Effect of rollover risk on default risk: evidence from bank financing

We study the effect of rollover risk on the risk of default using a comprehensive database of U.S. industrial firms during 1986–2013. Dependence on bank financing is the key driver of the impact of rollover risk on default risk. Default risk and rollover risk present a significant positive relation in firms dependent on bank financing. In contrast, rollover risk is uncorrelated with default probability in the case of firms that do not rely on bank financing. Our measure of rollover risk is the amount of long-term debt maturing in one year, weighted by total assets. In the case of a firm that depends on bank financing, an increase of one standard deviation in this measure leads to a significant increase of 3.2% in its default probability within one year. Other drivers affecting the interaction between rollover risk and default risk are whether a firm suffers from declining profitability and has poor credit. Additionally, rollover risk's impact on default probability is stronger during periods when credit market conditions are tighter

Parametric and non-parametric estimation of extreme earthquake event: the joint tail inference for mainshocks and aftershocks

In an earthquake event, the combination of a strong mainshock and damaging aftershocks is often the cause of severe structural damages and/or high death tolls. The objective of this paper is to provide estimation for the probability of such extreme events where the mainshock and the largest aftershocks exceed certain thresholds. Two approaches are illustrated and compared -- a parametric approach based on previously observed stochastic laws in earthquake data, and a non-parametric approach based on bivariate extreme value theory. We analyze the earthquake data from the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) in Turkey during 1965-2018 and show that the two approaches provide unifying results

One-class models for validation of miRNAs and ERBB2 gene interactions based on sequence features for breast cancer scenarios

One challenge in miRNA–genes–diseases interaction studies is that it is challenging to find labeled data that indicate a positive or negative relationship between miRNA and genes. The use of one-class classification methods shows a promising path for validating them. We have applied two one-class classification methods, Isolation Forest and One-class SVM, to validate miRNAs interactions with the ERBB2 gene present in breast cancer scenarios using features extracted via sequence-binding. We found that the One-class SVM outperforms the Isolation Forest model, with values of sensitivity of 80.49% and a specificity of 86.49% showing results that are comparable to previous studies. Additionally, we have demonstrated that the use of features extracted from a sequence-based approach (considering miRNA and gene sequence binding characteristics) and one-class models have proven to be a feasible method for validating these genetic molecule interactions

Investigation of a Side-polished Fiber MZI and Its Sensing Performance

A novel all-fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI), which consists of lateral core fusion splicing of a short section of side-polished single mode fiber (SMF) between two SMFs was proposed and demonstrated. A simple fiber side-polished platform was built to control the side polished depth through a microscope. The sensitivity of the fiber MZI structure to the surrounding refractive index (RI) can be greatly improved with the increase of the side-polished depth, but has no effect on the temperature sensitivity. The sensor with a polished depth of 44.2 μm measured RI sensitivity up to -118.0 nm/RIU (RI unit) in the RI range from 1.333 to 1.387, which agrees well with simulation results by using the beam propagation method (BPM). In addition, the fiber MZI structure also can achieve simultaneous measurement of both RI and temperature. These results show its potential for use in-line fiber type sensing application

Energy requirement for maintenance of growing and adult male lesser mouse deer (Tragulus javanicus) in captivity.

A study was conducted to determine the energy requirement for maintenance of eight lesser mouse deer, consisting of four growing males (6–8 months of age) with average body weight of 1.4 ± 0.2 kg and four adult males (>2 years of age) with average body weight of 1.6 ± 0.2 kg. The animals were from the colony reared at the Department of Animal Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia. The experiment was based on a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement in Latin-Square design. The animals were kept in single pens and fed with different levels of feed (70%, 80%, 90% and 100% of ad libitum intake). The feed was made up of 95% pellet and 5% ‘kangkong’ (Ipomoea aquatica) leaves. The energy requirement for maintenance was determined by using the regression equations between metabolisable energy intake and energy retention or body weight change. Energy retention was calculated as the difference between metabolisable energy intake and heat production. The results showed that the metabolisable energy requirements for maintenance when calculated based on energy retention were 420.1 and 422.9 kJ kg−0.75 d−1 for growing and adult mouse deer, respectively, and when calculated based on weight change the values were 435.1 and 436.9 kJ kg−0.75 d−1, respectively. The efficiency of utilization of metabolisable energy for maintenance (km) for growing mouse deer was 0.58 and that for adult mouse deer was 0.54

Etiologic analysis of Chinese patients with agranulocytosis and hematopathies infected with resistant bacteria: Antibacterial effect of tigecycline

Purpose: To assess the etiologic characteristics of resistant bacterial infections occurring in agranulocytosis patients with hematopathies, and to determine the effect of tigecycline (TGC).Methods: After ineffective treatment with carbapenem, all of the patients were divided into the following three groups: TGC alone (15 cases); TGC as initial treatment, followed by a combination with other antibiotics (40 cases); and TGC in combination with other antibiotics from the start of treatment (71 cases).Results: Among the 126 patients, 108 had fevers (85.71 %). The most common infection site was lung, accounting for 71.43 % of all infections. A total of 52 pathogens were isolated from 126 hospitalized patients, including 38 Gram-negative bacteria (70.37 %), 14 Gram-positive bacteria (25.93 %), and 2 fungi (3.70 %). TGC treatment efficacy was 50.79 %. There were no statistically significant differences between the three treatment groups (p = 0.473). Adverse drug reaction was nausea and vomiting (14.29 %), nausea without vomiting (11.90 %), diarrhea (6.35 %), and generalized skin rash with itching (3.17 %).Conclusion: TGC is effective in treating neutropenic patients with hematopathies who are infected with resistant bacteria. The side effects of TGC are few; thus, TGC is safe and generally well-tolerated.Keywords: Tigecycline, Agranulocytosis, Resistant bacteria, Hematopathy, Neutropenic patient

Pedagogical Description of Compliment-Response Exchanges in a British Context for Chinese EFL Learners

In this study I reviewed and considered the main issues about the multi-functional speech act of complimenting behaviour and compliment responses. I conducted a small-scaled conversational analysis with the elicitation of discourse completion tests. From the responses of the discourse completion tests I identified the preferred response strategies of NSs of British English and consider the variables of power and distance in the styles of talking. Besides, the preferred follow-up of different compliment responses are discovered and exemplified with linear flow charts and examples. Based on the “authentic” material I retrieved from DCTs and conventional teaching pedagogies, I devised some exercises that stimulate learner’s consciousness of the cross-cultural differences and language appropriateness. A meaning-crossed activity and language forms exercises are also included into the supplementary material

Novel Microfiber Sensor and Its Biosensing Application for Detection of hCG Based on a Singlemode-Tapered Hollow Core-Singlemode Fiber Structure

A novel microfiber sensor is proposed and demonstrated based on a singlemode-tapered hollow core -singlemode (STHS) fiber structure. Experimentally a STHS with taper waist diameter of 26.5 μm has been fabricated and RI sensitivity of 816, 1601.86, and 4775.5 nm/RIU has been achieved with RI ranges from 1.3335 to 1.3395 , from 1.369 to 1.378, and from 1.409 to 1.4175 respectively, which agrees very well with simulated RI sensitivity of 885, 1517, and 4540 nm/RIU at RI ranges from 1.3335 to 1.337, from 1.37 to 1.374, and from 1.41 to 1.414 . The taper waist diameter has impact on both temperature and strain sensitivity of the sensor structure: (1) the smaller the waist diameter, the higher the temperature sensitivity, and experimentally 26.82 pm/°C has been achieved with a taper waist diameter of 21.4 μm; (2) as waist diameter decrease, strain sensitivity increase and 7.62 pm/με has been achieved with a taper diameter of 20.3 μm. The developed sensor was then functionalized for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) detection as an example for biosensing application. Experimentally for hCG concentration of 5 mIU/ml, the sensor has 0.5 nm wavelength shift, equivalent to limit of detection (LOD) of 0.6 mIU/ml by defining 3 times of the wavelength variation (0.06 nm) as measurement limit. The biosensor demonstrated relatively good reproducibility and specificity, which has potential for real medical diagnostics and other applications

Finite amplitude wave propagation through bubbly fluids

The existence of only a few bubbles could drastically reduce the acoustic wave speed in a liquid. Wood's equation models the linear sound speed, while the speed of an ideal shock waves is derived as a function of the pressure ratio across the shock. The common finite amplitude waves lie, however, in between these limits. We show that in a bubbly medium, the high frequency components of finite amplitude waves are attenuated and dissipate quickly, but a low frequency part remains. This wave is then transmitted by the collapse of the bubbles and its speed decreases with increasing void fraction. We demonstrate that the linear and the shock wave regimes can be smoothly connected through a Mach number based on the collapse velocity of the bubbles