Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Essays on Household Credit Markets and Business Cycles

What is the role of household credit markets in the business cycle? Do credit market conditions and household debt positions amplify fluctuations in employment and output, or are they passive reflections of the state of the real economy? Should public policy intervene in credit markets when household leverage grows rapidly, or are credit market outcomes efficient from a macroeconomic perspective? This collection of essays empirically investigates the interplay between household credit markets and the real economy. Chapter 1, co-authored with Győző Gyöngyösi, examines the household debtdeflation channel of recessions. The chapter isolates the effect of a sudden increase in real household debt burdens by exploiting variation across individuals and regions in exposure to foreign currency debt during the Hungarian currency crisis of 2008. The sudden revaluation of household debt burdens caused by the exchange rate depreciation translates into an increase in default rates, a collapse in consumption, and a significantly worse local recession. The chapter presents evidence of negative spillover effects on local firms and households that did not borrow in foreign currency, consistent with negative financial externalities of debt financing. Chapter 2, co-authored with Atif Mian and Amir Sufi, analyzes the consequences of household credit expansions using panel data for 30 mostly advanced economies over the past 40 years. Expansions in household credit are associated with a boom and subsequent reversal in output. The chapter argues that credit supply shocks play an important role in instigating increases in credit, while macroeconomic frictions translate debt-induced declines in spending into declines in output. Chapter 3, co-authored with Atif Mian and Amir Sufi, investigates how credit supply expansions affect the real economy. The chapter develops a new methodology for distinguishing whether credit expansions operate by increasing production capacity or by boosting aggregate demand. The chapter then explores these channels in the iii context of two natural experiments for credit supply expansion: banking deregulation in the United States during the 1980s and the introduction of the euro in the 2000s. Evidence from these episodes suggests that credit expansions tend to influence real activity primarily by raising aggregate demand.
Glucocorticoid Receptor Recruitment of Histone Deacetylase 2 Inhibits Interleukin-1β-Induced Histone H4 Acetylation on Lysines 8 and 12

ABSTRACT We have investigated the ability of dexamethasone to regulate interleukin-1β (IL-1β)-induced gene expression, histone acetyltransferase (HAT) and histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity. Low concentrations of dexamethasone (10−10 M) repress IL-1β-stimulated granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) expression and fail to stimulate secretory leukocyte proteinase inhibitor expression. Dexamethasone (10−7 M) and IL-1β (1 ng/ml) both stimulated HAT activity but showed a different pattern of histone H4 acetylation. Dexamethasone targeted lysines K5 and K16, whereas IL-1β targeted K8 and K12. Low concentrations of dexamethasone (10−10 M), which do not transactivate, repressed IL-1β-stimulated K8 and K12 acetylation. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation assays, we show that dexamethasone inhibits IL-1β-enhanced acetylated K8-associated GM-CSF promoter enrichment in a concentration-dependent manner. Neither IL-1β nor dexamethasone elicited any GM-CSF promoter association at acetylated K5 residues. Furthermore, we show that GR acts both as a direct inhibitor of CREB binding protein (CBP)-associated HAT activity and also by recruiting HDAC2 to the p65-CBP HAT complex. This action does not involve de novo synthesis of HDAC protein or altered expression of CBP or p300/CBP-associated factor. This mechanism for glucocorticoid repression is novel and establishes that inhibition of histone acetylation is an additional level of control of inflammatory gene expression. This further suggests that pharmacological manipulation of of specific histone acetylation status is a potentially useful approach for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.
Development of stimulus selectivity and functional organization in the suprasylvian visual cortex of the cat

We have recorded from single neurons in the medial bank of the middle suprasylvian sulcus (PMLS) of anaesthetized and paralysed cats aged between nine days and eight weeks. Visual responses were assessed qualitatively, by using conventional projected stimuli, and quantitatively for drifting, high-contrast gratings of optimum spatial and temporal frequencies, but varying in orientation and direction of drift. At 9 days of age, some cells in the PMLS were spontaneously active but in three long penetrations only one visually responsive neuron was isolated. Between 9 and 15 days there was a rapid increase in the proportion of responsive units, which first appeared in small clusters in the lower layers (IV, V, VI). During the second and third postnatal weeks, spontaneous activity and the strength of visual responses increased to adult levels, and the proportion of cells showing rapid habituation to visual stimulation decreased. Even before two weeks of age, at least 85% of responsive cells in the PMLS were selective, by quantitative criteria, for image motion along one particular axis, and a majority of these were clearly direction-selective (responding to movement in one direction significantly more strongly than to that in the opposite). By the end of the third postnatal week the proportion of units with strong direction preference reached adult levels. The selective cells were initially more broadly ‘tuned’, on average, for the direction of motion of a grating (mean half-width in animals of 10–12 days was 32.6°), but the sharpness of tuning improved to reach the adult level (ca. 23°) during the third postnatal week. In animals younger than three weeks a slightly smaller proportion of cells than in adults (but always more than one third of all visually responsive cells) responded to stationary, contrast-modulated gratings. The majority of these cells showed clear selectivity for the orientation of a flashed grating. A few ‘non-selective’ cells were found in the youngest animals but by the end of the third postnatal week virtually all cells responsive to stationary gratings displayed orientation selectivity. There was always good agreement between the preferred orientations for stationary and drifting gratings. Even before two weeks of age, when responsive cells occurred only in small clusters, there was a clear tendency for neighbouring neurons to have similar or opposite preferred directions, just as in adult cats. By 2–3 weeks of age there were clear progressive shifts in stimulus preference along oblique or tangential tracks. Thus elements of the orderly representation of stimulus orientation or axis of motion, seen in the adult cat, appear to be present from the time of eye-opening.
Correlation between Mouse Potency and In Vitro Relative Potency for Human Papillomavirus Type 16 Virus-Like Particles and Gardasil® Vaccine Samples

An in vitro relative potency (IVRP) assay has been developed as an alternative to the mouse potency assay used to release Merck’s human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, Gardasil®, for early phase clinical trials. The mouse potency assay is a classical, in vivo assay, which requires 4-6 weeks to complete and exhibits variability on the order of 40% relative standard deviation (RSD). The IVRP assay is a sandwich-type immunoassay that is used to measure relative antigenicity of the vaccine product. The IVRP assay can be completed in three days, has a variability of approximately 10% RSD and does not require the sacrifice of live animals. Because antigen detection is achieved using H16.V5, a neutralizing monoclonal antibody, which binds to a clinically-relevant epitope, the relative antigenicity measured by the IVRP assay is believed to be a good predictor of in vivo potency. In this study, the relationship between immunogenicity, as measured by the mouse potency assay and antigenicity as measured by the IVRP assay, is demonstrated. Freshly manufactured and aged samples produced using two different manufacturing processes were tested using both methods. The results demonstrate that there is an inverse correlation between the IVRP and mouse potency assays. Additionally, clinical results indicate IVRP is predictive of human immunogenicity. Thus, antigenicity, as defined by the H16.V5 epitope, can be used as a surrogate for immunogenicity and the IVRP assay is suitable for use as the sole potency test for Gardasil samples.
Effects of Deletion or Stringent Repression of the H3L Envelope Gene on Vaccinia Virus Replication

ABSTRACT The C-terminal membrane anchor protein encoded by the H3L open reading frame of vaccinia virus is located on the surfaces of intracellular mature virions. To investigate the role of the H3L protein, we constructed deletion (vH3Δ) and inducible (vH3i) null mutants. The H3L protein was not detected in lysates of cells infected with vH3Δ or vH3i in the absence of inducer. Under these conditions, plaques were small and round instead of large and comet shaped, indicative of decreased virus replication or cell-to-cell spread. The mutant phenotype was correlated with reduced yields of infectious intra- and extracellular virus in one-step growth experiments. The defect in vH3i replication could not be attributed to a role of the H3L protein in virus binding, internalization, or any event prior to late gene expression. Electron microscopic examination of cells infected with vH3Δ or vH3i in the absence of inducer revealed that virion assembly was impaired, resulting in a high ratio of immature to mature virus forms with an accumulation of crescent membranes adjacent to granular material and DNA crystalloids. The absence of the H3L protein did not impair the membrane localization of virion surface proteins encoded by the A27L, D8L, and L1R genes. The wrapping of virions and actin tail formation were not specifically blocked, but there was an apparent defect in low-pH-mediated syncytium formation that could be attributed to decreased virus particle production. The phenotypes of the H3L deletion and repression mutants were identical to each other but differed from those produced by null mutations of genes encoding other vaccinia virus membrane components.
3D Rotational Angiography: The New Gold Standard in the Detection of Additional Intracranial Aneurysms

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: During surgery of symptomatic aneurysms, additional small angiographic occult aneurysms are commonly found. With 3D rotational angiography (3DRA) small aneurysms are more easily depicted than with digital subtraction angiography (DSA). In this study we compare 3DRA with DSA in the depiction of small additional aneurysms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three hundred fifty 3D datasets of 1 vascular tree of 350 patients with at least 1 intracranial aneurysm on the dataset were re-evaluated for the presence of additional aneurysms by 2 observers in consensus. Two other observers, blinded to the 3D images, re-evaluated DSA images of the same 350 vascular trees for these additional aneurysms. Results were compared. RESULTS: In 350 3D datasets, 350 target aneurysms and 94 additional aneurysms were detected. The mean size of 94 additional aneurysms was 3.54 mm (median, 3; range, 0.5–17 mm). The proportion of aneurysms ≤3 mm was significantly higher in additional aneurysms (61 of 94, 65%) than in the target aneurysms (61 of 350, 17%) (χ2, P < .0001). Of 94 additional aneurysms, 27 (29%) were missed on DSA by both observers. The mean size of the missed aneurysms was 1.94 mm (median, 2; range, 0.5–4 mm). The proportion of aneurysms ≤3 mm in missed additional aneurysms (26 of 27, 96%) was significantly higher than that in all additional aneurysms (61 of 94, 65%) (χ2, P = .0035). The location of missed additional aneurysms was not different from the location of all additional aneurysms. CONCLUSION: 3DRA depicts considerably more small (≤3 mm) additional aneurysms than DSA. In selected patients, accurate detection of these aneurysms may have consequences for the choice of treatment technique and for the frequency and duration of imaging follow-up.
Progress in perpendicular drive integration

Perpendicular recording is considered to have the potential to replace longitudinal recording when it runs out of steam. There has been renewed interest in the study of perpendicular recording systems. Our work focuses on the complete drive integration using perpendicular recording technology. Various aspects of drive integration activities are discussed, with emphasis on phenomena that are unique to perpendicular drive integration.
Diversification of the insulin receptor family in the helminth parasite Schistosoma mansoni

Insulin signalling is a very ancient and well conserved pathway in metazoan cells, dependent on insulin receptors (IR) which are transmembrane proteins with tyrosine kinase activity. A unique IR is usually present in invertebrates whereas two IR members are found with different functions in vertebrates. This work demonstrates the existence of two distinct IR homologs (SmIR‐1 and SmIR‐2) in the parasite trematode Schistosoma mansoni. These two receptors display differences in several structural motifs essential for signalling and are differentially expressed in parasite tissues, suggesting that they could have distinct functions. The gene organization of SmIR‐1 and SmIR‐2 is similar to that of the human IR and to that of the IR homolog from Echinococcus multilocularis (EmIR), another parasitic platyhelminth. SmIR‐1 and SmIR‐2 were shown to interact with human pro‐insulin but not with pro‐insulin‐like growth factor‐1 in two‐hybrid assays. Phylogenetic results indicated that SmIR‐2 and EmIR might be functional orthologs whereas SmIR‐1 would have emerged to fulfil specific functions in schistosomes.
Reduction of mortality, morbidity, and respiratory distress syndrome in infants weighing less than 1,000 grams by treatment with betamethasone and ritodrine.

The efficacy of betamethasone has been questioned in infants of less than 28 week's gestation. From January 1983 to June 1986, 86 infants weighing 600 to 1,000 g were born at our center. Control of labor was attempted with ritodrine in all patients with less than or equal to 5 cm cervical dilation. If control were obtained, betamethasone was given 30 minutes later. Significant differences were found between the 33 infants born after 24 hours of betamethasone and those delivered before in terms of survival 90.1% v 56.6% (P = .001), respiratory distress syndrome 27.2% v 73.6% (P = .0001), and need for intermittent positive pressure ventilation 42.4% v 81.1% (P = .0005). The average hospital stay for beta-treated infants was 82 days v 99 days for nontreated infants. The average exposure to O2 after betamethasone was 12.7 days v 20.2 days, (P = .01), although need for intermittent positive pressure ventilation was similar (23 days) in the two groups. In infants who survived greater than 48 hours, the incidence of patent ductus arteriosus in the beta-group was 18.8% (6/32) v 44.4% (16/36) in the nontreated group (P = .04). Our data suggest that in infants weighing less than 1,000 g, control of labor with ritodrine for a minimum of 24 hours and administration of betamethasone can reduce significantly not only the incidence of respiratory distress syndrome but also mortality and morbidity.
On Psychoacoustically Weighted Cost Functions Towards Resource-Efficient Deep Neural Networks for Speech Denoising

We present a psychoacoustically enhanced cost function to balance network complexity and perceptual performance of deep neural networks for speech denoising. While training the network, we utilize perceptual weights added to the ordinary mean-squared error to emphasize contribution from frequency bins which are most audible while ignoring error from inaudible bins. To generate the weights, we employ psychoacoustic models to compute the global masking threshold from the clean speech spectra. We then evaluate the speech denoising performance of our perceptually guided neural network by using both objective and perceptual sound quality metrics, testing on various network structures ranging from shallow and narrow ones to deep and wide ones. The experimental results showcase our method as a valid approach for infusing perceptual significance to deep neural network operations. In particular, the more perceptually sensible enhancement in performance seen by simple neural network topologies proves that the proposed method can lead to resource-efficient speech denoising implementations in small devices without degrading the perceived signal fidelity.
An early Miocene deep‐water decapod crustacean faunule from the Slovenian part of the Styrian Basin, and its palaeoenvironmental and palaeobiogeographical significance

A new decapod crustacean faunule is described from the early Miocene of the Slovenian part of the Styrian Basin. The Ivnik Beds exposed at the Činžat locality contain seven species: Calliax michelottii (Axiidea: Callianassidae), Lepidophthalmus paratethyensis sp. nov. (Axiidea: Callianassidae), Jaxea kuemeli (Gebiidea: Laomediidae), Styrioplax exiguus (Brachyura: Chasmocarcinidae), Goneplax gulderi (Brachyura: Goneplacidae), Neopilumnoplax pohorjensis sp. nov. (Brachyura: Mathildellidae) and Retropluma slovenica sp. nov. (Brachyura: Retroplumidae). Numerous specimens of well‐preserved Styrioplax exiguus permitted its redescription and re‐assignment of its familial placement to Chasmocarcinidae. Neopilumnoplax pohorjensis sp. nov. constitutes the first fossil occurrence of the genus known to date. The decapod association, as well as other faunal elements, suggests low‐energy deep‐water depositional environment with epibathyal water depth of more than 125 m. The studied locality is situated in the Ribnica–Selnica graben filled with sediments once deposited in the Central Paratethys sea. Based on the affinities of decapod genera of the Central Paratethys and the Proto‐Mediterranean, we conclude that the exchange of decapod faunas between these regions was probably regulated by an anti‐estuarine circulation permitting an easier incursion of species from the Proto‐Mediterranean into the Paratethys and simultaneous hindering the Paratethyan endemics (Styrioplax) from entering the Mediterranean.
Primary care satisfaction among adults with physical disabilities: the role of patient-provider communication.

OBJECTIVES To determine overall satisfaction with primary care among people with cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, and spinal cord injury, and to identify potential differences in primary care satisfaction between managed care (MC) and fee-for-service (FFS) enrollees with these physical disabilities. PARTICIPANTS The sample consisted of 195 people with cerebral palsy (CP), multiple sclerosis (MS), and spinal cord injury (SCI), between the ages of 18 and 65 who had received primary care services in the six months prior to the survey. MEASUREMENTS Satisfaction with various aspects of primary care were assessed using a 10-item self-report measure. Respondents were compared with regard to service satisfaction based on disability and insurance type (MC vs. FFS). Satisfaction items were summed up to produce an unweighted index of overall satisfaction. In the analysis we used non-parametric statistics, such as Kruskal-Wallis One Way ANOVA and Mann-Whitney Rank tests. Post hoc alpha corrections were performed using the Holms Stepdown Procedure. CONCLUSIONS The lack of disability-specific knowledge among primary care providers is consistent with findings of other studies. People with physical disabilities in managed care plans are less satisfied with how their providers communicate with them, relative to those in FFS plans. Poor patient-provider communication may place individuals with certain physical disabilities at risk for not receiving appropriate care.
Failure To Open the Blood-Brain Barrier and Deliver Immune Effectors to Central Nervous System Tissues Leads to the Lethal Outcome of Silver-Haired Bat Rabies Virus Infection

ABSTRACT Rabies is a lethal disease caused by neurotropic viruses that are endemic in nature. When exposure to a potentially rabid animal is recognized, prompt administration of virus-neutralizing antibodies, together with active immunization, can prevent development of the disease. However, once the nonspecific clinical symptoms of rabies appear conventional postexposure treatment is unsuccessful. Over the last decade, rabies viruses associated with the silver-haired bat (SHBRV) have emerged as the leading cause of human deaths from rabies in the United States and Canada as a consequence of the fact that exposure to these viruses is often unnoticed. The need to treat SHBRV infection following the development of clinical rabies has lead us to investigate why the immune response to SHBRV fails to protect at a certain stage of infection. We have established that measurements of innate and adaptive immunity are indistinguishable between mice infected with the highly lethal SHBRV and mice infected with an attenuated laboratory rabies virus strain. While a fully functional immune response to SHBRV develops in the periphery of infected animals, the invasion of central nervous system (CNS) tissues by immune cells is reduced and, consequently, the virus is not cleared. Our data indicate that the specific deficit in the SHBRV-infected animal is an inability to enhance blood-brain barrier permeability in the cerebellum and deliver immune effectors to the CNS tissues. Conceivably, at the stage of infection where immune access to the infected CNS tissues is limited, either the provision or the development of antiviral immunity will be ineffective.
Plasma Membrane Depolarization without Repolarization Is an Early Molecular Event in Anti-Fas-induced Apoptosis*

The movement of intracellular monovalent cations has previously been shown to play a critical role in events leading to the characteristics associated with apoptosis. A loss of intracellular potassium and sodium occurs during apoptotic cell shrinkage establishing an intracellular environment favorable for nuclease activity and caspase activation. We have now investigated the potential movement of monovalent ions in Jurkat cells that occur prior to cell shrinkage following the induction of apoptosis. A rapid increase in intracellular sodium occurs early after apoptotic stimuli suggesting that the normal negative plasma membrane potential may change during cell death. We report here that diverse apoptotic stimuli caused a rapid cellular depolarization of Jurkat T-cells that occurs prior to and after cell shrinkage. In addition to the early increase in intracellular Na+, 86Rb+studies reveal a rapid inhibition of K+ uptake in response to anti-Fas. These effects on Na+ and K+ ions were accounted for by the inactivation of the Na+/K+-ATPase protein and its activity. Furthermore, ouabain, a cardiac glycoside inhibitor of the Na+/K+-ATPase, potentiated anti-Fas-induced apoptosis. Finally, activation of an anti-apoptotic signal,i.e. protein kinase C, prevented both cellular depolarization in response to anti-Fas and all downstream characteristics associated with apoptosis. Thus cellular depolarization is an important early event in anti-Fas-induced apoptosis, and the inability of cells to repolarize via inhibition of the Na+/K+-ATPase is a likely regulatory component of the death process.