Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Distributional Analysis of Green Tax Reforms

I measure the distributional impact of a shift toward greater reliance on environmental taxes (a green tax reform) using both annual and lifetime income measures to rank households. An environmental tax reform can be designed that has a negligible impact on the income distribution when the funds are rebated to households through reductions in the payroll tax and personal income tax. I also analyze trade-offs among competing goals of efficiency, equity, and ease of administration in the design of a green tax reform.
Title Nuclear pyruvate kinase M 2 complex serves as atranscriptional coactivator of arylhydrocarbon receptor

Pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) and pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) regulate production of acetylCoA, which functions as an acetyl donor in diverse enzymatic reactions, including histone acetylation. However, the mechanism by which the acetylCoA required for histone acetylation is ensured in a gene context-dependent manner is not clear. Here we show that PKM2, the E2 subunit of PDC and histone acetyltransferase p300 constitute a complex on chromatin with arylhydrocarbon receptor (AhR), a transcription factor associated with xenobiotic metabolism. All of these factors are recruited to the enhancer of AhR-target genes, in an AhR-dependent manner. PKM2 contributes to enhancement of transcription of cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1), an AhRtarget gene, acetylation at lysine 9 of histone H3 at the CYP1A1 enhancer. Site-directed mutagenesis of PKM2 indicates that this enhancement of histone acetylation requires the pyruvate kinase activity of the enzyme. Furthermore, we reveal that PDC activity is present in nuclei. Based on these findings, we propose a local acetyl-CoA production system in which PKM2 and PDC locally supply acetyl-CoA to p300 from abundant PEP for histone acetylation at the gene enhancer, and our data suggest that PKM2 sensitizes AhR-mediated detoxification in actively proliferating cells such as cancer and fetal cells.
Feature Enrichment Based Convolutional Neural Network for Heartbeat Classification From Electrocardiogram

Correct heartbeat classification from electrocardiogram (ECG) signals is fundamental to the diagnosis of arrhythmia. The recent advancement in deep convolutional neural network (CNN) has renewed the interest in applying deep learning techniques to improve the accuracy of heartbeat classification. So far, the results are not very exciting. Most of the existing methods are based on ECG morphological information, which makes deep learning difficult to extract discriminative features for classification. Towards an opposite direction of feature extraction or selection, this paper proceeds along a recent proposed direction named feature enrichment (FE). To exploit the advantage of deep learning, we develop a FE-CNN classifier by enriching the ECG signals into time-frequency images by discrete short-time Fourier transform and then using the images as the input to CNN. Experiments on MIT-BIH arrhythmia database show FE-CNN obtains sensitivity (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$Sen$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) of 75.6%, positive predictive rate (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$Ppr$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) of 90.1%, and F1 score of 0.82 for the detection of supraventricular ectopic (S) beats. <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$Sen$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$Ppr$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, and F1 score are 92.8%, 94.5%, and 0.94, respectively, for ventricular ectopic (V) beat detection. The result demonstrates our method outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms including other CNN based methods, without any hand-crafted features, especially F1 score for S beat detection from 0.75 to 0.82. This FE-CNN classifier is simple, effective, and easy to be applied to other types of vital signs.
Fatty acid composition of marine microalgae in Indonesia

Marine microalgae are a good source of fatty acids vital for marine organisms. Diversity of marine microalgae in Indonesia could be exploited for marine aquaculture and b i o - f u e l p r o d u c t i o n . H o w e v e r, b a s i c information pertaining to its fatty acid content is vital prior to any initiative aimed at developing this resource. The fatty acid composition of Indonesian marine microalgae is dominated by saturated fatty acids (SFA) instead of mono unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and poly- unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). In addition, the f a t t y a c i d c o m p o s i t i o n o f C l a s s Bacillariophyceae is dominated by C16:0 palmitic acid (38.87-47.68%); C16:1 palmitolic acid (0.5-18.61%); C18:2 linoleic acid (1.34- 9.65 %); and C18:3 linolenic acid (0.02- 25.31%). The majority fatty acid composition of class Cyanophyceae is C16:0 palmitic acid (47.33-66.05%); C18:0 stearic acid (9.78-14.16 %); C16:1 palmitolic acid (4.14-12.19%) and C18:1 oleic acid (5.31-24.85%). The fatty acid composition of Prasinophyceae is C16:0 palmitic acid (48.42-53.49%) and C18:0 stearic acid (9.16-12.20%). The fatty acid composition of Nannochloropsis (Eustigmatophyceae) is dominated by C16:0 (32.19%); C16:1 (22.4%); C18:0 (14.38%); and C20:0 (Eicosanoic) 13.4%. In addition, Spirulina platensis contained the highest amount of palmitic acid C16:0 (66.05 %) belonging to SFA.
ANTIOXIDANT PROFILE OF CORIANDRUM SATIVUM METHANOLIC EXTRACT

Methanolic extract of Coriandrum sativum (coriander) seeds was analyzed for the presence of various antioxidants; ascorbate, riboflavin, tocopherol, polyphenols and in vitro antioxidant potential. The extract, rich in polyphenolic compounds (18.696 ± 0.12 mg/g dry seeds) was subjected to HPLC analysis for identification and quantification of phenolics. Gallic acid (173.656 μg), caffeic acid (80.185 μg), ellagic acid (162.861 μg), quercetin (608.903 μg) and kaempferol (233.70 μg)/g dry seeds were identified. Antioxidant activity of the extract was determined by various mechanisms including DPPH free radical scavenging, metal induced protein and lipid oxidation inhibition and protection of DNA against H2O2 induced damage. Coriander had excellent free radical scavenging activity with IC50 value 0.4 mg dry seed weight, whereas comparatively higher IC50 was observed with metal ion chelating assays (7.2-8.0 mg dry seed weight). The results suggest that polyphenols including gallic acid, caffeic acid, ellagic acid, quercetin and kaempferol are the principle component responsible for high antioxidant activity of methanolic extract of coriander seeds. This is the first report on detailed analysis of antioxidant composition and antioxidant properties of methanolic extract of coriander seeds.
Physiological responses to nitrate stress of transgenic tobacco plants harbouring the cucumber mitogen-activated protein kinase gene

The physiological responses to nitrate stress of 2 transgenic tobacco lines containing the cucumber mitogen-activated protein kinase (CsNMAPK) gene were investigated. Seed germination rates of the transgenic tobacco lines were higher than that of the wild type (WT) tobacco under 150 mM nitrate treatment. The transgenic seedlings had higher root fresh weight (FW) and dry weight (DW) than the WT plants after 98 mM and 182 mM nitrate treatment. The malondialdehyde (MDA) content, electrolytic leakage (EL), and H2O2 content were higher in the WT than they were in the transgenic plants after 7-day nitrate stress treatment. The antioxidant enzyme (superoxide dismutase [SOD], catalase [CAT], peroxidase [POD], ascorbate peroxidase [APX]) activities increased with the increasing of nitrate concentration and the transgenic plants exhibited higher activities than the WT did. Excess nitrate stress induced more proline accumulation in the transgenic plants than in the WT plants. These results suggested that the tolerance of overexpressing-CsNMAPK tobacco plants to nitrate stress might partly be attributed to higher antioxidant enzyme activities and enhanced osmotic regulation capacity.
The Difference between Mathematical Reasoning Ability Improvement by Learning with Meta Cognitive Approach Aided Probing and Prompting Techniques in SMP Negeri 4 SeiSuka

The purpose of this study were: (1) analyzed the differences in students’ mathematical reasoning ability improvement taught by metacognition approach aided probing technique (PMT-probing) and metacognition approach aided prompting technique (PMT-prompting); and (2) described the process of the students’ responses in solving mathematical reasoning abilities. This study was a quasi experimentalresearch. The population in this study were all students of class VIII SMP Negeri 4 SeiSuka, with a purposive sampling techniques, the obtained sample was VIII-1 and VIII-2. The research instrument used a test of mathematical reasoning ability, and had qualified the criteria of content validity, and reliability coefficient of 0.819. Anova two ways was used to analyze the difference of mathematical reasoning ability improvement, while descriptive analysis was used to analyze students’ answers process. The results showed that: (1) There were differences in students’ mathematical reasoning skills improvement which were taught by metacognition approach aided probing techniques and the students taught by prompting technical approach; and (2) The process of the students’ responses on students’ mathematical reasoning abilitythrough learning with metacognition approach aided by prompting techniques was better than metacognition approach aided by probing techniques.
Fishery-induced change in the morphology of coastal fish with implications for management

Treball tutelat per Guillem Ramon Perez de Rada Departament de Biologia Realitzat al Laboratori d’Ecologia de Peixos. Departament d'Ecologia i Recursos Marins (Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avancats (CSIC-UIB)) dintre del marc del projecte REC2 (grant#CTM2011-23835, MINECO). Treball cientificament supervisat pel Dr. Josep Alos del Department of Biology and Ecology of Fishes (Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin) amb el suport del projecte fish & fishers, UE program Marie Curie Post-Doc grants (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF, grant # 327160)
Muscle Oxygenation During Hypoxic Exercise in Children and Adults

Introduction While hypoxia is known to decrease peak oxygen uptake (V.⁢o2 max) and maximal power output in both adults and children its influence on submaximal exercise cardiorespiratory and, especially, muscle oxygenation responses remains unclear. Methods Eight pre-pubertal boys (age = 8 ± 2 years.; body mass (BM) = 29 ± 7 kg) and seven adult males (age = 39 ± 4 years.; BM = 80 ± 8 kg) underwent graded exercise tests in both normoxic (PiO2 = 134 ± 0.4 mmHg) and hypoxic (PiO2 = 105 ± 0.6 mmHg) condition. Continuous breath-by-breath gas exchange and near infrared spectroscopy measurements, to assess the vastus lateralis oxygenation, were performed during both tests. The gas exchange threshold (GET) and muscle oxygenation thresholds were subsequently determined for both groups in both conditions. Results In both groups, hypoxia did not significantly alter either GET or the corresponding V. ⁢o2 at GET. In adults, higher V.E levels were observed in hypoxia (45 ± 6 l/min) compared to normoxia (36 ± 6 l/min, p < 0.05) at intensities above GET. In contrast, in children both the hypoxic V.E and V. ⁢o2 responses were significantly greater than those observed in normoxia only at intensities below GET (p < 0.01 for V.E and p < 0.05 for V.⁢o2). Higher exercise-related heart rate (HR) levels in hypoxia, compared to normoxia, were only noted in adults (p < 0.01). Interestingly, hypoxia per se did not influence the muscle oxygenation thresholds during exercise in neither group. However, and in contrast to adults, the children exhibited significantly higher total hemoglobin concentration during hypoxic as compared to normoxic exercise (tHb) at lower exercise intensities (30 and 60 W, p = 0.01). Conclusion These results suggest that in adults, hypoxia augments exercise ventilation at intensities above GET and might also maintain muscle blood oxygenation via increased HR. On the other hand, children exhibit a greater change of muscle blood perfusion, oxygen uptake as well as ventilation at exercise intensities below GET.
Proposal for a Histological Staging System of Mammary Carcinomas in Dogs and Cats. Part 1: Canine Mammary Carcinomas

Background: Staging of mammary carcinomas of dogs and cats is not only important for prognostic purposes, but also to guide therapy, in particular regarding adjuvant chemotherapy. The classical staging system relies on T, the clinical tumor size, N, the clinical nodal stage, and M, distant metastasis, evaluated by the clinician. However, a more precise and reliable staging system is applied to human stage I–III breast cancer, i.e., without distant metastasis, in which T is replaced by the pathologic tumor size (pT), and N is replaced by the pathologic nodal stage (pN), both evaluated by the pathologist. This staging system is strongly associated with patient outcomes, and is used to select treatment options. The purpose of this study was to design a histologic staging system for Canine Mammary Carcinomas (CMCs, part 1 of this article), and Feline Mammary Carcinomas (part 2), inspired from human oncology, and to assess its association with patient outcomes. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included 433 female dogs with a surgically removed CMC. Patient outcomes were recorded over a 2-years follow up period. CMCs were staged according to pT (greatest diameter in millimeters on histological slides), lymphovascular invasion (LVI), and pN (confirmed by cytokeratin AE1/AE3 immunohistochemistry). The histological stages were defined as: Stage 0 (CMCs in situ, surrounded by a continuous layer of p63+ myoepithelial cells), Stage I (pT1 ≤ 20 mm, LVI–, pN0–pNX, where pNX refers to the absence of lymph node sample), Stage II (pT2 > 20 mm, LVI–, pN0–pNX), Stage IIIA (pT1, LVI+, and/or pN+), and Stage IIIB (pT2, LVI+, and/or pN+). Results: Disease-free-interval, overall survival and specific survival significantly differed by histological stage. For specific survival, median survival times and hazard ratios (HR) by Cox proportional hazards regression (p < 0.0001) were: Stage 0 (median survival not reached; HR = 1.00; N = 89; 21% of the dogs), Stage I (1,720 days; HR = 3.05; p = 0.0018; N = 81; 19%), Stage II (1,181 days; HR = 4.39; p < 0.0001; N = 79; 18%), Stage IIIA (348 days; HR = 10.59; p < 0.0001; N = 79; 18%), and Stage IIIB (163 days; HR = 16.59; p < 0.0001; N = 105; 24%). Conclusion: The proposed histological staging system (invasiveness, pT, LVI, pN) is a very strong prognostic factor for CMCs.
On the Effect of Negotiated Metacognitive Assessments on Improving Listening Comprehension: A Case of Iranian EFL Learners

This paper reports a study investigating the role of negotiated assessment of metacognitive listening strategies in enhancing listening comprehension. To this aim, 60 Iranian EFL learners at intermediate level of language proficiency were assigned to an experimental (n = 30) and control group (n = 30). An attempt was made by the teacher in experimental group to raise students’ awareness of metacognitive strategies both prior to and after the doing listening comprehension tasks in a time bracket of eight weeks. Nonetheless, the control group followed conventional product-oriented approach to listening instruction; that is, no attempt was made to engage them in metacognitive instruction. Listening comprehension of both groups was assessed by listening section of IELTS at the onset and end of the study. Results of the study revealed that negotiated metacognitive assessment managed to significantly increase gains in listening comprehension. Furthermore, the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group. The results gave more credence to the positive role of process-based approach to teaching listening comprehension. The results are discussed in the light of metacognition and some pedagogical implications are included.
Effects of Expressive Writing on Neural Processing During Learning

Expressive writing about past negative events has been shown to lead to a slew of positive outcomes. However, little is known about why writing about something negative would have positive effects. While some have posited that telling a narrative of a past negative event or current anxiety “frees up” cognitive resources, allowing individuals to focus more on the task at hand, there is little neural evidence suggesting that expressive writing has an effect on cognitive load. Moreover, little is known about how individual differences in the content of expressive writing could affect neural processing and the cognitive benefits writing confers. In our experiment, we compared brain activity in a group that had engaged in expressive writing vs. a control group, during performance on a feedback-based paired-associate word-learning task. We found that across groups, differential activation in the dorsal striatum in response to positive vs. negative feedback significantly predicted better later memory. Moreover, writing about a past failure resulted in more activation relative to the control group during the learning task in the mid-cingulate cortex (MCC), an area of the brain crucial to processing negative emotion. While our results do not provide support for the assertion that expressive writing alters attentional processing, our findings suggest that choosing to write about particularly intense past negative experiences like a difficult past failure may have resulted in changes in neural activation during task processing.
Intelligent Multitrack Dynamic Range Compression

We present an intelligent approach to multitrack dynamic range compression where all parameters are configured automatically based on side-chain feature extraction from the input signals. A method of adjustment experiment to explore how audio engineers set the ratio and threshold is described. We use multiple linear regression to model the relationship between different features and the experimental results. Parameter automations incorporate control assumptions based on this experiment and those derived from mixing literature and analysis. Subjective evaluation of the intelligent system is provided in the form of a multiple stimulus listening test where the system is compared against a no-compression mix, two human mixes, and an alternative approach. Results showed that mixes devised by our system are able to compete with or outperform manual mixes by semi-professionals under a variety of subjective criteria.
Trade and Tasks: An Exploration Over Three Decades in Germany

This paper combines representative worker-level data that cover time-varying job-level task characteristics of an economy over a long time span with sector-level bilateral trade data. We carefully create longitudinally consistent workplace characteristics from the German Qualification and Career Survey 1979-2006 and prepare trade flow statistics from varying sources. Four main facts emerge: (i) intermediate inputs constitute a major share of imports, and their relevance grows especially in the early decade; (ii) the German workforce increasingly specializes in workplace activities and job requirements that are typically considered non-offshorable, mainly within and not between sectors and occupations; (iii) the imputed activity and job requirement content of German imports grows relatively more intensive in work characteristics typically considered offshorable; and (iv) labour-market institutions at German trade partners are largely unrelated to the changing task content of German imports but German sector-level outcomes exhibit some covariation consistent with faster task offshoring in sectors exposed to lower labour market tightness. We discuss policy implications of these findings.
Acute Low-Intensity Aerobic Exercise Modulates Intracortical Inhibitory and Excitatory Circuits in an Exercised and a Non-exercised Muscle in the Primary Motor Cortex

Recent studies have reported that acute aerobic exercise modulates intracortical excitability in the primary motor cortex (M1). However, whether acute low-intensity aerobic exercise can also modulate M1 intracortical excitability, particularly intracortical excitatory circuits, remains unclear. In addition, no previous studies have investigated the effect of acute aerobic exercise on short-latency afferent inhibition (SAI). The aim of this study was to investigate whether acute low-intensity aerobic exercise modulates intracortical circuits in the M1 hand and leg areas. Intracortical excitability of M1 (Experiments 1, 2) and spinal excitability (Experiment 3) were measured before and after acute low-intensity aerobic exercise. In Experiment 3, skin temperature was also measured throughout the experiment. Transcranial magnetic stimulation was applied over the M1 non-exercised hand and exercised leg areas in Experiments 1, 2, respectively. Participants performed 30 min of low-intensity pedaling exercise or rested while sitting on the ergometer. Short- and long-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI and LICI), and SAI were measured to assess M1 inhibitory circuits. Intracortical facilitation (ICF) and short-interval intracortical facilitation (SICF) were measured to assess M1 excitatory circuits. We found that acute low-intensity aerobic exercise decreased SICI and SAI in the M1 hand and leg areas. After exercise, ICF in the M1 hand area was lower than in the control experiment, but was not significantly different to baseline. The single motor-evoked potential, resting motor threshold, LICI, SICF, and spinal excitability did not change following exercise. In conclusion, acute low-intensity pedaling modulates M1 intracortical circuits of both exercised and non-exercised areas, without affecting corticospinal and spinal excitability.
The Effects of APOE and ABCA7 on Cognitive Function and Alzheimer’s Disease Risk in African Americans: A Focused Mini Review

African Americans have double the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), as compared to European Americans. However, the underlying causes of this health disparity are due to a multitude of environmental, lifestyle, and genetic factors that are not yet fully understood. Here, we review the effects of the two largest genetic risk factors for AD in African Americans: Apolipoprotein E (APOE) and ABCA7. We will describe the direct effects of genetic variation on neural correlates of cognitive function and report the indirect modulating effects of genetic variation on modifiable AD risk factors, such as aerobic fitness. As a means of integrating previous findings, we present a novel schematic diagram to illustrate the many factors that contribute to AD risk and impaired cognitive function in older African Americans. Finally, we discuss areas that require further inquiry, and stress the importance of racially diverse and representative study populations.
The Racial / Ethnic Interpretation of South Africa ’ s 2004 Election By

An analytical framework that emphasises race and ethnicity has come to dominate post-apartheid electoral studies. In this view, race and ethnicity are regarded as primary analytical variables in explaining voting behaviour and are taken to be crucial in influencing the strategy and tactics of political parties. In this framework, South African society is considered to be characterised by such serious and insoluble racial and ethnic divisions that the prospects for democratic consolidation are