Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Supply and Demand for Cereals in Pakistan, 2010-2030

Since the year 2000, Pakistanâ€™s population has been growing at a rate that is higher than domestic food grain production. In view of the importance of wheat and rice in the human diet in Pakistan, it is extremely important to estimate the future demand and supply of both cereals. This paper presents the projections of future demand and supply for these two main cereals for 2010, 2015, 2020, 2025, and 2030.
High-Resolution Cardiovascular MRI by Integrating Parallel Imaging With Low-Rank and Sparse Modeling

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has long been recognized as a powerful tool for cardiovascular imaging because of its unique potential to measure blood flow, cardiac wall motion, and tissue properties jointly. However, many clinical applications of cardiac MRI have been limited by low imaging speed. In this paper, we present a novel method to accelerate cardiovascular MRI through the integration of parallel imaging, low-rank modeling, and sparse modeling. This method consists of a novel image model and specialized data acquisition. Of particular novelty is the proposed low-rank model component, which is specially adapted to the particular low-rank structure of cardiovascular signals. Simulations and in vivo experiments were performed to evaluate the method, as well as an analysis of the low-rank structure of a numerical cardiovascular phantom. Cardiac imaging experiments were carried out on both human and rat subjects without the use of ECG or respiratory gating and without breath holds. The proposed method reconstructed 2-D human cardiac images up to 22 fps and 1.0 mm × 1.0 mm spatial resolution and 3-D rat cardiac images at 67 fps and 0.65 mm × 0.65 mm × 0.31 mm spatial resolution. These capabilities will enhance the practical utility of cardiovascular MRI.
Sensor-less hill-assist using traction control in electric LCV

This paper describes the implementation of sensor-less hill-assist control system in electric Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV). In manual transmission vehicles without hill-assist, the restart at the slope can be done through skilled clutch control. For the vehicles not having clutch (auto transmission or fixed gear electric vehicles), the restart of the vehicle at hill is not possible with driver skills alone and needs the hill-assist functionality. It involves the costlier sensors and control mechanism for its implementation. The work aimed at implementing hill-assist functionality without the use of gradient sensor and brake actuators. In the absence of brake actuators the holding torque is provided by the traction motor. The PID controller with parameterized vehicle model in loop calculates the holding torque required. The precise vehicle model for the controller built through vehicle tests. As the PID gains are sensitive to the hill slope and vehicle load, they are indirectly estimated through controlled rollback and precise model of the vehicle implemented in vehicle controller. The estimation slope helps to change the PID parameters online to reduce the speed error as quickly as possible. The modeling, simulation of the hill-assist algorithm is presented. The algorithm is embedded with the existing traction control module of the electric LCV. Test results of the hill-assist operation are presented on comparison with the simulation results.
Experimental research on air-gap partial discharge properties in transformer oil-paper insulation

Partial discharge in oil-paper insulation is one of the main reasons for aging and disruption of the power transformer. Understanding the emergence of partial discharge and the gas variation law in time can determine the development of internal latent fault. Therefore, based on the air-gap discharge model, which is the primary discharge type, partial discharge characteristics and gas generation law were researched. The experimental results show that: Sk with Ku of Hη(φ) and Sk of Hqmax(φ) ascend as time rises; air-gap partial discharge mainly produces H2, CH4 as well as CO and the absolute gas generation rate of main gases show a downward trend; combined with fuzzy diagnosis, the relationship between partial discharge and dissolved gas in oil was analyzed, revealing that the code of the approved three-ratio method correlated to air-gap partial discharge most is “110”.
Open for Entrepreneurship: How Open Innovation Can Foster New Venture Creation

This paper explores how an open approach to new venture creation — purposefully managing knowledge flows across the venture’s organizational boundary — can be beneficial for start-up entrepreneurs. Our inductive case study, of both failure and success, identifies the key attributes of this open approach and how they affect the start-ups’ short-term survival. We find that ecosystem collaboration, user involvement, and an open environment directly influence new venture survival, and that their effects were moderated by the entrepreneurs’ open mindset. These findings carry a number of implications for entrepreneurship and innovation research and practice, providing some attention points for researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers interested in developing successful new ventures.
Endobronchial ultrasound for airway stent selection.

T racheobronchial airway stenting has been an established and effective tool for central airway obstruction for many years. Appropriate size selection for airway stents can be challenging and varies between different types of stents. Accurate sizing is essential to reduce complications, especially migration, as some stent series report up to a 28% migration rate. There is no definitive technique for accurately selecting stent diameter and length. Current techniques for estimating the correct stent diameter include measurements from computed tomographic (CT) scans, use of airway balloons of standard sizes, relationship relative to flexible or rigid scope diameter, or use of an airway stent sizing device. This can be particularly challenging in irregular-shaped airways or in tracheobronchial malacia. Although CT scans do provide additional information regarding lung and mediastinal anatomy, there may be significant time intervals between imaging and the airway stent procedure, inadequate assessment of dynamic airway changes, or the need to avoid recurrent radiation in younger patients with nonmalignant disease. Although radial-probe endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) predated convex-probe EBUS by many years, the clinical utility and prevalence of convex-probe EBUS quickly surpassed that of radial probe. Radial-probe EBUS has been used for numerous applications, including assessment of mediastinal structures, guidance for transbronchial needle aspiration, determination of malignant airway wall invasion, and selection of appropriate therapeutic modality. More recently, it has also been used for the characterization and localization of peripheral pulmonary nodules. In the April 2011 issue of the Journal of Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology, Nobuyama et al reported their experience with a novel use of radial-probe EBUS to facilitate selection of airway stent length and diameter, in an effort to overcome some of the limitations in current alternative stent sizing techniques. Although successful stent placement was not the intent of their study, they attempted to correlate diameter measurements between radial EBUS with those made using CT scans at 212 anatomic sites along malignant and benign airway stenoses in 31 patients. They demonstrated significant correlation in both malignant (n=160 sites) and benign (n=52 sites) disease and radial EBUS and CT correlation at normal anatomic sites. The investigators reported that radial EBUS resulted in a change in stent size selection in 8 of the 31 patients. This radial EBUS approach does offer theoretical advantages over traditional techniques. These include the ability to measure both length and diameter, real-time assessment, and more importantly allowing measurement
Market Underestimation of the Implications of R&D Increases for Future Earnings: The US Evidence

This study shows that future abnormal returns to R&D increases are concentrated around subsequent earnings announcements. It further shows that market expectations, implied from stock prices, underestimate the future earnings benefits of increase in R&D. Finally, it documents that in their forecasts of future earnings, security analysts also underestimate the effect of increase in R&D spending. These results suggest that future abnormal returns following R&D increases are at least in part due to the market’s underestimation of the earnings benefits of R&D increases. The finding in this study contributes to the longstanding debate in accounting on whether the U.S GAAP requirement to expense R&D costs when incurred causes investors to underestimate the benefits of R&D.
Central obesity and high blood pressure in pediatric patients with atopic dermatitis.

IMPORTANCE Atopic dermatitis (AD) is associated with multiple potential risk factors for obesity and high blood pressure (BP), including chronic inflammation, sleep disturbance, and mental health comorbidity. Previous studies found associations between general obesity and AD. However, it is unknown whether AD is associated with central obesity and/or high BP. OBJECTIVES To determine whether central obesity and high BP are increased in pediatric AD. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This case-control study performed in multicenter pediatric dermatology practices in the United States recruited 132 children (age range, 4-17 years) with active moderate to severe AD and 143 healthy controls from April 1, 2009, through December 31, 2012. EXPOSURES Diagnosis and severity of AD assessed by a pediatric dermatologist. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Body mass index, waist circumference, waist to height ratio, systolic BP, and diastolic BP. RESULTS Moderate to severe AD was associated with body mass index for age and sex of 97th percentile or greater (logistic regression; odds ratio [OR], 2.64; 95% CI, 1.15-6.06), International Obesity Task Force obesity cutoffs (OR, 2.38; 95% CI, 1.06-5.34), waist circumference in the 85th percentile or greater (OR, 3.92; 95% CI, 1.50-10.26), and waist to height ratio of 0.5 or greater (OR, 2.22; 95% CI, 1.10-4.50). Atopic dermatitis was associated with higher BP for age, sex, and height percentiles (systolic BP: OR, 2.94; 95% CI, 1.04-8.36; diastolic BP: OR, 3.68; 95% CI, 1.19-11.37), particularly a systolic BP in the 90th percentile or higher (OR, 2.06; 95% CI, 1.09-3.90), in multivariate models that controlled for demographics, body mass index and waist circumference percentiles, and history of using prednisone or cyclosporine. Atopic dermatitis was associated with higher systolic BP in Hispanics/Latinos (general linear model; β, .23; 95% CI, .04-.43) and Asians (β, .16; 95% CI, .03-.30). Severe to very severe AD was associated with systolic BP in the 90th percentile or higher (adjusted OR, 3.14; 95% CI, 1.13-8.70). Atopic dermatitis was associated with a family history of hypertension (adjusted OR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.14-3.10) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (adjusted OR, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.02-2.68) but not obesity or hyperlipidemia. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Moderate to severe pediatric AD may be associated with central obesity and increased systolic BP.
A new analytical model for highway inter-vehicle communication systems

In Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs), vehicles along highways can be grouped into clusters. The design of VANET clusters (i.e., size and geographical span) depends on the packet collision in MAC layer, the wireless channel conditions in PHY layer, and the mobility of the vehicles. Existing works investigated these effects separately. In this paper, we present a comprehensive analysis that combines these three important factors into one model. In particular, we model an unsaturated VANET cluster with a Markov chain by introducing an idle state. The wireless channel fading and vehicle mobility are integrated by explicitly deriving the joint distribution of inter-vehicle distances. Closed-form expressions of network performance measures, i.e., packet loss probability and system throughput, are derived. The proposed analytic model, validated by simulations, is able to accurately characterize VANET performance. Our model can be applied to the design of VANET clusters, and reveals a number of insights that provide guidelines for VANETs design and management.
Biochemical nutritional profile of liver cirrhosis patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

CONTEXT Liver cirrhosis patients with hepatocellular carcinoma present nutritional alterations and metabolic disorders that negatively impact the prognosis. OBJECTIVE The objective is to identify alterations in the metabolism of macro and micronutrients among liver cirrhosis patients with and without hepatocellular carcinoma and their relation to the Child-Turcote-Pugh score and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging. METHODS Analytical transversal study, with 31 hepatocellular carcinoma patients and 48 liver cirrhosis patients. Laboratorial exams were carried out. The existence of an association between the biochemical parameters and the disease severity as well as the presence of hepatocellular carcinoma was assessed. RESULTS The metabolic-nutritional profile of liver cirrhosis patients caused by the hepatitis C virus and hepatocellular carcinoma showed alterations, specifically the lipid (total cholesterol, HDL and triglycerides), protein (albumin, creatinine and uric acid), iron (transferrin, iron and ferritin saturation), hematocrit and hemoglobin, zinc and B12 vitamin profiles. There is a relation between nutritional biochemical markers and the Child-Turcote-Pugh, as well as Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging. CONCLUSIONS Considering the existence of alterations in the metabolism of nutrients in liver cirrhosis patients with and without hepatocellular carcinoma, and also that conventional nutritional assessment methods present limitations for this population, the biochemical laboratorial exams are valid to complement the diagnosis of the nutritional state in a quick and practical manner.
Is Banks' Cost of Equity Capital Different Across Countries? Evidence from the G10 Countries Major Banks

One of the major objectives of the 1988 Basel Accord was that of leveling the international playing field. While evaluating the contribution of the Accord remains a very difficult task because of the many factors involved, it is clear that relevant cross-country differences in the cost of equity capital for internationally active banks would significantly undermine the effectiveness of the current, and future evolvement of the Accord in pursuing this goal. This paper investigates this issue by comparing the cost of tier 1 capital of major banks from twelve countries over the 1993-2001 period. A new methodology based on the use of earnings' forecasts rather than historical earnings has been used to estimate banks' cost of equity. Three main results emerge from the empirical analysis. First, the estimated G-10 countries' major banks' average costs of equity have been decreasing during the nine years period from 1993 to 2001. Second, the differences between G-10 countries' average major banks' costs of equity have been steadily decreasing during the five years period from 1996 to 2001. Finally, multivariate regression results show that the individual banks' estimated costs of equity are strongly related to both microeconomic and macroeconomic variables. These results have relevant policy implications as far as the capital adequacy framework, currently undergoing a major reform process, is concerned.
Dimensions of Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy and Firm Performance

Creating a highly performing Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector is the central focus of many developing countries, but contrary to the expectations, most of SMEs in South Asia face many constraints such as policy inertia, misplaced government priorities, lack of infrastructure facilities, inappropriate technology, and lack of information and lags clearly behind their western counterparts. This situation in volatile environmental conditions has mounted much pressure on the key human agency of the entities and bottlenecked the flow of contribution to the economies. In the face of such constraints, efficacious and resilient entrepreneurs are more likely to ensure their survival amid tremendous rate of failures communal to these countries. It is therefore crucial to understand how more efficacious SME entrepreneurs perform in their operations. This paper investigates the effect of the dimensions of entrepreneurial self-efficacy on the performance of SME entrepreneurs. The study in a sample of 350 small scale hotel and restaurants in Sri Lankan SME sector proved good fit of the proposed structural equation model to the observed data confirming that more efficacious entrepreneurs are highly performing and bouncing back in constrained environments.
Carrier Detection of Partial Hypoxanthine-Guanine Phosphoribosyltransferase Deficiency by Analysis with BamHI Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms and Oligonucleotide Probes

ABSTRACT: Hyperuricemic nephropathy can progress to the permanent renal damage even in infancy in partial hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) deficiency. We have encountered two unrelated patients with partial HPRT deficiency, and found that early detection of the disease and long-term management for hyperuricemia were necessary to prevent renal impairment. The HPRT gene is situated in the q26-27 region of the long arm of the X-chromosome, and females with mutant HPRT alleles are heterozygous for the disease, and they develop gout after menopause. We undertook the investigation of carriers in the two patients' families, using BamHI restriction fragment length polymorphisms and oligonucleotide probes that recognized the specific mutations within the HPRT gene. We also demonstrated that the allele frequencies of BamHI restriction fragment length polymorphisms in 62 Japanese females were 0.36 for the 22-kb/25-kb allele, 0.41 for the 12-kb/25-kb allele, and 0.23 for the 22- kb/18-kb allele, resulting in a heterozygous state in 66% of females.
Rpa12p, a conserved RNA polymerase I subunit with two functional domains

Rpa12p is a subunit of RNA polymerase I formed of two zinc‐binding domains. The N‐terminal zinc region (positions 1–60) is poorly conserved from yeast to man. The C‐terminal domain contains an invariant Q.RSADE. T.F motif shared with the TFIIS elongation factor of RNA polymerase II and its archaeal counterpart. Deletions removing the N‐terminal domain fail to grow at 34°C, are sensitive to nucleotide‐depleting drugs and become lethal in rpa14‐Δ mutants lacking the non‐essential RNA polymerase I subunit Rpa14p. They also strongly alter the immunofluorescent properties of RNA polymerase I in the nucleolus. Finally, they prevent the binding of Rpa12p to immunopurified polymerase I and impair a specific two‐hybrid interaction with the second largest subunit. In all these respects, N‐terminal deletions behave like full deletions. In contrast, C‐terminal deletions retaining only the first N‐terminal 60 amino acids are indistinguishable from wild type. Thus, the N‐terminal zinc domain of Rpa12p determines its anchoring to RNA polymerase I and is the only critical part of that subunit in vivo.
Revenue Diversification: Fiscal Illusion or Flexible Financial Management

This study examines the trends in revenue diversification in approximately 240 suburban municipalities in the Chicago metropolitan region between 1988 and 1997. It then tests a model of revenue diversification's impact on tax effort using data from 1993 to 1997, and separated by home rule and non-home rule municipalities. Trends show that suburbs with higher increases in diversification tend to be home rule, younger, less residential, experiencing more growth, less reliant on property taxes, and more reliant on sales taxes. Model estimates show that communities with more revenue diversification have lower tax effort when controlling for other determinants of tax effort, and this effect is stronger in non-home rule municipalities.
An Empirical Analysis of Useful Financial Ratios

* Financial ratios have played an important part in evaluating the performance and financial condition of an entity. Over the years, empirical studies have repeatedly demonstrated the usefulness of financial ratios. For example, financially-distressed firms can be separated from the non-failed firms in the year before the declaration of bankruptcy at an accuracy rate of better than 90% by examining financial ratios [1]. In determining bond ratings, when financial ratios were the only variables used, the resulting ratings were virtually identical with institutional ratings [21]. There is one recurring question with the use of financial ratios: which ratios, among the hundreds that can be computed easily from the available financial data, should be analyzed to obtain the information for the task at hand? We hope here to help resolve the problem of ratio selection by examining ratios found useful in recent empirical studies, reconciling the differences in the ones found useful in these studies, and categorizing them by seven factors suggested in the literature. There are many useful ratios reported in the literature. Discrimination is needed to identify a limited set of financial ratios. Naturally, different researchers often include different ratios. Consequently, results on the usefulness of specific ratios vary. Exhibit 1 summarizes a number of such studies and the ratios they employed. The 26 studies analyze more than 100 financial items, of which 65 are accounting ratios. Forty-one of these are considered useful and/or are used in the final analysis by one or more of the researchers. Given such a heterogeneous set of useful financial ratios, the decision-maker has to be at a loss in selecting which ratios to use for the task at hand. Conceivably, 41 ratios cannot all be significant or equally important in a multi-ratio model. The decision-maker may hesitate to omit a ratio if it has been found useful in one or more of the empirical studies. Yet, it is impossible to include most of the useful ratios found in the literature. Which ratios, then, should be deleted, and which should be included? Should the results from only one study, the results from a combination of studies, or the results from all the studies be used? If only one study is to be used, which one should it be?
Intérêts spécifiques et formation de l'opinion politique des Suissesses (1999‐2005)

L’existence “d’interets specifiques” qu’on pourrait naturellement attribuer a la categorie des femmes est amplement debattue dans la litterature contemporaine. Ainsi, selon certains, les femmes en tant que categorie sociodemographique seraient traditionnellement plus portees a s’interesser a certains sujets (l’enfance, la parite entre les sexes, l’avortement, etc.) qu’a d’autres. Or, bien que la litterature sur la definition des interets des femmes soit assez etoffee, peu d’etudes essaient, de mesurer leurs effets sur le comportement politique des citoyennes. Ainsi, aucune analyse n’a ete proposee jusqu’a maintenant pour mesurer si la presence d’enjeux particulierement parlants pour les citoyennes augmente leur engagement intellectuel (notamment dans des enjeux de democratie directe). A travers l’analyse des votations populaires pour la periode 1999–2005 (VOX), nous nous proposons de voir dans quelle mesure le niveau d’interet specifique qui caracterise l’objet soumis au vote influence les strategies cognitives que les femmes activent lors du processus de formation de l’opinion. En partant de modeles dualistes developpes en psychologie cognitive, nos analyses montrent que les citoyennes sont davantage pretes que les hommes a activer des strategies cognitives plus exigeantes d’un point de vue intellectuel lorsque le projet soumis au vote les touche de pres.