Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Global Financial Crisis, Liquidity Shocks and Global Financial Stability

The most recent global financial crisis, characterized as a liquidity crunch, began in the U.S. in late 2007 and quickly spread to other countries. The rapid propagation of the liquidity shock and the severe effects of the crisis on stock market performance have raised several important questions. Which channels contributed to the transmission of liquidity shocks? Why were some stocks with similar characteristics and degrees of exposure to a market-wide shock more dramatically affected during the crisis? While the crisis could have spread through several channels such as trade dependence among firms and markets, there are reasons to believe that institutional investors played an important role in transmitting the shock across assets and countries. Using comprehensive data on international institutional ownership and global intraday stock transactions for 17,493 stocks across 41 countries, this study investigates the role of institutional investors in spreading the market liquidity shock during the global financial crisis. We document that stocks with high pre-crisis institutional ownership significantly underperformed during the crisis period and, more importantly, that this effect is detrimental to stocks with greater exposure to the market liquidity shock. This result suggests that institutional investors played a significant role in propagating the liquidity shock during the financial crisis. Further analysis reveals that the spread of the liquidity shock by institutional investors clusters on the non-block and/or independent institutional investors, who were more likely to face liquidity constraints during the crisis.
Adaptive cycle jump and limits of degradation in micromechanical fatigue simulations of fibre-reinforced plastics

This research investigates the influence of numerical parameters of micromechanical fatigue damage models on the obtained progressive damage behaviour of fibre-reinforced plastics at transverse tensile fatigue loads. The simulated damage behaviour is evaluated using experimentally observed crack patters published in the literature. The investigated numerical model parameters are (1) whether or not the model considers static failure within a simulated load cycle, (2) the degree of material property degradation after sudden failure and (3) the size of the cycle jump. The results reveal a significant influence of the degree of material degradation and of the cycle jump on the simulated matrix crack formation at both higher and lower fatigue loads. Static failure within a simulated load cycle primarily affects the damage behaviour at higher fatigue loads. The paper gives recommendations of the parameter choice for plausible progressive fatigue damage simulation results. Regarding the cycle jump, an adaptive algorithm is proposed and implemented. This approach leads to plausible fatigue damage results paired with a significant reduction of computation time comparing to a cycle-by-cycle analysis.
Two-layer embedded half-split cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna for wideband applications

A two-layer embedded half-split dielectric resonator antenna is proposed in this paper for wideband application. To enhance the impedance bandwidth, a small half-split cylindrical dielectric resonator is placed concentrically inside the large annular-ring half-split dielectric resonator. The effect of antenna parameters such as layer arrangement, geometrical parameters and probe length are investigated. The proposed antenna provides the impedance bandwidth of 88.25% (at resonance frequency of 7.41 GHz) from 5.55 to 12.08 GHz for reflection coefficient (S11) less than -10dB. The average gain of proposed antenna is 8.35 dB in the frequency range of 5.55 to 12.08 GHz.
Cost Analysis in a Rural Power Distribution System

An activity based distribution cost model, APOWER, is applied to a rural distribution system, where multiple classes or bilateral contracts of energy are assumed. In particular, primary and secondary energy classes are considered where these classes share both system costs and benefits. Also, the cost of losses is shared by explicitly treating power and energy losses in the model. Different approaches to sharing other cost factors are suggested. The model is tested on an actual rural distribution network in Iceland and delivery and distribution costs are compared, with respect to rural and community delivery, voltage levels and bilateral contracts. Results can form a basis for designing transmission and distribution tariffs for network companies and can help shape the regulating environment for these companies by developing a unified framework in distribution system cost estimation
Functional Blockade of Platelet-Derived Growth Factor Receptor-&bgr; but Not of Receptor-&agr; Prevents Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Accumulation in Fibrous Cap Lesions in Apolipoprotein E–Deficient Mice

Background—The vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) is the central cell component involved in the fibroproliferative response in atherogenesis. As the lesion advances, VSMCs migrate from the media into the subendothelial space, thereby forming fibrous plaque lesions. Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) has been known to be a potent chemoattractant and mitogen for SMCs, but the pathophysiological role of the 2 PDGF receptors, receptor-&agr; (PDGFR-&agr;) and receptor-&bgr; (PDGFR-&bgr;) in atherogenesis is poorly understood. To clarify this problem, we prepared antagonistic rat monoclonal antibodies, APA5 and APB5, against murine PDGFR-&agr; and PDGFR-&bgr;, respectively. Methods and Results—Apolipoprotein E–deficient mice were fed a high-fat diet containing 0.3% cholesterol from 6 weeks of age and subjected to injection with 1 mg/d IP of either antibody from 12 to 18 weeks every other day. In the mice injected with APB5, the aortic atherosclerotic lesion size and the number of intimal VSMCs were reduced by 67% and 80%, respectively, compared with the control mice injected with irrelevant rat IgG. In contrast, the mice that received APA5 showed only minimal reduction of lesion size, and a large number of VSMCs were observed in the intima. In the intima of advanced lesions, APB5 immunolabeled VSMCs, whereas APA5 could detect VSMCs mainly in the media. Conclusions—These results indicate that PDGFR-&bgr; plays a significant role in formation of fibrous atherosclerotic lesions and that regulation of the signal transduction through PDGFR-&bgr; could affect atherogenesis in mice.
Demand Analysis for Air Passenger Service in U.S. City-Pair Markets

With single- and multi-segment market data, this paper used a heteroskedasticity-adjusted instrumental variable technique to explore the determinants of air passenger service. The results showed that price played a more prominent role than income in both single- and multi-segment markets. The results further indicated that demand of air passengers is price elastic and rises as distance increases. We found evidence that population, tourism, and business factors were significant predictors of demand. Tourism has a larger impact than the local Professional Scientific Technical (PST) industry earnings on airline demand in single-segment markets, while the inverse relationship is found in multi-segment markets. Based on these results, policymakers should focus on continuation, growth, and improvement of their air transportation infrastructure in metropolitan areas that have a high demand for business travel as well as vacation travel.
Microbiological and molecular characterization of nosocomial and community Staphylococcus aureus isolates

SUMMARY This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of Staphylococcus aureus infections in different departments of Belcolle Hospital in Viterbo and the surrounding area between January 2003 and June 2008. Isolates of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) recovered in this time interval were characterized by microbiological and molecular methods to evaluate the reliability of simple criteria to distinguish between hospital-acquired and community-acquired isolates. MRSA accounted for 33% of all S. aureus, with a significantly higher prevalence in isolates from nosocomial infections. MRSA isolates were assayed by PCR for the presence of 13 genes associated with virulence, agr type and SCCmec type. Cumulative data were analysed by partial least square discriminant analysis and a clear correlation was demonstrated between genetic profiles and classification of isolates as hospital or community acquired according to simple temporal criteria. Nosocomial MRSA isolates from blood samples showed significantly higher genetic diversity than other nosocomial isolates. Our data confirm the existence of significant differences between community- and hospital-acquired MRSA isolates.
Histopathological‐Molecular Genetic Correlations in Referral Pathologist‐Diagnosed Low‐Grade “Oligodendroglioma”

Allelic loss of chromosome 1p predicts increased chemosensitivity and better survival in oligodendroglial tumors. Clinical testing for 1p loss in oligodendroglial tumors at our hospital has allowed us to postulate that certain histological appearances are associated with 1p allelic status. Forty-four cases received for genetic testing were diagnosed by referring pathologists as pure low-grade oligodendroglioma. Central neuropathological review divided the series equally into 22 cases with classical oligodendroglioma histology and 22 with more astrocytic features. Molecular genetic analyses demonstrated 1p loss in 19 of 22 classic oligodendrogliomas (86%) and maintenance of both 1p alleles in 16 of 22 gliomas with astrocytic features (73%). No glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive cell type (gliofibrillary oligodendrocyte, minigemistocyte, cellular processes) was associated with 1p allelic status. Fourteen of the 44 cases were treated with chemotherapy at tumor progression: 3 “astrocytic” gliomas with 1p loss responded to PCV chemotherapy and 2 classic oligodendrogliomas that maintained both 1p alleles included a responder and a non-responder. These results suggest that histological appearance correctly predicts genotype in approximately 80% of low-grade gliomas, but that tumor genotype more closely predicts chemosensitivity. As a result, such objective molecular genetic analyses should be incorporated into patient management and into clinical trials of low-grade diffuse gliomas.
Use of Neural Networks for Data Mining in Official Statistics

One of the main challenges raised by data mining applications is dealing with data sets having a large number of variables: so-called high-dimensional data. In this aspect the officially surveyed statistical data (especially large data sets and data sets with outliers) can be regarded so called “golden mines” that can be analysed to gain useful additional information hidden inside. The main goal of this paper (except for presenting the basic principles of neural networks) is to introduce in which cases and for what kind of databases neural networks can be appropriate in the field of statistics (with focus on the official statistics regarding the including of this theme into the FP7 project BLUE-ETS). The example of using neural network for classification of data is demonstrated in the paper by experimental results on a set of testing statistical data (from enterprise and trade statistics).
CK2 Is Responsible for Phosphorylation of Human La Protein Serine-366 and Can Modulate rpL37 5′-Terminal Oligopyrimidine mRNA Metabolism

ABSTRACT La protein binds precursors to 5S rRNA, tRNAs, and other transcripts that contain 3′ UUU-OH and also promotes their maturation in the nucleus. Separate from this function, human La has been shown to positively modulate the translation of mRNAs that contain complex 5′ regulatory motifs that direct internal initiation of translation. Nonphosphorylated La (npLa) inhibits pre-tRNA processing, while phosphorylation of human La serine-366 (S366) promotes pre-tRNA processing. npLa was found specifically associated with a class of mRNAs that have unusually short 5′ untranslated regions comprised of terminal oligopyrimidine (5′TOP) tracts and that encode ribosomal proteins and translation elongation factors. Although La S366 represents a CK2 phosphorylation site, there was no evidence that CK2 phosphorylates it in vivo. We used the CK2-specific inhibitor, 4,5,6,7-tetrabromo-2-azabenzimidazole (TBB), and antisense-mediated knockdown to demonstrate that CK2 is responsible for La S366 phosphorylation in vivo. Hypophosphorylation was not associated with significant change in total La levels or proteolytic cleavage. Quantitative reverse transcription-PCR revealed increased association of the 5′TOP-mRNA encoding ribosomal protein L37 (rpL37) with La after TBB treatment. Transfection revealed more rpL37 mRNA associated with nonphosphorylatable La A366 than with La S366, concomitant with La A366-specific shift of a fraction of L37 mRNA off polysomes. The data indicate that CK2 phosphorylates La S366 in vivo, that this limits 5′TOP mRNA binding, and that increasing npLa leads to greater association with potentially negative effects on TOP mRNA translation. Consistent with data that indicate that phosphorylation reverses negative effects of npLa on tRNA production, the present data suggest that CK2 phosphorylation of La can affect production of the translational machinery.
MemO: A Consensus Approach to the Annotation of a Protein's Membrane Organization

Membrane organization describes the relationship of proteins to the membrane, that is, whether the protein crosses the membrane or is integral to the membrane and its orientation with respect to the membrane. Membrane organization is determined primarily by the presence of two features which target proteins to the secretory pathway: the endoplasmic reticulum signal peptide and the ? -helical transmembrane domain. In order to generate membrane organization annotation of high quality, confidence and throughput, the Membrane Organization (MemO) pipeline was developed, incorporating consensus feature prediction modules with integration and annotation rules derived from biological observations. The pipeline classifies proteins into six categories based on the presence or absence of predicted features: Soluble, intracellular proteins; Soluble, secreted proteins; Type I membrane proteins; Type II membrane proteins; Multi-span membrane proteins and Glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchored membrane proteins. The MemO pipeline represents an integrated strategy for the application of state-of-the-art bioinformatics tools to the annotation of protein membrane organization, a property which adds biological context to the large quantities of protein sequence information available.
Tensor-product Parity codes: combination with constrained codes and application to perpendicular recording

A parity code and a distance enhancing constrained code are often concatenated with a Reed-Solomon code to form a coding system for magnetic recording. The tensor-product parity coding scheme helps to improve efficiency of the parity code while retaining the same level of performance. In this paper, we present two methods for combining a tensor-product parity code with a distance-enhancing constrained code. The first method incorporates a constrained code with unconstrained positions. The second method uses a new technique, which we call word-set partitioning, to achieve a higher code rate relative to the first method. We simulate the performance of several coding systems based upon the two combination methods on a perpendicular recording channel, and we compare their symbol error rates and sector error rates with those of a system that uses only a Reed-Solomon code.
Unusual Case of Gunshot Injury to the Face

An unusual case of facial gunshot injury with the missile lodged in the cervical spine region, but without any neurological impairment, is reported. The extent of tissue damage and missile track termination in a male patient who sustained gunshot trauma to the face was assessed by plain radiography and by computed tomography scans. The patient was treated conservatively and observed for clinical manifestations of neurological deficit for one year. We present a case of gunshot injury to the face with the missile lodged in the cervical spine region and atypical absence of clinical manifestation that may occur even when a bullet remains in the vicinity of the cervical spine.
Joint multilingual learning for coreference resolution

Natural language is a pervasive human skill not yet fully achievable by automated computing systems. The main challenge is understanding how to computationally model both the depth and the breadth of natural languages. In this thesis, I present two probabilistic models that systematically model both the depth and the breadth of natural languages for two different linguistic tasks: syntactic parsing and joint learning of named entity recognition and coreference resolution. The syntactic parsing model outperforms current state-of-the-art models by discovering linguistic information shared across languages at the granular level of a sentence. The coreference resolution system is one of the first attempts at joint multilingual modeling of named entity recognition and coreference resolution with limited linguistic resources. It performs second best on three out of four languages when compared to state-of-the-art systems built with rich linguistic resources. I show that we can simultaneously model both the depth and the breadth of natural languages using the underlying linguistic structure shared across languages. Thesis Supervisor: Peter Szolovits Title: Professor of Computer Science and EngineeringMIT CSAIL Thesis Supervisor: Pierre Zweigenbaum Title: Senior Researcher, CNRS Thesis Supervisor: Özlem Uzuner Title: Associate Professor of Information StudiesSUNY, Albany
Natural user interfaces for human-drone multi-modal interaction

Personal drones are becoming part of every day life. To fully integrate them into society, it is crucial to design safe and intuitive ways to interact with these aerial systems. The recent advances on User-Centered Design (UCD) applied to Natural User Interfaces (NUIs) intend to make use of human innate features, such as speech, gestures and vision to interact with technology in the way humans would with one another. In this paper, a Graphical User Interface (GUI) and several NUI methods are studied and implemented, along with computer vision techniques, in a single software framework for aerial robotics called Aerostack which allows for intuitive and natural human-quadrotor interaction in indoor GPS-denied environments. These strategies include speech, body position, hand gesture and visual marker interactions used to directly command tasks to the drone. The NUIs presented are based on devices like the Leap Motion Controller, microphones and small size monocular on-board cameras which are unnoticeable to the user. Thanks to this UCD perspective, the users can choose the most intuitive and effective type of interaction for their application. Additionally, the strategies proposed allow for multi-modal interaction between multiple users and the drone by being able to integrate several of these interfaces in one single application as is shown in various real flight experiments performed with non-expert users.
From stack inspection to access control: a security analysis for libraries

We present a new static analysis for reviewing the security of libraries for systems, such as JVMs or the CLR, that rely on stack inspection for access control. We describe its implementation for the CLR. Our tool inputs a set of libraries plus a description of the permissions granted to unknown, potentially hostile code. It constructs a permission-sensitive call graph, which can be queried to identify potential security defects. It has been applied to large pre-existing libraries. We also develop a new formal model of the essentials of access control in the CLR (types, classes and inheritance, access modifiers, permissions, and stack inspection). In this model, we state and prove the correctness of the analysis.
FKBPL and Peptide Derivatives: Novel Biological Agents That Inhibit Angiogenesis by a CD44-Dependent Mechanism

Purpose: Antiangiogenic therapies can be an important adjunct to the management of many malignancies. Here we investigated a novel protein, FKBPL, and peptide derivative for their antiangiogenic activity and mechanism of action. Experimental Design: Recombinant FKBPL (rFKBPL) and its peptide derivative were assessed in a range of human microvascular endothelial cell (HMEC-1) assays in vitro. Their ability to inhibit proliferation, migration, and Matrigel-dependent tubule formation was determined. They were further evaluated in an ex vivo rat model of neovascularization and in two in vivo mouse models of angiogenesis, that is, the sponge implantation and the intravital microscopy models. Antitumor efficacy was determined in two human tumor xenograft models grown in severe compromised immunodeficient (SCID) mice. Finally, the dependence of peptide on CD44 was determined using a CD44-targeted siRNA approach or in cell lines of differing CD44 status. Results: rFKBPL inhibited endothelial cell migration, tubule formation, and microvessel formation in vitro and in vivo. The region responsible for FKBPL's antiangiogenic activity was identified, and a 24-amino acid peptide (AD-01) spanning this sequence was synthesized. It was potently antiangiogenic and inhibited growth in two human tumor xenograft models (DU145 and MDA-231) when administered systemically, either on its own or in combination with docetaxel. The antiangiogenic activity of FKBPL and AD-01 was dependent on the cell-surface receptor CD44, and signaling downstream of this receptor promoted an antimigratory phenotype. Conclusion: FKBPL and its peptide derivative AD-01 have potent antiangiogenic activity. Thus, these agents offer the potential of an attractive new approach to antiangiogenic therapy. Clin Cancer Res; 17(5); 1044–56. ©2011 AACR.
Prevalence and Health Implications of Anti-Gay Discrimination: A Study of Black and White Women and Men in the Cardia Cohort

This study investigates the prevalence of self-reported experiences of discrimination based on sexual orientation among black and white women and men (25 to 37 years old) who are members of CARDIA, a multisite longitudinal study of cardiovascular risk factors. Among the 1,724 participants who responded to a 1989 questionnaire obtaining data on lifetime number of sexual partners and who participated in the Year 7 exam (1992–1993), which included questions about discrimination, 204 (12 percent) reported having at least one same-sex sexual partner: 27 (7 percent) of the 412 black women, 13 (6 percent) of the 221 black men, 87 (14 percent) of the 619 white women, and 77 (16 percent) of the 472 white men. Among these four groups, 33, 39, 52, and 56 percent, respectively, reported having experienced discrimination based on sexual orientation. Additionally, 85 percent of the black women and 77 percent of the black men reported having experienced racial discrimination, and 89 percent of the black women and 88 percent of the white women reported having experienced gender discrimination. In the light of research associating negative stressors with poor health outcomes, including elevated blood pressure, future studies should assess public health implications of discrimination based on sexual orientation, in conjunction with racial and gender discrimination.