Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Drivers of agricultural profitability in the USA

Purpose - The aim of this study is to use a financial approach based on the Du Pont expansion to investigate the impact of demographics, specialization, tenure, vertical integration, farm type, and regional location on the three levers of performance (ROE) – namely, net profit margins, asset turnover ratio, and asset-to-equity ratio. Design/methodology/approach - This research uses a system of equations in conjunction with 1996-2009 farm-level data from the US Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) to evaluate the factors driving farm-level profitability, namely, net profit margins, asset turnover ratio, and asset-to-equity ratio. The methodology employed in this study corrects heterogeneity and uses repeated cross-section estimation procedure to estimate the empirical models. Findings - The study finds that key drivers of net profit margins are operator education, farm size and typology, specialization, and level of government payments. Key factors affecting the asset turnover ratio component of the Du Pont model include asset turnover ratio is driven by operator age, contracting, specialization, and receiving government payments. Finally, key factors affecting asset-to-equity ratio component of the Du Pont model are farm size, farm typology, contracting, and specialization drive asset-to-equity ratio. Originality/value - Existing research does not examine the factors affecting returns to equity in faring at the farm-level. Specifically, a micro-level analysis of American farm's future structure and financial performance that accounts for the spatial and inter-temporal dimensions of profitability has never been conducted.
The Price Impacts of Open Market Repurchase Trades

This paper analyzes a database of 60,000p individual repurchase trades from the Toronto Stock Exchange. The average intraday price impact of repurchase trades is negative, since, because of execution rules, 60% are seller-initiated. Prices fall less following repurchase than matched non-repurchase trades-there is an abnormal price impact. We find evidence consistent with two hypotheses: repurchases provide price support, and the market learns that the shares are undervalued. Consistent with the latter, we find that repurchasing companies have superior timing. Share prices show abnormal losses (gains) before (after) the repurchase trades. We find no significant market reaction to the mandatory public disclosure of the trade details. Copyright 2006 The Authors Journal compilation (c) 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Thoracoscopy in the cat

Practical relevance: Thoracoscopy provides a minimally invasive means of diagnosis and offers many important benefits when compared with open thoracotomy. Clinical challenges: The expense of the equipment, the steep learning curve required to gain proficiency in thoracoscopic surgery, and the limitations imposed by the feline thoracic cavity, in terms of working and viewing space, are some of the challenges that have limited its uptake to date. However, it is envisaged that it will increase as a technique in feline medicine, in much the same way as laparoscopy has. Audience: This article is directed at veterinarians currently performing open thoracic surgery and the associated aftercare who concurrently are adept at endoscopic surgery. Evidence base: The article draws on the small body of literature that is available on thoracoscopy in cats, which includes reports of its use for evaluation and management of undiagnosed pleural effusion, lung lobe torsion, persistent right aortic arch and chylothorax.
Construction and updating of property price index series: The case of segmented markets in Stockholm

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to construct a hedonic property price index in the segmented housing market.Design/methodology/approach – Three different research questions are investigated. The first considers how to identify separate local housing markets, with the use of a regression‐tree approach, and the second concerns when it is possible to update a price index, with a recursive regression approach. Finally, the question about seasonal adjustment is investigated.Findings – Overall, the hedonic approach is the best method to use. Moreover, the County of Stockholm is not one market in the sense that the market can be represented by only one property price index. It can be best described as a number of different sub‐markets where the property prices grow differently. The results suggest that there exist at least five different price indexes in the County of Stockholm. The results also support that recursive regressions are two appropriate methods to answer the research questions. Here, the empi.
Fate of retinoic acid–activated embryonic cell lineages

Retinoic acid (RA), a vitamin A derivative, is synthesized by specific cell populations and acts as a diffusible embryonic signal activating ligand‐inducible transcription factors, the RA receptors (RARs). RA‐activatable transgenic systems have revealed many discrete, transient sites of RA action during development. However, there has been no attempt to permanently label the RA‐activated cell lineages during mouse ontogenesis. We describe the characterization of a RA‐activatable Cre transgene, which through crosses with a conditional reporter strain (the ROSA26R lacZ reporter), leads to a stable labeling of the cell populations experiencing RA signaling during embryogenesis. RA response‐element (RARE) ‐driven Cre activity mimics at early stages the known activity of the corresponding RARE‐lacZ transgene (Rossant et al., 1991 ). Stable labeling of the Cre‐excised cell populations allows to trace the distribution of the RA‐activated cell lineages at later stages. These are described in relationship with current models of RA activity in various developmental systems, including the embryonic caudal region, limb buds, hindbrain, sensory organs, and heart. Developmental Dynamics 239:3260–3274, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Uninterrupted Dabigatran versus Warfarin for Ablation in Atrial Fibrillation

BACKGROUND Catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation is typically performed with uninterrupted anticoagulation with warfarin or interrupted non–vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant therapy. Uninterrupted anticoagulation with a non–vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant, such as dabigatran, may be safer; however, controlled data are lacking. We investigated the safety of uninterrupted dabigatran versus warfarin in patients undergoing ablation of atrial fibrillation. METHODS In this randomized, open‐label, multicenter, controlled trial with blinded adjudicated end‐point assessments, we randomly assigned patients scheduled for catheter ablation of paroxysmal or persistent atrial fibrillation to receive either dabigatran (150 mg twice daily) or warfarin (target international normalized ratio, 2.0 to 3.0). Ablation was performed after 4 to 8 weeks of uninterrupted anticoagulation, which was continued during and for 8 weeks after ablation. The primary end point was the incidence of major bleeding events during and up to 8 weeks after ablation; secondary end points included thromboembolic and other bleeding events. RESULTS The trial enrolled 704 patients across 104 sites; 635 patients underwent ablation. Baseline characteristics were balanced between treatment groups. The incidence of major bleeding events during and up to 8 weeks after ablation was lower with dabigatran than with warfarin (5 patients [1.6%] vs. 22 patients [6.9%]; absolute risk difference, ‐5.3 percentage points; 95% confidence interval, ‐8.4 to ‐2.2; P<0.001). Dabigatran was associated with fewer periprocedural pericardial tamponades and groin hematomas than warfarin. The two treatment groups had a similar incidence of minor bleeding events. One thromboembolic event occurred in the warfarin group. CONCLUSIONS In patients undergoing ablation for atrial fibrillation, anticoagulation with uninterrupted dabigatran was associated with fewer bleeding complications than uninterrupted warfarin. (Funded by Boehringer Ingelheim; RE‐CIRCUIT ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02348723.)
Directional Local Mean Difference Level Set method with Reinforcement Learning

Directional Local Mean Difference Level Set method (DLMD-LS) is the segmentation method for a urinary bladder in an MR sequence used for planning the treatment of a cervical cancer by radiation. The blurred boundary of a bladder is segmented based on the judgment of a radiologist and can be differed among radiologists. In this paper, DLMD-LS with Reinforcement Learning (RL) is proposed. It is an interactive system, where the parameter is adjusted to reflect the individual judgment. The weighted average method is used to update the distance that the boundary will be expanded, after the level set contour finishes evolving. The experiment on 30 MR slices demonstrated that DLMD-LS with RL had high segmentation accuracy and was adaptable to the new radiologist. It was also robust to outliers.
How economic, humanitarian, and religious concerns shape European attitudes toward asylum seekers

A consensus in Europe about asylum seekers Violent conflicts between groups often generate large numbers of noncombatant refugees. Bansak et al. surveyed western European attitudes toward such asylum seekers. They found that voters favor applicants who will contribute to the recipient country's economy, who have suffered severe physical or mental distress rather than economic hardship, and who are Christian rather than Muslim. These preferences are similar across countries and independent of the voters' personal characteristics. Science, this issue p. 217 Choices about which refugees to host are the same for the rich and poor, old and young, and Nordic and Mediterranean. What types of asylum seekers are Europeans willing to accept? We conducted a conjoint experiment asking 18,000 eligible voters in 15 European countries to evaluate 180,000 profiles of asylum seekers that randomly varied on nine attributes. Asylum seekers who have higher employability, have more consistent asylum testimonies and severe vulnerabilities, and are Christian rather than Muslim received the greatest public support. These results suggest that public preferences over asylum seekers are shaped by sociotropic evaluations of their potential economic contributions, humanitarian concerns about the deservingness of their claims, and anti-Muslim bias. These preferences are similar across respondents of different ages, education levels, incomes, and political ideologies, as well as across the surveyed countries. This public consensus on what types of asylum seekers to accept has important implications for theory and policy.
Macroeconomic Policy Reforms and Agriculture: Towards Equitable Growth in Zimbabwe

"This report investigates the income and equity effects of macroeconomic policy reforms in Zimbabwe, emphasizing linkages between macroeconomic policies and agricultural performance and agriculture's influence on aggregate income and its distribution. Analyses focus on reform of the foreign trade regime, public expenditure, and tax policy, along with the potential benefits of combining these structural changes with various land reform scenarios. The study uses a CGE model that provides a policy simulation laboratory in which exogenous policy changes are analyzed for their economywide income and equity effects. The report highlights the need for policy complementarities in Zimbabwe that can contribute to equitable growth. It should be of interest not only to those concerned with recent economic developments in Zimbabwe but also to those concerned with the broader issues of macroeconomic reform and its ultimate effects. " Author's Abstract
Compounds that increase cAMP prevent ischemia-reperfusion pulmonary capillary injury.

This study evaluated the physiological effects of compounds that increase adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) on changes in pulmonary capillary permeability and vascular resistance induced by ischemia-reperfusion (I-R) in isolated blood-perfused rabbit lungs. cAMP was elevated by 1) beta-adrenergic stimulation with isoproterenol (ISO, 10(-5) M), 2) post-beta-receptor stimulation of adenylate cyclase with forskolin (FSK, 10(-5) M), 3) and dibutyryl cAMP (DBcAMP, 1 mM), a cAMP analogue. Vascular permeability was assessed by determining the capillary filtration coefficient (Kf,c), and capillary pressure was measured using the double occlusion technique. The total, arterial, and venous vascular resistances were calculated from measured pulmonary arterial, venous, and capillary pressures and blood flow. Reperfusion after 2 h of ischemia significantly (P less than 0.05) increased Kf,c (from 0.115 +/- 0.028 to 0.224 +/- 0.040 ml.min-1.cmH2O-1.100 g-1). These I-R-induced changes in capillary permeability were prevented when ISO, FSK, or DBcAMP was added to the perfusate at reperfusion (0.110 +/- 0.022 and 0.103 +/- 0.021, 0.123 +/- 0.029 and 0.164 +/- 0.024, and 0.153 +/- 0.030 and 0.170 +/- 0.027 ml.min-1.cmH2O-1.100 g-1, respectively). I-R significantly increased total, arterial, and venous vascular resistances. These increases in vascular resistance were also blocked by ISO, FSK, and DBcAMP. These data suggest that beta-adrenergic stimulation, post-beta-receptor activation of adenylate cyclase, and DBcAMP prevent the changes in pulmonary vascular permeability and vascular resistances caused by I-R in isolated rabbit lungs through a mechanism involving an increase in intracellular levels of cAMP. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
1 Optical effects of charges in colloidal solutions

The optical response of charged polymeric and metallic colloids is investigated using effective medium theories for composite systems of nanoparticles. Based on the Bohren-Hunt theory for generalized Mie scattering from charged particles, an effective quasi-static dielectric function previously obtained is applied to the present study to characterize the response from the various colloidal particles. It is found that such effects are more prominent for polymeric and nonmetallic colloidal solutions in general. In addition, the effects of clustering among the colloidal particles are also studied via a fractal model available from the literature. Detailed numerical studies of the dependence of these effects on the amount of extraneous charge, as well as on the geometry and volume fraction of the colloidal particles are presented.
Structural Determinants of Allosteric Agonism and Modulation at the M4 Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor

The recently identified small molecule, 3-amino-5-chloro-6-methoxy-4-methylthieno[2,3-b]pyridine-2-carboxylic acid cyclopropylamide (LY2033298), is the first selective allosteric modulator of the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) that mediates both receptor activation and positive modulation of the endogenous agonist, acetylcholine (ACh), via the same allosteric site on the M4 mAChR. We thus utilized this novel chemical tool, as well as ACh, the bitopic (orthosteric/allosteric) agonist, McN-A-343, and the clinically efficacious M1/M4 mAChR-preferring agonist, xanomeline, in conjunction with site-directed mutagenesis of four different regions of the M4 mAChR (extracellular loops 1, 2, and 3, and transmembrane domain 7), to identify regions that govern ligand-specific modes of binding, signaling, and allosteric modulation. In the first extracellular loop (E1), we identified Ile93 and Lys95 as key residues that specifically govern the signaling efficacy of LY2033298 and its binding cooperativity with ACh, whereas Phe186 in the E2 loop was identified as a key contributor to the binding affinity of the modulator for the allosteric site, and Asp432 in the E3 loop appears to be involved in the functional (activation) cooperativity between the modulator and the endogenous agonist. In contrast, the highly conserved transmembrane domain 7 residues, Tyr439 and Tyr443, were identified as contributing to a key activation switch utilized by all classes of agonists. These results provide new insights into the existence of multiple activation switches in G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), some of which can be selectively exploited by allosteric agonists, whereas others represent global activation mechanisms for all classes of ligand.
Min-interference and connectivity-oriented partially overlapped channel assignment for multi-radio multi-channel wireless mesh networks

Partially overlapped channel assignment is commonly employed to improve the capacity of multi-radio multi-channel wireless mesh networks (MRMC-WMN), since it can obtain high frequency efficiency and reduce channel interference efficiently. In addition, high network connectivity could also improve network capacity effectively. In this paper, we propose a partially overlapped channel assignment algorithm MC-POCA which minimizes total network interference while guaranteeing the well-behaved network connectivity. The normalized interference duration is adopted for channel interference measurement, and the network connectivity factor is employed by the assignment priority which determines the order of channel assignment. Simulation results indicate the superiority of the proposed scheme in terms of the average throughput, packet loss and end-to-end delay.
Science, technology and innovation policy to sustain agricultural biotechnology in emerging economies: evidence from Mexico

This paper analyses agricultural biotechnology in emerging economies. Particularly, the case of Mexico is studied as an example of how agricultural biotechnology has evolved in these countries. A system dynamics (SD) model is developed to evaluate alternative science, technology and innovation (STI) policy scenarios of biotechnology activity in Mexico. From this analysis, it seems that cooperative and mission STI policies are more suitable for supporting and developing agricultural biotechnology. This analysis supports the idea that the presence of venture capital markets, a positive attitude among consumers for consuming genetically modified organisms (GMOs), an entrepreneurial attitude among scientist, and the development of management capabilities are core variables to advance biotechnology innovation systems (BISs) in emerging economies.
The Transversus Abdominis Plane Block, When Used as Part of a Multimodal Regimen Inclusive of Intrathecal Morphine, Does Not Improve Analgesia After Cesarean Delivery

Background and Objectives: The transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block has been shown to provide analgesia for lower abdominal wall incisions. We evaluated the efficacy of the TAP block for post-cesarean delivery (CD) patients used as a part of a multimodal regimen. Methods: Women undergoing elective CD under spinal anesthesia were randomized to receive the TAP block with ropivacaine (n = 50) or placebo (n = 50), in addition to a standard postoperative analgesic regimen inclusive of intrathecal opioids. At the end of the surgical procedure, all the patients received bilateral TAP blocks under real-time ultrasound guidance, with either 20 mL of ropivacaine 0.375% or saline, on each side. Each patient was assessed at 6, 12, 24, and 48 hrs postoperatively, and again 6 weeks after the surgical procedure. The primary outcome was the difference in visual analog scale pain scores with movement at 24 hrs postpartum. Other outcomes assessed were analgesic consumption, maternal satisfaction, and incidence of adverse effects. Results: One hundred women were recruited, and 96 completed the study. The mean (SD) visual analog scale pain scores on movement at 24 hrs were not different between the ropivacaine and placebo groups (3.4 [2.4] and 3.2 [2.2] cm, respectively, P = 0.47). The pain scores at other times, and the supplemental opioid consumption, were also similar between the 2 groups. The overall incidence of pain at 6 weeks postpartum was 8.3%. Conclusions: The TAP block, when used as part of a multimodal regimen inclusive of intrathecal morphine, does not improve the quality of post-CD analgesia.
Defective wafer detection using multiple classifiers

In a semiconductor factory, Parametric Tests (PT) are performed to check if a particular product is within a certain predefined specifications, and to detect possible process drifts as early as possible. In addition, PT results are used to decide based on Statistical Process Control (SPC) charts whether to accept or to reject a wafer1. These methods lead to stop many lots unnecessarily. In this paper, we introduce an automatic wafer classification approach based on combining learning algorithms to improve the detection rate of defective wafers. This procedure was successfully validated at PT data provided by STMicroelectronics - Rousset fab. Results show significant reduction of the number of lots stopped unnecessarily.
The Global Pension Crisis: From Gray Capitalism to Responsible Accumulation

The ageing society has profound consequences for accumulation in each state and region because pensions represent a claim on future income and output. Today's United States and United Kingdom pension crisis stems from a failing private sector with excessive costs and risk. Public provision using pay-asyou-go payroll taxes has, by contrast, proved highly cost-effective and equitable. However, aging and unequal cohorts create a need for extra resources. Retirement incomes should total 12 to 14 percent of gross domestic product if older people's relative incomes are to be maintained. Raising such a sum solely from payroll taxes would generate the unemployment seen in continental Europe. The alternative is to redistribute capital to a regional network of social funds by requiring each corporation to issue shares equivalent to 10 percent of their profits annually to those funds. The share levy does not subtract from the corporation's cash flow and therefore protects employment and investment, but it does dilute the value of shareholding each year by a small amount. The social funds would not sell their shares but would keep them to generate income for future pensions. The social funds would supply a universal second pension; they could establish criteria of socially responsible governance in their use of shareholder power, and they would be subject to expert and democratic audit.
Tax Morale and the Taming of Leviathan

An explanation for tax morale based upon a simple model of psychological costs that depend on the perceived legitimacy of public policies is introduced. It is shown that empirically observed low levels of tax evasion can be explained even for a risk-neutral taxpayer with such a model. In a discussion of aggregate tax revenue, it is argued that tax revenue as a function of tax rates may differ fundamentally from the notorious Laffer curve. It is then necessary to look at the interaction of formal and informal institutions to predict the nominal tax rates chosen by a revenue maximizer.
ALA‐PDT results in phenotypic changes and decreased cellular invasion in surviving cancer cells

The mechanisms of photodynamic therapy (PDT) have been studied on the cellular and tissue levels. However, the cellular behaviors of cancer cells survived from PDT are still not clear. This study attempted to investigate the influence of 5‐aminolevulinic acid (ALA)‐based PDT on the invasion ability as well as molecular changes in surviving cancer cells and their progeny.