Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EXPECTATIVAS DA AGROINDÚSTRIA CANAVIEIRA PARANAENSE DIANTE DA DIMINUIÇÃO DO PROTECIONISMO NO COMÉRCIO INTERNACIONAL

O trabalho verifica os possiveis reflexos que uma diminuicao do protecionismo internacional tende a causar na agroindustria canavieira do Parana. A busca por informacoes caracterizou-se pela utilizacao das Tecnicas de Preferencia Declarada, que apresentou os seguintes resultados: a) aumento da area plantada com cana-de-acucar; b) aumento do numero de usinas (novas empresas); c) elevacao do numero de usinas exportadoras (novas unidades produtivas); d) aumento da receita das usinas; e) permanencia da competitividade brasileira. Os resultados confirmam a posicao de eficiencia competitiva da respectiva agroindustria, que tende a nao sofrer efeitos, provenientes da diminuicao do protecionismo, que possam prejudicar sua posicao de lider em relacao ao resto do mundo. Constata-se que uma diminuicao do protecionismo pode acarretar um efeito multiplicador que tera seu inicio caracterizado pela elevacao do percentual do territorio paranaense plantado com cana-de-acucar.
Toxic Metal Distribution in Rural and Urban Soil Samples Affected by Industry and Traffic

There is a worldwide growing concern about soil pollution by a wide range of contaminants due to their increased accumulation caused by expeditious industrial and urban development in recent decades. This issue is of special interest because of the danger toxic metals may pose to food quality and human health when they enter the food chain. The present study was undertaken to determine the impact of industrial activities and traffic emissions on metal concentrations in soil samples and the waste product phosphogypsum. The major goal of the work was to assess the influence of different pollution sources resulting in changes in the composition of soil samples collected from Łodź city (central Poland, urban area) and the outskirts of Gdansk city (northern Poland, rural area affected by industry). In context, knowledge of the natural (background) values in soils is of critical importance in order to evaluate human activity contribution. For that reason we have investigated soil samples taken from potentially uncontaminated sites as well (Lagiewniki Forest, central Poland). Analysis of metals was performed with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, ICP-TOF-MS (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni and Pb) and a mercury analyzer (Hg). The observed differences in studied metal concentrations in soil samples were a consequence of various degrees of anthropogenic activities on study areas. In general, the concentration of the measured metals tends to increase with the decline of the distance from the pollution source. The study compared relatively low levels of metals in urban soil collected from park areas in the center of Łodź with samples taken in the close vicinity of a phosphogypsum dump from a rural site affected by industrial activity. Total content of toxic metals turned out to be lower than the concentrations reported in the literature data for non-polluted and contaminated soils. Additionally, the application of OptiMass 8000 software allowed a comparison of full mass spectra of all investigated samples, which makes it possible to evaluate the qualitative variations among samples collected from affected forest, urban or rural-industrial areas.
Observations sur la pollinisation libre chez Theobroma cacao : analyse mathématique des données et modélisation

La majorite des styles des fleurs de Theobroma cacao ne porte pas de pollen. Parmi les styles pollinises ceux portant un petit nombre de grains de pollen sont en tres large majorite. L'experience montre que les grains de pollen ont tendance a s'agreger en amas. L'observation de la pollinisation des styles et la connaissance de la loi d'agregation du pollen permettent de calculer les frequences de depot des amas, c'est-a-dire de definir precisement le mode d'action des vecteurs pollinisateurs (insectes par exemple) pour un arbre determine. Des methodes de simulation permettent de reconstituer exactement les phenomenes naturels et de verifier la justesse de l'analyse mathematique des phenomenes de la pollinisation. L'application du modele et sa simulation permettent de controler les differentes modalites de la pollinisation et de preciser l'eventuelle influence des facteurs externes sur elle
Essays on antitrust issues

WONCHUL HWANG: Essays on Antitrust Issues. (Under the direction of Gary Biglaiser.) This dissertation consists of three essays on antitrust issues. In the first paper, I propose two models based on quantity setting game to analyze the profitability of merger, its welfare effect and price effect. In the second paper, I deal with the issue how uncertainty on other firms’ discount rates affects the competitive behavior in oligopoly market. In the third paper, I analyze two antitrust policy issues for effective cartel deterrence : leniency program and crackdown policy.
Genetic health messages in the mass media: do the general public perceive non-personalized genetic health message as personally relevant?

OBJECTIVES Although health messages communicating the role of genetics in health and disease development are increasingly prevalent in our society, no research has examined whether the general public perceives such messages as believable or personally relevant. We examined whether the general public accepted genetic health messages and viewed them personally relevant in promoting their preventive behaviour. DESIGN Experimental pre-test-post-test measurement design was employed to contrast the information acceptance and perceived personal relevance of the genetic health message with a general health message. METHODS We presented a randomly selected group of Dutch participants (N=1,319) with either a health message about the genetic risk factors for salt sensitivity or with a general health message about salt sensitivity without reference to genetic risk factors. Risk perception and intention to restrict salt intake was assessed before and after participants read the messages while information acceptance and perceived personal relevance was only assessed post-test. RESULTS Although we observed no effects of health message type on information processing, previously aware participants perceived the genetic health message as less personally relevant compared to the general health message. This difference in personal relevance resulted in lower estimates of susceptibility and a lower intention to engage in preventive behaviour among previously unaware participants. CONCLUSIONS Genetic health messages in the mass media may not be effective in promoting (intentions to engage in) preventive behaviour due to their low perceived personal relevance by the public. Hence, identifying strategies to increase personal relevance for genetic education is needed.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) among Male Primary School Children in Dammam, Saudi Arabia: Prevalence and Associated Factors.

UNLABELLED Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common mental disorders that develop in children and becomes apparent in the preschool and early school years. Several family and maternal-related factors were shown to be associated with ADHD. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of ADHD and associated family and psychosocial factors among male primary school children in Dammam city, Saudi Arabia. A sample size of 1287 students aged 6-13 years in 67 government and 10 private primary schools was selected by multistage systematic random sampling. Data was collected using two types of questionnaires: the modified Arabic version of the Attention Deficit Disorders Evaluation Scale (ADDES) school version, and Parents' questionnaire to diagnose the three main subtypes of ADHD namely: inattention, hyperactivity-impulsivity, and combined ADHD. The majority of the boys were from government schools (83.0%), were of age 6-<9 years (40.5%) and of Saudi nationality (80.7%). The overall prevalence of combined ADHD was 16.4%, with a prevalence of 12.4% for hyperactivity-impulsivity and 16.3% for inattention disorders respectively. The study also revealed a variety of family factors to be significantly associated with the development of ADHD. The prevalence of each subtype of ADHD was higher if the child was the 6th one in the family. The prevalence of hyperactivity-impulsivity disorder was significantly higher among children living with single parents than those living with both parents (25.0% vs. 12.2% respectively; r =0.016). Inattention was significantly higher among those who had bottle feeding than breastfeeding (21.2% vs. 14.4% respectively; r=0.03). CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS several approaches directed to the child, family, the primary health care services, the school, and the community should be implemented to reduce the prevalence and incidence of ADHD.
Independent association of ECG abnormalities with microalbuminuria and renal damage in hypertensive patients without overt cardiovascular disease: data from Italy-Developing Education and awareness on MicroAlbuminuria in patients with hypertensive Disease study

Objectives Renal abnormalities are strongly associated with cardiac damage in essential hypertension. Detection of preclinical cardiac and renal abnormalities is a key clinical step in hypertension management. This study investigated the relationship between ECG abnormalities and microalbuminuria (MAU) in hypertensive patients without overt cardiovascular disease. This relationship, in fact, has never been extensively studied. Methods The study population was that of Italy-Developing Education and awareness on MicroAlbuminuria in patients with hypertensive Disease, a large observational study including 4121 hypertensive patients in Italy. Patients with overt cardiovascular diseases were excluded from the present analysis. ECGs were centrally read and urinary albumin/creatinine ratio was carefully assessed. Chronic kidney disease was defined by the presence of albuminuria or by a reduction of glomerular filtration rate. Results The presence of ECG abnormalities was significantly and directly associated with chronic kidney disease [odds ratio (OR) 1.66, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.32–2.07, P < 0.001], particularly with MAU (OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.39–2.36, P < 0.001). Main selected ECG abnormalities were also significantly associated with MAU [rhythm abnormalities (OR 2.94, 95% CI 1.77–4.88, P < 0.001), intraventricular conduction defects (OR 1.95, 95% CI 1.32–2.87, P < 0.01), ventricular repolarization alterations (OR 1.84, 95% CI 1.26–2.70, P < 0.01) and left-axis deviation (OR 1.87, 95% CI 1.26–2.79, P < 0.01)]. After adjustment for confounders, an abnormal ECG and all the main ECG abnormalities remained significantly associated with MAU. Conclusion This is the first large and systematic analysis of the relationship between detailed ECG abnormalities and MAU/chronic kidney disease in hypertensive patients without overt cardiovascular diseases. We report a significant and independent relationship between the presence of ECG abnormalities and renal damage in a preclinical stage of hypertension. Identification of ECG abnormalities in hypertension should prompt physicians to careful detection for renal damage, also in order to achieve an accurate risk stratification.
Differential Survival of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) Larvae Exposed to Low Temperatures in Taiwan

Abstract Aedes aegypti (L.) and Aedes albopictus (Skuse) differ in their distribution in Taiwan. The former species is distributed in the south of Taiwan, whereas the latter is found throughout the island. One possible explanation proposes that low temperatures in the winter prevent the expansion of Ae. aegypti. Hence, the impact of low temperatures on immatures of both species was studied in the laboratory and in the field. Our study showed that, under most conditions, Ae. aegypti were more sensitive to low temperatures than Ae. albopictus both in the laboratory and in the field. The survival rates at 10°C for the first and fourth instars of Ae. albopictus were significantly better than those of Ae. aegypti. At 2.5 and 5.0°C, the first instars of Ae. albopictus survived better than the same stadium of Ae. aegypti, but the fourth instars of Ae. aegypti survived better. Short exposures to low temperatures did not affect the acclimatization of Ae. aegypti immatures but longer exposures did increase the physiological adaptation to low temperatures. For Ae. albopictus, exposure to low temperatures increases the acclimatization of this species. In field experiments, Ae. aegypti larvae had a significantly higher mortality than Ae. albopictus during exposures to cold fronts in the 2004 winter. We conclude that low temperatures in northern and central Taiwan have a negative impact on the distribution of Ae. aegypti, but this factor alone is not sufficient to prevent this species from occupying the rest of Taiwan.
De la réforme 1996-1998 du dispositif français de normalisation comptable

Sont examinees dans cet article les relations qui existent entre l'histoire de la normalisation comptable francaise et l'histoire economique et sociale de la France. Qutre periodes sont distinguees et caracterisees : la premiere (1946-1957) est celle de la naissance de ce que les auteurs appellent "la normalisation a la francaise"; la deuxieme (1958-1973), celle de son renforcement au service des interets fiscaux de l'Etat; la troisieme (1974-1983), celle de son apogee sous l'impulsion europeenne; la quatrieme (depuis 1984), celle de sa mise a l'epreuve face a la normalisation comptable interntionale. A chacune de ces periodes se trouve associee une certaine configuration des relations entre l'Etat, les professions comptables et les entreprises. Cette mise en perspective historique de la normalisation comptable francaise permet d'interpreter la reforme 1996-1998 du dispositif institutionnel qui la soutient comme une sous-traitance par l'Etat de l'elaboration des normes comptables a la profession comptable et aux grandes entreprises
ASR-driven binary mask estimation for robust automatic speech recognition

Additive noise has long been an issue for robust automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems. One approach to noise robustness is the removal of noise information through segregation by binary time-frequency masks; each time-frequency unit in a spectro-temporal representation of the speech signal is labeled either noise-dominant or signal-dominant. The noise-dominant units are masked and their energy is removed from the signal. The ideal binary mask, computed given oracle information regarding the speech and noise sources, has been shown to provide significant improvements in speech intelligibility for humans. In this work, we investigate both methods of incorporating binary masks in ASR and methods for estimating the binary mask. While applying binary masks to separation tasks for humans has been straightforward, the incorporation of binary masks in ASR has proved more difficult. The field of missing data ASR proposes methods to compensate for the effects of binary masks on cepstral feature calculation. We demonstrate, contrary to previous work, the direct use of the ideal binary mask performs at least as well as several missing data techniques when the acoustic features have been variance normalized. Typical methods for binary mask estimation focus on low level acoustic features and little work attempts to incorporate higher level linguistic information in the estimation process. We propose an alternative masking criterion that forces the use of higher level information called the ASR-driven binary mask. The mask is defined by force aligning the true
Implementation of Permanent-Magnet Synchronous Generator for Applying to a MCT System

In this paper, a low-speed high-efficiency PMSG machine with small cogging torque has been implemented rigorously as the generator of a marine current turbine (MCT) system to harvest ocean current power. Furthermore, the proposed PMSG-based MCT system has been developed to investigate its feasibility of ocean current generation system at ocean surrounding of Taiwan. In addition, the MCT system has been tested really in the ocean surrounding Penghu County of Taiwan during the 2013.07. 09-11. The experimental results have shown that proposed PMSG machine not only can satisfy the performance requirements but also the PMSG-based MCT system can harvest effectively the ocean current energy.
Identification of cells infiltrating the minor salivary glands in patients with Sjögren's syndrome.

Patients with Sjögren's syndrome (SS) have mononuclear cell infiltration, tissue destruction and eventual fibrosis of the salivary and lacrimal glands. The type of mononuclear cell infiltrating the minor salivary glands of the lip in three patients with SS has been determined. Sheep erythrocytes coated with 19S antibody and activated third component of complement were found to adhere to human bone marrow-derived (B) cells and monocytes in tissue sections. Erythrocytes coated with 7S antibody adhered only to monocytes. The localization of these reagents in tissue sections was used to demonstrate that the major portion of mononuclear cells infiltrating SS salivary tissue are B cells and that they are arranged in a particular way in the infiltrate.
Macrophage‐tumor cell associations: a factor in metastasis of breast cancer?

In human breast carcinomas tumor cells and macrophages are often proximal. We previously reported on the relationship between tumor cell growth and macrophage concentration and report here on the possible involvement of macrophages in the metastatic process. We hypothesize that during the initial stages of metastasis, tumor cells are likely to encounter macrophages and form aggregates. Using a cell culture method that encourages cellular interactions, we found aggregates involving macrophages. Macrophages partly or completely surround other cell types without any apparent ill effect. Units involving macrophages and tumor cells would possess many properties necessary for invasion, which is a normal process for macrophages. Properties such as motility and production of specific enzymes necessary to traverse the extracellular matrix, basement membrane, and endothelial cell barriers may provide an advantage for tumor cells. Physical support and protection from immune recognition during transport of the tumor cell through the vascular system may also be enhanced, and paracrine growth stimulation and angiogenic activity may be provided at the new metastatic site. Verification of these observations in vivo could lead to new directions for limiting breast cancer metastasis.
Pre-emptive peritonsillar dexamethasone vs . levobupivacaine in fi ltration for relief of post-adenotonsillectomy pain in children : A controlled clinical study

Objectives: To investigate the effects of the pre-emptive local infiltration of dexamethasone vs. levobupivacaine on postoperative pain and morbidity in pediatric adenotonsillectomy patients. Methods: A total of 60 patients (32 males and 28 females), aged 3–14 years, were included in this doubleblind prospective randomized controlled clinical study from September of 2011 until May of 2012. Patients admitted for adenotonsillectomies after informed consent was obtained from the parents, and randomized into three groups receiving either dexamethasone sodium phosphate (Group 1, mean age 5.9 1.6), levobupivacaine with epinephrine (Group 2, mean age 6.1 2.6), or saline (Group 3, mean age 6.0 3.4). Pain scores at the 1st, 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th hours, and first, second, third and seventh days post-operatively were recorded by the parents using McGrath’s face scale. The operation type, operation time and anesthesia time, the time of the first request for postoperative analgesia, and the total number of analgesic interventions were recorded. Results: Pain scores were revealed in this order: Group 1 (steroid) < Group 2 (levobupivacaine) < Group 3 (saline) at all times (p = 0.000). The anesthesia times for Group 1 and Group 2 were different (steroid vs. levobupivacaine), and the time to first analgesic was longer in Groups 1 (steroid) and 2 (levobupivacaine) than in Group 3 (saline) (p < 0.000). The total number of analgesic interventions was lower in Group 1 (steroid) than in Group 2 (levobupivacaine) and Group 3 (saline) (steroid vs. saline, p = 0.000, and steroid vs. levobupivacaine, p < 0.05). Conclusion: Peritonsillar dexamethasone infiltration was more effective than both levobupivacaine and saline in reducing post-tonsillectomy pain. It was proven to be a safe and effective method. ã 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Impact of modafinil on prefrontal executive function in schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to investigate the acute effects of modafinil on prefrontal activation and cognitive control of motor activity in people with schizophrenia and prominent negative symptoms. METHOD In a crossover design, 12 subjects with schizophrenia were studied twice, receiving either modafinil or placebo prior to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Inside the scanner, they performed a task probing cognitive control that required deliberate variation of motor activity in time. RESULTS Modafinil administration was associated with significantly greater activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during fMRI. Its physiological and behavioral effects were correlated. This was most evident in individuals with worse baseline executive function. Focal response to modafinil in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and baseline letter fluency scores predicted most of the variance in the drug's effect on cognitive control. CONCLUSIONS Modafinil did not improve cognitive control in all schizophrenia patients. Increased activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and in neuropsychological performance were observed in patients with suboptimal baseline function.
Impacts of Temporal-Spatial Variant Background Ionosphere on Repeat-Track GEO D-InSAR System

An L band geosynchronous synthetic aperture radar (GEO SAR) differential interferometry system (D-InSAR) will be obviously impacted by the background ionosphere, which will give rise to relative image shifts and decorrelations of the SAR interferometry (InSAR) pair, and induce the interferometric phase screen errors in interferograms. However, the background ionosphere varies within the long integration time (hundreds to thousands of seconds) and the extensive imaging scene (1000 km levels) of GEO SAR. As a result, the conventional temporal-spatial invariant background ionosphere model (i.e., frozen model) used in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) SAR is no longer valid. To address the issue, we firstly construct a temporal-spatial background ionosphere variation model, and then theoretically analyze its impacts, including relative image shifts and the decorrelation of the GEO InSAR pair, and the interferometric phase screen errors, on the repeat-track GEO D-InSAR processing. The related impacts highly depend on the background ionosphere parameters (constant total electron content (TEC) component, and the temporal first-order and the temporal second-order derivatives of TEC with respect to the azimuth time), signal bandwidth, and integration time. Finally, the background ionosphere data at Isla Guadalupe Island (29.02°N, 118.27°W) on 7–8 October 2013 is employed for validating the aforementioned analysis. Under the selected background ionosphere dataset, the temporal-spatial background ionosphere variation can give rise to a relative azimuth shift of dozens of meters at most, and even the complete decorrelation in the InSAR pair. Moreover, the produced interferometric phase screen error corresponds to a deformation measurement error of more than 0.2 m at most, even in a not severely impacted area.