Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mobile Government Services: Challenges and Opportunities

The vast emergence of Information and Communication Technologies ICTs lead governments to adopt the use of ICT to deliver services to their citizens, businesses, and government constituents. These services can be delivered via the Internet using web technology e-government in an interactive way like any other e-service. But with the advent and wide use of mobile technologies, governments transformed their mechanism in delivering service to utilize more the capabilities of mobile phones through the better employment of mobile government m-government. M-government utilizes mobile technologies to better deliver services to citizens, but this enforces some challenges to both governments and the recipients of services. In this paper the authors addressed the challenges and opportunities of m-governments in terms of mobile services m-services.
Search for Predictors of Exceptional Human Longevity

Abstract This paper explores new opportunities provided by the ongoing revolution in information technology, computer science, and Internet expansion for studies of exceptional human longevity. To this aim, the detailed family data for 991 alleged centenarians born between 1875 and 1899 in the United States were extracted from publicly available computerized family histories of 75 million individuals available at the Rootsweb site. To validate the age of the centenarians, these records were linked first to the Social Security Administration Death Master File records (for death date validation) and then to the records of the U.S. censuses for 1900, 1910, and 1920 (for birth date validation). The results of this cross-validation study demonstrated that computerized genealogies may serve as a useful starting point for developing a reliable family-linked scientific database on exceptional human longevity. The resulting database on centenarians with validated ages was used in the study of the predictors of exceptional human longevity, including familial factors and early-life living conditions. The comparison of households where children (future centenarians) were raised (using data obtained through linkage of genealogies to early U.S. censuses) with control households drawn from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series for the 1900 U.S. census suggests that a farm background (farm ownership by parents in particular) and childhood residence in the Western region of the United States may be predictive for subsequent survival to age 100. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that lower burden of sickness during childhood (expressed as lower child mortality in families of farm owners and families living in the West) may have far-reaching consequences for survival to extreme old ages. Analysis of familial factors suggests that there may be a link between exceptional longevity and a person’s birth order. It was found that first-born daughters are three times more likely to survive to age 100, compared to later-born daughters of higher birth orders (7+). First-born sons are twice more likely to become centenarians compared to sons having birth order between four and six. Further within-family comparison of centenarians with their siblings found that the protective effect of being first-born is driven mostly by the young maternal age at the person’s birth (being born to a mother younger than 25 years). Being born to a young mother is an important withinfamily predictor of human longevity, and even at age 75 it is still important to be born to young mother to survive to 100 years.
Factors predicting a change in diagnosis in patients hospitalised through the emergency room: a prospective observational study

Introduction Emergency rooms (ERs) generally assign a preliminary diagnosis to patients, who are then hospitalised and may subsequently experience a change in their lead diagnosis (cDx). In ERs, the cDx rate varies from around 15% to more than 50%. Among the most frequent reasons for diagnostic errors are cognitive slips, which mostly result from faulty data synthesis. Furthermore, physicians have been repeatedly found to be poor self-assessors and to be overconfident in the quality of their diagnosis, which limits their ability to improve. Therefore, some of the clinically most relevant research questions concern how diagnostic decisions are made, what determines their quality and what can be done to improve them. Research that addresses these questions is, however, still rare. In particular, field studies that allow for generalising findings from controlled experimental settings are lacking. The ER, with its high throughput and its many simultaneous visits, is perfectly suited for the study of factors contributing to diagnostic error. With this study, we aim to identify factors that allow prediction of an ER's diagnostic performance. Knowledge of these factors as well as of their relative importance allows for the development of organisational, medical and educational strategies to improve the diagnostic performance of ERs. Methods and analysis We will conduct a field study by collecting diagnostic decision data, physician confidence and a number of influencing factors in a real-world setting to model real-world diagnostic decisions and investigate the adequacy, validity and informativeness of physician confidence in these decisions. We will specifically collect data on patient, physician and encounter factors as predictors of the dependent variables. Statistical methods will include analysis of variance and a linear mixed-effects model. Ethics and dissemination The Bern ethics committee approved the study under KEK Number 197/15. Results will be published in peer-reviewed scientific medical journals. Authorship will be determined according to ICMJE guidelines. Trial registration number The study protocol Version 1.0 from 17 May 2015 is registered in the Inselspital Research Database Information System (IRDIS) and with the IRB (‘Kantonale Ethikkomission’) Bern under KEK Number 197/15.
Comparison of Dynamic Balance in Collegiate Field Hockey and Football Players Using Star Excursion Balance Test

Purpose The preliminary study aimed to compare dynamic balance between collegiate athletes competing or training in football and hockey using star excursion balance test. Methods A total thirty university level players, football (n = 15) and field hockey (n = 15) were participated in the study. Dynamic balance was assessed by using star excursion balance test. The testing grid consists of 8 lines each 120 cm in length extending from a common point at 45° increments. The subjects were instructed to maintain a stable single leg stance with the test leg with shoes off and to reach for maximal distance with the other leg in each of the 8 directions. A pencil was used to point and read the distance to which each subject's foot reached. The normalized leg reach distances in each direction were summed for both limbs and the total sum of the mean of summed normalized distances of both limbs were calculated. Results There was no significant difference in all the directions of star excursion balance test scores in both the groups. Additionally, composite reach distances of both groups also found non-significant (P=0.5). However, the posterior (P=0.05) and lateral (P=0.03) normalized reach distances were significantly more in field hockey players. Conclusion Field hockey players and football players did not differ in terms of dynamic balance.
Outcomes of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy: A Comparison of Treatment Completers and Study Dropouts One to Three Years Later

ABSTRACT Using a quasi-experimental design, this study examined longitudinal outcomes for families previously enrolled in a study of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), a treatment program for young children with disruptive behavior disorders. Comparisons were made between 23 families who completed treatment and 23 families who dropped out of the study before completing treatment, using a structured diagnostic interview, and several parent-report measures. Length of follow-up for both groups ranged from 10 to 30 months after the initial assessment, with the average length of follow-up just under 20 months. Results indicated consistently better long-term outcomes for those who completed treatment than for study dropouts. These results highlight the need to identify salient predictors of treatment engagement and retention to maximize outcomes for young children.
The efficacy and safety of nutritional supplement use in a representative sample of adults in the North/South Ireland Food Consumption Survey

Abstract Objective To describe the current use of nutritional supplements and their contribution to micronutrient intakes in a representative sample of Irish adults, to evaluate the impact of supplement use on the adequacy of micronutrient intakes and to assess the risk to supplement users of exceeding tolerable upper intake levels (UL). Study design and subjects Food intake data were collected in 1379 (662 male and 717 female) randomly selected Irish adults aged 18 to 64 years using a 7-day food diary. The current use of nutritional supplements was assessed using a selfadministered questionnaire and respondents entered each supplement as it was consumed into the food diary. Results Twenty-three per cent of respondents regularly used nutritional supplements. Twice as many women used supplements as men. The intakes of micronutrients were significantly higher (P < 0.001) in supplement users than in non-users. Micronutrient intakes from food sources were similar in male users and non-users of supplements, but were significantly higher (P < 0.01) in female users, by 3 to 13%, for Fe, Mg, Mn, vitamins C and E and niacin than in non-users. The percentage of female users between 18 and 50 years who had mean Fe intakes below the average requirement (AR) (10 mg) decreased from 50 to 25 when the contribution from supplements was included. The use of supplements reduced the percentage of men who had mean intakes below the AR for Zn from 19 to 13, for riboflavin from 14 to 6 and for vitamin A from 20 to 5, and reduced the percentage of women with intakes below the AR for Ca from 23 to 16 and for riboflavin from 23 to 14. Twenty-one women out of 80 aged between 18 and 50 years, who consumed supplemental folate, achieved the intake of 600 |xg recommended to prevent neural tube defects. Twenty-two per cent of the women who took iron and 15% of the women who took vitamin B$ in supplemental form had mean daily intakes that exceeded that UL for these nutrients. Supplement users did not exceed the UL for the other micronutrients. Conclusions Supplementation appears to be beneficial in promoting adequate intakes of some micronutrients, particularly Fe and folate in women aged 18–50 years and vitamin A in men. There appears to be little risk to supplement users of experiencing adverse side effects due to excessive intakes of micronutrients.
Clinical Significance of Lymph Node Ratio in Stage III Colorectal Cancer

Purpose Recent literature has shown that lymph node ratio is superior to the absolute number of metastatic lymph nodes in predicting the prognosis in several malignances other than colorectal cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of the lymph node ratio (LNR) in patients with stage III colorectal cancer. Methods We included 186 stage III colorectal cancer patients who underwent a curative resection over a 10-year period in one hospital. The cutoff point of LNR was chosen as 0.07 because there was significant survival difference at that LNR. The Kaplan-Meier and the Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate the prognostic effect according to LNR. Results There was statistically significant longer overall survival in the group of LNR > 0.07 than in the group of LNR ≤ 7 (P = 0.008). Especially, there was a survival difference for the N1 patients group (LN < 4) according to LNR (5-year survival of N1 patients was lower in the group of LNR > 0.07, P = 0.025), but there was no survival difference for the N2 group (4 ≥ LN) according to LNR. The multivariate analysis showed that the LNR is an independent prognostic factor. Conclusions LNR can be considered as a more accurate and potent modality for prognostic stratifications in patients with stage III colorectal cancer.
Evolution, genes, development and psychopathology

Humans develop substantially post-birth, and the nature of their development is significantly influenced by complex interactions between genes and environments. This paper explores the nature of genetic effects, the value of distinguishing between common and unique (non-shared) environments in twins and siblings, and considers some of the specific developmental events which impact on a child's developing nervous system. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Pretreatment Alkaline Phosphatase and Epstein-Barr Virus DNA Predict Poor Prognosis and Response to Salvage Radiotherapy in Patients with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma and Metachronous Bone-Only Metastasis

Background: The bones are the most common site of distant metastasis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Few prognostic markers are available to guide treatment and sub-classify patients with bone metastasis. We aimed to identify the prognostic value of pretreatment serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and plasma Epstein-Barr virus DNA (EBV DNA) in patients with bone-only metastasis. Methods: A total of 272 patients who developed bone-only metastases after therapy were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were categorized according to pretreatment serum ALP (< or ≥ 110 U/L) and pretreatment plasma EBV DNA (< or ≥ 6,750 copies ml-1). Univariate and multivariate analyses of clinical variables were performed using Cox proportional hazards regression models. Overall survival (OS) was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. Results: Median OS for the cohort was 34.06 months (range, 2.53-143.87 months). Multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis verified pretreatment serum ALP and pretreatment plasma EBV DNA were independent prognostic factors for OS. In stratified survival analysis of patients with elevated pretreatment serum ALP and/or plasma EBV DNA, delivery of radiotherapy (RT) to bone metastases provided a significant OS benefit compared to other therapeutic methods (P < 0.05). Conclusions: This study demonstrates two important points: firstly, pretreatment serum ALP and plasma EBV DNA have prognostic value at the first diagnosis of bone-only metastasis in NPC. Secondly, radiotherapy of bone metastasis improves the prognosis of patients with elevated pretreatment serum ALP and plasma EBV DNA.
Sophism and Moral Agnosticism, or, How to Tell a Relativist from a Pluralist

is it possible to recognize the limits of rationality, and thus to embrace moral pluralism, without embracing moral relativism? My answer is yes; nevertheless, certain anti-foundational positions, both recent and ancient, take a cynical stance toward the possibility of any critical moral judgment, and as such, must be regarded as relativistic.1 It is such cynicism, I argue, whether openly announced or unknowingly implied, that marks the distinction between relativism and pluralism.2 The danger of this cynicism is not so much that it renders the categorical acceptance of a particular moral view unattainable, but that it renders categorical condemnation of any particular position (or action) impossible.3 Two paradigm examples of this form of cynicism are to be found in the work of Alasdair MacIntyre and of Richard Rorty. Both philosophers offer critiques of rationality that lead to a deeply pluralistic understanding of the world; both philosophers attempt to address the challenge of relativism while embracing moral pluralism. Yet, both philosophers allow their respective positions to devolve into a cynical critique of rational form itself, ultimately resulting in moral relativism. Nevertheless, in championing nonfoundational pluralism, both MacIntyre and Rorty influentially herald a necessary fact: rational moral disagreement is a permanent feature of modern society. In this capacity, both thinkers merit the attention of anyone wishing to trace the curious border between moral pluralism and moral relativism. In this article, I will argue that moral pluralism derives from an understanding of rationality’s epistemological limitations, while nevertheless remaining committed to the standards of rational justification integral to the very practice of philosophical inquiry.4 I will propose that this same understanding and commitment were displayed by Socrates, in his stand against the popular
Training for Dangerous Task Performance: The Effects of Expectations and Feedback1

The training of individuals to perform dangerous tasks confronts theorists and practitioners with a critical issue: To what extent should individuals be exposed during training to stressors that characterize the conditions under which the task will eventually be performed? The present study evaluated two variables that might help resolve this dilemma. The first, a personality variable, consists of a person's generalized expectation that he or she will not be physically hurt while exposed to danger. The other, which is more sitution-specific, consists of the feeling of success or failure that the trainee experiences at the conclusion of training under physically dangerous conditions. The quality of soldiers' performance and the intensity of experienced stress were tested in a combat simulation. Individuals who tend to assign a low probability to their being physically injured in dangerous situations were found to benefit more from dangerous than from non-dangerous training. The opposite was found for individuals who assign a high probability to their being injured in dangerous situations. Moreover, exposure to serious physical threats during training yielded better training results than training that did not involve such threats only when the subjects concluded their training with a feeling of success. The subjective feelings of success or failure had no effect, however, under training conditions that did not expose trainees to danger. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
Les institutions du marché du travail et les inégalités inter-catégorielles : une comparaison France-Canada

L’evolution des inegalites, au detriment de la main d’oeuvre non qualifiee, est certainement l’une des tendances les plus preoccupantes parmi celles auxquelles ont a faire face les grandes economies occidentales. Neanmoins, cette degradation ne s’est pas traduite de la meme facon dans tous les pays. En effet, dans les pays anglo-saxons, les ecarts de revenus se sont accentues tandis que dans les pays de tradition beveridgienne, on parle des inegalites en termes d’acces a l’emploi. L’objet de cet article est, d’une part, de proposer une reflexion sur les causes et les explications de cette evolution defavorable aux categories les moins formees. D’autre part, dans le cadre d’une comparaison France-Canada, nous allons etudier l’interaction entre les politiques publiques sur le marche du travail et la forme des inegalites presente dans chacun des deux pays. Dans cette perspective, nous comparons les effets de trois regulations publiques, a savoir les allocations chomage, le salaire minimum et l’impot negatif, sur les performances de l’economie et plus particulierement sur l’emploi et la formation des salaires.
Some Revised Observational Constraints on the Formation and Evolution of the Galactic Disk

A set of 76 open clusters with abundances based upon DDO photometry and/or moderate dispersion spectroscopy has been transformed to a common [Fe/H] scale and used to study the local structure and evolution of the galactic disk. The metallicity distribution of clusters with R_GC is best described by two distinct zones. Between R_GC = 6.5 and 10 kpc, the distribution has a mean [Fe/H] = 0.0 and a dispersion of 0.1 dex; there is only weak evidence for a shallow abundance gradient over this distance range. Beyond R_GC = 10 kpc, the metallicity distribution has a dispersion between 0.10 and 0.15 dex, but with a mean [Fe/H] = -0.3, implying a sharp discontinuity at R_GC = 10 kpc. After correcting for the discontinuity, no evidence is found for a gradient perpendicular to the plane. Adopting the clusters interior to 10 kpc as a representative sample of the galactic disk over the last 7 Gyr, the cluster metallicity range is found to be about half that of the field stars. When coupled with the discontinuity in the galactocentric gradient, the discrepancy in the metallicity distribution is interpreted as an indication of significant diffusion of field stars into the solar neighborhood from beyond 10 kpc. These results imply that the sun is NOT atypical of the stars formed in the solar circle 4.6 Gyr ago. It is suggested that the discontinuity reflects the edge of the initial galactic disk as defined by the disk globular cluster system and the so-called thick disk; the initial offset in [Fe/H] created by the differences in the chemical history on either side of the discontinuity has carried through to the current stage of galactic evolution. If correct, diffusion coupled with the absence of an abundance gradient could make the separation of field stars on the basis of galactocentric origin difficult.
Closed loop control of an intentionally adjustable compliant actuator

Many successful designs of compliant actuators have been recently proposed. However, the challenge of providing passive and active motion in one actuator has remained. In this paper, a novel mechanism for changing the stiffness of the series elastic actuator over a wide range is presented. An accurate force source is provided by introducing the force control using velocity control of the DC motor. Performance and behavior of the system and controller is investigated through simulation
What is visualisation?

This article proposes that the practice of information visualisation (infovis), from its beginnings in the second part of the eighteenth century until today, relied on two key principles. The first principle is reduction. Infovis uses graphical primitives such as points, straight lines, curves and simple geometric shapes to stand in for objects and relations between them. The second principle is the use of spatial variables (position, size, shape and, more recently, movement) to represent key differences in the data and reveal patterns and relations. Following this analysis, the author discusses a more recent visualisation method which we can call ‘direct visualisation’ (or ‘media visualisation’): creating new visual representations from the actual visual media objects (images, video) or their parts. The article analyses the well-known examples of artistic visualisations that use this method: Listening Post (Ben Rubin and Mark Hansen), Cinema Redux (Brendan Dawes) and Preservation of Selected Traces (Ben Fry). It further suggests that direct visualisation is particularly relevant for humanities, media studies and cultural institutions. Using the actual visual artefacts in visualisation as opposed to representing them by graphical primitives helps the researcher to understand meaning and/or cause behind the patterns she may observe, as well as to discover additional patterns. To illustrate this idea, examples of projects created in the author's lab at UCSD (softwarestudies.com) are presented. Founded in 2007, the lab works on techniques and software to allow interactive exploration of large sets of visual cultural data using a direct visualisation approach and supervisualisation systems such as 215 megapixel HIPerSpace. The examples of its work are visualisations of 4553 covers of every issue of Time magazine published between 1923 and 2009; visualisations of all pages of every issue of Science and Popular Science magazines published between 1872 and 1922; and a set of visualisations of 1 million pages on Manga series.