Unreliable Sources Research Articles

Where does the Pregnant Women Searching for Their Information Need?

Pregnant women tend to be more concern with the health and food issue. During pregnancy, women will have physiological changes, such as intestinal disorders, metabolic diseases, and obesity. They tend to reduce consume of food with pregnancy-related health risk. In order to achieving healthy pregnancy, information related to health and food issue are needed. Pregnant women were actively seek information from a variety of sources. The research method used is literature review, we would like to identify which source of information that most used by pregnant to meet their information need and how is their belief about the sources. The conclusion of this study that information required by pregnant women related with information regarding medicine or medication use in pregnancy, nutrition, and health disorders. Dominant information used by pregnant women were health practitioners, online information, and family/friends. Although used by many pregnant women, the internet believed as an unreliable source of health information. Health practitioners were the main trusted information sources. This study is essential for information provider in designing healthy living information and educating health literacy for pregnant women.

Energy storage allocation in wind integrated distribution networks: An MILP-Based approach

Due to the unpredictable nature of wind energy and non-coincidence between wind units output power and demand peak load, wind units is deemed as an unreliable source of energy. In order to compensate for the short-term fluctuation of wind energy, deployment of energy storage (ES) units in various types have been introduced as a viable solution. This paper develops a stochastic mathematical model for the optimal allocation of ES units in active distribution networks (ADNs) in order to reduce wind power spillage and load curtailment while managing congestion and voltages deviation. Nonlinearities of the original formulation are converted to linear equivalents and the final model lies within the computationally tractable mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) fashion. The IEEE 33-bus 12.66 kV radial distribution test system is utilized to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. It was found that the rated power and capacity of ES units are depends on wind units' location and penetration level, in such a way that ES units are allocated near wind units to absorb excessive wind energy as much as possible. Furthermore, the results indicate ES units are useful for other purposes such as voltage management issue even if the wind units are not allocated.

Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion YouTube Videos as a Source of Patient Education.

Study DesignCross sectional study.PurposeTo assess the quality of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) videos available on YouTube and identify factors associated with video quality.Overview of LiteraturePatients commonly use the internet as a source of information regarding their surgeries. However, there is currently limited information regarding the quality of online videos about ACDF.MethodsA search was performed on YouTube using the phrase ‘anterior cervical discectomy and fusion.’ The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), DISCERN, and Health on the Net (HON) systems were used to rate the first 50 videos obtained. Information about each video was collected, including number of views, duration since the video was posted, percentage positivity (defined as number of likes the video received, divided by the total number of likes or dislikes of that video), number of comments, and the author of the video. Relationships between video quality and these factors were investigated.ResultsThe average number of views for each video was 96,239. The most common videos were those published by surgeons and those containing patient testimonies. Overall, the video quality was poor, with mean scores of 1.78/5 using the DISCERN criteria, 1.63/4 using the JAMA criteria, and 1.96/8 using the HON criteria. Surgeon authors’ videos scored higher than patient testimony videos when reviewed using the HON or JAMA systems. However, no other factors were found to be associated with video quality.ConclusionsThe quality of ACDF videos on YouTube is low, with the majority of videos produced by unreliable sources. Therefore, these YouTube videos should not be recommended as patient education tools for ACDF.

The IoT Energy Challenge: A Software Perspective

The Internet of Things (IoT) sparks a whole new world of embedded applications. Most of these applications are based on deeply embedded systems that have to operate on limited or unreliable sources of energy, such as batteries or energy harvesters. Meeting the energy requirements for such applications is a hard challenge, which threatens the future growth of the IoT. Software has the ultimate control over hardware. Therefore, its role is significant in optimizing the energy consumption of a system. Currently, programmers have no feedback on how their software affects the energy consumption of a system. Such feedback can be enabled by energy transparency, a concept that makes a program's energy consumption visible, from hardware to software. This paper discusses the need for energy transparency in software development and emphasizes on how such transparency can be realized to help tackling the IoT energy challenge.

News Reliability Evaluation using Latent Semantic Analysis

The rapid rise and widespread of ‘Fake News’ has severe implications in the society today. Much efforts have been directed towards the development of methods to verify news reliability on the Internet in recent years. In this paper, an automated news reliability evaluation system was proposed. The system utilizes term several Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques such as Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF), Phrase Detection and Cosine Similarity in tandem with Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA). A collection of 9203 labelled articles from both reliable and unreliable sources were collected. This dataset was then applied random test-train split to create the training dataset and testing dataset. The final results obtained shows 81.87% for precision and 86.95% for recall with the accuracy being 73.33%.

Donating funds and ideas to long-term innovation in non-profit organizations

We examine how donors influence long-term product innovation in non-profit organizations by estimating a fixed-effects model using longitudinal data on a sample of nonprofit organizations. Innovation requires multiyear funding, but donors to nonprofit organizations are an unreliable source of funding. Consistently, we find that when a nonprofit organization is increasingly supported by external donor funds, it reduces long-term innovation. However, as the nonprofit becomes more dependent on stable sources of earned revenue, such as subscriber and member revenue, concern associated with donor funding support is attenuated. Moreover, in contrast to donor funding support deterring innovation, when a nonprofit attracts more individual donors it increasingly emphasizes long- term innovation because donors have long-term aspirations for the non-profit and offer non-financial resources and ideas to the innovative process.

Antibiotic Self-Medication: prevalence and behavior description

Background: Antibiotics are highly prescribed drugs as treatment of usual diseases such as respiratory or urinary tract infections. Excessive use of antibiotics fastens the emergence of antibiotic resistance, increasing morbidity, mortality, hospitalizations, and costs, due difficulties in infections treatments. Unappropiated prescriptions and self-medication are especially high in South America. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of self-medication with antibiotics and describe behaivioral aspects in the population. Methods & Materials: Observational study. Closed-answer surveys was preformed to randomly selected people in La Plata city (Buenos Aires) on September 2017. Personal, behavioral, source of information and supply, side effects and risks of self-medication questions was asked. A database was created. Statistical analysis was made Results: 421 surveys were preformed. 230 (55%) were women. Mean age: 36.1. Social security:73% (308). Education: highschool or higher 88% (370). Self-medication with antibiotics prevalence was 66% (277), being higher in under 35 years (RR 2.56 CI = 1.69-3.87 p < 0.001).18% admited to do it at least once a year. Pharyngeal infections was the main reason 68% (189), urinary tract infections 15% (42) and odontological infections 10% (29). Knowing the disease and its treatment justified the use in 51% (142), medical assesment considered unnecessary 24% (66), no time to consult 20% (55) Antibiotics acquired in pharmacies: 76% (210). Information Provider: Relatives and friends 48% (133), pharmacist 25% (68), nurses 10% (28). Terapeutic discontinuation: after clinical improvement 39% (109), as set in leaflet 25% (68), when advised 22% (61), after finishing the tablets 14% (39). If symptoms persist, 88% (243) attends medical visit. 95% (264) reported desired effect after treatment. 91% (251) never suffered adverse effects. 66% (279) considered antibiotics as special drugs 78% (330) considered self-medication dangerous. 65% (274) never received information about antimicrobial resistance. Conclusion: High rate of self-medication with antibiotics is observed, mainly in under 35 years. Unreliable sources of information, and an acquisition without medical prescription are asociated. Reasons for self-consumption and length of treatments are based on cultural beliefs, not considering the medical prescription as necessary, despite awareness about risks. Behavioral information allows to promote actions aimed to rational use of antibiotics. in the comunity

Lithuanian theatre criticism in Soviet period: freedom and captivity of discourses

The article analyses the attitude of Lithuanian theatre criticism in the Soviet period. The discourse theory (Foucault) and critical discourse analysis method (Van Dijk) are used to find out how the official ideological and political discourse affected the language and aesthetical doctrine of theatre criticism. It is shown that the history of the Lithuanian theatre after 1945 was written according to the Soviet theatre history. Critics in their articles used party directives and tried to emphasize the social realistic aesthetics of the theatrical performances. Comparing the volumes (published in 1979 and 1987) of academic Lithuanian theatre history shows that the similarity of their language is paradoxical, even thoughthese texts are written in different periods. One of the most interesting example is “Herkus Mantas” (1957) by playwright Juozas Grušas and director Henrikas Vancevičius, the first performance of Khrushchev Thaw period on the Lithuanian stage, which was analyzed using double significance: as a heroic, epic, monumental, romantic and poetic national tragedy and as a social, atheistic, people tragedy based on Marxist position. “Herkus Mantas” was the first historical tragedy after the forced social realism and Stalinist Non-conflict Theory in 1945–1956, but critics even in the 8th and 9th decades still compared the performance with the Soviet heroic revolutionary plays. Criticism saw the peculiarity and importance of “Herkus Mantas” but it was judged by the rhetoric of ideologically legitimate discourse, emphasizing the aesthetics of the performance with the official doctrine. This example shows that the discourse of criticism was dependent on ideology, but it was free to manipulate the language and form of ideological discourse. This manipulation, or mimicry of the Lithuanian theatre critics in early and late Soviet times makes criticism an unreliable source of historical research, but it also shows an empty form of the official discourse itself in which new (and random) content could have appeared. This new content could have been given by choosing the “reading code”.

Journalists’ and news editors’ views on children as news subjects in Albanian media: Exploring issues of newsworthiness and self-censorship

Abstract This article explores the views of journalists and news editors on children in Albania, through a series of interviews with noted media professionals. This study finds that stories about children are not considered as newsworthy and children are mostly seen as unreliable stand-alone sources by journalists and news editors. As a mechanism to mitigate the risks of being refused by their editors, journalists increase the newsworthiness of children-focused news items by directing the story towards adults (mostly politicians) and by quoting them. Considering children’s perspectives in news coverage is essential, as it contributes to a social order that acknowledges children’s agency.

A Robust DS Combination Method Based on Evidence Correction and Conflict Redistribution

To eliminate potential evidence conflicts, an effective and accurate DS combination method is addressed in this paper. DS evidence theory is an outstanding information fusion approach with valid uncertainty treatment. Nevertheless, there are some limitations of the usage of the DS evidence theory. On the one hand, due to the complexity of a combat measurement environment and the inconsistency of sensor capabilities, sensor sources have enormous uncertainty, which would inevitably cause conflicts for evidence combination. On the other hand, DS combination rule realizes the unity property of fusing results with a compulsive normalization, which unavoidably leads to conflicting situations. To solve the possible evidence conflicts in a multisensor fusion system, we raise a robust DS combination method based on evidence correction and conflict redistribution. Firstly, two corrected indexes—the reliability index and consistency index—are separately addressed with the introduction of the Matusita distance function and closeness degree function. After the evidence modification based on two correction indexes, the conflicts caused by unreliable sensor sources are solved. Then, based on the corrected evidences, we put forward a weighted assignment of conflicting mass where the weight index lies on the evidence credibility. As the normalization step is abolished, the conflict redistribution strategy avoids the conflicts caused by straightforward normalization. Through comprehensive conflict management, the proposed DS combination method can not only guarantee the rationality and availability of fusing results, but also enhance the reliability and robustness of a multisensor system. Finally, three combination experiments with different conflicting degrees illustrate the advantage and superiority of the novel combination method for conflict management. Consequently, the innovation of the novel algorithm is verified.

Parameter and input data uncertainty estimation for the assessment of water resources in two sub-basins of the Limpopo River Basin

Abstract. The demand for water resources is rapidly growing, placing more strain on access to water and its management. In order to appropriately manage water resources, there is a need to accurately quantify available water resources. Unfortunately, the data required for such assessment are frequently far from sufficient in terms of availability and quality, especially in southern Africa. In this study, the uncertainty related to the estimation of water resources of two sub-basins of the Limpopo River Basin – the Mogalakwena in South Africa and the Shashe shared between Botswana and Zimbabwe – is assessed. Input data (and model parameters) are significant sources of uncertainty that should be quantified. In southern Africa water use data are among the most unreliable sources of model input data because available databases generally consist of only licensed information and actual use is generally unknown. The study assesses how these uncertainties impact the estimation of surface water resources of the sub-basins. Data on farm reservoirs and irrigated areas from various sources were collected and used to run the model. Many farm dams and large irrigation areas are located in the upper parts of the Mogalakwena sub-basin. Results indicate that water use uncertainty is small. Nevertheless, the medium to low flows are clearly impacted. The simulated mean monthly flows at the outlet of the Mogalakwena sub-basin were between 22.62 and 24.68 Mm3 per month when incorporating only the uncertainty related to the main physical runoff generating parameters. The range of total predictive uncertainty of the model increased to between 22.15 and 24.99 Mm3 when water use data such as small farm and large reservoirs and irrigation were included. For the Shashe sub-basin incorporating only uncertainty related to the main runoff parameters resulted in mean monthly flows between 11.66 and 14.54 Mm3. The range of predictive uncertainty changed to between 11.66 and 17.72 Mm3 after the uncertainty in water use information was added.

Groundwater Resource Assessment and Conceptualization in the Pilbara Region, Western Australia

The Pilbara region is one of the most important mining hubs in Australia. It is also a region characterised by an extreme climate, featuring environmental assets of national significance, and considered a valued land by indigenous people. Given the arid conditions, surface water is scarce, shows large variability, and is an unreliable source of water for drinking and industrial/mining purposes. In such conditions, groundwater has become a strategic resource in the Pilbara region. To date, however, an integrated regional characterization and conceptualization of the occurrence of groundwater resources in this region were missing. This article addresses this gap by integrating disperse knowledge, collating available data on aquifer properties, by reviewing groundwater systems (aquifer types) present in the region and identifying their potential, and proposing conceptualizations for the occurrence and functioning of the groundwater systems identified. Results show that aquifers across the Pilbara Region vary substantially and can be classified in seven main types: coastal alluvial systems, concealed channel iron deposits, inland valley-fill aquifers, karstified dolomites, sandstone aquifers (West Canning Basin), Permian/Cenozoic Paleochannels, and Fractured Rock aquifers. Coastal alluvial systems show the greatest regional potential as water sources and are currently intensively utilised. Conceptually, the main recharge processes are infiltration of precipitation associated with cyclonic events and the interaction with streamflows during summer season, whereas the main discharge mechanisms correspond to evapotranspiration from riverine and coastal vegetation, discharge into the Indian Ocean, and dewatering of iron-ore bodies to facilitate mining activities. Important gaps in the knowledge relate to aquifer connectivity and accurate quantification of recharge/discharge mechanisms.

Empowering the Poor: Turning De Facto Rights into Collateralized Credit

The shrinking middle class and the widening gap between the rich and the poor threaten social and financial stability. Though sometimes identified as a problem of developing countries, the inability of the poor to use as collateral their de facto rights in property, in order to borrow and start small businesses, impedes upward mobility is nearly all countries. Efforts to solve this problem have failed because they focus on transforming de facto rights into de jure title under property law, which is tightly bound to tradition and protecting vested ownership, and also because some countries have weak or conflicting property-law regimes. Credit, however, is a commercial law concept, and modern commercial law increasingly recognizes important policy goals and realities as a justification for overriding traditional property-law limitations. This Article analyzes why commercial law should allow the poor to use their de facto rights as collateral, thereby empowering them with credit and facilitating a radically new conception of sustainable finance—attracting arm’s length funding, rather than being dependent on limited or unreliable charitable sources.

Features of the microblog and its role in the formation of a green public sphere in China: The case of 2015 Tianjin Explosions

Abstract This article tries to take the case of the Tianjin explosions, which happened in 2015, as an example to address two questions. First, what are the features of the online microblog, as distinct from traditional media, in the context of contemporary China? Second, what is the role of new media (represented by the microblog), in forming the green public sphere in China? In the case of the Tianjin explosions, the first report was from a microblogger, minutes after the explosions. However, the traditional media did not report any news of the fire until four hours later, and subsequent related news was greatly regulated and manufactured by the central controlling agency. This delayed response and continued diversion of the incident invoked outrage among the public, who were kept updated by active microbloggers. From this brief research, it can be concluded that as netizen numbers grow and more agencies are added to netizens’ voices, the microblog obviously has become the indispensable new media platform in China, although it is still dismissed as an unreliable and valueless source by government officials. It indeed contributes to the formation of the green public sphere somehow, but the development of the green public sphere in China is still in its infancy.

MODELLING OF POTENTIAL SITES FOR UNDERGROUND WATER IN SEMI ARID AREAS

Kajiado County in southern Kenya experiences insufficient amount of rainfall and people living in this region face alot of water challenges.The main economic activities in the area include pastoralism, livestock herding, tourism and agriculture which require sustainable water sources. The current water sources in the area are mainly seasonal rivers that provide unreliable water supply. The few existing boreholes are long distances apart. Amount of rainfall experienced in this region is insufficient and unreliable. This study sought to identify alternative, reliable, and sustainable water sources to complement the current unreliable water sources. Underground water is sustainable and its identification and utilization could help in solving the current water issues. To address the problem of water shortage, Remote Sensing and GIS techniques were applied in analyzing and identifying suitable sites for underground water. Necessary variables for identifying underground water were identified with assistance from expert opinion. Current water resources were characterized, a geodatabase created and a model for underground water developed. Land cover, slope, lithology, soil, lineament and climate comprised the six variables used. GIS technology was integrated with Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), for Multi Criteria Evaluation (MCE) in determining the factors necessary in locating suitable areas. Identified criteria were combined using weighted overlay approach. Results indicated that 51% of the study area was viable for sourcing underground water. Exploitation of this resource would mean sustainable source of water. The suitable locations were well distributed in the County except in the central area which generally falls under unsuitable areas for sourcing underground water. Remote Sensing and GIS were noted as suitable tools for identifying suitable locations for sourcing underground water. Decision makers could adopt this approach in making informed decisions on where to sink new boreholes

How to decide when the sources of evidence are unreliable: A multi-criteria discounting approach in the Dempster–Shafer theory

Dempster–Shafer theory manages uncertain information and offers a useful fusion tool for decision-making. However, the quality of combining is affected by conflicting information, especially when the sources of evidence are unreliable. A number of methods for discounting unreliable sources of evidence have been proposed. In these approaches, the estimation of the discounting factors is crucial, mainly when prior knowledge is unavailable. Most discounting methods assume that the distance between bodies of evidence is the only factor for conflict estimation. However, considering just one factor is not reliable enough to assess the reliability degrees, since the confusion, disparity, and imperfection of information provided by the sources of evidence are due to different types of conflict. In this paper, we proposed a multi-criteria method to estimate the reliability factors. We defined a method to select a comprehensive set of criteria, which each criterion takes into account the uncertainty of each source of evidence. Then, we proposed an aggregation method to estimate the reliability degree. Finally, we extended our proposed reliability degrees in a sequential discounting approach. We verified our suggested discounting method through two designed experiments. The results showed that our approach was efficient in combining the unreliable sources of evidence. Moreover, our proposed reliability degree was more robust in outliers than the previous methods.

Information needs of Arab cancer survivors and caregivers: A mixed methods study

BackgroundArab cancer survivors and their caregivers often have high levels of unmet information needs. However, whether these information needs are the same for cancer survivors living in Arab speaking countries compared to Arab migrants is not clear. ObjectiveTo identify the information needs and information sources among Arab cancer survivors and their caregivers. MethodsArab cancer survivors (n=143) in Jordan and Australia were surveyed to explore their information needs and information sources. Interviews with cancer survivors and their caregivers, and focus groups with health care providers were conducted in both countries. FindingsWhile lack of information about cancer, its treatment and side effects were common to both groups, Arab Australian cancer survivors expressed greater need for information about managing their illness (P=.027), receiving explanations about tests (P=.016) and the benefits and side-effects of treatments before making choices (P=.041) than Jordanian cancer survivors. Qualitative findings revealed preferences for spoken rather than written information, and the provision of diagrams and drawings. Although information provided by doctors was a trusted source, almost half the participants indicated they used the Internet for information. Despite the use of interpreters, Australian health care providers expressed concern at whether the information they provided had been delivered and understood. ConclusionArab cancer survivors and their caregivers have unmet cancer information needs resulting in them seeking information from potentially unreliable sources such as the Internet. Arab migrants may need additional assistance to ensure they receive information relevant to their disease and are linked with the most trusted source of information.

Safe Handling of Anti-Neoplastic Drugs in the University Hospitals: A Descriptive Survey Study Among Oncology Nurses

Background: Occupational exposure to anti-neoplastic drugs (ANPDs) is still a concern among oncology health care workers. Objectives: The current study aims at evaluating the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of oncology nurses towards the safe handling of ANPDs as well as determining the educational needs for the promotion of safe behaviours. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted between November 2014 and August 2015 in 6 university hospitals in Iran. A specialized questionnaire (4 sections and 49-items) was developed by a clinical pharmacologist and an occupational toxicologist in order to assess the KAP of oncology nurses in terms of safe handling of ANPDs. Results: A total of 80 nurses responded to the questionnaire. The KAP scores of oncology nurses towards the safe handling of ANPDs were fairly satisfactory. The mean scores of responses for knowledge, attitude, and practice were 54.30 ± 10.86 out of 65, 32.83 ± 5.88 out of 40, and 50.35 ± 10.21 out of 60, respectively. About half of the nurses were trained in oncology ward (by in-service training) and most of them used unreliable sources of information for safe handling of ANPDs. Conclusions: While the nurses’ knowledge in safe handling of ANPDs is acceptable, training providers and information sources are not appropriate. An ongoing educational program provided by expert pharmacists could decrease the occupational exposure to ANPDs.

Willingness to pay for improved drinking water in southwest coastal Bangladesh

Abstract Households in the rural areas of southwest coastal Bangladesh mainly depend on unreliable sources of drinking water. This study assessed the willingness to pay (WTP) for improved drinking water in a rural area of the southwest coastal Bangladesh, using contingent valuation survey data of 215 households. The samples for the face-to-face interview were selected by purposive random sampling from Chila union of Mongla sub-district under Bagerhat district. The mean WTP for improved drinking water was estimated to be BDT 193 (US$ 2.47) per month (3% of the monthly income of the households). Results also indicate that educated respondents and households with higher income are willing to pay more for improved water supply. Moreover, the expenditure of the households for buying water and for medicine for waterborne diseases has a significant positive impact on the WTP. The results of this study can be useful for decision-makers to promote improved drinking water supply in southwest coastal Bangladesh.

Children’s explicit assessments of reliability influence their willingness to learn novel labels

This study examined how explicitly evaluating another person’s performance influences 3.5-year-old children’s willingness to learn from that person. Children interacted with a speaker who presented a series of familiar objects and labeled them either accurately or inaccurately. After establishing reliability, the speaker taught nonsense labels for two additional familiar objects. Half of the children were asked to explicitly judge whether the speaker was reliable before the novel labels were presented; half were asked to do so at the end of the experiment. Children who were given an opportunity to verbally assess the speaker’s accuracy prior to label learning were more likely than those evaluating afterward to avoid learning from the previously inaccurate labeler. These findings show that explicitly evaluating their knowledge can reduce children’s willingness to learn words from an unreliable source, expanding on prior research showing influences of explicit evaluations on children’s problem solving.