Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tinbergen Institute The Tinbergen Institute is the institute for economic research of the Erasmus Universiteit

This study analyses the relation between perceived health status and intertemporal choice. We use data from experiments with real monetary rewards conducted among students in South Africa to estimate risk and time preferences. These experimental data, based on multiple price lists developed by Coller & Williams (1999), Holt & Laury (2002), and Harrison et al. (2002, 2005a), show that HIV+ agents and participants that perceive to have a high HIV contraction risk are less risk-averse. Although the latter group displays higher discount rates, HIV positive agents seem to have substantially lower discount rates, indicating longer time horizons in spite of their lowered life expectancy. However, we show that direct estimates of discount rates can be seriously biased estimators of the pure rate of time preference when other factors than just the pure rate of time preference are not considered simultaneously. We correct for differential mortality risk, risk aversion and differences in anticipated future marginal utility increases and price in these factors when calculating pure rates of time preference from observed discount rates. Once these factors are taken into account, HIV+ agents’ time preferences conform to expectations.
Geophysical signatures of disseminated iron minerals: A proxy for understanding subsurface biophysicochemical processes

Previous studies have linked biogeophysical signatures to the presence of iron minerals resulting from distinct biophysicochemical processes. Utilizing geophysical methods as a proxy of such biophysicochemical processes requires an understanding of the geophysical signature of the different iron minerals. Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the complex conductivity and magnetic susceptibility signatures of five iron minerals disseminated in saturated porous media under variable iron mineral content and grain size. Both pyrite and magnetite show high quadrature and inphase conductivities compared to hematite, goethite, and siderite, whereas magnetite was the highly magnetic mineral dominating the magnetic susceptibility measurements. The quadrature conductivity spectra of both pyrite and magnetite exhibit a well‐defined characteristic relaxation peak below 10 kHz, not observed with the other iron minerals. The quadrature conductivity and magnetic susceptibility of individual and a mixture of iron minerals are dominated and linearly proportional to the mass fraction of the highly conductive (pyrite and magnetite) and magnetic (magnetite) iron minerals, respectively. The quadrature conductivity magnitude increased with decreasing grain size diameter of magnetite and pyrite with a progressive shift of the characteristic relaxation peak toward higher frequencies. The quadrature conductivity response of a mixture of different grain sizes of iron minerals is shown to be additive, whereas magnetic susceptibility measurements were insensitive to the variation in grain size diameters (1–0.075 mm). The integration of complex conductivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements can therefore provide a complimentary tool for the successful investigation of in situ biophysicochemical processes resulting in biotransformation or secondary iron mineral precipitation.
Elevated Risk for HIV Infection among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Low- and Middle-Income Countries 2000–2006: A Systematic Review

Background Recent reports of high HIV infection rates among men who have sex with men (MSM) from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the former Soviet Union (FSU) suggest high levels of HIV transmission among MSM in low- and middle-income countries. To investigate the global epidemic of HIV among MSM and the relationship of MSM outbreaks to general populations, we conducted a comprehensive review of HIV studies among MSM in low- and middle-income countries and performed a meta-analysis of reported MSM and reproductive-age adult HIV prevalence data. Methods and Findings A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted using systematic methodology. Data regarding HIV prevalence and total sample size was sequestered from each of the studies that met inclusion criteria and aggregate values for each country were calculated. Pooled odds ratio (OR) estimates were stratified by factors including HIV prevalence of the country, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)–classified level of HIV epidemic, geographic region, and whether or not injection drug users (IDUs) played a significant role in given epidemic. Pooled ORs were stratified by prevalence level; very low-prevalence countries had an overall MSM OR of 58.4 (95% CI 56.3–60.6); low-prevalence countries, 14.4 (95% CI 13.8–14.9); and medium- to high-prevalence countries, 9.6 (95% CI 9.0–10.2). Significant differences in ORs for HIV infection among MSM in were seen when comparing low- and middle-income countries; low-income countries had an OR of 7.8 (95% CI 7.2–8.4), whereas middle-income countries had an OR of 23.4 (95% CI 22.8–24.0). Stratifying the pooled ORs by whether the country had a substantial component of IDU spread resulted in an OR of 12.8 (95% CI 12.3–13.4) in countries where IDU transmission was prevalent, and 24.4 (95% CI 23.7–25.2) where it was not. By region, the OR for MSM in the Americas was 33.3 (95% CI 32.3–34.2); 18.7 (95% CI 17.7–19.7) for Asia; 3.8 (95% CI 3.3–4.3) for Africa; and 1.3 (95% CI 1.1–1.6) for the low- and middle-income countries of Europe. Conclusions MSM have a markedly greater risk of being infected with HIV compared with general population samples from low- and middle-income countries in the Americas, Asia, and Africa. ORs for HIV infection in MSM are elevated across prevalence levels by country and decrease as general population prevalence increases, but remain 9-fold higher in medium–high prevalence settings. MSM from low- and middle-income countries are in urgent need of prevention and care, and appear to be both understudied and underserved.
Identification of the xenometabolome and novel contaminant markers in fish exposed to a wastewater treatment works effluent

Fish can bioconcentrate complex mixtures of xenobiotics arising from exposure to wastewater effluents discharged into surface waters. Wastewaters contain a complex mixture of organic compounds and little is known about their uptake into fish and their health effects. In this study, a chemical profiling approach was used to characterize the profile of xenobiotics and their metabolites (the xenometabolome) in biofluids (bile and plasma) of juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) exposed to a wastewater effluent. Metabolite profiles of effluent-exposed fish were compared with that from control fish exposed to uncontaminated river water. Samples were analysed by ultra performance liquid chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry and data analysed by multivariate statistics. Exposure to effluent resulted in accumulation in trout bile of alkylsulfophenyl and alkylpolyethoxy carboxylates, as well as glucuronide conjugates of nonylphenol ethoxylates, alcohol ethoxylates, naphthols, chlorinated xylenols and phenoxyphenols, chlorophenes, resin acids, mefenamic acid and oxybenzone. Nonconjugated or sulphate conjugates of many of these contaminants were also detected in plasma of effluent-exposed trout. In addition, changes in the concentrations of endogenously derived metabolites were also detected in trout plasma, and these included an increase in blood bile acids, methylbutryolcarnitine and a decrease in sphingosine levels. These observations were verified in a further exposure of sexually mature roach (Rutilus rutilus) to concentrations of the same effluent. Exposure to 50% or 100% effluent resulted in dose dependent increases in blood concentrations of xenobiotics, taurocholic acid, syprinol sulphate and lysophospholipids and decreases in sphingosine levels. This work reveals the complex nature of xenobiotics accumulating in effluent-exposed fish together with the identification of changes in concentrations of lipid metabolites associated with hepatotoxicity. These results reveal, for the first time, that metabolite profiling techniques can be used to screen for uptake of complex mixtures of contaminants into fish and also for the detection of natural metabolite pathways in the organism that are disrupted due to exposure to multiple xenobiotics.
Intron Homing in Bacillus Phages SPO 1 and SP 82 : a Gene Conversion Event Initiated by a Nicking Homing Endonuclease

Many group I introns encode endonucleases that promote intron homing by initiating a double-stranded break-mediated homologous recombination event. In this work we describe intron homing in Bacillus subtilis phages SPO1 and SP82. The introns encode the DNA endonucleases I-HmuI and I-HmuII, respectively, which belong to the H-N-H endonuclease family and possess nicking activity in vitro. Coinfections of B. subtilis with intron-minus and intron-plus phages indicate that I-HmuI and I-HmuII are required for homing of the SPO1 and SP82 introns, respectively. The homing process is a gene conversion event that does not require the major B. subtilis recombination pathways, suggesting that the necessary functions are provided by phage-encoded factors. Our results provide the first examples of H-N-H endonuclease-mediated intron homing and the first demonstration of intron homing initiated by a nicking endonuclease.
Spatiotemporal Distribution of Snow Cover in Arid Regions in China

Based on MODIS and AMSR-E combined cloud-free snow cover product,in this paper the snow cover duration days(SCD),snow cover onset date(SCOD) and snow cover ending date(SCED) in arid regions of China were calculated and evaluated for 8 hydrological years from 2002 to 2009.Spatiotemporal distribution of snow cover in the study area was analyzed through mapping of SCD and statistical results of snow cover area(SCA). The results are as follows:(1) The compared results reveal that the accuracy of snow cover parameters extracted from remote sensing images is high and close to the data observed at the weather stations,the duration errors are mostly within 20 days;(2) Except for the regions covered with glaciers and firn in the alpine zone,north Xinjiang between the Tianshan Mountains and Altay Mountains is the region with the thickest seasonal snow cover,SCD was mostly longer than 60 days,but the distribution of seasonal snow cover is uneven.Holistically,the SCD becomes shorter,the SCOD becomes later and SCED becomes earlier from the marginal zone of the mountains to the central area of the basins;(3) The total areas of snow cover in arid regions were comparatively large in 2005,2007 and 2002 but small in 2008 and 2006,respectively;The area and distribution of stable snow cover were comparatively stable,with the inter-annual changes being mainly the fluctuation of the number of SCD;the area of unstable snow cover were generally larger than stable snow cover,with obvious inter-annual fluctuations and the number of SCD mostly lower than 20.
Simultaneous ground‐ and satellite‐based observation of MF/HF auroral radio emissions

We report on the first simultaneous measurements of medium‐high frequency (MF/HF) auroral radio emissions (above 1 MHz) by ground‐ and satellite‐based instruments. Observational data were obtained by the ground‐based passive receivers in Iceland and Svalbard, and by the Plasma Waves and Sounder experiment (PWS) mounted on the Akebono satellite. We observed two simultaneous appearance events, during which the frequencies of the auroral roar and MF bursts detected at ground level were different from those of the terrestrial hectometric radiation (THR) observed by the Akebono satellite passing over the ground‐based stations. This frequency difference confirms that auroral roar and THR are generated at different altitudes across the F peak. We did not observe any simultaneous observations that indicated an identical generation region of auroral roar and THR. In most cases, MF/HF auroral radio emissions were observed only by the ground‐based detector, or by the satellite‐based detector, even when the satellite was passing directly over the ground‐based stations. A higher detection rate was observed from space than from ground level. This can primarily be explained in terms of the idea that the Akebono satellite can detect THR emissions coming from a wider region, and because a considerable portion of auroral radio emissions generated in the bottomside F region are masked by ionospheric absorption and screening in the D/E regions associated with ionization which results from auroral electrons and solar UV radiation.
Hanming Fang “ Equilibrium Laboar Market Search and Health Insurance Reform ” PIER Working Paper 13-002

We present and empirically implement an equilibrium labor market search model where risk averse workers facing medical expenditure shocks are matched with firms making health insurance coverage decisions. Our model delivers a rich set of predictions that can account for a wide variety of phenomenon observed in the data including the correlations among firm sizes, wages, health insurance offering rates, turnover rates and workers’ health compositions. We estimate our model by Generalized Method of Moments using a combination of micro data sources including Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Employer Health Insurance Survey. We use our estimated model to evaluate the equilibrium impact of the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) and find that it would reduce the uninsured rate among the workers in our estimation sample from 20.12% to 7.27%. We also examine a variety of alternative policies to understand the roles of different components of the ACA in contributing to these equilibrium changes. Interestingly, we find that the uninsured rate will be even lower (at 6.44%) if the employer mandate in the ACA is eliminated.
The palaeoceanography of the Leeuwin Current : implications for a future world

Long-term progressive changes of the Leeuwin Current are linked to plate and ocean basin ‘geography’ and Cenozoic global climates and palaeoceanography. Suggestions of the presence of a proto-Leeuwin Current as early as late Middle to Late Eocene times (c. 35‐42 Ma) cannot be verified by the fossil record of the western margin of Australia. “Leeuwin Current style” circulation around Australia was certainly established by the early Oligocene, in response to palaeogeographic changes in the Tasman Strait. This, followed by tectonic reorganisation of the Indonesian Archipelago throughout the Miocene, provided a palaeogeographic setting, which by the Pliocene was essentially that of today. The subsequent history of the Leeuwin Current comprises climatically-induced changes operating over orbital and sub-orbital temporal scales. Specifically, the advent of Pleistocene-style climates, especially over the last 800 000 years, and their associated interglacial ‐ glacial states provide the two end-member climate-ocean states that have characterised Leeuwin Current activity during that time. Indications of the nature of these contrasting states is provided by: (i) the Last Interglacial (c. 125 Ka) during which sea level was higher by some +4 m, and with higher sea surface temperatures (SSTs) clearly indicating a more ‘active’ Leeuwin Current; and (ii) the Last Glacial Maximum (21 Ka), during which sea level was some 130 m lower than today, resulting in massive shelf extensions along the coast of Western Australia, accompanied by reduced Indonesian Throughflow, lower low latitude SSTs and changes in the Western Pacific Warm Water Pool, and with these changes, possibly reduced Leeuwin Current activity. Sub-orbital scale fluctuations in current strength are driven by global climate change associated with El Nino ‐ La Nina events as well as regional climatic changes driven by volcanism. These forcing mechanisms operate at time scales well within the reach of human experience, and provide important comparative data for predicting the response of the Leeuwin Current to climate change predicted for this century. Studies of the impact of changes in the vigour of the Leeuwin Current on shallow marine communities are in their infancy. Coupling climate models with geological analogues provide important research agenda for predicting the trajectory of future changes to the Leeuwin Current and their impacts on the marine biota of coastal Western Australia.
The Pricing Behaviour of Firms in the Euro Area: New Survey Evidence

This study investigates the pricing behaviour of firms in the euro area on the basis of surveys conducted by nine Eurosystem national central banks, covering more than 11,000 firms. The results, robust across countries, show that firms operate in monopolistically competitive markets, where prices are mostly set following markup rules and where price discrimination is common. Around one-third of firms follow mainly time-dependent pricing rules while two-thirds allow for elements of state-dependence. The majority of firms take into account past and expected economic developments in their pricing decisions. Price stickiness is mainly driven by customer relationships - explicit and implicit contracts - and coordination failure. Firms adjust prices asymmetrically in response to shocks: while cost shocks have a greater impact when prices have to be raised than when they have to be reduced, reductions in demand are more likely to induce a price change than increases in demand.
WORKING PAPER SERIES INFLATION TARGETING AND INFLATION EXPECTATIONS : EVIDENCE FOR BRAZIL AND TURKEY Sumru Altu ğ

In this paper, we study the evolution of inflation expectations for two key emerging economies, Brazil and Turkey, using a reduced form model in a state-space framework, where the level of inflation is modeled explicitly. We match the survey-based inflation expectations and inflation targets set by the central banks of Brazil and Turkey with the predictions implied by the model in a statistically coherent way. Confronting these expectations with inflation targets leads to a statistical measure of the discrepancy between inflation expectations and the target inflation. The results indicate that inflation expectations are anchored more closely the inflation target set by the Central Bank for Brazil. By contrast, there is more evidence that inflation expectations deviate significantly from the target inflation set by the Central Bank for Turkey.
Social media as a communication and marketing tool in tourism: an analysis of online activities from international key player DMO

Abstract The widespread use of Web 2.0 applications and the increasing number of social media applications are producing radical changes in tourism destination promotion. Destination Management Organizations (DMO) must be able to adapt and meet the challenges placed by new interaction and communication paradigms in the tourism sector. This paper describes a study done in which we analysed a set of national DMO and outlined and compared the use of social media applications in their communication activities. Shared practices and trends were identified and deconstructed according to a set of indicators and results enabled us to believe that, despite the differences in size and structure, there are some trends and shared practices worth adopting and exploring when designing social media communication strategies.
Journal Pre-proof Financial

Aims There are concerns that the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including employment inactivity and job loss, will have consequences for the UK population's health and wellbeing. However, there is limited qualitative research into how financial adversity contributes to poor health outcomes in this context. This study aimed to explore forms of financial adversity experienced during the pandemic and their subsequent impacts for health and wellbeing. Methods
Extreme Cold Outbreaks in the United States and Europe, 1948-99.

Abstract Reanalysis output for 1948–99 is used to evaluate the temporal distributions, the geographical origins, and the atmospheric teleconnections associated with major cold outbreaks affecting heavily populated areas of middle latitudes. The study focuses on three subregions of the United States and two subregions of Europe. The cold outbreaks affecting the United States are more extreme than those affecting Europe, in terms of both the regionally averaged and the local minimum air temperatures. There is no apparent trend toward fewer extreme cold events on either continent over the 1948–99 period, although a long station history suggests that such events may have been more frequent in the United States during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The trajectories of the coldest air masses are southward or southeastward over North America, but westward over Europe. Subsidence of several hundred millibars is typical of the trajectories of the coldest air to reach the surface in the affected regions. Sea level.
Fertilizer requirements of drumstick cv. PKM-1.

The experiment was conducted in Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) with three replications at Horticulture Research Farm under middle Gujarat agro-climatic zone –III (AES-II) during the year 2005, 2007 and 2008. Treatment involved three levels of nitrogen and two levels of potash. Pruning was done on first week of May and planting was done at distance of 2.5 x 2.5 meter distance. Treatment involved three levels of nitrogen and one level of potash. The nitrogen fertilizer @ 25 g/ plant gave significantly maximum plant height, number of branches, length of branches (cm), diameter of branches (cm), weight of pod (g), length of pod (cm), diameter of pod (cm), number of pods per tree, yield of pods per tree (kg), yield of pods (t/ha) and total soluble solids. From the experiment and conclusion, the farmers are advised to apply 100 g nitrogen, 25 g potash and 10 Kg FYM per plant. Among them the half dose of nitrogen, full dose of potash and FYM should be given in first week of May after pruning and remaining half dose of nitrogen in the month of October to drumstick cv. PKM-1 for obtaining higher yield (46.79 t/ ha.) with net return (Rs.1,21,926) and higher CBR (1 : 7.61).
Ecology of Canada lynx in Southern boreal forest

Canada lynx occur throughout boreal forests of North America, but ecological conditions in southern regions differ in many respects from those in Canada and Alaska. To evaluate the extent to which lynx ecology and population biology may differ between these regions, we review existing information from southern boreal forests and compare our findings to information presented in Chapter 9 on lynx in the taiga. Throughout North America, lynx diets in both winter and summer are dominated by snowshoe hares. In southern boreal forests, alternative prey, especially red squirrels, are important constituents of the diet. This reliance on alternative prey may reflect a response to low-density hare populations in southern regions, because alternative prey are also important in the taiga during lows in the snowshoe hare cycle. In addition, limited information on lynx diets during snow-free months indicates that alternative prey are important during summer in both northern and southern populations, regardless of the status of local hare populations. As in the taiga, lynx in southern regions are associated with boreal and sub-boreal forest conditions, including upper elevation, coniferous forests in