Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nature and the economy<link href='#fn1'>*</link>

1. In this lecture I first offer what one could call the World Bank view of the recent macroeconomic history of a number of countries in the poor and rich worlds. Secondly, I demonstrate how our view of macroeconomic history changes if Nature is included as a capital asset in production activities. 2. I conclude that high population growth in the world’s poorest regions (South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa) has been an obstacle to the achievement of sustainable economic development in those areas. It is believed that people in those regions are, on average, less wealthy now than they were 35 years ago. 3. When population growth is taken into account, the accumulation of manufactured capital, knowledge and human capital (health and education) has not compensated for the degradation of natural capital in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa and, in all probability, even in the United Kingdom and the United States. 4. It is possible that China is an exception to the economic forces experienced in other areas of the world. 5. Synthesis and applications . The conclusions drawn here are very tentative and there is much further work to be conducted in understanding how ecological concerns can be incorporated into economic theory. It is important, therefore, that growth economists, demographers, governments and international agencies take this approach.
Molecular Studies and Possible Relatedness Between R Plaslnids from Groups B and D Streptococci N 1

Resistance plasmids isolated from Streptococcus agalactiae (group B) and S. faecalis (group D) have been compared in regard to resistance markers, molecular weight, and DNA-DNA homology. Three of them (pIP501, pIP612, and pIP613) have been found to confer identical (or very similar) resistance patterns (erythromycin, lincomycin, and streptogramin B, respectively) and to have similar molecular weights (19.8 x 106, 22.7 x 106, and 17.6 x 106, respectively) and a high level of DNA-DNA homology in hybridization experiments (90 to 100%). These results are compatible with the view that these plasmids may derive from one common ancestor, and/or that they can be transferred between unrelated Streptococcus strains belonging to the same or different groups.
An Invitation to Invention: Top-Down Support for Bottom-Up Reform of Assessment in New York State.

This paper describes the development and outcomes of New York State's "Invitation to Invention," the Regents Exam Options Project. Initiated as a temporary strategy to encourage and support local changes in teaching and assessment toward the learner-centered reforms taking place in the state, the project provided high school teachers and schools with temporary relief from some of the constraints of the current, highly structured state assessment system. The program invited them to create performance-based assessments (such as projects, performances, and portfolios) that would count toward a percentage of their students' high school Regents examination credit required for high school graduation. Specifically, the paper describes the impact of the first year of the project on teaching and learning and its potential for implementing change. Nine high schools and one school district participated. Data were derived from district reports, extensive sampling of student work, and interviews with and surveys of project teachers, students, and administrators. Findings indicate that the project changed the ways in which teachers taught, supported student achievement at higher performance levels, and enhanced teachers' professional learning. Concerns about conceptions of reliability and validity, the role of standardization, authenticity, and context in large-scale performance-based assessment systems are discussed. It is recommended that the state create performance assessments based on uniform standards in the disciplines--to use common scoring rubrics that articulate different levels of student performance. (Contains 27 references.) (LMI) ***************************************************: **************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original docallent. ********************************************************************** An Invitation to Invention: Top-Down Support for Bottom-Up Reform of Assessment in New York State Beverly Falk, National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools, and Teaching (NCREST)
Malaysia's southern region

Job stress has become a global problem in recent years, and it is rising year after year. The purpose of this research was to identify influential factors of job stress that affect job satisfaction among the employees in the government sector in the southern region of Malaysia. This research is important because it will help the company determine the best way to assist their workers in improving their job satisfaction. Job stress consists of three elements, namely workload, role conflict, and interpersonal relationships. The questionnaires were distributed to 108 respondents who were employees at Lembaga Kemajuan Johor Tenggara (KEJORA). Descriptive statistics, Cronbach alpha, and regression analysis were employed to analyse the result using the SPSS analysis. The findings revealed that a significant positive relationship exists between interpersonal relationship and job satisfaction whereas role conflict and workload does not influence job satisfaction. Finally, limitations and suggestions for this study are also highlighted.
Hybrid Customer-Centric Sales Forecasting Model Using AI ML Approaches

Business Intelligence is a process of preparing, analyzing, presenting, and maintaining the data to gain insights for the decision-makers to make informed decisions. While there are many approaches to predict the growth based on the sales figures a very few consider the influence of customer data on the forecasting and the relevance of the same while making the predictions. So, in this study, we will look at some of the existing techniques used so far to make predictions and studies used to understand the customer data. With the analysis, we shall try to devise a hybrid approach to the traditional sales prediction, which would include a customer-centric data analysis. We shall look at some of the techniques which are traditionally used in Market Basket analysis and at the same time look at the techniques like classification, segmentation, regression, etc. to get a perception of the impact of customer data on sales forecasting. We shall highlight all the pros and cons of the algorithms and try to come up with an intelligent approach that would give accurate results
Government Expenditure on Agriculture and Agricultural Output on Nigeria Economic Growth (1980-2015)

This study examined Government expenditure on agriculture and agricultural output on Nigeria economic growth for the period of 1980 – 2014. The study adopted time series econometrics analysis to determine Government expenditure on agriculture and agricultural output on Nigeria economic growth. For purpose of clarity, models were specified as (GDP) dependent variable, (GEXPA) and (AGO) as independent variables. In order to avoid spurious result, some standard econometric tests were conducted. The result reveals that two of the variables: gross domestic products (GDP) and government expenditure on agriculture (GEXPA) were integrated of order I(0), while the remaining variable: agricultural output (AGO) was integrated of order I(1), given the period under study. The result further reveals that the variables have long run relationship because of evidence of two cointegrating equations while the speed of adjustment of the ECM result is 90.9% per annum. The research concluded that government expenditure on agriculture and agricultural output significantly impacts on Nigeria economic growth. Based on the findings above; the study recommends that Since agriculture has positive impact on the Nigerian economy, the government should see that a higher percentage of allocations are invested on agricultural sector so that the economy will keep on growing in an increasing rate.
Movements of radio-tracked American mink () in extensive wetland in the UK, and the implications for threatened prey species such as the water vole ()

In a number of countries around the world, introduced American mink are acknowledged to have had a negative effect on a number of native species, many of which are of particular conservation concern. In the UK, there has been an observed correlation between the spread of mink and the decline of the, once common and widespread, water vole. Large wetlands, such as extensive reed bed, appear to mitigate the impact of mink predation on water voles and some bird species. The present study was carried out to test the hypothesis that the observed refuge effect of reed beds arises from the way mink forage in this type of wetland. The results suggest that the interior of reed bed offers a spatial refuge for water voles, and other species, from predation by mink, because more than 60% of mink foraging activity occurred within 10 m of a main (>10 m wide) channel. Where mink ventured within the reed bed itself, they associated closely with scrub. The implication is that easily navigable channels and areas of scrub probably compromise the refuge effect of reed beds. This can be used to inform management recommendations at these sites.
Protein Kinase C B Enhances Growth and Expression of Cyclin D1 in Human Breast Cancer Cells

Although alterations in the expressions of protein kinase C (PKC) have been implicated in breast carcinogenesis, the roles of specific isoforms in this process remain elusive. In the present study, we examined the specific roles of PKC B 1 and B 2 in growth control in human breast cancer cell lines. The PKC B -specific inhibitor LY379196 significantly inhibited growth of the breast cancer cell lines MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, and BT474, but not the normal mammary epithelial cell line MCF-10F. Treatment of MCF-7 cells with LY379196 caused an increase in the fraction of cells in the G 1 phase of the cell cycle. To explore the roles of PKC B 1 and B 2, we used cDNA expression vectors that encode wild-type and constitutively activated or dominant negative mutants of these two proteins. When compared with vector controls, derivatives of MCF-7 cells that stably overexpress wild-type PKC B 1 or PKC B 2 displayed a slight increase in growth rate; derivatives that stably express the constitutively active mutants of PKC B 1 or PKC B 2 displayed a marked increase in growth rate; and derivatives that stably express a dominant negative mutant of PKC B 1 or B 2 displayed inhibition of growth. The derivatives of MCF-7 cells that stably express the constitutively activated mutants of PKC B 1 or B 2 were more resistant to growth inhibition by LY379196 than the vector control MCF-7 cells. Immunoblot analysis indicated that MCF-7 cells that stably overexpress wild-type or constitutively activated mutants of PKC B 1 or B 2 had higher cellular levels of cyclin D1 than vector control cells, whereas cells that express a dominant negative mutant had decreased levels of cyclin D1. The derivatives that stably express the constitutively activated mutants of PKC B 1 or B 2 also displayed increased cyclin D1 promoter activity in transient transfection luciferase reporter assays, and this induction of activity requires activator protein 1. Constitutively activated PKC B 1 and B 2 also enhanced the transcription of c- fos in transient transfection luciferase reporter assays. Thus, PKC B 1 and B 2 may play important positive roles in the growth of at least a subset of human breast cancers. Therefore, inhibitors of these isoforms may be useful in breast cancer chemoprevention or therapy. (Cancer Res 2006; 66(23): 11399-408)
Title: Resilience moderates the association between chronic pain and depressive symptoms in the elderly Running head: Pain, depression, and resilience in the elderly

Funding: The KORA research platform was initiated and financed by the Helmholtz Zentrum München, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and by the State of Bavaria. The KORA-Age project was financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF FKZ 01ET0713 and 01ET1003A) as part of the ‘Health in old age’ program. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
PRBM_A_207971 557..564

Marie Neubert Philipp Süssenbach Winfried Rief Frank Euteneuer 1Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Philipps University, Marburg, Germany; 2Division of Social and Personality Psychology, Fachhochschule des Mittelstands (FHM), University of Applied Sciences, Bielefeld, Germany; 3Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Medical School Berlin, Berlin, Germany Purpose: Subjective social status (SSS) reflects individuals’ perceived position in a social hierarchy. Low SSS is associated with several mental health impairments. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine if unemployed individuals report lower SSS in Germany (national SSS) and lower SSS in their social community (local SSS) than employed individuals. Moreover, the relationship between unemployment, SSS, and mental health was examined. Patients and methods: 113 unemployed and 1117 employed individuals from a representative German panel provided information on their national and local SSS, their monthly income and their mental health. SSS was assessed with the German version of the MacArthur Scales. Mental health was measured using the mental component scale (MCS) of the SF-12. Results: Unemployed individuals reported significantly lower national SSS, local SSS and mental health compared to employed participants. Mediational analyses suggest that the negative effect of employment status on mental health was explained via a reduction of national SSS. Local SSS did not mediate the association of employment status and mental health. Conclusion: Unemployment is associated with lower SSS and reduced mental health. The perceived position relative to others in the country (ie, national SSS) mediates the association between employment status and mental health.
Hybrid visualization of asymmetric tensor fields : glyphs and hyperstreamlines

approved: Eugene Zhang Asymmetric tensor fields are useful for understanding fluid flow and solid deformation. They present new challenges, however, for traditional tensor field visualization techniques such as hyperstreamline placement and glyph packing. This is because the physical behavior of tensors inside real domains where eigenvalues are real is fundamentally different from the behavior of tensors inside complex domains where eigenvalues are complex. I present a hybrid visualization approach in which hyperstreamlines are used to illustrate the tensors in the real domains and glyphs are employed in complex domains. This enables an effective visualization of the physical patterns everywhere and also provides a more intuitive illustration of elliptical patterns in the complex domains. In addition, I encode the tensor magnitude in the size of the glyphs and density of the hyperstreamlines. The visualization is applied to surfaces using an image space approach where the tensor field is projected to the image plane. This allows visual exploration of the data set from different viewpoints and at different resolutions. The effectiveness of this visualization technique is demonstrated through applications to complex simulated engine fluid flow and earthquake deformation data.
Morphological Characteristics of Different Ficus Species Found in Samaru-Zaria, Nigeria

The genus Ficus is an important genetic resource due to its high economic and nutritional values. It is also an important part of biodiversity in the rainforest ecosystem. The leaf shape is variable, even among the leaves on the same tree and such characters as acuminate tips and cordate bases are seldom constant. The research was aimed to determined the morphological characteristics of leaves from eight different Ficus species found in Zaria in wet and dry season. Macromorphological characters such as leaf type, leaf shape, leaf apex, leaf margin, leaf arrangement and leaf base were examined. Macromorphological characters show leaf arrangement to be alternate in all the species. The leaf apexes are acute, obtuse and Acuminate, with leaf base been cordate and obtuse, having a leaf margin of serrate, entire and scalloped, with the shapes of the leaf cordate, ovate and elliptic. Quantitative examination of the foliar characteristics in both wet and dry season showed a significant difference in the leaf number among all the species except for Ficus reliogosa, Ficus capensis and Ficus elastica having P values 0.938, 0.963 and 0.873 respectively. Leaf length also varies significantly among all species except for Ficus reliogosa, Ficus polita, F. platyphylla and F. natalensis while leaflet width also varies significantly among all the species except for Ficus platyphylla. Petiole length was also significant among the species except for Ficus elastica (P value 0.417) The findings from this research revealed that the macromorphological characteristics of Ficus species in Zaria during wet and dry season indicate a significant variation across species. Keywords: Morphological, Foliar, Ficus species, Wet and dry season
A Risk-Scoring System to Predict Heart Failure Onset during Treatment of Myelodysplastic Syndrome with Azacitidine

Cardio-oncology is increasingly being recognized as an important field of medicine. Surveillance of cardiac events is important for patients treated with agents that can improve survival, such as azacitidine, a hypomethylating agent for treating Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). Thus, we aimed to develop a riskscoring system to predict Heart Failure (HF) onset during azacitidine therapy and to investigate factors associated with HF onset and causes of death. Sixty patients with MDS or acute myeloid leukemia who were treated with azacitidine were included. Diagnosis of HF was made using Framingham Heart Study Criteria. We used Gray test for univariate analysis and fine-Gray test for multivariate analysis to confirm the cumulative incidence of risk factors. HF occurred in 15 (25%) patients. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that the history of heart disease (Odds Ratio [OR], 4.78; 95% Confidence Interval [CI], 1.51-15.2), red blood cell transfusion dependency (OR, 5.21; 95% CI, 1.59-17.0), and >50000 copies/μg RNA of Wilms’ tumor gene-1 mRNA (OR, 3.49; 95% CI, 1.15-10.5) were independent risk factors of HF onset. By using these risk factors, we developed a scoring system to predict HF onset, which stratified patients into three groups. There was a significant difference in cumulative incidence (2-year cumulative incidence; 95% CI; low risk, 0.00%, 0.00-0.00; intermediate risk, 21.4%, 8.50-38.2; high risk, 65.9%, 28.3-87.1; p <0.01). This scoring system is effective for the management of patients with MDS. This is the first report of an HF risk-scoring system for predicting HF onset during azacitidine therapy.
COPD_A_292472 1353..1368

1Department of Community Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway; 2Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK; 3National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK; 4Research Institute of Internal and Preventive Medicine, Branch of Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation; 5Novosibirsk State Medical University, Russian Ministry of Health, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation; 6Northern State Medical University, Arkhangelsk, Russian Federation
A Look at Asymmetric Payments between Board Members and Shareholders

Board members may well be the instigators of potential conflicts of interest since they are simultaneously the setters and receivers of both board remuneration and dividends. They may act for their own personal benefit at the expense of external shareholders. We investigate the impact of ownership structure, board structure and control deviation on payment asymmetry where excessively high remuneration is paid to board members but considerably lower dividends are distributed to shareholders. We find strong evidence confirming that the larger the shareholdings of board members and outside blockholders are, the less asymmetric the payments are. With controlling family members on the board and a higher percentage of seats held by independent board members, there is a slight reduction in the likelihood and severity of asymmetric payments. In addition, with board seat-control deviation measured as the difference between controlling shareholders’ voting rights in the board meeting (counted by heads) and that in the shareholders’ meeting (counted by shares held), it is abundantly clear that the larger the board seat-control deviation is, the higher the degree of payment asymmetry. However, the conventional deviation between voting rights and cash flow rights has no significant effect on payment asymmetry. While prior research has primarily focused on board-manager agency issues, the board-shareholder perspective could be even more important because it is the board, not the managers, that is the most directly delegated agent of shareholders. Thus, this study enhances our understanding of the determinants that reduce the conflicts of interest between board members and external
Obesity: A Brief Approach to this New Pandemia

Obesity is a condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it has an adverse effect on physical, mental and/or social health. The global prevalence of obesity increased substantially in the past four decades regardless of age, gender, race, and ethnicity. Unlike other pandemics, obesity does not cause disease directly but instead functions as a potent independent risk factor for a number of pathologies, including type-2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, neurodegenerative disorders, and cancer, inducing immense harm in both health and economic terms. These pathologies are associated with the metabolic changes observed in the obesity, such as insulin resistance, and the inflammation and the evoked oxidative stress seem to be to a great extent the pathogenic elements. Human adipose tissue is a dynamic organ that profoundly contributes to the regulation of several (patho-) physiological processes, including embryonic development, systemic endocrine/metabolic homeostasis, immunomodulation, and it has been recognized as an organ with endocrine properties. Since a high number of non-pharmacological interventions are discussed, pharmacological interventions are not within the scope of this review. This review focuses comprehensively on obesity causes, consequences, and the role in obesity-related metabolic disorders of several adipokines.
Numerical study of flow maldistribution in plate heat exchangers used for evaporation process

Geometry of plate heat exchangers (PHE) is characterized by a complex net of narrow channels. It enhances turbulence and results in better heat transfer performance. Theoretically, larger number of channels (plates) should proportionally increase the PHE heat power capacity. In practice a nonuniform massflow distribution in consecutive flow channels can significantly deteriorate the overall heat exchange performance. The flow maldistribution is one of the most commonly reported exploitation problems and is present in PHE with and without phase-change flows. The presented paper investigates numerically a flow pattern in PHE with evaporation of R410A refrigerant. Various sizes of PHE are considered. The paper introduces a robust methodology to transform the complicated geometry of a real 3D PHE to its 2D representation. It results in orders of magnitude faster calculations and allows for fast evaluation of different geometrical changes of PHE and their effect on flow maldistribution.