Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Electroacupuncture Versus Gabapentin for Hot Flashes Among Breast Cancer Survivors: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial.

PURPOSE Hot flashes are a common and debilitating symptom among survivors of breast cancer. This study aimed at evaluating the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) versus gabapentin (GP) for hot flashes among survivors of breast cancer, with a specific focus on the placebo and nocebo effects. PATIENTS AND METHODS We conducted a randomized controlled trial involving 120 survivors of breast cancer experiencing bothersome hot flashes twice per day or greater. Participants were randomly assigned to receive 8 weeks of EA or GP once per day with validated placebo controls (sham acupuncture [SA] or placebo pills [PPs]). The primary end point was change in the hot flash composite score (HFCS) between SA and PP at week 8, with secondary end points including group comparisons and additional evaluation at week 24 for durability of treatment effects. RESULTS By week 8, SA produced significantly greater reduction in HFCS than did PP (-2.39; 95% CI, -4.60 to -0.17). Among all treatment groups, the mean reduction in HFCS was greatest in the EA group, followed by SA, GP, and PP (-7.4 v -5.9 v -5.2 v -3.4; P = < .001). The pill groups had more treatment-related adverse events than did the acupuncture groups: GP (39.3%), PP (20.0%), EA (16.7%), and SA (3.1%), with P = . 005. By week 24, HFCS reduction was greatest in the EA group, followed by SA, PP, and GP (-8.5 v -6.1 v -4.6 v -2.8; P = .002). CONCLUSION Acupuncture produced larger placebo and smaller nocebo effects than did pills for the treatment of hot flashes. EA may be more effective than GP, with fewer adverse effects for managing hot flashes among breast cancer survivors; however, these preliminary findings need to be confirmed in larger randomized controlled trials with long-term follow-up.
Uncorrected refractive errors

Global estimates indicate that more than 2.3 billion people in the world suffer from poor vision due to refractive error; of which 670 million people are considered visually impaired because they do not have access to corrective treatment. Refractive errors, if uncorrected, results in an impaired quality of life for millions of people worldwide, irrespective of their age, sex and ethnicity. Over the past decade, a series of studies using a survey methodology, referred to as Refractive Error Study in Children (RESC), were performed in populations with different ethnic origins and cultural settings. These studies confirmed that the prevalence of uncorrected refractive errors is considerably high for children in low-and-middle-income countries. Furthermore, uncorrected refractive error has been noted to have extensive social and economic impacts, such as limiting educational and employment opportunities of economically active persons, healthy individuals and communities. The key public health challenges presented by uncorrected refractive errors, the leading cause of vision impairment across the world, require urgent attention. To address these issues, it is critical to focus on the development of human resources and sustainable methods of service delivery. This paper discusses three core pillars to addressing the challenges posed by uncorrected refractive errors: Human Resource (HR) Development, Service Development and Social Entrepreneurship.
Teacher-Child Relationships and Children's Success in the First Years of School

Abstract This work examines associations between closeness and conflict in teacher-child relationships and children's social and academic skills in first grade in a sample of 490 children. Assessments of teacher-child relationships were obtained in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. Results demonstrate moderate correlations among teachers' ratings of conflict and slightly lower correlations among teachers' ratings of closeness across years. Hierarchical regression analyses predicted children's skills in first grade from teacher-child relationship quality. Child gender, socioeconomic status, and preschool estimates of outcomes of interest were controlled statistically. Although preschool assessments of social and academic skills were closely associated with individual skill differences at first grade, teacher-child relationship quality also was associated with changes in skill levels. Findings generally confirm that teacher-child relationships play a role in children's ability to acquire the skills necessary for success in school.
Evaluation of Tuberculosis Diagnostics: Establishing an Evidence Base Around the Public Health Impact

The limitations of existing tuberculosis diagnostic tools are significantly hampering tuberculosis control efforts, most noticeably in areas with high prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and antituberculosis drug resistance. However, renewed global interest in tuberculosis research has begun to bear fruit, with several new diagnostic technologies progressing through the development pipeline. There are significant challenges in building a sound evidence base to inform public health policies because most diagnostic research focuses on the accuracy of individual tests, with often significant limitations in the design, conduct, and reporting of diagnostic accuracy studies. Diagnostic accuracy studies may not be appropriate to guide public health policies, and clinical trials may increasingly be required to determine the incremental value and cost-effectiveness of new tools. The urgent need for new diagnostics should not distract from pursuing rigorous scientific evaluation focused on public health impact.
Social Exclusion in Cultural Context: Group Norms, Fairness, and Stereotypes

Title of Document: SOCIAL EXCLUSION IN CULTURAL CONTEXT: GROUP NORMS, FAIRNESS, AND STEREOTYPES. Aline Hitti, Doctor of Philosophy, 2013 Directed By: Professor Melanie Killen, Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology The current study investigated pre-adolescents’ and adolescents’ attitudes about social exclusion based on cultural membership, specifically exclusion of individuals from Arab descent. Developmental intergroup research on the Arab cultural identity is sparse, and given this is a group that is highly associated with negative emotionally charged stereotypes in adults, it is important to understand the developmental origins of such attitudes. Questions about the role of stereotypes, cultural identity, shared interest in activities (e.g., hobbies), exclusive and inclusive group norms, and intergroup attributions of emotions in exclusion contexts were addressed. To answer these questions non-Arab American 12and 16-year-olds (N =199) evaluated situations in which their own group and an Arab American group of peers made decisions about inclusion and exclusion. These decisions were about a cultural ingroup target with different interests in activities or a cultural outgroup target with the same interests in activities. Findings indicated that participants expected the Arab American group would make inclusion decisions based on the cultural identity of the target (a preference for cultural identity over shared interests) in contrast to their own non-Arab American group, which they expected would make decisions based on shared interest in activities (a preference for shared activities over cultural identity). This finding was perpetuated in groups that had exclusive group norms. Sixteen year-olds were less inclusive toward an outgroup member than 12-year-olds and participants who reported stereotypes about Arabs were also less inclusive toward an outgroup target. Different emotions were attributed to an Arab American group that excluded a target compared with an American group, evidencing more empathic attributions to participants’ ingroup (American group). Findings from this study inform intergroup developmental research on the role of stereotypes, and the interplay of cognition and emotions in pre-adolescents’ and adolescents’ social decision-making in crosscultural interactions. Results of this study have implications for developing interventions that foster positive intergroup peer relationships. SOCIAL EXCLUSION IN CULTURAL CONTEXT: GROUP NORMS, FAIRNESS, AND STEREOTYPES
'Don't Waste My Time': Use of Time Information Improves Focus

Maintaining work focus when on a computer is a major challenge, and people often feel that they use their time ineffectively. To improve focus we designed meTime, a real-time awareness application that shows users how they allocate their time across applications. In two real-world deployments involving 118 participants, we examined whether greater awareness of time use improves focus. In our first deployment, we provided awareness information using meTime, to both office workers and students. Exposure to meTime reduced use of social media, email, browsing and total time online. However increased awareness didn't affect time spent in productivity applications. A second educational deployment largely replicated these results and showed that meTime also reduced users' perceptions of their ability to focus effectively. Changed perceptions were associated with higher class grades. We discuss practical and theoretical implications as well as design principles for use of time applications.
Parallel Video Processing Performance Evaluation on the IBM Cell Broadband Engine Processor

The Cell Broadband Engine (BE) is a heterogeneous 9-core microprocessor which initially saw the light in the Sony PlayStation 3. This paper describes the parallelization of a video processing application on the Cell BE, and the programming model chosen for this application. Serial implementations on PPE only and parallel implementations on PPE-SPE with 8 SPEs are described. This is followed by the presentation of the speedup comparisons with and without DMA and thread creation overhead times. The results presented in this paper demonstrate that the Cell BE processor can achieve a speedup of 10x on this application and shows good scalability with number of SPEs. When the input data size is at least 512x512, we showed that the speedup becomes limited by the number of memory transfer.
Effects of compression tights on calf muscle oxygenation and venous pooling during quiet resting in supine and standing positions.

AIM We applied near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to evaluate in resting conditions the effects of compression tights (CT) on calf muscle oxygenation and venous pooling compared with Lycra(R) elastic tights (ET) and shorts (no compression) according to the body posture (supine vs standing). METHODS Twelve sportsmen regularly involved in endurance training volunteered to this study. Their average age, height and weight (+/-SD) were 26.5+/-2.6 years, 177+/-6 cm and 70.1+/-4 kg, respectively. Tissue oxygenation index (TOI), deoxyhemoglobin (HHb), and blood pooling (Hbtot) of the right gastrocnemius medialis were continuously monitored at 2 Hz using a NIRS device (NIRO-300, Hamamatsu Photonics, Japan). A home made transducer was used to measure applied pressure at the interface between skin and clothing over the calf area. Subjects were asked to realize a supine-standing protocol (5 min for each position) by wearing CT, ET or shorts in a counterbalanced order on the same day. RESULTS HHb and Hbtot concentration changes were significantly lower whereas TOI was significantly higher by wearing CT compared with shorts and ET (P<0.001) as did supine compared to upright postures. The mean pressures applied over the calf were 5.6 and 23.2 mmHg during supine and 5 and 24.1 mmHg during standing for ET and CT, respectively. Pressures were significantly different among clothing according to the following rank order: CT>ET>shorts (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS CT compared to ET have positive effects on calf muscle oxygenation and venous pooling in quiet resting positions.
Theorizing Contemporary Public Management: International and Comparative Perspectives

Ten years ago, the British Journal of Management devoted a special issue to public sector management. The issue identified a series of characteristics associated with public management research, most notably a strong organizational behaviour orientation, a qualitative bent and a predominant healthcare and UK focus. That special issue voiced a ‘call to arms’ for public management researchers to speak more directly to management research, elucidate a more nuanced account of public management reform, adopt a more explicit theoretical basis and become more internationally comparative. This paper provides a comment on progress against these objectives. We find that public management research has become more diverse, often characterized by an international focus and a wide range of methodological approaches. The paper echoes concerns regarding an increasingly one-way relationship with general management studies but highlights a more reciprocal connection with organization studies. In doing so, we emphasize three sections of organization scholarship in particular − sociological institutionalism, Foucauldianism and theories of identity. We demonstrate that engagement with these perspectives has improved our understanding of public service reforms and provided opportunities for theoretical contributions beyond the field of public management. The paper concludes with reflections on future public management research.
Evaluating the Performance of a Carbon-Epoxy Capillary Cathode and Carbon Fiber Cathode in a Sealed-Tube Vircator Under UHV Conditions

This paper evaluates the performance of a bimodal carbon fiber cathode and a carbon-epoxy multicapillary cathode operating within a reflex-triode sealed-tube virtual cathode oscillator (vircator). The experimental results reveal that both cathodes exhibit similar emission behavior, although with some significant operational differences. An eight-stage 84-J pulseforming network-based Marx generator serves to drive both cathodes at 250 kV and 3-4 kA with a ~70-ns pulsewidth. Both cathodes undergo conditioning over 10000 pulses to determine gas evolution as well as electrical changes over time. Gas evolution of both cathodes is observed using a residual gas analyzer to determine individual gas constituents. A comparison of diode voltage, diode current, RF output, and outgassing data for both cathodes during vircator operation over 10000 pulses is presented to quantify cathode performance in a sealed-tube vircator. Changes in cathode surface morphology, from virgin to postmortem, are discussed. Data for various anode-cathode gap distances, from 3 to 15 mm, are presented. The evolution of voltage and current inputs to the vircator is discussed.
Growth Rates and Habits of Ice Crystals between 2 20 8 and 2 70 8 C

A laboratory study of ice crystal growth characteristics at temperatures between 2208 and 2708C has been performed at ice supersaturations and pressures comparable with those in the atmosphere using a horizontal static diffusion chamber. Maximum dimension, projected area, and volume growth rates, in addition to habit frequency, have been measured for individual habit types as functions of temperature, ice supersaturation, and air pressure. It was found that from 2208 to 2408C and at ice supersaturations in excess of 2%, the most frequent habits observed were platelike polycrystals and plates, the complexity of forms increasing with increasing supersaturation. Columns appear with low frequency in this temperature range for all supersaturations. At low ice supersaturation (1%–2%), the habit consists of thick plates, compact polycrystals, and occasional short columns and is the region with the highest frequency of pristine crystals capable of producing halos. Just colder than 2408C, there is a marked shift to columnar behavior except at low to moderate ice supersaturation (,10%) where the habit is essentially the same as at warmer temperatures with a small increase in the frequency of short columns. At moderate ice supersaturation (10%–25%), long solid columns and polycrystals with columnar and platelike components are observed. Above approximately 25% ice supersaturation, bullet rosettes, long columns, and column-containing polycrystals are observed, the frequency of bullet rosettes and columns increasing with increasing ice supersaturation. At 2608C and colder, needle forms appear along with
The cognitive, emotional and social impacts of the September 11th attacks : group differences in memory for the reception context and its determinants

This study examines group differences in cognitive, emotional, and social responses to hearing the news of theSeptember 11th attacks. Although all groups were hypothesized to remember reception context immediately afterthe events, of interest was whether groups differed initially in predictors of long-term memory. One to 6 weeksafter 9/11/01, a questionnaire investigating memory for the reception context and a set of critical predictors wasdistributed to 3665 participants in Belgium, France, Italy, Japan, Romania, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Turkey, and the US. US vs. non-US respondents showed large differences in memory for event-related facts andin self-rated importance of the news. Moderate-level differences between groups were found for backgroundknowledge, and small differences were observed for memory for the reception context, ratings of novelty,surprise, emotional feeling states and rehearsal. Within non-US groups, large differences were only found foremotional feeling states, whereas moderate differences were obtained for background knowledge and attitudestowards the US. Finally, non-US groups did not differ much in memory for the reception context, memory forevent-related facts, or ratings of novelty, surprise, importance, and rehearsal.
Extracting Regularities in Space and Time Through a Cascade of Prediction Networks: The Case of a Mobile Robot Navigating in a Structured Environment

We propose that the ability to extract regularities from time series through prediction learning can be enhanced if we use a hierarchical architecture in which higher layers are trained to predict the internal state of lower layers when such states change significantly. This hierarchical organization has two functions: (a) it forces the system to recode sensory information progressively so as to enhance useful regularities and filter out useless information; and (b) it progressively reduces the length of the sequences which should be predicted going from lower to higher layers. This, in turn, allows higher levels to extract higher-level regularities which are hidden at the sensory level. By training an architecture of this type to predict the next sensory state of a robot navigating in an environment divided into two rooms, we show how the first-level prediction layer extracts low-level regularities such as 'walls', 'corners' and 'corridors', while the second-level prediction layer extracts higher-level r.
Stigma: Advances in Theory and Research

It has been 50 years since the publication of Goffman's influential work Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. This special issue celebrates Goffman's contribution with 14 articles reflecting the current state of the art in stigma research. In this article, we provide a theoretical overview of the stigma concept and offer a useful taxonomy of four types of stigma (public stigma, self-stigma, stigma by association, and structural stigma). We utilize this taxonomy to organize an overview of the articles included in this special issue. Finally, we outline new developments and challenges in stigma research for the coming decades.
Foreign Accents: Factors Relating to Transfer of Accent from the First Language to a Second Language

This study examined predictors of transfer of accent from the first language (L1) to a second language (L2), in a group of people whose acquisition of English as an L2 had begun at ages ranging from 6 to 15+. The effect of age of L2 acquisition is very marked. If L2 acquisition had begun by 6, there is no transfer of accent. If L2 acquisition began after 12—13, there is invariably accent transfer, usually very marked. When accent transfer occurs between 7 and 11, it is usually very slight. These findings agree quite well with those of other studies, but there are discrepancies and these are indicated and discussed. Between 7 and 11, accent transfer may be affected by factors other than biological maturation. In our study, the only such factor to emerge strongly was whether L2 was used in the home, suggesting a shift of identification from the L1 to the L2 culture.
Patterns of therapist variability: therapist effects and the contribution of patient severity and risk.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the size of therapist effects using multilevel modeling (MLM), to compare the outcomes of therapists identified as above and below average, and to consider how key variables--in particular patient severity and risk and therapist caseload--contribute to therapist variability and outcomes. METHOD We used a large practice-based data set comprising patients referred to the U.K.'s National Health Service primary care counseling and psychological therapy services between 2000 and 2008. Patients were included if they had received ≥2 sessions of 1-to-1 therapy (including an assessment), had a planned ending to treatment, and completed the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation-Outcome Measure (CORE-OM; Barkham et al., 2001; Barkham, Mellor-Clark, Connell, & Cahill, 2006; Evans et al., 2002) at pre- and post-treatment. The study sample comprised 119 therapists and 10,786 patients, whose mean age was 42.1 years (71.5% were female). MLM, including Markov chain Monte Carlo procedures, was used to derive estimates to produce therapist effects and to analyze therapist variability. RESULTS The model yielded a therapist effect of 6.6% for average patient severity, but it ranged from 1% to 10% as patient non-risk scores increased. Recovery rates for individual therapists ranged from 23.5% to 95.6%, and greater patient severity and greater levels of aggregated patient risk in a therapist's caseload were associated with poorer outcomes. CONCLUSIONS The size of therapist effect was similar to those found elsewhere, but the effect was greater for more severe patients. Differences in patient outcomes between those therapists identified as above or below average were large, and greater therapist risk caseload, rather than non-risk caseload, was associated with poorer patient outcomes.