Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Alternative trade initiatives and income predictability: Theory and evidence from the coffee sector

The International Institute for Sustainable Development contributes to sustainable development by advancing policy recommendations on international trade and investment, economic policy, climate change, measurement and assessment, and natural resources management. Through the Internet, we report on international negotiations and share knowledge gained through collaborative projects with global partners, resulting in more rigorous research, capacity building in developing countries and better dialogue between North and South. IISD's vision is better living for all—sustainably; its mission is to champion innovation, enabling societies to live sustainably. IISD is registered as a charitable organization in Canada and has 501(c)(3) status in the United States. IISD receives core operating support from the Government of Canada, provided through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Environment Canada; and from the Province of Manitoba. The institute receives project funding from numerous governments inside and outside Canada, United Nations agencies, foundations and the private sector.
Lower incidence of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia among Africans in the Netherlands host or environmental factors?

Background and objective:HIV-associated Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) remains one of the commonest opportunistic infections in Western countries. Although it has been suggested that racial differences in PJP incidence exist, early studies report conflicting results. This study aimed to investigate differences in PJP incidence in a developed country among patients originating from sub-Saharan Africa compared with other regions of origin. Design and methods:A retrospective observational cohort study was performed among 13 844 HIV-infected patients from the Dutch ATHENA cohort. The main outcome measure was occurrence of PJP. Results:A total number of 1055 PJP infections were diagnosed. Patients originating from sub-Saharan Africa had a significantly lower risk of having PJP at the time of HIV diagnosis after adjustment of confounders compared with patients from Western origin [Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand; adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.21 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.15–0.29)]. Other factors associated with higher PJP risk were increasing age [aOR 1.01 per year (95% CI 1.00–1.02)], a low CD4 count at HIV diagnosis [CD4 <50 versus >350 cells/&mgr;l aOR 123.3 (95% CI 77.8–195.5)] and a high plasma HIV-RNA (>100 000 copies/ml) at HIV diagnosis [aOR 1.41 (95% CI 1.19–1.66)]. Moreover, a clearly lower risk for PJP acquisition later during follow-up was observed among sub-Saharan Africans versus Western patients [adjusted hazard ratio 0.60 (95% CI 0.39–0.90)]. Conclusion:Among HIV-infected patients living in the Netherlands, PJP occurrence is substantially lower in patients originating from sub-Saharan Africa, as compared to Western patients. Differences in genetic susceptibility may partially explain the lower PJP incidence in these patients.
Keystroke Saving in a Language with Highly Transparent Orthography

This paper proposes a pseudo-syllabic soft keyboard for the Croatian language. The orthogonal keyboard layout makes it possible to improve typing efficiency in terms of keystroke saving, and is based on a highly ordered arrangement of pseudo-syllabic keys. The positions of the consonant and vowel graphemes that constitute a pseudo-syllable are used to access it orthogonally and independently each other. This allows the user to input a pseudo-syllable with a lower cognitive load than with non-orthogonal 2-D layouts. Moreover, due to the almost perfect transparency of the language, a pseudo-syllable to be input can be accessed fast and with a reduced cognitive load starting from its phonetic sounds. The results of the present study show that the obtainable keystroke savings are comparable with those scored by word prediction tools with one suggestion, i.e., those requiring only a moderate cognitive load by the user.
LQG propagator: III. The new vertex

In the first article of this series, we pointed out a difficulty in the attempt to derive the low-energy behavior of the graviton two-point function, from the loop-quantum-gravity dynamics defined by the Barrett–Crane vertex amplitude. Here we show that this difficulty disappears when using the corrected vertex amplitude recently introduced in the literature. In particular, we show that the asymptotic analysis of the new vertex amplitude recently performed by Barrett, Fairbairn and others, implies that the vertex has precisely the asymptotic structure that, in the second article of this series, was indicated as the key necessary condition for overcoming the difficulty.
Perceptions of outpatients regarding the attire of physiotherapists.

PURPOSE This study investigated perceptions of patients regarding physiotherapists' attire. METHODS Three hundred patients in three publicly funded outpatient physiotherapy clinics were asked to complete a questionnaire, ranking four photographed modes of attire (lab coat, tailored dress, "scrubs," and jeans) in terms of professionalism, preference, and appropriateness and rating their level of agreement with four statements about physiotherapists' attire. RESULTS Response rate was 63.7 %. The lab coat was ranked most professional, tailored dress most preferred, and jeans least professional and least preferred. Although jeans were deemed inappropriate (p < 0.001), strong support was shown for wearing jeans on "casual day" (p = 0.001). Age of respondents influenced the perception of the appropriateness of wearing jeans (p = 0.007 for male therapist; p = 0.017 for female therapist); only the cohort <36 years considered jeans appropriate apparel. Overall exposure to physiotherapists (number of lifetime visits) affected patients' perceptions of the importance of attire (p = 0.039) and the appropriateness of wearing jeans (p = 0.018): as number of visits increased, perceived importance decreased and perceived propriety of jeans increased. CONCLUSION The findings of this study, the first to examine patients' opinions of physiotherapists' attire, suggest that outpatients made clear distinctions between what they perceived as professional and what they preferred, as well as between the appropriateness of physiotherapists' wearing jeans in general and the appropriateness of their doing so on "casual day. " Age and exposure to physiotherapists influenced patients' perceptions of attire.
Snake Venom Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors (VEGF-Fs) Exclusively Vary Their Structures and Functions among Species*

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A) and its family proteins are crucial regulators of blood vessel formation and vascular permeability. Snake venom has recently been shown to be an exogenous source of unique VEGF (known as VEGF-F), and now, two types of VEGF-F with distinct biochemical properties have been reported. Here, we show that VEGF-Fs (venom-type VEGFs) are highly variable in structure and function among species, in contrast to endogenous tissue-type VEGFs (VEGF-As) of snakes. Although the structures of tissue-type VEGFs are highly conserved among venomous snake species and even among all vertebrates, including humans, those of venom-type VEGFs are extensively variegated, especially in the regions around receptor-binding loops and C-terminal putative coreceptor-binding regions, indicating that highly frequent variations are located around functionally key regions of the proteins. Genetic analyses suggest that venom-type VEGF gene may have developed from a tissue-type gene and that the unique sequence of its C-terminal region was generated by an alteration in the translation frame in the corresponding exons. We further verified that a novel venom-type VEGF from Bitis arietans displays unique properties distinct from already known VEGFs. Our results may provide evidence of a novel mechanism causing the generation of multiple snake toxins and also of a new model of molecular evolution.
Toward precision forestry: plot-level parameter retrieval for slash pine plantations with JPL AIRSAR

During an EOCAP-SAR project, Airsar P-, L-, and C-band data were used to test the capability of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to predict biometric parameters which are frequently used by timber managers as inputs to growth, harvest, and yield models. Test site was a commercially managed area in Jesup, southeastern Georgia, with stands owned by Plum Creek Timber Company. A biometric survey data set from 118 cluster plots in two thinned and two unthinned slash pine stands was used to determine the correlation with the Airsar data at the plot level. A statistical model was used to test all possible scenarios of polarimetric and frequency combinations. Using a weighted least squares linear regression model, P/sub HV/ proved to be the single most significant band/polarization combination to correlate with dominant height, basal area, and volume at adjusted squared correlation coefficients of 0.70, 0.80, and 0.84, respectively.
Detecting Unidentified Changes

Does becoming aware of a change to a purely visual stimulus necessarily cause the observer to be able to identify or localise the change or can change detection occur in the absence of identification or localisation? Several theories of visual awareness stress that we are aware of more than just the few objects to which we attend. In particular, it is clear that to some extent we are also aware of the global properties of the scene, such as the mean luminance or the distribution of spatial frequencies. It follows that we may be able to detect a change to a visual scene by detecting a change to one or more of these global properties. However, detecting a change to global property may not supply us with enough information to accurately identify or localise which object in the scene has been changed. Thus, it may be possible to reliably detect the occurrence of changes without being able to identify or localise what has changed. Previous attempts to show that this can occur with natural images have produced mixed results. Here we use a novel analysis technique to provide additional evidence that changes can be detected in natural images without also being identified or localised. It is likely that this occurs by the observers monitoring the global properties of the scene.
Antitussive, expectorant, and anti-inflammatory activities of four caffeoylquinic acids isolated from Tussilago farfara

Abstract Context: The flower bud of Tussilago farfara L. (Compositae) (FTF) is one of the traditional Chinese medicinal herbs used to treat cough, phlegm, bronchitic, and asthmatic conditions. Objective: The objective of this study is to isolate four caffeoylquinic acids from the ethyl acetate extract (EtE) of FTF and to evaluate their antitussive, expectorant, and anti-inflammatory activities. Materials and methods: The structures of compounds 1–4 isolated from EtE were determined by spectral analysis. Mice were orally treated with these compounds and their mixture (in a ratio of 5:28:41:26 as in EtE) at doses of 10 and 20 mg/kg once daily for 3 d. The antitussive and expectorant activities were evaluated separately with the ammonia liquor-induced model and the phenol red secretion model. The anti-inflammation activity was evaluated using leukocyte count in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid after ammonia liquor-induced acute airway inflammation. Results: The four compounds were identified as chlorogenic acid (1), 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid (2), 3,4-dicaffeoylquinic acid (3), and 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid (4). All compounds, especially compound 4 (58.0% inhibition in cough frequency), showed a significant antitussive effect. However, the mixture was the most effective to inhibit the cough frequency by 61.7%. All compounds also showed a significant expectorant effect, while compound 2 was the most potent to enhance the phenol red secretion by 35.7%. All compounds significantly alleviated inflammation, but compound 4 showed the strongest effect to inhibit the leukocytosis by 49.7%. Discussion and conclusion: The caffeoylquinic acids and their mixture, exhibiting significant antitussive, expectorant, and anti-inflammatory effects, could be considered as the main effective ingredients of FTF, and they may act in a collective and synergistic way.
Lack of immunological DNA sensing in hepatocytes facilitates hepatitis B virus infection

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major human pathogen, and about one third of the global population will be exposed to the virus in their lifetime. HBV infects hepatocytes, where it replicates its DNA and infection can lead to acute and chronic hepatitis with a high risk of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Despite this, there is limited understanding of how HBV establishes chronic infections. In recent years it has emerged that foreign DNA potently stimulates the innate immune response, particularly type 1 interferon (IFN) production; and this occurs through a pathway dependent on the DNA sensor cyclic guanosine monophosphate‐adenosine monophosphate synthase and the downstream adaptor protein stimulator of IFN genes (STING). In this work we describe that human and murine hepatocytes do not express STING. Consequently, hepatocytes do not produce type 1 IFN in response to foreign DNA or HBV infection and mice lacking STING or cyclic guanosine monophosphate‐adenosine monophosphate synthase exhibit unaltered ability to control infection in an adenovirus‐HBV model. Stimulation of IFN production in the murine liver by administration of synthetic RNA decreases virus infection, thus demonstrating that IFN possesses anti‐HBV activity in the liver. Importantly, introduction of STING expression specifically in hepatocytes reconstitutes the DNA sensing pathway, which leads to improved control of HBV in vivo. Conclusion: The lack of a functional innate DNA‐sensing pathway in hepatocytes hampers efficient innate control of HBV infection; this may explain why HBV has adapted to specifically replicate in hepatocytes and could contribute to the weak capacity of this cell type to clear HBV infection. (Hepatology 2016;64:746‐759)
Failures in Substance Use Surveys

This paper reviews some of the potential sources of failure in surveys concerned with substance use. These failures are both conceptual and methodological in nature. Conceptual failures include nonuse and misuse of survey data, the inability of these data to detect emerging substance use trends and problems, and relevant ethical concerns. Methodological failures include sampling, coverage, nonresponse, and measurement and processing errors, which are indigenous at some level to all epidemiologic surveys. Consideration of these is necessary if survey data are to be appropriately used for their intended purposes.
Solvability in Asynchronous Environments II: Finite Interactive Tasks

Identifying what problems can be solved in a given distributed system is a central question in distributed computing. In this series of works, we study this question in the context of asynchronous fault tolerant systems that can execute consensus. These systems can be those executing deterministic protocols with access to a consensus routine or those running randomized error-free protocols. A previous work handled the class of distributed decision tasks. In these tasks, each processor receives one local input and has to respond with one local output. In an interactive distributed task each of n processors receives a sequence of local inputs and has to respond on line with an output for every new input (before getting its next input). Different processors can be at different stages concurrently, so that additional inputs are received by fast processors while slow processors are still working on early inputs. An interactive task is called finite if the number of local inputs (and outputs) is finite. Interactive tasks can neither be described as a single huge decision task nor be decomposed into distinct, independent decision tasks. The main result of this work is an exact characterization of the finite interactive tasks which can be solved by t-resilient protocols in either of the above two models. The major tool we use in the characterization is a directed acyclic graph that is associated with an interactive task. Properties of this graph are used to determine the resiliency of the task and to devise a "generic" resilient algorithm which solves such tasks. This generic algorithm can be viewed as a repeated, deterministic reduction to a consensus subroutine. This implies that any finite interactive task is solvable by randomized error-free protocols iff it is solvable by deterministic protocols with access to consensus.
Modeling and Simulation of an Improved Impact Force Model for Mechanical System

Impact is universal phenomenon in mechanical system with clearance. In order to accurately describe the effect of impact between journal and bearing in clearance joint, an improved contact force model is presented in this work, which assumes the coefficient of restitution during impact is varied, and sets up the modeling of restitution coefficient related to initial impact velocity and yield strength of material. Then the improved contact force model is validated based on a great number of numerical simulations and a typical pendulum experimental test rig, the numerical results are in reasonable agreement with those experimental results, furthermore, the relative errors are all no more than 10% between numerical and experimental results. It can be concluded that the improved contact force model is effective, and can exactly describe the impact effects between two bodies in mechanical system. Keywords—modeling and simulation; impact; improved contact force model; coefficient of restitution; mechanical system
Processing of thermoplastic matrix composites through automated fiber placement and tape laying methods

Fiber-reinforced composite materials are replacing metallic components due to their higher specific strength and stiffness. Automation and thermoplastics emerged to overcome the time and labor intensive manual techniques and the long curing cycles associated with processing thermoset-based composites. Thermoplastics are processed through fusion bonding which involves applying heat and pressure at the interface. Together with automated techniques (such as automated fiber placement, and automated tape laying), a fast, clean, out-of-autoclave, and automated process can be obtained. A detailed review of thermoplastic composites processing through automated methods is presented. It sheds the light on the materials used and the different heat sources incorporated with the pros and cons of each, with concentration mainly on hot gas torch, laser, and ultrasonic heating. A thorough illustration of the several mechanisms involved in a tow/tape placement process is tackled such as heat transfer, intimate contact development, molecular interdiffusion, void consolidation and growth, thermal degradation, crystallization, and so on. Few gaps and recommendations are included related to materials, laser heat source, heat transfer model, and the use of silicone rubber rollers. A review of optimization studies for tape placement processes is summarized including the main controllable variables and product quality parameters (or responses), with some of the major findings for laser and hot gas torch systems being presented. Both mechanical and physical characterizations are also reviewed including several testing techniques such as short beam shear, double cantilever beam, lap shear, wedge peel, differential scanning calorimetry, and so on. Challenges, however, still exist, such as achieving the autoclave-level mechanical properties and complying with the porosity levels required by the aerospace industry. More work is still necessary to overcome these challenges as well as increase the throughput of the process before it can be totally commercialized.
The Effect of Water-to-Cement Ratio and Curing on Material Properties of Mortar Specimens in Stray Current Conditions

This work reports on the synergetic effect of water-to-cement ratio, curing conditions, varying external environment and stray current on the microstructural (porosity and pore size), electrical (resistivity) and mechanical (compressive strength) properties of 28 days-cured cement-based materials. The influence of curing on porosity and pore size, in stray current conditions, was assessed by correlating the performance of 28 days cured mortar with that of fresh (24h-cured only) mortar specimens in identical environmental medium. Three different levels of electrical current density (i.e. 10mA/m, 100 mA/m and 1 A/m) were applied to simulate stray current flow through hardened mortar specimens with water-to-cement ratio of 0.5 and 0.35. Different environmental conditions were employed i.e. sealed conditions, partly immersed, and fully submerged in water and calcium hydroxide medium. Microstructural, mechanical and electrical properties were monitored in the course of 140 days. The outcomes suggest a potentially positive effect of the stray current, where water and/or humidity exchange with the external environment is restricted. The potential for this positive effect was experimentally supported through the recorded matrix densification and increased compressive strength of mortar specimens, subjected to stray current and treated in calcium hydroxide and/or sealed conditions, compared to equally handled and treated control cases. In contrast, for water submerged mortar specimens, subjected to stray current, coarsening of the bulk matrix and reduced compressive strength were observed. The outcomes were irrespective of w/c ratio and curing conditions. The effect of stray current was found to be predominantly determined by the current density level and increased at values > 100mA/m. This would result in compromised mechanical properties and potentially reduced performance of cementbased materials within service life. Therefore, concrete curing and conditioning on site need to include considerations for the potential effect of stray currents.
Recent Developments in Carbon Nanotube Membranes for Water Purification and Gas Separation

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are nanoscale cylinders of graphene with exceptional properties such as high mechanical strength, high aspect ratio and large specific surface area. To exploit these properties for membranes, macroscopic structures need to be designed with controlled porosity and pore size. This manuscript reviews recent progress on two such structures: (i) CNT Bucky-papers, a non-woven, paper like structure of randomly entangled CNTs, and (ii) isoporous CNT membranes, where the hollow CNT interior acts as a membrane pore. The construction of these two types of membranes will be discussed, characterization and permeance results compared, and some promising applications presented.
21st century appendicitis: selecting non‐operative winners

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