Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Wage Differences by Language Group and the Market for Language Skills in Canada

This paper presents a simple theory of wage differentials among language groups. In multilingual societies, if labor demand for speakers of one language exceeds the supply of native speakers, bilingual workers will generally come from other language groups. There will be a wage premium for speaking the "excess demand" language but no additional premium for being bilingual. This pattern is generally consistent with evidence from the 1971 Canadian Census. In Quebec there were substantial economic rewards to learning French or English for men who spoke neither, and substantial rewards to speaking English for native French speakers. Even after learning English, however, and holding other factors constant, native French-speaking men earned lower wages than monolingual English men. There was no significant wage premium for native English speakers who learned French. Outside Quebec, monolingual English men earned significantly higher wages than men whose native language was neither French nor English, other factors constant, but there were no significant differences in wage rates between them and bilingual English or monolingual or bilingual French workers.
Title of dissertation: ESSAYS ON THE IMPACT OF CONFLICT AND REGULATIONS ON THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Title of dissertation: ESSAYS ON THE IMPACT OF CONFLICT AND REGULATIONS ON THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES Trang Thu Tran, Doctor of Philosophy, 2013 Dissertation directed by: Professor Anna Alberini Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics My dissertation explores the effect of ethnic conflict, or regulations meant to avoid ethnic strife, on firm employment and productivity in developing countries. The first chapter investigates the impact of the conflict in Cote d’Ivoire that began in 2000, using a census of all registered firms for the years 1998-2003. We use structural estimates of the production function and exploit spatial variations in conflict intensity to derive the cost of conflict on firms in terms of productivity loss. The results indicate that the conflict led to an average 16-23% drop in firm total factor productivity and the decline is 5-10 percentage point larger for foreign firms. These results are consistent with anecdotal evidence of attacks on and looting of foreigners and their businesses during the conflict. We also find evidence to support the hypothesis that firms responded by hiring less foreign workers. The second chapter studies affirmative action policies in Malaysia, focusing on a specific policy in the private sector. In particular, I examine the impact of a regulatory change which no longer requires foreign-owned manufacturers above a certain size to reserve 30% equity for (ethnic) Malay shareholders. I set up a theoretical model to show that the original policy results in a range of firms to stay inefficiently small. Removing this equity requirement for foreign firms leads to two effects: (i) foreign firms become less likely to be sized constrained, and (ii) their average size increases relatively to other firms. These predictions are supported by empirical evidence from difference-in-difference estimations, based on firm-level data from the Malaysia Productivity and Investment Climate Survey in 2002 and 2007. Finally, chapter three examines the relationship between labor standards and market power in imports in a cross-country context. The hypothesis is that since labor standard policies can act as a substitute for import tariffs, all else equal, bigger importers would have lower labor standards. IV estimation with geography-based instruments finds evidence consistent with theory. In general, countries with higher market shares in labor intensive imports tend to have weaker Free Association and Collective Bargaining rights. Moreover, the effect is stronger among GATT members. ESSAYS ON THE IMPACT OF CONFLICT AND REGULATIONS ON THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Age Correction in Dementia – Matching to a Healthy Brain

In recent research, many univariate and multivariate approaches have been proposed to improve automatic classification of various dementia syndromes using imaging data. Some of these methods do not provide the possibility to integrate possible confounding variables like age into the statistical evaluation. A similar problem sometimes exists in clinical studies, as it is not always possible to match different clinical groups to each other in all confounding variables, like for example, early-onset (age<65 years) and late-onset (age≥65) patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here, we propose a simple method to control for possible effects of confounding variables such as age prior to statistical evaluation of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data using support vector machine classification (SVM) or voxel-based morphometry (VBM). We compare SVM results for the classification of 80 AD patients and 79 healthy control subjects based on MRI data with and without prior age correction. Additionally, we compare VBM results for the comparison of three different groups of AD patients differing in age with the same group of control subjects obtained without including age as covariate, with age as covariate or with prior age correction using the proposed method. SVM classification using the proposed method resulted in higher between-group classification accuracy compared to uncorrected data. Further, applying the proposed age correction substantially improved univariate detection of disease-related grey matter atrophy using VBM in AD patients differing in age from control subjects. The results suggest that the approach proposed in this work is generally suited to control for confounding variables such as age in SVM or VBM analyses. Accordingly, the approach might improve and extend the application of these methods in clinical neurosciences.
A High-Speed PacketScore DDoS Defense System

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks pose a significant threat to the Internet while no effective defense schemes have been proposed or deployed. PacketScore has been proposed as a proactive DDoS defense scheme, which detects DDoS attacks, differentiates attacking packets from good ones with the use of packet scoring (scores are calculated per-packet based on the attribute values it possesses), and discards packets whose scores are lower than a dynamic threshold (lower scores are more likely to be the attacking ones). We extend the packet-scoring concept and devise new schemes to reduce implementation complexity and improve overall performance. More specifically, a Leaky-Bucket overflow control scheme simplifies the score computation. An Attribute-Value-Variation scoring scheme — a method based on analysis of deviations of the current traffic attribute values measured from a previously measured traffic baseline — increases the accuracy of detecting and differentiating attacks. An enhanced packet discarding method allows both schemes to be more adaptive to challenging attacks such as those that dynamically change their attacking types and intensity. The overall reduction in complexity, higher detection and differentiation accuracies, and great memory savings make the new schemes natural candidates for high-speed hardware implementations of DDoS defense systems.
Dependency-Driven Feature-based Learning for Extracting Protein-Protein Interactions from Biomedical Text

Recent kernel-based PPI extraction systems achieve promising performance because of their capability to capture structural syntactic information, but at the expense of computational complexity. This paper incorporates dependency information as well as other lexical and syntactic knowledge in a feature-based framework. Our motivation is that, considering the large amount of biomedical literature being archived daily, feature-based methods with comparable performance are more suitable for practical applications. Additionally, we explore the difference of lexical characteristics between biomedical and newswire domains. Experimental evaluation on the AIMed corpus shows that our system achieves comparable performance of 54.7 in F1-Score with other state-of-the-art PPI extraction systems, yet the best performance among all the feature-based ones.
A Model for the Identification of Areas Favourable for the Development of Tourism: A Case Study of the Šumava Mts. and South Bohemia Tourist Regions (Czech Republic)

Abstract A basis for the identification of potential tourist development areas was defined as a combined use of the model of area load by visitors, the territorially-located database of tourist attractions, and the perception of their attractiveness by visitors. A distinctive inequality was identified in the area load and the distribution of tourist attractions. The areas of development were determined on the basis of a difference between the relative attendance and the relative attractiveness of the partial territorial units of a regular hexagonal network, sized approximately 3 km2, with a concurrent requirement of above-average total attractiveness Shrnutí Základem pro identifikaci potenciálních rozvojových oblastí se stalo kombinované využití modelu zatíženosti oblasti návštěvností, územně lokalizované databáze atraktivit cestovního ruchu a percepce míry jejich atraktivnosti návštěvníky oblasti. Identifikována byla výrazná nerovnoměrnost v zatížení oblasti cestovním ruchem a nerovnoměrnosti v rozmístění atraktivit cestovního ruchu. Rozvojové oblasti byly určeny na základě rozdílu relativní návštěvnosti a relativní atraktivity v dílčích územních jednotkách pravidelné šestiúhelníkové sítě, jejichž přibližná rozloha je 3 km2, a při současně splněném požadavku na nadprůměrnou hodnotu celkové atraktivnosti.
Neuronal control of swimming in jellyfish: a comparative story

The swim-control systems of hydrozoan and scyphozoan medusae show distinct differences despite similarity in the mechanics of swimming in the two groups. This dichotomy was first demonstrated by G.J. Romanes at the end of the 19th century, yet his results still accurately highlight differences in the neuronal control systems in the two groups. A review of current information on swim-control systems reveals an elaboration of Romanes' dichotomy, but no significant changes to it. The dichotomy is used to suggest that cubomedusae are more closely aligned with the scyphomedusae, and to highlight areas of future research that could be used to look for common, possibly primitive, features of medusan conduction systems. Resume : Les systemes natatoires des meduses hydrozoaires et scyphozoaires comportent des differences importantes en depit de la similitude des mecanismes de nage chez les deux groupes. Cette dichotomie a ete observee pour la pre- miere fois a la fin du 19 e siecle par G.J. Romanes dont les resultats sont toujours utilises pour mettre en lumiere les differences de controle neurologique chez les deux groupes. Une revue de la litterature recente sur les systemes de con- trole de la nage indique que la dichotomie de Romanes a ete precisee, mais que rien de substantiel n'y a ete ajoute. Cette dichotomie laisse croire que les cubomeduses sont alignees plus etroitement avec les scyphomeduses et met en lumiere de nouvelles avenues de recherche qui pourraient eventuellement reveler l'existence de caracteres communs, possiblement primitifs, dans les systemes de conduction des meduses. (Traduit par la Redaction) Satterlie 1669
Uprooted and Unwanted: Bosnian Refugees in Austria and the United States

The tragedy of war does not end when the soldiers put down their guns. Among the after-effects, the dislocation and relocation of civilians often loom large. The aftermath of the Bosnian conflicts has left many refugees needing to establish new lives, often in radically different cultures. In Uprooted and Unwanted, Barbara Franz offers a cogent look at how these refugees have fared in two representative cities - Vienna and New York City. Between 1991 and 2001, some 30,000 Bosnian refugees settled in Austria, and 120,000 found their way to the United States. Franz focuses on the strategies, skills, and informal networks used by Bosnian refugees, particulary women, to adapt to official policies and administrative practices in their host societies. Her analysis concludes that historically inaccurate ideas on how to deal with displaced persons have led to policies in both Europe and North America that have adversely affected those whose lives have been devastated by war.
The Collapsing Method: Does the Direction of Collapse Affect Accuracy?

The Greenfield-Chiclana Collapsing Defuzzifier comes in many variants, depending on the order of slice collapse. The accuracy of the fundamental variants of forward, backward, in- ward and outward, and the composite variants of forward-backward and outward right-left is compared experimentally for the discretised interval type-2 fuzzy set.
Singing modulates parvalbumin interneurons throughout songbird forebrain vocal control circuitry

Across species, the performance of vocal signals can be modulated by the social environment. Zebra finches, for example, adjust their song performance when singing to females (‘female-directed’ or FD song) compared to when singing in isolation (‘undirected’ or UD song). These changes are salient, as females prefer the FD song over the UD song. Despite the importance of these performance changes, the neural mechanisms underlying this social modulation remain poorly understood. Previous work in finches has established that expression of the immediate early gene EGR1 is increased during singing and modulated by social context within the vocal control circuitry. Here, we examined whether particular neural subpopulations within those vocal control regions exhibit similar modulations of EGR1 expression. We compared EGR1 expression in neurons expressing parvalbumin (PV), a calcium buffer that modulates network plasticity and homeostasis, among males that performed FD song, males that produced UD song, or males that did not sing. We found that, overall, singing but not social context significantly affected EGR1 expression in PV neurons throughout the vocal control nuclei. We observed differences in EGR1 expression between two classes of PV interneurons in the basal ganglia nucleus Area X. Additionally, we found that singing altered the amount of PV expression in neurons in HVC and Area X and that distinct PV interneuron types in Area X exhibited different patterns of modulation by singing. These data indicate that throughout the vocal control circuitry the singing-related regulation of EGR1 expression in PV neurons may be less influenced by social context than in other neuron types and raise the possibility of cell-type specific differences in plasticity and calcium buffering.
Variation in the 3-Hydroxyl-3-Methylglutaryl Coenzyme A Reductase Gene Is Associated With Racial Differences in Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Response to Simvastatin Treatment

Background— Use of 3-hydroxyl-3-methylglutaryl-3 coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR) inhibitors, or statins, reduces cardiovascular disease risk by lowering plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) concentrations. However, LDL-C response is variable and influenced by many factors, including racial ancestry, with attenuated response in blacks compared with whites. We hypothesized that single nucleotide polymorphisms in the gene encoding HMGCR, a rate-limiting enzyme in cholesterol synthesis and the direct enzymatic target of statins, contribute to variation in statin response. Methods and Results— Genomic resequencing of HMGCR in 24 blacks and 23 whites identified 79 single nucleotide polymorphisms. Eleven single nucleotide polymorphisms were selected to tag common linkage disequilibrium clusters. These single nucleotide polymorphisms and the common haplotypes inferred from them were tested for association with plasma LDL-C and LDL-C response to simvastatin treatment (40 mg/d for 6 weeks) in 326 blacks and 596 whites. Black carriers of H7 and/or H2 had significantly lower baseline LDL-C (P=0.0006) and significantly attenuated LDL-C response compared with black participants who did not carry either haplotype as measured by absolute response (−1.23±0.04 mmol/L, n=209, versus −1.45±0.06 mmol/L, n=117; P=0.0008) and percent response (−36.9±1.0% versus −40.6±1.3%; P=0.02), but no haplotype effect was observed in whites. Percent LDL-C response was lowest in carriers of both H2 and H7, all but one of whom were black (−28.2±4.9%, n=12 H2+H7 carriers, versus −41.5±0.5%, n=650 H2/H7 noncarriers; P=0.001). LDL-C responses in H7 and/or H2 noncarriers were indistinguishable between blacks and whites. Conclusions— HMGCR gene polymorphisms are associated with reduced plasma LDL-C and LDL-C response to simvastatin, and these effects are most evident in blacks.
Tagoram: real-time tracking of mobile RFID tags to high precision using COTS devices

In many applications, we have to identify an object and then locate the object to within high precision (centimeter- or millimeter-level). Legacy systems that can provide such accuracy are either expensive or suffering from performance degradation resulting from various impacts, e.g., occlusion for computer vision based approaches. In this work, we present an RFID-based system, Tagoram, for object localization and tracking using COTS RFID tags and readers. Tracking mobile RFID tags in real time has been a daunting task, especially challenging for achieving high precision. Our system achieves these three goals by leveraging the phase value of the backscattered signal, provided by the COTS RFID readers, to estimate the location of the object. In Tagoram, we exploit the tag's mobility to build a virtual antenna array by using readings from a few physical antennas over a time window. To illustrate the basic idea of our system, we firstly focus on a simple scenario where the tag is moving along a fixed track known to the system. We propose Differential Augmented Hologram (DAH) which will facilitate the instant tracking of the mobile RFID tag to a high precision. We then devise a comprehensive solution to accurately recover the tag's moving trajectories and its locations, relaxing the assumption of knowing tag's track function in advance. We have implemented the Tagoram system using COTS RFID tags and readers. The system has been tested extensively in the lab environment and used for more than a year in real airline applications. For lab environment, we can track the mobile tags in real time with a millimeter accuracy to a median of 5mm and 7.29mm using linear and circular track respectively. In our year- long large scale baggage sortation systems deployed in two airports, our results from real deployments show that Tagoram can achieve a centimeter-level accuracy to a median of 6.35cm in these real deployments.
CD4-Positive T Cell-Mediated Neuroprotection Requires Dual Compartment Antigen Presentation

Our laboratory discovered that CD4-positive (CD4+) T cells of the immune system convey transitory neuroprotection to injured mouse facial motoneurons (FMNs) (Serpe et al., 1999, 2000, 2003). A fundamental question in the mechanisms responsible for neuroprotection concerns the identity of the cell(s) that serves as the antigen-presenting cell (APC) to activate the CD4+ T cells. Here, we first establish that CD4+ T cells reactive to non-CNS antigen fail to support FMN survival and, second, demonstrate a two-compartment model of CD4+ T cell activation. Mouse bone marrow (BM) chimeras were developed that discriminate between resident antigen-presenting host cell and BM-derived antigen-presenting donor cell expression of major histocompatibility complex II within central and peripheral compartments, respectively. After facial nerve transection, neither compartment alone is sufficient to result in activated CD4+ T cell-mediated FMN survival. Rather, CD4+ T cell-mediated neuroprotection appears to depend on both resident microglial cells in the central compartment and a BM-derived APC in the peripheral compartment. This is the first in vivo report demonstrating a neuroprotective mechanism requiring APC functions by resident (i.e., parenchymal) microglial cells.
Software renewal process comprehension using dynamic effort estimation

The paper presents a method for dynamic effort estimation, together with its supporting tool, and experimental validation on a renewal project of a very aged software system. Method characteristics such as dynamic tuning and fine granularity allow the tool to quickly react to process variations. The experimental validation shows how the combination of meaningful predictors and fine grain calibration is effective for understanding the enacted process and its implicit changes, or controlling the efficacy of explicit process changes. The study also confirms that the estimation model is process-dependent and then cannot be reused for other processes, albeit similar.
Risk Factors for Herpes Zoster Among Adults

Background. The causes of varicella-zoster virus reactivation and herpes zoster (HZ) are largely unknown. We assessed potential risk factors for HZ, the data for which cannot be obtained from the medical sector. Methods. We conducted a matched case-control study. We established active surveillance in Olmsted County, Minnesota to identify HZ occurring among persons age ≥50 years during 2010–2011. Cases were confirmed by medical record review. Herpes zoster-free controls were age- and sex-matched to cases. Risk factor data were obtained by telephone interview. Results. We enrolled 389 HZ case patients and 511 matched controls; the median age was 65 and 66 years, respectively. Herpes zoster was associated with family history of HZ (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.65); association was highest with first-degree or multiple relatives (aOR = 1.87 and 3.08, respectively). Herpes zoster was also associated with prior HZ episodes (aOR = 1.82), sleep disturbance (aOR = 2.52), depression (aOR = 3.81), and recent weight loss (aOR = 1.95). Stress was a risk factor for HZ (aOR = 2.80), whereas a dose-response relationship was not noted. All associations indicated were statistically significant (P < .05). Herpes zoster was not associated with trauma, smoking, tonsillectomy, diet, or reported exposure to pesticides or herbicides (P > .1). Conclusions. We identified several important risk factors for HZ; however, the key attributable causes of HZ remain unknown.
On the role of Ramsey quantifiers in first order arithmetic

The purpose of this paper is to study a formal system PA(Q2) of first order Peano arithmetic, PA, augmented by a Ramsey quantifier Q2 which binds two free variables. The intended meaning of Q2xx′φ(x, x′) is that there exists an infinite set X of natural numbers such that φ(a, a′) holds for all a, a′ Є X such that a ≠ a′. Such an X is called a witness set for Q2xx′φ(x, x′). Our results would not be affected by the addition of further Ramsey quantifiers Q3, Q4, …, Here of course the intended meaning of Qkx1 … xkφ(x1,…xk) is that there exists an infinite set X such that φ(a1…, ak) holds for all k-element subsets {a1, … ak} of X. Ramsey quantifiers were first introduced in a general model theoretic setting by Magidor and Malitz [13]. The system PA{Q2), or rather, a system essentially equivalent to it, was first defined and studied by Macintyre [12]. Some of Macintyre's results were obtained independently by Morgenstern [15]. The present paper is essentially self-contained, but all of our results have been directly inspired by those of Macintyre [12]. After some preliminaries in §1, we begin in §2 by giving a new completeness proof for PA(Q2). A by-product of our proof is that for every regular uncountable cardinal k, every consistent extension of PA(Q2) has a k-like model in which all classes are definable. (By a class we mean a subset of the universe of the model, every initial segment of which is finite in the sense of the model.)