Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EFFECT OF MEDICATION RELATED EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTIONS ON IMPROVING MEDICATION ADHERENCE IN PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS

Objectives: To assess the patient medication adherence using 8 item morisky medication adherence scale (MMAS). To categorize patients based on their adherence to antidiabetic medications into low, medium, and high adherent. To provide educational interventions such as patient counseling using teach-back method, patient medication information leaflet, and audio-visual aids and thus to improve the patient medication adherence. Methods: After obtaining informed consent from the patients, data of the patients were recorded in data collection forms. Their adherence to antidiabetic medication was evaluated using 8 item MMAS and patients were categorized into low, medium, and high adherence groups based on the score. Counseling was done based on the categorization (high, medium, and low). During review, again adherence was rechecked using 8 item MMAS. Results: Medication adherence was measured using 8 item MMAS on review and adherence was found to be improved using different patient counseling methods according to their adherence category. Improvement in score within low adherence group was found to be 83.87%; improvement of the low adherence group to medium adherence group was 16.12%. Improvement within the medium adherence group was 82.14% and from medium adherence to high adherence group was 17.85%. Conclusion: Patient counseling can improve adherence in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients, which in turn help patients in achieving optimal glycemic control.
Revisiting a Landmark Study System: No Evidence for a Punctuated Mode of Evolution in Metrarabdotos

Is speciation generally a “special time” in morphological evolution, or are lineage-splitting events just “more of the same” where the end product happens to be two separate lineages? Data on evolutionary dynamics during anagenetic and cladogenetic events among closely related lineages within a clade are rare, but the fossil record of the bryozoan genus Metrarabdotos is considered a textbook example of a clade where speciation causes rapid evolutionary change against a backdrop of morphological stasis within lineages. Here, we point to some methodological and measurement theoretical issues in the original work on Metrarabdotos. We then reanalyze a subset of the original data that can be meaningfully investigated using quantitative statistical approaches similar to those used in the original studies. We consistently fail to find variation in the evolutionary process during within-lineage evolution compared with cladogenetic events: the rates of evolution, the strength of selection, and the directions traveled in multivariate morphospace are not different when comparing evolution within lineages and at speciation events in Metrarabdotos, and genetic drift cannot be excluded as a sufficient explanation for the morphological differentiation within lineages and during speciation. Although widely considered the best example of a punctuated mode of evolution, morphological divergence and speciation are not linked in Metrarabdotos.
Development of Brady-Tachy heart automotive monitoring (BT-Heartomotive) device to prevent motor-vehicle accident

The rate of car accidents is worrying nowadays. Other than problems in driving attitudes and skills, road accidents are also caused by uncontrollable factors such as medical conditions and drowsiness. These factors can be avoided by having early detection. The BT-Heartomotive device is a device that can detect early signs of drowsiness and health problems by measuring the heart rate of the drivers. Heart rate measurement can reveal a lot about the physical conditions of an individual. BT-Heartomotive device consists of three main components: the sensor, microcontroller, and heart rate monitor.
Prevalence and Factors Related to Cigarette Smoking Initiation and Use among University Students of Bahawalpur Pakistan: A Cross Sectional study

Background: The objective of this study was to obtain information about the prevalence of cigarette smoking among university students and the factors that stimulate students to smoke cigarette and that might influence their smoking habits. Methods: Cross-sectional study was conducted. Self-administered questionnaire was made to collect socio demographic data, smoking deeds, smoking stimulating factors, associated illness, risk factors and smoking status. Results: Out of total 304 students included, 82 were cigarette smokers. The mean age of the participants was 21.2 ± 0.211 years (95 CI [21.093, 21.907]. Prevalence of smoking was 26.9% [95 % confidence interval (CI) 98.2 – 105.8]. Prevalence of smoking signifi-cantly change according to the year of study. Higher proportion (34.14%) of smokers had smoked cigarette at friend house. Among smokers, about 6% had experienced asthma problem and 23% of them have cough problems. Higher percentage of non smokers were aware of injurious effects of smoking in contrast to smokers (63% vs. 36.58%, p = 0.001). The Fagerstrom score for nicotine dependence was low for 12.95% of them, moderate for 31.70 % and high for 46.34 %. The main causes for starting smoking were pleasure (50.70 %). Conclusions: Even though, prevalence of cigarette smokers in university students was lower than general populations, but this percentage is alarming and point towards rapid growth of cigarette smoking.
Teaching and learning L2 in the classroom: It's about time

Abstract One of the challenges facing second and foreign language (L2) teachers and learners in primary and secondary school settings is the limited amount of time available. There is disagreement about how to meet this challenge. In this paper we argue against two ‘common sense’ recommendations for increasing instructional time – start as early as possible and use only the L2 (avoiding the use of the first language (L1)) in the classroom. We propose two better ways to increase the instructional time: provide periods of intensive instruction later in the curriculum and integrate the teaching of language and content. Studies in schools settings around the world have failed to find long-term advantages for an early start or exclusive use of the L2 in the classroom. Nevertheless, many language educators and policy makers continue to adopt these practices, basing their choice on their own intuitions and public opinion rather than on evidence from research.
ENGLISH SPEAKING LEARNINGMANAGEMENTCONDUCTED BY NON-NATIVE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH INTERNATIONAL CURRICULUM IN SEMARANG REGENCY

The objectives of the study are describing in detail of English speaking learning international school plan, the process of English speaking in international classroom and the outcomes of English speaking international students’ capability. This study was done at the pilot project of International school in Semarang Regency, SMP N 1 Ungaran Semarang Regency. This school’s curriculum targeted students competence both in oral and written to resolve daily communicative problems. It is relevant toCahyono and Widiati (2011: 121) that English used in various aspects of life such trade, entertainment, education, governmental diplomacy, science and technology. Therefore, English as the world language will be a significant medium of communication. Using descriptive qualitative approach, this study made an observation, in depth interview and written documents in data collecting. The final findings showed that integrating language skills by combining national and international curriculum creates students’ English broaden speaking expression materials to speak English with longer time learning period. Good learning preparation process in a real world theme affects familiarity and enthusiasm in students’ speaking capability.Consequently, the outcomes related to capability also lookbetter in English speaking. Keywords: English speaking, Non-Native Students, International Curriculum
Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy of neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid, assisted by gold and silver nanostructures

Abstract Advanced silver and gold nanostructures were fabricated on alumina ceramic by thermal deposition technique. They were applied as active substrates for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy analyses of the neonicotinoid insecticides Nuprid 200 SP and Warrant 700 WG, both containing imidacloprid, in quantities much smaller than usually applied in the agricultural medicine. The efficiency of the fabricated structures was simulated by finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. The limit of detection of imidacloprid was estimated to be about ≈0.05 mM. The detection of small amounts or residue of harmful pollutants was forwarded to bearing on the environment and especially on the honey bees’ health.
The Influence of Hedonic and Utilitarian Shopping Value Towards Consumer Behavioral Intention Among Youth Mall Shoppers

In the past decade, considerable amount of researches investigated the influence of hedonic and utilitarian shopping values on consumer behavioral intention. Accordingly, this has driven the current study to achieve its objective which is to determine the influence of hedonic and utilitarian shopping values on consumer consumer behavioral intention among youth in Malaysia. Embarking on the quantitative methodology, a survey is conducted among 469 university students who enrolled to a compulsory university course. The results showed that hedonic and utilitarian shopping values had positive influence on the youth consumer behavioral intention. This implies that shopping mall developers should consider hedonic and utilitarian preferences in terms of the design, selection of stores and functionality in creating a shopping mall particularly in serving youth market segment.
Frequency and features of embolic stroke of undetermined source in young adults

Introduction The sources of emboli in those with embolic stroke of undetermined source may differ in old and young. We assessed the frequency, features and potential embolic sources of younger vs. older embolic stroke of undetermined source patients in the embolic stroke of undetermined source Global Registry. Patients and methods Cross-sectional study of consecutive patients over age 18 years, with recent ischaemic strokes at 19 centres conducted in 2013–2014. Characteristics of embolic stroke of undetermined source patients who aged ≤50 years were analysed and compared with embolic stroke of undetermined source patients who aged >50 years. Results Among 2144 patients with ischaemic stroke, 323 (15.1%, 95% confidence interval: 13.6–16.7%) were ≤50 years old and, 1821 >50 years. 24% (n = 78) of young vs. 15% (n = 273) of older patients met embolic stroke of undetermined source criteria. The mean age of young embolic stroke of undetermined source patients was 40 years (standard deviation +/−9), 33% were women and the most prevalent vascular risk factor was hypertension (38%). Conventional vascular risk factors were less frequent in younger embolic stroke of undetermined source patients. Fewer young embolic stroke of undetermined source patients (63%) had potential minor risk embolic sources identified vs. older embolic stroke of undetermined source patients (77%) (p = 0.02). Stroke severity on admission was similar in younger vs. older patients (National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) 3 vs. 4, p = 0.06). Discussion Young embolic stroke of undetermined source patients comprise an important subset of ischaemic stroke patients around the world. Severity of stroke on admission and 30-day mortality rates are similar among young and older patients. However, there are important differences between younger vs. older embolic stroke of undetermined source patients with respect to risk factors, and potential embolic sources that could affect response to anticoagulants vs. antiplatelet therapies. Conclusion This study provides a benchmark for the global frequency and characteristics of young embolic stroke of undetermined source patients and shows consistent high frequency of embolic stroke of undetermined source in young adults.
Stochastic Gradient Descent For Modern Machine Learning: Theory, Algorithms And Applications

Stochastic Gradient Descent For Modern Machine Learning: Theory, Algorithms And Applications Rahul Kidambi Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Associate Professor Sham M. Kakade Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Department of Statistics Tremendous advances in large scale machine learning and deep learning have been powered by the seemingly simple and lightweight stochastic gradient method [99]. Variants [103, 94] of the stochastic gradient method (based on iterate averaging) are known to be asymptotically optimal (in terms of predictive performance). This thesis examines non-asymptotic issues surrounding the use of stochastic gradient descent (SGD) in practice with an aim to achieve its asymptotically optimal statistical properties. Focusing on the stochastic approximation problem of least squares regression, this thesis considers: 1. Understanding the benefits of tail-averaged SGD, and understanding how SGD’s nonasymptotic behavior is influenced when faced with mis-specified problem instances. 2. Understand the parallelization properties of SGD, with a specific focus on mini-batching, model averaging and batch size doubling. Can this characterization shed light on algorithmic regimes (for e.g. largest instance dependent batchsizes) that admit linear parallelization speedups over vanilla SGD (with a batch size 1), thus presenting useful prescriptions that make best use of our hardware resources whilst not being wasteful of computation? As a byproduct of these results, can we understand how the learning rate behaves as a function of the batch size? 3. Similar to how momentum/acceleration schemes such as heavy ball momentum [92], or Nesterov’s acceleration [85] improve over standard batch gradient descent, can we formalize improvements achieved by accelerated methods when working with sampled stochastic gradients? Is there an algorithm that achieves this improvement over SGD? How does deterministic accelerated schemes such as heavy ball momentum, or say, Nesterov’s acceleration work when used with sampled stochastic gradients? 4. This thesis considers the behavior of the final iterate of SGD (as opposed to a majority of efforts in the stochastic approximation literature which focus on iterate averaging) with varying stepsize schemes, including the standard polynomially decaying stepsizes [99, 103, 94] and the practically preferred step decay scheme, with an aim to achieve minimax rates. The overarching goal of this section is to understand the behavior of SGD’s final iterate owing to its widespread use in practical implementations for machine learning applications. Alongside the theory results that focus on the least squares regression, this thesis examines the general applicability of various results (in a qualitative sense) towards the problem of training multi-layer deep neural networks on benchmark datasets, and presents several useful implications when training deep learning models of practical interest.
Does a country’s business regulatory environment affect its attractiveness to FDI? Empirical evidence from Central and Southeast European countries

The paper squarely concentrates on an examination of the relationship between a country’s business regulatory environment and the inward stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) in fifteen selected countries of Central Eastern and Southeast Europe by using a Mean Group (MG) estimator. The paper found no evidence that a country’s business regulatory environment is a statistically significant predictor of FDI neither in Central Eastern European nor in Southeast European countries. However, the study’s findings recommend that a further increase in FDI in both regions can be achieved by further economic growth, political stability, European Union integration and reduction costs of business regulations.
In the details: the micro-ethics of negotiations and in-situ judgements in participatory design with marginalised children

ABSTRACT Engaging marginalised children, such as disabled children, in Participatory Design (PD) entails particular challenges. The processes can effect social changes by decidedly attending to their lived experience as expertise. However, involving marginalised children in research also requires maintaining a delicate balance between ensuring their right to participation as well as their protection from harm. The resulting tensions are politically charged, affected by myriads of power differences and create moral dilemmas. We present seven case studies, drawing from two participatory design research projects. They illustrate the in-situ judgements taken to address specific dilemmas and provide nuanced insights into the trade-offs required by child-led participatory design processes. Subsequently, we identify three challenges: positioning our work to the children’s carers’ values, protecting ourselves, and enabling the (relative) risk-taking associated with participation for children. We call for this micro-ethical approach to be used when reporting research ethics in practice, and as a guidance for the training of researchers and practitioners.
Parent Encouragement and Young Adult Voting Behavior: A Potential Outcomes Approach

Although previous research consistently finds a strong relationship between parent and child voting, the role of parent encouragement, or verbal instruction, remains less clear. In addition, few studies in this area have attempted to determine the causal mechanisms which drive this association. This study models a potential outcomes approach to causality and investigates the causal relationship between parent encouragement to vote and young adult turnout and informed voting behaviors. Results indicate that, after conditioning on factors that determine selection into treatment, parent encouragement leads to an increase of 30% in likelihood of voting and increases scores on a 6-point informed voting index by 1.04. This demonstrates the large role that parents play in determining youth engagement, while beginning to develop a more complete causal framework for how and why young people come to be active participants in public life.
Treatments for induction of cold hardiness in Picea abies (L.) Karst. and Pinus sylvestris L. seedlings pre-cultivated under light-emitting diodes – impact of photoperiod and temperature including energy consumption and seedling quality after cold storage

ABSTRACT In Nordic climates, the weather allows a narrow time window during spring and summer for forest seedlings to be transplanted from indoor growth to outdoor conditions. If a new method for year-round cultivation under LED lamps is to be successfully introduced in forest nurseries, a cold storage phase for batches produced outside of the vegetation period needs to be included in the concept. Different short-day treatments for induction of cold hardiness in very young seedlings of Picea abies and Pinus sylvestris cultivated solely under LED lamps were investigated. The study compared a combination of two photoperiods (5 h or 8 h) at three different temperatures (5°C, 10°C or 20°C) applied during five weeks. Chlorophyll fluorescence, shoot electrolyte leakage and molecular testing for gene expression of cold acclimation were used to assess the treatments. After a period of three months in cold storage at 2°C, the vitality of the seedlings was evaluated using a root growth capacity test. Lower temperatures during the treatments, especially for Pinus sylvestris, had a significant effect on inducing cold hardiness. The results showed that the photoperiod should not be overly reduced to allow photosynthesis and generation of carbohydrate reserves but it could be optimized to reduce electricity consumption.
Outcomes of Older Children with Kawasaki Disease Who Received Intravenous Immunoglobulin Therapy with Delayed Use of Anti-inflammatory Drugs

Background: The prevalence of coronary artery lesions (CAL) is higher in older children compared with younger children. Anti-inflammatory drugs including aspirin appeared to have a negative impact on the suppressive effects of initial intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy for CAL development during the acute phase of Kawasaki disease and an initial single IVIG therapy with the delayed use of anti-inflammatory drugs (DUA) might be effective for CAL suppression. The outcomes regarding CAL and non-cardiac complications after single IVIG therapy with DUA remain unclear. non-cardiac complications including transient blindness, intractable arthritis, and prolonged restriction of cervical movement caused by atlantoaxial rotatory fixation. All three children were IVIG therapy-resistant and had statistically higher C-reactive protein values (median: 9.64 interquartile range: 7.82-18.29 vs. 1.905: 0.76-4.77 mg/dL, P = 0.007), neutrophil counts (9545: 9312-9660 vs. 2766.5: 1936-3812 /mm3, P = 0.006), and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratios (10.38: 4.85-11.29 vs. 1.44: 0.92-2.69, P = 0.006) after IVIG therapy compared to those without complications. Conclusion: Initial IVIG therapy-resistant three patients with high values of inflammatory biomarkers after initial therapy with DUA were associated with non-cardiac complications.
FACTORS INFLUENCING THE INTENTION TO STOCK INVESTMENT AMONG MUSLIM INVESTORS IN LANGSA

This study aims to examine the effect of knowledge, income and risk perceptions on the intention in stock investment intention among Muslim investors in the city of Langsa, Aceh, as of 2017. The data used in this study are primary, data derived from questionnaires, interviews, and observations. This study utilized a sample of 100 people, using a random sampling technique. The results of the study show that knowledge, income, and risk perceptions simultaneously influence the stock investment intention in Langsa society. Whereas in partial income and risk perceptions also affect the intention to stock investment, knowledge does not show the same effect. Respondents, who have the knowledge, are still not intentioned in stocks investing. This could be caused by low income from the community which makes the society of Langsa afraid to start investing in stocks. The low level of understanding of respondents about risk has special implications, which can reduce the intention of respondents to invest stocks in the capital market. ============================================================================================== Faktor-faktor yang Mempengaruhi Intensi terhadap Investasi Saham di Kalangan Investor Muslim di Langsa. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguji pengaruh pengetahuan, pendapatan dan persepsi risiko terhadap minat investasi saham pada masyarakat Muslim di Kota Langsa, Aceh, pada tahun 2017. Data yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah primer yaitu data berasal dari kuesioner, wawancara dan observasi. Sebanyak 100 sampel dipilih dengan menggunakan teknik random sampling. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pengetahuan investasi, pendapatan, dan persepsi risiko secara simultan mempengaruhi minat investasi saham di pasar modal. Secara parsial, hnaya pengetahuan investasi yang tidak mempengaruhi minat investasi terhadap saham, sedangkan persepsi pendapatan dan risiko mempunyai pengaruh yang signifikan. Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa walaupun memiliki pengetahuan yang cukup, responden tetap kurang meminati investasi dalam saham. Salah satu alasan adalah adanya kekhawatiran akan hasil yang tidak akan mencukupi kebutuhan sehari-hari sedangkan pendapatan mereka sendiri masih tergolong rendah. Selain itu, rendahnya pemahaman responden tentang risiko berimplikasi terhadap menurunnya minat responden untuk berinvestasi saham di pasar modal.