Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Review of Topiramate Effect on Weight Loss

The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of topiramate in promoting weight loss among obese patients. The study was inspired by the fact that men and women, in addition to the stereotyped teenager, are affected by eating disorders. The general scope of this paper will comprise of the evaluation of the effectiveness of topiramate in weight loss amongst obese patients. The research achieves this through a review of past literature. In sum, the reviewed study found that the use of topiramate was associated with an increase in positive outcomes. Most of the positive outcomes were linked with weight reduction among overweight and obese patients. The review also revealed that the administration of the drug reduced the adverse effects of psychotic drugs minimized food cravings, alcohol, and smoking. Moreover, the combination of the drug with other antiepilepsy medications had more positive outcomes than when used as a monotherapy.
Megachurches in the Religious Marketplace

Megachurches represent a relatively new way of ‘doing church’. Given the nature of their general success, their approach is likely to offer some insight as to how to be a successful church in a time when many other churches are losing congregants. As Thumma and Travis’ book title, Beyond Megachurch Myths: What We Can Learn From America’s Largest Churches (2007) suggests, much of what many think they know about megachurches may, in fact, be incorrect. This chapter explores the strategic efforts megachurches have employed in a volatile religious marketplace to better understand their success. The chapter begins by characterising the marketplace of religion in the usa in recent history, documenting the fluid nature of church membership resulting from a consumer driven approach to choosing a church. We then relate these trends to a significant literature drawn primarily from economics and sociology. The literature offers insights as to how and why churches succeed or fail, and then reconciles the lessons learned with the megachurch experience (the interested reader is directed to Iannaccone (1998) and Witham (2010) for comprehensive summaries of the academic literature on an economic approach to religion). In doing so, we will see that megachurches have been strategic by approaching the religious marketplace emphasising flexibility in their approach to supplying a religious product and allowing for a customised spiritual experience to attendees. We end by examining a challenge that many of the newer megachurches will need to face: that of managing pastoral succession.
Pulmonary Vascular Defects in Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia : the quest for early factors and intervention : Pulmonale vasculaire defecten in congenitale hernia diafragmatica : de zoektocht naar vroege factoren en interventie

markdownabstractCongenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a severe anomaly characterized by a diaphragmatic defect, lung hypoplasia and pulmonary hypertension. The associated pulmonary abnormalities are responsible for the high morbidity and mortality among patients with this disease. Vasodilator therapy often has no effect and little is known about the possibly aberrant expressions of the targeted factors of current drugs. In this thesis we analyzed the expression of important factors in the pulmonary vasculature of CDH patients. In human CDH lungs, we found upregulation of the endothelin A and B receptors and of the endothelin converting enzyme. The latter is a key molecule in the endothelin pathway, by converting endothelin-1 (ET-1) into its active form. Expression of the prostacyclin receptor in human control lungs gradually increased over time, but was decreased in CDH lungs in the fetal, preterm and term phases. The aberrant expressions of the above-mentioned factors could explain why treatment of pulmonary hypertension in patients with CDH fails. Furthermore, we initiated antenatal treatment with sildenafil and selexipag in the nitrofen rat model. We found that the decreased saccular airspaces had enlarged after treatment with sildenafil, and that the pulmonary vessel wall was less muscularized. Treatment with NS-304 alone was followed by improvement in the aberrant cardiac and pulmonary vascularity. Combination therapy of sildenafil and NS-304 did not have added value to each of these compounds separately. In conclusion, our work shows important alterations already early during development in all three major vasoactive pathways in both human CDH and the well-established nitrofen rat model. Furthermore, it shows the feasibility of antenatal treatment of pulmonary vascular defects in this disease with two different vasodilators acting on the NO and PGI2 pathway. These results indicate the importance of a precision medicine approach, potentially even already starting antenatally.
Nivolumab (nivo) ± ipilimumab (ipi) in advanced small-cell lung cancer (SCLC): First report of a randomized expansion cohort from CheckMate 032.

8503Background: Patients (pts) with advanced SCLC after first-line platinum-based chemotherapy (PLT-CT) have a poor prognosis and limited treatment options. CheckMate 032 is a phase I/II trial evaluating multiple regimens of nivo ± ipi in solid tumors, including advanced SCLC. Tolerability and efficacy of nivo ± ipi were demonstrated in early results from the initial treatment arms (Antonia, Lancet Oncol 2016), prompting long-term follow-up and the addition of a randomized expansion cohort to further evaluate nivo ± ipi in advanced SCLC. Methods: In the initial treatment arms, pts with advanced SCLC and disease progression after prior PLT-CT were assigned to nivo (3 mg/kg Q2W; n = 98) or nivo 1 + ipi 3 (1 mg/kg and 3 mg/kg Q3W x 4, then nivo 3 Q2W; n = 61); safety/efficacy was assessed with a follow-up of ~18 mo. In the subsequent SCLC expansion cohort, pts were randomized 3:2 to nivo vs nivo 1 + ipi 3 and stratified by number of prior therapies. The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR). Res.
Limb vascular function in women—Effects of female sex hormones and physical activity

Throughout life, women are subjected to both acute fluctuations in sex hormones, associated with the menstrual cycle, and chronic changes following the onset of menopause. Female sex hormones, and in particular estrogen, strongly influence cardiovascular function such as the regulation of vascular tone and oxidative stress and thereby functions such as oxygen delivery and blood pressure. The acute hormonal fluctuations do not substantially impact health, but their influence should be considered with regard to measurements of vascular function. The chronic hormonal change with menopause strongly impacts the vasculature and markedly increases the risk of cardiovascular events. Physical activity activates signaling pathways also triggered by estrogen; therefore, exercise training could be an effective means of reducing the deleterious effects of estrogen loss at menopause. However, findings are divergent with some reporting marked improvements in vascular health with physical activity and others showing lower gains compared to age‐matched males. Potential explanations for this discrepancy in findings are timing after menopause and training mode, aspects that should be further addressed in future studies. Physical activity should be recommended for women of all ages, but the most essential timing for maintenance of vascular health may be from menopause and onwards.
Nurses’ Knowledge Levels About Port Catheter Care (POCATH Study): a study of the palliative care working committee of the Turkish Oncology Group (TOG)

Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate nurses' levels of knowledge about port catheters (PCs), define factors effecting them and to define the subjects in which more education strategies should be developed. Patients and Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out in cancer centers in Turkey. Participants were evaluated with structured questionnaires to assess the levels of knowledge about PCs and management strategies of PC related complications. The questions were designed to evaluate their knowledge in different subscales. Results: 363 nurses in 7 cancer centers in 4 different cities in Turkey participated in the study. While 147 (40.5%) nurses had a more than 10 years of experience, 13.8% of them had a less than 1 year of job experience in oncology. Knowledge about “Port catheter usage and complications” and “difficulties while using PC” was worse than other subscales. The effects of the job experience on knowledge showed a negative correlation between them (r= -168, p= 0.001). In addition, participants with an experience of more than 10 years have worse scores when compared with others ( 27.2±11.4 vs. 30.6±9.4, P=0.003). There was no significant difference between nurses working in a university hospital and public hospital (28.5 ± 10.9 vs. 30.4±10.4, P= 0.086). Conclusion: The study concluded that experience in the field is negatively correlated with knowledge about PCs. Nurses actively caring PCs should be routinely updated, especially about complications of PCs and management strategies of them.
Enhancement of Tetrahedral Chromium (Cr4+) Concentration for High-Gain in Single-Mode Crystalline Core Fibers

Tetrahedral chromium (Cr4+)-ions is the main contributor to gain in the broadband single-mode Cr-doped crystalline core fibers (SCCFs). We have demonstrated a gross gain of 8-dB on a length of 27-cm for a 300-nm broadband SCCF using a thermal annealing technique. Gross gain and fiber length are the highest yet reported for the SCCF. The record gain is mainly due to both the longer fiber by aligned molten-zone growth and Cr4+-ions enhancement by thermal annealing. The enhancement mechanism of the Cr4+-ions in the SCCF is experimentally verified by the means of superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) and electron probe X-ray micro-analysis (EPMA). As a practical application of the proposed 8-dB gain in the SCCFs in fiber transmissions, a 25-Gb/s error-floor free link is successfully demonstrated.
Hemodialysis patients’ satisfaction and associated factors in National Teaching Hospital Hemodialysis Center, Cotonou (Benin)

Background: Patients’ satisfaction is a relevant component in assessing healthcare services. The objective of this study was to study the level of satisfaction of chronic hemodialysis patients and the associated factors in Cotonou CNHU-HKM dialysis center. Patients and Methods: It was a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study conducted by administering a questionnaire on days off dialysis. It was carried out from 1st November 2015 to 1st January 2016 in CNHU-HKM Nephrology University Clinic of Cotonou. Hemodialysis patients aged 18 years and above having given their informed consent were included in the study. Patients’ recruitment was comprehensive. Likert scale was used in assessing the level of satisfaction with 4 as “very satisfied” and 1 for “very dissatisfied”. Satisfaction was evaluated on the basis of Ware dimensions. The threshold for satisfaction was 50. Outcomes: Overall, 377 patients were included in the study. Respondents’ mean age was 51.5 ± 13.3 years with 1.37 as sex ratio. Arteriovenous fistula was used for 80.1% of hemodialysis patients. 77.7% of the patients underwent dialysis twice a week while 45.9% were administered a four-hour dialysis. The overall average proportion of “satisfied” was 76.5%. The level of satisfaction was 52% for healthcare environment, 61% for service delivery, 73.9% for healthcare accessibility, 76.1% for healthcare structure, 77.5% for healthcare management, 90.3% for quality of healthcare, 88.3% for interpersonal relationship and 93.2% for efficiency and continuum of healthcare. Factors associated with satisfaction included age (p = 0.02), vascular access (p = 0.04) and urea reduction ratio (p = 0.01). In addition, the degree of satisfaction of hemodialysis patients was not statistically associated with sex, marital status, educational level, history of the disease, age of dialysis, number of sessions per week, and duration per session. Conclusion: The overall level of hemodialysis patients’ satisfaction is above average. There is a need to particularly focus on healthcare environment, so as to better improve the level of satisfaction.
Assessing fruit quality of high density apple cv. red velox by application of different levels of N, P and K under temperate conditions of Kashmir valley

The present study was conducted at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Shalimar Campus Srinagar at High Density Apple Block of Division of Fruit Science for two consecutive years 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 with an objective to observe the influence of different levels and combinations of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium on quality parameters of High Density Apple cv. Red velox. The results of the study revealed that the apple fruit quality viz., SSC, sugars, reducing and non-reducing sugars were significantly influenced with highest levels of phosphorus and potassium (i.e. P3 and K3) coupled with N2 level of nitrogen during 2017 and 2018 respectively when nutrients were applied in combination. Maximum soluble solids content (14.31, 15.04; 14.26, 14.87 and 14.23, 14.82 Brix), total sugars (9.685, 9.897; 9.444, 9.646 and 9.472, 9.687%), reducing sugars (6.937, 7.015; 6.985, 7.047 and 7.005, 7.067%), non-reducing sugars (2.492, 2.632; 2.366, 2.479 and 2.371, 2.473%) was obtained in N2 level of nitrogen coupled with highest level of P and K i.e., P3 and K3. Among the interaction effects, the treatment combination of N2P3K3recorded maximum SSC (14.50, 15.19 Brix), total sugars (9.810, 10.05%), reducing sugars (7.20, 7.39%) and non-reducing sugars (2.61, 2.73%) resulted in significant increase in quality attributes of High Density Apple cv. Red velox.
High order differential feedback controller design and implementation for a Stewart platform

Stewart platform or other parallel manipulators with a Stewart structure are commonly used in flight simulators, surgical operations, medical rehabilitation processes, machine tools, industrial applications, etc. Therefore, researchers have paid attention to position control of these manipulators in addition to their design and development process. In this study, a developed Stewart platform and its inverse kinematic analysis are presented first. Then, a model-free control scheme called a high order differential feedback controller scheme is designed for the Stewart platform in order to improve its trajectory tracking performance and robustness against to different reference trajectories. Real-time trajectory tracking experiments with varied reference trajectories are carried out to show the robustness and effectiveness of the high order differential feedback controller scheme compared to the traditional proportional–integral–derivative controller of which the parameters are optimally tuned. The obtained visual trajectory tracking results and numerical performance results based on error-based performance measurement metrics such as integral of absolute error, integral of squared error, and integral of time-weighted absolute error are provided for both the proposed high order differential feedback controller scheme and the optimal tuned proportional–integral–derivative controller. Experimental results show that the proposed high order differential feedback controller scheme is more robust than the proportional–integral–derivative controller. Furthermore, the high order differential feedback controller scheme has superiority in both transient and steady-state responses and even the parameters of the proportional–integral–derivative controller are optimally tuned.
Relationship between Asthma, Malocclusion and Mouth Breathing in Primary Health Care Children

Objective: To assess the relationship between asthma, malocclusion and mouth breathing. Material and Methods: This investigation was a cross-sectional study of 228 children between 6 and 12 years of age, of whom 112 were asthmatic and 116 were not, performed in two Primary Health Units of Porto Alegre, Brazil. The assessment consisted of a mouth exam performed by two calibrated dentists, an interview with parents/caregivers and medical chart data. Mouth breathing was determined through oral-facial changes related to Mouth Breathing Syndrome. Occlusion was assessed according to Angle’s Classification for permanent or mixed teeth and regarding primary teeth were based on the canine relationships. The data were assessed by the Chi-square test and Poisson regression, with robust variation, at a p<0.05 significant level. Results: Asthma [PR = 2.12 (95% CI: 1.46-3.08), p<0.001] and the use of pacifiers [PR = 1.98 (95% CI: 1.27-3.07), p<0.001] were associated with mouth breathing, in the final multivariate model. Age [PR = 1.02 (95% CI: 1.00-1.03), p=0.039] and thumb sucking [PR = 1.08 (95% CI: 1.03-1.13), p=0.001] were associated with malocclusion in the final multivariate model, while there was no relationship between asthma and malocclusion (PR = 1.00; 95% CI: 0.94-1.07). Conclusion: This study provides evidence of the relationship between asthma and mouth breathing in children, demonstrating that knowledge regarding the oral health of populations with chronic diseases is fundamental for developing health programmes suitable to their needs and risks.
Does Repeated Testing improve the Validity of Self-Reported Emotional Eating through a process of Meaning Making?

In two experimental studies in women, we investigated whether repeated testing improved the predictive validity of self-reported emotional eating (EE) for distress-induced food intake. We also tested whether there is support for a process of meaning making where pre-test and re-test EE are indirectly related through a serial causal chain of alexithymia and poor introspective awareness (IA). In study 1 (n=80), self-reported alexithymia and IA were measured before retesting EE. In study 2 (n=128), alexithymia and IA were measured after re-testing EE. In support of a process of meaning making, in both studies there was a significant serial chain of pre-test EE to re-test EE through alexithymia and IA. Further, re-test EE predicted somewhat more variance in distress-induced food intake than pre-test EE, though the difference was not significant. In conclusion, repeated testing may help respondents get a better understanding of a measure, thereby improving the validity of that measure.
The relationship between sleep and glucose control in gestational diabetes

This study set out to investigate the association between sleep among pregnant women with gestational diabetes (GDM) and their glucose control. Functional data analysis (FDA) methods were applied to glucose data collected via continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems. FDA is an advanced statistical method that respects the complexity of the dense auto-correlated data produced from repeated measurement of glucose over time. 192 pregnant women with GDM at their third trimester were recruited. Over a period of one week participants wore an actigraph (Actiwatch2 Respironics) which is a watch-like device on their non-dominant wrist to objectively measure their sleep, have a professional CGM system (iPro2 Medtronic) attached to them to continuously measure and record their interstitial glucose every 5 minutes, and complete the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire to self-report their habitual sleep pattern for the previous month. Their demographic data and type of treatment they received were also collected. 152 participants had sufficient data retrieved from them, i.e. the PSQI questionnaire data and at least one night actigraphy-derived sleep data and one 24-hour day of CGM data. Using FDA methods, sequential glucose values data-points recorded over time with the CGM system were converted into a smooth 24-hour glucose curves with a functional form (as a function of time). The glucose curve was then used as one value, instead of the multiple data-points values it represents. Glucose control was assessed using the smooth glucose curves, as well as, a conventional summary metrics. The associations between participants’ actigraphy-derived and self-reported sleep characteristics and glucose control, were evaluated using standard and multilevel regression modelling for the conventional CGM data summary metrics and functional regression modelling for the smooth glucose curves. The study discovered a positive association between sleep disturbances and glucose control. Sleep disturbances were measured as poor sleep quality, short and long sleep durations compared to an average 6-8 hours sleep duration and difficulties in initiating and maintaining sleep. The timing and the amplitude of these associations were more apparent with FDA regression models than regression models with summary metrics. This study recommends the use of FDA in research involving the use of CGM systems, and encourages the clinician and the policy makers to consider sleep disturbances as a risk factor in glycaemic dysregulation in GDM.
A Phenomenographic Study of Pre-collegiate Conceptions of Teaching

A PHENOMENOGRAPHIC STUDY OF PRE-COLLEGIATE CONCEPTIONS OF TEACHING William Jeffrey Davis Teacher educators generally agree that prior experiences with teachers and teaching are highly influential to understandings of teaching. Adopting a sociological model inherited by contemporary teacher education, they have frequently found this influence to be a hindrance to teacher learning; years spent observing schoolteachers’ teaching are thought to result in limited, simplistic, and personal views of teaching, views that are highly resistant to change despite teacher educators’ efforts to engage them. Thus, prospective teachers’ views of teaching have been framed as deficits in teacher learning, and, while these deficit views are not universally held among teacher educators, they appear more common than views of prospective teachers’ understandings of teaching as assets in learning to teach. Through this study, I used the framework of conceptions of teaching to investigate the influence of prior experiences with teachers and teaching, and the assets and/or deficits prospective teachers might carry into teacher preparation. Employing a phenomenographic design, including interviews and participant created artifacts, I analyzed the descriptions of teachers and teaching of five high school students who were considering teaching as a career. Drawing on notions of consummatory experience related to learning to teach, I investigated individual descriptions of experiences with teaching––including links between these students’ prior experiences with teaching and teaching they were observing and/or doing––as well as variations of experiences across the cohort of participants. My study revealed complex views of teaching amongst participants, characterized by an array of commitments and uncertainties. For the cohort, teaching was, at its heart, a convergence of various actors and events; approaches, routines, and patterns of teaching; relations; priorities held by teachers and/or students; and/or dependencies brought on by community and/or contextual factors. The study helped to illustrate potentially powerful assets young people may carry to teacher preparation, including their experiences teaching others and an awareness and understanding of their own learning as teachers. This study proposes that teacher educators (re)conceptualize their work, at least in part, as the cultivation of these, and other, assets, and that the influences of prior experiences be examined during transitions between pre-collegiate, teacher preparation, and professional teaching experiences.