Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Are School Feeding Programs in Low-Income Settings Sustainable? Insights on the Costs of School Feeding Compared with Investments in Primary Education

Background School feeding programs are ubiquitous. Benchmarking expenditures for school feeding is an important component of program accountability and sustainability. Objective To analyze the costs of school feeding and the cost relative to education expenditure and other measures of economic growth. Methods Data on the costs of school feeding were collected from multiple sources, including United Nations databases, gray literature, and published reviews. Relationships between costs of school feeding, costs of education, and GDP per capita were analyzed through standard linear regression. Results Data on costs of school feeding were obtained for 74 countries, including 12 high-income, 40 middle-income, and 22 in low-income countries. School feeding programs were found to cost US$173 per child per year, ranging from US$54 in low-income countries to US$693 in high-income countries. In high-income countries, school feeding costs per capita were on average equivalent to 11% of the per capita investments in primary education, compared with 19% in middle-income countries and 68% in low-income countries. In middle- and low-income countries, school feeding programs covered on average 18% and 13% of the children enrolled in primary school, respectively. The total budget for school feeding in low-income countries was found to be on average 11% of the estimated total primary school education budget, compared to 4% in middle-income countries. Conclusions School feeding investments are targeted in low- and middle-income settings, reaching only a portion of primary schoolchildren, with total costs only a fraction of the overall investment in education. As countries get richer, school feeding costs become a much smaller proportion of education costs. The findings of this study provide an updated framework for benchmarking school feeding programs.
An analysis of bone regeneration at a segmental bone defect by controlled release of bone morphogenetic protein 2 from a biodegradable sponge composed of gelatin and β‐tricalcium phosphate

To treat large bone defects is a clinically challenging problem and utilizing tissue engineering technology is an attractive approach for overcoming such a problem. Previously, a biodegradable sponge incorporating bone morphogenic protein‐2 (BMP‐2), which can control the release of BMP‐2 for a prolonged time in an in vivo environment, was reported. In addition, a biodegradable sponge composed of gelatin and β‐tricalcium phosphate (βTCP), gelatin‐βTCP sponge to develop a more ideal scaffold for enhancing bone regeneration was also created and previously reported. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the gelatin‐βTCP sponge for the promotion of bone regeneration in a critical‐sized bone defect site in vivo. Apparent bone regeneration was induced by the gelatin sponge incorporating BMP‐2 and the gelatin‐βTCP sponge with BMP‐2 incorporation. In contrast, no apparent bone formation was induced by either the gelatin sponge only or the gelatin‐βTCP sponge without BMP‐2. To investigate the quality of the regenerated bone, we conducted a biomechanical evaluation with a three‐point bending test. We found no significant difference between the gelatin sponge incorporating BMP‐2 and the gelatin‐βTCP sponge incorporating BMP‐2 groups. Incorporation of βTCP into the gelatin sponge was expected to enhance biomechanical strength during the initial bone regeneration. However, our observations showed that the gelatin‐βTCP sponge did not significantly improve the quality of regenerated bone from the viewpoint of biomechanical assessment, even though it did not impair the effectiveness of the promotion of bone regeneration by BMP‐2 in the bone defect. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Mental Rotation of Tactile Stimuli: Using Directional Haptic Cues in Mobile Devices

Haptic interfaces have the potential to enrich users' interactions with mobile devices and convey information without burdening the user's visual or auditory attention. Haptic stimuli with directional content, for example, navigational cues, may be difficult to use in handheld applications; the user's hand, where the cues are delivered, may not be aligned with the world, where the cues are to be interpreted. In such a case, the user would be required to mentally transform the stimuli between different reference frames. We examine the mental rotation of directional haptic stimuli in three experiments, investigating: 1) users' intuitive interpretation of rotated stimuli, 2) mental rotation of haptic stimuli about a single axis, and 3) rotation about multiple axes and the effects of specific hand poses and joint rotations. We conclude that directional haptic stimuli are suitable for use in mobile applications, although users do not naturally interpret rotated stimuli in any one universal way. We find evidence of cognitive processes involving the rotation of analog, spatial representations and discuss how our results fit into the larger body of mental rotation research. For small angles (e.g., less than 40 degree), these mental rotations come at little cost, but rotations with larger misalignment angles impact user performance. When considering the design of a handheld haptic device, our results indicate that hand pose must be carefully considered, as certain poses increase the difficulty of stimulus interpretation. Generally, all tested joint rotations impact task difficulty, but finger flexion and wrist rotation interact to greatly increase the cost of stimulus interpretation; such hand poses should be avoided when designing a haptic interface.
A New Bacterial Disease of Fresh-Water Fishes

Page. Introduction " " '" . 261 Description of the disease ' : . 262 Occurrence of the disease " . 263 Cause of the disease. 263 Pathogenesis , " . 265 Methods of infection. 266 Treatment and control of the disease. 270 Economic importance of the disease , . 276 Explanation of fJogures : . 280
The design of automobile exhaust sensor based on the NDIR method

In view of the questions exist in the automobile exhaust component examination, the new sensor based on NDIR(Non-Dispersive Infra-Red) method is designed. The sensor simultaneously obtains CO, CO2 and HC compound densities. Also, it outputs the measurement result by the digital signal through the serial port. So, the disturbance in transmission process can be avoided and the senor can be applied in digital processing equipment conveniently. The standard gas is used in the sensor demarcation, the result indicates that the sensor measuring accuracy meets the national standard.
Diminution of aflatoxin toxicity to growing lambs by dietary supplementation with hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate.

Hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate (HSCAS), an anticaking agent for mixed feed, was added to the diets of growing wethers (mean body weight, 34.0 kg) and was evaluated for its ability to diminish the clinical signs of aflatoxicosis. The experimental design consisted of 4 treatment groups of 5 wethers each, consuming concentrations of 0 g of HSCAS and 0 g of aflatoxin (AF)/kg of feed (control; group 1); 20 g of HSCAS/kg (2.0%; group 2), 2.6 mg of AF/kg (group 3); or 20 g of HSCAS (2.0%) plus 2.6 mg of AF/kg (group 4). Wethers were maintained in indoor pens, with feed and water available ad libitum for 42 days. Lambs were observed twice daily and weighed weekly, and blood samples were obtained every 2 weeks for hematologic and serum biochemical analyses and for measurement of mitogen-induced lymphocyte-stimulation index. At the termination of the study, wethers were euthanatized and necropsied. Body weight gain was diminished significantly (P less than 0.05) by consumption of 2.6 mg of AF/kg of feed, whereas body weight of lambs consuming HSCAS plus AF did not differ from that of control wethers. The AF-alone treatment increased serum aspartate transaminase and gamma-glutamyltransferase activities, prothrombin time, and cholesterol, uric acid, and triglyceride values and decreased albumin, glucose, and urea nitrogen values, and urea-to-creatine ratio. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Persistent epigenetic differences associated with prenatal exposure to famine in humans

Extensive epidemiologic studies have suggested that adult disease risk is associated with adverse environmental conditions early in development. Although the mechanisms behind these relationships are unclear, an involvement of epigenetic dysregulation has been hypothesized. Here we show that individuals who were prenatally exposed to famine during the Dutch Hunger Winter in 1944–45 had, 6 decades later, less DNA methylation of the imprinted IGF2 gene compared with their unexposed, same-sex siblings. The association was specific for periconceptional exposure, reinforcing that very early mammalian development is a crucial period for establishing and maintaining epigenetic marks. These data are the first to contribute empirical support for the hypothesis that early-life environmental conditions can cause epigenetic changes in humans that persist throughout life.
A 1.8-ns random cycle SRAM-interface High-speed DRAM (SH-RAM) compiler with Data Line Replica Architecture

The SRAM-interface High-speed DRAM (SH-RAM) is an embedded DRAM that can replace almost all embedded SRAMs in SoC fabricated by a 65-nm LSTP embedded DRAM process. This paper describes the SH-RAM compiler that realizes a 1.8-ns random cycle time and a 1.5-ns random access time at 512-Kb macro without area penalty by High-speed Bit Line Operation and Data Line Replica Architecture.
Attachment and development: A prospective, longitudinal study from birth to adulthood

Abstract There is much to digest in a 30 year longitudinal study of the developing person (Sroufe, Egeland, Carlson, & Collins, 2005a). The following paper summarizes some key points regarding the place of infant attachment in the developmental course. It is argued that understanding the role of attachment entails grasping the organizational nature of the attachment construct and embracing a non-linear transactional model. Using such concepts, attachment history was shown in the Minnesota study to be clearly related to the growth of self-reliance, the capacity for emotional regulation, and the emergence and course of social competence, among other things. Moreover, specific patterns of attachment had implications for both normal development and pathology. Even more important than such linkages, however, study of the place of early attachment in later adaptation reveals much about developmental processes underlying both continuity and change. Findings are overviewed concerning the complex links between attachment and ultimate outcomes and the preservation of early patterns even during times of change. In all, these findings have implications both for future research and for clinical application.
How does the cortex construct color?

When is a color not a color? When it’s a wavelength. This may surprise those who were taught that color is carried by the dominant wavelength of the light reflected from an object. And you’d be confused in good company; Isaac Newton, for example, believed that “every body reflects its own color more copiously than the rest. ” The colors we perceive, however, are determined not only by the wavelengths reflected from one surface but also by those reflected from many surrounding surfaces. This is illustrated in Fig. 1. The colored pattern is illuminated by different intensities of long, medium, and short wavelength light and different amounts of each region of the spectrum are reflected from each patch. The central green patch (Fig. 1a) reflects a greater percentage of medium (greenish) wavelengths. When the illuminants are arranged to ensure that the green patch reflects a greater absolute amount of long (reddish) than medium (greenish) wavelength light (Fig. 1b), one still perceives the patch to be green. The visual system takes account of the changes in incident illumination and what is perceived is a measure of the relative rather than absolute proportions of reflected light. This ability to perceive true color rather than be fooled by the fickle nature of light is called color constancy.
Effects of $\hbox {Ca}^{2+}$  Co-Doping on the Scintillation Properties of LSO:Ce

In addition to desirable physical properties including a density of 7.4 g/cm3 , an effective atomic number of 66, and no hygroscopicity, Lu2SiO5:Ce has well-known scintillation properties of ~30 900 photons/MeV, an emission peak near 420 nm, and a decay time of ~43 ns. These scintillation properties are achieved with Ce doping concentrations roughly in the range of 0.05 to 0.5 atomic percent relative to Lu. These properties make Lu2SiO5:Ce a widely used scintillator in positron emission tomography, in particular. We have found that both the light output and decay time may be improved by a combination of optimized crystal growth atmosphere and co-doping with divalent cations such as Ca. Scintillation light output of ~38 800 photons/MeV has been achieved as well as scintillation decay time as short as 31 ns with no long components. The relationship between growth conditions, dopant concentration, decay time, and light output is well defined, thus allowing one to reliably "tune" the crystal to the desired combination of light output and decay time. Possible explanations of the underlying mechanism are being explored and include compensation of oxygen vacancies, alteration of the relative occupancies of the cerium lattice sites, and suppression of trapping centers. In addition to higher count-rate capability and better coincidence timing, the improved decay time is expected to be particularly advantageous for time-of-flight positron emission tomography. Also, phoswich detectors comprising "standard" LSO (~43 ns decay time) and "fast" LSO (~31 ns decay time) become an attractive alternative to typical phoswich designs that often suffer from problems of mismatched light outputs and indices of refraction or the absorption of one scintillator's light by the other.
In Search of Predictors of Farmers' Knowledge about Proper Usage of Pesticides

Improper usage of pesticides for pest control has increased environmental and health hazards. This study was conducted to assess farmers’ level of knowledge about proper usage of pesticides and their assistant sources of information. Results of the study revealed that farmer’s average level of knowledge (41%) was very low. Farmers’ highest perceived source of information was recorded to be landlords, followed by pesticide dealers, agriculture extension, neighboring farmers, representatives of pesticide companies, agricultural programs on radio, agricultural literature, and agricultural programs on TV. Using ANOVA, the perceived average scores for the above sources of information were recoded to be significantly different from each other (p<0.01). Estimates of the multiple linear regression model revealed that farmers’ level of knowledge was significantly influenced by educational level, perceived scores for pesticide dealers, and cotton area. Since proposed ANOVA and regression models withstood the assumptions using log transformed and original data respectively, inferences drawn from the study were considered to be valid on sophisticated statistical footings.
Block-by-Block: Leveraging the Power of Blockchain Technology to Build Trust and Promote Cyber Peace

There has been increasing interest in the transformative power of not only crypto-currencies like Bitcoin, but also the technology underlying them—namely blockchain. To the uninitiated, a blockchain is a sophisticated, distributed online ledger that has the potential, according to Goldman Sachs, to “change ‘everything. ’” From making businesses more efficient to recording property deeds to engendering the growth of ‘smart’ contracts, blockchain technology is now being investigated by a huge range of organizations and is attracting billions in venture funding. Even the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is investigating blockchain technology to “create an unhackable messaging system. ” However, the legal literature has largely ignored the rise of blockchain technology outside of its finance, securities, and copyright implications. This Article seeks to address this omission by analyzing the potential impact of blockchain technology on advancing the cybersecurity of firms across an array of sectors and industries with a particular focus on certificate authorities and the critical infrastructure context. Moreover, we examine the rise of blockchains through the lens of the literature on polycentric governance to ascertain what lessons this research holds to build trust in distributed systems and ultimately promote cyber peace.
Radiation therapy and malignant degeneration of benign supratentorial gangliogliomas.

OBJECTIVE Gangliogliomas are indolent tumors comprised of neoplastic glial and neuronal cells. Benign lesions tend to be associated with long survival unless the tumor degenerates to a histologically malignant form. This study reviews four cases of histologically proven benign ganglioglioma that later demonstrated malignant features within the glial component of the tumor. Features common to each case are analyzed, and similar cases from the literature are reviewed. METHODS The records of 42 supratentorial gangliogliomas operated on at our institution since 1985 were reviewed. Special attention was paid to histological characteristics, use of adjuvant radiotherapy, time to tumor recurrence, and histology of the recurrent tumor. RESULTS Of the 42 cases of gangliogliomas, 29 were initially histologically benign. Of these 29, 14 received postoperative radiation therapy and 14 did not; it was unclear whether one patient received adjuvant radiotherapy, and this patient was excluded from further analysis. Four benign gangliogliomas exhibited malignant degeneration of the glial component. These four all occurred in patients who had undergone postoperative irradiation. The time to identified histological change within recurrent tumors averaged 65 months (range, 22-144 mo). CONCLUSION All of the benign gangliogliomas undergoing malignant change had postoperative radiation therapy as a common feature. This represents a potential correlation that requires further study.
Realizing IT Value at Air Products and Chemicals, Inc

How can senior IS executives successfully shepherd IT initiatives through complex organizations? This paper prescribes an integrated IT investment management process incorporating four recommended activities: • strategic planning, • quality function deployment, • activity analysis, and • responsibility assignment. The process, tools, methods, and organizational learning were drawn from two projects at Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. The integrated process for IT investment management can help senior IS executives prioritize projects and align responsibility and accountability for IT initiatives that require complementary organizational changes to activities across the entire value chain to realize full benefits.
The beta(2) subunit of soluble guanylyl cyclase contains a human-specific frameshift and is expressed in gastric carcinoma.

Soluble or nitric oxide (NO) stimulated guanylyl cyclases are obligate heme-containing heterodimers (alpha/beta). We report the full-length cDNA of the human ortholog of the rat beta(2)-subunit from human kidney. A database search yielded matches of the 3' non-coding sequence with previously unassigned expressed sequence tags from kidney and stomach signet ring cell carcinoma. PCR comparison of cDNA from stomach signet ring cell carcinoma and normal stomach tissue demonstrated beta(2) subunit expression in cancer but not in normal tissue. On the cDNA level a frameshift deletion of one nucleotide was present in the novel human sequence which was confirmed on the genomic DNA level. In four closely related nonhuman primate species the frameshift deletion was absent while analysis of genomic DNA from different ethnic backgrounds revealed the uniform presence of the frameshift deletion in the human population.
Linearly Constrained Minimum Variance for Robust I-vector Based Speaker Recognition

This paper aims at presenting our algorithm used to make submission for the NIST 2013-2014 speaker recognition i-vector challenge. The fixed dimensional i-vector representation of speech utterances has attracted attentions from other communities. This challenge focuses on the task of speaker detection using i-vectors derived from conversational telephony speech data. However, the unlabeled i-vectors provided for development purpose make the problem more challenging. The proposed method uses the idea of one of the popular robust beamforming techniques named Linearly Constrained Minimum Variance (LCMV), which has been presented in the context of beamforming for signal enhancement. We will show that LCMV can improve performance by building a model from different i-vectors of a given speaker so as to cancel inter-session variability and increase inter-speaker variability. Imposter covariance matrix modification and score normalization using a selection of imposter speakers have been proposed to improve performance. As measured by minimum decision cost function defined in the challenge, our result is 27% better relative to the baseline system.
The application of electron backscatter diffraction and orientation contrast imaging in the SEM to textural problems in rocks

Abstract In a scanning electron microscope (SEM) an electron beam sets up an omni-directional source of scattered electrons within a specimen. Diffraction of these electrons will occur simultaneously on all lattice planes in the sample and the backscattered electrons (BSE), which escape from the specimen, will form a diffraction pattern that can be imaged on a phosphor screen. This is the basis of electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Similar diffraction effects cause individual grains of different orientations to give different total BSE. SEM images that exploit this effect will show orientation contrast (OC). EBSD and OC imaging are SEM-based crystallographic tools. EBSD enables measurement of the crystallographic orientation of individual rock-forming minerals as small as 1 μm, and the calculation of misorientation axes and angles between any two data points. OC images enable mapping of all misorientation boundaries in a specimen and thus provide a location map for EBSD analyses. EBSD coupled to OC imaging in the SEM enables complete specimen microtextures and mesotextures to be determined. EBSD and OC imaging can be applied to any mineral at a range of scales and enable us to expand the microstructural approach, so successful in studies of quartz rocks, for example, to the full range of rock-forming minerals. Automated EBSD analysis of rocks remains problematic, although continuing technical developments are enabling progress in this area. EBSD and OC are important new tools for petrologists and petrographers. Present and future applications of EBSD and OC imaging include phase identification, studying deformation mechanisms, constraining dislocation slip systems, empirical quantification of microstructures, studying metamorphic processes, studying magmatic processes, and constraining geochemical microsampling. In all these cases, quantitative crystallographic orientation data enable more rigorous testing of models to explain observed microstructures.
Mirtazapine in combination with amitriptyline: a drug–drug interaction study in healthy subjects

To assess the steady‐state pharmacokinetics of mirtazapine (30 mg/day orally) and amitriptyline (75 mg/day orally) during combined administration compared with that of either drug administered alone. To evaluate the tolerability and effects on psychometric tests of acute and subchronic administration of both drugs combined and alone.