Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Competitive Promotional Strategies

This article analyzes the equilibrium-pricing strategies of brands engaged in a pricing game. Each brand has a monopoly market (loyal consumers) and competes with others in a common market called brand switchers. In the case of a duopoly, it is shown that the behavior of the brand switchers characterizes the equilibrium behavior of the duopolists. This article focuses on two key comparative statics: namely , the depth of discounts away from a "regular" high price and the probability of giving a deal or the frequency of deals. How these properties vary with the size of the loyal markets and the behavior of the brand switching population is discussed. Copyright 1988 by the University of Chicago.
Stereo-vision based motion estimation of a humanoid robot for the ego-motion compensation by type-2 fuzzy sets

This paper addresses an efficient the vision based motion estimation method of a humanoid robot for the ego-motion compensation using type-2 fuzzy sets. A humanoid robot should have the ability to autonomously recognize its surroundings and to make right decisions under unknown environment. To enable a humanoid robot to do this, ego-motion compensation for a humanoid robot is mandatory. Therefore, we suggest the ego-motion estimation method so that the errors of the environment recognition caused by the ego-motion of a humanoid robot are eliminated. This method uses the disparity map obtained from the stereo-vision and can be divided into three parts - segmentation, feature extraction, estimation. In the segmentation part, a novel type-2 fuzzy sets based segmentation method to extract the objects is used. In the feature extraction module, features are extracted by the wavelet level-set transform. Moreover, least square ellipse approximation is used in the estimation part to calculate the displacement for the rotation and translation between image sequences. From the results of experiments, we can know that the proposed method can be applied to a humanoid robot effectively.
A Spectral Analysis of Building Cycles in Britain

In this paper are presented the results of the first phase of a project sponsored by the Economic and Social Research Council to analyse the incidence and causes of building cycles in Britain; five major sectors of construction are covered—private industrial, private commercial, private housing, public housing, and other public building. Spectral analysis, supplemented by turning point analysis, is used to identify the main postwar cycles in each sector, and to measure their relative phasing and severity, distinguishing short 4–5–year ‘demand cycles’ associated with the business cycles from longer ‘supply cycles’ of up to 9-years duration. As the different sectors of building are aggregated, these shorter cycles tend to be smoothed out, revealing a dominant postwar long swing in building activity. This is then compared with previous long swings in the pre-1914 and interwar periods, each of which is associated with successive waves of urbanisation in Britain since the mid-19th century.
Role of Toll-Like Receptor 4 on Osteoblast Metabolism and Function

Inflammation is a process whose main function is to fight against invading pathogens or foreign agents. Nonetheless, it is widely accepted that inflammation takes part in multiple processes in a physiological or pathophysiological context. Among these processes the inflammation has been closely related to bone metabolism. It is well-known that in systemic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis the inflammatory environment contributes to the reduction of the bone mineral density. This has been further evidenced in different animals models of osteoporosis where the deletion of key inflammatory molecules dramatically reduced the bone loss. On the contrary, it is also well-known that certain degree of inflammation is required to allow bone fractures healing. In fact, excessive use of anti-inflammatory drugs inhibits bone fracture consolidation. The innate immune responses (IIRs) contribute to the development and maintenance of the inflammation. These responses have been observed in cells of the musculoskeletal system. Chondrocytes and osteoblasts are equipped with the molecular repertoire necessary to setting up these IIR, including the expression of several toll-like receptors. Specifically, toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) activation in mesenchymal stem cells, osteoblasts, and osteocytes has been involved in catabolic and anabolic process. Accordingly, in this review we have summarized the current knowledge about the physiology of TLR4, including its signaling, and its endogenous agonists. In addition we have focused on its role on osteoblast metabolism and function.
One College of Education’s Effort to Infuse Technology

Abstract This article describes the process of one college of education’s transformation of three programs through a Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology grant. Courses in the elementary, secondary, and special education programs became laboratories for providing faculty members and teacher candidates with the philosophy, pedagogy, and skill set to reconsider teaching and learning. This research used mixed methods within the context of a case study. Results showed dramatic changes in faculty knowledge, professional use, and integration of technology into their courses and professional lives. Students gained some skills but primarily broadened their recognition of the potential for technology in their classes and became aware of larger social issues.
[Expression of microRNA 27a and its correlation with drug resistance in human ovarian cancer A2780/Taxol cells].

OBJECTIVE To investigate the expression of microRNA 27a (miR-27a) and relationship with drug resistance in human ovarian cancer A2780/Taxol cells. METHODS A stem-loop-mediated real-time PCR was used to detect miR-27a expression in A2780 and A2780/Taxol cells. The cells were transfected with the mimics or inhibitors of miR-27a or negative control RNA (NC) by lipofectamine 2000. The expressions of MDR1 gene, P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and homeodomain-interacting protein kinase 2 (HIPK2) protein levels were measured by real-time PCR and western blot respectively. Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay was used to analyze drug sensitivity. Apoptosis analysis was measured by fluorescence activated cell sorter (FACS). RESULTS (1) miR-27a was an average of 2.2-fold higher expression level in A2780/Taxol cells than that in A2780 cells, with a significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). (2) A2780/Taxol cells transfection with inhibitors of miR-27a showed that the levels of MDR1 mRNA was decreased by 39%, P-gp protein level [(26+/-5)%] decreased than that in the NC group [(43+/-7)%], HIPK2 protein level [(30+/-6)%] increased than that in the NC group [(19+/-4)%], the 50% inhibition concentration (0.5 micromol/L) was less than that in the NC group (6.8 micromol/L), apoptosis rate [(32.5+/-3.6)%] was higher than that in the NC group [(5.6+/-2.1)%], and there were significant differences between two groups (all P<0.05). (3) Transfection of A2780 cells with mimics of miR-27a led to increase MDR1 mRNA expression by 121% as compared with one transfection with NC (P<0.05). CONCLUSION The expression of miR-27a is upregulated in A2780/Taxol cells, which may regulate MDR1 and P-gp expression by targeting HIPK2.
Glycemic Variability among Older Adults with Type 2 Diabetes

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate Glycemic Variability (GV) among older adults with type 2 diabetes in a tertiary center (Putrajaya Hospital) using the Continuous Glucose Monitoring System (CGMS) and to compare the GV between patients with optimal versus suboptimal glycemic control. Research designs and methods: A total of 138 patients (69 with HbA1c<7% (53 mmol/mol) and another 69 with HbA1c ≥ 7% (53 mmol/mol) with type 2 diabetes age 65 and above were included in this study. All subjects underwent baseline clinical evaluation followed by monitoring using CGMS for six days. Data from CGMS was extracted to calculate GV using the Easy GV software available at www.easygv. co.uk. Results: The patients with HbA1c ≥ 7% (53 mmol/l) had significantly longer duration of diabetes, higher use of insulin, more micro-vascular complications, higher systolic blood pressure, higher fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The Mean Amplitude Glycemic Excursions (MAGE), Continuous Overlapping Net Glycemic Action (CONGA, Standard Deviation (SD), M-value, Average Daily Risk Ratio (ADDR), Lability Index (LI) , High Blood Glucose Index (HBGI), Mean of Daily Difference (MODD), Glycemic Risk Assessment in Diabetes Equation (GRADE) and Mean Absolute Glucose (MAG) were significantly higher in the group with HbA1c ≥ 7% (53 mmol/mol). The Low Blood Glucose Index (LBGI) [2.14(IQR 3.4) versus 2.11(2.6)] which represents risks of hypoglycemia was the only parameter which was not significantly different between both groups. Conclusions: We present the glycemic variability parameters for older adults with type 2 diabetes. Among this population, the risk of hypoglycemia is similar between those with optimal HbA1c versus their counterparts. This underscores the importance of looking out for hypoglycemia in every older individual with type 2 diabetes.
Improving Lives Through Better Government: Promoting Effective, Efficient, and Open Governments in Latin America and the Caribbean

Improving the effectiveness, efficiency, and openness of governments is essential to meet the key challenges that countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region face to improve service delivery to citizens. This Technical Note is meant to guide the work of the IDB's Institutional Capacity of theState Division in this area. In the literature, institutional quality and implementation capacity emerge as the key variables that underpin good government. Measurement is a central issue, as institutional quality cannot be assessed or improved without reliable indicators. While many challenges remain, the region is already adopting innovative approaches to public management, focusing particularly on the capacity of governments to manage information. In response to existing challenges and progresses, the IDB identifies three main strategic areas of action: (i) improving government effectiveness by strengthening the evidence base for policy making and enhancing the capacity of central agencies; (ii) enhancing efficiency in policy implementation by leveraging the adoption of innovative e-solutions and supporting civil service reforms; and (iii) fostering accountability and open government by strengthening accountability institutions, both internal and external, and promoting the adoption of targeted transparency policies.
Integration of additional information sources for improved alarm flood detection

The aim of alarm flood detection is the identification of similar, frequently occurring sequences of alarm messages in historical alarm data and uses the results for root cause analysis or alarm flood reduction. Various promising approaches for alarm data of automated production systems exist. However, due to the high amount of alarm messages transmitted by industrial alarm systems, floods are often interrupted by alarms stemming from different root causes, leading to non-relevant or invalid results of purely data-driven flood detection approaches. To improve the results of data-driven approaches, this paper suggests considering a process plant's hierarchy to divide historical alarm data into independent sub-datasets. For this reason, the paper discusses necessary plant information to explain a process plant's hierarchy and analyzes existing approaches to extract this hierarchy automatically from information sources. It then discusses whether existing approaches for alarm flood detection consider this hierarchy and how it could improve the approaches' results.
Assessing Safe and Independent Living in Vulnerable Older Adults: Perspectives of Professionals Who Conduct Home Assessments

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to describe social services and health professionals’ perceptions of vulnerability among older adults living in the community and to elicit how these professionals screen vulnerability in community and in-home settings. Methods: Focus group sessions were conducted and analyzed using standardized methods of qualitative analysis. Participants included social services and health professionals (n = 45) who routinely encounter vulnerable older adults. Results: Four themes characterized vulnerability: the inability to perform activities of daily living, lack of social support, sociodemographic factors, and neuropsychiatric conditions. When screening older adults, participants reported evaluating basic cognitive abilities, decision-making processes, and the capacity to adequately plan and safely perform everyday tasks. Participants stated that screening is best performed by an interdisciplinary team in the home setting and preferably on more than one occasion. Conclusions: Social services and health professionals in this study described routinely screening for vulnerability in community-living older adults using a multidomain approach. These professionals endorse the use of assessments that screen an older adult's cognitive and functional capacities for safe and independent living. Further research is needed that integrates routine screening for vulnerability by community social services professionals with the assessments and interventions conducted by primary care physicians.
Classroom Struggle? Market Oriented Education Reforms and their Impact on the Teacher Labour Process

The reforms introduced through the Education Reform Act 1988 have brought about a radical redistribution of authority in the school system. The reform process includes the introduction of competitive markets, the erosion of the democratic structures that previously underpinned the state school sector, and the centralization of power over both funding and educational issues. This article examines the impact of these changes on the teacher labour process, drawing from recent research in schools in England and from earlier research on schools in the USA. Teacher labour is being transformed in several ways; reduced autonomy, deskilling, work intensification, and increased labour flexibility are identified. Some consideration is given to teacher responses, noting the importance of trade union responses for this traditionally highly organised group of employees.
Effects of calcitonin gene-related peptide on synaptic acetylcholine receptor-channels in rat muscle fibres

Cultured myotubes and freshly dissociated muscle fibres from adult rats were exposed to calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and studied by patch-clamp recording during the peptide-induced maximal accumulation of cellular cyclic AMP (cAMP). Acetylcholine receptor- (AChR-) channel properties in myotubes were not modified by the presence of CGRP (10-7 M). The peptide, applied to the non-patched membrane, significantly increased the variance of the AChR-channel amplitude distribution at the synaptic region of muscle fibres, and three classes of AChR-channels were resolved immediately after peptide application. AChR-channels at extrasynaptic regions of fibres from denervated muscles were unaffected by CGRP. It is suggested that CGRP may regulate the synaptic AChR-channel conductance through second messenger systems.
Rate-distortion for correlated sources with partially separated encoders

We resolve some open problems concerning the encoding of a pair of correlated sources with respect to a fidelity criterion. Two encoders are used. One encoder observes only the output of the first source, while the other is supplied both with the second source output and with partial information about the first source at some predetermined rate. A general coding theorem is proved which established that {\cal S} \ast , a certain region defined in terms of "single-letter" information theoretic quantities, is an inner bound to the region of all attainable vectors of rates and distortions. For certain cases of interest the converse is proved, too, thereby establishing the rate-distortion region for these cases.
A General Class of Neural Network-GARCH Models for Financial Time Series Analysis

This paper introduces a general class of combined neural network-GARCH models suitable to financial time series analysis. We put special emphasis on designing a full model-building cycle for this class of models that includes all stages of econometric modelling (specification, estimation and evaluation). Based on the maximum likelihood theory, we device procedures for statistical inference in the framework of NN-GARCH models and thus offer the modeler the opportunity to test hypotheses of interest concerning both the mean and variance structure of the data-generating process. We examine various issues in the model-building cycle by means of a simulation study and an empirical application to the DAX Stock Index.
Diagnosis of lysosomal storage disorders: current techniques and future directions

Lysosomal storage disorders represent a group of over 45 distinct genetic diseases. The broad spectrum of clinical presentation of this group of disorders has led to the development of diagnostic protocols to facilitate their rapid and accurate diagnosis. However, with the development of new therapies, testing for many of these disorders now extends beyond diagnosis of affected individuals. The efficacy of many current and proposed therapies will rely heavily upon early detection and treatment prior to the onset of irreversible pathology. Newborn screening holds the promise of early detection. However, presymptomatic diagnosis raises a number of issues relating to patient management and treatment. Methods for prognoses and monitoring therapy in asymptomatic individuals will be required.
Unintended Social Consequences of Introducing Electoral Competition

Social scientists have long investigated the roles of citizens’ civic attitudes and associational life in democracies. Yet, it remains to be fully elucidated whether their attitudes and activities not only influence but also are influenced by the political process in democracies. To address this question, we estimate the socio-attitudinal impacts of introducing mayoral elections in post-democratization Indonesia, which started to take place in July 2005. Our identification strategy is to leverage a variation in the timing of the first election. By using a nationwide survey administered in 2006 before or after the first election, we show that citizens who had experienced the first election before the survey was administered were more likely to have pessimistic and non-social attitudes and negative views about their community. We argue that introducing electoral competition under a poor electoral administration may produce unintended negative social consequences, which may hinder the process of democratic consolidation.
Post-event Outcomes and the Post-modern Turn: The Olympics and Urban Transformations

Abstract The Olympics are analysed from an urban perspective as an event that has an impact on cities beyond sport. The focus of the paper is on post-event outcomes and particularly on Olympic-related facilities and how they are used once the Olympics are over. The 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics serves as the primary illustration of the processes described. The transformation of the urban order is discussed in terms of the post-modern turn and it is shown how the Olympics are affected by and contributes to the support of the shift toward leisure consumption as a dominant theme in the new urban symbolic economy. Issues such as place marketing, urban restructuring, urban regionalization, surveillance, and social exclusion are also related to post-Olympic outcomes.
Regimes: Nonparametric Identification and Forecasting

The practice of categorizing individual time periods with economic “regimes,” such as recession, depression, and expansion, is commonplace and has a strong influence on the return assumptions employed as inputs in asset allocation models. Unfortunately, methodologies used to determine whether a period belongs to a given regime vary in their effectiveness and can be inexact. In this article, the authors offer an alternative nonparametric approach that emphasizes current conditions rather than preset regime characteristics and draws on probabilities to reflect the reality that no two economic periods are identical.The authors also include case studies through which they illustrate and apply their recommendations.
The stock market's valuationof R&D externalities

R&D, particularly basic research, is generally considered as a public good. It provides positive externalities to other firms. This article investigates rival firms' stock-price responses to an increase in the R&D expenditures of a firm. Examining firms in the pharmaceutical industry, we found that the market valuations of some rival firms benefit from R&D externalities. Moreover, the cross-sectional analysis indicated that R&D-intensive firms benefit immensely from them. From this result, investors might assess that these firms have the full potential to absorb new R&D knowledge.
Economic Growth - Unemployment Nexus in South Africa: VECM Approach

This study analyses unemployment – economic growth relationships and tests for any long-run relationship for the period 1967Q1 to 2013Q4. Due to the dynamic nature of the inter-relationships, the error correction is performed in order to find the speed at which growth of gdp adjusts to shocks in employment/unemployment in South Africa. The quality properties of data used reveal that such data does not contain correlation and hence the variables are integrated of order zero. The Johansen cointegration test revealed about four cointegrating vectors, while the model identification showed the South African growth model can be uniquely identified. This was done by imposing restrictions on the estimated coefficients. The vector error correction (VECM) method was used to test for short-run dynamics and the results showed that about 62 percent of economic growth is corrected each quarter. These overall results show that there is a negative relationship between economic growth and unemployment in South Africa. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014. v5n20p79
Housing Prices in Australia: 1970 to 2003

There have been few reliable published data for housing prices in Australia (as in many other countries). In this paper we attempt to provide an authoritative account of prices for houses and apartments (units) in Australia from 1970 to 2003. Where possible we draw directly on data from land title offices or on studies that draw on these data. The first part of the paper describes the main data sources. The main body of the paper provides best estimates of median house and unit prices and real price indices in the capital cities and in the rest of Australia. We also estimate how improvements in housing quality have influenced real house prices over time. In summary we find that there have been strong national trends, especially in recent years, and that house and unit prices have moved in similar ways. There were significant housing price booms from 1971 to 1974, from 1979 to 1981, from 1987 to 1989, and from 1996 through to 2003. After each of the first three booms, real prices tended to fall. However, in the long run real price rises outstripped falls. Consequently, real house prices rose by about 180 per cent between 1970 and 2003. Allowing for hous ing improvements, real prices rose by more like about 100 per cent over this period. However, both estimates give an exaggerated view of real price increases if, as we expect, there is a real house price downturn post 2003.