512 research outputs found
Finger injuries in sports
This issue of eMedRef provides information to clinicians on the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and therapeutics of finger injuries that may occur while playing sports
Separating the Wheat from the Chaff with BREAD: An open-source benchmark and metrics to detect redundancy in text
Data quality is a problem that perpetually resurfaces throughout the field of
NLP, regardless of task, domain, or architecture, and remains especially severe
for lower-resource languages. A typical and insidious issue, affecting both
training data and model output, is data that is repetitive and dominated by
linguistically uninteresting boilerplate, such as price catalogs or
computer-generated log files. Though this problem permeates many web-scraped
corpora, there has yet to be a benchmark to test against, or a systematic study
to find simple metrics that generalize across languages and agree with human
judgements of data quality. In the present work, we create and release BREAD, a
human-labeled benchmark on repetitive boilerplate vs. plausible linguistic
content, spanning 360 languages. We release several baseline CRED (Character
REDundancy) scores along with it, and evaluate their effectiveness on BREAD. We
hope that the community will use this resource to develop better filtering
methods, and that our reference implementations of CRED scores can become
standard corpus evaluation tools, driving the development of cleaner language
modeling corpora, especially in low-resource languages.Comment: Accepted to GEM workshop 2023; 6 page
Competency-Based Training in Aviation: The Impact on Flight Attendant Performance and Passenger Satisfaction
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO, 2017), over one billion tourists traveled the globe in 2016. In spite of this increase of travelers, airlines are faced with declining levels of customer service and quality of customer experience (American Customer Satisfaction Index [ACSI], 2012). Frontline service employees, like flight attendants, create a critical impression of the service which affects customer perceptions and satisfaction. Nevertheless, many unknowns exist about what creates such impression and how it can be improved. In particular, no study has investigated the effects of Competency-Based Training (CBT) on flight attendantsâ performance and consequently passengersâ satisfaction. The goal of this research was to examine the effect of CBT on flight attendantsâ performance and consequently passengersâ satisfaction. A group of 109 flight attendants was trained in four competences: managing stress, dealing with conflict situations, displaying human relations skills, and delivering quality customer service. Pre-and post-training measures of flight attendantsâ performance and customer satisfaction were taken. Random sampling was employed to administer questionnaires to passengers traveling between the Caribbean and North America. Bivariate analysis revealed that there was a positive association between flight attendant performance and customer satisfaction. However, flight attendant performance was not positively associated with CBT. Further analysis revealed that customer satisfaction is associated with CBT. Consequently, theoretical and practical implications were developed
U.S. Multinational Services Companies: Effects of Foreign Affiliate Activity on U.S. Employment
This working paper examines the effect that U.S. services firmsâ establishment abroad has on domestic employment. Whereas many papers have explored the employment effects of foreign direct investment in manufacturing, few have explored the effects of services investment. We find that services multinationalsâ activities abroad increase U.S. employment by promoting intrafirm exports from parent firms to their foreign affiliates. These exports support jobs at the parentsâ headquarters and throughout their U.S. supply chains. Our findings are principally based on economic research and econometric analysis performed by Commission staff, services trade and investment data published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and employment data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the aggregate, we find that services activities abroad support nearly 700,000 U.S. jobs. Case studies of U.S. multinationals in the banking, computer, logistics, and retail industries provide the global dimensions of U.S. MNC operations and identify domestic employment effects associated with foreign affiliate activity in each industry
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The CHARGE study: an epidemiologic investigation of genetic and environmental factors contributing to autism.
Causes and contributing factors for autism are poorly understood. Evidence suggests that prevalence is rising, but the extent to which diagnostic changes and improvements in ascertainment contribute to this increase is unclear. Both genetic and environmental factors are likely to contribute etiologically. Evidence from twin, family, and genetic studies supports a role for an inherited predisposition to the development of autism. Nonetheless, clinical, neuroanatomic, neurophysiologic, and epidemiologic studies suggest that gene penetrance and expression may be influenced, in some cases strongly, by the prenatal and early postnatal environmental milieu. Sporadic studies link autism to xenobiotic chemicals and/or viruses, but few methodologically rigorous investigations have been undertaken. In light of major gaps in understanding of autism, a large case-control investigation of underlying environmental and genetic causes for autism and triggers of regression has been launched. The CHARGE (Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and Environment) study will address a wide spectrum of chemical and biologic exposures, susceptibility factors, and their interactions. Phenotypic variation among children with autism will be explored, as will similarities and differences with developmental delay. The CHARGE study infrastructure includes detailed developmental assessments, medical information, questionnaire data, and biologic specimens. The CHARGE study is linked to University of California-Davis Center for Children's Environmental Health laboratories in immunology, xenobiotic measurement, cell signaling, genomics, and proteomics. The goals, study design, and data collection protocols are described, as well as preliminary demographic data on study participants and on diagnoses of those recruited through the California Department of Developmental Services Regional Center System
An Overview and Examination of the Indian Services Sector
Indiaâs service sector has grown rapidly since the 1990s. Domestic demand for services has increased as incomes have risen, triggering the expansion of industries such as banking, education, and telecommunications. Exports have also increased rapidly, led by information technology and business process outsourcing (IT-BPO). Indiaâs ability to offer low-cost, high-quality IT-BPO services has made it a world leader in this industry. However, employment in services has not grown as quickly as output. The majority of Indiaâs jobseekers are low-skilled, but demand for workers is growing fastest in higher-skill industries. The supply of highly-skilled workers has not kept pace with demand, causing wages to increase faster for these workers than for lower-skilled ones.
Indiaâs government has supported the growth of service industries through a mix of deregulation, liberalization, and incentive programs, such as the Software Technology Parks of India. Nevertheless, burdensome regulations, poor infrastructure, and foreign investment restrictions continue to affect service firmsâ ability to do business. USITC analysis suggests that additional liberalization would lead to an increase in Indiaâs imports of services
Malaria and anaemia among children in two communities of Kumasi, Ghana: a cross-sectional survey
BACKGROUND: A survey in Kumasi, Ghana found a marked Plasmodium falciparum prevalence difference between two neighbouring communities (Moshie Zongo and Manhyia). The primary objective of this follow-up study was to determine whether this parasite rate difference was consistent over time. Secondary objectives were to compare prevalences of clinical malaria, anaemia, intestinal parasite infections, and malnutrition between these communities; and to identify potential risk factors for P. falciparum infection and anaemia. METHODS: A cross-sectional house-to-house survey of P. falciparum parasitaemia, clinical malaria, anaemia, anthropometric indices, and intestinal helminths was conducted in April-May 2005. Data collection included child and household demographics, mosquito avoidance practices, distance to nearest health facility, child's travel history, symptoms, and anti-malarial use. Risk factors for P. falciparum and anaemia (Hb < 11 g/dl) were identified using generalized linear mixed models. RESULTS: In total, 296 children were tested from 184 households. Prevalences of P. falciparum, clinical malaria, anaemia, and stunting were significantly higher in Moshie Zongo (37.8%, 16.9%, 66.2% and 21.1%, respectively) compared to Manhyia (12.8%, 3.4%, 34.5% and 7.4%). Of 197 children tested for helminths, four were positive for Dicrocoelium dendriticum. Population attributable risks (PAR%) of anaemia were 16.5% (P. falciparum) and 7.6% (malnutrition). Risk factors for P. falciparum infection were older age, rural travel, and lower socioeconomic status. Risk factors for anaemia were P. falciparum infection, Moshie Zongo residence, male sex, and younger age. CONCLUSION: Heterogeneities in malariometric indices between neighbouring Kumasi communities are consistent over time. The low helminth prevalence, and the twofold higher PAR% of anaemia attributable to P. falciparum infection compared to malnutrition, indicate the importance of malaria as a cause of anaemia in this urban population
Maintenance of Sensitivity of the T-SPOT.TB Assay after Overnight Storage of Blood Samples, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Background. T-SPOT.TB is an interferon gamma release assay for detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. The requirement to process within 8 hours is constraining, deters use, and leads to invalid results. Addition of T Cell Xtend reagent may allow delayed processing, but has not been extensively field tested. Design. Consecutive AFB smear positive adult tuberculosis patients were prospectively recruited in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Patients provided a medical history, 1â3 sputum samples for culture and 1 blood sample which was transported to the laboratory under temperature-controlled conditions. After overnight storage, 25âÎŒL of T Cell Xtend reagent was added per mL of blood, and the sample was tested using T-SPOT.TB. Results. 143 patients were enrolled: 57 patients were excluded because temperature control was not maintained, 19 patients were excluded due to red blood cell contamination, and one did not provide a sputum sample for culture. Among 66 evaluable patients, overall agreement between T-SPOT.TB and culture was 95.4% (95%CI; 87.1â99.0%) with Kappa value 0.548. Sensitivity of T-SPOT.TB when using T Cell Xtend reagent was 96.8% (95%CI; 88.8â99.6%). Conclusions. When T Cell Xtend reagent is added to specimens held overnight at recommended temperatures, T-SPOT.TB is as sensitive as the standard assay in patients with tuberculosis
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