Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
[Cracovian program for secondary prevention of ischemic heart disease. Secondary prevention of ischemic heart disease after discharge in 1997-98 and 1999-2000].

INTRODUCTION Although most actions undertaken within the scope of the secondary prevention of ischaemic heart disease should be initiated during hospitalization, obtaining maximal effects (quantified by cardiovascular risk reduction) depends largely on continuation and appropriate adjustment of these measures in the post-discharge period. The aim of this paper is to assess the implementation of guidelines on secondary prevention of ischaemic heart disease in the period after discharge from the hospital in the years 1999/2000 as compared with 1997/98. MATERIAL AND METHODS In the first phase 515 subjects hospitalized in cardiac departments of university and general hospitals in Cracow were included. Out of them, 427 patients attended the control visit 6-18 months after index hospitalization. Based on a standardized questionnaire a structured medical history was obtained including the presence of risk factors and medication. At the same time body height and mass and blood pressure were measured and blood samples were obtained for lipid profile and fasting glucose level. RESULTS Elevated cholesterol levels (> or = 5.2 mmol/l) were observed in 65.8% of patients in 1998/99 and 66.3% in 1999/2000, high blood pressure (> or = 140/90 mmHg) in 46.2% and 50.4%, obesity (BMI > or = 30 kg/m2) in 24.6% and 27.2%, fasting hyperglycemia (> or = 6.0 mmol/l) in 17.7% and 27.4% (p < 0.05) and smoking in 16.3% and 15.9%, respectively. An increase was observed in the rate of antiplatelet (76.1% in 1998/99 vs 86.7% in 1999/2000, p < 0.001) and lipid lowering drug use (34.0% vs 41.9%, p < 0.05). The rate of beta-blockers and ACE inhibitors use did not change significantly. CONCLUSIONS In the years 1999/2000 the control of main risk factors of ischaemic heart disease did not improve when compared with 1997/98. There was only an increase in the percentage of patients on antiplatelet and lipid lowering drugs. These results indicate that the dissemination of the guidelines for secondary prevention of ischaemic heart disease among physicians and patients remains one of the top priorities of cardiology in Poland.
Labor Under Fire: A History of the AFL-CIO Since 1979

at bookstores or 800-848-6224 • uncpress.org • uncpressblog.com LABOR UNDER FIRE A History of the AFL-CIO since 1979 Timothy J. Minchin “Minchin is one of the most prolific and insightful historians researching U.S. labor in the era since World War II. His books have helped illuminate the darker corners of labor’s story neglected by his contemporaries in the field. In this book, Minchin does it again, bringing shrewd judgment to bear as he frames organized labor’s recent history as a tale of struggle, resiliency, and hope. ” —Joseph A. McCartin, Georgetown University 432 pages $39.95
How parents make sense of their young children's expressions of everyday pain: A qualitative analysis

Little is known about the communication of everyday pain between young children and their parents, i.e. when children experience pain resulting from minor injury or illness that occur in everyday life. This study aimed to gain an in‐depth understanding of how parents make sense of their young children's expression of everyday pains and how they respond.
Health measures in prediction models for high sickness absence: single-item self-rated health versus multi-item SF-12.

BACKGROUND Self-rated health (SRH) has been found to predict sickness absence (SA). The present study investigated the effect of replacing single-item SRH by a multi-item health measure on SA predictions. METHODS Longitudinal study of 2059 Norwegian nurses with assessments in three waves each separated by 1 year. Health was measured by single-item SRH and multi-item SF-12 in waves 1 and 2. SA was self-reported in all three waves and high SA was defined as more than or equal to 31 SA days within the last 12 months. Predictions of high SA by a model including age, prior SA and single-item SRH were compared with predictions by a model including age, prior SA and multi-item SF-12. Both models were bootstrapped to correct for over-optimism and prospectively validated for their predictions in a new time frame. RESULTS 1253 nurses (61%) had complete data for analysis. The SF-12 model predicted the risk of high SA more accurately (χ(2) = 4.294; df = 8) and was more stable over time than the SRH model (model χ(2) = 14.495; df = 8). Both prediction models correctly discriminated between high-risk and low-risk individuals in 73% of the cases at wave 2 and in 71% of the cases at wave 3. CONCLUSIONS The accuracy of predictions increased when single-item SRH was replaced by multi-item SF-12, but the discriminative ability did not improve. Single-item SRH suffices to identify employees at increased risk of high SA.
How Vehicle Access Enables Low-Income Households to Live in Better Neighborhoods

ABSTRACT Transportation influences residential location choices generally, but low-income households often face unique constraints because of a lack of access to automobiles. This article examines how vehicle access influences the type of neighborhoods in which low-income households are able to secure housing following a move to a new neighborhood. We rely on data from the Moving to Opportunity program to estimate locational attainment models, including a wide range of variables capturing various dimensions of neighborhood opportunity. Our findings suggest that auto access enables low-income households to secure housing in neighborhoods that exhibit a wide range of positive neighborhood attributes, including lower poverty rates, lower housing vacancy rates, higher median household income, higher labor-force participation, and higher adult high school graduation rates.
Neuronal transporter and astrocytic ATP exocytosis underlie activity‐dependent adenosine release in the hippocampus

• Using microelectrode biosensors we have directly measured the adenosine release induced by focal stimulation in stratum radiatum of area CA1 in mouse hippocampal slices. • Approximately 40% of stimulated‐adenosine release occurred by translocation of adenosine from neurons via equilibrative nucleoside transporters (ENTs). • The remaining adenosine release arises from the extracellular metabolism of ATP released from astrocytes by exocytosis. • Isolation of the individual components of adenosine release revealed their different kinetics with adenosine release via ENTs markedly faster than the adenosine release that arises from ATP exocytosis. • These data illustrate the complexity of activity‐dependent adenosine release: in the hippocampus, adenosine release occurs by at least two distinct mechanisms with different cellular sources and kinetics.
Scale and rotation-invariant feature extraction for color images of iris melanoma

This paper proposes a feature extraction approach inspired by the Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) algorithm. We compute the color gradient based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA). To discover the correct keypoints position, we use the hue information of the image and apply our own color corner detection algorithm, described further in this article. We present our results, both on images of human eye iris affected by melanoma and also on images representing color textures of healthy iris. Then we conclude this paper.
Liquid Sampling–Atmospheric Pressure Glow Discharge as a Secondary Excitation Source for Laser Ablation-Generated Aerosols: Parametric Dependence and Robustness to Particle Loading

Liquid sampling–atmospheric pressure glow discharge (LS-APGD) microplasma is being developed as a secondary vaporization–excitation source for the optical emission analysis of laser ablation (LA)-generated particle populations. The practicalities of this coupling are evaluated by determining the influence of source parameters on the emission response and the plasma's robustness upon LA introduction of easily ionized elements (EIEs). The influence of discharge current (45–70 mA), LA carrier gas flow rate (0.1–0.8 L min–1), and electrode separation distance (0.5–3.5 mm) was studied by measuring Cu emission lines after ablation of a brass sample. Best emission responses were observed for high-discharge currents, low He carrier gas flow rates, and relatively small (<1.5 mm) electrode gaps. Plasma robustness and spectroscopic matrix effects were studied by monitoring Mg(II): Mg(I) intensity ratios and N2-derived plasma rotational temperatures after the ablation of Sr- and Ca-containing pellets. Plasma robustness investigations showed that the plasma is not appreciably affected by the particle loadings, with the microplasma being slightly more ionizing in the case of Ca introduction. In neither case did the concentration of the concomitant element change the robustness values, implying a high level of robustness. Introduction of the LA particles results in slight increases in the rotational temperatures (~10% relative), with Ca-containing particles having a greater effect than Sr-containing particles. The observed variation of 9% in the plasma rotational temperature is in the same order of magnitude as the short-term reproducibility determined by the proposed LA-LS-APGD system. The determined rotational temperatures ranged from 1047 to 1212 K upon introducing various amounts of Ca and Sr. The relative immunity to LA particle-induced matrix effects is attributed to the relatively long residence times and high power densities (10 W mm–3) of the LS-APGD microplasma.
Shadow Money in the 19th Century: Is Marx Relevant for Understanding Contemporary Shadow Money?

ABSTRACT The growth of shadow money, since the 1980s, has implications for both central bank policy and the theorization of money. However, modern shadow money has a historical analogue in the private bill market of 19th century England This article explores the relevance of Marx’s logical and historical analysis of the evolution of the forms and functions of money in capitalist economies, and his concrete analysis of the bill market in order to understand shadow money today.
An interface research on rhetorical structure and prosody features in Chinese reading texts

This paper conducted an interface research on rhetorical and prosodic aspects of Chinese reading discourses within the Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST) framework. Ten discourses in 3 genres (Commentary, Narrative, and Descriptive) from the Annotated Speech Corpus of Chinese Discourse (ASCCD) were diagrammed in RST. The recordings from 5 males and 5 females were annotated and further analyzed acoustically and statistically by applying Praat and R. Distributions of rhetorical relations, nuclearity and stress degree in pre-pausal and post-pausal positions were examined in this current research. The statistical analysis results showed unbalanced distributions of rhetorical relations in different discourses, hierarchies and stress combinations. The examination of nuclearity showed different influences on pause duration, while stress degree combination does not. This interface research would benefit the semantic-based natural language to a great extent.
High-Precision OFDM-Based Multiple Ultrasonic Transducer Positioning Using a Robust Optimization Approach

Ultrasonic positioning systems (UPSs) are used for various types of applications across a wide variety of fields, including robot navigation, device location, and pose estimation. In this paper, the focus is on investigating two major problems in the signaling and positioning the phases of existing UPSs and providing corresponding solutions. First, most of the existing UPSs use a single tone or a narrowband chirp signal for positioning, which suffer from multiple access due to signal interference. Second, if all reference points are placed in a single plane, which is logistically simpler for indoor applications and their distance from the target is larger than the distance between them, which is likely to happen, produced large dilution of precision errors when using lateration for position estimation. In this paper, first, to solve the multiple access problem, a narrowband orthogonal division-multiplexing signal, which can efficiently utilize the entire available frequency spectrum, is proposed. Second, a robust optimization approach for not only overcoming the limitation of the lateration algorithm but also ignoring errors in the distance measurements of the receivers corresponding to one complete cycle of the transmitted signal is proposed. The experimental results show that the proposed system has the precision required for high accuracy applications, and its cost and complexity are anticipated to be lower than those of alternative traditional optical systems.
TNF-alpha antagonists and thalidomide for the management of gastrointestinal Behçet's syndrome refractory to the conventional treatment modalities: a case series and review of the literature.

OBJECTIVES Gastrointestinal involvement of Behçet's syndrome is usually treated with glucocorticoids, 5-aminosalicylic acid compounds and azathioprine. However, some patients are refractory to these conventional therapy modalities. In this paper we report our experience on 13 patients with gastrointestinal involvement of Behçet's syndrome who were refractory to the conventional therapy and who were treated with TNF-alpha antagonists and/or thalidomide. METHODS We reviewed the charts of our Behçet's syndrome patients with gastrointestinal involvement and identified those who were treated with TNF-alpha antagonists and/or thalidomide. Demographic features, previous and concomitant drugs, previous surgery, time to remission and duration of remission were tabulated. We also performed a systematic review of publications on gastrointestinal involvement of Behçet's syndrome patients treated with TNF-alpha antagonists and/or thalidomide. RESULTS Among our 64 patients with gastrointestinal involvement of Behçet's syndrome, we identified 13 (20%) (7 women, 6 men, mean age 27.4±9.4) who had been treated with TNF-alpha antagonists and/or thalidomide. Their previous medications were glucocorticoids (13/13), azathioprine (13/13), 5-aminosalicylic acid derivatives (3/13) and budesonide (1/13). Clinical and endoscopic remission was obtained in 10 patients. One patient died with sepsis. The systematic literature search revealed 91 cases who had used TNF-alpha antagonists and 15 who had used thalidomide. Among the patients who had received TNF-alpha antagonists, clinical remission was obtained in 47/91 patients (51%), while endoscopic remission was observed in 21/46 (45%) who had a control colonoscopy. CONCLUSIONS One fifth of our Behçet's syndrome patients with gastrointestinal involvement were refractory to conventional treatment modalities. Remission was obtained with TNF-alpha antagonists and/or thalidomide in about 75% of the cases.
[Experience of parent-related negative life events, mental health, and delinquent behavior among Korean adolescents].

OBJECTIVES This study examined the relationship of parent-related negative life events with mental health and delinquent behaviors among Korean adolescents. METHODS A total of 2,976 high school first-grade pupils (1,498 boys & 1,478 girls) taking part in the third wave of Korean Youth Panel Survey completed a self-administered questionnaire regarding parent-related life events, depressive feelings, suicidal ideation, delinquent behaviors, demographic characteristics, parental socioeconomic status, social support, and social capital. Data analyses were conducted using multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS After adjusting for all covariates, the more parent-related negative life events adolescents experienced throughout their whole life, the more likely adolescent were to have mental and behavioral problems. A significant dose-response relationship between them was more clearly observed in girls than in boys. The experience of parent-related negative events during childhood was significantly associated with suicidal ideation and delinquent behaviors for boys, and with depressive feelings for girls during adolescence. Indeed, parental social support, social capital, and having a close friend with delinquent behaviors, especially for girls, partially mediated the relationship between parent-related negative life events and both outcomes. CONCLUSIONS The study showed a clear dose-response relationship of frequency of parent-related negative life events with poor mental and behavioral health for both genders. The residual effect of being exposed to parent-related events during childhood on mental health and delinquent behaviors during adolescence still remained.
Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank: A Database of Comprehensive Clinical, Endophenotypic and Genetic Data for Aetiological Studies of Schizophrenia

Objective: This article describes the establishment of the Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank (ASRB), which operates to collect, store and distribute linked clinical, cognitive, neuroimaging and genetic data from a large sample of people with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Method: Recruitment sources for the schizophrenia sample include a multi-media national advertising campaign, inpatient and community treatment services and non-government support agencies. Healthy controls have been recruited primarily through multi-media advertisements. All participants undergo an extensive diagnostic and family history assessment, neuropsychological evaluation, and blood sample donation for genetic studies. Selected individuals also complete structural MRI scans. Results: Preliminary analyses of 493 schizophrenia cases and 293 healthy controls are reported. Mean age was 39.54 years (SD = 11.1) for the schizophrenia participants and 37.38 years (SD = 13.12) for healthy controls. Compared to the controls, features of the schizophrenia sample included a higher proportion of males (cases 65.9%; controls 46.8%), fewer living in married or de facto relationships (cases 16.1%; controls 53.6%) and fewer years of education (cases 13.05, SD = 2.84; controls 15.14, SD = 3.13), as well as lower current IQ (cases 102.68, SD = 15.51; controls 118.28, SD = 10.18). These and other sample characteristics are compared to those reported in another large Australian sample (i.e. the Low Prevalence Disorders Study), revealing some differences that reflect the different sampling methods of these two studies. Conclusion: The ASRB is a valuable and accessible schizophrenia research facility for use by approved scientific investigators. As recruitment continues, the approach to sampling for both cases and controls will need to be modified to ensure that the ASRB samples are as broadly representative as possible of all cases of schizophrenia and healthy controls.
Aggregate formation and synaptic abnormality induced by DSCR1

Aggregation of conformation‐abnormal peptides probably plays a key role in the pathogenesis of many neurodegenerative diseases. DSCR1 Down syndrome (DS) critical region 1, was identified from a chromosomal region (21q22.1‐q22.2) for the clinical manifestations of DS when an extra‐copy is present. We report that expression of DSCR1 in several cell types, including primary neurons, causes microtubule‐dependent aggresome‐like inclusion body formation. Disease‐associated huntingtin (Q148) and ataxin‐3 (Q84) co‐localize with DSCR1 aggregates. Neurons bearing DSCR1 aggregates show reduced synaptophysin staining in processes. DSCR1 residues 31–90 constitute an aggregation‐prone domain that is predicted to form a hydrophobic patch on the protein surface when residues 1–30 are removed. This study identifies a novel function of DSCR1 that may underlie DS neuropathology.
How MOOC-Takers Estimate Learning Success: Retrospective Reflection of Perceived Benefits

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have attracted a great deal of interest in recent years as a new learning technology. Since MOOCs inception, only limited research has been carried out to address how learners perceive success in MOOCs after course completion. The aim of this study was to investigate the perceived benefits as the measurement of learning success. Narrative interviews were conducted with 30 Russian-speaking learners who completed at least one MOOC in full. By employing text analysis of interview transcripts, we revealed the authentic voices of participants and gained deeper understanding of learners' perceived benefits based on retrospective reflection. The findings of the study indicate that after finishing MOOCs, learners have received tangible and intangible benefits that in general justified their expectations. University-affiliated students, as well as working professionals, recognized the complementarity of MOOCs, but their assessments were limited to educational tracks. We discovered that taking MOOCs often coincided with the time when an individual was planning to change career, education, or life tracks. The results of the study and their implications are further discussed, together with practical suggestions for MOOC providers.
Insulating liquids breakdown voltage determination: Test method efficiency

The 50–60 Hz breakdown voltage of insulating liquids is not an intrinsic property of the dielectric but strongly depends on the presence of contaminants, such as particles and suspended water. Both IEC and ASTM give tests procedures finalized to determine the 50–60 Hz breakdown voltages. This test is adopted as acceptance on new deliveries, testing of treated liquids prior to or during filling into electrical equipment, and monitoring and maintaining oil-filled apparatus in service. Following the IEC Standards, this test has to be performed following the IEC 60156, Ed. 2.0 published in 1995 which is presently under revision. The main reason for revising the standard for the 50–60 Hz breakdown voltage determination of the insulating liquids is the attempt to reduce the scatter in the results, the quantities of the sampling oils and the testing times. The future new edition of IEC 60156 is on the way to reconfirm the present standardized procedure but will recommend the use of a stirring system. Also in an informative annex a new advanced procedure will be included, claiming to be able to reduce the scatter in the determination of the 50–60 Hz breakdown voltages. With the aim to evaluate the mean value and related scatter of power frequency breakdown voltages of insulating liquids, testing time and quantities of samples, this paper presents a comparison of adopted test methods recommended by IEC 60156 and other methods, like the Up-and-Down- and Multiple-Level methods.
Assessing the productivity consequences of agri-environmental practices when adoption is endogenous

We address the general problem of selection bias, an issue endemic to policy analysis when adoption is voluntary, with an empirical application to environmental policies for agriculture. Many voluntary practices for mitigating the environmental impacts of agriculture provide external benefits while lowering productivity. Policy analysis of the productivity consequences is complicated by the fact that decision makers can choose their own policy levers, an action that ruins any notion of random assignment. We introduce an identification strategy to correct this kind of endogeneity, combining classic methods from stochastic frontier analysis and selection models. Applying it to micro-level data from Finnish grain farms, we find that more efficient producers are more likely to enroll in subsidized practices. And, because those practices tend to reduce yield, frontier analysis without the endogeneity correction greatly understates the productivity loss. In other words, naïvely basing the frontier estimator on the subset of less-productive farms leads to downward bias in the frontier estimates. In fact, average inefficiency more than doubles after the correction in this case. An outlier investigation suggests that the lowest decile of farms are responsible for most of the selection bias in the uncorrected model.