Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
technology adoption : Evidence from improved cooking stoves in Burkina Faso

─ Around 3 billion people in developing countries re ly on woodfuels for their daily cooking needs with profou nd negative implications for their workload, health, and budget as well as t he environment. Improved cooking stove (ICS) technologies appear to be an ob vious solution in many cases. In spite of great efforts made by the intern a io al community to disseminate ICSs, take-up rates in most developing countries are strikingly low. In this paper, we examine the reasons for (non -)adoption of a very simple ICS in urban Burkina Faso. As a first result , we find that ICS users need between 20 and 30 percent less firewood compar ed to traditional stoves, making the investment a very profitable one . Nonetheless, adoption rates are a mere 10 percent. The major deterrent to adoption is the upfront investment costs, which are much more important tha n access to information, taste preferences, or the woman’s role in the household. These findings suggest that more direct promotion strateg ies such as subsidies would help households to overcome liquidity constra in s, and would hence improve adoption rates. Key-words ─ Household technology adoption, liquidity constrain ts, weak beliefs, traditions, energy access, Sub-Saharan Afr ica. JEL codes ─ D01, D12, D80, O33, Q56. * Gunther Bensch, RWI; Michael Grimm, University of Pa ss u, Erasmus University of Rotterdam, and IZA; Jörg Peters, RWI, and AMERU, University of the Witwatersrand, Joha nnesburg, South Africa. – Financial support by the Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB) of the Nether land’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is gratefully ac knowledged. We particularly thank Steffi Hamann for her keen suppo rt in the implementation of the field work. We woul d like to thank Katharina Peter, Fiona Ross, Maximiliane Sievert and Luca Tasciotti for valuable input and Ralf Kossmann for research assistance. Moreover we thank seminar participants t the University of Oxford, the University of Maas tricht as well as participants of the Development Economics Conference 2013 of the German Economic Association (VfS-AEL) in Munich and the World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economics 2014 in Istanbul for their comments and s uggestions. – All correspondence to: Michael Grimm, University of Passau, Innstrasse 29, R. 158, 94032 Passau, German y, e-mail: michael.grimm@uni-passau.de, phone: ++49-851-509-33 10. Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2614518 2
The PRESSURE score to predict decompressive craniectomy after aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage

Abstract The prognosis of patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage requiring decompressive craniectomy is usually poor. Proper selection and early performing of decompressive craniectomy might improve the patients’ outcome. We aimed at developing a risk score for prediction of decompressive craniectomy after aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage. All consecutive aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage cases treated at the University Hospital of Essen between January 2003 and June 2016 (test cohort) and the University Medical Center Freiburg between January 2005 and December 2012 (validation cohort) were eligible for this study. Various parameters collected within 72 h after aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage were evaluated through univariate and multivariate analyses to predict separately primary (PrimDC) and secondary decompressive craniectomy (SecDC). The final analysis included 1376 patients. The constructed risk score included the following parameters: intracerebral (‘Parenchymal’) haemorrhage (1 point), ‘Rapid’ vasospasm on angiography (1 point), Early cerebral infarction (1 point), aneurysm Sac > 5 mm (1 point), clipping (‘Surgery’, 1 point), age Under 55 years (2 points), Hunt and Hess grade ≥ 4 (‘Reduced consciousness’, 1 point) and External ventricular drain (1 point). The PRESSURE score (0–9 points) showed high diagnostic accuracy for the prediction of PrimDC and SecDC in the test (area under the curve = 0.842/0.818) and validation cohorts (area under the curve = 0.903/0.823), respectively. 63.7% of the patients scoring ≥6 points required decompressive craniectomy (versus 12% for the PRESSURE < 6 points, P < 0.0001). In the subgroup of the patients with the PRESSURE ≥6 points and absence of dilated/fixed pupils, PrimDC within 24 h after aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage was independently associated with lower risk of unfavourable outcome (modified Rankin Scale >3 at 6 months) than in individuals with later or no decompressive craniectomy (P < 0.0001). Our risk score was successfully validated as reliable predictor of decompressive craniectomy after aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage. The PRESSURE score might present a background for a prospective randomized clinical trial addressing the utility of early prophylactic decompressive craniectomy in aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage.
Expression of genes encoding IGF1, IGF2, and IGFBPs in blood of obese adolescents with insulin resistance

Abstract Objective. The development of obesity and its metabolic complications is associated with dys-regulation of various intrinsic mechanisms, which control basic metabolic processes via changes in the expression of numerous regulatory genes. The main goal of this work was to study the association between the expression of insulin-like growth factors (IGF1 and IGF2) and IGF-binding proteins and insulin resistance in obese adolescents for evaluation of possible contribution of these genes in development of insulin resistance. Methods. The expression of IGF1, IGF2, and IGFBPs mRNA was measured in blood of obese adolescents with normal insulin sensitivity and insulin resistance in comparison with the normal (control) individuals. Results. In the blood of obese adolescents with normal insulin sensitivity the expression of IGFBP4, IGFBP5 and HTRA1 genes was down-regulated, but IGFBP2 and IGFBP7 genes up-regulated as compared to control (normal) group. At the same time, no significant changes in IGF1 and IGF2 gene expressions in this group of obese adolescents were found. Insulin resistance in obese adolescents led to up-regulation of IGF2, IGFBP2, and IGFBP7 gene expressions as well as to down-regulation of the expression of IGF1, IGFBP5 and HTRA1 genes in the blood in comparison with the obese patients, which have normal insulin sensitivity. Furthermore, the level of IGFBP4 gene expression was similar in both groups of obese adolescents. Conclusions. Results of this investigation provide evidence that insulin resistance in obese adolescents is associated with gene specific changes in the expression of IGF1, IGF2, IGFBP2, IGFBP5, IGFBP7, and HTRA1 genes and these changes possibly contribute to the development of glucose intolerance and insulin resistance.
New limits on tanβ for 2HDMs with Z2 symmetry

In two-Higgs-doublet models with exact Z2 symmetry, putting mh ≃ 125GeV at the alignment limit, the following limits on the heavy scalar masses are obtained from the conditions of unitarity and stability of the scalar potential: mH, mA, mH+ < 1TeV and 1/8 <tan β < 8. The constraints from b → sγ and neutral meson mass differences, when superimposed on the unitarity constraints, put a tighter lower limit on tan β depending on mH+. It has also been shown that larger values of tan β can be allowed by introducing soft breaking term in the potential at the expense of a correlation between mH and the soft breaking parameter.
Handbook of Flavor Characterization: Sensory Analysis, Chemistry, and Physiology

Sensory and physiology of flavour: methods, approaches and caveats for functionally evaluating olfaction and chemesthesis - Charles J. Wysocki and Paul Wise sensory analysis and analytical flavour chemistry - some missing links - Susan E. Ebeler when are oral cavity odorants available for retronasal olfaction? - Bruce P. Halpern similarity and diversity in flavour perception - Terry E. Acree, Kathryn D. Deibler and Katherine M. Kittel. Relating physical measures with flavour perception: difficulty in measuring what matters - context effects - Bonnie M. King, Paul Arents and C.A. A. Duineveld measuring the sensory impact of flavour mixtures using controlled delivery - David J. Cook, Jim M. Davidson, Rob S.T. Linforth and Andrew J. Taylor nosespace analysis with proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry - intra- and interpersonal variability - D.D. Roberts, P. Pollien, C. Yeretzian and C. Lindinger correlation between sensory time-intensity and SPME analysis of fruity flavour in model food emulsions - M. Fabre, E. Guichard, V. Aubry and A. Hugi. Gas chromotography - olfactometry: new flavour compounds from orange essence oil - Sabine Widder, Marcus Eggers, Jan Looft, Tobias V ssing and Wilhelm Pickenhagen heat-induced changes in aroma components of holy basil (ocimum sanctum L.) - Sompoche Pojjanapimol, Siree Chaiseri and Keith R. Cadwallader interactions of selected flavour compounds with selected dairy products - Klaus Gassenmeier challenges in analyzing difficult flavours - Willi Grab nose to text - voice recognition software for GC-O - Philippe Mottay. Comparisons of techniques, methods and models: headspace sampling - a critical part in evaluating true gas phase concentrations - Gerhard N. Zehentbauer, Cindy I. Eddy, Pete A. Rodriguez, Christa S. Pelfrey and Jianjun Li meat aroma analysis - problems and solutions - J. Stephen Elmore, Donald S. Mottram and Andrew T. Dodson analysis of flavour compounds from microwave popcorn using supercritical fluid CO2 followed by dynamic/static headspace techniques - Ramachandran Rengarajan and Larry M. Seitz representative sampling of volatile flavour compounds - the model mouth combined with gas chromatography and direct mass spectrometry - Saskia van Ruth, Mike Geary, Katja Buhr and Conor M. Delahunty. Real time analaysis of flavour components: on-line monitoring of the Maillard reaction - Lalitha R. Sivasundaram, Imad A. Farhat and Andrew J. Taylor optimizing release of flavour in purge and trap analysis using humidified purge gas and inverse gas chromatography - James Castellano and Nicholas H. Snow novel mass spectrometric techniques for monitoring aroma volatiles - Rob S.T. Linforth and Andrew J. Taylor identification of volatile compounds using combined GC-EI-API-MS - Andrew J. Taylor, L. Sivasundaram, R.S.T. Linforth and S. Surawang. (Part contents).
The future development of intensive care quality indicators – a methods paper

Introduction: Medical quality indicators (QI) are important tools in the evaluation of medical quality. Their development is subject to specific methodological requirements, which include practical applicability. This is especially true for intensive care medicine with its complex processes and their interactions. This methods paper presents the status quo and shows necessary methodological developments for intensive care QI. For this purpose, a cooperation with the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies’ Institute for Medical Knowledge Management (AWMF-IMWi) was established. Methodology: Review of published German manuals for QI development from guidelines and narrative review of quality indicators with a focus on evidence and consensus-based guideline recommendations. Future methodological adaptations of indicator development for improved operationalization, measurability and pilot testing are presented, and a development process is proposed. Results: The development of intensive care quality indicators in Germany is based on an established process. In the future, additional evaluation criteria (QUALIFY criteria) will be applied to assess the evidence base. In addition, a continuous exchange between the national steering committee of the DIVI responsible for QI development and guideline development groups involved in intensive care medicine is planned. Conclusion: Intensive care quality indicators will have to meet improved methodological requirements in the future by means of an improved development process. Future QI development is intended to improve the structure of the development process, with a focus on scientific evidence and a link to guideline projects. This is intended to achieve the goal of a broad application of QI and to further evaluate its relevance for patient outcome and performance of institutions.
Structural traits dictate abiotic stress amelioration by intertidal oysters

1. Autogenic ecosystem engineers often provide cool microhabitats which are used by associated organisms to reduce thermal extremes. The value of such habitats on key structural traits of the ecosystem engineer, of thermal 2. Using an experimental mesocosm that mimicked the rocky intertidal we assessed the spatial the habitat formed by an autogenic ecosystem engineer, the oyster, its capacity to mitigate heat stress experienced by during simulated emersion periods on Hong Kong rocky shores.
Practical Handbook of Spectroscopy

X-Ray Spectroscopy. ESCA-Photoelectron Spectroscopy. Atomic Spectroscopy. Emission Spectroscopy. Infrared Spectroscopy. Raman Spectroscopy. Ultraviolet Absorption Spectroscopy. Electron Spin Resonance. Mass Photoelectric Absorption Coefficients. Appearance Potential Spectroscopy. Thermal Neutron Cross Sections and Resonance Integrals for Activation Analysis. X-Ray Fluorescence and Coster-Kronig Yields for the K-, L-, and M-Shells. 14 MeV Neutron Activation Cross Sections. Wavelength Standards in Visible, Ultraviolet, and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy. Wavelength-Dependent and Electronic System Oscillator Strengths for Free Diatomic Molecules of Astrophysical Importance. Index.
Consumers’ attitude towards food by‐products: the influence of food technology neophobia, education and information

The aim of the present study was to investigate how food technology neophobia level, socio-economic variables and information about novel foods and technologies may affect consumers’ attitude towards uses of food by-products in relation to positive effects on environment and consumers’ health. Results suggested that education and, most of all food technology neophobia and information, can be critical factors in facilitating the widespread adoption of new food technologies. Moreover, positive attitudes towards food by-products were found, even in people characterised by a greater food neophobia and lower education level. These positive attitudes could be considered a starting point for the food industry to design novel recycling strategies of food by-products in the perspective of the circular economy.
Reliability and Generalizability of Similarity-Based Fusion of MEG and fMRI Data in Human Ventral and Dorsal Visual Streams

To build a representation of what we see, the human brain recruits regions throughout the visual cortex in cascading sequence. Recently, an approach was proposed to evaluate the dynamics of visual perception in high spatiotemporal resolution at the scale of the whole brain. This method combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data with magnetoencephalography (MEG) data using representational similarity analysis and revealed a hierarchical progression from primary visual cortex through the dorsal and ventral streams. To assess the replicability of this method, here we present results of a visual recognition neuro-imaging fusion experiment, and compare them within and across experimental settings. We evaluated the reliability of this method by assessing the consistency of the results under similar test conditions, showing high agreement within participants. We then generalized these results to a separate group of individuals and visual input by comparing them to the fMRI-MEG fusion data of Cichy et al (2016), revealing a highly similar temporal progression recruiting both the dorsal and ventral streams. Together these results are a testament to the reproducibility of the fMRI-MEG fusion approach and allows for the interpretation of these spatiotemporal dynamic in a broader context.
Auto-organisation de boites quantiques de Ge sur des substrats nanostructurés

Le but de ce travail est l’auto-organisation des boites quantiques (BQ) de Ge sur des substrats de Si(001) nanostructures afin de realiser des memoires a nanocristaux de Ge. La croissance du Ge est effectuee par epitaxie par jets moleculaires et la nanostructuration des substrats par faisceau d’ions focalises. Nous avons developpe deux procedes d’auto-organisation l’un sur Si l’autre sur SiO2/Si qui permettent d’obtenir des reseaux parfaitement ordonnes et tres denses (>1011cm-2) de BQ nanometrique (15nm). Les procedes s’appuient sur des mecanismes de germination preferentielle. Sur Si(001) les BQ germent dans les trous a basse temperature de par l’inhomogeneite de la barriere de diffusion et aux bords des trous a haute temperature de par la relaxation de l’energie elastique. Sur SiO2/Si(001) les BQ se forment dans les trous pour minimiser l’energie de surface du systeme. Un procede de fabrication des memoires a nanocristaux a ete propose et des memoires ont ete fabriquees avec succes.
Mathematical Modeling Identifies the Role of Adaptive Immunity as a Key Controller of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Titer in Cotton Rats

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common virus that can have varying effects ranging from mild cold-like symptoms to mortality depending on the age and immune status of the individual. We combined mathematical modeling using ordinary differential equations (ODEs) with measurement of RSV infection kinetics in primary well differentiated human airway epithelial (HAE) cultures in vitro and in immunocompetent and immunosuppressed cotton rats to glean mechanistic details that underlie RSV infection kinetics in the lung. Quantitative analysis of viral titer kinetics in our mathematical model showed that the elimination of infected cells by the adaptive immune response generates unique RSV titer kinetic features including a faster time scale of viral titer clearance than viral production, and a monotonic decrease in the peak RSV titer with decreasing inoculum dose. Parameter estimation in the ODE model using a non-linear mixed effects approach revealed a very low rate (average single cell lifetime > 10 days) of cell lysis by RSV before the adaptive immune response is initiated. Our model predicted negligible changes in the RSV titer kinetics on earlier days (< 5 d.p.i) but a slower decay in RSV titer in immunosuppressed cotton rats compared to that in non-suppressed cotton rats at later days (>5 d.p.i) in silico. These predictions were in excellent agreement with the experimental results. Our combined approach quantified the importance of the adaptive immune response in suppressing RSV infection in cotton rats, which could be useful in testing RSV vaccine candidates. Importance A major difficulty in developing vaccines against RSV infection is our rudimentary understanding of the mechanisms that underlie RSV infection. We addressed this challenge by developing a mechanistic computational model with predictive powers for describing RSV infection kinetics in cotton rats. The model was constructed synergistically with in vitro and in vivo measurements. The combined framework determined an important role for CD8+ T cells responses in reducing RSV titers in cotton rats. The framework can be used to design future experiments to elucidate mechanisms underlying RSV infection and test outcomes for potential vaccine candidates. In addition, estimation of the model parameters provides quantitative values for parameters of biological and clinical interest such as the replication rate of RSV, the death rate of infected cells, and the average number of new infections initiated by a single infected cell.
The Role of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells in the Physiology and Pathophysiology of Blood Vessels

Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) play important roles not only in the physiological functions of the blood vessels, such as vasoconstriction, vasodilatation and extracellular matrix production, but also in the pathogenesis of vascular diseases, particularly athero- sclerosis and hypertension. VSMCs are mostly of mesodermal origin, although some are of neuroectodermal origin, for example, VSMCs present in the aorta and in blood vessels aris- ing from the aortic arch. VSMCs of neuroectodermal origin are implicated in defects of cardiovascular morphogenesis, such as bicuspid aortic valve, coarctation of the aorta, patent ductus arteriosus and tetralogy of Fallot. The origin, location in the vascular tree, gender, species, strain and age influence the phenotype of VSMCs and their propensity to migra - tion and growth. In a healthy adult organism, VSMCs have a quiescent and differentiated contractile phenotype characterized by early markers (e.g., SM α-actin, SM22-α), intermedi - ate markers (h-caldesmon, calponin) and late markers (SM myosins, smoothelin) of VSMC differentiation. However, after blood vessel injury, surgery or explantation in vitro , VSMCs undergo a phenotypic modulation to synthetic phenotype, which endows them with high activity in migration, growth and proteosynthesis. These features can lead to stenosis or to obliteration of the vascular lumen and impaired blood supply to various tissues and organs.
Change in microbiological quality and dominant bacterial communities during processing and storage of Platycodi radix (Doraji)

The main goal of this work was to investigate changes in microbiological quality and dominant bacterial communities present in minimally processed Platycodi radix (Doraji) under vacuum packaging during cold storage using matirix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry fingerprinting. Microbiological analysis of raw Platycodi radix throughout the manufacturing process highlighted the presence of high numbers of total viable cells both before and after storage. Further, the dominant bacterial communities changed during processing and storage, with greater richness detected in Enterobacteriaceae; specifically, Serratia fonticola and Rahnella aquatilis became abundant in Platycodi radix after processing. During storage at 5 and 15°C, the quality diminished and the relative abundance of Leuconostoc spp. increased; Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides and Leuconostoc citreum were the main bacterial communities in decayed Platycodi radix at the end of storage. Microorganisms present in Platycodi radix products during processing and storage are potentially involved in deterioration. The identification of dominant bacteria can be helpful in the effective establishment of packaging and storage conditions to prolong the freshness of minimally processed Platycodi radix products.
The nuclear pore complex: structure and function

Forkhead box P3 (FOXP3), a gene member of the forkhead/winged-helix family of transcription regulators, is Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are large multi-protein complexes, which are embedded in the nuclear envelope and which are regulating the molecular exchange between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. While electron microscopy and cryo-electron tomography studies have provided high-resolution pictures of the NPC structure as entity, the challenge nowadays is to elucidate the organization and the functions of nuclear pore proteins (nucleoporins or Nups) inside and outside the NPC. Nucleoporins are not only involved in nucleocytoplasmic transport, but in an increasing number of other cellular processes, such as kinetochore organization, cell cycle regulation, DNA repair, and gene expression. The implication of nucleoporins in these diverse processes links them also to a wide variety of human diseases, such as cancer and autoimmune diseases. Here we review the progress made in defining the molecular arrangement of nucleoporins within the NPC and use the example of Nup153 to illustrate the versatility of individual nucleoporins and their implication in various human diseases.