Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Health professionals and ethnic Pakistanis in Britain : risk, thalassaemia and audit culture.

The central theme or `red-thread' that I consider in this thesis is the concept of risk as it is perceived by and affects the two sides of the medical encounter in this instance ethnic Pakistanis and Health Professionals in Britain. Each side very often perceives risk quite distinctively, relating to the balance between the spiritual and temporal realms. This is particularly germane in matters to do with possible congenital defects within the prenatal realm for the ethnic Pakistani, and predominantly Muslim, side of this encounter. Thus one of the factors considered in this thesis is how senses of Islam impact upon the two sides. By ethnic Pakistanis Islam is seen as central to all life decisions, whilst Health Professionals view Islam with some considerable trepidation, little understanding it or its centrality to the former's decision-making processes. This is particularly significant with regard to attitudes to health and health care. In the initial stages of the project I had thought first cousin marriage (FCM), seen by ethnic Pakistanis as desirable and by Health Professionals as putting ethnic Pakistanis at-risk to be central to the argument, but concluded that concerns around FCM were a `red herring', merely a trope for the tensions between the two sides at once both British and at-risk from audit culture. Although no longer central, FCM remains a viable touchstone in consideration of the two sides' perceptions of genetic risk. In this thesis the medical encounter between ethnic Pakistanis and Health Professionals is performed within the realm of the so called New Genetics. Here the respective understandings of the New Genetics are informed by the enculturation processes that shape the two sides' world view. Furthermore, I will agree with Lord Robert Winston's and others' concern that any attempt to eradicate an adaptive genetic mutation, in this instance, thalassaemia, from the gene pool is not only undesirable in the short term, but also that such eradications may have an adverse, and far reaching, effect on whole population groups in the future. The main thrust of my argument is that audit culture not only compounds risk for both sides, but also perpetuates institutional racism within the National Health Service (NHS), by promulgating what I have called the language myth. That is to say that much institutional racism is the unwanted by-product of the NHS's attempts to become more patient centred and its continuing efforts to develop systems of best practice. This professionalisation process within the NHS can be seen to impact most strongly in relation to communication particularly the claimed language barrier between the two sides. This `barrier' has worrying policy implications for any meaningful communication between the two sides, notably relating to obtaining informed consent from ethnic Pakistani patients with a resultant increase in risk for the two sides and clear economic consequences for the NHS.
TNF Inhibitors in Dermatology: From Thalidomide to Biologics

Inflammatory skin diseases represent an important part of dermatological pathology. Recent advances in the understanding of inflammatory processes have identified various cytokines, and in particular Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) as a potent and central proinflammatory cytokine involved in many conditions, including rheumatic, gastrointestinal tract, and skin diseases. Therefore, inhibition of TNF has become a major therapeutic target in the treatment of inflammatory disorders. Thalidomide is one of the first TNF inhibitors that have been used. It was initially prescribed by chance and pragmatically by dermatologists in inflammatory diseases such as erythema nodosum leprosum, lupus and severe aphtosis, but its identification as an inhibitor of TNF is more recent. The discovery of the major role of TNF alpha in the physiopathology of certain inflammatory diseases and notably in rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease has led to the emergence of 3 new anti-TNF alpha drugs. These so-called biologics are two monoclonal antibodies (infliximab and adalimumab) and one fusion protein composed of a soluble TNF alpha receptor (etanercept) specifically directed against TNF. The first clinical data are very impressive, but new and unexpected side effects have progressively been described. These powerful drugs are increasingly prescribed, and the aim of this work is to summarize the recent knowledge on the old (thalidomide) and new (biologics) TNF inhibitors in dermatological diseases.
The Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes

Editors' introduction Introduction: science and pseudoscience 1. Falsification and the methodology of scientific research programmes 2. History of science and its rational reconstructions 3. Popper on demarcation and induction 4. Why did Copernicus's research programme supersede Ptolemy's? 5. Newton's effect on scientific standards References Lakatos bibliography Indexes.
A fully homomorphic encryption scheme

We propose the first fully homomorphic encryption scheme, solving an old open problem. Such a scheme allows one to compute arbitrary functions over encrypted data without the decryption key—i.e., given encryptions E(m1), . , E( mt) of m1, . , m t, one can efficiently compute a compact ciphertext that encrypts f(m1, ., m t) for any efficiently computable function f. Fully homomorphic encryption has numerous applications. For example, it enables encrypted search engine queries—i.e., a search engine can give you a succinct encrypted answer to your (boolean) query without even knowing what your query was. It also enables searching on encrypted data; you can store your encrypted data on a remote server, and later have the server retrieve only files that (when decrypted) satisfy some boolean constraint, even though the server cannot decrypt the files on its own. More broadly, it improves the efficiency of secure multiparty computation. In our solution, we begin by designing a somewhat homomorphic "boostrappable" encryption scheme that works when the function f is the scheme's own decryption function. We then show how, through recursive self-embedding, bootstrappable encryption gives fully homomorphic encryption.
The athlete biological passport: challenges and possibilities

ABSTRACT The Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) relies on the longitudinal monitoring of blood and urine variables impacted by doping use. Since the introduction of the Haematological Module of ABP, it has quickly become a pivotal tool in anti-doping testing. Nevertheless, the ABP has brought new ethical challenges to the anti-doping community. Of particular importance is whether ABP data should be accessible by athletes or not. Such data disclosure could damage the integrity of the anti-doping system as athletes may monitor effectively the results of their doping habits. Moreover, there might be other ramifications resulting from data disclosure. Another issue is how incidental findings within ABP data, such as data indicating a potential underlying pathology, should be reported. In this regard, the inclusion of additional data in the ABP, such as variables involved in hormonal axes or -omics data, could bring new challenges. Crucial to the disclosure of incidental findings is the manner in which they should be disclosed and to whom. Some genotyping information may be useful for anti-doping authorities although this brings difficulties such as the return of information in case variants are also linked to medical conditions, the potential that such information fuels prejudices against particular groups, the restrictions of genetic information in occupational health and insurance and the proportionality of the collection of such data. In view of the obstacles the aforementioned issues might bring for the anti-doping community, it is evident that discussions should take place proactively to ensure robust and sound policy in the future.
Effect of a Randomized Controlled Trial Walking Program on Walking, Stress, Depressive Symptoms and Cardiovascular Biomarkers in Elderly Korean Immigrants

Purpose: Despite well-known benefits of walking on cardiovascular health, no structured walking exercise program has been formally tested on elderly Korean immigrants (EKIs). This pilot randomized controlled trial study assessed the effect of a walking program on walking behavior (pedometer steps count), stress (cortisol), depressive symptoms (CESD-10), and cardiovascular disease biomarkers (hs-CRP and fibrinogen) via venipuncture in EKIs. Methods: Seventy EKIs recruited from a Korean community were randomly assigned to a 12-week walking group or control group in a 3:2 ratio. The working program included a pedometer, buddy, monthly coffee card, weekly call for goal setting, and physical activity consultation. Walking group EKIs maintained the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended exercise guidelines and good mental health status over 12 weeks. Results: There was no significant difference in the outcomes between control and walking groups. Conclusion: Social networking with Koreans in the senior center and church from a well-established Korean community might have positive effects on mental health.
Performance enhancement of TCP on multihop ad hoc wireless networks

It has been found that the throughput performance of TCP controlled file transfers over multi-hop wireless networks can be very poor, and the bandwidth sharing between multiple TCP transfers can be very unfair. We first report our reconfirmation of these simulation results in the context of a string topology network that uses the IEEE 802.11b medium access control protocol, and an ad hoc routing protocol. We then discuss why the performance of TCP is poor in this scenario. Then we propose a simple modification of the 802.11 backoff algorithm that yields a substantial performance improvement in the situations that we have studied.
Validating “belief in occurrence” for future autobiographical events.

Belief in occurrence is theorized to play a central role in remembering autobiographical events. Ernst and D’Argembeau (2017) proposed that belief in occurrence also plays a key role in determining the “realness” of future events, or the subjective sense that imagined future events will genuinely occur. They reported data indicating that belief in occurrence for future events arises from the contextualization of imagined future events within autobiographical knowledge, and that such belief signals when simulated events are consistent with expectations and goals. The validity of their findings can be questioned due to the use of a single item to measure belief in occurrence. To further validate these propositions, we expanded an existing belief in occurrence scale to create parallel forms for measuring belief in occurrence for past and future events. In Study 1 (N = 470) participants rated three past or three future events (recent, distant, uncertain). Study 2 (N = 251) replicated Study 1 using French translations of the measures and a within-subjects design in which participants rated a past and a future event. Confirmatory structural modelling indicated that an eight-item belief in occurrence scale was a strong fit to the data, and that item loadings were invariant across event cues and temporal direction for belief in occurrence, spatial characteristic, and autonoetic awareness latent variables. These studies support the view that belief in occurrence appraisals for past and future events draw on overlapping processes. Relationships between the latent variables and other predictors of remembering / forecasting events are discussed.
The design and implementation of the balanced business scorecard

Kaplan and Norton’s concept of the balanced scorecard has received wide acceptance from both academics and practitioners. The design and construction of balanced scorecards has not, however, been well documented. Reports on a study undertaken for three companies to determine, develop and implement a balanced scorecard for senior managers’ use. Reviews the theoretical background of integrated performance measures, describes, analyses and cross‐compares the performance measures designed by the three companies. Concludes with a discussion on whether or not the generic model developed by Kaplan and Norton is the most appropriate model for all companies.
"Patient-Centered" and "Consumer- Directed" Mental Health Services*

* The author gratefully acknowledges the intellectual contributions of Jessica Jonikas and Amanda Taylor, who assisted with reviewing the literature, preparation of the manuscript, and production of the final report. ** Professor and Director, Center on Mental Health Services Research and Policy, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, 104 South Michigan Avenue, Suite 900, Chicago, IL 60603, 312.422. 8180 X19,
Consumption of fruits and vegetables among college students living in dormitory in Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences

Obesity is rising rapidly in Iran. Nutrition is an important issue of obesity; Fruits and vegetables are among the best food sources of antioxidant vitamins, soluble fibers, phytochemicals, and other nutrient constituents. Further, some of these foods have been shown to be protective related to reduction of chronic disease risk. In this study, consumption of fruits & vegetables and body mass index (BMI) among College Students Living in dormitory at Shahid Beheshti University of medical sciences were evaluated. In this descriptive analytic survey, 658 college students whose have being lived in dormitory at Shahid Beheshti University of medical sciences were selected by clustering sampling method. Data collected using a food frequency questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS 16 software. Mean age of participants was 21.82 for females and 22.76 years for males. Frequency of fruits consumption was 2.6± 0.9 per day in female and 2.3±0.7 in male, while frequency of vegetables consumption was 3.2±1.00 in female and 2.9± 0.9 per day in male students. In general, consumption of fruits (p=0.003) and vegetables (p<0.001) were significantly more in female than males students. BMI in students was normal. Results indicated that students hadn’t optimal practice towards fruits and vegetables consumption. Thus, it is essential that authorities pay more attention to this specific problem in training the students, in order to maintain the optimal nutritional status.
DEPRESSION AND COPING STRATEGIES AMONG WOMEN WITH INFERTILITY, ATTENDING THREE GYNAECOLOGICAL CLINICS IN IBADAN.

Infertility is a crisis that leads to a psychological imbalance. Depression as a consequence of infertility seems to be on the increase. Depressed clients are extremely vulnerable but adequate coping strategies could play valuable role in emotional response. There is a dearth of literature on depression and coping modalities among infertile women in Ibadan. The study therefore assessed depression and coping strategies among women with infertility attending three gynaecological clinics in Ibadan, using a descriptive cross-sectional approach in eliciting information from 79 women. Beck Depression Inventory and Ways of Coping Checklist were used. The mean age of participants was 35 years +_ 6.0 , with increased age being significantly related to depression (P<0.007). Escape avoidance, positive reappraisal and planned problem solving, tended to be associated with reduced depression. Education of nurses should emphasize skill development in counselling in infertility. A future study with larger sample might identify significant coping strategies.
Treatise on Physiological Optics

A composite thin film resistor is disclosed, including an electrically inert substrate upon which is deposited a nickel-chromium alloy thin film, and an overlying second thin film - which is initially deposited as metallic tantalum. In the final product the tantalum is passivated, as by thermal oxidation, so that the said film is substantially tantalum oxide throughout, except where such film underlies a pair of conductive terminal pads. The terminal pads are spaced on the substrate, so that the resistive path therebetween is defined through the nickel-chromium thin film - via the thin metallic tantalum film interfacing between the nickel-chromium film and conductive pads. The overlying tantalum oxide provides a very high degree of environmental protection with respect to the Ni-Cr film, whereby the product not only displays the desirably low TCR characteristics of Ni-Cr, but is also highly resistant to moisture and other environmental factors. The product also exhibits outstanding resistance to the adverse effects of electrolysis supported by the presence of moisture. The various films, including a gold film from which the terminal pads are derived, may be deposited upon the inert substrate by sequential sputtering during a single evacuation of a vacuum chamber. Desired resistive patterns may then be formed by photo-etching, subsequent to which oxidation of accessible portions of the tantalum film can be effected by heating in an appropriate atmosphere.
The inverted classroom in a large enrolment introductory physics course: a case study

We present a practice-based case study of curriculum redesign in a large-enrolment introductory physics course taught at the University of Edinburgh. The course has been inverted, or “flipped”, in the sense that content and material is delivered to students for self-study in advance of lectures, via a combination of home-grown electronic course materials, textbook reading and external web resources. Subsequent lectures focus on problems students are still having after self-study of the material, which have been selfreported by them as part of a weekly reading quiz assignment. Lectures are transformed from sessions for transmission or initial presentation of information, to guided discussion sessions, with a particular focus on peer instruction techniques and discussion, facilitated by extensive use of clicker questions. We present details of student engagement with pre-class reading and quiz tasks, comment on student perceptions of this different instructional format, and present data that shows evidence for high quality learning on the course.
Power Representation on Sundanese Proverbs

This study examines the representation of power on a number of Sundanese proverbs. The objective is to analyze traditional views on the perceptions of power in Sundanese society and explore the interrelation between language, power and culture. The data for this study were collected from Rosidi (2005, 2010). The results showed that power is represented mostly in neuter and noble contexts. This study concludes that Sundanese proverbs depict that anybody can hold power, regardless their genders, social status and ages, as long as they have the supporting factors, i.e. wealth, nobility and knowledge.
Navigating the Child Welfare System: An Exploratory Study of Families' Experiences

Background: Families involved with child welfare services often experience a range of problems in addition to maltreatment, including intimate partner violence, substance abuse, and mental health problems. Children in these families are at risk for developing a myriad of negative health, behavior, learning, and attachment problems. Although parenting education programs are among the most routine interventions for families involved with child welfare services, there is relatively little data available about these programs in this population, especially for families with co-occurring problems. Purpose: This study sought to explore the occurrence and nature of family stressors in parents involved in the child welfare system who have been referred to an intensive therapeutic parenting program, and the relationship of those stressors to change in parenting attitudes. Methods: Quantitative abstraction of parenting program files was completed (N=124) using a structured data collection instrument. Parenting attitudes were measured using the Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI-2). Analyses 33 included descriptive and bivariate statistics, and related samples t-tests to examine change in parenting attitudes. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with a sub-sample of this population (N=21). Results: File abstraction revealed that parents in this population experiencing multiple co-occurring stressors ranged from 23% (fathers with both violence and mental health) to 39% (mothers with both substance abuse and mental health). Significant improvements in parenting attitudes were found as demonstrated by pre-test to post-test improvements in all domains of the AAPI-2 for most groups of mothers and fathers, including those with violence, mental health, and substance abuse problems. Qualitative interviews indicated that parents felt that they were learning from the parenting program and were supported by the facilitators. Conclusions: Parents who experience multiple problems are unlikely to be able to parent effectively, and thus are likely to need significant support and intervention. Additional understanding of the types of issues they face and whether particular intervention programs are effective for those groups would allow more targeted, individualized interventions. Introduction In 2009, child protection agencies received an estimated 3.3 million reports of child maltreatment, and of these, an estimated 702,000 children were found to be victims of maltreatment (DHHS, 2010). Studies have indicated that in addition to maltreatment, many parents in the child welfare system also experience a range of problems such as intimate partner violence, substance abuse, and mental health problems (English, Edleson, & Herrick, 2005; Kohl, Edleson, English, & Barth, 2005; Marsh, Ryan, Choi, &
The digital signal processing handbook

A starter blade assembly for a thread roller starter mechanism which comprises a reciprocable starter slide mounted for precision rectilinear movement throughout its full range of travel, a starter blade supported on the slide for gating and feeding a work blank between starting ends of a pair of thread rolling dies, and an adjustable biasing means acting directly on the slide for providing a preselected starting force responsive to a return movement of a one-way drive lever, permitting following movement of the slide and starter blade in a blank feeding direction under the force of the biasing means.
Endoscopic third ventriculostomy for the treatment of hydrocephalus: An alternative to shunting

Abstract Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) is a common alternative method for the management of hydrocephalus in selected patients. A retrospective chart review was conducted to review our experience with ETV for patients with a variety of causes for hydrocephalus. A total of 67 children with median age of 10.8 years (range= 8 weeks to 21 years) underwent 76 ETVs from July 1992 to June 2003. Two procedures were abandoned due to anatomical distortion. The medical records, operative reports, and imaging studies, were retrospectively reviewed with regard to outcome, complications and patency rate. Treatment failure was defined as the need to shunt the patient within 4 weeks of performing the ETV. The overall success rate was 83% with a mean follow-up 40.8 months. Nine patients underwent 11 repeat ETVs at an average interval period of 24 months with a patency rate of 90% following the second procedure. Ten of eleven patients who underwent re-ETV were ultimately shunt-independent. The highest success rates were achieved for obstructive hydrocephalus from midbrain/tectal tumor (100%, n = 4), pineal tumor (100%, n = 3), intraventricular tumor or cyst (100%, n = 2), and post-infectious hydrocephalus (100%, n = 1). Lower patency rates were noted in patients with Chiari malformation (0%, n = 1) and posterior fossa tumors (63%, n = 8). Due to the efficacy of ETV, it should be considered as the primary procedure, rather than ventricular peritoneal shunts, in carefully selected children. The reliability rate is dependent upon the age and etiology of hydrocephalus.