Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Equalizing Outcomes and Equalizing Opportunities: Optimal Taxation When Children'’s Abilities Depend on Parents' ’Resources

Empirical research suggests that parents' economic resources affect their children's future earnings abilities. Optimal tax policy therefore treats future ability distributions as endogenous to current taxes. We model this endogeneity, calibrate the model to match estimates of the intergenerational transmission of earnings ability in the United States, and use the model to simulate such an optimal policy numerically. The optimal policy in this context is more redistributive toward low-income parents than existing U.S. tax policy. It also increases the probability that low-income children move up the economic ladder, generating a present-value welfare gain of one and three-quarters percent of consumption in our baseline case.
Developing Intercultural Perspectives on Language Use: Exploring Pragmatics and Culture in Foreign Language Learning

Many language teachers recognise the importance of integrating intercultural learning into language learning, but how this can be best achieved is not always apparent. This is particularly the case in foreign language learning contexts where teachers are working with a prescribed textbook and opportunities to use the language outside the classroom are limited. This book argues that teachers can work creatively with conventional resources and utilise classroom experiences in order to help learners interpret aspects of communication in insightful ways and develop awareness of the influence of cultural assumptions and values on language use. The book provides extensive analysis of a range of classroom interactions to demonstrate how teachers and learners can work together to construct opportunities for intercultural learning through reflection on pragmatics.
Essays on Banking

This dissertation examines two distinct questions within the banking literature. In chapter two, I study the systemic risk exposure of financial institutions. I compare the performance of three measures of institution-level systemic risk exposure — Exposure CoVaR (Adrian and Brunnermeier, 2011), Systemic Expected Shortfall (Acharya, et al., 2010), and Granger Causality (Billio, et al., 2010). I modify Exposure CoVaR to allow for forecasting, and estimate the ability of each measure to forecast the performance of financial institutions during systemic crisis periods in 1998 (LTCM) and 2008 (Lehman Brothers). I find that Exposure CoVaR forecasts the within-crisis performance of financial institutions, and provides useful forecasts of future systemic risk exposures. Systemic Expected Shortfall and Granger Causality do not forecast the performance of financial institutions reliably during crises. I also find, using cross-sectional regressions, that foreign equity exposure and securitization income determine systemic risk exposure during the 1998 and 2008 crises, respectively; financial institution size determines systemic risk exposure during both crisis periods; and executive compensation does not determine systemic risk exposure. In chapter three, I test the effect that exogenous technology changes have on soft information lending and on bank organization. I find that banks lend less to soft information borrowers when back office bank technology is more efficient, and that
Acute, short-term, and subchronic oral toxicity of 1,1,1-trichloroethane in rats.

1,1,1-Trichloroethane (TRI) is a widely used solvent that has become a frequent contaminant of drinking water supplies in the U.S. There is very little information available on the potential for oral TRI to damage the liver or to alter its P450 metabolic capacity. Thus, a major objective of this investigation was to assess the acute, short-term, and subchronic hepatotoxicity of oral TRI. In the acute study, male Sprague-Dawley (S-D) rats were gavaged with 0, 0.5, 1, 2, or 4 g TRI/kg bw and killed 24 h later. No acute effects were apparent other than CNS depression. Other male S-D rats received 0, 0.5, 5, or 10 g TRI/kg po once daily for 5 consecutive days, rested for 2 days, and were dosed for 4 additional days. Groups of the animals were sacrificed for evaluation of hepatotoxicity 1, 5, and 12 days after initiation of the short-term experiment. This dosage regimen caused numerous fatalities at 5 and 10 g/kg, but no increases in serum enzymes or histopathological changes in the liver. For the subchronic study, male S-D rats were gavaged 5 times weekly with 0, 0.5, 2.5, or 5.0 g TRI/kg for 50 days. The 0 and 0.5 g/kg groups were dosed for 13 weeks. A substantial number of rats receiving 2.5 and 5.0 g/kg died, apparently due to effects of repeated, protracted CNS depression. There was evidence of slight hepatocytotoxicity at 10 g/kg, but no progression of injury nor appearance of adverse effects were seen during acute or short-term exposure. Ingestion of 0.5 g/kg over 13 weeks did not cause apparent CNS depression, body or organ weight changes, clinical chemistry abnormalities, histopathological changes in the liver, or fatalities. Additional experiments did reveal that 0.5 g/kg and higher doses induced hepatic microsomal cytochrome P450IIE1 (CYP2E1) in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Induction of CYP2E1 activity occurred sooner, but was of shorter duration than CYP2B1/2 induction. CYP1A1 activity was not enhanced. In summary, 0.5 g/kg po was the acute, short-term, and subchronic NOAEL for TRI, for effects other than transient CYP2E1 induction, under the conditions of this investigation. Oral TRI appears to have very limited capacity to induce P450s or to cause liver injury in male S-D rats, even when administered repeatedly by gavage in near-lethal or lethal dosages under conditions intended to maximize hepatic effects.
Impact of Alginate Conditioning Film on Deposition Kinetics of Motile and Nonmotile Pseudomonas aeruginosa Strains

ABSTRACT The initial deposition of bacteria in most aquatic systems is affected by the presence of a conditioning film adsorbed at the liquid-solid interface. Due to the inherent complexity of such films, their impact on bacterial deposition remains poorly defined. The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of the effect of a conditioning film on the deposition of motile and nonmotile Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells in a radial stagnation point flow system. A well-defined alginate film was used as a model conditioning film because of its polysaccharide and polyelectrolyte nature. Deposition experiments under favorable (nonrepulsive) conditions demonstrated the importance of swimming motility for cell transport towards the substrate. The impact of the flagella of motile cells on deposition is dependent on the presence of the conditioning film. We showed that on a clean substrate surface, electrostatic repulsion governs bacterial deposition and the presence of flagella increases cell deposition. However, our results suggest that steric interactions between flagella and extended polyelectrolytes of the conditioning film hinder cell deposition. At a high ionic strength (100 mM), active swimming motility and changes in alginate film structure suppressed the steric barrier and allowed conditions favorable for deposition. We demonstrated that bacterial deposition is highly influenced by cell motility and the structure of the conditioning film, which are both dependent on ionic strength.
Self-Rated Versus Objective Health Indicators as Predictors of Major Cardiovascular Events: The NHLBI-Sponsored Women’s Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation

Objective: To determine the association between self-rated health and major cardiovascular events in a sample of women with suspected myocardial ischemia. Previous studies showed that self-rated health is a predictor of objective health outcomes, such as mortality. Method: At baseline, 900 women rated their health on a 5-point scale ranging from poor to excellent as part of a protocol that included quantitative coronary angiography, cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor assessment, cardiac symptoms, psychotropic medication use, and functional impairment. Participants were followed for a maximum of 9 years (median, 5.9 years) to determine the prevalence of major CVD events (myocardial infarction, heart failure, stroke, and CVD-related death). Results: A total of 354 (39.3% of sample) participants reported their health as either poor or fair. After adjusting for demographic factors, CVD risk factors, and coronary artery disease severity, women who rated their health as poor (hazard ratio, 2.1 [1.1-4.2]) or fair (hazard ratio, 2.0 [1.2-3.6]) experienced significantly shorter times to major CVD events compared with women who rated their health as excellent or very good. Further adjustment for functional impairment, however, attenuated the self-rated health relationships with major CVD events. Conclusions: Among women with suspected myocardial ischemia, self-rated health predicted major CVD events independent of demographic factors, CVD risk factors, and angiogram-defined disease severity. However, functional impairment seemed to explain much of the self-rated health association. These results support the clinical utility of self-rated health scores in women and encourage a multidimensional approach to conceptualizing these measures. CAD = coronary artery disease; CVD = cardiovascular disease; DASI = Duke Activity Status Index; HR = hazard ratio; SES = socioeconomic status; WISE = Women’s Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation.
Cognitive functioning and symptomatology in chronic schizophrenia

Synopsis Chronic schizophrenic patients in a long stay hospital were found to have low levels of intelligence (mean IQ of 80), which was attributed to the effects of substantial intellectual deterioration on below average pre-morbid levels of functioning. Patients with the lowest IQ scores had the least severe positive symptoms but symptomatology was not related to age or extent of intellectual decline. Speed of functioning was relatively more impaired than level of intellectual functioning, with cognitive speed being more affected than motor speed. The severity of negative but not positive symptoms was significantly related to the severity of bradyphrenia (cognitive slowing), a result which would be consistent with the notion of a subcortical pathology in patients with Type II schizophrenia.
Glucocorticoid effects on the beta-adrenergic receptor-adenylyl cyclase system of human airway epithelium.

BACKGROUND Activation of the beta(2)-adrenergic receptor (beta(2)AR) system expressed by human airway epithelial cells elicits a variety of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent processes that help determine airway caliber and the intensity of airway inflammation in asthma. Glucocorticoids, mainstays in the treatment of asthma, profoundly affect the expression and function of the beta(2)-adrenergic receptor-adenylyl cyclase (beta(2)AR-AC) system in a variety of cell types. However, the effects of glucocorticoids on the beta(2)AR-AC system expressed by human airway epithelial cells are unstudied. OBJECTIVE We examined the effects of dexamethasone (DEX) on beta(2)AR gene expression and the function of the beta(2)AR-AC system in cultured human airway epithelial cells. METHODS Studies were performed in normal airway epithelial cells and BEAS-2B cells. Beta(2)AR gene expression was assessed from measurements of beta-adrenergic receptor density, beta(2)AR mRNA, and the activity of a full-length beta(2)AR promoter-luciferase reporter construct. The function of the beta(2)AR-AC system was assessed from cAMP production in response to the beta(2)-agonist isoproterenol and the expression of the stimulatory G protein G(alpha)s. RESULTS DEX had no effect on beta-adrenergic receptor density or on the beta(1)/beta(2) ratio over a wide range of concentrations and exposure times. However, DEX significantly but transiently enhanced beta(2)AR mRNA levels (approximately 1.5-fold) and beta(2)AR promoter activity (approximately 1.5-fold), indicating increased beta(2)AR gene transcription. DEX also dose-dependently enhanced cAMP responses to isoproterenol but not to forskolin, a direct activator of adenylyl cyclase. DEX-induced changes in cAMP production were associated with small (approximately 15%) increases in G(alpha)s expression. CONCLUSIONS These data indicate that glucocorticoids only transiently enhance beta(2)AR gene transcription and fail to increase steady-state levels of beta(2)AR protein in human airway epithelial cells. Nonetheless, glucocorticoid-induced effects on the beta(2)AR-AC system of human airway epithelial cells contribute to the beneficial effects of corticosteroids in asthma by enhancing the functional response to beta(2)-agonists.
Optimal control of 2-link underactuated robot manipulator

Robot manipulators are nonlinear multi-link system, having higher disturbances and uncertainties. Thus, the controlling of robot manipulator is matter of concern. In this paper for deriving the dynamics of robot manipulator Euler Lagrange (EL) method is used. This paper proposes a nonlinear optimal control approach of 2-link robot manipulator. At first stage linearization of robot manipulator is performed at its operating point using Taylor series expansion. For optimal control, Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) is designed after linearization of nonlinear dynamics of 2-link robot. This uses the feed forward gain to control the robot manipulator and to achieve desired position and velocity. This proposed paper shows that Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) controlled robot manipulator is locally stable.
Global and Domestic Networks Advancing Prospects for Institutional and Social Change: The Collective Action Response to Violence Against Journalists

Violence against journalists has emerged as a global human rights issue as the number of those killed in the profession has steadily risen in the new millennium. This research utilized a collective action framework, applying an adapted qualitative network model to examine organizational mobilization, transnational and domestic engagement, normative appeals, information dissemination, lobbying, and prospects for institutional and societal change. Through the Mexico case model application, the study found that instrumental change occurred through adoption of legal and policy institutions. Future research should expand upon social change measurements utilized in this study. We conclude the model can be adapted and utilized in other country cases or in cross-national research.
Case-control study of overweight, obesity, and colorectal cancer risk, overall and by tumor microsatellite instability status.

BACKGROUND Being overweight or obese is an established risk factor for colorectal cancer, more so for men than for women. Approximately 10%-20% of colorectal tumors display microsatellite instability (MSI), defined as the expansion or contraction of small repeated sequences in the DNA of tumor tissue relative to nearby normal tissue. We evaluated associations between overweight or obesity and colorectal cancer risk, overall and by tumor MSI status. METHODS The study included 1794 case subjects with incident colorectal cancer who were identified through population-based cancer registries and 2684 of their unaffected sex-matched siblings as control subjects. Recent body mass index (BMI), BMI at age 20 years, and adult weight change were derived from self-reports of height and weight. Tumor MSI status, assessed at as many as 10 markers, was obtained for 69.7% of the case subjects and classified as microsatellite (MS)-stable (0% of markers unstable; n = 913), MSI-low (>0% but <30% of markers unstable; n = 149), or MSI-high (> or =30% of markers unstable; n = 188). Multivariable conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS Recent BMI, modeled in 5 kg/m(2) increments, was positively associated with risk of colorectal cancer for men and women combined (OR = 1.24; 95% CI = 1.15 to 1.34), for women only (OR = 1.20; 95% CI = 1.10 to 1.32), and for men only (OR = 1.30; 95% CI = 1.15 to 1.47). There was no interaction with sex (P = .22). Recent BMI, per 5 kg/m(2), was positively associated with the risk of MS-stable (OR = 1.38; 95% CI = 1.24 to 1.54) and MSI-low (OR = 1.33; 95% CI = 1.04 to 1.72) colorectal tumors, but not with the risk of MSI-high tumors (OR = 1.05; 95% CI = 0.84 to 1.31). CONCLUSION The increased risk of colorectal cancer associated with a high BMI might be largely restricted to tumors that display the more common MS-stable phenotype, suggesting further that colorectal cancer etiology differs by tumor MSI status.
Development of a New Robust Controller With Velocity Estimator for Docked Mobile Robots: Theory and Experiments

The tracking control problem of docked mobile robot systems is challenging due to their nonlinear and underactuated system dynamics as well as limited access to the required states of robots. The majority of the previously developed controllers in the literature are not robust to model uncertainties and are based on the assumption that full states are accessible. In this paper, we develop a new robust tracking controller for a docked nonholonomic mobile robotic system with online velocity estimation. Our proposed controller, composed of sliding mode and robust saturation controllers, is developed to be robust to external disturbances, unmodeled dynamics, and parameter uncertainties. To provide the required states for the controller, a model-aided particle filter estimator is developed to estimate the translational and rotational velocities. We performed extensive experiments to verify the effectiveness of our proposed control and estimation methodologies as well as the integrated system. We also compared our results with some conventional controllers, including the well-known robust sliding mode controller, and demonstrated its superior performance in terms of model uncertainties over all the controllers. The results showed that, compared with sliding mode control, our approach improves the steady-state tracking performance up to 8.3% and 11% for unmodeled dynamics and parametric uncertainties, respectively. Our proposed integrated (controller–estimator) method can be used in uncertain systems with good tracking performance, where accessing velocity directly is not possible.
Intracellular Free Calcium Dynamics in Stretch‐Injured Astrocytes

Abstract: We have previously developed an in vitro model for traumatic brain injury that simulates a major component of in vivo trauma, that being tissue strain or stretch. We have validated our model by demonstrating that it produces many of the posttraumatic responses observed in vivo. Sustained elevation of the intracellular free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) has been hypothesized to be a primary biochemical mechanism inducing cell dysfunction after trauma. In the present report, we have examined this hypothesis in astrocytes using our in vitro injury model and fura‐2 microphotometry. Our results indicate that astrocyte [Ca2+]i is rapidly elevated after stretch injury, the magnitude of which is proportional to the degree of injury. However, the injury‐induced [Ca2+]i elevation is not sustained and returns to near‐basal levels by 15 min postinjury and to basal levels between 3 and 24 h after injury. Although basal [Ca2+]i returns to normal after injury, we have identified persistent injury‐induced alterations in calcium‐mediated signal transduction pathways. We report here, for the first time, that traumatic stretch injury causes release of calcium from inositol trisphosphate‐sensitive intracellular calcium stores and may uncouple the stores from participation in metabotropic glutamate receptor‐mediated signal transduction events. We found that for a prolonged period after trauma astrocytes no longer respond to thapsigargin, glutamate, or the inositol trisphosphate‐linked metabotropic glutamate receptor agonist trans‐(1S,3R)‐1‐amino‐1,3‐cyclopentanedicarboxylic acid with an elevation in [Ca2+]i. We hypothesize that changes in calcium‐mediated signaling pathways, rather than an absolute elevation in [Ca2+]i, is responsible for some of the pathological consequences of traumatic brain injury.
Considerations of UWB circular disc antenna miniaturization

In this paper, we present the considerations on miniaturizing the size of the circular disc antennas, which are often used in UWB applications. Quarter circular disc antenna has been proposed to reduce the antenna size to approximately one fourth of the original circular one. Tapered microstrip feed line and hollowed disc designs have been adopted for enhancing the impedance matching. The developed antenna has a size as small as 13.5*25 mm and it covers the entire bandwidth of 3.1–10.6 GHz. The antenna possesses a good omni-directional radiation patterns in its H-plane and a tilt beam direction in the E-plane. Finally, the promising usage of the proposed antenna has also been discussed.
Sturge-Weber Syndrome (Encephalotrigeminal Angiomatosis): Recent Advances and Future Challenges

AbstractSturge-Weber syndrome (SWS) is a congenital, sporadically occurring, neurocutaneous syndrome that presents classically with port-wine stain, leptomeningeal angiomas, and glaucoma. The systemic implications of SWS are vast and involve not only ophthalmic manifestations but also dermatologic, neurologic, and oral manifestations. Neuroimaging, in particular, plays an important role in the diagnosis and management of this disease. Recent discoveries have been made regarding the genetic pathogenesis of SWS. In addition, recent advances have been made in the management of the 2 most common ophthalmic manifestations of SWS: diffuse choroidal hemangioma and glaucoma. Despite these new contributions to the field, many challenges still remain. The management of diffuse choroidal hemangioma is wide ranging and includes photodynamic therapy, brachytherapy, radiotherapy, and antivascular endothelial growth factor injections, but all have had limited or varied success. Although there have been recent advances in knowledge and technique, the management of glaucoma is extremely complex, given the high surgical risks for complications and a poor response rate to medical therapy. Further studies are critical to maximize our knowledge of this difficult disease.
Transcription and Translation of CSF-1 in the Dental Follicle

The dental follicle, a loose connective tissue sac which surrounds the unerupted tooth, is required for eruption to occur. Injection of colony-stimulating factor-1 (CSF-1) will accelerate molar eruption in rats, as well as stimulate tooth eruption in osteopetrotic rats. Utilizing in situ hybridization and reverse- transcription polymerase chain-reaction techniques, we show here that CSF-1 mRNA is present in vivo in the dental follicle of the first mandibular molar of the rat. Analysis of the molars from day 0 through day 10 post-natally demonstrates that the maximal expression of CSF-1 mRNA is at day 3 post-natally. Immunostaining also reveals that the CSF-1 mRNA is translated, with immunostaining for the CSF-1 itself, being heavy in early post-natal days and absent by day 9 post-natally. In view of the fact that there is a maximal influx of mononuclear cells (monocytes) into the dental follicle at day 3 post-natally-an influx which increases the numbers of osteoclasts needed to form a tooth eruption pathway-it is probable that the maximal expression of CSF-1 mRNA by day 3 post-natally contributes to this monocyte influx. Thus, this study establishes a relationship among a molecule (CSF-1), cell (monocyte), and tissue (dental follicle) that appear to play a major role in tooth eruption.