Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Increasing access to chronic disease self-management programs in rural and remote communities using telehealth.

OBJECTIVE This study examined whether a telehealth chronic disease self-management program (CDSMP) would lead to improvements in self-efficacy, health behaviors, and health status for chronically ill adults living in Northern Ontario, Canada. Two telehealth models were used: (1) single site, groups formed by participants at one telehealth site; and (2) multi-site, participants linked from multiple sites to form one telehealth group, as a strategy to increase access to the intervention for individuals living in rural and remote communities. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Two hundred thirteen participants diagnosed with heart disease, stroke, lung disease, or arthritis attended the CDSMP at a preexisting Ontario Telemedicine Network studio from September 2007 to June 2008. The program includes six weekly, peer-facilitated sessions designed to help participants develop important self-management skills to improve their health and quality of life. Baseline and 4-month follow-up surveys were administered to assess self-efficacy beliefs, health behaviors, and health status information. Results were compared between single- and multi-site delivery models. RESULTS Statistically significant improvements from baseline to 4-month follow-up were found for self-efficacy (6.6±1.8 to 7.0±1.8; p<0.001), exercise behavior, cognitive symptom management, communication with physicians, role function, psychological well-being, energy, health distress, and self-rated health. There were no statistically significant differences in outcomes between single- and multi-site groups. CONCLUSIONS Improvements in self-efficacy, health status, and health behaviors were equally effective in single- and multi-site groups. Access to self-management programs could be greatly increased with telehealth using single- and multi-site groups in rural and remote communities.
Symptoms and health complaints and their association with perceived stress at university: survey of students at eleven faculties in Egypt.

AIMS This study examined the relationships between perceived stress and a range of self reported symptoms and health complaints in a representative sample of students at one university in Egypt. METHODS The data (3,271 students) was collected during the academic year 2009-2010 at eleven faculties at the university of Assiut city, Egypt. A self-administered questionnaire measured health complaints (22 symptoms) and Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale. Socio-demographic and lifestyle data were also collected. Factor analysis generated four groups of health complaints: psychological, circulatory/breathing, gastrointestinal, and pains/aches, and the internal consistency of each group of symptoms was computed using reliability analyses (Cronbach's alpha). Perceived stress was categorized into four levels based on quartiles. Multiple binomial or multinomial logistic regression analyses analysed the relationship between each of the four groups of symptoms and other students' general characteristics adjusted for the effect of all other groups of symptoms. RESULTS The symptoms most often reported as having occurred sometimes/very often in the last 12 months were fatigue (85.3%), difficulties to concentrate (78.1%), headache (77.9%), and mood swings (74.5%), while nervousness/anxiety (63.2%) and sleep disorder (63.7%) affected many students. Multinominal logistic regression revealed a clear association and a linear trend between increasing level of stress and a higher frequency of psychological symptoms that remained significant after adjustment for other groups of symptoms. There were no associations between perceived stress and circulatory/breathing symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, or for pains/aches. Poor health was consistently associated with higher frequency of symptoms across all symptom groups except for gastrointestinal symptoms. Higher health awareness was associated with lower frequency of psychological and circulatory/breathing symptoms but not for the other two symptom groups. Better quality of life was associated with lower frequency of psychological and partly for circulatory/breathing symptoms, but not for the other two symptom groups. There were differences in levels of psychological symptoms and of perceived stress between faculties, where students of Physical Education showed the lowest risk profile regarding both psychological symptoms and perceived stress, while students of Veterinary Medicine showed the highest risk profile. Across all four symptom groups, females had higher ratings of complaints than males. CONCLUSIONS The high prevalence of health complaints especially of psychological and pains/aches type of symptoms raise concern and calls for preventive actions at universities. Comprehensive programmes would be recommended that take the co-occurence of perceived stress and health complaints into account.
Wireless Monitoring Program of Patient-Centered Outcomes and Recovery Before and After Major Abdominal Cancer Surgery

Importance A combined subjective and objective wireless monitoring program of patient-centered outcomes can be carried out in patients before and after major abdominal cancer surgery. Objective To conduct a proof-of-concept pilot study of a wireless, patient-centered outcomes monitoring program before and after major abdominal cancer surgery. Design, Setting, and Participants In this proof-of-concept pilot study, patients wore wristband pedometers and completed online patient-reported outcome surveys (symptoms and quality of life) 3 to 7 days before surgery, during hospitalization, and up to 2 weeks after discharge. Reminders via email were generated for all moderate to severe scores for symptoms and quality of life. Surgery-related data were collected via electronic medical records, and complications were calculated using the Clavien-Dindo classification. The study was carried out in the inpatient and outpatient surgical oncology unit of one National Cancer Institute–designated comprehensive cancer center. Eligible patients were scheduled to undergo curative resection for hepatobiliary and gastrointestinal cancers, were English speaking, and were 18 years or older. Twenty participants were enrolled over 4 months. The study dates were April 1, 2015, to July 31, 2016. Main Outcomes and Measures Outcomes included adherence to wearing the pedometer, adherence to completing the surveys (MD Anderson Symptom Inventory and EuroQol 5-dimensional descriptive system), and satisfaction with the monitoring program. Results This study included a final sample of 20 patients (median age, 55.5 years [range, 22-74 years]; 15 [75%] female) with evaluable data. Pedometer adherence (88% [17 of 20] before surgery vs 83% [16 of 20] after discharge) was higher than survey adherence (65% to 75% [13 of 20 and 15 of 20] completed). The median number of daily steps at day 7 was 1689 (19% of daily steps at baseline), which correlated with the Comprehensive Complication Index, for which the median was 15 of 100 (r = −0.64, P < .05). Postdischarge overall symptom severity (2.3 of 10) and symptom interference with activities (3.5 of 10) were mild. Pain (4.4 of 10), fatigue (4.7 of 10), and appetite loss (4.0 of 10) were moderate after surgery. Quality-of-life scores were lowest at discharge (66.6 of 100) but improved at week 2 (73.9 of 100). While patient-reported outcomes returned to baseline at 2 weeks, the number of daily steps was only one-third of preoperative baseline. Conclusions and Relevance Wireless monitoring of combined subjective and objective patient-centered outcomes can be carried out in the surgical oncology setting. Preoperative and postoperative patient-centered outcomes have the potential of identifying high-risk populations who may need additional interventions to support postoperative functional and symptom recovery.
Merger and acquisition evaluation and decision making model

Based on three merger and acquisition (M&A) methods and applying multiple-criteria decision making, the purpose of this paper is to establish an M&A evaluation model. The decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) results show that the three business M&A methods possess interactive effect and self-feedback relationships. This study utilizes the analytic network process to calculate the weights of seven evaluation criteria; expected stock dividend is ranked as the most important criterion, followed by stock price/earnings per share, stock dividend growth, sales/market capitalization ratio, discount rate, replacement value, and liquidation value. This study uses Vlsekriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) to evaluate the performance of three Taiwanese banks. The results show that Bank B is the best M&A investment choice. Finally, the study establishes a comprehensive M&A decision making evaluation model.
Process Mechanisms Of Institutional Entrepreneurship

Field and historical data from China delineate two specific process mechanisms that facilitate institutional change: diminished utility of regulatory controls and negotiated boundaries of institutional space. These mechanisms tend to have entrepreneurial origins and, together, create new institutions when in the context of other factors that may be present in emerging economy institutional transition. These mechanisms link praxis, or experiential participation, with institutional change, thus enhancing our understanding of the drivers of entrepreneur-initiated institutional transition. Specifically, the effectiveness of regulatory controls decreases in the presence of collective entrepreneurial action and mobilization. In addition, negotiated boundaries of institutional space increase in the presence of reflective shifts in consciousness and increased activity of potential institutional entrepreneurship.
Democracy, Participation, and Native American Tribes in Collaborative Watershed Management

The collaborative conservation model has emerged as an alternative to deadlocked negotiations and protracted court battles over natural resource management. Watershed management is a frequent focus for collaborative groups. Membership in these groups usually represents a variety of interests. The engagement of Native American tribes, however, is infrequent. This comparative case study of two tribes in the Northwest and one tribe in the Southwest reveals six broad factors that influence tribal participation in collaborative watershed management. Factors include tribal cultural connection to aquatic resources, the political clout and legal standing of tribes, relationships between tribal and nontribal communities and relevant agencies, recognition of the benefits of collaboration, consistency and vision of tribal leadership, and the availability of resources to tribes. By understanding the factors that shape the development of tribal–nontribal partnerships, managers can direct financial and human resources to better manage watersheds for a full range of values.
A Comparison of Global Illumination Methods Using Perceptual Quality Metrics

This work aims to build a comparison basis for analyzing global illumination methods. We have compared six state-of-the-art global illumination methods, ranging from Monte Carlo Path Tracing techniques to Density Estimation methods such as Progressive Photon Mapping, and the mixture approach Vertex Connection and Merging, using nine test scenes with very different characteristics, including many different light types, illumination conditions and BRDFs, exploring many different light scattering events. In order to compare results, the perceptual quality metrics SSIM and HDR-VDP-2 were used. We provide a complete set of convergence rate curves and results for all test scenes and all analyzed methods. We also discuss strategies to generate reference images for each case. We concluded that in general cases the overhead introduced by BPT and VCM is well compensated by the quality of the produced images, however VCM can handle more interesting effects. We also showed there are usual cases such as interiors with strong indirect illumination in which Light Tracing method excels.
Participation and Influence in Federal Child Welfare Policymaking

Very little current empirical evidence exists to guide U.S. child welfare policymaking interventions. This article builds on the knowledge base to determine the factors that best predict a witness' level of influence in federal child welfare policymaking. This content analysis of 150 randomly selected congressional child welfare hearings testimonies from the 10-year period covered by the 106th–110th Congresses (1999–2008) uses a binary logistic regression model. Researchers found that witness affiliation and the Congress in which the witness submitted testimony were significant predictors of a witness' level of influence. The political ideology of Congressional leadership and the committee to which the testimony was submitted were not significantly associated with a witness' level of influence. The article concludes with implications for research and practice.
Circulating branched‐chain amino acid concentrations are associated with obesity and future insulin resistance in children and adolescents

What is already known about this subject Circulating concentrations of branched‐chain amino acids (BCAAs) can affect carbohydrate metabolism in skeletal muscle, and therefore may alter insulin sensitivity. BCAAs are elevated in adults with diet‐induced obesity, and are associated with their future risk of type 2 diabetes even after accounting for baseline clinical risk factors.
Does Foreign Policy Influence U.S. News Coverage? Evidence from Human Rights Reporting during the Cold War

This study documents that U.S. news coverage of human rights abuses committed by foreign governments during the Cold War was associated with (rotating) membership on the United Nations Security Council and the degree of political alliance between the foreign country and the United States. For countries that are not allied with the United States, coverage increases with membership; for countries that are strongly allied with the United States, coverage decreases with membership. We develop a simple framework to interpret the results to mean that news coverage is influenced by two forces: U.S. government-driven distortions and reader demand. (JEL: P16, N4; Keywords: Political Economy, Media)
Utilisation of business process models in managerial practice: An empirical study in Slovak companies certified to the ISO 9001 standard

The purpose of this article is to present the results of an empirical study conducted in Slovak companies certified to the ISO 9001 standard. We assume that some of these companies have developed business process models during the implementation of the ISO 9001 standard. Generally, the ISO 9001 standard creates a space for various opportunities for creating business process models and their real utilisation in managerial practice. Our research looks for answers mostly to these questions: (1) to what extent, and in which way are business process models utilised in Slovak firms which are certified to ISO 9001; and (2) what are the causes of the different ways of utilisation of the business process models in the managerial practice of these companies? Our research focuses on the elements of the corporate system included in a process model, as well as the possibilities for their application. This empirical study also points out the linear dependence between the extent of the process model (X) and its actual utilisation (Y). It also looks into the causes why some firms use the process model more than others. The results of this research serve as a foundation for the requirements of the process-oriented companies independently of their certification to ISO 9001.
Distributed PathGraph: A Cluster Centric Framework for Distributed Processing Graph

Large scale graph processing represents an interesting challenge due to the characteristics of the graph structure. Generally, a distributed graph processing framework is a better choice for large graphs with billions of edges. However, traditional iterative computation models like BSP under-perform due to large communication overheads and slow iterative convergence in a distributed environment. Here, we present DistPathGraph, a distributed graph processing framework based on PathGraph. First, considering the difference between single machine and cluster, we describe a novel cluster based partitioning method that is different from PathGraph. Second, due to dependence of vertices and consistency of data replicas in different partitions, we present a scheme to control the order of vertices in the updating procedure. Finally, we design a message-packing strategy that improves communication congestion and the rate of iterative convergence. Generally, synchronous communication model controls the computation and communication steps by barrier, which induces more CPU idle time and communication congestion. Although asynchronous model can eliminate CPU idle in some sense, it may lead to inconsistency of vertices and require complex control logic. Comparing to two models, our strategy is a better compromise. We evaluate our graph processing framework against GraphLab. The experimental results validate that our partitioning method and communication strategy improve performance, and that our graph processing framework outperforms GraphLab by up to 6.53X.
Welfare Effect of Flat Income Tax Reform: The Case of Bulgaria

This article is a first attempt to provide a quantitative evaluation of the welfare gains resulting from the introduction of flat income taxation in Bulgaria in 2008. Using a calibrated microfounded endogenous growth model with physical and human capital accumulation and Bulgarian data, a computational experiment is performed to quantify the dynamic welfare effect of progressive income taxation vis-à-vis flat income taxation. The model demonstrates that significant welfare gains, measured in terms of per-period consumption, can be realized with the introduction of flat income taxation. In addition, these welfare gains increase proportionally with the length of the time horizon considered. Finally, sensitivity analysis was performed to demonstrate that the results obtained are robust.
Genome-wide Chromatin Mapping Defines AP2α in the Etiology of Craniofacial Disorders

Objective The aim of this study is to identify direct AP2α target genes implicated in craniofacial morphogenesis. Design AP2α, a product of the TFAP2A gene, is a master regulator of neural crest differentiation and development. AP2α is expressed in ectoderm and in migrating cranial neural crest (NC) cells that provide patterning information during orofacial development and generate most of the skull bones and the cranial ganglia. Mutations in TFAP2A cause branchio-oculofacial syndrome characterized by dysmorphic facial features including cleft or pseudocleft lip/palate. We hypothesize that AP2α primes a distinctive group of genes associated with NC development. Human promoter ChIP-chip arrays were used to define chromatin regions bound by AP2α in neural crest progenitors differentiated from human embryonic stem cells. Results High-confidence AP2α-binding peaks were detected in the regulatory regions of many target genes involved in the development of facial tissues including MSX1, IRF6, TBX22, and MAFB. In addition, we uncovered multiple single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) disrupting a conserved AP2α consensus sequence. Conclusions Knowledge of noncoding SNPs in the genomic loci occupied by AP2α provides an insight into the regulatory mechanisms underlying craniofacial development.
A Twin Study of Problematic Internet Use: Its Heritability and Genetic Association With Effortful Control

Our goal was to estimate genetic and environmental sources of influence on adolescent problematic internet use, and whether these individual differences can be explained by effortful control, an important aspect of self-regulation. A sample of 825 pairs of Chinese adolescent twins and their parents provided reports of problematic internet use and effortful control. Univariate analysis revealed that genetic factors explained 58–66% of variance in problematic internet use, with the rest explained by non-shared environmental factors. Sex difference was found, suggesting boys’ problematic internet use was more influenced by genetic influences than girls’ problematic internet use. Bivariate analysis indicated that effortful control accounted for a modest portion of the genetic and non-shared environmental variance in problematic internet use among girls. In contrast, among boys, effortful control explained between 6% (parent report) and 20% (self-report) of variance in problematic internet use through overlapping genetic pathways. Adolescent problematic internet use is heritable, and poor effortful control can partly explain adolescent problematic internet use, with effects stronger for boys. Implications for future research are discussed.
Private behaviour and government policy in interdependent economies

This is a comprehensive survey of the macroeconomic co-ordination of international economies. Subjects covered include: monetary policies and exchange rates; abolishing exchange controls; policy co-ordination and the International Monetary System; assessing monetary shocks and exchange rate variability; EMS stability; economic interactions; and fiscal policies. The contributors are: Anthony S. Courakis, Ronald MacDonald, Mark P. Taylor, Peter N. Smith, Michael R. Wickens, Jeffrey A. Frankel, Kenneth A. Froot, Michael J. Artis, Giorgio Radaelli, Shaziye Gazioglu, Michael J. Moore, Neil Rankin, S. Mansoob Murshed, Somnath Sen, Paul R. Masson, Malcolm Knight, Patrick Minford, Emanuel Pikoulakis, David Currie, Ullrich Hoffmeyer , and Frederick van der Ploeg . This book is intended for international monetary economists and macroeconomists; graduate and third-year undergraduate students.
Tourist Use and Preservation Benefits from Big-Game Fishing in the Canary Islands

Deep-sea game fishing is an activity that tourists can enjoy at some holiday destinations. This paper presents results on the benefits received by international tourists from big-game fishing in Gran Canaria (Canary Islands). Both the use and the preservation values emanating from the sport-fishing resource are investigated by following the contingent valuation method. The responses to two dichotomous choice questions are modelled using a bivariate approach which takes account of possible correlation effects. The results show that both use and preservation values can be significantly explained by the practitioners' socio-economic characteristics as well as by the degree of their involvement in the fishing activity. It is also determined that the preservation value for the biomass stock is very relevant when compared with the use value for the activity of big-game fishing.
Old growth logging: does it matter if environmental protection costs jobs?

This paper examines the assertion that "environmental protection costs jobs", a point that is thematic in the Australian state of Tasmania where banning clear felling of old-growth forests is vigorously resisted because of associated job losses. The debate between "jobs" and "environment" protagonists often originates in disagreements about political power, economic growth, distributional impacts, and the valuation of the environment. Although the loss of jobs due to environmental protection initiatives is typically portrayed as unreasonable by affected parties such as industry workers, unions, businesses and some governments, the conclusion drawn in this paper is that these job losses are no less legitimate than losses attributed to technological change or shifting consumer demand. What needs to be emphasised is that we would normally expect jobs to be created and lost in a dynamic economy. The real jobs argument is about making the transition now when there are still options to consider about forestry jobs. A key policy problem is the development of transitional strategies to aid community and individual adjustment.