Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Difficulties, coping strategies, satisfaction and burden in informal Portuguese caregivers.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To characterise the main difficulties, coping strategies, sources of satisfaction and levels of burden disclosed by informal caregivers of older people who are dependent due to physical and mental causes, in the Portuguese context and to compare the impact between caregivers for older people with physical dependence and caregivers for older people with mental dependence. BACKGROUND Caring for a dependent older person is a complex process that puts two people in interaction, each with their own traits and their own histories of private life. When performing this role, the care provider needs to know how to deal with difficulties through a range of coping strategies. The outcome of this relationship may result in burden as a result of the volume of care, the complexity of care or the caregiver's inability to provide needed care. Caring for a family member can also be a source of satisfaction thanks to the pleasure of giving back and/or providing well-being. DESIGN This is a quantitative, analytical and correlational study. METHODS This study was conducted among two distinct groups-caregivers of older people without dementia (physical impairment) and caregivers of patients with dementia (impairment of a predominantly cognitive nature). Data were collected by administering a previously defined questionnaire that sought to gather various sorts of information (sociodemographic, clinical and environmental) and that included certain specific instruments, such as dependency ratio, cognitive assessment tests, an index of difficulties, a satisfaction index, an index of coping strategies and a burden scale. RESULTS The sample consisted in 184 caregivers over 40 years of age, of which, 101 cared for dependent people without cognitive impairment and 83 cared for people with dementia. Most caregivers were women (87%), most were married (78·8%), with a low level of education (33·7% did not complete primary school and only 7·1% had any postsecondary education). Most were spouses or daughters (75·5%). The caregivers of older patients with dementia had lower levels of satisfaction, with a mean difference of 12·95 percentage points, p < 0·001. It appears that caring for older people with dementia implies a greater burden, with a mean difference of 15·4 percentage points, p < 0·001. There is a strong correlation between difficulties and burden (r = 0·89, p < 0·001) and between the effectiveness of coping strategies and satisfaction (r = 0·92, p < 0·001). CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that caregivers of older people with dementia are more vulnerable due to their higher levels of burden, which are associated with higher levels of difficulties and reduced sources of satisfaction. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE These data are essential for the management and implementation of health programmes that can reduce the vulnerability of caregivers. Programmes should address caregivers' difficulties and burden as a way to promote satisfaction with providing care.
Sea Ice Microbial Communities: Distribution, Abundance, and Diversity of Ice Bacteria in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, in 1980

An abundant and diverse bacterial community was found within brine channels of annual sea ice and at the ice-seawater interface in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, in 1980. The mean bacterial standing crop was 1.4 × 1011 cells m−2 (9.8 mg of C m−2); bacterial concentrations as high as 1.02 × 1012 cells m−3 were observed in ice core melt water. Vertical profiles of ice cores 1.3 to 2.5 m long showed that 47% of the bacterial numbers and 93% of the bacterial biomass were located in the bottom 20 cm of sea ice. Ice bacterial biomass concentration was more than 10 times higher than bacterioplankton from the water column. Scanning electron micrographs showed a variety of morphologically distinct cell types, including coccoid, rod, fusiform, filamentous, and prosthecate forms; dividing cells were commonly observed. Approximately 70% of the ice bacteria were free-living, whereas 30% were attached to either living algal cells or detritus. Interactions between ice bacteria and microalgae were suggested by a positive correlation between bacterial numbers and chlorophyll a content of the ice. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy revealed a close physical association between epibacteria and a dominant ice alga of the genus Amphiprora. We propose that sea ice microbial communities are not only sources of primary production but also sources of secondary microbial production in polar ecosystems. Furthermore, we propose that a detrital food web may be associated with polar sea ice.
Established clinical use of octreotide and lanreotide in oncology.

The diagnosis and treatment of neuroendocrine tumors have been significantly improved during the last decades. Localization and staging of the disease by somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (Octreoscan) are now the 'gold standard' for the management of these tumors. Treatment with somatostatin analogs has improved quality of life and possibly also survival for patients with neuroendocrine tumors. New long-acting formulations of the somatostatin analogs are as effective as the old regular formulations but will further improve quality of life for the patients. Tumor-targeted therapy with (111)In and (90)Y coupled to somatostatin analogs show promising results but await further studies.
Modeling and Classifying Hyperspectral Imagery by CRFs With Sparse Higher Order Potentials

Hyperspectral images exhibit strong dependencies across spatial and spectral neighbors, which have been proved to be very useful for hyperspectral image classification. The recently defined conditional random field (CRF) can effectively model and use the dependencies for classification of hyperspectral images in a unified probabilistic framework. However, in order to be computationally tractable, the usual CRFs are limited to incorporate only pairwise potentials. Thus, the usual CRFs can capture only pairwise interactions and neglect higher order dependencies, which are potentially useful high-level properties particularly for the classification of hyperspectral image consisting of complex components. This paper overcomes this limitation by developing hyperspectral image classification algorithm based on a CRF with sparse higher order potentials, which are specially designed to incorporate complex characteristics of hyperspectral images. To efficiently implement the CRF model at training step, this paper develops an efficient local method under the piecewise training framework, while at inference step, this proposes a simple strategy to combine the piecewisely trained model to overcome the possible over-counting problems. Moreover, the combined model with the specially defined potentials can be efficiently inferred by graph cut method. Experiments on the real-world data attest to the accuracy, effectiveness, and efficiency of the proposed model on modeling and classifying hyperspectral images.
Acting autonomously of mimicking the state and peers

NGO aid is still widely believed to be superior to official aid (ODA). However, the incentives of NGOs to excel and target aid to the poor and deserving are increasingly disputed. We contribute to the emerging literature on the allocation of NGO aid by performing panel Tobit estimations for Swiss NGOs. The analysis offers new insights in two major regards: First, we cover the allocation of both self-financed and officially co-financed aid for a large panel of NGOs and recipient countries. Second, by classifying each NGO according to its financing structure, we address the unresolved question of whether financial dependence on the government impairs the targeting of NGO aid. It turns out that NGOs mimic the state as well as NGO peers. Officially refinanced NGOs are more inclined to imitate the allocation of ODA. However, the degree of financial dependence does not affect the poverty orientation of NGO aid and the incentives of NGOs to engage in easier environments. The allocation of self-financed aid differs in several respects from the allocation of officially co-financed aid, including the role of financial dependence for imitating the state and herding among NGOs.
Clinical evoked potential mapping

Cette these a pour but d'evaluer la pertinence clinique des potentiels evoques (PE) en haute resolution et sa contribution a l'acquisition de nouvelles connaissances sur les sens humains. La premiere etude evalue la sensibilite et la specificite des PE dans le cas de la sclerose en plaques. Les resultats ont montre que ces mesures peuvent etre ameliorees, notamment pour les PE visuels. Les resultats obtenus pour les PE somatosensoriels n'ont pas ete tres concluants, ce qui nous a amene a utiliser la modalite mecanique comme alternative a l'electrique. Les enregistrements ont montre une activation cerebrale focalisee avec une dispersion temporelle limitee. La troisieme etude a pour but d'observer l'activation corticale declenchees par une autre modalite: l'olfactive. Les resultats ont suggere que nous pouvons detecter les regions engagees dans l'odorat et leur sequence d'activation. Nous proposons les PE en haute resolution comme une technique adequate pour l'evaluation clinique et la localisation des fonctions cerebrales.
Colostomy for anorectal anomalies: high incidence of complications.

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to characterize the type and incidence of complications related to colostomy formation in newborn infants with anorectal anomalies. METHODS The authors reviewed a 5-year (1994 to 1999) experience of a single institution in the management of neonates with high and intermediate anorectal anomalies who required colostomy at birth. Patients with colostomy still in place have been excluded from the study to maximize the chances of detecting colostomy-related complications. RESULTS There were 80 neonates with anorectal malformations, of whom, 49 (31 boys and 18 girls) were included in the study. The site of colostomy was sigmoid colon (n = 32), transverse colon (n = 7), and descending colon (n = 10). Thirty-nine colostomies were loop, and the remaining 7 were divided. The median birth weight was 2.96 kg (range, 1.46 to 3.88). The age at colostomy formation was 2 days (range, 1 to 210). Mechanical complications related to colostomy formation were observed in 16 infants (32%) with 3 infants having more than 1 mechanical complication. These included prolapse in 8 (50%), intestinal obstruction (adhesions, intussusception, and volvulus) in 7 (44%), and skin dehiscence in 3 (19%). One neonate had necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) after colostomy formation. Urinary tract infection was observed after colostomy in 14 infants (29%). The incidence of urinary tract infection was not higher in infants who had loop colostomy (11 of 39, 28%) compared with infants who had divided colostomy (3 of 10, 30%). There were no differences in the incidence of colostomy-related complications and urinary tract infection between male and female infants. There were no deaths in this series. CONCLUSIONS Formation of colostomy for anorectal anomalies should not be considered a minor procedure. In our experience the incidence of complications after colostomy formation is high. The incidence of urinary tract infections does not seem to be affected by the type of colostomy performed.
Integration of enteric fever surveillance into the WHO-coordinated Invasive Bacterial-Vaccine Preventable Diseases (IB-VPD) platform: A low cost approach to track an increasingly important disease

Background Lack of surveillance systems and accurate data impede evidence-based decisions on treatment and prevention of enteric fever, caused by Salmonella Typhi/Paratyphi. The WHO coordinates a global Invasive Bacterial–Vaccine Preventable Diseases (IB-VPD) surveillance network but does not monitor enteric fever. We evaluated the feasibility and sustainability of integrating enteric fever surveillance into the ongoing IB-VPD platform. Methodologies The IB-VPD surveillance system uses WHO definitions to enroll 2–59 month children hospitalized with possible pneumonia, sepsis or meningitis. We expanded this surveillance system to additionally capture suspect enteric fever cases during 2012–2016, in two WHO sentinel hospitals of Bangladesh, by adding inclusion criteria of fever ≥102°F for ≥3 days, irrespective of other manifestations. Culture-positive enteric fever cases from in-patient departments (IPD) detected in the hospital laboratories but missed by the expanded surveillance, were also enrolled to assess completion. Costs for this integration were calculated for the additional personnel and resources required. Principal findings In the IB-VPD surveillance, 5,185 cases were enrolled; 3% (N = 171/5185) were positive for microbiological growth, of which 55% (94/171) were culture-confirmed cases of enteric fever (85 Typhi and 9 Paratyphi A). The added inclusion criteria for enteric fever enrolled an additional 1,699 cases; 22% (358/1699) were positive, of which 85% (349/358) were enteric fever cases (305 Typhi and 44 Paratyphi A). Laboratory surveillance of in-patients of all ages enrolled 311 additional enteric fever cases (263 Typhi and 48 Paratyphi A); 9% (28/311) were 2–59 m and 91% (283/311) >59 m. Altogether, 754 (94+349+311) culture-confirmed enteric fever cases were found, of which 471 were 2–59 m. Of these 471 cases, 94% (443/471) were identified through the hospital surveillances and 6% (28/471) through laboratory results. Twenty-three percent (170/754) of all cases were children <2 years. Additional cost for the integration was USD 44,974/year, a 27% increase to the IB-VPD annual expenditure. Conclusion In a setting where enteric disease is a substantial public health problem, we could integrate enteric fever surveillance into the standard IB-VPD surveillance platform at a modest cost.
Internal Audit Competency Changes in Response to Financial Reporting Quality Failures

Limited data availability on the internal audit function (IAF) has constrained research on the topic. This study uses unique, manually collected data from LinkedIn on internal audit personnel that overcomes certain limitations of previous survey-based data. Using this longitudinal data, we test whether IAF competency is associated with financial reporting failures and whether IAF competency subsequently improves. We find that IAF competency is inversely related to the propensity for material weakness disclosures and restatements. We also find a significant increase in IAF competency in the year following material weakness and restatement disclosures. Importantly, we document that the increase in competency is not uniform across firms and is greater in firms with higher audit committee commitment toward the IAF, lower audit committee accounting expertise, and when the CFO lacks accounting expertise. These findings suggest that while there is no regulatory oversight governing the IAF, certain audit committees and executives recognize its value. Regulators that have focused on improving financial reporting quality by enhancing oversight over external auditors and audit committees should also consider focusing on the IAF.
Formation of MTBE–DNA adducts in mice measured with accelerator mass spectrometry

Methyl tert‐butyl ether (MTBE) is a gasoline oxygenate and antiknock additive substituting for lead alkyls currently in use worldwide. Previous studies have shown that MTBE at very high doses induces tumors in rodents. The aim of the present study was to examine directly the binding ability of MTBE onto DNA, demonstrating its potential genotoxicity. MTBE–DNA adducts and their decay kinetics in mice have been measured by using doubly 14C‐labeled MTBE with an advanced, ultrasensitive technique: accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). It was found that MTBE definitely formed adducts with DNA in mouse lung, liver, and kidney in a log/log linear dose–response relationship. The distribution sequence of DNA adducts in these tissues is: lung > liver > kidney. The level of MTBE–DNA adducts peaked at 12 h postadministration in the lung and peaked at 6 h postadministration in the liver. Then the adducts declined rapidly until 5 days postadministration and thereafter declined much more slowly. To our knowledge, this is the first report on DNA adduction with MTBE in vivo. The mechanism of the formation of MTBE–DNA adducts also is discussed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 20: 397–401, 2005.
Mastication Improvement After Partial Implant-supported Prosthesis Use

Partially edentulous patients may be rehabilitated by the placement of removable dental prostheses, implant-supported removable dental prostheses, or partial implant fixed dental prostheses. However, it is unclear the impact of each prosthesis type over the masticatory aspects, which represents the objective of this paired clinical trial. Twelve patients sequentially received and used each of these 3 prosthesis types for 2 months, after which maximum bite force was assessed by a strain sensor and food comminution index was determined with the sieving method. Masseter and temporal muscle thicknesses during rest and maximal clenching were also evaluated by ultrasonography. Each maxillary arch received a new complete denture that was used throughout the study. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance for repeated measures, followed by the Tukey test (p < .05). Maximum bite force and food comminution index increased (p < .0001) after implant-supported dental prosthesis and implant fixed dental prosthesis use, with the higher improvement found after the latter’s use. Regardless of implant-retained prosthesis type, masseter muscle thickness during maximal clenching also increased (p < .05) after implant insertion. Partial implant-supported prostheses significantly improved masseter muscle thickness and mastication, and the magnitude of this effect was related to prosthesis type (International Clinical Trial Registration RBR-9J26XD).
Left Atrial Structure and Function Across the Spectrum of Cardiovascular Risk in the Elderly: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

Background—Although left atrial (LA) enlargement is a recognized risk factor for adverse cardiovascular outcomes, emerging evidence supports the importance of LA function. We examined LA emptying fraction (LAEF) across the spectrum of cardiovascular disease burden in a large cohort of elderly adults living in the community. Methods and Results—We studied 1142 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study who were in sinus rhythm, free of valvular disease, and had acceptable quality 3-dimensional echocardiograms (mean age, 76±5 years; 59% women). We determined the cross-sectional correlates of LAEF and compared LAEF among elderly adults without cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular risk factors (n=201), those with hypertension (n=734), and those with overt heart failure (HF; n=207). In multivariable analysis, lower LAEF was associated with higher LA volumes and worse left ventricular systolic and diastolic functions. Elderly participants free of cardiovascular disease or risk factors had smaller LA volumes than those with hypertension (LA volume max/body surface area 30.2±6.6 versus 33.0±9.0 mL/m2; P=0.001), but similar LAEF (55.2±10.3% versus 53.8±11.5%, respectively; P=0.357). Participants with HF had higher LA volume (39.8±13.3 mL/m2) and worse LAEF (47.6±14.6%) than participants with hypertension or participants free of cardiovascular disease or risk factors (all P<0.001). Conclusions—In a community-based cohort, LA function was impaired in participants with prevalent HF, but there were no significant differences in LA function between participants with hypertension and those with free of cardiovascular disease or risk factors, despite greater LA size in the former.
Attitudes of clinicians in emergency room towards suicide

Objective. The present study brings to focus common attitudes of clinicians working in the emergency room. Methods. A questionnaire was used to assess the attitudes of clinicians working in the emergency room. The data were subjected to factor analysis. Results. These clinicians show attitudes of avoidance, rejection, hostility, anxiety and fear, and inadequacy. They also considered the act of suicide as manipulative and unlawful. Conclusion. Due to various internal as well as external factors these medical professionals have negative attitudes towards suicide attempters, with a resultant low quality of care. Dealing with one's own anxieties over suicide and death, along with having good evaluation skills and a multidisciplinary approach to handle such cases, could save many more lives.
THE ART OF WAR: PATTERNS AND MECHANISMS UNDERLYING PREDATOR-INDUCED PLASTICITY OF AMPHIBIANS

Organisms often employ phenotypic plasticity as a strategy to cope with variable environments. This is particularly true of predation threats, wherein prey induce defenses to reduce detection or capture by predators. In order to produce appropriate defenses, prey must be able to discern useful information from environmental cues. Despite the pervasive production of inducible defenses, we understand very little of how much useful information is conveyed to organisms in cues, or how the subsequent plastic responses vary within groups of organisms. To address the need for comparative studies of phenotypic plasticity, we sought to examine morphological and behavioral defenses of five species of Ambystoma salamander larvae in response to larval dragonfly (Anax junius) chemical cues in a common garden environment. Dragonfly cues induced relatively few morphological changes across species. Likewise, salamanders did not vary in their refuge use during the experiment, though several species reduced their activity in the presence of predators early in development. Our results suggest that behavioral and morphological defenses in Ambystoma are highly variable among species and the genus appears to be less plastic than tadpoles and other salamander species. To understand what types of information prey are capable of responding to in their environment, we raised grey treefrog tadpoles (Hyla verisciolor) in the presence of cues isolated from different stages of an attack sequence by larval dragonflies (A. junius) or larval dragonflies THE ART OF WAR: PATTERNS AND MECHANISMS UNDERLYING PREDATOR-INDUCED PLASTICITY OF AMPHIBIANS Heather Michelle Shaffery, M.S. University of Pittsburgh, 2013 iv consuming different combinations of grey treefrog tadpoles and snails (Helisoma trivolvis) across different temporal sequences. When exposed to a predator consuming grey treefrogs, tadpoles reduced their activity, increased their hiding behavior, and induced deeper tails. As we exposed prey to more types of cues from an attack sequence, they also increased tail depth and hiding behavior but did not change their activity. Additionally, treefrog tadpoles generally increased their defense as the biomass of treefrogs consumed increased, regardless of whether heterospecifics were being consumed. Our results suggest that treefrogs can gain cue information from all portions of an attack sequence, and that both temporal patterns of feeding and diet content of predators influence the type and magnitude of induced prey defenses.