Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Get-Out-the-Vote Experiment on the World’s Largest Participatory Budgeting Vote in Brazil

Does non-partisan voter mobilization affect the popular vote? We use vote records from a state-level participatory budgeting vote in Brazil– the world’s largest –to assess the impact of voter mobilization messaging on turnout and support for public investments. The government provided records as to how each ballot was cast and designed the tabulation process so that votes could be matched to treatment assignment without compromising the secrecy of the ballot. Citizens (n=43,384) were randomly assigned to receive non-partisan email and text messages designed to encourage voting. We document an impressive 4.7 percentage point increase in online voting in our treatment group. However, we found no effect of messaging on vote choice; voters in the treatment and control groups shared the same sectoral preferences and showed no difference in the average cost of public investment projects they supported. These results suggest non-partisan Get Out the Vote campaigns can increase citizen participation without skewing the outcome.
Software Configuration Management A Result from the Assessment and its Recommendation

Software Configuration Management (SCM) is a set of engineering procedures which involves defining and controlling the software products in a software configuration. The main goal of the SCM process is to ensure that all changes are recorded and the current state of the software is known and reproducible. SCM is applied not only during the design and development phase, but it is also applied until the maintenance phase. The purpose of this paper is to discuss about the result from the assessment of SCM practices in one small scale project. From the result, we have proposed a recommendation that the project team should employ to establish proper SCM practices in their project. To perform the research, we are embedded in the project for the duration of two weeks. We have participated and observe the SCM practices in that project. Data is gathered by interviewing members of the project, distributing questionnaires, observing the work done, and by analyzing work artifacts and other available documents.
The role of FaBG3 in fruit ripening and B. cinerea fungal infection of strawberry.

In plants, β-glucosidases (BG) have been implicated in developmental and pathogen defense, and are thought to take part in abscisic acid (ABA) synthesis via hydrolysis of ABA glucose ester to release active ABA; however, there is no genetic evidence for the role of BG genes in ripening and biotic/abiotic stress in fruits. To clarify the role of BG genes in fruit, eight Fa/FvBG genes encoding β-glucosidase were isolated using information from the GenBank strawberry nucleotide database. Of the Fa/FvBG genes examined, expression of FaBG3 was the highest, showing peaks at the mature stage, coincident with the changes observed in ABA content. To verify the role of this gene, we suppressed the expression of FaBG3 via inoculation with Agrobacterium tumefaciens containing tobacco rattle virus carrying a FaBG3 fragment (RNAi). The expression of FaBG3 in FaBG3-RNAi-treated fruit was markedly reduced, and the ABA content was lower than that of the control. FaBG3-RNAi-treated fruit did not exhibit full ripening, and were firmer, had lower sugar content, and were pale compared with the control due to down-regulation of ripening-related genes. FaBG3-RNAi-treated fruit with reduced ABA levels were much more resistant to Botrytis cinerea fungus but were more sensitive to dehydration stress than control fruit. These results indicate that FaBG3 may play key roles in fruit ripening, dehydration stress and B. cinerea fungal infection in strawberries via modulation of ABA homeostasis and transcriptional regulation of ripening-related genes.
Phase Transition in the Maximal Influence Problem: When Do We Need Optimization?

Considerable efforts were made in recent years in devising optimization algorithms for influence maximization in networks. Here we ask: "When do we need optimization? " and apply insights from statistical mechanics, and direct simulations, to characterize the parameter-space region where optimization is required. We find that this region is due to a well known physical phase transition of the network, and that it vanishes as a power-law with the network size. We show that also from a utility-maximization perspective (when considering the optimization costs), for large networks standard optimization is profitable only in a vanishing parameter region near the phase transition. Finally, we introduce a constant-time optimization approach, and demonstrate it through a simple algorithm that manages to give similar results to standard optimization methods in terms of the influenced-set size, while improving the results in terms of the net utility.
A Randomized, Controlled Trial of a New Vascular Catheter Flush Solution (Minocycline-EDTA) in Temporary Hemodialysis Access

Abstract Background and Objective: We previously demonstrated that minocycline-EDTA was efficacious at preventing catheter-related bloodstream infections (BSIs) in three patients with recurrent infections. This study compared heparin with minocycline-EDTA as flush solutions used among dialysis patients with central venous catheters, a high-risk group for catheter-related BSI. Methods: Patients were enrolled within 72 hours of catheter insertion and randomized to receive heparin or minocycline-EDTA as a flush after each dialysis session. Each syringe containing flush solution was wrapped in orange plastic to conceal the type of solution it contained. Patients were observed for evidence of infection and catheter thrombosis. After catheters were removed, cultures were performed to determine whether microbial colonization had occurred. Results: During a 14-month period, 60 patients were enrolled (30 in each group). The two groups had similar demographics and underlying diseases. Catheter survival at 90 days was 83% for the minocycline-EDTA group versus 66% for the heparin group (P = .07). Significant catheter colonization, a surrogate measure of catheter-related infection, was significantly more frequent in the heparin group (9 of 14 vs 1 of 11; P= .005). There was only one catheter-related bacteremia and it occurred in the heparin group. Conclusions: When compared with heparin, minocycline-EDTA had a better 90-day catheter survival (P = .07) and a decreased rate of catheter colonization. This pilot study warrants a larger prospective, randomized trial (Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2005;26:520-524).
Commodity Pricing: Evidence from Rational and Behavioral Models

In this paper, we study commodity pricing, commodity price volatility and predictability. Our emphasis is on the econometric identification of market expectations about the convenience yield and of discount rates dynamics. To explain commodity prices and return volatility, we consider both a classical fundamental-based model with a rational representative agent and a behavioral extension with heterogeneous agents, thus formally examining the role of speculators, in particular in relation to the super cycle in commodities and the time period most associated with so-called financialization of commodities. We examine a total of 15 commodities covering agriculture, softs, energy and metals and a sample where possible covers the period from 1959 to 2017. In all cases, especially in the final part of the sample period, we reject the restrictions associated with the rational representative agent model, in contrast to the conclusions reached by Pindyck (1993), also when we allow for time varying risk free rates and time varying risk premiums. To the contrary, the behavioral model with agents with heterogenous investment horizons exhibits a much closer empirical fit.
Innovation and Market Value

Recent research on financial market valuation of the knowledge assets of publicly traded firms is surveyed. The motivation for using a market value equation to price knowledge assets is discussed and the theory behind this equation is briefly presented. Then the empirical literature that relates Tobin's q or the market to book value ratio to R&D and patent measures is surveyed and new results based on United States data through 1995 are presented. The conclusion is that the market value of the modern manufacturing corporation is strongly related to its knowledge assets, and that patent measures contain information about this value above and beyond that conveyed by the usual R&D measures.
International Postgraduate Students in Britain Reasons for Studying Abroad and Issues Related to Adjustment

This study investigates reasons for studying abroad and issues related to adjustment of first-year, full-time, postgraduate, international students at a southwestern UK university through a mixed methods research design. The research discovered that adjustment was a complex set of experiences. The value of overseas study, personal or family related factors, lack of opportunities at home, and financial or promotional reasons were main motivators for study abroad. International Postgraduate students tended to pay more attention to academic than socio-cultural adjustment because personal agency and cultural identity operated more explicitly in socio-cultural than academic adjustment. Additionally, the data reveal that both acculturation and hybridization accounted for the processes that inform students’ socio-cultural adjustment. The push-pull model is more applicable than the Theory of Planned Behavior in explaining reasons for studying abroad. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory is less relevant to adjustment investigation because international students tend to have special characteristics and their satisfaction perceptions are guided by various cultural factors. Finally, the Ucurve hypothesis is not supported by the research data, as methodological issues, different internal and external factors, cultural expectations, individual responses or attitudes, and technological and world development have the potential to impact on adjustment.
Collaborative Service Caching for Edge Computing in Dense Small Cell Networks

Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) pushes computing functionalities away from the centralized cloud to the proximity of data sources, thereby reducing service provision latency and saving backhaul network bandwidth. Although computation offloading has been extensively studied in the literature, service caching is an equally, if not more, important design topic of MEC, yet receives much less attention. Service caching refers to caching application services and their related data (libraries/databases) in the edge server, e.g. MEC-enabled Base Station (BS), enabling corresponding computation tasks to be executed. Since only a small number of services can be cached in resource-limited edge server at the same time, which services to cache has to be judiciously decided to maximize the system performance. In this paper, we investigate collaborative service caching in MEC-enabled dense small cell (SC) networks. We propose an efficient decentralized algorithm, called CSC (Collaborative Service Caching), where a network of small cell BSs optimize service caching collaboratively to address a number of key challenges in MEC systems, including service heterogeneity, spatial demand coupling, and decentralized coordination. Our algorithm is developed based on parallel Gibbs sampling by exploiting the special structure of the considered problem using graphing coloring. The algorithm significantly improves the time efficiency compared to conventional Gibbs sampling, yet guarantees provable convergence and optimality. CSC is further extended to the SC network with selfish BSs, where a coalitional game is formulated to incentivize collaboration. A coalition formation algorithm is developed by employing the merge-and-split rules and ensures the stability of the SC coalitions.
Influence of Reduced Protein Content in Complete Diets with a Consistent Arginine–Lysine Ratio on Performance and Nitrogen Excretion in Broilers

The current discussion concerning resource-efficient broiler production inevitably leads to diets with lowered crude protein (CP) levels. Therefore, the hypothesis was formed that crude protein reduction far below the recommended levels can significantly lower the nitrogen (N) content in litter, if essential amino acids are added and a constant lysine-arginine ratio is guaranteed. In a five-week feeding trial, 360 ROSS 308 broilers of both sexes were randomly assigned to four feeding groups with six replicates each with a standard three-phase feeding program (d 1–7, d 8–14, d 15–35). The control group was offered a complete diet with a common protein content found in practice (CP-% as fed; starter: 21.5, grower: 20.5, finisher: 20.0; lysine/arginine: 100/115). In the experimental diets the lysine/arginine ratio was constant, whereas the protein content was lowered in steps of 1.00 percent each with simultaneous supplementation of growth limiting amino acids. Feeding a diet with a 2.00 percent reduced protein content led to higher body weights after 34 days compared to the control (2329 g vs. 2192 g). The N content in the total litter decreased significantly with a 2.00 and 3.00 percent reduction in the CP content (51.2 vs. 46.2 or rather 36.2 g/kg dry matter (DM)). Meticulous balanced protein-reduced diets therefore allow a significant environmental relief.
DESA WISATA HALAL: KONSEP DAN IMPLEMENTASINYA DI INDONESIA

The purpose of this study is to describe the concept and implementation of Halal tourism village. Because the concept of halal now has become a lifestyle for most of Indonesia’s population. This type of research is included in the category of literature research which is the writing of the data and information obtained from reading sources such as from books, research results, journals and other literatures that still have relevance to this research topic. The results showed that the tourism sector has a significant contribution to improving the welfare of an area or country. Halal Tourism Village is an implementation of the embodiment of the nuances of religiosity that is covered in mu’amalah aspect as the embodiment of socio-cultural and socio-economic aspects based on sharia principles. The phenomenon of Halal Tourism Village in Indonesia is now a proof of the flexibility of Islamic law in the practical level of current lifestyle through the integration of the halal and thoyyib values in the tourism sector to support the Islamic regional economy.
Alternative explanations of the dependence of the density of centers on the density of population.

"The paper is devoted to modeling the relationship between the density of service centers and the density of population (or.the density of demand). Several models lead to an exponential function with the exponent equal to [two-thirds]. For a number of real systems of centers, the power is considerably different from [two-thirds] (more often it is nearer to 1). I describe a series of models that explain this difference. " The application of the model to U.S. data is discussed.
Speech Speed Awareness System for a Non-native Speaker

When people want to collaborate with someone, they have to use a common language. For the non-native speaker of the language, to keep up with the conversation and talk equally with the native speaker is not always easy. We propose the speech speed awareness system in this paper. The system warns when the speech rate becomes too fast for the non-native speaker, reminding the native speaker that not all the conversation participants are native, and preventing the non-native speaker from being left behind of the conversation without the effort of asking a repeat many times to help them collaborate more efficiently.
Identification of YfiH and the Catalase CatA As Polyphenol Oxidases of Aeromonas media and CatA as a Regulator of Pigmentation by Its Peroxyl Radical Scavenging Capacity

Pyomelanin is the major constituent of pigment in melanogenic Aeromonas strains of bacteria. However, eumelanin, synthesized from tyrosine via L-DOPA and polyphenol oxidases (PPOs), may also be present in this genus since L-DOPA is frequently detected in culture fluids of several species. To address this question, we used a deletion mutant of Aeromonas media strain WS, in which pyomelanin synthesis is completely blocked under normal culture conditions. When tyrosine was supplied to the medium, we observed residual melanin accumulation, which we interpret as evidence for existence of the DOPA-melanin pathway. We traced enzymatic activity in this bacterium using native-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Two PPOs: YfiH, a laccase-like protein, and CatA, a catalase, were identified. However, neither protein was critical for the residual pigmentation in pyomelanin-deficient mutant. We speculate that eumelanin synthesis may require other unknown enzymes. Deletion of yfiH did not affect pigmentation in A. media strain WS, while deletion of the CatA-encoding gene katE resulted in a reduction of melanin accumulation, but it started 9 h earlier than in the wild-type. Since catalases regulate reactive oxygen species levels during melanogenesis, we speculated that CatA affects pigmentation through its peroxyl radical scavenging capacity. Consistent with this, expression of the catalases Hpi or Hpii from Escherichia coli in the katE deletion strain of A. media strain WS restored pigmentation to the wild-type level. Hpi and Hpii also exhibited PPO activity, suggesting that catalase may represent a new class of PPOs.
A Multicenter Observational Study of Incretin-based Drugs and Heart Failure.

BACKGROUND There is concern that antidiabetic incretin-based drugs, including dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) inhibitors and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) analogues, can increase the risk of heart failure. Ongoing clinical trials may not have large enough samples to effectively address this issue. METHODS We applied a common protocol in the analysis of multiple cohorts of patients with diabetes. We used health care data from four Canadian provinces, the United States, and the United Kingdom. With the use of a nested case-control analysis, we matched each patient who was hospitalized for heart failure with up to 20 controls from the same cohort; matching was based on sex, age, cohort-entry date, duration of treated diabetes, and follow-up time. Cohort-specific hazard ratios for hospitalization due to heart failure among patients receiving incretin-based drugs, as compared with those receiving oral antidiabetic-drug combinations, were estimated by means of conditional logistic regression and pooled across cohorts with the use of random-effects models. RESULTS The cohorts included a total of 1,499,650 patients, with 29,741 hospitalized for heart failure (incidence rate, 9.2 events per 1000 persons per year). The rate of hospitalization for heart failure did not increase with the use of incretin-based drugs as compared with oral antidiabetic-drug combinations among patients with a history of heart failure (hazard ratio, 0.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.62 to 1.19) or among those without a history of heart failure (hazard ratio, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.67 to 1.00). The results were similar for DPP-4 inhibitors and GLP-1 analogues. CONCLUSIONS In this analysis of data from large cohorts of patients with diabetes, incretin-based drugs were not associated with an increased risk of hospitalization for heart failure, as compared with commonly used combinations of oral antidiabetic drugs. (Funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02456428.).
Experimental design of a FICA antenna

Experimental design of a FICA antenna is presented. The FICA antenna is first simulated using the FDTD method for selected factors which may affect the performance of the antenna. The most sensitive factors and their interactive effects are identified by using the design of experiments (DOE) technique. In addition, the estimate formulations of the output parameters for characterizing antenna performance are given by using the DOE results. The output parameters are finally optimized by the particle swarm method and the optimization design is verified by the FDTD simulation.
Urbanisation, Education and the Growth Backlog of Africa

Human capital accumulation and urbanisation play a decisive role in the analysis of growth and development. Stylised facts reveal a positive association between human capital accumulation, urbanisation and growth for both over time and across countries. While Africa has the fastest increasing human capital accumulation and urbanisation growth, it is the region experiencing the slowest economic growth. This paper argues that the adjustment costs resulting from rapid urbanisation can explain this paradox. In other words, low or negative social return to education in the short-run might be due to transitory adjustment or urbanisation costs. We build a simple growth model with two sectors, calibrate its parameters and then use it to simulate the African trajectory of human capital, urban population and GDP per capita. While we predict greater growth rates in future decades (backlog) convergence with high-income countries will be limited. The current levels of GDP per capita could have been reached 15 years earlier if it were not for the adjustment costs.
Study on the Spillover Effects of Overseas Brand Crises

Innocent domestic brands are always infected by some overseas brand crises. In this article, we examined the factors that can inhibit the spillover effects of overseas brand crises. The results revealed that high level of mental construal and national identity can help domestic brands defend the negative spillover effects of overseas brand crises. For consumers with low level of national identity, they evaluate domestic brands more favorably when they are at the high level of construal than assigned at the low level of construal.
Assessment applicability of selected models of multiple discriminant analyses to forecast financial situation of Polish wood sector enterprises

Abstract In the last three decades forecasting bankruptcy of enterprises has been an important and difficult problem, used as an impulse for many research projects (Ribeiro et al. 2012). At present many methods of bankruptcy prediction are available. In view of the specific character of economic activity in individual sectors, specialised methods adapted to a given branch of industry are being used increasingly often. For this reason an important scientific problem is related with the indication of an appropriate model or group of models to prepare forecasts for a given branch of industry. Thus research has been conducted to select an appropriate model of Multiple Discriminant Analysis (MDA), best adapted to forecasting changes in the wood industry. This study analyses 10 prediction models popular in Poland. Effectiveness of the model proposed by Jagiełło, developed for all industrial enterprises, may be labelled accidental. That model is not adapted to predict financial changes in wood sector companies in Poland. The generally known Altman model showed the greatest effectiveness in the identification of enterprises at risk of bankruptcy. However, that model was burdened with one of the greatest errors in the classification of healthy enterprises as sick. The best effectiveness in the identification of enterprises not threatened with bankruptcy was found for forecasts prepared using the Prusak 2 model. However, forecasts based on those models were characterised by erroneous classification of sick companies as healthy. The model best fit to predict the financial situation of Polish wood sector companies was the Poznań model Pz = 3.562 · X1 + 1.588 · X2 + 4.288 · X3 + 6.719 · X4 - 2.368 where: X1 - net income / total assets; X2 - (current assets - stock) / current liabilities; X3 - fixed capital / total assets X4 - income from sales / sales revenue).