Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prediction of Banks Distress – Regional Differences and Macroeconomic Conditions

In this study we focus on distress events of European banks over the period of 1990–2015, using unbalanced panel of 3,691 banks. We identify 132 distress events, which include actual bank‐ ruptcies as well as bailout cases. We apply CAMEL‐like bank‐level variables and control macroeconomic variables (GDP, inflation, unemployment rate). The analysis is based on traditional logistic regression and k‐means clustering. We find, that the probability of distress is connected with macroeconomic conditions via regional grouping (clustering). Bank‐level variables that were stable predictors of dis‐ tress from 1 to 4 years prior to event are equity to total assets ratio (leverage) and loans to funding (li‐ quidity). From macroeconomic factors, the GDP growth is a reasonable variable, however with differ‐ entiated impact: for 1 year distance high distress probability is connected with low GDP growth, but for 2, 3 and 4 year distance: high distress probability is conversely connected with high GDP growth. This shows the changing role of macroeconomic environment and indicates the potential impact of favorable macroeconomic conditions on building‐up systemic problems in the banking sector.
A channel selection method for hyperspectral atmospheric infrared sounders based on layering

Abstract. This study introduces an effective channel selection method for hyperspectral infrared sounders. The method is illustrated for the Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS) instrument. The results are as follows. (1) Using the improved channel selection (ICS), the atmospheric retrievable index is more stable, with the value reaching 0.54. The coverage of the weighting functions is more evenly distributed over height with this method. (2) Statistical inversion comparison experiments show that the accuracy of the retrieval temperature, using the improved channel selection method in this paper, is consistent with that of 1D-Var channel selection. In the stratosphere and mesosphere especially, from 10 to 0.02 hPa, the accuracy of the retrieval temperature of our improved channel selection method is improved by about 1 K. The accuracy of the retrieval temperature of ICS is also improved at lower heights. (3) Statistical inversion comparison experiments for four different regions illustrate latitudinal and seasonal variations and better performance of ICS compared to the numerical weather prediction (NWP) channel selection (NCS) and primary channel selection (PCS) methods. The ICS method shows potential for future applications.
Looking for consensual protection categories to reduce conservation conflicts in protected áreas

ABSTRACT: Decision-making in protected areas is often difficult due to an unclear definition of management objectives and indicators for their monitoring. This is frequently related to the coexistence of systems of protected areas at national and regional levels for which management objectives are ambiguous or that are not directly related to protected areas classification standards. In this study, we proposed a participative model based on PROMETHEE II to find consensual protected areas categories based on IUCN framework. This model involved the stakeholder’s assessments of management objectives in a protected area and their aggregation based on distance comparisons with objectives of international protected areas standards. The model was tested in the Albufera de Valencia Natural Park, a strongly human-modified wetland located in Eastern Spain and it allowed the identification of consensual management priorities and the IUCN category V as the equivalent international protected area category for this regional protected area.
The Cross-border Electricity Business Cloud Services Platform The Cross-border Electricity Business Cloud Services Platform Based On A Combination Of Cloud Computing Services Based On A Combination Of Cloud Computing Services Composition Composition

Nowadays cloud computing industry has turned to the stage of small-scale application from the stage of import and preparation, so business model has become an integral part in cloud computing. According to the existing problem of commercial operation in cloud computing, by analyzing and forecasting the service composition effects, this paper proposes the theoretical thought of synthetic prediction of risk management for cloud computing services composition systems, gives a synthetic prediction model of services composition, namely multi-layer recurrent model, and analyzes it properties. Then based on multi-layer recurrent model, the construction and application prospect of the cloud service platform based on cloud computing service portfolio is discussed
Determinants of Audit Fees: Evidence from Pharmaceutical and Chemical Industry of Bangladesh

The main objective of this study is to find out the factors that determine the audit fees in the listed pharmaceuticals and chemicals companies of Bangladesh. The study is conducted on 21 listed companies in the pharmaceuticals and chemicals industry during the period of 2015 to 2018. Client characteristics (client size, leverage and return on assets), client’s governance structure (independent directors and audit committee) and firm ranking are taken as the proxy variables of the determinants of audit fees. The study has found that client size, leverage and firm ranking have positive and significant impact on audit fees of the sample firm. On the other hand the proportion of independent directors in the board has a negative and significant impact on audit fees. However, the study did not find any significant association between audit fees and return on assets. It is suggested that policymakers should include more independent directors in the board for ensuring better governance to reduce the external audit fees. Besides, in case of maintaining obligatory audit committee, companies should consider the efficiency and effectiveness of the committee.
A Comparative Estimation of (-) Hydroxycitric acid in Different Species of Garcinia

Isozyme genetic markers are efficient tools to study genetic variations within and between populations of less known wild species as well as for studies on spatial distribution of genetic variation. A study was conducted with four important isozyme markers namely, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, esterase and superoxide dismutase in Garcinia gummigutta population collected from Western Ghats in South India. The cluster analysis of the marker bands showed that most of the population from similar geographic locations was the first one to group themselves, though a significant pattern was not noticed. The mean percentage of polymorphic loci was 52.5%. Total heterozygocity was 0.97 which is consistent with the average of tropical tree species.
A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF EMOTIONAL DIMENSIONS OF PERSONALITY IN STIMULANTS AND OPIOIDS USERS

Background and Objective : Drug addiction and substance abuse have become a psychological social problem that seriously threatens the various countries and societies. The purpose of this study was to compare the emotional dimensions of personality in stimulants and opioids users. Method : The research sample consisted of two groups of stimulants and opioids users consisted of 150 people (each group was 75 people) were selected by targeted and convenience sampling method and responded to the psychological emotional personality scale. Results : The results showed that there was a significant difference in the dimensions of novelty seeking, harm avoidance, persistence, cooperation, self-directedness self-transcendence in stimulants and opioid users, and in all of the above scales, the mean scores obtained in stimulants was higher than the opioids. Conclusion : These results indicate that addicted people show deficiencies in emotional cognitive regulation, which can be effective in preventing and treating addiction.
The Effects of Online Reviews of Opinion Leaders on Users’ Investment Intentions in Virtual Financial Communities

With the rapid development of internet financial community, more and more people opt to obtain financial information through online reviews. Based on the perspective of online reviews of opinion leaders, we explored the influences of online reviews of opinion leaders on users’ investment intentions in the financial community. We introduced the concepts of user trust and online interaction propensity and built a theoretical model. Our results, based on data collected from 205 users of a famous financial virtual community, suggested that the online reviews of opinion leaders had a significant effect on users’ investment intentions. In conclusion, financial institutions should pay attention to opinion leaders and enhance communication and relationships with them.
Expression of pathogenicity and virulence related genes in Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae under copper stress

Stone fruit bacterial canker is one of the most destructive diseases of apricot in Iran. Copper-based compounds are widely used to protect plants against bacterial diseases, but pathogens frequently evolve resistance against copper (Cu). This study was conducted to investigate the genetic diversity of the Cu resistance gene copA among strains of the causal agent of canker disease of stone fruits Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae (Pss), isolated from apricot trees in East Azarbaijan province of Iran. The phylogenic trees based on copA and rpoD are very similar to each other revealing no evidence of recombination. To test the hypothesis that pathogenicityand virulencerelated genes may be induced by Cu in Pss strains, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to evaluate the expression of genes algD, copA, fliC, hrpA, syrB and tatC, in the Cu sensitive Pss 170 strain upon exposure to Cu. Among the tested genes, the algD and copA involved in alginate synthesis and Cu resistance, respectively, showed the highest increase in expression compared to a non-copper (control): 4.75-fold and 2.68-fold, respectively. Based on these results and on the conservation of genes algD and copA in Pseudomonas pathovars, antimicrobials that target AlgD and CopA proteins should be developed to use in combination with Cu to increase control efficiency.
Peeter Torop

The Tartu‒Moscow School accepted as its professional attitude to reconstruct the tradition and connect itself to the forgotten or repressed cultural-scientific achievements of the period of the first decades of the 20th century. One mission of Lotman as one of the leaders of the Tartu-Moscow School was knowing and mediating forgotten heritage. In the situation of censorship many contacts between Lotman and Russian theory were not visible. Thus, the synthesis of Lotman, Tynianov, Bakhtin, Vygotsky, Eisenstein and others, in an implicit dialogue, can be the basis for the formation of the next stage of semiotics of culture. Finally, Tynjanov’s understanding of literary and cultural dynamics, Lotman’s semiotic theory of text and his thoughts about a model of space as one of the primary languages of culture, and Bakhtin’s theory of chronotope form this theoretical complex that can give new possibilities for developing both, theoretical and practical principles of cultural and textual analysis.
Child maltreatment in organisations: Risk factors and strategies for prevention

This paper investigates recent literature on child maltreatment in organisational settings. The paper begins with a discussion of Senate inquiries investigating the history and current concerns of organisational child maltreatment in Australian institutions before outlining some risk factors for children. The problematic notion of seeking to profile perpetrators of organisational child maltreatment in order to identify actual or potential high-risk individuals is then explored. The paper outlines some of the common myths and facts about perpetrators before considering organisational risk factors. This is followed by an outline of positive strategies to increase child safety in the context of organisations. Special attention is given to the development of current theoretical models, and strategies for responding to disclosure of past or current abuse.
Comparison of multivariate classification methods for contamination event detection in water distribution systems

This paper explores two applied classification models supplying decision support system for contamination event detection in Water Distribution Systems (WDS). The two models include an outlier’s detection model and a following sequence analysis for the classification of event. The first model is an un-supervised minimum volume ellipsoid (MVE) and the second is a supervised support vector machine (SVM). The novelty of the two models is the multi-dimensional analysis of the data, differing from the parallel one-dimensional analysis that was conducted so far. The performance of the two models for the given problem is presented and compared. © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the CCWI2013 Committee.
Overexpression and biological function of PRDX6 in human cervical cancer

Background: Our previous study demonstrated that the peroxiredoxin 6 (PRDX6) protein was downregulated in squamous cervical cancer samples after neoadjuvant chemotherapy compared with the expression level before chemotherapy. However, the effect of PRDX6 on the biological behavior of cervical cancer is still uncertain. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore the functional impacts of PRDX6 gene on the biological behavior of cervical squamous cancer cells. Methods: An immunofluorescence assay was applied to evaluate the expression difference of PRDX6 between cervical cancer tissue and normal cervical tissue samples. A lentivirus was used to upregulate and downregulate PRDX6 expression in SiHa cells. Furthermore, the role of PRDX6 on cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion was evaluated. Additionally, the effect of PRDX6 on the progression of the cervical cancer was investigated via a xenograft model in BALB/c nude mice that either overexpressed or underexpressed PRDX6. Results: The expression of PRDX6 was generally increased in cervical cancer tissues. Furthermore, the overexpression of PRDX6 stimulated the proliferation, migration and invasion of cervical squamous cancer cells, and suppressed cell apoptosis. The opposite results were also obtained after successful knockdown of PRDX6. In addition, the overexpression of PRDX6 significantly promoted the growth of cervical carcinoma in vivo. Conclusions: PRDX6 promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion, and inhibited apoptosis in cervical cancer cells, indicating that PRDX6 is an important promoter of cervical cancer tumorigenicity.
Fabrication of Bovine Serum Albumin-Loaded Coaxial Electrospun Thread with an Aligned Core-Shell Fibrous Structure

Threads or yarns are key building blocks in constructing complicated fibrous structures for many biomedical applications such as scaffolds to direct cells in tissue engineering applications. In this study, protein-loaded aligned fibers with core-shell structures were successfully fabricated by combining coaxial electrospinning with a rotating disk collector. A model protein, bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a core was incorporated into shell material, including PCL/gelatin (50:50) hybrid and then electrospun aligned core-shell fibers on the rotating disk. After manually twisting the aligned fiber bundle, the prepared threads were crosslinked with genipin. The fibers and thread morphologies were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fluorescent microscopy (FM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and the threads tensile properties were then evaluated. The well-aligned fibers (with a mean diameter of 1.472±0.444 μm) with uniform core-shell structures without any bead formation and homogeneous protein incorporation into them were obtained using a rotating wheel at 1300 rpm. BSA-loaded threads with a diameter of 150-250 μm were finally prepared from aligned fiber bundle by keeping their well-aligned structure. The tensile tests revealed that fibrous thread with the modulus of 34.2 cN/tex had proper tensile properties for tissue engineering approaches. FTIR thus proved that the crosslinking was successful between thread and genipin. After crosslinking, threads retained their fibrous structure and demonstrated the improvement in the F. Ghasemkhah Nanotechnology Institute, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran. F. Ghasemkhah and M. Latifi Department of Textile Engineering, Textile Excellence and Research Centers, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran. A. Hadjizadeh Department of Biomedical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran. M.A. Shokrgozar National Cell Bank of Iran, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran. Correspondence should be addressed to M. Latifi e-mail: latifi@aut.ac. ir tensile properties (modulus increased to 40.64 cN/tex). These findings are promising to promote biomedical agents-loaded fibrous threads for tissue suturing and tissue regeneration
Study on separation of fine-particle ilmenite and mechanism using flocculation flotation with sodium oleate and polyacrylamide

In this paper, sodium oleate, polyacrylamide, soluble starch and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose were used as flocculants to study the flocculation and sedimentation behavior of microfine ilmenite. Sedimentation test shows that sodium oleate and polyacrylamide have good flocculation effect on ultrafine ilmenite. The flocculation rate of ilmenite can be further improved by the combination of sodium oleate and polyacrylamide. It was found that both flocculants could generate chemical adsorption with ilmenite surface, and they all react with Fe3+ on ilmenite surface. However, sodium oleate reacts with Fe3+ to form a water-insoluble iron oleate precipitate which coats the surface of the ilmenite and hinders the action of polyacrylamide and the remaining Fe3+. This problem can be avoided by adding polyacrylamide followed by sodium oleate, and the flotation recovery can be increased significantly.
APPLICATION OF Pichia anomala And Schwanniomyces occidentalis,as A Boicontrol Of Mycotoxigenic Aspergillus flavus And Their Effect On The Metabolism Of Rats.

The contamination of animal feed with mycotoxigenic fungi is a disastrous problem along the food chain. Pichia anomala and Schwanniomyces occidentalis were applied as a biocontrol yeast to prevent Aspergillus flavus growth in vitro and in feed corn. The yeast strainswere able to inhibit mycotoxigenic fungi growth on animal feeds and improve the properties of the feed.The enzymes assay indicated that P. anomala was able to produce β-1,3-glucanase and chitinase which could propose a mode of action for its antifungal activity. Scanning electron micrographs of fungal hypha cultures with P. anomala revealed that yeast cell could colonize the fungal hypha leading to their lysis and deterioration. Schwanniomyces occidentalisproduces enzymes, including a-amylase and glucoamylase,and excretes very efficiently large protein (glucoamylase). The experimental treatments T with rats divided as follows: T1 was fed as basal diet (control), T2 the contaminated diet with aflatoxins (AF) at3ml suspension of fungi/ 1kg diet from T3:T8wheredifferent concentrations of yeasts were added.T9was similarto T4 without AF and T10 was similar to T6 without AF. The results showed that T2caused significantly lower final body weight and total body weight gain and significantly higher mortality rate, kidney functions(creatinineand urea) and liverfunctions (AST, ALT and ALP) ,beside histopathologicaleffects in Liver, Kidney and spleenthat,Vaculation ofepithelial lining renal tubules, hydropic degemenration of hepatocytes and hemorrhage.On the other hand, the treatmentsT3T8had significantly an improvement in performance as compared with T2 whichshowedsignificantly higherfinally body weight p˂ 0.02% and total body weight gain and lower mortality rate, Kidneyfunctions(CREATININE and Urea) and liverfunctions (AST, ALT and ALP),histopathological examination of in Liver tissue shows activation of Kupffer cells and nohistopathological changes in Kidney and spleen. The results showed the ability of one of yeasts(P. anomala or Schwan.occidentalis)or theirmixture for inhibiting mold growth andit's toxigenic effects.
Lean product development and agile project management in the construction industry

Purpose – In recent years, innovative methodologies of product development such as lean product development (LPD) and agile project management (APM) have emerged. Even though previous research studies focused on these subjects, only few of them were focused on traditional industries, as civil construction. The purpose of this paper is to cover a part of this gap by estimating the potential of the application of these two new approaches (LPD and APM) in the construction industry, more specifically on the design stage. Design/methodology/approach – For this, a case study has been conducted in order to understand if some of LPD and APM tools and practices had already been used, and also to evaluate the potential application of these new methodologies. Three Brazilian companies have been evaluated, all of them were exclusive executors of the design stage and presented distinct characteristics (size, structure, business model, etc.). Findings – The results show that there is currently little adherence to LPD and APM practices within the companies studied. In terms of potential application of these new methodologies, the study has identified evidence regarding technical similarities between the reported cases and others mentioned in literature. However, the interviewees’ reception of these concepts was mostly pessimistic, showing considerable resistance to changes in the current process. Originality/value – According to the analysis, the study identified that the main challenge/hampering to the implementation of these tools in the cases studied herein are the functional organizational structures, the customer–supplier relationships and the internal cultural resistance to change.
NON-CONTROLLED CLOSE-RANGE PHOTOGRAMMETRY METHOD BASED ON PHOTOMODELER SCANNER

Abstract. Aiming at the high demand of close-range photogrammetry for the object control points and the inconvenient carrying of digital camera to take photogrammetry in the field, a method of detail survey based on PhotoModeler Scanner software is proposed. USB camera combines with the centering rod, USB camera captures image data, Total station obtains the coordinates of the centering rod, the coordinate of projective center is calculated by using the coordinate of the centering rod, PhotoModeler Scanner software processes image data and coordinate data. Ultimately, image stereo measurement of the no object control point was realized. The experimental results showed that the error of the plane position of the solved target point was less than 10cm at a shooting distance of about 10m, and it met the accuracy requirements of detail survey. Therefore, the method can reduce the workload of field detail survey, reduce the cost and volume of the photographic equipment, and has certain application value.