A Lender's Vorpal Sword: Expungement Affidavits & Their Power to Void Sheriff's Sales & Revert Mortgages Back to the Homeowner

Like many Americans across the country, Michigan residents have faced a staggering number of foreclosures in the last few years.2 In 2009, Laura Buttazzoni was one of the many Michigan homeowners facing the dire reality that she was going to lose her home.3 After Buttazzoni’s failed attempt to sell her home, her bank initiated a sheriff’s sale in late 2009.4 After the statutory redemption period expired,5 Fannie Mae evicted Buttazzoni and relisted the home in 2011.6 Even though Buttazzoni’s home was foreclosed, sold at a sale, and relisted on the market—she was not done with the property. In June 2012, nearly three years after Buttazzoni’s eviction, Fannie Mae executed an “expungement affidavit,” which voided the 2009 sheriff’s sale and reverted the mortgage back to Buttazzoni’s name.

Sugarcane leaf area estimate obtained from the corrected normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)

v. 46, n. 2, p. 140-148, apr./jun. 2016.

Previsão do índice bovespa por meio de redes neurais artificiais: uma análise comparada aos métodos tradicionais de séries de tempo

Forecast is the basis for making strategic, tactical and operational business decisions. In financial economics, several techniques have been used to predict the behavior of assets over the past decades.Thus, there are several methods to assist in the task of time series forecasting, however, conventional modeling techniques such as statistical models and those based on theoretical mathematical models have produced unsatisfactory predictions, increasing the number of studies in more advanced methods of prediction. Among these, the Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) are a relatively new and promising method for predicting business that shows a technique that has caused much interest in the financial environment and has been used successfully in a wide variety of financial modeling systems applications, in many cases proving its superiority over the statistical models ARIMA-GARCH. In this context, this study aimed to examine whether the ANNs are a more appropriate method for predicting the behavior of Indices in Capital Markets than the traditional methods of time series analysis. For this purpose we developed an quantitative study, from financial economic indices, and developed two models of RNA-type feedfoward supervised learning, whose structures consisted of 20 data in the input layer, 90 neurons in one hidden layer and one given as the output layer (Ibovespa). These models used backpropagation, an input activation function based on the tangent sigmoid and a linear output function. Since the aim of analyzing the adherence of the Method of Artificial Neural Networks to carry out predictions of the Ibovespa, we chose to perform this analysis by comparing results between this and Time Series Predictive Model GARCH, developing a GARCH model (1.1).Once applied both methods (ANN and GARCH) we conducted the results' analysis by comparing the results of the forecast with the historical data and by studying the forecast errors by the MSE, RMSE, MAE, Standard Deviation, the Theil's U and forecasting encompassing tests. It was found that the models developed by means of ANNs had lower MSE, RMSE and MAE than the GARCH (1,1) model and Theil U test indicated that the three models have smaller errors than those of a naïve forecast. Although the ANN based on returns have lower precision indicator values than those of ANN based on prices, the forecast encompassing test rejected the hypothesis that this model is better than that, indicating that the ANN models have a similar level of accuracy . It was concluded that for the data series studied the ANN models show a more appropriate Ibovespa forecasting than the traditional models of time series, represented by the GARCH model

Contributo e caracterização de PM da ressuspensão rodoviária

Nos últimos anos, tem-se assistido a um crescimento no interesse do estudo da ressuspensão de pó de estrada, dado o reconhecimento da importância que esta fração representa para os níveis de partículas atmosféricas em ambiente urbano. Dada a prematuridade deste tema e, de forma a compreender e conhecer a sua contribuição e caracterização, realizou-se um estudo sobre a ressuspensão de pó de estrada urbano para as cidades do Porto e Braga. No âmbito do projeto AIRUSE e URBE, realizaram-se amostragens de PM10 no terreno com um dispositivo de amostragem móvel e em ambiente laboratorial com uma câmara de ressuspensão, sendo posteriormente analisado o seu conteúdo carbonoso por um sistema de análise termo-ótico de transmitância e, os elementos por ICP-MS e ICP-AES. Da campanha in situ resultaram cargas de PM10 compreendidas entre 0.190 e 49.5 mg.m-2 para a cidade do Porto e 0.577 mg.m-2 para o túnel rodoviário em Braga. As amostras caracterizam-se por serem dominadas pelos elementos Al, Fe, K, e Ca e conterem enriquecimentos de Sb, Fe, Cu, Sn e Zn, fruto da contaminação antropogénica da atividade rodoviária. No que respeita às amostragens em laboratório, utilizou-se uma câmara de ressuspensão e o dispositivo móvel aplicado na campanha anteriormente descrita para estudar e caracterizar a fração PM10 do pó de estrada urbano proveniente do Túnel Avenida da Liberdade (Braga). Os resultados obtidos para as duas metodologias foram de um modo geral similares, com o carbono total a representar cerca de 6% da massa total de PM10. Esta última é composta maioritariamente por Al, Fe, Ca e K, elementos característicos da crosta terrestre. Quanto ao fatores de enriquecimento calculados, denotou-se a presença de Sb, Zn, Cu e Sn, tendo-se associando ao desgaste dos travões e pneus.

Adeus Pädagogik?

Pädagogik als die Reflexionswissenschaft dieser Praxis der Erziehung und Bildung hat sich lange Zeit entsprechend darum bemüht, die relative Eigenständigkeit der pädagogischen Praxis gegenüber gesellschaftlichen Partikularinteressen auszulegen, zu begründen und zu verteidigen. Sie tat bzw. postulierte dies in der advokatorischen Zuständigkeit für das Recht der nachwachsenden Generation auf ihr Selbstsein, der pädagogisch angebahnten Verfügung über sich als Mündigkeit. Hier nun setzt die Frage an, ob – jenseits des bloßen Postulates – die Pädagogik als die Bildung eines Subjektes und die Erziehung zur Mündigkeit überhaupt noch genügend gesellschaftlich geerdet ist, damit sie als wirkmächtiger Faktor der Gestaltung und des Nachdenkens über Erziehung und Bildung bestehen kann. Gibt es diesen eigenen Geltungsbereich des Pädagogischen noch in zureichendem Maße, damit er nicht als bloß idealistische Einrede behandelt werden kann? Oder ist mit dem weltweiten Siegeszug des Neoliberalismus’ ein Maß an Kolonisierung des Pädagogischen eingetreten, das dieses nunmehr gänzlich unter das Verwertungsinteresse der Ware Arbeitskraft subsumiert werden kann? Eben: Adeus Pädagogik?! (DIPF/Orig.)

Three Essays in Empirical Asset Pricing

The financial crisis of 2007-2008 led to extraordinary government intervention in firms and markets. The scope and depth of government action rivaled that of the Great Depression. Many traded markets experienced dramatic declines in liquidity leading to the existence of conditions normally assumed to be promptly removed via the actions of profit seeking arbitrageurs. These extreme events motivate the three essays in this work. The first essay seeks and fails to find evidence of investor behavior consistent with the broad 'Too Big To Fail' policies enacted during the crisis by government agents. Only in limited circumstances, where government guarantees such as deposit insurance or U.S. Treasury lending lines already existed, did investors impart a premium to the debt security prices of firms under stress. The second essay introduces the Inflation Indexed Swap Basis (IIS Basis) in examining the large differences between cash and derivative markets based upon future U.S. inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). It reports the consistent positive value of this measure as well as the very large positive values it reached in the fourth quarter of 2008 after Lehman Brothers went bankrupt. It concludes that the IIS Basis continues to exist due to limitations in market liquidity and hedging alternatives. The third essay explores the methodology of performing debt based event studies utilizing credit default swaps (CDS). It provides practical implementation advice to researchers to address limited source data and/or small target firm sample size.

Lithostratigraphische, technologische und geochemische Untersuchungen Im Muschelkalk des Osnabrücker Berglandes

Im niedersächsischen Teil des Osnabrücker Berglands wurde der Muschelkalk lithostratigraphisch untersucht und sein Gesteinsinventar im Hinblick auf dessen Eignung für die Herstellung von Straßenbaumaterial sowie andere Nutzungsmöglichkeiten überprüft. Die methodischen Schwerpunkte lagen bei der Aufschluß-Bearbeitung, der Ermittlung technologischer Kennwerte nach den einschlägigen Prüf-Vorschriften für Straßenbaustoffe und der Bestimmung der durchschnittlichen geochemischen Zusammensetzung von Teilschichtfolgen mittels RFA-Analysen. Durch geologische Aufnahme und Korrelation von zahlreichen Tagesaufschlüssen und zwei Kernbohrungen gelang es, eine detaillierte lithostratigraphische Regionalgliederung des ca. 80 m mächtigen Unteren Muschelkalks für den Raum Osnabrück zu erarbeiten. Eine von DUCHROW & GROETZNER (1984) publizierte lithostratigraphische Gliederung des Oberen Muschelkalks (ca. 60 m mächtig) im Arbeitsgebiet erwies sich als nachvollziehbar und wird auch in Gamma- Ray-Logs aus Bohrungen deutlich. Die Interpretation der geologischen Befunde ergab, daß die 1ithofaziellen Voraussetzungen für den Hartsteinabbau im Oberen Muschelkalk am günstigsten im Raum SW Osnabrücks sind. Nach den Ergebnissen der technologischen Untersuchungen sind nicht nur die zur Zeit bereits im Abbau stehenden, dickbankigen, sehr karbonatreichen Einschaltungen in den Oberen Muschelkalk (Haupt-Trochitenkalk, Terebratelkalk) für die Herstellung von Straßenbaumaterial geeignet, sondern mit einigen Einschränkungen auch der hierfür bisher nicht genutzte Untere Muschelkalk und die Gelben Basisschichten (Oberer Muschelkalk). Der Abbau und Einsatz dieses Gesteinsmaterials im Straßen- und Wegebau kann einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Streckung der nur noch geringen Vorräte an hochwertigem Kalkstein liefern. Die Gesteine des Unteren Muschelkalks und der Gelben Basisschichten (Oberer Muschelkalk) sind darüber hinaus aufgrund ihrer geochemischen Zusammensetzung ein gutes Rohmaterial für die Herstellung von "Kohlensaurem Kalk" und "Kohlensaurem Magnesiumkalk". Diese Produkte werden in zunehmendem Maße in der Forst- und Landwirtschaft eingesetzt, um durch saure Niederschläge hervorgerufene Vegetationsschäden zu begrenzen.

Sistema de recomendación de contenidos audiovisuales: Algoritmo de inferencia semántica

Este artículo presenta el análisis de un Algoritmo de Inferencia Semántica utilizado en un Sistema de Recomendación de Contenidos Audiovisuales en el contexto de la Televisión Digital. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que la inclusión de diferentes propiedades semánticas y sus combinaciones, influye directamente en la reducción del error absoluto promedio obtenido en la predicción de la calificación otorgada por un usuario a un ítem determinado. Además se ha determinado que la propiedad Actor tiene un impacto mayor con respecto a otras propiedades analizadas.

Otimização da extração de ergosterol assistida por microondas a partir de Agaricus bisporus L., aplicando a técnica estatística de superfície e resposta combinada com a técnica de HPLC-UV

O aumento de consumo de cogumelos tem-se verificado em todo o mundo, não só pelo seu valor nutricional, sabor apurado e textura, mas também pelas suas propriedades medicinais. Existem vários estudos científicos que descrevem os benefícios do consumo de cogumelos, que advêm da sua riqueza em compostos bioativos, tais como micosteróis, em particular, ergosterol. Agaricus bisporus L. é o cogumelo mais consumido em todo o mundo, sendo a sua fração de esteróis constituída essencialmente por ergosterol (90%) [1], tornando a sua extração um tópico de elevado interesse já que esta molécula apresenta elevado valor comercial e inúmeras aplicações nas indústrias alimentar, farmacêutica e cosmética. Segundo a literatura, o teor de ergosterol pode variar entre 3 e 9 mg por g de cogumelo seco. Atualmente, os métodos tradicionais tais como a maceração e a extração em Soxhlet estão a ser substituídos por metodologias emergentes, nomeadamente a extração assistida por microondas, visando diminuir a quantidade de solvente utilizado e o tempo de extração e, naturalmente, aumentar o rendimento da mesma. No presente trabalho, utilizou-se A. bisporus como fonte de ergosterol, tendo-se otimizado as seguintes variáveis relevantes para a sua extração pela tecnologia de microondas (MAE): tempo (0-20 min), temperatura (60-210 ºC) e razão sólido-líquido (1-20 g/L). O solvente utilizado foi o etanol tendo-se aplicado a técnica estatística de superfície de resposta por forma a gerar modelos matemáticos que permitissem maximizar a resposta e otimizar as variáveis que afetam a extração de ergosterol. O conteúdo em ergosterol foi monitorizado por HPLC-UV. Os resultados demonstraram que a técnica MAE é promissora para a extração de ergosterol, tendo-se obtido, para as condições ótimas (20,4 min, 121,5ºC e 1,6 g/L), 569,4 mg ergosterol/100 g de massa seca, valor similar ao obtido com extração convencional por Soxhlet (671,5±0,5 mg/100 g de massa seca). Em síntese, a extração assistida por microondas demonstrou ser uma tecnologia eficiente para maximizar o rendimento de extração em ergosterol.

Ultrasound and microwave assisted extraction of ergosterol from Agaricus bisporus L.: optimization through response surface methodology

There is scientific evidence demonstrating the benefits of mushrooms ingestion due to their richness in bioactive compounds such as mycosterols, in particular ergosterol [I]. Agaricus bisporus L. is the most consumed mushroom worldwide presenting 90% of ergosterol in its sterol fraction [2]. Thus, it is an interesting matrix to obtain ergosterol, a molecule with a high commercial value. According to literature, ergosterol concentration can vary between 3 to 9 mg per g of dried mushroom. Nowadays, traditional methods such as maceration and Soxhlet extraction are being replaced by emerging methodologies such as ultrasound (UAE) and microwave assisted extraction (MAE) in order to decrease the used solvent amount, extraction time and, of course, increasing the extraction yield [2]. In the present work, A. bisporus was extracted varying several parameters relevant to UAE and MAE: UAE: solvent type (hexane and ethanol), ultrasound amplitude (50 - 100 %) and sonication time (5 min-15 min); MAE: solvent was fixed as ethanol, time (0-20 min), temperature (60-210 •c) and solid-liquid ratio (1-20 g!L). Moreover, in order to decrease the process complexity, the pertinence to apply a saponification step was evaluated. Response surface methodology was applied to generate mathematical models which allow maximizing and optimizing the response variables that influence the extraction of ergosterol. Concerning the UAE, ethanol proved to be the best solvent to achieve higher levels of ergosterol (671.5 ± 0.5 mg/100 g dw, at 75% amplitude for 15 min), once hexane was only able to extract 152.2 ± 0.2 mg/100 g dw, in the same conditions. Nevertheless, the hexane extract showed higher purity (11%) when compared with the ethanol counterpart ( 4% ). Furthermore, in the case of the ethanolic extract, the saponification step increased its purity to 21%, while for the hexane extract the purity was similar; in fact, hexane presents higher selectivity for the lipophilic compounds comparatively with ethanol. Regarding the MAE technique, the results showed that the optimal conditions (19 ± 3 min, 133 ± 12 •c and 1.6 ± 0.5 g!L) allowed higher ergosterol extraction levels (556 ± 26 mg/100 g dw). The values obtained with MAE are close to the ones obtained with conventional Soxhlet extraction (676 ± 3 mg/100 g dw) and UAE. Overall, UAE and MAE proved to he efficient technologies to maximize ergosterol extraction yields.

Mouse models of diet-induced nonalcoholic steatohepatitis reproduce the heterogeneity of the human disease

International audience

Implication of gut microbiota in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

International audience

Estratégias de coping de mães e pais de bebés prematuros hospitalizados

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada ao Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada para obtenção de grau de Mestre na especialidade de Psicologia Clínica.

Reduced lipoapoptosis, hedgehog pathway activation and fibrosis in caspase-2 deficient mice with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis

International audience

Patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing protein 3 and Liver Disease: Opportunities to Unravel Mechanisms Underlying Statistical Associations

International audience