Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Land and Residential Property Markets in a Booming Economy: New Evidence from Beijing

Beijing's housing market has boomed over the last fifteen years. The city's population grew by 40.6% and per capita income (in constant RMB) by 273.9% from 1991 to 2005. Using two geocoded data sets, we present new evidence on the real estate price gradient, land price gradient, population densities, and building densities in Beijing's recent free housing market. The classic urban monocentric model's predictions are largely upheld in Beijing. We also document the importance of local public goods, such as access to public transit infrastructure, core high schools, clean air, and major universities, most of which have exogenous locations, as important determinants of real estate prices.
Cost-effectiveness of workplace closure and travel restriction for mitigating influenza outbreaks: a network-based simulation

Background: Social distancing strategies, such as workplace closure and travel restriction, have been widely considered as alternative measures to contain influenza viruses, particularly when vaccines and antiviral drugs are under development. However, their cost-effectiveness in large urbanized populations is poorly understood. Method: To fill this knowledge gap, this research builds a spatially-explicit network-based model to simulate influenza transmission, mitigation strategies, and their associated costs. This model represents a spatio-temporal network of individuals' daily contacts, which enables the simulation of local infection and long-distance dispersion of influenza. The workplace closure and travel restriction strategies, as well as their combinations with antiviral prophylaxis, are incorporated into this model to estimate their cost-effectiveness in mitigating seasonal flu and pandemic flu. The metropolitan area of Buffalo, NY, USA, with a population about 1 million, is selected as the study area. Results: Without any intervention, the seasonal flu and pandemic flu cost $234.1 million and $331.1 million, respectively. The closure of 30% affected workplace is the most cost-effective single strategy with $12.9K per case averted for seasonal flu and $34.9K for pandemic flu. The travel restriction is not cost-effective if applied alone, but a 50% travel restriction in combination with antiviral prophylaxis and workplace closure forms the best strategy, which only costs $10.6K per cases averted for seasonal flu and $13.5K for pandemic flu. Conclusions: For a large urbanized area, the closure of affected workplaces could be an effective and cost-saving strategy to mitigate influenza outbreaks, while the highest cost-effectiveness can be achieved by combining the travel restriction with antiviral prophylaxis and workplace closure.
Disciplining writing: the case for multi‐disciplinary writing groups to support writing for publication by higher degree by research candidates in the humanities, arts and social sciences

This article addresses multi‐disciplinary writing groups in supporting writing for publication for higher degree by research candidates in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Drawing on focus group discussions with postgraduate research students from the Faculty of Arts at Monash University in Australia who participated in the writing groups, it investigates the participants’ perceptions of the multi‐disciplinary nature of the groups and some of the benefits of sharing writing with fellow postgraduate research students from different fields of study. Discussing both the strengths and weaknesses of the multi‐disciplinarity of the groups as identified by participants, the authors suggest that such groups can provide a forum for postgraduates to develop their ‘professional’ academic identity and develop their writing beyond the context of their theses and can have some unexpected benefits to participants’ sense of themselves as disciplinary proponents. The multi‐disciplinary context is thus considered as providing a level playing field in which postgraduates may approach the writing process as a shared methodology, encompassing a suite of specialised but generic skills that cross‐disciplinary boundaries.
“When the Devil Turns … ”: The Political Foundations of Independent Judicial Review

An independent judiciary with the power to constrain the executive and legislative branches is commonly thought to be the foundation of government under the rule of law. However, it is not obvious why those with political power would ever tolerate the constraints imposed by an independent court. I offer an explanation for independent judicial review that is based on ongoing political competition between risk‐averse parties. An independent judiciary is a mechanism through which these political competitors can enforce mutual restraint. But support for independent judicial review is sustainable only when (1) the political system is sufficiently competitive, (2) judicial doctrine is sufficiently moderate, and (3) parties are both sufficiently risk averse and forward looking. I employ a simple formal model to show how these variables influence the political sustainability of independent judicial review, and I also present the results of a preliminary empirical test that confirms the central hypotheses.
Situating Empowerment for Millennial Schoolgirls in Gujarat, India and Shaanxi, China

Comparative findings from girls’ education projects in Gujarat, India, and Shaanxi, China, are used to explore two questions: How and under what conditions does schooling contribute to girls’ instrumental and intrinsic empowerment? What does it mean to become an educated rural girl in contexts where girls are marginalized? A review of scholarship on empowerment, and the role of schools in enabling that process, is followed by an examination of the school/empowerment link in the case study projects, which to varying degrees have succeeded in assisting girls to gain resources, capabilities, experiences, and networks that expand the lenses through which they see themselves and their authority in the world. Three intertwining processes that affect schooling’s potential to enable girls’ empowerment include: 1. ) expanding educational access and opportunities; 2. ) declining cultures and economies of son preference; and 3. ) shifting levels of “trust” in schools as a critical “good” for girls’ futures. Our designation of participating girls as “millennials” refers both to the era in which they are coming of age, and to how their capabilities, aspirations, and identifications as schoolgirls, daughters, and laborers have been shaped by global, national, and local reinterpretations of the world’s Millennium Development Goals.
Castles in the air revisited

We show that the total number of faces bounding any one cell in an arrangement ofn (d−1)-simplices in ℝd isO(nd−1 logn), thus almost settling a conjecture of Pach and Sharir. We present several applications of this result, mainly to translational motion planning in polyhedral environments. We than extend our analysis to derive other results on complexity in arrangements of simplices. For example, we show that in such an arrangement the total number of vertices incident to the same cell on more than one “side” isO(nd−1 logn). We, also show that the number of repetitions of a “k-flap,” formed by intersectingd−k given simplices, along the boundary of the same cell, summed over all cells and allk-flaps, isO(nd−1 log2n). We use this quantity, which we call theexcess of the arrangement, to derive bounds on the complexity ofm distinct cells of such an arrangement.
Effect of cigarette smoking on the course of Crohn's disease.

OBJECTIVE It has been shown that smokers are more likely than non-smokers to develop Crohn's disease. In order to examine the influence of smoking on the course of Crohn's disease, as measured by the risk of surgery, the need for surgery was assessed in patients with Crohn's disease. DESIGN The course of Crohn's disease was evaluated as to smoking status by life table analysis. SETTING A tertiary hospital in Essen, Germany. PATIENTS The study involved 346 patients with Crohn's disease admitted to hospital between 1989 and 1992. Only patients residing in the City of Essen were included. RESULTS Of the 346 patients, 144 smokers and 143 non-smokers were included in the analysis. Overall, 73% of smokers and 39% of non-smokers required one or more operations. The corresponding relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals were for one operation and more than one operation or no operation at all (RR 1.0) 3.9 (2.2-6.9) and 10.8 (5.3-22.1), respectively. There were significant differences as to recurrence rates (defined as further surgery after first surgery for control of disease) between smokers and non-smokers. For smokers the 5- and 10-year recurrence rates were 43% and 64%. For non-smokers corresponding recurrence rates were 26% and 33%. For 5- and 10-year recurrence rates the RR estimates for smokers versus non-smokers were 3.1 (1.7-5.8) and 6.7 (2.7-6.8). When stratified by gender, the increased risk for recurrence was obvious in both sexes. For the number of cigarettes smoked a dose-response effect was obvious in women. CONCLUSION These data suggest that the course of Crohn's disease is less favourable in smokers than in non-smokers.
Dexmedetomidine attenuates sympathoadrenal response to tracheal intubation and reduces perioperative anaesthetic requirement

Background: Dexmedetomidine, an α-2 adrenoreceptor agonist, is gaining popularity for its sympatholytic, sedative, anaesthetic sparing and haemodynamic stabilising properties without significant respiratory depression. Methods: We assessed the efficacy of dexmedetomidine in attenuating sympathoadrenal response to tracheal intubation and analysed reduction in intraoperative anaesthetic requirement. Sixty patients scheduled for elective surgery of more than 3 hours were randomly selected. Control group received isoflurane–opioid and study group received isoflurane–opioid-dexmedetomidine anaesthesia. Dexmedetomidine infusion in a dose of 1 μg/kg was given over 10 min before the induction of anaesthesia and was continued in a dose of 0.2–0.7 μg/kg/Hr until skin closure. All patients were induced with thiopentone, fentanyl and vecuronium. Haemodynamic variables were continuously recorded. Results: The need for thiopentone and isoflurane was decreased by 30% and 32%, respectively, in the dexmedetomidine group as compared to the control group. After tracheal intubation, maximal average increase was 8% in systolic and 11% in diastolic blood pressure in dexmedetomidine group, as compared to 40% and 25%, respectively, in the control group. Similarly, average increase in heart rate was 7% and 21% in the dexmedetomidine and control groups, respectively. Fentanyl requirement during the operation was 100±10 μg in the control group and 60±10 μg in the dexmedetomidine group. Conclusion: Perioperative infusion of dexmedetomidine is effective in attenuating sympathoadrenal response to tracheal intubation. It has significant anaesthetic and opioid sparing effect.
Hemifacial differences in the in‐group advantage in emotion recognition

Some researchers have interpreted findings of in‐group advantage in emotion judgements as ethnic bias by perceivers. This study is the first linking in‐group advantage to subtle differences in emotional expressions, using composites created with left and right facial hemispheres. Participants from the USA, India, and Japan judged facial expressions from all three cultures. As predicted, in‐group advantage was greater for left than right hemifacial composites. Left composites were not universally more recognisable, but relatively more recognisable to in‐group members only. There was greater pancultural agreement about the recognition levels of right hemifacial composites. This suggests the left facial hemisphere uses an expressive style less universal and more culturally specific than the right, and that bias alone does not cause the in‐group advantage.
From Swords to Words: Does Macro-Level Change in Self-Control Predict Long-Term Variation in Levels of Homicide?

Over the past decade the idea that Europe experienced a centuries-long decline in homicide, interrupted by recurrent surges and at different speeds in different parts of the continent, became widely acknowledged. So far explanations have relied mostly on anecdotal evidence, usually broadly relying on Norbert Elias’s theory of the “civilizing process. ” One major general theory of large-scale fluctuations in homicide rates, self-control theory, offers a wide range of hypotheses that can be tested with rigorous quantitative analyses. A number of macro-level indicators for societal efforts to promote civility, self-discipline, and long-sightedness have been examined and appear to be strongly associated with fluctuations in homicide rates over the past six centuries.
Morphological priming, fragment completion, and connectionist networks

Abstract Long-term morphological priming is a form of repetition priming in which the identification of a word is primed by the prior presentation of a morphologically related word. We investigated morphological priming using a variant of the fragment completion task in which a word is briefly presented with one of its letters replaced by a pattern mask and subjects attempt to identify the letter “hidden” by the mask. In Experiment 1 a levels-of-processing manipulation at study was found to affect free recall but not masked fragment completion, suggesting that repetition priming in the latter task is not the result of explicit memory processes. Subsequent experiments revealed that both masked and standard fragment completion are influenced by morphological priming and that, although this effect cannot be attributed to the orthographic and phonological similarity of morphologically related words, it does vary in magnitude as a function of orthographic similarity. These results are consistent with a connectionist account of morphological priming in which morphological effects arise from the activation dynamics of a connectionist network even though morphological relationships are not explicitly represented in this network.
FELLOWSHIP OUTCOMES AND FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH SCIENTIFIC SUCCESSFULNESS OF JUNIOR RESEARCHERS IN CROATIA

We analyzed data on the junior researchers, using a sample of junior researchers whose fellowship supports from the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sports were terminated between 1999 and 2005. The study included 1, 320 junior researchers, of whom 434 completed a PhD degree (32.9%). Junior researchers in natural sciences were the most effective in completing a PhD degree (54.7%), while those in biomedicine were the least effective (17.1%). Junior researchers in natural sciences also had the longest employment duration. Completing a PhD degree was positively associated with female gender (logistic regression odds ratio OR=1.38), co-authoring a scientific article with the mentor (OR=2.27), and above-average scientific production of the junior researcher (OR=2.21). Junior researchers who were among top 10% of students according to their grade point average during undergraduate studies had significantly lower odds of completing a PhD degree during fellowship (OR=0.23), as well as junior researchers who were employed in biomedicine (OR=0.22). The study results indicate the potential points which could be influenced during the junior researchers selection process and at the moment of granting fellowships, both with an aim to improve the effectiveness of the junior researcher fellowship support system in the Republic of Croatia.
Early spontaneous preterm deliveries before 34 weeks’ gestation in a tertiary care centre: analysis of maternal factors and obstetric history

Abstract Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate risk factors associated with spontaneous early preterm delivery. Methods: The study included 1865 singleton pregnancies with 31 spontaneous deliveries between 23 and 35 weeks' gestation compared to 1834 deliveries at the term analysed between 2008 and 2009. Both groups were 100% Caucasian. Results: Spontaneous early delivery occurred in 31(1.2%) of the 2528 pregnancies. In the preterm delivery group, compared with unaffected pregnancies, there was an increased incidence of maternal anaemia (OR 2.8, 95%CI: 1.8–4.5; p < 0.001). Previous preterm delivery between 23 and 34 weeks’ gestation (OR 10.7, 95%CI: 5.2–21.7; p < 0.001) as well as vaginal bleeding beyond the first trimester (OR 3.8, 95%CI: 1.2–12.1; p = 0.039), assisted conception (4.1, 95%CI: 2.0–8.4; p = 0.001) and fetal loss before 16 weeks’ gestation (OR 4.2, 95%CI: 2.5–7.1; p < 0.001) are strongly associated with spontaneous preterm delivery. Conclusions: Previous preterm delivery as well as fetal loss before 16 weeks’ gestation, assisted conception, vaginal bleeding beyond the first trimester and maternal anaemia are strongly associated with an increased risk for spontaneous early preterm delivery.
A Light-Driven Therapy of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Using Gold Nanorods-Based Nanocarriers for Co-Delivery of Doxorubicin and siRNA

In this work, we report the engineering of polyelectrolyte polymers coated Gold nanorods (AuNRs)-based nanocarriers that are capable of co-delivering small interfering RNA (siRNA) and an anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) to Panc-1 cancer cells for combination of both chemo- and siRNA-mediated mutant K-Ras gene silencing therapy. Superior anticancer efficacy was observed through synergistic combination of promoted siRNA and DOX release upon irradiating the nanoplex formulation with 665 nm light. Our antitumor study shows that the synergistic effect of AuNRs nanoplex formulation with 665 nm light treatment is able to inhibit the in vivo tumor volume growth rate by 90%. The antitumor effect is contributed from the inactivation of K-Ras gene and thereby causing a profound synthesis (S) phase arrest in treated Panc-1 cells. Our study shows that the percentage of Panc-1 cells treated by nanoplex formulation with S phase is determined to be 35% and it is 17% much higher than that of Panc-1 cells without any treatments. The developed nanotherapy formulation here, that combines chemotherapy, RNA silencing and NIR window light-mediated therapy, will be seen to be the next natural step to be taken in the clinical research for improving the therapeutic outcomes of the pancreatic adenocarcinoma treatment.
In vitro maturation of immature thymocytes into immunocompetent T cells in the absence of direct thymic influence

Peanut lectin (PNL) binds to a majority of mouse thymocytes (Thc) in suspension. By using cell affinity chromatography on a column of anti-PNL antibody, Thc populations at least 96 percent pure in PNL + or - cells, as judged by immunofluorescence, were obtained. PNL(+) cells are rich in Thy 1 and poor in H(2) antigens, cortisone sensitive, unresponsive to phytohemagglutinin (PHA), and immunologically incompetent, as judged by mixed lymphocyte reaction, popliteal lymph node graft-versus-host assay, and by testing helper activity in a primary in vitro antibody response to sheep erythrocytes; the converse is true of PNL(-) cells. Thus, PNL(+) and (-) cells appear to correspond to cortical and medullary Thc, respectively, as previously suggested. In culture, PNL(+) Thc show poor viability and a weak proliferative response to concanavalin A (Con A), except when supernate (SUP) of 24 h Con A stimulated lymph node lymphocyte cultures, or irradiated lymph node cells, are added, in which cases a strong proliferative response to the mitogen is observed. A variety of control experiments showed that the proliferating cells did not result from preferential stimulation of a few contaminating PNL(-) Thc present in the PNL(+) Thc cultures. The blasts resulting from PNL(+) Thc proliferation display mitogen-induced cytotoxicity, and give rise to a population of medium-sized lymphocytes, mostly PNL(-), poor in Thy 1 and rich in H(2) antigens, PHA responsive, and immunologically competent in the above-mentioned assays. Fresh PNL(+) Thc responded in mixed lymphocyte reaction in the presence of SUP (lectin depleted) and since incubation in SUP alone did not confer reactivity on PNL(+) Thc, it appears therefore that (a) immature Thc possess alloantigen and mitogen-specific surface receptors but lack the capacity to respond by proliferation to receptor triggering without the help of extracellular factor(s) released by mature lymphoid cells stimulated by mitogens (b) cell division is associated with the acquisition of immunological responsiveness, characteristic of mature T lymphocytes. The implications of these findings for the ontogenesis of thymus-derived lymphocytes, and for the possible traffic of Thc within and from the thymus, are discussed.
A Survey of Volunteer Appropriate Adult Services in England and Wales

The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (CDA) s. 38(4)(a) required local authorities to ensure the provision of appropriate adults for young people and CDA s. 39(7)(a) provided that it was Youth Offending Teams’ duty to co-ordinate such provision. Bearing in mind the virtual absence of any guidance, the first published national survey of Youth Offending Team managers was conducted to determine the nature of appropriate adult arrangements. This article reports on the issues that emerged concerning management, protocols, recruitment and selection, training, monitoring and support, which will be of particular interest to those engaged in the establishment and maintenance of appropriate adult services. Of broader interest, this article concludes that as appropriate adult arrangements differ between Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) across England and Wales, the nature and quality of services for young people in police custody inevitably varies.
Social Work Field Education and Supervision across Asia Pacific

development of the ‘‘inner supervisor. ’’ Chapter 11 explores supervision at a distance, using technology and the book ends with a short chapter on making and acquiring props and resources. This material might have better been placed in Chapter 4. The book ends abruptly, almost as if the authors had run out of steam. There is a set of suggested further readings and a good index. Inspiring Creative Supervision deserves a place on the bookshelf of those who are committed to developing the practice of clinical or professional supervision, especially those who train and supervise supervisors. It is written in a personal style, and while the origins of ideas are referenced, it does not purport to be an academic text, so for some readers there may be insufficient reference to the wider literature of supervision. However, it is well-grounded in experiential learning and the authors have done a fine job in promoting supervisor creativity and growth.
Human achaete-scute homologue 1 (HASH-1) is downregulated in differentiating neuroblastoma cells.

The mammalian achaete-scute homologue, MASH-1, is crucial for early development of the sympathetic nervous system and is transiently expressed in sympathetic neuroblasts during embryogenesis. Here we report that the human homologue (HASH-1) was expressed in all analyzed cell lines (6/6) derived from the sympathetic nervous system tumor neuroblastoma. The majority of small-cell lung carcinoma (4/5) cell lines tested expressed HASH-1, while other nonneuronal/non-neuroendocrine cell lines were negative. Induced differentiation of neuroblastoma cells resulted in HASH-1 downregulation. This occurred concomitant with induction of neurite outgrowth and expression of the neuronal marker genes GAP-43 and neuropeptide Y. Constitutive expression of exogenous HASH-1 did not alter the capacity of the neuroblastoma cells to differentiate in response to differentiation-inducing agents. It is concluded that moderate HASH-1 expression does not compromise the capacity of these cells to differentiate.