Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Asthma Education on Children's Use of Acute Care Services: A Meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute clinical practice guidelines strongly recommend that health professionals educate children with asthma and their caregivers about self-management. We conducted a meta-analysis to estimate the effects of pediatric asthma education on hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and urgent physician visits for asthma. PATIENTS AND METHODS. Inclusion criteria included enrollment of children aged 2 to 17 years with a clinical diagnosis of asthma who resided in the United States. Pooled standardized mean differences and pooled odds ratios were calculated. Random-effects models were estimated for all outcomes assessed. RESULTS. Of the 208 studies identified and screened, 37 met the inclusion criteria. Twenty-seven compared educational interventions to usual care, and 10 compared different interventions. Among studies that compared asthma education to usual care, education was associated with statistically significant decreases in mean hospitalizations and mean emergency department visits and a trend toward lower odds of an emergency department visit. Education did not affect the odds of hospitalization or the mean number of urgent physician visits. Findings from studies that compared different types of asthma education interventions suggest that providing more sessions and more opportunities for interactive learning may produce better outcomes. CONCLUSIONS. Providing pediatric asthma education reduces mean number of hospitalizations and emergency department visits and the odds of an emergency department visit for asthma, but not the odds of hospitalization or mean number of urgent physician visits. Health plans should invest in pediatric asthma education or provide health professionals with incentives to furnish such education. Additional research is needed to determine the most important components of interventions and compare the cost-effectiveness of different interventions.
Beyond Low Rank: A Data-Adaptive Tensor Completion Method

Low rank tensor representation underpins much of recent progress in tensor completion. In real applications, however, this approach is confronted with two challenging problems, namely (1) tensor rank determination; (2) handling real tensor data which only approximately fulfils the low-rank requirement. To address these two issues, we develop a data-adaptive tensor completion model which explicitly represents both the low-rank and non-low-rank structures in a latent tensor. Representing the non-low-rank structure separately from the low-rank one allows priors which capture the important distinctions between the two, thus enabling more accurate modelling, and ultimately, completion. Through defining a new tensor rank, we develop a sparsity induced prior for the low-rank structure, with which the tensor rank can be automatically determined. The prior for the non-low-rank structure is established based on a mixture of Gaussians which is shown to be flexible enough, and powerful enough, to inform the completion process for a variety of real tensor data. With these two priors, we develop a Bayesian minimum mean squared error estimate (MMSE) framework for inference which provides the posterior mean of missing entries as well as their uncertainty. Compared with the state-of-the-art methods in various applications, the proposed model produces more accurate completion results.
The Effect of the Media Reporting of Terrorist Attacks on the Czech Travel Insurance Market between 2011-2016

Media plays a significant part of our lives and it has the power to provide us with ideas and/or some perspective on the selected topics. Terrorist attacks cause fear which is spread by media. The fact is that during the biggest “terrorist fever” in the Czech Republic between 2015-2016, the number of terrorist attacks was paradoxically declining, and vice versa. The presented paper answers the question of how large is the effect of the media reporting of terrorist attacks on the number of travellers abroad and when - after how many quarters - the travellers´ reaction follows. Based on the quarterly data of the number of travellers abroad and the gross premium written we found out that the media reporting of terrorist attacks is a significant variable and the decline in the number of travellers in some years represents the “loss of one quarter” of travellers. Using the panel data model, we found out that although the number of travellers abroad has declined, the gross premium written has increased. Higher growth as well as significance in terms of the gross premium written was recorded only for the sole specialist on travel insurance in the Czech Republic - the ERV European Insurance Company when compared with the travel insurance market as a whole.
Hybrid Knowledge-Based Flexible Supplier Selection

Supplier selection no longer relies on cost only. Multi-criteria should be considered in making the selection. Subject to environmental changes, original suppliers may not be feasible or effective ones. Selection has to be flexible reacting to new market requirements. In this paper, a hybrid knowledge-based flexible supplier selection system (HKBF-SSS) is proposed incorporating a case-based reasoning (CBR) module and a mathematical programming module comprised of a proposed linear programming (LP) model. The system enables the company to select capable and most cost-effective supplier(s).
Primary Health care and Disasters—The Current State of the Literature: What We Know, Gaps and Next Steps

Abstract Introduction: The 2009 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction/Emergency Preparedness (DRR/EP) and the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 demonstrate increased international commitment to DRR/EP in addition to response and recovery. In addition, the World Health Report 2008 has re-focused the world's attention on the renewal of Primary Health Care (PHC) as a set of values/principles for all sectors. Evidence suggests that access to comprehensive PHC improves health outcomes and an integrated PHC approach may improve health in low income countries (LICs). Strong PHC health systems can provide stronger health emergency management, which reinforce each other for healthier communities. Problem: The global re-emphasis of PHC recently necessitates the health sector and the broader disaster community to consider health emergency management from the perspective of PHC. How PHC is being described in the literature related to disasters and the quality of this literature is reviewed. Identifying which topics/lessons learned are being published helps to identify key lessons learned, gaps and future directions. Methods: Fourteen major scientific and grey literature databases searched. Primary Health Care or Primary Care coupled with the term disaster was searched (title or abstract). The 2009 ISDR definition of disaster and the 1978 World Health Organization definition of Primary Health Care were used. 119 articles resulted. Results: Literature characteristics; 16% research papers, only 29% target LICs, 8% of authors were from LICs, 7% clearly defined PHC, 50% used PHC to denote care provided by clinicians and 4% cited PHC values and principles. Most topics related to disaster response. Key topics; true need for PHC, mental health, chronic disease, models of PHC, importance of PHC soon after a natural disaster relative to acute care, methods of surge capacity, utilization patterns in recovery, access to vulnerable populations, rebuilding with the PHC approach and using current PHC infrastructure to build capacity for disasters. Conclusions: Primary Health Care is very important for effective health emergency management during response and recovery, but also for risk reduction, including preparedness. There is need to; increase the quality of this research, clarify terminology, encourage paper authorship from LICs, develop and validate PHC- specific disaster indicators and to encourage organizations involved in PHC disaster activities to publish data. Lessons learned from high-income countries need contextual analysis about applicability in low-income countries.
Corporate governance mechanisms and disclosure quality: Evidence from UK top 100 public companies

This research is aimed to explore the determinants of corporate governance disclosures with emphasis on board structure and external audit. Theoretical and empirical literature shows conflicting evidence on how aspects of corporate governance are related to disclosures. This study carried out an extensive synthesis of the existing literature, taking into account the aims of analysis and the underlying situation of past studies, to come up with tentative answers to the research questions before the analysis. The paper adopts a balanced analysis in which disclosures are assumed to be as a result of both board and non-board factors but still within the corporate governance realm. In order to achieve the overall aim, the study sample was drawn from the existing list of UK’s Top 100 FTSE non-regulated firms. A combination of quantitative statistical and business analytics methods was used to carry out the analysis. Using the Corporate Governance Disclosure Quality (CGDQ) index as the dependent variable and selected board and non-board factors as independent variables, pooled OLS regressions were run. The diagnostic tests were carried out to establish the relative contribution of each independent variable to the model. It was established that the age of board members, the proportion of female directors, the frequency of audit committee meetings, external audit expense, firm growth opportunities, and firm size were important determinants of CGDQ. It was suggested that future studies should investigate whether board structure is still an important determinant of corporate disclosures in the age of advanced information technology.
DANA: Distributed numerical and adaptive modelling framework

DANA is a python framework (http://dana.loria.fr) whose computational paradigm is grounded on the notion of a unit that is essentially a set of time dependent values varying under the influence of other units via adaptive weighted connections. The evolution of a unit's value are defined by a set of differential equations expressed in standard mathematical notation which greatly ease their definition. The units are organized into groups that form a model. Each unit can be connected to any other unit (including itself) using a weighted connection. The DANA framework offers a set of core objects needed to design and run such models. The modeler only has to define the equations of a unit as well as the equations governing the training of the connections. The simulation is completely transparent to the modeler and is handled by DANA. This allows DANA to be used for a wide range of numerical and distributed models as long as they fit the proposed framework (e.g. cellular automata, reaction-diffusion system, decentralized neural networks, recurrent neural networks, kernel-based image processing, etc.).
Capped nonviral sequences at the 5' end of the mRNAs of rice hoja blanca virus RNA4

Subgenomic RNAs of both polarities corresponding to rice hoja blanca virus (RHBV) ambisense RNA4 were detected in RHBV-infected rice tissues. Total RNA extracted from RHBV-infected and noninfected rice tissues and RNA4 purified from RHBV ribonucleoprotein particles were used as templates for primer extension studies. The RNAs extracted from RHBV-infected tissues contain a population of RNA molecules with 10 to 17 nonviral nucleotides at their 5' end. The RNA-cDNA hybrids resulting from primer extension of such RNA molecules were specifically immunoselected with anti-cap antibodies, indicating that the subgenomic RNAs are capped and probably serve as mRNAs and that the additional nucleotides at their 5' end possibly derive from host mRNAs via a cap-snatching mechanism.
Implications of Species-as-Individuals: Kinds, Essentialism, Induction, De-Extinction

ion. It doesn’t mean the species never changes; rather, it means change oscillates around some mean value. There would also be an epistemological problem: the essentialist would be claiming that essential properties are those which exhibit no net change over the species’ lifetime. But that means one could not determine which properties were essential until the
Multiband Antenna for WiFi and WiGig Communications

This letter presents a low-cost printed circuit board (PCB)-based dual-band antenna for future wireless local area network (WLAN) applications. The antenna is designed to fully cover both WiFi channels (2.4/5.2/5.8 GHz) and Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig) channels (57-64 GHz). At the WiFi frequency bands, the antenna is based on a printed monopole, while at the WiGig frequency band, a wideband higher-order-mode patch antenna is adopted. A compact microstrip resonance cell (CMRC) low-pass filter is also designed to allow feeding the monopole antenna at WiFi frequency bands while isolating the monopole from the patch for WiGig operation. The design is fabricated by standard PCB and plated-through-hole technologies, and its performance is validated by measurement.
Efficacy of reduction therapy of natural human β‐interferon and ribavirin in elderly patients with chronic hepatitis C, genotype 1b and high viral load

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of reduction therapy of natural human interferon (IFN)‐β and ribavirin in elderly patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1b and high viral load who had complications of anemia, low bodyweight (<50 kg), diabetes mellitus and/or hypertension.
Environmental Management System Adoption and the Operational Performance of Firm in the Textile and Apparel Industry of China

In China, more firms in the textile and apparel industry adopt environmental management systems compared to firms that manufacture other products. It is important to know how the firms’ financial and real performances are affected. We study the changes of firms’ performance in profitability, sales, and operational efficiency after environmental management system (EMS) adoption using an event study. Based on 22 events of EMS adoption, we found a significant decrease in firms’ profitability, sales, and inventory productivity. We explore the reasons which led to the decrease in firm performances. We found that the increase in sample firms’ total assets is the major reason. The loss in operational efficiency and flexibility are due to the requirements of the EMS.
Sur le chaos multiplicatif

Chaos additif et chaos multiplicatif. Theoremes de comparaison et d'unicite. Exemples et applications. Les theories L 2 et L 2m . Application de la theorie L 2 a la non-degenerescence de Q et aux proprietes de S=Qσ. La probabilite de Peyriere. Cas de degenerescence
ARE iPS CELLS REALLY INDUCED FROM DIFFERENTIATED CELLS ?

Over the past 20 months, reports claiming the generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells with characteristics identical to those of embryonic stem (ES) cells from nonembryonic tissue have captured great attention in both the scientific community and the general public. In the light of the continuing controversy over the use of ES cells, these reports have profound ramifications. This review calls into question the validity of many claims made in these reports—claims that have led to the rapid and premature acceptance of using iPS cells as a viable alternative to using normal stem cells for regenerative therapy. How convincing is the evidence supporting the various claims made for the iPS cells? Are there other more plausible explanations for the same observations? What are these iPS cells? Are they really safe for therapeutic use? Should the iPS technique be considered, in the absence of any direct evidence for induction and reprogramming, as a realistic alternative for somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) to generate ES-like cells? This review attempts to encourage reflections on and offer alternative views for key aspects of iPS cells and studies.
Applying Multi-Agent Software System to Support Citywide Mobile Learning

Mobile Learning is an emerging mode of learning, in which a learner can use his/her mobile device to learn anywhere and any time. The immature and diverse field of Mobile Learning holds a blooming future and promises great benefits for the learners. Therefore, both researchers as well the industry are experimenting with different applications of Mobile Learning through pilot projects to evaluate its effectiveness. Citywide Mobile Learning is a specialized form of Mobile Learning, in which a mobile learner can use his/her mobile device to learn, while [s]he is moving around in the city. To provide technological support for such form of learning, sophisticated supporting systems are required. A major challenge is the dynamic environment of cities that consist of mobile learners and a number of locations. A system designed to provide support for Citywide Mobile Learning shall be constructed using technological components that can manage the dynamic environment. In this thesis, our main goal is to provide support for Citywide Mobile Learning where the main subject of learning is to learn about the city by being in it. To reach this goal we overview the patchy literature of Mobile Learning to extract central characteristics of Mobile Learning in general and Citywide Mobile Learning in particular. To organize and analyze different locations in the city we adopt the theoretical notions of Space, Place and Learning-Experience. These theoretical notions are mapped into a Multi-Agent framework called AGORA. AGORA is extended to provide specialized support for Citywide Mobile Learning. Based on the important characteristics of Citywide Mobile Learning two important technological artefacts are derived. Firstly, a framework consisting of Service-Model and AGORA based Multi-Agent System is created. Secondly, an ontology is created that attempts to capture all the concepts and relationships relevant for Citywide Mobile Learning. More particular contributions of this thesis are as follows: C1: Providing a framework for supporting mobile learning in a citywide context C2: Using the philosophical concept of Place to structure and organize different locations in the city to support mobile learning C3: Applying the theories related to Place and Experience into practice by extending Multi- Agent framework called AGORA C4: Representing the concepts related to Space/Place based mobile learning in the form of ontology. This ontology captures the knowledge related to Mobile User, Learning Groups, Learning Space/Place, and Learning-Tasks C5: Identifying the core patterns of Citywide Mobile Learning
A motion tracking method based on Kalman filter combined with mean-shift

In this paper, it proposes an object tracking algorithm based-on the Kalman filter combined with the mean-shift algorithm. It can predict the object motion more accurate with Kalman filter, including position and velocity. And the adjacent locations of the predicted point are defined as the search window. In the search window, the position of object is fixed on by mean-shift. The experiment results show that this algorithm can make full use of the prediction function of Kalman filter, improve the search speed, and achieve a more accurate tracking even the color is similar, and also solve the problem of shelter to some extent.
Differentiation of coagulase-positive and coagulase-negative staphylococci by lectins and plant agglutinins

The screening of staphylococci with a panel of 14 lectins and extracts demonstrating lectin-like activity led to the development of a rapid agglutination slide test for the differentiation of certain coagulase-negative staphylococci and human strains of Staphylococcus aureus. The coagulase-negative staphylococci were agglutinated by agglutinins from Mangifera indica, Triticum vulgaris, and crude Limulus polyphemus. The test is rapid, requiring only 5 to 15 min to identify an unknown strain of staphylococci, as opposed to the 4 to 16 h required to perform the conventional tube coagulase test.
Diagnostic utility of p16INK4a: a reappraisal of its use in cervical biopsies

&NA; p16INK4a, an indirect marker of cell cycle dysregulation, is commonly expressed in cervical dysplasias and carcinomas associated with high risk human papillomavirus (HR‐HPV) infections. Although p16INK4a immunohistology is routinely used as a cost effective surrogate marker, many of the published articles are confusing and contradictory. The discrepancies can be ascribed to a multitude of factors operating at the molecular, technical and interpretative levels. In the first place, our simplistic model of viral mediated oncogenesis is speculative and fails to account for all the known biomolecular changes. Unresolved technical issues include the variables of tissue fixation, antibody dilution, antibody isotype and clone, and the sensitivity of the particular detection method. Within any controlled staining method, strong diffuse or ‘block’ immunoreactivity in squamous cells may be found in moderate/severe dysplasia (CIN 2/3) and invasive squamous carcinoma. In contrast, focal or multifocal reactivity in squamous cells may be artefactual, related to low risk or HR‐HPV. p16INK4a is less reliable when dealing with glandular lesions since considerable overlap exists between reactive and dysplastic lesions. In addition not all glandular dysplasias/carcinomas are HR‐HPV related, nor are all p16INK4a immunoreactive lesions associated with HR‐HPV. We conclude that p16INK4a immunoperoxidase shows greater specificity than sensitivity for squamous lesions; in comparison, glandular dysplasias/carcinomas show reduced specificity and sensitivity. Like all cell cycle regulatory proteins, the future diagnostic role of p16INK4a is limited. The ideal diagnostic molecular test for cervical dysplasias will detect a HR‐HPV related product after, but not before, cell transformation and will reliably predict those cases yet to experience disease progression.
HER-2/neu Mediates Oncogenic Transformation via Altered CREB Expression and Function

The cyclic (c)AMP responsive element binding protein (CREB) plays a key role in many cellular processes, including differentiation, proliferation, and signal transduction. Furthermore, CREB overexpression was found in tumors of distinct origin and evidence suggests an association with tumorigenicity. To establish a mechanistic link between HER-2/neu–mediated transformation and CREB protein expression and function, in vitro models of HER-2/neu–overexpressing and HER-2/neu–negative/silenced counterparts as well as human mammary carcinoma lesions with defined HER-2/neu status were used. HER-2/neu overexpression resulted in the induction and activation of CREB protein in vitro and in vivo, whereas short hairpin RNA (shRNA)–mediated inhibition of HER-2/neu correlated with downregulated CREB activity. CREB activation in HER-2/neu–transformed cells enhanced distinct signal transduction pathways, whereas their inhibition negatively interfered with CREB expression and/or activation. CREB downregulation in HER-2/neu–transformed cells by shRNA and by the inhibitors KG-501 and lapatinib caused morphologic changes, reduced cell proliferation with G0–G1 cell-cycle arrest, which was rescued by CREB expression. This was accompanied by reduced cell migration, wound healing, an increased fibronectin adherence, invasion, and matrix metalloproteinase expression. In vivo shCREB-HER-2/neu+ cells, but not control cells, exerted a significantly decreased tumorgenicity that was associated with decreased proliferative capacity, enhanced apoptosis, and increased frequency of T lymphocytes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Thus, CREB plays an important role in the HER-2/neu–mediated transformation by altering in vitro and in vivo growth characteristics. Implications: These data suggest that CREB affects tumor immunogenicity and is a potential target for cancer therapy. Mol Cancer Res; 11(11); 1462–77. ©2013 AACR.