Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Female Land Rights and Farm Income in Paraguayan Agriculture

Previous work has shown a pattern of lower household income for those Paraguayan farms with female landowners in the household. The study of agricultural production reveals that Paraguayan women specialize in livestock and dairy production while men specialize in crop production. An analysis of crop specialization and crop yields finds no significant differences in yields among households along gender lines, though women appear to specialize in food crops. Finally, households with female land rights have significantly lower rate of return on agricultural production. This article is an assessment of the impact of women’s land rights on agricultural productivity in rural Paraguay. This study takes a step beyond the comparative work done by Carmen Diana Deere, Rosa Luz Duran, Merrilee Mardon and myself on Brazil, Peru and Paraguay [Deere et al., 2004]. In that report, we found that households with female land rights had higher net non-agricultural incomes, but lower net agricultural and net household incomes. This article, then, is an attempt to explain lower agricultural incomes in households with female land rights. I will do this by investigating differences in crop yields, crop specialization and farm activity specialization by owner-operated rural farms with and without female land rights. As Agarwal [1994], and Deere and Leon [2001] have argued, land rights for women are key determinants in women’s and household welfare in rural settings throughout the developing world. Agarwal, studying the issue in South Asia, defines women’s land rights as comprising ownership of and independent control over land. She puts forth four main arguments for women’s land rights. First, that women’s land rights lead to improved welfare for women and for children. This is due to the systematic bias towards men in intra-household resource allocation, the fact that resources under women’s control are used more towards household, especially children’s, needs than those under men’s control, and the increasing portion of households headed by women alone. Since land is such an important economic resource, women’s land rights will improve welfare. Second, women’s land rights lead to increased productivity. This increase comes about because titled land is useful as a means of securing credit and other inputs, and provides a greater incentive to make efficiency-enhancing improvements. So, ownership with secure title will increase the efficiency of female farmers. It may also increase overall
Indirect and mixed‐treatment comparison, network, or multiple‐treatments meta‐analysis: many names, many benefits, many concerns for the next generation evidence synthesis tool

The ever increasing number of alternative treatment options and the plethora of clinical trials have put systematic reviews and meta‐analysis under a new perspective by emphasizing the need to make inferences about competing treatments for the same condition. The statistical component in reviews that compare multiple interventions, network meta‐analysis, is the next generation evidence synthesis toolkit which, when properly applied, can serve decision‐making better than the established pairwise meta‐analysis. The criticism and enthusiasm for network meta‐analysis echo those that greeted the advent of simple meta‐analysis. The main criticism is associated with the difficulty in evaluating the assumption underlying the statistical synthesis of direct and indirect evidence. In the present article, the assumption of the network meta‐analysis are presented using various formulations, the statistical and nonstatistical methodological considerations are elucidated, and the progress achieved in this field is summarized. Throughout, focus is put on highlighting the analogy between the concerns and difficulties that the scientific community had some time ago when advancing from individual trials to their quantitative synthesis via meta‐analysis and those currently expressed about the transition from head‐to‐head meta‐analyses to network meta‐analysis. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Stock Repurchases as an Earnings Management Device

This paper investigates the role of earnings per share management in the decision to repurchase shares. We identify the conditions under which repurchases increase EPS and document the frequency of EPS increasing and EPS decreasing repurchases among U.S. firms from 1988 to 2001. We then compare the empirical distribution of EPS increasing and EPS decreasing repurchases relative to pre-repurchase forecast errors to examine whether EPS considerations appear to affect the repurchase decision. Finally, we examine the share price response to quarterly earnings announcements to determine how investors price the repurchase-induced component of reported EPS. We find evidence that a disproportionately large number of firms have EPS increasing repurchases when they would have marginally missed analyst forecasts without the repurchase, and a disproportionately small number of firms have EPS decreasing repurchases when they are close to analyst forecasts before the repurchase. Also, the market appears to discount the repurchase induced component of earnings surprise relative to the earnings surprise attributable to operations. Finally, firms that meet or exceed expectations only because of the repurchase receive approximately a 60% lower valuation premium than firms that meet or exceed expectations without a repurchase.
Deletion of fetA Gene Sequences in Serogroup B and C Neisseria meningitidis Isolates

ABSTRACT The immunogenic iron-regulated FetA outer membrane protein of Neisseria meningitidis is one of various outer membrane proteins that have been considered potential meningococcal vaccine candidates. In this report, we describe the characterization of three meningococcal isolates that have deleted fetA sequences through genetic recombination at repetitive elements.
Patterns of Brain Perfusion: Dynamic Computed Tomography Using Intravenous Contrast Enhancement

A representation of cerebral perfusion is obtained using cranial computed tomography following the rapid bolus injection of iodinated intravenous contrast medium. This technique permits the definition of four gross patterns of perfusion (normal, circulatory arrest, hypoperfusion, and hyperperfusion). This classification is affirmed in an experimental model of cerebral infarction in the baboon. The limitations of dynamic imaging using computed tomography are reviewed.
Chambers in Investment Discussion Boards

We examine the quality of information and communication in online investment discussion boards. We show that positivity bias and skewed risk/reward assessments, exacerbated by the insular nature of the community and its social structure, contribute to underperforming investment advice and unnecessary trading. Discussion post sentiment has negligible correlation with future stock market returns, but does have a positive correlation with trading volumes and volatility. Our trading simulations show that across different timeframes, this misinformation leads 50-70% of users to underperform the market average. We then examine social structure in communities, and show that the majority of market sentiment is produced by a small number of community leaders, and that many members actively resist negative sentiment, thus minimizing viewpoint diversity. To improve generated information content in online investment communities, we suggest designing to increase diversity of opinion, minimize friction around incorporating new information, and provide performance feedback for self-correction.
Utility of in situ demonstration of 1p loss and p53 overexpression in pathologic diagnosis of oligodendroglial tumors

To improve the diagnostic accuracy of oligodendroglial tumors and to find more convenient parameters that could predict the cytogenetic status, oligodendroglial and astrocytic tumors were cytogenetically and immunohistochemically investigated. Materials included 22 oligodendroglial tumors (15 oligodendrogliomas and 7 oligoastrocytomas) and 20 astrocytic tumors. 1p loss was examined with the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) method. Expression of GFAP, Olig2 and p53 was immunohistochemically investigated and co‐localization of GFAP and Olig2 was evaluated on double‐immunostained sections. Furthermore, TP53 mutation analyses were carried out on three oligodendroglial tumors showing p53 protein overexpression with a direct sequence analysis. Our FISH studies demonstrated 1p loss in 73% of oligodendroglial tumors (80% oligodendrogliomas and 57% oligoastrocytomas) and in only 10% of astrocytic tumors. There were no clear‐cut morphologic differences between 1p‐deleted and 1p‐intact oligodendroglial tumors. GFAP and Olig2 were expressed in most oligodendroglial and astrocytic tumors, and their cellular localization was almost independent of each other. Overexpression of p53 was observed in five oligodendroglial tumors, all of which were 1p‐intact. In comparison, 16 oligodendroglial tumors with 1p deletion showed no overexpression of p53. TP53 missense mutations were detected in three of the p53 overexpressed oligodendroglial tumors studied. Our results suggest that 1p loss is almost specific to oligodendroglial tumors. Although the prediction of 1p status based solely on the morphologic features seems to be difficult, the immunohistochemistry for p53 is a useful tool in that p53 overexpression is closely related to the 1p‐intact status in oligodendroglial tumors.
Estimated generalized least squares electromagnetic source analysis based on a parametric noise covariance model [EEG/MEG]

Estimated generalized least squares (EGLS) electromagnetic source analysis is used to downweight noisy and correlated data. Standard EGLS requires many trials to accurately estimate the noise covariances and, thus, the source parameters. Alternatively, the noise covariances can be modeled parametrically. Only the parameters of the model describing the noise covariances need to be estimated and, therefore, less trials are required. This method is referred to as parametric EGLS (PEGLS). In this paper, PEGLS is developed and its performance is tested in a simulation study and in a pseudoempirical study.
The Effects of the Minimum Wage in the Private and Public Sectors in Brazil

The wage and employment effects of the minimum wage predicted by the standard neoclassical theory rely on a profit maximizing firm, not on a Government employer that can cover the higher wage bill by raising taxes, reducing expenditure, or simply printing money. If the public sector has an inelastic labour demand, the associated non-negative employment effect might offset some of the negative employment effect observed in the private sector and the overall employment effect might be less adverse. This is particularly so if the public sector is overpopulated by minimum wage workers, as in Brazil. There is very limited evidence on the minimum wage effects in developing countries, and none whatsoever on the minimum wage effects across the private and public sectors. This paper estimates the effects of the minimum wage on wages and employment in both the private and public sectors. The data used is an under-explored monthly Brazilian household survey from 1982 to 2000 at individual and regional levels. Robust results suggest that the minimum wage compresses the distribution of both sectors, but in line with a stronger effect in the private sector, more adverse employment effects in the long run are also observed in that sector. In the public sector, no evidence of adverse employment effects was uncovered.
Design of Exhibition contents using swipe gesture recognition communication based on Kinect

Exhibition content has been used a touch panel for the user's convenience. Touch panel are not good recognition. And errors may occur when you use a long time. In addition there occurs a malfunction due to contamination. In the present study, such problems want to improve. We designed the Exhibition contents to recognize the swipe gesture of Kinect. Gesture recognition is constructed in three steps of Modeling, analysis, and recognition. Such gesture recognition was implemented using Kinect. Kinect provides Depth information of the image, Color Information and dimensional coordinates of your joints. Using this information in Were aware of the Hand movements. The KIOSK was controlled by use in 4 kind(up, down, left, and right) swipe gestures In order to verify the performance of the Exhibition contents applying the Kinect swipe gesture depth information and RGB image were used. And, verified the performance of the swipe gesture recognition and exhibition contents operations.
Shift invariant properties of the dual-tree complex wavelet transform

We discuss the shift invariant properties of a new implementation of the discrete wavelet transform, which employs a dual-tree of wavelet filters to obtain the real and imaginary parts of complex wavelet coefficients. This introduces limited redundancy (2/sup m/:1 for m-dimensional signals) and allows the transform to provide approximate shift invariance and directionally selective filters (properties lacking in the traditional wavelet transform) while preserving the usual properties of perfect reconstruction and computational efficiency with good well-balanced frequency responses.
Communicative Language Teaching: Possibilities and Problems.

This paper investigates the teaching of English at undergraduate colleges in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India in the backdrop of Andhra Pradesh English Lecturers’ Retraining Program. The program was jointly sponsored and conducted by the Directorate of Collegiate Education, Government of AP and the US State Department English Language Fellow Program. The main aim of the program was to update the teaching skills of English teachers of undergraduate colleges in the State. The program trained teachers to adopt Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) principles so as to enhance English language skills of their students. The paper attempts to identify the possibilities and problems in the implementation of CLT principles and techniques in these colleges. The results indicate that teachers should follow more learner centered ways in their teaching of English.
The C-Type Lectin Receptor MCL Mediates Vaccine-Induced Immunity against Infection with Blastomyces dermatitidis

ABSTRACT C-type lectin receptors (CLRs) are essential in shaping the immune response to fungal pathogens. Vaccine-induced resistance requires Dectin-2 to promote differentiation of antifungal Th1 and Th17 cells. Since Dectin-2 and MCL heterodimerize and both CLRs use FcRγ as the signaling adaptor, we investigated the role of MCL in vaccine immunity to the fungal pathogen Blastomyces dermatitidis. MCL−/− mice showed impaired vaccine resistance against B. dermatitidis infection compared to that of wild-type animals. The lack of resistance correlated with the reduced recruitment of Th17 cells to the lung upon recall following experimental challenge and impaired interleukin-17 (IL-17) production by vaccine antigen-stimulated splenocytes in vitro. Soluble MCL fusion protein recognized and bound a water-soluble ligand from the cell wall of vaccine yeast, but the addition of soluble Dectin-2 fusion protein did not augment ligand recognition by MCL. Taken together, our data indicate that MCL regulates the development of vaccine-induced Th17 cells and protective immunity against lethal experimental infection with B. dermatitidis.
Local smoke-free policy development in Santa Fe, Argentina

Objective To describe the process of approval and implementation of a comprehensive smoke-free law in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, between 2005 and 2009. Methods Review of the Santa Fe smoke-free legislation, articles published in local newspapers and documentation on two lawsuits filed against the law, and interviews with key individuals in Santa Fe. Results Efforts to implement smoke-free policies in Santa Fe began during the 1990s without success, and resumed in 2005 when the provincial Legislature approved the first 100% smoke-free subnational law in Argentina. There was no strong opposition during the discussions within the legislature. As in other parts of the world, pro-tobacco industry interests attempted to block the implementation of the law using well known strategies. These efforts included a controversy media campaign set up, the creation of a hospitality industry association and a virtual smokers' rights group, the introduction of a counterproposal seeking modification of the law, the challenge of the law in the Supreme Court, and the proposal of a weak national bill that would ‘conflict’ with the subnational law. Tobacco control advocates sought media attention as a strategy to protect the law. Conclusions Santa Fe is the first subnational jurisdiction in Latin America to have enacted a comprehensive smoke-free policy following the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. After 3 years of implementation, pro-tobacco industry forces failed to undermine the law. Other subnational jurisdictions in Argentina, as well as in Mexico and Brazil are following the Santa Fe example.
A Simple Style Goods Inventory Model

A Style Goods Inventory Model is presented as a dynamic inventory problem with unknown demand. Assumptions are introduced which allow the model to be solved as a dynamic programming problem with one state variable instead of two. Application of the model is made through the development of a particular empirical demand estimating process. Further, the model is defined such that the results can be applied to a class of items with dissimilar costs and demand levels.
The three dimensions of responsiveness

Purpose – The concept of responsiveness has been widely discussed, yet so far most of this discussion has remained qualitative in nature. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual model identifying the key factors that determine the responsiveness of a supply chain system, which – once quantified – provide a unique profile of each supply chain setting towards the appropriate supply chain strategy.Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews existing contributions and synthesises these into a conceptual model of responsiveness. The model is applied using three case studies from the automotive and electronics industry. The case research is based on value stream mapping, semi‐structured interviews, and site visits.Findings – Three key findings could be established: first, the concept of responsiveness has a simple logic that aligns itself to a wide range of manufacturing strategies. However, underlying this remit is a complex interaction of an array of key variables, and it was found that previ.
Berkshire Hathaway, General Re, and Franchise Risk

This article illustrates how the modern value-investing framework can be employed to more effectively value insurance companies. By utilizing the case study of Berkshire Hathaway's 1998 purchase of General Reinsurance Corporation, this article demonstrates how to more effectively construct a valuation, and specifically how to better consider the unique and intangible aspects of insurance company valuation. At approximately $22 billion General Re was Berkshire Hathaway's largest acquisition, and given the losses sustained post-buyout, it was also the firm's most troubled. Berkshire Hathaway's experience here is no mark against the unparalleled expertise of its chairman, investor Warren Buffett, but rather illustrates the unpredictability and volatility of insurance company valuation.
Middle Devonian liverwort herbivory and antiherbivore defence.

To test the extent of herbivory in early terrestrial ecosystems, we examined compression-impression specimens of the late Middle Devonian liverwort Metzgeriothallus sharonae, from the Catskill Delta deposit of eastern New York state. Shale fragments of field-collected specimens were processed by applying liquid nitrocellulose on exposed surfaces. After drying, the film coatings were lifted off and mounted on microscope slides for photography. Unprocessed fragments were photographed under cedarwood oil for enhanced contrast. An extensive repertoire of arthropodan-mediated herbivory was documented, representing three functional feeding groups and nine subordinate plant-arthropod damage types (DTs). The herbivory is the earliest occurrence of external foliage-feeding and galling in the terrestrial fossil record. Our evidence indicates that thallus oil body cells, similar to the terpenoid-containing oil bodies of modern liverworts, were probably involved in the chemical defence of M. sharonae against arthropod herbivores. Based on damage patterns of terrestrial plants and an accompanying but sparse body-fossil record, Devonian arthropodan herbivores were significantly smaller compared to those of the later Palaeozoic. These data collectively suggest that a broad spectrum herbivory may have had a more important role in early terrestrial ecosystems than previously thought.
Critical steps in fluoroquinolones and carbapenems prescriptions: results from a prospective clinical audit

Antibiotic misuse is associated with emergence of resistance and high expenditures. Fluoroquinolones (FQ) and carbapenems (CP) are drugs with considerable potential of resistance development and its disseminated use is a concern. We undertook a prospective clinical audit to evaluate prescriptions of FQ and CP in a multistep process. Each prescription was unfolded in the following steps: indication for antimicrobial therapy; adequacy of initial prescription, dosage and route; previous cultures; and parenteral–oral transition. There was no antibiotics indication in 8.9% of FQ and 1.5% of CP group (p = 0.07). In CP 25.8% of initial schemes were inappropriate (21% in FQ). Lack of switch to oral therapy comprised 25% of monthly costs of FQ. Inadequacy in initial choice accounted for 13.6% of CP expenses. We concluded that, in spite of infection control restrictive policies, inappropriateness of antibiotic usage is worrisome. Clinical audit in a multistep approach may identify possible flaws in this process.
Hepatic Flavin-Containing Monooxygenase Gene Regulation in Different Mouse Inflammation Models

The objective of the study was to investigate the regulation of hepatic flavin-containing monooxygenases (Fmo) Fmo1, Fmo3, Fmo4, and Fmo5 in three different mouse models of inflammation, including treatment with Citrobacter rodentium, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and dextran sulfate sodium (DSS). Quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to evaluate the steady-state mRNA levels for the various Fmo isoforms in these mouse models of inflammation during different treatment time courses. Fmo3 mRNA was most significantly down-regulated in C. rodentium-treated female mice. Fmo1, Fmo3, and Fmo5 mRNAs were also found to be down-regulated in LPS models of inflammation. The significant down-regulation of hepatic FMO3 protein during C. rodentium treatment was confirmed with Western blot analysis of liver microsomes from treated animals. Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 is known to be responsible for LPS signaling in association with several proteins. To investigate whether TLR4 was responsible for regulation of Fmo genes in both LPS and C. rodentium animal models, Fmo mRNA levels in female wild-type (C3H/HeOuJ) and TLR4 mutant (C3H/HeJ) mice were compared in both inflammatory models by real-time RT-PCR. The results showed that Fmo3 down-regulation during C. rodentium infection is independent of TLR4. Whereas TLR4 is likely to play only a partial role in Fmo1 gene regulation in LPS-treated animals, our results show that the down-regulation of Fmo3 and Fmo5 in this model is TLR4-dependent. Unlike cytochrome P450 regulation measured in the same mouse strains, Fmo3 expression was largely refractory to down-regulation in the DSS model of inflammatory colitis.