Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Near full-length genome analysis of HIV type 1 CRF02.AG subtype C and CRF02.AG subtype G recombinants.

HIV-1 CRF02.AG strains are prevalent in west and west-central Africa, suggesting a longstanding presence of these subtype A/G recombinants in the global epidemic. Cocirculation of CRF02.AG strains with other group M subtypes may give rise to HIV-1 recombinants constituting a mosaic genome comprising fragments of three different subtypes. We report on the genetic analysis of the near-full-length genomes of such recombinants (VI1035 and VI1197) as well as CRF02.AG strains in Belgian individuals. VI1035 and VI1197 may be the result of successful "second-generation" recombinations of HIV-1 strains CRF02.AG with, respectively, subtype C (VI1035) and G (VI1197) strains in a dually infected individual.
The Regional Allocation of Public Investment: Efficiency or Equity?

In this paper we examine the effect of public investment on the regional economies of Japan. The efficient policy for regional allocation of public capital is to invest in highly productive regions, whereas the actual policy pursues equity goals by allocating more public investment to depressed regions. We determine the effects of this equity- oriented allocation by estimating the aggregate regional production function and calculating the productivity of public capital stock for each region, using a cross-sectional time-series data set. Our results show that the marginal productivity of public capital has recently declined in most depressed regions, whereas the productivity in developed regions (e.g., Tokyo, Osaka) has increased slightly. We compare alternative policies of allocating public investment and their effects on the regional and national economies using numerical simulations. We then quantitatively describe the trade-off between the efficient and the equitable allocation of public investment.
Visualizing Waypoints‐Constrained Origin‐Destination Patterns for Massive Transportation Data

Origin‐destination (OD) pattern is a highly useful means for transportation research since it summarizes urban dynamics and human mobility. However, existing visual analytics are insufficient for certain OD analytical tasks needed in transport research. For example, transport researchers are interested in path‐related movements across congested roads, besides global patterns over the entire domain. Driven by this need, we propose waypoints‐constrained OD visual analytics, a new approach for exploring path‐related OD patterns in an urban transportation network. First, we use hashing‐based query to support interactive filtering of trajectories through user‐specified waypoints. Second, we elaborate a set of design principles and rules, and derive a novel unified visual representation called the waypoints‐constrained OD view by carefully considering the OD flow presentation, the temporal variation, spatial layout and user interaction. Finally, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our interface with two case studies and expert interviews with five transportation experts.
Property Rights and Productivity: The Case of Joint Land Titling in Vietnam

This paper explores the effect of land titling on agricultural productivity in Vietnam and the productivity effects of single versus joint titling for husband and wife. Using a plot-fixed-effects approach our results show that obtaining a land title is associated with higher yields, for both individually and jointly held titles. We conclude that there is no tradeoff between joint titling and productivity, and so joint titles are potentially an effective way to improve women’s bargaining power within the household with no associated efficiency losses. (JEL O12, O13)
DIFFERENT WAYS TO CUT A CAKE: COMPARING EXPERT-BASED AND STATISTICAL TYPOLOGIES TO TARGET SUSTAINABLE INTENSIFICATION TECHNOLOGIES, A CASE-STUDY IN SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA

SUMMARY Understanding farm diversity is essential to delineate recommendation domains for new technologies, but diversity is a subjective concept, and can be described differently depending on the way it is perceived. Historically, new technologies have been targeted primarily based on agro-ecological conditions, largely ignoring socioeconomic conditions. Based on 273 farm households' surveys in Ethiopia, we compare two approaches for the delineation of farm type recommendation domains for crop and livestock technologies: one based on expert knowledge and one based on statistical methods. The expert-based typology used a simple discriminant key for stakeholders in the field to define four farm types based on Tropical Livestock Unit, total cultivated surface and the ratio of these two indicators. This simple key took only a few minutes to make inferences about the potential of adoption of crop and livestock technologies. The PCA-HC analysis included a greater number of variables describing the farm (land use, household size, cattle, fertilizer, off-farm work, hiring labour, production). This analysis emphasized the multi-dimensional potential of such a statistical approach and, in principle, its usefulness to grasp the full complexity of farming systems to identify their needs in crop and livestock technologies. A sub-sampling approach was used to test the impact of data selection on the diversity represented in the statistical approach. Our results show that diversity structure is significantly impacted according to the choice of a sub-sample of 15 of the 20 variables available. This paper shows the complementarity of the two approaches and demonstrates the influence of data selection within large baseline data sets on the total diversity represented in the clusters identified.
Rise of China and India in International Trade: From Textiles to New Technology

China and India are two demographic giants that have become big developing economic powers. They have maintained their specialization in textiles and developed outward-oriented sectors linked to new technologies, taking advantage of offshoring and outsourcing. Their increasing contribution to international trade is changing the world supply and demand of manufactured goods, primary goods and services. They are new leaders in the international division of labor, but beyond technological catch-up, their challenge is quality upgrading. Both countries are increasingly contributing to global economic growth, but they cannot yet trigger the growth of the rest of the world by themselves.
Regulation of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Gene Expression after Transient Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion with and without Brain Damage

Levels of mRNA for c-fos, nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), TrkB, and TrkC were studied using in situ hybridization in the rat brain at different reperfusion times after unilateral middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Short-term (15 min) MCAO, which does not cause neuronal death, induced elevated BDNF mRNA expression confined to ipsilateral frontal and cingulate cortices outside the ischemic area. With a longer duration of MCAO (2 h), which leads to cortical infarction, the increase was more marked and elevated BDNF mRNA levels were also detected bilaterally in dentate granule cells and CA1 and CA3 pyramidal neurons. Maximum expression was found after 2 h of reperfusion. At 24 h BDNF mRNA expression had returned to control values. In the ischemic core of the parietal cortex only scattered neurons were expressing high levels of BDNF mRNA after 15 min and 2 h of MCAO. Analysis of different BDNF transcripts showed that MCAO induced a marked increase of exon III mRNA but only small increases of exon I and II mRNAs in cortex and hippocampus. In contrast to BDNF mRNA, elevated expression of c-fos mRNA was observed in the entire ipsilateral cerebral cortex, including the ischemic core, after both 15 min and 2 h of MCAO. Two hours of MCAO also induced transient, bilateral increases of NGF and TrkB mRNA levels and a decrease of NT-3 mRNA expression, confined to dentate granule cells. The upregulation of BDNF mRNA expression in cortical neurons after MCAO is probably triggered by glutamate through a spreading depression-like mechanism. The lack of response of the BDNF gene in the ischemic core may be due to suppression of signal transduction or transcription factor synthesis caused by the ischemia. The observed pattern of gene expression after MCAO agrees well with a neuroprotective role of BDNF in cortical neurons. However, elevated levels of NGF and BDNF protein could also increase synaptic efficacy in the postischemic phase, which may promote epileptogenesis.
Option Formulas for Mean-Reverting Power Prices with Spikes

Electricity prices are known to be very volatile and subject to frequent jumps due to system breakdown, demand shocks, and inelastic supply. Appropriate pricing, portfolio, and risk management models should incorporate these spikes. We develop a framework to price European-style options that are consistent with the possibility of market spikes. The pricing framework is based on a regime jump model that disentangles mean-reversion from the spikes. In the model the spikes are truly time-specific events and therefore independent from the mean-reverting price process. This closely resembles the characteristics of electricity prices, as we show with Dutch APX spot price data in the period January 2001 till June 2002. Thanks to the independence of the two price processes in the model, we break derivative prices down in a mean-reverting value and a spike value. We use this result to show how the model can be made consistent with forward prices in the market and present closed-form formulas for European-style options.
Articulated hand tracking by PCA-ICA approach

This paper introduces a new representation of hand motions for tracking and recognizing hand-finger gestures in an image sequence. A human hand has 15 joints and its high dimensionality makes it difficult to model hand motions. To make things easier, it is important to represent a hand motion in a low dimensional space. Principle component analysis (PCA) has been proposed to reduce the dimensionality. However, the PCA basis vectors only represent global features, which are not optimal to represent intrinsic features. This paper proposes an efficient representation of hand motions by independent component analysis (ICA). The ICA basis vectors represent local features, each of which corresponds to the motion of a particular finger. This representation is more efficient in modeling hand motions for tracking and recognizing hand-finger gestures in an image sequence. This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of our method by tracking hands in real image sequences
New cascaded multilevel converter topology based on basic unit with reduction of DC sources

Multilevel converters have been considered today as the state of the art of DC/AC power conversion technology for high power medium voltage applications without the negation of power quality. This paper presents a new multilevel converter topology with minimum power electronics switches (IGBTs). This topology has a basic unit of 4 switches with a series/parallel combination of isolated DC sources. The comparison for the required number of switches, power diode, gate driver circuits and voltage stress across the switches of proposed topology with conventional and other novel topologies are discussed. This structure minimizes the total harmonic distortion (THD) in the output voltage waveform with reduced DC source. The operation and validation of the proposed multilevel converter is verified by simulation results of a single-phase 11-level converter.
The convergent behavior in REIT markets

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether a convergent behavior exists in the price indexes of the seven Asian Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) markets. Design/methodology/approach - The authors investigate the convergent behavior in Asian REIT indexes against Japan and the USA by conducting the unit-root testing procedure. Findings - Results show that the Asian REIT markets are more connected with the US REIT market than with that of Japan. The convergent behavior was more obvious since 2007. Practical implications - The underlying assets of real estate securities in different countries are usually not directly related; hence, there should be segmentation to a certain extent between international REIT markets as well. If the performances of Asian REIT markets are converged, this linkage can be viewed as a contagion effect. Originality/value - The results of this paper indicate that the risk of REITs might be underestimated and the benefit that investors may acquire from adding REITs to their portfolios might be overestimated.
Exploring the Housing Needs of Older People in Standard and Sheltered Social Housing

Objective: Our home can have a major impact on our physical and mental health; this is particularly true for older people who may spend more time at home. Older people in social (i.e., public) housing are particularly vulnerable. Housing options for older people in social housing include standard design dwellings or specially designed “sheltered housing. ” The most suitable housing model should be identified, with older people consulted in this process. Method: Survey of older people (aged ≥60) living in standard or sheltered social housing. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS Version 22. Results: Overall, 380 surveys were returned (response rate = 47.2%). All older people had similar housing needs. Those in sheltered housing were more satisfied with the physical home design and reported more positive outcomes. Older people in standard housing were less likely to have necessary adaptations to facilitate aging-in-place. Discussion: Older people in standard housing reported more disability/illnesses, are worried about the future, and felt less safe at home. However, few wanted to move, and very few viewed sheltered housing as an alternative, suggesting limited knowledge about their housing options. Future social housing designs should be flexible, that is, adaptable to the needs of the tenants over time.
Tactile display using the vibration of SMA wires and the evaluation of perceived sensations

Shape-memory alloys (SMAs) are the metals which have the shape-memory effect. An alloy has peculiar temperature Tp, and the shape memory effect is observed when the body temperature is cooled to below Tp. The effect has been widely applied in different fields such as robotic muscles, medical surgeries, actuators and elastic wires. The SMA also has a unique characteristic to shrink at a certain temperature. The authors found a novel and interesting effect that, by making the SMA into a fine wire, it accepts a pulse-signal to generate a vibration in accordance with the pulse frequency of the signal, and have developed a vibration actuator for presenting tactile stimuli. By coupling the devices as a pair, a tactile display was constructed for presenting the phantom sensation and the apparent movement of the tactility, to transmit quite novel tactile sensations to a user. The information transmission by the device was tested by subjects, and was evaluated by questionnaires. The apparent movement was especially well perceived by users as a sensation of something running across fingers and a palm, or as being tapped by something, according to the well-determined signals given to the display. Several users reported that they perceived a novel rubbing sensation given by the apparent movement, and we further experimented the presentation of the sensation in detail to be used as a tactile display for the information transmission.
Relationships and Factors Influencing Convention Decision-Making

Abstract This paper examines the views of key decision-makers in the convention industry as part of a CRC for Sustainable Tourism research project. In particular, it examines the relationships between the main participants, the key factors for a successful convention and the emerging trends within the industry. In order to explore these influences, the research method used structured interviews with international convention associations, professional conference organizers (PCOs) and international delegates. In-depth telephone interviews were conducted with nine international associations from Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as eight PCOs, all of whom facilitate international conventions within Australia. Nineteen international delegates were also interviewed at two international conferences. The findings from these interviews suggest that the decision-making process for conventions is influenced by a complex set of relationships between the three sets of interviewees. The study revealed that the relationships between the convention bureaus and convention centers were very important. The interviews confirmed the findings of previous studies regarding the key success components for a convention, but also pointed to emerging trends in the convention sector that will impact upon success in the future. These trends included the increasing number of female conference delegates, the increased need for Internet facilities for conventions, and the high priority placed by convention participants on the safety of the convention destination.
A Marriage of Convenience: β-Subunits and Voltage-dependent K+ Channels*

The movement of ions across cell membranes is essential for a wide variety of fundamental physiological processes, including secretion, muscle contraction, and neuronal excitation. This movement is possible because of the presence in the cell membrane of a class of integral membrane proteins dubbed ion channels. Ion channels, thanks to the presence of aqueous pores in their structure, catalyze the passage of ions across the otherwise ion-impermeable lipid bilayer. Ion conduction across ion channels is highly regulated, and in the case of voltage-dependent K+ channels, the molecular foundations of the voltage-dependent conformational changes leading to the their open (conducting) configuration have provided most of the driving force for research in ion channel biophysics since the pioneering work of Hodgkin and Huxley (Hodgkin, A. L., and Huxley, A. F. (1952) J. Physiol. 117, 500–544). The voltage-dependent K+ channels are the prototypical voltage-gated channels and govern the resting membrane potential. They are responsible for returning the membrane potential to its resting state at the termination of each action potential in excitable membranes. The pore-forming subunits (α) of many voltage-dependent K+ channels and modulatory β-subunits exist in the membrane as one component of macromolecular complexes, able to integrate a myriad of cellular signals that regulate ion channel behavior. In this review, we have focused on the modulatory effects of β-subunits on the voltage-dependent K+ (Kv) channel and on the large conductance Ca2+- and voltage-dependent (BKCa) channel.
Socioeconomic Correlates of Current and Regular Smoking Among College Students in Rhode Island

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine how sociodemographic variables, in particular socioeconomic status, correlate with current and regular smoking among college students in Rhode Island. Participants and Methods: Over a 4-year period (academic year 2000-2001 to 2003-2004), the authors examined sociodemographic correlates of cigarette use among 3,984 students aged 17 to 24 years from 10 colleges and universities in Rhode Island. Results: One-third of participants (32.0%) had smoked a cigarette in the 30 days preceding the questionnaire. Findings from a pair of logistic regression models indicated that participants from upper-income families were more likely to be current smokers—although not regular smokers—suggesting that the effect of socioeconomic status on smoking is partly dependent on the level of addiction. In addition, freshmen were more likely to be current and regular smokers than were upperclassmen, and white students were most likely to be regular smokers. Conclusions: The frequency of college students who reported that they first tried smoking and first smoked regularly while in college increased from freshman to senior year, indicating that the college years are a vulnerable period for smoking initiation and habituation.
THE ROLE OF FINANCIAL SPREADS: EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF SPREADS AND REAL ACTIVITY*

The issues of interpretation and estimation of VAR models of output which use financial spreads as indicators are reviewed and new empirical evidence is provided using U.K. data. The principal extensions to the existing U.S. literature are estimation of the role of spreads in the context of a cointegrating model as well as a dynamic VAR, and also use of the reverse yield gap (bond yield less equity yield) as an alternative indicator to traditional spreads such as the yield gap and credit quality spread. The evidence presented suggests financial spreads may have an important indicator function in the U.K., especially in predicting short-run movements in the real economy. Copyright 1994 by Blackwell Publishers Ltd and The Victoria University of Manchester
Still Corporatism in Scandinavia? A Survey of Recent Empirical Findings

This essay surveys empirical research conducted in the 1990s on the influence of organized interests in the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The essay consists of five main sections. After a brief introduction, the first three main sections survey the emergence, development and present state of Scandinavian corporatism. Then the question of the impact of corporatism on the Scandinavian societies is discussed, followed by an overview of the state of corporatism outside the traditional areas of the labour market, industry and agriculture. The essay closes with a brief conclusion discussing areas in need of further study.
Constrained Optimization for Portfolio Construction

This article deals with the relationship between conventional shrinkage approaches to the construction of the covariance matrix for portfolio optimization and the various types of constraints available in modern numerical algorithms for solving optimization problems. In particular, we consider the use of quadratic constraints on each part of the total risk (variance) measure, such as the systematic or specific risk associated with a factor risk model. By placing constraints on each part of the risk (perhaps in conjunction with constraints on the total risk), solutions are obtained that differ from the conventional constrained mean–variance solutions. We consider the use of this approach in the light of recent work focusing on portfolio optimization with alpha (expected return) terms that are cross-sectionally correlated with the risk factors of the model used to estimate the covariance matrix. To illustrate the practical value of this approach, using a well-documented set of alphas, we set out the results of a 13-year simulation exercise over the Russell 3000 Growth U.S. equity universe. The results, which can be of intuitive interest to investors, demonstrate how constraints that have the effect of shrinkage on the covariance matrix associated with the spanned part of the alpha will result in different portfolio allocations.
Organotin Compounds Promote Adipocyte Differentiation as Agonists of the Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor γ/Retinoid X Receptor Pathway

Nuclear receptors play important roles in the maintenance of the endocrine system, regulation of organ differentiation, and fetal development. Endocrine disruptors exert their adverse effects by disrupting the endocrine system via various mechanisms. To assess the effects of endocrine disruptors on nuclear receptors, we developed a high-throughput method for identifying activators of nuclear receptors. Using this system, we found that triphenyltin and tributyltin were activators of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) γ and retinoid X receptor. Because PPARγ is a master regulator of adipocyte differentiation, we assessed the effect of organotin compounds on preadipocyte 3T3-L1 cells. We found that organotin compounds stimulated differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells as well as expression of adipocyte marker genes.