Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Affordable Housing: A Dilemma for Metropolitan Planning?

Metropolitan planning in Australia is now overwhelmingly directed towards managing and limiting the outward growth of cities (Birrell et al., 2005; Forster, 2004). While cities are still expected to grow in terms of population and new households, the physical extent of this growth is to be contained by intensifying development in inner areas and limiting the conversion of rural land on the urban fringe. Commonly called ‘urban consolidation’ or ‘containment’, advocates claim that compact urban forms cause less air pollution, have lower energy and water demands, result in lower biodiversity loss, and promote a more efficient and equitable use of urban infrastructure. But others question the largely unexamined social and environmental impacts of higher density development (e.g. Holloway & Bunker, 2006; Randolph, 2006) particularly when this is interpreted solely in relation to apartments, rather than the broader mix of housing types that can achieve greater density without a significant shift in urban form. The other fundamental attack on urban containment policies in Australia and internationally is that containment makes housing less affordable by artificially restricting the supply of land (e.g. Demographia, 2007). If true, this would appear to present an irreconcilable dilemma for city planners as preserving and promoting affordable housing is also a primary objective of metropolitan strategies in Australia (Searle, 2006; Beer et al., 2007). This article considers this apparent dilemma, drawing on current research for the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) on international approaches in planning for affordable housing (Gurran et al., 2007). Firstly, it reviews the argument that current metropolitan planning and the objectives of urban containment, or growth management, are fundamentally incompatible with affordable housing. It then compares the range of affordable housing strategies currently contained within metropolitan plans applying to Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Finally, it considers
Emotional reactivity, self-control and children's hostile attributions over middle childhood

Hostile attribution bias, a child's tendency to interpret ambiguous social information as threatening or hostile, has been discussed as an important point in which social, emotional and cognitive information intersect. This study explores the natural changes that occur in children's hostile attributions across three grades during middle childhood and examines how emotional reactivity and self-control at third, fourth and fifth grade independently and interactively relate to these trajectories. Participants included 919 children whose mothers reported on their emotional reactivity, whose teachers reported on their self-control and who completed an attribution bias interview, all at grades 3, 4 and 5. Results revealed that among children with a greater tendency to make hostile attributions at third grade, lower self-control at third grade was associated with greater initial hostile attribution bias and less decline in biases over time. Additionally, greater emotional reactivity at fourth grade was associated with declines in these children's hostile attributions, but only when self-control was also higher at fourth grade.
Nietzsche, Heidegger, and the Transition to Postmodernity

Smith argues that, while much of postmodern thought is rooted in Nietzsche and Heidegger, it has ironically attempted, whether unwittingly or by design, to deflect their philosophy back onto a modern path. Other alternative paths emanating from both Nietzschean and Heideggerian thought that might more powerfully speak to postmodern culture have been ignored. Nietzsche and Heidegger, Smith suggests, have made possible a far more revolutionary critique of modernity then even their most ardent postmodern admirers have realized. Smith contends that the influences on the postmodern in the thought of Nietzsche and Heidegger are founded in a new vision of praxis liberated from theory. Ultimately, these philosophers do transcend the nihilism often found in the guise of postmodernism. Their thought is, moreover, consistent with the possibility of limited constitutional government and the rule of law. Smith's book takes a step toward recovering these possibilities and posing the fundamental questions of politics and ethics in ways that have heretofore been closed off by late-modern thought.
An impact assessment of the contributory pension scheme on employee retirement benefits of quoted firms in Nigeria

A B ST R A C T This study seeks to assess the Impact of the Contributory Pension Scheme on employee retirement benefits of quoted firms in Nigeria. In line with this objective, the population of the study is the one hundred and eighty-two (234) firms quoted on the first- tier market of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and ten (10) quoted firms selected as sample size based on the fact that they are some of the companies that had complied with SAS 8. The study utilized data from secondary source. Data were obtained from the annual accounts and reports of the (10) quoted firms that made up the sample of the study. The time frame for the study is ten years, covering the period of 1998 to 2007. The techniques of analysis used in the study were the Student’s T-test and the qualitative grading. We concluded that even though the Contributory Pension Scheme has positive impact on employee retirement benefits of quoted firms in Nigeria, variation in application still exists among them. The study recommended an effective monitoring/supervision and enforcement of the provisions of the Pension Reform Act, 2004, in addition to effective implementation of the penalties provided by the Act on non-compliers regardless of their status or origin. The study calls on the appropriate authorities such as the government, professional accountancy bodies on academics to commission research and activities geared towards developing not only accounting policies that would ensure swift compliance with Statement of Accounting Standards (SAS 8), but strategies that would ensure optimum investments that enhance net worth and profitability of firms.
Returns to investment in education: a further update

Returns to investment in education based on human capital theory have been estimated since the late 1950s. In the 40‐plus year history of estimates of returns to investment in education, there have been several reviews of the empirical results in attempts to establish patterns. Many more estimates from a wide variety of countries, including over‐time evidence, and estimates based on new econometric techniques, reaffirm the importance of human capital theory. This paper reviews and presents the latest estimates and patterns as found in the literature at the turn of the century. However, because the availability of rate of return estimates has grown exponentially, we include a new section on the need for selectivity in comparing returns to investment in education and establishing related patterns.
Denn sie wussten, was sie taten: Zur Reform der Sozialen Pflegeversicherung

Although the necessity for reforming the German Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI) was perceived by the "Kommission fur die Nachhaltigkeit in der Finanzierung der Sozialen Sicherungssysteme" (Rurup-Kommission), it was embanked with the help of an unrealistic optimistic set of crucial parameters. Using the method of generational accounting, it can be shown that the pre-existing sustainability gap in the LTCI is more than halfway erased solely by these assumptions. Moreover, it is pointed out that the actual policy recommendation of the "Kommission" is hardly capable to improve the fiscal stance of the LTCI. By means of an alternative funding strategy to what was earlier a pure pay-asyou- go scheme, it can be shown how the policy makers could generate a truly sustainable situation. Die Notwendigkeit eines Reformbedarfs in der Sozialen Pflegeversicherung wurde von der "Kommission fur die Nachhaltigkeit in der Finanzierung der Sozialen Sicherungssysteme" (Rurup-Kommission) zwar erkannt, jedoch durch Setzung unrealistisch optimistischer Rahmenbedingungen stark eingeschrankt. Mithilfe der Generationenbilanzierung kann gezeigt werden, dass allein durch diese Rahmensetzung das Nachhaltigkeitsproblem "Pflegeversicherung" bereits mehr als zur Halfte quasi wegdefiniert wird. Zudem ist die eigentlich vorgeschlagene Politikmasnahme der Kommission, das so genannte Modell des intergenerativen Lastenausgleichs, kaum in der Lage, eine Verbesserung in der langfristigen Finanzierbarkeit herbeizufuhren. Anhand eines alternativen Ausphasungsmodells wird gezeigt, wie eine nachhaltige Situation durch eine private Pflegevorsorge erzeugt werden kann.
Preliminary results on vision-inertial state estimation for SmQT system

We present some preliminary results on state estimation of SmQT system, which consists of multiple UAVs. By using multiple set of IMU-camera and additional IMU, we estimate whole state of UAVs and tool. The estimator merge vision data and IMU measurements under mechanical constraint of SmQT system to increase tracking accuracy and robustness. Simulation is also performed to illustrate the results.
Food Price Spikes, Price Insulation and Poverty

This paper has two purposes. It first considers the impact on world food prices of the changes in restrictions on trade in staple foods during the 2008 world food price crisis. Those changes -- reductions in import protection or increases in export restraints -- were meant to partially insulate domestic markets from the spike in international prices. The authors find that this insulation added substantially to the spike in international prices for rice, wheat, maize, and oilseeds. As a result, although domestic prices rose less than they would have without insulation in some developing countries, in many other countries they rose more than they would have in the absence of such insulation. The paper's second purpose it to estimate the combined impact of such insulating behavior on poverty in various developing countries and globally. The analysis finds that the actual poverty-reducing impact of insulation is much less than its apparent impact, and that its net effect was to increase global poverty in 2008 by 8 million people, although this increase was not significantly different from zero. Since there are domestic policy instruments, such as conditional cash transfers, that could now provide social protection for the poor far more efficiently and equitably than variations in border restrictions, the authors suggest it is time to seek a multilateral agreement to desist from changing restrictions on trade when international food prices spike.
Office Rent Determinants in the Chicago Area

This paper analyzes 1990 office asking rents in the Chicago metropolitan area. It carefully specifies a measure of the present value of a lease, taking account of important properties of rent offers. This present value is the dependent variable in the statistical analysis. The sample data analyzed pertain to 543 offices that contain about 80% of the office space in the metropolitan area. The present value of asking rents is related to many building characteristics and to each building's location. The analysis demonstrates that asking rents depend on about fifteen characteristics of the building and on a careful specification of its location. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.
A Complex Translational Program Generates Multiple Novel Proteins from the Latently Expressed Kaposin (K12) Locus of Kaposi’s Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus

ABSTRACT The most abundantly expressed latent transcripts encoded by the Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS)-associated herpesvirus derive from the genomic region surrounding open reading frame (ORF) K12 (kaposin A). Here we show that these transcripts, initially described as limited to ORF K12 itself, more frequently encompass upstream sequences spanning two sets of 23-nucleotide GC-rich direct repeats (DRs) (DR1 and DR2). Although the DRs lack AUG codons and were previously presumed to be noncoding, a monoclonal antibody raised to infected cells detected multiple polypeptides encoded by this region. These proteins are expressed during latency and upon induction of lytic viral replication in both primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) cell lines and KS tumors. Biochemical and genetic analyses reveal that these proteins are derived from variant translational initiation at CUG codons. The predominant translation product in the PEL cell line BCBL-1 derives from the 5′-most CUG codon in the transcript, resulting in a protein (termed kaposin B) which is encoded largely by the repeats themselves and which does not include K12 sequences. Other non-AUG codons in alternate reading frames are also used at lower efficiency, including one that initiates translation of a DR-K12 fusion protein (kaposin C) that is predicted to sort to a different subcellular locale than kaposin B. Thus, the products of the K12 region, which is the most abundantly transcribed region in latency, are surprisingly complex and may encompass multiple biological functions.
Preference reversals in Contingent and Inferred valuation methods

We examine inconsistencies in preference orderings using the Contingent valuation (CV) and the Inferred valuation (IV) methods. We find that in the context of a food market we do not observe strong inconsistencies. Weak inconsistencies are observed for the IV method, indicating that IV is slightly more susceptible to inconsistent preference orderings than the CV method. We also find that the IV method generates higher valuations than CV in the case of consumers with high commitment costs (that is, low familiarity with the product) but successfully mitigates social desirability bias in the case of low commitment costs and high normative motivations. , Oxford University Press.
Blackboard systems for knowledge-based signal understanding

A sophisticated signal understanding system requires knowledge-based interpretation techniques as well as sophisticated signal processing techniques. Blackboard systems are the most widely used artificial intelligence (AI) frameworks for understanding and interpretation problems. This paper reviews the blackboard model of problem solving and discusses how blackboard systems can be used for understanding problems. However, it does not specifically show how blackboard systems can be used for knowledge-based signal processing. Integration of signal processing and understanding via blackboard systems is addressed in [35]. We use the term signal understanding rather than signal processing here, because our focus is on the development of “high-level” descriptions of data in terms of the “situations” it represents. Another way of saying this is that signal understanding involves the meaning of the data, while signal processing is generally limited to the extracion of important features—i.e., semantic versus syntactic descriptions. The notion of understanding has also been associated with enabling a system to act on the data in an appropriate manner. Thus, a sound understanding system must do more than just identify harmonically-related acoustic signals, it must also determine their source—e.g., a ringing telephone (that may need to be answered). Likewise, a radar understanding system must do more than just identify echoes, it must also be able to explain the echoes in terms of the movements of certain vehicles, environmental disturbances, and so on. Signal understanding problems cannot typically be solved by applying the kind of algorithmic data transformations used in traditional signal processing. This is because signal understanding applications often involve a great deal of underlying uncertainty: critical features cannot be accurately or precisely “extracted” or with the types of features that can be extracted the space of situations to be considered is still very large. For example, while there may be models of the output that individual sources/targets should ideally elicit from a sensor, it may not be possible to have exact models for the interactions of every possible combination of sources. Add to this the uncertainty over the effect that environmental conditions or other phenomena may have on the sensor output and the problem is very difficult to solve algorithmically. Blackboard systems (and AI techniques in general) are appropriate for understanding problems that involve very large answer spaces as well as uncertain, errorful, or incomplete data and problemsolving knowledge. These characteristics can produce a combinatorial explosion in the number of situation models that must be considered (this issue is pursued further in Section 1). Solving such problems requires an approach that is very different from the algorithmic approaches of traditional signal processing. Instead of attempting to directly determine the best complete answer, in blackboard-based problem solving partial possible solutions are incrementally constructed and
Long-Acting Insulin Analogs and the Risk of Diabetic Ketoacidosis in Children and Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE To investigate if long-acting insulin analogs decrease the risk of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) in young individuals with type 1 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Of 48,110 type 1 diabetic patients prospectively studied between 2001 and 2008, the incidence of DKA requiring hospitalization was analyzed in 10,682 individuals aged ≤20 years with a diabetes duration of ≥2 years. RESULTS The overall rate of DKA was 5.1 (SE ± 0.2)/100 patient-years. Patients using insulin glargine or detemir (n = 5,317) had a higher DKA incidence than individuals using NPH insulin (n = 5,365, 6.6 ± 0.4 vs. 3.6 ± 0.3, P < 0.001). The risk for DKA remained significantly different after adjustment for age at diabetes onset, diabetes duration, A1C, insulin dose, sex, and migration background (P = 0.015, odds ratio 1.357 [1.062–1.734]). CONCLUSIONS Despite their long-acting pharmacokinetics, the use of insulin glargine or detemir is not associated with a lower incidence of DKA compared with NPH insulin.
An Analysis of Monetary Policy Shocks in Japan: A Factor Augmented Vector Autoregressive Approach

This paper analyses monetary policy shocks in Japan using a factor augmented vector autoregressive approach. There are three main findings. First, the time lags with which the monetary policy shocks are transmitted vary between the various macroeconomic time series. These include several series that have not been included thus far in standard vector autoregressive analysis, including housing starts and employment indices. Second, a coherent picture of monetary policy effects on the economy is obtained. Third, it is found that monetary policy shocks have a stronger impact on real variables, such as employment and housing starts, than industrial production.
Trade Policy in Australia and the Development of Computable General Equilibrium Modeling

This paper discusses the early establishment in Australia of CGE modeling as a major policy tool. As background, it provides a short history of CGE modeling and describes the impetus to the field from: (a) the failure of less theoretically formal approaches; and (b) the recognition that this type of modeling can handle policy-relevant detail. The paper then argues that the CGE approach flourished in Australia because Australia had the right issue, the right institutions and the right model. The final section looks to the future of CGE modeling and the challenge of demonstrating that it really works.
The New Economic Role of American States: Strategies in a Competitive World Economy

Since the late 1970s, all 50 states of the USA have undertaken new measures to strengthen their economies. The economic environment in which they have found themselves is more complex than before and results from both domestic and foreign economic pressures. This book studies a number of states with differing economies, examines the changing state roles, places their roles in historical perspective, and considers the implications for economic policy in the future. Four states are studied comprehensively: Massachusetts, Michigan, Tennessee and California. Three other states are considered in shorter sections: Indiana, Arizona and Minnesota.
Detection of endotoxin on sterile catheters used for cardiac catheterization

Pyrogen reactions during cardiac catheterization are an alarming complication that frightens patients and baffles many physicans. This report describes a simple, reproducible, precise technique for the measurement of endotoxin-like activity on the inner and outer surfaces of catheters intended for intravascular insertion. This technique is useful in documenting the cause of patient reactions. Quality control procedures should be instituted following the manufacture of angiographic catheters so that pyrogen-free products are availabe for patient use. Catheters processed in a hospital are easily contaminated with fever-producing lipopolysaccharides from tap water or from bacterial growth in residual moisture. Sterilization by steam or ethylene oxide does not destroy these lipopolysaccharides. Consequently, reprocessing reusable catheters must include concern for removing lipopolysaccharides as well as sterilization.
Consumption Smoothing in the Zone Lacustre, Mali

This paper examines consumption smoothing in the Zone Lacustre, Mali, a poor region in one of the poorest countries in the world. Idiosyncratic shocks appear to have little impact on consumption. A stronger test of consumption smoothing shows that controlling for covariate shocks, changes in household income lead to modest changes in consumption. These results are robust to concerns regarding bias resulting from measurement error or endogeneity of changes in income. Although there is no one single response, in general non-poor households are more likely to enter into new income generating activities given these shocks while poor households are more likely to engage in gift exchange or to ration consumption. Copyright 2005, Oxford University Press.
A phase II study of a THP‐COP regimen for the treatment of elderly patients aged 70 years or older with diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma

Pirarubicin (tetrahydropyranyl adriamycin: THP) is an anthracycline drug that reportedly has fewer cardiotoxic effects than doxorubicin. A phase II study was conducted in order to determine the efficacy of a treatment regimen incorporating THP, namely THP‐COP in the treatment of elderly patients aged 70 years or older with diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The treatment regimens for Group A (aged 70–79 years, n = 45) and Group B (aged 80 years or older, n = 16) consisted of cyclophosphamide, THP, vincristine, and prednisolone, repeated six times, every 3 weeks. The complete remission rate was 72.1%. The 5‐year survival rate was 38.1%. For elderly patients with favourable prognostic factors, the 5‐year survival rate was significantly better at 77.9% compared with 15.6% for patients with poor prognostic factors (p < 0.01). Death associated with the treatment regimen was not observed. We conclude that the THP‐COP treatment regimen has fewer side effects and is very effective in the treatment of DLBCL in elderly patients, especially those with favourable prognostic factors. The present findings indicate the necessity of future studies investigating a combination therapy comprised of rituximab and THP‐COP for the treatment of elderly patients with CD20‐positive DLBCL. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.