Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ROOT-N-CONSISTENT SEMIPARAMETRIC REGRESSION

One type of semiparametric regression is b8X A u(Z), where b and u(Z) are an unknown slope coefficient vector and function. Estimates of b based on incorrect parametrization of u are generally inconsist ent, whereas consistent nonparametric estimates converge slowly. An e stimate, bC, is constructed by inserting nonpar-ametric regression es timates in the nonlinear orthogonal projection on Z. Under regularity conditions bC is shown to be N1/2-consistent for b and asymptoticall y normal, and a consistent estimate of its limiting covariance matrix is given. The author discusses the identification problem and bC's e fficiency. Extensions to other econometric models are described. Copyright 1988 by The Econometric Society.
Collar Fixation as a Management Tool for Posterior Canal BPPV: Is it of Value

Objective: To determine the necessity of use the collar after canalith repositioning maneuver on success rate of management of posterior canal BPPV. Methodology: 60 patients with posterior canal BPPV were included in this study. They were divided into two groups. Group I: Managed by Epply Maneuver and received post-maneuver instructions and the neck were fixed by collar for 4 days. Group II: The same management as group I but without collar fixation. Results: there was a statistically significant difference in the outcome between the two groups with decrease the chance of recurrence in group I with the serial follow-up. Conclusion: The use of collar fixation after canalith repositioning maneuver is necessary to improve outcome and decrease the chance of recurrence on posterior canal BPPV patients.
The Role of Social Ties in Word-of-Mouth Effectiveness: A Segmentation Approach

This article develops consumer segmentation based on the strength of social ties in word-of-mouth (WOM) communication and examines the influence of WOM on behavioral attitude and intention in these segments. Data were collected through a survey among receivers of retail banking WOM. A cluster analysis identifies four WOM receiver segments based on the tie strength between the sender and the receiver, and the cluster solution is successfully validated. Each segment shows distinct patterns of tie strength and influence on the receiver’s perception of WOM, behavioral attitude and intention. Moreover, the WOM influence is examined for customers as well as non-customers.
Germline mutation rate of the microsatellite HrU10 in tree swallows, Tachycineta bicolor, in an area with high PAH pollution

Previous studies have revealed increased levels of germline mutations in minisatellite DNA in populations of herring gulls and mice sampled in Hamilton Harbour, Ontario Canada, an industrial area with high emissions of genotoxic contaminants like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). In this study we investigated the occurrence of germline mutations of the highly mutable pentanucleotide microsatellite HrU10 in a population of free-living, migratory tree swallows breeding in the same area. We found a mutation rate of 5.3% (17/320 meiotic events) which was not statistically higher than that of a control population breeding in a rural and presumably unpolluted habitat in Eastern Ontario (3.4%; 14/412 meiotic events). In accordance with previous studies of microsatellite mutations, mutations were typical of slippage mutations with loss or gain of one (two) core repeat units, and the likelihood of mutation increased with the size of the microsatellite allele. We can not conclude that there is an effect of PAH on the HrU10 mutation rate, for that we would require a considerably larger data set to obtain statistical significance.
Analyzing Price Volatility and Supply Response of Duck Eggs in the Philippines for Industry Development Implications Relative to Climate Change Adaptation

Relative to duck's importance in the discourse of sustainable agriculture as adaptation strategy for climate change, this study analyzes with ARCH and ARDL the prices and supply behavior of duck eggs in the Philippines, respectively. The price variance estimates through ARCH gives the level of price risk that duck egg producers face in the duck industry, while the inclusion of the expected prices and price variance in the supply response model provides the response of duck egg supply to price expectation and risk. Results indicate short-term time-varying price volatility in the duck egg market of the Philippines, signifying the presence of price risk. However, the price risk, although significant, is not strong enough to affect the production of duck eggs in the Philippines. Since the duck industry in the country is less explored and seems to have a diminishing size over the years, there is a need to look into market coordination, production stock improvement and food product development and innovation to harness its potentials. Policies are recommended to give special attention to such aspects to develop the said industry in support to sustainable conservation agriculture in the Philippines.
Invisible gold at Zarshuran, Iran

Although micron-size particles of metallic gold are observed at the Zarshuran gold deposit, northwest Iran, the quantities do not account for the gold concentrations determined by chemical analyses. The presence of invisible gold has been established by means of trace element electron microprobe analyses of pyrite, arsenian pyrite, orpiment, realgar, stibnite, getchellite, sphalerite, and lead sulfosalts. Quantitative point analyses indicate that invisible gold is present in anhedral pyrite, arsenian pyrite overgrowth rims on gold- and arsenic-free euhedral pyrite, in massive, network, and colloform arsenian pyrite, and in massive and colloform sphalerite intimately intergrown with colloform arsenian pyrite. Gold in these forms adequately explains the measured gold concentrations at Zarshuran. The invisible gold owes its origin to solid-solution deposition and/or encapsulation of submicron-size particles of metallic gold.
Bayesian model choice via mixture distributions with application to epidemics and population process models

We consider Bayesian model choice for the setting where the observed data are partially observed realisations of a stochastic population process. A new method for computing Bayes factors is described which avoids the need to use reversible jump approaches. The key idea is to perform inference for a hypermodel in which the competing models are components of a mixture distribution. The method itself has fairly general applicability. The methods are illustrated using simple population process models and stochastic epidemics.
Opportunistic Germination Behaviour of Gypsophila (Caryophyllaceae) in Two Priority Habitats from Semi-arid Mediterranean Steppes

Gypsophila tomentosa and G. struthium are closely related species, characteristic of two European priority habitats, salt and gypsum inland steppes, respectively. Germination strategies of the two taxa were investigated in plants from two nearby populations, growing under the same climatic conditions but on different types of soil, and belonging to different plant communities. Their germination patterns were studied at five constant temperatures in darkness: 5oC, 10oC, 15oC, 20oC and 25oC, and the base temperature and the thermal time requirement were calculated. As the distribution area of both species is subjected to a Mediterranean continental climate with significant differences between day and night, the possible preferences for an alternating temperature regime (25/10oC) were contrasted, as well as the influence of cold stratification and freezing. The effects on seed germination of light at constant 20oC and a 12/12 h photoperiod were also compared in the two species. The main conclusions of the work are the similarity of behaviour of both species, with an absence of seed dormancy, their opportunistic germination strategy, and water availability as the principal limitation to seed germination and plant establishment. The base temperature and thermal time indicate higher competitiveness of G. struthium at low temperatures, but seed germination of G. tomentosa is the most efficient at temperatures higher than 13.3oC. Optimal temperature and illumination conditions for nursery propagation depend on the species. The high viability of seeds observed after freezing prove the orthodox character of these seeds, providing additional information for long term seed conservation procedures.
INCIDENCE OF HELICOBACTER PYLORI IN PATIENTS WITH GASTRODUODENAL DISORDERS.

Introduction Helicobacter pylori infection is now recognised as a worldwide problem. It is the most common cause of chronic gastritis, and is strongly linked to peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer. Material And Methods Blood and antral biopsy specimens from 70 dyspeptic patients and 10 control subjects were collected. All the specimens were processed within 2-3 hours. Rapid urease test, Primary smear, Culture was done on freshly prepared brain-heart infusion agar supplemented with 7% horse blood, vancomycin and amphotericin B. Plates were incubated at 37°C under microaerophilic conditions. Histology was done using Heamatoxylin & Eosin staining and Giminez staining. Serology was also performed using a commercial kit - Novum Helicobacter pylori IgG and IgA ELISA manufactured in Germany. Results The age of the study population of 70 patients ranged from 18-70 years and of 10 controls between 22-45 year. There were 54.16% males and 63.63% females. In the present study, there were 03 patients with endoscopically evident gastritis and duodenal ulcer with incidence rate of H.pylori i.e 66.6%. Maximum cases had gastritis(72.8%) followed by 15.7% cases of normal mucosa . Forty (57.1%)were found to have H. pylori in their antral biopsies by histology. Conclusions H.pylori infection is acquired early in life in the Indian population The H.pylori infection has a high morbidity rate, but a low mortality rate and is curable with antibiotic therapy
Informality and Productivity: Productivity Differentials between Formal and Informal Firms in Turkey

The informal sector constitutes a large share of employment and output in all developing countries. Although the informal sector is regarded by many researchers and policy makers as a source of employment developing countries desperately need, there is ample evidence that documents that informal firms are less productive, employ unskilled labor, and pay lower wages. This study analyzes the sources of productivity difference between informal and formal firms in Turkey. Since the data on the informal sector is likely to be noisy, we use two different approaches to analyze productivity differentials: firm-level analysis and individual-level analysis. In the case of firm-level analysis, we estimate and compare productivity levels of informal and formal firms by using matching propensity score and switching regression methods. In the case of individual-level data, we compare wage differentials between informal and formal wage workers by estimating a multinomial selection model. Our findings indicate that there is a significant productivity gap between informal and formal firms, and a wage gap between informal and formal workers. Moreover, the hypothesis that more educated entrepreneurs and workers move to the formal sector is supported by the data. This process of self-selection contributes to widen the productivity gap between informal and formal firms. The theories of life-cycle and learning are also supported by our findings. Older (i.e., more experienced) firms tend to operate in the formal sector. However, the relationship between informality and age is U-shaped for entrepreneurs and workers. Even after controlling for all these factors (self-selection, differences in endowments, and learning), the productivity gap does not disappear. The findings suggest that there is a substantial but untapped potential to increase productivity in Turkey. The productivity effect of operating formally is higher for services, but we may expect that a large number of informal service firms could not survive if they operate formally.
Design method of stacked type MRAM with NAND structured cell

The stacked type MRAM with NAND structured cell which has the features of high speed operation competitive DRAM, non-volatility, and lower bit cost than NAND flash memory has been newly proposed. By using spin transistor for memory cell and SGT type transistor which use three sidewalls as the channel, small memory cell size of 9F and conventional magnetic field writing scheme can be realized. The feasibility of the stacked type MRAM with NAND structured cell is verified by the design of 1Tbit NAND MRAM with 39nm design rule. From the design of core circuit 1Tbit NAND MRAM has the possibility to realize high speed operation competitive DRAM, non-volatility, and lower bit cost than NAND flash memory.
Polyphenols and antioxidant activities of selected traditional vegetables.

Consumption of fruits and vegetables is associated with a lower risk of serious diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. Fruits and vegetables are also widely reported as good sources of dietary antioxidants. Five selected Malaysian traditional vegetables, namely, Centella asiatica (L.) Urban (pegaga), Anacardium occidentale L. (gajus), Colubrina asiatica (peria pantai), Pluchea indica (beluntas) and Premna cordifolia (bebuas) from MARDI’s gene bank, Seberang Perai were screened for phenolic compounds and analysed for antioxidant activities using a Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Potential (FRAP) assay in two batches of sampling. Total phenolic content varied from 100–415 mg/kg gallic acid equivalent (GAE) in batch 1 and from 62–386 mg/kg GAE in batch 2. Anacardium occidentale had the highest total phenolic content followed by P. indica B and A, P. cordifolia, C. asiatica and the lowest was C. asiatica. Total antioxidant activity indicated that A. occidentale showed the highest activity which was probably due to these phenolics. Flavonol glycosides were predominant in most of the species, particularly A. occidentale with levels ranging 6.4–12.4 ± 0.3 mg/g fresh weight (fw). Chlorogenic acids were the main components identified and quantified in C. asiatica and P. indica. In this study, it was shown that the total phenolic content of plant extracts was positively correlated with total antioxidant capacity.
Response of onion to different nitrogen levels and method of transplanting in moderately salt affected soil

Rapid increase in population and consumption, urged upon the agronomists to develop a comprehensive site specific agro technology to boost up production per unit area and quality of daily dietary onion crop in salt affected soils by improving some basic components of the prevailing onion production technology in Pakistan. In this perspective a detailed and systematic series of field studies were undertaken for three consecutive years (2013 - 2015) at Soil Salinity Research Institute, Pindi Bhattian, Pakistan to evaluate different nitrogen levels and the cost-effective planting technique for onion production under salt affected conditions. The experiment was laid out in split plot arrangement using randomized complete block design having three replications. Two planting methods, ridge and bed planting and 4 nitrogen levels, 1- recommended dose (RD) of N (90 kg ha -1 ), 2 -75 % N of RD (67.5 kg ha -1 ), 3 -125 % N of RD (112.5 kg ha -1 ), 4 - 150 % N of RD (135 kg ha -1 ) were used. Planting methods were kept in main plots and nitrogen levels in sub plots keeping sub-plot size of 4 m x 6 m. Measurements included were: plant height, number of leaves/plants/m -2 , bulb diameter, bulb mass, total bulb yield, number of flowers/umbel, seed mass/plant and 1000-seed mass. Results showed that maximum onion yield and yield attributes were recorded with nitrogen application at rate of 150 & 125 of RD in ridge planting. However nitrogen application at rate of 125 of RD in ridge planting recorded higher economic returns over all the other treatments and is recommended as most cost effective technique for onion production under salt affected soil as compare to other treatments.
Water management for wheat grown in sandy soil under climate change conditions.

The effect of fertigation regimes on wheat grown in sandy soil was tested in two field experiments in Egypt. The aim of the study was to determine the vulnerability of wheat to extreme weather event under climate change scenarios. Eight fertigation treatments, in addition to farmer irrigation were tested. Two climate change sce- narios obtained from Hadley climate change model were incorporated in CropSyst model to assess wheat yield responses to fertigation regimes under these scenarios. The results showed that the highest yield and the highest water use efficiency (WUE) was obtained under irrigation application using 1.2 and 0.8 of Etc, respectively, with fertigation application in 80% of application time in both growing seasons. The cali- bration of CropSyst model confirmed that the model is able to mimic the growth of wheat and predicted grain, biological yield, and WUE with high degree of accuracy. The highest yield reduction and the lowest WUE under the tested climate change scenarios were obtained from farmer irrigation. It can be concluded that irrigating wheat grown in sandy soil with an amount of either 1.0 or 0.8 of ETc with fertiga- tion application in 80% of application time is recommended to enhance growth and yield, and to reduce wheat's damage caused by extreme climate change.
Local detection of three-dimensional inclusions in electrical impedance tomography

Assume one is given a three-dimensional bounded domain with an unknown conductivity distribution inside. Further, suppose that the conductivity consists of a known background and unknown anomalous regions (inclusions) where conductivity values are unknown and different from the background. A method is introduced in Ide et al (2007 Commun. Pure Appl. Math. 60 1415–42) for locating inclusions approximately from noisy localized voltage-to-current measurements performed at the boundary of the body. The method is based on the use of complex geometrical optics solutions and hyperbolic geometry; numerical testing is presented in the aforementioned paper for the two-dimensional case. This work reports the results of computational implementation of the method in dimension three, where both the simulation of data and the computerized inversion algorithm are more complicated than in dimension two. Three new regularizing steps are added to the algorithm, resulting in significantly better robustness against noise. Numerical experiments are reported, suggesting that the approximate location of the inclusions can be reliably recovered from the data with a realistic level of measurement noise. Potential applications of the results include early diagnosis of breast cancer, underground contaminant detection and nondestructive testing.
Implementation of a Robust Pharmacovigilance Method for Filgrastim Non-Innovator Products in Cancer Patients in Routine Clinical Practice Complying With Mexican Regulations for Biocomparables

Background and aim: Mexico, as other countries, has recently changed regulatory requirements for noninnovator biopharmaceuticals (biocomparables); a suitable pharmacovigilance program being now mandatory. Hence, our aim was to implement a robust pharmacovigilance method for filgrastim products of different brands used in routine clinical practice in Mexico. Method: Prospective, phase IV, non-interventional study performed at the Instituto Nacional de Cancerologia (National Institute of Cancerology) of Mexico. All pharmacy dispensations of filgrastim products were reviewed and recorded during four months. Patients received a diary for voluntary notation of adverse drug reactions (ADR) every time they were dispensed filgrastim. Additionally, medical records were consulted and contrasted with patientgenerated information. ADR analysis was performed according to the Mexican official norm on pharmacovigilance NOM-220-SSA1-2012. Results: The procedure allowed to trace which filgrastim brand was administered to every patient. 373 patients received diaries. 214 patients returned diaries with information suitable for further analysis. Very common ADRs were musculoskeletal pain and headache. Common ADR were pain in extremities, asthenia, general body pain, nausea, pain in site of injection, vomit, paresthesia, abdominal discomfort, decreased appetite and diarrhoea. All ADRs were probably or possibly related to filgrastim and corresponded to previously reported ADRs. No new ADRs were detected. Conclusion: The used methodology was robust enough to identify and characterize ADRs for each filgrastim brand product directly from patient information. It thus allows performing pharmacovigilance studies for biopharmaceuticals, both innovator and non-innovator, guaranteeing traceability and complying with current Mexican regulations for biocomparables.
The Long-Term Performance of IPOs, Revisited

We show that a sample of 7,487 U.S. firms going public between 1975 and 2014 significantly underperforms mature firms in the first year after the IPO. Contrary to post-issue horizons of three to five years, the first-year underperformance cannot be explained by Carhart (1997) risk factor exposures. Moreover, this underperformance is robust to the analysis of sub-samples and the consideration of multiple firm characteristics in a statistically robust setting. Further econometric tests reveal that the first-year underperformance is likely due to unobservable heterogeneity across IPO and mature firms. In fact, the first-year underperformance disappears when we control for such unobservable heterogeneity by including firm fixed effects in the analysis. The magnitude of the firm fixed effects is negatively related to IPO firms’ life expectancy. Consistently, there is no significant IPO underperformance, when differences in life expectancy across IPO and mature firms are accounted for.
Experiencing Bullying between Genders: A Quantitative Study done at UNH

Many studies have focused on the issue of bullying; however, few have specifically done research on the experience of bullying in a college setting between genders. This study was conducted at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) where 312 undergraduates enrolled in sociology classes were surveyed. There were significant results that supported that almost half of UNH undergraduate females who reported experienced bullying also reported they have experienced being emotionally bullied by other females. UNH undergraduate males also reported a significant incidence of physical bullying perpetrated by others males. Further research, including a more representative sample would improve findings. This article is available in Perspectives: https://scholars.unh. edu/perspectives/vol4/iss1/4 28 Experience of Bullying between Genders: A Quantitative Study done at the University of New Hampshire Kiley Schlieper ABSTRACT Many studies have focused on the issue of bullying; however, few have specifically done research on the experience of bullying in a college setting between genders. This study was conducted at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) where 312 undergraduates enrolled in sociology classes were surveyed. There were significant results that supported that almost half of UNH undergraduate females who reported experienced bullying also reported they have experienced being emotionally bullied by other females. UNH undergraduate males also reported a significant incidence of physical bullying perpetrated by others males. Further research, including a more representative sample would improve findings.