Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Demanda mediana por serviços públicos e desempenho eleitoral: evidências do modelo do eleitor mediano para os municípios brasileiros

The aim of this work is to empirically test the validity of the median voter model for the Brazilian case. The test was made feasible by the possibility of reelection established in 1997 by the Reelection Amendment. With municipal information from the Demographic Census and from TSE for the year of 2000, we identified the bundle offered by candidates running for reelection as the expenditures realized during their first terms. Next, we estimated the demand for local public services. Relaxing the assumption of perfect information of candidates in relation to the median demand, and imposing a weaker hypothesis, of rational expectations, we justified the estimation of a measure of misperception of candidates for re-election in relation to median demand. Next, we estimated the impact of the module of this measure on the electoral performance of mayors incumbents using a selection model. The result suggests that the median voter model is valid for the case of Brazilian municipalities.
Agricultural water poverty index and sustainability

Water resources are declining at an alarming rate in the world. The use of water resources for agricultural production has contributed to the rapid decline in quantity and degradation of water quality. Though sustainable agriculture must be economically viable, ecologically sound and socially responsible, water scarcity has challenged the sustainability of agriculture, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. There is a relative consensus among professionals that the increasing water scarcity through excessive use of water and mismanagement of the available water resources are major concerns for agricultural sustainability. Agricultural sustainability is assessed using various indicators, but the contribution of the water factor in those indicators is limited. Therefore, we review the role of sustainable water management in achieving agricultural sustainability. We propose an agricultural water poverty index (AWPI) as an instrument to provide a holistic picture of vital issues for sustainable water management. We also distill key components of the agricultural water poverty index and discuss its applications. The agricultural water poverty index can be used to assess the agricultural water poverty among farmers and regions and to provide guidelines for sustainable water management. This article uses the case of Iran to illustrate the application of the agricultural water poverty index in analyzing agricultural water poverty and providing recommendations for sustainable water management.
Is Sindbis a simple picornavirus with an envelope?

A three‐dimensional image reconstruction was performed from cryo‐electron micrographs of isolated Sindbis (SNV) nucleocapsids. The isolated capsid is a smooth but fenestrated T = 3 structure. Comparison with the nucleocapsid seen within the whole virion indicated that the structure resembles the swollen forms which some non‐enveloped viruses adopt after removal of divalent cations. A sensitive comparison method was used to align SNV capsid protein sequences with those of picornavirus vp3 capsid proteins whose high resolution structures display an eight‐stranded beta‐barrel fold found in many icosahedral viruses. The alignment predicted a similar folding for the Sindbis protein which juxtaposes several sets of residues known to be essential for its serine proteolytic activity. These results suggest that the capsid proteins of the enveloped alphaviruses and the non‐enveloped picornaviruses may have arisen through divergent evolution from a simple, vp3‐like ancestor.
Evaluating Network Arrangements: Toward Revised Performance Measures

As public problems have become more and more complex, there has been a realization that individual government agencies, working alone, can no longer handle these "wicked issues. " Instead, there has been a growing emphasis on replacing categorical or program-based funding arrangements with more integrated efforts. These efforts have been the focus of recent work on collaborative endeavors involving a variety of network arrangements. The difficulty has been that although these types of collaborative efforts are increasing in number, a related growing concern is whether such arrangements have been any more effective than those involving single-agency efforts. As a result, interest has increased in evaluating these types of efforts. However, the evaluation measures used are those that apply to individual organizations, rather than network arrangements that often include not only representatives of public sector organizations but also representatives of nonprofit and private organizations as well as individuals and groups representing community interests. New ways are needed of evaluating performance in these network arrangements.
Adaptive saliency-based compressive sensing image reconstruction

This paper proposes an adaptive compressive sensing reconstruction method which provides a higher recovered image quality. Based on an initial compressive sampling reconstruction at a given sampling rate, the visually salient regions of the image that are more conspicuous to the human visual system are extracted using a classical graph-based method. The target acquisition subrate is further adaptively allocated among these regions, such that the new acquisition will favor the interest areas. The measurements produced by this adaptive method are fully compatible with the existing sparse reconstruction algorithms, which favors the utilization of the proposed scheme. Simulation results show that the saliency-based compressive sensing recovery method outperforms the conventional sparse reconstruction algorithms in terms of image quality at the same target sampling ratio with a smaller increment in the complexity.
Indigenous ecotourism's role in transforming ecological consciousness

While ecotourism has many positive attributes, perhaps the most interesting is its potential to foster transformations in ecological consciousness that some view as vital to achieving more sustainable human–environmental relationships. Frequently, indigenous peoples and their cultures have been associated with ecotourism because of the ‘strong bond between indigenous cultures and the natural environment’ [Zeppel, H. (2006). Indigenous ecotourism: Sustainable development and management. Wallingford, UK: CABI. ]. In fact, there are numerous examples from around the world of indigenous communities using the opportunity that ecotourism provides to educate non-indigenous people about indigenous values and lifeways in the hopes of overturning the destructive nature of the Western environmental paradigm. This article offers a critical perspective on the capacity of indigenous ecotourism to foster more sustainable lifeways by transforming the ecological consciousness of participants and stakeholders in ecotourism. This is timely as non-indigenous academic Fennell [(2008). Ecotourism and the myth of indigenous stewardship. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 16(2), 129–149] has recently presented a controversial analysis of the ‘myth of indigenous stewardship’. This paper focuses on the writings of indigenous experts to explore these complex issues. In addition to this conceptual analysis, this article offers a brief case study of Camp Coorong in South Australia, which demonstrates that some indigenous communities are using ecotourism to teach indigenous values in the hope of fostering transformations in consciousness.
A Maximum Likelihood Approach for Reject Inference in Credit Scoring

We model reject inference - inferring how a rejected credit applicant would have behaved had it been granted credit - using a maximum likelihood approach within the framework of missing data analysis. Contrary to other methods that impute missing data, this reject inference method embeds the missing data mechanism into model estimation directly. We test performance of three reject inference methods using real default data. Results show our method to be superior and to improve classification power for credit scoring in within-sample tests.
Communication-based Assessment for Bank Operations

The World Bank and other development organizations work closely with governments to improve the living conditions of people in developing countries, expanding their development visions and helping them to achieve their goals. Development communication is a client-oriented strategy, contributing a powerful set of tools for the success of development initiatives. This paper includes the following headings: introduction; framework; the development communication methodology; the communication-based assessment (CBA); opening the dialogue -- components of the CBA; and contribution of the CBA to operational projects.
The 1999 Republic Referendum: Is there a Cycle?

There are many ways to interpret the results of the 1999 Australian referendum on whether the Constitution should be altered 'to establish the Commonwealth of Australia as a republic with a president appointed by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Commonwealth Parliament'. One possible interpretation that has not been investigated so far suggests that the result reflects the fact that there is a 'preference cycle' over the three constitutional models that dominated the debate preceding the referendum. This research note uses survey data and public choice theory to investigate whether this interpretation sheds any further light on the referendum results.
Effect of multivitamin supplements on weight gain during pregnancy among HIV-negative women in Tanzania.

Multivitamin supplementation has been shown to reduce the risk of low birthweight. This effect could be mediated through gestational weight gain. However, the effect of multivitamin supplementation on weight gain during pregnancy has not been fully studied. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of multivitamins on pregnancy weight gain. We enrolled 8468 HIV-negative women from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in a randomised, placebo-controlled trial of multivitamins on birth outcomes. Women were randomly assigned to receive either a daily oral dose of multivitamin tablets or a placebo and were weighed every 4 weeks from enrolment until the last visit before delivery. Intent-to-treat analyses were carried out to examine the effects of multivitamins on pregnancy weight gain. Multivariate linear and binomial regression models with the log-link function were used to examine the association of weight gain during pregnancy to birthweight. The overall total weight gain was 253 g (SE: 69, P: 0.0003) more, while the overall 4 weekly weight gain was 59 g greater (SE: 18, P: 0.005) among women who received multivitamins compared to placebo. Women in the lowest quartile of gestational weight gain had babies with an average birthweight of 3030 g (SD: 524), while women in the highest quartile had babies weighing 3246 g (SD: 486), on average. Prenatal multivitamin supplements increased gestational weight gain, which was a significant predictor of birthweight.
The Transmission of Aggregate Supply and Aggregate Demand Shocks in Japan: Has There Been a Structural Change?

Despite expansionary fiscal and monetary policies, the Japanese real economy has been stagnating since the bubble bursting in the early nineties. Within a multivariate setup, this paper proposes to test for and date a possible structural shift in the response of Japanese macroeconomic fluctuations to aggregate supply and aggregate demand shocks. The econometric methodology directly derives from Andrews (1993) and Bai, Lumsdaine and Stock (1998) theoretical results. Our empirical study from monthly post-1980 observations reveals i) a significant structural break in the end of 1991, and ii) a sharp decrease in the influence of demand shocks on Japanese output fluctuations after this date.
Semiparametric estimation of seasonal long memory models: theory and an application to the modeling of exchange rates

Several studies have reported evidence of long memory in the squared returns of ̄nancial series. This evidence has been usually interpreted as an indicator of persistence in the volatility process of the returns. In this study we examine how that evidence can be explained by a seasonal long memory component in the returns. Also, we review semiparametric estimates of long memory models in the frequency domain and extend Robinson's (1995a) pseudo maximum likelihood approach to the seasonal long memory case. Finally, using these tools we analyze the British pound-Deutsche mark exchange rate series. (JEL C14, C22, G15)
Psb27, a Cyanobacterial Lipoprotein, Is Involved in the Repair Cycle of Photosystem II

Photosystem II (PSII) performs one of the key reactions on our planet: the light-driven oxidation of water. This fundamental but very complex process requires PSII to act in a highly coordinated fashion. Despite detailed structural information on the fully assembled PSII complex, the dynamic aspects of formation, processing, turnover, and degradation of PSII with at least 19 subunits and various cofactors are still not fully understood. Transient complexes are especially difficult to characterize due to low abundance, potential heterogeneity, and instability. Here, we show that Psb27 is involved in the assembly of the water-splitting site of PSII and in the turnover of the complex. Psb27 is a bacterial lipoprotein with a specific lipid modification as shown by matrix-assisted laser-desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry. The combination of HPLC purification of four different PSII subcomplexes and 15N pulse label experiments revealed that lipoprotein Psb27 is part of a preassembled PSII subcomplex that represents a distinct intermediate in the repair cycle of PSII.
Flavonoids as antagonists at A1 adenosine receptors

This study aimed to investigate the potential for ﬂavonoid action at A1 adenosine receptors in vitro. In a radioligand binding assay for A1 adenosine receptor occupancy in particulate preparations from guinea‐pig cerebral cortex, flavonoids competed in concentration‐dependent manners with Hill slopes typically not different from unity. Of the ﬂavonoids tested, quercetin showed highest affinity (pKi value of 5.33). At a concentration of 28 mm, quercetin evoked a rightward shift in the N6‐cyclopentyladenosine‐induced inhibition of electrically evoked contractions of the guinea‐pig isolated ileum, allowing the calculation of a pKi value of 4.71. These data suggest, therefore, that ﬂavonoids represent an additional dietary source of A1 adenosine receptor antagonists (beyond the methylxanthines, caffeine and theophylline). Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Temporal relation between ischemic episodes and activation of the coagulation system in unstable angina.

BACKGROUND Although a major role of coronary thrombosis in the pathogenesis of unstable angina has been demonstrated, the results of a series of studies have suggested that activation of the hemostatic system may not be confined to ischemic episodes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the temporal relation between ischemic episodes and activation of the coagulation system in unstable angina. METHODS AND RESULTS Thrombin-antithrombin III (TAT) and prothrombin fragment 1 + 2 (F1 + 2) levels were measured in 13 patients during spontaneous ischemic episodes (time 0, 5, and 15 minutes and 1 hour) to evaluate the time course of the activation of the coagulation system associated with the development of ischemia (protocol A). TAT and F1 + 2 levels were also measured in 28 patients with unstable angina on admission to hospital (every 6 hours for 24 hours and daily for 3 days) to assess their temporal relation with ischemic episodes (protocol B). In protocol A, TAT and F1 + 2 levels were elevated in 10 of 13 patients (77%) in at least 1 sample. The median value of TAT showed a peak at 5 minutes and returned to baseline within 15 minutes (P < .05), consistent with its plasma half-life of 5 minutes, whereas the median value of F1 + 2 showed no significant changes, possibly because of its longer half-life, which tends to dampen sudden bursts of thrombin production. In protocol B, activation of the clotting system was found in 10 of 33 samples (30%) temporally related to ischemia and also in 23 of 150 (15%, P = .07) of those not temporally related to ischemia. CONCLUSIONS Our study demonstrates that patients with active unstable angina develop frequent bursts of thrombin production not necessarily associated with ischemic episodes and that, conversely, some ischemic episodes are not associated with evidence of thrombin activation.
On the importance of regional innovation flows in the European Union: some methodological issues in the Italian case

Using an Italian questionnaire not specifically designed to study geographic phenomena, the potential and limitations of the regionalisation of innovation information is analysed. There were difficulties involved in introducing the territorial dimension into the existing questionnaire and proposals are made for incremental amendments to the survey method for collecting and presenting the data, aimed at capturing the regional interdependencies. These include a request for the location of the main source of information, the broad geographic area from which technology has been acquired or transferred, and the sector and region of origin of the innovation. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.
Adapting radiotherapy to hypoxic tumours

In the current work, the concepts of biologically adapted radiotherapy of hypoxic tumours in a framework encompassing functional tumour imaging, tumour control predictions, inverse treatment planning and intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) were presented. Dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCEMRI) of a spontaneous sarcoma in the nasal region of a dog was employed. The tracer concentration in the tumour was assumed related to the oxygen tension and compared to Eppendorf histograph measurements. Based on the pO2-related images derived from the MR analysis, the tumour was divided into four compartments by a segmentation procedure. DICOM structure sets for IMRT planning could be derived thereof. In order to display the possible advantages of non-uniform tumour doses, dose redistribution among the four tumour compartments was introduced. The dose redistribution was constrained by keeping the average dose to the tumour equal to a conventional target dose. The compartmental doses yielding optimum tumour control probability (TCP) were used as input in an inverse planning system, where the planning basis was the pO2-related tumour images from the MR analysis. Uniform (conventional) and non-uniform IMRT plans were scored both physically and biologically. The consequences of random and systematic errors in the compartmental images were evaluated. The normalized frequency distributions of the tracer concentration and the pO2 Eppendorf measurements were not significantly different. 28% of the tumour had, according to the MR analysis, pO2 values of less than 5 mm Hg. The optimum TCP following a non-uniform dose prescription was about four times higher than that following a uniform dose prescription. The non-uniform IMRT dose distribution resulting from the inverse planning gave a three times higher TCP than that of the uniform distribution. The TCP and the dose-based plan quality depended on IMRT parameters defined in the inverse planning procedure (fields and step-and-shoot intensity levels). Simulated random and systematic errors in the pO2-related images reduced the TCP for the non-uniform dose prescription. In conclusion, improved tumour control of hypoxic tumours by dose redistribution may be expected following hypoxia imaging, tumour control predictions, inverse treatment planning and IMRT.
Metabolic flexibility is conserved in diabetic myotubes Published, JLR Papers in Press, October 24, 2006.

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that metabolic inflexibility is an intrinsic defect. Glucose and lipid oxidation were studied in human myotubes established from healthy lean and obese subjects and patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). In lean myotubes, glucose oxidation is raised by increasing glucose concentrations (0–20 mmol/l) and acute insulin stimulation (P < 0.05), whereas it is inhibited by palmitate (PA). PA oxidation is raised by increasing PA concentrations (0–0.6 mmol/l), whereas 1.0 mmol/l PA inhibits its own oxidation (P < 0.05). Furthermore, PA oxidation is increased by acute insulin stimulation (P < 0.05) and inhibited by glucose. Even 0.05 mM PA and 2.5 mM glucose significantly reduce glucose and PA oxidation (P < 0.05), respectively. Glucose and PA oxidation are insulin-sensitive in myotubes established from lean (46% and 17% glucose and PA oxidation, respectively; P < 0.05 vs. basal), obese (31% and 14%; P < 0.05), and T2D (17% and 8%; P < 0.05) subjects. PA supplementation reduces both basal and insulin-stimulated glucose oxidation by 33–44% (P < 0.05), and myotubes are still insulin-sensitive in all three groups (P < 0.05). Therefore, the metabolic inflexibility described in obese and diabetic patients is not an intrinsic defect; rather, it is based on an extramuscular mechanism (i.e., the inability to vary extracellular fatty acid concentrations during insulin stimulation). Thus, skeletal muscles are metabolic-flexible per se.
Identifying Strategies for Increasing Employee Physical Activity Levels: Findings from the Stanford/Lockheed Exercise Survey

While worksite exercise programs offer a number of potential advantages with respect to increasing physical activity levels in American adults, typical participation rates remain relatively low. The purpose of this study was to explore employee preferences and needs related to physical activity programming in a major work setting in northern California. Two-thirds (399) of a randomly selected sample of employees responded to a mailed survey. Male and female employees reporting no regular aerobic activity over the past two years more strongly endorsed a number of erroneous beliefs concerning exercise, reported less support for engaging in exercise both at home and at work, and avoided even routine types of activity to a greater extent than more active individuals ( p values <0.001). Current exercisers reported use of a greater number and variety of motivational strategies as part of their exercise program than past exercisers who were not currently active (p < 0.001). Respondents, regardless of exercise status and age, reported pref erences for moderate-intensity activity occurring away from the workplace which could be performed on one's own rather than in a group or class. Implications of the findings with respect to development of educational and behavioral programs for the current employee population are discussed.