Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Term-Structure Models: a Review

The topic of term-structure modelling for derivatives pricing has been covered in recent years, at least in book form (see, eg, [Rebonato (1998)], [James and Webber (2000)], [Hughston (2000)], [Brigo and Mercurio (2001)]). One obvious justification for updating these works is that the modelling of interest rates is still rapidly evolving. There are, however, deeper reasons why a fresh examination of the current state of research in this area deserves attention. The first is that recently a qualitatively new dimension has been added to the modelling complexity, because of the appearance of pronounced and complex smiles in the implied volatility surfaces of caplets and swaptions. Sure enough, smiles of sorts were produced by some of the early modelling approaches (eg, by the [Hull and White (1993)] model), but these were at the time obtained as an ’afterthought’, and by and large regarded as an unpleasant feature to be ignored or excused away. Currently, the modelling of smiles is possibly the most active area of research in interest-rate derivatives pricing, and a sufficiently substantial body of work has accumulated to warrant a review of its achievements and of the problems still to be tackled. The second reason why a review of term structure modelling is timely is connected with two related market developments, namely the compression in profit margins for the well-established complex products and the simultaneous increase in complexity of many of the new-generation interest-rate derivatives. These joint market developments are putting under severe strain some of the basic underpinning theoretical concepts of the classic pricing approach, which ultimately derives from the [Black and Scholes (1973)] (BS in the following) paradigm (although, often, via the [Harrison and Pliska (1981)] route). In particular, given the robustness of the BS model, market completeness and exact payoff replicability (both reasonable but inaccurate descriptions of financial reality) can constitute a valid framework when one is pricing, say, a simple cap
Altered expression of base excision repair genes in response to high glucose-induced oxidative stress in HepG2 hepatocytes

Summary Background It is widely accepted that chronic hyperglycemia induces DNA oxidative damage in type 2 diabetes, but little is known about the effect of hyperglycemia on the DNA repair system which plays a critical role in the maintenance of genomic DNA stability in diabetes. Material/Methods To investigate the alteration of base excision repair (BER) genes under hyperglycemia, the relative expression of the mRNAs of the BER genes – ogg1, polβ, lig3, xrcc1, and parp1 – were quantified using real-time PCR in HepG2 hepatocytes incubated with 5.5 mM or 30 mM glucose. Results High levels of glucose induced ROS accumulation and DNA damage, paralleling the dynamic alterations of BER mRNA expression. Compared to 5.5 mM glucose-treated cells, ogg1 and polβ mRNA expression transiently increased at day 1 and decreased after day 4 in cells exposed to 30 mM glucose. Exposure to 30 mM glucose increased the activity of PARP1, which led to reduced cellular NAD content and insulin receptor phosphorylation. Conclusions Exposure to high concentrations of glucose initially led to the increased expression of BER mRNAs to counteract hyperglycemia-induced DNA damage; however, long-term exposure to high glucose concentrations reduced the expression of mRNA from BER genes, leading to accumulated DNA damage.
Micromolar and submicromolar Ca2+ spikes regulating distinct cellular functions in pancreatic acinar cells

Agonists induce Ca2+ spikes, waves and oscillations initiating at a trigger zone in exocrine acinar cells via Ca2+ release from intracellular Ca2+ stores. Using a low affinity ratiometric Ca2+ indicator dye, benzothiazole coumarin (BTC), we found that high concentrations of agonists transiently increased Ca2+ concentrations to the micromolar range (>10 μM) in the trigger zone. Comparison with results obtained with a high affinity Ca2+ indicator dye, fura‐2, indicated that fura‐2 was in fact saturated with Ca2+ during the agonist‐induced Ca2+ spikes in the trigger zone. We further revealed that the micromolar Ca2+ spikes were necessary for inducing exocytosis of zymogen granules investigated using capacitance measurements. In contrast, submicromolar Ca2+ spikes selectively gave rise to sequential activation of luminal and basal ion channels. These results suggest new functional diversity in Ca2+ spikes and a critical role for the micromolar Ca2+ spikes in exocytotic secretion from exocrine acinar cells. Our data also emphasize the value of investigating the Ca2+ signalling using low affinity Ca2+ indicators.
Why You Should Measure Your Students' Reasoning Ability

Many teachers administer a force concept test such as the Force Concept Inventory1,2 (FCI) to their students in an effort to evaluate and improve their instructional practices. It has been commonly assumed that looking at class normalized gains allows teachers to compare their courses with other courses. In this paper we present evidence to suggest that the use of class normalized gains alone may not provide a complete picture. We argue that student reasoning ability should also be assessed before between-course comparisons can be made. Assessment of reasoning ability is also useful in identifying students who are at risk. In the following we shall concentrate on the FCI, but we think our conclusions probably apply to physics concept tests generally.
Novel research translates to clinical cases of schizophrenic and cocaine psychosis

Pharmacotherapies for schizophrenic and cocaine psychoses are complex but similar because of similarities in their brain neurochemistry and behavioral outcomes. Their neurochemical neuronal mechanisms of action, as shown in preclinical and clinical studies, involve primarily dopaminergic dysfunction and, secondarily, neuroadaptive effects that seem to involve central serotonergic function. Behavioral outcomes of both disorders include hyperactivity and antipsychotic medications can ameliorate psychotic symptoms. Patients with both disorders often arrive at emergency departments and present floridly psychotic with a predominance of positive symptoms, often prompting physicians to select a typical antipsychotic medication such as haloperidol. While this has become conventional wisdom, we believe that to use an atypical antipsychotic medication, such as risperidone, in the treatment of both psychoses is quite rational for long-term management of both positive and negative symptoms. Also, controlled clinical studies have shown that risperidone, an atypical antipsychotic medication, is successful in the treatment of cocaine dependence and withdrawal (Smelson et al 1997, 2002; Grabowski et al 2000). Furthermore, the availability and effectiveness of long-acting risperidone in injectable form opens new possibilities for the long-term management of both disorders. In this paper, we present data which show that the use of risperidone is plausible for effective pharmacotherapy of schizophrenic and cocaine psychoses.
Pengaruh Permainan Building Block terhadap Kecerdasan Visual Anak di TK Ulil Albab Kota Bandung

The purpose of research is to determine the effect of building block games on visual intelligence early childhood in kindergarten Ulil Albab Bandung. The game building block is a constructive game where early childhood can develop their creative skills and imagination in making a building of various forms of lego. The research problem is how the influence of building block game to visual intelligence of early child in kindergarten Ulil Albab Bandung. The research method used is experimental research method. The type of experimental research that researchers use is one-group pretest posttest design. The results showed that with game building block significantly influence in stimulating visual intelligence of early child in kindergarten Ulil Albab Bandung. The result is based on t test with significance level α = 0,05 and dk = 12, where t count value > t table, that is 17, 46 > 11,7 where H0 is rejected and H1 accepted. That is, the game building block significantly influence in stimulating visual intelligence early childhood in kindergarten Ulil Albab Bandung.
Political Institutions and Regulation : An Inquiry on the Impact of Electoral Systems on the Regulation of Entry †

The requirements and regulations for starting a company vary widely across the world. While in some countries companies can start operations in a few days and after spending a small amount of money, it takes more than a hundred days and hundreds of dollars to start a business in other parts of the world. Previous literature has found that the grabbing hand model of government (public choice theory), where regulation benefits politicians and bureaucrats, is the most appropriate approach to explain this divergence in the number and costs of regulations. In this paper, I find additional evidence on support of the grabbing hand model. Specifically, because single-member plurality voting systems increase the cost for politicians to respond to special interest, I find that single-member plurality-voting countries have lower entry regulations. This hypothesis is validated empirically in a sample of world countries. DRAFT 11 SEPTEMBER 2002 PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE COMMENTS ARE WELCOME † I am grateful to Simeon Djankov for providing the regulatory data, and to participants at the Public Choice Society Meeting in San Diego, CA, and Inter-American Development Bank OVE’s Brown Bag for constructive comments in a previous draft of the paper. Remaining errors are my responsibility. # The views and interpretations expressed in this paper are those of the author and should not be attributed to the Inter-American Development Bank, or to any individual acting on its behalf.
Performance of Local Forwarding Methods for Geographic Routing in Large Ad Hoc Networks

We consider local geographic forwarding methods in a network of stationary wireless nodes. The task of the local forwarding is to select the next-hop for each packet so as to maximize the flow of packets in a given direction. According to our network model with a slotted ALOHA type MAC protocol, the flow of packets, as expressed by the mean density of progress, depends on a minimal number of MAC layer parameters, namely the transmission range (or power) and the probability to transmit in a time slot. Our aim is to evaluate the maximum mean density of progress with respect to these two parameters for four different forwarding methods, distinguished by the next hop selection rules, and to compare their performance. Our results show that deterministic forwarding (MFR) suffers from concentration of the traffic onto certain deterministic paths. The two randomized methods are able to spread the traffic more efficiently and achieve a better performance. However, considerably better results are obtained with an opportunistic method, where the MAC layer is enhanced with functionality to choose the best available receiver, demonstrating the benefits of using local coordination.
Internal and inter-rater reliability of the ASQ-3 in Mexican preschoolers

Introduction . Monitoring child development includes the promotion of development in the healthy child and the detection of delays and early indicators of disorders that begin in the first five years of life through easy-to-use, easy to mark, and low-cost screening tests. Objective. To evaluate the internal reliability and inter-rater reliability of the ASQ-3 in Mexican preschool children. Method. The ASQ-3 was applied to parents and/or teachers of 33 - 60 month old children who attended the Centros de Desarrollo Infantil (Child Development Centers-CENDIS) in the public and private sectors of Mexico City. Results. A total of n = 1052 questionnaires were obtained, grouped into six age groups (33, 36, 42, 48, 54, and 60 months of age) according to the Ages and Stages Questionnaire-3 (ASQ-3). The levels of reliability of the ASQ-3 for each of the age groups were acceptable, with a range of α = . 77 to α = . 88. Regarding inter-rater reliability (parents vs . teachers), moderate correlation levels were observed. Discussion and conclusion. The results obtained suggest that this is a screening instrument that reliably evaluates the five areas of development that make up the ASQ-3 in pre-school children. This represents an opportunity to continue studying the psychometric characteristics of validity of this instrument in representative samples of Mexican children to optimize the process of early childhood development monitoring.
Role of Mitochondria-Associated Endoplasmic Reticulum Membrane in Inflammation-Mediated Metabolic Diseases

Inflammation is considered to be one of the most critical factors involved in the development of complex metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. A few decades ago, the discovery of mitochondria-associated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane (MAM) was followed by the identification of its roles in regulating cellular homeostatic processes, ranging from cellular bioenergetics to apoptosis. MAM provides an excellent platform for numerous signaling pathways; among them, inflammatory signaling pathways associated with MAM play a critical role in cellular defense during pathogenic infections and metabolic disorders. However, induction of MAM causes deleterious effects by amplifying mitochondrial reactive oxygen species generation through increased calcium transfer from the ER to mitochondria, thereby causing mitochondrial damage and release of mitochondrial components into the cytosol as damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). These mitochondrial DAMPs rapidly activate MAM-resident inflammasome components and other inflammatory factors, which promote inflammasome complex formation and release of proinflammatory cytokines in pathological conditions. Long-term stimulation of the inflammasome instigates chronic inflammation, leading to the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of MAM and its association with inflammation-mediated metabolic diseases.
Analytical Modeling of IMS based Interworking in Heterogeneous Mobile Data Networks

-Analytical evaluation of performance measures for vertical handoff management in an interworked Next Generation Mobile Network (NGMN) is presented in this paper. This analysis is based on a novel architecture for interworking previously proposed by authors. It enables the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) cellular technology to interwork with Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) under a common platform. The proposed framework exploits the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) as a universal coupling mediator for real-time session negotiation and management. The analysis includes vertical handoff performance measures such as delay, transient packet loss, and signaling overhead/cost. The latter part of this paper includes an OPNET based simulation platform for verification of the results obtained by the analytical model.
A Comparison of Non-Typhoidal Salmonella from Humans and Food Animals Using Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Patterns

Salmonellosis is one of the most important foodborne diseases affecting humans. To characterize the relationship between Salmonella causing human infections and their food animal reservoirs, we compared pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of non-typhoidal Salmonella isolated from ill humans in Pennsylvania and from food animals before retail. Human clinical isolates were received from 2005 through 2011 during routine public health operations in Pennsylvania. Isolates from cattle, chickens, swine and turkeys were recovered during the same period from federally inspected slaughter and processing facilities in the northeastern United States. We found that subtyping Salmonella isolates by PFGE revealed differences in antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and, for human Salmonella, differences in sources and invasiveness that were not evident from serotyping alone. Sixteen of the 20 most common human Salmonella PFGE patterns were identified in Salmonella recovered from food animals. The most common human Salmonella PFGE pattern, Enteritidis pattern JEGX01.0004 (JEGX01.0003ARS), was associated with more cases of invasive salmonellosis than all other patterns. In food animals, this pattern was almost exclusively (99%) found in Salmonella recovered from chickens and was present in poultry meat in every year of the study. Enteritidis pattern JEGX01.0004 (JEGX01.0003ARS) was associated with susceptibility to all antimicrobial agents tested in 94.7% of human and 97.2% of food animal Salmonella isolates. In contrast, multidrug resistance (resistance to three or more classes of antimicrobial agents) was observed in five PFGE patterns. Typhimurium patterns JPXX01.0003 (JPXX01.0003 ARS) and JPXX01.0018 (JPXX01.0002 ARS), considered together, were associated with resistance to five or more classes of antimicrobial agents: ampicillin, chloramphenicol, streptomycin, sulfonamides and tetracycline (ACSSuT), in 92% of human and 80% of food animal Salmonella isolates. The information from our study can assist in source attribution, outbreak investigations, and tailoring of interventions to maximize their impact on prevention.
Prognostic factors in glioblastoma patients managed with radiotherapy combined with temozolomide.

PURPOSE No consensus on clinicopathologic prognostic factors that predict the outcome of patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) managed with resection, postoperative radiotherapy (RT) and adjuvant temozolomide (TMZ) exists today. The purpose of this study was to assess the outcome, compliance and toxicity in GBM patients treated with TMZ at our Center, as well as to evaluate factors with prognostic significance. METHODS 91 GBM patients were enrolled in this retrospective study (2004-2012). 3D-conformal RT was given to a median total dose of 60Gy (daily dose 2Gy). Eighty nine (98%) of the patients received concurrent TMZ (75mg/m²) and 74 (81%) received adjuvant TMZ (150-200mg/m² for 5 days every 28 days) up to 12 cycles. RESULTS At a mean follow up of 18.6 months, the median overall survival (OS) was 15.1 months. Grade 3/4 haematologic toxicity was observed in 19.8% of the patients while 4 patients (4.4%) experienced grade 3/4 non haematologic toxicity. In univariate analysis, significant correlation was found between OS and no/minor neurologic deficit at diagnosis (p=0.02), acute onset of symptoms (p=0.04) and 6 cycles of adjuvant TMZ (p<0.001). The addition of more than 6 cycles of TMZ did not offer any statistically significant survival benefit. In multivariate analysis, only the absence of major neurologic deficit remained associated with overall survival (p=0.016). CONCLUSION 3D conformal RT with TMZ achieved acceptable disease control with satisfactory compliance and toxicity. Intact neurologic function was associated with superior outcome, as a surrogate of low tumor burden, early treatment start and/or indolent tumor biology.
The impact of population change on economic growth in Kenya

The debate on the relationship between population growth and economic growth has been undergoing and varies across countries. The first theory states that population growth stimulates economic growth. The second theory view population growth as a factor that adversely affects economic growth while a third school is that population growth is a neutral factor in economic growth and is determined outside standard growth models. Given this scenario there was a need to establish the relationship between economic growth and population growth in Kenya. The study employed Vector Auto Regression estimation technique and used annual time series data for the period 1963 to 2009. The results indicated population growth and economic growths are both positively correlated and that an increase in population will impact positively to the economic growth in the country. The study concludes that in Kenya population growth promotes economic growth and subsequently economic development.
2015 Ieee International Conference on Big Data (big Data) Next-term Student Grade Prediction

—An enduring issue in higher education is student retention to successful graduation. To further this goal, we develop a system for the task of predicting students' course grades for the next enrollment term in a traditional university setting. Each term, students enroll in a limited number of courses and earn grades in the range A-F for each course. Given historical grade data, our task is to predict the grades for each student in the courses they will enroll in during the next term. With this problem formulation, the next-term student grade prediction problem becomes quite similar to a rating prediction or next-basket recommendation problem. The factorization machine (FM), a general-purpose matrix factorization (MF) algorithm suitable for this task, is leveraged as the state-of-the-art method and compared to a variety of other methods. Our experiments show that FMs achieve the lowest prediction error. Results for both cold-start and non-cold-start prediction demonstrate that FMs can be used to accurately predict in both settings. Finally, we identify limitations observed in FMs and the other models tested and discuss directions for future work. To our knowledge, this is the first study that applies state-of-the-art collaborative filtering algorithms to solve the next-term student grade prediction problem.
Belief in the paranormal: measurement development and evaluation

This thesis evaluated paranormal belief measurement. Particularly, it considered the weaknesses of existing published measures. An extensive literature review identified frequently used paranormal scales and common associates. Consideration of identified measures produced a comprehensive pool of items (see Dagnall et al., 2010a and 2010b). Analysis of these items assessed the factorial structure of paranormal belief. Research progressed through four discrete phases that evaluated measurement of paranormal belief. Phase I: Exploratory factor analysis: Respondents completed a 64-item scale. Analysis supported a conceptually coherent and internally reliable 8-factor solution (haunting/ghosts, extra-terrestrial, superstition, religious beliefs, psi [premonition/psychokinesis], extra-sensory perception, astrology, and witchcraft). Phase II: Confirmatory factor analysis: Tested the emergent structure (47-Items) further. Respondents completed items retained from phase I alongside additional items (indexing astrology and witchcraft) to create a 50-item scale. Following removal of items sharing excessive variance, analysis confirmed an 8-factor solution. The emergent measure demonstrated good internal reliability and validity (content and face). Phase III: Alongside the emergent scale, respondents completed established paranormal measures (Revised Paranormal Belief Scale and Australian Sheep-Goat Scale), a series of probabilistic reasoning tasks and a measure of proneness to reality test deficits. Results revealed the new measure was psychometrically sound, contained coherent subscales, assessed construct breadth and correlated positively with established measures. In addition, non-believers perform less well on perception of randomness reasoning tasks. Finally, belief in the paranormal correlated positively with proneness to reality testing deficits. Phase IV: Further examined the newly constructed measure alongside mental toughness to assess validity and reliability in a real world context. Findings were in line with previous phases, suggesting excellent levels of consistency, while correlational analysis produced ideas for additional development of paranormal items and subscales. Measurement of the current MMUpbs, psychometric performance and subscale coherence, reveal improvements for future item design.