Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Supplementary Appendix: Health Insurance and Consumer Choice

Typically, however, consumers do not bear the cost of their hospitalization directly, as either all or most of the cost is borne by an insurer. Similarly, consumers’ choices of both which hospital to patronize and what care to consume are determined substantially by their insurer through selective contracting and utilization review.1 This is especially true of HMO patients who often pay little or nothing when they consume care and whose utilization is often heavily managed by the HMO.2 Hence, we model the HMO’s choices. We posit a very simple model of HMO behavior. HMOs sell policies to consumers, consisting of a premium, M , and decision rules specifying the hospital to which a consumer will be sent and the quantity of care he will be provided, depending on his characteristics, Ri. We will denote the hospital-choice decision rule by a J-vector of indicator functions χ(Ri), where a 1 in the jth place indicates that a consumer with characteristics Ri is sent to hospital j. We will write the jth function in this vector for the ith consumer in the mnemonically convenient notation, χi→j . The decision rule for quantity of care consumed is q(Ri). We assume that Ri is unobservable ex ante, so that the consumer evaluates the desirability of the HMO by its premium and its average quality, v = ∫ Ri ∑J j=1 χj (Ri) v (q(Ri), Ri, Sj) dFRi , i.e., the average utility across consumers from consuming hospital care. Thus each HMO contract is characterized, for the consumers’ purposes, by a pair, (M, v̄). Different consumers choose different policies since their incomes differ. We are agnostic about the insurance market — by some means, (M, v̄) are chosen for each insurer and consumers are allocated among them.3 The HMO must choose rules to assign consumers to hospitals, χ(Ri) and rules to assign quanConsumers are also influenced by the advice of their doctors, who in turn are also often influenced by incentives from the insurer. We do not model the doctor-patient interaction here. HMOs seek to limit medical expenditures by selectively contracting with health care providers, and most also attempt to control care via financial incentives for doctors. We are assuming that the allocation is independent of consumer characteristics observable to the market participants but unobservable to the econometrician. We have not specified ex ante observable consumer characteristics in our model, however there certainly are such factors that affect M and v, e.g., age and sex. Therefore this analysis should be thought of as conditional on ex ante observables. When we discuss the solution below, it will also be conditional on ex ante observables. We are assuming, therefore, that HMOs can “price discriminate” among consumers with different observables and that they can offer them, either implicitly or explicitly, different decision rules in their benefits.
Going to School the Technological Way: Co-Constructed Classrooms and Student Perceptions of Learning with Technology

There are problems with investigating technology in educational settings. A major issue is the complexity of the interaction among computer use, the social system of the classroom and the instructional activities, and pedagogical goals promoted by teachers. Teacher beliefs and values and their relationship to technology use have been investigated but the perspectives of students have largely been neglected. The research reported is longitudinal and employs a case study methodology. In evaluating widespread implementation of computing technology at a school, 1991–1997, a large corpus of data was collected to document multiple perspectives. Those from four cohorts of students (n = 377) have been tapped in several ways. The article discusses data regarding student response to technology and how the beliefs and actions of students influence the use of technology in classrooms in terms of three themes: context and process for learning, changing expectations for learning, and differential responses to learning.
Responsiveness of three newly established human colorectal cancer cell lines to transforming growth factors beta 1 and beta 2.

We have established 3 new human colorectal cancer cell lines (LS411N, LS513, and LS1034) from clinical biopsy samples. These lines are tumorigenic and grow s.c. as adenocarcinomas in nude mouse xenografts. Specific marker chromosomes are observed in each line. Carcinoembryonic antigen is expressed at the surface of all 3 lines, but with marked quantitative differences. Indeed, less than 10% of the cells from the HT-29 line used as a reference express carcinoembryonic antigen while more than 90% of the LS1034 cells do so. LS513 and LS1034 consistently express HLA class I antigens and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 which are not detected at the surface of the LS411N cells. No expression of HLA class II antigens DR, DQ, and DP has been measured on any of the lines. All three lines grow well in 5% fetal calf serum medium without addition of exogenous growth factors. The LS1034 line has been adapted to growth in serum-free conditions and exhibits increased clonogenicity when cells are seeded in serum-free methylcellulose medium, as compared with medium containing 5% fetal calf serum. The LS513 and LS1034 lines have proved to be of particular interest since they respond to the growth-inhibitory action of TGF-beta 1 and TGF-beta 2 in both liquid and semisolid medium. Both factors were, at pM concentrations, equipotent inhibitors of LS1034 cell proliferation. In contrast, higher concentrations of TGF-beta 1 are inhibitory for proliferation of LS513 cells, whereas TGF-beta 2 has no effect on the growth of these cells in liquid assay. On this basis, using appropriate anti-TGF-beta 1 and anti-TGF-beta 1 IgY, we developed a bioassay for TGF-beta 1 and TGF-beta 2. Two of the three lines have indeed been shown to produce latent-TGF-beta 1 activity.
Altruism and evolutionary pahway. A review on the evolution of altruistic behaviour

Since the brave attempts to bring Biology to the center of the social sciences discourse, by Edward Wilson and Richard Dawkins with their books Sociobiology and The Selfish Gene, more than forty years ago, Biology has gained recognition as one of the, if not the, main area in the search for human behavior understanding. Disciplines such as behavioral genetics, cognitive neuroscience, and evolutionary psychology among others have been brought to the center of the spectacle in the quest for the understanding of the mind and the influence of those areas is growing every day. Within this perspective this article brings attention to how the problem of understanding human altruism could be better comprehended with the addition of the information brought by the biological disciplines involved in the understanding of human behavior.
Language and Leadership

This case looks at an urban high school and the interaction among teachers and administrators regarding the issue of language use at the school. Specifically, the teacher involved challenges heteronormative language. The case is intended to spark critical self-reflection, reflection of institutional norms, analysis of ways in which the status quo gets perpetuated, discussions of teacher and administrator agency and power, awareness of discourse and discourse analysis as well as policy. Included in the analysis and teaching notes is a recommendation for critical self-reflection to occur prior to studying the case. Also recommended prior to reading the case is the assignment of lenses through which students should approach the case (as a student, as a parent, as a teacher, as a school counselor, as an administrator, etc.). Following study of the case, additional analysis and teaching notes are suggested for engaging students in analysis and discussion of language, critical discourse analysis, critical policy analysis, social structure and faculty agency, and democratic education.
Intestinal Targeting of Ganciclovir Release Employing a Novel HEC-PAA Blended Lyomatrix

A hydroxyethylcellulose-poly(acrylic acid) (HEC-PAA) lyomatrix was developed for ganciclovir (GCV) intestine targeting to overcome its undesirable degradation in the stomach. GCV was encapsulated within the HEC-PAA lyomatrix prepared by lyophilization. Conventional tablets were also prepared with identical GCV concentrations in order to compare the GCV release behavior from the lyomatrix and tablets. GCV incorporation (75.12%) was confirmed using FTIR, DSC, and TGA. The effect of GCV loading on the microstructure properties of the lyomatrix was evaluated by SEM, AFM, and BET surface area measurements. The in vitro drug release study showed steady and rapid release profiles from the GCV-loaded lyomatrix compared with the tablet formulation at identical pH values. Minimum GCV release was observed at acidic pH (≤40%) and maximum release occurred at intestinal pH values (≥90%) proving the intestinal targeting ability of the lyomatrix. Kinetic modeling revealed that the GCV-loaded lyomatrix exhibited zero-order release kinetics (n = 1), while the tablets were best described via the Peppas model. Textural analysis highlighted enhanced matrix resilience and rigidity gradient (12.5%, 20 Pa) for the GCV-loaded lyomatrix compared to the pure (7%, 9.5 Pa) HEC-PAA lyomatrix. Bench-top MRI imaging was used to confirm the mechanism of GCV release behavior by monitoring the swelling and erosion rates. The swelling and erosion rate of the tablets was not sufficient to achieve rapid zero-order GCV release as with the lyomatrix. These combined results suggest that the HEC-PAA lyomatrix may be suitable for GCV intestinal targeting after oral administration.
Hostility as a risk factor for mortality and ischemic heart disease in men.

&NA; We report the association between hostility and the incidence of ischemic heart disease (IHD) in 3,750 Finnish men aged 40–59. Hostility was assessed from self‐ratings on irritability, ease of anger‐arousal, and argumentativeness, and four groups were formed from the summed hostility ratings. At baseline, the age‐adjusted relative risk (RR) of the prevalence of angina pectoris between the highest and lowest hostility groups was 2.88 (95% confidence limits (CL), range 1.71–4.77). A three‐year follow‐up yielded 65 deaths and 109 IHD‐incident cases. Hostility did not predict IHD among healthy men, but among men with previous IHD and hypertension (N = 104), the age‐adjusted RR of IHD between the highest and lowest hostility groups was 12.9 (95% CL, 3.92–42.6). After standardization for smoking, obesity, heavy alcohol use, and snoring, the RR was 14.6 (95% CL, 1.94–110). When the degree of dyspnea at baseline was also standardized, the RR was 21.1 (95% CL, 1.59–282). Our data suggest that extreme hostility is not a consequence of symptom severity; rather, hostility is a strong determinant of coronary attack among hypertensive men with IHD.
Replication with state using the self-organizing map neural network

Most architecture of mobile ad hoc network is in the form of decentralized, self-configuring and dynamic topologies. Nodes are mobile in network. The mobility of node in network is common problem in peer-to-peer technology. Object replication is one of the techniques applied in order to share objects in the mobile peer-to-peer environment. Predicting the estimated time for the node to exit is a great opportunity to improve the efficiency of search algorithm. Even if the object owner had departed from network, the shared objects are still available at all times. The goal of the technique is to maintain a number of object replicas over the time before a node exits in decentralized and unstructured environment. That is the reason why there is a need to replicate objects based on the predicted condition of nodes that are about to depart from the network, which is necessary. This paper proposes a modified form of random replication of data within a mobile peer-to-peer network based on predicting condition for a mobile node to replicate the object from it. It uses the unsupervised learning neural networks called the Self-Organizing Map by classifying the input attributes of each node and providing a training set — serving as a basis of identifying the nodes' current state. Existing algorithm shows significant results such as reducing data traffic, load balancing, and decrease query latency. The preliminary results of the proposed scheme had level into the existing algorithm because of its node mobility prediction condition capability as the significant feature to replication. To test the functionality of the technique, a simulation was developed in a multi-agent based modelling environment called the NetLogo and observations are compared with the proposed scheme with the existing algorithm.
Speech in Individuals with Parkinson ’ s Disease with and without Deep Brain Stimulation

Speech is a complex behavior that is coordinated by an integrated network of sensory, muscular, respiratory, and cognitive systems. As a result of the complex nature of speech, symptoms of speech impairment can be quite diverse, reflecting dysfunction in one or more of these systems. Research has found that speech problems are common in Parkinson’s disease (PD), and it has been found that 70% of persons with PD reported speech impairments after the onset of PD. The scientific literature examining speech in PD is vast and the following paragraphs are intended to provide only a brief introduction to this topic as it relates to the current research project.
Features of Program Evaluation in Special Education

Program evaluation provides a powerful tool for meeting the formative and summative evaluation needs of school programs. Although a number of program evaluation approaches for special education programs have been cited in the literature, there is little evidence to show how far school districts have gone beyond compliance monitoring in their efforts to evaluate special education programs. This article presents the results of a national survey of 145 districts on the topic of program evaluation in special education to ascertain whether or not districts have taken a proactive, systematic approach to evaluating their special education programs. A number of features associated with program evaluation were explored, specifically, (a) preplanning, (b) who evaluates special education programs, (c) the focus of evaluation activities, (d) methods for obtaining evaluative information, (e) criteria for judging program effectiveness, and (f) the perceived benefits of the evaluation process.
Seeing Shades

Although appropriate product labeling allows global justice groups, environmental groups, and health-concerned consumers to support and participate in the development of markets for more sustainable or just alternatives to many products, consumers can also be misled by deceptive labeling practices. In analyzing labeling as a technology made up of artifacts, acts, and social organization, this article asks, Can one visually distinguish labels signifying real social and environmental improvements from industry blue/greenwash and typical products? Using the techniques of visual sociology in a grounded-theory-style investigation of a variety of supermarket-available blue/green products, the author identifies five strategies to see shades. She then tests the salience of these visual indicators with a population of co fees from six Pacific Northwest supermarkets. Theoretically, she explores the labeling technology's potential to facilitate conscientious consumption and reshape how social and environmental relationships are represented, regulated, seen, and experienced in a capitalist economy.
The role of the users in handwritten word spotting applications: query fusion and relevance feedback

In this paper we present the importance of including the user in the loop in a handwritten word spotting framework. Several off-the-shelf query fusion and relevance feedback strategies have been tested in the handwritten word spotting context. The increase in terms of precision when the user is included in the loop is assessed using two datasets of historical handwritten documents and a baseline word spotting approach based on a bag-of-visual-words model.
The codes of man and beasts

Abstract Exposing the chimpanzee to language training appears to enhance the animal's ability to perform some kinds of tasks but not others. The abilities that are enhanced involve abstract judgment, as in analogical reasoning, matching proportions of physically unlike exemplars, and completing incomplete (external) representations of action. The abilities that do not improve concern the location of items in space and the inferences one might make in attempting to obtain them. Representing items in space and making inferences about them could be done with an imaginal code, but representing relations and judging the relations between them, as in analogies, requires a more abstract code. Language training cannot instill such an abstract code, but for species that have the code to start with, it may enhance the animal's ability to use it.
CD133 (Prominin) Negative Human Neural Stem Cells Are Clonogenic and Tripotent

Background CD133 (Prominin) is widely used as a marker for the identification and isolation of neural precursor cells from normal brain or tumor tissue. However, the assumption that CD133 is expressed constitutively in neural precursor cells has not been examined. Methodology/Principal Findings In this study, we demonstrate that CD133 and a second marker CD15 are expressed heterogeneously in uniformly undifferentiated human neural stem (NS) cell cultures. After fractionation by flow cytometry, clonogenic tripotent cells are found in populations negative or positive for either marker. We further show that CD133 is down-regulated at the mRNA level in cells lacking CD133 immunoreactivity. Cell cycle profiling reveals that CD133 negative cells largely reside in G1/G0, while CD133 positive cells are predominantly in S, G2, or M phase. A similar pattern is apparent in mouse NS cell lines. Compared to mouse NS cells, however, human NS cell cultures harbour an increased proportion of CD133 negative cells and display a longer doubling time. This may in part reflect a sub-population of slow- or non-cycling cells amongst human NS cells because we find that around 5% of cells do not take up BrdU over a 14-day labelling period. Non-proliferating NS cells remain undifferentiated and at least some of them are capable of re-entry into the cell cycle and subsequent continuous expansion. Conclusions The finding that a significant fraction of clonogenic neural stem cells lack the established markers CD133 and CD15, and that some of these cells may be dormant or slow-cycling, has implications for approaches to identify and isolate neural stem cells and brain cancer stem cells. Our data also suggest the possibility that CD133 may be specifically down-regulated during G0/G1, and this should be considered when this marker is used to identify and isolate other tissue and cancer stem cells.
Changes in maturation‐promoting activity in the cytoplasm of pig oocytes throughout maturation

Maturation‐promoting factor (MPF) was examined in maturing pig oocytes by electrofusing them with germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes. Oocytes containing high levels of MPF (MI or MII stages) induced the breakdown of the GV introduced by fusion and the formation of the metaphase plate in 1 hr. A similar effect was seen when two or three GV oocytes were fused with a MII oocyte and then incubated for 1 hr in the presence of cycloheximide (a specific protein synthesis inhibitor), indicating that high levels of preformed MPF are present at the metaphase stage. During the maturation in vitro of cumulus‐enclosed oocytes, a first sharp rise in MPF was seen between 26 and 29 hr of culture (MI stage); MPF declined after 2 hr (AI‐TI stages) and again reached high levels at 35 hr, where it remained for the rest of maturation. Denuded oocytes showed a similar behavior, but MPF appeared 9 hr earlier and the rise, due to the asynchronous maturation of these oocytes, was not as sharp as in cumulus enclosed oocytes. Cycloheximide was used to study protein synthesis requirements for oocyte maturation. Intact GV were observed after 44 hr of culture when cycloheximide was added at 26 hr or earlier, and chromosome decondensation and pronuclear formation were observed when the drug was added at 32 hr. Transcriptional requirements were investigated by treating the oocytes with α‐amanitin, an RNA polymerase inhibitor. This drug could completely inhibit the maturation of cumulus‐enclosed oocytes, but this was a somatic cell‐mediated effect since denuded oocytes were insensitive to this treatment. Enucleated oocytes exhibited an increase in MPF after 24 hr of culture, and low levels of this factor were seen after 40 h of maturation. These data indicate that both rises in MPF require active protein synthesis, whereas transcription is not necessary for the resumption of meiotic cycle. Nuclear activity may be required for the second rise in MPF.
Study of Collaborative Filtering Recommendation Algorithm - Scalability Issue

Recommender systems provide an important response to the information overload problem as it presents users more practical and personalized information services. Collaborative Filtering technique is the most successful in the recommender systems field. Collaborative filtering creates suggestions for users based on their neighbors preferences. But it suffers from poor accuracy, scalability and cold start problems. The tremendous growth of the number of customers and products in recent years poses some key challenges for recommender systems in which high quality recommendations are required and more recommendations per second for millions of customers and products need to be performed. Thus, the enhancement of scalability and efficiency of collaborative filtering (CF) algorithms become progressively more important and difficult. This paper focuses on study of different collaborative filtering algorithms taking into consideration the scalability issue. The different algorithms studied are cluster based, item based and context based.
Constrained agency? Re-evaluating the geographies of labour

This article critically evaluates the concept of labour agency. First, we briefly reprise structure/agency debates in human geography in order to distil how agency is best conceived. Second, we propose a more discerning approach to labour agency that unpacks its many spatial and temporal dimensions. Third, we develop a ‘re-embedded’ notion of labour agency and identify global production networks, the state, the community and labour market intermediaries as key arenas for consideration. The paper argues that worker strategies must always be assessed in relation to these wider social relations, suggesting a constrained, variegated notion of labour agency.
Utilizing physiological measures to facilitate phobia treatment with individuals with autism and intellectual disability: A case study

Despite the conceptualization of phobic fear as a multi-factorial response, the measurement and treatment of phobias is often not comprehensive. The extant literature on the treatment of phobias for individuals with intellectual disabilities has exclusively focused on indices of behavioral avoidance. The present study demonstrates the treatment of behavioral avoidance and physiological reactivity in a child diagnosed with autism, intellectual disability, and a dog phobia. The results indicate that the individual often experienced physiological reactivity in the presence of the feared stimulus despite engaging in behavioral approach. Treatment of both behavioral avoidance and physiological reactivity resulted in successful generalization of treatment effects across three additional dogs and maintenance of treatment effects during a six-month follow-up assessment. Implications for examining multiple aspects of the anxious response when treating children with intellectual disabilities and severe language delays are discussed. Copyright # 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.