Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Breastfeeding in Lebanon : barriers and policy dynamics

Breastfeeding practices in Lebanon fall short of international recommendations: despite high breastfeeding initiation, exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) rates are almost nil at 4-5 months. In the Lebanese context, health services are expected to have a large contributing role on early breastfeeding practices. This research aimed at identifying Lebanese stakeholders’ perceptions of barriers to recommended early breastfeeding initiation and EBF till 6 months in the context of health services as well as the political dynamics around existing policies that if implemented would address these health system barriers. A review of systematic reviews of the effectiveness of health services interventions to promote and support breastfeeding initiation and exclusivity revealed that a package of complementary interventions would be most effective. It would include applying maternity ward changes according to the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, facilitating the formation of lay support groups, and tailoring education and support to the setting and needs of the population. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of 59 Lebanese stakeholders in early breastfeeding. The framework approach was used for analysing data. Health services barriers included suboptimal antenatal preparedness to breastfeeding, detrimental hospital practices, medicalisation of childbirth, health professionals’ knowledge and attitudes towards breastfeeding and aggressive marketing by breast milk substitutes companies. The socio-cultural context was depreciative of breastfeeding. Using the principles of stakeholder analysis, implementation of key policies endorsed by the Lebanese government was found to be hindered by the Ministry of Public Health’s weak governance and commitment, the weak engagement of key international organisations and professional associations compounded by the financial interests of strong stakeholders in the health care system offered by breast milk substitute companies. Key recommendations include the need for further commitment from government, grassroots advocacy to shift the culture towards demanding appropriate early breastfeeding practices, and implementation of several health services related programmes.
Building coherence and cohesion

This book examines the resources that speakers employ when building conversations. These resources contribute to overall coherence and cohesion, which speakers create and maintain interactively as they build on each other’s contributions. The study is cross-linguistic, drawing on parallel corpora of task-oriented dialogues between dyads of native speakers of English and Spanish. The framework of the investigation is the analysis of speech genres and their staging; the analysis shows that each stage in the dialogues exhibits different thematic, rhetorical, and cohesive relations. The main contributions of the book are: a corpus-based characterization of a spoken genre (task-oriented dialogue); the compilation of a body of analysis tools for generic analysis; application of English-based analyses to Spanish and comparison between the two languages; and a study of the characteristics of each generic stage in task-oriented dialogue.
Changing a user’s search experience byincorporating preferences of metadata

Implicit feedback is usually data that comes from users’ clicks, search queries and text highlights. It exists in abun- dance, but it is riddled with much noise and requires advanced algorithms to properly make good use of it. Several findings suggest that factors such as click-through data and reading time could be used to create user behaviour models in order to predict the users’ information need.This Master’s thesis aims to use click-through data and search queries together with heuristics to create a model that prioritises metadata-fields of the documents in order to predict the information need of a user. Simply put, implicit feedback will be used to improve the precision of a search engine. The Master’s thesis was carried out at Findwise AB - a search engine consultancy firm.Documents from the benchmark dataset INEX were indexed into a search engine. Two different heuristics were proposed that increment the priority of different metadata-fields based on the users’ search queries and clicks. It was assumed that the heuristics would be able to change the listing order of the search results. Evaluations were carried out for the two heuristics and the unmodified search engine was used as the baseline for the experiment. The evaluations were based on simulating a user that searches queries and clicks on documents. The queries and documents, with manually tagged relevance, used in the evaluation came from a data set given by INEX. It was expected that listing order would change in a way that was favourable for the user; the top-ranking results would be documents that truly were in the interest of the user.The evaluations revealed that the behaviour of the heuristics and the baseline have erratic behaviours and metrics never converged to any specific mean-relevance. A statistical test revealed that there is no difference in accuracy between the heuristics and the baseline. These results mean that the proposed heuristics do not improve the precision of the search engine and several factors, such as the indexing of too redundant metadata, could have been responsible for this outcome.
AN INNOVATIVE KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT LEARNING CYCLE BY LEGO NXT FOR SCIENCE EDUCATION

The competition for knowledge creation and imparting learning has become more and more intense. In this competitive environment, teachers have to manage their imparting knowledge not only by maintaining quality and creativeness, but also by increasing interaction with their students. Learning-oriented concepts can give teachers a competitive edge for sustainable development. The key to maintaining the knowledge management learning cycle (KMLC) with students is based on a stable sharing system, effective management, expertise participation, social relationship assets, etc. The purpose of this study is to examine the correlation among the antecedents of information education using Lego NXT intelligent robots. Valid questionnaires are received and the research model was tested. The relationships assumed in the conceptual model were analyzed. The findings show a significant positive effect for learning intention and performance.
Robust Printed Devanagari Document Recognition using Hybrid Approach of Shirorekha Chopping, Fuzzy Directional Features and Support Vector Machine

This paper presents a novel methodology for recognizing machine printed Devanagari script document. Shirorekha Chopping based preprocessing is chosen to enable the segmentation of printed text into various characters. Fuzzy Directional Features have shown improvement over commonly used Directional features. A set of 8 directional Fuzzy Directional Features (FDF) for each character is extracted and classified to the appropriate character class. Radial Basis function (RBF) kernel based Support Vector Machines (SVM) model is used for training the various multi font characters and testing the Devanagari document to be recognized. Experiments are conducted for the multi font Devanagari document recognition. The recognition rate of the proposed OCR system with the image document of Devnagari Script has been found to be 97.9% for two fonts Mangal and Krutidev.
Reutilización de los efluentes textiles en Europa.

Cet article est un resume des 40 travaux presentes au I Symposium Europeen sur les Effluents Textiles: reutilisation, recyclage et reduction de la contamination, qui a eu lieu a Terrassa au mois de Septembre de 1988. Sont decrits les differents processus et les techniques qui peut utiliser l'industrie textile pour recycler et reutiliser les effluents. Les strategies a adopter ont ete divisees en deux grands groups: a) mesures dont on recquert une inversion minime; b) mesures qui requerent une certaine inversion.
The National Occupational Respiratory Mortality System: Deployment of SAS/IntrNet ® Application Dispatcher Queries

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has developed the interactive, Web-based, National Occupational Respiratory Mortality System (http://webappa.cdc.gov/ords/norms.html), a warehouse of national mortality data obtained annually since 1968 from the National Center for Health Statistics. Long-term viability of the system required developing efficient algorithms for processing all possible variable combinations and outcomes while minimizing file size and maximizing the processing speed. File size was substantially reduced by representing cause-of-death outcomes as dummy variables (yes vs. no). Nested macro subroutines and macro variables were developed for reuse in similar processes. Examples include a subroutine for calculating numbers of deaths that also functions as the first step in calculating death rates; macro variables that control the processing of any combination of selected demographic criteria; and nested subroutines that process one or more disease selections. By using WHERE clauses with procedure statements, and by indexing prior to merging multiple data sets, we observed shorter processing time. Considering all enhancements, some queries with previous processing times of minutes now often execute in fewer than 10 seconds. NORMS is a useful tool for implementation of a long-term NIOSH strategic goal of dissemination of occupational surveillance data for research purposes and disease prevention.
Significant Symptom Relief with Hepatic Artery Embolization in a VIPoma with Liver Metastases

Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-secreting tumors (VIPomas) cause VIPoma syndrome, which is characterized by watery diarrhea, hypokalemia, and achlorhydria. The treatment options for metastatic VIPomas include somatostatin analogs, cytoreductive surgery, and chemotherapy. We report the case of a 54-year-old male who presented with a peripancreatic mass with multiple hepatic metastases on computed tomography. After resection, the peripancreatic mass was demonstrated pathologically to be a neuroendocrine tumor. Although the patient received systemic chemotherapy and somatostatin analogs for the hepatic metastatic masses, the tumor increased in size. The patient then experienced severe diarrhea, despite treatment with the somatostatin analogs. Elevated serum VIP levels (3,260 pg/mL) and typical symptoms confirmed the diagnosis of VIPoma. We performed hepatic artery embolization (HAE) to reduce the tumor volume and control his symptoms, which led to a very rapid symptomatic response. The patient has remained symptom-free for 18 months with repeated HAE. (Korean J Med 2014;87:363-368)
Surrogate Model Algorithms for Computationally Expensive Black-Box Global Optimization Problems

Surrogate models (also called response surface models or metamodels) have been widely used in the literature to solve continuous black-box global optimization problems that have computationally expensive objective functions. Different surrogate models such as radial basis functions, kriging, multivariate adaptive regression splines, and polynomial regression models have been used in various applications. It is in general however unknown which model will perform best for a given application, and computation time restrictions do not allow trying different models. Thus, in the first part of this thesis, a family of algorithms (SO-M, SO-M-c, SO-M-s) based on using a mixture of surrogate models is developed. The second part of the thesis extends the research in using surrogate models for mixed-integer (algorithm SO-MI) and purely integer (algorithms SO-I) optimization problems. Finally, a real world application problem arising in the agricultural land use management of a watershed is examined (algorithms SO-Ic). The algorithm SO-M uses Dempster-Shafer theory to combine information derived from various model characteristics in order to determine the influence of individual models in the mixture. Extensions of SO-M with respect to the sampling strategy (algorithms SO-M-c and SO-M-s) have been compared in numerical experiments, and it was found that whenever it is a priori unknown which surrogate model should be used, it is advisable to use a mixture model in order to prevent accidentally selecting the worst model. It could be shown that mixture models containing radial basis function interpolants generally work very well, whereas using only polynomial regression models should be avoided. Moreover, algorithms using mixture models often outperform the algorithms that use only the single models that are contributing to the mixture. Although there are many computationally expensive black-box optimization applications that have besides continuous also integer variables, or that have only integer variables, algorithms for solving these types of problems
Transformaciones estructurales y físico-químicas de maíces argentinos en la producción de alimentos obtenidos por procesos de gelatinización-laminación

El objetivo del presente trabajo fue analizar y caracterizar los factores involucrados en las transformaciones estructurales y fisico-quimicas de maices argentinos de tipo colorado duro que determinan la calidad de productos obtenidos por procesos de gelatinizacion-laminacion. Se estudiaron muestras tomadas de distintas etapas del proceso de produccion industrial de copos de maiz comerciales que incluyeron desde la materia prima hasta el producto final. Ademas se analizaron sistemas modelo producidos en el laboratorio para estudiar la influencia de la formulacion en el proceso de coccion. Se genero un mapa completo de los cambios de fase y estado que se produjeron a lo largo del proceso industrial mediante diagramas de estado suplementados y el estudio de la movilidad molecular. Se observo un efecto antiplastificante del agua, detectado al estudiar las propiedades mecanicas y los atributos sensoriales de los copos de maiz en funcion del contenido de agua. Los cambios mas importantes en la textura producidos por la absorcion de agua se observaron en el estado vitreo, indicando que el agua limite de hidratacion es un mejor indicador de estabilidad que la Tg para estos sistemas. La correlacion entre la generacion de pigmentos y la apariencia visual de las muestras fue afectada por los procesos que afectan la transparencia como los cambios de forma y la generacion y destruccion de interfases. Los diagramas de estado y las tecnicas de medicion no destructivas relacionadas a los marcadores quimicos junto al modelado del efecto del agua en las propiedades texturales pueden utilizarse como herramientas para el diseno de procesos, desarrollo de productos y el control de su estabilidad. Se establecieron parametros que podrian emplearse en e control de proceso o en el producto final para garantizar atributos de calidad.
Psychiatry and the Human Condition

Iago Galdston stands for the tradition of the physician who relates his profession and his practice to the humanistic tradition of the West. In these 33 papers, all but one previously published and dating from 1944 to 1972, Galdston demonstrates the many ways in which civilization in general and the history and philosophy of medicine in particular pertain to our times and to his specialty, psychiatry. "The historical perspective," he writes (pp 123-124), "induces humility, inspires hope, broadens one's vision, and teaches one to be earnest in enterprise but not humorless in the face of reality. " Galdston's approach is Dionysian rather than Apollonian. Most of the papers are about general topics like the psychiatry of Paracelsus and "Our One-Generation Culture. " The occasional case histories exemplify not clinical practice but such subjects as deprivation, existentialism, and the irrational in psychodynamics. A substantial portion of the book is devoted to explorations of
Information Technology and the Future Enterprise : New Models for Managers

From the Publisher: This esteemed group of authors came together in the pages within to discuss topics that will motivate the reader to explore and consider the realities and future consequences of Information Systems and Technology. Any student of Information Systems will find this text interesting, informative, and inspiring reading. Information Technology and the Future Enterprise: New Models for Managers is a text that will take students and professors alike into the next era of Information Technology.
APPLICATION OF MLS DATA TO THE ASSESSMENT OF SAFETY-RELATED FEATURES IN THE SURROUNDING AREA OF AUTOMATICALLY DETECTED PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS

Abstract. During the last few years, there has been a huge methodological development regarding the automatic processing of 3D point cloud data acquired by both terrestrial and aerial mobile mapping systems, motivated by the improvement of surveying technologies and hardware performance. This paper presents a methodology that, in a first place, extracts geometric and semantic information regarding the road markings within the surveyed area from Mobile Laser Scanning (MLS) data, and then employs it to isolate street areas where pedestrian crossings are found and, therefore, pedestrians are more likely to cross the road. Then, different safety-related features can be extracted in order to offer information about the adequacy of the pedestrian crossing regarding its safety, which can be displayed in a Geographical Information System (GIS) layer. These features are defined in four different processing modules: Accessibility analysis, traffic lights classification, traffic signs classification, and visibility analysis. The validation of the proposed methodology has been carried out in two different cities in the northwest of Spain, obtaining both quantitative and qualitative results for pedestrian crossing classification and for each processing module of the safety assessment on pedestrian crossing environments.
The Role of Stress in Racial Disparities of Preterm and Low Birth Weight Births in Georgia

SAIDA SHARAPOVA The role of stress in racial disparities of preterm and low birth weight births in Georgia (Under the direction of Richard Rothenberg, MD, MPH) Preterm birth (PTB) and low birth weight (LBW) are the leading causes of infant deaths in Georgia. Georgia PRAMS data (2004-2008) were analyzed for non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Black women with singleton births, using SAS 9.2 survey procedures. Thirteen stressful life events experienced in a year before delivery, socio-demographic, medical and behavioral risks were used as predictors of PTB and LBW. Significant racial disparity in birth outcomes and risks was found. In Whites stressful events were associated with adverse birth outcomes in bivariate logistic regression, but weakened when controlling for other factors (income, education, maternal age, maternal health, alcohol and tobacco use, infant’s gender and birth defects). In Blacks, association between stressful events and adverse birth outcomes adjusted for other risks was stronger. Socio-economic factors and mother’s health status were more significant in predicting birth outcome. Women’s health and SES improvement might increase favorable pregnancy outcomes and reduce racial disparities. INDEX WORDS: preterm birth, low birth weight, stressful events, Georgia, PRAMS, logistic regression, multiple risks, racial disparity THE ROLE OF STRESS IN RACIAL DISPARITIES OF PRETERM AND LOW BIRTH WEIGHT BIRTHS IN GEORGIA
Improvement in risk prediction, early detection and prevention of breast cancer in the NHS Breast Screening Programme and family history clinics: a dual cohort study

1Department of Genomic Medicine, Institute of Human Development, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (MAHSC), Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK 2Institute of Population Health, Centre for Imaging Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK 3The Nightingale Centre and Genesis Prevention Centre, University Hospital of South Manchester, Manchester, UK 4Department of Health Economics, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK 5Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK 6Patient representative
Batch Processing in Hydra using a Scalable Distributed System.

The data available on the Internet is constantly increasing, this increase implies that services like search engines have more data to process. To improve the ability to find the desired data, the searchable data can be pre-processed before being indexed by the search engine. One way to view this process is by sending documents through a series of processing stages, often called a pipeline. These stages compute algorithms on each document and add the resulting data to the document. The resulting data can then be used by the search engine to improve the ability to find the processed document.It is crucial that the time it takes to process documents through a pipeline is minimized. Documents requiring data from all other documents in the set are time consuming and have a negative affect on the throughput in a pipeline. These type of processing algorithms are appropriate to run in a batch, called a batch job.Hydra is a pipeline software developed by Findwise, and does not have a solution for performing these kind of batch job processing stages. This thesis examines and provides a model to perform these kind of batch jobs in the Hydra pipeline. The model uses a scalable distributed system, which is loosely coupled with the Hydra pipeline, to compute the batch job.After implementing the model using Hydra and Hadoop, the implementation is tested and shows that batch jobs can be included in the pipeline without causing bottlenecks in the pipeline. The throughput is maintained compared to stages not using data from all other documents in the set.
Optimization of extraction methods for natural pigment from Lawsonia inermis

Background: Natural extract obtained from the Henna leaves has antimicrobial and antifungal and also acts as a fluorescent compound in the gel electrophoresis. It can be coated in silk, cotton, woolen fabric, and combination. Introduction: Dye from the Henna leaves can be obtained by various methods such as alkaline extraction, ethanolic extraction, hot water extraction, Soxhlet extraction, and enzymatic extraction. It paves the alternative way for the use of synthetic dyes and also reduces the environmental hazards and health hazards caused by synthetic dyes. Materials and Methods: The three methods (hot water, ethanolic, and enzymatic extraction) were used to extract with the optimized parameters. Hot water extraction of the dye carried with the distilled water; ethanolic extraction is carried out by 1:1 ratio of water and ethanol and the enzymatic extraction is done with the help of cellulase enzyme produced by Brevibacillus borstelensis obtained from the guts of termite, collected from the residential area. Based on the concentration the pigment enzymatic extraction efficiency is approximately equal to ethanolic. Results and Discussion: While considering the cost and eco-friendly nature, enzymatic extraction is more efficient for the extraction of dye. Extracted pigment is analyzed by the results from UV-Vis spectrophotometer and Fourier-transform infrared results.