Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development, application, and limitation of a stochastic Markov model in explaining championship squash performance.

This study reports a stochastic (Markov) model for squash which uses empirical data to transit event states on a shot by shot basis. This offers more information than traditional models with regard to how points were won or lost and the potential for predicting future athletic performance from a priori observation. The predictive capacity of the model, however, is presently restricted because the observed behaviors (shots) and associated outcomes (winners, errors and lets) are statistically variant (p < .25). A player does not produce a consistent athletic response to the same preceding condition when competing against different opponents, although it is unclear at present whether this observation is a function of the particular analysis employed. Nevertheless, the modeling of athletic behavior is a way to search for critical data which underpin competitive sport performance.
Aortic Dissection and Sudden Unexpected Deaths: A Retrospective Study of 31 Forensic Autopsy Cases

Acute aortic dissection (AAD) is the most common cause of sudden unexpected death related to aortic diseases. A retrospective study of 31 sudden unexpected deaths caused by AAD was conducted at Xi'an Jiaotong University Forensic Center from 2001 to 2012. We summarized the forensic characteristics of AAD and assessed the clinically diagnostic accuracy of AAD. The characteristics of sudden unexpected death due to AAD were male predominant (male: female = 6.7:1), relatively young with the mean age of 44, and predominance of type A dissection (77.4%). Cardiac tamponade was the most frequent cause of sudden death (87.1%). Of the 31 cases, 26 (83.9%) patients were not recognized clinically and were misdiagnosed with acute myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease, cholecystitis, acute gastroenteritis, renal/urinary lithiasis, or acute pancreatitis. In summary, AAD can be difficult to recognize, diagnosis is therefore sometimes delayed or missed. The medicolegal death investigation can help physicians have a better understanding of AAD.
Financial access 2009 : measuring access to financial services around the world

Financial Access 2009 introduces the latest data from a survey of financial regulators in 139 countries. It presents indicators of access to savings, credit, and payment services in banks, and in regulated nonbank financial institutions. It is intended for a broad audience of policymakers, researchers, practitioners, multilateral and bilateral investors, in order to guide monetary policy, monitor systemic risks, and collect information on the values of deposits and credit. This report reviews three interventions: disclosure requirements, interest rate caps, and methods to address excessive lending that can result in consumer indebtedness. Improved transparency and disclosure allow borrowers to make informed choices and can facilitate competition in financial markets, eventually leading to lower prices and improved products. Policies to restrict interest rates or credit quantity, especially in consumer credit, seem to have limited effect but require further analysis.
Minimum Power Scheduling under Rician Fading in Full-Duplex Relay-Assisted D2D Communication

In cellular systems, the combination of Device-to- Device (D2D) communication and relaying is an efficient means for improving network coverage and transmissions quality without additional infrastructure deployment. It enables communication between user pairs in situations when both their direct D2D transmission and the traditional communication via the base station experience poor channel quality. In this paper, we propose a joint relaying-operation selection and power-allocation scheme, herein called HyD2D, for relay-assisted D2D communication in Rician fading environment. The target is to choose the set of communication links that minimizes the power consumption, while ensuring a minimum success probability. To overcome the nonconvexity of the outage probability constraints under Rician fading, we use the concept of coherent-measure- of-risk from the field of finance. We therefore obtain a linear programming formulation that we can efficiently solve. Simulations show that HyD2D selects the most energy- efficient relaying operation that satisfies the success probability requirement, while leveraging only statistical channel state information.
The Effects that Patients Have on their Families in a Community Care and a Control Psychiatric Service—A Two Year Follow-up

The effects that mentally ill people have on their families have been more commented upon than studied. The currently favoured practice of community care has increased the need for a systematic attempt to evaluate the families' problems, and an opportunity to do this occurred when a community psychiatric service was introduced in Chichester in 1958, while the neighbouring Salisbury district continued with a conventional hospital-based service. The Medical Research Council's Clinical Psychiatry Research Unit has been evaluating the new service to find out how it affects referral and admission rates; how it influences social and clinical outcome, and the effect it has on the community itself. As the patient's family is the sector of the community most closely concerned in any extension of the extra-mural care of patients, we began by assessing the effects on them. The present paper therefore describes the assessments we made of the burden the patients' families carried in the Chichester Community Care Service and compares their burden with that experienced by families in Salisbury, where admission to hospital was more commonly practised. The comparison is made in terms of the relief that was afforded the two groups of families over a period of two years.
A Quantitative Measure of the Effects of IT Investment on the Risk of Bankruptcy in Small and Medium-Sized Companies

This paper examines the relation between the competitiveness of SMEs, i.e. their ability to survive, and the characteristics of their ICT investments: it provides evidence that some factors (such as the development of decentralised organizational structures, or the use of Internet resources) appear to be related to better financial health and, consequently, with a better chance of survival. By applying multivariate statistical methods we obtain quantitative measures of the intensity of these relations, as well as of the relative risk associated with each characteristic of the information system.
Pinball Wizard: The Case of a Pinball Machine Addict

This is a description of a young man who is addicted to playing pinball machines. The subject's playing history and playing pathology are outlined using an adapted version of the DSM-III—R criteria for pathological gambling. Such an adaptation of these criteria is proposed as beneficial in monitoring and recording objective measures of all gaming-machine addictions.
Molecular cloning and sequence analysis of an ascidian egg β‐N‐acetylhexosaminidase with a potential role in fertilization

β‐N‐Acetylhexosaminidase, which is found almost ubiquitously in sperm of invertebrates and vertebrates, supposedly mediates a carbohydrate‐based transient sperm–egg coat binding. In ascidians and mammals, β‐hexosaminidase released at fertilization from eggs has been proposed to modify sperm receptor glycoproteins of the egg envelope, thus setting up a block to polyspermy. Previously, it was shown that in potential sperm receptor glycoproteins of the ascidian Phallusia mammillata, N‐acetylglucosamine is the prevailing glycoside residue and that the egg harbors three active molecular forms of β‐hexosaminidase. In the present study, P. mammillataβ‐hexosaminidase cDNA was isolated from an ovarian cDNA library and characterized. The deduced amino acid sequence showed a high similarity with other known β‐hexosaminidases; however, P. mammillataβ‐hexosaminidase had a unique potential N‐glycosylation site. A phylogenetic analysis suggested that P. mammillataβ‐hexosaminidase developed independently after having branched off from the common ancestor gene of the chordate enzyme before two isoforms of the mammalian enzyme appeared. In situ hybridization revealed stage‐specific expression of β‐hexosaminidase mRNA during oogenesis in the oocyte and in the accessory test and follicle cells. This suggests that the three egg β‐hexosaminidase forms are specific for the oocyte, test cells and follicle cells.
Innovative Procurement Frameworks for Energy Performance Contracting in the UK Public Sector

Procurement Frameworks for Energy Performance Contracting (PFEPCs) simplify the process of negotiating, developing and implementing Energy Performance Contracts (EPCs) with Energy Service Companies (ESCOs). This paper analyses their role in promoting the implementation of cost-effective energy efficiency measures in the UK public sector. Compared to conventional approaches to procuring goods and services involving detailed specifications, PFEPCs translate the challenge of upgrading, retrofitting and replacing energy related equipment and infrastructures into required outputs through functional specifications. The innovativeness of specific PFEPCs often lies less in the diffusion of ‘developmental’ innovative energy efficient solutions, although partner bidding approaches create favourable conditions for innovation. However increasing standardisation and bundling prove successful at lowering transaction cost, which enables ESCOs to address projects which would not be considered in the absence of PFEPsdue to high transaction costs. This particular organisational innovation opens the market up to new approaches to implementing costeffective energy efficiency measures.
Integrin αvβ1 Modulation Affects Subtype B Avian Metapneumovirus Fusion Protein-mediated Cell-Cell Fusion and Virus Infection*

Avian metapneumovirus (aMPV) fusion (F) protein mediates virus-cell membrane fusion to initiate viral infection, which requires F protein binding to its receptor(s) on the host cell surface. However, the receptor(s) for aMPV F protein is still not identified. All known subtype B aMPV (aMPV/B) F proteins contain a conserved Arg-Asp-Asp (RDD) motif, suggesting that the aMPV/B F protein may mediate membrane fusion via the binding of RDD to integrin. When blocked with integrin-specific peptides, aMPV/B F protein fusogenicity and viral replication were significantly reduced. Specifically we identified integrin αv and/or β1-mediated F protein fusogenicity and viral replication using antibody blocking, small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) knockdown, and overexpression. Additionally, overexpression of integrin αv and β1 in aMPV/B non-permissive cells conferred aMPV/B F protein binding and aMPV/B infection. When RDD was altered to RAE (Arg-Ala-Glu), aMPV/B F protein binding and fusogenic activity were profoundly impaired. These results suggest that integrin αvβ1 is a functional receptor for aMPV/B F protein-mediated membrane fusion and virus infection, which will provide new insights on the fusogenic mechanism and pathogenesis of aMPV.
Proposed Standardization of the Two-Dimensional Echocardiographic Examination in Snakes

ABSTRACT The ultrasound examination is a diagnostic tool of choice for ante mortem evaluation of heart diseases. Specific anatomical features of the ophidian heart such as mobility in the coelomic cavity, a single ventricular cavity, a tubular sinus venosus opening into the right atrium, and the presence of three arterial trunks, have direct consequences on the echocardiographic examination. We propose a standardization of the two-dimensional echocardiography in snakes including materials, methods, and transducer positions, approaches and cross-sections based on the approach used for humans or other companion carnivorous mammals. This should improve the veterinarian's knowledge of ophidian heart diseases and thus contribute to the development of cardiology in reptiles.
Product Diversification and Bank Performance: Does Ownership Depth Matter?

We empirically test whether banks’ ownership network affects the relationship between product diversification and performance for a sample of European commercial banks. We measure banks’ ownership network by the distance between the bank and its largest ultimate owner in pyramids. This measure simultaneously captures the ultimate owner’s expropriation incentives and the breadth of ownership (i.e., multiplicity and diversity of controlling owners within the pyramid). We find that diseconomies of diversification vanish the farther is the bank in the pyramid so that the farthest banks enjoy economies of diversification (higher profits, lower costs and lower risk). Further exploration shows that such economies are attributable to the presence of institutional owners and mainly to the domestic ones, potentially by delivering additional skills to manage nontraditional activities. Our findings provide insights on why banks suffer from greater activity diversification and have several policy implications.
Anti‐consumption as a means to save jobs

Purpose – The paper aims to explore how idiosyncratic motives drive participation in consumer boycotts and how the motives of different adopters (e.g. innovators, laggards) differ. The study seeks to describe how boycott motives are embedded in the fields of consumer resistance and anti‐consumption.Design/methodology/approach – The paper applies a mixed‐method approach of qualitative and quantitative methods. Internet postings of 790 boycott supporters are analyzed by means of a content analysis. The relevance of different motives is examined via frequency analysis. Contingency analysis is applied to explore segment‐specific motives.Findings – Using the example of factory relocation, the study identifies several idiosyncratic motives that are contingent to the boycott cause. Additionally, it confirms that the motives of different adopters differ. Individuals who are personally affected or feel solidarity with those affected join the boycott relatively early whereas those who join later consider the pros a.
Lymphoplasmacytic Lymphoma Presenting with Diarrhea and Joint Pain Which was Successfully Diagnosed by an MYD88 Mutation Analysis

A 55-year-old man presented to our department with diarrhea, weight loss, fatigability, and polyarthralgia. Blood tests revealed elevated soluble interleukin-2 receptor levels and IgG-type M protein positivity, without any findings that were suggestive of collagen disease. After computed tomography (CT) detected enlarged lymph nodes in the abdominal para-aortic region, lymphoma was suspected. CT-guided needle biopsy of the lymph node did not help to achieve a definitive diagnosis; however, a bone marrow test showed the pathological features of B-cell lymphoma. A genetic examination detected a MYD88 L265P mutation; the mutation analysis was valuable in diagnosing lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma in a IgM-type M protein-negative patient.
The ontogenetic complexity of developmental constraints

Developmental constraint is a theoretically important construct bridging ontogenetic and evolutionary studies. We propose a new operationalization of this notion that exploits the unusually rich measurement structure of landmark data. We represent landmark configurations by their partial warps, a basis for morphospace that represents a set of localized features of form. A finding of developmental constraint arises from the interplay between age‐varying means and age‐specific variances in these subspaces of morphospace. Examination of variances and means in 16 ventral skull landmarks in the cotton rat S. fulviventer at ages 1, 10, 20, and 30 days yielded three types of developmental constraint: canalization (constraint to relatively constant form age by age); chreods (reduction of variance orthogonal to the mean trajectory over ages); and opposition (reduction of age‐specific variance along the mean trajectory over ages). While canalization and chreodic constraints have been noted previously, the oppositional type of constraint appears novel. Only one of our characters, relative length and orientation of the incisive foramen, appears to be canalized. Although skull growth becomes increasingly integrated through ontogeny, our characters display a remarkable spatiotemporal complexity in patterns of variance reduction. The specific assortment of constraints observed may be related to the precociality of Sigmodon. We suggest that Waddington's diagrammatic presentation of the “epigenetic landscape” may be misleading in quantitative studies of developmental regulation.
Improved Asymptotic Stability Analysis for Lure Systems with Neutral Type and Time-varying Delays

Abstract—This paper investigates the problem of absolute stability and robust stability of a class of Lur’e systems with neutral type and time-varying delays. By using Lyapunov direct method and linear matrix inequality technique, new delay-dependent stability criteria are obtained and formulated in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) which are easy to check the stability of the considered systems. To obtain less conservative stability conditions, an operator is defined to construct the Lyapunov functional. Also, the free weighting matrices approach combining a matrix inequality technique is used to reduce the entailed conservativeness. Numerical examples are given to indicate significant improvements over some existing results.
Teeth and Bones as Sources of DNA for Genetic Diversity and Sex Identification of Commerson's Dolphins ( Cephalorhynchus commersonii ) from Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

Museum specimens are often the only source of genetic material for many species of cetaceans. Most of the protocols that have been developed to extract DNA from teeth and bone samples involve mechanical or chemical disintegration of the material. An alternative method to the mechanical reduction process is presented here for 212 Commerson’s dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) samples collected in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, from 1974 to 2004. From the total samples, 82.5% (n = 175) allow for amplification to occur of a minimum length of 200 pb for the mtDNA control region, 66.5% (n = 141) of 400 bp, and 51% (n = 108) of 500 bp. A total of 11 haplotypes were defined from 10 polymorphic sites. From the initial number of samples, 64.6% could be sexed via molecular markers. This method is effective for processing large quantities of degraded samples over a short time period, analysing a representative number of mtDNA haplotypes, and allowing robust estimation of historical genetic diversity and trends over time.
Overnight and postcall errors in medication orders.

OBJECTIVE To compare the error rates in medication orders by physicians who were off call, on overnight call, and postcall. METHODS This was a retrospective review of inpatient medication orders, pharmacy records, and resident physician work schedules in a university-affiliated community teaching hospital with residency programs in emergency medicine, family practice, internal medicine, obstetrics, pediatrics, and surgery. The authors calculated error rates, odds ratios (ORs), and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for physicians during April 2000. RESULTS In 8,195 medication orders, there were 177 errors (2.16% overall error rate). There was an increased error rate for overnight and postcall orders (2.71%, OR 1.44, 95% CI = 1.06 to 1.95) in comparison to orders written by off-call physicians (1.90%). Error rates were significantly higher on the medical/surgical wards during the overnight (3.91%, OR 1.89, 95% CI = 1.22 to 2.92) and postcall (3.41%, OR 1.64, 95% CI = 1.10 to 2.43) periods compared with the off-call (2.11%) period, and postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) physicians had a higher overnight error rate (4.23%, OR 2.28, 95% CI = 1.44 to 3.61). Error rates were also higher on the medical/surgical wards compared with critical care units (2.62% vs. 1.22%, OR 2.17, 95% CI = 1.48 to 3.18). The PGY1 physicians had error rates similar to those of the PGY2-5 physicians when off call, but were significantly higher on overnight call (4.23% vs. 0.52%, OR 8.47, 95% CI = 2.00 to 35.82). CONCLUSIONS Medication-ordering error rates were higher for overnight and postcall physicians, particularly on the general medical/surgical wards, and in PGY1 physicians during the overnight period.
An Examination of the Relative Effectiveness of Training in Nonverbal Communication: Personal Selling Implications

This article examines the potential effectiveness of training in nonverbal communication for sales representatives. The literature on this subject was reviewed, and a study using students as sales representatives was conducted to evaluate the potential of training in body language. The research results provide support for the proposition that such training can be of value in academic and practical applications.
Contig assembly of bacterial artificial chromosome clones through multiplexed fluorescence-labeled fingerprinting.

A rapid multiplexed fingerprinting method has been developed for bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) contig assembly. Defined subsets of BAC DNA fragments that result from digestion by three paired restriction endonucleases are labeled with unique fluorescent F-ddATP for each subset. Lists of the labeled fragment size are generated by an ABI 377 DNA sequencer and the GeneScan analysis software and then processed by an assembly program, FPC (Fingerprinted Contigs), to produce contig maps. Data obtained from the multiplexed labeling permit detection of smaller overlaps than is observed when data from a single double-digest are analyzed. The method has been tested on 98 BACs from chromosome 22 regions where large-scale sequencing is under way and also through simulation, using randomly generated BAC clones derived from existing DNA sequence data. In each case, contig assembly results demonstrated the advantages of multiplexed fingerprinting.
Rare Macro Disasters in Credit and Option Markets

We show that the slight possibility of a macroeconomic disaster of moderate magnitude can explain important features across credit, option, and equity markets. Our consumption-based equilibrium model captures the empirical level and volatility of credit spreads, generates a flexible credit term structure and provides a good fi t to a century of observed spreads. The model matches the widespread volatility smirk in index options as well as the first two moments of government bond and equity market returns. Our model reveals a dynamic relationship between credit and option markets that helps explain the inconclusive evidence found in the empirical literature when regressing credit spreads on the option smirk.
The Sustainable Construction Business: A Missing Ingredient in Creating a Sustainable Built Environment?

Abstract In this paper we attempt to connect the corporate social responsibility agenda with current debates within sustainable construction. We reveal an apparent disconnect between the focus on sustainable products and processes and the orientation of the businesses within which they reside. Current agendas are characterised by a desire to create a more sustainable built environment, but with little regard for the businesses that enact such agendas. We argue that the firm is the enabler of a more holistic CSR agenda, and that sustainability needs to be present, visible and integrated in the business at all levels and in all functions of the sustainable construction organization. An archetype of a sustainable construction business is developed based on a synthesis of related literatures that could act as a framework for enacting responsible strategies in the future. In arguing for a ‘business focus’ we seek to broaden the current debates within the sustainable construction literature, and to open up new research trajectories around responsible sourcing, business ethics and organisational change for corporate sustainability, which have hitherto been underplayed within built environment research literature.