Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the Behaviour and Determinants of Risk-Based Capital Ratios: Revisiting the Evidence from UK Banking Institutions

Using bank-level panel data from the United Kingdom, this paper investigates the factors that influence banking institutions' choice of risk-based capital ratios. Special focus is placed on evaluating whether and how institutions respond to changes in regulatory capital requirements and if these responses vary across the economic cycle. This issue is of particular interest to policymakers that rely on capital regulation in conjunction with other supervisory tools to affect bank behaviours and maintain market confidence and financial stability more broadly. The paper also explores the extent to which UK banks’ capital management practices were procyclical under Basel I. Understanding whether such practices existed under this less risk-sensitive (and potentially, less procyclical) regulatory capital regime is a useful first step towards determining if banks, in their capital management practices, consider swings in economic conditions on their capital positions and lending capacities, which may, in turn, impact on the severity and duration of such economic cycles.We find a statistically significant association between banks' risk-based capital ratios and individual capital requirements set by regulators in the UK. We also find that the rate at which banks respond to changing capital requirements depends significantly on certain characteristics of the bank (e.g., size, exposure to market discipline, nearness to regulatory threshold) as well as the direction of the economic cycle. We find a (marginally statistically significant) negative association between capital ratios and the economic cycle, but no association when we focus only on the largest banks in the UK, suggesting that systemically important banks tend to maintain risk-based capital ratios over the cycle (although we note that this finding is based on a sample period which does not contain a significant downturn). Further, we note a positive association between capital ratios and capital quality, suggesting that reliance on capital with relatively higher adjustment costs (e.g., tier 1 capital) may raise the profile of that consideration in capital management practices and lead cost-minimizing banks to maintain higher total risk-based capital ratios overall. Finally, we find a positive marginal effect of market discipline on total risk-based capital ratios held by UK banks. We interpret this result as suggesting that banks mitigate expected market reactions (e.g., on their funding costs or ability to access certain capital markets activities) to their business decisions by holding higher capital ratios.
Phrenic neuropathy due to neuralgic amyotrophy

Objective: To investigate the cytokine-related molecular cascade leading to neural cell death in periventricular leukomalacia (PVL). Methods: The authors explored potential tumor necrosis factor (TNF ) signaling pathways in human brains with PVL and conducted in situ immunohistochemical investigations to search for possible expression of cytokine receptors in these brains. They also investigated likely links to molecules potentially involved in neurocytotoxicity, particularly pathways involving nitrosative-induced apoptosis. Results: TNF overexpression was associated with immune reactivity for p75TNF R2 and p55TNF R1 receptors in affected PVL areas. p75TNF R2 labeling was intense on cerebrovascular endothelial cells in PVL areas, whereas no vascular p55TNF R1 immunoreactivity was detected therein. Immune labeling for both receptors was detected on many white matter parenchymal cells. In contrast, there was no immune reactivity for either receptor in tissues taken from non-PVL areas. Additionally, in situ overexpression of inducible nitric oxide synthase was found in PVL brain regions where apoptotic cell death was detected. Conclusions: Both p75TNF R2 and p55TNF R1 receptors and nitric oxide may be implicated in the pathogenesis of periventricular
Evaluation of Long-Term Quality of Life Using the Foot and Ankle Outcome Score (FAOS) Questionnaire in Patients Treated by Minimally Invasive Reduction and Percutaneous Stabilization of Intra-Articular Calcaneal Fractures

Background Treatment of displaced intra-articular calcaneal fractures is controversial. Choosing the optimal surgical technique is very important for patient quality of life and activity. In this study, we asked the question: “What is the long-term quality of life of patients after intra-articular calcaneal fractures treated by minimally invasive reduction and percutaneous stabilization (MIRPS)? ”. Material/Methods We included 51 patients – 45 males (88%) and 6 females (12%) – who underwent MIRPS of intra-articular calcaneal fractures. The males were ages 22–63 years, with a mean age of 46 years, while the females were aged 31–63, with a mean age of 47 years. The FAOS (Foot and Ankle Outcome Score) survey was used. Results Women’s FAOS scores were 72–95%, with a mean of 82%, and varied according to type of fracture, surgery method used, and comorbid fractures. Men’s FAOS scores were 50–95%, with a mean of 84%, and varied according to type of fracture, surgery method used, and comorbid fractures. Conclusions According to set criteria regarding the FAOS scale, mainly good and very good results were observed in patients treated surgically for intra-articular calcaneus fractures using MIRPS. Westhues’ method scored a significantly higher foot rating than W-R (Westhues’-Rąpała method). Patients with TTF (tongue-type fracture) scored higher in the FAOS than patients treated with JDTF (joint depression-type fracture). In other cases, no significant differences were observed.
Effects of broad-spectrum fertilizers on human picornaviruses

The presence of disease-causing microorganisms (viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa) on farmlands poses a serious threat to public health. Pathogens can cause surface water contamination by many processes, such as runoff, groundwater contamination through leaching, and food contamination through direct contact or irrigation with contaminated water. This is a critical national issue because of the widespread agricultural use of manures/biosolids, the growing problem of emerging viral diseases, and the limited research base on interactions between viruses in water with soils and food crops. It has been estimated that nearly 80 million dry tons of solid manure are generated annually by the beef, dairy, swine, and poultry industries in the U.S. Land application remains by far the most common and economic method to beneficially re-use these by-products of animal production. Properly treated manure is an effective and safe fertilizer, but untreated or improperly treated manure may contain pathogens that can reach fresh produce in the field, nearby surface waters and leach to ground waters; it is these affected waters that will be used for irrigation and for pesticide applications. Although viruses are not the only pathogens of concern, they are much smaller in size than other enteric pathogens, and can move better through the subsurface. Viruses also tend to survive longer than bacteria and protozoa in the environment and therefore pose greater threats for groundwater and produce contamination. Furthermore, viruses have been shown to be responsible for approximately 80% of waterborne disease outbreaks for which infectious agents were identifiable and 75% of the estimated cases of foodborne illness.
Marine crustacean farming: present status and perspectives

Resume Laubier A. , L. Laubier. Aquat. Living Resour. , 1993, 6, 319-329. For centuries, several species of prawns and crabs have been raised from wild-caught juveniles in coastal brackish-water fish ponds in various countries of south east Asia. The Indonesian "tambaks" are well known examples of such traditional practices. In western countries, since the turn of the century, advances of marine biology and fast increase of marine fisheries enabled the development of large-scale production and release of larval stages of Amencan and European lobsters in a fruitless attempt to restock natural populations. After the Second World War, the increasing demand for crustaceans in United States and Japan was satisfied by opening new prawn fisheries al1 over the world. A major breakthrough was achieved with the development of hatchery technologies for the penaeid prawn Penaeus japonicus (Hudinaga, 1942 in Japan) and the caridean prawn Macrohrachium rosenbergii (Ling, 1969 in Malaysia), which occurred during the first decades of the second half of this century. Together with the increasing market demand in developed countries for sea food, this led to a considerable interest of both public agencies and pnvate investors in marine shrimp and prawn culture. In western countries, a large number of pioneering commercial ventures, often based on assumptions not scientifically founded, failed. Nevertheless, the aquaculture production of prawns mainly based on wild-caught juveniles increased in South-East Asia and Central America during the 1980s. This overall positive trend should not hide important failures which occurred at a local scale, such as the Taiwanese crisis of 1988 due principally to environmental degradation, resulting in severe disease problems and a near collapse of the farming activity. Following the early period of hatchery technology development, the major scientific achievements were related to food requirements and formulation of compound diets for larvae, juveniles and adults and to a better knowledge of diseases caused by bacteria and several viruses which have been identified from hatcheries and intensive farming ponds. Additional new technological advances have emerged from recent research in the fields of physiology (endocrinology) and genetics. By far, the major part of the world production of marine crustaceans relies on penaeid prawns and, to a lesser extent, on Macrobrachiurn species. However, some other species of marine crustaceans have potential for aquaculture. The economic aspects of marine crustacean aquaculture should be considered together with those of the fishing industry: market prices are rather similar, depending on the quality of the product. The balance between market demand and production is an important constraint which, in tum, establishes the success of prawn farming. Since the early 1980s, crustacean aquaculture has increased tremendously in both Asia and America: the world production for 1991 approximated 700,000 tons, with more than 600,000 tons from penaeid prawn culture.
Genetic transformation of the tropical forage legume Stylosanthes guianensis with a rice-chitinase gene confers resistance to Rhizoctonia foliar blight disease

Stylosanthes guianensis is a diverse tropical and subtropical forage legume of great potential. Foliar blight disease, caused by Rhizoctonia solani AG-1, can be a significant constraint to the legume’s production in some areas. The pathogen has a broad range of host plant species, and can survive as sclerotia for long periods in soil or plant debris. No sources of resistance in Stylosanthes are known. Cost-effective disease management strategies are, therefore, needed for this host-pathogen system. Chitinases, which catalyze the hydrolysis of the β-1,4 linkages of the N-acetyl-D-glucosamine polymer chitin of fungal cell walls, are expressed in plants in response to infections by pathogens and some abiotic stresses. In this study, a basic chitinase-encoding gene, isolated from rice, was introduced into the widely distributed S. guianensis accession CIAT 184, using Agrobacterium tumefaciens. A 1.1-kb rice genomic DNA fragment containing the chitinase gene was cloned into a transformation vector, pCAMBIA2301. The vector carried the CaMV 35S promoter, the neomycin phosphotransferase (nptII) gene and the gusA reporter gene. The presence of the chitinase gene in transgenic Stylosanthes plants was determined by dot blot analysis. Transgenic plants expressed higher levels of resistance to R. solani than did control plants. Progenies of a selfed transgenic plant showed segregation for resistance at a ratio of 3:1.
AN EOQ MODEL FOR DETERIORATING ITEMS WITH TIME-DEPENDENT EXPONENTIAL DEMAND RATE AND PENALTY COST

The present paper deals with an EOQ model for deteriorating items with time-dependent exponential demand rate and partial backlogging. Shortages are allowed and completely backlogged in this model. The backlogging rate of unsatisfied demand is assumed as a function of waiting time. The concept of penalty cost is introduced in the proposed model because there are many perishable products that do not deteriorate for some period of time and after that period they continuously deteriorate and lose their values. This loss can be incurred as penalty cost to the wholesalers/retailers. In any business organization, the penalty cost has an important role for special types of seasonal products and short life products. Therefore, the total cost of the product can be reduced by maximizing the demand rate and minimizing the penalty cost during a given period of time. The purpose of our study is to optimise the total variable inventory cost. A numerical example is also given to show the applicability of the developed model.
Herb-Derived Products: Natural Tools to Delay and Counteract Stem Cell Senescence

Cellular senescence plays a very important role in organismal aging increasing with age and in age-related diseases (ARDs). This process involves physiological, structural, biochemical, and molecular changes of cells, leading to a characteristic trait referred to “senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). ” In particular, with aging, stem cells (SCs) in situ exhibit a diminished capacity of self-renewal and show a decline in their functionality. The identification of interventions able to prevent the accumulation of senescent SCs in the organism or to pretreat cultured multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) prior to employing them for cell therapy is a main purpose of medical research. Many approaches have been investigated and resulted effective to prevent or counteract SC senescence in humans, as well as other animal models. In this work, we have reviewed the chance of using a number of herb-derived products as novel tools in the treatment of cell senescence, highlighting the efficacy of these agents, often still far from being clearly understood.
Validez de contenido de lineamientos de ejercicio físico para mujeres embarazadas

Introducción: La prescripción del ejercicio físico en mujeres embarazadas es una de las recomendaciones que mayores beneficios fisiológicos y psicosociales trae a la mujer y al niño. Objetivo: Determinar la validez de contenido del documento lineamientos de ejercicio físico para mujeres embarazadas 2018. Método: Estudio descriptivo. Valoración de contenido del documento “Lineamientos de ejercicio físico en mujeres embarazadas” con la técnica de juicio de expertos”. Resultados: se encontró un índice Kappa para la suficiencia y claridad con un grado de concordancia de 0,59 (moderado); para coherencia y relevancia un grado de concordancia 0,67 y 0,77 (sustancial), para pertinencia un grado de concordancia de 0,83 (casi perfecto). Conclusiones: El documento “Lineamientos de ejercicio físico en mujeres embarazadas” es válido para ser aplicado por profesionales de fisioterapia dedicados a la atención de población gestante. Los profesionales contarán con una herramienta basada en evidencia científica que incluye una fase de examen y una fase de intervención.
Fitness or Optimal Physical Condition - Conceptual Delimitation

In the elaboration of the paper, we started from the hypothesis that the definition of the fitness concept is important in order to determine then t[he objectives of the activity based on the use of its specific means. Following the elaboration of the theoretical study, we found that there are several opinions regarding fitness, which are explained by the different perspectives of approaching the concept, by the particularities of the socio-cultural evolution of contemporary societies, by the practices and policies thought for each cultural space, determined by standards of living, standards, but also by economic, social and cultural interdependencies. In this context, we have also been interested in the perception of the term in the Romanian space In our approach we will go from the statements of some authors like Celeste Ulrich [48, 49] who defined Physical Fitness as: "the ability of the human body to function with force and liveliness, without exaggerated fatigue, with enough energy to enjoy leisure activities and to prevent physical stress. Muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance and vigor are the visible signs of physical condition”
Genome-Wide Analysis of Nubian Ibex Reveals Candidate Positively Selected Genes That Contribute to Its Adaptation to the Desert Environment

Simple Summary The Nubian ibex is a wild relative of the domestic goat found in hot deserts of Northern Africa and Arabia. The domestic goat is an important livestock species that is mainly found in arid and semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia. The Nubian ibex is well adapted to challenging environments in hot deserts characterized by high diurnal temperatures, intense solar radiation, and scarce water resources. It is therefore important to understand the genetic basis of its adaptation for scientific and economic importance. To identify genes with adaptive traits, the Nubian ibex genome was sequenced and compared with that of related mammals. We identified twenty-five genes under selection in the Nubian ibex that play diverse biological roles such as immune response, visual development, signal transduction, and reproduction. Three other genes under adaptive evolution involved in protective functions of the skin against damaging solar radiation in the desert were identified in Nubian ibex genome. Our finding provides valuable genomic insights into the adaptation of Nubian ibex to desert environments. The genomic information generated in this study can be used in developing appropriate breeding programs aimed at enhancing adaptation of local goats to less favorable habitats in response to changing climates. Abstract The domestic goat (Capra hircus) is an important livestock species with a geographic range spanning all continents, including arid and semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia. The Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana), a wild relative of the domestic goat inhabiting the hot deserts of Northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, is well-adapted to challenging environments in hot deserts characterized by intense solar radiation, thermal extremes, and scarce water resources. The economic importance of C. hircus breeds, as well as the current trends of global warming, highlights the need to understand the genetic basis of adaptation of C. nubiana to the desert environments. In this study, the genome of a C. nubiana individual was sequenced at an average of 37x coverage. Positively selected genes were identified by comparing protein-coding DNA sequences of C. nubiana and related species using dN/dS statistics. A total of twenty-two positively selected genes involved in diverse biological functions such as immune response, protein ubiquitination, olfactory transduction, and visual development were identified. In total, three of the twenty-two positively selected genes are involved in skin barrier development and function (ATP binding cassette subfamily A member 12, Achaete-scute family bHLH transcription factor 4, and UV stimulated scaffold protein A), suggesting that C. nubiana has evolved skin protection strategies against the damaging solar radiations that prevail in deserts. The positive selection signatures identified here provide new insights into the potential adaptive mechanisms to hot deserts in C. nubiana.
Phytoremediation - a green technology adapted to eradication of harmful heavy toxic metals from contaminated soil

Phytoremediation is an alternative technology which makes use of biological processes for detoxifying the harmful pollutants in the environment. Rapid increase of industrialization and various other factors such as agricultural activities, the excessive use of fertilizers, untreated waste, and untreated laboratory effluents lead to degradation of soil as well as environment. The heavy toxic metals plays major role because these are basically crucial for development of plants. These are generally take part in various reduction and oxidation reactions, elementary role in metabolisms of nucleic acids, electrons transferring as a direct participant and being a fundamental part of some essential enzymes. The presence at a minimum threshold amount of these heavy toxic metals in a normal growing medium is vital, but excessive high amount lead to numerous lethal effects. Hence, it becomes our foremost duty towards sustainable development goals to eradicate the toxic harmful metal ions. Certain physical and chemical technologies are used to eradicate such toxins, but due to certain limitations, natural method is preferred which is plants-based technology for eradication of noxious heavy metals from contaminated soil. This technology used from last two decades to solve the problem of eradication of harmful metal ions through plants metabolic pathway in sustainable, environment friendly way. The plants which are used as phytoremediator are generally hyperaccumulators, that can accumulate metal ions in concentration of more than 1000ppm and they must have certain properties such as branched root system, less biomass, easy harvestable. This review article focuses on the sources, harmful effects and various technologies to eradicate heavy metals by using hyperaccumulating plants.
Water Use Efficiency: A Review of Contextual and Behavioral Factors

Water withdrawals around the world have increased almost twice as fast as the population during the last century. Higher than expected water demand is leading to water scarcity and causing rapid depletion of water tables around the world. One reason behind the higher than expected demand is the inefficient use of water. Inefficient use of water affects the well-being of society, the economic stability of countries, and environmental health. Indeed, water use efficiency (WUE) is one of the pillars of sustainable development goals (SDG 6.4.1). However, progress toward achieving WUE is slow, especially for many developing countries where the degradation of natural resources is critical, economic growth is slow, and there are few strong institutions to coordinate actions. One reason behind inefficient water use is human behavior. A variety of contextual and psychological factors underlie the behavior. The contextual factors include socioeconomic, technical, institutional, and environmental factors and the behavioral factors include factors associated with the perception of risk, attitudes, norms, etc. Yet, few studies consider an integrated view of these factors in shaping water use behavior. This paper consolidates contextual and behavioral factors which influence water use, studies the gaps in our understanding of human water behavior underlying WUE and highlights the need to comprehensive assess and consistently measure such factors and their relationships. Based on the gaps identified, it proposes a conceptual model that connects contextual and behavioral factors and represents potential cause-effect relationships as supported by various environmental behavior approaches and psychological theories. Based on the literature review of water use, and conservation behavior, environmental psychology, and water use models, this model proposes an institutional factor to assess the relationship between institutions and stakeholders, and study contextual factors linked not only for individual water users but also studying these factors for individuals of water supply organizations.