Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Five Years after: The Impact of Mass Privatization on Wages in Russia, 1993-1998

Abstract The mass transfer of enterprises from state to private hands in Russia is one of the most remarkable events of the past decade, yet little is known about how privatization has affected workers. This paper explores the effect of changing ownership on the wage distribution, focusing on how wage differentials between state-owned and privatized enterprises have evolved over the course of the transition. Privatized state enterprises paid higher wages than state enterprises in 1993 and 1998, but wages in the two sectors are similar in other years. In addition, wages in private firms exceed those in both state and privatized enterprises, but these wage differentials narrowed significantly between 1993 and 1998. J. Comp. Econ. , March 2002, 30 (1), pp. 160–190. Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts 01267; Centre for Economic Policy Research, London, United Kingdom; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn, Germany; and William Davidson Institute, University of Michigan Business School, Ann Arbor. © 2002 Elsevier Science (USA). Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: J31, P23, P31.
Effects of restricting pub closing times on night-time assaults in an Australian city

Aims In March 2008 the New South Wales judiciary restricted pub closing times to 3 a.m., and later 3.30 a.m., in the central business district (CBD) of Newcastle, Australia. We sought to determine whether the restriction reduced the incidence of assault. Design Non-equivalent control group design with before and after observations. Setting Newcastle, a city of 530 000 people. Participants People apprehended for assault in the CBD and nearby Hamilton, an area with a similar night-time economy but where no restriction was imposed. Measurements Police-recorded assaults in the CBD before and after the restriction were compared with those in Hamilton. Cases were assaults occurring from 10 p.m. –6 a.m. from January 2001–March 2008, with April 2008–September 2009 as the post-restriction period. We also examined changes in assault incidence by time of night. Negative binomial regression with time, area, time × area interaction terms and terms for secular trend and seasonal effects was used to analyse the data. Autocorrelation was examined using generalized estimating equations. Findings In the CBD, recorded assaults fell from 99.0 per quarter before the restriction to 67.7 per quarter afterward [incidence rate ratio (IRR): 0.66, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.55–0.80]. In the same periods in Hamilton, assault rates were 23.4 and 25.5 per quarter, respectively (IRR: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.79–1.31). The relative reduction attributable to the intervention was 37% (IRR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.47–0.81) and approximately 33 assault incidents were prevented per quarter. Conclusion This study indicates that a restriction in pub closing times to 3/3.30 a.m. in Newcastle, NSW, produced a large relative reduction in assault incidence of 37% in comparison to a control locality.
Choledochal Cysts : A Review of Literature

Choledochal cysts are cystic dilation of extrahepatic duct, intrahepatic duct, or both that may result in significant morbidity and mortality, unless identified early and managed appropriately. The incidence is common in Asian population compared with western counterpart with more than two third of the cases in Asia being reported from Japan. The traditional anatomic classification system is under debate with more focus on etiopathogenesis and other aspects of choledochal cysts. Even though categorized under the same roof, choledochal cysts vary with respect to their natural course, complications, and management. In this review, with the available literature on choledochal cysts, we discuss different views about the etiopathogenesis along with the natural course, complications, diagnosis, and surgical approach for choledochal cysts, which also explains why the traditional classification is questioned by some authors.
Both cardiomyocyte and endothelial cell Nox4 mediate protection against hemodynamic overload-induced remodelling

Abstract Aims NADPH oxidase-4 (Nox4) is an important reactive oxygen species (ROS) source that is upregulated in the haemodynamically overloaded heart. Our previous studies using global Nox4 knockout (Nox4KO) mice demonstrated a protective role of Nox4 during chronic abdominal aortic banding, involving a paracrine enhancement of myocardial capillary density. However, other authors who studied cardiac-specific Nox4KO mice reported detrimental effects of Nox4 in response to transverse aortic constriction (TAC). It has been speculated that these divergent results are due to cell-specific actions of Nox4 (i.e. cardiomyocyte Nox4 detrimental but endothelial Nox4 beneficial) and/or differences in the model of pressure overload (i.e. abdominal banding vs. TAC). This study aimed to (i) investigate whether the effects of Nox4 on pressure overload-induced cardiac remodelling vary according to the pressure overload model and (ii) compare the roles of cardiomyocyte vs. endothelial cell Nox4. Methods and results Global Nox4KO mice subjected to TAC developed worse cardiac remodelling and contractile dysfunction than wild-type littermates, consistent with our previous results with abdominal aortic banding. Next, we generated inducible cardiomyocyte-specific Nox4 KO mice (Cardio-Nox4KO) and endothelial-specific Nox4 KO mice (Endo-Nox4KO) and studied their responses to pressure overload. Both Cardio-Nox4KO and Endo-Nox4KO developed worse pressure overload-induced cardiac remodelling and dysfunction than wild-type littermates, associated with significant decrease in protein levels of HIF1α and VEGF and impairment of myocardial capillarization. Conclusions Cardiomyocyte as well as endothelial cell Nox4 contributes to protection against chronic hemodynamic overload-induced cardiac remodelling, at least in part through common effects on myocardial capillary density.
A First Step toward the Automatic Understanding of Social Touch for Naturalistic Human–Robot Interaction

Social robots should be able to automatically understand and respond to human touch. The meaning of touch does not only depend on the form of touch but also on the context in which the touch takes place. To gain more insight into the factors that are relevant to interpret the meaning of touch within a social context we elicited touch behaviors by letting participants interact with a robot pet companion in the context of different affective scenarios. In a contextualized lab setting participants (n= 31) acted as if they were coming home in different emotional states (i.e. stressed, depressed, relaxed and excited) without being given specific instructions on the kinds of behaviors that they should display. Based on video footage of the interactions and interviews we explored the use of touch behaviors, the expressed social messages and the expected robot pet responses. Results show that emotional state influenced the social messages that were communicated to the robot pet as well as the expected responses. Furthermore, it was found that multimodal cues were used to communicate with the robot pet, that is, participants often talked to the robot pet while touching it and making eye contact. Additionally, the findings of this study indicate that the categorization of touch behaviors into discrete touch gesture categories based on dictionary definitions is not a suitable approach to capture the complex nature of touch behaviors in less controlled settings. These findings can inform the design of a behavioral model for robot pet companions and future directions to interpret touch behaviors in less controlled settings are discussed.
Towards Computational Models for a Long-term Interaction with an Artificial Conversational Companion

In this paper we describe a design approach for an Artificial Conversational Companion according to earlier identified requirements of utility, adaptivity, conversational capabilities and long-term interaction. The Companion is aimed to help advanced learners of a foreign language to practice conversation via instant messenger dialogues. In order to model a meaningful long-term interaction with an Artificial Conversational Companion for this application case, it is necessary to understand how natural long-term interaction via chat between human language experts and language learners works. For this purpose, we created a corpus from instant messenger-based interactions between native speakers of German and advanced learners of German as a foreign language. We used methods from conversation analysis to identify rules of interaction. Examples from our data set are used to illustrate how particular requirements for the agent can be fulfilled. Finally, we outline how the identified patterns of interaction can be used for the design of an Artificial Conversational
Conservation of precore and core sequences of hepatitis B virus in chronic viral carriers

Mutations in the precore region of hepatitis B virus (HBV) have been associated with failure of expression of HBV e‐antigen (HBeAg), however, the prevalence of these and other mutations in HBV carriers without overt chronic liver disease remains uncertain. Homosexual or bisexual males (n = 65) with chronic HBV infection attending The Middlesex Hospital, London were studied, of whom two had clinical evidence of chronic liver disease. HBV DMA was amplified from 62 of 65 serum samples using nested and double nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. Direct sequencing of the PCR products was employed to investigate sequence variation. HBV‐DNA from all available HBeAg‐negative (n = 9) and selected HBeAg‐positive (n = 33) sera were sequenced in the entire precore gene, the 3′ terminal portion of the X gene (aa128–154), and the 5′ terminus of the core gene (aa18–73). Sequences were highly conserved in all regions studied. Samples from two anti‐HBe‐seropositive patients contained mutations in the precore region. In one, a single mutation in the first amino acid resulted in a change to leucine, which would prevent translation of this region and therefore HBeAg expression. Wild type sequences were also detected in this sample. In the other sample from a patient with overt chronic liver disease, a mutation of precore amino acid 28 changed a tryptophan residue to a stop codon which would also prevent HBeAg expression. Although few such patients were studied, precore mutations may be uncommon in anti‐HBe‐seropositive patients without overt chronic liver disease. Possibly such mutations are not related to HBeAg to anti‐HBe seroconversion, but rather they may arise in patients who remain anti‐HBe seropositive for prolonged periods and they may be causally associated with the development of chronic liver disease. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Game theory, maximum entropy, minimum discrepancy and robust Bayesian decision theory

We describe and develop a close relationship between two problems that have customarily been regarded as distinct: that of maximizing entropy, and that of minimizing worst-case expected loss. Using a formulation grounded in the equilibrium theory of zero-sum games between Decision Maker and Nature, these two problems are shown to be dual to each other, the solution to each providing that to the other. Although Topsoe described this connection for the Shannon entropy over 20 years ago, it does not appear to be widely known even in that important special case. We here generalize this theory to apply to arbitrary decision problems and loss functions. We indicate how an appropriate generalized definition of entropy can be associated with such a problem, and we show that, subject to certain regularity conditions, the above-mentioned duality continues to apply in this extended context. This simultaneously provides a possible rationale for maximizing entropy and a tool for finding robust Bayes acts. We also describe the essential identity between the problem of maximizing entropy and that of minimizing a related discrepancy or divergence between distributions. This leads to an extension, to arbitrary discrepancies, of a well-known minimax theorem for the case of Kullback-Leibler divergence (the redundancy-capacity theorem of information theory). For the important case of families of distributions having certain mean values specified, we develop simple sufficient conditions and methods for identifying the desired solutions. We use this theory to introduce a new concept of generalized exponential family linked to the specific decision problem under consideration, and we demonstrate that this shares many of the properties of standard exponential families. Finally, we show that the existence of an equilibrium in our game can be rephrased in terms of a Pythagorean property of the related divergence, thus generalizing previously announced results for Kullback-Leibler and Bregman divergences.
On the occurrence of metallic character in the periodic table of the chemical elements

The classification of a chemical element as either ‘metal’ or ‘non-metal’ continues to form the basis of an instantly recognizable, universal representation of the periodic table (Mendeleeff D. 1905 The principles of chemistry, vol. II, p. 23; Poliakoff M. & Tang S. 2015 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 373, 20140211). Here, we review major, pre-quantum-mechanical innovations (Goldhammer DA. 1913 Dispersion und Absorption des Lichtes; Herzfeld KF. 1927 Phys. Rev. 29, 701–705) that allow an understanding of the metallic or non-metallic status of the chemical elements under both ambient and extreme conditions. A special emphasis will be placed on recent experimental advances that investigate how the electronic properties of chemical elements vary with temperature and density, and how this invariably relates to a changing status of the chemical elements. Thus, the prototypical non-metals, hydrogen and helium, becomes metallic at high densities; and the acknowledged metals, mercury, rubidium and caesium, transform into their non-metallic forms at low elemental densities. This reflects the fundamental fact that, at temperatures above the absolute zero of temperature, there is therefore no clear dividing line between metals and non-metals. Our conventional demarcation of chemical elements as metals or non-metals within the periodic table is of course governed by our experience of the nature of the elements under ambient conditions. Examination of these other situations helps us to examine the exact divisions of the chemical elements into metals and non-metals (Mendeleeff D. 1905 The principles of chemistry, vol. II, p. 23).
Polders, dikes, canals, rice, and aquaculture in the Mekong Delta

A quarter of a century ago, the Mekong Delta of southern Vietnam and southeast Cambodia was a vast swamp of freshwater and saltwater marshes, with half the region under water for many months of the year (Taylor 2014). The warm, moist prevailing winds of the southwest monsoon bring continuous rain May through October, high rates of runoff, and extensive flooding throughout the delta. Much of the low-lying alluvial plain where the Mekong River and its distributary, the Bassac River, flow south into the South China Sea is barely 2 to 3 m (6 to 10 ft) above sea level (figure 1). Seawater incursions from tides and wave action bring salt water into coastal areas and upriver lands adjacent to river distributaries that outlet into the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea. Colonial geographers and surveyors of the 1800s reported the Mekong Delta as an inhospitable, underpopulated land with salty-acidic soils, a scarcity of fresh water during the dry season, and indigenous people infected by malaria (Taylor 2014). The Dutch dike strategy of dikes and polders initiated by colonial governments in the 1930s pumped fresh water into rice (Oryza sativa L.) fields and was intended to protect the soil…
Synovial Fluid Omentin-1 Levels Are Inversely Correlated With Radiographic Severity of Knee Osteoarthritis

Objective The purpose of this study was to demonstrate omentin-1 levels in serum and synovial fluid (SF) of patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) and to investigate their correlation with radiographic disease severity. Methods One hundred and ninety-seven patients with OA and 65 sex- and age-matched healthy controls were enrolled in this study. The radiographic disease severity of OA was assessed by the Kellgren- Lawrence (KL) grading system. The omentin-1 levels in serum and SF were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results There were no significant differences in serum omentin-1 levels between patients with OA and healthy controls (P > 0.05). There were also no significant differences in serum omentin-1 levels among patients with OA with different KL grades (P > 0.05). However, SF omentin-1 levels decreased significantly as the KL grades increased (KL grade 4 < KL grade 3 < KL grade 2; all P < 0.01) in the patients with OA. Furthermore, SF omentin-1 levels were negatively correlated with KL grades (r = −0.643; P < 0.001). Multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed that there was still a negative correlation between the SF omentin-1 levels and the KL grades after adjusting for confounding factors (P < 0.001). Conclusions Synovial fluid omentin-1 levels showed an independent and negative correlation with radiographic severity of the disease in patients with knee OA. Omentin-1 in SF might serve as a potential biomarker for reflecting the degenerative process of primary knee OA.
Diabetic Patients Have an Impaired Cerebral Vasodilatory Response to Hypercapnia Under Propofol Anesthesia

Background and Purpose— The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of diabetes mellitus and its severity on the cerebral vasodilatory response to hypercapnia. Methods— Thirty diabetic patients consecutively scheduled for elective major surgery were studied. After induction of anesthesia, a 2.5-MHz pulsed transcranial Doppler probe was attached to the patient’s head at the right temporal window, and mean blood flow velocity of the middle cerebral artery (Vmca) was measured continuously. After the baseline Vmca, arterial blood gases, and cardiovascular hemodynamic values were measured, end-tidal CO2 was increased by reducing ventilatory frequency by 2 to 5 breaths per minute. Measurements were repeated when end-tidal CO2 increased and remained stable for 5 to 10 minutes. Results— Significant differences were observed in absolute and relative CO2 reactivity between the diabetes and control groups (absolute CO2 reactivity: control, 2.8±0.7; diabetes mellitus, 2.1±1.3; P <0.01; relative CO2 reactivity: control, 6.3±1.4; diabetes mellitus, 4.5±2.7; P <0.01, Mann-Whitney U test). Significant differences were also found between diabetic patients with retinopathy and those without retinopathy in absolute (P =0.002) and relative (P =0.002) CO2 reactivity, glycosylated hemoglobin (P =0.0034), and fasting blood sugar (P =0.01) (Scheffé’s test, Mann-Whitney U test). There was an inverse correlation between absolute CO2 reactivity and glycosylated hemoglobin (r =0.69, P <0.001). Conclusions— Insulin-dependent diabetic patients have an impaired vasodilatory response to hypercapnia compared with that of the control group, and the present findings suggest that their degree of impairment is related to the severity of diabetes mellitus.
Fetal Macrosomia: Risk Factors, Maternal, and Perinatal Outcome

Background: Macrosomia is defined as birth-weight over 4,000 g irrespective of gestational age and affects 3-15% of all pregnancies. Aim The present study aimed to determine the relationship between mother's characteristics and macrosomic births and also compare macrosomic and normal newborns regarding the maternal and offspring complications of diabetes during pregnancy. Subjects and Methods: In this case control study, among the 420 consecutive births occurring in public and private hospitals of Shiraz, Iran from October 2006 to March 2007, the data of 32 macrosomic and 128 normal newborns were analyzed using t-test and chi square in bivariate and logistic regression in multivariate model. Results: The mean (SD) of neonate weight, height, and head size was 3323.4 (709), 48.95 (3.2), and 34.9 (1.8), respectively. Regression analysis showed that gestational diabetes (Odds Ratio (OR): 11.9, Confidence Interval (CI): 4.6-30.3), preeclampsia in the pregnancy period due to diabetes (OR: 3.81, CI: 1.1-13.2), and macrosomic birth history (OR: 3.3, CI: 1.04-10.4) were the main predictors of macrosomia. Moreover, macrosomia increased neonate hypoglycemia (OR: 4.7, CI: 1.4-15.8) and section delivery (OR: 4.1, CI: 1.27-13.1). Conclusion: Gestational diabetes, preeclampsia due to diabetes, and history of macrosomic birth were the main predictors of macrosomia. Moreover, macrosomia increased some delivery complications for both mothers and newborns.
Guidelines for Designing Web Navigation

INTRODUCTION Web users display a succession of Web pages as they try to meet their information needs. We usually refer to this activity as navigation. Supporting navigation must be an important priority for designers, for few Web sites will succeed unless users can efficiently find the content they are interested in. This article provides guidelines for designing the navigation within a Web site. The Web has precursors in earlier hypertext systems dating back to the 1960s and, in speculative writing, back to the 1940s with Vannevar Bush’s article “As we may think. ” Bush anticipated what we today call “information overload” and proposed sophisticated technologies to help knowledge workers store and, more importantly, link text and graphics for later retrieval (Bush 1945). Hypertext has figured in many experimental publication systems and became widely available with the introduction of HyperCard for the Macintosh in 1987. The Web, however, has brought hypertext to many millions of new users. All of the hypertext systems developed over the last several decades—and not least among them the many online help systems created by technical communicators— have prompted and have benefited from theory, research, and practical insights about navigation in digital space. The understanding and skills of the design community have grown considerably—though probably just enough to keep up with the extra difficulties posed by ever larger and more complex Web sites.
Frequency-domain simulation and analysis of the frequency-selective Ricean fading radio channel

In this paper, a novel frequency-domain model (FD-model) for the frequency selective Ricean fading radio channel is presented. Frequency domain filtering and the Hilbert transform are used to generate samples of the channel's transfer function with appropriate frequency correlation properties (WSSUS model). One of the main advantages of this approach is the availability of analytical expressions relating channel parameters to model parameters. This can be used to conveniently fit the proposed channel model to any of the (measured) channel parameters. Based on this new model, level crossing statistics of the channel's transfer function were investigated. Results have shown that the level crossing rate (LCR/sub f/) is proportional to the RMS delay spread (RDS) of the channel. This implies that from the LCR/sub f/, which can be derived from wide-band power measurements, an accurate estimation of the RDS is possible. Previously, expensive and cumbersome equipment like network analyzers was required to measure this parameter. Computational results have been evaluated with measurements and a time-domain model for the 60 GHz frequency band.