Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of Marital Status and Employment Status on Long-Term Adherence with Continuous Positive Airway Pressure in Sleep Apnea Patients

Background Long-term adherence is a major issue in patients receiving home continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy for obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). In a multicenter prospective cohort (the Institut de Recherche en Santé Respiratoire des Pays de la Loire [IRSR] sleep cohort) of consecutive OSAHS patients in whom CPAP had been prescribed for at least 90 days, we studied the impact on long-term treatment adherence of socioeconomic factors, patients and disease characteristics prior to CPAP initiation. Methods and Principal Findings Among 1,141 patients in whom CPAP had been prescribed for an average of 504±251 days (range: 91 to 1035), 674 (59%) were adherent with a mean daily use of CPAP≥4 h (mean: 6.42±1.35 h). Stepwise regression analysis identified 4 independent factors of CPAP adherence including apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) (OR: 1.549, 95%CI 1.163 to 2.062 for AHI≥30 vs. AHI<30; p = 0.003), body mass index (BMI) (OR: 1.786, 95%CI 1.131 to 2.822 for BMI≥25 and <30 kg/m2, p = 0.01; OR: 1.768, 95%CI 1.145–2.731 for BMI≥30 kg/m2, p = 0.01 vs. BMI<25 kg/m2), employment status (OR: 1.414, 95%CI 1.097–1.821 for retired vs. employed; p = 0.007) and marital status (OR: 1.482, 95%CI 1.088–2.019 for married or living as a couple vs. living alone; p = 0.01). Age, gender, Epworth sleepiness scale, depressive syndrome, associated cardiovascular morbidities, educational attainment and occupation category did not influence CPAP adherence. Conclusions Marital status and employment status are independent factors of CPAP adherence in addition to BMI and disease severity. Patients living alone and/or working patients are at greater risk of non-adherence, whereas adherence is higher in married and retired patients. These findings suggest that the social context of daily life should be taken into account in risk screening for CPAP non-adherence. Future interventional studies targeting at-risk patients should be designed to address social motivating factors and work-related barriers to CPAP adherence.
PROGRAM COSTS FOR INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT ACCOUNTS / LOS COSTOS DE UN PROGRAMA DE CUENTAS DE AHORRO BONIFICADO / LES COÛTS D'UN PROGRAMME DE COMPTES DE DÉVELOPPEMENT INDIVIDUEL

What does it cost a non-profit community organization to run a "high-touch" pro gram for Individual Development Accounts (IDAs)? This paper presents final unit cost estimates (updating Schreiner 2002a and 2000a) for the Community Action Pro ject of Tulsa County A participant-month of IDA services had program costs of about $61 (excluding matches). With net monthly IDA savings of about $20 per participant, $1 saved in an IDA cost about $3. Benefits were not measured, so it is not known whether they exceed costs. In any case, knowledge of costs helps inform IDA policy. While not precluding complementary "high-touch", targeted, time-limited, communi ty-based IDA programs with state, local, or private funding to provide financial edu cation and other supports, it seems likely that an inclusive, permanent IDA program would require a high-tech, "low-touch" basic design run by low-cost asset managers with federal funding. LOS COSTOS DE UN PROGRAMA DE CUENTAS DE AHORRO BONIFICADO cQue cuesta una organization sin fines de lucro administrar un programa de Cuentas de Ahorro Bonificado (CABs) con mucho servicio personalizado? Este documento presenta costos estimados por unidad de un proyecto de CABs en Tulsa, Oklahoma, actualizando la informacion en Schreiner 2002a and 2000a. Pro veer CABs por un mes a un participante costo mas o menos $61 (sin contar la bonificacion). Dado que el participante tfpico en un mes promedio tuvo ahorros netos en su CAB de mas o menos $20, ahorrar $1 en un CAB costo aproximada mente $3. No se intento medir los beneficios de los CABs, por lo tanto no se sabe si los beneficios excedieron los costos. En todos casos, el conocimiento de costos mejora la formulacidn de la politica de CABs. En el futuro, es posible que haya algunas programas de corto plazo, con mucho servicio personalizado, apuntado a los mas pobres, y organizado por organizaciones sin fines de lucro financiados por el estado, la localidad, o de un donante privado dispuesto a sufragar los gastos de proveer capacitacion financiera y otras formas de apoyo personalizado. Sin embargo, es mas probable que una politica de CABs permanente y que incluye todo el mundo requerina un diseno basico sin muchos servicios personalizados, aprovechando de la alta tecnologfa para reducir costos, y organizado por empre sas profesionales de fondos de inversion, con las bonificaciones financiadas por el gobierno federal.
Solving multi-mode resource-constrained project scheduling problem using two multi objective evolutionary algorithms

The aim of this research is to present a new mathematical model for a multi-mode resource-constrained project scheduling problem (MRCPSP) with discounted cash flows. The objective is to minimize the project makespan and maximize the net present value (NPV), simultaneously, which are the two common objectives of this problem in the literature. Two evolutionary algorithms, NSGA-II and MOPSO are applied to find the set of Pareto solutions for this bi-objective scheduling problem. Furthermore, a new policy is proposed to have feasible solutions for both algorithms. To show the superiority and applicability of the algorithms, different metrics are applied and the graphical comparisons are also considered. Finally, the computational results illustrate the superior performance of the NSGA-II algorithm with regard to the proposed metrics. Key words: Resource-constraint, multi-mode project scheduling, net present value, makespan, evolutionary multi objective optimization.
Community empowerment is the next transport reform in New Zealand

New Zealand has embraced the concepts of the funder and provider being split, that service delivering should be subject to open competition and that there should be minimal political interference in the decision making process. However, New Zealand continues to cling to a centralised system of funding using a limited benefit cost analysis approach to prioritise individual projects on a national basis. This centralised system cannot deal with complex corridor or urban network problems as it does not allow for the adoption of a package of measures. The New Zealand Government has legislated for the introduction of a National Land Transport Strategy as a national guide to current regional strategies. However, the present funding system does not ensure the implementation of these strategies. The next reform of land transport management in New Zealand needs to decentralise decision making to communities of interest. These communities would have a community agreed land transport strategy as their policy framework. They would bid for a position of national funding as a block sum to implement their strategies. Additional funding would come from the community of interest through transport related charges (parking, local petrol tax, local registration charges, tolls) and residential rates. The communities of interest could be a combination of current regions, a single region or parts of a region. This would be a matter for determination based on criteria such as ability to sustain sufficient locally derived income.
Three Axis Aircraft Autopilot Control Using Genetic Algorithms : An Experimental Study

The behavior of an aircraft can be described with a set of non-linear differential equations by assuming six degrees of freedom (3 for linear motions and 3 for angular motions) about x, y & z axis. All the aircrafts have a PID controller for Autopilot control system for pitch, yaw and roll. The PID [6, 12] controllers are associated with their PID gains which can either be tuned manually or by optimized methods like genetic algorithms to get better control and enhancement in the performance. Genetic Algorithms (GAs) are the powerful tool in the field of global optimization to various problems. Genetic algorithms are the models of machine learning which are based on the process of natural evolution. Here genetic algorithms are successfully applied for three axis autopilot (Pitch, Roll and Yaw) control of an aircraft using MATLAB simulation for tuning of PID controller and thus optimized values of PID gains for the controller are derived. Further the autopilot system has been validated using FlightGear software [1]. In this software the PID gains evaluated using genetic algorithms have been fed as an input in the autopilot program for the Boeing 747-400 (the model used here for autopilot system is Boeing 747-400).
Are Quality Labels a Real Marketing Advantage?

Abstract Quality constitutes the main topic of numerous seminars. It is top priority for the organization of research groups and the reorganization of structures within firms. The adoption of different quality assurance schemes such as the Protected Denomination of Origin/Geographical Indication (PDO/PGI) by the EU has been a response to the growing demand for certified quality food products among the EU consumers. Several useful benefits have been claimed for these schemes, including their value as marketing advantages (Walley et al., 1999). Given that influencing the highly motivated quality-conscious consumer is a crucial objective of any state or private quality assurance policy, the present paper tries to offer some insights into the effectiveness of the PDO scheme and its acceptance by the consumer. The use of Conjoint Analysis in exploring Greek consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for PDO olive oil from the area of Peza, Crete, has been selected as one of the most appropriate approaches to that target. This paper opens with a brief theoretical background presentation on the concepts of food quality and labeling. It proceeds with a detailed description of the research methodology, focusing on the WTP measurement method through the use of Conjoint Analysis. Finally, it concludes with the discussion of the findings, the limitations of the survey and the suggested research extensions.
Eigenbrains: The free vibrational modes of the brain as a new representation for EEG

We present a new transform for EEG signals whose basis functions are well suited to represent the large-scale dynamics associated with event related potentials. The method involves instantiating an approximate model of the electrical properties of the brain as a conductor medium and then studying the free vibrational modes of the model. These form a set of basis functions, which we call eigenbrains, that can be used to meaningfully re-represent the brain's electrical activity. Eigenbrains are compared to principal component analysis and independent component analysis to highlight differences and similarities.
Modeling the Release Kinetics of Poorly Water-Soluble Drug Molecules from Liposomal Nanocarriers

Liposomes are frequently used as pharmaceutical nanocarriers to deliver poorly water-soluble drugs such as temoporfin, cyclosporine A, amphotericin B, and paclitaxel to their target site. Optimal drug delivery depends on understanding the release kinetics of the drug molecules from the host liposomes during the journey to the target site and at the target site. Transfer of drugs in model systems consisting of donor liposomes and acceptor liposomes is known from experimental work to typically exhibit a first-order kinetics with a simple exponential behavior. In some cases, a fast component in the initial transfer is present, in other cases the transfer is sigmoidal. We present and analyze a theoretical model for the transfer that accounts for two physical mechanisms, collisions between liposomes and diffusion of the drug molecules through the aqueous phase. Starting with the detailed distribution of drug molecules among the individual liposomes, we specify the conditions that lead to an apparent first-order kinetic behavior. We also discuss possible implications on the transfer kinetics of (1) high drug loading of donor liposomes, (2) attractive interactions between drug molecules within the liposomes, and (3) slow transfer of drugs between the inner and outer leaflets of the liposomes.
A Formal Ontology Framework to Represent Norm Dynamics

entities are not instantiated as individuals, but they represent other entities whatsoever. For example, a geometrical shape may represent a natural shape, a picture may represent an object, a conceptual space represents ordered sets of qualities (color, texture) wrt cognitive organization, etc. A plan represents an activity in the sense that it provides a method to describe, check, and perform activities. In this broad sense, a plan characterises also the intentional structure underlying types of activities (occurred, possible, desired, imagined, etc.). In fact, an activity may consist of intervention, decision, and modal phases. Decisions and modalities are the functional aspects of activities, much as design and project are the functional aspect of artifacts (“made by skill”). Therefore (intentional) activities could be named artiacts, say artificial events (“performed by skill”). 3.2 Plans vs. activity types Can one commit to activity types only, and exclude plans from the ontology? There are two problems that prevent such a solution in practice: firstly, there is only a partial correspondence between phases o f activities and steps of plans (cf. Pisanelli, Gangemi, Steve, 2000), secondly, plans are often poorly characterised (e.g. maxims, sayings, approximate indications). The main correspondence is that between temporal sequences of phases and abstract sequences of steps. But even here there can be differences. In many cases a decision or modal step does not follow an intervention step in the same way the corresponding phases occur: • With reference to an alternative decision step, once a decision is taken, only one activity is performed, while two or more possibilities persist in the plan. • With reference to a paralle l step, there is no corresponding actitivy. • With reference to modality steps (necessity, obligations, competences, desires, orders, etc.), these do not correspond to activities that can be easily figured out within the temporal setting of the procedure. By the way, the case of normative obligation is quite clear: an agent E is obliged to follow a certain plan P when (s)he participates to a certain activity A. In this case, the modal activity M consisting of E’s cognitive commitment to conform his/her actions to P enters when (and endures until) E participates in A. • Some plans only provide indications concerning participants to an activity and modalities that are relevant to the conformity conditions of represented activities. This is the case of regulations, norms, contracts, etc. These plans may “inherit” their temporal planning from other plans that describe the same activities. As a matter of fact, most existing legal ontologies distinguish between normative and other kinds of plans (see § 3.4). A detailed axiomatization for plans is an ongoing research. 3.2 The APE Template The APE (Activity-Plan-Entity) template (Fig. 1) that we reused in this application is a fragment of the ontologies mentioned so far. It has been already used by us for modelling clinical guidelines standards (Pisanelli, Gangemi, Steve, 2000).
IGF-independent Mechanisms Colony Formation of Colorectal Cancer Cells by Insulin-like Growth Factor ( IGF )-binding Protein-4 Inhibits

Effects of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-4 (IGFBP-4) on proliferation, colony formation, and cell migration were assessed in IGFsensitive and -insensitive colorectal cancer cell lines. In IGF-insensitive Isreco-1 cells, overexpression of IGFBP-4 reduced colony formation but not cell proliferation and migration, whereas exogenous IGF-II had no effect. In IGF-dependent LS1034 cells, IGFBP-4 inhibited all parameters of growth tested, whereas IGF-II partially restored reduced proliferation and cell migration only. In Isreco-2 cells, which lack endogenous IGF expression but are IGF sensitive, colony formation was also reduced by IGFBP-4. Therefore, specific parameters of malignant progression of colon carcinoma cells are distinctly affected by IGF-dependent and IGFindependent effects of IGFBP-4.
Graphical Password: Comprehensive Study of the Usability Features of the Recognition Base Graphical Password Methods

Graphical passwords are an alternative authentication method to alphanumeric passwords in which users click on images to authenticate themselves rather than type alphanumeric strings. This research aims to study the usability features of the recognition base graphical password methods available and extract the usability features of the existing methods. In this paper we study the recognition base graphical password type with the available methods from the usability point of view according to previous studies and surveys. Then we match the usability features (General usability features, existing usability features for existing graphical password methods, and ISO usability features) to the existing graphical password methods and make a comparison study between these methods and the usability features. We have found that there is no method has the most important usability features. Thus, by completing this study a set of usability features is suggested to be in one graphical password system. This set includes the easy of use, memorize, creation, learning and satisfaction. Moreover, this work proposes to build a new system of graphical password system that provides promising usability features.
Constitutive EGFR Signaling in Oligodendrocyte Progenitors Leads to Diffuse Hyperplasia in Postnatal White Matter

Gliogenesis requires the careful orchestration of migration, differentiation, and proliferation of progenitors. Signaling through the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has been implicated in regulating these processes in a variety of cell types, including neural progenitors. By retroviral infection, we constitutively expressed an EGFR-GFP fusion protein in white matter glial progenitors at postnatal day 3 of the rat forebrain in vivo and analyzed the development of these cells over the subsequent 15 weeks. EGFR-GFP+ cells remained proliferative and migratory, gradually populating the brains ipsilateral and contralateral to the side of viral infection, but never differentiated into mature glia. The accumulation of these cells doubled the total cell density in white matter and led to a 10-fold increase in the abundance of glial progenitors, giving rise to a progenitor “hyperplasia. ” The marker profile of infected cells, NG2+, olig2+, PDGFR-α+, nestin+, GFAP−, and CC1−, indicated a close resemblance to oligodendrocyte progenitors. Positive immunostaining for phosphorylated EGFR colocalized with punctate accumulation of EGFR-GFP, indicating that a subset of receptors was engaged in active signaling. Furthermore, EGF was required to observe phospho-tyrosine EGFR immunostaining of glial progenitors in culture. These observations suggest that constitutive EGFR expression can inhibit glial differentiation, but requires ligand as well.
Current state of chronic wound care in Kazakhstan: focus on topical treatments

Background — The presence of chronic hard-to-heal wounds significantly affects patients' quality of life causing pain, discomfort, decrease of mobility and consequently leads to social isolation and depression. This type of wound is more prevalent among older population. It has been estimated that up to 1-2% of the world population have this condition. The treatment of hard-to-heal wounds is expensive and long-term process, and, stresses healthcare systems of every country. Unfortunately, limited information is available about the situation with chronic wounds in Kazakhstan as the statistical data on such patients is not monitored and not registered in this country. Methods — The search was conducted by using available electronic sources, including Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of Sciences, Medline, Wiley Online Library, and Cochrane Library databases as well as hard copy versions of peer-reviewed publications in Russian, Kazakh, and English languages. Results — We have identified and analyzed current situation with wound care in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Research has demonstrated a variety of types of treatments utilized in the country, particularly the treatment of the diabetic foot.It also indicates the lack of statistics on wound care. Conclusions — The review highlights the mechanisms of wound healing process, methods for wound care, and encompasses the information available on wound healing in Republic of Kazakhstan. The article emphasizes the necessity of establishing the systemic monitoring of wound care and formation of electronic database. Apart from that, the importance of developing and manufacturing of domestic novel wound treatments have been also stressed out.
Predictive Gaze Cues and Personality Judgments

Although following another person's gaze is essential in fluent social interactions, the reflexive nature of this gaze-cuing effect means that gaze can be used to deceive. In a gaze-cuing procedure, participants were presented with several faces that looked to the left or right. Some faces always looked to the target (predictive-valid), some never looked to the target (predictive-invalid), and others looked toward and away from the target in equal proportions (nonpredictive). The standard gaze-cuing effects appeared to be unaffected by these contingencies. Nevertheless, participants tended to choose the predictive-valid faces as appearing more trustworthy than the predictive-invalid faces. This effect was negatively related to scores on a scale assessing autistic-like traits. Further, we present tentative evidence that the “deceptive” faces were encoded more strongly in memory than the “cooperative” faces. These data demonstrate the important interactions among attention, gaze perception, facial identity recognition, and personality judgments.
Computational Prediction of MicroRNAs from Chromosome no. 3 & 4 of Plasmodium vivax

MicroRNAs (MiRNA’s) are ~22nt long; one of the types of noncoding RNA has an important role in the gene regulation network, either by termination of the translation procedure or sometimes activating the gene, actively or passively. Host-Parasite relationship largely depends on the gene regulatory network as the parasite has to survive in the host cell against the immune response of the host. So miRNA may have an important role in the host parasite relationship. The malarial parasite needs to survive in the human host cell during its life cycle. As it is well known to us today that the gene regulatory network is largely controlled by the non coding miRNA, here we are interested to find out potential miRNA in the parasite genome computationally. We have identified few putative miRNA genes in the chromosome 3 & 4 of Plasmodium vivax which need to be validated by experimental procedures.
Progressive 3D reconstruction of unknown objects using one eye-in-hand camera

This paper presents a complete 3D-reconstruction method optimized for online object modeling in the context of object grasping by a robot hand. The proposed solution is based on images captured by an eye-in-hand camera mounted on the robot arm and is an original combination of classical but simplified reconstruction methods. The different techniques used form a process that offers fast, progressive and reactive reconstruction of the object.
Public Services and Market Mechanisms: Competition, Contracting and the New Public Management

Acknowledgements - Preface - PART 1: THE STATE AND THE MARKET - The Traditional Model of Public Service Provision - The Market Alternative - The Political Dynamics of Marketisation - PART 2: THE MARKET IN ACTION - Charging for Public Services - Contracts and Competition - Internal Markets - Agencies and Devolved Control - PART 3: THE IMPACT OF MARKETISATION - Organisation and Accountability - Efficiency and Quality - Conclusion