Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Changes of Soil Bacterial Diversity as a Consequence of Agricultural Land Use in a Semi-Arid Ecosystem

Natural scrublands in semi-arid deserts are increasingly being converted into fields. This results in losses of characteristic flora and fauna, and may also affect microbial diversity. In the present study, the long-term effect (50 years) of such a transition on soil bacterial communities was explored at two sites typical of semi-arid deserts. Comparisons were made between soil samples from alfalfa fields and the adjacent scrublands by two complementary methods based on 16S rRNA gene fragments amplified from total community DNA. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analyses revealed significant effects of the transition on community composition of Bacteria, Actinobacteria, Alpha- and Betaproteobacteria at both sites. PhyloChip hybridization analysis uncovered that the transition negatively affected taxa such as Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, Acidimicrobiales, Rubrobacterales, Deltaproteobacteria and Clostridia, while Alpha-, Beta- and Gammaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria increased in abundance. Redundancy analysis suggested that the community composition of phyla responding to agricultural use (except for Spirochaetes) correlated with soil parameters that were significantly different between the agricultural and scrubland soil. The arable soils were lower in organic matter and phosphate concentration, and higher in salinity. The variation in the bacterial community composition was higher in soils from scrubland than from agriculture, as revealed by DGGE and PhyloChip analyses, suggesting reduced beta diversity due to agricultural practices. The long-term use for agriculture resulted in profound changes in the bacterial community and physicochemical characteristics of former scrublands, which may irreversibly affect the natural soil ecosystem.
Future of a Fusing Europe

After providing a thematic survey of the challenges confronting the European Union today, Lee Miles calls upon EU scholars to ‘think bigger’ about the future of the European Union. He argues that fusion approaches offer considerable conceptual strengths, and the potential to develop theory-informed scenarios, that can aid our understanding of the future evolution of the Union. Through an evaluation of the 2007 Reform Treaty, the author also concludes that the EU will further evolve as a ‘Fusing Europe’ and that EU external relations policy will be an area of notable future development.
Treatment Outcomes of Overweight Children and Parents in the Medical Home

OBJECTIVE: To test in the primary care setting the short- and long-term efficacy of a behavioral intervention that simultaneously targeted an overweight child and parent versus an information control (IC) targeting weight control only in the child. METHODS: Two- to 5-year-old children who had BMI ≥85th percentile and an overweight parent (BMI >25 kg/m2) were randomized to Intervention or IC, both receiving diet and activity education over 12 months (13 sessions) followed by 12-month follow-up (3 sessions). Parents in the Intervention group were also targeted for weight control and received behavioral intervention. Pediatricians in 4 practices enrolled their patients with the assistance of embedded recruiters (Practice Enhancement Assistants) who assisted with treatment too. RESULTS: A total of 96 of the 105 children randomized (Intervention n = 46; IC n = 50) started the program and had data at baseline. Children in the Intervention experienced greater reductions in percent over BMI (group × months; P = .002) and z-BMI (group × months; P < 0.001) compared with IC throughout treatment and follow-up. Greater BMI reduction was observed over time for parents in the Intervention compared with IC (P < .001) throughout treatment and follow-up. Child weight changes were correlated with parent weight changes at 12 and 24 months (r = 0.38 and 0.26; P < .001 and P = .03). CONCLUSIONS: Concurrently targeting preschool-aged overweight and obese youth and their parents in primary care with behavioral intervention results in greater decreases in child percent over BMI, z-BMI, and parent BMI compared with IC. The difference between Intervention and IC persists after 12 months of follow-up.
Uncertainty Risk and the Cross-sectional Returns : Theory and Evidence ( Job Market Paper )

In this paper we develop a continuous-time general equilibrium model in a representative exchange economy with incomplete information. We show, in a multiple assets setting, that state uncertainty risk is priced and commands additional (state-dependent) premium. It is affected by both the investor’s estimate of the state of the economy, as well as the uncertainty about her estimation. Moreover, noisier stocks/firms respond more strongly to uncertainty shocks, which may help rationalize Fama-French size and book-tomarket factors. We formally test our model using the ASA-NBER survey of professional forecasters, GDP growth rate data, and Fama-French size and book-to-market portfolios. The empirical evidence is largely consistent with the model’s predictions. The estimated uncertainty risk premium is both statistically and economically significant (4.1% per year), and the Fama-French factors lose explanatory power for the cross-sectional returns after controlling for the uncertainty risk.
Classifier cascades and trees for minimizing feature evaluation cost

Machine learning algorithms have successfully entered industry through many real-world applications (e.g., search engines and product recommendations). In these applications, the test-time CPU cost must be budgeted and accounted for. In this paper, we examine two main components of the test-time CPU cost, classifier evaluation cost and feature extraction cost, and show how to balance these costs with the classifier accuracy. Since the computation required for feature extraction dominates the test-time cost of a classifier in these settings, we develop two algorithms to efficiently balance the performance with the test-time cost. Our first contribution describes how to construct and optimize a tree of classifiers, through which test inputs traverse along individual paths. Each path extracts different features and is optimized for a specific sub-partition of the input space. Our second contribution is a natural reduction of the tree of classifiers into a cascade. The cascade is particularly useful for class-imbalanced data sets as the majority of instances can be early-exited out of the cascade when the algorithm is sufficiently confident in its prediction. Because both approaches only compute features for inputs that benefit from them the most, we find our trained classifiers lead to high accuracies at a small fraction of the computational cost.
Generalized Stochastic Petri Nets: A Definition at the Net Level and Its Implications

The class of Petri nets obtained by eliminating timing from generalized stochastic Petri net (GSPN) models while preserving the qualitative behavior is identified. Structural results for those nets are derived, obtaining the first structural analysis of Petri nets with priority and inhibitor arcs. A revision of the GSPN definition based on the structural properties of the models is presented. It is shown that for a (wide) class of nets, the definition of firing probabilities of conflicting immediate transitions does not require the information on reachable markings. Identification of the class of models for which the net-level specification is possible is also based on the structural analysis results. The procedure for the model specification is illustrated by means of an example. It is also shown that a net-level specification of the model associated with efficient structural analysis techniques can have a substantial impact on model analysis. >
Applications of Zigzag Persistence to Topological Data Analysis

The theory of zigzag persistence is a substantial extension of persistent homology, and its development has enabled the investigation of several unexplored avenues in the area of topological data analysis. In this paper, we discuss three applications of zigzag persistence: topological bootstrapping, parameter thresholding, and the comparison of witness complexes. The newly emerging area of topological data analysis attempts to use techniques from algebraic topology to study qualitative properties of datasets. Its applicability has been demonstrated in areas as diverse as object recognition, sensor networks, and bioinformatics (Car09). The need for a topological approach to data analysis tasks is justied
Aid, Shocks, and Growth

Analysis of the relationship between aid and growth by Burnside and Dollar found that the better a country's policies, the more effective aid is in raising growth in that country. But this result has been criticized for being sensitive to choice of sample and for neglecting shocks. The authors incorporate export price shocks into the analysis of aid's effect on growth. They construct export price indices using the approach pioneered by Deaton and Miller. They locate shocks by differencing the indices, removing predictable elements from the stationary process, and normalizing the residuals. Extreme negative shocks are the bottom 2.5 percent tail of this distribution. Introducing these extremeshocks into the Burnside-Dollar regression, the authors find that they are highly significant: unsurprisingly, extreme negative shocks reduce growth. Once these shocks are included, the Burnside-Dollar results become robust to choice of sample. Moreover, the adverse effects of negative shocks on growth can be mitigated through offsetting increases in aid. Indeed, targeting aid to countries experiencing negative shocks appears to be even more important for aid effectiveness than targeting aid to countries with good policies. But the authors show that, overall, donors have not used aid for this purpose.
A universal finite memory source

An irreducible parameterization for a finite memory source is constructed in the form of a tree machine. A universal information source for the set of finite memory sources is constructed by a predictive modification of an earlier studied algorithm-Context. It is shown that this universal source incorporates any minimal data-generating tree machine in an asymptotically optimal manner in the following sense: the negative logarithm of the probability it assigns to any long typical sequence, generated by any tree machine, approaches that assigned by the tree machine at the best possible rate. >
A missing link in understanding Party policy change? Conservative Party international volunteering projects and UK development policy (2007–2017)

This article analyses the rationale for and impacts of Conservative Party overseas volunteering projects from 2007 to 2017. Using interview data and participant observation, we uncover aims of project founders and explore impacts of volunteering on Party members and policy. We make three substantial contributions. The first focuses on the survival of Conservative Party modernisation strategies launched under David Cameron. Support for development, particularly Party pledges to spend 0.7% of UK gross national income on aid, are poorly explained by existing research. We argue that a focus on volunteering helps explain the survival of this commitment. Second, we argue that volunteering experience may support sustained Party policy change by enhancing ‘issue ownership’. Our final contribution is providing the first analysis of political parties as development-volunteer sending communities. Through new data and distinctive contributions, we demonstrate that understanding Party-supported volunteering promotes improved explanations of Party modernisation persistence and policy change.
An Examination of Fishing Location Choice in the Pink Shrimp Fishery

This article analyzes fishing location choices made by pink shrimp (Pandalus jordani) fishermen fishing off the coast of northern California. Data were gathered for 17 commercial vessels making 3000 net sets over a season. A simple multiplechoice logit model was used to examine whether recent information on success in various regions aids in explaining location choice. Results suggest that fishermen do account for economic factors in a manner consistent with economic theories of choice.
Clinical outcomes of tissue expanders on adjuvant radiotherapy of resected retroperitoneal sarcoma

Abstract We investigated the efficacy and safety of a tissue expander (TE) for adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) of resected retroperitoneal sarcoma (RPS). This study was conducted with 37 patients with RPS who received resection with or without TE insertion followed by RT from August 2006 to June 2012 at Samsung Medical Center. Among the 37 patients, TE was inserted in 19. The quality of TE insertion was evaluated according to the correlation of clinical target volume and retroperitoneal surface volume covered by TE and was defined as follows: excellent, ≥85%; good, 70% to 85%; fair, 50% to 70%; and poor, <50%. The median follow-up period after surgery was 47.9 months (range, 5.5–85.5 months). The quality of TE insertion was excellent in 7 (36.8%), good in 5 (26.3%), fair in 4 (21.0%), and poor in 3 (16.7%) patients. A significantly higher biologically equivalent dose (BED, &agr;/&bgr; = 10) was used in patients who had TE insertion (median, 64.8 vs. 60.0 Gy, P = 0.01). Local control was 39.7%, and overall survival was 76.4% at 5 years. Local control was significantly higher in patients who received ≥65 Gy of BED, 100.0% in contrast to 22.8% (P = 0.01). One patient with a history of multiple tumor resections showed abdominal infection with duodenal perforation of uncertain cause but had the potential of being related to TE and/or RT. Otherwise there were no ≥grade III acute or late toxicities. TE for adjuvant RT in RPS is feasible for delivering a higher RT dose with acceptable toxicity.
Pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, safety, and tolerability of a single-dose of NN2211, a long-acting glucagon-like peptide 1 derivative, in healthy male subjects.

OBJECTIVE The primary objective of the present study was to investigate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of a single dose of NN2211, a long-acting glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) derivative, in healthy male subjects. The secondary objective was to investigate the pharmacodynamics of NN2211. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS In a double-blind, randomized dose, escalation, placebo-controlled study, healthy male subjects were enrolled at eight consecutive dose levels (1.25, 2.5, 5.0, 10.0, 12.5, 15.0, 17.5, and 20.0 microg/kg) with eight subjects per dose level at a 3:1 active:placebo randomization. After subcutaneous dosing with NN2211, 48-h pharmacokinetic, and 24-h glucose, insulin and glucagon profiles were assessed. In addition, three subjects at each dose level were randomly assigned (one placebo/two active) to an intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) 9 h after the dose (corresponding to the time to maximal plasma concentration of NN2211). RESULTS After subcutaneous administration, the half-life of NN2211 was found to be 11-15 h. Overall, although there were no statistically significant differences compared with placebo in the area under the curve (0-9 h for insulin or glucagon), there was a borderline- significant lowering of glucose levels (P = 0.066). During the IVGTT, there was a statistically significant increase in insulin secretion (P = 0.0002), but there was no significant effect on glucagon levels. Although no significant effect was observed on glucose levels during the IVGTT, there was a dose-dependent increase in the glucose disappearance constant. Whereas no serious adverse events were observed, there was a higher incidence of adverse events after active treatment compared with placebo treatment (notably headache, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting). CONCLUSIONS This study provides evidence that NN2211 has a pharmacokinetic profile consistent with once-daily dosing in humans.
Physical Activity and Child Depressive Symptoms: Findings From the QLSCD

This study investigated the contribution of engaging in structured and unstructured physical activity on girls’ and boys’ depressive symptoms. Secondary analyses were conducted using prospective-longitudinal data (n = 1,516 children) of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development. Parents reported on their children’s participation in structured and unstructured physical activity when he or she was 7-years-old. Depressive symptoms, when the child was 8-years-old, were assessed through the Social Behavior Questionnaire. Child’s past depressive symptoms, maternal depressive symptoms, family conflict, and socioeconomic status were also examined as confounding variables. Ordinary least square regressions were conducted. Structured physical activity was found to be significantly and negatively associated with boys’ depressive symptoms one year later (&bgr; = −.093; 95% CI [−.422, −.059]). Unstructured physical activity was not significantly related to later boys’ or girls’ depressive symptoms. These results suggest the importance of promoting participation in structured physical activity as early as the school entry in boys to potentially help preventing later depressive symptoms in childhood years. Cette étude a examiné la contribution de l’activité physique (structurée et non structurée) sur les symptômes dépressifs chez les garçons et les filles. Des analyses secondaires ont été menées au moyen de données longitudinales prospectives (n = 1516 enfants) tirées de l’Étude longitudinale du développement des enfants du Québec. Les parents ont rapporté la pratique d’exercice physique (structuré et non structuré) par l’enfant alors que celui-ci était âgé de 7 ans. Les symptômes dépressifs ont été évalués au moyen du Questionnaire sur le comportement social alors que l’enfant était âgé de 8 ans. Les symptômes dépressifs antérieurs de l’enfant, les symptômes dépressifs de la mère, les conflits familiaux et le statut socioéconomique ont aussi été examinés en tant que facteurs de confusion. Une analyse de régression linéaire a été menée. L’exercice physique structuré s’est avéré réduire considérablement les symptômes dépressifs des garçons un an après (13 = −0,093; IC de 95 % [−0,422, −0,059]). L’exercice physique non structuré n’avait pas une incidence significative sur les symptômes dépressifs ultérieurs des garçons ou des filles. Ces résultats font valoir l’importance de promouvoir la pratique de l’exercice physique structuré dès que les garçons commencent l’école afin de, peut-être, réduire les symptômes dépressifs durant l’enfance.
Apoptotic Mechanisms of Peroxisome Proliferator–Activated Receptor-γ Activation in Acinar Cells During Acute Pancreatitis

Objective The objective of this study was to determine the mechanism by which activation of peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor-&ggr; promotes apoptosis of acinar cells in pancreatitis. Methods AR42j cells pretreated with the peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor-&ggr; agonist pioglitazone were activated by cerulein as an in vitro model of acute pancreatitis. Inflammatory cytokines and amylase were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Cell viability was determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Cell apoptosis was measured by flow cytometry and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase–mediated dUTP nick end labeling staining. Activity of caspases was determined. Bax and Bcl-2 levels were assayed by Western blot. Results Cytokines, amylase, and cellular proliferation decreased in pioglitazone-pretreated cells. Pioglitazone increased the activity of caspases 3, 8, and 9 in cerulein-activated AR42j cells as well as in the pancreas of rats 3 hours after induction of severe acute pancreatitis. Acinar cell apoptosis was induced by reducing the mitochondrial membrane potential in the pioglitazone group. Pioglitazone increased expression of proapoptotic Bax proteins and decreased antiapoptotic Bcl-2 in cerulein-induced AR42j cells and decreased Bcl-2 levels in pancreatic tissue of severe acute pancreatitis rats 1 and 3 hours after induction. Conclusion Pioglitazone may promote apoptosis of acinar cells through both intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways in acute pancreatitis.
Factors Affecting Temporal Discounting in Older Adults

People often make decisions involving trade-offs between smaller immediate and larger delayed rewards. In intertemporal choices such as these, individuals tend to discount the value of future rewards, a tendency known as temporal discounting. Most people exhibit some degree of temporal discounting, but the rate at which people discount future rewards varies widely. Two neurocognitive systems have been proposed as potential candidates for mediating individual differences in discounting: executive function and declarative memory. Both of these functions decline as people age, at rates that vary across individuals. Here we leverage this variability in cognitive abilities among older adults (both cognitively normal and with mild cognitive impairment, MCI) to investigate associations between temporal discounting and executive function versus declarative memory. We find that neuropsychological measures of declarative memory (episodic memory retrieval and semantic fluency), but not executive function (Trail Making Test and lexical fluency), are associated with temporal discounting. People with better memory discount delayed rewards less. Consistent with this, individuals diagnosed with MCI show steeper discount rates compared to cognitively normal older adults. In contrast, executive function, but not declarative memory, is associated with the extent to which an individual is risk-neutral, or expected-value maximizing, in a risky choice task. These findings elucidate the inconsistent literature on aging and economic preferences, and they suggest that distinct neural systems mediate individual differences in the risk and time domain. Factors affecting temporal discounting in older adults We would like to thank Laura Saad, Arun Pilania, Joseph Harrison, and Jacqueline Lane for assistance with data collection. KML was supported by a National Research Service Award (F32-AG-054032-02) from the National Institute on Aging. This project received funding from the TIAA Institute and Wharton School’s Pension Research Council/Boettner Center. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent official views of the TIAA Institute or Wharton School’s Pension Research Council/Boettner Center. Any opinions expressed herein are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of TIAA, the TIAA Institute or any other organization with which the authors are affiliated. Joseph W. Kable, University of Pennsylvania Karolina Lempert, University of Pennsylvania David A. Wolk, University of Pennsylvania
Iitaka-Severi's Conjecture for Complex Threefolds

We prove the following generalization of Severi's Theorem: Let $X$ be a fixed complex variety. Then there exist, up to birational equivalence, only finitely many complex varieties $Y$ of general type of dimension at most three which admit a dominant rational map $f$ from $X$ to Y$.