Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pension Enhancements and the Retention of Public Employees

The authors use data from workers in the largest public-sector occupation in the United States—teaching—to examine the effect of pension enhancements on employee retention. Specifically, they study a 1999 enhancement to the benefit formula for public school teachers in St. Louis, Missouri, that resulted in an immediate and dramatic increase in their incentives to remain in covered employment. To identify the effect of the enhancement on teacher retention, the analysis leverages the fact that the strength of the incentive increase varied across the workforce depending on how far teachers were from retirement eligibility when it was enacted. The results indicate that the St. Louis enhancement—which was structurally similar to enhancements that were enacted in other public pension plans across the United States in the late 1990s and early 2000s—was not a cost-effective way to increase employee retention.
The responsiveness of regenerated soleus muscle to pharmacological calcineurin inhibition

The responsiveness of mature regenerated soleus (SOL) muscles to cyclosporin A (CsA) administration was studied in rats. Forty‐two days after notexin‐induced degeneration of left SOL muscles, rats were treated with CsA (25 mg/kg · day) or vehicle daily for 3 weeks. CsA administration decreased by eightfold the level of transcription of MCIP‐1, a well‐known calcineurin‐induced gene, in intact as well as in regenerated muscles (P < 0.001). In response to CsA‐administration we observed a slow‐to‐fast transition in the MHC profile, more marked in regenerated than in intact muscles (P < 0.05), but mainly restricted to MHC‐Iβ toward MHC‐IIA. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that MHC‐IIA was often co‐expressed with MHC‐Iβ within myofibers of intact muscles, whereas it was mainly expressed within pure fast fibers of regenerated muscles. MHC‐Iβ mRNA levels were lower in regenerated than in intact muscles, but did not change in response to CsA‐administration. CsA administration induced a significant increase in MHC‐IIA mRNA levels (P < 0.001) similar in both intact and regenerated muscles. Present results suggest that in vivo in intact SOL muscles, calcineurin blocks the upregulation of the MHC‐IIA isoform at the transcriptional level. On the other hand, the higher response of regenerated muscles to CsA administration cannot be explained by transcriptional events, and may result from either a more rapid turnover of MHC proteins in regenerated muscles than in intact ones, or translational events. This study further suggests that the developmental history of myofibers could play a role in the adaptability of skeletal muscle to variations in neuromuscular activity. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The effects of etomidate, thiopental, and propofol in induction on hypoperfusion–reperfusion phenomenon during laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background: A hypoperfusion–reperfusion human model is observed during and soon after laparoscopic surgery. The aim of the study was to research the preventive effects of etomidate, thiopental, and propofol in induction on hypoperfusion– reperfusion phenomenon during laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
The New Politics of Immigration and the End of Settler Societies

Over the past decade, a global convergence in migration policies has emerged, and with it a new, mean-spirited politics of immigration. It is now evident that the idea of a settler society, previously an important landmark in understanding migration, is a thing of the past. What are the consequences of this shift for how we imagine immigration? And for how we regulate it? This book analyzes the dramatic shift away from the settler society paradigm in light of the crisis of asylum, the fear of Islamic fundamentalism, and the demise of multiculturalism. What emerges is a radically original take on the new global politics of immigration that can explain policy paralysis in the face of rising death tolls, failing human rights arguments, and persistent state desires to treat migration as an economic calculus.
Impaired striatum‐dependent behavior in GASP‐1‐knock‐out mice

G protein‐coupled receptor (GPCR) associated sorting protein‐1 (GASP‐1) is suspected to play a key role in recycling and degradation of several GPCRs. In a previous study, we have shown that GASP‐1‐knock‐out (GASP‐1‐KO) mice displayed deficits in acquiring a cocaine self‐administration task, associated with an exacerbated down‐regulation of striatal dopaminergic and cholinergic receptors. Among several possibilities, GASP‐1 deficiency could have impaired memory processes underlying the acquisition of the operant conditioning task. Therefore, the present study investigated cognitive performances of GASP‐1‐KO mice and their wild‐type littermates (WT) in a broad variety of memory tasks. Consistent with a deficit in procedural memory, GASP‐1‐KO mice showed delayed acquisition of a food‐reinforced bar‐press task. During water‐maze training in hidden‐ or visible‐platform paradigms, mutant and WT mice acquired the tasks at the same rate. However, GASP‐1 mice exhibited persistent thigmotaxic swimming, longer distance to the platform, and reduced swim speed. There was no deficit in several tasks requiring simple behavioral responses (Barnes maze, object recognition and passive avoidance tasks). Thus, the ability to acquire and/or express complex responses seems affected in GASP‐1‐deficient mice. Hippocampal functions were preserved, as the retention of an acquired memory in spatial tasks remained unaffected. The pattern of behavioral deficits observed in GASP‐1‐KO mice is coherent with current knowledge on the role of striatal GPCRs in acquisition/expression of skilled behavior and in motivation. Together with the previous findings, the so far established phenotype of GASP‐1‐KO mice makes them a potentially exciting tool to study striatal functions.
Activity-based market segmentation of rural well-being tourists

Providing well-being and wellness services are growing trends in tourism. Well-being tourism has considerable potential as well with respect to tourism in rural areas. The objective of this article is to study well-being tourists as a heterogeneous market segment via activity-based segmentation in rural areas. Their online information search behaviour is compared to that of other market segments to ensure that the various segments can be targeted online and to elaborate upon the information search behaviour of various activity segments. Using cluster analysis, three different rural tourist segments can be identified in Finland based on their well-being activities. The results show the possibilities for activity-based segmentation in understanding the preferences for well-being services. The study demonstrates that the various rural well-being activity segments differ from each other based on socio-demographics and in how they use the Internet to search for information, book their holidays and write online reviews. All of these differences have managerial implications when it comes to developing rural well-being products, and they also demonstrate the possibilities for activity segmentation in rural well-being tourism.
Levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 in paired sera and synovial fluids of juvenile idiopathic arthritis patients: relationship to inflammatory activity, MMP-3 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 in a longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVES To measure levels of the collagenases matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 and -13 in the synovial fluid (SF) and serum of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), and to correlate these measurements with inflammatory activity, levels of the collagenase activator MMP-3 and the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1). METHODS Levels of MMP-1, -3, -13 and TIMP-1 were measured in paired SF and serum from 82 JIA patients using enzyme-linked immunsorbent assay and compared between subtypes and patients of different ages and disease durations. These levels were also correlated to the active joint count (AJC) and standard measures of inflammatory activity and therapeutic response, including erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and platelet count (PLT). RESULTS MMP-1 was detected in JIA SF and correlated with PLT. MMP-3 levels were high in SF and detectable in serum where they correlated with PLT, ESR and AJC. MMP-13, however, was not detected in SF or serum. No differences were observed between patients grouped by subtype, age or disease duration. MMP-3 contributed the majority of total MMP in SF samples resulting in excess MMP levels over TIMP-1. CONCLUSIONS MMP-1 is up-regulated in SF concordant with inflammatory activity in JIA. This was true for patients in all JIA subtypes and age groups, suggesting that the capability for degradation of type II collagen is present in early disease, and throughout the disease course. MMP-3 may be important in the activation of collagenases and the saturation of exogenous inhibitors. Serum MMP-3 may therefore be a useful, measurable and specific marker of active disease in JIA.
Comparing Theories of Reference-Dependent Choice

Preferences are influenced by the presence or absence of salient choice options, known as reference points. This behavioral tendency is traditionally attributed to the loss aversion and diminishing sensitivity assumptions of prospect theory. In contrast, some psychological research suggests that reference dependence is caused by attentional biases that increase the subjective weighting of the reference point’s primary attributes. Although both theories are able to successfully account for behavioral findings involving reference dependence, this article shows that these theories make diverging choice predictions when available options are inferior to the reference point. It presents the results of 2 studies that use settings with inferior choice options to compare these 2 theories. The analysis involves quantitative fits to participant-level choice data, and the results indicate that most participants are better described by models with attentional bias than they are by models with loss aversion and diminishing sensitivity. These differences appear to be caused by violations of loss aversion and diminishing sensitivity in losses.
SIN-dependent phosphoinhibition of formin multimerization controls fission yeast cytokinesis

In Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the septation initiation network (SIN) controls cytokinetic ring (CR) formation, maintenance, and constriction. Bohnert et al. identify Cdc12 as a key CR substrate of SIN kinase Sid2. Eliminating Sid2-mediated Cdc12 phosphorylation allows multimerization of a domain that confers F-actin bundling activity, which leads to persistent Cdc12 clustering, causing CRs to collapse when cytokinesis is delayed. These findings identify a SIN-triggered oligomeric switch that modulates cytokinetic formin function, revealing a novel mechanism of actin cytoskeleton regulation during cell division.
Single-stranded-DNA-binding protein-dependent DNA unwinding of the yeast ARS1 region

DNA unwinding of autonomously replicating sequence 1 (ARS1) from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was investigated. When a negatively supercoiled plasmid DNA containing ARS1 was digested with single-strand-specific mung bean nuclease, a discrete region in the vector DNA was preferentially digested. The regions containing the core consensus A domain and the 3'-flanking B domain of ARS1 were weakly digested. When the DNA was incubated with the multisubunit single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB, also called RPA [replication protein A]) from human and yeast cells prior to mung bean nuclease digestion, the cleavage in the A and B domains was greatly increased. Furthermore, a region corresponding to the 5'-flanking C domain of ARS1 was digested. These results indicate that three domains of ARS1, each of which is important for replication in yeast cells, closely correspond to the regions where the DNA duplex is easily unwound by torsional stress. SSB may stimulate the unwinding of the ARS1 region by its preferential binding to the destabilized three domains. Mung bean nuclease digestion of the substitution mutants with mutations of ARS1 (Y. Marahrens and B. Stillman, Science 255:817-823, 1992) revealed that the sequences in the B2 and A elements are responsible for the unwinding of the B domain and the region containing the A domain, respectively.
A new mixer circuit using gate-controlled LPNP BJT

A new mixer circuit is proposed by using the novel gate-controlled lateral PNP (LPNP) device. A major advantage of this four terminal device is that its collector current I/sub c/ can also be controlled by applying a voltage V/sub G/ to the additional input gate terminal. The associated large-signal and small-signal characteristics, such as current gain h/sub FE/ and transconductance g/sub M/, show very strong non-linear features as a function of the gate voltage. Therefore, this new device is particularly suitable for a mixer circuit for possible applications to portable wireless communications. The primary experimental results show that the mixing outputs for an intermediate frequency (IF) of 0.5 MHz using this new mixer circuit have conversion gain of 5 dB to 12 dB for the input radio frequency (RF) signal ranges of up to 400 MHz. The signal-to-noise ratio of its mixing IF output is about 50 dB. Another potential feature of this mixer circuit is that it can be easily integrated with other required signal processing circuits using a BiCMOS technology, and with no additional processing steps.
Palladin is a marker of liver metastasis in primary pancreatic endocrine carcinomas.

BACKGROUND Palladin is a metastasis-associated gene regulating cell motility. The expression of palladin protein in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PET) and carcinomas (PECA) is not known. MATERIALS AND METHODS A tissue microarray (TMA) of well-differentiated (WD) PETs/PECAs (AJCC 2010) and non-neoplastic, histologically normal pancreatic tissue/islets (HNPIs) was immunostained with palladin antibody and quantified using the Allred score. The results were correlated with the presence or absence of liver metastases. RESULTS The retrospective study included 19 males and 19 females of age 27-79 years (mean 54). Tumor size was 0.9-11.5 cm (mean 3.8). Palladin expression was cytoplasmic and/or membranous. The tumors with high palladin expression were associated with liver metastasis (p<0.0001). All 14 primary PECA with hepatic metastases (MP-PECAs) exhibited palladin expression whereas 14 out of 24 (58%) clinically-localized primary PET (CLP-PETs) expressed palladin (p<0.01) with median Allred scores of 5 (range 3-7) and 2 (range 0-6) respectively (p<0.0001). The mean Allred score for the HNPIs in the MP-PECAs (N=6) was higher (4.2) as compared to that in the CLP-PETs (2.5,N=11) (p=0.23). CONCLUSION Palladin may identify primary pancreatic endocrine neoplasms with a propensity to metastasize to the liver.
Transversal Asymmetry in Periodic Leaky-Wave Antennas for Bloch Impedance and Radiation Efficiency Equalization Through Broadside

This paper demonstrates that unit cell asymmetry with respect to the transversal axis -or transversal asymmetry- is an essential design parameter in periodic leaky-wave antennas (P-LWAs). Specifically, it shows that transversal asymmetry can be leveraged to fully and systematically solve the well-known radiation degradation of P-LWAs at broadside, where it provides both open-stopband closure and efficiency equalization. The problem is addressed via a generic equivalent circuit model composed of a series resonator, a shunt resonator and ideal transformers for modeling asymmetry by a single and simple parameter, namely the transformation ratio. Once the series and shunt frequencies have been balanced (frequency-balancing), equalization is ensured by adjusting the degree of asymmetry in the unit cell so to match the at-broadside Bloch impedance to the off-broadside Bloch impedance. This equalization condition is referred to as quality factor balancing ( Q-balancing) and it is related to the Heaviside condition (distortionless propagation) in homogeneous transmission lines. Based on this theory, optimization schemes for employing commercial fullwave eigenmode and drivenmode solvers are proposed to design unit cells with equalized efficiencies. Finally, two examples of P-LWAs are presented, a composite right/left-handed (CRLH) P-LWA and a series-fed coupled patch (SFCP) P-LWA, and verified to fully confirm the predictions of the theory obtained by circuit modeling.
Cognitive Tutors: Lessons Learned

This article reviews the 10-year history of tutor development based on the advanced computer tutoring (ACT) theory (J. R. Anderson, 1983, 1993). We developed production system models in ACT of how students solved problems in LISP, geometry, and algebra. Computer tutors were developed around these cognitive models. Construction of these tutors was guided by a set of eight principles loosely based on the ACT theory. Early evaluations of these tutors usually, but not always, showed significant achievement gains. Best case evaluations showed that students could achieve at least the same level of proficiency as conventional instruction in one third of the time. Empirical studies showed that students were learning skills in production-rule units and that the best tutorial interaction style was one in which the tutor provides immediate feedback, consisting of short and directed error messages. The tutors appear to work better if they present themselves to students as nonhuman tools to assist learning rather than as emulations of human tutors. Students working with these tutors display transfer to other environments to the degree that they can map the tutor environment into the test environment. These experiences have coalesced into a new system for developing and deploying tutors. This system involves selecting a problem-solving interface, constructing a curriculum under the guidance of a domain expert, designing a cognitive model for solving problems in that environment, building instruction around the productions in that model, and deploying the tutor in the classroom. New tutors are being built in this system to achieve the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards for high-school mathematics in an urban setting.
Determinants of households' food diversity demand in Uganda

Given that a diversified food contributes to the individuals' health reinforcement, this analysis has tried to identify the households' food diversity demand determinants in Uganda by using a latent class model. Its implementation reveals several important results. Beyond the traditional determinant (income), on the one hand, one can note that the characteristics of the household influence the food diversity demand with a variable intensity according to the class considered. On the other hand, it appears that the structure of the household is a significant factor determining the food diversity demand. Besides, there is also an area of residence impact on food diversity demand. Consequently, the consideration of this heterogeneity of the population in the formulation of nutritional policies is necessary in order to make those more efficient by targeting households, empowering women, facilitation access to markets or encouraging a diversified agricultural production.
Robust Natural Language Processing for Urban Trip Planning

Navigating large, urban transportation networks is a complicated task. A user needs to negotiate the available modes of transportation, their schedules, and how they are interconnected. In this article we present a Natural Language interface for trip planning in complex, multimodal, urban transportation networks. Our objective is to provide robust understanding of complex requests while giving the user flexibility in their language. We designed TRANQUYL, a transportation query language for trip planning; we developed a user-centric ontology, which defines the concepts covered by the interface and allows for a broad vocabulary. NL2TRANQUYL, the software system built on these foundations, translates English requests into formal TRANQUYL queries. Through a detailed intrinsic evaluation, we show that NL2TRANQUYL is highly accurate and robust with respect to paraphrasing requests, as well as handling fragmented or telegraphic requests.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is associated with decreased survival of patients with malignant melanoma and Merkel cell carcinoma in a SEER population-based study.

PURPOSE To delineate outcomes of malignant melanoma (MM) and Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). PATIENTS AND METHODS We identified patients with MM or MCC reported to the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program and analyzed the effects of history of CLL/NHL on overall (OS) and cause-specific survival after MM or MCC. Expected survival was derived from patients with MM or MCC without CLL/NHL. RESULTS From 1990 to 2006, 212,245 patients with MM and 3,613 patients with MCC were identified, of whom 1,246 with MM and 90 with MCC had a prior diagnosis of CLL/NHL. Patients with MM and a history of CLL/NHL had worse-than-expected OS as measured by standardized mortality ratio (SMR; SMR for CLL, 2.6; 95% CI, 2.3 to 3.0; SMR for NHL, 2.3; 95% CI, 2.1 to 2.6). MM cause-specific survival was worse than expected for patients with a history of CLL (SMR, 2.8; 95% CI, 2.2 to 3.4) or NHL (SMR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.7 to 2.6). Among patients with MCC, OS was worse than expected for those with a history of CLL (SMR, 3.1; 95% CI, 2.2 to 4.3) or NHL (SMR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.3 to 2.8). MCC cause-specific survival was worse than expected for patients with a history of CLL (SMR, 3.8; 95% CI, 2.5 to 5.9), but no difference was observed for NHL (SMR, 0.9; 95% CI, 0.4 to 2.1). CONCLUSION Patients with CLL before diagnosis of MM or MCC have significantly worse OS and MM or MCC cause-specific survival than those without a history of CLL/NHL.
Genome-Wide Approaches Reveal Functional Interleukin-4-Inducible STAT6 Binding to the Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule 1 Promoter

ABSTRACT Endothelial cell activation and dysfunction underlie many vascular disorders, including atherosclerosis and inflammation. Here, we show that interleukin-4 (IL-4) markedly induced vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1), both in cultured endothelial cells and in the intact endothelium in mice. Combined treatment with IL-4 and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) resulted in further, sustained induction of VCAM-1 expression. IL-4-mediated induction of VCAM-1 and secondary monocyte adhesion was predominantly regulated by the transcription factor STAT6. Genome-wide survey of IL-4-mediated STAT6 binding from sequential chromatin-immunoprecipitation with deep sequencing (chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing [ChIP-seq]) in endothelial cells revealed regions of transient and sustained transcription factor binding. Through the combination of DNA microarrays and ChIP-seq at the same time points, the majority of IL-4-responsive genes were shown to be STAT6 dependent and associated with direct STAT6 binding to their promoter. IL-4-mediated stable binding of STAT6 led to sustained target gene expression. Moreover, our strategy led to the identification of a novel functionally important STAT6 binding site within 16 kb upstream of the VCAM-1 gene. Taken together, these findings support a critical role for STAT6 in mediating IL-4 signal transduction in endothelial cells. Identification of a novel IL-4-mediated VCAM-1 enhancer may provide a foundation for targeted therapy in vascular disease.