Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Viewing Housing Holistically: The Resident-Focused Component of the Housing-Plus Agenda

Problem: It is widely believed that housing affects both residents' social and economic opportunities and the prospects for neighborhood upgrading. Housing plus refers to the public or nonprofit sectors providing affordable housing together with services that support family well-being and community development within subsidized rental housing developments. In this article I consider whether providing housing plus services rather than housing alone should be national policy. Purpose: This article provides an overview of the national housing-plus initiatives for families, what is known about their effectiveness, how nonprofit organizations are implementing them, how they affect participants, and recommendations for changes in state and federal policies. Methods: I review the literature assessing resident-focused housing-plus programs and draw on interviews with staff at eight large regional nonprofit organizations that provide such programs. Results and conclusions: There is little rigorous research on the efficacy of the housing-plus approach. However, the people I interviewed considered the housing-plus approach a key component of their organizations' anti-poverty missions. I conclude that public and private entities should support nonprofit organizations' resident-focused housing-plus initiatives by initiating rigorous evaluations and creating mechanisms for funding. I note that these programs have the potential to create some unintended negative side effects, which should be addressed. Takeaway for practice: Not every nonprofit housing organization should offer housing plus services themselves. Rather, some should develop referral relationships with other service providers. Nonprofits aiming to deliver housing plus services should determine in advance how they will cover costs, and how they will assess effectiveness. They should involve residents in selecting, implementing and evaluating these programs. Research Support: None.
Inflation and Relative Price Dispersion in Equity Markets and in Goods and Services Markets

An empirical link between inflation and price dispersion has been well established in goods and services markets – both across time periods and across countries. However, the economic interpretation of this link has been typically frustrated by the observational equivalence of the predictions of the prominent theories. This prompts us to take a new approach. Specifically, we examine the link between inflation and price dispersion in an empirical setting patently lacking the market characteristics central to these theories (i.e., menu costs, or relative/aggregate confusion). In particular, we benchmark the inflation-dispersion link in goods and services markets with a matched panel of equity market prices. Surprisingly, we find that a link – comparable to that found in markets for goods and services – does exist in the equity market. Moreover, we find that our results are not due to a potentially important, but generally overlooked, bias that is present in many existing studies. Our results suggest that the debate over the factors responsible for the inflation/price dispersion link should be broadened to account for the asset market links we document.
Infrared Signal Based Elderly Fall Detection for In-Home Monitoring

Pyroelectric infrared (PIR) sensor is widely used as motion detector, due to its sensitivity to the Infrared Radiation Changes (IRC) induced by human motion. In particular, by improving the space resolution and coverage of the PIR sensor, it's possible to determine the human activity patterns using IRC signal. In this paper, we present a novel method of fall detection with PIR sensor network. To improve the space resolution, we use mask arrays as reference structures in the developed IRC sensing modules. A stereo infrared sensing scheme is also designed to enlarge the sensing field for fully capturing the IRC signals. Based on the collected IRC signals, we have performed classification analysis with well known machine learning algorithms. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed PIR sensor system in fall detection.
Some dangers of ‘dangerous’ climate change

Abstract The UNFCCC has set the objective of preventing ‘dangerous’ climate change. The concept of climate change being ‘dangerous’ has generally been interpreted to mean that there are thresholds below which the planet is ‘safe’ and above which it is in danger. This creates the fiction that danger can be averted, when that is largely a matter of perspective. Policies based on fictions can succeed if the major parties are willing to go along with them, but this is not the case at present. It is dangerous to try and motivate the public on the basis of a patent fiction, since that obscures policy-critical ignorance and may ultimately create more brittle political frameworks. An alternative to maintaining the fiction is to acknowledge at the outset the arbitrary and conditional nature of any specific choice or definition of what is ‘dangerous’ climate change and what is not. Although our choices are somewhat arbitrary, they can be informed by a range of analytical perspectives, and the decisions we reach have real import. In this setting, we need a way to provide order to (arbitrary) choices that draws on what is known, but still acknowledges the conditional nature of the choices. It is argued here that the aesthetic realm may be suited to this need.
A recombinant Rickettsia conorii vaccine protects guinea pigs from experimental boutonneuse fever and Rocky Mountain spotted fever

There are no vaccines against boutonneuse fever and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Previous studies have identified a Rickettsia rickettsii surface protein as a vaccine candidate and shown that an antigenically related protein is present in R. conorii, which causes boutonneuse fever. The gene encoding the R. rickettsii protein has been cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. We confirmed by 7.5% sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of rickettsial lysates followed by immunoblotting with a monoclonal antibody raised against the R. rickettsii protein that an analogous protein exists in R. conorii. Although these proteins were previously called 155-kilodalton (kDa) proteins, we found that their apparent molecular masses were 198 kDa for R. conorii Kenya tick typhus and 190 kDa for R. rickettsii R. Using the R. rickettsii gene probe, we cloned and expressed a 5.5-kilobase HindIII fragment from R. conorii Kenya tick typhus genomic DNA in E. coli JM107. The expressed recombinant product was recognized by a monospecific polyclonal rabbit antiserum prepared against the 198-kDa protein. Guinea pigs immunized with sonic lysates of the E. coli strain expressing the recombinant gene product developed antibodies recognizing R. conorii when tested by a microimmunofluorescence antibody assay. Upon immunoblotting of rickettsial lysates, those antisera specifically recognized the 198-kDa R. conorii protein and its 190-kDa analog in R. rickettsii. Guinea pigs immunized with sonic lysates of the recombinant E. coli expressing the 198-kDa protein were protected from experimental infections with the homologous R. conorii strain and partially protected from experimental infections with a strain of the heterologous species R. rickettsii. These findings show that the 198-kDa R. conorii protein is a candidate for a vaccine against boutonneuse fever.
Sequential Tripping Strategy for a Transmission Network Back-Up Protection Expert System

This paper describes a sequential tripping strategy used in a wide area back-up protection expert system (BPES) to combat situations in which protection relays have maloperated or information is missing. The BPES is an innovative back-up protection scheme designed to prevent the occurrence of widespread blackouts. The BPES evaluates the certainty that transmission lines are likely to be affected by the fault and uses a sequential tripping strategy to isolate the fault if a firm decision is not available due to maloperated relays and/or missing information. The mode of analysis and the sequential tripping strategy ensure that the BPES will clear a fault at minimum risk to the network. An example is included to demonstrate how the certainty factor-based sequential tripping strategy is employed by the BPES to clear a fault that occurred on the southwestern part of the UK National Grid System.
The Revised Dow Jones Industrial Average: New Wine in Old Bottles?

* The Dow Jones Industrial Average is neither a reliable indicator of market sentiment nor an accurate measure of market performance over time. Because each component asset's contribution to the index is proportional to its price, the DJIA, like any price-weighted index, tends to be dominated by a few companies. In fact, 10 companies account for over half the value of the current average; the DJIA is thus more representative of the price movements of these few companies than it is of the price movement of the stock exchange's overall list. Furthermore, weightings in the average change as share prices change; the instability of the index over time makes it a poor indicator of long-term market movements. The techniques of modern portfolio theory allow us to measure with some precision the extent of the DJIAs instability over time and its divergence from general market movements. An index that purports to indicate general price movements should exhibit the same response as the market to changes in the economic environment. The ideal index would have the same level of systematic risk, or beta, as the market as a whole It should also exhibit a low level of residual risk relative to the market. An index that is concentrated in certain sectors or industry groups will be inadequately diversified. The DJIA has a lower systematic risk level than either the New York Stock Exchange or the Standard & Poor's 500 index. It will thus tend to underperform the market over the long term, since riskier stocks are expected to outperform less risky ones. The residual risk of the DJIA is substantially greater than either the SP its residual risk level is comparable to that of a bank pooled fund. While the recent introduction into the index of IBM and Merck reduced the DJIAs residual risk somewhat, the index is still heavily concentrated in large capitalization stocks relative to the NYSE list. The DJIA does have one invaluable virtue-timeliness. Each of its 30 stocks trades so frequently that it is possible to compute the value of the index from transactions executed within the last few minutes. The Dow is uniquely useful as an index of short-term market movements. l
Do NHLBI lung function criteria apply to children? A cross‐sectional evaluation of childhood asthma at National Jewish Medical and Research Center, 1999–2002

Although National Heart Lung Institute (NHLBI) guidelines categorize asthma severity based on spirometry, few studies have evaluated the utility of these spirometric values in grading asthma severity in children. Asthma is thought to be progressive, but little is known about the loss of lung function in childhood. This study sought to determine the spirometric indices in children from 4–18 years of age. Retrospective cross‐sectional analysis was performed on all spirometries done in children at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center from 1999–2002. In total, 2,728 children performed 24,388 measures. The mean ± SD values for forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expired volume in 1 sec (FEV1), FEV1/FVC ratio, and forced expiratory flow (FEF)25–75 were 92.7 ± 16.2, 92.2 ± 18.0, 85.3 ± 9.3, and 78.0 ± 36.5 percent predicted, respectively. Seventy‐seven percent of FEV1 values were ≥ 80%, 18.6% were between 60–80%, and 3.1% were <60% of predicted. FEV1 was highest in 5‐year‐old children; it declined thereafter, reaching a nadir at 11 years, followed by a partial recovery from 12–18 years. Expressed in liters, FEV1 values were lower than expected at every age, with the greatest difference at 18 years. FEV1/FVC ratios declined through childhood, suggesting impaired airway but not lung growth in children with asthma. In conclusion, the majority of asthmatic children attending a tertiary care facility had FEV1 values within normal range. With increasing age, the increase in FEV1 lags behind that of nonasthmatics, so that by 18 years, maximum FEV1 is impaired. The NHLBI FEV1 cutoff values do not appear to accurately stratify pediatric asthma, and no useful FEV1 cutoff could be generated. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2005; 39:311–317. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Applying AMD's Kaveri APU for heterogeneous computing

With HSA features, Kaveri is an optimized platform for heterogeneous computing. HSA features make Kaveri the first full OpenCL 2.0 capable chip: fine grained SVM (hUMA); C11 atomics (platform atomics); dynamic parallelism (hQ); pipes (hUMA, hQ).
The Co-Initial Swap Market Model

In this paper, we introduce a novel approach to the pricing and the risk management of generic European style interest-rate derivatives. This new model has great flexibility and has the advantage of avoiding complex model calibration techniques typical of standard short-rate models. Dynamics is assigned on a set of co-initial forward swap rates, and arbitrage-free restrictions are determined in a normal and lognormal setup. Model implementation and calibration are discussed, and details of two example applications are also presented. Copyright Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, 2004
Antidepressant‐induced regulation of 5‐HT1b mRNA in rat dorsal raphe nucleus reverses rapidly after drug discontinuation

Serotonin release from dorsal raphe projections in the forebrain is regulated by terminal 5‐HT1B autoreceptors; dysregulation of these receptors may be involved in the pathophysiology of clinical depression. Using in situ hybridization, we have previously reported that fluoxetine reduces 5‐HT1B mRNA in rat dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) in a time‐dependent and reversible manner. In this study we examined longer term treatment (8 weeks) with several different serotonin‐selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or a tricyclic antidepressant on 5‐HT1B mRNA regulation in DRN and hippocampus, and evaluated the stability of these drugs' effects after drug discontinuation. Fluoxetine (5 mg/kg/d), paroxetine (5 mg/kg/d), sertraline (10 mg/kg/d) or nortriptyline (10 mg/kg/d) was administered to rats via subcutaneous osmotic minipumps. Paroxetine and fluoxetine reduced DRN 5‐HT1B mRNA by 36% and 27%, respectively whereas sertraline had a no significant effect. After 3–14 days of drug washout, DRN 5‐HT1B mRNA levels in SSRI treated rats were no longer different from control. 5‐HT1B mRNA levels in hippocampus were not affected by SSRI drugs at any timepoint. Nortriptyline had no significant effect on 5‐HT1B mRNA in either DRN or hippocampus. These results confirm that SSRI antidepressants reduce presynaptic 5‐HT1B mRNA selectively, and that this effect is maintained for at least 8 weeks of antidepressant treatment but reverses rapidly after discontinuation. Furthermore, it is possible that washout after chronic antidepressant treatment, that is routinely used in functional assays of autoreceptor action in animal models, may lead to more rapid reversal of biological effects than has previously been thought. J. Neurosci. Res. 61:82–87, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Analysis of base-pairing probabilities of RNA molecules involved in protein-RNA interactions

MOTIVATION Understanding the details of protein-RNA interactions is important to reveal the functions of both the RNAs and the proteins. In these interactions, the secondary structures of the RNAs play an important role. Because RNA secondary structures in protein-RNA complexes are variable, considering the ensemble of RNA secondary structures is a useful approach. In particular, recent studies have supported the idea that, in the analysis of RNA secondary structures, the base-pairing probabilities (BPPs) of RNAs (i.e. the probabilities of forming a base pair in the ensemble of RNA secondary structures) provide richer and more robust information about the structures than a single RNA secondary structure, for example, the minimum free energy structure or a snapshot of structures in the Protein Data Bank. However, there has been no investigation of the BPPs in protein-RNA interactions. RESULTS In this study, we analyzed BPPs of RNA molecules involved in known protein-RNA complexes in the Protein Data Bank. Our analysis suggests that, in the tertiary structures, the BPPs (which are computed using only sequence information) for unpaired nucleotides with intermolecular hydrogen bonds (hbonds) to amino acids were significantly lower than those for unpaired nucleotides without hbonds. On the other hand, no difference was found between the BPPs for paired nucleotides with and without intermolecular hbonds. Those findings were commonly supported by three probabilistic models, which provide the ensemble of RNA secondary structures, including the McCaskill model based on Turner's free energy of secondary structures.
Standardization of Reading Types *

FOR some time it has appeared obvious to most ophthalmologists that there are considerable differences between the Reading Types issuing from different sources. " JI " has come to mean nothing in style, size, and spacing; and while standardization of Reading Types is not as necessary as that of Distant Types, none the less it is unscientific and undesirable to tolerate such wide variations as exist at present in the material used for a clinical subjective test. As an example, and in justification, two specimens of " J2 " from different sources are reprinted here.
Matching of the Minor Histocompatibility Antigen HLA-A1/H-Y May Improve Prognosis in Corneal Transplantation

Background. Minor histocompatibility (H) antigens are peptides of allelic intracellular proteins that play an important role in human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matched transplantations. In an animal model of keratoplasty, minor H antigens have even been reported to exceed the immunogenicity of major H antigens (MHC). This investigation is to assess any benefit of matching the broadly expressed gender (H-Y) and HA-3 antigens in HLA-A1 donor positive human keratoplasty. Methods. A total of 229 HLA-A1 donor positive keratoplasties were analyzed. A Cox proportional hazards model and Kaplan-Meier analysis were applied to estimate the effect of H-Y or HA-3 mismatches on rejection-free graft survival. Results. Eighty-one cases were mismatched for H-Y (male donor to female recipient). A mean follow up of two years showed graft survival as high as 88% in the H-Y compatible group compared to only 77% in the H-Y mismatched group (P=0.02). Eight out of 62 cases were mismatched for HA-3. No statistically significant influence of HA-3 matching on rejection-free graft survival was observed (85% vs. 73%, P=0.52). Conclusion. HLA-A1/H-Y matching and matching for other broadly expressed minor H antigens may further improve prognosis in keratoplasty.
Performance of banks in countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to assess the performance of banks in countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Design/methodology/approach - Performances of 55 banks operating in countries of the GCC are examined in this study using data envelopment analysis (DEA) and Malmquist productivity index (MPI). When DEA is used, the bank(s) that registered the highest efficiency is used as benchmark and the performance of other banks are evaluated relative to this benchmark. Two outputs and four inputs are employed for the performance measurement. MPI is used to analyze the patterns of efficiency change over the period 2000-2004. Findings - DEA efficiencies are calculated for the year 2004. Results show that only 15 of the 55 banks are rated as efficient under constant returns to scale (CRS) assumption, and all the GCC countries have at least one efficient bank. The analysis using MPI has shown that banks in four of the six GCC countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE) registered productivity improvements during 2000-2004. The selected banks in Bahrain have shown the highest productivity improvements during this period, while the selected banks in Qatar have registered the highest reductions in productivity during this period. Interestingly, all the countries seem to have registered reductions in productivity in terms of technology change. Research limitations/implications - More banks could not be considered in this study due to non-availability of consistent data. Since performance of banks in more than one country have been compared, we have used a common unit of monetary measurement. Originality/value - This study is first to study the performance of banks in the Middle East, with the exception of a study of selected banks in Kuwait.
La reputación online y su impacto en la política de precios de los hoteles

In this study it is proven that a good online reputation, understood as the first position in a geographical area following the Tripadvisor’s Popularity Index, allows hotels holding this first position to offer higher prices than the ones offered by their competitors. Specifically, an hotel holding the first position, apart from having more visibility and therefore more choices of being booked by the consumer, offers its rates an average of 22,26% higher than the rates offered by the competitive set for the same type of product.
Regional Wage Differentials and the Spatial Convergence of Worker Characteristic Prices

This paper provides a test for variation in wage structures across regions. The authors suggest that the appropriate test for structural variation incorporates a combination of two lines of research: structural variation and compensating variation. The model of earnings determination used implies that, while job characteristic prices may be subject to stochastic shocks or industry-specific factors and, hence, may differ between regions, the returns to human capital characteristics will be regionally invariant. The results suggest that the theoretical expectations of regional homogeneity is generally supported for the decade of the 1970s. Copyright 1989 by MIT Press.
Dual oxidase, hydrogen peroxide and thyroid diseases

The thyroid gland is a unique endocrine organ that requires hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for thyroid hormone formation. The molecule for H2O2 production in the thyroid gland has been known as dual oxidase 2 (DUOX2). Recently, NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4), a homolog of the NOX family, was added as a new intracellular source of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the human thyroid gland. This review focuses on the recent progress of the DUOX system and its possible contribution to human thyroid diseases. Also, we discuss human thyroid diseases related to abnormal H2O2 generation. The DUOX molecule contains peroxidase-like and NADPH oxidase-like domains. Human thyroid gland also contains DUOX1 that shares 83% similarity with the DUOX2 gene. However, thyroid DUOX1 protein appears to play a minor role in H2O2 production. DUOX proteins require DUOX maturation or activation factors (DUOXA1 or 2) for proper translocation of DUOX from the endoplasmic reticulum to the apical plasma membrane, where H2O2 production takes place. Thyroid cells contain antioxidants to protect cells from the H2O2-mediated oxidative damage. Loss of this balance may result in thyroid cell dysfunction and thyroid diseases. Mutation of either DUOX2 or DUOXA2 gene is a newly recognized cause of hypothyroidism due to insufficient H2O2 production. Papillary thyroid carcinoma, the most common thyroid cancer, is closely linked to the increased ROS production by NOX4. Hashimoto's thyroiditis, a common autoimmune thyroid disease in women, becomes conspicuous when iodide intake increases. This phenomenon may be explained by the abnormality of iodide-induced H2O2 or other ROS in susceptible individuals. Discovery of DUOX proteins and NOX4 provides us with valuable tools for a better understanding of pathophysiology of prevalent thyroid diseases.