bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Skeletal muscle interstitial fluid metabolomics at rest and associated with an exercise bout: application in rats and humans
Authors: Zhang Jie , Bhattacharyya Sudeepa , Hickner Robert C. , Light Alan R. , Lambert Christopher J. , Gale Bruce K. , Fiehn Oliver , Adams Sean H.
Published: November 2018

Blood or biopsies are often used to characterize metabolites that are modulated by exercising muscle. However, blood has inputs derived from multiple tissues, biopsies cannot discriminate between secreted and intracellular metabolites, and their invasive nature is challenging for frequent collections in sensitive populations (e.g., children and pregnant women). Thus, minimally invasive approaches to interstitial fluid (IF) metabolomics would be valuable. A catheter was designed to collect IF from the gastrocnemius muscle of acutely anesthetized adult male rats at rest or immediately following 20 min of exercise (~60% of maximal O2uptake). Nontargeted, gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis was used to detect 299 metabolites, including nonannotated metabolites, sugars, fatty acids, amino acids, and purine metabolites and derivatives. Just 43% of all detected metabolites were common to IF and blood plasma, and only 20% of exercise-modified metabolites were shared in both pools, highlighting that the blood does not fully reflect the metabolic outcomes in muscle. Notable exercise patterns included increased IF amino acids (except leucine and isoleucine), increased α-ketoglutarate and citrate (which may reflect tricarboxylic acid cataplerosis or shifts in nonmitochondrial pathways), and higher concentration of the signaling lipid oleamide. A preliminary study of human muscle IF was conducted using a 20-kDa microdialysis catheter placed in the vastus lateralis of five healthy adults at rest and during exercise (65% of estimated maximal heart rate). Approximately 70% of commonly detected metabolites discriminating rest vs. exercise in rats were also changed in exercising humans. Interstitium metabolomics may aid in the identification of molecules that signal muscle work (e.g., exertion and fatigue) and muscle health.
Chaotic Behavior of Traffic-Flow Evolution with Two Departure Intervals in Two-Link Transportation Network
Authors: Liu Shixu , Guo Lidan , Easa Said M. , Chen Wensi , Yan Hao , Tang Yingnuo
Published: November 2018

In this study, the influence of traveler's departure time choice in day-to-day dynamic evolution of traffic flow in a transportation network is investigated. Combining historical information and real-time information, a dynamic evolution model of traffic flow with a study period divided into two intervals is proposed for a simple two-link network. Then, the evolution of network traffic flow is investigated using numerical experiments. Three types of information are considered: (1) only historical information, (2) only real-time information, and (3) both historical and real-time information. The results show that the dynamic evolution of network traffic flow under the three types of information is similar. However, the possibility of chaos occurrence under both historical and real-time information is smaller than that under two individual types of information. When chaos occurs, the chaotic behavior in traffic-flow evolution under only real-time information is relatively less complex than that under the other two types of information.
Tranexamic Acid for Adults with Melasma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Zhang Lei , Tan Wei-Qiang , Fang Qing-Qing , Zhao Wan-Yi , Zhao Qi-Ming , Gao Jie , Wang Xiao-Wei
Published: November 2018

Objective. Melasma is a highly prevalent, chronic, and pigmentary disorder. This systematic review aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tranexamic acid (TA) for the treatment of adults with melasma. Methods. We independently searched 3 databases from beginning to 26 April, 2018. The study included 21 eligible trials. Two writers extracted data at the same time independently. Study outcomes were calculated by standardized mean differences (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). All statistical analyses were performed using Review Manager Version 5.3 and STATA Version 15.1. Results. The combined results showed that the use of TA was associated with reduced Melasma Area and Severity Index (MASI) and Melanin Index (MI). No significant difference in Erythema Index (EI) was observed with TA treatment. Side effects were minor, with a few cases reporting mild gastrointestinal reaction, oligomenorrhoea, hypopigmentation, urticarial rash, and skin irritation xerosis. Conclusion. The meta-analysis suggested that TA treatment appeared to be a promising therapeutic approach for melasma.
Parenteral Succinate Reduces Systemic ROS Production in Septic Rats, but It Does Not Reduce Creatinine Levels
Authors: Chapela Sebastián P. , Burgos Isabel , Congost Christian , Canzonieri Romina , Muryan Alexis , Alonso Manuel , Stella Carlos A.
Published: November 2018

In sepsis, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production is increased. This process takes place mainly within the electron transport chain. ROS production is part of the pathophysiology of multiple organ failure in sepsis. Succinate yields Dihydroflavine‐Adenine Dinucleotide (FADH2), which enters the chain through complex II, avoiding complex I, through which electrons are lost. The aim of this work is to determine if parenteral succinate reduces systemic ROS production and improves kidney function. Rats with cecal ligation and puncture were used as model of sepsis, and 4 groups were made: Control group; Succinate group, which only received parenteral succinate; Sepsis group; and Sepsis which received parenteral succinate. Systemic ROS are measured 24 hours after the procedure. Rats subjected to cecal puncture treated with succinate had less systemic ROS than Septic untreated rats (p = 0.007), while there were no differences in creatinine levels (p = 0.07). There was no correlation between creatinine and systemic ROS levels (p = 0.3). We concluded that parenteral succinate reduces ROS levels, but it does not reduce creatinine levels. Since there is no correlation between both levels, the processes would not be related.
A General Architecture for Multiserver Authentication Key Agreement with Provable Security
Authors: Zhang Yunru , Luo Min , Choo Kim-Kwang Raymond , He Debiao
Published: November 2018

In a typical single-server architecture, when a user wishes to access multiple servers to obtain different services, the user needs to register with every single server. This results in multiple identities and password pairs. To eliminate the limitation of the user having to possess and remember multiple identities and password pairs, a number of multiserver authentication protocols have been proposed where a user only needs to register once. However, most existing protocols are subsequently found to be insecure and this topic remains one of the ongoing research interests. Thus, in this paper, we present a multiserver authentication key agreement protocol. We then demonstrate the security of the protocol under the random oracle model, as well as the practicality of the protocol in terms of low computation and communication costs, minimal storage requirements, and operation costs.
Nicotine and Cotinine Inhibit Catalase and Glutathione Reductase Activity Contributing to the Impaired Osteogenesis of SCP‐1 Cells Exposed to Cigarette Smoke
Authors: Aspera-Werz Romina H. , Ehnert Sabrina , Heid Daniel , Zhu Sheng , Chen Tao , Braun Bianca , Sreekumar Vrinda , Arnscheidt Christian , Nussler Andreas K.
Published: November 2018

Cigarette smoking has been identified as a major risk factor for osteoporosis decades ago. Several studies have shown a direct relationship between cigarette smoking, decreased bone mineral density, and impaired fracture healing. However, the mechanisms behind impaired fracture healing and cigarette smoking are yet to be elucidated. Migration and osteogenesis of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) into the fracture site play a vital role in the process of fracture healing. In human nicotine, the most pharmacologically active and major addictive component present in tobacco gets rapidly metabolized to the more stable cotinine. This study demonstrates that physiological concentrations of both nicotine and cotinine do not affect the osteogenic differentiation of MSCs. However, cigarette smoke exposure induces oxidative stress by increasing superoxide radicals and reducing intracellular glutathione in MSCs, negatively affecting osteogenic differentiation. Although, not actively producing reactive oxygen species (ROS) nicotine and cotinine inhibit catalase and glutathione reductase activity, contributing to an accumulation of ROS by cigarette smoke exposure. Coincubation with N‐acetylcysteine or L‐ascorbate improves impaired osteogenesis caused by cigarette smoke exposure by both activation of nuclear factor erythroid 2‐related factor 2 (Nrf2) signaling and scavenging of ROS, which thus might represent therapeutic targets to support fracture healing in smokers.
Categorical Nature of Consumer Price Estimations of Postharvest Bruised Apples
Authors: Kyutoku Yasushi , Hasegawa Naoko , Dan Ippeita , Kitazawa Hiroaki
Published: November 2018

Postharvest fruits are susceptible to damage which eventually results in large product and financial losses. While abundant studies have been conducted to objectively index the severity of such damage, how consumers subjectively assess the severity of damaged apples has been understudied. Previous studies have indicated that consumers’ aesthetic devaluation of product quality is reflected in estimated price. Thus, the current online questionnaire study was conducted to examine the effect of objectively indexed severity of damage on consumers’ subjective price estimations. Four hundred thirty-nine consumers of apples were asked to estimate the market price for apples in photographic images of 1 or 3 “Orin” (“Golden Delicious” × “Indo”) apples at 9 levels of severity of damage. A 2 (1- and 3-piece) × 9 (severity of damage) within ANCOVA with reference price as a covariate indicated significant two-way interaction between the number of apples and severity of damage on estimated price. Consequently, the 1- and 3-piece conditions were examined separately. The results of both analyses indicate a categorical rather than quantitative, continuous reduction in estimated price.
Threshold Balanced Sampled DEEC Model for Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Vançin Sercan , Erdem Ebubekir
Published: November 2018

Due to the restricted hardware resources of the sensor nodes, modelling and designing energy efficient routing methods to increase the overall network lifetime have become one of the most significant strategies in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Cluster‐based heterogeneous routing protocols, a popular part of routing technology, have proven effective in management of topology, energy consumption, data collection or fusion, reliability, or stability in a distributed sensor network. In this article, an energy efficient three‐level heterogeneous clustering method (DEEC) based distributed energy efficient clustering protocol named TBSDEEC (Threshold balanced sampled DEEC) is proposed. Contrary to most other studies, this study considers the effect of the threshold balanced sampled in the energy consumption model. Our model is compared with the DEEC, EDEEC (Enhanced Distributed Energy Efficient Clustering Protocol), and EDDEEC (Enhanced Developed Distributed Energy Efficient Clustering Protocol) using MATLAB as two different scenarios based on quality metrics, including living nodes on the network, network efficiency, energy consumption, number of packets received by base station (BS), and average latency. After, our new method is compared with artificial bee colony optimization (ABCO) algorithm and energy harvesting WSN (EH‐WSN) clustering method. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed model is more efficient than the other protocols and significantly increases the sensor network lifetime.
EGFR Cooperates with EGFRvIII to Recruit Macrophages in Glioblastoma
Authors: An Zhenyi , Knobbe-Thomsen Christiane B. , Wan Xiaohua , Fan Qi Wen , Reifenberger Guido , Weiss William A.
Published: November 2018

Amplification of the EGFR gene and its truncation mutant EGFRvIII are hallmarks of glioblastoma. Although coexpression of EGFR and EGFRvIII confers a growth advantage, how EGFR and EGFRvIII influence the tumor microenvironment remains incompletely understood. Here, we show that EGFR and EGFRvIII cooperate to induce macrophage infiltration via upregulation of the chemokine CCL2. EGFRvIII was significantly enriched in glioblastoma patient samples with high CCL2, and knockout of CCL2 in tumors coexpressing EGFR and EGFRvIII led to decreased infiltration of macrophages. KRAS was a critical signaling intermediate for EGFR- and EGFRvIII-induced expression of CCL2. Our results illustrate how EGFR and EGFRvIII direct the microenvironment in glioblastoma.

Significance:

Full-length EGFR and truncated EGFRvIII work through KRAS to upregulate the chemokine CCL2 and drive macrophage infiltration in glioblastoma.
Assessment of Tumor Redox Status through (S)-4-(3-[18F]fluoropropyl)-L-Glutamic Acid PET Imaging of System xc− Activity
Authors: McCormick Patrick N. , Greenwood Hannah E. , Glaser Matthias , Maddocks Oliver D.K. , Gendron Thibault , Sander Kerstin , Gowrishankar Gayatri , Hoehne Aileen , Zhang Tong , Shuhendler Adam J. , Lewis David Y. , Berndt Mathias , Koglin Norman , Lythgoe Mark F. , Gambhir Sanjiv S. , Årstad Erik , Witney Timothy H.
Published: November 2018

The cell's endogenous antioxidant system is vital to maintain redox homeostasis. Despite its central role in normal and pathophysiology, no noninvasive tools exist to measure this system in patients. The cystine/glutamate antiporter system xc− maintains the balance between intracellular reactive oxygen species and antioxidant production through the provision of cystine, a key precursor in glutathione biosynthesis. Here, we show that tumor cell retention of a system xc−-specific PET radiotracer, (S)-4-(3-[18F]fluoropropyl)-L-glutamic acid ([18F]FSPG), decreases in proportion to levels of oxidative stress following treatment with a range of redox-active compounds. The decrease in [18F]FSPG retention correlated with a depletion of intracellular cystine resulting from increased de novo glutathione biosynthesis, shown through [U-13C6, U-15N2]cystine isotopic tracing. In vivo, treatment with the chemotherapeutic doxorubicin decreased [18F]FSPG tumor uptake in a mouse model of ovarian cancer, coinciding with markers of oxidative stress but preceding tumor shrinkage and decreased glucose utilization. Having already been used in pilot clinical trials, [18F]FSPG PET could be rapidly translated to the clinic as an early redox indicator of tumor response to treatment.

Significance:

[18F]FSPG PET imaging provides a sensitive noninvasive measure of tumor redox status and provides an early marker of tumor response to therapy.

See related commentary by Lee et al., p. 701
High Prevalence of a Hotspot of Noncoding Somatic Mutations in Intron 6 of GPR126 in Bladder Cancer
Authors: Garinet Simon , Pignot Géraldine , Vacher Sophie , Le Goux Constance , Schnitzler Anne , Chemlali Walid , Sirab Nanor , Barry Delongchamps Nicolas , Zerbib Marc , Sibony Mathilde , Allory Yves , Damotte Diane , Bieche Ivan
Published: November 2018

Numerous pangenomic studies identified protein-coding genes and signaling pathways involved in bladder carcinogenesis. However, noncoding somatic alterations remain unexplored. A recent study revealed a mutational hotspot in intron 6 of GPR126 gene in 2.7% of a large breast cancer series. As GPR126 is highly expressed in bladder tissues, we investigated here the prevalence and the prognostic significance of these mutations in bladder cancer. We analyzed a cohort of 103 bladder cancers including 44 nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancers (NMIBC) and 59 muscle-invasive bladder cancers (MIBC). GPR126 mutations were analyzed by high-resolution melting and Sanger sequencing, and GPR126 expression levels were assessed using real-time quantitative RT-PCR. In NMIBC, somatic GPR126 noncoding mutations occurred in 47.7% of samples and were negatively associated with GPR126 mRNA levels. GPR126 mutations had higher frequencies in nonsmoker patients and were associated with a prior history of NMIBC. GPR126 overexpression was detected in 70.5% of samples. GPR126 mutation and overexpression status were not associated with outcome. In MIBC, somatic GPR126 mutations occurred in 44.1% of samples. Mutations were more frequent in females. GPR126 overexpression was detected in 27.1% of the sample. A trend toward significance was observed between GPR126 overexpression and better outcome. We identified the second most frequent mutational hotspot after TERT promoter (∼70%) in bladder cancer, with a mutation rate of approximately 50%.

Implications:

The GPR126 intronic mutational hotspot could be a promising clinical biomarker candidate to monitor tumor burden using circulating tumor DNA in bladder cancer.
Molecular Correlates of Metastasis by Systematic Pan-Cancer Analysis Across The Cancer Genome Atlas
Authors: Chen Fengju , Zhang Yiqun , Varambally Sooryanarayana , Creighton Chad J.
Published: November 2018

Tumor metastasis is a major contributor to mortality of cancer patients, but the process remains poorly understood. Molecular comparisons between primary tumors and metastases can provide insights into the pathways and processes involved. Here, we systematically analyzed and cataloged molecular correlates of metastasis using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) datasets across 11 different cancer types, these data involving 4,473 primary tumor samples and 395 tumor metastasis samples (including 369 from melanoma). For each cancer type, widespread differences in gene transcription between primary and metastasis samples were observed. For several cancer types, metastasis-associated genes from TCGA comparisons were found to overlap extensively with external results from independent profiling datasets of metastatic tumors. Although some differential expression patterns associated with metastasis were found to be shared across multiple cancer types, by and large each cancer type showed a metastasis signature that was distinctive from those of the other cancer types. Functional categories of genes enriched in multiple cancer type–specific metastatic overexpression signatures included cellular response to stress, DNA repair, oxidation–reduction process, protein deubiquitination, and receptor activity. The TCGA-derived prostate cancer metastasis signature in particular could define a subset of aggressive primary prostate cancer. Transglutaminase 2 protein and mRNA were both elevated in metastases from breast and melanoma cancers. Alterations in miRNAs and in DNA methylation were also identified.

Implications:

Our findings suggest that there are different molecular pathways to metastasis involved in different cancers. Our catalog of alterations provides a resource for future studies investigating the role of specific genes in metastasis.
Nuclear E-Cadherin Acetylation Promotes Colorectal Tumorigenesis via Enhancing β-Catenin Activity
Authors: Zhao Yongxu , Yu Tao , Zhang Nan , Chen Jianxia , Zhang Peng , Li Shuang , Luo Lijun , Cui Zhenling , Qin Yue , Liu Feng
Published: November 2018

The E-cadherin/β-catenin signaling pathway plays a critical role in the maintenance of epithelial architecture and regulation of tumor progression. Normally, E-cadherin locates on the cell surface with its cytosolic domain linking to the actin cytoskeleton through interaction with catenins. Although the nuclear localization of E-cadherin has been frequently observed in various types of cancers, little is known regarding the functional consequences of its nuclear translocation. Here, we showed that in colorectal cancer samples and cell lines, E-cadherin localized in the nucleus; and the nuclear localization was mediated through protein interaction with CTNND1. In the nucleus, E-cadherin was acetylated by CREB-binding protein at Lysine870 and Lysine871 in its β-catenin–binding domain, and the acetylation can be reversed by SIRT2. Acetylation of nuclear E-cadherin attenuated its interaction with β-catenin, which therefore released β-catenin from the complex, resulting in increased expression of its downstream genes and accelerated tumor growth and migration. Further study showed that acetylation level of nuclear E-cadherin had high prognostic significance in clinical colorectal samples. Taken together, our findings reveal a novel mechanism of tumor progression through posttranslational modification of E-cadherin, which may serve as a potential drug target of tumor therapy.

Implications:

This finding that acetylation of nuclear E-cadherin regulates β-catenin activity expands our understanding of the acetylation of E-cadherin promotes colorectal cancer cell growth and suggests novel therapeutic approaches of targeting acetylation in tumors.
Censura como meio de política dos afetos e bloqueio da argumentação
Authors: Sudatti Ariani Bueno , Seligmann-Silva Márcio
Published: November 2018

O texto mostra por que hoje é essencial recordarmos os artigos 19 e 27 da Declaração Universal dos Direitos do Homem da ONU de 1948. Ele destaca que refletir sobre o sentido do “direito à liberdade de opinião e de expressão” e do “direito de tomar parte livremente na vida cultural da comunidade, de fruir as artes e de participar no progresso científico” implica ir aos próprios fundamentos da política moderna, pois em seus alicerces encontramos tanto uma doutrina e uma prática dos arquivos quanto uma doutrina e prática da política dos afetos, com ênfase na compaixão e no medo. Apresenta-se em que medida a censura procura orquestrar não só o que podemos (e devemos) saber, mas também de quem devemos nos compadecer: pelo que e por quem deveríamos nos sacrificar e de quem devemos ter medo.
“Passion of the Same”: Cacique de Ramos and the Multidão
Authors: Small Irene V.
Published: November 2018

This article analyzes a series of photographs taken by the Brazilian artist Carlos Vergara between 1972 and 1975 that picture the Rio de Janiero-based carnival bloco Cacique de Ramos, whose characteristic black-and-white costumes fantastically approximate indigenous Amerindian attire. Taken at the height of the military dictatorship, when the pressure to conform to a singular nationalist identity was extreme, the photographs probe the potentialities and desire for group identification within a structure of horizontal rather than hierarchical affiliation. The essay argues that the photographs offer of speculative paradigm of intersubjective identification: a mapping of difference from deep within what the Brazilian anthropologist Eduardo Viveiros de Castro called a “passion of the same.” This paradigm is contiguous, yet distinct from the contemporary concept of “the multitude,” and suggests how an opposition of self and other might be transformed into a transversal operation of different-equal-same.
The Documentary Films of José Gómez Sicre and the Pan American Union Visual Arts Department
Authors: Fox Claire F.
Published: November 2018

During the 1960s and 1970s, the Visual Arts Department of the Pan American Union, headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, D.C., produced nearly fifty 16mm documentary short films on topics ranging from contemporary art to heritage sites and OAS member countries. This article focuses on a cluster of three titles about Peru directed by curator and critic José Gómez Sicre between approximately 1964 and 1968. Produced with funding from an international affiliate of Esso Standard Oil, the films were shot on location and demonstrate careful attention to the contexts of art production within an emerging cultural policy framework that cast art and heritage as engines of regional cultural development. The films further assert that the antiquities and modern art markets might be synchronized to become a generational taste formation, insofar as they identify classes of affordable artifacts that were finding their way to collectors relatively recently, and which had also inspired the work of postwar Peruvian artists. As an ensemble, the films reveal unexplored interactions between contemporary art movements, the development of heritage districts and site museums, and emergent cultural policies that continue to impact hemispheric American locations.
A New Regression-Based Tail Index Estimator
Authors: Nicolau João , Rodrigues Paulo M. M.
Published: November 2018

A new regression-based approach for the estimation of the tail index of heavy-tailed distributions with several important properties is introduced. First, it provides a bias reduction when compared to available regression-based methods; second, it is resilient to the choice of the tail length used for the estimation of the tail index; third, when the effect of the slowly varying function at infinity of the Pareto distribution vanishes slowly, it continues to perform satisfactorily; and fourth, it performs well under dependence of unknown form. An approach to compute the asymptotic variance under time dependence and conditional heteroskcedasticity is also provided.
Estimating the Impacts of Program Benefits: Using Instrumental Variables with Underreported and Imputed Data
Authors: Stephens Melvin , Unayama Takashi
Published: November 2018

Survey nonresponse has risen in recent years, which has increased the share of imputed and underreported values found on commonly used data sets. While this trend has been well documented for earnings, the growth in nonresponse to government transfers questions has received far less attention. We demonstrate analytically that the underreporting and imputation of transfer benefits can lead to program impact estimates that are substantially overstated when using instrumental variables methods to correct for endogeneity or measurement error in benefit amounts. We document the importance of failing to account for these issues using two empirical examples.
The Effect of FOMC Votes on Financial Markets
Authors: Madeira Carlos , Madeira João
Published: November 2018

This paper shows that since votes of members of the Federal Open Market Committee have been included in press statements, stock prices increase after the announcement when votes are unanimous but fall when dissent (which typically is due to preference for higher interest rates) occurs. This pattern started prior to the 2007–2008 financial crisis. The differences in stock market reaction between unanimity and dissent remain, even controlling for the stance of monetary policy and consecutive dissent. Statement semantics also do not seem to explain the documented effect. We find no differences between unanimity and dissent with respect to impact on market risk and Treasury securities.
Geography, Ties, and Knowledge Flows: Evidence from Citations in Mathematics
Authors: Head Keith , Li Yao Amber , Minondo Asier
Published: November 2018

Combining data on locations with career and educational histories of mathematicians, we study how distance and ties affect citation patterns. The ties considered include coauthorship, past colocation, and relationships mediated by advisers and the alma mater. With fixed effects capturing subject similarity and article quality, we find linkages are strongly associated with citation. Controlling for ties generally halves the negative impact of geographic barriers on citations. Ties matter more for less prominent and more recent papers and have retained their quantitative importance in recent years. The impact of distance, controlling for ties, has fallen and is statistically insignificant after 2004.
Defaults and Donations: Evidence from a Field Experiment
Authors: Altmann Steffen , Falk Armin , Heidhues Paul , Jayaraman Rajshri , Teirlinck Marrit
Published: November 2018

We study the effects of defaults on charitable giving in a large-scale field experiment on an online fundraising platform. We exogenously vary default options along two choice dimensions: the charitable donation decision and the “co-donation” decision regarding how much to contribute to supporting the platform. We document a strong effect of defaults on individual behavior but nevertheless find that aggregate donation levels are unaffected by defaults. In contrast, co-donations increase in the default amount. We complement our experimental results with a structural model that investigates whether personalizing defaults based on individuals' donation histories can increase donation revenues.
Impulse Response Estimation by Smooth Local Projections
Authors: Barnichon Regis , Brownlees Christian
Published: November 2018

Local projections (LP) is a popular methodology for the estimation of impulse responses (IR). Compared to the traditional VAR approach, LP allow for more flexible IR estimation by imposing weaker assumptions on the dynamics of the data. The nonparametric nature of LP comes at an efficiency cost, and in practice, the LP estimator may suffer from excessive variability. In this work, we propose an IR estimation methodology based on B-spline smoothing called smooth local projections (SLP). The SLP approach preserves the flexibility of standard LP, can substantially increase precision, and is straightforward to implement. A simulation study shows that SLP can deliver substantial gains in IR estimation over LP. We illustrate our technique by studying the effects of monetary shocks where we highlight how SLP can easily incorporate commonly employed structural identification strategies.
Place-Based Policies and the Housing Market
Authors: Koster Hans R. A. , van Ommeren Jos
Published: November 2018

We study the economic effects of place-based policies in the housing market, by investigating the effects of a place-based program on prices of surrounding owner-occupied properties. The program improved the quality of public housing in 83 impoverished neighborhoods throughout the Netherlands. We combine a first-difference approach with a fuzzy regression-discontinuity design to address the fundamental issue that these neighborhoods are endogenously treated. Improvements in public housing induced surrounding housing prices to increase by 3.5%. The program's external benefits are sizable and at least half of the value of investments in public housing.
International Inflation Spillovers through Input Linkages
Authors: Auer Raphael A. , Levchenko Andrei A. , Sauré Philip
Published: November 2018

We document that international input-output linkages contribute substantially to synchronizing producer price inflation (PPI) across countries. Using a multicountry, industry-level data set that combines information on PPI and exchange rates with global input-output linkages, we recover the underlying cost shocks that are propagated internationally via the global input-output network, thus generating the observed dynamics of PPI. We then compare the extent to which common global factors account for the variation in actual PPI and in the underlying cost shocks. Across a range of econometric tests, input-output linkages account for half of the global component of PPI inflation.
Beyond the Classroom: The Implications of School Vouchers for Church Finances
Authors: Hungerman Daniel M. , Rinz Kevin , Frymark Jay
Published: November 2018

Governments have used vouchers to spend billions of dollars on private education; much of this has gone to religiously affiliated schools. We explore the possibility that vouchers could alter the financial outcomes of religious organizations that are operating schools and thus have an impact on the spiritual, moral, and social fabric of communities. Using a data set of Catholic parish finances from Milwaukee, we show that vouchers are a dominant source of funding for many churches. Vouchers appear to offer financial stability for congregations as voucher expansion prevents church closures and mergers. However, voucher expansion causes significant declines in church donations and church revenue from noneducational sources.
Fooled by Performance Randomness: Overrewarding Luck
Authors: Gauriot Romain , Page Lionel
Published: November 2018

We provide evidence of a violation of the informativeness principle whereby lucky successes are overly rewarded. We isolate a quasi-experimental situation where the success of an agent is as good as random. To do so, we use high-quality data on football (soccer) matches and select shots on goal that landed on the goal posts. Using nonscoring shots, taken from a similar location on the pitch, as counterfactuals to scoring shots, we estimate the causal effect of a lucky success (goal) on the evaluation of the player's performance. We find clear evidence that luck is overly influencing managers' decisions and evaluators' ratings. Our results suggest that this phenomenon is likely to be widespread in economic organizations.
Racial Sorting and the Emergence of Segregation in American Cities
Authors: Shertzer Allison , Walsh Randall P.
Published: November 2018

Residential segregation by race grew sharply during the early twentieth century as black migrants from the South arrived in northern cities. Using newly assembled neighborhood-level data, we provide the first systematic evidence on the impact of prewar population dynamics within cities on the emergence of the American ghetto. Leveraging exogenous changes in neighborhood racial composition, we show that white flight in response to black arrivals was quantitatively large and accelerated between 1900 and 1930. A key implication of our findings is that segregation could have arisen solely from the flight behavior of whites.
Twin Birth and Maternal Condition
Authors: Bhalotra Sonia , Clarke Damian
Published: November 2018

Twin births are often construed as a natural experiment in the social and natural sciences on the premise that the occurrence of twins is quasi-random. We present population-level evidence that challenges this premise. Using individual data for 17 million births in 72 countries, we demonstrate that indicators of mother's health, health-related behaviors, and the prenatal environment are systematically positively associated with twin birth. The associations are sizable, evident in richer and poorer countries—evident even among women who do not use in vitro fertilization—and hold for numerous different measures of health. We discuss potential mechanisms, showing evidence that favors selective miscarriage.
How to Use Economic Theory to Improve Estimators: Shrinking Toward Theoretical Restrictions
Authors: Fessler Pirmin , Kasy Maximilian
Published: November 2018

We propose to use economic theories to construct shrinkage estimators that perform well when the theories' empirical implications are approximately correct but perform no worse than unrestricted estimators when the theories' implications do not hold. We implement this construction in various settings, including labor demand and wage inequality, and estimation of consumer demand. We provide asymptotic and finite sample characterizations of the behavior of the proposed estimators. Our approach is an alternative to the use of theory as something to be tested or to be imposed on estimates. Our approach complements uses of theory for identification and extrapolation.
Fiscal Stimulus and Consumer Debt
Authors: Demyanyk Yuliya , Loutskina Elena , Murphy Daniel
Published: November 2018

In the aftermath of the consumer debt–induced recession, policymakers have questioned whether fiscal stimulus is effective during periods of high consumer indebtedness. This study empirically investigates this question. Using detailed data on Department of Defense spending for the 2007–2009 period, we document that the open-economy relative fiscal multiplier is higher in geographies with higher consumer debt. The results suggest that in the short term (2007–2009), fiscal policy can mitigate the adverse effect of consumer (over)leverage on real economic output during a recession. We then exploit detailed microdata to show that both heterogeneous marginal propensities to consume and slack-driven economic mechanisms contribute to the debt-dependent multiplier.
Regulation-Induced Pollution Substitution
Authors: Gibson Matthew
Published: November 2018

Environmental regulations may cause firms to reoptimize over pollution inputs. By regulating air emissions in particular counties, the Clean Air Act (CAA) gives firms incentives to substitute toward polluting other media, like waterways, and toward pollution from plants in other counties. I test these hypotheses using the EPA Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). Regulated plants increase their ratio of water-to-air emissions by 177% (102 log points) and their level of water emissions by 105% (72 log points). Regulation of an average plant increases air emissions at unregulated plants within the same firm by 11%.
Small Firm Death in Developing Countries
Authors: McKenzie David , Paffhausen Anna Luisa
Published: November 2018

We collate sixteen panel surveys from twelve developing countries to develop stylized facts from over 14,000 firms on how much firm death there is, which types of these firms are most likely to die, and why they die. Small firms die at an average rate of 8.2% per year. Death rates are higher in richer countries, for younger firms and less profitable firms, and for firms run by youth. We also find that firm death need not mean permanent exit from self-employment for the firm owner.
Judicial Efficiency and Firm Productivity: Evidence from a World Database of Judicial Reforms
Authors: Chemin Matthieu
Published: November 2018

I assemble and classify a database of judicial reforms funded by foreign aid agencies as either comprehensive (targeting all characteristics of quality, speed, access) or limited reform. A triple difference is used to compare firms in countries with or without judicial reforms, before and after reforms, and in sectors more or less reliant on contract enforcement mechanisms, due to their need for relationship-specific investments. I find that externally financed comprehensive judicial reforms improve perceptions of judiciary efficiency (for all firms) and firm productivity (for sectors relying on relationship-specific investments) by 0.15 and 0.09 (22%) standard deviation, respectively.
The rediscovery of Lobelia macrocentron (Campanulaceae) after 169 years, with notes on the morphology, habitat and conservation status
Authors: ÁVILA-GONZÁLEZ HERIBERTO , GONZÁLEZ-GALLEGOS JESÚS GUADALUPE , RUBIO-CARDOZA JACIEL , CASTRO-CASTRO ARTURO
Published: November 2018

Lobelia macrocentron (Campanulaceae) was rediscovered when conducting floristic sampling for the Flora inventory of Santuario El Palmito, a natural protected area in the municipality of Concordia, Sinaloa, Mexico. The species was discovered 169 years ago by B.C. Seemann between 1849 and 1850, as part of one of the inland explorations of the Herald’s voyage. Seemann’s specimens served as the type and only known collection of the species. The locality of Seemann’s collections is imprecisely described, so that any search attempt would require an extensive exploration in portions of the states of Durango, Nayarit and Sinaloa, covering more than 350 km of Seemann’s route. Also, morphological variation of L. macrocentron was poorly understood as restricted by the only two available specimens. Consequently, we provide an extended description of the species, color plates with the first available photographs, and discussions about relationships, habitat and conservation status.
Study on Durability of Manufactured Sand Based on Stone Powder Content
Authors: Xie Kai-Zhong , Bai Mei-Yan , Qing Zhi-Gang , Li Jun , Ge Bing-Zhou
Published: November 2018

With the gradual decrease in natural sand resources and rising prices, the transportation of building materials in mountainous areas is difficult. Hence, studying the mechanics and the impermeability of manufactured sand to address infrastructure construction and to protect the ecological
environment due to the lack of natural sand resources is important. In this study, the effect of the stone powder content of manufactured sand on the mechanical properties of concrete and the permeability resistance of the chloride ion is evaluated. The stone powder contents of 0%, 5%, 10%,
15%, and 20%, are evaluated and a comparative test is completed for natural river sand with a strength grade C40. The results show that the stone powder in concrete has a certain effect on the mechanical properties of manufactured sand concrete. An appropriate amount of stone powder improves
the durability of manufactured sand concrete. When the stone powder content is 10% or more, the chloride diffusion coefficient of manufactured sand concrete is lower than that of natural sand, and its permeability is better than that of natural sand. In a certain range, the slump and diffusion
coefficient of concrete show the same trend with the increase of compressive strength.
Humanitized violence: Targeted killings and civilian deaths in the US war against the Islamic State
Authors: Bonds Eric
Published: November 2018

Based on a qualitative content analysis of human rights reports, US military statements, and newspaper accounts, this article describes the ascendency of ‘humanitized violence,’ which characterizes airstrikes in the US war against the Islamic State (2014–2017). This hyper-rationalized violence utilizes precision weaponry, technical and administrative procedures to limit civilian deaths, and calculations to achieve goals in ‘proportionality.’ This method of violence is further accompanied by a discourse of precision, care, legality, and regret. The article further shows that leading nongovernmental critics of this violence largely accept its logic. Consequently, rather than offering opposition, humanitarian NGOs instead reinforce the humanitization of violence by calling on governments to be more precise and to exercise more care when striking enemy targets. Noting the high numbers of civilian deaths that can accompany humanitized violence, along with the US government’s continued capacity for total war, the author cautions that its rise does not necessarily portend a more peaceful future.
Childhood determinants for early psychiatric disability pension: A 10-year follow-up study of the 1987 Finnish Birth Cohort
Authors: Merikukka Marko , Ristikari Tiina , Tuulio-Henriksson Annamari , Gissler Mika , Laaksonen Mikko
Published: November 2018

Background:

Mental disorders can affect work ability and lead to early exit from the labour market through disability pension.

Aims:

This study aimed to identify childhood determinants of psychiatric disability pension in early adulthood.

Methods:

The 1987 Finnish Birth Cohort includes a complete census of children born in a single year. The children were followed up from birth until 31 December 2012 using official registers maintained by the Finnish authorities. Risk factors for disability pension were examined in the full 1987 cohort ( N = 58,739) and among children who had received mental health care ( N = 9,599). Odds ratios were calculated for disability pension due to all mental disorders and separately for schizophrenia, depressive and anxiety and other mental and behavioural disorders in association with childhood determinants.

Results:

Altogether, 1.4% of cohort members had retired due to mental disorders in 2003–2012. In the full 1987 cohort, female sex, parental divorce and social assistance, both mother’s and father’s psychiatric care and mother’s psychiatric disability pension increased the risk for disability pension due to mental disorders. Among children who had received mental health care, risk factors for psychiatric disability pension were father’s psychiatric care and mother’s psychiatric disability pension.

Conclusion:

Childhood determinants were related to the risk of psychiatric disability pension before the age of 25. The risk factors varied by the diagnosis of the disability pension. Using knowledge of this study’s risk factors should enable the identification of adolescents and young adults in general population and especially in the mental health care population who are at greatest risk of receipt of psychiatric disability pension.
Compression of polystyrene and polypropylene foams for energy absorption applications: A combined mechanical and microstructural study
Authors: Andena Luca , Caimmi Francesco , Leonardi Lidia , Nacucchi Michele , De Pascalis Fabio
Published: November 2018

In many applications, polymeric foams (such as expanded polystyrene or expanded polypropylene) are used for protection from impacts. Standard design requires the foam to maximize the energy absorption, thus achieving large deformations (typically up to 25% and above in compression) while maintaining the stress level below a threshold value. In this work, steam chest-moulded EPS and EPP were characterized in relation to their density, microstructure and applied strain rate. Typical mechanical parameters (elastic moduli and plateau stress in compression) were compared with existing models and data in the literature. The strain-rate dependence was accurately described using Nagy’s phenomenological model. The mechanical behaviour of the foams was then correlated with their microstructure, as investigated using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray micro-tomography. Structural parameters were obtained using both (2D and 3D) techniques and relevant results were compared.
Negotiating ‘otherness’ as skilled migrants
Authors: Yu Kyoung-Hee
Published: November 2018

While culture is beginning to be understood as a mechanism of stratification in the labor market alongside attribute-based discrimination, we lack a corresponding understanding of how skilled migrants deal with their otherness in the labor market. This article seeks to contribute to an understanding of the lived experiences of skilled migrants by identifying the material and social consequences of performing extra work to obtain cultural legitimacy. In contrast to the recent focus on understanding cultural others’ responses to pressures for conformity in terms of identity conflict, this study identifies the context in which cultural legitimacy is required and constructed, both in terms of macro-societal and institutional influences on identity regulation within organizations as well as interactional dynamics and power relations. Based on interviews with migrants in the field of accounting and finance in Australia, I draw out the main features of ‘cultural work’ and show the potential consequences of not performing cultural work as well as the means of migrants’ resistance against pressures for conformity.
Combination of integral sliding mode control design with optimal feedback control for nonlinear uncertain systems
Authors: Jouini Marwa , Dhahri Slim , Sellami Anis
Published: November 2018

The purpose of this study is to present a new robust sliding mode control design for nonlinear systems where both matched and unmatched uncertainties are considered. The proposed controller strategy is composed of two components: the integral sliding mode control and the optimal feedback control law. Moreover, an integral sliding mode surface in integral type is developed to construct the reachability of sliding mode using the Lyapunov functions method. The main advantages of the proposed approach are ensuring the robustness throughout the whole system response against the uncertainties, decrease the chattering effect and eliminate the reaching phase. Finally, the validity of the proposed design strategy is demonstrated through the simulation of a ﬂexible joint robot.