Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Wage Arrears and the Distribution of Earnings in Russia

The increase in wage inequality in Russia during its transition process has far exceeded the increase in wage dispersion observed in other European countries undergoing transition. Russia also has an extremely large incidence of wage arrears. We analyse to what extent wage arrears affect the wage distribution and measures of wage inequality in Russia. We present counterfactual distributions, derived from a variety of different methods, which suggest that conventional measures of earnings dispersion would be some 20 to 30 per cent lower in the absence of arrears. We then go on to show how wage gaps at various points in the pay distribution across gender, education, region and industry are influenced by a failure to allow for wage arrears. Using our counterfactual estimates we show, for example, that the median gender wage gap would be around twenty-five points higher than the actual gap that we observe. Similarly, the counterfactual ratio of mean graduate pay to mean pay of 1 This paper took its inspiration from previous joint work with Ruslan Yemtsov, who has moved on to more important work at the World Bank. The authors are grateful to John DiNardo and Jochen Kluve for making their STATA routines available; to Boris Augurzky, Todd Idson, Alan Manning, Mark Schaffer, Christoph Schmidt, Jan Svejnar, Paul Walsh, participants at the IZA-WDI Conference on Labour Markets in Transition Countries in May 2000 in Bonn, at the CEPR-WDI Conference on Transition in Moscow and at an ACES/Econometric Society session of the ASSA Conference in January 2001 in New Orleans as well as participants in seminars at the Universities of Heidelberg, Heriot-Watt University, the London School of Economics, the University of Trento and the WDI, University of Michigan for valuable comments. The Fritz Thyssen Foundation provided financial support within the project "Economic Reform and Labour Market Adjustment in the Russian Federation. " The authors are also grateful to IZA for providing the facilities for the authors to undertake research on this paper. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the institutions with which the authors are affiliated. 2 School of Management, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS. Tel: 00 44 131 451 3626; Fax: 00 44 131 451 3008. E-mail h.lehmann@. hw.ac. uk
Smooth muscle NOS, colocalized with caveolin-1, modulates contraction in mouse small intestine

Neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) in myenteric neurons is activated during peristalsis to produce nitric oxide which relaxes intestinal smooth muscle. A putative nNOS is also found in the membrane of intestinal smooth muscle cells in mouse and dog. In this study we studied the possible functions of this nNOS expressed in mouse small intestinal smooth muscle colocalized with caveolin‐1(Cav‐1). Cav‐1 knockout mice lacked nNOS in smooth muscle and provided control tissues. 60 mM KCl was used to increase intracellular [Ca2+] through L‐type Ca2+ channel opening and stimulate smooth muscle NOS activity in intestinal tissue segments. An additional contractile response to LNNA (100 μM, NOS inhibitor) was observed in KCl‐contracted tissues from control mice and was almost absent in tissues from Cav‐1 knockout mice. Disruption of caveolae with 40 mM methyl‐β cyclodextrin in tissues from control mice led to the loss of Cav‐1 and nNOS immunoreactivity from smooth muscle as shown by immunohistochemistry and a reduction in the response of these tissues to N‐ω‐nitro‐L‐arginine (LNNA). Reconstitution of membrane cholesterol using water soluble cholesterol in the depleted segments restored the immunoreactivity and the response to LNNA added after KCl. Nicardipine (1 μM) blocked the responses to KCl and LNNA confirming the role of L‐type Ca2+ channels. ODQ (1 μM, soluble guanylate cyclase inhibitor) had the same effect as inhibition of NOS following KCl. We conclude that the activation of nNOS, localized in smooth muscle caveolae, by calcium entering through L‐type calcium channels triggers nitric oxide production which modulates muscle contraction by a cGMP‐dependent mechanism.
Packing dimension of mean porous measures

We prove that the packing dimension of any mean porous Radon measure on ℝd may be estimated from above by a function which depends on mean porosity. The upper bound tends to d − 1 as mean porosity tends to its maximum value. This result was stated in D. B. Beliaev and S. K. Smirnov [‘On dimension of porous measures’, Math. Ann. 323 (2002) 123–141], and in a weaker form in E. Järvenpää and M. Järvenpää [‘Porous measures on ℝn: local structure and dimensional properties’, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. (2) 130 (2002) 419–426], but the proofs are not correct. Quite surprisingly, it turns out that mean porous measures are not necessarily approximable by mean porous sets. We verify this by constructing an example of a mean porous measure μ on ℝ such that μ(A) = 0 for all mean porous sets A ⊂ ℝ.
Chemokine co-receptor usage in HIV-1-infected treatment-naïve voluntary counselling and testing clients in Southern Taiwan

Objective The goal of this present study was to determine the proportion of CCR5-tropic and CXCR4-tropic viruses and impact of tropism test on clinical presentation, CD4 cell counts, viral load and genotypic drug resistance from drug-naïve, voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) clients in southern Taiwan. Design This was a cross-sectional study. Plasma samples were collected from HIV-1-infected patients from January 2013 to December 2013; subjects were recruited from free VCT centres in southern Taiwan. Setting Taiwan. Participants Plasma samples from 108 HIV-1-infected, treatment-naïve, VCT clients were analysed. HIV-1 strains were sequenced, genotype resistance was determined by a commercial kit (Viro-seq) and co-receptor tropism (CRT) was predicted by an internet tool geno2pheno[coreceptor], with a 10% false-positive rate as the cut-off. Differences in progression markers, patient characteristics, VCT questionnaires and HIV subtype distribution were evaluated statistically. Results All the 108 VCT clients were male with 90% between the ages of 20 and 40 years. Eighty-eight per cent of the patients were men who have sex with men (MSM). The median (IQR) CD4 cell count was 342 cells/µL (221–454) and the viral load was 4.6 log (4.0–5.0). HIV-transmitted drug resistance was found in 9.3% (10/108) of the patients. CRT predictions indicated that 74% of the patients had only R5-tropic strains. CRT was not associated with CD4 cell counts, patient characteristics, VCT questionnaire and transmitted drug resistance. There was a significant difference with regard to viral load at the time of presentation, showing that patients with R5 more often had a higher viral load as compared with those with X4/DM strains (4.6±0.6 log vs 4.33±0.7 log, p=0.036). Conclusions We found that 74% of the VCT clients were infected with R5-tropic virus strains. HIV-transmitted drug resistance was not associated with CRT predictions. Higher viral load at presentation was predictive of R5 co-receptor usage.
A Potential Outcomes View of Value-Added Assessment in Education

There has been substantial interest in recent years in the performance and accountability of teachers and schools, partially due to the No Child Left Behind legislation, which requires states to develop a system of sanctions and rewards to hold districts and schools accountable for academic achievement. This focus has lead to an increase in “high-stakes” testing with publicized school rankings and test results. The papers by Ballou et al. (2004), McCaffrey et al. (2004) and Tekwe et al. (2004) approach the estimation of school and teacher effects through a variety of statistical models, known as “value-added” models in the education literature. There are many complex issues involved, and we applaud the authors for addressing this challenging topic.
Expression and clinical significance of hedgehog signaling pathway related components in colorectal cancer.

AIM To investigate the expression of three components of the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway (SHH, SMO and GLI1) in human colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues and evaluate their association with clinicopathologic characteristics of the patients. METHODS Fresh tumor tissues and matched tissues adjacent to the tumor were collected from 43 CRC patients undergoing surgery. Normal colorectal tissues from 20 non-CRC cases were also sampled as normal controls. The expression of SHH, SMO, GLI1 mRNAs was assessed by RT-PCR and proteins were detected by immunohistochemical staining. Associations with clinicopathological characteristics of patients were analyzed. RESULTS SHH mRNA was expressed more frequently in tumor tissues than in normal tissues, but the difference did not reach significance in comparison to that in the adjacent tissues. SMO and GLI1 mRNAs were expressed more frequently in tumor tissues than in both adjacent andnormal tissues. The expression intensities of SHH, SMO, GLI1 mRNA in tumor tissues were significantly higher than those in adjacent tissues and normal tissues. Proteins were also detected more frequently in tumors than other tissues. No significant links were apparent with gender, age, location, degree of infiltration or Dukes stage. CONCLUSION Positive rates and intensities of mRNA and protein expression of Hh signaling pathway related genes SHH, SMO, GLI1 were found to be significantly increased in CRC tissues. However, over-expression did not appear to be associated with particular clinicopathological characteristics.
Estimation of Growth Curves and Suitable Slaughter Weight of the Liangshan Pig

The Liangshan pig is a traditional Chinese small-sized breed; it has a relatively long feeding period and low meat production ability but superior meat quality. This study utilized three non-linear growth models (Von Bertalanffy, Gompertz, and logistic) to fit the growth curve of Liangshan pigs from an unselected, random-bred pig population and estimate the pigs most suitable slaughter weight. The growth development data at 20 time points of 275 Liangshan pigs (from birth to 250 d) were collected. To analyze the relative gene expression related to development, seven slaughter weight phases (50, 58, 66, 74, 82, 90, and 98 kg) (20 pigs per phase) were examined. We found that the Liangshan pig growth curve fit the typical S-curve well and that their growth turning point was 193.4 days at a weight of 62.5 kg, according to the best fit Von Bertalanffy model based on the goodness of fit criteria. Furthermore, we estimated that the most suitable slaughter weight was 62.5 to 74.9 kg based on the growth curve and the relative expression levels of growth-related genes.
Cell contamination and branching processes in a random environment with immigration

We consider a branching model for a population of dividing cells infected by parasites. Each cell receives parasites by inheritance from its mother cell and independent contamination from outside the cell population. Parasites multiply randomly inside the cell and are shared randomly between the two daughter cells when the cell divides. The law governing the number of parasites which contaminate a given cell depends only on whether the cell is already infected or not. We first determine the asymptotic behavior of branching processes in a random environment with state-dependent immigration, which gives the convergence in distribution of the number of parasites in a cell line. We then derive a law of large numbers for the asymptotic proportions of cells with a given number of parasites. The main tools are branching processes in a random environment and laws of large numbers for a Markov tree.
Classical and Alternative NF-κB Activation Pathways and Their Roles in Lymphoid Malignancies

Nuclear factor-kB ( NF-kB) is a family of highly regulated dimeric transcription factors that play pivotal roles in inflammatory responses and immunological reactions. Although they are often activated concurrently, classical and alternative NF-kB activation pathways have distinct regulatory functions, producing secondary inflammatory responses and regulating lymphoid organ development, respectively. As NF-kB functions in the proliferation, differentiation, and survival of lymphocytes, increased activation also participates in the oncogenesis of many lymphoid malignancies. Aberrant NF-kB activation in these tumor cells results from genetic changes or the activation of NF-kB pathways by indirect mechanisms. Recent observations have suggested that NF-kB provides many of the requirements for cellular transformation. Bcl-3, a member of the IkB family, is overexpressed in t (2 ; 5) + anaplastic large cell lymphoma due to genetic and epigenetic alterations. The different contributions of the classical and alternative NF-kB pathways to tumorigenesis, however, are not well understood. The clinical importance of NF-kB is also being recognized, with the approval of the NF-kB inhibitor bortezomib for treatment of advanced multiple myeloma. A better understanding of the molecular pathways involving NF-kB will surely contribute to more sophisticatedly targeted treatments for malignancies in the future.
Signatures of local adaptation along environmental gradients in a range‐expanding damselfly (Ischnura elegans)

Insect distributions are shifting rapidly in response to climate change and are undergoing rapid evolutionary change. We investigate the molecular signatures underlying local adaptation in the range‐expanding damselfly, Ischnura elegans. Using a landscape genomic approach combined with generalized dissimilarity modelling (GDM), we detect selection signatures on loci via allelic frequency change along environmental gradients. We analyse 13,612 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), derived from restriction site‐associated DNA sequencing (RADseq), in 426 individuals from 25 sites spanning the I. elegans distribution in Sweden, including its expanding northern range edge. Environmental association analysis (EAA) and the magnitude of allele frequency change along the range expansion gradient revealed significant signatures of selection in relation to high maximum summer temperature, high mean annual precipitation and low wind speeds at the range edge. SNP annotations with significant signatures of selection revealed gene functions associated with ongoing range expansion, including heat shock proteins (HSP40 and HSP70), ion transport (V‐ATPase) and visual processes (long‐wavelength‐sensitive opsin), which have implications for thermal stress response, salinity tolerance and mate discrimination, respectively. We also identified environmental thresholds where climate‐mediated selection is likely to be strong, and indicate that I. elegans is rapidly adapting to the climatic environment during its ongoing range expansion. Our findings empirically validate an integrative approach for detecting spatially explicit signatures of local adaptation along environmental gradients.
A Frame-Based Semantics of Locative Alternation in LTAG

In this paper we present an analysis of locative alternation phenomena in Russian and English within a frame-based LTAG syntax-semantics interface. The combination of a syntactic theory with an extended domain of locality and frames provides a powerful mechanism for argument linking. Furthermore, the concept of tree families and unanchored trees in LTAG allows for a decomposition of meaning into lexical and constructional components.
Evaluation techniques applied to domain tuning of MT lexicons

We describe a set of evaluation techniques applied to domain tuning of bilingual lexicons for machine translation. Our overall objective is to translate a domain-specific document in a foreign language (in this case, Chinese) to English. First, we perform an intrinsic evaluation of the effectiveness of our domain-tuning techniques by comparing our domain-tuned lexicon to a manually constructed domain-specific bilingual termlist. Our results indicate that we achieve 66% recall and 95% precision with respect to a human-derived gold standard. Next, an extrinsic evaluation demonstrates that our domain-tuned lexicon improves the Bleu scores 50% over a statistical system—with a smaller improvement when the system is trained on a uniformly-weighted dictionary.
Fundamental Plane of Sunyaev-Zel’dovich Clusters

Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (SZ) cluster surveys are considered among the most promising methods for probing dark energy up to large redshifts. However, their premise is hinged on an accurate mass-observable relationship, which could be affected by the (rather poorly understood) physics of the intracluster gas. In this paper, using a semianalytic model of the intracluster gas that accommodates various theoretical uncertainties, I develop a fundamental plane relationship between the observed size, thermal energy, and mass of galaxy clusters. In particular, I find that M ∝ (YSZ/RSZ ,2)3/4, where M is the mass, YSZ is the total SZ flux or thermal energy, and RSZ ,2 is the SZ half-light radius of the cluster. I first show that, within this model, using the fundamental plane relationship reduces the (systematic+random) errors in mass estimates to 14%, from 22% for a simple mass-flux relationship. Since measurement of the cluster sizes is an inevitable part of observing the SZ clusters, the fundamental plane relationship can be used to reduce the error of the cluster mass estimates by ~34%, improving the accuracy of the resulting cosmological constraints without any extra cost. I then argue why our fundamental plane is distinctly different from the virial relationship that one may naively expect between the cluster parameters. Finally, I argue that while including more details of the observed SZ profile cannot significantly improve the accuracy of mass estimates, a better understanding of the impact of nongravitational heating/cooling processes on the outskirts of the intracluster medium (apart from external calibrations) might be the best way to reduce these errors.
Welfare Cost of Business Cycles When Markets are Incomplete

This paper analyzes the welfare costs of business cycles when workers face uninsurable idiosyncratic labor income risk. In accordance with the previous literature, this paper decomposes labor income risk into an aggregate and an idiosyncratic component, but in contrast to the previous literature, this paper allows for multiple sources of idiosyncratic labor income risk. Using the multi-dimensional approach to idiosyncratic risk, this paper provides a general characterization of the welfare cost of business cycles when preferences and the (marginal) process of individual labor income in the economy with business cycles are given. The general analysis shows that the introduction of multiple sources of idiosyncratic risk never decreases the welfare cost of business cycles, and strictly increases it if there are cyclical fluctuations across the different sources of risk. Finally, this paper also provides a quantitative analysis of multi-dimensional labor income risk based on a version of the model that is calibrated to match U.S. labor market data. The quantitative analysis suggests that realistic variations across two particular dimensions of idiosyncratic labor income risk increase the welfare cost of business cycles by a substantial amount.
MiR-143 and MiR-145 Regulate IGF1R to Suppress Cell Proliferation in Colorectal Cancer

Insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) is a transmembrane receptor that is activated by insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and by a related hormone called IGF-2. It belongs to the large class of tyrosine kinase receptors and plays an important role in colorectal cancer etiology and progression. In this study, we used bioinformatic analyses to search for miRNAs that potentially target IGF1R. We identified specific target sites for miR-143 and miR-145 (miR-143/145) in the 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) of the IGF1R gene. These miRNAs are members of a cluster of miRNAs that have been reported to exhibit tumor suppressor activity. Consistent with the bioinformatic analyses, we identified an inverse correlation between miR-143/145 levels and IGF1R protein levels in colorectal cancer tissues. By overexpressing miR-143/145 in Caco2, HT29 and SW480 colorectal cancer cells, we experimentally validated that miR-143/145 directly recognizes the 3′-UTR of the IGF1R transcript and regulates IGF1R expression. Furthermore, the biological consequences of the targeting of IGF1R by miR-143/145 were examined by cell proliferation assays in vitro. We demonstrated that the repression of IGF1R by miR-143/145 suppressed the proliferation of Caco2 cells. Taken together, our findings provide evidence for a role of the miR-143/145 cluster as a tumor suppressor in colorectal cancer through the inhibition of IGF1R translation.
Effects of Boiling Drinking Water on Diarrhea and Pathogen-Specific Infections in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract. Globally, approximately 2 billion people lack microbiologically safe drinking water. Boiling is the most prevalent household water treatment method, yet evidence of its health impact is limited. To conduct this systematic review, we searched four online databases with no limitations on language or publication date. Studies were eligible if health outcomes were measured for participants who reported consuming boiled and untreated water. We used reported and calculated odds ratios (ORs) and random-effects meta-analysis to estimate pathogen-specific and pooled effects by organism group and nonspecific diarrhea. Heterogeneity and publication bias were assessed using I2, meta-regression, and funnel plots; study quality was also assessed. Of the 1,998 records identified, 27 met inclusion criteria and reported extractable data. We found evidence of a significant protective effect of boiling for Vibrio cholerae infections (OR = 0.31, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.13–0.79, N = 4 studies), Blastocystis (OR = 0.35, 95% CI = 0.17–0.69, N = 3), protozoal infections overall (pooled OR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.43–0.86, N = 11), viral infections overall (pooled OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.7–0.98, N = 4), and nonspecific diarrheal outcomes (OR = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.45–0.77, N = 7). We found no evidence of a protective effect for helminthic infections. Although our study was limited by the use of self-reported boiling and non-experimental designs, the evidence suggests that boiling provides measureable health benefits for pathogens whose transmission routes are primarily water based. Consequently, we believe a randomized controlled trial of boiling adherence and health outcomes is needed.
BINARY DYNAMICS NEAR A MASSIVE BLACK HOLE

We analyze the dynamical evolution of binary stars that interact with a static background of single stars in the environment of a massive black hole (MBH). All stars are considered to be single mass, Newtonian point particles. We follow the evolution of the energy E and angular momentum J of the center of mass of the binaries with respect to the MBH, as well as their internal semimajor axis a, using a Monte Carlo method. For a system like the Galactic center, the main conclusions are the following. (1) The binary fraction can be of the order of a few percent outside 0.1 pc, but decreases quickly closer to the MBH. (2) Within ∼0.1 pc, binaries can only exist on eccentric orbits with apocenters much further away from the MBH. (3) Far away from the MBH, loss-cone effects are the dominant mechanism that disrupts binaries with internal velocities close to the velocity dispersion. Closer to the MBH, three-body encounters are more effective in disrupting binaries. (4) The rate at which hard binaries become tighter is usually less than the rate at which a binary diffuses to orbits that are more bound to the MBH. (5) Binaries are typically disrupted before they experience an exchange interaction; as a result, the number of exchanges is less than one would estimate from a simple “nvσ estimate. ” We give applications of our results to the formation of X-ray binaries near MBHs and to the production rates of hyper-velocity stars by intermediate mass MBHs.