Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
La banca española ante la crisis financiera

Resumen El objetivo de este artículo es analizar la evolución reciente del sector bancario español con objeto de señalar sus fortalezas y debilidades en el actual contexto de crisis financiera. Para ello se realiza un análisis comparativo con la banca de los países de la eurozona en aspectos tan importantes como la estructura del sector, el crecimiento, la especialización, la rentabilidad, la eficiencia, la morosidad, la solvencia, etc. La visión comparativa muestra que la banca española ha partido de una buena posición de fortaleza ante la crisis si bien la incertidumbre sobre su intensidad y duración han deteriorado sus pilares fundamentales, sobre todo en términos de acelerado crecimiento de la morosidad en un contexto de fuerte concentración del crédito en el ladrillo. En el trabajo se ofrece una prueba de resistencia del sector ante ulteriores deterioros de la morosidad así como la evolución más reciente de las restricciones crediticias. Palabras clave: sector bancario español, crisis financiera, fortalezas, retos. Clasificación JEL: G21
Inferential Statistics

For example, suppose there is a training program that claims to improve test scores and an experimenter wants to verify the claims. She starts with two groups, one taking the training program and the other not (the control [7]). She measures the test scores in the beginning and at the end, making sure that the starting test scores are, on an average, the same for both test groups. The researcher finds that the test scores for those who take the training are indeed higher now, and this difference is statistically significant [8]. She rejects her null hypothesis. Merely stating the results for the two groups in terms of average score difference and representing this in the form of graphs is descriptive statistics [4]. But if she concludes that the training program is effective in improving test scores (in general, and for all people), then this is inferential statistics.
Saliency-based automatic target detection in forward looking infrared images

A saliency-based target detection method for forward looking infrared (FLIR) image is proposed. Firstly, saliency map is computed using scale-space representation and separated into dark saliency map (DSM) and bright saliency map (BSM). Secondly, dark and bright regions of interest (ROI) are detected by respective type of saliency map using marker-based maximally stable extremal regions (MSER) detection algorithm. Finally, shape matching algorithm is applied after grouping of the two types of ROI for object detection. Experimental results show that this work provides a promising way to solve the problems caused by salient dark parts of target.
Hardware implementation low power high speed FFT core

In recent times, DSP algorithms have received increased attention due to rapid advancements in multimedia computing and high-speed wired and wireless communications. In response to these advances, the search for novel implementations of arithmetic-intensive circuitry has intensified. For the portability requirement in telecommunication systems, there is a need for low power hardware implementation of fast fourier transforms algorithm. This paper proposes the hardware implementation of low power multiplier-less radix-4 single–path delay commutator pipelined fast fourier transform processor architecture of sizes 16, 64 and 256 points. The multiplier-less architecture uses common sub-expression sharing to replace complex multiplications with simpler shift and add operations. By combining a new commutator architecture and low power butterfly architecture with this approach power reduction is achieved. When compared with a conventional fast fourier transform architecture based on non-booth coded wallace tree multiplier the power reduction in this implementation is 44% and 60% for 64-point and 16-point radix-4 fast fourier transforms respectively. The power dissipation is estimated using cadence RTL compiler. The operating frequencies are 166 MHz and 200 MHz, for 64 point and 16 point fast fourier transforms, respectively. Our implementation of the 256 point FFT architecture consumes 153 mw for an operating speed of 125 MHz.
Workforce Nationalization in the Gulf Cooperation Council States

In recent decades, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have become reliant on migrant workers to the extent that foreign inhabitants constitute nearly one-third of the total GCC population. Qatar and the UAE are at the extremity of the situation, where indigenous citizens constitute only one-quarter and one-fifth of their national populations, respectively. Consequently, workforce nationalization — the concept of reducing expatriate employment by bringing more citizens into the workplace — has become the human resource management strategy of all GCC countries. In this first attempt to review all six GCC nations, this paper takes an exploratory-cum-constructivist approach and argues that closer cooperation and unified policy structures on nationalization are needed across all GCC countries. Education, training, the transfer of knowledge from expatriate to citizen, better approaches to encouraging citizens into the private sector, and the greater inclusion of women are all significant issues that need to be tackled in order to fulfill the desired goal of nationalizing the labor force across all GCC states. A clear and unified policy in terms of structural reform across GCC countries needs to be collectively defined, although methods of implementation would need to be more tailored and distinctive from one country to another.
Multiple effects of silymarin on the hepatitis C virus lifecycle

Silymarin, an extract from milk thistle (Silybum marianum), and its purified flavonolignans have been recently shown to inhibit hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, both in vitro and in vivo. In the current study, we further characterized silymarin's antiviral actions. Silymarin had antiviral effects against hepatitis C virus cell culture (HCVcc) infection that included inhibition of virus entry, RNA and protein expression, and infectious virus production. Silymarin did not block HCVcc binding to cells but inhibited the entry of several viral pseudoparticles (pp), and fusion of HCVpp with liposomes. Silymarin but not silibinin inhibited genotype 2a NS5B RNA‐dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) activity at concentrations 5 to 10 times higher than required for anti‐HCVcc effects. Furthermore, silymarin had inefficient activity on the genotype 1b BK and four 1b RDRPs derived from HCV‐infected patients. Moreover, silymarin did not inhibit HCV replication in five independent genotype 1a, 1b, and 2a replicon cell lines that did not produce infectious virus. Silymarin inhibited microsomal triglyceride transfer protein activity, apolipoprotein B secretion, and infectious virion production into culture supernatants. Silymarin also blocked cell‐to‐cell spread of virus. Conclusion: Although inhibition of in vitro NS5B polymerase activity is demonstrable, the mechanisms of silymarin's antiviral action appear to include blocking of virus entry and transmission, possibly by targeting the host cell. HEPATOLOGY 2010
Recognizing Communicative Intentions in Infancy

I make three related proposals concerning the development of receptive communication in human infants. First, I propose that the presence of communicative intentions can be recognized in others' behaviour before the content of these intentions is accessed or inferred. Second, I claim that such recognition can be achieved by decoding specialized ostensive signals. Third, I argue on empirical bases that, by decoding ostensive signals, human infants are capable of recognizing communicative intentions addressed to them. Thus, learning about actual modes of communication benefits from, and is guided by, infants' preparedness to detect infant-directed ostensive communication.
Stability analysis of the FBANC system having delay error in the estimated secondary path model

The Feedback active noise control (FBANC) scheme is widely used in portable ANC applications. But the FBANC has un-stability problem caused by the modeling error of the electro-acoustic path in its feedback mechanism. To analyze the stability problem, we propose a new stability analysis method utilizing the magnitude component of the open loop frequency response of the FBANC. With the proposed method, a stability bound equation is obtained in terms of the length of delay error of secondary path, the ANC filter length and the center frequency of primary noise. The stability bounds of the proposed method are verified by comparing with both the original Nyquist condition and the simulation results.
Cigarette smoking, CFH, APOE, ELOVL4, and risk of neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

OBJECTIVE To examine if the genes encoding complement factor H (CFH), apolipoprotein E (APOE), and elongation of very-long-chain fatty acids-like 4 (ELOVL4) confer risk of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in an independent or interactive manner when controlling for smoking exposure. METHODS We studied 103 unrelated patients with neovascular AMD who each had at least 1 sibling with normal maculae. Smoking histories were obtained. Genotyping was performed by analyzing amplified genomic fragments from CFH, APOE, and ELOVL4 by direct sequencing or by restriction endonuclease digests. Conditional logistic regression analysis was used to build a multifactor model. RESULTS For CFH, only the CC genotype carried a statistically significant elevation of disease risk (odds ratio, 49.37; 95% confidence interval, 6.20-393.22; P<.001). No significant association was observed between neovascular AMD and APOE or ELOVL4. No significant interactions were found between smoking and having the CFH or APOE genotype nor were significant interactions found between the CFH, ELOVL4, and APOE genotypes. CONCLUSIONS Smoking and having the CFH CC genotype independently increase risk of neovascular AMD. APOE and ELOVL4 genotypes do not seem to modify risk. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Smoking 10 pack-years or more and having the CFH CC genotype increase one's risk of neovascular AMD 144-fold compared with smoking less than 10 pack-years and having the CT or TT genotype.
Making Money Matter: Financing America's Schools.

The United States annually spends over $300 billion on public elementary and secondary education. As the nation enters the 21st century, it faces a major challenge: how best to tie this financial investment to the goal of high levels of achievement for all students. In addition, policymakers want assurance that education dollars are being raised and used in the most efficient and effective possible ways. The book covers such topics as: * Legal and legislative efforts to reduce spending and achievement gaps. * The shift from "equity" to "adequacy" as a new standard for determining fairness in education spending. * The debate and the evidence over the productivity of American schools. * Strategies for using school finance in support of broader reforms aimed at raising student achievement. This book contains a comprehensive review of the theory and practice of financing public schools by federal, state, and local governments in the United States. It distills the best available knowledge about the fairness and productivity of expenditures on education and assesses options for changing the finance system.
On the Large-Scale Structure of the Universe as given by the Voronoi Diagrams

The size distributions of 2D and 3D Voronoi cells and of cells of V p (2,3) ,–2D cut of 3D Voronoi diagram–are explored, with the single-parameter (re-scaled) gamma distribution playing a central role in the analytical fitting. Observational evidence for a cellular universe is briefly reviewed. A simulated V p (2,3) map with galaxies lying on the cell boundaries is constructed to compare, as regards general appearance, with the observed CfA map of galaxies and voids, the parameters of the simulation being so chosen as to reproduce the largest observed void size.
The enhançon and the consistency of excision

The enhancon mechanism removes a family of time-like singularities from certain supergravity spacetimes by forming a shell of branes on which the exterior geometry terminates. The problematic interior geometry is replaced by a new spacetime, which in the prototype extremal case is simply flat. We show that this excision process, made inevitable by stringy phenomena such as enhanced gauge symmetry and the vanishing of certain D-branes' tension at the shell, is also consistent at the purely gravitational level. The source introduced at the excision surface between the interior and exterior geometries behaves exactly as a shell of wrapped D6-branes, and in particular, the tension vanishes at precisely the enhancon radius. These observations can be generalised, and we present the case for non-extremal generalisations of the geometry, showing that the procedure allows for the possibility that the interior geometry contains an horizon. Further knowledge of the dynamics of the enhancon shell itself is needed to determine the precise position of the horizon, and to uncover a complete physical interpretation of the solutions.
Altered Immunity in Crowded Locust Reduced Fungal (Metarhizium anisopliae) Pathogenesis

The stress of living conditions, similar to infections, alters animal immunity. High population density is empirically considered to induce prophylactic immunity to reduce the infection risk, which was challenged by a model of low connectivity between infectious and susceptible individuals in crowded animals. The migratory locust, which exhibits polyphenism through gregarious and solitary phases in response to population density and displays different resistance to fungal biopesticide (Metarhizium anisopliae), was used to observe the prophylactic immunity of crowded animals. We applied an RNA-sequencing assay to investigate differential expression in fat body samples of gregarious and solitary locusts before and after infection. Solitary locusts devoted at least twice the number of genes for combating M. anisopliae infection than gregarious locusts. The transcription of immune molecules such as pattern recognition proteins, protease inhibitors, and anti-oxidation proteins, was increased in prophylactic immunity of gregarious locusts. The differentially expressed transcripts reducing gregarious locust susceptibility to M. anisopliae were confirmed at the transcriptional and translational level. Further investigation revealed that locust GNBP3 was susceptible to proteolysis while GNBP1, induced by M. anisopliae infection, resisted proteolysis. Silencing of gnbp3 by RNAi significantly shortened the life span of gregarious locusts but not solitary locusts. By contrast, gnbp1 silencing did not affect the life span of both gregarious and solitary locusts after M. anisopliae infection. Thus, the GNBP3-dependent immune responses were involved in the phenotypic resistance of gregarious locusts to fungal infection, but were redundant in solitary locusts. Our results indicated that gregarious locusts prophylactically activated upstream modulators of immune cascades rather than downstream effectors, preferring to quarantine rather than eliminate pathogens to conserve energy meanwhile increasing the “distance” of infectious and target individuals. Our study has obvious implications for bio-pesticides management of crowded pests, and for understanding disease epidemics and adaptiveness of pathogens.
Bayesian Isotonic Regression and Trend Analysis

Summary. In many applications, the mean of a response variable can be assumed to be a nondecreasing function of a continuous predictor, controlling for covariates. In such cases, interest often focuses on estimating the regression function, while also assessing evidence of an association. This article proposes a new framework for Bayesian isotonic regression and order‐restricted inference. Approximating the regression function with a high‐dimensional piecewise linear model, the nondecreasing constraint is incorporated through a prior distribution for the slopes consisting of a product mixture of point masses (accounting for flat regions) and truncated normal densities. To borrow information across the intervals and smooth the curve, the prior is formulated as a latent autoregressive normal process. This structure facilitates efficient posterior computation, since the full conditional distributions of the parameters have simple conjugate forms. Point and interval estimates of the regression function and posterior probabilities of an association for different regions of the predictor can be estimated from a single MCMC run. Generalizations to categorical outcomes and multiple predictors are described, and the approach is applied to an epidemiology application.
A Profile of Latina Leadership in the United States: Characteristics, Positive Influences, and Barriers

Latinas face obstacles achieving proportionate representation in significant leadership roles. This research aimed to identify characteristics unique to Latina leaders that represented shared values and beliefs of Latinas, and to understand positive factors and obstacles associated with Latina leadership in the United States. Survey responses from three hundred thirty-five Latinas and four interviewees from across the U.S. suggested that there are forty-three characteristics an effective Latina leader should possess. Four essential characteristics identified were: creative, good listener, optimistic/positive, and passionate. The forty-three characteristics were categorized into five groups of similar characteristics to synthesize what study participants believed were essential characteristics of Latina leaders. The categories were: high integrity, marianismo, new Latina, transformational leader, and visionary. Pursuing the attributes of these five leadership categories will help Latinas who aspire to become leaders understand what it takes to be a successful Latina leader, identify their strengths and weaknesses, and enable them to create a plan of success for themselves. Furthermore, study participants noted factors of positive influence on Latinas. Six crucial positive influencers identified were: successful educational attainment, participating in leadership training, possessing self-confidence, having role models, religious influence, and family influence. Study participants also noted factors which can be obstacles for Latinas. Four critical obstacles identified were: lack of mentors, lack of opportunities, cultural obligations, and family obligations. Literature about Latinas and Latina leadership is limited. There is an urgent need for research about the topic(s). This study was one step towards understanding the dynamics of Latina leadership in the U.S. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Education (EdD) Department Executive Leadership First Supervisor Jerry Willis Second Supervisor Hasna Muhammad Subject Categories Education This dissertation is available at Fisher Digital Publications: http://fisherpub.sjfc. edu/education_etd/38 A Profile of Latina Leadership in the United States: Characteristics, Positive Influences, and Barriers.
Synchronization of time-varying networks under fast switching

To understand the role of time-varying network topologies for stability of coupled systems, we examine sometimes-coupled oscillators where the network topology that describes oscillator coupling is time-varying. We show that if the network of oscillators synchronizes for the static time-average of the topology, then the network will synchronize with the time-varying topology if the time-average is achieved sufficiently fast. Although this sufficient condition appears to be very conservative, it provides new insights about the requirements for synchronization when the network topology is time-varying. In particular, it can be shown that networks of oscillators can synchronize even if at every point in time the frozen-time network topology is insufficiently connected to achieve synchronization
Sustained Receptor Activation and Hyperproliferation in Response to Granulocyte Colony-stimulating Factor (G-CSF) in Mice with a Severe Congenital Neutropenia/Acute Myeloid Leukemia–derived Mutation in the G-CSF Receptor Gene

In approximately 20% of cases of severe congenital neutropenia (SCN), mutations are found in the gene encoding the granulocyte colony-stimulating factor receptor (G-CSF–R). These mutations introduce premature stop codons, which result in truncation of 82–98 COOH-terminal amino acids of the receptor. SCN patients who develop secondary myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia almost invariably acquired a GCSFR mutation, suggesting that this genetic alteration represents a key step in leukemogenesis. Here we show that an equivalent mutation targeted in mice (gcsfr-Δ715) results in the selective expansion of the G-CSF– responsive progenitor (G-CFC) compartment in the bone marrow. In addition, in vivo treatment of gcsfr-Δ715 mice with G-CSF results in increased production of neutrophils leading to a sustained neutrophilia. This hyperproliferative response to G-CSF is accompanied by prolonged activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) complexes and extended cell surface expression of mutant receptors due to defective internalization. In view of the continuous G-CSF treatment of SCN patients, these data provide insight into why progenitor cells expressing truncated receptors clonally expand in vivo, and why these cells may be targets for additional genetic events leading to leukemia.
3D-Assisted Image Feature Synthesis for Novel Views of an Object

Comparing two images in a view-invariant way has been a challenging problem in computer vision for a long time, as visual features are not stable under large view point changes. In this paper, given a single input image of an object, we synthesize new features for other views of the same object. To accomplish this, we introduce an aligned set of 3D models in the same class as the input object image. Each 3D model is represented by a set of views, and we study the correlation of image patches between different views, seeking what we call surrogates --- patches in one view whose feature content predicts well the features of a patch in another view. In particular, for each patch in the novel desired view, we seek surrogates from the observed view of the given image. For a given surrogate, we predict that surrogate using linear combination of the corresponding patches of the 3D model views, learn the coefficients, and then transfer these coefficients on a per patch basis to synthesize the features of the patch in the novel view. In this way we can create feature sets for all views of the latent object, providing us a multi-view representation of the object. View-invariant object comparisons are achieved simply by computing the $L^2$ distances between the features of corresponding views. We provide theoretical and empirical analysis of the feature synthesis process, and evaluate the proposed view-agnostic distance (VAD) in fine-grained image retrieval (100 object classes) and classification tasks. Experimental results show that our synthesized features do enable view-independent comparison between images and perform significantly better than traditional image features in this respect.