Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trends in socioeconomic health inequalities in the Netherlands, 1981–1999

Study objective: To determine changes in socioeconomic inequalities in self reported health in both the 1980s and the 1990s in the Netherlands. Design: Analysis of trends in socioeconomic health inequalities during the last decades of the 20th century were made using data from the Health Interview Survey (Nethhis) and the subsequent Permanent Survey on Living Conditions (POLS) from Statistics Netherlands. Socioeconomic inequalities in self assessed health, short-term disabilities during the past 14 days, long term health problems and chronic diseases were studied in relation to both educational level and household income. Trends from 1981 to 1999 were studied using summary indices for both the relative and absolute size of socioeconomic inequalities in health. Setting: The Netherlands. Participants: For the period 1981–1999 per year a random sample of about 7000 respondents of 18 years and older from the non-institutionalised population. Main results: Socioeconomic inequalities in self assessed health showed a fairly consistent increase over time. Socioeconomic inequalities in the other health indicators were more or less stable over time. In no case did socioeconomic inequalities in health seemed to have decreased over time. Socioeconomic inequalities in self assessed health increased both in the 1980s and the 1990s. This increase was more pronounced for income (as compared with education) and for women (as compared with men). Conclusion: There are several possible explanations for the fact that, in addition to stable health inequalities in general, income related inequalities in some health indicators increased in the Netherlands, especially in the early 1990s. Most influential were perhaps selection effects, related to changing labour market policies in the Netherlands. The fact that the health inequalities did not decrease over recent years underscores the necessity of policies that explicitly aim to tackle these inequalities.
ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL CO-BENEFITS OF CARBON SEQUESTRATION IN AGRICULTURAL SOILS : RETIRING AGRICULTURAL LAND IN THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN 1

This study investigates the carbon sequestration potential and co-benefits from policies aimed at retiring agricultural land in the Upper Mississippi River Basin, a large, heavily agricultural area. We extend the empirical measurement of co-benefits from the previous focus on environmental benefits to include economic transfers. These transfers have often been mentioned as a co-benefit, but little empirical work measuring the potential magnitude of these transfers has previously been undertaken. We compare and contrast five targeting schemes, each based on maximizing different physical environmental measures, including carbon sequestration, soil erosion, nitrogen runoff, nitrogen leaching, as well as the area enrolled in the program. In each case, the other environmental benefits and economic transfers are computed. We find that the geographic distribution of co-benefits (including economic transfers) varies significantly with the benefit targeted, implying that policy design related to targeting can have very important implications for both environmental conditions and income distributions in sub-regions.
Risk of Mortality (including Sudden Cardiac Death) and Major Cardiovascular Events in Users of Olanzapine and Other Antipsychotics: A Study with the General Practice Research Database

Objective. Assess risk of cardiac events and mortality among users of olanzapine and other antipsychotics relative to nonusers. Methods. The General Practice Research Database was used to identify cohorts of antipsychotic users and nonusers with psychiatric illness. Outcomes included cardiac mortality, sudden cardiac death (SCD), all-cause mortality (excluding suicide), coronary heart disease (CHD), and ventricular arrhythmias (VA). Results. 183,392 antipsychotic users (including 20,954 olanzapine users) and 193,920 psychiatric nonusers were identified. There was a significantly higher rate of cardiac mortality (adjusted RR [aRR]: 1.53, CI, 1.12–2.09) in olanzapine users relative to psychiatric nonusers, consistent with findings for both atypical and typical antipsychotics. Relative to psychiatric nonusers, no increased risk of all-cause mortality was observed among olanzapine users (aRR: 1.04, CI, 0.93–1.17), but elevated all-cause mortality risk was observed when compared to all antipsychotic users (aRR: 1.75, CI, 1.64–1.87). There was no increased risk of CHD or VA among olanzapine users relative to psychiatric nonusers, consistent with findings for atypical but not typical antipsychotics. SCD cases were uncommon. Conclusions. Use of antipsychotic agents was associated with increased risk of all-cause and cardiac mortality. Patients treated with olanzapine were found to be at increased risk of cardiac mortality versus psychiatric nonusers.
Joint production and substitution in timber supply: a panel data analysis

Supply equations for sawlog and pulpwood were developed with a panel of data from 102 Norwegian municipalities, observed from 1980 to 2000. Static and dynamic models were estimated by cross-section, time-series andpanel data methods. A static model estimated by first differencing gavethe best overall results in terms of theoretical expectations, pattern ofresiduals, prediction accuracy and parsimony. The results showed thatsawlog supply responded positively to its own price (elasticity e = 0.91 ± 0.07) but negatively to the pulpwood price (e = −0.22 ± 0.06). The pulpwood supply responded positively to the price of both pulpwood (e = 0.53 ± 0.06) and sawlogs (e = 0.20 ± 0.07). Sawlog and pulpwood supply had a common elasticity of 2.04 (± 0.25) with respect to the growing stock, and of 0.30 (± 0.21) with respect to the interest rate. The supply elasticity of substitution of sawlog for pulpwood with respect to their relative price was 0.74 ± 0.04. Policies to raise the annual harvest, which is currently well below the annual growth, should focus on stimulating sawnwood production (thus increasing sawlog prices), because this would increase supply of both pulpwood and sawlogs. Instead, policies to stimulate pulpwood demand (thus increasing pulpwood prices), would give more pulpwood, but less sawlogs.
Current and anticipated activities, the presence of disability, and design implications for older adults

Abstract The present research explores the relationships between the presence of specific disabling conditions in the household, engagement in activities, and implications for the design of environments for older adults. The sample included 234 Arkansas residents between the ages of 60 and 93 that were contacted via random digit dialing. The instrument was comprised of demographic data, questions on activities in both current and anticipated (when I am old) lifestyle, and the presence of disabilities within the household. Significant relationships found between the presence of mobility impairments and lower levels of engagement in current activities such as childcare, driving, visiting family, dining out, and exercising reflect the continued need for adaptations to the environment. Significant relationships between the presence of a visual impairment and activities such as shopping, driving, visiting family, dining out, spending time outdoors, and volunteering highlight the lack of fit between environments in which significant data must be processed or which have not been designed to accommodate those with visual impairments. Activities in the home were not found to be significant within this disability category and this is perhaps due to the fact that individuals with visual impairments can control a home environment and be successful in a wide range of activities. An examination of activities with regard to depression indicates that of the nine significant relationships found, six are levels of engagement when they are old and include visiting family, entertaining friends, dining out, exercising, and engaging in religious, volunteer, and community activities. Additional findings with regard to exercise, transportation, are discussed with regard to person-environment fit
Power control in the cognitive cooperative multiple access channel

We extend several encoding and decoding techniques from cooperative communications framework, to a cognitive radio system consisting of a primary user (PU) and a secondary user (SU), sending their messages to a common receiver. Assuming that the transmitters and the receiver have full channel state information (CSI) collected and distributed by the common receiver, and that the SU knows the PU's codebook, the cooperation is obtained by block Markov superposition coding, and backwards decoding, which yield a causal overlay scenario. We formulate two rate optimization problems with the aim of, (i) maximizing the sum rate of the system, and (ii) maximizing the rate of the secondary user. We obtain the optimal power allocations for both cases, and the resulting rate regions. The power controlled cooperation turns out to be especially useful when maximizing the sum rate of the system, as it gives the PU significant rate rewards for allowing the cognitive transmitter to access its resources.
Estimation-Correction scheme based articulated object tracking using SIFT features and mean shift algorithm

Object tracking plays an important role in video surveillance system. However, in the field of object tracking, complex object motion and object occlusions still remains challenging topics. This paper proposes a Estimation-Correction (EC) object tracking scheme in real scenarios, combining the strength of scale invariant feature transform (SIFT) and mean shift algorithm. The corresponding SIFT features are used to estimate the position of the target candidate by the scale and space relation between each pair of features. Then mean shift is applied to conduct the local similarity search so as to find a right position and size of estimated candidate with a maximum likelihood. Experiment results demonstrate that the proposed SIFT/mean shift strategy keeps the tracking error in average 8 pixels and improves the tracking performance compared with the traditional SIFT and mean shift algorithm when tracking objects with complex motion and full occlusion.
A Media-Enhanced Vector Architecture for Embedded Memory Systems

Next generation portable devices will require processors with both low energy consumption and high performance for media functions. At the same time, modern CMOS technology creates the need for highly scalable VLSI architectures. Conventional processor architectures fail to meet these requirements. This paper presents the architecture of Vector IRAM (VIRAM), a processor that combines vector processing with embedded DRAM technology. Vector processing achieves high multimedia performance with simple hardware, while embedded DRAM provides high memory bandwidth at low energy consumption. VIRAM provides flexible support for media data types, short vectors, and DSP features. The vector pipeline is enhanced to hide DRAM latency without using caches. The peak performance is 3.2 GFLOPS (single precision) and maximum memory bandwidth is 25.6 GBytes/s. With a target power consumption of 2 Watts for the vector pipeline and the memory system, VIRAM supports 1.6 GFLOPS/Watt. For a set of representative media kernels, VIRAM sustains on average 88% of its peak performance, outperforming conventional SIMD media extensions and DSP processors by factors of 4.5 to 17. Using a clustered implementation approach, the modular design can be scaled without complicating control logic. We demonstrate that scaling the architecture leads to near linear application speedup. We also evaluate the effect of scaling the capacity and parallelism of the on-chip memory system to die area and sustained performance.
The thyroid hormone mimetic compound KB2115 lowers plasma LDL cholesterol and stimulates bile acid synthesis without cardiac effects in humans

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is a major problem despite the availability of drugs that influence major risk factors. New treatments are needed, and there is growing interest in therapies that may have multiple actions. Thyroid hormone modulates several cardiovascular risk factors and delays atherosclerosis progression in humans. However, use of thyroid hormone is limited by side effects, especially in the heart. To overcome this limitation, pharmacologically selective thyromimetics that mimic metabolic effects of thyroid hormone and bypass side effects are under development. In animal models, such thyromimetics have been shown to stimulate cholesterol elimination through LDL and HDL pathways and decrease body weight without eliciting side effects. We report here studies on a selective thyromimetic [KB2115; (3-[[3,5-dibromo-4-[4-hydroxy-3-(1-methylethyl)-phenoxy]-phenyl]-amino]-3-oxopropanoic acid)] in humans. In moderately overweight and hypercholesterolemic subjects KB2115 was found to be safe and well tolerated and elicited up to a 40% lowering of total and LDL cholesterol after 14 days of treatment. Bile acid synthesis was stimulated without evidence of increased cholesterol production, indicating that KB2115 induced net cholesterol excretion. KB2115 did not provoke detectable effects on the heart, suggesting that the pharmacological selectivity observed in animal models translates to humans. Thus, selective thyromimetics deserve further study as agents to treat dyslipidemia and other risk factors for atherosclerosis.
A Semantic Approach to Host-Based Intrusion Detection Systems Using Contiguousand Discontiguous System Call Patterns

Host-based anomaly intrusion detection system design is very challenging due to the notoriously high false alarm rate. This paper introduces a new host-based anomaly intrusion detection methodology using discontiguous system call patterns, in an attempt to increase detection rates whilst reducing false alarm rates. The key concept is to apply a semantic structure to kernel level system calls in order to reflect intrinsic activities hidden in high-level programming languages, which can help understand program anomaly behaviour. Excellent results were demonstrated using a variety of decision engines, evaluating the KDD98 and UNM data sets, and a new, modern data set. The ADFA Linux data set was created as part of this research using a modern operating system and contemporary hacking methods, and is now publicly available. Furthermore, the new semantic method possesses an inherent resilience to mimicry attacks, and demonstrated a high level of portability between different operating system versions.
Differentiation of Speech Delay and Global Developmental Delay in Children Using DTI Tractography-Based Connectome

This study investigated whether diffusion tensor imaging tractography-based connectome can differentiate global developmental delay from speech delay in young children. Twelve children with pure speech delay, 14 children with global developmental delay, and 10 children with typical development underwent 3T DTI. Whole-brain connectome analysis was performed by using 116 cortical ROIs. Network metrics were measured at individual regions: strength, efficiency, cluster coefficient, and betweeness. Compared with typical development, global and local efficiency were significantly reduced in both global developmental delay and speech delay. Nodal strength of the cognitive network was reduced in global developmental delay, whereas the nodal strength of the language network was reduced in speech delay. This finding resulted in a high accuracy of >83% to discriminate global developmental delay from speech delay. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Pure speech delay is a common developmental disorder which, according to some estimates, affects 5%–8% of the population. Speech delay may not only be an isolated condition but also can be part of a broader condition such as global developmental delay. The present study investigated whether diffusion tensor imaging tractography-based connectome can differentiate global developmental delay from speech delay in young children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twelve children with pure speech delay (39.1 ± 20.9 months of age, 9 boys), 14 children with global developmental delay (39.3 ± 18.2 months of age, 12 boys), and 10 children with typical development (38.5 ± 20.5 months of age, 7 boys) underwent 3T DTI. For each subject, whole-brain connectome analysis was performed by using 116 cortical ROIs. The following network metrics were measured at individual regions: strength (number of the shortest paths), efficiency (measures of global and local integration), cluster coefficient (a measure of local aggregation), and betweeness (a measure of centrality). RESULTS: Compared with typical development, global and local efficiency were significantly reduced in both global developmental delay and speech delay (P < .0001). The nodal strength of the cognitive network is reduced in global developmental delay, whereas the nodal strength of the language network is reduced in speech delay. This finding resulted in a high accuracy of >83% ± 4% to discriminate global developmental delay from speech delay. CONCLUSIONS: The network abnormalities identified in the present study may underlie the neurocognitive and behavioral consequences commonly identified in children with global developmental delay and speech delay. Further validation studies in larger samples are required.
The three operators of the lac operon cooperate in repression.

We tested the effect of systematic destruction of all three lac operators of the chromosomal lac operon of Escherichia coli on repression by Lac repressor. Absence of just one ‘pseudo‐operator’ O2 or O3 decreases repression by wild‐type tetrameric Lac repressor approximately 2‐ to 3‐fold; absence of both ‘pseudo‐operators’ decreases repression greater than 50‐fold. O1 alone represses under these conditions only approximately 20‐fold. Dimeric active Lac repressor (iadi) represses the wild‐type lac operon to about the same low extent. This indicates that cooperative interaction between lac operators is due to DNA loop formation mediated by tetrameric Lac repressor. Under conditions where loop formation is impossible, occupation of O3 but not of O2 may lead to weak repression. This suggests that under these conditions CAP activation may be inhibited and that stopping transcription at O2 does not significantly contribute to repression.
High precision point-to-point maneuvering of an experimental structure subject to friction via adaptive impulsive control.

Two adaptive impulsive control techniques designed to eliminate steady state error for a rigid body system subject to friction, and undergoing a point-to-point maneuver are implemented. Pulse width and pulse amplitude pulse width modulations are explored. It is shown that the results of the pulse amplitude modulation never generates limit cycles and has lower steady-state error than the pulse width modulation
Claiming in the name of fairness: organizational justice and the decision to file for workplace injury compensation.

This article explored the relationship among injured workers' perceptions of workplace justice (i.e., distributive, interactional, and procedural), perceptions of employers' disability-related policies, and the decision to file a workers' compensation claim. Using a 2-wave sample of 1,077 workers with repetitive motion injuries, the authors tested a structural equation model. Results revealed that Time 1 interactional justice was negatively related to filing a claim, whereas Time 1 distributive justice was positively related to perceptions of employer disability-related practices measured a year after the date of injury report. At Time 2, the claim decision was unrelated to perceptions of justice, yet perceptions of disability-related practices were significantly related to all 3 types of justice.
Mobile Gaming with Children in Rural India: Contextual Factors in the Use of Game Design Patterns

Poor literacy remains a barrier to economic empowerment in the developing world. We make the case that “serious games” can make an impact for these learners and highlight that much remains to be learned about designing engaging gameplay experiences for children living in rural areas. Our approach revolves around game design patterns, which are building blocks that can inform game designs. We argue that patterns are beneficial because they facilitate the reuse of existing knowledge about successful games, and can capture contextual information such as domain applicability that has evolve through iterative testing. We describe the design of three mobile games based on patterns and report on a field experiment with rural children in India that evaluated these games against games that were not designed with patterns. We found that patterns are decontextualized design tools that can both help and hinder good designs. We distill lessons on the contextual factors that designers must consider when using patterns to design for this user group. These factors include designing for fun by focusing on the gameplay process and not only the winning conditions, and taking the power structure in local communities into consideration in the game designs. Author Keywords Design pattern, Developing world, India, Mobile game.
Numerical simulation of streamer propagation in nitrogen at atmospheric pressure.

Results of the application of flux-corrected transport techniques to a two-dimensional numerical simulation of streamer propagation are presented. Characteristics such as diameter, velocity, shape, and density gradient of the head, and ionization in the body of the propagating streamer are determined. These results provide new insight into streamer propagation. Space-charge fields have long been known to play an important role in the over-volted breakdown of gases at atmospheric and higher pressure, due to the formation of domains of relatively high ionization density and low electric field.lb4 These collective phenomena, called streamers, are described by the solutions of the coupled transport and field equations under conditions for which they are highly nonlinear and difficult to solve without approximation. Most analytic approaches to solving these equations have assumed the solutions to be one dimensi~nal. ~-~ Such approximations ignore shape effects on the field, and may therefore significantly underestimate the peak field enhancement and badly overestimate the spatial range of the enhancement. Numerical approaches to the problem have generally made use of the method of characteristics to solve the one-dimensional transport equations, although in most reports the field was calculated in an approximately correct two-dimensional ay. ^-'^ Conventional numerical techniques generally have difficulties in dealing with the very large density and field gradients which appear at the head of propagating streamers.13 We present here the results of numerical calculations of streamer propagation making use of two-dimensional fluxcorrected transport (FCT) techniques, which allow us to solve numerically the transport equations under strongly space-charge-dominated conditions such as those that occur at the head of propagating streamers. To our knowledge, our work represents the first systematic application of this technique to the problem of strongly space-chargedominated transport in a fully two-dimensional model, and our results are the first report of solutions of the transport equations under these conditions. FCT algorithms were originally developed to deal with the very steep density gradients that appear in shock wave solutions of the transport equations for fl~ids. '~. '~ Morrow and Lowke have applied these techniques to one-dimensional studies of spacecharge-dominated transport in gases.16 Fernsler has reported the use of a modified sharp and smooth transport algorithm (SHASTA) FCT algorithmL4 to carry out twodimensional streamer simulations, but the work was not pursued. " For the streamer initiation we use as an initial condition a