Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does the Tail Wag the Dog? the Effect of Credit Default Swaps on Credit Risk * Does the Tail Wag the Dog? the Effect of Credit Default Swaps on Credit Risk

Credit default swaps (CDS) are derivative contracts that are widely used as tools for credit risk management. However, in recent years, concerns have been raised about whether CDS trading itself affects the credit risk of the reference entities. We use a unique, comprehensive sample covering CDS trading of 901 North American corporate issuers, between June 1997 and April 2009, to address this question. We find that the probability of both a credit rating downgrade and bankruptcy increase, with large economic magnitudes, after the inception of CDS trading. This finding is robust to controlling for the endogeneity of CDS trading. Beyond the CDS introduction effect, we show that firms with relatively larger amounts of CDS contracts outstanding, and those with relatively more " no restructuring " contracts than other types of CDS contracts covering restructuring, are more adversely affected by CDS trading. Moreover, the number of creditors increases after CDS trading begins, exacerbating creditor coordination failure for the resolution of financial distress.
It's LiFe! Mobile and Web-Based Monitoring and Feedback Tool Embedded in Primary Care Increases Physical Activity: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Background Physical inactivity is a major public health problem. The It’s LiFe! monitoring and feedback tool embedded in the Self-Management Support Program (SSP) is an attempt to stimulate physical activity in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or type 2 diabetes treated in primary care. Objective Our aim was to evaluate whether the SSP combined with the use of the monitoring and feedback tool leads to more physical activity compared to usual care and to evaluate the additional effect of using this tool on top of the SSP. Methods This was a three-armed cluster randomised controlled trial. Twenty four family practices were randomly assigned to one of three groups in which participants received the tool + SSP (group 1), the SSP (group 2), or care as usual (group 3). The primary outcome measure was minutes of physical activity per day. The secondary outcomes were general and exercise self-efficacy and quality of life. Outcomes were measured at baseline after the intervention (4-6 months), and 3 months thereafter. Results The group that received the entire intervention (tool + SSP) showed more physical activity directly after the intervention than Group 3 (mean difference 11.73, 95% CI 6.21-17.25; P<.001), and Group 2 (mean difference 7.86, 95% CI 2.18-13.54; P=.003). Three months after the intervention, this effect was still present and significant (compared to Group 3: mean difference 10.59, 95% CI 4.94-16.25; P<.001; compared to Group 2: mean difference 9.41, 95% CI 3.70-15.11; P<.001). There was no significant difference in effect between Groups 2 and 3 on both time points. There was no interaction effect for disease type. Conclusions The combination of counseling with the tool proved an effective way to stimulate physical activity. Counseling without the tool was not effective. Future research about the cost-effectiveness and application under more tailored conditions and in other target groups is recommended. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01867970, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01867970 (archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6a2qR5BSr).
Changes in VO2 Kinetics After Elevated Baseline Do Not Necessarily Reflect Alterations in Muscle Force Production in Both Sexes

A link between muscle fatigue, decreased efficiency and the slow component of oxygen uptake (VO2sc) has been suggested. However, a cause-effect relationship remains to be elucidated. Although alterations in VO2 kinetics after elevated baseline work rate have previously been reported, to date no study has observed the effect on muscle force production (MFP) behavior considering physiological differences between male and female subjects. This study investigated the effect of elevated baseline work rate on the VO2 kinetics and MFP in 10 male and 10 female healthy subjects. Subjects performed 4 transitions of very-heavy (VH) intensity cycling in a randomized order after unloaded (U-VH) or moderate (M-VH) exercise. Maximal isokinetic efforts (MIE) were performed before and after each condition at two different cadences (60 or 120 rpm). Whereas baseline VO2 and time constant (τ) were significantly higher in M-VH compared to U-VH, the fundamental amplitude and the VO2 slow component (VO2sc) were significantly lower in M-VH (p < 0.05) in both sexes. Blood lactate concentration ([La]) and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) were not influenced by condition or sex (p > 0.05). The MFP post-exercise was not significantly influenced by condition in both sexes and cadences (Δtorque for males: at 60 rpm in U-VH = 13 ± 10 Nm, in M-VH = 13 ± 9 Nm; at 120 rpm in U-VH = 22 ± 14 Nm, in M-VH = 21 ± 12 Nm; for females: at 120 rpm in U-VH = 10 ± 9 Nm, in M-VH = 12 ± 8 Nm; p > 0.05), with the exception that female subjects presented smaller decreases in M-UH at 60 rpm compared to U-VH (11 ± 13 vs. 18 ± 14 Nm, respectively, p < 0.05). There was no correlation between the decrease in torque production and VO2 kinetics parameters (p > 0.05). The alterations in VO2 kinetics which have been suggested to be linked to changes in motor unit recruitment after elevated baseline work rate did not reflect alterations in MFP and fatigue in both sexes.
Real Analysis and Probability

1. Foundations: set theory 2. General topology 3. Measures 4. Integration 5. Lp spaces: introduction to functional analysis 6. Convex sets and duality of normed spaces 7. Measure, topology, and differentiation 8. Introduction to probability theory 9. Convergence of laws and central limit theorems 10. Conditional expectations and martingales 11. Convergence of laws on separable metric spaces 12. Stochastic processes 13. Measurability: Borel isomorphism and analytic sets Appendixes: A. Axiomatic set theory B. Complex numbers, vector spaces, and Taylor's theorem with remainder C. The problem of measure D. Rearranging sums of nonnegative terms E. Pathologies of compact nonmetric spaces Indices.
Management Plan for Antarctic Specially Protected Area No 172 Lower Taylor Glacier and Blood Falls

Blood Falls is an iron-rich saline discharge located at the terminus of the Taylor Glacier, Taylor Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys. The source of the discharge is believed to be a subglacial marine salt deposit and brine reservoir located beneath the ablation zone of the Taylor Glacier, estimated to be located between one to six kilometres above Blood Falls. Approximate area and coordinates: sub-surface area 436km (centered at 161°40.230'E, 77°50.220'S); sub-aerial area 0.11km (centered at the Blood Falls discharge at 162°15.809'E, 77°43.365'). The primary reasons for designation of the Area are its unique physical properties, and the unusual microbial ecology and geochemistry. The Area is an important site for exobiological studies and provides a unique opportunity to sample the subglacial environment without direct contact. The influence of Blood Falls on adjacent Lake Bonney is also of significant scientific interest. Furthermore, the ablation zone of the Taylor Glacier is an important site for paleoclimatic and glaciological research. The lower Taylor Glacier subglacial brine reservoir and Blood Falls are globally unique and a site of outstanding scientific importance. Based on the Environmental Domains Analysis for Antarctica (Resolution 3 (2008)) the Area lies within Environment S – McMurdo – South Victoria Land geologic. Designation of the Area allows for scientific access to ice deep within Taylor Glacier, provided measures are in place to ensure this does not compromise the Blood Falls reservoir and hydrological system.
Multipoint-to-point Lightpaths in All-optical Networks: Dimensioning and Cost Analysis

One of the major concerns in optical networks is the bandwidth underutilization problem. In fact, as WDM technology keeps maturing, there is a bandwidth gap between the transmission speed of a wavelength channel (over a Gb/s) and the capacity requirement of customers' connections. In this regard, building cost-efficient optical networks requires an efficient traffic grooming solution at the high speed optical access nodes. In this paper, we propose and evaluate a new concept of traffic aggregation in wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) optical networks. Our objective is to reduce the network cost while preserving the benefits of all-optical wavelength-routed networks. In order to assess the efficiency of our proposal, all underlying network costs are compared. These costs include that of the transceivers required at node level as well as the number of wavelengths. Our results show that the proposed aggregation technique can significantly improve the network throughput while reducing its cost.
Using Negotiation Sites for Richer Collection of Network Data

Global environmental governance (GEG) is widely recognized as particularly networked. And negotiation sites are sites not only of formal decision-making processes but also of intense networking by various actors. Use of formal social network analysis to analyze both networked governance and governance networks in global environmental politics has to date mostly rested on relatively easy-to-get data, such as membership in formal organizations or treaties. These analyses give useful broad-brush analyses to help think about the social structure of environmental governance, but relatively limited inferences can be drawn about key processes that network analysis can help understand, such as learning, diffusion, and other forms of institutional interaction. This article proposes how to advance the value of the method in the field by focusing on the personal networks of actors who make up the decision-making processes in GEG. Negotiation sites could thus become important sites for collection of data about these networks, through direct observation of interactions, intensive short interviews, and surveys, in particular.
Chapter 1

In Mediterranean countries, grapevine leaves are an important source of forage for ruminants during the critical period when quality and quantity of pasture herbage is limited. They are also used in human nutrition for the preparation of various typical dishes. The aim of this study was to compare the chemical composition and nutritive value of the leaves of six grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) cultivars (Barbera, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Nebbiolo, Pinot Noir and Sirah). The same leaves have also been tested to determine the impact of in vitro simulated human gastrointestinal digestion on total phenolic content and radical scavenging activity before and after digestion. This study demonstrates that the nutritive value for ruminants and the content of bioactive compounds and related antioxidant capacity for humans depends on the grapevine cultivars. These leaves are rich in bioactive compounds and might provide a significant source of dietary bioaccessible polyphenols with high antioxidant capacity.
: Control, Optimisation and Calculus of Variations

In this note, we propose a general de(cid:12)nition of shape which is both compatible with the one proposed in phenomenology (gestaltism) and with a computer vision implementation. We reverse the usual order in Computer Vision. We do not de(cid:12)ne \shape recognition" as a task which requires a \model" pattern which is searched in all images of a certain kind. We give instead a \blind" de(cid:12)nition of shapes relying only on invariance and repetition arguments. Given a set of images I , we call shape of this set any spatial pattern which can be found at several locations of some image, or in several di(cid:11)erent images of I . (This means that the shapes of a set of images are de(cid:12)ned without any a priori assumption or knowledge. ) The de(cid:12)nition is powerful when it is invariant and we prove that the following invariance requirements can be matched in theory and in practice: local contrast invariance, robustness to blur, noise and sampling, a(cid:14)ne deformations. We display experiments with single images and image pairs. In each case, we display the detected shapes. Surprisingly enough, but in accordance with Gestalt theory, the repetition of shapes is so frequent in human environment, that many shapes can even be learned from single images.
Online Piracy and the "Longer Arm" of Enforcement

Controlling digital piracy has remained a top priority for manufacturers of information goods, as well as for many governments around the world. Among the many forms taken by digital piracy, we focus on an increasingly common one—namely, online piracy—that is facilitated by torrent sites and cyberlockers who bring together consumers of pirated content and its suppliers. Motivated by recent empirical literature that makes a clear distinction between antipiracy efforts that restrict supply of pirated goods (supply-side enforcement) and ones that penalize illegal consumption (demand-side enforcement), we develop a simple economic model and discover some fundamental differences between these two types in terms of their impacts on innovation and welfare. All in all, supply-side enforcement turns out to be the “longer arm”—it has a more desirable economic impact in the long run. Our results have clear implications for manufacturers, consumers, and policy makers. The online supplement is available at https://doi.
Visible light positioning based on architecture information: method and performance

In this paper a novel 2-D range free positioning method which uses visible light communications network architecture is presented. The algorithm performance for lattice and hexagonal LED lighting infrastructure deployment is obtained by computational simulation. The robustness of our method against changes on receiver's field of view and mismatch between the assumed vertical distance and real vertical position is simulated in a room of dimensions 5 × 5 × 2.5 m. A localization interest zone with receiver's height between 0.5 and 1.1 m measured from the floor is considered as variation on vertical distance. Moreover, FOV's ranging from 90° to 130° are used to measure the behaviour of the method when different built-in photo detectors are incorporated in the mobile device. Our algorithm overcomes three traditional localization methods, i.e., convex position estimation, centroid and received signal strength based trilateration when changes in the FOV occurs. In addition to this, it shows better accuracy than other range free algorithms when an assumed height difference mismatch of up to 30 cm exist. The method shows better coverage than range based methods being able to reduce border effects and perform localization with reliable accuracy using only one connected cell and a single photo detector.
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PHASES OF THE EL NIÑO–SOUTHERN OSCILLATION AND CHARACTER OF THE TORNADO SEASON IN THE SOUTH-CENTRAL UNITED STATES

Warm El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, indicated by large negative values of the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), are significantly correlated with decreases in the frequency of strong and violent tornadoes (Fujita scale F2 to F5) between February and July in two regions of the south-central United States from 1955 to 1994. Cold ENSO events, indicated by large positive values of SOI, are significantly correlated with higher incidences of F2 to F5 tornadoes during the warm convective seasons in the same regions: the Mid-South (MSO) and the Southern Low Plains (SLP). Rossby waves, influenced by ENSO, aid in determining the mesoscale thermodynamic seasonal climatology of the central states. These large-scale upper-level circulation patterns can affect the frequency of significant tornadoes during the primary convective season through changes to atmospheric buoyancy; specifically, cap strength may be attenuated during warm events and enhanced during cold events. Upper air flow patterns suggest a re.
Seedling recruitment and survival of two desert grasses in the monte of Argentina

In the Monte Austral Neuquino, Argentina, vegetation is arranged in patches. Understanding the mechanisms involved in their distribution is critical for preventing desertification. The working hypothesis was that vegetation patches reduce environmental stress on the plants. Plant patches were classified into four microenvironments: windward; below the dominant shrubs (subcanopy); vegetation at the patch periphery (canopy edge) and bare patch interspaces (open). We determined seedling survival of the dominant species in each microenvironment, using a marking method of seedlings established from sown seeds. In addition, we measured the environmental characteristics in the four microenvironments, and associated them with seedling survival. Study species were the perennial grasses Leymus erianthus (Phil.) Dubcovsky, Stipa neaei Nees ex Steudel and Poa ligularis Nees ex Steudel, and the shrubs Larrea divaricata Cav. and Atriplex lampa Gill ex Moquin. Results supported the hyphothesis only for L. erianthus and S. neaei (but not for the other three species that showed higher seedling survival in the subcanopy than in the patch interspaces after 1 year from sowing). This study determined that (1) reduced environmental stress does not guarantee seed germination and seedling survival of a given species in the plant community and (2) seedling establishment will not be possible for any species of the plant community in the patch interspaces under the study conditions in the region. This is mostly because soil temperatures can reach up to 50°C in the patch interspaces in years of scanty precipitation during late spring and summer. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Evaluating subtle stratigraphic traps: prospect to portfolio

Abstract A compilation of 85 stratigraphic traps demonstrates the variety of trapping mechanisms and the scope for developing new concepts by matching geological models with features in 3D seismic volumes. However, aspects of quantitative evaluation may discourage exploration. Investors require assurance in the form of probabilistic evaluations of risk and value but information critical to the evaluation of new stratigraphic concepts is likely to be lacking. As estimates of risk and uncertainty vary with information, prospects evaluated with radically different levels of information must be ranked with care. The requirements for quantitative project ranking and portfolio optimization have to be reconciled with the need to ‘venture into the unknown’. The character of stratigraphic prospects dictates different evaluation methods from those used to evaluate structural prospects. This, together with the high degree of sensitivity of value to evaluation methodology, can also lead to inconsistencies in ranking. Within the context of a company’s overall strategy and risk tolerance, organizational and cultural factors may influence prospect selection. In particular over-emphasis on quantitative methods may not have the intended effect. A common understanding, amongst technical and commercial disciplines and decision makers, of the background to quantification is essential. Factors which encourage the progression of stratigraphic prospects include a dedicated geoscience effort, a separate ‘growth’ portfolio of new concepts, a formal structure for progressing these and a stable organization.
Impact of animal sheds on vegetation configuration in Mediterranean landscapes

Animal sheds function as oiko spheres, namely focal points, in Mediterranean landscapes. This is because livestock tend to spend more time grazing near them rather than away from them. Consequently, vegetation is impacted differently around animal sheds resulting in the creation of distinct patches. This impact was investigated in a grazed landscape located in Lagadas county, northern Greece. The dominant vegetation type was kermes oak (Quercus coccifera L.) shrublands. Out of a total of 60 sheds found in an area of 150 km 2 , three representative sheds housing goats or sheep were selected. Two line transects 800 m long each were placed on each shed in opposite directions and plots of 30 x 30 m were identified at distances 0, 50, 100, 200 and 800 m away from the sheds. Within each plot, plant height and ground cover of the various plant functional types were measured. Plant height and cover of the woody species increased as the distance from the sheds increased (P < 0.0064 and P < 0.0193, respectively) while the cover of herbaceous species, both annual and perennial, decreased (P < 0.0320 and P < 0.0049, respectively). The results indicate that animal sheds are a means of opening up dense shrublands by favoring short vegetation (mainly herbaceous) and thus creating a heterogeneous landscape with a high variety of habitats very resistant to wildfires, a major threat to Mediterranean ecosystems.
The Translator's Agency and the Ideological Manipulation in Translation: the Case of Political Texts in Translation Classrooms in Iran

This study aimed to investigate how and to what extent Iranian translation students are familiar with the changes that the meanings of ethics and manipulation have undergone in translation studies. To this end, the researcher selected an editorial from the SpaceWar website regarding United States’ claims about Iran’s nuclear program and gave it as a translation assignment to thirty postgraduate Iranian students majoring in Translation studies at Sheikhbahaee University, Iran. Firstly, the students were asked to merely translate the text. In the second phase, the students were asked to translate the given text in order to be published in Keyhan newspaper. Two sets of translations were analyzed Using Van Dijk’s (2004) CDA Framework. Finally, frequencies and percentages of the discursive structures were computed across two sets of translations and used to systematically find out what proportions of the information extracted from translated texts were noticeably manipulated compared to the source text. The findings of the study showed that there is no any significant difference across two types of translations. Furthermore, it was revealed that lexicality is the most frequent discursive structure used by the students to show their ideology in translation.
A new catadioptric sensor for the panoramic vision of mobile robots

Classical video cameras have a limited field of view that makes them unsuitable for many applications. We present in this paper a new panoramic vision system developed for mobile platforms. This system allows a normal vision on the front, the 360/spl deg/ perception of the environment is completed by a mirror. The system has the advantage of allowing the use of classical methods usually applied to perspective projection images for all kind of tasks like navigation, autocalibration, reconstruction. Classical panoramic sensors based on mirrors produce highly distorted images, our sensor has been developed to avoid the use of special pre-processing steps. We will explain all along this paper the concept of this new sensor, its calibration methods and how to generate a 360/spl deg/ image.