Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Picturing waters: a review of Photovoice and similar participatory visual research on water governance

Seeing is one of the main sensory experiences for knowing water and for generating meanings of it. To acknowledge this, visual research methods are increasingly popular in social sciences. In this paper, research using Photovoice or similar participatory visual methods is reviewed in order to assess their potential contribution to the study of water governance. A total of 23 articles related to 20 projects on (1) water, health, and sanitation; (2) participation in water management; (3) landscapes and water spaces; and (4) domestic urban waters, were identified. They are assessed on the basis of the research's purpose, participants, visual outputs, and outcomes. Results are discussed against the three main goals stated by Photovoice's advocates: to record and reflect on communities’ strengths and concerns, to facilitate critical dialogue, and to reach policymakers. We find some evidence about participatory visual methods contribute to the first two goals. However, while most articles assert that Photovoice proved an effective tool for communicating participants’ views to a wider audience and for reaching policy makers, data and analysis on these processes are generally lacking. Documenting and reflecting on these processes are crucial issues that future visual research on water governance should address, particularly in a time when science is increasingly asked to outreach and impact on societal issues. WIREs Water 2017, 4:e1226. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1226
Bidding for the Future

This paper considers auctions in which bidders compete for an advantage in future strategic interactions. Examples include bidding for patented innovations that reduce production costs, takeover battles, and the auctioning of licenses to operate in new markets (e.g. the recent spectrum auctions). We show that when bidders have an incentive to exaggerate their private information, equilibrium bids are biased upwards as bidders try to signal via the winning bid. Signaling is most prominent in second-price auctions where equilibrium bids can be "above value," and may diverge to infinity for a strategic improvement everyone agrees is negligible. In English and first-price auctions, signaling is necessarily less extreme as the winning bidder incurs the cost of her signaling choice. Hence there is no strategic equivalence between the second-price and English auction in this independent private-information context (although revenue equivalence holds). In the English auction, the winner increases the winning bid after everyone else has dropped out. The opportunity to signal via the winning bid lowers bidders' expected payoffs and raises the seller's expected revenue, giving sellers an incentive to conceal information they may have about bidders' private valuations. Losers' profits are unaffected by the winner's attempt to signal since, in a separating equilibrium, losers can correctly infer the winner's information from the winning bid. We show that if bidders neglect the information contained in losing, i.e. a loser's curse, they may bid too high and end up winning a position they value much less ex post, a winner's curse. Finally, when bidders wish to understate their private information, a separating equilibrium need not exist. When it exists, however, signaling causes equilibrium bids to be biased downward in first-price and second-price auctions, while signaling is impossible in the English auction, which therefore yields higher revenues in this case.
Assessment of anti-factor Xa activity of enoxaparin for venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in morbidly obese surgical patients

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) can be encountered by 60% of hospitalized patients. Anticoagulants have been recommended to reduce the risk of VTE in patients with risk factors. However, no specific dosing recommendations for obese patients are provided in the current practice guidelines. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of weight-based dosing of enoxaparin for VTE prophylaxis among morbidly obese patients undergoing surgery. Methods: Adult patients were enrolled if they have a body mass index (BMI) of ≥35 kg/m2 and were scheduled for surgery. These patients were prescribed enoxaparin (0.5 mg/kg subcutaneously [SC] once daily). Peak anti-factor Xa levels were measured 4 h after the third dose of enoxaparin. The primary outcome measure was to determine whether a weight-based dosing of enoxaparin of 0.5 mg/kg produce the anticipated peak anti-Xa levels (0.2–0.6 IU/m) among obese patients undergoing surgery. Secondary outcomes include the incidence of VTE, the incidence of minor or major bleeding, and the incidence of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). Results: Fifty patients were enrolled in the study. The mean age was 53 ± 16 years, 74% of the patients were female. The mean BMI was 40.5 ± 5, and the average enoxaparin dose was 50 ± 9.8 SC daily. Nearly 88% of the patients reached the target anti-factor Xa (0.427 ± 0.17). None of the patients developed HIT or VTE. There was no incidence of major or minor bleeding. Conclusions: Weight-based enoxaparin dose led to the anticipated peak anti-Xa levels (0.2–0.6 IU/mL) in most of the morbidly obese study patients undergoing surgery without any evidence of major side effects. The weight-based dosing of enoxaparin was also effective in preventing VTE in all patients. Although these results are promising, further comparative trials are needed in the setting of morbidly obese surgical patients.
The Effects of Adapted Tango on Spatial Cognition and Disease Severity in Parkinson's Disease

ABSTRACT The authors determined effects of community-based adapted tango on spatial cognition and disease severity in Parkinson's disease (PD) while controlling for the effects of social interaction. Thirty-three individuals with mild-to-moderate PD (stage I–III) were assigned to twenty 90-min tango (n = 24) or education (n = 9) lessons over 12 weeks. Disease severity, spatial cognition, balance, and fall incidence were evaluated pre-, post-, and 10–12 weeks postintervention. The authors evaluated differences using t tests and analyses of variance. Twenty-three tango and 8 education participants finished. Tango participants improved on disease severity (p = .008), and spatial cognition (p = .021) compared with education participants. Tango participants also improved in balance (p = .038), and executive function (p = .012). Gains were maintained 10–12 weeks postintervention. Multimodal exercise with structured syllabi may improve disease severity and spatial cognition in PD.
Real-Time Modeling and Control of Electric Vehicles Charging Processes

This paper presents a method for the real-time management of electric vehicles (EVs) charging processes. The proposed method aims to limit the peak load and to increase the number of rechargeable EVs with respect to the scenario in which no coordination action is performed, while achieving given constraints on the power distribution system. The approach is based on a tight interaction between a scheduling algorithm and a power-flow evaluation procedure. The scheduling algorithm finds the best charging periods for each EV. The power flow procedure checks the achievement of electrical constraints and evaluates the operational parameters of the grid. Simulations are carried out on a real electricity distribution system of a medium-sized Italian city. The results show that the proposed approach increases the number of rechargeable EVs up to 33%. At the same time, the peak load is reduced by 25%. The scheduling algorithm requires an average of 50 ms to evaluate each charge request on an ordinary computer, therefore allowing its use in real-time conditions.
Brilinta™ (ticagrelor) Tablets: A P2Y(12) platelet inhibitor indicated to reduce the rate of thrombotic cardiovascular events in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

BRILINTA is a P2Y12 platelet inhibitor indicated to reduce the rate of thrombotic cardiovascular events in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) (unstable angina, non-ST elevation myocardial infarction, or ST elevation myocardial infarction). BRILINTA has been shown to reduce the rate of a combined end point of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke compared with clopidogrel. The difference between treatments was driven by CV death and MI with no difference in stroke. In patients treated with PCI, it also reduces the rate of stent thrombosis.
Regional determinants of entrepreneurial start-ups in a developing country

In this paper we use data from a developing country, South Africa, to empirically identify the determinants of start-up rates across different sub-national regions and in particular to investigate the role of access to finance on a regional (sub-national) level on start-ups. We find that the most important determinants of start-up rates across South Africa's magisterial districts are profit rates, educational levels, agglomeration as measured by the economic size of a district, and access to formal bank finance. Profits have by far the strongest effect on start-up rates. This, together with the insignificance of unemployment for start-ups, may imply that start-ups in South Africa are mainly opportunity-driven, as opposed to being necessity driven. It is also found that access to formal bank finance matter for regional start-up rates, which is not typical for a developing country and that market-size (agglomerations) is negatively associated with start-up rates in South Africa–an unexpected finding which may imply the existence of ‘congesting' factors such as increased competition, tougher barriers to entry, monopolistic behaviour, and a greater difficulty to be innovative and novel.
Early Phase Success and Long Run Failure of Economic Sanctions: With an Application to Iran

We develop a model of the dynamics of economic sanctions in conjunction with the response of the sanction target. We apply this model to the case of the EU and US boycott of Iranian oil. Our VAR model finds significant impacts of sanctions both on key economic variables and on the political system. These effects, however, are limited in time and occur in the first two to four years of the sanction episode only because adjustment of economic structures mitigates the economic and political impact of the sanctions.
A New Efficient Convolutional Decoder for GSM Communication Standard with Fuzzy Logic

In GSM communication, one of the aspects is the convolutional encoding of speech data , using a 16 state encoder. Since for every bit, additional v bits are transmitted, there is good scope for error detection and correction. Using state diagram at each time slot, Trellis diagrams are considered as good illustrations for the method of decoding the data and an algorithm by Viterbi is in vogue. Compared to that, the proposed technique is based on the assignment of probability values to the states at all bit timings using certain principles of fuzzy logic. By this, the length limitation of the earlier algorithm is overcome since the memory requirement is only to store the best probable fuzziness values at each time slot and hence faster and code efficient. Comparative illustrations for sample data are given. Further, the method yields the same result of the best possible data accuracy as with the trellis coding. The method has been exhaustively tested for its reliable decoding.
Biologia Plantarum Xx (x): Xxx-xxx, 20xx Transcriptome-wide Identification and Expression Analyses of Abc Transporters in Dwarf Polish Wheat under Metal Stresses

ABC transporters, which comprise one of the largest protein families, are involved in maintaining osmotic homeostasis, nutrient uptake, pathogen resistance, and metal tolerance. In this study, 30 ABC genes in dwarf polish wheat were characterized and classified into seven subfamilies (ABCA-ABCG). Among them, 24 ABC transporters were newly found in wheat. The expressions of 13 ABC genes in roots and leaves under six metal stresses were also analyzed. All these genes were differentially regulated by Cd (except ABCE2, ABCF4, and ABCF6 in roots), suggesting that these genes participate in Cd transport, sequestration, or uptake. These genes were also differentially regulated by other metals including Cu, Mg, Zn, Fe, and Ni. Results suggested that the expressions of ABC transporters in dwarf polish wheat played important roles in metal transport and detoxification.
Structure and Function of Colicin S4, a Colicin with a Duplicated Receptor-binding Domain*S⃞

Colicins are plasmid-encoded toxic proteins produced by Escherichia coli strains to kill other E. coli strains that lack the corresponding immunity protein. Colicins intrude into the host cell by exploiting existing transport, diffusion, or efflux systems. We have traced the way colicin S4 takes to execute its function and show that it interacts specifically with OmpW, OmpF, and the Tol system before it inserts its pore-forming domain into the cytoplasmic membrane. The common structural architecture of colicins comprises a translocation, a receptor-binding, and an activity domain. We have solved the crystal structure of colicin S4 to a resolution of 2.5 Å, which shows a remarkably compact domain arrangement of four independent domains, including a unique domain duplication of the receptor-binding domain. Finally, we have determined the residues responsible for binding to the receptor OmpW by mutating exposed charged residues in one or both receptor-binding domains.
Brazil's Long-Term Growth Performance - Trying to Explain the Puzzle

Purpose - This paper seeks to assess Brazil's growth performance from a long-term perspective. Brazil's growth performance over the past 25 years has been lackluster, and various hypotheses have been advanced to explain Brazil's disappointing growth record. Design/methodology/approach - In contrast with the existing literature, the paper uses cross-country and panel estimation techniques to analyze Brazil's growth record, building on the vast empirical literature on growth and its long-term determinants. It examines the extent to which fundamental factors found to be related to growth in the cross-section help to explain Brazil's growth performance during 1960-2000. It also explores the dynamics of growth across time by using panel data models to assess the role of various fundamentals that may have influenced Brazil's growth performance since 1960. Findings - The empirical evidence presented confirms that macroeconomic stability and several reforms have helped raise per capita growth in Brazil since the mid-1990s. The results also show that some long-standing structural weaknesses continue to weigh negatively on per capita growth. Practical implications - Reducing the high level of government consumption would help lower the overall consumption level in the economy and lower its intertemporal price – the real interest rate, thus helping to foster investment and growth. Originality/value - The paper provides useful information on Brazil's growth performance from a long-term perspective.
Event-Triggered $H_\infty $ Control for Continuous-Time Nonlinear System via Concurrent Learning

In this paper, the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${H}_{\infty }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> optimal control problem for a class of continuous-time nonlinear systems is investigated using event-triggered method. First, the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${H}_{\infty }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> optimal control problem is formulated as a two-player zero-sum (ZS) differential game. Then, an adaptive triggering condition is derived for the ZS game with an event-triggered control policy and a time-triggered disturbance policy. The event-triggered controller is updated only when the triggering condition is not satisfied. Therefore, the communication between the plant and the controller is reduced. Furthermore, a positive lower bound on the minimal intersample time is provided to avoid Zeno behavior. For implementation purpose, the event-triggered concurrent learning algorithm is proposed, where only one critic neural network (NN) is used to approximate the value function, the control policy and the disturbance policy. During the learning process, the traditional persistence of excitation condition is relaxed using the recorded data and instantaneous data together. Meanwhile, the stability of closed-loop system and the uniform ultimate boundedness (UUB) of the critic NN’s parameters are proved by using Lyapunov technique. Finally, simulation results verify the feasibility to the ZS game and the corresponding <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${H}_{\infty }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> control problem.
Corporate environmentalism: tracing the links between policies and performance using corporate reports and public registers

Within this paper, we consider whether it is possible to trace the links between the procedural and the substantive dimensions of corporate environmentalism using information that is in the public domain – most notably in corporate reports and in pollutant releases and transfer registers (PRTRs) such as the US Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and the EU Polluting Emissions Register (EPER). Based on an analysis of firms in the oil and gas sector, and specifically of the environmental performance of oil refineries, we find that corporate reports are of very limited value when seeking to compare and contrast levels of environmental performance at the site level, but that a significant body of useful information is provided by public registers such as the US TRI and the EU EPER. Drawing upon these data, we find significant variations in corporate environmental performance across the US and the EU, and we note the existence of significant correlations between higher levels of emissions and lower levels of employment and income in the areas where industrial facilities are located. We then discuss the relevance of our findings to broader debates on corporate environmentalism and corporate social responsibility. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
An in vitro investigation of image-guided steerable catheter navigation

Abstract The objective of this study is to provide catheterization with a three-dimensional (3D) guiding image and reduce the collision probability between the catheter tip and vascular wall. A bidirectional steerable catheter was integrated with two magnetic position-tracking sensors on both sides of its bending segment. The tracking information was displayed on the guiding image, which helped the surgeons to determine the relative position between the catheter tip and surrounding vessels. The navigation path was generated on the basis of the vascular skeleton. Moreover, along the path, a series of guiding circular planes were set as the guidance for the catheter. Three operations (bending, advancing, and twisting) were jointly conducted to get the catheter through these guiding planes in turn and eventually into the target vessel. The effectiveness of the proposed navigation method was verified by experiments implemented in an aorta vascular phantom. The navigation system has a mean error of 0.19 mm, a root mean square of 0.49 mm, and a standard deviation of 0.46 mm.
Socially responsible investing in Scandinavia – a comparative analysis

This article contributes to the literature on socially responsible investing (SRI) by discussing findings from an empirical comparative study of Scandinavian investors. The study draws attention to how contextual factors shape the principles and practices of SRI investors by using a wide range of both qualitative and quantitative secondary data. It is concluded that institutional factors are important in explaining homogeneity among Scandinavian investors' SRI, but also contribute to significant variation in SRI principles and practices between and within countries. In particular, the findings draw attention to the different opportunities available to individual investors, and the strategies they adopt in their application of SRI. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
A Descriptive Account of an Inter-Professional Collaborative Leadership Project

A collaborative project between an academic healthcare faculty and a professional development director resulted in the design, delivery and evaluation of an inter-professional collaborative leadership workshop with ongoing leadership development activities. The workshop attendees were five inter-professional teams from one large, urban cancer care center in Taipei, Taiwan. The workshop included didactic instruction complemented with team discussions and interactive exercises. Continued practice was encouraged, such as appreciative inquiry exercises and rotated team leadership. Evaluation involved the use of a cross-culturally validated collaborative practice tool and follow-up interviews and focus groups. Although the formal workshop was a 1-day session, continued organizational support and systematic approaches to collaborative leadership practice in clinical settings were necessary components for transfer of learning from the workshop to real life. This paper will include an overview of the foundational leadership concepts covered in the workshop. The instructional strategies, evaluation methods and outcomes will be discussed. The limitations and strengths of this collaborative leadership project will be provided, as well as future plans for a collaborative leadership development program.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Determinants and Spatial Spillovers Across Mexico's States

This article studies the location pattern of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Mexico for the period 1994–2004. An empirical model is specified based on recent FDI theories. This model is estimated using state-level data and employing spatial econometric techniques. Results suggest that higher education levels and lower delinquency rates are important determinants to attract FDI. Results also suggest a relationship of complementarity between inbound FDI to the host state and inward FDI to its neighboring states.
2 Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Synthetic Polymers

The polymeric systems are great interesting both academic and industrial level, due to interesting applications in several areas. Nowadays, the trends for the development of new materials are focused on the study of macromolecular complex systems. A macromolecular complex system is formed by the interaction between the macromolecules of the same system. There are many macromolecular complex systems; this chapter will refer to complex systems of synthetic polymer blends(Donald R. P., 2000) and synthetic polymer at the airwater interface(Gargallo et al., 2011). The most synthetic polymers are characterized by flexible structure able to adopt multiple and variable forms. The study about molecular behavior in polymers has attracted the attention of many researchers over the years. Studies in dilute solutions of macromolecules have contributed to solving the problem relating to the molecular characterization. Despite, the emergence of characterization methods and theories that have allowed for interpretation of experimental behavior, researchers still have not fully resolved the problem with interactions at the atomic level in polymer systems. The most polymers are amorphous so in some cases are impossible to obtain information about atomic structure through x-ray techniques or atomic force microscopy. At this point, the computer simulations have played an important role in microscopic understanding of dynamical properties of some polymeric systems.
Enhanced External Counterpulsation for Ischemic Heart Disease: A Look Behind the Curtain

Enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP) is a noninvasive treatment for patients with coronary artery disease who have angina pectoris that is refractory to pharmacotherapy and revascularization. The popular concept is that EECP may promote collateral development and improve myocardial perfusion. We hypothesize that improvements in peripheral arterial function are responsible for the clinical benefits of EECP.