Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Causal Effect of Education on Wages : Evidence from China ’ s Rural Industry

Estimating the causal effect of education on earnings continues to pose econometric challenges because of the unobserved ability heterogeneity and the possible attenuation bias caused by measurement errors. In this study, we used household survey data to investigate the effect of education on earnings in China’s rural industry by controlling for such biases. We identified a unique instrument based on the Chinese culture. In particular, because of the cultural preference for boys in rural China, the existence of brothers has a negative effect on the education attainment of a girl. However, such circumstances presumably have no effect on the girl’s inherent ability. Therefore, the sibling information can be used as an instrument to correct for the omitted ability bias. Moreover, we are able to assess the effect of measurement errors based on the information in the data. In addition to the regular 2SLS method, we also apply the more efficient GMM method in the estimation, and conduct statistical tests on the validity of family background variables as instruments. Based on the sample used, we find no significant attenuation bias in the OLS estimation, but the omitted ability bias appears to be substantial and overestimates the rate of return. While the OLS estimation gives a return of 7.1% for women, the results from Instrumental Variable estimations indicate that education has an insignificant effect on wages in China’s rural industry. J. E. L Code: I21, J31
Protective role of the dynamin inhibitor Dynasore against the cholesterol-dependent cytolysin of Trueperella pyogenes

The virulence of many Gram‐positive bacteria depends on cholesterol‐dependent cytolysins (CDCs), which form pores in eukaryotic cell plasma membranes. Pyolysin (PLO) from Trueperella pyogenes provided a unique opportunity to explore cellular responses to CDCs because it does not require thiol activation. Sublytic concentrations of PLO stimulated phosphorylation of MAPK ERK and p38 in primary stromal cells, and induced autophagy as determined by protein light‐chain 3B cleavage. Although, inhibitors of MAPK or autophagy did not affect PLO‐induced cytolysis. However, 10 μM 3‐hydroxynaphthalene‐2‐carboxylic acid‐(3,4‐dihydroxybenzylidene)‐hydrazide (Dynasore), a dynamin guanosine 5'‐triphosphatase inhibitor, protected stromal cells against PLO‐induced cytolysis as determined by 3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay (85 ± 17% versus 50 ± 9% cell viability), measuring extracellular ATP, and kinetic assays. This was a generalized mechanism because Dynasore also protected HeLa cells against streptolysin O. Furthermore, the effect was reversible, with stromal cell sensitivity to PLO restored within 30 minutes of Dynasore removal. The protective effect of Dynasore was not conferred by dynamin inhibition, induction of ERK phosphorylation, or Dynasore binding to PLO. Rather, Dynasore reduced cellular cholesterol and disrupted plasma membrane lipid rafts, similar to positive control methyl‐β‐cyclodextrin. Dynasore is a tractable tool to explore the complexity of cholesterol homeostasis in eukaryotic cells and to develop strategies to counter CDCs. —Preta, G. , Lotti, V. , Cronin, J. G. , and Sheldon, I. M. Protective role of the dynamin inhibitor Dynasore against the cholesterol‐dependent cytolysin of Trueperella pyogenes. FASEB J. 29, 1516‐1528 (2015). www.fasebj. org
Timing Exchange Rates Using Order Flow: The Case of the Loonie

This paper examines the relation between the Canadian dollar/US dollar (CAD) exchange rate and foreign exchange order flow employing a novel data set on CAD order flow over the period 1994-2005. We investigate empirically the predictive information content and the determinants of order flow. The results suggest that order flow has strong out-of-sample predictive power for CAD returns, yielding significant market timing ability and tangible economic gains in a stylized dynamic asset allocation context. In terms of its determinants, order flow appears to reflect not only the menu of macroeconomic variables typically suggested in the literature but is also closely related to commodity price fluctuations, as expected from a 'commodity currency'.
The Impact of Basic Matrix Factorization Refinements on Recommendation Accuracy

Consumers are commonly overloaded with various choices when it comes to the selection of a product or service. Many e-tailers have adopted built-in recommenders to help consumers make more informed decisions. While Accuracy of the recommender agents has high impact on customer satisfaction, achieving high accuracy in these systems is challenging. Various models and techniques were proposed in the literature to improve accuracy of these systems. Matrix factorization (MF) has been widely used in previous studies mostly to overcome cold start problem. In this study, we show that fine-tuning the parameters used in the basic MF model plays a significant role in achieving higher prediction accuracy. Our evaluations are performed on a basic model with and without simple user and item biases on two datasets.
Discovering Places of Interest through Direct and Indirect Associations in Heterogeneous Sources -- The TravelSampo System

Linked data related to places offers a superior collection of information to base search and recommendation functionality on in eTourism visit planning as well as location-aware mobile applications. Besides places interesting in themselves, through linked data it is possible to discover places interesting only through association, such as being the venue for a concert by an artist with an interesting genre. However, in order to harness this collective data source, challenges relating to data heterogeneity, quality, scale, and indexing and querying complexity must be resolved. In this paper, the TravelSampo visit planning and mobile application is presented, which tackles these issues. Using the system, queries describing both simple and complex interests can be run over some 17 million places of interest from over 20 vastly heterogeneous sources.
A System for Stable Expression of Short Interfering RNAs in Mammalian Cells

Mammalian genetic approaches to study gene function have been hampered by the lack of tools to generate stable loss-of-function phenotypes efficiently. We report here a new vector system, named pSUPER, which directs the synthesis of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) in mammalian cells. We show that siRNA expression mediated by this vector causes efficient and specific down-regulation of gene expression, resulting in functional inactivation of the targeted genes. Stable expression of siRNAs using this vector mediates persistent suppression of gene expression, allowing the analysis of loss-of-function phenotypes that develop over longer periods of time. Therefore, the pSUPER vector constitutes a new and powerful system to analyze gene function in a variety of mammalian cell types.
An efficient inductance modeling for on-chip interconnects

In this paper, we present an efficient yet accurate inductance extraction methodology. We first show that without loss of accuracy, the extraction problem of n traces can be reduced to a number of one-trace and two-trace subproblems. We then solve one-trace and two-trace subproblems via a table-based approach. The table-based inductance model has been integrated with a statistically-based RC model generation to generate RLC models for on-chip interconnects. Application examples show that our method is efficient enough to be used during iterative procedures of interconnect simulation and layout optimization.
Food Price Volatility over the Last Decade in Niger and Malawi: Extent, Sources and Impact on Child Malnutrition

Recently, considerable attention has rightly been paid to the nutritional impact of the sharp hikes in international food prices which took place in 2007-8 and, again, in 2010-11. While sacrosanct, this growing focus has somewhat obscured the effect of other factors which do affect malnutrition in the Sub-Saharan Africa context, i.e. the long term impact of agricultural policies, huge and persistent seasonal variation in domestic food prices, and the impact of famines which still regularly stalk the continent. This paper focuses on the relative weight of these factors in explaining child malnutrition (proxied by the number of child admissions to feeding centers) in Malawi and Niger, two prototypical countries in the region. The analysis shows that the drivers of domestic food staple prices and of the ensuing child malnutrition have to be found not only – or not primarily – in the changes of international food prices but mainly in the impact of agricultural policies on food production, the persistence of a strong food price seasonality, and recurrent and often poorly attended famines. Indeed, even during years of declines in international food prices, these factors often exert a huge upward pressures on domestic food prices and child malnutrition.
Controlled Exercise Increases Pulmonary Efficacy in Elderly Shyamala KV , 1

The respiratory system becomes less efficient as the age advances. PEFR is a convenient method of measurement of the efficiency of respiratory movements. PEFR is known to decline as age advances. It is highest in mid twenties and subsequently falls to lower mean values. Beyond the age of 50 the decline is more. This has a potential to compromise the tissue oxygenation. In the present study we made an effort to study the usefulness of controlled exercise in improving the respiratory mechanics in geriatric age group and compared the same parameter before the exercise regimen in the same group of subjects as
ViCAT: visualisation and interaction on a collaborative access table

Despite many years of research in the area of human computer interaction, there are still remarkably few computing platforms in existence that permit remote collaboration over various software applications in an intense manner. Visualisation and interaction on a collaborative access table (ViCAT) is a new project whose aim is to allow intense collaboration between multiple users at multiple remotely located sites, as if the users were gathered around a physical table. This paper introduces the ViCAT design philosophy and how it addresses the mixed presence groupware concept, and then describes the relationship between the ViCAT project and current horizontal interactive human computer systems research.
Single Atoms Preparation Using Light-Assisted Collisions

The detailed control achieved over single optically trapped neutral atoms makes them candidates for applications in quantum metrology and quantum information processing. The last few decades have seen different methods developed to optimize the preparation efficiency of single atoms in optical traps. Here we review the near-deterministic preparation of single atoms based on light-assisted collisions and describe how this method can be implemented in different trap regimes. The simplicity and versatility of the method makes it feasible to be employed in future quantum technologies such as a quantum logic device.
Web-Based Bayesian Tutoring System

A number of Bayesian toolkits have been developed to learn from data through statistical inference. These toolkits are increasingly being applied in intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) whose aim is to assist student learning. In this paper, we introduce a template for a Web-based Bayesian driven ITS, which organizes course material, tests student understanding, and evaluates student performance to suggest a further plan of study. In addition, we provide guidelines for constructing a knowledge domain that will include meaningful problems that test all concepts being learned
China's integration with the global economy : WTO accession, foreign direct investment and international trade

Contents: Preface 1. China's Economy After WTO Accession: An Overview Chunlai Chen PART I: ECONOMIC GROWTH AND GLOBALIZATION 2. China's Foreign Trade: Trends and Issues After WTO Accession Kunwang Li and Xiaosong Wang 3. Capital Stock Estimates by Region and Sector Yanrui Wu 4. The WTO and China's Transparency Requirements Vivienne Bath 5. What Does a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific Mean to China? Tingsong Jiang and Warwick McKibbin PART II: FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT AND EXCHANGE RATE 6. Characteristics of FDI Firms in China After WTO Accession Chunlai Chen 7. Foreign Banks in China: Market Segmentation and Expanded Presence in the Post-WTO Environment Lilai Xu 8. The Impact of the RMB Revaluation on China and the World Economy James Xiaohe Zhang PART III: AGRICULTURAL TRADE AND ENERGY DEMAND 9. China's Grain TRQs: Five Years Since WTO Accession Zhangyue Zhou and Xia Kang 10. The Impact of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area on China's Economy and Regional Agricultural Development Jun Yang, Huanguang Qiu and Chunlai Chen 11. Linking Economic Development with Demand for Energy: A Discontinuous Estimation of Energy Demand Elasticity Ligang Song and Yu Sheng Index
Compressed sensing of diffusion fields under heat equation constraint

Reconstructing a diffusion field from spatiotemporal measurements is an important problem in engineering and physics with applications in temperature flow, pollution dispersion, and disease epidemic dynamics. In such applications, sensor networks are used as spatiotemporal sampling devices and a relatively large number of spatiotemporal measurements may be required for accurate source field reconstruction. Consequently, due to limitations on the number of nodes in the sensor networks as well as hardware limitations of each sensor, situations may arise where the available spatiotemporal sampling density does not allow for recovery of field details. In this paper, the above limitation is resolved by means of using compressed sensing (CS). We propose to exploit the intrinsic property of diffusive fields as side information to improve the reconstruction results of classic CS which we call diffusive compressed sensing (DCS). Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and usefulness of the proposed method in substantial data savings while producing estimates of higher accuracy, as compared to classic CS-base estimates.
EMPLOYING STOCHASTIC CONSTRAINED LMS ALGORITHM FOR ASR FRONTEND PROCESSING

In scenarios with multiple input single output systems, the stochastic constrained least mean-squares (LMS) algorithm has been proven to be an effective approach. However, when only two input channels are available, it is unclear whether this approach still yields improvements. In this paper, we investigate the stableness and the robustness of the constrained LMS algorithm on “Track 1” of “2 CHiME Challenge” [1] and show that it leads to small yet consistent improvements on all signal-to-noise settings.
Optimal Sequence Memory in Driven Random Networks

Autonomous randomly coupled neural networks display a transition to chaos at a critical coupling strength. We here investigate the effect of a time-varying input on the onset of chaos and the resulting consequences for information processing. Dynamic mean-field theory yields the statistics of the activity, the maximum Lyapunov exponent, and the memory capacity of the network. We find an exact condition that determines the transition from stable to chaotic dynamics and the sequential memory capacity in closed form. The input suppresses chaos by a dynamic mechanism, shifting the transition to significantly larger coupling strengths than predicted by local stability analysis. Beyond linear stability, a regime of coexistent locally expansive, but non-chaotic dynamics emerges that optimizes the capacity of the network to store sequential input.
Artificial fish swarm algorithm based pilot allocation in massive MIMO system

In order to solve the pilot pollution problem and realize the low complexity pilot allocation in 5G massive multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) communication system, we propose an artificial fish swarm algorithm based pilot allocation scheme in this paper. The algorithm is an imitation of the natural fish activities. Through the search of the region related to the largest user sum rate, we can find the optimal pilot distribution scheme. The pilot pollution model and muti-cell massive MIMO system model are presented. The artificial fish swarm algorithm is employed to find the optimal solution for the pilot allocation. Numerical results show the efficiency and advantages of the proposed algorithm compared with the conventional algorithm, such as Greedy algorithm and Tabu algorithm.
Increasing the Number and Volume of Hexahedral and Prism Elements in a Hex-Dominant Mesh by Topological Transformations

This paper describes a new method for increasing the number and the volume of hexahedral and prism elements in a hexdominant mesh by topological transformations. The method takes as input a hex-dominant mesh consisting of hexahedrons, prisms, pyramids and tetrahedrons and modifies the mesh to increase the number and the volume of hexahedrons and prisms while maintaining the relaxed conformity criteria, which allows a connection from two tetrahedrons to a quadrilateral face of a hexahedron or a prism. If a hex-dominant mesh satisfies the relaxed conformity criteria, it can be used in the finite element analysis by applying an error reduction scheme on non-conforming faces [1-3], inserting pyramids on non-conforming faces [4], or converting the mesh to an all-hex mesh by a template method [5, 6]. With more hexahedrons and prisms in a hex-dominant mesh, a more accurate finite element solution can be obtained in a shorter time. Hence the proposed method increases the practical value of a hex-dominant mesh. Several experiments showed the number of hexahedrons increased by about 10% to 20%, yielding hex-dominant meshes with 70% to 90% hexahedron volume ratio.
Confidential broadcasting via coordinated beamforming in two-cell networks

We design a linear precoder based on the principles of the generalized regularized channel inversion (RCI) precoder that achieves confidential broadcasting in a two-cell network. In each cell of the network, an N-antenna base station (BS) communicates with K single-antenna users. We consider coordinated beamforming where the BSs in the two cells do not share messages but the users in the two cells feed back their channel state information to both BSs. In the precoder design, we determine the optimal regularization parameter that maximizes the secrecy sum rate. To this end, we derive new channel-independent expressions for the secrecy sum rate in the large-system regime, where K and N approach infinity with a fixed ratio μ = K/N. Moreover, we propose a power-reduction strategy that significantly improves the secrecy sum rate at high transmit signal-to-noise ratios when μ is higher than 0.5.
Technology Acceptance Model Revised : An Investigation on the Managerial Attitudes towards Using Social Media in Innovation Processes

Purpose: Currently little research exists regarding the attitudes of managers towards using social media for innovation processes. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that influence managerial attitudes and their willingness to use social media as a tool for generating innovations.Design/methodology/approach: Based on existing literature within the technology acceptance field, a research model has been created. A deductive and quantitative research approach has been employed in order to test the hypotheses on 137 managers from international companies who use social media within their innovation processes.Findings: The results of the linear regression show that three out of six hypotheses could be accepted. Perceived usefulness and subjective norms have an impact on the managers' attitude towards social media in innovation processes. Moreover, the findings reveal that the attitude towards using social media in innovation processes influences the managerial behavior intention.Research limitations/theoretical implications: The research model of this study contributes to the already existing literature. It aims at explaining the managerial attitude towards social media integration into innovation processes, being based on the extended technology acceptance model (TAM2). Research limitations concern the model's application in different contexts for other technologies, the lack of balance of female and male respondents and the concentration on specific industries in which user-driven innovation is highly important. Future research is encouraged to take these factors into consideration.Practical implications: Companies should support their employees’ and managers’ confidence in using social media for innovation processes by reinforcing the managerial perception of social media's usefulness. Managers and employees should be encouraged by external parties to use social media for example by attending workshops and advanced training courses or visiting conferences in order to appreciate its acceptability.Originality/value: The study presents a new research model that investigates managerial attitudes towards social media integration into innovation processes based on the extended Technology Acceptance Model. The association of managerial attitudes, social media, innovation and TAM2 is novel within this field of research.
Better than 1 Hop Lookup Performance with Proactive Caching

High lookup latencies prohibit peer-to-peer overlays from being used in many performance intensive applications, even though they provide self-organization, scalability, and failure resilience. In this paper, we show that lookup performance of structured DHTs can be improved to any desirable constant, even under 1 hop, by controlled proactive replication. By exploiting the popularity distribution of objects, we can minimize the number of replicas and reduce the storage and bandwidth cost of replication. This enables structured DHTs to efficiently support a wide variety of latency sensitive applications. We describe three different applications, namely DNS, web access, and content distribution, and show how they can derive significant performance gains by using DHTs.
Effects of a Pragmatic Lifestyle Intervention for Reducing Body Mass in Obese Adults with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea: A Randomised Controlled Trial

This study investigated the effects of a pragmatic lifestyle intervention in obese adults with continuous positive airway pressure-treated obstructive sleep apnoea hypopnoea syndrome (OSAHS). Sixty patients were randomised 1 : 1 to either a 12-week lifestyle intervention or an advice-only control group. The intervention involved supervised exercise sessions, dietary advice, and the promotion of lifestyle behaviour change using cognitive-behavioural techniques. Outcomes were assessed at baseline (week 0), intervention end-point (week 13), and follow-up (week 26). The primary outcome was 13-week change in body mass. Secondary outcomes included anthropometry, blood-borne biomarkers, exercise capacity, and health-related quality of life. At end-point, the intervention group exhibited small reductions in body mass (−1.8 [−3.0, −0.5] kg; P = 0.007) and body fat percentage (−1 [−2, 0]%; P = 0.044) and moderate improvements in C-reactive protein (−1.3 [−2.4, −0.2] mg·L−1; P = 0.028) and exercise capacity (95 [50, 139] m; P < 0.001). At follow-up, changes in body mass (−2.0 [−3.5, −0.5] kg; P = 0.010), body fat percentage (−1 [−2, 0]%; P = 0.033), and C-reactive protein (−1.3 [−2.5, −0.1] mg·L−1; P = 0.037) were maintained and exercise capacity was further improved (132 [90, 175] m; P < 0.001). This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01546792.