Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exchange Rate Parity for Trade and Development

This book extends recent theories of incomplete markets to investigate empirically the appropriate balance between the market and the state in the trade relations between developed and developing countries. The conclusion is that in an ideal world government intervention in foreign exchange and trade is necessary in developing countries in the early stages and inevitably decreases as development occurs. Rationing of foreign exchange prevents a 'soft currency distortion' that commonly afflicts developing countries and can turn comparative advantage trade into competitive devaluation trade, with severe losses of income and welfare. Yotopoulos finds that the level of underdevelopment narrowly circumscribes and conditions the extent to which free-market, free-trade, laissez-faire can be beneficial, contrary to the mainstream policy paradigm as currently applied. The analysis and tests draw on empirical research from seventy countries and four extended country studies to confirm the usefulness and validity of the theoretical framework.
S110, a 5-Aza-2′-Deoxycytidine–Containing Dinucleotide, Is an Effective DNA Methylation Inhibitor In vivo and Can Reduce Tumor Growth

Methylation of CpG islands in promoter regions is often associated with gene silencing and aberrant DNA methylation occurs in most cancers, leading to the silencing of some tumor suppressor genes. Reversal of this abnormal hypermethylation by DNA methylation inhibitors is effective in reactivating methylation-silenced tumor suppressor genes both in vitro and in vivo. Several DNA methylation inhibitors have been well studied; the most potent among them is 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine (5-Aza-CdR), which can induce myelosuppression in patients. S110 is a dinucleotide consisting of 5-Aza-CdR followed by a deoxyguanosine, which we previously showed to be effective in vitro as a DNA methylation inhibitor while being less prone to deamination by cytidine deaminase, making it a promising alternative to 5-Aza-CdR. Here, we show that S110 is better tolerated than 5-Aza-CdR in mice and is as effective in vivo in inducing p16 expression, reducing DNA methylation at the p16 promoter region, and retarding tumor growth in human xenograft. We also show that S110 is effective by both i.p. and s.c. deliveries. S110 therefore is a promising new agent that acts similarly to 5-Aza-CdR and has better stability and less toxicity. Mol Cancer Ther; 9(5); 1443–50. ©2010 AACR.
An Analysis of the Ultra Long-Term Yields

The discounting of very long-term cash-flows is crucial for the valuation of long-term investment projects. In this paper, we analyze the market prices of US government bonds with very long-term time-to-maturity, and emphasize some statistical specificities of very long-term zero-coupon rates, that standard Gaussian affine term structure models do not account for. In addition, we describe and estimate three Gaussian Nelson-Siegel affine term structure models, and highlight the model characteristics, which are necessary to match the dynamics of very long-term interest rates.
Binding of soluble form of fibroblast surface protein, fibronectin, to collagen

Fibronectin, a plasma protein immunologically identical with a major surface protein of normal fibroblasts, was found to bind to collagen and gelatin. A solid phase enzyme immunoassay was used for the binding tests. Collagen, gelatin or various control proteins were adsorbed to a plastic surface. Binding of fibronectin was detected using purified fibronectin antibodies conjugated to alkaline phosphatase. Circulating fibronectin and fibronectin obtained from fibroblast cultures both showed specific binding to collagen and gelatin. Preparative affinity chromatography of plasma on gelatin coupled to Sepharose gave electrophoretically and immunologically pure fibronectin in high yields. Malignantly transformed fibroblasts lack surface fibronectin. Our findings suggest the possibility that this results in a lack of anchorage to the surrounding intercellular matrix, which could contribute to the malignant growth behavior.
Welfare Effects of Alternative Financing of Social Security: Some Calculations for Belgium

We analyse the distributional impact of lowering social security contributions and compensating the revenue loss by an increase in indirect taxes. We empirically assess the distributional consequences of this shift by using two Belgian microsimulation models: MODETE for the tax benefit system, and aster for the indirect tax part. Since the underlying micro database of the tax benefit system does not contain expenditures, we first impute detailed expenditures in the income data survey, by means of semiparametric Engelcurves. The currently living generation of pensioners belongs to the losers by such a reform: They do not profit from the reduced tax on labour income, but pay higher consumption prices. Less obvious, also part of the working population loses. Even not all those who leave unemployment after the reform are gainers. We also investigate the sensitivity of the results w.r. t. the choice of welfare measure to assess the combined change in disposable income, consumer prices and - in the case of flexible labour supply - leisure. We show how the specific choice and parameters of the welfare measure will influence the conclusions, possibly even more than the predictive model for assessing the behavioural reactions in labour supply.
Budgetary Trade-Offs Between Defense, Education and Health Expenditures: The Case of Turkey

The main objective of this paper is to evaluate empirically the existence of a budgetary trade-off between military, education and health expenditures in Turkey for the time period 1925-1998. Development economists, peace and defense economists and political economists have extensively investigated the existence of a trade-off between military, education and health spending since the 1970s. However, the literature review reveals that it is hard to establish a general theory of budgetary trade-off between military, education and health spending and make this applicable for all cases. This is mostly due to economic, social, political, and historical differences among the countries Moreover, it is likely that different research techniques, different time periods analyzed may produce different results. As a result of this, researchers have found a variety of outcomes regarding the trade-off between defense-education and health expenditures. This study presents a brief literature review within the framework of trade-offs between defense-education and health expenditures and also concentrates on theoretical model development. The discussion will center on developing a multi-variable single equation regression model and presenting estimable forms of equations.
TOWARDS A SPANISH-SPEAKING CARIBBEAN, POSTCOLONIAL, MACRO-ECUMENICAL, AND TRANS-PASTORAL PRACTICAL THEOLOGICAL METHOD

This article introduces readers to the developments of what is being heuristically named as "A Spanish-Speaking Caribbean, Postcolonial, Macro-Ecumenical, and Trans-Pastoral Practical Theological Method" The doctoral program in Pastoral Theology of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Metropolitan Campus, serves as the academic laboratory in which our ideas slowly brewed out of our dialogues. These reflections produced what we consider as a "tentative intelligible methodological and conceptual framework" for doing pastoral and practical theology in our context. Our immediate context is Puerto Rico, which means to belong to the Greater Antillean Spanish Caribbean socio-political and cultural context. It is our premise that this article may enrich the ongoing contemporary critical discussion on the understanding of pastoral and practical theology as a diverse and pluralist theological discipline that focuses on the religious and spiritual care of persons, families, communities, and societies in such a context. From the stated socio-political and cultural context, as established in our "maroonage/cimarronaje intellectual collaborative collective" papers (Santiago-Valles, 2000; Diaz-Quifiones, 2006): "The Emerging Field of Pastoral Theology in Puerto Rico" (Rodriguez-Sanchez, 2008," we developed a method that tries to
Gln3 Phosphorylation and Intracellular Localization in Nutrient Limitation and Starvation Differ from Those Generated by Rapamycin Inhibition of Tor1/2 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae*

The ability of the cell to sense environmental conditions and alter gene expression in response to them is critical to its survival. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the Tor1/2 serine/threonine kinases are global regulators situated at the top of a signal cascade reported to receive and transmit nutritional signals associated with the nitrogen supply of the cell. At the other end of that cascade is Gln3, one of two transcriptional activators responsible for most nitrogen catabolic gene expression. When nitrogen is in excess, Tor1/2 are active, and Gln3 is phosphorylated and localizes to the cytoplasm. If Tor1/2 are inhibited by rapamycin or mutation, Gln3 becomes dephosphorylated, accumulates in the nucleus, and mediates nitrogen catabolite repression (NCR)-sensitive transcription. The observations that Gln3 also accumulates in the nuclei of cells provided with poor nitrogen sources or during nitrogen starvation has led to the conclusion that Tor1/2 control intracellular Gln3 localization and NCR-sensitive transcription by regulating Gln3 phosphorylation/dephosphorylation. To test this model, we compared Gln3 phosphorylation states and intracellular localizations under a variety of physiological conditions known to elicit different levels of NCR-sensitive transcription. Our data indicate that: (i) observable Gln3 phosphorylation levels do not correlate in a consistent way with the quality or quantity of the nitrogen source provided, the intracellular localization of Gln3, or the capacity to support NCR-sensitive transcription. (ii) Gln3-Myc13 is hyperphosphorylated during nitrogen and carbon starvation, but this uniform response does not correlate with Gln3 intracellular localization. (iii) Gln3-Myc13 dephosphorylation and nuclear localization correlate with one another at early but not late times after rapamycin treatment. These data suggest that rapamycin treatment and growth with poor nitrogen sources bring about nuclear accumulation of Gln3 but likely do so by different mechanisms or by a common mechanism involving molecules other than Gln3 and/or other than the levels of Gln3-Myc13 phosphorylation thus far detected by others and ourselves.
SIRT1/PGC-1α Signaling Promotes Mitochondrial Functional Recovery and Reduces Apoptosis after Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Rats

Silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1) exerts neuroprotection in many neurodegenerative diseases. However, it is not clear if SIRT1 has protective effects after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH)-induced brain injury in rats. Thus, our goal was to examine the influence of SIRT1 on ICH injuries and any underlying mechanisms of this influence. Brain injury was induced by autologous arterial blood (60 μL) injection into rat brains, and data show that activation of SIRT1 with SRT1720 (5 mg/kg) restored nuclear SIRT1, deacetylation of PGC-1α, and mitochondrial biogenesis and decreased mortality, behavioral deficits, and brain water content without significant changes in phosphorylated AMP-activated protein kinase (pAMPK) induced by ICH. Activation of SIRT1 with SRT1720 also restored mitochondrial electron transport chain proteins and decreased apoptotic proteins in ICH; however, these changes were reversed after ICH. In contrast, treatment with PGC-1α siRNA yielded opposite effects. To explore the protective effects of SIRT1 after ICH, siRNAs were used to knockdown SIRT1. Treatment with SIRT1 siRNA increased mortality, behavioral deficits, brain water content, mitochondrial dysfunction, and neurocyte apoptosis after ICH. Thus, activation of SIRT1 promotes recovery of mitochondrial protein and function by increasing mitochondrial biogenesis and reduces apoptosis after ICH via the PGC-1α mitochondrial pathway. These data may suggest a new therapeutic approach for ICH injuries.
Service-oriented dynamic data driven application systems to traffic signal control

Dynamic traffic signal control in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) has been widely developed in major cities' urban areas around the world to provide more efficient way for solving traffic congestion problem. However, the problems in dynamic traffic signal control systems such as system flexibility, data standard common interface, transmission of required information, prediction performance, and real-time measurement data are all important issues. Therefore, in this paper, we proposed a new framework to integrate dynamic data driven application systems (DDDAS) with service-oriented architecture (SOA) and web services technology, for a decentralized traffic signal control system. An efficient and effective distributed data-driven optimization algorithm is designed in this framework to produce an optimal result and best strategy for signal control.
Presumption of Negligence

This paper is about the incentive effects of legal presumptions. We analyze three interrelated effects of legal presumptions in a tort setting: (1) incentives to invest in evidence technology; (2) incentives to invest in care-type precautions; and (3) incentives to mitigate excessive activity levels. We suggest that the overlooked interaction between evidence and substantive tort rules is an important dimension that should inform the choice of legal presumptions. After considering the traditional factors that guide the choice of legal presumptions in tort law, we introduce the concept of “best discovery-bearer” to capture some of the factors that should guide the choice of legal presumptions. According to our analysis, the best-discovery-bearer criterion requires a shift of the burden of proof to the parties (a) who can most effectively invest in evidence technology; (b) whose precautions are more inelastic relative to discovery errors; and (c) who are not already burdened by the residual liability.
Institutional Flaws and Corruption Incentives in India

Abstract India has achieved a respectable rate of economic growth in an environment that is quite permissive of corrupt practices to the extent that acts of corruption, if sufficiently clever, are not scorned but praised. Despite the coexistence of corruption and unprecedented economic growth we argue that there is unrealised potential for further growth that is held back by the institutions of administration and associated corruption. With growth as substantial as it has been there is less pressure on those at the top to restrain corruption. There is still significant room for the Indian economy to accelerate its growth through steps to reduce corruption particularly as it impacts businesses and individuals in their day-to-day economic pursuits. A simple framework is sketched to describe the transactions that lead to grand, systemic and petty or retail corruption. The focus of this paper is on the institutions of administration that foster corruption at all levels and the consequences of petty corruption on the poor, particularly in urban areas. Our argument is that it is difficult for India to achieve its economic potential when a large portion of the population cannot mobilise what capital it possesses and continually finds interactions with authority met with requests for bribes and other forms of harassment. However, actual and perceived corruption in a vigorous democracy like India is also an integral part of the political process. Accusations of illegal behaviour are often a routine part of the election process and campaign finance.
Using VARs to Identify Models of Fiscal Policy: A Comment on Perotti

This note comments on Perotti’s (2008) estimates of the impact of a government spending shock on the economy. In the process, it makes two points. First, it notes that with enough freedom to pick the dynamics of policy variables, the neoclassical model can generate any set of observations for the non-policy variables. Second, it proposes a method to identify the policy dynamics in theoretical models by using the estimated impulse responses of the policy variables from VARs, and in this way generate testable predictions of the model for the non-policy variables.
Dominant Negative Autoregulation Limits Steady-State Repression Levels in Gene Networks

ABSTRACT Many transcription factors repress transcription of their own genes. Negative autoregulation has been shown to reduce cell-cell variation in regulatory protein levels and speed up the response time in gene networks. In this work we examined transcription regulation of the galS gene and the function of its product, the GalS protein. We observed a unique operator preference of the GalS protein characterized by dominant negative autoregulation. We show that this pattern of regulation limits the repression level of the target genes in steady states. We suggest that transcription factors with dominant negative autoregulation are designed for regulating gene expression during environmental transitions.
Impact of Highway Investment on the Economy and Employment across U.S. Industrial Sectors

This study investigated the impact of highway investment on employment in the U.S. industrial sector. A separate simultaneous equations model was developed for each of the 23 industrial sectors covering the entire spectrum of economic activities to address the widely discussed issue of bidirectional causality between highway investment and economic growth. To consider the mechanism by which highway investment actually influenced economic performance, the authors modeled travel demand and highway supply jointly to reflect the level of transportation services. Travel demand plays an important role in the delivery of the effect of highway investment to economic output and employment; in the long run, this demand also affects decision making on highway investment. The models were estimated with a comprehensive panel of data collected over 29 years from 351 metropolitan statistical areas in the United States. The elasticity results suggest that highway investment stimulates economic growth and job creation. For instance, a 10% increase in total highway capacity would yield an annual $326 billion increase in the U.S. gross domestic product. In addition, this 10% increase in capacity is estimated to create approximately 1.5 million new jobs for the whole economy in the long run. However, the economic and employment effects vary across industrial sectors. The findings suggest that although the overall effect on jobs is positive, highway investment leads to employment growth in only 12 of the 23 industrial sectors. In particular, the retail trade, construction, manufacturing, and accommodation service sectors would benefit the most from highway investment.
Choice of primary care in Sweden: a discourse analysis of citizen statements

Through a discourse analysis of the end-users’ statements on their choice of primary care, there is a focus on how they use certain discourses in society with regard to which discourses governs their choices of primary care. For this purpose, a group interview was administered in a location in the south of Sweden. It was strategically designed to on the whole include individuals with following characteristics: age between 20-45 years, and 65 year or older, and also living in a small community. The following main discourses have been identified in the discussion; freedom of choice; i.e. to say that one has actively chosen one’s health centre or doctor, to be able to reject and re-select care-givers, networking; i.e. ‘to say that friends’ and acquaintances’ experiences affect the choice of a new health centre and professional service, i.e. to say that doctors and other staff should give professional service. It seems like choice of care has improved the possibilities of the citizens to choose preferred care provider, or drop one due to dissatisfaction. When implementing reforms in health care it is valuable to take into account the voices of the users, as they are able to contribute to the development of health care.
Tourists’ Satisfaction on Kilim River Mangrove Forest Ecotourism Services

Ecotourism is a revenue generator for many countries, especially those endowed with natural attractions. In order to sustain industry growth, its players are looking for essential factors contributing towards tourists’ satisfaction. This paper presents findings of a micro study on Langkawi mangrove forest ecotourism site along the Kilim River estuary. Four theoretical models were constructed and analyzed using Structural Equations Modeling (SEM). The Baseline Comparisons, Parsimony Adjusted Measures, and the RMSEA were used to evaluate good model fit and Model 3 was found to fulfill that fit. The overall tourist satisfaction index was found to be 79.1 of a possible 100 points. Significant contributing factors towards tourists’ satisfaction consist of marketing practices (42.1 percent), business ethics (23.9 percent), environmental management (14.5 percent), and business management/operational systems (7.8 percent).
"Industrialization, Labor Controls, and Democracy:" A Comment

In his p ovocative article, 1 Professor de Schweinitz has raised one of the most interesting and important issues arising from the headlong flight of underdeveloped areas toward industrialioation. The problem, over which the author is none too sanguine, is whether political democracy is compatible with economic growth under modern conditions. My purpose is not a detailed critique of a tentative report of obviously first-rate research. But I intend to sketch and criticize what I believe to be the central core of argument, particularly by illuminating its assumptions.
ENGLISH FOR MEDICAL EDUCATION IN EFL CONTEXT

English has been considered as a medium of instruction in all Libyan medical faculties. Also, English language program was recently added to the main faculties’ subjects to help students grasping this vital language, but the question is, are these programs really sufficient and effective? This study is about the problems faced by Libyan medical students in using English in their medical study and the impact of such problems on their academic achievement. Also, it is about the effectiveness of the current English language program in medical education in Libya. In order to study these issues, a needs analysis procedure has been conducted in one of the Libyan medical faculties.