Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bekhet Modeling Residential Electricity Consumption Function in Malaysia : Time Series Approach

As the Malaysian residential electricity consumption continued to increase rapidly, effective energy policies, which address factors affecting residential electricity consumption, is urgently needed. This study attempts to investigate the relationship between residential electricity consumption (EC), real disposable income (Y), price of electricity (Pe) and population (Po) in Malaysia for 1978-2011 period. Unlike previous studies on Malaysia, the current study focuses on the residential sector, a sector that is important for the contemplation of energy policy. The Phillips-Perron (P-P) unit root test is employed to infer the stationarity of each variable while the bound test is executed to determine the existence of co-integration relationship among the variables, modelled in an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) framework. The CUSUM and CUSUM of squares tests are applied to ensure the stability of the model. The results suggest the existence of long-run equilibrium relationship and bidirectional Granger causality between EC and the macroeconomic variables. The empirical findings will help policy makers of Malaysia in developing new monitoring standards of energy consumption. As it is the major contributing factor in economic growth and CO2 emission, there is a need for more proper planning in Malaysia to attain future targets in order to cut emissions. Keywords—Co-integration, Elasticity, Granger causality, Malaysia, Residential electricity consumption.
Viral release of iron and its bioavailability to marine plankton

The biological availability of Fe has been demonstrated to strongly influence both primary and secondary production in pelagic as well as coastal upwelling high‐nutrient low‐chlorophyll (HNLC) regimes. Although nearly all of the dissolved Fe in marine surface waters is thought to be complexed by organic ligands, the character and origin of these Fe‐organic complexes remains a mystery. Here we report that the activity of naturally occurring viral populations in an HNLC coastal upwelling system can regenerate sufficient concentrations of dissolved Fe to support the growth of the native phytoplankton community. When combined with studies that have demonstrated that Fe in virus‐mediated lysates of heterotrophic bacteria and cyanobacteria is highly bioavailable to model marine plankton, our data demonstrate that viral activity in this marine system (and potentially others) is critical to the recycling of organically complexed Fe that supports as much as 90% of primary production in HNLC surface waters.
The association of the CYP1A1 Ile462Val polymorphism with head and neck cancer risk: evidence based on a cumulative meta-analysis

Objective The aim of this study was to address the association between the Ile462Val polymorphism in the gene encoding cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1) and the risk of head and neck cancer (HNC). Materials and methods The Medline/PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases were searched. The strength of the association was evaluated by calculating the odds ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Results Overall, we observed an increased risk of HNC in patients with the Ile/Val+Val/Val genotype compared to those with the Ile/Ile genotype among the 6,367 cases and 6,395 controls evaluated in the 34 eligible studies, with a pooled OR of 1.284 (95% CI: 1.119–1.473). In addition, we observed an increased risk of HNC in patients with the Ile/Val+Val/Val genotype compared to those with the Ile/Ile genotype in the subgroup analyses (OR =1.362, 95% CI: 1.102–1.685 for laryngeal cancer; OR =1.519, 95% CI: 1.253–1.843 for pharyngeal cancer; OR =1.371, 95% CI: 1.111–1.693 for Asians; and OR =1.329, 95% CI: 1.138–1.551 for patients in studies using hospital-based controls). Conclusion This cumulative meta-analysis suggests that the CYP1A1 Ile462Val polymorphism might contribute to the risk of HNC, particularly for pharyngeal cancer and laryngeal cancer.
The Longitudinal Interplay of Students' Academic Self-Concepts and Achievements within and across Domains: Replicating and Extending the Reciprocal Internal/External Frame of Reference Model.

Students’ cognitive and motivational profiles have a large impact on their academic careers. The development of such profiles can partly be explained by the reciprocal internal/external frame of reference model (RI/E model). The RI/E model predicts positive and negative longitudinal effects between academic self-concepts and achievements within and across 2 academic domains (i.e., the mathematics and verbal domains). In the present study, we replicated the RI/E model in 2 samples and extended it by simultaneously investigating the longitudinal associations of academic self-concepts and achievements in 3 academic domains (i.e., mathematics, German as a native language, English as a foreign language). We examined 2 domains across 4 measurement occasions in 2 independent student samples who were in Grades 5–8 (Study 1: N = 1,529) or Grades 5–7 (Study 2: N = 639). In a 3rd study, we examined a subsample of the 2nd sample (N = 465) in 3 domains. Results demonstrated support for the RI/E model for 2 as well as 3 academic domains. We found positive reciprocal effects of academic self-concepts and achievements within a domain, positive reciprocal effects between achievements across domains, negative effects of achievements on subsequent cross-domain self-concepts, negative effects of academic self-concepts on subsequent cross-domain achievements, and some support for negative effects of academic self-concepts on subsequent cross-domain self-concepts. Furthermore, we found that RI/E model effects were of comparable size across time. To conclude, the RI/E model provides significant insights into the development of distinct motivational and cognitive profiles and, thus, of becoming either a math or verbal person. Implications for research and educational practice are discussed.
Course of Development of Global Hyperacuity Over Lifespan

Purpose. Global visual integration is fundamental to shape and face recognition. Although the maturation of local visual function, such as resolution acuity, has been well documented, less is known about the changes in global visual function during development and with aging. Methods. Two hundred thirty-six normal subjects, ranging in age from 0.25- to 78-years old, participated in the study. Global hyperacuity (detection threshold for radial deformation) was obtained from 300 eyes using either a computerized testing or a chart testing protocol and spatial forced choice (preferential looking for <2.6-year old, pointing for young children, or verbal response for older children and adults). Resolution acuity was also measured. The developmental courses for global hyperacuity and resolution acuity were fit to a 3-segment curve to capture the initial rapid development, followed by a period of stable, adult-level visual function and, finally, the decline in visual function with aging. Results. Curve fitting revealed that global hyperacuity was 0.25 logMAR at 0.25 years of age, and improved rapidly to −0.56 logMAR at 5.4 years of age but did not reach the mean adult level (−0.86 logMAR) until 21 years of age. Global hyperacuity started to deteriorate from 55 years of age at the rate of 0.035 logMAR per decade. In comparison, resolution acuity reached 0.0 logMAR at 5 years of age, and reached the adult level of −0.1 logMAR at 11 years of age. Resolution acuity also started to decrease from 55 years of age at the rate of 0.058 logMAR per decade. Conclusions. Similar to vernier alignment acuity, global hyperacuity improves rapidly during infancy and early childhood but takes longer to reach the adult level than resolution acuity. The delayed maturation of global hyperacuity suggests that further development to refine neural circuitry at the cortical level takes place in the second decade of life.
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions Uncertainties Associated with Digital Elevation Models for Hydrologic Applications: a Review

Papers published in Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions are under open-access review for the journal Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Abstract Digital elevation models (DEMs) represent the topography that drives surface flow and are arguably one of the more important data sources for deriving variables used by numerous hydrologic models. A considerable amount of research has been conducted to address uncertainty associated with error in digital elevation models (DEMs) and the 5 propagation of error to derived terrain parameters. This review brings together a discussion of research in fundamental topical areas related to DEM uncertainty that affect the use of DEMs for hydrologic applications. These areas include: (a) DEM error; (b) topographic parameters frequently derived from DEMs and the associated algorithms used to derive these parameters; (c) the influence of DEM scale as imposed by grid cell 10 resolution; (d) DEM interpolation; and (e) terrain surface modification used to generate hydrologically-viable DEM surfaces. Each of these topical areas contributes to DEM uncertainty and may potentially influence results of distributed parameter hydrologic models that rely on DEMs for the derivation of input parameters. The current state of research on methods developed to quantify DEM uncertainty is reviewed. Based on 15 this review, implications of DEM uncertainty and suggestions for the GIS research and user communities emerge.
Ipsilateral Cluster Headache and Chronic Paroxysmal Hemicrania: Two Case Reports

We report two patients with ipsilateral attacks of cluster headache and chronic paroxysmal hemicrania. The first patient, a 33-year-old man, started having attacks of chronic cluster headache at the age of 27. At 33, they were replaced by typical attacks of ipsilateral chronic paroxysmal hemicrania which showed a dramatic improvement with indomethacin 150 mg daily. After two days of complete remission, cluster headache attacks reappeared and persisted until verapamil, 360 mg a day, was added to indomethacin. The second patient, a 45-year-old man, first developed attacks of episodic cluster headache at the age of 35. At 44, he experienced ipsilateral typical attacks of chronic paroxysmal hemicrania, and two months later attacks of cluster headache. Under verapamil 240 mg daily, attacks of cluster headache disappeared, but those of chronic paroxysmal hemicrania increased in frequency until indomethacin 150 mg daily was added. These observations suggest a close relationship but not a similarity between cluster headache and chronic paroxysmal hemicrania, and show the practical therapeutic interest of maintaining this distinction. Cluster headache, chronic paroxysmal hemicrania, indomethacin, verapamil
Accelerated bone mineral loss in HIV-infected patients receiving potent antiretroviral therapy

BackgroundThe use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has been associated with multiple metabolic complications whose pathogenesis is poorly understood at the present time. MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional analysis of whole-body, lumbar spine (L1–L4) and proximal femur bone mineral density in 112 male subjects (HIV-infected patients on HAART that included a protease inhibitor, HIV-infected patients not receiving a protease inhibitor and healthy seronegative adults) using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. ResultsMen receiving protease inhibitors had a higher incidence of osteopenia and osteoporosis according to World Health Organization definitions: relative risk = 2.19 (95% confidence interval 1.13–4.23) (P = 0.02). Subjects receiving protease inhibitors had greater central : appendicular adipose tissue ratios than the other two groups (P < 0.0001). There was no relationship between the central : appendicular fat ratio and the lumbar spine or proximal femur bone mineral density t- or z- scores, suggesting that osteoporosis and body fat redistribution are independent side effects of HAART. ConclusionsOsteopenia and osteoporosis are unique metabolic complications associated with protease inhibitor-containing potent antiretroviral regimens, that appear to be independent of adipose tissue maldistribution.
A Hybrid

Web service composition is an important problem in web service based systems. It is about how to build a new value-added web service using existing web services. A web service may have many implementations, all of which have the same functionality, but may have different QoS values. Thus, a significant research problem in web service composition is how to select a web service implementation for each of the web services such that the composite web service gives the best overall performance. This is so-called optimal web service selection problem. There may be mutual constraints between some web service implementations. Sometimes when an implementation is selected for one web service, a particular implementation for another web service must be selected. This is so called dependency constraint. Sometimes when an implementation for one web service is selected, a set of implementations for another web service must be excluded in the web service composition. This is so called conflict constraint. Thus, the optimal web service selection is a typical constrained combinatorial optimization problem from the computational point of view. This paper proposes a new hybrid genetic algorithm for the optimal web service selection problem. The hybrid genetic algorithm has been implemented and evaluated. The evaluation results have shown that the hybrid genetic algorithm outperforms other two existing genetic algorithms when the number of web services and the number of constraints are large.
Mutational analysis of TSC1 and TSC2 genes in gangliogliomas

Gangliogliomas constitute the most frequent tumour entity in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. The characteristic histopathological admixture of glial and neuronal elements, the focal nature and their differentiated phenotype and benign biological behaviour suggest an origin from a developmentally compromised or dysplastic precursor lesion. The present study analysed TSC1 and TSC2 genes as potential candidates involved in the pathogenesis of this intriguing neoplasm. Recent data suggest that both genes play a role in cortical differentiation and growth control. DNA sequence analysis of TSC1 and TSC2 was studied in 20 patients with gangliogliomas. Fifteen of these tumours (75%) carried polymorphisms in the TSC2 gene. The frequency of these polymorphisms was significantly increased in intron 4 (12.5%) and exon 41 (15%) compared to control individuals (8.1 and 6.5%, respectively, n = 100). A somatic mutation in intron 32 of the TSC2 gene was encountered in one patient. In the TSC1 gene, seven polymorphisms occurred as a combination of base exchanges in exon 14 and intron 13. No mutations were observed in this gene. Laser microdissection and harvesting of individual neuronal and glial elements identified the intron 32 mutation within the glial portion but not in dysplastic neurones of the tumour. The data demonstrate numerous polymorphisms as well as a novel TSC2 mutation in gangliogliomas from patients with chronic epilepsies. The selective detection of the TSC2 mutation within the glial component of a ganglioglioma suggests that the glioma portion has undergone clonal evolution in this case.
Effects of sound exposure on the growth and intracellular macromolecular synthesis of E. coli k-12

Microbes, as one of the primary producers of the biosphere, play an important role in ecosystems. Exploring the mechanism of adaptation and resistance of microbial population to various environmental factors has come into focus in the fields of modern microbial ecology and molecular ecology. However, facing the increasingly serious problem of acoustic pollution, very few efforts have been put forth into studying the relation of single cell organisms and sound field exposure. Herein, we studied the biological effects of sound exposure on the growth of E. coli K-12 with different acoustic parameters. The effects of sound exposure on the intracellular macromolecular synthesis and cellular morphology of E. coli K-12 were also analyzed and discussed. Experimental results indicated that E. coli K-12 exposed to sound waves owned a higher biomass and a faster specific growth rate compared to the control group. Also, the average length of E. coli K-12 cells increased more than 27.26%. The maximum biomass and maximum specific growth rate of the stimulation group by 8000 Hz, 80dB sound wave was about 1.7 times and 2.5 times that of the control group, respectively. Moreover, it was observed that E. coli K-12 can respond rapidly to sound stress at both the transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels by promoting the synthesis of intracellular RNA and total protein. Some potential mechanisms may be involved in the responses of bacterial cells to sound stress.
----- Local Impacts of a Global Crisis : Food Price Transmission and Poverty Impacts in Ghana Ghana Strategy

BACKGROUND PAPERS ABOUT GSSP IFPRI's Ghana Strategy Support Program (GSSP) was launched in 2005 to address specific knowledge gaps concerning agricultural and rural development strategy implementation, to improve the data and knowledge base for applied policy analysis, and to strengthen the national capacity for practical applied policy research. The primary objective of the Ghana Strategy Support Program is to build the capabilities of researchers, administrators, policymakers, and members of civil society in Ghana to develop and implement agricultural and rural development strategies. Through collaborative research, communication, and capacity-strengthening activities and with core funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development/Ghana (USAID), GSSP works with its stakeholders to generate information, improve dialogue, and sharpen decision-making processes around the formulation and implementation of development strategies. The Ghana Strategy Support Program (GSSP) Background Papers contain preliminary material and research results from IFPRI and/or its partners in Ghana. The papers have not been subject to a formal peer review. They are circulated in order to stimulate discussion and critical comment. The opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of their home institutions or supporting organizations. Sections of this material may be reproduced for personal and not-for-profit use without the express written permission of but with acknowledgment to IFPRI. To reproduce the material contained herein for profit or commercial use requires express written permission. To obtain permission, contact the Communications Division at ifpri-copyright@cgiar.or Acknowledgements We have greatly benefited from many people in Ghana who provided valuable comments and suggestions and made the most recent data available for this paper. We would like to thank Dr. Alhassan and staff of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning's (MOFEP) modeling group for the discussions, data collection and valuable comments. We also thank the Statistics, Research and Information Directorate (SRID) of the Ministry of Agriculture (MOFA) for their continuous support to our research in Ghana. We gratefully acknowledge the research support of Adwoa Kwarteng in Accra. As a part of our broader research activities under IFPRI's country strategy support program in Ghana we have also enormously benefited from numerous discussions with Dr. Shashidhara Kolavalli, the program leader, David Orden, Nick Minot, James Thurlow, and many other IFPRI researchers. Summary The dramatic surge in world food prices seen since the end of 2007 has raised serious concerns about the food security of the poor around the developing world. However, welfare impacts of a global …
Effects of Career Education Interventions: A Meta-Analysis

Twelve studies published between 1983 and 1996 that met the definitions for admissible studies established by Baker and Popowicz (1983) for a meta-analytic review of the effects of career education interventions were submitted to a similar meta-analytic integration. Effect sizes based on Glass's (1976) formula were determined for the current sample and were combined with the Baker and Popowicz (1983) sample, providing a sample of 30 studies and an overall effect size of 0.39.
Radiocarbon age of late glacial deep water from the equatorial Pacific

Radiocarbon age differences for pairs of coexisting late glacial age benthic and planktic foraminifera shells handpicked from 10 sediment samples from a core from a depth of 2.8 km in the western equatorial Pacific are not significantly different from that of 1600 years calculated from measurements on prenuclear seawater. This places a lower limit on the depth of the interface for the hypothetical radiocarbon‐depleted glacial age seawater reservoir required to explain the 190‰ drop in the 14C/C for atmospheric CO2, which occurred during the mystery interval (17.5 to 14.5 calendar years ago). These measurements restrict the volume of this reservoir to be no more than 35% that of the ocean. Further, 14C measurements on a single Last Glacial Maximum age sample from a central equatorial Pacific core from a depth of 4.4 km water fail to reveal evidence for the required 5‐ to 7‐kyr age difference between benthic and planktic foraminifera shells if the isolated reservoir occupied only one third of the ocean. Nor does the 13C record for benthic forams from this abyssal core yield any evidence for the excess respiration CO2 expected to be produced during thousands of years of isolation. Nor, as indicated by the presence of benthic foraminifera, was the dissolved oxygen used up in this abyssal water.
pH Influences the Importance of Niche-Related and Neutral Processes in Lacustrine Bacterioplankton Assembly

ABSTRACT pH is an important factor that shapes the structure of bacterial communities. However, we have very limited information about the patterns and processes by which overall bacterioplankton communities assemble across wide pH gradients in natural freshwater lakes. Here, we used pyrosequencing to analyze the bacterioplankton communities in 25 discrete freshwater lakes in Denmark with pH levels ranging from 3.8 to 8.8. We found that pH was the key factor impacting lacustrine bacterioplankton community assembly. More acidic lakes imposed stronger environmental filtering, which decreased the richness and evenness of bacterioplankton operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and largely shifted community composition. Although environmental filtering was determined to be the most important determinant of bacterioplankton community assembly, the importance of neutral assembly processes must also be considered, notably in acidic lakes, where the species (OTU) diversity was low. We observed that the strong effect of environmental filtering in more acidic lakes was weakened by the enhanced relative importance of neutral community assembly, and bacterioplankton communities tended to be less phylogenetically clustered in more acidic lakes. In summary, we propose that pH is a major environmental determinant in freshwater lakes, regulating the relative importance and interplay between niche-related and neutral processes and shaping the patterns of freshwater lake bacterioplankton biodiversity.