Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Partial characterization of starches from major banana (matooke) cultivars grown in Uganda

Abstract The SEM of starch from five EAHB cultivars showed a mixture of irregular granule shapes with smooth surfaces. The starches' average diameter size ranged between 16.31 and 21.98 μm. The moisture, protein, and ash content of the starches were: 11.12%–11.84%, 0.1% and 0.23%–0.47% respectively. The amylose content of these starches was between 11% and 13%. The starches peak viscosity ranged between 488.42 and 558.66 RVU. The EAHB starches exhibited relatively low pasting temperatures (<75°C), a high peak viscosity (488.42–558.71 RVU), high level of viscosity breakdown (235.00–311.92 RVU) and low set‐back values (61.21–104.33 RVU). In general, the EAHB starches' WHCs and SPs increased substantially at 80°C with maximum SP (12.43–14.27 g water/g starch) and solubility (12.52%–14.19%) values obtained at 90°C. The starch clarity ranged from 1.7% to 2.3% and followed the same pattern. The starches exhibited poor freeze‐thaw stability as they had high syneresis (68% to 72%) after 10 freeze‐thaw cycles.
Infinite Horizon Incomplete Markets

This paper extends the general equilibrium model with incomplete markets to an open-ended future, thereby providing a natural setting for analyzing problems in macroeconomics. Two concepts of equilibrium are defined that prevent agents from entering into Ponzi schemes: the first is based on debt constraints and the second is based on a transversality condition that limits the rate of growth of debt. Under the assumption that agents are impatient (Mackey continuity of preferences) and have a degree of impatience that is bounded below, the two concepts of equilibrium are shown to coincide and lead to existence of equilibrium. Copyright 1994 by The Econometric Society.
Dynamic semiparametric factor models

High-dimensional regression problems which reveal dynamic behavior occur frequently in many different fields of science. The dynamics of the whole complex system is typically analyzed by time propagation of few number of factors, which are loaded with time invariant functions of exploratory variables. In this thesis we consider dynamic semiparametric factor model, which assumes nonparametric loading functions. We start with a short discussion of related statistical techniques and present the properties of the model. Additionally real data applications are discussed with particular focus on implied volatility dynamics and resulting factor hedging of barrier options.
Cash versus Child Care Services in Finland

In 1985 the Finnish Parliament passed a law which stipulated that all children under age three were to be guaranteed a day care place as from the beginning of the 1990s. The law was made possible by a political compromise in which the agrarian Centre Party won the backing it needed to push through a system of state subsidies for the home care of children. As an alternative to a day care place, parents were now given the option of taking a child home care allowance and using that allowance either for purposes of looking after their child themselves or for paying for a private place. Measured in terms of the number of users, the child home care allowance was a hugely successful innovation. Most parents of small children have used the allowance for at least some period of time. This was due above all to the size of the allowance compared with other social benefits. However, following cutbacks in allowance expenditure of more than 20 per cent from 1995, the use of home care allowances declined at almost the same rate as the allowances were reduced. This brought significant short-term savings to the Government and to local authorities, but in the longer term other costs have been rising. There has even been a sharp, unexpected decline in the birth rate. The case of Finland goes to show that, even in a country where wage-earning motherhood has become firmly established, income transfers through family policy can have a very significant influence on the numbers opting temporarily for homemaking.
Upregulation of the HLH Id gene family in neural progenitors and glial cells of the rat spinal cord following contusion injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to a complex sequence of cellular responses, including astrocyte activation, oligodendrocyte death, and ependymal cell proliferation. Inhibitors of DNA binding (Id1, Id2, Id3) belong to a helix‐loop‐helix (HLH) gene family. Id genes have been implicated in playing a vital role in the proliferation of many cell types, including astrocytes and myoblasts. In the present study, the expression of Id family members in spinal cord after contusion injury was investigated by in situ hybridization. Id1, Id2, and Id3 mRNA expression was upregulated 5 mm rostral and caudal to the lesion center, and reached maximal levels 3 days after SCI. In addition, cell populations expressing Id1, Id2, and Id3 mRNA were maximally increased 3 days after SCI. The increase in Id2 and Id3 mRNA expression and Id2 and Id3 mRNA+ cells was still observed at 8 days. The Id mRNA expressing cells were phenotyped by combining immunostaining of cell‐specific markers with in situ hybridization. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)+ astrocytes were found to express all three Id mRNA, whereas S‐100α+ astrocytes only expressed high levels of Id2 and Id3 mRNA. Cells having a neural progenitor morphology and the marker nestin appeared after SCI and they expressed Id1, Id2, and Id3 mRNA. Interestingly, some Rip+ oligodendrocytes located in the areas close to the central canal expressed Id3 mRNA after injury. In conclusion, Id genes are upregulated in a time‐dependent manner in astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and neural progenitor subpopulations after SCI, suggesting that they play major roles in cellular responses following SCI. J Neurosci. Res. 66:1161–1172, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Impact of power converter current ripple on the durability of a fuel cell stack

The durability and performance of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) have a major impact on the most important challenges facing fuel cell commercialization including final cost, mass production, system integration, functionality and reliability. This work is supported by French Government via an ANR' project (PAN'H) named SPACT80. The global objective is to develop and validate the use of a fuel cell based power system for heavy-duty vehicles (dedicated to railway applications or hybrid electrical trucks). In the framework of this program, this paper focuses on the influence of the DC/DC power converter high frequency current ripples on Fuel Cell (FC) stack durability. A comparison between the results of two ageing tests performed during 1000 hours on two PEM fuel cell stacks with five single cells is here achieved. The reference experiment has been obtained on a first 600 W stack operating in stationary regime at roughly nominal conditions during 1000 hours. The second experiment is done on another 600 W stack operated in dynamic current testing conditions. During both experiments, measurements were performed at regular time-spaced intervals. Three different characterizations are illustrated in this article; polarization curve test, historic curves and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) measurements.
What Do Russians Think About Transition?

We use data from the 2006 round of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey to describe perceptions of the Russian population about the transition process and the role of the state compared with that of free markets. We find that about one-half of the Russian population is disappointed with transition and a large majority is in favour of high state regulation and state provision of goods and services. High demand for government regulation and increased state intervention coexists with a low level of trust in government institutions and recognition of high and rising levels of corruption. The findings are consistent with the theory developed by Aghion et al. (2009). In an environment with poor social capital, private business imposes negative externalities on the society and society chooses to demand more state regulation and tolerate corruption to reduce these externalities. We also find that individual perceptions of social capital and corruption co-vary with the demand for regulation, as predicted by the theory.
Resisting Protectionism after the Crisis: Strategic Economic Discourse and the EU–Korea Free Trade Agreement

In 2006 the European Commission announced its Global Europe strategy, which proposed pursuing a series of ambitious Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) premised on exchanging the EU's remaining ‘pockets of protection’ for market access. The first of these agreements was signed with South Korea in October 2010. This article asks how the Commission's Directorate-General (DG) for Trade could successfully conclude this agreement in the aftermath of the Financial Crisis. Given a strong mobilisation of protectionists with access to policy-makers, this liberal policy outcome cannot be explained purely in terms of institutional insulation, as in much of the literature on EU trade policy, nor be simply ‘read off’ from the material interests of societal actors. This article, therefore, develops a constructivist framework which broadens our understanding of the power of strategically invoked economic discourses. By developing a novel analytical strategy to determine the intentional invocation of such discourses, it is able to show how DG Trade constructed an ideational imperative for liberalisation in Global Europe, enabling it to overcome opposition to the EU–Korea FTA. Beyond its contribution to constructivist scholarship, this article draws attention to the neglected dimension of ideas in trade policy and highlights the continued purchase of neoliberalism after the crisis.
Another look at population and global warming

The author addresses two questions: First, how much could feasible reductions in projected rates of population growth in the developing countries help reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Second, how much would it cost to ensure such reductions in population growth, compared with other options for reducing emissions? The answer to the first question is that reductions in population growth would matter, but not much. Based on current econometric estimates linking population growth to deforestation, feasible reductions in population growth could reduce emissions from deforestation (relative to what they otherwise would be) by 8 percent over the next 35 years. Feasible reductions in population growth rates could reduce fossil fuel emissions by about 10 percent. The percentage reductions, though substantial, are small relative to projections of a tripling or more in emissions under any baseline scenario in the next 50 years. Thus there is little basis for the view that the South could contribute to major reductions in global warming by taking new and stronger steps to reduce its population. The answer to the second question is that reducing population growth is cost-effective compared with other options to reduce emissions. The author estimates the costs of reducing carbon emissions by reducing births through increased spending on family planning at between $6 and $12 per ton; and by educating girls at between $4 and $8 per ton. These compare to a marginal cost of $20 per ton to reduce current emissions by 10 percent, using a carbon tax. Discounting reduces the cost advantage of the population reduction strategies over the tax, but does not eliminate them as a critical part of an overall global strategy to reduce emissions. The implication of the cost analysis is simple: The global negative externality represented by rapid population growth in developing countries provides a strong, new rationale for developed countries, in their own interests, to finance programs that would reduce population growth in developing countries. This is true even though feasible reductions in population growth would represent only a modest contribution to reducing greehouse gas emissions. Spending to reduce rates of population growth in developing countries makes sense as part of any optimal carbon reduction strategy.
Economic Efficiency of Small-Holder Cocoyam Farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria: A Translog Stochastic Frontier Cost Function Approach

This study employed a translog stochastic frontier cost function to measure the level of economic efficiency and it’s determinants in small-holder cocoyam production in Anambra state, Nigeria. A multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select 120 cocoyam farmers in the state in 2005 from whom input-output data and their prices were obtained using the cost-route approach. The parameters of the stochastic frontier cost function were estimated using the maximum likelihood method. The results of the analysis show that individual farm level technical efficiency was about 59%. The study found age, education and farm size, to be negatively and highly significantly related to economic efficiency at 1.0% while fertilizer use and farmer experience were significant and directly related to economic efficiency at 1.0% and 5.0% levels of probability respectively. No significant relationship was found between economic efficiency and extension visit, family size, credit access and membership of cooperative societies.
Inexperienced, leftists, and grassroots democrats: a profile of the Five Star Movement’s MPs

The aim of this article is to present original empirical data on the profile of the Five Star Movement’s parliamentary group at the outset of current legislature. Who are the Movement’s parliamentary representatives, what are their ideological orientations, and how do they perceive their role vis-à-vis the other components of the party (party members and the extra-parliamentary leadership)? We think that providing answers to these questions can help us to understand both the performance of the party in Parliament and its relationships with the Movement’s leaders. In this article, we present the results of a survey we conducted with the Movement’s parliamentarians. Our survey’s results show a parliamentary group which is primarily characterised by a lack of previous political experience, a clear leftist ideological orientation, and the rejection not only of an oligarchic but also of a ‘leaderistic’ conception of the party. These characteristics are particularly illuminating when it comes to understanding the issues that have arisen and the events that have occurred within the party in the last 2 years, as well as the prospects of party change/institutionalisation, especially in the form of emancipation from the founding leaders. This study can be of use for future research into the Movement’s performance in Parliament, as well as into its strategic and organisational adaptation to emerging trade-offs between vote maximisation, policy achievements, and office holding.
Magnetic coil stimulation of straight and bent amphibian and mammalian peripheral nerve in vitro: locus of excitation.

1. According to classical cable theory, a magnetic coil (MC) should excite a linear nerve fibre in a homogeneous medium at the negative‐going first spatial derivative of the induced electric field. This prediction was tested by MC stimulation of mammalian phrenic and amphibian sciatic nerve and branches in vitro, immersed in Ringer solution within a trough, and identifying the sites of excitation by recording responses of similar latency to local electrical stimulation. Subsequently, the identified sites of excitation were compared with measurements of the induced electric field and its calculated first spatial derivative. A special hardware device was used to selectively reverse MC current direction and to generate predominantly monophasic‐ or polyphasic‐induced pulse profiles whose initial phases were identical in polarity, shape and amplitude. When using the amphibian nerve preparation, a complication was excitation at low threshold points related to cut branches. 2. Reversal of monophasic current resulted in latency shifts corresponding approximately to the distance between induced cathode and anode. The location of each site of excitation was at, or very near, the negative‐going first spatial derivative peaks of the induced electric field measured parallel to the straight nerve. Significantly, excitation of the nerve did not occur at the peak of the induced electric field above the centre of the ‘figure of eight’ MC junction. 3. A polyphasic pulse excited the nerve at both sites, by the negative‐going first phase at one location, and approximately 150 microseconds later, by the reversed negative‐going second phase at the other location. Polyphasic and monophasic pulses elicited responses with similar latency when the induced current flowed towards the recording electrode. 4. Straddling a nerve with non‐coding solid lucite cylinders created a localized spatial narrowing and increase in the induced electric field, resulting in a lowered threshold of excitation. The corresponding closer spacing between first spatial derivative peaks was exhibited by a significant reduction in latency shift when MC current direction was reversed. 5. When a nerve is bent and the induced current is directed along the nerve towards the bend, the threshold of excitation is reduced there. Increasing the angle of the bend from 0 deg to more than 90 deg graded the decrease in threshold. 6. In a straight nerve the threshold was lowest when current was directed towards the cut end. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Domestic Privatisation and its Effects on Industrial Enterprises in East-Central Europe: Evidence from the Czech Motor Component Industry

PRIVATISATION OF FORMERLY STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES (SOEs) has been considered one of the most important issues of post-communist economic transformation into market-based economic systems in East-Central Europe (ECE). Privatisation of all economic sectors (i.e. industry, agriculture, services) and the development of the private sector in the economy was the central element of all economic ‘transition’ plans. According to the liberal view, the ‘transition to capitalism’ would fail without successful privatisation and development of the private sector because a market economy cannot function properly without private ownership (e.g. Claudon & Gutner, 1992; Economist, 1991). In the early 1990s ECE governments prepared conditions for the development of private capital by establishing private property rights and legalising private ownership. New laws were put in place designed to equalise tax treatment with state-owned e rms, remove restrictions on private e rms’ size and activities, free private procurement and distribution, and reduce bureaucratic requirements for establishing new e rms (Gelb & Gray, 1991). While these government policies supported the development of new small-scale private enterprises, they did not solve the problem of privatisation of the SOEs. 1 A major discussion emerged around the techniques, speed and time frame of privatisation of SOEs. 2 The selection of privatisation strategies typically represented
Effectiveness of premedication at the time of separation from parent and mask induction in paediatric patients coming for congenital heart disease surgery.

OBJECTIVE To compare the effectiveness of oral midazolam and chloral hydrate on anxiety and sedation at various stages of pre-operative period in congenital heart surgery patients. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional comparative study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Operating rooms of The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from October 2009 to December 2010. METHODOLOGY Sixty-six patients between the ages of 6 months and 6 years received either chloral hydrate (Group C) or midazolam (Group M) pre-operatively. All congenital heart disease patients coming for cardiac surgeries were included while cases of emergency surgery and those patients in whom premedication was not given were excluded. Effect of premedication observed and documented by Anaesthesia Consultant. Documentation included demographics, level of anxiety and sedation at the time of separation from parent and at the time of mask application. RESULTS Forty study subjects were male (61%) and 26 were females (39%). Eleven patients received oral midazolam while 55 received oral chloral hydrate. Sixteen patients were tearful and anxious (24%) while rests were calm and asleep. Thirty patients in group C (60%) were well sedated at the time of separation. Mask induction was satisfactory in 76% of chloral hydrate patients. Increase dose was suggested in 23 patients by anaesthetizing physician. Out of these 6 belonged to group M (54.5%) while 17 to low dose chloral hydrate group (30.9%) [< 40 mg/kg]. CONCLUSION Chloral hydrate provides comparable anxiolysis but superior sedation and mask acceptance scores when compared with midazolam. Higher doses of chloral hydrate (50 mg/kg) were required to keep these patients calm and peaceful at the time of mask application for inhalation induction.
Acute otitis media associated bilateral sudden hearing loss: case report and literature review.

BACKGROUND Sudden sensorineural hearing loss is a rare otological condition with potential for dire outcomes including permanent hearing loss. Although the majority of cases are deemed idiopathic, bilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss represents a rare subset typically related to systemic conditions, with higher morbidity and mortality. A controversial association with acute otitis media has been reported, with few bilateral cases published in the literature. CASE REPORT A very rare case of bilateral sudden sensorineural hearing loss associated with acute otitis media is described, with a review of the literature. CONCLUSION The limited evidence available suggests that acute otitis media with tinnitus and/or bacterial pathology may have an increased risk of sudden sensorineural hearing loss, which is consistent with the case described. Although there is no sufficiently powered published evidence to provide definitive treatment guidelines, the literature reviewed suggests that early myringotomy and antibiotics may greatly improve treatment outcomes.
Do the skilled and prime-aged unemployed benefit more from training? Effect heterogeneity of public training programmes in Germany

This study analyses the treatment effects of public training programmes for the unemployed in Germany. Based on propensity score matching methods, we extend the picture that has been sketched in previous studies by estimating the treatment effects of medium-term programmes for different skill and age groups. Our results indicate that programme participation has a positive impact on employment probabilities and earnings for almost all sub-groups. We find little evidence for the presence of heterogeneous treatment effects, and the magnitude of the differences is quite small. Our results thus – at least in part – conflict with the strategy to provide training increasingly to individuals with better employment prospects.
Recombinant Staphylococcus aureusExfoliative Toxins Are Not Bacterial Superantigens

ABSTRACT Staphylococcal scalded-skin syndrome is an exfoliative dermatitis characterized by the separation of the epidermis at the stratum granulosum. This disruption is mediated by one of twoStaphylococcus aureus exotoxins, exfoliative toxins A and B (ETA and ETB). Both ETA and ETB have been reported to be bacterial superantigens. A controversy exists, however, as other data indicate that these exotoxins are not superantigens. Here we demonstrate that recombinant exfoliative toxins produced in Escherichia colido not act as T-cell mitogens and thus are not bacterial superantigens. These data fit the clinical profile of the disease, which is not associated with the classic symptoms of a superantigen-mediated syndrome.