Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Patterns and distribution of tobacco consumption in India: cross sectional multilevel evidence from the 1998-9 national family health survey

Abstract Objective To investigate the demographic, socioeconomic, and geographical distribution of tobacco consumption in India. Design Multilevel cross sectional analysis of the 1998-9 Indian national family health survey of 301 984 individuals in 92 447 households in 3215 villages in 440 districts in 26 states. Setting Indian states. Participants 301 984 adults (≥ 18 years). Main outcome measures Dichotomous variable for smoking and chewing tobacco for each respondent (1 if yes, 0 if no) as well as a combined measure of whether an individual smokes, chews tobacco, or both. Results Smoking and chewing tobacco are systematically associated with socioeconomic markers at the individual and household level. Individuals with no education are 2.69 times more likely to smoke and chew tobacco than those with postgraduate education. Households belonging to the lowest fifth of a standard of living index were 2.54 times more likely to consume tobacco than those in the highest fifth. Scheduled tribes (odds ratio 1.23, 95% confidence interval 1.18 to 1.29) and scheduled castes (1.19, 1.16 to 1.23) were more likely to consume tobacco than other caste groups. The socioeconomic differences are more marked for smoking than for chewing tobacco. Socioeconomic markers and demographic characteristics of individuals and households do not account fully for the differences at the level of state, district, and village in smoking and chewing tobacco, with state accounting for the bulk of the variation in tobacco consumption. Conclusion The distribution of tobacco consumption is likely to maintain, and perhaps increase, the current considerable socioeconomic differentials in health in India. Interventions aimed at influencing change in tobacco consumption should consider the socioeconomic and geographical determinants of people's susceptibility to consume tobacco.
Countercyclical Contingent Capital

We analyze the optimal capital structure of a bank issuing countercyclical contingent capital, i.e., notes to be converted into common shares in poor macroeconomic conditions. A comparison of the main effects produced by the countercyclical asset with the simple equity-debt capital structure, the non-countercyclical contingent capital and the countercyclical callable bond is conducted. We demonstrate that this type of asset reduces the spread of straight debt and is effective in reducing the asset substitution incentive. The reduction of bankruptcy costs is strong only when the countercyclicality feature is removed. Contingent capital is useful for macroprudential regulation and we show that the countercyclical feature is important depending on priorities (moderate the asset substitution incentive or reduce bankruptcy costs).
Mass transport characteristics in a pulsed plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition reactor for thin polymer film deposition

A pulsed plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) reactor is used for the preparation of thin polyacetylene films. A theoretical model based on the mass transport characteristics of the reactor is developed in order to correlate with experimentally obtained spatial deposition profiles for the acetylene plasma polymer film deposited within the cylindrical reactor. Utilizing a free radical mechanism with gas phase initiation of the polymerization reaction as the rate controlling step, a system parametric study is performed to predict the Peclet number range of operation for the pulsed PECVD reactor. This parametric study indicates radical decay by diffusion to the reactor walls to be the significant physical phenomenon in the system. It is concluded that a quasi-steady-state model is a good tool for predicting the important mass transfer phenomena occurring in the pulsed plasma reactor.
Tualang Honey Attenuates Noise Stress-Induced Memory Deficits in Aged Rats

Ageing and stress exposure may lead to memory impairment while oxidative stress is thought to be one of the underlying mechanisms involved. This study aimed to investigate the potential protective effects of Tualang honey supplementation on memory performance in aged rats exposed to noise stress. Tualang honey supplementation was given orally, 200 mg/kg body weight for 28 days. Rats in the stress group were subjected to loud noise, 100 dB(A), 4 hours daily for 14 days. All rats were subjected to novel object recognition test for evaluation of memory performance. It was observed that the rats subjected to noise stress exhibited significantly lower memory performance and higher oxidative stress as evident by elevated malondialdehyde and protein carbonyl levels and reduction of antioxidant enzymes activities compared to the nonstressed rats. Tualang honey supplementation was able to improve memory performance, decrease oxidative stress levels, increase brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) concentration, decrease acetylcholinesterase activity, and enhance neuronal proliferation in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and hippocampus. In conclusion, Tualang honey protects against memory decline due to stress exposure and/or ageing via enhancement of mPFC and hippocampal morphology possibly secondary to reduction in brain oxidative stress and/or upregulation of BDNF concentration and cholinergic system.
Dopamine Modulation of Perisomatic and Peridendritic Inhibition in Prefrontal Cortex

The computations underlying cognitive functions are performed by a diversity of interactions between interneurons and pyramidal neurons that are subject to modulatory influences. Here we have used paired whole-cell recording to study the influence of dopamine on local inhibitory circuits involving fast-spiking (FS) and non-FS cells, respectively. We found that dopamine depressed inhibitory transmission between FS interneurons and pyramidal neurons but enhanced inhibition between non-FS interneurons and pyramidal cells. FS inhibitory transmission exhibited properties associated with presynaptic action at D1 receptors that were not evident in non-FS inhibitory connections. In addition, FS and non-FS interneurons differed morphologically, forming contacts on the perisomatic and peridendritic domains, respectively, of their pyramidal cell targets. These findings provide evidence for both a dual mode of inhibition in prefrontal circuitry and circuit-dependent modulation by dopamine.
Securing ad hoc routing protocols

We consider the problem of incorporating security mechanisms into routing protocols for ad hoc networks. Canned security solutions like IPSec are not applicable. We look at AODV[21] in detail and develop a security mechanism to protect its routing information. We also briefly discuss whether our techniques would also be applicable to other similar routing protocols and about how a key management scheme could be used in conjunction with the solution that we provide.
The Temporal Perspective in Higher Education Learners: Comparisons between Online and Onsite Learning

Abstract Higher Education increases flexibility with online learning solutions. Nevertheless, dropout rates in online university are large. Among the reasons, one aspect deserving further study is students’ Time Perspective (TP), which has been studied in onsite HE. It is necessary to know the TP profile of the growing population of online students, and consider its relation with students’ preference and convenience factors for choosing online or onsite contexts. In this study, learners’ TP in an online and an onsite Catalan HE institutions are compared. Results show that HE students present a high future orientation in general, while online students showed a higher orientation to past negativism. Basic guides are given to help institutions and students in the choice of the better suited learning context according to their TP.
Dold-kan Type Theorem for ? -groups by Teimuraz Pirashvili

0. Introduction ? -spaces were introduced by Segal S], who proved that they are com-binatorial models for connective spectra (see also A], BF]). Based on Kan-Thurston theorem we show that any ? -space is stably weak equivalent to a discrete ? -group. By a well-known theorem of Dold-Kan the Moore normalization establishes the equivalence between the category of simplicial abelian groups and the category of chain complexes (see DP]). mimicking the construction of normalization of simplicial groups, we give a similar construction for ? -groups. This construction is based on the notion of cross-eeects of functors BP], which is a generalizatin of the classical deenition of Eilenberg and Mac Lane EM] to the non-abelian setup. Finally a Dold-Kan type theorem for the category of ? -groups is proved. In abelian case our theorem claims that the category of abelian ? -groups is equivalent to the category of functors Ab , where is the category of all nonempty nite sets and surjections. In the non-abelian case one needs to consider functors T : ! Gr together with maps f; g : T n T m ! T n+m satisfying additional relations. Here T n is the value of T on the set < n >: = f1; ; ng: It is a pleasure to acknowledge various helpful discussions I had with
Factors affecting work performance of health practitioners in Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Aim. This study aimed to explore factors influencing health practitioners’ work performance. This knowledge will facilitate development of appropriate support and education for health practitioners in delivering quality healthcare. Design and participants. A mixed method exploratory descriptive study using cross-sectional methodology was used to gather relevant data and obtain an overview from 60 health workers and 40 health managers in health facilities operated by the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Jazan region, Saudi Arabia. Survey questionnaire followed by selected unstructured interviews to gather data were used. Descriptive statistics, particularly the percentage and weighted mean (Wm) were used. Findings: Results showed that a typical health practitioner in Jazan, KSA has a mean age of 31.17 (health workers) and 28 (health managers). Majority are female (68.33% health workers; 85% health managers) and from other Asian countries. Most have Diploma in Nursing/Midwifery (46.67% health workers; 55% health managers) as educational qualification. Many of them are charge nurses (41.67%). The average number of years they have worked is 6.92 years for the health worker and 12.63 years for the health managers. The health workers showed agreement on the utilization of performance appraisal in their unit (Wm=3.66); however, they were uncertain on their appraisal regarding remuneration, benefits, and recognition (Wm=3.30) as well as uncertain on staffing and work schedules (Wm=3.01) and staff development (Wm=2.39). Factors affecting their work performance were generally intermediate in nature (Wm=2.39), but shortage of staff specifically was a major factor (Wm=3.27). They perceived the strategies to improve and maintain excellent performance as moderately needed (Wm=2.23). Health managers were often involved in management tasks (Wm=2.89) and they assessed their skills as “Good” (Wm=3.63). Conclusion. Many of the health practitioners in Jazan are predominantly younger, female expatriates. They encounter issues in their job and in management that may affect their work performance. Addressing these issues is necessary to assist their development and support work performance. The strategic plan developed from these results will support the education and training of these health practitioners and will be implemented and evaluated.
Leveraging Implicit Relative Labeling-Importance Information for Effective Multi-label Learning

In multi-label learning, each training example is represented by a single instance while associated with multiple labels, and the task is to predict a set of relevant labels for the unseen instance. Existing approaches learn from multi-label data by assuming equal labeling-importance, i.e. all the associated labels are regarded to be relevant while their relative importance for the training example are not differentiated. Nonetheless, this assumption fails to reflect the fact that the importance degree of each associated label is generally different, though the importance information is not explicitly accessible from the training examples. In this paper, we show that effective multi-label learning can be achieved by leveraging the implicit relative labeling-importance (RLI) information. Specifically, RLI degrees are formalized as multinomial distribution over the label space, which are estimated by adapting an iterative label propagation procedure. After that, the multi-label prediction model is learned by fitting the estimated multinomial distribution as regularized with popular multi-label empirical loss. Comprehensive experiments clearly validate the usefulness of leveraging implicit RLI information to learn from multi-label data.
An elementary proof of the strong converse theorem for the multiple-access channel

In [1] we determined the capacity region of the multiple–access channel (MAC) by proving a coding theorem and its weak converse. Recently Dueck [2] proved a strong converse theorem in the sense of Wolfowitz [3]. His proof uses the Ahlswede–Gács–Körner [4] method of “blowing up decoding sets” in conjunction with a new “wringing technique”. This technique makes it now possible to prove strong converses, if the average error probability criterion is genuinely used (as in the case in the results for the MAC mentioned above, c.f. [5]).
The Dark Side of a Smiley

First impressions are heavily influenced by emotional expressions such as smiles. In face-to-face contact, smiling individuals are perceived as warmer and as more competent than nonsmiling individuals. In computer-mediated communication, which is primarily text-based, the “smiley” (☺) constitutes the digital representation of a smile. But is a smiley a suitable replacement for a smile? We conducted three experiments to examine the impact of smiley use on virtual first impressions in work-related contexts. Our findings provide first-time evidence that, contrary to actual smiles, smileys do not increase perceptions of warmth and actually decrease perceptions of competence. Perceptions of low competence in turn undermined information sharing. The adverse effects of smiley use are moderated by the formality of the social context and mediated by perceptions of message appropriateness. These results indicate that a smiley is not a smile. The findings have implications for theorizing on the social functionality of virtual emotional expressions.
Raising levels of school student engagement and retention in rural, regional and disadvantaged areas: is it a lost cause?

ABSTRACT This paper reports on the views of key members of the educational community about student engagement and retention in rural, regional and disadvantaged areas of the Australian state of Tasmania. It provides insights into the attributed reasons for the longstanding low levels of student retention in Tasmania, and the possible ways to militate against the widely censured problem of students leaving school too soon. The paper draws from principles of Bronfenbrenner’s model of ecology to situate the 25 participants who formed the sample of the study in the exosystem of the environment of the young people whose educational attainment and retention in schools is the focus of this work. Data analysis generated three major themes: families and the socio-cultural environment; teachers and teaching; and the school system. The study’s findings play an important role in prompting us to question when, and if, the dire situation of student dropout in the state and in similar contexts worldwide will begin to be reversed. Implications of the work include the need to develop and sustain a strong policy environment in which high-quality education and schooling success are contextualised as key features to which members across the systems and sections of society can contribute.
Evaluating the Linguistic Appropriateness and Cultural Sensitivity of a Self-Report System for Spanish-Speaking Patients with Cancer

Spanish speakers in the United States encounter numerous communication barriers during cancer treatment. Communication-focused interventions may help Spanish speakers communicate better with healthcare providers and manage symptoms and quality of life issues (SQOL). For this study, we developed a Spanish version of the electronic self-report assessment for cancer (ESRA-C), a web-based program that helps people with cancer report, track, and manage cancer-related SQOL. Four methods were used to evaluate the Spanish version. Focus groups and cognitive interviews were conducted with 51 Spanish-speaking individuals to elicit feedback. Readability was assessed using the Fry readability formula. The cultural sensitivity assessment tool was applied by three bilingual, bicultural reviewers. Revisions were made to personalize the introduction using a patient story and photos and to simplify language. Focus group participants endorsed changes to the program in a second round of focus groups. Cultural sensitivity of the program was scored unacceptable (x¯=3.0) for audiovisual material and acceptable (x¯=3.0) for written material. Fry reading levels ranged from 4th to 10th grade. Findings from this study provide several next steps to refine ESRA-C for Spanish speakers with cancer.
Two-level adaptive denoising using Gaussian scale mixtures in overcomplete oriented pyramids

We describe an adaptive denoising method for images decomposed in overcomplete oriented pyramids. Our approach integrates two kinds of adaptation: 1) a 'coarse' adaptation, where a large window is used within each subband to estimate the local signal covariance; 2) a 'fine' adaptation, which uses small neighborhoods of coefficients modelled as the product of a Gaussian and a hidden multiplier, i.e., as Gaussian scale mixtures (GSM). The former provides adaptation to local spectral features, whereas the latter adapts to local energy fluctuations. We formulate our method as a Bayes least squares estimator using spatially variant GSMs. We also discuss the importance of image representation, compare the results using two different representations with complementary features, and study the effect of merging their results. We demonstrate through simulation that our method surpasses the state-of-the-art performance, in a L/sub 2/-norm sense.
Distributed control with dynamic dissipation constraints

In this paper we reconsider the design of distributed controllers for spatially interconnected systems. We reveal the relation to gain-scheduling synthesis with para-Hermitian indefinite dynamic multipliers as they appear in classical passivity theory. The main technical contribution is a complete solution of this controller design problem, which has so far been tackled for non-dynamic multipliers only. The reduction of conservatism through dynamic multipliers is illustrated by means of a numerical analysis example.
A comparison of single-lead atrial pacing with dual-chamber pacing in sick sinus syndrome.

AIMS In patients with sick sinus syndrome, bradycardia can be treated with a single-lead pacemaker or a dual-chamber pacemaker. Previous trials have revealed that pacing modes preserving atrio-ventricular synchrony are superior to single-lead ventricular pacing, but it remains unclear if there is any difference between single-lead atrial pacing (AAIR) and dual-chamber pacing (DDDR). METHODS AND RESULTS We randomly assigned 1415 patients referred for first pacemaker implantation to AAIR (n = 707) or DDDR (n = 708) pacing and followed them for a mean of 5.4 ± 2.6 years. The primary outcome was death from any cause. Secondary outcomes included paroxysmal and chronic atrial fibrillation, stroke, heart failure, and need for pacemaker reoperation. In the AAIR group, 209 patients (29.6%) died during follow-up vs. 193 patients (27.3%) in the DDDR group, hazard ratio (HR) 1.06, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.88-1.29, P = 0.53. Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation was observed in 201 patients (28.4%) in the AAIR group vs. 163 patients (23.0%) in the DDDR group, HR 1.27, 95% CI 1.03-1.56, P = 0.024. A total of 240 patients underwent one or more pacemaker reoperations during follow-up, 156 (22.1%) in the AAIR group vs. 84 (11.9%) in the DDDR group (HR 1.99, 95% CI 1.53-2.59, P < 0.001). The incidence of chronic atrial fibrillation, stroke, and heart failure did not differ between treatment groups. CONCLUSION In patients with sick sinus syndrome, there is no statistically significant difference in death from any cause between AAIR pacing and DDDR pacing. AAIR pacing is associated with a higher incidence of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and a two-fold increased risk of pacemaker reoperation. These findings support the routine use of DDDR pacing in these patients. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION URL http://www.clinicaltrials. gov. Unique identifier: NCT00236158.
Work -life Conflict and Job and Family Satisfaction of Legal Practitioners in Sri Lanka

Today a considerable number of legal practitioners or lawyers are experiencing burnout, low productivity and stress related illnesses, undoubtedly due to lack of balance between their work and professional lives. When the responsibilities attached to the personal life get neglected due to the tasks of the professional life, lawyers get pressurized. This pressure or the imbalance of working life and the professional life lead to job dissatisfaction which results in forgetfulness, less commitment towards work, client complaints, losing regular clients and deserting the job at its extreme end. In such a context this study seeks to identify the relationship between Work-Life Conflict, Job Satisfaction and Family Satisfaction using a sample of lawyers practicing in Colombo District. The sample for the research was 50 practicing lawyers out of 600 lawyers of the population who were selected randomly. Pearson Correlation Method and independent sample t test were used to measure the relationship between the variables. The finding of the research was that there exists a negative significant correlation between the work-life conflict and job satisfaction of practicing lawyers. At the same time it was found that the relationship between work-life conflict and family satisfaction of practicing lawyers is also negative. It was also found that a higher degree of job satisfaction and family satisfaction exist among males rather than among female practicing lawyers.
Trust-based routing for Kademlia in a sybil scenario

Withstanding multiple false identities, also known as a Sybil attack, is one of the main challenges in securing structured peer-to-peer networks. Poisoning routing tables through these identities may make the routing process, needed for storing and retrieving resources within a DHT (Distributed Hash Table), extremely difficult and time consuming. We investigate current possible countermeasures and propose a novel method for making the routing in a Kademlia-based network more secure through the use of a trust-based routing algorithm exploiting reputation techniques. Our solution provides a balanced mixing of correct routing and trusted routing showing promising results in thwarting a Sybil attack in a Kademlia network, also in comparison with similar methods.