Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association between Continuity of Care and Health-Related Quality of Life

Background: Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are considered potential quality metrics for patients with multiple chronic medical conditions (MCC). Although continuity of care (COC) is an essential MCC care process, the association between common PROs and COC is unknown. Methods: We assessed baseline and two-year follow-up self-reported health status, physical, and emotional well-being, and COC in seniors with MCC. Using mixed effects models with repeated measures adjusting for age, gender, and morbidity, we assessed each outcome as a function of COC. Results: Of 2,078 seniors, 961 completed the initial survey and 806 completed follow-up. On a 0–100 scale, mean (sd) baseline self-reported health status, physical well-being, and emotional well-being were 48.7 (22.0), 36.4 (11.4), and 54.8 (9.0). On a 0 to 1 scale, mean baseline and 2-year COC were 0.24 (sd 0.22) and 0.22 (0.18). Follow-up self-reported health status, physical well-being, and emotional well-being were 48.8 (23.1), 36.5 (11.5), and 55.3 (8.8). In adjusted primary and secondary analyses using all available data, there were no associations between any outcomes and COC. Conclusion: Given the measurement burden of quality assessment, negative associations between potential quality metrics and care processes are informative. Systematic assessment of PROs can inform patient-centered MCC care. However, PRO scores should be used with caution as quality measures.
Three-dimensional hydrogen-bonded structures in the guanidinium salts of the monocyclic dicarboxylic acids rac-trans-cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid (2:1, anhydrous), isophthalic acid (1:1, monohydrate) and terephthalic acid (2:1, trihydrate).

The structures of bis(guanidinium) rac-trans-cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylate, 2CH(6)N(3)(+)·C(8)H(10)O(4)(2-), (I), guanidinium 3-carboxybenzoate monohydrate, CH(6)N(3)(+)·C(8)H(5)O(4)(-)·H(2)O, (II), and bis(guanidinium) benzene-1,4-dicarboxylate trihydrate, 2CH(6)N(3)(+)·C(8)H(4)O(4)(2-)·3H(2)O, (III), all reveal three-dimensional hydrogen-bonded framework structures. In anhydrous (I), both guanidinium cations form classic cyclic R(2)(2)(8) N-H.O,O'(carboxylate) and asymmetric cyclic R(2)(1)(6) hydrogen-bonding interactions, while one cation forms an unusual enlarged cyclic interaction with O-atom acceptors of separate ortho-related carboxylate groups [graph set R(2)(2)(11)]. Cations and anions also associate across inversion centres, giving cyclic R(4)(2)(8) motifs. In the 1:1 guanidinium salt, (II), the cation forms two separate cyclic R(2)(1)(6) interactions, one with a carboxyl O-atom acceptor and the other with the solvent water molecule. The structure is unusual in that both carboxyl groups form short interanion O.H.O contacts, one across a crystallographic inversion centre [O.O = 2.483 (2) Å] and the other about a twofold axis of rotation [O.O = 2.462 (2) Å], representing shared sites on these elements for the single acid H atom. The water molecule links the cation-anion ribbon structures into a three-dimensional framework. In (III), the repeating molecular unit comprises a benzene-1,4-dicarboxylate dianion which lies across a crystallographic inversion centre, two guanidinium cations and two solvent water molecules (each set related by twofold rotational symmetry), and a single water molecule which lies on a twofold axis. Each guanidinium cation forms three types of cyclic interaction with the dianions: one R(2)(1)(6), the others R(3)(2)(8) and R(3)(3)(10) (both of these involving the water molecules), giving a three-dimensional structure through bridges down the b-cell direction. The water molecule at the general site also forms an unusual cyclic R(2)(2)(4) homodimeric association across an inversion centre [O.O = 2.875 (2) Å]. The work described here provides further examples of the common cyclic guanidinium-carboxylate hydrogen-bonding associations, as well as featuring other less common cyclic motifs.
Improving pediatric radiation dose management using Agfa digital radiography DICOM header information

Dose reduction in pediatric explorations is especially important because of children radiation sensitivity. According to this, with the aim of saving radiation exposure in future clinical practice, we have developed a technique to control delivered dose in pediatric radiographic exams. To that, a computer science program has been developed to calculate entrance skin dose (ESD) provided by AGFA radiology digital system, using the "lgM" parameter exported from Dicom files. ESD values are compared with dose limits established in regulations to detect if children are being exposed to excessive amounts of radiation during their explorations.
Evaluating the statistical significance of de facto accounting harmonization: a study of European global players

Two different forces are involved in the international harmonization of accounting: institutional endeavours to harmonize accounting internationally by developing common accounting rules and reporting standards, and spontaneous efforts by ‘global players’ to adopt accounting methods that will improve communication with users in other countries. These two developments are proceeding side by side, generally reinforcing one another but occasionally moving independently. This paper is primarily concerned with the process of harmonization of financial accounting within the European Union. The hypothesis we want to test is that, in spite of the obstacles to the harmonization of regulations in the European Union, there has been greater conformity in recent years in the accounting practices of companies which operate on the international stage. If so, the implications for the harmonization strategies of the international bodies are important. In this study, we first carry out a critical analysis of previous research on accounting harmonization, summarizing the methods used in empirical studies of de facto harmonization and the results obtained. We note that the major deficiency in the index-based methods of measuring harmonization is that no test of significance has been included in prior research. In this paper, we propose a bootstrapping test of the C index as a way of measuring the significance of the change in its value. We consider a sample of eighty-five ‘global players’ from thirteen countries and we analyse their financial statements with regard to four accounting issues (deferred taxation, goodwill, leasing and foreign currency translation), providing estimates of the significance of de facto accounting harmonization for the periods from 1991–2 to 1996–7.
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in adult patients with Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): Is ADHD a vulnerability factor?

Objective: There is limited evidence suggesting a link between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This study examined the association between PTSD and ADHD using retrospective and current clinical evaluations. Method: Twenty-five male veterans with PTSD and 22 male veterans with panic disorder were evaluated for ADHD. The data was analyzed using chi-square and student’s t-tests. Results: Thirty-six percent of participants with PTSD and 9% of participants with panic disorder met criteria for childhood ADHD. Twenty-eight percent of participants with PTSD and 5% of participants with panic disorder met criteria for current ADHD. Conclusions : There appears to be a significant association of PTSD with ADHD. ADHD or common predisposing factors may increase the vulnerability for developing PTSD.
Dual-Band Wireless Power Transfer With Reactance Steering Network and Reconfigurable Receivers

Wireless power transfer (WPT) via near-field magnetic coupling is an enabling technology for many applications. A few WPT standards are under development with frequencies ranging from kilohertz (kHz) to megahertz (MHz). Operation in kHz offers a higher power rating and that in MHz offers a smaller size. This paper presents a dual-band WPT architecture with novel transmitter and receiver topologies that can achieve high performance at both 100 kHz and 13.56 MHz with low component count and decoupled power delivery at different frequencies. On the transmitter side, we introduce an enhanced push–pull Class-E topology together with a reactance steering network (RSN), which can seamlessly compensate the load impedance variation for MHz wireless power transmitters. On the receiver side, we present a reconfigurable dual-band rectifier that can achieve a power density of 300 W/in$^3$ with low component count and low total harmonic distortion. A complete dual-band WPT system comprising an RSN-based dual-band transmitter and multiple reconfigurable receivers has been built and tested. The WPT system can simultaneously deliver a total of 30 W of power to multiple receivers (15 W maximum each) with 82.5% efficiency at 100 kHz and 74.8% efficiency at 13.56 MHz with 2.8 cm of coil distance and up to 5 cm of coil misalignment.
Sodium and potassium fluxes and compartmentation in roots of atriplex and oat.

K(+) and Na(+) fluxes and ion content have been studied in roots of Atriplex nummularia Lindl. and Avena sativa L. cv Goodfield grown in 3 millimolar K(+) with or without 3 or 50 millimolar NaCl. Compartmental analysis was carried out with entire root systems under steady-state conditions.Increasing ambient Na(+) concentrations from 0 to 50 millimolar altered K(+), in Atriplex, as follows: slightly decreased the cytoplasmic content (Q(c)), the vacuolar content (Q(v)), and the plasma membrane influx and efflux. Xylem transport for K(+) decreased by 63% in Atriplex. For oat roots, similar increases in Na(+) altered K(+) parameters as follows: plasma membrane influx and efflux decreased by about 80%. Q(c) decreased by 65%, and xylem transport decreased by 91%. No change, however, was observed in Q(v) for K(+). Increasing ambient Na(+) resulted in higher (3 to 5-fold) Na(+) fluxes across the plasma membrane and in Q(c) of both species. In Atriplex, Na(+) fluxes across the tonoplast and Q(v) increased as external Na(+) was increased. In oat, however, no significant change was observed in Na(+) flux across the tonoplast or in Q(v) as external Na(+) was increased. In oat roots, Na(+) reduced K(+) uptake markedly; in Atriplex, this was not as pronounced. However, even at high Na(+) levels, the influx transport system at the plasma membrane of both species preferred K(+) over Na(+). Based upon the Ussing-Teorell equation, it was concluded that active inward transport of K(+) occurred across the plasma membrane, and passive movement of K(+) occurred across the tonoplast in both species. Na(+), in oat roots, was actively pumped out of the cytoplasm to the exterior, whereas, in Atriplex, Na(+) was passively distributed between the free space, cytoplasm, and vacuole.
Environmental Quality and Health Care Spending in Nigeria

This study examines the impact of environmental quality on health care spending in Nigeria from 1960-2011. The study adopts the ARDL Bounds testing approach to investigate the effects of environmental quality (proxied by CO 2 emissions) on healthcare spending in the long and short run periods. It was revealed that CO 2 emissions in metric tonnes per capita have positive impact on health spending in Nigeria both in the long run and in the short run, implying that as the environment quality deteriorates, health spending increases. The study therefore recommends that efforts towards stemming environmental degradation should be intensified at local, state and federal levels
Survey on Governments’ Open Educational Resources (OER) Policies

Policies The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is an intergovernmental organisation created by Commonwealth Heads of Government to encourage the development and sharing of open learning and distance education knowledge, resources and technologies. UNESCO is a specialised United Nations agency promoting international cooperation among its Member States and Associate Members in the fields of education, science, culture and communication. The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this book and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization. For the avoidance of doubt, by applying this licence the Commonwealth of Learning does not waive any privileges or immunities from claims that it may be entitled to assert, nor does the Commonwealth of Learning submit itself to the jurisdiction, courts, legal processes or laws of any jurisdiction.
Functional impact of constraint therapy and bimanual training in children with cerebral palsy: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE We compared children's self-care performance and caregivers' perception of children's performance on functional goals established for children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP) after unimanual constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) or hand-arm bimanual intensive training (HABIT). METHOD Sixteen children with CP were randomized to the CIMT or HABIT group. Interventions lasted for 15 days, 6 hr/day, totaling 90 hr. We used the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory and the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) to assess the children's daily functioning and mixed analyses of variance to compare group means on functional test scores before and after intervention. RESULTS Both groups showed significant improvements on functional measures. Group × Assessment interaction in COPM performance revealed greater improvements for the HABIT group after intervention (p = .04). CONCLUSION The results suggest that specificity of training exists only for performance of specific goals established by parents and that both CIMT and HABIT can be used to increase children's daily functioning.
High frequency deviations within the European Power System: Origins and proposals for improvement

Since the deregulation of the electrical energy market, the technical realisation of power transactions based on energy market contracts often effects large stepwise power programme changes - especially at the change of the hour. Originating from the current market boundaries and system rules, these stepwise power programme changes lead to remarkable power imbalances within the European Power System causing large unintended frequency deviations with a negative impact on the control performance of power plants and power system. Within the framework of this paper, a cause study to establish an understanding of the origins of the power imbalances is presented. Subsequently, counteractive measures for an improvement of the performance of scheduled stepwise power programme changes are proposed.
Association of the Estrogen Receptor-α Gene With the Metabolic Syndrome and Its Component Traits in African-American Families

OBJECTIVE— We previously detected an association between a region of the estrogen receptor-α (ESR1) gene and type 2 diabetes in an African-American case-control study; thus, we investigated this region for associations with the metabolic syndrome and its component traits in African-American families from the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Family Study. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS— A total of 17 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from a contiguous 41-kb intron 1–intron 2 region of the ESR1 gene were genotyped in 548 individuals from 42 African-American pedigrees. Generalized estimating equations were computed using a sandwich estimator of the variance and exchangeable correlation to account for familial correlation. RESULTS— Significant associations were detected between ESR1 SNPs and the metabolic syndrome (P = 0.005 to P = 0.029), type 2 diabetes (P = 0.001), insulin sensitivity (P = 0.0005 to P = 0.023), fasting insulin (P = 0.022 to P = 0.033), triglycerides (P = 0.021), LDL (P = 0.016 to P = 0.034), cholesterol (P = 0.046), BMI (P = 0.016 to P = 0.035), waist circumference (P = 0.012 to P = 0.023), and subcutaneous adipose tissue area (P = 0.016). CONCLUSIONS— It appears likely that ESR1 contributes to type 2 diabetes and CVD risk via pleiotropic effects, leading to insulin resistance, a poor lipid profile, and obesity.
A New and Scalable Certification Path Discovery Model in the Emerging Global PKI

Establishing trust on certificates across multiple domains requires an efficient certification path discovery algorithm. In this work, we propose and implement a model based on rigorous binary tree algorithm for efficient certification path discovery. Our model has four advantages. First, there is not any bottleneck problem when establishing a certification path. Second, its authentication path is short with no more than two entities intervened. Third not need to inquire about a certificate revolution list. Fourth, it's easy to extend and suitable for large-scale network.
Stable amorphous binary systems of glipizide and atorvastatin powders with enhanced dissolution profiles: formulation and characterization

Abstract The aim of this study was to enhance the dissolution profile of the combination of glipizide and atorvastatin used for simultaneous treatment of hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia. The strategy to formulate coamorphous glipizide–atorvastatin binary mixture was explored to achieve enhancement in dissolution. The coamorphous glipizide–atorvastatin mixtures (1:1, 1:2 and 2:1) were prepared by cryomilling and characterized with respect to their dissolution profiles, preformulation parameters and physical stability. Amorphization was found to be possible by cryomilling at various tried ratios of the two drugs. The data obtained from glass transition temperatures and from Raman spectroscopy point toward practically no interaction between the two drugs. The dissolution studies revealed the highest enhancement in dissolution profiles of cryomilled coamorphous mixtures containing GPZ:ATV in ratios 1:1 (B-5) and 2:1 (B-7). These two mixtures were, therefore, subjected to studies for the evaluation of precompression parameters in order to find their amenability to satisfactory compression into tablet dosage form. The selected formulation was found to be stable when subjected to accelerated stability testing at 40°. C/75% RH for six months as per ICH guidelines. Based on all these studies, it was concluded that GPZ:ATV (1:1) combination may be able to provide an effective therapy for the comorbidities of hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia.
Investor Reactions to Financial Analysts' Research Reports

The purpose of this paper is to show that investors' reactions to information in financial analysts' research reports depend on characteristics of both the analyst and the report. Much prior research has described how investors react to information from analysts in general (see Schipper [.1991] ); more recent attention has shifted to the relations among analyst type, research reports, and investors' reactions to those reports. For example, recent research has focused on how different types of analysts (Lin and McNichols [1993] and Dugar and Nathan [1993]) or characteristics of the analyst's research report (Francis and Soffer [1994]) affect investor behavior. In this paper, we extend such research by investigating whether investor behavior is jointly influenced by characteristics of the analyst and his or her report.1 We conducted an experiment in which investors were provided with background information about a company and a financial analyst's
A Novel Azaindolizinone Derivative ZSET1446 (Spiro[imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-3,2-indan]-2(3H)-one) Improves Methamphetamine-Induced Impairment of Recognition Memory in Mice by Activating Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase 1/2

The effect of ZSET1446 (spiro[imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-3,2-indan]-2(3H)-one) on cognitive impairment in mice, previously treated with methamphetamine (METH) at a dose of 1 mg/kg for 7 days, was investigated. ZSET1446 showed a significant ameliorating effect on METH-induced impairment of recognition memory, although it had no effect on exploratory behavior. ZSET1446 (1 μg/kg) recovered the defect of the novelty-induced activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of METH-treated mice. The compound increased phosphorylated ERK1/2 levels in the hippocampus but not PFC of naive mice without affecting the total ERK1/2 levels. The ameliorating effect of ZSET1446 on recognition memory in METH-treated mice was negated by pretreatment with a mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase inhibitor, SL327 (α-[amino-(4-aminophenylthio)methylene]-2-(trifluoromethyl)phenylacetonitrile). Furthermore, the dopamine D1 receptor antagonist, SCH23390 [R-(+)-7-chloro-8-hydroxy-3-methyl-1-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepine], and N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, MK-801 [5H-dibenzo[a,d]cyclohepten-5,10-imine (dizocilpine maleate)], blocked the ameliorating effect of ZSET1446 on METH-induced memory impairment, whereas the D2 receptor antagonist, raclopride, had no effect. These results suggest that the ameliorative effect of ZSET1446 on METH-induced memory impairment is associated with indirect activation of ERK1/2 following stimulation with dopamine D1 and NMDA receptors of the PFC. ZSET1446 would be a potential candidate for further preclinical study aimed at the treatment of cognitive deficits in Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia, as well as METH psychosis.
Antioxidant activity of Plantago bellardii All.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro antioxidant activity of the methanol extract of Plantago bellardii All. aerial parts. This was assessed by two different tests, scavenging of 1,1‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazil (DPPH) radical, and inhibition of lipid peroxidation on liposomes prepared from bovine brain extract. In both tests the extract showed a potent antioxidant effect. The characterization of the major compounds in the extract as rutin, geniposide and verbascoside was performed by isolation and HPLC comparison with authentic samples. They were quantified by HPLC for the flavonoids and colorimetry for iridoids. The compounds that contribute most to the antioxidant activity were shown to be verbascoside and rutin. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.