Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Magnesium sulfate versus tramadol as adjuvants to local anesthetics in sciatic nerve block for lower extremities surgeries

Background The aim of this study was to compare the effect of addition of tramadol and magnesium sulfate as adjuvants to local anesthetics lidocaine 2% and bupivacaine 0.5% in sciatic nerve block classic posterior approach. Patients and methods A total of 90 ASA I or II patients, aged 17–50 years, scheduled for lower extremities surgeries under sciatic nerve block classic posterior approach were randomized into three equal groups. All groups received 20 ml of local anesthetics, which consisted of 10 ml bupivacaine 0.5% and 8 ml lidocaine 2% mixed with 2 ml saline in the control (C) group, 2 ml of 150 mg magnesium sulfate made in saline in the magnesium (M) group, and 2 ml of 100 mg tramadol in the tramadol (T) group. The onset and duration of both sensory and motor blocks, the intraoperative pain assessment by visual analogue scale, intraoperative analgesic requirements, postoperative pain by visual analogue scale, time to first analgesic request after surgery, postoperative diclofinac consumption, and adverse effects were assessed. Results The onsets of sensory and motor blocks were rapid in the M group, then C group, and lastly, T group. Much more time was needed for group T until sensory and motor blocks faded away followed by group M and then group C. There was a significant delay in the time of first analgesic request in groups M and T when compared with group C. There was a significant decrease in the total dose of diclofinac consumption in groups T and M in comparison with group C, where the patients consumed more analgesia. Conclusion Magnesium sulfate and tramadol as adjuncts to local anesthetics increase the duration of sensory and motor sciatic nerve block. The time for first rescue analgesia was longer in groups M and T, and they both showed decreased postoperative analgesic consumption.
Evidence on Job Search Models from a Survey of Unemployed Workers in Germany

The job finding rate of Unemployment Insurance (UI) recipients declines in the initial months of unemployment and then exhibits a spike at the benefit exhaustion point. A range of theoretical explanations have been proposed, but those are hard to disentangle using data on job finding alone. To better understand the underlying mechanisms, we conducted a large text-message-based survey of unemployed workers in Germany. We surveyed 6,800 UI recipients twice a week for 4 months about their job search effort. The panel structure allows us to observe how search effort evolves within individual over the unemployment spell. We provide three key facts: 1) search effort is flat early on in the UI spell, 2) search effort exhibits an increase up to UI exhaustion and a decrease thereafter, 3) UI recipients do not appear to time job start dates to coincide with the UI exhaustion point. A model of reference-dependent job search can explain these facts well, while a standard search model with unobserved heterogeneity struggles to explain the second fact. The third fact also leaves little room for a model of storable offers to explain the spike.
Broadcasting Education: The Long-Term Effects of Mexico’s Telesecundarias∗

Every year over 1 million children in rural or marginalized areas of Mexico attend telesecundarias, middle schools with classes transmitted through satellite television. Telesecundarias substitute on-site subject-specialized teachers with televised content, substantially reducing the costs of education delivery in remote places. This paper estimates the educational and labor market outcomes of adolescents living in areas with limited access to middle schools who were exposed to a telesecundaria expansion policy in 1993. I obtain causal estimates by exploiting geographical differences in the intensity of school openings and differences in cohort exposure induced by the timing of the policy. The estimates suggest that an additional telesecundaria per 1,000 adolescents led to an average increase of 0.2 years of education for both men and women, and a decline in fertility for women. However, I do not find conclusive evidence that this increase in access to schooling improved the long-term labor market outcomes of affected cohorts. ∗Thanks to Mitra Akhtari, Sarika Gupta, Rema Hanna, Larry Katz, Michael Kremer, Sara Lowes, Eduardo Montero, Rohini Pande, Tom Vogl and participants of the Harvard Development Lunch for helpful comments. †LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin. Email: rfabregas@utexas.edu
Phenotypic Diversity of South African Indigenous Goat Population in Selected Rural Areas

Phenotypic characterisation of indigenous goat populations is crucial in providing information on goat types and their attributes and may play an important role as guideline for conservation and sustainable us of these resources. The objective of this study was to characterise indigenous goat populations in rural areas of South Africa. Appearance of indigenous goat phenotypes and their typical features were observed from 297 individual goats. FREQ procedure of Statistical Analysis System was used to determine the descriptive statistics of the qualitative phenotypic variables. To detect the statistical differences for quantitative traits, the General Linear Model procedure of SAS was computed, whereas Fisher’s Least Significant Difference test was used to separate the least square means (P<0.05). Horns and toggles were the most dominant phenotypes found in the different regions, while the beard had low proportions across regions. Black coat colour was the dominant colour (9.68-69.57%) of most of the populations in Mopani, Vhembe, Tshwane, Westrand, Bojanala, Motheo and Thabo Mofutsanyane regions. There was a significant (P<0.05) difference in all phenotypic measurements, with higher (P<0.05) values for body length (48.23 cm), body weight (26.86 kg) and wither height (64.61 cm) observed in indigenous goats of Dr. Ruth Segomotsi Mompati (DRSM) region. Goats in Tshwane, Westrand and DRSM had significantly similar body length whilst also those in Motheo, Thabo and Vhembe had significantly similar body length. The indigenous goats of Thabo Mofutsanyana region had the highest (P<0.05) value for rump length (17.52 cm), however have the shortest tail length (7.17 cm) compared to those at other regions. Results from the study shows considerable phenotypic heterogeneity in qualitative traits of indigenous goat population and their distributions in different regions.
Poverty, the worst form of violence: perceived income adequacy among Croatian citizens

Abstract The article analyses to what extent individual’s socio-demographic and economic characteristics relate to citizens’ perceived difficulty of living on present income. The analysis is carried out by using ordered logit and partial proportional odds (P.P.O.) model on European Social Survey (E.S.S.) data. Results confirm that individual’s income can be used as an indicator of financial capacity both in general and for retirees as a focus group. Respondents in financial difficulty had to draw in a higher extent on their savings or incur debt to cover living expenses. Respondents with less than a secondary education, in poor health and those dissatisfied with the current state of the economy, were more likely to perceive their income as inadequate. Findings confirm that older respondents are generally more satisfied with their income compared to middle-aged and younger adults. Respondents living with a child/children were more likely to report financial difficulty. On the other hand, result suggest that gender, region and living area had no significant effect on income adequacy perception. We see similar results when focusing on retired respondents. Individual determinants are significant predictors of citizens’ perceived financial difficulty and should be taken into account when devising economic policy measures and legal framework for personal insolvency procedures.
Epidemioclinical and Mycological Patterns of Pityriasis versicolor in the Urban Area

Background/Aims: Pityriasis versicolor (PV) is a cutaneous pigmentation caused by Malassezia sp. yeasts. The objective of this study is to describe the clinical, epidemiological and mycological patterns of PV in children’s hospital in Rabat. Materials and methods: 1087 subjects confirmed to have pityriasis versicolor. Skin scrapings were processed by direct microscopy and isolates were identified by phenotypic characteristics. The total duration of study period was 4 years. Results: In the present study, of the 2707 suspected patients with PV, 1087 (40.15%) were positive. The most affected age group was between 16 and 30 years with female preponderance. There was no significant seasonal variation of the patients with PV. Direct microscopy showed typical yeasts cells and hyphae for PV. Conclusions: the results showed a higher prevalence of PV among patients at puberty and it was more common in females.
The Effects of Naloxone Access Laws on Opioid Abuse, Mortality, and Crime

The United States is experiencing an epidemic of opioid abuse. In response, states have implemented policies including increased access to naloxone, a drug that can save lives when administered during an overdose. There is a concern that widespread naloxone access may unintentionally lead to increased or riskier opioid use by reducing the risk of death from overdose, however. In this paper, we use the staggered timing of state-level naloxone access laws as a natural experiment to measure the effects of broadening access to this lifesaving drug. We find that broadened access led to more opioid-related emergency room visits and more opioid-related theft, with no net measurable reduction in opioid-related mortality. We conclude that naloxone has a clear and important role in harm reduction, yet its ability to combat the opioid epidemic’s death toll may be limited without complementary efforts.
Micropropagation of Guadua angustifolia Kunth

1 Grupo de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Biotecnología, Facultad de Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Carrera 27 #10-02 Barrio Alamos, Pereira, Colombia. 2 Programa de Biología, Laboratorio de Biotecnología, Centro de Estudios e Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Biotecnología (CIBUQ), Universidad de Quindío, Carrera 15 Calle 12 Norte, Armenia, Colombia. 3 Grupo de Investigación en Gestión Ambiental Territorial, Facultad de Ciencias Ambientales, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Carrera 27 #10-02 Barrio Alamos, Pereira, Colombia.
Applied Choice Analysis

The second edition of this popular book brings students fully up to date with the latest methods and techniques in choice analysis. Comprehensive yet accessible, it offers a unique introduction to anyone interested in understanding how to model and forecast the range of choices made by individuals and groups. In addition to a complete rewrite of several chapters, new topics covered include ordered choice, scaled MNL, generalized mixed logit, latent class models, group decision making, heuristics and attribute processing strategies, expected utility theory, and prospect theoretic applications. Many additional case studies are used to illustrate the applications of choice analysis with extensive command syntax provided for all Nlogit applications and datasets available online. With its unique blend of theory, estimation, and application, this book has broad appeal to all those interested in choice modeling methods and will be a valuable resource for students as well as researchers, professionals, and consultants.
Validity of In-Training Evaluation Report (ITER) in Saudi Pediatric Residency Training. Single center experience

Objective: The study aimed to examine validity evidence of in-training evaluation report (ITER) at King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH)’s pediatric residency program. Predictive validity of ITERs, to assess learner acquisitions of required competencies were studied. We used ITER scores to identify trainees with unprofessional conduct. Methods: One-year data for 35 residents in pediatric residency training program at KAUH were reviewed. Data were extracted from 360 ITERs completed by faculty members and specialists. ITERs’ reliability was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha. ITERs scores were correlated with final Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) and written exams scores. Professionalism composite scores from ITERs were compared with scores of trainees reported for unprofessional attitude. Results: Specialists had high variability in scoring competencies with average standard deviations (SD) of 0.85 compared with 0.15 by faculty. Reliability of ITER scores using Cronbach’s alpha was 0.895. Good correlation was observed between competencies ranging between 0.86 to 0.29. There was fair correlation between ITER composite scores and those of final OSCE and written exams. There was no correlation between professionalism scores and residents reported for unprofessional conduct. Conclusion ITER scores had good validity and reliability despite variability observed between faculty and specialist when scoring competencies. ITERs failed to detect trainees with unprofessional conduct.
Task-Based Language Teaching: Acknowledgements

The field of task-based language teaching has developed considerably since the publication of Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom (Nunan, 1989), a book which helped to set the research agenda in teaching methodology for the following decade. While Designing Tasks underpins this new title, the material has been thoroughly updated and includes four completely new chapters. Task-Based Language Teaching offers a comprehensive and up-to-date appraisal of the field.
(MACHINE) LEARNING WHAT GOVERNMENTS VALUE DANIEL BJÖRKEGREN, JOSHUA BLUMENSTOCK, AND SAMSUN KNIGHT

Social transfer programs are one of the primary tools used to assist poor families in developing countries. These programs rely critically on targeting criteria that are used to determine eligibility. This paper develops a method to better understand and align the objectives of a program with the targeting criteria used to implement that program. Our method leverages recent advances in machine learning and causal inference that make it possible to predict the marginal eﬀects of a program on a recipient. We show how a given population allocation can be decomposed into three distinct dimensions: (i) diﬀerential marginal eﬀects, (ii) traditional welfare weights, which assign higher priority to speciﬁc subsets of the population; and (iii) multiple human development objectives, which a policymaker may wish to balance. Taken together, this decomposition makes it possible to infer the policy’s implied preferences over households and outcomes. We apply this approach to Mexico’s PROGRESA program, one of the world’s largest anti-poverty subsidies, to elucidate existing targeting priorities. We ﬁnd that existing allocations are consistent with the government valuing an additional day of school attendance at 108.07 pesos (of foregone household consumption), and valuing a reduction in illness at 101.98 pesos per day. Allocations imply welfare weights that place 28.3% more value on the median household if indigenous, 7.5% more value for each additional elder household member, and less value on educated and richer households. Alternate eligibility criteria could have marginally improved average health and schooling outcomes at a small cost to average consumption outcomes, or vice versa.
Phenolic and volatile compound composition influence to specialty coffee cup quality

With increasing specialty coffee consumption, more attention is focused not only on the cup quality (sensory quality) of the coffee beverage but also about the impact of coffee on health. The beneficial effects of coffee on human health are mainly based on a wide range of biologically active components, including phenolic compounds. The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of phenolic and volatile compound composition to specialty coffee cup quality. Seven specialty coffees from two Latvian roasteries were selected and analysed. Total phenolic and flavanoid content and radical scavenging activity by DPPH and ABTS assay were determined spectrophotometrically. Sensory evaluation (cup quality) was performed by trained panellist team using the SCAA protocols cupping specialty coffee. Volatile compounds were extracted by SPME and analysed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS). Coffee final cup quality score ranged in amplitude of 83–90.25 points. HON_2 with dry fruits and melon characteristics has shown the highest final cup quality score. Almost detected volatile compounds in KEN_1 is associated with positive specialty coffee characteristics. In ETH_1 coffee with the final cup quality score 88.25 was detected highest floral, fruity compounds and highest coffee– like roasted notes. The highest total phenolic content and DPPH, ABTS•+ ̇ value showed Roastery_1 coffee samples (HON_1; KEN_1; COL_1) and the lowest values Roastery_2 coffee samples (HON_2; ETH_1; HON_3; SAL_1). The results indicate that the roastery specific roasting process parameters could influence not only volatile compounds profile and cup quality but also the total and individual phenolic compound content.
Automated Discovery of Logical Fallacies in Legal Argumentation

This paper presents a model of an algorithmic framework and a system for the discovery of non sequitur fallacies in legal argumentation. The model functions on formalised legal text implemented in Prolog. Different parts of the formalised legal text for legal decision-making processes such as, claim of a plaintiff, the piece of law applied to the case, and the decision of judge, will be assessed by the algorithm, for detecting fallacies in an argument. We provide a mechanism designed to assess the coherence of every premise of a claim, their logic structure and legal consistency, with their corresponding piece of law at each stage of the argumentation. The modelled system checks for validity and soundness of a claim, as well as sufficiency and necessity of the premise of arguments. We assert that, dealing with the challenges of validity, soundness, sufficiency and necessity resolves fallacies in argumentation.
Hardware-Aware AutoML for Efficient Deep Learning Applications

Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have been traditionally designed by human experts in a painstaking and expensive process, dubbed by many researchers to be more of an art than science. However, the everincreasing demand for state-of-the-art performance and real-world deployment has resulted in larger models, making the manual DNN design a daunting task. AutoML presents a promising path towards alleviating this engineering burden by automatically identifying the DNN hyperparameters, such as the number of layers or the type of layer-wise operations. As modern DNNs grow larger, AutoML methods face two key challenges: first, the increased DNN model sizes result in increased computational complexity during inference, making it difficult to deploy AutoML-designed DNNs to resource-constrained devices. Second, due to the large DNN design space, each AutoML search remains considerably costly, with an overall cost of hundreds of GPU-hours. In this thesis, we propose AutoML methods that are both hardware aware and search-cost efficient. We introduce a Bayesian optimization (BO) methodology enhanced with hardware-cost predictive models, allowing the AutoML search to traverse the design space in a constraint “complying” manner, up to 3.5× faster compared to vanilla BO methods. Moreover, we formulate the design of adaptive DNNs as an AutoML task and we jointly solve for the DNN architectures and the adaptive execution scheme, reducing energy consumption by up to 6× compared to hand-tuned designs. Next, in a departure from existing one-shot Neural Architecture Search (NAS) assumptions on how the candidate DNN architectures are evaluated, we introduce a novel view of the one-shot NAS problem as finding the subsets of kernel weights across a single-path one-shot model. Our proposed formulation reduces the NAS search cost by up to 5,000× compared to existing NAS methods. Taking advantage of such efficiency, we investigate how various design space and formulation choices affect the AutoML results, achieving a new state-of-the-art NAS performance for image classification accuracy (75.62%) under runtime constraints on mobile devices.
Evaluation of XL370A-Derived Maize Germplasm for Resistance to Leaf Feeding by Fall Armyworm1

Abstract. The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is an economically important insect with larvae damaging maize (Zea mays L.) leaves and ear tissue. The pest has become resistant to several classes of insecticide and Bt-maize grown in some geographical areas. Once discovered and characterized, native sources of maize resistance to this pest could be effectively integrated with existing control tactics. The objective for this study was to test experimental lines derived from maize germplasm XL370A for resistance to leaf feeding by fall armyworm. Plants were grown in the field in 2018 and 2019, artificially infested with fall armyworm, and leaf damage scores recorded. Average 14-day scores for experimental maize lines GEMN-0095 (5.8), GEMN-0096 (5.7), and GEMN-0133 (5.6) were moderately resistant and 7- and 14-day scores for these entries were not significantly different across both years. Cuba 94 was not significantly different from the three entries with the exception of having greater 7-day damage scores in 2019. GEMN-0048 was not resistant but variability was observed in 14-day scores between 4 (resistant) and 8 (susceptible) in individual plants. The experimental lines are adapted for growth in temperate regions and might provide maize breeding programs with useful levels of resistance to fall armyworm.
LATE CRETACEOUS METHANE SEEPS AS HABITATS FOR NEWLY HATCHED AMMONITES

Abstract: Cold methane seeps were common in the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway of North America. They provided a habitat for a diverse array of fauna including ammonites. Recent research has demonstrated that ammonites lived at these sites. However, it is still unknown if they hatched at the seeps or only arrived there later in ontogeny. To answer this question, we documented the abundance and size distribution of small specimens of Baculites and Hoploscaphites at eight seep sites in the Pierre Shale of South Dakota. The specimens of Hoploscaphites range from 0.8 to 8.1 mm in shell diameter, with most of them falling between 1 and 1.5 mm. The specimens of Baculites range from 0.7 to 19.2 mm in length, with most specimens falling between 6 and 8 mm. The small size and morphology of these specimens indicate that they are neanoconchs, that is, newly hatched individuals that lived for a short time after hatching. We also analyzed the isotope composition (δ13C and δ18O) of 12 small specimens of Baculites and one specimen of Hoploscaphites with excellent shell preservation from one seep deposit. The values of δ13C and δ18O range from -16.3 to -2.5‰ and -3.0 to -0.9‰, respectively. The values of δ 18O translate into temperatures of 19–28°C, which are comparable to previous estimates of the temperatures of the Western Interior Seaway. The low values of δ13C suggest that the tiny animals incorporated carbon derived from anaerobic oxidation of 12C-enriched methane into their shells. Evidently, they must have lived in close proximity to seep fluids emerging at the sediment-water interface and the associated microbial food web. However, this may have contributed to their demise if they were exposed to elevated concentrations of H2S derived from the anaerobic oxidation of methane.