Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Challenges in designing ecological agriculture education: A Nordic perspective on change

Educators in ecological agriculture are developing learning environments that differ in three fundamental ways from conventional teaching in agricultural universities and colleges. First, increased emphasis on food and production systems will expand and complement the current focus on specific disciplines and technologies. Second, introduction of research methods and learning objectives from social sciences will broaden the potentials for students to understand the complexities of food systems and the people who make them work. Third, action research and education will move learning activities into the agroecosystems environment and the human landscape, where students will learn from a broad array of people and experiences. This design of a new learning environment will enhance the education of students to serve agricultural and food systems well into a future that is changing at an accelerating rate.
Bayesian Analysis of DSGE Models—Some Comments

Sungbae An and Frank Schorfheide have provided an excellent review of the main elements of Bayesian inference in Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) models. Bayesian methods have, for reasons clearly outlined in the paper, a very natural role to play in DSGE analysis, and the appeal of the Bayesian paradigm is indeed strongly evidenced by the flood of empirical applications in the area over the last couple of years. We expect their paper to be the natural starting point for applied economists interested in learning about Bayesian techniques for analyzing DSGE models, and as such the paper is likely to have a strong influence on what will be considered best practice for estimating DSGE models. The authors have, for good reasons, chosen a stylized six-equation model to present the methodology. We shall use here the large-scale model in Adolfson et al. (2005), henceforth ALLV, to illustrate a few econometric problems which we have found to be especially important as the size of the model increases. The model in ALLV is an open economy extension of the closed economy model in Christiano et al. (2005). It consists of 25 log-linearized equations, which can be written as a state space representation with 60 state variables, many of them unobserved. Fifteen observed unfiltered time series are used to estimate 51 structural parameters. An additional complication compared to the model in An and Schorfheide's paper is that some of the coefficients in the measurement equation are non-linear functions of the structural parameters. The model is currently the main vehicle for policy analysis at Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden) and similar models are being developed in many other policy institutions, which testifies to the model's practical relevance. The version considered here is estimated on Euro area data over the period 1980Q1–2002Q4. We refer to ALLV for details.
Performance of Firewalls for Industrial Applications

The increased exposure of industrial control systems to cyber threats and attacks demands for the deployment of adequate security countermeasures. Specialised firewalls, able to recognise and inspect traffic concerning special-purpose communication protocols adopted in industrial enviornments, are one of the basic solutions that have started spreading on the market. This paper deals with the performance evaluation of two commercial firewalls designed for industrial applications. Our analysis is mainly based on the measurement of typical parameters that are relevant for the considered application scenario. A more conventional device has also been considered in the experimental campaign so as to provide a reference comparison with a well-assessed and general-purpose product. In particular, the paper focuses on the firewall packet inspection capabilities for the Modbus/TCP protocol.
A Systematic Investigation of Lateral Estimation Using Various Interpolation Approaches in Conventional Ultrasound Imaging

Accurate lateral displacement and strain estimation is critical for some applications of elasticity imaging. Typically, motion estimation in the lateral direction is challenging because of low sampling frequency and lack of phase information in conventional ultrasound imaging. Several approaches have been proposed to improve the performance of lateral estimation, such as lateral interpolation on the radio frequency (RF) signals (Interp_RF), lateral interpolation on the cross-correlation function (Interp_CCF), and lateral interpolation on both the RF signals and cross-correlation function (Interp_Both). In this paper, the estimation performances of the above-mentioned three approaches are compared systematically in simulations and phantom experiments. In the simulations, the root-mean-square error (RMSE) of axial/lateral displacement and strain is utilized to assess the accuracy of motion estimation. In the phantom experiments, the displacement quality metric (DQM), defined as the normalized cross-correlation between the motion-compensated reference frame and the comparison frame, and the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of axial/lateral strain are used as the evaluation criteria. The results show that the three approaches have similar performance in axial estimation. For lateral estimation, if the line density of ultrasound imaging is relatively high (i.e., >4.2 lines/mm), Interp_CCF is comparable to Interp_Both, and Interp_RF performs the worst. However, if the line density is relatively low (i.e., <2.8 lines/mm), Interp_Both performs the best as indicated by the lowest RMSEs or highest DQMs and CNRs in lateral estimation. The trend is consistent at different window sizes, applied strains, and sonographic signal-to-noise ratios (>20 dB). Besides, Interp_Both with a small interpolation factor (e.g., 3–5) is found to obtain the best tradeoff between the estimation accuracy and the computational cost, and thus is suggested for lateral motion estimation in the case of a low line density (i.e., <2.8 lines/mm).
FRS3 and analysts' use of earnings

Abstract This paper examines analysts' use of earnings information and draws implications for the stock market role of the financial reporting regulator. Evidence from participant observation and from interview research suggests that: first, analysts treat the announcement of earnings with immediacy and importance and, further, they make use of the components of FRS3 in extracting a measure of ‘normalised' earnings; second, analysts do not, however, have a rational economic incentive to regard accounting information as their exclusive (or even their primary) focus of interest, and therefore financial statement analysis is not necessarily their core competence; third, analysts’ interpretation and use of earnings information is rather superficial, and there is limited understanding of underlying issues of recognition and measurement, and also of the interactions between earnings and the balance sheet. Overall, the analysis suggests an important role for the financial reporting regulator in compensating for analysts' inherent ‘disinterest’ in accounting. Financial reporting standards must be designed such that their actual content is consistent with the analysts' (uninformed) expectations of this content, otherwise the analysts' limited understanding will generate false assumptions and, thereby, unintended real effects on share prices.
French-German Interest Rate Differentials and Time-Varying Realignment Risk

This paper explores the determinants of realignment expectations for the French franc--deutsche mark exchange rate. Expected changes in the central parity are estimated by adjusting short-term Euromarket interest rate differentials for the expected rate of change in the exchange rate within the ERM fluctuation band and by the yield differential on long-term government bonds. The results indicate that the exchange rate within the band is mean reverting and that expected changes are sizable. Realignment expectations are found to be related to the evolution of fundamental economic variables and, for shorter horizons, the position of the franc in the fluctuation band.
Camera calibration and tracking for gimballed like eye structure in robots with hardware implementation

Confront location based on camera tracking is an active research area as it offers numerous applications, particularly for security-based surveillance, robot vision and visual guidance. This paper presents a camera calibration technique for target tracking by designing a feedback control system for a camera mounted servo based gimballed eye structure which in turn signals the tracking station to position and lock the laser pointer to the target. The tracking of the target is based on pose recovery and face detection using Voila Jones algorithm for computer based robot vision whereas the feedback controller is based on PID technique. A mathematical description of the tracking system based on the transformation from the world coordinates to the camera coordinates along with the camera calibration is also presented.
Re‐visiting Devons' historical perspective on black holes and bullwhip

Purpose – To publicise the little known work of Eli Devons (1950) as a source of practical operations management “know how”, collated by an economist but of direct interest to wider academe. Design/methodology/approach – Evaluation of World War II UK aircraft production procedures against published literature and available case studies in operations management. Findings – Specific and substantial anecdotal evidence suggesting that both bullwhip and learning curve losses were common phenomena waiting to be discovered. Research limitations/implications – Much of the original evidence is circumstantial but still capable of triangulation because of multiple events pointing to the same causality. Practical implications – Identifies generic problems and solutions but also pinpoints areas which are applications specific. Originality/value – The re-discovery that learning curve and bullwhip phenomena were rife 60 years ago supports the view that knowledge and its exploitation is episodic. Specifically, as soon as the environment returns to normal, so are the lessons learned under duress quickly forgotten.
The Weak-Form Efficiency of the Finnish and Scandinavian Stock Exchanges: A Comparative Note on Thin Trading

This note adds to previous Scandinavian evidence produced by the Jennergren & Korsvold (1974, 1975),' Jennergren (1975), Jennergren & ToftNielsen (1977), Korhonen (1977) and S0rensen (1982) studies of stock market return randomness. In daily data sets from the Oslo and Stockholm Stock Exchanges, Jennergren & Korsvold (1975) found evidence of nonrandomness in a majority of the 45 stocks studied. A similar result was later reported for the Copenhagen exchange by Jennergren & Toft-Nielsen (1977). Subsequent studies by Jennergren (1975) and S0rensen (1980) further indicated that the serial correlation inherent in Stockholm and Copenhagen data was strong enough to allow supernormal yields on simple filter strategies.2 The data for our study consist of daily trading or, when closings did not occur, bid prices adjusted for dividends and issues for all stocks quoted on the Helsinki Stock Exchange (HESE) between February 2, 1970 and December 31, 1981, along with data on daily trading volumes for the years 1977-81.3 The price file is based on the KOP-index file.4 Throughout this note, comparisons with previous results for other Scandinavian exchanges are made. Allowing for variations in sample periods, we attempt a study of whether a smaller annual turnover of an exchange effects the degree of nonrandomness exhibited by its stock returns. Of the
Recent Labor Market Performance in Vietnam Through a Gender Lens

This paper provides an overview of the recent performance of the labor market in Vietnam during the Great Recession. The analysis uses data from the Labor Force Survey and the Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey. The author finds that, notwithstanding the global crisis and domestic volatility, job creation has been sustained in Vietnam, especially in the formal sector, but that the overall quality of employment has suffered. Gender differentials are found to affect older women especially, while educated women benefit from a skills wage premium. Reassuringly given the large youth share of the total workforce, the youth labor market is dynamic and outcomes for youths have improved. Meanwhile, participation in poverty alleviation programs and labor market programs has not changed, and few workers use the newly created employment services and unemployment benefits.
Measurement of Marketing Orientation of a Financial Service Industry in a Transition Economy by Use of the Markor Scale

ABSTRACT The objective of this research was to ascertain whether during the evolution of marketing concept in a transition economy banking sector, banks of different type and characteristics exhibit similar behaviors and tendencies observed in free market economies of the Western countries. More specifically, a concerted effort was made to determine the differences in the perceived importance of different controllable decision variables of the marketing function performed by banks in a transition economy of Central Asia. As well, the study tried to distinguish between the actual practice of marketing orientation among marketing oriented and non-marketing oriented banks. MARKOR (Kohli, Jaworski, and Kumar, 1993) scales developed and used in the USA and a select number of Western countries were translated into Russian and were administered to state and private bank executives of Kyrgyz Republic. Study results indicate that there are significant differences between marketing-oriented bank managers and those of non-marketing oriented managers in terms of their responses to MARKOR statements. Managerial and public policy implications of the study are also discussed.
Security Analysis of Impostor Attempts with Respect to Gender in Gait Biometrics

This paper presents security analysis of impostor attacks with respect to gender information in gait biometric system. In particular, we investigate how different the impostor scores generated by matching gait samples from persons of the same gender are, compared to the impostor scores generated by matching gait samples from persons of different gender. Unlike most of the previous approaches, for collecting gait we use a motion recording sensor attached to the body of the person. Hip acceleration of the person is recorded by the sensor and used for authentication. During the experiment, we have collected gait sequences from 100 persons, 70 men and 30 women. Analysis based on false acceptance rates (FAR) indicate that there might be a significant difference between the same gender and different gender impostor attempts.
Retrospective cohort study of usage patterns of epidural injections for spinal pain in the US fee-for-service Medicare population from 2000 to 2014

Objective To assess the usage patterns of epidural injections for chronic spinal pain in the fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare population from 2000 to 2014 in the USA. Design A retrospective cohort. Methods The descriptive analysis of the administrative database from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Physician/Supplier Procedure Summary (PSPS) master data from 2000 to 2014 was performed. The guidance from Strengthening the Reporting of Observational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) was applied. Analysis included multiple variables based on the procedures, specialties and geography. Results Overall epidural injections increased 99% per 100 000 Medicare beneficiaries with an annual increase of 5% from 2000 to 2014. Lumbar interlaminar and caudal epidural injections constituted 36.2% of all epidural injections, with an overall decrease of 2% and an annual decrease of 0.2% per 100 000 Medicare beneficiaries. However, lumbosacral transforaminal epidural injections increased 609% with an annual increase of 15% from 2000 to 2014 per 100 000 Medicare population. Conclusions Usage of epidural injections increased from 2000 to 2014, with a decline thereafter. However, an escalating growth has been seen for lumbosacral transforaminal epidural injections despite numerous reports of complications and regulations to curb the usage of transforaminal epidural injections.
The floating shoulder—Clinical and radiological results after intramedullary stabilization of the clavicle in cases with minor displacement of the scapular neck fracture

Background: The aim of this study was to compare the clinical and radiologic results of titanium elastic nail (TEN) and plate osteosynthesis for treatment of clavicle fractures in patients with a floating shoulder injury. Patients and Methods: From 2000 to 2008, 16 patients with a floating shoulder injury (ipsilateral clavicle and minor displaced scapular neck fracture) were treated by isolated stabilization of the clavicle. The patients were treated with open reduction and plate osteosynthesis (group 1 [G1]) or TEN osteosynthesis (group 2 [G2]). Both procedures were compared with regard to functional and radiologic outcome. Results: Nine patients were treated with a plate osteosynthesis (G1) and seven with a TEN osteosynthesis (G2). The follow-up time was 35.7 months ± 16 months. There was no difference in functional outcome with regard to the intraindividual Constant score 83.9 (G1) versus 86.7 (G2) or the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score 79.1 (G1) versus 85.7 (G2). No significant postoperative dislocation of the glenopolar angle appeared. In the TEN-treated group, a clavicle shortening of 2.4 mm was observed. Subgroup analysis revealed significant greater shortening in type B and C compared with type A (OTA) clavicle fractures (4.7 mm vs. 0.8 mm). No clavicle shortening in the plate-treated group appeared. Conclusion: The treatment of floating shoulder injuries with TEN and plate osteosynthesis of the clavicle and nonoperative treatment of a minimally displaced glenoid neck fracture provide equal functional results. However, in type B and C (but not in type A) fractures of the clavicle, a shortening of ∼5 mm can be expected after titanium elastic nailing.
Many-sorted high-level nets

Many-sorted high-level nets (MHLNs) combine abstract data types and Petri nets within the same algebraic framework and include inhibitor arcs and place capacities. Many-sorted signatures are used to define inscriptions. MHLNs are defined at two different levels of abstraction. At an abstract level markings and capacities are defined by terms. This is suitable for specifying classes of systems. At the concrete level, a many-sorted algebra satisfying the signature is used for markings and capacities. Both abstract and concrete MHLNs can be given an interpolation in terms of colored Petri nets extended by place capacities and inhibitors, known as P-nets. A hierarchy of high-level nets, including many-sorted versions of predicate-transition (PrT) nets and algebraic nets, is developed and differences from their single-sorted versions are discussed. <<ETX>>
Reduction of albuminuria by angiotensin receptor blocker beyond blood pressure lowering: Evaluation in megsin/receptor for advanced glycation end products/inducible nitric oxide synthase triple transgenic diabetic nephropathy mouse model

Aim: Antihypertensive agents inhibiting the renin‐angiotensin system (RAS), such as angiotensin II type 1 receptor blockers (ARB), are now part of the standard treatment of patients with diabetic nephropathy, regardless of the presence of systemic hypertension. Whether ARB achieve better renoprotection than other RAS‐independent antihypertensive drugs has been an issue of controversy. Several lines of large clinical studies provided better renoprotection of ARB. However, a recent meta‐analysis argued against additional benefits of ARB beyond blood pressure. We generated a novel mouse model of diabetic nephropathy; that is, megsin/receptor for advanced glycation end products/inducible nitric oxide synthase triple transgenic mice. This model is normotensive but progressively develops severe diabetic nephropathy that resembles those observed in humans.
Technological and organizational changes as determinants of the skill bias: evidence from the Italian machinery industry

Recent empirical literature has introduced the 'Skill Biased Organizational Change' (SBOC) hypothesis, according to which organizational change can be considered as one of the main causes of the skill bias (increase in the number of highly skilled workers) exhibited by manufacturing employment in developed countries. This paper focuses on the importance of the SBOC with respect to the more traditional 'Skill Biased Technological Change' in driving the skill composition of workers in the Italian machinery sector. A dynamic panel data analysis is proposed which uses a unique firm-level dataset. The results show that both skilled and unskilled workers are negatively affected by technological change, while organizational change-which in turn may be linked to new technologies-is positively linked to skilled workers. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Comparison of regulatory T cells in hemodialysis patients and healthy controls: implications for cell therapy in transplantation.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Cell-based therapy with natural (CD4(+)CD25(hi)CD127(lo)) regulatory T cells to induce transplant tolerance is now technically feasible. However, regulatory T cells from hemodialysis patients awaiting transplantation may be functionally/numerically defective. Human regulatory T cells are also heterogeneous, and some are able to convert to proinflammatory Th17 cells. This study addresses the suitability of regulatory T cells from hemodialysis patients for cell-based therapy in preparation for the first clinical trials in renal transplant recipients (the ONE Study). DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS Healthy controls and age- and sex-matched hemodialysis patients without recent illness/autoimmune disease on established, complication-free hemodialysis for a minimum of 6 months were recruited. Circulating regulatory T cells were studied by flow cytometry to compare the regulatory T cell subpopulations. Regulatory T cells from members of each group were compared for suppressive function and plasticity (IL-17-producing capacity) before and after in vitro expansion with and without Rapamycin, using standard assays. RESULTS Both groups had similar total regulatory T cells and subpopulations I and III. In each subpopulation, regulatory T cells expressed similar levels of the function-associated markers CD27, CD39, HLA-DR, and FOXP3. Hemodialysis regulatory T cells were less suppressive, expanded poorly compared with healthy control regulatory T cells, and produced IL-17 in the absence of Rapamycin. However, Rapamycin efficiently expanded hemodialysis regulatory T cells to a functional and stable cell product. CONCLUSIONS Rapamycin-based expansion protocols should enable clinical trials of cell-based immunotherapy for the induction of tolerance to renal allografts using hemodialysis regulatory T cells.