Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Infrastructure and FDI Inflows into Mexico: A Panel Data Approach

In December 1993, restrictions to foreign ownership across major Mexican economic sectors were abolished. This paper studies output, industrialization intensity, ``international infrastructure", and government expenditures on infrastructure as determinants of FDI inflows into Mexican states over 1994-2001. We conduct a ``general to specific" estimation strategy across Mexican states. Telephone lines appear to be very important to FDI as their coefficients are around 2.0 in Random Effects Models. Industrialization is also important, with coefficients varying from 0.62 to 0.67. Allowing for endogeneity between FDI and real output, dynamic GMM panels confirm the robust effects of telephone lines on FDI. International infrastructure thus appears more conducive to FDI than domestic infrastructure, such as interstate and secondary roads. With international infrastructure being a major catalyst of FDI inflows into Mexico, we provide support to ongoing conventional wisdom promoting such type of investment.
Personalized education environment considering progress in C programming skill acquisition

Summary form only given. Many of college students learning in C language programming courses suffer from difference of their own acquisition level of programming skills from progresses of the courses. Some of them feel difficulties to catch up the progress. On the contrary, who are eager for programming are not always satisfied with slowness of the progress. We illustrate learning plans and personal data. We explain a personalized programming course system based on the recommendation engine. In this course, the recommendation engine selects an explanation method of examples and exercises suitable for each student. The recommendation engine consults personal data of many students who have been taught in the course. It searches past students whose tendency is similar to the concerned student, assuming that they stay in a similar acquiring level of C programming skill.
Exposing validity periods of prices for resource consumption to web service users via temporal policies

Web services usually have functional as well as non-functional properties. Functional properties, such as the WSDL description, are usually static, whereas non-functional properties are often dynamic and thus vary over time. One of these non-functional properties are prices for using a web service or the resources it consumes. It is desirable to dynamically set prices depending on criteria such as the time of day or usage patterns and to expose pricing information in several ways. In this paper, we introduce an extended version of our previously proposed temporal policy language to handle these requirements. The extension provides the possibility of adding the exposition of validity periods to service users by weaving an attribute from the temporal policy namespace to WS-Policies. Furthermore, a schema for temporal policies and a state diagram are introduced. A use case from the area of pricing high performance computing resources is presented to demonstrate that exposing validity periods to service users enables them to automatically estimate how long they can use computing resources for a given price.
COMPUTATIONAL DOCKING STUDIES REVEAL THE MOST POTENTIAL INHIBITORY BINDING MODE OF DEMETHOXYLATED AND REDUCED CURCUMIN COMPOUNDS ON LUNG RESISTANCE PROTEIN

Objective: Drug resistance in anti-cancer treatment continues as a foremost hurdle preventing the success of the treatment regime. The proteins which are involved in drug resistance are known as multi-drug resistance (MDR) proteins which includes mainly P-glycoprotein (P-gp), multi-drug resistance protein (MRP), lung resistance protein (LRP) and breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP). The LRP, which is the major component of complex ribonucleoprotein particles called vaults, is found to be over-expressed in many neoplastic tissue and cell lines indicating a poor response to chemotherapy. Therefore, targeting LRP can be considered as one of the promising approaches for the treatment of cancer. Curcumin, a natural polyphenolic compound is well-reported as an anti-cancer and chemopreventive agent. Though it is experimentally proved that curcumin inhibits lung resistance related protein (LRP), the binding mode of curcumin on LRP is yet to be elucidated due the non-availability of LRP crystal structure. Hence, by this study, we have attempted to model the 3D structure of Major Vault Protein (MVP) repeats of LRP and predicted the probable binding mode of Curcumin and its analogues implementing in silico strategies. Methods: Homology modeling of MVP repeats of LRP was performed using Modeller9v11 and the model was further refined by Molecular Dynamics simulation using GROMACS 4.5 package. Further, molecular docking simulation of curcumin and its analogues with modeled MVP repeats were performed using AutoDock 4.2. Results: Our results suggest that curcumin compounds which have demethoxylation at the phenol ring along with reduced C7 linker double bond may be efficient in modulating LRP than native curcumin. Conclusion: The output of this study will aid in better understanding of molecular interactions between LRP and curcumin analogues leading towards potential drug prioritization.
Psychological functioning in primary progressive versus secondary progressive multiple sclerosis.

Psychological functioning in two types of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients is assessed: primary progressive (PP) and secondary progressive (SP) patients. On the basis of differences in clinical course and underlying pathology we hypothesized that primary progressive patients and secondary progressive patients might have different psychological functioning. Seventy patients treated in an MS centre were examined cross-sectionally. Forty had an SP course of MS and 30 a PP course. The 33 male and 37 female patients had a mean age of 48.4 years (SD 11.2) and mean age of onset of MS of 30.7 years (SD 11.1). Patients completed questionnaires measuring among others the following aspects of psychological functioning: depression (BDI, SCL-90), anxiety (STAI, SCL-90), agoraphobia (SCL-90), somatic complaints (SCL-90), hostility (SCL-90) and attitude towards handicap (GHAS). Patients with a PP-MS scored significantly better on 5 out of 14 subscales than patients with SP-MS (p < .05). On the basis of our operationalizations of psychological functioning, the findings support the conclusion that on average 18 years after diagnosis of MS, amongst patients attending an MS unit, primary progressive patients were found to have better psychological functioning.
The economic policies of the political economy of the Australian patriot and Cambridge economist

Geoff Harcourt has been a thoroughgoing Keynesian committed to the achievement of sustainable (environmental and otherwise) and equitable (nationally and internationally) economic development and growth, and full employment of the available labour force. Achieving such an objective would require, inter alia, the maintenance of a high level of aggregate demand consistent with the full employment of labour, and the provision of sufficient productive capacity to enable that full employment, where sufficient is to be interpreted in terms of quantity, quality and geographical distribution. In this paper the ways in which fiscal policy should be used to sustain high levels of aggregate demand, necessary though not sufficient for full employment, are explored. Geoff has been a long-standing advocate of incomes policies to contain inflation without resorting to demand deflation. We argue that with the failures of inflation targeting, itself based on demand deflation, the need to develop incomes policies should again be on the policy agenda. This is an important ingredient in Geoff Harcourtâ€™s economic policy toolkit.
Modeling discontinuous periodic conditional volatility: Evidence from the commodity futures market

This paper examines a wide variety of models that allow for complex and discontinuous periodic variation in conditional volatility. The value of these models (including augmented versions of existing models) is demonstrated with an application to high frequency commodity futures return data. Their use is necessary, in this context, because commodity futures returns exhibit discontinuous intraday and interday periodicities in conditional volatility. The former of these effects is well documented for various asset returns; however, the latter is unique amongst commodity futures returns, where contract delivery and climate are driving forces. Using six years of high‐frequency cocoa futures data, the results show that these characteristics of conditional return volatility are most adequately captured by a spline‐version of the periodic generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedastic (PGARCH) model. This model also provides superior forecasts of future return volatility that are robust to variation in the loss function assumed by the user, and are shown to be beneficial to users of Value‐at‐Risk (VaR) models. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 24:805–834, 2004
Consistent manifold representation for topological data analysis

For data sampled from an arbitrary density on a manifold embedded in Euclidean space, the Continuous k-Nearest Neighbors (CkNN) graph construction is introduced. It is shown that CkNN is geometrically consistent in the sense that under certain conditions, the unnormalized graph Laplacian converges to the Laplace-Beltrami operator, spectrally as well as pointwise. It is proved for compact (and conjectured for noncompact) manifolds that CkNN is the unique unweighted construction that yields a geometry consistent with the connected components of the underlying manifold in the limit of large data. Thus CkNN produces a single graph that captures all topological features simultaneously, in contrast to persistent homology, which represents each homology generator at a separate scale. As applications we derive a new fast clustering algorithm and a method to identify patterns in natural images topologically. Finally, we conjecture that CkNN is topologically consistent, meaning that the homology of the Vietoris-Rips complex (implied by the graph Laplacian) converges to the homology of the underlying manifold (implied by the Laplace-de Rham operators) in the limit of large data.
Inflation Dynamics in the Presence of Informal Labour Markets

We analyze the effects of informal labor markets on the dynamics of inflation and on the transmission of aggregate demand and supply shocks. In doing so, we incorporate the informal sector in a modified New Keynesian model with labor market frictions as in the Diamond-Mortensen-Pissarides model. Our main results show that the informal economy generates a "buffer" effect that diminishes the pressure of demand shocks on inflation. Finding that is consistent with the empirical literature on the effects of informal labor markets in business cycle fluctuations. This result implies that in economies with large informal labor markets the interest rate channel of monetary policy is relatively weaker. Furthermore, the model produces cyclical flows from informal to formal employment consistent with the data.
The therapeutic potential of novel antiangiogenic therapies

Promising new antiangiogenic strategies are emerging for the treatment of cancer. Numerous candidate drugs that target vascular endothelial growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factor receptors, integrins, matrix metalloproteinases and other blood vessel targets are being developed and tested in clinical trials. This review highlights the numerous drugs in clinical trials and expands on potential new approaches to inhibiting angiogenesis. These approaches include gene therapy, vaccine strategies and antiangiogenic radioligands. New insight has been gained from completed Phase III trials with antiangiogenic drugs and some of the major obstacles include design of trials, dosing, toxicities and resistance. This review will discuss these barriers and methods by which they can be overcome.
Blood pressure in adults after prenatal exposure to famine.

BACKGROUND Many studies have shown that low birth weight is associated with high blood pressure. The composition of the diet of pregnant women has also been found to affect blood pressure in their children. We assessed the effect of prenatal exposure to the Dutch famine of 1944-1945, during which the caloric intake from protein, fat and carbohydrate was proportionally reduced, on blood pressures in adults now aged about 50 years. METHODS AND RESULTS We measured blood pressures at home and in the clinic among people born at term in one hospital in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, between November 1 1943 and February 28 1947, for whom we had detailed birth records. Blood pressures of people exposed to famine during late (n = 120), mid-(n = 109) or early gestation (n = 68) were compared with those of people born in the year before or conceived in the year after the famine (unexposed subjects, n = 442). No effect of prenatal exposure on systolic and diastolic blood pressure was observed. The mean systolic blood pressure taken in the clinic in those exposed in late gestation, and adjusted for sex and age, was 1.3 mmHg higher than in the unexposed group (95% confidence interval -1.9 to 4.4). The mean systolic blood pressure differed by -0.6 mmHg (95% confidence interval -3.9 to 2.7) for those exposed in mid-gestation and -1.7 mmHg (95% confidence interval -5.6 to 2.2) for those exposed in early gestation. People who were small at birth had higher blood pressures. A 1 kg increase in birth weight was associated with a decrease of 2.7 mmHg (95% confidence interval 0.3 to 5.1) in systolic blood pressure. Analyses of blood pressures measured at home gave similar results. CONCLUSION High blood pressure was not linked to prenatal exposure to a balanced reduction of macronutrients in the maternal diet. However, it was linked to reduced fetal growth. We postulate that it might be the composition rather than the quantity of a pregnant woman's diet that affects her child's blood pressure in later life.
An Implemented System for Improving Promotion Productivity Using Store Scanner Data

"Single Source" databases based on scanner data offer new opportunities for evaluating promotions and improving their effectiveness. Decision support needs vary depending on the decision maker's organizational vantage point. Some managers require the evaluation of promotion results in the short term. Others should take a medium-to long-term focus. An implemented model and automated system for measuring short-term incremental volume due to promotions by developing baselines of store-level "normal" sales is presented using store-level scanner data. Empirical validation results and real life applications are presented and discussed, including the use of the baselines as measures of "brand health. "
Instabilities of one-dimensional cellular patterns.

Symmetry arguments are used to classify the various modes of instabilities of one-dimentional periodic patterns. An important feature of this theory is to point out the coupling between these modes and the phase of the cellular structure. A number of results presented allow us to interpret recent observations in hydrodynamical-flow and directional-solidification and -fingering experiments
R&D and Unionism: Comparative Evidence from British Companies and Establishments

U.S. research has found that unionization adversely affects research and development investment, consistent with the view that labor unions' rent-seeking activities act as a tax on innovation. In this U.K. study, preliminary analysis of two datasets (a cross-section of plants and a company panel for the years 1983–90) shows the same negative correlation. This correlation completely disappears, however, when controls are included for such factors as cohort effects and the availability of innovative technology in the industry. Moreover, R&D intensity appears to have been higher in enterprises where there were low levels of union density than in those where there was no union presence. Some evidence suggests that the difference between U.K and U.S. results may be due to cross-country differences in the prioritization of non-pay issues in bargaining.
Intrinsic Fabry–Pérot Cavity Sensor Based on Etched Multimode Graded Index Fiber for Strain and Temperature Measurement

Two Fabry-Perot interferometers based on chemical etching in multimode graded index fibers are fabricated and their response to temperature and strain are compared. Chemical etching is applied in the graded index fiber end creating an air cavity. The interferometric cavity is formed when the graded index fiber with the air concavity is spliced to a single-mode fiber. The intrinsic sensors present high sensitivity to strain and low sensitivity to temperature. For the 62.5 μm core fiber, sensitivities of 6.99 pm/με and, 0.95 pm/°C were obtained for strain and temperature, respectively. The sensor based in the 50 μm core fiber, on the other hand, presented sensitivities of 4.06 pm/με and -0.84 pm/°C for strain and temperature, respectively.
STRATEGIC PRODUCTION COMPETENCE: CONVERGENT, DISCRIMINANT, AND PREDICTIVE VALIDITY

A resource‐based construct of manufacturing competence, termed strategic production competence, is examined with respect to its convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity. The construct evaluates manufacturing performance across a comprehensive domain of competitive priorities relative to item importance and performance. Data from an earlier study of furniture firms (n = 65) are used for statistical testing. The results establish the convergent and discriminant validity of strategic production competence and show that it is positively related to business performance.
Pornography: The Symbolic Politics of Fantasy

This article examines symbolic politics of pornography in America. Public opinion polls and other data indicate that most Americans are as ambivalent about pornography as they are about most issues relating to sex, but an intense minority of 4 to 7 percent of the population sees pornography as a major problem facing the country-a more serious threat than economic problems, the environment, or even nuclear war. After examining the shape of contemporary public opinion, this article employs a very broad definition of pornography that would include most explicit materials intended to produce sexual arousal and discusses the traditional/conservative, libertarian, and various feminist approaches to pornography. Then the referential and condensation symbol aspects of the issue are discussed. Pornography is a very poor referential symbol because it means different things to different people and is probably synonymous with violent sexually explicit material for most Americans. Pornography is a condensation symbol for threats to the morals and lifestyles, and the social status of the morals and lifestyles, of its most concerned opponents. Following the discussion of the symbolic aspects of the issue, the histories of pornography and of conflicts over explicitly sexual material from the Ice Age to the 1980's are reviewed with special emphasis upon how technical and cultural changes affect the nature of pornography, the consumers of pornography, and movements to ban or limit pornography. This article reviews academic studies on the effects of pornography (although such studies are largely irrelevant to the partisans on both sides of the debate over the regulation of pornography). As might be expected when a highly emotional and complex issue is involved, the results of these studies
Why Did the Tariff-Growth Correlation Reverse after 1950?

This paper uses a new database to establish a key finding: high tariffs were associated with fast growth before World War II, while associated with slow growth thereafter. The paper offers some explanations for the sign switch by controlling for novel measures of the changing world economic environment. Rejecting alternative explanations based on changing export market growth or transportation cost declines, it shows how the oft-quoted Sachs-Warner result might be turned on its head in a world environment characterized by a moderately higher level of generalized tariff protection. We confirm the spirit of recent findings by Rodrik and Rodriguez that postwar tariffs need not be negatively correlated with growth in an unconditional fashion. Just a 4% increase in average tariff rates among trading partners might suffice to reverse any negative relationship between an average country's tariffs and its growth. An increase in own tariffs after 1970 hurt or at least didn't help growth, but it would have helped growth in a world where average trading partners' tariffs were moderately higher. The world environment matters. Leader-country reaction to big world events matters.
Earned Income Tax Credits: Do They Have Any Role to Play in Australia?

Earned income tax credits (EITCs) have been used mainly in the United States. The Australian tax–transfer system is already very complicated and the aims of the EITC—notably reductions in effective tax rates for low income earners—might be achievable through reforms to existing components of the system. Such tax rates can be lowered either through reductions in social security tapers, or reductions in income tax payable. Action to reduce tapers affecting families is already proceeding through the social security component of the Government's tax reform package. To go further, by reducing tapers on the main allowances, like Newstart Allowance and Parenting Payment, would accelerate developments for such allowances to become forms of wage supplementation for the low paid. If it were not desired to go further down this path (and it does have problems), then relief of income tax burdens could be implemented through changes to the rate structure. While the EITC may make sense in the US context, a country with a well‐developed welfare system like that of Australia has other options. In particular any EITC in this country is likely to be a supplement, not an alternative, to existing cash support for low income families.
The Analytics of Reset Options

Optionholders like them to be in the money at expiration. One way to make that more likely is to reset the strike price periodically over the option's lifetime, to bring out-of-the-money options back to being at the money. This is often done with executive stock options, for example, and there are also traded securities with this feature. This article derives valuation relationships and hedging parameters for such reset options and compares them with closely related instruments, such as discretely monitored lookback options.
Variety Choice by Australian Wheat Growers and Implications for Genetic Diversity

Genetic diversity in agricultural systems relies on both the supply of diversity through varieties produced by breeding programs, and the demand for that diversity, through farmers' usage of varieties. Variety choice by farmers is demonstrated through the mix of varieties that is grown in a given region. In this paper, the conceptual issues relating to the supply of and demand for genetic diversity are explored. An empirical analysis of the varietal demand, based on the varieties grown in the Temora Shire in southern NSW over the post-War period, is undertaken. Changes over time in the choice of varieties by farmers are analysed, and some implications for genetic diversity are discussed.