Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High-fat diets cause insulin resistance despite an increase in muscle mitochondria

It has been hypothesized that insulin resistance is mediated by a deficiency of mitochondria in skeletal muscle. In keeping with this hypothesis, high-fat diets that cause insulin resistance have been reported to result in a decrease in muscle mitochondria. In contrast, we found that feeding rats high-fat diets that cause muscle insulin resistance results in a concomitant gradual increase in muscle mitochondria. This adaptation appears to be mediated by activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)δ by fatty acids, which results in a gradual, posttranscriptionally regulated increase in PPAR γ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) protein expression. Similarly, overexpression of PPARδ results in a large increase in PGC-1α protein in the absence of any increase in PGC-1α mRNA. We interpret our findings as evidence that raising free fatty acids results in an increase in mitochondria by activating PPARδ, which mediates a posttranscriptional increase in PGC-1α. Our findings argue against the concept that insulin resistance is mediated by a deficiency of muscle mitochondria.
Poverty, Household Food Security, and Nutrition in Rural Pakistan

The pathways from economic and social policies to improved food security and nutrition for the poor often are not well understood. Yet each day governments decide on policies that ultimately affect their well-being. How households increase their incomes, acquire food, improve health, or cope with insecurity are important concerns that need to be examined in order to devise policies to help eradicate poverty. Nearly all attempts to study these issues have used snapshot approaches those that look at one point in time. These approaches are limited in that they do not reveal anything about the actual dynamics of poverty, food security, and their consequences for nutrition and health. In this report Harold Alderman and Marito Garcia address these concerns by looking at longitudinal data for a three-year period, 1986-89, and analyzing fluctuations in incomes, consumption, savings, nutrition and health-seeking behavior of 800 households in five districts in rural Pakistan (Faisalabad and Attock in Punjab province, Badin in Sind, Dir in North-West Frontier Province, and Mastung/Kalat in Baluchistan). The report examines income sources and wage formation in rural Pakistan and investigates the level and distribution of income in poor households. It contributes to analysis of the temporal dimensions of poverty and thus adds to the literature on coping strategies of households. Although the three-year panel of data analyzed is too short to model fully the dynamics of poverty, it is sufficient to indicate the fluidity of the economic environment that households in Pakistan face. The report also traces the efficiency by which household incomes are converted to better nutritional well-being and the influence of other intervening factors such as health and education.
An Evaluation of Off-farm Work and Household Income among Small-scale Farmers in North Central Nigeria

The study evaluated off-farm work and household income among small-scale farmers in North Central Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 180 farm households from 12 Local Government Areas spread across Benue, Kogi and Niger States. Primary data for the study were obtained with the aid of structured and pretested questionnaire. The data were analysed using simple descriptive statistics. Findings revealed that majority (42.78%) of the respondents were in self-employment of off-farm work. Similarly, households where only the husband (40.00%), combination of husband and wife (71.40%), matured children (71.40%), and the combination of husband, wife and matured children (45.80%) participated in off-farm work were predominantly in self-employment category. Households, where only the wife worked off-farm, were dominant in agricultural wage employment (51.60%). In addition, full-time participants in off-farm work were mainly (38.50%) in agricultural wage employment, while part-time participants were mainly (44.00%) in self-employment. Furthermore, while younger farmers were in self-employment, older farmers were in agricultural wage employment. Average household income and off-farm income’s share of farm household income were N648,774.91 and N231,394.00, respectively. It was concluded that self-employment was the dominant off-farm work type in the study area. This denotes gradual drift from the core farm production sector. Also, since off-farm income accounted for significant portion (50.28%) of household income among the respondents, increasing reliance on off-farm work and consequently, further drift from farm work is anticipated. Therefore, farmer education by extension agents and IFAD’s rural finance capacity building should focus on the need to reinvest off-farm income in farm production so that off-farm work does not endanger food production.
Skilled Immigration and the Employment Structures

We study the impact of skilled immigrants on the employment structures of U.S. firms using matched employer-employee data. Unlike most previous work, we use the firm as the lens of analysis to account for a greater level of heterogeneity and the fact that many skilled immigrant admissions are driven by firms themselves (e.g., the H-1B visa). OLS and IV specifications find rising overall employment of skilled workers with increased skilled immigrant employment by firm. Employment expansion is greater for younger natives than their older counterparts, and departure rates for older workers appear higher for those in STEM occupations compared to younger worker. JEL Classification: F15, F22, J44, J61, O31.
Questions, Answers, and Decontextualized Rationality

and are waiting with bated breath for this editorial—and, yes, this is another one with a weird-sounding title. The suspense from waiting is over, but I am not certain whether the outcome will be confusing, ambiguous, or—perhaps— pleasant. I suspect that you might even wonder about the relevance of this topic, and especially my approach, to understanding the controversies in our field. In any case, you can decide on these issues after reaching the end of this editorial and, hopefully, after checking out the contents of the references. Most educators, researchers, and even theorists know that composing questions and providing answers to them is a complicated, controversial endeavor. Somewhere I have read that Voltaire remarked that we should judge people by their questions rather than their answers. With all due respect, I think we should evaluate both the questions and the answers and, perhaps, reserve our highest accolades for the creative composition of a range of questions followed by an imaginative array of answers or perspectives. What might not be obvious is that this question-answer relationship is reflective of the ability to think creatively, critically, and rationally. This sounds nice and, perhaps, plausible, but the process is confounded by other murky constructs such as epistemology and methodology (Halpern, 1997; Norris, 1992; Paul & Wang, 2012, ch. 5). With respect to reading (yes, that “R” word, again), asking and answering questions is considered an effective strategy for developing critical readers (National Reading Panel, 2000). Of course, it would be even more effective if the question-answer band facilitated the synthesizing and summarizing of information in texts. Unfortunately, there is much more to the process of synthesizing and summarizing— prior knowledge, motivation, and reader response factors come to mind, for starters. Ironically, one’s prior knowledge and strong biased opinions can impede the act of sum marizing and synthesizing information on controversial, emotion-laden topics—at least from the standpoint of decontextualized rationality or decontextualized reasoning (K. E. Stanovich, 2009; K. E. Stanovich & P. J. Stanovich, 2010).
A cohort analysis of household income, consumption and saving

This paper presents a cohort analysis of household income, consumption and saving in New Zealand. It is based on an analysis of unit record data from March years 1984 to 1998 taken from the Household Economic Survey (HES). These data are a series of cross‐sectional surveys rather than a true panel, so we construct synthetic cohorts and use a range of regression models to separate out the effect of age, birth‐year cohort and survey year on income, consumption and saving rates. There appears to be a “V” shaped cohort pattern in household income and saving, such that the age profile of saving shifted down for the cohorts born between 1920 and 1939 relative to the younger and older cohorts studied.
Lean and six sigma – critical success factors revisited

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the critical success factors (CSF) for lean and six sigma and an analysis of these CSF as compared to previously popular change methods.Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a literature search and comparative analysis complemented with examples from previous case studies.Findings – With only slight variations, the critical success factors are similar for all the change methods. Furthermore, the critical success factors seem to be relatively constant over time. Another important finding is that the CSF tend to relate more to how an organization approaches the change effort versus change method specific factors. The issues of management support and organizational culture are often emphasized as especially critical. The paper highlights and discusses three additional important CSF: strategic alignment, project management and training.Practical implications – The awareness of CSF, in combination with an awareness of similarities between the.
Physiological profile of a professional boxer preparing for Title Bout: A case study

ABSTRACT This study aimed to (1) profile a professional boxer (23 years and 80 kg) with boxing-specific, muscle function, aerobic capacity and body composition tests, and (2) quantify how these measures varied during an 8-week preparation phase leading to, and post a state-Title Bout fought in the 76.2-kg class. A series of boxing-specific and muscle function tests were completed on 11 occasions: 9 prior and twice after the bout, each separated by approximately 2 weeks. The boxing test included 36 maximal punches (9 of each: lead and rear straights, lead and rear hooks) to a punching integrator measuring forces and velocity. Muscle function tests included countermovement jump, drop-jumps, isometric mid-thigh pull and isometric bench-press. Body composition was assessed using skin-fold measurements on three occasions and one dual energy X-ray absorptiometry scan. Aerobic capacity was assessed using 2 VO2 max tests. Leading up to the bout, performance decreased in isometric mid-thigh pull (8%), isometric bench-press (5%), countermovement jump (15%) and impact forces in 3 of 4 punches (4%–7%). Whereas measures of dynamic and isometric muscle function remained depressed or unchanged post competition, punching forces (6%–15%) and aerobic power (6%) increased. Data suggest the athlete may have super-compensated following rest as fatigue dissipated and further adaptation occurred.
Collaboration, Co-Teaching, and Differentiated Instruction: A Process-Oriented Approach to Whole Schooling.

The International Journal of Whole Schooling is a fully refereed on-line journal published twice a year and governed by the management team and an independent Editorial Review Board. The International Journal of Whole Schooling is a non-profit venture run by volunteer staff. Subscription is free. The Journal seeks to discuss issues relevant to Whole Schooling, with contributions from a variety of stakeholders including students, parents, academics, educators, and administrators. Contributions and feedback are welcome. Please contact Tim Loreman at tim.loreman@concordia.ab. ca or Billie Jo Clausen at bclausen@mesd.k12. or.us The six principles of Whole Schooling are. (1) empowering citizens for democracy; (2) including all; (3) providing authentic, multi-level instruction; (4) building community; (5) supporting learning; and (6) partnering with parents and the community.
Scenarios and Options for Productivity Growth in Philippine Agriculture: An Application of the Agricultural Multimarket Model for Policy Evaluation (AMPLE)

Sustaining and accelerating agricultural growth remains a development imperative in view of persistent rural poverty and emerging threats to food security. While growth can be achieved by expansion of agricultural area and input intensification, growth through improvement in productivity is a promising option. However, productivity growth appears to be a relatively low priority for policy. Rather, the agricultural strategy is oriented toward domestic protection to achieve self-sufficiency and to support production by generous subsidies. In contrast, an alternative strategy may be one that is competition-oriented and productivity-based, i.e., one that favors integration with the international economy through trade, as well as making domestic investments targeted at productivity growth. Scenarios for Philippine agriculture under these policy options are evaluated using a new supply and demand model (Agricultural Multimarket Model for Policy Evaluation or AMPLE). Model simulations suggest that: rapid productivity growth, even when combined with trade liberalization, is generally favorable for farmers and consumers based on improved outlook on production, exports, and food consumption. In contrast, trade liberalization alone has a contractionary effect on agriculture; and production support is a costly instrument for promoting agricultural growth. The model experiments suggest that a back-to-basics strategy for agriculture, incorporating various productivity-based instruments such as investments in R&D, extension, rural infrastructure, protection of the resource base of agriculture, and even human capital formation and institutional reforms, are key to long-term agricultural growth.
The Bimodal Distribution of Genic GC Content Is Ancestral to Monocot Species

In grasses such as rice or maize, the distribution of genic GC content is well known to be bimodal. It is mainly driven by GC content at third codon positions (GC3 for short). This feature is thought to be specific to grasses as closely related species like banana have a unimodal GC3 distribution. GC3 is associated with numerous genomics features and uncovering the origin of this peculiar distribution will help understanding the potential roles and consequences of GC3 variations within and between genomes. Until recently, the origin of the peculiar GC3 distribution in grasses has remained unknown. Thanks to the recent publication of several complete genomes and transcriptomes of nongrass monocots, we studied more than 1,000 groups of one-to-one orthologous genes in seven grasses and three outgroup species (banana, palm tree, and yam). Using a maximum likelihood-based method, we reconstructed GC3 at several ancestral nodes. We found that the bimodal GC3 distribution observed in extant grasses is ancestral to both grasses and most monocot species, and that other species studied here have lost this peculiar structure. We also found that GC3 in grass lineages is globally evolving very slowly and that the decreasing GC3 gradient observed from 5′ to 3′ along coding sequences is also conserved and ancestral to monocots. This result strongly challenges the previous views on the specificity of grass genomes and we discuss its implications for the possible causes of the evolution of GC content in monocots.
Rights for the voiceless : the state, civil society and primary education in rural India

When and how do public institutions work effectively on behalf of marginalized citizens? The Indian government has enacted a number of policies for universal primary education, and yet the extent and quality of implementation varies significantly across regions. Why, operating under the same national policy framework, democratic institutions and administrative structures, do some public agencies in India implement policies more effectively than others? This dissertation identifies the mechanisms behind policy implementation through a series of sub-national comparisons and nested case studies carried out in three north Indian states-Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. While much scholarship emphasizes the design of formal institutions, my study highlights the importance of informal bureaucratic norms, unwritten yet widely observed rules within the state that guide how public officials behave and relate to citizens. The study find that agencies governed by deliberative norms-these are norms that encourage bureaucrats to work collectively to solve problems, bend official rules and promote civic participation-implement policies more effectively than agencies that operate in a legalistic fashion, adhering strictly to formal rules and procedures while discouraging citizen engagement. These findings are drawn from more than two years of field research, including over 500 interviews and focus group discussions, participant observation within public agencies and primary schools, and village-level ethnography. The study of policy implementation in India sheds critical light on how public institutions function in practice and relate to citizens on the ground, and offers new theoretical insights on the relationship between governance and well-being in developing democracies. Thesis Supervisor: Richard M. Locke Title: Class of 1922 Professor of Political Science and Management
Insider trading, pricing and the long-run performance of IPOs: evidence from the French market during the high-tech bubble

This article empirically examines the relationship between insider (entrepreneurs and venture capitalists) trading and underpricing and long-run performance in a sample of 120 initial public offerings (IPOs) that took place on the Nouveau Marché in France during the high-tech bubble. We hypothesize that insiders were better informed than the market about the future prospect of the firms, particularly during the high-tech bubble characterized by strong information asymmetry. Trading activity was measured at the IPO date and over a three-year period after this date. We find no evidence suggesting that entrepreneurs and venture capitalists knowingly issue overvalued equity at the IPO date. However, there is weak, but statistically significant, evidence that suggests that entrepreneurs and venture capitalists acquire private information during the first years of flotation and have the ability to take advantage of it by selling overvalued equity. Both these types of insider seem to be the best informed on the future value of the firm. However, changes in ownership of banks and other shareholders are not followed by significant change in the firm's long term value.
Towards the Dynamic Adaptability of SOA

Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) aim to give methodological and technical answers to achieve interoperabilty and loose coupling between heterogeneous Information Systems (IS). Currently, Web Services are the fitted technical solution to implement such architectures. However, both Web Services providers and clients are faced to some important difficulties to dynamically change their behaviours. From one side, Web Services providers have no mean to dynamically adapt an existing Web Service to business requirements changes. From the other side, Web Services clients have no way to dynamically adapt themselves to the service changing in order to avoid execution failures. In this paper, we show how to achieve a dynamic adaptable SOA by using the Aspect Oriented Programming (AOP) paradigm and Process Algebra (PA) formalism. We extend our previous works to dynamically modify BPEL processes and to handle client-server communications issues. Then, we use a process algebra formalism to specify a change-prone BPEL process and demonstrate how to generate a client which dynamically adapt its behaviour to the service changes. We also present the Aspect Service Weaver(ASW) prototype which implements our approach.
Throughput maximization by utilizing multi-user diversity in slow-fading random access channels

In slow-fading uplink channels, carrier-sense multiple-access (CSMA) has been a popular random-access method, although it can have increased the throughput by using channel state information (CSI) acquired from a downlink training signal and electromagnetic reciprocity. To improve the throughput by using the CSI, this paper presents a random- access scheme that achieves multi-user diversity, called opportunistic p-persistent CSMA (OpCSMA). A user using OpCSMA sends a packet in a slot if the user's CSI exceeds the threshold assigned to the slot. The thresholds diminish with time to prioritize users having good CSI, while being designed to maintain the same persistency as the conventional CSMA, thus enabling backward compatibility. OpCSMA is mathematically shown to significantly increase the throughput compared with conventional CSMA, when the infinite-user model is used to model the variation of the number of users. As the expected number of users increases, the expected sum-rate of the OpCSMA approaches that using a centralized scheduler, which is the theoretical upper bound.
Competitive advantage and strategy formulation: The key role of dynamic capabilities

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to promote the use of dynamic capabilities as a strategic tool of the highest order in terms of firm management.Design/methodology/approach – The content of the article is developed from a table that offers some insights into the relationship between the three theoretical perspectives analyzed in the paper: resource‐based view, knowledge‐based view and dynamic‐capabilities view.Findings – The paper describes the evolution that can be discerned in the process of developing competitive advantage, from a resource‐based view to a dynamic‐capabilities framework.Originality/value – The objective of the article was not to bring to light any new revelations in this field of investigation, but is intended as a theoretical reflection on the implications of dynamic capabilities for firms and managers.
Personal Electronic Health Records: Understanding User Requirements and Needs in Chronic Cancer Care

Background The integration of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) is becoming increasingly important in reorganizing health care. Adapting ICTs as supportive tools to users' needs and daily practices is vital for adoption and use. Objective In order to develop a Web-based personal electronic health record (PEPA), we explored user requirements and needs with regard to desired information and functions. Methods A qualitative study across health care sectors and health professions was conducted in a regional health care setting in Germany. Overall, 10 semistructured focus groups were performed, collecting views of 3 prospective user groups: patients with colorectal cancer (n=12) and representatives from patient support groups (n=2), physicians (n=17), and non-medical HCPs (n=16). Data were audio- and videotaped, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results For both patients and HCPs, it was central to have a tool representing the chronology of illness and its care processes, for example, patients wanted to track their long-term laboratory findings (eg, tumor markers). Designing health information in a patient accessible way was highlighted as important. Users wanted to have general and tumor-specific health information available in a PEPA. Functions such as filtering information and adding information by patients (eg, on their well-being or electronic communication with HCPs via email) were discussed. Conclusions In order to develop a patient/user centered tool that is tailored to user needs, it is essential to address their perspectives. A challenge for implementation will be how to design PEPA’s health data in a patient accessible way. Adequate patient support and technical advice for users have to be addressed.