Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Consumer attitudes toward GM food with hypothetical functional characteristics

Since their introduction in the early 1990s, genetically modified organisms in agriculture tended to emphasize improved yield. Europeans, perceiving unacceptable risk and too little benefit, resoundingly disapproved of GMO use in agro-food processes. More recently, research has turned to developing products that use GMO components that better match consumer interest, including nutritionally enhanced foods, environmentally friendly crops, and other areas. The question that arises is whether Europeans perceive that the new, prospective benefits outweigh the olds risks, opening the market to such products. This paper investigates consumer preferences for a number of hypothetical genetic modifications in a widely consumed food product: yoghurt. We explore the issue using discrete-choice, multi-attribute, stated-preference data. Our analysis of the data shows that consumers attribute low importance to prospected benefits in judging gene technology applications. Moreover, data demonstrates that consumers don't feel that labels and certification alone offer sufficient safeguards from perceived danger. Conversely, better information through scientific research does seem to have an impact.
IMPACT OF LONG-TERM DIAGENESIS ON δ 15 N OF ORGANIC MATTER IN MARINE SEDIMENTS : SITES 1227 AND 12301

This study addresses the problem of diagenetic fractionation of δ15N in sedimentary organic matter by constructing isotopic mass balances for the sedimentary nitrogen and pore water ammonium at two Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) sites, 1227 and 1230. At Site 1230, ammonium production flux integrated through the sedimentary column indicates that >60% of organic matter is lost to decomposition. The δ15N of pore water ammonium is <0.7‰ different from that of the sedimentary organic matter, which implies that very little isotopic fractionation is associated with degradation of organic matter at this site. The constant δ15N of the solid-phase sedimentary nitrogen through the whole profile supports this conclusion. Atomic C/N ratios (9–12) indicate that organic matter at this site is primarily of marine origin. At Site 1227, the sedimentary organic matter appears to be a mixture of terrestrial and marine components. Ammonium is ~4‰ heavier than the organic matter. The observed isotopic enrichment of pore water ammonium relative to the sedimentary nitrogen might indicate either the preferential decomposition of isotopically heavier marine fraction of the organic matter, or possibly, a nonsteady-state condition of the ammonium concentration and δ15N profiles. Interpretation of the results at Site 1227 is further complicated by the contribution of ammonium with δ15N of ~4‰ that is diffusing upward from Miocene brines. 1Prokopenko, M.G. , Hammond, D.E. , Spivack, A. , and Stott, L. , 2006. Impact of long-term diagenesis on δ15N of organic matter in marine sediments: Sites 1227 and 1230. In Jørgensen, B.B. , D’Hondt, S.L. , and Miller, D.J. (Eds.), Proc. ODP, Sci. Results, 201, 1–30 [Online]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://www-odp.tamu. edu/ publications/201_SR/VOLUME/ CHAPTERS/117.PDF>. [Cited YYYYMM-DD] 2Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, 3651 University Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90089-0740, USA. 3Present address: Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Guyot Hall, Washington Road, Princeton NJ 08544, USA. mprokope@princeton.edu 4Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Bay Campus, South Ferry Road, Narragansett RI 02882, USA. Initial receipt: 30 August 2004 Acceptance: 24 July 2006 Web publication: 1 September 2006 Ms 201SR-117 M.G. PROKOPENKO ET AL. DIAGENESIS OF δ15N OF ORGANIC MATTER 2
Estimating Models for Monetary Policy Analysis in Emerging Countries

We estimate a DSGE model of an emerging country containing many frictions that, as has been recently argued, impose non-trivial constraints for monetary-policy design in these economies. In particular, our framework features a sectoral decomposition of the productive sector, the use of intermediate inputs, imperfect pass-through, endogenous premium to finance capital accumulation, balance sheet effects due to liability dollarization, currency substitution, price and wage stickiness, and dynamics driven by eleven shocks. We use a Bayesian approach to Mexican data to address three main questions: i) can the model satisfactorily fit the data? Our answer is generally yes, with some caveats; ii) are the estimated parameters similar to those usually calibrated in policy-related studies? The answer is negative, particularly for those describing financial frictions, price stickiness and money demand. Finally, which of the emerging-markets’ frictions are more relevant in fitting the data? We find that including intermediate inputs is most important, while currency substitution does not seem to play a major role. Moreover, financial frictions and liability dollarization are also relevant.
Alien Species of Lepidium in the Flora of Romania: Invasion History and Habitat Preference

The history of spread and habitat preferences during invasion of four alien species of Lepidium in Romania, namely L . densiflorum , L . oblongum , L . sativum , and L . virginicum are presented in this paper. The floristic records of these species, collected between 1816 and 2013, were used in the study. L . sativum was sporadically mentioned by earlier botanic references, as a casual alien plant in ruderal places. L . oblongum was reported from a single locality, but it may be considered a potential invader of ruderal habitats from southern regions. For L . densiflorum and L . virginicum , distribution maps were made in the Universal Transverse Mercator system, and exponential regression models were fitted to the cumulative number of records against time. Both L . densiflorum and L . virginicum are invasive in Romania, and their spread was initiated at the middle of last century. The slope of invasion curves, which was used as a measure of the invasion rate, did not differ significantly between the two invasive species. Although both L . densiflorum and L . virginicum were first reported in the North-West of the country, they followed different paths of migration in Romania. Ruderal habitats associated with railways played an important role in the invasion process of both species, but invaded habitats became more diversified over the time. Among the four species, only L . densiflorum tends to invade agricultural crops.
INTRA-LIMB JOINT COUPLING PATTERNS DURING THE USE OF THREE LOWER EXTREMITY EXERCISE MACHINES

The purpose of this study was to preliminarily describe sagittal plane joint coupling patterns for a spectrum of common lower extremity exercises. Each participant performed 3, 10 second sessions on a stationary bicycle, elliptical and treadmill. Intra-limb coupling angles of the hip and knee for two recreational athletes were quantified using vector coding techniques on randomly selected cycles from each movement. Variability patterns within the same movements were repeatable within and between each participant while each movement’s distinguishable variability pattern differed both spatially and temporally between pieces of exercise equipment. These findings suggest that each exercise machine studied is distinguishable characteristics in its variability pattern. Comparison of variability patterns might be a useful method in the design of functional training exercises to aid in optimally mimicking task kinematics.
Layering the wounded self: Using a pluralistic qualitative approach to explore meaning–making around self–injury

This paper shows how a study using a pluralistic qualitative design explored the meaning–making process taking place around repetitive self–injury. By combining three interpretative lenses (interpretative phenomenological analysis, narrative analysis and psychosocial analysis), the researchers were able to develop a rich, multi–layered understanding of one individual’s experience of the behaviour. However, the project also raised significant methodological and epistemological issues. In the present review, we hope to illustrate the value of qualitative pluralism as a mixed methods approach enabling researchers and scientist-practitioners to engage more deeply with the subjective meanings attached to severe emotional and behavioural difficulties.
Modification Methods for Construction and Performance Analysis of Low-Density Parity-Check Codes over the Markov-Modulated Channels

We derive burst error correctable length of the lowdensity parity-check (LDPC) codes by the iterative decoding algorithms. By results of simulation, we show that the decoding performance of iterative decoding algorithms for the LDPC codes over the Markovmodulated binary symmetric channels (MM-BSC) are aected by the distance between elements (DBE). We also show that some column permuted LDPC codes that have larger DBE, have robustness in error performance over the MM-BSC, compared to the original LDPC codes.
The Function of Fission Yeast Rho1-GEFs in the Control of Cell Growth and Division

Guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) are directly responsible for the activation of Rho-family GTPases in response to physical and chemical stimuli and ultimately regulate numerous cellular responses such as polarized growth, morphogenesis, and movement. The GEF proteins are characterized by a Dbl-homology (DH) domain that contacts the Rho GTPases, to catalyzing nucleotide exchange, and an associated Pleckstrin homology (PH) domain, which fine-tunes the exchange process by a variety of mechanisms related to the binding of phosphoinositides. Most GEFs are divergent in regions outside the DH/ PH module and contain additional protein-protein or lipid-protein interaction domains that presumably dictate unique cellular functions. Fission yeast Rho1-GEFs act as a link between growth processes and the cell cycle machinery. In this chapter, we focus on the recent leaps in our understanding of how Rho1-GEFs control interphase and cytokinesis in fission yeast. Furthermore, we will go beyond mitosis and highlight the unexpected roles of Rho1-GEFs in the DNA damage response. in cell division. Double-mutant and phenotypic complementation results suggest that Rgf1p and Rgf3p are not functionally exchangeable. Disruption of rgf1 + in an rgf3 mutant ( ehs2-1 ) produced viable cells at 28°C but not at 37°C,
Regional Cooperation Efforts in the Mekong River Basin: Mitigating River-Related Security Threats and Promoting Regional Development

The development of international rivers is often perceived as leading to conflicts or even water wars. However, as the development of the Mekong River shows, cooperation has not only prevailed in the last decades, but River Basin Organizations (RBOs), established to mitigate river-related conflicts and/or develop the river basin, have also contributed to the emergence of more general cooperation structures, mainly by creating spill-over effects in other issue-areas, bringing cooperation to policy fields beyond the river itself. This article assesses the contribution of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) and the Greater Mekong Sub-Region (GMS) to the sustainable development of the Mekong Region as well as to the promotion of regional cooperation in mainland South-East Asia in general.
VEGETATION BIOMASS PREDICTION IN THE CATTLE CORRIDOR OF UGANDA

Pastoralists in Sub-Saharan Africa face complex problems notably frequent and severe droughts. This study was conducted in the cattle corridor of Uganda, a largely semiarid area to estimate the likely vegetative biomass production under the 2071-2100 projected rainfall conditions. Spatio-temporal pattern of vegetative biomass production were determined by analysis of the seasonal variation of Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for 10 years from 2001-2010. A biomass relationship was established between the NDVI and the Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI); and used to project the period 2071-2100 NDVI using downscaled rainfall for the cattle corridor. A change trajectory performed on the annual means revealed the highest increase in vegetation in 2008 (0.031) and decrease in 2009 (-0.022). The SPI revealed two main droughts that were established to have occurred in the years of 2004 2005 and 2008-2009. The wettest year was 2003 and corresponded with the increase in NDVI. A strong positive correlation of rainfall and vegetation was established (r=0.99). Precipitation has influenced vegetative biomass in the cattle corridor as there is a positive correlation between precipitation and the vegetative biomass production. Secondly, vegetation is likely to be concentrated in areas that will have high precipitation in 2070-2100, such as Luwero and the districts south of it of the cattle corridor compared to those in the north of the cattle corridor of Uganda.
Drug utilization study of antihypertensive drugs in a tertiary care hospital

Background: Hypertension is a major common disease and effects a million of people worldwide. And is risk factor for other diseases like cardiovascular diseases, stroke etc. The aim of our study was undertaken to study the utilization pattern of anti hypertensive drugs at a tertiary care hospital. The guidelines for the treatment of hypertension are put forward by the Joint National Committee (JNC) on detection, evaluation and treatment of blood pressure. The Indian guidelines endorsed by the cardiology society of India, the hypertension society of India, and Indian college of physicians closely follow the JNC guidelines.Methods: A prospective cross-sectional observational study was conducted on 100 patients in outpatient Department of General medicine of Government General Hospital, Mahabubnagar district, Telangana. The data collected was analysed from the prescription pattern of anti hypertensive drugs. The data collected were statistically analysed and presented as counts and percentages.Results: Out of 100 study subjects, males were 55% and females were 45% and maximum number of patients in age group are (51 to 60 years.). Among antihypertensive drugs commonly used in present study are Losartan (ARB’s)-64% and for two drug therapy are enalapril and amlodipine 22% and for three drug therapy are enalapril +atenolol+furosemide-14%. Average number of drugs prescribed is 6.15% per prescription. Percentages of medicines prescribed by generic drugs are85% and from the essential drug list are 95%. Conclusions: In this study usage of anti hypertensive drugs were prescribed rationally in tertiary care hospital. The study emphasizes that need for effective continuing medical education and also preventive measures in hypertensive individuals.
Effect of Mild Sonication Conditions on the Attributes of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus LB-12

Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus is a widely used bacterium for the production of some fermented dairy products. Mild sonication intensity condition is a non-destructive technique that uses sound waves to cause cavitation in aqueous solutions and may improve the permeability of membranes, speed up the transfer of substrates and promote cellular growth and propagation. The objective was to determine the effect of mild sonication intensities at different temperatures on growth, bile tolerance and protease activity of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus LB-12. The treatments were four sonication intensities (8.07, 14.68, 19.83 and 23.55 W/cm2) randomized at three different temperatures (4℃, 22℃ and 40℃). The energy input (1500 J) was kept constant in all treatments. Control samples did not receive any sonication treatment. Growth and bile tolerance were determined every 2 h for 12 h of incubation. Protease activity was determined at 0, 12 and 24 h. Mild sonication conditions included 1) mild sonication intensities, 2) temperatures and 3) times, all three of which played a role in influencing the desirable attributes of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus LB-12. Of all the mild sonication intensities studied, 14.68 W/cm2 had the best overall influence at certain time points forimproving the bile tolerance and growth at 4℃ and protease activity at 40℃. Mild sonication intensity of 23.55 W/cm2 had the best overall influence at certain time points for protease activity of at 22℃. Some mild sonication conditions could be recommended for improvement of some characteristics of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus LB-12.
Are we Bayesian referring expression generators

A recent paper by Frank and Goodman (2012) proposes a Bayesian model of simple referential games. One of the claims embodied in the model is that choosing which word or property to use to refer to an object depends on the utility of the property. In this paper, we compare this model to other computational models of reference production, in particular the recent pro (Probabilistic Referential Overspecication) model. We argue that the assumption of utility that guides property choice in the Frank and Goodman (2012) model is inadequate, insofar as it ignores the possibility of overspecication and the role of preference rankings among properties, as a result of which they may be used irrespective of their utility. We show that models that do take this into account, such as pro, have a better t to experimental data in which participants have the possibility of overspecifying.
Enhanced Expectation-Maximization Algorithm for Pure Variance Structural Time Series Models

Despite some practical advantages of the EM algorithm, its use in the context of structural time series models has been limited due to the observed slow convergence. We propose an enhancement of the algorithm by incorporating information from derivative terms that are null in the original design. Simulation experiments show a notable improvement in the convergence of the algorithm, while keeping parameter estimates
The Effects of Centrality Ordering in Label Propagation for Community Detection

In many cases randomness in community detection algorithms has been avoided due to issues with stability. Indeed replacing random ordering with centrality rankings has improved the performance of some techniques such as Label Propagation Algorithms. This study evaluates the effects of such orderings on the Speaker-listener Label Propagation Algorithm or SLPA, a modification of LPA which has already been stabilized through alternate means. This study demonstrates that in cases where stability has been achieved without eliminating randomness, the result of removing random ordering is over fitting and bias. The results of testing seven various measures of centrality in conjunction with SLPA across five social network graphs indicate that while certain measures outperform random orderings on certain graphs, random orderings have the highest overall accuracy. This is particularly true when strict orderings are used in each run. These results indicate that the more evenly distributed solution space which results from complete random ordering is more valuable than the more targeted search that results from centrality orderings.
Microregion model of a contact line including evaporation, kinetics and slip

The evaporation of a liquid into the atmosphere of its pure vapor on a uniformly heated solid substrate is investigated. Five physical phenomena are considered and modeled in the framework of lubrication theory: (i) hydrodynamics, (ii) heat conduction, (iii) phase change, (iv) kinetics of evaporation, and (v) slip length. The model is in fact an inner problem — contact line (CL) vicinity, microregion — of the model investigated by Anderson and Davis [D.M. Anderson and S.H. Davis, “The spreading of volatile liquid droplets on heated surfaces,” Phys. Fluids, vol. 7, pp. 248–265 (1995)] and extends the inner and intermediate solution of Hocking [L.M. Hocking, “On contact angles in evaporating liquids,” Phys. Fluids, vol. 7, pp. 2950–2955 (1995)] to more general considerations of the slip length. Decoupling from the outer problem — the macroscopic part of a liquid object — allows us to quantify the impact of evaporation in the CL vicinity on the apparent contact angle and microregion heat transfer. The linearized problem with respect to the substrate overheating is solved analytically. The analytical solutions are compared with full numerical solutions and to predictions of Hocking. We also define and determine the thermal regularization length associated with the present problem.
Numerical simulations of the three‐dimensional distribution of polar mesospheric clouds and comparisons with Cloud Imaging and Particle Size (CIPS) experiment and the Solar Occultation For Ice Experiment (SOFIE) observations

[1] Polar mesospheric clouds (PMC) routinely form in the cold summer mesopause region when water vapor condenses to form ice. We use a three‐dimensional chemistry‐climate model based on the Whole‐Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) with sectional microphysics from the Community Aerosol and Radiation Model for Atmospheres (CARMA) to study the distribution and characteristics of PMCs formed by heterogeneous nucleation of water vapor onto meteoric smoke particles. We find good agreement between these simulations and cloud properties for the Northern Hemisphere in 2007 retrieved from the Solar Occultation for Ice Experiment (SOFIE) and the Cloud Imaging and Particle Size (CIPS) experiment from the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) mission. The main discrepancy is that simulated ice number densities are less than those retrieved by SOFIE. This discrepancy may indicate an underprediction of nucleation rates in the model, the lack of small‐scale gravity waves in the model, or a bias in the SOFIE results. The WACCM/CARMA simulations are not very sensitive to large changes in the barrier to heterogeneous nucleation, which suggests that large supersaturations in the model nucleate smaller meteoric smoke particles than are traditionally assumed. Our simulations are very sensitive to the temperature structure of the summer mesopause, which in the model is largely dependent upon vertically propagating gravity waves that reach the mesopause region, break, and deposit momentum. We find that cloud radiative heating is important, with heating rates of up to 8 K/d.