Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Household Heads' Wage Work on Farm Technology Level and Technical Efficiency in China

As China’s economy develops, farm households have more opportunities in the wage employment sector. More farmers will choose to reallocate their time from the agricultural sector to the non-agricultural sector if the latter offers higher wages than the reward from farming. For example, the Chinese Household Income Project survey of 2002 (hereinafter CHIP2002; Li, 2002) verifies that wage work has recently gained economic importance in rural China: nearly 60% of household heads participate in wage work and the share of wage income in total income exceeds 30%. Such increased participation of rural households in wage work has been shown to have important effects on farm productivity. A farm household’s participation in wage work could raise its farm productivity for several reasons. Wage income can be used to facilitate farm management through a more flexible purchase of inputs. Participation in wage work can also increase information about farm inputs and technology through better access to urban areas (Herdt and Mandac, 1981). However, on the other hand, farm productivity could decline if households increase wage work. According to Goodwin and Mishra (2004), wage work participation decreases farm households’ attention to the optimal use of variable inputs and farm technology. It also changes the quality of inputs. More specifically, Mu and van de Walle (2011) and Chang, Dong, and Macphail (2011) explain that the migration of males increases farm work hours of females and the elderly left behind in rural areas. If increased participation of rural households in wage work deteriorates farm productivity, further economic development will threaten stable domestic supply of farm commodities in China. Nonetheless, only a few studies have investigated the effects of more wage work on farm productivity and especially on technical efficiency. Mochebelele and Winter-Nelson (2000) estimate Cobb-Douglas stochastic production frontiers (SPF) separately for households with and without migrants in Lesotho. They find that the technical efficiency 【論文】
The application of the first order system transfer function for fitting The California Verbal Learning Test Learning Curve

Abstract Very few attempts have been made to apply a mathematical model to the learning curve in the California Verbal Learning Test list A immediate recall. Our rationale was to find out whether modeling of the learning curve can add additional information to the standard CVLT-II measures. We applied a standard transfer function in the form Y = B3*exp(-B2*(X-1))+B4*(1-exp(-B2*(X-1))), where X is the trial number; Y is the number of recalled correct words, B2 is the learning rate, B3 is readiness to learn and B4 is ability to learn. The coefficients of the model were found to be independent measures not duplicating standard CVLT-II measures. Regression analysis revealed that readiness to learn (B3) and ability to learn (B4) were significantly (p < .05) higher in a group of healthy participants than in a group of participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but the learning rate (B2) did not differ (p > .2). The proposed model is appropriate for clinical application and as a guide for research and may be used as a good supplemental tool for the CVLT-II and similar memory tests. (JINS, 2010, 16, 443–452.)
Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation

Background: This study aimed at providing information for priority setting in the health care sector of Zimbabwe as well as assessing the efficiency of resource use. A general approach proposed by the World Bank involving the estimation of the burden of disease measured in Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) and calculation of cost-effectiveness ratios for a large number of health interventions was followed. Methods: Costs per DALY for a total of 65 health interventions were estimated. Costing data were collected through visits to health centres, hospitals and vertical programmes where a combination of step-down and micro-costing was applied. Effectiveness of health interventions was estimated based on published information on the efficacy adjusted for factors such as coverage and compliance. Results: Very cost-effective interventions were available for the major health problems. Using estimates of the burden of disease, the present paper developed packages of health interventions using the estimated cost-effectiveness ratios. These packages could avert a quarter of the burden of disease at total costs corresponding to one tenth of the public health budget in the financial year 1997/98. In general, the analyses suggested that there was substantial potential for improving the efficiency of resource use in the public health care sector. Discussion: The proposed World Bank approach applied to Zimbabwe was extremely data demanding and required extensive data collection in the field and substantial human resources. The most important limitation of the study was the scarcity of evidence on effectiveness of health interventions so that a range of important health interventions could not be included in the costeffectiveness analysis. This and other limitations could in principle be overcome if more research resources were available. Conclusion: The present study showed that it was feasible to conduct cost-effectiveness analyses for a large number of health interventions in a developing country like Zimbabwe using a consistent methodology. Published: 28 July 2008 Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation 2008, 6:14 doi:10.1186/1478-7547-6-14 Received: 14 December 2007 Accepted: 28 July 2008 This article is available from: http://www.resource-allocation.com/content/6/1/14 © 2008 Hansen and Chapman; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation 2008, 6:14 http://www.resource-allocation.com/content/6/1/14
Bifurcations and Chaos in a Periodically probed Computer Network

In this paper we model a computer network consisting of one standard Internet connection and one nonstandard connection that transmits uniformly sized bursts of packets at regular intervals. The nonstandard connection can represent probing activity of either a diagnostic measurement or attack. Using bifurcation diagrams, we study how the network's behavior changes as a function of the probing frequency. These diagrams reveal interesting, nonintuitive behavior. We present a series of models of increasing simplicity that capture the significant features of the network's behavior. Our simplest model is a piecewise linear, discontinuous one-dimensional map. This map helps explain the structure of the bifurcation diagram, and allows us to directly determine Lyapunov exponents, which give a measure of the system's predictability. As a result, we are able to more precisely describe and categorize the dynamics, including chaos, exhibited by this network.
Cigarette Smoking and Health-Related Quality of Life in Medicare Beneficiaries

This study examined associations between cigarette smoking, cancer, and self-reported physical (SF-36® Physical Component Summary Score, [PCS]) and mental health (SF-36® Mental Component Summary Score, [MCS]) among 123,567 Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in managed care plans. As expected for a sample of older individuals, the SF-36® PCS mean (42.6) was lower than the U.S. general population mean of 50. The SF-36® MCS mean (51.7) for the sample was higher than the general population mean. In addition, least squares means revealed significantly poorer health for current smokers and those who recently quit, regardless of their cancer status. Although statistically significant, the differences between current smokers and never smokers were small among those with or without cancer. Encouraging smokers to quit and providing abstinence support to persons who have recently quit may help reduce health-related impacts of cigarette use.
Computing optimal scheduling policies for software projects

The time needed to complete a software development project is hard to estimate in practice. In addition to the uncertainty about the duration of the individual development steps, software projects often suffer from unexpected rework and delays. As a result, project scheduling remains a difficult task for the managers of software projects. In this paper, we compute optimal scheduling strategies for a set of sample software projects. The computations are based on a stochastic Markov decision model for software projects which focuses on capturing the feedback between concurrent development activities. The optimal strategies are computed using a variant of the value iteration algorithm from stochastic dynamic programming. Since the underlying process model is stochastic, the strategies are stochastically optimal, that is, they minimize the expected project duration. The ultimate goal of this research is to develop guidelines for managers how to schedule their software projects under uncertainty in the best possible way. The sample projects are similar, but differ in certain characteristics of the project or product, such as the strength of the coupling between the components or the degree of specialization of the teams on the tasks. By using a set of related projects, we can study how the project characteristics influence the optimal scheduling decisions in a project. In addition to computing the optimal scheduling policies for the sample projects, we use extensive simulations to compare the performance of the optimal policy against the so-called list policies for each given setting. List policies are a simple, but commonly used class of scheduling policies. For our sample projects, we find that the best list policy in general is not optimal. The performance gap is the larger the higher the degree of specialization of the teams is. On the other hand, the stronger the coupling between the components, the smaller is the improvement which the optimal policy achieves over the best list policy.
Facets of Organizational Social Capital: How Network Renovation is Key to Favorable Strategic Space

This paper studies the effect of organizational social capital on structural change in the context of socio-economic networks. In a networked economic system, organizational social capital is the outcome of a dynamic process; the effect of this process on firm performance is contingent on the management of structural change in the network. To further this argument, the paper proposes a process model and explains how variation in network renovation leads firms to dissimilar posterior positions with different performance implications even with congruous antecedent social capital. Subsequently, the paper discusses four such posterior positions; these positions are termed as strategic spaces. Strategic spaces are primarily organizational and network conditions which constrain or enhance the scope of structural position as well as relational content of a firm in a socio-economic network. These strategic spaces are outcome of the fit between the expectations of network members (termed as 'structural expectations') and the firm's capability. While explaining this fit, this paper synthesizes the structural perspective of social capital with the individualist perspective. In concluding, the paper discusses the performance implications of such strategic spaces.
Authenticating with Attributes

Attribute based group signature (ABGS) is a a new generation of group signature schemes. In such a scheme the verifier could define the role of a signer within the group. He determines the attributes possessed by the member signing the document. In this paper we propose the first ABGS scheme with multi-authorities and define its security notions. We construct an ABGS that is proved to be fully traceable and fully anonymous. Our scheme is efficient and secure.
Interests and goals in the agricultural higher education system of Hungary - a methodological approach.

In recent decades the Hungarian intelligentsia, both political and governmental, emphasised the importance of higher education in socio-economic modernisation. At the same time, after nearly twenty years of system-transition we have to see that the ambitious goals of reforms in many cases have been turned into their opposite. This paper analyses the key actors and their strategies in the higher education system, highlighting the most important obstacles to development based on a multi-actor strategy model, based on institutional economy and principle-agent theory. The results show considerable divergence in force and interest-structure of different actors. As a consequence of relationship of forces it has been shown that, without steadfast governmental policy, long-term commitment for development and active participation of the business sector in innovation, there seems to be only a rather limited possibility for upgrading the agricultural higher education system.
LIA-iSmart at TREC 2010: An Unsupervised Web-Based Approach for Filtering Answers

Searching for named entities has been the subject of many researches in information retrieval. Our goal in participating in TREC 2010 Entity Ranking track is to look for reconizing any named entity in arbitrary categories and use this to rank candidate named entities. We propose to address the issue by means of a web oriented language modeling approach.
Ambidextrous organization in harmony

Purpose – This paper is a follow‐up to the authors' first introductive article on the emerging He‐Xie management theory (HXMT), aiming to help readers better understand the concept of He‐Xie as well as the value of HXMT through several selected cases. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the value of HXMT in helping achieve the objectives of an ambidextrous organization in harmony.Design/methodology/approach – The potential value and explaining power of HXMT in helping achieve effective management in organizations is explored through three diversified cases in Chinese contexts. The research is implemented through analyzing the three core constructs of HXMT, i.e. HeXie theme (HT), He principle (HP) and Xie principle (XP) and HeXie coupling (HC), as well as the consistence and alignment of them in the three cases.Findings – In all cases, the authors found the existence of HC throughout various organizational development stages. In various organizational contexts, HT could be observed in guiding manage.
Regulating Insurance Groups: A Comparison of Risk-Based Solvency Models

Regulators are currently developing group-wide capital standards that are intended to enable the effective monitoring of insurance groups. Some jurisdictions are taking steps toward models with a focus on the groups’ consolidated balance sheets, while other models focus on the interrelations of the groups’ legal entities. This paper compares two general approaches to group-wide solvency in light of the regulatory challenges of regulatory inconsistency, risk dependencies, and risk aggregation: a consolidated approach and a legal entity approach. In order to contribute to the current discussion on the regulation and risk management for insurance groups, we support our line of reasoning by using a generalized model of Gatzert and Schmeiser (2011). Our findings show that a solely consolidated viewpoint is likely to underestimate shortfall risks in times of financial crises, whereas while a sole focus on the interrelated legal entities generally makes it possible to display different group structures it cannot control regulatory arbitrage.
Gender-Based Differences in Cardiac Repolarization in Mouse Ventricle

The mouse heart has become a widely used model for genetic studies of heart diseases. Thus, understanding gender differences in mouse cardiac repolarization is crucial to the interpretation of such studies. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether there are gender differences in cardiac repolarization in mouse ventricle and to gain insights into the ionic and molecular mechanisms underlying these differences. Action potential durations (APDs) and K+ currents in male and female ventricular myocytes were compared using a patch-clamp technique. APD20, APD50, and APD90 were found to be significantly longer in females than males. Examination of the different K+ currents revealed that a significantly lower current density exists in female ventricular myocytes compared with male myocytes for the ultrarapid delayed rectifier K+ current, IKur (at +30 mV, male, 33.2±2.9 pA/pF [n= 22]; female, 20.9±1.73 pA/pF [n= 19], P <0.001). Consistent with these findings were the results of the ribonuclease protection assay, Western blots, and confocal analysis that showed a significantly lower expression level of Kv1.5 (coding for IKur) in female compared with male ventricle. The additional K+ currents present in mouse ventricle exhibited no gender differences. In agreement with these electrophysiological data, no differences in the expression levels for the K+ channels underlying these currents were detected between both sexes. This study demonstrates that adult mice exhibit gender differences in cardiac repolarization. The expression of Kv1.5 and of its corresponding K+ current, IKur, is significantly lower in female mouse ventricle, and as a result, the APD is lengthened.
SREBP Coordinates Iron and Ergosterol Homeostasis to Mediate Triazole Drug and Hypoxia Responses in the Human Fungal Pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus

Sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs) are a class of basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors that regulate diverse cellular responses in eukaryotes. Adding to the recognized importance of SREBPs in human health, SREBPs in the human fungal pathogens Cryptococcus neoformans and Aspergillus fumigatus are required for fungal virulence and susceptibility to triazole antifungal drugs. To date, the exact mechanism(s) behind the role of SREBP in these observed phenotypes is not clear. Here, we report that A. fumigatus SREBP, SrbA, mediates regulation of iron acquisition in response to hypoxia and low iron conditions. To further define SrbA's role in iron acquisition in relation to previously studied fungal regulators of iron metabolism, SreA and HapX, a series of mutants were generated in the ΔsrbA background. These data suggest that SrbA is activated independently of SreA and HapX in response to iron limitation, but that HapX mRNA induction is partially dependent on SrbA. Intriguingly, exogenous addition of high iron or genetic deletion of sreA in the ΔsrbA background was able to partially rescue the hypoxia growth, triazole drug susceptibility, and decrease in ergosterol content phenotypes of ΔsrbA. Thus, we conclude that the fungal SREBP, SrbA, is critical for coordinating genes involved in iron acquisition and ergosterol biosynthesis under hypoxia and low iron conditions found at sites of human fungal infections. These results support a role for SREBP–mediated iron regulation in fungal virulence, and they lay a foundation for further exploration of SREBP's role in iron homeostasis in other eukaryotes.
Tomb Price Discrimination in Cemeteries: Competition in the Market for Corpses?

We study empirically the determinants of public tomb prices in a sample of Spanish towns. We document strong evidence in favor that cemeteries act as local monopolies that use second degree price discrimination to maximize profits. Additionally we report that local cemetery prices react to competition from private cremation companies. This competition is associated with lower price dispersion caused by an increase in the minimum niche prices with no effect on other higher niche prices. We conclude that cemeteries have accommodated and facilitated entry of private cremation companies through an increase in those niche prices more likely to affect cremation demand.
Grounding Activity in People-Centered Smart Territories by Enhancing Community Awareness

Contemporary life can seem rushed and overloaded. We argue this may be due not to merely having too much to do, but rather with experiencing fragmentation and inadequate meaning in one’s own activity. We suggest that a design approach to this challenge is to enhance awareness of significant and persistent activity, and the themes, values, places, and motivations that unifies it and gives it greater meaning. Specifically, we suggest that people-centered smart territories can enhance community awareness by reminding people of placed-based history, heritage, current issues and discussions, and plans for the future in the community through a smart social grid of community information services.
SMADL: The Social Machines Architecture Description Language

We are experiencing a high growth in the number of web applications being developed. This is happening mainly because the web is going into a new phase, called programmable web, where several web-based systems make their APIs publicly available. In order to deal with the complexity of this emerging web, we deﬁne a notion of social machine and envisage a language that can describe networks of such. To start with, social machines are deﬁned as tuples of input, output, processes, constraints, states, requests and responses; apart from deﬁning the machines themselves, the language deﬁnes a set of connectors and conditionals that can be used to describe the interactions between any number of machines in a multitude of ways, as a means to represent real machines interacting in the real web. This work presents a prelim-inary version of the Social Machine Architecture Description Language (SMADL).
A Novel Method of Filtering Internet Background Radiation Traffic

Internet Background Radiation (IBR) traffic is a kind of abnormal traffic, which is ubiquitous on the Internet. Detecting or filtering out IBR traffic from all traffic is benefit to ensure network security. This paper proposes a novel IBR traffic filtering method based on relative uncertainty theory. It directly filters out IBR traffic from collected Net Flow data without specific configurations or building extra collection system. The key assumption of our approach is that the traffic source of normal users is relatively certain rather than random. The IBR traffic filtered by our approach also includes the part that sent to normal user hosts besides the traffic to unsigned IP, which is more valuable and practical to network security.
Systemic PPARγ Deletion Impairs Circadian Rhythms of Behavior and Metabolism

Compelling evidence from both human and animal studies suggests a physiological link between the circadian rhythm and metabolism but the underlying mechanism is still incompletely understood. We examined the role of PPARγ, a key regulator of energy metabolism, in the control of physiological and behavioral rhythms by analyzing two strains of whole-body PPARγ null mouse models. Systemic inactivation of PPARγ was generated constitutively by using Mox2-Cre mice (MoxCre/flox) or inducibly by using the tamoxifen system (EsrCre/flox/TM). Circadian variations in oxygen consumption, CO2 production, food and water intake, locomotor activity, and cardiovascular parameters were all remarkably suppressed in MoxCre/flox mice. A similar phenotype was observed in EsrCre/flox/TM mice, accompanied by impaired rhythmicity of the canonical clock genes in adipose tissues and liver but not skeletal muscles or the kidney. PPARγ inactivation in isolated preadipocytes following exposure to tamoxifen led to a similar blockade of the rhythmicity of the clock gene expression. Together, these results support an essential role of PPARγ in the coordinated control of circadian clocks and metabolic pathways.