Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using system dynamics modelling to show the effect of nurse workload on nurses’ health and quality of care

Abstract The objective of the current study is to explore System Dynamics modelling to quantify and understand the effects of nursing workload on nurse burnout, absenteeism, and quality of patient care. A literature search was performed to identify the causal relationships between factors related to the problem and build a conceptual causal loop diagram. Each of these factors was then operationalised and a simulation model was built using quantitative empirical data from the literature, supplemented with expert input. The model results showed that long nurse shifts and work weeks double nurse fatigue levels, while increasing burnout by up to 6 times, absenteeism by up to 5 times, and medical errors for the patients increasing by up to 150%. The study demonstrates a novel application of System Dynamics in healthcare to examine the impact of management strategies and healthcare system design on nurses’ wellbeing and on care quality. Practitioner summary: System Dynamics Modelling allows for the integration of available scientific evidence and expertise to reveal the relationship between nurse workload, burnout and care quality in terms of medical errors. Such models can reveal possible responses from proposed policy or system design changes that could not be quantified with conventional approaches. Abbreviations: HF: human factors; SD: system dynamics; CLD: causal loop diagram; OFAT: one factor at a time
Intermedin1-53 Ameliorates Homocysteine-Promoted Atherosclerotic Calcification by Inhibiting Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress

Aim: Vascular calcification (VC) is thought to be an independent predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Intermedin1-53 (IMD) is a cardiovascular protective peptide and can inhibit vascular medial calcification in rats. In this study, we investigated the effect of IMD on atherosclerotic calcification induced by a high-fat diet plus homocysteine (Hcy) and the potential mechanisms. Methods: ApoE−/− mice were fed a high-fat diet with Hcy in drinking water to induce atherosclerotic calcification. Results: As compared to the high-fat diet alone, Hcy treatment significantly increased atherosclerotic lesion areas and the number of calcified nodules in aortic roots and was reduced by IMD infusion or 4-phenylbutyric acid (PBA) treatment. In vitro, as compared to calcifying medium alone, Hcy treatment further increased alkaline phosphatase activity, calcium content, and calcium nodule number in human aorta vascular smooth muscle cells (HA-VSMCs), all blocked by IMD or PBA pretreatment. Mechanistically, IMD or PBA significantly alleviated endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) activation compared with Hcy treatment. In parallel, IMD or PBA attenuated the messenger RNA levels of osteogenic markers and inflammatory cytokines in aortas and their protein levels in lesions of aortic roots. In vitro, Hcy treatment significantly increased the protein levels of osteoblast-like cell markers in primary rat VSMCs and inflammation markers in mouse peritoneal macrophages, all decreased with IMD or PBA pretreatment. Intermedin1-53 pretreatment also markedly reduced the protein levels of ERS markers in rat VSMCs and mouse peritoneal macrophages. Conclusions: Intermedin1-53 protects against Hcy-promoted atherosclerotic calcification in ApoE−/− mice by inhibiting ERS.
Mechanical Properties of Particulate Coconut Shell and Palm Fruit Polyester Composites

Reinforcement of polymers by particulates plays an important role in the improvement of the mechanical and physical properties of high performance materials. Hence, the mechanical behaviour of coconut shell and palm fruit particulate polyester composites was studied in order to develop an engineering material for industrial application. Coconut shell and palm fruit particles were separately and thoroughly blended with polyester resin. 1g of catalyst and 0.5g of accelerator were added to the mixture to achieve a good homogenous interfacial interaction. Particles of the reinforcement with different weight fractions (5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30) wt. % were added to 95g, 90g, 85g, 80g, 75g and 70g corresponding weight of polyester resin. For the 5% weight of reinforcement, there is a corresponding 95g of polyester resin used. The samples were made by mould casting and the mechanical properties of the developed composites were evaluated. The ultimate tensile strength of 70MPa was obtained for the coconut shell particulate polyester composite, while that of palm fruit particulate polyester composite was 62.5MPa. The highest impact strength value for coconut shell particulate polyester composite was 4.76J, while that of palm fruit particulate polyester composite was 4.60J. The highest hardness value for coconut shell particulate polyester composite was 208 BHN while that of palm fruit particulate polyester composite was 182.30 BHN. To know the maximum strength that the coconut shell and palm fruit particulate polyester composites can withstand while being stretched or pulled before breaking, their weight % (reinforcement) must be kept below 10 and 20% respectively. To measure the resistance of the coconut shell and palm fruit particulate polyester composites to, indentation or penetration such as abrasion, drilling, impact and scratches, the weight % (reinforcement) must be kept at 10 and 20% respectively.
Macrophages Inability to Mediate Adherent-Invasive E. coli Replication is Linked to Autophagy in Crohn’s Disease Patients

The macrophages from Crohn’s Disease (CD) patients are defective to control the replication of CD-associated adherent-invasive E. coli (AIEC). We aimed to identify the host factors associated with AIEC replication focusing on polymorphisms related to autophagy. Peripheral blood monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM), obtained from 95 CD patient, 30 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients and 15 healthy subjects, were genotyped for several CD-associated polymorphisms. AIEC bacteria survival increased within MDM from CD patients compared to UC (p = 0.0019). AIEC bacteria survival increased in patients with CD-associated polymorphism IRGM (p = 0.05) and reduced in those with CD-associated polymorphisms XBP-1 (p = 0.026) and ULK-1 (p = 0.033). AIEC infection led to an increase of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β (p < 0.0001) and TNF-α (p < 0.0001) in CD macrophages. ULK-1 expression increased in AIEC-infected MDM from CD patients compared to MDM from UC patients or healthy subjects (p = 0.0056) and correlated with AIEC survival (p = 0.0013). Moreover, the expression of ULK-1 phosphorylation on Serine 757 decreased following to AIEC infection (p < 0.0001). Short-term silencing of ULK-1 and IRGM genes restricted and promote, respectively, AIEC survival within MDM (p = 0.0018 and p = 0.0291). In conclusion, the macrophage defect to mediate AIEC clearance in CD patients is linked to polymorphisms related to autophagy such as IRGM and ULK-1.
Associations between Food Group Intake, Cognition, and Academic Achievement in Elementary Schoolchildren

Nutrition plays an important role in proper physical and cognitive functioning. However, there is limited evidence on the relationship between overall diet, cognition, and academic success in children, particularly among low-income and diverse groups. The objective of this study was to examine the relationships between healthful versus less healthful food group intake, cognitive performance, and academic achievement in a diverse sample of schoolchildren. 868 urban schoolchildren (age 8 to 10 years) participated in the study. Intake of healthful (fruits, vegetables, unsweetened beverages) and less healthful (sweet and salty snacks, sugar-sweetened beverages) food groups was determined via a food frequency questionnaire. Digit Span and Stroop test scores were used to assess cognitive performance. Academic achievement was assessed via standardized test scores. Multiple Poisson and multiple linear regression were used to test the associations between diet and cognitive scores. Multiple ordered logistic regression was used to assess the associations between diet and academic achievement. Potential confounders (age, sex, body mass index (BMI) z-score, race/ethnicity, English language learner status, individualized education plan enrollment, physical activity, and parent education level) were tested for inclusion in all models. The sample included 868 children (56.7% girls; 33.2% non-Hispanic white, 26.2% Hispanic, 17.1% multiracial/other, 8.3% non-Hispanic black; 40.5% overweight/obese). The most frequently consumed foods were fruits and sweet snacks (1.9 and 1.6 servings per day, respectively). There were no statistically significant associations between diet and cognitive test scores. Greater intake of less healthful food groups (sweet snacks, salty snacks, and sweetened beverages) was associated with lower math (OR = 0.91, CI [0.84, 0.98], p = 0.014) and English standardized test scores (OR = 0.87, CI [0.80, 0.94, p = 0.001). Greater intake of sweet snacks and fruits was associated with lower English scores (OR = 0.72, 95% CI [0.59, 0.88] p = 0.001; and OR = 0.75, 95% CI [0.72, 0.94] p = 0.003, respectively). Consumption of less healthful food groups was associated with poorer academic achievement. Further research may shed light on unexpected associations between fruit consumption and achievement. Policies targeting multiple dietary components may positively influence child academic achievement and development.
Strength of Soft Clay Reinforced with Single and Group Bottom Ash Columns

Stone column could be implemented as a ground improvement technique where a portion of the soil is substituted with granular material such as sand or crushed rocks which is proven to improve bearing capacity and accelerate the dissipation of pore water pressure. This research was aimed to investigate the role of bottom ash columns in improving the shear strength soft reconstituted kaolin clay. This was done by determining the effect of area replacement ratio, height penetrating ratio and volume replacement ratio of a single bottom ash columns on the strength of kaolin clay reinforced with bottom ash column(s). The reinforced kaolin samples were tested using Unconfined Compression Test (UCT). Research variables include diameter and height of the bottom ash columns. Through the results of UCT, it can be concluded that the S u generally increased with the increased in the height penetrating ratio but decreased after reaching an optimum improvement at 80 % of height penetrating ratio. The increment of Su was also dependent on the area replacement ratio of bottom ash. However, excessive area replacement decreased the shear strength of the sample reinforced by group columns since the remaining width of the soil sample will be too thin to hold the columns. Generally it can be concluded that the shear strength of soft clay could be improved by the installation of bottom ash columns.
An Impact of Globalization on Gender Wage Inequality: A case Study of Selected Developing Countries

Globalization may have different impacts on the gender wage gap depending on the specialization and trade pattern as well as the socioeconomic situation. The main purpose of this paper is to examine an impact of globalization on gender wage inequality. Specifically, the hypothesis is that globalization reduces gender wage gap. For this, we have employed a panel technique for 21 selected developing countries during 2000-2007. Based on the obtained results, the hypothesis is verified.
Prevalence and personal predictors of risky sexual behaviour among in-school adolescents in the Ikenne Local Government Area, Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract Risky sexual behaviour increases the vulnerability of an adolescents to reproductive health problems like sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unintended pregnancy and abortion. This study therefore investigated the prevalence and personal predictors of risky sexual behaviour among in-school adolescents in the Ikenne Local Government Area, of Ogun State, Nigeria. The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional design. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 716 participants for the study. A validated semi-structured questionnaire with a Cronbach’s alpha score of 0.78 was used to collect data. Frequency and logistic regression analysis were conducted to give statistical responses to the research question and hypotheses using SPSS version 23. The mean age of the participants was 15.2 ± 1.4 years and 57.3% of the respondents were female. Above a quarter (35.5%) of the respondents were in senior secondary one (SS1) in high school. More than half (53.1%) of the respondents had a good level of knowledge about risky sexual behaviour and 54% of the respondents had a fair perception of it. The respondents’ attitudes towards risky sexual behaviour was moderately high (61.2%). The respondents had moderately high (63.7%) self-esteem. The prevalence of risky sexual behaviour was 19.2%. The personal predictors of risky sexual behaviour are age [odds ratio (OR) = 3.21; p < 0.05); gender [OR = 1.86; confidence interval (CI): 1.26–2.69; p < 0.05]; perception (OR = 2.58; CI: 1.55–4.30; p < 0.05); attitude (OR = 4.58; CI: 1.61–13.05; p < 0.05); self-esteem (OR = 7.39; p < 0.05). In conclusion, the respondents’ risky sexual behaviours are predicted by age, gender, attitude, perception and self-esteem. The study therefore recommends that educational materials about the negative effects of the risky sexual behaviours should be included in the curriculum of secondary schools.
Adverse events with IL‐17 and IL‐23 inhibitors for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of phase III studies

Biologics targeting interleukin (IL)‐17 and IL‐23 are generally well‐tolerated and considered safe, though adverse events are seen more often compared with placebo. The objectives of this systematic review and meta‐analysis were to assess the prevalence of adverse events in patients with psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis with any adverse events after 12, 16, 24 and 52 weeks of treatment with IL‐17 or IL‐23 inhibitors. Two independent authors searched the databases PubMed and EMBASE for studies reporting on adverse events in phase 3 trials of IL‐17 and IL‐23 inhibitors for patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. The study was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Data synthesis was performed using a random‐effects model. In total, 44 publications (43 studies) were included in the analyses. The proportion of patients with any adverse events for all treatments pooled were 0.57 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.55–0.59] after 12 weeks, 0.52 (95% CI: 0.49–0.55) after 16 weeks, 0.72 (95% CI: 0.66–0.78) after 24 weeks and 0.81 (95% CI: 0.76–0.86) after 52 weeks. Across therapies, the most prevalent AEs were infections, nasopharyngitis and headache. For ixekizumab one of the most prevalent AEs was injection site reactions, reported in 15.7% of the patients after 52 weeks. Overall, IL‐17 and IL‐23 inhibitors appear to be well‐tolerated with good safety profiles. Our findings may aid the clinical decision making when choosing the most appropriate therapy for patients with moderate‐to‐severe psoriasis.
Income diversity and neighborhood variation in low birth weight rates, Chicago, 1990-2006: Results using longitudinal and cross-sectional measures

Although increased risk for adverse birth outcomes has been associated with neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage, most studies have used cross-sectional measures to account for neighborhood context. Consequently, dynamic neighborhood processes that may influence adverse birth outcomes are not fully understood. In this study, a longitudinal measure of socioeconomic change was used to explore variation in low birth weight (LBW) rates between 1990 and 2006 in Chicago neighborhoods. A crosss-ectional measure of neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics was then used to compare the LBW rates across Chicago neighborhoods during the same time frame to determine whether the cross-sectional measure would capture the same nuances in LBW variation as the longitudinal measure. Consistent with previous studies, both measures identified higher low birth weight rates in neighborhoods entrenched in poverty during the study period. However, the longitudinal measure showed that mothers residing in low income neighborhoods with high concentrations of immigrants had LBW rates that were lower than mothers residing in high income neighborhoods. Our results suggest that while cross-sectional measures of neighborhood socioeconomic context may capture global variations in low birth weight rates, longitudinal measures may illuminate subtleties between neighborhoods that might provide an opportunity for targeted policies to reduce adverse maternal and child health outcomes.
The New Variation Method of Volatility Risk Premium

Integrated implied volatility is an expected quadratic variation that can be derived from European option prices under the risk neutral measure, whereas integrated realized volatility is a historical quadratic variation that can be derived from highfrequency ex-post stock returns under the physical measure. Earlier studies used the dierence as the volatility risk premium and showed the premium was negative for buyers of options in most periods. Their method, however, has a filtration inconsistency problem when we evaluate an expected risk premium. This problem results from the dierence of the filtration required for the computation of the two volatility estimates. We proposes a new method of evaluating the expected risk premium with consistent filtration. In our method, the premium is identified as the gap between the current integrated implied volatility and the integrated volatility estimated by a time series model of realized volatilities. We calculate the premium under the condition that the one-day realized volatility obeys either the Heston model or the ARFIMAX model. We found the premium based on our method correlates with market risk indicators, such as Citi Macro Risk Index or iTraxx Japan, more strongly than those based on the earlier works. This indicates our proposed measure of expected volatility risk premium reflects the market sentiment well and it is a valid indicator for the market risk aversion. As a byproduct, we can quantify the probability where the realized volatility goes below the implied volatility. This probability might also be an indicator for market’s volatility risk aversion.
Affective disorders in the elderly in different European countries: Results from the MentDis_ICF65+ study

Objectives Affective disorders are among the most prevalent disorders in the elderly. The present study aims to examine the sociodemographic and clinical correlates of major depressive disorder (MDD) and dysthymia in different European and Associated countries using standardized interview techniques. Furthermore, service utilization for the elderly with depression is assessed. Methods The MentDis_ICF65+ study is a cross-sectional survey (N = 3,142) that was conducted in six different European and Associated countries (Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, England and Israel) with a subsample of n = 463 elderly with any depressive disorder. Results Sociodemographic and clinical correlates, such as gender, age and symptom severity, were significantly associated with MDD and dysthymia in the elderly. Only 50% of elderly with any depressive disorder were treated with psycho- or pharmacotherapy. Conclusion Our findings identified sociodemographic and clinical characteristics for depression risk in the elderly and highlight the need to improve service delivery to older adults who suffer from depression.
Using a serious game to measure executive functioning: Response inhibition ability

Abstract In previous research, we developed a serious target acquisition game (with moles as targets) for assessing cognitive speed. Tong, Chignell, Tierney, and Lee demonstrated that performance on the game may be a useful screening tool for risk of delirium onset. In this study, we validate a version of the game where there are not only targets (moles) that should be hit but also distractors (butterflies, or moles with hats) that should not be hit. We hypothesized that performance on the game should be a measure of response inhibition ability, which has been implicated as a factor in many types of psychopathology. We carried out an experiment (with 30 healthy participants) to test whether the serious game does in fact measure response inhibition by comparing game performance with a standard response inhibition task (the Go/No-Go discrimination task). Our results show that, with the distractors, the game does in fact assess response inhibition ability. We discuss the implications of this work for assessing executive functions in the elderly, and for evaluating recovery in neuro-rehabilitation, and declining ability to perform activities of daily living.
HIV prevalence and correlated factors among male clients of female sex workers in a border region of China

Objectives To assess the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and the correlated risk factors among male clients of female sex workers (FSWs) in a Chinese–Vietnamese border region in Yunnan Province, China. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted between 2014 and 2015 in Hekou County, Yunnan Province, China. Convenience sampling and snowball sampling methods were used to recruit male clients for a questionnaire survey to collect information on demographics, sexual behavior, and drug use. Blood and urine samples were collected for testing of HIV/sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and drug use. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine factors correlated with HIV infection. Results Of 776 respondents who participated in the study, 721 (92.91%) were Chinese and 55 (7.09%) were Vietnamese. Overall HIV prevalence in male clients of FSWs was 2.06%, 128 (16.49%) were infected with HSV-2, and five (0.64%) tested syphilis-positive. Two-thirds (68.81%) of respondents reported always using condoms with FSWs, and 89.05% reported condom use in the last episode of commercial sex. Male clients from Vietnam were significantly more likely to take morphine (9.09%) compared with Chinese male clients of FSWs. Age ≥50 years (OR: 8.11, 95%CI: 1.26–52.16) and morphine positivity (OR: 7.35, 95%CI: 1.42–38.06) were associated with HIV infection in the multivariate logistic regression model. Conclusion The relatively high proportion of male clients of FSWs who have numerous sexual partners and use condoms less frequently make them serve as important bridges for HIV transmission from FSWs to the low-risk general population. The positive association between morphine positivity and HIV infection confirmed illegal drug use as another important route for acquiring HIV infection in addition to sexual transmission, indicating that innovative interventions addressing both drug use and risky sexual behaviors are greatly required for male clients. Respondents aged ≥50 years have a higher risk of HIV infection, which emphasizes that older male clients of FSWs should be focused in future HIV prevention interventions in the border regions of China.