Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Alcohol Taxation and Regulation : State-Facilitated Collusion and the Implications for Tax Policy ( Preliminary and Incomplete-DO NOT CITE )

Alcohol markets are subject to both heavy regulation as well as excise taxes at the federal and state level. We examine the impact of particular state regulations on the structure of the alcohol market and the consequences for tax efficiency. We show that post and hold and meet but not beat pricing regulations at the wholesale level facilitate non-competitive pricing by wholesalers. Wholesalers will tend to mark up premium brands relative to call or well products. The distortion of premium brands generally exceeds the distortions resulting from optimally set taxes, particularly when states attempt to address any negative externality of alcohol consumption. Regression results and tabulations indicate that that states featuring post and hold regulations consume 4% to 10% less alcohol than other states, that premium products comprise a smaller share of consumption and that wholesaler pricing is consistent with non-competitive behavior. We use new monthly data describing prices and quantity for hundreds of products to estimate alcoholic beverage demand and use these estimates to assess the impact of replacing these regulations with higher taxes. Our findings suggest that the state of Connecticut could raise three to six times their current alcohol tax revenue by eliminating these regulations and increasing taxes such that total alcohol consumption was unchanged. In addition to redirecting surplus from wholesalers to the taxing authority, these alternative policies increase consumer surplus by reducing distortions in consumer product choices. The state can effectively raise much more revenue and improve consumer welfare by replacing alcohol regulations with taxation.
A Note on Ambiguity of Context-Free Languages and Presentations of Semilinear Sets

An investigation is made of certain quantitative and qualitative aspects of inherent ambiguity of context-free languages. Two main results are proved. The first asserts that for every integer k there are inherently k-ambiguous context-free subsets of a*b*c*. This result is obtained as a corollary of a more general result concerning ambiguous presentations of semilinear sets. The second result asserts that inherent ambiguity can arise from the "nest-ing" property of context-free languages, as well as from the "pairwise matching" property.
Cervicolumbar Coordination in Mammalian Quadrupedal Locomotion: Role of Spinal Thoracic Circuitry and Limb Sensory Inputs

Effective quadrupedal locomotion requires a close coordination between the spatially distant central pattern generators (CPGs) controlling forelimb and hindlimb movements. Using isolated preparations of the neonatal rat spinal cord, we explore the role of intervening thoracic circuitry in cervicolumbar CPG coordination and the contribution to this remote coupling of limb somatosensory inputs. In preparations activated with bath-applied N-methyl-d,l-aspartate, serotonin, and dopamine, the coordination between locomotor-related bursts recorded in cervical and lumbar ventral roots was substantially weakened, although not abolished, when the thoracic segments were selectively withheld from neurochemical stimulation or were exposed to a low Ca2+ solution to block synaptic transmission. Moreover, cervicolumbar CPG coordination was reduced after a thoracic midsagittal section, suggesting that cross-cord projections participate in the anteroposterior coupling. In quiescent preparations, either cyclic or tonic electrical stimulation of low-threshold afferent pathways in C8 or L2 dorsal roots (DRs) could elicit coordinated ventral root bursting at both cervical and lumbar levels via an activation of the underlying CPG networks. When lumbar rhythmogenesis was prevented by local synaptic transmission blockade, L2 DR stimulation could still drive left–right alternating cervical bursting in preparations otherwise exposed to normal bathing medium. In contrast, when the cervical generators were selectively blocked, C8 DR stimulation was unable to activate the lumbar CPGs. Thus, in the newborn rat, anteroposterior limb coordination relies on active burst generation within midcord thoracic circuitry that additionally conveys ascending and weaker descending coupling influences of distant limb proprioceptive inputs to the cervical and lumbar generators, respectively.
Hla-c Expression Levels Define Permissible Mismatches in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Key Points

• The expression level of patient HLA-C allotypes affects GVHD and mortality after HCT from HLA-C-mismatched unrelated donors. • Transplant outcome can be improved by avoiding high-risk HLA-C-mismatched donors when no matched stem cell source is available. Life-threatening graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) limits the use of HLA-C-mismatched unrelated donors in transplantation. Clinicians lack criteria for donor selection when HLA-C-mismatched donors are a patient's only option for cure. We examined the role for HLA-C expression levels to identify permissible HLA-C mismatches. The median fluorescence intensity, a proxy of HLA-C expression, was assigned to each HLA-C allotype in 1975 patients and their HLA-C-mismatched unrelated transplant donors. The association of outcome with the level of expression of patients' and donors' HLA-C allotypes was evaluated in multivariable models. Increasing expression level of the patient's mismatched HLA-C allotype was associated with increased risks of grades III to IV acute GVHD, nonrelapse mortality, and mortality. Increasing expression level among HLA-C mismatches with residue 116 or residue 77/80 mismatching was associated with increased nonrelapse mortality. The immunogenicity of HLA-C mismatches in unrelated donor transplantation is influenced by the expression level of the patient's mismatched HLA-C allotype. HLA-C expression levels provide new information on mismatches that should be avoided and extend understanding of HLA-C-mediated immune responses in human disease.
Principles of perceptual decision making: insights from a somatosensory comparison task

Navigating through everyday life requires deciding between alternatives almost constantly: For instance, ’Should I wear a pair of Jeans or chinos? ’ or ’Should I have coffee or tea? ’ etc. The simplest form of decisions we face is based on sensory information only, e.g., when we need to decide whether we can drink the cup of hot coffee in our hands just now, or whether we should wait a couple of more minutes. Such purely sensory-driven decisions, which fall into the domain of perceptual decision making, constitute a prime example for studying the neural processes that are involved in the transformation of sensory information into behavior. In other words, the simplistic nature of perceptual decision making is often exploited in neuroscience to understand the principles of decision making in general. Over the last decades, especially electrophysiological recordings in animals have fostered the understanding of the involved neural processes. The according findings suggested that decisions are formed as intentions to act in those brain structures, which also implement the ensuing behavior. In particular, this implicated a fronto-parietal network of cortical areas. The work presented here aimed at linking these insights from animal research to electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings in humans. In particular, we investigated the EEG signal during a simple task in which participants compared the frequencies of two vibrations that were sequentially presented to their index finger. In four studies, comprising six experiments employing this simple comparison task, we demonstrated that the findings from invasive animal recordings can be directly related to non-invasive human scalp recordings, and moreover, can even be extended to previously unexplored decision contexts. That is, depending on response modality and decision rule, we found a choice-indicative signal originating from those structures that implemented the consequences of the comparison task, notably, implicating the same fronto-parietal network as suggested by animal research. Moreover, we identified a fine-grained evidence signal in parietal areas that was previously known from other perceptual decision making tasks, however, has never been reported in a sequential comparison task. Interestingly, by using a comparison task, we could reveal that the parietal evidence signal appears to convey more information than assumed before, inviting for speculations about whether current theories of perceptual decision making might actually be extended to a more general framework of magnitude estimation.
Learners : Co-opting Your Spam Filter

Using statistical machine learning for making security decisions introduces new vulnerabilities in large scale systems. We show how an adversary can exploit statistical machine learning, as used in the SpamBayes spam filter, to render it useless—even if the adversary’s access is limited to only 1% of the spam training messages. We demonstrate three new attacks that successfully make the filter unusable, prevent victims from receiving specific email messages, and cause spam emails to arrive in the victim’s inbox.
Peritoneal fluid leptin is associated with chronic pelvic pain but not infertility in endometriosis patients.

BACKGROUND Leptin influences the proinflammatory immune responses and has angiogenic activity in vitro and in vivo. The objective of this study was to evaluate the peritoneal fluid levels of leptin in patients with endometriosis and idiopathic infertility and compare them with a control group of tubal ligation/reanastomosis patients. METHODS In this observational, prospective controlled study, peritoneal fluid from 108 women was obtained while they underwent laparoscopy for pelvic pain, infertility, tubal ligation or sterilization reversal. We measured the concentration of leptin in the peritoneal fluid and compared the levels among women who were divided into groups according to their post-surgical diagnosis. Sixty patients were diagnosed with endometriosis, 10 with idiopathic infertility and 38 had undergone tubal ligation or reanastomosis (control group). RESULTS Peritoneal fluid leptin was significantly higher in endometriosis 14.62+/-9.79 (mean+/-SD) ng/ml compared to idiopathic infertility [0.92+/-1.57 ng/ml (P=0.0007)] and to controls [0.78+/-1.94 ng/ml (P<0.0001)]. Leptin levels were positively correlated with the stage of endometriosis (r=0.45; P=0.03), and with pelvic pain in endometriosis patients (r=0.49; P=0.001). Peritoneal fluid leptin levels in patients with idiopathic infertility were comparable to controls. CONCLUSIONS Higher levels of leptin were observed in peritoneal fluid of patients with endometriosis compared to those without the disease. These data suggest that the proinflammatory and neoangiogenic action of leptin may contribute to the pathogenesis of endometriosis. Moreover, leptin may play a role in endometriosis-associated pain.
Fast and robust 3D face matching approach

We present a novel three-dimensional (3D) face matching approach in this paper. First, 3D facial scans are segmented and four feature points of each face are detected for rough alignment the by Absolute Orientation method. Then a modified Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithm is employed for range image registration. A Simulated Annealing (SA) based approach with the Surface Interpenetration Measure (SIM), as similarity measure, is used for final matching. Our experimental results on the Face Recognition Grand Challenge (FRGC) v2 database show that the proposed method could achieve 99% rank one recognition performance at 0.001 False Acceptance Rate (FAR) on all neutral expression with noisy data.
Voting Power in Weighted Voting Games : A Lobbying Approach

We report experiments on the following lobbying game. Two lobbyists have identical budgets and simultaneously distribute them across voters in a legislature. Each voter votes for the lobbyist who pays them most and the lobbyist who receives most votes wins a prize. Taking the share of the budget distributed to a voter as a measure of the voter‟s voting power we investigate how voting power varies with voting weights. We focus on simple apex games where there is one „large‟ voter and several „small‟ voters and find that observed behavior is not perfectly in line with equilibrium predictions. However, we find support for two qualitative features of the equilibrium. First, the share of lobbyists‟ expenditures on the large voter exceeds her relative voting weight. Second lobbyists distribute their budgets over supermajorities.
Mutational bias suggests that replication termination occurs near the dif site, not at Ter sites

In bacteria, Ter sites bound to Tus/Rtp proteins halt replication forks moving only in one direction, providing a convenient mechanism to terminate them once the chromosome had been replicated. Considering the importance of replication termination and its position as a checkpoint in cell division, the accumulated knowledge on these systems has not dispelled fundamental questions regarding its role in cell biology: why are there so many copies of Ter, why are they distributed over such a large portion of the chromosome, why is the tus gene not conserved among bacteria, and why do tus mutants lack measurable phenotypes? Here we examine bacterial genomes using bioinformatics techniques to identify the region(s) where DNA polymerase III‐mediated replication has historically been terminated. We find that in both Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis, changes in mutational bias patterns indicate that replication termination most likely occurs at or near the dif site. More importantly, there is no evidence from mutational bias signatures that replication forks originating at oriC have terminated at Ter sites. We propose that Ter sites participate in halting replication forks originating from DNA repair events, and not those originating at the chromosomal origin of replication.
Effect of Surface Treated Silicon Dioxide Nanoparticles on Some Mechanical Properties of Maxillofacial Silicone Elastomer

Current materials used for maxillofacial prostheses are far from ideal and there is a need for novel improved materials which mimic as close as possible the natural behavior of facial soft tissues. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of adding different concentrations of surface treated silicon dioxide nanoparticles (SiO2) on clinically important mechanical properties of a maxillofacial silicone elastomer. 147 specimens of the silicone elastomer were prepared and divided into seven groups (n = 21). One control group was prepared without nanoparticles and six study groups with different concentrations of nanoparticles, from 0.5% to 3% by weight. Specimens were tested for tear strength (ASTM D624), tensile strength (ASTM D412), percent elongation, and shore A hardness. SEM was used to assess the dispersion of nano-SiO2 within the elastomer matrix. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and Scheffe test (α = 0.05). Results revealed significant improvement in all mechanical properties tested, as the concentration of the nanoparticles increased. This was supported by the results of the SEM. Hence, it can be concluded that the incorporation of surface treated SiO2 nanoparticles at concentration of 3% enhanced the overall mechanical properties of A-2186 silicone elastomer.
The link vs. the event: activating and deactivating elements in time-based hypermedia

Abstract Activation and deactivation of media items plays a fundamental role in the playing of multimedia and time-based hypermedia presentations. Activation and deactivation information thus has to be captured in an underlying document format. In this paper we show that a number of aspects of activation and deactivation information can be captured using both link structures and events in time-based hypermedia. In particular, we discuss how deactivation and activation can be specified, how the activations and deactivations can be initiated and potential (synchronization) relationships between the elements involved. We first introduce the notions of time-based scheduling and event-based scheduling and then present a short summary of linking. We discuss the similarities between event-based scheduling and linking. We describe a number of aspects of activation and deactivation that can be specified within a document. We then discuss how activation and deactivation information can be recorded in link structures and events.
Synchrotron Radiation High-resolution Soft X-ray Beamline Adress at the Swiss Light Source for Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering and Angle-resolved Photoelectron Spectroscopies

The concepts and technical realisation of the high-resolution soft X-ray beamline ADRESS operating in the energy range from 300 to 1600 eV and intended for resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES) are described. The photon source is an undulator of novel fixed-gap design where longitudinal movement of permanent magnetic arrays controls not only the light polarization (including circular and 0–180 rotatable linear polarizations) but also the energy without changing the gap. The beamline optics is based on the well established scheme of plane-grating monochromator operating in collimated light. The ultimate resolving power E/ÁE is above 33000 at 1 keV photon energy. The choice of blazed versus lamellar gratings and optimization of their profile parameters is described. Owing to glancing angles on the mirrors as well as optimized groove densities and profiles of the gratings, the beamline is capable of delivering high photon flux up to 1 Â 10 13 photons s À1 (0.01% BW) À1 at 1 keV. Ellipsoidal refocusing optics used for the RIXS endstation demagnifies the vertical spot size down to 4 mm, which allows slitless operation and thus maximal transmission of the high-resolution RIXS spectrometer delivering E/ÁE > 11000 at 1 keV photon energy. Apart from the beamline optics, an overview of the control system is given, the diagnostics and software tools are described, and strategies used for the optical alignment are discussed. An introduction to the concepts and instrumental realisation of the ARPES and RIXS endstations is given.
PENGARUH MOTIVASI TERHADAP KINERJA KARYAWAN DENGAN BUDAYA ORGANISASI SEBAGAI VARIABEL MODERATING (STUDI PADA PT. RANDUGARUT PLASTIC INDONESIA)

This experience aims to detect motivation influence towards employee performance with organization culture as variable moderating (case study pt. randugarut plastic indonesia. sample that chosen to use census method or population watchfulness, where entire population members that be all production part employees at pt. randugarut plastic indonesia is taken as watchfulness sample or respondent. this sample election threatens in opinion suharsini arikunto (2002) that when does population total less than 100 better taken all as watchfulness sample so that got sample 80 respondents. This experience method uses multiple linear regression test with a few data analysis method which is validity test, reliability test, normality test, multikoleniarity test, heterokedastisitas test. multiple linear regression test, simultaneous test, determination coefficient test, and test t (hypothesis test). Testing result by using multiple linear regression shows the influential of motivation towards employee performance in PT. Randugarut Plastic Indonesia.The interaction between motivation towards employee performance with organization culture as variable moderating shows that motivation influenced employee performance. By those finding the recommendation for company are increasing employee motivation, paying attention for employee safe taste in work, or company can give team cooperation in work, give free employee innovates in work in PT. Randugarut Plastic Indonesia. Keyword: motivation, organization culture, and employee performance
The Connection between Star-forming Galaxies, AGN Host Galaxies, and Early-Type Galaxies in the SDSS

We present a study of the connection between star-forming galaxies, AGN host galaxies, and normal early-type galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Using the SDSS DR5 and DR4plus data, we select our early-type galaxy sample in the color versus color-gradient space, and we classify the spectral types of the selected early-type galaxies into normal, star-forming, Seyfert, and LINER classes, using several spectral line flux ratios. We investigate the slope in the fundamental space for each class of early-type galaxies and find that there are obvious differences in the slopes of the fundamental planes (FPs) among the different classes of early-type galaxies, in the sense that the slopes for Seyfert and star-forming galaxies are flatter than those for normal galaxies and LINERs. This may be the first identification of the systematic variation of the FP slope among the subclasses of early-type galaxies. The difference in the FP slope might be caused by the difference in the degree of nonhomology among different classes or by the difference of gas contents in their merging progenitors. One possible scenario is that the AGN host galaxies and star-forming galaxies are formed by gas-rich merging and that they may evolve into normal early-type galaxies after finishing their star formation or AGN activities.
Multiple liver abscesses in a child

Entameba histolytica is a protozoan that usually causes procto-colitis. E. histolytica amebiasis is endemic in tropical countries but exceedingly rare in the US Amebic liver abscess commonly presents with fever, abdominal distension, right upper quadrant pain/tenderness, hepatomegaly, and tachycardia. We discuss the presentation/diagnosis of amebiasis in a child who had visited Mexico and the difficulty of early diagnosis when there is no evidence of intestinal infection. Ultrasonography and/or CT were essential diagnostic tools and an IgG antibody study confirmed the diagnosis. Management included oral metronida-zole and abscess drainage.
GeoBurst: Real-Time Local Event Detection in Geo-Tagged Tweet Streams

The real-time discovery of local events (e.g., protests, crimes, disasters) is of great importance to various applications, such as crime monitoring, disaster alarming, and activity recommendation. While this task was nearly impossible years ago due to the lack of timely and reliable data sources, the recent explosive growth in geo-tagged tweet data brings new opportunities to it. That said, how to extract quality local events from geo-tagged tweet streams in real time remains largely unsolved so far. We propose GeoBurst, a method that enables effective and real-time local event detection from geo-tagged tweet streams. With a novel authority measure that captures the geo-topic correlations among tweets, GeoBurst first identifies several pivots in the query window. Such pivots serve as representative tweets for potential local events and naturally attract similar tweets to form candidate events. To select truly interesting local events from the candidate list, GeoBurst further summarizes continuous tweet streams and compares the candidates against historical activities to obtain spatiotemporally bursty ones. Finally, GeoBurst also features an updating module that finds new pivots with little time cost when the query window shifts. As such, GeoBurst is capable of monitoring continuous streams in real time. We used crowdsourcing to evaluate GeoBurst on two real-life data sets that contain millions of geo-tagged tweets. The results demonstrate that GeoBurst significantly outperforms state-of-the-art methods in precision, and is orders of magnitude faster.