Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Credit Supply and the Price of Housing

We show that since 1994, branching deregulations in the U.S have significantly affected the supply of mortgage credit, and ultimately house prices. With deregulation, the number and volume of originated mortgage loans increase, while denial rates fall. But the deregulation has no effect on a placebo sample, formed of independent mortgage companies that should not be affected by the regulatory change. This sharpens the causal interpretation of our results. Deregulation boosts the supply of mortgage credit, which has significant end effects on house prices. We find evidence house prices rise with branching deregulation, particularly so in Metropolitan Areas where construction is inelastic for topographic reasons. There is also evidence the fall in house prices after 2006 is most pronounced in least regulated states. We document these results in a large sample of counties across the U.S. We also focus on a reduced cross-section formed by counties on each side of a state border, where a regression discontinuity approach is possible. Our conclusions are strengthened.
THE SOLAR NEIGHBORHOOD. XXI. PARALLAX RESULTS FROM THE CTIOPI 0.9 m PROGRAM: 20 NEW MEMBERS OF THE 25 PARSEC WHITE DWARF SAMPLE

We present accurate trigonometric parallaxes for 20 new members of the 25 pc white dwarf (WD) sample as part of the Discovery and Evalution of Nearby Stellar Embers (DENSE) project.77 http://www.DenseProject. com Previously, there were a total of 112 WD systems with trigonometric parallaxes placing them within 25 pc and of these, 99 have trigonometric parallaxes known to better than 10%. Thus, the 20 new members presented in this work represent a 20% increase in the number of WDs accurately known to be within 25 pc. In addition, we present updated parallaxes for seven known WDs within 10 pc that have been observed as part of the Astrometric Search for Planets Encircling Nearby Stars initiative to monitor nearby southern red dwarfs and WDs for astrometric perturbations from unseen companions. Including a few WD companions and WDs beyond 25 pc, we present a total of 33 trigonometric parallaxes. We perform atmospheric modeling for WDs to determine physical parameters (i.e., Teff, log g, mass, and WD age). Finally, a new ZZ Ceti pulsating WD was identified and revised constraints are placed on two mixed H/He atmosphere cool WDs that display continuum absorption in the near-infrared. http://www.DenseProject. com
Inhaled corticosteroids and lower lung function decline in young children with cystic fibrosis

A recent American registry analysis in cystic fibrosis (CF) children showed less lung function decline after starting inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) use. We therefore examined the influence of ICS treatment on lung function in Belgian CF patients. Data from patients ≥6 yrs of age were eligible, provided entries on lung function, height and ICS use were available in two consecutive years. Data after oral steroid use or transplant were excluded. 852 subjects contributed data with 2,976 data pairs analysed, 44.9% concerning years of ICS use. Yearly % predicted decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) was 1.07% lower during ICS use (p = 0.001). Subgroup analysis for age revealed that the lower FEV1 decline rate during ICS use was only statistically significant in children 6–12 yrs of age (2.56%; p = 0.0003). Baseline FEV1 was lower by 5.89% (p<0.0001) in ICS users for all age groups combined, but there was no difference in baseline lung function in the children 6–12 yrs of age. In 6–12-yr-old children with CF, baseline lung function was similar in ICS users and nonusers, but annualised FEV1 decline was 2.56% pred lower in ICS users. Our data therefore support recent American findings.
Cross-Country Variation in the Liquidity Effect: The Role of Financial Markets

This paper examines cross-country variation in the liquidity effect - the negative response of interest rates to money supply shocks - focusing on the role of financial factors in explaining this variation. We estimate the liquidity effect for each of 21 countries using VAR models in which money supply shocks are restricted to be neutral in the long-run, then regress the estimated liquidity effect on financial market variables across countries. We find that financial factors play an important role in determining the magnitude of the liquidity effect, and that this evidence is most consistent with generalised versions of limited-participation models. Copyright 2004 Royal Economic Society.
Monitoring the Security Health of Software Systems

Detecting security bugs during the development cycle of a software is extremely difficult as effective testing approaches for such bugs do not exist. Applications are often deployed without being tested for security vulnerabilities even though the application domain demands highly secure software. Hence there is a need to develop systems which can monitor such applications for security violations and take immediate actions if any violation occurs. In this paper we describe an approach for monitoring the security health of a software system. Our methodology involves an agent based approach which communicates with the health monitoring system running as an independent process. We make this agent a part of the application (binary) and modify the binary at appropriate locations to transfer the control to the agent attached. The agent sends critical information regarding the execution to the monitoring system. The monitoring system analyzes the data and takes suitable actions. Currently our system monitors the following security bugs uffer overflow, race conditions (time of check to time to use vulnerability), random number vulnerability and can be extended for other vulnerabilities also
Mega-Analysis of Meta-Analyses

Conflicting reports on the effectiveness of these approaches abound-but meta-analysis can help sort out overall benefits and weaknesses of these and other educational practices . This article reports on some of these broad studies of research that seem to indicate effectiveand noneffective-teaching strategies. But as special educators all know, the most important consideration is a knowledge of what works with your individual student, as well as a compelling curiosity that leads you to read the meta-analyses for yourself. In meta-analysis, a researcher examines many studies on a particular strategy and derives a numerical indicator of the relative effectiveness of the strategy , averaged across all studies. This indicator is called an effect size (ES) (see box, "How Meta-analysis Works"). Such an analysis of research not only provides a numerical indicator of the relative effect of a particular intervention, but the effect size also allows comparison with other approaches used in special education or related services.
Heterogeneous Photodynamics of the Pfr State in the Cyanobacterial Phytochrome Cph1

Femtosecond photodynamics of the Pfr form of the red/far-red phytochrome N-terminal PAS-GAF-PHY photosensory core module of the cyanobacterial phytochrome Cph1 (termed Cph1Δ) from Synechocystis were resolved with visible broadband transient absorption spectroscopy. Multiphasic generation dynamics via global target analysis revealed parallel evolution of two pathways with distinct excited- and ground-state kinetics. These measurements resolved two subpopulations: a majority subpopulation with fast excited-state decay and slower ground-state dynamics, corresponding to previous descriptions of Pfr dynamics, and a minority subpopulation with slower excited-state decay and faster ground-state primary dynamics. Both excited-state subpopulations generated the isomerized, red-shifted Lumi-Ff photoproduct (715 nm); subsequent ground-state evolution to a blue-shifted Meta-Fr population (635 nm) proceeded on 3 ps and 1.5 ns time scales for the two subpopulations. Meta-Fr was spectrally similar to a recently described photoinactive fluorescent subpopulation of Pr (FluorPr). Thus, the reverse Pfr to Pr photoconversion of Cph1Δ involves minor structural deformation of Meta-Fr to generate the fluorescent, photochemically refractory form of Pr, with slower subsequent equilibration with the photoactive Pr subpopulation (PhotoPr).
Pampered or pariah: does animal type influence the interaction between animal attitude and empathy?

ABSTRACT Research into the interaction between deliberate harm of animals and potential risk for human directed violence has burgeoned in the past two decades. In light of an underlying premise that attitudes are predictive of behaviour, a number of researchers have examined demographic and personality variables that affect attitudes to, and by extrapolation behaviours towards, animals. One particularly active topic of research in this area is the potential relation between human-directed empathy and attitudes to animals, with researchers consistently finding that those with higher human-directed empathy scores tend to hold more pro-animal welfare attitudes. The current study adds to this literature by evaluating the effect of different animal types (Pet, Pest or Profit) in this overall animal attitude/human-directed empathy relationship with a large (n = 1606), community-based, Australian sample. As anticipated, attitudes towards animals in the Pet category were significantly more pro-welfare than for either Pest or Profit animals and women indicated more pro-welfare attitudes across all three than men. The strength and significance of the relation between human-directed empathy and attitudes to animals varied across Pet, Pest and Profit animal categories and affective vs cognitive empathy. The strongest correlation was found between Pet and the Empathic Concern subscale of the Davis Interpersonal Reactivity Index. The implications of these differences for the previously observed link between attitudes to animals and empathy, humane education and future research directions are discussed.
Estrogen Induces Metastatic Potential of Papillary Thyroid Cancer Cells through Estrogen Receptor α and β

Estradiol (E2) promotes metastatic propensity. However, the detailed mechanism remains largely unknown. E-cadherin, vimentin, and MMP-9 play a dominant role in the metastatic process. We aimed to investigate the effects of E2 on metastatic potential of PTC cell line BCPAP and on E-cadherin, vimentin, and MMP-9 protein expression. PTC cell line BCPAP was evaluated for the presence of estrogen receptor (ER) by western blot analysis. The effects of E2, PPT (a potent ERα-selective agonist), and DPN (a potent ERβ-selective agonist) on modulation of metastatic phenotype were determined by using in vitro scratch wound assay and invasion assay. In addition, the effects on E-cadherin, vimentin, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) protein expression were evaluated by Western blot analysis. We found that BCPAP cells expressed ERα and ERβ. E2 and PPT enhanced, but DPN inhibited, the migration and invasion of BCPAP cells in an in vitro experimental model system that is modulated by E-cadherin, vimentin, and MMP-9. These findings indicate that E2 induces the metastatic potential of BCPAP cells through ERα and ERβ. The two ER subtypes play differential roles in modulation of BCPAP cell metastasis and the related molecule expressions including E-cadherin, vimentin, and MMP-9.
Towards an understanding of fatigue in Parkinson disease

Objectives: To gain an improved understanding of fatigue in Parkinson disease (PD) by exploring possible predictors among a wide range of motor and non-motor aspects of PD. Methods: 118 consecutive PD patients (54% men; mean age 64 years) were assessed regarding fatigue, demographics and a range of non-motor and motor symptoms. Variables significantly associated with fatigue scores in bivariate analyses were used in multiple regression analyses with fatigue as the dependent variable. Results: Fatigue was associated with increasing Hoehn & Yahr stages, specifically the transition from stages I–II to stages III–V. Regression analysis identified five significant independent variables explaining 48% of the variance in fatigue scores: anxiety, depression, lack of motivation, Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS) motor score and pain. Gender, age, body mass index, PD duration, motor fluctuations, dyskinesias, symptomatic orthostatism, thought disorder, cognition, drug treatment, sleep quality and daytime sleepiness were not significantly associated with fatigue scores. When considering individual motor symptom clusters instead of the UPDRS motor score, only axial/postural/gait impairment was associated with fatigue. Conclusions: This study found fatigue to be primarily associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety, and with compromised motivation, parkinsonism (particularly axial/postural/gait impairment) and pain. These results are in agreement with findings in other disorders and imply that fatigue should be considered a separate PD entity differing from, for example, excessive daytime sleepiness. Fatigue may have a distinguished neurobiological background, possibly related to neuroinflammatory mechanisms. This implies that novel treatment options, including anti-inflammatory therapies, could be effective.
Kinetin modulates physio-hormonal attributes and isoflavone contents of Soybean grown under salinity stress

Crop productivity continues to decline due to a wide array of biotic and abiotic stresses. Salinity is one of the worst abiotic stresses, as it causes huge losses to crop yield each year. Kinetin (Kn) has been reported as plant growth regulator since long, but its role in improving plant growth and food quality under saline conditions through mediating phytohormonal cross-talk is poorly studied. Current study was designed to evaluate the impact of exogenously applied Kn on growth, isoflovones and endogenous phytohormones of soybean grown under NaCl induced salt stress. Soybean plants were grown in perlite (semi hydroponic), and under controlled green-house conditions. Elevated levels of exogenous Kn significantly mitigated the adverse effect of NaCl and rescued plant growth attributes, i.e., plant height, fresh and dry biomass of soybean plants grown in all treatments. Higher diadzen, glycitin, and genistin contents were observed in plants treated with elevated Kn in the presence or absence of NaCl induce salt stress. The gibberellins (GAs) biosynthesis pathway was up-regulated by Kn as the bioactive GA1 and GA4 contents were significantly higher in Kn treated plants, as compared to control, while GAs level reduced in NaCl treated plants. Contrary to GAs, the abscisic acid contents declined with Kn but promoted in NaCl stressed soybean plants. The endogenous jasmonic acid and salicylic acid contents of soybean enhanced with elevated Kn application, but they showed an antagonistic response under salt stress. Current study supports the active role of Kn to ameliorate the adverse effects of salt stress on the growth and food quality of soybean. The favorable role of Kn toward soybean growth under salt stress may be attributed to its potential to modulate cross-talk between the various phytohormones involved in soybean growth and its resistance to salinity stress.
From Absence to Affordances: Integrating Old and New Literacies in School‐Based Instruction for English Learners

Immigrant youths’ frequent and skillful use of new media technologies outside of school has generated discussion on the need to integrate their expertise in formal literacy instruction in school. This commentary argues that braiding old and new literacies for English learners in empowering ways needs to be guided by a connection to the future (new literacies for social and academic purposes) and a link to the old (traditional print literacy skills). Such a dual focus is necessary to develop an integrated pedagogical design that engages learners in using the new tools for acquiring both new and old literacy skills. Active facilitation of transmediation between social and academic purposes of new literacies and between old and new literacies relies on both explicit instruction of higher level thinking skills and literacy strategies for online and offline engagement and teacher expert scaffolding of applications of these skills in meaningful learning tasks.
Review and Evaluation of Feature Selection Algorithms in Synthetic Problems

Abstract: The main purpose of Feature Subset Selection is to ﬁnd a reduced subsetof attributes from a data set described by a feature set. The task of a featureselectionalgorithm (FSA) is to provide with a computational solution motivated by a certaindeﬁnition of relevance or by a reliable evaluation measure. In this paper several funda-mental algorithms are studied to assess their performance in a controlled experimentalscenario. A measure to evaluate FSAs is devised that computes the degree of matchingbetween the output given by a FSA and the known optimal solutions. An extensiveexperimental study on synthetic problems is carried out to assess the behaviour ofthe algorithms in terms of solution accuracy and size as a function of the relevance,irrelevance, redundancy and size of the data samples. The controlled experimentalconditions facilitate the derivation of better-supported and meaningful conclusions.Keywords:Feature Selection Algorithms; Empirical Evaluations; Attribute relevanceand redundancy.1 INTRODUCTION
Encouraging a career in science: a research review of secondary schools’ effects on students’ STEM orientation

Abstract Previous studies have pointed out that schools play a central role in students’ orientation towards science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). However, studies use a variety of theoretical foundations in order to define variables and hypothesise relationships between schools and STEM orientation. In order to facilitate the interpretation and comparison of the studies’ findings, we conducted a systematic literature review, which theoretically integrates the variables, summarises the findings, and derives further research suggestions. In accordance with our inclusion criteria, we selected 28 peer-reviewed journal articles, which have investigated the effects of schools on students’ STEM orientation via quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods. Analyses show that the studies were quite diverse regarding investigated STEM orientation variables, but overall positive with regard to the effects of school. Based on the theoretical integration and comparison of findings, we point out methodological and theoretical challenges for future research on the effects of school and STEM orientation.
Further evidence for an association between genetic variation in transforming growth factor alpha and cleft lip and palate.

Ardinger et al. (1989) hypothesized that there might be a nonrandom association between clefting and RFLPs of candidate genes which have a role in palate formation. They reported a significant association between two RFLPs of transforming growth-factor alpha (TGFa) and clefting in a group of 80 patients with nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CLIP) and in a group of 102 controls (P = .0047 for the TaqI RFLP, and P = .0052 for the BamHI RFLP). However, in another study of seven families with CLI P segregating in a dominant manner, none of the TGFa haplotype associations reported by Ardinger et al. was seen, and, in one family, clefting did not cosegregate with TGFa, ruling out tight linkage in these families (Hecht et al. 1990). We have genotyped the TaqI RFLP in 96 unrelated nonsyndromic patients with CLIP and in 100 unrelated controls. Of the patients, 62 (65%) were male, and 48 (51%) of the 94 for whom information was available had a family history of CLIP (n = 44) or cleft palate alone (n = 4). The high percentage of patients with a family history of clefting probably reflects our method of ascertainment (mainly through newspaper articles in which we encouraged participation from familial cases). There were 20 patients (21 % ) with bilateral CL + P, 51 (54%) with unilateral CL + P, four (4%) with bilateral CL, and 19 (20%)
Reconstructing the Concept of Diversity Climate – a Critical Review of its Definition, Dimensions, and Operationalization

Over the last 20 years, the notion of diversity climate has gained popularity as it is purported to play a key role in maximizing the positive effects of workforce diversity. However, it remains an a-contextual, unclear and unstable concept relying on a variety of conceptualizations and subsequent operationalizations. We conducted a literature review to highlight the inconsistencies of diversity climate research and as a result the limited validity of its findings. We then develop a new conceptualization for diversity climate, articulated around three components: intentionality, programming and praxis, that integrate the different perspectives adopted in diversity climate research. This study has significant implications for both research and practice, providing a robust reconstruction of the concept. We ultimately identify relevant avenues for future research.
Loss of Resting Interhemispheric Functional Connectivity after Complete Section of the Corpus Callosum

Slow (<0.1 Hz), spontaneous fluctuations in the functional magnetic resonance imaging blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal have been shown to exhibit phase coherence within functionally related areas of the brain. Surprisingly, this phenomenon appears to transcend levels of consciousness. The genesis of coherent BOLD fluctuations remains to be fully explained. We present a resting state functional connectivity study of a 6-year-old child with a radiologically normal brain imaged both before and after complete section of the corpus callosum for the treatment of intractable epilepsy. Postoperatively, there was a striking loss of interhemispheric BOLD correlations with preserved intrahemispheric correlations. These unique data provide important insights into the relationship between connectional anatomy and functional organization of the human brain. Such observations have the potential to increase our understanding of large-scale brain systems in health and disease as well as improve the treatment of neurologic disorders.