Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing the Integration of Health Center and Community Emergency Preparedness and Response Planning

ABSTRACT Background: To assess the state of health center integration into community preparedness, we undertook a national study of linkages between health centers and the emergency preparedness and response planning initiatives in their communities. The key objectives of this project were to gain a better understanding of existing linkages in a nationally representative sample of health centers, and identify health center demographic and experience factors that were associated with strong linkages. Methods: The objectives of the study were to gain a baseline understanding of existing health center linkages to community emergency preparedness and response systems and to identify factors that were associated with strong linkages. A 60-item questionnaire was mailed to the population of health centers supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Bureau of Primary Health Care in February 2005. Results were aggregated and a chi square analysis identified factors associated with stronger linkages. Results: Overall performance on study-defined indicators of strong linkages was low: 34% had completed a hazard vulnerability analysis in collaboration with the community emergency management agency, 30% had their role documented in the community plan, and 24% participated in community-wide exercises. Stronger linkages were associated with experience responding to a disaster and a perception of high risk for experiencing a disaster. Conclusions: The potential for health centers to participate in an integrated response is not fully realized, and their absence from community-based planning leaves an already vulnerable population at greater risk. Community planners should be encouraged to include health centers in planning and response and centers should receive more targeted resources for community integration. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2007;1:96–105)
Spinal ischaemic stroke: clinical and radiological findings and short‐term outcome

Background and purpose: The mechanism and pathogenesis of ischemic spinal stroke remain largely undetermined because most clinical studies have included mostly patients without a systematic study of associated vascular and concomitant disease of the vertebral body. Therefore, we assessed the pathogenetic mechanisms and short‐term outcomes of the patients with spinal stroke based on clinical data and magnetic resonance imaging findings.
Beyond Accuracy: What Data Quality Means to Data Consumers

Poor data quality (DQ) can have substantial social and economic impacts. Although firms are improving data quality with practical approaches and tools, their improvement efforts tend to focus narrowly on accuracy. We believe that data consumers have a much broader data quality conceptualization than IS professionals realize. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework that captures the aspects of data quality that are important to data consumers.A two-stage survey and a two-phase sorting study were conducted to develop a hierarchical framework for organizing data quality dimensions. This framework captures dimensions of data quality that are important to data consumers. Intrinsic DQ denotes that data have quality in their own right. Contextual DQ highlights the requirement that data quality must be considered within the context of the task at hand. Representational DQ and accessibility DQ emphasize the importance of the role of systems. These findings are consistent with our understanding that high-quality data should be intrinsically good, contextually appropriate for the task, clearly represented, and accessible to the data consumer.Our framework has been used effectively in industry and government. Using this framework, IS managers were able to better understand and meet their data consumers' data quality needs. The salient feature of this research study is that quality attributes of data are collected from data consumers instead of being defined theoretically or based on researchers' experience. Although exploratory, this research provides a basis for future studies that measure data quality along the dimensions of this framework.
Public Health Practice vs Research: Implications for Preparedness and Disaster Research Review by State Health Department IRBs

ABSTRACT Under the current US Department of Health and Human Services regulatory and ethical system for research involving human subjects, research is defined in terms of several key concepts: intent, systematic investigation, and generalizability. If an investigator engages in a systematic investigation designed or intended to contribute to generalizable knowledge, then he or she is engaged in research. If that research involves living individuals and the investigator will either interact or intervene with people or obtain their identifiable personal information, then the research must be prospectively reviewed by an institutional review board (IRB), a federally mandated committee that ensures the ethical and regulatory appropriateness of proposed research. In public health institutions, and especially at state departments of health, this definition of research may prove vexing for determining when particular public health activities must be reviewed by IRBs. This article outlines several reasons for such vexation and 2 key responses from major public health stakeholders. In the current climate of public health preparedness initiatives at state health departments for disasters and bioterrorism, how research is defined vis-à-vis public health interventions may add even more confusion to preparedness initiatives and pose difficulties in determining when IRB review and the added protections it affords are appropriate. This article suggests several practical ways to avoid confusion and attempts to strike a balance between the need for expeditious approvals of research-based responses to public health disasters and to ensure proper protections for human subjects at state health departments. It is hoped that these suggestions can assist not only state health departments but also academically based researchers who either collaborate with those departments or whose research will need to be reviewed by their IRBs. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2008;2:185–191)
Transvaginal ultrasonographic measurement of endometrial thickness: an intra-observer and interobserver reproducibility study

Abstract Purpose: To assess reproducibility of transvaginal sonographic measurement of endometrial thickness. Methods: Thirty consecutive asymptomatic volunteers (all female; mean age: 46.9 years, SD: 9.5, range: 24–66 years) were entered in the study. In all cases, endometrial thickness was measured in a sagittal plane of the uterus at the level of the maximum estimated thickness, using transvaginal ultrasonography. All patients were examined by the two authors, one experienced (JLA) and the other inexperienced (AZ). Both examiners were blind to each other's measurements. Two measurements were made by each examiner and intra- and interobserver reproducibility were tested by analysis of variance, using the intraclass correlation coefficient (r I ). Results: Endometrial thickness could be measured by the two examiners in all cases. Both intra-observer reproducibility (r I =0.974 and r I =0.961 for examiners one and two, respectively) and interobserver reproducibility (r I =0.954) were high. Conclusion: Transvaginal sonographic measurement of endometrial thickness is highly reproducible.
Rapid Assessment for Psychopathology in a College Health Clinic: Utility of College Student Specific Questions

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the utility and unique benefits of employing the College Health Questionnaire (CHQ) in a college health care setting. The CHQ is a newly designed measure to assess psychosocial issues commonly problematic among college students. Participants: One hundred nine patients participated in the study during their medical appointments. Methods: Participants completed the study questionnaires (CHQ and Patient Health Questionnaire) in the waiting room. Their provider had the opportunity to use the responses in treatment decision making. Results: A majority (66.1%) endorsed at least one CHQ item. Patients who indicated traditional mental health problems were more likely to be prescribed psychotropic medications, whereas patients who endorsed psychosocial issues commonly problematic among college students were more likely to be referred for behavioral treatment. Conclusions: Screening for behavioral problems in college primary care settings without the use of college-related questions would result in missing numerous important psychosocial problems.
Impact of Instructor and Course Characteristics on the Effectiveness of Curriculum Infusion

Abstract Objective: This study assessed the impact of Curriculum Infusion (CI) on undergraduates’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding alcohol and other drug (AOD) use. The related effects of students’ perceptions of instructors’ credibility and immediacy were also examined. Participants: Participants were 309 undergraduates enrolled in 14 CI classes between Winter 2003 and Spring 2004. Methods: In a pretest–posttest design, participants were surveyed about their substance use, behavioral consequences of substance use, knowledge, and attitudes about alcohol, and their perceptions of the credibility and immediacy of their CI course instructors. Results: Findings indicate that students who perceived their CI instructors as more credible and more immediate were more knowledgeable about alcohol and had healthier attitudes about substance use. Additionally, course size was found to contribute to CI's effectiveness. Conclusion: CI provides faculty with an effective way to make a difference not only in their students’ education but also in their health and well-being.
Dyspnea during Pregnancy and Sleep-Disordered Breathing in Pregnancy

Dyspnea is so common during pregnancy that it is often referred to as "phys iologic" dyspnea. Generally this dyspnea occurs with exercise rather than at rest, but it is not a cause of significant exercise limitation. Although the mechanical impediment of the gravid uterus is often blamed, hyperventilation due to increased progesterone levels prob ably is the most important mechanism. It is essential to distinguish this physiologic dysp nea from breathlessness caused by disorders complicating pregnancy or diseases that may coexist with pregnancy. Sleep-disordered breathing is a much less studied phenomenon. Obstructive sleep apnea probably occurs in 1.5 to 2% of the population of child-bearing age. Only few data are available suggesting that pregnancy may cause or exacerbate this disorder, and most cases may simply represent the coexistence of two common conditions. Pregnancy does not appear to cause central sleep apnea. Since hypoxemia can cause intrauterine growth retardation and adverse fetal outcome, sleep-disordered breathing should be treated when of significant degree.
Engaging People with Enduring Psychotic Conditions in Primary Mental Health Care and Occupational Therapy

For people who have enduring psychotic conditions, interventions need to improve social functioning as well as reducing clinical problems. There is also a need to engage and keep in touch with general practitioner (GP) patients who have fallen out of contact with specialist psychiatric care. A new model of service was designed to engage this patient group: an expanded primary care team in an inner-city area. The team extended the GP role, provided occupational therapy and care management and used liaison psychiatry. A case study design with mixed methods was used to investigate the new service. This article reports the quantitative investigation of engagement, clinical and social outcomes and cost consequences. The results showed that, at the start of the study, 37 people with psychotic conditions were in the sole care of their GPs; of these, 34 (92%) engaged with the new service. The sample of 28 receiving 12 months' interventions started with low levels of social functioning, which required intervention. Following interventions, they showed significant improvements in social functioning, clinical symptoms and Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS). The costs were favourable when compared with similar services. The study suggests that expanded primary care, with occupational therapy and care management, can be a feasible service to improve people's engagement and functioning.
Growth of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotubes on Silicon Using a Sparked Iron-Cobalt Catalyst

Vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VA-CNTs) were successfully grown on silicon substrates by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition at 750∘C using acetylene as a carbon source and Fe-Co nanoparticle thin films as a cocatalyst. Preparation of the cocatalyst was operated by an economical sparking process. A small amount of water vapor was introduced into the reactor by controlling diffusion by heated water in a flask. The CNTs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The VA-CNTs were obtained only when the water vapor fraction in the introduced gas was in the range of 310–440 ppm. The length of the VA-CNTs reached 0.8 mm with a growth rate of 17 μm/min. Moreover, D/G-band ratio suggests that the optimum fraction of water vapor decreases defects in CNTs.
Multicenter Pivotal Study of Vacuum-Assisted Precise Tissue Release for the Treatment of Cellulite

BACKGROUND Cellulite refers to the dimpled appearance of skin occurring where the dermis is tethered by subcutaneous fibrous septa arranged perpendicularly to the skin surface. OBJECTIVE To demonstrate the safety and efficacy of a new system for vacuum-assisted precise tissue release for the treatment of cellulite. MATERIALS AND METHODS Adult women with moderate to severe cellulite (N = 55) underwent a single treatment. Post-treatment assessments were performed after 3 and 14 days; 1, 3, and 6 months; and at 1 year. Outcome measures included blinded assessments of subject photographs, a validated Cellulite Severity Scale (CSS), and the Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale. Subject satisfaction and pain ratings were also recorded. RESULTS The mean baseline CSS score of 3.4 decreased to 1.3 at 3 months (p < .0001) and 1.4 at 1 year (p < .0001), with 47 subjects (93%) having ≥1-point improvements. Subject satisfaction was 85% at 3 months and 94% at 1 year. Transient treatment-related adverse events were mild in severity. CONCLUSION This study demonstrates the safety, efficacy, and subject satisfaction with vacuum-assisted precise tissue release in the treatment of cellulite. There was no reduction in treatment benefits for up to 1 year. These results supported the Food and Drug Administration clearance of the device for the long-term reduction in the appearance of cellulite.
Quality of Life assessment in the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study: Design and Methods COMS-QOLS Report No. 1

The Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS) is a set of randomized clinical trials sponsored by the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health. The COMS is being conducted to evaluate the role of radiotherapy in the treatment of patients with choroidal melanoma. Primary choroidal melanoma can enlarge or metastasize and eventually cause death in a significant percentage of cases. The primary COMS trial is designed to determine whether enucleation (removal of the eye) or radiotherapy without removal of the eye provides the patient with the longest remaining lifespan. More than 40 clinical centers in the United States and Canada are participating in the COMS. The objective of the COMS is to assess the effect of treatment upon 5-year and 10-year survival and the reduction or elimination of the disease process in patients randomly assigned to receive either radiation or enucleation. An ancillary component of the COMS, referred to as the COMS-QOLS, was designed to measure the impact of disea.
Association Between Mohs Surgery Wait Times and Surgical Defect Size in Patients With Squamous Cell or Basal Cell Carcinoma of the Skin

BACKGROUND Consequences of delays in treatment of nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSCA) are largely unstudied. OBJECTIVE To determine the relationship between Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) delay time and final MMS defect size. METHODS A retrospective chart review was performed to identify patients who underwent MMS for biopsy-proven basal cell carcinoma (BCC) or squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) between 2004 and 2006. Time delay between date of biopsy and date of surgery and lesion diameter increase between biopsy and surgical defect were calculated. RESULTS Two hundred eighty-three lesions qualified for inclusion in the study. No significant difference in mean change of major diameter between primary and recurrent tumors (1.0 vs 1.1 cm, p = .67), between BCCs and SCCs (both were 1.0 cm, p = .99), and between tumor size at presentation <1.0 versus ≥1.0 cm (1.1 vs 0.8 cm, p = .11) were found. However, the mean number of MMS layers taken was significantly different between BCCs and SCCs (1.9 vs 1.5, respectively; p = .0022). Linear regression analysis of major diameter change versus time delay to MMS showed no significant increasing trend over time. CONCLUSION No evidence was found that time delays of up to 1 year from biopsy to MMS impact the growth of NMSCA.
College Students’ Compensatory Eating and Behaviors in Response to Alcohol Consumption

Abstract Objective: This study investigates college students’ behaviors in response to the calories ingested by drinking alcohol. Participants and Methods: A sample of 274 nonclinical undergraduate alcohol drinkers completed an online survey asking about behaviors that students employed to make up for calories in alcohol or to get drunk more effectively. Drive for thinness, body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, and belief in a just world were also assessed to evaluate scale validity. Results: Participants reported engaging in exercise and dietary restriction as calorie control strategies both proactively and reactively and tended toward calorie restriction activities during drinking episodes. Relatively few reported engaging in more drastic strategies such as purging or laxative use. Women scored higher than men, and students living with friends scored higher than other students. Conclusions: These findings have implications for health initiatives aimed at college students and suggest the importance of considering both social and cognitive factors.
Commentary on Laboratory Errors Leading to Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer Recurrence Following Mohs Micrographic Surgery

Despite the high cure rate of nonmelanoma skin cancer withMohs micrographic surgery (MMS), recurrences still occur. Several potential sources of error exist, including tumor biology (transformation of actinic keratosis to tumor), histotechnician error, and surgeon error. Both histotechnician and surgeon error represent areas that can be targeted by quality improvement assessments to reduce the rate of tumor recurrences.
Living with Multiple Sclerosis: The Impact of Chronic Illness

Background: Some patients having multiple sclerosis (MS) still report gains from the adversity of suffering from a chronic and debilitating illness. Aim: To explore the subjective experiences of quality of life in patients with MS, focusing on possible positive aspects of having to come to terms with MS. Method: An inductive approach in the form of latent content analysis was used to analyze the data from 61 MS-patient interviews. Findings: Fighting a losing battle but also gradually conquering oneself was the underlying theme that emerged from the following four main categories: Experience of ill-health, Experience of health in spite of illness, Psychosocial consequences of having MS, and Different ways of managing MS. Patients with MS were forced to re-evaluate their life during the course of illness, gaining hard-earned knowledge that became the basis for continually managing their illness. Conclusion: Nurses and other health care personnel need to be aware of the impact living with MS has on patients as revealed by the present study in order to be able to help these patients come to terms with and adapt to the deleterious effects of this illness.
Examining the Efficacy of a Brief Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (Brief MBSR) Program on Psychological Health

Abstract Objective: The purpose of the study was to examine potential psychological health benefits of participating in a brief (5-week) mindfulness-based stress reduction (brief MBSR) program integrated into an academic course. Participants: Participants were 119 undergraduate students (treatment: n = 72; control: n = 47) enrolled in elective academic courses on addictive behaviors, between January 2010 and May 2012. Methods: This study employed a quasi-experimental pretest/posttest design comparing changes in psychological health between brief MBSR treatment and parallel control groups. Baseline and follow-up data were collected synchronously across semesters for both groups. Results: Analysis of covariance revealed significant improvements in psychological health, measured by mindfulness (Philadelphia Mindfulness Scale: p ≤ .001; Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Scale: p ≤ .001) and self-compassion (Self-compassion Scale: p ≤ .001), among brief MBSR participants compared with the parallel control cohort. Significant reductions in trait anxiety were not evident. Conclusions: Brief MBSR programs can improve psychological health; however, longer MBSR programs may be needed to improve psychological distress, such as trait anxiety.
Parent Conflict as a Mediator Between Marianismo Beliefs and Depressive Symptoms for Mexican American College Women

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine how marianismo is related to the depressive symptoms of Mexican American women with family conflict as a mediator. Participants: During January of 2010, 170 Mexican American women college students in a southern, Hispanic-serving institution were sampled. Methods: A mediation analysis was conducted to determine if parent conflict mediates the relationship between marianismo values and depressive symptoms. Results: Results from Barron and Kenny's1 mediation analysis method, in conjunction with a Sobel2 test indicated that parent conflict significantly mediated the relation between marianismo and depressive symptoms. Conclusion: Findings and implications of the mediation will be discussed for the mental health and treatment of Mexican American women college students.
The mid‐M1 segment of the middle cerebral artery is a cutoff clot location for good outcome in intravenous thrombolysis

Background and purpose: We studied the impact of the location of the thrombus (internal carotid artery, proximal M1 segment, distal M1 segment, M2 segment, and M3 segment of the middle cerebral artery) in predicting the clinical outcome of patients treated with intravenous thrombolytic therapy (<3 h) in a retrospective cohort.