Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Systematic Review of the Impact of Educational Programs on Factors That Affect Nurses’ Post-Operative Pain Management for Children

ABSTRACT Despite extensive research in the international arena into pain and its management, there is, as yet, little research on the topic of pain in children in Saudi Arabia and in the Gulf countries generally. A systematic review was conducted to explore the impact of education programs on factors affecting paediatric nurses’ postoperative pain management practice. This was done in order to advise the creation of an educational program for nurses in Saudi Arabia. Knowledge about pain, attitudes towards pain, beliefs about children’s pain, perceptions of children’s reports of pain, self-efficacy with regard to pain management, and perceptions of barriers to optimal practice were all considered to be relevant factors. The review was restricted to randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental designs, excluding studies focussed on chronic pain or populations other than solely children. Studies published in English between 2000 and 2016 were identified using CINAHL, MEDLINE, Ovid SP, The Cochrane Library, ProQuest, and Google Scholar databases. Of 499 published studies identified by the search, 14 met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. There was evidence of educational programs exerting a postive impact on enhancing pediatric nurses’ knowledge of pain and modifing their attitudes towards it, but only limited evidence was available about the impact on nurses’ beliefs and perceptions of children’s reports of pain, nurses’ self-efficacy, or barriers to optimal practice. None of the studies was conducted in Saudi Arabia. Studies were needed to address additional aspects of preparedness for effective postperative pain management. Details of educational programs used as experimental intervention must be included in reports.
Elections and Divisiveness: Theory and Evidence

This article provides a theoretical and empirical analysis of how politicians allocate their time across issues. When voters are uncertain about an incumbent’s preferences, there is a pervasive incentive to “posture” by spending too much time on divisive issues (which are more informative about a politician’s preferences) at the expense of time spent on common-values issues (which provide greater benefit to voters). Higher transparency over the politicians’ choices can exacerbate the distortions. These theoretical results motivate an empirical study of how Members of the US Congress allocate time across issues in their floor speeches. We find that US senators spend more time on divisive issues when they are up for election, consistent with electorally induced posturing. In addition, we find that US house members spend more time on divisive issues in response to higher news transparency.
Experimental Evaluation of Several Key Factors Affecting Root Biomass Estimation by 1500 MHz Ground-Penetrating Radar

Accurate quantification of coarse roots without disturbance represents a gap in our understanding of belowground ecology. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) has shown significant promise for coarse root detection and measurement, however root orientation relative to scanning transect direction, the difficulty identifying dead root mass, and the effects of root shadowing are all key factors affecting biomass estimation that require additional research. Specifically, many aspects of GPR applicability for coarse root measurement have not been tested with a full range of antenna frequencies. We tested the effects of multiple scanning directions, root crossover, and root versus soil moisture content in a sand-hill mixed oak community using a 1500 MHz antenna, which provides higher resolution than the oft used 900 MHz antenna. Combining four scanning directions produced a significant relationship between GPR signal reflectance and coarse root biomass (R2 = 0.75) (p < 0.01) and reduced variability encountered when fewer scanning directions were used. Additionally, significantly fewer roots were correctly identified when their moisture content was allowed to equalize with the surrounding soil (p < 0.01), providing evidence to support assertions that GPR cannot reliably identify dead root mass. The 1500 MHz antenna was able to identify roots in close proximity of each other as well as roots shadowed beneath shallower roots, providing higher precision than a 900 MHz antenna. As expected, using a 1500 MHz antenna eliminates some of the deficiency in precision observed in studies that utilized lower frequency antennas.
Kronecker product approximation preconditioners for convection–diffusion model problems

We consider the iterative solution of linear systems arising from four convection–diffusion model problems: scalar convection–diffusion problem, Stokes problem, Oseen problem and Navier–Stokes problem. We design preconditioners for these model problems that are based on Kronecker product approximations (KPAs). For this we first identify explicit Kronecker product structure of the coefficient matrices, in particular for the convection term. For the latter three model cases, the coefficient matrices have a 2 × 2 block structure, where each block is a Kronecker product or a summation of several Kronecker products. We then use this structure to design a block diagonal preconditioner, a block triangular preconditioner and a constraint preconditioner. Numerical experiments show the efficiency of the three KPA preconditioners, and in particular of the constraint preconditioner that usually outperforms the other two. This can be explained by the relationship that exists between these three preconditioners: the constraint preconditioner can be regarded as a modification of the block triangular preconditioner, which at its turn is a modification of the block diagonal preconditioner based on the cell Reynolds number. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Autism spectrum disorder reporting in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods

Utilizing surveillance data from five sites participating in the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, we investigated contributions of surveillance subject and census tract population sociodemographic characteristics on variation in autism spectrum disorder ascertainment and prevalence estimates from 2000 to 2008 using ordinal hierarchical models for 2489 tracts. Multivariable analyses showed a significant increase in ascertainment of autism spectrum disorder cases through both school and health sources, the optimal ascertainment scenario, for cases with college-educated mothers (adjusted odds ratio = 1.06, 95% confidence interval = 1.02–1.09). Results from our examination of sociodemographic factors of tract populations from which cases were drawn also showed that after controlling for other covariates, statistical significance remained for associations between optimal ascertainment and percentage of Hispanic residents (adjusted odds ratio = 0.93, 95% confidence interval = 0.88–0.99) and percentage of residents with at least a bachelor’s degree (adjusted odds ratio = 1.06, 95% confidence interval = 1.01–1.11). We identified sociodemographic factors associated with autism spectrum disorder prevalence estimates including race, ethnicity, education, and income. Determining which specific factors influence disparities is complicated; however, it appears that even in the presence of education, racial and ethnic disparities are still apparent. These results suggest disparities in access to autism spectrum disorder assessments and special education for autism spectrum disorder among ethnic groups may impact subsequent surveillance.
FABRICATION AND EVALUATION OF COSTUS PICTUS HERBAL TABLET

In spite of all the advances in therapeutics, diabetes still remains as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. Herbal formulations are becoming popular nowadays particularly in the treatment of diabetes. Curative properties in the Medicinal plants are due to the presence of various complex chemical substance of different composition, which are found as secondary plant metabolites in one or more parts of the plants. Formulation and evaluation of anti-diabetic activity of herbal tablets were prepared from the leaves extract of the plant Costus pictus. Herbal tablet was formulated using a dry plant extract of Costus pictus, with varied concentration of binder polyvinyl pyrolidone K30 and with various excipients as, aerosil, micro crystalline cellulose and magnesium stearate. The tablets were prepared by direct compression method. The results of physicochemical parameters and precompression studies revealed that all the values were within the acceptable limit. The evaluation of formulated tablets as weight variation, friability, hardness, disintegration time and in-vitro drug release were performed. All the evaluation of the formulated tablets were found to be within the pharmacopoeial limits. The optimized formulation F4 were subjected for anti-diabetic effect in wistar albino rabbits for 14 days and effect on blood glucose levels were studied. The stability studies were conducted for 45 days and found to be stable.
Human COX 20 cooperates with SCO 1 and SCO 2 to mature COX 2 and promote the assembly of cytochrome c oxidase

Cytochrome c oxidase (CIV) deficiency is one of the most common respiratory chain defects in patients presenting with mitochondrial encephalocardiomyopathies. CIV biogenesis is complicated by the dual genetic origin of its structural subunits, and assembly of a functional holoenzyme complex requires a large number of nucleusencoded assembly factors. In general, the functions of these assembly factors remain poorly understood, and mechanistic investigations of human CIV biogenesis have been limited by the availability of model cell lines. Here,wehaveusedsmall interferenceRNAandtranscription activator-likeeffectornucleases(TALENs) technology to create knockdown and knockout human cell lines, respectively, to study the function of the CIV assembly factor COX20 (FAM36A). These cell lines exhibit a severe, isolated CIV deficiency due to instability of COX2, a mitochondrion-encoded CIV subunit. Mitochondria lacking COX20 accumulate CIV subassemblies containing COX1 and COX4, similar to those detected in fibroblasts from patients carrying mutations in the COX2 copper chaperones SCO1 and SCO2. These results imply that in the absence of COX20, COX2 is inefficiently incorporated intoearlyCIVsubassemblies. ImmunoprecipitationassaysusingastableCOX20knockout cell lineexpressing functional COX20-FLAG allowed us to identify an interaction between COX20 and newly synthesized COX2. Additionally, we show that SCO1 and SCO2 act on COX20-bound COX2. We propose that COX20 acts as a chaperone in theearly steps of COX2 maturation, stabilizing thenewly synthesizedprotein and presenting COX2to its metallochaperone module, which in turn facilitates the incorporation of mature COX2 into the CIV assembly line.
Grain refinement of cast niobium via equal channel angular extrusion/annealing

Grain Refinement of Cast Niobium via Equal Channel Angular Extrusion/Annealing. (December 2005) Don O. Bryant, B.S., The University of Texas at San Antonio Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Karl T. Hartwig, Jr. This research investigated the effectiveness of equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) and annealing to improve the grain morphology and mechanical properties of electron-beam remelted pure niobium. Extrusions were performed at room temperature with a 90 die. Routes 1A, 2C, 4E and 8E were investigated with duplicate billets undergoing routes 1A, 2C and 4E to determine reproducibility. Niobium proved to be very workable during the ECAE process. Hardness increased most dramatically after the first pass and leveled off thereafter. Recrystallization temperatures for the Reference Metals material ranged from a low of 800 C for routes 2C, 4E and 8E to a high of 1000 C for route 1A. For the Wah Chang material, the recrystallization temperatures ranged from a low of 800 C for the 4E ECAE processed material to a high of 950 C for the asreceived material. The initial grain size and orientation have been hypothesized to be influential on recrystallized grain morphology for ECAE/annealing processed niobium. Smaller initial grains produce a smaller and more homogeneous recrystallized grain microstructure. The average grain diameters for the recrystallized 4E ECAE processed Wah Chang material are 13 ± 6.3 μm for the 1000 C annealed state (no banding) and are 21 ± 9.5 μm for the 1100 C annealed state (no banding). Reference Metals material that underwent route 4E and annealed at 1000 C resulted in an average grain diameter of 28 μm for billet 2 (banding) and an average grain diameter of 32 μm for billet 19 (slight banding). Reference Metals material that underwent route 8E (no banding) annealed at 1000 C resulted in an average grain diameter of 36 μm. Reference Metals material that underwent route 4E samples annealed at 1100 C resulted in an average grain diameter of 26 μm for billet 2 (banding) and an average grain diameter of 43 μm for billet 19 (slight banding). Route 8E (significant banding) annealed at 1100 C resulted in an average grain diameter of 29 μm. Strain failure decreases from the as-cast material to the worked/recrystallized material while the 0.2% yield stress and ultimate tensile strength increase from the as-cast material to the worked/recrystallized material. Long sub-grains are created in the as-worked material after one and two passes and become more broken up after four passes. Sub-grain boundary angles increase with increasing strain. To produce a fine and homogeneous microstructure from large grained niobium, intermediate annealing should be employed.
Modeling Diseased Oyster Populations. II. Triggering Mechanisms for Perkinsus marinus Epizootics

Dens1ucs of Crassostrea virgi11 ica remain high enough to suppon substantial fishene, 1hroughout 1he Gulr of ! \1exico despite high n1onah1y ra1es produced by the endoparas1tc Perl.111s11s 111ar11111s The infrequency of cp,zoot1cs 111 these populanons suggests c.hat con1rols exist on the disease mten~ificauon process. The progre~sion or epizootics tn oyster populations. the factors that trigger ep1 zoo11cs. and the factors 1ha1 1em1inate epizoo1ics once sianed were investigaied with a coupled oyster popula11onP. mari1111s model. The tin1e develop1nen1 uf a ,imula1ed epizootrc wa, triggered by environmental conchuons that occurred and disappeared as much as 18 months prior 10 the onset of n1ortality 1n the oyster popula1ion. lnitia1 ion of epi20011c condi1ions was de1ec1ed as an increase in infec1ion iniensily in the submarke1-s ize adu lt and Juvenile pon1ons of chc oysccr population. Infection intensic y of the m:uke1-s ize adults 1s maincained a1 a relati ve ly s1able level by che death of heavily infected individuals and 1he slow rate of P. man1111s d1v1sion a1 high 1nfec11on in1ens11 ies Once starred, mosc of the simula1ed ep1zoo1ics re,ulted in population extinction 1n 2 lo 4 years Scopping an epizootic requi red reducing Lhe mfecuon in1ens11y in the submarkc1-size adults and Juveniles. The 1nfec1ion in1ensi1y of marke1-size aduhs does no1 need to be reduced 10 stop an ep1zoonc nor musl ic be ra1:. ed to sian one. The simulaced oys1er populations show 1ha1 a reduc1ion in ingestion race (by reduced food $Upply or increased turbidi ty) can trigger an epizootic. especially if the reduce ion occurs durrng 1he stunmer. lncreasu1g food supply or dccrcas,ng turbidity m the following year does 1101 necessari ly prcven1 chc occurrence of an epizoocic. Ra1her. 1he onse1 or che event is sin1ply delayed. Add11ional ,imulauons show that the rela1ive co1nbination of variacions in saiini1y and 1emperacure i~ important in de1e rn11ning che occurrence of an ep1zoot1c. A dry (high-sahni1y) sununer followed by a wann winter produce, condicions that favor 1he developmcnc of an epizoouc. Conversely. a warm dry year followed by a cool wc1 year fa1b to produce an epizoo1ic. Sin1uiacions that consider varia1ions in lhe biologrcal characteriscics of oyscer populauons. such as changes in recruitment race or disease resis1ance. show 1hat 1hese are 1mponan1 m regula1ing the occurrence of an epizoo1ic as " ell a, in terrninacing the evenc In particular. increased recruicment rate diluce, the infected population sufficiently co 1erm1na1e an epizootic One prin1ary conclusion that can be obcained from the,e simula1ion~ i, 1hat epizootics of P. 111ari1111s in oy~cer population, are difficult 10 generate simply with changes in ei1her 1e1nperature or salinity. Rather. che epizoo11cs ,ire criggered by some 01her factor. such as reduced food supply or reduced recru1tmen1 ralC. cha1 occurs prior to or co1ncrden1 w11h high salini1y or cempcraturc condicions. KEY V.10 RDS: Perk111s11s 111ari1111s disease. disease model. oys1er disease. eastern oysters. Crassostreo 1·irgi11 ica
Electromagnetic lens-focusing antenna enabled massive MIMO

Massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques have been recently advanced to tremendously improve the performance of wireless networks. However, the use of very large antenna arrays brings new issues, such as the significantly increased hardware cost and signal processing cost and complexity. In order to reap the enormous gain of massive MIMO and yet reduce its cost to an affordable level, this paper proposes a novel system design by integrating an electromagnetic (EM) lens with the large antenna array, termed electromagnetic lens antenna (ELA). An ELA has the capability of focusing the power of any incident plane wave passing through the EM lens to a small subset of the antenna array, while the location of focal area is dependent on the angle of arrival (AoA) of the wave. As compared to conventional antenna arrays without the EM lens, the proposed system can substantially reduce the number of required radio frequency (RF) chains at the receiver and hence, the implementation costs. In this paper, we investigate the proposed system under a simplified single-user uplink transmission setup, by characterizing the power distribution of the ELA as well as the resulting channel model. Furthermore, by assuming antenna selection used at the receiver, we show the throughput gains of the proposed system over conventional antenna arrays given the same number of selected antennas.
Characterization of Genome-Methylome Interactions in 22 Nuclear Pedigrees

Genetic polymorphisms can shape the global landscape of DNA methylation, by either changing substrates for DNA methyltransferases or altering the DNA binding affinity of cis-regulatory proteins. The interactions between CpG methylation and genetic polymorphisms have been previously investigated by methylation quantitative trait loci (mQTL) and allele-specific methylation (ASM) analysis. However, it remains unclear whether these approaches can effectively and comprehensively identify all genetic variants that contribute to the inter-individual variation of DNA methylation levels. Here we used three independent approaches to systematically investigate the influence of genetic polymorphisms on variability in DNA methylation by characterizing the methylation state of 96 whole blood samples in 52 parent-child trios from 22 nuclear pedigrees. We performed targeted bisulfite sequencing with padlock probes to quantify the absolute DNA methylation levels at a set of 411,800 CpG sites in the human genome. With mid-parent offspring analysis (MPO), we identified 10,593 CpG sites that exhibited heritable methylation patterns, among which 70.1% were SNPs directly present in methylated CpG dinucleotides. We determined the mQTL analysis identified 49.9% of heritable CpG sites for which regulation occurred in a distal cis-regulatory manner, and that ASM analysis was only able to identify 5%. Finally, we identified hundreds of clusters in the human genome for which the degree of variation of CpG methylation, as opposed to whether or not CpG sites were methylated, was associated with genetic polymorphisms, supporting a recent hypothesis on the genetic influence of phenotypic plasticity. These results show that cis-regulatory SNPs identified by mQTL do not comprise the full extent of heritable CpG methylation, and that ASM appears overall unreliable. Overall, the extent of genome-methylome interactions is well beyond what is detectible with the commonly used mQTL and ASM approaches, and is likely to include effects on plasticity.
Impact ionization in high performance AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

We report compelling evidence of impact ionization in high-performance AlGaN/GaN HEMTs. Relevant to the present paper, these devices also show excellent low-leakage DC properties that contain signatures of impact ionization in the output and sub-threshold characteristics. Temperature and bias dependent data are presented to support the identification of impact ionization in the devices.
Insights into the management of chronic myeloid leukemia in resource-poor settings: a Mexican perspective

ABSTRACT Introduction: The arrival of targeted therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) was revolutionary. However, due to the high cost of tyrosine kinase inhibitors, access to this highly effective therapy with strict monitoring strategies is limited in low to middle-income countries. In this context, following standard recommendations proposed by experts in developed countries is difficult. Areas covered: This review aims to provide an insight into the management of patients with CML living in a resource-limited setting. It addresses several issues: diagnosis, initial treatment, disease monitoring, and additional treatment alternatives including allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Expert commentary: Imatinib is probably the most cost-effective TKI for initial treatment in developing and underdeveloped countries. Generic imatinib preparations should be evaluated before considering their widespread use. Adherence to treatment should be emphasized. Adequate monitoring can be performed through several methods successfully and is important for predicting outcomes, particularly early in the first year, and if treatment suspension is being considered. Access to further therapeutic alternatives should define our actions after failure or intolerance to imatinib, preferring additional TKIs if possible. Allogeneic transplantation in chronic phase is a viable option in this context.