Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants of fertilizer use among small-holder farmers in wetland region of Cross River State.

The study modelled and estimated the fertilizer demand function for wetland farmers in Cross River State. Stratified random sampling method was used to collect cross sectional data from 130 wetland farmers with the help of a well structured questionnaire and personal interview schedules. Ordinary Least Squares Method was used to estimate the specified equation. The results reveal that household size, household consumption expenditure, number of poultry birds kept by farmers, number of goats owned and perceived price of fertilizer have negative effect on fertilizer demand. Education of the farmer, farm size, extension agent contact, farm income, ability to predict rainfall, modern communication facilities, output of maize and mixed cropping in combination with maize have positive influence on fertilizer demand. Also policies that reduce production constraints and household size were recommended. In addition, policies that strengthen the present extension programme and improve rural infrastructures would help to reduce production cost while increasing fertilizer demand and farmers wellbeing. KEY WORD: Fertilizer, Wetland, Farmer, Demand, Policy
Response to Review of How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas

What business entrepreneurs are to the economy, social entrepreneurs are to social change. They are, writes David Bornstein, the driven, creative individuals who question the status quo, exploit new opportunities, refuse to give up - and remake the world for the better. "How to Change the World" tells the fascinating stories of these remarkable individuals - many in the United States, others in countries from Brazil to Hungary - providing an "In Search of Excellence" for the nonprofit sector. In America, one man, J.B. Schramm, has helped thousands of low-income high school students get into college. In South Africa, one woman, Veronica Khosa, developed a home - based care model for AIDS patients that changed government health policy. In Brazil, Fabio Rosa helped bring electricity to hundreds of thousands of remote rural residents. Another American, James Grant, is credited with saving 25 million lives by leading and 'marketing' a global campaign for immunization. Yet another, Bill Drayton, created a pioneering foundation, Ashoka, that has funded and supported these social entrepreneurs and over a thousand like them, leveraging the power of their ideas across the globe. These extraordinary stories highlight a massive transformation that is going largely unreported by the media: around the world, the fastest - growing segment of society is the nonprofit sector, as millions of ordinary people- social entrepreneurs- are increasingly stepping in to solve the problems where governments and bureaucracies have failed. "How to Change the World" shows, as its title suggests, that with determination and innovation, even a single person can make a surprising difference. For anyone seeking to make a positive mark on the world, this will be both an inspiring read and an invaluable handbook.
Locating and Understanding Features of Complex Software Systems by Synchronizing Time-, Collaboration- and Code-Focused Views on Execution Traces

Extending or modifying features of complex software systems is often a highly time-consuming and cost-intensive task as, beforehand, the features have to be located within the code and to be understood in detail. To support developers in performing this task, we propose a technique that takes execution traces and implementation unit structuring as input data and provides various views thereupon. Views focus on different trace characteristics, namely they are time-, collaboration-, and code-focused. Synchronizing the views creates a rich user interface that helps developers to effectively identify and understand feature relevant parts of the implementation.
The Market for Paintings in Paris between Rococo and Romanticism

We analyze organization of auctions and bidding strategies with a unique dataset on Paris auctions between 700s and 800s. Prices reflect the objective features of the paintings and of the sale, and they reveal a substantial death effect, with upward jumps in the years after the death of the artists. Both the hedonic and repeated sale price indexes show a declining pattern for the relative price of paintings starting with the French Revolution. On this basis we analyze the emerging role and market power of art dealers and employ network theory to study whether they created rings to manipulate the outcome of the auctions for their profits. Dealers appear to have been divided into four main communities heavily trading between themselves and we find evidence of collusive behavior with lower hammer prices for buyers belonging to the same community of the dealers organizing the auction.
Economic and Equity Evaluation of Delhi Metro

This paper examines the economic and equity implications of the introduction of a metro system in Delhi. Generalized cost of each mode is used as an indicator of mobility, where as, accessibility is measured in terms of consumer surplus. A combined mode destination choice model is employed to assess the change in the generalized costs of existing modes after the metro introduction. The accessibility benefits of a metro are estimated using the logsum approach to estimate the consumer surplus of transit riders. The well established quantitative measure of equity, the GINI coefficient, is used to link mobility and accessibility to equity. Results indicate a reduction in the generalized costs of three existing modes, i.e. bus, car and the two wheelers. The magnitude of change is the lowest for bus and the highest for two wheelers. The estimated average change in welfare according the calibrated model is 45.32 Rs/trip (0.923 $US) which equals 90.64 Rs/day (1.85 $US), assuming two work trips per person per day. The results of the equity measure indicate a shift towards the line of perfect equality, concluding that the introduction of metro shows a positive impact on equity (of mobility and accessibility).
Labour Market Regimes and Worker Recruitment and Retention in the European Union: Plant Comparisons

We analyse worker recruitment and retention outcomes, contrasting production worker skill profiles in the UK subsidiaries of five multinationals with, in each case, a matched plant in another EU state. From personnel records we build up plant distributions of worker pay, age, schooling, prior experience and tenure. We find evidence of local management discretion, with differences in unit labour costs and in recruitment/retention outcomes between the matched subsidiaries. UK plants have a ‘hire and fire’ environment and a less skilled worker mix. Such outcomes can be linked to the UK’s lower labour costs and less regulated labour market.
Toll-Like Receptor 4 Mediates Intracellular Signaling Without TNF-α Release in Response to Cryptococcus neoformans Polysaccharide Capsule1

Toll-like receptors (TLR) 2 and 4 are cell surface receptors that in association with CD14 enable phagocytic inflammatory responses to a variety of microbial products. Activation via these receptors triggers signaling cascades, resulting in nuclear translocation of NF-κB and a proinflammatory response including TNF-α production. We investigated whether TLRs participate in the host response to Cryptococcus neoformans glucuronoxylomannan (GXM), the major capsular polysaccharide of this fungus. Chinese hamster ovary fibroblasts transfected with human TLR2, TLR4, and/or CD14 bound fluorescently labeled GXM. The transfected Chinese hamster ovary cells were challenged with GXM, and activation of an NF-κB-dependent reporter construct was evaluated. Activation was observed in cells transfected with both CD14 and TLR4. GXM also stimulated nuclear NF-κB translocation in PBMC and RAW 264.7 cells. However, stimulation of these cells with GXM resulted in neither TNF-α secretion nor activation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, p38, and stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun N-terminal kinase mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways. These findings suggest that TLRs, in conjunction with CD14, function as pattern recognition receptors for GXM. Furthermore, whereas GXM stimulates cells to translocate NF-κB to the nucleus, it does not induce activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways or release of TNF-α. Taken together, these observations suggest a novel scenario whereby GXM stimulates cells via CD14 and TLR4, resulting in an incomplete activation of pathways necessary for TNF-α production.
Varieties and the terms of trade

This paper analyzes the dynamic adjustment of the terms of trade in an intertemporal, two country model with endogenous product variety. In the base model, all workers are identical. In an extended version, the development of new varieties requires skilled labor while manufacturing uses skilled and unskilled labor. In the model without skill, a population increase in one of the countries has no effect on its terms of trade, not even in the short run. In the model with skill, the terms of trade initially worsen, but eventually return to their original level. The terms of trade immediately and permanently worsen in response to a productivity increase in manufacturing. However, they gradually improve if the productivity in variety research rises. If productivity in both activities rises equiproportionally, the terms of trade respond in the same manner as after a population shock.
Computerized symptom and quality-of-life assessment for patients with cancer part II: acceptability and usability.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To determine the acceptability and usability of a computerized quality-of-life (QOL) and symptom assessment tool and the graphically displayed QOL and symptom output in an ambulatory radiation oncology clinic. DESIGN Descriptive, cross-sectional. SETTING Radiation oncology clinic located in an urban university medical center. SAMPLE 45 patients with cancer being evaluated for radiation therapy and 10 clinicians, who submitted 12 surveys. METHODS Acceptability of the computerized assessment was measured with an online, 16-item, Likert-style survey delivered as 45 patients undergoing radiation therapy completed a 25-item QOL and symptom assessment. Usability of the graphic output was assessed with clinician completion of a four-item paper survey. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES Acceptability and usability of computerized patient assessment. FINDINGS The patient acceptability survey indicated that 70% (n = 28) liked computers and 10% (n = 4) did not. The program was easy to use for 79% (n = 26), easy to understand for 91% (n = 30), and enjoyable for 71% (n = 24). Seventy-six percent (n = 25) believed that the amount of time needed to complete the computerized survey was acceptable. Sixty-six percent (n = 21) responded that they were satisfied with the program, and none of the participants chose the very dissatisfied response. Eighty-three percent (n = 10) of the clinicians found the graphic output helpful in promoting communication with patients, 75% (n = 9) found the output report helpful in identifying appropriate areas of QOL deficits or concerns, and 83% (n = 10) indicated that the output helped guide clinical interactions with patients. CONCLUSIONS The computer-based QOL and symptom assessment tool is acceptable to patients, and the graphically displayed QOL and symptom output is useful to radiation oncology nurses and physicians. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING Wider application of computerized patient-generated data can continue in various cancer settings and be tested for clinical and organizational outcomes.
“How Do We Start? And How Will They React?” Disclosing to Young People with Perinatally Acquired HIV in Uganda

Despite great advances in pediatric HIV care, rates and the extent of full disclosure of HIV status to infected children remain low especially in resource-constrained setting. The World Health Organisation recommends that, by the age of 10–12 years old, children should be made fully aware of their HIV-positive status. However, this awareness is often delayed until much later in their adolescence. Few studies have been conducted to investigate what influences caregivers’ decision-making process in this regard in low-income settings. In this article, we present an analysis of care dyads of caregivers and HIV-positive young people in Kampala, Uganda, as part of the findings of a longitudinal qualitative study about young people’s adherence to antiretroviral therapy embedded in an international clinical trial (BREATHER). Repeat in-depth interviews were conducted with 26 young people living with HIV throughout the course of the trial, and once-off interviews with 16 of their caregivers were also carried out toward the end of the trial. In this article, we examine why and how caregivers decide to disclose a young person’s HIV status to them and explore their feelings and dilemmas toward disclosure, as well as how young people reacted and the influence it had on their relationships with and attitudes toward their caregivers. Caregivers feared the consequences of disclosing the young person’s positive status to them and disclosure commonly occurred hurriedly in response to a crisis, rather than as part of an anticipated and planned process. A key impediment to disclosure was that caregivers feared that disclosing would damage their relationships with the young people and commonly used this as a reason to continue to postpone disclosure. However, young people did not report prolonged feelings of blame or anger toward their caregivers about their own infection, but they did express frustration at the delay and obfuscation surrounding the disclosure process. Our findings can inform the ways in which mainstream HIV services support caregivers through the disclosure process. This includes providing positive encouragement to disclose fully and to be more confident in initiating and sustaining the timely process of disclosure.
Therapeutic options for management of endometrial hyperplasia

Endometrial hyperplasia (EH) comprises a spectrum of changes in the endometrium ranging from a slightly disordered pattern that exaggerates the alterations seen in the late proliferative phase of the menstrual cycle to irregular, hyperchromatic lesions that are similar to endometrioid adenocarcinoma. Generally, EH is caused by continuous exposure of estrogen unopposed by progesterone, polycystic ovary syndrome, tamoxifen, or hormone replacement therapy. Since it can progress, or often occur coincidentally with endometrial carcinoma, EH is of clinical importance, and the reversion of hyperplasia to normal endometrium represents the key conservative treatment for prevention of the development of adenocarcinoma. Presently, cyclic progestin or hysterectomy constitutes the major treatment option for EH without or with atypia, respectively. However, clinical trials of hormonal therapies and definitive standard treatments remain to be established for the management of EH. Moreover, therapeutic options for EH patients who wish to preserve fertility are challenging and require nonsurgical management. Therefore, future studies should focus on evaluation of new treatment strategies and novel compounds that could simultaneously target pathways involved in the pathogenesis of estradiol-induced EH. Novel therapeutic agents precisely targeting the inhibition of estrogen receptor, growth factor receptors, and signal transduction pathways are likely to constitute an optimal approach for treatment of EH.
Release of interleukin-1 by peripheral blood mononuclear cells in patients with tuberculosis and active inflammation

Peripheral blood monocytes from patients with active tuberculosis and acute inflammatory disease showed spontaneous interleukin-1 production when compared with those from control patients or healthy controls. Moreover, interleukin-1 production appeared to be a more specific indicator of active disease than were other commonly used indices, such as the erythrocyte sedimentation rate and serum C-reactive protein levels.
The Political Economy of Collective Skill Formation

Education, skill formation, and training continue to be important areas of consideration for both public policy and research. This book examines the particular types of vocational training known as collective skill formation systems, whereby the training (often firm-based apprenticeships) is collectively organized by businesses and unions with state support and cooperation in execution, finance, and monitoring. With contributions from leading academics, this book is the first to provide a comprehensive analysis of the varying historical origins of, and recent developments in, vocational training systems, offering in-depth studies on coordinated market economies, namely Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Denmark. It also contains comparative chapters that analyse how these countries react to common challenges such as deindustrialization, labour market stratification, academic drift, gender inequalities, and Europeanization. Whereas previous research has focused on the differences between various kinds of skill regimes, this book focuses on explaining institutional variety within the group of collective skill formation systems. The development of skill formation systems is regarded as a dynamic political process, dependent on the outcome of various political struggles regarding such matters as institutional design and transformations during critical junctures in historical development. Contributors to this volume - Karen Anderson, Department of Political Science, Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands Marius R. Busemeyer, University of Konstanz Christian Ebner, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin fur Sozialforschung (WZB), Germany Margarita Estevez-Abe, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, USA Philipp Gonon, University of Zurich, Institute of Upper Secondary and Vocational Education, Switzerland Lukas Graf, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin fur Sozialforschung (WZB), Germany Torben Iversen, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University, USA Lorenz Lassnigg, Employment-Qualification-Innovation (EQUI), Institut fuer Hoehere Studien(IHS)/Institute for Advanced Studies, Austria Markus Maurer, University of Zurich, Institute of Upper Secondary and Vocational Education, Switzerland Cathie Jo Martin, Department of Political Science, Boston University, USA Moira Nelson, University of Bern, Institute of Political Science, Switzerland Dennie Oude Nijhuis, Leiden University Institute for History Rita Nikolai, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin fur Sozialforschung (WZB), Germany Justin Powell, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin fur Sozialforschung (WZB), Germany Wolfgang Streeck, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Germany Kathleen Thelen, Department of Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Christine Trampusch, University of Cologne
Military expenditure and economic growth: A demand and supply model for Greece, 1960–96

This paper contributes to the continuing debate on the economic effects of military expenditure by undertaking a case study of Greece. Within Europe Greece provides a particularly interesting object of study. It has the highest military burden in Europe and NATO, is the only European Union country situated in the unstable environment of the Balkans, faces a military threat from Turkey, and has a very weak economy. After some background analysis of the economy and military expenditure, the paper investigates the determinants of Greek military expenditure as well as whether the high military burden has played an important role in Greece's poor economic performance over the period 1960–1996. It estimates a Keynesian simultaneous equation model with a supply side, which allows the indirect effects of military expenditure to be captured explicitly. It concludes that the major determinants of Greek defence spending are not economic but strategic (the threat of war) and that the direct effect of defence spending on economic growth as well as the indirect effects through savings and trade balance are all significantly negative. On the basis of such strong results, the paper concludes that defence spending is harmful for the Greek economy.
Limitations of two-level emitters as nonlinearities in two-photon controlled-phase gates

We investigate the origin of imperfections in the fidelity of a two-photon controlled-phase gate based on two-level-emitter non-linearities. We focus on a passive system that operates without external modulations to enhance its performance. We demonstrate that the fidelity of the gate is limited by opposing requirements on the input pulse width for one- and two-photon scattering events. For one-photon scattering, the spectral pulse width must be narrow compared to the emitter linewidth, while two-photon scattering processes require the pulse width and emitter linewidth to be comparable. We find that these opposing requirements limit the maximum fidelity of the two-photon controlled-phase gate for Gaussian photon pulses to 84%.
Modelling the Effects of the EU Common Agricultural Policy

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union has undergone significant reform since the early 1990s, with the aim of improving its market orientation. There is an increasing focus on breaking the link between direct income payments and production decisions — so called 'decoupling'. Expenditure on the CAP accounts for about 46 per cent of total EU budgetary expenditure, or over 50 billion Euros. The majority of expenditure is in the form of direct income payments to farmers. Expenditure also includes market price support and rural development programs. The European Union also assists its agricultural sector with various border protection measures including import duties and other non-tariff barriers. In this study, economic impacts of the CAP are evaluated using the GTAP model. According to the modelling results, the effects of the CAP include - higher output of the farm and food processing sectors in the European Union, of about 8 and 6 per cent respectively; lower output of the EU manufacturing and services sectors; lower GDP in the European Union of about 0.3 per cent, or $US 52 billion. The additional farm and food output in the European Union is estimated to depress world prices for these goods by between 1 and 4 per cent. World prices for manufactured goods and services increase. These price movements induce a contraction in agriculture and food processing in non-EU regions, and an expansion in the manufacturing and services sectors. The estimated net effect of the CAP is to reduce global welfare by about $US 45 billion, with a cost to the European Union of $US 30 billion. The largest contributor to this welfare loss is the border protection component of the CAP. Important caveats to these modelling results apply. The estimates are sensitive to parameter choices, specific model features, and the structure of the database. In addition, the modelling does not capture some aspects of the CAP including the effects of cross-compliance measures, any impacts on productivity in the agricultural sector, and positive and negative externalities associated with the policy. Therefore, these results should be interpreted as only indicative of the magnitude of the economic impacts of the CAP. The views expressed in this paper are those of the staff involved and do not necessarily reflect those of the Productivity Commission.