Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Creation of multi-scale stripe-like patterns in thin polymer blend films

Multiscale polymeric patterns resulting from flow on an inclined substrate of a binary polymer blend solution of polystyrene and poly-n-butylacrylate in toluene are analyzed with sub-microbeam GISAXS and real space techniques. The locally isotropic phase-separation structure on the 1 micron scale, including a molecular substructure, is embedded in a superstructure on the 100 micron scale of stripe-like variations of film thickness and composition oriented perpendicular to the flow direction. It is argued that the multiscale pattern results from the interplay of evaporation, convective flow, differential diffusion and spinodal decomposition.
The ethical obligations of the mathematics teacher

This paper explores the ethics of the mathematics teacher, starting from the ethical obligations that all human being and professionals share towards those in their care. Most notably this involves a duty of care for students, since teachers can be the most influential persons after their parents. The ethics of mathematics teaching is analysed as concerning the aims of school mathematics, the selection of pedagogy, and the selection of content. The equal treatment of all students is also a central principle, although there are ethical dilemmas posed by the spread of achievement levels in mathematics. The ethical content of school mathematics itself is also considered, although this is a controversial issue. The paper notes that the modern tendency is for teachers to be viewed almost as technicians delivering the centrally decided mathematics curriculum. This paper argues that teachers have ethical agency which can and should still be exercised while meeting professional and institutional obligations.
The Price of Fair PCA: One Extra Dimension

We investigate whether the standard dimensionality reduction technique of PCA inadvertently produces data representations with different fidelity for two different populations. We show on several real-world data sets, PCA has higher reconstruction error on population A than on B (for example, women versus men or lower- versus higher-educated individuals). This can happen even when the data set has a similar number of samples from A and B. This motivates our study of dimensionality reduction techniques which maintain similar fidelity for A and B. We define the notion of Fair PCA and give a polynomial-time algorithm for finding a low dimensional representation of the data which is nearly-optimal with respect to this measure. Finally, we show on real-world data sets that our algorithm can be used to efficiently generate a fair low dimensional representation of the data.
Temporal Regularization in Markov Decision Process

Several applications of Reinforcement Learning suffer from instability due to high variance. This is especially prevalent in high dimensional domains. Regularization is a commonly used technique in machine learning to reduce variance, at the cost of introducing some bias. Most existing regularization techniques focus on spatial (perceptual) regularization. Yet in reinforcement learning, due to the nature of the Bellman equation, there is an opportunity to also exploit temporal regularization based on smoothness in value estimates over trajectories. This paper explores a class of methods for temporal regularization. We formally characterize the bias induced by this technique using Markov chain concepts. We illustrate the various characteristics of temporal regularization via a sequence of simple discrete and continuous MDPs, and show that the technique provides improvement even in high-dimensional Atari games.
Comparative in vitro study of two methods for gingival biotype assessment

Background The gingival thickness seems to have an important role in different dental treatments. There are different methods of quantifying this thickness, but it is not known which of them can be the most effective. The objective to assess the accuracy of two different methods for gingival thickness measurement: the transgingival needle probing (TGNP) and the tension-free caliper (TFC) in an in vitro model, by comparing them with direct physical measurements (reference standard). Material and Methods Gingival thickness (GT) was evaluated in 27 female pigs with four implant sites 1, 2 and 3mm from the gingival margin with three different methods: 1) transgingival needle probing 2) tension-free caliper and 3) Direct visualization after making a incision in the mucosa and measuring GT with a periodontal probe. Wilcoxon test for paired samples were used with a confident level of 95%. Results A total of 324 points were measured, 59% of the sites presented a thin biotype with DV, it was correctly assessed with the TGNP in 84% of the times and in 86% with the TFC. 41% of the sample presented thick biotype, 76% was the percentage measured with the TGNP and 0% of the sites evaluated with TFC resulted in this biotype. Conclusions Transgingival needle probing constitutes an accurate method when measuring GT at different levels. Tension free caliper is not a good tool for assessing the gingival biotype as long as it is unable to predict thick biotype. Key words:Periodontal Biotype, Gingival Thickness, Periodontal Tissue and Diagnosis.
Feeding behaviour and prey choice of the threespine stickleback: the interacting effects of prey size, fish size and stomach fullness

Abstract Abstract. This study investigated changes in the feeding behaviour and prey choice of threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus , of different body sizes, in response to increasing prey size and stomach fullness of the fish. Within the behavioural feeding sequence, a decision to attack and a decision to eat the prey were made by the fish. Smaller fish were more likely to stop in midwater during the attack and to manipulate the prey when handling it. Larger fish were more likely to attack and eat the prey. The probability of success, however, decreased with larger prey. Success also decreased with increasing stomach fullness when prey larger than the prey width:mouth width (PW:MW) ratio of 0·6 were encountered. Regardless of fish or prey size, there was a constant handling time of approximately 3 s during which the fish decided to eat. The time taken to handle and eat a prey decreased for larger fish and rose with larger prey. Spitting frequency increased with prey size and spitting was always required for prey greater than the 0·6 PW:MW ratio. This corresponded to a preference for prey oriented head first and ventral side up. Prey closest to the 0·6 PW:MW ratio were the largest prey that could be eaten with little change in the time cost over all levels of stomach fullness. These prey, therefore, gave the fish the best energy return per unit cost, except when the stomach was empty, as larger prey represented a bigger energy return for the same time cost giving them a greater effective profitability. The morphological relationship between a predator and prey determines the resulting feeding behaviour and prey choice, although this choice also depends on the predator's need to acquire food.
GA-Based Q-Attack on Community Detection

Community detection plays an important role in social networks, since it can help to naturally divide the network into smaller parts so as to simplify network analysis. However, on the other hand, it arises the concern that individual information may be overmined, and the concept community deception has been proposed to protect individual privacy on social networks. Here, we introduce and formalize the problem of community detection attack and develop efficient strategies to attack community detection algorithms by rewiring a small number of connections, leading to privacy protection. In particular, we first give two heuristic attack strategies, i.e., Community Detection Attack (CDA) and Degree Based Attack (DBA), as baselines, utilizing the information of detected community structure and node degree, respectively. Then, we propose an attack strategy called “genetic algorithm (GA)-based Q-Attack,” where the modularity $Q$ is used to design the fitness function. We launch community detection attack based on the above three strategies against six community detection algorithms on several social networks. By comparison, our Q-Attack method achieves much better attack effects than CDA and DBA, in terms of the larger reduction of both modularity $Q$ and normalized mutual information (NMI). In addition, we further take transferability tests and find that adversarial networks obtained by Q-Attack on a specific community detection algorithm also show considerable attack effects while generalized to other algorithms.
Assessing the competence of midwives to provide care during labor, childbirth and the immediate postpartum period – A cross sectional study in Tigray region, Ethiopia

Background The availability of a skilled birth attendant is widely recognized as a critical factor in reducing maternal and newborn mortality. Competence of maternal healthcare providers directly affects quality of care and health outcomes. This study assessed competence of midwives and associated factors in provision of care during labor, and the immediate postpartum period at public health facilities in Tigray, Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional study design was employed to collect data through direct observation of the performance of 144 midwives selected from 57 health facilities. Data were collected from January to February 2015 by 12 experienced midwives who were trained on basic emergency obstetric care and had previous experience with data collection. Using a standardized competence checklist, adapted from International confederation of midwives, data collectors interviewed and directly observed the performance of midwives from admission of laboring mothers to six hours after delivery. Multivariable linear regression was used to identify predicators associated with overall clinical competence of midwives. Result The mean competence score of midwives was found to be 51%. In multivariable linear regression, male midwifery professionals (p = 0.022), availability of up to date job aids in work place (p = 0.04) and being recognized for improved performance (p = 0.005) were significantly associated with competence of midwives in the provision of care during labor, childbirth and immediate postpartum period. Conclusion Competence of midwives was found to be low to provide safe and quality maternity care in the region. Male gender, availability of complete job aids and receiving recognition/awards for better performance were predicted competence. This requires attention and investment from Tigray regional health bureau and health development partners working on maternal and child health. Competence based in-service training, on-the-job mentoring, availing up to dated standard job aids, recognition of high performing midwives are recommended to improve the quality of maternity care in public health facilities of the region. Moreover, affirmative actions including on-the-job training and supervision are needed to improve the competence of female midwives.
Differential self-report error by socioeconomic status in hypertension and hypercholesterolemia: INSEF 2015 study

BACKGROUND This study aimed to compare self-reported and examination-based prevalence of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia in Portugal in 2015 and to identify factors associated with the measurement error in self-reports. METHODS We used data from the Portuguese National Health Examination Survey (n = 4911), that combines personal interview, blood collection and, physical examination. Sensitivity and specificity of self-reported hypertension and hypercholesterolemia were calculated. Poisson regression was used to estimate prevalence ratios (PRs) of underreport of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia according to sex, age, socioeconomic status (education and income) and general practitioner (GP) consultation in the past year. RESULTS Sensitivity of self-reports was 69.8% for hypertension and 38.2% for hypercholesterolemia. Underreport of hypertension was associated with male gender (PR = 1.54), lack of GP consultation (PR = 1.70) and being 25-44 years old (PR = 2.45) or 45-54 years old (PR = 2.37). Underreport of hypercholesterolemia was associated with lack of GP consultation (PR = 1.15), younger age (PR = 1.83 for 25-44 age group and PR = 1.52 for 45-54 age group), secondary (PR = 1.30) and higher (PR = 1.27) education. CONCLUSION Self-reported data underestimate prevalence of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. Magnitude of measurement error in self-reports varies by health conditions and population characteristics. Adding objective measurements to self-reported questionnaires improve data accuracy allowing better understanding of socioeconomic inequalities in health.
Current Radiopharmaceuticals for Positron Emission Tomography of Brain Tumors

Brain tumors represent a diverse spectrum of histology, biology, prognosis, and treatment options. Although MRI remains the gold standard for morphological tumor characterization, positron emission tomography (PET) can play a critical role in evaluating disease status. This article focuses on the use of PET with radiolabeled glucose and amino acid analogs to aid in the diagnosis of tumors and differentiate between recurrent tumors and radiation necrosis. The most widely used tracer is 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). Although the intensity of FDG uptake is clearly associated with tumor grade, the exact role of FDG PET imaging remains debatable. Additionally, high uptake of FDG in normal grey matter limits its use in some low-grade tumors that may not be visualized. Because of their potential to overcome the limitation of FDG PET of brain tumors, 11C-methionine and 18F-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (FDOPA) have been proposed. Low accumulation of amino acid tracers in normal brains allows the detection of low-grade gliomas and facilitates more precise tumor delineation. These amino acid tracers have higher sensitivity and specificity for detecting brain tumors and differentiating recurrent tumors from post-therapeutic changes. FDG and amino acid tracers may be complementary, and both may be required for assessment of an individual patient. Additional tracers for brain tumor imaging are currently under development. Combinations of different tracers might provide more in-depth information about tumor characteristics, and current limitations may thus be overcome in the near future. PET with various tracers including FDG, 11C-methionine, and FDOPA has improved the management of patients with brain tumors. To evaluate the exact value of PET, however, additional prospective large sample studies are needed.
Sorafenib-induced Prostate Volume Reduction, a New Adverse Effect Detected by Imaging: A Pilot Study

Background: Sorafenib has been used in the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Sorafenib-associated organ reduction have been reported on imaging, such as thyroid, pancreas and muscle, but there has been no research on prostate volume reduction (PVR). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 26 patients (twenty with HCC and six patients with RCC) who underwent sorafenib therapy for 31 to 1225 days (median, 100 days). PVR was estimated by two independent readers using CT volumetry. Results: The sum of all prostate volumes measured by reader 1 was 24.2 ± 13.8 cm3 on the baseline CT and 20.4 ± 10.6 cm3 on the follow-up CT (p < 0.001), and that measured by reader 2 was 22.3 ± 13.9 cm3 on the baseline CT and 19.2 ± 10.6 cm3 on the follow-up CT (p < 0.001). The concordance correlation coefficient for the prostate volume measured by the two readers was 0.95 on the baseline CT scans and 0.94 on the follow-up CT scans. Sorafenib-associated PVR demonstrated slight dependence to the exposure time (r = –0.23). One patient with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) showed PVR (from 80.4 to 61.5 cm3 [reader 1]; 83.4 to 61.6 cm3 [reader 2]) after sorafenib administration. Sorafenib-associated PVR occurred in patients both with and without underlying liver dysfunction with relative prostate volume changes of 86.7 ± 12.0% and 85.0 ± 9.0%, respectively. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated significant PVR with sorafenib treatment in patients regardless of the presence of BPH and underlying liver dysfunction.
Waveglow: A Flow-based Generative Network for Speech Synthesis

In this paper we propose WaveGlow: a flow-based network capable of generating high quality speech from mel-spectrograms. WaveGlow combines insights from Glow [1] and WaveNet [2] in order to provide fast, efficient and high-quality audio synthesis, without the need for auto-regression. WaveGlow is implemented using only a single network, trained using only a single cost function: maximizing the likelihood of the training data, which makes the training procedure simple and stable. Our PyTorch implementation produces audio samples at a rate of more than 500 kHz on an NVIDIA V100 GPU. Mean Opinion Scores show that it delivers audio quality as good as the best publicly available WaveNet implementation. All code will be made publicly available online [3].
Status signalling, motivational condition and dominance: an experimental study in the great tit, Parus major L.

The dynamics of dominance and status signalling in great tits were investigated over transient periods. Badge size had no impact on the outcome of conflicts between individuals with prior experience of each other, but was significant when knowledge was lacking. The outcome of conflicts between acquainted birds co-varied with motivation (hunger) and dominance positions could be reversed. Changes in motivation could not alter the outcome of conflicts between unacquainted birds with experimentally enlarged breast stripes. The size of the badge then determined the outcome. However, there was a weak and non-significant tendency for hungry birds to win more conflicts. Since the concept of dominance comprises several types of asymmetries, it is argued that status signalling can have a significant but transient influence, for instance during the period of juvenile dispersal. The frequency with which different kinds of interaction behaviour were used to settle conflicts among strangers differed from that among acquainted birds. Unacquainted birds were more aggressive towards each other and used the badge display significantly more than was observed in interactions among familiar individuals in a free-living winter population. The more encounters needed to settle relationships between strangers, the more aggressive were the interactions.
ESTUDOS ORGANIZACIONAIS BASEADOS EM MICHEL DE CERTEAU: A PRODUÇÃO INTERNACIONAL ENTRE 2006 E 2015

This aim of this study was to discuss international scientific production in organizational studies in the last ten years that used the ideas of Michel de Certeau. For this, bibliometrics was used as a methodological strategy. We analyzed a final sample of 57 papers from three dimensions: general aspects, methodological aspects and thematic aspects. The results showed that the United Kingdom was the most recurrent country in terms of the origin of institutions, authors and journals. We also found that most of the studies were empirical and qualitative, with a predominance of case study as the strategy and interview as the gathering technique. Furthermore, we found that resistance was the most recurrent theme, tactics was the most used concept, and Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu were the authors most mentioned in conjunction with Michel de Certeau. Above all, this paper showed that the marked characteristic of Michel de Certeau is that criticism of the supposed tendency of submission to the maintenance of what it is established as truth contaminates his work and the studies that use it. We therefore conclude that this is a potential of the author, with so many results to offer, in various themes of organizational studies.
Old, colourful male yellowhammers,
 Emberiza citrinella
 , benefit from extra-pair copulations

The frequency of extra-pair paternity was determined in broods of the yellowhammer using single-locus DNA fingerprinting. Of 32 analysed clutches, 69% contained at least one extra-pair young. Out of 123 nestlings, 37% were extra-pair sired young. The extra-pair male could be assigned to 23 (50%) nestlings. Successful extra-pair males were all at least 3 years old although both younger and older males suffered from extra-pair paternity. Extra-pair males were also significantly more colourful than pair males, but did not differ in other characters. Colour did not differ between males with or without extra-pair young. The frequency of extra-pair young was not related to breeding density and identified extra-pair males were not necessarily nearest neighbours, giving further evidence that extra-pair males are not chosen at random. Since females do not obtain anything but sperm from extra-pair males, the results suggest that females prefer older and more colourful males, contributing good or attractive genes, as indicated by their plumage. Consequently, old, colourful extra-pair males, and possibly females, are likely to benefit from extra-pair copulations.
Targeting Cytokines as Evolving Treatment Strategies in Chronic Inflammatory Airway Diseases

Cytokines are key players in the initiation and propagation of inflammation in chronic inflammatory airway diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchiectasis and allergic asthma. This makes them attractive targets for specific novel anti-inflammatory treatment strategies. Recently, both interleukin-1 (IL-1) and IL-6 have been associated with negative health outcomes, mortality and a pro-inflammatory phenotype in COPD. IL-6 in COPD was shown to correlate negatively with lung function, and IL-1beta was induced by cigarette smoke in the bronchial epithelium, causing airway inflammation. Furthermore, IL-8 has been shown to be a pro-inflammatory marker in bronchiectasis, COPD and allergic asthma. Clinical trials using specific cytokine blockade therapies are currently emerging and have contributed to reduce exacerbations and steroid use in COPD. Here, we present a review of the current understanding of the roles of cytokines in the pathophysiology of chronic inflammatory airway diseases. Furthermore, outcomes of clinical trials in cytokine blockade as novel treatment strategies for selected patient populations with those diseases will be discussed.
Incidence and Types of Congenital Anomalies in Newborns in Sulaimaniyah City in Iraq

Congenital anomalies or birth defects can be acquired during the fetal stages of development or from the genetic makeup of the parents. Congenital anomalies are important causes of infant and childhood illness and disability. Little is known about incidence and types of these anomalies in Iraqi Kurdistan. Therefore, this study was undertaken to estimate the incidence and types of congenital anomalies in Sulaimaniyah city. The study was carried out on the hospital's records of all newborns registered as having a congenital anomaly. The records of 586 neonates with congenital anomalies were analyzed from a total of 178,954 live broths that occurred during 4 years in the city. The data was obtained from the statistics section of maternal and a child unit of the Preventive Health Department. The overall incidence of all types of congenital anomalies over the four years was 3.3/1000 live births. There was a statistically significant difference in incidence between males and females over the four years, male to female risk ratio 1.2 (95% CI 1.02-1.42, P= 0.03). The commonest congenital anomalies affected the cardiovascular system accounting for 24% followed by those of the nervous system with 16%. Down syndrome accounted for 14% of all anomalies and cleft lip/palate for 11%. Types of anomalies were statistically associated with low birth weight and maternal age. The study indicates that the incidence of congenital anomalies is not high in the region; however, more extensive studies are required to give a more realistic incidence. © 2018 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved. Acta Med Iran 2018;56(12):769-776.