Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Scientific rationale for inhaled combination therapy with long-acting β2-agonists and corticosteroids

The addition of an inhaled long-acting β2-agonist (LABA) to an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) gives optimal control of asthma in most patients and two fixed combination inhalers (salmeterol/fluticasone and formoterol/budesonide) are increasingly used as a convenient controller in patients with persistent asthma. There is a strong scientific rationale for the combination of these two drug classes. ICS suppress the chronic inflammation of asthma and reduce airway hyperresponsiveness and this is achieved at low doses in most patients. LABA act on different aspects of the pathophysiology of asthma. In addition to their bronchodilator action, LABA also inhibit mast cell mediator release, plasma exudation and may reduce sensory nerve activation. Thus these two classes of drug address complementary aspects of the pathophysiology of asthma that neither drug class is able to achieve alone. There are several positive interactions between LABA and ICS. Corticosteroids increase the expression of β2-receptors by increasing gene transcription. Experimentally this protects against the loss of β2-receptors in response to long-term exposure to β2-agonists. While this is unlikely to be important in bronchodilator responses to β2-agonists, in view of the large β-receptor reserve, it is probably important in preventing loss of β-agonist effects on the nonbronchodilator actions of LABA discussed earlier. β2-Agonists may potentiate the molecular mechanism of corticosteroid actions, with increased nuclear localization of glucocorticoid receptors and additive or sometimes synergistic suppression of inflammatory mediator release. Thus LABA and ICS may optimize each others beneficial actions in the airways, but the low systemic effects of these drugs do not result in any increase in adverse effects. Long-acting β2-agonists corticosteroid inhaler therapy is therefore a logical advance and results in effective control of asthma in the majority of patients without significant adverse effects. This simplified approach to long-term asthma therapy has a strong scientific rationale.
Remesas y participación laboral en Paraguay: Efectos de los desplazamientos sur-sur

Se analiza la participacion laboral de los miembros de hogares receptores de remesas en Paraguay. Se aporta el estudio especifico de los efectos de las remesas provenientes del sur en un pais del sur utilizando el enfoque de la puntuacion de la propension para enfrentar el problema de sesgo de seleccion. Los resultados acusan diferencias estructurales entre los hogares receptores de remesas del sur y aquellos que no lo son. Se sugiere que en un mercado laboral de alta informalidad y precariedad las remesas provenientes principalmente de Argentina se dirigen hacia los hogares en los estratos socioeconomicos mas bajos y tienden a reducir la participacion laboral. Remittances and Labor Participation in Paraguay: Effect of South-South Displacements Abstract This article analyzes the labor force participation of household members receiving remittances in Paraguay. It involves a specific study of the effects of remittances from the South on a South country, using a propensity score approach to solve selection bias problems. The results highlight the structural differences between households that receive remittances from the South and those that do not. It is suggested that within a context of a high degree of informality and precariousness, remittances, mainly from Argentina, are sent to households in the lowest socioeconomic strata, which affects labor force participation, tending to reduce it.
Memory management for multi-language multi-runtime systems on multi-core architectures

To manage the increasing complexity of software, developers employ a number of different strategies. These include using high-level, type-safe, object-oriented programming languages, executing applications within managed runtime environments (MREs), modularizing software into independent isolated components, and maximizing programmer productivity by implementing each component in the most-suitable language. Moreover, administrators and tools increasingly co-locate components on the same physical machine to better utilize multi-core systems via thread-level parallelism and to enable efficient cross-component communication. As a result, multi-language, multi-runtime systems that employ component co-location on multi-core shared-memory architectures are more and more common. In such systems, memory management takes place within runtimes (intra-runtime) and between runtimes (cross-runtime). Intra-runtime memory management includes allocation and automatic reclamation of objects within an MRE. Cross-runtime memory management refers to communication, coordination, and object sharing across MREs. Both intra-runtime and cross-runtime memory management rely on the mechanisms and abstractions of the underlying operating system (OS) for efficient implementation. The focus of our research is to identify ways to more effectively exploit extant OS functionality to improve intra-runtime and cross-runtime memory management in terms of performance as well as programming model. Specifically, we design, implement, and evaluate MRE extensions that leverage virtual memory, shared memory, and shared libraries to better coordinate memory management across the system layers. For intra-runtime memory management, we develop new techniques to improve throughput, reduce pauses, increase yield, and enhance modularity of parallel and concurrent collectors. For cross-runtime memory management, we investigate type-safe, transparent object sharing between isolated MREs to enable cross-language communication and synchronization without expensive object serialization and explicit message passing. Our empirical results indicate that our contributions significantly improve both intra-runtime and cross-runtime memory management by better leveraging OS support. We obtain large performance gains for parallel and concurrent collectors as well as inter-runtime communication over the state-of-the-art memory management systems. In addition, our techniques enhance the programming model for both application developers and runtime architects.
Carbon cycling of alpine tundra ecosystems on Changbai Mountain and its comparison with arctic tundra

The alpine tundra on Changbai Mountain was formed as a left-over ‘island’ in higher elevations after the glacier retrieved from the mid-latitude of Northern Hemisphere to the Arctic during the fourth ice age. The alpine tundra on Changbai Mountain also represents the best-reserved tundra ecosystems and the highest biodiversity in northeast Eurasia. This paper examines the quantity of carbon assimilation, litters, respiration rate of soil, and storage of organic carbon within the alpine tundra ecosystems on Changbai Mountain. The annual net storage of organic carbon was 2092 t/a, the total storage of organic carbon was 33457 t, the annual net storage of organic carbon in soil was 1054 t/a, the total organic carbon storage was 316203 t, and the annual respiration rate of soil was 92.9% and was 0.52 times more than that of the Arctic. The tundra-soil ecosystems in alpine Changbai Mountain had 456081 t of carbon storage, of which, organic carbon accounted for 76.7% whereas the mineral carbon accounted for 23.3%.
Urban Poverty in China

Urban poverty is an emerging problem. This book explores the household and neighbourhood factors that lead to both the generation and continuance of urban poverty in China. It is argued that the urban Chinese are not a homogenous social group, but combine laid-off workers and rural migrants, resulting in stark contrasts between migrant and workers’ neighbourhoods and villages.
The structure and metamorphic evolution of the High Himalayan Slab in SE Zanskar and NW Lahaul

﻿ This thesis attempts to unravel the complex thermal and structural history of part of the High Himalayan Slab in NW India and combines reconnaissance-style field structural mapping of an area covering ~10,000 km 2 with petrography, microstructural analysis, thermobarometry and geochronology techniques. The results of this work show that the oldest protoliths of the High Himalayan Slab are at least Cambrian in age and that they may have experienced a major pre-Himalayan metamorphism at c. 500 Ma. The youngest protoliths are Mesozoic in age (the Tandi Group) and demonstrate that the High Himalayan Slab represents the metamorphosed equivalents of the Tibetan Sedimentary Series. Metamorphism was achieved via substantial crustal shortening and thickening following the India-Asia collision at 50-54 Ma ago. Phase relationships demonstrate that metamorphism was a regional Barrovian-type event associated with the growth of biotite-, garnet-, staurolite-, kyanite- and sillimanite-bearing assemblages in metapelites. Quantitative thermobarometry demonstrates that near-peak conditions of c. 6-8 kbar and 550-650°C were attained in the deepest exposed levels. Growth of metamorphic assemblages was underway by at least 30 Ma, as indicated by U-Pb ages of metamorphic monazites. Exhumation of the High Himalayan Slab was achieved through a combination of extensional unroofing along major detachments (namely the Zanskar Shear Zone), thermal doming, thrusting along the Main Central Thrust and surface erosion. Exhumation is closely associated with the growth of sillimanite- and cordierite-bearing assemblages in pelites and the generation and emplacement of crustal melt leucogranites in the upper parts of the slab. U-Pb dating of accessory phases from one of the crustal melt leucogranites (the Gumburanjon leucogranite) constrains its crystallisation and emplacement age at c. 21-22 Ma. This is only slightly older than its 40 Ar/ 39 Ar muscovite and biotite cooling ages of c. 20-21 Ma, which is attributed to the emplacement of the Gumburanjon leucogranite into the immediate footwall of the ZSZ. Field and geochronological data therefore support a strong temporal and spatial relationship between upper crustal melting and extension in a convergent orogen.
Assessing and Managing Scarce Tropical Mountain Water Resources

Abstract Mountains play a crucial role in the supply of freshwater to humankind, in highland and lowland areas alike. Increasing demand urgently requires careful management of mountain water resources in order to mitigate growing water crises and conflicts. Monitored river flow was analyzed for 3 selected catchments (Timau, Burguret, and Likii) on the slopes of Mount Kenya from 1960 to 2004. In the 10 years from 1995 to 2004, the extreme low flow (Q95) of the rivers was found to have been reduced to 10%, 23%, and 71%, respectively, of the values for the decade from 1961 to 1970. Water awareness creation campaigns in 1997 and 2004 revealed that the number of abstraction points had more than doubled, and that there was a two- to eightfold increase in the amount of river water abstracted. The present article documents increasing water abstraction and the difficulties in establishing limits for low flows such as the Q80 value (flow available on 80% of the days per year). The article also presents the role of Water Users' Associations (WUAs) in mitigating water conflicts related to over-abstraction. Evaluation of the activities of 13 WUAs showed that they solved 45 of 52 conflicts. WUAs are also involved in activities such as environmental education, awareness creation, improved irrigation practices, afforestation, and regulating water. The recent restructuring of the government ministry resulted in a formalized role for WUAs. Long-term data on availability, abstraction, and use of water are needed to mitigate water conflicts within and between WUAs, negotiate water allocation, and establish allocation thresholds.
Improving Business Performance Through Effective Managerial Training Initiatives

Improving Business Performance Through Effective Managerial Training Initiatives is a critical scholarly publication that explores leadership within corporations and how proper education can lead to positive outcomes within corporations. Featuring coverage on a wide range of topics, including managerial mindsets, learning-performance relationship, and strategic risk management, this book is geared toward academicians, researchers, students, and policy makers seeking relevant research on the importance of quality leadership education within corporations to promote success.
A north to south transect of Holocene southeast Atlantic continental margin sediments: Relationship between aerosol transport and compound‐specific δ13C land plant biomarker and pollen records

We examined near‐surface, late Holocene deep‐sea sediments at nine sites on a north‐south transect from the Congo Fan (4°S) to the Cape Basin (30°S) along the Southwest African continental margin. Contents, distribution patterns and molecular stable carbon isotope signatures of long‐chain n‐alkanes (C27‐C33) and n‐alkanols (C22‐C32) are indicators of land plant vegetation of different biosynthetic types, which can be correlated with concentrations and distributions of pollen taxa in the same sediments. Calculated clusters of wind trajectories and satellite Aerosol Index imagery afford information on the source areas for the lipids and pollen on land and their transport pathways to the ocean sites. This multidisciplinary approach on an almost continental scale provides clear evidence of latitudinal differences in lipid and pollen composition paralleling the major phytogeographic zonations on the adjacent continent. Dust and smoke aerosols are mainly derived from the western and central South African hinterland dominated by deserts, semi‐deserts and savannah regions rich in C4 and CAM plants. The northern sites (Congo Fan area and northern Angola Basin), which get most of their terrestrial material from the Congo Basin and the Angolan highlands, may also receive some material from the Chad region. Very little aerosol from the African continent is transported to the most southerly sites in the Cape Basin. As can be expected from the present position of the phytogeographic zones, the carbon isotopic signatures of the n‐alkanes and n‐alkanols both become isotopically more enriched in 13C from north to south. The results of the study suggest that this combination of pollen data and compound‐specific isotope geochemical proxies can be effectively applied in the reconstruction of past continental phytogeographic developments.
A conservation assessment of bats (Chiroptera) of Draw River, Boi-Tano, and Krokosua Hills Forest Reserves in the Western Region of Ghana

As part of a Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) survey organized by Conservation International in southwestern Ghana, bats were surveyed in three forest reserves recently designated as Globally Significant Biodiversity Areas. We present a list of species obtained during this survey and include some previous records. The survey yielded 82 bat captures composed of 15 species. At Krokosua Hills Forest Reserve we documented the rarely recorded vespertilionid Scotophilus nucella (IUCN Red List: Vulnerable), which was described in 1984 and hitherto known from only ten specimens from Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire and Uganda. Specimens from Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cameroon assigned to Hipposideros lamottei by Koopman et al. (1995) and Grubb et al. (1999) are here re-identified as H. caffer. The known distribution of H. lamottei is restricted to the Guinean side of Mt. Nimba. Overall the bat species composition of the surveyed reserves clearly reflects a forest fauna. Not a single savanna species was present despite partially degraded forest conditions.
Change of extreme events of temperature and precipitation over Korea using regional projection of future climate change

This study investigates possible changes of extreme events in global warming over Korea with MM5 downscaling simulation during the period 1971–2100. Frequency distribution of daily temperatures over Korea shows an increase in the mean by about 5.5°C from 1971–2000 to 2071–2100 while change in the variance is negligible. Increasing temperature results in changes in the frequency and intensity of temperature extremes. Under the current climate change scenario, hot events are expected to be more frequent and intense, while cold events will be rare and weaker. The increasing trend of temperature is associated with an increasing trend of precipitation. The increasing trend produces an increase in the number of the days of heavy precipitation as well as the corresponding amount. Better resolved topography in MM5 produces bigger changes in local precipitation than in the temperature field. Consequently increasing tendency is obvious in the northern part of Korea.
Restoration of Corrupted Optical Fuyo-1 (JERS-1) Data Using Frequency Domain Techniques

The image data collected by Fuyo-1's sensors covering the visible and the short wave infrared (SWIR) are affected by severe noise problems. The important narrow SWIR channels show the worst defects. Artifacts originally introduced by the satellite sensors (unprocessed Level 0 data) were exaggerated by the Earth-rotation correction applied by NASDA (Level 2 data). Fourier analysis is used to characterize these artifacts in the frequency domain. A scene-dependent Fourier operator that is able to eliminate the major noise components is described. This involves the construction of a binary mask derived from the difference between the Fourier spectra of two channels containing noise signals at similar frequencies and amplitude. This mask is used to modulate frequency domain images, so removing all noise components while preserving real image data with minimum loss and distortion in the spatial domain. Fuyo-1 brightness saturation problems can also be minimized by applying a Gaussian contrast stretch to the Fourier spectra prior to image inversion. Based on our initial results using the recovery methods proposed here, we foresee an exciting new use for the thousands of seven-channel images already acquired by Fuyo-1.
Ground-Based Lidar Studies of Ozone Exchanges Between the Stratosphere and the Troposphere

Ground-based lidar measurements of ozone were conducted at the Observatoire de Haute Provence (OHP) (44°N, 6°E, 700 m above sea level (asl)) to study ozone exchanges between the stratosphere and the troposphere. Three case studies are presented, corresponding to intensive lidar measurements obtained during two or three consecutive days within the range 5–11 km. Whenever it was possible, additional data such as backward/forward air mass trajectories, synoptic weather maps, and total ozone mapping spectrometer (TOMS) maps were also used to obtain a better understanding of the ozone increases and to infer the impact of stratospheric air mass at tropospheric level. For the three cases, elevated ozone content in the upper troposphere (>80 ppb at 6 km) corresponded to the passage of a frontal system above the OHP. An upper limit of 2.1033 ozone molecules transferred within the frontal zone of a well-developed low is derived for a 2- to 3-day event. This number multiplied by the average number of lows gives a coarse estimate of the contribution to the annual stratospheric ozone outflow in the northern hemisphere (1.5×1036 molecules yr−1). It is smaller than the total outflow (3.5–6.1036 molecules yr−1) inferred from previous studies using radioactivity deposition or general circulation model, which includes the additional impact of cutoff lows.
Impending extinction crisis of the world’s primates: Why primates matter

Impending extinction of the world’s primates due to human activities; immediate global attention is needed to reverse the trend. Nonhuman primates, our closest biological relatives, play important roles in the livelihoods, cultures, and religions of many societies and offer unique insights into human evolution, biology, behavior, and the threat of emerging diseases. They are an essential component of tropical biodiversity, contributing to forest regeneration and ecosystem health. Current information shows the existence of 504 species in 79 genera distributed in the Neotropics, mainland Africa, Madagascar, and Asia. Alarmingly, ~60% of primate species are now threatened with extinction and ~75% have declining populations. This situation is the result of escalating anthropogenic pressures on primates and their habitats—mainly global and local market demands, leading to extensive habitat loss through the expansion of industrial agriculture, large-scale cattle ranching, logging, oil and gas drilling, mining, dam building, and the construction of new road networks in primate range regions. Other important drivers are increased bushmeat hunting and the illegal trade of primates as pets and primate body parts, along with emerging threats, such as climate change and anthroponotic diseases. Often, these pressures act in synergy, exacerbating primate population declines. Given that primate range regions overlap extensively with a large, and rapidly growing, human population characterized by high levels of poverty, global attention is needed immediately to reverse the looming risk of primate extinctions and to attend to local human needs in sustainable ways. Raising global scientific and public awareness of the plight of the world’s primates and the costs of their loss to ecosystem health and human society is imperative.
Studies in Outdoor Recreation: Search and Research for Satisfaction

For twenty-five years, "Studies in Outdoor Recreation" has been a standard text in courses on parks and outdoor recreation and serves as an invaluable reference for park and recreation managers. The first book to integrate the social science literature on outdoor recreation, it reviews studies from this broad, interdisciplinary field and synthesizes them into a body of knowledge, providing an historical perspective on outdoor recreation research and developing its practical management implications. This third edition is completely revised to reflect current research and new concerns in the field. A new chapter examines the emerging issue of sense of place and its relationship to outdoor recreation. The book concludes with twenty principles to guide outdoor recreation management and research. An extensive bibliography and A Guide to the Social Science Literature in Outdoor Recreation lead readers to valuable primary source material. An essential resource for students, scholars, and professionals, "Studies in Outdoor Recreation" explores the theoretical and methodological issues in outdoor recreation and describes the management implications of outdoor recreation research.