Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Integrating the landscape epidemiology and genetics of RNA viruses: rabies in domestic dogs as a model

SUMMARY Landscape epidemiology and landscape genetics combine advances in molecular techniques, spatial analyses and epidemiological models to generate a more real-world understanding of infectious disease dynamics and provide powerful new tools for the study of RNA viruses. Using dog rabies as a model we have identified how key questions regarding viral spread and persistence can be addressed using a combination of these techniques. In contrast to wildlife rabies, investigations into the landscape epidemiology of domestic dog rabies requires more detailed assessment of the role of humans in disease spread, including the incorporation of anthropogenic landscape features, human movements and socio-cultural factors into spatial models. In particular, identifying and quantifying the influence of anthropogenic features on pathogen spread and measuring the permeability of dispersal barriers are important considerations for planning control strategies, and may differ according to cultural, social and geographical variation across countries or continents. Challenges for dog rabies research include the development of metapopulation models and transmission networks using genetic information to uncover potential source/sink dynamics and identify the main routes of viral dissemination. Information generated from a landscape genetics approach will facilitate spatially strategic control programmes that accommodate for heterogeneities in the landscape and therefore utilise resources in the most cost-effective way. This can include the efficient placement of vaccine barriers, surveillance points and adaptive management for large-scale control programmes.
BIPOLAR MAGNETIC STRUCTURES DRIVEN BY STRATIFIED TURBULENCE WITH A CORONAL ENVELOPE

We report the spontaneous formation of bipolar magnetic structures in direct numerical simulations of stratified forced turbulence with an outer coronal envelope. The turbulence is forced with transverse random waves only in the lower (turbulent) part of the domain. Our initial magnetic field is either uniform in the entire domain or confined to the turbulent layer. After about 1–2 turbulent diffusion times, a bipolar magnetic region of vertical field develops with two coherent circular structures that live during one turbulent diffusion time, and then decay during 0.5 turbulent diffusion times. The resulting magnetic field strengths inside the bipolar region are comparable to the equipartition value with respect to the turbulent kinetic energy. The bipolar magnetic region forms a loop-like structure in the upper coronal layer. We associate the magnetic structure formation with the negative effective magnetic pressure instability in the two-layer model.
Learning to Write: The Role of Handwriting for Chinese Spelling in Kindergarten Children

Given the orthographic complexities of Chinese characters, handwriting skills may play an important role in how children learn to write Chinese. The present study includes a comprehensive battery of handwriting measures in relation to Chinese spelling in young children. Measures of handwriting, including stroke order, visual-motor integration (Hebrew and Vietnamese copying) and handwriting fluency, along with other reading-related cognitive skills, were administered to 141 kindergartners in Hong Kong schools. We assessed the extent to which these handwriting measures are associated with spelling. A series of regression analyses revealed that the handwriting measures altogether significantly contributed to children’s spelling performance, with age, nonverbal reasoning, and vocabulary knowledge statistically controlled. Handwriting fluency and Vietnamese copying were unique correlates of spelling even after considering all well-established cognitive measures, including morphological awareness, orthographic awareness, and phonological awareness. The finding also highlights the importance of orthographic awareness: Both sensitivity to Chinese character structure and understanding of the function of semantic radicals are crucial to children’s early spelling abilities.
Guatemala and Integrated Rural Development: Towards Inclusive Growth in the Rural Sector

Access to land and its associated power has stratified society for millennia. Non-market functions of land have historically delineated political power structures, arranging hierarchical relationships predicated on land ownership. The productive functions of land, for agriculture or associated environmental services, have defined its economic significance. In the past 30 years in Latin America, paths to development have been navigated with private property as the guide, prioritising formalised structures of ownership and dispossessing traditional, communal forms of land use and control. Though State policies may recognise the political-cultural rights of marginalised populations in their pursuit for equal access to land, the ? extension of the discussion into the economic realm? is often discouraged (Hale, 2009), and unequal land policy arrangements that maintain rural poverty and exclusion persist. (? )
Introduction to stochastic partial differential equations

We introduce the Hilbert space-valued Wiener process and the corresponding stochastic integral of Ito type. This is then used together with semigroup theory to obtain existence and uniqueness of weak solutions of linear and semilinear stochastic evolution problems in Hilbert space. Finally, this abstract theory is applied to the linear heat and wave equations driven by additive noise.
Quantitative Proteomics Analysis of the cAMP/Protein Kinase A Signaling Pathway

To define the proteins whose expression is regulated by cAMP and protein kinase A (PKA), we used a quantitative proteomics approach in studies of wild-type (WT) and kin- (PKA-null) S49 murine T lymphoma cells. We also compared the impact of endogenous increases in the level of cAMP [by forskolin (Fsk) and the phosphodiesterase inhibitor isobutylmethylxanthine (IBMX)] or by a cAMP analogue (8-CPT-cAMP). We identified 1056 proteins in WT and kin- S49 cells and found that 8-CPT-cAMP and Fsk with IBMX produced differences in protein expression. WT S49 cells had a correlation coefficient of 0.41 between DNA microarray data and the proteomics analysis in cells incubated with 8-CPT-cAMP for 24 h and a correlation coefficient of 0.42 between the DNA microarray data obtained at 6 h and the changes in protein expression after incubation with 8-CPT-cAMP for 24 h. Glutathione reductase (Gsr) had a higher level of basal expression in kin- S49 cells than in WT cells. Consistent with this finding, kin- cells are less sensitive to cell killing and generation of malondialdehyde than are WT cells incubated with H2O2. Cyclic AMP acting via PKA thus has a broad impact on protein expression in mammalian cells, including in the regulation of Gsr and oxidative stress.
Surface-passivated high-resistivity silicon as a true microwave substrate

This paper addresses the properties of a surface-passivated (enhanced) high-resistivity silicon (HRS) substrate for use in monolithic microwave technology. The detrimental effects of conductive surface channels and their variations across the wafer related to the local oxide and silicon/silicon-dioxide interface quality are eliminated through the formation of a thin amorphous layer at the wafer surface. Without passivation, it is found that the surface channels greatly degrade the quality of passive components in HRS by masking the excellent properties of the bulk HRS substrate and by causing a spread in parameters and peak values across the wafer. Moreover, it is seen that the surface passivation leads to excellent agreement of the characteristics of fabricated components and circuits with those predicted by electromagnetic (EM) simulation based on the bulk HRS properties. This is experimentally verified for lumped (inductors and transformers) and distributed (coplanar waveguide, Marchand balun) passive microwave components, as well as for a traveling-wave amplifier, through which also the integration of transistors on HRS and the overall parameter control at circuit level are demonstrated. The results in this paper indicate the economically important possibility to transfer microwave circuit designs based on EM simulations directly to the HRS fabrication process, thus avoiding costly redesigns.
Activated Protein Synthesis and Suppressed Protein Breakdown Signaling in Skeletal Muscle of Critically Ill Patients

Background Skeletal muscle mass is controlled by myostatin and Akt-dependent signaling on mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) and forkhead box O (FoxO) pathways, but it is unknown how these pathways are regulated in critically ill human muscle. To describe factors involved in muscle mass regulation, we investigated the phosphorylation and expression of key factors in these protein synthesis and breakdown signaling pathways in thigh skeletal muscle of critically ill intensive care unit (ICU) patients compared with healthy controls. Methodology/Principal Findings ICU patients were systemically inflamed, moderately hyperglycemic, received insulin therapy, and showed a tendency to lower plasma branched chain amino acids compared with controls. Using Western blotting we measured Akt, GSK3β, mTOR, ribosomal protein S6 kinase (S6k), eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E binding protein 1 (4E-BP1), and muscle ring finger protein 1 (MuRF1); and by RT-PCR we determined mRNA expression of, among others, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), FoxO 1, 3 and 4, atrogin1, MuRF1, interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and myostatin. Unexpectedly, in critically ill ICU patients Akt-mTOR-S6k signaling was substantially higher compared with controls. FoxO1 mRNA was higher in patients, whereas FoxO3, atrogin1 and myostatin mRNAs and MuRF1 protein were lower compared with controls. A moderate correlation (r2 = 0.36, p<0.05) between insulin infusion dose and phosphorylated Akt was demonstrated. Conclusions/Significance We present for the first time muscle protein turnover signaling in critically ill ICU patients, and we show signaling pathway activity towards a stimulation of muscle protein synthesis and a somewhat inhibited proteolysis.
The Market for Patents in Europe

By using the PatVal-EU dataset we find that the most important determinant of patent licensing is firm size. Patent breadth, value, protection, and other factors suggested by the literature also have an impact, but not as important. In addition, most of these factors affect the willingness to license, but not whether a license actually takes place. We discuss why this suggests that there are transaction costs in the markets for technology. The issue is important because many potential licenses are not licensed suggesting that the markets for technology can be larger, with implied economic benefits.
Human Development Research Paper 2011 / 02 Heterogeneity and Collective Action for Forest Management

Heterogeneity influences the likelihood of collective action for forest management. Theoretical examinations, focusing largely on economic heterogeneity, suggest that heterogeneity increases the likelihood of collective action. Field research however indicates that heterogeneity, whether in economic, social, or other dimensions, presents a challenge for collective action with variations in perceptions of costs and benefits amongst different groups, high transaction costs faced by the disadvantaged, decrease in trust because of differences in power hierarchies, and challenges posed by differences in resource access. The costs of collective action tend to be disproportionately borne by the poor, by women, and artisanal castes who are especially dependent on forest products. Elite capture of benefits of community action can also further exacerbate relative poverty and inequity. These challenges can be dealt with effectively by strong local institutions and federations. Governments and donor agencies have had mixed success in addressing heterogeneity, largely due to a tendency to engage in blueprint thinking, seeking standardized large scale solutions.
Impact of Plant Growth regulators ( PGRs ) on callus induction from internodal explants of Tecomella undulata ( Sm . ) SeemA Multipurpose Medicinal plants

A study of callus induction of Tecomella undulata was conducted using a various concentrations of PGRs namely cytokinins such as BAP and KIN and auxins such as 2, 4-D, NAA and IAA. Internodal explants were aseptically cultured on MS medium supplemented with different concentrations (1.03.0 mg/l) of BAP, KIN, 2, 4-D, IAA and NAA. After two weeks callus was formed at the cut surface of the explants. The highest number of callus forming was obtained from explants cultured on the medium supplemented with 2.0 mg/l in 2.5mg/l 2,4-D alone were the induced calli were ceramish white in colour and structurally friable. Abbreviations sMS Murashige and Skoog (1962) basal medium; BAP Benzyl amino purine; KINKinetin 2,4-D 2,4Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid; NAA a-naphthalene acetic acid; IAA Indole acetic acid.
When Are Nonconvex Problems Not Scary?

In this note, we focus on smooth nonconvex optimization problems that obey: (1) all local minimizers are also global; and (2) around any saddle point or local maximizer, the objective has a negative directional curvature. Concrete applications such as dictionary learning, generalized phase retrieval, and orthogonal tensor decomposition are known to induce such structures. We describe a second-order trust-region algorithm that provably converges to a global minimizer efficiently, without special initializations. Finally we highlight alternatives, and open problems in this direction.
The effect of the Neolithic expansion on European molecular diversity

We performed extensive and realistic simulations of the colonization process of Europe by Neolithic farmers, as well as their potential admixture and competition with local Palaeolithic hunter–gatherers. We find that minute amounts of gene flow between Palaeolithic and Neolithic populations should lead to a massive Palaeolithic contribution to the current gene pool of Europeans. This large Palaeolithic contribution is not expected under the demic diffusion (DD) model, which postulates that agriculture diffused over Europe by a massive migration of individuals from the Near East. However, genetic evidence in favour of this model mainly consisted in the observation of allele frequency clines over Europe, which are shown here to be equally probable under a pure DD or a pure acculturation model. The examination of the consequence of range expansions on single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) diversity reveals that an ascertainment bias consisting of selecting SNPs with high frequencies will promote the observation of genetic clines (which are not expected for random SNPs) and will lead to multimodal mismatch distributions. We conclude that the different patterns of molecular diversity observed for Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA can be at least partly owing to an ascertainment bias when selecting Y chromosome SNPs for studying European populations.
Polar vortex evolution during Northern Hemispheric winter 2004/05

Abstract. As a part of the project "Atmospheric Wave Influences upon the Winter Polar Vortices (0–100 km)" of the CAWSES program, data from meteor and Medium Frequency radars at 12 locations and MetO (UK Meteorological Office) global assimilated fields have been analyzed for the first campaign during the Northern Hemispheric winter of 2004/05. The stratospheric state has been described using the conventional zonal mean parameters as well as Q-diagnostic, which allows consideration of the longitudinal variability. The stratosphere was cold during winter of 2004/05, and the polar vortex was relatively strong during most of the winter with relatively weak disturbances occurring at the end of December and the end of January. For this winter the strongest deformation with the splitting of the polar vortex in the lower stratosphere was observed at the end of February. Here the results show strong latitudinal and longitudinal differences that are evident in the stratospheric and mesospheric data sets at different stations. Eastward winds are weaker and oscillations with planetary wave periods have smaller amplitudes at more poleward stations. Accordingly, the occurrence, time and magnitude of the observed reversal of the zonal mesospheric winds associated with stratospheric disturbances depend on the local stratospheric conditions. In general, compared to previous years, the winter of 2004/05 could be characterized by weak planetary wave activity at stratospheric and mesospheric heights.
Prevalence of depression and its associated factors among medical students: a study using beck depression inventory

Background: Medical education carries with it a great burden of stress that can result in depression. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of depression in medical students and various factors contributing to depression in the institute. Methods: A stratified random sample of 280 students was evaluated using Beck Depression Inventory by investigators. Associations between depression and year of study, addiction like alcohol use, family problems, family history of depression and staying away from home were analysed by univariate analysis. Results: The overall prevalence of depression was found to be 30.0%. Among those with depression, a majority (93%) had mild and moderate degree of depression. The study depicted that 41.6% (35) of the depressed were females and 58.3% (49) were males. As per the cut-off scores, 196 students (69.9%) scored as normal (0-9), 60 (21.4%) as mild (10-18), 18 (6.4%) as moderate (19-29), 4 (1.4%) as severe (30-40) and 2 (0.7%) as very severe (>40) depression. The prevalence of depression was comparatively less among 1 and 2 year medical students (17.1%) and the difference between the grade of depression and year of study was found to be not significant (χ2=148, P=0.13). The prevalence was found more among those with family problems and family history of depression. Conclusions: In our study, depression was quite prevalent among medical students of the region. Our findings stressed the importance of broad screening and psychiatric counselling of this vulnerable population more meticulously.
Labour market models of unemployment in Australia

This paper is the result of work being undertaken as part of a collaborative research program entitled 'Unemployment: Economic Analysis and Policy Modelling'. The project is generously supported by the Australian Research Council and the following collaborative partners: Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services, Commonwealth Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business and the Productivity Commission. The views expressed in this paper represent those of the authors and are not necessarily the views of the collaborative partners. ISBN 073401497X, ISSN 13284991
Hemispatial Neglect: Computer-Based Testing Allows More Sensitive Quantification of Attentional Disorders and Recovery and Might Lead to Better Evaluation of Rehabilitation

Past studies aiming to test the effectiveness of rehabilitation techniques for hemispatial neglect have been often criticized for a number of methodological limitations, from non-random assignment to the groups, to absence of blind scoring (Cicerone et al., 2000; Cappa et al., 2005; Bowen and Lincoln, 2007; Paci et al., 2010; Teasell et al., 2011). While it seems that these shortcomings are being addressed by more recent studies, we here maintain that a major methodological improvement in studies of neglect rehabilitation might derive from the adoption of computer-based assessment, which has several advantages over the commonly used bed-side clinical or paper-and-pencil (PnP) tests. These more sensitive measures of neglect may provide a more accurate assessment of the effect of rehabilitation procedures, which may be missed with the currently employed classical measures of neglect, and may provide an indication for rehabilitation in patients who are currently not treated because of their normal performance on PnP tests.
Independence Before Conservatism: Transparency, Politics and Central Bank Design

Abstract The problem of monetary policy delegation is formulated as a two-stage game between the government and the central bank. In the first stage the government chooses the institutional design of the central bank. Monetary and fiscal policy are implemented in the second stage. When fiscal policy is taken into account, there is a continuum of combinations of central bank independence and conservatism that produce optimal outcomes. This indeterminacy is resolved by appealing to practical considerations. In particular, it is argued that full central bank independence facilitates the greatest degree of policy transparency and political coherence.
Problem Alcohol Use in Ukrainian Children: Association with Family Factors, Peer Drinking and Child Externalizing Behavior Problems.

The purpose of this three study dissertation was to assess risk and protective factors associated with child alcohol problems. Family systems theory and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model constituted the framework used for building and testing analytic models. Quantitative data were collected during face-to-face interviews with 320 parent-child dyads in 11 communities in Eastern, Southern and Central Ukraine. Children were 9-16 years of age and 50% were males. The first study assessed the association between parent sociodemographic variables, alcohol use, domestic violence and family cohesion and flexibility, and parenting behaviors. Results indicated that higher violence in the home, higher alcohol use and unbalanced family functioning were related to more frequent use of negative parenting and less frequent use of positive parenting practices. Additionally, lower parent education was associated with negative parenting. The second study estimated the relationship between parenting practices and child externalizing behaviors, such as aggression, delinquency and attention problems. Results revealed that positive parenting, child monitoring and avoidance of corporal punishments were associated with fewer child externalizing symptoms. Results also indicated that child male gender, parent unemployment and single parenting had significant and positive association with child externalizing behaviors. The third, final study assessed child alcohol problems and their association with child gender and age, externalizing behaviors, parental IPV, parenting