Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Persistence in Inflation: Long Memory, Aggregation, or Level Shifts?

This paper examines persistence in inflation rates using CPI and WPI based inflation series of the Turkish economy. The inflationary process in Turkey is believed to be highly inertial, which should lead to strongly persistent inflation series. Persistence of 84 inflation series at different aggregation levels are examined by estimating models that allow long memory through fractional integration. The order of fractional differencing is estimated using several semiparametric and approximate maximum likelihood methods. We find that inflation series at the highest aggregation level show strong persistence. However, the data at lower aggregation levels show no significant persistence. Thus, paper finds evidence of spurious long memory due to aggregation. The paper also examines possibility of spurious long memory due to level shifts by estimating ARFIMA models that allow stochastic permanent breaks. We find that all aggregate inflation series are antipersistent, if the effects of stochastic level shifts are taken into account.
Transfer of plasmid-mediated antibiotic resistance from streptococci to lactobacilli

The transmissible plasmid pAMbeta1, which codes for erythromycin and lincomycin resistance, was conjugally transferred from a Lancefield group F Streptococcus to a strain of Streptococcus avium. Both organisms served as pAMbeta1 donors for three strains of Lactobacillus casei. Introduction of pAMbeta1 into one of the L. casei strains caused the organism to lose its native 6.7 X 10(6)-dalton plasmid. Loss of the native plasmid produced no alterations in the organism's growth characteristics or fermentation pattern.
Biosurfactants: Promising Molecules for Petroleum Biotechnology Advances

The growing global demand for sustainable technologies that improves the efficiency of petrochemical processes in the oil industry has driven advances in petroleum biotechnology in recent years. Petroleum industry uses substantial amounts of petrochemical-based synthetic surfactants in its activities as mobilizing agents to increase the availability or recovery of hydrocarbons as well as many other applications related to extraction, treatment, cleaning, and transportation. However, biosurfactants have several potential applications for use across the oil processing chain and in the formulations of petrochemical products such as emulsifying/demulsifying agents, anticorrosive, biocides for sulfate-reducing bacteria, fuel formulation, extraction of bitumen from tar sands, and many other innovative applications. Due to their versatility and proven efficiency, biosurfactants are often presented as valuable versatile tools that can transform and modernize petroleum biotechnology in an attempt to provide a true picture of state of the art and directions or use in the oil industry. We believe that biosurfactants are going to have a significant role in many future applications in the oil industries and in this review therefore, we highlight recent important relevant applications, patents disclosures and potential future applications for biosurfactants in petroleum and related industries.
Representations of Death: A Social Psychological Perspective

Drawing upon a rare and highly original ethnography of contemporary mortuary practices, Representations of Death takes the reader through the medical, bureaucratic, commercial and ritual aspects of death Going behind the scenes at hospitals, funeral parlours, crematoria and cemeteries, as well as holding poignant, in-depth interviews with bereaved women, Bradbury has been able to illuminate the very different perspectives of the deathwork professional and the grieving relative. Illustrated with stunning photographs, this fascinating book makes a significant contribution to the growing literature in death studies.
Truncated moment problem for spin and polarization states

We address the problem whether a given set of expectation values is compatible with the first and second moments of the generic spin operators of a system with total spin j. Those operators appear as the Stokes operator in quantum optics, as well as the total angular momentum operators in the atomic ensemble literature. We link this problem to a particular extension problem for bipartite qubit states; this problem is closely related to the symmetric extension problem that has recently drawn much attention in different contexts of the quantum information literature. We are able to provide operational, approximate solutions for very large spin numbers, and in fact the solution becomes exact in the limiting case of infinite spin numbers. Solutions for low spin numbers are formulated in terms of a hyperplane characterization, similar to entanglement witnesses, which can be efficiently solved with semidefinite programming.
Identifying New Positives and Linkage to HIV Medical Care — 23 Testing Site Types, United States, 2013

Among the estimated 1.2 million persons living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in the United States, approximately 14% have not had their HIV diagnosed. Certain populations, such as African Americans/blacks (in this report referred to as blacks), men who have sex with men (MSM), and Hispanics/Latinos (in this report referred to as Hispanics), are disproportionately affected by HIV. In areas where HIV prevalence is ≥0.1%, CDC recommends routine HIV screening in health care settings for persons aged 13-64 years. Implementation of HIV screening as part of routine care can increase the number of HIV diagnoses, destigmatize HIV testing, and improve access to care for persons with new HIV infections. Additionally, targeted testing in non-health care settings might facilitate access to persons in at-risk populations (e.g., MSM, blacks, and Hispanics) who are unaware of their status and do not routinely seek care. CDC analyzed data for 23 testing site types submitted by 61 health departments and 151 CDC-funded community-based organizations to determine 1) the number of HIV tests conducted, 2) the percentage of persons with new diagnoses of HIV infection (in this report referred to as new positives), and 3) the percentage of persons who were linked to HIV medical care within 90 days after receiving diagnoses at specific site types within health care and non-health care settings. The results indicated that, in health care settings, primary care and sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics accounted for substantially more HIV tests than did other sites, and STD clinics identified more new positives. In non-health care settings, HIV counseling and testing sites accounted for the most tests and identified the highest number of new positives. Examining program data by site type shows which sites performed better in diagnosing new positives and informs decisions about program planning and allocation of CDC HIV testing resources among and within settings.
Environmental justice and nuclear waste conflicts in Taiwan

Abstract How do issues of environmental justice play out in conditions of cultural diversity? This question is explored using the case of the controversy surrounding the storage of nuclear waste on Orchid Island, Taiwan, the homeland of the Yami aborigines. It provides a contextualised example that reveals that the Yami tribe and Taiwanese migrants have multiple understandings of environmental justice, and explores the questions of how we might respond to these divisions and formulate environmental policy regarding nuclear waste dilemmas. Environmental pragmatism might provide a method for defusing tensions between groups of different ethical positions and could facilitate intercultural alliance-building for dealing with nuclear waste problems.
A Study of Encryption Algorithms (RSA, DES, 3DES and AES) for Information Security

Encryption is the process of scrambling a message so that only the intended recipient can read it. Encryption can provide a means of securing information. As more and more information is stored on computers or communicated via computers, the need to insure that this information is invulnerable to snooping and/or tampering becomes more relevant. With the fast progression of digital data exchange in electronic way, Information Security is becoming much more important in data storage and transmission. Information Confidentiality has a prominent significance in the study of ethics, law and most recently in Information Systems. With the evolution of human intelligence, the art of cryptography has become more complex in order to make information more secure. Arrays of Encryption systems are being deployed in the world of Information Systems by various organizations. In this paper, a survey of various Encryption Algorithms is presented. General Terms Information Security, Encryption
Constructive Empiricism: a Reconstruction of Economic Methodology

The principal aim of this paper is to explore the possibility of applying van Fraassen’s constructive empiricism to the contemporary debate on the methodology of economics. The authors argue that constructive empiricism supplies a novel and challenging framework which takes this debate beyond relativism and rhetoric on the one hand and beyond instrumentalism and realism on the other. In particular, by developing the distinction between pure and applied economics and by locating economic explanation in the latter, constructive empiricism offers a challenging solution to the perennial question of the realism of assumptions debate, changes the methodological focal point of pure economics onto the issue of empirical adequacy.
A Quarter‐Century of Summary Judgment Practice in Six Federal District Courts

Summary judgment in federal courts has been widely regarded as an initially underused procedural device that was revitalized by the 1986 Supreme Court trilogy of Celotex, Anderson, and Matsushia. Some recent commentators believe summary judgment activity has expanded to the point that it threatens the right to trial. We examined summary judgment practice in six federal district courts during six time periods over twenty-five years (1975 - 2000), extracting information on summary judgment practice from 15,000 docket sheets in random samples of terminated cases. We found that when we controlled for changes over time in the types of cases being filed, the likelihood that a case contained one or more motions for summary judgment increased before the Supreme Court trilogy, from approximately 12% in 1975 to 17% in 1986, and has remained fairly steady at approximately 19% since that time. The increase prior to the 1986 trilogy and the modest changes subsequent to the trilogy would be unexpected by many legal commentators. Although summary judgment motions have increased over this twenty-five year period, this increase reflects, at least in part, increased filings of civil rights cases that have always experienced a high rate of summary judgment motions. Surprisingly, no statistically significant changes over time were found in the outcome of defendants' or plaintiffs' summary judgment motions, again after controlling for differences across courts and types of cases. These findings call into question the interpretation that the trilogy led to expansive increases in summary judgment. Our analysis suggests, instead, that changes in civil rules and federal case management practices prior to the trilogy may have been more important in bringing about changes in summary judgment practice.
Facilitating Play Between Children with Autism and an Autonomous Robot

This thesis is part of the Aurora project, an ongoing long-term project investigating the potential use of robots to help children with autism overcome some of their impairments in social interaction, communication and imagination. Autism is a spectrum disorder and children with autism have different abilities and needs. Related research has shown that robots can play the role of a mediator for social interaction in the context of autism. Robots can enable simple interactions, by initially providing a relatively predictable environment for play. Progressively, the complexity of the interaction can be increased. The purpose of this thesis is to facilitate play between children with autism and an autonomous robot. Children with autism have a potential for play but often encounter obstacles to actualize this potential. Through play, children can develop multidisciplinary skills, involving social interaction, communication and imagination. Besides, play is a medium for self-expression. The purpose here is to enable children with autism to experience a large range of play situations, ranging from dyadic play with progressively better balanced interaction styles, to situations of triadic play with both the robot and the experimenter. These triadic play situations could also involve symbolic or pretend play. This PhD work produced the following results: • A new methodological approach of how to design, conduct and analyse robotassisted play was developed and evaluated. This approach draws inspiration from non-directive play therapy where the child is the main leader for play and
Electrical conductivity of the lowermost mantle explains absorption of core torsional waves at the equator

Torsional Alfvén waves propagating in the Earth's core have been inferred by inversion techniques applied to geomagnetic models. They appear to propagate across the core but vanish at the equator, exchanging angular momentum between core and mantle. Assuming axial symmetry, we find that an electrically conducting layer at the bottom of the mantle can lead to total absorption of torsional waves that reach the equator. We show that the reflection coefficient depends on GB~r , where B~r is the strength of the radial magnetic field at the equator, and G the conductance of the lower mantle there. With B~r=7×10−4 T, torsional waves are completely absorbed when they hit the equator if G≃1.3 × 108 S. For larger or smaller G, reflection occurs. As G is increased above this critical value, there is less attenuation and more angular momentum exchange. Our finding dissociates efficient core‐mantle coupling from strong ohmic dissipation in the mantle.
STABILIZING SELECTION DETECTED FOR BRISTLE NUMBER IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

Stabilizing selection, which favors intermediate phenotypes, is frequently invoked as the selective force maintaining a population's status quo. Two main alternative reasons for stabilizing selection on a quantitative trait are possible: (1) intermediate trait values can be favored through the causal effect of the trait on fitness (direct stabilizing selection); or (2) through a pleiotropic, deleterious side effect on fitness of mutants affecting the trait (apparent stabilizing selection). Up to now, these alternatives have never been experimentally disentangled. Here we measure fitness as a function of the number of abdominal bristles within four Drosophila melanogaster lines, one with high, one with low, and two with intermediate average bristle number. The four were inbred nonsegregating lines, so that apparent selection due to pleiotropy is not possible. Individual fitness significantly increased (decreased) with bristles number in the low (high) line. No significant fitness‐trait association was detected within each intermediate line. These results reveal substantial direct stabilizing selection on the trait.
Novel Positive Feedback Loop between Cdk1 and Chk1 in the Nucleus during G2/M Transition*

Chk1, one of the critical transducers in DNA damage/replication checkpoints, prevents entry into mitosis through inhibition of Cdk1 activity. However, it has remained unclear how this inhibition is cancelled at the G2/M transition. We reported recently that Chk1 is phosphorylated at Ser286 and Ser301 by Cdk1 during mitosis. Here, we show that mitotic Chk1 phosphorylation is accompanied by Chk1 translocation from the nucleus to the cytoplasm in prophase. This translocation advanced in accordance with prophase progression and was regulated by Crm-1-dependent nuclear export. Exogenous Chk1 mutated at Ser286 and Ser301 to Ala (S286A/S301A) was observed mainly in the nuclei of prophase cells, although such nuclear accumulation was hardly observed in wild-type Chk1. Induction of S286A/S301A resulted in the delay of mitotic entry. Biochemical analyses using immunoprecipitated cyclin B1-Cdk1 complexes revealed S286A/S301A expression to block the adequate activation of Cdk1. In support of this, S286A/S301A expression retained Wee1 at higher levels and Cdk1-induced phosphorylation of cyclin B1 and vimentin at lower levels. A kinase-dead version of S286A/S301A also localized predominantly in the nucleus but lost the ability to delay mitotic entry. These results indicate that Chk1 phosphorylation by Cdk1 participates in cytoplasmic sequestration of Chk1 activity, which releases Cdk1 inhibition in the nucleus and promotes mitotic entry.
What Makes Customers Shop Online

Electronic commerce Customer Relationship Management (e-CRM) has emerged to be a fundamental research area as business-to-customer (B2C) e-commerce is growing at a phenomenal rate. Among the many issues e-CRM concerns, one question is often asked, “what makes customers shop online? ” Rich understanding of this issue will help an electronic store to become more competitive. A good number of studies have been conducted to answer this question. These studies seem to take diverse perspectives and investigate various aspects of the phenomena. Yet few studies have drawn coherent pictures of the collective understanding of the dynamics. The objective of this paper is to draw such a picture. To fit the advances in MIS theme, we conduct an analytical review on the IS literature on B2C online shopping behavior at individual level. A classification of research variables and a framework are developed to provide an overview of the state-of-the art of this area and to point out limitations and directions for future research. The results show that one’s online shopping intention, behavior, and satisfaction are significantly associated with one’s beliefs about/affective reactions to e-commerce/e-stores and attitudes toward online shopping behavior. In addition, external environment, demographics, personal characteristics, and e-store characteristics have significant impacts on customers’ shopping intention, behavior, and satisfaction. These impacts are either direct or mediated by beliefs, affect, and attitudes. For future research, common theoretical framework, widely-accepted instruments, and consistency in terminology are much needed to compare results across studies and to accumulate knowledge. We also call for more research effort in customer satisfaction and affective reactions since they have not been paid enough attention despite their fundamental roles in understanding customers’ online shopping phenomena.
Conditional knockdown of Nanog induces apoptotic cell death in mouse migrating primordial germ cells

The pluripotency factor Nanog is expressed in peri-implantation embryos and primordial germ cells (PGCs). Nanog-deficient mouse embryos die soon after implantation. To explore the function of Nanog in germ cells, Nanog RNA was conditionally knocked down in vivo by shRNA. Nanog shRNA transgenic (NRi-Tg) mice were generated through the formation of germline chimeras with NRi-Tg embryonic stem cells. In E12.5 Cre-induced ER-Cre/NRi-Tg and TNAP-Cre/NRi-Tg double-transgenic embryos, the number of alkaline phosphatase-positive and SSEA1-positive PGCs decreased significantly. In the E9.5 and E10.5 migrating Nanog-knockdown PGCs, TUNEL-positive apoptotic cell death became prominent in vivo and in vitro, despite Oct4 expression. Single-cell microarray analysis of E10.5 Nanog-knockdown PGCs revealed significant up- and downregulation of a substantial number of genes, including Tial1, Id1 and Suz12. These data suggest that Nanog plays a key role in the proliferation and survival of migrating PGCs as a safeguard of the PGC-specific molecular network.
The Role of 'Broader Context' in Shaping the Rationality of Strategic Decision Making

This paper investigates both the overall and the individual impact of four alternative perspectives, namely Decision, Environmental, Firm and Top Management Characteristics on the Rationality of Strategic Decision Making. The results from a multi-method field study of 143 Strategic Decisions indicate that rationality is shaped by three of the four perspectives, with decision-specific characteristics playing a dominant role. With respect to the individual impact of contextual variables, Decision’s Magnitude of Impact, Past firm Performance, Firm Size and Top Management Team’s Level of Education are related to rationality while Decision Uncertainty, Environmental Dynamism, Environmental Hostility, CEO’s tenure in position and CEO’s need for achievement are not. In the light of these findings, we discuss their implications and suggest ideas for future research.
Distinctive Signatures of Histone Methylation in Transcribed Coding and Noncoding Human β-Globin Sequences

ABSTRACT The establishment of epigenetic marks, such as methylation on histone tails, is mechanistically linked to RNA polymerase II within active genes. To explore the interplay between these modifications in transcribed noncoding as well as coding sequences, we analyzed epigenetic modification and chromatin structure at high resolution across 300 kb of human chromosome 11, including the β-globin locus which is extensively transcribed in intergenic regions. Monomethylated H3K4, K9, and K36 were broadly distributed, while hypermethylated forms appeared to different extents across the region in a manner reflecting transcriptional activity. The trimethylation of H3K4 and H3K9 correlated within the most highly transcribed sequences. The H3K36me3 mark was more broadly detected in transcribed coding and noncoding sequences, suggesting that K36me3 is a stable mark on sequences transcribed at any level. Most epigenetic and chromatin structural features did not undergo transitions at the presumed borders of the globin domain where the insulator factor CTCF interacts, raising questions about the function of the borders.