Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adherence to quality measures improves survival in esophageal cancer in a retrospective cohort study of the national cancer database from 2004 to 2016

Background We assessed adherence to four novel quality measures in patients with stage III esophageal cancer, a leading cause of death among GI malignancies. Methods We performed a retrospective cohort study of 22,871 stage III esophageal cancer patients identified from the National Cancer Database (NCDB) between 2004 and 2016. Four quality measures were defined from published guidelines: administration of induction therapy, >15 lymph nodes sampled, surgery within 60 days of neoadjuvant treatment, and R0 resection. The association of patient demographic and treatment variables with measure adherence was assessed using multiple logistic regression. Risk of all-cause mortality was assessed comparing adherent and non-adherent cases using Cox modeling. Kaplan-Meier survival estimates of groups that adhered to zero to four out of four quality measures were performed. Results Adherence was high for neoadjuvant treatment (93.7%), timing of surgery (85.7%) and completeness of resection (92.0%), but low for nodal evaluation (45.9%). Medicaid insurance status was associated with decreased odds of adherence for neoadjuvant treatment [odds ratio (OR) 0.73, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.54–0.99], nodal evaluation (OR 0.81, 95% CI: 0.68–0.96), and completeness of resection (OR 0.71, 95% CI: 0.54–0.92). From 2010 to 2016, when compared to cases from 2004 to 2005, there was a progressive increase in the odds of adequate induction therapy, nodal staging, and completeness of resection, but a progressive decrease in odds of well-timed surgery. Adherence was associated with decreased all-cause mortality for induction therapy, nodal staging, and R0 resection, but not for timing of surgery. Survival improved as the number of quality measures an individual patient adhered to increased. Conclusions Adherence to quality measures is associated with improved survival in patients with stage III esophageal cancer. Understanding variability in measure adherence may identify targets for quality improvement initiatives.
Relevant or interesting according to upper secondary students? Affective aspects of context-based chemistry problems

ABSTRACT Background To make students more interested and engaged in science, new teaching approaches have been developed aiming at higher order thinking. Context-based learning approaches emanate from an idea that science content knowledge should be presented in a relevant context for students to improve their learning outcomes as well as making them more engaged in science. Previous research on context-based learning approaches has shown positive results; however, researchers and teachers need to explicitly consider which aspects of the contextual settings young students perceive as interesting and relevant to improve chemistry education. Purpose In this paper, the constructs of ‘interest’ and ‘relevance’ are explored to analyse which aspects of open-ended chemistry problems engage students. Sample and Design Both qualitative interview data and quantitative survey data are elaborated on in three subsequent studies with Swedish upper secondary chemistry students. Students’ statements when discussing contextualisation of chemistry problems are analysed in relation to analytical frameworks to explore students’ perceived interest and relevance. Results The results highlight the importance of connections to personal dimensions in chemistry to make students more engaged and interested in chemistry. The language of the context-based problems is also found essential as the students indicate trigger-words in the tasks influencing perceived interest and relevance. This in combination with students’ distinction between high interest as a positive feeling, and high relevance as something important or worthwhile, are important results from this study. Conclusion From the results, conclusions are drawn to help researchers and teachers develop chemistry problems aiming for higher order thinking, but at the same time are found interesting and relevant for the students.
Engaging Undergraduate Public Health Students Through a Textbook Creation Project

This study examines students’ perceptions of an open pedagogy experiment in which they created their own textbook for an undergraduate public health course. The lead author’s primary motivation for developing this assignment was the high cost associated with the traditional textbooks that were otherwise needed to cover the breadth of subject matter in the course. The resulting open textbook included 19 chapters, covering all the required components of the course, and the final version was published in a statewide open educational resource repository. Students provided feedback about this undertaking by way of an end-of-term survey. The results showed high percentages of students who associated the textbook creation project with greater engagement and satisfaction than the passive use of traditional textbooks. Students also reported their perception of a learning benefit related to the creation of course content. Pedagogical implications of this study are discussed, and future research questions are proposed.
Interação entre Pochonia chlamydosporia e rizobactérias no controle de Meloidogyne javanica

vii INTRODUÇÃO. 1 CAPÍTULO 1 Control of Meloidogyne javanica in Tomato by Pochonia chlamydosporia, Gracilibacillus dipsosauri and Soil Conditioner.15 CAPÍTULO 2 Controle de Meloidogyne javanica em Tomateiro (Solanum lycopersicum L.) com Bactérias Endofíticas. 28 CAPÍTULO 3 Interação entre Pochonia chlamydosporia e Rizobactérias no Controle de Meloidogyne javanica.45 CAPÍTULO 4 Meio de Cultura Sólido para a Produção de Bionematicida à Base de Bacillus sp.64 CONCLUSÕES GERAIS.73
Assessment of balance, gait, lower limb strength and functionality in sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic elderlies

Background: Sarcopenia is the involuntary loss of muscle mass predicted by aging and is associated with an increased likelihood ofunfavorable results, such as falls, mortality and functional disabilities. Objective: Evaluate balance, gait speed, lower limb strength andfunctionality in sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic elderly. Methods: Cross-sectional study, carried out with 68 subjects aged 60 years orover, residents of the community and possessing an independent gait. The assessment instruments were bioimpedance, balance test,four-meter gait speed test, chair support test and SPPB. Results: The prevalence of sarcopenia in the population of the present studywas 43.3%. In the group of non-sarcopenic subjects, a correlation was found between all the variables evaluated. In the group ofsarcopenic subjects, a correlation was found between lower limbs strength and gait speed. Conclusion: The skeletal muscle mass ofa sarcopenic elderly is related to their lower limb strength and gait speed, but it does not present a significant correlation with balanceand functional performance. Further studies are needed to clarify the behavior of balance, gait speed, lower limb strength and functionalperformance variables when compared to the decrease in muscle mass inherent in aging.
A Comparative Analysis of Municipal Public Innovation: Evidence from Romania and United States

This paper aims to investigate innovation capacity mechanisms at a municipal level, through a comparative case study of public sector innovation labs from Boston (US) and Cluj-Napoca (Romania). We employed a qualitative approach, using as a primary tool the OECD framework for assessing the capacity of cities to innovate, and secondarily, a taxonomy of behavioral change strategies. We showed that, despite differences rooted in culture and institutions, innovation labs support the determinants of urban innovation capacity. However, the intensity of their support varies significantly, depending on organizational arrangements and the chosen methodological approach. Accepting this limitation may be an important step in re-configurating innovation labs and in moving towards a clearer agenda on sustainable urban innovation.
Underdetermined DOA Estimation via Covariance Matrix Completion for Nested Sparse Circular Array in Nonuniform Noise

This paper proposes a covariance matrix completion based algorithm for underdetermined direction of arrival (DOA) estimation in the presence of unknown nonuniform noise using nested sparse circular array (NSCA) with only <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$N$</tex-math></inline-formula> sensors. The proposed algorithm provides a systematic procedure to complete a covariance matrix for a virtual uniform circular array (UCA) with <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$M$</tex-math></inline-formula> sensors (<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$M > N$</tex-math></inline-formula>). Compared with the covariance matrix of the NSCA, the completed covariance matrix is capable of increasing degrees of freedom (DOFs), and is noise-free to mitigate the effect of nonuniform noise. The elements of the completed covariance matrix are from three steps: (1) elements from covariance matrix of the NSCA; (2) elements generated from the properties of the UCA; (3) elements produced from output of oblique projection operator based on initial DOAs. Then compressive sensing (CS) method is used to estimate DOAs based on the completed covariance matrix for better performance. The computational complexity of the proposed algorithm, and CRB are also given. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms the state-of-the-art methods in estimation accuracy.
Culture, Carrying Capacity And Perceived Value On Tourists’ Satisfaction And Revisit Intention

In the current digitalized and emerged world, tourists are looking forward to opportunities to reconnect with the mother nature. In fact, cultural-centred tourism destinations are topping the preference of the tourists who are constantly looking forward to ethnic-cultured experiences. In the growing market of tourism, carrying capacity and perceived value are critical in contributing to the satisfaction of tourists as well as their intention to revisit to the tourism destination. Hence, the present study investigates the role of culture, carrying capacity, and perceived value in enhancing tourists’ satisfaction and intention to revisit at the cultural destination context. A total of 100 respondents including both domestic and international tourists who visited Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV) in Sarawak, Malaysia participated voluntarily in this study. Data analysis on path modelling and bootstrapping was conducted using SPSS Version 23.0 and SmartPLS (version 3.2.8) to evaluate the developed model. The findings disclosed that all the direct hypotheses were supported, which are culture, carrying capacity and perceived value. They were found to augment satisfaction level among tourists at SCV, and eventually leads to intention revisit to SCV.
VARMA-EGARCH Model for Air-Quality Analyses and Application in Southern Taiwan

This study adopted the Exponential Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (EGARCH) model to analyze seven air pollutants (or the seven variables in this study) from ten air quality monitoring stations in the Kaohsiung–Pingtung Air Pollutant Control Area located in southern Taiwan. Before the verification analysis of the EGARCH model is conducted, the air quality data collected at the ten air quality monitoring stations in the Kaohsiung–Pingtung area are classified into three major factors using the factor analyses in multiple statistical analyses. The factors with the most significance are then selected as the targets for conducting investigations; they are termed “photochemical pollution factors”, or factors related to pollution caused by air pollutants, including particulate matter with particles below 10 microns (PM10), ozone (O3) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Then, we applied the Vector Autoregressive Moving Average-EGARCH (VARMA-EGARCH) model under the condition where the standardized residual existed in order to study the relationships among three air pollutants and how their concentration changed in the time series. By simulating the optimal model, namely VARMA (1,1)-EGARCH (1,1), we found that when O3 was the dependent variable, the concentration of O3 was not affected by the concentration of PM10 and NO2 in the same term. In terms of the impact response analysis on the predictive power of the three air pollutants in the time series, we found that the asymmetry effect of NO2 was the most significant, meaning that NO2 influenced the GARCH effect the least when the change of seasons caused the NO2 concentration to fluctuate; it also suggested that the concentration of NO2 produced in this area and the degree of change are lower than those of the other two air pollutants. This research is the first of its kind in the world to adopt a VARMA-EGARCH model to explore the interplay among various air pollutants and reactions triggered by it over time. The results of this study can be referenced by authorities for planning air quality total quantity control, applying and examining various air quality models, simulating the allowable increase in air quality limits, and evaluating the benefit of air quality improvement.
Political uncertainty and the choice of external audit: international evidence from private firms

PurposeThis paper documents the impact of political uncertainty on the decision of private firms to use external auditors to verify their financial statements.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use the data from 141 countries and the pooled logistic regression to test our arguments. The data is provided by the World Bank's Enterprise Surveys and is collected during the period between 2006 and 2019.FindingsThe results show that firms with high exposure to political uncertainty are more likely to use external auditors to verify their financial statements. The results are robust across various sub-samples and hold when we use alternate proxy for political uncertainty. The results are also robust after controlling for potential endogeneity concerns. The authors also find that the effect of political uncertainty on the choice of external audit is more pronounced for firms that are headquartered in countries with weak institutional environment. The authors document significant role of democracy, rule of law and accountability in determining the relationship between political uncertainty and the choice of external audit.Originality/valueThe authors believe that theirs is one of the initial attempts (if not the first) to investigate the effect of political uncertainty on the choice of external audit among the private firms in developing countries.
Antioxidant and cytokine levels in plasma of patients with attack and non-attack periods

Oxidative stress and inflammation are two possible mechanisms in the etiology of patients with migraine. However, there are conflicting data between reactive oxygen species and cytokine generation in patients with migraine. The current study aimed to determine the cytokine, oxidant, and antioxidant levels in plasma of migraine patients with attack and non-attack periods. In the current study, we used control (n=30), patients with attack (n=30), and passive (n=30) periods. In the plasma samples of control and patients, we measured lipid peroxidation (MDA), glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx), vitamin A, vitamin E, -carotene, and cytokine (IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α) levels in the plasma of control and patients with migraine. The GSH, GSHPx, and vitamin E levels were low in the patients with non-attack period as compared to control subject, although MDA levels were high in the patients with non-attack period. The concentrations of vitamin A and -carotene did not differ in the control and patient groups. The levels of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α were higher in the non-attack group than in the control. In addition, the levels of cytokines were further increased in the attack group as compared to control and non-attack groups. In conclusion, we found signs of inflammation and oxidative stress in the plasma of migraine patients suggesting that this headache form might relate with inflammatory and oxidative stress pathways.
Melanin‐based ornament darkness positively correlates with across‐season nutritional condition

Abstract Sexually dimorphic ornamental traits are widely regarded as indicators of nutritional condition. However, variation of nutritional condition outside the reproductive and the ornament production seasons has rarely been considered, although it affects the generality of information content, especially for ornaments that may be used across the year. We measured several indicators of migratory and molt condition in male and female blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla) during their autumn migration, and quantified their crown reflectance. We detected robust correlations between migratory and molt condition indices, and the correlation structure was similar in the two sexes. Furthermore, the across‐season measure of body condition was positively related to the darkness of the black crown in males, while being unrelated to reflectance traits of the reddish crown in females. Our results reinforce the possibility that some melanin‐based ornaments may be year‐round indicators of individual quality via their dependence on nutritional condition.
Music Education and Educators in Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois

The purpose of this survey study was to provide a demographic profile of PK-12 public school music teachers and details about the public school music teaching positions in Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois. An invitation to complete a questionnaire was emailed to all PK-12 public school music teachers in these three states whose email addresses could be gathered via a school district website search or phone call to the district, yielding a 26.1% response rate in Missouri, a 35.1% response rate in Iowa, and a 31.7% response rate in Illinois. The questionnaire contained items used to gather demographic data about the music teachers and details about their class offerings. Results indicate over 93% of music teachers in these three states identify as White and approximately two thirds identify as women. The teachers in these three states who responded to the survey travel less for their positions compared with music teachers in the United States as a whole, and findings were inconsistent between the states with respect to experience level and school location. Further, 28% to 47% of secondary-level educators in these three states teach a music class that is not band, choir, or orchestra.
Fenologia e quimiodiversidade do ‘Chapéu-de-couro’ (Echinodorus grandiflorus e Echinodorus macrophyllus) / Phenology and chemiodiversity of the 'Chapéu-de-couro' (Echinodorus grandiflorus e Echinodorus macrophyllus)

Resumo : O chapeu-de-couro ( Echinodorus grandiflorus e Echinodorus macrophyllus ), e uma planta medicinal de areas alagadas de ocorrencia em grande parte do territorio brasileiro. Possui ampla utilizacao devido suas propriedades anti-inflamatoria e diuretica. O extrativismo e a forma de abastecimento do mercado, porem nao garante qualidade quimica do produto, bem como pode causar desequilibrio populacional da planta. Conhecer as caracteristicas fenologicas das especies, bem como conhecer sua diversidade quimica e de fundamental importância para tracar um plano de manejo adequado. Assim, o objetivo desta revisao e o levantamento sobre os aspectos fenologicos das especies de chapeu-de-couro, bem como sua quimiodiversidade. Abstract: C hapeu-de-couro ( Echinodorus grandiflorus e Echinodorus macrophyllus ), is a medicinal plant of flooded areas with occurrence in a great part of the Brazilian territory. It is widely used due to its anti-inflammatory and diuretic properties. Plant extractivism supplies market, but it does not guarantee the chemical quality of the product, as well as it can cause population imbalance of the plant. Knowing the phenological characteristics of the species, as well as knowing their chemical diversity is of fundamental importance to draw up an adequate management plan. Thus, the objective of this review is the survey on the phenological aspects of the species of chapeu-de-couro , as well as its chemiodiversity.
Civil Liberties in Times of Crisis

We study people's willingness to trade off civil liberties for increased health security in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic by deploying representative surveys involving around 550,000 responses across 15 countries. We document significant heterogeneity across groups in willingness to sacrifice rights: citizens disadvantaged by income, education, or race are less willing to sacrifice rights than their more advantaged peers in every country. Leveraging naturally occurring variation and experimental approaches, we estimate a one standard deviation increase in health insecurity increases willingness to sacrifice civil liberties by 68–83 percent of the difference between the average Chinese and US citizen. (JEL D12, D91, I12, I18, K38, O17, P36)
Calibrating Simple Climate Models to Individual Earth System Models: Lessons Learned From Calibrating Hector

Simple climate models (SCMs) are computationally efficient and capable of emulating global mean output of more complex Earth system models (ESMs). In doing so, SCMs can play a critical role in climate research as stand‐ins for the computationally more expensive models, especially in studies involving low, spatial, and/or temporal resolution, providing more computationally efficient sources of climate data. Here we use Hector v2.5. 0 to emulate the multiforcing historical and RCP scenario output for 31 concentration and seven emission‐driven ESMs. When calibrating Hector, sufficient calibration data must be used to constrain the model; otherwise, climate and/or carbon parameters affecting physical processes may be able to trade off with one another, allowing for solutions to use physically unreasonable fitted parameter values as well as limiting the application of the SCM as an emulator. We also present a novel methodology that uses the ESM range as a calibration data, which can be adopted when faced with missing variable output from a specific model.
Americano, latte, or English

Across the world, in many places in which English is not widely spoken, English text often appears on posters, storefronts, billboards, street signs, warning signs, menus, and many other forms of publicly visible written texts. English is often featured alongside one or more additional languages. These signs are typically seen as unremarkable by passersby looking to buy goods, for information regarding prohibited activity, or even just for a comfortable coffee shop. An increasingly robust scholarly literature has examined these signs since the publication of Landry and Bourhis' (1997) foundational study which popularized the term linguistic landscape. Linguistic landscape scholarship now includes large-scale quantitative examinations of publicly visible signs in cities such as Tokyo (Backhaus, 2007), smaller-scale examinations of the written language within individual workplaces in a single building (Hanauer, 2010), studies on mobile linguistic landscapes such as shopping bags (Alomoush, 2019) and many other studies conducted in widely varying locations with widely varying foci (McKiernan, 2019; Yuan, 2019).