Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cost-effectiveness analysis of interventions to prevent cardiovascular disease in Vietnam.

BACKGROUND Vietnam is in the process of an epidemiological transition, with cardiovascular disease (CVD) now ranked as the leading cause of death. The burden of CVD will continue to rise unless effective interventions for addressing its underlying risk factors are put in place. OBJECTIVES To assess the costs, health effects and cost-effectiveness of a set of personal and non-personal prevention strategies to reduce CVD in Vietnam, including mass media campaigns for reducing consumption of salt and tobacco, drugs for lowering blood pressure or cholesterol, and combined pharmacotherapy for people at varying levels of absolute risk of a cardiovascular event. METHODS WHO-CHOICE methods and analytical models were employed, using local data to estimate the costs, effects and cost-effectiveness of 12 population and individual interventions implemented singly or in combination. Costs were measured in Vietnamese Dong for the year 2007 (discounted at a rate of 3% per year), while health effects were expressed in age-weighted and discounted disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) averted. RESULTS A health education programme to reduce salt intake (VND 1 945 002 or US$118 per DALY averted) and individual treatment of systolic blood pressure above 160 mmHg (VND 1 281 596 or US$78 per DALY averted) were found to be the most cost-effective measures for population- and individual-based approaches, respectively. Where budget is very limited, a mass media education programme on salt intake and a combination mass media programme addressing salt intake, cholesterol and tobacco should be selected first. If more resources become available, greatest population health gains can be achieved via individual treatment of systolic blood pressure and the absolute risk approach to CVD prevention. CONCLUSIONS Contextualization of WHO-CHOICE using local data provides health decision-makers with more sound economic evidence for policy debates on prioritizing health interventions to reduce cardiovascular diseases in Vietnam. When used, cost-effectiveness analysis could increase efficiency in allocating scare resources.
Tbx2 Controls Lung Growth by Direct Repression of the Cell Cycle Inhibitor Genes Cdkn1a and Cdkn1b

Vertebrate organ development relies on the precise spatiotemporal orchestration of proliferation rates and differentiation patterns in adjacent tissue compartments. The underlying integration of patterning and cell cycle control during organogenesis is insufficiently understood. Here, we have investigated the function of the patterning T-box transcription factor gene Tbx2 in lung development. We show that lungs of Tbx2-deficient mice are markedly hypoplastic and exhibit reduced branching morphogenesis. Mesenchymal proliferation was severely decreased, while mesenchymal differentiation into fibrocytes was prematurely induced. In the epithelial compartment, proliferation was reduced and differentiation of alveolar epithelial cells type 1 was compromised. Prior to the observed cellular changes, canonical Wnt signaling was downregulated, and Cdkn1a (p21) and Cdkn1b (p27) (two members of the Cip/Kip family of cell cycle inhibitors) were strongly induced in the Tbx2-deficient lung mesenchyme. Deletion of both Cdkn1a and Cdkn1b rescued, to a large degree, the growth deficits of Tbx2-deficient lungs. Prolongation of Tbx2 expression into adulthood led to hyperproliferation and maintenance of mesenchymal progenitor cells, with branching morphogenesis remaining unaffected. Expression of Cdkn1a and Cdkn1b was ablated from the lung mesenchyme in this gain-of-function setting. We further show by ChIP experiments that Tbx2 directly binds to Cdkn1a and Cdkn1b loci in vivo, defining these two genes as direct targets of Tbx2 repressive activity in the lung mesenchyme. We conclude that Tbx2-mediated regulation of Cdkn1a and Cdkn1b represents a crucial node in the network integrating patterning information and cell cycle regulation that underlies growth, differentiation, and branching morphogenesis of this organ.
Factors predicting sustainability of the schoolwide positive behavior intervention support model

ABSTRACT The Schoolwide Positive Behavior Intervention Support model (SWPBIS) continues to gain widespread use across schools in the United States and abroad. Despite its widespread implementation, little research has examined factors that influence its sustainability. Informed by Rogers's diffusion theory, this study examined school personnel's perceptions of the attributes of SWPBIS that predict its sustainability. These attributes include relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability. Participants were school personnel employed in schools implementing SWPBIS. Results indicated that the relative advantage and observability of SWPBIS may predict its sustainability. These results led to some important implications for practitioners involved in the implementation of the SWPBIS. Limitations and recommendations for future research are also provided.
Association between physical activity patterns and anthropometric characteristics of adults: an issue of public health?

Summary Study aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between objectively measured daily physical activity (PA) and body fat mass (BF) and body mass index (BMI). A further aim was to analyse the variance of PA between quartiles of BF and BMI. Material and methods: A cross-sectional, observational study of 126 university students (53 males aged 20.46 ± 2.04 years and 73 female aged 19.69 ± 1.32 years) was conducted. Results: The female participants and PA characteristics explain 57.10% of BF variance and the model was statistically significant (F(6, 875) = 196.38; p = 0.001). BMI was also included in the model. Standard binary logistic regression was used to test the hypothesis that female sex and PA characteristics can influence overweight. The full model containing all variables was statistically significant (G2(6) = 58.598, p-value = 0.001). Analysis of variance between BF quartiles revealed statistically significant differences in male participants in light PA (p = 0.001; ES = 0.09), moderate PA (p = 0.001; ES = 0.042) and vigorous PA (p = 0.001; ES = 0.130). Conclusions: The statistical model in the regression analysis suggests that low and vigorous levels of PA explain 57% of BF variance in female participants.
The Research Excellence Framework 2014, journal ratings and the marginalisation of heterodox economics

The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is the main research assessment for universities in the UK. It informs university league tables and the allocation of government research funding. This paper analyses the evaluations of the REF 2014 for Economics, Business, Politics and History. We analyse, first, from which journals, articles have been submitted; second, to what extent journal ratings and impact factors predict the REF´s evaluations; third, how many articles from heterodox economics journals have been submitted. We find that a small group of journals dominate the outputs submitted. Journal ratings and impact factors explain 86 to 89% of the variation in the output evaluations for Economics. These values are lower but still substantial for other disciplines. Few papers from heterodox economics journals were submitted to Economics. Overall, the REF in its present form marginalises heterodox economics, pushes it out of the discipline and endangers pluralism in economics research.
Large-Scale Brain Systems and Subcortical Relationships: The Vertically Organized Brain

This article reviews the vertical organization of the brain. The cortico-basal ganglia and the cerebro-cerebellar circuitry systems are described as fundamental to cognitive and behavioral control. The basal ganglia anticipate and guide implicitly learned behaviors on the basis of experienced reward outcomes. The cerebellar-cortical network anticipates sensorimotor outcomes, allowing behaviors to be adapted across changing settings and across contexts. These vertically organized systems, operating together, represent the underpinning of cognitive control. The medial temporal lobe system, and its development, is also reviewed in order to better understand how brain systems interact for both implicit and explicit cognitive control.
Using Literature Circles to Promote Reflective Writing Ability: A Perspective on the Co-operative Learning Approach

The study was a classroom-based research project aimed at the investigation of the effects of using literature circles on the reflective components of writing found in students’ assignments and exploration of students’ views of the benefits of this activity. A framework by Pasternak and Rigoni (2015) was used to evaluate students’ five reflective writings. It was found that across the five writing assignments, students’ descriptive reflection and analytical reflection increased over the course of the class. As for hypothetical and critical reflection, there was no clear evidence of improvement partially due to the difficulty of the reading texts, students’ background knowledge, and mini-lessons.
Appropriate emotional labelling of non-acted speech using basic emotions, geneva emotion wheel and self assessment manikins

In emotion recognition from speech, a good transcription and annotation of given material is crucial. Moreover, the question of how to find good emotional labels for new data material is a basic issue. It is not only the question of which emotion labels to choose, it is also a matter of how labellers can cope with annotation methods. In this paper, we present our investigations for emotional labelling with three different methods (Basic Emotions, Geneva Emotion Wheel and Self Assessment Manikins) and compare them in terms of emotion coverage and usability. We show that emotion labels derived from Geneva Emotion Wheel or Self Assessment Manikins fulfill our requirements, but Basic Emotions are not feasible for emotion labelling from spontaneous speech.
Ambient wind energy harvesting using cross-flow fluttering

In this experimental study, we propose and test a bioinspired piezo-leaf architecture which converts wind energy into electrical energy by wind-induced fluttering motion. While conventional fluttering devices are arranged in parallel with the flow direction, here we explore a dangling cross-flow stalk arrangement. This architecture amplifies the vibration by an order of magnitude, making it appropriate for low-cost organic piezomaterials. We fabricated prototypes using flexible piezoelectric materials as stalks and polymer film as leaves. A series of experiments demonstrated a peak output power of approximately 600 μW and maximum power density of approximately 2 mW/cm3 from a single leaf.
Studies on the written characters orientation and its influence on digit reversal by children

Abstract Recent research has found that children reverse mainly the left-oriented characters when writing from memory (e.g. they write ɩ and ε instead of J and 3). In order to obtain an objective definition of the left-orientation of a character, the ratings of the level of left-orientation of all the asymmetrical capital letters and digits by 142 adult students was analysed in Study 1. Study 2, on 298 five–six-year-old children, examined an immediate prediction of Study 1, namely that the children reverse mainly the digits that the adult students have rated left-oriented. Other predictions, both of the posited representation of the writing during the reversal stage and the neurological process of mirror generalisation, were verified: the simplicity of the representation of the symmetrical digits 0 and 8 makes incorrect writings very rare; the mirror generalisation, which operates only in the left–right direction, makes other transformations (inversion or 180° rotation) very rare. Finally, the explanatory power of some putative individual factors of reversal (e.g. writing with the left hand) is shown to be far lower than that of the left-orientation of the characters.
An Event-Related fMRI Study of Overt and Covert Word Stem Completion

In fMRI studies of language processing, it would be extremely useful to obtain high-quality images during tasks requiring spoken output. Recent studies have suggested that this may be possible, particularly if event-related fMRI methods are used. This study assesses the feasibility of acquiring interpretable images during speech by applying event-related methods to visual word stem completion, a task that has been studied extensively. On each trial, a different three-letter word stem (e.g., COU) was presented visually and subjects were required to generate a word beginning with that stem (e.g., COUSIN). In covert runs, subjects were instructed to say the word once to themselves, without moving their lips. In overt runs, subjects were instructed to say the word once aloud. Ten subjects were scanned during six overt runs and six covert runs at three presentation rates. Data were analyzed using an implementation of the general linear model making no assumptions about response shape. Images were relatively free of artifacts, and regions demonstrating task-related activation were similar to those reported in previous imaging studies. Regions active during overt task performance were similar to those active during covert task performance, with the addition of several regions commonly associated with motor aspects of speech production. Consistent with other studies, magnitude of activation was greater in the overt condition than in the covert condition, and there was a modest decrease in magnitude at the fastest presentation rate. Together, these results help to validate the use of event-related fMRI during tasks that require spoken output. Press
Pipelined DFE architectures using delayed coefficient adaptation

In this paper the delayed least-mean-square (DLMS) algorithm is proposed for training a transversal filter-based decision feedback equalizer (DFE). Delays in the filter coefficient update process are used to pipeline the DFE, thereby increasing the throughput rate, for a given speed of hardware. The filter structures selected for the feedforward and feedback section of the DFE facilitate the use of a shared error signal, thereby reducing communication costs. The new resulting structure is highly modular and is very suitable for very large scale integration (VLSI) implementation. A pipelined form for the normalized least-mean-square algorithm (NMLS) is also obtained which removes the dependency of the convergence speed on the input signal power. The convergence and residual mean-square error characteristics of the different pipelined filters are compared.
A space reduction mechanism for the dynamic selection of ontological alignments

Effective communication in open environments relies on the ability of agents to reach a mutual understanding of the exchanged message by reconciling the vocabulary (ontology) used. Various approaches have considered how mutually acceptable mappings between corresponding concepts in the agents’ ontologies may be determined dynamically through argumentation-based negotiation (such as Meaningbased Argumentation). However, the complexity of this process is high, reaching Π 2 -complete in some cases. As reducing this complexity is non-trivial, we propose the use of ontology modularization as a means of reducing the space over which possible correspondences are negotiated. The suitability of different modularization approaches as filtering mechanisms for reducing the argumentation search space is investigated. We empirically demonstrate that some modularization approaches not only reduce the number of alignments required to reach consensus, but can also predict those cases where a service provider is unable to fully satisfy a request, without the need for argumentation.
The Conceptual Development of In-service EFL Teachers’ Perception of Grammatical Mediation on Three Planes: A Sociocultural Perspective

The present study, following Vygotskyan Sociocultural theory in education, and inspired by Rogoff‘s conceptualization (1995, 2003) of development, aimed at conceptual development of in-service EFL teachers. To this end, two Iranian EFL teachers with pseudonyms (Tara and Sara) were selected as participants of the study. The participating teachers were first taught the sociocultural concepts related to language, teaching, and learning taken from Johnson (2009) and Rogoff‘s (2003) mediatory model of development in six workshops through dialogic mediation. The data for the study comprised two semi-structured interviews, and three video-recording of critical reflection of each teacher on their video-taped classroom behavior. The recordings and transcripts were analyzed using Hatch‘s (2002) procedure for interpretive analysis. The results of the study showed that participating teachers, over a process of struggle with D ow nl oa de d fr om ij al . k hu . a c. ir at 1 5: 47 IR S T o n W ed ne sd ay S ep te m be r 23 rd 2 02 0 [ D O I: 10 . 1 88 69 /a ca dp ub . ij al . 1 8. 2. 41 ]
The Concentration of Fluorides in tap Water and Commercial Bottled Beverages

The aim of this study was to measure the concentration of fluorides in tap water in Northern Croatian town Cazma and commercially available bottled drinks. Materials and Methods Fluoride content was assessed by fluoride-selective electrode in tap water and commercial drinks from public supply. pH was assessed by hydrogen ion-selective electrode. Results Fluoride content in tap water was 0, 313 mg F-/l. In commercially available bottled drinks fluoride concentration was the highest in carbonated mineral water (0, 34 - 1, 5 mg F-/l), then in some ice tea drinks (0, 06-0, 74 mg F-/l). Non-carbonated waters, carbonated soft drinks and noncarbonated soft drinks had very low fluoride concentration and it was <0, 01 mg F-/l, 0, 02 mg F-/l and 0, 06-0, 15 mg F-/l, respectively. pH in carbonated drinks was 2, 36 -2.68 and 3, 08-3, 64 in juices. Conclusion Low concentration of fluorides in soft drinks and low pH in combination with added sugars could have cariogenic potential. The results obtained in this investigation could be used in planning preventive measures.
Dysrhythmia: a specific congenital rhythm perception deficit

Why do some people have problems “feeling the beat”? Here we investigate participants with congenital impairments in musical rhythm perception and production. A web-based version of the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia was used to screen for difficulties with rhythmic processing in a large sample and we identified three “dysrhythmic” individuals who scored below cut-off for the rhythm subtest, but not the pitch-based subtests. Follow-up testing in the laboratory was conducted to characterize the nature of both rhythm perception and production deficits in these dysrhythmic individuals. We found that they differed from control participants when required to synchronize their tapping to an external stimulus with a metrical pulse, but not when required to tap spontaneously (with no external stimulus) or to tap in time to an isochronous stimulus. Dysrhythmics exhibited a general tendency to tap at half the expected tempo when asked to synchronize to the beat of strongly metrical rhythms. These results suggest that the individuals studied here did not have motor production problems, but suffer from a selective rhythm perception deficit that influences the ability to entrain to metrical rhythms.
Mutual Beliefs of Multiple Conversants: A Computational Model of Collaboration in Air Traffic Control

This work develops a computational model for representing and reasoning about dialogue in terms of the mutuality of belief of the conversants. We simulated cooperative dialogues at the speech act level and compared the simulations with actual dialogues between pilots and air traffic controllers engaged in real tasks. In the simulations, addressees and overhearers formed beliefs and took actions appropriate to their individual roles and contexts. The result is a computational model capable of representing the evolving context of complete real-world multiparty task-oriented conversations in the air traffic control domain.
New antibiotic agents in the pipeline and how they can help overcome microbial resistance

Bacterial resistance is a growing threat and yet few new antibiotics active against multi-resistant bacteria are being explored. A combination of falling profits, regulatory mechanisms and irrational and injudicious use of antibiotics has led to an alarming situation where some infections have no cure. In this article, we summarize the new developments that have been suggested to incentivize the pharmaceutical industries toward the field of infections. We also briefly mention the new compounds on the horizon and some newly approved compounds that might help us tide over this crisis.
Permission Not Required: The Power of Parents to Disrupt Educational Hypocrisy

This review is focused on literature documenting the experiences of nondominant and minoritized parents who challenge injustice and inequity in the public schools attended by their children. It interrogates hegemonic approaches to parent involvement favoring dominant groups and silencing efforts of nondominant parents to confront discriminatory assumptions and unequal opportunities. Research studies generally published between 1995 and 2016 reflecting grassroots parent activism encountering conflict and tension and exposing racism, classism, and discrimination in public school practices and policies were selected. Using the lens of critical race and social justice theories, the review is structured on three major public school hypocrisies: (1) hegemonic traditional school-controlled parent involvement that privileges dominant groups and devalues contributions of nondominant groups, (2) false claims of equity in schools characterized by stratified and differential opportunities, and (3) discriminatory market-based choice and privatization schemes. Ultimately the review calls on researchers to acknowledge ethical issues that arise when their work “confirms” nondominant parent and child inferiority. Further, it calls for observer–activist–participant research paradigms that acknowledge school-based resistance to critical nondominant parent activism and respectfully document the continuing struggle of nondominant parents for equal educational opportunities.