Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improving Scenario Methodology: Theory and Practice

Improving scenario practice: The critical role of facilitation in the scenario development process. While numerous scenario development models and their enhancements are proposed in the literature, they are largely based on anecdotal evidence and more significantly, they tend to understate the complexity of the scenario development process. Under the ‘Intuitive Logics’ (IL) methodology, scenario development is usually a facilitated group process, yet the scenario literature makes only a passing mention of facilitation of the process with indications that scenarios workshops require an able and skilled facilitator to engage participants in conversation about the future, but no guidance based on empirical findings is offered in terms of the specific skills required of the facilitator. However there is a substantial body of literature around facilitation and its impact on groups in the area of group decision support and model building, and given that working with groups to develop scenarios has much in common with the challenges of model building, problem structuring and group decision support in general, the literature on facilitation in this area should be applicable in the context of scenario planning. At the same time the IL scenario development process relies heavily on subjective judgments which are impacted by cognitive effects, heuristics and their associated biases which operate at the subconscious level and impact human judgment, and while there is a large body of research in this area in the domain of psychology, again these findings have not yet migrated to the scenario literature to any depth. The paper presents a staged process model similar to that described by Tuckman and Jensen (1977), which groups in a typical IL scenario exercise progress through. Based on observations of groups engaged in developing scenarios, the model shows how in combination, a range of cognitive processes, heuristics and biases represent mutually reinforcing mechanisms which impact the scenario development process and significantly influence the ability of groups to develop effective scenarios. Understanding these factors and how to mitigate their effects is an essential skill required of scenario process facilitators. The paper concludes by suggesting that the process of developing scenarios is a more demanding and complex task than is generally recognized in the literature, and the data gathered in this research indicates that to improve the process a trained full-time facilitator is essential.
A geometrical approach to monotone functions in R n

This paper is concerned with the fine properties of monotone functions on R. We study the continuity and differentiability properties of these functions, the approximability properties, the structure of the distributional derivatives and of the weak Jacobians. Moreover, we exhibit an example of a monotone function u which is the gradient of a C convex function and whose weak Jacobian Ju is supported on a purely unrectifiable set.
Long-Term Rodent Surveillance after Outbreak of Hantavirus Infection, Yosemite National Park, California, USA, 2012

In 2012, a total of 9 cases of hantavirus infection occurred in overnight visitors to Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California, USA. In the 6 years after the initial outbreak investigation, the California Department of Public Health conducted 11 rodent trapping events in developed areas of Yosemite Valley and 6 in Tuolumne Meadows to monitor the relative abundance of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) and seroprevalence of Sin Nombre orthohantavirus, the causative agent of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Deer mouse trap success in Yosemite Valley remained lower than that observed during the 2012 outbreak investigation. Seroprevalence of Sin Nombre orthohantavirus in deer mice during 2013–2018 was also lower than during the outbreak, but the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.02). The decreased relative abundance of Peromyscus spp. mice in developed areas of Yosemite Valley after the outbreak is probably associated with increased rodent exclusion efforts and decreased peridomestic habitat.
Computer-Assisted Interpreting Technologies and Interpreter Cognition: A Product and Process-Oriented Perspective

Fins ara, la recerca sobre la interpretacio assistida i intercedida per la tecnologia ha adoptat un enfocament centrat principalment en el producte per tal d’entendre el paper de la tecnologia durant l’exercici de la interpretacio. A fi de respondre a la necessitat d’una recerca empirica addicional sobre la interseccio entre la interpretacio, la tecnologia i la cognicio, aquest article posa de manifest la necessitat d’incloure una recerca orientada al proces de la interpretacio i determina diverses arees de recerca de possible interes.
Transcranial direct current stimulation and attention skills in burnout patients: a randomized blinded sham-controlled pilot

Burnout is characterized by deficiencies in attention and Background: several components of the working memory, of which the lingering effects of impaired attention and executive functions are the most frustrating. We hypothesized that anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (atDCS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) can improve the executive control of attention and possibly several other components of working memory in patients with burnout. This was a randomized double-blind sham-controlled pilot study Methods: with two groups. Patients with burnout received three weeks of daily sessions (15 sessions in total) of atDCS or sham stimulation in addition to three weekly sessions of standard behavioral therapy. The primary outcome measure was attention and the central executive of the working memory. Secondary, the effect of atDCS was measured on other components of working memory, on burnout and depression scores, and on quality of life (QoL). We enrolled and randomly assigned 16 patients to a sham or real Results: stimulation group, 15 (7 sham, 8 real) were included in the analysis. atDCS had a significant impact on attention. Post-hoc comparisons also revealed a trend towards more improvement after real tDCS for inhibition and shifting, updating and control, and encoding. Both groups improved on burnout and depression scores. These data provide preliminary evidence for the value of Conclusion: atDCS over the left DLPFC in rehabilitating attention deficits, and possibly also central executive and encoding deficits, in burnout. However, the current study has some limitations, including the sample size and heterogeneous patient population. More elaborate studies are needed to 1 2,3 2 2
EFFECTS OF TWO PLANT EXTRACTS AND VITAMIN D 3 ON BONE MECHANICAL AND HISTOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF BROILER CHICKENS

This study was performed to evaluate the effects of hydroalcoholic extracts of Withania somnifera (WS) root, Withania coagulans (WC) fruit and 1, 25-dihydroxycholecalciferol [1, 25-(OH) 2 D 3 ] on bone mineralization, mechanical ,and histological properties of broiler chickens. A total of 550 male one-day-old Ross 308 broiler chickens were randomly allotted to 55 pens, with 10 birds per pen (replicate), and reared for 42 days. A completely randomized design was used with 11 dietary treatments including a positive control diet with adequate Ca; a negative control diet (Ca concentration reduced by 30%); and a negative control diet supplemented with either WS or WC extracts at three levels (0, 75 and 150 mg/kg diet) or 1, 25-(OH) 2 -D 3 at two different levels (0 and 0.5 μg/kg diet). Diets were given ad libitum from one to 42 day of age. Dietary treatments did not affect feed intake and feed conversion efficiency. On days 21 and 42, one bird per replicate was killed and tibiae were removed. Among the birds that were given negative control diet, the highest Ca retention values were noted in those that received 75 mg/kg WC (84.67%) or 150 mg/kg WS (83.09%) with 0.5 μg/kg 1, 25-(OH) 2 D 3 . At 21 days of age, the highest tibia Ca values were obtained in birds fed negative control diet supplemented with 150 mg/kg WS or WC with no dietary supplementation of 1, 25-(OH) 2 D 3 (38.652 and 38.433 % respectively). No significant effects on tibia Ca were noted at 42 days. There were no significant differences (P>0.05) between experimental treatments for all tibia bone biomechanical properties. The addition of 75 mg/kg WS and 1, 25-(OH) 2 D 3 to negative control diets resulted in significant increase (P<0.05) in tibia mineralized zone width. The present study showed that dietary supplementation of WS and WC at 150 and 75 mg/kg, respectively improved Ca retention and the effects were more pronounced in the presence of 1, 25 (OH) 2 D 3 . Administration of 150 mg/kg WS and WC had beneficial effects on bone calcification. Also, synergistic effects of WS and 1, 25-(OH) 2 D 3 resulted in significant increase in tibia mineralized zone width.
Exogenous Shocks to Crime and Resolution of Court Cases. Do Such Shocks Impact on Investments?

The interaction between justice sector and private investments has widely been acknowledged by economists and governments. For instance, services provided by police and courts have been found to affect private investments in most economies. However, there is limited information regarding the growth trajectory private investments would follow when an exogenous shock to crime and resolution of court cases occurs. Therefore, this paper investigated the impact of exogenous shocks to crime and resolution of court cases on private investment. The analysis entailed the use of vector auto regressive model and Kenyan data for the period 1960-2016. The results showed that an exogenous shock to crime and resolution of cases impacts on private investment for a relatively long period of time. Hence, Governments should speedily ease down the memories of crime once a major crime engulf the economy and expansively secure the affected firms and other economic agents with future propensity to be hit by a comparable crime. Further, for courts with high pendency of cases, prioritizing cost effective programmes that would substantially and within a short period of time reduce a huge chunk of pending cases, would positively impact on private investment for a long period.
Automotive System Development Based on Collaborative Modeling Using Multiple ADLs

This paper presents two different model-based approaches that use multiple architecture description languages (ADLs) for automotive system development. One approach is based on AADL (Architecture Analysis & Design Language), and the other is based on collaborative modeling by SysML (Systems Modeling Language) and MARTE (Modeling and Analysis of Real-Time and Embedded systems). In this paper, the detailed modeling steps for both approaches are explained through a real-world automotive development example: a cruise control system. Moreover, discussion of the modeling steps offers a qualitative comparison of the two approaches, and then clarifies the characteristics of the different types of ADLs.
Variational Adaptive-Newton Method

We present a black-box learning method called the Variational Adaptive-Newton (VAN) method2. The method is especially suitable for explorative-learning tasks such as active learning and reinforcement learning. Just like Bayesian methods, it estimates a distribution that can be used for exploration, but its computational complexity is similar to that of the continuous optimization methods. VAN is a second-order method that unifies existing methods in distinct fields of continuous optimization, variational inference, and evolution strategies. Our results show that VAN performs well on a wide-variety of learning tasks but takes fewer computations than existing approaches. To summarize, this works presents a method has the potential not only to be a general-purpose learning tool, but also to be used to solve difficult problems such as deep reinforcement learning and unsupervised learning.
G-UNIPOTENT UNITS IN COMMUTATIVE GROUP RINGS

We find a necessary and sufficient condition under which all normalized units in a commutative group ring with prime characteristic p > 0 are Gunipotent units. This continues our recent investigation on idempotent units in commutative group rings published in Kochi J. Math. (2009) and also strengthens our own results from Extracta Math. (2008).
Towards Wearable-based Hypoglycemia Detection and Warning in Diabetes

Rigorous blood glucose management is vital for individuals with diabetes to prevent states of too low blood glucose (hypoglycemia). While there are continuous glucose monitors available, they are expensive and not available for many patients. Related work suggests a correlation between the blood glucose level and physiological measures, such as heart rate variability. We therefore propose a machine learning model to detect hypoglycemia on basis of data from smartwatch sensors gathered in a proof-of-concept study. In further work, we want to integrate our model in wearables and warn individuals with diabetes of possible hypoglycemia. However, presenting just the detection output alone might be confusing to a patient especially if it is a false positive result. We thus use SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) values for feature attribution and a method for subsequently explaining the model decision in a comprehensible way on smartwatches.
Classification of Oromo Dialects: A Computational Approach

Oromo is a lowland east Cushitic language which has tens of millions of native speakers in Ethiopia and in neighboring countries such as Kenya and Somalia. In the past, some attempts have been made to subjectively divide the language into different dialects or genetic units based on some phonological and lexical features. However, this study is intended to automatically compute lexical distances among varieties of the language spoken in Ethiopia and to objectively classify them into dialect areas. One hundred sixty basic words were used to calculate the normalized lexical distances with the Levenshtein Algorithm and an agglomerative clustering method was employed to classify the linguistic varieties into dialect areas. It is observed that the objective method has yielded a good result in dividing the linguistic varieties into six clusters and this classification is similar to some of the previous subjective classifications. It is also noted that the linguistic varieties have formed hierarchical clusters based on their geographical proximities, showing the dialectological fact that a geographical proximity predicts a linguistic similarity. A new classification of dialects of the language has been proposed but further research is needed to validate it with more lexical data and other clustering techniques.
Emergence and convergence of scientific communication in a developing country: Mexico 1900-1979]

As part of the project to develop the Atlas of Mexican Science we analyzed the scientific production of the country from 1900-1979 with a view to completing the set of historical bibliometrical indicators for the entire 20 century. Procedures and database sources centred on publications in the mainstream literature proved insufficient for the development and interpretation of indicators for this period in time. To accomplish this we needed to establish the coexistence of two modes of scientific communication: (1) the traditional, endogenous mode based on production in local journals and (2) the emerging mode of publication in international journals. The emerging mode achieved higher growth dynamics and positioned itself as alternative and complementary to endogenous publication within an environment where endogenous practices prevailed as the more frequent form of communication. The increasing consolidation of the emerging communication system in developing countries did not signify the replacement of the local mode, at least in the case of Mexican science.
Effect of immunoglobulin G concentration in dairy cow colostrum and calf blood serum on Cryptosporidium spp. invasion in calves

Aim: The research aimed to test the association between the level of immunoglobulin G (IgG) in bovine colostrum and calf blood serum and to evaluate its relation to Cryptosporidium spp. invasion in calves. Materials and Methods: Fresh colostrum and fecal specimens from cows (n=114) as well as blood and fecal specimens from newborn calves (n=114) were collected in the dairy cattle farm. Investigated calves were separated from their mothers directly after birth and received 2 L of colostrum in two separate feedings within the first 24 h. Blood samples were taken from calves at the age of 2 days. Coprological samples were taken from calves at the age of 1, 10, and 15 days. Both colostrum and fecal samples from cows were taken on the 1st day after calf birth. Rectal fecal samples were collected separately from each calf and cow into plastic bags. The collected calf serum samples and bovine colostrum samples were tested for bovine IgG by competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit bovine Ig. To record oocysts of Cryptosporidium spp. in feces, the flotation method was used. Binomial logistic regression was performed to ascertain the effects of IgG in bovine colostrum and calf blood serum on the likelihood of Cryptosporidium spp. infection in calves. Results: The concentration of IgG in bovine colostrum was higher (70.7±26.6 g/L, mean±standard deviation) than that in calf blood serum (13.2±6.1 g/L); the statistically significant difference was 57.4 g/L (95% confidence interval, 52.4-62.4), t (124.872)=22.536, p<0.001. Mann–Whitney’s U-test showed a significant difference between samples collected on days 10 and 15 of the experiment (U=1944, z=2.330, p=0.020). The higher number of oocysts in calf feces was recorded on day 15 (median=6.5) compared to day 10 (median=4). The prevalence of calf infection from days 10 to 15 increased from 26.3 to 45.6% and was at least 3 times higher than in cows. A statistically significant positive correlation was recorded between IgG concentration of cow colostrum and calf blood serum (r (114)=0.414, p=0.001), whereas a correlation between the concentration of IgG and the intensity of Cryptosporidium spp. infection was not recorded (p>0.05). The logistic regression model was not statistically significant (χ2(2)=0.013, p=0.99 (10 days) and χ2(2)=0.100, p=0.95 (15 days)). Conclusion: Mother passive transfer of immunity to the offspring through colostrum does not influence the susceptibility of calves to Cryptosporidium infestation.
Angel or Devil? A Privacy Study of Mobile Parental Control Apps

Abstract Android parental control applications are used by parents to monitor and limit their children’s mobile behaviour (e.g., mobile apps usage, web browsing, calling, and texting). In order to offer this service, parental control apps require privileged access to system resources and access to sensitive data. This may significantly reduce the dangers associated with kids’ online activities, but it raises important privacy concerns. These concerns have so far been overlooked by organizations providing recommendations regarding the use of parental control applications to the public. We conduct the first in-depth study of the Android parental control app’s ecosystem from a privacy and regulatory point of view. We exhaustively study 46 apps from 43 developers which have a combined 20M installs in the Google Play Store. Using a combination of static and dynamic analysis we find that: these apps are on average more permissions-hungry than the top 150 apps in the Google Play Store, and tend to request more dangerous permissions with new releases; 11% of the apps transmit personal data in the clear; 34% of the apps gather and send personal information without appropriate consent; and 72% of the apps share data with third parties (including online advertising and analytics services) without mentioning their presence in their privacy policies. In summary, parental control applications lack transparency and lack compliance with regulatory requirements. This holds even for those applications recommended by European and other national security centers.
Gender Differences between Multimorbidity and All-Cause Mortality among Older Adults

Objectives This study seeks to determine the prevalence of chronic diseases and analyze the association between multimorbidity and all-cause mortality by sex. Methods This is a 16-year longitudinal study of follow-up. We used sample data of the SABE (Health, Well-Being and Aging) study cohort and mortality data obtained through the Mortality Information Improvement Program of the City of São Paulo (PRO-AIM) from the 2000–2016 period. Survival analysis was performed using Cox proportional hazard models. Results Hypertension (HT) was the most prevalent disease in older adults (52.93%), followed by musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) (27.09%), cardiovascular diseases (CD) (17.79%), diabetes mellitus (DM) (16.95%), mental disorders (MD) (15.43%), and respiratory diseases (RD) (9.72%). The highest mortality rate in women was observed in the combination of HT/MSDs/DM/MD (HR = 6.15, 95% CI = 2.32, 16.32), while in men was in the combination of HT/CD/MSDs/DM (HR = 5.72, 95% CI = 1.72, 19.06). Conclusion Similar to previous studies carried out in developed countries, we found that all-cause mortality increased as diseases are added to an individual. Women and men presented different mortality patterns according to multimorbidity. Therefore, we suggest that additional longitudinal studies should be performed in order to analyze mortality by sex.
Periodontal health of the elderly people in South East local government area in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Health problems involving physical and mental conditions directly or indirectly affect the oral health of the elderly. Other ways in which physical and mental health conditions influence their health result from the various drug prescriptions given for these ailments. Periodontal health is the most affected. Various studies have demonstrated that the elderly have the highest rate of gingival bleeding, calculus deposits and periodontal pocketing. It is the aim of this study to determine the health of the supporting tissues of the teeth using periodontal indices such as the C.PI. T.N and mobility index. The study was carried out on 690 elderly individuals (403 males and 287 females) who were 65 years and above living in various wards in the South East Local Government Area of Ibadan (S.E.L.G.A). A multistage sampling technique was used to select elderly individuals for the study. Two interviewers, 2 record clerks and 2 examiners were trained and the examiners were calibrated. The elderly individuals were interviewed and examined concurrently. The results highlighted the high prevalence of periodontal disease in the elderly in this local government area. Only 5.2% were free from periodontal disease. 94.8% had one or another stage of periodontal disease. It also demonstrated the poor oral cleanliness among these elderly. More than 42% had gross accumulation of calculus. Among the elderly in this local government area, 21.6% and 28.8% had shallow and deep pockets, respectively whilst 39.3% had one or more mobile teeth. Pockets and excessive mobility of the teeth represent advance stages of periodontitis. Majority (70.4%) of the elderly in the study claimed they use chewing sticks to maintain oral hygiene. The pattern of deposit of calculus along the interdental surfaces, mesio and distobuccal surfaces as well as lingual surfaces, question the effectiveness of the chewing stick in cleaning these surfaces. This study confirms findings of other authors, on oral hygiene in Nigeria. There is an urgent need to establish a community based outreach programme to prevent and treat periodontal disease among the elderly in this local government area.