Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Center for International Economics Working Paper Series Great Expectations and Hard times - the (nontrivial) Impact of Education on Domestic Terrorism Great Expectations and Hard times — the (nontrivial) Impact of Education on Domestic Terrorism

This contribution investigates the role of education in domestic terrorism for 133 countries between 1984 and 2007. The findings point at a nontrivial effect of education on terrorism. Lower education (primary education) tends to promote terrorism in a cluster of countries where the socioeconomic, political and demographic conditions are unfavorable, while higher education (university education) reduces terrorism in a cluster of countries where conditions are more favorable. This suggests that country-specific circumstances mediate the effect of education on the (opportunity) costs and benefits of terrorism. For instance, the prevalence of poor structural conditions in combination with advances in education may explain past and present waves of terrorism and political instability in the Middle East. The results of this study imply that promoting education needs to be accompanied by sound structural change so that it can positively interact with (individual and social) development, thereby reducing terrorism. * We are thankful for very helpful comments from and discussions with Kathleen Gallagher Cunningham, Martin Gassebner and the panel and seminar participants at the ifo Workshop 2 " What is it that seduces some young people to terrorism? It simplifies things. The fanatic has no questions, only answers. Education is the way to eliminate terrorism. "-Elie Wiesel (1986 Nobel Peace Prize laureate), cited in Jai (2001) " On the whole, there is little reason for optimism that [an] […] increase in educational attainment will lead to a meaningful reduction in […] terrorism. "-Krueger and Maleckova (2003: 142)
Joint Approximate Diagonalization of Positive Definite Hermitian Matrices

This paper provides an iterative algorithm to jointly approximately diagonalize K Hermitian positive definite matrices ${\bf\Gamma}_1$, \dots, ${\bf\Gamma}_K$. Specifically, it calculates the matrix B which minimizes the criterion $\sum_{k=1}^K n_k [\log \det\diag(\B\C_k\B^*) - \log\det(\B\C_k\B^*)]$, nk being positive numbers, which is a measure of the deviation from diagonality of the matrices BCkB*$. The convergence of the algorithm is discussed and some numerical experiments are performed showing the good performance of the algorithm.
Effect of cluster rotation speed in coordinated heterogeneous MIMO cellular networks with proportionally fair user scheduling

The effect of how often clustering patterns change within a previously proposed rotating clustering scheme on the average achievable downlink rates of a coordinated heterogeneous multicell multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system is investigated in this paper. Rotating the base station cluster patterns allows users to be nearer the cluster center in at least one of the patterns. Faster cluster rotation results in users being nearer the center more often. The performance of the system with different cluster rotation rates is evaluated, using a simulated annealing user scheduling algorithm with a proportionally fair metric. Simulations demonstrate there is a maximum speed of rotation, above which negligible further gains in performance are achieved compared to fixed clustering.
Wireless Broadband Networks: The U.S. Experience

Corresponding to the rise and acceptance of the 802.11b standard (Wi-Fi) in the United States, wireless local area networks (WLANs) that offer high-speed Internet access at numerous locations in markets that cover education, health care, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, government, and transportation are experiencing rapid growth. There has also been an active establishment of innovative business models to tap into the general demand for high-speed Internet access by creating wireless broadband networks based on clusters of WLANs. This paper outlines the key factors driving Wi-Fi growth and describes competing technologies. Using mini-cases, it explores the strategies of four organizations involved in developing wireless broadband networks (Boingo, Joltage Networks, Sputnik, and NYC Wireless). Although operating in the same market, these organizations offer significantly different access methodologies and services. The nature of possible future innovation in this domain is also examined.
Co-Dispersion: A Windowless Approach to Lexical Association

We introduce an alternative approach to extracting word pair associations from corpora, based purely on surface distances in the text. We contrast it with the prevailing window-based co-occurrence model and show it to be more statistically robust and to disclose a broader selection of significant associative relationships - owing largely to the property of scale-independence. In the process we provide insights into the limiting characteristics of window-based methods which complement the sometimes conflicting application-oriented literature in this area.
Hierarchical Semi-supervised Classification with Incomplete Class Hierarchies

In an entity classification task, topic or concept hierarchies are often incomplete. Previous work by Dalvi et al. [12] has showed that in non-hierarchical semi-supervised classification tasks, the presence of such unanticipated classes can cause semantic drift for seeded classes. The Exploratory learning [12] method was proposed to solve this problem; however it is limited to the flat classification task. This paper builds such exploratory learning methods for hierarchical classification tasks. We experimented with subsets of the NELL [8] ontology and text, and HTML table datasets derived from the ClueWeb09 corpus. Our method (OptDAC-ExploreEM) outperforms the existing Exploratory EM method, and its naive extension (DAC-ExploreEM), in terms of seed class F1 on average by 10% and 7% respectively.
Continuation versus discontinuation of lithium in recurrent bipolar illness: a naturalistic study.

OBJECTIVES Lithium's efficacy in prophylaxis of mood episodes in bipolar disorder (BD) is well established in the clinical trial setting, but may be less robust in routine clinical practice. We compared illness recurrence in bipolar patients naturalistically continued on or discontinued from lithium after an extended period of clinical stability on lithium monotherapy, and evaluated other potential risk factors for relapse. METHODS We followed 213 patients who were stable for 2 years on lithium monotherapy following resolution of acute symptoms marking their last manic episode. Based upon patient preference and clinical judgment, 159 patients were continued on lithium monotherapy and 54 patients were slowly discontinued. Survival differences between the continued and discontinued groups were assessed using the Kaplan-Meier product limit method, and risk factors for relapse were evaluated in Cox proportional hazards regression. RESULTS Patients continued on lithium prophylaxis experienced risk of recurrence equivalent to a third of that suffered by discontinued patients during the first year of treatment (0.15 versus 0.45), and significant survival differences persisted throughout follow-up. Median survival time to illness recurrence for patients continued on lithium was 7.33 years [95% confidence interval (CI) 5.67-9.67]; that for patients discontinued from lithium was 1.33 years (95% CI 0.33-2.33). After controlling for all significant covariates, lithium discontinuation was associated with a hazard ratio of 4.85. Inter-episode manic and depressive symptoms conferred increased risk for subsequent recurrence of illness in both groups, while lower lithium levels recorded during the two years of clinical stability preceding study onset were protective. CONCLUSIONS Despite considerable rates of illness recurrence in both groups, those who continued on lithium sustained markedly lower rates of recurrence over a lengthy follow-up period. Lithium discontinuation in BD after successful maintenance monotherapy is not advisable. If discontinuation is considered, lithium levels previously required to maintain clinical stability, and breakthrough or residual mood symptoms experienced during remission, should inform clinical decision making.
Relation of Repeated Low-Level Blast Exposure With Symptomology Similar to Concussion

Objective:To investigate anecdotal reports suggesting that repeated exposure to low-level explosive blast has myriad health impacts, including an array of neurological effects. Participants:A total of 184 anonymous survey respondents from military and nonmilitary law enforcement populations (135 exposed to occupational blast and 49 controls). Design:Survey of self-reported history of occupational exposure to repeated low-level blast (breaching blast) and symptomology similar to concussion. Results:Findings suggest that number and severity of symptoms increase with history of chronic blast exposure (F = 18.26, P < .001) and that symptoms can interfere with daily activity (t = 2.60, P = .010). Conclusion:Given the prevalence of repeated exposure to blast among some military and civilian law enforcement occupations, the results of this survey study support a role for blast surveillance programs as well as continued research on health impacts of low-level repeated blast exposure.
Detection of Minimal Residual Disease by Flow Cytometry for Patients with Multiple Myeloma Submitted to Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

The treatment strategy in multiple myeloma (MM) is to get complete remission followed by high-dose chemotherapy and autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT). Neoplastic Plasma Cells (NPCs) are CD45−/dim, CD38+high, CD138+, CD19−, and CD56+high in most cases. The description of this immunophenotype is of major importance as it leads to the correct identification of minimal residual disease (MRD). Samples from 44 Patients were analyzed prospectively in this study. We analyzed if the presence of MRD at three months after HSCT was predictive of relapse or death. There were 40 evaluable patients of whom 16/40 patients had MRD at three moths after HSCT and there were none in cytological relapse. The mean overall survival (OS) was 34 months and disease-free survival (RFS) was 28 months after HSCT. There was no significant difference in the log rank analysis comparing OS and the presence of MRD (P = 0,611) and RFS (P = 0,3106). Here, we demonstrate that three color flow cytometry (FCM) is more sensitive for MDR evaluation than cytological analyzes. However, based in our data we can not affirm that MRD is a good predictor of MM relapse or death. In conclusion, our results could be attributed to a short followup, small sample size, and over most to the inability of a three-color FCM to detect the NPC population.
Polyphenolic Extract of Euphorbia supina Attenuates Manganese-Induced Neurotoxicity by Enhancing Antioxidant Activity through Regulation of ER Stress and ER Stress-Mediated Apoptosis

Manganese (Mn) is an important trace element present in human body, which acts as an enzyme co-factor or activator in various metabolic reactions. While essential in trace amounts, excess levels of Mn in human brain can produce neurotoxicity, including idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (PD)-like extrapyramidal manganism symptoms. This study aimed to investigate the protective role of polyphenolic extract of Euphorbia supina (PPEES) on Mn-induced neurotoxicity and the underlying mechanism in human neuroblastoma SKNMC cells and Sprague-Dawley (SD) male rat brain. PPEES possessed significant amount of total phenolic and flavonoid contents. PPEES also showed significant antioxidant activity in 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and reducing power capacity (RPC) assays. Our results showed that Mn treatment significantly reduced cell viability and increased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level, which was attenuated by PPEES pretreatment at 100 and 200 µg/mL. Additionally, PPEES pretreatment markedly attenuated Mn-induced antioxidant status alteration by resolving the ROS, MDA and GSH levels and SOD and CAT activities. PPEES pretreatment also significantly attenuated Mn-induced mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) and apoptosis. Meanwhile, PPEES pretreatment significantly reversed the Mn-induced alteration in the GRP78, GADD34, XBP-1, CHOP, Bcl-2, Bax and caspase-3 activities. Furthermore, administration of PPEES (100 and 200 mg/kg) to Mn exposed rats showed improvement of histopathological alteration in comparison to Mn-treated rats. Moreover, administration of PPEES to Mn exposed rats showed significant reduction of 8-OHdG and Bax immunoreactivity. The results suggest that PPEES treatment reduces Mn-induced oxidative stress and neuronal cell loss in SKNMC cells and in the rat brain. Therefore, PPEES may be considered as potential treat-ment in Mn-intoxicated patients.
Hemispheric Asymmetry in Perception: A Differential Encoding Account

Hemispheric asymmetry in the processing of local and global features has been argued to originate from differences in frequency filtering in the two hemispheres, with little neurophysiological support. Here we test the hypothesis that this asymmetry takes place at an encoding stage beyond the sensory level, due to asymmetries in anatomical connections within each hemisphere. We use two simple encoding networks with differential connection structures as models of differential encoding in the two hemispheres based on a hypothesized generalization of neuroanatomical evidence from the auditory modality to the visual modality: The connection structure between columns is more distal in the language areas of the left hemisphere and more local in the homotopic regions in the right hemisphere. We show that both processing differences and differential frequency filtering can arise naturally in this neurocomputational model with neuroanatomically inspired differences in connection structures within the two model hemispheres, suggesting that hemispheric asymmetry in the processing of local and global features may be due to hemispheric asymmetry in connection structure rather than in frequency tuning.
Leaf Extract

Lemidi ( Stenochlaena palustris ) contains allelochemical compounds including alkaloids, tannins, and phenolic, so it has the potential to be used as a bioherbicide. The research aims to determine of lemidi leaf extract of the expansion of the grinding grass ( Cynodon dactylon ). This research was carried out from October 2022 to March 2023 at the Biology Screen House and Chemistry Laboratory, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. The research used a completely randomized design consisting of 5 treatments and 5 replications. The treatment consisted of lemidi leaf extract in concentrations of 0%, 7.5%, 10%, 12.5% and 15%. The research results show that lemidi leaf extract can inhibit the expansion of grinding grass. A concentration of 7.5% of lemidi leaves has shown inhibition on the observation of germination percentage, sprout length
Synergistic effect of hybrid graphene and boron nitride on the cure kinetics and thermal conductivity of epoxy adhesives

In the present study, the synergistic effect of hybrid boron nitride (BN) with graphene on the thermal conductivity of epoxy adhesives has been reported. Graphene was prepared by chemical reduction of graphite oxide (GO) in a mixture of concentrated H2SO4/H3PO4 acid. The particle size distribution of GO was found to be ~10 μm and a low contact angle of 54° with water indicated a hydrophilic surface. The structure of prepared graphene was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The thermal conductivity of adhesives was measured using guarded hot plate technique. Test results indicated an improvement in the thermal conductivity up to 1.65 W/mK, which was about ninefold increase over pristine epoxy. Mechanical properties of different epoxy formulations were also measured employing lap shear test. The surface characterization of different epoxy adhesive systems was characterized through XRD, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies. Fourier transform infrared also served to determine the nature of interactions between filler particles and epoxy resin. Non-isothermal differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) technique was used to investigate the effects of graphene and BN particles on the cure kinetics and cross-linking reaction of epoxy cured with amine curing agent. The Kissinger equation, the model-free isoconversional Flynn–Wall–Ozawa method and the Ozawa model were used to analyze the kinetic parameter. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
pseudokinases in neuronal function and survival

Introduction The SCY1-like family of protein pseudokinases comprises 3 members: SCYL1, also known as p105 or protein with an N-terminal kinase-like protein domain (NTKL); SCYL2, also known as a coated vesicle-associated kinase of 104 kDa (CVAK104); and SCYL3, also known as the protein-associating with the C-terminal domain of Ezrin (PACE-1) (Figure 1). SCYL proteins are evolutionarily conserved and ubiquitously expressed proteins that share common structural features, such as an N-terminal kinase domain; centrally localized Huntingtin, elongation factor 3, protein phosphatase 2A and yeast kinase TOR1 (HEAT) repeats; and a C-terminal segment containing one or more coiled-coil domains. Unique to SCYL3 is a myristoylation consensus sequence at its N-terminus. Unlike conventional kinases, which possess phosphotransferase activity, the kinase domains of SCYL proteins are predicted to be inactive because of alterations in key residues essential for catalytic activity and might serve other functions. The targeted inactivation of Scyl1 in mice causes an early-onset progressive motor neuron disorder with features characteristic of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (Pelletier et al., 2012). Skeletal muscles of Scyl1-deficient mice show neurogenic atrophy, fiber type switching, and disuse atrophy. The changes in muscle fibers are associated with the progressive loss of large caliber axons in the periphery and lower motor neurons in the ventral horn of the spinal cord. We also demonstrated that SCYL1 acts in a neural cell-autonomous manner to maintain motor neuron functions and survival. Remarkably, loss of SCYL1 function leads to the mislocalization of TDP-43 from its normal, predominantly nuclear, location to cytosolic aggregates and accumulation of ubiquilin-2 within cytoplasmic inclusions in lower motor neurons, both of which are hallmarks of ALS and many neurodegenerative conditions (Chen-Plotkin et al., 2010). Similarly, the targeted disruption of Scyl2 in mice causes severe neurologic disorders, leading to premature death in the majority of newborn mice and degeneration of CA3 pyramidal neurons in surviving mice. The loss of CA3 neurons is neuron-autonomous, occurs during functional maturation of the hippocampus and is the result of excitotoxicity, an apoptotic cell death caused by excessive excitatory signaling (Gingras et al., 2015). Mechanistically, we found that excitatory receptors KA1 and NR1, which are key mediators of excitotoxicity (Hara and Snyder, 2007), are overrepresented at synapses of Scyl2-deficient mice and thus may contribute to the neurodegenerative process associated with the loss of SCYL2 (Gingras et al., 2015). While studies have begun to elucidate the biologic functions of SCYL1 and SCYL2, the physiological role of SCYL3 is still unknown. Mice deficient for SCYL3 have been generated in my laboratory and are now being studied.
Decline in the Tropospheric Abundance of Halogen from Halocarbons: Implications for Stratospheric Ozone Depletion

Analyses of air sampled from remote locations across the globe reveal that tropospheric chlorine attributable to anthropogenic halocarbons peaked near the beginning of 1994 and was decreasing at a rate of 25 ± 5 parts per trillion per year by mid-1995. Although bromine from halons was still increasing in mid-1995, the summed abundance of these halogens in the troposphere is decreasing. To assess the effect of this trend on stratospheric ozone, estimates of the future stratospheric abundance of ozone-depleting gases were made for mid-latitude and polar regions on the basis of these tropospheric measurements. These results suggest that the amount of reactive chlorine and bromine will reach a maximum in the stratosphere between 1997 and 1999 and will decline thereafter if limits outlined in the adjusted and amended Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer are not exceeded in future years.
Compensating for Failures with Flexible Servers

We consider the problem of maximizing capacity in a queueing network with flexible servers, where the classes and servers are subject to failure. We assume that the interarrival and service times are independent and identically distributed, that routing is probabilistic, and that the failure state of the system can be described by a Markov process that is independent of the other system dynamics. We find that the maximal capacity is tightly bounded by the solution of a linear programming problem and that the solution of this problem can be used to construct timed, generalized round-robin policies that approach the maximal capacity arbitrarily closely. We then give a series of structural results for our policies, including identifying when server flexibility can completely compensate for failures and when the implementation of our policies can be simplified. We conclude with a numerical example that illustrates some of the developed insights.
Clinical Value of Tumor Markers for Determining Cause of Pleural Effusion

Background:It is often challenging to distinguish tuberculous pleural effusion (TPE) from malignant pleural effusion (MPE); thoracoscopy is among the techniques with the highest diagnostic ability in this regard. However, such invasive examinations cannot be performed on the elderly, or on those in poor physical condition. The aim of this study was to explore the differential diagnostic value of carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125), carbohydrate antigen 199 (CA199), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) associated antigen in patients with TPE and MPE. Methods:Using electrochemiluminescence, we measured the concentration of tumor markers (TMs) in the pleural effusion and serum of patients with TPE (n = 35) and MPE (n = 95). We used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to evaluate the TMs and differentiate between TPE and MPE. Results:The cut-off values for each TM in serum were: CA125, 151.55 U/ml; CA199, 9.88 U/ml; CEA, 3.50 ng/ml; NSE, 13.27 ng/ml; and SCC, 0.85 ng/ml. Those in pleural fluid were: CA125, 644.30 U/ml; CA199, 12.08 U/ml; CEA, 3.35 ng/ml; NSE, 9.71 ng/ml; and SCC, 1.35 ng/ml. The cut-off values for the ratio of pleural fluid concentration to serum concentration (P/S ratio) of each TM were: CA125, 5.93; CA199, 0.80; CEA, 1.47; NSE, 0.76; and SCC, 0.90. The P/S ratio showed the highest specificity in the case of CEA (97.14%). ROC curve analysis revealed that, for all TMs, the area under the curve in pleural fluid (0.95) was significantly different from that in serum (0.85; P < 0.001). Conclusions:TMs in TPE differ significantly from those in MPE, especially when detected in pleural fluid. The combined detection of TMs can improve diagnostic sensitivity.