Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Worldwide clustering of surgical indicators and predictors of risk of catastrophic expenditure for surgical care

Introduction: Better access to surgical care is crucial to improve general health status of the population. Despite studies indicate cross country differences according to the general health indicators, there is a scarcity of knowledge about the differences between countries according to the surgical indicators. This study aims to classify countries according to the surgical care indicators and to identify predictors of risk of catastrophic health expenditure for surgical care. Methods: Data came from WHO and WB statistics and totally 177 countries were selected for this study. Variable groups are determined as; total density of medical imaging technologies, workforce distribution in surgical care, number of surgical prodecures and risk of catastrophic expenditure for surgical care. K-means clustering algorithm was used to classify countries according to the surgical indicators. Optimal number of clusters determined by using within cluster sum of squares and scree plot. Silhouette index was used to examine clustering performance. Random Forest decision tree approach was used to determine predictors of the risk for catastrophic expenditure for surgical care. Results: Study results shows that there are four country groups exists according to their surgical care indicators. High and low income countries are in different clusters. The third cluster which consists of low income countries has high Silhouette index value (0.75). Surgeon density and density of the medical imaging technologies are determinators of the risk for catastrophic expenditure for surgical care (AUC=0.82). Conclusions: Study results pose that there is a need for more effective health plans to overcome the differences between countries in terms of surgical care indicators. Determining strategies about distribution of surgical workforce and medical imaging technologies considering accessibility and equality are recommendated for health policy makers.
Sowing time of popcorn during the summer harvest under supplemental irrigation in Ferralic Nitisol and subtropical climate

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of sowing time on the phenotypic response of popcorn grown during the summer harvest (first season), with supplemental irrigation. Experiments were performed in the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 agricultural years in a Ferralic Nitisol, in the northwestern region of Parana State, Brazil, using a randomized complete block design with four replications. Treatments consisted of combinations of five sowing times and two commercial popcorn hybrids (IAC-112 and IAC125) in a 5 x 2 factorial scheme. The evaluated phenotypic characteristics were as follows: plant height, leaf area index, ears per plant, thousand-grain weight, grain yield and popping expansion. The obtained data were subjected to individual variance analyses for each agricultural year. A delay in sowing time limited both the growth and vegetative development of plants, although the first sowing time of each agricultural year (Oct. 6 th 2009 and Oct. 4 th 2010) resulted in better phenotypic characteristics of the popcorn crop. Temperature was the environmental factor with the strongest influence on the phenology, growth and vegetative development of popcorn plants. Grain yield decreased 1.1% (46.8 kg ha -1 day -1 ) for the first sowing time in 2009/2010 and 1.2% (53.2 kg ha -1 day 1 ) for the first sowing time in 2010/2011. The IAC-125 hybrid surpassed the IAC-112 and produced the best results for most of the
Carbon and oxygen net community production in the eastern tropical Atlantic estimated from a moored buoy

A mooring at 6°S, 10°W has been equipped with an oxygen optode and a Carioca sensor for monitoring hourly oxygen (O2) and the fugacity of CO2 (fCO2) at 1.5 m depth since June 2006. Due to biofouling, the oxygen time series lasted between 72 days in 2008 to 159 days in 2009. Using an alkalinity‐salinity relationship determined for the area, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) is calculated. Short‐term and long‐term net community productions (NCP) are calculated using a mass balance approach for DIC and O2 under the assumption of no mixing conditions. The mooring site is always supersaturated in oxygen except in 2007 when depleted oxygen waters are observed from June to September, during the upwelling season. Averaging all the short time events, NCP calculated from the rates of changes of O2 and DIC leads to a NCP of 16.6 ± 6.1 mmol C m−2d−1, ranging from 14.7 mmol C m−2d−1 in 2008 to 17.4 mmol C m−2d−1 in 2006. The mean daily oxygen biological production rate determined over the whole time series shows a significant year to year variability with 7.5 mmol C m−2d−1 in 2008 to 15.6 mmol C m−2d−1 in 2009. A photosynthetic quotient ranging between 1.0 to 1.3 has been determined when both carbon and oxygen NCP values are available.
Financing Constraints and the Family Farm: How do Families React?

This paper explores the idea that off-farm income is used for investment in farm assets. Using Alabama farm data for the 1997-2004 period, we find that farm investment is more sensitive to off-farm than to on-farm income, and that this sensitivity is stronger for farms with sales less than $250,000.
Numerical Study of the Optimization of Separation Control

The concept of active flow control is applied to the steady flow around a NACA4412 and to the unsteady flow around a generic high-lift configuration in order to delay separation. To the former steady suction upstream of the detachment position is applied. In a series of computations the suction angle β is varied and the main flow features are analyzed. A gradient descent method and an adjoint-based method are successfully used to optimize β. For the unsteady case periodic blowing and suction is employed to control the separation. Various calculations are conducted to obtain the dependency of the lift on the amplitude and frequency of the perturbation and the amplitude is optimized with the gradient descent method.
Optimizations of Battery-Based Intrusion Protection Systems

As time progresses, small mobile devices become more prevalent for both personal and industrial use, providing malicious network users with new and exciting venues for security exploits. Standard security applications, such as Norton Antivirus and MacAfee, require computing power, memory space, and operating system complexity that are not present in small mobile devices. Recently, the Battery-Sensing Intrusion Protection System (B-SIPS) was devised as a means to correct the inability of small mobile devices to protect themselves against network attacks. The B-SIPS application uses smart battery data in conjunction with process and network information to determine whether the mobile device is experiencing a battery depletion attack. Additionally, B-SIPS provides mobile device statistics to system administrators such that they can analyze the state of the wireless network more thoroughly. The research presented in this thesis collaborates with and extends the B-SIPS research through optimizations and validation. Areas of focus include ensuring public acceptance of the application through the implementation of a usability study and verifying that the deployment of the application will not jeopardize the performance of external mobile device applications. Additionally, this thesis describes how GUI optimizations are realized for both the B-SIPS client and CIDE server, how future smart battery hardware implementations are introduced for increased effectiveness with the B-SIPS application, and it discusses how an optimum deployment data transmission period is determined.
Metabolic Organization of Caenorhabditis elegans

Metabolic bionetwork of Caenorhabditis elegans has been reconstructed using genome information retrieved from KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genomes and Genes, Release 32) database. The reconstructed bionetwork contains 103 pathways and 22272 open reading frames comprising 21357 protein genes (coding sequences) and 753 RNA genes. As of November 2004, 990 genes are assigned with pathway association, among which, 561 genes are localized in single pathways whereas 429 genes, so called key enzymes, exhibit multiple pathway association. Key enzymes contribute to the interconnecting behaviour of the reconstructed bionetwork and connect different pathways together, termed as ‘functionally linked’, to accomplish a biological task. These links are perceived through interception of key enzymes in the visual representation of the reconstructed bionetwork. Key enzymes’ participation in pathways ranges from 2 to 15 pathways. In order to visualize the interconnectedness of the reconstructed bionetwork Pajek tool was used. Reconstruction process revealed that, 990 known genes perform 2024 distinct biological functions, mostly metabolic functions and partly signalling and regulation. Metabolic pathways are involved in biosynthesis and biodegradation of key compounds such as ATP to provide energy for
A Physics Based Nonlinear 2d-ThermalModelling Of High Power Thz Transit TimeDevice

In this paper for the first time the author has studied the high frequency, high temperature application possibility of SiC group material based transit time devices. Here SiC of cubic type is studied. The author has designed a 220GHz transit time device based on 3C-SiC. It is depicted that as far as high frequency performance power output and efficiencies are concerned SiC devices are far better, compared to its conventional Si and GaAs counterpart. Also owing to its high thermal conductivity SiC device is capable of handling high temperature to obtain high power at Millimeter wave frequency without facing thermal runaway problem.
Risk Assessment under Ambiguity : Precautionary Learning vs

Agencies charged with regulating complex risks such as food safety or novel substances frequently need to take decisions on risk assessment and risk management under conditions of ambiguity, i.e. where probabilities cannot be assigned to possible outcomes of regulatory actions. What mandates should society write for such agencies? Two approaches stand out in the current discussion. One charges the agency to apply welfare economics based on expected utility theory. This approach underpins conventional cost-benet analysis (CBA). The other requires that an ambiguity-averse decision-rule – of which maxmin expected utility (MEU) is the best known – be applied in order to build a margin of safety in accordance with the Precautionary Principle (PP). The contribution of the present paper is a relative assessment of how a CBA and a PP mandate impact on the regulatory task of risk assessment. In our parsimonious model, a decision maker can decide on the precision of a signal which provides noisy information on a payoff-relevant parameter. We find a complex interplay of MEU on information acquisition shaped by two countervailing forces that we dub ’Precautionary Learning’ and ’Research Pessimism’. We find that – contrary to intuition – a mandate of PP rather than CBA will often give rise to a less informed regulator. PP can therefore lead to a higher likelihood of regulatory mistakes, such as the approval of harmful new substances.
FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

This thesis presents a comparative study on two different approaches for visualizing sensor data collected from smart buildings on the web using 3D virtual environments. The sensor data is provided by sensors that are deployed in real buildings to measure several environmental parameters including temperature, humidity, air quality and air pressure. The first approach uses the three.js WebGL framework to create the 3D model of a smart apartment where sensor data is illustrated with point and wall visualizations. Point visualizations show sensor values at the real locations of the sensors using text, icons or a mixture of the two. Wall visualizations display sensor values inside panels placed on the interior walls of the apartment. The second approach uses the Unity game engine to create the 3D model of a 4-floored hospice where sensor data is illustrated with aforementioned point visualizations and floor visualizations, where the sensor values are shown on the floor around the location of the sensors in form of color or other effects. The two approaches are compared with respect to their technical performance in terms of rendering speed, model size and request size, and with respect to the relative advantages and disadvantages of the two development environments as experienced in this
Polymorphisms of the bovine chemokine receptor-like 1 gene and their associations with meat quality traits in Qinchuan cattle (Bos taurus)

Background: We investigated the polymorphisms of the bovine chemokine receptor-like 1(CMKLR1) gene. The coding region of CMKLR1 was screened in Qinchuan cattle by PCR-RFLP technology. Results: In this study, we discovered two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (264G > C and 762C > T) in the coding region of the CMKLR1 gene. Hence, we described the BmgT120l and Pdm1 PCR-RFLP methods for detecting the 64G > C and 762C > T mutations, respectively. PCR-RFLP and sequencing were used to analyze the two loci of CMKLR1 gene in 324 individuals, which were randomly selected from breeding populations. Furthermore, meat quality traits in another 80 Qinchuan individuals were analyzed by the comparison between the genotypes and their phenotypic data. Conclusions: The results showed that the G264C SNP and C762T SNP of bovine CMKLR1 were significantly associated with backfat thickness (BFT) and water holding capacity (WHC), respectively.
Bad Hombres? How News Depictions of Latinos as Criminals Influence Public Opinion on Immigration

_____________________________________________________________________________ Although immigrants are among the least crime-prone groups in the United States, public opposition to immigration seems linked to the misperception that immigrants place native communities at risk of crime and drugs. Where do such misperceptions come from? Previous research suggests there is a cognitive association between Latinos and immigration driven by depictions in the news. I explore the possibility that Latinos are also associated with crime in the minds of many citizens, and that association leads to the false assumption that immigrants are also crime prone. I perform a content analysis and a controlled experiment to examine the influence of news coverage of crime featuring Latinos on public opinion about immigration. My results suggest that the link between Latinos and crime probably is not forged in biased news coverage. Further, exposure to any crime news leads to increased opposition to immigration, regardless of whether the perpetrator is Latino or white. Finally, the effect of exposure to crime news on opposition to immigration is largest among respondents from states with few Latinos. In the conclusion I discuss the possibility that the linkage between immigrants and crime might be forged much more directly by strategic politicians who are unafraid to traffic false information for political benefit. _____________________________________________________________________________
The Standard Error of Chain Ladder Reserve Estimates: Recursive Calculation and Inclusion of a Tail Factor

Abstract In Mack (1993), a formula for the standard error or chain ladder reserve estimates has been derived. In the present communication, a very intuitive and easily programmable recursive way of calculating the formula is given. Moreover, this recursive way shows how a tail factor can be implemented in the calculation of the standard error.
On the relationship between classical chain ladder and granular reserving

Abstract We connect classical chain ladder to granular reserving. This is done by defining explicitly how the classical run-off triangles are generated from individual iid observations in continuous time. One important result is that the development factors have a one to one correspondence to a histogram estimator of a hazard running in reversed development time. A second result is that chain ladder has a systematic bias if the row effect has not the same distribution when conditioned on any of the aggregated periods. This means that the chain ladder assumptions on one level of aggregation, say yearly, are different from the chain ladder assumptions when aggregated in quarters and the optimal level of aggregation is a classical bias variance trade-off depending on the data-set. We introduce smooth development factors arising from non-parametric hazard kernel smoother improving the estimation significantly.
Implications of the link between the Periodic Table and the Standard Model

The mathematics of quantum physics from the standard model using groups U(1)xSU(2)xSU(3) and the Pauli principle produces two sets of time independent quantum states n(n+1) and n(n-1) where n is the principal quantum number. Oscillations between these states result in a one to one mapping with the Roberts-Janet Nuclear Periodic Table by interpretation of n>0 for condensed matter and n<0 for plasma prior to fusion. The mechanism provides a framework for Periodic Tables for every supernova by excluding mass number. In the lower half of the table occupation by bosons leads to increased energy densities in which an ensemble of outcomes is discussed. An hypothesis of string theory is proposed at the nuclear end of the table merging into quantum loop gravity at the condensed matter at the top end of the table.
A healthy eating and lifestyle school intervention : conceptual and attitudinal change but no behavioural change

Low fruit and vegetables intake in adolescence is a mong main risk factors for obesity and other chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiov ascular disease and cancer. Establishing healthy eating habits in adolescents is of paramoun t importance to lead to future healthy adults, and school is the best place to take forwar d an effective approach to improve their food choices. The aim of this study was to investig ate how far a specific school intervention is able to promote conceptual, attitudinal and behavio ural changes, as far as healthy eating and physical activity are concerned. Sixty five adolescents of 11 to 13 years-old partic ipated in this follow-up study: 36 (55.4%) boys and 29 (44.6%) girls. The methodology was base d on four steps with three evaluation periods: 1 evaluation and characterization of the sample (“ba seline”); 2 evaluation after a three-month intervention; 3 rd evaluation one year after the intervention. All ev aluations included adolescents’ nutritional status assessment (by anthropometric measurements) as well as eating knowledge, food consumption and physical activity (by self-reporting questionnaire). The 3 rd evaluation also included gathering adolescents’ op ini ns on their participation in the healthy habits intervention an d how relevant they had found it. Along the three evaluations, adolescents’ knowledge and their attitudes towards healthy habits tended to improve and they became aware of the impo rtance of adopting healthy eating habits. However, no statistically significant diffe rences in lifestyle behaviours were found, such as in daily intake of fruits and vegetables an d physical activity changes. Results from this initial study have the potential to guide futu re research for planning a larger and deeper intervention programme in order to improve not only adolescents’ attitudes towards healthy food choices but also improving their healthy behav iours.
Big Data Processing With Application to Image Super-Resolution

Learning based face hallucination methods have received much attention in recent years. As opposed to the existing methods, where the input image (patch) matrix is first converted into vectors before combination coefficients calculation, this paper proposes a novel matrix based regression model for directly combination coefficients calculation to preserve the structural information of the input matrix. For each low- resolution local patch matrix, its combination coefficients over the same position image patch matrices in training images can be computed. Then the corresponding high-resolution patch matrix can be obtained. Experiments conducted on the FERET face dataset indicate that our method could outperform other state-of- the-art algorithms in terms of both vision and quantity. KEYWORD: Face hallucination; Position-patch; Matrix regression
Stereotypes, “integration” policies and multiple identities: From a mapping attempt to the experience of some Romanian Roma families in Milan.

Bread is a universal and ancient staple that in Italy is regarded as the symbol of both food and national unity. Nonetheless, the great variety of breads dating back to Roman times and still available in the country recalls the political fragmentation of pre-Unification Italy. Furthermore, as it is essentially a cultural object, bread is closely intertwined with the social structure of Italian society whose cultural and dietary shifts, however, have adversely affected bread production and consumption. The latter, moreover, is also linked to the so-called diseases of civilisation that actually constitute public health problems. The political aspects of bread analysed in this paper mainly pertain to the national and European legislation which establishes the characteristics and names of Italian bread, and to the gradual disappearance of artisan bakery that does not seem to attract the younger generations. The relationship between bread and environment, on the other hand, shows how climate change, pesticides, and fertilisers negatively impact on wheat production. Additionally, bread-making technology and the controversial issue relating to GM crops highlight the unavoidable role of biotechnology in the future nutritional scenario. A scenario that is likely to be dominated by healthy foods such as gluten-free, salt-free and functional breads.
Whānau Ora; He Whakaaro Ā Whānau: Māori Family Views of Family Wellbeing

This article presents the findings from two studies that investigated the concept of whānau ora (family wellbeing): One examined the nature of resilience for Māori whānau and how resilience relates to whānau ora; while the second investigated the impact of the Working for Families policy on Māori families’ perceptions of whānau ora. In each study, Māori were asked to define whānau ora for their family. The responses to the “whānau ora” definition question in each of the studies were separated out to derive a unique dataset of 46 whānau definitions of whānau ora. A secondary analysis of responses was undertaken specifically for this article and these were compared to the whānau ora outcome definition outlined in the Report of the Taskforce on Whānau-Centred Initiatives (Taskforce on Whānau-Centred Initiatives, 2010). The degree of concordance between the definitions of whānau ora expressed by Māori families and those espoused by the government’s Taskforce is outlined. The article discusses the variability in understandings around whānau ora and the implications of our analysis for social service delivery and social policy development.