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This paper presents the Development Policy Evaluation Model (DEVPEM), a new simulation model which captures four critical aspects of rural economies in developing countries: (1) the role of the household as both a producer and a consumer of food crops; (2) high transaction costs of participating in markets; (3) market linkages among heterogeneous rural producers and consumers; (4) the imperfect co

Abstract in UndeterminedThe work presented in this article aims to investigate a PV/T hybrid solar window on a system level. A PV/T hybrid is an absorber on which solar cells have been laminated. The solar window is a PV/T hybrid collector with tiltable insulated reflectors integrated into a window. It simultaneously replaces thermal collectors, PV-modules and sunshade. The building integration lo

he immune response is able to control cytomegalovirus infection in most subjects. However, in some patient groups the virus is not well contained resulting in disease and severe morbidity. The development of efficacious vaccines is therefore a high priority. Antibodies may contribute to protection against disease caused by CMV but the most efficient targets for protective humoral immunity are not

Low-dimensional electronic systems in thermoelectrics have the potential to achieve high thermal-to-electric energy conversion efficiency. A key measure of performance is the efficiency when the device is operated under maximum power conditions. Here we study the efficiency at maximum power, in the absence of phonon-mediated heat flow, of three low-dimensional, thermoelectric systems: a zero-dimen

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and gastrointestinal (GI) dysmotility disorders have a similar clinical picture, although dysmotility disorders require the attention of a specialist. Patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSS) have also been described to suffer from IBS-like symptoms. No objective marker is available to distinguish between the patients. A visual analogue scale has be

Background: The objective was to identify separate cognitive domains in the standard assessment tools (MMSE, ADAS-Cog) and analyze the process of decline within domains during three years in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients with donepezil treatment. Method: AD patients (n = 421) were recruited from a clinical multi-centre study program in Sweden. Patients were assessed every six months during thr

Melanocortin receptor accessory proteins (MRAPs) modulate signaling of melanocortin receptors in vitro. To investigate the physiological role of brain-expressed melanocortin 2 receptor accessory protein 2 (MRAP2), we characterized mice with whole-body and brain-specific targeted deletion of Mrap2, both of which develop severe obesity at a young age. Mrap2 interacts directly with melanocortin 4 rec

Objective. To explore the influences of discrete positive and negative emotions on cooperation in the context of a social dilemma game. Design. Two controlled studies were undertaken. In Study 1, 69 participants were randomly assigned to an essay emotion manipulation task designed to induce either guilt, joy or no strong emotion. In Study 2, 95 participants were randomly assigned to one of the sam

The intrinsic properties of vertical InAs nanowire (NW) capacitors are investigated. The band structure is simulated using a Schrödinger-Poisson solver, taking the conduction band nonparabolicity into account. This is combined with a distributed RC model to simulate the current-voltage characteristics. It is found that the influence from the nonparabolicity is substantial for devices with a small

The suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) family of proteins are well known negative regulators of cytokine receptors signaling consisting of eight structurally similar proteins, SOCS1-7 and CIS. A key feature of this family of proteins is the presence of two structural motifs: a centrally located SH2 domain and a SOCS box in the C-terminus. The SOCS box mediates the interaction with the Elongin

The ALICE Collaboration at the LHC reports measurement of the inclusive production cross section of electrons from semi-leptonic decays of beauty hadrons with rapidity |y| < 0.8 and transverse momentum 1 < p(T)< 10 GeV/c, in pp collisions at root s = 2.76 TeV. Electrons not originating from semi-electronic decay of beauty hadrons are suppressed using the impact parameter of the corresponding track

BACKGROUND: Understanding the role that urologic disease plays within central Haiti could lead to the development of sustainable and regionally appropriate urologic care. We aim to document the prevalence of urologic surgical disease presenting for treatment in central Haiti. METHODS: The present study is based on a retrospective review of surgical case logs at five Partners in Health and Zanmi La

Chronic neural interfaces that are both structurally and functionally stable inside the brain over long time periods and that have minimal effects on the physiological conditions of the neural tissue to be studied hold great promise to become invaluable research and clinical tool in the near future. In this chapter, I will briefly review the state of the art of neural interfaces and the concepts b

Time-dependent changes in the surface properties of coated papers were studied as the evolution of surface hydrophobicity of laboratory and commercially coated papers. We measured the apparent contact angles on the papers during several weeks post-production. Hydrophobicity upon aging increased for all samples made from traditional coating colors on mechanical base stock and on base stock made fro

We propose an optical method for non-invasive characterisation of wood samples based on two optical techniques: time-resolved diffuse optical spectroscopy and gas in scattering media absorption spectroscopy. While the latter is sensitive to gases present inside wood pores, the former extracts information on the bulk material regarding light scattering and absorption. Measurements on spruce samples

Osteoarthritis is a widespread disease leading to physical disability affecting quality of life. It is primarily regarded as a cartilage disease but affect all tissues of a joint. Osteoarthritis can be regarded as an organ failure. Knee osteoarthritis is common in Kuwait, especially in women. The main symptoms are pain, stiffness and weakness affecting knee function. The diagnosis is made by histo

The Baltic Sea is one of many aquatic ecosystems that show long-term declines in dissolved silicate (DSi) concentrations due to anthropogenic alteration of the biogeochemical Si cycle. Reductions in DSi in aquatic ecosystems have been coupled to hydrological regulation reducing inputs, but also with eutrophication, although the relative significance of both processes remains unknown for the observ