Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Housing, public policy and the environment in a historical perspective: lessons from Swedish post-war society

From a European perspective, housing-related expenses of Swedish households have increased considerably in real terms since the 1950s. Given that households through these consumption patterns contribute to a major share of the country’s emissions of harmful substances and waste, e.g. through energy use, a qualitative analysis of critical explanations over time to the increase in housing-related expenses is motivated. This paper identifies and explores the emergence of a number of socio-technical structures and systems with important explanatory value in this context. It is concluded that the housing-related consumption of the average post-war Swedish household is strongly embedded in physical structures, which, to a considerable extent, can be explained by public intervention and policy traditions in the past. This opens up vital avenues for contemporary policy, aiming for behavioural change; however, a fundamental prerequisite for the government wishing to motivate more sustainable consumption must be to.
Run-Time Management of Reconfigurable Hardware Tasks Using Embedded Linux

This paper describes an approach to run-time management of reconfigurable hardware tasks executing under supervision of a Linux OS. The proposed system offers transparent integration of reconfigurable resources within the software design and execution flow. The implementation of the reconfigurable task manager architecture is described. Optimizations important for throughput between software and hardware tasks are presented. Mixed hardware-software AES and IDEA implementations on a Xilinx Virtex- H-Pro FPGA demonstrate and evaluate key points of the proposed approach.
Non-linear prediction of security returns with moving average rules

Over the years, investors and the technical analysts have devised hundreds of technical market indicators in an effort to forecast the trend of a security market. Recent literature provides evidence that these rules may provide positive profits after accounting for transaction costs. This clearly contradicts the theory of the efficient market hypothesis which states that security prices cannot be forecasted from their past values or other past variables. This paper uses the daily Dow Jones Industrial Average Index from January 1963 to June 1988 to examine the linear and non-linear predictability of stock market returns with buy—sell signals generated from the moving average rules with a band between the short and the long averages. Strong evidence of non-linear predictability is found in the stock market returns by using the past buy and sell signals of these rules.
Conceptualizing structural ambidexterity into the innovation of human resource management architecture: the case of LG Electronics

This study documents, examines and conceptualizes how a large Korean multinational company, LG Electronics, achieves structural ambidexterity within the human resource management (HRM) function through architectural innovation. Synthesizing from prior studies of HRM architecture, architectural innovation and ambidexterity, a conceptual framework is proposed. Based on this conceptual framework, our interpretation of the collected data depicts how structural ambidexterity is developed within the HRM function. Our research contributions are twofold. First, we incorporate the theory of structural ambidexterity into the conceptualization of architectural innovation in HRM. Second, our study provides some useful insights for practitioners who face the challenge of and the need for continuously adjusting HRM practices to meet the ever-changing business environment.
Inflation convergence in the euro area: just another gimmick?

Purpose - The Maastricht inflation criterion has influenced the choice of disinflation strategies of prospective euro area member countries. Some historically high-inflation countries chose the fiat disinflation strategy of “low inflation now, reforms later,” bringing inflation down quickly. Their inflation rates increased immediately after their euro applications were assessed positively and stayed significantly higher than inflation in France and Germany, two historically low-inflation countries. The inflation differentials reflect both structural rigidities inherited from the past and higher inflation expectations stemming from the chosen disinflation strategy. This paper seeks to address these issues. Design/methodology/approach - The paper highlights the inflation consequences of the choice of compliance policies with the Maastricht inflation criterion. To this end, the paper estimates costs of future disinflations in six high-inflation countries for which well-established stylized facts are held. Findings - The Maastricht inflation criterion has been an influential nominal rule. While it swayed the public stance toward low inflation, it biased the choice of the disinflation strategy toward fiat measures. Inflation in these countries declined only temporarily, giving these countries a pronounced Originality/value - The paper highlights the long-run inflation consequences of the choice of compliance policies with the Maastricht inflation criterion. While inflation was low prior to the euro and stayed low afterward in inflation-averse countries, a
Causality between trade and economic growth in a least developed economy: Evidence from Nepal

Widening trade deficit has been a matter of serious concern in any policy debate in Nepal. With continuous increase in the gap between growth of export and that of import, Nepal’s increased trade imbalance is likely to jeopardize the country’s macroeconomic stability. In this context, understanding systematic relationships between international trade and economic growth aspects of Nepal would guide policy makers to formulate appropriate policies. This study is the first attempt to examine the causal relationships among real gross domestic product (GDP), exports, and imports for the case of Nepal. Utilizing annual data from 1965 to 2011, we investigate the causal relationships among the variables in a cointegration framework. We employ two methods for testing cointegration, the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach and the trivariate Johansen approach, and consistently find existence of one cointegrating relationship among real GDP, exports, and imports. Moreover, the empirical tests show that the estimated long-run parameters are stable over time. Applying multivariate Granger causality tests based on error correction and vector autoregression models, we find unidirectional causality running from export to GDP both in the short- and the long-run, thus supporting the export-led growth (ELG) hypothesis. Although imports are found to Granger cause GDP, the long-run estimates show significantly negative effect of imports on GDP implying a negative causality. In this context, trade policies that substitute imports seem more pertinent for Nepal. The results highlight necessity of fostering exports, which would require establishment of proper infrastructure, both physical and institutional, for trade and investment capital for industrialization focusing on commodities that have comparative and competitive advantages. Moreover, fulfillment of domestic demand with less reliance on imported goods and increment of productivity in all sectors of the economy is crucial. Overall, effective implementation of policies that boost exports and maintain healthy trade balance are likely to improve the Nepalese economy in both the short- and the long-run.
Organization of inputs to motoneurone pools in man.

1. Surface EMGs were recorded from pairs of muscles involved in movements of the wrist and/or digits in the upper limb and from pairs of intrinsic foot muscles in the lower limb during voluntary isometric contractions. 2. EMGs were also recorded from lower limb and trunk muscles during three different tasks: lying, standing and balancing. 3. To investigate if the co‐contraction of muscles was due to the presence of a common drive to each of the two motoneurone pools, cross‐correlation analysis of the two multiunit EMG signals was used. 4. Evidence for a common drive was seen between pairs of muscles that share a common joint or joint complex (such as the metacarpophalangeal joints); no evidence was found for a common drive to co‐contracting muscles that did not share a common joint. 5. When considering analogous hand and foot muscle pairs, the degree of synchrony was significantly greater for lower limb pairs. 6. Where a common drive was detected with lower limb muscle pairs, the degree of synchrony was significantly larger during balancing than during either lying or standing. 7. The origin of the common drive is discussed. It is concluded that activity in both last‐order branched presynaptic fibers and presynaptic synchronization is involved.
Mutational analysis of the 18-base-pair inverted repeat element at the bovine papillomavirus origin of replication: identification of critical sequences for E1 binding and in vivo replication

Replication of bovine papillomavirus requires two viral proteins, E1 and E2-TA. Previously we demonstrated that sequences within an imperfect 18-bp inverted repeat (IR) element were sufficient to confer specific binding of the E1 protein to the origin region (S. E. Holt, G. Schuller, and V. G. Wilson, J. Virol. 68:1094-1102, 1994). To identify critical nucleotides for E1 binding and origin function, a series of individual point mutations was constructed at each nucleotide position in the 18-bp IR. Binding of E1 to these point mutations established that both the position of the mutation and the specific nucleotide change were important for the E1-DNA interaction. Equivalent mutations from each half of the IR exhibited similar binding, suggesting that the halves were functionally symmetric for E1 interactions. Each of these mutations was evaluated also for origin function in vivo by a transient-replication assay. No single point mutation eliminated replication capacity completely, though many mutants were severely impaired, demonstrating an important functional contribution for the E1 binding site. Furthermore, E1 binding was not sufficient for replication, as several origin mutants bound E1 well in vitro but replicated poorly in vivo. This suggests that certain nucleotides within the 18-bp IR may be involved in postbinding events necessary for replication initiation. The results with the point mutations suggest that E1-E1 interactions are important for stable complex formation and also indicate that there is some flexibility with regard to formation of a functional E1 replication complex at the origin.
A Low-Supply-Voltage-Operation SRAM With HCI Trimmed Sense Amplifiers

This paper proposes a new scheme utilizing a small offset-voltage (Vos) sense amplifier (SA) to reduce the deterioration of the read speed and cell stability at low power supply. This concept has been introduced to realize a low-voltage-operation SRAM with a small area penalty. The transistor threshold voltage (Vth) shift caused by hot carrier injection (HCI) is used for Vos trimming after chip fabrication. This scheme is observed to become more effective when repeated trimmings are applied. The SA with offset trimming circuit is implemented in 40-nm CMOS technology, and the reduction in the Vos by 76 mV is confirmed using the measurement and simulation results. This reduction corresponds to a 40% improvement in the read frequency and a 6× improvement in the failure rate at 0.6-V supply voltage.
Employment and Economic Well-Being of People With and Without Disabilities Before and After the Great Recession

The latest U.S. economic recession, commonly referred to as the Great Recession, has had a far-reaching impact, but its effects may be disproportionately experienced by working-age people with disabilities, given their already tenuous attachment to the labor force. We used data from the Current Population Survey both to describe the experiences of working-age people with disabilities during 2006–2012 (a period beginning before and ending after the Great Recession) and to compare the experiences of this population with those of working-age people without disabilities. We found few significant differences in the characteristics of people with disabilities before and after the Great Recession. The employment rate of people with disabilities was low both before and after the recession, though the decline in employment among people with disabilities was somewhat greater than for people without disabilities. The employment declines observed during this period for people with disabilities reflect a long-term downward trend that has persisted for decades, raising concerns that people with disabilities are permanently exiting the labor force. Job loss after the recession was particularly concentrated among people with disabilities in blue-collar and goods-producing jobs. People with and without disabilities experienced similar increases in poverty. Ongoing surveillance of the characteristics and employment of people with disabilities is needed to identify trends and develop policies to promote their independence and economic security.
Effects of Tolazamide and Exogenous Insulin on Pattern of Postprandial Carbohydrate Metabolism in Patients With Non-Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus: Results of Randomized Crossover Trial

To determine whether therapy with exogenous insulin or sulfonylureas results in a postprandial pattern of carbohydrate metabolism in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) that resembles that in nondiabetic individuals, we employed a dual-isotope technique combined with forearm catheterization to examine meal disposition in NIDDM patients, before and after 3 mo of therapy with tolazamide and after 3 mo of therapy with exogenous insulin, with a randomized crossover design. Results were compared with those observed in nondiabetic subjects. Although both forms of therapy improved chronic glycemic control (glycosylated hemoglobin concentration went from 9.6 ± 0.7 to 7.6 ± 0.5 and 7.1 ± 0.2%, respectively, P <.01), exogenous insulin resulted in a lower postprandial glycemic response than tolazamide (P <.001). Both agents comparably increased (P <.01) fasting and integrated postprandial insulin concentrations. However, the initial rate of postprandial increase was greater with exogenous insulin (P <.05). Tolazamide (P <.05) but not exogenous insulin increased postprandial C-peptide concentrations. However, tolazamide did not improve the deficient early insulin release. Both agents (P <.05) lowered postabsorptive hepatic glucose release (from 2.8 ± 0.3 to 2.3 ± 0.2 mg · kg−1 · min−1), but not to normal rates (1.8 ± 0.1 mg · kg−1 · min−1). Endogenous glucose release after carbohydrate ingestion was lowered (P <.001) by insulin (from 633 ± 52 to 460 ± 41 mg kg−1 7 h−1) but not by tolazamide (625 ± 62 mg · kg−1 · 7 h−1) to rates observed in nondiabetic subjects (470 ± 32 mg · kg−1 · 7 h−1). Unmetabolized meal glucose reaching the systemic circulation did not differ before or after therapy with either insulin or tolazamide. Total postprandial glucose uptake was not changed by tolazamide (1308 ± 85 mg kg−1 · 7 h−1) but was lowered (P <.01) by exogenous insulin (from 1269 ± 57 to 1088 ± 67 mg · kg−1 · 7 h−1) to normal rates (1023 ± 64 mg kg−1 7 h−1). Forearm glucose uptakedid not differ among any group. We conclude that, although tolazamide and exogenous insulin, as administered in this study, both improve carbohydrate tolerance, therapy with exogenous insulin results in a pattern of postprandial carbohydrate metabolism that more closely approximates that observed in nondiabetic subjects.
Uncertainty, Efficiency, and the Brokerage Industry

T HE purpose of this article is to examine the socially efficient class of brokerage-fee rules. It is a commonly observed phenomenon that real estate brokers charge a fee of about 6 percent of the sale price on private homes.1 The tendency for the brokerage fee to increase with the price of the item sold has been observed in other markets as well.2 There is, however, no reason to expect that a 6 percent rule, or any other class of rules where the brokerage fee is not fixed independently of the price of the property, is efficient; for it costs no more to sell a relatively expensive piece of property than to sell a relatively inexpensive one.3 There has also been considerable speculation that the traditional brokerage-fee arrangement is anticompetitive. The argument, which is that brokers are engaging in price discrimination by charging the owners of expensive houses more
Analysis of Sliding Mode Controllers in pulse width modulated systems

The use of Sliding Mode Controllers (SMCs) offers the benefits robust set-point tracking and good disturbance rejection characteristics yet can be discouraged due the chattering phenomenon associated. This chattering itself arises from the fact that the ideal SMC which is allegedly discontinuous and is to switch at infinite frequency can never be realized in practice as a result of parasitic or falsely modelled and neglected dynamics which introduces delays and add an overall lag in the feedback control loop. In systems involving the control of power converters, active filters or electric drives, Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) techniques are often used as to generate discrete control signals to trigger the gates of the converter. The modulation action, however, constitutes a delay; thus, inhibits the proper operation of any SMC incorporated within the control loop.
Early Response of Mouse Joint Tissue to Noninvasive Knee Injury Suggests Treatment Targets

Joint trauma can lead to a spectrum of acute lesions, including cartilage degradation, ligament or meniscus tears, and synovitis, all potentially associated with osteoarthritis (OA). This study was undertaken to generate and validate a murine model of knee joint trauma following noninvasive controlled injurious compression in vivo.
Intrathecal Gadolinium-Enhanced MR Cisternography in the Evaluation of CSF Leakage

BACKROUND AND PURPOSE: Radiologic identification of the location of the CSF leakage is important for proper surgical planning and increases the chance of dural repair. This article describes our experience in analyzing clinically suspected cranial CSF fistulas by using MR imaging combined with the intrathecal administration of a gadolinium-based contrast agent. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 85 consecutive patients with suspected CSF fistulas who presented with persistent or intermittent rhinorrhea or otorrhea lasting for more than 1 month between 2003 and 2007 were included in this study. RESULTS: We observed objective CSF leakage in 64 of 85 patients (75%). The CSF leak was located in the ethmoidal region in 37 patients (58%), in the superior wall of the sphenoid sinus in 8 patients (13%), in the posterior wall of the frontal sinus in 10 patients (15%), in the superior wall of the mastoid air cells in 6 patients (9%), and from the skull base into the infratemporal fossa in 1 patient (2%). Two patients (3%) showed leakage into >1 paranasal sinus. CONCLUSIONS: MR cisternography after the intrathecal administration of gadopentate dimeglumine represents an effective and minimally invasive method for evaluating suspected CSF fistulas along the skull base. It provides multiplanar capabilities without risk of radiation exposure and is an excellent approach to depict the anatomy of CSF spaces and CSF fistulas.
Presence of bacterial DNA and bacterial peptidoglycans in joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and other arthritides.

OBJECTIVE The continuous presence of bacteria or their degraded antigens in the synovium may be involved in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of this study was to determine the presence of bacterial nucleic acids and bacterial cell wall constituents in the joints of patients with RA and other forms of arthritis. METHODS Joint samples were obtained from patients with RA (n = 26), septic arthritis (n = 2), inflammatory osteoarthritis (n = 5), and gout (n = 6), and joint trauma (n = 1). Universal 16S-ribosomal RNA primers were used to detect the presence of bacterial DNA in these samples, using stringent regimens for sample collection and molecular microbiologic analysis. Automated sequencing and comparative data analysis were performed to identify the species. The presence of bacterial peptidoglycan-polysaccharide complexes in synovial tissue was detected by immunohistologic analysis with a specific antibody. RESULTS The bacterial species cultured from the synovium could be identified in both of the patients with septic arthritis. DNA amplicons were also detected in the synovial fluid and/or tissue samples from 5 patients with RA and 2 patients with crystal-induced arthritis; these originated from multiple bacterial species. Staining for peptidoglycan-polysaccharide complexes was positive in the synovial tissue of both patients with septic arthritis, 16 with RA, 4 with inflammatory osteoarthritis, 4 with crystal-induced arthropathy, and 1 with joint trauma. The staining was mainly found in cells in the synovial sublining, including macrophages. CONCLUSION The results indicate that bacterial DNA and bacterial cell wall constituents are retained in the joints of some patients with arthritis, where they might enhance synovial inflammation.
Data traffic‐based analysis of delay and energy consumption in cognitive radio networks with and without resource reservation

A new opportunistic cross‐layer MAC protocol involving channel allocation and packet scheduling for cognitive radio networks is proposed. Cognitive radio allows secondary users (SUs) to exploit the available portions of the licensed spectrum bands without interfering with primary users. In particular, we consider a cognitive radio system, where SUs are equipped with two transceivers: a control transceiver and a software‐defined radio transceiver. Data traffic characteristics of SUs are considered to ameliorate system performance. So, we propose a mechanism of resource reservation to improve QoS requirements that favors successful SUs to transmit data during x time slots without interfering with primary users. The key novelty of this paper is giving priority for SUs with important data traffic and which frequently solicits data channels to transmit for the remaining time of the ongoing time slot and for the next time slots directly after checking the channel availability. We develop a new analytical model to evaluate delay parameter for two scenarios with and without resource reservation and we then investigate the impact of those scenarios on the energy consumption. We show through simulations that cognitive radio performances increase noticeably with the proposed scheme. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Meeting the Migrant Pension Challenge in China

This article proposes a notional defined contribution (NDC) mechanism to ensure pension mobility for the 150 million migrating workers in China during both the accumulation and drawdown phases. Planned governance would ensure independence from the three existing pension systems. An appropriately structured NDC plan of this type is shown to be viable by reference to a previously developed model of Zhejiang Province’s social security systems. Such a plan would remove mobility barriers for migrating workers, increase the retirement benefit for mobile workers, and reduce the future government liability for payouts in other pension systems in which migrants currently hold membership. (JEL codes: H55, J11, J18, R23)