Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The advantages and barriers in the implementation of a substance dependence treatment information system (SDTIS)

Addiction is a phenomenon that causes structural changes in different systems of society. Studies show for planning of addiction prevention and treatment, it is necessary to create an information management system. Substance dependence information systems refer to systems which collect, analyse and report data related to substance dependence information. The aim of this study was to identify advantages and barriers to implement Substance Dependence Treatment Information System (SDTIS). This study was a narrative review. Our review divided into three phases: literature collection, assessing, and selection. We employed the following keywords and their combinations in different areas of articles. In this study, 22 of collected articles and reports were selected based on their relevancy. We found many advantages for a substance dependence treatment information system such as recording sufficient, complete and accurate information and easy and timely access to them and monitoring and enhancing the quality of care received by patients. But we may face some concerns for implementing this information system like taking time and funds from client services, being expensive or even problems regarding the quality of data contained in these information systems. There are some important problems in the way of implementing. In order to overcome these issues, we need to raise community awareness.
Porous Silicon—A Versatile Host Material

This work reviews the use of porous silicon (PS) as a nanomaterial which is extensively investigated and utilized for various applications, e.g., in the fields of optics, sensor technology and biomedicine. Furthermore the combination of PS with one or more materials which are also nanostructured due to their deposition within the porous matrix is discussed. Such nanocompounds offer a broad avenue of new and interesting properties depending on the kind of involved materials as well as on their morphology. The filling of the pores performed by electroless or electrochemical deposition is described, whereas different morphologies, reaching from micro- to macro pores are utilized as host material which can be self-organized or fabricated by prestructuring. For metal-deposition within the porous structures, both ferromagnetic and non-magnetic metals are used. Emphasis will be put on self-arranged mesoporous silicon, offering a quasi-regular pore arrangement, employed as template for filling with ferromagnetic metals. By varying the deposition parameters the precipitation of the metal structures within the pores can be tuned in geometry and spatial distribution leading to samples with desired magnetic properties. The correlation between morphology and magnetic behaviour of such semiconducting/magnetic systems will be determined. Porous silicon and its combination with a variety of filling materials leads to nanocomposites with specific physical properties caused by the nanometric size and give rise to a multiplicity of potential applications in spintronics, magnetic and magneto-optic devices, nutritional food additives as well as drug delivery.
Flow Experience and Educational Effectiveness of Teaching Informatics using AR

The purpose of this study was the investigation of the added value of technology of augmented reality (AR) in education and, particularly, whether this contributes to both student performance improvement, as well as the appearance of the psychological condition of Flow, which according to research, has had a positive effect on their performance when experienced during learning process. The research involved a total of 42 students in their second year of junior high school who were taught the module “Representation of the information on computers” using two different technologies, those of AR and the Web. Research data showed that both technologies contributed to student performance improvement and to the appearance of Flow to pupils, with apparently better results with the student group who utilized the technology of AR, though.
Hypoparathyroidism Potentiates Cardiovascular Complications through Disturbed Calcium Metabolism: Possible Risk of Vitamin D3 Analog Administration in Dialysis Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease

Background/Aim: Progressive cardiovascular calcification in dialysis patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is a serious complication; however, the precise mechanism remains uncertain. We tested whether metabolic calcium abnormalities and hypoparathyroidism might have a correlation with cardiovascular complications in ESRD patients. Methods: A series of 48 ESRD patients with cardiovascular diseases and/or congestive heart failure, aged 36–82 (61 ± 12) years, 23 male and 25 female, were enrolled in this study. Serum total calcium (Ca, mmol/l), inorganic phosphate (mmol/l), and intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH, pg/ml) levels were determined in all cases. Results: Organic heart disease was confirmed in 28 patients (58.3%), including 15 with coronary artery disease: 8 with aortic aneurysm, 8 with stenotic valvular heart disease, 9 with excessive mitral annular calcification, 3 with dialysis cardiomyopathy, and 7 with obstructive arterial disease. Serum iPTH measurement revealed hypoparathyroidism (iPTH <60) in 20 of 48 (41.7%) and hyperthyroidism (iPTH ≧200) in 13 of 48 (27.1%) subjects. The 20 patients with low iPTH had a higher prevalence of valvular heart disease, a higher total Ca level corrected for serum albumin (2.70 ± 0.30 in low iPTH vs. 2.47 ± 0.30 in normal iPTH, 2.35 ± 0.20 in high iPTH, p = 0.003) and a higher tendency of vitamin D3 analog use (65% in low iPTH vs. 33% in normal iPTH and 46% in high iPTH, p = 0.078). Moreover, corrected serum Ca exhibited a negative logarithmic correlation with serum iPTH: corrected Ca = –0.284× log (iPTH) + 3.021 (r = 0.637, p = 0.0001). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed diabetes and hypoparathyroidism (iPTH <60) as risk factors for cardiovascular complications in ESRD. Conclusion: These results suggest that hypercalcemia and hypoparathyroidism in conjunction with vitamin D3 use might play an important role in cardiovascular complications of chronic dialysis patients.
Difficulties experienced by hearing-aid candidates and hearing-aid users.

Responses to an open-ended questionnaire were obtained from 250 hearing-aid candidates who had never worn a hearing aid and from 250 experienced hearing-aid users. The questionnaire stated 'Please make a list of the difficulties which you have as a result of your hearing loss. ' The responses were divided into six major categories. The hearing-aid candidates reported more problems than the experienced users in the categories of (a) understanding speech where speechreading would normally be used (92% versus 81%), and (b) understanding speech where speechreading would normally not be used (51% versus 43%). A similar number of respondents in both groups reported problems in the categories of (c) personal difficulties (11%), (d) audiological or medical difficulties (18%), and (e) difficulties associated with environmental sounds (34%). Thirty-five per cent of the hearing-aid users reported (f) difficulties associated with their hearing aids. The most frequently reported specific difficulty in both groups was watching television (47% of the candidates and 37% of the users). Twenty-one per cent in each group reported difficulty conversing on the telephone.
A randomized trial of maintenance therapy for vasculitis associated with antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies.

BACKGROUND The primary systemic vasculitides usually associated with autoantibodies to neutrophil cytoplasmic antigens include Wegener's granulomatosis and microscopic polyangiitis. We investigated whether exposure to cyclophosphamide in patients with generalized vasculitis could be reduced by substitution of azathioprine at remission. METHODS We studied patients with a new diagnosis of generalized vasculitis and a serum creatinine concentration of 5.7 mg per deciliter (500 micromol per liter) or less. All patients received at least three months of therapy with oral cyclophosphamide and prednisolone. After remission, patients were randomly assigned to continued cyclophosphamide therapy (1.5 mg per kilogram of body weight per day) or a substitute regimen of azathioprine (2 mg per kilogram per day). Both groups continued to receive prednisolone and were followed for 18 months from study entry. Relapse was the primary end point. RESULTS Of 155 patients studied, 144 (93 percent) entered remission and were randomly assigned to azathioprine (71 patients) or continued cyclophosphamide (73 patients). There were eight deaths (5 percent), seven of them during the first three months. Eleven relapses occurred in the azathioprine group (15.5 percent), and 10 occurred in the cyclophosphamide group (13.7 percent, P=0.65). Severe adverse events occurred in 15 patients during the induction phase (10 percent), in 8 patients in the azathioprine group during the remission phase (11 percent), and in 7 patients in the cyclophosphamide group during the remission phase (10 percent, P=0.94 for the comparison between groups during the remission phase). The relapse rate was lower among the patients with microscopic polyangiitis than among those with Wegener's granulomatosis (P=0.03). CONCLUSIONS In patients with generalized vasculitis, the withdrawal of cyclophosphamide and the substitution of azathioprine after remission did not increase the rate of relapse. Thus, the duration of exposure to cyclophosphamide may be safely reduced.
Simulation, Stitching, and Interaction Techniques for Large-Scale Ultrasound Datasets

Author(s): Wang, Matthew | Advisor(s): Terzopoulos, Demetri | Abstract: Current medical ultrasound datasets used in training simulators lack adequate coverage due to imaging hardware limitations. We present software solutions both for generating and for interacting with large-scale ultrasound datasets. The generation process combines a physical simulation with a ray tracing rendering technique to create synthetic ultrasound volumes for use as ground-truth test data. These datasets allow us both to train users and to evaluate an automatic registration solution used to align multiple real ultrasound volumes. We merge the aligned results with a multiresolution functional-based convex optimization technique to achieve seamless blends between adjacent volumes. A content-aware embedding algorithm places the merged data into a clean background template. We enable end-users to interact with the final results through a real-time mannequin-based translational tracking system.
Lay Vaccination Narratives on the Web

The Internet allows us more access than ever before to the unadulterated anecdotes and opinions of our fellow laypeople. Our decisions—about health care or parenting, for example—were once based on advice from experts, plus perhaps testimonies from a small pool of friends and family, or a finite number of narratives filtered through the press or television. Now the proliferation of social networking and user-generated content in the age of Web 2.0 puts at our disposal a huge and often unmoderated bank of online material. Google searches in June 2011 for ‘‘health discussion forum’’ and ‘‘mothers discussion forum’’ yielded 310 million and 62 million hits, respectively—and we know that decision makers do access these online resources. What is less clear is whether, why, and exactly how lay narratives from online forums are associated with real-life decisions. In this issue of Medical Decision Making (MDM), Betsch and colleagues report an investigation of how lay narratives are used in decision making about vaccination. Using a fictional disease and vaccine context, a mock Internet bulletin board setup, and an undergraduate sample, the authors varied the relative frequency, emotionality, richness, and correlation with official risk estimates of narratives reporting vaccine adverse events and assessed perceived adverse event risk and vaccine uptake intention. Betsch and others found that a higher frequency of narratives reporting vaccine adverse events increased perceived vaccine risk and decreased vaccine uptake intention, that narrative frequency affected risk perception and uptake intention to a greater extent than did statistical information, and that emotionality in narratives increased risk perception, whereas richness had no impact.
The activity of seminal creatine kinase is increased in the presence of pentoxifylline

Creatine kinase enzyme (CK) is indispensable for sperm function because it catalyses the regeneration of ATP from the chemical shuttle between creatine and creatine phosphate. Here, we measured CK activity of human spermatozoa in the presence of pentoxifylline (PF), a xanthine derivative drug primarily used to treat peripheral vascular function. Nine semen samples from different males were subjected to swim up, incubated with PF and tested for CK activity using the kinetic spectrophotometric method. The CK activity of spermatozoa significantly increased after addition of PF at 5 mm compared with the control (with 0.0 mm PF). Given that PF has been identified as a sperm motility enhancer and that CK is crucial for adequate sperm motion; then, the aptitude of PF to enhance sperm motility may be modulated by increasing CK activity.
Metabolomic determination of pathogenesis of late-onset preeclampsia

Abstract Objective: Our primary objective was to apply metabolomic pathway analysis of first trimester maternal serum to provide an insight into the pathogenesis of late-onset preeclampsia (late-PE) and thereby identify plausible therapeutic targets for PE. Methods: NMR-based metabolomics analysis was performed on 29 cases of late-PE and 55 unaffected controls. In order to achieve sufficient statistical power to perform the pathway analysis, these cases were combined with a group of previously analyzed specimens, 30 late-PE cases and 60 unaffected controls. Specimens from both groups of cases and controls were collected in the same clinical centers during the same time period. In addition, NMR analyses were performed in the same lab and using the same techniques. Results: We identified abnormalities in branch chain amino acids (valine, leucine and isoleucine) and propanoate, glycolysis, gluconeogenesis and ketone body metabolic pathways. The results suggest insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome, mitochondrial dysfunction and disturbance of energy metabolism, oxidative stress and lipid dysfunction in the pathogenesis of late PE and suggest a potential role for agents that reduce insulin resistance in PE. Conclusions: Branched chain amino acids are known markers of insulin resistance and strongly predict future diabetes development. The analysis provides independent evidence linking insulin resistance and late-PE and suggests a potentially important therapeutic role for pharmacologic agents that reduce insulin resistance for late-PE.
Reliability Analysis of a Smartphone-aided Measurement Method for the Cobb Angle of Scoliosis

Study Design: A comparison between the smartphone-aided measurement method and the manual measurement method for the Cobb angle in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Objective: To evaluate the reliability and measurement error for the smartphone-aided Cobb angle measurement method and compare its reliability and measurement error with those of the manual method. Summary of Background Data: The development of smartphones has provided new opportunities that integrate mobile technology into daily clinical practice. Smartphone applications can provide quick assistance in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Cobbmeter is a smartphone application designed for the measurement of Cobb angle on Apple iPhone smartphones. There is no study on the reliability and measurement error of this smartphone-aided measurement method. Methods: Fifty-three posteroanterior radiographs of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients with thoracic scoliosis were used for the standard Cobb method of measurement (manual set) and the smartphone-aided Cobb method of measurement (smartphone set). Five spinal surgeons measured the Cobb angle with the use of both the manual method and the smartphone-aided method. The measurement time was recorded for every measurement. The frequency and the cumulative percent distribution for intraobserver differences were tabulated, both for the individual examiners and for the overall results for the 5 examiners. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) 2-way mixed model on absolute agreement was used to analyze measurement reliability. Summary statistics from analyses of variance calculations were used to provide 95% prediction limits for the error in measurements. A paired t test was used to compare the time consumed for the measurement between both sets. Results: The intraobserver and interobserver ICCs were excellent in the smartphone set and in the manual set. Both the intraobserver ICC and the interobserver ICC were better in the smartphone set than in the manual set. The mean Cobb angle of all measured x-rays was 29.3 degrees (range, 17–58 degrees) in the manual set and 29.1 degrees (range, 18–56 degrees) in the smartphone set. The mean time consumed was 13.7 seconds (range, 8.6–18.5 s) for the smartphone set, whereas it was 37.9 seconds (range, 30.1–46.9 s) for the manual set, and the mean time consumed for the smartphone set was significantly shorter than that of the manual set (P<0.05). Conclusions: Smartphone-aided measurement for Cobb angle showed excellent reliability and efficiency. It is suggested to popularize the use of this method in clinical practice.
Characterization of thick film poly"triarylamine… semiconductor diodes for direct x-ray detection

Thick film (≥5 μm thick) semiconducting polymer diodes incorporating poly(triarylamine) (PTAA) have been produced and applied as direct x-ray detectors. Experiments determined that a rectifying diode behavior persists when increasing the thickness of the active layer above typical thin film thicknesses (<1 μm), and the electrical conduction mechanism of the diodes has been identified. Direct current and photoconductivity measurements on indium tin oxide/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(styrenesulfonate)/PTAA/metal diodes confirm that carrier conduction occurs via a Poole–Frenkel mechanism. The energy band structure of diodes (having gold or aluminum top electrodes) has been elucidated and used to explain the resulting electrical characteristics. Theoretical calculations show that, upon irradiation with x-rays, the diode quantum efficiency increases with increasing polymer film thickness. The diodes produced here display characteristics similar to their thin film analogs, meaning that they may be oper.
Social and Political Dimensions of Forest Certification

Forest certification programs seek to assure the buyers of wood products that the wood they are getting was produced in an environmentally and socially acceptable manner. Certification programs are growing rapidly around the world, and their rise to prominence poses many important questions. To date, most public and academic discussion of certification has focused on forest management and marketing issues, with an emphasis on technical questions. While those are important, it is becoming increasingly clear that the future of certification programs will depend on their social and political implications. This book is one of the first to examines those implications in a sustained, broad based, and academically rigorous way. It links detailed expertise on forest certification with broader theoretical and political perspectives on policy making, social justice, law, and governance.
KARAKTERISTIK KEWIRAUSAHAAN DAN LINGKUNGAN BISNIS SEBAGAI FAKTOR PENENTU PERTUMBUHAN USAHA (Studi IKM di Sentra Kerajinan Rotan Amuntai Kab. Hulu Sungai Utara, Provinsi Kalimantan Selatan)

The purpose of this research is to know the characteristic of enterpreneurial business owners, conditions of business environment and the role of the business environment in the development of industries of rattan furniture, rattan weaving and lampit in Amuntai HSU, South Kalimantan. Population in this research is all businesses in Rattan Crafts Center in Amuntai HSU South Kalimantan. Sample in this research is taken using purposive and snowbal sampling. Data collecting is done by interview, observation and documentation methods. The result showed that enterpreneurship characteristics owned by the business owners are attitude of product innovation and authenticity, the willingness to take risk in having product diversity, and strong leadership in having harmonious relations with employees. The business owners have not yet had an attitude toward duties and maximum profit results within the internal and external business environment. Furniture and webbing rattan producers should be able to build duty-oriented attitude and an attitude towards maximum profit. They need to also be a risk-taker and a leader in facing the challenges of business world within internal and external business environment.
Recurrent Neural Network Identification and Adaptive Neural Control of Hydrocarbon Biodegradation Processes

The Recent advances in understanding of the working principles of artificial neural networks has given a tremendous boost to identification, prediction and control tools of nonlinear systems, (Narendra & Parthasarathy, 1990; Chen & Billings, 1992; Hunt et al., 1992; Miller III et al., 1992; Pao et al., 1992; Su et al., 1992; Narendra & Mukhopadhyay, 1994; Boskovic & Narendra, 1995; Ku & Lee, 1995; Baruch et al., 1996; Jin & Gupta, 1999, Haykin, 1999; Mastorocostas & Theocharis, 2006; Kazemy et all., 2007). The main network property namely the ability to approximate complex non-linear relationships without prior knowledge of the model structure makes them a very attractive alternative to the classical modeling and control techniques. This property has been proved by the universal approximation theorem, (Haykin, 1999). Among several possible network architectures the ones most widely used are the feedforward and the recurrent neural networks. In a feedforward neural network the signals are transmitted only in one direction, starting from the input layer, subsequently through the hidden layers to the output layer, which requires applying a tap delayed global feedbacks and a tap delayed inputs to achieve a nonlinear autoregressive moving average neural dynamic plant model. A recurrent neural network has local feedback connections to some of the previous layers. Such a structure is suitable alternative to the first one when the task is to model dynamic systems, and the universal approximation theorem has been proved for the recurrent neural networks too. The preferences given to recurrent neural network identification with respect to the classical methods of process identification are clearly demonstrated in the solution of the “biasvariance dilemma”, (Haykin, 1999). Furthermore, the derivation of an analytical plant model, the parameterization of that model and the Least Square solution for the unknown parameters have the following disadvantages: (a) the analytical model did not include all factors having influence to the process behavior; (b) the analytical model is derived taking into account some simplifying suppositions which not ever match; (c) the analytical model did not described all plant nonlinearities, time lags and time delays belonging to the process in hand; (d) the analytical model did not include all process and measurement noises which are sensor and actuator dependent. In (Sage, 1968) the method of invariant imbedding has been described. This method seemed to be a universal tool for simultaneous state and O pe n A cc es s D at ab as e w w w . ite ch on lin e. co m