Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measuring Child Health Status Using Alternative Wealth Indices in India

Disparities in child health between and within countries have persisted and augmented impressively amid the most recent couple of decades. The reduction of these disparities is a key objective of most developing countries’ public health policies, as illustrated in the MDGs 2015. Research on the impacts of socio-economic well being on health is essential for policy makers in developing countries, where limited resources make it critical to utilize existing health care resources to the best preference. The two direct economic measures have been used, namely household income and consumption expenditure. The wealth index is taken as a proxy for consumption expenditure, which tends to have an urban bias. The objective of this paper is to develop and test the need of alternative wealth indices for predicting child health status in India, a developing economy, with assistance of data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) fielded in India. It will underline the importance of going beyond the purely economic view of Socio-Economic Status to cover the multidimensional as well as multilevel concept of economic and social inequality. This study will demonstrate the need for using alternative wealth indices for rural and urban areas. Also, the objective of the paper is to examine whether child health estimates differ with the use of two alternative wealth indices, that is, a single wealth index for the total population at national level and two separate wealth indices for rural and urban areas.
Co-specific investment and integration in the agrifood chain

We develop a holdup model where multiple parties in the food chain (input suppliers, farmers, and buyers of the produce) invest in co-specific assets necessary for an innovative product. Shapley value is used in a multilateral bargaining game to assign bargaining power to the players, which correspondingly determines the surplus division.The conditions under which holdup is avoided and Pareto improving exchange will obtain are demonstrated. Two market responses to the holdup problem are considered. One is partial redistribution of specific investment costs serving as a credible commitment. The other is vertical/lateral integration, which changes the distribution of bargaining power.
Improvement in Tracing Quantum Dot-Conjugated Nanospheres for In Vivo Imaging by Eliminating Food Autofluorescence

Fluorescence imaging using fluorescent probes has demonstrated long-term stability and brightness suitable for in vivo deep-tissue imaging, but it also allows intense background fluorescence associated with food in the near-infrared (IR) range. We investigated effects of changing rodent diet on food autofluorescence, in the presence of quantum dots-conjugated magnetic nanospheres (QD-MNSs). Replacement of a regular rodent diet with a purified diet has great improvement in removing autofluorescence in the near-infrared range ideal for in vivo fluorescence imaging. By feeding a purified diet for eliminating ingredients impairing desirable fluorescence signals in the near-IR range, food autofluorescence was clearly eliminated and fluorescence probes, QD-MNSs, introduced by i.v. injection were effectively traced in a mouse by a distinctive signal-to-noise ratio.
Evaluation of Interleukin- 5 in Mild and Moderate Asthmatic Patients Following Corticosteroid Therapy

Background: Asthma is a very common chronic disease in Iraqi community. Involving the respiratory system in which the airways occasionally constrict, become inflamed, and are lined with excessive amounts of mucus often in response to one or more triggers. Aim: this study was conducted to determine the role of interleukin 5 as asthmatic biomarker in Iraqi community in order to target the trait. Patients and Methods: Serum level of interleukin-5 [SIL-5] which is one of the inflammatory markers in asthma was estimated in 90 persons including those with asthma on steroid therapy (35 patients) and those without steroid (35 patients) therapy and the healthy control group (20 persons). Results: The mean level of SIL-5 was high in moderate asthmatic patients without steroid in their treatment protocol (16.56 pg/ml), while it was less in mild asthmatic patients without steroid therapy. SIL-5 mean values were lower in mild and moderate asthmatic patients who receive steroid therapy (3.94 pg/ml, 4.10 pg/ml respectively). While it was least in the control healthy group (3.32 pg/ml). Conclusion: serum IL-5 is predictive biomarkers for asthma severity and treatment response monitoring in Iraqi subjects with asthma.
Market Structure and Competition in Emerging Market: Evidence from Malaysian Islamic Banking Industry

This paper investigates the market structure of Islamic banking industry in Malaysia during 2001-2005 and evaluates the degree of competition using the H-statistic by Panzar and Rosse (1987). The estimated H-statistics for the whole sample periods are positive ranging from 0.38 to 0.62 and the Wald test for the market structure of monopoly or perfect competition is rejected implying that the Islamic banks in Malaysia earned their revenue in the condition of monopolistic competition.
Hybrid test automation framework for managing test data

Test Data is an essential element for both, Manual and Automation Software Testing and more so in Automation Testing where data drives the test execution. Test Data Management (TDM) is an important ingredient for testing however test automation has been proven to successfully test the data intensive applications. Hence, we would primarily focus TDM for Test Automation in this research. The purpose of TDM is to improve the effectiveness and reduce the time and cost of testing. However, it is essential to identify the components of TDM that contribute towards fulfilling the purpose. Test Data Management involves systematic approach in creating and managing test data (test scenarios, test cases and test data being used). In order to succeed, it requires strategy and a tool to enable teams to create and manage test data in effective and efficient ways. Many hybrid frameworks and tools have been deployed that permit data driven scripts to carry out keyword driven testing. However, it is identified that most of them have lacked correctness and coverage of components of TDM. In this paper, we introduce test automation framework called TAFPro that works as a test harness for IBM test automation tools and offers increase in efficiency and reduction in application and life cycle costs. Since organizations are moving towards open source tools we aim to make the TAFPro tool independent for Java based test tools and ran a CASE study with Selenium successfully for TDM and achieved the goal.
EFL Students’ Social Identities Construction Through Gender-Based Short Stories

This research study took place in a public school in Bogota with 38 students from 7th grade who were among 12 and 16 years of age. This qualitative action research intends (a) to identify discourses students draw on to construct social identities in the EFL classroom b) to describe social identities constructed discursively in relation to gender-based short stories and c) to study the potential relationship between these discursively constructed social identities in gendered-related reading activities and foreign language learning. Data was collected by observing and analyzing three pedagogical units, which were designed by following the stages of the Task Based Learning Approach (TBL). Besides that, I used field notes, video and audio recordings and students´ artifacts. Data was analyzed by following the steps proposed by Grounded theory (GT) (Charmaz, 2006) and the principles of Critical Classroom Discourse Analysis (CCDA) (Kumaravadivelu, 1999). Data revealed a main category and three subcategories, which showed the relationship between the gender-based short stories read by the students and the identities they portrayed during the lessons.
Price Expectations and Supply Response in the Thoroughbred Yearling Market

Abstract Limited information is available concerning price determination in the thoroughbred yearling market. A recursive model incorporating price expectations and biological constraints is used to estimate supply and demand functions for thoroughbred horses. Empirical results characterize a market with inelastic supply and elastic demand that converges to equilibrium under static conditions. Purses were identified as the most influential variable impacting price. Comparative statics illustrate the effectiveness of purses as a policy instrument for the thoroughbred industry. Federal tax policy also was found to have a significant impact on the decisions to breed or invest in thoroughbred yearlings.
Interactive fitting of hearing aids

This paper describes a pilot experiment with an experimental procedure for individualized ne-tuning of hearing-aid fittings. The preference of a hearing- aid user is determined by a comparison between different sound samples. This preference is fed to a mathematical optimization system (a modified simplex procedure) that ef ciently chooses the next comparison. The system should eventually converge to the optimal hearing-aid setting. In order to improve the input of the optimization algorithm, a two-step paradigm was developed. The listeners were presented with three sound samples. First, they had to determine which sample differed from the other two (three-alternative forced choice with an ‘odd-ball paradigm’). This step was included to increase the reliability of the second step in which the listeners had to judge which of the different samples sounded better (two-alternative unforced choice). The new paradigm was tested with speech in noise (SNR=+5 dB) for three parameters of a simulated four-channel compression hearing aid. The results indicate that the new paradigm was much less time-consuming that those previously described in literature. However, for both normal hearing and hearing-impaired subjects, the minimally perceived differences between hearing-aid settings were large compared to the values relevant for clinical practice. This indicates that either the subjects did not hear the differences between the samples or that the task was too dif cult. Based on user comments, it is likely that the unfavourable results were largely caused by the odd-ball paradigm. A slight adaptation of the procedure might lead to better results in the future.
Simultaneous Confidence Intervals for Risk Ratios in the Many-to-One Comparisons of Proportions

For many-to-one comparisons of independent binomial proportions using their ratios, we propose the MOVER approach generalizing Fieller’s theorem to a ratio of proportions by obtaining variance estimates in the neighbourhood of confidence limits for each proportion. We review two existing methods of inverting Wald and score test statistics and compare their performance with the proposed MOVER approach with score limits and Jeffreys limits for single proportions. As an appropriate multiplicity adjustment incorporating correlations between risk ratios, a Dunnett critical value is computed assuming a common, constant correlation of 0.5 instead of plugging in sample correlation coefficients. The simulation results suggest that the MOVER approach has desirable operating characteristics comparable to those of the method of inverting score test statistics. The MOVER with Jeffreys limits yields the median joint coverage percentage closest to the nominal level but its intervals may be wider than the other intervals in some parameter settings.
Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia: From Gene to Clinic

Objective Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP) is a degenerative disease of genetic origin affecting the corticospinal tracts in the spinal cord. There are three forms of inheritance: Autosomal dominant HSP, Autosomal rececive HSP and X-linked HSP. This disease is characterized by progressive spasticity of leg muscles with varying degrees of stiffness and weakness of other muscle groups. In this review, we will discuss the latest findings on the pathophysiology of axonal degeneration and all the responsible genetic defects in HSP.
The Representation of Women in National Parliaments: A Cross-national Comparison

Women’s representation in national parliaments is examined using a large cross-national sample. Initially, the article seems to confirm previous findings that the electoral formula and quotas are good predictors for the proportion of women in parliament. In line with some recent contributions, this article finds that the proportion of women in parliament is explicable in terms of culture—particularly attitudes towards women as political leaders. It appears that regional differences reflect differences in attitudes relevant to women’s political representation. Drawing on recent developments on gender quotas and insights on the influence of attitudes on gender representation, in this article, quotas and measured attitudes are considered at the same time. Once controlling for regional or cultural differences, the provision of voluntary party quotas does not appear to be significant at the national level. The results are tested for robustness over time, and using a subsample of OECD countries. This article provides further evidence for a strong association between cultural factors and the proportion of women in parliament. Abstract Women’s representation in national parliaments is examined using a large cross ‐ national sample. Initially, the article seems to confirm previous findings that the electoral formula and quotas are good predictors for the proportion of women in parliament. In line with some recent contributions, this article finds that the proportion of women in parliament is explicable in terms of culture— particularly attitudes towards women as political leaders. It appears that regional differences reflect differences in attitudes relevant to women’s political representation. Drawing on recent developments on gender quotas and insights on the influence of attitudes on gender representation, in this article, quotas and measured attitudes are considered at the same time. Once controlling for regional or cultural differences, the provision of voluntary party quotas does not appear to be significant at the national level. The results are tested for robustness over time, and a sub ‐ sample of OECD countries. This article provides further evidence for a causal relationship between cultural factors and the proportion of women in parliament.
Performance Analysis of Spiral Neighbourhood Topology Based Local Binary Patterns in Texture Recognition

In many texture recognition problems, Local Binary Patterns (LBP) method is used for feature extraction. This method is based on comparison of each centre pixel and its neighbours’ intensity value in image. Due to its simplicity of calculation, LBP has become one of the most popular feature extraction techniques. In literature, different neighbourhood topologies of LBP structure are given such as circle, square, ellipse, parabola, hyperbola, and Archimedean spiral. This paper focuses on the use of uniform and basic LBP that have spiral topology in texture classification. We first derive basic and uniform LBP features based on spiral topology. Then the performances of several classification methods such as linear discriminant analysis (LDA), linear regression classifier (LRC), support vector machines (SVM), Chi-square test, and G-test are compared using these features in UIUC texture database.
Service branding: the role of innovative brand leadership

This paper suggests and discusses a set of components which, the authors argue, will impact innovative brand leadership performance at the level of an individual service enterprise. The research design represents a holistic and systemic perspective to service branding and the methodology employed is conceptual desk research. A systemic model is suggested which depicts five influential components of innovative brand leadership performance. The components are termed as ‘a service centric view’, ‘a customer centric view’, ‘a service employee centric view’, ‘an organizing centric view’ and “a knowledge centric view’. The paper contributes to existing knowledge of services branding by showing how innovative brand leadership may be obtained at the level of an individual service enterprise.
DISTRIBUTION OF CHAROPHYTES IN ESTONIAN COAST

Charophytes constitute a group of macrophytes that usually inhabit soft bottoms with shallow water. They occur mostly in fresh-water environments but can also be found in brackish waters. Due to their requirement for clear water they are considered sensitive to eutrophication and therefore often used as an indicator for good water quality. The diverse structure of the Estonian coastline with its numerous sheltered bays and shallow, soft-bottom archipelago areas coupled with low salinity conditions provides an excellent habitat for charophytes. To date, seven species have been described in Estonian coastal waters, NE Baltic Sea. Last systematic investigations on charophyte distribution date back 20-30 years. During the summer of 2001 the locations where charophytes have previously been found were revisited and new sites sampled, to describe the present distribution of quantitative and qualitative parameters of charophyte species. Sampling was performed mainly by SCUBA diving; occurrence, abundance and wet weight biomass were estimated for each location. Six species of charophytes were identified. Compared to previously recorded material, no significant changes in the distribution pattern of charophytes were found. The dependence of charophyte distribution on environmental settings was tested, with depth and substrate quality explaining most of the variability in distribution. Salinity within observed range had minor influence on charophytes.
Compositional dependence of the giant magnetoresistance in FexRh1−x thin films

In this article we report on the magnetic and transport properties of FexRh1−x thin films, prepared by evaporation in high vacuum, in the composition range 0.41<xFe<0.59. Upon annealing (at a temperature of 870 K or higher) a certain volume fraction transforms to the ordered CsCl-type (α′) FeRh phase. Close to room temperature this phase shows a hysteretic transition between the antiferromagnetic (AF) and the ferromagnetic (F) state for samples with xFe<0.5, which gives rise to a magnetoresistance (MR) effect. Although the magnetic transition was never found to be complete, it is shown that the full MR ratio can be obtained by extrapolation of the measured MR ratio as a function of the relative change of the magnetization at the transition. The AF→F transition is only observed for films with xFe<0.505±0.015, for which the α′ phase with this (fixed) composition is present together with a nonmagnetic Rh-rich fcc-type phase, as is shown from a combination of x-ray diffraction, Mossbauer spectroscopy, and mag.
Tissue segmentation of head and neck for hyperthermia treatment planning

Head and neck cancer is the ninth most common malignancy in the world with a survival rate of around 40-50 %. One promising treatment method is local hyperthermia applied using an antenna array. The antennas are set to radiate microwaves of a certain amplitude and phase selected for interference in the tumor. These settings are derived in a treatment planning process which is highly dependent on an accurate tissue segmentation of a 3D image representation of the patient, which commonly is CT based. The aim of this thesis is to present an automated 3D segmentation method for CT images of the head and neck region through deep learning. Its performance will thereafter be compared to the current state-of the art. This is achieved using a further developed version of the U-net convolutional neural network for 3D segmentation. The network is trained using manually segmented CT data sets of the head and neck region to segment three different organs: the mandible, brainstem and the parotid glands. The data sets were obtained from the MICCAI 2015 segmentation challenge and the final results are compared to those obtained by the top three teams from this competition. An ablation study was used to compare different data processing and augmentation types. The highest performing model was obtained when training the network on the whole image using a combination of reflection, distortion and rotation augmentation. Generally, the implemented segmentation method performed similarly as the teams from the MICCAI challenge according to the Dice coefficient. However, the method outperformed the teams when considering the Hausdorff distance and the contour mean distance for all organs. The conclusion is therefore that it could be advantageous to use this deep learning segmentation method for tissue segmentation of organs of interest for hyperthermia treatment.
Life Cycle Impact Assessment Workshop Summary Midpoints versus Endpoints: The Sacrifices and Benefits

On May 25-26, 2000 in Brighton (England), the third in a series of international workshops was held under the um­ brella of UNEP addressing issues in Life Cycle Impact Assess­ ment (LCIA). The workshop provided a forum for experts to dis­ cuss midpoint vs. endpoint modeling. Midpoints are considered to be links in the cause-effect chain (environmental mechanism) of an impact category, prior to the endpoints, at which charac­ terization factors or indicators can be derived to reflect the rela­ tive importance of emissions or extractions. Common examples of midpoint characterization factors include ozone depletion potentials, global warming potentials, and photochemical ozone (smog) creation potentials. Recently, however, some methodolo­ gies have adopted characterization factors at an endpoint level in the cause-effect chain for all categories of impact (e.g., human health impacts in terms of disability adjusted life years for carcinogenicity, climate change, ozone depletion, photochemical ozone creation; or impacts in terms of changes in biodiversity, etc.). The topics addressed at this workshop included the implica­ tions of midpoint versus endpoint indicators with respect to un­ certainty (parameter, model and scenario), transparency and the ability to subsequently resolve trade-offs across impact categories using weighting techniques. The workshop closed with a consen­ sus that both midpoint and endpoint methodologies provide use­ ful information to the decision maker, prompting the call for tools that include both in a consistent framework.