Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Is Low Hemoglobin Level a Risk Factor for Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infections

Objective: This prospective study was conducted to evaluate whether a low hemoglobin level, was a risk factor for Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infections (ALRTI) in children. Methods : 150 Children of all age groups who came to the outpatient department and those admitted for ALRTI were included in the study. Age and sex-matched 140 children, not having any respiratory illness, were taken as control. The study period was from March 2006 - March 2007. Detailed clinical and laboratory evaluation of the enlisted patients was done. All were subjected to detail investigations. Results : Radiological evidence of pneumonia was present in 70 (50 %) children.Hyperinflated lungs were seen in 40 (29%) and was normal in 30 (21.4%) cases. Blood culture was positive in 14 (10%) children of study group and none among control group. Klebsiella was the commonest organism isolated 6 (4.2%) in blood culture positive cases. The mean Hemoglobin (Hb) level of study group was 9.88 gm% and it was 12 gm% in control group.96 (68.6%) of study group and 30 (21.42%) of control group had anemia. Of the anemic children, 79 (82.3%) in study group had iron deficiency, and 17 (17.7%) had normocytic normochromic anemia. These values were 18 (33.3%) and 36 (66.6%) respectively for control group. Low hemoglobin level was a risk factor (p<0.001) ALRTI. Conclusion: Anemic children were 3.2 times more susceptible to ALRTI compared to the control group and and iron deficiency anemia was predominating. Supplemental iron therapy may reduce the incidence of ALRTI. Prevention of anemia, due to whatever etiology is also essential. Key words: ALRTI, anemia, hemoglobin. DOI: 10.3126/jnps.v30i1. 2453 Journal of Nepal Paediatric Society Vol.30(1) 2010 1-7
Psychometric Properties of the Revised and Abbreviated form of the Turkish Version of the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale

Dysfunctional attitudes are considered to be important risk factors in the onset and maintenance of depression. Thus, a psychometrically reliable and valid measure is necessary for understanding depression. The Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) is widely used and has good psychometric properties, but there is no consensus about its factor structure. To examine its psychometric properties and factor structure, a total of 885 individuals consisting of patients with depression and healthy controls were evaluated. After the sample was randomly divided into two subsets, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed. Then the DAS was abbreviated according to the factor profiles and theoretical background. Analyses indicated two factors, named Perfectionism/Achievement and Need for Approval/Dependency for the revised DAS. Reliability analyses revealed a good internal consistency, and the concurrent validity indicated significant correlations with the Beck Depression Inventory and the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire.
Screening offenders for risk of drop-out and expulsion from correctional programmes

Purpose. The goal of the present research was to develop a screening measure to assist in identifying offenders at risk for drop-out or expulsion from correctional programmes. Methods. Non-Aboriginal male offenders (N = 5,247) were randomly divided into a development sample (N = 2,617) and a validation sample (N = 2,630). In the development sample, individual predictors were identified through univariate and multivariate analyses, weighted based on their relationship with drop-out/expulsion, and combined into a composite measure we called the drop-out risk screen (DRS). Results. The DRS consists of five items, including static and dynamic risk factors for recidivism as well as motivation for intervention. It significantly predicted drop-out/expulsion in the development sample (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC]= .72) and performed similarly in the validation sample (AUC = .70). Conclusions. The results indicate that the DRS is a valid screening instrument for risk of drop-out/expulsion. Prior to commencement of a treatment programme, offenders with high scores on the DRS could be more thoroughly assessed and, if necessary, targeted with pre-treatment efforts to increase their motivation and general readiness for treatment.
Qualitative Study of a Solution-Focused Training Program for Taiwanese Military Instructors

This study explored Taiwanese military instructors' perceptions of a training program using a solution-focused approach and its initial application to students with behavior problems. A total of 25 military instructors (16 men, 9 women; M age = 38.6 years, SD = 5.8) and 10 students (three men, seven women; M age = 17.5 years, SD = 0.9) participated in the study through convenience sampling. Grounded theory method was adopted for data analysis. Six prominent categories emerged from the focus group interview, weekly training notes, and the researcher's field notes, including reactions to learning solution-focused approach, strengths and weaknesses of using the solution-focused approach, identification of military instructors role function, initial responses to the techniques of the solution-focused approach, a positive attitude to deal with students' problems, and from assimilation to transformation. In addition, feedback collected from students was grouped into a seventh category. Finally, a modified pattern was developed for military instructors to use when working with students.
Diagnosis and Management of the Thyroid Nodules

Diagnosis and Management of the Thyroid Nodules Thyroid nodules are a common clinical problem. Most of the discovered nodules are benign, however increase in thyroid cancer incidence has been reported. For management of thyroid nodules distinction between benign and malignant thyroid tumors is essential. Thyroid nodule management involves notice to: clinical features, biochemical tests, imaging studies, fine needle aspiration, thyroid scintigraphy and immunocytochemistry. In spite of different combinations of diagnostic tools used, it is still difficult to precisely determine malignant potential of thyroid nodules.
Psychometric Properties of Creative Self-Efficacy Inventory Among Distinguished Students in Saudi Arabian Universities

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of Abbott's Creative Self-Efficacy inventory. Saudi honors students (157 men vs. 163 women) participated. These students are undergraduates (M age = 19.5 year, SD = 1.9) who complete 30 credit hours with a grade point average of no less than 4.5 out of 5. The results showed that the internal consistency (α = .87) and the test–retest reliabilities (r = .73) were satisfactory. The study sample was separated into two subsamples. The data from the first subsample (n = 60) were used to conduct an exploratory factor analysis, whereas the data from the second subsample (n = 260) were used to perform a confirmatory factor analysis. The results of exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis indicated that creative self-efficacy was not a unidimensional construct but consisted of two factors labeled “creative thinking self-efficacy” and “creative performance self-efficacy. ” As expected, this two-factor model fit the data adequately, supporting prior research that treated creative self-efficacy as multidimensional construct.
Price Discrepancy Between Sellers and Buyers When Making Decisions for the Self and Others

In daily life, people make decisions not only for themselves but also on behalf of others. There may be differences in terms of the endowment effect when making decisions in these two situations. In Study 1, this question was investigated with an existing dataset exploring the traditional endowment effect, in which 86 students (M age = 20.8 years, SD = 5.0) at Harvard University were asked to make a decision on selling or buying a coffee mug for themselves or for others as brokers. When making decisions for the self, the average price demanded by sellers was much higher than that offered by buyers; while making decisions for others, the price discrepancy disappeared. In Study 2, a similar study was conducted with a sample of 42 Chinese university students (M age = 22.3 years, SD = 2.5), and a similar pattern of results was obtained. Further analysis indicated that when making decisions for others, only buyers increased their valuations, therefore mitigating the seller–buyer price discrepancy. Finally, the findings were interpreted from the perspective of Construal Level Theory.
Optimizing C++ Vector Expressions

Recently, I've been entertaining myself by studying all the nifty new programming techniques that have been invented since I was in school. I started with C++ and object-oriented programming. I'm now progressing through generic programming, aspect-oriented programming, partial evaluation and generative programming. What I'm really interested in is whether all these tricks work in the real world of graphics programming. My answer so far is "Yes, but. ". To see "but what? ", I define one of the problems I want to solve in in this article. I wanted to have a programming language that defined vectors and the arithmetic operations between them. C++ allows me to do this, but there are various pitfalls in doing this well. This article addresses one of these pitfalls: the speed of execution of vector arithmetic. The conventional approach turns out to be somewhat slow, but there's a very tricky technique that can make vector arithmetic very fast. It's based on the work of T. Veldhuizen (1998) and uses the C++ template mechanism in bizarre and unexpected ways.
Diversity of eating patterns in older adults: A new scenario?

’s primary health care units from Marchto June 2011. Principal component analysis extracted six eating patterns. Individual food intake scores weredivided into tertiles, classifying individual adherence to each eating pattern as low, moderate, or high, tomeasure the relationship between adherence tertiles and sociodemographic variables.
Reconstructing 3D Tree Models from Instrumented Photographs

Our computer modeling technique reproduces a tree's 3D volume and skeleton from instrumented photographs. The technique involves first constructing the skeleton (trunk and the major branches) of the tree, and then applying an L-system starting from this skeleton. L-systems are one of the better known procedural models in the graphics community, especially after their popularization by P. Prusinkiewicz and A. Lindenmayer (1990).
To What Extent Do Protected Areas Determine the Conservation of Native Flora? A Case Study in the Sudanian Zone of Burkina Faso

Natural vegetation contributes significantly to the daily needs of local people especially in the developing countries. This exerts a high pressure on freely accessible natural savannas and jeopardizes the conservation of protected areas. In Burkina Faso, conservation measures, such as the creation of protected forests, have been taken to safeguard the remaining indigenous vegetation. However, little is known about the effectiveness of these protected areas in conserving biodiversity. This study compared the diversity and structural characteristics of the vegetation communities in protected and unprotected areas in the Sudanian zone of Burkina Faso. A total of 208 species representing 41 families and 145 genera were found. Significant differences were found between the species richness in the north Sudanian sector for tree savannas and in the south Sudanian sector for the shrub savannas, tree savannas, savanna woodlands, and the woodlands of land use types. All tree size-class distributions in each vegetation type formed a reverse J-shaped curve, indicating vegetation dominated by juvenile individuals. Similarity in tree species composition between management regimes was found to be low, which reflects differences in habitat conditions, disturbance, and topography. Urgent measures are needed to ensure effective and efficient management and conservation of biodiversity in the protected areas of Burkina Faso.
Gender, Attitudes Toward War, and Masculinities in Japan

Previous studies have argued that masculinity is linked to war. We conducted a web-based survey to examine relationships between gender, attitudes toward war, and masculinities within a sample of Japanese adults of both sexes (N = 366). Our results indicated that while men were more likely than women to accept war, the relationship between attitudes toward war and masculinities was inconclusive. Moreover, the results suggested that favorable attitudes toward war among men could be attenuated by interpersonal orientations. Based on our findings, we recommend a reexamination of attitudes toward war within the Japanese population.
The Spanish Adaptation of the Sport Motivation Scale-II in Adolescent Athletes

The aim of this study was to adapt and validate the Spanish version of the Sport Motivation Scale-II (S-SMS-II) in adolescent athletes. The sample included 766 Spanish adolescents (263 females and 503 males; average age = 13.71 ± 1.30 years old). The methodological steps established by the International Test Commission were followed. Four measurement models were compared employing the maximum likelihood estimation (with six, five, three, and two factors). Then, factorial invariance analyses were conducted and the effect sizes were calculated. Finally, the reliability was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha, omega, and average variance extracted coefficients. The five-factor S-SMS-II showed the best indices of fit (Cronbach’s alpha .64 to .74; goodness of fit index .971, root mean square error of approximation .044, comparative fit index .966). Factorial invariance was also verified across gender and between sport-federated athletes and non-federated athletes. The proposed S-SMS-II is discussed according to previous validated versions (English, Portuguese, and Chinese).
Procrastination as a Self-Regulation Failure: The Role of Impulsivity and Intrusive Thoughts

Procrastination has been described as the quintessence of self-regulatory failure. This study examines the relationships between this self-regulatory failure and other manifestations of self-regulation problems, namely impulsivity and intrusive thoughts. One hundred and forty-one participants completed questionnaires assessing procrastination, impulsivity (in particular, the urgency and lack of perseverance dimensions), and intrusive thoughts (i.e., rumination and daydreaming). Main results show that urgency mediated the association between rumination and procrastination, whereas rumination did not mediate the relation between urgency and procrastination. Lack of perseverance mediated the association between daydreaming and procrastination, and daydreaming mediated the relation between lack of perseverance and procrastination. This study highlights the role of impulsivity and intrusive thoughts in procrastination, specifies the links between these self-regulation problems, and provides insights into their (potential) underlying mechanisms. It also opens interesting prospects for management strategies for implementing targeted psychological interventions to reduce impulsive manifestations and/or thought control difficulties accompanying procrastination.
Development and Initial Validation of a Multidimensional Scale Assessing Subjective Well-Being: The Well-Being Scale (WeBS)

Numerous scales currently exist that assess well-being, but research on measures of well-being is still advancing. Conceptualization and measurement of subjective well-being have emphasized intrapsychic over psychosocial domains of optimal functioning, and disparate research on hedonic, eudaimonic, and psychological well-being lacks a unifying theoretical model. Lack of systematic investigations on the impact of culture on subjective well-being has also limited advancement of this field. The goals of this investigation were to (1) develop and validate a self-report measure, the Well-Being Scale (WeBS), that simultaneously assesses overall well-being and physical, financial, social, hedonic, and eudaimonic domains of this construct; (2) evaluate factor structures that underlie subjective well-being; and (3) examine the measure’s psychometric properties. Three empirical studies were conducted to develop and validate the 29-item scale. The WeBS demonstrated an adequate five-factor structure in an exploratory structural equation model in Study 1. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that a bifactor structure best fit the WeBS data in Study 2 and Study 3. Overall WeBS scores and five domain-specific subscale scores demonstrated adequate to excellent internal consistency reliability and construct validity. Mean differences in overall well-being and its five subdomains are presented for different ethnic groups. The WeBS is a reliable and valid measure of multiple aspects of well-being that are considered important to different ethnocultural groups.
Multiple Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the DASS-21 Depression and Anxiety Scales: How Do They Perform in a Cancer Sample?

The DASS-21 is a public domain instrument that is commonly used to evaluate depression and anxiety in psychiatric and community populations; however, the factor structure of the measure has not previously been examined in oncologic settings. Given that the psychometric properties of measures of distress may be compromised in the context of symptoms related to cancer and its treatment, the present study evaluated the psychometric properties of the DASS-21 Depression and Anxiety scales in cancer patients (n = 376) as compared to noncancer control participants (n = 207). Cancer patients ranged in age from 21 to 84 years (mean = 58.3, standard deviation = 10.4) and noncancer control participants ranged in age from 18 to 81 years (mean = 45.0, standard deviation = 11.7). Multiple group confirmatory factor analysis supported the structural invariance of the DASS-21 Depression and Anxiety scales across groups; the factor variance/covariance invariance model was the best fit to the data. Cronbach’s coefficient alpha values demonstrated acceptable internal consistency reliability across the total sample as well as within subgroups of cancer patients and noncancer control participants. Expected relationships of DASS-21 Depression and Anxiety scale scores to measures of suicidal ideation, quality of life, self-rated health, and depressed mood supported construct validity. These results support the psychometric properties of the DASS-21 Depression and Anxiety scales when measuring psychological distress in cancer patients.
Effects of Propolis on Fracture Healing: An Experimental Study

Propolis is a substance of honeybee origin with known antioxidant effects. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of propolis on fracture healing and the antioxidant system in an experimental setting. Thirty‐two rats that underwent experimental femur fracture and then fixation were randomly allocated in one of four groups: two control groups (Control‐3w and Control‐6w) and two treatment groups (Propolis‐3w and Propolis‐6w). Treatment groups received propolis until killing (at 3 or 6 weeks). X‐ray, histological, bone mineral density measurement findings and endogenous antioxidant levels were examined. The bone mineral density was higher, radiological and histological evaluation scores were better, and superoxide dismutase, total glutathione and myeloperoxidase levels were lower among the rats that received oral propolis treatment compared with the controls. In addition, bone mineral density and histological assessment scores showed time‐dependent improvement in the treatment group. In conclusion, the findings of this study suggest that propolis has some time‐dependent beneficial effects on fracture healing. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Fucoidan from Undaria pinnatifida Induces Apoptosis in A549 Human Lung Carcinoma Cells

Fucoidan, a sulfated polysaccharide, has various biological activities, such as anticancer, antiangiogenic and antiinflammatory effects; however, the mechanisms of action of fucoidan on anticancer activity have not been fully elucidated. The anticancer effects of fucoidan from Undaria pinnatifida on A549 human lung carcinoma cells were examined. Treatment of A549 cells with fucoidan resulted in potent antiproliferative activity. Also, some typical apoptotic characteristics, such as chromatin condensation and an increase in the population of sub‐G1 hypodiploid cells, were observed. With respect to the mechanism underlying the induction of apoptosis, fucoidan reduced Bcl‐2 expression, but the expression of Bax was increased in a dose‐dependent manner compared with the controls. Furthermore, fucoidan induced caspase‐9 activation, but decreased the level of procaspase‐3. Cleavage of poly‐ADP‐ribose polymerase (PARP), a vital substrate of effector caspase, was found. The study further investigated the role of the MAPK and PI3K/Akt pathways with respect to the apoptotic effect of fucoidan, and showed that fucoidan activates ERK1/2 in A549 cells. Unlike ERK1/2, however, treatment with fucoidan resulted in the down‐regulation of phospho‐p38 expression. In addition, fucoidan resulted in the down‐regulation of phospho‐PI3K/Akt. Together, these results indicate that fucoidan induces apoptosis of A549 human lung cancer cells through down‐regulation of p38, PI3K/Akt, and the activation of the ERK1/2 MAPK pathway. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Rates of Traumatic Injury in Arizona, 2011-2012

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the rates of traumatic injury among five racial/ethnic groups in Arizona and to identify which mechanisms and intents of traumatic injury were predominant in each group. Methods: We obtained 2011 and 2012 data on traumatic injury from Arizona’s trauma registry and data on mortality from Arizona's death registry. We calculated location- and age-adjusted rates (aRs) of traumatic injury and rates of mortality per 100,000 Arizona residents and rate ratios (RRs) for each racial/ethnic group. We also calculated race/ethnicity specific aRs and RRs by mechanism of injury, intent of injury, and alcohol use. Results: We analyzed data on 58,034 cases of traumatic injury. After adjusting for age and location, American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) had the highest overall rate of traumatic injury (n = 6,287; aR = 729) and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders had the lowest overall rate of traumatic injury (n = 553; aR = 141). By intent, AI/ANs had the highest rate of homicide/assault-related traumatic injury (n = 2,170; aR = 221) and by mechanism, non-Hispanic black/African American people had the highest rate of firearm-related traumatic injury (n = 265; aR = 40). In 2011-2012, 8,868 deaths in Arizona were related to traumatic injury. AI/ANs had the highest adjusted mortality rate (n = 716; aR = 95). Conclusion: Racial/ethnic disparities in traumatic injuries persisted after adjusting for age and injury location. Understanding how these disparities differ by mechanism, intent, and alcohol use may lead to the development of more effective initiatives to prevent traumatic injury.