Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants of Intra-Industry Trade between Western Balkans and EU-15: Evidence from Bilateral Data

This paper provides analysis of intra-industry trade determinants between Western Balkan countries and old European Union Member States. Overall intra-industry trade has been analysed, as well as its horizontal and vertical component, within bilateral trade framework. All components of intra-industry trade exhibit much lower degree than EU New Member States achieved during their accession period. Most of the intra-industry trade is related to vertical component, while horizontal component is negligible. Intra-industry trade determinants analysis has revealed that relative income level, distance, relative factor endowments and relative trading costs are significant factors for the analysed countries' trade relations. The determinants of vertical component are the same, although for some variables smaller significance levels were found. Horizontal component determinants in general have the same sign, although relative income levels, employment shares and export costs were not found significant.
Improving Human Activity Recognition Through Ranking and Re-ranking

We propose two well-motivated ranking-based methods to enhance the performance of current state-of-the-art human activity recognition systems. First, as an improvement over the classic power normalization method, we propose a parameter-free ranking technique called rank normalization (RaN). RaN normalizes each dimension of the video features to address the sparse and bursty distribution problems of Fisher Vectors and VLAD. Second, inspired by curriculum learning, we introduce a training-free re-ranking technique called multi-class iterative re-ranking (MIR). MIR captures relationships among action classes by separating easy and typical videos from difficult ones and re-ranking the prediction scores of classifiers accordingly. We demonstrate that our methods significantly improve the performance of state-of-the-art motion features on six real-world datasets.
Is Age of Menarche Related with Body Mass Index?

Abstract Background Prediction of the onset of menstruation (menarche age) using height, weight and Body Mass Index (BMI) is a major health procedure. The present study was conducted to determine the relationship between anthropometric indices and menarche age in 488 girls 11-17 years in southern Iran (Kish Island) in 2011. Methods Data was collected using questionnaires as well as measurements of the children’s height and weight. This data was analyzed using t-test and logistic regression. Results Median age of menarche of menstruated girls as inferred from the age of menarche cumulative distribution was 12.9 years. Mean (SD) BMI in menstruated and non-menstruated girls were 21.97 (4.5) and 19.17 (3.7), respectively. Mean (SD) weight and height of the menstruated girls were 53.65 (12.3) kg and 156.06 (5.5) cm, respectively which are higher than respective figures of the non-menstruated participants 43.70 (10.7) kg and 150.21 (6.3) cm, respectively. Our results revealed a significant correlation between BMI and menarche age. Conclusion Menarche age and BMI are significantly correlated with higher BMI related to lower menarche age.
.‫املقالة‬ ‫لهذه‬ ‫الكامل‬ ‫النص‬ ‫نهاية‬ ‫يف‬ ‫الخالصة‬ ‫لهذه‬ ‫العربية‬ ‫الرتجمة‬ Demographic and Health Surveillance: Longitudinal Ethical Considerations

Longitudinal data gathered from health surveillance, when combined with detailed demographic information, can provide invaluable insight into disease outcomes. Many such surveillance sites exist in the developing world, particularly in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, and focus on diseases such as HIV/AIDS, cholera, malaria and tuberculosis. The indistinct positions of such surveillance systems, often inhabiting an area between research, treatment and population health monitoring, means that the necessity of and responsibility for ethical oversight is unclear. This regulatory vacuum is further compounded by a lack of attention to longitudinal surveillance systems in ethics literature. In this paper, we explore some key ethical questions that arise during demographic and health surveillance in relation to ethical principles of beneficence, respect for persons and justice: health-care provision, informed consent and study sustainability. Une traduction en français de ce résumé figure à la fin de l'article. Al final del artículo se facilita una traducción al español.
Issues in Information Systems

Playing video games has become one of the largest leisure activities in the world. This study examines the effects video games have on college students, their grade point averages, time management, and study habits. Existing literature has linked video game usage as being negatively correlated with each of these three variables. This research, using a sample of the undergraduate student population at a private university in northeast Ohio, found a statistically significant correlation between video game usage and grade point average. Statistically significant relationships were not found between video game usage and the variables of time management skills or study habits. It is important that college students are aware of these possible negative effects of video game usage on their academic performance. This research can serve as a foundation for future research on the impact of video game playing and student performance.
Declining Incidence of Hepatitis C Virus Infection among People Who Inject Drugs in a Canadian Setting, 1996-2012

Background People who inject drugs (PWID) are at high risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Trends in HCV incidence and associated risk factors among PWID recruited between 1996 and 2012 in Vancouver, Canada were evaluated. Methods Data were derived from a long-term cohort of PWID in Vancouver. Trends in HCV incidence were evaluated. Factors associated with time to HCV infection were assessed using Cox proportional hazards regression. Results Among 2,589, 82% (n = 2,121) were HCV antibody-positive at enrollment. Among 364 HCV antibody-negative participants with recent (last 30 days) injecting at enrollment, 126 HCV seroconversions were observed [Overall HCV incidence density: 8.6 cases/100 person-years (py); 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 7.2, 10.1; HCV incidence density among those with injecting during follow-up: 11.5 cases/100 py; 95% CI 9.7, 13.6]. The overall HCV incidence density declined significantly from 25.0/100 py (95% CI: 20.2, 30.3) in 1996–99, as compared to 6.0/100 py (95% CI: 4.1, 8.5) in 2000–2005, and 3.1/100 py (95% CI: 2.0, 4.8) in 2006–2012. Among those with injecting during follow-up, the overall HCV incidence density declined significantly from 27.9/100 py (95% CI: 22.6, 33.6) in 1996–99, as compared to 7.5/100 py (95% CI: 5.1, 10.6) in 2000–2005, and 4.9/100 py (95% CI: 3.1, 7.4) in 2006–2012. Unstable housing, HIV infection, and injecting of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine were independently associated with HCV seroconversion. Conclusions HCV incidence has dramatically declined among PWID in this setting. However, improved public health strategies to prevent and treat HCV are urgently required to reduce HCV-associated morbidity and mortality.
Understanding Aesthetics Design for E-Commerce Web sites: a Cognitive-Affective Framework

Despite its centrality to human thoughts and practices, aesthetics has largely been ignored in Web site design. Until recent years, studies begin to show that task-unrelated (aesthetic) qualities such as color, graphics and music can play an important role in enhancing both usage and enjoyment of information systems as well as improving work quality. However, research progress has been greatly impeded by the lack of a conceptual framework for understanding aesthetics as well as empirically verified instrument to measure Web site aesthetics. Our research objective is to provide a sound theoretical framework of Web site aesthetics as well as a validated instrument to measure it. Based on extensive literature review on aesthetics in environmental psychology and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), we propose a two-dimensional structure of Web site aesthetics concept in a cognitive-affective framework and develop a Web site aesthetics instrument in the context of electronic shopping. Initial item development, statistical analyses, and validity assessment (reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity) are described here in details. The contribution of this effort is twofold: First, it integrates theories from different domains to help us understand the concept of Web site aesthetics. Second, an instrument is provided for Web site aesthetics, which will facilitate future research in this field.
Improving Evaluation of Machine Translation Quality Estimation

Quality estimation evaluation commonly takes the form of measurement of the error that exists between predictions and gold standard labels for a particular test set of translations. Issues can arise during comparison of quality estimation prediction score distributions and gold label distributions, however. In this paper, we provide an analysis of methods of comparison and identify areas of concern with respect to widely used measures, such as the ability to gain by prediction of aggregate statistics specific to gold label distributions or by optimally conservative variance in prediction score distributions. As an alternative, we propose the use of the unit-free Pearson correlation, in addition to providing an appropriate method of significance testing improvements over a baseline. Components of WMT-13 and WMT-14 quality estimation shared tasks are replicated to reveal substantially increased conclusivity in system rankings, including identification of outright winners of tasks.
Topographical Propagation of α-synuclein Pathology in Parkinson's Disease: Phenomenology and Hypothetical Mechanism

Parkinson’s disease is an age-related, slowly progressing neurodegenerative disorder characterized by abnormal deposition of aggregated α-synuclein in neuronal cell bodies (Lewy bodies) and neurites (Lewy neurites), as well as in glia. Based on semiquantitative assessment of Lewy pathologies in autopsy samples, a staging system was proposed indicating a highly predictable sequence of pathological progression. This staging system implicates a propagation of α-synuclein aggregation throughout the brain with an ascending pattern from lower brain stem to neocortex. The underlying mechanism for the pathological propagation is unknown. However, the recent discoveries on the secretion of neuronal α-synuclein and subsequent uptake of the protein by neighboring cells propose an interneuronal transmission of α-synuclein aggregates as a novel mechanism for the spread of Lewy pathology in PD. Elucidation of this mechanism is likely to identify novel therapeutic strategies that halt the progression of PD.
Security Protocols and Privacy Issues into 6LoWPAN Stack: A Synthesis

With the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT), many devices organized into network, communicate by themselves on the Internet, and send data or private information on the web. It is essential to secure the transmitted data and the identities that may be disclosed to make these new technologies accepted by the largest number of citizens. However, the security mechanisms that are widely used on the Internet are too heavy to be integrated on small constrained objects. This paper describes the current protocols and security solutions that can be deployed in constrained resources. It shows the benefits and the limitations of each scheme-the security extension of IEEE 802.15. 4e in time-slotted channel hopping (TSCH) mode, compressed IPsec, datagram transport layer security (DTLS)-embedded at different levels of the OSI model into the 6LoWPAN stack. It opens with the challenge that one must tackle in the coming years. Several use cases are studied to envisage the security integration in cyber physical systems (CPSs) for host-to-host and host-to-network communications. The privacy issue is also addressed and different ways to hide the device identity are discussed.
Testing improves true recall and protects against the build-up of proactive interference without increasing false recall

Retrieval practice has been shown to protect against the negative effects of previously learned information on the learning of subsequent information, while increasing retention of new information. We report three experiments investigating the impact of retrieval practice on false recall in a multiple list paradigm. In three different experimental designs participants studied blocks of interrelated words that converged on non-presented associates. Participants were tested either after every study block or only after the fifth study block, and both groups received a cumulative test on all five study blocks. Overall the results from all three different experimental designs point to a benefit of testing in increasing long-term veridical recall on the cumulative test. More importantly, this improvement in veridical recall did not come at a cost: False recall on the cumulative test did not increase from retrieval practice.
Long-Run Corporate Tax Avoidance

We develop and describe a new measure of long‐run corporate tax avoidance that is based on the ability to pay a low amount of cash taxes per dollar of pre‐tax earnings over long time periods. We label this measure the “long‐run cash effective tax rate. ” We use the long‐run cash effective tax rate to examine (1) the extent to which some firms are able to avoid taxes over periods as long as ten years, and (2) how predictive one‐year tax rates are for long‐run tax avoidance. In our sample of 2,077 firms, we find there is considerable cross‐sectional variation in tax avoidance. For example, approximately one‐fourth of our sample firms are able to maintain long‐run cash effective tax rates below 20 percent, compared to a sample mean tax rate of approximately 30 percent. We also find that annual cash effective tax rates are not very good predictors of long‐run cash effective tax rates and, thus, are not accurate proxies for long‐run tax avoidance. While there is some evidence of persistence in annual cash effec.
Reporting bias when using real data sets to analyze classification performance

MOTIVATION It is commonplace for authors to propose a new classification rule, either the operator construction part or feature selection, and demonstrate its performance on real data sets, which often come from high-dimensional studies, such as from gene-expression microarrays, with small samples. Owing to the variability in feature selection and error estimation, individual reported performances are highly imprecise. Hence, if only the best test results are reported, then these will be biased relative to the overall performance of the proposed procedure. RESULTS This article characterizes reporting bias with several statistics and computes these statistics in a large simulation study using both modeled and real data. The results appear as curves giving the different reporting biases as functions of the number of samples tested when reporting only the best or second best performance. It does this for two classification rules, linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and 3-nearest-neighbor (3NN), and for filter and wrapper feature selection, t-test and sequential forward search. These were chosen on account of their well-studied properties and because they were amenable to the extremely large amount of processing required for the simulations. The results across all the experiments are consistent: there is generally large bias overriding what would be considered a significant performance differential, when reporting the best or second best performing data set. We conclude that there needs to be a database of data sets and that, for those studies depending on real data, results should be reported for all data sets in the database. AVAILABILITY Companion web site at http://gsp.tamu. edu/Publications/supplementary/yousefi09a/
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Neural Correlates of Nondual Awareness in Meditation

Dualities such as self versus other, good versus bad, and in-group versus out-group are pervasive features of human experience, structuring the majority of cognitive and affective processes. Yet, an entirely different way of experiencing , one in which such dualities are relaxed rather than fortified, is also available. It depends on recognizing, within the stream of our consciousness, the nondual awareness (NDA)—a background awareness that precedes con-ceptualization and intention and that can contextualize various perceptual, affective, or cognitive contents without fragmenting the field of experience into habitual dualities. This paper introduces NDA as experienced in Tibetan Buddhist meditation and reviews the results of our study on the influence of NDA on anticorrelated intrinsic and extrinsic networks in the brain. Also discussed are preliminary data from a current study of NDA with minimized phenomenal content that points to involvement of a precuneus network in NDA.
Integration to Implementation and the Micronutrient Forum: A Coordinated Approach for Global Nutrition. Case Study Application: Safety and Effectiveness of Iron Interventions123

Paramount among the challenges to our ability to address the role of food and nutrition in health promotion and disease prevention is how to design and implement context-specific interventions and guidance. The Integration to Effective Implementation (I-to-I) concept is intended to address the complexities of the global health context through engagement of the continuum of stakeholders involved in the food and nutrition enterprise. The 2014 Micronutrient Forum (MNF) Global Conference held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in June 2014 offered the opportunity to apply the I-to-I approach with the use of current concerns about the safety and effectiveness of interventions to prevent and treat iron deficiency (ID) as a case study. ID is associated with a range of adverse outcomes, especially in pregnant and nonpregnant women, infants, and primary school-age children. Strategies to combat ID include iron supplementation, multiple micronutrient powders, and food-based interventions to enhance dietary iron intake. Recent reports indicate potential increased adverse risks when iron is provided in areas with high infection burdens (e.g., malaria). This paradox has weakened iron intervention programs. Furthermore, the selection and interpretation of available biomarkers for assessing iron nutrition have been found to be compromised by the inflammatory process. These issues highlight the need for a comprehensive approach that considers basic biology, assessment, interventions, and how these can be translated into appropriate programs and policies. The application of the I-to-I with the use of the MNF offered an opportunity to explore how that might be achieved.
Tetrachloroethylene Exposure and Bladder Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis of Dry-Cleaning-Worker Studies

Background: In 2012, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified tetrachloroethylene, used in the production of chemicals and the primary solvent used in dry cleaning, as “probably carcinogenic to humans” based on limited evidence of an increased risk of bladder cancer in dry cleaners. Objectives: We assessed the epidemiological evidence for the association between tetrachloroethylene exposure and bladder cancer from published studies estimating occupational exposure to tetrachloroethylene or in workers in the dry-cleaning industry. Methods: Random-effects meta-analyses were carried out separately for occupational exposure to tetrachloroethylene and employment as a dry cleaner. We qualitatively summarized exposure–response data because of the limited number of studies available. Results: The meta-relative risk (mRR) among tetrachloroethylene-exposed workers was 1.08 (95% CI: 0.82, 1.42; three studies; 463 exposed cases). For employment as a dry cleaner, the overall mRR was 1.47 (95% CI: 1.16, 1.85; seven studies; 139 exposed cases), and for smoking-adjusted studies, the mRR was 1.50 (95% CI: 0.80, 2.84; 4 case–control studies). Conclusions: Our meta-analysis demonstrates an increased risk of bladder cancer in dry cleaners, reported in both cohort and case–control studies, and some evidence for an exposure–response relationship. Although dry cleaners incur mixed exposures, tetrachloroethylene could be responsible for the excess risk of bladder cancer because it is the primary solvent used and it is the only chemical commonly used by dry cleaners that is currently identified as a potential bladder carcinogen. Relatively crude approaches in exposure assessment in the studies of “tetrachloroethylene-exposed workers” may have attenuated the relative risks. Citation: Vlaanderen J, Straif K, Ruder A, Blair A, Hansen J, Lynge E, Charbotel B, Loomis D, Kauppinen T, Kyyronen P, Pukkala E, Weiderpass E, Guha N. 2014. Tetrachloroethylene exposure and bladder cancer risk: a meta-analysis of dry-cleaning-worker studies. Environ Health Perspect 122:661–666; http://dx.doi. org/10.1289/ehp.1307055
Cascading failure and robustness in metabolic networks

We investigate the relationship between structure and robustness in the metabolic networks of Escherichia coli, Methanosarcina barkeri, Staphylococcus aureus, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, using a cascading failure model based on a topological flux balance criterion. We find that, compared to appropriate null models, the metabolic networks are exceptionally robust. Furthermore, by decomposing each network into rigid clusters and branched metabolites, we demonstrate that the enhanced robustness is related to the organization of branched metabolites, as rigid cluster formations in the metabolic networks appear to be consistent with null model behavior. Finally, we show that cascading in the metabolic networks can be described as a percolation process.
Bi-harmonic functions on groups

Nous montron l'equivalence essentielle de deux definitions naturelles des fonctions biharmoniques sur les groupes denombrables et etablissons des criteres d'absence de fonctions biharmoniques bornees. Pour les groupes libres, nous obtenons une description de ces fonctions
Extreme Synchrotron BL Lac Objects Stretching the Blazar sequence

We performed an observational program with the X–ray satellite Beppo SAX , to study objects with extreme synchrotron peak frequencies ( ν peak > 1 keV). Of the seven sources observed, ﬁve revealed or conﬁrmed their extreme nature. Four showed peak frequencies in the range 1–5 keV, while one (1ES 1426+428) displayed a ﬂat power law spectrum ( α x = 0 . 92 ± 0 . 04 ) which locates its synchrotron peak at or above 100 keV. This is the third source of this type ever found, after Mkn 501 and 1ES 2344+514. In the context of the whole blazar class, the broad band properties of these objects conﬁrm the scenario of a synchrotron peak smoothly spanning the IR – X–ray range, which explains the multi–frequency properties of the blazar class. Our data also conﬁrm the large ν peak variability which seems to characterize this class of sources, compared with lower ν peak objects. Given the high synchrotron peak energies, which ﬂag the presence of high energy electrons, these extreme BL Lacs are also good candidates for TeV emission, and therefore good probes of the IR background.