Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Allocation of scarce resources when rationality is one of them: some consequences of cognitive inequalities for theory and policy

"Rationality" is understood in the empirical sense of cognitive abilities of human brains for solving economic problems, and consequently recognized bounded in individually unequal ways. This is shown to require treating it as a unique scarce resource, used for deciding on its own uses. This uniqueness disturbs axiomatic economics by a tangled hierarchy, and implies that rationality-allocation can approach efficiency only by means of an institutionally shaped trial-and-error evolution. Applied to the markets vs. government issue, a comparative institutional analysis of rationality-allocation yields novel insights with non-standard policy implications, and thus demonstrates that rationality-allocation matters.
Kinematics of the ring-like nebula SuWt 2

We present the first detailed spatio-kinematical analysis and modelling of the southern planetary nebula SuWt 2. This object presents a problem for current theories of planetary nebula formation and evolution, as it is not known to contain a central post-main-sequence star. Deep narrow-band [N ii]6584 A images reveal the presence of faint bipolar lobes emanating from the edges of the nebular ring. Long-slit observations of the Hα and [N ii]6584 A emission lines were obtained using the ESO (European Southern Observatory) Multi-Mode Instrument on the 3.6-m ESO New Technology Telescope. The spectra reveal the nebular morphology as a bright torus encircling the waist of an extended bipolar structure. By deprojection, the inclination of the ring is found to be 68°± 2° (cf. ∼90° for the double A-type binary believed to lie at the centre of the nebula), and the ring expansion velocity is found to be 28 km s−1. Our findings are discussed with relation to possible formation scenarios for SuWt 2. Through comparison of the nebular heliocentric systemic velocity, found here to be −25 ± 5 km s−1, and the heliocentric systemic velocity of the double A-type binary, we conclude that neither component of the binary could have been the nebular progenitor. However, we are unable to rule out the presence of a third component to the system, which would have been the nebula progenitor.
Relationship between Body Mass Index and Percent Body Fat in Vietnamese: Implications for the Diagnosis of Obesity

Background The burden of obesity in Vietnam has not been well defined because there is a lack of reference data for percent body fat (PBF) in Asians. This study sought to define the relationship between PBF and body mass index (BMI) in the Vietnamese population. Methods The study was designed as a comparative cross-sectional investigation that involved 1217 individuals of Vietnamese background (862 women) aged 20 years and older (average age 47 yr) who were randomly selected from the general population in Ho Chi Minh City. Lean mass (LM) and fat mass (FM) were measured by DXA (Hologic QDR 4500). PBF was derived as FM over body weight. Results Based on BMI ≥30, the prevalence of obesity was 1.1% and 1.3% for men and women, respectively. The prevalence of overweight and obesity combined (BMI ≥25) was ~24% and ~19% in men and women, respectively. Based on the quadratic relationship between BMI and PBF, the approximate PBF corresponding to the BMI threshold of 30 (obese) was 30.5 in men and 41 in women. Using the criteria of PBF >30 in men and PBF >40 in women, approximately 15% of men and women were considered obese. Conclusion These data suggest that body mass index underestimates the prevalence of obesity. We suggest that a PBF >30 in men or PBF >40 in women is used as criteria for the diagnosis of obesity in Vietnamese adults. Using these criteria, 15% of Vietnamese adults in Ho Chi Minh City was considered obese.
Reconsidering Assumptions of Beginner Teachers' Needs: An Examination of Commonly Used Pronunciation Textbooks.

Novice teachers often look to textbooks and teacher’s manuals for guidance when preparing courses, learning course content, and delivering instruction to students. In the field of pronunciation, however, materials creators face an unusual difficulty when designing resources because beginner teachers often are not truly novices: They might have limited experience teaching pronunciation content but be experienced teachers in other language fields, such as writing, reading, or ESL. This article examines 8 pronunciation texts (5 textbooks and 3 corresponding teacher’s manuals) to discover what guidance is offered to teachers. In particular, the researcher, a writing instructor who recently tutored pronunciation, offers insights into an analysis of this support for different types of beginner teachers—novice, advanced beginner, and competent. The findings include recommendations for authors and publishers of such materials as well as for program directors and teachers to enhance and ensure the usefulness of these resources for all instructors.
Semi-supervised learning for acoustic and prosodic modeling in speech applications

Enormous amounts of audio recordings of human speech are essential ingredients for building reliable statistical models for many speech applications, such as automatic speech recognizers and automatic prosody detector. However, most of these speech data are not being utilized because they lack transcriptions. The goal of this thesis is to use untranscribed (unlabeled) data to improve the performance of models trained using only transcribed (labeled) data. We propose an unified semi-supervised learning framework for the problem of phone classification, phone recognition and prosody detection. The proposed approach will be particularly useful in the case where recognition performance is limited by the amount of transcribed data. In the first part of the thesis, we investigate semi-supervised training of Gaussian mixtures models (GMMs) and Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) which are the common probabilistic models of acoustic features in a state-ofthe-art continuous density HMM based speech recognition system. Specifically, a family of semi-supervised training criteria that reflect reasonable assumptions about labeled and unlabeled data are proposed. Both generative and discriminative kinds of training criteria are explored, and one important proposal of this thesis is to keep the power of discriminative training criteria by using some measures on unlabeled data as a regularization to the supervised training objective. Methods are described for the optimization of these criteria, and phone classification experiments show that these criteria reliably give improvements over their supervised versions that use only labeled data. We then extend the proposed semi-supervised training criteria to the phone recognition problem. This problem is novel in the area of semi-supervised learning because there are few research on the use of unlabeled data in the sequence labeling problems. We develop lattice-based approaches for the model optimization that involves both transcribed and untranscribed speech utterances. Experiments for phone recognition show that a maximum mutual
GABAA Receptor Endocytosis in the Basolateral Amygdala Is Critical to the Reinstatement of Fear Memory Measured by Fear-Potentiated Startle

Reinstatement represents a phenomenon that may be used to model the effects of retraumatization observed in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this study, we found intraperitoneal injection of the β-adrenergic receptor antagonist propranolol (10 mg/kg) 1 h before reinstatement training attenuated reinstatement of fear memory in rats. Conversely, reinstatement was facilitated by intra-amygdalar administration of β-adrenergic receptor agonist isoproterenol (Iso; 2 μg per side) 30 min before reinstatement training. The frequency and amplitude of the miniature IPSC (mIPSC) and the surface expression of the β3 and γ2 subunits of the GABAA receptor (GABAAR) were significantly lower in reinstated than in extinction rats, whereas the AMPA/NMDA ratio and the surface expression of GluR1 and GluR2 in the amygdala did not differ between groups. In amygdala slices, Iso-induced decrease in the surface β3 subunit of GABAA receptor was blocked by a Tat-conjugated dynamin function-blocking peptide (Tat-P4) pretreatment (10 μm for 30 min). By contrast, Tat-scramble peptide had no effect. Intravenous injection (3 μmol/kg) or intra-amygdalar infusion (30 pmol per side) of Tat-P4 interfered with reinstatement. Reinstatement increased the association between protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) and the β3 subunit of the GABAAR, which was abolished by PP1/PP2A inhibitors okadaic acid and calyculin A. These results suggest the involvement of β-adrenergic receptor activation and GABAA receptor endocytosis in the amygdala for the reinstatement in fear memory.
Disentangled, decentred and democratised: Youth Studies for the global South

ABSTRACT Youth Studies’ theories often assume universal generalisability despite rarely making the global South, or its youthful populations, ontologies, values and politics the focus of research. This paper grapples with the idea of a Youth Studies ‘for’ the global South, questioning whether theories/approaches that centre on the global North can be usefully applied in the global South, how and for what purpose. After describing two mainstream domains of Youth Studies scholarship, questioning how they may become applicable to Africa, Latin America and developing countries in Asia, we explicate the geo-politically situated nature of knowledge production. We ask how theories that originate elsewhere can be adapted and put to work in new contexts, contributing towards a Youth Studies that enhances the lives of youth on the global periphery. In Southern sites urgent material challenges dominate young people's lives, requiring theories that are able to analyse the multi-dimensional contextual constraints youth experience. Knowledges can be useful regardless of where they originate, but only when they become intentionally entangled in local realities and are adapted accordingly. We argue, however, that a Youth Studies for the global South needs to demonstrate its relevance beyond applying theories to new local sites. It should be able to say something more general about the human condition. In the current conjuncture of economic instability, we believe that contexts where youth have had to adapt, hustle and survive in precarious conditions for an extended period of time might demonstrate something unique about the human condition, but only if we make these places the focus of our research gaze. The paper concludes with suggestions to enable a Youth Studies for the global South, one which may contribute to this emerging field more effectively through intentional strategies of disentangling, decentring and ultimately democratising the field.
Helping oxytocin deliver: considerations in the development of oxytocin-based therapeutics for brain disorders

Concerns regarding a drought in psychopharmacology have risen from many quarters. From one perspective, the wellspring of bedrock medications for anxiety disorders, depression, and schizophrenia was serendipitously discovered over 30 year ago, the swell of pharmaceutical investment in drug discovery has receded, and the pipeline's flow of medications with unique mechanisms of action (i.e., glutamatergic agents, CRF antagonists) has slowed to a trickle. Might oxytocin (OT)-based therapeutics be an oasis? Though a large basic science literature and a slowly increasing number of studies in human diseases support this hope, the bulk of extant OT studies in humans are single-dose studies on normals, and do not directly relate to improvements in human brain-based diseases. Instead, these studies have left us with a field pregnant with therapeutic possibilities, but barren of definitive treatments. In this clinically oriented review, we discuss the extant OT literature with an eye toward helping OT deliver on its promise as a therapeutic agent. To this end, we identify 10 key questions that we believe future OT research should address. From this overview, several conclusions are clear: (1) the OT system represents an extremely promising target for novel CNS drug development; (2) there is a pressing need for rigorous, randomized controlled clinical trials targeting actual patients; and (3) in order to inform the design and execution of these vital trials, we need further translational studies addressing the questions posed in this review. Looking forward, we extend a cautious hope that the next decade of OT research will birth OT-targeted treatments that can truly deliver on this system's therapeutic potential.
Associations Between Arterial Oxygen Saturation, Body Size and Limb Measurements Among High-Altitude Andean Children

The relative influences of hypoxia and other environmental stressors on growth at altitude remain unclear. Previous work demonstrated an association between peripheral arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) and anthropometry (especially tibia length) among Tibetan and Han children at altitude. We investigated whether similar associations exist among Andeans, and the patterning of associations between SpO2 and anthropometry.
YourGloves, hothands and hotmits: devices to hold hands at a distance

There is a growing body of work in HCI on the design of communication technologies to help support lovers in long distance relationships. We build upon this work by presenting an exploratory study of hand-holding prototypes. Our work distinguishes itself by basing distance communication metaphors on elements of familiar, simple co-located behaviours. We argue that the combined evocative power of unique co-created physical representations of the absent other can be used by separated lovers to generate powerful and positive experiences, in turn sustaining romantic connections at a distance.
Acute stress alters individual risk taking in a time‐dependent manner and leads to anti‐social risk

Decision‐making processes can be modulated by stress, and the time elapsed from stress induction seems to be a crucial factor in determining the direction of the effects. Although current approaches consider the first post‐stress hour a uniform period, the dynamic pattern of activation of the physiological stress systems (i.e., the sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal axis) suggests that its neurobehavioural impact might be heterogeneous. Here, we evaluate economic risk preferences on the gain domain (i.e., risk aversion) at three time points following exposure to psychosocial stress (immediately after, and 20 and 45 min from onset). Using lottery games, we examine decisions at both the individual and social levels. We find that risk aversion shows a time‐dependent change across the first post‐stress hour, evolving from less risk aversion shortly after stress to more risk averse behaviour at the last testing time. When risk implied an antisocial outcome to a third party, stressed individuals showed less regard for this person in their decisions. Participants’ cortisol levels explained their behaviour in the risk, but not the antisocial, game. Our findings reveal differential stress effects in self‐ and other‐regarding decision‐making and highlight the multidimensional nature of the immediate aftermath of stress for cognition.
CYP3A5 GENETIC POLYMORPHISMS IN DIFFERENT ETHNIC POPULATIONS

Cyp3A5 activity varies within any given ethnic population, suggesting that genetic variation within the Cyp3A5 gene may be the most important contributor to interindividual and interracial differences in Cyp3A-dependent drug clearance and response. The full extent of Cyp3A5 polymorphism in a white and an indigenous African population was analyzed using DNA direct sequencing procedures. The presence of 10 and 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms was detected in the white and African samples, respectively. Thirteen novel mutations occurring at low frequencies were identified in these populations. Significant differences were observed in the distribution of Cyp3A5*3, Cyp3A5*6, and Cyp3A5*7 alleles among white and African populations. The frequency of Cyp3A5*3 allele in white Canadians (∼93%) is higher than in Zimbabweans (77.6%) (p < 0.001). In contrast, Cyp3A5*6 and Cyp3A5*7 alleles are relatively frequent in African subjects (10–22%) but absent in white subjects (p < 0.001). These differences may reflect evolutionary pressures generated by environmental factors in geographically distinct regions. However, the genetic polymorphism of Cyp3A5 alone does not explain the interindividual differences in Cyp3A-mediated metabolism.
A Bayesian Mixed Regression Based Prediction of Quantitative Traits from Molecular Marker and Gene Expression Data

Both molecular marker and gene expression data were considered alone as well as jointly to serve as additive predictors for two pathogen-activity-phenotypes in real recombinant inbred lines of soybean. For unobserved phenotype prediction, we used a Bayesian hierarchical regression modeling, where the number of possible predictors in the model was controlled by different selection strategies tested. Our initial findings were submitted for DREAM5 (the 5th Dialogue on Reverse Engineering Assessment and Methods challenge) and were judged to be the best in sub-challenge B3 wherein both functional genomic and genetic data were used to predict the phenotypes. In this work we further improve upon this previous work by considering various predictor selection strategies and cross-validation was used to measure accuracy of in-data and out-data predictions. The results from various model choices indicate that for this data use of both data types (namely functional genomic and genetic) simultaneously improves out-data prediction accuracy. Adequate goodness-of-fit can be easily achieved with more complex models for both phenotypes, since the number of potential predictors is large and the sample size is not small. We also further studied gene-set enrichment (for continuous phenotype) in the biological process in question and chromosomal enrichment of the gene set. The methodological contribution of this paper is in exploration of variable selection techniques to alleviate the problem of over-fitting. Different strategies based on the nature of covariates were explored and all methods were implemented under the Bayesian hierarchical modeling framework with indicator-based covariate selection. All the models based in careful variable selection procedure were found to produce significant results based on permutation test.
Towards Visual AspectJ by a Meta Model and Modeling Notation

A meta model specifies a particular visual modeling language. Aspect oriented modeling (AOM) needs meta models for aspect visual modeling to bridge the gap between the conceptual modeling of crosscut concerns and aspect oriented programming (AOP). Many researchers have proposed extensions of the UML towards graphical notations for aspects. However, notations without an underlying formal semantics and syntax are not amenable to automated tool support. Tool-supported aspect modeling requires an aspect meta model as a basis specification. This paper follows a bottom-up approach, focusing on a meta model for AspectJ, an Aspect oriented language extending Java. By tailoring UML meta classes, a Java meta model is built first, and then it is extended into an AspectJ meta model. The semantics, attributes and associations of the main meta classes are specified. These meta classes are visualized by a set of corresponding notations for aspect related diagrams. The meta model is precise, pragmatic and enables implementation of aspect modeling tools. The work promises to narrow the gap between crosscut conceptual modeling of aspects and concrete implementations in AspectJ.
Alterations of Adenine Nucleotide Metabolism and Function of Blood Platelets in Patients With Diabetes

Increased activity of blood platelets contributes to vascular complications in patients with diabetes. The aim of this work was to investigate whether persisting hyperglycemia in diabetic patients generates excessive accumulation of ATP/ADP, which may underlie platelet hyperactivity. Platelet ATP and ADP levels, thiobarbituric acid–reactive species synthesis, and aggregation of platelets from patients with diabetes were 18–82% higher than in platelets from healthy participants. In patients with diabetes, platelet stimulation with thrombin caused about two times greater release of ATP and ADP than in the healthy group while decreasing intraplatelet nucleotide content to similar levels in both groups. This indicates that the increased content of adenylate nucleotides in the releasable pool in the platelets of diabetic patients does not affect their level in metabolic cytoplasmic/mitochondrial compartments. Significant correlations between platelet ATP levels and plasma fructosamine, as well as between platelet ATP/ADP and platelet activities, have been found in diabetic patients. In conclusion, chronic hyperglycemia-evoked elevations of ATP/ADP levels and release from blood platelets of patients with diabetes may be important factors underlying platelet hyperactivity in the course of the disease.
Audit of Antibiotic Prescribing Practices for Neonatal Sepsis and Measurement of Outcome in New Born Unit at Kenyatta National Hospital

Background Neonatal sepsis is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. A high index of suspicion is required since features of sepsis are nonspecific. Auditing of antibiotic use is necessary to reduce misuse and minimise development of antibiotic resistance. Objectives To assess the antibiotic prescribing practices in NBU at KNH against recommended Kenyan guidelines for neonatal sepsis. In addition, outcome within 7 days was described. Methods This was a prospective audit of 320 neonates over a 2-month period at NBU of KNH. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire, stored in MS-EXCEL, and analysed using STATA. Results Documentation of perinatal risk factors and clinical features at admission and at the time of change of antibiotics was very poor. The rate of investigations to confirm infection was very low. Blood cultures were done only in 13 (4%) neonates on admission, while complete blood count and C reactive protein were done in 224 (70%) and 198 (62%), respectively. Appropriate antibiotics as per the Kenyan guidelines were prescribed in 313 (97.8%) of neonates on admission. However, these were not stopped at 48-72 hours for the 148 (53.62%) who had improved. Overall mortality was high in neonates at 80 (25%). Majority (55%) died within 48 hours. Mortality was high among preterm neonates; 70 (43.8%) died out of 160. Conclusion Overall documentation and investigations to confirm infection was poor. The continuation of antibiotics was inappropriate. Overall mortality was high especially in the first 48 hours of admission. To improve documentation, availability of a checklist on admission is recommended.
Distributional convergence of path durations in MANETs with dependent link excess lives

We investigate the issue of path selection in multihop wireless networks with the goal of identifying a scheme that can select a path with the largest expected duration. To this end we first study the distribution of path duration. We show that, under a set of mild conditions, when the hop count along a path is large, the distribution of path duration can be well approximated by an exponential distribution even when the distributions of link durations are dependent and heterogeneous. Secondly, we investigate the statistical relation between a path duration and the durations of the links along the path. We prove that the parameter of the exponential distribution, which determines the expected duration of the path, is related to the link durations only through their means and is given by the sum of the inverses of the expected link durations. Based on our analytical results we propose a scheme that can be implemented with existing routing protocols and select the paths with the largest expected durations.