LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Adoption of improved technologies by the pig farmers of Aizawl district of Mizoram, India

Mizoram is a mountainous region and it lies within the tropics. The slopes are steep on all sides and the average height is about 900 metres from sea level. Pig is the most important livestock in the state and plays a major role in the livelihood of the small farmers. The present study was undertaken to find out the extent of adoption of improved farm practices and to identify the factors that influences adoption of pig production technology in pig farmers. A total 100 numbers of the farmers were selected for the study and personal interview and self observation method were employed to collect data on five different aspects namely, housing, breeding, feeding, health care and general care and management practices. The study revealed that 81% of the farmers adopted improved technology on breeding and 63% of them adopted heath care practices at higher level in their farms. The percentage of respondents in adopting improved technology on housing and feeding practices were very low i.e. 62% and 63% respectively. Half of the respondents (50%) had adopted general care and management practices partially. The overall adoption was partial (Average score was 55.87). Majority of the respondents (51%) adopted the improved technology on pig rearing partially. The adoptions of improved technologies were associated with age, education, operational land holding, farm size, income from piggery, social participation, extension contact, farming experience, farm education exposure, scientific orientation, knowledge level, training and financial help received. These variables contributed 92.00% variation in the adoption gain in improved technologies in pig farming.
The evolving context of Brazil's environmental policies

O contexto das políticas ambientais brasileiras mudou de várias maneiras ao longo das últimas duas décadas, com alguns aspectos positivos para o meio ambiente e outros não. Mudanças positivas incluem a criação de um Ministério do Meio Ambiente e de um sistema de licenciamento ambiental, o aumento da organização da sociedade civil, a criação de reservas e demarcação de áreas indígena e o advento das convenções internacionais sobre o clima e a biodiversidade. No entanto, os projetos de desenvolvimento na Amazônia brasileira têm contornado as restrições ambientais de várias maneiras, e as modifi cações do passado e do presente no sistema estão enfraquecendo a proteção ambiental. A hostilidade atual do clima político no Brasil em questões ambientais faz com que os esforços para fortalecer as políticas ambientais sejam ainda mais dependentes de uma cuidadosa seleção de estratégias. Em Face da instabilidade, a melhor estratégia é estar preparado para as oportunidades de conservação, incluíndo o uso da ciência e tecnologia em áreas relevantes. Compreender a natureza complexa da burocracia brasileira é essencial neste processo. O valor dos serviços ambientais prestados pela manutenção da fl oresta amazônica poderia ser um elementochave para determinar o futuro da política ambiental e da fl oresta. Abstract
Long-Term Efficacy and Safety of Nilutamide Plus Castration in Advanced Prostate Cancer, and the Significance of Early Prostate Specific Antigen Normalization

Purpose: We studied the long-term efficacy and tolerability of nilutamide, a nonsteroidal antiandrogen, combined with orchiectomy in patients with advanced prostate cancer. Materials and Methods: A large double-blind trial was done on 457 patients randomized to receive nilutamide or placebo after orchiectomy. Results: At 8.5 years of followup significant benefits were found for progression and survival in favor of patients receiving nilutamide and orchiectomy. In addition, normalized prostate specific antigen levels a t 3 months from the start of therapy were predictive of good long-term outcome. Moreover, combined androgen blockade with nilutamide increased the chance of patients having normal prostate specific antigen levels at 3 months. Nilutamide was well tolerated in the long term with no increase in the incidence of drug specific adverse events. Conclusions: With long-term followup of patients with advanced prostate cancer, the combination of nilutamide and orchiectomy has significant benefits in interval to progression and improved survival compared to orchiectomy and placebo.
Results of the randomized phase IIB ADMIRE trial of FCR with or without mitoxantrone in previously untreated CLL

ADMIRE was a multicenter, randomized-controlled, open, phase IIB superiority trial in previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Conventional front-line therapy in fit patients is fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab (FCR). Initial evidence from non-randomized phase II trials suggested that the addition of mitoxantrone to FCR (FCM-R) improved remission rates. Two hundred and fifteen patients were recruited to assess the primary end point of complete remission (CR) rates according to International Workshop on Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia criteria. Secondary end points were progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), overall response rate, minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity and safety. At final analysis, CR rates were 69.8 FCR vs 69.3% FCM-R (adjusted odds ratio (OR): 0.97; 95% confidence interval (CI): (0.53–1.79), P=0.932). MRD-negativity rates were 59.3 FCR vs 50.5% FCM-R (adjusted OR: 0.70; 95% CI: (0.39–1.26), P=0.231). During treatment, 60.0% (n=129) of participants received granulocyte colony-stimulating factor as secondary prophylaxis for neutropenia, a lower proportion on FCR compared with FCM-R (56.1 vs 63.9%). The toxicity of both regimens was acceptable. There are no significant differences between the treatment groups for PFS and OS. The trial demonstrated that the addition of mitoxantrone to FCR did not increase the depth of response. Oral FCR was well tolerated and resulted in impressive responses in terms of CR rates and MRD negativity compared with historical series with intravenous chemotherapy.
Effect of bar-code-assisted medication administration on medication error rates in an adult medical intensive care unit.

PURPOSE
The effect of bar-code-assisted medication administration (BCMA) on the rate of medication errors in adult patients in a medical intensive care unit (ICU) was studied.


METHODS
Medication errors were identified in a community teaching hospital medical ICU using a direct observation technique whereby nurses were observed administering medications. Observations occurred for four consecutive 24-hour periods one month before and four months after the implementation of BCMA. Errors in the following categories were recorded: wrong drug, wrong administration time, wrong route, wrong dose, omission, administration of a drug with no order, and documentation error. Two evaluators reviewed all errors for accuracy. Medication error rates were calculated and compared by determining the number of medication errors identified per number of medications administered (observed) preimplementation and postimplementation of BCMA. Statistical analyses were conducted to determine significance.


RESULTS
A total of 1465 medication administrations were observed (775 preimplementation and 690 postimplementation) for 92 patients (45 preimplementation and 47 postimplementation). The medication error rate was reduced by 56% after the implementation of BCMA (19.7% versus 8.7% , p < 0.001). This benefit was related to a reduction associated with errors of wrong administration time. Wrong administration time errors decreased from 18.8% during preimplementation to 7.5% postimplementation (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in other error types.


CONCLUSION
The implementation of BCMA significantly reduced the number of wrong administration time errors in an adult medical ICU.
Employee ’ s Market Orientation and Business Performance in Nigeria : Analysis of Small Business Enterprises in Lagos State

Organization success is determined by the demand for its product or services. Many organization put in place methods and strategies that could enabled them attract customers and improved the quality and quantity of their product. One of the major methods in this direction is market orientation. Employees are influenced to consider organization interest and be involved or oriented to monitor their customers’ loyalty and attitude towards their product to enable them to be competitive, productive and profitable. But despite its advantage, most small business enterprises (SBEs) in Lagos, the economic capital of Nigeria don’t engage in market orientation. This paper examines different methods of market orientation and how it could be employed for improved SBEs performance in Lagos State. Two null hypotheses were formulated to test the relationship between customer orientation and sales growth and market orientation and SBE’s profitability. Questions were formulated based on the hypotheses and questionnaires were distributed to top managers and investors of SBEs, out of which 95% of the respondents returned duly completed and properly filled questionnaires. The research findings show that many SBEs that engage in market orientation recorded substantial progress. But most other have not really applied this method, hence their low performance and profitability. The study recommends that market orientation should be used by SBEs for improved performance. Also, SBEs managers and owners should engage in market orientation to enable their enterprises more profitable and survive in changing, dynamic and turbulent business environment.
Fair models of political fairness

Abstract. In this note we study different methods of aggregation of preferences met on the occasion of elections. Through a simple geometrical representation, we analyse several of their properties, in particular those linked to Arrow's theorem for ordinal rankings; we pursue this discussion in the case of cardinal rankings, the qualities of which convince us of the usefulness of experiencing their introduction in real ballots. Copyright © 1986, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved
Evolution of the Bayramiç magmatic complex, northwestern Anatolia

Abstract During the Oligocene–Middle Miocene period widespread magmatic activity developed in Western Anatolia, following the continental collision between the Sakarya continent and the Tauride–Anatolide platform. This produced both intrusive and extrusive rocks, which appear to be associated in space and time, as exemplified from the Bayramic area. In the Bayramic area, the magmatic activity started with the intrusion of the Evciler granite, and the coeval lower volcanic association. This was followed by the development of the upper volcanic association. These rock groups form collectively the Bayramic magmatic complex, which was generated under an on-going north–south compressional regime. The Bayramic magmatic complex has a subalkaline composition, displaying a calcalkaline trend. Trace elements and REE contents resemble to island-arc and collision-related magmas. According to the isotope values the Bayramic magmatic complex was derived from the magmas of lithospheric mantle origin, which were later contaminated, while passing through the thick continental crust, in a post-collisional tectonic setting, during the Oligocene–Early Miocene period. The latest product of the magmatism is the Late Miocene–Pliocene basalt lavas. Their geochemical properties are clearly different from the Oligocene–Early Miocene magmatic rocks. The basalts were generated when the north–south compression gave way to the north–south extensional regime.
Image Reconstruction for Hybrid True-Color Micro-CT

X-ray micro-CT is an important imaging tool for biomedical researchers. Our group has recently proposed a hybrid “true-color” micro-CT system to improve contrast resolution with lower system cost and radiation dose. The system incorporates an energy-resolved photon-counting true-color detector into a conventional micro-CT configuration, and can be used for material decomposition. In this paper, we demonstrate an interior color-CT image reconstruction algorithm developed for this hybrid true-color micro-CT system. A compressive sensing-based statistical interior tomography method is employed to reconstruct each channel in the local spectral imaging chain, where the reconstructed global gray-scale image from the conventional imaging chain served as the initial guess. Principal component analysis was used to map the spectral reconstructions into the color space. The proposed algorithm was evaluated by numerical simulations, physical phantom experiments, and animal studies. The results confirm the merits of the proposed algorithm, and demonstrate the feasibility of the hybrid true-color micro-CT system. Additionally, a ``color diffusion'' phenomenon was observed whereby high-quality true-color images are produced not only inside the region of interest, but also in neighboring regions. It appears harnessing that this phenomenon could potentially reduce the color detector size for a given ROI, further reducing system cost and radiation dose.
Isometric and isokinetic hip strength and agonist/antagonist ratios in symptomatic femoroacetabular impingement.

OBJECTIVES
This study investigated isometric and isokinetic hip strength in individuals with and without symptomatic femoroacetabular impingement (FAI). The specific aims were to: (i) determine whether differences exist in isometric and isokinetic hip strength measures between groups; (ii) compare hip strength agonist/antagonist ratios between groups; and (iii) examine relationships between hip strength and self-reported measures of either hip pain or function in those with FAI.


DESIGN
Cross-sectional.


METHODS
Fifteen individuals (11 males; 25±5 years) with symptomatic FAI (clinical examination and imaging (alpha angle >55° (cam FAI), and lateral centre edge angle >39° and/or positive crossover sign (combined FAI))) and 14 age- and sex-matched disease-free controls (no morphological FAI on magnetic resonance imaging) underwent strength testing. Maximal voluntary isometric contraction strength of hip muscle groups and isokinetic hip internal (IR) and external rotation (ER) strength (20°/s) were measured. Groups were compared with independent t-tests and Mann-Whitney U tests.


RESULTS
Participants with FAI had 20% lower isometric abduction strength than controls (p=0.04). There were no significant differences in isometric strength for other muscle groups or peak isokinetic ER or IR strength. The ratio of isometric, but not isokinetic, ER/IR strength was significantly higher in the FAI group (p=0.01). There were no differences in ratios for other muscle groups. Angle of peak IR torque was the only feature correlated with symptoms.


CONCLUSIONS
Individuals with symptomatic FAI demonstrate isometric hip abductor muscle weakness and strength imbalance in the hip rotators. Strength measurement, including agonist/antagonist ratios, may be relevant for clinical management of FAI.
Defining life.

Any definition is intricately connected to a theory that gives it meaning. Accordingly, this article discusses various definitions of life held in the astrobiology community by considering their connected "theories of life." These include certain "list" definitions and a popular definition that holds that life is a "self-sustaining chemical system capable of Darwinian evolution." We then act as "anthropologists," studying what scientists do to determine which definition-theories of life they constructively hold as they design missions to seek non-terran life. We also look at how constructive beliefs about biosignatures change as observational data accumulate. And we consider how a definition centered on Darwinian evolution might itself be forced to change as supra-Darwinian species emerge, including in our descendents, and consider the chances of our encountering supra-Darwinian species in our exploration of the Cosmos. Last, we ask what chemical structures might support Darwinian evolution universally; these structures might be universal biosignatures.
Current and flux regulation in field-weakening operation [of induction motors]

Induction motor field-weakening techniques have been developed which provide maximum torque capability above rated speed. Unfortunately most of these techniques are valid only for steady-state operation and show significant sensitivity to DC bus voltage and machine parameters. This paper analyzes the requirements of dynamically providing maximum torque under field-weakening operation. Three major issues are addressed: current regulator design; saturation techniques for current regulators in order to ensure best performance under voltage constraints; and flux regulator design to minimize transient errors when varying flux. Maximum DC bus utilization through the proper use of saturation techniques, dynamic response and reduced sensitivity are the advantages of the proposed solution.
Determinants of exclusive breastfeeding practices among mothers in azezo district, northwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND
Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is a very important, long lasting and cost effective intervention to help reduce the morbidity and mortality of infants. However, a large proportion of infants are not exclusively breastfed as recommended by the World Health Organization. The study aim was to assess the exclusive breastfeeding practices and identify determinants among mothers in Azezo District, Ethiopia.


METHODS
A community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 346 mothers with infants aged between 0-6 months. Data were collected using a pretested, interviewer administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were used to describe the study objectives and identify the determinants of EBF in the previous 24 h. Associations between the study and outcome variables were described using odds ratios and 95 % confidence intervals (CI).


RESULTS
Any breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding in the previous 24 h were 99 and 79 %, respectively. The mean number of exclusive breastfeeds in the 24 h period was 6.5. Exclusive breastfeeding rates were highest among mothers aged ≥ 30 years (Adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.75; 95 % CI 1.14, 3.42). Infants whose mothers were unemployed were more likely to be exclusively breastfed than infants whose mothers were employed (AOR 1.62; 95 % CI 1.03, 2.95). Mothers earning ≤ 1000 birr (US $47.62) monthly were 77 % less likely to practice EBF (AOR 0.23; 95 % CI 0.13, 0.44). Mothers who delivered at the healthcare facility practised more exclusive breastfeeding than those who delivered at home (AOR 2.18; 95 % CI 1.22, 4.35). Mothers who received antenatal and postnatal care had better rates of EBF (AOR 2.24; 95 % CI 1.18, 5.76 and AOR 1.62; 95 % CI 1.09, 3.21) and mothers not practicing prelacteal feeding were more likely to exclusively breastfeed compared with mothers practicing prelacteal feeding (AOR 2.16; 95 % CI 1.16, 4.06).


CONCLUSIONS
Any breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding rates in the previous 24 h are relatively high in the study area compared with previous studies. Maternal factors (age, education, income, employment, antenatal care, prelacteal feeding), infants' age, delivery place and information access were independent predictors to EBF in previous 24 h. Improving the mother's knowledge, income, information access, nutritional counselling, quality of antenatal and postnatal care service, place of delivery and avoiding prelacteal feeding practices are important to improving the exclusive breastfeeding rate in the previous 24 h.
Interim analysis of a phase I/IIa trial assessing E39+GM-CSF, a folate binding protein vaccine, to prevent recurrence in ovarian and endometrial cancer patients

BACKGROUND
Folate binding protein(FBP) is an immunogenic protein over-expressed in endometrial(EC) and ovarian cancer(OC). We are conducting a phase I/IIa trial of E39 (GALE 301)+GM-CSF, an HLA-A2-restricted, FBP-derived peptide vaccine to prevent recurrences in disease-free EC and OC patients. This interim analysis summarizes toxicity, immunologic responses, and clinical outcomes to date.


METHODS
HLA-A2+ patients were vaccinated(VG), and HLA-A2- or -A2+ patients were followed as controls(CG). Six monthly intradermal inoculations of E39+250mcg GM-CSF were administered to VG. Demographic, safety, immunologic, and recurrence rate(RR) data were collected and evaluated.


RESULTS
This trial enrolled 51 patients; 29 in the VG and 22 in the CG. Fifteen patients received 1000mcg E39, and 14 received <1000mcg. There were no clinicopathologic differences between groups(all p ≥ 0.1). E39 was well-tolerated regardless of dose. DTH increased pre- to post-vaccination (5.7±1.5 mm vs 10.3±3.0 mm, p = 0.06) in the VG, and increased more in the 1000mcg group (3.8±2.0 mm vs 9.5±3.5 mm, p = 0.03). With 12 months median follow-up, the RR was 41% (VG) vs 55% (CG), p = 0.41. Among the 1000mcg patients, the RR was 13.3% vs 55% CG, p = 0.01. Estimated 2-year DFS was 85.7% in the 1000mcg group vs 33.6% in the CG (p = 0.021).


CONCLUSIONS
This phase I/IIa trial reveals that E39+GM-CSF is well-tolerated and elicits a strong, dose-dependent in vivo immune response. Early efficacy results are promising in the 1000 mcg dose cohort. This study proves the safety and establishes the dose of E39 for a larger prospective, randomized, controlled trial in HLA-A2+ EC and OC patients to prevent recurrence.
Epidemiology of traumatic brain injury in eastern China, 2004: a prospective large case study.

BACKGROUND
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of death for traumatic injury, which is the fifth highest killer in China and the highest killer in adults under 40 years of age. But, there is a lack of epidemiologic data of TBI in China during the past decade. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiologic data of TBI in eastern China, based on a prospective multicenter trial.


METHODS
Data were collected from the 77 hospitals by standardized structured questionnaires in this region during the 1-year period (2004).


RESULTS
A total of 14,948 of cases of traumatic brain injury were identified from 77 hospitals in eastern China. There were 11,446 men (76.6%) and 3,502 women (25.4%). Male adolescents and young adults were affected more often by brain injury. Traffic accidents (60.9%), knock on head (13.4%), and falls (13.1%) were the leading causes of patients with TBI. Approximately one-thirds of the traffic-related TBI were motorcyclists, 31% were pedestrians, and 21.9% were cyclists, whereas motor vehicle occupants only counted for 14% of the cases. The distribution of head injury severity, on the basis of Glasgow Coma Scale scores, was mild in 62%, moderate in 18.1%, and severe in 20% for all cases. The traffic accidents caused the most of severe injuries, which accounted for about 70.4%. Based on Glasgow Outcome Scale assessment, 10.8% of the patients died, 2.6% were in vegetation status, 2.2% had severe disability, 7.2% had moderate disability, and 77.3% had good recovery. And, the outcome depended on age, injury mechanism and initial Glasgow Coma Scale score.


CONCLUSIONS
The prospective cohort study shows an alteration of TBI during the past decade in eastern China. It is essential to establish a standardized surveillance system of TBI incidence, risk factors, causes, and outcomes for development of new, more effective, targeted strategies to prevent TBI.