Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An innovative solid oral nutritional supplement to fight weight loss and anorexia: open, randomised controlled trial of efficacy in institutionalised, malnourished older adults.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of a solid nutritional supplement on the weight gain of institutionalised older adults>70 years with protein-energy malnutrition. The innovation of these high-protein and high-energy cookies was the texture adapted to edentulous patients (Protibis®, Solidages, France). DESIGN An open, multicentre, randomised controlled trial. SETTING Seven nursing homes. PARTICIPANTS One hundred and seventy-five malnourished older adults, aged 86±8 years. INTERVENTION All participants received the standard institutional diet. In addition, Intervention group participants received eight cookies daily (11.5 g protein; 244 kcal) for 6 weeks (w0-w6). MEASUREMENTS Five visits (w-4, w0, w6, w10 and w18). MAIN OUTCOME Percentage of weight gain from w0 to w6 (body mass in kg). SECONDARY OUTCOMES Appetite, rated using a numerical scale (0: no appetite to 10: extremely good appetite); current episodes of pressure ulcers and diarrhea. RESULTS Average weight increased in Intervention group (n=88) compared with Control group (n=87) without cookies supplementation (+1.6 versus -0.7%, P=0.038). Weight gain persisted 1 month (+3.0 versus -0.2%, P=0.025) and 3 months after the end of cookies consumption (+3.9 versus -0.9%, P=0.003), with diarrhea reduction (P=0.027). There was a synergistic effect with liquid/creamy dietary supplements. Subgroup analysis confirmed the positive impact of cookies supplementation alone on weight increase (P=0.024), appetite increase (P=0.009) and pressure ulcers reduction (P=0.031). CONCLUSION The trial suggested that, to fight against anorexia, the stimulation of touch (finger food; chewing, even on edentulous gums) and hearing (intra-oral sounds) could be valuable alternatives to sight, smell and taste alterations.
Price and Volatility Transmission Across Borders

Over the past forty years, financial markets throughout the world have steadily become more open to foreign investors. With open markets, asset prices are determined globally. A vast literature on portfolio choice and asset pricing has evolved to study the importance of global factors as well as local factors as determinants of portfolio choice and of expected returns on risky assets. There is growing evidence that risk premia are increasingly determined globally. An important outcome of this force of globalization is increased comovement in asset prices across markets. This survey study examines the literature on the dynamics of comovements in asset prices and volatility across markets around the world. The literature began in the 1970s in conjunction with early theoretical developments on international asset pricing models, but it blossomed in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the availability of comprehensive international stock market databases and the development of econometric methodology to model these dynamics.
Nonlinearities in the black market zloty-dollar exchange rate: some further evidence

This study reappraises the evidence for nonlinear dependence in the monthly black market exchange returns of the Polish zloty, 1955–1990. Predictive asymmetry is reported in conditional variance such that depreciatory shocks have a greater impact on subsequent volatility than appreciatory shocks, jointly with conditional mean nonlinearity of smooth transition between regimes which suggests a simple trading strategy capable of generating positive profit over the sample period. However, support is also found for a competing variance in mean model consistent with a time varying risk premium that is able to rationalize the presence of unexploited profit opportunities, particularly over the latter half of the sample.
Leadership and performance in Japanese R&D teams

This study examined the relative influence of transformational and gatekeeping leadership on team performance in a study of researchers working in industrial R&D teams in Japan. Potential effects of both internal and external communication and group norms for consensus were studied as possible mediating influences on the leadership-performance relationship. Results found that, while both forms of leadership enhanced communication processes within and between groups, only gatekeeping leadership served to reduce group norms for consensus. As a result, team cultures became somewhat more accepting of expressions of divergent opinions and new ideas from various team members, an important factor in R&D innovation and performance. By contrast, transformational leadership served to create team cultures in which divergence from group norms by various members was discouraged, leading to fewer innovative ideas and no performance increment. Results are discussed both in the context of the unique Japanese work environment and in the larger context of leadership processes across regions and cultures.
Optimal tracking control system design for a ring-wing type UAV

This paper proposes an optimal tracking control law for a ring-wing type unmanned aerial vehicle (RWUAV) under full flight envelope including hover, transition and cruise modes. A system matrix is augmented with a tracking error term, and then state feedback gain is calculated by using a single Riccati equation. In order to reduce error, an integral term is augmented in the state vector. The performance of proposed controller is verified through three-dimensional waypoint simulation.
Cash Equivalence, Welfare Stigma, and Food Stamps*

The Food Stamp Program (FSP) is one of the largest domestic redistributive transfer programs with approximately 22 million participants at a cost of $12 billion in 1983. The stated objective of the FSP is "to raise the levels of nutrition among low income households" by providing "such households with an opportunity to obtain a low-cost nutritionally adequate diet" [29,5]. For program evaluation and cost forecasting, accurate estimates of the determinants of eligible households' program participation and food expenditure decisions are of particular concern in light of the elimination of the purchase requirement (EPR) and other recent structural changes in the program. The problem of obtaining these estimates has three dimensions. First, observations on the behavior of eligible households under the post-EPR institutional setting are required. Second, the roles of welfare stigma and the cash equivalence of the in-kind food stamps must be clarified. Finally, because program participation is a household choice that affects food expenditures, the interdependence of eligible households' FSP participation and food expenditure decisions must be accommodated. ' Emphasizing an important component of this interdependence, the connection between cash equivalence of stamps in the participation decision and in expenditures for food, this paper tackles all three dimensions. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which food stamps are cash equivalent and to determine which program and household characteristics, including the degree of cash equivalence and stigma, affect post-EPR Food Stamp Program participation
Is Individual Choice Less Problematic than Collective Choice?

It is commonplace to suppose that the theory of individual rational choice is considerably less problematic than the theory of collective rational choice. In particular, it is often assumed by philosophers, economists, and other social scientists that an individual's choices among outcomes (or lotteries yielding specified probabilities of outcomes) accurately reflect that individual's underlying preferences or values. Further, it is now well known that if an individual's choices among outcomes (or lotteries thereof) satisfy certain plausible axioms of rationality or consistency, that individual's choice-behavior can be interpreted as maximizing expected utility on a utility scale that is unique up to a linear transformation (Ramsey, 1931; Savage, 1954; Von Neumann and Morgenstern, 1944). Hence, there is, in principle, an empirically respectable method of measuring individuals' values and a single unified schema for explaining their actions as value maximizing (insofar as they act rationally).
Selling rooms online: the use of social media and online travel agents

Purpose – This paper aims to focus on the reason why hoteliers choose to be present in online travel agent (OTA) and social media web sites for sales purposes. It also investigates the technological and human factors related to these two practices. Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a survey sent to a wide range of hotels in a Swiss touristic region. The empirical analysis involves the specification of two ordered logit models exploring the importance (in terms of online sales) of both social media and the online travel agent, Booking.com. Findings – Findings highlight the constant tension between visibility and online sales in the web arena, as well as a clear distinction in social media and OTA web site adoption between hospitality structures using online management tools and employing personnel with specific skills. Practical implications – The research highlights the need for the hospitality industry to maintain an effective presence on social media and OTAs in order to move towards the creation of a new form of social booking technologies to increase their visibility and sales. Originality/value – This research contributes to understanding the major role played by OTAs and social media in the hospitality industry while underlining the possibility of a major interplay between the two.
Motivation to train from the workers' perspective: example of French companies

The success of a training programme is largely contingent on the beneficiary's training motivation. With a focus on instrumentality and self-efficacy, we have sought to explain motivation and to measure its effects on variation of knowledge acquisition and satisfaction with training. An empirical study of 335 workers sheds light on the importance of age, the role of the hierarchical supervisor and the manner in which training is portrayed. Voluntary participation, expressed by participation in decision making or consideration of requests, plays only a minor role in explaining the success of a programme.
Locking plate and screw fixation after tibial plateau leveling osteotomy reduces postoperative infection rate in dogs over 50 kg.

OBJECTIVE To assess the influence of locking plate and screw implants on postoperative infection rate in dogs >50 kg undergoing tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO). STUDY DESIGN Retrospective case series. ANIMALS Dogs >50 kg (n = 208) that had TPLO. METHODS Medical records (January 2003-September 2011) were reviewed for dogs that had TPLO. Type of implant used (locking plate and screw fixation [LP] and dynamic compression plate and screw fixation [NLP]), use of postoperative antibiotics and presence of postoperative infection were recorded. Multivariate analysis was performed. RESULTS Forty dogs (21.3%) had clinical signs compatible with postoperative infection. A positive microbiology swab was available in 16/40 cases (40%). Administration of postoperative antibiotics was associated with a lower incidence of infection (P = .006) and the use of NLP was associated with a higher incidence of infection (P = .01). CONCLUSIONS Use of LP construct and postoperative antibiotic therapy significantly decreased infection rate in dogs >50 kg that have TPLO.
Unemployment Duration Stigma and Re-Employment Earnings

A nonstationary model of individual labor market histories, where the distribution of wages offers depends on elapsed unemployment duration and where unemployment compensation is claimed for a limited period only, is estimated from sample information on completed unemployment duration, accepted earnings, and accepted job duration, and can identify movements in the reservation wages induced by human capital loss from those caused by benefit exhaustion. The results indicate that individuals seem to be much more sensitive to benefit exhaustion than human capital loss. The estimated structural parameters provide an explanation for the existence of a statistical relationship between continuous unemployment and accepted job durations.
Optimal estimation of spectral reflectance based on metamerism

In this paper, we proposed an accurate estimation method for spectral reflectance of objects captured in an image. The spectral reflectance is simply modeled by a linear combination of three basic spectrums of R, G, and B colors respectively, named as spectral reflective bases of objects, which are acquired by solving a linear system based on the principle of color metamerism. Some experiments were performed to evaluate the accuracy of the estimated spectral reflectance of objects. The average mean square error of 24 colors in Macbeth checker between we simulated and the measured is 0.0866, and the maximum is 0.310. In addition, the average color difference of the 24 colors is less than 1.5 under the D65 illuminant. There are 13 colors having their color difference values less than 1, and other 8 colors having the values during the range of 1 and 2. Only three colors are relatively larger, with the differences of 2.558, 4.130 and 2.569, from the colors of No. 2, No. 13, and No. 18 in Macbeth checker respectively. Furthermore, the computational cost of this spectral estimation is very low and suitable for many practical applications in real time.
Managing Some Motorised Recreational Boating Challenges in South African Estuaries: A Case Study at the Kromme River Estuary

Estuaries in South Africa face negative crowding effects with respect to motorised boat use because of competing demand. This paper proposes this be managed through user charges and that the setting of these charges be informed by applying a choice experiment to estimate user preferences for reduced motorised boat congestion on the Kromme River Estuary, Eastern Cape. The application of this method led the paper to deduce that users are willing to pay an additional supplementary charge of R548 per annum during peak periods (only) in order to experience a decrease in negative crowding effects.
Mode Decomposition Based Cepstrum Measurement of Scatterer Spacing with Ultrasonic Scattering

Bone loss is closely related to the mean scatter spacing (MSS) changes of quasi-periodic trabecular, and ultra-sonic backscattering is an effective method to measure these changes. This paper presented the method of Mode Decomposition Based Cepstrum Spacing Measurement (MDCM) which improves the performance of the bone scatterer measurement. Compared with other techniques, MDCM approach is adaptive, empirical and takes advantage of the Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMFs) which have specific physical meanings. This technique was validated by backscattering data obtained from simulations based on two different methods, Faran cylinder model and Finite Element Method (FEM), where scatterers were defined to be equally and quasi-periodically spaced. Both the simulation results show that the first mode (IMF1) decomposed by Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) preserves the intrinsic feature of original data and clearly demonstrates the scatterer spacing of 0.41 mm and 0.5 mm. Then the Ensemble EMD (EEMD) based cepstrum technique was used and it shows that the interference peaks are suppressed. Besides, in addition to IMF 1, the IMF 2 also shows valuable information for MSS measurement.
Bacterial contamination of donor blood at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ghana.

BACKGROUND Transfusion of bacterially contaminated blood can result in sepsis and will constitute a substantial health burden to the patient. OBJECTIVE To assess the level of transfusion related sepsis and the bacterial types responsible for the contamination at the Tamale Teaching Hospital in Ghana. METHOD We sampled 80 refrigerated donor blood at the blood bank and cultured them for bacteria. The antimicrobial sensitivities of the isolates were also determined. RESULTS 14 blood bags representing 17.5% grew isolates of various bacteria. Ten (10) of the 14 isolates were Gram positive cocci representing 71.42% making it the commonest contaminant. 50% of the gram positive cocci were identified to be coagulase negative staphylococci and 21.42% were Staphylococcus aureus. There were 14.28% isolates which were Gram positive rods, and were identified to be Corynebacterium diphtheroids. There were two isolates which were Gram negative rods; one was identified as Escherichia coli and the other one Klebsiella pneumoniae. Sensitivity among the organisms were varied; as all the 14 (100%) of the organisms isolated were sensitive to amikacin, only 14.28% of the coagulase negative staphylococci were sensitive to co-trimoxazole, 28.5% were sensitive to ampicillin, 42.8% were sensitive to cefuroxime and 71.4% were sensitive to ciprofloxacin. Sensitivity to gentamicin was observed to be 85.7% and 28.5% were sensitive to Tetracycline. Only the 10 Gram positive cocci were tested against erythromycin and Cloxacillin; where 70.00% were sensitive to cloxacillin and 90% were sensitive to erythromycin. CONCLUSION All the Staphylococcus aureus isolated were resistant to both ampicillin and cotrimoxazole. Potential dangers and consequences of transfusing multidrug resistance bacteria have been discussed.
GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO SELF-DETERMINATION MOVEMENTS: A CASE STUDY COMPARISON IN INDIA

The Indian government's response to multiple separatist and self-determination movements the nation has encountered in its sixty-six year history has ranged from violent repression to complete or partial accommodation of demands. My research question asks whether the central government of India's response to self-determination demands varies based on the type of demand or type of group. The importance of this topic stems from the geopolitical significance of India as an economic giant; as the largest and fastest growing economy in the subcontinent, the stability of India as a federal republic is crucial to the overall strength of the region. While the dispute between India and Pakistan in the state of Kashmir gets international attention, other movements that are associated with multiple fatalities and human rights abuses are largely ignored. I conduct a comparative case study analysis comparing one movement each in the states of Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Assam, Kashmir, and Mizoram; each with a diverse set of demands and where agitation has lasted more than five years. By studying verified historical accounts, books, journal articles, newspaper reports, census, and survey data from India as well as international human rights and terrorist-watch organizations, I will create a matrix that categorizes government response by the types of demands and types of groups. I find that not all demands for more autonomy within the union are treated the same; in some cases, the government's response is different despite similar demands.
Is Big Brother Watching Us? Google, Investor Sentiment and the Stock Market

This paper proposes a novel measure of French investor sentiment based on the volume of internet search reported by Google Trends. We find that our sentiment indicator correlates well with alternative sentiment measures often used in the literature. Furthermore, we find that investor sentiment influences the behavior of mutual fund investors. The results also reveal evidence about short-run predictability in return. An increase in our sentiment index leads to short-term return reversal. The reversal pattern is more pronounced for smaller firms than larger firms, consistent with the predictions of noise trader's models.
Longevity Regulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Linking Metabolism, Genome Stability, and Heterochromatin

SUMMARY When it was first proposed that the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae might serve as a model for human aging in 1959, the suggestion was met with considerable skepticism. Although yeast had proved a valuable model for understanding basic cellular processes in humans, it was difficult to accept that such a simple unicellular organism could provide information about human aging, one of the most complex of biological phenomena. While it is true that causes of aging are likely to be multifarious, there is a growing realization that all eukaryotes possess surprisingly conserved longevity pathways that govern the pace of aging. This realization has come, in part, from studies of S. cerevisiae, which has emerged as a highly informative and respected model for the study of life span regulation. Genomic instability has been identified as a major cause of aging, and over a dozen longevity genes have now been identified that suppress it. Here we present the key discoveries in the yeast-aging field, regarding both the replicative and chronological measures of life span in this organism. We discuss the implications of these findings not only for mammalian longevity but also for other key aspects of cell biology, including cell survival, the relationship between chromatin structure and genome stability, and the effect of internal and external environments on cellular defense pathways. We focus on the regulation of replicative life span, since recent findings have shed considerable light on the mechanisms controlling this process. We also present the specific methods used to study aging and longevity regulation in S. cerevisiae.
Molecular characterization of angiomotin/JEAP family proteins: interaction with MUPP1/Patj and their endogenous properties

We have previously shown that MUPP1, which has an MRE domain and 13 PDZ domains, is expressed in epithelial cells and localize at tight junctions (TJs) and apical membranes. Using yeast two‐hybrid screening, we found here that MUPP1 interacts with angiomotin (Amot), JEAP/Amot‐like 1 and MASCOT/Amot‐like 2, which we refer to as Amot/JEAP family proteins. PDZ2 and ‐3 were responsible for MUPP1's interaction with Amot and MASCOT, whereas only PDZ3 was responsible for its interaction with JEAP. All the Amot/JEAP family proteins also interacted with Patj, a close relative of MUPP1. The C‐terminal PDZ‐binding motives of the Amot/JEAP family were required for these interactions. We successfully generated specific antibodies for these proteins and analyzed the endogenous molecular properties of the family in parallel. Immunofluorescence microscopy of cultured epithelial cells showed that in subcellular distribution, the Amot/JEAP family proteins were indistinguishable; they were apparent at TJs as well as apical membranes, and mostly co‐localized with MUPP1. They were also located at TJs in several mouse tissues, but each protein showed a distinct tissue distribution. In biochemical fractionation assays, the Amot/JEAP family behaved not as transmembrane but as peripheral membrane proteins. Unexpectedly, the PDZ‐binding motives were not necessarily required for their localization to TJs, and dominant negative MUPP1 or Patj did not affect the localization of Amot/JEAP family proteins, suggesting that the interaction with MUPP1/Patj is not necessarily responsible for their proper subcellular distribution.
Modeling Structural Change: An Application to the New EU Member States and Accession Candidates

The rapid changes in the transition economies must be evaluated in a comparative context. This paper provides a comprehensive comparative analysis using a large panel data set of market economies as a reference point. We wish to establish the extent and speed with which the structures of the transition economies converge toward other country groups, ranked according to income levels. The exercise provides an alternate measure of transition success, grounded in quantitative rather than subjective indicators. It also shows future sectoral growth patterns assuming that remaining structural distortions continue to be removed.