Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Application of the Kinesio® Taping Method for a Child with Hypotonia: A Pilot Case Study

Background: This study explored the application of the Kinesio Taping (KT) method in conjunction with traditional occupational therapy (OT) intervention for a child with hypotonia. Specifically, differences in functional hand outcomes (manual dexterity and grasp pattern) were examined between the sessions with and without the application of the KT method. Methods: A 9-year and 5-month-old male subject, at the time of enrollment, diagnosed with hypotonia, global developmental delay, and autism spectrum disorder participated in the study. A single-subject alternating treatment design was employed. A total of 14 OT sessions were conducted across baseline (n=3), alternating treatment (n=8), and replication (n=3) phases. During the alternating treatment phase, the subject was randomly applied the KT method in four out of the eight OT sessions. At the end of each session, the participant was administered standardized assessments. Results: There were no statistically significant differences observed in functional hand outcomes across the baseline, alternating treatment, and replication phases. There were no statistically significant differences observed in manual dexterity and grasp pattern between the sessions with and without the application of the KT method. Discussion: The results from the study replicated the mixed outcomes reported in the efficacy of the KT method in addressing functional hand outcomes; OT practitioners are recommended to consider the KT method as an auxiliary intervention modality. Future research involving the KT method can consider ways to better control for the confounding variables noted in the current study including the novelty effect, subject’s comorbid conditions, and number and length of sessions allotted across the baseline, alternating treatment, and replication phases.
Performance Evaluation of Machine Learning Algorithms for Seismic Retrofit Cost Estimation Using Structural Parameters

Estimation of the seismic retrofit cost (SRC) is a complicated task in construction projects. In this study, the performance of four machine learning algorithms (MLAs), including Random Forest (RF), Extreme Learning Machine (ELM), Classification and Regression Tree (CART), and Multivariate Adaptive Regression Spline (MARS), was examined in estimating SRC values. The total floor area (TFA), number of stories (NS), seismic weight (SW), seismicity (S), soil type (ST), plan configuration (PC), and structural type (STT) were considered as structural input variables. To achieve the best performance of applied MLAs, twenty-two scenarios based on different combinations of input variables were considered. The correlation coefficient (r), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), Adjusted R-squared, and Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) metrics together with the Taylor diagram were used to compare the accuracy of applied models. A sensitivity analysis using the RReliefF algorithm showed that TFA, SW, and PC are the most influential parameters, whereas the ST and STT have negative influences on SRC values. Comparison analysis results indicated that the ELM model with r of 0.896, RMSE of 0.081, and NSE of 0.758 had the best performance among other employed MLAs. Also, the RF regression achieved the second rank. In conclusion, the ELM model with single-layer feedforward neural network was superior to other data-driven models; therefore, it can be applied as an efficient tool for estimating SRC values using structural input parameters.
Characterization and usage of tule (Typha domingensis Pers) to obtain cellulose pulp in a biorefinery framework

It was proposed that pre-hydrolysing tule (Typha domingensis Pers) would make it possible to produce handsheets with strength-related properties similar to those of conventional commercial paper, in addition to valorizable hemicelluloses. The hypothesis was tested with a biorefining scheme involving autohydrolysis. Conditions were optimized to maximize the extraction of hemicelluloses while preserving glucan integrity. The autohydrolysis at a liquid to solid ratio of 13 at 141 °C for 45 min (optimized conditions) provided a commercially useful liquor containing primarily tule hemicelluloses. The autohydrolysis of tule before alkaline extraction made it possible to obtain a valuable liquid phase comprising between 23.3% and 71.6% of all hemicelluloses in the raw material. The gross heating value for the hydrolyzed tule was increased (1.6% to 7.9 %) with respect the raw material. The solid phase was subjected to soda–anthraquinone pulping. The yield, ethanol extractives, kappa number, viscosity, glucan, xylan, Klason lignin, soluble lignins, as well as the tensile index were evaluated. Tule was found to be amenable to industrial processing for the production of quality cellulose derivatives. Autohydrolysis provided valorizable liquor in addition to solid that yielded soda–anthraquinone pulp having properties similar to those obtained in its absence, but using milder operating conditions.
A Suitability of Waste Poly-Vinyl-Chloride (PVC) Pipes as a Modifier in the Construction of Pavements in Hot Climates

Lecturer, Department of Computer Engineering, University of Engineering & Technology (Bannu Campus), Bannu, Pakistan. ziaurrahman@uetpeshawar.edu. pk Lecturer, Department of Computer Engineering, University of Engineering & Technology (Bannu Campus), Bannu, Pakistan. asimabbass@uetpeshawar.edu. pk Lecturer, Department of Computer Engineering, University of Engineering & Technology (Bannu Campus), Bannu, Pakistan. izazahmad10@gmail.com Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Engineering, University of Engineering & Technology (Bannu Campus), Bannu, Pakistan. fayazuet@yahoo.com Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Engineering, University of Engineering & Technology (Bannu Campus), Bannu, Pakistan. yasir_badrashi@yahoo.com
Investigation of the psychological resilience of teacher candidates in terms of sense of humor and life satisfaction

The aim of this study is to examine the psychological resilience in teacher candidates in terms of sense of humor and life satisfaction. Correlational research model was used in the study. The dependent variable of the research is psychological resilience and independent variables are sense of humor and life satisfaction. The research was carried out on 427 teacher candidates between the ages of 18-27, 318 females (74.5%) and 109 males (25.5%). The Resilience Scale for Adults, The Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale, The Satisfaction with Life Scale and Personal Information Form were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics, independent groups t-test, variance analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient and hierarchical regression analysis were used to analyze the data. When the findings of the study are analyzed, it is seen that psychological resilience in terms of gender differs significantly in favor of female teacher candidates. A positive relationship was found between teacher candidates' psychological resilience and sense of humor. In addition, a positive relationship was found between psychological resilience and life satisfaction. Looking at the findings, it is seen that the variables of sense of humor and life satisfaction predict psychological resilience significantly. The findings were discussed according to the literature and various suggestions were presented.
Ownership and Financing Discrimination: Evidence from Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivity of Chinese Listed Firms

We study the existence of financing discrimination between state-owned and non-state owned enterprises from the perspective of investment-cash flow sensitivity and the effects of privatization reform on muffling the institutionally rooted discrimination. By employing the dynamic multi-equation model, we find that the non-State-owned Enterprises (non-SOEs) exhibit significantly lower investment-cash flow sensitivity than that of the State-owned Enterprises (SOEs), suggesting non-SOEs’ privileged accessibility to external financing when cash flow plummets and stronger capability to protect the investment opportunities against cash flow shocks. The evidence of financing behaviors illustrated in the multi-equation model further confirms the existence of ownership discrimination. Further, we find that the difference in investment-cash flow sensitivities between the two types of firms sharply declines after the Split-share Structure Reform, shedding light on the positive impact of the reform in eliminating ownership discrimination and improving credit allocation efficiency in the capital market.
Modelling of the evolution of the multi-behavioural dynamics from the regulatory climate theory

The regulatory ability in the local climate dynamics to evolve in accordance with the environmental changes is modeled in the paper. The specialized software provides the following research program: to calculate the solutions of the nonlinear nonstationary multi-behavioural model of the dynamical system with variable structure; to determine the nonlinear dynamics regularities on the basis of these solutions; to reconstruct these regularities by processing the meteorological observations; to solve the inverse problem of building the multi-behavioural portraits of local climate dynamics by use of the reconstructed regularities. Thus factually realized and potential evolutional vacancies of the local dynamics are visualized in the form of the multiple attractors. The physical basis of the research originates from the regulatory climate theory, in accordance with which the local climate dynamics is conceptually considered as the dynamics of the solar energy converter under the astronomically forced hysteresis control with double synchronization. Here landscape and ecological relations are taken into account via the adaptation unit, and the recent dynamics is compared with the one observed as far as possible distant in time. So, structural modifications within the multi-behavioural portrait of local climate dynamics are revealed and crucial evolutionary tendencies are demonstrated.
Extent of job satisfaction of sub assistant agriculture officers of the department of agricultural extension

Accepted 24 June 2019 Online release 30 June 2019 The main purpose of the study was to determine the extent of job satisfaction of Sub Assistant Agriculture Officers (SAAOs) of Department of Agricultural Extension. Attempts were made to describe some selected characteristics of the SAAOs and examine relationships of each of the characteristics with their job satisfaction. Data were collected from 39 SAAOs of six upazilas under Faridpur district. A set of questionnaire was prepared keeping in mind the objectives. Data were collected from the Sub Assistant Agriculture Officers during their upazila level meeting from 10-31 July, 2014. Age, professional commitment, job performance, technological knowledge, problem confrontation capacity, motivation, supervision personality, training exposure and initiativeness for addressing farmer’s problem of the SAAOs were considered as the selected characteristics of SAAOs for the study. Pearson’s Product Moment correlation coefficent was used for determining the correlation between each of the selected characteristics of the SAAOs with their job satisfaction. From the coefficient analysis it was found that the age, personality and initiativeness for addressing farmer’s problem had significant relationship with their job satisfaction. Keyword
Performance of Canna Indica based microscale vertical flow constructed wetland under tropical conditions for domestic wastewater treatment

Abstract Constructed wetlands (CWs) have great potential as low-cost natural wastewater treatment in developing countries. The present study appraises the performance of the vertical flow constructed wetland for domestic wastewater treatment. More specifically, the potential of Canna Indica in the removal of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus (CNP) from wastewater under tropical conditions. CW cell was fabricated with a vegetative layer of Canna Indica and tested with domestic wastewater. Based on the test results, Canna Indica shows a high Removal Efficiency (RE) of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD5) on the order of 87% and 91%, respectively. Similarly, nutrients removal efficiency for total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) was found to be 97% and 98%, respectively. The investigation also revealed that there is considerable removal of sulfates with efficiency equal to 78.4%. Overall, the Canna Indica based CWs were found to be suitable for wastewater treatment in the tropical regions, provided a viable medium for treating the wastewater in peri-urban and rural areas of developing countries. Novelty statement This study investigates the performance of Canna indica based vertical flow wetlands for greywater treatment. The study investigates the results at different hydraulic retention times and loading rates. There are no much studies reporting the performance of this variety of plant species under a tropical humid climate. The results from the study can encourage adoption of this plant variety, indigenous to this part of the country, for wastewater treatment Highlights It could emphasize the importance of familiarity with constructed wetlands to comprehend the RE of various climatic zones. It is possible to highlight the Canna-based CW's efficiency in removing organics and nutrients from domestic wastewater. The possibility for field-scale Canna-based CW to remove pollution in tropical climates was investigated, and Decentralization of wastewater treatment at the household level to apply CWs that will improve wastewater quality.
Baseline characteristics and effects of fingolimod on cognitive performance in patients with relapsing‐remitting multiple sclerosis

Studies reporting the baseline determinants of cognitive performance and treatment effect on cognition in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are limited. We investigated the baseline correlates of cognition and the long‐term treatment effects of fingolimod 0.5 mg once daily on cognitive processing speed and attention in patients with relapsing‐remitting MS.
Effect of a novel healthcare leadership program on leadership and emotional intelligence

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the Feagin Leadership Program (FLP) in teaching leadership domains and emotional intelligence. An anonymous survey of 178 graduates of FLP (2011–2019) including the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF) was used to assess emotional intelligence and program views. ANOVA was used to compare the difference in emotional intelligence domains between groups. Respondents reported the FLP most improved skills in communication, emotional intelligence, and team building. Medical students (18, 38.3%) and faculty/staff (5/14, 35.7%) reported the most relevant domain was emotional intelligence; residents/fellows reported the most relevant domain was teamwork (8/37, 21.6%). Respondents in residency/fellowship had the highest score in emotionality (P = .01). These results suggest that a healthcare leadership program tailored to medical trainees was effective in improving their competency in various leadership domains, and that emotional intelligence and teamwork were the most relevant components of the program.
COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Beliefs among Black and Hispanic Americans

The introduction of COVID-19 vaccines is a major public health breakthrough. However, members of US Black and Hispanic communities, already disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 virus, may be less willing to receive the vaccine. We conducted a broad, representative survey of US adults (N = 1,950) in order to better understand vaccine beliefs and explore opportunities to increase vaccine acceptance among these groups. The survey results suggested that Black and Hispanic individuals were less willing than Whites to receive the vaccine. US Blacks and Hispanics also planned to delay receiving the COVID-19 vaccine for a longer time period than Whites, potentially further increasing the risk of contracting COVID-19 within populations that are already experiencing high disease prevalence. Black respondents were less likely to want the COVID-19 vaccine at all compared with Whites and Hispanics, and mistrust of the vaccine among Black respondents was significantly higher than other racial/ethnic groups. Encouragingly, many Black and Hispanic respondents reported that COVID-19 vaccine endorsements from same-race medical professionals would increase their willingness to receive it. These respondents said they would also be motivated by receiving more information on the experiences of vaccine study participants who are of their own race and ethnicity. The results have implications for improved messaging of culturally-tailored communications to help reduce COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
Pain response and symptoms in photorefractive keratectomy: mechanical de-epithelization compared with transepithelial ablation.

PURPOSE To compare postoperative pain and discomfort between mechanical and transepithelial photorefractive keratectomies. METHODS This prospective comparative study included 190 eyes of 95 patients with hyperopia (up to +4.00 D), astigmatism (up to -5.00 D), and myopia (up to -8.00 D) who underwent mechanical photorefractive keratectomy in one eye and transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy in the contralateral eye using Wavelight Allegretto EX500 excimer laser. The patients were unaware of the side treated with each technique. The interval between operations in the same patient was 15-30 days. Both eyes had similar refraction before surgery, with a maximum of 15-µm difference in ablation. Postoperative questionnaires were administered on days 1 and 7 to assess the patients' level of discomfort (0=no discomfort to 5=extreme discomfort) with the following symptoms: pain, burning sensation, itchiness, tearing, photophobia, eye redness, foreign body sensation, and eyelid swelling. Patients were also asked about which method they preferred. RESULTS The sample consisted of 61 women (64.21%) and 34 men (35.79%). The mean (SD) patient age was 31.66 (6.69) years (range, 22-54 years). On postoperative day 1, the patients reported significantly less discomfort in terms of pain (1.9 ± 1.74 vs 2.5 ± 1.83; p=0.017), burning sensation (1.8 ± 1.56 vs 2.5 ± 1.68; p=0.004), tearing (2.3 ± 1.71 vs 3.1 ± 1.69; p=0.001), and foreign body sensation (1.9 ± 1.77 vs 2.5 ± 1.86; p=0.024) in the eye that received mechanical photorefractive keratectomy than in the eye that received transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy. No significant differences were found between the mechanical and transepithelial photorefractive keratectomies on postoperative day 7. Fifty-nine patients (62.10%) preferred mechanical photorefractive keratectomy, while 32 (33.68%) preferred transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy. Four patients (4.22%) expressed no preference. CONCLUSIONS Our results showed that pain scores were significantly lower in the mechanical photorefractive keratectomy-treated eyes than in the transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy-treated eyes on postoperative day 1, which may have provided greater patient comfort after surgery and led patients to prefer the mechanical photorefractive keratectomy technique.
The effects of Macroprudential Policy on Crisis Risk

The ultimate goal of macroprudential policy is to prevent and reduce the costs of systemic financial crises, therefore contributing to promoting sustainable economic growth. However, despite the active role played by this policy in the last decades, there is still limited empirical evidence showing whether prudential regulation is effective at enhancing financial stability through the prevention and mitigation of crisis risk. This paper aims to close this gap by studying the relationship between macroprudential policy and both the likelihood and severity of financial crises. The contribution of the paper is twofold. First, I show that tightening macroprudential policies are successful at reducing the frequency of systemic financial crises. Moreover, this result holds even if macroprudential policies are implemented when the economy is already experiencing a financial boom or when monetary conditions are rather accommodative. I point to the prevention and mitigation of financial booms as the main transmission mechanism through which macroprudential policy defuses crisis risk. Second, I find that preventive macroprudential policy enhances the resilience of the financial system, hence dampening the output losses associated with future systemic financial crises. The latter result implies that macroprudential policy not only makes financial crises less likely but also less painful.
Quasi-hyperbolic Present Bias: A Meta-analysis

Quasi-hyperbolic discounting is one of the most well-known and widely-used models to capture selfcontrol problems in the economics literature. The underlying assumption of this model is that agents have a “present bias” toward current consumption such that all future rewards are downweighed relative to rewards in the present (in addition to standard exponential discounting for the length of delay). We report a meta-analytic dataset of estimates of the present bias parameter 𝛽 based on searches of all major research databases (62 papers with 81 estimates in total). We find that the literature shows that people are on average present biased for both monetary rewards (𝛽 = 0.82%-|-| confidence interval of [0.74, 0.90]) and non- monetary rewards (𝛽 = 0.66, 95% confidence interval of [0.51, 0.85]) but that substantial heterogeneity exists across studies. The source of this heterogeneity comes from the subject pool, elicitation methodology, geographical location, payment method, mode of data collection (e.g. laboratory or field), and reward type. There is evidence of selective reporting and publication bias in the direction of overestimating the strength of present-bias (making 𝛽 estimates smaller), but present bias still exists after correcting for these issues (for money 𝛽 = 0.87 with 95% confidence interval of [0.82, 0.92] after correcting for selective reporting).
Surgical resection versus stereotactic radiosurgery on local recurrence and survival for patients with a single brain metastasis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Background Brain metastases (BM) are the most frequent intracranial tumours in adults. In patients with solitary BM, surgical resection (SR) or stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is performed. There is limited evidence comparing one treatment over the other. Objective To compare SR versus SRS on patients with solitary BMs, regarding local recurrence (LR) and overall survival (OS) conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods Systematic review of literature following PRISMA guidelines, using the databases of Medline, Clinicaltrials.gov, Embase, Web of Science, Sciencedirect, CINAHL, Wiley Online Library, Springerlink and LILACS. Following study selection based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, data extraction and a critical analysis of the literature was performed according to the GRADE scale. For quantitative analysis, a random effects model was used. Data were synthetized and evaluated on a forest plot and funnel plot. Results Two randomized clinical trials, four cohort studies and one case-control studies met our inclusion criteria for the qualitative analysis. None was excluded subsequently. Overall, 614 patients with single metastasis were included. Studies had high heterogeneity. Multiple significant variables affecting the outcome were signalized. Meta-analysis showed no significant differences for survival (HR, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.75–1.45) or LR (HR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.42–1.20). Conclusions According to current evidence, in patients with a single small metastasis there is no statistically significant difference in OS or LR among the chosen techniques (SR or SRS). Multiple significant co-variables may affect both outcomes. Different outcomes better than OS should be evaluated in further randomized studies.