Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Borrower Misreporting and Loan Performance

Borrower misreporting is associated with seriously adverse loan outcomes. Significantly more residential mortgage borrowers reported personal assets just above round number thresholds than just below. Borrowers who reported above-threshold assets were almost 25 percentage points more likely to become delinquent (mean delinquency was 20%). For applicants with unverified assets, the increase in delinquency was greater than 40 percentage points. Misreporting was most frequent in areas with low financial literacy or social capital. Incorporating behavioral cues such as threshold effects into a risk assessment model improves its ability to uncover delinquencies, though at a cost of mischaracterizing some safe loans.
The democratic peace and the new evolution of an old idea

Since the democratic peace was ‘rediscovered’ in the 1970s, the phenomenon has become a mainstream research agenda. Significant attention and page space has been dedicated to large-N statistical tests of the phenomenon. Indeed, the methodological composition of the field is significantly tilted toward quantitative studies, creating significant lacunae in our understanding of the underlying mechanisms that generate the democratic peace. The central argument in this review is that academics need to pay much greater attention to the underlying mechanisms of the democratic peace, and in the process of doing so, the democratic peace has the potential to expand into a much more significant field of study: democratic security.
Bacteriological profile in conjunctival, lacrimal sac, and nasal specimens and conjunctival normalization time following external, endoscopic, and transcanalicular multidiode laser dacryocystorhinostomy.

PURPOSE To compare the conjunctival, lacrimal sac, and nasal flora cultures and conjunctival normalization time following external (EX-), endoscopic (EN-), and transcanalicular multidiode laser (TC-) dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) and to evaluate the relationship between culture positivity and surgical success. We further performed antibiotic sensitivity analyses for lacrimal sac culture samples. METHODS A total of 90 patients with primary acquired nasolacrimal duct obstruction were recruited and divided into EX-DCR (n=32), EN-DCR (n=28), and TC-DCR (n=30) groups. Conjunctival, nasal, and lacrimal sac cultures and antibiograms were analyzed. RESULTS In all three groups, coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CNS) was predominantly isolated preoperatively from the conjunctiva, nose, and lacrimal sac and postoperatively from the conjunctiva. Preoperative and postoperative conjunctival culture positivity rates were similar between all the groups (p>0.05). A statistically significant difference in the growth rate of culture in the lacrimal sac was observed between the three groups (p=0.001). CNS and Staphylococcus aureus cultures were predominantly sensitive to linezolid, teicoplanin, tigecycline, vancomycin, and mupirocin. Conjunctival normalization times were similar between the three groups (p>0.05). Anatomical and functional success rates were not found to be significantly correlated with preoperative conjunctival and lacrimal sac culture positivity (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS Similar rates of preoperative and 1-week postoperative conjunctival culture positivity were observed in all the groups; a significantly lower bacterial growth rate was observed in postoperative conjunctival cultures. CNS was the most commonly isolated organism. Bacterial growth rates in the lacrimal sac samples were significantly higher in the EN-DCR group. Bacterial growth rates obtained preoperatively from the conjunctival and lacrimal sac culture samples were not correlated with DCR success.
Large Scale Identification of Proteins, Mucins, and Their O-Glycosylation in the Endocervical Mucus during the Menstrual Cycle*S

The mucus filling the human cervical opening blocks the entry to the uterus, but this has to be relative and allow for the sperm to penetrate at ovulation. We studied this mucus, its content of proteins and mucins, and the mucin O-glycosylation in cervical secretions before, during, and after ovulation. Cervical mucosal secretions from 12 subjects were collected, reduced-alkylated, separated with polyacrylamide or agarose/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and stained with silver, Alcian blue, or Coomassie Blue stain. Protein and mucin bands from before and during ovulation were digested and subsequently analyzed by nano-LC-FT-ICR MS and MS/MS. We identified 194 proteins after searches against the NCBI non-redundant protein database and an in-house mucin database. Three gel-forming (MUC5B, MUC5AC, and MUC6) and two transmembrane mucins (MUC16 and MUC1) were identified. For the analysis of mucin O-glycosylation, separated mucins from six individuals were blotted to PVDF membranes, and the O-glycans were released by reductive β-elimination and analyzed with capillary HPLC-MS and -MS/MS. At least 50 neutral, sialic acid-, and sulfate-containing oligosaccharides were found. An increase of GlcNAc-6GalNAcol Core 2 structures and a relative decrease of NeuAc residues are typical for ovulation, and NeuAc-6GalNAcol and NeuAc-3Gal- epitopes are typical for the non-ovulatory phases. The cervical mucus at ovulation is thus characterized by a relative increase in neutral fucosylated oligosaccharides. This comprehensive characterization of the mucus during the menstrual cycle suggests mucin glycosylation as the major alteration at ovulation, but the relation to the altered physicochemical properties and sperm penetrability is still not understood.
Governmentality and the politics of CSR

In this article we argue that an analytics of governmentality has an important contribution to make to the study of governmental approaches to corporate social responsibility (CSR). Looking at developments within the EU, we see government emerging as an enabling and empowering facilitator that a) promotes a strategic understanding of CSR as a lever for economic competitiveness and growth and b) disregards regulatory measures in favour of liberal and indirect means of steering. We argue that the analytical vocabulary of governmentality makes it possible to address and problematize the indirect modes of power and governing that are prevalent in governmental approaches to CSR in general and in neoliberal modes of CSR governance in particular. Using EU and member states policy developments as an empirical backdrop, we provide a conceptual exploration of the prospects of applying governmentality to the study of the changing roles of government in CSR. We position our contribution within the critical literature on CSR as a political phenomenon.
Visual Awareness, Emotion, and Gamma Band Synchronization

What makes us become aware? A popular hypothesis is that if cortical neurons fire in synchrony at a certain frequency band (gamma), we become aware of what they are representing. We tested this hypothesis adopting brain-imaging techniques with good spatiotemporal resolution and frequency-specific information. Specifically, we examined the degree to which increases in event-related synchronization (ERS) in the gamma band were associated with awareness of a stimulus (its detectability) and/or the emotional content of the stimulus. We observed increases in gamma band ERS within prefrontal–anterior cingulate, visual, parietal, posterior cingulate, and superior temporal cortices to stimuli available to conscious awareness. However, we also observed increases in gamma band ERS within the amygdala, visual, prefrontal, parietal, and posterior cingulate cortices to emotional relative to neutral stimuli, irrespective of their availability to conscious access. This suggests that increased gamma band ERS is related to, but not sufficient for, consciousness.
Factors associated to antidepressant prescription for civil servants of Belo Horizonte, MG

Selecting the most suitable drug for the treatment of depression has clinical and economic implications, since both safety and cost of antidepressants (AD) vary among therapeutic subgroups. This study aimed to evaluate the prescription of antidepressants for users of the pharmacy for civil servants of PBH (FARMASERV) in 2005. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analyzes using logistic regression were performed. Of the total prescriptions analyzed (652), the majority were for women (81.7%) and individuals aged between 19 and 59 years (81.7%). The variables independently associated with the selection of AD were gender, age and the specialty of the prescriber. Women and young adults were more likely to be prescribed an SSRI compared to their congeners, with statistically significant differences. Psychiatrists were more likely to prescribe an SSRI than neurologists or general physicians. The determinant factors for selecting antidepressants may aid the planning of interventions aimed at patients and prescribers which can enable rationalization of the use of antidepressants.
Variable accretion and emission from the stellar winds in the Galactic Centre

We present numerical simulations of stellar wind dynamics in the central parsec of the Galactic Centre, studying in particular the accretion of gas on to Sgr A ∗ , the supermassive black hole. Unlike our previous work, here we use state-of-the-art observational data on orbits and wind properties of individual wind-producing stars. Since wind velocities were revised upwards and non-zero eccentricities were considered, our new simulations show fewer clumps of cold gas and no conspicuous disc-like structure. The accretion rate is dominated by a few close ‘slow-wind stars’ (vw � 750 km s −1 ), and is consistent with the Bondi estimate, but variable on time-scales of tens to hundreds of years. This variability is due to the stochastic infall of cold clumps of gas, as in earlier simulations, and to the eccentric orbits of stars. The present models fail to explain the high luminosity of Sgr A ∗ a few hundred years ago implied by Integral observations, but we argue that the accretion of a cold clump with a small impact parameter could have caused it. Finally, we show the possibility of constraining the total mass-loss rate of the ‘slow-wind stars’ using near infrared observations of gas in the central few arcseconds.
The Why and How of Nonnegative Matrix Factorization

Nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) has become a widely used tool for the analysis of high-dimensional data as it automatically extracts sparse and meaningful features from a set of nonnegative data vectors. We first illustrate this property of NMF on three applications, in image processing, text mining and hyperspectral imaging --this is the why. Then we address the problem of solving NMF, which is NP-hard in general. We review some standard NMF algorithms, and also present a recent subclass of NMF problems, referred to as near-separable NMF, that can be solved efficiently (that is, in polynomial time), even in the presence of noise --this is the how. Finally, we briefly describe some problems in mathematics and computer science closely related to NMF via the nonnegative rank.
Effect of insulin on the soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE)

The receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications. RAGE transcript splicing generates a number of isoforms, including a full‐length membrane‐bound receptor and a soluble isoform, endogenous secretory RAGE (esRAGE). Soluble forms of the receptor (sRAGE) can also be formed by ectodomain shedding of the membrane‐associated receptor. We have evaluated serum levels of sRAGE and esRAGE in Chinese patients with Type 1 diabetes and investigated the effect of insulin on the generation of esRAGE and sRAGE in vitro.
Structure–activity relationships for gene activation oestrogenicity: Evaluation of a diverse set of aromatic chemicals

Structure–activity relationships for oestrogenicity were developed based on 120 aromatic chemicals evaluated in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae‐based Lac‐Z reporter assay. Relative gene activation was compared to 17β‐estradiol and varied over eight orders of magnitude. Analysis of the data compared to 17β‐estradiol identified three structural criteria that were related to xenoestrogen activity and potency: (1) the hydrogen‐bonding ability of the phenolic ring mimicking the A‐ring, (2) a hydrophobic centre similar in size and shape to the B‐ and C‐rings, and (3) a hydrogen‐bond donor mimicking the 17β‐hydroxyl moiety of the D‐ring, especially with an oxygen‐to‐oxygen distance similar to that between the 3‐ and 17β‐hydroxyl groups of 17β‐estradiol. Binding data were segregated into activity clusters including strong, moderate, weak, and detectable gene expression, and those compounds that were inactive. The hydrogen‐bonding ability of hydroxy group in the 3‐position on 17β‐estradiol was observed to be essential for gene activation. Compounds with a 4‐hydroxyl substituted benzene ring and a hydrophobic moiety of size and shape equivalent to the B‐ring of 17β‐estradiol were generally observed to be weakly active compounds. Moderately active compounds have a 4‐hydroxyl substituted benzene ring with a hydrophobic moiety equivalent in size and shape to the B‐ and C‐ring of 17β‐estradiol, or have a high hydrogen‐bond donor capacity owing to the presence of halogens on a nonphenolic ring. Strongly active compounds, similar to 4,4′‐diethylethylene bisphenol (DES), possess the same hydrophobic ring structure as described for moderately active compounds and an additional hydroxyl group with an oxygen‐to‐oxygen distance close to that exhibited by the 3‐ and 17‐hydroxyl groups of 17β‐estradiol. © 2002 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 17: 14–23, 2002
Bile Acids Do Not Contribute to the Altered Calcium Homeostasis of Platelets from Rats with Biliary Cirrhosis

Previously, we have found that intracellular calcium homeostasis is altered in platelets from an experimental model of liver cirrhosis, the bile-duct ligated (BDL) rat; these alterations are compatible with the existence of a hypercoagulable state and related to an enhanced intracellular calcium release evoked by thrombin and an increased amount of calcium stored in the intracellular organelles. In the present study we have investigated the role of bile acids in those alterations of the BDL cirrhotic model. Cholic acid (CA) or deoxycholic acid (DCA) did not change P-selectin expression or platelet aggregation in any group but elevated baseline platelet calcium levels. Incubation with both bile acids reduced calcium release after stimulation with thrombin in the absence of extracellular calcium. Pretreatment with CA but not with DCA reduced significantly thrombin-induced calcium entry in all three experimental groups. The capacitative calcium entry was also significantly lower in platelets pretreated with both bile acids. The simultaneous addition of thapsigargin and ionomycin to estimate the total amount of calcium in platelet internal stores was decreased by pretreatment with both CA and DCA, although these changes were significantly different in the control rats only with CA and in the BDL platelets with DCA. These results indicate that CA and DCA reduce calcium movements in platelets of control and BDL animals, thus suggesting that bile acids do not participate in the alterations observed in the BDL cirrotic model.
Assessing the Validity of Self-Rated Health with the Short Physical Performance Battery: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the International Mobility in Aging Study

Objective The aim of this study was to explore the validity of self-rated health across different populations of older adults, when compared to the Short Physical Performance Battery. Design Cross-sectional analysis of the International Mobility in Aging Study. Setting Five locations: Saint-Hyacinthe and Kingston (Canada), Tirana (Albania), Manizales (Colombia), and Natal (Brazil). Participants Older adults between 65 and 74 years old (n = 1,995). Methods The Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) was used to measure physical performance. Self-rated health was assessed with one single five-point question. Linear trends between SPPB scores and self-rated health were tested separately for men and women at each of the five international study sites. Poor physical performance (independent variable) (SPPB less than 8) was used in logistic regression models of self-rated health (dependent variable), adjusting for potential covariates. All analyses were stratified by gender and site of origin. Results A significant linear association was found between the mean scores of the Short Physical Performance Battery and ordinal categories of self-rated health across research sites and gender groups. After extensive control for objective physical and mental health indicators and socio-demographic variables, these graded associations became non-significant in some research sites. Conclusion These findings further confirm the validity of SRH as a measure of overall health status in older adults.
Body Position and the Neuroendocrine Response to Insulin-induced Hypoglycemia in Healthy Subjects

Changes in body fluid distribution are known to influence neuroendocrine function. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that changes in plasma volume affect the counterregulatory neuroendocrine response to hypoglycemia. The tests were performed in 12 subjects in two situations: ‘head-up’ (+60° head-up tilt standing for 30 min and hypoglycemia in sitting position afterwards) and ‘leg-up’ (leg-up position for 30 min and hypoglycemia in leg-up position afterwards) in a random order. Insulin-induced hypoglycemia was adjusted to 2.7 mmol/l for 15 min by glucose infusion. Plasma volume was greater by 2.2% (p < 0.001) in leg-up and lower by 9.6% (p < 0.001) in head-up position compared to the basal value in sitting position. Head-up position was associated with increases in ACTH, aldosterone, norepinephrine levels and plasma renin activity (p < 0.01). Leg-up position resulted in decreases in plasma growth hormone and epinephrine concentrations (p < 0.05). Except epinephrine, the neuroendocrine response to hypoglycemia, if any, was mild. Hypoglycemia failed to activate ACTH release after head-up position. Body fluid redistribution did not modify hormonal changes during insulin hypoglycemia. In conclusion, we suggest that body position and accompanying plasma volume changes do not appear to affect neuroendocrine and counterregulatory responses to moderate, short duration hypoglycemia in healthy subjects.
A new regulatory interaction suggested by simulations for circadian genetic control mechanism in mammals

Knowledge of molecular biological systems is increasing at an amazing pace. It is becoming harder to intuitively evaluate the significance of each interaction between the molecules of the complex biological systems. Hence, we need to develop an efficient computational method to explore the biological mechanisms. In this study, we employed a hybrid functional Petri net in order to analyze mammalian circadian genetic control mechanisms, which consists of feedback loops of clock genes and generates endogenous near 24 h rhythms in mammals. We constructed a computational model based on the available biological data, and by using Genomic Object Net, we performed computer simulations of the time courses of clock gene transcription and translation. Although the original model successfully reproduced most of the circadian genetic control mechanisms, two discrepancies remained despite a wide selection of the parameters. We found that addition of a hypothetical path into the original model result in successful simulation of time courses and phase relationships among clock genes. This also demonstrates the usefulness of the hybrid functional Petri net approach to biological systems.
School Wellness Policy Implementation

Although school wellness policies have the potential to transform school environments, relatively little has been written about postadoption policy implementation and evaluation (policy to practice). The authors report results of a research study that examined the implementation of school wellness policies in two school districts in northern New Mexico. Through nine key informant interviews with administrators and two focus groups with students, they found that physical activity and nutrition policies were implemented inconsistently in both districts. Study participants identified facilitating factors (e.g., champions, grant funding) and barriers (e.g., competitive food sales, lack of clarity about responsibility for policy enforcement) to policy implementation. Participants also provided recommendations to improve policy implementation, including wellness policy training for school personnel and parents, improving the taste, nutritional value of, and choices in cafeteria food; and involving the community health council to promote community understanding and support of the policies. This study underscores the need to identify and address factors involved in the successful implementation of school wellness policies, looking at schools in the larger context of their communities. It also serves as an example of the potential for communities, schools, and others to work together to address a locally identified health priority.
Coping and Burden of Indonesian Family Caregivers Caring for Persons with Schizophrenia

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the relationship between coping and burden of Indonesian family caregivers caring for persons with schizophrenia. Materials and methods: The study was a correlational design. Eighty-eight subjects were selected from the outpatient department of the West Java Province Mental Hospital. Data were collected with self-report questionnaires using the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) and the Jalowiec Coping Scale (JCS). Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between coping and burden. Two dimensions of burden were analyzed using Spearman’s rho. Results: The findings showed that 43.2% of the subjects perceived burden as being at a moderate level. The coping method most often used was optimistic coping, followed by self-reliance coping, confrontative coping, and supportant coping. There was significant positive correlations between evasive coping, fatalistic coping, and emotive coping and perceived burden (r = 0.50, r = 0.57, r = 0.38; p < 0.01), while confrontative coping, optimistic coping, and supportant coping were significantly negatively correlated with perceived burden (r = -0.40, r = -0.31, r = -0.36; p < 0.01). There were no significant correlations between palliative coping or self-reliant coping, and burden. Conclusion: This study indicates that caregivers caring for persons with schizophrenia should be taught effective coping for dealing with the problems, such as problem-solving skills and how to maintain an optimistic attitude when dealing with difficult patients, and appropriate support for family caregivers should be available when required.