Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The rate of flow of digesta and their removal along the digestive tract of the sheep

The nature of the food and the structure of the stomach of the ruminant make it difficult to assess quantitatively the extent to which fermentative digestion in the first three portions of the stomach contributes to the total digestive processes of the animal. Particle size influences the rate at which food leaves the reticulum and rumen (Balch, 1950) so that the addition of a finely divided solid and insoluble inert food marker as a reference against which to compare the loss of food constituents will not give reliable results. Lignin has been used by Hale, Duncan & Huffman (1940, 1947a, b), Gray (1947), Weller & Gray (1954) and Balch (1957) and the results obtained by this method agree reasonably well. Lignin, however, is not a chemically defined entity, its estimation is empirical and there is evidence to suppose that losses as high as 15-20 yo of this material may occur in the alimentary tract, probably mainly in the intestine. When it is necessary to slaughter animals in order to get representative samples of intestinal contents no marker can be considered satisfactory as far as nitrogenous constituents of the food are concerned because slaughter causes extensive shedding of the mucosa of the upper part of the intestine (Badawy, Campbell, Cuthbertson & Fell, 1957). A method of measuring the flow of food from the stomach to the intestines and from the small to the large intestine combined with analysis of the material obtained appears to offer the best way of determining the overall changes that occur in the stomach and in the small and large intestine. Phillipson (1952) used a technique of exteriorization and multiple fistulas to make such measurements in the duodenum, and Bouckaert & Oyaert (1954) devised a cannula which enabled them to collect food as it passed from the omasum to the abomasum. The results of these experiments give some indication of the probable quantities of material traversing these organs in fully fed sheep. This paper is concerned with an improved method of measuring the flow of food in the first part of the duodenum and in the terminal part of the ileum in conscious sheep and of determining the overall losses that occur in the total dry matter of the feed and of nitrogenous materials in the stomach and in the small and large intestine.
Rate-dependent activation of a prefrontal-insular-cerebellar network during passive listening to trains of click stimuli: an fMRI study

Eight volunteers underwent fMRI during passive listening to click trains. Using a parametric approach, rate–response profiles across the frequency band considered (2–6 Hz) were determined. Several cerebral structures outside the central-auditory pathways and target areas displayed distinct activation patterns each: rate–response profiles resembling high-pass (left side) or low-pass filtered (right side) signal series emerged at the level of the anterior insula, band-pass like characteristics (center frequency: 3–4 Hz) were observed within the left inferior frontal gyrus, and click train rates > 4 Hz yielded enhanced activation of the right cerebellar hemisphere. A variety of clinical and experimental data indicate that the left and right cerebral hemispheres act as high- and low-pass filters, respectively, on auditory input (double filtering by frequency theory). In light of the present fMRI data, the anterior insula contributes to the assumed double filtering by frequency functions. Furthermore, these intrasylvian areas seem to join up with the right cerebellum and the left inferior frontal gyrus to a network subserving parsing/timing functions within the auditory-verbal domain.
Intrametropolitan Variation in Wage Rates: The Case of Atlanta Fast-Food Restaurant Workers

This paper utilizes a unique data base to provide some rare evidence on wage variation within a metropolitan area. Positively-sloped wage gradients are found for both black and white employees of fast-food restaurants in Atlanta, Georgia. Blacks are found to work on that portion of the gradient where wage rates are lowest. Evidence on discrimination suggests that consumer prejudice affects the wages paid to black workers. As distance from the central business district center increases, the positive wage gradient effect is found to strongly dominate the negative effect on wages from greater consumer discrimination. Copyright 1994 by MIT Press.
Learning Vector Autoregressive Models With Latent Processes

We study the problem of learning the support of transition matrix between random processes in a Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model from samples when a subset of the processes are latent. It is well known that ignoring the effect of the latent processes may lead to very different estimates of the influences among observed processes, and we are concerned with identifying the influences among the observed processes, those between the latent ones, and those from the latent to the observed ones. We show that the support of transition matrix among the observed processes and lengths of all latent paths between any two observed processes can be identified successfully under some conditions on the VAR model. From the lengths of latent paths, we reconstruct the latent subgraph (representing the influences among the latent processes) with a minimum number of variables uniquely if its topology is a directed tree. Furthermore, we propose an algorithm that finds all possible minimal latent graphs under some conditions on the lengths of latent paths. Our results apply to both non-Gaussian and Gaussian cases, and experimental results on various synthetic and real-world datasets validate our theoretical results.
Military Strategy and the Outbreak of International Conflict

Military strategy is an area of growing interest in the study of international conflict. It is linked to the outbreak, duration, and outcome of wars. This article presents the first quantitative empirical tests of the proposition that military strategy affects the outbreak of international conflict. The focus is on maneuver-oriented military strategies, such as the German blitzkrieg in World War II, which are hypothesized to be particularly conflict prone. Tests were conducted on the initiation and escalation of militarized interstate disputes for a sample of states from 1903 to 1992. The results indicate that states with maneuver strategies were significantly more likely to initiate disputes in general, although not disputes that escalate to the use of force. However, dispute participants with maneuver strategies were significantly more likely to escalate a dispute to war if the adversary employed a military strategy that emphasized attrition.
Investment Management and Risk Sharing with Multiple Managers

This paper addresses the investor's decision to employ multiple managers for the management of investment funds. Under conditions such that specialization of managers and diversification among managers are not motives for the use of multiple managers, the paper shows that risk sharing considerations may be sufficient. A model is developed in which the decision to use multiple managers is explicitly treated, and conditions are studied such that an increase or decrease in the number of managers would be desirable. Under some conditions, a multiple manager solution is preferred over a single manager solution.
The limitations of community-based tourism as an instrument of development cooperation: the value of the Social Vocation of the Territory concept

This paper contributes to the debate over the validity of community-based tourism (CBT) as a development and poverty-reduction strategy in the rural-peasant world. In this debate, researchers tend to compare and contrast specific experiences on which they have conducted field work. This implies limitations in the analysis: conclusions may be biased, leading to circular unresolved discussions. This paper introduces a structural analysis, to discover whether CBT has intrinsic characteristics which mean that as an instrument of development cooperation it increases the risks typically involved in social intervention. It applies the concept of the Social Vocation of the Territory (SVT), adapted from Land Suitability concepts used in geography and environmental studies. SVT is a historical process in which land and local society adapt over time to reach equilibrium in specific uses of natural and social resources. Employing this concept on South American case studies, this paper concludes that CBT can have limitations as an instrument of development cooperation and poverty reduction, because of increasing peasant differentiation, social unrest, problems with local decision-making, lack of local tourism business knowledge and training, pseudo-participation, and work and time restructuring. Use of the SVT concept can help CBT in certain very specific circumstances.
Decision-Tree, Rule-Based, and Random Forest Classification of High-Resolution Multispectral Imagery for Wetland Mapping and Inventory

Efforts are increasingly being made to classify the world’s wetland resources, an important ecosystem and habitat that is diminishing in abundance. There are multiple remote sensing classification methods, including a suite of nonparametric classifiers such as decision-tree (DT), rule-based (RB), and random forest (RF). High-resolution satellite imagery can provide more specificity to the classified end product, and ancillary data layers such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, and hydrogeomorphic layers such as distance-to-a-stream can be coupled to improve overall accuracy (OA) in wetland studies. In this paper, we contrast three nonparametric machine-learning algorithms (DT, RB, and RF) using a large field-based dataset (n = 228) from the Selenga River Delta of Lake Baikal, Russia. We also explore the use of ancillary data layers selected to improve OA, with a goal of providing end users with a recommended classifier to use and the most parsimonious suite of input parameters for classifying wetland-dominated landscapes. Though all classifiers appeared suitable, the RF classification outperformed both the DT and RB methods, achieving OA >81%. Including a texture metric (homogeneity) substantially improved the classification OA. However, including vegetation/soil/water metrics (based on WorldView-2 band combinations), hydrogeomorphic data layers, and elevation data layers to increase the descriptive content of the input parameters surprisingly did not markedly improve the OA. We conclude that, in most cases, RF should be the classifier of choice. The potential exception to this recommendation is under the circumstance where the end user requires narrative rules to best manage his or her resource. Though not useful in this study, continuously increasing satellite imagery resolution and band availability suggests the inclusion of ancillary contextual data layers such as soil metrics or elevation data, the granularity of which may define its utility in subsequent wetland classifications.
The Genetic Determination of Income: Comment

In quantitative genetics, the heritability of a continuous trait denotes the proportion of its variance which is attributable to genetic differences. A classical method for assessing heritability contrasts the correlation of the trait observed across pairs of identical twins (= monozygotic twins = MZs) with that observed across pairs of fraternal twins (= dizygotic twins = DZs). In its simplest version, the twin method attributes the greater correlation of MZs entirely to the perfect correlation of their genotypes. Since the genotypes of DZs, like those of ordinary siblings, correlate only about 1/2, the very simplest twin method just doubles the difference between the two observed correlations to estimate heritability. Economists may have become aware of the heritability concept, and of the twin method, via the great IQ debate, in particular via the books of Arthur Jensen (1972, 1973), Richard J. Herrnstein, and Christopher Jencks. A series of articles by Paul Taubman (1976a,b), and Jere Behrman and Taubman, has now brought heritability and twin methods into economics itself. Twin data on schooling, initial occupation, later occupation, and earnings lead to such inferences as "Genetics by itself accounts for roughly 30 to 40 percent of everything except initial occupation, where it accounts for 8 percent" (Behrman and Taubman,
Bonus Payments versus Efficiency Wages in the Repeated Principal-Agent Model with Subjective Evaluations

We study an infinitely repeated principal-agent model with subjective evaluations. We compare the surplus in efficiency-wage equilibria and in bonus-payments equilibria. The agent receives a constant wage and is motivated by the threat of dismissal in efficiency-wage equilibria. The agent receives a bonus and quits the relationship after disagreements between his self-evaluation and the principal's performance appraisal in bonus-payments equilibria. We construct a class of equilibria with bonus payments that approach efficiency as patience increases. In contrast, payoffs from efficiency-wage equilibria are bounded away from the Pareto-payoff frontier for any discount factor. (JEL D82, J33, J41)
Enriched Environment and Effects on Neuropathic Pain: Experimental Findings and Mechanisms

Neuropathic pain inflicts tremendous biopsychosocial suffering for patients worldwide. However, safe and effective treatment of neuropathic pain is a prominent unmet clinical need. Environmental enrichment (EE) is an emerging cost‐effective nonpharmacological approach to alleviate neuropathic pain and complement rehabilitation care. We present here a review of preclinical studies in ascertaining the efficacy of EE for neuropathic pain. Their proposed mechanisms, including the suppression of ascending nociceptive signaling to the brain, enhancement of the descending inhibitory system, and neuroprotection of the peripheral and central nervous systems, may collectively reduce pain perception and improve somatic and emotional functioning in neuropathic pain. The current evidence offers critical insights for future preclinical research and the translational application of EE in clinical pain management.
The lucky country? Life satisfaction in Australia 2001-2010

Employing data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, this paper examines the level, determinants and distribution of selfreported life satisfaction, as well as the prevalence and severity of dissatisfaction in Australia over the period 2001-2010. Against most objective measures, Australia’s economic performance during this period was exemplary. Yet our results indicate an overall downward trend in life satisfaction, as well as a diminishing gap between the life satisfaction of males and females. Geographic heterogeneity in the distribution of life satisfaction is apparent, and a number of socio-economic and demographic factors are found to serve an important role in determining an individual’s level of life satisfaction. Results also suggest that inequality in life satisfaction has generally declined. Measures of the extent of dissatisfaction reveal an encouraging downward trend and provide policy makers with an alternative perspective from which to assess societal welfare.
MANAGING MARKETS: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE MAKE-BUY DECISION

The concept of a managed market is developed and is seen as especially suitable for complex transactions as an alternative to internal hierarchical organization. It is argued that a number of augmenting processes, namely trust, routinization and mutual adjustment, usually associated with internal organization, can be used to good effect in a market. Hence the paper develops an approach to make-buy decisions through a transactions cost model and exemplifies the augmenting processes in three case studies from branches of the engineering industry.
Financial distress and cycle-sensitive corporate investments

This paper attempts to explain the link between corporate investments in different phases of the economic cycle and company financial distress. The data were derived from the Estonian Centre of Registers and Information Systems and contained the population of Estonian businesses from four economic activity areas – manufacturing; wholesale and retail trade; transportation and storage; and construction and real estate – and covered the period from 1995 to 2010. A firm was defined as distressed if it breached the minimum capital requirements set by law. The results demonstrate that all the investment-related factors matter for financial distress, with timing, intensity, sector, and type of investment all playing a role. Furthermore, the data seem to suggest that investment in tangibles is more cycle-sensitive for the transport and construction and real estate sectors and investment in working capital is more cycle-sensitive for manufacturing and merchandise, which stresses the importance of getting the timing right for different investment types in different industries.
The Effects of Minimum Wages on the Distribution of Family Incomes: A Nonparametric Analysis

The primary goal of a national minimum wage floor is to raise the incomes of poor families with members in the work force. We present evidence on the effects of minimum wages on family incomes from March CPS surveys. Using non-parametric estimates of the distributions of family income relative to needs in states and years with and without minimum wage increases, we examine the effects of minimum wages on this distribution, and on the distribution of the changes in income that families experience. Although minimum wages do increase the incomes of some poor families, the evidence indicates that their net effect is, if anything, to increase the proportions of families with incomes below or near the poverty line. Thus, it would appear that reductions in the proportions of families that are poor or near-poor should not be counted among the potential benefits of minimum wages.
Equity, Development, and Climate Change Control

The paper analyzes the effects of different equity principles on the decision of developing countries to join a world coalition whose aim is to control greenhouse gas emissions. A game-theoretic framework is proposed to assess the incentives for different countries to sign an international treaty on climate change control. Then, the effects of different equity rules on these incentives are evaluated by using a dynamic integrated growth and climate model. Policy proposals based on transfers from developed to developing countries are also analyzed. (JEL: C7, H0, H3, Q38) Copyright (c) 2003 The European Economic Association.
Blockade of insulin receptor substrate-1 inhibits corneal lymphangiogenesis.

PURPOSE To analyze whether insulin receptor substrate (IRS-1) is involved in lymphatic vessel development and whether IRS-1 blockade can inhibit lymphangiogenesis in vivo. METHODS The impact of IRS-1 blockade by GS-101 (Aganirsen), an antisense oligonucleotide against IRS-1, on lymphatic endothelial cell (LEC) proliferation was assessed by ELISA. Furthermore, the effect of IRS-1 blockade on prolymphangiogenic growth factor expression by LECs and macrophages (peritoneal exudate cells) was tested by real-time PCR. The mouse model of inflammatory corneal neovascularization was used to analyze the effect of IRS-1 blockade in vivo: after corneal suture placement, mice were treated with GS-101 eye drops (twice daily afterwards for 1 week, 5 μL per drop; 50, 100, or 200 μM). Afterward, corneal wholemounts were prepared and stained for blood and lymphatic vessels. RESULTS Blockade of IRS-1 by GS-101 inhibited LEC proliferation dose dependently. GS-101 led to decreased VEGF-A expression levels in LECs, whereas VEGF-C, VEGF-D, and VEGFR3 showed no significant change. In macrophages, VEGF-A expression levels were also inhibited by IRS-1 blockade. Additionally, GS-101 strongly inhibited macrophage-derived VEGF-C, VEGF-D, and VEGFR3 expression. In vivo, corneal hemangiogenesis was significantly inhibited when used at a concentration of 200 μM (by 17%; P < 0.01). Corneal lymphangiogenesis was significantly inhibited when used at a dose of 100 μM (by 21%; P < 0.01), and the highest used dose (200 μM) showed an even stronger inhibition (by 28%; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Blockade of IRS-1 inhibits not only hemangiogenesis but also lymphangiogenesis. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first evidence that IRS-1 is involved in the molecular pathway leading to lymphangiogenesis.
Social and Spatial Structures of Innovation in the Irish Animation Industry

This paper assesses the relevance of the knowledge base conceptualization and the relationship between the symbolic knowledge base and the spatiality of knowledge flow in the context of the animation industry in Ireland. The paper draws on findings from a study of four innovation case studies. In broad terms, the findings provide further support for the applicability of the knowledge base approach and the association of the animation industry with the symbolic knowledge base. However, in relation to the spatiality of knowledge flows, the findings contradict the theoretically deduced postulations. Nearly all of the knowledge sources are located overseas. In addition, the study finds little support for the role of local buzz in knowledge flow. The local animation community “buzzes globally” at international events.
Inhibitory Effects of Dietary Caraway Essential Oils on 1,2-Dimethylhydrazine-Induced Colon Carcinogenesis is Mediated by Liver Xenobiotic Metabolizing Enzymes

The effects of dietary essential oils prepared from caraway seeds on colon carcinogenesis induced by 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH) in rats has been studied. The number of aberrant crypt foci (ACF) and aberrant crypt (AC) induced by DMH were found to be significantly inhibited in colon of rats treated with essential oils in diet (0.01 and 0.1%). To find out the mechanism(s) by which the essential oils reduced colon premalignancies, plasma, liver, and colon tissues were collected and analyzed for parameters related to oxidative stress and xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes. Lack of influence of caraway extracts on hepatic lipid peroxidation products, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) may suggest that the oils do not interfere with these factors. However, it was clearly shown that DMH-related changes in hepatic and colonic cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1) and glutathione S-transferae (GST) activities were recovered in liver but not in colon tissue in animals treated with caraway oil preparations. In conclusion, histopathological and biochemical data clearly showed that inhibition of colon premalignant lesions induced by DMH is mediated by interference of caraway oil components in the activities of the main hepatic xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes.