Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Model of University-Community Partnerships for Occupational Therapy Scholarship and Practice

SUMMARY University-community partnerships are at the heart of community-based Occupational Therapy and the Scholarship of Practice that links practice with theory and research. In these partnerships, academicians, students, practitioners and staff from community organizations work in collaboration with a variety of community settings and programs, involving community leaders, agency staff, and/or members of grassroots groups. This paper presents a framework of seven characteristics that are typical of successful partnership endeavors, such as building a relationship based on trust and mutual respect. We illustrate how this model can be used to promote praxis between theory, research and practice with two examples of ongoing community partnerships that involve an educational community practicum for all entry-level OT students. We also discuss the benefits and challenges of such partnership and discuss the implications for community-based OT.
A Review of Perspectives on Alcohol and Alcoholism in the History of American Health and Medicine

Abstract This review of alcohol use and alcoholism in the history of American health and medicine reveals a range of ambiguous perspectives. In early America, alcohol was attributed with an array of medicinal uses, while habitual drunkenness was not accepted and was identified as a sin. The reformers of the temperance movement expanded upon what they regarded as the social problems associated with alcohol. In nineteenth century America, medical sectarians developed conflicting and contradictory views on health and healing, including the place of alcohol and how to address alcoholism. As the American hospital system evolved, approaches for the care and treatment that alcoholics received in hospitals had to develop as well. Progressive reforms in the early twentieth century impacted many areas of public health in the United States, but continued to embody moralism. These historical trends profoundly influenced the social and institutional responses to alcoholism that continue today, including the evolution of the modern addiction treatment system and the formulation and promulgation of the disease concept.
Bayesian Design of Noninferiority Trials for Medical Devices Using Historical Data

Summary We develop a new Bayesian approach of sample size determination (SSD) for the design of noninferiority clinical trials. We extend the fitting and sampling priors of Wang and Gelfand (2002, Statistical Science 17, 193–208) to Bayesian SSD with a focus on controlling the type I error and power. Historical data are incorporated via a hierarchical modeling approach as well as the power prior approach of Ibrahim and Chen (2000, Statistical Science 15, 46–60). Various properties of the proposed Bayesian SSD methodology are examined and a simulation‐based computational algorithm is developed. The proposed methodology is applied to the design of a noninferiority medical device clinical trial with historical data from previous trials.
E-signature and its legal place

Development of commercial transactions and necessity for facilitation of commercial transactions has made use of electronic instruments unavoidable. Virtual identity is the first condition of an electronic buyer or seller. This is especially true when the business is developed. Management of e-documents and sending and receiving electronic information composes a large portion of executive activities and advertisement in today's world. One of the technologies which increases trust in transactions is digital signature. This technology is based upon decryption and adds formality to electronic information. It makes it possible to control and revise the identity of the creator of a document. Consequently, it seems necessary to investigate the legal place and competency of electronic signature in the law. The present research tries to deal with the technical aspect of digital signature and review it.
The use of feasibility studies for stepped-wedge cluster randomised trials: protocol for a review of impact and scope

Introduction The stepped-wedge cluster randomised trial (SW-CRT) is a complex design, for which many decisions about key design parameters must be made during the planning. These include the number of steps and the duration of time needed to embed the intervention. Feasibility studies are likely to be useful for informing these decisions and increasing the likelihood of the main trial's success. However, the number of feasibility studies being conducted for SW-CRTs is currently unknown. This review aims to establish the number of feasibility studies being conducted for SW-CRTs and determine which feasibility issues are commonly investigated. Methods and analysis Fully published feasibility studies for SW-CRTs will be identified, according to predefined inclusion criteria, from searches conducted in Ovid MEDLINE, Scopus, Embase and PsycINFO. To also identify and gain information on unpublished feasibility studies the following will be contacted: authors of published SW-CRTs (identified from the most recent systematic reviews); contacts for registered SW-CRTs (identified from clinical trials registries); lead statisticians of UK registered clinical trials units and researchers known to work in the area of SW-CRTs. Data extraction will be conducted independently by two reviewers. For the fully published feasibility studies, data will be extracted on the study characteristics, the rationale for the study, the process for determining progression to a main trial, how the study informed the main trial and whether the main trial went ahead. The researchers involved in the unpublished feasibility studies will be contacted to elicit the same information. A narrative synthesis will be conducted and provided alongside a descriptive analysis of the study characteristics. Ethics and dissemination This review does not require ethical approval, as no individual patient data will be used. The results of this review will be published in an open-access peer-reviewed journal.
German Translation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the STarT Back Screening Tool

Background Although evidence based treatment approaches for acute low back pain are available, the prevention of persistent disabling symptoms remains a challenge. Subgroup targeted treatment using adequate screening tools may be a key component for the development of new treatment concepts and is demonstrating promising early evidence. The Keele STarT Back Screening Tool is a practical instrument, developed to stratify patients with back pain according to their risk of persistent disabling symptoms. The aim of this study was to translate and cross-culturally adapt the STarT tool into German (STarT-G) and to investigate its psychometric properties. Methods The translation was performed according to internationally accepted guidelines and pretested to assess face validity among patients. Psychometric testing was then performed within a cross-sectional cohort of adult patients attending physiotherapy practices for back pain. Patients completed a booklet containing STarT-G and 5 reference standard questionnaires. Measurement properties of the STarT-G were explored including construct validity, floor and ceiling effects, and discriminative abilities. Results The pretests (n=25) showed good face validity including strong comprehension and acceptability of the STarT-G with only item 5 (fear avoidance) manifesting some ambiguities. The questionnaires were sent to 74 and completed by 50 patients (68%) of whom mean age was 46 (SD 14.5) years and 52% were male. Spearman’s rank correlations for construct validity ranged from 0.35 to 0.56. AUCs for discriminative ability ranged from 0.79 to 0.91. Neither floor nor ceiling effects were observed. There were 28 (57%) participants defined as low risk, 17 (35%) as medium risk, and 4 (8%) as high risk. Conclusion STarT-G is linguistically valid for German speaking countries. For the selected population, the correlations indicate acceptable validity and AUC showed satisfying discrimination. Data for psychometric properties have to be confirmed in a large scale study with a representative sample.
Distinct patterns of autophagy evoked by two benzoxazine derivatives in vascular endothelial cells

Macroautophagy (referred to as autophagy) is an evolutionarily conserved, bulk-destruction process in eukaryotes. During this process, the cytoplasm containing long-lived proteins and organelles is engulfed into double-membrane autophagosomes, and ultimately undergoes enzymatic degradation within lysosomes. Autophagy serves as a prosurvival machinery, or it may contribute to cell death. Accumulating evidence indicates that autophagy is involved in the pathogenesis and intervention of various human diseases. Pharmacological autophagy modulators are arousing interest from biologists and clinical physicians in light of their potential for disease therapy and increasing our understanding of the mechanism of autophagy. In this study, we identified two autophagy enhancers, 6-amino-2,3-dihydro-3-hydroxymethyl-1,4-benzoxazine (ABO) and 6,8-dichloro-2,3-dihydro-3-hydroxymethyl-1,4-benzoxazine (DBO), in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC s) by autophagy assays, and demonstrate that ABO and DBO could stimulate autophagy in an mtor-independent and mtor-dependent manner, respectively; ABO-stimulated autophagy was attributed to the elevation of the Ca2+ channel annexin A7 (ANXA7), whereas DBO’s effect was due to the level of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). Importantly, we found that ANXA7 was essential for autophagy induction via modulating the intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) in HUVEC s. In summary, our work introduced two distinct autophagy enhancers and highlighted the critical role of ANXA7 in endothelial autophagy.
Phylogeny and Redescription of the Testate Amoeba Diaphoropodon archeri (Chlamydophryidae, Thecofilosea, Cercozoa), De Saedeleer 1934, and Annotations on the Polyphyly of Testate Amoebae with Agglutinated Tests in the Cercozoa

The genus Diaphoropodon, Archer 1869, comprises filose amoebae with agglutinated tests made of quartz grains, diatom frustules and other particulate materials. The key trait of the genus is a hyaline theca covered with numerous 5‐ to 10‐μm‐long, hairlike rods. Based on SSU rDNA phylogeny, we show that Diaphoropodon groups closely to Lecythium, a testate amoeba genus with a flexible but naked theca. Electron microscopic images reveal that the rods of Diaphoropodon are not perforating the test but lie randomly distributed on the surface of the amoeba. Comparing fairly naked cells from our cultures with cells from the environment leads to the conclusion that these rods play a role in agglutinating the material on the test.
Smooth trajectory generation and push-recovery based on Divergent Component of Motion

This paper presents a novel multi-step closed-form walking trajectory generator based on the concept of Divergent Component of Motion (DCM) that guarantees smoothness of all resulting reference trajectories. Further, we introduce an analytical method for footstep adjustment to recover from strong disturbances. The DCM trajectory is adjusted to guarantee smoothness of control outputs. Additionally, we present a momentum-based disturbance observer that improves robustness w.r. t. strong continuous perturbations. The proposed methods are verified in simulations.
Associations Between Early Care Decisions and the Risk for Long-term Opioid Use for Patients With Low Back Pain With a New Physician Consultation and Initiation of Opioid Therapy

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify associations between early care decisions and long-term opioid (LTO) use in opioid-naïve patients with a new physician consultation for low back pain (LBP) at which an opioid was prescribed. Methods: A retrospective study of claims data was used to identify opioid-naïve LBP patients who were prescribed opioids at the index physician visit. Early care variables captured included additional nonopioid medications prescribed within 14 days and provider visits or diagnostic imaging within 30 days of the index visit. A multivariate logistic model was used to identify early care variables associated with the outcome of (LTO) use in the year following the index visit controlling for patient factors. Results: A total of 707 patients were included in this study. The mean age was 38.1 (±11.6), and 67.8% were female individuals and 76.9% were Medicaid beneficiaries. Early care medications were muscle relaxants (32.2%), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (29.3%), oral steroids (11.7%), and benzodiazepines (8.3%). The most common early care provider visits were with primary care (31.0%) and physical therapy (13.0%). A total of 172 patients (24.3%) progressed to LTO use. Controlling for patient factors, early care variables increasing risk for LTO use were an early benzodiazepine prescription and primary care visit. An early physical therapy visit was associated with reduced risk for LTO use. Discussion: Early care decisions were predictive of LTO use following a new LBP consultation at which opioids were prescribed. Our results support recommendations to avoid concurrent benzodiazepine prescribing and to consider other evidence-based pain treatments such as physical therapy early, particularly for patients at high risk for LTO use or misuse.
Evaluation of the potential synergism of imatinib‐related poly kinase inhibitors using growth factor stimulated proteoglycan synthesis as a model response

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors were the first class of smart drugs being specifically designed to inhibit a disease causing target. There is a very important but unresolved question as whether or not the overall therapeutic role of an individual tinib results from an action at its primary target, a single most likely, tyrosine kinase, or from the combined or aggregate action at the multiple targets which each tinib addresses.
Mitigating security issues in the evolving DNA synthesis industry

DNA synthesis technologies are advancing at exponential rates, with production of ever longer, more complex, and less expensive sequences of double stranded DNA. This has fostered development of industrial scale design, construction, and sale of synthetic DNA. The tools and methods of synthesis used to create beneficial genetic material can also be used to construct dangerous pathogens. To prevent unknown actors from ordering potentially dangerous genetic material, the largest DNA synthesis firms formed two industry associations that require members to screen the DNA sequences ordered and the customers ordering sequences. The firms also worked with the U.S. Health and Human Services to formulate voluntary screening guidelines for synthetic double stranded DNA. As DNA synthesis technology advances and diffuses, this centralized voluntary approach may become less effective. This thesis identifies strengths and weakness in the current voluntary regime and offers recommendations to improve security in the DNA synthesis industry. It describes the origins and current status of DNA synthesis technologies and the structure of the DNA synthesis industry. Then, it describes the formation of voluntary screening consortia and the U.S. and international guidelines that address security issues in DNA synthesis. Finally, this thesis compares DNA synthesis with other potentially “dual use” technologies, concludes that regulatory approaches may not enhance security in this area, and suggests that governments should focus on education and outreach. Thesis Supervisor: Kenneth A. Oye Title: Associate Professor of Engineering Systems and of Political Science
When Do Firms Divest Foreign Operations?

Extant literature on divestment has repeatedly found that firms are likely to divest their poorly performing operations. In this paper, I consider how product market relatedness and geographic market differences in growth, policy stability, and exchange rate volatility can moderate the negative relationship between performance and divestment. Results from a comprehensive panel of U.S. multinational corporations MNCs reveal that conventional arguments about poor performance hold for both related and unrelated firm operations in countries characterized by low growth, policy stability, and exchange rate stability. However, the results also show that there are significant differences across the divestment decisions of firms for their related and unrelated foreign operations in countries characterized by high growth, policy instability, and exchange rate volatility. Although poor performance has been called the most significant predictor of divestment, this paper considers how interactions across multilevel factors influence the divestment decisions of firms and reveals how U.S. MNCs respond to both product and geographic market characteristics when making divestment decisions for their foreign operations.
olarization ellipticity compensation in polarization econd-harmonic generation microscopy without pecimen rotation

hen-Yuan Dong ational Taiwan University epartment of Physics o 1 Sec 4 Roosevelt Road aipei 106, Taiwan -mail: cydong@phys.ntu. edu.tw Abstract. In imaging anisotropic samples with optical microscopy, a controlled, polarized light source can be used to gain molecular information of fibrous materials such as muscles and collagen fibers. However, the delivery of the polarized excitation light source in a system such as a laser scanning optical microscope often encounters the problem of the polarization ellipticity altering effects of the optical components. Using a half-wave plate and a quarter-wave plate, we demonstrate that the polarization ellipticity altering effect of the dichroic mirror in an epi-illuminated multiphoton laser scanning microscope can be corrected, and that this approach can be used to obtain polarized second-harmonic generation SHG images of rat tail tendon and mouse leg muscle. The excitation polarization dependence of the SHG intensity is fitted to determine the ratio of the second-order susceptibility tensor elements associated with type I collagen in the rat tail tendon and myofibril in the mouse leg muscle. Our methodology can be applied to polarized SHG imaging without sample rotation. This approach has great potential for imaging noncentrosymmetric biological samples, providing structural information on the molecular scale in addition to morphological information of tissues. © 2008 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. DOI: 10.1117/1.2824379
Scaling KNN computation over large graphs on a PC

This paper proposes a novel approach to compute K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) algorithm on a large set of users by leveraging disk and memory efficiently on a commodity PC. The system is designed to minimize random accesses to disk as well as the amount of data loaded/unloaded from/to disk so as to better utilize the computational power, thus improving the algorithmic efficiency.
Sub-Inhibitory Kanamycin Changes Outer Membrane Porin Ratios in Escherichia coli B 23 by Increasing the Level of OmpC

Previous studies have shown that E. coli B23 cells pretreated with a sub-inhibitory concentration of the aminoglycoside kanamycin develop short term (1.5 hour) resistance against lethal concentrations of tetracycline, ampicillin, streptomycin and kanamycin, as well as long term (24 hour) resistance to streptomycin and kanamycin. Modulation of outer membrane porins such as OmpC and OmpF has been suggested as an early line of defense to antibiotherapy by provoking a decrease in membrane permeability. Given that OmpC and OmpF have been shown to be important for the uptake of antibiotics for which cross-resistance was observed, this study isolated and quantified their expression in outer membrane extracts from E. coli B23 treated with sub-inhibitory kanamycin. It was observed that upon exposure to sub-inhibitory concentrations of kanamycin, OmpC levels increased relative to the OmpA, while OmpF levels did not, concordant with our expectations as OmpC is the smaller of the two porins and excludes the passage of larger hydrophilic antibiotics capable of permeating OmpF. The results of this study help to further elucidate the mechanism(s) of adaptive resistance observed in Escherichia coli B23 following exposure to sub-inhibitory concentrations of kanamycin.
Blood Clot Formation in Angiographic Catheters

Human blood was injected into angiographic catheters filled with contrast media or flushing media. The catheters were allowed to stand at 37°C for 10, 20 or 30 min. Physiologic saline was then injected through the catheters, the catheter contents were shaken and filtered, and any clots were identified. Diatrizoate, ioxaglate, iohexol, iopamidol and iopromide were tested. Physiologic and heparinized saline were used as controls. At 10 min, clots were found in 65 per cent of the catheters filled with physiologic saline, in 25 per cent with non-ionic media, in 19 per cent with heparinized saline, and in 4 per cent with ionic contrast media. At 30 min, all catheters with physiologic saline, 85 per cent with non-ionic contrast media, 46 per cent with heparinized saline and 23 per cent with ionic contrast media contained a clot. Although all the contrast media were anticoagulants, a more careful angiographic technique is needed for non-ionic media. All the non-ionic agents showed equal results. Physiologic saline without heparin is not suitable for flushing during angiography.
Oxygen uptake and energy expenditure during horizontal treadmill running.

The purpose of this investigation was to compare linear and curvilinear regression equations relating oxygen uptake and energy expenditure to running velocity and to examine the effects of age, sex, and maximal aerobic power on these relations in well-conditioned male and female runners. One-variable linear equations that use running velocity as the independent variable for predicting oxygen uptake and energy expenditure ahd coefficients of determination (r2) of 0.86 and 0.897, respectively. Two-variable linear equations that use body mass and velocity as independent variables had r2 values of 0.895 and 0.901 for the same relation. Age sex, and maximal aerobic power did not influence the relations between oxygen uptake, energy expenditure, and running velocity. Stepwise regression indicated that the two-variable linear equations had the highest r2 values suggesting that between the running velocities of 8.8 and 16.9 km.h-1 these equations best express the relation of oxygen uptake and energy expenditure to running velocity.