Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regulating Systemic Crises: Stemming the Contagion Risk in Networked-Loans Through Deep Graph Learning

In networked-loans, guarantor enterprises have a legal duty to repay debt to the commercial bank when the guaranteed borrower enterprise defaults (fail to repay). During an economic recession, the risk of defaults may spread like wildfire – the loan network structure could amplify both reach and impact; thus leading to a large-scale corporation defaults even systemic financial crises. The Central Bank urges advanced regulation technology to recognize and act on the contagion risk in order to avoid the “gray rhino”. Therefore, we present a novel approach to help the regulators quantify the systemic risk and provide stemming clues. In particular, we report a state-of-the-art graph neural network architecture (iConReg) for detecting and isolating of contagion risk in China’s national-wide networked-loans. The overall accuracy of our model reaches over 91% of AUC (Area under the ROC Curve), which considerably outperforms the compared benchmark methods. By isolating the top 1% of predicted high-risky nodes in the contagion chains, iConReg reports a significant shrink (averaged 25.8%) of loan default rates. Moreover, we conduct extensive case and user studies to evaluate the effectiveness of our proposed method and the result also demonstrates its superior performance. Our presented approach opens up a new direction of using deep graph learning techniques to regulate the contagion risk of networked-loans, which enables the authorities to design more prompt prevention measures against systemic financial crises.
Immunotherapy for Cervical Cancer: Are We Ready for Prime Time?

The prognosis of invasive cervical cancer (CC) remains poor, with a treatment approach that has remained the same for several decades. Lately, a better understanding of the interactions between the disease and the host immune system has allowed researchers to focus on the employment of immune therapy in various clinical settings. The most advanced strategy is immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) with numerous phase II and III trials recently concluded with very encouraging results, assessing single agent therapy, combinations with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Apart from ICIs, several other compounds have gained the spotlight. Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TILs) due to their highly selective tumoricidal effect and manageable adverse effect profile have received the FDA’s Breakthrough Therapy designation in 2019. The antibody drug conjugate (ADC) Tisotumab-Vedotin has shown activity in metastatic CC relapsed after at least one line of chemotherapy, with a phase III trial currently actively enrolling patients. Moreover, the deeper understanding of the ever-changing immune landscape of CC carcinogenesis has resulted in the development of active therapeutic vaccines. This review highlights the different immunotherapeutic strategies being explored reflects on what role immunotherapy might have in therapeutic algorithms of CC and addresses the role of predictive biomarkers.
Supporting Immunization Uptake during a Pandemic, Using Remote Phone Call Intervention among Babies Discharged from a Special Neonatal Care Unit (SNCU) in South India

COVID-19 has impacted children’s immunization rates, putting the lives of children at risk. The present study assesses the impact of phone-call counseling, on immunization uptake during the pandemic. Families of babies discharged from the SNCUs in six government centers in three South Indian states were recruited. Calls were made 10 days after the immunization due date. Missed vaccinees were counseled and followed up on 7 and 15 days. Of 2313 contacted, 2097 completed the survey. Respondents were mostly mothers (88.2%), poor (67.5%), and had secondary level education (37.4%). Vaccinations were missed due to the baby’s poor health (64.1%), COVID-19 related concerns (32.6%), and lack of awareness (16.8%). At the end of the intervention, the immunization uptake increased from 65.2% to 88.2%. Phone-call intervention can safely support immunization and lower the burden on health workers.
REFLECTION OF GROWTH POLES THEORY IN TURKEY AS SUPPORTING PROGRAM FOR ATTRACTION CENTRES

Once popular and now effective, the theory of Growth Poles found places in many countries’ regional development agenda to some extents. Turkey is among the countries, which tried to give emphasis on the Theory since its adoption by the world, in especially its development plans and studies preparing ground for the Theory. However, after a long preparation process, Turkey decided to support financially the Theory by determining 12 city centres as Attraction Centres (AC) in less developed regions in a program i.e. Supporting Program for Attraction Centres (SPAC). Present study aims to give brief information about the theory of GP, mention about its reflection on Turkey as AC and summarize the results of the application of AC approach by looking inside a financial support program for ACs, SPAC.
What Are the Chances? Overcoming Barriers in Assessing Risk Probabilities

Project risk assessment relies on estimates of both risk impact (consequences) and risk probability (likelihood). Estimating probabilities tends to be the more difficult of these two, for a number of reasons. Because probability estimates are often so underestimated, many significant risks may be overlooked. Estimating risk probabilities more realistically results in improved risk management, lower overall stress, and more successful projects (to say nothing of earlier intervention to adjust or abandon project concepts that are prone to failure). This paper explores barriers to probability estimation and describes a process for determining and refining estimates. It also discusses how to use better probability estimates to assess overall project risk, and how to use ideas such as ROI simulation and “Value at Risk” (VaR) to validate project financial assumptions. The paper builds on concepts outlined in Kendrick’s Identifying and Managing Project Risk, Second Edition (AMACOM 2009, recipient of the 2010 PMI Cleland Literature Award).
Dose response relationships between linseed or rapeseed oils supply and rumen microbial metabolism in continuous culture on maize silage-based diet

Abstract Little quantitative information is available on how dietary lipids concurrently alter the main rumen microbial functions in relation with their incorporation level. In a three-period experiment, linseed (Linum usitatissimum, LO) and rapeseed (Brassica napus L., RO) oils were added at 0, 40 or 80 g/kg dry matter input (DMI) to five 1-L dual outflow fermenters that were on a maize silage-based diet for nine days per period. RO supply decreased butyrate specific production. The amount of hexoses fermented (HF) increased by 9% at 40 g/kg LO. The production of CH4 was lower at 80 g/kg LO by 46% compared with controls. Conversely, the supply of LO significantly increased H2 and H2S productions in an antagonistic mode. The specific productions of propionate, butyrate, CH4 and H2 were altered by LO. The supply of RO increased the ammonia daily outflow (by 23% at 40 g/kg) and decreased the organic N outflow (by 13% at 80 g/kg). The degradabilities of dietary fractions were not affected by RO, neither the OM partitioning between dietary, fermented and microbial outflows. The OM true degradability decreased at 80 g/kg LO compared with controls and 40 g/kg LO. When LO was supplied, isovalerate and ammonia-N outflows were higher, organic and microbial N outflows and EMPS were lower along with changes in the OM outflow partitioning. Overall microbial processes appeared to differ in their responses to fatty acids saturation. Moreover, most effects were present at 40 g/kg DMI and diminished or even plateaued at 80 g/kg DMI. Highlights Four per cent oil lowered butyrate specific production Four per cent Linseed oil lowered microbial protein synthesis efficiency Linseed oil lowered methanogenesis in proportion to input level
A STUDY ON SIMILARITY MEASURE FUNCTIONS ON ENGINEERING MATERIALS SELECTION

While designing a new type of engineering material one has to search for some existing materials which suits design requirement and then he can try to produce new kind of engineering material. This selection process itself is tedious as he has to select few numbers of materials out of a set of lakhs of materials. Therefore in this paper a model is proposed to select a particular material which suits the user requirement, by using some similarity/distance measuring functionalities. Here thirteen different types of similarity/distance measuring functionalities are examined. Performance Index Measure(PIM) is calculated to verify the relative performance of the selected material with the target material. Then all the results are normalised for the purpose of analysing the results. Hence the proposed model reduces the wastage of time in selection and also avoids the haphazardly selection of the materials in materials design and manufacturing industries.
Use of Musical Intervention in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of a Developing Country: A Pilot Pre–Post Study

Music is frequently used in different clinical settings, and it is implemented as a complementary, low-cost and useful intervention to reduce pain, anxiety and to improve relaxation. This pilot pre–post study aimed to examine the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a specific musical intervention in patients ≤16 years admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) of an Iraqi hospital. The COMFORT Behavior Scale (CBS) was used by nurses to assess the level of sedation. Fifty-nine children were enrolled during the study period (March 2020–August 2021). CBS was lowered by 2.2 (95% CI: 1.9 to 2.6) points after 30 min, and by 3.3 (95% CI: 2.9 to 3.6) points after 60 min from music initiation. Thirty minutes after music initiation, heart rate decreased by 6.3 (95% CI: 4.5 to 8.1) beats per minute, whereas at 60 min, heart rate decreased by 9.1 (95% CI: 7.2 to 10.9) beats per minute. No clinically significant variations were detected in the other vital signs (blood pressure, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation). These findings support the feasibility of musical intervention in a developing country. CBS and heart rate variation may be worth following up in larger and conclusive studies.
Always-On Sparse Event Wake-Up Detectors: A Review

Recently there has been a significant increase in demand for wireless sensor networks, as their field of application is rapidly expanding, driven mostly by the growing importance and prevalence of the Internet of Things concept. To enable practical application of wireless sensor networks, sensor nodes must be inexpensive, small, light-weight, intelligent and autonomous. This paper presents a review of low-power always-on wake-up detectors used to reduce a sensor node’s power consumption and enable continuous detection of sparse events. We describe the wake-up concept, discuss its advantages and present the wake-up detector’s power consumption, detection accuracy and false positive rate as parameters of interest. We present a state-of-the-art analysis of wake-up detectors, grouping them based on their power consumption into zero-power and near-zero-power detectors and active detectors, which we further separate based on their implementation into digital detectors and mixed-signal and analog detectors. This analysis shows state-of-the-art wake-up detectors operate with detection accuracy over 90% and a wide range of power consumptions, spanning from a few nW to few tens of $\mu \text{W}$ , because of their diverse applications and sensor modalities. Additionally, it shows that active mixed-signal wake-up detectors are currently the most utilized implementation, with emphasis on acoustic transducer modality. It also shows potential trends for future detector design utilizing more MEMS and NEMS to further lower detector power consumption. We also show techniques and ideas not yet integrated in the wake-up concept, to potentially improve the wake-up detector concept and present the wake-up detectors’ common applications and their specifics.
GC0146: development of co-ordinated in situ and ex situ UK farm animal genetic resources conservation strategy and implementation guidance

Executive Summary The need for the project arises from the UK Government’s international commitments to the conservation and sustainable utilization of its farm animal genetic resources (FAnGR). This report complements the other elements of the project, which have focused on background policy and specific issues of animal identification and traceability. Its aims are • To review current activities in UK FAnGR breeding and conservation; • To generate a best practice document for stakeholders and policy makers. Breeding plans “The selective breeding of livestock in order to meet commercial requirements” 1. Breeding plans operate within political, economic and scientific-technical contexts and these are reviewed; 2. UK livestock are in the private sector and while decisions are made by individual breeders, who also own the information necessary to assess the genetic consequences, but the UK Government is responsible internationally for the effects of these decisions on FAnGR; 3. Breeding plans that fail to take account of genetic conservation can lead to genetic improvement in the traits under selection being accompanied by the avoidable loss of genetic variation in other traits which may be of value either now or in the future, as has been observed in the breeding of commercial dairy cattle; 4. A practical investigation of native mainstream and at-risk breeds, using new data and methods, has shown how breeding plans and conservation strategies coexist; 5. Methodologies developed for the planning and monitoring of breeding plans can readily be adapted to perform the same functions in conservation strategies. Conservation strategies “The planned mating of livestock in order to retain breed genetic variation” 1. The contexts of FAnGR conservation, and the relevant stakeholders, are reviewed, with the role of breed societies being considered in detail; 2. Conservation strategies must take account of the desire of many owners of at-risk breeds to develop their breeds along commercial lines; 3. New research is reported showing that while genetic variation is, in general, being conserved, there are important areas where particular attention is needed; 4. Ex situ conservation (principally, the storage of frozen semen) is reviewed and found to compare favourably with what is practised elsewhere in Europe, except in the case of poultry; 5. Emergent issues are highlighted, notably the conservation of traditional segments within commercial breeds and of poultry in general; 6. New research is reported on the monitoring of genetic variation by means of demographic variables, for breeds where computational approaches cannot be applied. Best practice guidance Best Practice Guidance is presented and the principles explained. The Guidance, which is for breeders, breed societies and the UK Government, is also available as a separate document.
The Effect of First Language Transfer on Second Language Acquisition and Learning: From Contrastive Analysis to Contemporary Neuroimaging

The effect of first language transfer on second language acquisition and learning has been a major theoretical concept in second language research and pedagogy since the 1950s. In order to give a historical perspective, the authors offer a brief presentation of some of the major topics from the broad spectrum of issues that have been examined by the applied linguistics research community during the past six decades and some significant developments in neuroimaging and cognitive science that have allowed researchers to investigate the role that first language plays in transfer to second language during neural activity and cognitive processing. The paper concludes with some pedagogical implications for second language instructors.
Scaling of spatio-temporal variations of taxi travel routes

The importance of understanding human mobility patterns has led many studies to examine their spatial-temporal scaling laws. These studies mainly reveal that human travel can be highly non-homogeneous with power-law scaling distributions of distances and times. However, investigating and quantifying the extent of variability in time and space when traveling the same air distance has not been addressed so far. Using taxi data from five large cities, we focus on several novel measures of distance and time to explore the spatio-temporal variations of taxi travel routes relative to their typical routes during peak and nonpeak periods. To compare all trips using a single measure, we calculate the distributions of the ratios between actual travel distances and the average travel distance as well as between actual travel times and the average travel time for all origin destinations during peak and nonpeak periods. In this way, we measure the scaling of the distribution of all single trip paths with respect to their mean trip path. Our results surprisingly demonstrate very broad distributions for both the distance ratio and time ratio, characterized by a long-tail power-law distribution. Moreover, all analyzed cities have larger exponents in peak hours than in nonpeak hours. We suggest that the interesting results of shorter trip lengths and times, characterized by larger exponents during rush hours, are due to the higher availability of travelers during rush hours. Thus, drivers are more motivated to shorten their trips in order to take new passengers in rush hours compared to non-rush hours. We also find a high correlation between distances and times, and the correlation is lower during peak hours than during nonpeak hours. The reduced correlations can be understood as follows. Due to the high availability of passengers in peak periods more drivers choose long distances to save time compared to nonpeak periods. Furthermore, we employed an indeterminate traffic assignment model, which supports our finding of the power-law distribution of the distance ratio and time ratio for human mobility. Our results can help to assess traffic conditions within cities and provide guidance for urban traffic management.
Attempted suicide of two confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infected patients in an isolation facility and recommendations to prevent COVID-19 suicides: a case report

COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our way of life and continue to exert significant psychological impact. A surge in suicide has been associated with all previous major epidemics and pandemics. The suicide rate associated with COVID-19 pandemic would continue increasing if urgent measures are not put in place. We report two cases of attempted suicide among confirmed COVID-19 patients. The first case is a 30-year-old nurse who attempted suicide in an isolation facility and the second case is a 43-year-old male who travelled with his wife and a trusted friend from Burkina-Faso to Ghana to access haemodialysis care for his wife in a COVID-19 pandemic era. Unfortunately, the couple tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection. We discussed interventions to prevent suicide in treatment facilities. We recommend psychological assessment and counselling for all COVID-19 patients. We also recommend social interaction among patients in the isolation or treatment centres, and active management of COVID-19 related stigma and misinformation. Screening for means of suicide should be conducted in treatment facilities. Pre-test and post-test counselling are essential interventions. Also, telemedicine, telephone calls, computer assisted psychotherapy, mobile applications, self-guided digital interventions have been identified as effective tools for administering psychotherapeutic interventions to COVID-19 patients particularly in instances where face-to-face may not be possible.
A Brief Update on the Challenges and Prospects for Goat Production in Mexico

Simple Summary Today, globally, there is a need for animal protein products. Goats are a viable option as they can transform feed to high-quality foods. In Mexico, information on goat production is scarce and documenting goat production challenges and future perspectives could be of great value, not only for Latin America, but also for international players—including those from farms, industry, and academia. The main challenges are correlated at different levels, where economic, social, and environmental issues are mixed and are closely associated with goat health and welfare. Newly available farming technologies could be an option that should be explored. Mexican goat farming systems will need to look at animal, social, and environmental factors to promote sustainable production systems. Abstract In Mexico, information on goat production is scarce and documenting goat production challenges and future perspectives could be of great value, not only for Latin America, but also for international players—including those from farms, industry, and academia. Therefore, the objective of this review is to provide current knowledge on goat production systems in Mexico and discuss current challenges and future perspectives for this animal production sector. In Mexico, more than 70% of goats are produced under extensive production systems in arid and semi-arid areas and roughly 25% are produced in intensive or semi-intensive systems. Main breeds are French Alpine, Saanen, Toggenburg, LaMancha, Nubian, Boer, and their crosses. The main challenges are correlated at different levels, where economic, social, and environmental issues are mixed and are closely associated with goat health and welfare. Newly available farming technologies could be an option that should be explored. Mexican goat farming systems will need to look at the animal, social, and environmental factors to promote sustainable production systems.
Participatory farmer research and exploring the phytobiome: Next steps for agricultural productivity growth

Agriculture and food systems must provide nutrition and agricultural products for nearly 10 billion people by 2050. Agriculture is a powerful economic driver, and by prioritizing agricultural productivity and innovation, food systems can become more resilient and improve the wider economy while generating employment. Yet, powerful solutions and approaches are needed that must move beyond “low-hanging fruit” when investing in low-income country agriculture systems. As part of the solution, we discuss innovations such as participatory research models from the International Potato Center (CIP) as well as how to unlock and harness existing plant genetics through the phytobiome.
Does ETF activity reduce stock price volatility—Evidence from the A-share market

ABSTRACT The scale of global exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has shown an explosive growth trend; however, research on the impact of ETF activity on the stock market is still in its infancy. While ETFs increase the volatility of the U.S. stock market, there is scant literature on the impact of ETF activity on the volatility of the emerging A-share market. Owing to the large differences in the institutional and investor structure of the A-share market, will there be significant differences in the impact of ETFs on the volatility of the A-share market? This study found that ETF activity significantly reduced idiosyncratic volatility but increased systemic volatility. Since the decrease in idiosyncratic volatility was greater than the increase in systemic volatility, the overall volatility showed a downward trend. Further research on the impact mechanism showed that the idiosyncratic volatility of the A-share market was positively correlated with noise information. ETF activity reduced idiosyncratic volatility by reducing the noise information. Systematic volatility was positively correlated with faster information integration speed. ETF activity improved systematic volatility by improving information integration speed. This study elucidated the impact of ETF activity on stock price volatility under different market backgrounds.