Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rural Off-Farm Employment and Farm Investment: An Analytical Framework and Evidence from Zimbabwe

This study examines the widely held view that rural off-farm income, in particular that earned from rural wage employment, may assist households in overcoming credit constraints when making farm investments. The analytical results of the study show that rural wage employment income can only assist in raising farm investment if it can be saved at positive rates and households face high-unemployment, i.e., they have idle labour. When there is no unemployment in the household or when unemployment is very low, increased availability of rural wage employment will in fact lead to "de-agrarianisation". Although the study finds evidence for high-unemployment from a 3-year panel data set of 359 households in 3 Resettlement Schemes in Zimbabwe, it finds no evidence that existing rural wage opportunities contribute towards raising households' farm investment. This is attributed to the fact that the savings rate for rural wage income is not significantly different from zero.
Benefit of Glycemic Control for Reducing the Effects of Air Pollution on Blood Pressure: A Panel Study

Objective: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is known to aggravate the association between air pollution and cardiovascular diseases, such as hypertension. However, the influence may differ based on the degree of glycemic control. Therefore, we hypothesized that the adverse effects of air pollutants on Blood Pressure (BP) in patients with controlled DM would be less than those in patients with uncontrolled DM. Methods: Data were analyzed from a panel study of 560 elderly participants, conducted between 2008 and 2010 in Seoul, Korea. Mixed effects models were used to assess the association of air pollutants [particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters<10 μm (PM10), PM2.5, PM10-2.5, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide, and carbon monoxide] with BP. We compared the magnitude of the effects among individuals with controlled and uncontrolled DM and those without DM. Results: Increases in the interquartile range levels of PM10 were significantly associated with 2.0 mmHg (95% CI, 0.7–41.7 mmHg) increases in systolic BP (SBP) and 2.0 mmHg (95% CI, 1.2–41.7 mmHg) increases in diastolic BP (DBP) when we analyzed all participants. Most of the other air pollutants, except ozone, were also associated with significant increases in BP. When we compared the BP changes among the three groups (non-DM, controlled DM, and uncontrolled DM), significant increases in SBP and DBP were observed in participants with uncontrolled DM and those without DM; significant BP increases were not observed in participants with controlled DM. Conclusion: Glycemic control provided benefits for alleviating BP changes associated with exposure to air pollutants.
FURTHER PURIFICATION AND CHARA CTERIZATION OF JENSENIIN P, A BACTERIOCIN PRODUCED BY PROPIONIBACTERIUM JENSENII B1264

Jenseniin P, a bacteriocin discovered by Prince, can inhibit the growth of several strains of propionibacteria and lactobacillus(Prince 1993). Ratnam further purified jenseniin P by ammonia sulfate precipitation and anion exchange chromatography. In that study, partially purified jenseniin P was stable in various pH ranges, SDS concentrations, several solvents, and remained active after holding at 100 °C for 60 minutes. The molecular weight was estimated to be between 6 and 9 kDa. In addition, jenseniin P was demonstrated to be inhibitory to Propionibacterium acnes using the spot-on-lawn method. Thus, Ratnam postulated its possible application in acne treatment(Ratnam 1997). In this present work, jenseniin P was further purified using C18 resin silica column. Vivaspin and ammonia sulfate precipitation methods were also evaluated. This further purified jenseniin P was inactivated by trypsin, pronase, and protease K, which confirmed its proteinaceous nature. The molecular weight of jenseniin P was further narrowed down to be between 4.5 and 5kDa. Jenseniin P was characterized to be pH stable and heat stable using a microtiter plate method developed in this work, which was 8-fold more sensitive than the previous critical dilution method described by Ratnam. The mode of action of jenseniin P was determined to be bactericidal with a killing rate of 2.38 log h -1 . We also detected a new agent produced by Propionibacterium jensenii B1264 that inhibited the growth of Propionibacterium acnes 6919 but not Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis ATCC 4797, the indicator strain used in previous studies. This inhibitory agent was recovered from the 30% acetonitrile elution fraction of C18 resin silica column purification process, which was different from the previously reported jenseniin P, because the jenseniin P that inhibited the growth of L. delbrueckii subsp. lactis ATCC 4797 was mostly recovered from the 50% acetonitrile elution fraction. This P. acnes specific inhibitory agent is currently being investigated.
Probabilistic Framework for Multi-modal Multiple Person Tracking by

As the trend to expand computing away from the desktop continues, new research challenges arise. One research theme is to focus on making indoor spaces intelligent, more natural and easy to use by allowing them to use the same visual and audio interface modalities that humans take for granted. Simple things, like presence, posture, gaze, and sounds are extremely important cues in communication between people, and they should be with computers as well. Such pervasive environments would need to determine the location, activity, and identity of its inhabitants. As a result, tracking people in known environments has recently become an active area of research in computer vision. In this thesis, we present a probabilistic tracking framework, which combines sound and vision to achieve more robust and accurate tracking of multiple objects. We apply a particle filter to fuse predictions from the generative model with aural and visual observations. Our observation model also accurately reflects the number of objects present. We test the efficacy of our approach by comparing the performance to single modality trackers. Thesis Supervisor: Trevor J. Darrell Title: Assistant Professor
SPEeT findings in Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease with dementia

We examined, with single photon emission tomography (SPECT) and (99mTc)_HMPAO, 18 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease and no dementia (PD), 12 patients with PD and dementia, 24 patients with probable Alzheimer's dis­ ease (AD), and 14 controls. While the three patient groups showed significantly lower perfusion in frontal inferior and tem­ poral inferior areas as compared to controls, both demented groups showed significantly more severe bilateral hypoperfusion in superior frontal, superior temporal and parietal areas as compared to non-demented PD patients and controls. On the other hand, no significant differences in cerebral perfusion were found between patients with AD and patients with PD and dementia. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated specific but similar cerebral perfusion deficits in demented patients with either AD or PD.
Aguilar-Roblero Nuclei in the Rat Glutamate and GABA Neurotransmission from the Paraventricular Thalamus to the Suprachiasmatic

The anterior paraventricular thalamus (aPVT) projects to the SCN, and a lesion of the aPVT leads to phase delays of circadian rhythms, instead of advances, produced by light pulses at CT23. As a first step to understanding the underlying mechanism, the authors characterized the monosynaptic responses of SCN neurons to aPVT in whole-cell recordings from brain slices in rats. Stimulation of aPVT evoked excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic potentials in SCN neurons. Pharmacological isolation of such components indicated that the excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) involves AMPA and NMDA glutamate receptors while the inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP) involves GABAA receptors. Since the SCN comprises mostly GABA neurons, the persistence of IPSP after the blockade of glutamate receptors ruled out the possibility that GABA was released from SCN interneurons responsive to glutamate released from the paraventricular thalamus. Altogether, the present evidence demonstrates that glutamate and GABA are released in synapses between aPVT and the SCN.
Modelling and performance analysis of a silicon PV module

Significant effect and progress have been made by manufacturers and researchers to understand the performance and modelling concept of photovoltaic (PV) modules under various conditions such as wind, dust, and snow, which are often harsh and may lead to the degradation of PV modules. This paper presents a study on the performance of an 85 W monocrystalline photovoltaic module under different conditions, with measurements being taken under indoor and outdoor conditions. To obtain maximum irradiation under outdoor conditions, the module was inclined at an angle of 25° facing the southern direction (UK). To investigate the I-V characteristic of the PV module, a single diode electrical equivalent model has been developed using MATLAB-Simulink, and the measured results are discussed together with the simulation results. The measured results have shown that the module is capable of generating 17.75 W/m2 with an efficiency of 7% and 138 W/m2 with an efficiency of 8% from indoor office building and outdoor condit.
WIREs Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery Reverse engineering of GRNs from biological data mRNA X mRNA Y Protein X Protein Y Transcription Translation DNA Gene X Gene Y mRNA Protein Replication

Reverse engineering of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) is one of the most challenging tasks in systems biology and bioinformatics. It aims at revealing network topologies and regulation relationships between components from biological data. Owing to the development of biotechnologies, various types of biological data are collected from experiments. With the availability of these data, many methods have been developed to infer GRNs. This paper firstly provides an introduction to the basic biological background and the general idea of GRN inferences. Then, different methods are surveyed from two aspects: models that those methods are based on and inference algorithms that those methods use. The advantages and disadvantages of these models and algorithms are discussed. C © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A TEST CASE FOR WORD AND RULE-LEARNING An Overview of the MOM Hypothesis

We review recent artificial language learning studies, especially those following Endress and Bonatti (Endress AD, Bonatti LL. Rapid learning of syllable classes from a perceptually continuous speech stream. Cognition 2007, 105:247–299), suggesting that humans can deploy a variety of learning mechanisms to acquire artificial languages. Several experiments provide evidence for multiple learning mechanisms that can be deployed in fluent speech: one mechanism encodes the positions of syllables within words and can be used to extract generalization, while the other registers co-occurrence statistics of syllables and can be used to break a continuum into its components. We review dissociations between these mechanisms and their potential role in language acquisition. We then turn to recent criticisms of the multiple mechanisms hypothesis and show that they are inconsistent with the available data. Our results suggest that artificial and natural language learning is best understood by dissecting the underlying specialized learning abilities, and that these data provide a rare opportunity to link important language phenomena to basic psychological mechanisms. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
An analysis of tropical cyclone formations in the South China Sea during the late season

AbstractThis study examines tropical cyclone (TC) formations in the South China Sea (SCS) associated with the strong northeasterly monsoon during the late season. Results show that the percentage of all vortices that develop to TC intensity is lower in the late season when compared to that associated with the mei-yu front in May and June. But the average formation time for the late-season cases is significantly shorter than that for the mei-yu frontal cases. Composite analyses show that the formation cases in the late season have larger low-level vorticity and upper-level divergence as well as higher 700-hPa relative humidity when compared to the nonformation cases. Another major difference between the formation and the nonformation cases is the low-level northeasterlies to the north (or upstream) of the incipient disturbance, which weakens right before the pre-TC disturbance reaching 25 kt (~13 m s−1). The weakening of the northeasterlies may be important to TC formation because it decreases the vertical.
COMPARISON OF BINOCULAR AND CUT-BRANCH METHODS FOR ESTIMATING BUDWORM DEFOLIATION OF DOUGLAS-FIR

De fo li ati o n caused by th e weste rn spruce budwornl, Choris! o/leura occidel1lalis Free­ man. was estim ated on 9 1 Douglas- fir trees Pseudo! suga men:iesii var. glauca ( Be issn. ) Franco. by both c lose examinati o n of c ut -branches and by observation wi th binoculars. For individual trees th e accuracy attained with th e binoc ulars was within 23 % for curre nt year's a nd 19% for fo l ia ge of a ll ages, with respect to th e estimates made fr om c ut branches . In accuracy was found to be mainl y due to la ck of preci s ion as bias was minima l. Whe n th e trees were assig ned. by eac h method , int o th e broad defoliation c lasses o f li g ht ( 1-25%). moderate (26-65%), and seve re (66- 100%). as used in fore st insect s urveys in Briti sh Columbia. th e results agreed in 89% o f th e trees studied for defo li ation estimates of curre nt fo li age a nd 68% o f th e trees for defoliation of total fo liage. C lass ifica ti on o f th e locati o n averages into severit y c lasses agreed for a ll 5 locations studi ed for damage to curre nt and to tal foliage. We conc luded th at th e binoc ul a r method is a quic k and use fu l means of c lass ifying stands into broad de fol iati on severit y c lasses. but is not suitable i I' a hi gh degree o f acc uracy and prec ision is needed.
Herschel : the first science highlights Special feature L etter to the E ditor The Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer ( PACS ) on the Herschel Space Observatory

The Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) is one of the three science instruments on ESA’s far infrared and submillimetre observatory. It employs two Ge:Ga photoconductor arrays (stressed and unstressed) with 16 × 25 pixels, each, and two filled silicon bolometer arrays with 16 × 32 and 32 × 64 pixels, respectively, to perform integral-field spectroscopy and imaging photometry in the 60−210 μm wavelength regime. In photometry mode, it simultaneously images two bands, 60−85 μm or 85−125 μm and 125−210 μm, over a field of view of ∼1.75′ ×3.5′, with close to Nyquist beam sampling in each band. In spectroscopy mode, it images a field of 47′′ × 47′′, resolved into 5 × 5 pixels, with an instantaneous spectral coverage of ∼ 1500 km s−1 and a spectral resolution of ∼175 km s−1. We summarise the design of the instrument, describe observing modes, calibration, and data analysis methods, and present our current assessment of the in-orbit performance of the instrument based on the performance verification tests. PACS is fully operational, and the achieved performance is close to or better than the pre-launch predictions.
Adjustment : The Role of Coping and Social Support Parental Psychological Violence and Adolescent Behavioral

The role of coping strategies (approach and avoidance) as a mediating factor between parental psychological violence and adolescent behavior problems, both internalized and externalized, as well as the protective role of social support were examined separately for boys and girls. A group of 278 adolescents (mean age: 14.2) were recruited in three high schools located in low, moderate, and high socioeconomic areas. Participants were in the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades, and each completed a self-administered questionnaire. The use of avoidant coping strategies partially mediated the link between parental psychological violence and behavior problems among girls. The use of approach coping strategies partially mediated the link between parental psychological violence and behavior problems among boys. In all cases, coping enhanced this link. No protective role of social support was found. On the contrary, this variable was found to increase the relationship between parental psychological violence and externalized behavior problems among boys. These findings suggest that interventions aimed at strengthening coping skills and social support in adolescents may not be effective in alleviating various Article at UNIV OF BRAZIL on May 7, 2014 jiv.sagepub. com Downloaded from Gagné and Melançon 177 behavioral symptoms associated with parental psychological violence. They highlight the importance of prevention of psychologically violent parental practices, instead of only reacting to the problem after it has occurred.
Modeling the Pressure-Dilatation Correlation

Abstract : It is generally accepted that the pressure dilatation, which is an additional compressibility term in the turbulence transport equations, may be important for high-speed flows. Recent direct simulations of homogeneous shear turbulence have given concrete evidence that the pressure-dilatation is important insofar that it contributes to the reduced growth of turbulent kinetic energy due to compressibility effects. The present work addresses the problem of modeling the pressure-dilatation. We first isolate a component of the pressure- dilatation which exhibits temporal oscillations and, using direct numerical simulations of homogeneous shear turbulence and isotropic turbulence, show that it has a negligible contribution to the evolution of turbulent kinetic energy. Then, an analysis for the case of homogeneous turbulence is performed to obtain a model for the non-oscillatory pressure dilatation. This model algebraically relates the pressure-dilatation to quantities traditionally obtained in incompressible turbulence closures. The model is validated by direct comparison with the pressure-dilatation data obtained from the simulations.
Pre-disPersal seed loss of ramorinoa girolae (fabaceae) in ischigualasto Provincial Park (san Juan, argentina)

Summary: Ramorinoa girolae Speg. is a “vulnerable” tree endemic to Argentina. During the pre-dispersal stage, the seeds are predated by Anypsipyla univitella. The objectives of this study were to describe some reproductive parameters (size and number of fruits and seeds) of R. girolae, to quantify pre-dispersal seed loss by abortion and predation, and to test the effect on pre-dispersal seed predation of fruit production (per tree, of co-specific neighbors, and the sum of both), size of fruits, number of seeds per fruit, and number of predators per fruit. As seeds can be partially consumed by the predator, the viability of partially damaged seeds was assessed as well. At Ischigualasto Park, we sampled 17 adult trees from 3 stands spaced 4 km apart. For each focal tree, we quantified the number of co-specific neighbors and their fruits. We collected ten fruits from canopies and recorded their length and the number and states of seeds (intact, predated, and aborted). Generalized Linear Mixed Models were fitted to evaluate explanatory variables affecting the proportion of pre-dispersal predated seeds. R. girolae suffers great loss of seeds during the pre-dispersal stage, mainly by seed predation (58% of seeds). The proportion of predated seeds was most important relative to the number of predators, the number of seeds per fruit, and the size of fruits. Fruits containing more predators, more seeds, and smaller fruits had higher proportions of predated seeds. Seed abortion would not represent an important factor of seed loss (6% of seeds).
Prospects for Higgs coupling measurements in SUSY with radiatively-driven naturalness

In the post-LHC8 world-- where a Standard Model-like Higgs boson has been established but there is no sign of supersymmetry (SUSY)-- the detailed profiling of the Higgs boson properties has emerged as an important road towards discovery of new physics. We present calculations of the expected deviations in Higgs boson couplings $\kappa_{\tau ,b}$, $\kappa_t$, $\kappa_{W,Z}$, $\kappa_g$ and $\kappa_\gamma$ versus the naturalness measure $\Delta_{\rm EW}$. Low values of $\Delta_{\rm EW}\sim 10-30$ give rise to a natural Little Hierarchy characterized by light higgsinos with a mass of $\mu\sim m_Z$ while top squarks are highly mixed but lie in the several TeV range. For such models with radiatively-driven naturalness, one expects the Higgs boson $h$ to look very SM-like although deviations can occur. The more promising road to SUSY discovery requires direct higgsino pair production at a high energy $e^+e^-$ collider operating with the center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}>2\mu\sim \sqrt{2\Delta_{\rm EW}}m_Z$.
Unattested Word Orders and Left-Branching Structure

In this chapter, we will argue that certain word-order patterns are unattested in human languages because they violate a principle of linearization, Cyclic Compounding. We will discuss three unattested word order patterns: (i) V-O-Aux, (ii) O-V and Aux-V-O and (iii) O-V in main clauses and V-O in subordinate clauses. In Section 2, we will show that each of these patterns is unattested. In Section 3, it is argued that in head-final languages, a complement moves to the specifier position of a higher functional head, thus making a left-branching structure. Section 4 discusses why the word order patterns (i) to (iii) are unattested, and the paper is concluded in Section 5.
Vitamin D Status and Bone Health Among Young Adult Women

Background: Osteoporosis is estimated to affect 200 million women in the world, affecting 10% of women aged 60, 20% of women aged 70, 40% of women aged 80 and 67% of women aged 90. Osteoporosis is characterized by low bone density and increases the risk for fractured bones; however, it may be prevented with modifiable factors such as supplements, diet, and physical activity. Vitamin D deficiency leads to bone mineral density loss, as Vitamin D 3 is responsible for calcium absorption into the bones. Bone consolidation is believed to occur between 20 and 30 years old; thus, attaining peak bone mass is critical during pre-menopause. The relationship between vitamin D and bone mineral density has predominately been studied in postmenopausal populations. Therefore, we examined this association among 18-30 year old participants (n=271) in the cross-sectional UMass Vitamin D Status Study. The modified version of the Harvard Food Frequency Questionnaire was used to assess the average intake of vitamin D foods and supplements. Serum 25(OH)D 3 concentrations were assayed from blood samples. Bone mineral content and bone area were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan. Bone mineral content (BMC),