Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES MONETARY POLICY, TREND INFLATION AND THE GREAT MODERATION: AN ALTERNATIVE INTERPRETATION

With positive trend inflation, the Taylor principle is not enough to guarantee a determinate equilibrium. We provide new theoretical results on restoring determinacy in New Keynesian models with positive trend inflation and combine these with new empirical findings on the Federal Reserve’s reaction function before and after the Volcker disinflation to find that 1) while the Fed likely satisfied the Taylor principle in the pre-Volcker era, the US economy was still subject to self-fulfilling fluctuations in the 1970s, 2) the US economy moved from indeterminacy to determinacy during the Volcker disinflation, and 3) the switch from indeterminacy to determinacy was due to the changes in the Fed’s response to macroeconomic variables and the decline in trend inflation during the Volcker disinflation. Olivier Coibion Department of Economics College of William and Mary 115 Morton Hall Williamsburg, VA 23188 ocoibion@wm.edu Yuriy Gorodnichenko Department of Economics 549 Evans Hall #3880 University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94720-3880 and NBER ygorodni@econ.berkeley. edu
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS IN THE SEAWATER AND SEDIMENTS OF THE GULF OF TRIESTE MASTER'S THESIS

Concentrations, spatial distribution and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determinated in surface seawater and sediments of the Gulf of Trieste, northern Adriatic. Fluorescence spectroscopy and gas chromatography techniques were used for the determination of PAHs in seawater, while gas chromatography (GC) was used for sediments. Total PAH concentrations ( 24 PAHs) analyzed with GC varied from 78 ng L to 302 ng L in seawater, and from 297 ng g to 115,854 ng g (dry weight) in sediments. The surface seawater and sediments of the Gulf of Trieste are moderately to highly contaminated by PAHs compared with other marine areas through out the world. The PAHs were present in higher levels in semienclosed areas such as marinas and harbours, due to more intensive pollution and higher accumulation of pollutants as a concequence of the limited circulation of seawater. The seasonal variation of total PAHs in seawater measured with fluorescence spectroscopy indicated higher average concentrations in summer compared to winter. The total PAH concentrations varied from 0.07 μg L to 34.32 μg L in winter and from 0.01 μg L to 48.51 μg L in the summer period. The seawater samples were dominated by low molecular weight PAHs (2-3 ring PAHs), while sediments were dominated by high molecular weight PAHs, in particular 4and 5-ring PAHs. Composition pattern analysis suggested that PAHs in seawater were mainly of petrogenic origin, while PAHs in sediment derived mostly from pyrogenic sources. In conclusion, a good correlation (r= 0.94; n=7) in relative PAH concentrations (range between 1 μg L and 6 μg L) was obtained when comparing results obtained by fluorescence spectroscopy and gas chromatography. On the other hand an important overestimation (~20 times) of absolute PAH concentrations was obtained by fluorescence measurement. It has be mentioned that this linear relationship was not observed at higher PAH concentrations.
Robust inversion of IASP91 travel time residuals for mantle P and S velocity structure, earthquake mislocations, and station corrections

Using both P and S arrival time information, 41,108 events in the International Seismological Centre (ISC) catalog for the years 1964 to 1987 are relocated relative to the IASP91 velocity model. The mean absolute horizontal relocation is 7.7 km and the mean absolute depth relocation is 9.1 km, The mean absolute origin time shift is 1.2 s. The relocation procedure increased the P residual standard deviation slightly from 2.3 s to 2.5 s while decreasing the S residual standard deviation from 6.8 s to 6.1 s. When plotted as bottoming point averages, the resulting IASP91 P and S arrival time residuals show coherent patterns as a function of geographic location. An iterative lp residual norm minimization algorithm is used to estimate the set of P and S velocity variations as well as the earthquake relocation and seismographic station parameters which best explain the travel time residuals. The procedure is robust in that extremely large travel time residuals, which are common in the ISC data, do not unduly influence the velocity estimates. Both the P and S models of lateral heterogeneity contain prominent circum-Pacific low velocities, 1% to 2% perturbations, underlying the back arc basins between 35 and 200 km depth. This ring of negative deviations continues into the depth interval 200–400 km. The continental cratons are underlain by high-velocity anomalies with maximum amplitudes of 2%. Iceland and the Azores are underlain by low-velocity mantle material that extends down to at least 400 km. The Benioff zones are only intermittently imaged as 1–2% high-velocity regions in the uppermost 400 km. They are best resolved in the P velocity variations. Both the P and S velocity models contain a circum-Pacific ring, beneath the Benioff zones, of 1–2% positive velocity deviations in the depth range 660–870 km. Coherent high-velocity features are seen below South America, Borneo, Tonga-Fiji, the Marianas, and the northern Kuriles. The anomalies beneath South America and Borneo extend into the 870–1070 km depth range. Below depths of 1270 km for P variations and 1070 km for S variations the amplitude of the heterogeneity has decreased significantly. It is only in the lowermost mantle, 2670 km to the core-mantle boundary, that the level of P heterogeneity rises significantly above the estimated noise level. In this depth range a partial ring around the Pacific basin is observed, although this.
EMPOWERING YOUTHS FOR A CRIME-FREE SOCIETY : THE CASE OF NIGERIA

This paper examined the role of empowerment for youth as key to a crime-free society. This is with a view to establishing the level of socio-economic well-being and reduces crime in the society. lt highlights the factors that motivate youths to participate in organization and community development It also examines the extent to which socio-economic factors determine the outcome of people’s lives. Descriptive research design was used for the study A structured questionnaire was used in collecting data from a sample of 450 respondents for the study. Data collected were analyzed using Chi-square and t-test analysis. The findings established that there is a significant relationship between youth empowerment and attitude to crime involvement ( X 2 cal = 453.025> X 2 crit = 26.30 at 0.05 level of significance). It showed that there is significant relationship between capacity building of youths and reduction of youth’s involvement in crime (X 2 cal = 744.301 > X 2 crit = 26.30 at 0.05 level of significance). The findings also revealed that there is significant relationship between male and female attitudes to crime involvement (tcal = 34.616 > ttab = 1.965 at 0.05 level of significance). It is, therefore, recommended that government’s empowerment programmes should be restructured, if not re-designed, and should be centred on a “participatory approach”, There should also be greater investment in the human capital investment of youths. Besides, government should reach out to youths, regardless of their ethnic, cultural, religious, geographical or political affiliation.
EMERGING GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE NIGERIAN LABOUR MARKET

The world has been transformed into a global political economy as a result of the unprecedented level of interconnectedness of political, economic, social and technological forces that permeate the contemporary global system. This paper identifies trade regulations, technology and capitalism as core factors responsible for the emerging political order and goes further to argue that developing nations in particular, are constrained to be incorporated into the global economy, a consequence of which is the requirement for them to open their borders for external economic influences. For Nigeria, the developmental challenges arising from this new order have implications for every sector of her economy. Focusing on the labour market, the paper argues that the Nigerian labour market has been hit hard through the adoption of series of shock therapies allegedly designed to improve economic efficiency. Unfortunately, such therapies have generated pressures on organizations thereby forcing them to adopt survival strategies such as retrenchment, casualisation, outsourcing and these in turn have worsened the unemployment situation and labour standards; have promoted underemployment, cheap labour, disregard for trade unionism, and collective bargaining and promoted general job insecurity. The paper concludes that there is need to protect the Nigerian labour market and this would require a re-orientation towards the adoption of an ideology of social partnership and manifest readiness by the government to share its authority and responsibility for the management of the economy, in which case workers and their representatives must be well protected from external influences and domineering employers.
Effect of large scale atmospheric pressure changes on water level in the Tagus Estuary

CANAS, A. , SANTOS, A. and LEITAO, P., 2009. Effect of large scale atmospheric pressure changes on water level in the Tagus Estuary. Journal of Coastal Research, SI 56 (Proceedings of the 10th International Coastal Symposium), pg – pg. Lisbon, Portugal, ISBN Previous research shows that storm surge episodes occur frequently at the mouth of the Tagus Estuary, causing important water level anomalies in Lisbon and Cascais tide gauge records and having important effects in coastal erosion. Atmospheric pressure is indicated as the main driver of storm surge events in the West Iberian Peninsula. However, the extent of the effect of atmospheric pressure induced surges on inner estuary water level, an important issue for the estuary management using hydrodynamic forecast systems, is still poorly known with tide gauge records analyses concentrating outside the estuary. In this work a set of tide gauge records, between October 1972 to January 1973, for 11 locations in the Tagus Estuary and adjacent coast and a numerical model of Tagus Estuary hydrodynamics (MOHID Water) are used to test the importance of large scale atmospheric pressure changes in explaining inner estuary non-tidal water level anomalies with period larger than 30 hours. The results of two model simulations, with and without the effect of atmospheric pressure considered according to the inverted barometer approximation based on atmospheric pressure reanalysis data, are contrasting with the tide gauge records. The research finds that the account of atmospheric pressure can reduce the importance of the model centered RMSE in 5-20% and improve considerably the model results correlation coefficient in the lower and middle estuary, particularly in low depth locations not directly affected by river discharges. These results suggest that these should be the estuarine locations more sensible to storm surges episodes.
Profits and Inflation : A Study of Inflation and Influence in Pakistan SBP Working Paper Series

Our analysis seeks to look at inflation as a political economic phenomenon, based on a framework devised by Jonathan Nitzan and christened differential accumulation. The theory of differential accumulation rejects the conventional definitions of capital and draws upon Veblenian economics to integrate the definitions of power and capital by describing the ownership of capital as differential power claims over social processes. In order to maximize capital accumulation, businessmen allocate resources, in response to the socio-political environment, to beat a certain benchmark rate of return in their pursuit of maximizing capital accumulation. We find evidence for the existence of this phenomenon in Pakistan by assuming that a certain group of businessmen seeks to maximize power by maximizing relative profit, which in turn affects overall inflation. However, we have not established proof through a scientifically rigorous process due to incomplete datasets. We believe that these findings merit further investigation and propose that the maximization of relative profit as opposed to absolute profit, may, in fact, be a behavioral phenomenon. Such a finding will merely be the doppelganger of the maximization of relative utility, as opposed to absolute utility, in consumer decision-making models.
Education Inequality in Malaysia

The study focused on the relationship between subsidies of higher education with inequality of educational opportunity at the higher level. Given the education system that is still represented by a broad based and narrow peaked educational pyramid, the increasing allocation and the existing capacity of the higher learning institutions is still insufficient to meet the growing demand for higher education. Thus in this study it appears that the subsidy index at second and third levels of education have an adverse effect on educational equality for the case of Malaysia.
Zircon U-Pb Geochronology and Hf Isotopic Composition of the Ordovician Granitic Gneisses in Ximeng Area, West Yunnan Province

A set of whole rock major oxides, zircon U-Pb geochronological and in-situ Lu-Hf isotopic data is presented for the granitic gneisses from the Ximeng area, Southwest Yunnan province. Our results show that the granitic gneisses, which were taken from the previously-mapped Pake Formation of the Ximeng Group, are high-K calc-alkaline, strongly peraluminous S-type granites. Zircon separates from two representative samples(11ML-73 and 11ML-74) yield the U-Pb weighted mean ages of 461.4±2.5 Ma and 461.5±3.3 Ma, respectively, which are interpreted as their crystallization ages. Their corresponding eHf(t) values range from-6.45 to-1.90 for 11ML-73 and-5.60 to-1.44 for 11ML-74 with mean values of-4.73±0.36 and-4.46±0.57, respectively. The two-stage Hf model ages range from 1.57 Ga to 1.86 Ga and 1.54 Ga to 1.90 Ga, respectively. These data indicate that the granitic gneisses in the Pake Formation of the Ximeng Group are of Ordovician origin rather than previously-mapped Mesoproterozoic period. They might have been derived from ancient metasedimentary rocks. These data, together with other observations, suggest that the Ximeng granitic gneisses were the elements of the Paleozoic igneous belt of the Andean-type orogen along the northern margin of Gondwana.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

In this chapter I provide a brief history of the TANF program, including changes made as part of the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act. I then present a variety of program statistics, including trends in aggregate and state-level caseloads and spending, along with changes in the demographic composition of the program, especially the shift from adult with child cases to child-only cases. I also highlight the changing composition of spending on the program from cash assistance to in-kind assistance, and the challenges faced in documenting total (cash + in-kind) caseloads and spending. I follow this with a discussion of the behavioral issues surrounding TANF, including the four program goals and possible modifications as part of the 2014 reauthorization legislation, and then I provide a systematic review of the research evidence on whether those goals have been met.
omparative analysis of multiparametric magnetic resonance and PET-CT in the management of local recurrence after radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer

omparative analysis of multiparametric magnetic resonance and PET-CT in the management of local recurrence after radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer Andrea Alfarone a, Valeria Panebianco b, Orazio Schillaci c, Stefano Salciccia a, Susanna Cattarino a, Gianna Mariotti a, Alessandro Gentilucci a, Magnus Von Heland a, Roberto Passariello b, Vincenzo Gentile a, Alessandro Sciarra a,∗ a Department Urology, University sapienza, Rome, Italy b Department Radiology, University sapienza, Rome, Italy c Department of Biopathology and Diagnostic Imaging, University of Rome “Tor Vergata” and IRCCS Neuromed, pozzilli, Italy
Magma chamber dynamics at Soufrière Hills volcano, Montserrat

Implicit in active, steady-state magmatic systems is their persistent activity and unchanging behavior in terms of composition and eruptive styles. The ongoing eruption (July 1995 – April 2010) of the Soufriere Hills volcano (SHV), Montserrat, provides an ideal setting for understanding this steady-state behavior. Mafic enclaves are ubiquitous in andesitic magma erupted from SHV. The mafic enclaves are basalt to basaltic andesite (49 – 56 wt. % SiO2) in composition. Based on their chemistry, mineralogy and petrology, they are divided into three types. Prior to intrusion, basaltic magma underwent significant differentiation of amphibole at deep crustal levels. Type 1 (T1) and Type 2 (T2) enclaves represent hybrid magmas which are a mixture of differentiated basaltic magma and the host andesite, while Type 3 (T3) enclaves represent basaltic magma which ponded prior to intrusion and underwent significant additional fractionation of plagioclase. The T1 enclaves sample a vesiculated upper portion of the mixing horizon, while the T2 enclaves sample a less vesiculated, deeper, and slightly more rigid portion of this horizon. The T3 enclaves were near the temperatures of the andesite reservoir at the time of their intrusion; they demonstrate mixing on a physical mixing only, i.e., crystal transfer. The T1 enclaves formed when they reached buoyancy due to vesiculation and detached from the mixing horizon to rise upward in the andesite, whereas T2 enclaves formed during subsequent intrusions, during mafic overturn. The SHV demonstrates periodic and regular explosive activity, for which we can quantify changes in volatile content over time. Volatile analyses from phenocryst-hosted melt inclusions sampled from andesitic pumice cluster at 2.8 – 5.4 wt. % H2O, with ~ 3000 ppm Cl and negligible CO2. We interpret these volatile contents to mirror conditions in the lower conduit and upper magma reservoir beneath the volcano. Our model of the SHV magmatic system suggests that 1) the mafic magma is providing heat, mass and volatiles to the
Hyaluronidase : A Negative Regulator of Bladder Cancer HYAL 1v 1 , An Alternatively Spliced Variant of HYAL 1

Tumor cells express HYAL1 hyaluronidase, which degrades hyaluronic acid. HYAL1 expression in bladder cancer cells promotes tumor growth, invasion, and angiogenesis. We previously described five alternatively spliced variants of HYAL1 that encode enzymatically inactive proteins. The HYAL1-v1 variant lacks a 30-amino acid sequence that is present in HYAL1. In this study, we examined whether HYAL1v1 expression affects bladder cancer growth and invasion by stably transfecting HT1376 bladder cancer cells with a HYAL1v1 cDNA construct. Although HYAL1-v1 transfectants expressed equivalent levels of enzymatically active HYAL1 protein when compared with vector transfectants, their conditioned medium had 4-fold less hyaluronidase activity due to a noncovalent complex formed between HYAL1 and HYAL1-v1 proteins. HYAL1-v1 transfectants grew 3to 4-fold slower due to cell cycle arrest in the G2-M phase and increased apoptosis. In HYAL1-v1 transfectants, cyclin B1, cdc2/p34, and cdc25c levels were z2-fold lower than those in vector transfectants. The increased apoptosis in HYAL1-v1 transfectants was due to the extrinsic pathway involving Fas and Fas-associated death domain up-regulation, caspase-8 activation, and BID cleavage, leading to caspase-9 and caspase-3 activation and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage. When implanted in athymic mice, HYAL1-v1-expressing tumors grew 3to 4-fold slower and tumor weights at day 35 were 3to 6fold less than the vector tumors (P < 0.001). Whereas vector tumors were infiltrating and had high mitoses and microvessel density, HYAL1-v1 tumors were necrotic, infiltrated with neutrophils, and showed low mitoses and microvessel density. Therefore, HYAL-v1 expression may negatively regulate bladder tumor growth, infiltration, and angiogenesis. (Cancer Res 2006; 66(23): 11219-27)
Tectonic Geomorphology and Paleoseismology of theLake Heron Fault, New Zealand

New Zealand’s South Island is actively deforming as a result of oblique continental collision between the Pacific and Australian Plates. Within the central portion of the island, this results in reverse faulting, including earthquake rupture on the previously unreseached Lake Heron Fault. Because few of these faults have been studied, there is a major gap in knowledge on the paleoseismicity of the region. In this thesis, I use structural mapping, deformation analysis, geophysics, topographic contouring, fault measurements, Monte Carlo simulations, and paleoseismic trenching, in conjuction with geochronologic approaches including Schmidt hammer exposure age dating, and radiocarbon dating to characterize the earthquake history and behavior of the Lake Heron Fault. Measurements of Pleistocene-Holocene displacement of discrete and distributed deformation indicate that along the Lake Heron Fault, total vertical deformation is approximately 20 m since the Last Glacial Maximum. This deformation can be constrained, using Schmidt hammer exposure age dating, to the last 10.15±2.95 ka, and is consistent across surfaces which could differ in age by up to 15 ka. This suggests that a period of quiescence was followed by increased activity, and using Monte Carlo simulations, a vertical slip rate of 2.25 ± 1.05 mm/yr was calculated. This is more than double published vertical uplift rates, though when the fault dip within bedrock (60°) is integrated, net slip falls within published geodetic slip rates. While the fault was seen to dip 60° in bedrock, near surface dip measurements indicate a deflection and shallowing of fault dip by up to 80% in some locations in Late Quaternary sediments. Further structural calculations indicate that while the Lake Heron Fault has a strike (200°), preferential to pure dip-slip motion, which is seen on discrete fault scarps, microtectonic measurements from crestal grabens show that along the fault, near-surface stress and localized surface rupture is not representative of the regional stress or the structure at depth. From paleoseismic trenching, evidence of 2-3 earthquakes was discovered, and using radiocarbon dating, the timing of the last events is constrained to the last 2.6 ka, with the most recent event occurring approximately 0.6 ± 0.2 ka. Large single event displacements (2.75 ± 0.25 m), earthquake magnitudes (Mw 7.4 ± 0.3), and a short recurrence interval (1.45± 0.42 ka) indicate that the Lake Heron Fault has been highly active in the Holocene. Results of this study in conjunction with others also show there is a possibility the Lake Heron and Forest Creek fault represent an 80 km long, segmented reverse fault, capable of generating Mw 7.7 earthquakes. However, because of variability in the timing of paleoearthquakes, the structures more frequently ruptures independently in magnitude 7.0+ earthquakes. Lastly, I propose that changing crustal stress provides a possible mechanism for apparent temporal variability in the earthquake recurrence on the Lake Heron Fault.