Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Seize the State, Seize the Day An empirical analysis of State Capture and Corruption in Transition

[Abstract] Corruption has recently risen to the top of the development agenda, particularly in the transition economies. However, existing empirical research has been hampered by the lack of detailed and comparative data on the problem. We use the data from the ongoing Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS) to unbundle corruption into its specific constituent components and examine their particular causes and consequences. In addition to conventional measures of administrative corruption, we unbundle the measurement of corruption to focus particularly on two corrupt strategies which firms may use in their interactions with the state. First, state capture, defined as the efforts of firms to shape the very institutional environment in which they operate, and, second, public procurement corruption, the payment of kickbacks for securing public contracts. We show that the incidence, costs and benefits to the firm of both types of corruption differ. The evidence suggests that while 'captor' firms in some environments benefit through higher sales in the short term, such payoff from state capture may not be sustainable. Furthermore, the social costs of state capture are high: firms in an environment characterized by state capture face strong incentives to join the fray, leading to a downward development spiral of increasing capture, increased amounts of time spent by the firm with officials, poor protection of property rights, and poor enterprise performance. In contrast to state capture, firms in all countries-whether in a 'high-' or 'low-capture' environment-face similar incentives to engage in corrupt public procurement practices. By contrast, we examine administrative corruption and find that it is negatively related to firm performance. Finally, the exploration into the socioeconomic determinants of state capture points policy suggestions for tackling such challenge-within the fundamental political constraints that state capture itself places on reform. The evidence and opinions presented here are the authors' responsibility and do not necessarily reflect those of their respective institutions or their Executive Directors. The authors are responsible for errors and omissions. This paper is also a background contribution to the 'Anticorruption in Transition' Report under preparation (coordinated by the World Bank's Europe and Central Asia Region) for presentation at the Annual Meetings in Prague. The descriptive details on the survey and data we utilize in this paper are contained in: 'Measuring Governance, Corruption and State Capture
Equilibrium and dynamic behavior of micro flows under electrically induced surface tension actuation forces

It is possible to move, split, merge, and mix liquids in micro fluidic devices by applying spatially varying electric fields that effectively change the surface tension at specific spatial locations. The phenomena is brought about by a competition between surface tension effects (that cause the droplet to bead up because it has been placed on a hydrophobic surface) and electrical forces in the underlying solid dielectric (which attempt to enlarge the liquid/solid contact area so as to relieve electro static forces). In this paper we primarily present an energy minimization model for the equilibrium shape of electrically actuated droplets. By including a realistic amount of liquid resistance, this model captures the effect of contact angle saturation and predicts the experiment data we observe in the UCLA devices. At the close of the paper we also outline our results in modeling the dynamics of the moving, splitting, and merging droplets. This part includes modeling of the 2-phase low-Reynolds fluid dynamics with electrically actuated boundary conditions.
The effect of intra-articular vanilloid receptor agonists on pain behavior measures in a murine model of acute monoarthritis

Arthritis is the most common cause of disability in the US, and the primary manifestation of arthritis is joint pain that leads to progressive physical limitation, disability, morbidity, and increased health care utilization. Capsaicin (CAP) is a vanilloid agonist that causes substance P depletion by interacting with vanilloid receptor transient receptor potential V1 on small unmyelinated C fibers. It has been used topically for analgesia in osteoarthritis with variable success. Resiniferatoxin (RTX) is an ultra potent CAP analog. The aim of this study was to measure the analgesic effects of intra-articular (IA) administration of CAP and RTX in experimental acute inflammatory arthritis in mice. Evoked pain score (EPS) and a dynamic weight bearing (DWB) device were used to measure nociceptive behaviors in a murine model of acute inflammatory monoarthritis. A total of 56 C57B16 male mice underwent EPS and DWB testing – 24 nonarthritic controls and 32 mice with carrageenan-induced arthritis. The effects of pretreatment with 0.1% CAP, 0.0003% RTX, or 0.001% RTX were measured. Nociception was reproducibly demonstrated by increased EPS and reduced DWB measures in the affected limb of arthritic mice. Pretreatment with 0.001% RTX resulted in statistically significant improvement in EPS and DWB measures when compared with those observed in carrageenan-induced arthritis animals. Pretreatment with IA 0.0003% RTX and IA 0.01% CAP resulted in improvement in some but not all of these measures. The remaining 24 mice underwent evaluation following treatment with 0.1% CAP, 0.0003% RTX, or 0.001% RTX, and the results obtained were similar to that of naïve, nonarthritic mice.
Evidence of multisystem disorder in whole-brain map of pathological TDP-43 in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

BACKGROUND Pathological 43-kDa transactivating responsive sequence DNA-binding protein (TDP-43) has been identified recently as the major disease protein in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and in frontotemporal lobar degeneration with ubiquitinated inclusions, with or without motor neuron disease, but the distribution of TDP-43 pathology in ALS may be more widespread than previously described. OBJECTIVE To determine the extent of TDP-43 pathology in the central nervous systems of patients with clinically confirmed and autopsy confirmed diagnoses of ALS. DESIGN Performance of an immunohistochemical whole-central nervous system scan for evidence of pathological TDP-43 in ALS patients. SETTING An academic medical center. PARTICIPANTS We included 31 patients with clinically and pathologically confirmed ALS and 8 control participants. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Immunohistochemistry and double-labeling immunofluorescence to assess the frequency and severity of TDP-43 pathology. RESULTS In addition to the stereotypical involvement of upper and lower motor neurons, neuronal and glial TDP-43 pathology was present in multiple areas of the central nervous systems of ALS patients, including in the nigro-striatal system, the neocortical and allocortical areas, and the cerebellum, but not in those of the controls. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that ALS does not selectively affect only the pyramidal motor system, but rather is a multisystem neurodegenerative TDP-43 proteinopathy.
Research Instruments for Measuring the Impact of School Libraries on Student Achievement and Motivation

A two-year study of public school library programs was conducted in one of the largest and most diverse states in the USA-New York. This three-phase study extends previous statewide library impact studies by using multiple research methods with multiple stakeholders to investigate the school library's impact on:(1) student achievement, (2) motivation for learning, and (3) technology use, as well as a range of other variables (e.g., principal-librarian relationship, librarian-teacher collaboration, library services and resources for students with disabilities). This article describes the design, development, testing and validation of online survey instruments used in the first two phases of this research. The article concludes with a number of recommendations for ways in which these instruments might be used by school library professionals to assess the impact of their programs and services on students in their schools and districts.
Detection of Symptoms for Revealing Causes Leading to Drilling Failures

When a diagnosis of a problem is known, the problem can usually be solved efficiently. This paper presents a method that helps reveal the most probable cause of a drilling-process failure immediately after occurrence. Normally, it takes some time to investigate and evaluate all available information before the correct cause can be determined. The method presented is targeted at reducing this time and at the same time improving the quality of the interpretation. The method relies on input parameters from the ongoing drilling process, parameters that behave irregularly and are referred to as symptoms or errors when the irregularity is severe. Recognized symptoms are used as input parameters in a knowledge-modeling method that relates symptoms to failures. The method was verified on the basis of historical drilling data, and its ability to point out the correct causes with high probability was demonstrated. Field testing the method is yet to be performed.
Scholarship in engineering technology: Personal experiences and thoughts

In recent years, Universities have placed a stronger emphasis on research and scholarship as a critical element not only for faculty members to be tenured and promoted but also being used in their performance evaluations. Engineering Technology (ET) faculty members are not an exception. However, ET faculty is a more heterogeneous group than their colleges in Engineering programs, having very diverse experiences and backgrounds. A common factor for all ET departments is the emphasis on undergraduate education and the limited human and infrastructure requirements to conduct the traditionally considered research activities. All this introduces newer elements that need to be considered when defining the activities that can be considered under the umbrella of scholarship in Engineering Technology. The goal of this paper is not to solve all the problems that exist today in defining and understanding scholarship in our field, but to share the author’s experiences in developing his own scholarship activities as an ET faculty member. The author firmly believes that scholarship activities in Engineering Technology will ultimately help to strengthen our own academic identity.
Glucocorticoids Interact with Cholinergic System in Impairing Memory Reconsolidation of an Inhibitory Avoidance Task in Mice

Introduction: Recent studies suggest that glucocorticoids modulate memory reconsolidation. Moreover, cholinergic system is involved in memory reconsolidation. Since glucocorticoids interact with brain cholinergic system in modulating memory processing, we investigated whether glucocorticoid influences on the reconsolidation of emotionally arousing training depend on the cholinergic system. Methods: Mice were trained (1mA, 3s footshock) in an inhibitory avoidance task. Forty-eight hours after training, memory reactivation was occurred (Test 1), and different treatments were given. Two (Test 2), five (Test 3), and seven days (Test 4) after memory reactivation (Test 1), animals were retested for fear memory retention. Results: In the first experiment, we observed that administration of corticosterone (CORT, 0.3, 1 and 3 mg/kg) following memory reactivation impaired subsequent expression of memory in a dose-dependent manner. In the second experiment, we found that CORT-induced impairment of memory reconsolidation was reversed by the muscarinic receptor antagonist atropine (0.5 and 2 mg/kg). In the third experiment, the nicotinic receptor antagonist mecaylamine (0.5 or 2 mg/kg) was not able to block the corticosterone response. Discussion: These findings indicate that glucocorticoids impair memory reconsolidation by a muscarinic cholinergic mechanism.
Identification of a Novel Subpopulation of Tumor-Initiating Cells from Gemcitabine-Resistant Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Patients

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is highly resistant to systemic chemotherapy. Although there are many reports using pancreatic cancer cells derived from patients who did not receive chemotherapy, characteristics of pancreatic cancer cells from chemotherapy-resistant patients remain unclear. In this study, we set out to establish a cancer cell line in disseminated cancer cells derived from gemcitabine-resistant pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma patients. By use of in vitro co-culture system with stromal cells, we established a novel pancreatic tumor-initiating cell line. The cell line required its direct interaction with stromal cells for its in vitro clonogenic growth and passaging. Their direct interaction induced basal lamina-like extracellular matrix formation that maintained colony formation. The cell line expressed CD133 protein, which expression level changed autonomously and by culture conditions. These results demonstrated that there were novel pancreatic tumor-initiating cells that required direct interactions with stromal cells for their in vitro cultivation in gemcitabine-resistant pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. This cell line would help to develop novel therapies that enhance effects of gemcitabine or novel anti-cancer drugs.
Entity and Relationship Labeling in Affiliation Networks

Many domains are best characterized as an affiliation network describing a set of actors and a set of events interlinked together in a variety of relationships. Relational classification in these domains requires the collective classification of both entities (actors and events) and relationships. We investigate the use of relational Markov networks (RMN) for relational classification in affiliation networks. In this paper, we introduce a novel dataset, Profile in Terror (PIT) knowledge base, that provides a rich source of various affiliation networks. We study two tasks, entity labeling and relationship labeling. We highlight several important issues concerning the effectiveness of relational classification. Our results show that the PIT dataset has a rich source of relational structure and therefore it is a useful dataset for statisical relational network learning community.
Assessment of α-Synuclein Secretion in Mouse and Human Brain Parenchyma

Genetic, biochemical, and animal model studies strongly suggest a central role for α-synuclein in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. α-synuclein lacks a signal peptide sequence and has thus been considered a cytosolic protein. Recent data has suggested that the protein may be released from cells via a non-classical secretory pathway and may therefore exert paracrine effects in the extracellular environment. However, proof that α-synuclein is actually secreted into the brain extracellular space in vivo has not been obtained. We developed a novel highly sensitive ELISA in conjugation with an in vivo microdialysis technique to measure α-synuclein in brain interstitial fluid. We show for the first time that α-synuclein is readily detected in the interstitial fluid of both α-synuclein transgenic mice and human patients with traumatic brain injury. Our data suggest that α-synuclein is physiologically secreted by neurons in vivo. This interstitial fluid pool of the protein may have a role in the propagation of synuclein pathology and progression of Parkinson's disease.
EFL Instructors’ Perceptions on the Integration and Implementation of MALL in EFL Classes

Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) has opened new opportunities for language instructors to develop their use of technology and implement new teaching practices focused on learners. The increased use of technology in language learning means instructors can play a key role in motivating learners by integrating readily available technologies for language learning development into their teaching practices. The focus of this present investigation is to explore the attitudes of Saudi instructors teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) regarding the implementation of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL). The target population for this study was Saudi EFL instructors who are currently teaching English in Saudi Arabia. The research methods for the study included a questionnaire, as well as in-depth interviews that were conducted to explore the attitudes of EFL instructors. The results of the survey questionnaire and interviews revealed moderately positive attitudes among participants regarding the use of mobile phones for language learning and teaching activities. The findings also indicate the existence of some challenges that could prove to be a significant hurdle for mobile phone integration in EFL learning and teaching in Saudi Arabia. Most of the instructors reported that they do not use mobile phones or MALL activities in their EFL classes. The results also showed that EFL teachers do not have the required skills to use/develop MALL activities. This study concludes by offering recommendations and suggestions for how to implement MALL and remove potential barriers to MALL implementation in EFL instruction. Keywords: EFL, MALL, EFL Instructors’ attitudes towards MALL, Challenges for MALL
A closed-form scaling law for convolutional LDPC codes over the BEC

We propose a scaling law for the error probability of convolutional LDPC ensembles when transmission takes place over the binary erasure channel. We discuss how the parameters of the scaling law are connected to fundamental quantities appearing in the asymptotic analysis of these ensembles and we verify that the predictions of the scaling law fit well with data derived from simulations over a wide range of parameters.
Global asymptotic stability and global exponential stability of delayed cellular neural networks

In this brief, many novel theorems and corollaries are presented regarding the global asymptotic stability and global exponential stability of cellular neural networks with constant and variable time delays. The stability conditions in the new results improve and generalize existing ones. Several examples are discussed to compare the new results with the existing ones.
Winning isn't everything: Evolutionary instability of Zero Determinant strategies

Zero Determinant (ZD) strategies are a new class of probabilistic and conditional strategies that are able to unilaterally set the expected payoff of an opponent in iterated plays of the Prisoner’s Dilemma irrespective of the opponent’s strategy, or else to set the ratio between a ZD player’s and their opponent’s expected payoff. Here we show that while ZD strategies are weakly dominant, they are not evolutionarily stable and will instead evolve into less coercive strategies. We suggest that ZD strategies with an informational advantage over other players that allows them to recognize other ZD strategies will be evolutionarily stable (and able to exploit other players). However, such an advantage is bound to be short-lived as opposing strategies evolve to counteract the recognition.
Uncovering the components of the Francisella tularensis virulence stealth strategy

Over the last decade, studies on the virulence of the highly pathogenic intracellular bacterial pathogen Francisella tularensis have increased dramatically. The organism produces an inert LPS, a capsule, escapes the phagosome to grow in the cytosol (FPI genes mediate phagosomal escape) of a variety of host cell types that include epithelial, endothelial, dendritic, macrophage, and neutrophil. This review focuses on the work that has identified and characterized individual virulence factors of this organism and we hope to highlight how these factors collectively function to produce the pathogenic strategy of this pathogen. In addition, several recent studies have been published characterizing F. tularensis mutants that induce host immune responses not observed in wild type F. tularensis strains that can induce protection against challenge with virulent F. tularensis. As more detailed studies with attenuated strains are performed, it will be possible to see how host models develop acquired immunity to Francisella. Collectively, detailed insights into the mechanisms of virulence of this pathogen are emerging that will allow the design of anti-infective strategies.
Cognitive neuroscience of human counterfactual reasoning

Counterfactual reasoning is a hallmark of human thought, enabling the capacity to shift from perceiving the immediate environment to an alternative, imagined perspective. Mental representations of counterfactual possibilities (e.g., imagined past events or future outcomes not yet at hand) provide the basis for learning from past experience, enable planning and prediction, support creativity and insight, and give rise to emotions and social attributions (e.g., regret and blame). Yet remarkably little is known about the psychological and neural foundations of counterfactual reasoning. In this review, we survey recent findings from psychology and neuroscience indicating that counterfactual thought depends on an integrative network of systems for affective processing, mental simulation, and cognitive control. We review evidence to elucidate how these mechanisms are systematically altered through psychiatric illness and neurological disease. We propose that counterfactual thinking depends on the coordination of multiple information processing systems that together enable adaptive behavior and goal-directed decision making and make recommendations for the study of counterfactual inference in health, aging, and disease.
Advanced Transport Options for the Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP

Multimedia streaming over HTTP is no longer a niche research topic as it has entered our daily live. The common assumption is that it is deployed on top of the existing infrastructure utilizing application (HTTP) and transport (TCP) layer protocols as is. Interestingly, standards like MPEG's Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) do not mandate the usage of any specific transport protocol allowing for sufficient deployment flexibility which is further supported by emerging developments within both protocol layers. This paper investigates and evaluates the usage of advanced transport options for the dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP. We utilize a common test setup to evaluate HTTP/2.0 and Google's Quick UDP Internet Connections (QUIC) protocol in the context of DASH-based services.
Selective Expansion of Cross-Reactive Cd8+ Memory T Cells by Viral Variants

The role of memory T cells during the immune response against random antigenic variants has not been resolved. Here, we show by simultaneous staining with two tetrameric major histocompatibility complex (MHC)–peptide molecules, that the polyclonal CD8+ T cell response against a series of natural variants of the influenza A nucleoprotein epitope is completely dominated by infrequent cross-reactive T cells that expand from an original memory population. Based on both biochemical and functional criteria, these cross-reactive cytotoxic T cells productively recognize both the parental and the mutant epitope in vitro and in vivo. These results provide direct evidence that the repertoire of antigen-specific T cells used during an infection critically depends on prior antigen encounters, and indicate that polyclonal memory T cell populations can provide protection against a range of antigenic variants.