Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Non-invasive sensor based automated smoking activity detection

Although smoking prevalence is declining in many countries, smoking related health problems still leads the preventable causes of death in the world. Several smoking intervention mechanisms have been introduced to help smoking cessation. However, these methods are inefficient since they lack in providing real time personalized intervention messages to the smoking addicted users. To address this challenge, the first step is to build an automated smoking behavior detection system. In this study, we propose an accelerometer sensor based non-invasive and automated framework for smoking behavior detection. We built a prototype device to collect data from several participants performing smoking and other five confounding activities. We used three different classifiers to compare activity detection performance using the extracted features from accelerometer data. Our evaluation demonstrates that the proposed approach is able to classify smoking activity among the confounding activities with high accuracy. The proposed system shows the potential for developing a real time automated smoking activity detection and intervention framework.
Which comes first? Unpacking the relationship between peace agreements and peacekeeping missions

Why do combatants engaged in civil conflict sign peace agreements when they do? Does a commitment by the United Nations (UN) to send a peacekeeping mission increase the probability that combatants will sign an agreement? With regards to the relationship between peace agreements and UN peacekeeping missions, previous studies of civil war have taken one of two positions: (a) a peace agreement between combatants causes an increase in the probability that the UN will send a peacekeeping mission to the conflict; or (b) the UN’s decision to send a peacekeeping mission to a conflict causes an increase in the probability that combatants will sign a peace agreement. I contend that the UN’s decision to send peacekeepers to a conflict and the combatant’s decision to sign a peace agreement occur simultaneously. To overcome the simultaneity, I exploit exogenous variation in the UN’s willingness to send peacekeepers to conflicts in the mid-1990s, based on the experience of the UNOSOM II mission in Somalia, to identity the causal effects that UN peacekeeping has on the likelihood of combatants signing peace agreements. Not accounting for endogeneity, the data suggest that the UN’s willingness to send peacekeepers increases the probability of a peace agreement. A recursive bivariate probit model using Black Hawk Down as an instrumental variable, however, indicates that the UN’s willingness to send peacekeepers to a conflict does not increase the probability that combatants will sign an agreement. This finding suggests that combatants sign agreements for reasons related internally to the conflict, not pressure from the international community.
Oil Price Based Trading And European Industry Sector Stocks

This study shows that the relationship between oil price changes and European stock market is significant and vary in relation to individual industry sectors. The oil price changes exhibit significant Granger causality for majority of European industry sector stock returns, but no cointegration could be determined for the price series. The results are proved to be economically exploitable for trading strategies. The trading rule based on the bivariate VAR( ) model for forecasting future stock returns significantly outperforms the buy-and-hold strategy in term of expected return and risk. It yields large Sharpe ratios and significant positive Jensen's alpha for both weekly and monthly data.
Critical care in the emergency department: A physiologic assessment and outcome evaluation.

OBJECTIVES The changing landscape of health care in this country has seen an increase in the delivery of care to critically ill patients in the emergency department (ED). However, methodologies to assess care and outcomes similar to those used in the intensive care unit (ICU) are currently lacking in this setting. This study examined the impact of ED intervention on morbidity and mortality using the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II), the Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS II), and the Multiple Organ Dysfunction Score (MODS). METHODS This was a prospective, observational cohort study over a three-month period. Critically ill adult patients presenting to a large urban ED and requiring ICU admission were enrolled. APACHE II, SAPS II, and MODS scores and predicted mortality were obtained at ED admission, ED discharge, and 24, 48, and 72 hours in the ICU. In-hospital mortality was recorded. RESULTS Eighty-one patients aged 64 +/- 18 years were enrolled during the study period, with a 30.9% in-hospital mortality. The ED length of stay was 5.9 +/- 2.7 hours and the hospital length of stay was 12.2 +/- 16.6 days. Nine (11.1%) patients initially accepted for ICU admission were later admitted to the general ward after ED intervention. Septic shock was the predominant admitting diagnosis. At ED admission, there was a significantly higher APACHE II score in nonsurvivors (23.0 +/- 6.0) vs survivors (19.8 +/- 6.5, p = 0.04), while there was no significant difference in SAPS II or MODS scores. The APACHE II, SAPS II, and MODS scores were significantly lower in survivors than nonsurvivors throughout the hospital stay (p </= 0.001). The hourly rates of change (decreases) in APACHE II, SAPS II, and MODS scores were significantly greater during the ED stay (-0.55 +/- 0.64, -1.02 +/- 1.10, and -0.16 +/- 0.43, respectively) than subsequent periods of hospitalization in survivors (p < 0.05). There was a significant decrease in APACHE II and SAPS II predicted mortality during the ED stay (-8.0 +/- 14.0% and -6.0 +/- 14.0%, respectively, p < 0.001) and equally at 24 hours in the ICU (-7.0 +/- 13.0% and -4.0 +/- 16.0%, respectively, p </= 0.02). The APACHE II and SAPS II predicted mortality approached actual in-hospital mortality at approximately 12 hours and 36 hours after ED admission (in the ICU), respectively. CONCLUSIONS The care provided during the ED stay for critically ill patients significantly impacts the progression of organ failure and mortality. Although this period is brief compared with the total length of hospitalization, physiologic determinants of outcome may be established before ICU admission. This study emphasizes the importance of ED intervention. It also suggests that unique physiologic assessment methodologies should be developed to examine the quality of patient care, improve the accuracy of prognostic decisions, and objectively measure the impact of clinical interventions and pathways in the ED setting.
Investment ratio in growth equations

In the cross-country and time series studies on the determinants of the growth rate, capital stock is often proxied with the investment ratio due to lack of reliable data. While investment ratio may give good results with OLS, their robustness is doubtful. In addition there are other problems: (a) investment ratio may be a good proxy for the change in capital stock, but combining it with the level of employment to estimate a production function leads to misspecification bias; (b) it is not possible to impose any valid constraints on the coefficients of these variables and (c) if instrument variables are used to minimize any endogenous variable bias, the equation with the investment ratio seems to be fragile.
The Effect of Direct Democracy on Political Efficacy: The Evidence from Panel Data Analysis

Abstract Does direct democracy enhance political efficacy? This article examines the effect of direct democracy on political efficacy. Normative theorists have suggested that direct democracy has educative effects on citizens, such as promoting political efficacy. While a number of studies have examined the corresponding hypothesis, their empirical findings are not clear-cut. This study attributes the inconsistent results to two problems of the existing studies: the employment of cross-sectional data and the heterogeneity of popular vote issues. This study closes this gap by examining the effect of direct democracy in local politics on political efficacy in a more systematic and controlled way. More concretely, it utilizes the Japanese case: In the first decade of this century, more than 400 Japanese municipalities held a popular vote for the first time because the Japanese national government promoted municipal merger. Therefore, the Japanese case provides multiple popular votes on comparable substantive topics that can be conceived as an homogeneous treatment. By applying multilevel modeling to panel survey data, this study demonstrates the causal effect that the popular vote increases the level of internal political efficacy.
Financial Value Creation: A Comparative Study of VC-Backed IPOs and Non-VC-Backed IPOs in India

As financial investors in portfolio companies, venture capital (VC) firms are expected to add value through continuous monitoring and sustained involvement. Such an effort is expected to give VC-backed IPO firms (VC IPOs) an edge over those IPO firms not backed by VCs. We examine such value additions use a comparative analysis of operating and stock performance data of VC IPOs against three groups of non-VC POs. We identified a set of 92 VC IPOs and 182 non VC IPOs. The 182 non-VC IPOs were further subdivided into industry and size groups. While Wilcoxon tests were used to compare the medians of operating and stock performance, panel data regression models were used to establish the impact of VC on those differential performances. We find that the medians of VC IPOs on most operating performance parameters are better than non-VC IPO groups. But the relational tests could not attribute the better performance to VC influence. We conclude that this could be indicative of VCs’ superior ability to identify promising ventures and push them toward their maximum potential. This study is one of the pioneering efforts in exploring VC value creation in the Indian context. We also extend the capital market research in accounting to a VC context.
Time-series of dual-polarimetric synthetic aperture radar data to observe oil seeps

In this study, SAR oil spill observation is investigated for different polarizations, incidence angles and wind conditions. The dataset is composed by a time-series of 42 TerraSAR-X dualpol SAR images acquired between July 2011 and April 2016. The incidence angle, wind speed and polarization dependency for oil spill observation is shown for the first time using a large time-series of the same oil type. Experimental results show that the oil seepage observation is impaired with increasing the incidence angle and strongly depends on wind conditions. However, those effects are more pronounced using the single-polarization channels, while they are mitigated by using dual-polarimetric channels.
Revenue Elasticity of the Main Federal Taxes in Mexico

An inelastic tax system increases the uncertainty associated with tax revenue collection. This results in continuous short-term adjustments to maintain the stability of tax collection. In this paper, we estimate the revenue elasticity of the principal taxes in Mexico, finding a much greater elasticity than that found in previous studies. A cointegration model between the revenue and taxes is used which satisfies strong exogeneity, providing a basis for congruent and reliable projections. Using this model, the tax revenue projected for 2011 is much lower than the estimates prepared by Mexico’s federal government.
A membrane interferometer

Freestanding phospholipid bilayers have been assembled spanning shallow, micrometer-sized wells etched into a Si wafer substrate so that the bilayers are near (within hundreds of nanometers) but not in contact with the wafer surface. The proximity of the bilayers to the highly reflective Si/SiO2 interface allows them to be probed by using fluorescence-interference techniques. These interferometry measurements show that the bilayers are curved and that the curvature can be varied by changes in osmotic pressure. Furthermore, the ionophore gramicidin can be incorporated into the bilayers, making them selectively permeable to monovalent cations. This freestanding architecture may overcome surface-interaction problems that occur when cell membrane proteins are introduced into solid supported bilayers, while also allowing for high-precision measurements of changes in fluorophore position by interferometry.
Multi-objective Reliable multipath routing for wireless sensor networks

Future WSNs are expected to carry different traffic such as voice and video as well as data to serve both real and non-real time applications. Therefore, the reliability and quality of the data delivered to support diverse applications is very important. Also, service differentiation is an essential component of QoS that should be supported by routing protocols. In this paper, we introduce a novel approach to reliability and multi-objective routing in WSNs. We present Multi-objective Reliable and Fault-Tolerant Multipath routing protocol (MRFTM) that estimates link quality before making a routing decision to provide a reliable transmission environment for data delivery. Simulation results show that MRFTM outperforms existing schemes with respect to the data delivery ratio where data can be delivered at high levels of reliability and assuring quality of services required by different applications. Using erasure coding to transmit data on the selected paths also enables very high reliability.
Cotton in Uzbekistan: water and welfare

Uzbekistan has the largest agricultural sector of the 5 Central Asian countries of the former Soviet Union, and agriculture is the largest sector of the Uzbek economy, accounting for some 30% of GDP, 40% of employment and 60 % of foreign exchange earnings. Within Uzbek agriculture, cotton has been the key crop, and Uzbek cotton holds a major position in global cotton production and trade. The rise to dominance of cotton production in the area of modern Uzbekistan was a function both of irrigation development and the mandates of central planning during the Soviet period. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the role of cotton in Uzbekistan has also declined sharply. The first goal of this paper is to provide a basic overview of the factors behind this decline. These include the immediate response to the Soviet Union's dissolution, new views on national food security, changing institutional arrangements for land and water management, and, interrelated, declining environmental conditions. The change in cotton output has implications not only for the Uzbek economy and global cotton trade, but also for water use and the environment in the now internationally shared and globally sensitive Aral Sea basin. Thus the second goal of the paper is to examine the linkages between cotton production and water use in Uzbekistan, and how water will affect cotton, and vice versa, in the future.
Measurement error of percent diameter carotid stenosis determined by conventional angiography: implications for noninvasive evaluation.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Our aim was to quantitate the range of error in measurement of percent diameter carotid stenosis using conventional angiography in order to estimate the misclassification rate in selecting patients for carotid endarterectomy. METHODS A secondary or meta-analysis of published data regarding carotid stenosis measurement error associated with angiography yielded a narrow range of standard deviation across several studies using different measurement protocols. A simulation of the measurement process was developed to model this error and allow estimation of misclassification rates compared with true values for stenosis. RESULTS A standard deviation of 8% describes the average error observed at 60% diameter stenosis across a number of studies. Using the measurement model, for a population with 30% prevalence of 60% stenosis, this finding implies a misclassification rate of approximately 4% overall for conventional angiography. CONCLUSION Like all diagnostic tests, angiography is associated with measurement error. This does not affect the results of carotid stenosis therapy trials using angiography but does need to be taken into account when evaluating noninvasive alternative tests for carotid stenosis.
Treatment of Osteitis Pubis in Athletes

This study presents the results of treatment of osteitis pubis in 12 intercollegiate athletes. Early in this series, athletes were treated with prolonged rest, oral antiin flammatory medications, and hip-stretching exercises. Of the nine athletes treated in this manner, only one resumed symptom-free activity after 16 weeks of therapy; eight remained symptomatic and subsequently received a corticosteroid injection (1 ml 1% lidocaine, 1 ml 0.25% bupivacaine, and 4 mg dexamethasone) into the pubic symphysis. Of these eight athletes, three returned to full participation within 3 weeks of injection, four required a second injection to alleviate their symp toms, and one was unable to resume athletic activities despite two injections and an inguinal herniorrhaphy. In recent years, we have recommended an injection if there is no reduction in symptoms after 7 to 10 days of treatment. Three athletes received a corticosteroid in jection when their symptoms did not resolve. All three returned to full athletic competition within 2 weeks of the injection. The results of our study suggest that a more rapid return to intercollegiate athletics can be achieved through the judicious use of corticosteroid injections.
An analysis of factors influencing accuracy in the valuation of residential properties in Spain

This paper is concerned with assessing how valuations for mortgage purposes reflect market evidence. Differences between the value obtained through the analysis of comparables and the final assigned value are analysed. The study is undertaken for the Spanish housing market at the peak of the house price boom. High levels of accuracy are apparent but with a tendency to over- rather than undervalue properties. Physical housing variables are shown to have a relatively homogeneous effect, whereas factors relating to the environment and location lead to wider differences between valuations. The effect of characteristics is shown to vary substantially between cities. There is no evidence from the analysis that the property bubble in Spain was driven by inaccuracy in valuations.
Interest rate differentials, market integration, and the efficiency of commodity futures markets

Tests for the efficiency of commodity arbitrage typically fail to find cointegration relationships between spot and futures prices and between markets. The reported study investigates the issue for spot and futures prices of cocoa on New York and London markets by means of the Johansen maximum likelihood approach adding interest rates as conditioning variables. The results indicate that interest rates may play an important role in establishing the hypothesized relationships. It is further found that futures prices Granger-cause spot prices, but not vice versa. This is interpreted as evidence for spot prices reacting slowly to new information.
Usage of Internal Auditing Standards by companies in the United States and select European countries

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate differences in the degree of usage and compliance with the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) International Standards for the Professional Practices of Internal Auditing (Standards) by organizations' internal audit activities (IAA) located in the USA and a sample of European countries which have affiliates with the IIA. This paper shows the differences among Belgium, Italy, The Netherlands, the UK and Ireland, and the USA with respect to the level of use of the Standards and compliance with the Standards by respondents' IAAs. Design/methodology/approach - Survey results from questionnaires sent to IIA members in September 2006 about various topics relating to internal auditing are summarized in the Common Body of Knowledge 2006 database. These results are compared among Belgium, Italy, The Netherlands, the UK and Ireland, and the USA. Findings - This paper shows the differences among Belgium, Italy, The Netherlands, the UK and Ireland, and the USA with respect to the level of use of the Standards and compliance with the Standards by respondents' IAAs. There are significant levels of variation in responses by country. For Standards 1300, Quality Assurance and Improvement Program, and 2600, Resolution of Management's Acceptance of Risks, respondents indicate high levels of non-compliance. Originality/value - This study compares the status of the use of the IIA Standards in five countries to determine if there is any difference in application in different parts of the world.
Defence Innovation Stock and Total Factor Productivity

This study explores the impact of defense industrial production on the productivity of four Canadian three-digit SIC industries. A Tornqvist index of the annual change of total factor productivity is calculated. A defense production "innovation stock" is constructed from new data on defense industrial production in Canada between 1961 and 1985. Seemingly unrelated regression estimation multiple regression analysis shows that military production has a negative impact on total factor productivity for the four industries.
Saving Lives

This paper evaluates the impact of a conditional food supplementation program on child mortality in Ecuador. The program (PANN 2000) was implemented by regular staff at local public health posts and consisted of offering free micronutrient-fortified food for children aged 6–24 months in exchange for routine health checkups. Our regression discontinuity design exploits the fact that the program was initially running only in the poorest communities of certain provinces. We find that its presence reduced child mortality in cohorts with eight months of differential exposure from a level of about 2.5 percent by 1 to 1.5 percentage points.
InAs/GaSb Type-II Superlattice for Radiation Thermometry

We report the evaluation of an InAs/GaSb type-II superlattice (T2SL) as a potential uncooled or thermo-electrically cooled midwave infrared photodiode for use in radiation thermometry. A T2SL structure was grown and analyzed. Temperature-dependent radiation thermometry measurements were performed at reference blackbody temperatures of 25 °C-100 °C, in terms of photocurrent, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and temperature error. Despite using an unoptimized T2SL diode, we found that an SNR >1 was obtained using an uncooled diode, even at a target temperature of 25 °C. Cooling increased the photocurrent and reduced the dark current, leading to increased SNR across the blackbody temperature range measured. For instance at a target temperature of 50 °C, cooling the diode to 77 K increases the SNR by a factor of 614, while a more modest SNR enhancement factor of 19 was obtained when the diode was cooled to 200 K. At the thermo-electric cooler compatible temperature of 200 K, a target temperature of 50 °C with a temperature error of ±1 °C could be successfully measured, demonstrating the potential of T2SL.