Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Global Fisheries Crisis as a Rationale for Improving the FAO’s Database of Fisheries Statistics1

Global fisheries are in a crisis, and so are the marine ecosystems upon which these fisheries depend. Major policy and management changes are required to halt and reverse the trends that have brought about this situation. Underlying these changes is the need for availability of data sets, pertaining to large areas, that unequivocally demonstrate any large-scale fisheries impacts on marine ecosystems. Not until recently have such secondary data begun to be assembled, although data sets have been available for some time upon which such demonstrations could be based. This applies particularly to the global fisheries statistics assembled and maintained by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which are assembled by large, arbitrary statistical areas (rather than by ecosystems), and which are not verified against local data sets. The present contribution documents a multi-pronged approach to develop and test a methodology for reconstructing historic catch time series (including misreported catches), and spatially assign these to ecosystems on a large spatial scale. This will serve as baselines for assessing the ‘health’ of ecosystems, and to evaluate the effects of fishing and management scenarios. Important components of this methodology are a global 1 An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Fisheries Project Planning Meeting of the Bejier International Institute of Ecological Economics, June 21-23, 1999 in Woods Hole, Mass. spatial catch allocation and mapping routine (www.seaaroundus.org), the Ecopath with Ecosim approach and software for constructing food web models of marine ecosystems (www.ecopath.org), and FishBase, an information system on the fish of the world (www.fishbase.org). Along with putting global fisheries data on a spatial ecosystem basis, these tools can greatly contribute to deepening our understanding of the ecosystem services upon which fisheries rely.
Does The Market React To Surprise Issues Of Callable And Noncallable Debt ? 29 LOGIT ANALYSIS

Insignificant stock market reactions to debt issues have been well documented in the finance literature. This paper segments debt issues into callable/noncallable and long-term/short-term categories, as well as anticipated and unanticipated issues (8 different categories of debt). A logit model was used to classify the debt issues into anticipated and unanticipated categories. Stock market reactions were insignificant for 7 of the 8 debt categories. Market reactions were sizably negative and highly significant for unanticipated long-term noncallable debt issues. These results support the efficiency of the market and Flannery (1986) conjecture that the issuance of long-term noncallable debt is a signal for identifying bad firms.
Quality assessment of clinical education services in teaching hospitals located in Kerman, Iran

Introduction Clinical education is one of the most important components of the resource generation function of health systems, and it has a very important role in graduates’ competency with respect to effective, practical education. This study aimed to assess the quality of clinical services in Kerman’s teaching hospitals located in southeastern Iran. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2011 on 303 medical students at different levels of medical education at Kerman’s teaching hospitals. A modified SERVQUAL instrument was used to collect the data after its validity and reliability were checked. The data were analyzed by SPSS 18.0 using the paired t-test, Kruskal-Wallis, and post hoc tests, when appropriate. Results In all five dimensions of quality, gaps were observed between students’ perceptions and expectations as follows: Assurance (mean = −1.18), Responsiveness (−1.56), Empathy (−1.4), Reliability (−1.27), and Tangibles (−1.21). There was a significant difference between the quality perceptions and expectations of the medical students (p < 0.001). A significant difference was observed between three educational levels, including externships, internships, and assistantships regarding the dimensions of the quality gaps (p < 0.001). Conclusion The clinical services provided by teaching hospitals in the study did not meet the students’ expectations at any of the three educational levels. As we precisely assessed the dimensions and items that had the higher quality gaps, it was apparent that, for most part, clinical education officials could improve the quality by designing interventions, which would not be very difficult to do.
Analyzing hyperspectral data with independent component analysis

Hyperspectral image sensors provide images with a large number of contiguous spectral channels per pixel and enable information about different materials within a pixel to be obtained. The problem of spectrally unmixing materials may be viewed as a specific case of the blind source separation problem where data consists of mixed signals and the goal is to determine the contribution of each mineral to the mix without prior knowledge of the minerals in the mix. The technique of independent component analysis (ICA) assumes that the spectral components are close to statistically independent and provides an unsupervised method for blind source separation. We introduce contextual ICA in the context of hyperspectral data analysis and apply the method to mineral data from synthetically mixed minerals and real image signatures.
Simultaneous Characterization of Sympathetic and Cardiac Arms of the Baroreflex through Sequence Techniques during Incremental Head-Up Tilt

We propose a sympathetic baroreflex (sBR) sequence method for characterizing sBR from spontaneous beat-to-beat fluctuations of muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) and diastolic arterial pressure (DAP). The method exploits a previously defined MSNA variability quantifying the fluctuations of MSNA burst rate. The method is based on the detection of MSNA and DAP sequences characterized by the contemporaneous DAP increase and MSNA decrease or vice versa. The percentage of sBR sequences (SEQ%sBR) was taken as an indication of the degree of sBR solicitation and the average slope of the regression lines in the (DAP, MSNA) plane was taken as sBR sensitivity (sBRSSEQ) and expressed in bursts.s−1.mmHg−1. sBRSSEQ was compared to a more traditional estimate based on the baroreflex threshold analysis (sBRSBTA). An incremental head-up tilt protocol, carried out in 12 young healthy subjects (age: 20–36 yr, median = 22.5 yr, 9 females) sequentially tilted at 0, 20, 30, 40, 60° table inclinations, was utilized to set the sBR sequence method parameters. Traditional sequence analysis was exploited to estimate cardiac baroreflex (cBR) sensitivity (cBRSSEQ) and percentage of cBR sequences (SEQ%cBR). The head-up tilt induced the progressive increase of SEQ%sBR and SEQ%cBR and gradual decrease of both sBRSSEQ and cBRSSEQ, thus suggesting the gradual rise of the sBR and cBR solicitations and the progressive reduction of their effectiveness with the stimulus. sBRSSEQ was significantly associated with sBRSBTA. sBRSSEQ and cBRSSEQ were significantly correlated as well as SEQ%sBR and SEQ%cBR, even though the correlation was not strong, thus suggesting a certain degree of independence between the baroreflex arms. The proposed sBR sequence approach provides a dynamical characterization of the sBR alternative to more traditional static pharmacological and nonpharmacological methods and fully homogenous with the cBR sequence technique.
Adverse drug reactions in older patients: an Italian observational prospective hospital study

Background In adults over 65 years of age, the frequency of adverse drug reaction (ADRs) related hospital admissions is higher than in younger adults, and the frequency of ADRs occurring during hospital stay highly ranges. The review was designed to evaluate the frequency of ADRs, both resulting in hospital admission and occurring during the hospital stay of older patients, while identifying the types of reactions and the associated drugs. Methods Age, sex, date, and diagnosis of admission of all patients aged 65 and over admitted in three geriatric wards of University Hospital of Verona, Italy, from February to July 2009 were registered by nurses on a special form. In the specific cases of admissions caused by an ADR as well as in the cases of an ADR occurring during the hospital stay, the type of reactions and the suspected drugs were also registered by nurses and physicians involved in the study. Results During the six months of the study, 1023 patients matched the inclusion criteria and were included in the study. One hundred fourteen hospital admissions (11.1%) were caused by ADRs, while 256 patients (25.0%) had an ADR during their hospital stay. The duration of hospital stay was significantly longer in patients who developed an ADR during their time in hospital, 18.7 (95% CI: 17.2–20.1) days versus 12.6 (95% CI: 11.9–13.3) days. Electrolyte disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, anemia, and International Normalized Ratio increase were the more frequent observed ADRs, with diuretics, antithrombotic agents, and antibacterials as the main involved drugs. Our study confirms that ADRs are an important cause of hospitalization in older patients. In addition, the frequency of ADRs occurring during hospital stay is high and causes prolonged hospitalization.
Hybrids on Steroids: SGX-Based High Performance BFT

With the advent of trusted execution environments provided by recent general purpose processors, a class of replication protocols has become more attractive than ever: Protocols based on a hybrid fault model are able to tolerate arbitrary faults yet reduce the costs significantly compared to their traditional Byzantine relatives by employing a small subsystem trusted to only fail by crashing. Unfortunately, existing proposals have their own price: We are not aware of any hybrid protocol that is backed by a comprehensive formal specification, complicating the reasoning about correctness and implications. Moreover, current protocols of that class have to be performed largely sequentially. Hence, they are not well-prepared for just the modern multi-core processors that bring their very own fault model to a broad audience. In this paper, we present Hybster, a new hybrid state-machine replication protocol that is highly parallelizable and specified formally. With over 1 million operations per second using only four cores, the evaluation of our Intel SGX-based prototype implementation shows that Hybster makes hybrid state-machine replication a viable option even for today's very demanding critical services.
Choptuik scaling and quasinormal modes in the AdS / CFT correspondence

We establish an exact connection between the Choptuik scaling parameter for the three-dimensional Ba\~nados-Teitelboim-Zanelli black hole, and the imaginary part of the quasinormal frequencies for scalar perturbations. Via the anti--de Sitter space/conformal-field theory correspondence, this leads to an interpretation of Choptuik scaling in terms of the time scale for return to equilibrium of the dual conformal field theory.
An updated synthesis of the observed and projected impacts of climate change on the chemical, physical and biological processes in the oceans

The 5th Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states with very high certainty that anthropogenic emissions have caused measurable changes in the physical ocean environment. These changes are summarized with special focus on those that are predicted to have the strongest, most direct effects on ocean biological processes; namely, ocean warming and associated phenomena (including stratification and sea level rise) as well as deoxygenation and ocean acidification. The biological effects of these changes are then discussed for microbes (including phytoplankton), plants, animals, warm and cold-water corals, and ecosystems. The IPCC AR5 highlighted several areas related to both the physical and biological processes that required further research. As a rapidly developing field, there have been many pertinent studies published since the cut off dates for the AR5, which have increased our understanding of the processes at work. This study undertook an extensive review of recently published literature to update the findings of the AR5 and provide a synthesized review on the main issues facing future oceans. The level of detail provided in the AR5 and subsequent work provided a basis for constructing projections of the state of ocean ecosystems in 2100 under two the Representative Concentration Pathways RCP4.5 and 8.5. Finally the review highlights notable additions, clarifications and points of departure from AR5 provided by subsequent studies.
Participatory Research as One Piece of the Puzzle: A Systematic Review of Consumer Involvement in Design of Technology-Based Youth Mental Health and Well-Being Interventions

Background Despite the potential of technology-based mental health interventions for young people, limited uptake and/or adherence is a significant challenge. It is thought that involving young people in the development and delivery of services designed for them leads to better engagement. Further research is required to understand the role of participatory approaches in design of technology-based mental health and well-being interventions for youth. Objective To investigate consumer involvement processes and associated outcomes from studies using participatory methods in development of technology-based mental health and well-being interventions for youth. Methods Fifteen electronic databases, using both resource-specific subject headings and text words, were searched describing 2 broad concepts-participatory research and mental health/illness. Grey literature was accessed via Google Advanced search, and relevant conference Web sites and reference lists were also searched. A first screening of titles/abstracts eliminated irrelevant citations and documents. The remaining citations were screened by a second reviewer. Full text articles were double screened. All projects employing participatory research processes in development and/or design of (ICT/digital) technology-based youth mental health and well-being interventions were included. No date restrictions were applied; English language only. Data on consumer involvement, research and design process, and outcomes were extracted via framework analysis. Results A total of 6210 studies were reviewed, 38 full articles retrieved, and 17 included in this study. It was found that consumer participation was predominantly consultative and consumerist in nature and involved design specification and intervention development, and usability/pilot testing. Sustainable participation was difficult to achieve. Projects reported clear dichotomies around designer/researcher and consumer assumptions of effective and acceptable interventions. It was not possible to determine the impact of participatory research on intervention effectiveness due to lack of outcome data. Planning for or having pre-existing implementation sites assisted implementation. The review also revealed a lack of theory-based design and process evaluation. Conclusions Consumer consultations helped shape intervention design. However, with little evidence of outcomes and a lack of implementation following piloting, the value of participatory research remains unclear.
Age at Menarche, Menstrual Characteristics, and Risk of Preeclampsia

We examined associations of age at menarche and menstrual characteristics with the risk of preeclampsia among participants (n = 3,365) of a pregnancy cohort study. Data were collected using in-person interviews and medical record abstraction. Logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). There was a significant inverse association between age at menarche and risk of preeclampsia (P value for trend < 0.05). Association of long cycle length (>36 days) with higher risk of preeclampsia was present only among women who had prepregnancy body mass index <25 kg/m2 (interaction P value = 0.04). Early menarche is associated with higher risk of preeclampsia. Prepregnancy weight may modify associations of long menstrual cycles with risk of preeclampsia.
Comparison of Fine Needle Aspiration and Fine Needle Nonaspiration Cytology of Thyroid Nodules: A Meta-Analysis

Background. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and fine needle nonaspiration cytology (FNNAC) are useful cost-effective techniques for preoperatively assessing thyroid lesions. Both techniques have advantages and disadvantages, and there is controversy over which method is superior. This meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the differences between FNAC and FNNAC for diagnosis of thyroid nodules. Methods. Primary publications were independently collected by two reviewers from PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, EBSCO, OALib, and the Cochrane Library databases. The following search terms were used: fine needle, aspiration, capillary, nonaspiration, sampling without aspiration, thyroid, and cytology. The last search was performed on February 1, 2015. Results. Sixteen studies comprising 1,842 patients and 2,221 samples were included in this study. No statistically significant difference was observed between FNAC and FNNAC groups with respect to diagnostically inadequate smears, diagnostically superior smears, diagnostic performance (accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, and positive predictive value), area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve, average score of each parameter (background blood or clot, amount of cellular material, degree of cellular degeneration, degree of cellular trauma, and retention of appropriate architecture), and total score of five parameters. Conclusion. FNAC and FNNAC are equally useful in assessing thyroid nodules.
Age dependent increase in the levels of osteopontin inhibits skeletal muscle regeneration

Skeletal muscle regeneration following injury is accompanied by rapid infiltration of macrophages, which play a positive role in muscle repair. Increased chronic inflammation inhibits the regeneration of dystrophic muscle, but the properties of inflammatory cells are not well understood in the context of normal muscle aging. This work uncovers pronounced age-specific changes in the expression of osteopontin (OPN) in CD11b+ macrophages present in the injured old muscle as well as in the blood serum of old injured mice and in the basement membrane surrounding old injured muscle fibers. Furthermore, young CD11b+ macrophages enhance regenerative capacity of old muscle stem cells even when old myofibers and old sera are present; and neutralization of OPN similarly rejuvenates the myogenic responses of old satellite cells in vitro and notably, in vivo. This study highlights potential mechanisms by which age related inflammatory responses become counter-productive for muscle regeneration and suggests new strategies for enhancing muscle repair in the old.
Interactive effects of protein nutrition, genetic growth potential and Heligmosomoides bakeri infection pressure on resilience and resistance in mice

SUMMARY The ability of animals to cope with an increasing parasite load, in terms of resilience and resistance, may be affected by both nutrient supply and demand. Here, we hypothesized that host nutrition and growth potential interact and influence the ability of mice to cope with different parasite doses. Mice selected for high (ROH) or low (ROL) body weight were fed a low (40 g/kg; LP) or high (230 g/kg; HP) protein diet and infected with 0, 50, 100, 150, 200 or 250 L3 infective Heligmosomoides bakeri larvae. ROH-LP mice grew less at doses of 150 L3 and above, whilst growth of ROH-HP and of ROL mice was not affected by infection pressure. Total worm burdens reached a plateau at doses of 150L3, whilst ROH mice excreted fewer worm eggs than ROL mice. Serum antibodies increased with infection dose and ROH mice were found to have higher parasite-specific IgG1 titres than ROL mice. In contrast, ROL had higher total IgE titres than ROH mice, only on HP diets. The interaction between host nutrition and growth potential appears to differentially affect resilience and resistance in mice. However, the results support the view that parasitism penalises performance in animals selected for higher growth.
A Critical Review of Strategic Conflict Theory and Socio-political Instability Models

This paper provides a critical general overview of two strands of recent vast economic literature on social conflicts, namely strategic conflict theory and socio-political instability models. The first strand can be traced back to Haavelmo (1954) and has been further developed in a variety of ways by game theoretical models of rational conflict (Boulding, 1962; Schelling, 1963, Hirshleifer, 2001). Their goal is to understand threat power. A second version of conflict theory has been developed by the founders of the Public Choice School (Olson 1965, 1982; Tullock 1974, 1980; Stringham, 2005, 2007) in order to tackle genuine political violence. The main finding of this paper is that both strands of recent economic literature have not yet come to grips with social conflicts. The application of standard microeconomic assumptions to the field of "social conflicts" has resulted in reducing conflicts either to "rational conflicts"- a threat of conflict without any real clash - or "real self-interested private conflicts". In other words, economic theory has considered social protesters either as looters or lunatics, but never as a group of people struggling for a common cause.
Voter Learning in the 2004 Presidential Election: Did the Media Matter?

This study examines the relationships of exposure and attention to various news media, including the Internet, with information learned about the issue positions of candidates George Bush and John Kerry, interest in the 2004 election campaign, and intention to vote among a random sample of adult residents of Indiana who were interviewed by telephone in October 2004. The results are compared with our previous studies of the 1988, 1992, 1996, and 2000 U.S. presidential elections. In general, our studies suggest that attention to television news, televised debates, and now Internet news are important predictors, or at least correlates, of voter learning of candidate issue positions and voter interest in the election campaigns. These findings contradict the hypothesis that increased news media use leads to increased voter apathy and alienation from the political process.
The Democratic Political Economy Of Progressive Income Taxation

Why do both left and right political parties typically propose progressive income taxation schemes in political competition? Analysis of this problem has been hindered by the two-dimensionality of the issue space. To give parties a choice over a domain which contains both progressive and regressive income tax policies requires an issue space that is at least two-dimensional. Nash equilibrium in pure strategies of the standard two-party game, whose players have complete preferences over a two-dimensional policy space, generically fails to exist. I introduce a new equilibrium concept for political games, based on the fact of factional conflict within parties. Each party is supposed to consist of reformists, militants, and opportunists: each faction has a complete preference order on policy space, but together they can only agree on a partial order. Nash equilibria of the two party game, where the policy space consists of all quadratic income tax functions, and each party is represented by its partial order, exist, and it is shown that, in such equilibria, both parties propose progressive income taxation.