Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Consumer Credit Conditions in the United Kingdom

It is widely perceived that credit supply conditions faced by UK consumers, particularly in the mortgage market, have been liberalised since the late 1970s, with implications for the housing market and consumer spending. This paper examines quarterly microdata from the Survey of Mortgage Lenders to learn about changes in credit conditions from loan to value ratios (LVRs) and loan to income ratios (LIRs) of first-time buyers (classified by region and age). It combines data on the proportions of high LVR and high LIR loans with aggregate information on UK consumer credit and mortgage debt to give ten quarterly series for 1975-2001. These are modelled in a ten-equation system. A comprehensive set of economic and demographic influences on the demand and supply of credit, applying relevant sign restrictions, are controlled for. A single time-varying index of credit conditions captures the common variation in the ten credit indicators which cannot be explained by the economic and demographic controls. The broad coverage of credit market indicators and thorough investigation of economic forces driving the credit market should make the resulting credit conditions index more robust than previous estimates. The index increases in the 1980s, peaking towards the end of the decade. It retraces part of this rise in the early 1990s, before increasing again to levels, for one of the two measures, exceeding the previous peak. The index is useful in modelling consumption and the housing market, and in interpreting current monetary conditions. An important by-product of the paper is the model for consumer credit and mortgage debt developed here.
A study on auditor attributes affecting the judgment and approach towards risk

The aim of this thesis is to explain if certain auditor attributes affect Swedish auditors judgment and approach towards risk. The chosen methodology for this study is an explanatory method with a deductive approach. The method has been commonly used in previous researches in the field of audit risk judgment. With this approach, hypotheses has been formulated and then later tested towards empirical data and existing theories. The data has been collected through a quantitative survey method, which included a questionnaire sent to a selection of auditors in Sweden. The theoretical perspective is based on the audit risk model and behavioral research such as audit risk judgment and decision- making theories. Certain auditor attributes, which may influence the auditors’ risk judgments, have been chosen as the base for the formulation of hypotheses for this study. The empirical data has been gathered through a questionnaire that included four different cases concerning audit risk judgment. The questionnaire was distributed to the sample of the study. The answers of the participants were then aggregated into a risk profile for the individual auditor. The findings of the study demonstrate that auditors are a homogeneous profession with a high level of socialization. A high level of consensus regarding values and professional beliefs characterizes the audit profession. The size of the audit firm showed significant influence over the auditor’s risk approach, followed by age and social pressure.
Mammography rates 3 years after the 2009 US Preventive Services Task Force Guidelines changes.

PURPOSE In November 2009, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) changed its mammography recommendations from every 1 to 2 years among women age ≥ 40 years to personalized screening decisions for women age 40 to 49 years and screening every 2 years for women age 50 to 74 years. METHODS We studied mammography trends among 5.5 million women age 40 to 64 years enrolled in a large national health insurer. We used 2005 to 2009 mammography trends to predict 2012 rates. Our primary measure was the estimated difference between observed and predicted 2012 annual and biennial mammography rates. We stratified results by age group and race/ethnicity. RESULTS Among women age 40 to 49 years, 2012 mammography rates declined by 9.9% (95% CI, -10.4% to -9.3%) relative to the predicted 2012 rate. Decreases were lowest among black women (-2.3%; 95% CI, -6.3% to 1.8%) and highest among Asian women (-17.4; 95% CI, -20.0 to -14.8). Annual mammography rates among women age 50 to 64 years declined by 6.1% (95% CI, -6.5% to -5.7%) by 2012. Regarding biennial mammography rates, women age 40 to 49 years experienced a 9.0% relative reduction (95% CI, -9.6% to -8.4%). White, Hispanic, and Asian women age 40 to 49 years demonstrated similar relative reductions of approximately 9% to 11%, whereas black women had no detectable changes (0.1%; 95% CI, -4.0% to 4.3%). Women age 50 to 64 years had a 6.2% relative reduction (95% CI, -6.6% to -5.7%) in biennial mammography that was similar among white, Hispanic, and Asian women. Black women age 50 to 64 years did not have changes in biennial mammography (0.4%; 95% CI, -2.6% to 3.5%). CONCLUSION Three years after publication of the 2009 USPSTF guidelines, mammography rates declined by 6% to 17% among white, Hispanic, and Asian women but not among black women. Small reductions in biennial mammography might be an unintended consequence of the updated guidelines.
Innovations, their knowledge sources and their effects in experience-based tourism

The tourism sector – already one of the fastest growing industries in the world – is currently undergoing extensive change thanks to strong market growth and a transition to more experience-based products. The capacity for firms to innovate and adapt to market developments is crucial to their success, but research-based knowledge on innovation strategies in tourism remains scarce. This pioneering Handbook offers timely, original research on innovation within the tourism industry from a number of interdisciplinary and global perspectives.
Illumination-normalized face recognition using Chromaticity Intrinsic Image

Face recognition (FR) across illumination variations endeavors to alleviate the effect of illumination changes on human face, which remains a great challenge in reliable FR. Most prior studies focus on normalization of holistic lighting intensity while neglecting or simplifying the mechanism of image color formation. In contrast, we propose in this paper a novel approach for lighting robust FR through building the underlying reflectance model which characterizes the appearance of face surface. Specifically, the proposed illumination processing pipeline sheds light on interactions among face surface, lighting and camera, and enables generation of Chromaticity Intrinsic Image (CII) in a log space which is robust to illumination variations. Experimental results on CMU-PIE and ESRC face databases show the effectiveness of the proposed approach to deal with lighting variations in FR.
Institutionalization of monitoring and evaluation systems to improve public sector management

A growing number of countries are pursuing a results orientation by building or strengthening their government monitoring and evaluation (ME what does success look like - the case of Chile; country capacities - for what; lessons from experience - success factors for building country ME key trends influencing country realities - a donor perspective; the special case of Africa; and conclusions and challenges for the future.
Cyclooxygenase-2-Derived Prostaglandin E2 and Lipoxin A4 Accelerate Resolution of Allergic Edema in Angiostrongylus costaricensis-Infected Rats: Relationship with Concurrent Eosinophilia1

In noninfected rats, challenge with allergen following local IgE sensitization induced a pleurisy marked by intense protein exudation that plateaued from 30 min to 4 h after challenge, reducing thereafter. Infection of rats with Angiostrongylus costaricensis induced a 5-fold increase in blood eosinophil numbers by 25 days postinfection, whereas the numbers of eosinophils in the pleural cavity ranged from normal to a weak increase. In infected rats, identically sensitized, challenge with Ag induced a much shorter duration of pleural edema with complete resolution by 4 h, but no change in the early edema response. In parallel, infection increased the number of eosinophils recovered from the pleural cavity at 4 h, but not at 30 min, following allergen challenge. Pretreatment with IL-5 (100 IU/kg, i.v.) also increased eosinophil numbers in blood and, after allergen challenge, shortened the duration of the pleural edema and increased pleural eosinophil numbers. There were increases in the levels of both PGE2 and lipoxin A4 (LXA4) in pleural exudate. Selective cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitors, NS-398, meloxicam, and SC-236, did not alter pleural eosinophilia, but reversed the curtailment of the edema in either infected or IL-5-pretreated rats. Pretreatment of noninfected animals with the PGE analogue, misoprostol, or two stable LXA4 analogues did not alter the magnitude of pleural exudation response, but clearly shortened its duration. These results indicate that the early resolution of allergic pleural edema observed during A. costaricensis infection coincided with a selective local eosinophilia and seemed to be mediated by COX-2-derived PGE2 and LXA4.
ANALYZING E-COMMERCE GROWTH FROM THEPERSPECTIVES OF INNOVATION DIFFUSION

E-commerce was claimed to have come of age in 1996. Yet, five years later and after dramatic growth in Ecommerce, there are still people who question the viability of its future. We examine the development of Ecommerce from the perspectives of diffusion of innovations. This analysis leads us to conclude that worldwide E-commerce is still in its early growth stage. However, it has passed the turning point that marks the characteristic change of diffusion of innovations. E-commerce has achieved the critical mass that is essential to self-sustainable growth.
Performance Evaluation of BRISK Algorithm on Mobile Devices

The great number of researches about local features extraction algorithms in the last years, allied to the popularization of mobile devices, makes desirable efficient and accurate algorithms suitable to run on such devices. Despite this, there are few approaches adequate to run efficiently on the complexity-, costand power-constrained mobile environments. The main objective of this work is to evaluate the performance of the recently proposed BRISK algorithm on mobile devices. In this way, a mobile implementation, named M-BRISK, is proposed. Some implementation strategies are considered and successful applied to execute the algorithm in a real-world mobile device. As evaluation criterion repeatability, recall, precision and running time metrics are used, as well as the comparison with the classical well established algorithm SURF and also with the more recently proposed ORB. The results confirm that proposed mobile implementation of BRISK (M-BRISK) performs well and it is adequate to mobile devices.
Computing Musical Meter - an Approach to an Integrated Formal Description

Musical meter is described as an abstract temporal template for the timing of concrete musical events. The essential structural properties of meter are specified to prepare the development of an analytic method for the formalisation of meter in terms of numeric structures. An elaborated notion of the hierarchic architecture of meter supports an integrated numerical description of multiplicative and additive meters which may serve as a consistent resource for advanced computer-aided research on meter and for algorithmic composition. Likewise aiming at theoretic validity and implementability a set of underlying formal principles is suggested to guide the method of description. It is supposed as one possible axiomatic approach in order to avoid limitations on systematic flexibility and expandability as well as on artistic usability.
Why do De Novo Banks Choose a National Charter?

Examination of the charter choices made by the 1500 new banks established over the past decade reveals a clear, persistent shift in supervisory preferences away from the national charter. This study represents an attempt to understand the primary reasons for this change in chartering behavior. Bivariate probit and Poisson selection models of de novo bank local market entry are estimated using annual data for a sample of 931 urban banking markets for the years 1998 through 2007. Briefly, the empirical evidence from the two estimated models suggests that higher supervisory costs may make de novo national bank entry more sensitive to local market competitive conditions than is the case for de novo state banks. Indicators of competition found to be important determinants of de novo national bank entry include state intrastate branching restrictions, market concentration, and de novo branching by out-of-market banking organizations. There is also some evidence showing that state-specific supervisory advantages influence the likelihood and extent of de novo national bank entry. Greater numbers of mergers and acquisitions of local headquartered national banks have a significant positive effect on de novo national bank entry, possibly because it reflects the availability of senior management familiar with and to national bank supervisors.
Porous Hip Replacement in Paget's Disease; An 8–2/3‐Year Followup

An 8-year 8-month followup of a now 78-year-old active woman with a painful, severe varus deformity of the femur and arthritis of the right hip associated with monostotic Paget's disease of the hip is presented. Treatment consisted of multiple osteotomies, followed by implantation of a long stemmed cobalt chrome fully coated porous ingrowth hip system. The patient had an excellent outcome, including relief of pain and restoration of excellent function, despite ongoing severe osteolytic changes that did not appear to influence the healing of the osteotomies or the clinical stability of the implant.
Blood pressure and hypothalamic NA-GABA interaction in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR): effect of administration DSP-4.

The effect of DSP-4 [N-(2-chloroethyl)-N-ethyl-2-bromobenzylamine] on the content of catecholamines (NA and DA) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the hypothalamus and on the blood pressure were studied in rats. Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were injected with DSP-4 (50 mg/kg i.p. twice) and tested for 15 days thereafter. Fifteen days after DSP-4 lesioning, a significant reduction of NA levels without changes in DA and GABA concentration in the hypothalamus of both strains was found. However the blood pressure appeared unaffected by the DSP-4 pretreatment in WKY and SHR rats. In line with previous data the amounts of catecholamines and GABA in the hypothalamus were significantly lower in SHR control animals than in WKY control rats. The results suggest that NA/GABA interaction in the hypothalamus do not play an important role in blood pressure regulation. It may be further supposed that the local NA transmission does not play an important role in the phenomenon discussed. Moreover, a contribution of hypothalamic GABA and DA to the control of blood pressure is confirmed.
Half a century of handedness research: Myths, truths; fictions, facts; backwards, but mostly forwards

Although most people are right-handed and have language in their left cerebral hemisphere, why that is so, and in particular why about ten per cent of people are left-handed, is far from clear. Multiple theories have been proposed, often with little in the way of empirical support, and sometimes indeed with strong evidence against them, and yet despite that have become modern urban myths, probably due to the symbolic power of right and left. One thinks in particular of ideas of being right-brained or left-brained, of suggestions that left-handedness is due to perinatal brain damage, of claims that left-handers die seven years earlier than right-handers, and of the unfalsifiable ramifications of the byzantine Geschwind-Behan-Galaburda theory. This article looks back over the past fifty years of research on brain asymmetries, exploring the different themes and approaches, sometimes in relation to the author’s own work. Taking all of the work together it is probable that cerebral asymmetries are under genetic control, probably with multiple genetic loci, only a few of which are now beginning to be found thanks to very large databases that are becoming available. Other progress is also seen in proper meta-analyses, the use of fMRI for studying multiple functional lateralisations in large number of individuals, fetal ultra-sound for assessing handedness before birth, and fascinating studies of lateralisation in an ever widening range of animal species. With luck the next fifty years will make more progress and show fewer false directions than had much of the work in the previous fifty years.
Multi-stakeholder processes that works towards designing functional fruit cluster for small holder mango farmers in Thailand.

In Thailand, majority of fruit crop farmers are independent growers, who are smaller scale in the Upper North, and relatively larger in the Lower North and in the Central regions. Many become engaging in entrepreneurial functions, improving fruit quality and productivity, and positioning themselves to produce for export market. To reduce logistic inefficiencies and transactional cost, the fruit growers have collectively self-organized membership-based farmers groups (FGs), to make business gareement with private fruit exporters. The objective of the paper is to elucidate the use of multi-stakeholder process as an interactive learning methodology to capacitate farmers to produce quality mango for export. Two membership-based mango growers associations in the North were selected for studies The Prao Mango Farmers Group (P-MFG) in Chiang Mai province, representing the Upper North, and the Noen Mahpang Mango Farmers Group (NMP-MFG) in Phitsanulok, representing the Lower North were collaborated throughout the participatory learning processes. The P-MFG and the NMP-MFG possessed different organizational structure and marketing innovation. Despite the difference in organizational structure and marketing strategy, both groups showed similar pattern of disconnectedness between members and group leaders or group committee. The multi-stakeholder processes where governmental agencies, agro-chemical suppliers, and private fruit exporters were included in the later stage after FG members had built up their sense of self esteem and confidence through farmer-researcher interaction. The modified Porter's Diamond model helped improve the positioning of each partner in driving towards mango fruit cluster.
Developing Brief Opportunistic Interactions: practitioners facilitate patients to identify and change health risk behaviours at an early preventive stage

Aim To identify shortcomings in existing models of patient behaviour change, and present the development and testing of a novel approach using practitioner facilitation and person-focussed conversations that identifies and addresses behaviours at an earlier stage than current models. Background Systematic strategies used by health professionals to change patient behaviours began with motivational interviewing and brief intervention approaches for serious addictive behaviours. Practitioners typically presume they should drive the process of patient behaviour change. Attempts to transfer these approaches to primary care, and a broader range of health risk behaviours, have been less successful. The TADS programme (Tobacco, Alcohol and Other Drugs, later Training and Development Services) began teaching motivational interviewing and brief interventions to practitioners in New Zealand in 1996. Formal and informal evaluations showed that practitioners used screening tools that patients rejected and that led to incomplete disclosure, used language that did not engage patients, failed to identify the behaviours patients wished to address and therefore misdirected interventions. Methods Iterative development of new tools with input from patients and primary care clinicians. Findings The TADS programme developed a questionnaire whose results remained private to the patient, which enabled the patient to identify personal behaviours that they might choose to change (the TADS Personal Assessment Choice Tool). This was assisted by a brief conversation that facilitated and supported any change prioritised by the patient (the TADS Brief Opportunistic Interaction). The need for this approach, and its effectiveness, appeared to be similar across adults, youth, different ethnic groups and people in different socio-economic circumstances. Behaviours patients identified were often linked to other health risk behaviours or early-stage mental health disorders that were not easily detected by practitioner-driven screening or inquiry. The long-term effectiveness of this approach in different populations in primary health care settings requires further evaluation.
Separation of charge movement components in mammalian skeletal muscle fibres

1 Intramembrane charge movements, IICM, were measured in rat skeletal muscle fibres in response to voltage steps from a −90 mV holding potential to a wide test voltage range (−85 to 30 mV), using a double Vaseline‐gap voltage‐clamp technique. Solutions were designed to minimise ionic currents. Ca2+ current was blocked by adding Cd2+ (0.8 mm) to the external solution. In a subset of experiments Cd2+ was omitted to determine which components of the charge movement best correlated with L‐type Ca2+ channel gating. 2 Detailed kinetic analysis of IICM identified two major groups of charges. The first two components, designated Qa and Qb, were the only charges moved by small depolarising steps. The second group of components, Qc and Qd, showed a more positive voltage threshold, −35.6 ± 2.0 mV, (n= 6) in external solution with Cd2+, and −41.1 ± 2.0 mV (n= 12) in external solution without Cd2+. Notably, in external solution without Cd2+ the voltage threshold of Ca2+ current, ICa, activation had a similar value, being −38.1 ± 2.4 mV. 3 The sum of three Boltzmann functions, Q1, Q2 and Q3, showing progressively more positive transition voltages, could be fitted to charge versus voltage, QICM‐V, plots. The three Boltzmann terms identified three charge components: Q1 described the shallow voltage‐dependent Qa and Qb charges, Q2 and Q3 described the steep voltage‐dependent Qc and Qd charges. 4 In external solution without Cd2+ the charge kinetics changed: a slow decaying phase was replaced by a pronounced delayed hump. Moreover, the transition voltages of the individual steady‐state charge components were shifted towards negative potentials (from 6.3 to 8.2 mV). Nevertheless, the overall charge and steepness factors were conserved. 5 In conclusion, these experiments allowed a clear separation of four components of intramembrane charge movements in rat skeletal muscle, showing that there are no fundamental differences with respect to charge movement components between amphibian and mammalian twitch muscle. Moreover, Qc and Qd charge are correlated with L‐type Ca2+ channel gating.