Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Income and the use of health care: an empirical study of Egypt and Lebanon

Abstract In middle-income Arab countries such as Egypt and Lebanon, income-associated equity in health care remains an elusive policy objective in part due to a relatively high reliance on out-of-pocket payments in financing care. This article examines the effect of income on the use of outpatient and inpatient health care services in Egypt and Lebanon using econometric analysis of cross-sectional data from the World Health Organization. In light of noticeable differences in income and public financing arrangements, these two countries serve as interesting case studies. Multivariate regression results suggest that Egyptian respondents were more likely to use health services than their Lebanese counterparts, holding all else constant, and that this effect was particularly evident for outpatient care. A higher income and insurance increased the likelihood of outpatient use more so than inpatient use, with these effects more pronounced in Lebanon. Overall, lower-income groups tended to report having worse health levels and paying more out-of-pocket on health care as a share of income than did higher-income groups. At the same time, these socioeconomic disparities in health appeared to be greater in Lebanon than in Egypt. Economic barriers to the use of health services are discussed within the context of health financing policy reforms aimed at improving equity in access to care in countries such as Egypt and Lebanon.
Of Information Systems School of Information Systems 11-2014 On Joint Modeling of Topical Communities and Personal Interest in Microblogs

In this paper, we propose the Topical Communities and Personal Interest (TCPI) model for simultaneously modeling topics, topical communities, and users’ topical interests in microblogging data. TCPI considers different topical communities while differentiating users’ personal topical interests from those of topical communities, and learning the dependence of each user on the affiliated communities to generate content. This makes TCPI different from existing models that either do not consider the existence of multiple topical communities, or do not differentiate between personal and community’s topical interests. Our experiments on two Twitter datasets show that TCPI can effectively mine the representative topics for each topical community. We also demonstrate that TCPI significantly outperforms other state-of-the-art topic models in the modeling tweet generation task.
Computed tomography imaging-based normative orbital measurement in Indian population

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate normal orbital structures with nonenhanced computed tomography (NCCT) and determine normative data for the Indian population. Methods: CT images of the orbits of 100 patients were retrospectively reviewed on a work station to record the normative data of the orbits. Clinical details of all patients were reviewed to ensure that they did not have ocular/orbital diseases. Both axial and coronal images were utilized to record the data. Results: The mean age of the population evaluated was 34.07 years, with male to female ratio of 1.77. The average orbital index for the left orbit was 97 and for the right side was 103. The mean thickness of left inferior rectus, lateral rectus, medial rectus, and the superior rectus was 3.36 mm, 3.14 mm, 3.80 mm, and 3.75 mm, respectively. The right inferior rectus, lateral rectus, medial rectus, and the superior rectus measured 3.46 mm, 3.14 mm, 3.83 mm, and 3.78 mm, respectively. The optic nerve sheath complex diameter varied between 3.05 mm and 7.17 mm for the left eye and 3.05 mm and 7.0 mm for the right eye. Conclusion: The study provides normative data on various orbital structures in an Indian population. This data is likely to be useful for diagnosing various orbital pathologies and in planning surgical orbital procedures.
Genetic Programming Theory and Practice V (Genetic and Evolutionary Computation)

Genetic Programming Theory and Practice V was developed from the fifth workshop at the University of Michigans Center for the Study of Complex Systems to facilitate the exchange of ideas and information related to the rapidly advancing field of Genetic Programming (GP). Contributions from the foremost international researchers and practitioners in the GP arena examine the similarities and differences between theoretical and empirical results on real-world problems. The text explores the synergy between theory and practice, producing a comprehensive view of the state of the art in GP application. The work covers applications of GP to a wide variety of domains, including bioinformatics, symbolic regression for system modeling, financial modeling, circuit design and robot controllers. This volume is a unique and indispensable tool for academics, researchers and industry professionals involved in GP, evolutionary computation, machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Bridge-scour analysis on Cuchillo Negro Creek at the Interstate 25 crossing near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico

A sediment-transport model that simulates channel change was applied to a reach of Cuchillo Negro Creek at the Interstate 25 crossing near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. A 5,340-foot reach extending upstream and downstream from the crossing was modeled using the Bridge-Stream Tube model for Alluvial River Simulation (BRI-STARS). The Federal Highway Administration has recommended that simulations of bed scour be based on extreme events such as the 500-year peak discharge. The 100-year peak discharge was estimated to be 6,290 cubic feet per second. The 500-year peak discharge was estimated to be 10,700 cubic feet per second for the Cuchillo Negro Creek site. The regional maximum-peak discharge was estimated to be 81,700 cubic feet per second, based on maximum-peak discharge data for 259 streamflow-gaging stations in New Mexico. A bed-material sample was collected at the bed surface and at 13 feet below the bed surface, which was a depth greater than the anticipated scour depth. The median diameter was 4.6 millimeters at the bed surface and 9.0 millimeters 13 feet below the bed surface. Bed-material particle-size distribution was determined for six size classes ranging from 1 to 30 millimeters. Bed-material discharge was estimated at 18,770 tons per day using hydraulic properties, water temperature, and Yang's equation. Channel-change simulations showed a maximum channel fill of 0.13 foot for a 500-year flood. Maximum contraction and channel scour of 1.38 feet were simulated for the regional maximum-peak discharge flood. Maximum total scour was simulated to be 5.72 feet for the 500- year flood and 8.74 feet for the regional maximum-peak discharge flood. The simulations showed about 10 feet of pile freeboard remaining after passage of the 500-year flood. Historically, degradation has occurred at the bridges and the simulations of present channel conditions did not show the prior degradation. A hypothesis that the channel thalweg was not at equilibrium during the prior gravel mining was evaluated. Representation of present channel conditions was modified to simulate an excavation extending from about 500 feet below the downstream bridge to the end of the study reach. Simulations of the 500-year flood showed that degradation occurs at the upstream end of the hypothetical gravel mining area. The simulations showed a degradation at the peak discharge and a continuation of degradation throughout the flow event. The simulations used to evaluate this hypothesis show that the channel thalweg was not at equilibrium during the gravel mining and that bed material was subject to transport into the excavated area.
FBN-1, a fibrillin-related protein, is required for resistance of the epidermis to mechanical deformation during C. elegans embryogenesis

During development, biomechanical forces contour the body and provide shape to internal organs. Using genetic and molecular approaches in combination with a FRET-based tension sensor, we characterized a pulling force exerted by the elongating pharynx (foregut) on the anterior epidermis during C. elegans embryogenesis. Resistance of the epidermis to this force and to actomyosin-based circumferential constricting forces is mediated by FBN-1, a ZP domain protein related to vertebrate fibrillins. fbn-1 was required specifically within the epidermis and FBN-1 was expressed in epidermal cells and secreted to the apical surface as a putative component of the embryonic sheath. Tiling array studies indicated that fbn-1 mRNA processing requires the conserved alternative splicing factor MEC-8/RBPMS. The conserved SYM-3/FAM102A and SYM-4/WDR44 proteins, which are linked to protein trafficking, function as additional components of this network. Our studies demonstrate the importance of the apical extracellular matrix in preventing mechanical deformation of the epidermis during development. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.06565. 001
Further Studies on Oceanic Biogeochemistry and Carbon Cycling

This TM consists of two chapters. Chapter I describes the development of a coupled, one-dimensional biogeochemical model using turbulence closure mixed layer (TCMLM) dynamics. The model is applied to the Sargasso Sea at the BATS (Bermuda Atlantic Time Series) site and the results are compared with a previous model study in the same region described in NASNTP-2001-209991. The use of the TCMLM contributed to some improvements in the model simulation of chlorophyll, PAR, nitrate, phosphate, and oxygen, but most importantly, the current model achieved good agreement with the data with much more realistic background eddy diffusivity. However, off-line calculations of horizontal transport of biogeochemical properties revealed that one-dimensional dynamics can only provide a limited assessment of the nutrient and carbon balances at BATS. Future studies in the BATS region will require comprehensive three-dimensional field studies, combined with three-dimensional eddy resolving numerical experiments, to adequately quantify the impact of the local and remote forcing on ecosystem dynamics and carbon cycling. Chapter II addresses the sensitivity of global sea-air CO, flux estimates to wind speed, temperature, and salinity. Sensitivity analyses of sea-air CO, flux to wind speed climatologies, gas transfer algorithms, SSS and SST were conducted for the global oceans and regional domains. Large uncertainties in the global sea-air flux are identified, primarily due to the different gas transfer algorithms used. The sensitivity of the sea-air flux to SST and SSS is similar in magnitude to the effect of using different wind climatologies. Globally, the mean ocean uptake of CO, changes by 5 to 16%, depending upon the combination of SST and SSS used.
Traits d'histoire de vie et démographie face aux changements climatiques en milieu alpin : l’exemple de la marmotte alpine (Marmota marmota)

Comprendre l'impact des changements globaux sur la dynamique des populations animales represente un enjeu societal majeur pour favoriser le maintien de la biodiversite. Le milieu de montagne permet de travailler sur de petites communautes d'herbivores a forte valeur patrimoniale, cynegetique ou emblematique. Il s'agit en effet d'un milieu en pleine mutation depuis plusieurs decennies a cause de la deprise agricole et du developpement recent de l'ecotourisme et des activites humaines recreatives. Ces changements ont conduit a l'amenagement et a la modification de nombreux habitats. Par ailleurs, le milieu montagnard est fortement saisonnier et semble particulierement sensible au changement global actuel. L'effet des changements climatiques recents reste pourtant encore mal evalue. L'augmentation de la temperature moyenne des 30 dernieres annees est susceptible de modifier la dynamique des ressources disponibles pour les herbivores, mais aussi la chronologie d'acces a ces ressources, notamment a travers la diminution du couvert neigeux en hiver et sa fonte acceleree au printemps. L'objectif de cette these est donc d'evaluer l'effet des variables climatiques locales et globales sur les traits d'histoire de vie des herbivores de montagne, principalement a travers l'exemple de la marmotte alpine (Marmota marmota), un mammifere social et hibernant. Ce travail a permis de mieux apprehender les mecanismes d'action du climat sur la demographie des especes de montagne, mais aussi de mettre en evidence le declin continu d'une population de marmottes Alpines, dans les Alpes francaises, depuis les annees 1990. Il pourrait ainsi servir de base pour etablir les regles de gestion de cette espece emblematique, et maintenir une forte biodiversite dans les ecosystemes de montagne
Top Incomes in the United Kingdom Over the Twentieth Century

In 1909 the United Kingdom Government introduced â€œsuper-taxâ€ , which was an additional income tax levied on top incomes. This provided information on the distribution of total incomes that had not previously been available on a regular basis, since under the ordinary income tax, the authorities did not know the total income of individuals, which could be the subject of several separate assessments. Super-tax remained in existence until 1972, by which time other income tax sources (the Survey of Personal Incomes) were in place to allow the series to be continued. The aim of this paper is to examine what can be said from the published super-tax statistics about the evolution of top incomes in the United Kingdom. The paper spells out the limitations of the super-tax information, and the problems in establishing control totals for total population and total income, but argues that it provides a unique source of evidence about the distribution of top incomes covering virtually the whole of the twentieth century. The resulting picture, if blurred in places, allows us to draw broad conclusions about developments over the twentieth century. There is no longer the extent of inequality to be found before the First World War, with the Upper Ten Thousand receiving nearly a tenth of total income. The magnitude of the change may be need to be qualified in the light of fiscal re-arrangement, but there have been distinct periods of equalisation, notably during the two world wars, from 1946â€“1957 and from 1965â€“1972. But there is no steady trend. There have been plateaux. Since 1979, we have seen a reversal, with shares of the top income groups returning to their position of fifty years earlier. The equalisation of the post-war period has been lost.
Efficient estimation of semiparametric transformation models for counting processes

A class of semiparametric transformation models is proposed to characterise the effects of possibly time-varying covariates on the intensity functions of counting processes. The class includes the proportional intensity model and linear transformation models as special cases. Nonparametric maximum likelihood estimators are developed for the regression parameters and cumulative intensity functions of these models based on censored data. The estimators are shown to be consistent and asymptotically normal. The limiting variances for the estimators of the regression parameters achieve the semi-parametric efficient bounds and can be consistently estimated. The limiting variances for the estimators of smooth functionals of the cumulative intensity function can also be consistently estimated. Simulation studies reveal that the proposed inference procedures perform well in practical settings. Two medical studies are provided. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.
CFinder: locating cliques and overlapping modules in biological networks

UNLABELLED Most cellular tasks are performed not by individual proteins, but by groups of functionally associated proteins, often referred to as modules. In a protein association network modules appear as groups of densely interconnected nodes, also called communities or clusters. These modules often overlap with each other and form a network of their own, in which nodes (links) represent the modules (overlaps). We introduce CFinder, a fast program locating and visualizing overlapping, densely interconnected groups of nodes in undirected graphs, and allowing the user to easily navigate between the original graph and the web of these groups. We show that in gene (protein) association networks CFinder can be used to predict the function(s) of a single protein and to discover novel modules. CFinder is also very efficient for locating the cliques of large sparse graphs. AVAILABILITY CFinder (for Windows, Linux and Macintosh) and its manual can be downloaded from http://angel.elte. hu/clustering. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available on Bioinformatics online.
Boundedness of pseudodifferential operators of a C*-algebra-valued symbol

Let us consider the set SA(Rn) of rapidly decreasing functions G: Rn → A, where A is a separable C*-algebra. We prove a version of the Calderón–Vaillancourt theorem for pseudodifferential operators acting on SA(Rn) whose symbol is A-valued. Given a skew-symmetric matrix, J, we prove that a pseudodifferential operator that commutes with G(x + JD), G ∈ SA(Rn), is of the form F(x − JD), for F a C∞-function with bounded derivatives of all orders.
CONCEPTUAL HYDROLOGIC MODELS FOR URBANIZING BASINS

AFTER A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF SEVERAL CONCEPTUAL MODELS, THE SINGLE LINEAR RESERVOIR AND THE NASH MODEL WERE SELECTED FOR FURTHER STUDY. ANALYSIS OF ABOUT TWO HUNDRED STORMS FROM WATERSHEDS WITH DIFFERENT DEGREES OF DEVELOPMENT INDICATED THAT THE PARAMETERS OF THE AFOREMENTIONED TWO MODELS VARIED NOT ONLY WITH THE URBANIZATION FACTOR (RELATED TO THE RATION OF THE BUILT-UP AREA IN A WATERSHED TO THE TOTAL WATERSHED AREA) BUT ALSO WITH OTHER PHYSIOGRAPHIC AND METEOROLOGICAL FACTORS. REGRESSION RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE PARAMETERS OF THE MODELS AND THE MORE SIGNIFICANT METEOROLOGICAL AND PHYSIOGRAPHIC FACTORS INCLUDING THE URBANIZATION FACTOR WERE DEVELOPED. THESE REGRESSION RELATIONSHIPS WERE USED TO SIMULATE THE INSTANTANEOUS UNIT HYDROGRAPHS ON A WATERSHED FOR VARIOUS URBANIZATION FACTORS. CHANGES IN RUNOFF FROM A WATERSHED WITH INCREASING URBANIZATION FACTORS WERE THEN SIMULATED FOR A VARIETY OF RAINFALL CHARACTERISTICS. /AUTHOR/
Maximizing throughput while maintaining fairness and priority in wireless ad-hoc networks

Ad-Hoc wireless network, not a new field of research, has been gaining a lot of popularity in recent years because of its applications in emergency rescue, surveying, military, sensor networking, entertainment and community wireless networking etc. A lot of research has been done on improving the performance and capacity of ad-hoc networks in that period of time. However, not much has been done in the analytical modeling of inter nodal interference and its effect on transmission patterns of wireless ad-hoc network. In our work we investigated and developed a contention based ad-hoc network to study the interference impact on network performance. In our model we represented these inter nodal conflicts using ‘Conflict Graph or Conflict Matrix’ and presented scheduling schemes to address issues like network throughput, fairness and QoS (priority) in a network. We particularly studied the transmission patterns in a network given a specific conflict graph which in turn depends on factors like number of nodes and their placement, area of coverage, type of antenna (unidirectional or omnidirectional) etc. We designed five scheduling schemes in order to provide solutions to issues like maximizing network throughput, fairness and priority using the concept of ‘Transmit Groups’, which are groups of nodes that are capable of transmitting together without any interference.
Immediate improvement of speech-in-noise perception through multisensory stimulation via an auditory to tactile sensory substitution

Background: Hearing loss is becoming a real social and health problem. Its prevalence in the elderly is an epidemic. The risk of developing hearing loss is also growing among younger people. If left untreated, hearing loss can perpetuate development of neurodegenerative diseases, including dementia. Despite recent advancements in hearing aid (HA) and cochlear implant (CI) technologies, hearing impaired users still encounter significant practical and social challenges, with or without aids. In particular, they all struggle with understanding speech in challenging acoustic environments, especially in presence of a competing speaker. Objectives: In the current proof-of-concept study we tested whether multisensory stimulation, pairing audition and a minimal-size touch device would improve intelligibility of speech in noise. Methods: To this aim we developed an audio-to-tactile sensory substitution device (SSD) transforming low-frequency speech signals into tactile vibrations delivered on two finger tips. Based on the inverse effectiveness law, i.e., multisensory enhancement is strongest when signal-to-noise ratio is lowest between senses, we embedded non-native language stimuli in speech-like noise and paired it with a low-frequency input conveyed through touch. Results: We found immediate and robust improvement in speech recognition (i.e. in the Signal-To-Noise-ratio) in the multisensory condition without any training, at a group level as well as in every participant. The reported improvement at the group-level of 6 dB was indeed major considering that an increase of 10 dB represents a doubling of the perceived loudness. Conclusions: These results are especially relevant when compared to previous SSD studies showing effects in behavior only after a demanding cognitive training. We discuss the implications of our results for development of SSDs and of specific rehabilitation programs for the hearing impaired either using or not using HAs or CIs. We also discuss the potential application of such a set-up for sense augmentation, such as when learning a new language.