Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling Consumer Footprints on Search Engines: An Interplay with Social Media

It is now well understood that social media plays an increasingly important role in consumers’ decision making. However, an overload of social media content in product search engines can hinder consumers from efficiently seeking information. We propose a structural econometric model to understand consumers’ preferences and costs on search engines to improve user experience under unstructured social media. Our model combines an optimal stopping framework with an individual-level random utility choice model and analyzes click behavior in conjunction with purchase choices. Our model accounts for three major constraints in a consumer’s decision-making process: (1) interdependency in decision making for different alternatives, (2) sequential arrival of information revealed by click-throughs, and (3) nonnegligible search cost. Our approach allows us to jointly estimate consumers’ heterogeneous preferences and search costs under the interplay of social media and search engines, and to predict search and purchase.
Deliberate practice among South African small business owners: Relationships with education, cognitive ability, knowledge, and success

The study examines antecedents and outcomes of deliberate practice activities in South African small businesses. Deliberate practice consists of individualized self-regulated and effortful activities aimed at improving one's current performance level. Interview and questionnaire data from 90 South African business owners showed a direct impact of deliberate practice on entrepreneurial knowledge as well as an indirect effect on business growth via entrepreneurial knowledge. Cognitive ability and education were identified as antecedents of deliberate practice. Findings underline the importance of continuous proactive learning efforts in small business. The results of this study are relevant for policy makers, consultants, and credit providers.
Autism: Insights from the Study of the Social Brain

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) suffer from a profound social disability. Social neuroscience is the study of the parts of the brain that support social interactions or the “social brain. ” This module provides an overview of ASD and focuses on understanding how social brain dysfunction leads to ASD. Our increasing understanding of the social brain and its dysfunction in ASD will allow us to better identify the genes that cause ASD and will help us to create and pick out treatments to better match individuals. Because social brain systems emerge in infancy, social neuroscience can help us to figure out how to diagnose ASD even before the symptoms of ASD are clearly present. This is a hopeful time because social brain systems remain malleable well into adulthood and thus open to creative new interventions that are informed by state-of-the-art science.
EVIDENCE FROM EUROPEAN RETAIL BANKING MARKETS

This paper investigates the state and frontiers of integration in European retail banking markets. A comparative analysis of three types of integration measures is conducted and discussed in detail: Quantity-based, price-based and news-based measures of integration. Quantity-based measures focus on the channels of integration, i.e. on cross-border activities and point to a severe lack of integration. The recent wave of cross-border M&As, however, indicates that the integration process may have started to gain momentum. In contrast, pricebased analyses, which are motivated by the law-of-one-price, paint a picture of advanced convergence. However, the applicability of the law-of-one-price in retail banking markets is questionable and the convergence results are largely driven by wholesale market integration. Better suited alternatives are analyses employing cointegration methodologies, convergence analyses of interest rate margins, and news-based measures of integration which investigate the degree of heterogeneity of the response of retail banking prices to common shocks. All latter analyses confirm the lack of integration, but are also revealing differing degrees of integration in the various sub-segments of the market. Furthermore, the integration process is at least partly driven by global rather than regional factors, while the most important regional factor in reducing differences between national interest rates are integrating wholesale markets in the presence of a single monetary policy. Moreover, the lack of integration is especially severe in the old member states and less so in the new member states where the fraction of foreign banks is substantially higher. Given the still low degree of integration we conclude that an intensified integration process is likely in the near future, but this process may fall short of the full integration vision the single market project of Europe 1992.
Systematic analysis of F-FDG PET and metabolism, proliferation and hypoxia markers for classification of head and neck tumors

Background: Quantification of molecular cell processes is important for prognostication and treatment individualization of head and neck cancer (HNC). However, individual tumor comparison can show discord in upregulation similarities when analyzing multiple biological mechanisms. Elaborate tumor characterization, integrating multiple pathways reflecting intrinsic and microenvironmental properties, may be beneficial to group most uniform tumors for treatment modification schemes. The goal of this study was to systematically analyze if immunohistochemical (IHC) assessment of molecular markers, involved in treatment resistance, and F-FDG PET parameters could accurately distinguish separate HNC tumors. Methods: Several imaging parameters and texture features for F-FDG small-animal PET and immunohistochemical markers related to metabolism, hypoxia, proliferation and tumor blood perfusion were assessed within groups of BALB/c nu/nu mice xenografted with 14 human HNC models. Classification methods were used to predict tumor line based on sets of parameters. Results: We found that F-FDG PET could not differentiate between the tumor lines. On the contrary, combined IHC parameters could accurately allocate individual tumors to the correct model. From 9 analyzed IHC parameters, a cluster of 6 random parameters already classified 70.3% correctly. Combining all PET/IHC characteristics resulted in the highest tumor line classification accuracy (81.0%; cross validation 82.0%), which was just 2.2% higher (p = 5.2×10) than the performance of the IHC parameter/feature based model. Conclusions: With a select set of IHC markers representing cellular processes of metabolism, proliferation, hypoxia and perfusion, one can reliably distinguish between HNC tumor lines. Addition of F-FDG PET improves classification accuracy of IHC to a significant yet minor degree. These results may form a basis for development of tumor characterization models for treatment allocation purposes.
An evaluation of several heuristics for bandwidth and profile reductions to reduce the computational cost of the preconditioned Conjugate Gradient Method

Hundreds of heuristics have been proposed to solve the problems of bandwidth and profile reductions since the 1960s. Specifically, we found 131 heuristics applied to these problems. Among them, 15 were selected in a way that no other simulation or comparison showed that these algorithms could be superseded by any other algorithm in the articles analyzed, in terms of bandwidth or profile reduction and also considering the computational costs of the heuristics. Therefore, these 15 heuristics were selected as the potential best low-cost methods to solve these problems. These 15 heuristics for bandwidth and profile reductions are compared here when solving linear systems using the Jacobi-preconditioned conjugate gradient method.
Incorporating Data Quality Information in Mapping American Community Survey Data

This paper proposes a set of methods to map the American Community Survey (ACS) data disseminated by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS replaces part of the original census (long form) in the 2010 decennial Census in the U.S. Reliability of estimates should be taken into account when analyzing and mapping ACS data because these estimates are derived from surveys with sample sizes much smaller than those in the decennial censuses. Most maps using ACS data do not include data reliability information. In this article, we review the standard data quality or reliability information accompanying the ACS estimates. We propose a set of techniques to map ACS estimates by incorporating the margin of error (MOE) or related information either on the map display or in the mapping process. The techniques are proposed in two contexts: recognizing the varying degree of reliability among estimates, and determining if estimates are statistically different. They offer cartographers and GIS users some options to map ACS estimates and handle the reliability information simultaneously.
Juvenile ossifying fibroma

Within the confusing ray of fibro-osseous lesions, the so called juvenile ossifying Fibroma (JAOF) is perhaps the most enigmatic. Pathologists considering such a diagnosis are faced with a plethora of subjective and arbitrary criteria and will find little consolidation in the literature. Occupying a subset within the spectrum of ossifying Fibroma. JAOF is considered by many to be a unique lesion because of its reported tendency to occur in children and adolescents, it's more complex histological features, and its purported tendency for locally aggressive growth. Because of this lesion's aggressive nature and high recurrence rate, early detection and complete surgical excision are essential. Reported here is a case of a massive juvenile ossifying fibroma of the maxilla in a 12year-old male child.
DECISION MAKING IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION : THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

This paper gives an overview of decision making in Physical Education. The Teacher Decision Making Approach (TDMA) and the Shared Decision Making Approach (SDMA) used in research on teaching Physical Education are described and their theoretical background is delineated. Also, the literature on the effects of these approaches on physical and affective development of primary school students is critically reviewed. Also, comments are made on the basis of the methodology and the statistical analysis utilized in the study. Finally, based on the conclusions recommendations for future research into decision making are given.
Correlates Of Access To Hiv/aids Care And Knowledge Of Hiv-Positive Serostatus Among People Who Inject Drugs In St. Petersburg, Russia And Kohtla-Järve, Estonia

This study examined the accuracy of self-reported HIV-positive status as an indicator of entering HIV/AIDS treatment and determined the characteristics and correlates of receiving regular HIV/AIDS care among people who inject drugs (PWID). Data were collected through 1,412 personal interviews conducted in the cities of St. Petersburg, Russia and Kohtla-Järve, Estonia in 2012 and 2013. Overall, in both cities, 81.3% of PWID were accurately aware of their HIV-positive serostatus; in comparison to individual level correlates, structural and service utilization variables such as history of substance abuse treatment and history of incarceration were better determinants of accurate knowledge of HIV serostatus. We found that 32% of PWID in St. Petersburg and 73% of PWID in Kohtla-Järve who were aware of their HIV-positive serostatus had received regular HIV/AIDS care in the past year. Results of this study suggest that awareness of serostatus alone in this region does not necessarily translate into receiving HIV/AIDS care and that there is an urgent need for enhancing access to HIV/AIDS care and treatment among this marginalized population.
ATTACHED GINGIVAL WIDTH AND GINGIVAL SULCUS DEPTH IN THREE DENTITION SYSTEMS

Objectives: Attached gingival width (AGW) is an important marker for diagnosis of periodontal disease and normal gingival sulcus depth (GSD) is a sign of healthy periodontium. The aim of this study was to determine the AGW and GSD in3-15 year-olds with three dentition systems in Isfahan in 2001. Methods: A total of 360 students (120 students in each system) eligible for this cross sectional study were randomly chosen from 30 schools and examined clinically. Data were registered in a questionnaire by two professional examiners. The GSD (the distance from the free gingival margin to the deepest part of the pocket) was measured by a probe. Keratinized gingiva (the distance between the attached gingiva and mucogingival junction) was measured by a vernier caliper or probe and the AGW was measured by subtracting the two amounts in primary and permanent dentition systems. These amounts were registered in a questionnaire and compared using ANOVA and Tukey’s test. Results: The AGW in the primary, mixed and permanent dentition systems was 2.60 (7.02), 2.56 (7.23) and 2.73 (1.3) mm, respectively. The lingual surface of the posterior mandible had the greatest amount of attached gingiva in the three dentition systems. Also, the GSD in permanent dentition system in the anterior, middle and posterior areas of both jaws and in the buccal, lingual and palatal surfaces was more than in the primary dentition system. Conclusion: Based on the results, the AGW in permanent dentition was more than in primary and mixed dentition systems. The AGW increases with age and is not affected by gender. Also, the AGW was less in the lower jaw compared to the upper jaw and was more in lingual surface than in buccal surface.
CLASH: COMPLETE LENSING ANALYSIS OF THE LARGEST COSMIC LENS MACS J0717.5+3745 AND SURROUNDING STRUCTURES

The galaxy cluster MACS J0717.5+3745 (z = 0.55) is the largest known cosmic lens, with complex internal structures seen in deep X-ray, Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect, and dynamical observations. We perform a combined weak- and strong-lensing analysis with wide-field BVRci′z′ Subaru/Suprime-Cam observations and 16-band Hubble Space Telescope observations taken as part of the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble. We find consistent weak distortion and magnification measurements of background galaxies and combine these signals to construct an optimally estimated radial mass profile of the cluster and its surrounding large-scale structure out to 5 Mpc h−1. We find consistency between strong-lensing and weak-lensing in the region where these independent data overlap, <500 kpc h−1. The two-dimensional weak-lensing map reveals a clear filamentary structure traced by distinct mass halos. We model the lensing shear field with nine halos, including the main cluster, corresponding to mass peaks detected above 2. 5σκ. The total mass of the cluster as determined by the different methods is Mvir ≈ (2.8 ± 0.4) × 1015 M☉. Although this is the most massive cluster known at z > 0.5, in terms of extreme value statistics, we conclude that the mass of MACS J0717.5+3745 by itself is not in serious tension with ΛCDM, representing only a ∼2σ departure above the maximum simulated halo mass at this redshift.
EFFECT OF ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT ON PERIODONTAL HEALTH

This study was undertaken to assess the effects of orthodontic treatment on the periodontal health of young patients. 50 patients were randomly selected irrespective of sex from the orthodontic department of Islamic International Dental Hospital, Islamabad. Periodontal examination was performed before, after six months and after 18 months of treatment. CPITN (community periodontal index for treatment need) was used to assess the periodontal health of indexed teeth. SPSS version 17 and Chi Square test was used to analyze and compare the data. The results showed that patients undergoing orthodontic treatment do show the signs of periodontal disease. Comparison of patients of pre ortho and intra ortho revealed a p value of 0.02 while p value of 0 of patients during and after orthodontic treatment suggested a strong relationship between progress of periodontal disease during orthodontic treatment. P value of 0.456 of pre and post ortho patients suggested that there is no direct relationship between the two. The knowledge, attitude and practice on gingival health among orthodontic patients were poor.
The Relationship Between the Serum RNA Titers of Hepatitis C Virus and Biochemical Parameters in Chronic Hepatitis C Patients

OZ Objective: Liver biopsy, as well as some non-invasive biochemical parameters are also used in monitoring patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between serum biochemical markers and HCV RNA titers in patients with previously untreated CHC. Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective study on anti-HCV and HCV-RNA-positive 82 patients with CHC. Eighty two healthy subjects constituted the control group. Complete blood counts, total protein (TP), albumin (ALB), C-reactive protein (CRP), γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and HCV RNA levels were recorded for each patient and control subject. Neutrophil-lymphocytes ratio (NLR) and the fibrosis index based on the 4 factors (FIB-4 index) were calculated using formulas. Results: There was a significant difference in ALT, AST, GGT, TP , CRP , red cell distribution width (RDW), lymphocytes (LYM), platelets (PLT), FIB-4, and NLR between CHC patients and controls (p=<0.05). Values of HCV RNA viral load were correlated with ALT (r=0.271; p=0.014), TP (r=-0.256; p=0.02), WBC (r=-0.365; p=0.001), NEU (r=-0.362; p=0.001) and NLR (r=0.282; p=0.01) levels. Conclusion: We have shown that ALT, AST, GGT, TP , CRP , RDW, LYM, FIB-4, and NLR values are increased in CHC patients but, LYM and PLT levels were decreased. Also, levels of ALT and NLR have correlated with HCV RNA titers in CHC patients. These results have implied that noninvasive biochemical parameters may contribute to monitoring patients with CHC.
Biometric Security from an Information-Theoretical Perspective

The issue of biometric security has become a major research area recently. While systems based on iris-recognition, DNA analysis and fingerprinting are being deployed, there are instances where these alone cannot provide fool-proof security. Biometric Security from an Information-Theoretical Perspective provides an overview of the state-of-the-art of biometric security systems. Using information theoretic techniques it discusses some of the most promising methods to provide practical, but safe, systems. Biometric Security from an Information-Theoretical Perspective studies a number of problems related to the design of biometric secrecy systems for both authentication and identification. First, it reviews the problem of secret sharing in order to set theoretical grounds for the subsequent discussion of secret-key rates and privacy leakage in biometric secrecy systems. Biometric authentication systems are discussed in depth using discrete and Gaussian biometric sources, before describing biometric identification techniques in detail. Since biometric data are typically used for both identification and authentication purposes, the trade-off between identification, secret-key and privacy-leakage rates are determined. Finally, practical considerations are treated. The realization of binary biometric authentication systems with chosen secret keys, called fuzzy commitment, is analyzed. The monograph concludes by investigating how binary quantization of biometric sequences influences the performance of biometric secrecy systems with respect to secret-key rates and privacy leakage. Biometric Security from an Information-Theoretical Perspective is an in-depth review of the topic, which gives the reader an excellent starting point for further research.
Optimization and Evaluation Strategies for Decentralized Database Mining

Data repositories, including warehouses, usually store information in multiple inter-related tables for reasons of eÆciency in storage space, access time, constraint checks, and even administration. We examine the relatively unexplored mining of such decentralized data: we compute partial results at the separate tables, and merge the results thereby avoiding expensive join materialization prior to mining. In our previous work [18], our algorithms for nding frequent itemsets for simple Star schema in data warehouses were analyzed and validated experimentally. In this paper, we apply our techniques to general normalized schema designs, including horizontal and/or vertical partitions, distributed repositories etc. In doing so, the choices available for mining are very large, and we describe our techniques to enumerate, optimize and evaluate decentralized frequent itemset counting in ways similar to query processing in database systems. Our work has less to do with developing speci c new mining algorithms; instead, we provide a framework to apply available mining algorithms and tools eÆciently for decentralized data. Our approach includes an \algebra" over expressions (more for exposition than rigor) to denote the mined information in decentralized datasets. We provide rules for establishing equivalences among expressions, and this allows for expression re-writing to represent alternative mining strategies each expression re ects several processing techniques. Our framework also provides approaches to optimization which enumerate di erent ways, at logical and physical levels, to e ect the decentralized mining. We describe a cost-based optimization problem and solution strategies for the choices in mining. As in database query optimization, we provide heuristics to optimize among the available mining strategies when the estimates of parameters that a ect execution costs are unavailable. We perform empirical validation of our decentralized algorithms, and of our heuristic optimization approach when applied to the TPC-D Benchmark data schema. Our results establish our problem formulation and the validity of our heuristic optimization techniques. Finally, we consider a few extensions of our approach such as the use of indices. This paper is a longer, extended version of [17].
Periodic oscillations of the forced Brusselator

We study the organization of stability phases in the control parameter space of a periodically driven Brusselator. Specifically, we report high-resolution stability diagrams classifying periodic phases in terms of the number of spikes per period of their regular oscillations. Such diagrams contain accumulations of periodic oscillations with an apparently unbounded growth in the number of their spikes. In addition to the entrainment horns, we investigate the organization of oscillations in the limit of small frequencies and amplitudes of the drive. We find this limit to be free from chaotic oscillations and to display an extended and regular tiling of periodic phases. The Brusselator contains also several features discovered recently in more complex scenarios like, e.g. in lasers and in biochemical reactions, and exhibits properties which are helpful in the generic classification of entrainment in driven systems. Our stability diagrams reveal snippets of how the full classification of oscillations might look like for a wide class of flows.