Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Amplification and Asymmetric Effects Without Collateral Constraints

The seminal contribution by Kiyotaki and Moore (1997) has spurred a vast literature on the importance of collateral constraints in propagating and amplifying shocks to the economy. However, most papers in the literature using collateral constraints assume non-state-contingent debt, i.e., markets are incomplete. To assess the relative importance of collateral constraints versus market incompleteness, we study a calibrated incomplete markets model and solve it with and without collateral constraints. We find that market incompleteness by itself plays a quantitatively significant role in the amplified and asymmetric responses of the economy, including land price and output, to exogenous shocks.
A Perspective on the Current Medical Approach of Advanced Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a neuroendocrine tumor (NET), which originates in neural crest-derived calcitonin-producing C-cells. It occurs either sporadically or as a result of a germline mutation in the RET proto-oncogene, as in multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) syndrome type 2A including its variant familial MTC (FMTC) and type 2B. Currently, the only curative treatment for MTC is surgery, accompanied by lymph node dissection. However, the outcome is largely dependent on disease staging, with lymph node and distant metastases often identified at diagnosis, particularly in sporadic forms. Furthermore, the presence of cervical lymph node invasion at surgery predicts residual disease. The development of new treat‐ ments is strongly motivated by: (a) the low surgical cure rate when cervical lymph node metastases are present at the time of initial surgery, with 90% of patients having residual disease, (b) the high prevalence of distant metastases at initial diagnosis (lungs, bones and liver) and (c) the poor outcome in patients receiving cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents. Herein, we focus on current nonsurgical options and perspectives in the treatment of MTC with emphasis on last year’s FDA-approved tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and other systemic therapies that need to be considered in the setting of advanced disease.
Farmers' knowledge and creativity in eco-friendly pest management: Lessons in sustainable agriculture

Informal knowledge of farmers is considered to be important for many difference practices required in sustaining both crops and ecosystems, especially when no solutions are known from scientific knowledge. Farmers practice trial and error to formulate crop management technologies specific to location. In this article, we document the indigenous practices used by soybean farmers of Chindwara district, Madhya Pradesh, India. A total of 125 soybean growing farmers were randomly selected from 7 villages of the Chhindwara block of Chhindwara district. Data were collected using PRA tools and personal interviewing. The farmers in the study developed notable innovations to control soybean pests such as use of neem extract, and use of solutions prepared from dinkamali and besharam’s (Ipomoea carnea) leaves, and the larvae of the same insect that affect crop. The farmers were implementing these practices because: they help reduce crop losses, they are compatible with the farming system, they are easy to handle, and the products used are locally available, eco-friendly, cost effective and compatible with the socio-cultural situations of farmers.
Possible impacts of Indian Ocean Dipole mode events on global climate

Impacts of Indian Ocean Dipole mode (IOD) events on global climate are estimated by correlation/regression analysis. The analysis examined land rain and temperature and 3-dimensional atmospheric variables for a 42 yr period from January 1958 to December 1999. The correlation between IOD and the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is accounted for using the multiple regression technique. We used partial correlation coefficients to describe the unique contribution of IOD to climate variability, independent of ENSO. In the Indian Ocean rim countries, IOD is associated with significant temperature and rain variability manifesting 2 large-scale patterns. In one, land tem- perature and rain are anomalously high over countries west of the Indian Ocean and anomalously low to its east. In the second pattern, enhanced rainfall is found over the Asian monsoon trough, extending from Pakistan up to southern China. Also noted are IOD impacts on several regions remote from the Indian Ocean. Strong correlation is found over Europe, northeast Asia, North and South America and South Africa concurrent with IOD events. Over these regions, positive IOD events are associated with warm land surface anomalies and reduced rainfall. The troposphere above the Indian Ocean exhibits strong variability during IOD events characterized by the following structures: (1) a Walker cell anomaly over the equator; (2) a deep modulation of monsoon westerlies; and (3) a Hadley cell anomaly over the Bay of Bengal. In the extratropics, IOD is associated with equivalent barotropic geopotential anomalies. These assume annular structure in the northern hemisphere, but Rossby wave train structure in the southern hemisphere.
Mammography screening within the context of the theory of planned behavior: The role of personality

The present study examined the associations between optimism, personal characteristics and theory of planned behavior (TPB) components for mammography screening. Most of the results were in line with TPB which proposed that intention would be the most proximal determinant of a behavior and the effects of other factors including attitudes and perceived behavioral control on behavior would be mediated through intention. However, a number of demographic and health-related factors, including age and a previous benign breast disease emerged as independent factors associated with mammography screening, providing evidence that personal factors should be taken into account in future applications of the TPB when examining mammography screening behavior.
Replication of Quantitative Analysis of Fault Distributions on Open Source Complex Software Systems

In software engineering, in order to show that results of a study are significant and can be generally used, replication studies are required. This kind of studies are valuable for statistically supporting the results of the original study [Mantyla et al. 1983]. In order to say that one result of a study is final, there needs to be a number of studies analyzing the same statement [J. 2005]. A replication study has to be conducted with the same methodology as the one that is being replicated, but in a different environment. There has been a great amount of work published on the subject of software fault distribution. One of those studies is the classical work by Fenton and Ohlsson [Fenton and Ohlsson 2000]. This study has already been replicated twice, in [Andersson and Runeson 2007] and in [Galinac Grbac et al. 2013], but the two replications did not manage to replicate the study in full. In this study, we aim to replicate the first study as a literal replication. We follow the methodology of the previous studies in order to obtain comparable results. The most considerable difference between previous studies and this one is in the data set. Data set for this study comes from completely different environment. Our data sets have more releases and more modules, but the number of faults is not too different. We kept the same hypotheses, as well as methods for proving the given hypotheses. Hypotheses that included analyzes between system test data and function test data were not conducted, because the data sets we worked with did not contain the information about the testing phases. In all previous studies data sets came from a large scale software system for telecommunication applications. In the original study [Fenton and Ohlsson 2000], data set was obtained from Ericsson Telecom AB, which develops large software-intensive systems for telecommunication applications. It had two releases. First replication study [Andersson and Runeson 2007] used empirical data from a large telecommunications company
Brain Metastases: Biology and Comprehensive Strategy from Radiotherapy to Metabolic Inhibitors and Hyperthermia

Metastases to the brain is one of the most feared complication of systemic cancer and its incidence is rising for several reasons. The two most important reasons are the improvement in treatment, with a longer patient life; and the advance in diagnostic and imaging means Magnetic Resonance Image (MRI) and Computed Tomography (CT), Positron Emission Tomography [PET]) that have permitted to detect smaller lesions in asymptomatic patients. These improvement in radiology allows earlier diagnosis and result in better treatment management (Kamar et al., 2010, Rao et al, 2007, Patchell et al. 2003). Single metastases are detected in greater proportion. For example, in the case of ovarian tumors brain metastases are solitary in 43% of the cases (Pectasides et al. 2006). Single metastases appear approximately in one quarter of all patients with brain metastases (Rao et al. 2007). Norden et al. 2005 recently reported that breast, colon and renal cell carcinoma tend to produce single metastases, whereas melanoma and lung cancer have a greater tendency to produce multiple metastases. Single metastases can be treated surgically or by high precise radiotherapy modalities such as Gamma knife and StereoTactic Radiotherapy (SRT) or Conformal Radiotherapy (CRT). SRT was initially used for substituting surgical approach in patients with inaccessible tumor location or with comorbid medical conditions, now is used in many institutions as first approach, peculiarly from breast colon and renal carcinoma. Actually, many patients, refuse surgical approach so the use of SRT or CRT in combination with whole brain irradiation (WBRT) or SRT as a boosting method after WBRT is increasing. Associated to radiotherapy and chemotherapy we suggest and discuss the biological reasons for adding hyperthermia and glycolysis metabolic inhibitors with the aim to obtain a better control of brain metastases.
A PROGNOSTIC SCORE FOR ADVANCED HODGKIN ’ S DISEASE

A BSTRACT Background Two thirds of patients with advanced Hodgkin’s disease are cured with current approaches to treatment. Prediction of the outcome is important to avoid overtreating some patients and to identify others in whom standard treatment is likely to fail. Methods Data were collected from 25 centers and study groups on a total of 5141 patients treated with combination chemotherapy for advanced Hodgkin’s disease, with or without radiotherapy. The data included the outcome and 19 demographic and clinical characteristics at diagnosis. The end point was freedom from progression of disease. Complete data were available for 1618 patients; the final Cox model was fitted to these data. Data from an additional 2643 patients were used for partial validation. Results The prognostic score was defined as the number of adverse prognostic factors present at diagnosis. Seven factors had similar independent prognostic effects: a serum albumin level of less than 4 g per deciliter, a hemoglobin level of less than 10.5 g per deciliter, male sex, an age of 45 years or older, stage IV disease (according to the Ann Arbor classification), leukocytosis (a white-cell count of at least 15,000 per cubic millimeter), and lymphocytopenia (a lymphocyte count of less than 600 per cubic millimeter, a count that was less than 8 percent of the white-cell count, or both). The score predicted the rate of freedom from progression of disease as follows: 0, or no factors (7 percent of the patients), 84 percent; 1 (22 percent of the patients), 77 percent; 2 (29 percent of the patients), 67 percent; 3 (23 percent of the patients), 60 percent; 4 (12 percent of the patients), 51 percent; and 5 or higher (7 percent of the patients), 42 percent. Conclusions The prognostic score we developed may be useful in designing clinical trials for the treatment of advanced Hodgkin’s disease and in making individual therapeutic decisions, but a distinct group of patients at very high risk could not be identified on the basis of routinely documented demographic and clinical characteristics. (N Engl J Med 1998;339: 1506-14.)
The response of the Greenland ice sheet to climate changes in the 21st century by interactive coupling of an AOGCM with a thermomechanical ice-sheet model

Abstract We present results from a greenhouse warming experiment obtained from an atmosphere–ocean–sea-ice general circulation model that is interactively coupled with a three-dimensional model of the Greenland ice sheet. the experiment covers the period 1970–2099 and is driven by the mid-range Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change SRESB2 scenario. the Greenland model is a thermomechanical high-resolution (20 km) model coupled with a viscoelastic bedrock model. the melt-and-runoff model is based on the positive degree-day method and includes meltwater retention in the snowpack and the formation of superimposed ice. the atmospheric–oceanic general circulation model (AOGCM) is a coarse-resolution model without flux correction based on the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (Paris) LMD 5.3 atmospheric model coupled with a primitive-equation, free-surface oceanic component incorporating sea ice (coupled large-scale ice–ocean (CLIO)). By 2100, average Greenland annual temperature is found to rise by about 4.5˚C and mean precipitation by about 35%. the total fresh-water flux approximately doubles over this period due to increased runoff from the ice sheet and the ice-free land, but the calving rate is found to decrease by 25%. the ice sheet shrinks equivalent to 4 cm of sea-level rise. the contribution from the background evolution is not more than 5% of the total predicted sea-level rise. We did not find significant changes in the patterns of climate change over the North Atlantic region compared with a climate-change run without Greenland fresh-water feedback.
Influence of interface roughness in quantum cascade lasers

We use a numerical model based on non-equilibrium Green's functions to investigate the influence of interface roughness (IFR) scattering in terahertz quantum cascade lasers. We confirm that IFR is an important phenomenon that affects both current and gain. The simulations indicate that IFR causes a leakage current that transfers electrons from the upper to the lower laser state. In certain cases, this current can greatly reduce gain. In addition, individual interfaces and their impact on the renormalized single particle energies are studied and shown to give both blue- and red-shifts of the gain spectrum.
A fundamental proof to convergence analysis of alternating direction method of multipliers for weakly convex optimization

The convergence analysis of the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) methods to convex/nonconvex combinational optimization have been well established in literature. Consider the extensive applications of weakly convex function in signal processing and machine learning(e.g. Special issue: DC-Theory, Algorithms and Applications, Mathematical Programming, 169(1):1-336,2018 ), in this paper, we investigate the convergence analysis of ADMM algorithm to the strongly and weakly convex combinational optimization(SWCCO) problem. Specifically, we firstly build the convergence of the iterative sequences of the SWCCO-ADMM under a mild regularity condition; then we establish the o(1/k) sublinear convergence rate to SWCCO-ADMM algorithm using the same conditions and the linear convergence rate by imposing gradient Lipschitz continuous condition to the objective function. The techniques used for convergence analysis in this paper is fundamental, and we accomplish the global convergence without using the KurdykaLojasiewicz (KL) inequality, which is common but complex in the proof of nonconvex ADMM.
Improvement in time-domain induced polarization data quality with multi-electrode systems by separating current and potential cables

Measuring induced polarization in the time domain with relatively compact multi-channel multielectrode systems is attractive because of the simplicity of the procedure and thus its efficiency in the field. However the use of this technique is sometimes discouraged by the bad quality of the measurements in cases of high electrode contact resistances that can render data interpretation infeasible or at least unreliable. It is proposed that capacitive coupling in the multi-core electrode cables has a significant role in creating this problem. In such cases separation of current and potential circuits by using separate multi-conductor cable spreads can yield significant improvement in data quality. The procedure is relatively simple and can be implemented with common resistivity and time-domain IP equipment. We show here three field examples from Southern Sweden, all measured as 2D electrical imaging sections. The first one is an example where the use of a single cable spread is sufficient thanks to moderate electrode contact resistance and high signal levels. The following two examples are from sites where induced polarization measurements could not yield consistent results using only a single multi-conductor cable spread. Useful results were subsequently obtained by using separate cable spreads. The first example is a 280 m long line measured over an old covered municipal waste deposit where the waste body stands out as a zone of high chargeability. The second example is a 120 m line measured on a sandy glaciofluvial structure that is host to an aquifer of regional importance. The improvement led to discrimination between materials of different grain sizes, with potential bearing for understanding the aquifer. The third example is a 300–400 m line measured across an esker lying on clay till. The improvement led to a clear visualization of the esker and to the identification of a possible fault in the underlying gneissic bedrock. In all cases pseudosections and examples of chargeability decay curves are shown and discussed as tools for assessing data quality. Inversion results are shown together with background geological information and it is concluded that they are in good agreement.
Does Corporate Social Responsibility Destroy Shareholder Wealth? Evidence from the UK

Ple a s e no t e: Ch a n g e s m a d e a s a r e s ul t of p u blishing p roc e s s e s s uc h a s copy-e di ting, for m a t ting a n d p a g e n u m b e r s m ay no t b e r eflec t e d in t his ve r sion. For t h e d efini tive ve r sion of t his p u blica tion, ple a s e r ef e r to t h e p u blish e d sou rc e. You a r e a dvise d to cons ul t t h e p u blish e r’s ve r sion if you wish to ci t e t his p a p er.
Contrasted patterns of genetic variation in the dogwhelk Nucella lapillus along two putative post-glacial expansion routes

During the last glacial maximum, the dogwhelk Nucella lapillus, like many other rocky shore species, was eradicated from the west Atlantic and largely confined to southern refugia in the east Atlantic. Using microsatellite markers, we studied the geographical distribution of population genetic diversity of N. lapillus along 2 putative post-glacial expansion routes: northward along the east Atlantic shores of Europe, and westward across the Atlantic via Iceland to North America. The patterns of genetic diversity and genetic structure along these 2 routes indicate that the "trans- Atlantic" expansion involved a stepping-stone migration from Europe to Iceland to North America, with rare long-distance dispersal causing serial bottleneck effects. Along the east Atlantic route, however, long-distance dispersal seems to have occurred more often. These observations, under- pinned by hydrography, suggest that rafting could be a major agent of dispersal for marine species lacking planktonic life stages.
RF Pulse Design for Parallel Excitation in Magnetic Resonance Imaging

RF Pulse Design for Parallel Excitation in Magnetic Resonance Imaging. (May 2012) Yinan Liu, B.S., University of Science and Technology of China Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Jim X. Ji Parallel excitation is an emerging technique to improve or accelerate multidimensional spatially selective excitations in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using multi-channel transmit arrays. The technique has potential in many applications, such as accelerating imaging speed, mitigating field inhomogeneity in high-field MRI, and alleviating the susceptibility artifact in functional MRI (fMRI). In these applications, controlling radiofrequency (RF) power deposition (quantified by Specific Absorption Rate, or SAR) under safe limit is a critical issue, particularly in high-field MRI. This dissertation will start with a review of multidimensional spatially selective excitation in MRI and current parallel excitation techniques. Then it will present two new RF pulse design methods to achieve reduced local/global SAR for parallel excitation while preserving the time duration and excitation pattern quality. Simulations incorporating human-model based tissue density and dielectric property were performed. Results have show that the proposed methods can achieve significant SAR reductions without enlonging the pulse duration at high-fields.
Caught in the mesh: roads and their network‐scale impediment to animal movement

Roads have a pervasive multi-faceted influence on ecosystems, including pronounced impacts on wildlife movements. In recognition of the scale-transcending impacts of transportation infrastructure, ecologists have been encouraged to extend the study of barrier impacts from individual roads and animals to networks and populations. In this study, we adopt an analytical representation of road networks as mosaics of landscape tiles, separated by roads. We then adapt spatial capture-recapture analysis to estimate the propensity of wildlife to stay within the boundaries of the road network tiles (RNTs) that hold their activity centres. We fit the model to national non-invasive genetic monitoring data for brown bears (Ursus arctos) in Sweden and show that bears had up to 73% lower odds of using areas outside the network tile of their home range centre, even after accounting for the effect of natural barriers (major rivers) and the decrease in utilization with increasing distance from a bear's activity centre. Our study highlights the pronounced landscape-level barrier effect on wildlife mobility and, in doing so, introduces a novel and flexible approach for quantifying contemporary fragmentation from the scale of RNTs and individual animals to transportation networks and populations. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Filaments in the Lupus molecular clouds

We have studied the filaments extracted from the column density maps of the nearby Lupus 1, 3, and 4 molecular clouds, derived from photometric maps observed with the Herschel satellite. Filaments in the Lupus clouds have quite low column densities, with a median value of ˜1.5 × 1021 cm-2 and most have masses per unit length lower than the maximum critical value for radial gravitational collapse. Indeed, no evidence of filament contraction has been seen in the gas kinematics. We find that some filaments, that on average are thermally subcritical, contain dense cores that may eventually form stars. This is an indication that in the low column density regime, the critical condition for the formation of stars may be reached only locally and this condition is not a global property of the filament. Finally, in Lupus we find multiple observational evidences of the key role that the magnetic field plays in forming filaments, and determining their confinement and dynamical evolution.