Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Can Recurrent Falls be Predicted in Parkinson’s Disease?

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of recurrent falls in patients who are being followed up in Movement Disorder Outpatient Clinic, demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with recurrent falls, and relative accuracy of balance assessment for prediction of falls prospectively within 1 year. Materials and Methods: The patients who were admitted to Movement Disorder Outpatient Clinic due to idiopathic Parkinson’s disease were consecutively included in the study. Demographic data and disease characteristics of the patients were recorded. Berg Balance Scale, Functional Reach Test, Five Times Sit-To-Stand Test and Timed Up and Go Test were used for assessment of balance. Subsequently, the patients and/or their relatives were asked to fill out fall diaries for 1 year. Results: At the end of one year, at least one fall was detected in 47 (46.1%) and recurrent falls were detected in 35 (34.3%) out of 102 patients. The patients who had recurrent falls had a longer duration of disease, were using higher doses of levodopa and had higher disease severity according to Hoehn &Yahr staging and Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale. These patients obtained lower scores in Functional Reach Test, Five Times Sit-To-Stand Test, Timed Up and Go Test and Berg Balance Scale. According to Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis, Functional Reach Test had maximum specificity and sensitivity for prediction of falls followed by Berg Balance Scale, Timed Up and Go Test and Five Times Sit-To-Stand Test. Conclusion: Recurrent falls have been found in approximately one-third of the patients with Parkinson’s disease. Disease progression had a negative effect on falls. While the Functional Reach Test is the most appropriate test for prediction of fall risk, Berg Balance Scale, Timed Up and Go Test and Five Times Sit-To-Stand Test were also shown to be useful. Prediction of fall risk may positively influence quality of life through preventing complications.
ECONOMIC OPENNESS AND ITS IMPACT IN THE GROWTH OF THE ALGERIAN ECONOMY DURING THE PERIOD (1970-2012)

This study aims to clarify the relationship between openness and growth of the Algerian economy during the period (1970-2012), and according to a series of studies that have proved a causal relationship between openness and economic growth. Our study end up to the existence of significant correlation between the openness of the Algerian economy and the evolution of its Gross Domestic Product, that is the Algerian GDP growth leads to attract foreign capital which is known by the name of Foreign Direct Investment, which in turn contributes to the opening up of the Algerian economy, and the latter, is influenced by Gross Domestic Product and other determinants like inflation and the real exchange rate, trade openness and infrastructure, where the study proved the existence of a positive impact on trade openness, and an expected negative impact on both inflation and the real exchange rate, and an unexpected negative impact on the infrastructure.
The Transition movement as politics and pedagogy in communities

Previous contributors to the CDJ have already critically appraised tensions within the Transition approach by examining its tacit assumptions about community (Connors and McDonald, 2010) and its political economy (Barnes, 2015). We add to this work by analysing how the movement’s cultural politics frames its pedagogical approach. We analyse the Transition movement’s pedagogy in the wider context of theoretical arguments about ‘post-politics’. Its pedagogy aims to mould new subjectivities that are commensurate with the energy descent plan of the movement. Central to its approach is the way in which its collective identity has been carefully crafted as distinct from the wider environmental movement in order to generate public appeal. The movement’s focus on local community as a site of consensus rather than conflict, descent rather than dissent, resilience rather than resistance, are central to its curriculum. In this respect, the Transition movement builds on what can be useful and valuable in the language of ‘community’, whilst at the same time embodying, or perhaps even amplifying, its limitations and omissions.
Experiments with Lymantria dispar larvae do not support the idea of physiological adjustment to host individuals by insect herbivores

Abstract. All organisms have to cope with spatial and temporal heterogeneity of the environment. At short temporal and small spatial scales, organisms may respond by behavioural or physiological mechanisms. To test for physiological adjustments to variation in host quality among tree individuals within a host species, we performed a transfer experiment in a climate chamber using larvae of the polyphagous gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar). We reared larvae for two weeks on leaves of one of three Quercus robur individuals. We found differences in the growth rate of larvae across the host individuals, which indicate that the oak individuals differed in their quality. Furthermore, families of larvae varied in their growth rate and there was variation among the families of gypsy moth larvae in response to leaves from the different oak individuals. After two weeks we offered larvae either leaves of the same or a different individual of the three oaks. We found no effect of transferring larvae to a different tree individual. The results thus do not support the idea of physiological adjustment of a generalist insect herbivore to variation in leaf quality among host individuals.
Experience, gender composition, social presence, decision process satisfaction and group performance

The aim of this paper is to examine the important relationships among social presence, decision process satisfaction, group member's relevant experience, and group performance. The effects of gender composition on social presence and decision process satisfaction were also examined. Seventy-two voluntarily university students which were randomly assigned into 24 three-member groups were asked to work on a decision making task. The main findings include that (1) there is a positive relationship between groups' perceived degree of social presence and their decision process satisfaction, (2) there is a positive relationship between groups' decision process satisfaction and group performance, (3) there is a positive relationship between relevant experience gained in the same organizational environment and group performance, and (4) social presence of mixed-gender groups is higher than that of same-gender groups. Also, relevant experience is a moderator of the relationship between decision process satisfaction and group performance.
FATS: a framework for annotation of travel blogs based on subjectivity

This paper describes a framework for annotation on travel blogs based on subjectivity (FATS). The framework has the capability to auto-annotate -sentence by sentence- sections from blogs (posts) about travelling in the Spanish language. FATS is used in this experiment to annotate com- ponents from travel blogs in order to create a corpus of 300 annotated posts. Each subjective element in a sentence is annotated as positive or negative as appropriate. Currently correct annotations add up to about 95 per cent in our subset of the travel domain. By means of an iterative process of annotation we can create a subjectively annotated domain specific corpus.
Perception of Value of Money in Unfamiliar Currencies

Gamble, A. (2005). Perception of Value of Money in Unfamiliar Currencies Department of Psychology, Goteborg University, Sweden. The real value of money as well as the perceived value of money is subject to changes. Inflation and deflation are examples of changes in real value. It has been shown that these changes do not always correspond to changes in subjective value. The money illusion implies that the subjective value of money is biased by the nominal representation in times of inflation or deflation. This thesis examines the related euro illusion referring to an influence of the nominal representation on the subjective value of money when a small-unit currency (high nominal value) is compared to a large-unit currency (low nominal value) or the reverse. In addition the thesis investigates whether accuracy-effort tradeoffs affect the size of the euro illusion. In Study I participants were in four experiments requested to evaluate prices of consumer products in their domestic currencies (Swedish crowns or pound sterling) or in euros, or to make evaluations of prices of low-price and high-price essential and non-essential consumer products in fictitious currencies with different exchange rates. Either a positive or a negative attitude was induced. In three experiments Study II tested the effects of mood on choices between two fictitious currencies for making payment or obtaining a salary as well as on choices between low-price and high-price consumer products with prices expressed in fictitious currencies. Mood was induced in one experiment and in two experiments natural mood was assessed. Three experiments in Study III investigated the role of income on the euro illusion. A reverse euro illusion was hypothesized because when the income is known, the prices of consumer products would be compared to the income, and thus they would be evaluated as less expensive in a currency with a large nominal value than in a currency with a small nominal value (called the compression effect). In Study IV three experiments systematically varied either the actual or subjective value for the same nominal value of money. The results of the conducted studies demonstrated the expected bias toward the nominal representation of prices (the euro illusion) when prices were expressed in fictitious currencies. This was done for both evaluations of prices of consumer goods, of choices of currency, and of choices between consumer products. Furthermore, both changes and no changes in the nominal representation affected price evaluations. In support of the role of accuracy-effort tradeoffs, the euro illusion was reduced by a more important task (evaluation of prices of high-price essential products), a negative attitude, and an induced activated negative mood, as well as a simple exchange rate.
Improved MPS-FE Fluid-Structure Interaction CoupledMethod with MPS PolygonWall Boundary Model

The MPS-FE method, which adopts the Finite Element (FE) method for structure computation and the Moving Particle Simulation (MPS) method for fluid computation involving free surfaces, was developed to solve fluid-structure interaction problems with free surfaces. The conventional MPS-FE method, in which MPS wall boundary particles and finite elements are overlapped in order to exchange information at a fluid-structure interface, is not versatile and reduces the advantages of the software modularity. In this study, we developed a nonoverlapping approach in which the interface in the fluid computation corresponds to the interface in the structure computation through an MPS polygon wall model. The accuracy of the improved MPS-FE method was verified by solving a dam break problem with an elastic obstacle and comparing the result obtained with that of the conventional MPS-FE method and particle FEM.
Presentation of Suitable Model to Estimate Vegetation Fraction Using Satellite Images in Arid Region (Case Study: Sadough- Yazd, Iran)

One of the influential tools concerning the rangeland and vegetation sciences isthe technology of remote sensing and satellite data. Satellite data have played essentialroles in preparing the needed information for studying the vegetation. Vegetation has beenwidely recognized as one of the best indicators for determining the land conditions. Usingvegetation indices is one of the techniques of remote sensing to study the vegetation. Thepurpose of this research is to study the vegetation indices and also provide an appropriatemathematical model for estimating the vegetation fraction using the mentioned indicators.In this research, different vegetation indices were calculated by Landsat TM (2006)satellite images in order to evaluate their capability to estimate the vegetation in the aridregions. At the outset, vegetation fraction was measured using the sample quadrates andthen the measured data were compared with the values of digital numbers for the sitepixels. Multiple regression analysis was utilized for the actual values and parameters toselect the validation and optimization models. Indices which have been calculated includeMSR, DVI, TRVI, SARVI, SR, RDVI, DVI, NDVI, SAVI, ARVI and MSAVI. The resultsshowed that the model in which ARVI was used had the highest accuracy (R2=0.86) andtherefore, it was chosen as the most suitable model for the estimation of vegetation fractionin the study area. One accomplishment of the above results is to suggest somemathematical equations with those indices to estimate the amount of vegetation. Theseresults provide a strong foundation for the use of some vegetation indices for assessing thevegetation cover in central Iran.
Stepping up during Elections: Independent Central Banks and Inflation

: It has been argued that elections should affect inflation, but evidence thus far has not incontrovertibly shown such an effect. We argue that monetary institutions offset inflationary pressures originated by the electoral cycle. Delegation of monetary policy to independent central banks curbs politically induced inflationary pressures. The anti-inflationary effects of central bank independence depend on the governments’ incentives to boost the economy, a root of inflationary pressures. Those incentives are stronger in election years, especially when there is uncertainty about the electoral results. Independent central banks are better suited to counter inflation under those circumstances. Statistical analyses on a sample of 143 developing countries between 1980 and 2012 show that the anti-inflationary effects of central bank independence are larger during election years, and when elections are more contested. These results are robust to alternative model specifications and estimation techniques.
GIS-based construction of baseline climatologies for the Mediterranean using terrain variables

A GIS-based method for constructing high-resolution (in space) maps of mean seasonal temperature and precipitation is developed for the Mediterranean Basin. Terrain variables and geo- graphical location are used as predictors of the climate variables at all points on a grid with a 1 km res- olution, using a regression-based approach. Variables used for model development include: longitude, latitude, elevation, distance from the nearest coast, direction to the nearest coast, slope, aspect, and the ratio of land to sea within given radii. Seasonal mean temperature and precipitation data, for the obser- vation period 1952 to 1989, were assembled from 248 temperature sites and 285 precipitation sites in order to initialise the regression model. Temperature data from 36 stations and precipitation data from 35 stations were retained for model validation. Climate surfaces were constructed using the regression equations, and refined by kriging the residuals from the regression model and subtracting the result from the predicted 'observation' surface. Latitude, elevation and distance from the sea are found to be the most effective predictors of local seasonal climate. Validation determined that regression plus kriging predicts mean seasonal temperatures with a coefficient of determination (R 2 ), between the expected and observed values, of 0.87 (summer) and 0.97 (winter), and mean seasonal precipitation with an R 2 of 0.46 (autumn) and 0.94 (summer). A simple regression model without kriging yields less
Description of a new species of the North American archaic pika Hesperolagomys (Lagomorpha: Ochotonidae) from the middle Miocene (Barstovian) of Nebraska and reassessment of the genus Hesperolagomys

Hesperolagomys niobrarensis (Lagomorpha, Ochotonidae; new species) is described from a large sample from the late Barstovian (Miocene) of Nebraska. Along with new specimens of H. galbreathi and H. fluviatilis, this sample provides a context for reassessment of taxonomy and understanding of morphological variation in Hesperolagomys. I introduce a new method for determining the relationship between occlusal width and wear stage in isolated lagomorph upper cheek teeth. Cranial and dental characters of Hesperolagomys, including presence of a premolar foramen in the maxilla, place it within Ochotonidae. The P3 of Hesperolagomys is unique among North American lagomorphs in possessing two persistent cement-filled lingually oriented striae, and an anteriorly-directed stria paralleling the outer curve of the tooth. Hesperolagomys additionally differs from Russellagus in smaller size and presence of a deep, persistent lingual hypostria in P4-M2. Hesperolagomys species differ primarily in size and in lower cheek tooth shape; ANOVAs of tooth dimensions strongly support three size groups corresponding to three species. H. fluviatilis (late Barstovian) is smallest in most dimensions, with p3 lacking a cement-filled anterolingual groove and lower molariform teeth with relatively narrow, asymmetrical talonids. H. niobrarensis (late late Barstovian) is largest in most dimensions; p3 has a weak but cement-filled anterolingual groove and lower molariform teeth have moderately wide, asymmetrical talonids. Transverse width of upper cheek teeth of H. niobrarensis is anomalously variable and has a statistically highly significant linear relationship with wear. H. galbreathi (late Clarendonian) is intermediate in size; lower molariform teeth have relatively wide and buccolingually symmetrical talonids, and p3 is short with a prominent cement-filled anterolingual groove.
Sensitivity of stable water isotopic values to convective parameterization schemes

Convective parameterization has been argued as a principal generator of inter‐model differences in climate sensitivity, but it is difficult in practice to constrain simulated convective processes. Here we show how stable water vapor isotopes, which are sensitive to the convective condensation rates, may be useful for evaluating convective parameterizations. By varying one of the least constrained convection parameters in the NCAR Community Atmosphere Model (CAM), namely the timescale for consumption of convective available potential energy (CAPE), τ, the simulated precipitation experiences substantial changes in response to changes in both the deep and shallow convection schemes—increasing τ from the standard 2 hours to 8 hours increases the contribution from shallow convection. The lowest order effect of increasing τ is a decrease (increase) in lower (upper) tropospheric condensation rates, with approximately the opposite vertical structure for the change in simulated isotopic signature. Increasing τ from the standard 2 hours to 8 hours also provides a better match to satellite‐observed water vapor isotope ratios, albeit with some uncertainty related to the quality of currently‐available satellite measurements. Thus, the incorporation of water vapor isotopes into GCMs provides additional constraints on convective parameterizations, especially as more and better quality water vapor isotope measurements become available.
Chimpanzee Hand Preference in Throwing and Infant Cradling: Implications for the Origin of Human Handedness

Calvin (i983) has hypothesized that the neurophysiological, perceptual, and cognitive demands of throwing may have served as important evolutionary precursors to a variety of traits( e.g., handedness, tool use, and language processing) in early hominids. Eighty-eight percent of humans throw with their right hands (Healey, Liederman, and Geschwind I986), and Calvin has argued that this right-handed throwing evolved as a result of a left-hemisphere specialization for planned sequential movements. He has further suggested that right-handed throwing would have been more prevalent in females than in males because females predominantly carried infants on the left arm, leaving the right hand available for other actions. Infant carrying has also been hypothesized as a major selective feature in the evolution of bipedalism in hominids (Leakey I976).
Sustainability-Oriented Innovation in the Minerals Industry: An Empirical Study on the Effect of Non-Geographical Proximity Dimensions

Minerals mining and processing companies (hereinafter referred to as “minerals industry”) face the increasing demand for a comprehensive approach towards innovations aimed at sustainability. While the ability to learn from external sources of knowledge is at the core of this process, lack of geographical proximity and multiplicity of external sources impose challenges for mineral companies in this respect. The present study proposes that organizational, institutional and cognitive proximities could provide a platform for this industry to overcome those challenges, thereby achieving a superior innovation performance across various sustainability dimensions. Results of an analysis based on a sample of 101 mineral companies in Norway reveal that these dimensions of proximity are conducive to process, product and social innovation in different ways. More specifically, organizational proximity (diversity of non-local collaborations) and informal institutional proximity (shared cultural norms and values) spur social innovation. Furthermore, formal institutional proximity (similarity of rules and laws) and cognitive proximity (familiarity of knowledge base) support both process and product innovations. This paper provides some insights on the determinants of innovation in sustainability contexts, and contributes to the recent debate on the role of non-spatial proximity dimensions for innovation in the peripheral regions.
Quantified vegetation change over 42 years at Cape Hallett, East Antarctica

This paper reports on the remapping of a carefully documented vegetation plot at Cape Hallett (72°19′S 170°16′E) to provide an assessment of the rates of vegetation change over decadal time scales. E.D. Rudolph, in 1962, mapped in detail the vegetation of a site approximately 28 m by 120 m at Cape Hallett, Victoria Land, Antarctica. This site was relocated and remapped in January 2004 and changes were assessed using GIS techniques. This appears to be the longest available time period for assessing vegetation change in Antarctica. The analysis indicated that considerable change had occurred in moss and algae distribution patterns and this seems to have been caused by increased water supply, particularly in wetter areas. There was also evidence of some change in lichen distribution. The extent of the change indicates that vegetation cover can be used for monitoring change in areas as extreme as the Ross Sea region. For this analysis to be successful it was important that the mapping techniques used were totally explicit and could easily be replicated. Fortunately, Rudolph had defined his cover classes and the site was also clearly marked. The application of GIS mapping techniques allows the mapping to be more explicitly defined and easily replicated.
Third Culture Kids: Adjusting to a Changing World

“A Third Culture Kid (TCK) is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents’ culture. The TCK frequently builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture may be assimilated into the TCK’s life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar background” (Pollock/Van Reken 2001, p. 19).