Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adolescent’s Perception of his Influence on Family Vacations Purchase Decisions: A consumer socialization perspective

The adolescent is undoubtedly a relevant element in family purchases. However, he has been considered less participatory in the purchasing decision phase. In this context, services for family use have been less studied. Thus, the main purpose of this research is to study adolescent’s influence on family vacations purchase decisions. In the empirical phase, several high schools were contacted in Lisbon district, Portugal. 1,000 questionnaires were delivered in classrooms during May 2018. Adolescents were instructed to respond to the questionnaires during the class, and 726 validated questionnaires were returned. The analysis of logistic regression results point to parental communication style, television influence, adolescent’s service knowledge, and adolescent’s age as purchase relevant explanatory variables. These results are innovative in the study of family purchase decisions. The present research provides several contributions to this area of knowledge. First, it reinforces the importance of considering the adolescent participation on the final decision of family purchases for family use, which is innovative compared to past literature. Second, the results point to the relevance of including parental communication style, television influence, adolescent’s service knowledge, and adolescent’s age as explanatory variables of adolescent’s influence on family vacations purchases. The present research also offers a contribution to marketers by providing evidence of the adolescent´s influence on family vacations purchase decisions. Given the adolescents relevance on family decisions, it is important that marketers adopt strategies adjusted to family profiles, and that companies focus their efforts on adolescent satisfaction.
Conversion of the Retinal Image Using Gray World Technique

Retinal images are routinely acquired and assessed to provide diagnostic for many important diseases like diabetic retinopathy. People with proliferative retinopathy can reduce their risk of blindness by 95 percent with timely treatment and appropriate follow-up care. The color constancy is used in this context to define the ability of the visual system to estimate an object color transmitting an unpredictable spectrum to the eyes. In this paper, a Gray World method was proposed by assuming the average of the surface reflectance of a typical scene is some pre-specified value. The main idea based on illumination estimated using the statistical region data. The effectiveness of the Gray Word method and normal gray technique was calculated by using Mean Square Error (MSE) and Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR). The Gray World achieved the highest PSNR and lowest MSE proved that the image quality was improved. The proposed method can be used to help the ophthalmologist to detect a lesion in the retinal image automatically. Through the contrast variation in retinal images, the disease can be recognized very well.
Neural mechanisms underlying specific visual tasks during self-motion

Object movement detection during observers’ self-motion is critical in navigation. Given ample optical available variables, which of them would be used would help us reveal the strategies being employed. In this work, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methods, we investigated the neural substrate underlying specific visual motion related tasks, such as time to passage (TTP), depth parallax, and collision. Using a visual search paradigm implemented with MATLAB, we developed a psychophysical task to investigate how the target characteristics (initial depth, initial eccentricity, and independent velocity), spatial attention, and heading estimation would affect visual search, for better understanding the mechanisms involved in object movement detection during self-motion. The fMRI analysis shows that: 1. Bilateral precentral sulcus (PreCS), postcentral sulcus (PostCS) and bilateral hMT are strongly activated during the TTP task. 2. Cortical regions along the dorsal visual processing pathway, including bilateral hMT, superior parietal gyrus (SPG), PostCS, PreCS and superior frontal gyrus (SFG), play important roles in our depth perception test. 3. In the collision test, similar activation pattern has been found in normal controls and stroke patients with visual deficits, intraparietal sulcus (IPS), SPG, supplementary area (SMA) and premotor regions are highly activated. The psychophysical results in visual search tasks indicate targets located in central visual field
PREVALENCE OF ANEMIA AND ITS SOCIO - DEMOGRAPHIC DETERMINANTS IN PREGNANT WOMEN AT A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN JAIPUR, RAJASTHAN

AIM: Prevalence of anemia and its socio-demographic determinants in pregnant women at a tertiary care hospital in Jaipur, Rajasthan. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All the pregnant women aged 25 to 35 years, registered at antenatal clinic at Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College, Jaipur were included. A predesigned and pre tested questionnaire was used to elicit the information. Various possible causes of anaemia were considered. Data was entered on Microsoft Access and was analysed using the statistical software SPSS version 11.5 for windows vista. Chi square test was used for finding the association between degree of anaemia and various factors. p value less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant and p value less than 0.001 was considered to be highly significant. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of anaemia in pregnant women is still quiet high (70%), as also found in various other studies done in India. The existing health care resources should be reinforced striclly, with mandatory supply of IFA tablets to adolescent girls & pregnant women, food fortification along with correction of other nutritional deficiencies and timely interventions for reducing the burden of malaria, & other infectious diseases. Unfavourable socio demographic factors are the major barriers to the efforts in place for the prevention of anaemia during pregnancy. Socio-economic status, literacy of women & awareness related to health concerns are the major determinants that contribute to the problem of anaemia. Therefore public health education/information on reproductive health are important health care measures to be undertaken at the community level, taking care of the fact that the health care should be provided during the important years of adolescence, before marriage & child bearing. Also it is high time for realisation that health system should focus on various factors that contribute to the occurrence of anaemia & include them as an important indicator in the national health care policy.
The Audience in Everyday Life: Living in a Media World

Chapter 1 Introduction: Living in a Media World Chapter 2 What a Story! Understanding the Audience for Scandal Chapter 3: Chatting on Cynthia's Porch: Creating Community in an E-mail Fan Group Chapter 4 "Indians Are Like that": Negotiating Identity in a Media World Chapter 5 Supermarket Tabloids and the Question of Belief Chapter 6 CJ's Revenge: Media, Folklore, and the World of AIDS Chapter 7 Cultural Studies and Taste: Ethnography and TV Fan Culture
The evaluation of effectiveness of school-based small group mentoring system : Discovery Scholars Program at UT Austin

Previous studies have found that students’ college experiences differ vastly depending on their socioeconomic status (SES), not only in their academic achievement (Chen & Carroll, 2005; Harackiewicz et al., 2014), but also in the wholesome process of the college experience, including college preparation and socio-cultural practices while at college (Engle & Tinto, 2008; Merritt, 2008). The present study examines the effectiveness of a small-group mentoring program, Discovery Scholars Program, targeted for students identified as at-risk due to SES and lower entrance scores at the University of Texas at Austin. Through exploring the survey data collected as part of the program, the current study explored the following research questions: 1) Did the students engage in and benefit from DSP events and feel supported by the DSP groups? 2) Did the DSP program help students develop academic skills necessary for college life? 3) Did the DSP program help students feel more comfortable and confident as a part of the UT community? The results showed that, while more long-term goals of the program were difficult to measure, the program succeeded in helping students develop social support groups and academic skills that aided in their adjustment process to college.
EFEITO DA ROMIFIDINA SOBRE AS DIMENSÕES ECOCARDIOGRÁFICAS E SOBRE ÍNDICES DA FUNÇÃO CARDÍACA EM EQÜINOS (EFFECTS OF ROMIFIDINE ON ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC MEASUREMENTS OF CARDIAC DIMENSIONS AND INDICES OF CARDIAC FUNCTION IN HORSES)

SUMMARY The cardiovascular system of adult horses treated with romifidine was evaluated by echocardiography, by measurement of dimensional variations and relative indexes of the left ventricular function. Ten healthy horses were submitted to three different treatments. Placebo was administered intravenously in G1. In G2 and G3 was administered respectively 60 µg/kg and 100 µg/kg of romifidine intravenously. The interval between treatments was 15 days. Echocardiogram was performed every 15 minutes for 60 minutes. The indexes of the left ventricular functions, fractional ejection and fractional shortening, were used to measure the rate and cardiac output. The electrocardiogram was performed to investigate the presence of the second-degree heart block. The systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial blood pressures were measured by a
Principles of Digital Transmission: With Wireless Applications

From the Publisher: Principles of Digital Transmission is designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate level students and professions in telecommunications. Teachers and learners can mix and match chapters to create four distinct courses: (1) a one-term basic course in digital communications; (2) a one-term course in advanced digital communications; (3) a one-term course in information theory and coding; (4) a two-term course sequence in digital communications and coding. The book provides rigorous mathematical tools for the analysis and design of digital transmission systems. The authors emphasize methodology in their aim to teach the reader how to do it rather than how it is done. They apply the fundamental tools of the discipline onto a number of systems, such as wireless data transmission systems.
Hyperuricemia, Cardiovascular Profile, and Comorbidity in Older Men and Women: The Pro.V.A. Study.

Hyperuricemia (HU) is growing worldwide and associates with several medical conditions in the elderly. However, data about older people and possible gender differences are sparse. The aim of this study was to compare HU prevalence rates and association with relevant medical disorders in elderly subjects of both sexes. Pro.V. A. is a survey of 3099 individuals aged 65+, focusing on chronic diseases and disability. Uric acid (UA) levels were dichotomized using 6.0 mg/dL (females) and 7.0 mg/dL (males), and multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) between HU and single comorbidity. HU prevalence was 21.5% in females and 15.8% in males. HU was associated with most anthropometric and laboratory variables in women, but not in men. After adjustment for age, body mass index, and renal function, HU was independently associated with the presence of cardiovascular diseases in both sexes. In women, HU was associated with hand osteoarthritis (OR = 1.52; 95%CI: 1.12-2.08) and edentulism (OR = 1.31; 95%CI: 1.01-1.71), while resulted protective for osteoporosis (OR = 0.69; 95%CI: 0.53-0.91). In men, HU was significantly related with knee osteoarthritis (OR = 1.72; 95%CI: 1.06-2.79) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR = 1.60; 95%CI: 1.04-2.45). The presence of ≥4 comorbidities was a stronger determinant of HU in men (OR = 2.54; 95%CI: 1.21-5.37) than in women (ns). Patterns of age-dependent UA increase are markedly different in men and women. HU prevalence is substantial and its association with other diseases is gender specific, connoting a peculiar clinical profile.
Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Social Workers for Integrated Health Practice: Evidence From Two MSW Cohorts

ABSTRACT Changes in health care policy have led to an expansion of integrated care models that rely on collaboration among interprofessional health teams. Recent federal funding has encouraged the development of innovative training models to prepare social workers for integrated health practice. This article presents evidence from the first two MSW cohorts of the Integrated Mental and Behavioral Health Training Program funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration. Twelve students completing the program in 2014 (n = 5) and 2015 (n = 7) participated in evaluation activities at the time of program completion and at 1-year postgraduation. Findings highlight key components of the training program instrumental in student attainment of program goals and competencies. Implications for MSW education and training for practice in integrated care environments are discussed.
Path exploration during code navigation

Previous research in computer science shows that developers spend a large fraction of their time navigating through source code. Improving developers’ effectiveness in navigating code thus should yield significant productivity improvements. Pre vious research in a number of fields suggests that a more breadth-first approach to problem solving should be more successful than a more depth-first approach. Unfortunately, modern Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) do not sup port a breadth-first search well because they do not help developers keep track of exploration paths well. We implemented an IDE that allows developers to track different exploration paths more easily, and ran a user study with seven subjects. To our surprise, sub jects used the tool to mark waypoints instead of to facilitate a more breadth-first search. Intrigued, we examined more closely techniques for finding a starting point and for tracing relationships from there. We describe our findings, including com mon difficulties our subjects encountered, and propose a novel tool to reduce in correct search paths.
De-commoditizing Ethiopian coffees after the establishment of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange: an empirical investigation of smallholder coffee producers in Ethiopia

The repercussions of reforming an agricultural market are mainly observed at the most vulnerable segment of the value chain, namely, the producers. In the current commodity market created with trade through the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX), coffee is less traceable to its producers. Only cooperatives that sell certified coffee through the unions they belong to, are allowed to bypass the more commodified ECX market. This study aims to investigate if small-scale coffee producers in southwestern Ethiopia that sell coffee through the certified cooperative are better off. It is assumed that the coffee sales through, and membership of, a cooperative, allows farmers to improve their coffee production as well as to improve other aspects of their livelihood. A sustainable livelihood approach was used as the inspiration for the welfare indicators that needed to be considered, data collected amongst members and non-members of certified cooperatives, and a propensity score model to investigate the impact of cooperative membership on the livelihood indicators. Results suggest that members of certified cooperatives indeed receive, on average, better prices. Yet, no evidence was found that indicates that the higher price is translated into better household income. Furthermore, coffee plantation productivity of those members who were interviewed was lower than that of the non-members. This finding could explain the failure to find an overall effect. Since the majority of the producers’ income emanate from coffee, a sustainable way of enhancing the productivity of the coffee could revitalize the welfare of the coffee producers.
The Boundary Rider 9th Biennale of Sydney

A number of texts examine such issues as the nature of a biennale and the problem of thematic unity, "bricolage" in the art and culture of Latin America, the border as a cultural concept, and the influence of imperial-colonial relations in Australian history and art. Includes brief curatorial responses to the exhibited works and performances as well as some artists' statements. Biographical notes. Approx. 300 bibl. ref.
Serum protein electrophoresis as an added value for disease control among HIV patients in a hospital setting in Cameroon

In the resource-limited countries, CD4 count and viral load (VL) determination are not always systematic, due to the low follow-up coverage and/or limited access to optimal hospital facilities. The present study aimed at evaluating the clinical role of Serum Protein Electrophoresis (SPE) in HIV health care and disease control. An analytic study was conducted in a Cameroon reference’s hospital, in HIV patients on antiretroviral treatment. Blood sample was collected to perform CD4 count, viral load, total proteins, and SPE through clinical capillary electrophoresis. SPE data were correlated to other results. ANOVA, Mann-Whitney test and Pearson’s correlation were performed, at the threshold P<0.05. A total of 72 patients: 51 (70.8%) women and 21 (29.1%) men were included, with a mean age of 41.22±8.48 years. The electrophoretic profile showed that the majority of patients have hyperproteinemia (70.9%) and hyper-γ-globulinemia (89%). All the enrolled patients had low albumin/globulin ratio. A negative and significant correlation was observed between CD4 count and total proteins (r=-0.5, P<0.0001), and γ-globulin (r=-0.6, P<0.0001). The correlation was positive and significant with the albumin/globulin ratio (r=0.6, P<0.0001). Patients with VL≥250 Cp/mL, had a high total proteins and different fractions of globulins, compared to those with VL<250 Cp/mL. The perturbation of CD4 count and VL were associated with SPE data variations, which better describes patient's clinical status. SPE could be combined to the existing analyses to improve AIDS health care. Key words: PLHIV, HIV/AIDS, serum proteins electrophoresis, disease control.
“We All Go Through It”: Media Depictions of Mental Illness Disclosures From Star Athletes DeMar DeRozan and Kevin Love

Mental illness remains stigmatized in the United States and abroad, with the mass media often blamed for perpetuating stereotypes about people who experience mental health issues. 2018 witnessed two professional basketball players—star athletes DeMar DeRozan and Kevin Love—disclosing personal experiences with depression and anxiety. Informed by social cognitive and framing theories, the present study examined how news stories characterized the disclosures, examining ways in which journalists presented the athletes as mental health advocates and models for pro-health attitudes and behavior. News stories generally framed the athletes as demonstrating character strength for disclosing mental illness in an athletic culture that often stigmatizes any potential weakness. Journalists often permitted the athletes to directly share their message concerning mental health with readers, as DeRozan and Love discussed (a) the experience of coming out; (b) the positive reception of teammates, coaches, and the public; and (c) the need for an end to mental health–oriented stigma. Stories often called for action, communicating to readers that people with mental illness are “not alone” and should share their experiences with others. The results provide the foundation for research into the relationship between media exposure and mental health-related attitudes, particularly how news framing of athletes’ disclosures shape fan attitudes toward mental health treatment, mental illness, and people who experience mental illness.
Neural Network Approaches to Implicit Discourse Relation Recognition

In order to understand a coherent text, humans infer semantic or logical relations between textual units. For example, in ``I am hungry. I did not have lunch today. '' the reader infers a ``causality'' relation even if it is not explicitly stated via a term such as ``because''. The linguistic device used to link textual units without the use of such explicit terms is called an ``implicit discourse relation''. Recognising implicit relations automatically is a much more challenging task than in the explicit case. Previous methods to address this problem relied heavily on conventional machine learning techniques such as CRFs and SVMs which require many hand-engineered features. In this thesis, we investigate the use of various convolutional neural networks and sequence-to-sequence models to address the automatic recognition of implicit discourse relations. We demonstrate how our sequence-to-sequence model can achieve state-of-the-art performance with the use of an attention mechanism. In addition, we investigate the automatic representation learning of discourse relations in high capacity neural networks and show that for certain discourse relations such a network does learn discourse relations in only a few neurons.
Cecal Volvulus: Review of 12 Cases

We reviewed the records of patients with cecal volvulus at three affiliated hospitals of Eastern Virginia Medical School to elucidate its incidence, patterns of presentation, and current methods of surgical management. We identified 109 patients in whom a discharge diagnosis of intestinal obstruction due to volvulus was made from 1966 to 1985. In 12 patients (11%) laparotomy showed the volvulus at the terminal ileum and cecum. The presenting symptoms in this group were distention in ten (83%), pain in seven (58%), obstipation or constipation in two (17%), and diarrhea in one (8%). Diagnosis was achieved by plain abdominal films in five (45%); barium enema was obtained in six patients and was diagnostic in five (83%). Two patients had delay in diagnosis with subsequent gangrene of cecum; one of them died. No deaths occurred in the group with viable bowel. Treatment was by simple detorsion without fixation in two (17%), detorsion with cecopexy in two (17%), tube cecostomy in three (25%), and ileocolectomy in three (25%). Simple detorsion was not followed by recurrence of the volvulus in any case in this series. Cecopexy for viable colon and ileocolectomy for gangrenous colon appeared to have the lowest rates of complications.
Artificial Neural Networks

This review considers the application of artificial neural networks (ANNs) to rainfall–runoff modelling and flood forecasting. This is an emerging field of research, characterized by a wide variety of techniques, a diversity of geographical contexts, a general absence of intermodel comparisons, and inconsistent reporting of model skill. This article begins by outlining the basic principles of ANN modelling, common network architectures and training algorithms. The discussion then addresses related themes of the division and preprocessing of data for model calibration/validation; data standardization techniques; and methods of evaluating ANN model performance. A literature survey underlines the need for clear guidance in current modelling practice, as well as the comparison of ANN methods with more conventional statistical models. Accordingly, a template is proposed in order to assist the construction of future ANN rainfall–runoff models. Finally, it is suggested that research might focus on the extraction of hydrological ‘rules’ from ANN weights, and on the development of standard performance measures that penalize unnecessary model complexity.