Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sanctions for Repeat Offenders: A Question of Wealth?

In a two-period standard law-enforcement model, individuals observe or break the law. In addition, individuals may offend accidentally. When sanctions are limited by individual wealth constraints, the government chooses appropriate sanctions for first and repeat offenders and the level of monitoring. We assume a welfare-oriented government and derive subgame-perfect equilibria for constant, increasing and decreasing sanctions depending on the individual wealth level.
Psychiatric diagnoses in patients with fibromyalgia are related to health care-seeking behavior rather than to illness.

OBJECTIVE To compare the frequency of lifetime psychiatric disorders among 3 groups of subjects: patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) from a tertiary care setting, community residents with FMS who had not sought medical care for their FMS symptoms ("FMS nonpatients"), and healthy controls. METHODS We used the Computerized Diagnostic Interview Schedule to assess lifetime psychiatric diagnoses, as well as the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale and the Trait Anxiety Inventory to assess current psychological distress, among 64 patients with FMS, 28 FMS nonpatients, and 23 healthy individuals. RESULTS Patients with FMS, relative to FMS nonpatients and healthy controls, were characterized by a significantly greater number of lifetime psychiatric diagnoses (P = 0.002). Nonpatients did not differ from controls in psychiatric diagnoses. Patients also exhibited higher psychological distress levels than nonpatients, and nonpatients showed greater distress than controls. Differences in psychological distress between patients and nonpatients were eliminated after controlling for pain threshold and fatigue ratings. CONCLUSION Psychiatric disorders are not intrinsically related to the FMS syndrome. Instead, multiple lifetime psychiatric diagnoses may contribute to the decision to seek medical care for FMS in tertiary care settings.
Asset Pricing with Housing Booms and Disasters

We introduce a new housing consumption-based asset pricing model (Housing CCAPM) that incorporates rare disaster events into the dynamics of non-housing consumption and rare boom/disaster events into housing consumption. Our analytical framework hinges on two key ideas. First, we extend existing Cumulant Generating Function-based pricing formulas to a two-good economy. Second, we develop an exponential affine approximation for the price-dividend ratio. These techniques enable us to derive intuitive closed form solutions for the risk-free rate, risk premia, the volatility of excess returns and the term structure of interest rates. Using monthly U.S. aggregate consumption data and a maximum likelihood estimation approach, we show that, while rare disaster events in non-housing consumption contribute only marginally to explaining the low risk-free rate, the high equity premium and high equity volatility observed in the data, rare boom/disaster events in housing expenditures solve these puzzles for moderate levels of risk aversion and intratemporal elasticity of substitution. Additionally, we show that the Housing CCAPM framework with CRRA utility will consistently produce theoretical upward-sloping real yield curves, and interpret the standard CCAPM risk-free rate as the rate that would prevail during extreme recessions.
Assessing the role and effectiveness of kitchen gardening toward food security in Punjab, Pakistan: a case of district Bahawalpur

Food security is one of the leading issues of many governments globally. Kitchen gardening is the innovative project initiated by the Government of Punjab (Pakistan) to provide instant aid to dwellers by self-produced fresh vegetables. The present investigation was conducted in the district Bahawalpur. The objectives were to explore the main benefits of kitchen gardening, to identify the places used for this activity, to identify the growers’ perceptions and to give suggestions to improve the project. Two urban and one rural tehsils of district Bahawalpur were selected as study areas. Secondary data were collected from several sources while primary data gathered through a mobile phone survey and analyzed by applying descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS software. The findings have justified that dominant share of growers have sown the seed kits for vegetables production, mostly for home consumption and was satisfied with the quality and price of seed kit. Most of the growers certified the efficiency of the project in the regular provision of fresh and healthy vegetables. Hence, the project is a successful endeavor and still continuing in the province, benefiting the masses and encouraging urban agriculture. The outcome of the investigation is suggestions to further improve this project.
Barter and Business Cycles: Further Empirical Evidence

Rising interest in barter due to the current world-wide recession has motivated a re-examination of macroeconomic determinants of barter in the U.S. economy, particularly its correlation with the business cycle. This critical evaluation, using the International Reciprocal Trade Association data, addresses, among other issues, whether firm size affect the behavior of firms during business cycles. Here, we deal with replacement of the missing observations by filling them with forecasts using the Box-Jenkins ARMA and Kalman filter methods before performing the unit root and cointegration tests. Although the ECM estimates for various measures of business cycles are occasionally inconsistent, overall the inventory measures and capacity utilization results suggest that barter transactions are counter-cyclical regardless of the firm size. Additionally, we find that barter rises with inflationary trend, dissemination of access to computer technology, tax rates and tax laws requiring disclosure of barter transactions.
The Asymmetric Distribution of Informative Face Information during Gender Recognition

Recognition of the gender of a face is important in social interactions. In the current study, the distribution of informative facial information was systematically examined during gender judgment using two methods, Bubbles and Focus windows techniques. Two experiments found that the most informative information was around the eyes, followed by the mouth and nose. Other parts of the face contributed to the gender recognition but were less important. The left side of the face was used more during gender recognition in two experiments. These results show mainly areas around the eyes are used for gender judgment and demonstrate perceptual asymmetry with a normal (non-chimeric) face.
The MUC1 Oncoprotein Activates the Anti-apoptotic Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase/Akt and Bcl-xL Pathways in Rat 3Y1 Fibroblasts*

The MUC1 transmembrane glycoprotein is overexpressed by most human carcinomas. Overexpression of MUC1 confers transformation; however, the signaling pathways activated by this oncoprotein are largely unknown. The present studies demonstrated that MUC1-induced transformation of 3Y1 fibroblasts is associated with increased levels of phospho-Akt and phospho-Bad. The finding that LY294002 blocks MUC1-mediated increases in phospho-Akt and phospho-Bad supports the involvement of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) as an upstream effector of this response. We also show that MUC1 increases the expression of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-xL protein (but not Bcl-2) by a PI3K-independent mechanism. In concert with these results, MUC1 attenuated (i) the loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, (ii) mitochondrial cytochrome c release, (iii) activation of caspase-9, and (iv) induction of apoptosis by the antimetabolite, 1-β-d-arabinofuranosylcytosine. Similar results were obtained with the anti-cancer agent, gemcitabine. These findings indicate that expression of MUC1 in 3Y1 cells activates the anti-apoptotic PI3K/Akt and Bcl-xL pathways.
The practice and culture of smuggling in the borderland of Egypt and Libya

International Affairs 93: 4 (2017) 897–915; doi: 10.1093/ia/iix121 © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal Institute of International Affairs. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com This article deals with smuggling among the Awlad ‘Ali Bedouin in the borderland of Egypt and Libya.1 Smuggling is understood here as a transgressive economic practice that is embedded in the wider social, political and cultural connectivity. This connectivity transgresses state borders, colliding with state sovereignty and territorial integrity. In fact, it has a greater historical depth than either of the post-colonial states, and is in many respects more vital than these.2 However, smuggling in North Africa and the Middle East is nowadays often discussed as an aspect of the illegal trafficking of people across borders, the transnational drug trade or the illicit trading of arms in the context of civil wars. In addition, smuggling is debated in relation to what is called global jihadist terrorism and has thus become a major object of the securitization policies conducted by states and secret services.3 This is true of its occurrence in the borderland of Egypt and Libya, in a context characterized by the current disintegration of Libya and the increasing prevalence of various transgressive practices in its borderlands. However, in this article the practice and culture of smuggling are presented in a perspective that sees smuggling not as a criminal exception to normal conduct per se, but as a type of economic, political and cultural action that is connected to and embedded in a wider setting of practices. It will become clear that smuggling is the economic aspect of a more general phenomenon which I call shared sovereignty between (trans-)local populations and states. In accordance with the general approach of this guest-edited issue of International Affairs,4 the article seeks to deliver an empirical insight into the emerging complexities in the North African borderlands.
Gold in Monetary Transmission - Some Evidence of Nonlinearities

As a commodity, gold occupies a special place in Indian psyche. With formal capital markets still out of reach for a large section of the Indian population, gold, beyond its traditional use as jewellery, also acts as a store of value, especially under an environment of moderately high inflation. In this paper, we further explore the asset price channel of monetary transmission by endogenizing gold price inflation within the Indian macroeconomic system. Supported by empirical tests in favor of such an inclusion, a linear VAR model results indicate that gold seems to act as a shock absorber by way of shielding other macroeconomic variables, especially GDP growth, from the influence monetary policy shocks. In India, the demand for gold is primarily met by imports. Thus, the dynamics of gold, real exchange rate and inflation are likely to be interlinked in a nonlinear manner. Based on estimation of a TVAR model and simulation methods of inference, we find that there are significant differences in the macroeconomic dynamics of the Indian economy under high and low inflation regimes. Moreover, the TVAR model results suggest that gold seems to matter more in the Indian macroeconomic system during episodes of high inflation.
Inequality under frictional labour markets

This thesis studies the emergence of, and the interaction between, inequality in earnings and inequality in wealth, when labour markets are frictional. Chapter 1 investigates the implications of search frictions and human-capital accumulation for the equilibrium distribution of wages when firms invest optimally in match-specific productivity. Optimal investment choice is incorporated in a framework along the lines of (Burdett et al., 2011) and equilibrium is characterised. The effect of the rate of human capital accumulation on equilibrium dispersion of firm productivities and wages is analysed in a numerically solved version of the model. Chapter 2 studies the empirical relationship between wealth and two labour market outcomes - re-employment wages and unemployment durations. The analysis complements a closely related literature by exploiting new data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation. As in prior studies, negative relationship between net worth and hazard rates to employment is documented. In disagreement with prior studies, the relationship between re-employment wages and net worth is found to be non-monotonic and it is argued that prior findings likely result from misspecification. The implications of the relationship serve as a motivation for the third chapter. Chapter 3 (joint with Melvyn Coles) presents a model of the consumption-leisure tradeoff for risk-averse workers when labour markets are frictional. Optimal behaviour is that of a life-cycle consumer - work when young and save for retirement (non-participation) later - planning retirement efficiently. The analysis has highly tractable implications for wealth dynamics which emphasise life-cycle motives, labour-market decisions, persistent differentials in ability and heterogeneity in initial wealth. The model's empirical relevance is assessed; it is demonstrated that it provides an empirically convincing explanation for much of the between-households inequality in wealth.
Attachment and close relationships across the life span

The Convoy Model of Social Relations is identified as a unifying conceptual framework within which to consider attachment and other close social relationships across the life span. Convoy data are provided for people aged 8 to 93 in both the United States and Japan. Data from community based representative samples in the Detroit (N = 1703) and Yokohama (N = 1842) metropolitan areas indicate age differences in all close relationships but gender differences only in very close relationships in the two countries. There was only one Age × Gender × Country interaction for number of people in close relations. Examination of role relationships suggest age differences overall but considerable similarities in the two countries.
Age‐related changes in testosterone and SHBG among Turkana males

To determine age‐related changes in biologically available testosterone (T) among men in a subsistence society and their relationship to energetic status, T, sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and anthropometric measures were compared among nomadic and settled Turkana pastoralists of northern Kenya. Hormonal measures were available for 104 nomadic men and 72 settled men, estimated ages 20–90 years. Comparison of the two subpopulations revealed significantly higher blood T (32.7 ± 15.1 vs. 23.4 ± 15.2nM) and SHBG (53.8 ± 19.5 vs. 39.7 ± 20.nM) but not free testosterone index (FTI) (65.6 ± 39.3 vs.66.3 ± 45.9) among the nomads. Total blood T did not exhibit a significant linear decline with age in either subgroup, while SHBG values showed a significant linear increase among the nomads. When controlled for energetic status, FTI showed a significant decrease with age among the nomads, but not the settled males. Total blood T was negatively associated with waist circumference among the nomads, but not the settled males. FTI showed a marginally significant negative association with waist circumference, suprailiac skinfold, and % body fat among the nomads but no associations with body composition among the settled group. These results add additional evidence that T is related to energetic status under conditions of negative energy balance and suggest that cross‐population variation in the slope of age‐related declines in free serum T and salivary T may be related to energetic status through the effects of SHBG. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 18:71–82, 2006. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Developmental amnesia: Fractionation of developing memory systems

Study of the developmental amnesias utilizing a cognitive neuropsychological methodology has highlighted the dissociations that may occur between the development of components of memory. M.M. , a new case of developmental amnesia, was identified after screening from the normal population on cognitive and memory measures. Retrospective investigation found that he was of low birthweight. M.M. had impaired semantic memory for knowledge of facts and words. There was impaired episodic memory for words and stories but intact episodic memory for visual designs and features. This forms a double dissociation with Dr S. (Temple, 1992), who had intact verbal but impaired visual episodic memory. M.M. also had impaired autobiographical episodic memory. Nevertheless, learning over repeated trials occurred, consistent with previous theorizing that learning is not simply the effect of recurrent episodic memory. Nor is it the same as establishing semantic memory, since for M.M. semantic memory is also impaired. Within reading, there was an impaired lexico-semantic system, elevated levels of homophone confusion, but intact phonological reading, consistent with surface dyslexia and raising issues about the interrelationship of the semantic system and literacy development. The results are compatible with discrete semi-independent components within memory development, whereby deficits are associated with residual normality, but there may also be an explicit relationship between the semantic memory system and both vocabulary and reading acquisition.
Multiple measures of axonal excitability: A new approach in clinical testing

From measurements of nerve excitability and the changes in excitability produced by nerve impulses and conditioning currents, it is possible to infer information about the membrane potential and biophysical properties of peripheral axons. Such information cannot be obtained from conventional nerve conduction studies. This article describes a new method that enables several such measurements to be made on a motor nerve quickly and reproducibly, with minimal operator intervention. The protocol measures stimulus–response behavior using two stimulus durations (from which the distribution of strength–duration time constants can be estimated), threshold electrotonus to 100‐ms polarizing currents, a current–threshold relationship (indicating inward and outward rectification), and the recovery of excitability following supramaximal activation. The method was tested on 30 healthy volunteers, stimulating the median nerve at the wrist and recording from the abductor pollicis brevis. The results were comparable with previously published normal data, but the recordings took less than 10 min. The convenience and brevity of the new method make it appropriate for routine clinical use. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Muscle Nerve 23: 399–409, 2000
HLA EXPRESSION ON HUMAN GERMINAL CELLS

Ejaculated human seminal plasma cells obtained from 46 healthy men and 48 infertile patients were tested for expression of HLA class I and II antigens by complement‐mediated cytotoxicity, cell‐binding radioimmunoassay (CB‐RIA), and an ELISA involving monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). In a group of healthy men tested for HLA expression on human spermatozoa, 4 of 46 were positive for class I and II HLA antigens. However, the results were negative in a second examination of the same donors, possibly on account of alterations with time in the expression of various subpopulations of cells which are antigen positive or antigen negative. In a group of infertile patients, we found positive expression of HLA class I and II antigens in 7 of 48 men. The samples contained immature and mature sperm but no contaminating leucocytes or epithelial cells.
Influence of Library and Information Services on Attainment of Millennium Development Goals on Education: A Case Study of Oyo State, Nigeria

The Millennium Development Goals are eight goals set by world leaders to be achieved by 2015 that respond to the world’s main development challenges. The goals include those dedicated to eradicating poverty, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, ensuring environmental sustainability and developing a global partnership for development. This study examined the influence of library and information services on attainment of millennium development goals (MDGs) on Education in Oyo State, Nigeria. The study population comprised 50 personnel from Oyo State Ministry of Education, 5 public library managers, 11 primary school library and resource center librarians and 50 secondary school librarians who were randomly selected using stratified random sampling. The instruments used to collect data for the study were 2 sets of questionnaires. One set of the questionnaire was for the senior staff of ministry of education. The second set of questionnaire was for the public library managers and school librarians which requested for information on the influence of library and information services on attainment of MDGs education in Oyo State. Data were analyzed using descriptive research method. The findings revealed that library and information services are relevant to attainment of MDGs on education though the level of development of school libraries in the state was low. Some of the contributions of library and information services include; incorporation of library period into the school timetable, assisting the subject teachers to acquire relevant reference materials, provision of instructional materials and audio visual materials, promotion of reading habit, promotion of literacy rate, increase in school enrolment. Information repacking, awareness campaign, human resources development, mobile library and outreach services and capacity building are the identified strategies that libraries can adopt to ensure attainment of MDGs by 2015. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the state government should establish more branches of the state public library at the nukes and crannies of the state most especially, in the rural areas. Standard school libraries should be established in each primary and secondary schools in the state with adequate budgetary allocation provided. Qualified librarians should also be employed to manage the public and school libraries in the state.
Biological basis of rabies virus neurovirulence in mice: comparative pathogenesis study using the immunoperoxidase technique

The CVS strain of fixed rabies virus causes acute, fatal encephalomyelitis in young adult ICR mice. Variant RV194-2, which was selected from CVS virus in cell culture with a neutralizing antiglycoprotein monoclonal antibody, has a single amino acid change in the glycoprotein. The infections caused by CVS virus and RV194-2 virus were compared in mice for 14 days postinoculation of 5 x 10(7) PFU into the right masseter muscle. All CVS virus-infected mice died (mean time to death, 7.9 days), compared with a mortality rate of 8.5% for RV194-2 virus-infected mice. RV194-2 virus spread to the ipsilateral trigeminal ganglion during the first 2 days postinoculation, and both viruses spread to the ipsilateral motor nucleus of the trigeminal nerve in the pons. Both viruses spread centrifugally and caused infection of bilateral trigeminal ganglia on day 3. The viruses spread throughout the central nervous system (CNS) at similar rates, but CVS virus infected many more neurons than did RV194-2 virus. Rabies virus antigen was observed in only occasional CNS neurons after day 6 of RV194-2 virus infection. By this time, CVS virus had caused severe widespread infection. In this model, virulence depends on improved efficiency of viral spread between CNS neurons rather than the rate of spread or topographical distribution of the infection.