Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact Evaluation in the Field: A Case Study on the Evaluation of an Improved Cookstove Initiative in Rural Guatemala.

approved: _______________________________________________ Elizabeth Schroeder Improved cookstoves (ICS) have been distributed by many in the international development community to address the dangers faced by billions of people worldwide who use traditional open-fire cooking methods. Yet, impact evaluations of these ICS interventions have not always shown positive impacts. This case study followed the ICS adoption study being conducted by non-governmental organization in two communities of rural Guatemala. The intent of this case study was to incorporate qualitative methods to improve the understanding of the ICS intervention. Theoretical concepts of social space and the habitus were used to explore social dynamics of the target populations and the research team. Data was collected from household surveys and observation and semi-structured interviews in the two communities. Qualitative methods revealed how the higher social classification of individuals conducting the research often resulted in underserved positive feedback from community members, even when the donated ICS was not serving them well. This suggests a need to recognize social class dynamics in international development and improve our understanding of this phenomenon with future research. Several policy recommendations arose from this case study: to reduce the impact of the imbalance of power between the study participants and research team, to design impact evaluation studies to closely resemble the ICS implementation strategy used in the real-world setting, to increase focus on the market-driven model of cookstove promotion, and to encourage assessment of community needs in collaboration with community members. ©Copyright by Roberta Nilson June 4, 2017 All Rights Reserved Impact Evaluation in the Field: A Case Study on the Evaluation of an Improved Cookstove Initiative in Rural Guatemala by Roberta Nilson
Three-Dimensional Magnetometer Calibration With Small Space Coverage for Pedestrians

Magnetometers are sensors that can sense the earth magnetic field from which heading can be determined. Gyroscopes can provide the angular rate from which the heading can be calculated, they can be available in low cost and light weight. Nevertheless, the problem of using gyroscopes as a sole source of heading is that gyroscopes readings are drifting with time in addition to the accumulated errors due to mathematical integration operation. Magnetometer is available in low cost, it does not suffer from mathematical integration errors, and it can provide an absolute heading from magnetic north. Magnetometer readings are usually affected by magnetic fields, other than the earth's field, and by other error sources. Therefore, magnetometer calibration is required to use magnetometer as a reliable source of heading. In this paper, two techniques are proposed for fast automatic 3D-space magnetometer calibration requiring small space coverage. There is no user involvement during calibration and there are no required specific movements. The proposed techniques perform 3D-space magnetometer calibration by calibrating the three magnetometer readings in the device frame, which makes the magnetometer useful for determining heading in untethered devices, especially in pedestrian navigation, in which, portable navigation devices (such as smartphones) are always moving freely between the user's hands, belt, pocket, or placed on the ear during phone calls. The two proposed magnetometer calibration techniques are also capable of calibrating magnetometers in tethered devices, given that the platform to which the device is tethered is capable of performing 3D motion.
Revisiting Heat Energy Consumption Modeling: Household Production Theory Applied to Field Experimental Data

This paper offers new insights on utility-driven heat energy consumption. The research question addressed is whether economic aspects affect short-term, less conscious behavior in the same way as long-term, more conscious behavior. The model proposed is based on Becker’s household production theory and integrates economic, engineering and behavioral elements. Comparative statics enables an interdisciplinary integration of price- and income functions to cover economic influences, the production function to cover technical influences, and the utility-based choice architecture. Based on a functional representation of the theories, a panel data model of heat energy consumption is estimated. The empirical analysis is based on data from 60 adjacent apartments in South-West Germany. We find empirical evidence that the price elasticity of demand is only statistically significant when using yearly aggregated data. This result provides evidence that occupants apparently do not act upon energy price signals when following their daily home heating routine. In less frequent considerations, as e.g. according to their yearly billing cycles, occupants adjust their heat energy consumption with respect to the fuel price influence. Furthermore, in relation to the other influences on heat energy consumption, we find that the price impact is less pronounced than the impact of comfort conditions.
Comparison of transcript profiles in late blight-challenged Solanum cajamarquense and B3C1 potato clones.

Two Solanum genotypes, a wild relative of cultivated potato S. cajamarquense (Cjm) and an advanced tetraploid clone B3C1 (B3), were inoculated with two Phytophthora infestans isolates and leaves were sampled at 72 and 96 h after inoculation. Gene expression in the inoculated versus noninoculated samples was monitored using the Institute of Genomic Research (TIGR) 10K potato array and real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The current experiment is study number 83 of the TIGR expression profiling service project, and all data are publicly available in the Solanaceae Gene Expression Database (SGED) at ftp://ftp.tigr. org/pub/data/s_tuberosum/SGED. Differentially regulated cDNA clones were selected separately for each isolate-time point interaction by significant analysis of microarray (SAM), and differentially regulated clones were classified into functional categories by MapMan. The results show that the genes activated in B3 and Cjm have largely the same biological functions and are commonly activated when plants respond to pathogen attack. The genes activated within biological function categories were considerably different between the genotypes studied, suggesting that the defence pathways activated in B3 and Cjm during the tested conditions may involve unique genes. However, as indicated by real-time RT-PCR, some of the genes thought to be genotype specific may be activated across genotypes at other time points during disease development.
Social stigmatization in patients with cranial and cervical dystonia

Patients with cranial and cervical dystonia (CCD) suffer from visible involuntary facial, head, and neck movements. Therefore, the social appearance of patients with CCD may be seriously affected and self‐perceived stigma can be a major source of disability. The present study investigated enacted social stigmatization of patients with CCD. In a pilot study, a semantic differential scale for assessment of stigma was constructed and validated. The final scale contained eight items representing personality traits to be rated on a seven‐point scale (−3 negative extreme to 3 positive extreme). Short video sequences (15 seconds) of patients with various types of CCD and age‐ and sex‐matched healthy controls were presented to a sample of 80 biology students (mean age, 19.8 ± 2.3 years). Immediately after presentation of each video sequence, the students were asked to perform stigma ratings. Significant differences between CCD patients and controls were found on all eight items (P < 0.001 for each). CCD patients were rated as less accountable for their actions, less likeable, less trustworthy, less attractive, less self‐confident, more odd and different, more reserved, and more piteous than controls. CCD patients are subject to serious prejudice and enacted stigmatization. There is a need for informing the public about the nature and symptoms of this disorder and a need to support patients to cope with stigmatization. © 2006 Movement Disorder Society
Explaining gender differences in preference for self-employment among tertiary graduates in Ghana

We examine gender differences in ambitions and expectations of jobseekers concerning self-employment, an increasingly proposed option for youth in economies with limited wage employment. Analysing survey data on 2,036 tertiary graduates in Ghana, we find that males have a stronger preference for self-employment. This is mostly explained by differences in educational background and work experience, and less by financial assets and family background. Personal traits (such as self-esteem or ‘grit’) do not explain gender differences. Our findings suggest early interventions may reduce gender differences in labour market outcomes, specifically by strengthening women’s academic training and encouraging more pre-graduate work experience.
A Case Study of Veteran, Rural Superintendents’ Experiences

This qualitative case study investigated experiences of veteran superintendents serving small, rural Colorado school districts during the reform era dominated by No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. Sixteen participants told of events and recollected leading districts in small, rural communities where they worked and lived. Superintendents described NCLB’s impact on their leadership and shared portraits of the human side of change. The study revealed people and place went through transitions, and schooling evolved into a different tradition of education. Portraits evidenced rural lifeworld as context for small, rural districts, which made an impact on superintendent leadership. Superintendents experienced dilemmas and demands. The executive officers struggled to reconcile external demands with the realities of schooling in their districts. Superintendents in low-performing districts optimized reform and led organizations to improved student achievement. Superintendents in adequate and high-performing districts resisted, deflected pressures, and maintained high student achievement. Participants described results and residuals. All the superintendents pushed back on some aspects of the reform, buffered staff, and developed wariness of external reform, along with some cynicism. Bridges and Bridges’ (2016) managing change theory explained transitions people and place progressed through during the decade. The concept of lifeworld (Habermas, 1987) clarified the innately understood but mostly invisible context behind leadership in rural settings. Superintendents led from structural, human resource, political and symbolic frames (Bolman & Deal, 2014). Overall, participants emerged from the decade as coherence makers (Fullan & Quinn, 2016).
SRT 1720 Induces Lysosomal-Dependent Cell Death of Breast Cancer Cells

SRT1720 is an activator of SIRT1, a NADþ-dependent protein and histone deacetylase that plays an important role in numerous biologic processes. Several studies have illustrated that SRT1720 treatment could improve metabolic conditions in mouse models and in a study in cancer SRT1720 caused increased apoptosis of myeloma cells. However, the effect of SRT1720 on cancer may be complex, as some recent studies have demonstrated that SRT1720 may not directly activate SIRT1 and another study showed that SRT1720 treatment could promote lung metastasis. To further investigate the role of SRT1720 in breast cancer, we treated SIRT1 knockdown and control breast cancer cell lines with SRT1720 both in vitro and in vivo. We showed that SRT1720more effectively decreased the viability of basal-typeMDA-MB-231 and BT20 cells as compared with luminal-type MCF-7 breast cancer cells or nontumorigenic MCF-10A cells. We demonstrated that SRT1720 induced lysosomal membrane permeabilization and necrosis, which could be blocked by lysosomal inhibitors. In contrast, SRT1720-induced cell death occurred in vitro irrespective of SIRT1 status, whereas in nude mice, SRT1720 exhibited a more profound effect in inhibiting the growth of allograft tumors of SIRT1 proficient cells as compared with tumors of SIRT1-deficient cells. Thus, SRT1720 causes lysosomal-dependent necrosis and may be used as a therapeutic agent for breast cancer treatment. Mol Cancer Ther; 14(1); 183–92. 2014 AACR.
Combined NK1 antagonism and serotonin reuptake inhibition: effects on emotional processing in humans

Background: Synergistic effects of NK1 receptor antagonism combined with serotonin reuptake inhibition have been reported in preclinical models. GSK424887 is a selective competitive antagonist of the human NK1 receptor and inhibitor of the serotonin transporter. However, its actions in human models of depression have not been assessed. Methods: This study explored the effects of acute administration of GSK424887 compared to placebo in healthy male volunteers. The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) citalopram was used as a positive control. A battery of emotional processing tasks was given at the peak time of drug effect. Results: GSK424887 enhanced attentional vigilance in the dot-probe task to both positive and negative stimuli. By contrast, citalopram enhanced perception of angry, sad and happy facial expressions and increased positive bias in the facial expression recognition task. Neither drug significantly affected emotion potentiated startle responses or emotional memory. Conclusions: These results suggest that acute administration of GSK424887 modulated some aspects of emotional processing but these effects were not similar to those seen previously with antidepressant agents. This was the first use of the battery of emotional processing tasks in a Phase 1 study. Repeated administration of the test and active control drugs may be needed to reliably characterise their effects.
Investor Recognition and Post‐Acquisition Performance of Acquirers

The literature has documented a negative relation between investor recognition and expected returns. This negative relation is consistent with the prediction in Merton (1987, Journal of Finance 42, 483–510). This paper investigates whether the changes in investor recognition of acquirers around the time of the acquisitions can explain the post‐acquisition underperformance of acquirer stocks. Using a large sample of U.S. acquisitions from 1980 to 2010, this paper finds that investor recognition, proxied by the number of institutional investors and the number of common shareholders, increases significantly during acquisitions. Once the increases in investor recognition are controlled for, the “puzzling” long‐run underperformances of acquirers disappears.
Human [ Gly 2 ] GLP-2 reduces the severity of colonic injury in a murine model of experimental colitis

Drucker, Daniel J., Bernardo Yusta, Robin P. Boushey, Lorraine DeForest and Patricia L. Brubaker. Human [Gly2]GLP-2 reduces the severity of colonic injury in a murine model of experimental colitis. Am. J. Physiol. 276 (Gastrointest. Liver Physiol. 39): G79–G91, 1999. —The pathology of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis is characterized by chronic inflammation and destruction of the gastrointestinal epithelium. Although suppression of inflammatory mediators remains the principle component of current disease therapeutics, strategies for enhancing repair and regeneration of the compromised intestinal epithelium have not been widely explored. The demonstration that a peptide hormone secreted by the intestinal epithelium, glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2), is a potent endogenous stimulator of intestinal epithelial proliferation in the small bowel prompted studies of the therapeutic efficacy of GLP-2 in CD1 and BALB/c mice with dextran sulfate (DS)-induced colitis. We report here that a human GLP-2 analog (h[Gly2]GLP-2) significantly reverses weight loss, reduces interleukin-1 expression, and increases colon length, crypt depth, and both mucosal area and integrity in the colon of mice with acute DS colitis. The effects of h[Gly2]GLP-2 in the colon are mediated in part via enhanced stimulation of mucosal epithelial cell proliferation. These observations suggest that exploitation of the normal mechanisms used to regulate intestinal proliferation may be a useful adjunct for healing mucosal epithelium in the presence of active intestinal inflammation.
Continuous requirement of ErbB2 kinase activity for loss of cell polarity and lumen formation in a novel ErbB2/Neu-driven murine cell line model of metastatic breast cancer

Background: Well over a quarter of human breast cancers are ErbB2-driven and constitute a distinct subtype with substantially poorer prognosis. Yet, there are substantial gaps in our understanding of how ErbB2 tyrosine kinase activity unleashes a coordinated program of cellular and extracellular alterations that culminate in aggressive breast cancers. Cellular models that exhibit ErbB2 kinase dependency and can induce metastatic breast cancer in immune competent hosts are likely to help bridge this gap. Materials and Methods: Here, we derived and characterized a cell line model obtained from a transgenic ErbB2/Neu-driven mouse mammary adenocarcinoma. Results: The MPPS1 cell line produces metastatic breast cancers when implanted in the mammary fat pads of immune-compromised as well as syngeneic immune-competent hosts. MPPS1 cells maintain high ErbB2 overexpression when propagated in DFCI-1 or related media, and their growth is ErbB2-dependent, as demonstrated by concentration-dependent inhibition of proliferation with the ErbB kinase inhibitor Lapatinib. When grown in 3-dimensional (3-D) culture on Matrigel, MPPS1 cells predominantly form large irregular cystic and solid structures. Remarkably, low concentrations of Lapatinib led to a switch to regular acinar growth on Matrigel. Immunofluorescence staining of control vs. Lapatinib-treated acini for markers of epithelial polarity revealed that inhibition of ErbB2 signaling led to rapid resumption of normal mammary epithelium-like cell polarity. Conclusions: The strict dependence of the MPPS1 cell system on ErbB2 signals for proliferation and alterations in cell polarity should allow its use to dissect ErbB2 kinase-dependent signaling pathways that promote loss of cell polarity, a key component of the epithelial mesenchymal transition and aggressiveness of ErbB2-driven breast cancers.
Tracking of Coastal Swell Fields in SAR Images for Sea Depth Retrieval: Application to ALOS L-Band Data

Swell propagation in shallow water sets specific relationships between water depth and swell parameters like swell wavelength and period. These relationships allow coastal bathymetry to be retrieved if swell parameters are measured. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is able to image swell waves, and spectral analysis of SAR images is a well-known approach for measuring swell parameters. However, owing to nonlinearities in SAR imaging, speckle and noise, spectral analysis can result in significant bathymetric errors. The paper individuates the conditions in which linear imaging is achieved and presents an algorithm able to preserve the accuracy of the calculated bathymetry against image speckle and noise. The proposed approach includes: 1) image resizing and filtering before spectral analysis; 2) limitations to the domain of the spectral analysis; and 3) spatial smoothing of the estimated parameters. The algorithm is tested on L-band ALOS PALSAR data collected over coastal regions in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, showing that swell can be properly tracked from open sea to shoreline. Dense coverage and submetric accuracy is thus achieved.
Crystal structure of Arabidopsis translation initiation factor eIF‐5A2

The protein eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (eIF-5A) is a highly conserved eukaryotic translation initiation factor (eIF) found in eukaryotes and archaea.1–3 Biochemical and molecular studies revealed that eIF-5A is the sole protein that contains a modified amino acid residue hypusine (Ne-(4-amino-2-hydroxybutyl)lysine). 4 The hypusination modification is made by two sequential reactions catalyzed by deoxyhypusine synthase (EC 1.1.1.249) and deoxyhypusine hydroxylase (EC 1.14.99.29). 5–7 eIF-5A was originally purified and identified from immature red blood cells.8 However, unlike the traditional translation initiation factors, eIF-5A is not essential for global protein synthesis8,9 but might be involved in mRNA translocation across the nuclear envelope.10,11 The hypusinated yeast eIF-5A was recently found to promote translation elongation.12 Moreover, hypusine of the yeast eIF-5A has been found to be required for the sequence-specific interaction with RNA.13 To help clarify these diverse and even somewhat controversial functions, seven structures of eIF-5A from various organisms have been solved (Methanococcus jannaschii, PDB codes: 1eif and 2eif14; Pyrobaculum aerophilum, PDB code: 1bkb15; Pyrococcus horikoshii, PDB code: 1iz616; Leishmania braziliensis, PDB code: 1 3 6o; Leishmania mexicana, PDB code:1 3 td; Homo sapiens, PDB code: 3cpf; Saccharomyces cerevisiae, PDB code: 3er0). They all share an overall structure of two domains, both of which resemble the nucleic acid binding fold.14 The plant Arabidopsis thaliana encodes three isoforms of eIF-5A: AteIF-5A1, 2, and 3 (GenBank Accession Numbers AF296082, BE039424, and AV526594). As the best investigated one, eIF-5A2 has been found to play a crucial role in plant growth and development by controlling cell proliferation and senescence.17 Here, we report the crystal structure of eIF-5A2 at 2.3 Å resolution, which represents a novel dimerization pattern specifically conserved in all plants.
Machine learning of accurate energy-conserving molecular force fields

The law of energy conservation is used to develop an efficient machine learning approach to construct accurate force fields. Using conservation of energy—a fundamental property of closed classical and quantum mechanical systems—we develop an efficient gradient-domain machine learning (GDML) approach to construct accurate molecular force fields using a restricted number of samples from ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) trajectories. The GDML implementation is able to reproduce global potential energy surfaces of intermediate-sized molecules with an accuracy of 0.3 kcal mol−1 for energies and 1 kcal mol−1 Å̊−1 for atomic forces using only 1000 conformational geometries for training. We demonstrate this accuracy for AIMD trajectories of molecules, including benzene, toluene, naphthalene, ethanol, uracil, and aspirin. The challenge of constructing conservative force fields is accomplished in our work by learning in a Hilbert space of vector-valued functions that obey the law of energy conservation. The GDML approach enables quantitative molecular dynamics simulations for molecules at a fraction of cost of explicit AIMD calculations, thereby allowing the construction of efficient force fields with the accuracy and transferability of high-level ab initio methods.