LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Subsidies and distortions in China’s agriculture: evidence from producer‐level data

Concerned about national grain self-sufficiency and rural household incomes, in 2004 China announced that it was planning to reverse its longstanding policy of taxing farm households and instead began to provide them with subsidies. Over the past five years, annual announcements have trumpeted rises in subsidies. Surprisingly, despite the historic turnaround of policy and the likely implication of this subsidy policy to China’s grain economy, there has been no household-level survey-based research that has sought to understand the effect of China’s subsidy programme on household behaviour. Using data from a national survey of more than 1000 households, we examine in detail a number of different dimensions of the subsidy programme. According to the survey-based findings, we have shown that although agricultural subsidies per farm are low, on per unit of cultivated area basis or total amount of budget, the subsidies are high. Almost all producers are receiving them. Subsidies are mostly being given to the land contractor, not the tiller. Most importantly, the subsidies appear to be nondistorting. No matter if we look at descriptive statistics in tables, scatter plots or regression analyses, there is no evidence that grain subsidies are distorting producer decisions in terms of grain area or input use decisions.
State of Charge Estimation of Lithium-Ion Batteries Using an Adaptive Cubature Kalman Filter

Accurate state of charge (SOC) estimation is of great significance for a lithium-ion battery to ensure its safe operation and to prevent it from over-charging or over-discharging. However, it is difficult to get an accurate value of SOC since it is an inner sate of a battery cell, which cannot be directly measured. This paper presents an Adaptive Cubature Kalman filter (ACKF)-based SOC estimation algorithm for lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles. Firstly, the lithium-ion battery is modeled using the second-order resistor-capacitor (RC) equivalent circuit and parameters of the battery model are determined by the forgetting factor least-squares method. Then, the Adaptive Cubature Kalman filter for battery SOC estimation is introduced and the estimated process is presented. Finally, two typical driving cycles, including the Dynamic Stress Test (DST) and New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) are applied to evaluate the performance of the proposed method by comparing with the traditional extended Kalman filter (EKF) and cubature Kalman filter (CKF) algorithms. Experimental results show that the ACKF algorithm has better performance in terms of SOC estimation accuracy, convergence to different initial SOC errors and robustness against voltage measurement noise as compared with the traditional EKF and CKF algorithms. OPEN ACCESS Energies 2015, 8 5917
Building comprehensible customer churn prediction models with advanced rule induction techniques

Customer churn prediction models aim to detect customers with a high propensity to attrite. Predictive accuracy, comprehensibility, and justifiability are three key aspects of a churn prediction model. An accurate model permits to correctly target future churners in a retention marketing campaign, while a comprehensible and intuitive rule-set allows to identify the main drivers for customers to churn, and to develop an effective retention strategy in accordance with domain knowledge. This paper provides an extended overview of the literature on the use of data mining in customer churn prediction modeling. It is shown that only limited attention has been paid to the comprehensibility and the intuitiveness of churn prediction models. Therefore, two novel data mining techniques are applied to churn prediction modeling, and benchmarked to traditional rule induction techniques such as C4.5 and RIPPER. Both AntMiner+ and ALBA are shown to induce accurate as well as comprehensible classification rule-sets. AntMiner+ is a high performing data mining technique based on the principles of Ant Colony Optimization that allows to include domain knowledge by imposing monotonicity constraints on the final rule-set. ALBA on the other hand combines the high predictive accuracy of a non-linear support vector machine model with the comprehensibility of the rule-set format. The results of the benchmarking experiments show that ALBA improves learning of classification techniques, resulting in comprehensible models with increased performance. AntMiner+ results in accurate, comprehensible, but most importantly justifiable models, unlike the other modeling techniques included in this study. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Using stress testing to guide primary prevention of coronary heart disease among intermediate-risk patients: a cost-effectiveness analysis.

BACKGROUND
Noninvasive stress testing might guide the use of aspirin and statins for primary prevention of coronary heart disease, but it is unclear if such a strategy would be cost effective.


METHODS AND RESULTS
We compared the status quo, in which the current national use of aspirin and statins was simulated, with 3 other strategies: (1) full implementation of Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines, (2) a treat-all strategy in which all intermediate-risk persons received statins (men and women) and aspirin (men only), and (3) a test-and-treat strategy in which all persons with an intermediate risk of coronary heart disease underwent stress testing and those with a positive test were treated with high-intensity statins (men and women) and aspirin (men only). Healthcare costs, coronary heart disease events, and quality-adjusted life years from 2011 to 2040 were projected. Under a variety of assumptions, the treat-all strategy was the most effective and least expensive strategy. Stress electrocardiography was more effective and less expensive than other test-and-treat strategies, but it was less expensive than treat all only if statin cost exceeded $3.16/pill or if testing increased adherence from <22% to >75%. However, stress electrocardiography could be cost effective in persons initially nonadherent to the treat-all strategy if it raised their adherence to 5% and cost saving if it raised their adherence to 13%.


CONCLUSIONS
When generic high-potency statins are available, noninvasive cardiac stress testing to target preventive medications is not cost effective unless it substantially improves adherence.
Not all instability training devices enhance muscle activation in highly resistance-trained individuals.

The objective of this study was to measure the electromyographic (EMG) activity of the soleus, bicep femoris, rectus femoris, lower abdominal, and lumbosacral erector spinae (LSES) muscles with a variety of (a) instability devices, (b) stable and unstable (Dyna Disc) exercises, and (c) a fatiguing exercise in 16 highly conditioned individuals. The device protocol had participants assume standing and squatting postures while balancing on a variety of unstable platforms (Dyna Disc, BOSU ball, wobble board, and a Swiss ball) and a stable floor. The exercise protocol had subjects performing, static front lunges, static side lunges, 1-leg hip extensions, 1-leg reaches, and calf raises on a floor or an unstable Dyna Disc. For the fatigue experiment, a wall sit position was undertaken under stable and unstable (BOSU ball) conditions. Results for the device experiment demonstrated increased activity for all muscles when standing on a Swiss ball and all muscles other than the rectus femoris when standing on a wobble board. Only lower abdominals and soleus EMG activity increased while squatting on a Swiss ball and wobble board. Devices such as the Dyna Disc and BOSU ball did not exhibit significant differences in muscle activation under any conditions, except the LSES in the standing Dyna Disc conditions. During the exercise protocol, there were no significant changes in muscle activity between stable and unstable (Dyna Disc) conditions. With the fatigue protocol, soleus EMG activity was 51% greater with a stable base. These results indicate that the use of moderately unstable training devices (i.e., Dyna Disc, BOSU ball) did not provide sufficient challenges to the neuromuscular system in highly resistance-trained individuals. Since highly trained individuals may already possess enhanced stability from the use of dynamic free weights, a greater degree of instability may be necessary.
Comparison of budesonide/formoterol Turbuhaler with fluticasone/salmeterol Diskus for treatment effects on small airway impairment and airway inflammation in patients with asthma.

BACKGROUND
A course of combination therapy with an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) and a long-acting β(2) agonist (LABA) for asthma can improve lung function, asthma symptoms and reduce exacerbations. Because both medicinal substance and inhalation devices are associated with clinical efficacy, each ICS/LABA combination may have different features. This study aimed to compare the effects of two widely available formulations, budesonide/formoterol (BUD/FM) delivered by a Turbuhaler(®), and fluticasone/salmeterol (FP/SM) delivered by a Diskus(®), on small airway function and airway inflammation.


METHODS
Asthmatic patients (n = 40) treated twice daily with FP/SM 250/50 μg with forced expiratory volume in 1 s values controlled above 80% of the predicted normal but with suspected persistent airway inflammation and small airway impairment were enrolled in the study. Patients were randomized into two groups, receiving either twice daily BUD/FM 320/9 μg or FP/SM 250/50 μg, and treatment efficacy was compared after 4 weeks. Outcomes included impulse oscillometry (IOS), fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), spirometry and Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) scores.


RESULTS
Patients in the BUD/FM group showed significant improvements in their IOS and spirometry parameters of small airway function, FeNO values and ACQ scores, compared with the FP/SM group. There were good correlations between IOS parameters, FeNO and ACQ score changes over the course of the treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
BUD/FM twice daily significantly improved small airway impairment and airway inflammation in asthmatic patients, leading to a reduction in asthma symptoms and achievement of good asthma control. In addition, improvement of small airway function may improve airway inflammation and/or lead to better controlled asthma.
Exemplary care as a mediator of the effects of caregiver subjective appraisal and emotional outcomes.

PURPOSE
Exemplary care (EC) is a new construct encompassing care behaviors that warrants further study within stress process models of dementia caregiving. Previous research has examined EC within the context of cognitively intact older adult care recipients (CRs) and their caregivers (CGs). This study sought to expand our knowledge of quality of care by investigating EC within a diverse sample of dementia CGs.


DESIGN AND METHODS
We examined the relation between CG subjective appraisal (daily care bother, burden, and behavioral bother), EC, and CG emotional outcomes (depression and positive aspects of caregiving [PAC]). Specifically, EC was examined as a possible mediator of the effects of CG subjective appraisals on emotional outcomes. Using a bootstrapping method and an SPSS macro developed by Preacher and Hayes (2008 Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models), we tested the indirect effect of EC on the relation between CG subjective appraisals and CG emotional outcomes.


RESULTS
Overall, EC partially mediates the relation between the subjective appraisal variables (daily care bother, burden, and behavioral bother) and PAC. Results for depression were similar except that EC did not mediate the relation between burden and depression. This pattern of results varied by race/ethnicity.


IMPLICATIONS
Overall, CGs' perception of providing EC to individuals with dementia partially explains the relation between subjective appraisal and symptoms of depression and PAC. Results of this study suggest that interventions may benefit from training CGs to engage in EC to improve their emotional outcomes and quality of care.
Comparison of continuous epidural block and continuous paravertebral block in postoperative analgaesia after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery lobectomy: a randomised, non-inferiority trial.

BACKGROUND
Video-assisted (VATS) lung lobectomy can be associated with stronger postoperative pain than is commonly believed. It is generally accepted to introduce multimodal analgaesic strategies based on regional blockade, opioids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. However, there is still no consensus regarding the optimal regional technique. The aim of this study was to compare the analgaesic efficacy of continuous thoracic epidural block (TEA) and percutaneous continuous paravertebral block (PVB) in patients undergoing video-assisted lung lobectomy.


METHODS
Fifty-one patients undergoing VATS lobectomy were enrolled in the present prospective, randomised clinical trial. The same analgaesic regimen in both groups included continuous infusion of 0.25% bupivacaine with epinephrine, intravenous ketoprofen and paracetamol. The doses of local anaesthetics were determined to achieve the spread of at least 4 segments in both groups. Postoperative static and dynamic visual analogue pain scores, as well as patient-controlled morphine usage, were used to compare the efficacy of analgaesia. Side effects and failure rates of both blocks were analysed.


RESULTS
Static and dynamic pain scores at 24 postoperative hours were significantly lower in the paravertebral group, as were the static pain score at 36 and 48 postoperative hours (P < 0.05). No difference between the treatment groups was identified regarding postoperative morphine usage. The failure rate was higher in the epidural group than in the paravertebral group. No complications were noted in either group, but side effects (urinary retention, hypotension) were more frequent in the epidural group (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Postoperative pain following VATS lung resection procedures is significant and requires the application of complex analgaesic techniques. Percutaneous paravertebral block is equally effective as thoracic epidural block in providing analgaesia in patients undergoing VATS lobectomy. Paravertebral block has a better safety profile than thoracic epidural block.
The unification of electromagnetism and gravitation in the context of quantized fractal space-time

Abstract The attempts to unify electromagnetism and gravitation have included the formulations of Herman Weyl and the Kaluza–Klein theory with the fifth dimension. More recently there have been fruitful attempts in the domain of Quantum Superstrings and the author's formulation in terms of Quantum Mechanical Kerr–Newman Black Holes. Though all these appear to be widely divergent approaches, they are shown to have a unified underpinning in the context of quantized fractal space-time (QFST).
The origins of Schwinger׳s Euclidean Green׳s functions

Abstract This paper places Julian Schwinger׳s development of the Euclidean Green׳s function formalism for quantum field theory in historical context. It traces the techniques employed in the formalism back to Schwinger׳s work on waveguides during World War II, and his subsequent formulation of the Minkowski space Green׳s function formalism for quantum field theory in 1951. Particular attention is dedicated to understanding Schwinger׳s physical motivation for pursuing the Euclidean extension of this formalism in 1958.
A Brief Review on Leading Big Data Models

Today, science is passing through an era of transformation, where the inundation of data, dubbed data deluge is influencing the decision making process. The science is driven by the data and is being termed as data science. In this internet age, the volume of the data has grown up to petabytes, and this large, complex, structured or unstructured, and heterogeneous data in the form of “Big Data” has gained significant attention. The rapid pace of data growth through various disparate sources, especially social media such as Facebook, has seriously challenged the data analytic capabilities of traditional relational databases. The velocity of the expansion of the amount of data gives rise to a complete paradigm shift in how new age data is processed. Confidence in the data engineering of the existing data processing systems is gradually fading whereas the capabilities of the new techniques for capturing, storing, visualizing, and analyzing data are evolving. In this review paper, we discuss some of the modern Big Data models that are leading contributors in the NoSQL era and claim to address Big Data challenges in reliable and efficient ways. Also, we take the potential of Big Data into consideration and try to reshape the original operationaloriented definition of “Big Science” (Furner, 2003) into a new data-driven definition and rephrase it as “The science that deals with Big Data is Big Science.” Disciplines Agriculture | Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering | Computer Sciences | Statistics and Probability Comments This article is from Data Science Journal. 13, pp.138–157. DOI: http://doi.org/10.2481/dsj.14-041. Posted with permission. Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. This article is available at Iowa State University Digital Repository: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/abe_eng_pubs/771 A BRIEF REVIEW ON LEADING BIG DATA MODELS Sugam Sharma 1* , Udoyara S Tim 2 , Johnny Wong 3 , Shashi Gadia 3 , Subhash Sharma 4 1 Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50010, USA *Email: sugamsha@iastate.edu 2 Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50010, USA 3 Department of Computer Science, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50010, USA 4 Electronics & Computer Discipline, DPT, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, 247001, INDIA
Internet addiction and psychiatric symptoms among Korean adolescents.

BACKGROUND
The aims of this study were to identify the independent factors associated with intermittent addiction and addiction to the Internet and to examine the psychiatric symptoms in Korean adolescents when the demographic and Internet-related factors were controlled.


METHODS
Male and female students (N = 912) in the 7th-12th grades were recruited from 2 junior high schools and 2 academic senior high schools located in Seoul, South Korea. Data were collected from November to December 2004 using the Internet-Related Addiction Scale and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revision. A total of 851 subjects were analyzed after excluding the subjects who provided incomplete data.


RESULTS
Approximately 30% (n = 258) and 4.3% (n = 37) of subjects showed intermittent Internet addiction and Internet addiction, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that junior high school students and students having a longer period of Internet use were significantly associated with intermittent addiction. In addition, male gender, chatting, and longer Internet use per day were significantly associated with Internet addiction. When the demographic and Internet-related factors were controlled, obsessive-compulsive and depressive symptoms were found to be independently associated factors for intermittent addiction and addiction to the Internet, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Staff working in junior or senior high schools should pay closer attention to those students who have the risk factors for intermittent addiction and addiction to the Internet. Early preventive intervention programs are needed that consider the individual severity level of Internet addiction.
The Research Design Maze: Understanding Paradigms, Cases, Methods and Methodologies

The present paper introduces the logical choices available in research methodologies; which enable the drawing of correct inferences to answer the various research questions that are asked by accounting researchers. It starts with an overview of research paradigms as fundamental beliefs that affect the ways to conduct social research, including the choice of a particular research methodology. The paper then details the elements of case study design, including the justification to choose case organisations. The sections that follow present an overview of the required data and collection methods and discuss the methods used to analyse the collected data. Considerations regarding research quality are also presented. This paper is a useful reference or a starting point for researchers considering qualitative multi-method case study research designs.
The virtual life of ENIAC: simulating the operation of the first electronic computer

With an interactive simulation of the ENIAC, users can wire complex configurations of the machine's modules. The simulation, written in Java, can be started from an Internet site. The simulation has been tested with a 6-meter-long data wall, which provides the closest available approximation to the look and feel of programming this historical computer.
Learning and teaching in virtual worlds: Implications of virtual reality for education

Though Virtual Reality is at a relatively rudimentary stage of development, many argue it is destined to influence both educational theory and practice. Active research into the educational implications of VR for education is underway and mainly focuses on the phenomena related to the immersion of individuals in a simulated environment. This paper surveys the research into VR and focuses on the implications of immersive virtual worlds for learning and teaching.
Deriving Wavefield Characteristics and Shear-Velocity Profiles from Two- Dimensional Small-Aperture Arrays Analysis of Ambient Vibrations in a Small-Size Alluvial Basin, Colfiorito, Italy

We analyze the dispersion characteristics of ambient noise vibrations. For this purpose, two-dimensional (2D) seismic array data were acquired in four different sites in the Colfiorito plain, an alluvial intramountain basin that exhibits strong site effects. Assuming seismic noise being mainly composed of surface waves, we derive one-dimensional (1D) shallow shear-velocity profiles through the inversion of dispersion curves measured by frequency–wavenumber (f-k) methods. The inverted shear-wave velocity profiles are consistent with a priori information for those sites that can be approximated by 1D simple models. In these cases, the use of passive records of seismic vibrations can be a valuable tool for determining the shallow velocity profile if a detailed depiction of velocity structure is not required. The theoretical dispersion curves for Rayleigh and Love waves were compared with the measured dispersion curves for vertical and horizontal components, respectively. This allows us to discuss qualitatively the composition of ambient vibrations (outlining a large proportion of Love waves in the noise wave field) and the effects of higher modes. We also use the single-station method for investigating the origin of the horizontal-to-vertical (H/V) peak in the plain of Colfiorito in terms of ellipticity of the fundamental Rayleigh mode.