Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mortgage Default Rates and Borrower Race

We estimate a mortgage default model with national data on conventional mortgages that were current from 1986 to 1992. Our analysis confirms the results of previous analyses of Federal Housing Authority mortgages: Black households have higher marginal default rates, controlling for differences in borrower and property characteristics. Further, we do not find that Black borrowers have significantly more home equity. These results do not provide evidence of racial discrimination in mortgage lending and suggest that differences in default costs or transaction costs may explain differences in default rates.
Adaptive genomic divergence under high gene flow between freshwater and brackish‐water ecotypes of prickly sculpin (Cottus asper) revealed by Pool‐Seq

Understanding the genomic basis of adaptive divergence in the presence of gene flow remains a major challenge in evolutionary biology. In prickly sculpin (Cottus asper), an abundant euryhaline fish in northwestern North America, high genetic connectivity among brackish‐water (estuarine) and freshwater (tributary) habitats of coastal rivers does not preclude the build‐up of neutral genetic differentiation and emergence of different life history strategies. Because these two habitats present different osmotic niches, we predicted high genetic differentiation at known teleost candidate genes underlying salinity tolerance and osmoregulation. We applied whole‐genome sequencing of pooled DNA samples (Pool‐Seq) to explore adaptive divergence between two estuarine and two tributary habitats. Paired‐end sequence reads were mapped against genomic contigs of European Cottus, and the gene content of candidate regions was explored based on comparisons with the threespine stickleback genome. Genes showing signals of repeated differentiation among brackish‐water and freshwater habitats included functions such as ion transport and structural permeability in freshwater gills, which suggests that local adaptation to different osmotic niches might contribute to genomic divergence among habitats. Overall, the presence of both repeated and unique signatures of differentiation across many loci scattered throughout the genome is consistent with polygenic adaptation from standing genetic variation and locally variable selection pressures in the early stages of life history divergence.
A chronicle of echoes : who's who in the implosion of American public education

"Corporate reform" is not reform at all. Instead, it is the systematic destruction of the foundational American institution of public education. The primary motivation behind this destruction is greed. Public education in America is worth almost a trillion dollars a year. Whereas American public education is a democratic institution, its destruction is being choreographed by a few wealthy, well-positioned individuals and organizations. This book investigates and exposes the handful of people and institutions that are often working together to become the driving force behind destroying the community public school.
The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Plotosus japonicus (Siluriformes: Plotosidae) and phylogenetic studies of Siluriformes

Abstract In this study, we first determined and described the complete mitogenome sequence of Plotosus japonicus, which is a kind of marine fish widely distributed in Northwest Pacific. The complete mitogenome sequence is 16 472 bp in length, containing 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, a putative control region (CR) and a light-strand replication origin (OL). The overall base composition is 31.9% A, 24.7% T, 27.7% C, 15.7% G, with a slight AT bias (56.6%), similar to other vertebrate mitochondrial genomes. All the protein-coding genes use the initiation codon ATG except COI uses GTG. Most of them have TAA or TAG as the stop codon, while COII and ND4 use AGA, COIII and Cytb use an incomplete stop codon TA or T. Maximum Likelihood (ML) tree and Bayesian analyses based on concatenated nucleotide sequences of 12 mitochondrial protein-coding genes were constructed and both yielded identical topologies. These results are expected to provide useful molecular data for species identification and further phylogenetic studies of Siluriformes.
Distributed Processing of the Lattice in Monte Carlo Simulations of the Ising Type Spin Model

Parallelization of processing in Monte Carlo simulations of the Ising spin system with the lattice distributed in a stripe way is proposed. Message passing is applied and one-sided MPI communication with the MPI memory window is exploited. The 2D Ising spin lattice model is taken for testing purposes. The scalability of processing in our simulations is tested in real-life computing on high performance multicomputers and discussed on the basis of speedup and efficiency. The larger the lattice the better scalability is obtained.
Development and validation of a general population renal risk score.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES There is a need for prediction scores that identify individuals at increased risk for developing progressive chronic kidney disease (CKD). Therefore, this study was performed to develop and validate a "renal risk score" for the general population. Design, setting, participants, & measurements For this study we used data from the PREVEND (Prevention of Renal and Vascular ENdstage Disease) study, a prospective population-based cohort study with a median follow-up of 6.4 years. Participants with two or three consecutive estimated GFR (eGFR) measurements during follow-up were included. Participants within the group who had the most renal function decline (top 20% of the total population) and had an eGFR value <60 ml/min per 1.73 m² during follow-up were defined as having progressive CKD. Possible predictors for progressive CKD were selected on the basis of univariable logistic regression analyses. RESULTS A final prediction model was built using backward logistic regression analysis. Besides baseline eGFR, the model contained age, urinary albumin excretion, systolic BP, C-reactive protein, and known hypertension. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.84. We performed internal validation by using a bootstrapping procedure. As expected, after the regression coefficients were corrected for optimism, the area under the ROC curve was still 0.84. For clinical use we divided all predictors in meaningful clinical categories to develop a score chart. The area under the ROC curve was 0.83, indicating the high discriminative value of this model. CONCLUSIONS Given the high internal validity of this renal risk score, this score can be helpful to identify individuals at increased risk for progressive CKD.
The Social Construction of a Public/Private Neighborhood: Examining Neighbor Interaction and Neighborhood Meaning in a New Orleans Mixed-Income Development

This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by ScholarWorks@UNO with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself.
Three-dimensional kinematic analysis of the snatch of elite Greek weightlifters

We investigated the linear kinematics and the change in energy of the barbell and the angular kinematics of the trunk and leg during the snatch technique of 12 elite male Greek weightlifters under competitive conditions after the new weight classification. Two S-VHS cameras operating at 60 Hz were used to record the lifts. The spatial coordinates of selected points were calculated using the direct linear transformation procedure; after digital filtering of the raw data, the angular displacements and angular velocities were calculated for the hip, knee and ankle joints. The following variables were also calculated for the barbell: vertical and horizontal displacement, vertical linear velocity and acceleration, external mechanical work and power output. The results revealed that all weightlifters flexed their knees during the transition phase, independently of their weight category. This indicates that the athletes use the elastic energy produced during the stretch–shortening cycle to enhance their performance. In nine athletes, we found that the barbell trajectory did not cross a vertical reference line that passed through the initial position of the barbell. The vertical linear velocity of the barbell was increased continuously from the beginning of the movement until the second maximum extension of the knee joint, with no notable dip being observed. Regarding the change in energy of the barbell, we found that the mechanical work for the vertical displacement of the barbell in the first pull was significantly greater than the mechanical work in the second pull. In contrast, the estimated average mechanical power output of the athletes during the vertical displacement of the barbell was significantly greater in the second pull than in the first pull. We conclude that the major elements of the snatch technique of elite Greek weightlifters have not been aff ected by the new weight classification.
The carbon-saving behaviour of residential households

The housing sector in 2004 was accountable for about 30% of total UK carbon emissions. The magnitude of this figure represents a significant imperative for policymakers to act on the sector through behavioural change strategies. Energy efficiency in households might easily be considered as driven mainly by economic motives, but this would not explain why even cost-free behavioural changes, like switching the lights off more often, are not adopted more widely. Literature has mainly concentrated either on the economic motives of pro-environmental behaviours or on the relevance of attitudes to shape them. Little has been said so far on the interaction between attitudes and the so called contextual factors. Diekmann and Presindorfer (2003) outlined the “low-cost hypothesis” which argues that pro-environmental behaviours are driven by pro-environmental attitudes only in the presence of low costs. However, little is known about households’ perceptions of costs and benefits in relation to energy saving behaviour. We propose to develop the low-cost hypothesis with a theoretical approach integrating attitudinal research and rational choice literature and explaining the interaction between tangible and intangible costs and benefits.Furthermore, the importance of resources such as education, information and income is highlighted in order to explain the magnitude of the perception of the costs and benefits considered by households. Finally, the scope for policy intervention aimed at shaping perceived costs and benefits to help the drive towards pro-environmental behaviour is discussed.
A flexible authenticated lightweight cipher using Even-Mansour construction

A cipher to be used on Internet of Things (IoT) environment must provide authentication, lightweight and flexibility. Existent algorithms normally provide the authentication externally to the cipher and limited flexibility. This work aims integrate the authentication into an integrated lightweight algorithm. The proposed algorithm is also flexible. It is based on Even-Mansour construction and on the Integrity Aware Parallelizable Mode (IAPM). First this work defines a construction to allow expanding the size of a permutation function creating a keyed permutation. Then the authentication is integrated to algorithm. The proposed cipher uses an initialization vector that can be generated by a random or deterministic algorithm. The result is a flexible block/key size lightweight cipher that offers authentication on its most basic operation mode. It can be used for several applications where the standard 128 block size is not adequate. The cipher performance is compared to other ciphers proving its potential as lightweight cipher. The randomness validation of the cipher was done by replicating the statistical experiments used by NIST during the AES selection and other statistical tests.
Novel approach to Case Based Reasoning System by aggregating Semantic Similarity Measures using Fuzzy Aggregation for Case Retrieval

Natural language Search is used in Case Based Reasoning Systems for searching the solution to the novel problem. This paper presets the model of case based reasoning system that uses the semantic based case retrieval agent to compare two short texts. The proposed method include algorithms which calculate semantic similarity evaluated using different wordnet based semantic similarity measures and fuzzy aggregation. Based on the result, the proposed approach outperforms the results of previous approaches
Public Administration Reformation: Market Demand from Public Organizations [EDITED BOOK],

1. Introduction: Markets and Public Administration Sanjay K. Pandey, Yogesh Dwivedi, Mahmud A. Shareef, and Vinod Kumar Part 1: Market Demand, Market Ideology, and Public Organizations 2. Citizens in Charge? Reviewing the Background and Value of Introducing Choice and Competition in Public Services Lars Tummers, Sebastian Jilke and Steven Van De Walle 3. The Sound of Silence: Silent Ideologies in Public Services Wouter Van Dooren, Cor Van Montfort and Ank Michels 4. Control or Collaboration? Market Pressures, Management Reform, and the Evolving Role of the Central Budget Office Justin Marlowe and Robert Nye 5. Trustworthiness of Public Service Kaifeng Yang and Lucky G. Anguelov 6. A New Agenda for Public Organizations: Monitoring Market Economy and Private Organizations Ashley Whitaker and Sanjay K. Pandey Part 2: Motivation and Management in the Market Context 7. Transformational Leadership in the Public Sector: Empirical Evidence of its Effects Donald P. Moynihan, Sanjay K. Pandey and Bradley E. Wright 8. Job Design in Public Sector Organizations Bradley E. Wright and Shahidul Hassan 9. Working in the Hollow State: Exploring the Link between Public Service Motivation and Interlocal Collaboration Edmund C. Stazyk, Randall S. Davis, Pablo Sanabria, and Sarah Pettijohn 10. Fostering Two-way Communication in Public Organizations Shuyang Peng and Rusi Sun Part 3: Institutional Context and Reforms 11. Anti-Corruption Reform - Lessons from Nations with the Largest Reduction in Corruption Levels Sheela Pandey 12. Knowledge Management through Informal Knowledge Exchanges and Communities of Practice in Public Organizations Gordon Kingsley, Janelle Knox, Juan Rogers, and Eric Boyer 13. Can a Central Bureaucracy Reinvent Itself Into a Market Maker? A Case Study of Portfolio Management in Newark, New Jersey Lawrence J. Miller and Lourdes N. Alers-Tealdi 14. Public-Private Partnerships in Greece, an Economy under Debt Crisis: An Exploratory Study Thanos Papadopoulos and Teta Stamati Part 4: Technology and Public Administration Reformation 15. Public Administration Reformation: Market Orientation or Public Values Mahmud Akhter Shareef, Vinod Kumar, and Uma Kumar 16. Evolution of E-government Stage Models in Last One Decade: An Empirical Analysis Rakhi Tripathi and M.P. Gupta 17. The Perception of Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS) as a Transformational Information and Communication Technology (ICT) For Public Institutions in Turkey Emre Sezgin, Tunc D. Medeni, Mehmet Bilge Kagan Onacan, Rusen Komurcu, Ozkan Dalbay, and Ihsan Tolga Medeni
Analysis of odorous compounds at municipal landfill sites

The aim of this investigation was to determine odorous compounds in the air over the landfill sites in France and Poland. Air samples were collected by passive and dynamic methods of preconcentration analytes and analysed by GC-MS and GC-FID. The coupling µTD-µGC-MS was also used for on-site analysis of odorous compounds. The achieved results indicated that the concentrations of odorants in the air varied and strongly depended on the sampling site. The highest concentrations were observed at the points situated near biogas wells and above the fresh waste layer. The concentrations were influenced by landfill activities such as failures of the landfill gas collection system, heavy truck traffic, machinery operations and compacting fresh waste.
Complete mitochondrial genome of blackedge greeneye Chlorophthalmus nigromarginatus (Aulopiformes, Chlorophthalmidae)

Abstract In this paper, the complete mitochondrial genome of Chlorophthalmus nigromarginatus has been determined. The mitochondrial genome (17,663 bp) had the canonical mitochondrial gene content and arrangement, including 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and 2 non-coding regions. The overall base composition of the heavy-strand is 25.66% A, 25.71% T, 17.82% G, and 30.81% C, with an AT content of 51.37%. It shared 86.6% identities with Chlorophthalmus agassizi. The phylogenetic analyses indicated the close relationship between the mitochondrial genome we presented and other species in order Aulopiformes.
A clinical scoring system to prioritise investigation for tuberculosis among adults attending HIV clinics in South Africa

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation for regular tuberculosis (TB) screening of HIV-positive individuals with Xpert MTB/RIF as the first diagnostic test has major resource implications. Objective To develop a diagnostic prediction model for TB, for symptomatic adults attending for routine HIV care, to prioritise TB investigation. Design Cohort study exploring a TB testing algorithm. Setting HIV clinics, South Africa. Participants Representative sample of adult HIV clinic attendees; data from participants reporting ≥1 symptom on the WHO screening tool were split 50:50 to derive, then internally validate, a prediction model. Outcome TB, defined as “confirmed” if Xpert MTB/RIF, line probe assay or M. tuberculosis culture were positive; and “clinical” if TB treatment started without microbiological confirmation, within six months of enrolment. Results Overall, 79/2602 (3.0%) participants on ART fulfilled TB case definitions, compared to 65/906 (7.2%) pre-ART. Among 1133/3508 (32.3%) participants screening positive on the WHO tool, 1048 met inclusion criteria for this analysis: 52/515 (10.1%) in the derivation and 58/533 (10.9%) in the validation dataset had TB. Our final model comprised ART status (on ART > 3 months vs. pre-ART or ART < 3 months); body mass index (continuous); CD4 (continuous); number of WHO symptoms (1 vs. >1 symptom). We converted this to a clinical score, using clinically-relevant CD4 and BMI categories. A cut-off score of ≥3 identified those with TB with sensitivity and specificity of 91.8% and 34.3% respectively. If investigation was prioritised for individuals with score of ≥3, 68% (717/1048) symptomatic individuals would be tested, among whom the prevalence of TB would be 14.1% (101/717); 32% (331/1048) of tests would be avoided, but 3% (9/331) with TB would be missed amongst those not tested. Conclusion Our clinical score may help prioritise TB investigation among symptomatic individuals.
A comparison of 2‐hydroxyglutarate detection at 3 and 7 T with long‐TE semi‐LASER

Abnormally high levels of the ‘oncometabolite’ 2‐hydroxyglutarate (2‐HG) occur in many grade II and III gliomas, and correlate with mutations in the genes of isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) isoforms. In vivo measurement of 2‐HG in patients, using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), has largely been carried out at 3 T, yet signal overlap continues to pose a challenge for 2‐HG detection. To combat this, several groups have proposed MRS methods at ultra‐high field (≥7 T) where theoretical increases in signal‐to‐noise ratio and spectral resolution could improve 2‐HG detection. Long echo time (long‐TE) semi‐localization by adiabatic selective refocusing (semi‐LASER) (TE = 110 ms) is a promising method for improved 2‐HG detection in vivo at either 3 or 7 T owing to the use of broad‐band adiabatic localization. Using previously published semi‐LASER methods at 3 and 7 T, this study directly compares the detectability of 2‐HG in phantoms and in vivo across nine patients. Cramér–Rao lower bounds (CRLBs) of 2‐HG fitting were found to be significantly lower at 7 T (6 ± 2%) relative to 3 T (15 ± 7%) (p = 0.0019), yet were larger at 7 T in an IDH wild‐type patient. Although no increase in SNR was detected at 7 T (77 ± 26) relative to 3 T (77 ± 30), the detection of 2‐HG was greatly enhanced through an improved spectral profile and increased resolution at 7 T. 7 T had a large effect on pairwise fitting correlations between γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) and 2‐HG (p = 0.004), and resulted in smaller coefficients. The increased sensitivity for 2‐HG detection using long‐TE acquisition at 7 T may allow for more rapid estimation of 2‐HG (within a few spectral averages) together with other associated metabolic markers in glioma.
Apoptosis induced by nitric oxide is associated with nuclear p53 protein expression in cultured osteoarthritic synoviocytes.

OBJECTIVE Nitric oxide (NO) is a free radical molecule endogenously produced by NO synthases that may play a critical role in inflammation. It inhibits cell proliferation and may be involved in the induction of apoptosis in various cellular models. Recently, the presence of apoptotic cells was reported in the synovium of osteoarthritic (OA) patients. The aim of this study was to determine whether synovial fibroblasts are target cells for NO-induced apoptosis. The expression of p53 protein was also studied to evaluate the ability of synovial cells to repair DNA fragmentation. METHODS Synoviocytes from OA patients were treated with two NO donors: sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and S-nitroso-N-acetyl-penicillamine (SNAP). Apoptosis was analysed by transmission electron microscopy. DNA content was evaluated by flow cytometric analysis after propidium iodide staining and recognition of DNA strand break determined by the TUNEL (TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling) method. P53 protein expression was studied by immunofluorescence using a monoclonal antibody. RESULTS After 6 hours, cells treated with NO donors (1.25 mM) showed a cytoplasmic condensation and vacuolization. DNA strand break analysis by the TUNEL method confirmed the presence of a DNA fragmentation after 24 hours of NO treatment. There was also a progressive decrease in the DNA diploid peak in response to NO donors. In parallel, p53 protein, constitutively expressed in cytoplasmic synovial cells, showed markedly increased expression after a 6-hour NO exposure and displayed prominent nuclear staining after 12 hours. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates the potential role of NO for the induction of synoviocyte apoptosis in OA. The increased expression of p53 in the nucleus may play a protective role in the control of apoptosis.
Reversible Data Hiding Based on Histogram Modification of Pixel Differences

In this letter, we present a reversible data hiding scheme based on histogram modification. We exploit a binary tree structure to solve the problem of communicating pairs of peak points. Distribution of pixel differences is used to achieve large hiding capacity while keeping the distortion low. We also adopt a histogram shifting technique to prevent overflow and underflow. Performance comparisons with other existing schemes are provided to demonstrate the superiority of the proposed scheme.