Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Banking Bailout of the Subprime Crisis: Big Commitments and Small Effects?

This paper examines government policies aimed at rescuing banks from the effects of the financial crisis of 2008-2009. Governments responded to the crisis by guaranteeing bank assets and liabilities and by injecting fresh capital into troubled institutions. We employ event study methodology to estimate the benefits of government interventions on banks. Announcements directed at the banking system as a whole were associated with positive cumulative abnormal returns whereas announcements directed at specific banks with negative ones. The effects of foreign general announcements spilled over across different areas and were perceived by home-country banks as subsidies boosting the competitive advantage of foreign banks. Specific announcements produced effects that were consistent with other banks being crowded out for government resources. Multiple specific announcements exacerbated the extent of banks’ moral hazard. Results were sensitive to the information environment. Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that individual institutions were reluctant to seek public assistance.
Educating for the Gaming Industry: Need, Profile, and Suggested Schema

As legalized gambling becomes increasingly widespread and competitive, operators seek employees who understand its unique culture and demands. Today, few baccalaureate programs offer gaming management education. Gaming subject areas for college programs span three content spheres: (a) gaming and games themselves; (b) gaming interfaces with other hospitality subjects (lodging, accounting); and (c) the gaming/hospitality environment (regulation, economics). In a given academic program, gaming content integration can be measured along a continuum, from nonexistent, to somewhat integrated within existing courses, to comprising a central educational focus.
Comparative Analysis Between Fpa and Cocomo Techniques For Software Cost Estimation

Software cost estimation is the process of predicting the effort required to develop a software system. The basic input for the software cost estimation is coding size and set of cost drivers; the output is effort in terms of Person-Months. Here, the use of FPA and COCOMO has been proposed for the estimation of software project cost. It was found the FPA results for first case study WBDDDS was 12.506 Persons-Months with the total cost of $65031.2. Then, by using COCOMO, the result was 16.286 Persons-Months with the total cost of $84,687.2. However, COCOMO and FPA results for second case study (SBOBSE) are 19.62 Persons-Months with the total cost of $102,024 and 19.354 Persons-Months with the total cost of $100,640.8, respectively. In conclusion, comparison of the two models is done.
In Vitro Antibacterial Activity of Eurycoma Longifolia Jack (Tongkat Ali) Root Extract

Introduction: Currently, researchers are aiming to explore herbal plants to replace synthetic drugs because herbal plants contain high active compounds and fewer side effects. Our study was done to determine the antibacterial activity of Eurycoma longifolia Jack (E. longifolia) root using ethanol based extract. Methods: Five types of pathogenic bacterial strains were used; Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). Disc diffusion assay and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) tests were used to determine the inhibition zone and turbidity of suspension which reflects the antibacterial activity of the extract. Results: The ethanolic extract of E. longifolia Jack root extract showed positive results against Gram-positive bacteria (S. aureus and B. cereus) and Gramnegative (S. typhi). B.cereus and S.typhi showed inhibition zone values of 11.76mm and 14.33mm at the extract concentration of 150mg/ml that were higher than the positive control values (9.00, 12.67mm) respectively. However, E. coli and P. aeruginosa did not show any inhibition by the ethanol-based extract. Conclusion: From the results we can conclude that E.Longifolia root extract possesses antibacterial activity that can be further explored to produce new medicinal products.
Raman Spectra of Human Dental Calculus

Raman spectra of human dental calculus have been observed for the first time by use of micro-Raman spectroscopy. The spectral features of calculus were influenced easily by heating caused by laser irradiation. Therefore, the measurements were carried out at relatively low power (5 mW, 1-μm spot size). The spectra could be characterized as phosphate vibrational bands due to the v1, v2, v 3, and v4 modes. The overall spectral features did not resemble those of pure minerals such as brushite, octacalcium phosphate, and hydroxyapatite. There were spectral differences among mixed calculus particles obtained from 18 adults, probably due to variations in local mineral composition and differences among patients. However, the averaged spectral features did not vary significantly with formation period from 1 to 6 months. Freshly removed and stored (5-11 months) calculus also gave comparable Raman spectra. Measurements on a fractured sample indicated that Raman spectra at saliva and dentin interfaces are nearly identical, and major mineral constituents may not vary significantly along the growth axis of calculus.
Customer Engagement in Agile Sofware Development

Agile methods promise an ideal approach to customer involvement. However, the success relies on having a full-time dedicated, on-site customer representative working in close collaboration with the developers throughout all phases of the project in order to provide the team with ongoing domain expertize. For many projects, providing this form of customer involvement is infeasible. Organizations are therefore left with finding a more viable way of practicing customer involvement Through a case study of medium-sized, multi-national organization, practicing agile software development with off-site customer representatives, I illuminated the challenges emerging from this situation. By providing a framework for practitioners, I present my suggestions on how to decided on the right customer representative, and what support functions that needs to be established in order for the customer involvement to be successful.
Randomized controlled trial on the efficacy of bladder training before removing the indwelling urinary catheter in patients with acute urinary retention associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia

Abstract Objective.The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of bladder training before removing the indwelling urinary catheter in patients with acute urinary retention (AUR) associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Material and methods. In total, 845 consecutive patients with their first episode of spontaneous AUR associated with BPH were enrolled in this prospective randomized controlled trial. They were randomly assigned to be given either pharmacological treatment combined with bladder training or pharmacological treatment (tamsulosin 0.2 mg and finasteride 5 mg once daily) with free drainage of urinary catheter for 7 days, and a trial without catheter (TWOC) was performed. Data on patients' baseline demographics, history of BPH, International Prostate Symptom Score, prostate size, serum prostate-specific antigen, intravesical prostatic protrusion, TWOC success rates and related complications were collected and statistically analysed. Results.The two groups of spontaneous AUR patients with BPH were given pharmacological treatment combined with bladder training before catheter removal (n = 440) or pharmacological treatment alone (n = 405) for 7 days. All 845 patients underwent a first TWOC with an overall success rate of 66.9% after first 7 days' catheterization; TWOC was successful in 65.2% of cases in the intervention group and 68.6% in the control group. There was no statistically significant difference in TWOC success rate between the two groups (p > 0.05). Conclusion. This randomized controlled trial showed that bladder training before urinary catheter removal did not increase the chance of TWOC success significantly in spontaneous AUR patients with BPH.
I- From the Canadian IPaediatric Society Erythema infectiosum and parvovirus B19 infection in pregnancy

T he recent observation that parvovirus infection during pregnancy can cause spontaneous abortion' has raised concern among many pregnant women, particularly when there is an epidemic of erythema infectiosum in the community. This article reviews the pertinent scientific information and suggests management guidelines for physicians who are confronted with this problem. Erythema infectiosum, or fifth disease, is the commonest manifestation of parvovirus B19 infection.2'3 It usually presents as a mild febrile illness with a maculopapular rash of variable intensity. The early rosy to bright red "slapped cheek" appearance may be overlooked. Eventually a lacy, net-like erythema develops that may affect the face, arms and trunk. In adults the rash is less common, but infection may involve the joints.4 The discovery of parvovirus B19 was reported
Autocrine Regulation of Single Pancreatic β-Cell Survival

Function and survival of cells depend in part on the presence of growth factors. We explored the autocrine regulation of insulin and nerve growth factor (NGF) on single adult rat pancreatic β-cell survival and hormone secretion. When NGF or insulin signaling were blocked in culture media, cell survival decreased compared with control cells, with apoptosis being the main mechanism of cell death. To further explore the role of glucose in β-cell survival, we cultured the cells for 16 h in 2.6 mmol/l glucose and observed that nearly 17% of the cells developed apoptosis; this effect was partially prevented by NGF and almost completely inhibited by insulin treatment. A high K + concentration had the same effect, suggesting that insulin and NGF secretion by the cells was responsible for the survival effects and not glucose per se. Blocking NGF signaling with an NGF antibody or with K252a reduced insulin biosynthesis and secretion in the cells that survived the treatment. Moreover, the functional β-cell subpopulation with a higher insulin secretion rate is more susceptible to K252a. These results further indicate that NGF and insulin play important autoregulatory roles in pancreatic β-cell survival and function and strongly suggest the need to explore new focuses in diabetes treatment.
An analysis of shunt active filter performance using multiple number of power switches

This paper presents on the performance of Shunt Active Power Filter (SAPF) related to the number of power switch used in the circuit. The SAPF was used for harmonic compensation of single-phase ac/dc converter feeding a nonlinear load. The process involves an injection of equal but opposite current to mitigate the distortion current supplied back by non-linear load to the voltage supply. Thus, the injected current will shape the supply current to a sinusoidal form which is in phase with the supply voltage. Studies was performed to evaluate the SAPF topology performance with respect to the Total Harmonic Distortion (THD), odd harmonic components and power factor (PF) improvement. Theoretical and simulation results of SAPF performance are presented.
Radioactivity in Montenegro beach sands and assessment of the corresponding environmental risk

Activity concentrations of the naturally occurring radionuclides 226Ra, 232Th, 40K and anthropogenic 137Cs in sand samples collected from 20 renowned beaches on the Coast of Montenegro have been determined using an HPGe (high purity Ge spectrometer). The average activity concentrations were found to be 7.4, 5.2, 97.3 and 0.5 Bq kg−1, respectively. For all sand samples, the radium equivalent activity has been evaluated and found to be lower than the limit of 370 Bq kg−1. External and internal hazard indices were less than unity. The gonadal dose equivalent was estimated to be on average 75 μSv y−1, which is about four times lower than the global average for soil (0.3 mSv y−1). Calculated values of absorbed dose rates showed the range from 3.1 to 28 nGy h−1, which is below the world median of average values (57 nGy h−1). The effective dose rate in the range from 3.8 to 34.4 μSv y−1 was significantly below the recommended limit value for the public (1 mSv y−1). The highest dose rate was found for the Velika Plaza locality, which also showed heavy metal contents (As, B, Cd, Hg, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn and Ba) significantly higher than in the sand from Jaz, a locality with one of the lowest dose rates.
Low organisational justice and heavy drinking: a prospective cohort study

Objectives: To investigate whether low perceived organisational injustice predicts heavy drinking among employees. Methods: Data from a prospective occupational cohort study, the 10-Town Study, on 15 290 Finnish public sector local government employees nested in 2432 work units, were used. Non-drinkers were excluded. Procedural, interactional and total organisational justice, heavy drinking (⩾210 g of absolute alcohol per week) and other psychosocial factors were determined by means of questionnaire in 2000–2001 (phase 1) and 2004 (phase 2). Multilevel logistic regression analyses taking into account the hierarchical structure of the data were conducted and adjustments were made for sex, age, socio-economic status, marital status, baseline heavy drinking, psychological distress and other psychosocial risk factors such as job strain and effort/reward imbalance. Results: After adjustments, participants who reported low procedural justice at phase 1 were approximately 1.2 times more likely to be heavy drinkers at phase 2 compared with their counterparts reporting high justice. Low perceived justice in interpersonal treatment and low perceived total organisational justice were associated with increased prevalence of heavy drinking only in the model adjusted for sociodemographics. Conclusions: This is the first longitudinal study to show that low procedural justice is weakly associated with an increased likelihood of heavy drinking.
Interpreting Point Predictions: Some Logical Issues

Forecasters regularly make point predictions of future events. Recipients of the predictions may use them to inform their own assessments and decisions. This paper integrates and extends my past analyses of several simple but inadequately appreciated logical issues that affect interpretation of point predictions. I explain the algebraic basis for a pervasive empirical finding that the cross-sectional mean or median of a set of point predictions is more accurate than the individual predictions used to form the mean or median, a phenomenon sometimes called the â€œwisdom of crowds. â€ I call attention to difficulties in interpretation of point predictions expressed by forecasters who are uncertain about the future. I consider the connection between predictions and reality. In toto, the analysis questions prevalent prediction practices that use a single combined prediction to summarize the beliefs of multiple forecasters.
Reflectance decreases before thickness changes in the retinal nerve fiber layer in glaucomatous retinas.

PURPOSE Glaucoma damages the retinal never fiber layer (RNFL). RNFL thickness, measured with optical coherence tomography (OCT), is often used in clinical assessment of the damage. In this study the relation between the RNFL reflectance and thickness at early stages of glaucoma was investigated. METHODS A rat model of glaucoma was used that involved laser photocoagulation of the trabecular meshwork. The reflectance of the RNFL in an isolated retina was measured, followed by immunohistochemical staining of the axonal cytoskeleton. RNFL thickness was measured by confocal fluorescence imaging. RNFL reflectance was calculated for bundle areas located at radii of 0.22, 0.33, and 0.44 mm from the optic nerve head (ONH) center. Linear regression was used to study the relation between reflectance and thickness. For glaucomatous eyes, only those bundles with no apparent structural damage were used. RESULTS Bundles in 11 control retinas and 10 treated retinas were examined. Bundle thickness of both groups at each radius was similar (P = 0.89). The reflectance of the bundles at radii of 0.33 and 0.44 mm was found to be similar in both control and treated retinas (P > 0.5). However, the reflectance of the bundles at the 0.22-mm radius decreased significantly in the treated group (P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS Elevation of intraocular pressure causes decrease in RNFL reflectance for bundles near the ONH. Change in RNFL reflectance precedes thinning of the RNFL. The results suggest that a decrease in RNFL reflectance near the ONH is an early sign of glaucomatous damage.
The sustainability practitioner's guide to multi-regional input-output analysis

This book is a primer on multi-regional input-output (MRIO) analysis. It has been written by the world's leading experts on MRIO. It provides descriptions of seven major MRIO tools as well as case studies illustrating their application. It includes chapters on the role of MRIO analysis in global governance showing how the power and elegance of MRIO can bring new dimensions to policy making.
The role of context in Müller-Lyer illusion: The case of negative Müller-Lyer illusion

The Muller-Lyer illusion is one of the most prominent geometrical-optical illusions that have been the subject of experimental investigation throughout a century. Like most optical illusions the Muller-Lyer illusion is caused by an appropriate context - inward or outward fins that act in a specific manner. These fins either prolong or shorten the central line placed between the fins. In this study, we manipulated the context by varying the presentation of the illusion parts, which led to the negative effect of Muller-Lyer illusion. Here we disassociated the context, i.e., the fins that create the illusion, from the lines the length of which needed to be assessed. Firstly, the fins were presented alone for 10 seconds, than the line would appear alone for 100 ms. In such situations the phenomenon of illusion emerges in an opposite direction: the line that temporally succeeded the inward fins seemed longer, while the line succeeding the outward fins seemed shorter. An experiment with three experimental situations was carried out. Twenty participants took part in the experiment, in three different experimental situations. The size of the illusion was measured using the method of constant stimuli, which was also used to determine the point of subjective equality. The analysis confirmed the described effect which was found to be significant when compared to two other situations: the control situation and the standard Muller-Lyer illusion situation. The negative Muller-Lyer illusion is possibly caused by a kind of after effect, which occurred by prolonged gazing at the fins and/or by fatigue of the appropriate selective angle sensitive cells. Such findings implicate that angle sensitive cells might be active in the emergence of the standard Muller-Lyer illusion.
Identification of IS 1206, a Corynebacterium glutamicum IS3‐related insertion sequence and phylogenetic analysis

Integration of plasmid pCGL320 into a Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC21086 derivative led to tandem amplification of the inserted plasmid (Labarre et a/., 1993). One amplification event was associated with integration of an insertion sequence that we have named IS 1206. Hybridizing sequences were only found in C. glutamicum strains and at various copy numbers. IS1206 is 1290bp long, carries 32 bp imperfect inverted repeats and generates a 3bp duplication of the target DNA upon insertion. IS1206 presents the features characteristic of the IS3 family and part of the DNA sequence centering on the putative transposase region (orfB) is similar to those of IS3 and some other related elements. Phylogenetic analysis of orfB deduced protein sequences from IS 1206 and IS3‐related elements contradicts the phylogeny of the species, suggesting that evolution of these elements might be complex. Horizontal transfer could be invoked but other alternatives like ancestral polymorphism or/and different rates of evolution could also be involved.
The paternally inherited insulin gene B allele (1,428 FokI site) confers protection from insulin-dependent diabetes in families.

Several polymorphisms of the insulin gene and its flanking regions (INS region) are in linkage disequilibrium and confer susceptibility to insulin-dependent diabetes (IDDM). We have analysed INS AA and AB-BB genotypes at the 1,428 FokI site (3' of the insulin gene) in 217 patients with IDDM, 402 non-diabetic first degree relatives negative for insulin (IAA) and islet cell autoantibodies (ICA), and 116 autoantibody positive (for ICA or IAA, or both) relatives of whom 39 became diabetic on follow-up. Most IDDM patients (83.4%, 181/217) had the AA genotype vs. 50% (25/50) of the controls (P < 10(-6)). Only 16.6% (36/217) of IDDM patients carried the AB genotype and none was BB homozygous, suggesting a protective effect of the B allele. By segregation analysis of the B allele in the IDDM offspring of informative families (only one AB parent) from the United States, the maternal B allele was inherited by 19/35 (54.2%) of the IDDM offspring. In contrast, only 4/26 (15.3%) of the IDDM offspring inherited the paternal B allele (P = 0.001), suggesting maternal imprinting of the INS region. Therefore, the INS B allele may be protective only when paternally inherited. Among the 39 of 116 autoantibody positive relatives who developed IDDM on follow-up, only five of them had the B allele. The frequency of the B allele in this group was much lower (12.8%, 5/39) than that observed in non-diabetic autoantibody positive relatives (32.5%, 25/77, P = 0.02). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
MOCSphaser: a haplotype inference tool from a mixture of copy number variation and single nucleotide polymorphism data

UNLABELLED Detailed analyses of the population-genetic nature of copy number variations (CNVs) and the linkage disequilibrium between CNV and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci from high-throughput experimental data require a computational tool to accurately infer alleles of CNVs and haplotypes composed of both CNV alleles and SNP alleles. Here we developed a new tool to infer population frequencies of such alleles and haplotypes from observed copy numbers and SNP genotypes, using the expectation-maximization algorithm. This tool can also handle copy numbers ambiguously determined, such as 2 or 3 copies, due to experimental noise. AVAILABILITY http://emu.src. riken.jp/MOCSphaser/MOCSphaser.zip.
Difference between SB4 and reference etanercept in the hepatobiliary disorders not considered to be caused by SB4: response to letter by Scheinberg and Azevedo

We thank Dr Sheinberg and colleagues'1 for raising the issue of hepatobiliary disorders mentioned in the European Public Assessment Report (EPAR) but not included in the 24-week report.2 This was due to the following reasons. First, the general safety reporting scheme was based on common adverse events (≥2% among reported adverse events, seen in table 2 of the paper), and overall major safety indices such as comparison of total treatment-emergent adverse events and serious adverse events. The groups of adverse events were those that were usually expected (or considered to be expected) to occur with etanercept use, such as serious infections, malignancies or injection site reactions. All of these were discussed in the 24-week paper. The imbalance of system …