Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Patient satisfaction: a strategic tool for health services management

Background In the last years a growing number of health care o rganizations adopted multidimensional systems in order to evalua te the performance of health services, considering also the patient perspective. In most of the cases, patient satisfaction indicators are created by using data c ollected through surveys. However, it was observed that a critical aspect in the patie nt satisfaction measurement is related to the methodology issue about the propert ies of questionnaires. Objectives This study aims at describing the development of a questionnaire on patient satisfaction with primary care services in the Italian contest and evaluating its validity and reliability properties. Methodology A structured questionnaire with 33 demands was crea ted in order to investigate the patient experience with GP, Family Pediatricians, Specialist and Diagnostic outpatient services. In January 2009 a t elephone survey (by means of Computer Aided Telephone Interviews technique) was conducted among a random sample of 2136 citizens of Liguria Region (Italy). Factor analysis, inter-items correlations and Cronbach’s alpha were performed in order to evaluate the validity and reliability of the patient satisfaction dimensi ons. Results The psychometric analysis of the questionnaire prop erties provided positive evidences. Factor analysis confirmed the p attern of developed dimensions and identified four factors (substantial loading > 0.40) corresponding to: GPs care (factor1), Family Pediatricians care (factor2), spe cialist outpatient services (factor3) and diagnostic outpatient services (factor4). The i nt rnal consistency of the four dimensions ranged from 0.74 to 0.93 and the correla tion between each item and the overall evaluation scale was generally <0.60. Conclusion The results of this study highlighted the validity and reliability of the Primary Care Patient Experience Questionnaire. As a consequence, the collected data can be considered a valid source in order to c eate indicators for evaluating the performance of primary care services.
Effects of an emotional literacy intervention for students identified with bullying behaviour

The effectiveness of a 12-week, small group emotional literacy (EL) intervention in reducing bullying behaviour in school was evaluated. Participants were 50 primary school pupils identified through peer nomination as engaging in bullying behaviours. The intervention was implemented in schools already engaged with a universal social and emotional learning initiative, including an anti-bullying component. Within schools, participants were randomly assigned to an intervention or a wait-list comparison group. Response to the intervention was found to be dependent on baseline levels of EL. Only children whose baseline level was low showed a significant reduction in peer-rated bullying behaviour. No effect of the intervention was detected on victimisation or adjustment scores, although positive changes in adjustment were associated with increased EL.
Suzaku measurement of Abell 2204's intracluster gas temperature profile out to 1800 kpc

Context. Measurements of intracluster gas temperatures out to large radii, where much of the galaxy cluster mass resides, are important for using clusters for precision cosmology and for studies of cluster physics. Previous attempts to measure robust temperatures at cluster virial radii have failed. Aims. The goal of this work is to measure the temperature profile of the very relaxed symmetric galaxy cluster Abell 2204 out to large radii, possibly reaching the virial radius. Methods. Taking advantage of its low particle background due to its low-Earth orbit, Suzaku data are used to measure the outer temperature profile of Abell 2204. These data are combined with Chandra and XMM-Newton data of the same cluster to make the connection to the inner regions, unresolved by Suzaku , and to determine the smearing due to Suzaku 's point spread function. Results. The temperature profile of Abell 2204 is determined from ~10 kpc to ~1800 kpc, close to an estimate of r 200 (the approximation to the virial radius). The temperature rises steeply from below 4 keV in the very center up to more than 8 keV in the intermediate range and then decreases again to about 4 keV at the largest radii. Varying the measured particle background normalization artificially by ± 10% does not change the results significantly. Several additional systematic effects are quantified, e.g., those due to the point spread function and astrophysical fore- and backgrounds. Predictions for outer temperature profiles based on hydrodynamic simulations show good agreement. In particular, we find the observed temperature profile to be slightly steeper but consistent with a drop of a factor of 0.6 from 0.3 r 200 to r 200 , as predicted by simulations. Conclusions. Intracluster gas temperature measurements up to r 200 seem feasible with Suzaku , after a careful analysis of the different background components and the effects of the point spread function. Such measurements now need to be performed for a statistical sample of clusters. The result obtained here indicates that numerical simulations capture the intracluster gas physics well in cluster outskirts.
Exploring the Association between Urban Form and Air Quality in China

This article aims to evaluate the association between urban form and air quality in China through the use of empirical evidence. The relationship between a variety of urban form metrics and concentrations of air pollutants were analyzed through linear regressions using a data set of cross-sectional observations from 157 Chinese cities. After controlling for other explanatory variables, higher population density and lower urban continuity are commonly associated with better air quality, and urban form could play a modest but important role in improving air quality for Chinese cities.
The Role of ACT-Like Subdomain in Bacterial Threonine Dehydratases

In bacteria, threonine dehydratases could convert L-threonine to 2-ketobutyrate. Some threonine dehydratases contain only a catalytic domain, while others contain an N-terminal catalytic domain and a C-terminal regulatory domain composed of one or two ACT-like subdomains. However, the role of the ACT-like subdomain in threonine dehydratases is not clear. Here, nine different bacterial threonine dehydratases were studied. Three of the nine contain no ACT-like subdomain, four of them contain a single ACT-like subdomain, and two of them contain two ACT-like subdomains. The nine genes encoding these threonine dehydratases were individually overexpressed in E. coli BL21(DE3), and the enzymes were purified to homogeneity. Activities of the purified enzymes were analyzed after incubation at different temperatures and different pHs. The results showed that threonine dehydratases with a single ACT-like subdomain are more stable at higher temperatures and a broad range of pH than those without ACT-like subdomain or with two ACT-like subdomains. Furthermore, the specific activity of threonine dehydratases increases with the increase of the number of ACT-like subdomains they contain. The results suggest that the ACT-like subdomain plays an important role in bacterial threonine dehydratases.
Interactions between facial form and facial motion during the processing of identity

Previous research has shown that facial motion can carry information about age, gender, emotion and, at least to some extent, identity. With respect to identity, two important issues remain unresolved: first it is unclear to what extent purely non-rigid facial motion contributes to the processing of identity. Secondly, as most previous studies have involved techniques that severely reduced available cues to facial form (e.g., blurring or pixelation), it is not really known how, if at all, information concerning facial form and facial motion interact. By combining recent computer animation techniques with psychophysical methods, we show that during the computation of identity the human face recognition system accesses and integrates both types of information: individual non-rigid facial motion and individual facial form. This has important implications for cognitive and neural models of face perception, which currently emphasize a separation between the processing of invariant aspects (facial form) and changeable aspects (facial motion) of faces.
Acetyl-L-Carnitine: Metabolism and Applications in Clinical Practice

Recent research has clarified many of the clinical applications of L-Carnitine and its related compounds, leading into new areas of potential use. Promising therapeutic applications of an ester form of carnitine, acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALC) are derived from observations that this compound readily crosses the blood- brain barrier and improves neuronal energetics and repair mechanisms while modifying acetylcholine production in the CNS. Studies show that HIV infection and CFIDS, Alzheimer’s dementia and depression of the elderly, and diabetic neuropathies may respond positively to ALC administration. Effects of ALC on ethyl alcohol (ETOH) metabolism have been observed and hold significant potential in preventing sequelae of habitual ETOH abuse.
The methodological approaches in an experimental study of cultural transmission process

In this paper, we will discuss the possibility of understanding experimental studies on cultural transmission processes from an articulation between the particular–general relation in the construction of knowledge, with an approximation between the notions of Nomothetic and Idiographic science. For this, we discuss data collected from an experimental project about the cultural transmission process drawing our attention, as much to the continuities as the discontinuities present in the process. Our discussions pointed to the need to consider, in experimental studies, the particular actions and significations of research participants, as well as the generalization that is dialogically constructed in the collectivity. With this in mind, it is proposed that at least three theoretical-methodological aspects cannot be lost sight of when considering the experimental study of the cultural transmission process: (1) the relation between Idiographic and Nomothetic science; (2) interdependent relational processes that occur between particularities and generalities; and (3) the need to appreciate continuities and discontinuities as part of the process of construction and analysis of experimental projects.
Long-term follow-up after bronchoscopic lung volume reduction in patients with emphysema

Bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR) is a novel emphysema therapy. We evaluated long-term outcome in patients with heterogeneous emphysema undergoing BLVR with one-way valves. 40 patients undergoing unilateral BLVR entered our study. Pre-operative mean forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) was 0.88 L·s−1 (23%), total lung capacity was 7.45 L (121%), intrathoracic gas volume was 6 L (174%), residual volume (RV) was 5.2 L (232%), and the 6-min walk test (6MWT) was 286 m. All patients required supplemental oxygen; the Medical Research Council (MRC) dyspnoea score was 3.9. High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) results were reviewed to assess the presence of interlobar fissures. 33 patients had a follow-up of >12 months (median 32 months). 37.5% of the patients had visible interlobar fissures. 40% of the patients died during follow-up. Three patients were transplanted and one underwent lung volume reduction surgery. Supplemental oxygen, FEV1, RV, 6MWT and MRC score showed a statistically significant improvement (p≤0.0001, p=0.004, p=0.03, p=0.003 and p<0.0001, respectively). Patients with visible fissures had a functional advantage. BLVR is feasible and safe. Long-term sustained improvements can be achieved. HRCT-visible interlobar fissures are a favourable prognostic factor.
ANALISIS PENGARUH KOMPENSASI DAN LINGKUNGAN KERJA FISIK TERHADAP LOYALITAS KERJA KARYAWAN MELALUI KEPUASAN KERJA KARYAWAN SEBAGAI VARIABEL INTERVENING (Studi pada Kantor Direksi PT Perkebunan Nusantara IX Divisi Tanaman Tahunan)

There is a research gap in previous studies between the influence of compensation on job satisfaction and employee loyalty, and the influence between the physical work environment on job satisfaction and employee loyalty. So that research aims to determine the influence of compensation and physichal work environment towards employee loyalty that mediated by job satisfaction at Office Directors of PT Perkebunan Nusantara IX Divisi Tanaman Tahunan Semarang. The sampling method used on this research is proportional random sampling. Data was collected through questionnares to 60 respondents who are employees at Office Directors of PT Perkebunan Nusantara IX Divisi Tanaman Tahunan Semarang. The techniques of data analysis in this research includes the test of validiy, reliability, classical assumptions test, path analysis, Sobel test to examine the mediation effect, and hypothesis test . The results of analysis and discussion indicates that compensation and job satisfaction had positive and significant effect on employee loyalty. While physical work environment has no significant effect on employee loyalty. Furthermore, job satisfaction is proven as mediator relathionship between compensation and physical work environment on employee loyalty .
Visual Prosody and Speech Intelligibility

People naturally move their heads when they speak, and our study shows that this rhythmic head motion conveys linguistic information. Three-dimensional head and face motion and the acoustics of a talker producing Japanese sentences were recorded and analyzed. The head movement correlated strongly with the pitch (fundamental frequency) and amplitude of the talker's voice. In a perception study, Japanese subjects viewed realistic talking-head animations based on these movement recordings in a speech-in-noise task. The animations allowed the head motion to be manipulated without changing other characteristics of the visual or acoustic speech. Subjects correctly identified more syllables when natural head motion was present in the animation than when it was eliminated or distorted. These results suggest that nonverbal gestures such as head movements play a more direct role in the perception of speech than previously known.
Designing Affective Games with Physiological Input

With the advent of new game controllers, traditional input mechanisms for games have changed to include gestural interfaces and camera recognition techniques, which are being further explored with the likes of Sony’s PlayStation Move and Microsoft’s Kinect. Soon these techniques will include affective input to control game interaction and mechanics. Thus, it is important to explore which game designs work best with which affective input technologies, giving special regard to direct and indirect methods. In this paper, we discuss some affective measurement techniques and development ideas for using these as control mechanisms for affective game design using psychophysiological input. Author Keywords
Systematic Biases in Galaxy Luminosity Functions

Both the detection of galaxies and the derivation of the luminosity function depend upon isophotal magnitudes, implicitly in the first case and explicitly in the latter. However, unlike perfect point sources, the fraction of a galaxy's light contained within the limiting isophote is a function of redshift, owing to the combined effects of the point-spread function and cosmological dimming. This redshift variation in the measured isophotal luminosity can strongly affect the derived luminosity function. Using simulations that include the effects of seeing upon both disk and elliptical galaxies, we explore the size of the systematic biases that can result from ignoring the redshift variation in the fraction of detected light. We show that the biases lead to underestimates in the normalization of the luminosity function, as well as changes in shape. The size of the bias depends upon redshift, and thus can mimic galaxy evolution. Surprisingly, these biases can be extremely large without affecting ⟨V/Vmax⟩. However, these biases can be detected in the full distribution of V/Vmax and in fact may have already been detected in recent surveys. Because the systematic biases result from the redshift variation in the fraction of lost light, the biases are not significant when the fraction of lost light is always small over the entire survey volume, for all galaxy types. However, as modern galaxy surveys now reach higher redshifts, lower surface brightnesses, and smaller angular sizes, the effects of seeing and galaxy visibility are becoming increasingly important and need to be taken into account. We show that the expected biases are not necessarily eliminated when using aperture magnitudes, Faint Object Classification and Analysis System "total" magnitudes, or Kron magnitudes, but may be reduced significantly if Petrosian magnitudes are used. These considerations may also apply to samples of clusters selected in X-rays.
Related Topic Network

Topic Detection and Tracking provides a flat and unorganized view of a document collection and cannot adequately reflect the content of the complete collection as some of the information is lost in the process. Topic models account for more information and lead to a more organized view of the document collection. In this paper, we propose a more efficient model named Related Topic Network with a new term weighting method. Empirical evaluation using two real-world datasets consisting of 953 and 5,550 news documents demonstrates the utility of the proposed model and shows that the new term weighting method leads to performance improvement.
Voltage Regulation at Sites With Distributed Generation

In some large industrial sites, generator groups are operated through interconnectors. At such sites, the management of the power flows across the network can be problematic, specifically in situations where the availability of local generation cannot always meet the diverse load demand in that area. This problem will be illustrated by a case study. Under these conditions, the use of an interactive power system state estimation model is critical for managing the supply of real and reactive power to the distributed loads across the network. One aspect of this control implies that voltage levels at key nodes across the network must be adjusted to influence the contribution of reactive power from the generation under varying load conditions. Embedding such a function in a power management system will be discussed. This paper describes how a power system state estimator is used to apply adaptive settings to network voltage control systems that can also operate in ldquostand-alonerdquo mode to provide a robust level of voltage stability. Other issues concerning the use of distributed generation are discussed with respect to voltage levels and state estimation.
Tissue specific expression and cDNA structure of a human transcript encoding a nucleic acid binding [ oligo ( dC ) ] protein related to the pre-mRNA binding protein

In human cells at least 20 different proteins or groups of proteins have been identified that are associated with hnRNAs. These proteins (designated Al U) are highly abundant in the nucleus. In this study, we present the sequence of a novel cDNA clone, sub2.3, isolated from a human lymphocyte cDNA library. The predicted amino acid sequence shows homology to repeated domains in the human hnRNA binding protein K (hnRNP K), which are believed to be of functional importance. hnRNP K is among the major oligo(rC/dC) binding proteins in vertebrate cells and we show here that the protein product of sub2.3 also binds to oligo(dC). This is shown by a novel approach where we demonstrated specific binding of in vitro translated sub2.3 protein to biotinylated oligo(dC) which was immobilized on magnetic streptavidin-coated Dynabeads. Moreover we found that the sub2.3 transcript is expressed in a tissue dependent manner with the highest expression observed in several lymphoid tissues and skeletal muscle. The gene was also abundantly expressed in several lymphoid cell lines and the hepatoma cell line HepG2 while a low expression was observed in the HL60 myeloid cell line and in the HeLa cervical carcinoma cell line. In conclusion, this study presents the cDNA sequence of a novel transcript which shows tissue specific expression and encodes a protein with oligo(dC) binding specificity in vitro.
The new state of donation: Three decades of household giving to charity

Government (RES-593-25-0006). We would like to thank our funders for their support, and also the Economic and Social Data Service for providing access to the Living Costs and Food survey data. Thanks are also due to James Bilson for his work compiling the dataset. The analysis and commentary in the report are the sole responsibility of the authors. The Centre for Market and Public Organisation (CMPO) is a leading research centre, combining expertise in economics, geography and law. Our objective is to study the intersection between the public and private sectors of the economy, and in particular to understand the right way to organise and deliver public services. The Centre aims to develop research, contribute to the public debate and inform policy‐making. The ESRC Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy (CGAP) is the first academic centre in the UK dedicated to research on charitable giving and philanthropy. Three main research strands focus on individual and business giving, social redistribution and charitable activity, and the institutions of giving. CGAP is a consortium including the
Strategies for Making Mathematics Classroom Discourse Student Friendly: An Intercultural Perspective

: The major concern of this paper was to explore the strategies for making mathematics classroom discourse from intercultural cultural Perspectives. To carry out this investigation, I set up research objectives as to investigate existing classroom discourse of mathematics class of basic level students and to explore the ways for making classroom discourse students’ friendly from intercultural perspective. In order to achieve these objectives, I selected the qualitative research design with case study approach. Shree Kuleshwor Secondary School is the study site of my study. Two mathematics teachers, two mathematics educators, and four students were the sample and selected these samples by purposive sampling procedure. Classroom observation and interview guidelines were the main tools for this study. The collected data were analyzed by linking theories. Then it was concluded that existing classroom discourse in mathematics classes focus on elaborative and recapitulation phases. Furthermore, it was also concluded that present scenario of classroom discourse was teacher center. Further, it concluded that though culturally- based pedagogy, using different strategies in teaching–learning mathematics in the classroom, by replication of communities of practice in the classroom, avoiding rote memorization, by implementing co-operative learning, through sharing with acculturation and enculturation, through multiple representations making classroom discourse students’ culture friendly.