Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimal Redistributive Taxation in a Search Equilibrium Model

This paper characterizes optimal non-linear income taxation in an economy with a continuum of unobservable productivity levels and endogenous involuntary unemployment due to frictions in the labor markets. Redistributive taxation distorts labor demand and wages. Compared to their efficient values, gross wages, unemployment and participation are lower. Average tax rates are increasing. Marginal tax rates are positive, even at the top. Finally, numerical simulations suggest that redistribution is much more important in our setting than in a comparable Mirrlees (1971) setting.
Patient Related Outcome Measures Dovepress Optimal Management of Severe Nausea and Vomiting in Migraine: Improving Patient Outcomes

Migraine is a common and potentially disabling disorder for patients, with wide-reaching implications for health care services, society, and the economy. Nausea and vomiting during migraine attacks are common symptoms that affect at least 60% of patients suffering from migraines. These symptoms are often more disabling than the headache itself, causing a great burden on the patient's life. Nausea and vomiting may delay the use of oral abortive medication or interfere with oral drug absorption. Therefore, they can hinder significantly the management and treatment of migraine (which is usually given orally). The main treatment of pain-associated symptoms of migraine (such as nausea and vomiting) is to stop the migraine attack itself as soon as possible, with the effective drugs at the effective doses, seeking if necessary alternative routes of administration. In some cases, intravenous antiemetic drugs are able to relieve a migraine attack and associated symptoms like nausea and vomiting. We performed an exhaustive PubMed search of the English literature to find studies about management of migraine and its associated symptoms. Search terms were migraine, nausea, and vomiting. We did not limit our search to a specific time period. We focused on clinical efficacy and tolerance of the various drugs and procedures based on data from human studies. We included the best available studies for each discussed drug or procedure. These ranged from randomized controlled trials for some treatments to small case series for others. Recently updated books and manuals on neurology and headache were also consulted. We herein review the efficacy of the different approaches in order to manage nausea and vomiting for migraine patents.
Thigmomorphogenesis versus light in biomechanical growth strategies of saplings of two tropical rain forest tree species

Abstract• In the dense tropical rainforest understorey, saplings exhibit different growth strategies aiming at reaching light levels better fitting their ecology. Investing mainly in height growth, at the expense of their width, a lot are close to mechanical instability. Tachigali melinonii, a long living heliophilic tree species, is frequently observed to be extremely slender and supported by neighbours. Such observations suggest an active growth control through the perception of mechanical environment. • Mechanical environment or light availability, which one is the most influent on growth and slenderness (H/D)? To test this question, we recorded growth of control and staked saplings of two species with contrasting habits and ecology: T. melinonii, and Dicorynia guianensis, along a natural light gradient. • Dicorynia, the more stable, responded more clearly to the staking treatment, showing slenderness increase when light is available, whereas for Tachigali, only light availability governed growth. • For Tachigali, growth allocation is mainly governed by light availability and ontogeny, whereas Dicorynia is probably similar to the average tree strategy, using the thigmomorphogenetic physiological process to control its stability. Résumé• Dans le sous-bois dense tropical humide, les jeunes arbres développent différentes stratégies de croissance pour atteindre des niveaux de lumière mieux adaptés à leur écologie. En investissant massivement dans la croissance en hauteur aux dépens de leur épaisseur, beaucoup sont proches de la non-autoportance. Tachigali melinonii, héliophile à vie longue, est fréquemment observée extrêmement élancée, supportée par ses voisins. Ceci suggère un contrôle actif de la croissance par la perception de l’environnement mécanique. • Qui, de l’environnement mécanique ou de la disponibilité de la lumière influence le plus la croissance et l’élancement? Nous avons observé la croissance de jeunes T. melinonii et Dicorynia guianensis (plus sciaphile), tuteurés ou non, le long d’un gradient naturel de lumière. • Dicorynia, mécaniquement plus stable, est plus réactive aux tuteurs, investissant la biomasse produite dans la croissance en hauteur. La croissance en hauteur de Tachigali est uniquement gouvernée par la lumière disponible. • Pour Tachigali, la disponibilité de la lumière et le stade ontogénique gouvernent principalement l’allocation de croissance. Dicorynia, comme probablement beaucoup d’espèces, utilise la thigmomorphogénèse pour contrôler sa stabilité.
Feature‐Preserving Surface Reconstruction From Unoriented, Noisy Point Data

We propose a robust method for surface mesh reconstruction from unorganized, unoriented, noisy and outlier‐ridden 3D point data. A kernel‐based scale estimator is introduced to estimate the scale of inliers of the input data. The best tangent planes are computed for all points based on mean shift clustering and adaptive scale sample consensus, followed by detecting and removing outliers. Subsequently, we estimate the normals for the remaining points and smooth the noise using a surface fitting and projection strategy. As a result, the outliers and noise are removed and filtered, while the original sharp features are well preserved. We then adopt an existing method to reconstruct surface meshes from the processed point data. To preserve sharp features of the generated meshes that are often blurred during reconstruction, we describe a two‐step approach to effectively recover original sharp features. A number of examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of our method.
Contrast-Induced Nephropathy in Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Contrast Induced Nephropathy (CIN) is a feared complication of numerous radiological procedures that expose patients to contrast media. The most notorious of these procedures is percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Not only is this a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, but it also adds to increased costs in high risk patients undergoing PCI. It is thought to result from direct cytotoxicity and hemodynamic challenge to renal tissue. CIN is defined as an increase in serum creatinine by either ≥0.5 mg/dL or by ≥25% from baseline within the first 2-3 days after contrast administration, after other causes of renal impairment have been excluded. The incidence is considerably higher in diabetics, elderly and patients with pre-existing renal disease when compared to the general population. The nephrotoxic potential of various contrast agents must be evaluated completely, with prevention as the mainstay of focus as no effective treatment exists. The purpose of this article is to examine the pathophysiology, risk factors, and clinical course of CIN, as well as the most recent studies dealing with its prevention and potential therapeutic interventions, especially during PCI. The role of gadolinium as an alternative to iodinated contrast is also discussed.
Psychosocial treatment, antipsychotic postponement, and low‐dose medication strategies in first‐episode psychosis: A review of the literature

Reconsidering medication‐free research in early‐episode schizophrenia prompts a review of acute psychosocial treatments using medication postponement protocols. We describe and compare the different psychosocial treatment approaches. Studies were included in the review if initial psychosocial treatment combined with a time‐limited postponement of antipsychotics was compared to initial antipsychotic treatment using a quasi‐experimental or better research design and reported outcomes of at least one year. Five studies were included (N=261), each reporting modestly better long‐term outcomes than initial medication treatment, resulting in a composite small–medium effect‐size advantage (r = 0.17). In addition, 27–43% of experimental patients were not receiving antipsychotics at the two‐ or three‐year follow‐up. These projects demonstrate the feasibility of a carefully supervised approach to medication‐free research and also suggest a strategy for integrating biological, psychological and social treatment components in early‐episode psychoses. Initial psychosocial treatment combined with a time‐limited postponement of antipsychotic medications for eligible, non‐dangerous, early‐episode patients may facilitate a reduction in long‐term medication dependence and the discrimination of similar but pathophysiologically different diagnostic entities. Rigorous evaluation in a randomized controlled trial designed to identify medication and psychosocial treatment‐responsive subgroups of patients may contribute to diagnostic specificity and improved patient outcomes.
A Review of X-Ray Flow Visualization With Applications to Multiphase Flows

Flow visualization and characterization of multiphase flows have been the quest of many fluid mechanicians. The process is fairly straight forward only when there is good optical access (i.e., the vessel is not opaque or there are appropriate viewing ports) and the flow is transparent, implying a very low volume fraction of the dispersed phase; however, when optical access is not good or the fluid is opaque, alternative methods must be developed. Several different noninvasive visualization tools have been developed to provide high-quality qualitative and quantitative data of various multiphase flow characteristics, and overviews of these methods have appeared in the literature. X-ray imaging is one family of noninvasive measurement techniques used extensively for product testing and evaluation of static objects with complex structures. X-rays can also be used to visualize and characterize multiphase flows. This paper provides a review of the current status of X-ray flow visualization and details various X-ray flow visualization methods that can provide qualitative and quantitative information about the characteristics of complex multiphase flows. Disciplines Complex Fluids | Engineering | Mechanical Engineering | Thermodynamics Comments This article is from Journal of Fluids Engineering 133 (2011): 074001, doi:10.1115/1.4004367. Posted with permission. This article is available at Iowa State University Digital Repository: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/me_pubs/20 A Review of X-Ray Flow Visualization With Applications to Multiphase Flows
Effect of travel speed on the microstructure of Al-to-Mg FSW joints

The effect of relatively high travel speed on the microstructure (SEM) and mechanical properties of friction stir welded dissimilar 5754 Al/AZ31Mg alloys has been characterised. With the Al alloy placed on the advancing side, travel speed were varied from 100 to 350 mm min−1 and the mechanical properties of the joint subsequently determined by tensile tests on cross-section samples. The best (but moderate) properties were obtained at 200 mm min−1. The joint failed by brittle fracture along localised bands on the severely deformed Al side containing Al3Mg2. The lowest travel speed developed a eutectic Al12Mg17 microstructure. The joint obtained at 100 and 250 mm min−1 failed, by ductile and brittle mixed fracture modes, at the bonding interface containing continuous intermetallic compounds.
Molecular diversity of the faecal microbiota of Toy Poodles in Japan

The intestinal microbiota was revealed with the recent advances in molecular techniques, such as high-throughput sequencing analysis. As a result, the microbial changes are thought to influence the health of humans and animals and such changes are affected by several factors including diet, genetics, age, sex, and diseases. Similar studies are being conducted in dogs, and the knowledge of intestinal microbiota in dogs is expanding. Nonetheless, basic information on intestinal microbiota in dogs is less than that of humans. Our aim was to study toy poodles (n=21), a popular companion dog, in terms of basic characteristics of the faecal microbiota by 16S rRNA gene barcoding analysis. In the faecal microbiota, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Fusobacteria were the dominant phyla (over 93.4% of faecal microbiota) regardless of the attributes of the dogs. In family level, Enterobacteriaceae, Bacteroidaceae, and Lachnospiraceae were most prevalent. In case of a dog with protein-losing enteropathy, the diversity of faecal microbiota was different between before and after treatment. This study provides basic information for studying on faecal microbiota in toy poodles.
Active Case Finding for Communicable Diseases in Prison Settings: Increasing Testing Coverage and Uptake Among the Prison Population in the European Union/European Economic Area

Abstract Prison populations are disproportionally affected by communicable diseases when compared with the general community because of a complex mix of socioeconomic determinants and environmental factors. Tailored and adequate health care provision in prisons has the potential to reach vulnerable and underserved groups and address their complex needs. We investigated the available evidence on modalities and effectiveness of active case-finding interventions in prisons by searching PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for records on prison and active case finding with no language limit. Conference abstracts and unpublished research reports also were retrieved. We analyzed the findings by testing modality, outcomes, and study quality. The included 90 records—63 peer-reviewed, 26 from gray literature, and 1 systematic review—reported variously on viral hepatitis, human immunodeficiency virus, sexually transmitted infections, and tuberculosis. No records were retrieved for other communicable diseases. Provider-initiated opt-in testing was the most frequently investigated modality. Testing at entry and provider-initiated testing were reported to result in comparatively higher uptake ranges. However, no comparative studies were identified that reported statistically significant differences between testing modalities. Positivity rates among tested inmates ranged broadly but were generally high for all diseases. The evidence on active case finding in correctional facilities is limited, heterogeneous, and of low quality, making it challenging to draw conclusions on the effect of different testing modalities. Scale-up of provider-initiated testing in European correctional facilities could substantially reduce the undiagnosed fraction and, hence, prevent additional disease transmission in both prison settings and the community at large.
Invisible realities: Caring for older Moroccan migrants with dementia in Belgium

The number of older Moroccan migrants reaching the age of high risk for dementia is increasing in Belgium. Yet no study has been performed to explore how Moroccan families facing dementia experience and manage the condition. The study employed a qualitative design using semi-structured interviews with 12 informal and 13 formal caregivers to answer this research question. Findings indicate that the experience of dementia includes several invisible realities that challenge the informal and formal caregivers: (1) the invisibility of dementia as a condition; (2) the invisible subtleties of the informal care execution; (3) the invisibility and inaccessibility of care services as explanation for these family’s non-use of available services; and (4) the overlooking of culture, migration and religion as invisible influencers of the overall dementia experience. A better understanding of these hidden realities of migrant older people with dementia and their caregivers could lead to interventions to provide effective and tailored person-centred care that is sensitive to the individual’s life experiences, culture and religious background.
Validation of the SARAH-E Satellite-Based Surface Solar Radiation Estimates over India

We evaluate the accuracy of the satellite-based surface solar radiation dataset called Surface Solar Radiation Data Set - Heliosat (SARAH-E) against in situ measurements over a variety of sites in India between 1999 and 2014. We primarily evaluate the daily means of surface solar radiation. The results indicate that SARAH-E consistently overestimates surface solar radiation, with a mean bias of 21.9 W/m2. The results are complicated by the fact that the estimation bias is stable between 1999 and 2009 with a mean of 19.6 W/m2 but increases sharply thereafter as a result of rapidly decreasing (dimming) surface measurements of solar radiation. In addition, between 1999 and 2009, both in situ measurements and SARAH-E estimates described a statistically significant (at 95% confidence interval) trend of approximately −0.6 W/m2/year, but diverged strongly afterward. We investigated the cause of decreasing solar radiation at one site (Pune) by simulating clear-sky irradiance with local measurements of water vapor and aerosols as input to a radiative transfer model. The relationship between simulated and measured irradiance appeared to change post-2009, indicating that measured changes in the clear-sky aerosol loading are not sufficient to explain the rapid dimming in measured total irradiance. Besides instrumentation biases, possible explanations in the diverging measurements and retrievals of solar radiation may be found in the aerosol climatology used for SARAH-E generation. However, at present, we have insufficient data to conclusively identify the cause of the increasing retrieval bias. Users of the datasets are advised to be aware of the increasing bias when using the post-2009 data.
Recent advances in the characterization of Crl, the unconventional activator of the stress sigma factor σS/RpoS

Abstract The bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP) holoenzyme is a multisubunit core enzyme associated with a σ factor that is required for promoter-specific transcription initiation. Besides a primary σ responsible for most of the gene expression during active growth, bacteria contain alternative σ factors that control adaptive responses. A recurring strategy in the control of σ factor activity is their sequestration by anti-sigma factors that occlude the RNAP binding determinants, reducing their activity. In contrast, the unconventional transcription factor Crl binds specifically to the alternative σ factor σS/RpoS, and favors its association with the core RNAP, thereby increasing its activity. σS is the master regulator of the general stress response that protects many Gram-negative bacteria from several harmful environmental conditions. It is also required for biofilm formation and virulence of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. In this report, we discuss current knowledge on the regulation and function of Crl in Salmonella and Escherichia coli, two bacterial species in which Crl has been studied. We review recent advances in the structural characterization of the Crl-σS interaction that have led to a better understanding of this unusual mechanism of σ regulation.
A Novel Pb-Resistant Bacillus subtilis Bacterium Isolate for Co-Biosorption of Hazardous Sb(III) and Pb(II): Thermodynamics and Application Strategy

The present work is the first to study co-biosorption of Pb(II) and Sb(III) by a novel bacterium and its application strategy. The biosorption characteristics of Pb(II) and Sb(III) ions from aqueous solution using B. subtilis were investigated. Optimum pH, biomass dosage, contact time and temperature were determined to be 5.00, 6.00 mg/L, 45 min and 35 °C, respectively. Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) models were applied to describe the biosorption isotherm of the metal ions by B. subtilis. Results showed that Langmuir model fitted the equilibrium data of Pb(II) better than others, while biosorption of Sb(III) obeyed the Freundlich model well. The biosorption capacity of B. subtilis biomass for Pb(II) and Sb(III) ions was found to be 17.34 ± 0.14 and 2.32 ± 0.30 mg/g, respectively. Kinetic data showed the biosorption process of Pb(II) and Sb(III) ions both followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, with R2 ranging from 0.974 to 0.999 for Pb(II) and from 0.967 to 0.979 for Sb(III). The calculated thermodynamic parameters, negative ∆G and positive ∆H and ∆S values, indicated the biosorption of Pb(II) and Sb(III) ions onto B. subtilis biomass in water was feasible, endothermic, and spontaneous. Bacterial bioleaching experiment revealed B. subtilis can increase the mobility of Pb(II) and Sb(III) in polluted soil when pH was close to 6 at low temperature. Consequently, B. subtilis, as a cheap and original bacterial material, could be a promising biomass to remove Pb or isolate Sb from industrial wastewater and to assist phytoremediation of Pb and Sb from weak acid or near neutral pH polluted soils at low temperature.
The Effects of Cloud Computing Technology on E-Learning: Empirical Study

In the world of training, online training is introduced as a modern training services model. For the optimal use of online training services, possession of an appropriate technology platform is vital. Cloud computing is a modern technology which was dramatically interested in the world of information technology, providing software, infrastructure and platform as internet services for the IT world. In this study, the impact of cloud computing on e-learning as an alternative technology for the traditional Web 2, analyzed. The quantitative/experimental method utilized for measurements of two e-learning management servers: one with cloud computing and another with web based technology, with particular QoS (Quality of Service) parameters are done by tools of Apache Benchmark service. Hypothesis testing employed to prove the effects statistically. Three different benchmark tests deployed as follows: analyzing the accessibility to the first page of the Moodle, analyzing the accessibility to the login file system and analyzing the accessibility to the academic file. Final consequences that are resulted from comparing the two servers have shown that the QoS indices of cloud computing server are better than the web 2 based server. The findings prove better performance and quality of service in four aspects of the response time, the throughput passing, the scalability and accessibility. This study grants the E-learning Practitioners and researchers, proved leads, to direct and implement their e-learning systems and platforms on cloud computing infrastructure to achieve identified qualities in their educational and learning services.