Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Beyond the ABCs: Higher Education and Developing Countries

This paper analyzes a relatively neglected facet of the complex debate regarding human capital – higher (or tertiary) education. It addresses five broad questions examining higher education in developing countries. One, are the economic effects of higher education on developing countries different from those in industrialized countries, with its links with labor markets of lesser importance than its impact on institutional development? Two, how does the impact of higher education depend on the type of education and its beneficiaries? Three, with the state unable to meet growing demand pressures, what should be the proper role of the state to ensure not just quality but also equity and access? Four, how should countries rethink the provision of higher education in an “open economy” from seeking education abroad or encouraging foreign providers into the country or simply linking domestic institutions with foreign quality assurance mechanisms? And five, do new technologies offer developing countries a new paradigm to expand the provision of high quality but low cost higher education? The aim is not to provide categorical answers to these complex questions, but rather highlight the analytical and empirical lacuna with regard to each of these questions.
The Great Inflation, Limited Asset Markets Participation and Aggregate Demand: Fed Policy Was Better than You Think

When enough agents do not participate in asset markets, the slope of the aggregate demand curve is reversed. Monetary policy should be passive, to ensure equilibrium determinacy and to minimize variations in output and inflation. This paper presents evidence that asset markets participation in the US was limited over the Great Inflation period and the slope of the IS curve had the ’wrong’ sign. Our results may help explain the ’Great Inflation’ and give optimism for FED policy. If the economy was characterized by a relatively higher degree of financial frictions over that period: (i) policy implied a determinate equilibrium and ruled out sunspot fluctuations; (ii) policy was closer to optimal than conventional wisdom dictates; (iii) responses and variability of macroeconomic variables conditional upon fundamental shocks are close to their estimated counterparts for a wide range of reasonable parameterizations. Notably, ’cost-push’ shocks are enough to generate a Great Inflation. JEL Classification: E31, E32, E44, E58, E65
Star Formation Rate from Dust Infrared Emission

We examine what types of galaxies the conversion formula from dust infrared (IR) luminosity into the star formation rate (SFR) derived by R. C. Kennicutt is applicable to. The ratio of the observed IR luminosity, LIR, to the intrinsic bolometric luminosity of the newly (≲10 Myr) formed stars, LSF, of a galaxy can be determined by a mean dust opacity in the interstellar medium and the activity of the current star formation. We find that the area given by these parameters, 0.5 ≤ LIR/LSF ≤ 2.0, is very large, and many nearby normal and active star-forming galaxies really fall in this area. It results from offsetting two effects of a small dust opacity and a large cirrus contribution of normal galaxies relative to starburst galaxies on the conversion of the stellar emission into the dust IR emission. In conclusion, the SFR determined from the IR luminosity under the assumption of LIR = LSF, like Kennicutt's, is reliable within a factor of 2 for all galaxies except for dust-rich but quiescent galaxies and extremely dust-poor galaxies.
Association of Telomere Length with Breast Cancer Prognostic Factors

Introduction Telomere length, a marker of cell aging, seems to be affected by the same factors thought to be associated with breast cancer prognosis. Objective To examine associations of peripheral blood cell-measured telomere length with traditional and potential prognostic factors in breast cancer patients. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of data collected before surgery from 162 breast cancer patients recruited consecutively between 01/2011 and 05/2012, at a breast cancer reference center. Data on the main lifestyle factors (smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity) were collected using standardized questionnaires. Anthropometric factors were measured. Tumor biological characteristics were extracted from pathology reports. Telomere length was measured using a highly reproducible quantitative PCR method in peripheral white blood cells. Spearman partial rank-order correlations and multivariate general linear models were used to evaluate relationships between telomere length and prognostic factors. Results Telomere length was positively associated with total physical activity (rs = 0.17, P = 0.033; Ptrend = 0.069), occupational physical activity (rs = 0.15, P = 0.054; Ptrend = 0.054) and transportation-related physical activity (rs = 0.19, P = 0.019; P = 0.005). Among post-menopausal women, telomere length remained positively associated with total physical activity (rs = 0.27, P = 0.016; Ptrend = 0.054) and occupational physical activity (rs = 0.26, P = 0.021; Ptrend = 0.056) and was only associated with transportation-related physical activity among pre-menopausal women (rs = 0.27, P = 0.015; P = 0.004). No association was observed between telomere length and recreational or household activities, other lifestyle factors or traditional prognostic factors. Conclusions Telomeres are longer in more active breast cancer patients. Since white blood cells are involved in anticancer immune responses, these findings suggest that even regular low-intensity physical activity, such as that related to transportation or occupation, could be recommended to breast cancer patients.
Hirsutellin A: A Paradigmatic Example of the Insecticidal Function of Fungal Ribotoxins

The fungal pathogen Hirsutella thompsonii produces an insecticidal protein named hirsutellin A (HtA), which has been described to be toxic to several species of mites, insect larvae, and cells. On the other hand, on the basis of an extensive biochemical and structural characterization, HtA has been considered to be a member of the ribotoxins family. Ribotoxins are fungal extracellular ribonucleases, which inactivate ribosomes by specifically cleaving a single phosphodiester bond located at the large rRNA. Although ribotoxins were brought to light in the 1960s as antitumor agents, their biological function has remained elusive. Thus, the consideration of hirsutellin A, an insecticidal protein, as a singular ribotoxin recalled the idea of the biological activity of these toxins as insecticidal agents. Further studies have demonstrated that the most representative member of the ribotoxin family, α-sarcin, also shows strong toxic action against insect cells. The determination of high resolution structures, the characterization of a large number of mutants, and the toxicity assays against different cell lines have been the tools used for the study of the mechanism of action of ribotoxins at the molecular level. The aim of this review is to serve as a compilation of the facts that allow identification of HtA as a paradigmatic example of the insecticidal function of fungal ribotoxins.
A Hierarchical Bayesian Model for Unsupervised Induction of Script Knowledge

Scripts representing common sense knowledge about stereotyped sequences of events have been shown to be a valuable resource for NLP applications. We present a hierarchical Bayesian model for unsupervised learning of script knowledge from crowdsourced descriptions of human activities. Events and constraints on event ordering are induced jointly in one unified framework. We use a statistical model over permutations which captures event ordering constraints in a more flexible way than previous approaches. In order to alleviate the sparsity problem caused by using relatively small datasets, we incorporate in our hierarchical model an informed prior on word distributions. The resulting model substantially outperforms a state-of-the-Art method on the event ordering task. © 2014 Association for Computational Linguistics.
Nine‐year Changes in Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors with Weight Maintenance

Although weight gain and weight loss have been well‐studied, fewer studies have focused on the impact of weight maintenance on cardiovascular (CVD) risk factors or addressed whether changes differ by baseline weight status. We hypothesized that 9‐year changes in glucose, blood pressure and plasma lipids among adults who maintained their body weight (within ± 3.0%) would be most favorable in adults who were normal weight at baseline. We examined 1,145 normal weight (BMI: 18.5 – 24.9 kg/m2), 1,328 pre‐obese (BMI: 25.0 – 29.9 kg/m2) and 754 obese (BMI: 30.0 kg/m2) weight maintainers from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. Overall, glucose, triglycerides and systolic blood pressure increased while total, LDL‐ and HDL‐cholesterol and diastolic blood pressure declined. The magnitude and direction of the changes differed significantly by weight status and outcome. For example, normal weight maintainers had significantly smaller increases in glucose compared to obese weight maintainers; 2.6 mg/dL (95% CI: 1.3, 3.8) vs. 9.0 mg/dL (95% CI: 7.5, 10.5). In contrast, we found significantly less favorable changes in total cholesterol among normal weight compared to obese weight maintainers; −11.9 mg/dL (95% CI: −13.8, −9.9) vs. −16.2 mg/dL (95% CI: −18.6, −13.9). Similar patterns (i.e. less favorable changes among normal weight maintainers) were also found for LDL‐ and HDL‐cholesterol, triglycerides and diastolic blood pressure. In conclusion, among weight maintainers changes in risk factors vary by weight status. These changes are not always more adverse in participants who maintain a weight that is obese rather than a weight that is within the normal range.
EXPLAINING INNOVATIVE ACTIVITY IN SERVICE INDUSTRIES: MICRO DATA EVIDENCE FOR SWITZERLAND

In this paper, we analysed empirically the innovative behaviour of firms in the Swiss service sector building on the wide consent in economic literature that demand prospects, type and intensity of competition, market structure, factors governing the production of knowledge (appropriability, technological opportunities), financing conditions as well as firm size are the main determinants of a firm's innovative activity. For the empirical work, we used firm data from nine service industries collected by the Swiss Innovation Survey 1999. We obtained a pattern of explanation of the innovative activity which looked quite plausible across the different types of innovation measures used (input-oriented and output-oriented innovation variables); it was also consistent to that found earlier for manufacturing. In general, the empirical model captured rather the characteristics of the basic decision to innovate rather than those of the decision to choose some level of innovative activity.
Automatic 3D building reconstruction

We present a knowledge-based system for automatic 3D building reconstruction from aerial images. Our approach relies on combining pairs of stereo images with 2D GIS map and domain knowledge. Since most buildings can be described as aggregation of simple building types, the domain knowledge is represented in a building library containing building primitives (flat, gable, and hip roof building). The approach of modeling buildings using a set of basic building models suggests the usage of Constructive Solid Geometry representation for building description. The building reconstruction process is formulated as a hypothesis generation and verification scheme. It starts with the partitioning of a building in simple building parts based on the ground plan defined in the map. For each building partition different building hypotheses are generated corresponding to the building primitives defined in the building library. The evaluation of the generated building models is based on the formulation of the mutual information between the model and the images. The CSG tree representing a building is given by the best fit of the building models corresponding to the building partitions. We used this method to reconstruct buildings in suburban and urban scenes. The method worked well even in difficult conditions (noise, shadow).
Functional Assessment of Four Types of Disintegrants and their Effect on the Spironolactone Release Properties

Spironolactone is a drug derived from sterols that exhibits an incomplete oral absorption due to its low water solubility and slow dissolution rate. In this study, formulations of spironolactone with four disintegrants named as croscarmellose sodium, crospovidone, sodium starch glycolate and microcrystalline cellulose II (MCCII) were conducted. The effect of those disintegrants on the tensile strength, disintegration time and dissolution rate of spironolactone-based compacts was evaluated using a factorial design with three categorical factors (filler, lubricant, and disintegrant). The swelling values, water uptake and water sorption studies of these disintegrants all suggested that MCCII compacts disintegrate by a wicking mechanism similar to that of crospovidone, whereas a swelling mechanism was dominant for sodium starch glycolate and croscarmellose sodium. The disintegration time of MCCII and sodium starch glycolate remained unchanged with magnesium stearate. However, this lubricant delayed the disintegration time of crospovidone and croscarmellose sodium. MCCII presented the fastest disintegration time independent of the medium and lubricant employed. The water sorption ratio and swelling values determined sodium starch glycolate followed by croscarmellose sodium as the largest swelling materials, whereas crospovidone and MCCII where the least swelling disintegrants. The swelling property of sodium starch glycolate and croscarmellose sodium was strongly affected by the medium pH. The disintegration time of spironolactone compacts was faster when starch was used as a filler due to the formation of soft compacts. In this case, the type of filler employed rather than the disintegrant had a major effect on the disintegration and dissolution times of spironolactone.
Young Children's Adjustment as a Function of Maltreatment, Shame, and Anger

Maltreated children are at increased risk for behavior problems. This study examines a model in which shame mediates the potential relation between maltreatment and anger, and anger mediates the potential relation between shame and behavior problems. Participants were 177 children (ages 3 to 7 years) and their mothers, 90 of whom had histories of perpetrating neglect and/or physical abuse. Physical abuse, but not neglect, was related to increased shame during an evaluative task; shame was related to increased anger; and anger to teacher ratings of total behavior problems and externalizing problems. Age moderated the relation between physical abuse and adjustment, as abuse was related to more total problems only among the younger children. Anger was a significant mediator of shame and both behavior problems and externalizing problems. Shame, anger, age, and type of maltreatment appear to be important factors in explaining variance in behavioral adjustment following a history of maltreatment.
Index of Financial Inclusion

The promotion of an inclusive financial system is considered a policy priority in many countries. While the importance of financial inclusion is widely recognized, the literature lacks a comprehensive measure that can be used to measure the extent of financial inclusion across economies. This paper attempts to fill this gap by proposing an index of financial inclusion (IFI). The IFI is a multi-dimensional index that captures information on various dimensions of financial inclusion in one single digit lying between 0 and 1, where 0 denotes complete financial exclusion and 1 indicates complete financial inclusion in an economy. The proposed index is easy to compute and is comparable across countries.
The Light-Duty-Vehicle Fleet’s Evolution: Anticipating PHEV Adoption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Across the U.S. Fleet

The first part of this report relies on stated and revealed preference survey results across a sample of U.S. households to first ascertain vehicle acquisition, disposal, and use patterns, and then simulate these for a synthetic population over time. Results include predictions of future U.S. household-fleet composition, use, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under nine different scenarios, including variations in fuel and plug-in-electric-vehicle (PHEV) prices, new-vehicle feebate policies, and land-use-density settings. This work highlights the impacts of various directions consumers may head with such vehicles. For example, twenty-five-year simulations at gas prices at $7 per gallon resulted in the second highest market share predictions (16.30%) for PHEVs, HEVs, and Smart Cars (combined) — and the greatest GHG-emissions reductions. The stricter feebate policy (pivot point at 30 mpg and fee or rebate rate of $400 per mpg) – coupled with gasoline at $5 per gallon – resulted in the highest market share (16.37%) for PHEVs, HEVs, and Smart Cars, but not as much GHG emissions reduction as the $7 gas price scenario. Excepting the low PHEV price and two feebate policy simulations, all other scenarios predicted a lower fleet VMT. While plug-in vehicles are now hitting the market, their adoption and widespread use will depend on thoughtful marketing, competitive pricing, government incentives, reliable driving-range reports, and adequate charging infrastructure. The second part of this report relies on data from the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey (CEX) to estimate the welfare impacts of carbon taxes and household-level capping of emissions (with carbon-credit trading allowed). A translog utility framework was calibrated and then used to anticipate household expenditures across nine consumer goods categories, including vehicle usage and vehicle expenses. An input-output model was used to estimate the impact of carbon pricing on goods prices, and a vehicle choice model determined vehicle type preferences, along with each household’s effective travel costs. Behaviors were predicted under two carbon tax scenarios ($50 per ton and $100 per ton of CO2-equivalents) and four cap-and-trade scenarios (10-ton and 15-ton cap per person per year with trading allowed at $50 per ton and $100 per ton carbon price). Carbon taxes were found to relatively regressive than a cap-and-trade setting (in terms of taxes paid per dollar of expenditure), but a tax-revenue redistribution can be used to offset this regressivity. In the absence of substitution opportunities (within each of the nine expenditure categories), these results represent highly conservative (worst-case) results, but they illuminate the behavioral response trends while providing a rigorous framework for future work.
Production of Novel Antibiotics Zeamines through Optimizing Dickeya zeae Fermentation Conditions

Dickeya zeae strain EC1 was recently shown to produce a new type of phytotoxins designated as zeamine and zeamine II, which are potent wide-spectrum antibiotics against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial pathogens, suggesting their promising potential as clinical medicines. In this study, the optimized medium composition and culture conditions for biosynthesis of novel antibiotics zeamines have been established by using response surface methodology, largely increasing the yield of zeamines from original about 7.35 µg·mL−1 in minimal medium to about 150 µg·mL−1 in LS5 medium. The study identified the major factors contributing to zeamines production, which include nitrate, sucrose, asparaginate, mineral elements Mg2+ and K+, and optimized amount of phosphate. In addition, the results showed that overexpression of zmsK in D. zeae strain EC1 could further increase zeamines yield to about 180 µg·mL−1 in LS5 medium. The findings from this study could facilitate further characterization and utilization of these two novel antibiotics, and also provide useful clues for understanding the regulatory mechanisms that govern D. zeae virulence.
Differential NF-κB and MAPK activation underlies fluoride- and TPA-mediated CXCL8 (IL-8) induction in lung epithelial cells

Different toxic agents have a varying potential to induce the production of the proinflammatory chemokine, CXCL8 (interleukin [IL]-8), in lung cells. A critical question is which mechanisms determine the magnitude and persistence of the CXCL8 responses to different stimuli. To approach this, we compared the potential of the phorbol ester, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), and sodium fluoride (NaF) to induce CXCL8 responses in A549 cells, with emphasis on the importance of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB)- and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling. Notably, TPA induced a greater release of CXCL8 than did NaF. Furthermore, TPA induced a strong, rapid, but transient upregulation of CXCL8 messenger (m)RNA, whereas NaF induced a weaker, more delayed, but persistent upregulation. With respect to signaling, TPA led to an early, strong, and relatively transient extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 phosphorylation, and a less marked and even more transient phosphorylation of c-jun-N-terminal kinases (JNK1/2) and p38. In contrast, NaF elicited a lower, but relatively sustained increase in phosphorylation of ERK1/2, and a marked phosphorylation of p38 and JNK1/2, with the JNK1/2 response as most transient. Only ERK1/2 inhibition affected the TPA response, whereas inhibition of all the three MAPK cascades reduced NaF-induced CXCL8 release. TPA also induced an early, marked phosphorylation/translocation of p65 (NF-κB), whereas NaF induced slower, less pronounced effects on p65. The CXCL8 responses by TPA and NaF were reduced by p65-siRNA. In conclusion, all MAPK cascades were involved in NaF-induced CXCL8 release, whereas only ERK1/2 activation was involved in response to TPA. Furthermore, NF-κB activation appeared to be indispensable for CXCL8 induction. The early response, magnitude, and persistency of MAPK and NF-κB signaling seemed to be critical determinants for the potential to induce CXCL8. These findings underscore that a strong, rapid, and relatively transient activation of ERK1/2 in combination with NF-kB may be sufficient for a strong induction of CXCL8, which may exceed the effects of a more moderate ERK1/2 activation in combination with activation of p38, JNK1/2, and NF-κB.
Effect of hydrophilic polymers on the wettability, static and dynamic, of solid substrate covered by confluent monolayer of air-damaged SIRC cells

The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible implementation of hydrophilic polymers as recovery agents in air-damaged corneal cells. The sessile bubble technique was implemented to measure the wetting properties of four selected polymers: hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC), sodium chondroitin sulphate (SCS), hydroxypropyl-methylcellulose (HPMC) and poloxamer F127 (PO12), at equilibrium conditions and in the case of advancing and receding contact angle. For testing the wetting properties of the polymers, glass slides covered with a confluent monolayer of Statens Seruminstitut rabbit cornea (SIRC) cells were used. HEC showed best properties for a broad concentration range, as the polymer showed capability to maintain low values of the static (equilibrium) contact angle (average static contact angle – 36.07˚, compared to average static compact angles of HPMC – 38.44˚, PO12 – 38.92˚ and SCS – 37.85˚), i.e. better wettability. Sessile bubble technique provides quick, relatively simple and reliable approach for testing surface properties of the listed polymers. The nature of the surface damage produced by the exposition of SIRC cells was used as a plausible model of evaporative dry eye syndrome, and thus the results may have clinical implementation.