Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Terms of use : Click here Perspectives on the policy ‘ black box ’ : a comparative case study of orthopaedics services in England

There has been much recent debate on the impact of competition on the English National Health Service (NHS). However, studies have tended to view competition in isolation and are controversial. This study examines the impact of programme theories associated with the health system reforms, which sought to move from a dominant target-led ‘central control’ programme theory, to one based on ‘market forces’, on orthopaedics across six case-study local health economies. It draws on a realistic evaluation approach to open up the policy ‘black box’ across different contexts using a mixed methods approach: analysis of 152 interviews with key informants and analysis of waiting times and admissions. We find that the urban health economies were more successful in reaching the access targets than the rural health economies, although the gap in performance closed over time. Most interviewees were aware of the policies to increase choice and competition, but their role appeared comparatively weak. Local commissioners’ ability to influence demand appeared limited with providers’ incentives dominating service delivery. Looking forward, it is clear that the role of competition in the NHS has to be considered alongside, rather than in isolation from, other policy mechanisms. Received 15 February 2013; revised 2 January 2014; accepted 21 January 2014
AR-Based Educational Software for Nonspeaking Autistic People - A Feasibility Study

Approximately one-third of individuals with autism are nonspeaking: They cannot communicate effectively using speech. Some traditional accounts suggest that these individuals cannot talk because they lack the symbolic capacity for language. And yet, recent studies have shown that these individuals’ cognitive abilities are vastly underestimated by standardized tests, and that difficulties with motor skills and movement contribute to their difficulty with speech. One consequence of the traditional accounts of nonspeaking autism is that life skills (rather than academic content) tend to be emphasized in schooling. Without access to meaningful academic content, their educational and vocational opportunities are significantly limited. Recent studies have proposed the use of head-mounted Augmented Reality (AR) applications as a means of providing engaging, customizable, and age-appropriate content to this population. Specifically, such applications can address the unique sensory and motor needs of nonspeaking autistic students, e.g., allow them to move freely around the room as they interact with lessons in the application. This paper describes the design and evaluation of the first AR application aimed to facilitate tailored educational experiences for nonspeaking autistic students. After extensive consultations with nonspeaking people, parents, and professionals, we developed our application to run on HoloLens 2 offering lessons and multiple-choice comprehension and spelling questions. We conducted a study involving five nonspeaking autistic participants and two specialized educators. Through a design critique process and an iterative design refinement approach, we show that most of our participants successfully interacted with the application and completed different types of lesson tasks. Based on quantitative data from the study sessions and qualitative feedback from participants and educators, we provide recommendations for UI and UX design that will promote the development and use of such software for this under-served and under-researched population.
Evaluation of spatio-temporal variations in chlorophyll-a in Lake Naivasha, Kenya: remote-sensing approach

Restoration of the ecosystem services and functions of lakes requires an understanding of the turbidity dynamics in order to arrive at informed environmental management decisions. The understanding of the spatio-temporal dynamics of turbidity requires frequent monitoring of the turbidity components such as chlorophyll-a concentration. In this study, we explored the use of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Aqua (MODIS-Aqua) satellite data in studying the spatio-temporal changes in chlorophyll-a concentration in Lake Naivasha, a turbid tropical system. The temporal trend of chlorophyll-a concentration over the study period in the lake was also evaluated. The temporal trend assessment was achieved through the removal of periodic seasonal interference using Seasonal-Trend decomposition based on the LOESS (Local Regression) procedure. The resultant chlorophyll-a concentration maps derived from MODIS-Aqua satellite data give an indication of the monthly spatial variation in chlorophyll-a concentration from 2002 to 2012. The results of regression analyses between satellite-derived chlorophyll-a and in situ measurements reveal a high level of precision, but with a measureable bias with the satellite underestimating actual in situ measurements (R2 = 0.65, P < 0.001). Although the actual values of the chlorophyll-a concentrations are underestimated, the significant relationship between satellite-derived chlorophyll-a and in situ measurements provides reliable information for studying spatial variations and temporal trends. In 2009 and 2010, it was difficult to detect chlorophyll-a from the MODIS-Aqua imagery, and this coincided with a period of the lowest water levels in Lake Naivasha. An inverse relationship between de-seasoned water level and chlorophyll-a concentration was evident. This study shows that MODIS-Aqua satellite data provide useful information on the spatio-temporal variations in Lake Naivasha, which is useful in establishing general trends that are more difficult to determine through routine ground measurements.
Title: The effectiveness and cost effectiveness of a hospital avoidance program in a residential aged care facility

2 Abstract Background: Residential aged care facility residents experience high rates of hospital admissions which are stressful, costly and often preventable. Design: Prospective pre-post cohort study and decision model analysis Intervention: A decision-support tool was implemented to enable nursing staff to detect, refer and quickly respond to early signals of a deteriorating resident. Advanced clinical skills training, new diagnostic equipment and guided support from clinical lead nurses and nurse practitioners was provided to support nursing staff in the delivery of appropriate sub-acute care. Outcome measures: Rate of hospital admissions; length of stay; incremental cost per QALY; net monetary benefit. Results: The hospital avoidance program was associated with a 19% reduction in annual hospital admissions and a 31% reduction in the average length of stay. When modelled in a cohort of 1,000 residents the program resulted in a total of 1,606 fewer hospital bed days per annum. This contributed to a total cost saving of $2.6 million and 0.62 incremental QALYs gained per 1,000 residents. The program had a positive net monetary benefit and was considered cost-effective, even when the willingness to pay for health care gains was set to zero. A probabilistic sensitivity analysis estimated that there was an 86% probability that the program was cost-effective after taking the uncertainty of the model inputs into account. Conclusions: This study provides compelling evidence for the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a RACF nurse led sub-acute care program in preventing unnecessary hospital admissions.
Application of IPSO-BP Neural Network in Water Quality Evaluation for Tianshui Section of Wei River

Water quality evaluation as the important basis of calculating water environment capacity of pollutant and implementing water pollution control planning can provide principle and oriented schemes for improving water quality and protecting water resource.For the purpose of more efficient and precise water quality evaluation,the mathematical model of water quality evaluation of PSO-BP neural network which is based upon weights and thresholds of artificial neural network BP algorithm optimized by improved PSO algorithm is built to make a comprehensive water quality evaluation of Tianshui section of Wei River in Guanzhong-Tianshui Economic Zone.Present situation of water pollutant as well as the rule of spatial and temporal variation with 5 indexes including BOD5,DO,ammonia nitrogen were studied.Phosphorus and potassium permanganate from the monitoring data of 4 controlled sections of Wei River from 2003 to 2009.Results showed that the method has good generalization ability and is more objective.Water quality of Wei River has improved a little in the last 7 years from 2003 to 2009,with water quality mainly satisfactory to Grade Ⅱ and Ⅲ,and the most serious section in Beidaoqiao.The study would provide a support for effectively controlling water pollution of Tianshui section and protecting water resource of Wei River.
Expression of Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase Depresses &bgr;-Adrenergic–Stimulated Calcium Release From the Sarcoplasmic Reticulum in Intact Ventricular Myocytes

Background—&bgr;-Adrenergic hyporesponsiveness in many cardiomyopathies is linked to expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and increased production of NO. The purpose of this study was to examine whether iNOS expression alters the function of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ release channel (ryanodine receptor, RyR) during &bgr;-adrenergic stimulation. Methods and Results—Expression of iNOS was induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection (10 mg/kg) 6 hours before rat myocyte isolation. Confocal microscopy (fluo-3) was used to measure Ca2+ spark frequency (CaSpF, reflecting resting RyR openings) and Ca2+ transients. CaSpF was greatly increased by the adenylate cyclase activator forskolin (100 nmol/L) in normal myocytes (iNOS not expressed), but this effect was suppressed (by 77%) in LPS myocytes (iNOS expressed). When NO production by iNOS was inhibited by aminoguanidine (1 mmol/L), there was a further increase in the forskolin-induced CaSpF in LPS myocytes (to levels similar to the forskolin-stimulated CaSpF in normal myocytes). This effect was also seen in myocytes isolated from a failing human heart. There was no effect of aminoguanidine on forskolin-stimulated CaSpF in normal myocytes. ODQ (10 &mgr;mol/L), an inhibitor of NO stimulation of guanylate cyclase, did not restore the forskolin-induced rise in CaSpF in LPS myocytes. Aminoguanidine also increased twitch Ca2+ transient amplitude in LPS myocytes after forskolin application (independent of changes in SR Ca2+ load). Conclusions—iNOS/NO depresses &bgr;-adrenergic–stimulated RyR function through a cGMP-independent pathway (eg, NO- and/or peroxynitrite-dependent redox modification). This mechanism limits &bgr;-adrenergic responsiveness and may be an important signaling pathway in cardiomyopathies, including human heart failure.
Adaptive Network Coding: Achieving a Reliability-Latency Tradeoff for 5G and 6G Systems

To maintain consistent communication in noisy environments, conventional mobile communication systems employ retransmissions and robust error correction mechanisms as a strategy to reduce data packet loss. However, as the channel conditions deteriorate, the frequency of retransmissions grows substantially, resulting in notably increased end-to-end (E2E) delays. We propose integrating Network Coding into cloud-native 5G Systems by utilizing the In-Network Computation (INC) infrastructure for swift, low-latency execution, and adaptable, intelligent positioning. We design a flexible network coding model that can dynamically select the appropriate network coding functionality depending on the 5G network condition and specific application requirements.
Lumped Parameter Thermal Model of Heat-Generating General Geometry in Cylindrical Coordinate System

In this study, an equivalent thermal network for a general geometry with internal heating in cylindrical coordinates is derived. The equivalent thermal circuit consists of three thermal resistances: two resistances to the external heat flow and one resistance to compensate for the internal heating. The inclusive expressions can analytically derive the well-known equivalent thermal network of a hollow cylinder and one of the conventional thermal resistances to the external heat flow, as a special case. Simulations are performed for an insulator geometry bounded by equilateral triangles and a circle sector. The developed network outperforms the cylindrical approximation with a large radius ratio in terms of accurate estimation of average temperature and heat flow. For example, when an external heat flow and internal heat generation coexist and the radius ratio is 0.85, the error rate of the temperature rise in the developed network is 1.58%, whereas it is 10.8% in the cylindrical approximation network. The computation time of the developed network is less than 1 s, which is much shorter than that of the finite element method. The developed model is adaptable for any application, with or without heat generation, which is expected to be applied to the homogenization process of the winding and insulator.
The effect of seawater CO2 concentration on growth of a natural phytoplankton assemblage in a controlled mesocosm experiment

We examine the effects of seawater pCO2 concentration of 25, 41, and 76 kPa (250, 400, and 750 matm) on the growth rate of a natural assemblage of mixed phytoplankton obtained from a carefully controlled, 14‐d mesocosm experiment. Throughout the experiment period, in all enclosures, two phytoplankton taxa (microflagellates and cryptomonads) and two diatom species (Skeletonema costatum and Nitzschia spp.) account for approximately 90% of the phytoplankton community. During the nutrient‐replete period from day 9 to day 14 populations of Skeletonema costatum and Nitzschia spp. increased substantially; however, only Skeletonema costatum showed an increase in growth rate with increasing seawater pCO2. Not all diatom species in Korean coastal waters are sensitive to seawater pCO2 under nutrient‐replete conditions.
Preservation of natural values along the cross-border area of Satu Mare and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg counties

The present study aims at emphasizing the importance of cross-border cooperation in protecting the natural values along the Romanian-Hungarian border and the way in which these resources can be exploited for tourism. The analysed area comprises the two adjacent counties of Satu Mare and Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg, with focus on the rich natural heritage and the shared effort made in order to ensure its conservation. The anthropic activities (agriculture, development of settlements, infrastructure investment) have gradually led to habitat reduction, having a negative impact on biodiversity. The Natura 2000 network, initiated by the European Union, is a program launched with the objective to preserve natural habitat, plant species and wildlife in a unitary system. A number of ten Natura 2000 sites (Special Protection Areas for birds, Special Areas of Conservation and Sites of Community Importance) are located in the cross-border region of Satu Mare and Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg counties. In the present case, a study upon the natural values of the area cannot be limited by borderline. Moreover, a cross-border approach is being preferred in order to highlight the sites of special interest, the necessity to elaborate and implement joined strategies. Natural values can become a part of the touristic offer but only to a certain extent, according to which only those forms of tourism should be developed which have a less impact on the environment, namely the practice of sustainable tourism, with emphasis on ecotourism. This type becomes viable in the context of a stricter organization of the tourist flow, the existence of a process with informative and training role for visitors regarding the importance of preserving biodiversity. To conclude, the paper draws attention to the fact that recreational activities can be developed in special protection areas provided that the sustainable aspect is always kept in sight
Evolution of middle to Late Cretaceous oceans—A 55 m.y. record of Earth's temperature and carbon cycle

A new 55 m.y. global compilation of benthic foraminifera δ 13 C and δ 18 O for the middle to Late Cretaceous shows that there was widespread formation of bottom waters with temperatures >20 °C during the Cretaceous greenhouse world. These bottom waters filled the silled North Atlantic and probably originated as thermocline or intermediate waters in the tropical oceans. Carbon burial during the Cretaceous oceanic anoxic events produced a positive δ 13 C shift in global carbon reservoirs, but this is not particularly large, especially by comparison with the remarkable Late Paleocene carbon maximum. The interbasin δ 13 C gradient was unusually large during the Cretaceous hot greenhouse, probably because the North Atlantic sills prevented the free exchange of waters in the deep basin. The hot greenhouse ended when the Equatorial Atlantic Gateway opened sufficiently to flood the deep North Atlantic with relatively cool polar waters formed in the Southern Ocean.
On the Role of Temperature and Salinity Data Assimilation to Constrain a Coupled Physical–Biogeochemical Model in the Baltic Sea

AbstractA three-dimensional variational data assimilation (3DVAR) method is implemented in a coupled physical–biogeochemical (CPB) model in the Baltic Sea. This study carries out a 10-yr assimilation experiment with satellite sea surface temperature (SST) and observed in situ temperature (T) and salinity (S) profiles. The impact of the assimilation is assessed with the focus on how the biogeochemical model responds to the improved hydrodynamics. The assimilation of temperature and salinity data yields considerable improvements in the physical model. On a basin scale, the mean bias of SST, T, S, and mixed layer depth (MLD) is decreased by 0.18°C (57%), 0.31°C (49%), 0.34 psu (43%), and 1.8 m (43%), respectively. More importantly, the biogeochemical simulation is improved in response to the physical data assimilation. Compared with in situ observations, the mean biases of chlorophyll a (Chl), dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and phosphorus (DIP) are decreased by 0.09 mg m−3 (15.5%), 0.19 mmol m−3 (9%), an.
Different Strokes for Different Folks: Experimental Evidence on the Effectiveness of Input and Output Incentive Contracts for Health Care Providers with Varying Skills

A central issue in designing performance incentive contracts is whether to reward the production of outputs versus use of inputs: the former rewards efficiency and innovation in production, while the latter imposes less risk on agents. Agents with varying levels of skill may perform better under different contracts as well – more skilled workers may be better able to innovate, for example. We study these issues empirically through an experiment enabling us to observe and verify outputs (health outcomes) and inputs (adherence to recommended medical treatment) in Indian maternity care. We find that both output and input incentive contracts achieved comparable reductions in post-partum hemorrhage rates, the dimension of maternity care most sensitive to provider behavior and the largest cause of maternal mortality. Interestingly, and in line with theory, providers with advanced qualifications performed better and used new strategies under output incentives, while under input incentives, providers with and without advanced qualifications performed equally.
New birkeniid anaspid from the Lower Devonian of Scotland and its phylogenetic implications

Abstract: A new possible stem gnathostome, Kerreralepis carinata gen. et sp. nov., is described on the basis of a single specimen from the Lower Devonian of the island of Kerrera in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland. It is recognized as an anaspid by the chevron‐like arranged rod‐shaped scales on the trunk, gill openings extending behind the orbits in a slanting row and a series of median dorsal ridge scales. This specimen also has a series of median ventral plates, indicating the presence of a preanal fin‐fold, which in turn has consequences for interpretations of other problematic stem gnathostomes and their phylogenetic context. A cladistic analysis supports a monophyletic Anaspida including the scale‐covered birkeniids but excluding Lasanius as well as anaspid‐like forms such as Euphanerops and Jamoytius. The establishment of a new genus and species increases the diversity of anaspids and allows for a more detailed study of anaspid interrelationships. An ingroup analysis using Lasanius as an outgroup resolves Birkenia as a rather basal anaspid, sister to all other anaspids, alternatively sister to a clade represented by the taxa from Ringerike, Norway, and the closely associated taxon from Saaremaa Island, Estonia. These topologies agree rather well with the present fossil record of anaspids.
Modelling and experimental validation of a compliant under-actuated parallel kinematic manipulator

—Parallel kinematic manipulators (PKMs) are increasingly used in a wide range of industrial applications due to the characteristics of high-accuracy and compact structure. However, most of the existing PKMs are structured with heavy actuators and high stiffness. In this respect, this paper proses a simple, yet effective, parallel manipulator that distinguishes itself through: (1) under-actuation: it employs only a single motor and a driving cable to actuate its three legs; (2) novel foot location: it uses a smart shape memory alloy (SMA) clutch-based driving system (SCBDS) which catches/releases the driving cable, thus, making possible the robot under-actuation; (3) adjustable compliance: its double compliant joints on each limb with a stiffness-adjustable section which renders a safe human-robotic interaction. To support and predict the performance of this under-actuated compliant manipulator, a novel kinetostatic model was developed by considering the generalized internal loads (i.e. force and moment) in three compliant limbs and the external loads on the upper platform. Finally, based on the physical prototype, a set of experiments were conducted to validate the model proposed in this paper. It was found that the proposed kinetostatic model can be validated with the average deviations of 1.8% in position and 2.8% in orientation respectively. Further, the workspace of the system (e.g. discrete and continuous workspace) was studied when different actuating strategies were employed, thus emphasizing the advantages and the limitations of this novel system.