation-wide pharmacovigilance survey of ketoprofen topic collated, from September 1996 to August 2000, 770 cutaneous side-effects. The frequency varies from 0.013@1000 to 0.028@1000 according to the commercial gel. Analysis concerns spontaneous notifications of French nation-wide pharmacovigilance. Sex ratio is well distributed, population is young. Treatment lasted about 12 days, the side-effects appearing after about 13 days, 25 per cent of cases are delayed to discontinuance of treatment, mainly after exposure to sunlight. Co-administered drugs are in most cases systemic or topical NSAIDs and/or fibrates and then increase the seriousness of the iatrogenic pathology. 75 per cent of cutaneous side-effects appear in summer, 50 per cent have been reported as "photosensitivity". Reactions are severe in 30 per cent of the cases. More than 80 per cent of cases present an extension beyond the site of application. The course is usually favourable and neither topical nor systemic corticosteroid treatment influence the duration of evolution. Photopatchtests testing in 23 per cent of cases show evidence of photoallergy to ketoprofen and crossed photoallergy with tiaprofenic acid, fenofibrate, oxybenzone and benzophenone. These results confirm that photoallergy is due to the common benzoylketone structure but not to their arylpropionic function. Some cases of persistent or recurrent photosensitivity must be more explored. The results lead to request a modification of marketing authorizations.
Contraceptive practice of clients attending the family planning clinic of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, Nigeria.

Aim: To examine the socio-demographic characteristics, main source of information about family planning and contraceptive choices of women attending the family planning clinic Study Design: A retrospective descriptive analysis of the case records of all new clients. Methods: This study was carried out on new clients seeking contraceptive services within the study period. The age, marital status, parity, occupation, religion, ethnicity and educational level completed; source of information about family planning, interval between last confinement and first visit, and the intention of the clients were obtained. Results: A total of 733 new clients family planning clinic during the period of review. ranged between 17 and 48 years with a mean of 32.5±5.5 years. There was a low patronage of family planning clinic by the teenagers and unmarried women as they accounted for only 0.3% and 2.9% respectively of all clients seen during the period. The source of information about family planning services was mainly from health personnel 516, (70.5%). IUCD and injectables were the most frequently selected methods irrespective of the socio-demographic characteristics of the clients, their intention for family planning uptake; and interval between last confinement and commencement of family planning. Conclusion: This study showed that unmarried females and teenagers had a poor patronage of conventional family planning centers. Instead of the health personnel, the mass media should play a pivotal and leading role in information dissemination so that awareness on the use and utilization of contraception will be higher than what it is presently.
INDICATIONS FOR MEASURES TO BE TAKEN IN CHILDHOOD TO PREVENT CHRONIC RESPIRATORY DISEASE

Several recent investigations into the background of adults suffering from respiratory disease have pointed to this conclusion. In 1958, a study of Royal Air Force recruits1 demonstrated the serious consequences of respiratory infection in childhood. Postmen invalided because of disabling bronchitis were also found to possess a long history of severe and persistent bronchial attacks.2 Further research among military services personnel3 related adult respiratory disease to early exposure to air pollution, because, irrespective of area of service, the incidence of the condition was found to be higher among Army recruits from industrial towns than among those from a rural environment. Comparisons between the frequency of lung cancer deaths among British immigrants in New Zealand,4 South Africa and Australia,5 and among native-born men of similar smoking habits, have provided additional evidence for the lasting risk of death from respiratory disease that results from an early exposure to the British urban atmosphere. Childhood studies into the effect of urban environment in the development of respiratory disease5'9 have found that environmental factors such as parents' social class and area of residence influence the
Relation of the Development of Adjacent Segment Degeneration after Two Levels Posterolateral Fusion for Degenerative Lumbar instability with Preoperative Facet Tropism and Sagittal Alignment at Full Fusion

bACkgROunD: After lumbar spinal fusion, adjacent segment degeneration (ASD) is a concern to both patients and surgeons and is a potential cause of further spinal surgery. Although ASD may be considered as a part of the normal aging process and degenerative change, it could be influenced by changes in the stress acting on the adjacent segment after spinal fusion. There are confusing reports in literature on whether ASD development affects the patients’ outcome, in terms of changing his clinical status to the worse or not. No enough studies has correlated the development of ASD especially the symptomatic cases and postoperative sagittal alignment and the presence of preoperative facet tropism. The authors hypothesized that mal-alignment of the sagittal balance after posterior spinal fusion at least increases (If not causes) the phenomenon of ASD development and progress.Also the authors hypothesized that facet tropism may play a role in the development and/or advancement of ASD
Traffic model and performance analysis for cellular mobile radio telephone systems with prioritized and nonprioritized handoff procedures

A traffic model and analysis for cellular mobile radio telephone systems with handoff are described. Three schemes for call traffic handling are considered. One is nonprioritized and two are priority oriented. Fixed channel assignment is considered. In the nonprioritized scheme the base stations make no distinction between new call attempts and handoff attempts. Attempts which find all channels occupied are cleared. In the first priority scheme considered, a fixed number of channels in each cell are reserved exclusively for handoff calls. The second priority scheme employs a similar channel assignment strategy, but, additionally, the queueing of handoff attempts is allowed. Appropriate analytical models and criteria are developed and used to derive performance characteristics. These show, for example, blocking probability, forced termination probability, and fraction of new calls not completed, as functions of pertinent system parameters. General formulas are given and specific numerical results for nominal system parameters are presented.
Recovery of Creatinine After Ingestion and After Intravenous Injection in Man

Summary and Conclusions In a patient with an ileal fistula it was shown that about 25% of ingested creatinine was expelled unabsorbed from the fistula. The amount of creatinine excreted in the urine was equal to the amount absorbed. The evidence suggests that, in oral experiments, no creatinine is absorbed by the large intestine. When injected intravenously, creatinine is virtually all excreted in the urine. These results are at variance with the hypothesis of creatinine transformation in the human body.
Confiabilidade dos limiares de reconhecimento de sentenças no silêncio e no ruído

A larger number of research studies has been performed with different people and objectives and have shown that the sentence recognition test in noise is the best instrument to evaluate individuals' daily communication. However, we believe these tests are not applied so frequently because they require a lot of research to establish the parameters and variables related to their application and interpretation of the results. AIM: To check the reliability of the recognition threshold of the sentences in quiet and in noise for a group of young normal listeners. STUDY DESIGN: transversal cohort. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The group comprised 40 subjects, 20 males and 20 females, with ages between 18 and 28 and all of them with normal hearing threshold. First, we applied the Basic Audiological Evaluation and after this, the Sentence Recognition Threshold test in quiet (LRSS) and in noise (LRSR). The sentences and the noise (fixed in 65 dB HL) were presented monoaurally, by earphones through "ascending-descending" strategy. The test and retest were done in different evaluation sessions, with an interval of seven days between them, respecting the same hour of evaluation. RESULTS: The results showed strong positive statistically significant correlation between the test and retest of LRSS, both for right ear (r = 0.6107) and left ear (r = 0.5853), as S/N ratio, for right ear (r = 0.5711) and for left ear (r = 0.5867) for the assessed individuals. CONCLUSION: In the end of this study, we concluded that LRSS and S/N ratio obtained from the Portuguese Sentence List Test showed to be highly reliable, with strong positive correlation when compared to the results obtained in different sessions of evaluation in a group of young normal listeners.
Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in Thai patients receiving various modalities of renal replacement therapy

Abstract Background Vitamin D status of Thai patients receiving renal replacement therapy (RRT) is incompletely known. Objectives To determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency in adult Thai patients receiving various RRT modalities, and factors associated with low vitamin D levels. Methods In this retrospective, observational, single-center, cross-sectional study, we evaluated dialysis-related laboratory test variables from 111 patients receiving RRT. Serum 25-hydroxyvitaminD concentration [25(OH)D] < 15 ng/mL was defined as deficiency, and 15–30 ng/mL as insufficiency. Results Low vitamin D levels were identified in 100% patients receiving peritoneal dialysis (PD; 81% deficient, 19% insufficient), 94% patients receiving online-hemodiafiltration (OL-HDF; 50% deficient, 44% insufficient), and 100% patients with kidney transplants (KT; 55% deficient, 45% insufficient). PD patients showed significantly lower serum [25(OH)D] than OL-HDF or KT patients (10.5 ± 5.9 vs 17.7 ± 8.5 vs 15.4 ± 6.1 ng/mL respectively, P < 0.001). OL-HDF patients with vitamin D deficiency had significantly lower vascular access flow than those without deficiency (833 ± 365 vs 1239 ± 385 mL/min, P = 0.008). KT recipients from deceased donors had lower serum [25(OH)D] than KT recipients from living, related donors (13.7 ± 6.0 vs 17.5 ± 5.7 ng/mL, P = 0.045). Multiple logistic regression found treatment by renin-angiotensin system blockade, serum triglyceride, and intact parathyroid hormone levels significantly associated with vitamin D deficiency after adjusting for sex, and serum calcium, phosphate, and albumin levels. Conclusions Nearly 100% patients receiving RRT had vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency, and RRT modalities might be related.
Instrumente parlamentarischer Kontrolle der Exekutive in westlichen Demokratien

Der vorliegende Beitrag beschaftigt sich mit der Frage der parlamentarischen Kontrolle der Exekutive in 22 westlichen Demokratien. Ausgehend von der Principal-Agent-Theorie zielt er darauf ab, die Instrumente und Ressourcen zu analysieren, die Parlamenten in westlichen Demokratien zur Kontrolle ihrer Exekutiven zu Verfugung stehen. Zunachst wird erortert, uber welche Mittel Parlamente verfugen, um Informationsungleichgewichte zwischen Parlament und Regierung auszugleichen. Die standigen Parlamentsausschusse werden in dieser Diskussion als die wichtigste Ressource zur Erlangung von Informationen und zur Ausubung von Kontrolle gegenuber der Exekutive bezeichnet. Neben den Ausschussen werden weitere parlamentarische Kontrollstrukturen wie Rechungshofe und parlamentseigene Informationsdienste sowie Informations- und Fragerechte der Parlamente gegenuber den Exekutiven betrachtet. Nach der theoretischen Diskussion der Kontrollmoglichkeiten werden empirische Informationen prasentiert, die strukturelle, formale und personelle Informationsressourcen der Parlamente charakterisieren. Mithilfe dieser Daten wird versucht, insbesondere die Frage zu beantworten, ob es systematische Zusammenhange zwischen der politischen Starke einer Exekutive und den parlamentarischen Ressourcen zur Kontrolle der Exekutive gibt. Ein solcher Zusammenhang kann jedoch nicht gefunden werden. Selbst starke Regierungen sind nicht systematisch in der Lage, die Kontrollfahigkeit ihrer Parlamente zu beeinflussen. This paper deals with the question of parliamentary control of the executives of 22 Western democracies. Based on principal-agent theory, it aims to analyze the instruments of control and the control capacity of parliamentary principals vis-a-vis their governmental agents. In a first step, parliamentary resources are discussed as an important means to bridge the information gap between parliament and the executive. In doing so, the paper focuses on parliamentary committees, their institutional structure, their membership, and their formal powers without neglecting further parliamentary information resources like question times, accounting offices, or scientific and library services. Based on this discussion, data is presented to characterize structural, formal, and personal parliamentary information resources. This presentation is summarized by an empirical mapping of the character and properties of parliamentary control structures in Western democracies. The data is then used to answer questions about systematic relationships between parliamentary control resources and the political strength of the executive. The most important result of this analysis is that there is no systematic relationship between political strength of executives and parliamentary control resources. Even politically strong governments are not able to systematically curtail the control resources of their parliaments.
Toward a description of how engineering students think mathematically

The purpose of this study was to build a descriptive model for how individuals add mathematical structure to a problem setting. Blum and Leiß’s (2007) mathematical modeling cycle was adopted as a research framework. Data was collected using task-based clinical interviews with four engineering students enrolled in differential equations. Analysis led to the creation of three theoretical constructs which together describe the process of structurally enriching (Schwarzkopf, 2007) a nonmathematical context: mathematical framing, the pseudo-empirical setting, and intertwining. The students in this study made sense of the modeling tasks by assuming that the solution had a certain mathematical structure (the mathematical framing) and then verifying that choice by making sure all the necessary information was present (comparing the information in the task to the pseudo-empirical setting). This process of matching up the variables and operations in the mathematical framing with the quantities and relationships in the pseudo-empirical setting was called intertwining. To move forward in the modeling task, the students then externalized a mathematical representation and analyzed it. Validating activity was observed throughout this process and analysis confirmed five distinct types of validating activity: (i) to check alignment of the mathematical representation with the individual’s interpretation of the context (checking mathematical representation against the real model); (ii) confirming alignment between the
The effect of problem solving course on student& #039 s stress intolerance

زمینه و هدف: پرستاران در شرایط و محیط پیچیده درمان بایستی مهارت کافی جهت حل مسئله را داشته باشند تا بتوانند، مشکلات را سریع، کامل و درست حل کنند. علاوه بر آن، بایستی دارای قدرت تحمل استرس بوده تا توان برخورد با مشکلات مختلف را با کمترین آسیب ها داشته باشند. این مطالعه با هدف بررسی تاثیر آموزش مهارت حل مسئله بر میزان تحمل استرس در دانشجویان پرستاری شیراز، اجرا گردید. روش بررسی: این پژوهش، یک مطالعه نیمه تجربی دو گروهی با طرح پیش آزمون – پس آزمون بود که در آن 43 نفر از دانشجویان سال چهارم پرستاری شیراز در سال 1387 مورد مطالعه قرار گرفتند. پس از تکمیل پرسشنامه های اطلاعات فردی و هوش هیجانی Bar-On (برای تعیین میزان تحمل استرس)، به طور تصادفی به دو گروه آزمون و شاهد تقسیم شدند. افراد گروه مداخله در گروه های کوچک، تحت آموزش مهارت حل مسئله بر اساس الگوی دزوریلا و گلد فراید (Dzurilla, Goldfride) قرار گرفتند. بلافاصله و 2 ماه پس از پایان دوره آموزشی مهارت حل مسئله، مجددا هوش هیجانی دانشجویان دو گروه مورد بررسی قرار گرفت. داده ها با استفاده از آزمون های آماری من ویتنی، آنالیز واریانس مشاهدات تکرار، تی زوج، تی مستقل و مجذور کای تجزیه و تحلیل گردید. یافته ها: آموزش حل مسئله باعث افزایش میانگین میزان تحمل استرس بلافاصله پس از مداخله (01/0P