Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mode Effects in a Survey of Medicare Prostate Surgery Patients

There have been numerous studies of how the mode of survey data collection affects the answers respondents give. Some studies have found that telephone, personal interview, and mail surveys usually yield comparable results when responding samples are comparable. However, there are some differences that have been attributed to mode. When differences are found, selfadministered responses have been likely to yield more socially undesirable responses than responses to interviewers (Hochstim, 1967; Locander, 1976; Aquilino, 1990; Turner, et al., 1992; Fowler, 1993). When telephone and personal interviews are compared, telephone interviews may yield fewer socially undesirable responses, when differences occur (Henson, 1977; Singer, 1981; de Leeuw, 1988 ). There are at least three possible explanations for these differences: 1) Respondents are less willing to articulate socially undesirable answers to an interviewer than to write them down. 2) Respondents answer questions differently in self-administration (when they can see the whole scales and subsequent questions) than in an oral interview. 3) There is more time to reflect and consult with others in a mail survey than in an interview.
Electrochemical Genosensing of Circulating Biomarkers

Management and prognosis of diseases requires the measurement in non- or minimally invasively collected samples of specific circulating biomarkers, consisting of any measurable or observable factors in patients that indicate normal or disease-related biological processes or responses to therapy. Therefore, on-site, fast and accurate determination of these low abundance circulating biomarkers in scarcely treated body fluids is of great interest for health monitoring and biological applications. In this field, electrochemical DNA sensors (or genosensors) have demonstrated to be interesting alternatives to more complex conventional strategies. Currently, electrochemical genosensors are considered very promising analytical tools for this purpose due to their fast response, low cost, high sensitivity, compatibility with microfabrication technology and simple operation mode which makes them compatible with point-of-care (POC) testing. In this review, the relevance and current challenges of the determination of circulating biomarkers related to relevant diseases (cancer, bacterial and viral infections and neurodegenerative diseases) are briefly discussed. An overview of the electrochemical nucleic acid–based strategies developed in the last five years for this purpose is given to show to both familiar and non-expert readers the great potential of these methodologies for circulating biomarker determination. After highlighting the main features of the reported electrochemical genosensing strategies through the critical discussion of selected examples, a conclusions section points out the still existing challenges and future directions in this field.
Provocation or Excuse?: Process-Tracing the Impact of Elite Propaganda in a Violent Conflict in Indonesia

Why people follow the incitement of powerful individuals to participate in collective violence remains one of the most intriguing questions in the study of conflict. By using process-tracing to analyze in detail a violent ethno-religious conflict in Indonesia, this study concludes that rioters are often not provoked by elite propaganda but rather are acting out of their own interest. However, their violence sets off a chain of events that causes large-scale communal conflict. This escalation is most likely in the presence of three causal mechanisms: the immobilization of local security forces; widespread sentiments of sympathy for innocent victims; and the creation of intense feelings of insecurity.
Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity among High-School Girls in Tabriz, Iran, in 2001

Overweight and obesity are among the most prevalent nutritional problems in developed and developing countries. In this descriptive study, we attempted to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Iranian adolescent girls attending high school in Tabriz. A sample of 1,650 (final study group, 1,518) high-school girls aged 14 to 20 years was selected by stepwise random sampling from five districts of Tabriz. Overweight and obesity were defined according to body mass index (BMI) percentiles from the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) and the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) BMI cutoffs. According to the NHANES I criteria, 14.6% of the study subjects were overweight or obese. Overweight and obesity was seen in 11.1% and 3.6% of the students, respectively. By the IOTF cutoffs, 14% of the subjects were overweight or obese. Overweight and obesity were seen in 10.1% and 3.9% of the students, respectively. Of the study subjects, 8% had a BMI below the 15th percentile of NHANES I, an indicator of underweight. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in Tabriz high-school girls is higher than in many, but not all, parts of Iran, but lower than in some neighboring countries such as Saudi Arabia. In this age group, in addition to overweight and obesity, underweight (BMI ≤ 15th percentile) is also present.
The effect of windthrow, wild fire, and management practices on epigeic Collembola in windthrown forest stands of the High Tatra Mts (Slovakia)

Epigeic communities of Collembola were studied after a windthrow in differently managed spruce forest stands in the High Tatras, Slovakia. Investigations were carried out in following treatments: reference forest stands (REF), windthrown stands left to natural regeneration (NEX), windthrown stands from which fallen wood had been extracted (EXT), and windthrown stands from which fallen wood had been removed and which had been affected by fire (FIR). A Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric ANOVA revealed significant differences of Collembola community composition and activity between the treatments studied, which was also further supported by the results from NMS ordination and cluster analysis using indicator species analysis. EXT stands had communities with remarkably high activity and diversity of Collembola, whereas FIR stands had low species richness and diversity indices compared to other treatments (REF, NEX, EXT). Windthrown stands had greater collembolan activity and diversity (NEX, EXT) than intact forest stands. However, forest specialists and bryophilous species were sensitive to forest clearing and fire disturbance and were replaced by xeroresistant and generalist species, or species preferring open habitats. The collembolan community most similar to that found in REF stands, in terms of community homogeneity and the magnitude of diversity indices, was found in NEX stands.
Accuracy of obesity diagnosis in Brazilian adolescents: comparison of Cole et al and Must et al criteria with DXA percentage of fat mass.

OBJECTIVES to assess the accuracy of the two most used anthropometric criteria: Must and Cole to diagnose obesity in adolescence comparing with percentage of fat mass determined by DXA. METHODOLOGY cross-sectional study with 418 adolescents (52.4% males) attending a private school in São Paulo/Brazil. Anthropometric measures of height and weight were taken and BMI was calculated. Analysis of body composition was performed using the DXA to detect percentage of fat mass. Using the method proposed by Ellis & Wong (ERM) two sex-specific linear regression models of fat percentage for age in years were fitted. The comparison between the methods was carried out through the analyses of specificity and sensitivity with two residual percentiles as cutoff points (ERM85th and ERM95th) as standards. A logistic model was fitted to estimate the probability curves of obesity classification. RESULTS the comparison of the two classic criteria for the diagnosis of obesity with the ERM85th and ERM 95th, yields for females the same sensitivities of 0.50 and 0.20 for both criteria. For males sensitivities for ERM 85th were 0.61 (Must) and 0.49 (Cole); while for ERM95th the sensitivities were 0.81 (Must) and 0.64 (Cole). Therefore, there are high probabilities that those criteria diagnose adolescents as obese, when actually they are not. CONCLUSION the Must and Cole criteria were similar and present flaws for the diagnosis of obesity. In clinical practice and field studies anthropometric criteria should be evaluated as to the diagnostic accuracy along with other clinical parameters and, when feasible, the analysis of fatness percentage. However, the anthropometric criteria evaluated are efficient in the identification of non-obese adolescent in the two cutoff points considered.
Infrastructural violence: Introduction to the special issue

This introduction lays out some of the theoretical underpinnings of the notion of ‘infrastructural violence’. We begin by considering infrastructure as an ethnographically graspable manifestation, before then moving on to highlight how broader processes of marginalization, abjection and disconnection often become operational and sustainable in contemporary cities through infrastructure. We then show how the concept of ‘infrastructural violence’ can nuance our analyses of the relations between people and things that converge daily in urban life to the detriment of marginalized actors, while also proposing a normative reflexivity that can provide a concrete means through which to talk, imagine and build towards greater regimes of quality and collective benefit. Finally, we conclude with a summary of each of the contributions to this special issue.
The Relationship of Teachers' Instructional Decisions and Beliefs about Alternate Assessments to Student Achievement

In the decade since alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) were first required, special education teachers have had to develop content knowledge and pedagogical skills to teach academics to students with significant cognitive disabilities. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact that teachers' instructional decisions and beliefs about AA-AAS have on the academic achievement of students with significant cognitive disabilities. A survey of nearly 400 teachers across three states provided evidence of teachers' beliefs, as well as their instructional planning processes for students. Students' learning characteristics were also identified. Survey responses were analyzed in conjunction with students' 2010–2011 scores on their statewide AA-AAS. The results indicated that students with presymbolic communication systems had a lower likelihood of achieving proficiency in English language arts/reading and math than students with abstract symbolic communication. Students with concrete symbolic communication systems had lesser odds of proficiency in ELA/reading but not in math. Teachers who agreed that AA-AAS had an impact on instruction tended to have students with higher achievement proficiency. However, more negative views of the validity of AA-AAS scores were associated with greater odds of proficiency.
Protective Effects of Ethnic Identity on Mexican American College Students’ Psychological Well-Being

The current study investigated whether different ethnic identity components moderate the associations between acculturative stress and psychological adjustment among Mexican American college students (N = 148; 67% female) who completed self-report surveys. For women, ethnic affirmation/ belonging and ethnic identity achievement moderated the relation between acculturative stress and depression at low but not high levels of acculturative stress. Among men with low levels of other group orientation, levels of self-esteem were similar regardless of levels of acculturative stress. Discussion focuses on the role of ethnic identity in Latino students’ psychological adjustment and of protective factors that buffer students from acculturative stress. Future research should identify other protective factors that serve as buffers for students experiencing high levels of acculturative stress.
Detection of human sapovirus by real‐time reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction

Sapovirus (SaV) is an agent of gastroenteritis for humans and swine, and is divided into five distinct genogroups (GI–GV) based on its capsid gene sequences. Typical methods of SaV detection include electron microscopy (EM), enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). A novel TaqMan‐based real‐time RT‐PCR assay was developed that is sensitive and has the ability to detect the broad range of genetically diverse human SaV strains. A nucleotide alignment of 10 full‐length SaV genome sequences was subjected to similarity plot analysis, which indicated that the most conserved site was the polymerase‐capsid junction in open reading frame 1 (ORF1). Based on multiple alignments of the 27 available sequences encoding this junction, we designed sets of primers and TaqMan MGB probes that detect human SaV GI, GII, GIV, and GV sequences in a single tube. The reactivity was confirmed with SaV GI, GII, GIV, and GV control plasmids, and the efficiency ranged from 2.5 × 107 to 2.5 × 101 copies per tube. Analysis using clinical stool specimens revealed that the present system was capable of detecting SaV GI, GII, GIV, and GV sequences, and no cross‐reactivity was observed against other enteric viruses, including norovirus (NoV), rotavirus, astrovirus, and adenovirus. This is the first real‐time RT‐PCR system that could detect all genogroups of human sapoviruses. J. Med. Virol. 78:1347–1353, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Comparing an Inquiry‐based Approach known as the Science Writing Heuristic to Traditional Science Teaching Practices: Are there differences?

Many state and federal governments have mandated in such documents as the National Science Education Standards that inquiry strategies should be the focus of the teaching of science within school classrooms. The difficult part for success is changing teacher practices from perceived traditional ways of teaching to more inquiry‐based approaches. Arguments are often made about the effectiveness of these traditional strategies. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of the inquiry‐based approach known as the Science Writing Heuristic approach as a treatment to traditional teaching practices on students' post‐test scores in relation to students' achievement level and teacher's implementation of the approach. A mixed‐method research approach was used to analyze the teacher observational data and students' test results. The major findings of this study are that the quality of the implementation does have an impact on student performance on post‐test scores and that high‐quality implementation of the Science Writing Heuristic approach has significant advantages in closing the achievement gap within science classrooms.
Labor Market Uncertainty and Private Sector Labor Supply in Russia

The development of a vibrant private sector has been one of the key failures of the transitional period in Russia. This paper develops a theoretical and empirical model of individual labor supply behavior under uncertainty, and estimates this model using data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey for the years 1994 - 1996 & 1998. As hypothesized, a decrease in private sector earnings variability is estimated to increase the likelihood of private sector employment for individuals with constrained consumption smoothing ability. Evidence of ex-ante intra-household risk sharing is also found with individuals reducing their exposure to uncertainty by diversifying the portfolio of jobs held by their household.
Integrated genomic and BMI analysis for type 2 diabetes risk assessment

Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) is a chronic disease arising from the development of insulin absence or resistance within the body, and a complex interplay of environmental and genetic factors. The incidence of T2D has increased throughout the last few decades, together with the occurrence of the obesity epidemic. The consideration of variants identified by Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) into risk assessment models for T2D could aid in the identification of at-risk patients who could benefit from preventive medicine. In this study, we build several risk assessment models, evaluated with two different classification approaches (Logistic Regression and Neural Networks), to measure the effect of including genetic information in the prediction of T2D. We used data from to the Original and the Offspring cohorts of the Framingham Heart Study, which provides phenotypic and genetic information for 5245 subjects (4306 controls and 939 cases). Models were built by using several covariates: gender, exposure time, cohort, body mass index (BMI), and 65 SNPs associated to T2D. We fitted Logistic Regressions and Bayesian Regularized Neural Networks and then assessed their predictive ability by using a ten-fold cross validation. We found that the inclusion of genetic information into the risk assessment models increased the predictive ability by 2%, when compared to the baseline model. Furthermore, the models that included BMI at the onset of diabetes as a possible effector, gave an improvement of 6% in the area under the curve derived from the ROC analysis. The highest AUC achieved (0.75) belonged to the model that included BMI, and a genetic score based on the 65 established T2D-associated SNPs. Finally, the inclusion of SNPs and BMI raised predictive ability in all models as expected; however, results from the AUC in Neural Networks and Logistic Regression did not differ significantly in their prediction accuracy.
Learning Multi-tree Classification Models with Ant Colony Optimization

Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is a meta-heuristic for solving combinatorial optimization problems, inspired by the behaviour of biological ant colonies. One of the successful applications of ACO is learning classification models (classifiers). A classifier encodes the relationships between the input attribute values and the values of a class attribute in a given set of labelled cases and it can be used to predict the class value of new unlabelled cases. Decision trees have been widely used as a type of classification model that represent comprehensible knowledge to the user. In this paper, we propose the use of ACO-based algorithms for learning an extended multi-tree classification model, which consists of multiple decision trees, one for each class value. Each class-based decision trees is responsible for discriminating between its class value and all other values available in the class domain. Our proposed algorithms are empirically evaluated against well-known decision trees induction algorithms, as well as the ACO-based Ant-Tree-Miner algorithm. The results show an overall improvement in predictive accuracy over 32 benchmark datasets. We also discuss how the new multi-tree models can provide the user with more understanding and knowledge-interpretability in a given domain.
Detection of Pseudo Random Noise Generator's parameters for link analysis

This paper presents the method how the parameters of Pseudo Random Noise Generator (PRNG) can be detected. The parameters to be detected include the primitive polynomial and the initial seed of the PRNG. Different test vectors of scrambled sequences are generated by changing the parameters of Linear Feedback Shift Register (LFSR). The test vectors are then passed one by one through the detection algorithm which calculates the weight difference for a range of primitive trinomials. Subsequently, the weight difference is calculated between the alphabets over GF(2) of decoded periods of LFSR The maximum weight difference thus obtained for specific polynomial depicts the most probable primitive trinomial. The initial seed of LFSR is then found by fixing the trinomial and calculating the weight difference for a range of seeds. The correct initial seed is depicted by the maximum weight difference.
Findings from an online behavioural weight management programme provided with or without a fortified diet beverage

The present multi-centre randomised weight-loss trial evaluated the efficacy of a low-intensity 12-week online behavioural modification programme, with or without a fortified diet beverage using a 2 × 2 factorial design. A total of 572 participants were randomised to: (1) an online basic lifestyle information (OBLI) intervention, consisting of one online informational class about tips for weight management; (2) an online behavioural weight management (OBWM) intervention, entailing 12 weekly online classes focused on weight-loss behaviour modification; (3) an OBLI intervention plus a fortified diet cola beverage (BEV) containing green tea extract (total catechin 167 mg), soluble fibre dextrin (10 g) and caffeine (100 mg) (OBLI+BEV); (4) OBWM+BEV. Assessments included height, weight, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry-derived body composition, and waist circumference (WC). Attrition was 15·7 %. Intention-to-treat (ITT) models demonstrated a main effect for type of Internet programme, with those assigned to the OBWM condition losing significantly more weight (F= 7·174; P= 0·008) and fat mass (F= 4·491; P= 0·035) than those assigned to the OBLI condition. However, there was no significant main effect for the OBWM condition on body fat percentage (F= 2·906; P= 0·089) or WC (F= 3·351; P= 0·068), and no significant main effect for beverage use or significant interactions between factors in ITT models. A 12-week, low-intensity behaviourally based online programme produced a greater weight loss than a basic information website. The addition of a fortified diet beverage had no additional impact.
Eulerian Walkers as a Model of Self-Organized Criticality.

We propose a new model of self-organized criticality. A particle is dropped at random on a lattice and moves along directions specified by arrows at each site. As it moves, it changes the direction of the arrows according to fixed rules. On closed graphs these walks generate Euler circuits. On open graphs, the particle eventually leaves the system, and a new particle is then added. The operators corresponding to particle addition generate an Abelian group, same as the group for the Abelian sandpile model on the graph. We determine the critical steady state and some critical exponents exactly, using this equivalence.
Précis of The Modularity of Mind

Abstract The Modularity of Mind proposes an alternative to the “New Look” or “interaetionist” view of cognitive architecture that has dominated several decades of cognitive science. Whereas interactionism stresses the continuity of perceptual and cognitive processes, modularity theory argues for their distinctness. It is argued, in particular, that the apparent plausibility of New Look theorizing derives from the failure to distinguish between the (correct) claim that perceptual processes are inferential and the (dubious) claim that they are unencapsidated, that is, that they are arbitrarily sensitive to the organism's beliefs and desires. In fact, according to modularity theory, perceptual processes are computationally isolated from much of the background knowledge to which cognitive processes have access. The postulation of autonomous, domain-specific psychological mechanisms underlying perceptual integration connects modularity theory with the tradition of faculty psychology, in particular, with the work of Franz Joseph Call. Some of these historical affinities, and some of the relations between faculty psychology and Cartesianism, are discussed in the book.
Perceived Experiences of Well Senior Women Engaged in Occupational Life Style Redesign

The qualitative study summarized in this article explored the perceived experiences of six well older women engaged in occupational lifestyle redesign. Demographic trends warrant continued exploration of interventions intended to maximize the well-being of older adults. The results of the study help explain how occupational lifestyle redesign enabled participants to explore their occupational habits, experience occupational options, and establish a plan to influence their physical, mental, and social well-being through occupation.