cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
A public health vs a risk-based intervention to improve cardiovascular health in elementary school children : The cardiovascular health in children study
Creators: name: Bradley, C.
name: Harrell, J.
name: Bangdiwala, S.
name: McMurray, R.
name: Gansky, S.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 1999

description: Objectives. This study sought to determine the population effects of both classroom-based and risk-based interventions designed to reduce cardiovascular disease risk factors in children. Methods. Elemenary school children (n = 2109; age range 7-12 years) were randomized by school to a classroom-based intervention for all third and fourth graders, a risk-based intervention only for those with 1 or more cardiovascular disease risk factors, or a control group. The 8-week interventions involved both knowledge-attitude and physical activity components. Results. School-level analyses showed that physical activity in the risk-based group and posttest knowledge in the classroom-based groups were significantly higher than in the control group. With regard to trends shown by individual-level analyses, cholesterol dropped more in the classroom-based than in the control group, and skinfold thickness decreased 2,9% in the classroom-based group and 3.2% in the risk-based group (as compared with a 1.1% increase in the control group). Conclusions. Both classroom-based and risk-based interventions had positive effects on physical activity and knowledge, with trends toward reduced body fat and cholesterol. However, the classroom-based approach was easier to implement and evidenced stronger results than the risk-based intervention.
Qué es eXeLearning
Creators: name: De Haro, J.J.
name: Valdera, C.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: eXeLearning

description: Aspectos básicos para empezar con eXeLearning. Este documento ha sido elaborado desde el grupo de Telegram sobre eXeLearning, para que los nuevos usuarios que no lo conocen sepan rápidamente qué es y qué se puede hacer con él.
description: El archivo ELP puede editarse con eXeLearning. Publicado en https://graasp.eu/resources/62ea0338ea0eca48dabb2a5c/raw Dirección corta: https://kutt.it/eXeLearning
Density matrix of black hole radiation
Creators: name: Alberte, Lasma
name: Brustein, Ram
name: Khmelnitsky, Andrei
name: Medved, A. J. M.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Hawking's model of black hole evaporation is not unitary and leads to a mixed density matrix for the emitted radiation, while the Page model describes a unitary evaporation process in which the density matrix evolves from an almost thermal state to a pure state. We compare a recently proposed model of semiclassical black hole evaporation to the two established models. In particular, we study the density matrix of the outgoing radiation and determine how the magnitude of the off-diagonal corrections differs for the three frameworks. For Hawking's model, we find power-law corrections to the two-point functions that induce exponentially suppressed corrections to the off-diagonal elements of the full density matrix. This verifies that the Hawking result is correct to all orders in perturbation theory and also allows one to express the full density matrix in terms of the single-particle density matrix. We then consider the semiclassical theory for which the corrections, being non-perturbative from an effective field-theory perspective, are much less suppressed and grow monotonically in time. In this case, the Rényi entropy for the outgoing radiation is shown to grow linearly at early times; but this growth slows down and the entropy eventually starts to decrease at the Page time. In addition to comparing models, we emphasize the distinction between the state of the radiation emitted from a black hole, which is highly quantum, and that of the radiation emitted from a typical classical black body at the same temperature.
description: 41 pages, 2 figures, added content, clarifications and explanations, v2 matches the published version
Adolescent reproductive events and subsequent breast cancer risk.
Creators: name: Newman, B
name: Baird, D D
name: Moorman, P G
name: Qaqish, B
name: Millikan, R C
name: Marcus, P M
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 1999

description: OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the relationship between reproductive events during adolescence and subsequent breast cancer risk.

METHODS: Logistic regression models used self-reported data from 862 case patients and 790 controls in the Carolina Breast Cancer Study.

RESULTS: Miscarriage, induced abortion, and full-term pregnancy before 20 years of age were not associated with breast cancer. Among premenopausal women, breast-feeding before 20 years of age was inversely associated with disease. Oral contraceptive use before 18 years of age was positively associated with disease risk among African American women only.

CONCLUSIONS: Pregnancy during adolescence does not appear to influence breast cancer risk, but breast-feeding may. A possible increased breast cancer risk among African American women who used oral contraceptives as adolescents warrants further study.
Definitions and standardization of a new grading scheme for eyelid contour abnormalities after trichiasis surgery
Creators: name: Cassard, S.D.
name: Merbs, S.L.
name: Gower, E.W.
name: Munoz, B.E.
name: West, S.K.
name: Harding, J.C.
Publisher: name: Public Library of Science
Year: 2012

description: Background: Clear definitions of outcomes following trichiasis surgery are critical for planning program evaluations and for identifying ways to improve trichiasis surgery. Eyelid contour abnormality is an important adverse outcome of surgery; however, no standard method has been described to categorize eyelid contour abnormalities. Methodology/Principal Findings: A classification system for eyelid contour abnormalities following surgery for trachomatous trichiasis was developed. To determine whether the grading was reproducible using the classification system, six-week postoperative photographs were reviewed by two senior graders to characterize severity of contour abnormalities. Sample photographs defining each contour abnormality category were compiled and used to train four new graders. All six graders independently graded a Standardization Set of 75 eyelids, which included a roughly equal distribution across the severity scale, and weighted kappa scores were calculated. Two hundred forty six-week postoperative photographs from an ongoing clinical trial were randomly selected for evaluating agreement across graders. Two months after initial grading, one grader regraded a subset of the 240 photographs to measure longer-term intra-observer agreement. The weighted kappa for agreement between the two senior graders was 0.80 (95% CI: 0.71-0.89). Among the Standardization Set, agreement between the senior graders and the 4 new graders showed weighted kappa scores ranging from 0.60-0.80. Among 240 eyes comprising the clinical trial dataset, agreement ranged from weighted kappa 0.70-0.71. Longer-term intra-observer agreement was weighted kappa 0.86 (95% CI: 0.80-0.92). Conclusions/Significance: The standard eyelid contour grading system we developed reproducibly delineates differing levels of contour abnormality. This grading system could be useful both for helping to evaluate trichiasis surgery outcomes in clinical trials and for evaluating trichiasis surgery programs.
Qué es eXeLearning
Creators: name: De Haro, J.J.
name: Valdera, C.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: eXeLearning

description: Aspectos básicos para empezar con eXeLearning. Este documento ha sido elaborado desde el grupo de Telegram sobre eXeLearning, para que los nuevos usuarios que no lo conocen sepan rápidamente qué es y qué se puede hacer con él.
description: El archivo ELP puede editarse con eXeLearning. Publicado en https://graasp.eu/resources/62ea0338ea0eca48dabb2a5c/raw Dirección corta: https://kutt.it/eXeLearning
The SINS/zC-SINF Survey of z~2 Galaxy Kinematics: Rest-frame Morphology, Structure, and Colors from Near-infrared Hubble Space Telescope Imaging
Creators: name: Tacchella, S.
name: Lang, P.
name: Carollo, C. M.
name: Schreiber, N. M. Förster
name: Renzini, A.
name: Shapley, A. E.
name: Wuyts, S.
name: Cresci, G.
name: Genzel, R.
name: Lilly, S. J.
name: Mancini, C.
name: Newman, S. F.
name: Tacconi, L. J.
name: Zamorani, G.
name: Davies, R. I.
name: Kurk, J.
name: Pozzetti, L.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We present the analysis of HST $J$- and $H$-band imaging for 29 galaxies on the star-forming main sequence at $z\sim2$, which have Adaptive Optics VLT SINFONI integral field spectroscopy from our SINS/zC-SINF program. The SINFONI H$α$ data resolve the on-going star-formation and the ionized gas kinematics on scales of $1-2$ kpc; the near-IR images trace the galaxies' rest-frame optical morphologies and distributions of stellar mass in old stellar populations at a similar resolution. The global light profiles of most galaxies show disk-like properties well described by a single Sérsic profile with $n\sim1$, with only $\sim15%$ requiring a high $n>3$ Sérsic index, all more massive than $10^{10}M_\odot$. In bulge+disk fits, about $40%$ of galaxies have a measurable bulge component in the light profiles, with $\sim15%$ showing a substantial bulge-to-total ratio $B/T\ge0.3$. This is a lower limit to the frequency of $z\sim2$ massive galaxies with a developed bulge component in stellar mass because it could be hidden by dust and/or outshined by a thick actively star-forming disk component. The galaxies' rest-optical half-light radii range between $1-7$ kpc, with a median of 2.1 kpc, and lie slightly above the size-mass relation at these epochs reported in the literature. This is attributed to differences in sample selection and definitions of size and/or mass measurements. The $(u-g)_{rest}$ color gradient and scatter within individual $z\sim2$ massive galaxies with $\ge10^{11}M_\odot$ are as high as in $z=0$ low-mass, late-type galaxies, and are consistent with the high star-formation rates of massive $z\sim2$ galaxies being sustained at large galactocentric distances.
description: 25 pages (+11 pages appendix), 20 figures; accepted by ApJ
An Exploration of Animal Husbandry Practices in India:  Traditions, Techniques, and Cultural Significance
Creators: name: International journal of Indian Science and Research
Publisher: name: International Journal of Indian Science and Research (ISSN No. 2583-4584)
Year: 2025

description: ABSTRACT

               The bond between humans and animals dates back to the Harappan Civilization, evident in cave art, and has evolved through various purposes including food, draft-power, and recreation. The Indian subcontinent saw the domestication of sheep and goats initially, followed by the significance of cattle during the Vedic period, leading to professional breeding practices. The emergence of Animal Ayurveda and the use of cow dung manure in agriculture marked the Iron Age. Buffaloes gained recognition for dairying during the Mauryan period, while horses and elephants played crucial roles in battles and transportation. This paper delves into the intricate tapestry of animal husbandry practices in early Indian society, exploring the diverse methods and traditions through textual sources, archaeological findings, and historical records. It examines the cultural, religious, and socio-economic significance of livestock, shedding light on its enduring impact on Indian civilization.

Keywords: Animal Husbandry, Ancient India, Vedic Period, Livestock Economy, Cultural Significance of Animals
Strong decays of vector mesons to pseudoscalar mesons in the relativistic quark model
Creators: name: Ebert, D.
name: Faustov, R. N.
name: Galkin, V. O.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Strong decays of vector ($^3S_1$) mesons to the pair of pseudoscalar ($^1S_0$) mesons are considered in the framework of the microscopic decay mechanism and the relativistic quark model based on the quasipotential approach. The quark-antiquark potential, which was previously used for the successful description of meson spectroscopy and electroweak decays, is employed as the source of the $q\bar q$ pair creation. The relativistic structure of the decay matrix element, relativistic contributions and boosts of the meson wave functions are comprehensively taken into account. The calculated rates of strong decays of light, heavy-light mesons and heavy quarkonia agree well with available experimental data.
description: 11 pages, 1 figure, version to be published in Physics Letters B
Fruit and vegetable consumption and prevention of cancer: the Black Churches United for Better Health project.
Creators: name: McClelland, J W
name: Cowan, A
name: Campbell, M K
name: Lashley, J
name: Kalsbeek, W D
name: Jackson, B
name: Motsinger, B
name: Demissie, S
name: Hoben, K
name: Demark-Wahnefried, W
name: Symons, M
name: Dodds, J
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 1999

description: OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the effects of the Black Churches United for Better Health project on increasing fruit and vegetable consumption among rural African American church members in North Carolina.

METHODS: Ten counties comprising 50 churches were pair matched and randomly assigned to either intervention or delayed intervention (no program until after the follow-up survey) conditions. A multicomponent intervention was conducted over approximately 20 months. A total of 2519 adults (77.3% response rate) completed both the baseline and 2-year follow-up interviews.

RESULTS: The 2 study groups consumed similar amounts of fruits and vegetables at baseline. AT the 2-year follow-up, the intervention group consumed 0.85 (SE = 0.12) servings more than the delayed intervention group (P < .0001). The largest increases were observed among people 66 years or older (1 serving), those with education beyond high school (0.92 servings), those widowed or divorced (0.96 servings), and those attending church frequently (1.3 servings). The last improvement occurred among those aged 18 to 37 years and those who were single.

CONCLUSIONS: The project was a successful model for achieving dietary change among rural African Americans.
Prenatal effects of maternal smoking on daughters' smoking: nicotine or testosterone exposure?
Creators: name: Udry, J R
name: Kandel, D B
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 1999

description: OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to specify the effect of prenatal fetal exposure to maternal cotinine and testosterone on daughters' smoking in adolescence and adulthood.

METHODS: Longitudinal causal models were estimated among 240 White mother-daughter pairs from the Child Health and Development Study. Mothers and daughters were reinterviewed when daughters were aged 15 to 17 years, and daughters were interviewed at 27 to 30 years of age. Blood samples were obtained from both parents during pregnancy and from adult daughters.

RESULTS: Testosterone and smoking were positively correlated among mothers during their pregnancy and among adult daughters. Maternal prenatal cotinine had no direct effect on daughters' smoking; self-reported smoking in pregnancy did have a direct effect. Smoking among daughters during adolescence was determined by maternal prenatal testosterone and self-reported maternal smoking during pregnancy and postnatally. Smoking among adult daughters reflected chronic smoking since adolescence and the continuing effect of postnatal maternal smoking. Prenatal maternal testosterone affected adult daughters' testosterone.

CONCLUSIONS: Estimates of the impact of prenatal maternal smoking depend on the measure of smoking. Prenatal testosterone exposure is a previously unrecognized risk factor for smoking among female offspring.
Automated Quantification of White Blood Cells in Light Microscopic Images of Injured Skeletal Muscle
Creators: name: Jiao, Yang
name: Derakhshan, Hananeh
name: Schneider, Barbara St. Pierre
name: Regentova, Emma
name: Yang, Mei
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Image and Video Processing (eess.IV)
subject: Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (cs.CV)
subject: Machine Learning (cs.LG)
subject: FOS: Electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: White blood cells (WBCs) are the most diverse cell types observed in the healing process of injured skeletal muscles. In the course of healing, WBCs exhibit dynamic cellular response and undergo multiple protein expression changes. The progress of healing can be analyzed by quantifying the number of WBCs or the amount of specific proteins in light microscopic images obtained at different time points after injury. In this paper, we propose an automated quantifying and analysis framework to analyze WBCs using light microscopic images of uninjured and injured muscles. The proposed framework is based on the Localized Iterative Otsu's threshold method with muscle edge detection and region of interest extraction. Compared with the threshold methods used in ImageJ, the LI Otsu's threshold method has high resistance to background area and achieves better accuracy. The CD68-positive cell results are presented for demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed work.
description: 2 tables, 7 figures, 8 pages
Global RLE assessment of Tropical Glacier Ecosystems
Creators: name: Ferrer-Paris, José
name: Keith, David
Publisher: name: Open Science Framework
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Physical Sciences and Mathematics
subject: Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
subject: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
subject: Natural Resources and Conservation
subject: Life Sciences
subject: Environmental Sciences
subject: Cryosphere
subject: Ecosystem science
subject: Global Ecosystem Typology
subject: Red List of Ecosystems
subject: Risk assessment
subject: Risk of collapse
subject: Terrestrial ecosystems

description: We will apply the IUCN Red List of Ecosystem (RLE) protocol to assess the risk of collapse of all regional units of Tropical Glacier Ecosystems. We will propose a clear definition and characterization of each unit, describe their current distribution, and evaluate threatening processes that can lead to the collapse of the ecosystem.
Prevalence and correlates of survival sex among runaway and homeless youth.
Creators: name: Greene, J M
name: Ringwalt, C L
name: Ennett, S T
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 1999

description: OBJECTIVE: This study examined the prevalence and correlates of survival sex among runaway and homeless youths.

METHODS: A nationally representative sample of shelter youths and a multicity sample of street youths were interviewed.

RESULTS: Approximately 28% of street youths and 10% of shelter youths reported having participated in survival sex, which was associated with age, days away from home, victimization, criminal behaviors, substance use, suicide attempts, sexually transmitted disease, and pregnancy.

CONCLUSIONS: Intensive and ongoing services are needed to provide resources and residential assistance to enable runaway and homeless youths to avoid survival sex, which is associated with many problem behaviors.
Sex differences in cognition in healthy elderly individuals
Creators: name: Turano, K.A.
name: Keay, L.
name: West, S.K.
name: Gower, E.W.
name: Winicki, J.M.
name: Muñoz, B.
name: Bandeen-Roche, K.
name: Munro, C.A.
name: Schretlen, D.J.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2012

description: Sex differences in patterns of cognitive test performance have been attributed to factors, such as sex hormones or sexual dimorphisms in brain structure, that change with normal aging. The current study examined sex differences in patterns of cognitive test performance in healthy elderly individuals. Cognitive test scores of 957 men and women (age 67-89), matched for overall level of cognitive test performance, age, education, and depression scale score, were compared. Men and women were indistinguishable on tests of auditory divided attention, category fluency, and executive functioning. In contrast, women performed better than men on tests of psychomotor speed and verbal learning and memory, whereas men outperformed women on tests of visuoconstruction and visual perception. Our finding that the pattern of sex differences in cognition observed in young adults is observed in old age has implications for future studies of both healthy elderly individuals and of those with cognitive disorders.
Parametric instability of classical Yang-Mills fields in a color magnetic background
Creators: name: Tsutsui, Shoichiro
name: Iida, Hideaki
name: Kunihiro, Teiji
name: Ohnishi, Akira
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: Nuclear Theory (nucl-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We investigate instabilities of classical Yang-Mills fields in a time-dependent spatially homogeneous color magnetic background field in a non-expanding geometry for elucidating the earliest stage dynamics of ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions. The background gauge field configuration considered in this article is spatially homogeneous and temporally periodic, and is alluded by Berges-Scheffler-Schlichting-Sexty (BSSS). We discuss the whole structure of instability bands of fluctuations around the BSSS background gauge field on the basis of Floquet theory, which enables us to discuss the stability in a systematic way. We find various instability bands on the $(p_z, p_T)$-plane. These instability bands are caused by parametric resonance despite the fact that the momentum dependence of the growth rate for $|\mathbf{p}| \leq \sqrt{B}$ is similar to a Nielsen-Olesen instability. Moreover, some of instability bands are found to emerge not only in the low momentum but also in the high momentum region; typically of the order of the saturation momentum as $|\mathbf{p}| \sim \sqrt{B} \sim Q_{\rm s}$.
description: 13 pages, 6 figures
The need of community health centers for international medical graduates.
Creators: name: Baer, L D
name: Miller, J S
name: Konrad, T R
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 1999

description: OBJECTIVES: This study sought to determine whether community health centers need international medical graduates to fill staff positions.

METHODS: The authors surveyed 100 community health center administrators to learn about their perceptions of international medical graduates.

RESULTS: Nationally, about one quarter of community health centers depend on international medical graduates to fill physician vacancies; most of these centers foresee unfilled positions in the event of a cutback.

CONCLUSIONS: Policies calling for a national reduction in the supply of international medical graduates need to be balanced by an understanding of these individuals' role in reducing local physician shortages.
Cataract surgery among medicare beneficiaries
Creators: name: Schein, O.D.
name: Gower, E.W.
name: Cassard, S.D.
name: Tielsch, J.M.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2012

description: Purpose: To present descriptive epidemiology of cataract surgery among Medicare recipients in the United States. Setting: Cataract surgery performed on Medicare beneficiaries in 2003 and 2004. Methods: Medicare claims data were used to identify all cataract surgery claims for procedures performed in the United States in 20032004. Standard assumptions were used to limit the claims to actual cataract surgery procedures performed. Summary statistics were created to determine the number of procedures performed for each outcome of interest: cataract surgery rates by age, sex, race and state; surgical volume by facility type and surgeon characteristics; time interval between first- and second-eye cataract surgery. Results: The national cataract surgery rate for 20032004 was 61.8 per 1000 Medicare beneficiary person-years. The rate was significantly higher for females and for those aged 7584 years. After adjustment for age and sex, blacks had approximately a 30% lower rate of surgery than whites. While only 5% of cataract surgeons performed more than 500 cataract surgeries annually, these surgeons performed 26% of the total cataract surgeries. Increasing surgical volume was found to be highly correlated with use of ambulatory surgical centers and reduced time interval between first- and second-eye surgery in the same patient. Conclusions: The epidemiology of cataract surgery in the United States Medicare population documents substantial variation in surgical rates by race, sex, age, and by certain provider characteristics.
The role of state policies and programs in buffering the effects of poverty on children's immunization receipt.
Creators: name: Freeman, V A
name: Konrad, T R
name: Mayer, M L
name: Slifkin, R T
name: Clark, S J
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 1999

description: OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the influence of public policies on the immunization status of 2-year old children in the United States.

METHODS: Up-to-dateness for the primary immunization series was assessed in a national sample of 8100 children from the 1988 National Maternal and Infant Health Survey and its 1991 Longitudinal Follow-Up.

RESULTS: Documented immunization rates of this sample were 33% for poor children and 44% for others. More widespread Medicated coverage was associated with greater likelihood of up-to-dateness among poor children. Up-to-dateness was more likely for poor children with public rather than private sources of routine pediatric care, but all children living in states where most immunizations were delivered in the public sector were less likely to be up to date. Poor children in state with partial vaccine replacement programs were less likely to be up to date than those in free-market purchase states.

CONCLUSIONS: While state policies can enhance immunization delivery for poor children, heavy reliance on public sector immunization does not ensure timely receipt of vaccines. Public- and private-sector collaboration is necessary to protect children from vaccine-preventable diseases.
Pseudo-observables in Higgs decays
Creators: name: Gonzalez-Alonso, Martin
name: Greljo, Admir
name: Isidori, Gino
name: Marzocca, David
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We define a set of pseudo-observables characterizing the properties of Higgs decays in generic extensions of the Standard Model with no new particles below the Higgs mass. The pseudo-observables can be determined from experimental data, providing a systematic generalization of the "kappa-framework" so far adopted by the LHC experiments. The pseudo-observables are defined from on-shell decay amplitudes, allow for a systematic inclusion of higher-order QED and QCD corrections, and can be computed in any Effective Field Theory (EFT) approach to Higgs physics. We analyze the reduction of the number of independent pseudo-observables following from the hypotheses of lepton-universality, CP invariance, custodial symmetry, and linearly realized electroweak symmetry breaking. We outline the importance of kinematical studies of $h\to 4\ell$ decays for the extraction of such parameters and present their predictions in the linear EFT framework.
description: 34 pages, 3 figures (v2: extended discussions on the validity of the approach; minor typos corrected. Published version)
Postcataract surgery endophthalmitis in the United States: Analysis of the complete 2003 to 2004 medicare database of cataract surgeries
Creators: name: Cassard, S.D.
name: Tielsch, J.M.
name: Schein, O.D.
name: Gower, E.W.
name: Keay, L.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2012

description: Objective: To estimate endophthalmitis incidence after cataract surgery nationally and at the state level in 2003 and 2004 and to explore risk factors. Design: Analysis of Medicare beneficiary claims data. Participants: We evaluated billed claims for cataract surgery and endophthalmitis diagnosis and treatment for all Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries in 2003-2004. Methods: Cataract surgeries were identified by procedure codes and merged with demographic information. Cataract annual surgical volume was calculated for all surgeons. Presumed postoperative endophthalmitis cases were identified by International Classification of Diseases-9 Clinical Modification Codes on claims within 42 days after surgery. Endophthalmitis rates and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated at state and national levels. Logistic regression was used to investigate the association between developing endophthalmitis and surgery location and surgeon factors. Main Outcome Measures: Endophthalmitis incidence and risk factors. Results: We included 4006 cases of presumed endophthalmitis, which occurred after 3 280 966 cataract surgeries. The national rate in 2003 was 1.33 per 1000 surgeries (95% CI, 1.27-1.38) and decreased to 1.11 per 1000 (95% CI, 1.06-1.16) in 2004. Males (relative risk [RR], 1.23; 95% CI, 1.15-1.31), older individuals (RR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.38-1.69; <85 compared with 65-74 years), blacks (RR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.03-1.33), and Native Americans (RR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.07-2.77) had increased risk of disease. After adjustment, surgeries by surgeons with low annual volume (RR, 3.80; 95% CI, 3.13-4.61 for 1-50 compared with <1001 annual surgeries) and less experience (RR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.25-1.59 for 1-10 compared with <30 years), and surgeries performed in 2003 (RR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.13-1.28) had increased endophthalmitis risk. Conclusions: Endophthalmitis rates are lower than previous yearly US estimates, but remain higher than rates reported from a series of studies from Sweden; patient factors or methodologic differences may contribute to differences across countries. Patient age, gender, and race, and surgeon volume and years of experience are important risk factors. Financial Disclosure(s): The authors have no proprietary or commercial interest in any of the materials discussed in this article.
Visual characteristics of elderly night drivers in the Salisbury Eye Evaluation Driving Study
Creators: name: West, S.K.
name: Munro, C.A.
name: Gower, E.W.
name: Munoz, B.E.
name: Kaleem, M.A.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2012

description: PURPOSE. To characterize visual factors among those who continue to drive and those who restrict night driving in the elderly population. METHODS. The Salisbury Eye Evaluation Driving Study (SEEDS) is a study of vision, cognition, and driving behaviors of older drivers living in the greater Salisbury, Maryland, metropolitan area. Patients were recruited from listings in the Department of Motor Vehicle Administration. Data are reported from two visits conducted 2 years apart. Night driving was assessed using a real-time driving assessment tool, the Driving Monitor System. Night driving was defined by the presence of at least one episode of driving at night during a 5-day time period (seasonally adjusted). Participants also underwent a battery of cognitive and visual function testing including distance acuity, contrast sensitivity, and visual fields. Logistic regression was used to model factors associated with night driving. RESULTS. Complete data were available for 990 of the 1080 participants (92%) attending both visits; 41% of participants were driving at night in each visit. Those who were younger (P < 0.001), male (P < 0.001), and had better measures of cognitive (P 1/4 0.007) and visual function were observed driving at night, whereas those who were older, female, and had poorer measures of cognitive and visual function restricted their night driving behavior. An association was observed between depressive symptoms and less night driving in females (P 1/4 0.003). In multivariate analysis, better contrast sensitivity (odds ratio [OR] 1.18, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02-1.36, P 1/4 0.02) and visual field detection (OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.00-1.47, P 1/4 0.05) were associated with driving at night. Visual acuity was not found to be significantly related to night driving (OR 1.08, 95% CI 0.95-1.18, P 1/4 0.12). CONCLUSIONS. Restricting driving at night is a multifactorial behavior that has a vision component, notably poor contrast sensitivity, and some loss of visual fields.
Australian mid-career plant science fellowship success relative to gender associated with the first name of the recipient (2009-2021)
Creators: name: Byrt, C
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Women in Crop Science

description: Within the last decade it is likely that approximately three times more male mid-career plant science researchers were awarded future fellowships in Australia relative to the number of female mid-career plant science researchers who were awarded future fellowships. Between 2009 and 2021 around 70 Australian Research Council Future Fellowship grants were awarded to recipients proposing projects in fields of research related to plant science or plant biology. Of the 70 grants 36 fell within the sub-category of ‘Plant Biology’, and of these 28 recipients had first names associated with male genders and 8 recipients had first names associated with female genders. Therefore, for ‘Plant Biology’ approximately 22% of grant recipients were for recipients with female associated names and 78% were for recipients with male associated names. Within the category described as plant science approximately 24% of grant recipients were for recipients with female-associated names and 76% of grant recipients were for recipients with male-associated names. The name association reflects only the association of the recipient’s name with a gender based on the data within a predictive database rather than the actual recipient’s gender, and the database of name gender associations splits into only male and female genders which does not account for non-binary genders. Therefore, the data at best only represents a general trend rather than an accurate representation of the grant recipients actual gender. However, the data indicates that for projects involving plant science research somewhere in the order of three times more mid-career fellowships were awarded to candidates with male-associated names relative to the number of grants awarded to recipients with female-associated names. The status quo needs to change to retain women in plant science in Australia.
Improving ML Applications in Shared Computing Environments
Creators: name: Harlap, Aaron
Publisher: name: Figshare
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: 90699 Electrical and Electronic Engineering not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering

description: Machine learning (ML) has become a powerful building block for modern services, scientific  endeavors and enterprise processes. The expensive computations required for training ML models often makes it desirable to run them in
a distributed manner in shared computing environments (e.g., Amazon EC2, Microsoft Azure, in-house shared clusters). Shared computing environments introduce a number of challenges, including uncorrelated performance jitter, heterogeneous resources, transient resources and limited bandwidth. This dissertation demonstrates that, by structuring software frameworks and work distribution to exploit transient resources and address performance jitter and communication bandwidth limitations, we can improve the e efficiency of training machine learning models.
We support this assertion with three case study systems: FlexRR, Proteus, and PipeDream. FlexRR is a distributed machine learning training system that combines a flexible synchronization model with dynamic peer-to-peer reassignment of work among workers to address stragglers caused by performance jitter. FlexRR observes near ideal run-time, mitigating the adverse effects of stragglers observed in shared computing environments. Proteus is an agile elastic machine learning training system that uses tiers of reliability and intelligent resource management to efficiently utilize transient compute resources.
Evaluations on AWS EC2 show that Proteus reduces cost by 85% relative to non-transient pricing, and by 43% relative to previous approaches, while simultaneously reducing runtimes by up to 37%. PipeDream is a distributed training
system for deep neural networks (DNNs) that partitions ranges of DNN layers among machines and aggressively pipelines computation and communication. By reducing the amount of communication, and overlapping communication
and computation, PipeDream provides a 5x or more improvement in \time to accuracy" for training large DNN models.
Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Field Emission From a Planar Nanodiode
Creators: name: Torfason, Kristinn
name: Valfells, Agust
name: Manolescu, Andrei
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Plasma Physics (physics.plasm-ph)
subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: High resolution molecular dynamics simulations with full Coulomb interactions of electrons are used to investigate field emission in planar nanodiodes. The effects of space charge and emitter radius are examined and compared to previous results concerning transition from Fowler-Nordheim to Child-Langmuir current. The Fowler-Nordheim law is used to determine the current density injected into the system and the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm to find a favourable point of emission on the emitter surface. A simple fluid like model is also developed and its results are in qualitative agreement with the simulations.
description: 7 pages, 10 figures
title: Ανάπτυξη συστήματος ταυτόχρονης καταγραφής πολλαπλών βιο-σημάτων με μη επεμβατικό τρόπο
title: Development of a system for simultaneous recording of multiple bio-signals in a non-invasive way
Creators: name: Ζουριδακης Στυλιανος-Νεκταριος
Publisher: name: Technical University of Crete
Year: 2020

description: Οι ανθρώπινες φυσιολογικές παράμετροι αποτελούν σημαντική αναφορά στη μέτρηση της κατάστασης της υγείας των ανθρώπων σ’ όλες τις ηλικίες και ιδιαίτερα στη βρεφική ηλικία. Η ανάγκη αποφυγής επικίνδυνων καταστάσεων για την υγεία, απαιτεί να ελέγχονται συνεχώς οι ζωτικής σημασίας φυσιολογικές αλλαγές του βρέφους με όλα τα μέσα, ιδανικά με μη παρεμβατικό τρόπο. Σκοπός της παρούσας εργασίας είναι η ανάπτυξη ενός συστήματος ταυτόχρονης καταγραφής βιο-σημάτων, όπως η θερμοκρασία του σώματος, χωρίς να απαιτείται επαφή του αισθητήρα με το σώμα. Το σύστημα επιτρέπει την παρακολούθηση αυτών των βιο-σημάτων σε πραγματικό χρόνο, ενώ διαθέσιμη είναι και η αποθήκευση τους για περαιτέρω ανάλυση εφόσον το επιθυμούμε. Για την επιβεβαίωση λειτουργίας του συστήματος, έγιναν μια σειρά από πειράματα σε διαφορετικές επιφάνειες όπως νερό, πλαστικό και ανθρώπινο δέρμα. Επιπλέον, πραγματοποιήθηκε μία μελέτη για τον έλεγχο της ακρίβειας των μετρήσεων του συστήματος από απόσταση, αλλά και την βελτίωσή της μέσω βαθμονόμησης.
description: Human physiological parameters are an important reference in measuring the state of health of people in all ages, especially in infancy. The need to avoid dangerous health situations requires that the baby’s vital physiological changes are constantly monitored by all means, ideally in a non-intrusive manner. The purpose of this thesis, is the development of a system for simultaneous recording of bio-signals, such as body temperature, taken from a distance. The system allows monitoring of these bio-signals in real time, while having the possibility to save them for further analysis if desired. In order to confirm the operation of the system, a series of experiments was performed in different surfaces such as water, plastic and human skin. In addition, a study was made in order to check the accuracy of the measurements and to improve it through calibration.
Singular parabolic equations of second order on manifolds with singularities
Creators: name: Shao, Yuanzhen
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Analysis of PDEs (math.AP)
subject: FOS: Mathematics

description: The main aim of this article is to establish an $L_p$-theory for elliptic operators on manifolds with singularities. The particular class of differential operators discussed herein may exhibit degenerate or singular behavior near the singular ends of the manifolds. Such a theory is of importance for the study of elliptic and parabolic equations on non-compact, or even incomplete manifolds, with or without boundary.
Rényi entropy uncertainty relation for successive projective measurements
Creators: name: Zhang, Jun
name: Zhang, Yang
name: Yu, Chang-shui
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We investigate the uncertainty principle for two successive projective measurements in terms of Rényi entropy based on a single quantum system. Our results cover a large family of the entropy (including the Shannon entropy) uncertainty relations with a lower optimal bound. We compare our relation with other formulations of the uncertainty principle in a two-spin observables measured on a pure quantum state of qubit. It is shown that the low bound of our uncertainty relation has better tightness.
description: 13pages,4figures, Quantum Inf Process(2015)
Das Ende der Moderne und die geistlichen Dimensionen der Ostkirche
Creators: name: Slesinski, Robert
Publisher: name: Internationale katholische Zeitschrift Communio
Year: 2022

description: Internationale katholische Zeitschrift Communio, Bd. 19 Nr. 4 (1990): Internationale katholische Zeitschrift Communio, Band 19, Heft 4
title: Business Continuity Management in Micro Enterprises: Perception, Strategies, and Use of ICT
Creators: name: Kaufhold, Marc-André
name: Riebe, Thea
name: Reuter, Christian
name: Hester, Julian
name: Jeske, Danny
name: Knüver, Lisa
name: Richert, Viktoria
Publisher: name: IGI Global
Year: 2022

description: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent 99% of enterprises in Germany and more than 95% in the European Union. Given the recent increase of natural disasters and man-made crises and emergencies, it seems an important economic goal to ascertain that SMEs are capable of maintaining their work, revenue and profit at an acceptable level. According to ISO 22301, business continuity management (BCM) is a holistic management process which identifies potential threats and their impact to an organization and serves as a framework to increase organizational resilience and response capabilities. Prior research identified that BCM is under-represented in SMEs and that their security level is partially in an uneconomical range. This article presents the analysis of interviews with 19 independent micro enterprises highlighting findings on their low crisis awareness, varying technical dependency, existing action strategies and communication strategies and proposing a categorization of micro enterprises as preventive technicians, data-intensive chains or pragmatic jumpers.
Channelling traditional techniques to microfluidic approaches for the analysis of stimuli-responsive lipid-based dispersions
Creators: name: LINDA  HONG
Publisher: name: Monash University
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: 111504 Pharmaceutical Sciences
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine

description: This thesis explores an alternative experimental configuration in the form of microfluidics (channels of fluid smaller than the width of the human hair) for the analysis of lipid-based formulations under the influence of factors such as enzyme and pH on structure. The new configuration is advantageous over traditional approaches as changes in structure can be controlled using microfluidic parameters.
What's driving an epidemic? The spread of syphilis along an interstate highway in rural North Carolina.
Creators: name: Royce, R A
name: Hanusa, B H
name: Cook, R L
name: Thomas, J C
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 1999

description: OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine whether county syphilis rates were increased along Interstate Highway 95 (I-95) in North Carolina during a recent epidemic.

METHODS: Ecological data on syphilis cases demographic data, highway data, and drug activity data were used to conduct a cross-sectional and longitudinal study of North Carolina countries from 1985 to 1994. Crude and adjusted incidence rate ratios (IRRs) were determined by means of standard and longitudinal Poisson regression models adjusted for sociodemographic factors and drug use.

RESULTS: Ten-year syphilis rates in I-95 counties greatly exceeded rates in non-I-95 counties (38 vs 16 cases per 100,000 persons) and remained higher after adjustment for race, age, sex, poverty, large cities, and drug activity (adjusted IRR = 2.05, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.84, 2.28). Syphilis rates were stable until 1989, when rates increased sharply in I-95 counties but remained stable in non-I-95 counties. Increased drug activity in I-95 counties preceded the rise in syphilis cases.

CONCLUSIONS: A better understanding of the relationship between high-ways and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases may guide future prevention interventions.
The generalised principle of perturbative agreement and the thermal mass
Creators: name: Drago, Nicolò
name: Hack, Thomas-Paul
name: Pinamonti, Nicola
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The Principle of Perturbative Agreement, as introduced by Hollands & Wald, is a renormalisation condition in quantum field theory on curved spacetimes. This principle states that the perturbative and exact constructions of a field theoretic model given by the sum of a free and an exactly tractable interaction Lagrangean should agree. We develop a proof of the validity of this principle in the case of scalar fields and quadratic interactions without derivatives which differs in strategy from the one given by Hollands & Wald for the case of quadratic interactions encoding a change of metric. Thereby we profit from the observation that, in the case of quadratic interactions, the composition of the inverse classical Møller map and the quantum Møller map is a contraction exponential of a particular type. Afterwards, we prove a generalisation of the Principle of Perturbative Agreement and show that considering an arbitrary quadratic contribution of a general interaction either as part of the free theory or as part of the perturbation gives equivalent results. Motivated by the thermal mass idea, we use our findings in order to extend the construction of massive interacting thermal equilibrium states in Minkowski spacetime developed by Fredenhagen & Lindner to the massless case. In passing, we also prove a property of the construction of Fredenhagen & Lindner which was conjectured by these authors.
description: 57 pages; alternative PPA proof in Sec. 3.4 revised and given only for non-derivative perturbations; added Appendices C and D to substantiate certain statements in Sec. 5; v3: minor improvements in Lemma 3.2 & D.1, added Remark 5.1