Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Contagion models with interacting default intensity processes

Credit risk is quantified by the loss distribution due to unexpected changes in the credit quality of the counterparty in a financial contract. Default correlation risk refers to the risk that a bundle of risky obligors may default together. To understand the clustering phenomena in correlated defaults, we consider credit contagion models which describe the propagation of financial distress from one risky obligor to another. We present the contagion model of portfolio credit risk of multiple obligors with interacting default intensity processes where the default of one firm may trigger the increase of default intensity of other related firms. As an application, we consider how correlated default risks between the protection seller and the underlying entity may affect the credit default premium in a credit default swap.
String multiplets from an invariant 2-brane

We study a three-dimensional gauge theory obtained from the dimensional reduction of a D4-brane worldvolume theory in the background of space-time moduli. An SL(3) symmetry in this theory, which acts on fields as well as coupling constants, is identified. By comparing the energies with the string tensions, we show that certain 1/2 supersymmetric classical solutions of this theory can be identified as SL(3,Z) multiplets of type II strings in eight dimensions. Results are then generalized to the non-linear Born-Infeld action. We also discuss the possibility of 1/8 BPS states in this theory and their representations in terms of string networks.
Source of infection in candida endophthalmitis in drug addicts.

Des cas d'endophtalmie due a Candida groupes autour de Glasgow ont ete etudies. Une enquete a montre que la source de l'infection peut etre une preparation de jus de citron utilisee comme diluant par les heroinomales. Les germes peuvent se developper apres que le conservateur (dioxyde de soufre ait ete evapore
The Effects of Three Levels of Contextual Interference on Performance Outcomes and Movement Patterns in Golf Skills

The motor learning literature is replete with studies investigating the contextual interference (CI) effect. However, CI research has focused on performance outcome measures, largely ignoring the influence varying levels of CI may have on performance production measures, particularly with tasks involving inter-limb coordination. It was the purpose of this study to explore the effects of three levels of CI on both categories of performance measures in adults who were naïve to a sport skill Participants were taught the basic movement pattern of two golf strokes the putt and pitch. Following an instructional period, subsequent practice involved 160 trials performed under low, moderate, or high CI. No significant group differences emerged from practice data. Analysis of post-test data indicated that the high CI group was generally superior on both production measures. These results add to a limited body of research that suggests CI can benefit the development of coordinated movements.
Introduction to The International Bystander Project

Recent research into bullying in schools has focused upon the social context in which bullying commonly takes place and the roles taken by student bystanders observing the bullying. This article describes a methodology that has been developed, employing a video presentation and a related questionnaire, and applied in a number of countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, England, Israel, Italy and South Africa. This approach was utilized to examine reported bystander behaviour of schoolchildren witnessing bullying at school and to identify factors that may account for positive and negative responses of bystanders in both upper primary and lower secondary levels of schooling.
Suicidal behaviour and aggression in psychiatric inpatients.

OBJECTIVE Theoretically, suicidal behaviour and aggression are usually said to be correlated. Such relationship is, however, not reliably supported by clinical and experimental evidence. It has been more frequently found when suicidal psychiatric patients are compared with healthy non-suicidal controls rather than when the comparison is done within the group of the psychiatric patients. Therefore we decided to investigate whether such relationship exists in a group with a high risk of suicidal behaviour--psychiatric male inpatients. MATERIAL AND METHODS 113 male inpatients, mostly with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders and mood disorders were studied in the first five days after their admission. Using a structured clinical interview and formal rating scales data were collected about the number of suicide attempts and aggressive acts committed throughout their lives, current suicide ideation and suicide planning behaviour, alcohol use, depression and outwardly directed aggression. Correlation analysis and chi-square test were used to analyze the data. RESULTS There is no significant relation between current aggressivity and current suicide risk, as well as between the lifetime aggression and the lifetime suicide behaviour. The current suicide ideation and suicide planning behaviour are related to previous suicidal behaviour and to the current depression level. The lifetime aggression is related to the alcohol use. CONCLUSIONS The results of our study do not define aggression as a suicide risk factor within the group of psychiatric inpatients. This findings could benefit the evaluation of the suicidal risk in psychiatric clinic.
CEREBROSPINAL FLUID CYTOLOGY IN CANCER PATIENTS: AN INSTITUTIONAL STUDY WITH 5394 CASES -

Objectives: Cytological examination of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a routine procedure in the management of patients with malignancies that frequently spread via leptomeninges. Interpretation, understanding and cytological characteristics of these lesions are required. Detection of malignant cells in cerebrospinal fluid in cytology is the diagnostic gold standard for leptomeningeal carcinomatosis (LC). Material and Method: Retrospective analysis of 5394 cases of CSF was done over 5 year’s duration at cancer hospital. Smears were stained with papanicolaou stain and examined. Data were analyzed with clinical detailed. Results: Patient`s age ranged from 1 to 70 years. Out of 5394, 273 cases were positive for malignant cells, and 4 cases had infectious etiology. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia was the commonest malignancy infiltrating CSF in both, followed by retinoblastoma, nonhodgkins lymphoma in pediatric and nonhodgkins lymphoma and metastatic carcinoma in adults. Other rare tumor infiltrating CSF found in our study were myeloid leukemia, medulloblastoma, peripheral neuroectodermal tumor, and space occupying lesion of brain, where primary could not found. Of four infectious cases, one case of Cryptococcus meningitis was found. Conclusion: Correct identification of LC is important as it as therapeutic and prognostic implications. Thus, cytological examinations of the CSF played a decisive role in the diagnosis of LC.
Comparison of intelligent code acquisition for sectorized multi-antenna CDMA in downlink mode

This paper presents two different code acquisition schemes for sectorized multi-antenna CDMA systems in downlink mode. The so-called "separated code optimization" (SCO) decomposes a two dimensional spreading code into its time and space component and treats each part separately. The SCO maximizes the signal to interference and noise ratio at each receiver. In contrast, the "joint code optimization" (JCO) does not distinguish between time and space component and acquires the code simultaneously. Both methods are evaluated by Monte Carlo simulations and their performance are compared.
Homicide in Israel

This study investigated the relationship between the subjective perception of stress and support (as independent variables) and the prevalence of homicide. The theoretical framework is provided by a model that postulates homicide as positively related to stress factors and negatively related to support systems. The 11 stress indicators and three support (solidarity) indicators were derived from surveys of Israel's urban population. Monthly data for the period September 1979 to December 1993 were analyzed. The model received partial support regarding stress indicators and substantial support regarding solidarity indicators. A comparison between this study and a previous one (from June 1967 to August 1979) reveals that economic stress has the most permanent and consistent effect over time on homicide. The effect of social solidarity on homicide is stable over time but changes in intensity. The effects of political and security-related stress on homicide were found to be inconsistent over time.
Mitochondrial fusion and fission proteins: novel therapeutic targets for combating cardiovascular disease

Mitochondria are no longer considered to be solely the static powerhouses of the cell. While they are undoubtedly essential to sustaining life and meeting the energy requirements of the cell through oxidative phosphorylation, they are now regarded as highly dynamic organelles with multiple functions, playing key roles in cell survival and death. In this review, we discuss the emerging role of mitochondrial fusion and fission proteins, as novel therapeutic targets for treating a wide range of cardiovascular diseases.
Prognostic significance of Epstein–Barr virus DNA detection in pretreatment serum in diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma

It is still a matter of debate whether detection of Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) DNA in pretreatment serum has clinical implications for diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma. For this study, we measured EBV DNA load in pretreatment serum from 127 diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma patients without any underlying immunodeficiency to evaluate its effects on clinical manifestations and prognosis. Anthracycline‐based chemotherapy in combination with rituximab was given as initial therapy for 119 patients (94%). Epstein–Barr virus DNA was detected in 15 patients (12%), who were older (P = 0.005) and tended to be at a more advanced disease stage (P = 0.053). They showed significantly worse progression‐free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) than other patients (P < 0.001 each). This effect remained significant (P = 0.004 and P = 0.027, respectively) after adjustment for age, lactate dehydrogenase, performance status, stage, and extranodal sites. The status of EBV‐encoded small RNA in situ hybridization was known for 123 patients; 6 of 8 positive patients (75%) and 9 of 115 negative patients (8%) had detectable EBV DNA in pretreatment serum. While patients positive for EBV‐encoded small RNA had significantly worse PFS and OS than negative patients (P = 0.001 and P = 0.029, respectively), EBV DNA detection in pretreatment serum was associated with poorer PFS and OS even for the 115 patients negative for EBV‐encoded small RNA (P < 0.001 each). These findings suggest that EBV DNA detection in pretreatment serum may have an adverse prognostic impact for patients with diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma.
Increased AKT S473 phosphorylation after mTORC1 inhibition is rictor dependent and does not predict tumor cell response to PI3K/mTOR inhibition

Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) regulates cellular processes important for progression of human cancer. RAD001 (everolimus), an mTORC1 (mTOR/raptor) inhibitor, has broad antitumor activity in preclinical models and cancer patients. Although most tumor lines are RAD001 sensitive, some are not. Selective mTORC1 inhibition can elicit increased AKT S473 phosphorylation, involving insulin receptor substrate 1, which is suggested to potentially attenuate effects on tumor cell proliferation and viability. Rictor may also play a role because rictor kinase complexes (including mTOR/rictor) regulate AKT S473 phosphorylation. The role of raptor and rictor in the in vitro response of human cancer cells to RAD001 was investigated. Using a large panel of cell lines representing different tumor histotypes, the basal phosphorylation of AKT S473 and some AKT substrates was found to correlate with the antiproliferative response to RAD001. In contrast, increased AKT S473 phosphorylation induced by RAD001 did not correlate. Similar increases in AKT phosphorylation occurred following raptor depletion using siRNA. Strikingly, rictor down-regulation attenuated AKT S473 phosphorylation induced by mTORC1 inhibition. Further analyses showed no relationship between modulation of AKT phosphorylation on S473 and T308 and AKT substrate phosphorylation patterns. Using a dual pan-class I phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/mTOR catalytic inhibitor (NVP-BEZ235), currently in phase I trials, concomitant targeting of these kinases inhibited AKT S473 phosphorylation, eliciting more profound cellular responses than mTORC1 inhibition alone. However, reduced cell viability could not be predicted from biochemical or cellular responses to mTORC1 inhibitors. These data could have implications for the clinical application of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/mTOR inhibitors. [Mol Cancer Ther 2009;8(4):742–53]
Robust Multichannel Gender Classification from Speech in Movie Audio

Speech in the form of scripted dialogues forms an important part of the audio signal in movies. However, it is often masked by background audio signals such as music, ambient noise or background chatter. These background sounds make even otherwise simple tasks, such as gender classification, challenging. Additionally, the variability in this noise across movies renders standard approaches to source separation or enhancement inadequate. Instead, we exploit multichannel information present in different language channels (English, Spanish, French) for each movie to improve the robustness of our gender classification system. We exploit the fact that the speaker labels of interest in this case co-occur in each language channel. We fuse the predictions obtained for each channel using Recognition Output Voting Error Reduction (ROVER) and show that this approach improves the gender accuracy by 7% absolute (11% relative) compared to the best independent prediction on any single channel. In the case of surround movies, we further investigate fusion of mono audio and front center channels which shows 5% and 3% absolute (8% and 4% relative) increase in accuracy compared to only using mono and front center channel, respectively.
Spatio-temporal Brain Dynamics of Understanding Social Versus Private Intentions: An Electrical Neuroimaging Study

Although a growing body of research provides critical information about the spatio-temporal dynamic of the brain network mediating the understanding of causality between an action and its outcome at the individual level, little remains known about this cognitive process when the action outcome has a social connotation. To address this question, we recorded electrical brain activity from 16 healthy adults while they performed an intention understanding task including actions with three different types of causality; 1) private intentions by two agents acting independently from one another; 2) communicative intentions by two agents acting in an interactive way with one another; 3) physical causality among objects. Electrophysiological results showed differential electrical activity for private compared to communicative intentions within 400 ms post-stimulus. Brain source localization of the difference waves between communicative and private actions showed a generator located in the vicinity of middle cingulate cortex, which reinforces the role of this brain area in predicting social intentions. NeuroQuantology | December 2012 | Volume 10 | Issue 4 | Page 733-743
Quantum information, cognition, and music

Parallelism represents an essential aspect of human mind/brain activities. One can recognize some common features between psychological parallelism and the characteristic parallel structures that arise in quantum theory and in quantum computation. The article is devoted to a discussion of the following questions: a comparison between classical probabilistic Turing machines and quantum Turing machines. possible applications of the quantum computational semantics to cognitive problems. parallelism in music.
Research into the social stratification of Polish in Cracow: methods and results

1. Research into the social stratification of a language is one of the significant trends in sociolinguistics. The research is approached in various ways. A linguist can be interested, for instance, in language variation within a speech community. The notion of 'speech community' is not very precise. Labov (1966), for example, called all of the New York population a 'speech community'. It is obvious, however, that most members of such a big community have never been able to talk directly with one another. Thus, social classes can be distinguished within a speech community. Although the range of the notion 'social class' is smaller than that of 'speech community', it still remains too abstract and too large. Reducing the level of its abstraction allows us to distinguish still smaller groups of people inhabiting the same areas and keeping in direct touch with one another. In sociolinguistic papers, these groups are sometimes referred to as 'social networks' (see Milroy 1980). Thus, research into the social stratification of the language of a given speech community provides an approximate, general picture of linguistic variation. More specific and intricate relations between linguistic variation and social (but not only social) factors can be revealed while investigating social networks. Historically speaking, sociolinguists at first focused on analyzing the linguistic stratification of large speech communities (Labov 1966; Trudgill 1974; and others). Apart from that, however, a new research trend has appeared. This research is concerned with analyses of language spoken in small communities. The study of Labov et al. (1968) is a good example in point. Recently more studies of the latter kind have been undertaken (see for example Milroy 1980; Cheshire 1982).
IL-21 Enhances and Sustains CD8+ T Cell Responses to Achieve Durable Tumor Immunity: Comparative Evaluation of IL-2, IL-15, and IL-211

Cytokines that use the common receptor γ-chain for regulating CD8+ T cell responses to Ag include IL-2, IL-15, and the recently identified IL-21. The ability of these cytokines to regulate antitumor activity in mice has generated considerable interest in understanding their mode of action. In this study we compare the abilities of IL-2, IL-15, and IL-21 to stimulate immunity against tumors in a syngeneic thymoma model. Durable cures were only achieved in IL-21-treated mice. By monitoring both endogenous and adoptively transferred tumor Ag-specific CD8+ T cells, it was determined that IL-21 activities overlap with those of IL-2 and IL-15. Similar to IL-2, IL-21 enhanced Ag activation and clonal expansion. However, unlike IL-2 treatment, which induces activation-induced cell death, IL-21 sustained CD8+ T cell numbers long term as a result of increased survival, an effect often attributed to IL-15. These findings indicate that the mechanisms used by IL-21 to promote CD8+ T cell responses offer unique opportunities for its use in malignant diseases and infections.
Audit Education for Future Professionals: Perceptions of New Zealand Auditors

Audit professionals are charged with gathering evidence and expressing their opinions on the financial claims made by others. In New Zealand, as elsewhere, these opinions are relied upon for a myriad of decisions as to the economic position and operations of an organisation. The educational experience that future professionals receive in their tertiary study is important because it lays the pedagogical foundation for this role. The aim of this study is to evaluate those teaching practices, subjects and techniques that might be of value to future audit professionals. The analysis is uniquely from the perspective of the professional members who are most likely to benefit from students' experiences. The literature is used to identify relevant questions, and a survey of 360 professional auditors in New Zealand yielded a 36.4% response rate. A triangulated analysis of comments and scaled questions reveals that these professionals are concerned with communication, small business engagements and the relationships between, for example, risk and planning and independence and ethics. Findings also confirm the value of experiential and practice-informed learning and direct us to a few topics that may accommodate non-traditional teaching methods. Conclusions consider implications for teaching and future research.
Simultaneous Determination of Multi-Mycotoxins in Cereal Grains Collected from South Korea by LC/MS/MS

An improved analytical method compared with conventional ones was developed for simultaneous determination of 13 mycotoxins (deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, 3-acetylnivalenol, aflatoxin B1, aflatoxin B2, aflatoxin G1, aflatoxin G2, fumonisin B1, fumonisin B2, T-2, HT-2, zearalenone, and ochratoxin A) in cereal grains by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) after a single immunoaffinity column clean-up. The method showed a good linearity, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy in mycotoxin determination by LC/MS/MS. The levels of 13 mycotoxins in 5 types of commercial grains (brown rice, maize, millet, sorghum, and mixed cereal) from South Korea were determined in a total of 507 cereal grains. Mycotoxins produced from Fusarium sp. (fumonisins, deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, and zearalenone) were more frequently (more than 5%) and concurrently detected in all cereal grains along with higher mean levels (4.3–161.0 ng/g) in positive samples than other toxins such as aflatoxins and ochratoxin A (less than 9% and below 5.2 ng/g in positive samples) from other fungal species.
An analysis of the variations in position of the greater palatine foramen in the adult human skull

Three hundred dry, adult human skulls, of East Indian ethnic background, and homogenous in arch form and full eruption of third molars, were examined to measure the location of the greater palatine foramen. The greater palatine foramen was found consistently to lie 1.5 cm from the palatal midline and 0.19 cm from the posterior border of the hard palate. This relationship is suggested as a more accurate method of locating the foramen clinically. The usually accepted description (opposite the second molar) of the relative position of the greater palatine foramen to the upper teeth held in only 9.7% of the skulls studied. This study shows the most common position of the foramen to be opposite or distal to the third molar (57%). The direction of opening of the foramen into the oral cavity was observed to be in an inferior or vertical direction in 247 (82%) of the 300 skulls; in 53 (18%) of the skulls the direction was anterior or horizontal. A bony projection, similar to the mandibular lingula, was observed extending from the posterior margin of the foramen in 95 (16%) of the 600 separate foramina examined. The bilateral symmetry between the sides of the skulls studied was remarkable.
Pre-service teacher development : a model to develop critical media literacy through computer game play

Abstract The primary objective of this study was to investigate the use of game-mediate learning with pre-service teachers, with the view to evaluating the use of a socially mediated knowledge construction to develop appropriate classroom pedagogical practices. Two instrumental case studies are presented in order to explore how pre-service teachers understand the use of computer games in teaching and learning. These cases are part of a collective case study to advance the theory of the use of video games in learning and teaching. Different groups of pre-service teachers participated in the study. The first group included third-year undergraduate education students who played a computer game on the biology of diseases. The second group of participants, postgraduate students reading for their teaching qualification, played computer games designed to address misconceptions related to genetics. The introduction of game puzzles into a learning activity acted as an explicit mediator of learning, and discussions.