Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of the truck trip generation characteristics of supermarkets and convenience stores

Transport engineers and urban planners use truck trip generation as one of the tools to identify the effects of trucks on urban congestion, pollution, safety, and the strain on the road network. Truck trip rates for supermarkets and convenience stores are higher than other retail facilities as they require more frequent and timely movement of goods, particularly perishable items. Supermarkets and convenience stores contribute to significant truck traffic in urban residential areas and thus have high exposure to rising fuel prices. A manual truck count survey was conducted on the supermarkets and convenience stores in one New Zealand town. The main factors influencing truck trip generation rates of the stores are examined such as the physical and operational characteristics of the store and origin of loading of the truck. Correlation analyses are performed on the parameters to determine their influence on the truck trip generation of the stores. Moreover, freight energy consumption and fuel intensity were calculated from the truck type and trip length of the deliveries. The major differences in the distribution patterns of the stores highlighted their differences in their freight energy consumption.
High Level of Pre-Treatment HIV-1 Drug Resistance and Its Association with HLA Class I-Mediated Restriction in the Pumwani Sex Worker Cohort

Background: We analyzed the prevalence of pre-antiretroviral therapy (ART) drug resistance mutations (DRMs) in a Kenyan population. We also examined whether host HLA class I genes influence the development of pre-ART DRMs. Methods: The HIV-1 proviral DNAs were amplified from blood samples of 266 ART-naïve women from the Pumwani Sex Worker cohort of Nairobi, Kenya using a nested PCR method. The amplified HIV genomes were sequenced using next-generation sequencing technology. The prevalence of pre-ART DRMs was investigated. Correlation studies were performed between HLA class I alleles and HIV-1 DRMs. Results: Ninety-eight percent of participants had at least one DRM, while 38% had at least one WHO surveillance DRM. M184I was the most prevalent clinically important variant, seen in 37% of participants. The DRMs conferring resistance to one or more integrase strand transfer inhibitors were also found in up to 10% of participants. Eighteen potentially relevant (p < 0.05) positive correlations were found between HLA class 1 alleles and HIV drug-resistant variants. Conclusions: High levels of HIV drug resistance were found in all classes of antiretroviral drugs included in the current first-line ART regimens in Africa. The development of DRMs may be influenced by host HLA class I-restricted immunity.
Detailed Cartography of Cotopaxi's 1877 Primary Lahar Deposits Obtained by Drone-Imagery and Field Surveys in the Proximal Northern Drainage

Cotopaxi is an active volcano in Ecuador, whose eruptions are characterized by producing destructive primary lahars which represent a major risk for the country. The hazard assessment related to such lahars relies largely on the knowledge of the latest event, which occurred on 26 June 1877, for either scenario definition or simulation calibration. A detailed (1:5000 scale) cartography of the deposits belonging to that eruption has been obtained in the proximal northern drainage of Cotopaxi. The cartography was performed through a combination of geological fieldwork, as well as the analysis and interpretation of high-definition imagery obtained by drone surveys combined with the Structure from Motion technology for image processing. Such imagery included red and green visible bands, and a near-infrared band, which allowed the obtention of NDVI imagery where the primary lahar deposits were identified and cartographed with support of fieldwork data. Both data sources are mutually complementary, and the final cartography would be impossible if any of them were not available. The results obtained represent a significant advance for the level of detail with respect to previous cartographic works. Moreover, they should allow an improved calibration of the new generation of numerical models that simulate lahar flow for hazard assessment at Cotopaxi.
The Analysis of Variables Influencing Bank Profitability in Africa: Evidence from Selected African Countries

This paper investigates the factors that influence bank profitability in Africa by analysing the evidence from selected African countries. Various interrelations were performed using dynamic panel data modelling on 33 selected banks operating across 9 countries in Africa over the period 2009 to 2019. The study utilised an unbalanced panel of commercial banks in the selected countries with return on equity as a proxy for profitability. The outcome of the study shows evidence of significant impacts of both bank and macroeconomic-specific factors. Of the bank-specific variables, net interest margin, loan loss and cost to income ratios have a statistically significant negative relationship with profitability. There is however, a positive and statistically significant relationship between profitability and macroeconomic-specific variables. Overall, the results of the study show that various factors impact profitability at different levels as regulatory and supervisory regimes, including the pace of technological developments and implementation thereof that differs among various countries and banks.
Training language models to follow instructions with human feedback

Making language models bigger does not inherently make them better at following a user's intent. For example, large language models can generate outputs that are untruthful, toxic, or simply not helpful to the user. In other words, these models are not aligned with their users. In this paper, we show an avenue for aligning language models with user intent on a wide range of tasks by fine-tuning with human feedback. Starting with a set of labeler-written prompts and prompts submitted through the OpenAI API, we collect a dataset of labeler demonstrations of the desired model behavior, which we use to fine-tune GPT-3 using supervised learning. We then collect a dataset of rankings of model outputs, which we use to further fine-tune this supervised model using reinforcement learning from human feedback. We call the resulting models InstructGPT. In human evaluations on our prompt distribution, outputs from the 1.3B parameter InstructGPT model are preferred to outputs from the 175B GPT-3, despite having 100x fewer parameters. Moreover, InstructGPT models show improvements in truthfulness and reductions in toxic output generation while having minimal performance regressions on public NLP datasets. Even though InstructGPT still makes simple mistakes, our results show that fine-tuning with human feedback is a promising direction for aligning language models with human intent.
Diagnostic Performance of Lung-Reporting and Data System with Computed Tomography Imaging in Categorizing Pulmonary Nodules

Background:Many radiologists recognize that there are common lung nodules, that majority of them are benign, and that not all benign lung nodules need the same management.The Lung Imaging Reporting and Data System (Lung-RADS( was introduced to create a framework for the analysis of screen-detected nodules and to enable nodule management further standardized. Aim of work:To assess the performance of Lung-RADS in categorization of pulmonary nodules using baseline screening CT scans. Subjects and methods:A prospective comparative study was conducted in radiodiagnosis department, Zagazig university hospitals on 30 patients referred from the chest department of Zagazig university hospitals as well as the outpatient clinics for CT lung screening during the period from August 2018 to May 2019.All patients were subjected to complete history taking, full clinical examination, MDCT imaging, PET/CT imaging in some nodules, pathological examination, clinical and imaging follow up according to the criteria of the nodules after 6 months by CT. Results:Considering only those cases classified as Lung-RADS4X for predicting malignancy, the Lung-RADS had an accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of 76.7%, 70.6%,84.6%, 85.7%, and 68.6%, respectively. Considering Lung-RADS4A, Lung-RADS4B and Lung-RADS4X together as predictors for malignancy, the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were 90%, 94.1%, 84.6%, 88.9%, and 91.7%, respectively.Conclusion:The LUNG–RAD classification method is a useful conceptualising system that aids in the classification, follow-up, and improvement of the prognosis of malignant pulmonary nodules.
COMPARING MISINFORMATION AND INTERVENTION TYPES

Psychological research has offered valuable insights into how to combat misinformation. The studies conducted to date, however, have three limitations. First, pre-emptive (“prebunking”) and retroactive (“debunking”) interventions have mostly been examined in parallel, and thus it is unclear which of these two predominant approaches is more effective. Second, there has been a focus on misinformation that is explicitly false, but misinformation that uses literally true information to mislead is common in the real world. Finally, studies have relied mainly on questionnaire measures of reasoning, neglecting behavioural impacts of misinformation and interventions. To offer incremental progress towards addressing these three issues, we conducted an experiment (N = 735) involving misinformation on fair trade. We contrasted the effectiveness of prebunking versus debunking and the impacts of implied versus explicit misinformation, and incorporated novel measures assessing consumer behaviours (i.e., willingness-to-pay; information seeking; online misinformation promotion) in addition to standard questionnaire measures. In general, we found debunking to be more effective than prebunking, although both were able to reduce misinformation reliance. We also found that individuals tended to rely more on explicit than implied misinformation both with and without interventions.
Challenges for this place or any place: student preferences for lecture ‘places’ in a blended learning environment

With advances in technology, students now have a choice of ‘learning places’ that enables them to "be connected to a community of learners anytime and anywhere without being time, place or situation bound" (Garrison & Kanuka, 2004). Our institution places significant emphasis on learner choice, whilst demanding high impact, quality and equity of experience, regardless of the choices made (Brown, Kregor & Williams, 2013). We surveyed our students, across four geographically dispersed campuses, to find out why they make the choices they do about where they learn, in an effort to understand how we can best meet their needs without being overwhelmed by the complexity of offering and maintaining multiple modes of delivery. This paper reports demographic factors that, for the 124 respondents, were associated with mode usage and explores the thinking of students around their choice of learning 'place’, identifying key pedagogical and pragmatic themes that were evident in the reasons they gave for the choices they made. The findings provide a complex picture, but our learners readily identified the elements of their preferred mode that 'fitted' with their learning needs at a particular time and in their particular circumstances. We discuss the challenge to us to increase quality and equity by ensuring that the elements students value most in each mode are maintained and enhanced, but are also extended to those who choose to engage via other modes.
PPA_A_345646 217..233

1Bangladesh Country Office, Helen Keller International, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh; 2Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh; 3EcoHealth Alliance, New York, NY, USA; 4World Food Programme, Dhaka, 1207, Bangladesh; 5Department of Public Health, American International University of Bangladesh, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh; 6Handicap International Humanity & Inclusion, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh; 7Department of Anthropology, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka, 1243, Bangladesh; 8Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Science, Deakin University, Geelong Campus, Warrnambool, VIC, 3216, Australia; 9Chattogram Veterinary and Animal Science University, Chattogram, 4225, Bangladesh
Vaping in pregnancy: a geographically focused assessment of OBGYN provider knowledge regarding the safety and usage of electronic nicotine delivery systems

Background: Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), or vaping, usage has become increasingly popular and generally has a positive perception by the public. However, ENDS are known to contain harmful chemicals and teratogens that induce numerous health consequences to both the pregnant mother and fetus. Despite this, physician knowledge and discussion of ENDS with their pregnant patients remains limited. Themain objective of this study was to assess the knowledge of Obstetrics and Gynecology (OBGYN) providers regarding the safety and usage of ENDS in pregnancy. A secondary objective was to understand providers’ practices to increase patient education and awareness of the effects of ENDS on pregnant women and developing fetuses. Methods: A 40-question online anonymous survey was developed for this study. The survey aimed at assessing OBGYN providers’ understanding of the usage of ENDS and potential harms. The questionnaire was distributed to OBGYN providers in the Midwest and South of the United States of America. Results: One Hundred and four respondents completed the survey (95% response rate). While 96% of providers investigated alcohol and tobacco use during prenatal visits, only 44% routinely inquired about ENDS use. Most providers noted that they had received no formal education about ENDS usage and 55% of providers reported an insufficient understanding of vaping. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that providers lack the education and knowledge about ENDS usage in pregnancy. This is concerning as ENDS usage is rapidly increasing in the United States of America. It is essential to develop educational resources for providers about the risks of vaping and incorporate questions ENDS usage into the social history, especially in pregnancy.
Augmented Reality Technology as a Learning Media to Help Parents in the Academic Functional Education of Children with Hearing Impairments

—This research begins by conducting a preliminary study. The preliminary study was conducted by distributing google forms addressed to deaf parents. There were 20 respondents with the result that 62.5% of parents had difficulties in the development and functional academic learning of deaf children at home, which was caused by difficulty in communicating and difficult to explain. This study aims was to analyze the effectiveness of Augmented Reality technology as a learning media to help parents who have children with hearing impairments in developing academic learning at home. This review is critical because education in the home environment also includes lifelong education for deaf children to obtain information and insight. This research study goes through three stages of narrative review: determining the scope that will be the focus of the research, determining the interest and novelty of the research, and determining the formulation and objectives of the research. Based on a study of 17 articles through the peer-reviewed article database published in 2014-2021, it is shown that: functional academics are crucial for children with needs specifically, the effectiveness of Augmented Reality can support and provide an attraction for learners, Augmented Reality can influence learning outcomes for children with hearing impairments.
Modelling catastrophe risk bonds

Insurance companies are seeking more adequate liquidity funds to cover the insured property losses related to nature and man-made disasters. Past experience shows that the losses caused by catastrophic events, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods or hurricanes, are extremely large. One of the alternative methods of covering these extreme losses is to transfer part of the risk to the financial markets, by issuing catastrophe-linked bonds. This thesis focuses on model and value Catastrophe (CAT) risk bonds. The findings of this thesis is twofold. First, we study the pricing process for CAT bonds with different model setups. Second, based on different framework, we structured three catastrophe based (earthquake, general and nuclear risk) bonds, estimated the parameters of the model by employing real world data and obtained numerical results using Monte Carlo simulation. Comparison between different models is also conducted. The first model employed the structure of n financial and m catastrophe-independent risks, and obtain the valuation framework. This generalized extension allows an easier application in the industry. As an illustration, a structured earthquake is considered with parametric trigger type -- annual maximum magnitude of the earthquake -- and the pricing formulas are derived. The second model presents a contingent claim model with the aggregate claims following compound forms where the claim inter-arrival times are dependent on the claim sizes by employing a two-dimensional semi-Markov process. The final model derives nuclear catastrophe (N-CAT) risk bond prices by extending the previous model. A two-coverage type trigger CAT bond is analysed by adding a perturbed state into the claims system, i.e. the system stops (N-CAT bond contract terminated) immediately after a major catastrophe.
Low serum triiodothyronine and potassium levels are associated with increased risk of eclampsia among women in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

Background: There is paucity of data on the relationship between thyroid hormones, potassium and eclampsia. Moderate-to-severe iodine deficiency that worsens during pregnancy leads to decreased thyroid hormone output and bioavailability to the brain. Apart from metabolic functions, T3 and T4 are essential fast acting cytosolic and synaptosomal neural transmitters that also regulate neuronal excitatory-inhibitory mechanisms. T3 also regulates the Na + -K + -ATPase pump that maintains the membrane ionic gradient. Hence altered serum potassium, thyroxine and triiodothyronine levels could increase the risk of eclamptic seizures. Methods: Forty-five women with eclampsia, 45 severe preeclampsia and 90 normotensive pregnant controls were enrolled into this study. Levels of thyroid hormones, thyroglobulin and urine iodine concentration (UIC) were measured and compared between the three groups. Results: Eclamptic participants had significantly lower median serum potassium (K), triiodothyronine (FT3), urinary iodine concentration (UIC) but higher serum thyroglobulin (Tg) (K = 3.7 mmol/L; FT3 = 3.8 pmol/L; UIC = 69.5 μg/L; Tg = 39.0 μg/L) than normotensive pregnant controls (K = 4.3 mmol/L; T3 = 4.7 pmol/L; UIC = 169.5 μg/L; Tg = 19.5 μg/L) and participants with severe preeclampsia (K = 4.2 mmol/L; T3 = 4.4 pmol/L; UIC = 95.7 μg/L; Tg = 22.4 μg/L), p < 0.05. Low UIC, low serum T3 and potassium and elevated Tg were independent predictors of eclampsia. Conclusions: Women with iodine deficiency in pregnancy may be at increased risk of eclampsia secondary to the ensuing rapid peripheral turnover of thyroid hormones leading to hypothyroxinaemia and reduced triiodothyronine bioavailability to the central nervous system that can be exacerbated by hypokalaemia.
EFFECTS OF LEADING INDICATORS OF BALANCED SCORE CARD ON LAGGING INDICATOR: THE CASE OF PUBLIC HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF ETHIOPIA

This study deals with effect of leading indicators of BSC on its lagging indicator in public HEIs of Ethiopia. The main objective of the study was to examine influence on customer perspective from other three BSC perspectives. The study used customer perspective as dependent variable and financial, internal business process and capacity building as independent variables. The study employed explanatory research designs. The study employed stratified random sampling techniques which is one of common probability sampling. Total populations of the study were 8,271. Using Yamane formula sample size was determined to be 382 which increased by 15% and rise to 439 respondents. Both primary and secondary sources of data were used. As data collection tool, self administered structured questioner was employed. The study employed quantitative data analysis method. Stepwise multiple regressions were used for analysis. The findings of the study indicate that financial and internal business process perspectives have positive and significant influence on Customer perspective. However, capacity building has positive and but insignificant effect on customer perspective. From these it is possible to come up with conclusion that performance in leading indicators i.e. financial, internal business process and capacity building perspectives leads to performance in customer perspective which is lagging indicator in this study.
Utility of monocyte parameters in diagnosing Sputum Smear Negative Pulmonary TB

Background - Smear-negative TB (SNTB) may remain undetected for a long duration and new bio-markers are needed for diagnosis. Our study investigated monocyte parameters in this regard. Thirty cases each of SNTB, sputum positive cases and healthy controls were included. Full blood count and immune-phenotyping for ‘monocyte parameters’ by flow cytometry were performed using CD45, CD16, CD14, CD64 and HLA-DR The percentage of monocyte subsets and MFI of CD64 and HLA- DR noted and data statistically compared. The monocyte to lymphocyte ratio, percentage of intermediate monocytes, expression of CD64 on total as well as intermediate monocytes were significantly elevated in cases with SNTB as compared to healthy controls (p value, 0.07, 0.07, 0.001, 0.001 respectively). The cut off value for MFI CD64 on total and intermediate monocyte was >18 and >19.6 respectively. Thus monocyte parameters can serve as useful biomarkers for diagnosing tuberculosis in the sputum negative group.
Effects of the Long-term Treatment of Proton Pump Inhibitors on the Function of Kidney and Liver in Laboratory Female Rats.

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are a group of medications effectively used to inhibit gastric acid secretion and to treat many acid-related disorders, including gastroesophageal reflux disease and other gastric disorders. Recent studies recommended that they may be associated with the risk of chronic kidney disease and liver disease. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the effect of long-term treatment with PPIs on kidney and liver function in laboratory rats. Fifteen female albino white rats (Rattusnorvigicus) were randomly assigned to three groups of five animals. The control group was fed regular pellet, group PPI-2 received standard pellet diet and was given esomeprazole (10 mg/kg b.w.) via daily oral gavage in mornings for two weeks, and group PPI-3 was fed standard pellet diet and was given esomeprazole (10 mg/kg b.w.) via daily oral gavage in mornings for three months. Blood samples were taken after 2 weeks and 3 months by cardiac puncture for measuring serum creatinine, urea, total bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). In addition, kidney and liver tissues were histopathologically evaluated. Serum creatinine, urea, ALT, total bilirubin, and ALP significantly increased in group PPI-3, compared to other groups. Histopathological study of the kidneys and liver revealed normal histology structure in the control group and the rats of the PPI-2 group, while some histological changes were observed in the liver and kidney of the animals in the PPI-3 group. The histological changes included the widening of Bowman's space and shrunken glomeruli, whereas the renal tubules had congested tubular cells. Furthermore, congestion in the blood vessels and hepatic cells degradation were observed in the liver. These data indicate that the long-term administration of PPIs has adverse effects on the structure and function of the kidney and liver.