Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clearinghouse Default Resources: Theory and Empirical Analysis

Clearinghouse Default Resources: Theory and Empirical Analysis Wan-Schwin Allen Cheng Clearinghouses insure trades. Acting as a central counterparty (CCP), clearinghouses consolidate financial exposures across multiple institutions, aiding the efficient management of counterparty credit risk. In this thesis, we study the decision problem faced by for-profit clearinghouses, focusing on primary economic incentives driving their determination of layers of loss-absorbing capital. The clearinghouse’s loss-allocation mechanism, referred to as the default waterfall, governs the allocation and management of counterparty risk. This stock of loss-absorbing capital typically consists of initial margins, default funds, and the clearinghouse’s contributed equity. We separate the overall decision problem into two distinct subproblems and study them individually. The first is the clearinghouse’s choice of initial margin and clearing fee requirements, and the second involves its choice of resources further down the waterfall, namely the default funds and clearinghouse equity. We solve for the clearinghouse’s equilibrium choices in both cases explicitly, and address the different economic roles they play in the clearinghouse’s profit-maximization process. The models presented in this thesis show, without exception, that clearinghouse choices should depend not only on the riskiness of the cleared position but also on market and participants’ characteristics such as default probabilities, fundamental value, and funding opportunity cost. Our results have important policy implications. For instance, we predict a counteracting force that dampens monetary easing enacted via low interest rate policies. When funding opportunity costs are low, our research shows that clearinghouses employ highly conservative margin and default funds, which tie up capital and credit. This is supported by the low interest rate environment following the financial crisis of 2007–08. In addition to low productivity growth and return on capital, major banks have chosen to accumulate large cash piles on their balance sheets rather than increase lending. In terms of systemic risk, our empirical work, joint with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), points to the possibility of destabilizing loss and margin spirals: in the terminology of Brunnermeier and Pedersen (2009), we argue that a major clearinghouse’s behavior is consistent with that of an uninformed financier and that common shocks to credit quality can lead to tightening margin constraints.
Maternal Weight Gain and Preterm Delivery

This study examined the relationship between maternal weight gain and preterm delivery in 2163 women who participated in the Prenatal Nutrition Project at the University of California, San Diego between 1978–1986. Multivari-ate analysis of the data indicated that the risk of spontaneous preterm birth increased 60% in women with a low rate of weight gain (less than 0.27 kg/week) compared with those with an average rate (0.27–0.52 kg/week). Women with a low rate of gain were more than twice as likely to experience a preterm delivery as those with a high gain (higher than 0.52 kg/week); the odds ratio was 2.54 and 95% confidence interval was 1.49, 4.88. This difference in weight gain appeared after 20 weeks' gestation.
Contribution of ecotourism to poverty alleviation in Nyanga, Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT This paper assesses the contribution of ecotourism to local communities and the environment. Livelihoods of local communities are examined to understand the socioeconomic situation of people living in proximity to ecotourism areas and their participation in ecotourism activities. The impact of ecotourism on the environment in Nyanga is also examined. The paper employs both literature review (secondary data) and a field survey (primary data) to achieve these objectives. To gather socioeconomic data of households and tourist traits, questionnaires were administered to 120 households and 30 tourists in the study area. Key informant interviews were held in the survey to gather expert knowledge about ecotourism trends and environmental data in the area. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Descriptive and inferential analyses were used for quantitative data while content and structural–functional analyses were used for qualitative data. The research revealed that ecotourism offers the highest salaries when compared to other sources of formal employment. Ecotourism activities were shown to positively impact the environment through the protection, preservation, and management of natural resources. The study concludes that ecotourism is a useful and sustainable poverty alleviation strategy which has not yet been fully exploited in Zimbabwe.
Cell Cycle Arrest and Apoptosis Induced by Notch1 in B Cells*

Notch receptors play various roles for cell fate decisions in developing organs, although their functions at the cell level are poorly understood. Recently, we found that Notch1 and its ligand are each expressed in juxtaposed cell compartments in the follicles of the bursa of Fabricius, the central organ for chicken B cell development. To examine the function of Notch1 in B cells, a constitutively active form of chicken Notch1 was expressed in a chicken B cell line, DT40, by a Cre/loxP-mediated inducible expression system. Remarkably, the active Notch1 caused growth suppression of the cells, accompanied by a cell cycle inhibition at the G1 phase and apoptosis. The expression of Hairy1, a gene product up-regulated by the Notch1 signaling, also induced the apoptosis, but no cell cycle inhibition. Thus, Notch1 signaling induces apoptosis of the B cells through Hairy1, and the G1 cell cycle arrest through other pathways. This novel function of Notch1 may account for the recent observations indicating the selective inhibition of early B cell development in mice by Notch1.
ASSESSING THE HEALTH OF PINUS RADIATA PLANTATIONS USING REMOTE SENSING DATA AND DECISION TREE ANALYSIS

Forest health monitoring is essential to sustainable management of Pinus radiata D. Don plantations. Conventional survey techniques such as aerial sketch mapping are qualitative and subjective, their effectiveness depending on the skill of the surveyor. In contrast, digital remote sensing has the potential to provide quantitative and objective data on the location, extent, and severity of crown damage at a range of spatial scales. Decision tree analysis can incorporate both categorical and continuous data and is inherently non-parametric. Decision trees were used to model the crown condition of P. radiata plantations in southern New South Wales in three situations involving discoloured leaves, stunted crowns, and transparent crowns associated respectively with the Diplodia pinea (Desm.) Kickx fungus, nitrogen deficiency, and the pine aphid Essigella californica Essig. Spectral indices and fraction images derived from linear spectral mixture analyses of remote sensing scenes were used to classify crowns into either two or three condition classes. The best performing model was obtained for D. pinea with a two-class classification of crown discoloration (overall accuracy [OA] 92%; Kappa 83%). The three-class model of crown transparency from
Changes in blood biochemical markers before, during, and after a 2-day ultramarathon

We studied changes in blood markers of 18 nonprofessional, middle-aged runners of a 2-day, 130 km ultramarathon. Blood was sampled at baseline, after the goals on the first and second day, and at three time points (1, 3, and 5/6 days) after the race. Blood indices showed three patterns. First pattern indices showed essentially no changes after the two goals and after the race, including red blood cell indices, gamma-glutamyl transferase, and tumor necrosis factor-α. Second pattern markers, including the majority of indices, were elevated during the race (and also after the race for some parameters) and then returned to baseline afterward, including hemolysis/red blood cell destruction markers (indirect bilirubin) and an iron reservoir index (ferritin), muscle damage parameters (uric acid, creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, and aspartate aminotransferase), renal function markers (creatinine and blood urea nitrogen), liver injury index (alanine aminotransferase), lipid metabolism indices (free fatty acid), reactive oxygen species and inflammation parameters (white blood cells, interleukin-6, and C-reactive protein), and energy production and catecholamines (adrenaline, noradrenaline, and dopamine). Third pattern index of a lipid metabolism marker – triglyceride – decreased during the race periods and started returning to baseline from then onward. Some hormonal markers such as insulin, leptin, and adiponectin showed unique patterns. These findings appeared informative for nonprofessional athletes to know about an optimal physical activity level, duration, and total exercise for elevating physical performance and monitoring physical/mental conditioning as well as for prevention of overtraining and physical injuries.
Ethnicity and prescription of analgesia in an accident and emergency department: cross sectional study

Ethnicity can be a risk factor for inadequate administration of analgesia in accident and emergency departments.1 In an emergency department in Los Angeles, United States, Hispanic patients were twice as likely as non-Hispanic white patients to receive no analgesia. Around the Royal London Hospital, over 25% of the population is Bangladeshi, and about 60% of the population is white (East London and City Health Authority, unpublished estimates for 1997). We studied prescription of analgesia for patients presenting with isolated long bone fractures to investigate whether Bangladeshi patients are as likely to receive analgesia as white patients. The local ethics committee approved the study. We reviewed the notes of patients aged 15-55 years in whom an isolated long bone fracture had been diagnosed between 1 July 1997 and 30 June 1998. Patients were excluded if the injury had occurred …
The regulation of insulin‐like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP)‐1 during prolonged fasting

OBJECTIVE Insulin‐like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP)‐1 levels increase overnight, being inversely related to changes in insulin. With prolonged fasting IGFBP‐1 levels increase further. In animal studies high IGFBP‐1 levels increase plasma glucose levels possibly by regulating the insulin‐like actions of ‘bio‐available’ plasma IGF. Following prolonged fasting, there is an increase in insulin requirement. A proportion of this reversible insulin resistance may be due to inhibitory effects of high IGFBP‐1 levels on IGF action. This study examined the regulation of IGFBP‐1 in the presence of reversible insulin resistance.
Investigating the Impacts of CSR Initiatives on Customers’ Loyalty: A Study from Selected Private Banks in Bangladesh

As the significance of CSR initiatives on consumer attitudes, behavior, intention and loyalty has increased it remains imperative for the financial institutions especially banks to investigate the effects of CSR initiatives on customers’ loyalty. By taking a model “Causal relationship between CSR initiatives and Customers’ loyalty”, therefore, this study has aimed to trigger the effects of customer centric, ethics, green environment, and philanthropic on customers’ loyalty. A survey has been conducted on 320 visitors and the response rate is 88.75 percent. Initially, an exploratory factor analysis has been directed using SPSS 21 and subsequently Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) has been used to test both the proposed model and hypothesized relationships among the constructs. The result of the study has revealed that the constructs (customer centric, philanthropic, green environment and ethics) have significant impact on customers’ loyalty. The study also revealed that customer centric has the greatest effects on customers’ loyalty while ethics is the least influencing factor on loyalty in context of financial institutions in Bangladesh. The findings of the study will help the marketers of financial institutions to attract and retain their customers ultimately to develop customers’ loyalty and equity of the institutions.
Fixed-order robust controller design with time-domain constraints

This paper deals with overshoot reduction in fixed order controller design for linear systems subject to polytopic uncertainty. The basis of the developed synthesis method is a recent convex parameterization for fixed-order stabilizing controllers based on the polynomial approach. Two convex constraints are developed in order to decrease the overshoot of the closed-loop step response. First, based on the existing convex parameterization and peak-to-peak gain performance a criterion is developed to minimize the peak value of the step response. In the second method, Markov parameters of the system are used to achieve a step response with less overshoot. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the developed methods.
Photosystem II: the engine of life

1. Introduction 71 2. Electron transfer in PS II 72 3. (Mn)4cluster and mechanism of water oxidation 73 4. Organization and structure of the protein subunits 75 5. Organization of chlorophylls and redox active cofactors 81 6. Implications arising from the structural models 82 7. Perspectives 84 8. Acknowledgements 86 9. Addendum 86 10. References 87 Photosystem II (PS II) is a multisubunit membrane protein complex, which uses light energy to oxidize water and reduce plastoquinone. High-resolution electron cryomicroscopy and X-ray crystallography are revealing the structure of this important molecular machine. Both approaches have contributed to our understanding of the organization of the transmembrane helices of higher plant and cyanobacterial PS II and both indicate that PS II normally functions as a dimer. However the high-resolution electron density maps derived from X-ray crystallography currently at 3·7/3·8 Å, have allowed assignments to be made to the redox active cofactors involved in the light-driven water–plastoquinone oxidoreductase activity and to the chlorophyll molecules that absorb and transfer energy to the reaction centre. In particular the X-ray work has identified density that can accommodate the four manganese atoms which catalyse the water-oxidation process. The Mn cluster is located at the lumenal surface of the D1 protein and approximately 7 Å from the redox active tyrosine residue (YZ) which acts an electron/proton transfer link to the primary oxidant P680. +. The lower resolution electron microscopy studies, however, are providing structural models of larger PS II supercomplexes that are ideal frameworks in which to incorporate the X-ray derived structures.
PET in vasculitis

[18F]Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET) can be used to visualize large‐vessel inflammation in giant‐cell arteritis, Takayasu arteritis, and other types of aortitis. In patients with symptoms compatible with polymyalgia rheumatica, findings of increased FDG‐uptake in the shoulders, hips, as well as the spinous processes of the cervical and lumbar spine, may suggest this diagnosis. In patients with giant‐cell arteritis, there is increased metabolic activity within the aortic wall on FDG PET scintigraphy, indicating inflammation of the aorta, which may be a predictor of a higher potential for aortic dilatation.
Dissecting the Regions of Virion-Associated Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Complement Control Protein Required for Complement Regulation and Cell Binding

ABSTRACT Complement, which bridges innate and adaptive immune responses as well as humoral and cell-mediated immunity, is antiviral. Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) encodes a lytic cycle protein called KSHV complement control protein (KCP) that inhibits activation of the complement cascade. It does so by regulating C3 convertases, accelerating their decay, and acting as a cofactor for factor I degradation of C4b and C3b, two components of the C3 and C5 convertases. These complement regulatory activities require the short consensus repeat (SCR) motifs, of which KCP has four (SCRs 1 to 4). We found that in addition to KCP being expressed on the surfaces of experimentally infected endothelial cells, it is associated with the envelope of purified KSHV virions, potentially protecting them from complement-mediated immunity. Furthermore, recombinant KCP binds heparin, an analogue of the known KSHV cell attachment receptor heparan sulfate, facilitating infection. Treating virus with an anti-KCP monoclonal antibody (MAb), BSF8, inhibited KSHV infection of cells by 35%. Epitope mapping of MAb BSF8 revealed that it binds within SCR domains 1 and 2, also the region of the protein involved in heparin binding. This MAb strongly inhibited classical C3 convertase decay acceleration by KCP and cofactor activity for C4b cleavage but not C3b cleavage. Our data suggest similar topological requirements for cell binding by KSHV, heparin binding, and regulation of C4b-containing C3 convertases but not for factor I-mediated cleavage of C3b. Importantly, they suggest KCP confers at least two functions on the virion: cell binding with concomitant infection and immune evasion.
Employee‐Driven Sustainability Performance Assessment in Public Organisations

Organisations are increasingly adopting sustainability performance assessment tools. However, these formal organisational sustainability assessments are typically managed and prepared by technical staff. There is a lack of research on approaches that enable a stakeholder-driven performance assessment. This paper develops a framework of informal/complementary stakeholder-driven sustainability performance assessment, from the perspective of employee voluntary collaboration. The framework composes a checklist of questions covering the main sustainability domains: perceptions, individual practices, and voluntary monitoring indicators. In an exploratory case study in a public organisation, the checklist was evaluated by employees in a participatory workshop. The evaluation criteria of understanding and usefulness were rated more positively than reliability. This paper shows a novel way of integrating employee inputs for informal sustainability assessment and supports the importance of empowering public organisations, thereby increasing their understanding of sustainability management frameworks. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment
Anisotropic release of the residual zero-point entropy in the spin ice compound Dy2Ti2O7: Kagome ice behavior

We report the specific heat and entropy of single crystals of the spin ice compound ${\mathrm{Dy}}_{2}{\mathrm{Ti}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{7}$ at temperatures down to 0.35 K. We apply magnetic fields along the four characteristic directions [100], [110], [111], and [112]. Because of Ising anisotropy, we observe anisotropic release of the residual zero-point entropy, attributable to the difference in frustration dimensionality. In the high magnetic field along these four directions, the residual entropy is almost fully released and the activation entropy reaches $R\mathrm{ln}2. $ However, in the intermediate-field region, the entropy in the fields along the [111] direction is different from those for the other three field directions. For the [111] direction, the frustration structure changes from that of the three-dimensional pyrochlore to that of a two-dimensional Kagome-like lattice with constraint due to the ice rule, leading to different values of the zero-point entropy.
Total Hip Arthroplasty for Congenital Dysplasia or Dislocation of the Hip. Survivorship Analysis and Long-Term Results*

Two hundred and thirty-two total hip replacements with cement were performed between 1965 and 1987 in 190 patients who had osteoarthrosis secondary to acetabular dysplasia resulting from congenital dysplasia or dislocation of the hip. Forty-nine patients (fifty hips) who died or who did not have at least three years of clinical and radiographic follow-up were excluded; therefore, the study comprised 141 patients (182 hips), 125 of whom were women and sixteen of whom were men. The mean age at the time of the operation was 42.5 years (range, 19.5 to 76.5 years), and the mean duration of follow-up was 9.9 years (range, 3.1 to 22.8 years). A Charnley low-friction prosthesis with a 22.25-millimeter femoral head was used in all hips. A trochanteric osteotomy was performed in 164 hips. A direct lateral approach was used only when there was a limb-length discrepancy of less than two centimeters. Bulk autogenous graft was not used to augment the fixation of the acetabular component. The hips were divided into two groups on the basis of the degree of subluxation or dislocation according to the classification of Crowe et al. One hundred and thirty-six hips were grade I, II, or III (indicating subluxation) (Group S), and forty-six hips were grade IV (indicating dislocation) (Group D). At the most recent follow-up evaluation, 128 (94 per cent) of the 136 hips in Group S and forty-four (96 per cent) of the forty-six hips in Group D caused no or only slight pain (a score of 6 or 5 points, respectively, according to the system of Merle d'Aubigné and Postel). Nineteen cups (10 per cent) and five stems (3 per cent) failed and were revised. The rate of revision for loosening of the femoral component in Group D (2 per cent [one stem]) was similar to that in Group S (3 per cent [four stems]). In comparison, the rate of revision of the acetabular component in Group D (15 per cent [seven cups]) was almost twice that in Group S (9 per cent [twelve cups]). This study demonstrated satisfactory clinical results at a mean of nearly ten years. The fixation of the femoral components appeared to be satisfactory; however, the failure of the fixation of the acetabular components in Group D (the dislocated hips) is a cause for concern.
Method and Instrument for Noninvasive Measurements of Thoracolumbar Rotation

An objective method of measuring thoracolumbar vertebral rotation by using a suitable compass attached to an auxiliary tool is described. The jugular notch and xiphisternum are used ventrally and the spinous process on the same horizontal planes is used dorsally as reference points for spinal rotation. The method was tested on 39 adults. The mean of intratester and intertester correlation coefficients for the measurements was 0.79 (SD 0.11), with no essential difference between intratester and intertester reproducibility. The results also showed that the method is of considerable validity and, thus, is a supplement to noninvasive goniometric measurements of thoracolumbar mobility in the sagittal and frontal planes.