Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Enhanced disease surveillance through private health care sector cooperation in Karachi, Pakistan: experience from a vaccine trial.

INTRODUCTION In research projects such as vaccine trials, accurate and complete surveillance of all outcomes of interest is critical. In less developed countries where the private sector is the major health-care provider, the private sector must be included in surveillance systems in order to capture all disease of interest. This, however, poses enormous challenges in practice. The process and outcome of recruiting private practice clinics for surveillance in a vaccine trial are described. METHODS The project started in January 2002 in two urban squatter settlements of Karachi, Pakistan. At the suggestion of private practitioners, a phlebotomy team was formed to provide support for disease surveillance. Children who had a reported history of fever for more than three days were enrolled for a diagnosis. RESULTS Between May 2003 and April 2004, 5540 children younger than 16 years with fever for three days or more were enrolled in the study. Of the children, 1312 (24%) were seen first by private practitioners; the remainder presented directly to study centres. In total, 5329 blood samples were obtained for microbiology. The annual incidence of Salmonella typhi diagnosed by blood culture was 407 (95% confidence interval (95% CI), 368-448) per 100 000/year and for Salmonella paratyphi A was 198 (95% CI, 171-227) per 100 000/year. Without the contribution of private practitioners, the rates would have been 240 per 100 000/year (95% CI, 211-271) for S. typhi and 114 (95% CI, 94-136) per 100 000/year for S. paratyphi A. CONCLUSION The private sector plays a major health-care role in Pakistan. Our experience from a surveillance and burden estimation study in Pakistan indicates that this objective is possible to achieve but requires considerable effort and confidence building. Nonetheless, it is essential to include private health care providers when attempting to accurately estimate the burden of disease in such settings.
Variations in Backward Masking with Different Masking Stimuli: II. The Effects of Spatially Quantised Masks in the Light of Local Contour Interaction, Interchannel Inhibition, Perceptual Retouch, and Substitution Theories

In part I we showed that with spatially non-overlapping targets and masks both local metacontrast-like interactions and attentional processes are involved in backward masking. In this second part we extend the strategy of varying the contents of masks to pattern masking where targets and masks overlap in space, in order to compare different masking theories. Images of human faces were backward-masked by three types of spatially quantised masks (the same faces as targets, faces different from targets, and Gaussian noise with power spectra typical for faces). Configural characteristics, rather than the spectral content of the mask, predicted the extent of masking at relatively long stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). This poses difficulties for the theory of transient-on-sustained inhibition as the principal mechanism of masking and also for local contour interaction being a decisive factor in pattern masking. The scale of quantisation had no effect on the masking capacity of noise masks and a strong effect on the capacity of different-face masks. Also, the decrease of configural masking with an increase in the coarseness of the quantisation of the mask highlights ambiguities inherent in the re-entrance-based substitution theory of masking. Different masking theories cannot solve the problems of masking separately. They should be combined in order to create a complex, yet comprehensible mode of interaction for the different mechanisms involved in visual backward masking.
Incubation and creativity: Do something different

The experiment reported here investigated interactions between the type of creative task (verbal or spatial) and the type of incubation activity (verbal or spatial) on creative performance. The experiment used a verbal creative divergent thinking task (Alternative Uses) and a spatial creative task (Mental Synthesis). After 5 minutes of conscious work on Alternative Uses or Mental Synthesis, experimental groups had 5-minute incubation periods which involved either spatial (Mental Rotation) or verbal tasks (Anagrams). Following incubation, the experimental participants resumed their main task for a further 5 minutes. Control groups undertook Alternative Uses or Mental Synthesis for 10 minutes without any incubation periods. Significant incubation effects were found overall and there were interactions in that spatial incubation benefited verbal fluency and verbal-rated creativity, and verbal incubation benefited spatial-task fluency and spatial-rated creativity but not vice versa. The results supported a role for unconscious work during incubation periods in creative thinking tasks and did not support the hypotheses that incubation effects are due to selective forgetting or attention shifting.
Socioeconomic and Other Factors Influencing Depression: A Comparison of Black and White Mothers

This study uses the theoretical framework proposed by Jones and Ford (2008) to examine the differential impact of psychosocial factors previously found to influence depression among mothers. The factors examined include race, education, income, and a child's behavior problems, as well as psychosocial factors such as substance abuse and criminality. The study analyzes a sample of 2,449 African-American and white mothers. Results indicate that race, education, income, drug use, and child behavior problems were significantly associated with maternal depression. Results also reveal significantly lower depression scores for African-American compared with white mothers, after controlling for all other statistically significant variables. In addition, increased income was more strongly associated with lower depression among white mothers than African-American mothers. Implications for practice include the need to assess and treat for the effects of the psychosocial factors of discrimination and race-based traumatic stress when working with African-American mothers with depression.
Social Network Analysis and Information Propagation: A Case Study Using Flickr and YouTube Networks

1 Abstract—Social media and Social Network Analysis (SNA) acquired a huge popularity and represent one of the most important social and computer science phenomena of recent years. One of the most studied problems in this research area is influence and information propagation. The aim of this paper is to analyze the information diffusion process and predict the influence (represented by the rate of infected nodes at the end of the diffusion process) of an initial set of nodes in two networks: Flickr user's contacts and YouTube videos users commenting these videos. These networks are dissimilar in their structure (size, type, diameter, density, components), and the type of the relationships (explicit relationship represented by the contacts links, and implicit relationship created by commenting on videos), they are extracted using NodeXL tool. Three models are used for modeling the dissemination process: Linear Threshold Model (LTM), Independent Cascade Model (ICM) and an extension of this last called Weighted Cascade Model (WCM). Networks metrics and visualization were manipulated by NodeXL as well. Experiments results show that the structure of the network affect the diffusion process directly. Unlike results given in the blog world networks, the information can spread farther through explicit connections than through implicit relations.
Inclusive STEM High School Design: 10 Critical Components

Historically, the mission of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) schools emphasized providing gifted and talented students with advanced STEM coursework. However, a newer type of STEM school is emerging in the United States: inclusive STEM high schools (ISHSs). ISHSs have open enrollment and are focused on preparing underrepresented youth for the successful pursuit of advanced STEM studies. They promise to provide a critical mass of nontraditional STEM students, defying stereotypes about who does STEM and creating positive STEM identities. In this article, we advance a conceptual framework designed to systematically capture the qualities of ISHSs that can provide exciting new possibilities for students and communities. An iterative review of the literature suggests 10 critical components that may work together across 3 dimensions: design, implementation, and outcomes. Our goal is to apply this framework in various school models to better understand the opportunity structures that emerge and to create a theory of action of ISHSs.
The resilience of `institutionalized capitalism': Managing managers under `shareholder capitalism' and `managerial capitalism'

This article identifies two, nation-wide, forms of governance or organizing capital,`shareholder' capitalism and `managerial' capitalism, epitomized by the USA and Japan respectively. Furthermore, it identifies the implications for managers in these systems. The article argues that both varieties of capitalism have been forced to modify, due to pressures from globalization. Shareholder capitalism in the USA has been intensified with an even greater emphasis on `shareholder value'. In Japan, meanwhile, poor national economic performance has led to pressures upon managerial capitalism to take on features more akin to the shareholder variety. Such pressures have been transmitted to managers with a more intensified work regime. However, many of the HRM features of the Japanese model remain, despite these pressures.
Evaluation of Microstructure and Transport Properties of Deteriorated Cementitious Materials from Their X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) Images

Pore structure, tortuosity and permeability are considered key properties of porous materials such as cement pastes to understand their long-term durability performance. Three-dimensional image analysis techniques were used in this study to quantify pore size, effective porosity, tortuosity, and permeability from the X-ray computed tomography (CT) images of deteriorated pastes that were subjected to accelerated leaching test. X-ray microtomography is a noninvasive three-dimensional (3D) imaging technique which has been recently gaining attention for material characterization. Coupled with 3D image analysis, the digitized pore can be extracted and computational simulation can be applied to the pore network to measure relevant microstructure and transport properties. At a spatial resolution of 0.50 μm, the effective porosity (φe) was found to be in the range of 0.04 to 0.33. The characteristic pore size (d) using a local thickness algorithm was found to be in the range of 3 to 7 μm. The geometric tortuosity (τg) based on a 3D random walk simulation in the percolating pore space was found to be in the range of 2.00 to 7.45. The water permeability values (K) using US NIST Permeability Stokes Solver range from an order of magnitudes of 10−14 to 10−17 m2. Indications suggest that as effective porosity increases, the geometric tortuosity increases and the permeability decreases. Correlation among these microstructure and transport parameters is also presented in this study.
Arguing for Experimental “Facts” in Science

Rhetorical studies on experimental research articles in science have focused predominantly on introductions and discussions. The contextual nature of Results sections—the empirical heart of a scientific article—remains largely unexplored, however. What is known about the content of these sections comes from prescriptive style guides, which define Results as purely expository, leaving the argumentation to other sections of the article. This study examines one eminent biochemist's publications over time and a sampling of current articles authored by other biochemists. Six rhetorical moves were identified: (a) justifications for methodological selections, (b) interpretations of experimental results, (c) evaluative comments on experimental data, (d) statements citing agreement with preestablished studies, (e) statements disclosing experimental discrepancies, and (f) statements admitting interpretive perplexities. This investigation demonstrates that biochemists explicitly argue for the validity of their experimental data by employing certain rhetorical moves. Moreover, the findings challenge the traditional lore that Results sections engage in only simple, factual reporting.
Spanish Agriculture: The Long Siesta, 1765-1965

Spanish Agriculture: The Long Siesta, 1765–1965, first published in 1996, is a major study in English of Spanish agrarian history. James Simpson examines how traditional agriculture responded to population growth and the integration of commodity markets, emphasising both Spain's regional variations and its context in Europe. Using statistical data as well as his wide knowledge of the recent secondary literature, Simpson argues that decisive changes in farming techniques only occurred at the start of this century. He rejects arguments that slow growth can be explained by poor resources or inefficient farmers. Indeed, farmers were quick to change when they had market opportunities, but development was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War and subsequent short-sighted government policies, only resuming in the 1950s. This comprehensive study will be of relevance to students and scholars of historical geography and agrarian history, as well as economic history.
Multi - Agent System (MAS) based simulation of Mobile Bulletin Board (MBB) adoption.

Information dissemination through mobile information and communication technology (MICT), is promising to bring Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) into par with the rest of the world. The advent of mobile bulletin boards (MBB) means that, with minimum available technology, anybody anywhere in the world can be a traceable source of information. The question we ask for this work is: how can we study the growth rate of adopting MBB? In this paper we present a graph based model of the social network phenomenon - mobile bulletin boards. We simulate the phenomenon using multi-agent systems (MAS) and use NetLogo as a simulation tool for this work. The paper concludes with a discussion on the results of the simulation and some perspectives for future work to be carried out in related areas.
Lipid Droplets and Peroxisomes: Key Players in Cellular Lipid Homeostasis or A Matter of Fat—Store ’em Up or Burn ’em Down

Lipid droplets (LDs) and peroxisomes are central players in cellular lipid homeostasis: some of their main functions are to control the metabolic flux and availability of fatty acids (LDs and peroxisomes) as well as of sterols (LDs). Both fatty acids and sterols serve multiple functions in the cell—as membrane stabilizers affecting membrane fluidity, as crucial structural elements of membrane-forming phospholipids and sphingolipids, as protein modifiers and signaling molecules, and last but not least, as a rich carbon and energy source. In addition, peroxisomes harbor enzymes of the malic acid shunt, which is indispensable to regenerate oxaloacetate for gluconeogenesis, thus allowing yeast cells to generate sugars from fatty acids or nonfermentable carbon sources. Therefore, failure of LD and peroxisome biogenesis and function are likely to lead to deregulated lipid fluxes and disrupted energy homeostasis with detrimental consequences for the cell. These pathological consequences of LD and peroxisome failure have indeed sparked great biomedical interest in understanding the biogenesis of these organelles, their functional roles in lipid homeostasis, interaction with cellular metabolism and other organelles, as well as their regulation, turnover, and inheritance. These questions are particularly burning in view of the pandemic development of lipid-associated disorders worldwide.
Social Capital, Cultural Values, Immigration, and Academic Achievement: The Host Country Context and Contradictory Consequences

ocial-capital explanations of school outcomes, particularly of the school outcomes of immigrant children and children of immigrants, have come into wide use in recent years. These explanations attempt to account for individual or group variations in school performance by viewing the family and community relations that surround children as forms of investments that yield payoffs in schools. These family and community relations are seen as specific to immigrant groups, or "ethnicity as social capital" (Bankston, Caldas, and Zhou 1997). I believe that although this ethnicity-as-social-capital approach can be a valuable one, it runs the risk of overlooking the complex and contradictory nature of the association between immigrant social relations and the adaptation of immigrant children and children of immigrants. Normative relations among immigrants and their children are not inherent ethnic properties brought from homelands, but the results of responses to the challenges and deprivations of the host country. In addition, social ties that may pay off in one way (say, school success) may constitute liabilities in other ways. For example, the same ties among children, parents, and communities that support strong school performance may also result in estrangement from peers and social discrimination for youths from immigrant communities. The use of "capital" as an explanation of the school achievement of immigrant children and children of immigrants can be seen as a version of an "input" approach to schooling. The term input refers to the influences on academic outcomes that students bring with them to school, while the term process refers to the influences of schools as institutions on
Local or not? The Impact of Political System Factors on Media Election Coverage

This study aims to analyze the extent to whichpolitical system factors influence media election coverage by investigating the local election press coverage in Norway and Sweden. According to Hallin and Mancini’s framework on media systems, both countries belong to the Democratic Corporatist Model. But despite these similarities there are differences between the politicaland media systems in the Nordic countries. One important distinction is when elections are held. In Sweden, elections to national, regional and local parliaments take place on the same day every fourth year. In Norway, local and regional elections are held in-between national elections in four-year cycles. The design of the study can be characterized as a most similar system design. Media system and the political system are similar, but when local/regional elections take place in relation to national elections are different. In line with theories of second-order elections, a number of hypotheses can be proposed, where national politics is supposed to be more influential in local election coverage in Norway compared with Sweden. This because research on second-order elections state that second order elections (such as local/regional elections) tend to be characterized as barometer- elections, as a poll, evaluating the national government and how the development of national economy develops. The empirical analyses are based on a content analysis executed on four local newspapers in Norway and Sweden in the local elections in 2007 (Norway) and 2006 (Sweden) during the last two weeks of the election campaigns.
A Review and Meta-Analysis Examining the Relationship of Music Content with Sex, Race, Priming, and Attitudes

This meta-analysis (k = 35, N = 11,629) examines the effect that listening to music, particularly popular music, has on consumers. Results demonstrate that listening to music generates an effect on listeners consistent with the content of the music (average r = .210, k = 35, N = 11,629). This effect was similar when considering survey research (r = .227) or experimental research (r = .265). The tenets of excitation transfer theory received some support, particularly when considering the effects of music as a priming material (r = .399), demonstrating the impact of music as a means of establishing mood, and ultimately the subsequent reactions of individuals. One conclusion is that efforts toward media literacy or education may prove far more productive than media content restrictions when attempting to curb potential undesirable media effects. Additional implications for policy and theory are discussed.
Adaptive Goal Recognition

Because observing the same actions can warrant different conclusions depending on who executed the actions, a goal recognizer that works well on one person might not work well on another. Two problems that arise in providing user-specific recognition are how to consider the vast number of possible adaptations that might be made to the goal recognizer and how to evaluate a particular set of adaptations. For the first problem, we evaluate the use of hillclimbing to search the space of all combinations of an input set of adaptations. For the second problem, we present an algorithm that estimates the accuracy and coverage of a recognizer on a set of action sequences the individual has recently executed. We use these techniques to construct Adapt, a recognizer-independent unsupervised-learning algorithm for adapting a recognizer to a person's idiosyncratic behaviors. Our experiments in two domains show that applying Adapt to the BOCE recognizer can improve its performance by a factor of two to three.
Regulation of rpoS Gene Expression in Pseudomonas: Involvement of a TetR Family Regulator

ABSTRACT The rpoS gene encodes the sigma factor which was identified in several gram-negative bacteria as a central regulator during stationary phase. rpoS gene regulation is known to respond to cell density, showing higher expression in stationary phase. For Pseudomonas aeruginosa, it has been demonstrated that the cell-density-dependent regulation response known as quorum sensing interacts with this regulatory response. Using therpoS promoter of P. putida, we identified a genomic Tn5 insertion mutant of P. putida which showed a 90% decrease in rpoSpromoter activity, resulting in less RpoS being present in a cell at stationary phase. Molecular analysis revealed that this mutant carried a Tn5 insertion in a gene, designatedpsrA (Pseudomonas sigma regulator), which codes for a protein (PsrA) of 26.3 kDa. PsrA contains a helix-turn-helix motif typical of DNA binding proteins and belongs to the TetR family of bacterial regulators. The homolog of thepsrA gene was identified in P. aeruginosa; the protein showed 90% identity to PsrA ofP. putida. ApsrA::Tn5 insertion mutant ofP. aeruginosa was constructed. In bothPseudomonas species, psrA was genetically linked to the SOS lexA repressor gene. Similar to what was observed for P. putida, a psrA null mutant of P. aeruginosa also showed a 90% reduction inrpoS promoter activity; both mutants could be complemented for rpoS promoter activity when thepsrA gene was provided in trans.psrA mutants of both Pseudomonas species lost the ability to induce rpoS expression at stationary phase, but they retained the ability to produce quorum-sensing autoinducer molecules. PsrA was demonstrated to negatively regulatepsrA gene expression in Pseudomonas and in Escherichia coli as well as to be capable of activating the rpoS promoter in E. coli. Our data suggest that PsrA is an important regulatory protein ofPseudomonas spp. involved in the regulatory cascade controlling rpoS gene regulation in response to cell density.