Abstract
Several prominent public health incidents [29] that occurred at the beginning of this century due to adverse drug events (ADEs) have raised international awareness of governments and industries about pharmacovigilance (PhV) [6, 7], the science and activities to monitor and prevent adverse events caused by pharmaceutical products after they are introduced to the market. A major data source for PhV is large-scale longitudinal observational databases (LODs) [6] such as electronic health records (EHRs) and medical insurance claim databases. Inspired by the Multiple Self-Controlled Case Series (MSCCS) model [27], arguably the leading method for ADE discovery from LODs, we propose baseline regularization, a regularized generalized linear model that leverages the diverse health profiles available in LODs across different individuals at different times. We apply the proposed method as well as MSCCS to the Marshfield Clinic EHR. Experimental results suggest that incorporatingthe heterogeneity among different patients and different times help to improve the performance in identifying benchmark ADEs from the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership ground truth [26]. © 2017 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).

Abstract
This study aimed to compare the dimensions of sexual satisfaction in subjects with and without cancer. Independent variables were: different types of cancer, time elapsed since diagnosis, types of treatment and changes in body image. The dependent variable was level of satisfaction with sexual relations. The sample consisted of 184 participants, of whom 95 belonged to the cancer group (ages between 26 and 84 years) and 89 to the non-cancer group (ages between 19 and 67 years). The instrument used was the Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire (QSRS, for its Portuguese acronym). The results showed significant differences between the cancer group and the non-cancer group. Individuals with a history of cancer disease had lower values (17.93 ± 9.67) at the level of sexual function compared to individuals with no history of the disease (30.19 ± 4.2). Individuals with cancer who had higher values of self-esteem were those with urological cancer (16.76 ± 2.85), followed by breast cancer (14.83 ± 3.34) and “other cancers” (14.41 ± 5.5), whereas those with digestive cancer presented the lowest values (5.68 ± 13.63). In sexual functioning, the group of “other cancers” showed the highest levels of satisfaction (23.53 ± 10.12), while people with breast cancer (19.54 ± 9.36), digestive cancer (18.50 ± 12.57), and urological cancer (29.12 ± 7.22) presented the lowest levels of satisfaction. Within the group of people with cancer, those who had less than one year and between three to five years of having been diagnosed reflected less satisfactory sexual performance values. On the other hand, radiation treatments, surgery and “other treatments” showed negative effects on sexual functioning, as well as changes in body image. All independent variables had a negative impact on sexual satisfaction and performance, with the exception of weight loss, vomiting, and hair loss.

Abstract

Abstract
The decision making framework in power system has changed due to presence of distributed energy resources (DERs). These resources are installed in distribution networks to meet demand locally. Therefore, distribution companies (Discos) are enabled to supply energy through these resources to meet their demand at a minimum operation cost. Moreover, in this framework, the Disco will change its role in the wholesale energy market from price taker to price maker as a decision maker. Moreover, DERs can serve reserve in their normal operation. This opportunity facilitates Disco to provide reserve to the wholesale reserve market. The strategic behavior of a Disco in wholesale energy and reserve markets is modeled in this paper as a bi-level optimization problem. The operation problem of the Disco and the Independent System Operator (ISO) are modeled in the upper-and lower-level problems, respectively. Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) dualilty theory conditions are employed to transform the proposed nonlinear bi-level problem to a linear single level one. Numerical studies demonstrate the proficiency of the proposed model and the solution methodology.

Abstract
Online credibility is a quality pursued by users, business and brands on Internet. Having a verified page on Facebook means improvement of the social web presence, reliability and reinforcement of security against impersonations of identity, unwanted fake pages and spams. Since the Facebook’s page verification request has become more complex and the requirements to receive a verified page badge are uncertain, this paper describes the use of foundations of transparency on information systems to fulfill the data on the forms of the application for verification to improve the success in receiving the verified page status. © Springer International Publishing AG 2017.

Abstract