Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Role of Temperature and Humidity on Seasonal Influenza in Tropical Areas: Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama, 2008–2013

Background The role of meteorological factors on influenza transmission in the tropics is less defined than in the temperate regions. We assessed the association between influenza activity and temperature, specific humidity and rainfall in 6 study areas that included 11 departments or provinces within 3 tropical Central American countries: Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama. Method/Findings Logistic regression was used to model the weekly proportion of laboratory-confirmed influenza positive samples during 2008 to 2013 (excluding pandemic year 2009). Meteorological data was obtained from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite and the Global Land Data Assimilation System. We found that specific humidity was positively associated with influenza activity in El Salvador (Odds Ratio (OR) and 95% Confidence Interval of 1.18 (1.07–1.31) and 1.32 (1.08–1.63)) and Panama (OR = 1.44 (1.08–1.93) and 1.97 (1.34–2.93)), but negatively associated with influenza activity in Guatemala (OR = 0.72 (0.6–0.86) and 0.79 (0.69–0.91)). Temperature was negatively associated with influenza in El Salvador's west-central departments (OR = 0.80 (0.7–0.91)) whilst rainfall was positively associated with influenza in Guatemala's central departments (OR = 1.05 (1.01–1.09)) and Panama province (OR = 1.10 (1.05–1.14)). In 4 out of the 6 locations, specific humidity had the highest contribution to the model as compared to temperature and rainfall. The model performed best in estimating 2013 influenza activity in Panama and west-central El Salvador departments (correlation coefficients: 0.5–0.9). Conclusions/Significance The findings highlighted the association between influenza activity and specific humidity in these 3 tropical countries. Positive association with humidity was found in El Salvador and Panama. Negative association was found in the more subtropical Guatemala, similar to temperate regions. Of all the study locations, Guatemala had annual mean temperature and specific humidity that were lower than the others.
There Is No Best Method-Why ?

This paper examines the possible substance of a statement, often heard but rarely explained, in the discussion of language teaching, namely, that there is no best method. Three possible explanations of the statement are discussed, based on a broad interpretation of the term method: (a) that different methods are best for different teaching contexts; (b) that all methods are partially true or valid; and (c) that the notion of good and bad methods is itself misguided. The first two explanations are shown to be unhelpful; the third is discussed in some detail, with an exploration of the concept, teachers' sense of plausibility. It is uncommon these days to have a sustained discussion on language teaching without someone at some point declaring that there is no best method, or words to that effect. Such a declaration usually occurs at a late stage in an indecisive debate about different methods, and has the general effect of altering the orientation of the debate itself, somewhat abruptly. It also carries the ring of an incontrovertible statement-or a statement so tolerant and reconciliatory in spirit that to dispute it would be professionally churlish. As a result, one rarely sees a detailed examination of what it might mean to say that there is no best method. I think it helpful to see the statement as having an illocutionary as well as a propositional meaning. As an illocutionary act, it seeks to terminate a debate without reaching any substantive conclusion, and it does so not by admitting defeat in the effort to reach a conclusion, but by appearing to raise the debate itself to a higher level, thus helping to save professional face all round. It suggests not just that proponents of different methods agree to disagree, but that they give up their pursuit of agreement and disagreement as being unproductive. It manages to reconcile conflicting views by defining a position to which all can honourably subscribe, and by striking a philosophical note on which enlightened discussion can properly end. It is thus a convenient device for legitimizing nonresolution of methodological issues.
Locus of Control or Self-Esteem; Which One is the Best Predictor of Academic Achievement in Iranian College Students

Background Self-esteem and behavioral consequences, which are due to external or internal locus of control, are effective on academic achievement of students. Objectives The aim of this study was to determine the prediction of locus of control and self-esteem in academic achievement among the students. Materials and Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted on 300 college students in Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in 2014. Data collection tools were in three sections: demographic, Rotter internal-external locus of control scale and Coopersmith self-esteem inventory. Data were analyzed using the SPSS software version 21. Results Results showed that 29.8% and 76.2% of the participants had internal locus of control, and high self-esteem, respectively. There was a significant correlation between self-esteem, locus of control and academic achievement of the students. Self-esteem accounted for 39.5% of the variation in academic achievement. Conclusions It seems that interventions to increase self-esteem among student can help improve academic achievement among them.
Biprominer: Automatic Mining of Binary Protocol Features

Application-level protocol specifications are helpful for network security management, including intrusion detection and intrusion prevention which rely on monitoring technologies such as deep packet inspection. Moreover, detailed knowledge of protocol specifications is also an effective way of detecting malicious code. However, current methods for obtaining unknown and proprietary protocol message formats (i.e., no publicly available protocol specification), especially binary protocols, highly rely on manual operations, such as reverse engineering which is time-consuming and laborious. In this paper, we propose Biprominer, a tool that can automatically extract binary protocol message formats of an application from its real-world network trace. In addition, we present a transition probability model for a better description of the protocol. The chief feature of Biprominer is that it does not need to have any priori knowledge of protocol formats, because Biprominer is based on the statistical nature of the protocol format. We evaluate the efficacy of Biprominer over three binary protocols, with an average precision more than 99% and a recall better than 96.7%.
Swarm Intelligence Based Node-disjoint Multi-path Routing Protocol for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Ant based routing protocols for MANETs have been widely explored, but most of them are essentially of single-path which tends to have heavy burden on the hosts along the shortest path from source to destination. The robustness of these protocols is comparatively not good which is further weakened by the positive feedback mechanism of ant. Node-disjoint multi-path routing is more robust and can support QoS better than single-path routing in MANETs. In this paper we combine swarm intelligence and node-disjoint multi-path routing to solve the problem mentioned above. A novel approach named Ant colony based Multi-path Routing (AMR) is proposed. AMR establishes and utilizes multiple routes of node-disjoint paths to send data packets concurrently and adopts pheromone to disperse communication traffic, thus it can adapt to the dynamic changes of the network and support QoS better. The simulation results show that the proposed approach outperforms other pertinent algorithms
Democracy and Elections in Africa

This volume studies elections as a core institution of liberal democracy in the context of newly democratizing countries. Political scientist Staffan I. Lindberg gathers data from every nationally contested election in Africa from 1989 to 2003, covering 232 elections in 44 countries. He argues that democratizing nations learn to become democratic through repeated democratic behavior, even if their elections are often flawed. Refuting a number of established hypotheses, Lindberg finds no general negative trend in either the frequency or the quality of African elections. Rather, elections in Africa, based on his findings, are more than just the goal of a transition toward democracy or merely a formal procedure. The inception of multiparty elections usually initiates liberalization, and repeated electoral activities create incentives for political actors, fostering the expansion and deepening of democratic values. In addition to improving the democratic qualities of political regimes, a sequence of elections tends to expand and solidify de facto civil liberties in society. Drawing on a wealth of data, Lindberg makes the case that repetitive elections are an important causal factor in the development of democracy. He thus extends Rustow's (1970) theory that democratic behavior produces democratic values.
Neural correlates of verbal feedback processing: An fMRI study employing overt speech

Speakers use external auditory feedback to monitor their own speech. Feedback distortion has been found to increase activity in the superior temporal areas. Using fMRI, the present study investigates the neural correlates of processing verbal feedback without distortion. In a blocked design, the following conditions were presented: (1) overt picture‐naming, (2) overt picture‐naming while pink noise was presented to mask external feedback, (3) covert picture‐naming, (4) listening to the picture names (previously recorded from participants' own voices), and (5) listening to pink noise. The results show that auditory feedback processing involves a network of different areas related to general performance monitoring and speech‐motor control. These include the cingulate cortex and the bilateral insula, supplementary motor area, bilateral motor areas, cerebellum, thalamus and basal ganglia. Our findings suggest that the anterior cingulate cortex, which is often implicated in error‐processing and conflict‐monitoring, is also engaged in ongoing speech monitoring. Furthermore, in the superior temporal gyrus, we found a reduced response to speaking under normal feedback conditions. This finding is interpreted in the framework of a forward model according to which, during speech production, the sensory consequence of the speech‐motor act is predicted to attenuate the sensitivity of the auditory cortex. Hum Brain Mapp 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Simulating the elimination of simulation : the case of language comprehension

In her target article Tina Iachini (2011) proposes to adopt an embodied multimodal approach to account for classical psychological and more recent neuroscientific results on mental imagery. Her proposal is challenging, and I share with the author the persuasion that the times are mature to introduce and defend an embodied approach to mental imagery. While the challenge has well known antecedents in the area of motor imagery (e.g., Jeannerod, 1994), it strikes me as quite new if we consider the research field of mental imagery as a whole (for a related proposal see Grush, 2004).
A Game-Theoretic Perspective on Coalition Formation

The formation of coalitions to achieve both collaborative and competitive goals is a phenomenon we see all around us. The list is long and varied: production cartels, political lobbies, customs unions, environmental coalitions, and ethnic alliances are just a few everyday instances. Drawing upon and extending his inaugural Lipsey Lectures at the University of Essex, Debraj Ray looks at coalition formation from the perspective of game theory. How are agreements determined? Which coalitions will form? And are such agreements invariably efficient from a social perspective? Ray brings together developments in both cooperative and noncooperative game theory to study the analytics of coalition formation and binding agreements. This book concentrates on pure theory, but discusses several potential applications, such as oligopoly and the provision of public goods.
An Empirical Study on 3G Network Capacity and Performance

This paper presents the findings of an extensive measurement study on multiple commercial 3G UMTS networks. We have investigated the performances of those 3G networks in terms of their data throughput, latency, video and voice calls handling capacities, and their ability to provide service guarantees to different traffic classes under various loading conditions. Our findings indicate the diverse nature of network resources allocation and call admission control policies employed by different operators. It is also found that the 3G network operators seem to have extensively customized their network configurations in a cell-by-cell manner according to the individual site's local demographics, projected traffic demand and the target coverage area of the cell. As such, the cell capacity varies widely not only across different operators but also across different measurement sites of the same operator. Even for the same site, the capacity can easily change by more than 10% across multiple measurements taken at different time of the day. The results also show that it is practically impossible to predict the actual capacity of a cell based on known theoretical models and standard parameters, even when supplemented by key field measurements such as the received signal-to-noise ratio (Ec/N0).
Statistical analysis of subnanometer residual disorder in photonic crystal waveguides: Correlation between slow light properties and structural properties

The authors present a statistical study of residual disorder in nominally identical planar photonic crystal waveguides operating in the slow light regime. The focus is on the role played by the subnanometer scaled residual disorder inherent to state-of-the-art electron-beam (EB) lithography systems, in particular, on the impact of the nature of the residual disorder on the maximum value of the guided mode group index. The authors analyze the statistical properties of the surface area, the position, and the shape of the air holes that define the photonic crystal with optimized scanning electron microscope micrographs. The authors identify the hole-area fluctuation as the main source of degradation of the dispersive slow light regime by correlating such a microscopic analysis of the structural disorder with large field-of-view optical characterizations based on a Fourier space imaging technique. The structure with the largest group index (ng = 40) exhibits a standard deviation σ of the radius of the hole as.
Assessing the diversity of the virulence potential of Escherichia coli isolated from bacteremia in São Paulo, Brazil

Most of the knowledge of the virulence determinants of extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) comes from studies with human strains causing urinary tract infections and neonatal meningitis and animal strains causing avian colibacillosis. In this research, we analyzed the phylogenetic background, the presence of 20 ExPEC virulence factors, and the intrinsic virulence potential of 74 E. coli strains isolated in São Paulo, Brazil, from 74 hospitalized patients (43 males and 31 females) with unknown-source bacteremia. Unlike other places in the world, the bacteremic strains originated equally from phylogroups B2 (35%) and D (30%). A great variability in the profiles of virulence factors was noted in this survey. Nevertheless, 61% of the strains were classified as ExPEC, meaning that they possessed intrinsic virulent potential. Accordingly, these strains presented high virulence factor scores (average of 8.7), and were positively associated with 12 of 17 virulence factors detected. On the contrary, the non-ExPEC strains, isolated from 39% of the patients, presented a generally low virulence capacity (medium virulence factor score of 3.1), and were positively associated with only the colicin cvaC gene. These results show the importance of discriminating E. coli isolates that possess characteristics of true pathogens from those that may be merely opportunistic in order to better understand the virulence mechanisms involved in extraintestinal E. coli infections. Such knowledge is essential for epidemiological purposes as well as for development of control measures aimed to minimize the incidence of these life-threatening and costly infections.
Strategic and Institutional Perspectives in the Adoption and Early Integration of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

Using multiple lenses of strategic choice theories (diffusion of innovation, organizational innovativeness) and institutional theory as the basis and reflecting data from semi-structured interviews and news reports, the study develops an integrative conceptual RFID adoption model and presents testable hypotheses at the construct and rationale levels. The model incorporates different rationales for adoption and integration of interorganizational systems (IOS) namely the strategic choice perspective where adoption is voluntary with a view to improve organizational efficiency and performance and the institutional perspective where adoption is more a result of conforming to pressures from organizations within an organization's field of operation. Two technological factors (perceived benefit and perceived costs), three organizational readiness factors (top management support, financial readiness, IS infrastructure and capabilities) and three external environmental factors (perceived standards convergence, perceived consumer privacy and perceived stakeholder privacy) have been suggested as adoption and integration drivers from a strategic choice perspective while the three inter-organizational pressure factors (coercive, mimetic and normative pressures) have been proposed as predictors of adoption intent and expected integration from the institutional perspective . The study allows for a comparison of the relative influence of each rationale on the adoption and post adoption integration decisions by a firm
“What I Want to Do as a Father Is Be There”: Constructions of School Involvement for Fathers of Children with Complex Disabilities

Fathers of children with complex disabilities can play an important role in the development and learning of their children; however, very little is known about their school involvement experiences. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 fathers of children with complex disabilities to learn how these fathers perceived their involvement in their children’s education and schooling. Fathers constructed their school involvement with a consideration of their work and co-parenting experiences. Their employment was perceived as a form of indirect involvement in their children’s education, but could also be associated with barriers to more direct school involvement. Fathers also discussed the role of the co-parenting relationship in their school experiences and identified several factors that contributed to a greater involvement of mothers in school settings. Among these were a perceived unique expertise of mothers and school environments that were more welcoming to mothers. They also discussed some potentially negative ramifications of being less involved in school settings, compared with mothers.
Education and debate Qualitative Research: Introducing focus groups

This paper introduces focus group methodology, gives advice on group composition, running the groups, and analysing the results. Focus groups have advantages for researchers in the field of health and medicine: they do not discriminate against people who cannot read or write and they can encourage participation from people reluctant to be interviewed on their own or who feel they have nothing to say. This is the fifth in a series of seven articles describing non-quantitative techniques and showing their value in health research Rationale and uses of focus groups Focus groups are a form of group interview that capitalises on communication between research participants in order to generate data. Although group interviews are often used simply as a quick and convenient way to collect data from several people simultaneously, focus groups explicitly use group interaction as part of the method. This means that instead of the researcher asking each person to respond to a question in turn, people are encouraged to talk to one another: asking questions, exchanging anecdotes and commenting on each others' experiences and points of view. 1 The method is particularly useful for exploring people's knowledge and experiences and can be used to examine not only what people think but how they think and why they think that way. Focus groups were originally used within communication studies to explore the effects of films and television programmes, 2 and are a popular method for assessing health education messages and examining public understandings of illness and of health behaviours. 3 4 5 6 7 They are widely used to examine people's experiences of disease and of health services. 8 9 and are an effective technique for exploring the attitudes and needs of staff. The idea behind the focus group method is that group processes can help people to explore and clarify their views in ways that would be less easily accessible in a one to one interview. Group discussion is particularly appropriate when the interviewer has a series of open ended questions and wishes to encourage research participants to explore the issues of importance to them, in their own vocabulary, generating their own questions and pursuing their own priorities. When group dynamics work well the participants work alongside the researcher, taking the research in new and often unexpected directions. Group work also helps researchers tap into the many different forms of communication that people use in day to …
Endogenous Central Bank Information and the Optimal Degree of Transparency

As a policymaker, the central bank both observes and shapes the economy. The central bank scrutinizes market activity to assess the state of the economy, and its policy strongly shapes market outcomes. When transparency allows the central bank to shape the economy more effectively, it may also cause the informational role of the economic aggregate to deteriorate. This paper presents a simple model to capture the endogenous nature of central bank information and to address welfare issues. First, accounting for the endogeneity of information highlights the detrimental effects of transparency. A model with endogenous information always calls for a lower degree of transparency than a model with exogenous information. Second, the optimal degree of transparency for endogenous information is unrelated to the accuracy of firms’ private information.
Embryonic stem cells develop into functional dopaminergic neurons after transplantation in a Parkinson rat model

Although implantation of fetal dopamine (DA) neurons can reduce parkinsonism in patients, current methods are rudimentary, and a reliable donor cell source is lacking. We show that transplanting low doses of undifferentiated mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells into the rat striatum results in a proliferation of ES cells into fully differentiated DA neurons. ES cell-derived DA neurons caused gradual and sustained behavioral restoration of DA-mediated motor asymmetry. Behavioral recovery paralleled in vivo positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging data demonstrating DA-mediated hemodynamic changes in the striatum and associated brain circuitry. These results demonstrate that transplanted ES cells can develop spontaneously into DA neurons. Such DA neurons can restore cerebral function and behavior in an animal model of Parkinson's disease.