Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The role of risk in the context of climate change, land use choices and crop production: evidence from Zambia

This study examines the empirical importance of the effects of the risk environment on the impacts of climate change on farm land allocations and consequent effect on agricultural output in Zambia. We use a discrete-choice model consistent with a mean-variance utility function to model farm-level land allocations among alternative crops. Results indicate that risk-reducing decisions reinforce the trend to shift away from maize production in response to climate change impacts on mean temperatures and precipitation. The opportunity cost of these decisions is explored through a simulation scenario in which yield variability is reduced to zero. Important conclusions can be derived from this analysis. First, when the economic effects of climate change are considered, decision-making under uncertainty and risk should be at the forefront of the problems that issues that need to be addressed. Second, concentrating on farm-level effects of responses to climate change is not sufficient. To understand the economy wide consequences of climate change, the aggregate effects of individual decisions should be assessed. Third, results indicate that increased efforts in risk management and in policies aiming at reducing risk can lead to significant positive outcomes. Acknowledgement : This work was supported by a grant from the Bureau of Food Security at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This work was implemented as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), which is carried out with support from CGIAR Fund Donors and through bilateral funding agreements. For details please visit donors. The authors take sole responsibility for the opinions expressed within this study.
Multipath and multipath reduction in the obstructed areas by using enhanced strobe correlator (ESC) technique

Preliminary notes Despite advances in GPS equipment installed at permanent sites, multipath still remains a significant error source. Strobe Correlator technology greatly reduces GPS multipath signals, which can occur when the GPS signals are reflected off tall buildings or other obstructions before captured by the receiver and, thus, increase the distance a signal travels and reduce the accuracy. A GPS receiver using Strobe Correlator performs a series of complex calculations to restore positioning accuracy. I present a technique for evaluating and correcting the multipath at GPS antenna by utilizing the Enhanced Strobe Correlator (ESC) especially in RTK GPS applications. The advanced technique of Enhanced Strobe Correlation is discussed here. In addition, the performance of the technique is presented with the experiments from real multipath environments comparing RTK GPS results with terrestrial ones.
Modeling Initial Participation of Diverse Communities in Competitive Swimming

This research note introduces the Initial Participation Model, which theorizes continued participation in a activity or group before individuals make commitment is a function of: enjoyment, feeling of inclusion, and/or involvement opportunities. The specific focus of this research is investigating how deficiency in enjoyment, feeling of inclusion, and involvement opportunities may discourage continuing participation in competitive swimming by underrepresented populations such as African American, Black, Hispanic, Latino, Native American, Pacific Islander and low-socioeconomic communities. Details explain how initial participation differs from other sport stages by emphasizing participation; relating to program instead of sport; and resetting each time an individual joins a new activity or group. Two examples are offered illustrating how the model may be used for identifying points of intervention that stimulate continued initial participation. Also included are specific factors constructing the model and future testing plans for validation.
Fit and Motivated: Outcome Predictors in Patients Starting a Program for Lifestyle Change

Background: In previous pilot studies we have demonstrated that the Treatment Motivation and Readiness Test (TRE-MORE) is capable of predicting the outcome of obesity therapy and that a higher muscle mass (MM) is associated with a greater weight loss. Purposes of the present study were: to confirm the predictive value of TRE-MORE scores and MM, using a standardized non-pharmacologic intervention for weight loss; to explore the relationship between TRE-MORE and MM; to discriminate predictors of attendance from predictors of final therapeutic success. Methods: A consecutive series of 331 patients was enrolled and addressed to a standardized treatment protocol. Results: Mean weight loss at 6 months was -5.03%. Among participants, 48.7% lost at least 5% initial body weight after 6 months and had significantly higher TRE-MORE total scores and MM. Weight loss was significantly associated with baseline MM, TRE-MORE-3, and a lower number of previous diets. Significantly lower TRE-MORE-3 scores were associated with drop-out. Conclusion: The present study confirms that therapeutic success is predicted by TRE-MORE scores and, independently from these, by estimated MM (after adjustment for BMI). TRE-MORE total score is a predictor of failure, but not of attendance, whereas drop-out patients showed a lower score only in TREMORE-3 subscale which investigates lifestyle habits.
Conception et réalisation d'amplificateurs micro-ondes de puissance à l'aide de la méthode des fréquences réelles

Les travaux presentes dans ce memoire sont une contribution a la conception d'amplificateurs micro-ondes de puissance. Nous presentons dans une premiere partie les differentes caracteristiques (grandeurs electriques, classes de fonctionnement,. . . ) de l'amplification de puissance dans le domaine des hyperfrequences ainsi que le large spectre de transistors disponibles actuellement pour des applications de puissance. Le deuxieme chapitre traite des techniques de caracterisation du fonctionnement non-lineaire des transistors de puissance. A cote de l'equilibrage harmonique ou de la caracterisation load-pull, nous proposons l'utilisation des parametres S large signal comme methode alternative. Ces parametres S large signal sont une extension dans le domaine non-lineaire de la notion de parametres S petit signal et nous permettent d'approcher la solution optimale dans le cas d'applications faiblement non-lineaires. Dans une troisieme partie, nous proposons une extension de la methode des frequences reelles, introduite a l'origine par Yarman et Carlin, a la conception d'amplificateurs de puissance. Ainsi, nous decrivons une demarche iterative de conception d'amplificateurs multi-etages qui, dans un premier temps, optimise les performances de l'etage de puissance avant de concevoir les etages situes en amont en progressant vers le generateur. Nous avons verifie la validite de cette demarche par la realisation de deux amplificateurs de puissance en bande S. Un premier module a ete construit autour d'un MESFET de puissance afin d'optimiser la puissance ajoutee. Un deuxieme montage, base sur trois transistors, a pour objectif d'optimiser a la fois la puissance ajoutee de l'etage de puissance et le gain lineaire des deux premiers etages.
Clinical effectiveness of influenza vaccination in Manitoba.

OBJECTIVE To assess the clinical effectiveness of influenza vaccination in preventing influenza-associated hospitalization and death. DESIGN Case-control study. SETTING AND PATIENTS Noninstitutionalized persons aged 45 years or older living in Manitoba, on December 1, 1982, and December 1, 1985. METHODS Linked records of the Manitoba population registry, hospital-discharge abstracts, physician claims for ambulatory-patient visits and influenza vaccination, and vital statistics were used. A matched-set analysis estimated the clinical effectiveness of influenza vaccination in preventing hospital admissions and deaths from influenza-associated conditions during influenza A (H3N2) outbreak periods in 1982 to 1983 (12 weeks) and 1985 to 1986 (10 weeks). The analysis adjusted for hospital discharge and ambulatory care for high-risk conditions within the previous 15 months and 3 months, respectively. RESULTS Influenza vaccination prevented 32% to 39% of hospital admissions with pneumonia and influenza and 15% to 34% of admissions with all respiratory conditions. Vaccination was 43% to 65% effective in preventing hospital deaths with these conditions (all listed diagnoses) and 27% to 30% effective in preventing deaths from all causes. CONCLUSION Influenza vaccination has substantial clinical effectiveness in preventing hospital admission and death from influenza-associated conditions in noninstitutionalized individuals.
Regulatory processes affecting androgen receptor expression, stability, and function: Potential targets to treat hormone‐refractory prostate cancer

Prostate cancer cells rely on androgen receptor (AR) for proliferation and survival. Therefore, curing prostate cancer will require elimination of AR. Although androgen is the natural ligand that activates AR, AR activity is also subject to regulation by growth factor/growth factor receptor‐stimulated signaling pathways that control the cell cycle. Cell cycle regulatory proteins and protein kinases in signaling pathways affected by growth factors can lead to AR activation in the absence of androgen. While downstream signaling proteins such as cyclins, cyclin‐dependent kinases (CDKs), and pRB can modulate AR activity, upstream signaling pathways involving protein kinases such as mitogen‐activated protein kinases, protein kinase A, and protein kinase B/Akt can affect post‐translational modification of AR to affect not only AR function but also AR stability. Calcium and calmodulin (CaM), essential for proliferation and viability of a number of cells, including prostate cancer cells, play an important role in AR expression, stability, and function. CaM affects AR partly by interacting directly with AR and partly by activating protein kinases such as Akt and DNA‐PK that can phosphorylate AR. The ubiquitin/26S proteasome pathway responsible for timely destruction of cell cycle regulatory proteins whose levels impede cell cycle progression also induces AR expression by activating NF‐κB, and promotes AR activity by participating in the assembly of an AR transcription complex. Maspin, a serine protease inhibitor that is known mostly for its role as a tumor suppressor can also regulate AR intracellular localization and function by competing with AR for binding to the chaperone protein Hsp90 and co‐repressor HDAC1, respectively. This perspective reviews the experimental evidence implicating these diverse cellular processes in AR expression, stability, and/or function, and presents a rationale for disrupting these cellular processes as a viable option for the treatment of both the hormone‐sensitive and the hormone‐insensitive prostate cancer. J. Cell. Biochem. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Path loss-aware adaptive transmission power control scheme for energy-efficient wireless NoC

Wireless Networks-on-Chip (WiNoCs) offer unprecedented advantages to replace the long-distance multi-hop communication bottlenecks of conventional NoCs by augmenting them with a single hop, long-range wireless links in many-core systems. In wireless interfaces (WIs), RF transceiver components are consuming a significant amount of total power budgets to replace the multi-hop communications. Specifically, transmitter accounts a notable portion of overall transmission energy. To improve energy efficiency, we propose the Path Loss-aware Adaptive Transmission Power Control (PATPC) scheme using multi-voltage scaling based on present destination. To implement this, we estimate the required power using path loss model for the on-chip wireless channel. Proposed method is achieved an average energy saving of 53 % for transmitting at half of distance compared with traditional approaches with low silicon overheads.
Preoperative Low-Dose Aspirin Exposure and Outcomes After Emergency Neurosurgery for Traumatic Intracranial Hemorrhage in Elderly Patients

BACKGROUND: Antiplatelet medications are usually discontinued before elective neurosurgery, but this is not an option for emergent neurosurgery. We performed a retrospective cohort study to examine whether preoperative aspirin use was associated with worse outcomes after emergency neurosurgery in elderly patients. METHODS: We analyzed all cases of emergency neurosurgical procedures for traumatic intracranial hemorrhage from 2008 to 2012 at a level 1 trauma center. Demographics, comorbidities, and outcomes were compared for patients ≥65 years by preoperative aspirin exposure. Exclusion criteria were: (1) polytrauma, (2) concomitant use of other preoperative anticoagulants or antiplatelet agents, (3) surgical indication other than subdural, extradural, or intraparenchymal hemorrhage, and (4) repeat neurosurgical procedures within a single admission. Estimated intraoperative blood loss, postprocedural intracranial bleeding requiring reoperation, death in hospital, intensive care unit, and hospital lengths of stay and perioperative blood product transfusion from 48 hours before 48 hours after surgery were the study outcomes. We also examined whether platelet transfusion had an impact on outcomes for patients on aspirin. RESULTS: The cohort included 171 patients. Patients receiving preoperative aspirin (n = 87, 95% taking 81 mg/day) were the same age as patients not receiving aspirin (n = 84; 78.3 ± 7.8 vs 75.9 ± 7.9 years, P > .05), had slightly higher admission Glasgow Coma Scale scores (12.8 ± 3.4 vs 11.4 ± 4, P = .02) and tended to have more coronary artery disease (P< .05). Adjusted for Glasgow Coma Scale and coronary artery disease, patients receiving preoperative aspirin had a higher odds of perioperative platelet transfusion (adjusted odds ratio 9.89, 95% confidence interval, 4.24–26.25). There were no other differences in outcomes between the 2 groups. Preoperative or intraoperative platelet transfusion was not associated with better outcomes among aspirin patients. CONCLUSIONS: In patients age ≥65 years undergoing emergency neurosurgery for traumatic intracranial hemorrhage, preoperative low-dose aspirin treatment was not associated with increased perioperative bleeding, hospital lengths of stay, or in-hospital mortality.
GVC Participation and Deep Integration in Brazil

The production of export goods has become increasingly unbundled, and countries positioning to become more integrated in the global economy are increasingly looking toward global value chains. This paper uses the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/World Trade Organization's Trade in Value Added Database to assess Brazil's current integration in global value chains. It uses a structural gravity model estimated with parts and components to analyze the scope for Brazil to increase global value chain–related trade. One avenue to raise participation in global value chains is through (deeper) preferential trade agreements, and to this end the paper characterizes the level of integration of Brazil's current preferential trade agreements. Brazil has witnessed high growth in total domestic value added embodied in gross exports since 1995, yet it exhibits lower international engagement in global value chains, but tends to be stronger as a seller than a buyer. Most of the participation on the selling side comes from indirect linkages with domestic input sectors, and services sectors have been important for growing the indirect value added in global value chain–oriented exports. A deep integration agenda focusing not only on border measures, but also on beyond-the-border measures, would help Brazil to maximize the benefits from participation in global value chains. Other than its natural partners, Brazil should integrate with countries where global value chains are taking place. New agreements signed by Brazil and Mercosur with other regional members such as the Pacific Alliance should also take into consideration provisions such as investment, competition policy, and intellectual property rights, which are demonstrated to be very important for integration in global value chains.
Performance of Distributed MXRRM

Recent simulation studies of heterogeneous wireless networks have shown promising system performance improvements by using multi standard radio resource management (MxRRM) with a centralised MxRRM architecture. In the present paper, the distributed MxRRM architecture is studied, including the modelling of signalling, where intersystem cell load information can only be exchanged at certain events. Consequently, the distributed MxRRM entities have to base their decisions on potentially inaccurate load information. The system performance is investigated by simulation studies, where the results of distributed MxRRM scenarios are compared to two reference cases, 1) assuming ideal system information for MxRRM and 2) separated systems without any MxRRM functionality. Furthermore, an additional dedicated mechanism to exchange the load information aiming to improve the load information accuracy is investigated
Primary progressive aphasia

Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a focal dementia characterized by an isolated and gradual dissolution of language function. The disease starts with word‐finding disturbances (anomia) and frequently proceeds to impair the grammatical structure (syntax) and comprehension (semantics) of language. The speech output in PPA can be fluent or nonfluent. Memory, visual processing, and personality remain relatively well‐preserved until the advanced stages and help to distiguish PPA from frontal lobe dementia and the typical forms of Alzheimer's disease. The term “semantic dementia” was originally introduced to designate a different group of patients with a combination of verbal and visual processing deficits. In practice, however, this diagnosis is also being used in a variant sense to denote a subtype of PPA with fluent speech and impaired comprehension, even in the absence of visual processing deficits. Insofar as the diagnosis of semantic dementia can have these two different meanings, it is important to specify whether it is being used in the original sense or to denote a subtype of PPA. Structural and physiological neuroimaging confirms the selective predilection of PPA for the left hemisphere, especially for its language‐related cortices. A few patients with PPA display the neuropathological markers of Alzheimer's disease, but in an unusual distribution. The majority of the autopsies in PPA have shown either Pick's disease or lobar atrophy without distinctive histopathology. The suggestion has been made that PPA and frontal lobe dementia constitute phenotypical variations of a unitary disease process within the “Pick‐lobar atrophy” spectrum. Recent advances in chromosome 17‐linked dementias justify a rigorous search for tau polymorphisms and tauopathy in sporadic PPA. An informed approach to this syndrome will increase the effectiveness with which clinicians can address the unique challenges associated with the diagnosis and care of PPA. Ann Neurol 2001;49:425–432
Sindbis Virus-Based Measles DNA Vaccines Protect Cotton Rats against Respiratory Measles: Relevance of Antibodies, Mucosal and Systemic Antibody-Secreting Cells, Memory B Cells, and Th1-Type Cytokines as Correlates of Immunity

ABSTRACT Measles remains an important cause of pediatric morbidity and mortality in developing countries, especially among infants who are too young to receive the current licensed live attenuated measles vaccine. We developed two Sindbis virus DNA vaccines encoding the measles virus hemagglutinin (pMSIN-H) and fusion proteins (pMSINH-FdU) and examined their immunogenicities and protective efficacies when administered alone or followed by the live measles virus vaccine in cotton rats. Neutralizing antibodies, mucosal and systemic antibody-secreting cells, memory B cells, and gamma interferon-secreting T cells developed after priming and increased after boosting. pMSIN-H priming conferred 100% protection against pulmonary measles, whereas pMSINH-FdU protected only in conjunction with the live measles virus vaccine boost.
Costs and financial benefits of video communication compared to usual care at home: a systematic review

We conducted a systematic review of video communication in home care to provide insight into the ratio between the costs and financial benefits (i.e. cost savings). Four databases (PUBMED, EMBASE, COCHRANE LIBRARY, CINAHL) were searched for studies on video communication for patients living at home (up to December 2009). Studies were only included when data about the costs of video communication as well as the financial benefits were presented. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed. Nine studies, mainly conducted in the US, met the inclusion criteria. The methodological quality was poor, except for one study. Most studies (8 of the 9) did not demonstrate that the financial benefits were significantly greater than the costs of video communication. One study – the only one with a high methodological quality – found that costs for patients who received video communication were higher than for patients who received traditional care. The review found no evidence that the cost of implementing video communication in home care was lower than the resulting financial benefits. More methodologically well conducted research is needed.
The Doctor's Aim in a Pluralistic Society: A Response to ‘Healing and Medicine’

In a recent editorial for JRSM, Aldridge raised the question of a more integrated approach to the possibility ofreligious and spiritual values ('healing') being re-introduced into mainstream scientific medicine ('curing')'. Although spiritual values might seem highly desirable, they remain problematic. Exactly what values are we talking about? Clearly, there is no single spiritual outlook common to all doctors, furthermore we know that good medicine is practised by doctors with a wide range of religious, political and social beliefs. We live in a pluralistic society, predominantly secular but with substantial numbers of religious believers including Christian, Moslem, Jewish, Hindu and more recently New Age; and within these denominations are numerous distinct factions. Furthermore there are innumerable secular spiritualities of varied political and moral hue which may be held with quasi-religious conviction. The current vogue for 'alternative' therapies may be taken as evidence that there is a hunger among at least some ofthe public for a more broadly spiritual dimension to medicine a 'holistic' (or whole-istic) approach which relates therapy to the patient's overall purpose in life2. But equally some other patients prefer to view doctors as primarily technical experts, who will 'fix' just that thing which has gone wrong and not meddle with other personal and private aspects of life. So, given such contradictory demands, what should be the aim of the doctor? While there is, of course, no single aim for all doctors; what may be less obvious is that there are actually several different kinds of aim associated with being a doctor. In the first place, the doctor is a human being with personal aims; only incidentally connected with his or her profession. These aims might include earning