Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reproductive Decisions in People With Sickle Cell Disease or Sickle Cell Trait

In the context of an inherited condition such as sickle cell disease (SCD), it is critical to understand how people with SCD or carriers (sickle cell trait [SCT]) face the challenges of making informed reproductive health decisions. The purpose of this analysis was to examine the beliefs, attitudes, and personal feelings of people with sickle cell disease or sickle cell trait related to making informed reproductive health decisions. Three focus groups were conducted with a total of 15 people who had either SCD or SCT. Five themes were identified: health-related issues in sickle cell disease, testing for sickle cell trait, partner choice, sharing sickle cell status with partners, and reproductive options. These findings enhance understanding of the reproductive experiences in people with SCD and SCT and provide the groundwork for developing an educational intervention focused on making informed decisions about becoming a parent.
Community Health Nursing Vision for 2020

As health care is shifting from hospital to community, community health nurses (CHNs) are directly affected. This descriptive qualitative study sought to understand priority issues currently facing CHNs, explore development of a national vision for community health nursing, and develop recommendations to shape the future of the profession moving toward the year 2020. Focus groups and key informant interviews were conducted across Canada. Five key themes were identified: community health nursing in crisis now, a flawed health care system, responding to the public, vision for the future, and CHNs as solution makers. Key recommendations include developing a common definition and vision of community health nursing, collaborating on an aggressive plan to shift to a primary health care system, developing a comprehensive social marketing strategy, refocusing basic baccalaureate education, enhancing the capacity of community health researchers and knowledge in community health nursing, and establishing a community health nursing center of excellence.
Fall Prevention Practices in Adult Medical-Surgical Nursing Units Described by Nurse Managers

The purpose of this article was to describe nursing practices (e.g., assessment, interventions) around fall prevention, as perceived by nurse managers in adult, medical-surgical nursing units. One hundred forty nurse managers from 51 hospitals from across the United States participated. Descriptive frequencies are used to describe nurse manager responses. The most commonly used fall risk assessment tool was the Morse Fall Risk Assessment Tool (40%). The most common fall prevention interventions included bed alarms (90%), rounds (70%), sitters (68%), and relocating the patient closer to the nurses’ station (56%). Twenty-nine percent of nurse managers identified physical restraints as an intervention to prevent falls whereas only 10% mentioned ambulation. No nurse manager identified that RN hours per patient-day were adjusted to prevent falls or fall-related injuries. More work is needed to build systems that ensure evidence-based nursing interventions are consistently applied in acute care.
How sensitivity to ongoing interaural temporal disparities is affected by manipulations of temporal features of the envelopes of high-frequency stimuli.

This study addressed how manipulating certain aspects of the envelopes of high-frequency stimuli affects sensitivity to envelope-based interaural temporal disparities (ITDs). Listener's threshold ITDs were measured using an adaptive two-alternative paradigm employing "raised-sine" stimuli [John, M. S. , et al. (2002). Ear Hear. 23, 106-117] which permit independent variation in their modulation frequency, modulation depth, and modulation exponent. Threshold ITDs were measured while manipulating modulation exponent for stimuli having modulation frequencies between 32 and 256 Hz. The results indicated that graded increases in the exponent led to graded decreases in envelope-based threshold ITDs. Threshold ITDs were also measured while parametrically varying modulation exponent and modulation depth. Overall, threshold ITDs decreased with increases in the modulation depth. Unexpectedly, increases in the exponent of the raised-sine led to especially large decreases in threshold ITD when the modulation depth was low. An interaural correlation-based model was generally able to capture changes in threshold ITD stemming from changes in the exponent, depth of modulation, and frequency of modulation of the raised-sine stimuli. The model (and several variations of it), however, could not account for the unexpected interaction between the value of raised-sine exponent and its modulation depth.
Treatment of cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma with extracorporeal photochemotherapy

Background Cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma (CTCL) and its leukemic erythrodermic form (Sézary syndrome) are malignancies cies of CD4+ T lymphocytes. Extracorporeal photochemotherapy (ECP) selectively affects autoreactive as well as malignant T lymphocytes. The efficacy of ECP depends strongly upon adequate serum/buffy coat levels of the photosensitizer 8‐methoxypsoralen (8‐MOP). The resorption of orally applied 8‐MOP vanes inter‐ and intraindividually within a broad range, meaning that adequate therapeutic drug levels cannot always he achieved. Therefore, since July 1994 we have exclusively used a liquid 8‐MOP preparation which is added directly into the buffy coat fraction of the ECP circuit, resulting in constant high drug levels of approximately 190 ng/ml. Twelve CTCL‐patients (six with Sézary syndrome, six with mycosis fungoides received between six and 25 ECP treatments. Some of them had undergone previous therapy without success.
Stereo-based description by generalized cylinder complexes from occluding contours

This paper proposes a stereo-based description technique as a preprocessing step for three-dimensional (3-D) recognition of an object representable by a straight homogeneous generalized cylinder (SHGC). The 3-D position estimate of SHGC model be computed if the object being modeled is either a solid of revolution or a body whose contour is symmetrical with respect to its axial. The proposed algorithm is applicable to a complex object if that object can be partitioned into a set of multiple SHGC's. The most important task of the algorithm is the extraction of a symmetry axis for each GC section of the object. The contour lines are analyzed in a scale space. The analysis is performed recursively to obtain each GC section that has stable contour lines. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm for 3-D description of an object has been demonstrated via experimentation.
The impact of peers and social disapproval on high-risk cannabis use: gender differences and implications for drug education

Drug education programs that rely on an abstinence based philosophy neglect, and may even contribute to, the potentially adverse consequences experienced by young people who already engage in this potentially health-compromising behaviour. A predominant focus of drug research during the initial wave of rising cannabis use by young people in the 1960's and 1970's, was centred on identifying the factors that contributed to this trend. Less attention has been devoted to uncovering those factors that may inhibit the progression to high-risk levels of use and particularly whether their impact differs for adolescent males and females. In spite of the questionable effectiveness, formal control mechanisms (i.e., criminal laws) and a reliance on prevention-based drug education remain primary approaches for combating drug use. This paper identifies a sub-group of adolescents already using cannabis and estimates the effects of peers, social disapproval and perceived health effects on inhibiting the escalation of use to problem levels. The results suggest that the risk for problem cannabis use among adolescents may be attenuated by some of these informal control items. The findings also suggest however, that the effects of these factors may be different for males and females. The implications for drug education initiatives are discussed. The impact of peers and social disapproval on high-risk cannabis use: Gender differences and implications for drug education.
Automatic QoS Control

User sessions, usually consisting of sequences of consecutive requests from customers, comprise most of an e-commerce site's workload. These requests execute e-business functions such as browse, search, register, login, add to shopping cart, and pay. Once we properly understand and characterize a workload, we must assess its effect on the site's quality of service (QoS), which is defined in terms of response time, throughput, the probability that requests will be rejected, and availability. We can assess an e-commerce site's QoS in many different ways. One approach is by measuring the site's performance, which we can determine from a production site using a real workload or from a test site using a synthetic workload (as in load testing). Another approach consists of using performance models. I look at the approach my colleagues at George Mason and I took that uses performance models in the design and implementation of automatic QoS controller for e-commerce sites.
Comparison of Postoperative Bleeding and Complications between Cemented and Non-cemented Bipolar Hemiarthroplasty in Treatment of Unstable Pertrochanteric Fracture

Purpose: In cases of patients who underwent bipolar hemiarthroplasty (BPHA) for treatment of a pertrochanteric fracture, we compared and analyzed the amount of blood loss and complications between a group using the cemented stem and a group using the cementless stem. Materials and Methods: A total of 104 patients who underwent BPHA for treatment of a pertrochanteric fracture in our hospital for three years and 10 months (From January 2008 to October 2011) were included in this study. Among the 104 patients, 64 patients with a cemented stem were categorized into group 1, and the other 40 patients with an uncemented stem were categorized into group 2. Before surgery, the type of stem was determined by the bone quality of the proximal femur, which had been evaluated with a simple X-ray. Then, after surgery, the amount of blood loss and complications were compared between the two groups. Results: Expected blood loss during the operation was 389.8 cc in group 1, and 395.3 cc in group 2(P=0.88). Postoperatively, average drained blood loss was 219.6 cc in group 1, and 338.1 cc in group 2. Cemented stem was associated with significantly less blood loss (P=0.004). The average operation time in group 1 and in group 2 was 96 minutes and 72 minutes. There was no significant difference in operating time (P=0.85). In addition, there was no difference in INR (International Normalized Ratio) and BMI (Body Mass Index) (P=0.28 and 0.08) regarding total amount of postoperatively drained blood loss. There was no occurrence of hypotensive shock or fatal pulmonary embolism in either group. Three cases of periprosthetic fracture occurred in group 2. Conclusion: Fewer occurrences of postoperative blood loss and fewer complications were observed in the cemented stem group than in the cementless stem group. Preoperative evaluation of bone quality and use of the cement stem for patients with poor bone quality may be a good treatment method that can help to reduce complications.
Moderating Effects of Nurses’ Organizational Support on the Relationship Between Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment

The aim was to investigate whether job satisfaction enhances organizational commitment among nursing personnel while exploring whether organizational support perception has a moderating effect on the relationship between their job satisfaction and organizational commitment. A cross-sectional survey was sent to 400 nurses; 386 valid questionnaires were collected, with a valid response rate of 96.5%. According to the research findings, nurses’ job satisfaction has a positive and significant influence on organizational commitment. Results also indicated that the moderating effect of nurses’ organizational support perception on the relationship between their job satisfaction and organizational commitment was stronger for high organizational support perception than it was for low organizational support perception. This study suggests that organizational support perception will develop a sense of belonging, and this will help improve nurses’ job satisfaction and organizational commitment. This kind of relationship is rarely discussed in the research literature, and it can be applied for human resources management of nursing staff.
On the bias of the Turing-Good estimate of probabilities

Good's (1953) estimate, based on Turing's formula, was suggested for estimating the probabilities of words in text as well as of species in a mixed population and was found particularly useful for the probability of unseen classes. The authors address the issue of bias in Good's estimate and propose an alternative to reduce this bias. This may be important in the construction of a language model for speech recognition where sparse data and low probability events are key problems. >
Activating the Bifunctionality of a Perovskite Oxide toward Oxygen Reduction and Oxygen Evolution Reactions.

This article presents a facile and effective approach to activate the bifunctionality of calcium-manganese perovskites toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). We substituted Nb into the Mn site of CaMnO3 (CMO) and treated the material with H2. The as-obtained CaMn0.75Nb0. 25O3-δ (H2-CMNO) displays the same structure as that of CMO, and compared to that of CMO, H2-CMNO exhibits significantly improved OER performance, including a lower overpotential, a reduced Tafel slope, a higher mass activity, and enhanced stability. In addition, the ORR performance of H2-CMNO is also greatly enhanced, relative to CMO, with a higher ORR activity and a more efficient electron-transfer pathway. H2-CMNO shows an even higher activity-per-catalyst cost and superior stability than that of state-of-the-art materials, such as IrO2 and Pt/C. This great enhancement in ORR and OER activity of H2-CMNO is attributed to several factors, including phase stabilization, optimized eg filling, better OH- adsorption, and improved electrical conductivity.
The Diagnostic Accuracy of the Berg Balance Scale in Predicting Falls

This study aimed to evaluate the predictive validity of the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) as a screening tool for fall risks among those with varied levels of balance. A total of 21 studies reporting predictive validity of the BBS of fall risk were meta-analyzed. With regard to the overall predictive validity of the BBS, the pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.72 and 0.73, respectively; the accuracy curve area was 0.84. The findings showed statistical heterogeneity among studies. Among the sub-groups, the age group of those younger than 65 years, those with neuromuscular disease, those with 2+ falls, and those with a cutoff point of 45 to 49 showed better sensitivity with statistically less heterogeneity. The empirical evidence indicates that the BBS is a suitable tool to screen for the risk of falls and shows good predictability when used with the appropriate criteria and applied to those with neuromuscular disease.
A parsing method for context-free languages using bottom-up lookahead computation

A new parsing algorithm of context-free languages using bottom-up computation of lookahead information is presented. Earley's algorithm uses a great number of items during enumeration to recognize a context-free language. If items with lookahead fields are used, the number of items can be reduced, but item spacing is considerably increased. The method presented here may reduce the number of items during enumeration without using lookahead fields of items. The computation of lookahead information takes place in a bottom-up manner. It is not necessary to compute lookahead information until it is required during enumeration.
Chainsaw: Von-neumann accelerators to leverage fused instruction chains

A central tenet behind accelerators is to partition a program execution into regions with different behavior (e.g., SIMD, Irregular, Compute-Intensive) and then use behavior-specialized architectures [1] for each region. It is unclear whether the gains in efficiency arise from recognizing that a simpler microarchitecture is sufficient for the acceleratable code region or the actual microarchitecture, or a combination of both. Many proposals [2], [3] seem to choose dataflow-based accelerators which encounters challenges with fabric utilization and static power when the available instruction parallelism is below the peak operation parallelism available [4]. In this paper, we develop, Chainsaw, a Von-Neumann based accelerator and demonstrate that many of the fundamental overheads (e.g., fetch-decode) can be amortized by adopting the appropriate instruction abstraction. The key insight is the notion of chains, which are compiler fused sequences of instructions. chains adapt to different acceleration behaviors by varying the length of the chains and the types of instructions that are fused into a chain. Chains convey the producer-consumer locality between dependent instructions, which the Chainsaw architecture then captures by temporally scheduling such operations on the same execution unit and uses pipeline registers to forward the values between dependent operations. Chainsaw is a generic multi-lane architecture (4-stage pipeline per lane) and does not require any specialized compound function units; it can be reloaded enabling it to accelerate multiple program paths. We have developed a complete LLVM-based compiler prototype and simulation infrastructure and demonstrated that a 8-lane Chainsaw is within 73% of the performance of an ideal dataflow architecture, while reducing the energy consumption by 45% compared to a 4-way OOO processor.
Perception of stigma in people with epilepsy and their relatives in Butajira, Ethiopia

Abstract Background: The occurrence of psychosocial problems related to epilepsy is well recognized and in certain situations could even be more troublesome than the effect of the seizure disorders themselves. Objective: This study was conducted to assess the magnitude of stigma experienced by patients and relatives of people with epilepsy in a rural Ethiopian community, and to identify socio-demographic and other factors that may be associated with stigma in this setting. Method: Hospital based cross-sectional survey. Result: The prevalence estimate of perceived stigma was found to be 81%. Students with epilepsy reported experiencing significantly greater levels of stigma at school (X2=39.065, p=0.000) compared with people living and working in other settings. Those who had seizure at least once a month reported being stigmatized more often compared to those who had less frequent seizure attacks (X2=12.76, p=0.002). Conclusion: Stigma was found to be a common problem among patients suffering from epilepsy, and their relatives. The results reinforce the need for creating awareness among patients, relatives and the community at large about epilepsy and addressing misconceptions attached to it. [Ethiop.J.Health Dev. 2006;20(3):170-176]
On the achievable rates for the return-link of multi-beam satellite systems using successive interference cancellation

This paper investigates the theoretically reachable rates in the return-link of multi-user multi-beam satellite systems. The return-link can actually be analyzed by means of multiple-input multiple-output signal processing techniques. While MIMO inspired multi-user detection for the return-link of satellite systems has been partly investigated in the past, a fundamental look at the achievable gains by these advanced signal processing techniques for satellite communications is missing. Depending on the number of colors used in the system, the available bandwidth per beam can be traded off against the level of co-channel interference. This paper explores the fundamental limits dictated by information theory to the communication rates on satellite multi-beam scenarios, and the impact of a realistic beam patterns on these data rates.
Aldosterone Excretion in Normal and Toxaemic Pregnancies*

The bacteria, uniformly dispersed, can be easily harvested in the centrifuge and the deposit resuspended in dextran-glucose solution. A method is described for enumerating the viable cells with consistent results ; the viable-cell content of different batches of vaccine can be accurately standardized. A study of the keeping properties of the dried vaccine has shown that it has a life of at least twelve months when stored below 20° C. The relationship between the viable-cell counts of various batches and the tuberculin conversion of guineapigs is shown. There is also a direct correlation between the viable-cell count and the size of local lesions in guinea-pigs after intradermal injection.
Acute Relationship between Cognitive and Psychological Symptoms of Patients with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Objective. The goal of this study was to explore the relationship between acute psychological reactions and cognition as well as postconcussive symptoms in patients with MTBI. Research Methods. Sociodemographic and medical history data were gathered for 59 patients diagnosed with MTBI. Validated and standardized tools were used to assess anxiety, depression, and cognitive function two weeks after trauma. Postconcussive symptoms were assessed with the Rivermead postconcussive questionnaire. Results. Despite the absence of significant neuropsychological deficits, a very high level of anxiety and depression was observed in our cohort. Level of anxiety and depression were positively related to cognitive performances and to postconcussive symptoms. Moreover, patients with preexisting alcohol and psychological problems were more likely to present with acute depression after MTBI. Conclusions. Early psychological rehabilitation should be provided to decrease the intensity and frequency of postconcussive symptoms and diminish the risk of these problems becoming chronic.
PERLS' PRUSSIAN BLUE POSITIVITY IN EXFOLIATED BUCCAL CELLS OF THALESSEMIA MAJOR PATIENTS AND ITS CORRELATION WITH SERUM FERRITIN

BACKGROUND: Iron absorption is carefully regulated to maintain equilibrium between the absorption and the body loss of iron. Thalassemia is a genetic disorder of hemoglobin synthesis requiring regular blood transfusion leading to iron overload in the body which leads to morbidity and mortality in these patients. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To demonstrate iron overload at an early stage by exfoliative cytology using Perls' Prussian blue method and to compare with that of serum ferritin levels of those patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Smears were obtained from buccal mucosa of 60  thalassemia major patients who were undergoing repeated blood transfusion and 30 healthy subjects as control. Scrapings were obtained from the buccal mucosa and stained with Perls' Prussian blue stain and were examined under light microscope. RESULT: Perls' positivity was observed in 61.6% of  thalassemic patients with a moderately positive correlation to serum ferritin levels. CONCLUSION: Exfoliative cytology is a simple painless and a non-invasive technique therefore it can be used as a diagnostic tool in demonstration of iron overload in thalassemic patients.