Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Working Paper Series 15 1 THE INTERGENERATIONAL CONTENT OF SOCIAL SPENDING: HEALTH CARE AND SUSTAINABLE GROWTH IN CHINA 2

The paper endorses the thesis that current macro imbalances are partly due to an excess of household savings in China, whose origin is to be found among other things in household uncertainty about the provision of public services like health care, pensions and education. Focusing on health services, because of their priority in the concerns of the Chinese people, we describe the recent trends in the provision of health care. We then argue that social spending by the government may have important intergenerational content, in that it allows higher private spending, lower inequality, higher levels of human capital and the like. All these factors are related to the potential growth rate of the economy. We conclude that a more important role of the government in the sector of public services, and in particular of health care, may help reduce the possibility of future bottlenecks, and hence help keeping the Chinese economy on a sustainable growth path. We conclude the paper by an assessment of the current debate on how to reform the system, and we advocate universal publicly funded basic health coverage.
Ammonia recovery from digested dairy manure as nitrogen fertilizer

by Anping Jiang, Ph.D. Washington State University December 2009 Chair: Shulin Chen: Manure management on large dairy farms has become a major issue due to air quality and water quality concerns caused by excess nitrogen and phosphorus. Prior research efforts have not been able to develop a practical solution beyond manure land application. In this study, a novel combined nutrient recovery and biogas upgrading system (combined system) was developed to mitigate the environmental concerns as well as to harvest value added by-products from the anaerobically digested manure. The combined system was proven both technically feasible and economically advantageous. Ammonia stripping is the main unit process of the combined system. Temperature and pH were identified as the most cost sensitive parameters of ammonia stripping. Economical optimization of the stripping process was studied and optimized parameters were provided for future application of the technology. The results suggest that the combined system can be a practical solution for the environmental problems associated
Genes controlling ovulation rate in sheep

begins when follicles leave the resting pool of primordial follicles and enter the growth phase. Growing follicles undergo a complex process of development that includes proliferation and differentiation of several cell types in the follicle. At the same time, the oocyte is undergoing developmental changes necessary for resumption of meiosis after the preovulatory surge of gonadotrophins. In sheep, the stages of follicular development have been classiﬁed from the number of granulosa cells in the largest cross-section of follicles (McNatty et al., 1999) to be types 1 (primordial), 1a (transitory), 2 (primary), 3 and 4 (preantral) and 5 (early antral; see Fig. 1). Type 1 refers to follicles with one layer of
Venous bicarbonate and CKD progression: a longitudinal analysis by the group-based trajectory model

ABSTRACT Background Metabolic acidosis accelerates chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression towards kidney failure in animal models. Clinical trials testing the effect of bicarbonate on kidney outcomes are underpowered and/or of suboptimal quality. On the other hand, observational studies testing the same hypothesis are generally based on bicarbonate measured at a single time point. Methods We studied the longitudinal relationship between repeated venous bicarbonate levels and a predefined composite renal outcome (a ≥30% estimated glomerular filtration rate reduction, dialysis or transplantation) by using group-based trajectory model (GBTM) analysis. The GBTM analysis was used to classify patients based on individual bicarbonate levels over time. The relationship between trajectory groups and renal outcomes was investigated using crude and adjusted Cox regression models. A total of 528 patients with stage 2–5 CKD were included in the analysis. Results The GBTM analysis identified four distinct trajectories of bicarbonate levels: low, moderate, moderate-high and high. During the follow-up period, 126 patients experienced the combined renal endpoint. The hazard rate of renal events decreased dose-dependently from the lowest to the highest bicarbonate trajectory. After adjusting for potential confounders, there was a 63% risk reduction for the composite renal endpoint for patients in the high trajectory category compared with those in the low trajectory category. Conclusion The study found that higher bicarbonate trajectories were associated with a lower risk of adverse renal outcomes in CKD patients. These results suggest that strategies to maintain higher bicarbonate levels may benefit patients with CKD. However, further high-quality randomised trials are needed to confirm these findings and recommend bicarbonate supplementation as a strategy to delay CKD progression.
Dislocation mechanism—the Parkfield 1966 accelerograms

The 1966 Parkfield earthquake accelerograms are analyzed with particular attention to clarifying the relationship between the observed motions and the crack propagation. The basic finding is that the crack propagation velocity was supersonic relative to the shear-wave velocity. A consistent interpretation of the accelerograms follows. A crack propagated south along the E branch of the San Andreas Fault from the initial focus to about 612 km N of Station 2, and terminated there. A second earthquake was triggered near the initial focus, on the W fault branch, 0.55 sec after the beginning of the first fracture. This dislocation propagated south along the W branch past Station 2. With the assumption that the crack propagated along ordinary wave paths, the average Mach number (crack velocity/shear-wave velocity) for the propagation to Station 2 is 1.06. Within about 0.3 sec after the crack propagated to the ground surface 0.08 km from Station 2, a permanent displacement of 2 cm took place parallel to the fault (NW). At about 1.3 sec after the dislocation arrival, relatively large nonpermanent displacements commenced in the horizontal components (to 9 cm in the parallel and 36 cm in the transverse), directed NW and toward the fault. Approximately equal displacements were occurring on the opposite (NE) side of the fault from Station 2, directed in the opposite sense, the parallel displacement being SE, and the transverse being SW toward the fault. The result of the compression on the fault plane was a sudden local deceleration of the slipping. The maximum accelerations occurred at the time. A Mach wave was formed and is represented on the records by the acceleration maxima. There is also an earlier, lower amplitude Mach wave from the initial earthquake. A third Mach wave followed the second by 0.82 sec. This is from the propagation of another dislocation down the E fault branch, again from the focal region, probably to the same location where the initial crack terminated. This third earthquake was promptly triggered by the second. The dislocation near Station 2 stopped about 2.9 sec after it began. The crack propagated another 9 km SE of the station before stopping. Two possible stopping events, each with P and S phases, were recorded at Station 2. The permanent displacement calculated from the parallel acceleration component is in good agreement with the observed offset at Station 2. The large nonpermanent horizontal displacements are at present unexplained.
Connochaetes taurinus taurinus – Blue Wildebeest

Common names: Blue Wildebeest, Blue and Whitebearded Wildebeest, Brindled Gnu, Brindled Wildebeest, Common Wildebeest (English), Blouwildebees (Afrikaans), Inkonkoni (Ndebele, Xhosa, Zulu), Imbudumo, Imbuduma ehlaza (Ndebele), Kgôkông (Sepedi, Setswana), Kgokong, Kgaranyane (Sesotho), Ingongoni, Ngongoni (Swati), Khongoni, Khongoini (Venda), Hongonyi (Xitsonga), Inkonkoni enombala oluhlaza (Zulu)
Synoptic‐climatological evaluation of the classifications of atmospheric circulation patterns over Europe

This study evaluates the classifications of atmospheric circulation patterns collected in the COST733 database (COST733cat) in terms of their ability to stratify daily surface temperature and precipitation in 12 domains covering the whole of Europe. The classifications differ in the classification methods used, in the number of types, the variable(s) classified, the number of days in a sequence that are classified and in whether the classification is based on year‐round or seasonal data. Several classification methods that perform fairly well are identified; they include a simple k‐means clustering, a k‐means clustering preceded by hierarchical cluster analysis, Litynski's method, and a classification based on circulation prototypes. On the other hand, there are a couple of classification methods that do not provide a good stratification of temperature and precipitation: orthogonally and obliquely rotated principal component analysis in a T‐mode, Lund's correlation method, Kirchhofer's sums‐of‐squares method, and Erpicum's method. Some methods tend to perform better on large domains, while others tend to perform better on smaller domains; however, the sensitivity of most classification methods to the domain size appears to be small. Several methods exhibit a geographical dependence of their performance, e.g. the method based on circulation prototypes tends to perform better in the northern domains, while Jenkinson–Collison and Erpicum's methods perform better in the southern domains. Classifications of 4‐day sequences are usually better in stratifying surface temperature than ordinary instantaneous classifications; the opposite is true for precipitation. Adding a mid‐tropospheric variable (500 hPa heights or 1000/500 hPa thickness) to sea level pressure as a classified variable improves the skill of classifications in stratifying temperature.
Book Review: Dynamic Homology and Phylogenetic Systematics: A Unified Approach Using POY

Dynamic Homology and Phylogenetic Systematics: A Unified Approach Using POY is a hybrid book: half algorithmic discussion and half reference manual for the cladogram search program POY. The first half of the book is dedicated to background and the algorithms that are used in POY. The second half details installation instructions for multiple platforms, suggested search techniques and over 250 commands. It stands as one of the most complete user’s manuals that exists for phylogenetic software.
An experimental comparison of five prioritization methods : Investigating ease of use, accuracy and scalability

Requirements prioritization is an important part of developing the right product in the right time. There are different ideas about which method is the best to use when prioritizing requirements. This thesis takes a closer look at five different methods and then put them into an controlled experiment, in order to find out which of the methods that would be the best method to use. The experiment was designed to find out which method yields the most accurate result, the method’s ability to scale up to many more requirements, what time it took to prioritize with the method, and finally how easy the method was to use. These four criteria combined will indicate which method is more suitable, i.e. be the best method, to use in prioritizing of requirements. The chosen methods are the well-known analytic hierarchy process, the computer algorithm binary search tree, and from the ideas of extreme programming come planning game. The fourth method is an old but well used method, the 100 points method. The last method is a new method, which combines planning game with the analytic hierarchy process. Analysis of the data from the experiment indicates that the planning game combined with analytic hierarchy process could be a good candidate. However, the result from the experiment clearly indicates that the binary search tree yields accurate result, is able to scale up and was the easiest method to use. For these three reasons the binary search tree clearly is the better method to use for prioritizing requirements
Using hyperspectral data to classify vegetation at the plant functional type-level in mountain terrain at three spatial resolutions

Hyperspectral data covering the visible, near infrared, and shortwave infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum have been used to map vegetation at the plant functional type and species levels in a variety of ecosystems. Vegetation maps are basic to the study and analysis of natural resources and are an important component in documenting and understanding the impacts of environmental changes in ecosystems due to human-induced changes (e.g., climate change). Multiple methods for mapping vegetation have been developed to take advantage of the large number of bands (> 200) and spectral contiguity that hyperspectral data provide. The purpose of this study is to determine what the limitations and potential areas of success are for using hyperspectral remote sensing data to classify vegetation cover in steep mountainous terrain at the plant functional type level. This research utilizes multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis (MESMA), a modified version of Spectral Mixture Analysis (SMA), to classify plant functional type within an Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) scene acquired over the Wasatch Mountain Range just east of Salt Lake City, Utah on August 5, 1998. The AVIRIS scene was originally acquired at 20 m spatial resolution and was resampled to 40 m and 60 m spatial resolution to examine the ability of MESMA to classify plant functional types at coarser spatial resolutions. Endmembers were extracted and selected from each spatial resolution AVIRIS scene so that three sets of endmembers were available to attempt to classify the three AVIRIS images. The 20 m iv extracted endmembers were used to classify the 40 m and 60 m AVIRIS images to examine the effects of coarsening the spatial resolution of the image while using a higher resolution set of endmembers. When used to model the AVIRIS images, the 20 m extracted endmembers classified the three resolutions with good success: overall accuracies of 85.65% at 20 m, 85.56% at 40 m, and 83.67 at 60 m. The spectral libraries extracted from the 40 m and 60 m AVIRIS images produced more confusion between classes, resulting in less accurate classifications at these resolutions. This endmember confusion was also responsible for an increase in the percentage of unclassified pixels at the 40 m and 60 m resolutions. The results provide insight into the ability of future spaceborne hyperspectral sensors, which are likely to operate at coarser spatial resolutions, to map vegetation.
Agronomic evaluation of Italian ecotypes of Lathyrus sativus L. in a hilly area of southern Italy.

Lathyrus sativus L. (chickling vetch) has potential among grain legumes for its tolerance to dry conditions and its adaptability to unfavourable environments . Furthermore the chemical composition of the seeds shows high crude protein content and low levels of cholesterol . For these reasons this species could have considerable potential in the sustainable crop systems of the marginal areas of southern Italy. But increasing the amount of Lathyrus sativus cropping is subject to the evaluation of the potential grain yield in the pedoclimatic condition of the hilly environments of south Italy. The purpose of the present work is to evaluate the grain yields of 25 ecotypes of chickling vetch belonging to the collection assembled many years ago in south Italy by Iannelli . Of these ecotypes 17 have light coloured seed and 8 have dark coloured seed. The trial was carried out in a two year period in a hilly area of southern Italy (700 m a.s.l.). The experimental design was randomised blocks with 3 replications. The biological cycle, grain yields and yield components were determined for all the ecotypes. The results showed differences between the ecotypes with grain yields ranging from 0.7 t.ha to 2 t.ha. High grain yields were generally related to high 1000 seed weight. References 1. Sarno R. , Stringi L. (1979). Proc. Cong. “Prospettive delle proteaginose in Italia”, Perugia, pp. 565-570. 2. Senatore F. , Basso F. (1994). Fatty acid and sterol composition from seeds of some Lathyrus ecotypes. La Rivista Italiana delle sostanze grasse 71, 567-569. 3. De Falco E. , Basso F. , Iannelli P. (1991). Morphological and productive features of ecotypes of chickling vetch (Lathyrus sativus L.). Agr. Med. 121, 99-109.
UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Inguinal hernia surgery in the Netherlands: are patients treated according to the guidelines

Purpose In 2003, a dedicated Dutch committee developed evidence-based guidelines for the treatment of inguinal hernia (IH) in children and adults. The aim of this study was to describe trends in hernia care before and after the publication of the guidelines on IH surgery in the Netherlands. Methods Originally, a retrospective baseline analysis of IH surgery in 90 Dutch hospitals was performed among patients treated for IH in 2001. The results of this baseline analysis were compared with a recently performed second analysis of patients treated for IH in 2005. Results In children \ 4 years of age, the study showed a signiﬁcant decrease of contralateral explorations. In adults, the study showed that signiﬁcantly more patients were treated with a mesh-based repair in 2005 (95.9 vs. 78.8%, P \ 0.01). Moreover, there was an increase of patients with bilateral hernia treated with an endoscopic technique (41.5 vs. 22.3%, P \ 0.01) and more patients were treated in day surgery (53.5 vs. 38.6%, P \ 0.01). Lastly, a decline in operations performed for recurrent IH in adults was observed (10.9 vs. 13.3%, P \ 0.01). Conclusion This study showed that most patients with IH in the Netherlands were treated according to the main recommendations of the Dutch evidence-based guidelines.
Estimation for Item Response Models using the EM Algorithm for Finite Mixtures

This paper presents a detailed description of maximum likelihood parameter estimation for item response models using the general EM algorithm. In this paper the models are specified using a univariate discrete latent ability variable. When the latent ability variable is discrete the distribution of the observed item responses is a finite mixture, and the EM algorithm for finite mixtures can be used. Maximum likelihood estimates of the item parameters and of the discrete probabilities of the latent ability distribution are given using the EM algorithm for finite mixtures. Results are presented in general for both dichotomous and polytomous item response models. The relation between the EM estimates and Bock-Aitken marginal maximum likelihood estimates is discussed.
Title : A Sensor-Driven Hierarchical Method for Domain Adaptation in Classification of Remote Sensing Images

This paper presents a Sensor-Driven Hierarchical Domain Adaptation (DA) method that aims at transferring the knowledge from a source domain (RS image where reference data are available) to a different but related target domain (RS image where no labeled reference data are available) for solving a classification problem. Due to the different acquisition conditions, a difference in the source and target distributions of the features representing the same class is generally expected. To solve this problem, the proposed method takes advantage from the availability of multisensor data to hierarchically detect features subspaces where for some classes data manifolds are partially (or completely) aligned. These feature subspaces are associated with invariant physical properties of classes measured by the sensors in the scene, i.e., measures having almost the same behaviour in both domains. The detection of these invariant feature subspaces allows us to infer labels of the target samples that result more aligned to the source data for the considered subset of classes. Then, the labeled target samples are analyzed in the full feature space to classify the remaining target samples of the same classes. Finally, for those classes for which none of the sensors can measure invariant features we perform the adaptation via a standard Active Learning (AL) technique. Experimental results obtained on two real multisensor datasets confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Phosphorus retention models for Tennessee Valley Authority reservoirs

Data for the 18 largest Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) reservoirs are compared with previously developed models for predicting steady state phosphorus concentrations in lakes. A plug flow model is presented for lakes and reservoirs which have significant longitudinal variation in phosphorus concentration. The results indicate that phosphorus sedimentation and retention coefficients developed for natural lakes are not directly applicable to TVA reservoirs. The apparent settling velocity of phosphorus in TVA reservoirs was substantially higher than previously reported values for natural lakes. Application of the plug flow model to Cherokee Reservoir showed good agreement with measured in-lake phosphorus concentrations.
Weight Management

Maintaining a healthy weight is an extremely important aspect of overall health and wellness. Having a healthy weight not only benefits each employee individually, but benefits Veteran patients and the entire VA as well. Healthy employees are more productive, feel better, and give patients greater confidence in their healthcare providers. Medical providers, nurses, clinical, and other staff who practice healthy lifestyles become role models for patients and each other, are more credible to patients, and are; therefore, more effective in delivering health care to their patients.
Plasma neurofilament light chain as a potential biomarker of neurodegeneration in murine brain

Abstract Reliable fluid biomarkers for evaluating neurotoxicity have yet to be established. However, recent studies have reported neurofilament light chain as a fluid biomarker of several neurodegenerative disorders. In this study, we investigated changes in the cerebrospinal fluid and plasma levels of neurofilament light chain in mice treated with trimethyltin as a neurotoxicant. Trimethyltin diluted with saline was administered by intraperitoneal injection to mice at dose levels of 0 (vehicle control), 1.0, and 2.6 mg/kg body weight (dosage volume: 10 mL/kg). At 3 or 7 days after administration, animals were euthanized by exsanguination under 2–3% isoflurane inhalation anesthesia. Increased neurofilament light chain levels in both the cerebrospinal fluid and plasma were observed in animals from the trimethyltin 2.6 mg/kg body weight group, which indicated the brain lesions including neuronal cell death. Animals from the trimethyltin 1.0 mg/kg body weight group exhibited changes neither in neurofilament light chain levels in the cerebrospinal fluid and plasma nor in the histopathology of the brain at any time point. These data indicate that plasma neurofilament light chain can serve as a useful peripheral biomarker for detecting brain lesions such as neuronal necrosis in mice.