Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling International Financial Returns with a Multivariate Regime Switching Copula

In order to capture observed asymmetric dependence in international financial returns, we construct a multivariate regime-switching model of copulas. We model dependence with one Gaussian and one canonical vine copula regime. Canonical vines are constructed from bivariate conditional copulas and provide a very flexible way of characterizing dependence in multivariate settings. We apply the model to returns from the G5 and Latin American regions, and document two main findings. First, we discover that models with canonical vines generally dominate alternative dependence structures. Second, the choice of copula is important for risk management, because it modifies the Value at Risk (VaR) of international portfolio returns.
Complicating the Diagnosis: A Response to Lammers and Duggan

Complaints about managed care have become commonplace over the last decade or so. From Helen Hunt’s hailed derision of HMOs in As Good as it Gets to Harry and Louise’s lament that “There must be a better way,” during the Clinton health care reform debate, there are few societal processes or structures that have taken a larger or harder hit than managed care. Thus, it is exciting that communication scholars are taking on the task of unraveling the complicated relationships among managed care goals, organizational systems, provider expectations and behaviors, and outcomes for patients and other clients. From Lammers and Geist’s (1997) exposition of possible problems with the managed care environment, through the recent Journal of Applied Communication Research special issue (Miller & Ryan, 2001) on “Communication in the Age of Managed Care,” to the current piece by Lammers and Duggan, it is clear that communication scholars are poised to be at the forefront of this critical societal issue. This response to Lammers and Dugans’ article, “Communication Predictors of Physicians’ Satisfaction with Managed Care” is not meant as a defense of managed care systems and processes. However, I would like to highlight the importance of moving beyond the vilification and demonization of managed care. In popular media, in day-to-day conversation, and in the academic press, there is a tendency to preach the evils of managed care. Concerns with cost are seen as overwhelming concerns with quality. Doctors are seen as “double agents” who are unable to serve both the needs of their patients and the needs of insurance carriers who reimburse their work. Patients are seen as pawns in an institutional system, left without physician choice, decision-making power, or adequate recourse to HEALTH COMMUNICATION, 14(4), 515–518 Copyright © 2002, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Modelling dynamics in protein crystal structures by ensemble refinement

Single-structure models derived from X-ray data do not adequately account for the inherent, functionally important dynamics of protein molecules. We generated ensembles of structures by time-averaged refinement, where local molecular vibrations were sampled by molecular-dynamics (MD) simulation whilst global disorder was partitioned into an underlying overall translation–libration–screw (TLS) model. Modeling of 20 protein datasets at 1.1–3.1 Å resolution reduced cross-validated Rfree values by 0.3–4.9%, indicating that ensemble models fit the X-ray data better than single structures. The ensembles revealed that, while most proteins display a well-ordered core, some proteins exhibit a ‘molten core’ likely supporting functionally important dynamics in ligand binding, enzyme activity and protomer assembly. Order–disorder changes in HIV protease indicate a mechanism of entropy compensation for ordering the catalytic residues upon ligand binding by disordering specific core residues. Thus, ensemble refinement extracts dynamical details from the X-ray data that allow a more comprehensive understanding of structure–dynamics–function relationships. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.00311. 001
Diet and vitamin or mineral supplementation and risk of rectal cancer in Canada

The study examines the relation of diet and vitamin or mineral supplementation with risk of rectal cancer. Mailed questionnaires were completed by 1 380 newly diagnosed patients with histologically confirmed rectal cancer and 3 097 population controls between 1994 and 1997 in seven Canadian provinces. Measurement included information on socio-economic status, lifestyle, diet and vitamin or mineral supplementation. We derived odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals through unconditional logistic regression. Total of consumption of vegetables, fruit and whole-grain products did not reduce the risk of rectal cancer. Consumption of cruciferous vegetables was inversely associated with risk of rectal cancer among women only, as did chicken intake among men. The strongest dietary association with increased rectal cancer risk appeared in males with increasing total fat intake and in females with bacon intake. Vitamin and mineral supplementation showed significant inverse associations with rectal cancer in women only. These findings suggest that dietary risk factors for rectal cancer in women may differ from those in men.
SOCIAL UPGRADING IN SIX CANADIAN INNER CITIES

This paper examines social upgrading in the inner neighbourhoods of six major Canadian cities between 1971 and 1981. The extent of social status change is assessed, and hypotheses are considered to account for neighbourhoods likely to experience social upgrading. Maps of status change are discussed and suggest further general principles. These are assessed in a correlation analysis where the dependent variable is an index of social status change for each inner city tract. Most of the independent variables show significant associations; the most consistent correlation is with proximity to an existing elite area. Implications of these findings for models of neighbourhood transition are considered. Cet article examine le phenomene du renouveau social a I'interieur des secteurs d'habitation de six grandes villes canadiennes entre 1971 et 1981. Le changement de statut social fait I'objet d'une evaluation dans son etendue, et des hypotheses sont formulees pour rendre compte des quartiers qui ont de grandes chances de connaitre un phenomene de renouveau social. La carto-graphie des changements de statut social permet de de-gagerde nouveaux elements d'explication. La verification des hypotheses est faite au moyen d'une analyse correlative ou la variable dependante est un in-dice du changement de statut social survenu en chaque division des secteurs couverts. La plupart des variables independantes montrent des associations significatives; la correlation la plus marquee a rapport a la proximite d'un secteur ou reside l'elite. La signification de ces re-sultats pour la formulation de modeles de quartiers en transition retient notre attention.
The Birth to School Study: evidence on the effectiveness of PEEP, an early intervention for children at risk of educational under‐achievement

This article presents the findings of the Birth to School Study (BTSS) a longitudinal evaluation of the Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP); a family‐focused intervention aimed at promoting early literacy, numeracy and self‐esteem in a community at risk of educational underachievement. The main aim of the study was to investigate the effects of PEEP on the children and families from the community it served. Embedded within this aim were dual objectives: to determine if the intervention had an effect within the community as a whole, and simultaneously to determine whether it had an effect on the sub‐group of families who participated in the PEEP weekly sessions. Outcomes in favour of the intervention were found for parents and for children's progress in language and early literacy skills, both at community and sub‐group level. The study is located within a discussion of social exclusion, the potentially mediating influence of education and the accessibility of literacy skills to intervention and change.
Die Wahrnehmung verschiedener gentechnischer Anwendungen: Ergebnisse einer MDS-Analyse

Zusammenfassung: Es wurde untersucht, welche Dimensionen fur die Beurteilung verschiedener gentechnischer Anwendungen benutzt werden. Die Probanden mussten die Ahnlichkeiten von 15 Anwendungen aus den Bereichen Landwirtschaft, Nahrungsmittel und Medizin einschatzen. Die Stichprobe umfasste 131 Studierende aus unterschiedlichen Studienrichtungen. Die Daten wurden mittels multidimensionaler Skalierung und «Property Fitting» ausgewertet. Zwei Attribute sind fur Laien bei der Einschatzung der gentechnischen Anwendungen wichtig: (1) Die Anwendungsebene (Konsum/Medizin) und (2) die Objektebene (Tiere, Pflanzen/Mikroorganismen). Die erste Dimension korrelierte stark mit dem wahrgenommenen Nutzen, der Akzeptanz und der Ethik, die zweite Dimension korrelierte mit dem wahrgenommenem Risiko. Die Wahrnehmung der Gentechnologie hangt offensichtlich von den konkreten Anwendungen ab.
Academic and Social Perceptions as Predictors of Change in Middle School Students' Sense of School Belonging

Abstract Change in middle school students' sense of school belonging was examined in relation to grade point average, motivation variables, and teachers' promotion of mutual respect in classes. Survey data from 618 students collected in three waves during the sixth and seventh grades were submitted to growth curve analysis. On average, students' sense of school belonging declined over time. Initial levels of school belonging were predicted positively by students' grade point average, academic task values, and perceived classroom task goal orientations. Teacher promotion of mutual respect had a small effect in ameliorating the decline in school belonging. The findings suggest that students' sense of school belonging is enhanced when teachers promote adaptive academic and interpersonal contexts in their classrooms.
Passive smoking and cardiorespiratory health in a general population in the west of Scotland.

OBJECTIVE-To assess the risk of cardiorespiratory symptoms and mortality in non-smokers who were passively exposed to environmental smoke. DESIGN--Prospective study of cohort from general population first screened between 1972 and 1976 and followed up for an average of 11.5 years, with linkage of data from participants in the same household. SETTING--Renfrew and Paisely, adjacent burghs in urban west Scotland. SUBJECTS--15,399 Men and women (80% of all those aged 45-64 resident in Renfrew or Paisley) comprised the original cohort; 7997 attended for multiphasic screening with a cohabitee. Passive smoking and control groups were defined on the basis of a lifelong non-smoking index case and whether the cohabitee had ever smoked or never smoked. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE--Cardiorespiratory signs and symptoms and mortality. RESULTS--Each of the cardiorespiratory symptoms examined produced relative risks greater than 1.0 (though none were significant) for passive smokers compared with controls. Adjusted forced expiratory volume in one second was significantly lower in passive smokers than controls. All cause mortality was higher in passive smokers than controls (rate ratio 1.27 (95% confidence interval 0.95 to 1.70)), as were all causes of death related to smoking (rate ratio 1.30 (0.91 to 1.85] and mortality from lung cancer (rate ratio 2.41 (0.45 to 12.83)) and ischaemic heart disease (rate ratio 2.01 (1.21 to 3.35)). When passive smokers were divided into high and low exposure groups on the basis of the amount smoked by their cohabitees those highly exposed had higher rates of symptoms and death. CONCLUSION--Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke cannot be regarded as a safe involuntary habit.
Multiple signals and male spacing affect female preference at cocktail parties in treefrogs

Effective acoustic communication in the face of intense conspecific background noise constitutes a constant sensory challenge in chorusing and colonial species. An evolutionary approach suggests that behavioural and environmental constraints in these species should have shaped signal design and signalling behaviour to enable communication in noisy conditions. This could be attained both through the use of multicomponent signals and through short-term adjustments in the spatial separation of calling males. We investigated these two hypotheses in a chorusing anuran, the hylid Hyla arborea, through a series of phonotaxis experiments conducted within a six-speaker arena in a high background noise situation, by presenting females with male calls containing either single or multiple attractive call components, and by modifying distances between speakers. We found that female ability to discriminate attractive calls increased when several attractive call components were available, providing novel evidence that the use of multicomponent signals enhances communication in complex acoustic conditions. Signal discrimination in females also improved with speaker separation, demonstrating that within natural choruses, spatial unmasking conditioned by male density and spatial separation probably improves female discrimination of competing males. Implications of these results for the accuracy of mate choice within choruses are discussed.
Vietnamese food recognition using convolutional neural networks

In this paper, we investigate Vietnamese food recognition problem and compare different methods by using traditional hand-crafted features and convolutional neural networks (CNNs). To this aim, we first introduce one dataset including five popular Vietnamese dishes with more than 2000 images. We then conduct various experiments on that dataset and analyze the performance of each approach. The experiments show that CNNs outperform the hand-crafted techniques by a significant margin.
A Theory of Probabilistic Boosting, Decision Trees and Matryoshki

We present a theory of boosting probabilistic classifiers. We place ourselves in the situation of a user who only provides a stopping parameter and a probabilistic weak learner/classifier and compare three types of boosting algorithms: probabilistic Adaboost, decision tree, and tree of trees of . of trees, which we call matryoshka. "Nested tree," "embedded tree" and "recursive tree" are also appropriate names for this algorithm, which is one of our contributions. Our other contribution is the theoretical analysis of the algorithms, in which we give training error bounds. This analysis suggests that the matryoshka leverages probabilistic weak classifiers more efficiently than simple decision trees.
Counselling, Vocational Interest And Socio-Economic Status As Correlates Of Re-Entry Of Girls Into School In Edo State

The study investigated the relationship between counselling, vocational interest and socio-economic status on re-entry of girls into schools in Edo State. The research design adopted was co-relational because it sought to establish the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable. One research hypothesis was formulated to guide this study. Four research instruments were used: they are the instrument on counselling, the modified Bakare Vocational Interest Inventory, the instrument on socio-economic status of parents and the instrument on reasons for re-entry into school by girls. Three continuing education schools were randomly selected for the study. Three hundred and twenty girls who re-enrolled in these schools were used for the study. Data was analysed using multiple regression analysis method. Results showed that there is a significant relationship between counselling, vocational interest and socio-economic status of parents on re-entry of girls into school. It is recommended that counselling services should be provided for girls who have dropped out of school with a view to getting them back into the school system. Vocational guidance should be taught in schools and more income generating projects should be put in place by government and non-governmental agencies to improve the living standard of the people. Key Words: Counselling, Vocational Interest, Socioeconomic Status, Re-entry, Girls, School
Effect of a precompetition bodybuilding diet and training regimen on body composition and blood chemistry.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this investigation was to document the effect of a 10-wk precompetition bodybuilding diet and training, on blood chemistry and body composition. PARTICIPANT One adult male, steroid and drug free, preparing for a first competition. MEASURES Average daily dietary intake consisted of 2263 calories (71% protein, 16% carbohydrate, 13% fats), with a protein intake of 5.0 gm.kg-1 body mass (BM). Initial body weight of 76.3 kgf (16% body fat) decreased to 63.4 kgf (4.4% body fat). Blood samples for electrolytes, TP, Alb, bilirubin, LDL-C, TG, UA, and amylase were normal. HDL-C levels increased from 65 to 89 mg.dL-1. RESULTS Decreased glucose levels (< 50 mg.dL-1), indicated hypoglycemia. Increased Mg, LD, and CK levels indicated intense training. Increased inorganic phosphorus from 3.7 to 8.2 mg.dL-1 suggested lactic acidosis. Increased BUN levels from 16 to 53 mg.dL-1 and creatinine from 1.1 to 1.8 mg.dL-1 may be attributed to a high protein diet. However, heart muscle enzyme (CK-MB) was not elevated. CONCLUSIONS Substantial changes in body composition and blood chemistry suggest adequate nutrition be ensured, and caution taken to avoid excessive physiologic stresses on the body during precompetition diet and training.
Neuropsychology and the cognitive nature of the emotions

Abstract We examine and criticise some interpretations of the neuropsychology of the emotions, arguing that emotion and cognition should not be distinguished as distinct entities that can occur independently or be separated physiologically. In the twentieth century the separation of the cognitive from the emotional and the sensory has been challenged within philosophy, psychology, and now neuroscience. Centrifugal anatomical wiring suggests that emotion and sensation cannot be independent from cognition. For emotions to function adaptively, they must incorporate interpretation, anticipation, and problem-solving, a view we call functionalism. Neuropsychological data on the emotions are consistent with these assertions.
Insight and General Public Attitude on Psychotic Experiences in Hong Kong

Psychosis has been viewed with vastly different attitudes in different contexts. Medical professionals frequently assume that patients should have adequate insight into their abnormal experience. "Lack" of insight has been regarded as a characteristic feature of schizophrenic psychosis. However, these experiences have frequently been construed from a non-medically related perspective by the general public. We employed a case-vignette approach to study the opinion of a general public sample concerning attribution, intervention needs and con cordance with medical professionals towards psychotic experience. Ninety eight healthy Chinese volunteers were recruited. Results showed that public opinion only agreed partly with the conventional medical model. Although most subjects agreed that the experience described in the case-vignette was psychological, they did not relate this to psychiatric treatment. Subjects having past contact with psychiatric patients showed a higher degree of agreement with the medical perspective than subjects without past contact. Potential implications of our results on management and health education are discussed.
Opus: University of Bath Online Publication Store a Role for Consciousness in Action Selection

This version is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. Abstract. This paper argues that conscious attention exists not so much for selecting an immediate action as for focusing learning of the action-selection mechanisms and predictive models on tasks and environmental contingencies likely to affect the conscious agent. It is perfectly possible to build this sort of system into machine intelligence , but it is not strictly necessary unless the intelligence needs to learn and is resource-bounded with respect to the rate of learning vs. the rate of relevant environmental change. Support of this theory is drawn from scientific research and AI simulations, and a few consequences are suggested with respect to self consciousness and ethical obligations to and for AI.
Coarse-to-fine region selection and matching

We present a new approach to wide baseline matching. We propose to use a hierarchical decomposition of the image domain and coarse-to-fine selection of regions to match. In contrast to interest point matching methods, which sample salient regions to reduce the cost of comparing all regions in two images, our method eliminates regions systematically to achieve efficiency. One advantage of our approach is that it is not restricted to covariant salient regions, which is too restrictive under large viewpoint and leads to few corresponding regions. Affine invariant matching of regions in the hierarchy is achieved efficiently by a coarse-to-fine search of the affine space. Experiments on two benchmark datasets shows that our method finds more correct correspondence of the image (with fewer false alarms) than other wide baseline methods on large viewpoint change.
‘We didn't cover that at school’: education against pleasure or education for pleasure?

This paper considers the common criteria by which school‐based sex and relationship programmes are evaluated, and argues that the domination of public health outcomes serves to make invisible other aspects of courses that warrant attention. In particular, the role of pleasure in sexual development and relations is normally not acknowledged. While it may be unacceptable in most cultures to suggest that teaching young people how to achieve sexual pleasure is valuable, there are increasing indications—from developing as well as developed countries—that public health outcomes may benefit from a greater acceptance of positive sexual experiences. It is suggested that greater comfort with one's own body will enable greater ability to communicate wishes to others, and to be less ‘pressured’ into unwanted sexual relationships.