Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Three Applications of Regression Discontinuity on Urban and Labor Economics

of "Three Applications of Regression Discontinuity on Urban and Labor Economics" by Zhichao Wei, Ph.D., Brown University, May 2012 My dissertation is to use the Regression Discontinuity method to study the topics in urban and labor economics. The first chapter evaluates the effects of China's second-wave, place-based povertyalleviation program. The results using regression discontinuity design show that the supported sector grew faster in the counties receiving aid compared to those counties not receiving aid. However, this aid also drove the local labor out of other production---especially non-farm activities---that played an increasingly important role in rural earnings. The paper suggests that the traditional place-based policy in China caused significant distortions and that a more efficient way of helping the lagging regions is needed. The second Chapter estimates the rate of return to a university degree using a regression discontinuity design allowed by a special feature of the University Admission System in China. The National College Entrance Examination has clear cutoffs for university entry. Our results show that the rates of return to 4year university education relative to 3-year college education are 40 and 60 per cent for the compliers in the male and female samples, respectively. The third Chapter sheds light on the literature about how the short-term adverse shock to a firm could affect an employee’s long term well being by exploring the effect of team relegation on team players in the England Premier League. In each football season, the three lowest ranked teams are relegated to a lower level league the following season. The fourth lowest ranked team is arguably similar to the team ranked the third last. Using a longitudinal team-player dataset, with a Differences-In-Differences approach, I find that team relegation has a negative effect on players in the short run but had a positive effect on players in the long run. I also find that players from the winning teams have fewer appearances than the players in the losing teams in the first few years after the relegation season, which indicates a channel of human capital accumulation.
Polarimetric Optimization of Temporal Sublook Coherence for DInSAR Applications

The application of differential synthetic aperture radar interferometry (DInSAR) techniques has been traditionally limited to the single-polarimetric case. The launch of satellites with polarimetric capabilities has triggered the synergy between polarimetric and interferometric algorithms, leading to a significant improvement in final DInSAR products. During the last years, the different polarimetric optimization techniques available have been successfully applied to the so-called classical phase quality estimators, i.e., the coherence and the amplitude dispersion estimators. In this context, a new estimator to evaluate the pixels' phase quality, referred to as temporal sublook coherence (TSC), has recently demonstrated to provide promising results in DInSAR applications. The nature of this estimator, which is based on exploiting the spectral properties of pointlike scatterers through the coherence evaluation of different sublooks of the image spectrum, allows its adaptation to the existing polarimetric optimization methods. This letter presents the benefits of extending the TSC estimator to work with fully polarimetric data. For this purpose, a fully polarimetric data set consisting of ten X-band ground-based SAR (GB-SAR) images is employed. The final DInSAR results obtained by means of TSC polarimetric optimization are compared with the ones obtained with its classical single-polarimetric approach, achieving up to more than a twofold increase in the pixels' density.
Genetic studies of autistic disorder and chromosome 7.

Genome-wide scans have suggested that a locus on 7q is involved in the etiology of autistic disorder (AD). We have identified an AD family in which three sibs inherited from their mother a paracentric inversion in the chromosome 7 candidate region (inv(7)(q22-q31.2)). Clinically, the two male sibs have AD, while the female sib has expressive language disorder. The mother carries the inversion, but does not express AD. Haplotype data on the family suggest that the chromosomal origin of the inversion was from the children's maternal grandfather. Based on these data, we have genotyped 76 multiplex (>/=2 AD affecteds/family) families for markers in this region of 7q. Two-point linkage analysis yielded a maximum heterogeneity lod score of 1.47 and maximum lod score (MLS) of 1.03 at D7S495. Multipoint MLS and NPL analyses resulted in peak scores of 1.77 at D7S2527 and 2.01 at D7S640. Examination of affected sibpairs revealed significant paternal (P = 0.007), but not maternal (P = 0. 75), identity-by-descent sharing at D7S640. Significant linkage disequilibrium was detected with paternal (P = 0.02), but not maternal (P = 0.15), transmissions at D7S1824 in multiplex and singleton families. There was also evidence for an increase in recombination in the region (D7S1817 to D7S1824) in the AD families versus non-AD families (P = 0.03, sex-averaged; and P = 0.01, sex-specific). These results provide further evidence for the presence of an AD locus on chromosome 7q, as well as provide evidence suggesting that this locus may be paternally expressed.
Gycine and GABA interact to regulate the nitric oxide/cGMP signaling pathway in the turtle retina

Nitric oxide (NO) is a free radical that is important in retinal signal transduction and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) is a critical downstream messenger of NO. The NO/cGMP signaling pathway has been shown to modulate neurotransmitter release and gap junction coupling in horizontal cells and amacrine cells, and increase the gain of the light response in photoreceptors. However, many of the mechanisms controlling the production of NO and cGMP remain unclear. Previous studies have shown activation of NO/cGMP production in response to stimulation with N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) or nicotine, and the differential modulation of cGMP production by GABAA and GABAC receptors (GABAARs and GABACRs). This study used cGMP immunocytochemistry and NO imaging to investigate how the inhibitory GABAergic and glycinergic systems modulate the production of NO and cGMP. Our data show that blocking glycine receptors (GLYR) with strychnine (STRY) produced moderate increases in cGMP-like immunoreactivity (cGMP-LI) in select types of amacrine and bipolar cells, and strong increases in NO-induced fluorescence (NO-IF). TPMPA, a selective GABACR antagonist, greatly reduced the increases in cGMP-LI stimulated by STRY, but did not influence the increase in NO-IF stimulated by STRY. Bicuculline (BIC), a GABAAR antagonist, however, enhanced the increases in both the cGMP-LI and NO-IF stimulated by STRY. CNQX, a selective antagonist for α-Amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazoleproprionic acid hydrobromide/kainic acid (AMPA/KA) receptors, eliminated both the increases in cGMP-LI and NO-IF stimulated by STRY, while MK801, a selective antagonist for NMDA receptors, slightly increased the cGMP-LI and slightly decreased the NO-IF stimulated by STRY. Finally, double labeling of NO-stimulated cGMP and either GLY or GABA indicated that cGMP predominantly colocalized with GLY. Taken together, these findings support the hypothesis that GLY and GABA interact in the regulation of the NO/cGMP signaling pathway, where GLY primarily inhibits NO production and GABA has a greater effect on cGMP production. Such interacting inhibitory pathways could shape the course of signal transduction of the NO/cGMP pathway under different physiological situations.
Performing Under Pressure: The Effects of Physiological Arousal, Cognitive Anxiety, and Gaze Control in Biathlon

The authors provide evidence that choking under pressure is associated with changes in visual attention. Ten elite biathlon shooters were tested under separate low-pressure (LP) and high-pressure (HP) conditions after exercising on a cycle ergometer at individually prescribed power output (PO) levels of 55%, 70%, 85%, and 100% of their maximum oxygen uptake. The authors determined difference scores by subtracting each athlete's score in the LP condition from his or her score in the HP condition for heart rate (d-HR), rate of perceived exertion (d-RPE), cognitive anxiety (d-CA), and cognitive worry (d-CW), and final fixation on the target or quiet eye gaze (d-QE). Using regression analysis, the authors determined predictors of accuracy for each HP PO level. At PO 55%, the authors found 3 predictors (d-HR, d-RPE, d-QE) that accounted for . 62 of the adjusted R 2 variance. Accuracy was higher when d-QE was lower and d-RPE and d-HR were higher than the values found in the LP condition. At PO 100%, however, an increase in d-QE and d-RPE accounted for . 58 of the adjusted R 2 variance. Accuracy was dependent on an increase in external focus (positive d-QE) independently of heart rate. At the highest PO level, directing visual attention externally to critical task information appeared to insulate the athletes from choking under HP.
Serous retinal detachment in patients with macular edema secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion.

PURPOSE The aim of the present study was to evaluate visual acuity (VA) and central macular thickness (CMT) to assess the influence of serous retinal detachment (SRD) in eyes with macular edema (ME) secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). METHODS Sixty-one eyes with BRVO from 61 patients with ME were analyzed and divided into two groups according to the spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) findings of SRD and cystoid macular edema (CME). All patients underwent complete ophthalmic examinations and OCT measurements (Cirrus, Carl Zeiss Meditec Inc, Dublin, CA). Patients with marked retinal hemorrhage, diabetic retinopathy, previous laser photocoagulation, and/or intravitreal injection were excluded. RESULTS The mean age of included patients (37 males, 24 females) was 65.4 ± 11.4 (53-77) years. There were 21 patients with SRD and 40 patients with CME. All of the 21 patients with SRD had CME. VA was significantly worse in the SRD group compared with the CME (non-SRD) group (0.82 ± 0.34 logMAR vs 0.64 ± 0.38 logMAR; P=0.005). Conversely, CMT was significantly greater in the SRD group than in the CME group (465 ± 115 µ vs 387 ± 85 µ; P=0.00004). CONCLUSION SRD may be associated with decreased VA. The prognosis of patients with BRVO and SRD requires further investigation.
Humeral hemiarthroplasty with biologic resurfacing of the glenoid for glenohumeral arthritis. Two to fifteen-year outcomes.

BACKGROUND Biologic glenoid resurfacing was developed in 1988 as an alternative to total shoulder arthroplasty in selected (usually younger) patients with primary, posttraumatic, or postreconstructive glenohumeral arthritis. A variety of biologic surfaces, including anterior capsule, autogenous fascia lata, and Achilles tendon allograft, have been combined with a humeral hemiarthroplasty. METHODS From November 1988 to November 2003, thirty-four patients (thirty-six shoulders) who were managed with biologic glenoid resurfacing and humeral head replacement either with cement (ten shoulders) or without cement (twenty-six shoulders) were followed prospectively. The study group included thirty men and four women with an average age of fifty-one years. The diagnoses included primary glenohumeral osteoarthritis (eighteen shoulders), postreconstructive arthritis (twelve), posttraumatic arthritis (five), and osteonecrosis (one). Anterior capsule was used for seven shoulders, autogenous fascia lata for eleven, and Achilles tendon allograft for eighteen. All shoulders were assessed clinically and with serial radiographs. RESULTS The mean American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score was 39 points preoperatively and 91 points at the time of the most recent follow-up. According to Neer's criteria, the result was excellent for eighteen shoulders, satisfactory for thirteen, and unsatisfactory for five. Glenoid erosion averaged 7.2 mm and appeared to stabilize at five years. There were no revisions for humeral component loosening. Complications included infection (two patients), instability (three patients), brachial plexitis (one patient), and deep-vein thrombosis (one patient). Factors that appeared to be associated with unsatisfactory results were the use of capsular tissue as the resurfacing material and infection. CONCLUSIONS Biologic resurfacing of the glenoid can provide pain relief similar to total shoulder arthroplasty. It allows selected younger patients to maintain an active lifestyle, including weight-lifting and manual work, without the risk of polyethylene wear. On the basis of this and previous reviews, we currently recommend Achilles tendon allograft as the preferred resurfacing material when this option is chosen. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions to Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Country-level determinants and consequences of overconfidence in the ambitious entrepreneurship segment

Countries vary widely and systematically in the extent to which the ambitions of their entrepreneurs differ from their realisations. We label this discrepancy entrepreneurial overconfidence (EOC). Although a certain level of EOC may be beneficial for an economy, we provide empirical support for the argument that if entrepreneurial ambitions substantially and systematically exceed realisations, this may be at the cost of economic and societal prosperity. Therefore, we need to know more about country levels of EOC and their determinants, particularly with respect to the growth-oriented segment of entrepreneurship. Combining data on entrepreneurial ambitions from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and data on realisations from Eurostat, we construct a measure of EOC at the country level and correlate its variation across 23 European Union (EU) countries over the period 2004–2015 with a set of economic and cultural factors. Among other findings, our results show that ambitions exceed realisations in almost all countries, but that this discrepancy is significantly greater for new member countries entering the EU since 2004. Policy implications of our results are discussed, particularly for promoting ambitious entrepreneurship in countries at the intermediate development stage.
Systemic hemodynamics, gastric intramucosal Pco2 changes, and outcome in critically ill burn patients

Objectives To define the hemodynamic and gastric intramucosal Pco2 (Pico2) changes during the first 48 hrs after burn trauma and to analyze their relationship with outcome. Design Prospective, observational study in a cohort of consecutively admitted critically ill burn patients. Setting Intensive care burn unit in a university hospital. Patients Forty-two patients with burns covering >20% of body surface area or inhalation injury. Interventions None. Measurements and Main Results Patients were monitored with an oximetric pulmonary arterial catheter and a gastric tonometer to measure Pico2. The difference between arterial and gastric mucosal Pco2 (P[i-a]co2) was considered indicative of gastric mucosal hypoxia. Hemodynamic and Pico2 measurements were performed during the first 48 hrs after admission. Patients suffered burns covering 36.1% ± 14.3% (mean ± sd) and 45.3% ± 21.9% of body surface area (survivors and nonsurvivors, respectively). All patients were successfully resuscitated by conventional standards. Nonsurvivors (n = 16) died a median of 17 days after admission. In univariate analysis, the presence of shock during the resuscitation phase, age, mixed venous pH, P[i-a]co2, right atrial pressure, pulmonary arterial pressure, pulmonary arterial occlusion pressure, cardiac index, systemic and pulmonary vascular resistance, left ventricular stroke work index, mixed venous oxygen saturation, and systemic oxygen delivery, consumption, and extraction ratio, measured over the first 12 hrs after admission, were significantly (p < .05) different between survivors and nonsurvivors. These differences disappeared after 12 hrs after admission. Multivariate analysis identified age, percentage body surface area burned, and oxygen delivery index (6 hrs after admission) as factors independently associated with a poor outcome. P[i-a]co2 (12 hrs after admission) was significantly greater in patients with than in those without inhalation injury (17 ± 13 torr [2.26 ± 1.73 kPa] vs. 6 ± 10 torr [0.79 ± 1.33 kPa];p = .005). Patients with a P[i-a]co2 difference (6 hrs after admission) ≥10 torr (1.33 kPa) had a mortality rate of 56% vs. 25% of those patients with <10 torr (p = .044). Conclusions Our data indicate that there are hemodynamic and biochemical changes that occur early after burn trauma that are associated with prognosis after an apparently successful resuscitation. Particularly, a hemodynamic profile characterized by systemic acidosis, low systemic blood flow, and systemic and pulmonary vasoconstriction early after trauma is associated with a poor outcome. Additionally, intestinal mucosal acidosis occurs after burn trauma, is influenced by inhalation injury, and is a variable related to outcome.
Deterministic/probabilistic contingency evaluation in composite generation and transmission systems

Deterministic criteria and techniques have been developed and applied in power system planning and operation over many decades. Their essential weakness is that they cannot account for the stochastic nature of system behavior, of customer demands, or of component failures. The deterministic criterion usually applied in a composite system is designated as the (n-1) criterion. Application of the (n-1) criterion does not provide information on the actual impacts of the different contingencies on the load point and system reliability. Probability techniques are now highly developed, but they have been used mainly in the planning and operation of generating capacity. There is relatively little utilization in the planning and operation of composite generation and transmission systems. This paper examines the impacts of different single contingencies on the composite system reliability of two test systems using probability techniques. The approach presented provides valuable information for system planning. This information cannot be obtained using deterministic techniques.
Clinical Complexity and Use of Antipsychotics and Restraints in Long-Term Care Residents with Parkinson's Disease.

BACKGROUND Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and/or Parkinsonism are affected by a complex burden of comorbidity. Many ultimately require institutional care, where they may be subject to the application of physical restraints or the prescription of antipsychotic medications, making them more vulnerable to adverse outcomes. OBJECTIVES The objectives of this paper are to: 1) describe the clinical complexity of older institutionalized persons with PD; and 2) examine patterns and predictors of restraint use and prescription of antipsychotics in this population. METHODS Population-based cross-sectional cohort study. Residents with PD and/or Parkinsonism living in long-term care (LTC) facilities in 6 Canadian provinces and 1 Northern Territory and Complex Continuing Care (CCC) facilities in Manitoba and Ontario, Canada. The RAI MDS 2.0 instrument was used to assess all LTC residents and CCC residents. Clinical characteristics and the prevalence of major comorbidities were examined. Multivariate modeling was used to identify the characteristics of PD residents most associated with the prescription of antipsychotics and the use of restraints in LTC and CCC facilities. RESULTS Residents with PD in LTC and CCC exhibit a high prevalence of dementia, major psychiatric disorders, stroke, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes mellitus. More than 90% of LTC and CCC residents with PD had cognitive impairment; with more than half having moderate to severe impairment. Residents with PD were more likely to receive antipsychotics than those without PD. Antipsychotic use was associated with psychosis and aggressive behaviours, but also with unsteady gait and higher comorbidity and medication count. Similarly, although more common in CCC than LTC facilities, both psychosis and aggressive behaviours were associated with restraint use, as was greater cognitive and functional impairment, and urinary incontinence. Younger age, male gender, and lower physician access were all associated with greater antipsychotic and restraint use. CONCLUSIONS LTC and CCC residents with PD are very complex medically. Use of antipsychotics and restraints is common, and their use is often associated with factors other than psychosis or aggression.
The Prosody of the Czech Discourse Marker ‘Jasně': An Analysis of Forms and Functions

Abstract Words like yeah, okay and (al)right are fairly unspecific in their lexical semantics, and not least for this reason there is a general tendency for them to occur with highly varied and expressive prosodic patterns across languages. Here we examine in depth the prosodic forms that express eight pragmatic functions of the Czech discourse marker jasně, including resignation, reassurance, surprise, indifference or impatience. Using a collection of 172 tokens from a corpus of scripted dialogues by 30 native speakers, we performed acoustic analyses, applied classification algorithms and solicited judgments from native listeners in a perceptual experiment. There appeared to be multi-parametric differences between jasně realizations in terms of their F0, timing and intensity patterns, which gave rise to generally consistent form-function mappings. For example, resignation seems to be realized with a falling intonation contour, relatively slow tempo, long wordinitial consonant and a short word-final vowel. Although the most significant prosodic parameters used for clustering analysis involved segment durations, all pragmatic functions were expressed by patterns of multiple features.
Specification of embryonic axis and mosaic development in ascidians

Setting up future body axes is the first important event before and at the beginning of embryogenesis. The ascidian embryo is a classic model that has been used to gain insight into developmental processes for over a century. This review summarizes advances made in this decade in our understanding of the developmental processes involved in the specification of the embryonic axes and cell fates during early ascidian embryogenesis. Maternal factors, including mRNAs, are translocated to specific regions of the egg by cytoplasmic and cortical reorganization, so‐called ooplasmic segregation, and specify the animal–vegetal axis and the one perpendicular to it, which is defined as the anteroposterior axis in ascidians. Some postplasmic/PEM RNAs that are anchored to cortical endoplasmic reticulum are brought to the future posterior pole of fertilized eggs, and play crucial roles in posterior development. Following specification of the animal–vegetal axis, nuclear localization of β‐catenin takes place in the vegetal blastomeres; this occurrence is important for the acquisition of the vegetal character of the blastomeres in later development. Positioning of these maternal factors lead to subsequent cell interactions and zygotic gene expression responsible for axis establishment and for cell fate specification. We describe how endoderm blastomeres in the vegetal pole region emanate inductive signals mainly attributable to fibroblast growth factor. Marginal blastomeres next to endoderm blastomeres respond differently in ways that are determined by intrinsic competence factors. Expression patterns of developmentally important genes, including key transcription factors of each tissue type, are also summarized. Developmental Dynamics 233:1177–1193, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.