Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
NEITHER FISH NOR FOWL: An Overview of the Big-Three Government-Sponsored Enterprises in the U.S. Housing Finance Markets

This paper provides an overview of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks—the “Big Three” government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs—in the U.S. housing finance markets. We begin with the history and evolution of these enterprises. Then we discuss how the GSEs’ congressional charters confer privileges on their operations and what those privileges might be worth. We conservatively estimate that the GSEs have tended to confer net benefits to U.S. housing markets generally, but that such benefits are uneven over time (and might prove be illusory with more detailed estimates). Moreover, since the GSEs are not fully responsive to market forces or to government control, such social benefits as they have conferred in the past can be erased in the future if their business plans and practices—including their willingness to accept more risk—do not pan out as the GSEs expect.
Assessment of Arsenic Contamination in Deep Groundwater Resources of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

This study was carried out to assess arsenic in deep groundwater resources in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal and to predict arsenic mobilization process in relation to iron, manganese, pH and ORP. Forty-one deep groundwater samples were collected during pre monsoon and post monsoon in 2013. The depths of the wells were ranged from 84 to 304 m. In pre monsoon and post monsoon, arsenic concentration in 17% and 26% of examined groundwater wells, respectively exceeded permissible World Health Organization (WHO) guideline value of 0.010 mg/L for drinking water. The concentrations of arsenic were in the range between < 0.003 to 0.137 mg/L. The study demonstrated elevated concentrations of iron and manganese in the groundwater. Arsenic is highly correlated with iron and manganese. The strong negative correlation between arsenic and ORP indicates that arsenic mobilization occurs under reducing condition. These distinct relationships indicate that arsenic release is considered to be affected by the reductive dissolution of Fe/Mn oxides in the groundwater. Arsenic has very weak negative correlation with pH suggesting less effect of pH on arsenic mobilization. Arsenic is not significantly correlated with the season which infers similar distribution of arsenic in both seasons. Arsenic varies spatially in groundwater of the valley showing high concentrations in central groundwater district.
10 Landscape Genomics in Livestock

Landscape genomics correlates genetic variation patterns with geographic variables to investigate how geographical and environmental characteristics affect the genetic structure of populations (Luikart et al., 2003; Joost et al., 2007; Holderegger & Wagner, 2008; Pariset et al., 2009; Shwartz et al., 2009). A field combining molecular markers, genetics and landscape structure was first described by Manel et al. (2003) and its definition evolved and changed in the following years (Storfer et al., 2007; Holderegger & Wagner, 2006).
Valuation of Personal Information

One key challenge in information privacy research is measuring personal privacy. In the information privacy literature, concern for privacy is often used as a proxy measure for privacy itself. Studies have shown that individuals’ stated privacy concerns do not necessarily match up to their actual behaviors. In this study, we develop a new experimental economics approach for valuing and measuring privacy in monetary terms. A composite function consisting of individuals’ identity, demographic and private information is developed for our valuation model. We propose a methodology, based on the generalized second,price (GSP) auction mechanis m, to elicit consumers’ valuation of their personal information. We have conducted an experiment using the GSP auction to acquire personal data, which are used to estimate the valuation model. The results of our study offer interesting insights, which help explain some theoretical observations found in prior studies and, more importantly, provide interesting ideas for privacy research design.
Consumer adoption of self-service technologies in retail banking: Is expert opinion supported by consumer research?

Due to deregulation, the New Zealand retail banking environment is characterized by change, especially in the area of self‐service technologies. The success of these technology projects has been mixed, and one must question whether or not the suppliers of these technologies have a true understanding of consumer needs. Draws a comparison between what the consumers see as being important influences in the adoption or non‐adoption of retail banking self‐service technologies; and what the suppliers of these technologies (i.e. banking and technology experts) perceive as being important influences in the consumer adoption or non‐adoption of self‐service retail banking technologies. To achieve this, a review was conducted of the literature relating to consumer surveys which investigated why consumers do or do not adopt the main self‐service technology in retail banking: automated telling machines. The themes from this review were identified. A Delphi study was then conducted with New Zealand′s leading experts in.
The Rise of RMB Funds in China and Their Challenges

The vision of the Asia Private Equity Institute is to be the premier research and knowledge hub for private equity and venture capital activities in the Asia Pacific region. According to Preqin, “Asia PE funds raised $62 billion in 2011, double the $31 billion raised in 2010. This 100% growth rate was approximately twice that of the global PE fund raising market, and Asia funds have now taken over Europe as the 2 largest fund-raising market after North America. ” Despite the surge in interest for private equity in Asia, most academic and practitioner research on private equity remains focused on US and Europe. As the first Asia-focused academic research centre on private equity and venture capital, APEI seeks to fill this knowledge gap.
Got1p and Sft2p: membrane proteins involved in traffic to the Golgi complex

Traffic through the yeast Golgi complex depends on a member of the syntaxin family of SNARE proteins, Sed5p, present in early Golgi cisternae. Sft2p is a non‐essential tetra‐spanning membrane protein, found mostly in the late Golgi, that can suppress some sed5 alleles. We screened for mutations that show synthetic lethality with sft2 and found one that affects a previously uncharacterized membrane protein, Got1p, as well as new alleles of sed5 and vps3. Got1p is an evolutionarily conserved non‐essential protein with a membrane topology similar to that of Sft2p. Immunofluorescence and subcellular fractionation indicate that it is present in early Golgi cisternae. got1 mutants, but not sft2 mutants, show a defect in an in vitro assay for ER–Golgi transport at a step after vesicle tethering to Golgi membranes. In vivo, inactivation of both Got1p and Sft2p results in phenotypes ascribable to a defect in endosome–Golgi traffic, while their complete removal results in an ER–Golgi transport defect. Thus the presence of either Got1p or Sft2p is required for vesicle fusion with the Golgi complex in vivo. We suggest that Got1p normally facilitates Sed5p‐dependent fusion events, while Sft2p performs a related function in the late Golgi.
Intellectual capital management in a South African retail company

The status of the measurement and interpretation of intangible assets within a retail company in South Africa, and more specifically the JD Group as a furniture retailer, was determined. Different aspects of intellectual capital, that is, human capital, structural capital and customer capital and the value that could be derived to aid companies in the retail industry, were investigated. The spectrum of intellectual capital management tools was investigated and four methods of measuring intellectual capital were identified. Scorecard models were identified as the most appropriate method to use in a retail company in South Africa based on the following characteristics: Monitoring of performance, reporting to stakeholders and uncovering of hidden value. The extent to which intangible assets contribute value, how this contribution can be measured through the use of intellectual capital management tools and what the status of such measurement is in retail companies were explored. Strategy-focused interventions within the intangible assets arena were investigated. These interventions focused on those areas that would contribute to the strategic alignment of leadership, culture and technology within a retail group's strategy.
Clonality analysis performed using human androgen receptor assay in a rare case of undifferentiated thymic carcinoma coexisting with type AB thymoma

We report a very rare case of combined thymic carcinomas: undifferentiated thymic carcinoma coexisting with type AB thymoma. The precise mechanism underlying the coexistence of these tumors remains unknown. Therefore, we used clonality analysis to ascertain whether the two tumors were clonally related. A 63‐year‐old woman with thyroid cancer visited our hospital. Chest computed tomography also revealed an anterior mediastinal tumor. The patient was treated with total thyroidectomy and surgery for mediastinal tumors together with left upper lobe partial resection. The mediastinal tumor was pathologically diagnosed as undifferentiated thymic carcinoma coexisting with type AB thymoma. Multiple pulmonary metastases were detected in the patient and stage IV disease was diagnosed. The tumor was treatment‐resistant, and the patient received fourth‐line chemotherapy. We conducted clonality analysis using an improved human androgen receptor gene‐amplification assay that involves random X‐chromosome inactivation through methylation, followed by methylated gene‐specific PCR amplification after sample DNA digestion with HpaII, a methylation‐sensitive restriction enzyme. Clonality analysis demonstrated identical X‐chromosome inactivation in cells present in both thymoma and thymic carcinoma areas, and thus revealed clonal proliferation. The two lesions in the patient might have arisen through the transformation of a preexisting thymoma into a more malignant lesion.
Cyclospora cayetanensis in two children living in the east of Turkey

Cyclospora cayetanensis is the origin of the diarrhea effect in normal patients and patients with immune insufficiency in all age groups. The contamination occurs directly, by faecal or liquid ways. Seven and eight-year-old two boys, came in the same week during July because of abdominal pain. In the direct parasite analysis of the two patients, Cyclospora cayetanensis has been observed by direct observation and in Ehrlich-Ziehl-Neelsen staining. These have been successfully cured with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. This organisms should be considered unexplained abdominal pain and diarrhea especially during the hot season.
Study on the Construction of Internal Service Recovery System

The service recovery include the exterior service recovery and the internal service recovery.Because the research of the exterior service recovery began early,so the theories of the exterior service recovery aiming to customer have always been the focus in the academic circles.In fact,the internal service recovery has been a necessary problem in the service marketing with the rising and developing of the internal marketing theories.Based on the analyzing to the basic concept of the service recovery,this paper explicited the connotation of internal service recovery then sat up the internal service recovery system.Thus it made a good useless to the practice of the internal service recovery.
Cross-subsidizing and Profit-making Equilibria in a Competitive Insurance Market with Asymmetric Information

We study market equilibria in a dynamic competitive insurance model with asymmetric information. The model extends the classic Rothschild-Stiglitz insurance model in the spirit of Wilson (1977) by introducing an additional stage in which initial contracts can be withdrawn after observation of competitor’s contract oers but before consumers choose their insurance contract. We show that an equilibrium always exists where consumers obtain their respective WilsonMiyazaki-Spence (WMS) contract, i.e. second-best eciency can be achieved for any share of high-risk types in the population. However, jointly profit-making contracts can also be sustained as equilibrium contracts.
Generalized frequency hopping OFDMA through unknown frequency-selective multipath channels

The generalized frequency hopping (GFH) OFDMA system developed in this paper permeates FH benefits to multicarrier CDMA transmissions through unknown frequency-selective multipath channels. No single user suffers from consistent fading effects and multiuser interference is eliminated by design. Constellation-irrespective channel identifiability is guaranteed, and a host of blind channel estimation algorithms are developed, trading off complexity with performance. An important variant corresponding to fast-hopping is also addressed. Performance analysis and simulation results illustrate the merits of GFH-OFDMA relative to conventional OFDMA and long code CDMA with RAKE reception.
Asymmetric Coding of Stereoscopic Video for Transmission Over T-DMB

In this paper, we present an efficient approach for the compression of stereoscopic video sequences. By extending an H.264/AVC-based multi-view video coding (MVC) codec as described in a previous paper to mixed-resolution imagery, i.e., to stereoscopic videos where the right-eye view had been spatially down-sampled in order to reduce the total amount of data to be encoded, we are able to combine the benefits of both disparity-compensated prediction (DCP) and asymmetric coding. By doing so, we expect to achieve very high compression gains without reducing the overall visual quality of the resulting three-dimensional (3D) percept.
Mechanisms of action and applications of probiotics for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infection

Clostridium difficile is a spore-forming Gram-positive anaerobic bacillus, and is the leading cause of nosocomial diarrhea and colitis in the industrialized world. The incidence and mortality rates of C. difficile infection (CDI) have increased dramatically in the past decade. CDI is difficult to treat as antibiotic options are limited. Moreover, 15-35% of patients infected with C. difficile relapse following antibiotic treatment, which limits the ability of the colonic flora to inhibit C. difficile colonization. In an effort to improve outcomes and reduce recurrences of CDI, interest has been renewed in the development of nonantibiotic and adjunct approaches to therapy. Among these, probiotics have been investigated for primary and secondary prophylaxis against CDI, with varying success. This review discusses the mechanisms by which probiotics interact with C. difficile and its toxins, evaluates experimental models and clinical trials for probiotic use in the prevention or treatment of CDI and provides a framework for future research directions.
Office buildings and the environment - the increasing role of facility managers

The Australian commercial stock emits 12% of all greenhouse gas emissions however the commercial property market has some inherent barriers to sustainability (DSE, 2005). A substantial proportion of the stock is owned by institutional investors who are unconvinced by the need to improve their stock and pass on running costs to tenants (Callender & Key, 1997). The links between the built environment and sustainability issues such as fossil fuel consumption and climate change is clear. In developed countries buildings contribute around half of all carbon dioxide emissions and offer considerable scope for a significant contribution to sustainability through ecologically aware design and increased energy efficiency (BRE, 1996). As capital values are not greatly affected by sustainability, owners react by doing little or nothing and the effect is to limit sustainability-related investment and undermine efforts to deliver sustainability in the sector. Facility managers are in an influential position to help address sustainability issues via an increased awareness of energy efficiency and CO2 emissions. Even though the efficiency of buildings is primarily focused on new stock, with an existing churn replacement rate of approximately 2-3% the existing stock must be improved if urban built environment greenhouse gas emissions are to be reduced – clearly the management of existing stock must therefore contribute to substantial savings in energy use. Much of the property and surveying research has previously adopted an illustrative case study approach advocating the benefits of ESD and energy efficiency in existing buildings. This research adopts a radically different approach and profiles the entire office stock of a global CBD, namely Melbourne, which is seeking to become a carbon neutral city by 2020 (City of Melbourne, 2003). The research also employs scenario forecasting to model future changes to the stock over a fifteen year period. This paper sets out the rationale for the research and establishes the methodological approach adopted by the research team. The results provides a unique insight into the variations between different building types and grades of office buildings, which in turn will allow facility managers to gain a better understanding of where gains in energy efficiency can be made.
Human and Rhesus APOBEC3D, APOBEC3F, APOBEC3G, and APOBEC3H Demonstrate a Conserved Capacity To Restrict Vif-Deficient HIV-1

ABSTRACT Successful intracellular pathogens must evade or neutralize the innate immune defenses of their host cells and render the cellular environment permissive for replication. For example, to replicate efficiently in CD4+ T lymphocytes, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) encodes a protein called viral infectivity factor (Vif) that promotes pathogenesis by triggering the degradation of the retrovirus restriction factor APOBEC3G. Other APOBEC3 proteins have been implicated in HIV-1 restriction, but the relevant repertoire remains ambiguous. Here we present the first comprehensive analysis of the complete, seven-member human and rhesus APOBEC3 families in HIV-1 restriction. In addition to APOBEC3G, we find that three other human APOBEC3 proteins, APOBEC3D, APOBEC3F, and APOBEC3H, are all potent HIV-1 restriction factors. These four proteins are expressed in CD4+ T lymphocytes, are packaged into and restrict Vif-deficient HIV-1 when stably expressed in T cells, mutate proviral DNA, and are counteracted by HIV-1 Vif. Furthermore, APOBEC3D, APOBEC3F, APOBEC3G, and APOBEC3H of the rhesus macaque also are packaged into and restrict Vif-deficient HIV-1 when stably expressed in T cells, and they are all neutralized by the simian immunodeficiency virus Vif protein. On the other hand, neither human nor rhesus APOBEC3A, APOBEC3B, nor APOBEC3C had a significant impact on HIV-1 replication. These data strongly implicate a combination of four APOBEC3 proteins—APOBEC3D, APOBEC3F, APOBEC3G, and APOBEC3H—in HIV-1 restriction.
Implementation of price-based demand response programs through a load pattern clustering process

This study addresses the problem of the optimal design of price-based Demand Response (DR) programs such as Real-Time Pricing (RTP) utilizing the load profiling tool. The proposed model corresponds to a profit maximization problem of a retailer that serves a group of residential consumers. Through a clustering process the consumers are grouped together in several clusters. For each cluster a dynamic tariff is offered that is specially design to fit to the typical load pattern of the cluster. The sensitivity of the demand over the offered selling price is modeled through a price responsive demand function. Apart from implementing different demand functions, the flexibility of the proposed model offers a selection of different clustering algorithms and different retailer pricing policy.
Predicting borderline personality disorder symptoms in adolescents from childhood physical and relational aggression, depression, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Abstract Developmental cascade models linking childhood physical and relational aggression with symptoms of depression and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; assessed at ages 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14) to borderline personality disorder (BPD) features (assessed at age 14) were examined in a community sample of 484 youth. Results indicated that, when controlling for within-time covariance and across-time stability in the examination of cross-lagged relations among study variables, BPD features at age 14 were predicted by childhood relational aggression and symptoms of depression for boys, and physical and relational aggression, symptoms of depression, and symptoms of ADHD for girls. Moreover, for boys BPD features were predicted from age 10 ADHD through age 12 depression, whereas for girls the pathway to elevated BPD features at age 14 was from depression at age 10 through physical aggression symptoms at age 12. Controlling for earlier associations among variables, we found that for girls the strongest predictor of BPD features at age 14 was physical aggression, whereas for boys all the risk indicators shared a similar predictive impact. This study adds to the growing literature showing that physical and relational aggression ought to be considered when examining early precursors of BPD features.
Selenium yeast.

Baker's yeast is able to assimilate carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur sources together with a great number of minerals and trace elements into a palatable, nutritious product. The metabolism of yeast is precisely controlled during the production growth phase and thus it is possible to determine the composition of the product by controlling the raw materials. Because of existing deficiencies in the availability of certain trace elements, mainly selenium, in Finnish diets, we started testing the possibilities for enriching yeast with this essential trace element about five years ago. We have succeeded in developing a special yeast product with a selenium concentration of 500 mg/kg dry matter. Selenium was expected, because of its structural similarity to sulphur, to replace sulphur in the biosynthetic reactions of the yeast cell. We have recently studied the incorporation and distribution of selenium in yeast with radioactive selenium (75Se). Analysis of the protein fraction of selenium yeast has shown that selenium is present in all the major soluble proteins. Selenomethionine was identified as the major selenium-containing compound in the protein fraction as well as in the whole cell.
Brand equity for online companies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine if the traditional approach to measuring brand equity applies to online companies.Design/methodology/approach – This objective is pursued by: developing a measurement model of brand equity for online businesses; and testing the nomological validity of the model using structural equation modelling.Findings – This study finds partial support for the application of the offline brand equity theoretical framework based on brand awareness, brand associations and loyalty for online companies. Brand loyalty and brand value associations directly create brand equity.Research limitations/implications – The study is cross‐sectional, the indicators or observable variables used in this study may not be deemed comprehensive enough, no interaction effects have been incorporated, and finally, the research study was based on a few online business retailers.Practical/implications – The results support the view that a consumer's perceived sense of value resulting from a tra.