Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
El régimen de metas de inflación en Brasil: evaluación y lecciones de política para los países latinoamericanos

THIS PAPER STARTS BY EVALUATING THE GENERAL EXPERIENCE OF EMERGING MARKETS THAT HAVE TURNED TO INFLATION TARGETING. THEN, AN EVALUATION OF THE BRAZILIAN EXPERIENCE WITH INFLATION TARGETING IS UNDERTAKEN (1999-TODAY). AT THE START THE EXPERIENCE WAS HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL, LATER, DURING THE CRISES CAUSED BY THE INCREASE IN GLOBAL RISK AVERSION (2001-2002) INFLATION TARGETING PERFORMED QUITE WELL. IT WAS IN THE RECENT GOOD TIMES THAT INFLATION TARGETING REVEALED THE WEAKNESSES OF THE BRAZILIAN ECONOMY. EXTREMELY HIGH INTEREST RATES ARE HAVING DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS ON GOVERNMENT FINANCES AND ON GROWTH. SOME LESSONS FOR LATIN-AMERICAN COUNTRIES ARE OUTLINED. FINALLY, THE REMAINING CHALLENGES FOR BRAZIL TO ACHIEVE SUSTAINED GROWTH WITH LOW INFLATION ARE DISCUSSED.
Studies on the toxicological effect of nevirapine, an antiretroviral drug, on the liver, kidney and testis of male Wistar rats

We investigated the toxic effect of nevirapine (NVP; Viramune®), an antiretroviral drug, on the liver, kidney and testis of Wistar rats. Twenty-one rats were assigned into 3 groups of 7 animals each. The first group served as control, and the second and third groups received NVP at 18 and 36 mg/kg body weight, respectively. Clinical signs of toxicity were not observed in the animals. NVP at both doses did not significantly (p > 0.05) alter the body weight gain, relative weights of kidney and testis, serum protein, urea, creatinine and alkaline phosphatase levels of the animals. However, NVP2 significantly (p < 0.05) increased the relative weight of liver, level of serum total bilirubin and activities of γ-glutamyl transferase, alanine and aspartate aminotransferases. NVP administration caused a dose-dependent, significant (p < 0.05) elevation of lipid peroxidation measured as malondialdehyde (MDA) content in the liver, kidney and testis of the rats. Hepatic, renal and testicular MDA were increased by 107%, 80% and 163%, respectively, in NVP2-treated rats. Elevation in MDA was accompanied by a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in the activities of hepatic, renal and testicular superoxide dismutase and catalase. NVP2 caused 43% and 32% decrease in spermatozoa motility and live/dead sperm count, respectively, and 94% increase in total sperm abnormalities. Histopathological findings showed that NVP2 caused degeneration of seminiferous tubules in testis, and severe necrosis in liver slides. NVP induced oxidative stress with corresponding decrease in antioxidant status of the rats. The changes in sperm parameters and, elevation of liver marker enzymes suggest an interference of NVP2 with these organs.
Current diagnosis, management and morbidity in paediatric inflammatory bowel disease

In the 1970s several reports highlighted the long delay in diagnosis often experienced by children with Crohn's disease. In recent years this disorder has attracted much publicity, and many believe that the incidence has increased substantially. The aim of this investigation was to determine whether heightened awareness had shortened the interval to diagnosis, improved clinical management and reduced morbidity. A retrospective study was therefore carried out on 112 children with inflammatory bowel disease (64 Crohn's disease, 41 ulcerative colitis, 7 indeterminate colitis) referred to a paediatric gastroenterology department in the UK between 1994 and 1998. In Crohn's disease the median interval to diagnosis was 47 wk (maximum 7 y). In those without diarrhoea this was longer (66 vs 28 wk; p= 0.005). In ulcerative colitis the median interval was 20 wk (maximum 3 y). Even in severe colitis the median interval was 5.5 wk (range 3–9 wk) and 4 required urgent colectomy soon after referral. Many with unrecognized Crohn's disease had undergone inappropriate treatments, such as growth hormone or psychiatric therapy. Nineteen (17%) had undergone endoscopic investigations in adult units prior to referral. Malnutrition was equally common in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (11%). Short stature was present in 19% with Crohn's disease, and 5% with ulcerative colitis, and was severe in 8% with Crohn's disease. There was a significant correlation between symptom duration and the degree of growth impairment present (rs= 0.4; p= 0.004).
Can needle and syringe programmes and opiate substitution therapy achieve substantial reductions in hepatitis C virus prevalence? Model projections for different epidemic settings.

AIMS To investigate the impact of scaling-up opiate substitution therapy (OST) and high coverage needle and syringe programmes (100%NSP-obtaining more sterile syringes than you inject) on HCV prevalence among injecting drug users (IDUs). DESIGN Hepatitis C virus HCV transmission modelling using U.K. estimates for effect of OST and 100%NSP on individual risk of HCV infection. SETTING Range of chronic HCV prevalent (20/40/60%) settings with no OST/100%NSP, and U.K. setting with 50% coverage of both OST and 100%NSP. PARTICIPANTS Injecting drug users. MEASUREMENTS Decrease in HCV prevalence after 5-20 years due to scale-up of OST and 100%NSP to 20/40/60% coverage in no OST/100%NSP settings, or from 50% to 60/70/80% coverage in the U.K. setting. FINDINGS For 40% chronic HCV prevalence, scaling-up OST and 100%NSP from 0% to 20% coverage reduces HCV prevalence by 13% after 10 years. This increases to a 24/33% relative reduction at 40/60% coverage. Marginally less impact occurs in higher prevalence settings over 10 years, but this becomes more pronounced over time. In the United Kingdom, without current coverage levels of OST and 100%NSP the chronic HCV prevalence could be 65% instead of 40%. However, increasing OST and 100%NSP coverage further is unlikely to reduce chronic prevalence to less than 30% over 10 years unless coverage becomes ≥80%. CONCLUSIONS Scaling-up opiate substitution therapy and high coverage needle and syringe programmes can reduce hepatitis C prevalence among injecting drug users, but reductions can be modest and require long-term sustained intervention coverage. In high coverage settings, other interventions are needed to further decrease hepatitis C prevalence. In low coverage settings, sustained scale-up of both interventions is needed.
Glucose levels and risk of dementia.

BACKGROUND Diabetes is a risk factor for dementia. It is unknown whether higher glucose levels increase the risk of dementia in people without diabetes. METHODS We used 35,264 clinical measurements of glucose levels and 10,208 measurements of glycated hemoglobin levels from 2067 participants without dementia to examine the relationship between glucose levels and the risk of dementia. Participants were from the Adult Changes in Thought study and included 839 men and 1228 women whose mean age at baseline was 76 years; 232 participants had diabetes, and 1835 did not. We fit Cox regression models, stratified according to diabetes status and adjusted for age, sex, study cohort, educational level, level of exercise, blood pressure, and status with respect to coronary and cerebrovascular diseases, atrial fibrillation, smoking, and treatment for hypertension. RESULTS During a median follow-up of 6.8 years, dementia developed in 524 participants (74 with diabetes and 450 without). Among participants without diabetes, higher average glucose levels within the preceding 5 years were related to an increased risk of dementia (P=0.01); with a glucose level of 115 mg per deciliter (6.4 mmol per liter) as compared with 100 mg per deciliter (5.5 mmol per liter), the adjusted hazard ratio for dementia was 1.18 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04 to 1.33). Among participants with diabetes, higher average glucose levels were also related to an increased risk of dementia (P=0.002); with a glucose level of 190 mg per deciliter (10.5 mmol per liter) as compared with 160 mg per deciliter (8.9 mmol per liter), the adjusted hazard ratio was 1.40 (95% CI, 1.12 to 1.76). CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that higher glucose levels may be a risk factor for dementia, even among persons without diabetes. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health.)
Learning movement primitives from optimal and dynamically feasible trajectories for humanoid walking

We present a new approach for humanoid gait generation based on movement primitives learned from optimal and dynamically feasible motion trajectories. As testing platform we consider the humanoid robot HRP-2, so far only in simulation. Training data is generated by solving a set of optimal control problems for a minimum-torque optimality criterion and five different step lengths. As the dynamic robot model with all its kinematic and dynamic constraints is considered in the optimal control problem formulation, the resulting motion trajectories are not only optimal but also dynamically feasible. For the learning process we consider the joint angle trajectories of all actuated joints, the ZMP trajectory and the pelvis trajectory, which are sufficient quantities to control the robot. From the training data we learn morphable movement primitives based on Gaussian processes and principal component analysis. We show that five morphable primitives are sufficient to generate steps with 24 different lengths, which are close enough to both dynamical feasibility and optimality to be useful for fast on-line movement generation.
The homeodomain of Nkx2.2 carries two cooperatively acting nuclear localization signals.

NK-2 family members of homeodomain proteins have been identified as important regulators of growth and development in the ventral forebrain, heart, lung, and thyroid. In addition, Nk2.2 expression has been detected in the pancreas, where it is vital for the final differentiation of beta-cells. In our present paper, we have analyzed the domains necessary for nuclear transport of Nkx2.2. With the help of deletion mutants we identified two separate nuclear localization signals (NLS). Interestingly, both NLSs are situated in the homeodomain. They belong to the monopartite class of NLS; the proximal NLS has the sequence KKRKRR and lies at the very N-terminus of the homeodomain, while the more distal NLS RYKMKRAR is at the homeodomain C-terminus. Each NLS per se is sufficient for nuclear transport of Nkx2.2 into the nucleus, although inefficiently. Both identified NLSs act cooperatively in mediating complete nuclear transport of Nkx2.2.
The Choice and Role of Lockups in IPOS: Evidence from Heterogeneous Lockup Agreements

This paper analyses heterogeneous lockup agreements from the London Stock Market. With hand‐collected data, I compare and contrast absolute‐date lockups with the relative‐date lockups and single lockups versus staggered lockups. This paper tests several potential explanations for the choice of lockup contracts: (i) information asymmetry, (ii) signaling, (iii) agency problem, and (iv) certification. I find strong evidence for information asymmetry and certification (VC and prestigious underwriters) and partial support for agency explanation for the choice of lockups. The insider selling activity and lockup expiration returns are also consistent with asymmetric information, certification and agency hypothesis.
Eight Questions About Brain Drain

High-skilled emigration is an emotive issue that in popular discourse is often referred to as brain drain, conjuring images of extremely negative impacts on developing countries. Recent discussions of brain gain, diaspora effects, and other advantages of migration have been used to argue against this, but much of the discussion has been absent of evidence. This paper builds upon a new wave of empirical research to answer eight key questions underlying much of the brain drain debate: 1) What is brain drain? 2) Why should economists care about it? 3) Is brain drain increasing? 4) Is there a positive relationship between skilled and unskilled migration? 5) What makes brain drain more likely? 6) Does brain gain exist? 7) Do high-skilled workers remit, invest, and share knowledge back home? and 8) What do we know about the fiscal and production externalities of brain drain?
Varieties of disgust faces and the structure of disgust.

In 3 facial expression identification studies, college students matched a variety of disgust faces to verbally described eliciting situations. The faces depicted specific muscle action movements in accordance with P. Ekman and W. V. Friesen's (1978) Facial Action Coding System. The nose wrinkle is associated with either irritating or offensive smells and, to some extent, bad tastes. Gape and tongue extrusion are associated primarily with what we call core or food-offense disgust and also oral irritation. The broader range of disgust elicitors, including stimuli that remind humans of their animal origins (e.g., body boundary violations, inappropriate sex, poor hygiene, and death), a variety of aversive interpersonal contacts, and certain moral offenses are associated primarily with the raised upper lip. The results support a theory of disgust that posits its origin as a response to bad tastes and maps its evolution onto a moral emotion.
Transforming Principal Preparation

As standards-based school reform nears its twentieth anniversary, policymakers continue to assert the need for strong principal leadership, and with good reason. Virtually every state, as well as the federal government, puts accountability for results directly at the school level. New principals who took over a school this year faced a dramatically different environment than principals just five years ago.
A Cohort Analysis of US and Japanese Homeownership Rates

Abstract Aggregate data of homeownership rates in the US and Japan, classified by period and by age, are decomposed into age, period, and cohort effects using the Bayesian cohort models which were developed to overcome the identification problem in cohort analysis. The main data-based findings are threefold. First, in both the countries, the age effects are the largest and the period effects are the smallest. Second, US and Japanese age effects are almost identical and consistent with some life cycle theories. Third, cohort effects are larger in the US than in Japan. In particular, the downward trend in the US cohort effects in the case of baby boomers is explained by two hypotheses. Furthermore, some policy implications are provided.
GROWTH ECONOMICS AND DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS: WHAT SHOULD DEVELOPMENT ECONOMISTS LEARN (IF ANYTHING) FROM THE NEW GROWTH THEORY?

Since their emergence as a distinct fields of inquiry in the early post World War II period there has been an uneasy relationship between growth economics and development economics. The emergence of a richer new growth economics' has opened up the possibilities of a more fruitful dialogue between the two subdisciplines. In spite of recent advances, particularly with respect to the human capital, and understanding of differences in growth rates and income levels across countries remains elusive. Further advances will require that growth economists broaden their research agenda to embrace a number of concepts that have become conventional in development economics.
Should Ad Spending Increase or Decrease before a Recall Announcement? The Marketing–Finance Interface in Product-Harm Crisis Management

Product recalls tend to damage the stock price of the recalling firm. This article proposes and empirically demonstrates that adjustments to prerecall advertising spending can be used as a tool to moderate this financial damage. Using data on automobile recalls and detailed advertising expenditures from 2005 to 2012, the authors show that adjustments to a firm's prerecall advertising expenditure can either mitigate or amplify the negative effect of the recall on stock market value, depending on the direction of advertising adjustment and the recall characteristics. Boosting ad spending before a recall announcement softens the stock price loss when the recall involves a newly introduced product with a minor hazard but sharpens the loss when the recalled product is an established model with a major hazard. Cutting prerecall advertising worsens the stock price loss when the recall involves a new product, regardless of the hazard. This research also reveals that in product-harm crisis management, profit maximization and shareholder value maximization can conflict with each other, underscoring the importance of developing an integrated crisis management strategy.
Allergic rhinitis: current options and future perspectives

Purpose of reviewAllergic rhinitis due its high prevalence and burden needs to be properly treated. The disease's clinical features impose well tolerated drugs usable for long-term treatment. Nowadays, second-generation antihistamines and inhaled steroids represent the milestone of rhinitis therapy. The aim of the present review is to provide an update on allergic rhinitis treatment. A particular attention has been deserved to clinical trials, published in the last year that assess the efficacy and safety of new formulation of available drugs or new molecules. Recent findingsAvailable and new drugs under investigation seem able to control rhinitis symptoms without a significant patient's burden. The challenge for the next years will be to improve treatment adherence rather than to introduce new drugs. SummaryAllergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma guidelines have brought attention to allergic rhinitis and its impact on asthma, but have also proposed a new classification in terms of symptoms severity and persistence useful for tailoring treatment on patients’ phenotypes. Their further dissemination is needed; furthermore, they represent a cornerstone for the scientific community through a continuous update on relevant issues such as rhinitis phenotypes, disease management on the basis of new treatments, clinical trials transferability in real life, and allergic rhinitis management in public health programs.
Transient Expression of Opioid Receptors in Defined Regions of Developing Brain: Are Embryonic Receptors Selective?

The developmental profile of opioid receptors was studied in rat and guinea pig striatum and hippocampus. The two brain regions show different receptor profiles during development, which are characteristic for each animal. Yet, both tissues and animal species share one common feature; the binding of the universal opioid ligand [3H]diprenorphine per milligram of protein is high at the early embryonic period, it decreases toward birth, and then gradually increases to the adult levels. This apparent transient expression of the receptors during the early developmental stage was manifested in the guinea pig as an actual decrease in the total receptor number. As an attempt to characterize the receptors involved in this process, the binding of the selective μ‐opioid ligand [3H]Tyr‐d‐Ala‐Gly‐MePhe‐NH(CH2)OH ([3H]DAGO) was studied in striatal membranes of young (P1) and adult (P60) rats. Competition between [3H]DAGO and the δ‐selective peptide Tyr‐d‐Pen‐GIy‐Phe‐d‐Pen (DPDPE) shows higher affinity of the S opioid to P1 membranes than to P60 membranes, though the number of δ receptors in P1 membranes is very small. This observation is in line with a previous study suggesting that opioid receptors in embryonic striatum and hippocampus are less selective to various opioids than those of adult brain. An additional difference between adult and embryonic tissue was observed on Scatchard analysis of [3H]DAGO binding; striatum P60 membranes exhibit one binding site with a KD of 0.8 ± 0.1 nM and Hill coefficient of 0.96, whereas striatum P1 membranes bind the peptide in an apparent cooperative fashion with an overall Hill coefficient of 1.30. The possibility that a cooperative binding pattern involves interactions of SH groups was tested with the sulfhydryl reducing agent dithiothreitol (DTT). Indeed, DTT‐treated membranes from adult rat striatum bind [3H]DAGO in a cooperative fashion (Hill coefficient, 1.32). The significance of a transient expression of apparently nonsetective opioid receptors in developing brain, and the possibility that receptors from embryonic and adult brain interact differently with one another or with other membrane constituents, such as G proteins and ion channels, is discussed.
A Riview Paper on Content Based Image Retrieval Technique Using Color and Texture Feature

— There is a great need for developing an efficient technique for finding the images. In order to find an image, image has to be represented with certain features. Color, texture and shape are three important visual features of an image. I will implement an efficient image retrieval technique which uses dynamic dominant color, texture and shape features of an image. As a first step, an image is uniformly divided into 8 coarse partitions. The centroid of each partition is selected as its dominant color after the above coarse partition. By using Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM), texture of an image is obtained. Color and texture features are normalized. Using Gradient Vector Flow fields, shape information is captured in terms of edge images computed. To record the shape features, invariant moments are then used. A robust feature set for image retrieval is provided by using the combination of the color and texture features of an image in conjunction with the shape features.
Molecular cloning of a plant N‐acetylserotonin methyltransferase and its expression characteristics in rice

Abstract: N‐acetylserotonin methyltransferase (ASMT), the last enzyme in the synthesis of melatonin, catalyzes N‐acetylserotonin into melatonin. For the first time, we cloned ASMT from rice through the analysis of recombinant Escherichia coli harboring putative rice O‐methyltransferase (OMT) cDNAs. In total, 18 full‐length cDNAs, which show homology to wheat caffeic acid 3‐O‐methyltransferase, were expressed in E. coli and induced in the presence of N‐acetylserotonin; we then analyzed the production of melatonin. Only recombinant E. coli line 15 showed melatonin synthesis; no other recombinant lines produced melatonin with the addition of N‐acetylserotonin in E. coli culture. Line 15 clearly exhibited in vitro ASMT enzyme activity with 0.27 pkat/mg protein. ASMT enzyme activity was inhibited by various related compounds such as N‐acetyltryptamine and N‐acetyltyrosine. The open reading frame of ASMT consists of 364 amino acids possessing well‐conserved motifs found in plant OMT such as S‐adenosyl‐L‐methionine–binding and catalytic sites. Induction patterns of ASMT mRNA were well matched with the production of melatonin in rice leaves during senescence, as well as several stressors.
Mattering: The African American experience in historically White fraternities

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Modeling the Service Quality of Public Bicycle Schemes Considering User Heterogeneity

This article proposes a methodology for studying the quality of service perceived by users of a public bicycle scheme. The public is involved from the first phases of the research through their presence in focus groups to identify the relevant variables asked about in the survey. Ordered probit models have been calibrated that consider systematic variations in preference and random parameters. The results highlight the importance of safety and available information above other service variables, as well as the adjustment in perception of overall quality after considering each of the characteristics of the service, as it is proposed in this methodology.