Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fiscal Residuum and Localization of Foreign Direct Investments among Chinese Provinces

This paper examines the impact of fiscal residuumiathe excess of expenditure benefits over tax burdensiaon the location choice of foreign direct investments among Chinai¯s provinces. Using data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics of China we propose two fiscal residuum indexes for Chinai¯s provinces over the period 1998¨C2004. According to Buchanani¯s original definition of fiscal residuum a first index is given by the difference between government expenditure and revenue. A second index measures enterprisesi¯ net fiscal benefit and is calculated as the difference between public expenditure that affect business activities and taxes paid by enterprises. We found that the first index does not significantly affect the FDI localization choice while the second one positively affects it. When looking at different subsets of provinces we found that for eastern provinces the first index has a positive and significant effect. These results confirm the role of the net fiscal benefit as a determinant of FDI inflows at the provincial level.
Crack spread hedging: accounting for time-varying volatility spillovers in the energy futures markets

Crude oil, heating oil, and unleaded gasoline futures contracts are simultaneously analysed for their effectiveness in reducing price volatility for an energy trader. A conceptual model is developed for a trader hedging the 'crack spread'. Various hedge ratio estimation techniques are compared to a Multivariate GARCH model that directly incorporates the time to maturity effect often found in futures markets. Modelling of the time-variation in hedge ratios via the Multivariate GARCH methodology, and thus taking into account volatility spillovers between markets is shown to result in significant reductions in uncertainty even while accounting for trading costs. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Stimulation of Cell Surface CCR5 and CD40 Molecules by Their Ligands or by HSP70 Up-Regulates APOBEC3G Expression in CD4+ T Cells and Dendritic Cells1

Apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing, enzyme-catalytic, polypeptide-like-3G (A3G) is an intracellular innate antiviral factor that deaminates retroviral cytidine to uridine. In an attempt to harness the anti-HIV effect of A3G, we searched for an agent that would up-regulate A3G and identify the receptors involved. Stimulation of cell surface CCR5 with CCL3 and CD40 with CD40L or both molecules with microbial 70-kDa heat shock protein (HSP)70 up-regulated A3G mRNA and protein expression in human CD4+ T cells and monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DC), demonstrated by real-time PCR and Western blots, respectively. The specificity of CCR5 and CD40 stimulation was established by inhibition with TAK 779 and mAb to CD40, as well as using human embryonic kidney 293 cells transfected with CCR5 and CD40, respectively. A dose-dependent increase of A3G in CCL3- or HSP70-stimulated CD4+ T cells was associated with inhibition in HIV-1 infectivity. To differentiate between the inhibitory effect of HSP70-induced CCR5 binding and that of A3G, GFP-labeled pseudovirions were used to infect human embryonic kidney 293 cells, which showed inhibition of pseudovirion uptake, consistent with A3G being responsible for the inhibitory effect. Ligation of cell surface CCR5 receptors by CCL3 or CD40 by CD40L activated the ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK signaling pathways that induced A3G mRNA expression and production of the A3G protein. These in vitro results were corroborated by in vivo studies in rhesus macaques in which A3G was significantly up-regulated following immunization with SIVgp120 and p27 linked to HSP70. This novel preventive approach may in addition to adaptive immunity use the intracellular innate antiviral effect of A3G.
Active Lifelong Learning With "Watchdog"

Lifelong learning intends to learn new consecutive tasks depending on previously accumulated experiences, i.e., knowledge library. However, the knowledge among different new coming tasks are imbalance. Therefore, in this paper, we try to mimic an effective "human cognition" strategy by actively sorting the importance of new tasks in the process of unknown-to-known and selecting to learn the important tasks with more information preferentially. To achieve this, we consider to assess the importance of the new coming task, i.e., unknown or not, as an outlier detection issue, and design a hierarchical dictionary learning model consisting of two-level task descriptors to sparse reconstruct each task with the l0 norm constraint. The new coming tasks are sorted depending on the sparse reconstruction score in descending order, and the task with high reconstruction score will be permitted to pass, where this mechanism is called as "watchdog. " Next, the knowledge library of the lifelong learning framework encode the selected task by transferring previous knowledge, and then can also update itself with knowledge from both previously learned task and current task automatically. For model optimization, the alternating direction method is employed to solve our model and converges to a fixed point. Extensive experiments on both benchmark datasets and our own dataset demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed model especially in task selection and dictionary learning.
Recurrent Deterministic Policy Gradient Method for Bipedal Locomotion on Rough Terrain Challenge

This paper presents a deep learning framework that is capable of solving partially observable locomotion tasks based on our novel interpretation of Recurrent Deterministic Policy Gradient (RDPG). We study on bias of sampled error measure and its variance induced by the partial observability of environment and subtrajectory sampling, respectively. Three major improvements are introduced in our RDPG based learning framework: tail-step bootstrap of temporal difference, initialisation of hidden state using past subtrajectory, truncation of temporal backpropagation, and injection of external experiences learned by other agents. The proposed learning framework was implemented to solve the Bipedal-Walker challenge in OpenAI's gym simulation environment where only partial state information is available. Our simulation study shows that the autonomous behaviors generated by the RDPG agent are highly adaptive to a variety of obstacles and enables the agent to effectively traverse rugged terrains for long distance with higher success rate than leading contenders.
Capital Flow Controls, International Asset Pricing, and Investors' Welfare: A Multi‐Country Framework

This paper investigates the impact of capital flow restrictions on the pricing of securities, on the optimal portfolio compositions of investors of different nationalities, and on their welfare. Under capital flow controls, the equilibrium price of a security is determined jointly by its international and national risk premiums, and investors acquire nationality-specific portfolios along with a market-wide proxy for the world market portfolio. Removal of investment barriers generally leads to an increase in the aggregate market value of the affected securities, and all investors favor a move toward market integration. Introduction of different types of index funds in the world market generally increases world market integration and investor welfare. Copyright 1989 by American Finance Association.
GIFT-GIVING OR MARKET?

Human body parts (HBP) are made available to professionals either through market relations or through gift-giving. Market transactions were made legal in Iran during the 1980s; but this solution did not spread to the rest of the world. Nevertheless, the mere existence of a possible alternative to the current policy in favor of gift-giving opens up a political issue: are market relations legitimate and efficient in the domain of organ procurement? Once so stated, the question becomes: are economists able to perform such commerce as just another form of market relations? After a discussion of Michel Callon's theory of performativity, justifying the use of a restricted definition of performativity, the paper examines Alvin Roth's suggestion that a computerized matching market for non-compatible pairs of donor-recipient be created, and explains why this is a consistent example of performativity of gift-giving.
Bonding Through Investments: Evidence from Franchising

This article studies whether producers’ up-front investments can help sustain relations with business partners. The initial investment combined with the business partner’s threat to terminate the contract before it expires can generate a bonding mechanism that precludes the producer from behaving opportunistically. I test this view using franchise contract data and a natural experiment. In practice, the franchisor (business partner) determines how much a franchisee (producer) needs to invest up-front. I show that franchisors affected by the passing of a law that restricts their ability to terminate misbehaving franchisees ask their franchisees for higher up-front investments. This result is particularly large for small franchise systems, as franchisees’ investments are less redeployable in case of contract termination. The data suggest that contractual up-front investments can be used to sustain business relations (JEL L14, K20, M21).
Genome Sequence of Bacillus butanolivorans K9T (DSM 18926), an n-Butanol-Consuming Bacterium Isolated from Soil

ABSTRACT Bacillus butanolivorans K9T (DSM 18926) is a Gram-positive, spore-forming, strictly aerobic, and n-butanol-consuming bacterium. Here, we report the 5.68-Mb genome sequence of B. butanolivorans K9T, which is the first genomic information of this species that will provide useful information for the genomic taxonomy and phylogenomics of Bacillus-like bacteria.
Who Owns China's Land? Policies, Property Rights and Deliberate Institutional Ambiguity

In many cases land leases are issued by the administrative village, while the land belonged to the natural village in the past. It is like the ownership rights to land have been silently stolen from the natural village and vested in a level higher. […] Yet, to date there are not many conflicts, because farmers are not well imbued with the idea of “property. ” But problems are sure to arise in the future …Sheng Li, oral communication, 1999. Sheng Li is a senior official within the Bureau of Law and Policy System Reform of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Serum Immunoreactive Leptin Concentrations in a Canadian Aboriginal Population With High Rates of NIDDM

OBJECTIVE To better understand the relationship between leptin and the anthropometric and physiological variables associated with diabetes, we measured this protein in an isolated Canadian aboriginal population with very high rates of NIDDM. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS There were 728 individuals aged 10–79 years who participated in a population-based survey to determine the prevalence of NIDDM and its associated risk factors. Fasting blood samples for glucose, insulin, triglyceride, and leptin were collected; a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test was administered and a second blood sample drawn after 120 min. Height, weight, and waist and hip circumference were determined, and percent body fat was estimated using biological impedance analysis. Fitness level was assessed in a subsample of individuals using a validated submaximal step test. The relationship between serum leptin and the other variables was assessed using Spearman's correlation coefficients and multiple linear regression. RESULTS Serum leptin concentration was strongly correlated with adiposity, and levels were substantially higher in female subjects in all age-groups. For male subjects, percent body fat, fasting insulin level, and waist circumference were significant independent predictors of log serum leptin concentration in a multiple linear regression model (R2 ; 0.582). For female subjects, these variables plus glucose tolerance status were included in the final model (R2 ; 0.633). Fitness level, when included with the main effects of the above models, was a significant predictor for male subjectsonly. CONCLUSIONS In an isolated aboriginal community with high rates of diabetes, we found significant independent relationships between leptin and percent body fat and between leptin and fasting insulin. As documented in other populations, the higher leptin concentration among female subjects may reflect differential leptin production from different adipose tissue beds, or leptin resistance. Independent relationships also existed among leptin and glucose tolerance status in female subjects and fitness level in male subjects.
Evaluation of Rhode Island's Family Independence Program: May 1996 - April 2000

We assess the impact of Rhode Island's Family Independence Program (FIP)on the employment and earnings from the Unemployment Insurance program. Our data are for all-female-headed households receiving Rhode Island cash assistance during the period May 1996 to April 2000. In all we have observations on 29,253 families for an average of 16.6 quarters. We estimate our models using a number of techniques and find that the major impact of FIP was to increase the likelihood that current and former cash assistance recipients would work. Our best estimate is that the impact of the many changes associated with FIP was to increase the likelihood of work by about 10%. Estimates also indicate that FIP increased the quarterly earnings of current and former cash assistance recipients. However, the estimated increase in quarterly earnings due to FIP was relatively modest (i.e., about $200 per quarter). During the study, earnings increased substantially (i.e., from a little over $1,000 per quarter to over $2,500 per quarter), but our results indicate that most of this increase was due to increases in the Rhode Island minimum wage, not to FIP.
The Fed is Ready to Raise Rates: Will Past be Prologue?

type="main" xml:lang="en"> The Fed is likely to commence hiking its policy rate in 2015. It is unlikely, however, that this rate-hike cycle will feature a predictable 25 basis-point rise at each and every meeting once it begins. Instead, the Fed will, I believe, opt to deliver a path of policy normalization even more gradual than the path it delivered in 2004–06. This will be owed, at least in part, to the difficulty it will confront in estimating the neutral policy rate with any precision, as well as to the fact that this cycle is likely to begin with an inflation rate that will have been running below its 2% target since that target was first announced in 2012. The Fed will nonetheless begin to hike because it is forecasting that inflation will rise as unemployment falls to – or even below – its estimate of the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU). Because of the slowdown in the United States and global potential growth, however, as well as a persistent excess of global saving relative to desired investment opportunities, I expect that, for at least the next couple of years and likely for some time beyond, the neutral Fed policy rate consistent with mandate-implied levels of unemployment and inflation will lie in the range of 2–3% in nominal terms, well below the pre-crisis estimates of 4%.
Association of hepatitis C seropositivity with increased risk for developing end-stage renal disease.

BACKGROUND Infection with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been linked to glomerulonephritis. We undertook this study to determine whether having a positive HCV test result was associated with an increased risk for developing treated end-stage renal disease (ESRD). METHODS Using data from Medicare, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the United States Renal Data System, we performed a retrospective cohort study of 474,369 adult veterans who had serum creatinine levels measured between October 1, 2000, and September 30, 2001, and HCV antibody testing within 1 year of creatinine testing. Patients were followed up until October 1, 2004, for the outcome of treated ESRD, defined as the onset of chronic dialysis or renal transplantation. Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine the relative hazard for ESRD associated with HCV, adjusted for other covariates (age, sex, race/ethnicity, and comorbidities). RESULTS Of 474,369 patients in the cohort, 52,874 (11.1%) had a positive HCV antibody test result. Patients with HCV were more likely to develop ESRD: the rate per 1000 person-years was 4.26 (95% confidence interval, 3.97-4.57) for HCV-seropositive patients vs 3.05 (95% confidence interval, 2.96-3.14) for HCV-seronegative patients. For patients aged 18 to 70 years with an estimated glomerular filtration rate of at least 30 mL/min per 1.73 m2, HCV seropositivity was associated with a greater than 2-fold risk for developing ESRD (adjusted hazard rate, 2.80; 95% confidence interval, 2.43-3.23). CONCLUSION In this large national cohort of adult veterans, patients younger than 70 years with HCV seropositivity were at increased risk for developing ESRD treated with dialysis or transplantation.
Dual anti-inflammatory and selective inhibition mechanism of leukotriene A4 hydrolase/aminopeptidase: insights from comparative molecular dynamics and binding free energy analyses

Human leukotriene A4 hydrolase/aminopeptidase (LTA4H) is a zinc metalloenzyme with a dual catalytic activity; conversion of LTA4 into LTB4 and degradation of chemotactic tripeptide Pro-Gly-Pro (PGP). Existing inhibitors, such as SC-57461A, block both catalytic activities of the enzyme, leading to drug failures. Recently, a novel compound, ARM1, was reported to selectively inhibit the hydrolase activity of LTA4H while sparing its aminopeptidase activity. However, the molecular understanding of such preferential inhibitory mechanism remains obscure. The discovery of ARM1 prompted us to further explore its binding theme and provide more insight into the structural and dual mechanistic features of LTA4H protein. To accomplish this, we embarked on wide range of computational tools, including comparative molecular dynamics (MDs) simulations and postdynamic analyses for LTA4H and in complex with ARM1, PGP, ARM1-PGP, and SC-57461A. MD analysis reveals that the binding of ARM1 exhibits a more stable active site and overall stable protein conformation when compared to the nonselective inhibitor SC-57461A. In addition, MM/GBSA-binding free energy calculation also reveals that ARM1 exhibit a lower binding affinity, when compared to the nonselective inhibitor SC-57461A – which is in a great agreement with experimental data. Per residue energy decomposition analysis showed that Phe314, Val367, Tyr378, Trp311, Pro382, and Leu369 are key residues critical for the selective inhibition of the epoxide hydrolase activity of LTA4H by ARM1. Findings from this report will not only provide more understanding into the structural, dynamic, and mechanistic features of LTA4H but would also assist toward the rational design of novel and selective hydrolase inhibitors of LTA4H as anti-inflammatory drugs.
Identification of p70 and p80 Associations With Class II MHC Molecules and Ii

Two proteins, p70 and p80, were found in chemically crosslinked complexes with class II MHC molecules and Ii after 3–12 hr labelings with [35S]methionine. Two‐dimensional, nonreduced/reduced SDS gel electrophoresis of immunoprecipitated complexes revealed 1) endogenous disulfide linkages between Ii‐Ii and Ii‐p70 and 2) chemically crosslinked, nearest neighbors of α‐β, α‐Ii, Ii‐p70, and α‐p80. Although such nearest neighbors within multimeric complexes were identified as dimers in nonreduced/reduced 2D gels, stoichiometries could not be determined in the high molecular weight complex(es), which included α, β, Ii, p70, and p80, and were not separated in the first dimension. p80 was not the chondroitin‐sulfate form of Ii (Ii‐CS) because it was not electrophoretically heterogeneous and was not sensitive to chondroitinase ABC. p70 was not hsp72/74 detected with C92 or N27 mAbs, and p80 was not BiP detected with its respective mAb. While only these two proteins associated prominently with class II MHC antigens and Ii late after synthesis, their functions are unknown.
Current Use and Future Perspectives of Spatial Audio Technologies in Electronic Travel Aids

Electronic travel aids (ETAs) have been in focus since technology allowed designing relatively small, light, and mobile devices for assisting the visually impaired. Since visually impaired persons rely on spatial audio cues as their primary sense of orientation, providing an accurate virtual auditory representation of the environment is essential. This paper gives an overview of the current state of spatial audio technologies that can be incorporated in ETAs, with a focus on user requirements. Most currently available ETAs either fail to address user requirements or underestimate the potential of spatial sound itself, which may explain, among other reasons, why no single ETA has gained a widespread acceptance in the blind community. We believe there is ample space for applying the technologies presented in this paper, with the aim of progressively bridging the gap between accessibility and accuracy of spatial audio in ETAs.
Another look at the Relationship between Telecommunications Investment and Economic Activity in the United States

Abstract In a recent issue of this journal, Beil et al. (2005, hereafter, BFJ) examined the relationship between telecommunications investment and economic growth in the United States over the period 1947–1996. Based on results from Granger-Sims test, BFJ conclude that ‘… investment by telecommunications firms is caused by, but does not cause, economic activity, and the findings are robust across lag lengths’. However, using another version of the Granger causality test due to Toda & Yamamoto (1995) and the same data set transformed into natural logarithms, the evidence in this paper indicates a feedback where there was a bi-directional causality between telecommunications investment and economic growth. This seems to suggest that policies aimed at stimulating the US economy by accelerating investment in the telecommunications sector may be successful.
Alcohol‐induced stress in painful alcoholic neuropathy

Chronic alcohol consumption induces a painful small‐fiber peripheral neuropathy, the severity of which increases during alcohol withdrawal. Chronic alcohol consumption also produces a sustained increase in stress hormones, epinephrine and corticosterone, that is exacerbated during alcohol withdrawal. We report that adrenal medullectomy and administration of a glucocorticoid receptor antagonist, mifepristone (RU 38486), both prevented and reversed a model of painful peripheral neuropathy in alcohol binge‐drinking rats. Chronic administration of stress levels of epinephrine to rats that had undergone adrenal medullectomy and were being fed the alcohol diet reconstituted this phenotype. Intrathecal administration of oligodeoxynucleotides antisense to the β2‐adrenergic‐ or glucocorticoid‐receptor also prevented and reversed the pro‐nociceptive effects of ethanol. Our results suggest a convergence of the effects of mediators of the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐ and sympathoadrenal‐stress axes on sensory neurons in the induction and maintenance of alcohol‐induced painful peripheral neuropathy.
A Stratified Feature Ranking Method for Supervised Feature Selection

Most feature selection methods usually select the highest rank features which may be highly correlated with each other. In this paper, we propose a Stratified Feature Ranking (SFR) method for supervised feature selection. In the new method, a Subspace Feature Clustering (SFC) is proposed to identify feature clusters, and a stratified feature ranking method is proposed to rank the features such that the high rank features are lowly correlated. Experimental results show the superiority of SFR.