Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vulnerability, shocks and persistence of poverty: estimates for semi‐arid rural South India

This paper focuses on the vulnerability of rural households to poverty when a negative crop shock occurs. The analysis is based on the ICRISAT panel survey of households in a semi‐arid region in south India during 1975–84. Using a dynamic panel data model that takes into account effects of crop shocks, an assessment of vulnerability of different groups of households is carried out. What is somewhat surprising is that even sections of relatively affluent households are highly vulnerable to long spells of poverty when severe crop shocks occur. As such crop shocks are frequent in a harsh production environment, there must be a shift of emphasis in anti‐poverty measures from meeting income shortfalls among the poor to enabling the vulnerable to protect themselves better against these shocks.
Work Values Fit and Subjective Career Success: The Moderating Role of Work Engagement

Despite the literature suggesting that person-organisation work values fit lead positive work related outcomes, there is no empirical evidence for its effect on subjective career success. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships of four dimensions of person-organisation work values fit (comfort and security, competence and growth, status and independence as well as, social aspects) and subjective career success including whether work engagement moderates these relationships. The sample comprises 364 white-collar workers in Istanbul, with hierarchical multiple regression analyses being used to test the hypotheses. The results show that all four dimensions of work values fit are positively related to subjective career success. In regard to the moderating effect, work engagement is found to have a significant effect on the relationships between status and independence work values fit - subjective career success as well as competence and growth work values fit - subjective career success.
Global asymptotic stability of a general class of recurrent neural networks with time-varying delays

In this paper, the existence and uniqueness of the equilibrium point and its global asymptotic stability are discussed for a general class of recurrent neural networks with time-varying delays and Lipschitz continuous activation functions. The neural network model considered includes the delayed Hopfield neural networks, bidirectional associative memory networks, and delayed cellular neural networks as its special cases. Several new sufficient conditions for ascertaining the existence, uniqueness, and global asymptotic stability of the equilibrium point of such recurrent neural networks are obtained by using the theory of topological degree and properties of nonsingular M-matrix, and constructing suitable Lyapunov functionals. The new criteria do not require the activation functions to be differentiable, bounded or monotone nondecreasing and the connection weight matrices to be symmetric. Some stability results from previous works are extended and improved. Two illustrative examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the obtained results.
Vitex agnus-castus L. (Verbenaceae) Improves the Liver Lipid Metabolism and Redox State of Ovariectomized Rats

Vitex agnus-castus (VAC) is a plant that has recently been used to treat the symptoms of menopause, by its actions on the central nervous system. However, little is known about its actions on disturbances in lipid metabolism and nonalcoholic fat liver disease (NAFLD), frequently associated with menopause. Ovariectomized (OVX) rats exhibit increased adiposity and NAFLD 13 weeks after ovary removal and were used as animal models of estrogen deficiency. The rats were treated with crude extract (CE) and a butanolic fraction of VAC (ButF) and displayed the beneficial effects of a reduction in the adiposity index and a complete reversion of NAFLD. NAFLD reversion was accompanied by a general improvement in the liver redox status. The activities of some antioxidant enzymes were restored and the mitochondrial hydrogen peroxide production was significantly reduced in animals treated with CE and the ButF. It can be concluded that the CE and ButF from Vitex agnus-castus were effective in preventing NAFLD and oxidative stress, which are frequent causes of abnormal liver functions in the postmenopausal period.
Prevalence and Predictors of Social Work Student Food Insecurity

ABSTRACT Food security is an essential component of material wellness and social justice. This study draws on a 2013 survey of 496 students within a school of social work in a Pacific Northwestern U.S. public university to (a) provide the first estimate of the prevalence of food insecurity among social work students and (b) investigate coping strategies used and resources accessed by students. It was determined that 43% of students had experienced food insecurity in the preceding year. In addition, students in the BSW program, students of color, females, and first-generation college students were more likely to be food-insecure. Based on these findings, the article describes strategies for addressing the material and self-care needs of social work students and practitioners.
The Wnt secretion protein Evi/Gpr177 promotes glioma tumourigenesis

Malignant astrocytomas are highly aggressive brain tumours with poor prognosis. While a number of structural genomic changes and dysregulation of signalling pathways in gliomas have been described, the identification of biomarkers and druggable targets remains an important task for novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. Here, we show that the Wnt‐specific secretory protein Evi (also known as GPR177/Wntless/Sprinter) is overexpressed in astrocytic gliomas. Evi/Wls is a core Wnt signalling component and a specific regulator of pan‐Wnt protein secretion, affecting both canonical and non‐canonical signalling. We demonstrate that its depletion in glioma and glioma‐derived stem‐like cells led to decreased cell proliferation and apoptosis. Furthermore, Evi/Wls silencing in glioma cells reduced cell migration and the capacity to form tumours in vivo. We further show that Evi/Wls overexpression is sufficient to promote downstream Wnt signalling. Taken together, our study identifies Evi/Wls as an essential regulator of glioma tumourigenesis, identifying a pathway‐specific protein trafficking factor as an oncogene and offering novel therapeutic options to interfere with the aberrant regulation of growth factors at the site of production.
Patent licensing and vertical integration in complementary markets

Le secteur des TIC est caracterise par des arrangements strategiques de transferts de technologies tels que les licences et les regroupements de brevets. Par ailleurs, les produits et services ont souvent de fortes relations de complementarite dans ce secteur. Afin de garantir un niveau satisfaisant d'interoperabilite aux utilisateurs, les producteurs de biens complementaires doivent echanger des informations techniques. Cette these cherche a prendre en compte ces deux dimensions et a produire de nouveaux eclairages sur les cas de politique de concurrence impliquant des marches complementaires (e.g Intel/McAfee, Google/Motorola). Nous etendons la litterature sur les licences de brevets en modelisant des marches avals differencies et complementaires. En utilisant les methodes de l'economie industrielle, nous caracterisons les strategies de licences profitables pour un innovateur en situation de monopole concernant le nombre de licences, les instruments tarifaires ainsi que l'integration verticale et conglomerale. Nous montrons que le nombre de licences attribuees differe generalement de celui observe lorsque la technologie est utilisee dans un marche aval isole. En particulier, nous obtenons que le nombre de licences distribuees est plus eleve dans les marches de niche lorsque le nombre de firmes interessees par la technologie est limite. Dans ce cadre d'analyse, l'integration verticale n'est pas profitable a l'exception des cas ou, une seule firme est susceptible d'acquerir une licence sur le marche homogene, ou lorsque la demande pour le produit final est incertaine. Par ailleurs, les royalties unitaires percus sur le nombre de produits vendus en aval ne sont utilises que dans la structure de l'industrie la plus concurrentielle et lorsque la valorisation pour le bien final est elevee. Enfin, nous montrons que lorsque la demande est incertaine et que les acquereurs de la technologie sont reticents a la prise de risque, l'innovateur prefere utiliser des royalties ad valorem qui portent sur les revenus issus des ventes de produits finals. Nos resultats montrent que les relations de complementarite entre les marches finals influent sur la maniere dont sont transferees les technologies et que les fusions verticales et conglomerales ne semblent pas generer de comportements de forclusion.
Modelling Co-Infection with Malaria and Lymphatic Filariasis

Malaria and lymphatic filariasis (LF) continue to cause a considerable public health burden globally and are co-endemic in many regions of sub-Saharan Africa. These infections are transmitted by the same mosquito species which raises important questions about optimal vector control strategies in co-endemic regions, as well as the effect of the presence of each infection on endemicity of the other; there is currently little consensus on the latter. The need for comprehensive modelling studies to address such questions is therefore significant, yet very few have been undertaken to date despite the recognised explanatory power of reliable dynamic mathematical models. Here, we develop a malaria-LF co-infection modelling framework that accounts for two key interactions between these infections, namely the increase in vector mortality as LF mosquito prevalence increases and the antagonistic Th1/Th2 immune response that occurs in co-infected hosts. We consider the crucial interplay between these interactions on the resulting endemic prevalence when introducing each infection in regions where the other is already endemic (e.g. due to regional environmental change), and the associated timescale for such changes, as well as effects on the basic reproduction number R0 of each disease. We also highlight potential perverse effects of vector controls on human infection prevalence in co-endemic regions, noting that understanding such effects is critical in designing optimal integrated control programmes. Hence, as well as highlighting where better data are required to more reliably address such questions, we provide an important framework that will form the basis of future scenario analysis tools used to plan and inform policy decisions on intervention measures in different transmission settings.
Functionally distinct NKT cell subsets and subtypes

Natural killer T (NKT) cells are a population of autoreactive cells that mediate both protective and regulatory immune functions. NKT cells comprise several subsets of cells, but it has been unclear whether these different NKT cell subsets possess distinct functions in vivo. New studies now demonstrate that subsets of NKT cells are indeed functionally distinct and that the specific functions of these cells may be dictated in part by organ-specific mechanisms.
Platform Leadership: How Intel, Microsoft, and Cisco Drive Industry Innovation

Volume 5, Issue 1, September/October 2003 INNOVATION: management, policy & practice This book focuses on the strategic problems faced by firms in industries dominated by platform products.1 Gawer and Cusumano recommend that firms compete by developing modular products, because it allows for increased”. ability to innovate [italics in origin] by more actors in the high-tech world” (p.3). Modularity and platform products are found in industries which produce complex products which are built of interdependent components and subsystems. Examples include cars, radios, refrigerators, and stereo systems. The key attribute of these industries, whose number is rapidly increasing, is a network of interdependent producers of different parts of the product who also have the “license” to rapidly innovate without violating the integrity of the overall joint product.2 Gawer and Cusumano, contend that because the design and production of complex modular products involves interdependencies which transcend organizational boundaries, firms must focus strategically, organizationally, and technologically on the management of complementary assets needed by their organization and their product and network externalities created through the development and use of their products. Successful implementaB O O K S rev ews & lists
Increasing the decrement in insulin secretion improves glucagon responses to hypoglycemia in advanced type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE In advanced beta-cell failure, counterregulatory glucagon responses may be impaired due to a reduced decrement in insulin secretion during the development of hypoglycemia. The present studies were therefore undertaken to test the hypothesis that these may be improved by increasing this decrement in insulin secretion. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Twelve subjects with type 2 diabetes who have been insulin requiring were studied as a model of advanced beta-cell failure. Glucagon responses were examined during a 90-min hypoglycemic clamp (approximately 2.8 mmol/l) on two separate occasions. On one occasion, tolbutamide was infused for 2 h before the clamp so that the decrement in insulin secretion during the induction of hypoglycemia would be increased. On the other occasion, normal saline was infused as a control. RESULTS Before the hypoglycemic clamp, infusion of tolbutamide increased insulin secretion approximately 1.9-fold (P < 0.001). However, during hypoglycemia, insulin secretion decreased to similar rates on both occasions (P = 0.31) so that its decrement was approximately twofold greater following the tolbutamide infusion (1.63 +/- 0.20 vs. 0.81 +/- 0.17 pmol x kg(-1) x min(-1), P < 0.001). This was associated with more than twofold-greater glucagon responses (42 +/- 11 vs. 19 +/- 8 ng/l, P < 0.002) during the hypoglycemic clamp but unaltered glucagon responses to intravenous arginine immediately thereafter (449 +/- 50 vs. 453 +/- 50 ng/l, P = 0.78). CONCLUSIONS Increasing the decrement in insulin secretion during the development of hypoglycemia improves counterregulatory glucagon responses in advanced beta-cell failure. These findings further support the concept that the impaired counterregulatory glucagon responses in advanced beta-cell failure may at least partially be due to a reduced decrement in insulin secretion.
Relationships between Hippocampal Atrophy, White Matter Disruption, and Gray Matter Hypometabolism in Alzheimer's Disease

In early Alzheimer's disease (AD), the hippocampal region is the area most severely affected by cellular and structural alterations, yet glucose hypometabolism predominates in the posterior association cortex and posterior cingulate gyrus. One prevalent hypothesis to account for this discrepancy is that posterior cingulate hypometabolism results from disconnection from the hippocampus through disruption of the cingulum bundle. However, only partial and indirect evidence currently supports this hypothesis. Thus, using structural magnetic resonance imaging and 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography in 18 patients with early AD, we assessed the relationships between hippocampal atrophy, white matter integrity, and gray matter metabolism by means of a whole-brain voxel-based correlative approach. We found that hippocampal atrophy is specifically related to cingulum bundle disruption, which is in turn highly correlated to hypometabolism of the posterior cingulate cortex but also of the middle cingulate gyrus, thalamus, mammillary bodies, parahippocampal gyrus, and hippocampus (all part of Papez's circuit), as well as the right temporoparietal associative cortex. These results provide the first direct evidence supporting the disconnection hypothesis as a major factor contributing to the early posterior hypometabolism in AD. Disruption of the cingulum bundle also appears to relate to hypometabolism in a large connected network over and above the posterior cingulate cortex, encompassing the whole memory circuit of Papez (consistent with the key location of this white matter tract within this loop) and also, but indirectly, the right posterior association cortex.
A Biological Micro Actuator: Graded and Closed-Loop Control of Insect Leg Motion by Electrical Stimulation of Muscles

In this study, a biological microactuator was demonstrated by closed-loop motion control of the front leg of an insect (Mecynorrhina torquata, beetle) via electrical stimulation of the leg muscles. The three antagonistic pairs of muscle groups in the front leg enabled the actuator to have three degrees of freedom: protraction/retraction, levation/depression, and extension/flexion. We observed that the threshold amplitude (voltage) required to elicit leg motions was approximately 1.0 V; thus, we fixed the stimulation amplitude at 1.5 V to ensure a muscle response. The leg motions were finely graded by alternation of the stimulation frequencies: higher stimulation frequencies elicited larger leg angular displacement. A closed-loop control system was then developed, where the stimulation frequency was the manipulated variable for leg-muscle stimulation (output from the final control element to the leg muscle) and the angular displacement of the leg motion was the system response. This closed-loop control system, with an optimized proportional gain and update time, regulated the leg to set at predetermined angular positions. The average electrical stimulation power consumption per muscle group was 148 µW. These findings related to and demonstrations of the leg motion control offer promise for the future development of a reliable, low-power, biological legged machine (i.e., an insect–machine hybrid legged robot).
Kinetics of quenching of hydrous feldspathic melts: Quantification using synthetic fluid inclusions

ABSTnAcI A microthermometric analysis of fluid inclusions preserved during the isobaric quenching of HrO-saturated, vesicular silicate melts provides a method for the determination of the glass transition temperature of hydrous silicate melts at high pressure. The method is based on the principle that the contraction ofinclusion cavities during quenching is ratelimited by the volume relaxation of the melt. Viscous relaxation of the melt ceases during cooling at the glass transition temperature. Bulk densities of the fluid inclusions whose volumes are frozen at the glass transition preserve a record ofthe trapping event, i.e., the glass transition temperature. Liquid-vapor homogenization temperatures [2",. -,,] of the trapped inclusions are measured using a microscope heating-stage assembly. Bulk densities of HrO present in the inclusions at fH(L-v) and Po,u,u,,on are determined from literature values as ate the P-T trajectories of the corresponding isochores. The intersection of an isochore with the experimental pressure during the quench yields the glass transition temperature for that particular glass composition and quench rate. The method has been applied to seven compositions on the join albite-orthoclase. HrOsaturated melts along thisjoin have been rapidly and isobarically quenched at 2000 bars. Thetotalsolubilitiesof HrOrangefrom 5.l2to 6.03 + 0. 15wt0/0.Theglasstransition temperatures of the Hro-saturated melts range from 525 to 412 "C. The compositional dependence of the glass transition is strongly nonlinear. Melts of intermediate composition exhibit a significantly lower glass transition than either end-member. The deviation from additivity reaches a maximum of 70 "C at AbroOrro (molar basis). The information on { can be combined with data for the properties of the quenched glasses to obtain liquid properties at hydrothermal conditions, for example, the viscosity and the thermal expansivity of the wet melts. The quantification of trapping temperatures for fluid inclusions in silicate melts also has potential applications in the study of the kinetics of melt degassing.
Combination of antiangiogenesis with chemotherapy for more effective cancer treatment

Angiogenesis is a hallmark of tumor development and metastasis and is now a validated target for cancer treatment. However, the survival benefits of antiangiogenic drugs have thus far been rather modest, stimulating interest in developing more effective ways to combine antiangiogenic drugs with established chemotherapies. This review discusses recent progress and emerging challenges in this field; interactions between antiangiogenic drugs and conventional chemotherapeutic agents are examined, and strategies for the optimization of combination therapies are discussed. Antiangiogenic drugs such as the anti-vascular endothelial growth factor antibody bevacizumab can induce a functional normalization of the tumor vasculature that is transient and can potentiate the activity of coadministered chemoradiotherapies. However, chronic angiogenesis inhibition typically reduces tumor uptake of coadministered chemotherapeutics, indicating a need to explore new approaches, including intermittent treatment schedules and provascular strategies to increase chemotherapeutic drug exposure. In cases where antiangiogenesis-induced tumor cell starvation augments the intrinsic cytotoxic effects of a conventional chemotherapeutic drug, combination therapy may increase antitumor activity despite a decrease in cytotoxic drug exposure. As new angiogenesis inhibitors enter the clinic, reliable surrogate markers are needed to monitor the progress of antiangiogenic therapies and to identify responsive patients. New targets for antiangiogenesis continue to be discovered, increasing the opportunities to interdict tumor angiogenesis and circumvent resistance mechanisms that may emerge with chronic use of these drugs. [Mol Cancer Ther 2008;07(12):3670–84]
A State-Space Framework for Movement Control to Dynamic Goals Through Brain-Driven Interfaces

State-space estimation is a convenient framework for the design of brain-driven interfaces, where neural activity is used to control assistive devices for individuals with severe motor deficits. Recently, state-space approaches were developed to combine goal planning and trajectory-guiding neural activity in the control of reaching movements of an assistive device to static goals. In this paper, we extend these algorithms to allow for goals that may change over the course of the reach. Performance between static and dynamic goal state equations and a standard free movement state equation is compared in simulation. Simulated trials are also used to explore the possibility of incorporating activity from parietal areas that have previously been associated with dynamic goal position. Performance is quantified using mean-square error (MSE) of trajectory estimates. We also demonstrate the use of goal estimate MSE in evaluating algorithms for the control of goal-directed movements. Finally, we propose a framework to combine sensor data and control algorithms along with neural activity and state equations, to coordinate goal-directed movements through brain-driven interfaces
Dataset shift in classification: terminology, benchmarks and methods

The field of dataset shift has received a growing amount of interest in the last few years. The fact that most real-world applications have to cope with some form of shift makes its study highly relevant. The literature on the topic is mostly scattered, and different authors use different names to refer to the same concepts, or use the same name for different concepts. With this work, we attempt to present a unifying framework through the review and comparison of some of the most important works in the literature. & 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.