Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A National-Level Economic Analysis of Conservation Reserve Program Participation: A Discrete Choice Approach

The decision to participate in a Government program can be viewed as a discrete choice problem, where a farmer will choose to sign up for the program if the expected utility of participating outweighs the expected utility of not participating. In this article, the probability of farmer participation in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is modeled as a discrete choice problem and the model is estimated based on data for the entire United States. Results from the first three CRP signup periods indicate that farm tenure, farm size, land value, farmer age, erosion rate, and expected net returns with and without participation influence the probability of CRP participation. These results can be useful in evaluating how farmers might react to similar programs.
The Phantom of Death Improving Quality of Life

The purpose of this study was, using secondary analysis on data collected from previous empirical studies, to focus on improving the quality of life due to the new possibilities for living after a cancer diagnosis. No matter how long or short the life will be, quality of life in palliative care is about “living in the best way” until death. The data analysis identified 4 main themes; death as a main concern, reevaluating life, living a normal life with support, and living until death. The key message is that the patients are living until they die. Palliative care should facilitate and support the patients in their new life situation in order to sustain their quality of life. They are still alive—living until death.
Increase of Recognizable Label Number with Optical Passive Waveguide Circuits for Recognition of Encoded 4- and 8-Bit BPSK Labels

Optical label processing is expected to reduce power consumption in label switching network nodes. Previously, we proposed passive waveguide circuits for the recognition of BPSK labels with a theoretically infinite contrast ratio. The recognizable label number was limited to four and eight for 4-bit and 8-bit BPSK labels, respectively. In this paper, we propose methods to increase the recognizable label number. The proposed circuits can recognize eight and sixteen labels of 4-bit BPSK codes with a contrast ratio of 4.00 and 2.78, respectively. As 8-bit BSPK codes, 64, 128, and 256 labels can be recognized with a contrast ratio of 4.00, 2.78, and 1.65, respectively. In recognition of all encoded labels, that is, 16 and 256 labels for 4-bit and 8-bit BPSK labels, a reference signal is employed to identify the sign of the optical output signals. The effect of phase deviation and loss along the optical waveguides of the devices is also discussed.
Head Injury Admissions to a Teaching Hospital

A prospective study of head injury admissions to a city teaching hospital over one year has shown that most were minor. Of the 918 patients, 85 per cent were discharged within 48 hours, only 3 per cent required definitive neurosurgical care, and the overall mortality was 2 per cent. Most cases came to hospital after 5.00 p.m. especially at the weekend. Head injuries accounted for almost one-third of emergency admissions to male general surgical wards.
Evaluating a New Hot Trend: The Case of Water Exchange-Traded Funds

This article focuses on water exchange-traded funds (ETFs), namely the ETFs that are invested in several companies involved in the water business, such as entities that conserve and purify water and those that develop equipment and technology used by the water industry. Water ETFs are usually promoted as socially responsible investments. The performance of the four water ETFs available in the U.S. market is assessed vis-a-vis the performance of their tracking indexes as well as against the performance of the U.S. stock market represented by the S&P 500 Index and the market portfolio built by Fama and French. The several regression models used reveal that, no matter what the benchmark may be, water ETFs cannot offer investors significant above-market returns, and in several cases negative and significant alphas are estimated by the models. However, these significantly negative alphas are, in absolute terms, considerably lower than the average fee charged by the funds. Based on this element, we may conclude that the performance of water ETFs is overall normal and can be considered satisfactory by a socially responsible investor who seeks competitive rather than above average returns.
Nature of Interface Defect Buildup in Gated Bipolar Devices Under Low Dose Rate Irradiation

The buildup of radiation-induced switching states in ELDRS-sensitive bipolar base oxides is measured with dc current-voltage and charge pumping techniques. These states include both faster interface traps (Pb) centers) and slower border traps. After irradiation, border traps and interface traps mostly decrease with annealing time and temperature in devices irradiated at 0 V. However, for devices irradiated at -50 V, there is a decrease in border trap density but an increase in interface trap density. These differences in interface-trap buildup and annealing are attributed to the dependence of defect passivation and depassivation on the concentrations of hydrogen and dangling Si bond defects near the Si/SiO2 interface
TUBERCULOUS INFECTION OF THE MALE GENITALIA

The extremely rare occurrence of genital tuberculosis affecting the penis, seminal vesicles, epididymides, vas deferens and Cowper's gland is described. Diagnosis was made by demonstration of fragmented acid fast bacilli in the discharge, and caseating epithelioid cell granulomata with Langhan's giant cells detected on histopathology. Response to antitubercular drugs was prompt.
The Pricing of Size, Book to Market and Financial Leverage in Euro Stocks

Abstract The relevance of financial leverage in a firm's capital structure holds great significance, however its role in asset pricing remains under investigated. In this paper we investigate if financial leverage is priced employing a sample of listed equities from nine European Union countries spanning over a period of twenty years (1989 - 2008). We form size, book to market, and leverage portfolios, to examine if leverage premium is systematic and whether augmenting the three factor model by including leverage variable would better explain the portfolio returns. Moreover, the paper investigates if size and value will capture financial distress in the presence of a superior measure based on net leverage. Our results suggest that the explanatory power of a four factor model is substantially superior to the "vanilla" version of a three factor model. Despite significant size and book to market coefficients, we could not find evidence that size and book to market factor capture financial distress in presence of a leverage mimicking factor.
Up in Smoke ? : Tobacco Production ’ s Effect on Stunting in Malawi

Growing attention on the developing world’s potential for export led growth has naturally flowed into the agricultural sector. I examine the effects of Malawian crop adoption on childhood health to determine the effects of transitioning to cash crops in risky food markets. Preliminary results indicate that cash crop households had higher levels of childhood stunting, which may suggest providing additional support for food crop production.
Structural analysis of glucoamylase encoded by the STA1 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (var. diastaticus)

The sequence of the STA1‐encoded glucoamylase of amylolytic Saccharomyces cerevisiae (var. diastaticus) strains shows two well‐defined regions: an amino‐terminal part rich in serine and threonine residues and a carboxy‐terminal part very similar to the catalytic domain of other fungal glucoamylases. A version of the enzyme in which most of the amino‐terminal region was deleted still has glucoamylase activity, indicating that the remaining carboxy‐terminal part forms a functional catalytic domain. Homology‐based models of the two parts of the protein have been obtained. As expected, the shortened form of the enzyme is very similar to the catalytic domain of related glucoamylases of known structure. However, the amino‐terminal part yielded a structure revealing an unexpected similarity to bacterial invasins, suggesting functional connections between several yeast proteins homologous to STA1‐encoded glucoamylase and invasins. A characteristic of Saccharomyces glucoamylase in its native form is its extreme degree of glycosylation. Despite its high molecular mass (about 300 kDa), and in contrast with what occurs with other extracellular glycoproteins produced by yeast, the enzyme does not remain attached to the cell wall, being fully and efficiently secreted into the medium, even when it is produced in large amounts by overexpression of its gene. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Temporary Primary Frequency Control Support by Variable Speed Wind Turbines— Potential and Applications

This paper quantifies the capability of providing a short-term excess active power support of a commercial multi-megawatt variable speed wind turbine (VSWT) and generalizes the findings by considering different wind turbine (WT) physical parameters in a wider range from the example case. The paper also identifies some possible applications of it, in particular, in a hydro dominated system. To be able to quantify the system characteristic, a delay model of the studied hydro system is developed. Due to the fact that the initial power surge of a hydro turbine is opposite to that desired, the short-term extra active power support from a wind farm (WF) could be beneficial for a hydro dominated system in arresting the initial frequency fall, which corresponds to an improvement in the system temporary minimum frequency (TMF). The improvements in the TMF are calculated by using both the developed delay model and a detailed model, and the results show good agreement. It is shown that the WT under consideration can provide a 0.1 pu extra active power support for 10 s quite easily which is twice the Hydro-Quebec requirement.
Quality Assessment of DNA Sequence Data: Autopsy of A Mis‐Sequenced mtDNA Population Sample

Published DNA data sets constitute a body of sequencing results resting in silico that are supposed to reflect the variation of (once) living cells. In cases where the DNA variation reported is suspected to be fraught with artefacts, an autopsy of the full body of data is needed to clarify the amount and causes of mis‐sequencing. In this paper we elaborate on strategies that allow a clear‐cut identification of the problems in severely flawed mtDNA data. This approach is applied, by way of example, to a data set of HVS‐I sequences from the Caucasus, published by Nasidze & Stoneking in 2001 . These data bear numerous ambiguous nucleotide positions and suffer from an even higher number of phantom mutations, indicating that severe biochemical problems adversely influenced those sequencing results at the time. Furthermore, systematic omission of sequences with a long C‐stretch (incurred by a transition at position 16189) must have severely biased the data set. Since no complete correction of these data has appeared to date, this example of mis‐sequencing necessitates circumstantial evidence that is bullet‐proof.
Deliberate Self-Harm: A Follow-Up Study of 279 Patients

Summary Two-hundred-and-seventy-nine patients (103 men, 176 women) were followed-up 1–2 years after an act of non-fatal deliberate self-harm. Of 155 patients offered a psychiatric out-patient appointment at the time, only 68 completed the treatment. A further act of deliberate self-harm was committed by 26 men and 41 women within twelve months. The factors most highly associated with repetition were previous psychiatric treatment, a previous act of deliberate self-harm, and a criminal record. These factors held good for a separate series of patients. Significantly more repeaters received prolonged psychiatric care after the initial episode of deliberate self-harm. The implications of these findings for the clinical management of such patients are discussed.
Decreased Indicators of Lung Injury with Continuous Positive Expiratory Pressure in Preterm Lambs

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is being used clinically to avoid mechanical ventilation of preterm infants as a strategy to minimize lung injury. There is little experimental information about how CPAP might minimize lung injury after preterm birth. We induced preterm labor in antenatal glucocorticoid-treated sheep carrying twins at 133 d gestation with an inhibitor of progesterone synthesis. The lambs delivered spontaneously approximately 2 d later and were randomized to three groups: no ventilation (n = 4), conventional mechanical ventilation to a target Pco2 of 40 mm Hg (n = 5), or CPAP using a bubble CPAP device set to deliver 5 cm H2O pressure (n = 6). The CPAP lambs breathed without distress and maintained Pco2 values of approximately 60 mm Hg. At 2 h of age, the lungs of the CPAP lambs held 74 ± 4 mL/kg air at 40 cm H2O pressure, which was more than the 60 ± 3 mL/kg for the ventilated lambs (p < 0.05). Lymphocyte and monocyte numbers in alveolar washes were equivalent in the unventilated, ventilated, and CPAP lambs. However, no neutrophils were found in the unventilated lambs, and the ventilated lambs had 6.6 times more neutrophils in alveolar washes than did the CPAP lambs (p < 0.05). The cells in alveolar wash from CPAP lambs contained less hydrogen peroxide than did the cells from ventilated lambs (p < 0.05). In this model in preterm lambs CPAP results in lower indicators of acute lung injury than does mechanical ventilation during the first 2 h of life.
El español de Valencia: estudio sociolingüístico

Esta obra incluye una serie de trabajos de investigacion sociolinguistica que contribuyen al conocimiento de la estructura y uso de la lengua espanola en la comunidad de habla bilingue castellano-catalan de Valencia. Los estudios que aqui se presentan han sido realizados por diferentes miembros del equipo de investigacion PRESEVAL (Proyecto para el Estudio Sociolinguistico del Espanol de Valencia) y ofrecen el estado actual de nueve fenomenos linguisticos del espanol hablado en esta area urbana correspondientes a los niveles fonico, sintactico, lexico y pragmatico. Tal como senalan algunos de los trabajos aqui expuestos, el contacto de lenguas en esta comunidad de habla no solo genera fenomenos propios de una situacion de bilinguismo social, sino tambien acelera o ralentiza determinados procesos de variacion y cambio linguisticos.
Mental Workloads Can Be Objectively Quantified in Real-time Using VOR (Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex)

Abstract This present study offers a new method to quantify mental workloads (MWL) utilizing vestibule-ocular reflex (VOR). The VOR method makes use of the relation between a person's VOR responses and his/her mental demands; Human VOR responses can be accurately predicted in a dynamical equation that is a function of the person's head movements, unless the person is engaging in a higher cognitive activity. In this present study, the coherence between the predicted VOR and the observed VOR was as high as 0.92 when there was no additional mental demands. However, the manipulation of MWL in five different tasks (i.e. the n-back task) revealed that the VOR coherences declined with the heavier MWL demands. This shows that MWL can be objectively quantified by measuring the gap between observed VOR responses and the mathematical-model-predicting VOR. This may be applicable in the future to quantifying a vehicle driver's MWL in real-time.
Some experimental tests of the functional significance of scent-marking by gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus).

The functional significance of male gerbil scent-marks was investigated in four experiments. In Experiments 1 and 2, males in a novel test environment marked more, groomed more, and urinated less in the presence of odors of a strange male than in their absence. Female odors elicited male marking more than did male odors. In Experiments 3 and 4, females were selectively less aggressive toward familiar-smelling males in comparison with unfamiliar-smelling males. These results, in conjunction with field observations of related species, call into question the hypothesis that gerbil scent-marks function territorially and instead suggest that the primary targets are adult females.
Postural hypotension and postural dizziness in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes.

BACKGROUND Postural hypotension with a decline of 20 mm Hg or more in systolic blood pressure on standing is considered a potentially dangerous hypotensive response. Postural dizziness is often strongly associated with postural hypotension. However, there is conflicting evidence, and previous studies have been confined to the elderly, not specifically to patients with diabetes. Thus, we evaluated the association between postural hypotension and postural dizziness, and determined the factors most likely related to postural hypotension in patients with diabetes. METHODS The subjects were 204 consecutive noninsulin-dependent patients with diabetes and 408 age- and sex-matched control subjects. Postural hypotension was defined as a decline of 20 mm Hg or more in systolic blood pressure 1 minute after standing. Postural dizziness was any feelings of dizziness, lightheadedness, or faintness that occurred while standing during the examination. RESULTS The prevalence of postural hypotension and postural dizziness in patients with diabetes was higher than in control subjects. Those patients with both diabetes and postural hypotension were older and had higher supine systolic blood pressures and higher plasma glycosylated hemoglobin and fasting glucose levels. They had higher prevalence of postural dizziness, hypertension, and cerebrovascular disease, and lower standing systolic blood pressures than those without postural hypotension. They also were more often being treated with antihypertensive agents. Only 32.8% of patients with diabetes with postural hypotension suffered from postural dizziness. Postural dizziness, hypertension, cerebrovascular disease, and plasma glycosylated hemoglobin levels were independently associated with postural hypotension in patients with diabetes. CONCLUSIONS Postural dizziness, glycemic control, hypertension, and cerebrovascular disease were important determinants of postural hypotension in patients with diabetes. Postural hypotension was associated with postural dizziness, but it cannot be determined clinically just from the presence of postural dizziness because the sensitivity for diagnosis of postural hypotension is low.
Comparison of sitting versus prone position for stereotactic large-core breast biopsy in surgically proven lesions.

OBJECTIVE Our purpose was to compare the two different body positions for stereotactic large-core breast biopsy with regard to sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy, as well as complication rate. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Two hundred patients had large-core breast biopsy performed either in the prone (n = 100) or in the sitting (n = 100) position and subsequently underwent surgical resection. The histopathologic findings of large-core breast biopsy and surgery of all 200 patients were compared; sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were calculated for both groups. Biopsy-associated complications were prospectively recorded for immediate and delayed events and for technical failures in both groups. RESULTS Sensitivity (96%), specificity (100%), and accuracy (98%) were the same for both groups with two false-negative findings in each group. The two false-negative results in the sitting group were caused by vasovagal reactions, whereas those in the prone group were caused by technical failure and uncomfortable biopsy position. More statistically significant complications (seven vs four, p < 0.001) and vasovagal reactions (seven vs two, p < 0.0001) were seen in the sitting group. CONCLUSION For performance of large-core breast biopsy, both the prone and sitting positions are reliable and accurate methods. However, vasovagal reactions that could potentially complicate biopsy were seen significantly more often in the sitting position.
neurocognitive profile Beuren syndrome − responsible for the Williams as the main genes GTF 2 IRD 1 and GTF 2 I Partial 7 q 11 . 23 deletions further implicate

Background WilliamseBeuren syndrome (WBS) is a developmental disorder with multisystemic manifestations mainly characterised by vascular stenoses, distinctive craniofacial features, mental retardation with a characteristic neurocognitive profile, and some endocrine and connective tissue abnormalities, caused by a recurrent deletion of 1.55 Mb including 26e28 genes at chromosomal region 7q11.23. The analysis of clinicalemolecular correlations in a few reported atypical patients has been useful to propose several deleted genes as main contributors to specific aspects of the WBS phenotype. Patients and methods Two additional families with partial phenotypes and atypical 7q11.23 deletions were studied. Deletions were precisely defined at the nucleotide level, and the expression levels of some affected and flanking genes were assessed in lymphoblastoid cell lines. Results Affected individuals presented variable cardiovascular and connective tissue manifestations, subtle craniofacial features, normal visuospatial construction abilities with low average IQ and no endocrine abnormalities. The deletion in family NW1 encompassed 817 kb with 11 genes (CLDN3eGTF2IRD1), and 610 kb with 14 genes (VPS37DeRFC2) in family NW2. All deleted genes in typical and atypical deletions revealed low expression levels in lymphoblastoid cell lines, except for GTF2IRD1. CLIP2 was also underexpressed in all patients despite being outside the deletion in NW2, while no other flanking non-deleted gene showed significantly different expression compared to controls. Conclusions Along with previously reported cases, clinicalemolecular correlations in these two families further confirm that the functional hemizygosity for the GTF2I and GTF2IRD1 genes is the main cause of the neurocognitive profile and some aspects of the gestalt
Case–control genome-wide joint association study using semiparametric empirical model and approximate Bayes factor

We propose a semiparametric approach for the analysis of case–control genome-wide association study. Parametric components are used to model both the conditional distribution of the case status given the covariates and the distribution of genotype counts, whereas the distribution of the covariates are modelled nonparametrically. This yields a direct and joint modelling of the case status, covariates and genotype counts, and gives a better understanding of the disease mechanism and results in more reliable conclusions. Side information, such as the disease prevalence, can be conveniently incorporated into the model by an empirical likelihood approach and leads to more efficient estimates and a powerful test in the detection of disease-associated SNPs. Profiling is used to eliminate a nuisance nonparametric component, and the resulting profile empirical likelihood estimates are shown to be consistent and asymptotically normal. For the hypothesis test on disease association, we apply the approximate Bayes factor (ABF) which is computationally simple and most desirable in genome-wide association studies where hundreds of thousands to a million genetic markers are tested. We treat the approximate Bayes factor as a hybrid Bayes factor which replaces the full data by the maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters of interest in the full model and derive it under a general setting. The deviation from Hardy–Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) is also taken into account and the ABF for HWE using cases is shown to provide evidence of association between a disease and a genetic marker. Simulation studies and an application are further provided to illustrate the utility of the proposed methodology.