Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Advanced international trade : theory and evidence

Trade is a cornerstone concept in economics worldwide. This updated second edition of the essential graduate textbook in international trade brings readers to the forefront of knowledge in the field and prepares students to undertake their own research. In Advanced International Trade, Robert Feenstra integrates the most current theoretical approaches with empirical evidence, and these materials are supplemented in each chapter by theoretical and empirical exercises.Feenstra explores a wealth of material, such as the Ricardian and Heckscher-Ohlin models, extensions to many goods and factors, and the role of tariffs, quotas, and other trade policies. He examines imperfect competition, offshoring, political economy, multinationals, endogenous growth, the gravity equation, and the organization of the firm in international trade. Feenstra also includes a new chapter on monopolistic competition with heterogeneous firms, with many applications of that model. In addition to known results, the book looks at some particularly important unpublished results by various authors. Two appendices draw on index numbers and discrete choice models to describe methods applicable to research problems in international trade. Completely revised with the latest developments and brand-new materials, Advanced International Trade is a classic textbook that will be used widely by students and practitioners of economics for a long time to come.Updated second edition of the essential graduate textbookCurrent approaches and a new chapter on monopolistic competition with heterogeneous firmsSupplementary materials in each chapterTheoretical and empirical exercisesTwo appendices describe methods for international trade researchSolutions manual available to professorsProfessors: A supplementary Solutions Manual is available for this book. It is restricted to teachers using the text in courses.
Locating the scene: the particular and the general in contexts for ambulance control

Ambulance control involves distributed group work using a mix of computer and communications technologies. The implementation of computer technologies has had mixed results in this area, evidenced by serious failures in the London Ambulance Service in 1992. Often failures are due to inadequate attention to integration of organisational and technical aspects of work. We report a field study of the organisation of one aspect of the work of ambulance control, locating the scene of an emergency. The study was carried out in two ambulance control centres, one predominantly urban and highly computerised and the other largely rural and minimally computerised. Our analysis shows that the particulars of ‘locating the scene’ are best seen in terms of the use of different technologies to link representations and represented. This research has implications for understanding task and context and the integration of technology and organisation in design, particularly with respect to using similar computer-based technologies in both ambulance control centres.
How Coupled Are Decoupled Farm Payments? A Review of the Evidence

This survey paper explores the literature on decoupling of farm programs that has emerged in the last 10 years. The paper identifies and assesses the various channels of potential coupling of decoupled farm payments and provides taxonomy of coupling mechanisms found in theoretical and empirical papers. Coupling of decoupled payments is pervasive but effects when measurable are small, with the exception of the impact on land values. The paper points to unresolved issues on potential coupling mechanisms for further research.
B Chromosomes – A Matter of Chromosome Drive

B chromosomes are supernumerary chromosomes which are often preferentially inherited, deviating from usual Mendelian segregation. The balance between the so-called chromosome drive and the negative effects that the presence of Bs applies on the fitness of their host determines the frequency of Bs in a particular population. Drive is the key for understanding most B chromosomes. Drive occurs in many ways at pre-meiotic, meiotic or post-meiotic divisions, but the molecular mechanism remains unclear. The cellular mechanism of drive is reviewed based on the findings obtained for the B chromosomes of rye, maize and other species. How novel analytical tools will expand our ability to uncover the biology of B chromosome drive is discussed.
Carryover effects of stocker cattle systems on feedlot performance and carcass characteristics 1 , 2

Stocker cattle production practices may affect subsequent performance of cattle in economically meaningful ways. Literature was reviewed to summarize possible carryover effects of stocker cattle management on fi nishing performance and carcass traits. The most consistent effects of stocker phase practices on fi nishing-phase and carcass performance of cattle appear to be explained by changes in placement weight of feeder cattle. Increasing placement weight typically is confounded with age at placement, ADG during stocker period, and duration of the stocker period. It may also be confounded with other factors, such as season of grazing and/or fi nishing. Data from studies comparing calf-fed to yearling-fed cattle indicate that as age or BW at feedlot entry increased, fi nishing ADG, DMI, and HCW increased (P < 0.01) whereas G:F and days on feed decreased (P < 0.01). As age and BW at feedlot entry increased, marbling score decreased (P < 0.01) whereas Warner-Bratzler shear force increased (P < 0.01). Studies with yearling cattle entering the feedyard after a forage-based backgrounding phase indicate that as backgrounding ADG increased, fi nishing ADG, DMI, and days on feed decreased (P < 0.01) yet HCW and ribeye area increased (P < 0.01) with no effect (P = 0.45) on marbling. Stocker cattle systems are complex, integrated systems in which producers typically seek to maximize their own economic return with little regard for subsequent performance. If cattle are owned across both stocker and fi nishing phases of production, then management decisions should focus on maximizing return over the entire ownership period and not just within one segment of ownership. Of the traits of feeder cattle that can be affected by stocker cattle systems, BW is the primary determinate of their value when they are placed into commercial feedyards.
Distribution of particulate, colloidal, and dissolved mercury in San Francisco Bay estuary. 1. Total mercury

Surface water samples were collected from the San Francisco Bay estuary in September‐October 2000 (low flow) and March 2001 (high flow). Total mercury (Hg) concentrations were measured in unfiltered, filter‐passing (<0.45 µm), colloidal (1 kDa‐0.45 µm), and dissolved (<1 kDa) fractions. Particulate Hg was the dominant phase (88 ± 7%, n = 29) in unfiltered water. Suspended particulate matter (SPM) explained most particulate Hg concentrations in the northern reach. A significant portion of filter‐passing Hg was associated with colloidal Hg, accounting for 38 ± 18% (n = 9) in the fall and 57 ± 10% (n = 12) in the spring. Seasonal variability of the filter‐passing Hg concentration observed in the upper estuary was attributed to the temporal change in the riverine colloidal Hg. The strong correlation observed between Hg and organic carbon in the filter‐passing fraction indicates that organic material is an important transport medium of Hg in San Francisco Bay. Assessment of various forms of the particle‐ water distribution coefficient revealed that Hg was preferentially associated with SPM during the low flow period but that colloidal material played as important a role in Hg phase speciation as SPM during the high flow condition. A steady‐state nonconservative estuarine mixing model suggested that the northern reach had an internal source of colloidal Hg in September‐October, possibly from resuspended sediments, and a sink of colloidal Hg within the estuary in March 2001.
MicroRNA-584-3p, a novel tumor suppressor and prognostic marker, reduces the migration and invasion of human glioma cells by targeting hypoxia-induced ROCK1

Here, we report that microRNA-584-3p (miR-584-3p) is up-regulated in hypoxic glioma cells and in high-grade human glioma tumors (WHO grades III–IV) relative to normoxic cells and to low-grade tumors (WHO grades I–II), respectively. The postoperative survival time was significantly prolonged in the high-grade glioma patients with high miR-584-3p expression compared with those with low miR-584-3p expression. miR-584-3p may function as a potent tumor suppressor and as a prognostic biomarker for malignant glioma. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these properties remain poorly understood. Our mechanistic studies revealed that miR-584-3p suppressed the migration and invasion of glioma cells by disrupting hypoxia-induced stress fiber formation. Specifically, we have found that ROCK1 is a direct and functionally relevant target of miR-584-3p in glioma cells. Our results have demonstrated a tumor suppressive function of miR-584-3p in glioma, in which it inhibits the migration and invasion of tumor cells by antagonizing hypoxia-induced, ROCK1-dependent stress fiber formation. Our findings have potential implications for glioma gene therapy and suggest that miR-584-3p could represent a prognostic indicator for glioma.
The Taylor Rule and 'Opportunistic' Monetary Policy

We investigate the possibility that the Taylor rule should be formulated as a threshold process such that the Federal Reserve acts more aggressively in some circumstances than in others. It seems reasonable that the Federal Reserve would act more aggressively when inflation is high than when it is low. Similarly, it might be expected that the Federal Reserve responds more to a negative than a positive output gap. Although these specifications receive some empirical support, we find that a modified threshold model that is consistent with "opportunistic" monetary policy makes significant progress towards explaining Federal Reserve behavior.
Resource Pricing and Equilibrium Allocation Policy in Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a new emerging computing paradigm that advocates supplying users everything as a service. Compared with grid computing, the focus of resource management problem is transformed to resource virtualization and allocation rather than job decomposition and scheduling. It is more urgent to find better solutions for cloud resource allocation than ever before. Although there have been some research efforts in grid computing, most of them aim at maximizing utility of system and lack of analysis for competition between different users. Some researches consider competition analysis, but they assume that common knowledge is certain and known for every user, which is difficult to be applied in a global distributed cloud environment. In this paper, we hereby propose a new resource pricing and allocation policy where users can predict the future resource price as well as satisfy budget and deadline constraints. Experimental results prove that resource price can gradually converge to an equilibrium state by dynamic games and that cloud users can receive Nash equilibrium allocation proportion without other competitors' bidding information.
Speed-Dependent Contribution of Callosal Pathways to Ipsilateral Movements

Transcallosal inhibitory interactions between primary motor cortices are important to suppress unintended movements in a resting limb during voluntary activation of the contralateral limb. The functional contribution of transcallosal inhibition targeting the voluntary active limb remains unknown. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation, we examined transcallosal inhibition [by measuring interhemispheric inhibition (IHI) and the ipsilateral silent period (iSP)] in the preparatory and execution phases of isotonic slower self-paced and ballistic movements performed by the ipsilateral index finger into abduction and the elbow into flexion in intact humans. We demonstrate decreased IHI in the preparatory phase of self-paced and ballistic index finger and elbow movements compared to rest; the decrease in IHI was larger during ballistic than self-paced movements. In contrast, in the execution phase, IHI and the iSP increased during ballistic compared to self-paced movements. Transcallosal inhibition was negatively correlated with reaction times in the preparatory phase and positively correlated with movement amplitude in the execution phase. Together, our results demonstrate a widespread contribution of transcallosal inhibition to ipsilateral movements of different speeds with a functional role during rapid movements; at faster speeds, decreased transcallosal inhibition in the preparatory phase may contribute to start movements rapidly, while the increase in the execution phase may contribute to stop the movement. We argue that transcallosal pathways enable signaling of the time of discrete behavioral events during ipsilateral movements, which is amplified by the speed of a movement.
Privatization and Financial Market Development in Emerging Countries

This paper examines the impact of privatization on stock market size and liquidity in a multinational sample of 31 emerging markets. We find that the intensity of privatization and the use of privatization offerings (POs) on the stock market contribute to enhance stock market development, but the documented effects vary across geographical regions, owing to the specificities of the divestiture process. We use GMM procedure in order to estimate dynamic panel specifications and find that privatization appears to be the most beneficial in the Asian sub-sample where most favorable conditions were put in place before privatization actually started. In other regions, however, similar positive outcomes are yet to materialize. We derive several policy implications from our results.
What Determines Financial Development?

This paper studies the fundamental determinants of cross-country differences in finnancial development. Two prominent tools for addressing model uncertainty, Bayesian Model Averaging and Automatic Model Selection using PcGets, are jointly applied to investigate the financial development effects of a wide range of variables taken from various sources. The analysis suggests that the level of financial development in a country is determined by its institutional quality, macroeconomic policies, and geographic characteristics, as well as the level of income and cultural characteristics.
The Cytochrome b and ATPase Genes of Honeybee Mitochondrial DNA

The gene sequences for honeybee cytochrome b, ATPase 6, and ATPase 8 are presented, along with the inferred amino acid sequences of the proteins. These mitochondrial genes are in the same relative positions as are their counterparts in Drosophila mitochondrial mtDNA and have evolved at a significantly greater overall rate than have those of Drosophila. Comparisons using both amino acid identity and the proportion of conservative replacements between the inferred Apis and vertebrate cytochrome b sequences shows the two highly conserved sections reported by Howell, but his recognition of five conserved regions is not well supported. A very high AT bias is reflected in very high codon biases. The best predictors of the number of occurrences of an amino acid in honeybee cytochrome b are the T and G contents of its codon family-unlike the case for vertebrate cytochrome b, in which the codon family size and AT bias are the strongest predictors; protein function, at least as judged by hydrophilicity characteristics, appears to be unaffected by these differing influences on amino acid composition.
On consensus with a general discrete time convex combination based algorithm for multi-agent systems

A general convex combination based model in discrete time for the evolution of multi-agent systems is considered. Sufficient conditions under which an individual limit for each agent's state exists are subsequently derived. Moreover, it is shown that under stronger conditions, those individual limits are equal, i.e., consensus occurs. The relationship of these results to those of other well known consensus models is explained.
Realized GARCH: A Joint Model of Returns and Realized Measures of Volatility

We introduce a new framework, Realized GARCH, for the joint modeling of returns and realized measures of volatility. A key feature is a measurement equation that relates the realized measure to the conditional variance of returns. The measurement equation facilitates a simple modeling of the dependence between returns and future volatility. Realized GARCH models with a linear or log-linear specification have many attractive features. They are parsimonious, simple to estimate, and imply an ARMA structure for the conditional variance and the realized measure. An empirical application with DJIA stocks and an exchange traded index fund shows that a simple Realized GARCH structure leads to substantial improvements in the empirical fit over standard GARCH models.
THE ACCEPTABILITY OF URBAN ROAD PRICING: A THEORETICAL ANALYSIS APPLIED TO EXPERIENCE IN LYON

This paper describes a framework for analysing the acceptability of pricing changes in the transport sector. This framework is based on Rawls' theory of justice and makes reference to economic efficiency (efficiently managing demand), spatial equity (guaranteed access), horizontal equity (the user pays principle) and vertical equity (the welfare of the most underprivileged). This analytical framework is then applied to an urban toll motorway that was opened in Lyon in 1997, in association with capacity restrictions on the parallel roads. The different types of efficiency and equity that were brought into play by this scheme are analysed and illustrated by quantitative results. We show how their negative aspects combined. This study shows that this framework can be applied to practical understanding of justice issues, and particularly for assessing the feasibility of road pricing schemes in urban areas. © The London School of Economics and the University of Bath 2004
Integration of human papillomavirus type 16 in cervical cancer cells

Abstract Cervical cancer remains an important cause of women morbidity and mortality. The progression of cervical pathology correlates with the HPV integration into the host genome. However, the data on the viral integration status in cervical dysplasias are controversial. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the status of HPV integration in two types of cervical pathology – invasive and non invasive cervical cancer (e.g. carcinoma in situ). 156 women were included in the study: 66 women were diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer (CC) and 90 with non invasive cervical cancer (carcinoma in situ, CIS). 74.2% [95% PI: 63.64÷84.76] of specimens collected from women with diagnosed CC and 85.6% [95% PI: 85.53÷92.85] of CIS specimens were positive for HPV. The most prevalent HPV genotype in both groups was HPV16. To evaluate HPV integration, three selected HPV16 E2 gene fragments were analyzed by PCR. In the majority of CC and CIS specimens the amplification of all three HPV16 E2 gene fragments was observed. The episomal HPV16 form was detected in the majority of CC and CIS specimens. The deletion of all three HPV16 E2 gene fragments was detected in 9.4% of CC specimens and 2.2% of CIS specimens. Finally, integration status could not be used as diagnostical additional test to distinguish between invasive and non invasive cervical cancer.
Localness of energy cascade in hydrodynamic turbulence. II. Sharp spectral filter

We investigate the scale-locality of subgrid-scale (SGS) energy flux and interband energy transfers defined by the sharp spectral filter. We show by rigorous bounds, physical arguments, and numerical simulations that the spectral SGS flux is dominated by local triadic interactions in an extended turbulent inertial range. Interband energy transfers are also shown to be dominated by local triads if the spectral bands have constant width on a logarithmic scale. We disprove in particular an alternative picture of “local transfer by nonlocal triads,” with the advecting wavenumber mode at the energy peak. Although such triads have the largest transfer rates of all individual wavenumber triads, we show rigorously that, due to their restricted number, they make an asymptotically negligible contribution to energy flux and log-banded energy transfers at high wavenumbers in the inertial range. We show that it is only the aggregate effect of a geometrically increasing number of local wavenumber triads which can susta.
Context-Aware Preference Search for Outdoor Activity Platforms

Complex application domains like outdoor activity pl atforms demand a powerful search interface that can adapt to personal user preferences an d to changing contexts like weather conditions. Today most platforms offer a search technology known as Faceted Search, also named Parametric Search, where a user iteratively adapts his/her search parameters by a tedious and time-consuming trial-and-error process until the qu ality and quantity of the query results somehow corresponds to his/her expectations. This proce ss g ts even more cumbersome in mobile environments. Here we present a sophisticated appro ch called Preference Search, which we have prototypically implemented in a commercial out d or activity platform. Preference Search replaces lengthy user sessions by one single user r equest. Technically, this request is automatically compiled into one single Preference S QL query, which efficiently retrieves those items that best match the user's expectations withi n t e current context. A benchmark was applied to Faceted Search as well as Preference Sea rch. The evaluation of the benchmark indicates that Preference Search substantially impr oves the user's search satisfaction in comparison to Faceted Search.
Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease in Hong Kong: A Time-Series Analysis on Its Relationship with Weather

Background Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is an emerging enterovirus-induced infectious disease for which the environmental risk factors promoting disease circulation remain inconclusive. This study aims to quantify the association of daily weather variation with hospitalizations for HFMD in Hong Kong, a subtropical city in China. Methods A time series of daily counts of HFMD public hospital admissions from 2008 through 2011 in Hong Kong was regressed on daily mean temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, solar radiation and total rainfall, using a combination of negative binomial generalized additive models and distributed lag non-linear models, adjusting for trend, season, and day of week. Results There was a positive association between temperature and HFMD, with increasing trends from 8 to 20°C and above 25°C with a plateau in between. A hockey-stick relationship of relative humidity with HFMD was found, with markedly increasing risks over 80%. Moderate rainfall and stronger wind and solar radiation were also found to be associated with more admissions. Conclusions The present study provides quantitative evidence that short-term meteorological variations could be used as early indicators for potential HFMD outbreaks. Climate change is likely to lead to a substantial increase in severe HFMD cases in this subtropical city in the absence of further interventions.