Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Foreign official holdings of US treasuries, stock effect and the economy: a DSGE approach

Abstract This paper examines the effects of shocks to foreign official holdings of long-term U.S. Treasuries (FOHL) on macroeconomic aggregates using a dynamic general equilibrium model. The model treats short- and long-term bonds as imperfect substitutes through endogenous portfolio adjustment frictions. This provides a channel for changes in relative supply of assests to influence asset prices. Three key findings emerge: (1) positive shocks to FOHL impact the long-term interest rate and the term spread negatively through a stock effect channel – defined as persistent changes in interest rates as a result of movement along the Treasury demand curve. This result is consistent with findings in the empirical literature. (2) Through a feedback mechanism from an endogenous term structure in the model, the decline in the long-term interest rate induces an expansion in economic activity which leads to an increase in consumption, output and inflation. Both the stock effect and the feedback mechanism are generated by the portfolio frictions. (3) Higher degrees of persistence of FOHL shocks or imperfect asset substitution generate a prolonged negative stock effect following shocks to FOHL. This causes a longer delay of the term spread to return to its steady state after it falls; hence, inducing an extended and stronger stimulative feedback effect from the endogenous term structure into the modeled economy. These findings help explain macroeconomic events such as the so-called ``Greenspan conundrum'' of the mid 2000s.
Employee empowerment in service recovery and customer loyalty in the hospitality industry in Kenya

The increased competition in the hospitality industry has forced hotel proprietors to continuously search for competitive advantages, with service quality being the single most important differentiating factor in the hospitality industry. This competition and perpetual differences between the customers and the service providers leading to service failures, service recovery is an important strategy to reduce the dissonance with customers. In Kenya the hospitality industry has been characterized by poor service quality which threatens their long-term survival. This study used a survey approach guided by cross-sectional research design. The study was guided by compensation as the independent variable and customer loyalty as the dependent variable. The study found out that compensation has a significant influence on customer loyalty. © Stephen, Robert, Kenneth & Joseph Licensed under Creative Common Page 28 The study recommended that since service failure in inevitable in the hospitality industry, proprietors should come up with strategies to encourage customers to voice their complaints and use such information as a learning tool for improving service quality and also create a set of knowledge that will be used for continuous innovation and strategic growth of their enterprises.
Validity of a portable urine refractometer: The effects of sample freezing

Abstract The use of portable urine osmometers is widespread, but no studies have assessed the validity of this measurement technique. Furthermore, it is unclear what effect freezing has on osmolality. One-hundred participants of mean (±SD) age 25.1 ± 7.6 years, height 1.77 ± 0.1 m and weight 77.1 ± 10.8 kg provided single urine samples that were analysed using freeze point depression (FPD) and refractometry (RI). Samples were then frozen at −80°C (n = 81) and thawed prior to re-analysis. Differences between methods and freezing were determined using Wilcoxon's signed rank test. Relationships between measurements were assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and typical error of estimate (TE). Osmolality was lower (P = 0.001) using RI (634.2 ± 339.8 mOsm · kgH2O−1) compared with FPD (656.7 ± 334.1 mOsm · kgH2O−1) but the TE was trivial (0.17). Freezing significantly reduced mean osmolality using FPD (656.7 ± 341.1 to 606.5 ± 333.4 mOsm · kgH2O−1; P < 0.001), but samples were still highly related following freezing (ICC, r = 0.979, P < 0.001, CI = 0.993–0.997; TE = 0.15; and r=0.995, P < 0.001, CI = 0.967–0.986; TE = 0.07 for RI and FPD respectively). Despite mean differences between methods and as a result of freezing, such differences are physiologically trivial. Therefore, the use of RI appears to be a valid measurement tool to determine urine osmolality.
3D printing of high strength and multi-scaled fragmented structures

This work has the financial support of the Project Lab2PT – Landscapes, Heritage and Territory laboratory – AUR/04509 and FCT through national founds and when applicable of the FEDER cofinancing, in the aim of the new partnership agreement PT2020 and COMPETE2020 – POCI 01 0145 FEDER 007528.
Knowledge, Attitude, and Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Civil Servants in Nepal

Obesity threatens developing countries as urbanization increases, with civil servants being particularly vulnerable. The authors assess overweight/obesity prevalence among Nepalese civil servants along with their knowledge and attitudes. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey conducted among 341 participants (97.4% response rate) also recorded height and weight. Participants were 40 ± 6.6 years, mostly males, married, and from a single ethnic group. Overweight/obesity prevalence was 33.4%. Knowledge of obesity was good. However, some attitudes toward obese people were negative, despite half of the participants believing obesity to indicate prosperity. Logistic regression indicated marriage and/or having a better job increased the overweight/obese risk by nearly 8 and 9 times, respectively. Heavier people were more likely to disagree with attitudes that obese people were “lazier” and “untidy. ” Obesity prevalence among Nepalese civil servants is already higher than the general population level. Health education and interventions are needed to translate knowledge into attitude and behavior changes in order to prevent this becoming an epidemic.
Adaptive learning of behavioral tasks for patients with Parkinson's disease using signals from deep brain stimulation

We propose adaptive learning methods for identifying different behavioral tasks of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). The methods use local field potential (LFP) signals that were collected during Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) implantation surgeries. Using time-frequency signal processing methods, features are first extracted and then clustered in the feature space using two different methods. The first method requires training and uses a hybrid model that combines support vector machines and hidden Markov models. The second method does not require any a priori information and uses Dirichlet process Gaussian mixture models. Using the DBS acquired signals, we demonstrate the performance of both methods in clustering different behavioral tasks of PD patients and discuss the advantages of each method under different conditions.
Surface EMG analysis of tibialis anterior muscle in walking with FES in stroke subjects

In this work we have examined the effect of functional electrical stimulation (FES) in the management of drop foot in stroke subjects with surface electromyographic (sEMG) analysis from the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle. Ten subjects were assigned to FES therapy combined with conventional stroke rehabilitation program 5 days a week, 60 min a day, for 12-weeks in clinical settings. Baseline and post-treatment measurements were made for temporal and spectral parameters of EMG signals of TA muscle. The evaluation results reported an increase in mean-absolute-value (MAV), root-mean-square (RMS) and also improved the amplitude and median frequency (MF) of the sEMG power spectrum in monitoring the improvement of the tibialis anterior muscle during maximum voluntary contractions (MVC). We conclude that walking with FES system combined with a conventional rehabilitation program improves the muscle strength in stroke survivors.
Measuring risks in the tail: The extreme VaR and its confidence interval

Contrary to the current regulatory trend regarding extreme risks, the purpose of this paper is to emphasize the necessity of considering the Value-at-Risk (VaR) with extreme confidence levels like 99.9%, as an alternative way of measuring risks in the "extreme tail". Although the mathematical definition of the extreme VaR is trivial, its computation is challenging in practice, because the uncertainty of the extreme VaR may not be negligible for a finite amount of data. We begin to build confidence intervals around the unknown VaR. We build them using two different approaches, the first one uses the asymptotic Gaussian result and the second saddlepoint approach, the latter proves to be more robust when we use finite samples. We compare our approach with other methodologies which are based on bootstrapping techniques, focusing on the estimation of the extreme quantiles of a distribution. Finally, we apply these confidence intervals to perform a stress testing exercice with historical stock returns during the financial crisis, in order to identify potential violations of the VaR during periods of turmoil on financial markets.
Information fromObjective Prism Digitized Images : Classification with an Artificial Neural Network

Stellar spectral classification is not only a tool for labeling individual stars but is also useful in studies of stellar population synthesis. Extracting the physical quantities from the digitized spectral plates involves three main stages: detection, extraction, and classification of spectra. Low-dispersion objective prism images have been used and automated methods have been developed. The detection and extraction problems have been presented in previous works. In this paper, we present a classification method based on an artificial neural network (ANN). We make a brief presentation of the entire automated system and we compare the new classification method with the previously used method of maximum correlation coefficient (MCC). Digitized photographic material has been used here. The method can also be used on CCD spectral images.
Is Lobular Endocervical Glandular Hyperplasia a Cancerous Precursor of Minimal Deviation Adenocarcinoma?: A Comparative Molecular-genetic and Immunohistochemical Study

Although lobular endocervical glandular hyperplasia (LEGH) was originally described as a distinct hyperplastic glandular lesion of the uterine cervix, recent studies have raised a question that LEGH may be a cancerous precursor of minimal deviation adenocarcinoma (MDA) and other mucinous adenocarcinomas (MACs) of the uterine cervix. In the present study, we studied LEGH, MDA, and MAC by using molecular-genetic and immunohistochemical methods for chromosomal imbalance, microsatellite instability, human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, and gastric pyloric-type mucin secretion to clarify their relationship. Comparative genomic hybridization revealed recurrent chromosomal imbalances, that is, gains of chromosome 3q and a loss of 1p, which were common to MDA and MAC, in 3 of 14 LEGHs analyzed (21%). LEGHs with chromosomal imbalances showed a degree of cellular atypia in the hyperplastic glandular epithelium. Dual-color fluorescence in situ hybridization confirmed a gain of chromosome 3 fragment in these cervical glandular lesions. HPV in situ hybridization revealed that high-risk HPV (types 16 and 18) was positive in over 80% of MACs, but negative in all LEGHs and MDAs examined. Microsatellite instability was rarely detected in these cervical glandular lesions. Our present study results demonstrated a molecular-genetic link between LEGH and cervical mucinous glandular malignancies including MDA and MAC, and are thought to support the hypothesis that a proportion of LEGHs are cancerous precursors of MDA and/or MAC.
Algorithmes pour des problèmes de bin packing mono- et multi-objectif

Le probleme de bin packing consiste a determiner le nombre minimum de conteneurs (bins) necessaires pour ranger un ensemble d’objets. Ce probleme NP- complet fait depuis de nombreuses annees l’objet de multiples travaux de recherche, theoriques et pratiques. On le retrouve entre autres dans l’industrie de decoupe de tissu, de l’acier, de bois et de verre. La litterature sur le probleme de bin packing est riche et les algorithmes et approches de resolution sont tres diverses. Cependant, les solutions proposees par ces algorithmes peuvent ne pas etre utiles quand on traite des problemes industriels reels. Dans cette these, nous considerons plusieurs types de contraintes liees a des incompatibilites entre objets. Ces contraintes sont inspirees de celles rencontrees lors d’une collaboration industrielle. Le sujet de recherche de cette these porte sur la resolution d’une variete de problemes de bin packing. Nous nous interessons a des bornes inferieures et superieures pour les trois problemes suivants : un probleme de bin packing avec conflits dans lequel des relations de compatibilite sont exprimees entre les couples d’objets ; un probleme de bin packing bi-objectif dans lequel deux criteres sont a minimiser, le nombre de bins utilises et le nombre de couples en conflit places dans le meme bin ; un probleme de bin packing avec objets fragiles dans lequel la somme des tailles des objets places dans un bin ne depasse la fragilite d’aucun de ces objets.
The entorhinal cortex and neurotrophin signaling in Alzheimer’s disease and other disorders

A major problem in the field of neurodegeneration is the basis of selective vulnerability of subsets of neurons to disease. In aging, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and other disorders such as temporal lobe epilepsy, the superficial layers of the entorhinal cortex (EC) are an area of selective vulnerability. In AD, it has been suggested that the degeneration of these neurons may play a role in causing the disease because it occurs at an early stage. Therefore, it is important to define the distinctive characteristics of the EC that make this region particularly vulnerable. It has been shown that neurotrophins such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are critical to the maintenance of the cortical neurons in the adult brain, and specifically the EC. Here we review the circuitry, distinctive functions, and neurotrophin-dependence of the EC that are relevant to its vulnerability. We also suggest that a protein that is critical to the actions of BDNF, the ARMS/Kidins220 scaffold protein, plays an important role in neurotrophic support of the EC.
KETEPATAN MODEL ALTMAN, SPRINGATE, ZMIJEWSKI, DAN GROVER DALAM MEMPREDIKSI FINANCIAL DISTRESS

This study aims to identify and analyze the accuracy models of financial distress between the model results of Altman, Springate, Zmijewski, and Grover. The model used by investors, creditors and the company itself who will invest in the company and evaluate the financial performance. Samples from this study are 1.321 firm-year, collected from Indonesia Stock Exchange for the period 2012-2016 and were selected using purposive sampling method. The data used in this study are financial reports of each company. The data obtained were tested with logistic regression. This study shows that the model of Altman, Springate, Zmijewski, and Grover has a significant impact and can be used for predicting the condition of financial distress. However, the Springate model is the most appropriate model for predicting the condition of financial distress because it has the highest level of coefficient determination compared to other models.
Towards a next generation neural interface: Optimizing power, bandwidth and data quality

In this paper, we review the state-of-the-art in neural interface recording architectures. Through this we identify schemes which show the trade-off between data information quality (lossiness), computation (i.e. power and area requirements) and the number of channels. We further extend these tradeoffs by band-limiting the signal through reducing the front-end amplifier bandwidth. We therefore explore the possibility of band-limiting the spectral content of recorded neural signals (to save power) and investigate the effect this has on subsequent processing (spike detection accuracy). We identify the spike detection method most robust to such signals, optimize the threshold levels and modify this to exploit such a strategy.
[Serological markers of arthritis in patients with chronic viral hepatitis].

UNLABELLED Wide range of different autoantibodies (e.g. rheumatoid factor, antinuclear antibodies, smooth muscle antibodies, anticardiolipin antibodies) can be detected in low titres in more than 70% of patients with chronic hepatitis. THE AIM OF THE STUDY Prevalence of serological markers typical for rheumatic diseases in patients with chronic viral hepatitis was examined and the correlation between those markers and serum activity of liver enzymes was evaluated. MATERIAL AND METHODS 80 patients (30 female and 50 male aged 43.5 +/- 10 years) with chronic viral hepatitis hospitalized in Department of Internal Diseases and Rheumatology of Medical Military Institute in Warsaw were included in the study. 16 of patients were infected with hepatitis virus B, 60 with hepatitis virus C, 4 suffered from both infections. Blood morphology, ESR, CRP aminotransferases activity, protein and bilirubin levels were measured in every patient. Serological examination included levels of antinuclear antibodies (ANA), smooth muscle antibodies (SMA), LKM-1, antineutrophil antibodies (ANCA), anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL), antimitochondrial antibodies (AMA), circulating immunological complexes (CIC), cryoglobulins and rheumatoid factor. RESULTS At least one serological marker was found in 60 (75%) patients. Latex fixation reaction was positive in 42 (54%), rheumatoid factor was present in 25 (31%), aCL in 28 (34%), pANCA in 22 (27%) and CIC in 16 (20%). Antibodies ANA, AMA, LKM-1 and cryoglobulins were less frequently observed (6%, 5.5% and 7% respectively). The presence of autoantibodies was more frequent in patients with hepatitis C (77% vs. 62%). AMA, LKM-1 and cryoglobulins were detected only in that group of patients. There was no correlation between liver enzymes activity and presence of serological markers of rheumatic diseases. CONCLUSIONS Serological markers considered to be typical for rheumatic disorders were detected in 75% patients (especially in patients with HCV). There is no correlation between aminotransferases activity and tested serological.
Association between Childhood Trauma and Dissociation Among Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder

Objective: To examine the relationship between childhood trauma and dissociative experience in adulthood in patients with borderline personality disorder. Method: Dissociative experiences scale scores and subscale scores for the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire were correlated in 139 patients. Patients were dichotomized into high or low dissociators using the Median Dissociative Experiences Scale score as the cut-off. Results: Childhood Trauma Questionnaire Subscale scores for emotional and physical abuse and emotional neglect but not sexual abuse correlated significantly with Dissociative Experiences Scale scores. High dissociators reported significantly greater levels of emotional abuse, physical abuse, emotional neglect and physical neglect but not sexual abuse than low dissociators. Conclusion: Patients with borderline personality disorder therefore demonstrated levels of dissociation that increased with levels of childhood trauma, supporting the hypothesis that traumatic childhood experiences engender dissociative symptoms later in life. Emotional abuse and neglect may be at least as important as physical and sexual abuse in the development of dissociative symptoms.
Impact of Transparency and Corruption on Mega-Event Support

Mega-events and corruption are two major issues in modern society. Unfortunately, both sometimes go hand in hand. This study examined the effects of corruption perceptions on residents' impact perceptions and their support for hosting a mega-event in their community. Furthermore, this study investigated the influence of transparency on corruption, residents' impact perceptions, and their support for a mega-event by focusing on the 2014 FIFA World Cup held in Brazil. Findings indicated that corruption perceptions are critical determinants of residents' impact perceptions and their support for hosting a mega-event. Findings further suggested that transparency is an important determinant of residents' corruption perceptions, impact perceptions, and support for hosting a mega-event.
Control and experiments of a multi-purpose bipedal locomotor with parallel mechanism

This paper describes a control and a structure of a battery driven bipedal robot, WL-15(Waseda Leg-15), which has a 6-DOF parallel mechanism. WL-15 has been designed as a multi-purpose locomotion of robotic systems. This robot is controlled by the QNX real-time operating system. Using Math Works' SIMULINK and OPAL-RT's RT-LAB executed on Windows NT and QNX target systems, control software and pattern generator are developed. A walking control capable of dealing with various dynamic walking is proposed and tested indoors and outdoors using the WL-15. Dynamic biped walking is realized with the maximum step length of 200 mm, the maximum walking speed of 0.8 s/step and the minimum speed of 1.92 s/step. Also, the WL-15 is confirmed to be able to turn 90 deg in two steps and carry a load of 18 kg.
Pathogenesis of Campylobacter fetus infections: serum resistance associated with high-molecular-weight surface proteins.

Campylobacter fetus subspecies fetus causes both systemic and diarrheal illnesses. We studied 38 strains of C. fetus isolated from 34 patients; underlying illness was present in eight (89%) of nine patients with only systemic isolates compared with three (20%) of 15 patients with only fecal isolates (P = .002). In a standardized assay of susceptibility to normal human serum, 27 (71%) strains were resistant, six (16%) had intermediate susceptibility, and five (13%) were serum sensitive. Major protein bands migrating at 100 kDa or 125 kDa on polyacrylamide gels were present in all of the 25 serum-resistant strains tested but in only four of seven serum-sensitive isolates of C. fetus from humans and animals (P = .007). The presence of these bands was associated with type A lipopolysaccharide. A low-passaged strain, 82-40, was serum resistant and contained the 100-kDa protein; however, a spontaneous mutant of this strain lacked this band and was serum sensitive. The 100-kDa and 125-kDa proteins of three strains of C. fetus were antigenically cross reactive or identical and were exposed on the surface of the C. fetus cell. Serum resistance is inherent to most C. fetus isolates from humans and is associated with the presence of cross-reactive surface proteins.
Cell-wall remodeling drives engulfment during Bacillus subtilis sporulation

When starved, the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis forms durable spores for survival. Sporulation initiates with an asymmetric cell division, creating a large mother cell and a small forespore. Subsequently, the mother cell membrane engulfs the forespore in a phagocytosis-like process. However, the force generation mechanism for forward membrane movement remains unknown. Here, we show that membrane migration is driven by cell wall remodeling at the leading edge of the engulfing membrane, with peptidoglycan synthesis and degradation mediated by penicillin binding proteins in the forespore and a cell wall degradation protein complex in the mother cell. We propose a simple model for engulfment in which the junction between the septum and the lateral cell wall moves around the forespore by a mechanism resembling the ‘template model’. Hence, we establish a biophysical mechanism for the creation of a force for engulfment based on the coordination between cell wall synthesis and degradation.