Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interrater reliability of research assistants performing data collection for the Ohio Perinatal Research Network

The purpose of this study was to investigate the interrater reliability of data collected through chart abstraction by research assistants affiliated with The Perinatal Research Repository (PRR), a division of the Ohio Perinatal Research Network (OPRN). Assessing interrater reliability is an important component of chart abstraction to ensure the precision of data collected. The Perinatal Research Repository collects data from premature infants, their mothers and fathers for current and future research. Twenty charts previously abstracted by the senior research assistant were randomly selected for this study. After a second abstraction the identified variables were compared for reliability. A percentage of agreement was determined. If the interrater reliability met the expected standard, the study will be terminated after ten charts are reviewed. When interrater reliability did not meet the established standard, the specific variations in the procedures of carrying out the abstraction and interpreting the results was identified and the OPRN Maternal Abstraction Form was modified. The Perinatal Research Repository is an important resource for social context data, clinical data, demographic data, environmental context data, and biospecimen data related to discovering and implementing actions that measurably reduce prematurity. Reliable data abstraction ensures the quality of research is preserved. RUNNING HEAD: Interrater Reliability 3 Interrater reliability of research assistants performing data collection for the Ohio Perinatal Research Network
Self-identities of young people on a course for those who are not in education, employment or training

From January to March 2014, when this research was taking place, 774,000 young people aged 16-24 were not in education, employment or training (NEET) in England (Office for National Statistics, 2014). Even before the 2008 recession the NEET rate was rising, and despite criticism of the term it continues to be used as a service intervention label. Attempts have been made to try and understand young people who are placed into this category, and their experiences, however few studies have asked these young people how they define themselves and their situation. This research therefore explores the self-identities of a group of twenty seven young people on a course for those who are NEET in an area of the Midlands. The views of these young people were captured through the use of ethnographic research. While these young people attempted to reflexively create their identities (Giddens, 1991), not all choices about future lifestyles were available to them. Their agency was bounded (Evans, 2007) and they were constrained by their economic and social circumstances, as well as by dominant discourses. Discourses around youth, adulthood, unemployment and individualisation were evident in their narratives. While on the course, the participants built their identities around being students and attempted to show that they were ‘doing something with their lives’. Their future identities were focused around traditional ideas of adulthood. Yet they faced a number of barriers to achieving their aspirations. This research demonstrates that demands for young people to ‘take control’ of their lives ignores the wider structural issues and discourses which shape their experiences. Focusing on individual deficiencies limits the impact of policy and initiatives aimed at NEET young people.
Investigating the Experience of Diabetes Stigma in Online Forums

ABSTRACT Stigma is pervasive and debilitating for people living with diabetes, carrying emotional, physiological, and social influences. Although researchers have investigated the sources and consequences of diabetes stigma, little is known about the lived experience of stigma. In this study, we used grounded theory methods to analyze data from 22 online diabetes forums. Results revealed that blaming and shaming was a core experience for people with diabetes, manifesting in feeling isolated, coping with weight, centering diabetes, and internalizing myths and misinformation. Posters disrupted their blame and shame by educating themselves and others and seeking mental health treatment. Results of the study have implications for research on diabetes stigma and practical value for mitigating the consequences of stigma.
The effectiveness of a domain specific self-esteem group intervention: a pilot study

Volume one of this thesis is presented in three parts. Part one presents a systematic review of domain specific self-esteem measures for adults. A total of 13 papers evaluating 10 domain specific self-esteem measures were reviewed. Results indicated a general lack of psychometric robustness of measures in literature. Future research should focus on the continued validation of these measures. Part two is an empirical study which investigated the effectiveness of a domain specific self-esteem group intervention developed by Hollingdale (2015). The empirical study was conducted jointly with Emily Dixon. Results indicated an improvement in domain specific self-esteem (i.e. perceived competence) in valued domains. The discrepancy between perceived competence and importance placed in valued domains decreased after the intervention. Attributional styles towards negative events showed a shift towards more external, unstable and specific styles post-intervention and continued moving towards this direction at the one-month follow up. A significant relationship was found between domain specific self-esteem and attributional styles towards negative events. Overall, the domain specific self- esteem group is a promising intervention for self-esteem that requires further study. Part three provides a critical appraisal of the systematic review and empirical study. It begins with a discussion about definitional and measurement issues faced when conducting the systematic review. The commentary about the empirical study includes reflections on the theoretical issues, measurement issues, group experience and challenges faced. It concludes with a reflection on implementing the domain specific self-esteem group within the National Health Service (NHS).
Literature Review of the Evidence Base for a Hospice at Home Service

This literature review aimed to identify the evidence base for a hospice at home service at the end of life for facilitating death at home to narrow the gap between preference and reality. This study defines ‘hospice at home’ as hospice style care provided in the home environment; this means specialist palliative care, equipment and medication is available 24/7. However, services operating under this term are not uniform across the literature. Terms encountered in the literature that are used to describe ‘hospice at home services’ or elements of it include: palliative home care, out-of-hours palliative care, hospital at home, home care, community palliative care, specialist palliative care, rapid response teams, and crisis intervention.
Prejudice and the Acceptance of Muslim Minority Practices

Abstract. Growing Muslim minorities in Western societies has sparked debate about which Muslim practices should be accepted, with many people finding certain practices intolerable. Two competing perspectives on this intolerance argue that it represents either principled objections or prejudice. Using four large samples from the Netherlands, we apply latent profile analysis and find four groups of people: two groups that like and dislike Muslims and their practices respectively, but also two groups who are intolerant of some or most Muslim practices without necessarily displaying prejudice. A person-centered analysis of key demographic and psychological variables suggests that the two intolerant groups differ with one group’s intolerance motivated more by anti-Muslim feelings, while the second group’s intolerance is motivated more by principled objections.
A memristor-based convolutional neural network with full parallelization architecture

This paper proposes Full-Parallel Convolutional Neural Networks (FP-CNN) for specific target recognition, which utilize the analog memristive array circuits to carry out the vector-matrix multiplication, and generate multiple output feature maps in one single processing cycle. Compared with ReLU and Tanh function, we adopt the absolute activation function innovatively to reduce the network scale dramatically, which can achieve 99% recognition accuracy rate with only three layers. Furthermore, we propose a performance metrics function to resize the scale of the FP-CNN for solving different classification tasks. With the help of such design guidelines, the FP-CNN can still achieve over 96% recognition accuracy under the condition of 95% yield of memristor crossbar array and 0.5% Single-Pole-Double-Throw switches (SPDT) noise.
Backpacking’s Future and its Drifter Past

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to deconstruct the backpacker label by reconstructing it using the historical antecedent of drifting. Following the deconstruction of backpacking’s near past, the author build a clearer conceptual foundation for backpacking’s future. Design/methodology/approach The study is framed by scenario planning, which demands a critical review of the backpacking and an appreciation of its history in order to understand its future. Findings Backpacking, ever evolving, remains difficult to articulate and challenges researchers to “keep up” with its complexity and heterogeneity. This paper argues that researchers must learn more about how backpacking “works” by opening a dialogue with its past, before engaging in further research. The paper finds that a poor conceptualisation of backpacking has led to a codification of backpacker criteria. Practical implications Backpacking remains a research topic which draws disparate researchers using criteria that produces disparate results and deviations. By understanding its past, researchers will be better placed to explore the emancipatory impulses that drive backpackers today and in the future. Originality/value This papers’ value lies in the retrospection process which explores backpacking’s near past so as to “make sense” of present research and present scenarios for it is the immediate future. The paper re-anchors backpacking by investigating the major historical, social and cultural events leading up to its emergence.
SIS-SEIQR adaptive network model for pandemic influenza

This paper aims to present an SIS-SEIQR network model for pandemic influenza. We propose a network algorithm to generate an adaptive social network with dynamic hub nodes to capture the disease transmission in a human community. Effects of visiting probability on the spread of the disease are investigated. The results indicate that high visiting probability increases the transmission rate of the disease.
The social contract of democratic backsliding in the new EU countries

Democratic backsliding in the countries which joined the EU in this century poses questions as to how it may be understood and remedied. This article explains the phenomenon as a search for a specific social contract between the illiberal forces and the societies they seek to govern, setting the hypothesis against the experiences of three particularly problematic Member States: Hungary, Poland and Romania. Potential and actual responses by European institutions to this challenge, with particular emphasis on the ground-breaking potential of infringement proceedings to support the domestic division of powers, are discussed next. Finally, the paper analyses how seemingly unrelated broader EU policies have inadvertently contributed to the democratic backsliding.
ENGLISH TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND AWARENESS-KEEPING UP WITH THE CURRENT CHANGES IN TEACHING

The field of English teaching is one which thousands of teachers worldwide have pursued as a life profession. The issues of expertise and professionalism, however, vary in the aspect to which we understand the obligations that are tied to the chosen profession. Most frequently, the misconception related to the issue of “preparedness” in teaching is that of gaining superficial knowledge i.e. a BA diploma in teaching English, a practical experience in a school or two, a diploma project on a topic which is conducted during the studies etc. and by this, the mission “being accomplished. ” The false belief that is formed is that no further training or advanced development is further needed. However, in order to keep up with current changes in teaching, teachers must always pursue further practical development, termed as the individual perspective. This paper aims to identify the most crucial aspects of teacher development and also stresses the importance of teacher trainings in the process. It also implies that the individual perspective is achieved with the help and support of the Ministry of Education together with higher institutions. The case study was conducted with private and state university professors. A teacher survey consisting of 12 statements was used as an instrument in the study (see Appendix). Statements were divided into two main categories: the individual perspective and the institutional perspective and were ranked on a scale from 1-5 (least-most important). Research questions were: “Are teachers aware of the importance of individual perspective development in their career? ” “What are the areas which need further development? ” and “How can teachers initiate institutional support? ”The findings and conclusions serve as implications for a wider general perspective in Macedonia and in the region.
Book Reviews: Painful Yarns: Metaphors and Stories to Help Understand the Biology of Pain

Focus of Book/Intention: Pain Physiology Intended Audience: Clinicians and Patients who experience pain. Description (chapters/format): Let me preface this book review by saying that I loved everything about this book. The idea is terrific, the author is witty, and the material is germane to every practicing clinician in any country of any background. That said, the chapters are divided into “stories involving personal experiences” that are metaphors of the biology of pain. If you have an inkling of humor in your bones or if you have lived life with a passion at 1/100th of the level as Dr. Lorimer Moseley you will relate to the stories. Each story is strange, funny, obtuse, reflective, and downright wacky. Lorimer's story telling capacity is uniquely connecting. What makes each story even more compelling is the tie in with the biology of pain. Not the biology of pain that we learned during our medical degrees but the type that comes from years of seasoning and introspection. Strengths: The greatest strength is the marriage between the way we as clinicians see pain and the way our patients could potentially relate to the biology of pain. The “yarns” merge the two derivations into common ground for all parties. You won't know that you are learning anything and you won't realize until you have completed the textbook that the material endorsed symbolisms of pain. The book doesn't expand into the complexities of pain that one may find in traditional texts but summarizes key elements to useful bytes of information. Limitations: The book is too short; you will want more. Worth noting is that from my understanding, the author and publishers are working on a follow up to this book. I read it in a day because I couldn't put it down. Unique Characteristics: If you are not a fan of textbooks on pain (who is? ) then this is a great substitute. Even if you read this and don't extract anything that is useful for your patient care, the enjoyment of the material is worth the time. Lorimer Moseley is a hoot! Summary: Buy it. If you don't like it, it's a safe bet that you were the last kid picked on the playground during recess.
Investigating the role of nitric oxide clones in cardiovascular conditions

Previously thought to be inert, nitrite is now deemed to be an important endogenous source of nitric oxide (NO), particularly during hypoxia and ischaemia. Largely animal and some limited human studies propose a role for nitrite in ‘hypoxic vasodilatation’ and ischaemia-reperfusion injury. One study explores the effect of systemic nitrite infusion on cardiac and peripheral haemodynamic parameters in healthy subjects, during normoxia and hypoxia. Despite a lack of observed effects in healthy subjects, a study performed in patients with heart failure during normoxia demonstrated favourable haemodynamic effects on cardiac output, albeit at high doses of nitrite. In patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery, low dose nitrite infusion afforded protection against ischaemia-reperfusion injury. Several mechanisms of nitrite reduction to NO have been described and remain to be fully elucidated. The role of one of these putative mechanisms, namely mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2) was explored during normoxia and hypoxia. Ex vivo human vascular ring studies confirmed ALDH2 as an important nitrite reductase, in contrast to in vivo observations in the forearm vasculature, suggesting that numerous mechanisms are involved in vivo which are harder to isolate. Furthermore, this hypoxia vasodilatory role was not replicated in with GTN in the human forearm vasculature.
A physiological approach to hepatic drug clearance

A physiological approach has been developed recognizing that hepatic blood flow, the activity of the overall elimination process (intrinsic clearance), drug binding in the blood, and the anatomical arrangement of the hepatic circulation are the major biological determinants of hepatic drug clearance. This approach permits quantitative prediction of both the unbound and total drug concentration/time relationships in the blood after intravenous and oral administration, and any changes that may occur as a result of alterations in the above biological parameters. These considerations have led to a classification of drug metabolism based on the hepatic extraction ratio. The proposed classification allows prediction and interpretation of the effects of individual variations in drug‐metabolizing activity, route of administration, pharmacokinetic interactions, and disease states on hepatic drug elimination.
Reintegration, Hospitality and Hostility: Song-writing and Song-sharing in Criminal Justice

Distant Voices is an ongoing, interdisciplinary collaborative action research project, drawing on criminology, community development, politics, practice-led research and songwriting to explore crime, punishment and reintegration through creative conversations that aim to challenge and unsettle understandings of and approaches to rehabilitation and reintegration. In this paper, we discuss some of the thinking behind the project and we reflect on our experiences to date as a community of enquiry. Specifically, we explore the extent to which certain practices of hospitality that we have experienced in processes of collaborative songwriting and song-sharing might mediate and resist the ‘hostile environment’ that faces people leaving prison in many contemporary societies. Drawing on our experience, we argue that hospitality is often disruptive; that creating and sustaining hospitable environments is extremely challenging; and that to do so requires careful thought and planning, including in relation to problems created by the power dynamics intrinsic to criminal justice. The paper includes links to and discussion of one song written in the project – ‘An Open Door’ -- which engages with and illustrates these themes.
Counting, Adding, and Regular Languages

In this thesis we consider two mostly disjoint topics in formal language theory that both involve the study and use of regular languages. The first topic lies in the intersection of automata theory and additive number theory. We introduce a method of producing results in additive number theory, relying on theoremproving software and an approximation technique. As an example of the method, we prove that every natural number greater than 25 can be written as the sum of at most 3 natural numbers whose canonical base-2 representations have an equal number of 0’s and 1’s. We prove analogous results about similarly defined sets using the automata theory approach, but also give proofs using more “traditional” approaches. The second topic is the study languages defined by criteria involving the number of occurrences of a particular pair of words within other words. That is, we consider languages of words z defined with respect to words x, y where z has the same number of occurrences (resp., fewer occurrences), (resp., fewer occurrences or the same number of occurrences) of x as a subword of z and y as a subword of z. We give a necessary and sufficient condition on when such languages are regular, and show how to check this condition efficiently. We conclude by briefly considering ideas tying the two topics together.
Testing the Retrieval Effort Theory

Abstract. Testing effect refers to the phenomenon that, relative to relearning, retrieval practice enhances delayed memory performance. In two experiments, this study tested the retrieval effort theory proposed to explain the enhancement effect of testing. In Experiment 1, participants learned English words with their corresponding Chinese definitions. Then they were tested on half of the encoded items and restudied the remaining half under three delays after encoding (0 min, 20 min, and 40 min). All participants took delayed memory tests 60 min after the end of the initial encoding phase. The result showed that testing conducted 20 min after encoding, but not immediately or 40 min after encoding, enhanced memory retention. In Experiment 2, feedback was provided to ensure more equitable exposure across the conditions, and then the final memory test was conducted 24 h after the end of learning. The result showed that testing enhanced memory retention across the three delay conditions, and that the size of the testing effect increased with the extension of the interval between initial learning and retrieval practice, thus providing support for the retrieval theory.
Joint Optimization of both m and K for the m-out-of-K Rule for Cooperative Spectrum Sensing

In this paper, we present closed form expressions that jointly optimizes the fusion rule (m) and the number of secondary users (K) for the m-out-of-K rule by minimizing the Bayes risk at the fusion center (FC) in the presence of erroneous reporting channels and then show that various existing and new results are special cases of the proposed solution. The results are applicable to any detector used in cooperative spectrum sensing (CSS). Numerical results are presented using energy detector (ED) which shows that CSS obtained using joint optimized values of m and K results in significant performance improvement.
A social cognitive approach to understanding employee substance use: An example from the Philippines

Abstract Current studies on employee substance use suggest that external and internal factors explain employee substance use behavior. However, most studies fail to account for the possible relational dynamics between mental processes and the work environment. To address this gap, we conducted a study among work organizations in the Philippines to explore employee substance use using a social cognitive approach. Structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that employee attitudes relating to drinking, smoking, and/or illicit drug use mediate the relationship between company culture and employee substance use, with the former influenced by other elements of the work environment. Implications to work organizations and human resource management practice are discussed.