Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The broader impact of walking to school among adolescents: seven day accelerometry based study

How children travel to and from school may significantly influence their overall physical activity levels.1 2 We measured moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) among adolescents and explored their means of travel to and from school. We recruited four classes, each of about 30 pupils aged 13-14 years, from four schools in the Edinburgh area. We visited the classes three times: to introduce the study and distribute consent forms and information for pupils and parents or guardians; to allocate accelerometers (instruments used to measure vertical movement); and to collect accelerometers and issue questionnaires. Inclusion in the study required consent from pupils and primary guardians. In spring 2004 we obtained objective measures of the children's activity with precalibrated accelerometers (MTI, Fort Walton, Florida; model 7164), which record activity accumulated each minute.3 We asked the pupils to wear the accelerometers on their hip from waking until bedtime, except while showering, bathing, swimming, and participating in other water based activities. We used age specific cut-off points (on …
Event Detection in Sensor Networks With Non-Linear Amplifiers via Mixture Series Expansion

We develop a new algorithm for binary event detection in wireless sensor networks where the sensing process exhibits non-linear behavior causing clipping of the signals at random. We formulate the optimal event detection as a likelihood ratio test under a mixture model, which results in intractable marginal likelihood functions. To evaluate the intractable marginal likelihood functions, we develop a novel approximation via a non-parametric probability density estimator that is based on a series expansion of the Beta-Jacobi family of basis functions. The advantage of our algorithm is that it provides both high detection rate as well as very low computational complexity. In fact, our algorithm only requires the calculation of the first few moments of the model, which can be evaluated offline and is simple to implement in practice. Another feature of our model is that it is general enough to incorporate the probabilistic sensor non-linearities as well as transmission over random wireless channels. Simulation results demonstrate the benefits of using our framework, and that accounting for such practical features significantly improves the detection performance compared with the widely used Gaussian approximation method.
Does Knowledge Matter?: Intentional Medication Nonadherence Among Middle-Aged Korean Americans With High Blood Pressure

Aim: To examine predictors of intentional and unintentional nonadherence to antihypertensive medication regimens and their relationships to blood pressure outcomes. Background: Although poor adherence to medical regimens is a major concern in the care of patients with high blood pressure (HBP), our understanding of the complex behavior related to adherence is limited. Moreover, few studies have been devoted to understanding adherence issues in ethnic minority groups, such as the interplay between cultural beliefs and HBP medication-taking behaviors. Design: A cross-sectional analysis was performed to assess the factors affecting nonadherence to antihypertensive medication regimens. Methods: The data used in this analysis came from an ongoing HBP intervention trial involving middle-aged (40-64 years) Korean Americans with HBP. A total of 445 Korean Americans with HBP was enrolled in the trial at baseline. Of these, 208 participants who were on antihypertensive medication were included in the analysis. Using multivariate logistic regression, we examined theoretically selected variables to assess their relationships to intentional and unintentional nonadherence in this sample. Results: Approximately 53.8% of the subjects endorsed 1 or more types of nonadherent behaviors. After controlling for demographic variables, multivariate analysis revealed that a greater number of side effects from the medication (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.19; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.07 to 1.33) and a lower level of HBP knowledge (adjusted OR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.79 to 0.99) were significantly associated with intentional nonadherence. Unintentional nonadherence was less strongly associated with the study variables examined in the analysis. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that intentional nonadherence to antihypertensive medication that stems from incomplete knowledge of HBP treatment is prevalent among middle-aged Korean Americans with HBP. The results highlight the strong need for an intervention that focuses on increasing patient knowledge about HBP, including the benefits and side effects of antihypertensive medication. This type of focused intervention may help reduce intentional nonadherence to antihypertensive medications and ultimately result in achieving adequate BP control in this high-risk group.
Psychosocial Interventions and Wellbeing in Individuals with Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Purpose: A number of studies, including systematic reviews, show beneficial effects of psychosocial interventions for people with diabetes mellitus; however, they have not been assessed using meta-analysis. The purpose of this meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials is to investigate the effects of psychosocial interventions on depressive and anxiety symptoms, quality of life and self-efficacy in individuals with diabetes mellitus. Methods: The databases Pubmed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science and SocINDEX were searched with no year restriction. Eligible studies were randomized controlled trials published in English that included individuals diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, aged 18 years or above, who engaged in a psychosocial intervention, with outcome measures addressing depressive or anxiety symptomology, quality of life or self-efficacy. Eligible studies needed to compare the intervention to usual care. Study selection was completed using Covidence and meta-analysis was undertaken using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software. Results: Seven studies were included in the meta-analysis. Five studies investigated the effects of psychosocial interventions and showed a medium to large benefit for depressive symptoms (SMD: −0.70; CI: −1.27, −0.13) which persisted at follow up (SMD: −1.54, CI: −2.97, −0.12). Similar results were not seen immediately post-intervention in the three studies that assessed anxiety symptoms (SMD: −0.30; CI: −0.69, 0.10); however, a medium beneficial effect was seen at follow up (SMD = −0.61, CI = −0.92 to −0.31). Small benefits were seen in the three studies assessing quality of life outcomes (SMD: 0.30, CI: 0.06, 0.55). No benefit was seen in the two studies assessing self-efficacy (SMD: 0.23, CI: −0.11, 0.57). Conclusions: The results of the current study provide preliminary evidence that psychosocial interventions, compared to usual care, reduce depressive symptoms, and may improve quality of life in individuals with diabetes. However, only a few studies were included and the clinical significance of these findings is unknown.
The use of posterior pericardiotomy technique to prevent postoperative pericardial effusion in cardiac surgery.

AIM The goal was to determine the effectiveness of the posterior pericardiotomy technique in preventing the development of early and late pericardial effusions (PEs) and to determine the role of anxiety level for the detection of late pericardial tamponade (PT). MATERIALS AND METHODS We divided 100 patients randomly into 2 groups, the posterior pericardiotomy group (n = 50) and the control group (n = 50). All patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting surgery (CABG), valvular heart surgery, or combined valvular and CABG surgeries were included. The posterior pericardiotomy technique was performed in the first group of 50 patients. Evaluations completed preoperatively, postoperatively on day 1, before discharge, and on postoperative days 5 and 30 included electrocardiographic study, chest radiography, echocardiographic study, and evaluation of the patient's anxiety level. Postoperative causes of morbidity and durations of intensive care unit and hospital stays were recorded. RESULTS The 2 groups were not significantly different with respect to demographic and operative data (P > .05). Echocardiography evaluations revealed no significant differences between the groups preoperatively; however, before discharge the control group had a significantly higher number of patients with moderate, large, and very large PEs compared with the pericardiotomy group (P < .01). There were 6 cases of late PT in the control group, whereas there were none in the pericardiotomy group (P < .05). Before discharge and on postoperative day 15, the patients in the pericardiotomy group showed significant improvement in anxiety levels (P = .03 and .004, respectively). No differences in postoperative complications were observed between the 2 groups. CONCLUSION Pericardiotomy is a simple, safe, and effective method for reducing the incidence of PE and late PT after cardiac surgery. It also has the potential to provide a better quality of life.
MORE THAN NATIONAL, LESS THAN GLOBAL? SOCIAL MOVEMENTS UNDER GLOBALISING CONDITIONS

I look in this paper at the location of social movements in the wider theoretical discussions of the global transformations, and particularly at their approach from the perspective of transnationalism. In doing so, I look at the “hybridisation” of social movements as conceived of in theory, meaning by that the interplay of national and supranational features in the dynamics of social movements under globalising conditions. Secondly, I point – rather as an opening for further more systematic assessment to a certain paradox that seems to lie within these new theories: in spite of the theoretical fragility of the concept of global civil society, the theorisation of social movements under globalising conditions seems to carry on and strengthen this very contested category. Social movements are treated as civic actors (and importantly, not the only ones) with international, transnational and even global reaching. Which creates further theoretical tensions that could be translated into questions like the following: accepting that social movements, as civic actors, get global, does not mean in fact to confirm the possibility of a global civil society? Or, is it rather that civil society as a whole does not (or cannot) get global, but solely parts of it are endowed with the ability to transgress territorially demarcated nations states?
Using a VGI and GIS-Based Multicriteria Approach for Assessing the Potential of Rural Tourism in Extremadura (Spain)

Extremadura (Spain), being one of the less-developed EU regions, is also eligible for European funds, including those related with the development of tourism activities in rural areas. To assess the spatial distribution of rural tourism potential (RTP), a methodological approach was followed by combining the synergetic use of geographic information systems (GIS) and the analytical hierarchical process (AHP). For the evaluation model, six factors were examined and hierarchized by a panel of eighteen experts: tourism accommodation offer, activities in natural areas, gastronomic offer, cultural activities, bath offer in natural environments, and activities in active tourism. These factors were then decomposed into thirty-two evaluation criteria and the relative importance of their weights was estimated using pairwise judgments. Using publicly available data and volunteered geographic information (VGI) platforms, the related spatial and non-spatial data were collected, collated, and standardized, employing appropriate tools developed with open-source GIS software. The results, represented by a series of intensity maps, indicate the RTP scores, highlight the strengths and weaknesses in each county, and could serve as a planning tool for public and/or private investments.
From Genome Sequencing to Bedside

Summary Objectives: To summarize excellent current research in the field of Bioinformatics and Translational Informatics with application in the health domain and evidence-based medicine. Method: We provide a synopsis of the articles selected for the IMIA Yearbook 2013, from which we attempt to derive a synthetic overview of current and future activities in the field. Three steps of selection were performed by querying PubMed and Web of Science. A first set of 5,549 articles was refined into a second set of 1,272 articles from which 15 articles were retained for peer-review. Results: The selection and evaluation process of this Yearbook's section on Bioinformatics and Translational Informatics yielded four excellent articles regarding the Human Genome and Medicine. Exploiting genomic data depends on having the appropriate reference annotation available. In the first article, the goal of the GENCODE Consortium is to produce and publish The GENCODE human reference gene set. As a result it is composed by merged manual and automatic annotations, which are frequently updated from public experimental databases. The quality of genome sequencing is platform-dependant. In the second article, a generic database independent from the sequencing technologies, Huvariome, can help to identify errors and inconsistencies in sequencing. To understand complex diseases of patients it will be of great importance to detect rare gene variants. This is the aim of the third study. Finally, in the last article, the plasma's DNA of healthy individual and patients suffering from cancer is compared. Conclusions: The current research activities attest to the continuous convergence of Bioinformatics and Medical Informatics for clinical practice. For instance, a direct use of high throughput sequencing technologies for patients could aid the diagnosis of complex diseases (such as cancer) without invasive surgery (such as biopsy) but only with blood analysis. However, ongoing genomic tests will generate massive amounts of data and will imply new trends in the near future: “Big Data” and smart health management.
Climate Change and Crop Production Insurance in Ontario

CLIMATE CHANGE AND CROP PRODUCTION INSURANCE IN ONTARIO Shuang Li University of Guelph, 2014 Advisor: Professor Alan Ker The purpose of this thesis is to study the potential impacts of climate change on the Ontario Production Insurance (PI) program, through simulating climate change scenarios on crop yields. Given these yields, the insurance premium rates and reserve fund balances are assessed relative to the no climate change scenario. A mixture of two normals is used to model the yield distributions. By superimposing PI calculations onto the yield model, the insurance premium rates and reserve fund balances can be recovered for the next several decades. The simulation results suggest high climate change severity, high PI program enrollment volume, and high insurance coverage level all impose pressures on the stability of the PI premium rate and reserve fund liquidity in the long run. Acknowledgements The completion of this thesis would not be possible without the advisory and encouragement from several important individuals which I like to take the time here to thank. First, I would like to express my gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Alan Ker, for his supervision, guidance and support throughout the research. His passion for academic research and the spirit of excellence have extended past my academic life and will continue influence me in my future professional life. I would also like to thank the faculty in my advisory committee: Dr. Getu Hailu and Dr. Glenn Fox, for their advice and inspiration. I am also grateful for all the course instructors during my first year at the program: Dr. John Cranfield, Dr. Alan Ker, Dr. Getu Hailu and Dr. Glenn Fox. They helped to build a solid foundation for the carry out of this thesis. Their insights about agricultural economics research are continual sources of inspiration. Special thanks to Ms. Kathryn Sleeves, Ms. Debbie Harkies and Ms. Patricia Fleming, for their caring and help throughout my time at the department. I would like to thank my friends and family for their unconditional support. My fellow classmates, and all the students, faculty and staff at the department, have provided tremendous encouragement throughout the journey, without them, the experience would not be as enjoyable. The friendships that I made through the time at FARE will certainly continue into the future. Finally, I would like to thank my parents for their unconditional love and encouragement. All praise and glory to Jesus Christ, to whom I owe everything.
Distributed Diesel Generation to Facilitate Wind Power Integration

An ensemble wind generation forecasting technique is described in this paper, based on a fusion of publicly available wind forecasts, persistence hold techniques and statistical methods. The forecasting method is applied to the Northern Irish power system where increasing capacity of installed wind generation makes forecast profiles an essential tool. The analysis is based on 6 months of wind generation and wind forecast data from the year 2006. The analysis incorporates the use of centrally controlled distributed diesel generation to cater for instances when the forecast wind generation is over-predicted and a shortfall exists. Power system scheduling software is used to simulate thermal plant operation with and without the described wind forecast. The work highlights the improvements in system efficiency and reduced fuel costs that are possible through application of a basic forecasting technique when combined with flexible distributed generation.
The study on the core personality trait words of Chinese medical university students based on social network analysis

Abstract The medical university students in China whose school work is relatively heavy and educational system is long are a special professional group. Many students have psychological problems more or less. So, to understand their personality characteristics will provide a scientific basis for the intervention of psychological health. We selected top 30 personality trait words according to the order of frequency. Additionally, some methods such as social network analysis (SNA) and visualization technology of mapping knowledge domain were used in this study. Among these core personality trait words Family conscious had the 3 highest centralities and possessed the largest core status and influence. From the analysis of core-peripheral structure, we can see polarized core-perpheral structure was quite obvious. From the analysis of K-plex, there were in total 588 “K-2”K-plexs. From the analysis of Principal Components, we selected the 11 principal components. This study of personality not only can prevent disease, but also provide a scientific basis for students’ psychological healthy education. In addition, we have adopted SNA to pay more attention to the relationship between personality trait words and the connection among personality dimensions. This study may provide the new ideas and methods for the research of personality structure.
What Drives Pricing Behavior in Peer-to-Peer Markets? Evidence from the Carsharing Platform BlaBlaCar

How are prices and market outcomes determined on peer-to-peer platforms? More importantly, how should we expect price-setting and demand behavior to change as these markets mature? We provide the first empirical analysis of the world’s leading carsharing platform, BlaBlaCar. Our econometric model explicitly accounts for the joint determination of price and quantity demanded and finds that pricing decisions evolve as drivers gain experience with the platform. More-experienced drivers set lower prices and, controlling for price, sell more seats. Our interpretation is that more-experienced drivers on BlaBlaCar learn to lower their prices as they gain experience. Further, we find that driver demographics matter. The demographic characteristic with the quantitatively largest effect is for drivers with an Arabic-sounding name, for whom there is meaningfully lower demand, despite the fact that these drivers set lower prices. In total, our results suggest that peer-to-peer markets such as BlaBlaCar share some characteristics with other types of peer-to-peer markets such as eBay but remain a unique and rich setting in which there are many new insights to be gained.
A 3-D block transform based approach to color image compression

In this paper, we present a novel approach to color image compression using 3-D block transforms. Unlike, most of the other color image compression schemes, the proposed scheme do not transform the highly correlated RGB color components into a decorrelated color space like YUV, YCrCb etc but uses 3-D block transforms which is applied directly on RGB color components to reduce the intercolor redundancy, then the 3-D block transform coefficients are quantized and entropy coded. Two different transforms are used in this work, the first is 3-D Discrete cosine transform (DCT) and the second is Mixed transform. The Mixed transform consists of the Lapped Bi-orthogonal Transform in vertical and horizontal directions and DCT in temporal direction. The 3-D DCT exhibits blocky artifacts at low bit rates but Mixed transform gives better visual results. Both transform produces NxNx3 transform coefficients when applied on a NxNx3 3-D data block. We propose a wavelet structure for 3-D block transform coefficients which enables a very efficient encoding of the 3-D block transform coefficients at exact desired bit rate. Our proposed coder shows encouraging results when compared to the Rate Distortion performance of JPEG baseline coder and JPEG2000 coder. The R-D performance of the proposed coder outperforms the JPEG baseline coder consistently by a large margin and is roughly comparable to the JPEG2000 coder.