Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of structured clinical interviews on physicians' practices in community mental health settings.

OBJECTIVE Budgetary constraints often limit practicing psychiatrists from conducting more thorough diagnostic evaluations. This study examined physicians' diagnosing and prescribing practices in the context of feedback from nurse-administered, structured clinical interviews of psychiatric patients in publicly funded outpatient mental health settings. METHODS A randomized controlled trial was conducted of newly enrolled adult psychiatric patients who made at least one return visit for care at two county-supported outpatient clinics. Within two weeks after their intake psychiatric evaluation, patients were randomly assigned to receive a nurse-administered Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-Clinician Version (SCID) (N=158) or to a control condition (N=138). The attending psychiatrist was provided with the SCID results. Abstracts from clinical records were used to measure differences in physicians' rates of ordering additional diagnostic evaluations, changing diagnoses, and changing types and dosages of medications at three- and six-month follow-ups. RESULTS Physicians treating patients who received SCIDs, compared with control patients, were more likely to order evaluative procedures, update and change diagnosis (consistent with SCID results), and change prescription medication type and were less likely to increase patients' medication dosages. CONCLUSION Nurse-administered structured clinical interviews are feasible and effectively help psychiatrists in publicly supported mental health clinics reach more accurate diagnoses for newly enrolled patients.
Systematic review of randomized trials of the effect of iron supplementation on iron stores and oxygen carrying capacity in pregnancy

Anemia in pregnancy affects 25% of all pregnancies in Europe with iron deficiency affecting even more. Despite supplementation, iron deficiency persists. This review will assess the effect on serum ferritin (iron stores) and hemoglobin (oxygen‐carrying capacity) following iron supplementation in pregnant women with anemic and non‐anemic iron deficiency.
Creative Learning: Paradox or Possibility in China’s Restrictive Preservice Teacher Classrooms?

ABSTRACT This case study focuses on creativity and collaboration in preparing Chinese preservice teachers. The research question was “Can aspiring Chinese teachers discover creativity where encouraged and under conducive conditions? ” The purpose was to find out whether, with explicit instructions to be creative, candidates could demonstrate creativity alone and in groups. Within the low-income rural municipality, the 4-C creativity model from psychology informed four activities: personal experience of creativity essay (individual), 3D paper poster of the 4-C creativity model (group), postreflection report and presentation (group), and summative course assessment (individual). These data sources, once qualitatively analyzed, produced themes. Anonymously assessing their experience, the undergraduates all valued the model. They also strongly favored group over individual activities, anticipating transfer of select activities to their classrooms as teachers. Historical, cultural, political, and scholarly lenses are invoked for probing the rote-based learner stereotype attributed to Chinese students. Implications for creative learning environments end this discussion.
Nanoscale characterization of the dielectric charging phenomenon in PECVD silicon nitride thin films with various interfacial structures based on Kelvin probe force microscopy

This work presents a novel characterization methodology for the dielectric charging phenomenon in electrostatically driven MEMS devices using Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM). It has been used to study plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) silicon nitride thin films in view of application in electrostatic capacitive RF MEMS switches. The proposed technique takes the advantage of the atomic force microscope (AFM) tip to simulate charge injection through asperities, and then the induced surface potential is measured. The impact of bias amplitude, bias polarity, and bias duration employed during charge injection has been explored. The influence of various parameters on the charging/discharging processes has been investigated: dielectric film thickness, SiNx material deposition conditions, and under layers. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) material characterization techniques have been used to determine the chemical bonds and compositions, respectively, of the SiNx films being investigated. The required samples for this technique consist only of thin dielectric films deposited over planar substrates, and no photolithography steps are required. Therefore, the proposed methodology provides a low cost and quite fast solution compared to other available characterization techniques of actual MEMS switches. Finally, the comparison between the KPFM results and the discharge current transients (DCT) measurements shows a quite good agreement.
Effects of Crop Rotation, Tillage, and Fertilizer Applications on Sorghum Head Insects

Abstract Rotations, tillage, and fertilizer treatments can affect yield, costs, and profitability in sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, depending on their effects on pests. Rotation or planting different crops reduces soil erosion and pests that build up when a field is planted to the same crop each year. Minimum tillage reduces the number of trips over a field, lessening soil compaction and reducing costs. We examined the effects of fertilizer, tillage, and rotation with cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L. , on sorghum head insects during three sampling periods each year from 2000 to 2003. We found that fertilizer treatments did not affect pests or predators. Also, predators were unaffected by rotation and tillage, which some years affected Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) and Oebalus pugnax (F.), both pests that feed on developing sorghum kernels, thereby reducing yield. In 2000, H. zea densities were greater in continuous sorghum, regardless of tillage practice, than in sorghum–cotton rotation. However, in 2003, H. zea densities were greater in minimum tillage plots within sorghum–cotton rotation than minimum tillage plots within continuous sorghum. In 2000, in sorghum–cotton rotation, O. pugnax densities were greater in minimum tillage than conventional tillage plots, whereas in continuous sorghum the opposite was true, O. pugnax were greater in conventional tillage. Also, O. pugnax were greater in sorghum–cotton rotation than in continuous sorghum. In 2002, O. pugnax densities were greater in conventional than minimum tillage plots. These results suggest that rotation of sorghum with cotton can sometimes reduce H. zea, but this reduction may occur with increased density of O. pugnax. Also, reducing tillage may reduce O. pugnax in some instances.
Blood Pressure of Rats Lowered by Sulfur Dioxide and Its Derivatives

This study was designed to investigate effects of sulfur dioxide (SO 2) and its derivatives (bisulfite and sulfite) on the rat blood pressure. The blood pressures of male Wistar rats exposed to SO 2 and its derivatives at various doses were measured. Findings were that: (1) with acute-one time exposure to SO 2 for 6 h, the rat blood pressures were lowered in contrast to their controls and their background levels in a dose-dependent manner. (2) There were both a dose-response relationship and a time-response relationship between subchronic SO 2 exposure and the rat blood pressure. For SO 2 exposure at 10 ppm, first the blood pressures decreased significantly with exposure days in contrast to their controls and their background levels, and then these decreases became not significant, suggesting an adaption mechanism might be induced. However, SO 2 exposures at 40 ppm caused significant decreases of the blood pressures during the whole experiment, and no adaptation process was found. (3) SO 2 derivatives (bisulfite and sulfite) also caused the decreases of rat blood pressures in a dose-dependent manner. There are two conclusions: (1) Short-time, even acute one-time, exposure to SO 2 or its derivatives may cause a decrease of blood pressure of the animals in both dose-dependent and time-dependent manners. (2) SO 2 is a systemic toxic agent, not only to the respiratory system. SO 2 can cause at least functional damage to the cardiovascular system.
[Design of a method for the evaluation of clinical competence in primary care].

OBJECTIVE To measure clinical competence in primary care (PC). DESIGN Descriptive cross-sectional study. SETTING Six PC teams in Barcelona. PARTICIPANTS 25 family doctors volunteering out of a total of 60. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Three simulated visits took place on three different days, allocated at random as a prior appointment for hypertension. Clinical competence was measured through the Miller criteria, a method with open short-reply questions combining the clinical interview with standardised patients (SP), review of clinical histories (CH) and doctor's self-evaluation (DS). The following components of competence (CC) were evaluated: anamnesis, physical examination, further tests, differential diagnosis, management, clinical history and communication. 22 doctors completed the study. Each CC was weighted by a group of experts, who also agreed two minimum levels of competence, 50% and 60%. Each doctor's final score was the result of the addition of each of the three cases divided by the maximum score possible. The CC values were always higher with SP than otherwise. 63.3% of doctors surpassed the 60% mark, and 90.9% the 50% mark. Internal consistency, measured with Cronbach's alpha, was 0.94, 0.73 and 0.67 for each clinical case. The kappa reproduction test was 0.25. CONCLUSIONS The use of SP is a good method of evaluation, as it enables anamnesis, management of the patient, physical examination and communication to be assessed. The study is very reliable, with low reproduction, which is probably due to the few cases used.
Banff 2013 Meeting Report: Inclusion of C4d‐Negative Antibody‐Mediated Rejection and Antibody‐Associated Arterial Lesions

The 12th Banff Conference on Allograft Pathology was held in Comandatuba, Brazil, from August 19–23, 2013, and was preceded by a 2‐day Latin American Symposium on Transplant Immunobiology and Immunopathology. The meeting was highlighted by the presentation of the findings of several working groups formed at the 2009 and 2011 Banff meetings to: (1) establish consensus criteria for diagnosing antibody‐mediated rejection (ABMR) in the presence and absence of detectable C4d deposition; (2) develop consensus definitions and thresholds for glomerulitis (g score) and chronic glomerulopathy (cg score), associated with improved inter‐observer agreement and correlation with clinical, molecular and serological data; (3) determine whether isolated lesions of intimal arteritis (“isolated v”) represent acute rejection similar to intimal arteritis in the presence of tubulointerstitial inflammation; (4) compare different methodologies for evaluating interstitial fibrosis and for performing/evaluating implantation biopsies of renal allografts with regard to reproducibility and prediction of subsequent graft function; and (5) define clinically and prognostically significant morphologic criteria for subclassifying polyoma virus nephropathy. The key outcome of the 2013 conference is defining criteria for diagnosis of C4d‐negative ABMR and respective modification of the Banff classification. In addition, three new Banff Working Groups were initiated.
Seasonal daily effect on the number of births in Israel.

Previous studies have observed a 7-day cycle with the least number of births occurring on Sundays. This study was aimed at characterizing the daily effect on the number of births in Israel, where Sunday is a regular working day and Saturday is a nonworking day. It was hypothesized that fewer births would be noted on Saturday rather than Sunday and fewer births on Jewish holidays. The data consisted of a random sample of live births during 1975. A robust time series procedure was used for the data analysis. As expected, the number of births was much smaller on Saturdays than on other weekdays (10% reduction). The seasonal component for Sundays was greater than that for any other day due to births delayed from Saturday and scheduled induced births. The number of births was not reduced as much on Saturdays during spring and summer as during fall and winter. In addition, fewer births occurred on most Jewish holidays. However, an unexpected and extremely high number of births was noted on Yom Kippur and the day after. It is speculated that the strain and fasting during this holiday promoted labor induction. In 21 of the 52 weeks in the study period, the least number of births occurred on a Saturday, and the number of births was less than the mean of the remaining 6 days in 46 of these weeks. Similarly, in 17 of the 52 weeks, the greatest number of births occurred on a Sunday, and the Sunday births exceeded the mean of Monday-Friday births in 35 of these weeks. Thus, these results confirm the study hypothesis and are believed to reflect intervention in childbirth.
Milk-Borne Epidermal Growth Factor Modulates Intestinal Transforming Growth Factor-α Levels in Neonatal Rats

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is present in milk from various mammalian species, but its physiologic function in neonatal development remains unclear. Transforming growth factor-α (TGF-α) is a peptide structurally related to EGF, and its presence is detected in the developing small intestine of rats. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of milk-borne EGF on endogenous production of EGF and TGF-α in the small intestine of suckling rats. Neonatal rats were fed via gastrostomy either growth factor-free rat milk substitute (RMS) or RMS supplemented with EGF (100 ng/mL of RMS) from 8 to 12 d of age. Artificially reared rats were then compared with their dam-fed littermates. Animals fed the EGF-deficient diet RMS had markedly increased EGF and TGF-α mRNA levels in duodenum and ileum compared with dam-fed controls and significantly elevated total intestinal content of TGF-α peptide. Intestinal EGF content and EGF serum levels were significantly decreased in the RMS group compared with controls. The addition of EGF to the RMS diet normalized TGF-α mRNA levels in the duodenum and ileum, EGF mRNA levels in the ileum, and total intestinal TGF-α content and EGF serum levels to the levels measured in dam-fed littermates. Motility studies showed that enteral administration of EGF did not affect stomach emptying and intestinal transit. These studies indicate that exogenous milk-borne EGF modulates endogenous production of TGF-α in developing small intestine. It is likely that neither TGF-α nor EGF are solely responsible for small intestinal overgrowth of artificially reared neonatal rats.
LIM kinase 1 accumulates in presynaptic terminals during synapse maturation

LIM kinase 1 (LIMK1) is a cytoplasmic protein kinase that is highly expressed in neurons. In transfected cells, LIMK1 binds to the cytoplasmic tail of neuregulins and regulates the breakdown of actin filaments. To identify potential functions of LIMK1 in vivo, we have determined the subcellular distribution of LIMK1 protein within neurons of the rat by using immunomicroscopy. At neuromuscular synapses in the adult hindlimb, LIMK1 was concentrated in the presynaptic terminal. However, little LIMK1 immunoreactivity was detected at neuromuscular synapses before the 2nd week after birth, and most motoneuron terminals were not strongly LIMK1 immunoreactive until the 3rd week after birth. Thus, LIMK1 accumulation at neuromuscular synapses coincided with their maturation. In contrast, SV2, like many other presynaptic terminal proteins, can be readily detected at neuromuscular synapses in the embryo. Similar to its late accumulation at developing synapses, LIMK1 accumulation at regenerating neuromuscular synapses occurred long after these synapses first formed. In the adult ventral spinal cord, LIMK1 was concentrated in a subset of presynaptic terminals. LIMK1 gradually accumulated at spinal cord synapses postnatally, reaching adult levels only after P14. This study is the first to implicate LIMK1 in the function of presynaptic terminals. The concentration of LIMK1 in adult, but not nascent, presynaptic terminals suggests a role for this kinase in regulating the structural or functional characteristics of mature synapses. J. Comp. Neurol. 416:319–334, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Detection and tracking of moving objects in SLAM using vision sensors

This paper presents algorithms for improving the detection of moving objects in robot visual simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). The method of speeded-up robust feature (SURF) is employed in the algorithm to provide a robust detection for image features as well as a better description of landmarks in the map of a visual SLAM system. Meanwhile, a moving object detection (MOD) is designed based on the correspondence constraint of the essential matrix for the feature points on image plane. Experiments are carried out on a handheld camera sensor to verify the performances of the proposed algorithms. The results show that the integration of SURF and MOD is efficient to improve the robustness of robot SLAM.
Simulation of transmission electron microscope images of biological specimens

We present a new approach to simulate electron cryo‐microscope images of biological specimens. The framework for simulation consists of two parts; the first is a phantom generator that generates a model of a specimen suitable for simulation, the second is a transmission electron microscope simulator. The phantom generator calculates the scattering potential of an atomic structure in aqueous buffer and allows the user to define the distribution of molecules in the simulated image. The simulator includes a well defined electron–specimen interaction model based on the scalar Schrödinger equation, the contrast transfer function for optics, and a noise model that includes shot noise as well as detector noise including detector blurring. To enable optimal performance, the simulation framework also includes a calibration protocol for setting simulation parameters. To test the accuracy of the new framework for simulation, we compare simulated images to experimental images recorded of the Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) in vitreous ice. The simulated and experimental images show good agreement with respect to contrast variations depending on dose and defocus. Furthermore, random fluctuations present in experimental and simulated images exhibit similar statistical properties. The simulator has been designed to provide a platform for development of new instrumentation and image processing procedures in single particle electron microscopy, two‐dimensional crystallography and electron tomography with well documented protocols and an open source code into which new improvements and extensions are easily incorporated.
Exploring contingent convertible bond alternatives for African banks

Background: A variant of the contingent convertible bond, first proposed in 2011, is investigated: the Call Option Enhanced Reverse Convertible (COERC). Although issued as a bond, it converts to new shareholder’s equity if a bank’s market share of capital falls below a pre-specified trigger point. Aim: COERCs avoid the problems with market-based triggers (e.g. sell-offs and death spirals) due to panic and market manipulation. Banks that issue COERCs have less incentive to choose investments that may be subject to large losses and disincentive problems, associated with the replenishment of shareholder’s equity after market declines (also known as debt overhang) are also avoided. Setting: Proposed amendments to the COERC structure are suggested for the African market. Methods: The data used were simulated, stylised values for a standard COERC. No market parameters are required, such as equity or debt levels or market volatility. Details of the stylised example are provided in Table 4 and Table 5 in the ‘results and discussion’ section. Results: Both examples of floating coupons for COERCS would aid in the objective of issuing a security that is countercyclical in nature, as banks would avoid having to pay coupons in times of distress. Conclusion: In addition to the recommendations of the Basel frameworks, CoCos have been considered and proposed as an additional measure to promote counter cyclicality in terms of capital composition in banks.
Designing and Using Simulations in the International Relations Classroom

ABSTRACT The value of simulations in the classroom is well established, and there are numerous publications that feature specific role-play exercises that can readily be introduced into the classroom. Frequently, however, instructors would like to design their own simulations to fit their specific learning objectives for a class, but don’t know where to start. This article lays out a series of structural and design questions for instructors to consider in order to craft their own simulations. We recognize that there is no singularly “best” way to design simulations, so this article focuses on the key components of simulations and explores different possibilities for each of these components depending on the desired goals of the instructor. We begin with the basics of class size, topic selection, learning objectives, length, and timing. Next, we discuss the design parameters—including the nature of student interaction, desired output, background information, role-specific instructions, and a timeline for the phases of the simulation. We move on to considerations about the actual running of the simulation, and wrap up with reflections on debriefing, grading, and assessment. By stepping through the design questions that are summarized in the Appendix, any instructor, experienced or new to role-playing, can develop a custom simulation to help meet the learning objectives for their courses.