Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inequalities in ventilation tube insertion procedures between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children in New South Wales, Australia: a data linkage study

Objectives Australian Aboriginal children experience earlier, more frequent and more severe otitis media, particularly in remote communities, than non-Aboriginal children. Insertion of ventilation tubes is the main surgical procedure for otitis media. Our aim was to quantify inequalities in ventilation tube insertion (VTI) procedures between Australian Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children, and to explore the influence of birth characteristics, socioeconomic background and geographical remoteness on this inequality. Design Retrospective cohort study using linked hospital and mortality data from July 2000 to December 2008. Setting and participants A whole-of-population cohort of 653 550 children (16 831 Aboriginal and 636 719 non-Aboriginal) born in a New South Wales hospital between 1 July 2000 and 31 December 2007 was included in the analysis. Outcome measure First VTI procedure. Results VTI rates were lower in Aboriginal compared with non-Aboriginal children (incidence rate (IR), 4.3/1000 person-years; 95% CI 3.8 to 4.8 vs IR 5.8/1000 person-years; 95% CI 5.7 to 5.8). Overall, Aboriginal children were 28% less likely than non-Aboriginal children to have ventilation tubes inserted (age-adjusted and sex-adjusted rate ratios (RRs) 0.72; 95% CI 0.64 to 0.80). After adjusting additionally for geographical remoteness, Aboriginal children were 19% less likely to have ventilation tubes inserted (age-adjusted and sex-adjusted RR 0.81; 95% CI 0.73 to 0.91). After adjusting separately for private patient/health insurance status and area socioeconomic status, there was no significant difference (age-adjusted and sex-adjusted RR 0.96; 95% CI 0.86 to 1.08 and RR 0.93; 95% CI 0.83 to 1.04, respectively). In the fully adjusted model, there were no significant differences in VTI rates between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children (RR 1.06; 95% CI 0.94 to 1.19). Conclusions Despite a much higher prevalence of otitis media, Aboriginal children were less likely to receive VTI procedures than their non-Aboriginal counterparts; this inequality was largely explained by differences in socioeconomic status and geographical remoteness.
Clinical Profiles and Factors Associated with Death in Adults with Dengue Admitted to Intensive Care Units, Minas Gerais, Brazil

The purpose of our study was to describe the clinical profile of dengue-infected patients admitted to Brazilian intensive care units (ICU) and evaluate factors associated with death. A longitudinal, multicenter case series study was conducted with laboratory-confirmed dengue patients admitted to nine Brazilian ICUs situated in Minas Gerais state, southeastern Brazil from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2013. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data; disease severity scores; and mortality were evaluated. A total of 97 patients were studied. The in-ICU and in-hospital mortality rates were 18.6% and 19.6%, respectively. Patients classified as having severe dengue according to current World Health Organization classifications showed an increased risk of death in a univariate analysis. Nonsurvivors were older, exhibited lower serum albumin concentrations and higher total leukocyte counts and serum creatinine levels. Other risk factors (vomiting, lethargy/restlessness, dyspnea/respiratory distress) were also associated with death in a univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis indicated that in-hospital mortality was significantly associated with Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II and the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score. The ICU and in-hospital mortality observed in this study were higher than values reported in similar studies. An increased frequency of ICU admission due to severe organ dysfunction, higher severity indices and scarcity of ICU beds may partially explain the higher mortality.
The measurement of acculturation.

Acculturation as described in the demographic sociological and psychological literature is defined as a process of change and adaptation that results from contact between members of different cultural groups. Therefore it embodies the strategies of integration assimilation separation or segregation and marginalization. Data from the 1991 Census Public Use Microdata File are used to derive an index of acculturation. The index is applied in a preliminary analysis of selected characteristics of immigrants [in Canada] (place of birth and mother tongue) to demonstrate the potential for this indicator. (EXCERPT) (SUMMARY IN FRE)
Sentiment Analysis in Turkish Media

In this paper, we propose a comparison of Lexicon based and Machine Learning based sentiment analysis methods on Turkish social media. We formed a lexicon based SA method using a sentimentally oriented Turkish lexicon. We form this lexicon with an English opinion lexicon (translated to Turkish), multi-words expressions, words with absence/presence suffixes and extra needed words for Turkish. We explore different pre-processing techniques considering the linguistic properties of Turkish. We apply lexicon based approach by summing up sentiment scores of terms (words, MWEs, abbreviations etc.) in the lexicon. On the other hand, we formed a baseline Machine Learning (ML) based method using different feature sets including word roots and n-grams with a bag of words representation method. We apply both approaches for binary (positive/negative) classification. To show the strength and shortcomings of these two approaches, we evaluate both of them on short (twitter dataset) and long (movie dataset) Turkish informal texts.
Towards decrypting attractiveness via multi-modality cues

Decrypting the secret of beauty or attractiveness has been the pursuit of artists and philosophers for centuries. To date, the computational model for attractiveness estimation has been actively explored in computer vision and multimedia community, yet with the focus mainly on facial features. In this article, we conduct a comprehensive study on female attractiveness conveyed by single/multiple modalities of cues, that is, face, dressing and/or voice, and aim to discover how different modalities individually and collectively affect the human sense of beauty. To extensively investigate the problem, we collect the Multi-Modality Beauty (M2B) dataset, which is annotated with attractiveness levels converted from manual k-wise ratings and semantic attributes of different modalities. Inspired by the common consensus that middle-level attribute prediction can assist higher-level computer vision tasks, we manually labeled many attributes for each modality. Next, a tri-layer Dual-supervised Feature-Attribute-Task (DFAT) network is proposed to jointly learn the attribute model and attractiveness model of single/multiple modalities. To remedy possible loss of information caused by incomplete manual attributes, we also propose a novel Latent Dual-supervised Feature-Attribute-Task (LDFAT) network, where latent attributes are combined with manual attributes to contribute to the final attractiveness estimation. The extensive experimental evaluations on the collected M2B dataset well demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed DFAT and LDFAT networks for female attractiveness prediction.
Evaluating eight newly identified susceptibility loci for nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate in a Mesoamerican population.

BACKGROUND Nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) is among the most frequently occurring congenital malformations worldwide. The number of genetic loci identified as being involved in NSCL/P etiology was recently increased by a large genome-wide meta-analysis of European and Asian samples. This meta-analysis confirmed all six previously recognized genetic susceptibility loci and identified six novel ones. METHODS To investigate which of these 12 loci contribute to NSCL/P risk in an independent sample of distinct ethnicity, we performed a case-control association analysis in a sample of the Mesoamerican population. A total of 153 individuals with NSCL/P (cases) and 337 unaffected controls were included. Top single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at 8 of the 12 loci (1p22.1, 1p36, 2p21, 3p11.1, 8q21.3, 13q31.1, 15q22, and 20q12) were analyzed using mass spectroscopy and restriction-length-fragment polymorphism analyses. In a previous study, we had analyzed the remaining four NSCL/P susceptibility regions (IRF6, 8q24, 10q25, and 17q22) in the same sample. RESULTS Single-marker association analyses applying allelic, dominant, and recessive models revealed nominal significant associations for four of the eight loci, with two additional loci showing at least a trend of association in the hypothesized direction. CONCLUSION In combination with results from our previous study using the same sample, our data suggest that the majority of the known NSCL/P susceptibility regions identified to date also confer risk for this malformation in the Mesoamerican population. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 100:43-47, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Locus of control as a moderator variable for the attribution and learning processes of marketing managers

Abstract A mail survey study (N = 762) was conducted in Canada in 1989 to verify two hypotheses on the relation between marketing managers' locus of control and the aspects of two cognitive processes: the attribution process and the learning process. The first hypothesis proposed that internally controlled managers attributed past commercial results of their company more to internal factors (i.e., the company's management, marketing management, and marketing personnel) than to external factors (i.e., competitors, political/legal environment, general economic conditions). The second hypothesis proposed that internally controlled managers expected the influence of the marketing department on the company to evolve in the same direction as a combined result of past influence and past commercial results. A LISREL procedure was used to build the statistical model. The first hypothesis was verified only for externally controlled managers who weighted external factors more than internal factors in their assessmen.
A Field Guide to Forward-Backward Splitting with a FASTA Implementation

Non-differentiable and constrained optimization play a key role in machine learning, signal and image processing, communications, and beyond. For high-dimensional minimization problems involving large datasets or many unknowns, the forward-backward splitting method provides a simple, practical solver. Despite its apparently simplicity, the performance of the forward-backward splitting is highly sensitive to implementation details. This article is an introductory review of forward-backward splitting with a special emphasis on practical implementation concerns. Issues like stepsize selection, acceleration, stopping conditions, and initialization are considered. Numerical experiments are used to compare the effectiveness of different approaches. Many variations of forward-backward splitting are implemented in the solver FASTA (short for Fast Adaptive Shrinkage/Thresholding Algorithm). FASTA provides a simple interface for applying forward-backward splitting to a broad range of problems.
Plastid Regulation of Lhcb1 Transcription in the Chlorophyte Alga Dunaliella tertiolecta1

We identify four novel DNA-binding complexes in the nuclear-encoded Lhcb1 promoter of the chlorophyte alga Dunaliella tertiolecta that are regulated by photosynthetic pathways in the plastid. The binding activities of three of the complexes were positively correlated with time-dependent changes in Lhcb1 transcript abundance, implicating their roles as transcriptional enhancers in a retrograde signal transduction pathway. Using a combination of inhibitors, uncouplers, and antimycin A, and by following the kinetic pattern of gene regulation, we infer two different sensors in the signal transduction pathway. On short time scales of 0.5 to about 4 h, the transthylakoid membrane potential appears to be a critical determinant of gene expression, whereas on time scales of 8 h or longer, the redox state of the plastoquinone pool becomes increasingly more important. The differentiation of these two types of signals was observed in parallel effects on gene transcription and on the patterns of DNA-binding activities in the Lhcb1 promoter. These signals appear to be transduced at the nuclear level via a coordinated ensemble of DNA-binding complexes located between −367 and −188 bp from the start codon of the gene. The regulation of these elements allows the cell to up- or down-regulate the expression on Lhcb1 in response to changes in irradiance.
Predictors for treatment expectancies among young people who attend drug and alcohol services: A pilot study

Background Problematic substance use among young people is a major public health problem. Despite availability of services, attrition rates among young people with substance use are high. Past studies have found treatment expectancies to be an important predictor of treatment retention and outcomes. Methods The current pilot study aimed to explore predictors of treatment expectancies among 25 young people between 18 and 21 who attended a youth Drug Health Services in Victoria, Australia. Twenty-five participants were administered self-report questionnaires. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the strongest predictors of treatment expectancies. Results Treatment expectancies were most strongly predicted by satisfaction with past services. These expectancies were also associated with first impressions of the current service. Young people's expectancies about drug and alcohol treatment are shaped by past experiences with services and by early impressions of the current service. Conclusions This study highlights the importance of past and early service satisfaction for treatment expectancies. Given the small sample size employed in the current study, larger studies are required to support such findings.
Performance and Compensation of I/Q Imbalance in Differential STBC-OFDM

Differential space time block coding (STBC) achieves full spatial diversity and avoids channel estimation overhead. Over highly frequency-selective channels, STBC is integrated with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) to achieve high performance. However, low-cost implementation of differential STBC- OFDM using direct-conversion transceivers is sensitive to In-phase/Quadrature-phase imbalance (IQI). In this paper, we quantify the performance impact of IQI at the receiver front-end on differential STBC-OFDM systems and propose a compensation algorithm to mitigate its effect. The proposed receiver IQI compensation works in an adaptive decision-directed manner without using known pilots or training sequences, which reduces the rate loss due to training overhead. Our numerical results show that our proposed compensation algorithm can effectively mitigate receive IQI in differential STBC-OFDM.
Evaluation of IEM, Dubois, and Oh Radar Backscatter Models Using Airborne L-Band SAR

The backscatter predicted by three common surface scattering models (the Integral Equation Model (IEM), the Dubois, and the Oh models) was evaluated against fully polarized L-band airborne observations. Before any site-specific calibration, the Oh model was found to be the most accurate among the three, with mean errors between the simulated and the observed backscatter of 1.2 dB ( ±2.6 dB standard deviation of the error) and -0.4 dB ( ±2.4 dB) for HH and VV polarizations, respectively, while the IEM and Dubois presented larger errors, with a maximum of 4.5 dB ( ±2 dB) for the IEM in VV polarization. The backscatter errors were observed to be related to surface roughness, another major factor determining the electromagnetic scattering at the soil surface. An existing semiempirical calibration of the surface roughness correlation length was therefore applied to improve the mismatch between modeled and observed backscatters. The application of the semiempirical calibration led to a significant improvement of the backscatter prediction for the IEM. After calibration, the IEM outperformed the Oh model, resulting in a mean backscatter error of -0.3 dB ( ±1.1 dB) and -0.2 ( ±1.2 dB) for HH and VV polarizations, respectively. To test the robustness of the semiempirical calibration, calibration functions derived from an independent data set were applied and shown to also improve the (uncalibrated) IEM performance, suggesting that the calibration procedure is relatively robust for global application.
Gender Issues in Classroom Interaction and Students’ Achievement in Social Studies

This study examined gender issues in secondary school students’ participation in classroom interactions and their achievement in social studies in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Descriptive design of the survey type was adopted for the study. The sample consisted of 1500 JSS 2 Social Studies students. Multistage and purposive sampling techniques were used to select the sample. Two instruments used for this work were observational instrument titled Classroom Interaction Analysis Categories (CIAC) and Social Studies Achievement Test (SSAT). The CIAC was an adapted version of Flanders (1970) while the SSAT was a self-constructed test designed to measure students’ achievement. Test-retest technique was used to determine reliability of the instruments. Data collected were subjected to hypotheses testing using student t-test at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed a significant difference between the level of participation of male and female students in classroom interactions and that the difference between the achievement of male and female students in Social Studies was significant. Based on these findings, it was recommended that teachers should ask higher order questions, initiate interactions and distribute questions evenly in order to encourage equal participation of the two sexes in classroom interactions.
Creative Individuals and Entrepreneurship: Is There an Inherent Attraction?

In this study, we argue that entrepreneurship is a fruitful pursuit for creative individuals. Using a sample of 152 undergraduate students, we investigated to see if individual creativity predicts one’s intentions to enter into the field of entrepreneurship. Specifically, we looked at one’s ability to think divergently (the generation and elaboration upon ideas) and creative personality in our conceptualization of what it means to be “creative. ” Our findings show that divergent thinking was able to predict entrepreneurial intentions alone and that creative personality was best used to increment what is explained by divergent thinking. These findings are discussed along with implications for practitioners and academics. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE
Structural templates for comparative protein docking

Structural characterization of protein‐protein interactions is important for understanding life processes. Because of the inherent limitations of experimental techniques, such characterization requires computational approaches. Along with the traditional protein‐protein docking (free search for a match between two proteins), comparative (template‐based) modeling of protein‐protein complexes has been gaining popularity. Its development puts an emphasis on full and partial structural similarity between the target protein monomers and the protein‐protein complexes previously determined by experimental techniques (templates). The template‐based docking relies on the quality and diversity of the template set. We present a carefully curated, nonredundant library of templates containing 4950 full structures of binary complexes and 5936 protein‐protein interfaces extracted from the full structures at 12 Å distance cut‐off. Redundancy in the libraries was removed by clustering the PDB structures based on structural similarity. The value of the clustering threshold was determined from the analysis of the clusters and the docking performance on a benchmark set. High structural quality of the interfaces in the template and validation sets was achieved by automated procedures and manual curation. The library is included in the Dockground resource for molecular recognition studies at http://dockground.bioinformatics. ku.edu. Proteins 2015; 83:1563–1570. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Widening inequalities in self-rated health by material deprivation? A trend analysis between 2001 and 2011 in Germany

Background Research on inequalities in health has shown a strong association between the lack of standard of living (defined as material deprivation) and self-rated health (SRH). In this study, we sought to further examine this association in a trend analysis of relative and absolute inequalities in SRH as defined by material deprivation in Germany. Methods Data were obtained from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) between 2001 and 2011. Material deprivation was measured on the basis of 11 living standard items missing due to financial reasons. We used the relative index of inequality (RII) and slope index of inequality (SII) to measure inequalities in SRH by material deprivation, calculating pooled interval logistic regression with robust SEs. Stepwise models were estimated, including demographic and socioeconomic variables, to assess their inter-relation with inequalities in SRH by material deprivation. Results The results showed a steady increase in poor SRH over the 10-year duration of the study. A quadratic (inverted U-shaped) trend was observed in material deprivation in the standards of living, which rose from 2001 to 2005, and then declined in 2011. A similar but non-significant trend was found in relative and absolute inequalities in SRH by material deprivation, which increased from 2001 to 2005 and then declined. Conclusions Inequality in SRH by material deprivation was relatively stable; however, an observed quadratic trend coincided with active and passive labour market reforms in Germany in early 2005.
Optimized Synthesis of Art Patterns and Layered Textures

Line drawings and digital arts appear everywhere, from simple icons and logos to cartoons, maps, and illustrations. We define art patterns as the subset of line drawings and digital arts that are comprised of repeated elements. There exist textures that share characteristics with art patterns. Examples of such textures include piled discrete elements with curved contours. Inspired by recent success of exemplar-based texture synthesis, in this paper, we focus on synthesizing art patterns and textures with curvilinear features from exemplars, which we cast as a global optimization problem. Our energy function for this problem measures both the appearance similarity of color patterns and shape similarity of curvilinear features between an input exemplar and a synthesized image. We develop an overall expectation-maximization-style algorithm for minimizing this energy function. The shape similarity part of the energy is minimized through an innovative application of the level set method. We further generalize our energy function and optimization algorithm to multilayer pattern and texture synthesis. Our generalized optimization can effectively handle multiple layers and synthesize valid instances of interaction.