Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Earthquakes, grants, and public expenditure: How municipalities respond to natural disasters

We analyze the response of municipalities to the occurrence of natural disasters (earthquakes) in Italy, in terms of spending behavior, use of upper tier transfers and recovery. We find evidence of increasing expenditure for about 12 years after the shock, with asymmetric responses between matching (earthquake-related) and unconditional grants, and heterogeneous flypaper effects across the country. While in Northern municipalities expenditure tends to regress to pre-treatment levels, i.e., before the earthquake occurrence, Southern municipalities react to the drop of grants showing inertia in expenditure levels. This evidence is coupled with a faster recovery of private income and housing prices in Northern municipalities. Our analysis exploits balance sheet data of about 8000 municipalities for the period 2000-2015 and encompasses the universe of earthquake events defined using alternative intensity measures. We apply a matching approach to disentangle earthquake-related grants (mostly matching grants) from other grants, and to define a control group of non-treated municipalities. The spatial and temporal variation in expenditure and transfers between treated and not-treated governments are then examined using panel data models on the universe of municipalities as well as on a matching sample of municipalities.
Two Different Ways to Calculate Net Borrowing in FCFE Perpetuity

When finance textbooks address net borrowing calculation in free cash flow to equity perpetuity, they predominantly do it as the proportion of firm net investment financed by debt (Alternative 1). This method does not apply to all scenarios and requires a peculiar debt ratio. Alternatively, one can calculate net borrowing by applying sustainable growth rate to existing debt (Alternative 2). This method is broader and of simpler implementation. Alternative 1 can lead students, instructors and practitioners to confusion and, therefore, to misapplication and/or misuse. I suggest that neglected Alternative 2 becomes the standard method.
Interferon ( IFN ) – g , Tumor Necrosis Factor – a , Interleukin-6 , and IFN-g Receptor 1 Are the Major Immunological Determinants Associated with Post – Kala Azar Dermal Leishmaniasis

Semiquantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction was used to analyze intralesional cytokine gene expression in 28 patients with post–kala azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) and 14 patients with kala azar (KA). The data revealed mixed T helper cell type 1 (Th1) and T helper cell type 2 (Th2) responses, as reflecte by elevated expression of interferon (IFN)–g, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)–a, transforming growth factor (TGF)–b, interleukin (IL)–10, IL-6, and IL-4 mRNA, with minimal expression of IFN-g receptor 1 (IFNgR1) mRNA in PKDL lesions, compared with that in normal skin tissue. In comparison with those in KA lesions, mRNA levels for IFN-g, TNF-a, and IL-6 were found to be significantl elevated in PKDL lesions, implying that these cytokines play an important role in PKDL pathogenesis. In the presence of elevated levels of IFN-g and TNF-a, interference with type 1 effector activity in PKDL may be due to minimal expression of the IFN-gR1 gene or the simultaneous presence of elevated levels of IL-10, IL-6, and TGF-b, which have counteracting effects. After treatment, the restoration of IFN-gR1 at both mRNA and protein levels, coupled with down-regulation of counteracting cytokines, may facilitate the action of signals associated with IFN-g, yielding parasite clearance. Therefore, unfavorable clinical evolution in PKDL may not be due to the absence of an intralesional Th1 response but rather may be due to the presence of counteracting cytokines along with the down-modulation of IFN-gR1.
ACCESS: NIR luminosity function and stellar mass function of galaxies in the Shapley supercluster environment

We present the near-infrared luminosity and stellar mass functions (SMFs) of galaxies in the core of the Shapley supercluster at z = 0.048, based on new K-band observations carried out at the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope with the Wide Field Infrared Camera in conjunction with B- and R-band photometry from the Shapley Optical Survey, and including a subsample (∼650 galaxies) of spectroscopically confirmed supercluster members. These data sets allow us to investigate the supercluster galaxy population down to M ★ K + 6 and M = 10 8.75 M ⊙ . For the overall 3 deg 2 field, the K-band luminosity function (LF) is described by a Schechter function with M ★ K = ―24.96 ± 0.10 and α = ―1.42 ± 0.03, a significantly steeper faint-end slope than that observed in field regions. We investigate the effect of environment by deriving the LF in three regions selected according to the local galaxy density and observe a significant (2σ) increase in the faint-end slope going from high-density (α = -1.33) to low-density (α = ―1.49) environments, while a faint-end upturn at M K > -21 becomes increasingly apparent in the lower density regions. The galaxy SMF is fitted well by a Schechter function with log 10 (M * ) = 11.16 ± 0.04 and α = ―1.20 ± 0.02. The SMF of supercluster galaxies is also characterized by an excess of massive galaxies that are associated with the brightest cluster galaxies. While the value of M* depends on the environment, increasing by 0.2 dex from low-to high-density regions, the slope of the galaxy SMF does not vary with the environment. By comparing our findings with cosmological simulations, we conclude that the environmental dependences of the LF are not primarily due to variations in the merging histories, but to processes which are not treated in the semi-analytical models, such as tidal stripping or harassment. In field regions, the SMF shows a sharp upturn below M = 10 9 M ⊙ , close to our mass limit, suggesting that the upturns seen in our K-band LFs, but not in the SMF, are due to this dwarf population. The environmental variations seen in the faint end of the K-band LF suggest that these dwarf galaxies, which are easier to strip than their more massive counterparts, are affected by tidal/gas stripping upon entering the supercluster environment.
FEDERAL RESERVE BANK O F NEW YORK

Enclosed are two pamphlets published by the Veterans'Administration, containing regulations issued by the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs under Title III of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, relating to the guaranty of loans to veterans for the acquisition of farms and farm equipment, and for the purchases of businesses, etc., pursuant to Section 502 and Section 503 of the Act, respectively. The pamphlet concerning the guaranty of loans for the purchases of businesses, etc., also includes on pages 10, 11 and 12, amendments to the regulations relating to the guaranty of home loans and farm loans.
Time-Varying General Dynamic Factor Models and the Measurement of Financial Connectedness

Ripple effects in financial markets associated with crashes, systemic risk and contagion are characterized by non-trivial lead-lag dynamics which is crucial for understanding how crises spread and, therefore, central in risk management. In the spirit of Diebold and Yilmaz (2014), we investigate connectedness among financial firms via an analysis of impulse response functions of adjusted intraday log-ranges to market shocks involving network theory methods. Motivated by overwhelming evidence that the interdependence structure of financial markets is varying over time, we are basing that analysis on the so-called time-varying General Dynamic Factor Model proposed by Eichler et al. (2011), which extends to the locally stationary context the framework developed by Forni et al. (2000) under stationarity assumptions. The estimation methods in Eichler et al. (2011), however, present the major drawback of involving two-sided filters which make it impossible to recover impulse response functions. We therefore introduce a novel approach extending to the time-varying context the one-sided method of Forni et al. (2017). The resulting estimators of time-varying impulse response functions are shown to be consistent, hence can be used in the analysis of (time-varying) connectedness. Our empirical analysis on a large and strongly comoving panel of intraday price ranges of US stocks indicates that large increases in mid to long-run connectedness are associated with the main financial turmoils.
Aspects of Sports Injuries in Athletes with Visual Impairment

Mailing address: Laboratório de Atividade Motora Adaptada Faculdade de Educação Física Universidade Estadual de Campinas Avenida Érico Veríssimo, 701 Cidade Universitária zeferino Vaz – Barão Geraldo –13083-851 Campinas, SP, Brazil Caixa Postal 6.134. E-mail: mariliamagno@hotmail.com ABSTRACT Most research on sport injuries in disabled athletes uses a cross-disability (physical and sensorial) design and merges different sport modalities in the same study. This procedure creates difficulties in interpreting the results, since different disabilities and modalities may cause different injury conditions. The purpose of this study was to analyze the sports injuries frequency in visually impaired athletes, to identify the site of the injury, its mechanism, and the main injuries that occur to these athletes as well as to verify if the visual class relates to the sports injury frequency. The subjects were male and female visually impaired athletes, members of the Brazilian team of athletics, soccer 5, goalball, judo, and swimming, who played in international competitions between 2004 and 2008. Data was collected using the Brazilian Paralympic Committee and the Brazilian Confederation of Sports for the Blind medical form, which included the following information: name, age, modality, competition, visual classification (B1, B2, B3), injury type, location of injury, and diagnosis. A total of 131 athletes participated in this study: 42 female, 89 male amongst which 61 were B1, 46 B2, and 24 B3. From this total, 102 athletes reported 288 sports injuries; 2.82 injuries per athlete. Female athletes presented more injuries than male athletes; however, this difference did not show statistical significance. Regarding visual classification, B1 athletes got more injuries than B2 athletes, and these more than B3 athletes; statistically significant difference was found only between B1 and B3 group. As one group, athletes presented similar values between accident and overuse injuries. Concerning body segment, lower limbs showed more injuries, followed by upper limbs, spine, head, and trunk. Twenty-one diagnoses were reported, being tendinopathies, contractures, and contusions the most frequent.
Designing and Introducing a New Artificial Feeding Apparatus for Sand Fly Rearing

Background: Due to strict ethical rules, the risk of accidental disease transmission and the most importantly, inconvenience regarding using of live animals, artificial feeding apparatus has been developed for colonization of haematophagous insects. Rearing of sandfly is more difficult than other haematophagous insects. Methods: In the current study, a new apparatus for membrane feeding of Phlebotomus papatasi was designed, made and compared with available apparatus in Sand Fly Insectary, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, in 2014. Results: In comparison to other apparatus designed for artificial feeding of other arthropods, our designed apparatus had the highest performance which after up to 1h, the majority of sand flies landed and took blood and among tested membranes, chicken skin was proved the most efficient membrane. Conclusion: Sand fly artificial feeding apparatus can be used at least for rearing of Ph. papatasi.
A Deep Q-Network for the Beer Game: Deep Reinforcement Learning for Inventory Optimization

Problem definition: The beer game is widely used in supply chain management classes to demonstrate the bullwhip effect and the importance of supply chain coordination. The game is a decentralized, multiagent, cooperative problem that can be modeled as a serial supply chain network in which agents choose order quantities while cooperatively attempting to minimize the network’s total cost, although each agent only observes local information. Academic/practical relevance: Under some conditions, a base-stock replenishment policy is optimal. However, in a decentralized supply chain in which some agents act irrationally, there is no known optimal policy for an agent wishing to act optimally. Methodology: We propose a deep reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm to play the beer game. Our algorithm makes no assumptions about costs or other settings. As with any deep RL algorithm, training is computationally intensive, but once trained, the algorithm executes in real time. We propose a transfer-learning approach so that training performed for one agent can be adapted quickly for other agents and settings. Results: When playing with teammates who follow a base-stock policy, our algorithm obtains near-optimal order quantities. More important, it performs significantly better than a base-stock policy when other agents use a more realistic model of human ordering behavior. We observe similar results using a real-world data set. Sensitivity analysis shows that a trained model is robust to changes in the cost coefficients. Finally, applying transfer learning reduces the training time by one order of magnitude. Managerial implications: This paper shows how artificial intelligence can be applied to inventory optimization. Our approach can be extended to other supply chain optimization problems, especially those in which supply chain partners act in irrational or unpredictable ways. Our RL agent has been integrated into a new online beer game, which has been played more than 17,000 times by more than 4,000 people.
Evaluation of Property Scatter of Nickel Base Alloy IN 738 LC

The nickel base alloy IN 738 LC is in use for gas turbine blades since more than 25 years. In high temperature creep testing the conventionally cast alloy exhibits a comparably large property scatter which requires high safety margins in design and dimensioning and subsequently causes an incomplete exploitation of the materials potential. The reasons for this property scatter were investigated and traced back to different influencing factors. Parallel to investigations on the microstructure of post-exposure material and conventional scatter band analysis, artificial neural networks were successfully applied to discover relations between the chemical composition of the individual melt and the position of the corresponding test results within the global scatter band. Recommendations for a lifting of the lower scatter band boundary and the mean curve are derived.
Estimating the Benefits of New Products: Some Approximations

A major challenge facing statistical agencies is the problem of adjusting price and quantity indexes for changes in the availability of commodities. This problem arises in the scanner data context as products in a commodity stratum appear and disappear in retail outlets. Hicks suggested a reservation price methodology for dealing with this problem in the context of the economic approach to index number theory. Feenstra and Hausman suggested specific methods for implementing the Hicksian approach. The present paper evaluates these approaches and suggests some alternative approaches to the estimation of reservation prices. The various approaches are implemented using some scanner data on frozen juice products that are available online.
Is civic nationalism necessarily inclusive? Conceptions of nationhood and anti‐Muslim attitudes in Europe

Despite the centrality of national identity in the exclusionary discourse of the European radical right, scholars have not investigated how popular definitions of nationhood are connected to dispositions toward Muslims. Moreover, survey‐based studies tend to conflate anti‐Muslim attitudes with general anti‐immigrant sentiments. This article contributes to research on nationalism and out‐group attitudes by demonstrating that varieties of national self‐understanding are predictive of anti‐Muslim attitudes, above and beyond dispositions toward immigrants. Using latent class analysis and regression models of survey data from 41 European countries, it demonstrates that conceptions of nationhood are heterogeneous within countries and that their relationship with anti‐Muslim attitudes is contextually variable. Consistent with expectations, in most countries, anti‐Muslim attitudes are positively associated with ascriptive – and negatively associated with elective (including civic) – conceptions of nationhood. Northwestern Europe, however, is an exception to this pattern: in this region, civic nationalism is linked to greater antipathy toward Muslims. It is suggested that in this region, elective criteria of belonging have become fused with exclusionary notions of national culture that portray Muslims as incompatible with European liberal values, effectively legitimating anti‐Muslim sentiments in mainstream political culture. This may heighten the appeal of anti‐Muslim sentiments not only on the radical right, but also among mainstream segments of the Northwestern European public, with important implications for social exclusion and political behaviour.
On the Behrens-Fisher Problem: A Review

The Behrens-Fisher problem arises when one seeks to make inferences about the means of two normal populations without assuming the variances are equal. This paper presents a review of fundamental concepts and applications used to address the Behrens-Fisher problem under fiducial, Bayesian, and frequentist approaches. Methods of approximations to the Behrens-Fisher distribution and a simple Bayesian framework for hypothesis testing are also discussed. Finally, a discussion is provided for the use of generalized p values in significance testing of hypotheses in the presence of nuisance parameters. It is shown that the generalized p values based on a frequentist probability for the Behrens-Fisher problem are numerically the same as those from the fiducial and Bayesian solutions. A table for tests of significance is also included.
Visualization of Current Sheet Canting in a Pulsed Plasma Accelerator

The formation and propagation of current sheets in a rectangular-geometry pulsed plasma accelerator was observed using high speed cameras equipped with narrow-pass line filters. The objective of this investigation was to determine if any asymmetries or instabilities are present in current sheets which may be detrimental to the performance of pulsed plasma thrusters. Photographs of the light emitted from the current sheet during initiation, propagation, and ejection were acquired. The influence of varying gas species, gas pressure, capacitor bank voltage, and electrode polarity was investigated. The most conspicuous feature of these recorded images is that current sheets propagate with highly canted angles (relative to the electrode normal). Ion conduction current, electrode erosion, magnetic field asymmetry, and the Hall effect are discussed as possible causes of this canting.
Crowd Replication

A central challenge for public space design is to evaluate whether a given space promotes different types of activities. In this article, as our first contribution, we develop crowd replication as a novel sensor-assisted method for quantifying human behavior within public spaces. In crowd replication, a researcher is tasked with recording the behavior of people using a space while being instrumented with a mobile device that captures a sensor trace of the replicated movements and activities. Through mathematical modeling, behavioral indicators extracted from the replicated trajectories can be extrapolated to represent a larger target population. As our second contribution, we develop a novel highly accurate pedestrian sensing solution for reconstructing movement trajectories from sensor traces captured during the replication process. Our key insight is to tailor sensing to characteristics of the researcher performing replication, which allows reconstruction to operate robustly against variations in pace and other walking characteristics. We validate crowd replication through a case study carried out within a representative example of a metropolitan-scale public space. Our results show that crowd-replicated data closely mirrors human dynamics in public spaces and reduces overall data collection effort while producing high-quality indicators about behaviors and activities of people within the space. We also validate our pedestrian modeling approach through extensive benchmarks, demonstrating that our approach can reconstruct movement trajectories with high accuracy and robustness (median error below 1%). Finally, we demonstrate that our contributions enable capturing detailed indicators of liveliness, extent of social interaction, and other factors indicative of public space quality.
Endogenous sensitizer of Beta-Adrenergic receptors (Esbar) and its analogs (Review)

The results of the 20 years studies of the presence in blood serum and other body fluids of endogenous modulators of adrenergic and M-cholinergic impact as a component of humoral link of autonomic nervous system. The article is devoted to the Endogenous Sensitizer of Beta-Adrenergic Receptor (ESBAR)-water-soluble low molecular weight substances, analogs of which are histidine, tryptophan, tyrosine, mildronate and preductal. It is shown, that separate dilutions of human serum and animal (as a source of ESBAR) and analogs of ESBAR ways to enhance the effectiveness of activation of beta-Adrenoceptors (AR) of smooth muscle (uterus, coronary and renal arteries, trachea, stomach), myocardium, erythrocytes and platelets (respectively influenced of histidine and tryptophan). It is reported that content of ESBAR in human serum (according to the titers of its dilution) depends on the sex and the presence of somatic diseases and at women are also on the stage of reproduction and obstetric complications. It is discussed possible mechanisms of ESBAR action, its physiological role, including as a component of beta-adrenoceptor inhibitory mechanism for myometrium, as well as the prospect of the use of analogs of ESBAR, including for the prevention of preterm labor, and for the treatment of bronchial asthma, coronary heart disease, hypertension and heart failure.
Structure elucidation and immunological function analysis of a novel β-glucan from the fruit bodies of Polyporus umbellatus ( Pers . )

Hui Dai2,†, Xiao-Qiang Han3,†, Fang-Yuan Gong4,5, Hongliang Dong4,5, Peng-Fei Tu3, and Xiao-Ming Gao1,4,5 Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences; and State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; Institute of Biology and Medical Sciences, Soochow University, 199 Ren-Ai Road, Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou 215123, People’s Republic of China; and Key Laboratory of Infection and Immunity of Jiangsu Province, Suzhou, People’s Republic of China