Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
South Asian and Caribbean Ethnic Minority Housing Choice in Britain

The paper deals with choice and constraint in ethnic minority housing in Britain. It argues that the interpretation of patterns has changed from one in which minorities were viewed as powerless victims of racist discriminatory constraint, to one in which they are seen as exercising a greater degree of autonomy. Indian and Pakistani housing tenure is shown to have great similarities in terms of owner-occupation but to diverge greatly in terms of house type and location. Bangladeshis and Caribbeans are shown to share similarities in terms of socioeconomic class and housing tenure patterns, but to differ strongly in terms of the reasons for their high concentrations in council housing and also in the locations in which they live and their trends in terms of segregation. Bangladeshis and Pakistanis are shown to have similar socioeconomic profiles, but to differ in tenure and house types. Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are shown to have similar family structures but to differ in house types. The housing patterns of Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Caribbeans in Britain owe more to ethnicity and culture than to race.
Comparative assessment of chlorine, heat, ozone, and UV light for killing Legionella pneumophila within a model plumbing system

Nosocomial Legionnaires disease can be acquired by exposure to the organism from the hospital water distribution system. As a result, many hospitals have instituted eradication procedures, including hypercholorination and thermal eradication. We compared the efficacy of ozonation, UV light, hyperchlorination, and heat eradication using a model plumbing system constructed of copper piping, brass spigots, Plexiglas reservoir, electric hot water tank, and a pump. Legionella pneumophila was added to the system at 10(7) CFU/ml. Each method was tested under three conditions; (i) nonturbid water at 25 degrees C, (ii) turbid water at 25 degrees C, and (iii) nonturbid water at 43 degrees C. UV light and heat killed L. pneumophila most rapidly and required minimal maintenance. Both UV light and heat (60 degrees C) produced a 5 log kill in less than 1 h. In contrast, both chlorine and ozone required 5 h of exposure to produce a 5 log decrease. Neither turbidity nor the higher temperature of 43 degrees C impaired the efficacy of any of the disinfectant methods. Surprisingly, higher temperature enhanced the disinfecting efficacy of chlorine. However, higher temperature accelerated the decomposition of the chlorine residual such that an additional 120% volume of chlorine was required. All four methods proved efficacious in eradicating L. pneumophila from a model plumbing system.
Endothelin Peptides in Brain Diseases

Recently, scientists interested in diseases of the human brain have paid much attention to the endothelin group of peptides. Under normal conditions they are found in some types of neurons and in endothelial cells of microvessels but not in glial cells. This review focuses on the endothelin peptides and their involvement in various brain diseases. Particular attention is paid to their expression in reactive astrocytes seen in many pathological conditions of the human brain. Endothelin-1 is a very potent vasoconstrictor which may be involved in the vasospasm occurring in subarachnoid haemorrhage. Intracerebral injection or application to cerebral arteries in animals will cause a focal necrosis, apparently due to severe vasoconstriction. Reactive astrocytes occurring in cases with infarcts, lacunae, Alzheimer's disease, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) and subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) express endothelin-like immunoreactivity. Astrocytes in vitro may produce, store and release endothelins. To some extent astrocytes grown in vitro mimic reactive astrocytes in vivo since in cultures astrocytes are removed from their natural environment which may trigger reactive responses. Therefore, in vivo reactive astrocytes may produce, store and release endothelins just as in vitro. If endothelins are released from reactive astrocytes they may act as mitogens and may influence microcirculation by inducing vasoconstriction of intracerebral arterioles. In such ways endothelins may contribute to the final lesions seen in cases with infarcts, lacunae, traumatic conditions, Alzheimer's disease and inflammatory diseases of the brain.
Metabolites of Helminthosporium monoceras: structures of monocerin and related benzopyrans.

Monocerin, an antifungal metabolite of Helminthosporium monoceras, is shown to be 2,3,3a,9b-tetrahydro-6-hydroxy-7,8-dimethoxy-2-n-propyl-5H-furo[3,2-c][2]benzopyran-5-one (Ia). Structures are also assigned to three related metabolites—hydroxymonocerin (Id), monocerone (Ie), and monocerolide (V).
Discretionary Use of Computers: An Empirically Derived Explanatory Model*

This study identifies variables that explain variations in computer use. Factor analysis of data gathered from 422 business administration faculty reveal eight themes among the independent variables. Seven of these factors significantly discriminate among non, minimal, and high users. These results suggest an empirical model for future studies and provide policy insights for decision makers seeking to stimulate computer usage. Additionally, the study shows that there is much commonality between the previously separate organizational innovation and information systems implementation streams. It also demonstrates that motivation theory may be a valid framework within which to study computer use.
Inclusion of hysteresis and eddy current losses in nonlinear time-domain inductance models

A time-domain model including the core losses of a nonlinear inductor is proposed. The model can be seen as a parallel combination of a nonlinear inductance modelling the saturation and a nonlinear resistance modelling the core losses. The desired steady-state core-loss profile is used to determine the resistance function. The model is easy to implement and can be used in many different applications. The hysteresis loop of an electrical steel sample is measured at several frequencies in order to experimentally validate the model. It is shown that the model is able to predict both major and minor hysteresis loops very well.
Economic Cycles and Stock Return Volatility: Evidence from the Past Two Decades

We use EGARCH-M models to examine the co-cyclical nature of stock returns in relation to economic cycles, focusing on three key variables, namely stock return volatility, risk premium and information asymmetry. We incorporate a wider and systematic alley of major global economic events since 1990s to the end of 2011. The main objective is to provide a corroborative evidence of the cyclicality nature of stock return volatility in the global context, and to present a consolidated volatility alley in association with major economic events. The overall conclusion is that increases in stock returns during good economic conditions tend to be associated with increases in risk premium, but decreases in overall risk and the impact of bad news (information asymmetry), and increase or decrease in volatility persistent. It is the vice versa during bad times. This conclusion emphasizes findings from previous studies, while providing new intuitions for stimulating more debate on the nature of contradictions from previous studies. Also, our findings have significant implications for investors and decision-makers at corporate, national, and international levels.
Cognitive Relay Networks With Energy Harvesting and Information Transfer: Design, Analysis, and Optimization

In this paper, a wireless energy harvesting and information transfer protocol in cognitive relay networks is investigated, where an energy harvesting secondary network shares the spectrum as well as harvests energy by assisting the primary transmission. Specifically, a secondary transmitter scavenges energy from the received primary signal and then employs the harvested energy to forward the resulting signals along with the secondary signal. The secondary receiver can also harvest the ambient energy, and use the remaining signal to cancel the primary interference. We analytically derive the exact expressions of the outage probabilities for both primary and secondary networks. The rate-energy tradeoff between the ergodic capacity and harvested energy in the secondary network is also discussed. Furthermore, to quantify the energy consumption, we investigate the system energy efficiency. Moreover, we address the optimization power allocation strategy under three performance criteria and theoretically prove that the resulting nonconvex optimization problems can be converted into biconvex problems. The corresponding effective algorithms are then developed to solve the optimization problems. Numerical results show that the proposed protocol not only achieves both the primary and secondary transmissions but also harvests the ambient energy.
Do R&D expenditures really matter for TFP?

Recently, several studies have emphasized the role of R&D expenditure in determining Total Factor Productivity (TFP). In this paper it is shown that the relationship between R&D variables and TFP is far from being established. In particular, by using data for the Italian economy, it is found that the estimated effects of R&D variables on TFP crucially depends on: (i) the way in which the production function, used to derive Solow residuals, is defined; (ii) the numbers of maintained hypotheses used to estimate Solow residuals; (iii) the level of aggregation of the data employed in the empirical analysis.
The assessment of dentofacial esthetics in restorative dentistry: a review of the literature.

BACKGROUND The authors conducted a literature review to determine how dentofacial esthetics can be evaluated in restorative dentistry and which quantifiable clinical parameters can be used for this assessment of dentofacial esthetics. TYPES OF STUDIES REVIEWED The authors selected 35 studies that focused on assessment strategies for dental professionals. The primary inclusion criteria were intraoral and extraoral esthetic assessment methods and indexes or rating scales evaluating esthetics in restorative dentistry. RESULTS The studies' protocols and assessment methods were heterogeneous. The authors grouped the studies into six categories according to topic: golden proportion, soft-tissue measurement, smile and smile line assessment, orofacial indexes and scales, incisor proportion and angulation, and facial esthetics. These categories included various esthetic parameters, including the smile line, lip line, incisal offset, location of dental and facial midline, incisor angulations and width to height ratios of the maxillary anterior teeth, gingival contour, and root coverage and papilla height. These parameters should be considered when providing dental treatment in the anterior area, as they allow for quantification and objective judgment. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS The findings of this review might increase interest in a comprehensive dental esthetic index that allows for objective quantification and intrastudy and interstudy comparison of dental treatment outcomes.
Information in financial markets : how private information affects prices, how it can be revealed and how it may be used

In this paper it is shown that noise traders in dynamic equilibrium models with asymmetric information are necessary for information to have value under fairly general assumptions, unless uninformed investors are forced to make state dependent bids. The result is obtained by setting up a general linear model where investors are allowed to condition on any previous price in history and where the supply function has a general form. This enables us to compare the very different models of Shapley and Shubik (SS) and Grossman and Stigtlitz (GS) and allows a comprehensive study of the effect of past prices on conditional expectations. It is found that; 1) if uninformed investors cannot condition on current prices, they will not use past prices, 2) this dynamic version of GS with unobservable current prices has a Nash Equilibrium, 3) the SS model requires state dependent bids, e.g. bids in terms of portfolio cost. 4) if current prices are observable then investors may condition on the complete price history and as proved by Dubey, Geanakoplos, and Shubik (1987) there is no NE.
Poor Personnel Practice In the Hotel and Catering Industry: Does It Matter?

Liz Price, who is a Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management in the School of Hotel and Catering Management at Oxford Brookes University, reviews the evidence suggesting that personnel practice in the commercial sector of the UK hotel and catering industry tends to be poor. In particular, she presents the findings of her own recent surveys which demonstrate that few hospitality employers meet all of the basic requirements set by employment legislation and that managers/proprietors are poorly advised/trained about ‘good practice’. She argues that poor personnel practice is of concern because, ultimately, it threatens UK success in tourism and hospitality markets as well as providing only low quality employment for many people.
Going‐Concern Audit Opinions and the Provision of Nonaudit Services: Implications for Auditor Independence of Bankrupt Firms

SUMMARY: Researchers in the area of auditor independence have examined the relationship between auditors' opinions and auditor‐provided services. While DeFond et al. (2002) and Geiger and Rama (2003) fail to find auditor impairment for distressed U.S. companies, Sharma (2001) and Sharma and Sidhu (2001) find a negative relationship between the likelihood of a going‐concern (GC) opinion and nonaudit fees paid to auditors for bankrupt Australian companies. These conflicting results may arise from jurisdictional differences between Australia and the U.S. or differential managerial incentives and firm costs between distressed and bankrupt firms. In light of these differences, an empirical question exists as to whether the results of the Australian studies will obtain in the U.S. We examine the relationship between the propensity of auditors to render GC opinions and nonaudit fees (and other auditor fees) for a sample of bankrupt U.S. firms. We do not observe any association between GC opinions and nonaudit fe.
Incineration Politics and the Geographies of Waste Governance: A Burning Issue for Ireland?

The governance of waste in Ireland is highly contentious, with conflicts over many issues ranging from landfill expansion to charges for municipal waste collection. One of the most intense conflicts surrounds plans to introduce, over the forthcoming decade, incineration for municipal solid waste for the first time in the Republic. Such conflicts over waste incineration, and particularly over the siting of waste-incineration facilities, are not new phenomena and they have been examined empirically and theoretically through a range of disciplinary lenses and in different geographical contexts. These studies, although useful and interesting, rarely give close attention to the geographical strategies involved in such conflicts. The author's empirical investigation of incineration conflicts in Ireland reveals the centrality of a dynamic and evolving spatial dimension, both in the governing strategies adopted by the state in support of a system of waste management that involves a commitment to incineration, and in the transnational advocacy coalition approach adopted by antiincineration campaigners seeking alternatives to incineration. The author concludes that the scalar strategies surrounding incineration reveal the need for a more intricate analysis of power, politics, and place in the analysis of conflicts over waste governance, both in Ireland and beyond—an approach that may be more clearly articulated through a geographically informed understanding of governmentality.
Cellular aspects of the distinct M protein and SfbI anchoring pathways in Streptococcus pyogenes

Wall‐anchored surface proteins are critical for the in vivo survival of Streptococcus pyogenes. Cues in the signal sequence direct the membrane translocation of surface proteins: M protein to the septum, and SfbI to the poles. Both proteins are subsequently anchored to the wall by the membrane bound enzyme sortase A. However, the cellular features of these pathways are not fully understood. Here we show that M protein and SfbI are anchored simultaneously throughout the cell cycle. M protein is rapidly anchored at the septum, and in part of the cell cycle, is anchored simultaneously at the mother and daughter septa. Conversely, SfbI accumulates gradually on peripheral peptidoglycan, resulting in a polar distribution. Sortase is not required for translocation of M protein or SfbI at their respective locations. Methicillin‐induced unbalanced peptidoglycan synthesis diminishes surface M protein but not SfbI. Furthermore, overexpression of the division regulator DivIVA also diminishes surface M protein but increases SfbI. These results demonstrate a close connection between the regulation of cell division and protein anchoring. Better understanding of the spatial regulation of surface anchoring may lead to the identification of novel targets for the development of anti‐infective agents, given the importance of surface molecules for pathogenesis.
Removal of cadmium ions during stationary growth phase by an extremely cadmium‐resistant strain of Stenotrophomonas sp.

Stenotrophomonas sp. CD02 was isolated from a site that previously had been contaminated with high concentrations of the heavy metals cadmium (3 mg kg−1) and chromium (115 mg kg−1). This strain was able to grow on complex (Luria Bertani) medium containing high concentrations of cadmium ion (up to 4 mM). Additionally, it could remove up to 80% of the dissolved ions but only after reaching stationary growth phase. Strain CD02 also tolerated high concentrations of other heavy metals such as chromium, zinc, copper, nickel, and lead at levels more than 2 mM. Although strain CD02 can tolerate much higher cadmium concentrations than the three Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strains tested, they all possess resistance to the same range of antibiotics. This suggests that strain CD02 possesses a mechanism that allows it to tolerate and remove cadmium differently from those conferring resistance to antibiotics. Strain CD02 can be a suitable candidate for heavy metal bioremediation in contaminated environment because it is able to tolerate high concentration of heavy metals and remove cadmium aerobically.
Value-based labels for fresh beef: an overview of French consumer behaviour in a BSE crises context

In the last decade, the French beef industry has been through two major health scares related to bovine spongiform encephalopathy. This paper describes and discusses changes in beef supply in France from the consumer’s perspective. The authors review the initiatives implemented in each crisis and show that the immediate effects (slump in consumption),however spectacular, were not the most lasting effects. By contrast, responses from the industry and the authorities brought about a far-reaching change in practices by requiring new instruments to be used (traceability). Yet the information conveyed by this innovation cannot readily be appropriated by consumers who are not conversant with the characteristics of beef production systems.
Towards a Security SLA-based Cloud Monitoring Service

Following the community concerns related to security and trust in cloud services, services level agreements (SLAs) are nowadays revised to include security requirements. In order to speedup their take-up by the service providers and consumers, security SLAs monitoring at run-time should be ensured. Several tools for SLA management are available, but most of them are dealing with performance parameters, and only few of them are including monitoring features. Other tools are available for cloud security monitoring, but not currently related or mapped to security SLAs. Aiming to design and develop a security SLA-based cloud monitoring service, which can be deployed or hosted, we identify in this paper the concepts, mechanism and available tools which can lead to a proper design of such a service, as well as the main barriers to overcome.
A Comparison Between Welcome Center Visitors and General Highway Auto Travelers

The purpose of this study is to investigate bias that may threaten the generalizability of welcome center auto visitors as a sampling frame to represent interstate highway auto travelers. The methods were designed specifically to compare auto visitors who stopped at one of two Texas welcome centers from auto visitors who did not stop at these welcome centers, referred to as "stoppers" and "nonstoppers," respectively. Results indicate significant differences between the stopper and nonstopper samples. When compared to nonstoppers, stoppers were more likely to reside in a nonadjacent state, were older, drove more miles within Texas, were associated with a longer trip planning horizon, had higher expenditures per party, and were more likely to be on a vacation/leisure trip.
A 2.4-GHz Super-Regenerative Transceiver With Selectivity-Improving Dual Q-Enhancement Architecture and 102- $\mu \text{W}$ All-Digital FLL

A multichannel super-regenerative transceiver with a selectivity-improving dual Q-enhancement architecture and a 102-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{W}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> all-digital frequency-locked loop (FLL) is presented for bio-signal sensor nodes covering the 2.36–2.4-GHz medical band and 2.4-GHz industrial-scientic-medical (ISM) band. The conventional super-regenerative receiver suffers from the weak selectivity, and its performance is deteriorated in proportion to an increase of the data rate. The proposed receiver implements dual Q-enhancement operation of the low-noise amplifier (LNA) and super-regenerative oscillator (SRO) and improves the interferer rejection without data rate dependence. For channel frequency synthesis, an all-digital FLL is integrated. The digital fine-tuning method obviates the control voltage discharging issue of oscillator in analog phase locked loop (PLL) during SRO quenching operation, and the simplified all-digital frequency loop reduces the frequency synthesizer power in the ultralow-power sensor nodes. Implemented in 90-nm CMOS technology, the proposed transceiver occupies an effective die size of 1.81 mm<sup>2</sup> and achieves an sensitivity of −82 dBm at 1-Mb/s/<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$10^{-3}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> bit error rate (BER) and interference selectivity of 32 dB at a 1-Mb/s/10-MHz offset while consumping <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$102~\mu \text{W}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> at the all-digital FLL and 0.93/2.37 nJ/b at receiver/transmitter, respectively.