Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
New agricultural frontiers in post-conflict Sierra Leone? Exploring institutional challenges for wetland management in the Eastern Province

ABSTRACT Sierra Leone has recently emerged from a long period of political instability and civil war, and is ranked among the world's poorest countries. Thousands of displaced people are in the process of returning to their villages to rebuild their mainly farming-based livelihoods, and many are growing food crops for the first time in a decade. With pressure on food production increasing in rural areas, the inland valley swamps have been identified by the government as a vital resource for sustaining rural livelihoods and achieving food security through the production of rice and other commodities. However, previous government policies directed at enhanced wetland production have largely failed to achieve their goals, and have been criticised for neglecting the institutional challenges of development. Drawing on recent fieldwork carried out in two rural communities in the Eastern Province, this paper considers how institutional arrangements function in Sierra Leone's swamp wetlands, and explores how stresses associated with a post-conflict environment are shaping land-use decisions and mediating access to resources in new ways. The findings of the enquiry have implications for Sierra Leone's recently adopted commitment to decentralisation, a move that has, in theory, seen the state strengthen its position at the local level, and will allegedly create new spaces for increased interaction between state agencies, traditional leaders and communities. Two institutional challenges are examined – access to land and access to labour – that must be addressed if decentralised reforms to resource management are to be effective for wetland rice production. The analysis concludes by considering one recent initiative at the forefront of efforts to decentralise the Ministry of Agriculture, the ‘Agricultural Business Unit’ (ABU) initiative, to elucidate some of the challenges faced in post-conflict wetland rehabilitation.
Drivers and strategies for avoiding overuse. A cross-sectional study to explore the experience of Spanish primary care providers handling uncertainty and patients’ requests

Objectives Identify the sources of overuse from the point of view of the Spanish primary care professionals, and analyse the frequency of overuse due to pressure from patients in addition to the responses when professionals face these demands. Design A cross-sectional study. Setting Primary care in Spain. Participants A non-randomised sample of 2201 providers (general practitioners, paediatricians and nurses) was recruited during the survey. Primary and secondary outcome measures The frequency, causes and responsibility for overuse, the frequency that patients demand unnecessary tests or procedures, the profile of the most demanding patients, and arguments for dissuading the patient. Results In all, 936 general practitioners, 682 paediatricians and 286 nurses replied (response rate 18.6%). Patient requests (67%) and defensive medicine (40%) were the most cited causes of overuse. Five hundred and twenty-two (27%) received requests from their patients almost every day for unnecessary tests or procedures, and 132 (7%) recognised granting the requests. The lack of time in consultation, and information about new medical advances and treatments that patients could find on printed and digital media, contributed to the professional’s inability to adequately counter this pressure by patients. Clinical safety (49.9%) and evidence (39.4%) were the arguments that dissuaded patients from their requests the most. Cost savings was not a convincing argument (6.8%), above all for paediatricians (4.3%). General practitioners resisted more pressure from their patients (x2=88.8, P<0.001, percentage difference (PD)=17.0), while nurses admitted to carrying out more unnecessary procedures (x2=175.7, P<0.001, PD=12.3). Conclusion Satisfying the patient and patient uncertainty about what should be done and defensive medicine practices explains some of the frequent causes of overuse. Safety arguments are useful to dissuade patients from their requests.
The acceptance model of hospital information systems in Thailand: A conceptual framework extending TAM

Technological advancements continue their development and improvement in living standards. Information technology plays a crucial role in the public health by increasing service standard. Hospital information systems (HIS) could improve healthcare quality, increase service efficiency, and manage and maintain data accuracy. Regarding a significant policy on Thailand's digital economy, the Thai government has launched and implemented HIS across the country to provide healthcare services. However, limited users are known about the benefits and challenges of HIS acceptance in many hospitals. Therefore, this research will generate a framework to explore the user's willingness to use HIS in Thailand. This framework is developed by integrating Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) combined with Task Technology Fit Model (TTF), Personal Innovativeness in the domain of Information Technology (PIIT) and Self-Efficacy (SE). The contribution of this framework is to build a proposed model of HIS acceptance used to investigate potential factors affecting the use of HIS in Thailand.
A Simple Sufficient Condition for Convergence of Projected Consensus Algorithm

This letter studies the convergence property of the projected consensus algorithm. Under the assumption that: 1) the intersection of all constraint sets is nonempty; 2) the directed graph representing the communication among agents is time-invariant, strongly connected and aperiodic; and 3) the sum of the weights on incoming edges to each vertex of the graph is one, we prove that the states of all agents converge to a common point in the intersection of all constraint sets. Our proof does not need the assumption that every vertex has a self-loop. The validity of the theoretical analysis is confirmed through numerical experiments performed for a system of linear equations with nonnegativity constraints.
Minimum Bayesian Risk Based Robust Spectrum Prediction in the Presence of Sensing Errors

Spectrum prediction is known as an effective technique complementary to spectrum sensing, which infers the spectrum evolution from historical spectrum data especially the historical sensing data. However, the prediction in the presence of sensing errors lead to the deterioration of prediction accuracy. To address this issue, we present a minimum Bayesian risk-based robust spectrum prediction scheme (MBR-RSP) in this paper. We prove that the spectrum prediction output follows normal distribution through distribution fitting test, and formulate the problem of robust spectrum prediction in the presence of sensing errors as a binary hypothesis testing. On the basis of these, we develop MBR-RSP, in which the optimal threshold is proved to minimize the Bayesian risk of threshold detection. The experimental results both on simulated data and measured data show that the prediction accuracy of MBR-RSP outperforms that of neural network-based spectrum prediction in the presence of sensing errors. Moreover, in prediction-based dynamic spectrum access, the secondary user with the proposed MBR-RSP also shows the significant improvement in spectrum efficiency and the interference to primary users.
The Role of Endothelial Progenitors in the Repair of Vascular Damage in Systemic Sclerosis

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective tissue disease characterized by a complex pathological process where the main scenario is represented by progressive loss of microvascular bed, with the consequent progressive fibrotic changes in involved organ and tissues. Although most aspects of vascular injury in scleroderma are poorly understood, recent data suggest that the scleroderma impairment of neovascularization could be related to both angiogenesis and vasculogenesis failure. Particularly, compensatory angiogenesis does not occur normally in spite of an important increase in many angiogenic factors either in SSc skin or serum. Besides insufficient angiogenesis, the contribution of defective vasculogenesis to SSc vasculopathy has been extensively studied. Over the last decades, our understanding of the processes responsible for the formation of new vessels after tissue ischemia has increased. In the past, adult neovascularization was thought to depend mainly on angiogenesis (a process by which new vessels are formed by the proliferation and migration of mature endothelial cells). More recently, increased evidence suggests that stem cells mobilize from the bone marrow into the peripheral blood (PB), differentiate in circulating endothelial progenitors (EPCs), and home to site of ischemia to contribute to de novo vessel formation. Significant advances have been made in understanding the biology of EPCs, and molecular mechanisms regulating EPC function. Autologous EPCs now are becoming a novel treatment option for therapeutic vascularization and vascular repair, mainly in ischemic diseases. However, different diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and peripheral artery ischemia are related to EPC dysfunction. Several studies have shown that EPCs can be detected in the PB of patients with SSc and are impaired in their function. Based on an online literature search (PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science, last updated December 2017) using keywords related to “endothelial progenitor cells” and “Systemic Sclerosis,” “scleroderma vasculopathy,” “angiogenesis,” “vasculogenesis,” this review gives an overview on the large body of data of current research in this issue, including controversies over the identity and functions of EPCs, their meaning as biomarker of SSc microangiopathy and their clinical potency.
A Double Heterostructure Multiplication Region in AlGaN Based SAGCM Avalanche Photodiode

In this study, separate absorption, grading, charge, and multiplication (SAGCM) avalanche photodiode (APD) with double heterojunction AlN/AlxGa1-xN/GaN in multiplication region were designed to reduce excess noise using Monte Carlo simulation. The multiplication region was broken to three different regions and tried to enhance localization of the first and second impact ionization events at near the heterojunctions. The excess noise of the proposed structure, for high gains, was 64% smaller than that of the fabricated standard AlGaN-APDs.
PREVEntion and regReSsive Effect of weight-loss and risk factor modification on Atrial Fibrillation: the REVERSE-AF study

Aims Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a progressive disease. Obesity is associated with progression of AF. This study evaluates the impact of weight and risk factor management (RFM) on progression of the AF. Methods and results As described in the Long-Term Effect of Goal-Directed Weight Management in an Atrial Fibrillation Cohort: A Long-Term Follow-Up (LEGACY) Study, of 1415 consecutive AF patients, 825 had body mass index ≥ 27 kg/m2 and were offered weight and RFM. After exclusion, 355 were included for analysis. Weight loss was categorized as: Group 1 (<3%), Group 2 (3-9%), and Group 3 (≥10%). Change in AF type was determined by clinical review and 7-day Holter yearly. Atrial fibrillation type was categorized as per the Heart Rhythm Society consensus. There were no differences in baseline characteristic or follow-up duration between groups (P = NS). In Group 1, 41% progressed from paroxysmal to persistent and 26% from persistent to paroxysmal or no AF. In Group 2, 32% progressed from paroxysmal to persistent and 49% reversed from persistent to paroxysmal or no AF. In Group 3, 3% progressed to persistent and 88% reversed from persistent to paroxysmal or no AF (P < 0.001). Increased weight loss was significantly associated with greater AF freedom: 45 (39%) in Group 1, 69 (67%) in Group 2, and 116 (86%) in Group 3 (P ≤ 0.001). Conclusion Obesity is associated with progression of the AF disease. This study demonstrates the dynamic relationship between weight/risk factors and AF. Weight-loss management and RFM reverses the type and natural progression of AF.
The Role of Visual Feedback on Power Output During Intermittent Wingate Testing in Ice Hockey Players

Background: Visual feedback may help elicit peak performance during different types of strength and power testing, but its effect during the anaerobic Wingate test is unexplored. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the effect of visual feedback on power output during a hockey-specific intermittent Wingate test (AnWT6x6) consisting of 6 stages of 6 s intervals with a 1:1 work-to-rest ratio. Methods: Thirty elite college-aged hockey players performed the AnWT6x6 with either constant (n = 15) visual feedback during all 6 stages (CVF) or restricted (n = 15) visual feedback (RVF) where feedback was shown only during the 2nd through 5th stages. Results: In the first stage, there were moderate-to-large effect sizes for absolute peak power (PP) output and PP relative to body mass and PP relative to fat-free mass. However, the remaining stages (2–6) displayed small or negligible effects. Conclusions: These data indicate that visual feedback may play a role in optimizing power output in a non-fatigued state (1st stage), but likely does not play a role in the presence of extreme neuromuscular fatigue (6th stage) during Wingate testing. To achieve the highest peak power, coaches and researchers could provide visual feedback during Wingate testing, as it may positively influence performance in the early stages of testing, but does not result in residual fatigue or negatively affect performance during subsequent stages.
Steam reforming of bio-oil: Effect of bio-oil composition and stability

Hydrogen can be obtained from biomass pyrolysis liquids by catalytic steam refor ing. Catalyst deactivation by coking and the formation of carbon deposits are the maj or known limitations although the specific causes are unidentified. It is proposed that these limitations could be reduced by selectively reforming specific fractions of the bio-oil. T he hydrophobic fraction mainly composed of heavy oligomers can be separated by water extr action as a highvalue product. In the current work, the particular interest is on efficient hydrogen pr oduction from the residual aqueous fractions. There are certain challenges introduce d due to the complexity of these mixtures. An improved understanding of the underlying steam r efor ing characteristics of pyrolysis liquids compounds will provide the opportunity to predict hydrogen yields and to potentially identify undesired compounds. Different fractions were studied to determine which ones can be used more efficiently to produce hydrogen with existing steam reforming technologies. A fractionating condenser system was used to collect different fractions of fast pyrolysis liquids. The hydrophilic components from the different fractions were analyzed and steam reformed using a nickel-based commerci al catalyst loaded fixed bed reactor. First it was found that bio-oil injection into this kind of reactor s is an issue since there has to be quick and effective contact of the bio-oil with the catalyst nd avoiding preheating of the oils. When reforming at 500°C, an overall positive effect in hydr ogen yields was observed for the fractions with higher concentrations of lower molecular w eight oxygenated compounds like acetic acid and acetol while the effect heavier c ompounds may be detrimental. Higher selectivity towards hydrogen suggests less sele ctivity towards carbon deposits. Mostly the samples that contained the heavier compounds also contained less of t he light compounds so that their individual effects need to be deconvoluted. The coking phenomena needs to be further studied to find the species and reaction conditions that promote its deposition. It was found that the changes caused by aging effect of aque us biooil had a detrimental effect in hydrogen production but the causes are not well unders tood. Also seemingly insignificant traces of potential catalyst poisons found in bio-oil s can irreversibly deactivate the nickel reforming catalyst difficulting t heir study.
The role of microRNA-608 polymorphism on the susceptibility and survival of cancer: a meta-analysis

The role of rs4919510 polymorphism in microRNA-608 (miR-608) and cancer susceptibility and prognosis remain controversial and debatable. We conducted a meta-analysis of twenty-four eligible publications on the association of rs4919510 polymorphism with cancer risk and/or prognosis. Odds ratios, hazard ratios, and 95% confidence interval were used to investigate the association between this polymorphism and susceptibility, overall survival, and recurrence-free survival of cancer. Overall, eighteen case-control studies and nine cohort studies evaluated the susceptibility and prognostic value of rs4919510 polymorphism in cancer, respectively. Pooled analysis showed that rs4919510 polymorphism was not associated with cancer risk in all five genetic models. When stratifying by different cancer sites, rs4919510 polymorphism was detected to have a significant association with a decreased risk of colorectal cancer in homozygous model (P = 0.006) and recessive model (P = 0.001), subgroup analysis also emerged a weakened correlation between rs4919510 polymorphism and an increased risk of papillary thyroid cancer in heterozygote model (P = 0.04). Furthermore, the prognosis of rs4919510 variant in cancer patients showed that rs4919510 GG genotype was significant association with poor recurrence-free survival in homozygous models (P = 0.04). The meta-analysis suggested that the microRNA-608 rs4919510 polymorphism maybe associate with a significantly decreased risk for colorectal cancer. Further investigations on larger populations are required to evaluate and confirm this relationship.
Interest rate formation in informal credit markets in India: does level of development matter?

Access by the poor to financial resources on favourable terms and conditions is a necessary prerequisite for achieving any developmental goal for an economy. However, in India, about 50 percent of the population are financially excluded from the formal banking network. These households avail loans from informal lenders, who generally impose unfavourable terms and conditions on the borrower. This paper, based on an in-depth analysis of National Sample Survey Organisation (59th round, All India Debt and Investment Survey, 2003) unit record data, seeks to understand the factors that influence the formation of interest rates in the developed region vis-avis the less developed ones, as the latter are seen to experience higher rates of interest. Using an ordered logit model, our analysis shows how in the developed regions the lack of monopoly power of lenders brings down interest rate levels.
A 5 m/25 Gbps Underwater Wireless Optical Communication System

A 25-Gbps underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) system with a two-stage injection-locked 680-nm red-light vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) transmitter to enhance the frequency response and a laser beam expander to expand the collimated beam diameter over a 5-m highly turbid harbor water link is proposed and practically demonstrated. In highly turbid harbor water link, the overall attenuation coefficient at 680 nm is smaller than that at 520 and 450 nm, thereby a 680-nm red-light VCSEL transmitter is adopted in this proposed 5 m/25 Gbps UWOC system rather than a 520-nm green-light laser diode (LD) transmitter or a 450-nm blue-light LD transmitter. A satisfactory bit error rate performance (3 × 10–9) and a clear eye diagram are acquired in real time. This proposed UWOC system with a two-stage injection-locked 680-nm VCSEL transmitter and a laser beam expander brings important improvements in the scenario characterized by high turbidity.
EVALUATING AND ENHANCING SELF-EFFICACY FOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY.

WHAT IS SELF-EFFICACY? T he construct of self-efficacy was introduced in 1977 by Albert Bandura, Ph.D., a psychologist at Stanford University. Self-efficacy refers to confidence in one’s abilities to successfully perform a particular behavior. For example, if you are sure that you can walk 1 mile without any difficulty, then your self-efficacy for that particular behavior is high. On the other hand, if you are quite certain that you would become exhausted and need to stop after only a few feet, then your selfefficacy for walking the mile is low (Table 1). Thus, your level of self-efficacy can have a substantial impact on your behavior.
Functional Characterization of Plasmodium falciparum Surface-Related Antigen as a Potential Blood-Stage Vaccine Target

We have identified and functionally characterized a novel Plasmodium falciparum surface-related antigen (PfSRA) as a potential multistage vaccine candidate. The antigen is localized on both merozoites and gametocytes with high anti-PfSRA growth inhibition assay activity in laboratory strains and clinical isolates.
Effects of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation product in receiving diets of newly weaned beef steers I: Growth performance and antioxidant defense.

To evaluate the effects of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation product (SCFP; Original XPC, Diamond V, Cedar Rapids, IA) on growth performance and antioxidant defense of newly weaned beef cattle, 180 single-source steers (278 ± 21 kg; SD) were used in a 56-d receiving study. Seven days after arrival, steers were blocked by body weight (BW) to pens of six and randomly assigned to treatments: SCFP at 0 (CON), 14 (SCFP14), or 28 (SCFP28) g·steer-1·d-1. Pen was the experimental unit (n = 10 per treatment). On d 0 steers were boostered against Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV) Type 1 and 2 (Vista Once, Merck, Madison, NJ). Weights were collected on d -1, 0, 14, 27, 42, 55, and 56. One steer per pen was bled on d 0, 14, 27, 42, and 56 for analysis of BVDV antibody titers; blood from d 0, 27, and 56 was analyzed for red blood cell lysate superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and glutathione (total = tGSH, oxidized = GSSG, and reduced = GSH) concentrations, plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations, and serum lysozyme activity. Performance and blood data were analyzed as a randomized complete block design using Proc Mixed of SAS with fixed effects of treatment and block and random effect of pen. Linear and quadratic contrast statements were used. Antibody titers were log transformed and analyzed as repeated measures. There were no treatment by day interactions (P ≥ 0.16), and no linear or quadratic effects of SCFP on feedlot performance, antibody titers, or lysozyme activity (P > 0.10). Day 27 MDA concentrations tended to linearly increase (P = 0.09). A quadratic effect of SCFP on d 56 SOD activity (P = 0.004) was driven by lesser activity for SCFP14-fed steers. On d 27 a tendency for a quadratic effect of SCFP (P = 0.09) on GSH was driven by greater concentrations for SCFP14-fed steers resulting in a lesser GSSG:GSH ratio (P = 0.05). Greater GSH for SCFP14-fed steers caused a tendency for a quadratic effect on d 56 (P = 0.07); however, this did not result in an effect of SCFP on the GSSG:GSH ratio (P ≥ 0.25). A tendency for a linear effect of SCFP on tGSH was noted on d 56 (P = 0.09). Morbidity data were analyzed using Proc Glimmix of SAS. There was a quadratic effect of SCFP on percentage of respiratory treatments prior to d 14 (P = 0.04). These results could indicate lesser levels of oxidative stress for steers receiving SCFP at 14 g/d vs. 0 or 28 g/d. Under the conditions of this study no performance benefit of SCFP was noted.