Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Optimal Environmental Tax and Urban Unemployment in an Open Economy

This paper investigates how a rise in the urban pollution tax rate may affect urban unemployment and welfare in a small open HarrisTodaro (HT) model with intersectoral capital mobility. First, by formulating urban pollution as a dirty input in manufacturing, we find that an increase in the urban pollution tax rate can increase the level of urban unemployment even with intersectoral capital mobility. That is, the optimistic finding by Rapanos (2007) that environmental protection policy reduces urban unemployment in the long run does not always hold. Second, the (sub)optimal pollution tax rate under urban unemployment is higher than the Pigouvian tax rate (the marginal damage of pollution). This result opposes those of Beladi and Chao (2006) for a closed HT economy and that of Tsakiris et al. (2008) for an open HT economy with sector-specific capital.
Improved algorithms for synchronizing computer network clocks

The Network Time Protocol (NIT) is widely deployed in the Intemet to synchronize computer clocks to each other and to international standards via telephone modem, radio and satellite. The protocols and algorithms have evolved over more than a decade to produce the present NTP Version 3 spccif3cation and implementations. Most of the estimated deployment of 100,000 NTF servers and clients enjoy synchronization to within a few tens of milliseconds in the Intemet of today. This paper describes specific improvements developed for NTP Version 3 which have resulted in increased accuracy, stability and reliability in both local-area and wide-area nehvorks. These include engineered refinements of several algorithms used to measure time differences between a local clock and a number of peer clocks in the network, as well as to select the best ensemble ffom among a set of peer clocks and combine their differences to produce a clock accuracy better than any in the ensemble. This paper also describes engineered refinements of the algorithms used to adjust the time and frequency of the local clock, which functions as a disciplined oscillator. The refinements provide automatic adjustment of message-exchange intervals in order to minimize network traffic between clients and busy servers while maintaining the best accuracy. Finally, this paper describes certain enhancements to the Unix operati,g system software in order to realize submillisccond accuracies with fast workstations and nehvorks.
Macroeconomic applications with factor models

This thesis utilizes factor models to test the predictions of macroeconomic theory and introduces a new model for estimating structural relations in the economy. Factor models have proven useful in overcoming limited information bias. Limited information bias occurs because the information set of the actual decision makers in the economy is larger than the information set captured by conventional empirical models (i.e. small VARs). With the help of factors we can model a large dataset by using a small model of factors that still capture the majority of aggregate dynamics in the economy. In the first chapter, joint work with Massimiliano Marcellino, we introduce a new empirical model: mixed frequency structural factor augmented VAR model. We show that in a mixed data frequency setting the model reduces aggregation bias and provides more precise estimates of factors and impulse responses, than competing models. We support this claim by means of a detailed Monte Carlo examination that also tests the new estimation procedure that we design. Finally we provide three empirical applications (monetary policy, oil and government expenditure shock) to show the usefulness of the
Common genetic vulnerability for nicotine and alcohol dependence in men.

BACKGROUND Nicotine and alcohol dependence often occur together. We examined data from male twin pairs to determine whether there are genetic or environmental influences common to nicotine and alcohol dependence, and, if so, to estimate the magnitude and correlation of these influences. METHODS Subjects were 3356 male-male twin-pair members of the Vietnam Era Twin Registry who participated in a 1992 telephone administration of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule Version 3 Revised. Genetic model fitting was performed to estimate the magnitude and correlation of genetic and environmental contributions to lifetime nicotine and alcohol dependence. RESULTS The heritability of nicotine dependence was 60.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 55.4%-65.2%); that of alcohol dependence, 55.1% (95% CI, 49.7%-60.5%). The best-fitting model for the co-occurrence of lifetime nicotine and alcohol dependence included a substantial genetic correlation between both disorders (r = 0.68; 95% CI, 0.61-0.74) and a modest unique environmental correlation (r = 0.23; 95% CI, 0.14-0.32). CONCLUSIONS These data suggest a common genetic vulnerability to nicotine and alcohol dependence in men. This common genetic influence may partially explain the clinical and epidemiological observations that alcoholics are often dependent smokers.
Oil price volatility: Origins and effects

In recent years, our understanding of the nature of energy price shocks and their effects on the economy has evolved dramatically. Only a few years ago, the prevailing view in the literature was that at least the major crude oil prices increases were exogenous with respect to the OECD economies and that these increases were caused by oil supply disruptions triggered by political disturbances in the Middle East. This view has little empirical support. Likewise, the popular notion that OPEC constitutes a cartel that controls the price of oil has not held up to scrutiny. At the same time, there has been increasing recognition of the importance of shifts in the demand for oil. Recent research has provided robust evidence that oil demand shocks played a central role in all major oil price shock episodes since the 1970s.
The Study of Effective Factors on Iran Share in World Carpet Market

One of the major economic issues in Iran is non-oil exports and its increased share in Iran economic development plans. Among these of great priority is hand woven carpet (taking into consideration serious fluctuation of oil revenues and the vast share of crude oil in the Iranian budgetary revenue). This study identifies the significant factors in increasing or at least retaining the share of Iran in the world carpet market. Using Panel Date and the Seemingly Unrelated Regression Model (compared to major competitors) this paper inspects the key parameters influencing the share of Iran in the world carpet market and infers from the results that there exists a reverse relation between the export price of the Iranian carpet and those of rival countries (India and Pakistan), instability of comparative export prices variable, foreign exchange rate and its volatility (except for India) and the Iranian share of hand-women carpet market.
‘Mixed tenure’ policy in the UK: privatisation, pluralism or euphemism?

‘Mixed tenure’ within neighbourhoods, and policies to promote it, have been advocated in many developed countries, particularly those with tenure systems dominated by home ownership at the national level. UK governments have pursued mixed tenure policy since the 1980s, initially as a ‘privatisation’ policy directed at council estates, but latterly with more diverse aims and methods. This article aims to determine whether the UK has ever seen any genuine ‘mixed tenure’ policy in the UK, or whether non‐strategy, privatisation or other terms are more appropriate. It uses criteria including the ultimate goals and rationales, tools and targets of policy. Policy targets and tools suggest plural elements to tenure policy. However, ultimate goals are not clear, rationales are dominated by arguments for ‘privatisation’, and there is little supporting evidence for neighbourhood tenure mix effects. ‘Tenure mix’ appears to have been used as a euphemism, initially for privatisation and latterly, for social mix.
Developing Housing Finance Systems

Housing finance systems should promote the attainment of adequate housing outcomes for all in an economy. But some are too small, unable to help ameliorate the substantial housing deficits faced in many countries. Others are quite large, apt (but not necessarily destined) to create instability and substantial volatility, as the global financial crisis has highlighted. While the financial instability of some large systems – notably that of the United States – has been the recent focus in many advanced economies, there are more countries with housing finance systems that are too small.
Mapping Ground Subsidence Phenomena in Ho Chi Minh City through the Radar Interferometry Technique Using ALOS PALSAR Data

The rapidly developing urbanization since the last decade of the 20th century has led to extensive groundwater extraction, resulting in subsidence in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Recent advances in multi-temporal spaceborne SAR interferometry, especially with a persistent scatters interferometry (PSI) approach, has made this a robust remote sensing technique for measuring large-scale ground subsidence with millimetric accuracy. This work has presented an advanced PSI analysis, to provide an unprecedented spatial extent and continuous temporal coverage of the subsidence in Ho Chi Minh City from 2006 to 2010. The study shows that subsidence is most severe in the Holocene silt loam areas along the Sai Gon River and in the southwest of the city. The groundwater extraction resulting from urbanization and urban growth is mainly responsible for the subsidence. Subsidence in turn leads to more flooding and water nuisance. The correlation between the reference leveling velocity and the estimated PSI result is R2 = 0.88, and the root mean square error is 4.3 (mm/year), confirming their good agreement. From 2006 to 2010, the estimation of the average subsidence rate is -8.0 mm/year, with the maximum value up to -70 mm/year. After four years, in regions along Sai Gon River and in the southwest of the city, the land has sunk up to -12 cm. If not addressed, subsidence leads to the increase of inundation, both in frequency and spatial extent. Finally, regarding climate change, the effects of subsidence should be considered as appreciably greater than those resulting from rising sea level. It is essential to consider these two factors, because the city is inhabited by more than 7.5 million people, where subsidence directly impacts urban structures and infrastructure.
Squamousness: Next-generation sequencing reveals shared molecular features across squamous tumor types

In order to gain a better understanding of the underlying biology of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), we tested the hypothesis that SCC originating from different organs may possess common molecular alterations. SCC samples (N = 361) were examined using clinical-grade targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS). The most frequent SCC tumor types were head and neck, lung, cutaneous, gastrointestinal and gynecologic cancers. The most common gene alterations were TP53 (64.5% of patients), PIK3CA (28.5%), CDKN2A (24.4%), SOX2 (17.7%), and CCND1 (15.8%). By comparing NGS results of our SCC cohort to a non-SCC cohort (N = 277), we found that CDKN2A, SOX2, NOTCH1, TP53, PIK3CA, CCND1, and FBXW7 were significantly more frequently altered, unlike KRAS, which was less frequently altered in SCC specimens (all P < 0.05; multivariable analysis). Therefore, we identified “squamousness” gene signatures (TP53, PIK3CA, CCND1, CDKN2A, SOX2, NOTCH 1, and FBXW7 aberrations, and absence of KRAS alterations) that were significantly more frequent in SCC versus non-SCC histologies. A multivariable co-alteration analysis established 2 SCC subgroups: (i) patients in whom TP53 and cyclin pathway (CDKN2A and CCND1) alterations strongly correlated but in whom PIK3CA aberrations were less frequent; and (ii) patients with PIK3CA alterations in whom TP53 mutations were less frequent (all P ≤ 0 .001, multivariable analysis). In conclusion, we identified a set of 8 genes altered with significantly different frequencies when SCC and non-SCC were compared, suggesting the existence of patterns for “squamousness. ” Targeting the PI3K-AKT-mTOR and/or cyclin pathway components in SCC may be warranted.
A Test of Portfolio Risk in Microfinance Institutions

Microfinance institutions serve some of the world 's most needy. A significant challenge facing these institutions is the battle for financial self- sufficiency. This includes controlling all the risks in the loan portfolio. In addition to adequate collection, timely payments provide for a greater extension of funds to other poor people, resulting in further outreach and development. This study uses a large international cross-sectional microfinance data set to test how lending methodology mitigates or contributes to loan portfolio risk. Group-lending is of particular importance to Christian organizations seeking to use microfinance as more than just assistance to the poor, but also to empower women and to increase outreach. The results show that group-lending methodologies reduce the risk in MFI portfolios compared to traditional individual loans. JEL Codes: G21, G32, E6.
Value added in further education and vocational training in Northern Ireland

At the age of 16, many young people in the UK decide to leave school and enter vocational education or training, either at a Further Education (FE) college, or on a Government training scheme. In spite of the size and importance of this group, the current debate about education and training standards has tended to focus more on how to improve schools, largely neglecting the potential contribution to be made by the FE and vocational training sectors. This study seeks to begin to redress this imbalance by examining the extent to which those young people leaving school and entering vocational education or training at 16 obtained further qualifications up to the age of 18. In particular, there is an examination of whether the choice between FE and Government training schemes at age 16 influences the subsequent success of young people in terms of gaining additional qualifications. Adopting an ordered probit approach to modelling qualifications levels, the results contradict the (somewhat pessimistic) common perception of Government training schemes. In particular, no significant differences per se are found between the value added performance of FE colleges and Government training schemes.
Are the Effects of Monetary Policy Asymmetric

This paper focuses on whether monetary policy has asymmetric effects. By building on the Markov switching model introduced by Hamilton (1989), we examine questions like: Does monetary policy have the same effect regardless of the current phase of economic fluctuations? Given that the economy is currently in a recession, does a fall in interest rates increase the probability of an expansion? Does monetary policy have an incremental effect on the growth rate within a given state, or does it only affect the economy if it is sufficiently strong to induce a state change (e.g., from recession to expansion)? We find economically and statistically significant evidence of asymmetry. As suggested by models with sticky prices or finance constraints, interest rate changes have larger effects during recessions. Interest rates also have substantial effects on the probability of a state switch. Le present article etudie si la politique monetaire a des effets asymetriques. En developpant le modele a changements de regime markoviens introduit par Hamilton (1989), nous examinons des questions du genre : La politique monetaire a-t-elle les memes effets selon les differentes phases du cycle economique ? Etant donne que l'economie est actuellement en recession, une baisse des taux d'interet accroit-elle la probabilite d'une expansion ? La politique monetaire a-t-elle un effet sur le taux de croissance de l'economie au sein d'une phase donnee, ou n'affecte-t-elle l'economie que si elle est suffisamment soutenue pour entrainer un changement de phase (p. ex. d'une recession a une expansion) ? Nous trouvons des effets asymetriques importants economiquement et statistiquement significatifs. Comme le suggerent les modeles supposant un ajustement lent des prix ou l'existence de contraintes financieres, les changements de taux d'interet ont des effets plus importants durant les recessions. Les taux d'interet ont egalement des effets substantiels sur la probabilite d'un changement d'etat de l'ec (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)
Evolution and Control of Imprinted FWA Genes in the Genus Arabidopsis

A central question in genomic imprinting is how a specific sequence is recognized as the target for epigenetic marking. In both mammals and plants, imprinted genes are often associated with tandem repeats and transposon-related sequences, but the role of these elements in epigenetic gene silencing remains elusive. FWA is an imprinted gene in Arabidopsis thaliana expressed specifically in the female gametophyte and endosperm. Tissue-specific and imprinted expression of FWA depends on DNA methylation in the FWA promoter, which is comprised of two direct repeats containing a sequence related to a SINE retroelement. Methylation of this element causes epigenetic silencing, but it is not known whether the methylation is targeted to the SINE-related sequence itself or the direct repeat structure is also necessary. Here we show that the repeat structure in the FWA promoter is highly diverse in species within the genus Arabidopsis. Four independent tandem repeat formation events were found in three closely related species. Another related species, A. halleri, did not have a tandem repeat in the FWA promoter. Unexpectedly, even in this species, FWA expression was imprinted and the FWA promoter was methylated. In addition, our expression analysis of FWA gene in vegetative tissues revealed high frequency of intra-specific variation in the expression level. In conclusion, we show that the tandem repeat structure is dispensable for the epigenetic silencing of the FWA gene. Rather, SINE-related sequence is sufficient for imprinting, vegetative silencing, and targeting of DNA methylation. Frequent independent tandem repeat formation events in the FWA promoter led us to propose that they may be a consequence, rather than cause, of the epigenetic control. The possible significance of epigenetic variation in reproductive strategies during evolution is also discussed.
HOST GALAXIES OF z = 4 QUASARS,,

We have undertaken a project to investigate the host galaxies and environments of a sample of quasars at z ∼ 4. In this paper, we describe deep near-infrared imaging of 34 targets using the Magellan I and Gemini North telescopes. We discuss in detail special challenges of distortion and nonlinearity that must be addressed when performing point-spread function (PSF) subtraction with data from these telescopes and their IR cameras, especially in very good seeing. We derive black hole masses from emission-line spectroscopy, and we calculate accretion rates from our Ks-band photometry, which directly samples the rest frame B for these objects. We introduce a new isophotal diameter technique for estimating host galaxy luminosities. We report the detection of four host galaxies on our deepest, sharpest images, and present upper limits for the others. We find that if host galaxies passively evolve such that they brighten by 2 mag or more in the rest-frame B band between the present and z = 4, then high-z hosts are less massive at a given black hole mass than are their low-z counterparts. We argue that the most massive hosts plateau at ≲10 L*. We estimate the importance of selection effects on this survey and the subsequent limitations of our conclusions. These results are in broad agreement with recent semianalytical models for the formation of luminous quasars and their host spheroids by mergers of gas-rich galaxies, with significant dissipation, and self-regulation of black hole growth and star formation by the burst of merger-induced quasar activity.
A Comparison of Cost of Equity Estimates of Local and Global CAPMs

Cost of equity estimates are compared for three pricing models: the traditional local CAPM, the single (market) factor global CAPM, and the two-factor global CAPM, with both market and currency index factors. For 2989 US stocks, the average difference in the cost of equity estimates is about 48 basis points between the local CAPM and the single-factor global CAPM, and is about 61 basis points between the two global models. For 70 developed-market ADRs, the corresponding average differences are 76 and 47 basis points, respectively. For 48 emerging-market ADRs, the corresponding average differences are 57 and 70 basis points.
ARGONAUTE2 cooperates with SWI/SNF complex to determine nucleosome occupancy at human Transcription Start Sites

Argonaute (AGO) proteins have a well-established role in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression as key component of the RNA silencing pathways. Recent evidence involves AGO proteins in mammalian nuclear processes such as transcription and splicing, though the mechanistic aspects of AGO nuclear functions remain largely elusive. Here, by SILAC-based interaction proteomics, we identify the chromatin-remodelling complex SWI/SNF as a novel AGO2 interactor in human cells. Moreover, we show that nuclear AGO2 is loaded with a novel class of Dicer-dependent short RNAs (sRNAs), that we called swiRNAs, which map nearby the Transcription Start Sites (TSSs) bound by SWI/SNF. The knock-down of AGO2 decreases nucleosome occupancy at the first nucleosome located downstream of TSSs in a swiRNA-dependent manner. Our findings indicate that in human cells AGO2 binds SWI/SNF and a novel class of sRNAs to establish nucleosome occupancy on target TSSs.
House dust (1–3)‐β‐d‐glucan and wheezing in infants

Background: (1–3)‐β‐d‐glucan is a fungal cell wall component, suspected to cause respiratory symptoms in adults. However, very little is known on the possible health effects of (1–3)‐β‐d‐glucan during infancy. We examined the association between (1–3)‐β‐d‐glucan exposure and the prevalence of allergen sensitization and wheezing during the first year of life in a birth cohort of 574 infants born to atopic parents. Endotoxin exposure was included as a possible confounder.
Forecasting Stock Returns

One of the key tasks in seeking to generate attractive returns is producing realistic and reasonable return expectations and forecasts. In the Markowitz mean-variance framework, an investor's objective is to choose a portfolio of securities that has the largest expected return for a given level of risk (as measured by the portfolio's variance). In the case of common stock, by return (or expected return) of a stock, we mean the change (or expected change) in the stock price over the period, plus any dividends paid, divided by the starting price. Of course, since we do not know the true values of the securities’ expected returns and covariances, these must be estimated or forecasted. Equity portfolio managers have used various statistical models for forecasting returns and risk. These models, referred to as predictive return models, make conditional forecasts of expected returns using the current information set. Predictive return models include regressive models, linear autoregressive models, dynamic factor models, and hidden-variable models. Keywords: Theorie de la Speculation; The Theory of Speculation; information set; predictability; multivariate random walks; martingales; martingale; predictive return models; Regressive model; Linear autoregressive model; Dynamic factor model; Hidden-variable model; autoregressive model; approximate; limited