Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Liquidity Risk Premia in the International Shipping Derivatives Market

The study examines the existence of liquidity risk premia on freight derivatives returns. The Amihud liquidity ratio and bid-ask spreads are utilized to assess the existence of liquidity premia. Other macroeconomic variables are used to control for market risk. Results indicate that liquidity risk is priced and both liquidity measures have a significant role in determining freight derivatives returns. Consistent with expectations, both liquidity measures are found to have positive and significant effects on the returns of near-month freight derivatives contracts. The results have important implications for modeling freight derivatives returns, and consequently, for trading and risk management purposes.
Abnormalities of connected speech in semantic dementia vs Alzheimer's disease

Background: Neurodegenerative syndromes are associated with varying degrees of language impairment. Connected speech analysis provides the most realistic measure of language function but its use has been restricted by operational constraints. Aims: In this prospective study we assessed the relative utility of a picture description task and a semi-structured interview in exposing the language decline in semantic dementia (SD) and typical mild Alzheimer's disease (AD), compared to each other and to healthy volunteers. Methods & Procedures: Our cohort comprised 16 patients with a clinical diagnosis of SD, 20 with mild typical AD, and 30 healthy participants. All speech samples were recorded during a face-to-face interview and were subjected to a well-controlled quantitative analysis. Outcomes & Results: Our results suggest that (a) the picture description task is more sensitive to abnormalities in the semantic measures, whereas the interviews are better at exposing morpho-syntactic deficits; (b) circumlocution is not, as has sometimes been claimed, a salient feature of speech in SD; (c) increases in the frequency of hesitation markers and of phonological and syntactic errors are prominent features of language decline in mild AD; and (d) a 150-word interview sample is adequate to provide a realistic reflection of language impairment. Conclusions: This study compared, for the first time, the two most commonly used methods of eliciting connected speech and documented many similarities in results from the two but also some salient differences in their sensitivity to specific aspects of language deficit. In addition, although replicating some aspects such as anomia, of what is already known about the language impairments in these two conditions, the study provides novel findings for both that could help clinicians in syndromic classification of anomic speech.
Venous Thromboembolism in Pediatric Vascular Anomalies

The presence of a vascular anomaly suggests that capillaries, veins, arteries, and/or lymphatic vessels have demonstrated abnormal development and growth. Often dilated and misshaped, these vessels augment normal flow of blood and lymphatic fluids that increases the overall risk to develop intralesional thrombosis. Abnormal endothelial and lymphoendothelial cells activate hemostasis and hyperfibrinolytic pathways through poorly understood mechanisms, which contribute to the development of localized intravascular coagulopathy. Vascular malformations, tumors, and complex combined syndromes demonstrate varying degrees of prothrombotic activity and consumptive coagulopathy depending on the vessels involved and the pattern and extent of abnormal growth. The clinical impact of venous thromboembolism in pediatric vascular anomalies varies from painful syndromes that disrupt quality of life to life-threatening embolic disease. There remains little literature on the study, evaluation, and treatment of thrombosis in pediatric vascular anomalies. However, there have been great advances in our ability to image complex lesions, to surgically and interventionally augment disease, and to provide enhanced supportive care including patient education, compression therapy, and strategic use of anticoagulation.
High fidelity facial animation capture and retargeting with contours

Human beings are naturally sensitive to subtle cues in facial expressions, especially in areas of the eyes and mouth. Current facial motion capture methods fail to accurately reproduce motions in those areas due to multiple limitations. In this paper, we present a new performance capture method that focuses on the perceptually important contour features on the face. Additionally, the output of our two-step optimization scheme is also easily editable by an animator. To illustrate the strength of our system, we present a retargeting application that incorporates primary contour lines to map a performance with lip-sync from an actor to a creature.
An examination of the relationship between enjoyment, physical education, physical activity and health in Irish adolescents

Enjoyment of physical activity (EPA) is positively correlated with activity, yet little is known of its relationship with enjoyment of physical education (EPE). This study's purpose was to explore EPE and its relationship to EPA. Cross-sectional data (N=4122, average age 14.5±1.7 years, 48% male) were collected as part of the CSPPA study (Children's Sport Participation and Physical Activity). Adolescents completed a self-report questionnaire on physical activity behaviour and physical education. A sub-sample (n=902) completed a battery of physical health measures. Only 12% met the recommended physical activity guidelines (PAGL) for health. Few (10%) received the recommended minutes of physical education curriculum per week. Girls and older pupils received less physical education than boys and younger peers. Physical education classes were dominated by games, particularly for boys. EPE was positively correlated to EPA, and decreased as minutes of physical education decreased. Adolescents with high EPE and EPA were most likely to meet the PAGL. High EPE was correlated to a better health profile. If the factors that influence EPE are prevalent in physical education, then these youth are more likely to be happier, healthier and active beyond the school gates.
El rendimiento académico: concepto, investigación y desarrollo

El presente artículo describe una perspectiva en tres vertientes acerca del fenómeno del rendimiento académico, desde su conceptualización hasta las experiencias de algunos países Iberoamericanos en materia de programas compensatorios para su desarrollo, incluyéndose dentro del mismo, un marco referencial sobre diversas investigaciones que han permitido la comprensión incipiente de ésta dimensión educativa. El propósito medular de esta aproximación al rendimiento académico como objeto de estudio, se dirige a estimular el interés multidisciplinario por generar alternativas de reflexión e investigación para su abordaje.Descriptores: desarrollo escolar - investigación educativa - fracaso escolar - rendimiento académico The academic achievement: concept, research, and developmentThe present article describes a perspective in three slopes brings over of the phenomenon of the academic achievement, from your conceptualization up to the experiences of some Latin-American countries as for compensatory programs for your development, being included inside the same one, a referential frame of different studies that have allowed the incipient comprehension of this one educational dimension. The fundamental intention of this approximation to the academic achievement as object of study, goes to stimulating the multidisciplinary interest to generate alternatives of reflection and research for your boarding.Keywords: academic achievement - school development - educational research - school failure
Agreement, attraction and architectural opportunism1

The purpose of this paper is to examine psycholinguistic work on attraction with a view to enriching our knowledge of the grammar of agreement. Following Franck et al. (2006), I assume that the different theories of agreement should relate to the way speakers err when they implement agreement operations. As an aberrant computation of the mind, attraction is interesting due to its frequency: in English experiments 13% of complex NPs (i.e. NPs which consist of two or more constituent NPs) establish incorrect agreement with the verb (as in *the key to the cabinets are in the kitchen; Eberhard, Cooper Cutting & Bock 2005). This is what makes it a magnet for both linguistic and psycholinguistic research. Here I examine the main findings and models in the psycholinguistic literature, and how they relate to existing theories of agreement in grammar. It will be argued that agreement cannot be properly understood unless models incorporate an adequate measurement of the size of the morphological component of every language studied, as agreement operations are continuously sensitive to this. The general idea, which I extend from Berg (1998) and Acuña-Fariña (2009) is that a strong morphosyntactic component blocks (rather than facilitates) semantic interference, and that languages opportunistically use more or less semantics in establishing agreement ties depending not only on morphological richness but also on the direction of encoding.
Business Ethics and Stakeholder Theory

Abstract: Stakeholder theorists have typically offered both a business case and an ethics case for business ethics. I evaluate arguments for both approaches and find them wanting. I then shift the focus from ethics to law and ask: “Why should corporations obey the law? ” Contrary to what shareholder theories typically imply, neoclassical or profit maximization theories of the firm can offer answers based only on instrumental justifications. Instrumental justifications for obeying the law, however, are pragmatically and normatively incoherent. This is because the modern corporation is a legal artifact. It exists because communities create the legal framework necessary for its existence. Individual corporations can therefore be said to owe their existence to a partnership (what might be called a social contract) between shareholders and governments, a partnership that is itself built on the shared though often implicit understanding that corporations have an unconditional (categorical) obligation both to obey the law and to treat their stakeholders ethically while generating wealth for their shareholders.
Usefulness of resection for hepatocellular carcinoma with macroscopic bile duct tumor thrombus.

BACKGROUND The prognostic significance of bile duct tumor thrombus (BDTT) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is unclear and the usefulness of resection for HCC with BDTT is still controversial. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of BDTT on prognosis in HCC and to determine whether resection of HCC with BDTT was useful. PATIENTS AND METHODS Out of 820 HCC patients who underwent hepatic resection from 1992 to 2012, 13 HCC patients (1.6%) had macroscopic BDTT. The results of resection for HCC patients with BDTT and the prognostic significance of BDTT were evaluated. Prognoses were also compared according to treatment in patients who had HCC with BDTT. RESULTS The overall 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates after resection were 92%, 77% and 48%, respectively, for HCC patients with BDTT, and 88%, 67%, and 52%, respectively, for HCC patients without BDTT; there were no significant differences (p=0.833). In all HCC patients after resection, the unadjusted hazard ratio of the presence of BDTT was 1.08 (95%CI=0.49-2.05; p=0.835) and when adjusted for other significant prognostic factors, the hazard ratio of the presence of BDTT was 0.98 (95%CI=0.42-1.98; p=0.958). The overall 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates were 14%, 5% and 0%, respectively, for 25 HCC patients with BDTT after other initial treatments. CONCLUSION Bile duct tumor thrombus was not a prognostic factor in patients with resected HCC. In HCC with BDTT, surgical treatment is recommended whenever possible because only resected patients achieved long-term survival.
Articulating leadership values in action: conversations with school leaders

While a recognition of the importance of values in leadership, in education, and particularly in educational leadership is not new, there have been recent demands for further empirical research into the nature and influence of school leaders' values and leadership and the impact of related processes and outcomes within schools. This article is based on interviews with six school leaders in England about their values and leadership. While there have been concerns about the impact on school leaders of shifts in education policy discourse and practice involving market forces and managerialism in England, it is apparent that the school leaders we spoke to remain committed to their personal, professional and educational values. These values influenced the school leaders' perceptions of their leadership and how they articulated their relationships with students, staff and the local community and their aspirations and expectations for their schools. Such values emphasized educational and social justice concerns and the capacity for school leaders to be active and influential rather than passive recipients of educational policy changes and government discourse.
Antisocial behaviour legislation meets children's services: challenging perspectives on children, parents and the state

The balance between children, parents, and the state shifts in its nature over time and indeed is not necessarily consistent in, nor across, policy arenas. This paper examines one such shift, where the introduction of antisocial behaviour legislation has clashed with that of children's welfare services. The Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 reifies distinctions between deserving and undeserving children, between good and bad parents, and between troubled and troublesome children. It demonstrates certain continuities in constructions of childhood and parenthood – i.e. children as the responsibility of their parents – but also much change – i.e. the ‘competent child’ largely replaces the ‘needy child’. The state, in its various forms, must be able to intervene over an increased breadth of behaviour and to patrol public space. The ‘community’ gains a legal place, through new appeals to the state to control public space and to control the behaviour of children.
Monte Carlo Simulation and a Review of the Physics of the Positron Annihilation Process in PET

In this paper, we investigate the physics of the positron annihilation process, which occurs in a PET imaging system. In particular, the diffusion of beta particles (positrons) within water was addressed. Beta particles are emitted isotropically from the same source point with random directions and randomly chosen energy levels. After traversing a certain distance within water, beta particles lose a certain amount of its energy. The inelastic collisions with atomic electrons are mainly responsible for the energy dissipation of charged particles, such as electrons and positrons (that have low mass). The energy loss rate due to inelastic process is estimated by using the Beta-Bloch formula. These results help in understanding how to develop and implement a computationally efficient Monte Carlo Simulation of the positron annihilation process.
Group versus individual treatment in obsessions without compulsions

The principal goal of the current study was to compare the efficacy of two treatment formats, group and individual, of an empirically proven manualized cognitive–behavioural treatment (CBT) package, for obsessions without overt compulsions. It was hypothesized that individualized treatment would be more effective both in terms of post-treatment group mean improvement and end state functioning. A secondary goal was to assess the relationship between cognitive and behavioural change during treatment and link it to symptom change. Both group and individual CBT format produced a significant clinical change, but as expected individual treatment produced the greater change in symptoms and in obsessional belief. Also, the individual format showed a clear superiority over the group format in the reduction of anxiety and depression. Severity of OCD symptoms showed little relationship with strength of obsessional beliefs at the start of treatment, but change in beliefs was strongly correlated with behavioural improvement post-treatment. The results of the study suggest that the impact of a group format may lie in the value of shared social support and motivational effect of peer feedback, but at the expense of individualized targets. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Quantifying and Interpreting Group Differences in Interest Profiles

Research on group differences in interests has often focused on structural hypotheses and mean-score differences in Holland’s (1997) theory, with comparatively little research on basic interest measures. Group differences in interest profiles were examined using statistical methods for matching individuals with occupations, the C-index, Q correlations, and Euclidean distance measures. Profile similarity across U.S. racial-ethnic groups was evaluated with students and employed adults who completed the General Occupational Themes (GOT) and Basic interest scales (BIS) of the Strong Interest Inventory (SII). Obtained results suggest that profile shape varies systematically by gender and employment status, with the Euclidean distance measure being more effective than Q correlations for representing these differences and Q correlation more effective than the C-index. Group differences in interest profiles may lead to men and women receiving differential feedback on the fit between their interests and different careers, which may contribute to gender differences in the pursuit of careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
A Schematic Representation of the Variants of Cholera Vibrio Produced under the Influence of Bacteriophage

In endemic centres of cholera such as Calcutta and in areas where cholera occurs in epidemic form, vibrios can be isolated not only from cholera cases but also from contacts, healthy individuals, waters, flies and other sources. These vibrios may be divided into two great classes, vibrios that are agglutinable by ** specific cholera serum and those that are not agglutinable by this serum. The characters 01 these two classes of vibrios are given below:-" Class I. Vibrios agglutinable by cholera
People and objects affect the quality of vocalizations in infants with down syndrome

The vocalizations of eight infants with Down syndrome were recorded longitudinally in relation to different social and non-social contexts. The infants were observed biweekly from 8 to 24 weeks and monthly up to 40 weeks. At each visit the infants were presented with their mother, a female stranger, and a rattle puppet, each alternately active and passive. Each condition lasted 60 sec. The results showed that by 4 months of age, the infants produced different types of vocal sounds in relation to environmental contexts. They produced significantly more melodic (speechlike) sounds, vocalic (non-speechlike) sounds, and emotional (crying, laughing and fussing) sounds when facing people than objects. By 6 months of age, these utterances began to be distinguished between mother and female stranger and active and passive adults. However, within the communicative context the overall amount of vocalic (non-speechlike) sounds produced was larger than the amount of melodic (speechlike) sounds. It is suggested that this low output of melodic sounds in the overall vocal production of these infants may adversely affect the development of more appropriate vocal behaviour.
Prediction of hospital mortality rates by admission laboratory tests.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to explore whether electronically retrieved laboratory data can predict mortality in internal medicine departments in a regional hospital. METHODS All 10,308 patients hospitalized in internal medicine departments over a 1-year period were included in the cohort. Nearly all patients had a complete blood count and basic clinical chemistries on admission. We used logistic regression analysis to predict the 573 deaths (5.6%), including all variables that added significantly to the model. RESULTS Eight laboratory variables and age significantly and independently contributed to a logistic regression model (area under the ROC curve, 88.7%). The odds ratio for the final model per quartile of risk was 6.44 (95% confidence interval, 5.42-7.64), whereas for age alone, the odds ratio per quartile was 2.01 (95% confidence interval, 1.84-2.19). CONCLUSIONS A logistic regression model including only age and electronically retrieved laboratory data highly predicted mortality in internal medicine departments in a regional hospital, suggesting that age and routine admission laboratory tests might be used to ensure a fair comparison when using mortality monitoring for hospital quality control.
KLK3, PCA3, and TMPRSS2‐ERG expression in the peripheral blood mononuclear cell fraction from castration‐resistant prostate cancer patients and response to docetaxel treatment

To monitor systemic disease activity, the potential of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) bears great promise. As surrogate for CTCs we measured KLK3, PCA3, and TMPRSS2‐ERG messenger RNA (mRNA) in the peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) fraction from a castration‐resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) patient cohort and three control groups. Moreover, biomarker response to docetaxel treatment was evaluated in the patient group.
Human relations management, expectations and healthcare: A qualitative study

Despite substantial evidence for a relationship between human resource management (HRM) and the performance of individuals, relatively few studies have examined the role of employee expectations. This article reports on a study involving six National Health Service (NHS) organizations across England. Healthcare employees expected their employers to provide: infrastructure, HR practices and support, which they linked to improved performance especially in relation to patient care and service innovations. Counterintuitively, effort was maintained towards immediate patient care when expectations were unmet, seemingly, because of public service values. The findings indicate that public service values may be a strong determinant of performance as it relates to patients, moderating potential short-term adverse effects of unmet expectations. In contrast, longer term effects on patient care and service development were less readily moderated by these values. This study offers differential accounts illustrating effects on performance gained through improved working conditions and through work intensification.