Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamics of scale effficiency of Indian banks: A deterministic frontier approach

ABSTRACT:Indian banking sector is characterized with intense competition, amongst the best regulated in the world and rapid growth. Indian banking sector have undergone rapid reforms and liberalization in last two decades, which resulted into advent of new and strong private sector banks, increased technology adoptions, rapid branch expansion, prudential regulations, focus on financial inclusion, market discipline of public sector banks and demanding customers. With Indian Banking system poised to become the world’s 3rd largest by 2025 and owing to the dynamism in banking sector the paper examines the bank efficiency. Most past studies focused on the impact of some or other regulatory phase, some segments of banking and under constant return scale assumption. Our study is distinct to the extent that we examine the bank efficiency after the Phase III and IV reforms and subprime crisis, across all ownership segments of Scheduled Commercial Banks and under plausible assumption of variable returns of scale given the dynamic banking environment. We employ non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis using intermediation approach under of variable return of scale. Our study period consist of 2008-2012 post reform and subprime crisis period and covers 26 public, 19 private and 21 foreign banks operating in India. We further examine the variation in efficiency across different ownership groups and small and large bank sizes over the period. Our findings indicate that Public sector banks’ average efficiency scores were better than that of private sector while foreign banks had the lowest efficiency score. Private sector banks had lower heterogeneity in efficiency compared to public sector banks. The smaller banks showed better efficiency compared to larger banks across the ownership groups. We find that the banking reforms have seen improvement in efficiency of public sector banks as compared to private and foreign banks. Thus our findings differ from studies on other emerging markets indicating efficiency improvement of foreign banks as compared to pubic banks. While banks have shown overall efficiency the lower technical efficiency indicate inefficiency in large banks probably due to sub optimal scale and scope efficiency. Our study point outs management of assets, branch rationalization and use of technology to improve the bank efficiency. The study suggests policy focus on reduction of non-performing assets and rationalization of staff and branches to obtain efficiency gain. Regulatory reforms in Indian Banking sector saw improvement in efficiency of public and private banks and efficiency scores differed across various ownership and large and small bank groups.
Cross-Spectral Stereo Matching Based on Local Self-Similarities and Image Moments

Recent developments in the infrared industry and the availability of relatively cheaper infrared cameras attracted more attention towards the simultaneous utilization of visible and infrared images and solving the correspondence problem between them. The Microsoft Kinect sensor represents one of the most widespread examples of low cost multimodal setups. In this context, we investigate the feasibility of matching features extracted from cross-spectral stereo cameras using a sparse approach. First, a set of stable features are extracted from both images using the Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT). Then, descriptors are computed from local self-similarities around the selected key points. The combination of image moments is also investigated and expected to improve the matching process. Experimental results show the performance of this approach to the multimodal correspondence challenge.
A Decision Theory Model for Entrepreneurial Acts

The decision to become an entrepreneur is considered as an alternative to wage labor. The potential entrepreneur evaluates whether there are positive expected net present benefits of entrepreneurship relative to the expected gains from wage labor. The expected net gain from entrepreneurship depends both on the average income from successful entrepreneurship weighted by the probability of success and the average income from wage labor weighted by the probability of employment. The inclusion of economic factors not only adds to the understanding of entrepreneurship but suggests avenues by which policy makers can encourage entrepreneurship.
Multiplex PCR for Detection of Three Plasmid-Borne Genes of Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli Strains

ABSTRACT We developed a novel multiplex PCR assay for enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) detection, by using three plasmid-borne genes (the aggregative adherence [AA] probe, aap, and aggR). One or more of the loci were detected in 24 (86%) of 28 patient isolates analyzed. The multiplex PCR assay is a fast, convenient, and sensitive molecular test to detect EAEC.
Hygiene training of food handlers in hospital settings: important factor in the prevention of nosocomial infections.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of food hygiene training of food handlers on sanitary-hygienic conditions in hospital kitchens, based on microbiological analysis of smears taken in hospital kitchens. The study was conducted in the 1995-2009 period at the Clinical Centre Nis, Serbia. The food hygiene training was conducted in February 2005, by an infection control officer. 1,076 smears in the central kitchen and 4,025 smears in distributive kitchens were taken from hands and work clothes, work surfaces, equipment, and kitchen utensils. Microbiological analysis of smears was carried out in an accredited laboratory of the Public Health Institute Nis (Serbia). A significantly lower percentage of smears with isolates of bacteria (p < 0.001) taken from hands and work clothes, work surfaces, equipment and kitchen utensils in the central and distributive kitchens was observed in the period following the food safety education programme (2005-2009). The most commonly isolated bacteria was: Enterobacter spp. , Acinetobacter spp. , Citrobacter spp. , and E. coli. Our results confirmed that food hygiene training improved hygiene and is also an important component for the prevention of nosocomial infection.
Leveraging SDN for collaborative DDoS mitigation

In this paper we propose a collaborative distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack mitigation scheme using SDN. We design a secure controller-to-controller (C-to-C) protocol that allows SDN-controllers lying in different autonomous systems (AS) to securely communicate and transfer attack information with each other. This enables efficient notification along the path of an ongoing attack and effective filtering of traffic near the source of attack, thus saving valuable time and network resources. We developed and deployed a prototype of the proposed scheme in our lab to evaluate the performance and efficiency. Based on the experimental results we showed that our SDN based collaborative scheme is capable of efficiently mitigating DDoS attacks in real time with very small computational footprints.
Reconstruction of 3 D Models for Complex Buildings from Airborne and Ground-based Lidar Point Cloud Data

1 Postgraduate, Civil Engineering, National Central University, No.300, Jhongda Rd., Jhongli City, Taoyuan County 32001, Taiwan ; Tel: +886-9-21-074897; E-mail: shianhong@gmail.com 2 Associate Professor, Center for Space and Remote Sensing Research, National Central University, No.300, Jhongda Rd., Jhongli City, Taoyuan County 32001, Taiwan ; Tel: + 886-3-422-7151 ext 57619; Fax: +886-3-4254908; E-mail: ftsai@csrsr.ncu. edu.tw
Resilient multipoint networks based on redundant trees

Connection-oriented packet forwarding technologies such as multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), generalized MPLS (GMPLS), and new entrant MPLS transport profile (MPLS-TP) are all evolving to meet the increasing demand for an efficient support of multicast applications like Internet Protocol television (IPTV) and multicast virtual private networks (VPNs). One of the biggest challenges ahead is to develop bandwidth-efficient and fault-resilient solutions for these services at a reasonable cost of complexity. Starting from the state-of-the-art and standards insights, we highlight the technical limitations of current approaches and pinpoint major open issues. Based on this analysis, we propose a point-to-multipoint based solution that overcomes previous drawbacks and fulfills transport requirements for carrier-grade environments. We also present the support required for this scheme in the emerging standards-based control protocols and data plane architectures.
Inflation persistence and monetary policy in South Africa: is the 3% to 6% inflation target too persistent?

Can the South African Reserve Bank's (SARB) substantially control inflation within their set target of 3% to 6%? We sought to investigate this phenomenon by examining multiple threshold effects in the persistence levels of quarterly aggregated inflation data collected between 2003 and 2014. To this end, we employ the three-regime threshold autoregressive (TAR) model of Hansen (2000). We favour this approach over other conventional linear econometric models as it permits us to test for varying persistency within the autoregressive (AR) components of the inflation process. Our empirical explorations reveal that the SARBs set target does indeed lie within a range in which inflation is found to be most persistent. Overall and more importantly, our results suggest that the SARB should either consider revising their set inflation target by redefining the inflation target range to accommodate higher inflation rates or the Reserve Bank should consider abandoning the inflation targeting regime altogether.
Bayesian Synthesis of Portfolio Credit Risk with Missing Ratings

In this study we develop a universal Bayesian model that accounts for the time frames until future credit rating downgrades, the time lengths of no credit coverage, and the time intervals until default of individual debt issuances. We then use a maximum likelihood estimation to assess the projected average default rates (over diverse horizons) of debt portfolios that exhibit similar credit characteristics. We demonstrate the scheme over multiple large homogeneous portfolios and further authenticate the validity of the derived credit profiles by appointing to each uniform portfolio a descriptive credit grade. These combined credit ratings tend to be higher than their respective individual bonds. This reconfirms the universal advantage of portfolio diversification.
Novel Frequency Chirp Compensation Scheme for Directly Modulated SG DBR Tunable Lasers

The authors demonstrate a compensation scheme to reduce the frequency chirp associated with directly modulated sampled grating distributed Bragg reflector tunable lasers. Experimental results obtained show that the direct modulation of the laser's gain section results in a large frequency chirp of 25 GHz. However, by simultaneous modulation of the laser's phase section this large frequency chirp can be significantly reduced.
Cells Expressing Chimeric Antigen Receptors Can Cause Anaphylaxis in Humans

T cells can be redirected to overcome tolerance to cancer by engineering with integrating vectors to express a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR). In preclinical models, we have previously shown that transfection of T cells with mRNA coding for a CAR is an alternative strategy that has antitumor efficacy and the potential to evaluate the on-target off-tumor toxicity of newCAR targets safely due to transientmRNACAR expression. Here, we report the safety observed in four patients treated with autologous T cells that had been electroporated with mRNA coding for a CAR derived from a murine antibody to human mesothelin. Because of the transient nature of CAR expression on the T cells, subjects in the clinical study were given repeated infusions of the CAR-T cells to assess their safety. One subject developed anaphylaxis and cardiac arrest within minutes of completing the third infusion. Although human anti-mouse immunoglobulin (Ig)G antibodies have been known to develop with CARtransduced T cells, they have been thought to have no adverse clinical consequences. This is the first description of clinical anaphylaxis resulting from CAR-modified T cells, most likely through IgE antibodies specific to the CAR. These results indicate that the potential immunogenicity of CARs derived from murine antibodies may be a safety issue for mRNA CARs, especially when administered using an intermittent dosing schedule. Cancer Immunol Res; 1–6. 2013 AACR.
Obsessions and compulsions in Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism.

BACKGROUND Obsessive-compulsive behaviours are common and disabling in autistic-spectrum disorders (ASD) but little is known about how they compare with those experienced by people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). AIM To make such a comparison. METHOD A group of adults with high-functioning ASD (n=40) were administered the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale and Symptom Checklist and their symptoms compared with a gender-matched group of adults with a primary diagnosis of OCD (n=45). OCD symptoms were carefully distinguished from stereotypic behaviours and interests usually displayed by those with ASD. RESULTS The two groups had similar frequencies of obsessive-compulsive symptoms, with only somatic obsessions and repeating rituals being more common in the OCD group. The OCD group had higher obsessive-compulsive symptom severity ratings but up to 50% of the ASD group reported at least moderate levels of interference from their symptoms. CONCLUSIONS Obsessions and compulsions are both common in adults with high-functioning ASD and are associated with significant levels of distress.
Serum- and Glucocorticoid-induced Protein Kinase 1 (SGK1) Is Regulated by Store-operated Ca2+ Entry and Mediates Cytoprotection against Necrotic Cell Death*

Background: Mechanisms underlying SGK1 activation are incompletely understood in epithelial cells. Results: Store-operated Ca2+ entry up-regulates SGK1, thereby modulating the lethal effects of Ca2+ overloading on mitochondrial membrane potential. Conclusion: Ca2+-induced SGK1 activates cytoprotective signaling and modifies mitochondrial function in epithelial cells. Significance: This work reveals a cytoprotective role for SGK1 in necrosis and has potential relevance for epithelial cell protection and cancer treatment. Serum and glucocorticoid-regulated kinase 1 (SGK1) encodes a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-dependent serine/threonine kinase that is rapidly induced in response to cellular stressors and is an important cell survival signal. Previous studies have suggested that an increase in cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]c) is required for increased SGK1 expression, but the subcellular source of Ca2+ regulating SGK1 transcription remains uncertain. Activation of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) with thapsigargin (TG) increased SGK1 mRNA and protein expression in MDA-MB-231 cells. Intracellular Ca2+ imaging revealed that store-operated Ca2+ entry played a prominent role in SGK1 induction by TG. Neither ERS nor release of Ca2+ from the ER was sufficient to activate SGK1. Prolonged elevation of intracellular Ca2+ levels, however, triggered cell death with a much greater proportion of the cells undergoing necrosis rather than apoptosis. A relative increase in the percentage of cells undergoing necrosis was observed in cells expressing a short hairpin RNA targeted to the SGK1 gene. Necrotic cell death evoked by cytoplasmic Ca2+ overloading was associated with persistent hyperpolarization of the inner mitochondrial membrane and a modest increase in calpain activation, but did not involve detectable caspase 3 or caspase 7 activation. The effects of cytoplasmic Ca2+ overloading on mitochondrial membrane potential were significantly reduced in cells expressing SGK1 compared with SGK1-depleted cells. Our findings indicate that store-operated Ca2+ entry regulates SGK1 expression in epithelial cells and suggest that SGK1-dependent cytoprotective signaling involves effects on maintaining mitochondrial function.
Influence of RF spoiling on the stability and accuracy of T1 mapping based on spoiled FLASH with varying flip angles

There is increasing interest in quantitative T1 mapping techniques for a variety of applications. Several methods for T1 quantification have been described. The acquisition of two spoiled gradient‐echo data sets with different flip angles allows for the calculation of T1 maps with a high spatial resolution and a relatively short experimental duration. However, the method requires complete spoiling of transverse magnetization. To achieve this goal, RF spoiling has to be applied. In this work it is investigated whether common RF spoiling techniques are sufficiently effective to allow for accurate T1 quantification. It is shown that for most phase increments the apparent T1 can deviate considerably from the true value. Correct results may be achieved with phase increments of 118.2° or 121.8°. However, for these values the method suffers from instabilities. In contrast, stable results are obtained with a phase increment of 50°. An algorithm is presented that allows for the calculation of corrected T1 maps from the apparent values. The method is tested both in phantom experiments and in vivo by acquiring whole‐brain T1 maps of the human brain. Magn Reson Med 61:125–135, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Study of Full-Length Porcine Endogenous Retrovirus Genomes with Envelope Gene Polymorphism in a Specific-Pathogen-Free Large White Swine Herd

ABSTRACT Specific-pathogen-free (SPF) swine appear to be the most appropriate candidate for pig to human xenotransplantation. Still, the risk of endogenous retrovirus transmission represents a major obstacle, since two human-tropic porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) had been characterized in vitro (P. Le Tissier, J. P. Stoye, Y. Takeuchi, C. Patience, and R. A. Weiss, Nature 389:681–682, 1997). Here we addressed the question of PERV distribution in a French Large White SPF pig herd in vivo. First, PCR screening for previously described PERV envelope genes envA, envB, and envC(D. E. Akiyoshi, M. Denaro, H. Zhu, J. L. Greenstein, P. Banerjee, and J. A. Fishman, J. Virol. 72:4503–4507, 1998; Le Tissier et al., op. cit.). demonstrated ubiquity of envAand envB sequences, whereas envC genes were absent in some animals. On this basis, selective out-breeding of pigs of remote origin might be a means to reduce proviral load in organ donors. Second, we investigated PERV genome carriage inenvC negative swine. Eleven distinct full-length PERV transcripts were isolated. The sequence of the complete envelope open reading frame was determined. The deduced amino acid sequences revealed the existence of four clones with functional and five clones with defective PERV PK-15 A- and B-like envelope sequences. The occurrence of easily detectable levels of PERV variants in different pig tissues in vivo heightens the need to assess PERV transmission in xenotransplantation animal models.
Diabetes Self-Care Activities and Health-Related Quality-of-Life of individuals with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus in Shantou, China

Objective To assess diabetes self-care behaviours and health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) in people with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), in China. Methods Individuals with T1DM underwent face-to-face interviews over a 7-day questionnaire period. The Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA) was used to assess self-care behaviours. EQ-5D-3L was used to quantify HRQoL. Results Of self-care activities, individuals (n = 322) were most likely to adhere to treatment and least likely to perform foot care. A total of 78.9% of participants did not examine their feet and 33.9% of participants did not monitor blood glucose during the questionnaire period. Moderate/severe anxiety or depression was reported by 28.6% of participants; 23.9% reported moderate/severe pain or discomfort. The individual’s level of diabetes education, insulin injection regimen and HbA1c were independently associated with total SDSCA score. Household income and age were independently associated with EQ-5D index. Conclusions Enhancing diabetes education in individuals and implementing strict insulin regimens could improve self-care behaviours in people with T1DM in China.
EGF receptor expression in primary laryngeal cancer: Correlation with clinico‐pathological features and prognostic significance

Epidermal‐growth‐factor‐receptor (EGFR) expression was evaluated in 103 primary laryngeal tumors and in 42 normal laryngeal tissue specimens. Significantly higher EGFR levels were found in cancer specimens than in normal mucosa (p = 0.0053). EGFR expression did not correlate with age, tumor localization, T classification, cervical‐lymph‐node involvement or type of surgery, whereas it was higher in poorly differentiated tumors (G3) than in well/moderately differentiated (G1‐G2) tumors (p < 0.05). Follow‐up data were available for 74 patients. When EGFR status and the most important clinico‐pathological characteristics were submitted to univariate analysis, tumor localization, type of surgery and EGFR status were found to be significantly correlated with disease‐free survival. The 24‐month disease‐free survival rate was 58% for EGFR+ cancer patients and 82% for EGFR‐ ones. With multivariate analysis, only EGFR status and tumor localization were identified as significant independent prognostic parameters. Data reported here suggest that high EGFR levels may identify a sub‐set of laryngeal‐cancer patients with a particularly unfavorable prognosis. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Sub-optimal power allocation for downlink OFDMA systems

Spectral efficiency is important in designing wireless broadband communication systems. The paper investigates the problem of minimizing overall transmission power while maximizing the spectral efficiency in orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems. Two adaptive power allocation schemes are presented to allocate transmission power to individual sub-carriers of each user in the downlink frequency-selective fading channels. The proposed algorithms are more computationally efficient than the conventional water-filling algorithm. Performance comparison to the optimal solution shows that the proposed schemes can achieve 99% of the optimum spectral efficiency.
Elimination of Lipid Peroxide during Hemodialysis

Background/Aims: This study is aimed to show the antioxidative effect of hemodialysis (HD) by demonstrating the elimination of toxic lipid peroxides. Methods: Blood samples were obtained from patients on regular maintenance HD before and 15, 30, 60, 120 and 240 min after the start of each HD session. Plasma cholesteryl ester hydroperoxide (CE-OOH), phosphatidylcholine hydroperoxide (PC-OOH), and eliminators of lipid peroxides (LOOH) such as apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) and lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) were investigated. The hydroxyl radical scavenging activity was measured for the evaluation of the pro-oxidative side. Results: CE-OOH and PC-OOH were elevated in patients with chronic kidney disease both on and not on HD, while these values were much higher in HD patients. CE-OOH quickly dropped during the first 30 min of HD, then gradually decreased until 240 min. CE-OOH concentrations were related to those of apoA-I. In contrast, PC-OOH showed an increase 30 min after the start of HD, a change which resembled that of LCAT and was the reverse of the hydroxyl radical scavenging activity. Conclusion: These results demonstrate the antioxidative action through CE-OOH elimination involving apoA-I. The pro- and antioxidative effects of HD on LOOH are not uniform but PC-OOH is mainly influenced prooxidatively.