Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bitcoin, Portfolio Diversification and Chinese Financial Markets

This research explores the effects of adding bitcoin to an optimal portfolio (naive, long-only, unconstrained and semi-constrained) by relying on mean-CVaR in the Chinese market. Then backtesting to compare the performance of portfolios with and without bitcoin for each scenario is perfomed. Results show significant but weak correlations between various asset classes and bitcoin, implying a more mature financial profile of bitcoin in China compared to that in the west. Backtesting results show that the effect of adding bitcoin to optimal portfolios is not consistent over the entire out-of-sample period. The naive and the long-only strategy improved the risk-reward ratio up until the late 2013 price-crash with no significant advantages thereafter. Shorting strategies on the other hand, with or without leverage, fail to produce more efficient portfolios when bitcoin is added, and this is consistent over the entire out-of-sample period. The results also show that semi-annual rebalancing amplifies the advantages of adding bitcoin to most portfolios except for the semi-constrained portfolio, although the weights analysis show significant shifts in weights which might not represent a feasible strategy in realistic scenarios.
Development of tone-burst responses along the auditory pathway in the cat.

Microelectrodes were used to record responses evoked in the cochlear nuclei, inferior colliculus, and medial geniculate body to pure tone auditory stimulation at various stages after birth in young cats. Cortical evoked responses were recorded with the aid of macroelectrodes. The time of the earliest recordable responses to physiological stimulation does not reveal as valuable information about the maturation of the central auditory centers as such criteria as response latency, fatigability, changes in threshold, frequency spectrum, and evidence of inhibition. Our physiological results show that maturation of the auditory pathway proceeds centripetally, in accordance with some histological data. According to preliminary data, the last stage of the auditory system to become functionally mature may be the hair cell nerve ending synapse because the cochlear microphonic can be elicited by sounds and the central auditory pathways electrically stimulated before the action potential responses can be recorded.
Immune response and virus population composition: HIV as a case study

Based on the current understanding of the immune response, we present what we believe to be a new model of intrahost virus dynamics. The model takes into account the relationship between virus replication rate and the level of antigen displayed by infected cells, and shows how the cell–directed immune response controls both virus load and virus replication rate. In contrast to conventional wisdom, it shows that the predominant virus variant does not necessarily have the highest replication rate. A strong immune response produces a selective advantage for latent viruses, whereas a deteriorating immune response invites in viruses of higher replication rates. The model is analysed in light of the well–studied HIV/AIDS disease progression, and shows how a wide range of major, seemingly unrelated issues in the study of HIV may be accounted for in a simple and unified manner.
The relationship between fit and job performance and job satisfaction among engineers at Telekom Malaysia

Occupational theory states that when a person is pursuing a career that is congruent to the organization's current needs and to the person's work interest and values, a good fit exists that enables the individual to have enhanced job performance and satisfaction. This research investigated the relationship of Person-Organization (P-0) fit and Person-Job (P-J) fit level to job performance and job satisfaction. The (P-0) fit was operationalized using . the big-five personality constructs and the recruitment procedure, whereas the (P-J) fit.was operationalized using career interests and work values that are congruent to job
Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials Show Altered Tuning in Patients with Ménière’s Disease

Objective: Acoustic stimulation of the saccule gives rise to a vestibulocollic reflex, the output of which can be measured in the neck as inhibition of activity in the ipsilateral sternocleidomastoid muscle. This vestibular evoked myogenic potential has been promoted as a means of assessing integrity of saccular function. In this study, we test the hypothesis that the cochleosaccular hydrops of Ménière’s syndrome leads to alterations in saccular motion that change the dynamics of the vestibular evoked myogenic potential. Study Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Large specialty hospital, department of otolaryngology. Subjects: Fourteen normal adult volunteers and 34 consecutive consenting adult patients with unilateral Ménière’s disease by American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery diagnostic criteria. Interventions: All subjects underwent vestibular evoked myogenic potential testing using ipsilateral broadband click and short tone-burst stimuli at 250, 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 4,000 Hz. Main Outcome Measures: Threshold, amplitude, and latency of vestibular evoked myogenic potential responses in normal and Ménière’s affected and unaffected ears. Results: Vestibular evoked myogenic potential was present in all ears tested. Normal subjects show a frequency-dependent vestibular evoked myogenic potential threshold, with best response (“frequency tuning”) at 500 Hz. Compared with normal subjects and unaffected ears of Ménière’s subjects, affected Ménière’s ears had significantly increased vestibular evoked myogenic potential thresholds. Affected Ménière’s ears showed threshold shifts at all frequencies and there was less tuning apparent at 500 Hz. Unaffected ears of Ménière’s subjects also showed significantly elevated vestibular evoked myogenic potential thresholds compared with normal subjects. Analyses of vestibular evoked myogenic potential thresholds for effects of age, hearing loss, and audiometric configuration showed no significant differences. Conclusions: Ménière’s ears display alterations in vestibular evoked myogenic potential threshold and tuning, supporting our hypothesis of altered saccular motion mechanics arising from hydropic distention. Unaffected ears of unilateral Ménière’s subjects show similar changes, though to a lesser degree. This finding may be because of occult saccular hydrops in the asymptomatic ear or binaural interactions in the vestibular evoked myogenic potential otolith–cervical reflex arc.
Exoenzyme S of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is secreted by a type III pathway

Exoenzyme S is an extracellular ADP‐ribosyltransferase of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Transposon mutagenesis of P. aeruginosa 388 was used to identify genes required for exoenzyme S production. Five Tn5 Tc insertion mutants were isolated which exhibited an exoenzyme S‐deficient phenotype (388::Tn5 Tc 469, 550, 3453, 4885, and 5590). Mapping experiments demonstrated that 388::Tn5 Tc 3453, 4885, and 5590 possessed insertions within a 5.0 kb EcoRI fragment that is not contiguous with the exoenzyme S trans‐regulatory operon. 388::Tn5 Tc 469 and 550 mapped to a region downstream of the trans‐regulatory operon which has been previously shown to contain a promoter region that is co‐ordinately regulated with exoenzyme S synthesis. Nucleotide sequence analysis of a 7.2 kb region flanking the 388::Tn5 Tc 469 and 550 insertions, identified 12 contiguous open reading frames (ORFs). Database searches indicated that the first ORF, ExsD, is unique. The other 11 ORFs demonstrated high homology to the YscB–L proteins of the yersiniaeYop type III export apparatus. RNase‐protection analysis of wild‐type and mutant strains indicated that exsD and pscB–L form an operon. To determine whether ExoS was exported by a type III mechanism, derivatives consisting of internal deletions or lacking amino‐ or carboxy‐terminal residues were expressed in P. aeruginosa. Deletion analyses indicated that the amino‐terminal nine residues are required for ExoS export. Combined data from mutagenesis, regulatory, expression, and sequence analyses provide strong evidence that P. aeruginosa possesses a type III secretion apparatus which is required for the export of exoenzyme S and potentially other co‐ordinately regulated proteins.
A Pilot Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of an Oral Dose of (−)-Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate–Rich Polyphenon E in Patients With Mild to Moderate Ulcerative Colitis

Background:Green tea and its main polyphenolic component, (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), exert powerful anti-inflammatory effects that are protective against both inflammatory diseases and cancer. Research with animal and human cell lines provide plausible support for these claims. Poor absorption results in low systemic bioavailability of EGCG after oral administration but high colonic mucosal exposure. Methods:Patients with mild to moderate ulcerative colitis (UC) were randomized to daily doses of oral Polyphenon E (400 mg or 800 mg of total EGCG daily, administered in split doses) or placebo in a double-blinded, placebo-controlled pilot study. Response was measured by the UC disease activity index and the inflammatory bowel disease questionnaire on day 56. Results:Twenty patients were randomized to active therapy or placebo in a 4:1 ratio. Nineteen subjects received >1 dose of study medication (15 Polyphenon E, 4 placebo). The mean UC disease activity index score at study entry was 6.5 ± 1.9 in the treatment group and 7.3 ± 1.7 in the placebo group. After 56 days of therapy, the response rate was 66.7% (10 of 15) in the Polyphenon E group and 0% (0 of 4) in the placebo group (P = 0.03). The active treatment remission rate was 53.3% (8 of 15) compared with 0% (0 of 4) for placebo (P = 0.10). Polyphenon E treatment resulted in only minor side effects. Conclusions:Administration of Polyphenon E resulted in a therapeutic benefit for patients who were refractory to 5-aminosalicylic and/or azathioprine. This agent holds promise as a novel option for the treatment of patients with UC with mild to moderately active disease.
Investigation of Host–Gut Microbiota Modulation of Therapeutic Outcome

A broader understanding of factors underlying interindividual variation in pharmacotherapy is important for our pursuit of “personalized medicine. ” Based on knowledge gleaned from the investigation of human genetics, drug-metabolizing enzymes, and transporters, clinicians and pharmacists are able to tailor pharmacotherapies according to the genotype of patients. However, human host factors only form part of the equation that accounts for heterogeneity in therapeutic outcome. Notably, the gut microbiota possesses wide-ranging metabolic activities that expand the metabolic functions of the human host beyond that encoded by the human genome. In this review, we first illustrate the mechanisms in which gut microbes modulate pharmacokinetics and therapeutic outcome. Second, we discuss the application of metabonomics in deciphering the complex host–gut microbiota interaction in pharmacotherapy. Third, we highlight an integrative approach with particular mention of the investigation of gut microbiota using culture-based and culture-independent techniques to complement the investigation of the host–gut microbiota axes in pharmaceutical research.
Exploring the Performance Limits of Out-of-order Commit

Out-of-order execution is essential for high performance, general-purpose computation, as it can find and execute useful work instead of stalling. However, it is limited by the requirement of visibly sequential, atomic instruction execution --- in other words in-order instruction commit. While in-order commit has its advantages, such as providing precise interrupts and avoiding complications with the memory consistency model, it requires the core to hold on to resources (reorder buffer entries, load/store queue entries, registers) until they are released in program order. In contrast, out-of-order commit releases resources much earlier, yielding improved performance with fewer traditional hardware resources. However, out-of-order commit is limited in terms of correctness by the conditions described in the work of Bell and Lipasti. In this paper we revisit out-of-order commit from a different perspective, not by proposing another hardware technique, but by examining these conditions one by one and in combination with respect to their potential performance benefit for both non-speculative and speculative out-of-order commit. While correctly handling recovery for all out-of-order commit conditions currently requires complex tracking and expensive checkpointing, this work aims to demonstrate the potential for selective, speculative out-of-order commit using an oracle implementation without speculative rollback costs. We learn that: a) there is significant untapped potential for aggressive variants of out-of-order commit; b) it is important to optimize the commit depth, or the search distance for out-of-order commit, for a balanced design: smaller cores can benefit from shorter depths while larger cores continue to benefit from aggressive parameters; c) the focus on a subset of out-of-order commit conditions could lead to efficient implementations; d) the benefits for out-of-order commit increase with higher memory latency and works well in conjunction with prefetching to continue to improve performance.
Financial Analysis of the Structure, Composition and Effective Use of Publicly Owned Real Estate

The research presents the structure and content for a system of indicators for financial analysis of publicly owned real estate. The aim is to clarify the logic, significance, numerical values and methods of use of the proposed indicators for financial analysis and evaluation of the effective use real estate. Potential approaches of examining their comparability and compatibility with other indicators, as well as opportunities for clustering of similar performance and time tracking analysis of objects are discussed. The methodology for deriving the indicators and their meanings enables the study of the effectiveness of the functioning of publicly owned real estate. The proposed system of indicators will improve the effective decision making in the management of publicly owned real estate. Developed by the author, a system of indicators of financial analysis of municipal property was piloted in 6 municipalities in South-Eastern Europe the Municipality of Tirana, Municipality of Bucharest, Sofia Municipality, Municipality of Athens, City of Zagreb, and Municipality of Cajetina
Recurrent high-grade glioma: a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge

The management of recurrent high-grade gliomas with conventional, as well as targeted, therapies is problematic owing to several confounding issues. First, the diagnosis of recurrence using MRI is not straightforward, making the assessment of images in daily routines, as well as in clinical trials, challenging. While chemotherapies with cytotoxic agents have demonstrated initial treatment response, most tumors recur quickly. Second, targeted therapy itself is confounded by the heterogeneous expression of drug targets and nonlinear signaling effects, with functional redundancy and sidestream feedback mechanisms resulting in treatment failure; however, several active agents have been identified, most notably, bevacizumab (an antibody that sequesters VEGF), cilengitide (an inhibitor of integrin αvβ3/5 signaling) and cediranib (an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting PDGF receptor, c-Kit and all VEGF receptor subtypes). All of these agents have undergone multiple clinical trials and have demonstrated benefits and progression-free survival prolongation in recurrent disease. Given these advances, it is likely that tailored therapies for tumors harboring specific signaling defects will become more efficient and successful in the management of glioblastoma.
A Dynamic Formation Procedure of Information Flow Networks

Abstract A characterization of the equilibrium of information flow networks and the dynamics of network formation are studied under the premise of local information flow. The main result of this paper is that it gives the dynamic formation procedure in the local information flow network. The research shows that core-periphery structure is the most representative equilibrium network in the case of the local information flow without information decay whatever the cost of information is homogeneous or heterogeneous. If the profits and link costs of local information flow networks with information decay are homogeneous empty network and complete network are typical equilibrium networks, which are related to the costs of linking.
Toward a Relational Stakeholder Theory: Attributes of Value-creating Stakeholder Relationships

Stakeholder theory has developed into a promising approach to understand the interests of business and society as joint rather than conflicting, but it has not been able to fully address the question of how value is created in stakeholder relationships. Our aim in this article is to contribute to our understanding of the ways by which firms create sustainable value with and for stakeholders. As a new perspective for understanding value creation, we propose a relational stakeholder theory based on stakeholder value creation (SVC) model and value-creating stakeholder relationships possessing the attributes of joint interests, ability to collaborate and trustworthiness.
Time transfer by laser link T2L2 first results

The optical time transfer project T2L2 has been successfully launched from California in 2008 on the Jason-2 satellite. T2L2 permits the synchronization at the pico-second level of remote ultra stable clocks and the determination of their performances over intercontinental distances. The principle is derived from laser telemetry technology with a space equipment designed to record arrival times of laser pulses at the satellite. Since the launch, several thousands of passes have been acquired by the laser ranging community.
The effect of playing tactics and situational variables on achieving score-box possessions in a professional soccer team

Abstract The aim of this study was to analyse the influence of playing tactics, opponent interaction and situational variables on achieving score-box possessions in professional soccer. The sample was constituted by 908 possessions obtained by a team from the Spanish soccer league in 12 matches played during the 2009–2010 season. Multidimensional qualitative data obtained from 12 ordered categorical variables were used. Sampled matches were registered by the AMISCO PRO® system. Data were analysed using chi-square analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis. Of 908 possessions, 303 (33.4%) produced score-box possessions, 477 (52.5%) achieved progression and 128 (14.1%) failed to reach any sort of progression. Multiple logistic regression showed that, for the main variable “team possession type”, direct attacks and counterattacks were three times more effective than elaborate attacks for producing a score-box possession (P < 0.05). Team possession originating from the middle zones and playing against less than six defending players (P < 0.001) registered a higher success than those started in the defensive zone with a balanced defence. When the team was drawing or winning, the probability of reaching the score-box decreased by 43 and 53 percent, respectively, compared with the losing situation (P < 0.05). Accounting for opponent interactions and situational variables is critical to evaluate the effectiveness of offensive playing tactics on producing score-box possessions.
Family Options Study: Short-Term Impacts of Housing and Services Interventions for Homeless Families

The Family Options Study: Three-year Impacts of Housing and Services Interventions for Homeless Families documents the outcomes of the 2,282 formerly homeless study families approximately 37 months after having been randomly assigned to one of four housing and/or services interventions. The findings at 37-months in large part mirror the findings documented at 20 months, with the long-terms outcomes again demonstrating the power of a voucher to convey significantly improved housing outcomes to formerly homeless families, when compared with the housing outcomes of families offered other interventions. Families offered a permanent subsidy experienced less than half as many episodes of subsequent homelessness, and vast improvements across a broad set of measures related to residential stability. Many of the non-housing outcomes of interest that were strongly influenced by the offer of a voucher in the short-term, such as reductions in psychological distress and intimate partner violence, are still detected, but some positive impacts found at the 20-month followup are not detected at the longer, 37-month followup. For example, 20 months after random assignment, assignment to SUB reduced the proportion of families with child separations in the 6 months before the survey--this effect was not detected in the 6 months before the 37-month survey. Also in this longer window of observation, some positive impacts in the child well-being domain have emerged. Families offered a voucher continue to be significantly more food secure and experience significantly less economic stress than families offered the other interventions. On measures of employment and earnings, the modest negative impacts of vouchers relative to usual care have fallen, although some remain statistically significant.
Release of two vasodilators, adenosine and prostacyclin, from isolated rabbit hearts during controlled hypoxia.

The release of two locally formed vasodilators, adenosine and prostacyclin (PGI2), from hearts subjected to different degrees of hypoxia was investigated. Isolated rabbit hearts were perfused according to Langendorff with Tyrode solution, saturated with gas mixtures containing 8‐95% O2 and 5% CO2 in N2. Coronary flow rate, O2 extraction and uptake, and cardiac production of lactate, purines and 6‐keto‐PGF1 alpha (the stable metabolite of PGI2) were determined. During perfusion of the hearts with a solution saturated with 95% O2, release of lactate, 6‐keto‐PGF1 alpha and purines was very low: lactate was liberated at a rate of about 5 mumol/100 g . min, purine release corresponded to 2% of the total adenosine nucleotide content of the heart per hour and the release of 6‐keto‐PGF1 alpha was about 150 mumol/100 g . min. During hypoxia there was a graded release of lactate and purines from the heart, as well as a liberation of 6‐keto‐PGF1 alpha. Mild hypoxia (60% O2 in the gas mixture) elicited a 160% increase in the formation of lactate and a 40% increase in the release of purines. During severe hypoxia (8% O2 in the gas mixture) the release of lactate and purines increased by more than 2000%. In contrast, the release of 6‐keto‐PGF1 alpha never increased more than 80% at any degree of hypoxia, neither did it correlate to the severity of the hypoxia. From these data we conclude that of the two vasodilating agents formed in the heart, adenosine and prostacyclin, the former is probably more important in the regulation of coronary flow.