Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Medical Errors on 90-Day Costs and Outcomes: An Examination of Surgical Patients

Objective To estimate the effect of medical errors on medical expenditures, death, readmissions, and outpatient care within 90 days after surgery. Data Sources 2001-2002 MarketScan insurance claims for 5.6 million enrollees. Study Design The AHRQ Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) were used to identify 14 PSIs among 161,004 surgeries. We used propensity score matching and multivariate regression analyses to predict expenditures and outcomes attributable to the 14 PSIs. Principal Findings Excess 90-day expenditures likely attributable to PSIs ranged from $646 for technical problems (accidental laceration, pneumothorax, etc.) to $28,218 for acute respiratory failure, with up to 20% of these costs incurred post-discharge. With a third of all 90-day deaths occurring post-discharge, the excess death rate associated with PSIs ranged from 0% to 7%. The excess 90-day readmission rate associated with PSIs ranged from 0% to 8%. Overall, 11% of all deaths, 2% of readmissions, and 2% of expenditures were likely due to these 14 PSIs. Conclusions The effects of medical errors continue long after the patient leaves the hospital. Medical error studies that focus only on the inpatient stay can underestimate the impact of patient safety events by up to 20% to 30%.
SIMULTANEOUS CONTROLLABILITY IN SHARP TIME FOR TWO ELASTIC STRINGS

We study the simultaneously reachable subspace for two strings controlled from a common endpoint. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for simultaneous spectral and approximate controllability. Moreover we prove the lack of simultaneous exact controllability and we study the space of simultaneously reachable states as a function of the position of the joint. For each type of controllability result we give the sharp controllability time.
Android Based Health Care Monitoring System

Health monitoring system plays a vital role in the overall development of the physiological as well as social well being of the society. Observance of prevention in the area of health has a significant impact on economic productivity and most importantly on quality of life of the common people and hence it is very essential to focus on the topic. Health parameters of a patient are being monitored continuously globally but monitoring is done under the observance of the health service provider. This paper discuses a monitoring system in which the vital health parameters such as temperature, SpO2, ECG, heartbeat, blood pressure and the body position of the patient can be monitored continuously. This paper intends to provide information using wireless network technology such as raspberry pi, wireless sensor networks (WSN), sensors. The gathered data from the sensors can be monitored remotely in real time. The sensors will gather the data of the various body parameters and provide it to the ARM controller. The collected data will then be wirelessly transmitted to web portal.
Humorous Complaining

Although complaints document dissatisfaction, some are also humorous. The article introduces the concept of humorous complaining and draws on the benign violation theory—which proposes that humor arises from things that seem simultaneously wrong yet okay—to examine how being humorous helps and hinders complainers. Six studies, which use social media and online reviews as stimuli, show that humorous complaints benefit people who want to warn, entertain, and make a favorable impression on others. Further, in contrast to the belief that humor is beneficial but consistent with the benign violation theory, humor makes complaints seem more positive (by making an expression of dissatisfaction seem okay), but makes praise seem more negative (by making an expression of satisfaction seem wrong in some way). Finally, a benign violation approach perspective also reveals that complaining humorously has costs. Because being humorous suggests that a dissatisfying situation is okay, humorous complaints are less likely to elicit redress or sympathy from others than nonhumorous complaints.
Composability for Secure Systems

Abstract : This document is the final technical report for the Composability for Secure Systems (CSS) program whose objective was to develop and demonstrate a composable methodology for building highly-assured, fault tolerant distributed systems and networks, and to design an automated development environment to support the methodology. The CCS program studied composition and refinement as unifying concepts that support analysis of functional correctness, fault tolerance and security form a single specification. A mathematical framework was developed for specifying and analyzing systems. This report provides an overview of all the technical conducted in pursuit of these goals. It described significant accomplishments and obstacles encountered during these tasks and lessons learned while carrying out the program. Finally, it provides suggestions for future effort which build upon the success of the program or addresses deficiencies.
Near shore ecology of Grand Canyon Fish, Funding Opportunity

1 Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, 110 Newins-Ziegler Hall, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611 2 Ecometric Research Inc. 3560 W 22 Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6S1J3 3 Environmental and Forest Biology, State University of New York, 249 Illick Hall, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY 13210 School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, 7922 NW 71 Street, Gainesville, Florida 32653 5 PI to whom correspondence should be addressed Bill Pine, email: billpine@ufl.edu Telephone: 352 225 1643.
The Role of Self-Regulated Learning in Fostering Students' Conceptual Understanding of Complex Systems with Hypermedia

This study examines the role of self-regulated learning (SRL) in facilitating students' shifts to more sophisticated mental models of the circulatory system as indicated by both performance and process data. We began with Winne and colleagues' information processing model of SRL (Winne, 2001; Winne & Hadwin, 1998) and used it to examine how students regulated their own learning when using a hypermedia environment to learn about the circulatory system. Undergraduate students (N = 24) were trained to use a hypermedia environment to learn about the circulatory system. Pretest, posttest, and verbal protocol data were collected to measure the shifts in conceptual understanding (from pretest to posttest) and the SRL variables associated with shifts in conceptual understanding. We used a median split to divide the sample into two groups of learners—high-jumpers and low-jumpers (i.e., students who either showed large gains in conceptual understanding or showed relatively little or no gain in their conceptual understanding). Findings revealed that the high-jumpers shifted an average of 4.5 mental models, while the low-jumpers had an average shift of less than one mental model from pretest to posttest. The verbal protocol data were coded for various self-regulating variables to examine which SRL variables differentiated the low-jumpers from the high-jumpers. High-jumpers were much better at regulating their learning during the knowledge construction activity. In general, they used effective strategies, planned their learning by creating sub-goals and activating prior knowledge, monitored their emerging understanding, and planned their time and effort. In contrast, low-jumpers used equal amounts of effective and ineffective strategies, planned their learning by using sub-goals and recycling goals in working memory, handled task difficulties and demands by engaging mainly in help-seeking behavior, and did not spend much time monitoring their learning. Our results provide a valuable initial characterization of the role of SRL in accounting for differences in conceptual knowledge gains when students use hypermedia environments to learn about complex science topics. In addition, we discuss the general instructional implications of our findings and how they can be used to inform the design of hypermedia environments to teach students about complex systems.
Convex solutions of boundary value problem arising from Monge-Ampère equations

In this paper we study an eigenvalue boundary value problem which arises when seeking radial convex solutions of the Monge-Ampere equations. We shall establish several criteria for the existence, multiplicity and nonexistence of strictly convex solutions for the boundary value problem with or without an eigenvalue parameter.
Serum Interleukin-5 Changes in Partly Controlled Atopic Asthmatic Children

Abstract BACKGROUND: Cytokines including Interleukin-5 play a key role in orchestrating the chronic inflammation of asthma. We aimed to determine the level of serum IL-5 in partly controlled atopic asthma in children and to assess the effect of different therapies on their levels. METHODS: The study included 40 children aged 6-12 years with partly controlled asthma. Cases were randomly divided into two groups; group ‘A’ receiving Leukotriene modifiers and group ‘B’ receiving inhaled corticosteroids; each for two months. They were compared to 20 healthy nonasthmatic, matched controls. Serum IL-5 was measured for cases on the first visit and two months after therapy. Absolute eosinophilic count and serum Ig-E were determined. Pulmonary function testing was performed using spirometer at the beginning and two months after regular therapy. RESULTS: Serum Interleukin-5 was significantly increased in asthmatic children during exacerbation and was significantly decreased after treatment. ROC curve analysis showed significant difference of IgE and PEFR after treatment with leukotriene modifier only. CONCLUSION: Serum IL-5 seems to have a role in asthma pathogenesis. Efficiency of the two therapies (ICs & LTA) was similar in this group of patients. Both treatments led to significant decline in serum IL-5, IgE levels and eosinophilic count.
Landscape-scale changes in forest canopy structure across a partially logged tropical peat swamp

Abstract. Forest canopy structure is strongly influenced by environmental factors and disturbance, and in turn influences key ecosystem processes including productivity, evapotranspiration and habitat availability. In tropical forests increasingly modified by human activities, the interplay between environmental factors and disturbance legacies on forest canopy structure across landscapes is practically unexplored. We used airborne laser scanning (ALS) data to measure the canopy of old-growth and selectively logged peat swamp forest across a peat dome in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, and quantified how canopy structure metrics varied with peat depth and under logging. Several million canopy gaps in different height cross-sections of the canopy were measured in 100 plots of 1 km2 spanning the peat dome, allowing us to describe canopy structure with seven metrics. Old-growth forest became shorter and had simpler vertical canopy profiles on deeper peat, consistent with previous work linking deep peat to stunted tree growth. Gap size frequency distributions (GSFDs) indicated fewer and smaller canopy gaps on the deeper peat (i.e. the scaling exponent of Pareto functions increased from 1.76 to 3.76 with peat depth). Areas subjected to concessionary logging until 2000, and illegal logging since then, had the same canopy top height as old-growth forest, indicating the persistence of some large trees, but mean canopy height was significantly reduced. With logging, the total area of canopy gaps increased and the GSFD scaling exponent was reduced. Logging effects were most evident on the deepest peat, where nutrient depletion and waterlogged conditions restrain tree growth and recovery. A tight relationship exists between canopy structure and peat depth gradient within the old-growth tropical peat swamp forest. This relationship breaks down after selective logging, with canopy structural recovery, as observed by ALS, modulated by environmental conditions. These findings improve our understanding of tropical peat swamp ecology and provide important insights for managers aiming to restore degraded forests.
PSYCHIATRIC AND PSYCHOSOCIAL ISSUES AMONG INDIVIDUALS LIVING WITH DIABETES

Dr. Jeffrey S. Gonzalez is Associate Professor of Psychology at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, and Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology & Population Health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY. Dr. Korey K. Hood is Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA. Dr. Sabrina A. Esbitt is Senior Psychosocial Faculty in the Department of Family and Social Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY. Dr. Shamik Mukherji is Chief Resident, Department of Psychiatry, Zucker Hillside Hospital, Northwell Health, Glen Oaks, NY. Ms. Naomi S. Kane is a graduate student in the Clinical Psychology (Health Emphasis) PhD Program of Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY. Dr. Alan Jacobson is Chief Research Officer at Winthrop University Hospital, Mineola, NY, and Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Assessing the risk of chronic shipping noise to baleen whales off Southern California, USA

Low-frequency noise that is part of the acoustic environment for baleen whales has increased in many areas of the Northeast Pacific Ocean that contain whale habitat. We conducted a spatially explicit risk assessment of noise from commercial shipping to blue, fin, and humpback whale habitats in Southern California waters and explored how noise is affected by several placebased management techniques: a National Marine Sanctuary, an Area to be Avoided (ATBA), and a Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS). We used shipping data to model noise at 2 frequencies that are part of the acoustic environment for these species and capture the variable contributions from shipping to noise. Predicted noise levels in Southern California waters suggest high, region-wide exposure to shipping noise. Our risk assessment identified several areas where the acoustic environment may be degraded for blue, fin, and humpback whales because their habitat overlaps with areas of elevated noise from shipping traffic and 2 places where blue and humpback whale feeding areas overlap with lower predicted noise levels. One of the places with lower predicted noise occurs in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS). Noise has not been directly managed within the CINMS; instead, reduced noise in this portion of the CINMS is likely an ancillary benefit of the ATBA surrounding most of the Sanctuary. Areas of elevated noise in the CINMS also occur, primarily where a TSS intersects the Sanctuary’s boundaries. Our risk assessment framework can be used to evaluate how shipping traffic affects acoustic environments and explore management strategies.
Developing a translational ecology workforce

We define a translational ecologist as a professional ecologist with diverse disciplinary expertise and skill sets, as well as a suitable personal disposition, who engages across social, professional, and disciplinary boundaries to partner with decision makers to achieve practical environmental solutions. Becoming a translational ecologist requires specific attention to obtaining critical non-scientific disciplinary breadth and skills that are not typically gained through graduate-level education. Here, we outline a need for individuals with broad training in interdisciplinary skills, use our personal experiences as a basis for assessing the types of interdisciplinary skills that would benefit potential translational ecologists, and present steps that interested ecologists may take toward becoming translational. Skills relevant to translational ecologists may be garnered through personal experiences, informal training, short courses, fellowships, and graduate programs, among others. We argue that a translational ecology workforce is needed to bridge the gap between science and natural resource decisions. Furthermore, we argue that this task is a cooperative responsibility of individuals interested in pursuing these careers, educational institutions interested in training scientists for professional roles outside of academia, and employers seeking to hire skilled workers who can foster stakeholder-engaged decision making.
A probabilistic framework for constructing temporal relations in Monte Carlo trajectories

Knowledge of the structure and dynamics of biomolecules is essential for elucidating the underlying mechanisms of biological processes. Given the stochastic nature of many biological processes, like protein unfolding, it’s almost impossible that two independent simulations will generate the exact same sequence of events, which makes direct analysis of simulations difficult. Statistical models like Markov Chains, transition networks etc. help in shedding some light on the mechanistic nature of such processes by predicting long-time dynamics of these systems from short simulations. However, such methods fall short in analyzing trajectories which are oblivious to temporal information, for example, Monte Carlo simulation methods. In this thesis we propose a probabilistic algorithm, borrowing concepts from graph theory and statistical mixture models, to extract folding pathways from molecular dynamic trajectories. A suitable vector representation was chosen to represent each frame in the macromolecular trajectory (as a series of interaction and conformational energies) and dimensionality reduction was performed using principal component analysis (PCA). The trajectory was then clustered using a density-based clustering algorithm, where each cluster represents a metastable state on the potential energy surface (PES) of the biomolecule under study. A graph was created with these clusters as nodes and the most probable path of (un)folding from an initial folded state to a final unfolded state is conceived as the widest path along this graph. We have tested our method on RNA hairpin unfolding trajectory in aqueous urea solution. Our method makes the understanding of the mechanism of unfolding in RNA hairpin molecule more tractable. As this method doesn’t rely on temporal data it can be used to analyze trajectories from Monte Carlo sampling techniques and replica exchange molecular dynamics (REMD). This work is an effort in the direction towards harnessing the full potential of enhanced sampling methods, which until now, is mostly limited to evaluating equilibrium properties of the system.
On the Incorporation Mechanism of Hydrophobic Quantum Dots in Silica Spheres by a Reverse Microemulsion Method

In this work, we show strong experimental evidence in favor of a proposed incorporation mechanism of hydrophobic semiconductor nanocrystals (or quantum dots, QDs) in monodisperse silica spheres (diameter ∼35 nm) by a water-in-oil (W/O) reverse microemulsion synthesis. Fluorescence spectroscopy is used to investigate the rapid ligand exchange that takes place at the QD surface upon addition of the various synthesis reactants. It is found that hydrolyzed TEOS has a high affinity for the QD surface and replaces the hydrophobic amine ligands, which enables the transfer of the QDs to the hydrophilic interior of the micelles where silica growth takes place. By hindering the ligand exchange using stronger binding thiol ligands, the position of the incorporated QDs can be controlled from centered to off-center and eventually to the surface of the silica spheres. The proposed incorporation mechanism explains how we can have high control over the incorporation of single QDs exactly in the middle of silica spheres.
Secondary Metabolism as a Measurement of Efficacy of Botanical Extracts: The Use of Azadirachta indica (Neem) as a Model

This chapter is primarily concerned with the concept and correct use of natural products as insecticides. All organisms need to transform and interconvert a vast number of organic compounds in order to be able to live, grow, and reproduce. They need to provide themselves with energy in the form of ATP and a supply of building blocks to construct their own tissues. Despite the extremely varied characteristics of living organisms, the pathways for generally modifying and synthesizing carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and nucleic acids are found to be essentially the same in all organisms, apart from minor variations. These processes demonstrate the fundamental unit of all ways of life, and are collectively described as primary metabolism. In contrast to these metabolic pathways, which synthesize, degrade, and generally interconvert compounds commonly encountered in all organisms, there is also an area of metabolism concerned with compounds which have a much more limited distribution in nature called secondary metabolism (Dewick, 2009). Secondary metabolites or natural products are commonly reserved for organic compounds of natural origin that are unique to one organism, or common to a small number of closely related organisms (Mann, 2005). Secondary metabolites are not necessarily produced under all conditions, and in the vast majority of cases the function of these compounds and their benefit to the organism are not yet known. In fact, they are usually an expression of the individuality of species (Dewick, 2009). In most examples they appear to be non-essential to the plant, insect, or microorganism producing them. For instance, the morphine only occurs in two species of poppy, Papaver somniferum and P. setigerum, and although it is widely used and abused by man, it has no function which is known in these plants (Mann, 2005). Plants produce a large diversity of natural products which are usually sub-divided in classes according to metabolic pathways at polyketides, lignans, coumarins, flavonoids, terpenoids, steroids, alkaloids, etc. These are of great importance for the plant for their interaction with the environment due to their roles as pollinator attractants, for symbiosis and for defense against attacks by microorganisms, other plants or animals. Moreover, they are economically important to man as a source of pharmaceuticals, flavours, fragrances, insecticides, dyes, food additives, toxins, etc. (Zarate et al., 2010). Structures of an estimated 200,000 natural products have been elucidated (Dixon & Strack, 2003). Nowadays,
Study about Economic Growth Quality in Transferred Representative Areas of Midwest China

Malmquist productivity index (output based) and stochastic frontier production model are used to calculate the total factor productivity and decomposition index of 21 cities in transferred representative area and Shanghai. This paper also uses Tobit model to reveal influencing factors of production efficiency, taking Anhui Province as an example. The result shows that, growth of total factor productivity has been mainly brought by technology progress. Reducing of technology efficiency can hinder its growth. Development gap between Midwest China and developed areas owns to technology efficiency gap. The efficiency has a positive correlation with share of state-owned enterprise total in industrial output value, opening degree, human resources level and infrastructure level. At the same time, it negatively correlates with the share of government spending in GDP. The efficiency is uncorrelated with export and the proportion of science and technology spending accounts for fiscal expenditure.
Virtual Machines for Teaching and Research

This paper introduces the SOM (Simple Object Machine) family of virtual machine (VM) implementations, a collection of VMs for the same Smalltalk dialect addressing students at different levels of expertise. Starting from a Javabased implementation, several ports of the VM to different programming languages have been developed and put to successful use in teaching at both undergraduate and graduate levels since 2006. Moreover, the VMs have been used in various research projects. The paper documents the rationale behind each of the SOM VMs and results that have been achieved in teaching and research.