Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The role of money and the financial sector in energy-economy models used for assessing climate and energy policy

ABSTRACT This article outlines a critical gap in the assessment methodology used to estimate the macroeconomic costs and benefits of climate and energy policy, which could lead to misleading information being used for policy-making. We show that the Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) models that are typically used for assessing climate policy use assumptions about the financial system that sit at odds with the observed reality. These assumptions lead to ‘crowding out’ of capital and, because of the way the models are constructed, negative economic impacts (in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) and welfare) from climate policy in virtually all cases. In contrast, macro-econometric models, which follow non-equilibrium economic theory and adopt a more empirical approach, apply a treatment of the financial system that is more consistent with reality. Although these models also have major limitations, they show that green investment need not crowd out investment in other parts of the economy – and may therefore offer an economic stimulus. Our conclusion is that improvements in both modelling approaches should be sought with some urgency – both to provide a better assessment of potential climate and energy policy and to improve understanding of the dynamics of the global financial system more generally. POLICY RELEVANCE This article discusses the treatment of the financial system in the macroeconomic models that are used in assessments of climate and energy policy. It shows major limitations in approach that could result in misleading information being provided to policy-makers.
State Debt and Economic Development in Tamaulipas, México (2003-2013)

In Mexico, the states receive funding in three different ways: local tax revenue, federal revenue sharing (Branch 28) and federal contributions (Branch 33). The local tax revenue represents a small percentage of the total state revenue, which averages 7.2% of the total revenue. Tamaulipas’ public debt grew on an average annual rate of 27.24% in the period 2003-2013, reaching in 2011 a public debt per capita of 3340 pesos, whereas in 2003 it barely rose 255 pesos per capita. However, the pace of public indebtedness has not generated economic growth, which on average was 2.29% for the period 2003-2013, inferior to the national level of 2.63%, despite the public debt grew 30.35%. It is concluded that there is no correlation between the level of public debt in Tamaulipas, the economic growth rate and the improvements in essential aspects for competitive conditions.
Optimizing cationic and neutral lipids for efficient gene delivery at high serum content

Cationic liposome (CL)–DNA complexes are promising gene delivery vectors with potential application in gene therapy. A key challenge in creating CL–DNA complexes for application is that their transfection efficiency (TE) is adversely affected by serum. In particular, little is known about the effects of a high serum content on TE, even though this may provide design guidelines for application in vivo.
Integration von Vorwissen über Eigenschaften von Funktionen bei der Modellbildung

Zusammenfassung Modelle können durch Einbeziehen von Vorwissen hinsichtlich Problemadäquatheit und Statistik verbessert werden. Hierzu ist das Vorwissen in eine für die Optimierung geeignete Form zu bringen. Modelle, die durch Funktionen beschrieben werden, stehen dabei im Fokus: statische Kennlinien, Dichtefunktionen, Sprungfunktionen, Kurven und nichtparametrische Darstellungen. Methoden für punkt- und intervallweise Restriktionen, Stetigkeits-, Differenzierbarkeitsrestriktionen, von Nichtnegativität, Monotonie, Konvexität, Unimodalität sowie von Symmetrie- und Sektorrestriktionen werden vorgestellt. Abstract Mathematical models can be improved with respect to problem conformity and statistics by incorporating a priori information. Therefore the knowledge needs to be formulated in a mathematical expression being suitable for optimization. The focus is on models which are described by functions. Such models are characteristic diagrams, density functions, step responses, curves and nonparametric representations. Especially the treatment of the following properties and constraints is considered: pointwise and intervalwise constraints, continuity and differentiability as well smoothness constraints, nonnegativity, convexity/concavity, unimodality/antimodality, symmetry, sector constraints, various kinds of monotonicity, pole singularity, and asymptotic constraints.
A synchronous on-line competition software to improve and motivate learning

In this paper we describe a competitive way to learn and review concepts: a championship based on quizzes. Students will compete in “duels” against other students in an instant messaging channel where a program will be launching questions; the student that answers first will get the point. And the first to reach a series of points will win the game. We have designed, implemented and tested a (free) software to automate the entire process of the championship, allowing students to choose the times of their matches, throwing questions to the channel, keeping logs, driving classifications, providing feedback to the lecturer about performance and questions, etc. From several testing championships performed, we have noticed a high involvement and motivation by students. Being the process automated, lecturers do not have to spend much time on this activity even if it takes place outside the classroom (they only have to worry about uploading questions with their answers and keep track of possible revisions students may ask for).
Information needs and uses of the public health workforce--Washington, 1997-1998.

Substantial efforts have been made to ensure that state and local public health agencies have the information technology and training needed for public health communications, information access, and data exchange. Numerous public health-related data and information resources are available on the World-Wide Web (e.g., MEDLINE, MMWR, CDC Prevention Guidelines Database, and Emerging Infectious Diseases); however, little systematic work has been done to understand the information needs of the public health workforce. To identify these needs and patterns of use and to set priorities for developing new online public health information resources, the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine (UW SPHCM) and the Washington State Department of Health (WSDoH) held structured and facilitated discussions with segments of the local public health workforce in Washington during 1997-1998. This report summarizes the results of those discussions, which indicate that different segments of the public health workforce have different information needs.
A Full-Length cDNA Infectious Clone of North American Type 1 Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus: Expression of Green Fluorescent Protein in the Nsp2 Region

ABSTRACT The recent emergence of a unique group of North American type 1 porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) in the United States presents new disease control problems for a swine industry that has already been impacted seriously by North American type 2 PRRSV. In this study, a full-length cDNA infectious clone was generated from a low-virulence North American type 1 PRRSV isolate, SD01-08. In vitro studies demonstrated that the cloned virus maintained growth properties similar to those of the parental virus. Virological, pathological, and immunological observations from animals challenged with cloned viruses were similar to those from animals challenged with the parental virus and a modified live virus vaccine. To further explore the potential use as a viral backbone for expressing foreign genes, the green fluorescent protein (GFP) was inserted into a unique deletion site located at amino acid positions 348 and 349 of the predicted Nsp2 region in the virus, and expression of the Nsp2-GFP fusion protein was visualized by fluorescent microscopy. The availability of this North American type 1 infectious clone provides an important research tool for further study of the basic viral biology and pathogenic mechanisms of this group of type 1 PRRSV in the United States.
Mapping of the Coronavirus Membrane Protein Domains Involved in Interaction with the Spike Protein

ABSTRACT The coronavirus membrane (M) protein is the key player in virion assembly. One of its functions is to mediate the incorporation of the spikes into the viral envelope. Heterotypic interactions between M and the spike (S) protein can be demonstrated by coimmunoprecipitation and by immunofluorescence colocalization, after coexpression of their genes in eukaryotic cells. Using these assays in a mutagenetic approach, we have mapped the domains in the M protein that are involved in complex formation between M and S. It appeared that the 25-residue luminally exposed amino-terminal domain of the M protein is not important for M-S interaction. A 15-residue deletion, the insertion of a His tag, and replacement of the ectodomain by that of another coronavirus M protein did not affect the ability of the M protein to associate with the S protein. However, complex formation was sensitive to changes in the transmembrane domains of this triple-spanning protein. Deletion of either the first two or the last two transmembrane domains, known not to affect the topology of the protein, led to a considerable decrease in complex formation, but association was not completely abrogated. Various effects of changes in the part of the M protein that is located at the cytoplasmic face of the membrane were observed. Deletions of the extreme carboxy-terminal tail appeared not to interfere with M-S complex formation. However, deletions in the amphipathic domain severely affected M-S interaction. Interestingly, changes in the amino-terminal and extreme carboxy-terminal domains of M, which did not disrupt the interaction with S, are known to be fatal to the ability of the protein to engage in virus particle formation (C. A. M. de Haan, L. Kuo, P. S. Masters, H. Vennema, and P. J. M. Rottier, J. Virol. 72:6838–6850, 1998). Apparently, the structural requirements of the M protein for virus particle assembly differ from the requirements for the formation of M-S complexes.
Thermal Optima and Tolerance in the Eurythermic Goldfish (Carassius auratus): Relationships between Whole-Animal Aerobic Capacity and Maximum Heart Rate

The wide thermal tolerance range of a eurythermic fish (goldfish, Carassius auratus) was used to evaluate how temperature performance curves derived from maximum heart rate (fH) related to those for aerobic scope. For acclimation temperatures of 12°, 20°, and 28°C, optimum temperatures derived from aerobic scope curves (Topt) were 19.9° ± 0.4°, 19.3° ± 0.8°, and 28.7° ± 0.8°C, respectively. The Arrhenius breakpoint temperatures (TAB) for maximum fH were 21.5° ± 0.6°, 23.8° ± 0.9°, and 24.6° ± 0.5°C, respectively. The TQB (temperature where the incremental Q10 of maximum fH decreased abruptly below 1.9) was 24.0° ± 0.7° and 29.8° ± 0.6°C for the 12° and 28°C acclimation temperatures, respectively, and was within the Topt window (11.5°–30.3° and 26.9°–30.5°C, respectively), but TQB for the 20°C acclimation temperature (27.3° ± 0.6°C) was higher than the Topt window (15.4°–23.2°C). Warm acclimation increased the upper critical temperature (Tcrit; from 37.2° ± 0.7° to 44.7° ± 11.8°C) as well as the temperature that triggered a cardiac arrhythmia (Tarr; from 31.1° ± 0.7° to 39.3° ± 0.4°C). In conclusion, we propose that maximum fH and its associated rate transition temperatures (TAB, TQB, and Tarr) can be used to estimate the upper thermal tolerance of eurythermic as well as stenothermic fish independent of acclimation temperature. All the same, great care is needed with such evaluations. For the goldfish, while TAB and TQB were always within the Topt window for 90% of maximum aerobic scope and Topt was closely associated with TAB for 12°C-acclimated fish, TQB had the closest association after 28°C acclimation, and both TAB and TQB were above the Topt window after 20°C acclimation.
THE USE OF LEADERSHIP

Leadership is more than authority or power. It is the process that a person can use to influence and determine others to follow him, in order to achieve certain targets. The paper above is one of a long research directed to find the knowledge and use of the leadership concept in the Romanian organizations. The present research wants to notice the way managers and employees understand and observe leadership within the organizations they work in.
Interplay between microRNAs and RNA-binding proteins determines developmental processes

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are genes involved in normal development and cancer. They inhibit gene expression by associating with 3'-Untranslated regions (3' UTRs) of messenger RNAs (mRNAs), and are thought to regulate a large proportion of protein coding genes. However, it is becoming apparent that miRNA activity is not necessarily always determined by its expression in the cell. MiRNA activity can be affected by RNA-binding proteins (RBPs). For example, the RNA-binding protein HuR associates with the 3'UTR of the CAT1 mRNA after stress, counteracting the effect of miR-122. Second, we found that the expression of an RNA-binding protein called Dead end (Dnd1) prohibits the function of several miRNAs by blocking the accessibility of target mRNAs. Dnd1 function is essential for proper development of primordial germ cells (PGCs) in zebrafish and mammals, indicating a crucial role for RBP/miRNA interplay on 3'UTRs of mRNAs in developmental decisions. In this perspective we discuss the interplay between RBPs and miRNAs in the context of germ cells and review current observations implicating RBPs in miRNA function.
Entwicklung von Kindern nach Cochlea-Implantation

Die Zuricher Cochlea-Implantat-Studie wurde mit dem Ziel initiiert, die Entwicklung von hochgradig schwerhorigen Kindern mit einem Cochlea-Implantat (CI)besser zu verstehen. Es konnte nachgewiesen werden, dass eine Cochlea-Implantation die Horfahigkeit signifikant verbessert. Die Sprachentwicklung zeigt sich im Vergleich zur kognitiven Entwicklung dieser Kinder schwacher als bei normal horenden Kindern.
Social smokers' management of conflicted identities

Background Although social smoking has increased among young adults, it remains a poorly understood behaviour. The authors explored how young adult social smokers viewed and defined smoking and the strategies they used to reconcile their conflicting smoker and non-smoker identities. The authors also examined alcohol's role in facilitating social smoking and investigated measures that would decouple drinking and smoking. Methods The authors conducted 13 in-depth interviews with young adult social smokers aged between 19 and 25 years and used thematic analysis to interpret the transcripts. Results The authors identified four key themes: the demarcation strategies social smokers used to avoid classifying themselves as smokers, social smoking as a tactic that ameliorates the risk of alienation, alcohol as a catalyst of social smoking and the difficulty participants experienced in reconciling their identity as non-smokers who smoke. Conclusions Although social smokers regret smoking, their retrospective remorse was insufficient to promote behaviour change, and environmental modifications appear more likely to promote smoke-free behaviours among social smokers. Participants strongly supported extending the smoke-free areas outside bars, a measure that would help decouple their alcohol-fuelled behaviours from the identity to which they aspire.
Hardiness, work support and psychological distress among nursing assistants and registered nurses in Quebec.

BACKGROUND Although nursing assistants (NAs) represent a large segment of Canadian health care providers, little is known about psychosocial factors related to their physical and psychological well-being and how these compare with their registered nurse (RN) counterparts. AIM Guided by Maddi and Kobasa's theoretical framework of Factors Affecting Health-Illness Status, the purpose of the present study was to examine relationships among hardiness, psychological distress and work support in NAs, and to compare results with those from a sample of RNs. METHOD A random sample of 171 NAs in Quebec completed self-report questionnaires. The study instruments included validated French-Canadian versions of Kobasa's Hardiness Scale, Ilfeld's Psychiatric Symptom Index, and Moos' Work Relationship Index. RESULTS As theoretically predicted, statistically significant correlations were found between hardiness and psychological distress (r = -0.42; P < 0.001), hardiness and work support (r = 0.27; P < 0.001), and between work support and psychological distress (r = -0.21; P < 0.001). Using a mediational model and multiple regression analyses, hardiness among NAs was found to be a significant mediator between work support and psychological distress. Comparative analyses revealed that whereas NAs and RNs reported similar levels of psychological distress (P = 0.25) and work support (P = 0.13), NAs reported significantly less hardiness (t = -5.58; P < 0.01). In addition, NAs and RNs reported significantly more psychological distress than the general population of Quebec, Canada (t = 9.07 and 22.84, P < 0.01, respectively). CONCLUSION Results add support to Maddi and Kobasa's theoretical propositions linking personal and contextual resources to health-related outcomes and offer insights into specific factors that may affect the health and well-being of both NAs and RNs as well as their work climate.
A multidisciplinary approach to the management of NAFLD is associated with improvement in markers of liver and cardio-metabolic health

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a globally prevalent health problem, associated in its more severe forms with increased liver-related and cardiovascular-related morbidity and mortality. We established a multidisciplinary metabolic hepatology clinic in 2014 and have analysed the clinical data to evaluate the effectiveness of this service. Patients with NAFLD (n=165) who had attended two or more appointments were included. Prespecified clinical data were collected prospectively at clinic appointments and analysed retrospectively. Interventions offered included lifestyle advice, signposting to weight loss services and pharmacological treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors. Median follow-up was 13 months (range: 2–34). 59% (n=97) of patients had type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). 53% (n=87) underwent liver biopsy of whom 18% (n=16) had cirrhosis. Median alanine aminotransferase (ALT) reduced by 11 IU/L (p<0.0001), median weight reduced by 3.3 kg (p=0.0005). There were significant reductions in HbA1c, total cholesterol and liver stiffness. Specifically, in patients with T2DM, HbA1c decreased by 4 mmol/mol (p=0.01) with significant reductions in ALT, weight and total cholesterol. Relative cardiovascular risk assessed by the QRISK3 score reduced in the whole cohort and in those with T2DM. Health economic modelling suggested the clinic intervention among those patients with poorly controlled T2DM was cost-effective. In conclusion, a multidisciplinary approach to the management of patients with NAFLD in this observational cohort study was associated with improvements in liver-related and cardio-metabolic related health parameters and with evidence of cost-effectiveness in patients with poorly controlled T2DM.
Estimation of disruption of animal cells by laminar shear stress

Using mechanical cell properties measured by micromanipulation, and a model of cell distortion in laminar flow fields, a method has been developed for predicting disruption of animal cells by laminar shear stresses. Predictions of the model were compared with measured losses of cell number and viability of TB/C3 murine hybridomas sheared in a cone and plate viscometer at shear rates up to 3950 s−1, and shear stresses up to 600 Nm−2, achieved by enhancement of viscosity with dextran. In all cases, the experimental, results and predictions were within 30%. Such excellent agreement suggests it might be possible to use micromanipulation measurements of animal cell mechanical properties to predict cell damage in more complex flow fields, such as those in bioreactors. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Pulmonary epithelial stem cells

Abstract. Classically, the stem/progenitor cells of the pulmonary epithelium are considered to be the basal and mucous cells of the proximal airways, Clara cells in the bronchioles and type II pneumocytes in the alveoli. Recent data suggest that there is a variant of Clara cells, lying in pulmonary neuroendocrine bodies, that meets several stem cell criteria and that type II pneumocytes exist in at least two populations, one of which is more resistant to injury. However, a complete revision of our understanding of pulmonary stem cell biology is underway as a result of the discovery of pulmonary epithelium derived from blood‐borne cells. In addition, the existence in the lung of a ‘universal’ pluripotent cell has long been speculated upon and now some initial evidence has emerged with the identification of a spore‐like cell that can differentiate in vitro to bronchiolar tissue.
The Use of Iodinated Contrast Media in Patients with End‐Stage Renal Disease

Iodinated contrast agents are well tolerated in ESRD patients. Certain types of ICM, i.e., LOCM and the nonionic agents are associated with better safety profiles. Current available evidence, although not optimal, does not support the need for additional hemodialysis for ICM removal to preserve residual renal function or to treat other potential toxicities of ICM. However, limiting exposure to ICM is a prudent measure in ESRD patients given ICM’s potential toxicity; close monitoring of patients with poor cardiac function is also recommended in subjects receiving higher doses of ICM, especially those receiving HOCM.
Fourier inversion formulas for multiple-asset option pricing

Abstract Plain vanilla options have a single underlying asset and a single condition on the payoff at the expiration date. For this class of options, a well known result of Duffie, Pan, and Singleton (Duffie, D., J. Pan, and K. Singleton. 2000. “Transform Analysis and Asset Pricing for Affine Jump-Diffusions.” Econometrica 68: 1343–1376. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1468-0262.00164.) shows how to invert the characteristic function to obtain a closed-form formula for their prices. However, multiple-asset and multiple-condition derivatives such as rainbow options cannot be priced within this framework. This paper provides an analytical solution for options whose payoffs depends on two or more conditions. We take the advantage of the inversion of the Fourier transform, resorting to neither Black and Scholes’s framework, nor the affine models’s settings. Numerical experiments based on the aforementioned class of derivatives are provided to illustrate the usefulness of the proposed approach.
Motor biases in visual attention for a humanoid robot

Tantalizing evidence derived from psychophysics and developmental psychology experiments has shown that attention is task-dependent. Two characteristics of human control of attention are very relevant for humanoid robots, namely, the ability to predict the context (task dependence) from the observed stimuli, and the ability to learn an appropriate movement strategy perhaps over developmental time scales. In this paper we aim at implementing these features to control attention in a humanoid robot by including a set of trajectory predictors in the simple but effective form of Kaiman filters, and, more importantly, a reinforcement learning based process that utilizes the predictors and the complete set of actions of the robot repertoire to generate a suitably optimal action sequence. Preliminary experiments show that the system indeed works correctly: it uses the predictors to discriminate the environmental context (e.g. static vs. dynamic) and produces a valid control policy that drives the robot to fixation of the task-relevant static or moving stimuli.