Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Human Capital and Productivity Benefits of Early Childhood Nutritional Interventions

By 2012, child mortality had fallen to almost half its level in 1990.1 The next major challenge is to improve early-life conditions to harness developmental potential. An estimated 200 million children under age five years in lowand middle-income countries (LMICs) are unlikely to reach their developmental potential because of inadequate health, nutritional, and other investments in early life (Grantham-McGregor and others 2007). 2 This inability to achieve full potential implies substantial losses of welfare and future economic productivity for these children and for their societies (Akresh and others 2012; Behrman, Alderman, and Hoddinott 2004; Bhalotra and Venkataramani 2011; Bhutta and others 2008; Currie and Vogl 2013; Hoddinott and others 2008; Horton, Alderman, and Rivera 2009) and increases the risk of adult morbidities and lower life expectancy (Bhalotra, Karlsson, and Nilsson 2015; Hjort, Solvesten, and Wust 2014). This chapter supplements previous work focusing on estimates of economic benefits from early-life nutritional interventions in LMICs.3 Figure 27.1 shows the pathways through which early-life interventions can affect later-life economic outcomes. Prenatal and early childhood interventions affect outcomes at every stage of the lifecycle. These impacts accumulate, making it important to study long-term dynamic effects of interventions. Familial and public investments enter during all lifecycle stages, often induced by the initial intervention. Later investments may in principle complement or substitute for those early in the lifecycle, but some evidence suggests they may be reinforcing (Almond and Mazumder 2013; Bhalotra and Venkataramani 2011, 2013), consistent with recent models that describe human capital production as involving dynamic complementarities across types of investment (for example, health and schooling) and across ages, such that investments early in life increase rates of return to investments later in life (Cunha and Heckman 2007; see also Alderman and others 2017, chapter 7 in this volume). In the first section, we provide a selected review of evidence of long-term human capital and economic benefits from early-life interventions and then some illustrative calculations of benefit-cost ratios for these interventions. We focus on interventions affecting maternal and early childhood health, including micronutrient supplementation and breastfeeding, and maternal survival. We then present evidence of effects of early interventions on low birth weight (LBW), stunting, and cognitive development in the second section. The third section discusses issues in the estimation of benefit-cost ratios of early-life interventions and presents simulations, illustrating sensitivity of estimates to alternative parameters. The fourth section
Do Long-Tenured Boards Provide Stability?

This paper investigates whether average director tenure affects a firm's performance variability. We find that a one standard deviation increase in the average director tenure is associated with a 7.15% proportional decrease in annualized return volatility. A likely explanation is that long-tenured boards prefer the quiet life and make persistent and predictable policies. Consistent with this hypothesis, we find that firms with long-tenured boards have smoother investment patterns and more stable cash flows. Our work contributes to the growing literature that corporate governance can affect firm risk.
Preferência pelo tipo de parto, fatores associados à expectativa e satisfação com o parto

This study aimed to analyze women's preference and satisfaction regarding the type of delivery and the association with the sociodemographic and obstetric characteristics. This is a cross-sectional study, carried out in three stages, with a sample of 190 puerperal women. The results showed that 68.9% wished natural childbirth and 31.1% wanted Cesarean section. The preference for natural childbirth was associated with first pregnancy (p=0.042) and previous natural childbirth experience (p<0.001); among women who had Cesarean section previously, the preference prevailed for Cesarean section (p<0.001). There were no statistical differences associated with other variables, as well as the puerperae’s satisfaction. Binary logistic regression indicated association between previous experience and expectation by type of childbirth. The experience with previous childbirth influenced the preference for the type of childbirth; however, there were no differences in the puerperae’s satisfaction, regardless of whether the outcome corresponded to the expectation.
Faculty Opinions recommendation of Foreseeing the future of mutualistic communities beyond collapse.

lons.com/publon/10.1111/ele.13401. Abstract Changing conditions may lead to sudden shifts in the state of ecosystems when critical thresholds are passed. Some well-studied drivers of such transitions lead to predictable outcomes such as a turbid lake or a degraded landscape. Many ecosystems are, however, complex systems of many interacting species. While detecting upcoming transitions in such systems is challenging, predicting what comes after a critical transition is terra incognita altogether. The problem is that complex ecosystems may shift to many different, alternative states. Whether an impending transition has minor, positive or catastrophic effects is thus unclear. Some systems may, however, behave more predictably than others. The dynamics of mutualistic communities can be expected to be relatively simple, because delayed negative feedbacks leading to oscillatory or other complex dynamics are weak. Here, we address the question of whether this relative simplicity allows us to foresee a community’s future state. As a case study, we use a model of a bipartite mutualistic network and show that a network’s post-transition state is indicated by the way in which a system recovers from minor disturbances. Similar results obtained with a unipartite model of facilitation suggest that our results are of relevance to a wide range of mutualistic systems.
Psychometric evaluation of the French version of the children’s chronotype questionnaire: sleep habits and academic performance of native and immigrant children in Luxembourg

ABSTRACT This paper examined the psychometric properties of the French version of the Children’s Chronotype Questionnaire (CCTQ) attending two elementary schools in Luxembourg (n = 172; ages 4–11 years, M = 8.0, SD = 2.1) of either Portuguese (n = 11), Luxembourgian (n = 147), or other (n = 15) ethnicity. Parents completed the CCTQ, from which we used two chronotype scales (i.e. midsleep point on free days; MSF, multi-item morningness/eveningness; M/E). Results indicated satisfactory internal consistency for M/E scale (α = .70), with high intercorrelation scores (r = .91 between items; r = .87 between scales). As hypothesized, the chronotype of morning and evening type children were different (p= .017, η2 = .06), with the former having an earlier MSF (M = 5:29 h) compared with the latter (M = 5:48 h). The evening group showing the poorest outcomes for the qualitative grades (2014/2015: F(7.308) = 2.34, p = . 002; 2015/2016: F(7.996) = 2.46, p = . 001). No significant differences in MSFc were found between natives and immigrants. The results indicate that the French version of the CCTQ has adequate reliability and validity for research studies. Evaluating chronotype and sleep behaviors in preschool and school-age children is important, as both may have a negative impact on academic performance.
Phase 1b/2 trial of ribociclib+binimetinib in metastatic NRAS-mutant melanoma: Safety, efficacy, and recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D).

9519Background: Simultaneous inhibition of MEK and CDK4/6 may suppress MAPK pathway activation and cell-cycle checkpoint dysregulation in NRAS-mutant melanoma, resulting in enhanced antitumor activity. Phase 1b data are reported. Methods: The phase 1b primary objective was to determine maximum tolerated dose (MTD)/RP2D. A 28-d cycle of oral ribociclib (RIBO) once daily (QD) for 21 d + oral binimetinib (BINI) twice daily (BID) for 28 d, and a 21-d cycle of RIBO QD + BINI BID, both for 14 d per cycle, were evaluated. Secondary objectives were to evaluate efficacy, safety and pharmacodynamics. Results: Based on dose escalation (van Herpen, ESMO 2015), MTD was 600mg RIBO/45mg BINI for the 21-d and 200/45 for the 28-d regimens. Due to promising activity, the 28-d cycle was selected as RP2D(unconfirmed partial response [PR] with limited follow-up occurred in 35% of pts). This finding was supported by comparable and manageable safety and the Bayesian logistic regression model.As of Jan 2017, the RP2D was receive.
Fluorinated Carbonates as New Diluents for Extraction and Separation of f-Block Elements

ABSTRACT The fluorinated carbonate BK-1 solvent was studied as a diluent in extraction systems with different extracting agents – CMPO, THDGA, CyMe4-BTBP, and CyMe4-BTPhen, which are the most promising molecules for separation of minor actinides and lanthanides. Dependence of the extraction properties of the system on the concentrations of HNO3 or extracting compound, kinetics of trivalent metal extraction and extraction of the ions by neat diluent (without the addition of extracting agent) were investigated. Based on the obtained results, BK-1 is a promising candidate diluent for f-block metal separation.
Teacher Coaching in a Simulated Environment

This article evaluates whether providing coaching between practice sessions in teacher education courses leads to more rapid development of skills and changes in teachers’ beliefs about student behavior, using mixed-reality simulations as a practice space and standardized assessment platform. We randomly assigned 105 prospective teachers to different coaching conditions between simulation sessions integrated into a teacher preparation program. Coached candidates had significant and large improvements on skills relative to those who only reflected on their teaching. We also observe significant coaching effects on candidates’ perceptions of student behavior and ideas about next steps for addressing perceived behavioral issues. Findings suggest that skills with which novices struggle can improve with coaching and do not have to be learned “on the job. ”
Effects of Topography and Realistic Drag on the Southern Hemisphere Midlatitude Jet in a Dry Model

Climate models have substantial biases in the climatological latitude of the Southern Hemisphere eddy‐driven jet and the time scale of annular mode variability and disagree on the jet response to climate change. Zonally symmetric dry dynamical cores are often used for idealized modeling of the jet response to forcing and its sensitivity to model setup changes. The limits to which these models represent the key mechanisms that control the jet in complex models or the real world have not been systematically investigated. Here we show that substantial intermodel differences in jet latitude and strength can arise from differences in dynamical cores and resolved topography. Including topography and a more realistic surface drag in a dry model substantially alters the jet response to changes in drag strength. Using real‐world maps, enhanced drag over land shifts the jet poleward, whereas enhanced drag over the ocean leads to an equatorward shift. No universal relationship between annular mode time scale and forced response emerges in the dry model with topography. These results suggest that zonally symmetric models with Rayleigh drag lack important mechanisms that control the behavior of the midlatitude jet in coupled climate models. A dry model with topography and quadratic surface drag can fill this gap in the model hierarchy.
Exact solutions of boundary integral equation arising in vortex methods for incompressible flow simulation around elliptical and Zhukovsky airfoils

The problem of 2D incompressible flow simulation around airfoils using vortex methods is considered. An exact solution for the boundary integral equation with respect to a free vortex sheet intensity at the airfoil surface line that arises in such problems is obtained. The exact solution is constructed for flows around elliptical and Zhukovsky airfoils using the theory of complex potentials and conformal mappings technique. It is possible to take into account the influence of singularities in the flow domain — point vortices which simulate vortex wake. The obtained exact solutions can be used to verify and estimate the accuracy of numerical schemes for the boundary integral equation solution: such procedure is also described in details.
The Five Cs of Positive Youth Development in an Aotearoa/New Zealand Program Context

This study took a qualitative look at an Aotearoa/New Zealand-based positive youth development outdoor-education program in schools using the 5 Cs model of positive youth development. The viewpoints of young people, parents, and teachers were gathered, providing an opportunity to explore additional perspectives of the 5 Cs. All 5 Cs were seen to be present in the program and the 6 th C of contribution was also observed. The Cs of competence, confidence and connection featured strongly, whilst the C of connection appeared to be important to young people’s experience of the program. Young people and adults prioritized different outcomes, with adults focusing more on future impacts and young people identifying more immediate benefits. The findings of this study add to an understanding of the 5 Cs model beyond the American context and highlight areas for future research.
Evaluation of eight nonlinear crystals for phase-matched Terahertz second-order difference-frequency generation at room temperature

Using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy, we report the principal values of absorption coefficients and refractive indices as a function of wavelength between 0.5 and 2.0 THz of eight attractive nonlinear crystals: YCOB, BNA, LBO, CSP, AGS, CdSe, ZnO and GaP. From these data, we calculated the coherence length and phase-matching conditions associated to the emission of a THz wave from a second-order difference-frequency generation.
Repositório ISCTE-IUL

The electric mobility dissemination is forcing the adoption of new technologies and operation paradigms, not only focusing on smart grids, but also on smart homes. In fact, the emerging technologies for smart homes are also altering the conventional grids toward smart grids. By combining the key pillars of electric mobility and smart homes, this paper characterizes the paradigms of the electric vehicle (EV) in smart homes, presenting a review about the state-of-the-art and establishing a relation with future perspectives. Since the smart home must be prepared to deal with the necessities of the EV, the analysis of both on-board and off-board battery charging systems are considered in the paper. Moreover, the inclusion of renewable energy sources, energy storage systems, and dc electrical appliances in smart homes towards sustainability is also considered in this paper, but framed in the perspective of an EV off-board battery charging system. As a pertinent contribution, this paper offers future perspectives for the EV in smart homes, including the possibility of ac, dc, and hybrid smart homes. Covering all of these aspects, exemplificative and key results are presented based on numerical simulations and experimental results obtained with a proof-of-concept prototype.
A novel desirability function for multi-response optimization and its application in chemical engineering

In many aspects of modern engineering (processes, products, and systems)InIn many aspects of modern engineering (processes, products, and systems) there is a need to optimize multiple responses simultaneously, rather than optimizing one response at a time. The optimization of each individual response may generate as many different results as the responses, which is considered in the study. Then, it may be impossible to decide whether one solution is better than the other. On the other hand, some improvement in one response can significantly degrade at least one or more responses. There are a number of multi-response optimization techniques available. Among these multi-response optimization techniques, the desirability-based approaches take a prominent place because they are less sophisticated, easy to understand and implement, and more flexible with respect to other existing approaches, due to which they are very popular among researchers and practitioners. There are many different formulations of the desirability function. Unfortunately, most desirability functions known in the literature are piecewise, non-differentiable functions. In this paper, a novel desirability function is proposed, which is continuous and differentiable in its domain. This function is more suitable for applying some of the efficient gradient-based optimization methods. The efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method were analyzed on two chemical processes that were studied extensively in the literature.
Vibration-based structural monitoring of bi-clamped metal-composite bonded joint: Experimental and numerical analyses

ABSTRACT The present study verifies the applicability of vibration-based Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) to identify debonding in bi-clamped metal-composite bonded joints, which can be applied in aeronautical structures. The method compares the Frequency Response Functions (FRFs) of the case studies with and without debonding damage. This analysis is done mainly through metrics of damage detection based on a comparison between the magnitude and phase angles of FRFs. The same metrics were also used after the application of a data filtering process. The specimens were manufactured from carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers and titanium and were joined by epoxy resin. Half of the specimens have a piezoelectric transducer (PZT) attached to the titanium adherent. The debonding damage was simulated for the damaged specimens by having 50% of the overlap area covered by a layer of Teflon. Three case studies have been reported: first, it verifies the influence of the PZT on FRFs; second, it evaluates the influence of the debonding damage by using accelerometers, and third, it performs the damage detection analysis by using the electrical responses of the PZT. Numerical and experimental analyses are compared, evaluating limitations and potentialities of the computational models. The results support the applicability of the metrics for damage quantification.
Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of HIV/AIDS among High School Students in Eastern Cape, South Africa

Abstract Millions of people are living with HIV worldwide, and more than half of these people are adolescent, aged between 12-25 years. Insufficient knowledge, bad attitudes and unsafe practices are major impediments in preventing the transmission of the virus. 420 students from grades 9-12 were selected through random sampling from different schools in Eastern Cape. The majority of students assessed (95.5%) were knowledgeable about the spread of the virus but 35.2 percent to 66.2 percent of them had misconceptions on its transmission. 63.1 percent perceived positive attitudes towards PLWH, 73.9 percent would continue to study in a class/school with them and 45.2 percent would allow a HIV positive teacher to continue teaching them. Logistic regression analysis result revealed that level of knowledge was statistically significant with attitudes (OR = 8.7, 95% CI = 4.3-16.4, p < 0.002). In spite of sufficient HIV/AIDS knowledge among respondents, misconceptions on routes of HIV/AIDS transmission were reported. Negative and undesirable attitudes to PLWH and unsafe practices were also found.
Seasonal and regional variations of five heavy metals in water, sediments and fishes inhabiting Lake Qarun, Egypt

The study was conducted during the period from October 2015 to September 2016 to investigate the accumulation of five heavy metals in three fish species (Tilapia zillii, Solea solea and Mugil cephalus) inhabiting lake Qarun, Egypt. Water, sediments and fish samples were collected from six sites cover eastern, middle and western sectors of the lake during the four studied seasons. The results indicated that, summer time showed the highest pH, salinity, biological oxygen demand and nitrates concentration, while autumn and spring times showed the highest nitrites concentration depending on the site. The abundance of metals in lake water, sediments and fish followed the order: Fe > Zn ≈ Mn > Cu > Cd. In all fish species Fe and Zn exceeded the permissible limits. Regardless fish species, the highest concentrations of metals were recorded in fish liver, while the lowest in fish muscles. Mugilspecies seemed to be more contaminated with metals thanthe other species. It is recommended to coordinate different efforts to rescue Lake Qarun from heavy metal pollution.
Youth mobility and the development of human capital: is there a Southern European model?

ABSTRACT Recent Southern European migration is characterised by important flows of higher-skilled young persons. The balance between the risk of a new brain drain and brain waste and the opportunity of brain gain depends on how the young migrants integrate into the labour market of destination, the new abilities they acquire and the possibilities of re-integrating into the labour market of origin, in case of return migration. In this paper we discuss the contribution of international youth mobility to the development of human capital. We focus on the individual gain in origin countries/regions generated by circulation and return and concentrate on total human capital. Our results – based on 120 in-depth interviews conducted in Italy and Spain, in both core (Rome and Madrid) and peripheral (Apennines and Andalusia) areas, with young students and lower- and higher-skilled workers – show that both Italians and Spaniards have acquired soft skills and these informal and tacit competences are considered to be as important as formal and explicit ones. For young Italians, brain circulation predominates and the human capital gained during migration results in better employability and earnings; for young Spaniards, circulation and return are more difficult in spite of their enriched human capital.