Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Estimation Methodology of Economic Efficiency: Stochastic Frontier Analysis vs Data Envelopment Analysis

This chapter investigates estimation methodology of economic efficiency on the basis of both mathematical programming and econometric techniques. Section II defines and illustrates the concept of efficiency regarding microeconomic framework. Section III examines Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) which is the major linear programming model in efficiency analysis. Section IV deals with econometric techniques in particular Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) that is the mostly used model among parametric techniques. Section V compares the merits and weaknesses of these aforementioned methodologies and concludes.
Are Money Growth and Inflation Still Related ?

G E R A L D P . D W Y E R J R . A N D R . W . H A F E R Dwyer is vice president in charge of the financial section of the Atlanta Fed’s research department. Hafer is an Atlanta Fed visiting scholar and a professor of economics at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. They thank Lucy Ackert, Mark Fisher, Larry Wall, Warren Weber, and David C. Wheelock for comments and Shalini Patel for research assistance.
Changing Patterns of Human Anthrax in Azerbaijan during the Post-Soviet and Preemptive Livestock Vaccination Eras

We assessed spatial and temporal changes in the occurrence of human anthrax in Azerbaijan during 1984 through 2010. Data on livestock outbreaks, vaccination efforts, and human anthrax incidence during Soviet governance, post-Soviet governance, preemptive livestock vaccination were analyzed. To evaluate changes in the spatio-temporal distribution of anthrax, we used a combination of spatial analysis, cluster detection, and weighted least squares segmented regression. Results indicated an annual percent change in incidence of +11.95% from 1984 to 1995 followed by declining rate of −35.24% after the initiation of livestock vaccination in 1996. Our findings also revealed geographic variation in the spatial distribution of reporting; cases were primarily concentrated in the west early in the study period and shifted eastward as time progressed. Over twenty years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the distribution of human anthrax in Azerbaijan has undergone marked changes. Despite decreases in the incidence of human anthrax, continued control measures in livestock are needed to mitigate its occurrence. The shifting patterns of human anthrax highlight the need for an integrated “One Health” approach that takes into account the changing geographic distribution of the disease.
Guaranteed-quality mesh generation for curved surfaces

For several commonly-used solution techniques for partial differential equations, the first step is to divide the problem region into simply-shaped elements, creating a mesh. We present a technique for creating high-quality triangular meshes for regions on curved surfaces. This technique is an extension of previous methods we developed for regions in the plane. For both flat and curved surfaces, the resulting meshes are guaranteed to exhibit the following properties: (1) internal and external boundaries are respected, (2) element shapes are guaranteed—all elements are triangles with angles between 30 and 120 degrees (with the exception of badly shaped elements that may be required by the specified boundary), and (3) element density can be controlled, producing small elements in “interesting” areas and large elements elsewhere. An additional contribution of this paper is the development of a practical generalization of Delaunay triangulation to curved surfaces.
Detecting Quality Problems in Semantic Metadata without the Presence of a Gold Standard

Detecting quality problems in semantic metadata is crucial for ensuring a high quality semantic web. Current approaches are primarily focused on the algorithms used in semantic metadata generation rather than on the data themselves. They typically require the presence of a gold standard and are not suitable for assessing the quality of semantic metadata. This paper proposes a novel approach, which exploits a range of knowledge sources including both domain and background knowledge to support semantic metadata evaluation without the need of a gold standard. We have conducted a set of preliminary experiments, which show promising results.
Evaluation of Multiplex Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction for Routine Hepatitis C Virus Genotyping in Egyptian Patients

Background At least six HCV (hepatitis C virus) genotypes are unequally distributed worldwide. HCV genotyping guides the selection of treatment regimens and provides important epidemiological markers that enable the outbreak source to be traced and the spread of disease to be controlled. In Egypt, there is an increasing need for cost-effective, fast, and easily performable HCV genotyping assays.Recently, a multiplex PCR assay was developed to determine HCV genotypes. It employs genotype-specific primers, based on sequences of the entire core region and part of the 5’UTR of the genome. Objectives In this study, we compared a simple, new, modified multiplex PCR system for HCV genotyping with a commercially available line probe assay (INNO-LiPA) that is based on reverse hybridization. Patients and Methods Serum samples from chronic HCV Egyptian patients (n = 73) were genotyped using the modified multiplex PCR assay, and genotypes were verified using the INNO-LiPA HCV II assay. Results The modified multiplex PCR method was able to type HCV-4 in 65 of 70 typeable samples (92.86%) and had 100% concordance with the INNO-LiPA assay. Conclusions Genotype 4 was the most prevalent genotype in our study. Based on our results, the modified multiplex nested PCR assay is a sensitive and inexpensive alternative for HCV genotyping and can be used in routine diagnostic laboratories. INNO-LiPA may be useful as a second-line assay for genotyping samples that are indeterminate by multiplex PCR. This approach will effect better treatment optimization and a reduction of the spread of HCV.
On a possible connection between Chandler wobble and dark matter

Chandler wobble excitation and damping, one of the open problems in geophysics, is treated as a consequence in part of the interaction between Earth and a hypothetical oblate ellipsoid made of dark matter. The physical and geometrical parameters of such an ellipsoid and the interacting torque strength is calculated in such a way to reproduce the Chandler wobble component of the polar motion in several epochs, available in the literature. It is also examined the consequences upon the geomagnetic field dynamo and generation of heat in the Earth outer core.
Is there any differential performance by age and gender in the production of emotional words in children

The study aimed to examine the effect of age and genders and their interaction in the production of two types of emotional words (basic and advanced). A total of 40 Cantonese-speaking children, age ranged from 5;06 to 8;06, were asked to produce emotional words after listening to a story scenario. Three way (gender x age x type of emotion) univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried out to analyze the main effect of these variables and their interaction. Children performed significantly better on basic emotional words and their ability grew with age. The main effect of gender effect was not significant. No interaction effect was observed among all the variables. These patterns were discussed with reference to the culture in Hong Kong and the experimental design. Clinical implications were also discussed. DIFFERENTIAL PERFORMANCE 3
FINE: A Fault Injection and Monitoring Environment for Tracing the UNIX System Behavior under Faults

The authors present a fault injection and monitoring environment (FINE) as a tool to study fault propagation in the UNIX kernel. FINE injects hardware-induced software errors and software faults into the UNIX kernel and traces the execution flow and key variables of the kernel. FINE consists of a fault injector, a software monitor, a workload generator, a controller, and several analysis utilities. Experiments on SunOS 4.1. 2 are conducted by applying FINE to investigate fault propagation and to evaluate the impact of various types of faults. Fault propagation models are built for both hardware and software faults. Transient Markov reward analysis is performed to evaluate the loss of performance due to an injected fault. Experimental results show that memory and software faults usually have a very long latency, while bus and CPU faults tend to crash the system immediately. About half of the detected errors are data faults, which are detected when the system is tries to access an unauthorized memory location. Only about 8% of faults propagate to other UNIX subsystems. Markov reward analysis shows that the performance loss incurred by bus faults and CPU faults is much higher than that incurred by software and memory faults. Among software faults, the impact of pointer faults is higher than that of nonpointer faults. >
A Wearable 8-Channel Active-Electrode EEG/ETI Acquisition System for Body Area Networks

This paper describes an 8-channel gel-free EEG/electrode-tissue impedance (ETI) acquisition system, consisting of nine active electrodes (AEs) and one back-end (BE) analog signal processor. The AEs amplify the weak EEG signals, while their low output impedance suppresses cable-motion artifacts and 50/60 Hz mains interference. A common-mode feed-forward (CMFF) scheme boosts the CMRR of the AE pairs by 25 dB. The BE post-processes and digitizes the analog outputs of the AEs, it also can configure them via a single-wire pulse width modulation (PWM) protocol. Together, the AEs and BE are capable of recording 8-channel EEG and ETI signals. With EEG recording enabled, ETIs of up to 60 kΩ can be measured, which increases to 550 kΩ when EEG recording is disabled. Each EEG channel has a 1.2 GΩ input impedance (at 20 Hz), 1.75 μVrms (0.5-100 Hz) input-referred noise, 84 dB CMRR and ±250 mV electrode offset rejection capability. The EEG acquisition system was implemented in a standard 0.18 μm CMOS process, and dissipates less than 700 μW from a 1.8 V supply.
Striatal dopamine D1‐like receptor binding is unchanged in primary focal dystonia

Background: Multiple studies have demonstrated decreases in striatal D2‐like (D2, D3) radioligand binding in primary focal dystonias. Although most investigations have focused on D2‐specific receptors (D2R), a recent study suggests that the decreased D2‐like binding may be due to a D3‐specific (D3R) abnormality. However, only limited data exist on the role of D1‐specific receptors (D1R) and the D1R‐mediated pathways within basal ganglia in dystonia. Metabolic positron emission tomography (PET) data in primary generalized dystonia suggest resting state over activity in the D1R‐mediated direct pathway, leading to excessive disinhibition of motor cortical areas. This work investigated whether striatal D1‐like receptors are affected in primary focal dystonias. Methods: Striatal‐specific (caudate and putamen) binding of the D1‐like radioligand [11C]NNC 112 was measured using PET in 19 patients with primary focal dystonia (cranial, cervical, or arm) and 18 controls. Results: No statistically significant difference was detected in striatal D1‐like binding between the two groups. The study had 91% power to detect a 20% difference, indicating that false‐negative results were unlikely. Conclusions: Because [11C]NNC 112 has high affinity for D1‐like receptors, very low affinity for D2‐like receptors, and minimal sensitivity to endogenous dopamine levels, we conclude that D1‐like receptor binding is not impaired in these primary focal dystonias. © 2013 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society
Diversity of Spirochetes in Endodontic Infections

ABSTRACT The diversity of spirochetes in primary endodontic infections of teeth with chronic apical periodontitis or acute apical abscesses was investigated using 16S rRNA gene clone library analysis. The prevalences of three common cultivable oral Treponema species were also determined using species-specific nested PCR. All detected spirochetes belonged to the genus Treponema. Overall, 28 different taxa were identified from the 431 clones sequenced: 9 cultivable and validly named species, 1 cultivable as-yet-uncharacterized strain, and 18 as-yet-uncultivated phylotypes, 17 of which were novel. The large majority of clones (94%) were from cultivable named species. The numbers of Treponema species/phylotypes per selected positive sample ranged from 2 to 12. Species-specific nested PCR detected T. denticola, T. socranskii, and T. maltophilum in 59 (66%), 33 (37%), and 26 (29%) of the 90 cases of primary endodontic infections, respectively. Clone library analysis revealed diverse Treponema species/phylotypes as part of the microbiota associated with asymptomatic and symptomatic (abscess) endodontic infections. Although several as-yet-uncultivated Treponema phylotypes were disclosed, including novel taxa, cultivable named species were more abundant and frequently detected.
On the Benefits of the Functional Modular Approach to Distributed Data Management Systems ( Position Paper )

Decomposing distributed data management systems into modules, each with a precise interface and a functional implementation-independent specification, is highly effective both from a software engineering point of view and for theoretical purposes. The usefulness of this approach has been demonstrated in the past in several areas of distributed computing. Yet, despite its attractiveness, so far work on peer-to-peer systems failed to do so. This paper argues in favor of this approach and presents the first attempt at such a decomposition for peer-ro-peer systems.
evx1 transcription in bony fin rays segment boundaries leads to a reiterated pattern during zebrafish fin development and regeneration

The dermoskeleton of zebrafish fins is composed of actinotrichia and segmented bony rays, or lepidotrichia, which grow by successive addition of distal segments. The present study shows that evx1, a new zebrafish even‐skipped related gene (Thaëron et al., 2000 ) displays during bony ray morphogenesis, a unique repetitive expression pattern along the proximodistal axis of the fin. Whole‐mount in situ hybridization performed on larvae and adult regenerating fins show that evx1 signal appears as parallel dash lines crossing the width of each developing and regenerating rays, in a ladder‐like fashion. Cytological studies show that a subpopulation of bone forming cells (scleroblasts) expresses evx1 at the level of the joint between two adjacent segments except in the apical part of the differentiating ray where evx1 expression precedes the formation of the joint. This distal transcription is turned on again only when the latest differentiating segment reached its final size and might label the putative next segment boundary. This suggests the existence of a molecular mechanism controlling the periodic expression of evx1 which could be involved in the establishment of segment boundaries during fin ray morphogenesis, and could play a key role during dermal skeleton patterning. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Environmental Research and Public Health the Knowledge Base for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goal Targets on Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene

Safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are fundamental to an improved standard of living. Globally, 91% of households used improved drinking water sources in 2015, while for improved sanitation it is 68%. Wealth disparities are stark, with rural populations, slum dwellers and marginalized groups lagging significantly behind. Service coverage is significantly lower when considering the new water and sanitation targets under the sustainable development goals (SDGs) which aspire to a higher standard of 'safely managed' water and sanitation. Lack of access to WASH can have an economic impact as much as 7% of Gross Domestic Product, not including the social and environmental consequences. Research points to significant health and socioeconomic consequences of poor nutritional status, child growth and school performance caused by inadequate WASH. Groundwater over-extraction and pollution of surface water bodies have serious impacts on water resource availability and biodiversity, while climate change exacerbates the health risks of water insecurity. A significant literature documents the beneficial impacts of WASH interventions, and a growing number of impact evaluation studies assess how interventions are optimally financed, implemented and sustained. Many innovations in behavior change and service delivery offer potential for scaling up services to meet the SDGs.
Impact and Sustainability of E-Government Services in Developing Countries: Lessons Learned from Tamil Nadu, India

We find that the presence of village Internet facilities, offering government to citizen services, is positively associated with the rate at which the villagers obtain some of these services. In a study of a rural Internet project in India, we identify a positive correlation for two such Internet services: obtaining birth certificates for children and applications for old age pensions. Both these government services are of considerable social and economic value to the citizens. Villagers report that the Internet based services saved them time, money, and effort compared with obtaining the services directly from the government office. We also find that these services can reduce corruption in the delivery of these services. After over one year of successful operation, however, the e-government program was not able to maintain the necessary level of local political and administrative support to remain institutionally viable. As government officers shifted from the region, or grew to find the program a threat, the e-government services faltered. We argue that this failure was due to a variety of Critical Failure Factors. We end with a simple sustainability failure model. In summary, we propose that the e-government program failed to be politically and institutionally sustainable due to people, management, cultural, and structural factors
Effects Of Formation Stress On Logging Measurements

We show both theoretically and experimentally how stress concentrations affect the velocity field around a borehole surrounded by a formation with intrinsic ortohombic anisotropy. When Fx = Fy , no extra anisotropy is induced, however, isotropic stress concentrations are developed in the neighborhood of the borehole. Extra anisotropy is induced only when Fx # Fy , and the level of induced anisotropy is affected by the intrinsic anisotropy of the formation. Experiments show that monopole acoustic waves are more sensitive to properties in the neighborbood of the borehole than dipole waves. However, only dipole logging can determine the direction of anisotropy. A combination of monopole and dipole logging may lead to a better investigation of intrinsic as well as induced anisotropy of the formation. INTRODUCTION The elastic velocity of a small-amplitude wave is affected by formation stresses or pre-stresses presumably caused by tectonics and overburden. Traditionally, this phenomenon has been modeled using distributions of microcracks (Eshelby, 1957; Anderson et al., 1974). In recent years, laboratory experiments show that the theory of acoustoelasticity can be used to model stress-induced velocity changes in formations or rocks (Winkler and Liu, 1996; Winkler et ill., 1998). The theory of acoustoelasticity, originally developed in the context of thermoelasticity (Toupin and Bernstein, 1961; Thurston and Brugger, 1964; Sinha, 1982; Pao and Gamer, 1985), is based on the approach of a small dynamic field superimposed on a static deformation. The pre-stress is thought to change the effective elasticity of a medium. Accordingly, the anisotropic property
Therapeutic Targeting of Nuclear Protein Import in Pathological Cell Conditions

Proteins enter the nucleus through the nuclear pore complex. Once in the nucleus, some proteins, such as transcriptional regulators, can turn genes on or off, and change the composition of the cell and its function to meet the demands of its environment. This process of protein import into the nucleus is highly controlled and regulated by the expression or function of single cargoes, transport receptors, or the transport channels themselves. Thus, these components of the import process have an impact on transport capacity, which subsequently affects gene expression, signal transduction, and cell growth and development. With such a key position in the process of cell growth, it is reasonable to hypothesize that alterations in nuclear protein transport may play an important role in pathological cell conditions that have abnormal cell growth as a central feature. Indeed, there are now sufficient data to demonstrate that alterations in nuclear protein transport participate in alterations in cell proliferation and hypertrophy. Further study is needed to provide definitive proof that changes in nuclear protein import directly participate in the pathogenesis of diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, cancer, viral infection, and diabetes. However, the data to date have, on select occasions, led to a clear association of alterations in nuclear transport with disease states. Furthermore,this research has led to the important identification of new targets within the process of nuclear protein import that hold therapeutic promise to inhibit viral replication, to improve drug delivery during cancer therapy, and, in general, to modify cell growth and viability during disease conditions.